WATCH: An “Honor Convoy” recently set out from the Umm al-Fahm police station for the levaya of Officer Niv Peretz, passing through his hometown of Afula on the way to the city’s military cemetery.
An Australian judge on Monday sentenced triple-murderer Erin Patterson to life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years for poisoning four of her estranged husband’s relatives with death cap mushrooms. Justice Christopher Beale told the Victoria state Supreme Court that Patterson’s crimes involved an enormous betrayal of trust. Patterson was convicted in July of murdering Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, with a lunch of beef Wellington pastries laced with foraged death cap mushrooms. Patterson was also convicted of attempting to murder Heather’s husband Ian Wilkinson, who spent weeks in a hospital. Patterson’s estranged husband, Simon Patterson, was invited but did not attend the July 2023 lunch served to her parents-in-law and her estranged husband’s aunt and uncle at her home. Murderer robbed her children of their grandparents “Your victims were all your relatives by marriage. More than that, they had all been good to you and your children over many years, as you acknowledged in your testimony,” Beale said. “Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents,” he added. Both prosecution and defense lawyers had agreed that a life sentence was an appropriate punishment for the 50-year-old on three counts of murder and one of attempted murder. But defense lawyers had asked for Patterson to become eligible for parole after serving 30 years. Prosecutors had argued she should never be considered for parole because she did not deserve the court’s mercy. Survivor calls for kindness Ian Wilkinson did not comment on the sentence but thanked police, prosecutors and health services he’d encountered since the poisonings. “We’re thankful that when things go wrong, there are good people and services and systems available to help us recover,” he told reporters outside court. “Our lives and the life of our community depends on the kindness of others. I’d like to encourage everybody to be kind to each other. Finally, I want to say thank you to the many people from across Australia and around the world who through their prayers and messages of support have encouraged us,” he added. Beale said Patterson had also intended to kill her husband if he had accepted his invitation to lunch. She had pretended to have been diagnosed with cancer as a reason to bring them together. She claimed to have wanted advice on how to break the news to her two children, who were not present at the lunch. Beale accepted Ian Wilkinson’s account that the guests were served grey plates while Patterson ate from an orange-tan plate. This was to ensure she didn’t accidentally eat a poisoned meal, Beale said. Only triple-killer knows her motivation “Only you know why you committed them (the crimes). I will not be speculating about that matter,” the judge told Patterson. Patterson showed little emotion during the sentencing hearing, which took less than an hour. She kept her eyes closed for much or it or stared directly ahead. Patterson maintained at her trial that she had added foraged mushrooms to the meals by accident. But she had initially denied to authorities that she fed her guests foraged mushrooms. A drug that is a specific antidote for death cap […]
THE NEW UK: British MP Naz Shah takes her oath of office in Parliament wearing a hijab, placing her hand on the Quran, and expressing gratitude to Allah.
WATCH: The final night of Sheva Brachos for the daughter of the Rachmastrivka Rebbe (Oak & Vine) to the great-grandson of the Skverer Rebbe took place last night, with Harav Malkiel Kotler and Harav Yeruchem Olshin in attendance.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited a lookout point near two villages in the West Bank from which the two Palestinian terrorists set out from to carry out this morning’s deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem. “We are here after a very serious attack. I have ordered a full closure of the area from which the terrorists came out,” Zamir says at the scene, according to remarks provided by the IDF.
A worker in his 40s has died after being crushed by a vehicle at Sydney Airport’s Qantas International Freight Terminal in Mascot on Sunday; paramedics were unable to revive him, and Qantas said it would support those affected, extending condolences to the man’s family, friends, and colleagues.
The IDF says it struck a number of Hezbollah sites in the Bekaa Valley, including military training camps of the elite ‘Radwan Force’ where Hezbollah operatives were identified and weapons were stored.
WATCH: Footage captures the arrest of the father and brother of Mohammed Bassem Taha, one of the terrorists involved in this morning’s horrific terror attack.
Israeli President Herzog spoke with the taxi driver who helped an elderly woman escape this morning’s attack in Jerusalem. “You are truly an example of civic bravery,” the president said. “I don’t see it as bravery,” the driver replied. “I just had to rescue her from the scene.”
National Guard troops patrolling the streets of U.S. cities. Weapons of war deployed against international gangs suspected of drug trafficking. Military bases and resources redirected to mass immigration enforcement operations. President Donald Trump is swiftly implementing his vision of the military as an all-powerful tool for his policy goals. It’s ground that presidents have hardly ever crossed outside of times of war, and experts say it’s remaking the role of the most powerful military in the world and its relationship with the American public. Yet as Trump has dramatically stepped up his use of military force, fellow Republicans in Congress — where authorization for such actions is supposed to originate — have done little but cheer him on. That’s giving the president significant leeway as he raises plans to send troops next to Chicago, Baltimore and New Orleans. “If I were one of those mayors, I’d be glad to have the help,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, speaking from a Capitol building where National Guard troops were patrolling the surrounding city. “I think the big city Democrats are really making a mistake. I think they’re being tone deaf.” Lawmakers from Louisiana — a red state that surrounds politically blue New Orleans — said it was a great idea for National Guard troops to go there next. “New Orleans, like most Democrat-run cities, has a high crime rate, so it would be helpful,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told The Associated Press. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., agreed: “We need all the help we can get. I’m delighted to bring in the National Guard.” Republicans have in recent years found political success focusing on the issue of crime. The vast majority of Americans, 81%, see crime as a “major problem” in large cities, according to recent polling from the The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That includes nearly all Republicans, roughly three-quarters of independents and nearly 7 in 10 Democrats. However, statistics show overall crime is down across the nation, with some cities reporting 30-year lows. How Trump’s use of the National Guard is unique In the past, the use of National Guard troops on American soil was reserved for extraordinary circumstances such as natural disasters or when local officials became overwhelmed by civil unrest or disorder. Rarely have presidents used the troops for law enforcement purposes. Notable examples include the 1894 Pullman strike in Chicago, during the Civil Rights era to enforce desegregation in the South, and in 1992 during deadly rioting after police officers brutally beat motorist Rodney King and were acquitted on state charges. Experts say that Trump’s crime mission stands out because he’s not responding to a particular crisis. Instead, Trump is using the military to implement his domestic policies, whether that means using military aircraft for deportation flights, beefing up military at the U.S.-Mexico border or ordering National Guard troops to be ready for law enforcement duties. “All of these things indicate an administration that is making a broad, concerted effort to insert the military into civilian law enforcement in a way and on a scale that has no precedent in American history,” said Joseph Nunn, an attorney at the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program. Trump says he has the “right” to send National Guard troops to the cities, even over the objections of state governors. “I’m the president of the United States. If […]
The US State Department says it is monitoring the situation following this morning’s “cruel” terror attack in Jerusalem, reaffirming that it “stands alongside our friend Israel.”
This is how Reuters covered this morning’s deadly shooting in Jerusalem, saying simply that “police described [it] as a ‘terrorist attack'”. Sickening.
A resident of Yatta, previously released in the recent hostage deal, was arrested by police and the IDF for continuing to incite terrorism and encourage attacks on security forces through social media. During a search of her home, authorities seized her mobile phone and two computers suspected of being used to spread the incitement, and she was transferred for interrogation.
FACES OF EVIL: The terrorists who carried out this morning’s shooting attack at the Ramot Junction have been identified as Methna Naji Amro and Mohammed Bassem Taha. Both were killed at the scene.
