Al-Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City has been left in ruins after a 45-day Israeli military operation that flattened entire residential blocks. Residents of the area in northern Gaza described it as the most destructive incursion yet. Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili reports amidst the wreckage.
British actor Micheal Ward, known for the Netflix series “Top Boy” and and most recently Ari Aster’s movie “Eddington,” is facing charges of allegedly raping and sexually assaulting a woman in the United Kingdom in 2023.
London’s Metropolitan Police announced in a Friday statement that prosecutors had charged BAFTA winner Ward, 28, with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault following an investigation into an alleged January 2023 incident. The statement did not provide details about the incident, including the location and the identity of Ward’s accuser.
“Our specialist officers continue to support the woman who has come forward — we know investigations of this nature can have significant impact on those who make reports,” Det. Supt. Scott Ware said in the statement.
Representatives for Ward did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Friday. The actor is due to appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court in London on Aug. 28.
Ward, who was born in Jamaica, broke into acting less than a decade ago, appearing in the British drama series “Top Boy” and rapper Rapman’s 2019 film “Blue Story.” He won BAFTA’s rising star award in 2020. That same year he appeared in “The Old Guard” opposite Charlize Theron and in Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” miniseries.
His movie credits also include Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light,” “The Book of Clarence,” “Bob Marley: One Love” and “The Beautiful Game.” He currently stars as a young police officer in “Eddington,” the latest film from “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” filmmaker Aster.
Resources for survivors of sexual assault
If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual violence, you can find support using RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline. Call (800) 656-HOPE or visit online.rainn.org to speak with a trained support specialist.
From left to right: Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote
Five Canadian ice hockey players accused of sexually assaulting a woman have all been acquitted by an Ontario judge in a case that has been closely watched in Canada.
In a packed courtroom on Thursday, Justice Maria Carroccia reviewed testimony and evidence from the eight-week trial over several hours before declaring the men not guilty.
The former players for Canada’s world junior hockey team were accused of assaulting the woman, known as EM, in a hotel room in 2018 in London, Ontario, where they had been attending a Hockey Canada gala.
Justice Carroccia said she did not find EM’s evidence “credible or reliable”, and that “the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts”.
The players are Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart, and all were with the National Hockey League (NHL) when the allegations surfaced, although one was playing in Europe.
In a statement on Thursday, the league said they remain “ineligible” to playin the NHL pending a review of the judge’s findings.
The players declined to speak to the media after the decision and their lawyers each offered statements on their behalf.
Lawyer David Humphrey, who represented Mr McLeod, said that his client is relieved.
“For years, public perception was shaped by a one-sided narrative”, Mr Humphrey said, adding that the damage to Mr McLeod’s career and reputation “has been significant”.
Lawyer Karen Bellehumeur, speaking on EM’s behalf, said the woman had tuned in to Thursday’s hearing virtually and was “very disappointed” with the judge’s assessment of her credibility.
“When a person summons the courage to disclose their story, the worst possible outcome is to feel disbelieved,” said Ms Bellehumeur.
The central issue of the trial was whether EM, who was 20 at the time of the incident, had consented to every sexual act in the hotel room that night.
Court heard that the woman had met the players at a bar and later went back to the hotel room to have consensual sex with Mr McLeod. Other players then entered the room and engaged in further sexual acts with her.
Lawyers for the players contended that she asked the men to have sex with her and they believed she gave consent.
EM, however, testified that she was intoxicated and felt fearful of the men. While she had initially agreed to have sex with Mr McLeod, she testified that she did not agree to what unfolded afterwards.
Only one player, Mr Hart, testified in his own defence.
The trial attracted significant attention in Canada. Many people had attended court to hear the ruling on Thursday, forcing clerks to open two additional overflow rooms.
Some of the players appeared visibly relieved in Thursday’s hearing after Justice Carroccia revealed that she was not convinced with EM’s testimony.
Reuters
In explaining her ruling, Justice Carroccia pointed to irregularities in EM’s testimony, including about who had bought drinks that night, and said her statements reflected an “uncertain memory” that did not line up with evidence presented in the trial.
The judge added that there were differences in what the woman told police investigators and those for Hockey Canada, which settled a C$3.5m ($2.5m; £1.9m) lawsuit with her for an undisclosed sum in 2022.
Two videos from the incident were shared in the trial, where EM was recorded giving her consent to the activities. The first was taken without her knowledge.
While under Canadian law the videos did not establish consent, the judge said they did show EM “speaking normally, smiling”, and that she “did not appear to be in distress”.
That undercut the Crown’s argument that EM did not leave the room out of fear, she said.
It is unclear if the Crown will appeal. Prosecutor Meaghan Cunningham said her team will carefully review the decision.
She added they had received “dozens of messages from people across Canada and abroad” expressing support for EM.
“A successful prosecution is not measured solely by whether there are guilty verdicts at the end,” she said. “The Crown’s goal throughout this proceeding has been to see a fair trial, a trial that is fair to the men charged, and one that is also fair to EM.”
Throughout the trial, the Crown argued the woman’s testimony was credible, that “intoxication does not equal unreliability” and that any inconsistencies in her testimony were minor.
They also argued the woman did not have a motive to fabricate a story and that she had initially reported the alleged assault to police in 2018, four years before filing the lawsuit against Hockey Canada.
They added that text messages between the players allegedly showed it was Mr McLeod’s idea to invite his teammates to the room and that the players allegedly engaged in “getting their story straight” by drafting a narrative that EM had consented to all sexual activity.
Justice Carroccia dismissed that argument, saying the players were “recounting their recollections” of what unfolded.
Reuters
Defence lawyers argued that EM’s testimony was undermined by eyewitness testimony from two players who were present in the room but not charged in connection with the incident.
Both had told the court that the woman was “vocal” about what she wanted sexually.
Lawyers for the players also argued that the woman was a willing participant who later felt regret, and that intoxication in this case did not equal “incapacity”.
Several protestors in support of EM had gathered outside the courthouse throughout the trial and on verdict day.
One of them, Fabienne Haller, told the BBC she felt “devastated” with the outcome.
She added that she believed the case “will influence the next decade, and even more, of how sexual assault cases are going to be dealt with” in Canada.
Trial that sparked debate over culture of sexual assault in Canadian hockey ends after judge says allegations not ‘credible’.
A Canadian judge has found that five former members of the country’s 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey team are not guilty of sexual assault, following a trial that roiled Canada.
Judge Maria Carroccia told a courtroom on Thursday that she did not find allegations of assault against the five men “credible or reliable”, according to Canada’s CBC News.
A lawyer for the complainant said the justice system had fallen short in both the way her client was treated on the stand and the conclusions drawn by the judge.
“She’s obviously very disappointed with the verdict and very disappointed with Her Honour’s assessment of her honesty and reliability,” said Karen Bellehumeur, a lawyer for the complainant who is only known as EM due to a prohibition on publicising her identity. “She’s really never experienced not being believed like this before.”
Pavement is painted in support of a complainant in a sexual assault case near the Superior Court of Justice in London, Ontario, Canada, on July 24, 2025 [Carlos Osorio/Reuters]
The allegations of misconduct prompted debate over the culture of sexual assault within Canadian hockey, a favourite pastime of the North American country. But it also drew attention to the sceptical eye that authorities often cast on alleged victims.
Carroccia’s statement that she did not find evidence from the woman who was allegedly assaulted reliable prompted gasps in the courtroom, CBC reported.
All five men – Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, Carter Hart and Cal Foote – denied wrongdoing, stating that the alleged victim, EM, was a willing participant in sex acts at a hotel in London, Ontario, in 2018, following a team celebration.
The judge seemed to accept that claim, saying that the complainant had failed to establish that the encounter was “vitiated by fear”. She also said that the woman had a “tendency to blame others” when presented with inconsistencies in her memory of the night.
“Justice Carroccia’s carefully reasoned decision represents a resounding vindication for Mr McLeod and for his co-defendants,” said McLeod’s lawyer, David Humphrey.
Two previous juries in the case were dismissed, resulting in a trial where a single judge rendered a verdict.
The CEO of Hockey Canada and the organisation’s entire board of directors stepped down in October 2022 amid scrutiny of the alleged gang rape and an out-of-court settlement with the accuser.
Cardi B’s infamous microphone-throw incident is being raised again, almost two years after it took place in Las Vegas.
An Ohio woman is suing the 32-year-old “Bodak Yellow” rapper, claiming battery, assault and negligence. The owners of Drai’s Beachclub and Nightclub, where the incident took place on July 29, 2023, are also being sued for negligence. The suit was filed days before the statute of limitations in Nevada for such charges ran out.
According to court documents filed in Clark County on Monday, the plaintiff — who chose to go by Jane Doe because of “psychiatric trauma” — alleges that during Cardi B’s performance, she encouraged the audience to “splash water on her” amid “visibly high-temperature conditions.” Though she initially approved, allegedly pouring water on herself and stating “Wooh that s— feel good,” it was when the plaintiff partook that the rapper abruptly and “forcefully” threw her microphone.
The object is said to have hit Jane Doe, with Cardi B shouting “I said splash my p—, not my face, b—.” Documents called it an “unreasonable escalation” that resulted in “harmful and offensive contact.” Though the deed was investigated by police at the time, the rapper was not charged. Representatives for Cardi B did not immediately respond on Thursday to The Times’ request for comment.
Just weeks later the microphone was auctioned on eBay and fetched $99,000. It is a key part of the case, as Jane Doe claims the sale “exacerbated emotional distress.” At the time, sellers told TMZ that the money would be given to two charities — the Wounded Warrior Project and Friendship Circle Las Vegas, a local program that helps individuals with special needs.
The plaintiff is seeking damages up to $15,000 for alleged physical and emotional injuries, as well as reputational harm.
New Delhi, India – After spending three decades racked with guilt, scared on sleepless nights, and often changing cities, a 48-year-old Dalit man appeared in Karnataka with information about one of the most horrific alleged crimes in India.
Emerging from hiding after 12 years, the man, who once worked as a sanitation worker at the much-revered Dharmasthala temple, told police on July 3 that he was coming forward with “an extremely heavy heart and to recover from an insurmountable sense of guilt”. As a court-protected witness, the man’s identity cannot be revealed under the law.
“I can no longer bear the burden of memories of the murders I witnessed, the continuous death threats to bury the corpses I received,” he said in his statement, reviewed by Al Jazeera, “and the pain of beatings – that if I did not bury those corpses, I would be buried alongside them”.
Now, the whistleblower wants to help in the exhumation of “hundreds of dead bodies” he buried between 1995 and 2014 – many of them women and girls, allegedly murdered after sexual assaults, but also destitute men whose murders he claims to have witnessed.
After days of sustained pressure from activists and public outcry, the Karnataka government – ruled by the opposition Congress party – has created a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations of assault and murder.
So, what did the protected witness reveal in his complaint? Does the temple town have a history of rape and murder? Are more victims coming forward now?
Men serve food to pilgrims at the Dharmasthala temple [Luis Dafos/Getty Images]
‘Hundreds of bodies’: What’s in the complaint?
Situated on the scenic lower slopes of the Western Ghats, Dharmasthala, an 800-year-old pilgrimage village, is located on the banks of the Nethravathi River in the Belthangady area of the Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka state, where nearly 2,000 devotees visit daily.
On July 11, the man, fully draped in black clothing with only a transparent strip covering his eyes, appeared at a local court in Belthangady to record his statement.
The complainant, who belongs to the Dalit community – the least privileged and often persecuted group in India’s complex caste hierarchy – joined the temple in 1995 as a sanitation worker.
At the beginning of his employment, he said in the complaint, he noticed dead bodies appearing near the river. “Many female corpses were found without clothes or undergarments. Some corpses showed clear signs of sexual assault and violence; injuries or strangulation marks indicating violence were visible on those bodies,” he noted.
However, instead of reporting this to authorities at the time, the man said he was forced to “dispose of these bodies” after his supervisors beat him up and threatened him, saying, “We will cut you into pieces; we will sacrifice all your family members.”
The supervisors, he claimed, would call him to specific locations where there were dead bodies. “Many times, these bodies were of minor girls. The absence of undergarments, torn clothes, and injuries to their private parts indicated brutal sexual assault on them,” he said. “Some bodies also had acid burn marks.”
The man has told the police and the court that he is ready to undergo any tests, including brain-mapping and a polygraph, and is willing to identify the spots of mass burials. Some sites are likely to be exhumed in the coming days.
In the nearly 20 years he worked at the temple, the man said he “buried dead bodies in several locations throughout the Dharmasthala area”.
Sometimes, as instructed, he burned dead bodies using diesel. “They would instruct me to burn them completely so that no trace would be found. The dead bodies disposed of in this manner numbered in the hundreds,” he said.
Why did he go into hiding?
By 2014, having worked there for 20 years, he said, “The mental torture I was experiencing had become unbearable.”
Then, a girl from his own family was sexually harassed by a person connected to the supervisors at the temple, leading to a realisation that the family needed “to escape from there immediately”. In December 2014, he fled Dharmasthala with his family and informed no one of his whereabouts.
Since then, the family has been living in hiding in a neighbouring state, and changing residences, he said.
“However, I am still living under the burden of guilt that does not subside,” he said. “But my conscience no longer allows me to continue this silence.”
To back his claims, the man recently visited a burial site and exhumed a skeleton; he submitted the skeleton and its photograph during exhumation to the police and the court via his lawyers.
Today, the actual number of dead bodies is not what matters to the former sanitation worker, a person closely associated with the case told Al Jazeera. They requested anonymity to speak.
“Even if it was just two or three women, and not hundreds, their lives matter,” they said, reflecting on why the whistleblower came forward. “If there is a chance at justice, their bodies getting proper rituals, we want to take it.”
A pilgrim stands near an elephant at the Dharmasthala temple [Luis Dafos/Getty Images]
Did he identify the victims?
No, he did not identify them by name. However, he detailed some of the burials in his statement to the police.
He recalled that in 2010 he was sent to a location about 500 metres (1,640ft) from a petrol pump in Kalleri, nearly 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Dharmasthala. There, he found the body of a teenage girl.
“Her age could be estimated between 12 to 15 years. She was wearing a school uniform shirt. However, her skirt and undergarments were missing. Her body showed clear signs of sexual assault. There were strangulation marks on her neck,” he noted in his statement. “They instructed me to dig a pit and bury her along with her school bag. That scene remains disturbing to this day.”
He detailed another “disturbing incident” of burying a woman’s body in her 20s. “Her face had been burned with acid. That body was covered with a newspaper. Instead of burying her body, the supervisors instructed me to collect her footwear and all her belongings and burn them with her,” he recalled.
Have similar crimes been linked to Dharmasthala in the past?
Yes. There have been repeated protests over the years regarding the discovery of bodies of rape-and-murder victims in and around Dharmasthala, dating back to the 1980s.
These protests have been sporadic but persistent, often led by local groups, families and political organisations.
In 1987, marches were organised in the town to protest the rape and murder of 17-year-old Padmalata. The demonstrations exposed alleged cover-ups by influential figures but were reportedly quashed through intimidation and legal pressure.
The town saw protests flare again in 2012 with the “Justice for Sowjanya” movement, after another teenager was raped and murdered. That case remains unsolved.
Over the decades, families and local political groups have held demonstrations and submitted memorandums to authorities, linking cases such as the 2003 disappearance of medical student Ananya Bhat to larger allegations of mass graves and unnatural deaths.
S Balan, a senior lawyer in the Karnataka High Court and a human rights activist, told Al Jazeera that the killings and mysterious disappearances in Dharmasthala date back to 1979.
“The souls of young girls are crying for justice; hundreds of girls who disappeared were abducted, were raped, and were killed,” Balan told Al Jazeera. “India has never seen this gravity of offence in its republic after independence.”
Balan also met the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah last Wednesday with a delegation of lawyers, urging him to form the SIT to probe the alleged mass rapes and murders.
“The chief minister was serious about it. He told us that he will talk to the police and do [what’s needed],” said Balan.
How have the temple authorities reacted?
The administration of the Dharmasthala temple has long been controlled by the powerful Heggade family, with Veerendra Heggade serving as the 21st Dharmadhikari, or hereditary head, since 1968.
Heggade, a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award, is a member of the parliament’s upper house. He was nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2022.
His family wields significant influence in the region, overseeing a wide network of institutions.
In 2012, the family came under public scrutiny following the rape and murder of 17-year-old Sowjanya, a resident of Dharmasthala. Her body was discovered in a wooded area bearing signs of sexual assault and brutal violence. Sowjanya’s family has consistently alleged that the perpetrators had ties to the temple’s leadership.
In a statement shared on Sunday, July 20, the temple authorities expressed support for a “fair and transparent” investigation and expressed hope that the investigation would uncover the truth.
K Parshwanath Jain, the official spokesperson for Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, said the whistleblower’s complaint has “triggered widespread public debate and confusion across the country”.
“In light of public demand for accountability, we understand that the state government has handed over the case to a Special Investigation Team,” he said. “Truth and belief form the foundation of a society’s ethics and values. We sincerely hope and strongly urge the SIT to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation and bring the true facts to light.”
Veerendra Heggade, head of the Dharmasthala temple, stands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on August 31, 2016 [Handout, Prime Minister’s office]
Have the families of missing people come forward?
Yes. Sujatha Bhat, the mother of Ananya Bhat, who disappeared in 2003, has responded publicly to the whistleblower’s shocking revelations about alleged mass burials in Dharmasthala.
The 60-year-old retired CBI stenographer said she has lived in fear for more than two decades but was motivated by media reports of the worker’s testimony and the discovery of skeletal remains. She filed a new complaint with the police last Tuesday.
Bhat said she believes her daughter may have been among the many women who faced abuse and met a violent end, only to be buried without a trace.
She recalled that she was discouraged from pursuing the case further. “They told us to stop asking questions,” she reportedly said, emphasising the climate of fear and silence that surrounded Dharmasthala for decades.
Speaking with reporters after filing the complaint, Bhat appealed: “Please find my daughter’s skeletal remains and allow me to perform the funeral rites with honour.”
She said she wants to “give peace to Ananya’s soul, and let me spend my final days in peace”.
Pelicot has been praised globally for her courage during trial, which forced changes to France’s rape law.
Gisele Pelicot, who has been internationally hailed after testifying against her husband and dozens of other men who raped her, has been awarded France’s top civic honour.
Pelicot, 72, was named knight of the Legion of Honour on a list announced before France’s July 14 national day, the AFP news agency reported on Sunday.
She was among 589 people named for the honour, which recognises merit-based national service.
Pelicot refused to remain anonymous and publicly testified at a trial in 2024 against her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, who drugged her and arranged for her to be raped by dozens of men over a decade.
His co-conspirators tried to claim they were unaware that the acts were not consensual and blamed the husband.
Gisele Pelicot at the time called it a “trial of cowardice” and asserted there was no excuse for abusing her when she was unconscious. Her testimony gripped the world and led to Dominique Pelicot and 50 co-defendants being found guilty in the mass-rape case.
A woman holds a poster honouring Pelicot during a demonstration to mark International Women’s Day in Madrid, Spain, March 8, 2025 [File: Susana Vera/Reuters]
Lauded for her courage in exposing the case, which forced a change in France’s rape law, she has since been named among the world’s most influential people in international lists.
Gisele Pelicot has not spoken further since the trial. She is focusing on writing a book, scheduled for release in 2026, that delves into her perspective of the ordeal, according to her lawyer.
Writers, artists and international figures are also on the Legion of Honour list.
Singer, music producer and clothing designer Pharrell Williams, writer Marc Levy, actor Lea Drucker, singer Sylvie Vartan, and Holocaust survivor and educator Yvette Levy are some of the other recipients.
An extra in his 50s was arrested on the EastEnders set at Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, on May 7 after a woman complained he had tried to forcibly kiss her while filming
An EastEnders actor in his 50s was arrested over an alleged sexual assault incident(Image: PA)
An actor was arrested on the set of EastEnders following an alleged assault that left a woman “clearly very distressed”, reports say.
Cameras stopped rolling at Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, on May 7 after a woman complained that a fellow extra, a man in his 50s, had tried to forcibly kiss her. Security stepped in to grab the man, which led to a scuffle before the actor was handed over to police.
According to reports, the man was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault of the woman and of common assault against another person, which is alleged to have happened while he was escorted away. He is said to have been released on bail while investigations continue.
The incident happened on May 7(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
Filming resumed after the incident. A source told The Sun that the incident was “dramatic” and “everyone was quite shaken by up by it all.” The witness said: “No one could quite believe what was happening.
“The main focus was the woman’s welfare, as she was clearly very distressed. Obviously, filming had to be stopped while the incident was dealt with by production managers and security.
“It got very heated when the man squared up to the security staff as they tried to calm things. Eventually, he was questioned and taken away by police.”
Adam Woodyatt was filming at the time(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
It is understood that the cameras didn’t capture footage of the alleged attack, but it’s not clear whether the scenes filmed on the day of the incident have been screened on TV yet. According to the publication, Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale in the BBC soap opera, was one of the stars filming at the time.
The source added that “everyone involved in the production, including the cast and crew, acted very responsibly in an extremely difficult situation.” Crew members were said to be grateful to bosses for the “professionalism and understanding” they showed in handling the incident.
Hertfordshire Police confirmed that a suspect in his 50s was “arrested on suspicion of common assault and sexual assault in relation to two victims.” The force added: “He is on police bail whilst enquiries continue.”
EastEnders said in a statement on Saturday: “While we would never comment on individuals, EastEnders has on-site security and well-established procedures in place to safeguard the safety and welfare of everyone who works on the show.”
R&B singer Chris Brown Chris Brown arrives for a hearing at Southwark Crown Court in London, Britain on Friday. EPA/ANDY RAIN
July 11 (UPI) — R&B singer Chris Brown pleaded not guilty Friday to new charges related to an alleged assault at a London nightclub in 2023.
Brown entered the plea at Southwark Crown Court in London in response to charges related to the incident of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and with having an offensive weapon. He is slated to make his next appearance in court on October 24.
The alleged “offensive weapon” was a bottle of tequila, which Brown ostensibly used to attack music producer Abraham Diaw in February of 2023 with a bottle of tequila at Tape nightclub in London. He was then arrested in May on charges related to the incident and was then held in custody for almost a week before being released on $6.7 million bail.
Co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, who performs under the name HoodyBaby, has also pleaded not guilty to causing actual bodily harm, and had previously entered a not guilty plea to the charge of attempted grievous bodily harm.
Under conditions of his bail, Brown must reside in the United Kingdom until his trial, but despite having his passport confiscated, the bail conditions do allow him to tour and perform, meaning he can have his passport for travel to shows. Brown ended a string of European shows last week and is slated to begin the North American leg of his current “Breezy Bowl XX” world tour later this month.
Derek Dixon, the actor who raised allegations of sexual harassment against Tyler Perry, has broken his silence after suing the producer and media mogul for $260 million last month.
In his first interview since filing the bombshell lawsuit in June, “The Oval” actor Dixon told the Hollywood Reporter, “I couldn’t just let [Perry] get away with this.”
Dixon alleged in his complaint that when he worked for Perry from January 2020 to June 2024, the multi-hyphenate entertainer “sustained a pattern of workplace sexual harassment, assault and retaliation,” according to court documents reviewed by The Times. Dixon briefly appeared in BET’s “Ruthless” before landing a role in Perry’s “The Oval,” appearing in 85 episodes from 2021 to 2025.
“Everyone deserves to go to work and do their job without their boss trying to have sex with them,” Dixon said to THR in a story published Thursday. “My goal is to help ensure that the next generation of actors and creatives don’t have to choose between their dreams and their dignity.”
Seeking a response from Perry, The Times was referred Friday to the initial statement from Perry’s attorney Matthew Boyd, which denies Dixon’s allegations.
“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam,” Boyd said in the statement. “But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
Dixon recalled to the trade outlet how he initially came to work for Perry and further spoke on the producer’s allegedly incessant attempts to spark a sexual relationship with his employee. In his suit, Dixon describes sexually suggestive text messages Perry allegedly sent, including one where he asks the actor “What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?”
More damning were the allegations of sexual assault Dixon raised against Perry in his lawsuit. The 46-page complaint detailed multiple incidents, including one at Perry’s guest house in Georgia when the producer pulled down Dixon’s underwear and groped his buttocks. Dixon’s complaint also alleged Perry sexually assaulted him during a previous stay at his guest house and during a meeting in the director’s trailer.
According to the lawsuit, Dixon refused Perry’s advances and walked a fine line, keeping his interactions with Perry professional but friendly enough to remain in his good graces. Recalling the alleged assault in the trailer, Dixon said it would seem Perry would back off and “say things like ‘We need to just be business.’”
“And I would think, ‘Great. Yes.’ Every time I thought it would stop,” he said.
Dixon claims in his lawsuit that Perry leveraged his standing in the entertainment industry — specifically his ability to bring the actor’s own TV series to life — “to create a coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic.” The suit also says Dixon “woke up” in June 2024 and realized Perry was never going to be serious about helping Dixon ”grow his career.”
The actor reported the alleged abuse he experienced to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Though the lawsuit claims the complaint was not investigated, THR reports the case is pending. He told the magazine he felt compelled to sue Perry because “I was an employee, and he was my boss.”
He added: “For a long time, I convinced myself that it was part of the industry, or that somehow I had to accept it to keep working. But eventually, I couldn’t stay silent anymore.”
Since suing Perry, Dixon told THR he has received mixed reactions, including threats online and support from people who claim they experienced similar misconduct by Perry. He also said he decided to publicly accuse Perry as he feels attempts to settle matters privately “never result in the type of change necessary to protect victims.”
Despite going public with his allegations against Perry, Dixon said he fears that the producer “will be able to continue doing this without any major consequences.”
Ye, the vitriolic rapper formerly known as Kanye West, is facing a new round of controversy involving fresh allegations from an ex-assistant including sex trafficking, sexual harassment, stalking and sexual battery.
Ye’s accuser, former Yeezy employee Lauren Pisciotta, has taken more legal action against the Grammy-winning “All of the Lights” musician a year after she sued him for sexual harassment and breach of contract, among other counts, in June 2024. In an amended complaint filed Tuesday in Los Angeles, Pisciotta claims the rapper forced her to perform oral sex on him, sexually assaulted her numerous times during her Yeezy employment and engaged in sexual activity with employees at his Yeezy offices. Pisciotta also accuses the rapper of stalking her after she filed her initial lawsuit.
Legal representatives for Ye and his Yeezy brands did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Thursday.
Pisciotta’s 37-page complaint, reviewed by The Times, doubles down on claims from her June 2024 suit but also details sexual assaults that allegedly occurred at a San Francisco hotel shortly after Ye hired Pisciotta in 2021 to help with the creation of his album “Donda.”
“For almost two years Ms. Pisciotta dedicated her life to Ye under the pretense that he would present her with pivotal opportunities in the music and fashion industries at an even larger scale than any of her previous work,” the lawsuit said. “Despite Ms. Pisciotta’s unwavering dedication to her job, Ye continued to sexually harass her at every opportunity.”
Pisciotta alleges that during her time working with Ye in San Francisco, he forcefully kissed her on the mouth, forcibly touched her genitals with one hand while stroking himself with the other, exposed himself and “forced his penis into her mouth,” according to legal documents.
Ye allegedly sexually assaulted Pisciotta another time, in October 2023, according to legal documents, when they were en route to Paris from Los Angeles. The 48-year-old rapper requested Pisciotta come to his private room on his plane and demanded she give him a hug. She refused, but Ye said he needed to speak with her and locked her in the room, where he allegedly “retreated to his bed and began to masturbate.” Pisciotta claims she was “forced” to remain in the room until someone opened the door from the outside.
Resources for survivors of sexual assault
If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual violence, you can find support using RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline. Call (800) 656-HOPE or visit online.rainn.org to speak with a trained support specialist.
The complaint also paints a disturbing picture of the inner workings and culture of the Yeezy offices, alleging Ye verbally abused Pisciotta, often used “derogatory, antisemitic slurs” and “demanded assistants and other employees draw swastikas in the workplace.” Earlier this year, Ye came under fire for placing a TV ad during the Super Bowl for a website selling a T-shirt emblazoned with the hate symbol.
Additionally, “Ye openly performed sexual acts with women at the Yeezy office,” the complaint said, adding that one of the women was his current wife, Bianca Censori. Pisciotta’s complaint also repeated previous allegations that Ye constantly messaged her about his sexual fantasies involving her, sending sexually explicit videos, photos and memes.
Ye, who in recent years has used his social media pages to spew hate including antisemitic rants, posted on X earlier this year about his inappropriate workplace practices in numerous lewd posts mentioned in the complaint.
“Life is about using your position to f— the baddest b— possible,” he said in one post.
Other since-deleted posts from Ye include “I’m a walking me too,” referring to the watershed #MeToo movement, and “I’m a big time perv.” The complaint also includes posts where Ye uses misogynistic language and homophobic slurs, and claims there is a difference between “me too rapes” and “real rape.”
Though the complaint mainly concerns incidents that allegedly occurred during Pisciotta’s Yeezy tenure, she said the rapper admitted to assaulting her in 2015 during a studio recording session in Santa Monica.
Pisciotta alleged that West’s disturbing behavior did not end after she was terminated at Yeezy. She claims the rapper grabbed her by the throat and stuck his tongue in her ear when they saw each other at a concert in November 2022. He also allegedly moved into the same apartment complex as Pisciotta, prompting her to move out of state.
After moving to Florida, Pisciotta claims Ye arranged a “swatting” event at her home days after she filed her initial lawsuit. Swatting is a hoax 911 report made in the hope of generating a large law enforcement response. Pisciotta said officers arrived at her home to investigate reports of child abuse and murder. Pisciotta said she had “also experienced a barrage of service workers such as plumbers and food delivery workers showing up to her door unannounced.”
She further alleges she has received calls from people warning her not to pursue further legal action against Ye.
Pisciotta is also suing for counts of assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other charges. She demands an unspecified amount in damages and wants a jury trial.
Antonio Guterres raises alarm over ‘dangerous escalation’ after hours-long Russian drone and missile barrage this week.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned a Russian drone and missile attack against Ukraine this week that has been described as the largest such assault in the three-year war.
In a statement on Saturday, Guterres’s spokesperson said the Russian strikes “disrupted the power supply to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, once again underlining the ongoing risks to nuclear safety”.
“The secretary-general is alarmed by this dangerous escalation and the growing number of civilian casualties,” the statement read.
Ukrainian officials said Moscow fired more than 500 drones and 11 missiles at the capital Kyiv overnight into Friday in an attack that killed one person, injured at least 23 others and damaged buildings across the city.
The sounds of air raid sirens, kamikaze drones and booming detonations reverberated until dawn.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack “deliberately massive and cynical”.
Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities as United States-led efforts to reach a ceasefire to end the war have stalled.
On Saturday, Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskii, warned of a possible new Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region, a part of northeastern Ukraine that has seen heavy fighting since Russia invaded in 2022.
Moscow has been slowly grinding its way along several parts of the Ukrainian front line in recent months, throwing forth continuous waves of infantry as it seeks to press home its advantage in troops and munitions.
Russian forces have already pushed into northern Ukraine’s Sumy region over the past months, carving out a small foothold there.
Russia fired 322 drones and decoys into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukraine’s air force said. Of these, 157 were shot down and 135 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.
Ukraine has also ramped up its retaliatory strikes in Russia, with the Ministry of Defence saying it shot down 94 Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday, along with 45 further drones in the morning and early afternoon.
Four Ukrainian drones also were shot down while approaching Moscow on Saturday, according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Meanwhile, a woman was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Rostov region, the acting governor said.
Separately, the Ukrainian military said in a statement on social media on Saturday that its special forces struck Russia’s Borisoglebsk military airfield in the Voronezh region, hitting a glide bomb store and a trainer aircraft.
The military said that other aircraft were also likely hit, without giving details.
The governor of Voronezh, Alexander Gusev, wrote on Telegram that more than 25 drones were destroyed over the region overnight. He said a power line was temporarily damaged, but made no mention of a military airfield.
The attacks come as Ukraine’s Zelenskyy said on Friday that he had a “very important and fruitful” phone conversation with US President Donald Trump in his efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences.
The US president also spoke to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, a day earlier in a conversation that he said was disappointing.
“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” Trump said after the call on Thursday. “I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that it was “preferable” to achieve the goals of Russia’s invasion through political and diplomatic means.
“But as long as that is not possible, we are continuing the special operation,” he said.
Human Rights lawyer Aamer Anwar (centre) is representing Mohammed Fahir Amaaz (left) and Muhammed Amaad (right)
A man accused of assaulting police at Manchester Airport last summer had been “aggressive” and got “in the face” of a Starbucks customer before head-butting him, a jury has heard.
Brothers Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, and Muhammad Amaad, 26, are alleged to have used a “high level of violence” when assaulting three police officers at Terminal 2 on 23 July 2024.
Liverpool Crown Court heard police were at the airport responding to an incident at Starbucks in which Mr Amaaz is alleged to have headbutted a man and punched him.
Mr Amaaz and Mr Amaad, both from Rochdale in Greater Manchester, deny the allegations and claim self-defence.
PA Media
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz stands charged over an altercation at Manchester Airport
Opening the prosecution’s case on Friday, Paul Greaney KC said police officers traced the brothers to the terminal’s car park payment area.
Mr Greaney told the court that two armed officers – PC Zachary Marsden and PC Ellie Cook – and their unarmed colleague PC Lydia Ward approached the defendants.
He said: “The officers attempted to move Mohammed Fahir Amaaz away from a payment machine in order to arrest him, but he resisted, and his brother Muhammad Amaad intervened.”
Mr Greaney said both suspects assaulted PC Marsden.
“In the moments that followed, the first defendant [Mr Amaaz] also assaulted PC Cook and then PC Ward too, breaking her nose,” Mr Greaney told members of the jury.
“The defendants used a high level of violence.”
Mr Amaaz is alleged to have assaulted PC Marsden and PC Ward, causing them actual bodily harm.
He is also accused of assaulting PC Cook and the earlier assault of Abdulkareem Ismaeil at Starbucks.
His older brother Mr Amaad is charged with assaulting PC Marsden, causing actual bodily harm.
PA Media
Muhammed Amaad arrives at Liverpool Crown Court
Mr Greaney said the defendants had travelled to the airport with their young nephew to collect their mother, who was due to arrive on a flight from Qatar.
He said it was clear “something happened” involving Abdulkareem Ismaeil – who was on the same flight as the brothers’ mother – that had “made [her] unhappy”.
She pointed out Mr Ismaeil, who was in Starbucks with his family, to her sons as they were walking through the terminal.
“At just after 8.20pm, the defendants entered Starbucks and confronted Abdulkareem Ismaeil,” said Mr Greaney.
“During that confrontation, Mohammed Fahir Amaaz delivered a headbutt to the face of Abdulkareem Ismaeil and punched him, then attempted to deliver other blows, all in front of a number of children.
“The prosecution case is that this was obviously unlawful conduct.”
‘Quite aggressive’
Starbucks manager Cameron Cartledge told the court he was in his office doing some paperwork when he heard “raised voices” and went to the door to see what was going on.
As his colleague prepared the Mr Ismaeil’s order at the counter, Mr Cartledge said he saw another man, wearing a blue tracksuit and subsequently identified as Mr Amaaz, “quite close to him, shouting at him”.
Mr Cartledge said the shouting was in a foreign language he did not understand.
The witness said: “At the time of the arguing he was very close to him, like in his face.
“Blue tracksuit man seemed quite aggressive, obviously annoyed about something, I don’t know what. Blue tracksuit man was aggressively shouting.
“His body language, his tone of voice, was quite aggressive.”
Mr Greaney asked: “What about Mr Ismaeil, the man with his back against the counter?”
The witness replied: “He had a raised voice, but I would say he was more defensive than aggressive.
“There was arguing, I don’t know what was being said, then blue tracksuit man headbutted the man we see in the black.
“He got him in the face. It did not look like it hurt Mr Ismaeil much but it was forceful enough to make him stagger back into the counter.”
Mr Cartledge said Mr Amaaz then threw two punches which he thought had landed on Mr Ismaeil’s shoulder.
Working at the airport, Mr Cartledge said he saw people “arguing all the time” but, after witnessing the headbutt, called police.
Imran Khan KC, defending Amaaz, suggested to Mr Cartledge that the conversation had been in English.
Mr Cartledge replied: “It didn’t sound like it was in English.”
Asked if he sensed any aggression from Mr Ismaeil, Mr Cartledge said: “No, he was more defensive. He just stood there probably more worried about his children behind him.”
‘Not a complicated case’
Starbucks barista Justine Pakalne also told the court she did not believe the conversation between the two men had been in English.
Mr Khan put it to her that Mr Ismaeil had been the “aggressor” and that he had stepped forwards towards Mr Amaaz.
Ms Pakalne said: “Even if he stepped forward he didn’t lay a hand on him. It was the other way round – he (Amaaz) headbutted him.”
Mr Greaney told jurors the Crown’s case was this was “not a complicated case” since events had been captured on CCTV.
“So you will not have to depend only on the recollections of witnesses. You will also be able to see with your own eyes what happened,” he said.
He suggested the defendants would say “that at all stages they were acting in lawful self-defence or in defence of the other”.
“Our prediction is that you will readily conclude that the defendants were not acting in lawful self-defence and that their conduct was unlawful,” he added.
Dutch prosecutors have dropped charges against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans after CCTV footage showing violence towards Muslim women last November was erased. Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen is in Amsterdam, where the decision has sparked controversy over alleged double standards.
The trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has culminated in a verdict, after more than seven weeks of intense media scrutiny and testimony about drug-fuelled celebrity sex parties.
But beneath the salacious details, advocates say there are critical takeaways about how sexual violence is understood – and sometimes tolerated – within the criminal justice system.
On Wednesday, a federal jury in the United States delivered a split decision.
It found Combs guilty of transporting individuals to engage in prostitution, but not guilty of the weightier question of whether he engaged in sex trafficking or racketeering for flying girlfriends and sex workers to the parties he organised.
Prosecutors had described Combs’s activity as a “criminal enterprise” in which he leveraged money, power and physical violence to force former girlfriends into abusive circumstances.
The split ruling has, in turn, divided opinion about what the case means for the beleaguered #MeToo movement, which emerged in the early 2010s to bring accountability to cases of sexual violence.
For Emma Katz, a domestic abuse expert, the jury’s decision indicates there are still yawning gaps in public understanding about sexual violence. That understanding, she maintains, is necessary to assess the behaviours that accompany long-term abuse and coercion, particularly between intimate partners.
“I think a ruling like this would be a good news kind of day for perpetrators,” she told Al Jazeera. “The jury seems to have concluded you can be a victim, a survivor, whose boss beats you in hotel corridors and has control over your life, but that you’re not being coerced by him.”
“So much of what perpetrators do that enables them to get away with their abuse – and what makes their abuse so horrific and so sustained – has not been acknowledged and has disappeared from the picture in this verdict,” she added.
A ‘botched’ decision
How the jury arrived at its decision remains unknown.
But prosecutors had been tasked with proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Combs used “force, fraud, or coercion” to compel his girlfriends into commercial sex acts.
The case was centred largely on the testimony of two women: singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura Fine and a woman identified only by the pseudonym “Jane”. Both were identified as former girlfriends of Combs.
The prosecution argued that Combs had used his financial influence, violence and threats of blackmail to coerce Ventura and the other woman to perform sex acts during parties known as “freak-offs”.
The evidence included surveillance video from March 2016 of Combs beating Ventura in a hotel hallway and then dragging her away. Ventura herself gave harrowing testimony at the trial, saying she felt “trapped” in a cycle of abuse.
She explained that cycle involved regular threats and violence, including Combs “stomping” her on the face in a 2009 incident.
But the defence’s arguments throughout the proceedings appear to have swayed the jury, according to Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor.
The defence blatantly admitted that Combs was abusive towards Ventura, as the surveillance footage had shown. But Combs’s lawyers maintained there was no evidence he coerced Ventura into committing sexual acts against her will.
The Los Angeles Times even quoted defence lawyer Teny Geragos as saying, “Domestic violence is not sex trafficking.”
“The big question in the case is: If you’re sexually abused or assaulted, why did you stay with your abuser for more than a decade?” Rahmani said. “I understand the psychology of abuse, but jurors don’t necessarily buy it”.
Rahmani broadly assessed that prosecutors “botched” the sex-trafficking portion of the case.
That included how prosecutors approached a series of messages from Ventura that indicated affection for Combs and active participation in sexual situations, which Rahmani noted were not revealed until cross-examination by the defence.
According to experts like Katz, such behaviour can be common in abusive relationships, in which an abuser expects a “performance of happiness” to avoid physical, financial or psychological repercussions.
“It would never surprise me to see a victim survivor sending loving texts and enthusiastic texts to somebody who they said was abusing them, because that’s all part and parcel of domestic abuse,” Katz said.
‘Stain on criminal justice’
From Katz’s perspective, the verdict underscores the reality of what has happened since the #MeToo movement emerged.
While #MeToo helped workplace harassment become more widely understood, the general public still struggles with the complexities of intimate partner violence.
“I think that the public has shown more willingness to consider how somebody might be harmed by an acquaintance, a work colleague, somebody who’s hiring them for a job,” Katz said.
By contrast, intimate partner abuse consistently raises victim-blaming questions like: Why did someone remain with an abusive partner?
“There’s still a lot of stigma around when you chose this person,” Katz explained. The thought process, she added, is often: “It can’t have been that bad if you stayed in the relationship.”
But domestic violence experts point to complicating, often unseen factors. Abuse can have psychological consequences, and abusers often attempt to wield power over their victims.
Children, housing and financial circumstances can also prevent survivors from leaving and seeking help. People experiencing such abuse might also fear an escalation of the violence – or retaliation against loved ones – should they leave.
Experts, however, say it can be hard to illustrate those fears in court. Still, on Wednesday, Ventura’s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, struck a positive tone about the outcome of the Combs trial.
In a statement, he said Ventura’s legal team was “pleased” with the verdict and that her testimony helped to assure that Combs has “finally been held responsible for two federal crimes”.
“He still faces substantial jail time,” Wigdor noted. The prostitution transportation charges each carry a maximum of 10 years.
Several advocacy groups also praised Ventura and others for coming forward with their experiences.
The verdict “shows that even when power tries to silence truth, survivors push it into the light,” Lift Our Voices, a workplace advocacy group, wrote on the social media platform X. “The #MeToo movement hasn’t waned, it’s grown stronger.”
Fatima Goss Graves, head of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), echoed that Ventura’s and Jane’s testimonies were accomplishments in and of themselves.
“Coming forward and seeking accountability took extraordinary bravery and no jury can take that away,” she said.
Others were less optimistic about the jury’s split verdict. Arisha Hatch, interim executive director of UltraViolet, a gender-justice advocacy organisation, called the verdict a “decisive moment for our justice system” – and not in a good way.
“Today’s verdict is not just a stain on a criminal justice system that for decades has failed to hold accountable abusers like Diddy,” Hatch said. “It’s also an indictment of a culture in which not believing women and victims of sexual assault remains endemic.”
Mayor Karen Bass fired back at the Department of Justice on Tuesday, calling its lawsuit against her city part of an “all-out assault on Los Angeles” by President Trump.
Bass said she and other city leaders would not be intimidated by the lawsuit, which seeks to invalidate sanctuary policies that prohibit city resources from being used in federal immigration enforcement in most cases.
The mayor, appearing before reporters at City Hall, assailed federal agents for “randomly grabbing people” off the street, “chasing Angelenos through parking lots” and arresting immigrants who showed up at court for annual check-ins. She also took a swipe at Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a Santa Monica native widely viewed as the architect of the sweeping immigration crackdown.
“We know that U.S. citizens have been detained, so it’s basically indiscriminate,” Bass said. “It’s a wide net they have cast in order to meet Stephen Miller’s quota of 3,000 people a day being detained around the nation.”
L.A.’s mayor has been at odds with the Trump administration since early June, when federal immigration agents began a series of raids across Southern California, spurring protests in downtown Los Angeles, Paramount and other communities. Her latest remarks came one day after Trump’s Department of Justice sued the city over its sanctuary law, alleging it has hindered the federal government’s ability to combat “a crisis of illegal immigration.”
In the lawsuit, federal prosecutors accused the City Council of seeking to “thwart the will of the American people,” arguing that Trump won his election on a platform of deporting “millions of illegal immigrants.” They also alleged that L.A.’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities had triggered “lawlessness, rioting, looting, and vandalism” during the anti-ICE demonstrations.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson pushed back against Bass’ assertions, saying in an email that Bass should “thank President Trump for helping get dangerous criminals off L.A.’s streets.”
“The only ‘assault’ being committed is by Bass’s radical left-wing supporters who are assaulting ICE officers for simply doing their job and enforcing federal immigration law,” Jackson said. “Thanks to inflammatory rhetoric like Bass’s, ICE officers are facing a 500% increase in assaults.”
Elected officials in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Huntington Park and other communities have decried the raids, saying they are tearing families apart, disrupting public life and choking off economic activity. In some communities, July 4 fireworks shows have been canceled for fear of ICE raids destroying the events.
Even some who support Trump have begun to voice concerns. Last week, six Republicans in the state legislature sent Trump a letter urging him to focus on targeting violent criminals during his immigration crackdown, saying the raids are instilling widespread fear and driving workers out of critical industries.
From June 1 to June 10, 722 people were arrested by immigration agents in the Los Angeles region, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data obtained by the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley Law. A Times analysis of the figures found that 69% of those arrested during that period had no criminal conviction, and 58% had never been charged with a crime.
In L.A., the sanctuary ordinance bars city employees from seeking out information about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status unless needed to provide a city service. They also must treat data or information that can be used to trace a person’s citizenship or immigration status as confidential.
Trump has been trying to strike down the state’s sanctuary policies almost since they were enacted — largely without success.
In 2019, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a federal challenge to Senate Bill 54, which barred local police departments from helping federal agencies take custody of immigrants being released from jails. The Supreme Court declined to take up the case the following year.
In a separate case, the 9th Circuit ruled that the Trump administration may not force the city of L.A. to help deport immigrants as a condition of receiving a federal police grant.
City Councilmember Tim McOsker, who worked for several years in the city attorney’s office, said Tuesday that he views the Trump lawsuit as a publicity stunt.
“There are over 100 years of case law that tell us this is a baseless lawsuit,” he said.
Times staff writer Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.
Kootenai County Sheriff says law enforcement officials are taking sniper fire as they hunt for the killer.
At least two people have been killed in the United States after a gunman shot at firefighters responding to a blaze in the state of Idaho, according to officials.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said that crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain, just north of the city of Coeur d’Alene, at about 1:30pm (19:30 GMT) on Sunday, and gunshots were reported about a half hour later.
Sheriff Bob Norris said officials believe the two people killed were fire personnel. He did not know if anyone else was shot.
The sheriff said it was not immediately clear if there was one gunman or more, and urged the public to stay clear of the area.
“We don’t know how many suspects are up there, and we don’t know how many casualties there are,” Norris told reporters. “We are actively taking sniper fire as we speak.”
The Canfield Mountain, an area popular with hikers, is located near Coeur d’Alene, a city of 57,000 people about 260 miles (420 km) east of Seattle in Washington state.
Norris said the shooter or shooters were using high-powered sporting rifles to fire rapidly at first responders, and that the perpetrators “are not, at this time, showing any evidence of wanting to surrender”.
The sheriff said it appeared the attacker was hiding in the rugged terrain and using a high-powered rifle. He said he has instructed deputies to fire back.
“If these individuals are not neutralised quickly, this is going to be likely a multi-day operation,” he added.
Idaho Governor Brad Little said “multiple” firefighters were attacked.
“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” he said on X. “I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”
Little did not give further details on any casualties or how the incident unfolded.
“As this situation is still developing, please stay clear from the area to allow law enforcement and firefighters to do their jobs,” Little added.
Law enforcement is investigating whether the fire could have been intentionally set to lure first responders to the scene, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Jeff Howard told ABC News.
The broadcaster reported that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been briefed on the shooting.
The FBI said it has sent technical teams and tactical support to the scene.
“It remains an active, and very dangerous scene,” the agency’s deputy director, Dan Bongino, wrote in a post on X.
Gun ownership is widespread in the US, where the country’s Constitution protects the rights of Americans to “keep and bear arms”.
Deaths related to gun violence are common. At least 17,927 people were murdered by a gun in 2023 in the US, according to the most recent available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
NEWARK, N.J. — U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges accusing her of assaulting and interfering with immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center during a congressional oversight visit at the facility.
“They will not intimidate me. They will not stop me from doing my job,” she said outside the courthouse in Newark after the brief hearing.
McIver, a Democrat, was charged by interim U.S. Atty. Alina Habba, a Republican appointed by President Trump, following the May 9 visit to Newark’s Delaney Hall. Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses the privately owned, 1,000-bed facility as a detention center.
This month she was indicted on three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials. Two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. The third is a misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of one year in prison.
During Wednesday’s hearing, McIver stood and told U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper: “Your honor, I plead not guilty.” The judge set a Nov. 10 trial date.
Outside the courthouse, McIver warned that anyone who pushes back against the Trump administration will find themselves in a similar position.
McIver’s lawyer, former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman, said McIver pleaded not guilty because she is not guilty. He said federal agents created a risky situation at Delaney Hall.
A message seeking comment Wednesday was left with Habba’s office.
Among those at McIver’s side Wednesday were her family and elected officials, including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was outside the detention center with McIver and other legislators on May 9.
Baraka was also arrested on a trespassing charge that was later dropped and is suing Habba over what he called a malicious prosecution.
Baraka accused the Trump administration of using law enforcement as “an appendage of their ideology to begin to hammer us.”
The indictment of McIver is the latest development in a legal-political drama that has seen the Trump administration take Democratic officials from New Jersey’s largest city to court amid the president’s ongoing immigration crackdown and Democrats’ efforts to respond. The prosecution is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption.
A nearly two-minute video clip released by the Department of Homeland Security shows McIver at the facility inside a chain-link fence just before Baraka’s arrest on other side of the barrier, where other people were protesting. McIver and uniformed officials go through the gate, and she joins others shouting that they should circle the mayor.
The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. At one point her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word “Police.”
It is not clear from police bodycam video if the contact was intentional, incidental or the result of jostling in the chaotic scene.
The complaint alleges that she “slammed” her forearm into an agent and then tried to restrain the agent by grabbing him.
The indictment also says she placed her arms around the mayor to try to stop his arrest and says again that she slammed her forearm into and grabbed an agent.
Democrats including New Jersey Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez, who were with McIver at the detention center that day, have criticized the arrest and disputed the charges.
Members of Congress are legally authorized to go into federal immigration facilities as part of their oversight powers, even without notice. Congress passed a 2019 appropriations bill spelling out that authority.
McIver, 39, first came to Congress in September in a special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. left a vacancy in the 10th District. She was then elected to a full term in November.
A Newark native, she was president of the Newark City Council from 2022 to 2024 and worked in the city’s public schools before that.
Israel has carried out near-daily violations of the November ceasefire that ended its 14-month war with Hezbollah.
Israeli air raids have targeted the outskirts of several areas in south Lebanon, including the villages of Zrariyeh, Kfrar Milki and Ansar, according to the country’s National News Agency.
The attacks on Monday appear to have targeted open areas outside of the towns. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Monday’s airstrikes were reportedly more intense than the usual, near-daily, violations — that Israel has carried out — of the November 2024 ceasefire that ended its 14-month war with Hezbollah.
The Israeli military says it struck rocket launchers and an arms depot for Hezbollah, but provided no evidence of that.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem warned last week that the group may take “appropriate” measures if the conflict between Israel and Iran escalates further. So far, the Iran-allied group has not militarily intervened in the conflict.
Demonstrators gathered for a rally in solidarity with Iran after Friday prayers in Beirut.
Al Jazeera has verified video in on of the locations of the Israeli bombing.
Translation: Scenes from the Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon now.
Earlier this month, launched a series of strikes targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs, sending huge numbers of residents fleeing their homes on the eve of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday after issuing a forced evacuation order an hour earlier.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz warned at the time that “there will be no calm in Beirut” and “no order or stability in Lebanon” unless Hezbollah is disarmed.
That Israeli attack was the fourth, and heaviest, carried out targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs – a Hezbollah stronghold – since the ceasefire ended hostilities.
