More bodies of executed civil war-era prisoners uncovered under Greek city park
THESSALONIKI, Greece — Another series of unmarked graves — this one containing 14 individuals from Greece's civil war era — have been dug up in a park in a suburb near the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, local officials said Saturday.
As in the previous tight cluster of unmarked burial pits excavated earlier this year in Neapolis-Sykies, the bodies belong to prisoners who were held in a nearby Byzantine fortress. The prisoners, alleged communists and sympathizers, were executed between 1946 and 1953, according to historians.
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Los Angeles Times
6 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump, pushing bounds of his office with L.A. deployment, faces test in court
WASHINGTON — The mission of President Trump's extraordinary deployment of U.S. Marines and National Guardsmen to Los Angeles depends on whom you ask — and that may be a problem for the White House as it defends its actions in court on Thursday. The hearing, set before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco, will set off a rare test over the legality of a military deployment on American soil. While California has asked for a temporary restraining order against the government, a judicial decree ordering a full withdrawal would be extraordinary, scholars said. But so, too, was the deployment itself, raising the stakes for the judge entering Thursday's hearing. Breyer, a veteran of the bench appointed by President Clinton and the younger brother of Stephen Breyer, the former Supreme Court justice, could instead define the parameters of acceptable troop activity in a mission that has been murky from its start over the weekend. In an interview, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta told The Times that he was told that Trump's mission set for both the Marines and the National Guard in Los Angeles 'is to protect federal property, functions and personnel.' 'The property part may well be compliant with the Posse Comitatus Act,' Bonta said, referring to a landmark law passed after the Civil War prohibiting the use of U.S. troops to engage in local law enforcement. 'If all the Marines do is protect buildings, that might be compliant,' he added. 'But it needs to be made clear that they cannot go out into the community to protect federal functions or personnel, if that means the 'functions' of civil immigration enforcement conducted by the 'personnel,' ICE. That means they'll be going to Home Depots, and work sites, and maybe knocking on doors.' Trump told reporters Tuesday that without federal involvement, 'Los Angeles would be burning down right now,' suggesting their role was to confront violent rioters throughout the city. But that same day, Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot told The Times that Marines sent to L.A. County were limited in their authority and without arrest power, deployed only to defend federal property and personnel. The Los Angeles Police Department continues to lead the response to the protests. Still a third potential mission set emerged within 24 hours, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement posted a photo on Facebook indicating that National Guardsmen were accompanying its agents on the very immigration raids that generated protests in the first place. And White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Times that the president's primary motivation behind the federal show of force was to send a message to protesters — an effort to deter agitators in the crowd from resorting to violence. Clarifying the true nature and purpose of the deployment — whether to protect federal property, to supplement ICE raids, to quell unrest, or all of the above — will prove critical to the administration's success on Thursday. Breyer denied California's request for an emergency restraining order on Tuesday, instead giving both sides 48 hours to prepare their case for the hearing. 'He's the most well-regarded district judge in the United States,' said Robert Weisberg, a professor at Stanford Law School. 'He will be very meticulous in asking all of these questions.' Unprecedented though Trump's actions may be, signs of caution or restraint in his decision to refrain from invoking the Insurrection Act could ultimately salvage his mission in court, experts said. The Insurrection Act is the only tool at a president's disposal to suspend Posse Comitatus and deploy active-duty Marines on U.S. soil. While Trump and his aides have made a coordinated public effort to reference the L.A. protesters as insurrectionists, he has, so far, stopped short of invoking the act. The president instead invoked Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which grants him the authority to federalize the National Guard. Even still, California argues that Trump has overstepped the law, which still requires directives to the Guard 'be issued through the governors of the States.' And the White House has suggested that Title 10 authority also justifies the Marine deployment. 'We expect an order from the court making clear what's lawful and what's unlawful, and part of that is making clear that the deployment of the National Guard by Trump is unlawful,' Bonta said. 'And so he might just strike down that deployment,' he added, 'returning the National Guard to the command of its appropriate commander-in-chief, the governor.' Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, said that Title 10 'requires a 'rebellion or danger of rebellion,' and inability of regular law enforcement authorities to execute the laws.' 'I would be shocked if a court determined that those conditions were met by what is actually happening in L.A. at the moment, as those of us living here know,' Arulanantham added. Yet, by relying on Title 10 authorities and by refraining from invoking the Insurrection Act, Trump could save himself from a definitive loss in court that would probably be upheld by the Supreme Court, Weisberg said. 'I do think that Trump is trying to take just one step at a time,' Weisberg said, 'and that he contemplates the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, but it's premature.' 'There's always the possibility he's being rational,' he added. For Bonta, the case before Breyer is just the latest in a series of legal battles California has brought against the Trump administration — cases that have compelled the White House to lay out evidence, based on truth and facts, before seasoned judges. Moments before Bonta spoke with The Times, Leavitt told reporters in a briefing that 'the majority of the behavior that we have seen taking place in Los Angeles' has been perpetrated by 'mobs of violent rioters and agitators.' 'It's completely untrue and completely unsurprising,' Bonta responded. 'It's what the Trump administration — the press secretary, the secretary of Defense and the secretary of Homeland Security — it's what they've been on a full 24-hour campaign to try to do, to manufacture and construct a reality that's not actually true.' The LAPD and L.A. County Sheriff's Department, Bonta noted, have dealt with worse in the past, not just during major historic events such as the Rodney King riots of 1992 or the George Floyd protests of 2020, but after relatively routine annual events, such as the NBA Finals or the Super Bowl. 'There is absolutely no doubt that the National Guard was unnecessary here,' Bonta said, adding, 'They're using words like insurrection and emergency and rebellion and invasion, because those are the words in the statutes that would trigger what they really want. They want the president to be able to seize more power.' The must-read: 9-year-old Torrance Elementary student deported with father to HondurasThe deep dive: Newsom, in California address, says Trump purposely 'fanned the flames' of L.A. protestsThe L.A. Times Special: Brian Wilson, musical genius behind the Beach Boys, dies at 82 More to come,Michael Wilner —Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here to get it in your inbox.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Families of those killed in collapse of Georgia ferry dock sue companies that built it
ATLANTA (AP) — Relatives of seven people who drowned in waters off a Georgia island after a ferry dock walkway collapsed announced Wednesday they filed a lawsuit against the companies that designed and built it. Dozens of people were standing on the metal walkway over the water between a ferry boat and a dock on Sapelo Island when it snapped in the middle. Many plunged into the water and got swept away by tidal currents, while others clung desperately to the hanging, fractured structure. The tragedy Oct. 19 struck as about 700 people visited Sapelo Island for a celebration of the tiny Hogg Hummock community founded by enslaved people who were emancipated after the Civil War. Reachable only by boat, it's one of the few Gullah-Geechee communities remaining in the South, where slaves worked on isolated island plantations retained much of their African heritage. 'It was supposed to be a celebration of Black pride, but it became a day of great, great, great Black loss of humanity and life,' civil rights attorney Ben Crump, one of several lawyers behind the lawsuit, told an Atlanta news conference. 'We're filing this lawsuit to speak to that tragedy.' Attorneys for the families of those killed and more than three dozen survivors say the 80-foot (24-meter) walkway was weak because of a lack of structural reinforcement, poor welding and failure by the Georgia firm that built it to follow design plans. The walkway was 'so poorly designed and constructed that any competent construction professional should have recognized the flimsy and unstable nature of the gangway,' the lawsuit says. Regina Brinson, one of the suing survivors, said she was on the crowded walkway when she heard a loud crack and saw family friend Carlotta McIntosh plunge into the water holding her walker. Brinson and her uncle, Isaiah Thomas, also fell. Brinson recalled prying her uncle's fingers from her shirt to avoid being dragged underwater. Both Thomas and McIntosh died. 'The pain doesn't get any easier whatsoever,' Brinson told the Atlanta news conference. Kimberly Wood said she tumbled from the collapsed walkway clutching her 2-year-old daughter. Her older girl, 8, clung to the dangling walkway's railing. Wood said she managed to tread water until she reached a life preserver tossed from the ferry boat. Her older daughter was rescued and treated for wounds to her hand, said Wood, who had an injured shoulder. 'I'm shaking now just taking about it,' said Wood, another plaintiff. The lawsuit targets four private contractors hired to design and rebuild the ferry dock and walkway for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The project was finished in 2021. The walkway was fabricated by McIntosh County business Crescent Equipment Co. Its attorney, Clinton Fletcher, declined to comment. The project's general contractor, Virginia-based Centennial Contractors Enterprises, said by email that it doesn't comment on pending litigation. So did SSOE Group, which purchased an Atlanta design firm named as a defendant several years ago. An engineering firm also named as a defendant did not immediately return a phone message Wednesday. The lawsuit doesn't target the Department of Natural Resources or any other Georgia state agency. It says the department relied on its private contractors to ensure the walkway was safely built, which was "beyond the scope of the DNR's internal expertise and qualifications.' The agency told The Associated Press last year that the walkway should have been able to support the weight of 320 people. About 40 people were standing on it when it snapped. 'There was supposed to be a certified professional engineer that signed off on that part of the project and that was neglected," said Chadrick Mance, a Savannah attorney representing nine of the injured. Filed in Gwinnett County State Court in metro Atlanta, the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for negligence, wrongful deaths and personal injuries. The cause of the collapse remains under investigation by the state officials, said Haley Chafin, a spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources. State Attorney General Chris Carr also tapped a private engineering firm to perform an independent investigation. ___ Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. ___ Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.
CNN
a day ago
- CNN
Remote Scottish lodge used to house foreign secret agents in WWII up for sale
A remote Scottish lodge used to keep foreign secret agents far away from trouble during World War II is now up for sale. Nestled deep in the Scottish Highlands, Inverlair Lodge was requisitioned by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), an espionage and sabotage organization Britain created during World War II, before transforming back into a family home – now on the market for offers over £1.35 million ($1.8 million). Surrounded by countryside and 17 miles (27 kilometers) from the town of Fort William, it is far from prying eyes. Known as 'Number 6 Special Workshop School,' the lodge was used to house foreign agents who 'had fallen by the wayside,' according to its former commander, Alfred Fyffe, who detailed his three-year tenure in interviews with London's Imperial War Museum in 2002. These were agents who had gone through initial training but, for whatever reason, could not be deployed, according to the 2008 book 'British Intelligence: Secrets, Spies and Sources,' by historians Edward Hampshire, Stephen Twigge and Graham Macklin. The agents were housed 'under surveillance, not under guard,' Fyffe stressed, adding that they were sent there 'to forget what they learned about our subversive business' because they had 'certain information which, if they were released outside the services, could be dangerous to this country.' Housing agents of different nationalities like this 'under one roof' was an 'experiment' said Fyffe. He was charged with occupying their time and set aside one room – the larder – to use as a cell if there was any trouble. 'If you have to use it, use it within reason,' his superiors told him. Fyffe kept the agents busy by sending them to salvage metal scattered all over the countryside and getting them to mend boots. Just three agents were there when he took over the lodge, one of them an Italian engineer who had been a lieutenant to the country's fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, until they fell out and he fled to France, where he worked with the Communists. Before Fyffe arrived, the first two people housed there tried to run away, though he said he 'never had any trouble' – apart from a Dutchman who hit someone in the jaw and broke down the wall outside his office. Rudolf Hess, a top Nazi who secretly flew to the UK in 1941 as a self-appointed negotiator, was briefly held at the lodge, too, while he was being interrogated by intelligence officers, real estate agent Galbraith said, though Fyffe does not mention this. The SOE ceased to exist after World War II and Inverlair became derelict until it was renovated in the 1970s. Few traces of the lodge's history remain. Nowadays, it is a large, comfortable family home like many others in Scotland – many of its rooms have woodburning stoves, and its kitchen island is painted a jaunty yellow. There are four reception rooms, six bedrooms, outbuildings – including a separate two-bedroom cottage – and 30.88 acres of land. The property listing can be viewed here.
