(LONDON) — Tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Monday evening to protest what the opposition said were fraudulent parliamentary elections handing victory to the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Opposition leaders — joined by President Salome Zourabichvili — gathered with the protesters hoping to spark a new round of mass demonstrations against GD akin to those that swept the capital in 2023 and 2024 in response to the government’s proposed foreign agent bill.
Russia looms large over the showdown. Moscow occupies 20% of Georgian territory, and officials in Moscow have threatened war if Georgia continues on its professed path to NATO and membership. GD, the Western-facing opposition says, is at best sympathetic to the Kremlin — and at worst in thrall to it.
Mamuka Khazaradze — the leader of the Strong Georgia coalition — told ABC News on Tuesday that his compatriots will not stand for the electoral “irregularities orchestrated through a Russian special operation and a clear pattern of systemic fraud.”
“Over the past twelve years, the government of the Georgian Dream has operated in service of Russian interests, resembling a Russian-style clan syndicate, and has established a system of manipulation and influence that undermines the integrity of our elections,” Khazaradze said.
“Georgia is not a nation that will tolerate such actions,” he added.
The official results published by the Central Election Commission said GD secured almost 54% of the vote, with the combined share of the four opposition parties just under 38%.
The CEC said GD will therefore take 89 seats in the 150-seat parliament — one less than it secured in the last election in 2020. The four pro-Western opposition parties combined will take 61 seats. The CEC said Khazaradze’s Strong Georgia coalition won 8.8% of the vote and 14 seats.
International election observers reported “frequent compromises in vote secrecy and several procedural inconsistencies, as well as reports of intimidation and pressure on voters that negatively impacted public trust in the process.”
Leaders in Hungary, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Venezuela and China were quick to acknowledge the official results and congratulate GD. But the U.S., European Union and several individual Western states raised concerns about suspected electoral violations.
President Joe Biden said the contest was “marred by numerous recorded misuses of administrative resources as well as voter intimidation and coercion,” and called for a full and transparent investigation.
Bidzina Ivanishvili is GD’s billionaire founder, former prime minister and purported decision-maker behind the party. Ivanishvili is Georgia’s wealthiest person and made his fortune in post-Soviet Russia through an empire of metals plants, banks and real estate.
Ivanishvili and GD leaders like Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze framed the election as a choice between renewed war with Russia or peaceful co-existence. They repeatedly pointed to Ukraine as a cautionary tale for Georgians voting for pro-Western parties.
Opposition leaders see Moscow’s hand behind GD’s legislative agenda, particularly its 2023 and 2024 efforts to introduce legislation to curb foreign funding of media and civil society groups. Opponents dubbed it the “Russian law” given its similarities to a similar measure passed by Moscow in 2012.
“Ivanishvili and his government are governing this country in accordance with Russian directives; this assertion no longer requires extensive evidence — merely the existence of the Russian law suffices,” said Khazaradze, who also transitioned into politics after a successful business career.
Asked if there was concrete proof of Russian meddling, Khazaradze said “rigorous and qualified research” will be needed. “The substantial support of our international partners will be essential, as Russia is adept at obscuring its actions,” he added.
Khazaradze alleged that Russian influence operations have been ongoing in Georgia since long before Saturday’s vote.
“Over the past year, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service has been actively disseminating narratives that align with the primary messages of the Georgian Dream’s campaign regarding the war,” he said.
“They have employed the most disreputable Russian tactics, with campaign materials closely mirroring” the rhetoric of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Khazaradze said.
Moscow has denied any involvement in the recent election. “This has become standard for many countries, and, at the slightest thing, they immediately accuse Russia of interference,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said this week.
“There was no interference and the accusations are absolutely unfounded,” he added.
The opposition is now hoping to stoke major protests while gathering evidence of electoral fraud and appealing to Western partners for their backing.
“We have a strategy in place, and we do not intend to disclose this plan in advance to the oligarchs who have usurped power,” Khazaradze said of the opposition’s next steps.
Khazaradze said he was “confident” that foreign nations “will play a pivotal role.”
“We are engaged in intensive communication with the diplomatic corps and are collaborating with international organizations to investigate reported violations,” he added.
“The West must implement effective mechanisms to curtail Russian influence in Georgia, which may include sanctions against those responsible for undermining the electoral process,” Khazaradze said.
He added, “Ultimately, the West remains our reliable and trustworthy partner, and the Georgian people have the full support of both European and American allies.”
The protests against the foreign agent bill in 2023 and 2024 saw violent scenes in the streets surrounding the parliament building in central Tbilisi. On Monday, large numbers of riot police descended on the area.
Khazaradze said the opposition would not be silenced.
“While resistance is anticipated, I firmly believe that no amount of water cannons or rubber bullets can deter the will of the Georgian people,” he said. “It is in Ivanishvili’s best interest to acknowledge the reality that his time in Georgia has come to an end.”
“I remain hopeful in the resilience of the Georgian people and the hundreds of thousands of voters who stand with us,” he said. “I assure you that the world will bear witness to our determination.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening returned to a Hispanic-majority town in eastern Pennsylvania after a comedian at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden over the weekend sparked controversy by making racist jokes about Latinos, including calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
Trump did not address the comedian’s controversial remarks — but did seize on comments President Joe Biden made on Tuesday when, criticizing the remarks about Puerto Rico, Biden used wording that seemed to refer to Trump supporters as “garbage.”
Toward the end of the rally, Trump invited Sen. Marco Rubio to the stage, who broke the news of Biden’s comments to Trump and the crowd.
Trump recalled Hillary Clinton’s controversial “basket of deplorables” line in 2016.
“She said ‘deplorable.’ That didn’t work out,” Trump said. “‘Garbage,’ I think is worse.”
Trump’s rally took place in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a city of more than 125,000 people where the Hispanic population makes up 55% of the total, according to the U.S. Census data, with much of that number being Puerto Ricans.
His second campaign stop of the day in Pennsylvania — after a roundtable in Drexel Hill, where the population is overwhelmingly white — the Allentown visit was an opportunity for the former president to court Hispanics, and more specifically Puerto Ricans, after Hispanic groups on both sides of the aisle called the racist jokes made at the New York rally “derogatory,” “offensive,” and “disrespectful.”
Early on in his remarks, Trump made no mention of the controversy but did refer to his Madison Square Garden rally, calling it “the greatest evening anyone has seen politically,” adding, “The love was unbelievable.”
During his Pennsylvania event, Trump touted his support from Latinos, including an endorsement from Puerto Rico’s “Shadow Senator” Zoraida Buxo, who holds a position that advocates for statehood for the territory.
“Nobody loves our Latino community and our Puerto Rican community more than I do,” Trump said.
Cheers for mass deportation plan
Trump’s rally in Allentown came at the same time Vice President Kamala Harris was giving a speech from the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., making what her campaign has characterized as her “closing argument” in the race.
Trump received his largest applause of the evening when he said, if elected, he would carry out mass deportations of people in the U.S. illegally beginning on the first day of his administration.
“On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history,” he said. “We’re going to get them out. I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them the hell out of our country.”
As the crowd gave an overwhelming ovation, Trump said “I am hereby calling for the death penalty for any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer.”
The crowd then chanted, “USA!”
Controversial ‘garbage’ remarks
The comments at the Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday were made by controversial comedian Tony Hinchcliffe during pre-programming earlier Sunday afternoon, including explicit comments about how Latinos “love making babies.”
“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said on stage to a crowd of nearly 20,000 Sunday night, after the former president himself the previous day called the United States a “garbage can for the world.”
Hinchcliffe, instead of apologizing for his comments, attacked his critics as lacking a sense of humor and accused them of taking the joke out of context to “make it seem racist.”
The former president denied knowing the comedian on Tuesday, telling ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott: “I don’t know him, someone put him up there. I don’t know who he is.”
Trump also insisted he didn’t hear any of the comments, even as they’ve been played on television and written about extensively. When asked what he made of them, he did not take the opportunity to denounce them, repeating that he didn’t hear the comments.
Trump’s campaign has also tried to distance itself from comedian Hinchcliffe’s comments, saying they don’t reflect their views.
Several Republicans have come out against the jokes, including the chair Republican Party of Puerto Rico, Angel Cintrón, who called Hinchcliffe’s comments “unfortunate, ignorant, and entirely reprehensible,” as well as “racist.”
Residents of Puerto Rico, as a U.S. territory, do not vote for president in the general election, but the Republican Party of Puerto Rico held a primary in April as part of the Republican presidential nominating process. Donald Trump won the primary and netted the territory’s delegates.
Puerto Ricans living in the United States, however, make up the largest Hispanic group in seven states across the country, including in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, according to the U.S. Census data.
In Pennsylvania, where President Joe Biden won in 2020 by just over 81,000 votes, 3.7% of the state’s total population, or roughly 486,000 people, were of Puerto Rican origin. Pennsylvania is again expected to be an extremely tight race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, with Trump ahead of Harris by just 0.2% according to 538’s polling average as of Oct. 29.
Overall, Pennsylvania’s eligible Latino voter population has more than doubled since 2000, from 206,000 to 620,000 in 2023, according to WNTM’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau figures.
(VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA) — Police in Canada said they have arrested six people and taken down an organized crime group believed to have produced tens of thousands of counterfeit cannabis-laced candy bars and edibles resembling popular name-brand products.
The takedown began early this month when the Pacific Region Royal Canadian Mounted Police federal policing investigators executed search warrants at two dispensaries and five separate residences on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, on Oct. 3, according to a statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Tuesday.
“These warrants were associated to an organized crime group allegedly involved in the production and distribution of illicit drugs, and contraband tobacco in Port Alberni and Nanaimo,” authorities said. “The dispensaries in question were Green Coast Dispensary in Port Alberni and Coastal Storm Dispensary located in Lantzville.”
Search warrants were also executed at a suspected stash site in Port Alberni, as well as a storage and production facility adjacent to Coastal Storm Dispensary, including two modular trailers where cannabis edibles were being produced, stored, and distributed, authorities said.
The list of items seized includes over 120,000 cannabis edibles with packaging resembling popular name-brand chocolate bars, potato chips, nacho chips, honey and other candies, including over 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of psilocybin mushrooms, 1,740 psilocybin capsules, over 400 psilocybin chocolate, candies and a multitude of other psilocybin products, 2.2 pounds of pressed cannabis resin, over 500 pounds of cannabis bud, more than 19 pounds of shatter, over 5000 cannabis vape cartridges, counterfeit cannabis-laced honey, five vehicles, two ATM machines containing cash, an estimated 164 master cases of contraband tobacco equating to 82,000 packs of cigarettes, over $400,000 in cash and a shotgun, police said.
“Although the contraband cannabis-laced candy bars and chips resembled professionally manufactured, packaged, and quality-controlled products, they were discovered to have been produced in the highly unsanitary, and heavily contaminated modular trailers,” authorities from RCMP said. “A preliminary assessment of the edibles also indicates that they had been treated with unknown amounts of THC, and likely cross-contaminated with other drugs and substances present in the trailers where they were being produced and packaged.”
Of equal concern, according to police, was the fact that the counterfeit snacks had packaging claims of possessing medicinal properties and dangerously high drug potency values, with many of the candy wrap labels claiming to be “100 times more potent than regulated cannabis products.”
“Given the highly contaminated and unsanitary conditions of the illicit drug production facility where these cannabis edibles were being produced, it is possible that the consumption of these products can lead to serious health risks,” RCMP said. “We urge members of the public to practice extreme caution if they already possess, or come across such products in the future, especially with Halloween being just around the corner.”
This investigation is ongoing and numerous drug-offence-related charges are being pursued.
(NEW YORK) — Luis Miranda is a political strategist, community organizer, founding president of the Hispanic Federation and chairperson of the Latino Victory Fund, an organization dedicated to building political power in the Latino community.
Originally from Puerto Rico, he’s also the father of musician, writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda.
ABC News’ Linsey Davis sat down with Luis Miranda on Monday to talk about the comments made about Latinos and Puerto Rico at former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden campaign rally on Sunday, Trump’s criticism of former first lady Michelle Obama and his prediction for Puerto Rican voters’ reaction to this rhetoric.
ABC NEWS: Luis, thank you so much for joining us. First, I just want to get your reaction from, from those comments about Puerto Rico, from the comedian at last night’s rally.
MIRANDA: It’s not the first time that Puerto Ricans are insulted by Trump or his people. We remember when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, how he withheld aid that Congress had appropriated to help Puerto Rico and used as an excuse that we were lazy and they wanted everything done for us.
So I think we’re going to mobilize some more and we’re going to go to those battleground states and make sure that we prove him wrong. We are not garbage and we are not lazy and we’re all American citizens ready to vote in this election.
ABC NEWS: The Trump campaign says the comedian’s words do not reflect its views. Do you believe that this has no bearing on the former president’s campaign platform?
MIRANDA: Listen, I listened to 5 minutes, while I was waiting for you, of the rally that it’s taking place, place in Georgia right now. And in those 5 minutes, he criticized Michelle Obama. I wondered if she’s now included in the list of enemies that he’s going to prosecute afterwards.
He then talked about transgender and how that it’s horrible. He talked about people coming from the border, being criminals. He’s talking about Latinos. He helped the crowd chant “Lock her up.” She, he criticized the fake news.
This is in 5 minutes, which means when you, that’s what is coming out of his mouth. When you organized a rally, when you organized a political event for yourself, for your party, every word that is said at that event represents who you are and the aspirations of your party and what you want to put in place if you were to be elected. This is exactly who Donald Trump is.
ABC NEWS: Do you think that this moment will galvanize Puerto Rican voters who were maybe going to sit this one out, or change the mind of those who were planning on voting for Trump?
MIRANDA: Listen, most people are going to vote for policies. We’re no different, Latinos. But what Trump did in this rally, it’s that he, the insult appeal to our heart, hurt our heart.
And those insults then mobilized people, people who were probably supporting the Democrats and Vice President Harris now said to themselves, “You know what? I was going to sit it out because I didn’t think it was important. But I don’t want this guy in the White House.”
I think the vice president said it best — we are exhausted, exhausted of this rhetoric, exhausted of this man constantly pitting one group against each other. And, and I think we are ready to move forward and close this page forever.
ABC NEWS: Mr. Luis Miranda, we thank you so much for your time and insight. Appreciate it.
David DePape in Berkeley, Calif., Dec. 13, 2013. Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
(SAN FRANCISCO) — David DePape was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the state trial over the hammer attack against Paul Pelosi.
A jury found DePape guilty in June of false imprisonment of an elder by violence or menace, residential burglary, threatening a family member of a public official, dissuading a witness by force or threat and aggravated kidnapping.
Before the sentencing, DePape’s attorneys asked for a new trial. That motion was denied.
DePape was also sentenced to 30 years in prison in May in the federal case, in which he was convicted of seeking to hold former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hostage and attacking her husband with a hammer.
DePape had broken into the Pelosi home in San Francisco looking for Nancy Pelosi, who was not home at the time.
Following the guilty verdict in the state case, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the conviction ensures that DePape “will face consequences for his heinous crimes against the Pelosi family and our democracy.”
DePape’s public defender, Adam Lipson, said at the time they were disappointed by the verdict.
“I don’t believe that this was a kidnapping for ransom, I think that it’s really unfortunate that he was charged this way,” Lipson told reporters, adding that his client had lived a “very isolated” life and had gotten “wrapped up in a lot of conspiracy theory-type situations.”
DePape did not testify during the three-week state trial. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Paul Pelosi testified that on the night of the attack, DePape woke him by asking, “Are you Paul Pelosi?” and had a hammer and zip ties, according to San Francisco ABC station KGO.
“He seemed very intent on what he was going to do,” Paul Pelosi said, according to KGO.
DePape apologized for the attack during his sentencing hearing in the federal case.
“I’m sorry for what I did, especially what I did to Paul Pelosi,” he said during the resentencing hearing, according to KGO. “I should have just left the house when I realized Nancy Pelosi wasn’t home.”
A federal jury found DePape guilty in November 2023 of attempted kidnapping of a federal officer or employee, and assault of an immediate family member of a federal official.
After a judge sentenced DePape to 30 years in federal prison in May, the sentencing was reopened when prosecutors noted that the defendant was never formally given the opportunity to address the court during his sentencing. He was again sentenced to 30 years in prison at a subsequent hearing.
DePape admitted during the federal trial that he was looking for Nancy Pelosi to question her about Russian influence on the 2016 election and planned to hold her hostage, but only Paul Pelosi was at their San Francisco home when he broke in on Oct. 28, 2022.
Paul Pelosi said on the stand during the federal trial that DePape repeatedly asked him, “Where is Nancy?”
DePape hit Paul Pelosi, then 82 years old, with a hammer, causing major injuries, including a skull fracture, but told the court that Paul Pelosi was “never my target.”
“I’m sorry that he got hurt,” DePape said during the federal trial. “I reacted because my plan was basically ruined.”
The incident was captured on police body camera video by officers who responded to the scene.
Paul Pelosi was hospitalized for six days following the attack and underwent surgery to repair the skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands.
(UNITED KINGDOM) — The teenage suspect accused of fatally stabbing three children at a Taylor Swift-themed event in the United Kingdom in July now faces a terror charge for allegedly possessing a jihadi training manual, police said Tuesday.
The suspect — Axel Rudakubana, aged 18, from Banks in Lancashire — is also newly charged with producing ricin, a deadly poison, police said.
Rudakubana was previously charged with three counts of murder, 10 charges of attempted murder and one charge of possession of a knife in connection with the July stabbing spree in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool.
The two new charges announced Tuesday “relate to evidence obtained by Merseyside Police during searches” of his home, police said. A PDF file entitled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual” was allegedly found, according to police. An unknown substance found in the home was also determined through testing to be ricin, police said.
“Following the announcement of the further charges today I wanted to reassure the public of Southport, and Merseyside, that we are committed to achieving justice for the families of Bebe, Elsie and Alice, the 10 victims who were injured at the Hart Space in Southport on that Monday, in July, and the other 16 people who were present,” Chief Constable Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said in a statement Tuesday.
Rudakubana is scheduled to have a virtual court appearance on Wednesday, police said.
Kennedy said police have not declared the attack a “terrorist incident” and cautioned the public against speculating on a motive in the case.
“I recognize that the new charges may lead to speculation,” she said. “The matter for which Axel Rudakubana has been charged with under the Terrorism Act does not require motive to be established. For a matter to be declared a terrorist incident, motivation would need to be established.”
Merseyside police said the children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school when the attack occurred.
Kennedy said no ricin was found at the site.
“We have worked extensively with partners to establish that there was a low to very low risk to the public — and I want to make that reassurance clear today,” Kennedy said.
The trial is scheduled to begin in January 2025.
Swift met with family members of the victims and those injured in the attack while she was performing at Wembley Stadium in August.
(NEW YORK) — The owner of a day care where a 1-year-old boy died of fentanyl poisoning and three other children were sickened pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges, resolving a case that horrified New York City and underscored the scourge of the nation’s fentanyl epidemic.
Grei Mendez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and serious bodily injury, one count of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death and one count of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in serious bodily injury. The three counts carry a minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.
Prosecutors said the children were poisoned because Mendez, her husband and a co-conspirator chose to operate a large-scale fentanyl packaging and distribution facility inside her day care, which she ran out of a small apartment in the Bronx.
On the afternoon of Sept. 15, 2023, when 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici and another child became unresponsive, prosecutors said Mendez placed a series of phone calls: first to the community center that had referred the children to the day care, then to her husband, and then 911.
Moments after Mendez called 911, but before emergency personnel arrived, prosecutors said her husband was seen on surveillance camera rushing through the front door and then leaving out of the back of the building with two heavy bags.
Nicholas died from the fentanyl and three other children — ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years — were hospitalized and treated with Narcan, police said.
At the day care, authorities discovered a one-kilogram brick of fentanyl, two kilo press machines and two trap doors that revealed concealed compartments under the floor tiles of the playroom, authorities said.
Inside the traps were more than 11 kilograms of drugs, including fentanyl and heroin, as well as tools used to brand, package, distribute and traffic narcotics, the indictment said.
Federal prosecutors said they have surveillance footage and a voice message in which Mendez said that running a day care is not her “thing” in order to prove that the facility was a front for the narcotics operation.
“Grei Mendez has just admitted she conspired to maintain and distribute large quantities of dangerously toxic fentanyl in a Bronx Daycare center, a place where parents expected their children would be protected and safe,” Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement Tuesday.
“This case has shown the senseless collateral damage caused by the fentanyl epidemic, and should remind us all that the demand for illegal narcotics so often puts innocent bystanders at risk while drug traffickers ruthlessly pursue profits,” Williams added.
Earlier this month, Mendez’s husband, Felix Herrera Garcia, was sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal drug charges. The third co-conspirator has also pleaded guilty.
Trump spoke about the rally near the end of remarks at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday that were largely focused on swiping at Vice President Kamala Harris’ record ahead of her speech at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., where she’ll make a closing argument to voters.
“It was like a lovefest, an absolute lovefest,” Trump said. “It was my honor to be involved.”
“Many people have used [Madison Square Garden] but nobody’s ever had a crowd like that,” Trump later said. “And I tell you what, right now, nobody’s ever had love like that. That was love in the room and it was love for our country.”
“I don’t know him, someone put him up there. I don’t know who he is,” Trump told ABC’s Scott.
When asked what he made of the comments, Trump didn’t take an opportunity to denounce them and repeated his claim that he hadn’t heard them.
His campaign has said the comedian’s comments don’t reflect the views of Trump or the campaign.
Trump did not take any questions from reporters during the event at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday.
The former president touched on a variety of familiar campaign themes as he hit Harris over her record on immigration and the economy.
He also began his remarks by repeating falsehoods about the election, claiming Democrats “stole” it when President Joe Biden stepped aside and Harris was nominated as the party’s nominee. He also suggested there were “bad spots” in Pennsylvania, a battleground state considered crucial to the election outcome.
“There are some bad spots in Pennsylvania where some serious things have been caught, or are in the process of being caught, but the election itself is going very well,” Trump said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va.) — A Virginia au pair pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter in connection to the 2023 murders of her employer’s wife and another man.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes’s employer, Brendan Banfield, was charged with murder last month in the case — a year after Magalhaes was arrested and charged.
Prosecutors said Magalhaes and Banfield began an extramarital affair in August 2022, and by the fall of that year, Banfield expressed his desire to “be rid of” his wife, Christine Banfield, according to the plea agreement obtained by ABC News.
Throughout the months that followed, Brendan Banfield would allegedly flesh out this plan, according to the prosecution. However, Magalhaes did not want to continue with at several points, prosecutors said, and allegedly did not believe Banfield would follow through with it, according to the plea agreement.
In the leadup to the double murder, Brendan Banfield allegedly created a profile on the sexual fetish site FetLife, where he found a man named Joe Ryan, the plea agreement details. He then allegedly had Magalhaes call Ryan, pretending to be Christine Banfield, to confirm both were willing to engage in sex at her home with the use of “restraints,” according to prosecutors.
When Ryan arrived at the house in February 2023, Banfield allegedly shot him in the head and then stabbed his wife to death, according to the prosecution agreement. Magalhaes then also shot Ryan, prosecutors said.
Magalhaes then allegedly called 911 and pretended Ryan had been an intruder, prosecutors said.
Magalhaes initially faced second-degree murder charges in connection to Ryan’s death. On Tuesday, Magalhaes pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.
She could face up to 10 years in prison.
Her sentencing is scheduled to take place on March 21 after Banfield’s February trial.
“Today’s agreement marks a significant step forward in this case, and it is an important development in our pursuit of justice for the victims and their families,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said in a statement read outside the courthouse. “Much of the information that led to this agreement cannot be made public at this time due to the upcoming criminal trial against the other defendant in this matter.”
ABC News’ Cristina Corbin, Briana Stewart and Gemma Schneider contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces conducted what it called “precise strikes on military targets” in Iran on Friday in response to the Iranian missile strikes earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and ground fighting continued in Gaza — particularly in the north of the strip — and in Lebanon, with renewed Israeli attacks on Beirut.
90% of Gaza residents face food insecurity, WFP warns
The United Nations World Food Program issued a warning that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza could soon become a famine unless action is taken.
“Restrictions on humanitarian aid coming into Gaza are severe. During the month of October, only 5,000 metric tons of food have been delivered into Gaza, amounting to just 20 percent of basic food assistance for the 1.1 million people who depend on WFP’s lifesaving support,” the WFP said in a statement.
“Meanwhile, Gaza’s food systems have largely collapsed due to the destruction of factories, croplands and shops. Markets are nearly empty as most commercial channels are no longer functioning,” WFP said.
The WFP warned that a large group of Gazans could soon be in an “emergency phase” of need, while others would face “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity.
1 killed in Israel as 200 rockets fired from Lebanon
One person was killed by a rocket in the northern Israeli town of Maalot on Tuesday, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services said.
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that at least 200 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel since Monday night.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
60 people killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon
Israeli warplanes killed at least 60 people and wounded 58 others in successive airstrikes on the Baalbek-Hermel governorate and the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon on Monday night, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
110 killed, dozens missing in Israeli strike in north Gaza, officials say
At least 110 people were killed with more still missing following Israeli strikes on a five-story building housing displaced families in north Gaza on Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
At least 25 children were among the dead and missing, health officials said.
Local journalists reported that the strike hit a residential building in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Tuesday morning.
The only hospital still functioning in the area is Kamal Adwan Hospital, which in recent days has been the focus of Israeli strikes and raids.
Health officials said there are now no doctors capable of performing surgery left at the facility, dozens of medical staff having been detained by the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF is yet to comment on Tuesday morning’s strike.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies and Joe Simonetti
Hezbollah confirms new leader
Hezbollah said in a Tuesday morning statement posted to social media that Naim Qassem was elected as the group’s new secretary general in a vote by its decision-making Shura Council.
Qassem, 71, was born in the Lebanese capital Beirut. He was previously Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, serving in the role since 1991. Qassem has long been a prominent spokesperson for the Iran-backed militant organization.
His election followed Israel’s assassination of former Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in September and his presumed successor Hashem Safieddine in October.
Following Nasrallah’s killing in Beirut, Qassem gave a video address in which he vowed that Hezbollah would continue its fight against Israel despite its significant military setbacks.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz
IDF claims strikes on 150 targets in Lebanon, Gaza in 24 hours
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday it attacked more than 110 targets in Lebanon and 40 targets in the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours.
Hezbollah targets in Lebanon included “launchers aimed at the rear of the state of Israel and weapons depots,” the force wrote in a post to X.
In Gaza, the IDF said it attacked “terrorist cells, military buildings and other terrorist infrastructures.”
UN Secretary-General ‘deeply concerned’ by Israel’s laws banning UN organization
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is “deeply concerned” by the two laws passed by the Israeli parliament Monday concerning the U.N. organization, UNRWA, he said in a statement Monday.
“UNRWA is the principal means by which essential assistance is supplied to Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. There is no alternative to UNRWA,” the UN Secretary-General said in the statement.
“The implementation of the laws could have devastating consequences for Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is unacceptable,” he added.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Netanyahu addresses humanitarian aid in Gaza after UNRWA ban
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement on X Monday after legislation banning the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), a main provider of aid to Gaza, passed the Israeli parliament.
Israel is “ready to work with our international partners to ensure Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel’s security,” Netanyahu said.
“UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities against Israel must be held accountable. Since avoiding a humanitarian crisis is also essential, sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza now and in the future,” the Prime Minister added.
The Israeli government has accused multiple UNRWA members of participating in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and having ties to Hamas. The UN conducted an investigation into the matter after the Israeli government’s initial allegations, and fired multiple UNRWA staffers after the probe, according to the Associated Press.
UNRWA initially fired 12 staffers and put seven on administrative leave without pay over the claims. The UN then fired an additional nine staffers, according to AP.
The laws passed by the Israeli parliament Monday will take effect in 90 days and will likely be challenged by Israel’s High Court.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Netanyahu says Israel would accept 48-hour cease-fire, hostage exchange proposal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would accept a 48-hour cease-fire agreement proposed by the president of Egypt for the release of four hostages, but said he has not received the offer yet.
“If such a proposal were made, the Prime Minister would accept it on the spot,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said in a statement Monday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Israeli parliament passes bills banning UN relief agency in Gaza
Israel’s legislative body, the Knesset, passed two bills ending the Israeli government’s ties to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East on Monday, effectively banning the organization from working inside of Israel or with any Israeli authorities.
The first bill bans UNRWA from operating in Israel, including in east Jerusalem. The bill passed with 92 members of the Knesset voting in favor and 10 voting against. This will also force UNRWA to close its bureau in Jerusalem.
The second bill prohibits any Israeli state or government agency from working with or “liaising” with UNRWA or anyone on its behalf. This applies to any Israeli agency working with UNRWA in Gaza and the West Bank. The bill passed with 87 members of the Knesset voting in favor, and nine voting against.
UNRWA is the main U.N. relief agency operating inside of Gaza. This second bill would ban COGAT, the Israeli agency that manages coordination with Gaza and the West Bank, from working with UNRWA to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Israel has accused many of the members of UNRWA on the ground as having ties to Hamas.
Both bills have a three-month waiting period before they take effect. It is expected that the bills will be challenged Israel’s high court.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called the two bills “unprecedented” and said they set a “dangerous precedent” in a post on X after they were both passed.
“These bills will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell,” Lazzarini said. “These bills increase the suffering of the Palestinians & are nothing less than collective punishment.”
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Jordana Miller
Iran promises ‘bitter and unimaginable consequences’ for Israel retaliation
Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Israel’s strike on Iran will lead to “bitter and unimaginable consequences,” in comments Monday, according to Tasnim News Agency, an Iranian news agency close to the IRGC.
The IRGC chief also said the “illegitimate and unlawful” attack by Israel revealed Israel’s “miscalculation and its frustration in the battlefield in the war against the combatants of the great front of Islamic resistance, especially in Gaza and Lebanon.”
He also offered his condolences to the four Iranian service members killed in the attack.
Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Minister’s Office, said Iran “reserves the right to respond to Israeli aggression in accordance with international law,” IRNA, Iranian state media, reported.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
7 killed, 17 wounded in strikes on Tyre
At least seven people were killed and 17 wounded after Israeli strikes in Tyre, Lebanon, on Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
The Israeli air force struck “Hezbollah weapons and anti-tank missile storage facilities, terrorist infrastructure and observation posts in the area of Tyre in southern Lebanon,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a release.
The IDF’s spokesman to Arab media issued a warning on X for residents in the Tyre area, “specifically to those in the buildings between the streets: Dr. Ali Al-Khalil, Hiram, Muhammad Al-Zayat, Nabih Berri,” to evacuate.
There have been 179 airstrikes and shellings recorded in various areas of Lebanon over the past 48 hours, mostly in “the South and Nabatiyeh,” the Lebanese Prime Minister’s Office said Monday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Ghazi Balkiz
Israeli lawmakers look to stop UNRWA operations
Israeli lawmakers are set to discuss two bills intended to end all Israeli cooperation with UNRWA — the United Nations agency that provides assistance to Palestinian refugees.
If the bills pass, UNRWA could be evicted from premises it has held for over 70 years and have its immunities revoked, majorly restricting its ability to deliver health care, education and other resources to Palestinians.
An Oct. 13 letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli ministers warned that the proposed UNRWA legislation could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and restrict aid to Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Israel alleges that UNRWA is compromised by militants, with Israeli intelligence claiming that around 10% of UNRWA’s Gaza workforce — some 1,200 employees — are Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Israeli operation in Kamal Adwan Hospital concludes, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it completed its raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip where IDF troops have been waging a major campaign.
The IDF claimed that “a number of terrorists — including Hamas terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre — had barricaded themselves inside the hospital.”
The IDF said its troops arrested around 100 fighters from within the hospital compound, “including terrorists who attempted to escape during the evacuation of civilians.”
The IDF said it found “weapons, terror funds and intelligence documents” in the hospital and in the surrounding area.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Iran will not back off in the face of Israeli aggression, Iranian president says
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday his country would stand firm following Israel’s attack on Iran.
“Definitely the free people will not back off in the face of this criminal, blood-thirsty regime. We have always defended the rights of our people and will continue to do so,” Pezeshkian told cabinet members, according to The Associated Press.
Earlier, Iranian state TV reported that Pezeshkian said Iran would respond to Israel “appropriately.”
Israel attacked military targets in Iran on Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles Iran fired on Israel earlier this month, marking the first time the IDF has openly attacked Iran.
Pezeshkian also warned tensions will escalate if Israel’s aggressions and crimes continue.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
Iran calls for UN Security Council meeting after Israel’s retaliatory attack
The U.N. Security Council will meet Monday at Iran’s request after Israel’s retaliatory attack against the country, a spokesperson for the Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. confirmed to ABC News.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Israel’s retaliatory attack a “serious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a flagrant breach of international law,” in a letter requesting the U.N. Security Council meeting.
The letter from Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was sent to the UNSC’s current president and U.N. Secretary General António Guterres.
