accused

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s executive arm on Wednesday warned that it would take action against any “unjustified measures” after the U.S. State Department barred five Europeans it accuses of pressuring U.S. technology firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.

The Europeans were characterized by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “radical” activists and “weaponized” nongovernmental organizations. They include the former EU commissioner responsible for supervising social media rules, Thierry Breton.

Breton, a businessman and former French finance minister, clashed last year on social media with tech billionaire Elon Musk over broadcasting an online interview with Donald Trump in the months leading up to the U.S. election.

The European Commission, the EU’s powerful executive branch and which supervises tech regulation in Europe, said that it “strongly condemns the U.S. decision to impose travel restrictions” and that it has requested clarification about the move. French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned it.

“If needed, we will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures,” the commission said in a statement, without elaborating.

Rubio wrote in an X post on Tuesday that “for far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose.”

“The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship,” he posted.

The European Commission countered that “the EU is an open, rules-based single market, with the sovereign right to regulate economic activity in line with our democratic values and international commitments.”

“Our digital rules ensure a safe, fair, and level playing field for all companies, applied fairly and without discrimination,” it said.

Macron said that the visa restrictions “amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty,” he posted on X.

Macron said that the EU’s digital rules were adopted by “a democratic and sovereign process” involving all member countries and the European Parliament. He said that the rules “ensure fair competition among platforms, without targeting any third country.”

He underlined that “the rules governing the European Union’s digital space are not meant to be determined outside Europe.”

Breton and the group of Europeans fell afoul of a new visa policy announced in May to restrict the entry of foreigners deemed responsible for censorship of protected speech in the United States.

The four others are: Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, a German organization; and Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index.

Rubio said the five had advanced foreign government censorship campaigns against Americans and U.S. companies, which he said created “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the United States.

The action to bar them from the U.S. is part of a Trump administration campaign against foreign influence over online speech, using immigration law rather than platform regulations or penalties.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Sarah Rogers, the U.S. under secretary of state for public diplomacy, called Breton the “mastermind” behind the EU’s Digital Services Act, which imposes a set of strict requirements designed to keep internet users safe online. This includes flagging harmful or illegal content like hate speech.

Breton responded on X by noting that all 27 EU member countries voted for the Digital Services Act in 2022. “To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is,’” he wrote.

Cook writes for the Associated Press. AP journalist Angela Charlton contributed to this report from Paris.

A Colorado mother who is accused of murdering two of her children has been extradited from the UK to the US, authorities say.

Kimberlee Singler, 37, is alleged to have carried out the attack in Colorado before fleeing to London, where she was arrested in December 2023.

She challenged her extradition at Westminster Magistrates Court – reportedly on the basis that her sentence, if she was convicted, would break European human rights law. But she was unsuccessful.

A district attorney in Colorado confirmed on Tuesday that Ms Singler was back in the US and was in custody. She was being held without bond and was expected to appear in court “in the coming days”.

The district attorney, Michael Allen, said Ms Singler was facing charges of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, three counts of child abuse and one count of assault.

At the extradition hearing in London, the court heard that Ms Singler’s alleged crimes were “committed against the backdrop of acrimonious court proceedings” relating to the custody of her children with her ex-husband.

Prosecutor Joel Smith said police in Colorado Springs responded to a 911 call reporting a burglary at a Colorado residence at 00:29 local time (06:29 GMT) on 19 December 2023.

When officers arrived at the defendant’s address, they found her 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son dead and a “blood-stained handgun”, which was discovered on the floor of the bedroom.

Mr Smith said DNA tests were carried out on the gun and a knife which revealed the presence of mixed profiles matching the children and Ms Singler.

A third child, who has not been named, was found with a serious injury to her neck. She was taken to hospital and survived.

Mr Smith said Ms Singler blamed her husband for the attack, but it was found he had been driving a “GPS-tracked truck” in Denver, giving what the prosecutor described as a “complete and verifiable alibi”.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Adrian Vasquez, the Colorado Springs police chief, said the extradition of Ms Singler was “a significant milestone” in the investigation.

Chief Vasquez added: “I know these acts have deeply impacted this community, and our hearts remain with the victims.”

Four years ago, California startup Theta Labs’ cryptocurrency was soaring, and its future appeared bright when it landed a partnership with pop star Katy Perry.

The Bay Area company had built a marketplace for digital collectibles known as nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, and had teamed up with Perry to launch NFTs tied to her Las Vegas concert residency. Its THETA token jumped by more than 500% in early 2021, reaching a peak of more than $15, making it one of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrencies. Later in the year, the spotlight shone on the company when it announced the Perry partnership.

“I can’t wait to dive in with the Theta team on all the exciting and memorable creative pieces, so my fans can own a special moment of my residency,” Perry said in a June 2021 news release.

Today, like many cryptocurrencies, THETA is 95% off its 2021 peak. It took a hit this week after former executives accused it of manipulating markets to dupe consumers into buying its products. On Tuesday, it was trading at less than 30 cents.

Two former executives from Theta Labs sued the startup, alleging in separate lawsuits that the company and its chief executive, Mitch Liu, engaged in fraud and manipulated the cryptocurrency market for his benefit. Liu retaliated against them after the employees refused to engage in deceptive business practices and raised concerns, the lawsuits say.

Some of the alleged misconduct involved placing fake bids on Perry’s NFTs, engaging in token “pump and dump” schemes and using celebrity endorsements and “misleading” partnerships with high-profile companies such as Google to deceive the public, according to the December lawsuits filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Perry is not accused of any wrongdoing in the suit, and Theta denies the charges.

The lawsuits against Theta Labs are the latest controversy to rattle an industry beset by scandals.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed, and its founder, Samuel Bankman-Fried, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024 after being found guilty of multiple fraud charges. Binance founder and former Chief Executive Changpeng Zhao also got prison time after he pleaded guilty to violating money laundering laws, but President Trump pardoned him this year.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission previously charged celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul and Ne-Yo for promoting crypto without disclosing they were paid to do so.

Theta Labs created a network that rewarded people with cryptocurrency for contributing spare bandwidth and computing power to enhance video streaming and lower content delivery costs. The company describes Theta Network as a “blockchain-powered decentralized cloud for AI, media and entertainment.” The network has two tokens: THETA, used to secure the network, and TFUEL, used to pay users for services and power operations.

The whistleblowers suing Theta Labs are Jerry Kowal, its former head of content, and Andrea Berry, previously the company’s head of business development.

“Liu used Theta Labs as his personal trading vehicle, perpetrating fraud, self-dealing, and market manipulation,” said Mark Mermelstein, Kowal’s attorney, in a statement. “His calculated ‘pump-and-dump’ schemes repeatedly wiped out employee and investor value. This suit is about demanding accountability and proving no one is above the law.”

Theta, Liu and its parent company, Sliver VR Technologies, deny the allegations and “intend to prove with evidence the fallacy of the stories being told in the lawsuits,” according to Kronenberger Rosenfeld, the law firm representing the defendants. The lawsuits are an attempt to paint the company in a negative light in hopes of securing a settlement, a lawyer for the firm said.

Kowal has sued his former employers before. In 2014, he accused Netflix of spreading false claims that he stole confidential information and Amazon of wrongful termination.

The latest lawsuits allege that Liu profited from buying and selling THETA tokens using insider knowledge about partnerships with celebrities, studios and others in the entertainment industry.

“Liu’s true motive in pursuing such partnerships was not to develop a sustainable content business but to generate publicity that could be used to artificially inflate token prices for Liu’s personal gain,” Kowal’s lawsuit says.

Kowal worked for Theta from 2020 to 2025.

In 2020, Liu traded and sold tokens knowing that the company would close a content licensing deal with MGM Studios, according to the lawsuit. After the deal’s announcement, THETA token’s market capitalization increased by more than $50 million in just 24 hours, the lawsuit says.

When NFTs started to take off in 2021, Kowal closed deals with high-profile partners such as Perry, Fremantle Media and Resorts World Las Vegas for the startup’s NFT marketplace.

As part of the deal with Perry, the singer received $8.5 million and additional warrants for the right to license her image and likeness for the NFTs.

To inflate the price and demand for these digital collectibles, Liu allegedly made bids on NFTs and directed employees to do the same. This led to people overpaying for the Perry NFTs.

Representatives for Perry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Multiple examples of alleged manipulation are outlined in the lawsuits. In one instance from 2022, the startup launched a new token called TDROP that employees also received as part of a bonus.

Liu gained control of 43% of the supply of the cryptocurrency, according to Kowal’s lawsuit. When the TDROP token reached a high, he then sold the token, and its price collapsed by more than 90% within months.

Berry’s lawsuit also alleges that Theta Labs announced “misleading” or fake partnerships with high-profile companies such as Google and entities including NASA to pump up the value of the THETA token. Theta paid for Google Cloud products but claimed it was a partner when it was a Google customer, according to the lawsuit.

Aghil Keshavarz is the tenth person put to death for espionage since June conflict with Israel.

Iran has executed a man convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, judicial authorities announced, as Tehran continues a widening crackdown on alleged collaborators following the 12-day Israel-United States-Iran war earlier this year.

Aghil Keshavarz was put to death on Saturday morning after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction on espionage charges, according to Mizan, the judiciary’s official news agency.

The 27-year-old architecture student was arrested earlier this year in the northwestern city of Urmia after military patrols caught him photographing an army headquarters building.

The execution adds to a growing number of people put to death for espionage since the June conflict, with at least 10 executed by September alone.

In September, Iran executed a man it said was “one of the most important spies for Israel in Iran”.

In October, Tehran toughened legislation against alleged spies for Israel and the US, making espionage automatically punishable by death and asset confiscation.

According to the Mizan report, Keshavarz was accused of conducting more than 200 missions for Israeli intelligence services across Tehran, Isfahan, Urmia and Shahroud.

The missions allegedly included photographing target sites, conducting opinion polling, and monitoring traffic patterns at specific locations.

Authorities said he communicated with both Israel’s Mossad and military officials through encrypted messaging platforms, receiving payment in cryptocurrency after completing assignments.

The judiciary said Keshavarz had “knowingly cooperated” with Israeli services with the intention of harming Iran’s Islamic Republic.

The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group has previously disputed similar espionage convictions, saying suspects are often tortured into false confessions.

Israel’s offensive in June involved 12 days of air attacks, including several against Iran’s top generals and nuclear scientists, as well as civilians in residential areas, for which Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles and drones. The US also carried out extensive strikes, on Israel’s behalf, on Iranian nuclear sites during the conflict. According to Amnesty International, Israeli attacks on Iran killed at least 1,100 people.

In response to the June war and protests in recent years over the state of the economy and women’s rights, as well as calls for regime change, Iran has sentenced more people to death.

Dec. 15 (UPI) — The trial for Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan began Monday, with prosecutors playing audio of the judge saying she’ll “get the heat” by showing an undocumented defendant how to leave her courtroom to avoid immigration officials.

Dugan pleaded not guilty earlier this year to federal charges including one count of obstructing and official proceeding and concealing a person from arrest and another of concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.

The case stems from an incident on April 18, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials came to her courtroom and notified her they planned to arrest undocumented immigrant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz. They said she sent the agents to the chief judge’s office before going back to her courtroom, pushing Flores-Ruiz’s case to the front of her docket, then helped him and his lawyer leave from a private jury door.

The ICE agents ultimately found and arrested Flores-Ruiz.

During Monday’s trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Alexander played audio from the day appearing to depict Dugan speaking with the court reporter, Joan Butz, who offers to show Flores-Ruiz the private door. Dugan says, “I’ll do it. I’ll get the heat.”

Alexander said Dugan’s actions were tantamount to formulating an escape plan for Flores-Ruiz, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“The judicial robe the defendant wore that morning did not put her above the law,” Alexander said in his opening statements.

Dugan’s lawyer, former U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic, said the private jury door Dugan showed Flores-Ruiz wasn’t hidden and was less than 12 feet away from the public doors of the courtroom. He said she didn’t seek to thwart ICE agents.

“Not even as far as your jury box,” he said. “There was a federal agent to the left and to the right.”

Biskupic said that instead of arresting Flores-Ruiz, the federal agents chose to follow him outside and arrest him after a foot chase, NBC News reported.

“Now, after the fact, everyone wants to blame Judge Dugan,” he said.

Australian TV network Seven has accused a member of the England staff of a physical confrontation at Brisbane Airport.

England were travelling from Brisbane to Adelaide on Saturday afternoon before the third Test.

While the team moved through the airport, a member of the England security staff attempted to place himself between a cameraman and the squad.

The back-and-forth continued through the airport and the footage was broadcast by Seven.

Throughout the series Cricket Australia has issued instructions to media that teams will not be available for interview in transit through airports and all images should be captured from a respectful distance.

In the Seven report, journalist Tom Wilson said cameraman Nick Carrigan was “well within his rights to be filming” and “respects the unwritten rules of not getting too close”.

A spokesperson from Seven said: “There was an incident at Brisbane Airport involving a 7NEWS camera operator and a member of the England cricket team’s travelling party.

“While conducting routine filming in a public space, the camera operator was physically confronted despite acting respectfully and professionally.

“The safety and wellbeing of our staff is paramount. This matter is being taken seriously and is now being managed through the appropriate channels.”

England have not commented, but it is understood Seven has raised the incident with the touring team.

Cricket Australia has also declined to comment.

The episode comes as England ended their break in Noosa and prepare to return to training on Sunday before the crucial third Test.

England, 2-0 down after defeats in the opening two Tests, must win at the Adelaide Oval to keep their hopes of regaining the Ashes alive.