Investigation

Facing fresh oversight and investigations from congressional Democrats come January, President Trump and his supporters have increasingly turned to a tactic experts say they recognize from authoritarian regimes the world over.

Without evidence or any clear legal reasoning, they’ve accused their political opponents of being criminal or “corrupt.”

Trump has alleged in a series of recent social media posts that the Democratic Party is led by “one of the most Corrupt and anti-American groups of political leaders and hacks in the history of our Country, and even the World,” and that there is “Massive Corruption and Crime taking place in Democrat run Cities and States.”

He said Democrats cheated to win the midterms and are now “illegally threatening Republicans with knowingly false accusations and charges.” He also renewed his previous calls for the prosecution of six Democratic lawmakers who advised U.S. military personnel not to follow illegal orders — calling them the “Seditious Six” — and wrote, “THE DEMOCRATS ARE CORRUPT AND EVIL, and I am the exact opposite.”

Trump’s posts followed White House Counsel Will Scharf warning Democratic lawmakers — including Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), the likely next chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee — that they could face criminal prosecution if they launch the kind of sweeping investigations into Trump and his family that they’ve promised.

They also followed recent Justice Department warnings to state and local elections officials across California that they could face criminal prosecution for not setting aside ballots from individuals the administration alleges are noncitizens, and criminal subpoenas demanding some of those same officials appear before a federal grand jury to discuss their handling of the ballot demands.

Experts said Trump’s latest flurry of accusations and threats is clearly a reaction to his current political situation — after a monumental reckoning from voters concerned with corruption and ahead of his first real investigative oversight from an adversarial Congress in years. It is a moment of unique vulnerability, they said — the sort that causes strongmen to cast aspersions on opponents and rivals.

Barbara Geddes, a political science professor emeritus at UCLA who has studied dictators for 25 years, said Trump’s message is a familiar one. “Accusations of corruption are extremely common and they’re used all over the world by dictators” and “people who are sliding into dictatorship.”

Geddes said the tactic isn’t new for Trump but may be “ramping up” because “the Democrats, pretty successfully, have used the corruption charge against Trump.”

Kim Lane Scheppele, a Princeton University professor who studies the rise and fall of democracies and has lived in Russia and Hungary, said Trump hasn’t gone the route of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has given up any real pretense of democratic rule, but has clearly taken inspiration from recently ousted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Subject to the laws of the European Union, of which Hungary is a member, Orban pretended to work within democratic channels while co-opting his country’s legal system to punish enemies and reward allies.

Scheppele said “weaponizing criminal justice is exactly how” would-be autocrats seize power in struggling democracies, often by accusing their opponents of doing “what they’re doing themselves” — hence the “old expression, ‘Every accusation is an admission.’”

Lauren Bis, a White House spokesperson, called comparisons of Trump’s actions to those of dictators “insanity” — citing the fact that the nation “just had an election” and saying such “far-left smears about President Trump have no basis in reality.”

Other administration officials have defended — and echoed — the president’s attacks on Democrats as a defense of the American public. Upon his recent promotion to White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller credited Trump with having “single-handedly saved America from those who would destroy it.”

Dueling allegations

Trump and other administration officials have accused a slew of political opponents of corruption and criminality — from elected Democrats to liberal state attorneys general, federal judges, Federal Reserve officials, former military officers, law enforcement leaders, medical doctors, journalists and late-night comedians.

In some instances, the allegations have relied on decades-old paperwork errors that experts suggest aren’t even crimes, as in the case of Trump accusing Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) of mortgage fraud for allegedly listing two homes as his primary residence. They have also gone back decades to probe immigration paperwork filed by the father of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whose home was recently raided by federal authorities.

Trump, a convicted felon, has suggested that late-night host Seth Meyers mocking him on air was “PROBABLY ILLEGAL.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has claimed that unfavorable reporting on U.S. military operations by American journalists is “treason.” The U.S. Justice Department has issued criminal subpoenas to providers of gender-affirming care, demanding patient records and threatening clinicians. Trump has accused judges of being “corrupt” just for ruling against him.

Claims that have reached the courts, including those against New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, have been rejected, though most of the accusations haven’t made it that far — with federal prosecutors unable to make a case despite Trump pressuring them to do so.

Trump’s latest wave of allegations follows a midterm election in which voters overwhelmingly voted against his party, with many identifying government corruption as a primary factor. An Associated Press poll just before the election found more than half of voters said government corruption was a “crucial” consideration in their congressional vote.

It also comes amid mounting allegations from Democrats that Trump and his family have been wildly corrupt during his current term.

In addition to probing the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and corporate corruption, Garcia has said his committee intends to investigate “the Trump Crime Family” — including the $2-billion fortune Trump amassed last year, the “insane amount of stock trading” he has done while in office, a $2-billion investment in Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner’s private equity firm from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, and a Russian oligarch’s paying for Donald Trump Jr.’s island wedding celebration.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who is expected to become the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s permanent subcommittee on investigations, has promised probes of Trump’s real estate projects and his cryptocurrency deals with special envoy Steve Witkoff. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who is expected to become Senate Finance Committee chairman, has said he intends to investigate pharmaceutical companies that have profited from their ties to the administration.

Schiff said the Trump administration “has weaponized the federal government to intimidate or seek retribution against congressional leaders, states, the media, and organizations for standing up to his grave abuses of power — using tactics of an authoritarian leader,” but Democrats won’t be intimidated.

“Doing oversight is part of the job we were given by the Constitution and the American people, and we will do it,” he said.

Trump and his family members have denied wrongdoing. Justice Department officials have promised to defend the president and those around him, and reportedly told prosecutors nationwide to adopt a war footing for more legal battles ahead.

A tactic of the right and left

Daniel Treisman, a political science professor at UCLA and co-author of “Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century,” said that “attacking corruption is a favorite trope of populists in both authoritarian and democratic systems” — with left-wing authoritarians tying capitalism to corruption and right-wing authoritarians tying socialism to it.

In China, President Xi Jinping “has operated a rolling anti-corruption purge to weed out any potential challengers” within the Chinese Communist Party and “keep subordinates nervous,” he said, while in Venezuela, the late Hugo Chavez campaigned against “los corruptos.”

“What’s particularly brazen about how Trump plays the corruption card is that he does it from the summit of power at a time when his family and friends are earning billions of dollars from government-adjacent business,” Treisman said. “There’s an element of preemption — if you accuse them of corruption first, then their accusations will seem less credible.”

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said the Trump administration is “using their abuse of the law as both sword and shield,” to go after opponents but also to claim they and other federal officials are immune from the law or any consequences from it.

He said that it “is what you’d expect from a would-be dictator, monarch, tyrant who just wants to have his way, exercise his authority, hurt his enemies, and advance his own power” — but that courts have resisted and Trump will ultimately lose.

Geddes said Trump has long met claims he is corrupt by pointing the finger at others in Washington. “If you can’t really defend yourself against something, the next best thing is to persuade voters that they’re all corrupt. There’s no difference.”

In countries where corruption is indeed endemic, leaders such as Xi have used such claims to wipe out opposition within their own governments, Geddes said. “The big difference in the U.S. is that the people who have been accused of corruption [by Trump] are almost universally not corrupt, and Trump kind of uses the word ‘corruption’ just to mean anybody he doesn’t like.”

Where evidence of real corruption is “mounting day by day” is in the case against Trump, Geddes said, which is part of why voters abandoned his party in the midterms.

Scheppele said when people chafing under autocratic rule “see how many other people agree with them” — including after big election wins for opposition parties — they “become less afraid to stand up and say what they think,” which leaders like Trump understand.

Trump’s “increased bullying” of late, she said, is a transparent effort to re-instill that fear and “reassert that he’s actually in charge.”

Six more women have spoken out against Russell Brand, accusing the British actor and recently convicted rapist of sexual misconduct amid the ongoing fallout of his rape and sexual assault trial in the U.K.

Brand’s alleged predatory behavior and forceful sexual interactions with the women spanned from the aughts to 2015, as detailed by a new investigation published Thursday by the Times of London and Sunday Times. The investigation cites interviews with the accusers, their friends who were made aware of the incidents and archive material including text messages and photographs. The accusers are identified only by their first names. One woman’s name was changed for the article.

The investigation supports U.K. prosecutors’ allegations that 51-year-old Brand, who was a BBC radio host before he was a Hollywood star and religious influencer in recent years, leveraged his fame to have sexual encounters with numerous women. A majority of the women in the newest investigation alleged they met Brand during or after his shows, including one who said she interacted with the comedian while he was performing at a venue in San Francisco. Two women accused Brand of engaging in sex without their consent in separate incidents: One alleged Brand did not wear a condom while he raped her and the other woman alleged he left her in pain after proceeding with sex, despite her multiple refusals.

The Los Angeles Times has not independently corroborated the allegations. Legal representatives for the British actor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Times of London published its latest investigation into Brand three years after its initial exposé with Britain’s Channel 4 in September 2023 paved the way for criminal prosecution against the comedian and actor. Brand, the once in-demand star of comedies “Get Him to the Greek” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” was sentenced Monday to more than a decade in prison for rape and sexual assault.

A jury found Brand guilty last week on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women. He was acquitted on two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. He stood trial for three weeks in October.

In the Times article, a woman described as an employee and named Alex said she met Brand in her 30s and engaged in an on-and-off relationship with the actor during the aughts. She detailed his alleged “controlling behavior” over her eating and drinking habits and alleged Brand initiated sex without a condom after she refused his advances. Brand apologized for his behavior in person and over text, she alleged.

Another woman, identified as Vicky, said she was 19 when she met Brand during a meet-and-greet in 2007 and that getting his attention at the time felt like a “fairytale.” Vicky noted Brand’s more forceful sexual behavior in a pair of separate incidents. During one encounter, she felt he was “rougher” in bed after she refused his request that she bring along a friend. In her final encounter with Brand at his rental, she alleges he engaged in sex without foreplay, leaving her in pain. She urged him to stop twice but he continued. Vicky said she was moaning in pain and that Brand told her “I want you to be louder so [another woman at the rental] can hear.” Vicky recalled another woman came out of a bedroom and began performing a sex act on Brand while she was still present. Brand allegedly also said, “tonight was consensual, nobody did anything they didn’t want to do.”

The woman who said she met Brand in San Francisco accused the actor of grabbing her breasts at a bar. Brand allegedly also shoved his hands down her pants and digitally penetrated her in a hotel after his comedy show. A fourth woman said she met Brand at a music festival in 2005 but didn’t have sex with the star until a “low day” when Brand alleged tried to “stick [his] penis” down her throat, nearly making her sick. They continued seeing each other for months but the woman — who also recalled Brand’s proclivity for asking women to brush his teeth during encounters — said she felt Brand was “playing with Barbies” and saw women as disposable after he got what he wanted.

A fifth woman said she was in her late 20s when she met Brand in 2006. She had won BBC 6 Music Competition and was invited to the show as a guest. Brand allegedly proposed an “arrangement” and they had sex in a disabled lavatory. They saw each other on-and-off for the next year but during their last meeting at the actor’s home, Brand seemed “pissed off and angry” and allegedly requested the woman to lick a toilet after they had sex. The sixth woman said she worked at London venue that Brand had frequented and accused the actor of physical violence. Brand, whom she described as a “disgusting, pervy comic,” tried to pull her into a disabled bathroom to have sex, the woman alleged. She said Brand grabbed her hand hard when she went to the bathroom to bring him toilet paper and that one of his staffers prevented her from leaving.

“I felt like a piece of meat,” the sixth woman recalled to the Times of London.

According to the investigation, the women who spoke out did not feel comfortable pursuing criminal cases against Brand but were empowered by the recent trial to share their stories. Earlier this week Brand’s ex-girlfriend producer Jemima Goldsmith accused Brand of “violence, coercive control and abuse” during their relationship. She said that she had police remove Brand from her home in 2014 “during a violent incident.”

Brand, the ex-husband of pop star Katy Perry, is married to author Laura Brand and they share three children. She testified on his behalf, describing him as a devoted father. She also recalled in court that she met Brand after one of his comedy shows in 2006 — she was 19 and he was 31.

Though Brand will soon be behind bars, accusations against the actor remain in the spotlight. British police confirmed to the Times earlier this week it is further investigating of criminal allegations against the actor. Brand and the allegations against him are also the subject of Netflix’s true-crime documentary “Russell Brand: Open Secret,” which premiered Friday.

California Democrats, poised to play a prominent role in the next Congress, plan to use their newly won power to investigate President Trump over allegations that corruption, cronyism and self-dealing enriched the president, his family and his allies while housing, fuel and food costs skyrocketed for everyday Americans.

The potential targets are wide-ranging, from immigration raids and the fatal shootings of protesters by federal agents to Trump’s ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein and billions of dollars in investment made by Middle Eastern countries allegedly seeking to influence U.S. foreign policy.

The war with Iran, which increased oil prices, the military operation in Venezuela and dizzying tariff policies are also expected to come under intense scrutiny.

However, Democrats are notably focused on investigations, not the other “I-word” — impeachment.

“That’s not on my bingo card,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands), who is expected to become House Democratic whip. “We’re focused on accountability, and we’re focused on holding people accountable, and that should be to follow the evidence wherever it leads … but that’s not anything that House Democrats are discussing at this point.”

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who played a leading role in the impeachment proceedings against Trump in 2020, said the priority is to alleviate the affordability crisis, but that the administration’s actions must be scrutinized for causing it.

“Our oversight agenda should be focused on corruption that has led to higher costs,” said Schiff, who has been making calls to colleagues about his desire to serve in leadership next year given his fundraising prowess, his visibility communicating the party’s priorities and his oversight experience, according to a source close to the senator. “Corruption involving the oil industry, allowing the oil industry to gouge consumers, corruption that is costing taxpayers by raising the cost of federal contracts because of kickbacks or sweetheart deals or contributions to ballrooms.”

Judicial appointments are also a priority for California’s two senators, who could review appointments to the federal courts across the nation as well as Supreme Court nominees if any of the nine justices retire in the next two years. Schiff, who lives in Burbank, serves alongside Sen. Alex Padilla of Porter Ranch on the Judiciary Committee.

Committee Democrats, Schiff said, would be able to block federal judicial appointments of “incompetent partisans … who have no business being on the bench, and in any other administration would have never been nominated.”

Schiff also hopes to pursue an enforceable code of ethics and term limits on the high court. (The Supreme Court has a code of conduct but has resisted the idea of adopting one written by Congress.)

Democrats’ sweeping victories in the Nov. 3 election may prompt a significant upheaval in the already-fraught power dynamic between Trump and Schiff.

Trump, who was acquitted by the Senate in two first-term impeachments, has relentlessly attacked Schiff, from mocking him as “Shifty Schiff” to ordering investigations into unfounded allegations that he committed mortgage fraud.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) speaks at a Texas Democratic Party news conference in Texas in September.

(Gabriela Passos / Associated Press)

Trump’s response to this new round of Democratic-led investigations is expected to be just as aggressive. On Monday, White House counsel Will Scharf sent Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), who is expected to chair the House’s chief investigative committee, a letter warning that he and his Democratic colleagues could face criminal scrutiny over their planned investigations.

Shortly after the election, Garcia made it clear that the incoming Democratic-led Congress will hold the Trump administration to account. “LAWYER UP,” he posted on social media.

“Taking on the Trumps and their grift is taking on corruption, but it’s also going to lower your costs,” Garcia said. “Prices are up at the gas pump because of Trump’s corruption in Iran, because Trump is paying off oil companies in Venezuela while they’re making record profits.

“While the Trumps get richer on their crypto schemes, the American public is struggling with gas and groceries. It’s all connected.”

The White House dismissed Democrats’ plans as counterproductive to the nation’s economy.

“As the President has said, he’s willing to work with anyone to continue delivering victories for hardworking Americans,” spokesperson Lauren Bis said in an email. “If Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people.”

After Trump threatened Democrats who pursue investigations, Garcia sought to turn it to his advantage.

“Because I promised that our incoming House Oversight majority will hold him accountable, investigate his administration’s abuses, and pull back the curtain on his corruption, he is trying to use the legal system as a weapon to stop us,” Garcia wrote in a fundraising email to supporters.

While some ballots are still being counted, Democrats had won 256 House seats to the Republicans’ 169, as of Friday, according to the Associated Press. In the Senate, Democrats and the two independents who caucus with them had secured 55 seats to the GOP’s 44.

The Democratic gains in traditionally Republican states and congressional districts could be short-lived, however, if the incoming Congress is consumed by political revenge and fails to address voters’ economic concerns.

“Managing a very large caucus that represents America is going to be thrilling and important as we change America’s direction to focus on affordability and accountability,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), who is expected to lead the House Democratic caucus.

The former prosecutor said he views an impeachment as akin to an indictment, which shouldn’t be pursued based on news reports but on witnesses’ testimony, documents and tangible evidence.

“After we do those investigations, then we can make a decision,” Lieu said. “I absolutely support investigating the corruption in the Trump administration, and then we can see where that leads.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) faced the challenges of balancing the various wings of her party during Trump’s first term. She rebuffed liberal members’ initial calls for impeachment over allegations of administration obstruction into the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Pelosi eventually supported impeachment after allegations surfaced that Trump threatened to withhold military aid to Ukraine unless the nation launched an investigation into the Biden family, and in the aftermath of the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riot and insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Pelosi, who is retiring, did not respond to a request for comment.

Barbara Boxer, who represented California in the U.S. Senate for 24 years, noted a similar phenomenon when Republicans impeached President Clinton while she was in office.

“To say that it sucked all the air out of the room is not even describing it,” Boxer said, adding that the attention over the proceedings sidelined policy actions that could have benefited the American people.

This time, Boxer said, incoming Democrats will need to focus on common goals, even when they disagree. While she believes some members will place ideology ahead of pragmatism, the expected House speaker, Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a moderate, has enough support to neutralize challenges from either wing of the party.

“Everyone under this big umbrella has to understand that they have to come to the center to stay out of those storms,” she said. “Because if they stay on their right and they stay on their left, they’re gonna lose in the next election.”

The children’s author and comedian denies the sexual assault allegations, says he has not broken the law.

London’s police have opened an investigation into allegations of serious sexual offences after media reports accused British comedian and children’s author David Walliams of grooming and sexually abusing girls and young women.

Walliams, 55, denies the allegations.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Friday that it “has received a number of allegations of non-recent serious sexual offences involving a man now in his 50s”.

In the statement, Met Police Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney urged anyone affected to come forward.

The Met said the new allegations are separate from those reported this week by ITV News and The Guardian.

The two news organisations published reports on Tuesday that several women had accused Walliams of sexual misconduct, with the allegations dating back as far as 2003.

The reports came out a day after comedian Russell Brand was sentenced to more than 10 years in jail for rape and sexual assault.

Multiple allegations

The Guardian and ITV said they spoke to more than 100 people during a three-year investigation.

One woman said Walliams sexually assaulted her at his London home when she was 15, while others accused him of grooming them as teenagers. The reports also included allegations that he harassed young female colleagues.

In a letter to ITV and The Guardian, he said: “Whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something that I never did.”

He added: “I am not a sexual predator … I have not broken the law.”

The investigative reports were published after he lost a High Court bid to block the media outlets from naming him.

The judge, Matthew Nicklin, said an injunction would be “an exceptionally serious interference” with the media’s rights.

Dropped by BBC, literary agency

A spokesperson for the BBC told the AFP news agency that it had taken down some shows involving Walliams, including all episodes of Little Britain, the comedy sketch show that made him famous.

His literary agency, Independent Talent Group, said it was “no longer representing him in any capacity”.

Walliams’s publisher, HarperCollins, dropped him last year, following accusations that he harassed female staff, which he had also denied.

Walliams rose to fame as a comedian with sketch shows Little Britain and Come Fly With Me. He was also a judge on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.

He penned children’s books that have reportedly sold more than 50 million copies, including Mr Stink, Gangsta Granny and The Boy in the Dress.

The criminal association charge over his alleged role in the collapse of the bank comes a week after his removal.

Paraguayan prosecutors have charged former president Santiago Pena with criminal association over his alleged role in the collapse of the digital bank Ueno, a week after Congress removed him from office.

The prosecutor’s office announced the new charge on Friday, adding to the breach of trust and self-dealing charges already facing Pena, who is being held in pretrial detention at a military facility.

The 47-year-old former leader is accused of using his position to direct millions in government funds to Ueno and concealing or downplaying its financial troubles, despite warnings of risky lending practices, while having financial ties to the bank.

He denies all charges.

Pena, who entered office in 2023, held a stake in the bank’s holding company until last year.

On Thursday, investigators raided his official residence in the capital, Asuncion. The prosecutor’s office said agents from the economic crimes unit were extracting data and gathering relevant information for the investigation.

Last week, Pena tried to step down as president, but Congress rejected his resignation, instead removing him from office through impeachment. Pena was arrested shortly after his removal.

The collapse of Ueno left customers locked out of their accounts, prompting huge protests across the country as thousands demanded accountability and their money back.

Prosecutors had been looking for missing funds and said on Friday that assets had been located abroad, although they did not specify in which countries. They had previously asked the United States, Luxembourg and Argentina for help locating the missing money.

“The necessary steps are under way to request that they be frozen,” prosecutor Francisco Cabrera told reporters.

Three former central bank officials were also arrested on Friday, accused of having known about Ueno’s issues since late last year.

The bank, which held more than $800m in public funds, grew quickly under Pena’s presidency from a financial technology company into a large firm handling state pensions and the accounts of several government entities.

The credit ratings agency Fitch has placed Paraguay’s sovereign rating on watch for a possible downgrade, which would make it more expensive for the government to borrow money.

On Thursday, the Central Bank said it had returned savings to more than 1.8 million people who had deposited money at the bank.

Officials have not said if anyone was hurt after American Heritage was partially submerged with 129 passengers on board.

A tanker has struck a river cruise boat carrying 129 passengers on the Mississippi River in New Orleans, partially submerging the vessel and prompting a major rescue operation.

The Atlantic Asphalt tanker hit the American Heritage paddleboat on Friday at about 12:30pm local time (18:30 GMT), the Port of New Orleans said. The cruise boat had docked about two hours earlier to begin letting passengers off. The authorities have not released any information on injuries or deaths.

“Multiple individuals have been rescued, and search-and-rescue operations remain ongoing,” a city spokesperson said.

Video from the scene showed the much larger tanker hitting the paddlewheel cruise boat as metal and glass crashed and crunched, according to The Associated Press news agency.

More than a dozen people in life jackets were dragged from the river, where the water temperature was 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit), onto nearby ships, while others stood near the railing as the boat listed further into the water.

“Surreal, that’s what that was,” one witness, Jamie Holford, told local television. “Fifteen minutes from impact to where it rolled over.”

Port police, the fire department, the coastguard and emergency medical staff are on the scene, and a triage area was set up inside the port’s administration building. The river was closed to vessel traffic.

American Cruise Lines, which operates the boat, said guests and crew had been evacuated and that it was “deeply concerned for everyone involved”.

The five-deck American Heritage, built in 2015, holds up to 150 passengers and was finishing an eight-day cruise to destinations in Louisiana and Mississippi.

The 160-metre (520-foot) tanker was flying the flag of the Marshall Islands and was bound for New Orleans, according to the MarineTraffic tracker. It specialises in carrying asphalt and bitumen, according to the maritime periodical Marine Insights.

The cause of the collision, as well as whether the ship was carrying cargo, remains unknown.

Moscow blames Kyiv for a series of car bombings that have targeted people linked to the war with Ukraine.

A car bombing in Moscow has critically injured an adviser to Ukraine’s former prime minister a day after a similar attack killed a military officer in St Petersburg.

The explosion on Friday was the latest in a series of bombings and shootings that have targeted people involved in the fighting in Ukraine. Moscow has blamed Kyiv for the attacks.

The Moscow explosion struck a car driven by Sergei Zavorotnyi, who previously worked as an adviser to former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee.

Zavorotnyi was hospitalised with injuries, the committee added. It did not identify possible suspects pending a criminal inquiry.

Azarov served as prime minister under Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych, who was forced from office by protesters and fled to Russia in February 2014.

Azarov, who also lives in Russia, told state-run TV that he was “shocked” by the attack that left his former adviser critically injured. He said he believes Zavorotnyi was targeted because of his criticism of the Ukrainian government.

Zavorotnyi. 72, had worked as a journalist for Russia’s daily Komsomolskaya Pravda before becoming Azarov’s adviser. He wrote a book about Yanukovych’s ouster and ran an online outlet critical of Ukrainian authorities.

Russia’s REN TV channel said he lost his left arm, suffered multiple other injuries and was in a coma after the explosion.

Explosive devices triggered remotely

Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow, said an explosive device was reportedly planted under the man’s car and detonated remotely as he was driving on Friday.

“The investigative committee has already launched a criminal case into this explosion,” she said.

A day earlier, in St Petersburg, a military serviceman was killed by a bomb in his vehicle, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee. It did not identify the victim or say who could be behind the bombing.

The Fontanka news outlet said Thursday’s victim was a colonel, while other Russian online media said the victim was a senior air force officer.

Shapovalova said preliminary reports indicated that the victim was a military serviceman, rather than a colonel of the Russian Air Force.

Like the attack on Friday, he was also driving the car when the bomb went off, she added.

“In both cases an explosive device was triggered remotely, and it was planted under their car,” Shapovalova said. “Here in Russia, all the attacks are considered to be orchestrated by the Ukrainian side.”

Ukrainian authorities have not commented on either bombing.

NEW YORK — Two Democratic senators are launching an investigation into whether Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lied to Congress about his reason for a 2019 trip to Samoa after the Associated Press and the Guardian published documents in August refuting his testimony.

The new inquiry is one of a vast array of investigations planned into the Trump administration after Democrats regained control of the House and the Senate from Republicans in the midterm elections.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) said in a letter Wednesday to Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit group known for anti-vaccine activism that was formerly chaired by Kennedy, that they were starting an investigation.

The lawmakers asked the group for a broad range of documents related to Kennedy’s Samoa travel, his 2024 presidential campaign and his Senate confirmation process. The letter also requested all communications between the group and federal government officials since President Trump’s second term began in January 2025. The senators gave the group a deadline of Dec. 4 to comply.

AP and Guardian reporting in August showed that while Kennedy repeatedly told lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation last year that his visit to Samoa before a deadly measles outbreak had “nothing to do with vaccines,” a letter he sent to the Samoan prime minister ahead of the trip on Children’s Health Defense letterhead showed otherwise. In the letter, Kennedy used the words “vaccine” or “vaccination” eight times.

“We intend to hold Secretary Kennedy accountable for the grave harm he has caused to vulnerable children,” Wyden and Alsobrooks wrote in their letter. “We also intend to hold him accountable for any false statements made to Congress, a crime that undermines the Senate’s ability to fulfill its constitutional duties.”

The Department of Health and Human Services has maintained that the Samoa visit “was unrelated to vaccines.” In response to an AP inquiry in August, it said “any claim or insinuation based on these letters that Secretary Kennedy lied under oath or to Congress is not only false but outright defamatory.”

Kennedy was not under oath during his confirmation hearing. Knowingly giving material false testimony to Congress is a crime that carries a possible prison sentence regardless of whether a person is under oath, though it is rarely prosecuted.

Spokespeople for Children’s Health Defense and HHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Wyden is expected to chair the Senate Finance Committee, which has oversight into Kennedy’s health department, when Democrats retake Congress in January. Alsobrooks serves on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which also oversees the department.

The same senators on Wednesday announced a separate investigation into hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of gifts reportedly given last year to Kennedy by a donor and former employee.

Swenson writes for the Associated Press.

United States lawmakers are pushing for answers from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang amid growing concerns over whether an affair he had compromised national security.

Huang, 63, has admitted to having extramarital relations during his time leading Nvidia, a major US tech firm. Media reports indicate the woman involved was Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based tech company Megaspeed who is accused of working for Chinese intelligence.

As the scandal continues to grip Washington, Republican leaders of three committees in the House of Representatives have asked Huang to appear at a closed-door briefing to testify about the relationship.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast said he was prepared to subpoena Huang if he did not respond by the end of Wednesday.

According to The New York Times, US intelligence officials believe Alice Huang was recruited by Chinese intelligence to gather information about the Nvidia CEO and influence him to push for looser restrictions on chip sales to China.

In a statement on Sunday, Jensen Huang apologised to his family and Nvidia employees about the affair.

His company also launched an independent investigation, saying it had no reason to believe that “either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised”. Still, by Wednesday, media reports emerged that Nvidia was preparing to part ways with Huang over the controversy.

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into the matter, but he has stood by Huang, calling him an “honourable guy”.

But the pressure on Huang intensified on Tuesday when Republican Senator Kevin Cramer called for him to resign.

“The potential for extortion is so tremendous that something as sensitive as Nvidia chips, I just think he’s got to go,” Cramer said in an interview with Politico.

But Huang, who co-founded Nvidia more than 30 years ago, has shown no signs of heeding that call.

Despite the company’s assurances, experts say the affair raises concerns about what information Alice Huang may have been privy to and what role the relationship may have played in the Nvidia CEO’s decisions.

What are the national security concerns surrounding Nvidia?

Nvidia’s advanced chips, which power much of today’s artificial intelligence, have put the company at the centre of the race for tech dominance between China and the US.

Since 2022, Washington has restricted sales of some of the most advanced chips to China over concerns that they could be used by the country’s military or intelligence agencies.

According to US intelligence officials cited by The New York Times, Alice Huang was tasked with getting Jensen Huang to lobby for looser restrictions on chip exports.

The Nvidia CEO had already been pushing for an easing of the rules, arguing that China’s domestic chip industry would get stronger without better access to US products.

But some experts say it is worth looking at how Alice Huang may have influenced decisions Nvidia made specifically about her former employer Megaspeed, which bought more than $4.8bn worth of Nvidia chips over the span of about two years.

Megaspeed has also been investigated over allegations that it helped Chinese companies get access to restricted chips. Megaspeed denies the allegation.

Ryan Fedasiuk, a fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation who studies Chinese technology and intelligence activities, pointed to reports from Bloomberg and The New York Times that Nvidia contacted the US Commerce Department about its investigation into Megaspeed.

He also noted that, in disclosures to the government, Nvidia appeared to vastly undercount the value of the chips it sold to the company.

“The question at hand is whether Nvidia took specific actions with respect to Megaspeed that it might not otherwise have done,” Fedasiuk told Al Jazeera, “possibly as a result of the personal relationship between the two executives.”

What sensitive information could have been a risk?

There are also questions about what sensitive information Alice Huang may have had access to through her relationship with Jensen Huang.

In an analysis published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank, senior fellow Jessica Brandt pointed to information about how Nvidia designs its China-specific chips.

“Information about its conversations with policymakers could be helpful for anticipating where those controls and other policies are headed,” she said. “Understanding where it disagrees with government could expose fault lines to exploit. And that’s before we get into anything touching R&D [research and development].”

Fedasiuk raised similar concerns about what Alice Huang could have learned about Nvidia’s internal operations and plans for future products, as well as its customer base, which includes American and foreign tech companies.

He also pointed to Jensen Huang’s close ties to Trump and other senior White House officials.

“I have to wonder what kind of information about those people and about those relationships may have inadvertently made its way to Ms Huang or to Chinese intelligence,” he said.

So far, however, there is no publicly available evidence that Alice Huang got access to sensitive information from Nvidia or influenced Jensen Huang’s decisions. US intelligence also has not made public any evidence that Alice Huang was working for Chinese intelligence.

China has flatly denied the allegations of espionage.

“The claim of so-called ‘Chinese spies’ is completely groundless and is nothing but a smear campaign against China,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Monday.

The public reckoning against British actor-comedian and convicted rapist Russell Brand continues after his conviction and prison sentencing for rape and sexual assault charges.

British screenwriter and producer Jemima Goldsmith accused ex-boyfriend Brand of “violence, coercive control and abuse” during their relationship. In a tweet shared Monday morning, Goldsmith (formerly Jemima Khan) alleged that she had Brand “removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident.” Goldsmith, whose producing credits include “American Crime Story” and “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” said she did not press charges against Brand at the time and that she was “relieved” by the actor’s recent rape and sexual assault convictions.

The BBC confirmed on Wednesday that Thames Valley Police officers responded to Goldsmith’s Oxfordshire home for a reported incident in July 2014. Officials told the outlet that police made no arrests at the time and “also ensured the victim’s partner left the address, as per the victim’s wishes.”

“I am glad and relieved that Russell Brand has finally faced justice,” Goldsmith wrote.

A legal representative for Brand did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Goldsmith, 52, said in her post that she chose not to go public with her allegations against Brand because she was concerned about “the impact of the press attention on my then teenage children.” She said she has not been in contact with the actor, 51, since the alleged incident.

“Whilst my pain in relation to this, pales in comparison to what the women have testified in court have suffered, this was a difficult period in my life which has had a lasting impact,” she continued.

Goldsmith spoke out about her relationship with Brand as British police confirm further investigation of criminal allegations against him. The actor, famed for films including “Get Him to the Greek” and “Arthur,” was sentenced Monday to more than a decade in prison for rape and sexual assault charges. A jury found Brand guilty last week on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women. He was acquitted on two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. He stood trial for three weeks in October.

“Several people have contacted the investigation team during and since the trial to provide information or report a potential criminal allegation,” the Metropolitan Police Service said Tuesday in a statement to The Times. “Detectives are assessing this information as part of their ongoing enquiries.”

Brand was tried for charges stemming from his interactions with six women in the U.K., spanning from the late 1990s to the late aughts. Shortly after the jury handed down its verdict, police confirmed that they provided prosecutors with investigations into two additional rape allegations against the actor.

Goldsmith said in her post that she aided the British reporters behind the joint investigation by the Times of London and Channel 4 that made allegations against Brand public in 2023. Following the investigation, additional women came forward with allegations against the actor that his defense attorney took issue with during the trial. The “well of justice had been corrupted and contaminated” by the documentary, Brand attorney Ian Winter argued during the court proceedings.

After speaking out against Brand, Goldsmith addressed resurfaced reporting about a harassment injunction she and Brand obtained against a woman in 2014. The woman, a massage therapist who Goldsmith hired to work on Brand at her house, accused the actor of physical assault in 2014. Police determined at the time “there was no case to answer and that no criminal offence had been committed,” Goldsmith said.

She accused the woman of feeding “several untrue stories” to multiple British tabloids and then engaging in a “campaign of vicious antisemitic and threatening abuse online and in emails.” Goldsmith included examples of the alleged vitriolic messages in her tweet and alleged the woman sent similar messages to her loved ones, workplace and to journalists. She said the woman also accused her of “wild and untrue” crimes.

Goldsmith said she agreed to a harassment order to prevent the woman from “targeting me and my family.” She said in her post that she agreed to vary the harassment injunction so the woman could report her incident with Brand to police again if she wished.

Goldsmith added that any changes to the injunction must also be approved by Brand and that she has not heard from the woman’s attorney on the matter since May.

A deadly train collision in the outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, which killed at least seven people and injured more than 125 others according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Population, has ignited a wave of parliamentary and political demands for accountability. The disaster raises urgent questions about the effect of the millions of dollars the Egyptian state has poured into upgrading the railway network and whether those investments are genuinely improving passenger safety.

A train travelling between Giza and Fayoum on Sunday ran into the back of another train on the Cairo-to-Aswan route, causing the latter to derail onto a countryside road in al-Ayyat district. Following the crash, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi directed authorities to conduct an urgent investigation to “hold accountable anyone found to have been negligent”.

The Egyptian parliament’s Transport and Communications Committee summoned Transport Minister Kamel el-Wazir to an emergency session on Tuesday to investigate. Meanwhile, opposition voices have escalated demands for political accountability, ranging from criticising the minister to demanding the dismissal of the entire government.

Abdel Moneim Imam, a member of Parliament and head of the Justice Party, told Al Jazeera that the situation requires decisive action, and highlighted several previous train disasters in al-Ayyat. A 2002 fire killed more than 370 people, while a train collision in 2009 killed 15 people, and three separate collisions in 2016 killed 14 people in total.

Al-Ayyat is a major corridor for trains travelling between Cairo and southern Egypt, with heavy railway traffic and railway switches in the area.

“The recurrence of train accidents in the al-Ayyat area, despite what the Transport Ministry has repeatedly announced regarding the development of the railway system, reflects the absence of genuine accountability for the officials responsible for those accidents,” Imam stated.

“Taking decisive measures and holding officials accountable for previous accidents would have prevented the recurrence of these scenes,” he added. “The minister of transport enjoys the protection of the parliamentary majority, which prevents the activation of parliamentary accountability … The continued turning of a blind eye to the shortcomings and the recurrence of accidents without genuine accountability leads to the continuation of the crisis.”

Imam, who has described himself as a reformist politician, called for ministers to be questioned in Parliament over the latest accident.

Legislative response

Egypt’s parliamentary transport committee met on Tuesday in the presence of Transport Minister Kamal el-Wazir to discuss the circumstances of Sunday’s train collision, and measures to prevent similar accidents.

However, Ahmed el-Derby, the secretary of the committee, told Al Jazeera before the meeting that its purpose was not to “interrogate [el-Wazir] or confront him with premeditated accusations”.

Asked whether the government bore political responsibility for railway accidents, el-Derby said that ultimate responsibility rested with those overseeing the railway system.

“Officials bear responsibility for mistakes that occur during their tenure, even if they did not personally make those mistakes,” el-Derby said, adding that the accident showed that something had gone wrong and that an investigation was needed to establish who was responsible and hold them accountable.

“We do not support the hasty demands to dismiss officials, and dismissals alone do not represent a solution to the crisis,” he said.

Policy failures

Atef el-Maghawry, head of the Tagammu Party’s parliamentary bloc, said the repeated railways accidents in al-Ayyat pointed to wider government failures, rather than problems confined to the Transport Ministry.

“Despite the ministrys announcements about upgrading the railway network and signalling systems, the recurrence of accidents in al-Ayyat points to a crisis that goes beyond the the Transport Ministry and reflects broader government policies,” he told Al Jazeera.

El-Maghrawy argued that replacing the transport minister would not be enough, and instead called for the dismissal of the entire government over its failures to address a wide range of social issues.

“What is required is a change in policies, not simply a change of personnel,” he said.

“There are achievements that have been realised in the railway sector, and other sectors, but questions remain regarding the cost of these achievements and the results entailed by them,” el-Maghawry explained.

Financial transparency

Parliamentarians are now demanding answers on railway funding. Irene Saeed, head of the Reform and Development Party’s parliamentary bloc, called for a detailed breakdown of how the Transport Ministry spent loans obtained in 2026.

Saeed wants to know what proportion of loans taken out by the ministry during el-Wazir’s tenure went towards safety, signalling and maintenance, and how many accidents in 2025 and 2026 were found to be the railway authority’s responsibility.

The Transport Ministry says approximately $37bn was allocated to transport investments between 2014 and 2024.

Hassan Mahdy, a highway engineering professor at Ain Shams University, warned against drawing conclusions before the investigation is complete. He pointed to upgrades across Egypt’s railway network, including a shift to electronic systems intended to manage train movements and reduce reliance on human intervention.

Mahdy said that investigators had to establish why one of the trains stopped on the main track – highlighting the possibility of a sudden technical failure or someone activating the emergency brake. In addition, investigators would need to verify whether the second train’s signalling system warned its driver of a stationary train on the line before the collision.

El-Derby said that the railway signals had issued a stop instruction, citing information from the signalling director, but it remained unclear whether the driver received the warning early enough to stop.

He also urged caution about directly comparing the collison with the previous deadly incidents in al-Ayyat, saying railway operations and signalling have since been upgraded.

“The results of the investigations will reveal all the circumstances of the accident, whether the cause is linked to the human element or a technical flaw in the system,” Mahdy said.

Starc formed part of the bowling attack in the contentious 2018 Test alongside Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.

In 2021, the quartet, who remain fixtures in the Australia Test side, issued a joint statement saying they “did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field”.

Speaking at a season launch event in Sydney, Starc stated he hadn’t “really paid much attention” to the media coverage of Khawaja’s claims.

“Obviously, there’s differing opinions of eight years ago. We were heavily grilled through the process at the time, since,” said Starc.

“I guess I won’t speak on behalf of the bowlers – but, where I stand, my opinion hasn’t changed, my recollection hasn’t changed from what we said in 2021.

“We weren’t aware it [sandpaper] was taken on the field to be tampered with. We saw it on the big screen in Cape Town. As far as the book’s concerned, I haven’t read it and probably won’t read it, so that’s for Usman to elaborate on.

“It’s definitely disappointing that’s what we’re talking about heading into a really exciting [Australian] summer. Different people felt different ways about it at the time, throughout and certainly through the last eight years.

“I think Trav [Head] said it the other day, that the group has changed a lot. We certainly look forward to what’s coming up. We’re not in 2018 anymore, are we, so the group at the moment’s great.”

Khawaja has also said in his book that sandpaper was in use at the second Test at Port Elizabeth, but Starc said that claim was the “first I was aware of any of that taking place in PE”.

Warner, who was banned for a year after the incident, has backed Khawaja’s recollections, saying on Monday they were “100% accurate”.

Greenberg argued there was always likely to be a lack of consensus about what took place in the series.

“You end up at the same intersection where one person’s version of events contradict the others, and I’m not sure what outcome people are searching for,” he added.

“I think what people want is a single outcome that everyone is aligned up on, but I don’t think that’s possible on this occasion because we have such conflicting views from the same moment in time.”

‘We’re comfortable with the outcome of the investigation,’ Cricket Australia chief says after David Warner and Usman Khawaja’s revelations.

The top cricket official in Australia has ruled out another investigation into the so-called “sandpapergate” scandal despite remarks by Usman Khawaja and David Warner that knowledge of the 2018 ball-tampering plot was widespread throughout the team.

Cricket Australia (CA) ⁠boss Todd Greenberg said on Tuesday he believed all players held “very different views” from Khawaja’s version of events of the 2018 tour of South Africa as described in his recently released autobiography.

“There are specific details in his ⁠book that contradict the versions that have been provided by others,” Greenberg told ⁠local radio station SEN.

“But we have said we’re comfortable with the outcome of the investigation based on the information we’ve received,” he added.

“That includes what we’ve seen from Usman, and our position hasn’t changed on that. We don’t see any compelling reason to open the investigation or revisit this again. I don’t think ‌there’s anything that can be gained from that.”

CA imposed bans and other penalties on Warner, former captain Steve Smith and former Test batter Cameron Bancroft four days after the incident came to light during the Cape Town Test.

Khawaja, in extracts from his autobiography published in Australian media, said “open, lighthearted discussions” were held during the South Africa series about ways to scuff up the ball, including by using sandpaper.

He said discussion of tampering was not confined to batters, bowlers or staff but extended throughout the team.

“It was all of us,” Khawaja said in the book, ⁠according to Australian media.

Warner, who retired from international cricket more than two years ago, ⁠broke his silence about the incident on Monday to throw his support behind Khawaja.

In a video posted on social media, Warner described his former teammate’s account as 100 percent accurate and the CA investigation as “botched” and “rushed”.

The four Australian bowlers who played in the Cape Town Test in 2018 and continue to represent the nation – Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon – issued a joint statement in 2021 denying any knowledge of the plot.

Captain Cummins said in South ‌Africa last month that he had spoken to Khawaja about his autobiography and was not concerned about any potential fallout.

“Answered every question a million times. So, yeah, it was dealt with then,” he said.

Some commentators have questioned why Khawaja ‌waited ‌eight years to speak out and accused him of trying to boost sales of his book Sabr.

Khawaja responded on social media on Tuesday, saying he had no commercial motives.

“I’m very fortunate, I don’t need the money,” he said.

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been wiped off the value of Nvidia after the US chipmaker announced an independent investigation would be carried out into its chief executive’s affair with an alleged Chinese spy.

The tech firm saw its shares fall by about 6% on Monday after Jensen Huang admitted having an extramarital affair.

Nvidia’s probe came after reports that the US believed the Nvidia boss had been targeted in an espionage campaign by China.

However, China has rejected the claims, with its foreign ministry saying “allegations about Chinese spies were “entirely groundless, speculative and intended to smear and malign China”.

Nvidia said it had no reason to believe the company’s secrets or national security were compromised, but a statement by the firm’s board of directors said it would begin an investigation in “light of recent reporting that founder and chief executive Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort”.

US intelligence officials believe Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, was a spy for Beijing, according to a New York Times report, external.

The report said Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a memo to top officials in Washington last spring warning that the Nvidia boss was in a close relationship with a Chinese spy.

Alice Huang was managing director of Singaporean company Megaspeed, which has had dealings with Nvidia.

Huang admitted he was “unfaithful” to his wife and apologised for hurting her and their children. He added he was “committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting America’s national security” and would cooperate with the investigation.

The Nvidia co-founder has also been requested to appear for a joint closed-door briefing for several Congressional committees next week.

Members of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee last week asked Huang to appear for a closed-door briefing on his interactions with Alice Huang, as well as Nvidia’s security protocols around espionage.

“Recent reports raise significant national security concerns regarding the PRC’s [China’s] access to sensitive US technology and information,” congressmen Brian Mast, John Moolenaar, and Rick Crawford wrote in a letter.

“It is vital that Congress determines the extent to which US national security has been placed at risk.”

After Nvidia’s investigation was announced, other big tech bosses, including Elon Musk, came out in support of Huang to continue leading the firm.

US President Donald Trump said the Nvidia boss was an “honourable guy”.

However, the news sparked a sell-off in Nvidia’s shares, with about $250bn (£190bn) wiped of the company’s market value.

The strike leaves more than 70 percent of northern Iraq’s Kurdish region without power.

A drone attack on the Khor Mor gasfield in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq has caused a fire at the facility and cut power to the region, according to Iraqi and Kurdish officials.

The Sunday night attack left more than 70 percent of the Kurdish region without power.

It was not clear who was responsible for the attack or whether it was related to the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.

Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad has verified footage of smoke and flames rising from the vicinity of the gasfield in the Sulaimaniyah governorate.

Omid Ahmed, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Electricity, said the attack suspended gas supply to power plants in the cities of Erbil, Sulaimaniyah, Bazian, Chamchamal and Duhok, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

The strike knocked between 2,500 and 2,800 megawatts of electricity generation off the grid, he said.

He added that the ministry would provide electricity to critical facilities, such as hospitals and water treatment plants, by operating hydroelectric power stations and other plants that run on alternative fuel.

Al Jazeera’s Peter Smith, reporting from Baghdad, cited security sources as saying the explosive-laden drone struck the Khor Mor gas storage facility, reducing the energy grid’s capacity by 70 to 80 percent.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said there were no casualties as a result of the attack, based on an initial assessment, the INA reported.

Al-Zaidi also directed that a joint investigative committee be formed with the relevant authorities in the Kurdish region to investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack, INA reported.

The attack comes amid heightened regional tensions. A drone strike hit the same facility last year, with no group having claimed responsibility.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, leader of one of the world’s hottest chipmakers, is under immense scrutiny after he admitted to an extramarital affair, and the company’s board said it plans to investigate him in light of recent reporting that he was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.

The stunning admission follows a series of reports that Nvidia’s leader was targeted by former Megaspeed International executive Alice Huang, who the U.S. government suspects was recruited by a Chinese spy agency. The CEO previously denied having anything but a “normal” relationship with the woman.

Analysts say this will prompt calls for closer examination of tech companies’ dealings with China.

“This is a black eye moment for Jensen and will spark multiple congressional inquiries at a minimum and will create an overhang on the stock for a myriad of reasons,” said Daniel Ives, partner and senior managing director at merchant bank Yorkville Ives & Co. in an equity research note. “This will also increase major scrutiny regarding selling chips to China, which remains a key battleground issue in DC,” wrote Ives, who has an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Nvidia’s board said in a statement on Sunday that it has confidence in Huang and his leadership team. On Sunday in after-hours trading, Nvidia’s stock was $188.70 a share, up about 1%.

“While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board’s inquiry will examine all available information,” Nvidia’s board said.

In a staff memo, Huang apologized to his family and Nvidia employees.

“I was unfaithful to my wife,” Huang wrote. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”

Huang wrote that he is committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting America’s national security, adding that he is “proud and grateful to be an American” and supports the investigation.

The transgression blemishes Huang’s leadership, which has been admired by many people in Silicon Valley. Huang, a former microprocessor designer and Denny’s dishwasher, discussed the idea behind Nvidia inside a Denny’s in San Jose with fellow entrepreneurs Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem. They co-founded the Santa Clara-based chipmaker in 1993.

Since then, Huang’s profile has risen to the status of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, with thousands of people gathering to hear his keynotes.

The company’s valuation has risen dramatically in recent years alongside AI’s boom. The company reached a record market capitalization of nearly $5.8 trillion in October. That has slipped below $5 trillion, however, weighed down by concern about the sustainability of AI infrastructure build-out.

“It certainly is going to put a cloud over Jensen and Nvidia for a while,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at advisory services firm Enderle Group, adding that Nvidia sells products to the U.S. Department of Defense. “If it turns out that he was intimate with the Chinese spy, Nvidia could face some pullback from the U.S. government.”

The company has no public succession plan, and Huang has no obvious heir apparent. He has repeatedly said he wants to continue in his role for decades and has created an informal organizational structure around him that eschews a conventional hierarchy. Instead, his direct reports are tasked with rapidly implementing his decisions.

Huang has said that this system gives his company the flexibility to react to rapid changes in technology and remain agile. But it has also created a situation where there’s no replacement ready to step in and take over Huang’s relentless schedule.

Concerns that sensitive information might leak through Nvidia’s contacts with China have fueled calls for investigations and greater scrutiny of Huang and the company, ratcheting pressure in what has already been a difficult geopolitical balancing act.

“The big issue is China is all out in everything they can do to try to compromise U.S. security, whether it’s running a honeypot scheme or whether it’s blackmailing or extorting existing employees across U.S. firms,” said Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research. “The issue here is if the extortion resulted in Nvidia making policies or the CEO making policies that would compromise national security. That’s what’s at stake.”

Legislators, including Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), said Congress will look into these relationships.

“The more I learn about the insane relationship between the Trump Administration, Chinese spies, and AI billionaires, the more I’m convinced there is nothing this administration does that isn’t corrupt,” Coons wrote on X on Saturday. “Congress will investigate and get answers.”

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on Coons’ statement or Nvidia’s board investigation.

While Nvidia is allowed to ship a limited range of products to China under a licensing program granted by the current Trump administration, Beijing has restricted imports of the chips — an impasse that continues to curb the chipmaker’s sales in the world’s second-largest economy.

Megaspeed, based in Singapore, has been accused of breaking U.S. export restrictions and smuggling Nvidia chips to China. Huang had told Bloomberg that his contacts with Megaspeed employees were typical of business relationships he has with many Chinese customers and executives.

Bloomberg contributed to this report.

Italy says civilian infrastructure in Europe is “under attack”.

A series of bomb threats this week grounded flights and put airports on high alert. No explosives were found, and the threats appear to be false.

But the disruption is not limited to aviation. Hackers have also targeted supermarket freezers in several countries, raising temperatures and spoiling food.

Together, the incidents are raising fears and questions about a wider campaign of hybrid attacks.

Who could be behind these threats? Are they connected? And can European nations come together to counter these acts of aggression?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Eric Schouten – Founder and CEO of Dyami Security Intelligence

Dennis-Kenji Kipker – Research director of the Cyber Intelligence Institute

Patrick Bury – Defence and security specialist at the University of Bath

Santiago Pena was impeached over the collapse of Ueno Bank, which left millions unable to access their accounts.

Paraguay’s former President Santiago Pena has been charged after spending the morning at the attorney general’s office in Asunción for questioning, a day after being impeached over his alleged involvement in a banking scandal that has left nearly half the country unable to access their savings.

The former president, who was placed under house arrest on Friday, was charged over the scandal. The Reuters news agnecy reported that Pena was charged with breach of trust and administration for personal gain.

The scandal centres on Pena’s ties to Ueno, a digital bank that grew rapidly during his presidency, partly through an injection of more than $800m in public funds, and attracted millions of customers.

The bank’s collapse has prompted days of protests across Paraguay, with thousands taking to the streets demanding access to their savings. Some demonstrations have turned violent, with protesters clashing with police.

Pena, who held a stake in Ueno’s parent company until March 2025, has denied wrongdoing, arguing that the bank’s problems were a regulatory matter.

What is Pena accused of?

Among the allegations against Pena are that he used his political influence to direct hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds into Ueno while shielding the bank from regulatory scrutiny as concerns grew over its risky lending practices.

They point to his appointment of Carlos Carvallo, a former executive at the company that later became Ueno, as head of Paraguay’s central bank in 2023. On Saturday, Carvallo was charged with breach of trust, producing false public documents and administration for personal gain.

Pena is further accused of allowing Paraguay’s state pension fund to deposit $355m at Ueno, above legal limits.

Pena had offered his resignation on Thursday, but lawmakers rejected it and pressed ahead with impeachment proceedings to prevent him from having the political immunity he would have gained had he stepped down.

An arrest order was issued shortly after he was removed from office.

On Saturday, after announcing the charges, prosecutors are also seeking pretrial detention for both Pena and Carvallo.

Bank collapse sparks political crisis

The scandal erupted after regulators took control of Ueno on Tuesday over concerns about its solvency, leaving nearly three million people unable to access their savings or use their bank cards.

Paraguay’s central bank said Saturday that 1.2 million customers had already received partial or full reimbursement of their insured deposits.

But that has done little to quell public anger, with many still waiting for their money back. Some protesters have also expressed frustration over Pena’s replacement, Pedro Alliana, who belongs to the same conservative Colorado Party and is himself under investigation in connection with the bank’s collapse.

Alliana, who was sworn in as president on Friday, has pledged to help those affected.

Iraqi foreign minister warns of potential regional war, says Baghdad seeking to resolve disagreements with Saudi Arabia.

Iraq has evidence that external parties have been using its territory to launch attacks on neighbouring countries, its foreign minister told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview on Saturday.

Baghdad is investigating attacks launched from Iraqi territory against Gulf states and is seeking to resolve disagreements with Saudi Arabia through dialogue, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said.

Saudi Arabia has accused Iran-aligned groups operating in Iraq of attacking its oil infrastructure. In September, Baghdad confirmed that drone attacks on the kingdom’s East-West pipeline originated from Iraqi territory.

Hussein told Al Jazeera that Baghdad was negotiating with Iran-aligned armed factions to bring their weapons under state control and the process must be pursued through dialogue rather than force.

He also said they were in contact with Tehran regarding the issue of weapons held by Iraqi factions.

Hussein said Washington had formally requested the closure of all but two border crossings with Iran. He said that while Iraq welcomed friendship and an alliance with Tehran, it rejected interference in its internal affairs.

Hussein also said Iraq had lost about $60bn from the suspension of oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, but that shipments have resumed after understandings were reached with Washington and Tehran.

On the issue of combatting ISIL (ISIS), Hussein said that Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Turkiye have formed a committee to fight the group’s presence in Syria.

The full interview will air at 18:00 GMT on Sunday on Al Jazeera.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has started research after the man died from animal illness – only detected for first time this summer

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched an investigation after the first-ever case of a brain disease was found in an EU country which is a favourite destination for UK tourists. Health officials in France raised the alarm following the first ever known case of Shamonda virus (SHAV) infection in a human.

The person concerned had not travelled outside the country in the preceding 12 months, the WHO said. WHO said: “The case was an immunocompromised older man from eastern France with no travel history during the preceding year. He developed severe neurological illness on 23 September 2026 and was diagnosed with severe encephalitis (brain inflammation). The patient died on 8 October 2026.”

It said there are ‘no previously documented human infections’ of the disease, which normally affects animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and horses. The WHO said: “As only one human case has been reported so far, information on the disease in humans remains limited. In this case, the patient was already seriously ill and experienced additional, brain-related symptoms that were considered to be linked to the Shamonda virus.”

Vector-borne transmission (via a bite from an infected midge) is thought to be the most likely source of infection. Officials are investigating the possibility of food-borne transmission, but said it’s unlikely.

WHO added: “As this is the first documented laboratory-confirmed human infection, WHO considers that the public health risk cannot yet be reliably assessed and recommends continued surveillance and investigation.”

The patient lived in rural eastern France, where animal SHAV transmission has been documented since July 2026, and had not travelled in the preceding year. The patient received multiple blood transfusions between February and October 2026 for his underlying illness.

SHAV was only found for the first time in Europe during the summer of 2026 with confirmed or suspected infections reported in cattle, horses and alpacas in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

As of October 21 2026, additional European countries and territories have reported SHAV detections in animals: Austria, Ireland, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.

It adds: “This first documented human infection with SHAV in 2026 demonstrates that human infection is possible. However, a single case is insufficient to assess the risk to the general population, including immunocompetent individuals, or to determine the frequency, clinical spectrum or severity of human infection. The route of infection and possible sources of exposure are unknown, though vector-borne transmission is a plausible hypothesis.”

The EU office carries out probes at Spanish rail network administrator, safety agency and state auditors.

The European Union’s public prosecutors have launched a probe into possible fraud in the financing of Spain’s rail network after a high-speed train crash killed at least 69 passengers last month.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) said on Friday that it had carried out investigations ‌at the headquarters of Spain’s railway infrastructure manager, its railway safety agency and its court of auditors to determine possible fraud in the financing of the ⁠Madrid-Seville high-speed line.

“Today, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Madrid (Spain) is conducting investigative measures at the Administrator of Railway Infrastructure (ADIF), the State Railway Safety Agency (AESF) and the Court of Auditors in Spain,” a statement from the prosecutors said.

“This comes after the opening of an investigation into possible fraud affecting EU funds allocated to the renovation and upgrading of safety, signaling and communications systems on the Madrid-Seville high-speed railway line,” the EPPO added.

Spain’s rail infrastructure manager, Adif, confirmed the visit from the EPPO to the Reuters news agency, stating that it complied with the search and provided any requested information. The other two organisations did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The October 28 train collision in Urda, Toledo province, was the second fatal crash this year and led to the resignation of Transport Minister Oscar Puente.

Resignations

The EPPO had already carried out a probe into the Spanish rail network in March, after a high-speed train crash in the Adamuz region killed 46 passengers in January.

There are no updates on this investigation, which looks into how the EU funds for track maintenance were used on the network line.

EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas expressed concern at a news briefing on Wednesday over the proximity of the two fatal accidents, calling it “very worrying” and “not something we want to see”.

Tzitzikostas also noted that Spain reached out to the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) to assist with an ongoing national investigation.

Puente resigned on Tuesday, in what he described as a “matter of political dignity”, and Adif President Luis Pedro Marco de la Pena quit the next day. Spain’s Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo will fill in for Puente’s role until the elections in Spain later this month, which could be hampered and influenced by last month’s tragedy.

At the end of October, soon after the crash in Urda, survivors from three of Spain’s most fatal train crashes gathered to demand better safety procedures and larger investment into network maintenance to avoid further tragedies.

“Now we have seen three dreadful crashes in Spain, at Angrois, Adamuz and Urda. They will keep happening if we do not act,” train crash survivor Cristobal Gonzalez told Al Jazeera.

“At Angrois, the driver was going too fast; at Adamuz, an investigation said there was a problem on the track; and at Urda, it might have been human error and a problem with the control system. Whatever, we must stop these crashes happening by investing more in safety,” he added.

The Angrois accident in 2013, which killed 79 people, is Spain’s deadliest rail crash in modern times.