Law and Crime

Oct. 9 (UPI) — After 46 years of searching, 64-year-old María Soto was reunited with her twin daughters, María Laura and Valeska, who were given up for adoption without her consent in 1979 when they were 8 months old.

Because of their low weight, the girls had been admitted to a state institution. But when Soto went to retrieve them, she was told her daughters had been adopted by an Italian couple.

The case became public a few weeks ago, highlighting the work of the Hijos y Madres del Silencio Foundation (Children and Mothers of Silence), which searches for Chilean children who were illegally taken. The twins are numbers 319 and 320 of children the Foundation has successfully reunited with their families.

They were able to reunite thanks to the efforts of one of Soto’s Italian grandsons, who knew his mother had been born in Chile. He sought help from Hijos y Madres del Silencio, which then contacted Soto.

Marisol Rodríguez, founder and president of the Children and Mothers of Silence Foundation, told UPI that between the 1950s and 1990s, an estimated 45,000-plus Chilean children were illegally adopted abroad.

The foundation has worked for more than 11 years to reunite families. Its team cross-checks information in databases, reviews court records and requests DNA tests from those searching for relatives.

The idea grew out of her Rodriguez’s experience. In 1972, her mother was told that her newborn daughter had died, but she was never given the body and there was no record of her pregnancy. It turned out the baby had been adopted in Germany, and the mother and daughter did not reunite until 2014.

“We thought there were just a few other cases. We never realized the scale of what had happened,” Rodríguez said. She explained that over time, more cases began to surface of children searching for their mothers and mothers searching for their children.

Initial information suggested that about 20,000 children had been taken, but Alejandro Aguilar, the judge handling irregular adoption cases in Chile’s courts, said that in 1983 alone, 23,000 children were sent abroad, according to Rodríguez.

“There could have been more than 40,000 children who were sent abroad, plus others who were adopted illegally within the country and remained in Chile,” she said.

Today, more than 306 people are searching for their biological origins, and 504 families are looking for children with the help of the foundation.

According to collected records, the child-trafficking network that operated in Chile charged as much as $30,000 for each child placed in an illegal adoption. Most of the children were sent to Europe — to countries that included Italy, Sweden, Germany, Denmark and France — but cases have also been identified in the United States.

“It is estimated there are about 8,000 cases in that country, but now many people are afraid of being deported and don’t want to file a report. That’s why the number of people searching for their families is much smaller. Others don’t want to file a legal complaint because they don’t want to admit it was an illegal adoption,” Rodríguez said.

Although there are reports of illegal adoptions as early as the 1950s, the peak occurred during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

“In Chile, there was a state policy, but it was not directly tied to political repression as it was in Argentina, where women had their children taken while they were detained,” she said.

She added that documents show many children were sent to public childcare centers because their mothers were poor. But as those institutions struggled financially, the children were sold to families abroad.

Rodriguez said state agents “took part in these crimes and acted systematically in crimes against humanity.”

“We are talking about the forced disappearance of children. The state must apologize to the mothers and the children — and it must do so quickly, because the mothers are dying,” she said. “I have mothers who are 88 years old, and some have already passed away. They did not give away or sell their children.”

Chilean courts are investigating possible crimes of irregular adoption, child abduction and other offenses in more than 1,500 complaints.

“In just five months, Judge Aguilar has already detained 15 people and is seeking the extradition of one individual in Israel,” she said.

According to Chile’s judiciary, the investigation has so far concluded that in the 1980s, in the city of San Fernando, a network of lawyers, Catholic priests, members of social organizations, health officials and a judge arranged the adoption of children “whose mothers were poor to foreign couples in exchange for payments that could reach up to $50,000.”

Oct. 8 (UPI) — Federal authorities in Germany were granted permission to shoot down drones following a series of recent sightings of unknown drones spotted near Munich.

The German government’s cabinet on Wednesday signed-off on the new reform package that now awaits approval of the Bundestag, the country’s parliament.

The move came after drones were seen at Munich Airport last week, which led to air traffic control suspensions and thousands of flights impacted directly.

“Drone incidents threaten our safety,” said Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Germany now joins Britain, France, Romania and Lithuania in extending police powers to down the flying objects.

“We will not allow that,” Merz, leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union party, said Wednesday on social media.

“We are strengthening the powers of the federal police so that drones can be detected and intercepted more quickly in future,” he added.

In addition, other rogue drones have been detected in Denmark, Lithuania, Finland, Estonia, Poland and Romania that have interrupted air traffic on the continent in recent weeks.

Officials in Denmark purport it to be a “professional” act by an unknown actor but other European Union leaders, including Merz, have pointed to Russia as the culprit.

Moscow, however, has denied the allegations.

It followed a similar pattern of unexplained drone flights earlier this year in the United States.

Meanwhile, authorities announced Wednesday that Russian drones attacked and seriously damaged a Ukrainian thermal power plant overnight in Russia’s escalating war in Ukraine and eastern Europe.

Oct. 8 (UPI) — A British spying case against two men collapsed just before going to trial for lack of evidence because the United Kingdom hadn’t labeled China as an “enemy,” the country’s top prosecutor said.

Stephen Parkinson, U.K. director of public prosecutions, said that while there was evidence to prosecute at the time charges were filed, there was a precedent set by another spying case earlier this year that changed the rules of evidence under the Official Secrets Act.

He said that China would have to be labeled a “threat to national security” at the time of the crimes. During that time, the government labeled China an “epoch-defining challenge.”

Christopher Berry, 33, of Oxfordshire, and Christopher Cash, 30, of Whitechapel and London, were charged with official secrets act offenses in April 2024. Cash is a former parliamentary researcher and Berry is a teacher.

Officials alleged that from Dec. 28, 2021, through Feb. 3, 2023, Berry was involved in spying activities for China, including obtaining, collecting, recording and other activities. Cash was accused of spying from Jan. 20, 2022, through Feb. 3, 2023. They both have denied wrongdoing.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government’s description of China could not change retrospectively and had to be based on the position of the government when the crimes happened.

“Now that’s not a political to and fro, that’s a matter of law. You have to prosecute people on the basis of the circumstances at the time of the alleged offense,” Starmer told reporters. “So all the focus needs to be on the policy of the Tory government in place then.”

At a Conservative party conference, leader Kemi Badenoch said that the Labour party “deliberately collapsed the trial” because “the prime minister wants to suck up to Beijing.”

Starmer’s government has strongly denied these allegations.

“It is extremely disappointing that these individuals will not face trial,” it said. “Any attempt by a foreign power to infiltrate our parliament or democracy is unacceptable.”

The Chinese Embassy in London has called the allegations fabricated and dismissed them as “malicious slander.”

Oct. 8 (UPI) — The motorcade of President Daniel Noboa Azin came under protester attack Tuesday in central Ecuador, according to officials who are vowing to hold those responsible to account. Protesters, meanwhile, are accusing the president of inciting the violence.

Video of the incident posted to the official X account of the office of the president shows the caravan driving through a road littered with concrete rubble and lined by hundreds of masked protesters holding Ecuadorian flags and throwing rocks at the vehicles.

“No one can come and take by force the capital that belongs to all Ecuadorians,” Noboa said in a statement following the incident.

“Those who choose violence will be met by the law. Those who act like criminals will be treated as criminals.”

The incident occurred Tuesday morning in Canar Province where Noboa’s office said he was to announce development projects.

His office said the caravan had been “the target of violent attacks.”

“These cowardly acts will not halt his commitment to building a safer, stronger and more united Ecuador.”

The incident comes amid tensions between the presidency and Ecuador’s Indigenous community following the government’s discontinuation of a diesel fuel subsidy.

In response to the attack, the Governing Council of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador accused the president and his administration of antagonizing the protesters by specifically driving through what it called “a zone of resistance.”

“This incident, far from being an accident, constitutes a provocation by the national government,” it said in a statement, accusing it of using such incidents to justify its repression of protests.

“We reiterate that our mobilizations are legitimate, born from state neglect and structural exclusion. The Indigenous movement is not terrorist; it is a historic movement of struggle for life, dignity and the rights of peoples.”

There have been roadblocks and demonstrations by Indigenous and student organizations since last month when on Sept. 13 the price of a gallon of diesel fuel shot up by a dollar when the subsidies were cancel via executive decree to save the government more than $1.1 billion a year.

Oct. 7 (UPI) — Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, and refused to answer questions on several topics.

Bondi declined to answer questions about the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey regarding her discussions with President Donald Trump as well as the firings of Department of Justice attorneys who worked on Jan. 6 cases and her refusal to prosecute certain cases of Trump’s allies.

Bondi also avoided questions about the files of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and Trump’s alleged friendship with him. She responded that the Democrats should explain their own relationships with him, CNN reported.

Sen Richard Blumenthal, D-N.Y., said Bondi’s testimony was a new low for attorneys general.

“Her apparent strategy is to attack and conceal. Frankly, I’ve been through close to 15 of these attorney general accountability hearings, and I have never seen anything close to it in terms of the combativeness, the evasiveness and sometimes deceptiveness,” Blumenthal told reporters after leaving the hearing. “I think it is possibly a new low for attorneys general testifying before the United States Congress, and I just hope my Republican colleagues will demand more accountability than what we have seen so far.”

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., agreed with Blumenthal.

“She was fully prepared for, with specific and personal comebacks, accusing various of my colleagues, of challenging their integrity or challenging their basis for their questions in a way I’ve not ever seen,” Coons said.

The White House has already praised Bondi’s performance.

“She’s doing great,” a White House official told CNN. “Not only is the AG debunking every single bogus Democrat talking point, but she’s highlighting the Democrats’ own hypocrisy and they have no response.”

Bondi, along with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, criticized the judge in the case of Sophie Roske, the woman who planned an attack on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Roske, who called the police on herself before making contact with Kavanaugh, was sentenced to eight years in prison for the plot.

“My prosecutors did an incredible job on that case,” Bondi said. She said the Justice Department would appeal the sentence, which was 22 years below the federal guidelines and the minimum sentence prosecutors wanted. “The judge also would not refer to the defendant by his biological name,” Bondi said. Roske is transgender.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked Bondi what conversations she has had with the White House about investigations into Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Comey. Bondi again declined to answer.

“I’m not going to discuss any conversations,” Bondi said to Klobuchar, CBS News reported.

Klobuchar asked her about a Truth Social post by Trump last in which he asked Bondi why she hadn’t brought charges against Comey, Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

“President Trump is the most transparent president in American history, and I don’t think he said anything that he hasn’t said for years,” Bondi said.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., pressed her on whether the FBI found any pictures of Trump “with half-naked young women,” saying that Epstein was reported to have shown them around.

“You know, Sen. Whitehouse? You sit here and make salacious remarks, once again, trying to slander President Trump, left and right, when you’re the one who was taking money from one of Epstein’s closest confidants,” Bondi responded, referring to tech entrepreneur and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, who has said he regretted his contacts with Epstein, CBS reported.

Since Bondi took over at the Justice Department, she and her team have fired prosecutors who worked on capitol riot cases and pushed out career FBI agents.

The Public Integrity Section is nearly empty now, and more than 70% of the lawyers in the Civil Rights Division are also gone, NPR reported.

In a letter Monday, nearly 300 former Justice Department employees asked the Oversight Committee to closely monitor the department.

“We call on Congress to exercise its oversight responsibilities far more vigorously. Members in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle must provide a meaningful check on the abuses we’re witnessing,” the letter said.

The letter also alleged poor treatment of staff.

“As for its treatment of its employees, the current leadership’s behavior has been appalling. … And demonizing, firing, demoting, involuntarily transferring, and directing employees to violate their ethical duties has already caused an exodus of over 5,000 of us — draining the Department of priceless institutional knowledge and expertise, and impairing its historical success in recruiting top talent. We may feel the effects of this for generations.”

Bondi said the DOJ stands by the “many terminations” in the department since Trump took office. “We stand by all of those,” she said.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in an opening statement, “What has taken place since Jan. 20, 2025, would make even President Nixon recoil.”

Durbin said Bondi has left “an enormous stain in American history.”

“It will take decades to recover,” he said.

The hearing is just two weeks after she sought and secured an indictment of Comey at the direction of the president. Democrats have said she’s weaponizing the Department of Justice, breaking with the longstanding tradition of keeping the department independent of political goals.

Comey was indicted on one count each of lying to Congress and obstructing justice for his testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2020. Before the indictment, U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert refused to indict because of a lack of evidence against Comey. Trump accused him of waiting too long to indict and nearly allowing the statute of limitations to run out. Siebert resigned under pressure from the administration.

Last week, Durbin said the targeting of Trump’s political enemies is “a code-red alarm for the rule of law” in a floor speech, The Washington Post reported.

“Never in the history of our country has a president so brazenly demanded the baseless prosecution of his rivals,” he said. “And he doesn’t even try to hide it.”

But Republicans claim that Bondi’s leadership is necessary after years of what they say was politicized attacks from the Justice Department under the President Joe Biden administration.

“If the facts and the evidence support the finding that Comey lied to Congress and obstructed our work, he ought to be held accountable,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Judiciary Committee.

During her confirmation hearing, Bondi vowed that weaponization of the Justice Department is over.

“I will not politicize that office,” Bondi said at the time. “I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation.”

Oct. 6 (UPI) — President Donald Trump told reporters Monday he would consider invoking the Insurrection Act to send National Guard troops into Portland, one day after a federal judge blocked the administration’s mobilization for a second time.

Trump planned to send 200 National Guard troops from California to Oregon to prevent protesters from confronting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the Oregon city, where he claimed there was a “criminal insurrection.”

“You look at what’s happening with Portland over the years, it’s a burning hell hole,” Trump told reporters, who had gathered in the Oval Office at the White House. “And then you have a judge that lost her way that tries to pretend that there’s no problem.”

“I’d do it if it was necessary. So far, it hasn’t been necessary. But we have an Insurrection Act for a reason,” Trump said. “If I had to enact it, I’d do that. If people were being killed, and courts were holding us up or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I’d do that. I mean, I want to make sure people aren’t killed.”

The Insurrection Act is a federal law, enacted in 1807, that allows the president to deploy the U.S. military to stop what the president considers to be a “criminal insurrection” against the United States.

On Sunday night, U.S. Judge Karin Immergut issued an order to block the administration from sending any National Guard troops to Portland, accusing the feds of circumventing her previous order.

Immergut wrote that the protests outside of Portland’s ICE facility did not pose a risk of rebellion, which made the deployment of federal troops illegal.

“This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law,” Immergut wrote. The U.S. Justice Department has appealed the judge’s earlier ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

According to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the Trump administration has been dealing with a “legal insurrection against the laws and Constitution of the United States.”

“We need to have district courts in this country that see themselves as being under the laws and Constitution and not being able to take for themselves powers that are reserved solely for the president,” Miller added.

Trump has used the National Guard to address what he deems to be uncontrolled crime in other cities, including in Washington, D.C., where a deployment in August reduced violent crime by 49% and carjackings by 83%, according to data from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.

The White House is also targeting Chicago for troop deployment. The city and the state of Illinois sued the administration Monday, claiming deployment of the National Guard would “infringe on Illinois’ sovereignty and right to self-governance.”

Oct. 5 (UPI) — Officials are looking for two suspects in a possible arson at a mosque in Sussex Saturday.

No one was injured in the incident, but the entrance to the building was damaged and they are investigating the fire in Peacehaven, East Sussex as a hate crime but not an act of terror, Sussex police said.

“This was an appalling and reckless attack which we know will have left many people feeling less safe,” Sussex Detective Inspector Gavin Patch said.

Sussex police said they were called to the scene on Phyllis Ave. shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday to find parts of the building on flames. Video showed one person fleeing the building. Police said an accelerant was sprayed near the entrance to the building, which caused the fire to spread from the building to a car parked just outside.

“We are treating this as an arson with intent to endanger life and are continuing to pursue a number of lines of enquiry to identify those responsible,” he added.

Photos released by the police show one man carrying a black jacket with a Pre Londpn logo in white on the chest.

The second suspect is wearing bright red gloves.

Police have increased their presence at the church since the incident, and increased patrol at other houses of worship.

Oct. 5 (UPI) — The Justice Department has appealed a ruling by a lower court judge blocking the mobilization of 200 National Guard troops to Portland.

A judge on Saturday ordered the Trump administration to stop its mobilization of the soldiers to protect the ICE building and officers in the city. There have been nightly protests since the troops were ordered to patrol.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on the case.

Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsome called the Trump administration’s move to send National Guard troops to Portland an abuse of law and power.

“The Trump administration is unapologetically attacking the rule of law itself and putting into action their dangerous words – ignoring court orders and treating judges, even those appointed by the President himself, as political opponents.

Hundreds of protestors marched at the Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement office Saturday, the latest in a series of demonstrations in the city since the Trump administration announced it would deploy the troops.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., criticized President Donald Trump in a social media post referring to the court’s order to block the deployment that said Trump’s “determination is simply untethered from the facts.”

A White House spokesperson said that Trump “exercised his authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement.”

Oct. 5 (UPI) — At least two people are dead, including a teenager, and 12 more were wounded in a shooting in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday night.

At least five people have life-threatening injuries, according to Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys.

Montgomery Mayor Steve Reed added $20,000 in reward money to a $5,000 reward offered through the Crime Stoppers tip line. The City Council president offered an additional $25,000 in reward money for leading to information about and arrest of the suspect.

Officials continue to investigate the incident and search for a motive.

“Lot of great fun has been had along these last several days, but, unfortunately, it only took one or two bad people with bad intentions to change not only their fortunes, but the fortunes of many, many other innocent people,” Reed said.

Reed said Sunday that thousands of people were in the city over the weekend to attend the Alabama National Fair and related events

Montgomery is also hosting the HBCU Classic Weekend and Alabama State’s homecoming weekend.

“As you can imagine, that could be a very chaotic situation, and every weapon has to be accounted for, and every piece of evidence has to be processed,” Graboys said.

Officers were called to a shooting around 11:30 p.m. CDT during downtown festivities in Montgomery. They said one of the victims was targeted and that other victims were shot when people nearby who were armed began to draw their weapons.

Oct. 4 (UPI) — London-based Harrods has created an $81 million fund to compensate eligible recipients who say they were sexually abused by former owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

More than 100 former Harrods workers and others each could receive up to $519,000 to settle abuse claims, including those involving alleged rape and sexual assault, the BBC reported on Saturday.

Harrods is one of the world’s most recognized luxury store brands, which Fayed owned from 1985 to 2010.

London Metropolitan Police reported 146 people have reported crimes by Fayed, who was Egyptian and also owned the Hotel Ritz Paris and the Fulham Football club and died in 2023 at age 94, according to The Standard.

Only those who have alleged sexual abuse by Fayed will be eligible for compensation

The compensation offer runs through March and will be paid out to eligible recipients at the end of April, Harrods managing director Michael Ward said.

Claimants can file to receive up to $270,000 for general damages, $202,000 for work impact, $37,000 for wrongful testing and $14,000 for treatment costs.

Officially called the “Harrods Redress Scheme,” the settlement plan was created in March and remains open for an entire year.

The compensation plan triggered a pre-tax loss for Harrods of more than $46 million for the year ending in February, the Financial Times reported.

Harrods reported a profit of more than $150 million a year earlier.

Oct. 4 (UPI) — A federal judge has ordered a hearing to determine if the Justice Department is engaged in a vindictive prosecution of El Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. in a 16-page ruling on Friday granted a motion by Garcia’s defense team that seeks a hearing regarding a potential vindictive prosecution.

“The timing of Abrego’s indictment suggests a realistic likelihood that senior DOJ and [Homeland Security] officials may have induced Acting U.S. Attorney McGuire (albeit unknowingly) to criminally charge Abrego in retaliation for his Maryland lawsuit,” Crenshaw wrote.

The Maryland lawsuit refers to Garcia’s successful legal challenge in a federal court there, in which he showed the Department of Homeland Security erred when it deported him to El Salvador, which is his nation of citizenship.

While Garcia is subject to deportation, an immigration judge had ruled he can’t be deported to El Salvador, where Garcia, an alleged member of MS-13, said his life would be in danger from a rival gang.

That rival gang is Barrio 18, which is active in the United States as the 18th Street Gang.

El Salvador since has cracked down on gang activities and imprisoned many gang members.

Crenshaw said Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi each publicly “celebrated the charges against him,” CNN reported.

Such public celebrations are insufficient to show vindictive prosecution, though, according to The New York Times.

Instead, Garcia must show federal prosecutors improperly filed criminal charges against him as punishment for his Maryland court challenge.

Crenshaw said Garcia has shown the possibility that the prosecution is vindictive by initiating an investigation into the Tennessee traffic stop within days of the Supreme Court upholding lower court rulings requiring the Trump administration to facilitate Garcia’s return from El Salvador.

The matter arises from a Nov. 30, 2022, traffic stop of Garcia, in which Tennessee police found him traveling from Texas to Maryland with eight passengers and driving without a valid license, Crenshaw said.

The Tennessee police released Garcia with a warning regarding his expired driver’s license and did not charge him with any crimes or civil infractions.

After securing a two-count federal indictment against Garcia on May 21, the Trump administration flew Garcia back to the United States on June 6 to face prosecution for alleged human trafficking and conspiracy.

“Abrego has carried his burden of demonstrating some evidence that the prosecution against him may be vindictive,” Crenshaw wrote.

He said the Justice Department must provide “objective, on-the-record explanations” regarding the prosecution that was brought after the Biden administration said there is no evidence of wrongdoing by Garcia.

A hearing date has not been scheduled regarding the alleged vindictive prosecution.

If Crenshaw rules the prosecution is vindictive, he could dismiss the case against Garcia, who remains subject to deportation.

Former President Barack Obama nominated Crenshaw to the federal court in 2015.

Oct. 3 (UPI) — War Department Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. military had sunk a “narco-trafficking” vessel in international waters near Venezuela early Friday morning.

Hegseth said the vessel carried four male “narco-terrorists,” all of whom were killed with no harm done to U.S. forces involved in the operation.

“The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics headed to America to poison our people,” Hegseth said in a social media post.

“Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard were narco-terrorists, and they were operating on a known narco-trafficking transit route,” he continued.

“These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over,” Hegseth added.

His post includes unclassified video footage showing an open vessel traveling at high speed on blue waters until it explodes.

The deadly strike is the first this month and the fourth since the Trump administration last month began targeting vessels that the military says were carrying potentially deadly and illicit drugs to the United States.

The strike occurred after the Trump administration recently notified Congress that the U.S. military is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels, many of which President Donald Trump has designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

“The president has directed these strikes against Venezuelan drug cartels in these boats, consistent with his responsibility to protect the United States’ interests abroad and in furtherance of U.S. national security and foreign policy interests,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told media on Friday.

She said such military strikes fall within the president’s authority as commander in chief and as the nation’s chief executive.

The military actions have drawn scrutiny regarding their legality and among those who suggest it would be better to intercept suspected vessels and capture their crews and cargo.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., criticized Vice President JD Vance earlier praising the deadly strikes that have killed 21 in total.

Congressional Democrats on Sept. 10 sought information from the Trump administration regarding the legality of the strikes in the absence of a Congress-approved declaration of war.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has offered to hold direct talks with the Trump administration regarding the matter.

Maduro also ordered Venezuela’s military to conduct military drills following the U.S. strikes on the alleged Venezuelan drug runners.

Oct. 3 (UPI) — The Des Moines Public Schools plans to file a lawsuit against a consulting firm that recommended former superintendent Ian Roberts, who was detained by immigration officials.

JG Consulting is the superintendent search firm that helped the district find and vet potential candidates. The board paid $41,000 to JG Consulting.

The district said in a news release it claims breach of contract for failing to properly vet Roberts “and referred Roberts for consideration even though he could not lawfully hold the position.” It also claims negligence for presenting Roberts “as a suitable and viable candidate when he was not.”

The Des Moines Register’s own investigation found Roberts did not earn a doctorate from Morgan State, which he claimed. He also claimed he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and MIT had no record of his enrollment. He claimed he was awarded the Washington, D.C., “Principal of the Year” from George Washington University, which doesn’t exist.

JG Consulting CEO James Guerra wrote in a statement this week that another company, Baker-Eubanks, conducted a “comprehensive background review” of Roberts, the Des Moines Register reported.

“All required employment procedures were completed by DMPS prior to his appointment,” Guerra wrote. “As always, the authority to hire and oversee the Superintendent rests solely with the school board.”

Roberts was born in Guyana and came to the United States for college in 1999. He claimed he went on to get a Ph.D. and became a teacher and school administrator. He said he has worked in education for 20 years and had jobs in Maryland, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

He was arrested on Sept. 26 “in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife,” an ICE press release said. It said when his car was approached by officers, he sped away. “Roberts has existing weapon possession charges from Feb. 5, 2020. Roberts entered the United States in 1999 on a student visa and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May of 2024.”

The district is requesting a jury trial with damages for reputational harm, superintendent pay and costs related to additional hiring processes, The Register reported.

Roberts is now in the Polk County Jail on a U.S. Marshals hold.

Oct. 3 (UPI) — The founder and former pastor of a Texas megachurch has pleaded guilty to charges of sexually abusing a 12-year-old in the 1980s.

Robert Preston Morris, 64, entered his guilty plea to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child in court on Thursday before Osage County District Special Judge Cindy Pickerill.

“Today, justice has finally been served, and the man who manipulated, groomed and abused me as a 12-year-old innocent girl is finally going to be behind bars,” Morris’ victim, Cindy Clemishire, who is now an adult, said in a statement in response to the announcement.

Under the plea deal, Morris, the former senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, received a 10-year suspended sentence with the first six months to be served in the Osage County Jail.

Jail records show he was booked into the jail at 3:39 p.m. local time Thursday.

Morris resigned from his church, which is among the largest in the United States, in the summer of 2024, amid fallout after Clemishire accused him of abusing her decades earlier.

Morris was indicted in March.

The court document states he started abusing Clemishire when she was 12 on Christmas 1982 while he was staying at the home of her family in Hominy while he worked as a traveling evangelist.

The abuse continued until at least Jan. 24, 1985, when Clemishire, referred to in the indictment as C.C., was 15 years old.

The indictment stats two of the counts filed against him were for having “intentionally and designedly” touched Clemishire’s body, including “the breast and vaginal area.”

One count was for looking upon his victim’s body after removing her clothing, another for molesting her while in a parked car and the fifth for abusing her by rubbing himself against her naked body, again while in a parked car.

As part of the plea deal, Morris is required to register as a sex offender and be supervised by Texas authorities. He has also been ordered to pay his costs of incarceration as well as restitution to the victim.

“Today is a new beginning for me, my family and friends who have been by my side through this horrendous journey,” Clemishire said, adding she hopes her story will remove the shame other abuse victims feel and allow them to speak up.

“I leave this courtroom today not as a victim but a survivor.”

Morris was a former spiritual advisor to President Donald Trump and had served on his evangelical advisory board during his first term in the White House.

In 2020, Morris participated with Trump in a “Roundtable on Transition to Greatness” event at his Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas.

Oct. 2 (UPI) — Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged the now former head of De Moines Public Schools on weapons and immigration offenses.

Ian Andre Roberts, 54, a citizen of the South American nation of Guyana, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday following a short chase in Des Moines, prompting his resignation.

According to the indictment made public Thursday, Roberts was in the country illegally.

The document states that Roberts entered the United States in 1999 on a student visa that expired in 2004.

In 2001 and thrice in 2018, Roberts filed for permanent residency, applications which were all rejected. In 2018 and 2020, he also applied for an adjustment to his status in the country based on his marriage to U.S. citizen Lenisha Roberts but was denied over his failure to respond to a request for additional information.

Starting in December 2019, Roberts had lawful authorization to work in the United States, but not after December 2020.

The document states he was ordered removed from the country on May 22, 2024. In late April of this year, a judge denied his motion to reopen his case.

On Friday morning, ICE officers surveilled Robert’s residence on Saint Andrews Circle in Des Moines. According to the indictment, those officers spotted a man who looked like Roberts in a white Jeep Cherokee, which they followed. The suspect vehicle drove at “a high rate of speed” into a mobile home park, it said.

The ICE agents located the vehicle abandoned and conducted a search for Roberts, who was found about 200 yards south of the Jeep, hiding in brush, according to the indictment.

As search of his vehicle revealed a 9mm Glock wrapped in a towel under the driver’s seat, purchased by his wife in October 2019, as well as his Guyana passport, renewed in April 2024 with a 2029 expiration.

Three additional firearms, including rifle and a 20-gauge shotgun, were discovered in his residence, along with multiple firearm magazines.

Roberts was being held at the Woodbury County jail, but has since been taken into custody by the Justice Department on a federal warrant, the county’s sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Following his arrest, Roberts resigned as superintendent. His lawyer, Alfredo Parrish, announced Roberts’ resignation during a press conference his on Tuesday.

“We want you to know that Dr. Roberts’ greatest concern is about his students who he actually loves and the students who love him back and the staff,” Parrish said.

Des Moines Public Schools said in a statement that Matt Smith, associate superintendent, would fill in as interim superintended until further notice.

“Our priority is to provide a safe, secure and outstanding education for all students and to support our students, families and employees,” the school board said.

Oct. 2 (UPI) — Sean “Diddy” Combs is set to be sentenced Friday for his July 2 conviction of two counts of transportation for the purposes of prostitution.

The rapper and music mogul, 55, faced a long list of charges but was acquitted of the most serious — human trafficking.

In September, his lawyers asked the court to only sentence him to 14 months, which would be almost time served. But prosecutors have asked for 11 years.

“Mr. Combs’s near-13 months in prison has been life changing, productive, and a testament to his desire to return to his family and community and lead the best life possible,” his lawyers said. “He has taken the time to achieve necessary rehabilitation from day one at the [Metropolitan Detention Center] — including getting clean of all substances.”

The memo was 380 pages and included letters from his mother, children, friends and business associates. It took issue with recommendations by prosecutors and the Probation Department for tougher sentences.

Combs has been in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since his arrest in September 2024.

Last week, Combs’ attorneys asked Judge Arun Subramanian to throw out the convictions because his intent was voyeurism, not profit.

“To our knowledge, Mr. Combs is the only person ever convicted of violating the statute for conduct anything like this,” said his defense attorneys in a written filing. “The proof at trial showed that he typically hired the services of male escorts or dancers advertised openly through lawful businesses, that the men were paid for their time, and that they enjoyed the activities and had friendships with Ms. [Cassie] Ventura and Jane [a pseudonym] and were not merely traveling to have sex for money.”

They also argued that Combs’ actions are protected by the First Amendment because the events were recorded to watch privately.

“The freak-offs and hotel nights were performances that he or his girlfriends typically videotaped so they could watch them later. In other words, he was producing amateur pornography for later private viewing,” the defense said.

But prosecutors argued that Combs used violence and drugs to force the women to comply and that the prostitution transportation was for them to “engage in sex acts for pay.”

Subramanian denied Combs’ request.

Adding to Combs’ legal issues, on Sept. 24, his former stylist, who had testified against him in his criminal trial, filed a lawsuit against him. Deonte Nash, who was hired by Combs as a stylist at age 21 in 2008, alleges multiple violent and sexual charges, human-trafficking, and false imprisonment.

Nash “personally experienced sexual, physical, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of Defendants during his 10-year employment,” court documents said.

Oct. 2 (UPI) — Rep. Robert Garcia wants the Office of Special Counsel to investigate the Trump administration for alleged Hatch Act violations arising from government shutdown messaging.

Garcia, D-Calif., is the ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and on Thursday in a letter to Acting Special Counsel Jamieson Greer said the Trump administration has illegally used government resources to promote false and partisan political messaging.

He said the Trump administration posted false and partisan political messages on at least one federal agency website on Sept. 30 and in emails to federal employees.

“The Hatch Act imposes clear restrictions on the political activity of federal executive branch employees and does not allow activity ‘directed toward the success or failure of a political party, partisan political group or candidate for partisan political office,'” Garcia wrote.

He asked Greer to immediately open an investigation into what he says is “clear misconduct” and a “blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars for political purposes.”

Garcia cited the Department of Housing and Urban Development website’s homepage blaming the “radical left” for causing “massive pain on the American people” on Sept. 30.

He also accused HUD Secretary Scott Turner of violating the Hatch Act by saying, “It is a shame that far-left Democrats are holding our government hostage” in a social media post.

Other agencies have circulated emails to employees that claim the government shutdown is “Democrat-imposed” and blame “radical liberals in Congress” of causing the shutdown that halts critical services for Americans, Garcia said.

The non-profit organization Public Citizen on Wednesday also filed complaints against HUD and the Small Business Administration regarding political messaging, Politico reported.

The Trump administration’s messaging has raised concerns of possible ethics violations.

Ethics experts, though, told Politico the controversial messaging might not violate the Hatch Act but might violate the Anti-Lobbying Act.

A White House spokeswoman on Thursday denied that the Trump administration has violated any federal laws.

“It’s an objective fact that Democrats are responsible for the government shutdown,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Hill.

“The Trump administration is simply sharing the truth with the American people,” she added.

An unnamed White House official also said the Biden administration and Obama administration had targeted Republicans in messaging.

In a message shared with UPI on Thursday, the White House did not directly address Garcia’s Hatch Act violation claim but accused Senate Democrats of wanting to “inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their radical $1.5 trillion demands” approved in an alternative continuing resolution to keep the federal government open.

House Democrats submitted the alternative continuing resolution, which would have funded the federal government through Oct. 31 and would provide “free health insurance for illegal immigrants and others who do not qualify for taxpayer-funded health insurance programs,” according to the White House.

The House Dems’ continuing resolution also would expand premium tax credits and others enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic via Medicaid and Affordable Care Act plans that would pay for transgender surgeries and other gender-related therapies and treatments, the White House message said.

Oct. 2 (UPI) — Police in Manchester have labeled a deadly attack on a synagogue during Yom Kippur services a terrorist incident. Two people were killed.

The attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue also injured three people who were in serious condition, the Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of counter-terrorism policing, said police know the attacker’s identity. The attacker was shot dead by police, but there have been two other arrests, he said.

Manchester police also have said that the device the man was wearing, believed to be an explosive device, was not viable.

Members of a bomb disposal unit were on the scene to investigate, and police advised the public to stay away from the area. They also held members of the congregation inside the synagogue temporarily while making the area safe and released them later.

A GMP spokesperson said police were in contact with all synagogues in the greater Manchester area “to provide reassurance.”

“We know today’s horrifying attack, on the Jewish community’s holiest day, will have caused significant shock and fear throughout all of our communities,” the spokesperson said.

“We are grateful to the member of the public whose quick response to what they witnessed allowed our swift action, and as a result, the offender was prevented from entering the synagogue.”

The Israeli Embassy in London condemned the attack, calling it “abhorrent and deeply distressing” in a statement on X.

“The safety and security of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom must be guaranteed,” the statement added.

Britain’s King Charles III offered his thoughts and prayers in the wake of the attack and thanked the work of emergency officials.

“My wife and I have been deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the horrific attack in Manchester, especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community,” he said.

Jewish communities in Britain were on heightened alert Thursday, with London’s Metropolitan Police increasing patrols new Jewish cultural sites, an unnamed source told The Guardian.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said additional police were being deployed to synagogues throughout the country.

“We will do everything we can to keep our Jewish community safe,” he said.

Starmer planned to fly back to Britain early from a summit he was leading in Denmark, the BBC reported.

Oct. 1 (UPI) — A civilian working at a U.S. Navy base in New Jersey is accused of falsely reporting an active shooter to create a “trauma bond” with her co-workers.

Federal court documents indicate Malika Brittingham is accused of sending a text to someone in which she claimed to have heard five or six gunshots and was hiding in a closet with some coworkers at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey on Tuesday morning, WPVI-TV reported.

“This kind of senseless fear-mongering and disruption will not be tolerated,” interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba said in a social media post on Tuesday, as reported by Military.com.

“After everything this country has gone through, especially in light of current events,” she continued, “I will be sure to bring down the hammer of the law for anyone found guilty of creating unnecessary panic and undermining public trust.”

The landlocked naval base is located about 40 miles northeast of Philadelphia in New Jersey’s Burlington and Ocean counties.

The individual who received the text at about 10:15 a.m. EDT reported it to the naval base and 911.

The base initiated an hour-long lockdown at about 11 a.m. until the “all clear” was sounded shortly before noon.

Brittingham said she sent the text after receiving an emergency notification that announced the lockdown.

Investigators determined her statement was not true based on the timing of the text that she sent versus those of the calls to the base and 911 and the emergency notification being issued, ABC News reported.

Brittingham then admitted to the hoax and told investigators that “she carried out the hoax because she had been ostracized by her co-workers and hoped that her shared experience in response to an active shooter would allow them to ‘trauma bond,'” according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.

Brittingham worked for the Naval Air Warfare Center and was arrested on Tuesday afternoon.

Oct. 1 (UPI) — A new Gallup Poll has suggested the popularity of the U.S. Supreme Court is pushing an all-time low, with more than 40% of Americans saying they believe the court is “too conservative” in its judicial leanings.

The new survey released Wednesday by Washington-based Gallup says the overall popularity of the nation’s high court remains at a near record-low approval rating of 43%. Just 36% in Gallup’s long-watched polling hold the court’s largely conservative rulings are “about right” while 17% say its “too liberal.”

The court saw a high 80% approval in 1999 and Gallup readings between 1972 and 2020 “usually” exceeded the 60% mark, according to Gallup.

But one primary reason the Supreme Court’s approval has been lower in the past 15 years is because “its ratings have become increasingly split along party lines,” officials said in a release.

On Wednesday, Gallup noted that “no more than 33% had ever” characterized the court as too conservative.

It added that was prior to the court’s 6-3 shift to a conservative majority after Justice Amy Coney Barrett was appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump to replace the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in October 2020.

Gallup’s public opinion survey data extends back decades in its effort to gauge American sentiment on critical topics and issues.

Wednesday’s polling by Gallup comes after its revelation last month that, in August, the court’s overall approval rating was for the first time below 40%.

“When Gallup first measured Supreme Court job approval in the early 2000s, ratings were typically near 60%,” it said on X.