Category World News

Federal prosecutors in the United States have charged 20 people, including 15 former college basketball players, in what they call a betting scheme to rig National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) games.

Of the defendants, 15 played basketball for Division 1 NCAA schools as recently as the 2024-2025 season.

The other five defendants were described by authorities as fixers.

They include two men who prosecutors said on Thursday worked in the training and development of basketball players. Another was a trainer and former coach, one was a former NCAA player and two were described as gamblers, influencers and sports handicappers.

Some individuals were previously charged ⁠in an NBA-related gambling probe.

The charges, including bribery in ‍sporting contests and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, were unsealed ​by federal prosecutors in Philadelphia. They accuse the defendants of conspiring to fix games from about September 2022 through February 2025.

During the 2022-2023 CBA season, ‍the individuals ⁠sought to “fix” men’s basketball games by “point shaving”, prosecutors alleged in the documents filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Point shaving is a form of cheating in which individuals try ​to manipulate the margin of victory.

Some ‌of those charged allegedly sought to target games at Nicholls State University, Tulane University, Northwestern State University, La Salle University, DePaul ‌University, Robert Morris University, University of Southern Mississippi and North Carolina A&T ‌State University.

Players at Kennesaw State ⁠University, Coppin State University, University of New Orleans, Abilene Christian University, Eastern Michigan and Alabama State University were also targeted as part ‌of the scheme, according to the indictment.

In the 70-page indictment, authorities said the fixers recruited the college basketball players with “bribe payments” usually ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.

The indictment follows a series of NCAA investigations that led to at least 10 players receiving lifetime bans this year for bets that sometimes involved their own teams and their own performances. And the NCAA has said at least 30 players have been investigated over gambling allegations.

An appeals court panel in the United States has moved to dismiss a petition by Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil challenging his detention and deportation, handing a boost to the administration of President Donald Trump.

In a two-to-one ruling on Thursday, the judges concluded that the federal court that ordered Khalil’s release last year lacked jurisdiction over the matter.

The ruling potentially enables the re-arrest of Khalil, who missed the birth of his first child while he was detained by immigration authorities last year. But the order does not go into effect immediately, and Khalil has signalled that he plans to appeal.

“Today’s ruling is deeply disappointing, but it does not break our resolve,” Khalil said in a statement.

“The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability. I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”

The Palestinian activist, born in Syria and holding Algerian citizenship, is a lawful permanent resident and married to a US citizen.

Khalil, who was pursuing a graduate degree at Columbia University, is one of dozens of foreign students that the Trump administration has targeted for deportation over their criticism of Israel.

Rights advocates argue that the campaign violates US free speech rights to stifle criticism of a foreign nation.

Khalil’s case was advancing on two tracks: one in federal court through a habeas corpus petition, which argued that his detention was illegal, and another in the administrative immigration courts, which challenged his removal.

The appeals panel sided with the government’s argument that only the immigration courts had jurisdiction over the matter, in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

“Our holdings vindicate essential principles of habeas and immigration law,” the court said.

“The scheme Congress enacted governing immigration proceedings provides Khalil a meaningful forum in which to raise his claims later on—in a petition for review of a final order of removal. We will therefore VACATE and REMAND with instructions to dismiss Khalil’s habeas petition.”

United States President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke a rarely used federal law to deploy troops to the state of Minnesota, where protests are being held against two shootings in the city of Minneapolis within a week related to his immigration crackdown.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump wrote on social media on Thursday, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Trump posted the comment a day after a federal agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan ‍man in Minneapolis. The federal agent said two people attacked him with a shovel and broom handle as he wrestled with the Venezuelan, who the Trump administration said was in the US illegally.

Deadly shooting

The incident further stoked tensions a week after an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good, ⁠a US citizen, in her car in Minneapolis. The killing of the mother of three and the Trump administration’s depiction of her as a “domestic terrorist” sparked global outrage, leading to demonstrations across the US.

Smoke filled the streets of Minneapolis on Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks.

The US president has repeatedly threatened to use the Insurrection Act to deploy the US military or federalise the National Guard for domestic law enforcement over the objections of state governors.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the situation as not “sustainable”.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in, and at the same time, we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbours, to maintain order,” he said.

Frey described a federal force that is five times bigger than the city’s 600-officer police force as having “invaded” the city, scaring and angering residents, some of whom want the local officers to “fight ICE agents”.

At the same time, the police force is still responsible for their day-to-day work to keep the public safe.

Thousands of arrests

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it has made more than 2,000 arrests in Minnesota since early December and is promising to not back down.

The ‍DHS accused Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, both Democrats, of encouraging resistance to ICE with “hateful rhetoric”, a contention Frey rejected.

Disputing accusations of misconduct, DHS has said its agents have increasingly been subjected to assaults while trying to find and detain immigration violators.

Speaking at a news conference alongside Frey, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara urged crowds he described as “engaging in unlawful acts” near the shooting scenes to disperse.