Criminal

Subject of charges remains unclear, after earlier case over congressional testimony was dismissedUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailThe justice department filed new criminal charges against James Comey, the former FBI director, on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.The subject of the charges was not immediately clear and the justice department did not immediately return a request for comment. CNN first reported a new indictment had been filed. Continue reading...

One by one, the pins have been knocked out from under B.C. businessman Fred Sharp: He's been fined tens of millions of dollars for his role in stock-market schemes, he's banned from equity markets in Canada, his bank accounts were frozen. But he still has his freedom, and it's not clear why.

France’s president, who is also co-prince of the micro-state, expected to speak frankly about issue in country with some of strictest abortion laws in EuropeMeanwhile, Macron is visiting the Andorran primary school in Santa Coloma and absolutely loving spending his time with kids, happily posing to pictures with the Andorran flags.Last week, he suggested he would quit politics at the end of his term in May next year, and so we should expect to see more of this sort of legacy-building trips and interventions as he enters the final year in office. Continue reading...

Alleged shooter expected to appear in federal court and could be charged with trying to assassinate TrumpThe suspected gunman who tried to storm the White House correspondents’ dinner was expected to appear in federal court to face criminal charges on Monday.The alleged shooter, identified by law enforcement agencies as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old man from Torrance in southern California, faces charges including assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer. Continue reading...

• The International Criminal Court announced Friday the issuance of an arrest warrant for General Ahmed Hassan al-Madibbo, a prominent Sudan Armed Forces commander, citing evidence of war crimes including extrajudicial killings and enforced displacement in Darfur since April 2023. • ICC prosecutors presented evidence of at least 127 documented extrajudicial executions of civilians and systematic attacks on refugee camps housing over 2 million displaced persons, with al-Madibbo alleged to have direct command responsibility. • Sudan's military government rejected the warrant and accused the ICC of bias toward the Rapid Support Forces militia; the announcement intensified international pressure on Khartoum to cooperate with the court's investigations.

Study of 1,300 campaigners finds arrests, fines and jail terms increase determination of activists to take direct actionThe criminalisation of direct action climate protests in the UK is counterproductive and increases the determination of activists to undertake disruptive demonstrations, according to a study of 1,300 campaigners.New findings suggest arrests, fines and lengthy prison sentences given to nonviolent climate protesters who have blocked roads or damaged buildings may actually radicalise them. The repression of protest could even be one driver of recent covert actions such as the cutting of internet cables, they said. Continue reading...

• The Department of Justice dropped its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Powell regarding the agency's building expenditures, marking a significant development in federal oversight. • The decision came amid broader discussions on Capitol Hill about federal accountability, with both Republican and Democratic representatives weighing in on the implications. • The outcome reflects shifting priorities in federal investigations and debates over Fed governance and spending practices.

Analyst who worked on Internet Watch Foundation report says content exists ‘across all social media platforms’ and is ‘very easy’ to findThe number of commercial child sexual abuse websites has doubled in a year as experts say that criminal gangs are making “huge profits” from online sexual exploitation.According to data collected by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), 15,031 commercial child sexual abuse sites were found in 2025, compared with 7,028 found in 2024, a 114% increase. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Internal concerns over allowing US firm linked to ICE and Israeli military to process highly sensitive data The Metropolitan police has held talks with Palantir that could lead to the London force buying the US spy-tech company’s AI technology to automate intelligence analysis for criminal investigations, the Guardian has learned.Palantir, whose software is used by Donald Trump’s ICE immigration enforcement programme and the Israeli military, demonstrated its systems to senior officers in the intelligence division at the UK’s largest police force last month. Intelligence staff have been tasked with finding intelligence systems that AI could automate to increase productivity. Continue reading...

• Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued criminal subpoenas to OpenAI investigating ChatGPT's role in planning a mass shooting. • The probe examines potential criminal liability for the chatbot in the incident, marking a novel legal action against AI providers. • This development highlights emerging accountability questions for AI systems in facilitating harmful activities.

State attorney general said inquiry will look into whether AI tool offered ‘significant advice’ to campus shooting suspectSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxFlorida’s top prosecutor is to launch a criminal investigation into how the tech company OpenAI and its software tool ChatGPT may influence users’ threats of harm to themselves or others, including whether it “offered significant advice” to a gunman accused of conducting a mass shooting in the state last year.State attorney general James Uthmeier said at a news conference on Tuesday that his office is expanding an examination of OpenAI, saying a “criminal investigation is necessary” and the state had issued subpoenas to the $852bn California-based tech firm. Continue reading...

Under settlement, Sackler family will pay state, local and Native American tribal governments, individual victims and othersSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA judge is expected to sentence OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to forfeit $225m to the US justice department on Tuesday, clearing the way for the company to finalize a settlement of thousands of lawsuits it faces over its role in the opioid crisis.The penalty was agreed to in a 2020 pact to resolve federal civil and criminal investigations it was facing. If the judge signs off, other penalties will not be collected in return for Purdue settling the other lawsuits. Continue reading...

US supreme court files brief order vacating lower court ruling that had upheld rightwing media host’s conviction Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxSteve Bannon, the rightwing media host and ally of Donald Trump, appears likely to have his criminal conviction dismissed.The US supreme court filed a brief order on Monday that vacated a lower court ruling that had upheld Bannon’s conviction and sent the case back to the US court of appeals for the DC circuit for “further consideration in light of the pending motion to dismiss the indictment”. The Trump administration had moved to dismiss Bannon’s conviction. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Justice Jim Henry published data from his own court revealing recent cases took more than a year to reach committalGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Queensland supreme court judge says serious criminal cases are taking “excruciatingly longer” to finalise due to “glacial” delays in the state’s magistrates court, where some matters are spending several years in procedural limbo.Justice Jim Henry, who is based at the supreme court in Cairns, published data from his own court revealing that of 31 recent criminal cases he finalised between November and February, on average each case took more than a year (370 days) in the lower courts before a committal. Continue reading...

Reform UK had asked GMP to investigate after reports of ‘concerningly high levels’ of so-called family votingPolice have found no evidence of criminality in the Gorton and Denton byelection after claims by Nigel Farage that it was “a victory for cheating”.Greater Manchester police (GMP) had been asked by Reform UK to investigate allegations of corrupt voting in the Greater Manchester contest, which was won by the Green party. Continue reading...

Lawmakers consider latest bill that targets trans people for using the bathroom that matches their gender identityIdaho lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it a crime for transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity – even inside privately owned businesses.At least 19 states, including Idaho, already have laws barring transgender people from using bathrooms and changing rooms that align with their gender in schools and, in some cases, other public places. The LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Movement Advancement Project’s tracking of the laws shows that three other states – Florida, Kansas and Utah – have made it a criminal offense in some circumstances to violate the bathroom laws. Continue reading...

Bill Pulte reportedly urges examination of alleged fraud as New York attorney general’s lawyer attacks ‘vendetta’ The Trump administration’s federal housing director Bill Pulte is asking prosecutors to investigate New York attorney general Letitia James for insurance fraud, according to criminal referrals reported by MS Now and CBS News.The referrals to prosecutors in Florida and Illinois allege that James may have committed mortgage insurance fraud. The allegations center on applications made to Universal Property Insurance company, which is based in Florida, and Allstate in Illinois. Continue reading...

House to consider amendment that would pardon women in England and Wales affected by prior ‘unjust’ lawsWomen who have been arrested, investigated and convicted under abortion legislation in England and Wales “must not be left behind” if the law is changed to prevent women being criminalised in future, campaigners have said.Last summer, the House of Commons voted to end the criminalisation of women who terminate their pregnancies outside the legal framework, through a new clause in the crime and policing bill. Continue reading...

Ukraine’s president says mass attacks on civilians are no longer the preserve of a ‘madman like Putin’European nations should prepare for attacks by non-state actors including criminal networks, terror groups and lone attackers as drone technology advances, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned.The Ukrainian president said it was no longer just “a wealthy madman like Putin” who could afford mass attacks as he demonstrated the latest technology to British MPs and peers. Continue reading...

Drones aren't yet licensed to carry passengers, but some may already be airlifting wounded personnel off the battlefield and could be employed for smuggling people