TV News LIES

Some family members of hostages still held in Gaza are set to be in the audience when Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress on Wednesday afternoon.

“What we're all hoping to hear is that a deal has been completed,” Efrat Moshkoviz told NPR. She is the aunt of Naama Levy, who turned 20 in captivity last month. Footage of Levy being dragged from the back of a truck, bound and with blood on the seat of her pants, became a symbol of the violence women faced while being kidnapped by Hamas-led militants last October.

Christopher Dunn will remain in prison after the Missouri Supreme Court entered a last-minute stay Wednesday evening, essentially pausing a St. Louis circuit court ruling that overturned his conviction on Monday.

The ruling, made by St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser, was put on hold after Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Wednesday obtained assistance from the higher court in halting Dunn’s release.

Dunn has been in custody for more than 33 years after he was convicted of murder and assault in 1991. In Sengheiser's ruling, he found the evidence was lacking and that Dunn was innocent of the charges.

But Dunn remained in custody at the South Central Correctional Center in Licking two days after the circuit judge ordered his immediate release. In a virtual emergency hearing Wednesday afternoon, Sengheiser gave South Central's warden until 6 p.m. to release Dunn or face being held in contempt. He noted that defiance of a court order would not be tolerated.

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In 2021, Liz and Gabe Rutan-Ram decided to take the next step toward growing their family and applied to foster a child. After identifying a three-year-old in Florida who they hoped to ultimately adopt, the Rutan-Rams turned back to their home state of Tennessee to start training to become foster parents.

But their plans quickly fell apart when the Christian state-funded foster care placement agency informed them by email that they “only provide adoption services to prospective adoptive families that share our belief system”. The Rutan-Rams, who are Jewish, were out of luck.

“There’s already emotions playing into wanting to be a parent, and then to have us attacked personally just made it that much harder,” Liz Rutan-Ram told the Guardian.

The Rutan-Rams sued the Tennessee department of children’s services, arguing that a state law permitting private agencies to refuse to work with prospective parents on religious grounds violates the Tennessee constitution’s equal protection and religious freedom guarantees. The case will soon go to trial.

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Thousands of protesters demonstrated around Capitol Hill voicing opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who addressed a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday.

With tensions over Israel’s nine-and-half-month war on Gaza running high, police mounted a huge security operation to seal off the US Capitol from protesters.

Streets in Washington’s downtown area were closed to traffic, while officers experienced in dealing with mass protests were drafted in from the New York police department. The Capitol building itself was ring-fenced off.

“Shut it down,” a large group of protesters chanted as they marched toward the Capitol after blocking a nearby intersection, adding “Bibi, Bibi, we’re not done!” Capitol police deployed pepper spray at protesters they claimed had crossed the police line.

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