World
VP short-lister Shapiro on defense over Israel after decades-old college paper surfaces
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Penn., has had to defend his stance on Israel after an op-ed he penned more than three decades ago, in which he wrote of being an Israeli army volunteer and disparaged the Palestinian people, resurfaced.
“Since he wrote this piece as a 20-year-old student, Gov. Shapiro has built close, meaningful, informative relationships with many Muslim-American, Arab-American, Palestinian Christian, and Jewish community leaders all across Pennsylvania,” Shapiro’s spokesman Manuel Bonder told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“The Governor greatly values their perspectives and the experiences he has learned from over the years – and as a result, as with many issues, his views on the Middle East have evolved into the position he holds today,” Bonder continued.
The Philadelphia Inquirer uncovered the essay that Shapiro wrote for the Campus Times, the student newspaper of the University of Rochester, from which Shapiro graduated in 1995. In the article, Shapiro stressed his view that “Palestinians will not peacefully coexist,” because “they do not have the capabilities to establish their own homelands and make it successful even with the aid of Israel and the United States.”
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“They are too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own,” Shapiro wrote, identifying himself as a “past volunteer in the Israeli army.” He referred to the Arab world as divided and “belligerent.”
The comments have resurfaced as part of a thorough review of Shapiro as he edges closer to a potential vice-presidential nod for the Democrat ticket topped by current Vice President Kamala Harris after she secured the nomination this week.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., speaks at a campaign event, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Scranton, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Shapiro’s support for Israel has been controversial inside the Democratic Party due to the strong pro-Palestinian views of the party’s far-left flank. Those who oppose his candidacy launched the “No Genocide Josh” campaign and continue to pressure Harris to pick another running mate.
Some Jewish members of Congress have said that criticism of Shapiro is unfair and assumes that Jewish politicians cannot be objective on Israel.
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“I think there is that sense that somehow we’re not objective [on Israel] because we’re Jewish, which is just not true or fair,” Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, told Axios. “There are a lot of members who are pro-Israel who have been protested against — I think as Jews it feels particularly intense and personal.”
Bonder pushed back on the idea that the newspaper op-ed, written decades ago, provides any indication of the governor’s current thinking regarding Israel.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (L) speak to the press while making a stop at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. (Photo by Ryan Collerd/ AFP) (Photo by Ryan Collerd/AFP via Getty Images) (Ryan Collerd/AFP via Getty Images)
“As the Governor has made clear for years, he supports a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live together peacefully – and he believes it is critical for leaders on both sides of this conflict to take meaningful, necessary steps towards a lasting peace,” Bonder stressed.
“Governor Shapiro has worked hard to bring people together, listen, and keep our communities safe and heard – and he will always be a Governor for all Pennsylvanians,” Bonder added.
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Addressing the self-identification as a “past volunteer in the Israeli army,” Bonder said, “While he was in high school, Josh Shapiro was required to do a service project, which he and several classmates completed through a program that took them to a kibbutz in Israel where he worked on a farm and at a fishery.”
Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania, speaks during a campaign event with U.S. President Joe Biden, not pictured, at the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Photographer: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg)
“The program also included volunteering on service projects on an Israeli army base. At no time was he engaged in any military activities,” Bonder said.
When asked about the article during a Friday press conference, the 51-year-old Shapiro stressed his age and the time that has passed since publishing the article. He reiterated his belief that the only way forward for the region is a two-state solution that allows both Israelis and Palestinians “to determine their own futures and their own destinies,” the Times of Israel reported.
Shapiro also had earlier this year called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “one of the worst leaders of all time” and blasted him for steering Israel “in a wrong direction,” according to the Times.
World
Several injured after car plows into Italy crowd, driver stabs passerby: report
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A car reportedly drove into a crowd in the northern Italian city of Modena on Saturday, injuring several people.
The vehicle slammed into a store window, and its driver allegedly stabbed a passerby who attempted to intervene, Reuters reported, citing local Italian media.
Mayor Massimo Mezzetti told Italian TV no one was killed but eight people were injured, including four who were in critical condition, according to The Associated Press.
Blood is seen next to a destroyed car on a street of Modena, Italy, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Lapresse via AP)
He said a woman pinned against a shop window may require the amputation of both legs.
Financial Police patrol a scene after a car incident in a street of Modena, Italy, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Lapresse via AP)
The driver is a 31-year-old man born in Bergamo and raised in Modena with Maghreb origins, Mezzetti said.
The man was detained and was being questioned at police headquarters as authorities worked to determine whether he was under the influence of substances or acted deliberately, the mayor said.
Mezzetti said the vehicle entered one of the city’s main streets and “drove onto the sidewalk, sending several people flying,” before crashing into the shop window.
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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Lampedusa migrant landing: newborn dies, probe opened
Published on •Updated
A tragedy unfolded in the night between Friday and Saturday on the island of Lampedusa, where a newborn migrant baby girl just a few weeks old died of hypothermia immediately after disembarking and while being rushed to the island’s outpatient clinic.
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At 4.30 a.m., after being rescued by the V1307 patrol boat of the Guardia di Finanza, 55 people from Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Sierra Leone landed at Favarolo pier. Among them were seven women and six minors. The baby girl, whose condition immediately appeared critical, was taken together with her mother to the medical facility, where doctors could do nothing but declare her dead.
Investigation opened into the baby girl’s death
The Agrigento prosecutor’s office has opened an inquiry into the tragic case and ordered a post-mortem examination of the child’s body, a necessary step to confirm hypothermia as the actual cause of death.
The body is being transferred to the mortuary at the Cala Pisana cemetery, while in the coming hours the mother will be questioned by investigators to reconstruct the details of the crossing and establish exactly how and when the baby fell ill.
According to accounts from other migrants on board, the group had set off from Sfax-El Amra in Tunisia at around two o’clock yesterday morning, making the journey in a seven-metre metal boat that cost between 400 and 600 euros per person.
The baby girl’s mother, originally from Côte d’Ivoire, was later taken to the hotspot in the Imbriacola district together with her other daughter, aged around two. According to reports, the woman is currently in a severe state of shock over the loss of her child and is receiving continuous support from staff of the Italian Red Cross, which manages the island’s reception centre.
The centre’s director, Imad Dalil, confirmed to Italian media that psychosocial support measures had been activated. “The mother and the sister are here in the hotspot and are in good physical condition; for them and for the other people psychological support was activated immediately and in the coming hours the medical and psychosocial teams will continue their work,” he said.
NGOs’ reaction
The German NGO Sea-Watch voiced its outrage in a strongly worded post on X. “While the state attacks those who save lives at sea, investigating the captain of Sea-Watch, a one-month-old baby has arrived in LAMPEDUSA, dead in her mother’s arms, after a three-day crossing. Who will be held responsible for this injustice?” The outburst refers to the news, received by the NGO after arriving in Brindisi with 166 rescued people, that a criminal investigation has been opened against the captain of the Sea-Watch 5 on suspicion of aiding illegal entry.
The UN agency specialising in the protection and assistance of people forced to flee war, violence and persecution (UNHCR) also intervened to express deep condolences and grave concern over yet another victim claimed along the Mediterranean routes.
“A mother has lost her newborn daughter, who arrived dead this morning together with 54 other people in Lampedusa. Deep sorrow and concern for the many children and adults who should not be dying in the Mediterranean,” reads a post published on social media by UNHCR, which explains that the agency is on the ground providing assistance to the mother and all the other survivors of the landing.
World
Supreme Court rejects Virginia’s bid to restore congressional map favoring Democrats
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Virginia’s bid to restore a congressional map that would have given Democrats a chance to pick up four seats in the closely divided House of Representatives.
The court’s order, issued without any noted dissent, is the latest twist in the nation’s mid-decade redistricting competition. It was kicked off last year by President Donald Trump urging Republican-controlled states to redraw their lines and was supercharged by a recent Supreme Court ruling severely weakening the Voting Rights Act that opened up even more winnable seats for the GOP.
In recent days, the justices have sided with Republicans in Alabama and Louisiana who hope to redo their congressional maps to produce more GOP-leaning seats following the court’s voting rights decision.
But the Virginia situation was different, stemming from a 4-3 ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that struck down a constitutional amendment that voters narrowly passed just last month.
The state court found that the Democratic-controlled legislature improperly began the process of placing the amendment on the ballot after early voting had begun in Virginia’s general election last fall.
The Supreme Court typically doesn’t intervene in state court proceedings unless they present an issue of federal law. Virginia Democrats had hoped to persuade the justices that the Virginia court misread federal law and Supreme Court precedent that hold that, even if early voting is underway, an election does not happen until Election Day itself.
Virginia’s amendment had been intended as a response to Republican gains in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, and to blunt a new map in Florida that just became law. Once the Virginia amendment passed, it briefly turned the nationwide redistricting scramble into a draw between the two parties.
That was unraveled by the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision.
The state’s attorney general, Democrat Jay Jones, slammed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, saying it was another example of what he described as a national attack on voting rights and the rule of law.
“Let’s be clear about what is happening. Donald Trump, Republican state legislatures, and conservative courts are systematically and unabashedly tilting power away from the people for Trump’s political gain,” Jones said in a statement issued late Friday night.
The state’s top Democrats had disagreed about whether it was even too late for help from the Supreme Court. “Time grows short, but it is not yet too late,” lawyers for the Democratic leaders of the legislature as well as the state told the justices in a brief filed Friday.
A day earlier, the office of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger already had confirmed that the state will hold this year’s elections under the current districts established in 2021. Last month, Virginia Commissioner of Elections Steve Koski said a court order was needed by this past Tuesday to set the district lines for primary elections on Aug. 4.
Spanberger reacted to Friday’s decision by saying both courts had nullified the votes of the more than 3 million Virginians who cast ballots in the April 21 special election.
“These Virginians made their voices heard — casting their ballots in good faith to push back against a President who said he’s ‘entitled’ to more seats in Congress before voters go to the polls,” she posted on her X account.
The leader of the state Republican Party said the justices made the right call.
“Wisely, the Supreme Court of the United States has confirmed the judgment of the Supreme Court of Virginia,” state party chairman Jeff Ryer said. “This should once and for all put to rest the Democrats’ effort to disenfranchise half of Virginia.
___
Associated Press writer Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report.
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