Tag: Region US

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed the director overseeing New York City’s office for asylum seekers, the latest [in an] investigation into the administration of Mayor Eric Adams. Molly Schaeffer, who leads the city’s Office of Asylum Seeker Operations, received the information sharing request from federal authorities Friday morning, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the subpoena. It…

Dozens of people were killed and thousands more injured after two consecutive days of explosions across Lebanon this week that the Shia militant group Hezbollah has blamed on Israel. Pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously on Tuesday afternoon, leaving at least 12 people dead, including two children. On Wednesday, another wave of coordinated explosions affecting handheld radios killed at least 25 people. Almost 3,000 people were wounded in the attacks, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Israel has not commented on…

Israeli soldiers were filmed throwing the bodies of Palestinians off rooftops in the West Bank on Thursday. Videos circulating on social media show Israeli soldiers throwing the bodies of three Palestinians, killed in the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya, off a rooftop on Thursday morning. The footage shows three Israeli soldiers standing on the roof of a building, throwing the… pic.twitter.com/j2b8fMyDKt — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) September 19, 2024 The war crime happened during an assault on the town…

A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot and killed in his courthouse chambers Thursday, and the local sheriff was charged with murder, police said. The preliminary investigation indicates Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times following an argument inside the courthouse, according to Kentucky State Police. Mullins, who held the judgeship for 15 years, died at the scene, and Stines surrendered without incident. Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter said…

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts district attorney on Wednesday appointed a special prosecutor, who has represented James “Whitey” Bulger and other prominent clients in the past, to take on the Karen Read murder case. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement that Hank Brennan will lead the state’s retrial in January. A former prosecutor and defense attorney, Morrissey said Brennan has worked for 25 years in state and federal courts and and has experience “with complex law enforcement…

Eric Adams, New York City’s mayor, has never shied away from his ties to people with checkered pasts. He has defended mentoring a Rolls-Royce-driving bishop with a rap sheet, appointing a friend implicated in a past corruption probe as a top aide in his administration, and dining and partying with felons. […] Now, America’s biggest metropolis faces a political meltdown. Questions about the company Adams keeps have […] engulfed his administration. Homes of several high-ranking city officials were raided this…

NEW YORK (AP) — The top legal adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams resigned abruptly over the weekend, the latest sign of instability in the Democrat’s administration as it deals with multiple federal investigations. City Hall announced Lisa Zornberg’s departure late Saturday night. She had advised Adams and other city officials on legal strategy for over a year and often parried legal questions from the press on his behalf. She was not his personal lawyer. “It has been…

The Dutch data protection watchdog on Tuesday issued facial recognition startup Clearview AI with a fine of 30.5 million euros ($45.6 million Cdn) over its creation of what the agency called an “illegal database” of billions of photos of faces. The Netherlands’ Data Protection Agency, or DPA, also warned Dutch companies that using Clearview’s services is also banned. The data agency said that New York-based Clearview “has not objected to this decision and is therefore unable to appeal against the…

The Justice Department today announced the seizure of a Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft owned and operated for the benefit of Nicolás Maduro Moros and persons affiliated with him in Venezuela. The aircraft was seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to the Southern District of Florida at the request of the United States based on violations of U.S. export control and sanctions laws. “This morning, the Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a…

Panamanian authorities deported a group of migrants to Ecuador on a second flight financed by the United States, as part of an agreement between the U.S. and Panama to discourage irregular crossings and reduce the flow of mostly U.S.-bound migration.The flight carrying 30 Ecuadoreans departed on Thursday evening en route to the coastal city of Manta, Ecuador, Panama’s migration service said, adding the migrants were deported for evading a migration checkpoint on the popular Darien Gap route. Thousands of people…

Pavel Durov, the entrepreneur who founded the online communications tool Telegram, was charged on Wednesday in France with a wide range of crimes related to illicit activity on the app and barred from leaving the country.It was a rare move by legal authorities to hold a top technology executive personally liable for the behavior of users on a major messaging platform, escalating the debate over the role of technology companies in online speech and the limits of their responsibility. Mr….

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…

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…

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…

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 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…