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Suspect charged with murder in death of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll
(JTA) — A 28-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Samantha Woll, the Detroit synagogue president who was found dead outside her home on Oct. 21.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kim L. Worthy identified the suspect as Michael Jackson-Bolanos, who was taken into custody on Sunday, according to NBC News. Worthy said there are “no facts to suggest” that the suspect knew Woll personally.
Worthy also said that the murder was not a hate crime. Claims had circulated in the hours and days after Woll’s killing that it was an antisemitic act connected to the Israel-Hamas war, which has been accompanied by a reported rise in antisemitism in the United States. But police have said since the early stages of the investigation that it did not appear to be a hate crime.
“There’s not a shred of evidence to suggest this was a hate crime,” Worthy said.
Woll, 40, had been found unresponsive near her house by police at 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 21 with evidence of multiple stab wounds and a trail of blood leading to her home. Worthy said investigators believe Jackson-Bolanos killed Woll during an act of larceny or home invasion, according to The Detroit News.
Jackson-Bolanos is the second suspect to be taken into custody in the investigation. Last month, another man had been held in custody and then released three days later with no charges or explanation.
Woll’s death drew national attention and caused an outpouring of grief in the local Jewish community and beyond. Woll was a Democratic activist and had been president of the non-denominational Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, one of the city of Detroit’s only remaining Jewish congregations, where she had spearheaded an ambitious expansion campaign.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, the executive director of Detroit’s Jewish Community Relations Council/AJC, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the arrest is a “great relief.”
“The entire Detroit community, and frankly the entire world that came to love and respect the incredible person that Sam Woll was, felt that justice must come to the person who would perpetuate such a horrible crime and take away such a precious life,” Lopatin said. “In our terrible sadness Jewish community is grateful for the work of the police, and we are grateful that the police found absolutely no evidence that this was a hate crime directed towards any community.”
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The post Suspect charged with murder in death of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
i24 News – Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for what he said represented a “tragic incident” in Russian airspace involving an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed on Wednesday.
Flight J2-8243 crashed in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from southern Russia where Ukrainian drones were reported to be attacking several cities. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.
“Vladimir Putin apologized for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
“It was noted in the conversation that the Azerbaijani passenger aircraft, which was traveling according to its schedule, repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport. At that time, Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defense systems repelled these attacks,” the Kremlin said.
The post Putin Apologizes Over ‘Tragic Incident’ with Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Official: Houthis More Technologically Advanced than Credited, Must Not Be Underestimated
FILE PHOTO: Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. Photo: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
i24 News – The Houthis are more technologically advanced than credited and must not be underestimated, an Israeli official told i24NEWS, adding that the jihadist movement operating out of Yemen was “ideologically toxic.”
The Yemeni terrorists have displayed the relentless will to fight in campaigns against the Saudis and others, the official added. “The Houthis’ flag spells out their goals: destroy America, destroy the Jews, destroy Israel. They get most of their support from Iran and they are very extreme. Their ideology is clear: they want to destroy America and Israel, and are trying to take practical steps in that direction.”
In recent weeks the Houthis have escalated their attacks on Israel, firing ballistic missiles and drones at the Jewish state almost nightly and sending millions of Israelis into bomb shelters.
“The Houthis pose a threat to international security and global trade. Therefore, an international coalition should confront and eliminate this threat,” the official underscored.
Israel “has shown that it has the capability and the resolve to fight a multi front war, and it has had incredible accomplishments since it was attacked in October 2023. It has practically decimated Hamas, Hezbollah and Syrian capabilities. It has exposed Iran’s vulnerabilities and now is an opportunity to cooperate with an international coalition to reduce the Houthis.”
The post Israeli Official: Houthis More Technologically Advanced than Credited, Must Not Be Underestimated first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Raises New Demands in Ceasefire Talks, Refusing to Provide Lists of Hostages
A person walks past pictures of hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas from Gaza, projected on a screen, in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 31, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Marko Djurica
i24 News – Negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages are still ongoing, yet Hamas is raising new demands regarding wounded hostages and refuses to provide a list of living hostages; moreover, whoever conducts the negotiations on their behalf does not necessarily control the happening on the ground, i24NEWS learned on Friday.
Israel applies heavy pressure on Hamas to live up to the promises.
While the Israeli negotiations team has returned from Doha, the talks for the hostage deal are still ongoing, not affected by the team’s physical presence. According to sources familiar with the details, Hamas poses serious problems that hinder the ability to close the deal, chief among them – the list of hostages whose release should be prioritized on humanitarian grounds.
Israel, i24NEWS can report, insists on complete lists of live hostages, but these have not yet been received. Also, as i24NEWS learned, Hamas refuses to release wounded hostages as part of the humanitarian list and attempts to demand special compensation for them.
Israeli negotiators are unwilling to accept changes to conditions established earlier and exert heavy pressure on the group from various directions.
Officials in Jerusalem say they hope that Hamas will decide to come together to conclude the deal, because the decision is entirely theirs.
Another serious concern for Israel, i24NEWS learned, is that those who conduct the negotiations on behalf of Hamas do not necessarily control the happening on the ground. This, as the dust has not yet settled on the decision-making and organizational structure of Hamas after the elimination of its leader Yahya Sinwar, making it extremely complicated to manage the talks. Israeli officials want to make sure that whoever represents the terrorist group vis-à-vis the mediators is also able to return the hostages from the hands of Hamas in Gaza.
At the same time, Jerusalem believes that the various conditions that pressure Hamas are still valid and even growing: the achievements against Hezbollah and against Iran, the collapse of Syria, and the weakening of the Shiite axis, the strikes in Yemen, the anti-terror activity in Judea and Samaria, the IDF activity in Jabaliya, in Beit Hanon and Rafah, as well as in the Karni-Netzarim corridor, together with the impending coming into office of the Trump administration, work to press Hamas to a point of great isolation, where it would be desperate for a ceasefire.
The post Hamas Raises New Demands in Ceasefire Talks, Refusing to Provide Lists of Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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