Law and Crime

April 8 (UPI) — Authorities in the Bahamas detained a 59-year-old American man in connection with last weekend’s disappearance of an American woman while out at sea.

The woman has been identified by Hope Town Volunteer Fire and Rescue as 55-year-old Lynette Hooker.

According to the Royal Bahamas Police Force, an unidentified man, reportedly her husband, Brian Hooker, 58, reported his wife missing at about 4 a.m. Sunday after arriving at the Marsh Harbor Boatyard by boat.

Police said the man informed officers that he and his wife had departed Hope Town at around 7:30 p.m. EDT Saturday for Elbow Cay aboard an 8-foot, hard-bottom dinghy.

During the journey, his wife fell overboard with the boat keys in her possession, causing the vessel’s engine to cut off, the man told officers, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in an earlier statement.

Strong currents then allegedly carried the woman away. The man lost sight of her and then paddled the dinghy to shore, according to police, which said a search-and-rescue mission was launched for the missing woman.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement that an American man, age 59, was taken into custody at about 7 p.m. Wednesday in Marsh Harbor, Abaco Island.

The suspect “is currently being questioned in connection with this matter,” the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.

The Royal Bahamas Defense Force announced Wednesday that the rescue effort has become a recovery operation.

Lynette Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, told CBS News on Wednesday that she is urging police to thoroughly investigate the incident as she does not believe the reported sequence of events.

“I don’t understand how she got the key,” she said. “Brian’s always driving. So, he basically is in charge of the key. So, the fact that my mom had it doesn’t make any sense.”

April 8 (UPI) — A Russian hacking group financed by the spy agency GRU managed a large-scale campaign to steal information about militaries and governments by hacking into Wi-Fi routers, the FBI said.

The group known as Fancy Bear is behind the hack done to governments around the world. Intelligence and police services in the United States, Canada, Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Romania and others discovered the operation, which attacked poorly protected Wi-Fi routers, they announced in a joint statement Tuesday.

The hackers took “passwords, authentication tokens and other sensitive information, including emails” Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, said in a statement.

“This way, they acted as ‘intermediaries’ in the online space to collect passwords, authentication tokens and other sensitive information, including emails, which under normal circumstances are protected by SSL [Secure Sockets Layer] and TLS [Transport Layer Security] cryptographic protocols,” SBU said.

The GRU operatives, who have been using this technique since at least 2024, planned to use the information to “carry out cyberattacks, information sabotage and the collection of intelligence,” SBU said.

The FBI said the GRU has “indiscriminately compromised a wide pool of U.S. and global victims and then filtered down impacted users, especially targeting information related to military, government and critical infrastructure.”

Romania, which participated in the investigation, said the GRU operatives “were collecting military, governmental, and critical infrastructure-related information,” Romanian President Nicușor Dan said.

“Russia therefore continues its hybrid war against Western countries — only those acting in bad faith could fail to see this,” Dan said in a post on X.

The FBI also urged “all network defenders and owners of small office/home office (SOHO) routers to update to the latest firmware versions, change default usernames and passwords, disable remote management interfaces from the internet, and stay alert for certificate warnings in web browsers and email clients.”

April 7 (UPI) — Fire ripped through a Kimberly-Clark paper goods warehouse early Tuesday in Ontario, Calif., spewing smoke and ash into the sky in a tremendous black plume.

The blaze was first reported about 1:45 a.m., and responders from the Ontario Fire Department found heavy smoke and fire when arriving. More than 100 emergency personnel from that and at least four other departments worked to contain the fire into the day.

Officials said about 20 people were at the 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse when the fire broke out; there were no initial reports of injuries.

The fire department warned area residents, especially seniors and children, of poor air quality connected with heavy smoke and ash from the blaze and advised people to remain inside.

Ontario Deputy Fire Chief Mike Wedell told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles that the fire department identified the blaze as “suspicious in nature.” Police were questioning a warehouse employee in connection with the fire.

A Kimberly-Clark representative told KCBS-TV in Los Angeles that a third-party partner operated the warehouse and that the company was working with that partner and local authorities. Kimberly-Clark, based in Irving, Texas, manufactures mostly paper products, including brands such as Cottonelle, Scott, Huggies and Kleenex.

April 7 (UPI) — Two French people held in Iran for nearly four years have been allowed to leave the country and return home, French authorities announced Tuesday.

“Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris are free and on their way to French territory, after three and a half years of detention in Iran. This is a relief for all of us and obviously for their families,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on X. “Thank you to the Omani authorities for their mediation efforts, to the State services, and to the citizens who mobilized tirelessly and thus contributed to their return.”

The couple, both teachers, were convicted of espionage after a trial the French government said was “completely unfounded” and “arbitrary.”

Kohler, 41, is a high school literature teacher, and her partner, Paris, is a retired teacher in his 70s. They were arrested during a tourist trip to Iran in 2022. They were imprisoned in the Evin prison, which is where political prisoners and dissidents are kept.

They were allowed four consular visits over the three years after their arrest. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said their conditions were like “torture.”

Kohler and Paris were convicted in 2025 of spying for French intelligence services, conspiring to undermine Iran’s national security and cooperating with Israeli intelligence services. Kohler was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and Paris was sentenced to 17, the French government said.

After intense negotiations, a month later they were released but couldn’t leave Iran. They moved into the French Embassy in Tehran.

Their families and friends have rallied for them over the years and kept their images with the word “freedom” posted on the gates of the French National Assembly and other ministry buildings.

Once the war in Iran began, French authorities intensified negotiations with Iran to get the pair out of the country. They wouldn’t disclose if anything was given to Iran in exchange, The New York Times reported.

Macron announced the release at a health summit in Lyon. He said they were “free and on their way back to France. This is wonderful news,” The Times reported. When the announcement was made in the National Assembly, lawmakers stood and applauded.

Barrot announced on X that Kohler and Paris “have finally left Iran and are now permanently FREE. On the phone just a few moments ago, they expressed to me their emotion and their joy at soon reuniting with their country and their loved ones.”

They were expected to arrive in Paris on Wednesday.

In March 2025, Iran released French tourist Olivier Grondeau, who was held for two years of a five-year sentence for spying. His family had said he was a passionate fan of Persian poetry and was on a tourist visa as part of a world tour.

April 7 (UPI) — Mexican authorities arrested Remigio Valdez Lao in Cancun, identifying him as a suspected key operator of a criminal network that smuggled migrants into the United States, regional media reported.

The suspect, who goes by “El Milo,” is subject to an extradition order issued by the United States for human trafficking, drug trafficking and international smuggling offenses.

The arrest occurred Monday in one of the main tourist destinations in the Mexican Caribbean after coordinated intelligence work among the Secretariat of the Navy, the Attorney General’s Office, the Army and the National Guard, according to Mexico’s Security Cabinet.

Authorities said “El Milo” served as the operational and financial coordinator of the organization known as the Cuban-American Mafia and oversaw illegal migrant transportation routes and financial flows linked to these operations.

During the operation, agents also detained a second person, identified as Joseline “N,” and seized 38 doses of marijuana and a gray pickup truck.

According to information published by Milenio magazine and confirmed by federal authorities, the suspect was considered a priority target in Quintana Roo. El Milo was immediately transferred to Mexico City to advance the extradition process requested by U.S. authorities.

Judicial reports in the United States, notably from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, identify a structure known as the “Cuban Mafia in Quintana Roo,” dedicated to moving Cuban migrants to the United States through Mexico.

According to those investigations, the organization demanded payments of up to $10,000 per person.

Case files indicate that, if payment were not received, migrants were detained, threatened and forced to contact their relatives to obtain money.

In some cases, members of the group sent photos and videos to pressure payment. If families paid, the victims were released and sent toward the U.S. border to seek asylum.

The U.S. Department of Justice has said that this type of network operates in several countries, including Mexico, Cuba, Spain and the United States, and generates profits through human trafficking and extortion schemes.

Mexico has become a key transit country for migrants, especially Cubans, seeking to reach the U.S. southern border.

The case comes amid intensified bilateral cooperation on security matters.

In January, Mexico extradited 37 inmates linked to criminal organizations to the United States, in what analysts consider a significant step to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

Authorities have not disclosed additional details about the full structure of the network or the total scope of operations attributed to El Milo, whose legal process will continue in the coming weeks.

April 7 (UPI) — Australia’s most decorated soldier was arrested Tuesday and charged with war crimes, namely murder, allegedly committed when he was serving with Australian special forces in Afghanistan more than a decade ago.

Australian Federal Police said in a news release that they detained the 47-year-old off a plane from Brisbane at Sydney Airport and charged him with five counts related to the murder of Afghan detainees as part of a joint AFP-Office of the Special Investigator probe.

The former soldier was held in custody pending a court appearance on Wednesday, said AFP.

Local media identified the suspect as former SAS corporal and Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith.

The AFP told a news conference the suspect would be charged with one count of the war crime of murder, one of commissioning a murder with other persons, and three of aiding, abetting, counseling or procuring a murder.

“It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused or shot by subordinate members of the Australian Defense Force in the presence of, and acting on the orders of, the accused,” AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.

The killings of the victims who were unarmed are alleged to have taken place between 2009 and 2012 when Roberts-Smith was deployed in Afghanistan.

Reaction to Roberts-Smith’s arrest was split down party lines with the Labour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declining to comment in order not to prejudice pending criminal proceedings.

Angus Taylor, the leader of the Liberal opposition, said it should not affect Australians’ respect and thankfulness for men and women in uniform “who serve this nation in some of the most difficult and dangerous circumstances imaginable.”

Tony Abbott, Liberal Party prime minister during the latter part of the war, said in a post on X that his sympathies “instinctively” lay with former special forces operating “under highly restrictive rules of engagement that meant known terrorists” were repeatedly captured and released.

“After doing their best to serve our country, dozens of former special forces soldiers should not still be in limbo years later because of ongoing investigations. Justice delayed is justice denied. If evidence is clear, and cases are strong, they should be brought and concluded without delay,” he added.

The Australian War Memorial announced a review of a display honoring Roberts-Smith in its Hall of Valor.

“The Memorial acknowledges media reports of the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG. Accordingly, the Memorial will review the wording of the interpretive panel associated with his display. The display of his uniform, equipment and medals remains in place,” the memorial said in a statement.

A defamation case brought by Roberts-Smith in 2018 after Australian media published reports of the allegations ended in 2023 with a federal court ruling he had in fact killed several unarmed Afghans, a judgment he unsuccessfully appealed in 2025.

The case shook Australia because Roberts-Smith was a war hero, a recipient of the military’s highest honor for bravery for his lone defense of his platoon from an assault by Taliban fighters.

The judge in that case ruled that Roberts-Smith ordered rookie troops to shoot dead two unarmed Afghans to “blood” the recruits and was implicated in the killings of a farmer pushed over a cliff while handcuffed and a captured one-legged Taliban fighter. The captive’s prosthetic leg was allegedly removed as a trophy and later used to drink out of by troops.

None of the allegations, findings or evidence against Roberts-Smith have yet been tested to a degree that would meet the standard for a criminal conviction.

He has always denied all wrongdoing, calling the allegations against him “egregious” and “spiteful,” saying the alleged incidents were not criminal because they happened during combat or never took place, period.

Roberts-Smith is only the second person to be charged five years after the Brereton Report into war crimes allegedly committed by the ADF in the Afghanistan war recommended authorities investigate 39 unlawful killings and provided the names of 19 suspects.

April 7 (UPI) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation authorizing state officials to designate certain groups as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations, creating a mechanism to punish those blacklisted in the Sunshine State.

The legislation, House Bill 1471, was signed by the Republican governor on Monday during a press conference in Tampa.

The legislation creates a mechanism for Florida to sever funding, contracting and other ties to blacklisted groups. If a corporation is named, the state may pursue proceedings to dissolve it.

“We must defend our institutions from those who would harm us — especially terrorist organizations that seek to infiltrate and subvert our education system,” DeSantis said in a statement.

The bill specifically authorizes Florida’s chief of domestic security to designate groups as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations, subject to approval from the governor and Cabinet, if certain conditions are met.

Once designated, state agencies, political subdivisions and public school districts are barred from working with, supporting or taking money from them.

If the designated entity is a corporation, then the state may begin proceedings to dissolve it. It also creates criminal consequences for actions involving designated domestic terrorist organizations, including receiving military-type training from them, providing them with material support or resources and willfully becoming a member.

It also imposes consequences for schools, including secondary education, for promoting designated organizations and requires the immediate expulsion of students determined to have promoted them.

The bill also prohibits Florida courts or other adjudicatory bodies from enforcing any provision of what it calls “religious or foreign law” if it is inconsistent with federal or state law. The legislation specifically states Sharia law, the religious legal system of Islam.

“This legislation reinforces that the U.S. Constitution and Florida law remain the supreme authority in our court systems, preventing any foreign or religious legal code from overriding fundamental rights,” State Rep. Hillary Cassel, the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement after her legislation was signed into law.

The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement of concern on Monday over the potential misuse of the designation power, highlighting DeSantis’ previous attempt to designate it as a terrorist organization via executive order. before a judge blocked the blacklisting.

“This is not just about CAIR. This expanded and deeply flawed framework can attack any organization that dares to dissent,” CAIR-Florida Executive Director Hiba Rahim said in a statement.

“As Floridians, together, we’ll watch how this unprecedented law is enforced, and whether it is used or abused.”

April 5 (UPI) — A 57-year-old man stands charged with driving his car into a crowd of parade-goers in southern Louisiana while drunk and causing multiple injuries, authorities say.

Todd Landry, of Jeanerette, La., was arrested Saturday after “striking multiple pedestrians” during the Lao New Year Parade in Broussard, La., located about seven miles south of Lafayette, La., in Iberia Parish, according to Louisiana State Police.

The exact number of people injured in the 2:30 p.m. incident remained unconfirmed on Sunday but Acadian Ambulance reported it transported a total of 11 patients by ground and two patients by air to nearby hospitals.

State troopers said they arrested Landry and booked him into the Iberia Parish jail on 18 counts of first-degree negligent injuring, one count of first-offense driving while impaired, careless operation of a vehicle and having an open container of alcohol in his car.

“Based on the preliminary investigation, this does not appear to be an intentional act,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Iberia Parish Sheriff Tommy Romero on Sunday extended “heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the victims, their families, and the entire Laos community during this difficult time.

“We stand with those affected and ask our community to keep them in your prayers.”

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry also expressed concern, writing on X, “Sharon and I are praying for all those affected, and are grateful for the first responders who have responded to the scene.”

State Attorney General Liz Murrill said her office “will be following up with responding law enforcement agencies to offer support.”

April 4 (UPI) — A fourth man suspected of being involved in an attack on a Jewish volunteer ambulance service was arrested when he attended a hearing for three of his alleged accomplices.

On March 26, four ambulances that belong to a Jewish community organization were torched in the Golders Green area of North London in an attack that police said was aimed at terrorizing the Jewish community there.

Police on Saturday arrested a fourth suspect in the attack during a hearing for three people — two British citizens, Hamza Iqbal, 20, and Rehan Khan, 19, as well as a 17-year-old with dual British-Pakistani citizenship — who had already been charged in the crime, The BBC reported.

Officers, who already were aware that four people were responsible for the arson, recognized a 19-year-old man who was suspected of participating and arrested him at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Golders Green has a large Jewish population and the four people are suspected for being responsible for oxygen cylinders in four ambulances parked outside a synagogue there that exploded on March 23, The New York Times reported.

All four were arrested, although the 19-year-old arrested while entering the courthouse has not formally been charged, while the other three face an April 24 court date.

Two other men also had been arrested and released on bail, but also will be expected in court in April.

The four ambulances were operated by Hatzolah, an organization that was started in 1973 in New York by a group of Orthodox Jews trained in First Aid and CPR looking to assist their local community, according to the group’s website.

Court records show well over $1 million in damage in what prosecutors called a “premeditated and targeted attack against the Jewish community.”

Since its founding, volunteer ambulance groups associated with the organization have been established across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, South Africa and Australia, among other places.

Violence against Jewish people and organizations has increased over the course of the past year globally, including in London.

The Metropolitan Police said it has deployed “highly visible armed police patrols” to areas with larger Jewish populations because of a series of fires and attacks across Europe and the United States that have been blamed on doing business with Jewish people.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said at the beginning of the week that a claim of responsibility by a group with links to Iran was being investigated but stopped short of officially placing blame.

“Whoever was responsible, the impact is serious,” Rowley said.

April 3 (UPI) — A federal judge on Friday refused a Department of Justice request for him to reconsider his earlier ruling to block grand jury subpoenas it issued to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Friday said he would not lift his block on subpoenas that the Justice Department issued to board of the Federal Reserve regarding the $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s complex in Washington, D.C.

The judge had previously blocked the subpoenas because, he said, they had nothing to do with a Justice Department probe about the renovations, but rather were intended to pressure Powell into adjusting interest rates, as President Donald Trump had been chiding him to do for months.

“On March 11, 2026, this Court issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order that quashed the Government’s subpoenas directed to the Board of Governors of the Federal Research System,” Boasberg wrote in a response to the Justice Department request that was filed on Friday.

“The Government promptly moved for reconsideration of that decision,” he wrote. “As its cursory brief neither offers new evidence nor points to any material error, the Court will deny the Motion.”

The DOJ launched its criminal investigation into the Fed’s renovation budget, which Powell at the time called “pretexts” to punish him for not setting interest rates based on Trump demands.

Boasberg, in his response to the Justice when he blocked the subpoenas said that the government “has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime.”

The Justice Department later acknowledged when appealing Boasberg’s quashing of the subpoenas that it did not have evidence that a crime had been committed, instead saying that there were “1.2 billion reasons for us to look into it.”

April 3 (UPI) — The Trump Administration has requested $152 million in its fiscal year 2027 federal budget proposal to refurbish and reopen Alcatraz as a prison.

President Donald Trump first broached the idea of reopening the prison on Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay in May 2025, but with the administration’s release of its budget proposal to Congress he is looking to put his plan in motion.

Alcatraz was closed in 1963 after 30 years as an active prison that has become famous for its former inmates and stories of attempted escapes, but has long been a popular tourist attraction that sees more than one million people per year visit the island, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

In the budget proposal, the administration argued that restoring Alcatraz is an appropriate response to the federal Bureau of Prisons housing “violent criminals in crumbling detention centers.”

“The Budget affirms the President’s commitment to rebuild Alcatraz as a state-of-the-art secure prison facility, providing $152 million to cover the first year of project costs,” the budget proposal said.

The request is part of the administration’s $5 billion request for the BOP, and its larger intent is to improve working conditions and pay to stem shortages of correctional officers.

While the $152 million is projected to over the first year of refurbishing the prison, there are no details of the project or longer-term details included in the proposal.

In 2025, however, when Trump said he’d directed his administration to start looking into reopening Alcatraz as a prison, his administration suggested that the multi-year project to make it usable could cost around $2 billion.

The prison originally was closed because it was so expensive to run — every supply needed for the facility has to be brought there by boat because it is in the middle of the San Francisco Bay — and had at least 36 inmates attempt a total of 14 separate escapes in its 30 years as a prison.

“Alcatraz is a historic museum that belongs to the public, and San Franciscans will not stand for Washington turning one of our most iconic landmarks into a political prop,” U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told The Los Angeles Times.

April 3 (UPI) — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was taken to a Philadelphia hospital after a Federalist Society dinner in his honor last month, the court confirmed Friday.

Alito “felt ill during an event in Philadelphia” on March 20, a Supreme Court spokesperson said in a statement to the media.

“Out of an abundance of caution, he agreed with his security detail’s recommendation to see a physician before the three-hour drive home,” spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said. “After that examination and the administration of fluids for dehydration, he returned home that night, as previously planned. Justice Alito was thoroughly checked by his own physician, and he returned to work the following Monday for oral argument.”

Alito, 76, is the court’s second-oldest justice. He was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2005.

Sources told ABC News that those who saw him at the event said he looked tired and was not as engaging as usual. They said he stayed seated when people came by to greet him during the dinner.

The dinner capped off a daylong symposium by the society titled, “An Examination of the Jurisprudence of Samuel Alito,” which featured several of his former law clerks, law professors and attorneys who practice before the court. It was at the University of Pennsylvania law school.

Alito was not there during the day, as he was driving from Washington. The court was in session to hand down opinions, but Alito was on the road.

April 3 (UPI) — The Cuban government has announced it will pardon more than 2,000 prisoners, its second such release in less than a month.

The Embassy of Cuba in Washington announced Thursday in a statement that Havana had decided to grant pardons to 2,010 inmates on “humanitarian and sovereign grounds.”

The move was made to coincide with Holy Week celebrations, it said, adding that the gesture is “customary” in the criminal justice system of the Catholic-majority country.

Analysis of the nature of the offenses committed, conduct of the inmate while in prison, time served and their health were taken into consideration, with many of those to be pardoned being either young, women, adults over 60 years of age, foreign nationals and Cubans living abroad, it said.

Excluded were those inmates convicted of crimes such as sexual assault, murder, drug offenses, theft, robbery with violence, being repeat offenders and those who had previously received a pardon and then were convicted of committing new crimes.

Last month, Cuba announced it was to release 51 inmates who had served a significant portion of their sentences.

The move comes as Cuba is facing an energy crisis that began early this year when the Trump administration announced a de facto oil blockade of the island nation.

When it announced the release of inmates last month, Cuba said it followed talks with the Vatican, which has been trying to facilitate talks between Havana and Washington.

April 2 (UPI) — More than 1,800 civilians have been killed since the military took power in Burkina Faso as it has gone after al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups wreaking havoc in the region for years.

Roughly 1,837 civilians — including dozens of children — have been killed in 57 separate incidents since Ibrahim Traore and the military took over in a September 2022 coup, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Thursday.

The report covers events that occurred between January 2023 and August 2025 in 11 regions of the country that resulted in the deaths of 647 men, 171 women, 212 children, 162 adults whose gender is unknown and another 651 deaths the organization does not have data on.

“As part of widespread or systemic attacks on civilian populations, the murder and forcible displacement by all sides amount to crimes against humanity,” HRW wrote in the report.

“Government forces have also carried out the crimes against human of arbitrary imprisonment, torture, enforced disappearance and other inhuman acts,” it said.

Traore ousted former President Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in September 2022, who had taken power nine months earlier when he overthrew Burkina Faso’s democratically elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Since taking power, Traore’s government has said that it is working to counter armed Islamist groups that have caused political instability in the country, but has suppressed “fundamental rights and freedoms” as it eliminates political opponents, journalists and other threats to its power, HRW wrote in the report.

HRW noted that although some figures are available through various databases, including one that suggests well over 10,000 civilians have been killed in Burkina Faso since 2016 but that “many incidents go unreported.”

“The grievous harm suffered by civilians in the conflict and the junta’s suppression of public dissent and criticism mean that Burkina Faso’s international partners … need to play a critical role to break the country’s long-standing cycles of abuses and impunity and promote accountability,” the organization said.

April 2 (UPI) — A Colorado appeals court on Thursday threw out the sentence of Tina Peters, a former elections clerk, who was convicted in an election data case.

Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison in August 2024 on seven of the 10 counts for which she was charged.

She allowed an unauthorized person to make copies of voting machine hard drives that included classified information. The data from those drives was then leaked online by conspiracy theorists who falsely said it proved President Donald Trump correct in his assertion that the 2020 election was “stolen.”

Trump later pardoned Peters, but Colorado officials said he has no power to do so because she was convicted by the state. He has since pressured Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to pardon her.

The judges of the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that District Judge Matthew Barrett wrongfully used Peters’ beliefs and promotion of election fraud conspiracy theories in his sentencing.

“We reverse her sentence because it was based in part on improper consideration of her exercise of her right to free speech,” the court wrote, sending her case back to the trial judge. Now Barrett must re-sentence Peters without using her beliefs to make the decision, the appeals judges said.

At the sentencing, Barrett said Peters had no remorse and called her a “charlatan” who abused her position to “peddle snake oil.”

“I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could,” The Hill reported Barrett said. “You’re as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen.”

In its decision, the appeals court said her beliefs shouldn’t color the sentencing.

“Her offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud; it was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud. Indeed, under these circumstances, just as her purported beliefs underlying her motive for her actions were not relevant to her defense, the trial court should not have considered those beliefs relevant when imposing sentence.”

The appeals court did not overturn Peters’ conviction and formally said Trump doesn’t have the power to pardon a person for state law offenses.

“The crux of Peters’ argument is that the phrase ‘Offences against the United States’ includes an offense against any of the states in the union,” the court wrote. “We join what appears to us to be every other appellate court that has addressed the issue and reject such an expansive reading of the phrase.”

Peters served as a clerk in Mesa County, Colo., whose county seat is Grand Junction, in western Colorado.

She was convicted on three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count each of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree misconduct, violation of duty and failure to comply with the requirements of the secretary of state.

April 2 (UPI) — The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights urged authorities in El Salvador to reconsider recent constitutional and legal changes that allow life sentences for minors as young as 12.

The agency warned Wednesday that the measure contradicts international human rights standards and obligations.

El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly approved the reform March 26, amending the country’s juvenile criminal law to permit life imprisonment for minors linked to criminal groups.

The change is part of broader constitutional changes promoted by President Nayib Bukele, and it expands the use of life sentences, previously authorized for adults, to include adolescents.

The reform accompanying a constitutional amendment promoted by the government of Nayib Bukele alters the juvenile justice system by removing previous maximum detention limits for crimes such as terrorism and organized crime, digital outlet Lexis reported.

The move is part of a broader tightening of criminal policy after ratification of a constitutional reform that authorizes life sentences for adults and now extends them to adolescents, with the stated goal of combating criminal networks and gangs.

Until now, Salvadoran law established that in severe cases, minors under 12 could face up to 10 years in detention, while those older than 16 could receive sentences of up to 15 years.

The new legal framework establishes life imprisonment as the only possible sentence for crimes such as homicide, femicide, rape and gang membership for those between ages 12 and 18, representing a major shift in the country’s juvenile justice model, Infobae reported.

The proposed measure was ratified with 57 votes in favor, marking a significant shift in the Central American country’s criminal policy.

In response to the U.N. statement, Bukele pointed to historical precedents. He recalled the implementation of the Juvenile Offender Law in 1994, adopted following U.N. recommendations, which he said contributed to conditions that enabled the growth of gangs in the country.

In a message on X, Bukele said past decisions, along with processes such as the deportation of Salvadorans during the administration of Bill Clinton, helped strengthen criminal structures that shaped decades of violence in El Salvador.

“So, no, thank you very much. Take your social experiments to other countries that have not suffered what we have suffered; maybe they will believe you (hopefully not). We are not going back to the past,” Bukele wrote.

The office of high commissioner said the reform conflicts with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires that children in conflict with the law be treated in a way that prioritizes rehabilitation and reintegration, and that detention be used only as a last resort and for the shortest possible time.

“Prolonged detention is deeply harmful to children, violates several of their rights and affects their development and well-being throughout life, reducing their chances of successful reintegration into society,” spokesperson Marta Hurtado said in a statement.

The agency added that improving prison conditions and ensuring full compliance with human rights standards for all detainees remain essential.

Salvadoran magistrates defended the reform, saying it is consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child because it does not impose a sentence without the possibility of release, the newspaper La Nación reported.

The government created a mechanism that allowed those sentenced to life imprisonment to seek a review of their sentence. Under certain criteria, this could allow them to regain their freedom in a controlled manner after 25 years in prison.

If a minor is convicted of more than one crime, the sentence review would take place after 35 years in prison. If the conviction involves an aggravated or extremely serious offense, the sentence may not be reviewed until 40 years have been served.

On March 27, El Salvador marked four years under a state of emergency aimed at combating gangs, which authorities blame for the majority of homicides in the country.

April 1 (UPI) — A federal judge ruled that a civil suit against President Donald Trump for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, can continue.

District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled Tuesday that Trump’s speech on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 was not covered by the Supreme Court‘s immunity ruling, meaning it could not be considered a core presidential act.

The suit was brought by several Democratic lawmakers and Oakland, Calif., Mayor Barbara J. Lee. The American Civil Liberties Union is also helping with the case.

“President Trump has not shown that the Speech reasonably can be understood as falling within the outer perimeter of his Presidential duties,” Mehta wrote in his decision. “The content of the Ellipse Speech confirms that it is not covered by official-acts immunity.”

Trump has tried to get the case thrown out by claiming presidential immunity for his actions on that day and in the weeks before it.

But Mehta said, “Nearly all the individuals who ran the nuts and bolts of the operation [the Jan. 6 rally] were former Campaign officials, paid staff or consultants, who had concluded their formal work for the Campaign within the 60 days prior to January 6. In fact, on January 4, the President met with [Katrina] Pierson, still a senior campaign advisor only four days prior, in the White House to discuss the Rally’s production elements and speaker list. She — not White House officials — communicated the President’s wishes back to Rally organizers.”

Mehta also declared that Trump’s phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “find” more votes “can only reasonably be viewed as the act of an office-seeker” and was an effort “to alter the outcome of Georgia’s election, not those of an incumbent President acting in his official capacity.”

Joseph Sellers, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he welcomed the ruling.

“We’re very pleased that the court recognized that President Trump cannot avoid accountability for his conduct on Jan. 6, 2021,” Sellers said in an interview with Politico. “This decision, if it holds up, is going to pave the way to a trial in federal district court on these claims.”

In a statement, Trump’s legal team disputed the judge’s conclusion.

“The facts show that on January 6, 2021, President Trump was acting on behalf of the American people, carrying out his official duties as President of the United States,” Politico reported the statement said. “President Trump will continue to fight back against the Democrat Witch Hoaxes and keep delivering historic results for the American People.”

“Donald Trump thinks he can get away with murder,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

“This lawsuit is long overdue for his hand in the destruction of our Capitol and the attack on our democracy on January 6. This case is for my colleagues, the brave Capitol Police officers, Americans everywhere, and the future of our nation. Those who incited and fueled the violence must be held responsible. I’m thankful that we will get some accountability and some measure of closure from that dark day. And that finally, the truth will come to light. We deserve it,” Swalwell said.

April 1 (UPI) — Bolivia’s government, led by President Rodrigo Paz, said it has uncovered an international criminal network responsible for sabotaging and adulterating imported fuel shipments that entered the country over the past five months.

Interior Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo told a news conference Tuesday that at least 150 million liters of gasoline and diesel were tampered with, citing an official investigation that identified a scheme involving fuel theft and contamination with water and oil in Chilean territory.

Authorities said the operation targeted tanker trucks transporting fuel to Bolivia, particularly in northern Chilean cities. In those locations, part of the fuel was allegedly siphoned off and replaced with a mixture of water and oil, according to local broadcaster Unitel.

President Paz said the adulteration began around October.

Investigators believe the network operated mainly in Chile, with additional links and operational hubs in Paraguay and Argentina. The direct economic loss to the Bolivian state is estimated at $150 million, excluding indirect costs linked to transport disruptions.

Consumers also have felt the impact. More than 10,000 vehicle owners, including long-distance transport operators and private drivers, have reported severe engine damage.

“We are facing an attack against the assets of Bolivian families,” Paz said, adding that the government will pursue legal mechanisms to compensate those affected, according to local newspaper El Deber.

Bolivia’s landlocked status makes transporting fuel from Chile critical to its energy supply chain. The country relies on Chilean ports such as Arica, Iquique and Mejillones to receive international shipments of crude oil and refined products.

After a virtual meeting Tuesday, Paz and Chilean President José Antonio Kast agreed on a joint roadmap to dismantle the transnational organized crime network behind the fuel adulteration, according to Bolivia’s state-run broadcaster BTV.

As an immediate response, Bolivia announced tighter controls at facilities operated by state energy company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos, known as YPFB, and the National Hydrocarbons Agency. Authorities will implement mandatory laboratory testing at production sites and border checkpoints.

Civil society groups have called for accountability as the investigation continues, urging authorities to prosecute those responsible abroad and to address potential internal failures that allowed the sabotage to go undetected for months.

The crisis comes as Bolivia faces a severe fuel supply shortage. After a structural decline in domestic hydrocarbon production, which fell about 44% between 2014 and 2024, the country shifted from a net exporter to a heavily import-dependent market. Bolivia now imports about 90% of the diesel and 50% of the gasoline it consumes.

The situation has worsened since 2023 due to a shortage of foreign currency, particularly U.S. dollars, complicating payments to international suppliers and contributing to intermittent shortages and partial disruptions in transport and productive sectors.

April 1 (UPI) — A federal judge has blocked construction of President Donald Trump‘s $400 million White House ballroom, ruling the New York real estate developer does not have congressional authorization to continue the project.

“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon for the District of Columbia wrote in the ruling.

Trump has said building a White House ballroom had been a dream of his since before he was president. Construction of the 90,000-square-foot building began with the demolition of the East Wing of the White House in October. Initially said to cost $200 million, the ballroom’s price tag has since doubled. Trump has said it will be financed by private donors.

In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the Trump administration to halt construction, arguing the project has not been authorized by Congress as required by U.S. law.

In response, the Trump administration has claimed Congress has already given him authority to construct the project, pointing to a statute that Leon, a President George W. Bush appointee, said only permits the president “to conduct ordinary maintenance and repair of the White House.”

Leon said the Trump administration’s understanding of the law assumes Congress has granted “nearly unlimited power to the President to construct anything, anywhere on federal land in the District of Columbia, regardless of the source of funds.”

“This clearly is not how Congress and former Presidents have managed the White House for centuries, and this Court will not be the first to hold that Congress has ceded its powers in such a significant fashion,” he said in the 35-page ruling.

For Trump to continue with the project, he can ask Congress to either appropriate the funds or approve of another funding scheme, he said.

“Unfortunately for Defendants, unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!”

In awarding the National Trust for Historic Preservation an injunction, Leon delayed its enforcement for 14 days in acknowledgment that the Trump administration intends to appeal his decision and that stopping an ongoing construction project may raise logistical issues.

“We are pleased with Judge Leon’s ruling today to order a halt to any further ballroom construction until the Administration complies with the law and obtains express authorization to go forward,” Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the nonprofit organization, said in a statement.

“This is a win for the American people on a project that forever impacts one of the most beloved and iconic places in our nation.”

Trump lambasted the decision on his Truth Social platform.

“He is WRONG! Congressional approval has never been given on anything in these circumstances, big or small, having to do with construction at the White House,” he said in a statement.

In an earlier statement issued after the ruling was made, Trump insulted the National Trust for Historic Preservation as “a Radical Left Group of Lunatics.”

According to the White House Historical Association, Congress has long been responsible for appropriating funds for the care, repair, refurnishing and maintenance of the White House, and Congress approved the Truman-era reconstruction project from 1948 to 1952.

March 31 (UPI) — Unknown assailants abducted a foreign journalist, reportedly an American, Tuesday night in Iraq, according to Baghdad officials, who said security forces are working to secure her release.

The journalist was identified as American Shelly Kittleson by Al-Monitor, a Washington-based online news organization covering the Middle East where she is a contributor.

Iraqi specialized security forces were immediately deployed following the kidnapping and tracked down one of the assailants’ vehicles attempting to flee, causing it to overturn, Iraq’s Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

One suspect was arrested, according to the ministry, which said efforts continue to track down the remaining suspects and secure the journalist’s release.

The U.S. State Department, which said it was aware of the kidnapping of an American journalist, described the detained suspect as having ties to Kata’ib Hezbollah, a pro-Iran militia designated by the United States as a terrorist organization.

Dylan Johnson, the State Department’s assistant secretary for global public affairs, said in a statement, without naming Kittleson, that the department had “previously fulfilled our duty” by warning that there were threats against her.

“We will continue to coordinate with the FBI to ensure their release as quickly as possible,” Johnson said in a statement, adding that Iraq is under a Level 4 Travel Advisory.

“Americans are advised not to travel to Iraq for any reason and to leave Iraq now,” he said.

“The State Department strongly advise all Americans, including members of the press, to adhere to all travel advisories.”

Al-Monitor said it is calling for Kittleson’s “safe and immediate release.”

“We stand by her vital reporting from the region and call for her swift return to continue her important work,” it said.

President Mark Schoeff of the Washington-based National Press Club called Kittleson’s kidnapping “alarming and unacceptable.”

“Journalists are not targets and treating them as such is an assault on press freedom everywhere,” he said in a statement.

“We call for her immediate and safe release and urge those responsible to ensure her well-being.”

March 31 (UPI) — Increased military pressure by the United States on drug trafficking routes in the Pacific Ocean has forced criminal groups to sharply raise payments to those willing to transport narcotics by sea, a police official said.

In Ecuador’s coastal provinces of Manabí and Santa Elena, recruitment costs for local fishermen tasked with moving cocaine to Central America on speedboats have surged to unprecedented levels.

According to Ecuadorian outlet Primicias, in 2023 and 2024 criminal organizations paid up to $20,000 per trip to boat operators and about $5,000 to their assistants.

However, a large-scale deployment of U.S. and Ecuadorian forces under Operation Southern Spear, launched in October, has increased the risks of these journeys and driven up payments offered by traffickers.

Col. William Calle, head of Ecuador’s National Police in Zone 4, said operators piloting speedboats or semi-submersibles can now earn around $40,000 per trip. Assistants receive about $20,000, while those handling mid-sea refueling earn roughly $15,000.

Local reports, including from El Diario de Manabí, indicate payments can reach as high as $90,000 for high-risk missions or large shipments.

Since 2024, U.S. and Ecuadorian maritime authorities have conducted patrol flights and interdiction operations to monitor and intercept drug trafficking vessels in Ecuadorian waters.

President Daniel Noboa ratified two military cooperation agreements in February. The risk for traffickers has shifted from capture to potential airstrikes in international waters if vessels fail to stop.

Despite arrests and international warnings, criminal groups continue to rely on fishing vessels to transport drugs.

According to El Diario, fishermen detained after operations in Manta and Salinas on Thursday told courts that successful trips carrying one to two tons of drugs can yield payments of up to $90,000. Military intelligence has described these sums as the “price of silence” and compensation for the risk of attack.

Ecuador’s Navy said traffickers increasingly use so-called “mother ships” to extend range and cargo capacity, while smaller fiberglass boats serve as logistical support or for transfers at sea. This tactic complicates interdiction efforts, though shared intelligence has enabled several recent seizures.

Ecuador has become a primary departure point for cocaine produced in the region, with about 80% of shipments moving through the Pacific corridor.

For artisanal fishermen facing economic hardship due to declining catches and piracy targeting boat engines, a $40,000 payment can equal up to a decade of legal earnings.

However, many fishermen say participation is not voluntary but enforced under threats. Organized crime groups such as Los Lobos and Los Choneros control ports, extorting and forcibly recruiting experienced navigators whose knowledge of ocean currents helps evade detection.

The escalation of U.S. military actions under Operation Southern Spear has included at least 47 airstrikes against suspected vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. These operations, described President Donald Trump‘s administration as part of a fight against “narco-terrorism,” have resulted in at least 150 deaths.

Authorities have also reported significant seizures, including more than 2.9 tons of drugs near the Galápagos Islands and an additional 2 tons intercepted at sea in March

This month, the U.S. government also launched military and intelligence operations in Ecuadorian territory with authorization from Noboa.

The White House said the operations are aimed at dismantling Los Lobos and Los Choneros, which the U.S. State Department designated as foreign terrorist organizations in late 2025.

According to U.S. Southern Command, these groups are no longer treated solely as criminal organizations, but as threats to hemispheric national security.

March 31 (UPI) — Three former FBI agents filed a lawsuit against FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and their departments Tuesday for firing them, claiming it was for political retribution.

The suit includes a proposed class-action of all FBI employees already fired or potentially fired in the future for political reasons. It was filed in the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C.

Former FBI agents Jamie Garman, Blaire Toleman and Michelle Ball served on a public corruption squad at the FBI that investigated President Donald Trump‘s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Special counsel Jack Smith eventually took over the investigation code named Arctic Frost. He dropped the charges against Trump after he was elected in 2024.

The three agents were fired last fall.

“Our removal from federal service — without due process and based on a false perception of political bias — is a profound injustice that raises serious concerns about political interference in federal law enforcement,” they said in a statement released by their lawyer, Daniel M. Eisenberg. “We bring this lawsuit to protect the rule of law and to allow our former colleagues to do their jobs without fear of retaliation.”

A federal judge will have to decide if the case can be a class-action suit. The three agents are seeking to include more than 50 FBI employees who have been fired since Trump took office.

Since taking control of the FBI in February 2025, Patel and the other defendants “have summarily terminated members of the proposed class because of their perceived political affiliation, without legitimate investigation, finding of misconduct, pre-termination notice of charges to the employees, an opportunity for the employees to present a defense, and/or any compelling or exigent circumstances,” the suit said.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a speech that Patel had “cleaned house” at the FBI.

“There isn’t a single man or woman with a gun, federal agent, still in that organization that had anything to do with the prosecution of President Trump,” the lawsuit alleges Blanche said.