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Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to appear in court in the Bahamas on Monday to reverse his decision to contest extradition to the United States, where he faces fraud charges, a person familiar with the matter said on Saturday. The 30-year-old cryptocurrency mogul was indicted in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday and accused of engaging in a scheme to defraud FTX customers by using billions of dollars in stolen deposits to pay for expenses and debts and to make investments for his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC.

A UK white supremacist could be extradited to the US for posting a series of vile videos that “encouraged and in part motivated” Buffalo mass shooter Peyton Gendron, a court was told. Daniel Harris, 19, was found guilty Tuesday of encouraging terrorism with the videos that called for an armed insurrection and glorified racist mass murderers, Derbyshire police said. Prosecutor Joe Allman told the court that the videos “encouraged and in part motivated” fellow teen Gendron, then 18, who killed 10 black Tops shoppers in May, the Times of London said. Gendron — who pleaded guilty to the mass shooting...

London (CNN)UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has signed an order to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, where he faces espionage charges, in a decision his organization said marked a "dark day for press freedom."A London court issued a formal extradition order back in April, leaving Patel to rubber-stamp his transfer to the US after a years-long legal battle.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is one step closer to facing espionage charges in the US after a British judge formally approved his extradition. The case will go to Britain’s interior minister for a decision, and Assange, 50, still has legal avenues of appeal. A judge at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday issued the extradition order in a brief hearing, as Assange watched by video link from Belmarsh Prison. He stated his full name and date of birth. It is up to Home Secretary Priti Patel to decide whether to grant the extradition. The order comes after the UK Supreme...

A wealthy Russian businessman indicted in Boston late last year on hacking and insider trading charges could have access to documents and information about the 2016 election hacking in the U.S. Vladislav Klyushin was extradited to the U.S. from Switzerland late last month and charged with overseeing a multinational scam that pried privileged documents that companies were filing with U.S. regulators before they were public, then trading on the information. Among his employees, and also named in the indictment, is Ivan Yermakov – who was among a dozen Russian military intelligence officers former special counsel Robert Mueller indicted in 2018...

Julian Assange has had a stroke in Belmarsh Prison, his fiancee Stella Moris revealed last night. The WikiLeaks publisher, 50, who is being held on remand in the maximum-security jail while fighting extradition to America, was left with a drooping right eyelid, memory problems and signs of neurological damage. He believes the mini-stroke was triggered by the stress of the ongoing US court action against him, and an overall decline in his health as he faces his third Christmas behind bars.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - One of the key witnesses for the prosecution in the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Icelandic national Sigurdur Thordarson, was arrested in his home country over sexual misconduct involving minors, the local Stundin newspaper reported, citing his lawyer. On September 24, Thordarson, who has been charged with sex crimes against minors, was sent to Litla Hraun, the most secure prison in Iceland, the media said. Thordarson's lawyer, Hunbogi Andersen, confirmed the arrest. In 2019, the US Justice Department announced new accusations against Assange, and a former FBI informer, Thordarson, was presented as the main witness. The...

A British appellate court opened the door Friday for Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States by overturning a lower court’s decision that the WikiLeaks founder’s mental health was too fragile to withstand the American criminal justice system. (Snip) U.S. authorities have told British judges that if Assange is extradited for prosecution, he would be eligible to serve any U.S. prison sentence he receives in his native Australia. The authorities also said he wouldn’t be held at the supermax penitentiary in Colorado, the highest-security prison in the United States.

We now know the name of the Chinese defector who has been working with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for a few months and what his position within the Chinese military and government was, among other details.Matthew Brazil and Jeff Stein at Spy Talk reported on the “rumor,” and gave the name and background of the rumored defector:Chinese-language anti-communist media and Twitter are abuzz this week with rumors that a vice minister of State Security, Dong Jingwei (董经纬) defected in mid-February, flying from Hong Kong to the United States with his daughter, Dong Yang.Dong is, or was, a longtime official...

Otto Warmbier’s mother pleads with the judge to stop the Biden-approved extradition. A former U.S. Marine faces extradition to Spain for breaking into the North Korean embassy in Madrid to help a diplomat defect. It appears Biden’s administration is aiding in this process, despite concerns that North Korea plans retribution for this move. Christopher Ahn, 40, faces his final extradition hearing in federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Two years ago, he was freed on $1.3million bail but was forced to serve home confinement ahead of his possible extradition to Spain. The US government is working to extradite Ahn...

Democrats are openly discussing arresting and extraditing Donald Trump from Florida to New York as part of a multi-pronged strategy to derail him if he decides to run for president again. Should former President Trump be indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. while staying at Mar-a-Lago, officials in Palm Beach, Fla., are reportedly considering a course of action. Vance, by the way, lets almost every criminal out of jail in New York, but of course Republicans are treated differently. ... According to Politico, law enforcement officials in the town have discussed how to handle possible extradition if Trump...

PALM BEACH MAKES CONTINGENCY PLANS IN CASE TRUMP IS INDICTED — Law enforcement officials in Palm Beach County, Fla., have actively prepared for the possibility that Manhattan District Attorney CY VANCE could indict former President DONALD TRUMP while he’s at Mar-a-Lago, according to two high-ranking county officials involved in planning sessions...

Several years ago, I was the sponsor for a guy going through conversion from what he was (in a religious sense) to Catholic. He wasn’t just any guy; he was a very senior CIA officer who has frequently appeared on television since he transitioned to think-tank denizen. The Rite of Christian Initiation as an Adult (RCIA) experience builds a bond between sponsor and candidate/catechumen that often goes beyond religious conversations. On one occasion, we talked politics and foreign policy.What separates us from the Third World in our politics, he opined, are the twin concepts of peaceful transfer of power via...

The protest will go on as planned tomorrow against the coronavirus restrictions endorsed by the incoming Governor of Utah Republican Spencer Cox. The protest to be held as Cox's motorcade heads to an ampitheater in southern Utah for his inauguration... Court hearings for two Washington restaurants opened in spite of COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Democrat Governor Jay Inslee set for Tuesday... The British police crackdown on protests opposing the coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions in the country continued this weekend... British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushing tighter controls and restrictions in the coming weeks... Restrictions that have been imposed in the...

Cholo Abdi Abdullah is expected in federal court in New York later Wednesday A Kenyan man spent years training in the Philippines to conduct a 9/11-style attack against the United States, going through flight school and researching methods to get into the country and hijack a plane, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Cholo Abdi Abdullah was allegedly part of an al-Shabaab unit and taking orders directly from a commander in the African terror group -- one who was responsible for previously directing a deadly 2019 hotel attack in Nairobi, prosecutors said. "This chilling callback to the horrific attacks of September 11,...

An Illinois judge said he will decide late Friday afternoon whether a 17-year-old accused of killing two demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin, should be extradited across the border to stand trial on homicide charges. Defense lawyers had indicated before the hearing in Waukegan that they would call witnesses, including Kyle Rittenhouse’s mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, to try to block his extradition. But they called no one and said they had chosen instead to focus on legalities of the case. After hearing 45 minutes of arguments, Judge Paul Novak said he would issue a ruling by 5 p.m.

Attorneys for Kenosha shooting suspect Kyle Rittenhouse have filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to stop his extradition from Illinois to Wisconsin, arguing that moving the teen would violate his constitutional rights and endanger his life. "People have threatened Rittenhouse’s life and offered bribes in exchange for information about his location in custody," the petition reads. "People have encouraged fellow inmates to kill Rittenhouse and have offered bounties." The 17-year-old, of Antioch, Ill., is accused of fatally shooting two White men and injuring a third during a violent night of protests on Aug. 25. The protest was...

A teenager accused of shooting three people during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday will remain in Illinois for now after a judge delayed his extradition on Friday.The public defender representing Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, asked for the hearing to be delayed.The judge agreed, pushing the extradition hearing until Sept. 25.Rittenhouse, who waived his right to appear, plans to hire a private attorney, a Lake County, Illinois, spokesman told reporters outside the courthouse.Lin Wood, an attorney, said Friday morning that John Pierce has been engaged to defend Rittenhouse, with assistance from local lawyers and public defenders. The group...

The UK has suspended an extradition treaty with Hong Kong following the imposition of controversial new security laws on the territory by China. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced the "necessary and proportionate" measure in a statement to the House of Commons on Monday. The UK will also extend to Hong Kong the arms embargo it has applied to mainland China since 1989, Mr Raab said. "The extension of this embargo will mean there will be no exports from the UK to Hong Kong of potentially lethal weapons, their components or ammunition," the foreign secretary told MPs. "It will also mean...

Donald Trump has called for the extradition of a former MI6 agent who was behind a controversial dossier about his alleged links to Russia. Christopher Steele, now a director of Orbis Business Intelligence, was responsible for the 'dirty dossier' published in 2016 that alleged Russian influence over President Trump. The Steele Dossier contained allegations of collusion between Mr Trump's US presidential campaign and the Kremlin, which have been denied by both parties. On Wednesday, Orbis was ordered to pay compensation to two Russian businessmen that had complained about data protection breaches including inaccuracies in the dossier relating to them. Taking...