INTERNACIONAL
California professor accused of killing pro-Israel protester will ‘likely’ avoid lengthy prison sentence
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The Jewish community is outraged after a California district attorney’s office signaled that a community college professor could escape a lengthy prison sentence after he struck an elderly pro-Israel protester with a megaphone, which led to him falling backwards onto the ground and later dying at the hospital from blunt force trauma, according to the medical examiner.
Loay Abdel Fattah Alnaji, 53, an anti-Israel community college professor, was initially ordered to stand trial after hitting a pro-Israel protester, Paul Kessler, 69, in the head with a megaphone, who was standing across the street from him during dueling pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests in Thousand Oaks, located in Ventura County, California, in 2023. Kessler fell backwards to the ground after being struck by Alnaji striking his head and sending him to the hospital before passing away shortly thereafter from blunt force trauma, according to the medical examiner.
The incident took place against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war tensions and concerns about antisemitism rising in the United States and more broadly. Alnaji was initially facing up to four years in prison for the matter as he fought the charges against him, but on Tuesday he reversed course and the court «indicated that it is likely to place Alnaji on formal probation with up to 365 days in jail,» according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, which said it was displeased with the move.
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Paul Kessler can be seen at the intersection of Westlake and Thousand Oaks Boulevards hours before, authorities say, Alnaji delivered the blow that caused him to hit the ground and sustain fatal injuries, (Provided to Fox News Digital)
Ventura County Superior Court Judge Derek Malan, who offered Alnaji probation if he changed his plea, according to the Ventura County Star, reportedly likened the altercation to if «two old guys had a dispute and an accident happened,» Defense attorney Ron Bamieh said, after noting the offer came after multiple meetings between him and the judge.
A defense source familiar with the case said that the district attorney’s office was also involved in these talks, despite public statements indicating they were unhappy with the outcome. The defense source said the district attorney’s office had to take a harsher stance for political reasons.
«Alnaji should be sentenced to prison for his violent behavior, and our office strongly objects to any lesser sentence,» said District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. «While no amount of punishment will ever fully account for the Kessler family loss, a prison commitment underscores the severity of this crime and will deter others from committing similar acts of violence.»
A prosecutor also said Kessler’s family opposed the sentence and sought the maximum term.
ANTISEMITIC ATTACKER FACED 30-YEAR SENTENCE, GETS LESS THAN 1½ YEARS IN PLEA DEAL
Alnaji can be seen watching an ambulance cart Paul Kessler to a nearby hospital on November 5. (Provided to Fox News Digital)
However, the defense source said that prior to the plea this week, the victim’s family wanted the case over quickly and quietly, without a trial, and did not have a strong opinion about sentencing. The source also contested claims that anyone had actually seen the full incident occur and insisted there were numerous contradictions in the eyewitness accounts provided that alleged Alnaji was the aggressor.
«Mr. Alnaji made a thoughtful decision today, one guided by his family’s well-being and a deep concern for community peace. The tragedy that befell Mr. Kessler, compounded by the geopolitical tensions surrounding Israel and Gaza, led Mr. Alnaji to reconsider pursuing a full trial,» Bamieh said in a statement. «The evidence regarding Mr. Kessler’s aggressive conduct, his history of advocating violence and antagonistic tactics at pro-Palestinian rallies, and most critically, his brain stem condition—all of these facts would likely have shifted the outcome of a trial.»
The defense has argued that a pre-existing brain injury is actually what caused Kessler’s death, not blunt force trauma as was determined by the medical examiner.
ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS CLASH WITH NYPD OFFICERS NEAR SYNAGOGUE
«For those who have characterized Mr. Alnaji as a violent man who intentionally struck a helpless victim, I simply say: they are either uninformed about the facts of this case, or they are pursuing an agenda unrelated to justice. The record tells a different story,» Bamieh concluded.
Pictured is a mugshot of Loay Alnaji, arrested at his Moorpark, California home around 7:40 a.m. yesterday. The community college computer science professor faces involuntary manslaughter and battery charges in the death of pro-Israel protester Paul Kessler (Ventura County Sheriff’s Department)
Jonathan Oswaks, a friend of Kessler’s who was at the rally with him when the incident took place, told the Jewish Journal that the sentencing news was «deeply frustrating.»
«I’m not a lawyer, but the way this was handled raises serious questions for me. It sends a troubling message about accountability,» he told the Jewish Journal in an interview.
Oswaks recounted moments from the event in his interview with the outlet, noting how the pro-Palestinian protesters vastly outnumbered them that day. He said after the pair had split up, people began approaching him and stood inches from his face yelling into his ear and using a megaphone.
«When I tell you I had never experienced that level of hate in my life, I hadn’t,» he said. «I told them to get out of my space. They backed off briefly, then started again. I made it clear they needed to stay away, and eventually they did.»
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A memorial is set up by a gas station in Ventura County, California for Paul Kessler, on November 7, 2023. The 69-year-old died following an altercation with a pro-Palestinian protester days earlier. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
After news of the deal came down, the Anti-Defamation League expressed disfavor with the likely sentencing outcome, arguing it «emboldens others to act in anger against the Jewish community.»
Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and chief executive of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, said that «while we would have liked a harsher sentence,» he welcomed «the admission of guilt for this heinous crime,» according to the L.A. Times.
«Our hope is that today’s news helps bring closure to his family and gives our community the ability to demonstrate safely,» Farkas added.
Alnaji’s sentencing is scheduled for June 25, and he remains at home after posting $50,000 bail.
in court, trials, trials, anti semitism, hamas
INTERNACIONAL
El Partido de los Trabajadores proclamó a Lula como candidato para un cuarto mandato en Brasil
El Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) de Brasil oficializó este domingo la candidatura del mandatario Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva para las elecciones presidenciales de octubre, en las que buscará un histórico cuarto mandato no consecutivo con la mayoría de las encuestas a su favor.
“Quiero decir para toda la militancia de los partidos que están aquí: homologamos, oficializamos ahora. Lula, presidente; Geraldo Alckmin, vice», dijo el presidente del PT, Edinho Silva, en una entrevista previa a la ceremonia, celebrada en el centro de convenciones Expo Center Norte, en São Paulo, el mayor colegio electoral del país.
El evento, que comenzó puntual a las 10:00 hora local (13:00 GMT), selló la reedición de la alianza con el moderado Alckmin como candidato a la vicepresidencia, ante cientos de militantes, ministros y dirigentes del bloque oficialista.
A sus 80 años, Lula encara su séptima carrera a la Jefatura de Estado, tras haber gobernado entre 2003 y 2010 y regresar al poder en 2023.
“Tengo la misma energía de cuando tenía 30 años”, ha reiterado el veterano líder sindical para disipar dudas sobre su salud.
La “soberanía” como bandera frente a Trump
La campaña se abre bajo la sombra de Donald Trump, aliado de la familia Bolsonaro y que ha respaldado a varios candidatos en América Latina. “En Brasil no aceptamos que nadie meta la nariz donde no lo llaman”, advirtió Lula la semana pasada.
Estados Unidos impuso en julio dos rondas de aranceles a productos brasileños, tras acusar al país de prácticas comerciales desleales. Alentado por Eduardo Bolsonaro, hijo del ex presidente, Washington ya había aplicado gravámenes similares en 2025 —luego suspendidos en buena parte— en represalia por el juicio contra Jair Bolsonaro. Ante la nueva presión, Lula prometió una «guerra de la verdad contra la mentira» frente a su par estadounidense y acusó a Flávio Bolsonaro de ser un “traidor a la patria” por, según él, alentar el castigo económico a Brasil.
“La narrativa sobre la soberanía le calza como un guante a Lula: en un momento de caída de su popularidad, logra identificar a un enemigo allá afuera”, dijo a la agencia AFP el politólogo Leonardo Paz, de la Fundación Getúlio Vargas.
El clima bilateral sigue deteriorándose: la semana pasada Brasilia negó las visas a dos funcionarios estadounidenses que pretendían viajar al país para hablar de “integridad electoral”.
Lula defiende los avances de su gestión en la caída del desempleo y la reducción de la pobreza, en un contexto de desaceleración económica, con un crecimiento del PIB en torno al 2 % para este año electoral, tras el 3,4 % de 2024 y el 2,3 % de 2025.
La presión inflacionaria —marcada por factores internos y por el alza de precios de alimentos y combustible en el contexto geopolítico— mantiene la tasa básica de interés en 14,25 %, junto a un déficit nominal cercano al 10 % del PIB y una deuda pública que superó el 80 %. Son puntos que la oposición busca explotar, junto con la lucha contra el crimen organizado, que controla barrios populares donde viven millones de personas.
La corrupción también pesa sobre ambos candidatos. Esta semana, un juez de la Corte Suprema autorizó dos investigaciones por tráfico de influencias contra el hijo mayor de Lula, Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, conocido como “Lulinha”, por presuntas gestiones ante el Ministerio de Salud. Del lado opositor, Flávio Bolsonaro enfrenta cuestionamientos por el financiamiento de una película sobre su padre, para la cual habría pedido dinero a un banquero acusado de una megaestafa.
Los comicios de octubre se perfilan como una nueva disputa polarizada entre el progresismo de Lula y la extrema derecha que encarna Flávio Bolsonaro, de 45 años, oficializado la semana pasada como heredero político del espacio conservador. Su padre, Jair Bolsonaro, está inhabilitado, condenado a 27 años de prisión domiciliaria por intento de golpe de Estado, tras perder las elecciones de 2022 ante Lula.
Según la última encuesta de Datafolha, Lula obtendría un 48 % de la intención de voto en un eventual balotaje, frente al 43 % de Flávio Bolsonaro — una diferencia estrecha, similar a la de la ajustada campaña de 2022.
(Con información de EFE y AFP)
South America / Central America
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A sanctioned tanker loaded with crude is leaving a growing trail of oil in protected waters off the coast of Oman, according to newly reviewed satellite images, as experts warn the stranded vessel could break apart during the region’s rough monsoon season.
Satellite images reviewed by The Associated Press show an oil sheen covering roughly 20 square kilometers, or about 8 square miles, around Dhofar’s Qibliyah Island, part of Oman’s protected Hallaniyat Islands. Dark patches of crude have also reached the shoreline. Experts say the leak has worsened in recent days, fueling fears that rough weather could trigger a much larger spill.
«The last few days, the imagery indicates an increase in oil coming out, as the size of the sheen is growing,» Wim Zwijnenburg, an environmental expert with the Dutch peace organization PAX, told the AP.
REPORT WARNS RUSSIA USING SHADOW FLEET TO PROBE NATO DRONE DEFENSES
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows crude oil leaking and spreading from the sanctioned Suezmax tanker Caroline Bezengi grounded off the coast of Oman, on Friday, July 31, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
He said the biggest risk is that the vessel could break apart as strong winds and rough seas during the annual monsoon season continue to pound the ship’s hull.
The 899-foot, Cameroon-flagged Caroline Bezengi has been stranded off Oman’s southern coast since June after its crew reported an onboard explosion, according to maritime news outlets. Reuters, citing maritime security sources, reported the vessel first ran into trouble on June 8 near the Yemeni port of Mukalla, where initial assessments suggested a blast may have occurred. The cause has not been confirmed.
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows crude oil leaking and spreading from the sanctioned Suezmax tanker Caroline Bezengi grounded at Qibliyah Island, off the coast of Oman, on Friday, July 31, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
Ship-tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed the tanker had loaded Russian crude at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk before its latest voyage. The vessel has been sanctioned by the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada and Switzerland for allegedly transporting Russian oil as part of Moscow’s so-called «shadow fleet» — a network of aging tankers used to bypass Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
HUNDREDS OF RUSSIAN SHADOW TANKERS TRIGGER MILITARY ALARM TRANSITING NATO WATERS: REPORT
Zwijnenburg estimated the tanker is carrying more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil and said recent imagery suggests at least one section of the hull has been breached. Other maritime specialists who reviewed the images told Reuters the vessel also appears to be listing, adding to concerns that it could eventually break apart.
A satellite image shows an oil slick next to the Caroline Bezengi, a sanctioned vessel off the coast of the Dhofar Governorate, Oman, July 28, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS)
The spill threatens a protected marine reserve in the Arabian Sea that is home to endangered petrels and other rare wildlife. Greenpeace Germany warned that oil has already polluted stretches of coastline and damaged the area’s fragile ecosystem.
«With oil apparently continuing to leak and the tanker stranded in a difficult location, there is a serious risk of a much larger oil disaster, with even more devastating consequences for the region’s coastlines and marine ecosystems,» Greenpeace Germany’s Nina Noelle told the AP.
The U.N.’s International Maritime Organization said earlier this week it is monitoring the situation, adding that while the vessel has not broken apart, authorities are continuing to assess the safety and environmental risks.
Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology ordered the vessel’s owners to remove the ship and its cargo by July 23. It is unclear whether that deadline was met or whether the owners have responded.
middle east, environment world, oceans, world, environmental disasters
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Republicans are sounding the alarm that President Donald Trump’s demand to cancel August recess could cost the GOP seats in the midterms.
As the upcoming jailbreak from Washington, D.C., fast approaches, Trump’s most-prized legislative push remains stalled. He wants Republicans to stay put until it’s finished, but the political reality says otherwise.
And it comes as Republicans are desperate to get out of the Beltway and sell their accomplishments, rather than their shortcomings, to voters on the campaign trail. The GOP has more to lose than Democrats this cycle, too, with three vulnerable incumbents and a handful of others on the periphery.
REPUBLICAN SAYS TRUMP’S TOP ELECTION PRIORITY ‘DEAD’ IN SENATE AS GOP FRACTURES AHEAD OF MIDTERMS
President Donald Trump announces the Freedom Haulers initiative on West Executive Avenue in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2026. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
«Canceling August recess, where we have to have our members out campaigning and connecting with their voters, and people not understanding that, is about as tone-deaf as telling everybody to stay home in 2020 when we lost [Kelly] Loefler and [David] Purdue,» Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital.
«It’s the same sort of thought process,» he continued. «It’s thinking that one branch runs this country and it doesn’t. If we don’t keep majorities, people are gonna regret it.»
Several of Tillis’ colleagues, however, disagree, and want the Senate to stay put until the SAVE America Act passes, be it through the party-line budget reconciliation process or by nuking the filibuster.
GOP RIFT GROWS AS THUNE HITS BRAKES ON TRUMP’S ELECTION BILL TO AVERT SHUTDOWN
Trump’s pressure, the online zeitgeist and the political hot potato of the situation have put incumbents in a tough spot: go home and admit defeat, or stay put and push legislation that so far has not gone anywhere.
For many Republicans, they openly acknowledge that it’s a math problem in the Senate — the GOP does not have the votes to pass the SAVE America Act. Some argue that keeping the Senate in town likely wouldn’t change the minds of those who oppose it.
«If it would make a difference in the outcome, I’m fine with that, but it won’t make a difference, which I don’t believe it will, that it’s an act of futility,» Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.
TRUMP UNLOADS ON CORNYN, TIES AG NOMINATION FIGHT TO BITTER TEXAS PRIMARY
Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are obstructing President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee Todd Blanche. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Both Cornyn and Tillis are retiring — Tillis opted to get out during the tumultuous period that was passing the «big, beautiful bill,» and Cornyn was kneecapped by Trump, who backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over him in a grueling primary battle.
But Cornyn noted that if he was still running for office, he might have a change of heart.
«I don’t know how that would come out, but if I was running for reelection, I would vote to stay,» he said.
Cornyn’s point is the line that some vulnerable Republicans are toeing. Two Republicans running in tight races, Sens. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told Fox News Digital that they have been voraciously pushing for the SAVE America Act.
But, Sullivan said that he didn’t want to comment on the president’s push to cancel recess, while Husted said it was always preferable to be back in Ohio with his constituents.
«But I also have a job here, and if the job requires me to be here, then I’ll be here,» he said.
Others in less tight races who support the legislation still understand the reality in the upper chamber: without changing the minds of a cohort of Republicans who have voted against it and flipping several Democrats, the SAVE America Act is going nowhere.
«I think to cancel the whole recess would be a problem, but I think to keep us up here another week or 10 days, certainly, I’m willing to do it. I’d stay here till November if I thought it would change things,» Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News Digital.
But he acknowledged that coming home empty-handed was a problem, too.
«The base would be mad if we don’t make the best effort possible to get this voter ID across the finish line,» Marshall said.
politics, senate elections, republicans, midterm elections, congress
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