Latest news with #CassandraMorgan
The Age
16 hours ago
- Politics
- The Age
Israel-Iran ceasefire as it happened: Trump officials give classified briefing to US Congress over Iranian nuclear site bombings; Iran's supreme leader says strikes on US base a ‘slap to America's face'
2.35pm on Jun 27, 2025 US gives contentious Gaza aid group $30m By Cassandra Morgan Further to our previous post, the US has approved $30 million in funding for the contentious aid distribution system in Gaza, which is run mostly by American contractors and backed by Israel, The New York Times reports. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is relatively new to running food distribution centres on the Gaza Strip. The Gaza health ministry says hundreds of people have been killed near food distribution points in the past month. Humanitarian groups were raising the alarm about the sites since before the project's operations began in late May, saying having only a few distribution sites – most in southern Gaza – with Israeli soldiers stationed nearby displaced residents and militarised humanitarian aid, the Times reported. US state department spokesman Thomas Pigott, in announcing the $30 million in funding, described the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as a project that was 'absolutely incredible and should be commended and supported', the Times reported. Pigott called for other countries to contribute funding to the group, which the United Nations has criticised, alongside many other humanitarian organisations, the Times reported. It is reportedly the first time the US state department has publicly announced financial aid for the group. 2.08pm on Jun 27, 2025 Another 18 killed as turmoil mounts over Gaza food distribution An Israeli strike hit a street in central Gaza on Thursday, where witnesses said people were getting bags of flour from a Palestinian police unit that had confiscated the goods from gangs looting aid convoys. Hospital officials said 18 people were killed. The strike was the latest violence surrounding the distribution of food to Gaza's population, which has been thrown into turmoil over the past month. After blocking all food for 2½ months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May. Efforts by the United Nations to distribute the food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks, and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys. Loading The strike in the central town of Deir al-Balah on Thursday appeared to target members of Sahm, a security unit tasked with stopping looters and cracking down on merchants who sell stolen aid at high prices. The unit is part of Gaza's Hamas-led Interior Ministry, but includes members of other factions. Video of the aftermath showed bodies, several torn, of multiple young men in the street. The dead included a child and at least seven Sahm members, according to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where casualties were taken. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has accused the militant Hamas group of stealing aid and using it to prop up its rule in the enclave. Israeli forces have repeatedly struck Gaza's police, considering them a branch of Hamas. AP 1.45pm on Jun 27, 2025 Israelis love Trump. But some are unnerved by this vow US President Donald Trump's call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial to be thrown out has plunged the American leader into one of Israel's most heated debates, unnerving some in its political class just days after they unanimously praised his strikes on Iran. Trump's social media post condemning the trial as a 'WITCH HUNT', and his vow that the US will be the one who 'saves' Netanyahu from serious corruption charges, came just two days after he called off an Israeli bombing raid in Iran to preserve a ceasefire. Both were dramatic interventions in the affairs of an ally that previous US administrations had always insisted was a sovereign nation that made its own decisions. Now the one leader nearly all Israelis seem to support has fully embraced the one who most divides them. 'With all due respect for Trump, he is not supposed to interfere in a legal process in an independent country,' Opposition Leader Yair Lapid told Israeli media. Loading Trump is seen by Netanyahu – and many Israelis – as the greatest friend they have ever had in the White House. He has lent unprecedented support to Israel's claims to territories seized in war, he brokered the Abraham Accords with four Arab nations in his first term and over the weekend he ordered direct strikes on Iran's nuclear program, which Israel views as an existential threat. Still, even some staunch supporters of Netanyahu and Trump seemed a bit unnerved. Simcha Rotman, a lawmaker from the far-right Religious Zionist party and one of the architects of Netanyahu's controversial judicial overhaul, wrote on X that Netanyahu's trial 'may be an example of an accumulation of many faults' of the justice system. 'Still, it is not the place of the president of the United States to interfere in legal proceedings in Israel.'
CBS News
4 days ago
- CBS News
Mom recounts terrifying moments after teen daughter shot on Palmetto Expressway road rage incident
A 15-year-old girl has been released from the hospital after being shot in the shoulder during a road rage incident on the Palmetto Expressway Tuesday night, her mother says. The shooter, believed to be in a black Chevrolet Malibu according to authorities, opened fire as the family drove home from a pool party. Frightening encounter on the road Cassandra Morgan, the victim's mother, said the shooting happened just after 9 p.m. near Northwest 47th Avenue. Her daughter was sitting in the front passenger seat of their white Hyundai when two shots were fired. "I saw the gun out the window and they shot out the window and I immediately pulled over because my daughter said she felt something," Morgan said. Morgan said she was also driving with her 6- and 9-year-old sons at the time. "Scary. Not something I would want anyone to go through," she said. "A lot was overwhelming. I just wanted to make sure my kids were OK." Road rage sparked by horn honk Morgan believes the incident started when she honked at a driver on a side street before merging onto the highway. "The guy merged on the lane and came over and I blew at him," she said. She told authorities that someone in the suspect's vehicle responded with an obscene gesture and then began following her car. "The guy continued to follow me onto 47th Avenue," Morgan said. "After that, they got over into the far right lane in front of my sister and her husband. The driver stayed in the middle lane. That's where he followed me and I noticed the passenger window went down and I saw the gun out of the window." "They shot out the window. I immediately pulled over because my daughter said she felt hot and felt something." Search for suspect continues The Florida Highway Patrol is asking for the public's help in locating the suspect, believed to be driving a late-model black Malibu with a broken blue fog light. "You may have been following a vehicle and have more information on the vehicle that can lead us to an arrest," said FHP Trooper Joe Sanchez. "Don't get into a confrontation with anybody. Don't make eye contact with anyone who is acting aggressively. Contact FHP, so we can get somebody out there," added Sanchez. "Get off the highway and get to a gas station, fire station. Any lit area where you can get away from the situation." Morgan urged the public to speak up if they witnessed anything. "If they saw anything or heard anything, call and let the guys know," she said. "This could be very helpful and stop this from doing this to the next person and other kids and anybody else out there." FHP asks anyone with information to call *347 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
