Dropped

• EU officials are proposing new sanctions against Russia, specifically targeting the Moscow-based League for Assistance to Defense Enterprises and various military companies. • The measures focus on restricting components used for drones in the Ukraine war, including CNC machines, lasers, and lighting equipment used for reconnaissance and kamikaze missions. • These sanctions aim to cripple the modernization and growth of the Russian military industry by cutting off essential technological supplies.

Prosecutors may face sanctions over redactions to grand jury transcripts linked to four of ‘Broadview Six’ defendantsFederal prosecutors have decided to drop all remaining criminal charges against four people indicted in October after protesting outside a suburban Chicago immigration detention center in the latest such case to unravel for the Trump administration.Andrew Boutros, a US attorney, made the announcement on Thursday after a meeting about redactions made by prosecutors to a set of grand jury transcripts. Boutros told US district judge April Perry he had learned of what happened three weeks earlier.Reuters contributed reporting Continue reading...

Gautam Adani, richest man in Asia, was accused of conspiring to pay $250m in bribes to Indian government officialsThe US Department of Justice is dropping its fraud charges against the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, the richest man in Asia, after he hired a new legal team led by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, according to new reports.In an undisclosed April meeting at the justice department, Trump’s personal lawyer, Robert J Giuffra Jr, said that Adani would invest $10bn in the US economy and create 15,000 jobs if prosecutors dropped the charges against him, according to the New York Times and Bloomberg. Continue reading...

The state’s opposition said case was proof ‘the justice system is broken’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Victorian Labor government says it will “do everything” it can to “toughen consequences” for young offenders after police withdrew 109 charges against a 14-year-old girl, in a case the opposition described as proof “the justice system is broken”.The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had been facing 109 charges, including reckless conduct endangering serious injury, motor vehicle theft and burglary, after an alleged two-month crime spree earlier this year when she was aged 13. Continue reading...

The government’s response to the Murphy report is hardly dynamite. Harm advocates, gambling operators and advertisers are all waiting to see whether Labor’s rhetoric will be matched by action The Labor government decided to release its contentious, much-delayed response to Peta Murphy’s report on gambling on one of the biggest political news days of the year.They dropped it while the nation’s federal political journalists were trapped in budget lockup. Continue reading...

Marat Ganiev will instead be charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice over death of 19-year-old whose body was found in tipFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastProsecutors have withdrawn a manslaughter charge against a man who had been accused of killing a 19-year-old woman and hiding her body in a fridge.Marat Ganiev, 55, was accused of killing Isla Bell in the early hours of 7 October 2024, before hiding her body in a fridge. Continue reading...

Senior manager at supermarket giant gives evidence on day two of case brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer CommissionFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA senior Woolworths executive has defended relaxing rules designed to protect shoppers from misleading discounts by preventing the supermarket or suppliers from “gaming” the “Prices Dropped” promotional program.Woolworths’ chief commercial officer, Paul Harker, gave evidence on the second day of a landmark trial between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Woolworths in the federal court on Wednesday. Continue reading...