Tag: justice

California ban on selling semi-automatic guns to young adults overturned

California’s ban on the sale of semi-automatic weapons to adults under the age of 21 violates the country’s constitution, a US federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. California has in recent years passed several laws tightening the regulation of firearms, which, according to recently released federal data, were linked to more than 45,000 deaths nationwide in 2020. Buyers under 21 years old are already prohibited from purchasing handguns in California, but a new law that went […]

Palace, DOJ say Kerwin Espinosa’s recantation won’t affect drug cases vs De Lima

DOJ says Kerwin not a witness in remaining 2 drug-related cases vs De Lima   (Eagle News) – Malacanang said the recantation of self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa of his allegations against senator Leila De Lima would not hurt the drug case against the senator. “While Kerwin Espinosa appears to have recanted his allegations against Senator Leila de Lima, his recantation will not have any effect on the pending criminal cases against the lady senator,” […]

Johnny Depp says abuse allegations have cost him ‘everything’

  by Chris Lefkow Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Johnny Depp said Wednesday that domestic abuse allegations made against him by his ex-wife Amber Heard had cost him “nothing less than everything” and claimed that she was the one who was frequently violent. Depp, taking the witness stand for a second day of testimony in his defamation case against Heard, said she would regularly insult him and […]

Singapore court dismisses mentally disabled man’s death sentence appeal

by Martin Abbugao SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Singapore’s top court Tuesday dismissed a mentally disabled Malaysian man’s last-ditch appeal against a death sentence, with his family saying they were “devastated” and “shocked” by the ruling. Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 for trafficking a small amount of heroin into the city-state, which has some of the world’s toughest drugs laws, and handed a then mandatory death sentence the following year. He was originally scheduled […]

Four Russians indicted in US for energy sector hacks

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Four Russian agents have been indicted in the United States for hacking attacks targeting the energy sector around the world, including a US nuclear power operator, the Justice Department said Thursday. The Russian hackers targeted thousands of computers at hundreds of companies in 135 countries between 2012 and 2018, the department said. The Justice Department said the targets included a nuclear power facility in the US state of Kansas. […]

Brazil Supreme Court judge lifts ban on messaging app Telegram

Brasília, Brazil (AFP) – The Supreme Court judge who had ordered messaging app Telegram blocked in Brazil reversed the ruling Sunday, after the tech company complied with an earlier decree to make changes to the platform. “Considering that the (court’s requested changes) were fully attended to, I revoke the decision to fully and completely suspend the operation of Telegram in Brazil,” Judge Alexandre de Moraes wrote in a document released by the court. Citing what he […]

Honduran judge grants extradition of ex-president Hernandez to US

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) – A judge in Honduras on Wednesday granted the extradition of former president Juan Orlando Hernandez to the United States where he is wanted for alleged drug trafficking, the Central American country’s Supreme Court of Justice said on Twitter. A judge “decided to accept the request for extradition presented by the Court of the Southern District of New York against ex-president of the republic Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado,” the court said. The […]

Biden admin withdraws Covid vaccination mandate for businesses

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday formally withdrew the Covid vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses that was struck down by the Supreme Court. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said that although it was withdrawing the mandate it “strongly encourages vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by Covid-19 in the workplace.” The conservative-dominated Supreme Court delivered a blow to Biden this month when it blocked his vaccination-or-testing […]

Taiwan woman faces execution over fire that killed 46

  TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — A Taiwanese woman faces the death penalty for allegedly starting the island’s deadliest fire in decades in an attempt to get back at a boyfriend she suspected was cheating on her. October’s inferno in the southern city of Kaohsiung raged through multiple floors of a dilapidated 13-storey apartment block for hours, killing 46 people. Authorities had said the blaze started when a resident, identified by her family name Huang, left […]

Chile court freezes multi-million dollar lithium deal

SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) – A Chilean appeals court on Friday suspended a million-dollar state lithium tender issued two days earlier that had generated controversy for coming just two months before the end of conservative President Sebastian Pinera’s term. “Bearing in mind that the contested act is in full execution, it is agreed not to innovate, paralyzing the bidding and award process for the lithium, while this appeal is resolved,” said the court in Copiapo in […]

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell convicted of sex trafficking

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty on Wednesday of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell was convicted by a 12-person jury of five of the six counts she was facing including the most serious charge of sex trafficking a minor. The 60-year-old daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell could potentially spend the rest of her life behind bars. Conspiracy to […]

Three white men found guilty of murdering Black jogger in US

by Chris Lefkow WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Three white men were found guilty of murder Wednesday for shooting dead an African American man after chasing him in their pickup trucks, following a racially-charged trial in the southern US state of Georgia that gripped the nation. Travis McMichael, who shot Ahmaud Arbery, his father Gregory McMichael, and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, who took part in the chase, were all convicted of multiple counts of […]