French authorities arrest Telegram CEO Pavel Durov at a Paris airport, French media report

The founder and chief executive officer of the messaging service Telegram was detained at a Paris airport on an arrest warrant alleging his platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offences, French media reported Sunday. Pavel Durov, a dual citizen of France and Russia, was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday evening after landing in France from Azerbaijan, according to broadcasters LCI and TF1. Investigators from the National Anti-Fraud Office, attached to the French customs…

France ‘crosses a red line’ by arresting Telegram founder Durov — Rumble chief

NEW YORK, August 26. /TASS/. French authorities have ‘crossed a red line’ after they decided to detain Telegram messenger founder Pavel Durov, Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of Rumble online video platform, said on Monday. “France has threatened Rumble, and now they have crossed a red line by arresting Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, reportedly for not censoring speech,” Pavlovski wrote on his X social network account. “Rumble will not stand for this behavior and will use every legal means available to…

Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Arrested in France

Pavel Durov, founder of the free speech-focused app Telegram, was arrested in France on Saturday allegedly as part of an investigation into his platform for not having enough “moderation.” POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme https://t.co/OkZ6YS3u2P — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2024 From Reuters, “Telegram messaging app CEO Durov arrested in France”: Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on…

Latvian national extradited to US for illegal exports to Russia

A US press release has announced the extradition of Oleg Chistyakov, a Latvian national. Chistyakov has made his first appearance in federal court in Kansas, accused of conspiring “to facilitate the sale, repair and shipment” of US-origin avionics equipment” for use in Russian aircraft. Many of the customers Chistyakov’s supposed scheme shipped to are on the US Commerce Department’s Entity List. Chistyakov allegedly conspired with 2 US citizens, Cyril Greogry Buyanovksy and Douglas Edward Robertson. Both Americans have already pleaded…

Justice Department Announces Civil Rights Investigation into Conditions at Tennessee’s Trousdale Turner Correctional Center

The Justice Department announced today that it has opened an investigation into the conditions at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, a Tennessee Department of Correction facility operated by the private correctional management company CoreCivic. Trousdale Turner, located approximately an hour outside of Nashville, is Tennessee’s largest correctional facility. Based on an extensive review of publicly available information and information gathered from stakeholders, the department has found significant justification to open this investigation, including state audits that have flagged dangerous understaffing and…

Harvey Weinstein will remain locked up in New York while awaiting rape retrial

Harvey Weinstein will remain in custody in New York while awaiting retrial on rape and sexual assault charges in Manhattan, prosecutors confirmed Monday as the former movie mogul made a brief court appearance related to California’s request to extradite him there. But after the New York case is complete, he will return to California to serve his pending 16-year sentence for a separate rape conviction there first, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “Today, defendant Harvey Weinstein…

Shooting at a gathering in Baltimore leaves 1 dead and 7 others wounded, police say

BALTIMORE (AP) — A shooting at a gathering in Baltimore has left one person dead and seven others wounded, police said. It appears that “multiple people opened fire” just after 8 p.m. Sunday in east Baltimore, Police Commissioner Richard Worley told reporters. The shooting broke out on a block near a park but was not confined to a small area, police said. “Officers located multiple victims as well as multiple firearms on the scene,” Worley said. A 36-year-old man died…

Berlin exchanges Nord Stream explosion data with Moscow — German foreign ministry

BERLIN, August 19. /TASS/. Berlin exchanges information regarding explosions at Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines but not the one that may jeopardize the course of investigation, a spokesperson of the German foreign ministry told reporters. “We exchange[information] with the Russian side,” he said. The investigation continues and therefore German authorities believe that interim results should not be reported, the spokesperson noted. The case in point is information that can be exchanged “without jeopardizing investigation thereby,” he added….

British police strip searching children

LONDON (Reuters) – Police in England and Wales strip search a child every 19 hours, sometimes fail to carry out those searches correctly, and disproportionately search Black children, the country’s Children’s Commissioner said on Monday. Strip searches of children became a focal point of broader police conduct concern in 2022 following widespread condemnation of a search two years earlier by London police of a 15-year-old Black girl while she was menstruating, because teachers said she smelt of cannabis at school….

Icahn, firm settle US SEC charges over alleged disclosure failures

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn and his firm Icahn Enterprises LP (IEP) have settled charges for failing to disclose pledges of the company’s securities as collateral for billions of dollars in personal loans, U.S. regulators said on Monday. The firm and Icahn agreed to pay $1.5 million and $500,000 in civil penalties, respectively, to settle the charges, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement. Starting in 2018, Icahn pledged between 51% to 82% of the IEP’s outstanding securities…

Canadian among 6 people missing as yacht sinks off Sicilian coast, Italian Coast Guard says

One man died and six people were missing after a luxury yacht was struck by an unexpectedly violent storm and sank off the Sicilian capital Palermo, the Italian Coast Guard said on Monday. The 56-metre-long sailboat, which was British registered, sank with 22 people on board shortly before sunrise, the coast guard said in a statement. The missing people were of British, American and Canadian nationality, the coast guard said. “The wind was very strong. Bad weather was expected, but…

Germany must answer all questions from Russia regarding Nord Stream pipelines — Lavrov

MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. Germany must answer all questions posed by Russia regarding the terrorist attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a commentary for the daily Izvestia. “[Germany] must answer all questions. First, they must stop categorically refusing to present the facts that they could not but discover. When at least some of the information we demand is not provided through official channels, but pops up in newspaper articles, and simultaneously in three,…

Death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip exceeds 40,130 — health ministry

CAIRO, August 19. /TASS/. The death toll from Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in early October 2023 has exceeded 40,130, with more than 92,700 people being wounded, Gaza’s health ministry said. According to the ministry, as many as 40,139 people have been killed, including at least 40 in the past 24 hours alone. As many as 134 more civilians received wounds during the past day, bringing the overall…

New findings in Nord Stream sabotage case may sway Europe’s perception of Ukraine — expert

NEW DELHI, August 19. /TASS/. Information pointing to the Kiev regime’s involvement in the Nord Stream blasts may impact how the European public sees Ukraine and create difficulties for EU governments, President of the New Delhi-based analytical center Imagindia Institute Robinder Sachdev told TASS. “This report could influence public opinion about Ukraine in Europe, potentially causing future difficulties for European governments if public fatigue over the Ukraine war grows,” he said. According to the expert, information on Ukraine’s involvement in…

Russian law enforcers probe into actions of US journalists in Sudzha — MFA

MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. Russian law enforcement agencies are studying the circumstances related to the actions of journalists of the US daily The Washington Post in Sudzha, the Kursk Region, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told TASS. Earlier, The Washington Post newspaper published an article about the situation in Sudzha, saying that its reporters had entered the territory of the Kursk Region together with Ukrainian troops. “Russian law enforcement agencies are studying the facts and background in connection with…

Water supply crisis getting worse in southern Gaza Strip

DUBAI, August 19. /TASS/. A water supply crisis is getting worse in the southern Gaza Strip as Israeli troops are destroying water wells, tanks and pipes, the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV channel reports. According to the broadcaster’s report from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, four out of the five major tanks in the city have been destroyed. Damage has also been done to wells and distribution networks, leaving the local population with almost no access to clean water. Tensions flared…