Israel court hears bid to close prison where soldiers are accused of sexually assaulting Palestinian

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JERUSALEM — The Israeli Supreme Court considered a petition Wednesday to shutter a desert military prison where soldiers have been accused of abusing Palestinians, as a new video emerged purporting to show the sexual assault of a Palestinian detainee.

Rights groups have been engaged in a legal battle since June to shut down the detention facility, known as Sde Teiman, where Israel has held many Palestinians detained in Gaza during the 10-month war with Hamas. The groups claim that conditions at the facility are grave and that abuse by Israeli soldiers is common, basing their claims on testimony from released detainees and Israeli whistleblowers.

Calls for the prison’s closure ramped up in late July, when Israeli military police arrested 10 soldiers from Sde Teiman on suspicion of their involvement in the alleged sexual assault of a Palestinian detainee at the facility. Five of the soldiers are no longer under investigation. A physician who identified himself as the person who reported the attack said last week that the detainee appeared to have been seriously sexually abused.

The soldiers’ detention triggered angry protests by supporters, and at least two government ministers demanded their release. The response underscored tensions between the military command and hard-line nationalists in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who advocate even harsher treatment of Palestinians detained from Gaza.

Defense lawyer Nati Rom told The Associated Press that the soldiers were arrested about a month after the alleged attack and are accused of performing acts of sodomy on the detainee. He said the soldiers used force to defend themselves against a detainee who attacked them during a search, but did not sexually abuse him.

A video purporting to reveal the assault shows a group of masked soldiers wresting a detainee from the ground, where he and other Palestinians appear to be lying face down in a fenced-in pen, their arms cuffed above their heads. The soldiers take the detainee to an area of the pen they appear to cordon off using shields. Footage then shows about eight soldiers and a dog with the detainee, largely hidden from view by shields held up by some of the soldiers. Israel’s Channel 12 news, which broadcast the video, said it captures the moment of the attack.

Two soldiers who formerly worked at the facility and requested anonymity for fear of retribution told the AP they believed the video had been taken at Sde Teiman. The room in which the detainees appear, a corral topped by barbed wire, matches photos of the facility shared with the AP and the description of incarceration conditions that whistleblowers have previously described.

Military prosecutors stated that evidence brought forth in the case indicates “a reasonable suspicion of the commission of the acts,” the Israeli military said Tuesday. The military did not comment on the video.

U.S. officials have seen the video, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Wednesday. He called the reports of sexual abuse “horrific.”

“Prisoners’ human rights need to be respected in all cases and when there are alleged violations, the government of Israel needs to take steps to investigate those who are alleged to have committed abuses and, if appropriate, hold them accountable,” Miller said.

Meanwhile, more information about the case has come to light from a doctor who treated the detainee in question.

Dr. Yoel Donchin, an Israeli anesthesiologist at the field hospital for Palestinian detainees at Sde Teiman, came forward Friday as the person who reported the case to the military authorities.

In an interview with Israeli public broadcaster Kan, Donchin said the detainee’s life was in danger and that he was in need of emergency surgery after the attack.

During the interview, Donchin confirmed information attributed to an unidentified medical official who said the detainee had fractured ribs, showed signs of beating and bore evidence of being sodomized, leading to a tear in the lower part of the intestines.

Donchin said the detainee’s case was the most extreme he had witnessed since working at the facility.

Naji Abbas, a case manager with the Israeli Physicians for Human Rights, said the detainee was transferred to a civilian hospital outside Sde Teiman about a month ago because his injuries were too severe for treatment at the military facility. Abbas received his information from a medical source with knowledge of the case.

In a written submission to the Israeli Supreme Court in advance of Wednesday’s hearing, state attorneys did not mention the military’s sexual assault investigation, but insisted the rights groups’ claims of deplorable conditions were inaccurate.

The Israeli organization arguing in court for the military prison’s closure, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, had alleged that detainees at the facility are punished with severe violence, including with attack dogs and sexual assault; made to sit on the ground blindfolded and handcuffed 24 hours a day; forbidden from moving or speaking and rarely shower or change clothes.

An investigation by the AP into the facility documented how detainees are blindfolded, handcuffed and diapered during medical treatment.

The state, in a written response, said detainees were given sufficient food and water, showered regularly, accessed medical treatment as needed, and were blindfolded and handcuffed because of concerns that they could harm staff. The state said a new wing of Sde Teiman set to open Sept. 5 would improve conditions, including adding a walking area for detainees. Additional improvements are expected to be made later this year, it said.

Following Wednesday’s hearing, the court gave the state a week and a half to provide more information about conditions at the prison.

Sde Teiman was the main military prison holding Palestinians captured in large-scale raids on the Gaza Strip. Israel began moving detainees out of the facility following the rights groups’ petition to shut it down. State filings show 28 detainees remain.

Under Israeli law, Palestinians from Gaza can be held at the facility, and other military detention camps, without a detention order, trial or charge for over a month. Many Palestinian detainees have spent weeks in the facility before being released back to Gaza after Israeli authorities deemed them unaffiliated with Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist group by the U.S., Canada, and the European Union.

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Associated Press reporters Tia Goldenberg and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Jack Jeffery in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Twins lose game, series — and maybe Joe Ryan — in 8-2 setback to Cubs

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CHICAGO — The Twins dropped the rubber match of a three-game set to the Cubs, 8-2, on Wednesday afternoon.

That was the least of their worries.

Starter Joe Ryan, the right-hander who has been the Twins’ No. 2 starter all season, left the game after calling for the trainer four pitches into his third inning of work at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs were up 2-1 and Ryan had faced one over the minimum with a pair of strikeouts, but after throwing an 83.3 mph splitter to Pete Crow-Armstrong for a ball, he stepped off the mound and signaled to the dugout.

Michael Busch and Ian Happ homered for the Cubs, and Selya Suzuki and Isaac Paredes drove in runs with a bases-loaded walk and sacrifice fly, respectively, as Chicago won for the fifth time in seven games.

The Twins, who have a big four-game series this weekend against Cleveland at Target Field, were planning to call Louie Varland up from Class AAA St. Paul to make one of the starts in Friday’s double-header — Bailey Ober will throw the other — but now Minnesota might need a longer-term rotation replacement.

The immediate diagnosis for Ryan was tightness in the triceps, which commonly presents as elbow pain.

Pending the Guardians’ game against Arizona on Wednesday evening, the second-place Twins were four games behind Cleveland in the American League Central, and 0-5 against the Guardians this season.

The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the first when Matt Wallner drove in Trevor Larnach (walk) with a two-out double off starter Javier Assad. Busch tied it with a home run off Ryan in the Cubs’ half of the inning before Brooks Lee brought home Carlos Santana (single) with a grounder in the second inning.

Then Ryan was done and it all kind of unraveled.

Trevor Richards (0-1) replaced Ryan on short notice and struggled. He walked five and gave up three runs in two-third of an inning, one on a wild pitch, one on a walk to Selya Suzuki and one on a sac fly by Paredes.

That erased the Twins’ 2-1 lead, and Happ added a two-run home run off Cole Sands in the fourth inning. The Cubs stole three bases, all resulting runs — one in the third inning, two in the eighth.

The Twins burned through four relievers — Richards, Sands, Josh Winder and Caleb Thielbar — but have an off day Thursday.

It would be a completely forgettable game if it weren’t for Ryan’s anomalous start. Among Twins starters this season, only Ober has been more consistently good than Ryan, who entered the game with a 7-7 record and 3.59 earned-run average and 13 quality starts.

Before Wednesday’s game, manager Rocco Baldelli said Ryan, 28, “has actually improved in almost every area. Everything’s kind of ticked up.”

“So, I think you see more of a compounded effect than just a simple like, ‘Oh, he’s slightly better. He’s just slightly better.’ No, he’s better everywhere you look.”

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Olympics TV schedule for Thursday, Aug. 8

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Here is the Paris Olympics TV schedule for Thursday, Aug. 8.

Highlights include the U.S. women’s water polo team in the semifinals vs. Australia, the U.S. men’s basketball team in the semifinals vs. Serbia and the men’s 200-meter final in track and field.

Thursday, Aug. 8

BASKETBALL

11:30 a.m. EST

USA — Men’s Semifinal

2:45 p.m. EST

USA — Men’s Semifinal

3 p.m. EST

UNIVERSO — Baloncesto

11:30 p.m. EST

USA — Men’s Semifinal

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

11 a.m. EST

E! — Semifinal

Noon EST

NBC — Men’s Semifinal
UNIVERSO — Voleibol

3 p.m. EST

E! — Semifinal

4 p.m. EST

NBC — Men’s Semifinal

11 p.m. EST

NBC — Primetime in Paris (Aug. 8)

BOXING

10 a.m. EST

USA — Men’s Middle, Light Finals & more

1:15 p.m. EST

TELEMUNDO — Medalla de Oro Boxeo

CANOEING

7 a.m. EST

E! — Sprint: Canoe, Kayak Semi, Finals

CYCLING

2:35 a.m. EST

NBC — NBC Late Night (Aug. 7)

DIVING

4 a.m. EST

E! — Women’s 3m Springboard Semifinal

9 a.m. EST

E! — Men’s 3m Springboard Final

10 a.m. EST

TELEMUNDO — Clavados

Noon EST

NBC — Men’s Semifinal

1 p.m. EST

NBC — Women’s 3m Springboard Semifinal

11 p.m. EST

NBC — Primetime in Paris (Aug. 8)

FIELD HOCKEY

5 p.m. EST

E! — Field Hockey, Women’s Kite Final

9:30 p.m. EST

USA — Men’s Gold Final

GOLF

3 a.m. EST

GOLF — Women’s Round 2: Part 1

7 a.m. EST

GOLF — Women’s Round 2: Part 2

HANDBALL

4 p.m. EST

E! — Women’s Semifinal

RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

8 a.m. EST

E! — Individual All-Around Qualification

Noon EST

E! — Individual All-Around: Qualification

SAILING

5 p.m. EST

E! — Field Hockey, Women’s Kite Final

SOCCER

10:45 a.m. EST

TELEMUNDO — Paris 2024 – Fútbol Masculino Medalla de Bronze

SPORT CLIMBING

2:35 a.m. EST

NBC — NBC Late Night (Aug. 7)

5:45 a.m. EST

E! — Men’s Speed, Women’s Combined

SWIMMING

1:30 a.m. EST

USA — Women’s 10km Open Water

6 a.m. EST

TELEMUNDO — Natación y Atletismo

TABLE TENNIS

3:35 a.m. EST

USA — M&W Team: Quarterfinals

7 a.m. EST

USA — Men’s Team: Semifinals

TAEKWONDO

10:30 a.m. EST

USA — W 49kg, M 58kg Bronze/Gold Finals

TRACK & FIELD

4 a.m. EST

USA — Heats: Men’s & Women’s 4x100m & more

6 a.m. EST

TELEMUNDO — Natación y Atletismo

1:35 p.m. EST

NBC — Finals: Men’s 200m & more

2 p.m. EST

UNIVERSO — Atletismo

11 p.m. EST

NBC — Primetime in Paris (Aug. 8)

VOLLEYBALL

6 p.m. EST

USA — Women’s Semifinal

8 p.m. EST

USA — Women’s Semifinal

WATER POLO

8:30 a.m. EST

USA — Water Polo, Weightlifting

1:30 p.m. EST

USA — Women’s Semifinal

5 p.m. EST

NBC — Women’s Semifinal

10:30 p.m. EST

USA — Women’s Semifinal

WEIGHTLIFTING

8:30 a.m. EST

USA — Water Polo, Weightlifting

WRESTLING

11 a.m. EST

USA — M 57kg, W 57kg Freestyle Eliminations

5 p.m. EST

USA — Finals: GR 67kg, W Freestyle 53kg & more

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Olympics: Hopkins’ Joseph Fahnbulleh, Rice Lake’s Kenny Bednarek cruise into 200-meter final

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In two Olympic appearances, Joseph Fahnbulleh is now 2 for 2 at reaching the men’s 200-meter dash men’s final.

The 2019 Hopkins High School graduate punched his ticket to Thursday’s medal round, set for 1:30 p.m. Central, with a second-place finish in his semifinal Wednesday in Paris.

Fahnbulleh, who entered the meet ranked No. 11 in the world in the 200, crossed the finish line in 20.12 seconds, just three-hundredths of a second behind American Erriyon Knighton.

Fahnbulleh’s time Wednesday was sixth fastest among all competitors. Rice Lake product Kenneth Bednarek ran the second-fastest time, winning his semifinal heat in 20.00 seconds. The top time of the day went to Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo. The 100-meter Olympic champion, Noah Lyles of America, is still the gold-medal favorite.

Kenneth Bednarek, centre, of the United States, competes in the men’s 200-meter semifinal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Bednarek claimed silver in this event in Tokyo in 2021, while Fahnbulleh, who runs for Liberia, finished fifth. Lyles is the defending world champion, while Knighton was second at Worlds last year, and Tebogo was third.

Bednarek (fifth) and Fahnbulleh (ninth) were each off the podium in Budapest in 2023, something they hope to change on Thursday. Sub-20-second times will likely be required to finish in the top three.

Fahnbulleh has gone that low before, though not this season. Bednarek owns the second-fastest time this year at 19.59 seconds, which trails only Lyles’ best (19.53). Both of those times were set at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

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