The Israeli Embassy in the UK says it is not known if London-born Jake Marlowe has been taken hostage.

A man who evacuated from a town in Iceland after earthquakes put the region on alert for a volcanic eruption said he fears he might never see his home again. Caitlin McLean, from Scotland, was visiting her boyfriend, Gisli Gunnarsson, in Grindavik when they were forced to flee his home at midnight on Friday, packing only a few essential items, to stay with Mr Gunnarsson’s mother in Reykjavik. Police evacuated Grindavik after seismic activity in the area moved south towards the town, with a corridor of magma, or semi-molten rock, now thought to be extending under the community, Iceland’s Meteorological Office said. Ms McLean, 34, captured the moment the furniture and light fixtures shook violently in Mr Gunnarsson’s home on Friday. “At around four on Friday, (the earthquakes) just started being non-stop. Just constant big quakes for hours,” Mr Gunnarsson, 29, told the PA news agency The music composer, who was born and raised in Grindavik, described the situation as “grim”. He said: “First and foremost, the thought that you might never see your home town ever again, that’s tough. “We all rushed out of (Grindavik) so quickly, in a matter of hours, so we didn’t really think at the time that might possibly be the last time we see our home, so that’s been difficult. “It’s a pretty grim situation at the moment.” Ms McLean, an artist, added that the situation has been “difficult” for people to understand. She told PA: “I think it’s difficult for the residents to really process that. “I think everyone’s still a wee bit shocked and it’s not really sinking in there is a possibility they’re not going to be able to go home.” It's a pretty grim situation at the moment Gisli Gunnarsson, resident of Grindavik Ms McLean has urged volcano enthusiasts to avoid the area and “be respectful” to people whose homes have been affected. She said: “I would definitely say there’s been quite a lot of people wanting to fly over (to Iceland), like people that are interested in volcanoes and lava. “They’re trying to keep tourists away because there’s been people already trying to fly drones over the town. “I understand for a lot of people this is a big spectacle, but these people are losing their homes potentially, so just to be respectful.” Mr Gunnarsson said the earthquakes on Friday were the worst he has experienced. “Not even the search and rescue are really going (to the town) at the moment. “The uncertainty is too high and it’s ready to pop at any moment, the eruption,” he said. The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions, said on Thursday it would close until November 16 due to the risk of an eruption.

A train collision with an Escalade SUV at a private railroad crossing, located 20 miles west of Tampa, Florida, resulted in multiple fatalities

A convicted Colorado pipe bomber will receive a fresh trial after spending 30 years behind bars for a string of attacks that killed two people. James Genrich, 60, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the bombings which killed Maria Delores Gonzales, 12, and 43-year-old Henry Ruble in Grand Junction in 1991. Genrich was found guilty in 1993 of three counts of use of an explosive or incendiary device to commit a felony, one count of third-degree assault and two counts of first-degree murder -extreme indifference. He was convicted after a prosecution expert – Agent John O’Neil of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – told the jury that marks on the bombs must have been made by the suspect’s tools, ruling out the possibility of any other tools being responsible. Now Judge Richard Gurley of the 21st Judicial District has ruled that advances in forensics and science mean that the expert’s testimony was flawed, reported The Denver Post. In a 30-page order, the judge ruled that the expert could not accurately say that no other tools could have made the marks on the bomb. The judge ruled that the testimony violated Genrich’s constitutional due process and right to a fair trial. “The court finds that the conclusion that the defendant’s tools caused the cuts to the wires from the bombs to the exclusion of every other tool was a crucial piece of evidence in the defendant’s case and without it, the people’s case would have been almost entirely circumstantial,” the judge wrote. Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein says that his office stands by the tool evidence and plans to appeal the ruling. “There was a lot of other evidence in the case other than that, and that’s part of my disagreement with the decision,” he said. “The evidence in the case was very strong and went well beyond the tool-mark evidence.” Genrich was represented in his appeal by the Innocence Project, a non-profit dedicated to overturning convictions of wrongly convicted prisoners. “Mr Genrich is very pleased that the court granted his request for a new trial,” said Tania Brief, a senior staff attorney on his legal team. The judge set a hearing in the case for 28 July and stated that he intends to formally vacate the conviction for first-degree murder at that time. The pipe bombings started in Mesa County in 1989, with an undetonated device found outside a hotel in April of that year. Three bombs would detonate in 1991, killing the two victims and injuring others. Genrich’s home was raided after investigators received a tip, and they found pliers, fuses, a circuit board and a multi-tool. The jury was also told that Genrich lived within walking distance of two of the three bombing locations, and had been seen in the area. Prosecutors also said that he had threatened to kill in the past and had expressed frustration with women. Genrich is currently being held at the state’s Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Crowley County. Read More Colorado lawmakers sue colleagues over closed-door meetings Could a ‘fake’ same-sex couple force the Supreme Court to revisit a case targeting LGBT+ rights? Automaker Stellantis signs deal company seeking to mine in Nebraska for rare earths needed in EVs

Croatia is battling wildfires as thousands of tourists have fled Rhodes and Corfu amid blazes ravaging Greece. A firefighting plane is dropping water on a mountainside in Župa Dubrovačka in Croatia after a wildfire broke out last night. Almost 100 firefighters are on the scene and several vehicles, according to reports. It comes as 20,000 people had to leave homes and hotels in Rhodes over the weekend as the inferno that began a week ago spread, while over 2,000 holidaymakers returned home by plane on Monday. After the blaze in Rhodes prompted “the biggest evacuation” in Greek history, civil protection authorities warned of “extreme risk” of wildfires on the island of Crete, while around 2,500 people have already been evacuated from Corfu, which has been enduring dozens of blazes. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament on Monday the country was “at war” and said on Tuesday the next days would be difficult, with conditions possibly improving after Thursday. Read More Are Greece wildfires caused by climate change? Wildfires: Is it safe to travel to Greece right now? Britons tell of ‘terrifying’ and ‘traumatic’ experiences amid Rhodes wildfires Firefighters killed in Greece plane crash as yet more record temperatures are forecast

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