Category World News

In a contentious case brought forth by US President Donald Trump, New York Attorney General Letitia James has entered a not-guilty plea to federal mortgage fraud charges.

After the Trump administration accused her of fabricating a property investment to obtain better loans, James appeared in court for the first time on Friday.

A maximum sentence of 30 years in prison is served on two counts of bank fraud and false statements to financial institutions.

A federal court in Norfolk, Virginia held her hearing on Friday. James responded, “Not guilty, judge, to both counts,” when asked for her plea.

On January 26, her trial is scheduled to start.

After leaving the courtroom, James addressed the audience and criticized President Trump’s use of the legal system against his political rivals.

After former FBI director James Comey and former national security adviser John Bolton, who both face criminal charges in the past month, is Trump’s critic.

“This is not my concern,” The audience outside the courtroom was greeted by James as it was about all of us and a justice system that had been harmed, a justice system that had been used as a tool of retribution.

She reaffirmed her belief that justice will prevail by paraphrasing the Bible.

“Today, there is no fear.” She chanted, leading the audience in a chant, “No fear, no fear.” Because I think righteousness will flow down like water and justice will flow like a powerful stream.

A grand jury earlier this month indicted her.

President Trump has long been the attorney general’s target since his first term, stretching back decades.

She called Trump an “illegitimate president” when she ran for her position as New York’s top prosecutor in 2018.

In her capacity as attorney general, she successfully brought a civil lawsuit against Trump, alleging that he defrauded investors and banks by significantly overstating his assets.

A judge initially ordered Trump to pay $ 35 million in damages as a result of the case in February 2024, but that amount has since been disregarded as excessive.

Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has characterized that incident as politically motivated along with the others he has been in.

Critics feared that Trump might use the authority in his post to exact retribution against his alleged adversaries when he won a second term in January.

He made a public request on September 20 for the Department of Justice to prosecute James, Comey, and California Senator Adam Schiff, who has not yet been charged.

In a message to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump wrote, “We can’t delay any longer, because it’s destroying our reputation and credibility.” “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED NOW!” “!

On September 25, Comey was charged five days later.

A veteran prosecutor named Erik Siebert was fired shortly before the indictments after he allegedly questioned the merits of the Comey and James cases.

Lindsey Halligan, a former White House aide in the Trump administration without any prior experience as a federal prosecutor, took his place.

Halligan’s appointment will be challenged by James’ attorneys, according to their statements. For a high-ranking US attorney, Halligan signed the indictments against both James and Comey, which is a fairly unusual occurrence.

The allegations in Friday’s case center on James’ purchase of a Virginia home. James claimed she would use the house as a secondary residence, but the Trump Department of Justice argued that she did so on a rented out instead.

According to the prosecution, that made it possible for her to get a mortgage rate that was better.

Two people were killed in a drone strike by Israelis near the southern Lebanon town of Toul, and a different attack targeted a bulldozer in Khiam. Despite a cease-fire, the Israeli military claims to be attacking Hezbollah fighters and weapons installations.

When the road is struck by the rubber.

According to Keegan Stephan, a 41-year-old former Occupy Wall Street organiser, Mamdani’s victory must depend on how the candidate leads the sprawling force of more than 36, 000 uniformed officers with annual budgets that can exceed $11 billion.

Stephan, a former civil rights attorney in New York, explained how overpolicing makes more arrests for low-level crimes, particularly in Black and brown neighborhoods.

He claimed that this increases the likelihood of undocumented individuals being targeted by federal agents by being funneled into the legal system.

According to Stephan, “the only way to actually oppose Trump and federal law enforcement is to stop the NYPD from overpolicing communities of color itself.”

Mamdani made a clear decision regarding how he would interact with the police, and on Tuesday announced that Jessica Tisch would be his choice for the top police officer under Adams. &nbsp,

Stephan wasn’t happy with that choice.

According to Stephan, “I find it incongruous for a Mamdani-type politician to appoint the same police commissioner as Eric Adams, who advocates for a completely different kind of policing than Mamdani claims to.”

He cited Adams’ support for “quality of life” enforcement and the NYPD’s increased use of the “stop and frisk” tactic, both of which, under his leadership, raise arrest rates for low-level crimes in minority communities.

During Adams’ administration, complaints against NYPD officers grew to a 10-year high in 2024.

Tisch, according to him, has been responsible for a real rise in low-level offences, which have been statistically proven to target communities of color and impoverished people. I worry that she may be a hindrance to making those changes because it seems very contrary to Mamdani’s vision of policing in the city.

In terms of police reform and political protest in the city, Mamdani’s message is “significantly better” than Cuomo, Sliwa, or Adams, according to Stephan.

The candidate wants to see the establishment of a $1 billion Department of Community Safety to handle non-criminal calls, including those involving homelessness and mental illness.

He has also pushed for a change in the police commissioner’s power to give the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) ultimate authority over police discipline. Additionally, he has stated that he will end the Strategic Response Group, a police force that has a history of using excessive force against protesters.

The NYPD’s personnel would have an enormous amount of influence if Mamdani chose to lead the department, given its enormous power, which maintains its own political might despite being under the mayor’s control.

Who: Liverpool vs. Brentford
What: English Premier League
Where: Brentford Community Stadium in London, United Kingdom
When: Saturday at 8pm (19:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 5pm (16:00 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.

Liverpool’s four-game losing streak was ended on Tuesday when they came from behind to win at Eintracht Frankfurt, but Brentford’s continued Premier League dominance will likely put the title defense under serious pressure.

When fierce rivals Manchester United defeated the Reds 2-1 at home on Sunday, their fourth straight defeat, three of which came in the league, was a 2-1 defeat.

Brentford, who had already put pressure on United with a 3-1 home win on September 27, have had a mixed season in comparison to their impressive recent performances following their long-awaited top flight debut.

The selection of Liverpool’s mercurial Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah will be the favorite to win three points, but Brentford Community Stadium in West London is rarely an easy place to visit.

Our featured Premier League game on Saturday is examined more closely by Al Jazeera Sport:

What has been Isak’s most recent status at Liverpool?

Alexander Isak’s poor start to his Liverpool career was compounded by a groin injury in the Champions League victory in Frankfurt.

At the halftime of the 5-1 victory, the Sweden striker, who was signed from Newcastle for a British record fee of 125 million pounds ($170m) at the end of the summer transfer window, was withdrawn.

After right back Jeremie Frimpong fell off midway through the first half due to a hamstring issue, this was Liverpool’s second injury of the night.

After training with the main Newcastle squad in the offseason while battling for a move to Liverpool, Isak has been improving his match sharpness over the past few weeks. For his new club, he has only one goal in eight games in all competitions.

Given the player’s turbulent preseason, Slot stated last week that only now could be fairly evaluated.

The Liverpool manager said, “I hope it’s not that bad, but he had to go off because he felt his groin.” “Many people wanted me to play him more, and we needed to strike a balance, and sadly, today, that balance wasn’t exactly what we wanted to achieve. But let’s hope for the best.

Slot expressed concern about managing Isak’s playing time over the past month and how the striker’s recent international success strengthened his belief that he was prepared to string together starts.

The Dutchman claimed that when he arrived at the club, he had hardly trained. You bring him slowly forward, and then you realize there must be a time when he can play twice per week, and the first time we try, he did it with Sweden, he must go off.

You typically try to get players ready for once-a-week football, but if you’re Liverpool, you play three days or three times in eight days, but we’ve had a bad season this year. In a week, we must play three times.

We’ve made an effort to get that ready for him. He returned from the national team on Sunday after being rested, and we were extremely cautious. Although the margins at the top are small, we believed he was well-prepared for that.

Your Matchweek 9 menu is shown in the picture. twitter.com/u4TrziF6W9

Could Isak’s injury benefit Liverpool?

The Premier League’s most expensive player’s departure could actually aid Slot in discovering the winning formula to turn around Liverpool’s fortunes.

The Sweden attacker’s only goal has been scored since moving from Newcastle to second-place Southampton in the League Cup.

Isak was substituted at halftime in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 5-1 Champions League victory on Wednesday.

Liverpool quickly jumped into action in the second half thanks to Florian Wirtz playing his preferred role behind the striker and Hugo Ekitike returning as the center-forward.

Since making a 100-million-pound ($133m) transfer from Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz has had his first two assists. He has been dropped for the last two Premier League games.

Ekitike has started his side’s three Premier League defeats against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and United despite his impressive start, which includes five goals in 11 of his team’s 11 appearances with Liverpool.

The 23-year-old should have the opportunity to pursue his desired side despite Isak’s absence.

Should Salah be dropped from the EPL at Liverpool?

After the Liverpool forward’s barren run for the club stretched to six games, Slot said on Friday that Salah’s return is the “last thing” he is concerned about.

The Egyptian international was dropped from the starting lineup for Liverpool’s midweek victory in Frankfurt, where he has not scored a Premier League goal from open play since the season’s opening weekend.

He missed two important chances as the home team fought fervently for an equalizer in Liverpool’s defeat by Manchester United late in the match.

Slot claimed he had no idea why Salah, who won the Premier League’s Golden Boot last year, was struggling.

At his pregame press conference, he said, “Players miss chances, and Mo is a human being as well.”

“We’re used to him missing chances, let alone a few games in a row, but these things can happen,” he said.

The manager, however, expressed confidence that Salah, who has only scored two Premier League goals this season, would rediscover his prowess.

Mo starting to score goals once more, he said, is the last thing I worry about.

Because he has done that his entire life, and I anticipate that he will do that as well for our club in the coming weeks and months.

In the summer transfer window, Liverpool splashed out about 450 million pounds ($600m) on new players after winning the Premier League last year.

Dominik Szoboszlai, a midfielder, and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure from Real Madrid combined with other injuries have caused a number of different players to play right back.

Slot acknowledged that Salah, 33, who plays to the right of Liverpool’s attack, was taking time to adjust.

He has frequently been in promising positions, and he may have even scored more goals with Trent. He continued, “I don’t know.”

“But I believe that everyone in your squad needs to find new connections again in general, which is typical for every player, especially if you have a lot of changes in your squad over the summer.

Mo is not a case in point.

Head-to-head

The teams have only won once in their 24th meeting, with Brentford winning once and Liverpool winning 15 of the matches.

The Reds have won each of their previous four games.

news from the Brentford team

Antoni Milambo is still sidelined because of an ACL issue, while Aaron Hickey is out with a knee injury. Josh Dasilva recently left the team, but he will also have a knee problem.

news from the Liverpool team

Due to hamstring issues, Jeremie Frimpong and Alisson Becker are both out of Brentford, and slot is keeping an eye on Isak and Midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.

Starting lineup for Brentford was anticipated

Kelleher, Collins, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg

Starting line-up for Liverpool is anticipated