Plain News by AI Clear, source-based international news without the spin.

Law & Justice — August 2026

Trump mail-in ballot order allowed for now

The US Supreme Court on Monday lifted a lower court block on parts of President Donald Trump's executive order restricting mail-in voting, allowing the directi…

Syria gives Assad-era cleric Ahmed Hassoun life sentence

A Syrian court sentenced Ahmed Hassoun, the former grand mufti under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, to life in prison on Monday after convicting him of crimes including inciting sectarian strife and exploiting his position. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan said Ha…

US strike kills two on alleged drug boat, US says

The United States military said Monday that it killed two people in a strike on a boat it alleged was trafficking drugs in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. US Southern Command said on X that the Sunday strike targeted a vessel “operating along established narco-tra…

Guo Degang investigated over patriotic song gag in China

Chinese comedian Guo Degang is under investigation after he reportedly made a joke involving a patriotic song during a July performance in Wuhan, the city's culture and tourism bureau said on Sunday. The bureau said the investigation was ongoing, but it was u…

Argentina court overturns ex-nun's sex abuse acquittal

An Argentinian court has overturned the acquittal of Kumiko Kosaka, a former nun charged in a child sex abuse case involving deaf children at the Provolo Institute of Mendoza. The Supreme Court of Justice of Mendoza province reversed Kosaka's 2023 acquittal a…

Japan executes Osaka pachinko arsonist

Japan executed Sunao Takami on Friday for a 2009 arson attack on an Osaka pachinko parlour that killed five people, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said. T…

Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil activists convicted

A Hong Kong court convicted Tiananmen vigil activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung on Friday of incitement to subversion in a national security case linked…

US special forces support Ecuador anti-drug operations

US troops are carrying out joint military operations with Ecuadoran forces against drug-trafficking gangs near the Colombian border, Ecuadoran officials said. Juan Jaramillo, governor of violence-hit Esmeraldas province, said on Aug. 19 that Ecuadoran forces…

Russia issues arrest warrant for German journalist

Russia issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for Michael Martens, a German journalist whose question to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this month caused controversy in Russia, Serbia and Germany. Martens, a reporter for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitu…

Nigeria plans bill to decriminalise attempted suicide

Nigeria plans to send a bill to the National Assembly to decriminalise attempted suicide, Health Minister Ali Pate said. Attempted suicide remains a criminal offence in Nigeria. It is punishable by up to one year in prison under the colonial-era Criminal Code…

Erin Patterson prosecutors seek life without parole

Australian prosecutors asked appeal judges on Thursday to keep convicted mushroom murderer Erin Patterson in prison for life without parole, while Patterson sought to overturn her triple-murder conviction. Patterson, 51, was found guilty in July 2025 of murde…

ABC sues FCC over broadcast license threat

Disney-owned ABC sued the Federal Communications Commission in federal court in Washington on August 18, accusing the US regulator of carrying out a retaliator…

Vietnam ex-MP faces no charges in fatal crash

Vietnamese authorities defended a decision not to prosecute former National Assembly member Nguyen Sy Cuong over a fatal car crash, after days of online outrage. A state television broadcast on Monday night confirmed that Nguyen Sy Cuong was the driver in the…

Sri Lanka ex-minister arrested over king's stone theft

Former Sri Lankan minister Keheliya Rambukwella was arrested on August 18 over allegations that he helped steal a centuries-old carved stone from the palace of Sri Lanka's last Sinhala king, the country's anti-corruption commission said. The Commission to Inv…

Adel Issa extradited to Syria from Lebanon

Syrian authorities have received former Syrian major general Adel Issa from Lebanon after his extradition, Syria's interior ministry said Wednesday. The minis…

Syria sentences Assad cousin Wassim al-Assad to death

A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced Wassim al-Assad, a detained cousin of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, to death after convicting him of multiple murders linked to atrocities during Syria's civil war. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan said the 46-year-old was con…

Thailand reviews pardons after drug trafficker freed

Thailand's justice minister said Tuesday he had ordered a review of pardon rules after 85-year-old drug trafficker Laota Saenlee was released from prison after serving less than a decade of a life sentence. Thailand's corrections department said Monday that L…

Sri Lanka judicial reforms criticised by lawyers

Sri Lanka's government proposed judicial reforms on August 18 that it says would cut a backlog of about 1.1 million court cases, but lawyers and opposition parties criticised the package as a threat to judicial independence. The two bills put before parliamen…

David Warner ordered to use breathalyser vehicle lock

Australian former cricketer David Warner was fined Aus$1,500 and ordered to use a vehicle breathalyser lock after admitting to drink driving. Judge Clare Farnan formally convicted Warner at Sydney's Waverley Local Court on Tuesday, August 18. The court ordere…

Trump sex assault, defamation appeal rejected again

The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn a jury judgment that he sexually assaulted and defamed writer E Jean Carroll. The court did not give a reason for refusing to hear Trump's challenge. It had also refused in l…

Tupac Shakur trial hears revenge killing claim

Prosecutors told a Las Vegas jury on Monday that Duane “Keffe D” Davis ordered the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur as revenge after Shakur and others beat Davis's…

Syria detains seven over custody beating death

Italian police said Friday that paintings by Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse worth more than nine million euros ($10.4 million) have been recovered after they were stolen from a museum in northern Italy in March. The works were taken by masked thieves from the vi…

Iran says Shahram Sadeghi executed in protest case

Iran's judiciary said it executed Shahram Sadeghi on Sunday after he was convicted of running over police officers with a car during anti-government protests in Karaj, west of Tehran, on January 8. The judiciary's Mizan Online website said seven officers were…

Al-Fayed probe data breach prompts Met Police apology

London's Metropolitan Police apologised after email addresses of complainants in the Mohamed Al-Fayed abuse investigation were accidentally visible to other people on a communications list. The force said the breach happened on Tuesday when it sent a monthly…

Chey Tae-won appeals $666m South Korea divorce ruling

Lawyers for SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won said on Saturday that he has appealed a South Korean court ruling ordering him to pay 944 billion won, or $666 million, to his former wife Roh Soh-yeong in a divorce asset settlement. The appeal sends the case back t…

Vienna toilet fees lawsuit alleges sex discrimination

A Viennese woman is suing the city council, alleging discrimination because women must pay to use public toilet cubicles at some facilities while men can use urinals for free. Melanie Gradik, 27, said she decided to act after visiting Vienna's Augarten park w…

Mexico chief justice says he faces anti-Indigenous bias

Hugo Aguilar, Mexico's Supreme Court chief justice, said he faces discrimination every day because of his Indigenous roots, while rejecting claims that he is politically beholden to the country's leftist government. Aguilar is the first Indigenous Mexican to…

Meta lawsuit: US states seek $193bn penalty

A coalition of US states plans to seek about $193 billion in damages from Meta when a trial begins over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were intentionally designed to be addictive for children. Opening statements are due to begin on August 18 in Oakla…

Luigi Mangione blames back injury for CEO killing

Luigi Mangione, who admitted shooting dead UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in Manhattan, used a court appearance to blame a back injury and said his crimes sought to make “health care work better for everyone.” Mangione, 28, was arrested in Pe…

Belgian woman charged over Paris Bank of America plot

A 23-year-old Belgian woman was charged in France on Friday over an alleged role in a foiled March 28 bomb attack on a Bank of America branch in Paris, France's anti-terrorist prosecution office said. The office, known as PNAT, said she was handed over by Bel…

Luigi Mangione admits shooting Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione admitted in a New York courtroom on Aug. 14, 2026, that he shot UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in Manhattan, while pleading guilty to federal stalking charges. "I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died," Mangione said. "I kn…

Luigi Mangione admits shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO

Luigi Mangione admitted in federal court Friday that he shot UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in Manhattan in December 2024, as he pleaded guilty to stalking charges. “On the morning of December 4, I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died,”…

Trump White House ballroom appeal reaches Supreme Court

The Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court on Friday to let it complete a White House ballroom and underground bunker project that lower courts have blocked over lack of explicit congressional consent. Solicitor General John Sauer filed an emergency…

Stolen Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse recovered in Italy

Italian police said Friday that paintings by Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse worth more than nine million euros ($10.4 million) have been recovered after they were stolen from a museum in northern Italy in March. The works were taken by masked thieves from the vi…

Singapore AI sexual abuse image ban starts Aug 17

Singapore will start enforcing legislation on August 17 that creates a new offence for producing intimate images, including AI-generated material, without consent. The home affairs department said offenders can face up to two years in jail, a fine, or both. I…

Paris wife killer jailed for 27 years

A Paris court sentenced a 53-year-old man to 27 years in prison on Friday for murdering his wife and scattering parts of her body in Buttes-Chaumont park in 2023. Park workers found a plastic bag containing remains in the popular northeast Paris park. The wom…

Mexico's Rocha denies hiding over US drug charges

Mexican politician Ruben Rocha Moya, who took leave as governor of Sinaloa state in May, has denied that he is in hiding after a US indictment on drug charges. Rocha Moya wrote on X that he had stayed at his home in Culiacan, the Sinaloa state capital, and th…

David Hearn pleads not guilty in Reflecting Pool case

Former US Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty Thursday in Washington to a felony vandalism charge over alleged damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Hearn, 67, was indicted last week. Prosecutors allege National Park Service employees sa…

BBVA and former chairman to face spying trial

Spain's National Court ordered BBVA and its former chairman Francisco Gonzalez to stand trial over alleged corporate spying involving former police commissioner Jose Manuel Villarejo. The court ruled there was enough evidence for Spain's second-biggest bank a…

Irishman jailed 14 years for US tourist's murder in Hungary

A Hungarian court sentenced an Irishman to 14 years in prison on Wednesday for murdering US tourist Mackenzie Elizabeth Michalski in Budapest. The Budapest-Capital Regional Court found the defendant, identified only as L. T. M., guilty of killing Michalski, a…

Poland jails former Russian activist, wife for spying

A Polish court sentenced a former Russian opposition activist and his wife to prison on Thursday for spying for Moscow. Court documents said Russian citizen Igor R., identified by Russian media as Igor Rogov, was jailed for seven years. His wife, Irina, was s…

EU court says paid criminal records online breach GDPR

The European Union's top court said Thursday that putting criminal conviction records online for payment does not in principle count as journalism and can violate data protection rights. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave the guidance after a Swe…

SAP avoids EU fine with 10-year antitrust pledges

SAP avoided a European Union fine after the European Commission said the German software company had addressed competition concerns through legally binding commitments. The commission, the EU's antitrust regulator, opened an investigation into SAP in Septembe…

Japan flag desecration bill opposed by 148 academics

A group of 148 Japanese legal experts has petitioned lawmakers against a bill that would criminalise damaging the national flag, saying it threatens freedom of expression. The bill, part of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's conservative agenda, says anyone who…

Brazil authorizes expulsion of accused Russian spy

Brazil has authorized the expulsion of Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, a Russian national accused by the United States of espionage, according to a government decision published July 6. The decision did not say which country the 40-year-old would be expelled…

Sri Lanka ex-spy chief accused over Easter bombings

Former Sri Lankan intelligence chief Suresh Sallay remains in custody before a court hearing scheduled for July 10 after the government accused him of directing the 2019 Easter bombings, which killed 279 people and wounded more than 500. Public Security Minis…

Yoon Suk Yeol awaits South Korea martial law ruling

South Korea's Supreme Court was due on July 9 to rule in a case against former president Yoon Suk Yeol over alleged crimes linked to his failed 2024 martial law declaration. The case covers accusations that Yoon obstructed cabinet deliberations, used forged s…

Trump seeks birthright citizenship rehearing

US President Donald Trump said on July 8 that he would ask the Supreme Court to rehear a case on birthright citizenship after the court rejected his effort to restrict the constitutional provision. Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would seek a rehearing “i…

Trump ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $5 million

A US judge ordered President Donald Trump on Wednesday to pay writer E. Jean Carroll $5 million after a civil jury found that he sexually assaulted and defamed her. The order came after the US Supreme Court refused last week to hear Trump's appeal against the…

Trump loses bid to restore Kennedy Center name

A US appeals court on July 8 rejected President Donald Trump's request to have his name restored to the Kennedy Center facade while his administration and the center's board fight a lower-court ruling. Trump's name was removed from the Washington performing a…

Satnam Singh employer jailed for 16 years in Italy

An Italian court near Rome sentenced farmer Antonello Lovato to 16 years in prison on July 8 over the abandonment of Satnam Singh, an injured Indian farm worker who died after a work accident. Singh, a 31-year-old undocumented worker, had his arm torn off and…

Guo Wengui appeals 30-year US fraud sentence

Exiled Chinese entrepreneur Guo Wengui has appealed his 30-year US prison sentence for defrauding thousands of people of more than $1 billion, court records made public on July 8 showed. Guo challenged both his conviction and sentence in a July 2 filing. The…

Chinese doctor jailed in Berlin rape network case

A Berlin court sentenced Chinese doctor Shao Zhiting to five years in prison on Wednesday for his role in an online sexual abuse network that operated under the code name “Driving School for Experts”. The court said the 32-year-old repeatedly gave medical adv…

Harvard antisemitism suit dismissed by US court

A US federal court dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit against Harvard University on Thursday after finding the government had not sufficiently shown that Harvard violated a Civil Rights Act anti-discrimination provision during pro-Palestinian campus ral…

Luigi Mangione says he will plead guilty to stalking

Luigi Mangione, accused of shooting dead UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in Manhattan, told a federal judge on August 14 that he was willing to plead guilty to stalking charges. Mangione, 28, faces stalking charges in the federal system and mu…

Shein loses UK copyright case against Temu

Shein lost a UK copyright lawsuit against Temu after accusing the Chinese e-commerce platform of breaching copyright on photographs of clothing, the High Court in London ruled Thursday. The case concerned product listings on Temu's UK website by third-party s…

US executions: three states set to execute inmates

Tennessee, Oklahoma and Alabama are each set to execute a death row inmate on Thursday, in what the Death Penalty Information Center said would be the first day with three scheduled US executions since 2010. Tennessee is set to execute Anthony Darrell Dugard…

Sher Bahadur Deuba returns to Nepal amid graft probe

Former Nepal prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba returned home on Thursday after six months abroad for medical treatment, while facing an arrest warrant issued in April over money laundering allegations. Deuba, 80, waved to supporters near Tribhuvan airport in…

Boeing 737 MAX victim's family awarded $29 million

A Chicago jury awarded $29 million to the family of Michael “Mick” Ryan, an Irish-born United Nations employee who died in a 2019 Boeing 737 MAX crash, US court papers show. The civil suit was brought against Boeing by Ryan's widow, Naoise Connolly Ryan. Ryan…

Heidi Beirich arrested in alleged $4m SPLC payment case

Heidi Beirich, a former Southern Poverty Law Center executive, was arrested on Wednesday over her alleged role in donor money being secretly used to pay confidential informants in extremist groups, federal officials said. FBI Director Kash Patel said Beirich,…

Colombia authorizes US anti-drug ops, Hegseth says

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Colombia has authorized joint military operations with the United States to target drug traffickers, as Bogota joined a Washington-led anti-cartel alliance. Speaking Wednesday at an anti-cartel conference in Panama, Hegs…

Rob Reiner's son pleads not guilty to murder charges

Nick Reiner, the son of US film director Rob Reiner, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to two counts of murder after grand jury indictments were unsealed in the deaths of his parents. The charges include special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and…

US arrests 11 over alleged sham marriage scheme

US officials said Wednesday that 11 people had been arrested for allegedly organising sham marriages for foreigners seeking US residency, mostly Chinese nationals. Attorney General Todd Blanche told a press conference in Washington that Chinese nationals woul…

Trump sued over paid Truth Social post access

Two US media groups sued President Donald Trump in New York on Wednesday over his move to charge for early access to his Truth Social posts. The Intercept and Freedom of the Press Foundation filed the lawsuit, which describes the paid access plan as “extraord…

Russian jailed, banned from France over Nazi salute

A 19-year-old Russian man was sentenced to eight months in prison and permanently banned from French territory after making Nazi salutes near a synagogue in Sarcelles, north of Paris, prosecutors said Wednesday. He was detained three days earlier in Sarcelles…

Lebanon passes first general amnesty since 1991

Lebanon's parliament passed a general amnesty law on Wednesday, the country's first such measure since 1991, with the legislation expected to benefit thousands of prisoners and wanted people. The office of the parliament speaker announced approval of a draft…

Hong Kong teen gets probation for seditious graffiti

A Hong Kong judge sentenced 19-year-old Leung Kai-lok on Wednesday to 18 months of probation for writing words found to have a seditious intention on a toilet wall, including a slogan used during the city's 2019 pro-democracy protests. Leung, who has autism s…

Japan cosmetic tattoo artists face prosecution threat

Japan's cosmetic tattoo artists face possible criminal complaints if they perform permanent make-up without medical licences, while practitioners argue procedures such as scalp micropigmentation, eyebrow tattooing and lip tinting are art rather than medicine.…

Bondi Beach attack hero Ahmed al Ahmed has charges dropped

Australian police dropped charges Wednesday against Ahmed al Ahmed, the fruit seller praised for disarming a gunman during last year's Bondi Beach mass shooting. Ahmed had been accused earlier this year of stalking and assaulting his father. He denied the cha…

Bukele inauguration plot trial postponed to September

The trial of 11 people accused of planning attacks to disrupt Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's 2024 inauguration has been postponed to September 7, as relatives of the defendants denounced the case outside court. The defendants include three former leftist…

CJNG cartel members sought Czech arms, US says

The US Justice Department unsealed indictments Tuesday against four alleged members of Mexico's Jalisco New Generation cartel, accusing them of seeking to buy arms and ammunition in the Czech Republic. US officials said the four alleged members of the cartel,…

UN says Afghan intelligence arrested 2 staff

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan said two of its Afghan male staff members were detained by the country's intelligence agency in Herat and that it had not been allowed to see them for two days. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said the staff…

Luigi Mangione trial jurors to be anonymous

Jurors selected for Luigi Mangione's New York state murder trial will be anonymous, Judge Gregory Carro said at the final pretrial hearing on August 11, 2026, before jury selection begins September 8. Mangione, 28, is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare chief…

Trump ICC sanctions face rights groups' lawsuit

Four rights groups including Human Rights Watch sued US President Donald Trump in a New York court on Tuesday over sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court, saying the measures block victims of war crimes from seeking justice. The complaint was fi…

Hungary files complaint over Orban social media spending

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar's office filed a criminal complaint Tuesday over millions of euros in public funds spent on social media communications under former prime minister Viktor Orban. Magyar's office said the complaint was filed on suspicion o…

German navy sabotage probe dropped for lack of evidence

German prosecutors have discontinued proceedings against two men suspected of trying to sabotage German navy corvettes in 2025, saying there was not enough evidence to file charges. The two men, a 37-year-old Romanian and a 54-year-old Greek who worked at Ham…

Sara Duterte charged over alleged Marcos death threat

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte was charged with grave threats on Tuesday over an alleged death threat against President Ferdinand Marcos, his wife and a former congressman. Department of Justice spokesman Polo Martinez said the charge was filed in a Q…

Taiwan jails Chinese woman for election infiltration

A Taiwan court sentenced Chinese woman Xu Chunying to seven years in jail on Tuesday after finding her guilty of taking instructions from Chinese Communist Party officials to campaign for candidates in Taiwanese elections. New Taipei District Court documents…

Atif Najib sentenced to death by Syria court

A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced Assad-era official Atif Najib to death after convicting him of crimes against humanity committed when he was head of political security in Daraa province. The court said Najib, a cousin of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad, was…

Bashar al-Assad sentenced to death in absentia

A Syrian court sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia on Tuesday after convicting him of crimes against humanity and war crimes over atrocities during Syria's nearly 14-year civil war. At a court in Damascus, Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan c…

False King Charles death broadcast broke UK radio rules

A false Radio Caroline broadcast announcing the death of King Charles III broke UK broadcasting rules, regulator Ofcom said on Monday. The community radio station apologised in May after messages prepared for the monarch's death were accidentally aired. One m…

Meta destroyed data in Forrest fake-ad case, judge rules

A federal judge in California ruled on August 10 that Meta destroyed or allowed essential data to be erased in Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest's lawsuit over scam cryptocurrency ads that used his image without permission. Judge P. Casey Pitts found the…

Gautam Adani US bribery case dismissed by judge

A US judge has dismissed the fraud and bribery case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani after the Trump administration moved to drop the charges. Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis formally granted prosecutors' May request to throw out the 2024 alle…

USA Swimming CFO Cory Hilliard arrested on theft charges

Cory Hilliard, USA Swimming's chief financial officer, was arrested Monday in Colorado on charges of theft, embezzlement and official misconduct linked to his time as a University of Colorado employee. The Boulder County district attorney's office said prosec…

Nigeria coup suspect says patriotism drove alleged plot

Colonel Mohammed Ma'aji, the alleged ringleader of a failed 2025 coup attempt in Nigeria, told military investigators he acted out of “patriotism” and concern over the country's decline, Premium Times reported Monday. Nigeria's military announced in January t…

Israeli settler accused of abuse barred from most West Bank

The Israeli army said Monday it had banned Tal Yinon Dardik, a settler accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian, from most of the occupied West Bank. West Bank commander Major General Avi Bluth issued an order barring Dardik from all of the territory except…

German killer nurse probed over 139 more cases

German prosecutors are investigating 139 further cases that could be linked to a palliative care nurse already jailed for murdering 10 patients. The man, partially identified by German media as Ulrich S., worked at a hospital in Wuerselen near Aachen. He was…

Ashraf Dabbour family urges Lebanon not to extradite him

The family of former Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Dabbour urged Lebanese authorities on Monday not to extradite him to Ramallah over corruption allegations, saying the case should be handled in Lebanon. Lebanon's public prosecutor ordered Dabbour'…

Tundu Lissu treason trial resumes, Chadema says

Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu's treason trial resumed on Monday after a five-month pause over procedural issues, his Chadema party said. Lissu, whose party Chadema was disqualified from the 2025 elections, was detained in April 2025 and charged with…

Italy arrests Berlusconi associate in Ranucci bomb attack

Italian police arrested businessman Valter Lavitola, who had ties to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, over a bomb attack last year outside the home of television journalist Sigfrido Ranucci. Rome's carabinieri police said Lavitola was the alleged mast…

Russian Athletics challenges World Athletics ban at CAS

Russian Athletics said it has lodged a new claim at the Court of Arbitration for Sport challenging sanctions imposed by World Athletics. World Athletics announced in July that it was keeping in place a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes imposed in March 2…

Riad Salameh faces new Lebanon embezzlement suit: official

Lebanon filed a lawsuit on Monday against former central bank governor Riad Salameh over accusations including embezzlement and illegal enrichment, a judicial official told AFP. The official said a judge filed legal proceedings against Salameh and former Bank…

Sri Lanka arrests Rajapaksa ally over alleged death threat

Sri Lankan police arrested Sagara Kariyawasam, General-Secretary of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Podujana Party, on Monday over an alleged death threat against the police chief. Police said Kariyawasam was taken into custody after making a s…

Bangkok bar fire owner faces six charges over 37 deaths

Thai police intend to charge the owner of a Bangkok restaurant and bar over a July 12 fire that killed 37 people, the lead investigator said Monday. Suvicha Salaibatr, owner of Rong Beer Na Lad Phrao, was among dozens of people taken to hospital after the bla…

Tupac Shakur murder trial begins in Las Vegas

Jury selection began Monday in Las Vegas in the trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the former South Side Compton Crips leader accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur. Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison without par…

Meta faces $1.4tn US trial over alleged child harms

Meta is set to face a federal trial in Oakland, California, starting August 12, as four US states seek restrictions and up to $1.4 trillion in penalties over allegations that Instagram and Facebook were designed to addict children. Jury selection is scheduled…

UK subscription traps face new cancellation rules

UK subscription traps will face new cancellation rules from January 2027 as Prime Minister Andy Burnham seeks to tackle hard-to-cancel contracts and misleading discounts, Downing Street said on Sunday. The government said businesses will have to give customer…

Daniel Kinahan charged in Ireland after UAE extradition

Daniel Kinahan was charged in Dublin on Sunday with directing a criminal organisation and was remanded in custody after being extradited from Dubai to Ireland. The 49-year-old Irishman appeared at the Special Criminal Court, where he was told the charge alleg…

Ecuador charges seven in Villavicencio murder case

Ecuador's Prosecutor's Office formally charged seven people on Saturday as alleged indirect perpetrators in the 2023 murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Villavicencio, a legislator known for anti-corruption investigations, was shot dead a…

Daniel Kinahan extradition jet heads to Dubai, RTE says

Daniel Joseph Kinahan, an Irishman alleged by US and European authorities to have led a transnational cartel, was expected to be flown from Dubai to Ireland after an Irish government jet left to collect him, Irish national broadcaster RTE reported Saturday. R…

Lebanon detains Assad-era Syrian officer wanted by Damascus

Lebanese authorities detained Adel Issa, a former Syrian army officer under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, after Damascus issued an arrest warrant accusing him of killing and crimes against humanity, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP. The official said Is…

Apple-OpenAI trade secrets lawsuit escalates

Apple and OpenAI escalated a San Jose, California, court fight over OpenAI's secretive consumer device project after OpenAI called Apple's trade-secret allegations baseless and asked for the case to be dismissed permanently. Apple sued OpenAI last month, accu…

ICC urges Chad, Venezuela to reconsider withdrawals

The International Criminal Court urged Chad and Venezuela on Friday, Aug. 7, to reconsider decisions to withdraw from the Hague-based court, saying the moves could weaken global efforts to end impunity. “The presidency regrets these developments,” the court's…

Trump ballroom halt upheld by US appeals court

A US appeals court on Friday upheld an order halting most above-ground construction on President Donald Trump's planned White House ballroom, but paused its ruling for two weeks so he can ask the Supreme Court to intervene. Trump criticised the ruling as a “n…

Senegal influencers jailed over anti-president comments

Three Senegalese influencers who support ousted prime minister Ousmane Sonko have been sentenced to prison over comments that a court interpreted as targeting President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. The case stemmed from a TikTok video in which the men said they had…

US egg producers to donate 53 million eggs in price case

Three big US food producers have been forced to donate 53 million eggs to American food banks and pay $3.3 million after 17 states sued them over alleged price fixing. New York Attorney General Letitia James accused the businesses of colluding to raise egg pr…

Maradona doctors ignored warning signs, court told

Diego Maradona showed “warning signs” that were not acted on during the home hospitalization before his death in 2020, forensic physician Carlos Cassinelli told the trial examining whether medical negligence contributed to the Argentine football legend's deat…

Ivan Toney charged over London nightclub assault

England striker Ivan Toney has been charged with assault causing actual bodily harm over a reported incident at a nightclub in Soho, central London, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday. Police said Toney, 30, was charged on July 31. The charge relates to a…

Meta ordered to pay $567m in New Mexico child harm case

Meta has been ordered by a New Mexico judge to pay $567 million over five years and change some Facebook and Instagram features after the state said the company created a public nuisance that endangered children. The order follows a March jury finding that Me…

Angel Aguirre arrested in Ayotzinapa student case

Mexican authorities announced the arrest of former Guerrero governor Angel Aguirre on Thursday over alleged evidence tampering in the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa rural teachers college. General Prosecutor Ernestina Godoy said Aguirre…

Awdah Hathaleen killing: Israeli settler charged

Israeli prosecutors charged Israeli settler Yinon Eliya Levi on August 6 in the killing of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen in the occupied West Bank, Israel's justice ministry said. The ministry said Levi, 33, from Ma'on, was indicted on charges of reckl…

Apollo Quiboloy extradition request confirmed by Manila

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that the United States formally requested the extradition of Filipino pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who is wanted in the US on sex-trafficking charges. Department spokeswoman Analyn Ratonel said the request…

Olga Stefanishyna named suspect in Ukraine corruption case

Ukraine’s former ambassador to Washington, Olga Stefanishyna, has been named a suspect in a corruption case, the country’s High Anti-Corruption Court and investigators said Thursday. The court said Stefanishyna had been “notified of suspicion of illicit enric…

Tarun Tejpal sentenced to 10 years in rape case

An Indian court sentenced former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment on Thursday after convicting him of raping a junior colleague in a case that drew nationwide attention. Tejpal, 63, was accused of raping the journalist in the l…

Munich car-ramming: Afghan man jailed for life

A Munich court sentenced an Afghan man to life in prison on Thursday for a car-ramming attack last year that killed a two-year-old girl and her mother and injured dozens of people. The court found the 25-year-old defendant, identified only as Farhad N., guilt…

South Korea FA apologises after referee sex claims

South Korea's Korea Football Association has apologised after allegations that it provided sexual entertainment for foreign referees added to scrutiny over the hiring of former national team coach Hong Myung-bo. The KFA said in a statement posted on August 8…

Chile's Kast seeks tougher organized crime laws

Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast said in a televised national address on Wednesday that he would push Congress to approve reforms aimed at fighting organized crime. Kast said there were more than 30 bills, including some already in Congress, that would cha…

Egg producers to give 53m eggs over price-fixing claims

Cal-Maine Foods, Versova and Hickman's Egg Ranch will donate 53 million eggs to US food banks under a settlement announced on August 5 over price-fixing claims brought by 17 states. New York Attorney General Letitia James said the companies will also pay $3.3…

Andrew Tate extradition moves welcomed by UN expert

A United Nations expert on violence against women and girls has welcomed moves towards extraditing Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, saying no one should be above the law regardless of status or influence. Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violenc…

CJNG cartel members indicted as US rewards top $100m

US authorities announced charges on Wednesday against five high-ranking members of Mexico's Jalisco New Generation cartel, or CJNG, and said reward money for information leading to the arrests of top cartel leaders would rise to more than $100 million. Acting…

Kenyan bank CEOs charged in €2.4m company theft probe

The chief executives of three of Kenya’s largest banks have been charged with failing to report suspicious transactions in a case linked to the alleged theft of more than 2.4 million euros from an insurance company, Kenya’s public prosecutor said Wednesday. T…

Club Med worker charged with rape in South Africa

A French Club Med employee in South Africa has been charged with rape and sexual assault involving a teenage guest, prosecutors said Wednesday. The 35-year-old accused appeared in court on Tuesday and was released on bail of 5,000 rand, about $300, a spokespe…

Germany jails far-right group members over attack plots

A German court sentenced seven members or supporters of the far-right militant group Last Wave of Defence to prison terms of two years and four months to five years on Wednesday. The men, all teenagers or in their early 20s, were convicted in Hamburg of offen…

Sri Lankan pageant contestant fined over python dance

A Sri Lankan court fined a 19-year-old beauty pageant contestant after she danced on stage with an endangered python, a wildlife official said Wednesday. The wildlife department prosecuted Methmi Hiranya after her act five months ago in Colombo went viral on…

Taiwan probes 17 China-funded firms over tech poaching

Taiwanese investigators said Wednesday they had raided dozens of locations in a probe into 17 Chinese-funded companies suspected of illegally poaching high-tech workers from Taiwan. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said more than 300 investigators…

Starbucks Korea says HQ raided in 'Tank Day' inquiry

Starbucks Korea's local operator said Seoul police raided the chain's national headquarters on Wednesday as part of an investigation into allegations that its “Tank Day” promotion defamed and insulted victims of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy uprising. A Shin…

Colombia tribunal charges 27 ex-guerrillas

Colombia's peace tribunal charged 27 ex-guerrillas on Tuesday with crimes against humanity and sexual violence committed during the country's armed conflict. The Special Jurisdiction for Peace, known as the JEP, was created by the 2016 peace deal with the now…

Gianni Infantino accused of blackmail by Jordan FA chief

Jordanian Football Association president Prince Ali bin Hussein accused FIFA and Gianni Infantino of attempted “blackmail”, saying FIFA had withheld prize money owed for Jordan reaching last year's FIFA Arab Cup final. Prince Ali, a former FIFA vice-president…

Rafa Mir loaned to Aris after sexual assault verdict

Sevilla loaned Spanish striker Rafa Mir to Greek side Aris Thessaloniki on Tuesday after a Valencia court sentenced him in June to eight and a half years in prison for sexual assault and bodily harm. Mir, 29, has appealed the verdict, which was issued after h…

Syrian Kurdish pastor released, church official says

Syrian authorities have released Syrian Kurdish Christian pastor Nihad Hassan more than two weeks after he was detained over social media posts, a Kurdish church official in Lebanon told AFP on Tuesday. The official said Hassan was released on Monday evening…

Bangladesh seeks death penalty for enforced disappearances

Bangladesh's government has proposed allowing the death penalty when an enforced disappearance results in death, after an official inquiry recorded more than 1,500 cases during former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's 17-year rule. The draft Prevention and Remed…

Juan Orlando Hernandez stays free in corruption trial

A Honduran judge ruled on Monday that former president Juan Orlando Hernandez can remain free while he faces a corruption trial in Honduras. Judiciary spokesman Carlos Silva said Hernandez was formally charged with money laundering and fraud at the hearing. S…

Trump tariffs face lawsuit from 25 US states

Twenty-five US states sued the Trump administration on Monday over tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent on 60 trading partners, arguing that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority. The states filed the case at the US Court of International Trade in New York.…

Boeing 737 MAX crash trial opens over UN worker's death

A US trial opened Monday over the death of Michael “Mick” Ryan, a United Nations World Food Programme engineer killed in the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crash. A Chicago jury will hear claims from Ryan's survivors to determine damages. The tr…

Ashraf Dabbour arrested in Lebanon over graft case

Lebanese authorities arrested Ashraf Dabbour, the former Palestinian ambassador to Beirut, on Monday ahead of possible handover to the Palestinian Authority over corruption charges, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP. The official said Lebanon's public pro…

Todd Blanche sworn in as US attorney general

Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, was sworn in as US attorney general on Monday after the Senate confirmed him in a 50-49 vote. W…

Central African Republic court resumes criminal trials

The Central African Republic's main court resumed criminal trials on August 3, 2026, after a two-year halt that kept suspects in prolonged custody and worsened prison overcrowding, the court said. The suspension, blamed on financial difficulties, created a ba…

Sandoz settles US drug price claims for $478.5m

Swiss pharmaceutical group Sandoz said Monday it had reached two settlements in the United States worth a total of $478.5 million to resolve long-running generic drug pricing disputes. Sandoz and its subsidiary Fougera Pharmaceuticals agreed with a consortium…

Alleged Archetyp Market founder charged in Germany

German prosecutors said Monday they had charged an unnamed 31-year-old German man alleged to have founded and operated Archetyp Market, a major darknet drug-trading platform. The platform was shut down in an international operation in June 2025. Prosecutors s…

Xenia Fedorova loses French deportation appeal

A Paris court on Monday rejected Russian television commentator Xenia Fedorova's appeal against an order to leave France after authorities accused her of spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda. The Paris administrative court said Fedorova, 45, a former journalist f…

Hong Kong prison guard jailed for inmate assault

A Hong Kong court sentenced former prison officer Tam Lik-chung to three years in jail on Monday for assaulting an inmate who later needed hospital treatment, Hong Kong media reported. Tam had pleaded guilty this year to wounding with intent to do grievous bo…

Kosovo mass grave search expands to third possible site

Kosovo authorities say they have identified a third potential mass grave in the country's north, widening an investigation into a suspected 1990s war crime that has already uncovered the remains of 11 people. Excavation work began last week in the Zubin Potok…

Beirut port blast families await indictment six years on

Families of people killed in the Beirut port blast gathered at the port on Tuesday, the sixth anniversary of the explosion, saying they were still waiting for justice as Lebanon's justice minister said the case could move closer to trial within 60 to 90 days.…

Brij Bhushan Singh acquitted; Phogat says wrestlers will appeal

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former head of the Wrestling Federation of India, has been acquitted by a New Delhi court of sexual harassment and stalking charges, his lawyer Rajiv Mohan said Monday. Singh, 69, a former lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra M…

Iran executes two men for spying for Israel, judiciary says

Iran executed Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat on Monday after convicting them of spying for Israel, the judiciary's Mizan news outlet said, amid a rise in hangings over alleged espionage. Mizan said the two men were hanged for transmitting coordinates of sensit…

Alan Jones goes on trial in Australia sexual assault case

Australian broadcaster and former Wallabies coach Alan Jones appeared in a Sydney local court on Monday for the opening day of a trial over sexual assault accusations. The 85-year-old faces 20 charges of indecent assault and two charges of sexually touching w…

Al-Fayed accusers recognised as trafficking victims, group says

Four women who allege they were abused by late Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed have been recognised by the UK's interior ministry as victims of human trafficking, the No One Above advocacy group representing them said. The women, who use the pseudonyms Isabell…

Rabat archdiocese gets administrator amid Romero inquiry

The Vatican has appointed Father Mario Leon Dorado to provisionally govern the Archdiocese of Rabat while the Holy See investigates Cardinal Archbishop Cristobal Lopez Romero, who stepped aside after AFP reported sexual assault allegations against him. In a s…

Trump criticises prosecutor over Reflecting Pool case

President Donald Trump criticised U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro after she sought to dismiss charges against former Olympian David Hearn in the Washington Reflecting Pool case. Pirro filed documents Friday seeking dismissal of the case against Hearn, saying new…