All posts tagged: accused

New York Flight Attendants Accused Of Smuggling Millions In Drug Money To Dominican Republic

New York Flight Attendants Accused Of Smuggling Millions In Drug Money To Dominican Republic

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Four flight attendants from the New York City area have been accused of participating in a multimillion-dollar drug money smuggling operation which saw $8 million make its way to the Dominican Republic, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The accused, identified as Jarol Fabio, 35, of New York City; Charlie Hernandez, 42, of West New York, New Jersey; Sarah Valerio Pujols, 42, of the Bronx; and Emmanuel Torres, 34, of Brooklyn, allegedly transported the funds over a span of several years, exploiting their positions as flight attendants to bypass the stringent security measures in place at JFK International Airport. “These flight attendants smuggled millions of dollars of drug money and law enforcement funds that they thought was drug money from the United States to the Dominican Republic over many years by abusing their privileges as airline employee[s],” stated U.S. Attorney Damien Williams. “Today’s charges should serve as a reminder to those who break the law by helping drug traffickers move their money that crime doesn’t pay.” According …

Zelenskiy Dismisses Head of State Guard After Two Members Accused of Assassination Plot

Zelenskiy Dismisses Head of State Guard After Two Members Accused of Assassination Plot

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[ad_1] (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed the head of the state guards on Thursday, two days after two of its members were accused of plotting to assassinate the president. Zelenskiy issued a decree dismissing Serhiy Rud. No successor was identified. The state security service (SBU) said this week it had caught two men, colonels in the state guard service, accused of plotting the assassination of Zelenskiy and other top officials. The SBU said the assassinations were to have been a “gift” for Vladimir Putin as he was sworn in for a new term in the Kremlin on Tuesday. It said the men were recruited by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) who leaked classified information to Moscow. The men, the SBU said, were tasked with finding someone close to the presidential guard who would take Zelenskiy hostage and later kill him. There was no indication at what point the alleged plot had been foiled. Moscow issued no comment on the SBU’s statement. The president, the very prominent leader of his country’s defence more than …

Michigan man accused of making explosives to target Satanic Temple in Massachusetts

Michigan man accused of making explosives to target Satanic Temple in Massachusetts

Published by Sam

[ad_1] GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man carrying explosives traveled to Massachusetts in 2023 and later said he wanted to blow up a building in Salem known as the Satanic Temple, according to a federal indictment. Luke Terpstra was charged in western Michigan with two felonies: transportation of an explosive and possession of an unregistered explosive. “Building explosive devices and transporting them with the intent to injure civilians and damage property puts us all at risk,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said Wednesday. The indictment was filed Tuesday. Terpstra, 30, of Grant, Michigan, is being held in the Newaygo County jail on related state charges. He faces a hearing in federal court next Monday. The court file doesn’t list an attorney yet who could speak for Terpstra. The Satanic Temple in Salem says it doesn’t believe in Satan but describes itself as a “non-theistic religious organization” that supports secularism. There is an art gallery at the site. Terpstra had an explosive device, multiple firearms and ammunition when he traveled to Salem in September, the …

Sudan’s paramilitary RSF accused of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in West Darfur | Conflict News

Sudan’s paramilitary RSF accused of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in West Darfur | Conflict News

Published by Sam

[ad_1] Human Rights Watch says ‘thousands’ killed in attacks last year targeting Masalit tribe and other non-Arab groups. Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias killed “at least thousands of people” in West Darfur state, an international rights group has said, in what it called apparent “crimes against humanity” and “genocide”. In a report published on Thursday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that RSF attacks on the Masalit tribe and other non-Arab groups between April and November 2023 were some of the worst atrocities in the ongoing civil war which started that April. The attacks in el-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, saw entire neighbourhoods housing primarily displaced Masalit communities looted, burned, shelled and razed to the ground. The campaign that amounted to “ethnic cleansing” left hundreds of thousands of people as refugees, HRW said in its 186-page report. The violence, which included mass torture, rape and looting, peaked in mid-June – when thousands of people were killed within days – and surged again in November, it said. Alan Boswell from the International …

YouTube accused of censoring Macklemore’s pro-Palestine song, “Hind’s Hall”

YouTube accused of censoring Macklemore’s pro-Palestine song, “Hind’s Hall”

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[ad_1] YouTube is facing allegations that it has censored Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song, “Hind’s Hall.” The rapper, formally known as  Ben Haggerty, released the track on May 6 on social media in response to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. The song’s title refers to the name given to Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall by student protestors to honor six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israel’s military in February. The accompanying video, which Macklemore also dropped on Monday, has garnered more than 27 million views on X/Twitter alone.  On YouTube, where the video has more than half a million views, users encounter the following message before clicking play: “The following content may contain graphic or violent imagery. Viewer discretion is advised.” Newsweek reported that users under the age of 18 or viewers who aren’t signed into an account are unable to watch the clip. Macklemore in the song argues that the campus protests, which have steadily unfurled across the U.S. in recent weeks, are not the problem. “It’s what they’re protesting/It goes against what our country is funding/Block …

Teacher accused of sex with teenage boys ‘laughed when one said he wasn’t old enough to drive’ | UK News

Teacher accused of sex with teenage boys ‘laughed when one said he wasn’t old enough to drive’ | UK News

Published by Sam

[ad_1] A teacher accused of having sex with two teenage boys laughed and said “Oh shut up! Stop saying that!” when one of them told her he wasn’t old enough to drive, a court heard. Rebecca Joynes also became pregnant by one of the teenagers, referred to as Boy B, while she was on bail for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old known as Boy A, the jury was told. The 30-year-old is on trial accused of six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, including two while being a person in a position of trust. On the second day of her trial on Wednesday, the jury was shown a video of an interview Boy A gave to police officers. He told police he first began interacting with Joynes by phone after she gave him 10 of the 11 digits of her mobile number. Boy A was then able to work out the missing digit to make contact with her. Within days they were exchanging Snapchat messages and after finishing school on a …

Olly Alexander accused of being ‘off key’ during first Eurovision 2024 performance

Olly Alexander accused of being ‘off key’ during first Eurovision 2024 performance

Published by Sam

[ad_1] For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Olly Alexander delivered his first Eurovision Song Contest performance at the first semi-final on Tuesday (7 May), which had some fans raising their eyebrows ahead of the grand final. Alexander, who rose to fame as the lead singer for now-disbanded pop group Years & Years, sang his original track “Dizzy” at the Malmö Arena in Sweden, where the final is being held this Saturday (11 May). The performance featured upside-down locker room staging and a troupe of backing dancers. Some viewers immediately pointed out what they deemed to be a shaky vocal performance from the 33-year-old singer, with one writing on X/Twitter: “Had high hopes for the UK @Eurovision this year with Olly Alexander but it sounded a little ropey at the semi-final just now.” Another remarked: “Let’s be honest. Olly Alexander just doesn’t have the voice.” “Is it me or was Olly Alexander off key all …

U.S. Soldier Is Detained in Russia and Accused of Theft, Officials Say

U.S. Soldier Is Detained in Russia and Accused of Theft, Officials Say

Published by Sam

[ad_1] A man who has been identified by American officials as an Army sergeant was detained in Russia last week after a local woman reported him on allegations of theft, the Russian authorities said on Tuesday. He will remain in jail until at least July, they said. The detention of the soldier, Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, came to light on Monday, when the U.S. State and Defense Departments said that he was being held. He was detained in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok while he was in the process of returning home to Texas, after being stationed in South Korea. Instead of returning directly to the United States, Sergeant Black traveled through China to Vladivostok “for personal reasons,” according to Cynthia O. Smith, a U.S. Army spokeswoman. She said that he “did not request official clearance” and that the Defense Department “did not authorize his travel to China and Russia.” An official with the Russian Ministry of Interior informed the U.S. Embassy in Moscow last week that he had been arrested “for …

Vaughan Gething: Wales’s first minister ‘entirely relaxed’ after being accused of misleading COVID Inquiry | UK News

Vaughan Gething: Wales’s first minister ‘entirely relaxed’ after being accused of misleading COVID Inquiry | UK News

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[ad_1] Wales’s first minister Vaughan Gething has said he is “entirely relaxed” after being accused of misleading the UK COVID Inquiry. Nation.Cymru reported on Tuesday that Mr Gething sent a text message in which he said “I’m deleting the messages in this group”. “They can be captured in an FOI [Freedom of Information request] and I think we are all in the right place on the choice being made,” the message added. The Welsh news outlet reported the message was posted in a ministerial group chat on Monday 17 August 2020. “The message that has been published today is a message from me without the context of the discussion,” Mr Gething said at First Minister’s questions. “I have asked for the screenshot in its full form to be shared with the inquiry so the context can be seen.” Image: A screenshot of a message in which Vaughan Gething says he is “deleting the messages in this group”. Pic: Welsh government Leader of the Welsh Conservative group, Andrew RT Davies, has written to inquiry chair Baroness …

Minnesota woman accused of killing 2 kids, leaving with another, setting house ablaze

Minnesota woman accused of killing 2 kids, leaving with another, setting house ablaze

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[ad_1] BLACKDUCK, Minn. — A woman killed two children in northern Minnesota, set a house on fire and left with another child, according to an indictment announced Monday. Jennifer Marie Stately, 35, was indicted on counts of premeditated murder, murder while committing child abuse, arson, murder while committing arson, and felony child neglect. Her attorney, Paul Engh, said in an email to The Associated Press that there is a “firm basis” for a not guilty plea, but did not elaborate. Authorities did not name the victims, but the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that they were Stately’s children, ages 6 and 5. The indictment said Stately attacked the children with a knife on March 15 at the Red Lake Indian Reservation, set fire to the home, then left with a third child. The Star Tribune said the third child was her 3-year-old son. One of the children died from a stab wound. The other died of smoke inhalation from the fire, according to the indictment and a news release from U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger. An Amber Alert was …