Category: Corruption

The Quebec government has turned down federal funding aimed at combatting systemic racism in the criminal justice system, saying it doesn’t agree with the program’s approach. The federal government first offered $6.64-million in funding to provinces and territories in 2021 to improve fairness in the courts. Spread out over five years, the money was aimed at addressing the overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system by promoting the use of race and cultural assessments before sentencing. These assessments…

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…

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…

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…

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.

NEW YORK, August 6 – A U.S. jury deadlocked on Wednesday on money laundering and sanctions evasion charges against the founder of Tornado Cash, a firm that makes cryptocurrency transactions harder to track. The jury in Manhattan federal court could not reach a verdict on charges Roman Storm conspired to launder the proceeds of hacks, including by a sanctioned North Korean government-backed group. But the jury found him guilty of the less serious charge of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money…

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Aug 5 said he believes that banks discriminate against him and his supporters, adding that Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase had previously refused to accept his deposits. They totally discriminate against, I think, me maybe even more, but they discriminate against many conservatives,” he told CNBC in an interview. “I think the word might be Trump supporters more than conservatives.” Mr Trump made the comments when asked about a report by the…

President Trump is pushing for a major redrawing of Texas’s congressional districts to favor Republicans and shape the outcome of future elections, including next year’s midterms. Voting rights expert Ari Berman says this “unprecedented” Republican gerrymandering scheme manipulates an already-gerrymandered map that “limits democratic representation. It already limits representation for communities of color, and now that would be much worse.” The map was released this week, and a hearing is underway today as Republicans try to ram it through.

ROME – Italian police arrested 13 people following a nationwide sweep against Chinese mafia groups, on charges including involvement in crimes such as drug dealing, sex trafficking and aggravated robbery, they said on Aug 4. Raids were conducted in 25 provinces, including Milan, Rome, Florence, Prato and Catania, anti-organised crime police official Andrea Olivadese said. Police reported a further 31 people to judicial authorities without arresting them, and seized 550 grams or around 5,500 doses of “shabu” crystal methamphetamines, and…

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance’s security detail had an Ohio river’s water level raised last week to accommodate a kayaking trip he and his family took to celebrate his 41st birthday on Aug. 2. The U.S. Secret Service said it requested the increased waterflow for the Little Miami River, first reported by The Guardian, to ensure motorized watercraft and emergency personnel “could operate safely” while protecting the Republican vice-president, whose home is in Cincinnati. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said…

BRASILIA – Brazilian banks are scrambling to assess the domestic fallout from sweeping U.S. sanctions against a Supreme Court justice who oversees a criminal trial against an ally of President Donald Trump, as legal teams weigh how the move to isolate the judge financially could ripple through Brazil’s financial system. Justice Alexandre de Moraes is presiding over the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right leader who is accused of plotting a coup to overturn his 2022 electoral loss….

A new study from researchers at X-Lab shows that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband service lacks the capacity to put a serious dent in U.S. broadband. Despite recent efforts by the Trump administration to rewrite a $42 billion subsidy program with an eye on giving Musk billions in taxpayer dollars. The researchers found that given the limited nature of satellite physics, the more people that use Starlink, the slower the network is going to get. That’s not a surprise to…

WHITSTABLE, United Kingdom – Pensioner Chris Stanley became so incensed by water companies dumping wastewater into the sea near his home that four years ago he stopped paying his bills. To his dismay, things have not improved. “They released sewage water last week on Friday, (and) Sunday night, and on Monday, the beach was declared not safe for swimming,” said Mr Stanley, 82, a regular swimmer, whose home overlooks the sea from the south-eastern town of Whitstable. The Southern Water…