cleared

SACRAMENTO — U.S. Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III announced today that he will resign at the end of July or in early August.

He told a news conference that an independent prosecutor investigating his personal financial affairs had found no grounds for legal action against him and therefore he could leave the Reagan Administration with a clear name.

“I have stated that I would not resign under a cloud or until I was completely vindicated,” Meese said, adding that the filing of a report by independent counsel James McKay–rather than an indictment–”fully vindicates me.”

Meese’s tenure at the Justice Department has been marked by repeated controversy surrounding his conduct and marred by resignations by senior personnel.

Won’t Be ‘Hounded’

Explaining why he had now decided to resign, Meese, who has always maintained his innocence, declared, “to allow myself to be hounded out of office by false accusations or allegations, unjust political attacks and media clamor would undermine the integrity of our system of justice which I have championed. . . . “

He said: “I have informed the President that I will be leaving the Administration towards the end of July or early in August.”

Earlier today, McKay ended his investigation of Meese without bringing criminal charges, but filed a report that raised questions about Meese’s ethics.

Sources close to the nearly 14-month-old probe said the secret report, totaling more than 800 pages, referred certain matters on Meese’s ethical behavior to the Justice Department for further review.

The department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, the agency’s internal ethics unit, is expected to review whether Meese violated federal ethics rules that prohibit actions that create the appearance of impropriety.

Allegations Detailed

McKay, who previously said he had insufficient evidence to indict Meese on most key matters under scrutiny, detailed in the report his probe into various conflict-of-interest charges against the attorney general.

It was filed under seal with a special panel of three federal appeals court judges. After Meese’s defense attorneys comment on the report, the judges will decide when to release it.

Meese, the nation’s top law enforcement officer who had President Reagan’s continued support throughout the inquiry, has denied any wrongdoing.

Most of McKay’s investigation centered on action Meese took as a government official that benefited his longtime friend and former lawyer, E. Robert Wallach, and on assistance that Wallach extended to Meese.

Wallach has been indicted on charges of attempting to illegally influence Meese and other government officials in helping win lucrative government contracts for the scandal-plagued Wedtech Corp., a defense contractor.

The most serious charge against Meese involved his role in a failed Iraqi oil pipeline deal that allegedly called for payoffs of as much as $700 million over 10 years to Israel and the Israeli Labor Party.

Meese received a secret 1985 memo from Wallach, who represented one of the project’s promoters, outlining the alleged payoff plan in return for an Israeli commitment not to attack the pipeline.

Meese then helped set up a meeting between a top White House national security adviser and former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres to discuss the project.

Telephone Contacts Probed

McKay also investigated Meese’s meetings with regional Bell Telephone company executives while holding $14,000 in phone stock.

A SHOPPER has sparked a debate among bargain hunters after sharing an incredible yellow sticker haul on social media – and admitting she cleared the shelves of highly reduced items.

The savvy shopper managed to scoop up 51 cartons of fruit juice for less than £4, along with a massive discount on cleaning essentials.

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The post quickly racked up comments after the woman declared: “Yes I cleared the shelves who wouldn’t,” justifying her massive purchase.

The focus of her shopping spree was Morrisons, though she noted the deal might not be nationwide. 

The woman, who shared her impressive savings in the popular Facebook group Extreme Couponing And Bargains UK, basket was full of discounted everyday essentials.

She bought 17 multipacks of juice cartons (4x apple and blackcurrant, 13x orange juice) that were priced at a mere 20p per pack. 

This means she paid just £3.40 for 51 individual juice cartons, a saving of over 90% on the original price.

The money saver also grabbed a huge stock of Dettol cleaning wipes. 

These were marked up at 75p but scanned at an even lower 37p per pack of 70 wipes.

She bought 13 packs, grabbing a year’s worth of cleaning supplies for just £4.81.

But her post soon quickly got a reaction from other money savers. 

Many users congratulated her on the incredible luck, insisting that any serious bargain hunter would do the same but others disagreed. 

“I wouldn’t have cleared the shelf actually,” one wrote.

A second also stated: “It’s lovely to hear of people getting a bargain but when you say…

“I cleared the shelf, surely you didn’t mean that figuratively.

“I mean you did leave some for someone else to ‘get a bargain’?”

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“I’m sorry but I get annoyed when people clear the shelf.

“I just think it’s a great bargain but please be fair to others to have the opportunity to get as well,” a third added.

But someone else said: “Why not, great find. That pack lunches are sorted.”

And another added: “Well done you…I would have as well…always share with relations and friends.” 

A Facebook user also commented: “Well done you, who wouldn’t take the lot I would , to split between my family.” 

A BRITISH grandad and veteran suffering from cancer has been left homeless and starving in Dubai after being arrested for a crime he’d been acquitted of a decade earlier.

John Murphy, who served in the British military before building a life in the UAE, was arrested a decade earlier over allegations of being offensive to hotel security.

The 59-year-old’s lawyers said he should have walked free but he was jailed awaiting trial.

In the interim period, John’s landlord sued him for rent arrears that piled up during his detention.

His belongings were seized, a travel ban imposed, and his passport withheld.

The travel ban imposed on him has also never been lifted.

For nearly 10 years he has been trapped in Dubai, unable to work and unable to leave, putting John in an ‘inescapable legal limbo’.

John’s lawyers now say he has been ‘literally starving’.

The grandfather has been forced to sleep on public transport and wash in shopping centre toilets, according to his legal contacts.

“I haven’t eaten in four days,” Murphy said in a message sent from Dubai.

“I’ve been on the streets for three weeks.

“I try to ride the metro all day to rest, but security chase me away.

“I wash in mall toilets, I’ve been in the same clothes for weeks, and my health is failing.

“I need urgent cancer treatment and dental care, but I have nowhere to turn.”

Despite homelessness being illegal in the UAE, when John attempted to surrender to the police, they refused to arrest him.

He has been surviving on public transport, caught between a rock and a hard place – unable to leave, unable to work, unable to resolve his debts.

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Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai said John’s situation was “outrageous”.

“John was found innocent, yet ten years later he is starving on the streets, denied cancer treatment, food, or shelter,” she said.

“This is the direct result of a system that criminalises debt and traps people in a cycle of poverty and despair.

“They won’t let him leave, and they won’t even arrest him. He is being left to die in plain sight.”

A friend of John’s has launched a GoFundMe page and appealed directly to both the British and Irish embassies for help.

To date, neither has secured his release.

“The Trump administration successfully repatriated a number of American citizens from the UAE,” Stirling added.

“It is disappointing that Britain and Ireland have not stepped in to save John Murphy.

“He is a veteran, a grandfather, and he has already suffered enough.

“The Irish and British governments must act now.”

John’s quagmire comes after British student Mia O’Brien was detained in the city after being busted with 50g of cocaine.

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Mia was sentenced to spend 25 years in a UAE prison after she was found with the drugs that had a street value of £2500.

Her family this week issued a plea for help saying she had “never done a bad thing in her life” and had made a “very stupid mistake”.

But now her heartbroken mum Danielle McKenna, 46, has revealed new details about her lengthy jail term.

She revealed that Mia, 23, was caught with 50 grams of the Class A drug in the Middle East last October.

The huge amount of cocaine was found inside Mia’s apartment in “one big chunk”.

The Liverpool University law student was arrested alongside two other people – her friend and the friend’s boyfriend.

All three have been charged with drug dealing.

Mia was convicted by a judge after a one day hearing on July 25.

She was also fined a staggering £100,000 by the court before being sent to the hellish Dubai Central Prison, also known as Al-Awir.

The notorious lock-up has been dubbed the affluent city’s version of infamous jail Alcatraz.

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“Mia feels she has destroyed her life as she wanted to be a lawyer or solicitor, ” Danielle told the Daily Mail.

“I speak to her but she can’t say too much on the phone.

“She’s just made a stupid mistake after going over to see a friend and her boyfriend in Dubai.”

The mother-of-five said Mia pleaded not guilty to intent to supply the drugs.

But the judge swiftly ended the trial and handed her a life sentence of which she has to serve 25 years.

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RUBEN AMORIM sees the departure of Andre Onana as key to his rebuild at Manchester United.

Cameroon keeper Onana is joining Turkish outfit Trabzonspor on a season-long loan.

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SunSport believes Onana’s relationship with United boss Amorim broke down irretrievably over the past month.

A source claimed: “It felt like Andre was there to just show up but wasn’t there or showing any team mentality.”

Amorim was unhappy that Onana, 29, picked up a hamstring injury at the start of pre-season training.

All the more so as he had been filmed playing on a mud patch in his homeland in June.

Onana is one of a number of stars that Amorim has let go this summer.

He has already sent  Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony packing.

And left-back Tyrell Malacia looks set to join Turkish side Eyupspor on a temporary deal.

United’s boss feels he has cleared the way for a more positive future and can kick on with preparations for Sunday’s Manchester derby.

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Onana was left out of the starting XI for the opening Premier League games against Arsenal and  Fulham.

He then put in another error-strewn display in the humiliating Carabao Cup defeat at Grimsby.

It saw him dropped again for the Prem win over Burnley before United made a deadline-day £18.2million swoop for 23-year-old Belgian Senne Lammens.

And it has emerged that insiders felt Onana was showing a lack of involvement and interest in working for the team in the final days before the international break.

That included the former Ajax and Inter Milan keeper effectively refusing to even acknowledge his manager in training.

So Amorim was happy to wave through Onana’s exit, leaving him with Lammens, struggling Turk Altay Bayindir and Tom Heaton, 39.

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Amorim has to decide whether to give Lammens a debut at the Etihad or stick with Bayindir for now.

Meanwhile, Onana copped more flak for the 1-0 defeat by Cape Verde on Tuesday that virtually ended Cameroon’s hopes of automatic World Cup qualification.

The keeper was at fault for Dailon Livramento’s winner, staying rooted to his line as the forward ran through on goal.

The Indomitable Lions are four points behind Cape Verde with two group games left.

‘Relieved’ BBC Breakfast editor Richard Frediani has reportedly been ‘cleared’ after a review into his behaviour and will be continuing his duties

BBC Breakfast’s editor, Richard Frediani, has reportedly been ‘cleared’ of bad behaviour by bosses amid a ‘feud’ with presenter Naga Munchetty. During the summer, it was claimed that show boss Richard went on extended leave on the flagship show after complaints about his behaviour.

Host Naga was said to not get on with the editor. However, many staff members came out in defence of Richard. One even told the Mirror that some staff were disappointed with Naga who it’s claimed raised concerns about his management style with BBC managers.

One source told the Mirror: “He is not a bully at all and the truth will come out. He’s a great boss and was – and is still – overwhelmingly loved by the team, who respect his drive, expertise, and journalistic ambition. He has delivered great audiences and the first ever Bafta for breakfast TV.

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“He can be brash and opinionated but works so hard for his team and allows people to flourish.”

Three months on, it was reported that the BBC conducted an interview review of the bullying allegations, with the broadcaster conducting 70 sessions and a ‘listening exercise’ with staff.

Richard, who is said to be ‘relieved’ with the outcome, reportedly told staff he was in the clear and would be continuing with his duties as editor.

“He’s in a significantly more secure place than he was. And I think he’s had a lot of support from people on the team who have come out and said he’s a great editor,” a support told The Times.

“Not everyone on the team because there are divided loyalties, but he is in a much better place.”

A spokesperson for the BBC told the Mirror: “While we do not comment on individual HR matters, we take all complaints about conduct at work extremely seriously.”

A source claimed Naga and co-host Charlie Stayt were ‘furious’ about Richard being ‘cleared’ to return to his duties.

“Naga and Charlie are furious and feel like the BBC have backed him over them,” they told The Sun. “No one would be surprised if they ended up leaving.”

In July, an insider told the publication that Naga was looking for a new job. While the presenter ‘loves the BBC’, her team reportedly ‘renewed talks’ with other companies.

They said: “Her team last week renewed talks with LBC. The Global Radio station would suit her as there’s far less of the fluffy nonsense that’s involved in working at the BBC.”

Meanwhile, the BBC’s annual salary was previously published and Naga was revealed to be earning almost double her co-host Charlie’s pay.

Charlie has stayed within the £190,000 salary band, whereas Naga enjoyed a £10,000 increase to her earnings, moving from £345,000 to £355,000.

The Mirror have reached out to the BBC and the representatives of Charlie and Naga for comment.

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Rising star USC wideout Ja’Kobi Lane suffered a broken foot in May, but was fully cleared this week and will be ready for the Trojans’ season opener against Missouri State, coach Lincoln Riley said Thursday.

The foot injury kept Lane limited through most of the summer. By the start of preseason camp, he was still being brought along slowly. During the portion of USC’s practices open to reporters, Lane wasn’t even running routes on air.

Lane wasn’t deemed fully healthy until the final week of USC’s preseason camp. Riley said that the junior wideout had actually “progressed a little bit ahead of schedule.”

His return is a welcomed one on a USC offense that will rely on him to stretch the field this season. Lane was second in the Big Ten in receiving touchdowns last season as a sophomore, with 12 scores on just 43 receptions. He finished the year with six touchdowns across his final two games, a dominant stretch that would put him in the conversation to be a first-round pick in next spring’s NFL draft.

But after sitting out for part of the offseason, it may take some time to see that final leap from Lane as a junior. Riley said that Lane is still getting back into shape after being limited by his foot injury, but is progressing nicely with just over a week remaining before USC kicks off at the Coliseum.

“You can see some of the rust starting to get knocked off now,” Riley said of his top wideout.

After surviving a fiery car wreck and successfully skipping his final year of high school to enroll at USC, incoming star freshman Alijah Arenas should be cleared to join the team for practice on Thursday, coach Eric Musselman confirmed.

The five-star guard arrives at USC this summer as the most highly anticipated recruit of Musselman’s tenure. Musselman — who coached Arenas’ father, Gilbert, with the Golden State Warriors — has said on multiple occasions that he expects Arenas to be a difference-maker as a freshman.

The question now is how quickly Arenas can get up to speed after missing the first month of summer practice with a team that was totally rebuilt through the transfer portal.

USC’s coach certainly isn’t concerned about Arenas fitting in. Since arriving on campus, Musselman said, Arenas has made a point to follow the coach around on the court during practice.

“I think he knows the offense, on paper, maybe better than anyone on our team,” Musselman said. “He’s got an innate ability to kind of see things in a different manner.

“I would anticipate him picking it up really quick because he’s come into our office. He’s diagramming stuff during practice. He’s talking to managers and GA’s about where he should be on the floor.”

It was a harrowing few months for Arenas leading up to him being cleared at USC. One early morning in late April, he lost control of his Tesla Cybertruck and hit a tree. The car burst into flames, leaving him trapped inside. He was ultimately saved by a pair of good Samaritans who happened to be nearby, but Arenas would spend six days in the hospital before returning home, miraculously, without any lasting injuries.

After finishing his high school classwork so he could graduate a year early, Arenas underwent final medical testing at USC this week, Musselman said. He’ll join at the halfway mark for the Trojans’ summer practice session.

Gjert Ingebrigtsen, the father and former trainer of Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen, has been cleared of abusing the two-time Olympic champion.

In the climax of a trial that has gripped Norway, the court announced that there was insufficient evidence of Jakob’s claims that his father had overseen a childhood of fear and intimidation marked by violence and threats.

However, Gjert has been found guilty of hitting Jakob’s younger sister Ingrid, now 19, in the face with a towel during a row in 2022.

Gjert has been given a suspended prison sentence of 15 days for the incident and fined 10,000 Norwegian Kroner (£745).

Saudi and Qatari payments settle Syria’s arrears, allowing World Bank and IMF to re-engage.

The World Bank says it will restart operations in Syria following a 14-year pause after the country cleared more than $15m of debt with financial backing from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The United States-based institution announced on Friday that Syria no longer has outstanding obligations to the International Development Association (IDA), its fund dedicated to low-income countries.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia and Qatar paid off Syria’s outstanding debts of approximately $15.5m, paving the way for renewed engagement with international financial bodies.

“We are pleased that the clearance of Syria’s arrears will allow the World Bank Group to reengage with the country and address the development needs of the Syrian people,” the bank said. “After years of conflict, Syria is on a path to recovery and development.”

The bank is now preparing its first project in Syria, which will focus on improving electricity access — a key pillar for revitalising essential services like healthcare, education, and water supply.

Officials said it marks the beginning of expanded support aimed at stabilising Syria and boosting long-term growth.

US to lift sanctions on Syria

The bank’s announcement coincides with a dramatic shift in US policy towards Damascus.

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Washington would begin lifting sanctions imposed on Syria, including measures under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act.

On Wednesday, Trump met Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the GCC summit in Riyadh, marking a historic breakthrough in relations between the countries and the first such meeting between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that waivers would be issued, easing restrictions on entities previously penalised for dealings with the now former administration of Bashar al-Assad, which was toppled in December.

“Lifting sanctions on Syria represents a fundamental turning point,” Ibrahim Nafi Qushji, an economist and banking expert, told Al Jazeera. “The Syrian economy will transition from interacting with developing economies to integrating with more developed ones, potentially significantly reshaping trade and investment relations.”

The moves represent a significant moment in Syria’s reintegration into the global financial system after 13 years of civil war and isolation.

In April, a rare meeting was held in Washington involving officials from Syria, the IMF, the World Bank, and Saudi Arabia. A joint statement issued afterwards acknowledged the dire state of Syria’s economy and promised coordinated efforts to support its recovery.

The International Monetary Fund has since named its first mission chief to Syria in more than a decade. Ron van Rooden, previously involved with IMF operations in Ukraine, will lead the Fund’s renewed engagement.

Martin Muehleisen, a former IMF strategy chief, noted the urgency of providing technical assistance to rebuild Syria’s financial institutions. “Those efforts could be funded by donors and grants in-kind,” he told the news agency Reuters, adding that some support could begin within months.

Al-Assad was toppled after a lightning offensive by opposition fighters led by the Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham armed group last December.

Syria’s new government has sought to rebuild the country’s diplomatic ties, including with international financial institutions. It also counts on wealthy Gulf Arab states to play a pivotal role in financing the reconstruction of Syria’s war-ravaged infrastructure and reviving its economy.

The government, led by interim President al-Sharaa, also wants to transition away from the system that gave al-Assad loyalists privileged access to government contracts and kept key industries in the hands of the al-Assad family.

A MAN accused of beating a florist to death has been cleared in the UK’s longest-ever miscarriage of justice.

Peter Sullivan was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years in 1987 for the murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall in Bebington, Merseyside.

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The loner, who was 29 at the time, has spent the past 38 years maintaining his innocent and is now appealing his conviction for a third time.

It comes after new tests ordered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission revealed his DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time.

His lawyers said that if his conviction is quashed, he would be the longest-serving victim of a miscarriage of justice in the UK.

The Crown Prosecution Service today told the Court of Appeal the new evidence is enough to cast “sufficient” doubt on the conviction.

It also agreed the fresh clue was “reliable” and that the CPS “does not seek to argue that this evidence is not capable of undermining the safety of Mr Sullivan’s conviction”.

Duncan Atkinson KC, for the CPS, said: “The respondent considers that there is no credible basis on which the appeal can be opposed, solely by reference to the DNA evidence.

“On the contrary, the DNA evidence provides a clear and uncontroverted basis to suggest that another person was responsible for both the sexual assault and the murder.

“As such, it positively undermines the circumstantial case against Mr Sullivan as identified at the time both of his trial and his 2021 appeal.”

Diane had just left her shift as a part-time barmaid at a pub in Bebington when her small blue van ran out of petrol.

She was making her way to a garage when she was beaten to death and sexually assaulted in a “frenzied” attack.

Her body was discovered partially clothed close to a grass verge.

Sullivan, who is watching the appeal from HMP Wakefield, was said to have spent the day of the murder drinking heavily.

Following his arrest in September 1986, he was quizzed 22 times and denied legal advice in the first seven interviews – despite requesting it.

Sullivan later “confessed to the murder” in an unrecorded interview a day after his arrest.

He then made a formal confession but the court was told this was “inconsistent with the facts established by the investigation“.

It also went against his earlier interviews, with Sullivan retracting the admission later that day.

Since his conviction, questions have been raised about whether he had proper legal representation during his interviews.

Evidence related to bite marks on Diane’s body has also been called into question.

At the time of the case, DNA technology was not available and subsequent requests for new tests were refused.

Sullivan first went to the CCRC for help in 2008 but they did not refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.

He then launched his own appeal bid in 2019, which judges dismissed after ruling the bite mark evidence was not central to the prosecution at trial.

In 2021, Sullivan went back to the CCRC and raised concerns over police interviews, the bite mark evidence and the murder weapon.

The independent body revealed Sullivan’s DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time.

This led Merseyside Police to confirm they were “carrying out an extensive investigation in a bid to identify who the new DNA profile belongs to”.

The force revealed they had no matches on the police database but were contacting people previously identified in the original probe to request new samples.

Sullivan’s barrister Jason Pitter KC today told the court that Diane’s murder was “a grotesque offence”.

But he argued that the evidence could not now pass “the threshold with which a prosecution could take place”.

While he accepted that improvements in science and the “passage of time” had “significantly assisted” Sullivan’s position, the new DNA evidence showed the killer “was not the defendant”.

He also explained the bite mark evidence, which the prosecution claimed matched Sullivan, was no longer viewed as reliable evidence of identification in criminal cases.

Mr Pitter told the court “significant admissions” and “incriminating statements” made by Sullivan at the time of the killing were “inherently unreliable” due to his “vulnerability”.

He added: “The appellant was extremely vulnerable in an interrogative situation, because of his limited intellectual functioning, combined with his problems with self-expression, his disposition to acquiesce, to yield, to be influenced, manipulated and controlled and his internal pressure to speak without reflection and his tendency to engage in make-believe to an extreme extent.

“What he was saying was nonsense, in plain terms.”