Crime

Hugh Laurie left quite the impression when he starred as villainous Richard Roper in The Night Manager 10 years ago.

Hugh Laurie, the legendary star of The Night Manager, is set to appear alongside a Westworld icon in a forthcoming crime thriller.

After initially rising to prominence in the Blackadder franchise with Rowan Atkinson and Stephen Fry, Laurie has since featured in numerous major dramas including Veep, House, and naturally, The Night Manager.

While his previous co-stars Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman return to the BBC thriller, Laurie has been busy filming his latest project, The Wanted Man, for Apple TV+, which is presently in post-production.

The 66 year old will portray crime boss Felix Carmichael, who lands behind bars after running the infamous criminal organisation The Capital for two decades.

The official synopsis reveals: “Upon discovering internal betrayal while locked up, he plots his breakout to seek vengeance and restore his criminal empire.”

The eight-episode series has been created by Hijack’s George Kay and also features Mission Impossible and Westworld star Thandiwe Newton.

However, they won’t be the only recognisable names, as Laurie and Newton will be accompanied by Game of Thrones actor Stephen Dillane, Say Nothing’s Hazel Doupe, and Dunkirk star Fionn Whitehead.

No official release date has been confirmed yet, though reports suggest The Wanted Man could launch around May 2026.

Meanwhile, fans’ focus has returned to Laurie following his memorable role in The Night Manager, which has made its comeback to British television screens. In the 2016 BBC thriller, he played the villainous Richard Roper, starring alongside leading man Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine and Colman as Angela Burr.

After a decade-long hiatus, The Night Manager has made a comeback for its second season, but with an unexpected twist – Roper was killed off-screen.

Laurie does make an appearance in the first episode through a dream sequence, but he hasn’t been seen in The Night Manager since and isn’t expected to return.

However, Laurie remains involved with The Night Manager behind the scenes, serving as an executive producer alongside Hiddleston.

The Wanted Man is slated to premiere on Apple TV+ in spring 2026.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vetoed a bill that would have reduced the prison sentence of his right-wing rival and predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup.

On Thursday, Lula followed through with his promise to block the legislation, which had passed Brazil’s opposition-controlled Congress last year.

“In the name of the future, we do not have the right to forget the past,” Lula wrote in a series of social media posts, saying that it would have benefitted “those who attacked Brazilian democracy”.

The veto came on the third anniversary of the 2023 attack on the Three Powers Plaza in the capital of Brasilia, where government buildings representing the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court stand.

On January 8 of that year, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the buildings in an apparent attempt to provoke a military response that would remove Lula from power.

In marking the anniversary of the attack, Lula called on Brazilians to stand up for their young democracy, which began after a period of violent dictatorship in the late 20th century.

“January 8th is marked in history as the day of democracy’s victory. A victory over those who tried to seize power by force, disregarding the popular will expressed at the ballot box. Over those who have always defended dictatorship, torture, and the extermination of opponents,” Lula wrote online.

“The attempted coup on January 8, 2023, reminded us that democracy is not an unshakeable achievement.”

Bolsonaro’s sentence

The January 8 attack caused millions of dollars in property damage and dozens of injuries, as police and protesters clashed in the government plaza.

The incident evoked comparisons to the violent riot at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, where supporters of President Donald Trump attempted to disrupt the certification of his 2020 election defeat.

Likewise, Bolsonaro, a former army captain, had refused to concede his defeat to Lula after a narrow loss in the 2022 elections.

Rather, he and his allies had argued that Brazil’s electronic voting machines were susceptible to fraud, and they challenged the election results in court. Their petition, however, was thrown out for its “total absence of any evidence”.

Still, many of Bolsonaro’s supporters backed his claims and took to the streets to protest the election results. The weeks surrounding Lula’s inauguration in January 2023 were fraught, with reports of a bomb threat and an attack on police headquarters in Brasilia.

Prosecutors later accused Bolsonaro and his allies of leading a criminal conspiracy to overturn the election results.

One of the options the defendants allegedly weighed was to declare a “state of siege” in Brazil, which would allow the military to take control and new elections be held. Another option was reportedly to assassinate Lula and his running mate, Geraldo Alckmin.

Bolsonaro has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied any wrongdoing, framing the accusations instead as a political hit job.

Still, in September, he was sentenced to 27 years in prison after being found guilty on counts including attempting a coup, causing damage to public property, attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, participation in a criminal enterprise, and the deterioration of a listed national heritage site.

He began his prison term in November, after he was found to have damaged the ankle monitor used to ensure he was not a flight risk.

Weighing October’s election

Conservative politicians, however, have decried the prison sentence as excessive and called for its reduction.

Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo has petitioned the Trump administration in the US to intervene on behalf of the imprisoned ex-president, and his eldest child, Flavio Bolsonaro, even hinted he might suspend his 2026 presidential bid if his father were released.

On December 10, Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies passed legislation that would reduce the sentences of nearly 1,000 people linked to the January 8 attack, including Bolsonaro.

A week later, on December 17, the Senate followed suit, sending the leniency bill to the president for his signature.

But Lula had repeatedly pledged to reject the bill, risking the possibility that Brazil’s Congress could override his veto.

“ This is a bill that really is a litmus test in Brazilian politics,” Gustavo Ribeiro, a journalist and founder of The Brazil Report, told Al Jazeera. “Conservatives overwhelmingly supported it, while liberals are adamantly against it.”

Still, Ribeiro described the bill as a compromise between Brazil’s centre-right and far-right forces.

“The centre-right tried to work a sort of a middle-of-the-road solution that is not full amnesty but would allow Bolsonaro to leave incarceration after two years, in what we call in Brazil a semi-open prison sentence,” he explained.

He sees Brazil’s general election in October as a significant factor in Congress’s passage of the bill, noting that Bolsonaro remains a popular figure on the right.

“Because Bolsonaro has such a big clout with conservatives, many in Congress – many right-of-centre lawmakers – fear that if they do not lend their full support to any cause that Bolsonaro espouses, they will lose support,” Ribeiro said.

Lula is seeking a fourth term as president in October’s election, and he is expected to face Bolsonaro’s son Flavio at the ballot box.

Gov. Gavin Newsom used his final State of the State address to underscore California’s jaw-dropping crime figures — stats that he said refute the president’s claims about widespread murder and mayhem.

To put in perspective some of the numbers cited by the governor on Thursday:

The last time homicides were this low in Oakland, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was visiting Joan Baez at Santa Rita Jail to commend her on her recent arrest in protest of the Vietnam draft.

Killings haven’t been so rare in San Francisco since superstar Marilyn Monroe wed baseball legend Joe DiMaggio at City Hall.

And violent deaths in the city of Los Angeles fell to rates not seen since the Beatles played Dodgers Stadium, their penultimate public show.

“We have seen double-digit decreases in crime overall in the state of California,” Newsom said. “We’ve got more work to do, but to those with that California derangement syndrome, I’ll repeat — it’s time to update your talking points.”

The governor’s remarks follow reporting by The Times that showed L.A.’s homicide rate is nearing a record low, mirroring trends in other cities nationwide.

With the counts based on data from the LAPD and other law enforcement agencies, President Trump’s insistence that crime in California is out of control has come to seem increasingly bombastic. Recently, the president has modified his message to warn of a possible crime resurgence.

“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again,” Trump said on Truth Social in a post announcing an end to his legal battle to maintain National Guard troops in L.A., Portland and Chicago. “Only a question of time!”

In his speech Thursday, Newsom credited the stark drop in violence to a flood of crime-fighting cash unleashed by the California Legislature.

“No one’s walked away from public safety,” Newsom said. “We didn’t turn a blind eye to this, we invested in it. We didn’t talk about it, we leaned in.”

But experts said the reality is more complicated. Those who study the root causes of crime say that it may take years, if not decades, to disentangle the causes of the pandemic-era surge in violence and the precipitous drop that has followed.

Trump hammered lawlessness in California’s streets during the 2024 presidential campaign and throughout his first year back in the White House. He rarely names Newsom without invoking crime and chaos, and regularly threatens to surge armed soldiers back into into the streets.

At the same time, the Trump administration has slashed hundreds of millions in federal funding from school safety grants, youth mentoring programs and gang intervention networks that experts say have been instrumental in improving public safety.

Proponents worry those cuts could threaten L.A.’s patchwork of alternative crisis response programs aimed at easing the city’s reliance on law enforcement. In recent years, scores of groups have sprung up to assist people dealing with homelessness, drug addiction and the symptoms of untreated mental health disorders — all of which can heighten the perception of crime, even when actual numbers go down.

Looming cuts in federal spending could hinder efforts to scale up these initiatives, some warned.

“I just don’t know how we can continue to trend in the right direction without continuing to invest in things that work,” said Thurman Barnes, assistant director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center.

According to data published by the Major Cities Chiefs Assn., homicides were down in San Francisco, San José, Sacramento and Oakland. Other violent crimes, including rape, aggravated assault and robbery, also dropped, with a handful of exceptions.

Property crime was also down, the governor said Thursday.

Street-level disorder and perceptions of widespread lawlessness helped topple progressive administrations across California in 2024 and earned Trump an unexpected windfall in some of the state’s bluest cities.

Those concerns are “at the core” of California voters’ frustrations, Newsom acknowledged Thursday.

“We’re seeing results, making streets safer for everyone,” the governor said.

Jeff Asher, a leading expert in the field of criminology, said it’s hard to say whether the perception gap is closing “because we don’t necessarily track it super systematically.”

But he pointed to a Gallup poll from late last year that showed less than half of Americans believed that crime had gone up — the first time in two decades that that number had dipped below 50%.

“The pandemic broke us in a lot of ways, and we’re starting to not feel as broken,” he said.

Newsom also touted sharp declines in the number of people living on the streets.

Unsheltered homelessness dropped 9% in California and more than 10% in Los Angeles, the governor announced — data he sought to contrast with an 18% rise in homelessness nationwide.

The sight of encampments and people in the throes of psychosis in the streets drives perceptions of lawlessness and danger, studies show. Lowering it soothes those fears.

But California’s overall homeless population remains stubbornly high, with only modest reductions. Federal funding cuts could hamper efforts to further reduce those numbers, experts warned.

Rather than dig into the complexities of crime, Newsom sought to portray the president himself as the driver of lawlessness, calling the first year of his second term a “carnival of chaos.”

“We face an assault on our values unlike anything I’ve seen in my lifetime,” the governor said. “Secret police. Businesses being raided. Windows smashed, citizens detained, citizens shot. Masked men snatching people in broad daylight, people disappearing. Using American cities as training grounds for the United States military.”

“It’s time for the president of the United States to do his job, not turn his back on Americans that happen to live in the great state of California,” Newsom said.

A warning has been issued for visitors to the Spanish island of Tenerife, which is situated off the coast of West Africa and is known for its excellent, sunny weather throughout the year

New warning signs directed at British tourists have appeared in Tenerife.

The Spanish island, situated off the coast of West Africa and known for its excellent, sunny weather throughout the year, is hugely popular with UK residents. The Canary Islands overall recorded an extraordinary year in 2024, with nearly 18 million visitors – an annual increase of 10%.

The biggest pull is Tenerife, which attracted more than 6.2 million international tourists and over 900,000 domestic visitors. British visitors are the dominant force on the island, sending 2.8 million sunseekers in 2024 – three times more than those from Germany.

While there’s plenty to love about Tenerife, including its 20C plus January weather, miles of sandy coastline and cheap bars, there is a downside to the island. Holidaymakers can find themselves the victim of pickpockets and muggers.

Now, British tourists visiting the most popular holiday hotspots in Tenerife are being warned about pickpockets after an increase in muggings and robberies. New signs have been put out on pavements to warn visitors about the risks. Messages are also being sent out to hundreds of thousands of social network users.

Have you had a holiday in Tenerife go wrong? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

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The warnings apply to favourite destinations in the south of Tenerife, including Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas, as well as Puerto Colón, Puerto Santiago and Los Gigantes. Several Facebook communities are now being used to report such crimes, with photographs of alleged pickpockets shared, and risk points are identified.

Although hard figures are not available, there is an anecdotal suggestion that theft cases are on the rise in certain parts of Tenerife. One of the most notable areas is the vicinity of English pubs in Los Cristianos, particularly San Francisco Avenue, which is known for being a high-risk location, especially at night and during periods of high visitor concentration.

On one Facebook group, a user recently recounted: “Two pickpockets in Los Cristianos were surprised and arrested by my husband when they tried to steal a woman’s purse”, describing a spontaneous intervention to stop a robbery in the middle of a public road. Other reports mention stolen cell phones, hotel room cards and wallets.

Some car rental companies in the south have begun to incorporate warning messages aimed at their customers as a preventive measure. These companies recommend that their customers carry out practices to reduce the risk of theft, such as not to leaving mobile phones on tables, avoiding carrying wallets with large amounts of money and choosing to carry only cash and essential cards.

They also suggest the use of fanny packs, carrying bags on the front of the body and not leaving valuables inside vehicles.

During a nine-month period last year, reported crime rates in the Canary Islands increased by 3.3% compared to the same months in 2024, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The archipelago ended the first nine months of the year with 83,358 criminal offences, compared to 80,707 in the same period in 2024.

The report highlighted a significant increase in property-related crimes, with 1,467 violent robberies clocked (+12.8%) and 21,889 thefts (+3.5%), Tenerife Weekly reported.

As manhunt is under way, police do not believe attack was random but neither was it likely to be attack on religion.

Two people have been killed and several injured in a shooting in the car park of a Mormon church in the Utah capital of Salt Lake City in the United States.

Police said the shooting occurred on Wednesday in the car park of a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where dozens of people were attending a funeral.

Three of the six injured victims are in critical condition.

Police confirmed that no suspect was in custody and have launched a manhunt, with the FBI reportedly offering assistance.

While police said they did not believe the shooting was random, Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd told The Associated Press news agency it did not appear to be a targeted attack against a religion.

Church spokesman Glen Mills told reporters there had been signs of a fracas outside the church, where the funeral was taking place.

“Out in the parking lot, there was some sort of altercation took [place] and that’s when shots were fired,” he said.

About 100 law enforcement vehicles were at the scene in the aftermath, with helicopters flying overhead.

“As soon as I came over, I see someone on the ground… People are attending to him and crying and arguing,” said Brennan McIntire, a local man who spoke to AP.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said, “This should never have happened outside a place of worship. This should never have happened outside a celebration of life.”

The church, which has headquarters in Salt Lake City, is cooperating with law enforcement.

About half of Utah’s 3.5 million residents are members of the faith. Churches like the one where the shooting occurred can be found in towns throughout the city and state.

The faith has been on heightened alert since four people were killed when a former Marine opened fire in a Michigan church last month and set it ablaze.

The FBI found that he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against the church.

About 82 percent of mass killings in the US in 2025 involved a firearm, according to a database maintained by AP alongside USA Today and Northeastern University.

The shooting in Salt Lake City occurred amid growing unrest in the US, after a federal officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis amid ongoing protests against an immigration crackdown.

Alan Jackson steps down as lawyer for Nick Reiner, who is accused of killing his mother and father in December.

The high-profile lawyer representing Nick Reiner, who allegedly killed his father, director Rob Reiner, and mother Michele Singer Reiner in December, has resigned.

The announcement that lawyer Alan Jackson would step down from the case means that the younger Reiner will, at least for the time being, be represented by a public defender provided by the state.

During a news conference on Wednesday, Jackson did not provide a reason for his departure, instead citing the legal and ethical reasons he could not provide more details.

“Circumstances beyond our control and, more importantly, circumstances beyond Nick’s control have dictated that, sadly, it’s made it impossible to continue our representation of Nick,” Jackson said.

He added that, after weeks of investigation, “what we’ve learned, and you can take this to the bank, is that pursuant to the laws of this state, pursuant to the law of California, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder. Print that.”

Jackson did not elaborate.

The lawyer had first appeared in court to represent the 32-year-old suspect just days after Rob Reiner and his wife were found dead on December 14 in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California.

The cause of death was determined to be “multiple sharp force injuries”, another term for stab wounds.

Jackson, whose past clients include producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey, did not explain how he was hired or who hired him after Nick Reiner was arrested for the killings.

On Wednesday, Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene took over Nick Reiner’s defence in the case.

That came as the defendant, standing behind glass in a custody area of the courtroom and wearing brown jail garb and with his hair shaved, briefly appeared in a Los Angeles court, where he was meant to be arraigned and enter a plea to two charges of first-degree murder.

Instead, the arraignment was postponed to February 23.

“The Public Defender’s Office recognises what an unimaginable tragedy this is for the Reiner family and the Los Angeles community,” Deputy Los Angeles Public Defender Ricardo Garcia said in a statement following the hearing.

“Our hearts go out to the Reiner family as they navigate this difficult time. We ask for your patience and compassion as the case moves through the legal process.”

Rob Reiner’s killing resonated across the world, reflecting the global impact of his films, which included the coming-of-age drama Stand By Me, the courtroom thriller A Few Good Men and the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally.

Rob and Nick Reiner had previously worked together on a film, Being Charlie, which was partially based on the younger Reiner’s struggles with drug addiction and mental health.

SINGER Richard Ashcroft was banned from driving yesterday by a judge who criticised his repeated speeding.

The Verve frontman, 55, admitted doing 48mph in a 40mph zone in his £145,000 four-litre Mercedes Benz AMG V8.

He already had nine penalty points on his licence before his latest offence on the M4 in Brentford, West London, late on February 19 last year.

He was given three more, taking him to 12 and an automatic ban.

Banning him for six months, district judge Daniel Benjamin said: “Mr Ashcroft put not only himself, but others road users at greater risk of harm.

“The purpose of the penalty points disqualification provision is to enable a person after one offence to change and after a second offence change and after a third offence change and Mr Ashcroft has reached four offences without showing any intention to abide by the speed limit.”

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Dad-of-two Ashcroft, who lives in a £10million house near Richmond Green, South West London, was also fined £1,875, with £880 in costs.

He pleaded guilty by post and did not appear at Lavender Hill magistrates’ court, blaming a pre-arranged commitment.

Charges of speeding on the M4 twice in one day in March were dropped.

Ashcroft led The Verve, known for hit Bitter Sweet Symphony, from 1990 to 2009.

An upcoming Netflix thriller based on a bestselling series of novels is a must-watch for streamers this year

Netflix has confirmed a new thriller series based on an iconic series of books is in the works – and it’s shaping up to be a must-watch release for 2026.

Starring Watchmen’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen ll, the seven-episode first season follows former Special Forces soldier John Creasy, who’s looking to turn over a new leaf.

However, he must first battle his own personal demons before he can live the life he wants to lead.

Man on Fire will stream on Netflix at an undisclosed date in 2026. Based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A.J. Quinnell, the original book has spawned a bestselling series and a film adaptation starring Denzel Washington.

Joining Abdul-Mateen is Billie Boullet (World-Breaker) and City of God star Alice Braga in major roles.

Plus, True Detective’s Scoot McNairy and Only Murder in the Building’s Bobby Cannavale will also star in recurring roles.

Director Steven Caple Jr, who has helmed the blockbuster films Creed II and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, will direct the first two episodes.

An official synopsis from Netflix reads: “Man on Fire follows John Creasy, who was once a high-functioning and skilled Special Forces Mercenary known for surviving even the most desolate situations.

“However, John is now battling extreme PTSD and personal demons. As he attempts a fresh start, he’ll find himself back in the (metaphorical) fire and fighting harder than ever.”

Actress Boullet will portray Poe Rayborn, a young woman “growing at a rapid and confusing pace” who reluctantly moves to Brazil when her parents relocate.

Spending her days with a class of wealthy international school friends, her worldview is totally thrown off its axis after witnessing a terrifying event and she’s forced to ally herself to John.

Braga is portraying Valeria Melo, “a professional driver with familial connections to a gang running a local favela. After Creasy hires Melo, she quickly becomes his right hand in protecting a young girl and pursuing terrorists.”

Cannavale will take on a guest role as Paul Rayburn, an ex-Special Forces soldier with an uncanny ability to read people. McNairy is guest starring as an intelligent and manipulative CIA agent, Henry Tappan.

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This lets members watch live and on-demand TV content without a satellite dish or aerial and includes hit shows like Bridgerton.

If you still need to be sold on this action-packed new series, Quinnell’s series of novels have built up a huge following of die-hard readers over the years who will surely be first in line.

One fan on Goodreads gave the first book a five-star review and said: “Few books are perfect action films but this is one of them.

“I have not felt this engrossed while reading a story in a long time. If you enjoy action or revenge movies you will dig this book.”

Netflix has just released a first-look at Abdul-Mateen in action, but stayed tuned for more details coming soon.

Man on Fire premieres in 2026 on Netflix.

The UN human rights office says the US military intervention that ousted Venezuela’s leader violates international law and the UN Charter, warning it undermines global security and risks worsening human rights. It says Venezuela’s future must be decided by its people.

Venezuelan state TV footage shows Vice President Delcy Rodriguez being formally sworn in as interim president in Caracas days after President Nicolas Maduro was abducted to face narco-terrorism charges in New York.

Have you heard of Orange County? It’s where the good Republicans go before they die.

It should come as no surprise that Orange County, a beloved county for the grandfather of modern American conservatism, Ronald Reagan, would be the fertile landscape for far-right ideology and white supremacy. Reaganomics aside, the O.C. has long since held a special if not slightly off-putting place, of oceanfront leisure, modern luxury and all-American family entertainment — famed by hit shows (“The Real Housewives of Orange County,” “The O.C.” and “Laguna Beach,” among others). Even crime in Orange County has been sensationalized and glamorized, with themes veneered by opulence, secrecy and illusions of suburban perfection. To Eric Lichtblau, the Pulitzer Prize winner and former Los Angeles Times reporter, the real story is far-right terrorism — and its unspoken grip on the county’s story.

“One of the reasons I decided to focus on Orange County is that it’s not the norm — not what you think of as the Deep South. It’s Disneyland. It’s California,” Lichtblau says. “These are people who are trying to take back America from the shores of Orange County because it’s gotten too brown in their view.”

His newest investigative book, “American Reich,” focuses on the 2018 murder of gay Jewish teenager Blaze Bernstein as a lens to examine Orange County and how the hate-driven murder at the hands of a former classmate connects to a national web of white supremacy and terrorism.

I grew up a few miles away from Bernstein, attending a performing arts school similar to his — and Sam Woodward’s. I remember the early discovery of the murder where Woodward became a suspect, followed by the news that the case was being investigated as a hate crime. The murder followed the news cycle for years to come, but in its coverage, there was a lack of continuity in seeing how this event fit into a broader pattern and history ingrained in Orange County. There was a bar down the street from me where an Iranian American man was stabbed just for not being white. The seaside park of Marblehead, where friends and I visited for homecoming photos during sunset, was reported as a morning meet-up spot for neo-Nazis in skeleton masks training for “white unity” combat. These were just some of the myriad events Lichtblau explores as symptoms of something more unsettling than one-offs.

Samuel Lincoln Woodward, of Newport Beach, speaks with his attorney during his 2018 arraignment on murder charges in the death of Blaze Bernstein.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Lichtblau began the book in 2020, in the midst of COVID. He wanted to find a place emblematic of the national epidemic that he, like many others, was witnessing — some of the highest record of anti-Asian attacks, assaults on Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ communities, and rising extremist rhetoric and actions.

“Orange County kind of fit a lot of those boxes,” Lichtblau says. “The horrible tragedy with Blaze Bernstein being killed by one of his high school classmates — who had been radicalized — reflected a growing brazenness of the white supremacy movement we’ve seen as a whole in America in recent years.”

Bernstein’s death had been only two years prior. The Ivy League student had agreed to meet former classmate Woodward one evening during winter break. The two had never been close; Woodward had been a lone wolf during his brief time at the Orange County School of the Arts, before transferring due to the school’s liberalness. On two separate occasions over the years, Woodward had reached out to Bernstein under the pretense of grappling with his own sexuality. Bernstein had no idea he was being baited, or that his former classmate was part of a sprawling underground network of far-right extremists — connected to mass shooters, longtime Charles Manson followers, neo-Nazi camps, and online chains where members bonded over a shared fantasy of harming minorities and starting a white revolution.

“But how is this happening in 2025?”

These networks didn’t appear out of nowhere. They had long been planted in Orange County’s soil, leading back to the early 1900s when the county was home to sprawling orange groves.

Mexican laborers, who formed the backbone of the orange-grove economy (second to oil and generating wealth that even rivaled the Gold Rush), were met with violence when the unionized laborers wanted to strike for better conditions. The Orange County sheriff, also an orange grower, issued an order. “SHOOT TO KILL, SAYS SHERIFF,” the banner headline in the Santa Ana Register read. Chinese immigrants also faced violence. They had played a large role in building the county’s state of governance, but were blamed for a case of leprosy, and at the suggestion of a councilman, had their community of Chinatown torched while the white residents watched.

Gideon Bernstein and Jeanne Pepper Bernstein, center, parents of Blaze Bernstein, speak during a news conference after a 2018 sentencing for Samuel Woodward at Orange County Superior Court.

(Jeff Gritchen/Pool / Orange County Register)

Leading up to the new millennium brought an onslaught of white power rock coming out of the county’s music scene. Members with shaved heads and Nazi memorabilia would dance to rage-fueled declarations of white supremacy, clashing, if not worse, with non-white members of the community while listening to lyrics like, “When the last white moves out of O.C., the American flag will leave with me… We’ll die for a land that’s yours and mine” (from the band Youngland).

A veteran and member of one of Orange County’s white power bands, Wade Michael Page, later murdered six congregants at at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in 2012.

“It’s come and gone,” says Lichtblau, who noticed these currents shifting in the early 2000s — and over the years, when Reagandland broke in certain parts to become purple. Even with sights of blue amid red, Trump on the landscape brought a new wave — one that Lichtblau explains was fueled by “claiming their country back” and “capturing the moment that Trump released.”

It can be hard to fathom the reality: that the Orange County of white supremacy exists alongside an Orange County shaped both economically and culturally by its immigrant communities, where since 2004, the majority of its residents are people of color. Then again, to anyone who has spent considerable time there, you’ll notice the strange cognitive dissonance among its cultural landscape.

It’s a peculiar sight to see a MAGA stand selling nativist slogans on a Spanish-named street, or Confederate flags in the back of pickup trucks pulling into the parking lots of neighborhood taquerias or Vietnamese pho shops for a meal. Or some of the families who have lived in the county for generations still employing Latino workers, yet inside their living rooms Fox News will be playing alarmist rhetoric about “Latinos,” alongside Reagan-era memorabilia proudly displayed alongside framed Bible verses. This split reality — a multicultural community and one of the far-right — oddly fills the framework of a county born from a split with its neighbor, L.A., only to develop an aggressive identity against said neighbor’s perceived liberalness.

It’s this cultural rejection that led to “the orange curtain” or the “Orange County bubble,” which suggest these racially-charged ideologies stay contained or, exhaustingly, echo within the county’s sphere. On the contrary, Lichtblau has seen how these white suburban views spill outward. Look no further than the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, also the book’s release date.

While popular belief might assume these insurrectionists came from deeply conservative areas, it was actually the contrary, as Lichtblau explains. “It was from places like Orange County,” he says, “where the voting patterns were seeing the most shift.” Some might argue — adamantly or reluctantly — that Jan. 6 was merely a stop-the-steal protest gone wrong, a momentary lapse or mob mentality. But Lichtblau sees something much larger. “This was white pride on display. There was a lot of neo-Nazi stuff, including a lot of Orange County people stuff.”

As a society, it’s been collectively decided to expect the profile of the lone wolf killer, the outcast, wearing an identity strung from the illusions of a white man’s oppression — the type to rail against unemployment benefits but still cash the check. Someone like Sam Woodward, cut from the vestiges of the once venerable conservative Americana family, the type of God-fearing Christians who, as “American Reich” studies in the Woodward household, teach and bond over ideological hate, and even while entrenched in a murder case, continuously reach out to the victim’s family to the point where the judge has to intervene. The existence of these suburban families is known, as is the slippery hope one will never cross paths with them in this ever-spinning round of American roulette. But neither these individuals nor their hate crimes are random, as Lichtblau discusses, and the lone wolves aren’t as alone as assumed. These underground channels have long been ingrained in the American groundscape like landmines, now reactivated by a far-right digital landscape that connects these members and multiplies their ideologies on a national level. Lichtblau’s new investigation goes beyond the paradigm of Orange County to show a deeper cultural epidemic that’s been taking shape.

Beavin Pappas is an arts and culture writer. Raised in Orange County, he now splits his time between New York and Cairo, where he is at work on his debut book.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is to appear in a New York court on Monday, two days after he was abducted by US special forces in a military operation in Caracas.

The US military arrested Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday and brought them to New York, where they face multiple federal charges, including drugs and weapons charges.

Here is more about Maduro’s scheduled court appearance:

When and where will it take place?

Maduro is to appear before a federal judge at noon (17:00 GMT).

The appearance is scheduled to happen in the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in the Southern District of New York. Maduro is to appear before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein.

A court spokesperson told NBC News that Flores, who is also listed as a defendant in a US indictment unsealed on Saturday, will appear in court on Monday as well.

What are the charges?

According to the indictment, the US accuses Maduro of being at the forefront of corruption to “use his illegally obtained authority” to “transport thousands of tons of cocaine” to the US with his coconspirators.

Additionally, the indictment alleges that Maduro has “tarnished” every public office he has held. It adds that Maduro “allows cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish for his own benefit, for the benefit of members of his ruling regime, and for the benefit of his family members”.

Maduro faces four counts:

• Count 1, narcoterrorism conspiracy: US prosecutors say Maduro and his coconspirators knowingly provided something of financial value to US-designated “foreign terrorist organizations” and their members. The indictment lists these organisations as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a leftist rebel group that signed a peace deal in 2016 but has dissidents who refused to lay down their arms and are still involved in the drug trade; Segunda Marquetalia, the largest dissident FARC group; National Liberation Army, another leftist Colombian rebel group; Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel; Los Zetas/Cartel del Noreste, another Mexican drug cartel; and Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang.
• Count 2, cocaine importation conspiracy: It accuses Maduro and his codefendants of conspiring to manufacture, distribute and import cocaine into the US.
• Count 3, possession of machineguns and destructive devices: The indictment accuses the defendants of possessing, carrying and using machineguns in relation to the above drug‑trafficking counts.
• Count 4, conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices: It further accuses the defendants of conspiring to use, carry and possess those weapons in furtherance of drug trafficking.

The indictment also says Maduro and his codefendants should forfeit to the US government any proceeds and assets obtained from the alleged crimes.

Is there evidence for these charges?

There is little evidence that drugs are trafficked from Venezuela on a large scale. The 2023 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime World Drug Report said global cocaine production hit a record of 3,708 tonnes, up nearly one‑third from 2022, with most coca cultivation taking place in Colombia, followed by Peru and Bolivia.

Trafficking routes into the US in 2023-2024 primarily passed through Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, not Venezuela, although it does serve as a minor transit corridor for Colombian cocaine moving into the eastern Caribbean.

Who is named in the indictment?

Maduro

Maduro, 63, who became Venezuela’s president in 2013, was declared the winner of 2024’s election. His re-election was rejected as fraudulent by the US and independent observers, such as the Carter Center. A UN expert panel said the 2024 vote failed to meet international standards.

Nine Latin American countries called for a review of the results with independent oversight.

Maduro defended the election results and accused his opponents of undermining the country’s sovereignty.

Since returning to the White House nearly a year ago, US President Donald Trump has expanded sanctions and punitive measures against Maduro and senior officials in his government.

The Trump administration ramped up military pressure starting in August when it deployed warships and thousand of its service members in the Caribbean near Venezuela. It has since carried out dozens of air strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats, killing more than 100 people.

Maduro has pushed back by mobilising Venezuelan military personnel.

During this time, the Caracas-based news network Globovision quoted Maduro as saying: “From the north, the empire has gone mad and, like a rotten rehash, has renewed its threats to the peace and stability of Venezuela.”

But a day before Saturday’s US attack on the country, Maduro had offered to hold talks to combat drug trafficking.

Flores

Flores, 69, has been married to Maduro since 2013.

Known as the “first combatant” rather than first lady, Flores is a veteran lawyer and politician who rose to prominence by defending future President Hugo Chavez after his failed 1992 coup. She helped secure his release and later became a key Chavismo figure and the first woman to preside over Venezuela’s National Assembly. Chavismo, which promotes socialism and anti-imperialist politics, is the political movement started by Chavez, Maduro’s mentor.

The indictment accuses Flores of joining Maduro’s cocaine importation conspiracy.

Other defendants

The indictment names four other people as Maduro’s coconspirators, namely Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s interior minister; Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, former Venezuelan interior minister; Nicolas Maduro Guerra, Maduro’s son and a Venezuelan politician; and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the leader of Tren de Aragua, which was designated as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the US in February. But most experts do not define Tren de Aragua as a “terrorist organisation”.

It is not clear yet who will represent Maduro, Flores and the other defendants.

Who is the judge?

Hellerstein was born in 1933 in New York. He was appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by former President Bill Clinton.

He is likely on Monday to advise Maduro and Flores about their rights and ask them if they want to enter a plea.

What’s at stake?

Maduro’s freedom is primarily at stake. If convicted, he could face 30 years to life in prison.

“This is less about Maduro as it is about access to Venezuela’s oil deposits,” Ilias Bantekas, a professor of transnational law at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera. “This is the number one target. Trump is not content with just allowing US oil firms to get concessions but to ‘run’ the country, which entails absolute and indefinite control over Venezuela’s resources.”

Venezuela’s oil reserves are concentrated primarily in the Orinoco Belt, a region in the eastern part of the country stretching across roughly 55,000sq km (21,235sq miles).

While the country is home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves – at an estimated 303 billion barrels as of 2023 – it earns only a fraction of the revenue it once did from exporting crude due to mismanagement and US sanctions.

Last month, Trump accused Venezuela in a post on his Truth Social platform of “stealing” US oil, land and other assets and using that oil to fund crime, “terrorism” and human trafficking.

Trump repeated his false claims after Maduro’s arrest. During a news conference on Saturday, Trump said the US would “run” Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” could be carried out.

“Given the opposition of all South American states, save for Argentina, to US dominance in the region, Trump’s plan requires a vast military deployment. We need to see how countries like Brazil and Colombia react to this, including also BRICS,” said Bantekas from Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

In a joint statement released on Sunday, the governments of Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay said the US actions in Venezuela “constitute an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security and endanger the civilian population”.

Was Maduro’s abduction legal?

This case is unusual because there are questions about how Maduro was captured and whether it was legal. Russia, China and other Venezuelan allies have accused the US of violating international law.

“If there was an armed conflict between Venezuela and the USA and, given that Maduro is the head of his country’s armed forces, then he would be a legitimate target,” Bantekas said.

“However, under the circumstances there is no armed conflict between the two countries and in the absence of an armed attack by Venezuela against the US, the latter’s invasion in Venezuela violates article 2(4) of the UN Charter, as does the abduction of the country’s President. It is a blatant act of aggression.”

Article 2(4) of the UN Charter bars UN members from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

A United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday will determine the legality of the US abduction of Maduro.

“Given that Maduro is already in US custody and in the USA, it is in the interests of all parties that he appear before a court. At the very least, Maduro can challenge the legality of his arrest and the jurisdiction of the court,” Bantekas said.

“The court itself has an obligation to decide if it has jurisdiction and as a preliminary issue decide whether Maduro enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution. If these issues are dispensed the court nonetheless finds that it has jurisdiction and that Maduro does not enjoy immunity, then the prosecutor must prove its case.”

What’s next?

The Trump administration has not explicitly stated a clear plan for Venezuela, with analysts saying the administration has sent out confusing signals.

In an interview with the NBC news channels on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that Washington will not govern Venezuela on a day-to-day basis besides enforcing an existing “oil quarantine”.

Rubio told ABC news on Sunday that the US had leverage over Venezuela and the US would “set the conditions” to ensure that Venezuela is no longer a “narco-trafficking paradise”.

But on Sunday, Trump told reporters that the US is ready to carry out a second military strike on Venezuela if its government refuses to cooperate with his plan to ‘resolve’ the situation there.

She could “pay a very big price” if she “does not do what’s right”, Trump said, refering Venezuela’s new leader, Delcy Rodriguez.

During his Saturday conference, Trump said that Rodriguez told Rubio that she will do what the US needs her to. “She really doesn’t have a choice,” Trump had said.

In his first press conference after Maduro’s illegal abduction on Saturday, Trump ruled out the possibility of working with opposition leader and Nobel Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from running in the 2024 presidential elections.

Machado, a member of the Venezuelan National Assembly, is seen as the most credible adversary of Maduro’s leftist government.

On Monday, Rodriguez, the interim leader, offered to cooperate with Trump. In a statement posted on social media, she invited Trump to “collaborate” and sought “respectful relations”.

“President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war,” she wrote.

Her conciliatory tone came a day after she appeared on state TV declaring that Maduro was still Venezuela’s sole legitimate president.

Following overnight U.S. airstrikes on Caracas, the seizure of President Nicolás Maduro, and President Donald Trump’s declaration that Washington will take control of Venezuela’s oil and effectively run the country, analysts Steve Ellner and Ricardo Vaz warn that the operation constitutes an unlawful use of force.

They cite the combination of military assault, extraterritorial abduction, resource seizure, and alleged extrajudicial killings at sea as violations of international law and Venezuelan sovereignty.

IT’S fair to assume Will Smith had high hopes for a better year ahead after a disastrous stretch of career lows and romance woes.

But as 2026 rang in, the fallen Oscar-winner and rapper was slapped with a lawsuit amid claims of sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

Violinist Brian King Joseph, who performed on Will’s 2025 tour, Based On A True Story, accuses the A-lister of “grooming” him while they worked together.

And he alleges that when he reported things to management, he was kicked off the tour and “shamed” by the powers that be.

According to Brian, who reached the top three on America’s Got Talent in 2018, he was hired by Will in 2024 after auditioning for him at his home.

Will apparently told him: “You and I have a special connection.”

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‘PREDATOR’ SMITH

Will Smith sued for sexual harassment by male tour violinist & TV star

Then, while touring with him in Las Vegas last March, he says he came back to his hotel room at 11pm and found it had been “unlawfully entered” by an “unknown person”, who had left a handwritten note, as well as random items including wipes, a beer bottle, an earring and a bottle of HIV medication.

The note read: “Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us” with a drawn heart, and signed: “Stone F.”

In legal filings, Brian says he reported the incident to hotel security and Will’s management out of fear someone would return to his room to “engage in sexual acts” with him.

But after doing so, he alleges, he was “shamed” by tour management and given the boot, causing him “severe emotional distress, economic loss, reputational harm and other damages” as well as “PTSD and other mental illness”.

‘Lost all self-control’

According to the lawsuit, a member of Will’s tour management told Brian, “Everyone is telling me that what happened to you is a lie, nothing happened, and you made the whole thing up”, court documents state.

Though not naming Will, 57, as the unknown person who entered his room, court papers say the “facts suggest” the star was “deliberately grooming and priming Mr Joseph for further sexual exploitation”.

He is now demanding a jury trial.

Will denies all allegations, with his attorney Allen B. Grodsky slamming Brian’s claims as “false, baseless and reckless”.

He added: “They are categorically denied, and we will use all legal means available to . . . ensure that the truth is brought to light.”

A court battle would be an ugly circus for Will at a time when he could really use some good news in the public eye.

After all, things have ostensibly gone from bad to worse for the former blockbuster king over the past few years.

It’s now approaching the four-year anniversary of the Oscar slap that was heard around the world, when an irate Will stormed the stage at the 94th Academy Awards and hit comedian Chris Rock across the face.

The incident was sparked after Chris made a joke about Will’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head, which was a result of her alopecia, and amid Will’s calls to “keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!”.

It was supposed to be Will’s night of triumph as he finally received an Oscar for his critically acclaimed performance in King Richard.

Instead, it went down in infamy as the night he lost all self-control.

He was duly given a seven-year ban from all Academy, Grammy, Tony and Emmy events and, in the aftermath, shirked the spotlight.

Since then, things haven’t gone smoothly.

In fact, his road to redemption has been paved with constant knocks and embarrassing detours, personally and professionally.

In particular, his unconventional relationship with Jada, 54, has been the subject of much scrutiny and confusion.

Having long been pegged as one of Hollywood’s golden couples, the pair hit headlines in 2020 when they revealed during an episode of Jada’s Facebook series Red Table Talk that she’d had an affair a few years before with singer August Alsina.

At the time, Jada described it as an “entanglement”.

As a result, she and Will had even more of a point to prove when they stepped on to the red carpet at that fateful 2022 Oscars.

But a year later, Jada dropped a motherlode of truth bombs about their relationship in her 2023 memoir, Worthy.

In the book, and on its promo trail, she revealed that — despite putting on a united front in public — she and Will had been separated for seven years and no longer lived together.

According to Jada, she’d kept up the facade because Will “wasn’t ready” to tell the world.

So instead, she said, she took the bullet, painting herself as “the adulterous wife” in the “false narrative” they created.

While the pair had no intention of divorcing — and still have not done so — Will was reportedly “humiliated” by Jada’s candidness.

They used to live by their famous slogan, paraphrased from Will’s movie Bad Boys: “We ride together, we die together, bad marriage for life.”

But Jada’s revelations apparently left Will feeling more isolated than ever — which, insiders said at the time, was a bitter pill to swallow after he defended her at the Oscars.

Crashed and burned

As things stand, Will and Jada still have no plans to officially end their 28-year marriage.

They came together to wish their daughter Willow a happy birthday in October, and have since been reportedly pictured together in public.

But as news spread of Brian’s lawsuit against Will, Jada stayed noticeably quiet.

She previously said that, at some stage, they’ll live together again, but only because, “it’s getting apparent to me that [Will’s] gonna need someone to take care of him” — making her ex sound more like a burden.

Meanwhile, Will’s attempt to reclaim his place on the A-list have seen things go from bad to worse.

In late 2023, as the dust settled on Jada’s marriage revelations, Will was accused of previously having sex with his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star Duane Martin.

In an interview with internet personality Tasha K, Brother Bilaal — who described himself as Will’s ex-personal assistant — said he’d walked in on the alleged act.

A court battle would be an ugly circus for Will at a time when he could really use some good news in the public eye

On podcast Unwine with Tasha K, he also compared the size of Will’s manhood to a “pinky toe”.

In response, Will’s spokesperson slammed the claims as “completely fabricated” and said they were considering taking legal action.

No action was taken, but Brother Bilaal hasn’t gone quietly.

In fact, he’s since filed a $3million lawsuit against Jada, alleging “emotional distress”.

Neither Will nor Jada have commented, but a hearing is scheduled for March 9, inevitably casting another shadow over them.

Then, of course, there is Will’s damp squib of an attempt to reignite his music career that crashed and burned with last year’s tour.

In late 2023, as the dust settled on Jada’s marriage revelations, Will was accused of previously having sex with his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air co-star Duane Martin

Having long proven himself as a multi- hyphenate entertainer, it should have been a safe bet for Will to return to his rapper roots after his Oscar disgrace.

That way, he could continue to make us miss him on the big screen, while still connecting to his fans and making up for a few years of lost income.

So, his comeback tour, Based On A True Story, really was supposed to be an all-out triumph.

‘Used to be cool’

However, promotional footage started going viral for all the wrong reasons, after fans accused the star of using AI in crowd reactions.

In the film — which was posted to Will’s YouTube channel — there were a whole host of bizarre visual errors, including blurred faces, oddly shaped hands and one sign that read “FR6SH CRINCE”.

As one fan said: “Imagine being this rich and famous and having to use AI footage of crowds and bot comments on your video. Tragic, man. You used to be cool.”

Will looked a shadow of his former self as he kicked off the European leg of his tour in front of 6,000 fans in Scarborough at TK Maxx Presents . . . last summer, followed by Wolverhampton Civic Hall and the O2 Academy in Brixton.

Let’s remember, this is a former superstar who performed in front of more than half-a-million people at the Live 8 event in Philadelphia in 2005.

Imagine being this rich and famous and having to use AI footage of crowds and bot comments on your video. Tragic, man. You used to be cool

A fan

The same year, he set a Guinness World Record after attending an unprecedented three movie premieres in one day.

He hightailed it across the UK to promote romcom Hitch in Manchester, Birmingham and London.

Back then, he was untouchable, with two US No1s under his belt and the ability to command leading- man status in films including Men In Black (and its sequels), as well as Ali, The Pursuit Of Happyness and I Am Legend.

But nothing lasts for ever, and Will’s much more modest tour last year was a reminder of how far he’s fallen from grace.

He put on a brave face, but the online comments spoke for themselves.

One fan called him “pathetic” and told him to “enjoy” his retirement instead of seeking his former glory.

Now, as the former Hollywood icon begins the year facing a lawsuit, it’s fair to say he is staring down the barrel of yet another challenging 12 months.

Having always relied on his family to support him, the world will be watching to see if he steps out with Jada and their children, Jaden, 27, and Willow, 25 — plus his older son Trey, 33, from a previous marriage.

But as things stand, all parties had yesterday remained silent.

It may be early days for 2026, but Will has certainly taken a sharp detour from the golden road he trod for so long.

With no movies on the docket, he’s hanging his hat on upcoming National Geographic docu-series, Pole To Pole With Will Smith.

Federal authorities in the United States have accused an 18-year-old of plotting to carry out a “potential terrorist attack” on New Year’s Eve in the suburban town of Mint Hill, North Carolina, outside Charlotte.

On Friday, officials from the US Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified the suspect as Mint Hill resident Christian Sturdivant, a US citizen. The targets of Sturdivant’s alleged plans were a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant in Mint Hill.

“ Countless lives were saved here,” US Attorney Russ Ferguson said at a news conference.

“On New Year’s Eve, everyone is at the grocery store. We’re all buying the things we need to celebrate. And we could have had a significant, significant loss of life, a significant injury here.”

Ferguson explained that Sturdivant was arrested on New Year’s Eve, the day of his planned attack. The 18-year-old has been charged with “attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation”, and he made his first court appearance on Friday.

Sturdivant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to Ferguson.

But during his news conference, Ferguson, an appointee of President Donald Trump, appeared to voice frustration with the court system for failing to approve an earlier effort to detain Sturdivant on mental health grounds.

“ I think it is notable that, as part of their efforts, the FBI took Mr Sturdivant to a state magistrate judge to try to have him involuntarily committed,” Ferguson said.

“And that was because he had threatened not only other people’s lives, but in the process said that he planned to die by a policeman shooting him. So he had threatened other people’s lives and self-harm, but the state magistrate judge denied involuntary commitment.”

Authorities later specified that the hearing with the magistrate judge took place on Monday, days before his arrest. Sturdivant, they said, turned 18 last month.

Authorities detail arrest

During Friday’s news conference, officials said this week’s arrest was part of a multiyear effort to investigate Sturdivant, whom they described as a “prolific social media user”.

The suspect had previously been an employee at a local Burger King in North Carolina.

James Barnacle, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s North Carolina field office, said the suspect first came to the bureau’s attention in 2022, after he tried to contact the armed group ISIL (ISIS) through social media.

The US considers ISIL a foreign terrorist organisation and has conducted numerous military operations in the Middle East — and one recently in Nigeria — on the premise of combating the group.

Barnacle alleged that Sturdivant received instructions to knock on doors and attack people with hammers, but his initial attempts were thwarted by his family. He was about 14 years old at the time.

“ No charges were filed at that time,” Barnacle said. “He underwent psychological care, of which I don’t know the details.”

Then, in December, Barnacle said the FBI discovered that Sturdivant had returned to social media and posted threatening messages.

He had also allegedly made contact with two undercover officers: one from the New York Police Department and the second a covert agent with the FBI.

“Within just a few days, Sturdivant direct-messaged the online covert employee with a picture of two hammers and a knife,” Barnacle said. “The message was significant since in recent years an ISIS propaganda magazine promoted the use of knives to conduct terrorist attacks in Western countries.”

Barnacle added that later messages contained a loyalty oath to ISIL and a request for help obtaining firearms.

“The JTTF [Joint Terrorism Task Force] collected evidence showing he turned his back on his country and his fellow citizens by pledging allegiance to ISIS with the intent of becoming a martyr,” Barnacle said of the 18-year-old.

“We allege Sturdivant was willing to sacrifice himself by committing a terrorist attack, using knives and a hammer to support the murder, torture and extreme violence that ISIS represents.”

An FBI search of his home reportedly recovered hammers and knives hidden under Sturdivant’s bed, as well as notes allegedly detailing his attack plans.

“I could tell you the FBI had 24/7 surveillance on this subject, all hours of night, Christmas Day, Christmas Eve,” Barnacle said. He described the suspect’s targets as “Jews, Christians and LGBTQ individuals”.

FBI Director Kash Patel quickly promoted Sturdivant’s arrest on social media, praising his bureau and its partners for “undoubtedly saving lives”.

The arrest comes one year after a pickup truck driver intentionally rammed his vehicle down Bourbon Street, New Orleans’s famed entertainment district, in a deadly New Year’s Day attack.

Fourteen people were killed, and authorities recovered an ISIL flag in the truck.

But critics have questioned the use of undercover agents to make “terrorism-related” arrests with some defence lawyers arguing that agents have encouraged suspects to make incriminating statements or take actions they otherwise would not have.

Lawyers for the 18-year-old have yet to publicly comment.

Local officials say the death toll could rise as seven people are missing following the attack on New Year’s Eve.

At least three people have been killed and seven remain missing following an attack on an informal mine in northern Peru, according to local officials.

In a video shared by the Peruvian news outlet Canal N on Thursday, Pataz Mayor Aldo Marino said the attack took place about an hour before midnight on New Year’s Eve.

“According to information I received from the police, three people were killed at a mine entrance, and seven are missing,” Marino said, noting that the final death toll could be as high as 15 as more bodies are recovered.

Details of the incident are still emerging, but informal mining operations are a frequent source of conflict in South America, as criminal groups jockey for control.

The latest incident took place near the town of Vijus, in the department of La Libertad in northwestern Peru.

Police reported that 13 miners had been killed in the same region last May. That incident prompted a stern response from local authorities, including the 30-day suspension of mining activities and a night-time curfew.

The region is known for its gold mines, including one of the largest in the world, Lagunas Norte.

But informal mines have also cropped up, as rural residents and criminal gangs try to carve a fortune from the mountains of Pataz, the province where the recent bloodshed unfolded.

In the wake of Wednesday’s incident, police have arrested two people, and an investigation is under way.

The news agency Reuters cited local prosecutors as saying that 11 shell casings had been recovered at the scene of the attack.

A mining company, Poderosa, also told the media that its security personnel had heard the gunfire and, after approaching the crime scene, discovered that three people were dead.

Many informal miners operate using temporary permits issued by the government, known as REINFO permits.

Reuters reported that the government suspended the permits of about 50,000 small-scale miners in July as part of a formalisation process, allowing about 30,000 to continue operations.

Peru exported $15.5bn worth of gold in 2024, compared with $11bn the year before. The country’s financial watchdog has estimated that about 40 percent of the country’s gold comes from illicit enterprises.

The Brazilian Federal Supreme Court has again denied a request from the defence team of former President Jair Bolsonaro to move him from prison to house arrest.

Bolsonaro, 70, has been in and out of hospital over the past week, undergoing multiple treatments for aggressive hiccups and a hernia.

But on Thursday, his petition for house arrest on “humanitarian grounds” was denied, a day after it was filed.

In explaining the court’s decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes argued that Bolsonaro already has access to round-the-clock medical care in police custody.

The former right-wing leader is currently being held at the federal police headquarters in the capital, Brasilia, after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting to overturn his 2022 electoral defeat.

De Moraes also questioned whether Bolsonaro’s health merited “humanitarian” accommodations.

“Contrary to what the defence alleges, there has been no worsening of Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s health condition,” the justice said in his decision.

“Rather, his clinical condition showed improvement in the discomfort he was experiencing after undergoing elective surgeries, as indicated in the report from his own doctors.”

Multiple requests

This is not the first time the court has rejected a similar petition from Bolsonaro, who has reportedly suffered from lingering conditions, including hiccups, related to an abdominal stabbing he survived on the campaign trail in 2018.

Bolsonaro was taken into custody in November after damaging an ankle monitor that allowed him to remain at home while pursuing appeals. He had been convicted in September.

But shortly after Bolsonaro was remanded into custody, his defence team filed a request for house arrest, warning of life-threatening conditions behind bars.

“It is certain that keeping the petitioner in a prison environment would pose a concrete and immediate risk to his physical integrity and even his life,” his lawyers wrote.

That request, and a subsequent one in December, have been denied.

On December 23, though, the Supreme Court approved Bolsonaro’s request to leave prison, in order to undergo surgery for a hernia, resulting from damage to his abdominal muscles.

He travelled to Brasilia’s DF Star hospital to receive treatment and has since pursued other procedures, including a phrenic nerve block treatment and an endoscopy, to address his persistent hiccups.

Election controversy

A former army captain, Bolsonaro became a rising star in Brazil’s far right and served as president for a single term, from 2019 to 2023.

During his term, he faced scrutiny for comments he made praising Brazil’s military dictatorship, which ruled the country from 1964 to 1985 and oversaw the systematic torture and killings of political dissidents.

He also allegedly used his office to cast doubt on the integrity of Brazil’s electronic voting system.

In 2023, Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) would ultimately bar Bolsonaro from holding public office for eight years, citing instances where he broadcast unfounded allegations about the election system on state TV and social media.

Still, Bolsonaro was considered a frontrunner going into the 2022 presidential race, where he faced two-term former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The race advanced to an October 30 run-off. Lula eked out a narrow win, besting the incumbent Bolsonaro by less than two percentage points, with 50.9 percent of the vote.

In the aftermath, Bolsonaro refused to publicly concede defeat, although media reports indicate he may have done so in private.

Meanwhile, he and his allies filed a legal challenge against the election outcome that was quickly rejected for its “total absence of any evidence”. Bolsonaro’s coalition was fined nearly $4.3m for the “bad faith” petition.

But the unfounded belief that Bolsonaro’s defeat was somehow illegitimate prompted his supporters to take to the streets. Some blocked highways. Others attacked the federal police headquarters.

The tensions culminated on January 8, 2023, a week after Lula’s inauguration, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed Brasilia’s Three Powers Plaza and broke into buildings representing Congress, the presidency and the Supreme Court.

Some supporters expressed hope that they could lead to a military coup that would remove Lula from power.

Legal jeopardy

That attack prompted wide-ranging investigations, and in November 2024, federal police issued a sweeping report accusing Bolsonaro and 36 allies of attempting to “violently dismantle” Brazil’s constitutional order.

The report detailed alleged instances where Bolsonaro and his allies discussed invalidating the election results — or even assassinating Lula.

Last February, prosecutors formally charged Bolsonaro and dozens of codefendants for attempting to overthrow the 2022 election.

His trial unfolded despite high-level international pressure from right-wing figures like United States President Donald Trump, who imposed steep tariffs on Brazil in August to protest against the prosecution.

Still, in September, Bolsonaro was found guilty on five counts, including attempted coup d’etat, armed conspiracy, attempted abolition of the rule of law, destruction of public property and damage to national heritage.

Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing throughout the case and has called his prosecution an attempt to silence a political rival.

He remains a popular figure on the right, and his eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, announced last month his intention to challenge Lula for the presidency this upcoming October.

Last month, Brazil’s conservative-led Congress also passed a bill that could shorten Bolsonaro’s sentence, though Lula has pledged to veto it.

Robbers stole items worth up to $105bn from safe-deposit boxes held at a German retail bank in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia state, during the Christmas holiday, German police said on Tuesday.

The German news agency dpa reported that it may rank among the biggest thefts in the country’s history.

What happened and what was stolen?

The thieves broke into a branch of Sparkasse bank in the city of Gelsenkirchen, in North Rhine-Westphalia state, from an adjacent parking garage, according to the police, at some point when businesses were closed for the Christmas holiday.

The German state is home to museums and Gothic architecture. Its capital, Dusseldorf, is known for its shopping boulevard and the Rheinturm telecommunications tower.

Using a large drill, the thieves bore through a thick concrete wall of the bank and gained access to an underground vault room. Then, they forced open some 3,000 safe deposit boxes, before making off with cash, gold and jewellery.

A police spokesperson likened the break-in to the movie, Ocean’s Eleven, and described it as “very professionally executed”, according to the AFP news agency.

“A great deal of prior knowledge and/or a great deal of criminal energy must have been involved to plan and carry this out,” the spokesperson told the agency.

The bank said “more than 95 percent of the 3,250 customer safe deposit boxes were broken into by unknown perpetrators.”

Police say they were alerted to the robbery when a fire alarm went off on Monday, but have not confirmed exactly when the robbery took place.

How much are the stolen items worth?

Investigators estimate the total value of the stolen items to be anything between 10 and 90 million euros ($11.8m and $105.7m), according to police spokesperson Thomas Nowaczyk.

Police said the average insured value of each deposit box was more than 10,000 euros ($11,700). However, officers said several victims have reported that the contents of their boxes were worth significantly more than the insured amounts.

What do we know about the robbers?

No arrests have been made, and the thieves remain at large.

Security camera footage showed a black Audi RS 6 leaving the bank’s parking garage during the early hours of Monday, with masked people inside.

The police said the car’s licence plate had been stolen earlier in the city of Hanover, about 200km (124 miles) northeast of Gelsenkirchen, where the robbery took place.

How have bank customers reacted?

On Tuesday, angry customers rallied outside the bank branch, demanding answers about the robbery from the bank.

The police spokesperson told AFP that the bank branch remained closed for security reasons after threats were made against bank employees.

“We’re still on site, keeping an eye on things,” AFP quoted the police spokesperson as saying, adding “the situation has calmed down considerably.”

How has the bank responded?

The bank is writing to notify all customers affected by the robbery. It also set up a customer hotline for those affected.

It said it is also working with insurers to determine how compensation claims will be handled.

“We are shocked,” said bank press spokesman Frank Krallmann. “We are standing by our customers and hope that the perpetrators will be caught.”

Which other significant heists have happened recently?

October 2025: The Louvre, France

In late October, a gang of robbers broke into the Louvre Museum in Paris and stole eight Napoleonic pieces of jewellery in less than seven minutes. The thieves made off on motorcycles laden with eight items dating back to the Napoleonic era, dropping a ninth on their way out.

The stolen items of jewellery were estimated to be worth $102m.

So far, French authorities have arrested eight suspects over the Louvre heist.

The first four suspects, three men and a woman, were arrested, formally investigated and charged.

The last four suspects taken into custody are two men aged 38 and 39, and two women aged 31 and 40, from the Paris area. They are being investigated as possible accomplices. The names of the suspects arrested have not been made public.

September 2025: Museum of Natural History, France

On September 30, a 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested in Barcelona on suspicion of stealing six gold nuggets from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. The gold nuggets were worth about 1.5 million euros ($1.76m).

The woman was arrested while trying to dispose of melted gold – it is unclear who melted it or how. The museum’s alarms and security system had been disabled in a cyberattack, but it is also unclear whether the thieves were also behind that cyberattack or whether the theft was opportunistic.

March 2024: Los Angeles cash site, United States

Thieves stole at least $30m in cash from a GardaWorld facility in Los Angeles over the Easter weekend.

GardaWorld is a global security company which provides services such as facilities management, property management and cash handling.

Local media called the heist one of the biggest cash heists in LA history. There has not been a public announcement indicating that the burglars have been caught.

While a western German city slept through the Christmas holidays, thieves drilled into a bank vault and vanished with millions.

Robbers broke into a vault at a savings bank in western Germany during the Christmas holidays, stealing cash, gold and jewellery estimated to be worth up to $105m, the police and the bank said.

According to police on Tuesday, the perpetrators used a large drill to bore through a thick concrete wall of a branch of Sparkasse bank in the city of Gelsenkirchen, in North Rhine-Westphalia state. Breaking in from an adjacent parking garage, the thieves gained access to an underground vault room and forced open more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes.

Thomas Nowaczyk, a police spokesperson, said investigators believe the total value of the stolen items could range between 10 and 90 million euros ($11.7m and $105.7m).

German news agency dpa reported that the robbery may rank among the biggest in the country’s history.

Sparkasse confirmed that the branch had been “broken into over the Christmas holidays”, saying that “more than 95 percent of the 3,250 customer safe deposit boxes were broken into by unknown perpetrators”.

The crime is believed to have taken place while businesses were closed for the extended Christmas break. Police suspect the gang may have remained inside the building for several days, using the long holiday weekend to break into the deposit boxes undetected.

The theft only came to light in the early hours of Monday, when a fire alarm was triggered. Emergency responders who arrived at the scene discovered the hole leading into the vault.

Witnesses later told police they had seen several men carrying large bags through the parking garage stairwell overnight between Saturday and Sunday.

Security camera footage also showed a black Audi RS 6 leaving the garage early on Monday morning, with masked individuals inside. The vehicle was later identified as having a licence plate belonging to a car stolen in Hanover, more than 200km (124 miles) northeast of Gelsenkirchen.

Ocean’s Eleven-esque

A police spokesman described the operation as highly organised, comparing it with a Hollywood-style robbery resembling Ocean’s Eleven.

The break-in was “indeed very professionally executed”, he told the AFP news agency.

“A great deal of prior knowledge and/or a great deal of criminal energy must have been involved to plan and carry this out,” he added.

Police said the average insured value of each deposit box was more than 10,000 euros ($11,700). However, officers said several victims had reported that the contents of their boxes were worth significantly more than the insured amount.

On Tuesday, hundreds of customers gathered outside the bank, demanding answers. The branch remained closed for security reasons after threats were reportedly made against staff.

“I couldn’t sleep last night. We’re getting no information,” one man told the Welt broadcaster, saying he had used the safe deposit box for 25 years and stored his retirement savings there.

Nowaczyk, the police spokesperson, said officers remained at the scene to monitor the situation. “We’re still on site, keeping an eye on things,” he said, adding that “the situation has calmed down considerably”.

The bank said it had set up a hotline for affected customers and would contact them in writing as soon as possible. It added that it was working with insurers to determine how compensation claims would be handled.

“We are shocked,” said bank press spokesperson Frank Krallmann. “We are standing by our customers, and hope that the perpetrators will be caught.”

Police said the suspects remain at large, and investigations are ongoing.

A spokesperson for the Sparkasse bank in Gelsenkirchen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Footage shows a massive hole in the vault of Sparkasse Bank in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where thieves made off with valuables estimated to be worth between 10 and 90 million euros ($11.7 to 105.7 million), police said. Angry customers assembled outside the bank on Tuesday demanding answers.