firm

Last week, Miami authorities identified the five people who died as Rolando Aleman Leon, 55; Yoel Rodriguez Naranjo, 53; Julio C Pineda, 75; Carlos Acosta Fajardo, 53; and Javierkys Reyes Quevedo, 47.

Five others were also injured.

“Our deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives,” 21 Air chief executive Keith Winters previously said.

“Our immediate priorities are supporting those affected, assisting the appropriate authorities, and ensuring that accurate and verified information is communicated as it becomes available,” he added.

NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy called the crash site a scene of “utter devastation”.

The safety board’s investigators have recovered the flight recorders to analyse the conditions leading up to the crash.

Investigators released details that a pilot onboard the cargo plane noted that it was going too fast before it overshot the runway, the NTSB said in the early stages of investigation.

It said that one of the pilots warned the other pilot multiple times about “the aircraft’s excessive speed” but noted “there was not a consistent verbal response”, even as an altitude alarm sounded.

There were other electronic warnings designed to alert the pilots to danger while landing, investigators reported.

ABTA has confirmed the closure of a UK travel company that offered trips to the likes of New York, Las Vegas and Greece, with issued advice for customers with existing bookings

A UK travel firm that provided worldwide holidays has shut down after nearly two decades in business.

Barnes Worldwide Travel Ltd was an independent travel agent in Liverpool that offered holidays to destinations around the world, ranging from New York and Las Vegas, to Egypt, Greece and Cyprus. It was established in 2007, but on Wednesday, 9 September, ABTA confirmed that the company has ceased trading.

ABTA said: “We are sorry to inform you that Barnes Worldwide Travel Ltd has ceased trading on 9 September 2026. If you’ve booked travel arrangements with Barnes Worldwide Travel Ltd, you should follow the specific advice set out below.”

Holidays already booked through Barnes Worldwide Travel Ltd should remain unaffected as the firm is a travel agent, rather than an operator. ABTA explained: “If you booked through Barnes Worldwide Travel Ltd, the tour operator or other principal travel business with whom they booked your holiday will be named on your paperwork. If you booked a flight-inclusive holiday, the tour operator or other principal travel business will be named on your ATOL Certificate under, ‘Who is protecting your trip’.

They further advised: “To ensure your holiday continues as planned, you will need to contact the credit control department of your tour operator or other principal travel business with whom you have a contract. Your booking should continue as normal, and they will be your direct point of contact. Please ensure that you have your documentation with you, as they may require information from this to assist you.” Barnes Worldwide Travel Ltd’s website has since gone offline. But it’s not the only UK travel firm to go under this year.

Golf Villa Rentals Ltd, based in Seaford, East Sussex, stopped trading on August 18, 2026. The firm specialised in golf package holidays worldwide, providing accommodation in villas and apartments for both small and large groups.

An ABTA spokesperson said: “We are sorry to inform you that Golf Villa Rentals Ltd has ceased trading with effect from 18 August 2026. The company sold package holidays which included accommodation and travel (excluding flight) and/or other services.”

Frasers Travel, a family-run business based in Scotland, was also confirmed to have gone bust after more than 40 years of operation. In a statement posted on its Facebook page last month, it read: “We regret to inform you that Frasers Travel Ltd has today ceased trading. We would like to thank all our past clients for their loyalty and support. If you have an existing booking can you please email details to info@mclenancorporate.com.”

In addition, TS Travel Realisations Ltd and Yourtravelshop.com Ltd were both confirmed as ATOL failures this month, a classification that can arise when a company stops trading or becomes insolvent. Travel Bespoke Ltd and Trav Expert Limited also shut their doors in May, while back in January, Asiara UK Ltd, Simply Florida Travel Ltd, and Regen Central Ltd were all confirmed by ATOL as no longer protected by their schemes.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith has been accused of taking part in a scheme that allegedly scammed $2.5 million from a Native American investment firm.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, a tribal owned and operated economic developmental agency for the North Carolina-based Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians claimed the former Dallas Cowboys superstar, his longtime business partner David Mosley and their real estate development and renewable energy company 4 13 Solutions Inc. borrowed the money, did not use it for its intended purpose and have not paid it back.

According to the lawsuit, Smith and Mosley convinced the tribal agency, Kituwah LLC, to help their company acquire a proposed solar energy farm in Texas.

“By using false projections and data, misrepresenting the level of interest and potential investments from other investors, making promises that they had no intention of fulfilling, and relying on the participation of other coconspirators, Smith and Mosley induced Kituwah to form a joint venture with their company, 4 13 Solutions, and to loan $2.5 million to the joint venture,” the complaint states.

“Smith and Mosley promised to use the funds to acquire an interest in a renewable energy project in Texas (‘Project Exodus’), transfer that interest back to the joint venture, and ultimately repay Kituwah’s money. But instead, they took the money and used it to improperly pay Wilson Holdings, with whom they had partnered on other ventures.”

Smith, Mosley, 4 13 Solutions, Wilson Holdings and its principal owner, Darrel Wilson, and the group’s joint venture firm, Jabez 4 10 LLC, were named as co-defendants. Representatives for Smith, Mosley and 4 13 Solutions did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The loan came due on Feb. 1, 2024, according to the complaint, and remains unpaid despite numerous efforts to collect. Smith is accused of fraudulent inducement and breach of fiduciary duty. Seeking the return of its investment as well as interest and other costs and expenses, Kituwah says it is owed more than $3 million.

“Moreover, despite 4 13 Solutions’ representation that Project Exodus would be up and running by the end of 2024, Kituwah has not seen any evidence that Project Exodus has made any meaningful progress towards completion,” the lawsuit states.

“Kituwah commenced an investigation. It has determined that 4 13 Solutions’ representations were part of Smith’s and Mosley’s scheme to cheat Kituwah out of $2.5 million dollars. Instead of using the loan proceeds to acquire Project Exodus as promised, 4 13 Solutions used the $2.5 million to pay Wilson Holdings, apparently for money that Wilson Holdings had previously invested. Essentially, like a Ponzi scheme.”

Court order rules that Pentagon acted illegally, punishing AI company for criticism of government.

A United States judge has blocked the Pentagon’s blacklisting of technology company Anthropic.

In a 59-page written order issued on Thursday night, District Judge Rita Lin ruled that the Department of Defense had acted illegally when it designated the company a supply chain risk to national security.

The decision marks the latest turn in the Claude maker’s high-stakes fight with the US military over artificial intelligence safety on the battlefield. The government is expected to fight the ruling.

The judge’s order rebuked the Pentagon, saying it had targeted and punished Anthropic for the company’s public criticism of the Defense Department’s stance on AI deployment on the battlefield.

“The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” Lin, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, wrote.

Autonomous weapons and domestic surveillance

Anthropic’s lawsuit in a California federal court alleges that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth overstepped his authority when he designated the company a national security supply-chain risk.

Hegseth’s move, which blocked Anthropic from military contracts, followed the company’s refusal to allow the military to use its Claude AI models for US surveillance or autonomous weapons.

Anthropic argues that AI models are not reliable enough for autonomous weapons and opposes domestic surveillance. The Pentagon maintains that private companies should not constrain military action.

Executives have said the ban could cost the company billions of dollars in lost business.

During a hearing on July 30, Lin described the government’s position as “really troubling” and “at odds … with the First Amendment”, adding that the record had “gotten worse for the government” over time.

In the same hearing, Department of Justice lawyers argued that the nature of AI models is “so staggeringly enormous and opaque” that the Pentagon cannot evaluate them like physical hardware.

First use of obscure statute

Anthropic welcomed the ruling, stating it remained “focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology”.

The designation was the first time a US company has been publicly labelled a supply-chain risk under an obscure procurement statute aimed at protecting military systems from foreign sabotage.

In its lawsuit, Anthropic alleged the government violated its constitutional rights to free speech and due process by retaliating against its views on AI safety without allowing it to dispute the claim.

The lawsuit called the decision unlawful, unsupported by facts, and inconsistent with the military’s past praise of Claude.

There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon on the ruling.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators have given preliminary approval for a cryptocurrency venture tied to President Trump and his family to operate a digital-asset bank, a decision that has drawn immediate condemnation from Senate Democrats who are now pushing legislation to bar such an action.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, and nine other Senate Democrats introduced a bill Saturday that would bar the president, the vice president, their immediate family members and other senior government officials from owning or controlling banks.

The measure was proposed a day after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — which is part of the Trump administration — granted conditional approval for World Liberty Trust Co. to become a trust bank. The firm was founded in 2024 by two of Trump’s sons and the sons of Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s special envoy to the Middle East.

If the firm gets final approval, it would not act like a conventional bank and take deposits or make loans. Instead, the chartered bank would be able to issue and manage cryptocurrencies and digital assets. But the move would grant new financial powers to the Trump family’s crypto business, which has already shown to be profitable for the president in his first year back in the White House.

Trump’s financial disclosures show the president has earned more than $1.2 billion from crypto-related projects as he has pushed to deregulate the digital-asset industry. He hauled in more than $500 million from his World Liberty Financial business selling new crypto products and is a significant owner of the firm through an entity called DT Marks DEFI LLC, which holds about a 38% stake.

Aside from World Liberty Financial, Trump last year took in more than $600 million from sales of souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with his likeness.

Trump’s crypto windfall has lately fueled Democrats’ argument that the president stands to personally gain from the same regulatory apparatus he oversees, and has led to acrimonious negotiations in Capitol Hill over how to regulate the industry.

The White House said Tuesday “there are no conflicts of interest.” But the recent decision by federal regulators in relation to World Liberty Financial is now giving more ammunition to Democrats, who have pushed for more ethical guardrails to crack down on the Trump family’s crypto ventures.

“This is the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen — and Congress cannot allow it to stand,” Warren said in a statement. “The Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act will close the door on this kind of unprecedented corruption.”

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) said the decision to allow a Trump-linked crypto firm to charter its own bank is “injecting risk into our financial system and fueling the Trump family’s business endeavors.”

“It is Congress’ responsibility and duty now to rein in this corruption and ensure that bank charters, deposit insurance, and other banking licenses cannot be handed out to entities influenced or controlled by any President’s family,” Alsobrooks said in a statement.

David Wachsman, a spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, disputed the criticism, saying the preliminary approval is “great news for consumer and investor protection advocates and for the American financial services industry.”

“Critics are missing the point: World Liberty Financial is running towards regulation and continuous oversight, not away from it,” Wachsman said in a statement. “World Liberty Trust Company’s national charter will ensure robust and permanent regulatory supervision from the OCC, a federal banking regulator, that will outlast the Trump administration.”

Wachsman said World Liberty will be required to provide weekly reports about its operations that will be subject to independent reviews. He added that federal banking laws such as anti-money-laundering rules and consumer protection statutes will be “directly applicable and enforceable.”

The White House did not comment directly about the administration’s involvement with the World Liberty application to charter a bank. But in a statement, the White House disputed claims that the president’s decisions in office have financially benefited him and his allies.

“All of President Trump’s investment holdings are in held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions,” Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. “The President only acts in the best interests of the American public — which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media.”

Kelly added: “There are no conflicts of interest.”