INTERNACIONAL
Dem justices slap Soros-backed Philly DA with power strip in stunning decision: ‘Not reliable’
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court, including two Democrat justices, ordered Soros-backed Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office to face new outside scrutiny over its post-conviction concessions, after the state’s high court found the office’s handling of one convicted murderer’s case was unreliable and said similar problems extended beyond just that single case.
Justice Kevin Dougherty wrote the 4-3 opinion in the case of Levar Brown, a Philadelphia man whose murder convictions became the centerpiece of a broader legal fight over Krasner’s Conviction Integrity Unit and the office’s willingness to concede relief in serious criminal cases. Dougherty was joined by Justice Daniel McCaffery, another Democrat judge on the state’s Supreme Court, and two other Republican judges. The dissenters were all Democrats.
The 4-3 decision reversed a Philadelphia post-conviction order granting Brown a new trial after Krasner’s office conceded his conviction should not stand and a Philadelphia judge approved the request. It also ordered that, going forward, Philadelphia judges handling post-conviction challenges must notify the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and allow the office to intervene before granting relief in any case where Krasner’s office concedes that a conviction should be overturned.
FETTERMAN TELLS PHILADELPHIA DA TO ‘LIGHTEN UP, FRANCIS’ AFTER HEATED ICE REMARKS
The ruling stops short of handing control of the cases to the state attorney general, but it creates a new court-ordered check on Krasner’s office in future post-conviction matters.
Police work the scene of a shooting on July 3, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Early reports say the suspect is in custody after shooting 6 people in the Kingsessing section of Philadelphia on July 3rd. (Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
«The prosecutor does not decide whether a defendant is entitled to relief under the Post Conviction Relief Act,» Dougherty wrote for the majority, emphasizing that a judge must independently determine whether a conviction should be overturned even when prosecutors agree with the defense.
The majority concluded that Krasner’s office’s concession in Brown’s case «was not reliable,» finding that Krasner’s office conceded relief when it was not warranted by the existing record, withheld material evidence from the court, submitted a false stipulation of fact, misstated facts in its pleadings, failed to conduct a reasonable investigation and opposed a required evidentiary hearing.
The court suggested that if its concerns in the Brown case were confined to just that case alone, it would not have justified a broader remedy. But the majority opinion said the concerns were evident in other post-conviction cases as well.
PHILLY DA’S ‘HUNT YOU DOWN’ WARNING TO ICE DRAWS CALLS FOR DOJ CRIMINAL PROBE
Since 2018, the Philadelphia DA’s office has conceded relief «well over 100 times,» mostly in murder cases, according to the opinion. The court also said there are apparently more than 1,000 cases still waiting to be reviewed by the office’s Conviction Integrity Unit.
The case was brought to the high court by family members of murder victims Michael Richardson and Robert Crawford. Brown was convicted by a Philadelphia jury in the 2004 murder of Richardson and convicted by another Philadelphia jury in the 2005 murder of Crawford, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
Two decades later, Krasner’s office conceded that Brown should receive a new trial and argued that relief was due without an evidentiary hearing, the attorney general’s office said.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, on Jan. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday praised the ruling, saying his office will now be able to serve as a check on the process for Philadelphia residents and victims’ families.
«As prosecutors, our role is to advocate for victims of crime, for public safety, and for justice,» Sunday said in a statement. «Centuries of experience teach that the best way to achieve that justice is through the adversarial process, with vigorous representation for both sides.»
PHILADELPHIA DA GOES INTO TIRADE ABOUT ‘FASCIST’ TRUMP, ‘HITLER’ WHEN CONFRONTED AT PARK IN VIRAL VIDEO
Sunday’s office said the court concluded the Philadelphia DA’s concession in Brown’s case was «not reliable» and «recognized that similar concessions in numerous other cases also appeared to be unreliable.»
«The Court directed judges to notify the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General of any concessions before granting relief, and to permit the Office of Attorney General to intervene in future cases where the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office attempts to concede a conviction,» the office said.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said it is still assessing what the ruling will mean for its workload, budget and personnel.
«We are assessing what yesterday’s Supreme Court of Pennsylvania order will mean for our office’s workload and what impacts it may have on our budget and our personnel,» the OAG Press Team said. «Given the many unknowns involved, including the number of cases concessions will be made in and our response to those concessions, it may be difficult to fully assess these impacts until the process truly begins.»
The office added that it appreciates the court allowing the AG’s office to «serve as a check on this process for the citizens of Philadelphia and ensure that the interests of victims’ families are represented.»
The State Capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
SOROS-BACKED DA KRASNER THREATENS ICE AGENTS AT PHILLY AIRPORT: ‘I WILL PUT YOU IN HANDCUFFS’
Krasner’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. But Krasner posted a video response online defending his reform agenda and attacking the ruling as an anti-democratic move that treats Philadelphia differently from other counties.
The video featured images of civil rights icons Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. as Krasner framed criminal justice reform as part of a broader social justice movement.
«Reform can be scary to those who need it,» Krasner said in the video. «Which part don’t you like? The safety or the freedom?»
Krasner said Philadelphia has not had better numbers for «safety» or «freedom» in his lifetime and argued that critics are fighting a national criminal justice reform movement.
«The truth is that criminal justice reform is a national social justice movement,» Krasner said. «And like all other social justice movements, it follows a certain pattern. First they ignore you. We’re past it. Then they laugh at you. We’re past that. Then they fight you. And we have been fighting for eight and a half years. And then the next step – we got to get there – is you win.»
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks in Philadelphia, on Jan. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Krasner said the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a «close decision,» ruled that when his office supports a defense position that someone deserves a new trial or release from custody, «we need to have the attorney general’s office looking over our shoulder unlike every other county.»
«Does that help democracy? No,» Krasner said. «It actually undermines the value of a vote in Philadelphia as compared to every other county.»
The majority opinion, however, said the order does not strip Krasner’s office of prosecutorial discretion. Instead, the court said the DA’s office remains free to litigate cases as it sees fit, but that the attorney general’s independent assessment and participation will «enhance the reliability» of post-conviction proceedings and their subsequent decisions.
In dissent, Justice David Wecht warned that the majority was injecting the attorney general into local post-conviction proceedings and interfering with the discretion of Philadelphia’s elected prosecutor. But the majority rejected that argument, saying the attorney general’s role would not override the DA’s discretion and would instead give courts the benefit of an adversarial process before convictions are overturned.
The ruling sends Brown’s case back to the Pennsylvania post-conviction court for further proceedings and sets a new process for future cases where Krasner’s office seeks to concede relief.
philadelphia, attorney general, judiciary, trials, pennsylvania, assassinations murders, crime world, state and local
INTERNACIONAL
El Cuerpo de Bomberos de El Salvador reporta un alza del 150% en emergencias por incendios en el inicio de las Fiestas Agostinas
Durante el primer día del periodo vacacional en El Salvador durante las fiestas agostinas, el Cuerpo de Bomberos atendió un incremento notable en emergencias por incendios, con un alza del 150% respecto al año anterior. La jornada, que marca el inicio de una de las semanas con mayor movimiento turístico en el país, evidenció un despliegue especial de recursos y personal en las principales zonas recreativas, playas, lagos y centros históricos, donde la afluencia de visitantes nacionales e internacionales se multiplica.
En declaraciones brindadas durante el programa Entrevista AM, Baltazar Solano, director del Cuerpo de Bomberos de El Salvador, detalló que la corporación ha reforzado su capacidad operativa como parte del Plan Vacación 2026, en coordinación con el Sistema Nacional de Protección Civil. Más de 800 bomberos y 150 inspectores fueron desplegados a escala nacional para cubrir 17 estaciones estratégicamente ubicadas, con el objetivo de actuar de manera preventiva y responder a cualquier emergencia.
Solano explicó que, pese a estar en temporada lluviosa, la presencia de una canícula provocó condiciones secas que favorecieron la propagación de incendios, situación poco habitual para el mes de agosto. Según el balance presentado, el primer día del periodo vacacional de 2026 registró 9 incendios en maleza, 5 estructurales y 1 en vehículo, totalizando 15 emergencias por fuego, frente a 6 reportadas el año anterior en la misma fecha. El funcionario calificó estos datos como “anómalos” para la época, ya que este tipo de incidentes suelen concentrarse en la época seca.
El operativo preventivo no solo se enfocó en incendios. El Cuerpo de Bomberos realizó inspecciones en bares, restaurantes, hoteles, hostales, gasolineras y ventas de gas para verificar condiciones de seguridad, como el estado de los sistemas eléctricos, la ubicación y funcionamiento de extintores. Solano afirmó que el comercio y la industria han mostrado buena disposición para acatar las recomendaciones, sin hallazgos graves hasta el momento.
La vigilancia se extendió a los eventos religiosos, actividades masivas y ferias con énfasis en lugares como el parque de diversiones CívarLand y el Centro Histórico de San Salvador, donde se prevé la mayor concentración de visitantes durante la semana. En estos puntos, la institución mantuvo presencia permanente y revisó instalaciones eléctricas y de gas propano, así como la operación de juegos mecánicos, atendiendo el riesgo que representa la afluencia masiva y el uso de combustibles.
El director de Bomberos destacó la labor conjunta con los guardavidas de la Dirección General de Protección Civil, quienes realizaron 20 rescates profundos y 4 simples en el primer día del periodo. En 2025, durante la misma fecha, solo se reportaron 3 rescates profundos y ninguno simple. La cifra de 24 personas auxiliadas evidencia la intensidad del trabajo en playas y ríos, donde las corrientes, la imprudencia y el consumo de alcohol fueron factores de riesgo.
Solano lamentó la muerte de 1 persona en un río e insistió en la importancia de respetar las indicaciones de los guardavidas, especialmente en zonas de bandera roja, y evitar ingresar al mar o cuerpos de agua durante la noche o bajo los efectos del alcohol.
También subrayó la relevancia de acudir a lugares que cuenten con servicio de salvamento y recomendó a los excursionistas que visitan cerros o volcanes contratar guías certificados.
El Plan Vacación 2026 contempló, además, la revisión de protocolos para el uso de fuegos artificiales y la supervisión de eventos que implican aglomeraciones. El Cuerpo de Bomberos exige a organizadores y alcaldías notificar la realización de espectáculos pirotécnicos, para garantizar que se cumplan las normas de seguridad y se minimicen los riesgos de incendios accidentales.
Durante la entrevista, el director recordó que el número de emergencias habilitado para la población es el 913 y reiteró que la institución opera sin interrupciones durante toda la temporada. La estrategia gubernamental procura que tanto los salvadoreños como los turistas disfruten de las vacaciones con las condiciones de seguridad adecuadas, mientras las autoridades mantienen la vigilancia y la capacidad de respuesta ante cualquier eventualidad.
corresponsal:Desde San Salvador, El Salvador
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Hamas’ newly elected leader to congratulate him and pledge Tehran’s continued support for the group’s cause, Hamas said Monday — as President Donald Trump promotes a landmark agreement intended to strip the terrorist organization of its weapons and power in Gaza.
Pezeshkian congratulated Khalil al-Hayya on his election as head of the group’s political bureau and told him Iran would continue supporting the Palestinian cause, according to a Hamas statement posted in Arabic, and reviewed by Fox News Digital.
«We are with you, and we support you in every action you take, despite the attacks we are facing,» Pezeshkian said, according to Hamas’ account of the call.
Fox News Digital has asked Iran’s mission to the United Nations to confirm that the call took place and provide an official readout.
HAMAS TAPS ‘ULTIMATE INSTITUTIONAL SURVIVOR’ AS TERROR CHIEF, SENDING MESSAGE TO ISRAEL: EXPERT
Analysts say Al-Hayya’s elevation signals that Hamas, after the destruction of Gaza and the losses since Oct. 7, 2023, has prioritized organizational cohesion, armed continuity and the preservation of its Iranian relationship. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The reported conversation highlighted a central contradiction confronting Trump’s Gaza initiative: While the White House is presenting the roadmap as a landmark agreement to remove Hamas from power and secure its weapons, Iran — the group’s longtime military and financial patron — was simultaneously reaffirming its support for Hamas and its new leader. Tehran’s backing raises fresh questions about whether Hamas is prepared to surrender the arsenal at the core of its power and how the Board of Peace could enforce disarmament against a group that continues to receive political support from one of Washington’s principal regional adversaries.
Trump in recent days announced what he called a «HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups,» presenting it as a breakthrough after nearly three years of war. The stakes extend far beyond the wording of the deal: Hamas’ weapons remain the central obstacle to rebuilding Gaza, and the agreement will test whether Trump’s Board of Peace can enforce a postwar transition or whether Hamas will exploit the process to survive, regroup and retain power.
At the center of the effort is Trump’s Board of Peace, the president’s handpicked vehicle for implementing his Gaza policy and potentially extending his approach to other global conflicts. Trump chairs the board, whose executive leadership includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The White House says the board will oversee Gaza’s transition, mobilize reconstruction funding and hold the parties accountable.
But the tensions intensified Monday also on the Israeli side, when Nickolay Mladenov, Board of Peace director-general and high representative for Gaza, and board advisor Aryeh Lightstone met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urged Israel to halt its attacks in Gaza.
Israel appeared to reject the board’s two central demands shortly afterward.
«Israel will not withdraw from its current line in the Gaza Strip and will continue to thwart any threat to our civilians and soldiers,» an Israeli political official said. The statement amounted to a rejection, at least for now, of demands that Israel return to the «yellow line» and halt targeted strikes in Gaza.
A Board of Peace official declined to discuss the meeting but said the body remained focused on carrying out the roadmap.
«We are focused on implementation,» the official told Fox News Digital. «We have provided a pragmatic path forward to transform Gaza by removing Hamas from power and seeing it hand over its weapons. These steps would undoubtedly allow for the improvement of life in Gaza and enhancement of security in Israel. We remain determined to advance these objectives.»
Meanwhile, the Hamas terrorist group says it has agreed only to a phased and conditional process involving the storage of weapons after Israel stops its attacks, withdraws its forces and allows more aid into Gaza. Hamas has avoided the word «disarmament» in its statements and insists its weapons would remain under Palestinian control rather than being surrendered to Israel or an international force.
HAMAS AGREES TO COMPLETE DISARMAMENT UNDER ‘HISTORIC’ GAZA AGREEMENT: TRUMP
A drone view shows Palestinians walking past the rubble, following Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, Oct. 11, 2025. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo/Reuters)
The board’s 15-point roadmap calls for Hamas to transfer Gaza’s civilian government and security responsibilities to a Palestinian technocratic body known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza. Hamas-run police would surrender their weapons to the committee, while heavy weapons, military production sites, weapons depots and tunnels would be addressed later through a phased decommissioning process linked to an Israeli withdrawal.
The intended endpoint is that only the new Palestinian authority would possess or control weapons in Gaza. But the roadmap leaves unresolved who will enforce the process, what constitutes compliance and which side must act first.
Hamas’ disarmament remains a central obstacle to rebuilding Gaza. Trump has tied reconstruction to the group laying down its weapons, while The Associated Press reported that the Board of Peace had secured approximately $7 billion in pledges by February — a fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild the devastated territory.
Moumen al-Natour, a Palestinian lawyer from Gaza and co-founder of the anti-Hamas «We Want to Live» movement, said civilians desperately want the agreement to succeed but do not trust Hamas to relinquish power.
«Civilian people inside Gaza Strip… want safety, want to stop this war, want a new government, want to be alive,» al-Natour told Fox News Digital.
But al-Natour, who previously was imprisoned by Hamas, warned that the group would use delays and violations to remain embedded in Gaza.
«I can’t trust Hamas because I know Hamas,» he said, arguing that the group had repeatedly arrested and killed Palestinians who opposed its rule. He said an international force of only a few hundred personnel would be unable to secure Gaza or prevent Hamas from intimidating residents and that a much larger force and a new Palestinian police structure would be required.
Drawing on a grassroots network of thousands of Gazan professionals who reject Hamas’ ideology, the «We Want to Live» movement is promoting its own plan to rebuild Gaza’s civil society and is calling for cooperation with the Board of Peace and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the technocratic body tasked under the U.S.-backed transition plan with governing and rebuilding the enclave.
Al-Natour also proposed allowing civilians who want to escape Hamas-controlled areas to move into protected zones near the «yellow line» — the boundary separating Israeli-held territory from the rest of Gaza — where they could live under a new Palestinian administration backed by an international security force. He said the arrangement could provide Gazans with a safer alternative while a post-Hamas governing structure is established.
HAMAS SAYS IT WILL DISSOLVE GAZA GOVERNMENT, BUT ISRAEL WARNS GROUP STILL SEEKS HEZBOLLAH-STYLE CONTROL
A mourner carries the body of a Palestinian who was killed in Israeli strikes, according to medics, during a funeral, in Gaza City, Aug. 2, 2026. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
Michael Milstein, a former military intelligence officer in Israel and now head of the Palestinian Studies Centre at Tel Aviv University, said the compromise has been developing for months under pressure from Qatar, Turkey and Egypt.
Milstein said Hamas may be prepared to give up control of Gaza’s day-to-day government and accept restrictions on heavy weapons but is unlikely to abandon its armed organization completely.
Under the model Hamas appears to favor, Milstein said, a technocratic government and international forces would assume responsibility for public services and reconstruction while Hamas preserves its personnel, infrastructure and political influence — an arrangement resembling Hezbollah’s longtime position in Lebanon.
«There is a very, very low chance that Hamas will completely disarm,» Milstein told Fox News Digital, describing the roadmap as the kind of «gray area» Hamas has historically used to its advantage.
The Board of Peace also is pressing for an end to actions that could derail the plan. After Israeli strikes killed civilians and reportedly destroyed medical supplies over the weekend, Mladenov, the director-general of the Board of Peace, called for de-escalation but did not identify Israel by name.
«Two days of strikes across Gaza have killed civilians and destroyed medical supplies,» Mladenov wrote on X, adding that he was working with the parties and regional mediators to «create the space for the full implementation of the President’s plan.»
Palestinians inspect the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a medicine warehouse, according to medics, next to tents sheltering displaced Palestinians, in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Aug. 1, 2026, residents had been pre-warned by the Israeli military to evacuate. (Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)
Israel, meanwhile, says it will not withdraw before Hamas genuinely disarms. Hamas says Israel must withdraw first.
The roadmap also faces resistance inside Israel’s government. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Settlements Minister Orit Strock urged Netanyahu on Monday to convene the security Cabinet immediately and block the international stabilization force from entering Gaza, according to Israel’s N12 news outlet.
In an urgent letter reported by N12 on Aug. 3, 2026, the ministers called the Board of Peace roadmap «dangerous to Israel» and argued that it contradicts Israel’s stated goals of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza. They objected that weapons would be placed under the authority of a new Palestinian body rather than removed from Gaza or handed to Israel and that Israeli troops would begin withdrawing while the disarmament process was still underway.
The far-right ministers also argued that the international force would monitor the separation between Israeli troops and the new Palestinian administration rather than directly disarm Hamas. They demanded that Netanyahu prevent implementation until the roadmap is revised to require full demilitarization before an Israeli withdrawal. The letter underscores that the plan’s obstacles extend beyond Hamas: Influential members of Netanyahu’s coalition are also challenging its sequencing, enforcement and security provisions.
Israeli troops are pictured outside the Gaza Strip ahead of a military operation in northern Gaza (Daphne Lemelin/AFP via Getty Images)
That leaves Trump’s proclaimed milestone resting on the same question that has stalled previous Gaza negotiations: whether Hamas is truly preparing to surrender the weapons that underpin its power — or merely buying time to ensure that it remains standing when the rebuilding begins.
hamas, iran, world, donald trump, israel
INTERNACIONAL
Europa y el verano de los récords: Londres sin lluvia, París igual que el Sahara y el Mediterráneo 5 grados más caliente
El verano de los récords
El fenómeno de El Niño y sus efectos
Impacto económico de la crisis climática
Cambios en la agricultura y adaptación urbana
El Cuerpo de Bomberos de El Salvador reporta un alza del 150% en emergencias por incendios en el inicio de las Fiestas Agostinas
Senado: pese a la resistencia de Sturzenegger, Bullrich cedió ante los aliados y acercó posiciones por la Ley de Tierras
Karina Milei se mostró con dos gobernadores aliados mientras el oficialismo busca acuerdos para 2027
Ian Lucas lanzó un nuevo tema, junto a La Joaqui y Fede Vigevani, de su show en Vélez
El W35 de Chacabuco levanta el telón: 13 argentinas ya tienen un lugar asegurado en el cuadro principal
De saltar en paracaídas a una vida de oficina: por qué dejar el Ejército fue el desafío más difícil para dos ex oficiales
“Vamos a acelerar con todo”: el objetivo del Gobierno por las reformas y la agenda electoral de cara al 2027
Reelecciones indefinidas: el oficialismo bonaerense niega que busque ampliar la Legislatura como parte de una reforma política para beneficiar a los intendentes
“Casta”, “parásito” y “sea democrático”: fuerte respuesta de Victoria Villarruel a Diego Santilli
Dem senator swipes credit for bill he opposed amid heated reelection bid: ‘Disturbing pattern’
-
POLITICA1 día ago“Vamos a acelerar con todo”: el objetivo del Gobierno por las reformas y la agenda electoral de cara al 2027
-
POLITICA21 horas agoReelecciones indefinidas: el oficialismo bonaerense niega que busque ampliar la Legislatura como parte de una reforma política para beneficiar a los intendentes
-
POLITICA3 días ago“Casta”, “parásito” y “sea democrático”: fuerte respuesta de Victoria Villarruel a Diego Santilli