Month: February 2024

The search still continues for five U.S. Marines who went missing early on Wednesday after rescuers found their military helicopter in Southern California. The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing is managing search and rescue efforts near Pine Valley, California, in San Diego County. Officials did not say what condition the helicopter was in when it was found.

The helicopter, a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion, was found about 40 miles from San Diego in Pine Valley at about 9 a.m., according to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. The Marine Corps has been leading the search and rescue effort after it was reported overdue about 1:40 a.m. on Wednesday. The helicopter was traveling from the Creech Air Force Base near Las Vegas to the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Deigo went it went missing, Marine Corps officials said. Rescue crews initially searched an area of the Cleveland National Forest east of San Diego.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and multiple federal, state and local agencies are assisting in locating the Marines.Firefighters were also dispatched, but due to low visibility search efforts were pulled back, Cal Fire said.

The search comes amid a winter storm in San Diego that dumped heavy rain on the area and caused flash flood warnings, hindering search efforts in the area.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he has rejected Hamas demands for a cease-fire, and is vowing to proceed with Israel’s military offensive in Gaza until achieving “absolute victory.” Despite warnings of the potential for dire consequences, Netanyahu said he had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to prepare to push into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, stating that the IDF’s operation in Gaza would last months, not years. The Israeli leader added: “We are on the way to an absolute victory. There is no other solution.”

Netanyahu’s comments came shortly after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been traveling across the region while trying to securing a cease-fire agreement. The U.S. has been pushing Israel to adjust its tactics in Gaza. amid the rising death toll (with officials in the Hamas-run enclave stating the death toll is nearing 28,000, many of whom are women and children).  Additionally, roughly 1.5 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes by the war in Gaza, and are living in squalid tent camps and U.N.-run shelters.

In his comments, Netanyahu added that agreeing to the terms proposed by Hamas would “invite another massacre,” and that Israel was the “only power” capable of guaranteeing security in the long term (Hamas has long been designated as a terror organization by Israel, Hamas and the European Union). Netanyahu ruled out any arrangement that leaves Hamas in full or partial control of Gaza, which the group’s latest proposal would have done.

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A federal appeals court in Washington found former President Donald Trump is not entitled to broad immunity from federal prosecution. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in its opinion Tuesday that it is upholding the decision from a lower court denying him absolute immunity from prosecution.  The landmark decision would allow the criminal case against the former president involving the 2020 presidential election to move forward if the ruling is upheld.

The panel, consisting of Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson, Michelle Childs and Florence Pan, wrote in its opinion: “For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution.”

Trump’s attorneys argued before the three-judge panel last month, claiming that Trump’s alleged actions in the Washington election interference case are protected by presidential immunity. Trump may appeal the decision and it is still possible that the case will come before the U.S. Supreme Court, though not likely. The Supreme Court previously denied special counsel Jack Smith’s request to hear the case, deferring it to the appeals court.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded to the court’s decision in an email blast: “If immunity is not granted to a president, every future president who leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party,” Cheung wrote. “Without complete immunity, a president of the United States would not be able to properly function!”

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A jury has found he mother of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting deaths of four students at Oxford High School in November 2021. Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting, one for each victim: Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Justin Shilling, 17; and Hana St. Juliana, 14.

The jury deliberated for roughly 11 hours, beginning on Monday morning, and Crumbley will be sentenced on April 9; the verdict marks the first time in U.S. history that a parent has been held legally accountable for a shooting committed by their child. Jennifer and her husband James Crumbley were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting carried out by their son, Ethan, who was 15 years old at the time of the shooting. Ethan has been sentenced to life in prison for killing four students and injuring seven others at Oxford High School. He had pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism causing death. The trial for James Crumbley is scheduled to begin on March 5.

Prosecutors presented evidence against Crumbleys, who purchased the gun used in the shooting and failed to respond to warning signs exhibited by their son prior to the attack. School officials had called the Crumbley parents to the school the morning of the shooting after finding violent drawings he had done on a school assignment; Ethan Crumbley was also caught searching online for bullets at school, watching shooting videos in class and drawing violent images on several other papers. School officials testified that the parents chose not to take their son home despite the school telling them to get him immediate help, and offering them facilities that provided same-day mental health care services. The parents told the school they could not take him home because they both had to return to work, and school officials did not think it was a good idea for Ethan to be alone since they were concerned he was considering suicide.

In text messages she sent after the shooting Jennifer Crumbley told the man she was having an affair with, Brian Meloche, that the shooting “could have been prevented” and that the school should not have allowed him to return to class. . Prosecutors argued that the parents did not secure the gun or limit their son’s access to it; the parents purchased the gun used in the shooting as a gift and had taken Ethan to the shooting range before the attack.

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