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The man accused of killing right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk appeared in person in a US court for the first time on Thursday.Tyler Robinson looked on calmly as lawyers discussed procedural issues surrounding what is expected to be one of the most keenly watched trials in modern America.The clean-shaven 22-year-old wore a light shirt and a tie in the Utah court. The judge ruled at an earlier hearing that he did not have to appear in court in prison garb.Kirk was shot dead on a Utah college campus in September, sparking a wave of grief among conservatives, and threats of a clampdown on the “radical left” from President Donald Trump.Following a massive manhunt, Robinson was arrested the day after the September 10 killing when his family persuaded him to hand himself in because they had recognized him in photographs issued by investigators.He faces the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder.Authorities say Robinson shot Kirk from a rooftop across the campus of Utah Valley University because of the influential activist’s views.They have cited text message exchanges between Robinson and his roommate, whom they described as “a biological male who was transitioning genders.”In one part of the exchange, the roommate, who was not named, asked Robinson why he had killed Kirk.”I had enough of his hatred,” Robinson is alleged to have written. “Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”Kirk, a father of two, used his audiences on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to build support for conservative talking points, including strong criticism of the transgender rights movement.In the wake of the murder, a number of people lost their jobs after criticism from conservatives over what they posted online or said publicly about Kirk.Comedian Jimmy Kimmel was briefly suspended from his show on the ABC network following government pressure after he said Trump’s MAGA movement was trying to make political capital from the killing.

South Korean cryptocurrency tycoon Do Kwon was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday over fraud linked to his company’s failure, which wiped out $40 billion of investors’ money and shook global crypto markets, US media reported.Kwon, who nurtured two digital currencies central to the bankruptcy, was sentenced at the New York court where he pleaded guilty in August after an international manhunt spanning Asia and Europe.He still faces fraud charges in his native South Korea.The 34-year-old’s Terraform Labs created a cryptocurrency called TerraUSD that was marketed as a “stablecoin,” a token that is pegged to stable assets such as the US dollar to prevent drastic fluctuations. Kwon successfully marketed them as the next big thing in crypto, attracting billions in investments and global hype.He was flooded with praise in South Korean media, which described him as a “genius” as thousands of private investors lined up to pour cash into his company.And in 2019, Kwon featured in Forbes’ 30 under 30 Asia list.But despite billions in investments, TerraUSD and its sister token Luna went into a death spiral in May 2022.Experts said Kwon had set up a glorified pyramid scheme, in which many investors lost their life savings.He left South Korea before the crash and spent months on the run.The crypto tycoon was arrested in March 2023 at the airport in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, while preparing to board a flight to Dubai, in possession of a fake Costa Rican passport. He was extradited last year from Montenegro to the United States. 

A Salvadoran man at the center of a row over President Donald Trump’s crackdown on migrants was released from US immigration custody on Thursday after a lengthy legal battle, his lawyer said.Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident married to an American woman, was wrongly deported in March and then returned to the United States, where he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).A federal judge ordered his release on Thursday and Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, confirmed to AFP that he had been freed.”He’s released,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said in an email.Abrego Garcia’s case has become a lightning rod for those opposed to the Trump administration’s efforts to carry out mass deportations across the country.He was among more than 200 people sent to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison in March. The Trump administration alleges he is a violent MS-13 gang member involved in smuggling other undocumented migrants, which he denies.After his return to the United States in June, Abrego Garcia was detained again in Tennessee on human smuggling charges. He was then released under strict conditions in August, pending a trial.But after returning to Maryland, he was detained again by ICE for deportation to one of four African countries. He declared himself instead ready to go to Costa Rica, which had been willing to take him.In her ruling Thursday, Judge Paula Xinis concluded that Abrego Garcia has been held in ICE detention “absent a lawful removal order.””His detention has been for the basic purpose of effectuating removal, lending further support that Abrego Garcia should be held no longer,” Xinis said.She ordered the government to release him from ICE custody immediately while his legal challenge against his deportation moves forward.Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin accused the judge of “judicial activism.””This order lacks any valid basis and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts,” she wrote on X.Trump has made combating illegal immigration his top priority, claiming an “invasion” of the United States by “foreign criminals” and pressing for the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants. But his program has been hampered by numerous court rulings on the grounds that those targeted must be able to assert their rights.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled key changes Thursday to a high-level panel on financial stability, putting more emphasis on economic growth and reduced regulation.The panel, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), was created to identify emerging risks and avoid a repeat of the 2008 global financial crisis.Chaired by the Treasury secretary, it comprises representatives of top financial regulators including the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.”Too often in the past, efforts to safeguard the financial system have resulted in burdensome and often duplicative regulations,” Bessent told an FSOC meeting on Thursday.”Little thought was given to the harms of overregulation,” he added.He said the FSOC is working with member agencies to consider where the US financial regulatory framework imposes “undue burdens.”Bessent said the “twin priorities of economic growth and economic security will guide the Council’s future approach” when it comes to identifying priorities, assessing risks and recommending regulatory changes.The council’s annual report this year also reflects the “reorientation” of the FSOC’s priorities, Bessent said.The change aligns with a focus on deregulation under the administration of President Donald Trump.Ahead of the FSOC meeting, however, Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, criticized the council’s direction under Bessent’s leadership.”The FSOC has met less frequently than it ever has before; meanwhile, at the rare meetings when it does convene, Wall Street deregulation is a standing agenda item, and the Council is actively sabotaging its own authorities,” Warren wrote in a letter to the Treasury chief dated Wednesday.”This erosion of financial stability oversight would be troubling at any moment, but it is especially dangerous as systemic risk in the financial system appears to be intensifying,” she said.In a letter accompanying the new FSOC report, Bessent said that the council has formed new working groups.They include one that will consider if regulation has “distorted or imposed undue costs” on equity and credit markets among others, “in ways that could negatively impact economic growth and economic security.”Another group looks into artificial intelligence to consider ways that it can boost financial system resilience.At Thursday’s meeting, Bessent also urged FSOC member agencies to ease regulations that might discourage AI experimentation in the financial services sector.

Maria Corina Machado’s getaway from Venezuela involved a long, “scary” and very wet sea crossing in the dead of night with no lights, according to the US man who says he led the operation.Bryan Stern, who heads a nonprofit rescue organization, detailed the mission in an interview CBS News published Thursday after the Venezuelan opposition figure emerged in Norway following her Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.”It was dangerous. It was scary,” said Stern, a US special forces veteran, describing dark and choppy conditions that also provided convenient cover for the escape.He recalled meeting Machado out at sea after she left Venezuela, where she had been in hiding since January fearing persecution by President Nicolas Maduro.She boarded his boat for a 13-14 hour journey to an undisclosed location to catch a plane as part of a mission planned just four days earlier, CBS reported.”The sea conditions were ideal for us, but certainly not water that you would want to be on … the higher the waves, the harder it is for radar to see,” Stern said.”This was in the middle of the night — very little moon, a little bit of cloud cover, very hard to see, boats have no lights.”All of us were pretty wet. My team and I were soaked to the gills. She was pretty cold and wet, too. She had a very arduous journey.”She was very happy. She was very excited. She was very tired,” Stern said, adding that around two dozen people were directly involved within his team.- ‘Generous donors’ -A representative for Machado confirmed that Stern’s company Grey Bull Rescue Foundation was behind the operation that began on Tuesday, CBS said.The account follows other reporting by the Wall Street Journal that Machado wore a wig and a disguise to flee her hideout in a suburb of Venezuelan capital Caracas.Stern did not divulge details about the land operation, citing his company’s future work in Venezuela. He told CBS the Machado mission was financed by “a few generous donors” — none of whom were US officials. “The US government did not contribute a single penny to this operation, at least not that I know of,” Stern said.He said, however, that his group did “unofficially collaborate” with the US military about positioning and plans, largely to avoid being targeted by airstrikes.Machado said on Thursday that she had US support to leave Venezuela.She has announced plans to return home, though it is not clear how or when she will do so. Stern said his group will not be involved in that operation as it only works on getting people out of countries, not in.”That’s for her to determine and for her to decide. But I think she should not go back. But she wants to. Maria is truly inspirational,” he said.

An oil tanker seized by American forces off the Venezuelan coast will be brought to a port in the United States, the White House said Thursday, as fears mount of open conflict between the two countries.Washington took control of the tanker in a dramatic raid that saw US forces rope down from a helicopter onto the vessel in an operation that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said was aimed at leftist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s “regime.”President Donald Trump’s administration has been piling pressure on Venezuela for months with a major naval build-up in the region that has been accompanied by strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats that have killed close to 90 people.Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed support during a phone call with his ally Maduro, but with Moscow’s forces tied down in a grinding war in Ukraine, its capacity to provide aid is limited.”The vessel will go to a US port and the United States does intend to seize the oil,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists of the tanker.”We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black-market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narco-terrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world.”Earlier on Thursday, Noem told a congressional hearing that the tanker operation to ensure “we’re pushing back on a regime that is systematically covering and flooding our country with deadly drugs” — a reference to US allegations of narcotics smuggling by Maduro’s government.A video released Wednesday by US Attorney General Pam Bondi showed American forces descending from a helicopter onto the tanker’s deck, then entering the ship’s bridge with weapons raised.Bondi said the ship was part of an “illicit oil shipping network” that was used to carry sanctioned oil.- ‘Blatant theft’ -Venezuela’s foreign ministry said it “strongly denounces and condemns what constitutes blatant theft and an act of international piracy.”UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday expressed concern over the escalating tensions and urged restraint.”We are calling on all actors to refrain from action that could further escalate bilateral tensions and destabilize Venezuela and the region,” his spokesperson said.US media reported that the tanker had been heading for Cuba — another American rival — and that the ship was stopped by the US Coast Guard.Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Thursday he questioned the legality of the tanker seizure and that “any president, before he engages in an act of war, has to have the authorization of the American people through Congress.””This president is preparing for an invasion of Venezuela, simply said. And if the American people are in favor of that, I’d be surprised,” Durbin told CNN.Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a “narco-terrorist” organization last month, and has offered a $50 million reward for information leading to his capture.Trump told Politico on Monday that Maduro’s “days are numbered” and declined to rule out a US ground invasion of Venezuela.The Trump administration also alleges that Maduro’s hold on power is illegitimate and that he stole Venezuela’s July 2024 election.Maduro — the political heir to leftist leader Hugo Chavez — says the United States is bent on regime change and wants to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves.

Democratic lawmakers called for US Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem’s resignation Thursday as she defended the Trump administration’s mass deportation program at a fiery congressional hearing.”You promised America that you would go after the worst of the worst,” Democratic Representative Seth Magaziner said.But the vast immigration crackdown launched under Republican President Donald Trump has swept up veterans of the US military, their relatives, pregnant women, children and even some American citizens, Magaziner said.”There are many problems with your leadership but the biggest problem is this: You don’t seem to know how to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys,” he told the House Homeland Security Committee hearing, which was interrupted by demonstrators on several occasions.The panel’s ranking Democrat Bennie Thompson said Noem has “diverted resources from critical Homeland Security agencies and programs to carry out an extreme immigration agenda.””Black and brown Americans in particular, have been racially profiled, detained and locked up,” Thompson said.”So rather than sitting here and wasting your time and ours with more corruption, lies and lawlessness, I call on you to resign,” he said.While Democrats on the committee lambasted Noem and the Trump administration, Republicans praised her department for securing the US-Mexico border and rounding up undocumented migrants for deportation.Noem defended the tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and accused the administration of Democrat Joe Biden of allowing “millions of people to come into our country illegally.”She denied US citizens have been detained although she said there have been occasions when they were held until their identity could be confirmed.”We have never once detained or deported an American citizen,” Noem said.”(When) we are doing our targeted enforcement operations against criminal illegal aliens, individuals that are in that area may be detained until we verify who they are, and then they are released.”Trump ran for the White House promising to deport millions of undocumented migrants and Noem, as head of the Department of Homeland Security, oversees the operation.

Millions of Americans are bracing for soaring health care costs after the US Senate on Thursday rejected rival Republican and Democratic plans to avert the expiry of key insurance subsidies — a fight set to dominate next year’s midterm elections.President Donald Trump has remained largely disengaged from Capitol Hill negotiations, according to lawmakers in both parties, reluctant to spearhead a major health care push and declining to endorse any credible proposal to address the crisis.Without action in the next three weeks, insurance payments for more than 20 million low- and middle-income Americans are projected to more than double, raising the political stakes as Washington edges into a campaign season defined by cost-of-living pressures.Democrats were promised a vote on a three-year extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies as part of a deal that ended a record 43-day government shutdown last month. While Republican Majority Leader John Thune agreed to hold the vote, he had not promised its success, and Republicans were almost unified in opposition.Under pressure from moderates and senators up for reelection, Thune had also agreed to bring forward a Republican alternative for a vote alongside the Democratic bill. This plan would have replaced subsidies with contributions to Health Savings Accounts to help cover out-of-pocket expenses. But reaching the 60-vote threshold in the 100-seat Senate always looked like a longshot, with only 53 Republicans making up the majority — and Democrats duly blocked the bill.The average payment is expected to rise by roughly 114 percent — an extra $1,000 to $1,500 in annual premiums for a typical family, according to health policy research group KFF. – ‘Life and death vote’ -Up to seven million ACA enrollees could lose their coverage altogether, statistical modeling indicates, and most are expected to become uninsured rather than switching to other plans. Thune, however, has signaled that Thursday’s defeats might open the way for talks in 2026. “When we get through this exercise this week the question is, ‘Are there enough Democrats who want to fix the problem?'” he told reporters on Wednesday, adding that he believed there was “a path forward.””Obviously we don’t have a lot of time to do this, but I think there are ways in which you could, where there’s a will.”Republicans say they are unwilling to back a clean extension but believe the broader issue of rising health costs can be addressed early next year, potentially as part of negotiations over government funding due to expire on January 30. They are hoping to use special Senate procedures to circumvent the 60-vote rule and go it alone, arguing that Democrats have little incentive to compromise in an election year — a calculation the minority party denies.In the House, the landscape is even more fractured. Multiple Republicans — including the leadership — unveiled a plethora of ideas aimed at lowering costs, though none includes extending ACA subsidies or looks to have sufficient backing.With competing petitions, no unified House strategy and little sign of leadership buy-in, the chances of a bipartisan compromise emerging before year’s end now appear extremely slim.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer gave an impassioned floor speech ahead of the vote on the Democratic bill, setting out what he saw as the stakes. “This is not a political fight. This is not a symbolic vote,” he said. “This is a life and death vote, because people who will lose their health care could face that horrible, horrible end.”

A US federal judge on Thursday ordered the immediate release of a Salvadoran man who was wrongly deported in March and then returned to the United States after months of legal battles and detained again.The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident married to an American woman, has become a lightning rod for those opposed to President Donald Trump’s efforts to carry out mass deportations across the country.He was among more than 200 people sent to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison in March. The Trump administration alleges he is a violent MS-13 gang member involved in smuggling other undocumented migrants, which he denies.After his return to the United States in June, Abrego Garcia was detained again in Tennessee on human smuggling charges. He was then released under strict conditions in August, pending a trial.But after returning to Maryland, he was detained again by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation to one of four African countries. He declared himself instead ready to go to Costa Rica, which had been willing to take him.In her ruling Thursday, Judge Paula Xinis concluded that Abrego Garcia has been held in ICE detention “absent a lawful removal order.””His detention has been for the basic purpose of effectuating removal, lending further support that Abrego Garcia should be held no longer,” her ruling said.She ordered the government to release him from ICE custody immediately while his legal challenge against his deportation moves forward. The government must report back to the judge by 5:00 pm local time (2200 GMT) on Thursday, according to the ruling.Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin accused the judge of “judicial activism.””This order lacks any valid basis and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts,” she wrote on X.Trump has made combating illegal immigration his top priority, claiming an “invasion” of the United States by “foreign criminals” and pressing for the mass deportation of immigrants. But his program has been hampered by numerous court rulings on the grounds that those targeted must be able to assert their rights.

Several Democratic lawmakers called Thursday for the Israeli and US governments to fully investigate a deadly 2023 attack by the Israeli military on journalists in southern Lebanon.The October 13, 2023 airstrike killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and wounded six other reporters, including two from AFP — video journalist Dylan Collins and photographer Christina Assi, who lost her leg.”We expect the Israeli government to conduct an investigation that meets the international standards and to hold accountable those people who did this,” Senator Peter Welch told a news conference, with Collins by his side.The lawmaker from Collins’s home state of Vermont said he had been pushing for answers for two years, first from the administration of Democratic president Joe Biden and now from the Republican White House of Donald Trump.The Israeli government has “stonewalled at every single turn,” Welch added.”With the Israeli government, we have been extremely patient, and we have done everything we reasonably can to obtain answers and accountability,” he said.”The IDF has made no effort, none, to seriously investigate this incident,” Welch said, referring to the Israeli military, adding that it has told his office its investigation into the incident is closed.Collins called for Washington to publicly acknowledge the attack in which an American citizen was injured. “But I’d also like them to put pressure on their greatest ally in the Middle East, the Israeli government, to bring the perpetrators to account,” he said, echoing the lawmakers who called the attack a “war crime.””We’re not letting it go,” Vermont congresswoman Becca Balint said. “It doesn’t matter how long they stonewall us.”AFP conducted an independent investigation which concluded that two Israeli 120mm tank shells were fired from the Jordeikh area in Israel.The findings were corroborated by other international probes, including investigations conducted by Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.Unlike Welch’s assertion Thursday that the Israeli probe was over, the IDF told AFP in October that “findings regarding the event have not yet been concluded.”