arrest

Video footage shared on social media shows two women being arrested at a pro-Palestine demonstration in Berlin. Participants waved Palestinian flags and chanted solidarity slogans amid a heavy police presence.

Ex-intelligence officer Amjad Youssef was seen shooting blindfolded civilians in a leaked video.

Syrian authorities have arrested the main suspect accused of the 2013 Tadamon massacre in Damascus, during which at least 41 people were killed.

Amjad Youssef was arrested following a “tightly executed security operation”, the interior ministry said, adding that surveillance and tracking operations were employed for days across the Al-Ghab Plain in Hama.

Footage circulating on social media showed the moment Youssef was arrested. He is seen handcuffed on the floor and then in a vehicle surrounded by security forces, with traces of blood on his face.

An intelligence officer during the leadership of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Youssef was responsible for security operations in southern Damascus during the Syrian uprising. He has been accused of numerous crimes against civilians.

In 2022, a leaked video appeared to show evidence of crimes committed by Syrian forces. Youssef, whose face appeared clearly in the footage, was seen shooting civilians who had been detained and blindfolded, with their hands bound.

A military recruit filmed the incident and leaked the video, date-stamped on the day of the Tadamon massacre – April 16, 2013, after fleeing war-torn Syria.

The release of the video footage triggered an outcry, with some families recognising their relatives being killed in the video.

Youssef went into hiding after the fall of Assad in December 2024.

The Tadamon district was a battlefront between Syrian government forces and opposition forces at that time.

Youssef was trained in military intelligence and rose through the ranks to become an investigator.

Accountability following the massacre

In August 2023, German police arrested Ahmed al-Harmouni, a friend of Youssef, also accused of taking part in the Tadamon massacre, after a three-year investigation in cooperation with the Syrian Centre for Justice and Accountability.

Syria’s new government began a security campaign to pursue figures of the former leadership, while citizens launched a public fundraising campaign to offer a reward to anyone who could find those accused of atrocities, primarily Youssef.

Since then, several suspects of the Tadamon tragedy have been arrested and confessed to the killings.

Human Rights Watch visited the southern Damascus neighbourhood in December 2024, where it found human remains that showed signs consistent with execution and called on the transitional authorities to preserve evidence of war crimes.

Prosecutors said Friday they have rejected a police request for an arrest warrant for Bang Si-hyuk, chairman and founder of K-pop powerhouse Hybe, who is accused of unfair stock trading, citing insufficient evidence.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office sent back to the police the arrest warrant request filed against Bang earlier this week on charges of fraudulent unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act.

The chief was suspected of deceiving investors in 2019 into selling their shares in Hybe before the company held an initial public offering (IPO), through which he allegedly pocketed about 260 billion won (US$175.28 million) in illegal profits.

“At this stage, there is insufficient evidence to justify the necessity of detention, and we have therefore requested a supplementary investigation,” the prosecution said.

The act prohibits obtaining financial gains through false statements or by using deceptive schemes in connection with financial investment products, such as unlisted shares. Violations involving profits exceeding 5 billion won are punishable by life imprisonment or a minimum of five years behind bars.

Bang has denied the allegation, saying the IPO had followed the law and regulations.

Police first received a tip-off on the allegations in late 2024 and raided the Korea Exchange and Hybe’s headquarters the following year as part of the probe. Bang was banned in August from leaving the country, leading to various restrictions on his activities.

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul recently sent a letter to the police agency asking that it allow him to travel to the United States to take part in K-pop supergroup BTS‘ world tour.

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Three professors at Atlanta’s Emory University in the United States have filed a lawsuit over their arrests during a 2024 campus protest over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Their lawsuit on Thursday argued that the university broke its own free-speech policies when it called in police and state troopers to aggressively disband the protest, making 28 arrests.

“The judicial system would find that Emory failed to protect its students, to protect its staff, to protect the educational mission of the university,” said philosophy professor Noelle McAfee, one of the plaintiffs.

“So this isn’t just about people’s individual rights. It’s our educational mission to train people in free and critical inquiry, to be able to learn how to engage with others, to be fearless.”

Laura Diamond, a spokesperson for Emory, responded that the university believes “this lawsuit is without merit”.

“Emory acts appropriately and responsibly to keep our community safe from threats of harm,” Diamond said in a statement. “We regret this issue is being litigated, but we have confidence in the legal process.”

The suit is just one example of how the nationwide wave of protests from 2023 and 2024 continues to reverberate on elite campuses.

There have been multiple instances where students and faculty have filed lawsuits against universities, arguing they were discriminated against because of the protests.

But the Emory suit is unusual. McAfee and her fellow plaintiffs — English and Indigenous studies professor Emilio Del Valle-Escalante and economics professor Caroline Fohlin — all remain tenured faculty members. None were convicted of any charges.

The civil lawsuit in DeKalb County State Court demands that the private university repay money the three spent defending themselves against misdemeanour charges that were later dismissed, along with punitive damages.

McAfee said she’s suing her employer “to try to get them to be accountable and to change”.

All three say they were observers on April 25, 2024, when some students and others set up tents on the university’s main quad to protest the war. They say Emory broke its own policies by calling in Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers without seeking alternatives.

McAfee was charged with disorderly conduct after she said she yelled “Stop!” at an officer roughly arresting a protester. Del Valle-Escalante said he was trying to help an older woman when he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

Fohlin said that, when she protested against officers pinning a protester to the ground, she herself was thrown face-first to the ground and arrested, suffering a concussion and a spine injury. Fohlin was charged with misdemeanour battery of an officer.

Emory claimed that those arrested that day were outsiders who trespassed on school property. But 20 of the 28 people arrested were affiliated with the university.

The professors said that, after their arrests, they were targeted by threats and harassment, part of a pushback by conservatives who said universities were failing to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitism and allowing lawlessness.

Nationwide, however, advocates say there is a “Palestine exception” in which universities are willing to curb pro-Palestine speech and protest. Palestine Legal, a legal aid group supporting such speech, said Tuesday that it received 300 percent more legal requests in 2025 than its annual average before 2023, mostly from college students and faculty.

McAfee served as president of the Emory University Senate after her arrest. The body makes policy recommendations and has helped draft the university’s open expression policy.

She said she asked then-President Gregory Fenves in fall 2024 why Emory police weren’t dropping the charges against her and others. McAfee said Fenves told her that he wanted “to see justice”.

The open expression policy was revised after 2024 to clearly prohibit tents, camping, the occupation of university buildings and demonstrations between midnight and 7am.

Whatever the policy, McAfee said students are afraid to protest at Emory, saying the university has turned its back on what Atlanta civil rights icon John Lewis called “good trouble”.

“Students know right now that any trouble is not going to be good trouble at Emory, that they could get arrested,” she said. “So students are afraid.”

Former USC and Georgia receiver Zachariah Branch was arrested early Sunday in Athens, Ga., for not moving far enough on a public sidewalk when a police officer asked him to do so.

Branch, widely projected to go in the second round of the NFL draft later this week, faces misdemeanor charges of obstructing public sidewalks, prowling and obstructing a law enforcement officer. According to a police report, he was booked at 1:26 a.m. and released at 3:44 a.m. after posting a $39 bond.

Branch, who led the Southeastern Conference and set a Georgia record with 81 receptions in 2025, was in Athens for Georgia’s spring game on Saturday. He transferred to Georgia after two seasons at USC, where he had 78 catches for 823 yards. He also was a first-team All-American kick returner as a freshman.

The Athens Clarke County police report was obtained by NFL Network:

“A male, later identified as Zacharia [sic] Branch, continued to stand on the sidewalk without making an attempt to move. I continued to give Zacharia Branch verbal commands to move from blocking the sidewalk and advised that if he did not, he would receive a citation for blocking the sidewalk.

“Zacharia Branch smirked, then stepped backwards and to the right, then remained standing upon the public sidewalk, so as to obstruct, hinder, and impede free passage upon the sidewalk as well as impede free ingress/egress to or from the adjacent places of business.

“Due to those actions and Zacharia Branch’s failure to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands, he was placed under arrest for misdemeanor Obstruction of LEO and received a citation for Obstructing Public Sidewalks.”

Branch, 22, declared for the draft one year after transferring from USC along with his twin, Zion, who plays safety for Georgia. Branch was ranked as the nation’s No. 1 wide receiver out of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High and considered a landmark recruiting win for USC coach Lincoln Riley.

Branch, a grand nephew of former Raiders great and Hall of Fame receiver Cliff Branch, established himself quickly with the Trojans, returning a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown in his debut against San Jose State in 2023. He also caught a touchdown pass in the game while accumulating 232 all-purpose yards.

In a Times story in 2023, Branch was lauded by teammates “for his ever-present smile and easy-going nature.”

“I just love the energy every day, it brings a smile to my face,” USC guard Justin Dedich said at the time. “That’s just one of those things. It just shows on the field. It correlates, just his positive energy, his positive attitude and he plays like a beast.”

The timing of the arrest isn’t ideal: The NFL draft begins Thursday. The relatively innocuous nature of the incident shouldn’t greatly impact Branch’s draft status, according to team personnel executives interviewed by NFL Network.

Cue the social media jokes about Branch increasing his draft status because he demonstrated his ability to block …. even if it was a sidewalk.

“‘Willing and eager blocker’ always a good note on a WR’s draft profile,” one person posted.

Others pointed out that ignoring instructions from a police officer at 2 a.m. is an indication of poor judgment.

“Zero self awareness putting yourself in this position a few days before the draft,” a person posted.

April 17 (UPI) — An Irish man who allegedly laundered money and trafficked drugs and firearms throughout Europe was arrested in Dubai after officials in Ireland tracked him around the world.

Law enforcement officials in the United Arab Emirates said in a statement that Daniel Joseph Kinahan was arrested on Wednesday after a joint international criminal investigation, The Guardian and The Washington Post reported.

Officials from both Ireland and the UAE noted that the arrest comes after work in recent years to rein in “serious and organized crime.”

“The arrest comes as part of efforts to combat cross-border crime,” Dubai police said in a statement.

“The arrest followed the receipt of a judicial file from Irish authorities detailing the suspect’s alleged crimes and his involvement in an international criminal organization,” they said.

Kinehan is one of the leaders of the Kinahan Organized Crime Group and the founder of the MTK Global boxing management company.

In addition to Irish authorities, he was also being pursued by U.S. law enforcement because he was “believed to run the day-to-day operations” of the cartel, the Biden administration said when it announced sanctions against the group in 2022.

Officials in Dubai issued an arrest warrant after getting word from Irish authorities as part of a larger operation between Ireland and the UAE to stem criminal enterprises that operated in or through the two nations.

The report from Irish law enforcement had traced in him around the globe, including the use of fake names and other methods of avoiding arrest, and Kinehan was arrested within 48 hours of the the UAE warrant being issued.

Police in France have arrested students at Sorbonne University, Sciences Po and Paris-Saclay University during a sit-in against a controversial anti-Semitism bill that could outlaw criticism of Israel. Lawmakers are set to vote on the ‘Yadan law’, named after a pro-Israel French MP who sponsored the bill, on April 16.

BRITNEY Spears has checked herself into rehab after gentle encouragement from her sons.

The Sun understands she resisted going to an inpatient facility for a month following her arrest for driving under the influence at the beginning of March.

But Britney has finally sought help after a series of heart to hearts with her sons Preston and Jayden, who have rallied around her following the incident.

The news broke early this morning that she had agreed to receive treatment.

Insiders said Britney decided to attend a placement only if it was away from Los Angeles, as she is so suspicious of medical experts there.

A US source explained: “Britney has had some seriously bad experiences in the past when she’s been at her lowest ebb, and is terrified of anyone taking advantage of her.

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“Over the last five weeks, her management team and friends have been trying to persuade her to seek professional help but she expressed deep fears that all facilities in LA were ‘against me’.

“Her deep suspicions about LA’s medical community still stems from her time in the conservatorship controlled by her dad. She always felt that they acted against her will and made her ill.

“However her sons have had several heart to hearts with her in recent days and persuaded her to try somewhere different, out of town, with new experts to assist her.

“Britney has gone to the facility, but has not made any promises about how long her stay will be. Her stay is voluntary so she can check out or walk away whenever she wants.

“Jayden especially has become extremely close to Britney recently and has moved in with her.

“He wants to make sure she is in a good place and mentally strong enough for her court appearance next month.”

Britney was arrested on March 4 after driving erratically and was found to have drugs and alcohol in her system.

The Toxic singer will be told about the extent of charges in court on May 4.

Britney, who has bipolar disorder, famously shaved her head in 2007 and the following year she was put in a conservatorship which put her personal and financial affairs in the hands of her dad, Jamie.

That agreement was terminated in 2021 but it’s not been smooth sailing since then, with erratic social media posts leading many to question her wellbeing.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota county is investigating the arrest of a Hmong American man by federal officers that was captured on video as a potential case of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, officials announced Monday.

Ramsey County Atty. John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said at a news conference they will pursue information from the Department of Homeland Security that they need for their investigation into the arrest of ChongLy “Scott” Thao in January. Ramsey County includes the state capital of St. Paul.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers bashed open the front door of Thao’s St. Paul home at gunpoint without a warrant, then led him outside in just his underwear and a blanket in freezing conditions.

“There are many facts we don’t know yet, but there’s one that we do know. And that is that Mr. Thao is and has been an American citizen. There’s not a dispute over that,” Fletcher said. “There’s no dispute that he was taken out of his house, forcibly taken out of his home and driven around.”

He continued: “Is that good law enforcement, to take an American citizen out of their home and drive them around aimlessly, trying to determine what they can tell them?’”

Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has refused so far to cooperate with other state and local investigations into the killings by federal officers of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Choi said they’re trying to determine whether any crimes were committed that they could prosecute under state or federal law.

“This is not about, any type of predetermined agenda other than to seek the truth and to investigate the facts,” he said.

Agents eventually realized Thao was a longtime U.S. citizen with no criminal record, Thao said in an interview with the Associated Press in January. They returned him to his home after a couple of hours.

Homeland Security later said ICE officers had been seeking two convicted sex offenders. Thao told the AP he had never seen the two men before and that they did not live with him.

Videos captured the scene, which included people blowing whistles and horns, and neighbors screaming at more than a dozen gun-toting agents to leave Thao’s family alone.

The state and the chief prosecutor in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, sued the Trump administration last month to gain access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate three shootings by federal officers in Minneapolis, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

The lawsuit accuses the federal government of reneging on its promise to cooperate with state investigations after the surge of around 3,000 federal law enforcement officers into Minnesota.

Minnesota and Hennepin County have also appealed to the public to share information about federal officers’ potentially illegal activities, given the refusal by federal authorities to provide evidence.

The Trump administration has suggested Minnesota officials don’t have jurisdiction to investigate those cases. State and county prosecutors say they need to conduct their own inquiries because they don’t trust the federal government.

The Justice Department in January said it was opening a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti’s killing, and two officers have been placed on leave, but the agency said a similar federal probe was not warranted in Good’s death.

Vancleave and Karnowski write for the Associated Press. Karnowski reported from Minneapolis.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said a Sudanese man was detained on suspicion of ‘endangering another during a journey by sea to the UK’.

British police have arrested a Sudanese man on suspicion of “endangering another” person after four people died while trying to cross the English Channel from France.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Friday that a 27-year-old man, who remains unnamed, was detained at a migrant processing centre in Manston, southern England.

According to an NCA statement, the suspect was arrested on suspicion of “endangering another during a journey by sea to the UK” under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act.

The arrest comes a day after two men and two women were swept away by the current after trying to board a small boat with dozens of others off the coast of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, near Calais in northern France, on Thursday.

So-called water-taxis are inflatable boats that cruise along the coastline picking up migrants and refugees who wade into shallow waters to climb on board, in a method to avoid security forces from stopping the boats from launching.

Last week, two men, one Sudanese and the other Afghan, died trying to make a similar crossing in the first reported deaths in the Channel this year.

The NCA said the suspect was being held and interviewed by officers who are also speaking to those who made the journey, which included 74 people, of whom 38 were returned to France.

The statement added that there was an ongoing investigation into the circumstances of the deaths of the four people and the launch of the boat, led by French prosecutors.

NCA Deputy Director Craig Turner said the agency would work with “colleagues at home and abroad” to do “all we can to identify and bring to justice those responsible for these four tragic deaths”.

The minister for migration and citizenship, Mike Tapp, said law enforcement teams would continue to prevent these “perilous journeys and bring those responsible to justice”, adding that every death in the Channel was a “tragedy”.

“Through our Border Security Act, officers now have stronger powers to act earlier and disrupt, intercept and take down the operations of criminal smuggling gangs who bring illegal migrants to our shores,” he said.

A California state senator alleges that police officers fabricated evidence to falsely accuse her of driving under the influence after she was T-boned at an intersection near the state Capitol.

Their motive, she claims, was discriminatory bias and a piece of legislation she wrote that law enforcement agencies did not like.

Now, she is suing the city of Sacramento alleging “a deliberate and unlawful campaign to falsely accuse, arrest, and discredit her.”

On Monday, state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) filed a federal lawsuit against the city as well as the police officers who cited her for driving under the influence in May. The Sacramento district attorney’s office declined to file charges after a blood test showed there were no traces of drugs or alcohol in her system.

Cervantes accuses officers of pushing forward with an arrest despite lacking probable cause and building a case against her based on false statements. She said officers submitted false information to the DMV, forcing her to retain a lawyer to stop her license from being suspended or revoked, according to the complaint.

The Riverside County legislator alleges that this conduct was in retaliation for a bill she authored seeking to restrict how law enforcement agencies store and use data from automatic license plate readers. She claims that officers discriminated against her as an LGBTQ Latina woman and provided more respectful treatment to the white woman who was at fault in the crash.

Cervantes further alleges that unknown parties within the Sacramento Police Department leaked news of her arrest to the press in a deliberate attempt to tarnish her reputation. Representatives for both the city and the Police Department said Monday that they were unable to comment on pending litigation.

“This case is about the abuse of power,” Cervantes’ attorney James Quadra said in a statement Monday. “Officers ignored the facts, fabricated evidence, and tried to turn a victim into a criminal.”

In September, Cervantes filed a government claim against the city, a necessary precursor to taking further legal action. Her lawsuit, filed in the District Court for the Eastern District of California, seeks damages for violations of federal civil rights and state law, including false arrest, unlawful search and seizure, and defamation.

The crash took place at 12:55 p.m. on May 19, 2025, when Cervantes’ car was hit by a driver who failed to yield to the right of way at an intersection in downtown Sacramento. The state senator was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment where officers met and interviewed her for hours, according to the complaint.

The complaint alleges that “despite clear damage to the vehicles showing that the other driver, a young white woman, had t-boned Senator Cervantes’ vehicle” the responding officer “treated the at-fault driver with a deference and respect which was not accorded to Senator Cervantes.”

At the hospital, one of the officers requested that Cervantes submit to a “subjective sobriety test” that included measuring her eye’s response to stimuli, according to the complaint. Cervantes said she was troubled by this request given that she broke no traffic laws and was the victim of a dangerous driver.

In order to obtain a warrant to obtain a blood draw, the officer “falsely claimed that Senator Cervantes had an unsteady gait, slurred speech, and an appearance of drowsiness,” the complaint alleges.

After news of the crash became public, a spokesperson for the Sacramento Police Department told reporters that “based on the objective signs, officers believed that Cervantes was under the influence of a central nervous system depressant.” Redacted test results Cervantes chose to share with the media showed she had a near-zero blood alcohol level, and the district attorney declined to file charges later that month.

Her lawsuit accuses parties within the Police Department of falsely telling the media she was driving under the influence “with the intent to harm Senator Cervantes because of her sponsorship of SB Bill 274 and her status as a Latina member of the LGBTQ+ community.”

The bill sought to restrict law enforcement’s use of automatic license plate readers, following concerns that the technology was being used to violate driver’s privacy and that data was being unlawfully shared with agencies outside of the state.

Civil liberty groups such as the ACLU have demanded that California police stop sharing automatic license plate reader data with out-of-state agencies that could use it to prosecute women traveling to seek abortion care.

In June, an investigation by Calmatters found that law enforcement agencies across Southern California, including the Los Angeles Police Department, violated state law by sharing information from automated license plate readers with Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Senate Bill 274 passed the state Senate and Assembly but was vetoed in October by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who sided with law enforcement agencies that expressed concerns over how the bill could hinder their ability to solve crimes.

The bill would have limited the lists agencies could use to monitor for certain cars, required enhanced data security and privacy training for officers and mandated that certain data be deleted after 60 days.

In a letter explaining his veto, Newsom wrote that the bill “failed to strike the delicate balance between protecting individual privacy and ensuring public safety.” He noted that, in instances such as cold cases, license plate data are needed to solve crimes beyond a 60-day window.

The activists were protesting the alleged use of the RAF base as a departure point for US aircraft involved in the US-Israel war on Iran.

British police have arrested seven people on suspicion of supporting the banned group Palestine Action at a protest near a Royal Air Force (RAF) air base in eastern England used by United States forces.

The five men and two women arrested at a peace encampment just outside the Lakenheath airbase had gathered with other activists on Sunday to protest the alleged use of the base as a departure point for US aircraft involved in the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The Lakenheath Alliance for Peace, which organised the protest, said the seven had been arrested wearing clothing with the message: “We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action.”

Police said the protesters had been arrested “on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation”.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government banned Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organisation last year, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group.

In February, a court ruled the ban was “disproportionate” and interfered with the right to free speech. But the government has appealed, and the ban remains in effect in the meantime.

More than 2,700 people have been arrested and hundreds charged over rallies in support of the group, according to protest organisers Defend Our Juries.

Police said in a statement on the latest arrests that they had a duty to enforce the law “as it currently stands, not as it might be in the future”.

Two protesters were also arrested on Saturday at Lakenheath and charged with obstructing public thoroughfares, police said.

US President Donald Trump has railed against Starmer for what he calls insufficient support in the US-Israel war on Iran, straining the countries’ longtime alliance.

The United Kingdom has authorised the US to use British military bases to carry out “defensive” operations against Iran and protect the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil passes in peacetime.

Ten Muslim civil rights groups have issued a joint letter denouncing the arrest of a Palestinian American community leader in Wisconsin, Salah Sarsour.

The president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and a vocal Palestinian advocate, Sarsour was reportedly pulled over by 10 federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while driving on March 30.

The joint letter explains that Sarsour was transferred to a detention facility in Illinois, then to Indiana, leaving his family “scrambling to determine his whereabouts”.

A lawful permanent resident, he had lived in the US for 32 years, according to the letter, and his wife and children are all US citizens. Sarsour has been in immigration detention ever since his arrest.

“We must be clear that Salah is being targeted on the basis of his Palestinian and Muslim background,” the letter, issued Thursday, said.

It was co-signed by organisations including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Legal Fund of America, and the US Council of Muslim Organizations.

The groups noted that, under President Donald Trump, a number of immigrant activists, scholars and foreign students had been targeted for deportation based on their pro-Palestinian solidarity.

“His detention reflects a troubling trend we’ve seen with Mahmoud Khalil, Leqaa Kordia, Mohsen Mahdawi and other voices critical of Israeli oppression,” the groups wrote.

“This administration is weaponizing the U.S. justice system to advance the interests of a foreign state, Israel, at a time when it is carrying out a genocide in Gaza.”

The groups have launched an online campaign for Sarsour’s legal defence. By Thursday afternoon, it had earned over $35,500 in donations.

While the Trump administration has yet to issue a statement about Sarsour’s arrest, it has taken a hardline approach to pro-Palestinian activism.

When running for re-election in 2024, Trump pledged to crack down on protesters denouncing human rights abuses during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

According to statements obtained by the Washington Post in May 2024, Trump reportedly called the protest movement a “radical revolution” and said that, if he were elected, he planned “to set that movement back 25 or 30 years”.

Within months of taking office in January 2025, Trump proceeded to take action.

Starting in March 2025, his administration moved to strip hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds from universities that saw protests unfold on their campuses, citing claims of anti-Semitism.

Federal agents also arrested legal permanent residents like Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student leader, stripping him of his green card.

One scholar, Rumeysa Ozturk of Turkiye, saw her student visa revoked for co-signing a pro-Palestinian opinion piece in her school’s student newspaper.

The arrests and subsequent efforts to rapidly deport the activists and scholars have prompted widespread condemnation as a violation of the Constitution’s First Amendment right to free speech and protest.

Officials in Wisconsin have been among the leaders to denounce Sarsour’s arrest as the latest in a series of efforts to stifle free speech. Two local alderpersons, JoCasta Zamarripa and Alex Bower, called the situation a “nightmare”.

“This is an illegal detention of a longtime permanent U.S. resident, as Mr Sarsour is a Milwaukeean who is lawfully present in our community,” they wrote in a joint statement on Thursday.

“The unacceptable activities by ICE — and especially illegally detaining citizens without due process — must stop immediately. How dare federal ICE agents come into our community and unlawfully detain a grandfather, a faith leader, a Wisconsinite!”

State Senator Chris Larson, meanwhile, underscored that the federal government has yet to offer any reasons publicly for Sarsour’s arrest.

“We have already seen numerous Muslim activists unfairly and unlawfully targeted by the Trump Administration for their beliefs and their speech,” Larson wrote.

“These Unconstitutional assaults on our freedoms should alarm all of us. When any individual or group is targeted by the government for their speech, all of our freedoms are threatened.”

After crashing his SUV last week in Florida, Tiger Woods took out his phone and told a deputy, “I was just talking to the president,” according to body camera footage released Thursday showing Woods’ arrest on a DUI charge.

The phone conversation was not captured on video, but Woods could be heard saying, “Thank you so much,” as he hung up and the deputy approached. It wasn’t clear if Woods was referring to President Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating Woods.

Shortly after the golfer’s March 27 arrest, Trump was asked about Woods and told reporters: “I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty. Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person. Amazing man. But, some difficulty.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump spoke to Woods after the crash.

The footage also shows how Woods appeared to be astonished as he was handcuffed after failing a sobriety test and a video from the back of the patrol car shows the handcuffed golfer hiccupping, yawning and repeatedly appearing to nod off during the 15-minute ride.

Woods told authorities he was looking at his phone and changing the radio station when his speeding Land Rover clipped the back of a truck and rolled onto its side on a residential road on Jupiter Island. No one was injured.

“I looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden — boom,” Woods told an officer as he knelt on a lawn, prior to his arrest.

In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, golfer Tiger Woods performs a field sobriety test following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., on Friday.

(Associated Press)

Body camera footage shows Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy Tatiana Levenar then conducting a roadside sobriety test and telling Woods: “I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you’re under an unknown substance, so at this time you’re under arrest for DUI.”

“I’m being arrested?” Woods responded.

“Yes, sir,” Levenar said.

After handcuffing Woods, authorities searched his pockets and found two white pills.

“That’s a Norco,” Woods said after an officer pulled out the pills, referring to a painkiller that contains acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Authorities would later confirm that Woods was in possession of hydrocodone.

In the body camera footage, Woods told Levenar that he had not drunk any alcohol and that he had taken “a few” medications earlier in the day, though Woods’ words are muted in the released video as he describes some of the drugs.

At the sheriff’s office complex, after Woods was escorted into the “DUI room” where drivers are tested for being under the influence, Woods said, “I’m not drunk. I’m on a prescription medication,” according to a supplemental sheriff’s office report released Thursday.

Woods, 50, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to suspicion of driving under the influence. He posted a statement Tuesday night saying that he was stepping away indefinitely “to seek treatment and focus on my health.”

Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said. Under a change to Florida law last year, refusing an officer’s request to take a breath, blood or urine test became a misdemeanor, even for a first offense.

During the field sobriety test, deputies noticed Woods limping and that he had a compression sock over his right knee. Woods explained he had undergone seven back surgeries and over 20 surgeries on his right leg, and that his ankle seizes up while walking.

Tiger Woods is strapped into a police vehicle following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., on Friday in image from video provided by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

(Associated Press)

Woods, who was hiccupping during questioning, continuously moved his head during one of the sobriety tests and deputies had to tell him several times to keep his head straight, according to an arrest report.

“Based on my observations of Woods, how he performed the exercises and based on my training, knowledge, and experience, I believed that Woods normal faculties were impaired, and he was unable to safely operate the motor vehicle,” Levenar wrote.

Woods is the most influential figure in golf and has become as recognizable as any athlete in the world. The first person of Black heritage to win the Masters in 1997, he has captivated golf fans with records likely never to be broken.

His injuries have kept him from accomplishing more, including from a 2021 Los Angeles car crash that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation. He has not played an official event since the 2024 British Open. He was recovering from a seventh back surgery in October and was trying to return at the Masters, where he is a five-time champion.

Rico writes for the Associated Press.

The PGA Tour also issued its first comment on Woods following the golfer’s statement.

“Tiger Woods is a legend of our sport whose impact extends far beyond his achievements on the course,” it said.

“But above all else, Tiger is a person, and our focus is on his health and well‑being. Tiger continues to have our full support as he takes this important step.”

The golf body’s CEO, Brian Rolapp, added: “Tiger Woods is one of the most influential figures the sports world has ever known.

“Over the last year, I have come to deeply appreciate Tiger not only for his impact on the game, but for his friendship and the perspective he has shared with me as I joined the golf industry.

“My thoughts are with him and his family as he takes this step, for which he has my full respect and support.”

Last week’s accident was the latest in a string of incidents that have littered Woods’ recent years.

His marriage ended – as did lucrative sponsorship deals – after he struck a fire hydrant, a tree and several hedges outside his home in a 2009 incident which sparked accusations of extramarital affairs.

Then in 2017 he was sentenced to a year’s probation after pleading guilty to reckless driving. That came after police officers found Woods slumped at the wheel of his car near his home. A toxicology report found he had several legal medications in his system and marijuana’s active ingredient.

In 2021, Woods survived a serious accident which left him with extensive injuries. He has had multiple surgeries since, and played only a limited schedule.

Last week, he competed in the TGL indoor golf league – his first competitive golf for more than a year – following more back surgery and an Achilles injury.

Tiger Woods failed field sobriety tests after crashing into another vehicle last week, and had bloodshot eyes and two hydrocodone pills in his pants pocket, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit released Tuesday.

Woods, 50, told investigators he did not notice the vehicle in front of him had slowed because he was looking at his cell phone and changing the radio station, the affidavit said. His Land Rover rolled onto its side after hitting a Ford-F150 pickup truck pulling a small trailer.

The prescription opioid pills were found during a search after his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, causing property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test. Woods told deputies he had taken prescription medications earlier that day.

The accident and arrest occurred Friday afternoon near Woods’ home on Jupiter Island, Fla. Although Woods appeared impaired, he told deputies he had not consumed alcohol, which Martin County Sheriff John M. Budensiek said was confirmed by a breathalyzer test.

“Our DUI investigators came to the scene here, and Mr. Woods did exemplify the signs of impairment,” Budensiek said.

A Martin County Sheriff deputy noted that Woods had bloodshot and glassy eyes and extremely dilated pupils, according to the affidavit. Woods also was “sweating profusely” while performing field sobriety tests.

Asked if he had any medical conditions, the 82-time PGA Tour champion replied that he has had seven back surgeries and at least 20 leg operations. He was wearing a compression sleeve over his right knee.

“Woods’ movement was lethargic and slow,” sheriff’s deputy Tatiana Levenar wrote in the report. “While walking, I observed Woods limping and stumbling to the right.

“I asked Woods if he was able to perform tasks such as walking and lifting his leg. Woods advised he has a limp and his ankle seizes while walking.”

The affidavit also noted that “Woods had hiccups during the entire investigation.”

The crash is the fourth major incident involving Woods behind the wheel since 2009. When he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in May 2017, Woods was found to have five drugs in his system, including hydrocodone and Dilaudid. Woods checked into a rehab clinic shortly thereafter and completed treatment.

Around Thanksgiving 2009, a report that Woods had been in a car accident near his home erupted into a major scandal involving allegations of affairs. It resulted in Woods’ divorce from Elin Nordegren, the mother of his children.

In 2021, Woods was seriously injured in a rollover crash near Rancho Palos Verdes the morning after the Genesis Invitational, which he hosted at Riviera Country Club. He had to be extricated from the wreckage of the Genesis GV80 SUV he was driving

Woods underwent “a long surgical procedure” on his lower right leg and ankle, according to a statement he released. Doctors inserted a rod into his leg and placed screws into his foot and ankle.

A Palestinian man’s long-awaited return to Gaza ended in anguish after Israeli forces detained his brother at the Rafah crossing.

BRITNEY Spears has reunited with her sons Jayden, 19, and Sean Preston, 20, as she stripped off to a thong after her DUI arrest three weeks ago.

Gimme More singer Britney has also returned to Instagram amid the chaos as she shared a sweet video alongside her youngest son Jayden.

The teenager was spotted wearing a long tan coat and a white t-shirt as he recorded him and his mum posing up in a mirror.

Britney wore some tiny white lace shorts and a cropped white lace shirt.

She captioned the post: “Thank you guys for all your support… spending time with family and friends is such a blessing !!!

“Stay kind !!!”

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Britney was also seen enjoying a boat trip with both her boys as they were snapped on the deck, grinning ear-to-ear.

Sean, Britney’s eldest son, had his arm wrapped around his mum’s shoulders as he gave her a hug.

The 44-year-old’s rep has told PEOPLE how Britney would be prioritising her two sons, who she shares with her rapper ex Kevin Federline, after she was nicked on suspicion of a DUI.

They said: “Her boys are going to be spending time with her. Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue needed plan to set her up for success for well being.”

Jayden and Britney previously spent Christmas together with a source telling PEOPLE they “had a fun time” and it was “so special.”

The pair reunited in November 2024 and have enjoyed spending time together ever since, sources told the publication.

Meanwhile, Sean celebrated the holiday without the hitmaker as he was seen in Louisiana alongside his aunt, Jamie Lynn Spears’ family.

Britney was also spotted stripping off to a neon green thong bikini as she danced around on a boat.

She was arrested earlier this month on March 4  after being caught with an “unknown substance” in her car following an hour-long police chase.

The mum-of-two was booked for drunk driving in Ventura County, California, after cops spotted a BMW erratically “braking and swerving in and out of lanes”.

A source close to the Toxic singer told Page Six that a mystery substance was allegedly found inside Britney’s BMW shortly before she was taken into custody.

The source understood it was sent to the lab for testing.

Police began their pursuit of the 2026 black BMW convertible at 8.13pm and tracked her for an hour, according to a police dispatch call.

Britney was allegedly behind the wheel of the convertible when it was pulled over by troopers with the California Highway Patrol at 9.13pm.

March 27 (UPI) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged from the hospital Friday and transferred to his residence in Brasilia, where he will serve a 90-day period of house arrest.

The house arrest follows a decision by the Supreme Federal Court that considered his health condition, his personal physician told local media.

Bolsonaro, 71, had been hospitalized March 13 with bronchopneumonia after presenting high fever, low oxygen saturation and chills while in prison.

His doctor, Brasil Caiado, confirmed that the former president “has just been discharged” and will continue his recovery at home under a “disciplined” treatment.

The ruling came from Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who authorized the former leader to temporarily serve his sentence under house arrest for an initial period of 90 days, starting from his discharge from the hospital, according to reports by Infobae. The provision may be extended and will be reassessed at the end of that period.

According to the medical team, the former president’s right lung “is normal,” while the left still shows some alterations that will be treated with physiotherapy.

Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence for his involvement in an attempted coup after losing the 2022 election to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro had previously been serving his sentence under house arrest. However, the court ordered his imprisonment in November at the Federal Police Headquarters in Brasilia due to flight risk after he damaged his electronic ankle monitor with a welding tool.

Caiado said full recovery from severe bilateral pneumonia can take between six weeks and six months, and did not rule out possible complications such as pulmonary fibrosis.

Bolsonaro’s family made adjustments to his home to facilitate his recovery, including installing a special bed to treat reflux issues and episodes of hiccups.

The doctor described the judicial decision as a “sensible decision” and said the home environment offers better conditions to prevent relapses than a prison facility.

The Supreme Court had previously rejected similar requests from the defense, but in this case determined that the former president’s health condition “requires constant and careful attention,” in line with the recommendation of prosecutors.

House arrest imposes a series of restrictions on Bolsonaro, according to the digital outlet G1. The former president must wear an electronic ankle monitor at all times. He is prohibited from using smartphones, computers or any other means of communication, including through third parties.

He is also fully barred from publishing or recording videos or audio. This is particularly relevant, as polls show a technical tie in a potential runoff between his son Flavio Bolsonaro and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the October elections.

This Morning star Sharon Marshall has spoken out for the first time, revealing she was taken to hospital in an ambulance after her severe hay fever saw her almost go into cardiac arrest

This Morning star Sharon Marshall has revealed for the first time her terrifying health ordeal, as she was carted off in an ambulance over fears she was in cardiac arrest – but she was actually suffering from hay fever.

Sharon, 54, spoke candidly about how her complex hay fever – which was misdiagnosed as adult asthma – once saw her collapse in the doctors office, which lead her to being rushed to hospital in an ambulance as paramedics feared she was going into cardiac arrest. The Queen of Soaps sat on the This Morning sofa today to reveal her complex health woes and how the ordeal unfolded.

Speaking to Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley on the This Morning sofa, alongside Professor Adam Fox, Sharon revealed she got ill when she was training to run the marathon and initially ruled out symptoms as being unfit. She recalled waking up in the middle of the night not being able to breathe – which Sharon didn’t realise was an asthma attack at the time.

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Sharon explained that the ordeal happened in the middle of the night so she decided to wait until the morning to see the doctor. She recalled: “I remember sort of waiting until nine o’clock, ringing the doctor’s surgery and they were like, ‘oh God, come in immediately,’ going out the flat and luckily a black cab came past, got me in the back, took me in and he helped me to the door. And I don’t really remember much past that because I just collapsed in the doctor’s surgery and I came round in the back of an ambulance.”

She continued: “I said, ‘Oh what’s happening’ and they said, ‘we’re taking you to hospital’ and my first reaction was, ‘will I be going back’ and I they said, ‘No probably not’ and I said, ‘well can I just go by the house and feed my cat’. And this lovely guy who was just saying: ‘You’re going into cardiac arrest, we’re trying to take you into hospital to save your life no you can’t feed your cat’.”

Sharon stayed in hospital for a week but doctors struggled to get to the root cause. Sharon was then diagnosed with adult onset asthma. She explained: “So for years and years, I started taking asthma inhaler and then every year, not realising pollen season would come around and I would start getting asthmatic again. I was on the strongest asthma inhaler every single day. I was going through an asthma inhaler set in a week – horrible steHowever, Sharon revealed that every spring she would continue to get “really breathless and really ill”. Sharon continuned to go to the doctors in search for more answers and even struggled to wak up the stairs in the doctor’s surgery.

At one point, Sharon was even tested for lung cancer. She revealed: “So every year it was just this terrifying thing of, ‘I can’t breathe’ – stronger and stronger steroids and asthma inhalers.” Sharon revealed a visit to the This Morning studios changed her health for good.

Sharon had come into the studio and struggled to breathe while having her makeup done, which saw the crew call a medic as she was going into another asthma attack.

She added: “And, lukcily, in the studio, doing an item about allergies was our lovely professor here, who was able to work out, ‘Oh there’s a time of year that this seems to be happening’.”roids, Mysoline [an anticonvulsant medication] and all these things.”

However, Sharon revealed that every spring she would continue to get “really breathless and really ill”. Sharon continuned to go to the doctors in search for more answers and even struggled to wak up the stairs in the doctor’s surgery.

At one point, Sharon was even tested for lung cancer. She revealed: “So every year it was just this terrifying thing of, ‘I can’t breathe’ – stronger and stronger steroids and asthma inhalers.” Sharon revealed a visit to the This Morning studios changed her health for good.

Sharon had come into the studio and struggled to breathe while having her makeup done, which saw the crew call a medic as she was going into another asthma attack.

She added: “And, luckily, in the studio, doing an item about allergies was our lovely professor here, who was able to work out, ‘Oh there’s a time of year that this seems to be happening’.”

Professor Adam then explained Sharon has seasonal allergic asthma. Professor Adam then explained: “So the problem isn’t chronic all the time asthma, it’s just that when your hay fever is bad enough, if you imagine the lining of your nose is connected to the lining of your lungs. So if your upper airway because of the hayfever is really angry, can send really angry signals down to your lower airway, your lungs, and give you what listens will be an asthma attack. And of course, that can be very, very severe.”

Professor Adam then explained: “So the problem isn’t chronic all the time asthma, it’s just that when your hay fever is bad enough, if you imagine the lining of your nose is connected to the lining of your lungs. So if your upper airway because of the hayfever is really angry, can send really angry signals down to your lower airway, your lungs, and give you what listens will be an asthma attack. And of course, that can be very, very severe.”

Professor Adam then explained Sharon was then treated using ‘desensitisation’, which is a treatment that retrains to immune system to tolerate pollen. Sharon said of the new treatment: “It’s miraculous, it’s completely life changing.”

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Two days after reality TV personality Joseph Duggar was arrested on suspicion of molesting a minor, Arkansas police arrested his wife, Kendra Duggar, on misdemeanor child abuse charges.

Kendra Duggar, 27, as well as Joseph Duggar, 31, face four counts each of endangering the welfare of a minor and second-degree false imprisonment.

According to KNWA, the Tontitown Police Department confirmed that the Duggars’ charges in Arkansas were unrelated to Joseph Duggar’s case in Florida. The news outlet reported that Tontitown police said this separate investigation was “launched on the heels of the alleged incident in Florida.”

People Magazine reported that a source close to the family told the outlet that the arrest was “the result of a home inspection, and the door locks being on the exterior of the doors. “

A spokesperson for the family told People that the charges filed against Kendra Duggar were “totally unrelated” to Joseph Duggar’s case in Florida. “She’s not suspected or accused of participating in his alleged crime.”

Last week, Joseph Duggar, known for the TLC series “19 Kids and Counting,” was arrested in Arkansas by local law enforcement on suspicion of molesting a minor in Florida, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office announced in a statement.

The Sheriff’s Office said it received a report on Wednesday of past sexual abuse involving Duggar and a 14-year-old girl. The girl alleged several incidents of abuse including one when she was 9 years old, police said.

The teenager, according to law enforcement, accused Duggar of molesting her in 2020 while she was vacationing with family and staying at a residence in Panama City Beach.

According to the statement, the victim said Duggar “eventually apologized” for the abuse. Duggar also “admitted his actions to the girl’s father and to Tontitown detectives” in Arkansas, Duggar’s home state, law officials said. The city’s Police Department confirmed Duggar’s arrest in a separate statement, noting it acted on a warrant issued by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

The former reality star was charged with molestation of a victim younger than 12 and “lewd and lascivious behavior conducted” by an adult. Duggar, who is currently jailed at the Washington County Detention Center, awaits extradition to Florida. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

Joseph Duggar, his parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, and his siblings garnered reality TV fame in 2008 with the launch of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting.” The series followed the Christian fundamentalist clan who used their television platform to preach purity, modesty and religious devotion. The family’s facade shattered in 2015 when Josh, the firstborn Duggar child, was accused of molesting five younger girls — four of whom were his sisters — when he was 15. The series was canceled that year.

In a separate case, Josh was convicted on two counts of possessing and receiving child pornography in December 2021. He was sentenced to 12½ years in prison in 2022. The Supreme Court rejected his efforts to appeal his case last June.

Amy Duggar Kind, a cousin of Joseph and Josh Duggar and series regular on “19 Kids and Counting,” released a statement prior to the arrest of Kendra Duggar “praying for Joseph’s wife, Kendra, as she begins to process this, and for the protection of their children,” and then a follow-up statement once news of Kendra’s arrest went public.

“My statement released on Friday, March 20th was written and submitted before I had any knowledge of Kendra Duggar’s arrest,” she wrote.

“When I wrote that I was praying for Kendra ‘as she begins to process this,’ I was speaking to what I believed at the time — that she was a wife and mother blindsided by devastating news about her husband. I want that context to be unambiguous. Those words were written in a different moment, with different information. The world changed a few hours later.

“I have now learned that Kendra Duggar was arrested on Friday on four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment. These are serious charges. They are not the same as Joseph’s charges, but they are not small, and I will not treat them as small.

“I am not going to rush to conclusions about what Kendra knew, when she knew it, or what her role was in any of this. That is the job of law enforcement and the courts, and I trust that process to unfold. What I will say is this: the moment a person faces criminal charges for the endangerment of children, my prayers shift. They shift entirely and without apology to the children.

“To the four children in that home — I see you. I pray for you. None of this is your fault, and none of this is your burden to carry.

“To the original victim, who is now fourteen years old and has watched this story explode across every screen in the country: I am so deeply sorry. You did an incredibly brave thing by coming forward. You deserve to have every institution around you work on your behalf — not to protect the people who hurt you, and not to protect the image of a family. You. I am still praying for you and your family above all else.”

Kendra Duggar was booked into the Washington County Detention Center on March 20 and released on a $1,470 bond the same day.

Times staff writer Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.