A second man has been charged in connection with an alleged assault at a London nightclub involving R&B star Chris Brown.
US national Omolulu Akinlolu – the artist known as HoodyBaby – will appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court later charged with grievous bodily harm with intent, the Metropolitan Police said.
Brown, 36, appeared at the same court on the same charge on Friday and was remanded in custody.
He is accused of using a bottle to cause grievous bodily harm to music producer Abe Diaw at the Tape club in London’s Mayfair in 2023.
Brown, who was arrested at Salford’s Lowry Hotel on Thursday, will next appear at London’s Southwark Crown Court on 13 June.
The American singer was scheduled to perform in Amsterdam on 8 June, before heading to Germany then embarking on dates in the UK.
Akinlolu, a rapper and producer, and Brown are known to be friends and have collaborated on a range of musical projects.
Tottenham have had the measure of Manchester United this season, beating them home and away in the Premier League and also in the Carabao Cup.
They will also likely back themselves to score against the Red Devils, having hit 21 more league goals than them, despite sitting fourth from bottom with United a place above.
In fact, no team outside the top six has scored more than Tottenham’s 63 goals.
Keeping them out, however, has been an issue with 61 league goals conceded, while United have fared marginally better with 54.
Encouragement for Postecoglou will also come from a lively first-half display by Son Heung-min against Villa.
The forward is looking to return to peak fitness after being sidelined with a foot injury and went close to scoring before the break.
Son, 32, has lost his last two finals with Spurs and will no doubt be determined to end his trophy drought with the club after a decade.
“He is ready and available,” Postecoglou said of Son. “He feels like he is getting back to some rhythm.”
United, meanwhile, could only muster one shot on target against Chelsea with Rasmus Hojlund again struggling to make an impact in attack.
The forward has scored just three goals in his last 15 appearances in all competitions.
“They have a problem, they have no striker,” former Manchester United captain Roy Keane told Sky Sports.
“Hojlund looked like a young boy from the academy. He is not good enough to be the main man. United are up against it all the time.”
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday told conservative judges in Texas they must offer a hearing to detained Venezuelans whom the Trump administration wants to send to a prison in El Salvador.
That led to a post-midnight order from the high court that told the administration it may “not remove any member of the putative class of detainees.” The administration had argued it had the authority to deport the men as “alien enemies” under a wartime law adopted in 1798.
On Friday, the court issued an unusual eight-page order to explain their earlier decision. In doing so, the justices faulted a federal judge in Lubbock, Texas, and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals for taking no action to protect the due process rights of the detained men.
The order carries a clear message that the justices are troubled by the Trump administration’s pressure to fast-track deportations and by the unwillingness of some judges to protect the rights to due process of law.
On a Saturday in mid-March, Trump’s immigration officials sent three planeloads of detainees from Texas to the maximum-security prison in El Salvador before a federal judge in Washington could intervene. The prisoners included Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who had an immigration order that was supposed to protect him from being sent back to his native El Salvador.
Afterward, Trump officials said the detained men, including Abrego Garcia, could not be returned to this country. They did so even though the Supreme Court had said they had a duty to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return.
The same scenario was nearly repeated in mid-April, but from a different prison in Texas.
ACLU lawyers rushed to file an emergency appeal with U.S. District Judge James Hendrix. They said some of the detained men were on buses headed for the airport. They argued they deserved a hearing because many of them said they were not members of a crime gang.
The judge denied the appeals for all but two of the detained men.
The 5th Circuit Court upheld the judge’s lack of action and blamed the detainees, saying they gave the judge “only 42 minutes to act.”
The Supreme Court disagreed with both on Friday and overturned a decision of the 5th Circuit.
“A district court’s inaction in the face of extreme urgency and a high risk of serious, perhaps irreparable consequences” for the detained men, the justices wrote. “Here, the district court’s inaction — not for 42 minutes but for 14 hours and 28 minutes — had the practical effect of refusing an injunction to detainees facing an imminent threat of severe, irreparable harm.”
“The 5th Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in the context of removal proceedings. Procedural due process rules are meant to protect” against “the mistaken or unjustified deprivation of life, liberty, or property,” the majority said. “We have long held that no person shall be removed from the United States without opportunity, at some time, to be heard.”
Justices Samuel A. Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented last month, and they did the same on Friday.
A STAMFORD BRIDGE pitch invader was “speared” as a steward was compared to a WWE legend.
Chelsea and Manchester United players looked on bemused as a fan got right out into the middle in the Prem clash – before being fiercely tackled by staff.
1
The intrude was soon confronted by stewards
Viewers were quick to praise the smart – and amazingly quick – work.
One posted: The best thing about this game is the pitch invader being speared by the steward. Proper prime Goldberg spear.
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..
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The FA Cup was not Manchester City’s top priority this season, but now that they are in a third straight final, the club will go all out to win the trophy at Wembley, manager Pep Guardiola said.
City have had a “horrific season” in the words of striker Erling Haaland, with Guardiola’s side falling by the wayside in the Premier League title race while they were also eliminated in the Champions League knockout phase playoffs.
City are fourth in the Premier League and yet to secure Champions League qualification for next season – winning the FA Cup when they face Crystal Palace on Saturday may not be enough to salvage their campaign.
“That is the problem, right? The FA Cup now is not the first choice. Of course, we want it. Once we are here, of course, we want the trophy. It is massively important,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
“It was a disappointment last season [losing in the final to Manchester United]. But I’m pretty sure we’ll perform well, and we are going to compete against them.
“It’s the final of the FA Cup, it’s an honour and a privilege. Third time in a row being there, and we have to perform well. We travel to London to win the title.”
Guardiola also praised Oliver Glasner’s Palace, who knocked out fellow Premier League sides Fulham and Aston Villa to reach the final.
Palace, who are 12th in the league table, are seeking their first major trophy, having fallen in the final in 1990 and 2016, losing to Manchester United on both occasions.
“It is a fantastic team. They have had a really good second part of the season. They have had more than a year with Oliver working with the same players,” Guardiola said.
“They are a threat because they have quality. [Striker Jean-Philippe] Mateta is strong and the quality in [Eberechi] Eze is obvious and, of course, the pace from [fellow forward Ismaila] Sarr … [Adam] Wharton is a really good holding midfielder.
“They are well structured defensively and their set-pieces are one of the best in the Premier League.”
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner is in his second season in charge of the club [David Klein/Reuters]
It’s 90 percent about us, says Palace manager
The quiet confidence seeping out of Crystal Palace’s training ground before the final against Manchester City was summed up by manager Oliver Glasner on Friday.
“We’re focused on what we want to do at Wembley. We analysed Man City, but 90 percent, we were talking about us,” Glasner, who will become the first Austrian to lead a team in an FA Cup final, told reporters.
“This is what we can influence. We can influence our performance. We can influence what we want to do in and out of possession. And the focus was on our game. We have a lot of confidence and looking forward to the final.”
Palace may be 12th in the Premier League, but have matched their record points tally with two games still to play.
In the FA Cup, they have clicked impressively, winning 3-0 at Fulham in the quarterfinals and then beating Villa by the same margin at Wembley in the semis.
Now, they have one last obstacle to get over and claim the south London club’s first major trophy in its 120-year history.
Palace drew 2-2 with City at Selhurst Park in the league and led 2-0 in the return fixture, only to lose 5-2. They also lost 4-2 last April, a couple of months after Glasner took charge.
Scoring goals against Pep Guardiola’s team has not been a problem, but Glasner knows they will need to adjust defensively to give themselves the best possible chance at Wembley.
“In every single game [against City] we scored two goals, but we just had one draw, because we conceded four, two and five, so we have to make a few adjustments in our defending,” he said. “Because when you concede five, it’s tough to win, but when you score two, you should be able to win.
“So, we have confidence that we will create our chances, we will create our situations to score goals, but we have to do better in defence, and I don’t mean the back three or the back five. So as a team, maybe we have to adjust a few things, and this is what we want to do tomorrow.”
Palace fans, hoping it will be third time lucky in Cup finals after defeats in 1990 and 2016, produced a wall of sound and colour in the semifinal against Villa and are bound to give their side passionate support again on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson was one of several Palace players to donate to a fundraising campaign for a giant “tifo” against Villa, and another 45,000 pounds has been raised for one to be unfurled before Saturday’s Wembley showdown.
“The one against Villa was top class,” said Henderson. “I don’t know what they are going to do with 40-odd grand – but I’m excited to see it.”
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin judge charged with helping a man illegally evade immigration agents is seeking donations to fund her court defense.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan announced Friday that she’s set up a fund to cover the costs of her defense. The fund issued a statement saying that the case against her is an “unprecedented attack on the independent judiciary by the federal government.”
Dugan has hired a group of high-powered lawyers led by former U.S. Atty. Steve Biskupic. She’s looking to tap into anger on the left over the case to help pay them. Dozens of people demonstrated outside Dugan’s arraignment Thursday at the federal courthouse in Milwaukee, demanding she be set free and accusing the Trump administration of going too far.
Federal prosecutors allege Eduardo Flores-Ruiz was in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18 for a hearing in a domestic violence case when Dugan learned immigration agents were in the courthouse looking to arrest him. According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz illegally returned to the U.S. after he was deported in 2013.
Angry that agents were in the courthouse and calling the situation “absurd,” Dugan led Flores-Ruiz out a back door in her courtroom, according to an FBI affidavit. Agents eventually captured him following a foot chase outside the building.
FBI agents arrested Dugan at the county courthouse on April 25. A grand jury on Tuesday indicted her on one count of obstruction and one count of concealing a person to prevent arrest. The charges carry a total maximum sentence of six years in federal prison.
Dugan pleaded not guilty during her arraignment. Her attorneys have filed a motion seeking to dismiss the case, arguing that she was controlling movement in her courtroom in her official capacity as a judge and therefore is immune from prosecution.
The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan following her arrest. A reserve judge has taken over her cases.
The fund statement said that Dugan plans to resume her work as a judge and they won’t accept contributions that could compromise her judicial integrity. She will accept money only from U.S. citizens but won’t take donations from Milwaukee County residents; attorneys who practice in the county; lobbyists; judges; parties with pending matters before any Milwaukee County judge; and county employees.
Former state Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske will manage the fund.
Who: Manchester City vs Crystal Palace What: English FA Cup final Where: Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom When: Saturday at 4:30pm (15:30 GMT)
Follow Al Jazeera Sport‘s live text and photo commentary stream.
Manchester City and Crystal Palace go head-to-head for the FA Cup in a final that has captured the imagination the world over since its inception.
English football’s showpiece cup final has been a tale of a team from any level – even non-professional – rising to the top to take down the giants of the game.
The Eagles of South London are no minnows in this story, but their opponents are as big as they come in the global game.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at a showdown that carries great weight for both teams in the world’s oldest cup competition.
Why is the FA Cup so important to both finalists?
History beckons for Crystal Palace against a Manchester City side that have one final shot at avoiding a rare trophyless season under Pep Guardiola.
Twice FA Cup runners-up, Palace have never won a major trophy in their 119-year history.
The Eagles sense this may finally be their time up against a City side far from their former glories of Guardiola’s trophy-laden reign.
What is Crystal Palace’s form?
Palace warmed up for the Wembley showpiece by cruising to a 2-0 win at Tottenham last weekend to equal their record of 49 Premier League points with two games of the season to spare.
The south London club finished in the top 10 for the first time in the Premier League era last season after just a few months under Oliver Glasner.
Another top-half finish looks unlikely, but progress has continued under the Austrian thanks to their FA Cup heroics, including a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Champions League quarterfinalists Aston Villa in the last four.
Eberechi Eze is the main man for City to fear with five goals in his last four games.
But he is one of just four England internationals that reached the final of Euro 2024 likely to start for Palace on Saturday alongside Dean Henderson, Marc Guehi and Adam Wharton.
“It means everything,” said Eze on the prospect of delivering the club’s first taste of silverware.
“We know what it means to the fans, to the club. We’re going to give everything that we’ve got to put ourselves in the best position.
“We’re confident. We know that we’ve just got to do what we do and be the best version of ourselves, and we’ve got the chance of beating any team.”
Victory would also secure entry to one of Europe’s major club competitions for the first time in Palace’s history, with a place in the Europa League at stake.
What is Man City’s form?
City’s laboured display in drawing a blank at bottom-of-the-table Southampton last weekend gives Palace even more reason to believe they can lift the cup.
However, Guardiola’s men are unbeaten in 10 games, including a 5-2 demolition of Palace in the Premier League last month despite falling 2-0 behind.
Will this be De Bruyne’s dream send-off?
City’s fightback at the Etihad Stadium in the last encounter between the clubs was prompted by Kevin De Bruyne rolling back the years.
The Belgian has just three games left as a City player after a glorious decade in Manchester and will be aiming to add one more to his 14 major honours with the club.
“He has had an incredible time at Manchester City,” said City’s top scorer Erling Haaland.
“It is ridiculous how many trophies he has won. Hopefully he will get one more trophy.”
After an unprecedented four consecutive English top-flight titles, City find themselves battling just to secure a top-five Premier League finish and a place in next season’s Champions League.
Anything other than victory would cap what Haaland described as a “horrendous” campaign for a squad of serial winners.
City have not ended a season without a trophy since Guardiola’s first at the club in 2016/17.
“It is a good habit to reach Wembley and always important to win trophies. We have the FA Cup final to play for and in a horrific season we still managed to do this,” added the Norwegian.
What was Palace’s finest FA Cup moment?
Palace’s extraordinary and eventually heartbreaking 1990 campaign was their finest hour in the competition.
The semifinals and final(s) that year were arguably the most dramatic in the competition’s long and storied history and remain the emotional high and low point of every Palace fan who watched them.
Palace were struggling in the top flight after promotion and had been humiliated 9-0 by Liverpool early in the season.
In the Cup they were hardly pulling up trees either, beating lower league Portsmouth, Huddersfield Town, Rochdale and Cambridge United to reach the semifinals for the first time since they lost to Southampton as a third division team in 1976.
Facing runaway champions-elect and FA Cup holders Liverpool again in the semis look an insurmountable barrier and an Ian Rush goal had the Reds ahead at halftime at Villa Park.
Things then went crazy as Mark Bright and Gary O’Reilly gave Palace a shock lead. Two goals in two minutes put Liverpool back in front, only for Andy Gray to stun the odds-on favourites in the 88th minute to force extra time.
Amazingly, it was Palace who snatched victory in the 109th minute via Alan Pardew, who would later manage the club.
The cup final itself, against Manchester United, went to a replay after a stunning 3-3 draw in the first encounter.
United won the next match 1-0 with a goal from defender Lee Martin, which handed a young manager by the name of Alex Ferguson his first trophy as boss of the Red Devils.
How many FA Cups have City won?
City are seven-time winners of the cup, with their first victory coming in 1904 against Bolton Wanderers.
Their last win was a 2-1 victory against their fierce rivals Manchester United in 2023.
Head-to-head
This is the 74th meeting between the two teams in a fixture dating back to 1921.
Palace were 2-0 winners in an FA Cup meeting in the third round that year.
City stormed back in the next meeting between the clubs – once again in the FA Cup – beating Palace 11-4 in February 1926.
Overall, City have claimed the spoils on 39 occasions and the Eagles soaring to victory after 17 of the meetings.
Palace haven’t recorded a win in their last seven encounters with City, who have won four in that time.
Man City team news
Haaland is expected to start after making his comeback from six weeks out injured at Southampton last weekend.
Rodri continues his slow return to full fitness, but with an eye on the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup in June, the cup final appears to have come too soon for a start.
Crystal Palace team news
Midfielder Adam Wharton has returned to full fitness following an ankle injury.
It means the Eagles have a fully fit squad to choose from.
A Los Angeles construction worker from Vietnam was among 13 immigrants roused by guards in full combat gear around 2:30 a.m. one day last week in a Texas detention facility, shackled, forced onto a bus and told they would be deported to Libya, two of the detainees’ lawyers said.
“It was very aggressive. They weren’t allowed to do anything,” said Tin Thanh Nguyen, an attorney for the Los Angeles man, whom he did not identify for fear of retaliation.
Libya, the politically unstable country in North Africa, is beset by “terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict,” according to the U.S. State Department. Human rights groups have documented inhumane conditions at detention facilities and migrant camps, including torture, forced labor and rape.
The construction worker, who has a criminal conviction on his record, had lived in the U.S. for decades and has a wife and teenage daughter. He was arrested after appearing at an annual immigration check-in at a Los Angeles office two months ago and then shuffled around to various detention facilities before arriving at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall.
In the early morning hours of May 7, he was placed on the bus from the detention facility south to what was likely Lackland Air Force Base. From there, he and the rest of the group sat for hours on the tarmac in front of a military plane in the predawn dark, unsure what was going to happen. The men hailed from Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Mali, Burundi, Cuba, Bolivia, Mexico and the Philippines, the attorneys said. None were from Libya.
“My client and the other men on the bus were silent,” Nguyen said in court files. “My client was extremely scared.”
The plane hatch was open. Military personnel bustled in and out, appearing to bring in supplies and fuel the plane. Photographers positioned themselves in front of the military aircraft.
“Suddenly the bus starts moving and heading back to the detention facility,” said Johnny Sinodis, an attorney for another detainee, a Filipino who grew up and went to college in the United States and also had a criminal conviction.
U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts had issued a warning to the administration to halt any immediate removal to Libya or any other third country, as it would violate a previous court order that officials must provide detainees with due process and notice in their own language. Lawyers had scrambled to get the order after media reports confirmed what their clients had told them: Removals to Libya appeared imminent.
Sinodis said his client and others were returned to the detention unit and placed in solitary confinement for 24 hours.
In his declaration, he said his client spoke to a Mexican and a Bolivian national who were in the group. Each had been told that their home countries would accept them, but the officials still said they were going to send them to Libya.
It’s been a week since the incident, and the lawyers said they are still fighting to stop their clients deportations to a third country.
The Trump administration deported hundreds of mostly Venezuelan men to a prison in El Salvador, invoking a wartime law to speedily remove accused gang members. Their deportation drew immediate challenges and became the most contentious piece of the immigration crackdown. Officials have also sent people to Panama who were not from that country.
This month, the foreign minister of Rwanda said in a televison interview it was in talks with U.S. officials to take in deported migrants.
It’s unclear how Libya came to be a possible destination for the immigrants. Two governments claim power in the nation. The Tripoli-based Government of National Unity has denied any deal with the Trump administration. The Government of National Stability, based in Benghazi, also rejected reports that it would take deportees.
The U.N. Human Rights Office said on Tuesday that it had information that at least 100 Venezuelans held in the Salvadoran megaprison weren’t told they were going to be deported to a third country, had no access to a lawyer and were unable to challenge the removal.
“This situation raises serious concerns regarding a wide array of rights that are fundamental to both U.S. and international law,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement. “The manner in which some of the individuals were detained and deported — including the use of shackles on them — as well as the demeaning rhetoric used against migrants, has also been profoundly disturbing.”
Sinodis said his client had already been in custody for months and been told that he would be deported to the Philippines in late April. But that month, he was transferred from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Wash., to Texas. An officer in Tacoma told him the decision to move him there came from “headquarters,” according to court documents.
On May 5, he was scheduled to be interviewed by two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Texas. He expected to learn of his deportation date. Instead, they handed him a one-page document that said he would be deported to Libya. He was shocked, Sinodis said.
The man asked the officers whether there was anything he or his attorney could do to avoid this. They said no.
Nguyen said his client, who doesn’t speak English fluently, had a similar experience on the same day. The officers handed him a document in English that they said would allow him to be free in Libya. He doesn’t even know where Libya is and refused to sign the document. The officers told him he would be deported no matter what he did.
The next day, Sinodis said, his client’s commissary and phone accounts were zeroed out.
Sinodis finally reached an officer at the detention center who told him, “That’s crazy,” when asked about Libya. His client must have misheard, he said. But his client, who grew up on the West Coast, speaks fluent English.
Then on May 7, as things unfolded, the attorney reached another officer at the facility, who said he had no information that the man was going to Libya, and referred him back to an officer in Tacoma. A supervisor downplayed the situation.
“I can assure you this is not an emergency because the emergency does not exist,” the supervisor told him, according to court documents.
Shortly after noon that day, a detention center officer who identified himself as Garza called and told him he was looking into it, but so far had “no explanation” for why his client was told this, but he also couldn’t guarantee it didn’t happen.
Less than an hour later, his client called to tell him that he had been taken to an air base. He said when he was pulled out of his cell in the early morning, he saw the same two officers that interviewed him and asked him to sign the removal papers.
“He asks the officers, ‘Are we still going to Libya?” Sinodis said. “They said yes.”
MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin judge pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of helping a man who is in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration authorities seeking to arrest him in her courthouse.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan entered the plea during a brief arraignment in federal court. Magistrate Judge Stephen Dries scheduled a trial to begin July 21. Dugan’s lead attorney, Steven Biskupic, told the judge that he expects the trial to last a week.
Dugan, her lawyers and prosecutors left the hearing without speaking to reporters.
The accusations against Dugan
Dugan is charged with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. Prosecutors say she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back door on April 18 after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking to arrest him on suspicion of being in the country illegally. She could face up to six years in prison if convicted on both counts.
Her attorneys say she’s innocent. They filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss the case, saying she was acting in her official capacity as a judge and therefore is immune to prosecution. They also maintain that the federal government violated Wisconsin’s sovereignty by disrupting a state courtroom and prosecuting a state judge.
A public backlash
Dugan’s arrest has inflamed tensions between the Trump administration and Democrats over the president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse ahead of Thursday’s hearing, with some holding signs that read, “Only Fascists Arrest Judges — Drop the Charges,” “Department of Justice Over-Reach” and “Keep Your Hands Off Our Judges!!” The crowd chanted “Due process rights,” “Hands off our freedom,” and “Sí se puede” — Spanish for “Yes, we can” — which is a rallying cry for immigrant rights advocates.
One man stood alone across the street holding a Trump flag.
Nancy Camden, from suburban Mequon north of Milwaukee, was among the protesters calling for the case to be dismissed. She said she believes ICE shouldn’t have tried to arrest Flores-Ruiz inside the courthouse and the Department of Justice “overreached” in charging Dugan.
“How they handled this and made a big show of arresting her and putting her in handcuffs, all of that was intimidation,” Camden said. “And I’m not going to be intimidated. I’m fighting back.”
Esther Cabrera, an organizer with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said the charges against Dugan amount to “state-funded repression.”
“If we are going to go after judges, if we’re going to go after mayors, we have to understand that they can come after anybody,” she said. “And that’s kind of why we wanted to make a presence out here today, is to say that you can’t come after everyone and it stops here.”
The case background
According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. Online court records show he was charged with three counts of misdemeanor domestic abuse in Milwaukee County in March, and he was in Dugan’s courtroom on April 18 for a hearing in that case.
According to an FBI affidavit, Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that the agents appeared to be in the hallway. Dugan was visibly angry and called the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers, the affidavit contends. She and another judge later approached members of the arrest team in the courthouse with what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
After a back-and-forth with the agents over the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them from the courtroom, according to the affidavit.
After she returned to the courtroom, witnesses heard her say something to the effect of “wait, come with me” before ushering Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out through a door typically used only by deputies, jurors, court staff and in-custody defendants, the affidavit alleges. Flores-Ruiz was free on a signature bond in the abuse case, according to online state court records. Federal agents ultimately detained him outside the courthouse after a foot chase.
The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan last week, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary. She was freed after her arrest.
How the case might play out
John Vaudreuil, a former federal prosecutor in Wisconsin who isn’t involved in Dugan’s or Flores-Ruiz’s cases, said the Trump administration seems to want to make an example out of Dugan. U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi or Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche, rather than the U.S. attorney in Milwaukee, are likely making the decisions on how to proceed, making it less likely prosecutors will reduce the charges against Dugan in a deal, he said.
Her attorneys will likely try to push for a jury trial, Vaudreuil predicted, because they know that “people feel very strongly about the way the president and administration is conducting immigration policy.”
Dugan is represented by some of Wisconsin’s most accomplished lawyers. Biskupic was a federal prosecutor for 20 years and served seven years as U.S. attorney in Milwaukee. Paul Clement, meanwhile, is a former U.S. solicitor general who has argued more than 100 cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Both were appointed to jobs by former Republican President George W. Bush.
Richmond writes for the Associated Press. AP reporters Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., and Laura Bargfeld contributed to this report.
MADISON, Wis. — A federal grand jury indicted a Wisconsin judge Tuesday on charges she helped a man in the country illegally evade U.S. immigration authorities looking to arrest him as he appeared before her in a local domestic abuse case.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan’s arrest and ensuing indictment has escalated a clash between President Trump’s administration and local authorities over the Republican’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Democrats have accused the Trump administration of trying to make a national example of Dugan to chill judicial opposition to the crackdown.
Prosecutors charged Dugan in April via complaint with concealing an individual to prevent arrest and obstruction. In the federal criminal justice system, prosecutors can initiate charges against a defendant directly by filing a complaint or present evidence to a grand jury and let that body decide whether to issue charges.
A grand jury still reviews charges brought by complaint to determine whether enough probable cause exists to continue the case as a check on prosecutors’ power. If the grand jury determines there’s probable cause, it issues a written statement of the charges known as an indictment. That’s what happened in Dugan’s case.
Dugan faces up to six years in prison if she’s convicted on both counts. Her team of defense attorneys responded to the indictment with a one-sentence statement saying that she maintains her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court. She was scheduled to enter a plea on Thursday.
Kenneth Gales, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Milwaukee, declined to comment on the indictment Tuesday evening.
Dugan’s case is similar to one brought during the first Trump administration against a Massachusetts judge, who was accused of helping a man sneak out a courthouse back door to evade a waiting immigration enforcement agent. That case was eventually dismissed.
Prosecutors say Dugan escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back jury door on April 18 after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the courthouse seeking his arrest.
According to court documents, Flores-Ruiz illegally reentered the U.S. after being deported in 2013. Online state court records show he was charged with three counts of misdemeanor domestic abuse in Milwaukee County in March. He was in Dugan’s courtroom that morning of April 18 for a hearing.
Court documents suggest Dugan was alerted to the agents’ presence by her clerk, who was informed by an attorney that the agents appeared to be in the hallway. An affidavit says Dugan was visibly angry over the agents’ arrival and called the situation “absurd” before leaving the bench and retreating to her chambers. She and another judge later approached members of the arrest team in the courthouse with what witnesses described as a “confrontational, angry demeanor.”
After a back-and-forth with the agents over the warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan demanded they speak with the chief judge and led them away from the courtroom, according to the affidavit.
She then returned to the courtroom and was heard saying words to the effect of “wait, come with me” and ushered Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out through a back jury door typically used only by deputies, jurors, court staff and in-custody defendants, according to the affidavit. Flores-Ruiz was free on a signature bond in the abuse case at the time, according to online state court records.
Federal agents ultimately captured him outside the courthouse after a foot chase.
The state Supreme Court suspended Dugan from the bench in late April, saying the move was necessary to preserve public confidence in the judiciary. A reserve judge is filling in for her.
This story contains spoilers for “Andor” Season 2, including Episodes 10 through 12.
When Elizabeth Dulau first heard what showrunner Tony Gilroy had planned for her character in Season 2 of “Andor,” she burst out laughing.
“I just couldn’t believe what he was saying,” says the actor, who portrays the aloof and steadfast rebel spy Kleya Marki in the “Star Wars” series. “And then my first thought was: I need to keep this a secret now for years. How on Earth am I going to do that?”
Kleya plays a pivotal role in the final three-episode arc of “Andor.” After Imperial intelligence officers finally uncover Luthen Rael’s (Stellan Skarsgård) ties to the Rebellion, the antiques dealer attempts to kill himself before he can be captured and interrogated. When Luthen fails, it’s left to Kleya to tie up his final loose end and then deliver vital information to the rebels on Yavin.
Dulau, who didn’t even know if she would be called back for Season 2, learned of Kleya’s storyline in 2023 when Gilroy called to tell her he wanted her to return.
“I’m glad he told me then because it gave me a long time to really ponder how to prepare for that scene,” Dulau says. “He said, ‘We want her to be the one that kills him, and we want it to be additionally heartbreaking because she doesn’t have time to say goodbye.’”
“Andor’s” final episodes sees Kleya utilize the skills she’d honed as Luthen’s closest and most trusted associate as she infiltrates a heavily guarded hospital to reach him. But rather than breaking Luthen out to save him, Kleya’s only option is to unplug him from the machines that are keeping him alive. Then, she has to make sure the information Luthen died for is delivered to the Rebellion.
“We do not have a bad moment of film of her in our cutting room,” says Gilroy, comparing Dulau to Meryl Streep. “She’s unbelievable.”
Elizabeth Dulau says it boggles her mind that Kleya’s story ties into “Star Wars’” famous Death Star plans.
(David Reiss)
“Andor” marks Dulau’s first acting job after graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. While the audition came to her as a role in an “untitled Disney+ project,” she’d heard on the down-low that it was for a “Star Wars” project. She has since been cast in shows including “All the Light We Cannot See,” “Gentleman Jack” and the upcoming “House of Guinness.”
“The beautiful thing about Kleya in Season 1 is that she’s such a mystery,” Dulau says. “You can tell that she’s important, but she’s sort of on the peripheries. There’s so many question marks, so it’s such a delight that a lot of those questions get answered this season.”
That Kleya ultimately plays a role in helping the Rebel Alliance get the Death Star plans needed for them to eventually defeat the Empire also “boggles my mind,” she says.
“It’s not lost on me that Tony has literally written me into Star Wars history with that storyline,” Dulau says. “That blows my mind because it’s so iconic and I have a teeny, tiny little corner of that now.”
Dulau, in a conversation edited for length and clarity, discusses Kleya and Luthen’s relationship, her character’s commitment to the Rebellion and working with Stellan Skarsgård.
There is so much that happens in Episode 10, but how did you approach that final moment where Kleya has to unplug Luthen from life support?
Tony made it very clear to me that he didn’t want her to totally break down in that scene. That breakdown, for Kleya, comes afterward because she’s still in action mode. In that scene, I really wanted to connect with all the love that had grown between her and Luthen, against both of their better judgment, but also all the hate. When Luthen and whatever team of men came to the community she lived in and destroyed them when he worked for the Empire, Kleya was not so young. She would remember her mom and dad. She would remember if she had siblings, any best friends. Luthen is not innocent on that day. He was brave enough to save Kleya, but we don’t know what happens outside of his ship.
Then they spend the next 15 years protecting each other and continuing to save each other. So against their better judgment, love grows between them. I think they’re constantly being pulled apart by that. It’s too scary to acknowledge the fact that they’ve come to really care for each other because this awful thing is there. I wanted to try to condense that and make it as clear as possible in that scene when I go to kill him.
I spent a lot of time leading up to shooting on that day daydreaming. I use daydreaming a lot in my process. And I daydreamed about that day — what happened, what Kleya saw and what she did not see when Luther and his men came to destroy her people. I daydreamed completely made-up scenes in my head, like the day when Luthen made Kleya laugh for the very first time, or happy memories between them. I imagined that those actual flashback scenes were memories of hers that just were intrusive thoughts as she was trying to focus on her mission.
What was your initial take on Kleya and Luthen’s dynamic?
In Season 1, what really fascinated me was that he sets a lot of importance to Kleya’s words. He really listens to her and trusts her and allows himself to be seen by her in a way that he doesn’t let himself be seen by anyone else. So what’s the power dynamic? It’s not the classic father-daughter thing. It’s not like he’s the boss and she’s just the assistant. There’s a real equality, and that’s quite rare, I think, to see between an older man and a younger woman. I was just fascinated by that and had a lot of fun in Season 1 trying to square up to Stellan Skarsgård and tell him what to do. That was intimidating, but really fun.
Then when I found out their backstory, so much about Kleya made sense. It just really broke my heart. In another life, Luthen would have just been this antiques nerd. In hardening himself to what he has to do, he also hardens this young girl, Kleya. It helped me realize that underneath all that hard exterior, at the very core of who Kleya is, actually is something extremely tender and extremely loving. That’s why she is so tough on the outside because there’s something very painful that she’s protecting deep down. She doesn’t let herself have any friends or fall in love or any of that. She makes herself as lethal a weapon as possible. But against her best judgment, love grows for Luthen, care grows between them, and all of that is what they have to lose. But neither of them are ever willing to admit that.
So much of “Andor” is about the sacrifice everybody makes. But for Kleya, we see that her sacrifice has been ongoing.
Yes. “I don’t have lately, I have always,” she says. She has stripped her life of anything that makes her vulnerable. Joy and love and friendship are some of the the most worthwhile things that a human being can have in their life, but it also makes you vulnerable, in a way. And Kleya just cannot afford to be vulnerable. She tells herself, “I have nothing to lose. Everything is for the Rebellion.” [But] she’s lying to herself. She doesn’t really know until Episode 10 that, actually, Luthen is the thing that she has to lose. And she’s willing to do it. She’s willing to sacrifice.
It seems like the closest Kleya has to a frenemy of sorts is Vel, but how do you see their dynamic?
Vel really gets under her skin. Even though Vel is such a tough character as well, she has those relationships. She allows herself to have that relationship with Mon Mothma, her cousin, and with Cinta. She allows herself to fall in love and Kleya just cannot wrap her head around it. How could you let yourself be this vulnerable? But also, maybe for Kleya, there’s a bit of jealousy there as well that Vel has those things.
Kleya has made herself “as lethal a weapon as possible” for the Rebellion, says Elizabeth Dulau.
(Lucasfilm Ltd.)
How did you see Kleya’s trip to Yavin and seeing what she and Luthen had been working for? Because things aren’t quite over for her yet.
I always thought she sees it as her final job, getting the information about the Death Star to Cassian and just getting that information to Yavin. Because you see Cassian have to convince her to come with him to Yavin. She doesn’t want to go there. I don’t know how much she feels she has left to give at that point. She is overwhelmed by grief for Luthen and that grief makes her realize just how much actually she’s come to love him. So she’s in this place of this immensely painful realization about the man who did this awful thing and wiped out her people. How does anyone reckon with that? That’s the space that she’s in when she’s trying desperately to convince Cassian to go without her to Yavin.
Then, once she’s on Yavin and she sees Vel, that tiny little conversation with her, as short as it was, it’s monumental for Kleya because it helps shift her perspective enough that she maybe starts to see a future for herself there amongst that community.
That final shot actually is her looking at the people of Yavin doing their morning routines and seeing the culmination of all of her and Luthen’s work for all those years. I think it’s a feeling of immense satisfaction and sadness that they pulled it off, but also that he’ll never see it.
What was it like working with Stellan Skarsgård?
My final audition actually was with Stellan. I remember my agent calling me to say, “Your recall went well. The note is, for your final audition, just try not to be too nervous. Walk into that room like you’ve been doing this for years.” Then she said, “Your final audition is going to be at Pinewood Studios. You’re going to be reading opposite Stellan Skarsgård. But don’t let that make you nervous.” And I just burst out laughing. Like, this isn’t real. This isn’t happening.
He met with me for coffee 10 minutes before the audition because it was a chemistry read and he wanted to not do it cold. Stellan has this wonderful magic to him that after 10 minutes of chatting with him for the first time ever, I really felt like I was walking into the room with a friend and that I had someone in my corner that was rooting for me.
Stellan has had such a long and rich career, so I don’t know what this job is for him, but this is such a huge job for me and Stellan has been such a huge part of that. I always looked forward to having another scene with Stellan. It was like going home again, having another scene with him, because he was my anchor throughout the whole thing. He knew that it was my first job, so I could ask him all the questions about what was happening, acting techniques for screen, all of that stuff. I could have those conversations with him and he was always so willing to talk about it. He really took me under his wings big time and I will always be so grateful to him for that.
Manchester United have decided not to hold an end of year players’ awards night for the second season running.
United cancelled their plans 12 months ago as the senior men’s team finishing eighth in the Premier League, even though they won the FA Cup.
This year, the club have opted not to arrange anything.
The awards night usually involved prizes for players from across the men’s, women’s and youth teams.
Although the men’s side are heading for their worst league finish since the 1973-74 relegation campaign, they could still qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League.
As was the case 12 months ago, United’s women’s team could win the FA Cup. They play Chelsea in the final at Wembley on Sunday. United have already qualified for next season’s Women’s Champions League thanks to their third-place league finish.
United have ruled out a parade if the men’s side beat Tottenham in Bilbao on 21 May and instead will host a barbecue at their Carrington training ground the day after the game.
Many of the previous awards nights, which have been covered by MUTV, have been memorable, particularly in 2015 when then boss Louis van Gaal delivered an amusing eight-minute speech when he demanded those present: “I want to say something – pay attention to the manager.”
Bruno Fernandes and Ella Toone won their respective player of the year awards last season.
United called on fans to vote for the men’s and women’s player of the season, and both teams’ goals of the season, in the match programme for Sunday’s home defeat by West Ham.
The awards will be presented on the pitch at Old Trafford before the men’s final home game of the season against Aston Villa on 25 May.
Ruben Amorim plunged his own Manchester United future into doubt after the latest Old Trafford debacle.
The Portuguese manager’s admission that he is struggling to find a solution for his team’s shocking season was a clear sign of the uncertainty at the heart of the club.
But the bigger question marks will only be resolved in Bilbao next week. A Europa League Final win for United over Tottenham will mean far more than just the trophy and a silver sheen to cleanse many of the black clouds of despair.
But defeat in the Basque country will have ramifications to last far beyond the summer. In simple terms, it is about cold, hard cash. The reality is that winning the Europa League will ensure a looming black hole is filled.
If United do not triumph in San Mames, the immediate cost will be clear. A £10million cut in sponsorship revenue, as part of the contract with kit suppliers adidas.
No European football at all, meaning they will miss out on around £49m up front through Uefa’s complicated revenue distribution system plus the £20m-plus in gate receipts from the minimum four home games.
And if, as now seems likely, they do finish 16th in the Prem table, that will mean £23.8m less in TV-related prize money than for last term’s eight-placed finish.
That all adds up to more than £100m, before the prize money for progress through the Champions League – up to a further potential £95m or so – is taken into account. Less income equals less money to spend.
MANCHESTER UNITED and Tottenham will face off in the Europa League final next week in a battle for a place amongst Europe’s elite.
The winner will earn a spot in next season’s Champions League, a reward that is potentially worth in excess of £100MILLION.
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Manchester United are preparing to take on Tottenham in the Europa League finalCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
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Spurs are hoping to end a 17-year wait for a trophyCredit: Getty
Much has been made about whether that prize is suitable or not, given that United and Spurs currently occupy 16th and 17th spot in the Premier League – but Uefa aren’t changing their rules for the two underachievers.
Qualification would mean a huge amount to both clubs, with the lure of the Champions League meaning more top talent could be enticed to join in the summer – not to mention a huge boost to their transfer kitty.
For Spurs, the money would be the cherry on top of the giant cake that is ending their 17-year wait for a trophy.
While United almost NEED to win the competition given their current financial situation, with a defeat meaning a huge loss in potential revenue amid a slew of cost-cutting measure by Sir Jim Racliffe and his Ineos team.
Once getting to the Champions League, advancing to the very end could earn up to a potential £95m extra for the eventual winner – but United and Spurs will be aware that their chances of going all the way are slim.
In fact, of the eight different teams that have gained qualification into the Champions League by winning the Europa League over the last 10 years, just one has made it to the semi-finals.
That was Villarreal, who were knocked out of the tournament by eventual winners Liverpool.
Man Utd entered the competition thanks to their 2017 Europa League success under Jose Mourinho, only to lost to Sevilla in the Round of 16.
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Man Utd won the Europa League in 2017Credit: Getty Images – Getty
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Chelsea earned a Champions League spot with their 2019 Europa League successCredit: Reuters
While Chelsea did the same in 2019 and were kicked out by Bayern Munich in the last 16 too.
United and Chelsea are two of six teams that reached the last 16 after qualifying through the Europa League.
‘I’d dive head first through a brick wall for him’ – Ange Postecoglou’s rallying speech reduces Tottenham fans to tears
While Sevilla have twice failed to advance through the group stages and Atalanta were knocked out of this year’s competition in the qualifying knockout round.
Although it makes for bleak reading for Man Utd and Spurs fans, it’s worth noting that the lure – and cash injection – of playing in the Champions League has helped teams who qualified through the Europa League attract big players.
Chelsea were unable to purchase players following their success as they were hit with a transfer ban following academy player rule breaches.
Either way, the prize waiting for the winner of next week’s ‘Hell Clasico’ is something which cannot be underestimated and could have a huge impact on either club for years to come.
A MAN accused of beating a florist to death has been cleared in the UK’s longest-ever miscarriage of justice.
Peter Sullivan was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years in 1987 for the murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall in Bebington, Merseyside.
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Peter Sullivan’s conviction has been quashed
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He was jailed for murdering Diane
The loner, who was 29 at the time, has spent the past 38 years maintaining his innocent and is now appealing his conviction for a third time.
It comes after new tests ordered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission revealed his DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time.
His lawyers said that if his conviction is quashed, he would be the longest-serving victim of a miscarriage of justice in the UK.
The Crown Prosecution Service today told the Court of Appeal the new evidence is enough to cast “sufficient” doubt on the conviction.
It also agreed the fresh clue was “reliable” and that the CPS “does not seek to argue that this evidence is not capable of undermining the safety of Mr Sullivan’s conviction”.
Duncan Atkinson KC, for the CPS, said: “The respondent considers that there is no credible basis on which the appeal can be opposed, solely by reference to the DNA evidence.
“On the contrary, the DNA evidence provides a clear and uncontroverted basis to suggest that another person was responsible for both the sexual assault and the murder.
“As such, it positively undermines the circumstantial case against Mr Sullivan as identified at the time both of his trial and his 2021 appeal.”
Diane had just left her shift as a part-time barmaid at a pub in Bebington when her small blue van ran out of petrol.
She was making her way to a garage when she was beaten to death and sexually assaulted in a “frenzied” attack.
Her body was discovered partially clothed close to a grass verge.
Sullivan, who is watching the appeal from HMP Wakefield, was said to have spent the day of the murder drinking heavily.
Following his arrest in September 1986, he was quizzed 22 times and denied legal advice in the first seven interviews – despite requesting it.
Sullivan later “confessed to the murder” in an unrecorded interview a day after his arrest.
He then made a formal confession but the court was told this was “inconsistent with the facts established by the investigation“.
It also went against his earlier interviews, with Sullivan retracting the admission later that day.
Since his conviction, questions have been raised about whether he had proper legal representation during his interviews.
Evidence related to bite marks on Diane’s body has also been called into question.
At the time of the case, DNA technology was not available and subsequent requests for new tests were refused.
Sullivan first went to the CCRC for help in 2008 but they did not refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.
He then launched his own appeal bid in 2019, which judges dismissed after ruling the bite mark evidence was not central to the prosecution at trial.
In 2021, Sullivan went back to the CCRC and raised concerns over police interviews, the bite mark evidence and the murder weapon.
The independent body revealed Sullivan’s DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time.
This led Merseyside Police to confirm they were “carrying out an extensive investigation in a bid to identify who the new DNA profile belongs to”.
The force revealed they had no matches on the police database but were contacting people previously identified in the original probe to request new samples.
Sullivan’s barrister Jason Pitter KC today told the court that Diane’s murder was “a grotesque offence”.
But he argued that the evidence could not now pass “the threshold with which a prosecution could take place”.
While he accepted that improvements in science and the “passage of time” had “significantly assisted” Sullivan’s position, the new DNA evidence showed the killer “was not the defendant”.
He also explained the bite mark evidence, which the prosecution claimed matched Sullivan, was no longer viewed as reliable evidence of identification in criminal cases.
Mr Pitter told the court “significant admissions” and “incriminating statements” made by Sullivan at the time of the killing were “inherently unreliable” due to his “vulnerability”.
He added: “The appellant was extremely vulnerable in an interrogative situation, because of his limited intellectual functioning, combined with his problems with self-expression, his disposition to acquiesce, to yield, to be influenced, manipulated and controlled and his internal pressure to speak without reflection and his tendency to engage in make-believe to an extreme extent.
“What he was saying was nonsense, in plain terms.”
It has been almost 3,150 days — more than 8½ years — since Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. On Tuesday, she finally gets to testify against the suspects.
By the fall of 2016, the Kim Kardashian West train had been speeding through the celebrity landscape like a bullet for years, running down anyone in its way and leaving everyone else in the dust. She was everything everywhere all at once, all the time. She had been married, then divorced, then hadbabies, then got married again. She broke the internet. And that fame train seemed destined to circle the globe in perpetuity.
Then came Paris Fashion Week. What could go wrong?
In the early-morning hours of Oct. 3, 2016, the Kim K. train suddenly derailed: A party of men entered Kardashian’s two-story Paris pad, armed with guns and zip ties and hunting for jewels. Specifically, Kardashian’s jewels, which she had flaunted on social media.
What happened in the Paris apartment?
Shortly after 2 a.m. local time, Kardashian was reportedly lying in bed clad only in a robe when she heard people stomping up the stairs in her two-story apartment at the Hôtel de Pourtalès. It turned out the men had been directed there by the night concierge, who said he had been threatened at gunpoint. She caught a glimpse of two of the guys, rolled off the bed and tried to call her bodyguard before her phone was taken from her.
Her wrists were zip-tied and duct-taped, and she was grabbed by the ankles — at which point, she told the police, she thought she was going to be raped. Instead, her assailants bound her ankles with duct tape and carried her to the bathtub, as Kardashian screamed for them to take her money and jewelry but please spare her life, because she was at that point the mother of two children.
The men did not speak English but kept saying, “Ring, ring,” she told police. After Kardashian told them where to find the massive diamond — a recent gift from then-husband Kanye West that she had been showing off on social media — they duct-taped her mouth.
Kardashian was left lying helplessly on the bathroom floor as the robbers left with their haul. A friend who was staying in a downstairs bedroom heard the commotion and called the reality star’s bodyguard, who had been out with her sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner at a club nearby and quickly returned to the hotel.
Did people believe Kardashian’s story?
The internet-posting public did not believe her, at least at first. Self-styled pundits immediately suggested she had staged the whole thing for publicity — as if she couldn’t get that on her own simply by waking up and snapping a selfie. The reality star quickly sued MediaTakeout.com for libel after it said she made up the story, lied about the assault and filed a fraudulent insurance claim. Police, meanwhile, quickly dismissed the notion that Kardashian was lying because she was so badly shaken up, but seriously investigated whether it was an inside job. (The night concierge and the bodyguard are slated to testify at trial.)
The libel lawsuit was settled within weeks, CNN reported, with the website issuing a retraction and acknowledging that Kardashian had in fact been robbed at gunpoint.
When did authorities arrest and charge the suspects?
Arrests came Jan. 10, 2017, when 17 people were taken into custody in multiple raids around Paris. Kardashian’s chauffeur was among those arrested, but he was released after questioning. By 2021, the suspects had been narrowed to 12 people who were slated to stand trial. One suspect, however, has died since being questioned, and another has been excused from the trial because he is 81 and has advanced Alzheimer’s, the BBC reported.
In fact, French media has been referring to the main suspects as the Grandpa Robbers, due to their advanced ages — the eldest defendant is 78. They didn’t really know who Kardashian was at the time of the robbery but were reportedly told she was “a rapper’s wife.” Ten suspects remain on the hook, including one woman. Of those, five went into Kardashian’s apartment during the robbery. The rest are accused of aiding and abetting.
What have the suspects been doing since then?
One suspect, Yunice Abbas, told a French outlet in 2022 that since Kardashian “was throwing money away, I was there to collect it, and that was that. Guilty? No, I don’t care. I don’t care.”
Now 71, Abbas, one of two suspects whose DNA was found at the crime scene, has said he plans to apologize when he’s in court. He also says he was unarmed and acted as a lookout on the ground floor of the hotel.
“I saw one of her shows where she threw her diamond in the pool in that episode of ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians,’” he told Vice in 2022. “I thought, ‘She’s got a lot of money. This lady doesn’t care at all.’”
The alleged mastermind behind the plot, Aomar Ait Khedache, wrote an apology letter to Kardashian from prison in 2017, saying he regretted his actions and realized the psychological damage he caused. “Old Omar” has admitted tying up Kardashian but denies being the brains behind the operation.
The other suspects, including Ait Khedache’s son Harminy, have maintained their innocence.
What happened to the jewelry?
About $6 million worth of jewelry was stolen, or maybe it was $10 million worth, depending on which of the many accounts can be trusted. Kardashian and ex-husband Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, reportedly submitted insurance claims worth $5.6 million. In the 8½ years since the robbery, only one piece has been recovered: a diamond cross on platinum that the suspects lost as they escaped on bicycles. Its value was estimated at just over $33,000, per Vanity Fair.
An 18.8-carat diamond ring — which was a gift to Kardashian from Ye — a yellow-gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, seven Cartier and Hermès bracelets and three gold-and-diamond grills were all in the haul, VF reported. Anything that was unique, like the stone in that diamond ring, has likely been broken down into pieces and resold, a jewelry-theft expert told People in 2016.
What happens next?
Kardashian is set to testify in Paris on Tuesday afternoon — around 5 a.m. in California. She will be questioned first by the judge, according to the New York Post, then by her attorneys, then by the prosecutors, and finally by the defendants’ attorneys.
In mid-April, a Kardashian attorney confirmed to the AP that she would testify at the trial, which started April 28 and is scheduled to run until May 23. But until she appears on the stand, the statement said, the reality mogul is “reserving her testimony for the court and jury and does not wish to elaborate further at this time.”
FORMER Manchester United chief Tom Keane has lifted the lid on the club’s record-breaking 2022 summer transfer window.
Keane was their head of negotiations as they splurged a club high of £225million on six new signings.
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Tom Keane has lifted the lid on Man Utd’s summer 2022 transfer businessCredit: @WeAreTheOverlap
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Antony was bought in a mega £85m deal
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The purchase of Casemiro cost a whopping £70mCredit: Getty
In Erik ten Hag’s first window at the Old Trafford he bought Antony (£85m), Casemiro (£70m), Lisandro Martinez (£57m), Tyrell Malacia (£13m), Christian Eriksen (free) and Martin Dubravka (loan).
Keane, who was only at United on a temporary basis for six months, played a huge role in talks and even flew to Spain to complete the Casemiro deal.
Opening about where it went wrong that summer, Keane told The Overlap: “There were a couple of challenges. One of the biggest was everyone was new.
“I’d just walked through the door, the manager came in in May, John Murtough had been at the club a while but had just become football director, Richard Arnold had just become CEO and there was a new head of data.
“The way it would normally work is the transfer window shuts and in September they start planning for the following summer.
“What happened for us that summer, I think because of circumstances, the work started in May.
“It felt like we did a year’s work in 12 to 16 weeks.
“I literally lived at the training ground and I didn’t see my family, which was fine as I knew what I was getting myself into and it was part of the experience.
“The budget side of it, the finance department had oversight of everything that was going on to ensure the club was remaining compliant with its PSR obligations.
“In terms of negotiations, the process was really detailed and it had to be.
Ruben Amorim vows to QUIT Man Utd if horror slump continues as dejected boss identifies ‘most dangerous thing’ at club
“Big sums of money, so the stakes are high and with football players you are signing humans.
“You can’t guarantee anything and all the work is trying to minimise risk. You’re trying to improve the chances of the signing being a success.”
All those involved in that transfer window like Ten Hag, Murtough and Arnold have since left the club.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has built his own team that involves CEO Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox.
By Ron Chernow Penguin Press: 1,200 pages, $45 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
Mark Twain was America’s first celebrity, a multiplatform entertainer loved and recognized all over the world. Fans from America to Europe to Australia bought his books and flocked to his one-man shows, and his potent doses of humor and hard truth enthralled both the highborn and the humble. After he died, his work lived on through his novels, and his influence has endured — this year’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “James” by Percival Everett, reverses the roles of the main characters in Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” replacing the narration of the teenaged Huck with that of the slave Jim.
Ron Chernow writes books about men of great ambition ranging from President Ulysses S. Grant to financier J.P. Morgan — his biography of Alexander Hamilton inspired the long-running Broadway musical — and is an expert chronicler of fame’s highs and lows. But in taking on Twain’s story, he signed on for a wild ride. Twain was both a brilliant writer who exposed America’s hypocrisies with humor and wit, and an angry man who savored revenge, nursed grudges and blamed God for the blows fate rained down on his head. “What a bottom of fury there is to your fun,” said Twain’s friend, the novelist William Dean Howells.
Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835, Twain grew up in the slaveholding community of Hannibal, Mo., a town he would immortalize in “Huckleberry Finn” and its prequel, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” The restless young man drifted from one job to another, then found his first calling as a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi, an experience that would inform Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi” and other books. The river gave him his pen name (the phrase “mark twain” indicated a safe water depth) and inflicted an early blow in the loss of his younger brother: encouraged by Twain, Henry Clemens signed on to a riverboat crew, then died when the boat exploded. Twain blamed himself.
Twain’s river idyll ended with the Civil War. Traffic dried up, and to escape conscription into the Confederate Army, Twain headed west with his brother Orion to the Nevada territory. He reveled in the rambunctious disorder of its mining towns, and as a young reporter there he uncorked his ebullient sense of humor. His literary career began in earnest when he moved to San Francisco, and helped by California writers such as Bret Harte, he went national when in 1865 a New York newspaper picked up his story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Twain moved east, and his career took off like a rocket.
On a travel junket that inspired his first book, “Innocents Abroad,” Twain saw a portrait of his future wife, Olivia “Livy” Langdon. He fell for her image and contrived to meet her, and despite Twain’s many eccentricities, her distinguished family accepted him. They married, and their life in Hartford, Conn., padded by Livy’s family wealth, was a gracious dream, as the greatest of Twain’s age — Grant, Robert Louis Stevenson, Helen Keller — sought his company. But tragedy struck again: their first child, a son, died at 18 months.
The couple had three more children — daughters — and Livy’s seemingly bottomless wealth supported him. She edited his manuscripts, ran his household and smoothed his rough edges. But the couple’s Achilles’ heel was their shared taste for luxury. They routinely lived beyond their means, running up bills even as Twain, a reckless investor with terrible business sense, gambled with both his publishing earnings and her inheritance.
Throughout it all, he kept writing. The most enduring of Twain’s books is “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” published Stateside in 1885 when Twain was 49, the story of a runaway boy and an escaped slave who flee down the Mississippi River. A sequel to Twain’s comic novel “Tom Sawyer,” it penetrated the dark heart of Hannibal’s savage treatment of Black people. Chernow writes that “if Tom Sawyer offered a sunlit view of antebellum Hannibal, in ‘Huck Finn’ Twain delved into the shadows. As he dredged up memories anew, he now perceived a town embroiled in slavery.”
Ron Chernow has previously authored biographies on historical figures including Ulysses S. Grant and Alexander Hamilton.
(Beowulf Sheehan)
“Huck Finn” was the apotheosis of Twain’s gift for truth-telling, as he exposed the sadistic oppression of Black people and made the slave Jim the hero. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the book has been banned for its use of a racial slur, but Chernow makes a strong case for the book’s significance, buttressed by “James” author Everett’s summation: “Anyone who wants to ban Huck Finn hasn’t read it.”
Twain’s book sales failed to balance the household budget, and the family had to move to Europe to curtail expenses, the beginning of years of exile. Their departure from America was the end of a dream and the beginning of a nightmare. Twain’s daughter Susy, who had remained in America, died of bacterial meningitis at age 24. Then Livy died. Her loss unleashed Twain’s anger at pitiless fate, and his relationships with his two surviving daughters became increasingly estranged. “Ah, this odious swindle, human life,” he swore, after his daughter Jean endured a major epileptic seizure.
“In most lives there arrives a mellowing, a lovely autumnal calm that overtakes even the stormiest personalities,” Chernow writes. “In Twain’s case, it was exactly the reverse: his emotions intensified, his indignation at injustice flared ever more hotly, his rage became almost rabid.” He continued to write and make appearances, drawing huge crowds, honing his image as a white-suited, cigar-chomping seer. But he also became self-indulgent and self-isolating, assisted by a poorly paid helper, Isabel Lyon, who took over most aspects of his life, an arrangement that was a prescription for disaster. His main companions were his “angelfish,” prepubescent girls he arranged to keep company with (Chernow makes a strong case that there was no sexual abuse in this arrangement), but his retreat into a second childhood couldn’t shield him from the final, catastrophic family loss that came shortly before his own death.
The downward trajectory of Twain’s life shadows his story in elements of Greek tragedy. Twain was a cauldron of creativity and often courage, speaking for Black equality and the suffrage movement, and against anti-Chinese harassment, colonialism and kings. But in his final years, he allowed grief and bitterness to swamp his life, and one wonders at how such a brilliant man could have such little understanding of himself. At 1,200 pages, this is not a book for the casual reader, and Chernow never quite gets to the core of the contradictions in Twain’s conflicted soul. But he tells the whole story, in all its glory and sorrow.
“Mark Twain” is a masterful exploration of the magnificent highs and unutterable lows of an American literary genius. Twain himself once said that “Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of a man — the biography of the man himself cannot be written.” But this one feels like the truth of one man’s star-crossed life.
Gwinn, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who lives in Seattle, writes about books and authors.
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