Corruption Ledger

US President Donald Trump berated NBC and ABC as “two of the worst and most biased networks in history”, adding he would support the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in revoking licences to their television stations. The FCC issues licences to owners of television stations, which must be periodically renewed. The networks “give me 97 per cent bad stories”, Mr Trump said in a Truth Social post on Aug 24, “despite a very high popularity and, according to many, among the…

HELSINKI – The captain and two officers of an oil tanker accused of severing five undersea power and telecoms cables when their vessel left Russia and sailed through the Gulf of Finland pleaded not guilty as their trial began in Helsinki on Monday. NATO allies with forces stationed around the Baltic Sea went on high alert after the December 25 incident, one of a string of suspicious cable and gas pipeline outages in the region since Russia invaded Ukraine in…

LONDON – Britain imposed sanctions on one individual and four entities on Thursday under its Iran sanctions regime, saying they are part of a network that supports Tehran’s overseas activities, including “destabilisation” in Ukraine and Israel. The sanctions include an asset freeze on Iranian oil magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, and on four companies operating in the shipping, petrochemical and financial sectors, the foreign office said in a statement. Britain said Tehran relies on revenues from such trading networks to fund…

Ottawa will acquire up to six yet-unnamed vertical take-off and landing aircraft from Canadian manufacturer MDA Space for use aboard the Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class multi-role frigates. Canada plans to acquire up to six domestically sourced uncrewed aircraft to support maritime surveillance and targeting for Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) ships. Ottawa on 5 August announced it has awarded procurement contracts to Ontario-based MDA Space covering a new fleet of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to be operated from the RCN’s Halifax-class…

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two judges and two prosecutors at the International Criminal Court, as Washington kept up its pressure on the war tribunal over its targeting of Israeli leaders. Washington designated Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, and Kimberly Prost of Canada, according to the U.S. Treasury and State Department. ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli…

from the retaliatory-animus dept A federal judge has delivered an extraordinary rebuke to the FTC’s Andrew Ferguson, finding that his investigation into Media Matters was motivated by “retaliatory animus” rather than legitimate antitrust concerns. In a scathing ruling, Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan granted Media Matters’ motion for a preliminary injunction, calling out not just the investigation’s pretextual nature, but the systematic pattern of harassment the organization has faced for accurate reporting. Courts almost never find that federal agencies act with…

We speak with ACLU lawyer Eunice Cho about a new federal lawsuit brought on behalf of immigrants held at the detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” The detainees allege being routinely subjected to human rights abuses, denied due process and access to legal counsel, while families have complained of being unable to find their loved ones “disappeared” into the facility. “These are basic constitutional rights that are afforded to anybody that is held in government custody. And…

ING Belgium INGA.AS is under investigation as part of an ongoing probe into alleged money laundering by former European Union commissioner Didier Reynders – who denies the charge. “The public prosecutor’s office confirms an investigation has been opened. No further comments will be made,” said a spokesperson for the Belgian prosecutor’s department on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report in Le Soir newspaper. The investigation will examine ING Belgium’s role in holding one of Reynders’ bank accounts, which had large sums…

CIBanco filed a complaint against the US Treasury Department before the Federal Court of the District of Columbia, following accusations against it of facilitating money laundering for criminal organizations. With this appeal, the Mexican bank seeks to stop the order issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) at the end of June, which will disconnect it from the US financial system on September 4. The lawsuit was filed on August 17 in the U.S. District Court for the District…

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to resign, intensifying his effort to gain influence over the central bank on the basis of allegations made by one of his allies about mortgages Cook holds in Michigan and Georgia. US Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte alleged in a post on X earlier on Wednesday that Cook had designated a condo in Atlanta as her primary residence after taking a loan on her home…

Decide for yourself based on the facts: Iraq 1997: Nuclear weapons program dismantling is complete. By 2003, US invaded. Ukraine 1991: Ukraine inherits the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world following the collapse of the Soviet Union. 5 years later, it transfers all nuclear warheads to Russia under the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for security assurances. They said “trust us” so I assume everything was fine after that. Libya 2008: Libya completed the dismantling of its nuclear weapons program. 3…

from the seems-bad dept Here we go again. Whenever policy makers insist that there’s some “nerd harder” solution to tricky societal problems, actual experts have to spend a ridiculous amount of time explaining basic realities to them. Sometimes those are realities about the technology. And sometimes it’s realities about the technology. This time it’s age verification’s turn. Steve Bellovin—one of the most respected security researchers out there, and instrumental in showing why “safe” crypto backdoors can’t exist—just published a short…

WASHINGTON – American President Donald Trump revoked the security clearance of 37 current and former national security officials, many of whom worked on Russia analysis or foreign threats to US elections, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Mr Trump has stripped security clearances throughout his administration, including from his best-known rivals like former president Joe Biden. But the actions announced on Aug 19 were a deeper cut, pushing far into the national security establishment. At least…

Washington used the Magnitsky Act, a US law which provides for sanctions against individuals accused of human rights violations around the globe, to impose restrictions on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is presiding over the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s alleged coup plot. Moraes is also the judge which banned the social network X, formerly Twitter, in Brazil last year. “Judge Flavio Dino, of the Federal Supreme Court, suspended the effectiveness of judicial decisions, laws, decrees, and…

Toronto – Air Canada’s flight attendants went on strike on Aug 16, as the airline announced a complete shutdown of operations, creating summer travel chaos for its 130,000 daily passengers. “We are now officially on strike,” the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents Air Canada’s 10,000 flight attendants, said in a statement. Air Canada, which flies directly to 180 cities worldwide, said it had “suspended all operations” in response to the work stoppage. “Air Canada is strongly advising…

After President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., his efforts hit a roadblock in federal court as the city’s attorney general challenged U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s order stripping the local police chief of power. On Friday, Bondi issued a new order that does not take power from the mayor or police chief, but instead says they must provide services Bondi deems “necessary and appropriate.” NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard reports for Saturday TODAY.