I hunted the men who secretly film their wives and share footage online

Angharad Thomas - BBC Wales
Mon, July 13, 2026 


Jess Davies investigates the hidden world of spycammers for a new BBC documentary [BBC/Rock Paper Productions]

Men secretly filmed their wives and girlfriends and posted footage online, before boasting about their recordings.

Others targeted strangers, with one hiding a camera on a walking route in the hope of catching women urinating.

In new BBC documentary Hunting the Spycammers, Jess Davies uncovers the dark online network of hidden cameras in bedrooms, bathrooms, changing rooms and other private spaces.

Charity Refuge reported a 78% rise in technology-facilitated abuse referrals, while Welsh Women's Aid said the scale of the problem is hard to quantify because most victims don't even know it's happening.

"What is really disturbing is how many of the perpetrators were filming and sharing content of people - mostly women - that were their loved ones," TV presenter Davies said.

"It really highlights how anyone can be targeted with this harm."

During her investigation, the 33-year-old discovered the range of cheap spycam technology available, such as cameras disguised as everyday objects such as pens, air fresheners and plugs.

The topic is personal to Davies, who grew up in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, as she was 15 when images of her in her underwear were shared around her town.

She had exchanged photos with a boy she fancied, and he had forwarded them on to others without her consent.

Jess Davies says it "feels like these women are being hunted down and preyed upon" [BBC]

"It felt so extremely violating, to think someone you cared for could do this to me. It makes you feel worthless," she said.

"Seeing similar images of other victims shared in the forum that we infiltrated brought those feelings of betrayal back and made me question where my image ended up.

"Could it have made its way to one of these forums?"

Davies said some dismiss the impact of such actions as harmless or "just banter".

She added: "For others, like the voyeurs we mention in our film, they felt if the victim never knew they were filmed without consent then there was no problem.

"It really highlights how dismissed online harms and image-abuse is.

"Behind each image or video is a person who has to live with that betrayal for the rest of their life."

For the documentary, Davies teamed up with investigative journalist Liam Connell, who has previously infiltrated secretive online networks.

They gained access to a voyeur website - a hub from which users link to encrypted chat groups - and uncovered people openly exchanging tips on secretly filming people and boasting about their recordings.

"It's a never-ending cycle of mass distribution of non-consensual content of women," she said.

"It feels like these women are being hunted down and preyed upon."

Jess Davies was shocked by much of what she found [BBC/Rock Paper Productions]

Davies also confronted the owner of the forum they infiltrated.

She said: "He told us he regularly checks content and takes down non-consensual content, but looking at the evidence we'd found, it seemed little thought had gone into the long-lasting harm this content has on the victims.

"It felt as if the people who had been filmed without their consent had been totally overlooked and dismissed, their consent wasn't needed.

"In fact, it was the lack of consent which motivated many of the spycammers."

Davies hopes the documentary raises awareness of the harm caused by hidden spy cameras and reinforces that abuses of privacy and "consent should never be normalised".
Privacy and safety

In the UK, filming someone is not automatically a crime.

For example, in public spaces, people are often allowed to film what is visible to them.

Secret recording becomes a crime for a number of reasons, including if it is voyeurism, takes place in an area where the person being filmed can expect privacy, or is done to cause harassment or alarm.

Domestic abuse charity Refuge is calling for tougher regulation of hidden surveillance devices and better police training to identify and investigate their use.

"What is especially worrying is how accessible and affordable these devices are, allowing more perpetrators to weaponise them as a form of control," said its policy and public affairs manager Bo Bottomley.

It has seen a 78% rise in referrals for cases of technology-facilitated abuse in the last year.

But the charity said nearly every survivor it supports has experienced some form of technology-facilitated abuse, and there has been a rise in reports of hidden cameras and microphones being used in homes.

A spokesperson from Welsh Women's Aid said "this form of covert surveillance can strip away a person's sense of privacy and safety".

The charity warned that the harm extends far beyond the initial recording, with shared images and videos having a devastating impact on survivors' lives and leaving many feeling unsafe, even in their own homes.

"This form of abuse is particularly challenging to quantify. Many survivors will not be aware that this is happening to them," they added.

It called on tech companies to act quickly to remove shared spycam footage and provide information to police to help identify those responsible.

The UK government has been asked for comment.

Hunting the Spycammers will be available on the BBC's YouTube channels and the BBC iPlayer on Wednesday 15 July

Young Australian men falling victim to online sexual extortion: regulator

AFP
Mon, July 13, 2026 


Australia's eSafety Commissioner received over 2,200 complaints in the six months to December about sexual extortion (Saeed KHAN)

Young men and boys are being targeted for sexual extortion on social media platforms, Australia's online watchdog said Tuesday, finding "significant gaps" in how tech companies deal with the problem.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner received more than 2,200 complaints in the six months to December about sexual extortion, in which criminals trick victims into sharing intimate images before demanding money and threatening to expose them to family and friends.

The biggest group falling victim was men aged 18 to 24 years old, with 803 complaints received from this cohort.

Children under 15 were also falling prey, with 186 complaints received from boys and 58 complaints from girls.

Instagram and WhatsApp were the social media platforms most often named in the sexual extortion complaints, with TikTok the service identified by more children as the platform where contact with the abuser began, the report said.

The report highlighted the experience of 16-year-old "Sam", who came into contact with fraudster "Jessica" while scrolling Instagram.

Sam was next lured to the private messaging service WhatsApp and asked to share a nude photo.

Seconds later, he was told to pay $200, with the suggestion he steal it from his parents, or the photo would be sent to everyone he knew online.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the report showed there were "significant gaps" in how platforms protect users, and it was "vital" tech companies provide faster responses to victims reporting harm.

"The goal is often quick financial gain, with perpetrators using high-pressure tactics to force victims into paying. This form of extortion can cause high levels of stress, panic, psychological distress and financial loss," she said in a statement.

"In several cases, we have provided these platforms with evidence of how their services are being colonised by criminals to devastating impact, with clear guidance on how to stem the abuse. Even when we've laid this out, we haven't seen adequate responses, despite the technology being readily available."

The Australian regulator sees "the same kill chains, scripts and images being used across multiple sexual extortion scams, and platforms should be picking this up," she added.

The regulator said language analysis tools should be used by platforms to detect sexual extortion, however this is often prevented by encryption on private messaging services.

Meta said in March it would remove encryption on private messaging on Instagram.

kln/djw/abs

Australia finds serious gaps in Big Tech response to online child sexual abuse

Renju Jose
Mon, July 13, 2026 


FILE PHOTO: Social media apps are displayed on a mobile phone

A logo is displayed at the office of the eSafety Commissioner in Sydney

SYDNEY, July 14 (Reuters) - Big Tech companies, including Apple, Meta and Google, have "significant gaps" in tackling child sexual abuse and the growing threat of online sexual extortion, Australia's internet regulator said on Tuesday.

Online platforms are failing ‌to use available technologies that can identify well-known coercion scripts used by sexual extortion offenders, eSafety said in a transparency ‌report.

"In several cases, we have provided these platforms with evidence of how their services are being colonised by criminals to devastating impact, with clear guidance on how to ​stem the abuse," said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.

"Even when we've laid this out, we haven't seen adequate responses, despite the technology being readily available."

Google, Meta, Snap, Microsoft and Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

The latest report comes after the government introduced legislation in June to give eSafety more power to pursue tech giants in court for failing to comply with its ban on social media for under-16s, escalating a ‌regulatory clash over how to protect children and ⁠teenagers online.

Australia was the first country in the world to impose such a ban with other countries including Britain and several European nations now taking similar measures.

Australia has also been raising concerns over the safety of ⁠children when they use chat and gaming platforms. In April, eSafety asked some online gaming platforms to detail how they protect children from grooming by sexual predators.

COERCIVE ONLINE SEXUAL EXTORTION

eSafety in 2024 directed eight technology platforms to report every six months on their compliance with Australia's "Basic Online Safety Expectations" rules, ​focusing ​on detecting and preventing child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The latest report, the third ​in a planned series of four, mainly focuses on ‌sexual extortion. The first report established a baseline for comparison, while the second raised concerns about companies' failure to proactively detect abuse content.

Sexual extortion is a form of online blackmail where perpetrators share, or threaten to share, intimate material unless their victims comply with their demands.

The regulator said it had received more than 2,000 complaints about sexual extortion between July and December 2025, with young men aged 18 to 24 most affected. An eSafety study last year found more than one in 10 teenagers aged 16-18 had been victims of sexual extortion, with ‌more than half of them being targeted before they were 16.

eSafety investigators found ​the same tactics were used in multiple sexual extortion scams but companies failed ​to detect them.

"Responses from the companies show there are serious ​gaps in the use of available technologies like language analysis that can identify well-known coercion scripts used by ‌sexual extortion offenders," the report said.

"Gaps in reporting tools ​also persist across services like WhatsApp, ​iMessage, Discord and Google Messages, with some services lacking clear, accessible ways for users to report sexual extortion or child abuse or failing to provide dedicated reporting categories for these harms."

Technology already exists to better detect livestreamed child sexual abuse but it ​is not being consistently deployed, the report said.

Some ‌improvements were noted, including Google and Snap taking steps to proactively detect known child sexual abuse material, Discord blocking ​links to abuse content, Meta using new tools to detect grooming and Microsoft detecting live abuse in video calls, the ​report said.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry)

German lawmakers urge Israel to ensure humane treatment of Gaza medics

DPA
Mon, July 13, 2026 

FILE PHOTO - A member of the International Committee of the Red Cross, assists Palestinian doctors at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, amid the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (is associated with: «German lawmakers urge Israel to ensure humane treatment of Gaza medics») Mohammed Talatene/dpa

Key takeaways

Nearly 50 German lawmakers have urged Israel to ensure humane treatment of Palestinian doctors from Gaza held in Israeli custody, expressing "great concern" over the detention of Hussam Abu Safiya, the former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.See more


Nearly 50 lawmakers from Germany's ruling Social Democrats (SPD) and opposition Green and The Left parties have urged Israel to ensure humane treatment of Palestinian doctors from Gaza held in Israeli custody.

In an open letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the lawmakers expressed "great concern" particularly over the detention of Hussam Abu Safiya, the former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

Abu Safiya had been held by Israel without charge since late 2024, according to German news outlet Der Spiegel.

Unless credible and legally verifiable charges are presented, those affected must be released immediately, the lawmakers wrote in the letter seen by dpa. They also called for Abu Safiya and other detained doctors to receive medical care without delay, and demanded that the allegations against them be made public and reviewed under the rule of law.

The letter was initiated by lawmakers from the SPD parliamentary group, including its foreign policy spokesman Adis Ahmetović and foreign affairs expert Isabel Cademartori, Der Spiegel reported.

Among the 48 signatories are former SPD parliamentary leader Rolf Mützenich, Left Party lawmakers Gregor Gysi and Jan van Aken and Green Party lawmaker Claudia Roth.

War and economic crisis complicate efforts to protect Iran’s rich but endangered wildlife

AMIR-HUSSEIN RADJY
Updated Mon, July 13, 2026 

This photo provided by AvayeBoom shows members of the organization interviewing residents to select a flagship species that symbolizes the local community in the Dasht-e Arjan plain, Fars province, Iran, in September 2022. (Mahsa Hashemi/AvayeBoom via AP)(AvayeBoom via AP)

This photo provided by AvayeBoom shows members of the organization conducting a waterbird and shorebird census in wetlands near the Caspian Sea in Mazandaran province, Iran, in January 2026. (AvayeBoom via AP)(AvayeBoom via AP)


This photo provided by AvayeBoom shows a female ruddy shelduck swimming in the wetlands of the Dasht-e Arjan plain, Fars province, Iran, in 2022. (Mohsen Shokrollahi/AvayeBoom via AP)(AvayeBoom via AP)


CAIRO (AP) — A few days after the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran, Reza Kiamarzi decided to trek into the mountains outside his home city of Isfahan in southern Iran. A veterinarian and researcher on birds of prey, his mission was to find nests of endangered falcons high up in the cliffs.

The bombardment during the war on Iran earlier this year coincided with the breeding season for Iran's cherished Saker and red-naped Shaheen falcons, some of the fastest flying birds in the world. He knew of two nests near military bases that had been struck, and he wanted to know if the explosions, vibrations and noise affected birds laying eggs or raising chicks.

"It's a long climb to the foot of the cliffs. And then we have to rock climb to reach the nests," Kiamarzi said.

War and a deepening economic crisis are adding further challenges for conservationists trying to preserve Iran's rich but endangered wildlife. For years, they have struggled with climate crises that threaten the country's fragile biodiversity, as well as economic pressures from decades of international sanctions.

Around two and a half times the size of Texas, Iran boasts an astounding diversity of life in its wide range of climates. Northern areas along the Caspian Sea are heavily forested and wet, while the Persian Gulf coast is dry and hot. In between, the country straddles two large mountain ranges: the Zagros and Alborz. Iran lies in a critical corridor and stopover for migratory birds between Eurasia and Africa, lending conservation efforts international importance.

At least 86 animal species in the country are at risk of extinction, including the Asiatic cheetah, Persian fallow deer, brown bear, leopard, black bear, Persian onager, the great bustard and various birds of prey, according to a 2024 report by Iran's Environment Department.

"It's a big question how much longer we and other conservation NGOs can keep working. We're waiting every moment to see what happens," said Iman Ebrahimi, founder of AvayeBoom, a conservation group based in Isfahan whose name is Persian for "The Earth's Cry."

The war gave a shock to Iran's animal life

Kiamarzi, the veterinarian, said he succeeded in finding the falcon's nests, and the birds were still present. But he is still assessing his findings to determine the impact of the bombing on the falcons.

Smugglers have been the chief cause of declining falcon populations in Iran. Before the war, Iran's crashing currency — which has lost over half its value in the past year — spurred an illicit trade in these prized hunting birds, which are sold to Arab Gulf clients paying in valuable foreign currency, he said.

Ironically, in peacetime, military zones have been one of the few areas where falcons can breed safely. "It's a secure area no one dares get close to, not poachers and smugglers," he said.

U.S.-based Iranian wildlife expert Jamshid Parchizadeh says he fears U.S. and Israeli airstrikes targeting military facilities in desert and mountain sites have harmed habitats critical to endangered cheetahs and other predators.

"These strikes in far-flung places are causing habitat degradation. Definitely this causes water and land pollution, soil contamination, destruction of land cover," he said.

Parchizadeh, an expert on Iran's large carnivores, studied the habitats and causes behind declining populations of Asiatic cheetahs, Persian leopards and the brown bear before leaving Iran in 2022. He now works at Michigan's Department of Fisheries and Wildlife.

"Bombing causes wildlife disturbance for the bears, the leopards who live in the mountains – and that animal forever leaves that area from fear," he said.
Even before the war, habitats were threatened

Iran's water-scarce climate is highly fragile, Parchizadeh said. In the past 20 years, Iran's population has grown from roughly 73 million to over 93 million people, piling further pressure on scant water sources afflicted by decades of mismanagement and yearslong drought.

With the war, access to key wildlife sites on islands in the Persian Gulf has become all but impossible. Despite a preliminary deal to end the war, the U.S. and Iran have continued to trade fire around the strategic area, which hosts Iran's critical oil and energy industries.

"Unfortunately, two of the most important islands of the Persian Gulf for biodiversity are small islands along Iran's key oil islands," said AvayeBoom's Ebrahimi.

He pointed out there were reports an oil slick reached at least one site on the tiny uninhabited island of Shidvar, a critical breeding site for turtles and tens of thousands of birds.

Iran has an active conservation movement

Historically, Iran's culture had a deep connection with its wildlife. Carpet-weaving and traditional arts often featured animal motifs like the Persian lion, which has not been seen in the country in over 70 years.

Iran was one of the first countries in the world to form an environmental protection agency and established its Environment Department a year after the U.S. opened its own agency in 1970. But restrictions on development in protected areas — which are typically in poorer, rural areas — have often spurred tensions with locals.

The Arjan protected area, a vast territory encompassing important wetlands in the southern province of Fars, was set aside in the 1970s for a project to reintroduce the Persian lion into the wild. But authorities abandoned the project after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Residents of the village of Dasht-e Arjan complained that protection status was hampering the local economy, Ebrahimi said.

They are trying to rebuild the public's links to wildlife

Four years ago, AvayeBoom began a campaign to raise wildlife awareness among residents around Arjan, holding workshops and other activities with the community. For the face of the campaign, it chose the ruddy shelduck, a water fowl with vivid orange plumage that's well known among residents. A mural of the bird was painted in the street of a main town.

After the ceasefire in April, members of AvayeBoom returned to the village. They concluded that the campaign, including workshops and a street mural of the shelduck, had greatly increased recognition of the distinct bird and improved general environmental awareness.

"Despite the war, the majority of people considered the environment, the nearby wetlands they have and the wildlife there very important to them," said Fateme Kazemi, the CEO of AvayeBoom.
But security and the economy are weighing on them

Waves of anti-government protests in recent years and now the war have also led to tighter security restrictions. A wildlife photographer who studies birdlife on the Persian Gulf coast said she had stopped photographing out of security concerns in recent months.

"One of the real dangers for protecting the environment is people losing their connection with nature," she said, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of security fears. She said she plans to return to photographing soon, if the peace deal with the U.S. holds.

AvayeBoom, founded more than a decade ago in Isfahan, has carried out projects ranging across Iran's mountains, forests, deserts and vast wetlands.

But it relies on local funders who are being squeezed by Iran's currency crisis. Sanctions effectively bar Iranian NGOs from taking funding from international donors, Ebrahimi said.

"The first thing we are worried about is that the economic situation will make protecting the environment not a priority," he said.

But despite sanctions, security restrictions and war, he said, "our doors haven't closed and we've continued with our work."

Bruce Springsteen's ICE protest song 'Streets of Minneapolis' hits No. 1 worldwide on day he performs it live

The Boss took the stage at First Avenue just hours after releasing his most direct protest song in years — a chart-topping tribute to two immigrants killed by federal agents.

Becca Blond Creator
Updated Mon, July 13, 2026


Bruce Springsteen during a recent live performance. His new protest song Streets of Minneapolis topped charts worldwide this week.(Shutterstock.com)More

I've been listening to Bruce Springsteen's latest track, "Streets of Minneapolis", on repeat today. And apparently, I'm far from alone. The song hit No. 1 on iTunes in at least 19 countries, including the U.S., Italy, Australia, and Switzerland.

Springsteen wrote the song Saturday and released it on Wednesday. By Friday night, he was in Minneapolis performing it live at First Avenue as part of the "Defend Minnesota!" benefit show organized by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, joining other artists in a concert meant to support the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were both killed by federal agents during an immigration enforcement surge in the city. Morello said 100 percent of the proceeds would go to the victims' families.
The lyrics call out ICE and Trump directly

This isn't vague protest music. Springsteen names names.

"Two dead left to die on snow-filled streets / Alex Pretti and Renee Good."

And:

"King Trump's private army from the DHS / Guns belted to their coats / Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law / Or so their story goes."

The 4 ½‑minute protest track is a direct response to the recent killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.

"It's dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good," the artist posted on social media. "Stay free, Bruce Springsteen."

Later in the song, he sings about "Miller and Noem's dirty lies," referring to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Both have publicly called Good and Pretti "domestic terrorists."

There's no guessing what the song is about. It's blunt and fast — written, recorded, and performed within days — and aimed squarely at the Trump administration and the handling of this case.

The Trump White House is firing back

A spokesperson for DHS wasted no time responding:

"We eagerly await Mr. Springsteen's songs dedicated to the thousands of American citizens killed by criminal illegal aliens," said DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin on Wednesday.

"Every day, the brave men and women of ICE are saving lives by arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, drug dealers, gang members, and terrorists."

The White House also weighed in. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Hollywood Reporter:

"The Trump Administration is focused on encouraging state and local Democrats to work with federal law enforcement officers on removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from their communities — not random songs with irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information."
Fans are praising Springsteen's fast response — and calling for more like it

The response hasn't slowed the song's momentum. It's already gotten over 5 million views on YouTube and nearly half a million likes on Instagram since its release. It's also trending on Reddit, where fans are highlighting how quickly it came together.

"Springsteen wrote this four days ago, recorded it yesterday, and released it today. I would love to see a lot more of this from Bruce and other artists. It's where a lot of Folk music started. We should bring that tradition back — musical commentary and influence on events as they unfold."

Another person commented:

"So, so proud to be a life-long Springsteen fan.

As always, Bruce says what needs to be said, and I want to thank him for not cowering or capitulating. There are many, many, many more Americans whose moral compasses have not drifted far right and know none of this — or the bulk of what the past year has brought — is what America stands for."
Protest music in real time

What stands out isn't just what the song says — it's how fast it was made. That's rare. Even artists known for activism usually take their time. This came together in less than a week.

It reminds some fans of how protest songs used to be written. Quickly, with purpose, and released while the news story was still unfolding.

Springsteen has written politically before, but this might be the most direct track of his career. He's long been linked to Americana and working-class stories. For people who think of him mostly as the Born in the U.S.A. guy, this might feel like a surprise — but it probably shouldn't.

Springsteen has always been political. It's just that this time, he's not hinting. He's calling people out by name.
Where it fits in protest song history

Streets of Minneapolis joins a long line of songs that aimed to say something in the moment — not later, not in reflection. Here are a few that did the same:

"A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke (1964) — written during the Civil Rights era

"Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday (1939) — an unflinching look at racial violence

"Blowin' in the Wind" by Bob Dylan (1963) — protest against war and injustice

"Fight the Power" by Public Enemy (1989) — bold commentary on racism and policing

"Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969) — anti-war and anti-elitism

What Springsteen's song shares with those: speed, clarity, and a refusal to soften the message.

Springsteen has tackled politics before — but rarely this directly

Springsteen has always written about America, even when the stories were messy. Streets of Minneapolis may sound more direct than some of his past work, but it's still rooted in the same focus on working-class lives, injustice, and the people left out of the official version of things.

This one just comes faster, and says things more plainly.

For listeners who mostly know him from the stadium anthems or Born in the U.S.A., the track might seem like a sharp turn. But for fans who've followed his catalog closely, it's more like the next chapter. He's not reinventing himself — he's continuing a conversation he's been having for decades, this time with names, dates, and a beat that landed within days of the news.

The reaction might be louder, but the message has always been there.

ICE agent fatally shoots driver in Maine, six days after similar death in Texas

By CJ Gardner and Helen Coster
Mon, July 13, 2026


Vehicles involved in a shooting incident involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are towed from the scene in Biddeford, Maine, U.S., July 13, 2026. REUTERS/CJ Gunther

A drone view shows the cordoned-off area at the scene of a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Biddeford, Maine, U.S., July 13, 2026. REUTERS/CJ Gunther

People take part in a protest after a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Biddeford, Maine, U.S. July 13, 2026. REUTERS/CJ Gunther

Police work at a scene of a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Biddeford, Maine, U.S. July 13, 2026. REUTERS/CJ Gunther


Members of the police stand guard at a sealed off area in the aftermath of a shooting in Biddeford, Maine, U.S., July 13, 2026, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. @Remote-Resource9021/Reddit/via REUTERS

BIDDEFORD, Maine, July 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot a driver to death in a coastal town of Maine on Monday, less than a week after an ICE agent in Houston, Texas, shot and killed a man in a traffic stop during a deportation crackdown there.

Commenting on Monday's shooting nearly 12 hours after the fact, the U.S. Department of Homeland ‌Security said an ICE officer, "fearing for public safety," opened fire on the man when he attempted to flee agents trying to stop his vehicle.

The DHS statement made no mention of how the driver might have posed ‌a threat. The encounter occurred around 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) in Biddeford, Maine, about 15 miles (24 km) south of the state's largest city, Portland.

DHS, the parent agency of ICE, gave few other details, except to say that the agents involved were "conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an ​illegal alien with a final order of removal."

According to DHS, "an illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle," with ICE officers in pursuit. The agency did not say that the person seen leaving the residence was the same individual whose address was under surveillance.

DHS said the Biddeford Police Department and the FBI "responded to the scene."

Immigration advocates said the person shot was a 26-year-old Colombian man who was authorized to work in the U.S. and had a Social Security number, though they did not name him or say how they were able to identify him.

"This is devastating, enraging, and unacceptable," the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition and Presente! Maine said in a joint statement.

ESCALATING ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

Monday's ICE-involved killing in Maine, and the one last Tuesday in Texas, brought to at least seven the ‌number of people shot dead during immigration enforcement operations since January 2025, when President ⁠Donald Trump returned to office and launched a campaign of mass deportations.

Immigration roundups have increased even more nationwide in recent weeks. Since the beginning of June, ICE arrests in Maine have more than quadrupled to around 70 per day in early July, according to internal ICE data shared with Reuters by a source.

For much of the day on Monday, what few official details were ⁠known of the latest deadly ICE shooting came from elected officials citing second-hand information shared with them by various law enforcement authorities.

U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine, a political independent who caucuses in the Senate with the Democrats, told reporters that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had informed him that the person shot dead by ICE was a man in his 20s who had "weaponized" his vehicle against officers.

According to Mullin, King said, the man killed was the subject of an "arrest warrant based upon his immigration status." But the senator's spokesperson said Mullin ​later ​conveyed to him new information that the victim was not the target of a warrant.


King said inquiries into the shooting should focus not ​on the driver's immigration status but on whether his actions posed a threat to ICE officers "rising ‌to the level that justified deadly force. That's what this investigation is all about."

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT

One witness, Daniel Boucher, 71, a caregiver and part-time draftsman who lives in downtown Biddeford, told Reuters he was on the second floor of his apartment when he heard what sounded like firecrackers around 7:30 a.m.

He ran to the window and saw a white SUV ram a smaller white car. After running down to the street level, and from a vantage point just 20 feet (6 meters) away, Boucher saw an ICE officer emerge from the SUV, open a door of the car, and pull the driver out, he recalled, adding that the man had blood on his face and head.

"I remember hearing the victim say, 'But I tried to stop,'" Boucher said, before the wounded man appeared to stop breathing.

Boucher recounted one of the officers on the scene as appearing "very distraught, almost in shock."

In a video clip verified by Reuters, the white car was seen appearing to meander directionless with two men wearing ‌vests on foot trying to stop it, but it was unclear whether the footage was recorded before or after the shooting.

A Reuters photo ​of the car after it was loaded onto a flatbed tow truck showed the driver's side of the windshield visibly penetrated by what looked ​like four bullet holes.

PROTESTS BREAK OUT

Later in the day, scores of demonstrators carried signs and chanted as they marched ​about a quarter-mile from a Biddeford park to the office of Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins, who is running for reelection this year.

Ten protesters entered the building's foyer, chanting "ICE out!" and "Vote her ‌out!" and screaming obscenities. There were no arrests or violence.

About 200 protesters marched through town ​Monday evening carrying banners and chanting "ICE out of Maine." The rally ​culminated at Mechanics Park, where members of the crowd lit candles and displayed written messages expressing support for migrants.

The shooting came six days after an ICE agent in Houston's heavily Hispanic East End fatally shot a 52-year-old man, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, during a traffic stop in what the agency said was a targeted immigration enforcement operation.

ICE said in a statement after that shooting that Salgado, a Mexican national living in the U.S. illegally for over ​three decades, rammed a law enforcement vehicle with his van and attempted to run down ‌an officer who fired in self-defense.

The agency offered no evidence to support its account. In similar instances over the past year, initial ICE and DHS statements about the use of force have been contradicted ​by video footage or other evidence, sometimes in court.

(Reporting by CJ Gardner in Biddeford, Maine, and Helen Coster in New York; Additional reporting by Katharine Jackson, Bhargav Acharya, Daphne Psaledakis, Kristina Cooke, Fernando Robles, ​Aleksandra Michalska and Nolan McCaskill; Writing by Joseph Ax and Steve Gorman; Editing by Susan Heavey, Mark Porter and Stephen Coates)

The Chinese graduate accused of being Mexico's 'fentanyl king'

Shawn Yuan - BBC Global China Unit
Mon, July 13, 2026 

LONG READ

Zhang Zhidong is awaiting trial in the US, accused of drug trafficking and money laundering [Government of Mexico]

"Brother Wang was very important. He was number one," says Enrique, chuckling knowingly.

Enrique – not his real name – describes himself as a high-level co-ordinator in Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, one of the world's most powerful criminal organisations.

On the outskirts of Sinaloa's state capital city, Culiacán, sitting in a parked car where no-one can overhear him, he explains how ingredients to make the deadly drug fentanyl are shipped thousands of miles from Chinese factories to laboratories in Mexico. Members of his cartel credit Brother Wang with establishing this supply chain.

Known in the criminal world as the "king of fentanyl", Brother Wang is a 39-year-old Chinese national, whose real name is Zhang Zhidong, according to the US Department of Justice. Arrested in Mexico in 2024, Zhang later made a dramatic escape before he was recaptured and extradited to the US in 2025.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin. It kills tens of thousands of people each year, mostly in the US, where the finished drug often ends up. A dose as small as a few grains of salt can be lethal.

US President Donald Trump has labelled fentanyl dealers "narco-terrorists", classified the drug and its components as weapons of mass destruction, and used the fentanyl trade as a reason for imposing tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada.

US Customs and Border Protection staff display fentanyl and methamphetamine seized from a truck crossing from Mexico into Arizona [US Customs and Border Protection via Reuters]

When Zhang appeared in court in New York in 2025, the Deputy Attorney General at the time, Todd Blanche, described him as one of "the world's most dangerous traffickers".



He also accused him of "running a global enterprise that pumped massive quantities of cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine" into the US and laundering "millions in narcotics proceeds".

Zhang has pleaded not guilty and is now awaiting trial. We contacted his lawyer, who declined to comment while the case was ongoing.

Cartel members and former colleagues agreed to speak to the BBC to give a rare glimpse into how they believe Zhang - a graduate of China's most prestigious university - allegedly became a key link in the chain between Chinese chemical manufacturers and Mexcian drugs laboratories.
Zhang the man

Zhang graduated from the prestigious Peking University in Beijing with a Spanish degree in 2010, and a year later travelled to Mexico to work for a Chinese-owned company that mined iron ore. He soon secured a senior role.

Those that knew him at the time saw him as a bright young professional, with an appetite for life abroad.

"He was capable of negotiating with people, very resourceful, and able to adapt to all kinds of environments," says Alex – not his real name - who studied at the same university and later worked in the same mining company as Zhang in Mexico.

He says Zhang spoke excellent Spanish, with an instinct for street language and the ability to talk to anyone – always with a strong Beijing accent.

When Zhang first moved to Mexico, he worked at a Chinese-owned mining company ['Alex']

Alex says doing business in Mexico sometimes involved dealing with the underworld, including the cartels, which control significant areas of the country. Zhang was able to establish relationships with "whoever mattered locally - both the official side and the unofficial side", Alex says.

Zhang loved this aspect of Mexico, according to Alex, who paints a picture of a man drawn to risk and recklessness. He recalls him crashing his boss's car, unconcerned about repercussions, and describes how Zhang drove him out of town one night to shoot pistols at road signs on a deserted highway.

In 2013, the mining company collapsed and Alex returned to China but Zhang stayed in Mexico.

Alex says that a year or two later Zhang began to post on the Peking University Spanish alumni group on WeChat, offering to change dollars at preferable rates. Alex believes he was laundering money.

In addition, cartel member Enrique says Zhang also got involved in drugs. Court filings in the US accuse Zhang of operating "a massive narcotics trafficking and money laundering organization" since June 2016.

Enrique believes Zhang got into a romantic relationship with a female relative of one of the cartel's leaders and suggests this helped him become close to its inner circle.

The supply chain

Another cartel member who ran errands for the organisation, Luis - not his real name - recalls a hot afternoon in 2019, when his bosses asked him to stand guard for a meeting where Zhang "came to offer his products".

Luis says these products were the precursors – the chemical building blocks – needed to manufacture fentanyl. He sees Zhang as the person who effectively introduced him to fentanyl and started this side of the group's business.

Luis says he soon became a fentanyl cook, making the drug in an clandestine laboratory. He says has seen at least five other cooks die in front of him, and believes this is because the substances they were handling seeped through gaps in their protective clothing.

"Sometimes people just pass out, and we have to carry them out of the room," he says.

Chemicals used in the creation of fentanyl are regulated but not banned in China, because they are also used in legitimate industries [Reuters / Claudia Daut]

Enrique describes how orders for precursors would be placed with Zhang, who he says used his contacts in China to secure the chemicals.

The ingredients would then be shipped by air or sea to Mexico, according to Enrique. He says his own network would then distribute them to fentanyl cooks, such as Luis, in the illicit laboratories in Sinaloa.

Pressed on whether he feels guilty for being involved in an industry that causes so many deaths, Enrique says one of his relatives died from a fentanyl overdose. "It shakes your conscience," he says, but adds, "work is work and we don't know another way to make a living".

When asked the same question, Luis says he once tried to stop working in the laboratory, but his boss told him the alternative was to go out on patrol. He says his boss gave him a choice: "You put on the vest, the gear, and you go out and fight - it's either that or working as a cook."

According to Mexican security agencies, Zhang ran illegal operations spanning the Americas, Europe, China and Japan.

Illegally produced fentanyl is often sold as pills - displayed here by the US Drug Enforcement Administration in New York [Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images]

Victoria Dittmar, a researcher at InSight Crime, a think tank, has spent years investigating the flow of precursor chemicals into Mexico. She says that brokers – the role it is suggested that Zhang played - sit at the crucial intersection between the chemical producers and the cartels.

She says that people with the kind of reach Zhang is said to have had are "quite unique" and "are key to the supply chain".

"He was a broker that connected Mexican trafficking organisations with Chinese suppliers of precursor chemicals," a world she says it's hard for outsiders to navigate.

"He also had a huge presence in the US," she says. "You don't see that often… one person that can connect three regions."

Mexican authorities said Zhang was responsible for exporting and distributing more than 1,000kg of cocaine, 1,800kg of fentanyl and 600kg of methamphetamine. They also accused him of handling more than $150 million in annual drug proceeds.

A wanted poster for Zhang issued by Mexican authorities lists many aliases, including Brother Wang and Mr T [Attorney general's office, Mexico]

The US Department of Justice issued a press release in 2025 with details of the indictment against Zhang. As well as accusing Zhang of drug trafficking, it said he recruited people to open bank accounts on behalf of more than 100 shell companies.

It says they would pick up money, at various locations in the US "deposit that money into the shell company bank accounts, and wire the funds to other beneficiary accounts to be laundered outside of the United States".

At the other end of Zhang's alleged operations sits China. The country is one of the world's top producers and exporters of the precursor chemicals used to make synthetic drugs, according to a 2025 US State Department report.

It says China's chemical industry is "massive", with 160,000 companies, and despite steps by authorities to implement controls, oversight is "insufficiently staffed and equipped".

The Chinese embassy in Washington told the BBC that China is "one of the world's toughest countries on counternarcotics".

It noted that the country scheduled all fentanyl-related substances in 2019, which means they are tightly controlled by the government. They are not banned because some have legitimate uses across multiple industries.

The embassy said China's "extensive and in-depth" counternarcotics co-operation with the US had been "highly productive'.

Escape and arrest

Cuban officials apprehended Zhang Zhidong and sent him back to Mexico, where authorities extradited him to the US [Secretary Omar Harfuch of Mexico's Security and Citizen Protection]

Zhang's alleged involvement in the drugs trade came to an abrupt end when he was arrested in Mexico on 31 October 2024.

A judge took the controversial decision to place him under house arrest, but Zhang managed to slip out – reportedly through a hole in a wall – and flee by private jet to Cuba and then on to Russia.

Russian border officials detected his forged papers and he was sent back to Cuba, which returned him to Mexico, from where he was extradited to the United States.

His arrest made headlines around the world. The alumni network of Beijing's Peking University, where Zhang had studied Spanish, was stunned.

"Everybody was talking about it," says Alex. "It was such a shocking story and he's probably one of the most famous people Peking University produced."

In Culiacán, the cartel members say Zhang's absence was felt immediately.

Luis says it became "really hard to get the precursors".

"They took the man and that caused a mess," says Enrique. He says Zhang was "the one with the connections" in China, and the cartels had to "start from scratch and build a new route".

Around the same time, the United States' Drug Enforcement Administration began to detect a decline in fentanyl purity, which it said was "consistent with indicators that many Mexico-based fentanyl cooks are having difficulty obtaining some key precursor chemicals".

But disruption in drug supply chains is usually temporary, in what Dittmar describes as a "constant game of cat and mouse".

Her research has tracked how, when brokers are removed or key chemicals controlled, fentanyl producers adapt by finding substitutes and learning new processes.

Individuals in the supply chain can also be replaced – even, according to the cartel members, ones as deeply and widely connected as Zhang is alleged to have been.

Enrique says there is already someone in the frame – another Chinese person, but he says he can't say more "for my own safety".

Another cartel member, who describes himself as a coordinator responsible for moving goods and personnel within the cartel, says that although "all this started because of him [Brother Wang]… he left lots of connections to help us keep going".

"If he's gone, someone else will step in… the business will not stop."

Additional Reporting by Ruth Evans and Miguel Angel Vega

China investigates mine-safety official for corruption after deadly gas explosion

Associated Press
Updated Mon, July 13, 2026 


FILE -In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a rescuer comes up from the coal mine shaft after conducting search and rescue operation following a gas explosion at the Liushenyu coal mine facility in Qinyuan county in Changzhi, northern China's Shanxi province on May 24, 2026. (Cao Yang/Xinhua via AP, File)More

BEIJING (AP) — The top mine safety official in one of China's major coal producing regions is under investigation for corruption following a gas explosion that killed 82 workers in May.

Hu Haijun, the director of the Shanxi Bureau of the National Mine Safety Administration, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, the government's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Monday evening.

A brief notice posted on the commission's website did not provide any details on the violations.

Hu, also the Communist Party chief of his bureau, is the highest-ranking official to be caught up in in a widening probe of the province's coal mining sector, according to Caixin, a Chinese business publication.

Authorities announced a blanket inspection following the May explosion, China's deadliest mining accident in years. Mine safety has been improving in recent years but remains an issue for China, as does industrial safety generally.

The mine, operated by the Shanxi Tongzhou Coal & Coke Group, was placed on a list of disaster-prone coal mines by China's National Mine Safety Administration in 2024.

Coal remains a major energy source in China despite the country's massive buildout of wind and solar power. Shanxi province, with some 800,000 mine workers, produced 1.3 billion tons of coal last year, almost a third of China's total.

BUT NONE FOR YOU

Tariff refunds accelerated sharply in June as the US paid out almost $50 billion to businesses

Ben Werschkul 

Washington Correspondent
Mon, July 13, 2026 
YAHOO FINANCE

The US sent out $49.1 billion in tariff refunds in June as the checks to businesses accelerated in the second full month of payouts after the US Supreme Court invalidated President Trump's blanket tariffs.

That figure handily beat the $23.6 billion in tariff revenue collected over the same period, according to the US Treasury Department's monthly statement.

Monday's newly released figures marked a sharp escalation from May's results, which saw the tariff refund process get underway in earnest but with similar refund and revenue figures of around $21.9 billion seen on both sides of the ledger.

May's net negative reading totaled $42 million — a rounding error in government finances. But June's figures will be harder to discount, with a gap of about $25.5 billion and a tariff revenue picture that could be cloudy for months. A total of $166 billion in tariffs (plus interest) is potentially eligible for refunds for businesses.

The refunds are part of the response to the Supreme Court's Feb. 20 decision striking down the wide-ranging tariffs Trump imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Refunds were subsequently ordered, and a government-run tariff refund portal opened in late April.

The Trump administration has been expanding the list of eligible tariff refund scenarios on the government portal this summer, meaning more businesses are set to be able to apply in the months ahead.

Trump has also cut into tariff revenues for months by creating exemptions in response to Americans feeling price pressure. Recent examples include a new exemption for Moroccan fertilizer and lower duties on farm equipment.

Monthly tariff revenue peaked at $31.35 billion last October and has mostly declined in the months since, although revenues ticked up in June by about $1.7 billion over May.

The Treasury Department's monthly statement showed that the US ran an overall budget deficit of $1.4 trillion between October and June, the first nine months of the fiscal year, which the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget noted was bigger than the deficit for all of fiscal year 2025. The group says the US deficit is now set to top $2 trillion for the entire year.

These massive deficits, including $120 billion in June alone, have further undermined an early Trump promise that his tariffs would quickly balance the budget.

Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

 

Judge rebukes Trump and DOJ over IRS lawsuit in scathing decision

Melissa Quinn
Mon, July 13, 2026

Washington — A federal judge on Monday imposed professional penalties against lawyers representing President Trump in a civil lawsuit he brought against the IRS and harshly criticized the Justice Department for its handling of the case, concluding that the suit was brought for an "improper purpose."

In a scathing 56-page decision, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams referred one of Mr. Trump's lawyers, Alejandro Brito, to the Florida Bar for potential disciplinary action. The judge limited the ability of a second lawyer, Daniel Epstein, to practice in the Southern District of Florida.

Williams also barred the Justice Department, IRS and Mr. Trump from citing or using provisions of a deal the two sides reached in judicial, administrative, regulatory or other proceedings as evidence of a settlement in the case.



The case, Williams wrote, "was brought for an improper purpose — to gain the imprimatur of judicial legitimacy for a 'settlement' that had no viable basis in law or fact." Additionally, the president and his two older sons, who were plaintiffs alongside Mr. Trump, "acted in bad faith," she concluded.


"In sum, the facts before this Court demonstrate there was never adverseness between the Parties; there was never a case or controversy; and there was never a question as to who would prevail," she said.

Williams also directed a copy of her order to be mailed to the State Bar of New York and to the District of Columbia Bar, of which acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward are members, respectively. Blanche and Woodward signed documents relating to the settlement with Mr. Trump.

A spokesman for Mr. Trump's legal team said in response to the decision, "The IRS wrongly allowed a rogue, politically-motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization to the New York Times, ProPublica and other left-wing news outlets, which was then illegally released to millions of people. President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable."

Williams' extraordinary order came in response to concerns raised by a group of 35 former judges about the settlement agreement reached in May. The deal brought to an end the $10 billion civil lawsuit the president and his two oldest sons filed against the IRS earlier this year over the leak of Mr. Trump's tax returns by a government contractor.

The settlement initially included the creation of a $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund that aimed to provide taxpayer-funded payouts to individuals who alleged the federal government had been "weaponized" against them. But after immense blowback from Congress and a federal judge's ruling, Blanche said the Justice Department was "not moving forward" with the program.

Another provision of the settlement that permanently bars the IRS from pursuing tax claims against Mr. Trump, his oldest sons, his company or affiliated companies of his family remains intact.

The former judges asked Williams in May to reopen the case between Mr. Trump and his administration, arguing that the agreement they reached to resolve the president's civil lawsuit was "the product of collusion" and a "fraud on the court." The settlement was reached as Williams was weighing whether she even had jurisdiction over the case.

In her order, Williams said that there was no case or controversy for the court to decide. Since it was filed by Mr. Trump against a federal agency and officials that he, as president, had control over, there would be no adverse litigant, she found. Williams determined that Mr. Trump "improperly employed this lawsuit to justify a particular award in this matter — access to taxpayer funds and exemption from audits and other investigations — which was accomplished by leveraging control over Defendants."

"President Trump did not pursue his claims until he once again occupied the White House and had appointed his former lawyer, and the former lawyer of persons who are putative beneficiaries of the 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' to prominent positions in the DOJ," she wrote in her order. "These officials then negotiated on behalf of the United States, with his current lawyers, including his former White House Counsel to reach a 'settlement.' It is risible to suggest that there was ever adverseness between the Parties."

Williams excoriated the Justice Department for its handling of the case and accused it of "abdicating its responsibility to zealously defend the interests of the United States." By entering into the settlement with Mr. Trump, Williams said the administration "disregarded DOJ policies, and accomplished objectives beyond those authorized, as well as those specifically prohibited, by law."

"The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law," Williams wrote. "The President may be the functional 'dominus litus' of the Executive Branch, but as a party to a civil suit, he, as well as all the parties and lawyers before a court, are bound by the rules."

The judge, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, rejected characterizations of the case as "ordinary" by Mr. Trump and his lawyers, calling it a "startling misstatement."

"Lead Plaintiff and Defendants are public servants — the pinnacle of the Executive Branch — sworn to uphold the law, faithfully perform the duties of their office, and protect the interests of the American public," she wrote. "The issue before the Court is whether, instead, they ignored ethical norms, court rules, and legal authority to manipulate the judicial process. The issue is whether they did so to gild their efforts to gain unprecedented access to the public fisc with the patina of legitimacy. There is nothing 'ordinary' about this case."

Williams also took aim at the government lawyers working the case, saying the Trump administration "failed to defend this lawsuit or to respond to the Court's jurisdictional inquiry because its position would not withstand judicial scrutiny."

She said the $1.776 billion pledged for the "anti-weaponization" fund "speaks of a 'branding' effort rather than a deliberate and thoughtful calculation of damages."

The judge's order comes days before Blanche is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing for attorney general. He is expected to face sharp questions regarding the creation of the "anti-weaponization" fund and the effective grant of immunity to Mr. Trump. The president formally nominated Blanche, who served as Mr. Trump's private criminal defense attorney, to lead the Justice Department last month

Opinion - $6 million a day: Trump’s disclosures show he is the swamp’s biggest monster

Svante Myrick, opinion contributor

Mon, July 13, 2026 


President Trump told his followers he would "drain the swamp." Instead, he became the biggest swamp monster ever. He has obliterated the line between public service and personal enrichment.

Trump's recent financial disclosures revealed that he made $2.2 billion in the year since he returned to office. That is a breathtaking figure. It is more than 20 times the annual budget of the city of Ithaca, N.Y., where I served as mayor for 10 years.

In other words, Trump raked in, on average, more than $6 million a day, seven days a week. The presidency is more than a full-time job, but Trump's side hustles were pulling down 15 times the president's yearly salary of $400,000 — every single day!

Even the conservative Free Press recognized this, writing, "There is no modern parallel for the scale and shamelessness with which the president is enriching himself in office."

"Earned" would be too generous a term for the way Trump promoted scams like his meme coin, structured so that he would make money no matter what happened to other investors. As Forbes has reported, Trump "asked his political supporters to become his business partners. Those who trusted him got hurt the worst."

Forbes senior editor Dan Alexander looked at similar ventures by other members of the Trump family and told CNN's Erin Burnett that "it's a consistent pattern." If you add them up, he said, the Trump family has cashed out about $1.9 billion and had its net worth lifted by about $3.1 billion. "Meanwhile, their supporters collectively are down, we estimate $7 billion," he said.

Crooked crypto deals are just part of the Trump grift. We now know that Trump made 327 stock purchases on April 8, 2025. The next day, he posted "GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!" before causing the market to jump by rolling back some of the tariffs he had just imposed.

Then there are billions of dollars in federal financing for mining deals that are profiting Trump's sons and the sons of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

And consider how Trump insiders diverted tens of millions of dollars from the bipartisan organization Congress had created to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and funneled it into Freedom 250, a newly created company run by Trump insiders.

The sparsely attended "Great American State Fair" was a bust by just about any traditional measure — one commentator called it "a crime against fun" — but as journalist Liz Dye noted, it was a "rousing success" as a grift.

"Trump was able to snatch congressionally allocated funds, commingle them with cash from corporations seeking favor from his administration, enrich his buddies, and throw himself two spectacular birthday parties," she wrote.

Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee recently documented how the anniversary was hijacked and turned into a "hotbed of corruption and self-enrichment." They have called for an investigation of possible criminal fraud over the diversion of funds that donors intended for the bipartisan America 250 into the Trump-controlled Freedom 250.

Unfortunately, there's been no effort by the Justice Department to rein in Trump's corruption. In fact, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former criminal defense lawyer, has advanced the corruption. He cut a deal to give Trump, his family members and their massive network of business operations immunity from IRS investigations or prosecutions. And he backed the creation of a massive slush fund Trump could use to funnel still more tax dollars to his supporters.

I am not a historian, but it is hard to imagine that there has ever been a more corrupt deal made by a U.S. attorney general. That is why the coming confirmation hearings for Blanche are so important. Senators must not reward Blanche's brazen corruption of the Justice Department by confirming him as attorney general.

More than 1,200 former Department of Justice attorneys and officials have urged senators to reject Blanche's nomination.

A letter sent last week references "the corruption and abuses that have defined the Justice Department under Todd Blanche's leadership," including "the vindictive prosecutions and investigations of the president's foes; the deals designed to reward lawbreakers with taxpayer dollars; the erasure of accountability for January 6; the mishandling of the Epstein files; and the denigration of judges and repeated violations of their orders."

The letter also slams Blanche's "degradation" of the department's career workforce through the firing of people for "declining to initiate vindictive prosecutions" or "refusing to lie in court."

Trump has claimed that nobody cares about his corruption and conflicts of interest. That is not true, and saying so encourages more destructive cynicism about politics.

The upcoming confirmation hearings for Blanche will be an opportunity for Republican senators to put country over party. And the upcoming elections will be an opportunity for voters to elect representatives who are more willing to do their duty.

Svante Myrick is president of People For the American Way.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Trump reduces size of 2 national monuments in Utah as Republicans reshape land management

MATTHEW BROWN and SAVANNAH PETERS
Updated Mon, July 13, 2026 at 3:59 PM MDT



FILE - The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah is seen on July 9, 2017. (Spenser Heaps/The Deseret News via AP, File)(Spenser Heaps/The Deseret News via AP)


FILE - Newspaper Rock, featuring a rock panel of petroglyphs in the Indian Creek Area, is seen near Monticello, Utah, on July 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

President Donald Trump on Monday sharply reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah, undoing protections established by his Democratic predecessors on public lands that are sacred among many Native Americans.

Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah have ancient cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and scenic canyons, as well as coal and uranium deposits that state officials want made available for development.

Trump, a Republican, issued proclamations under the Antiquities Act to reduce their size by about 90% each. He took similar actions during his first term, but those were reversed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

The latest move comes as Trump and other Republicans have drastically reshaped the management of vast taxpayer-owned lands concentrated in Western states. Trump administration officials and congressional Republicans have sought to expand drilling, mining and logging on public lands, while removing protections for imperiled species and rolling back rules for conservation.

"They took the land from the people quite honestly," Trump said at a signing event at the White House Monday. "We're giving it back."

President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, established Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996, and President Barack Obama, also a Democrat, created Bears Ears National Monument in 2016 under the Antiquities Act. The 1906 law gives presidents the powers to protect sites considered historic, archaeologically significant or culturally important.

Davina Smith-Idjesa, a citizen of the Navajo Nation and co-chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, said tribal leaders had braced for a reduction since Trump was elected to a second term. She said it was "heartbreaking" and accused federal officials of sidestepping their legal responsibility to consult with tribal nations that would be impacted.

"From a Navajo perspective, Bears Ears is not simply a piece of federal public land," Smith-Idjesa said. "This is a living cultural site that holds our histories, our ceremonies, our traditional foods and medicines and our ancestors' footprints."
'Big day for Utah'

Utah officials had long fought against the monument designations and argued that the state should be in charge of controlling its own lands. Trump in his first term reduced their size, calling their creation a "massive land grab." Combined they spanned more than 3.2 million acres (13 million hectares), an area nearly the size of Connecticut.

Trump reduced them Monday to less than 303,000 acres (123,000 hectares) combined.

That's a greater reduction than his first term, when he left Grand Staircase Escalante at 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) and Bears Ears at 213,000 acres (86,000 hectares).

"This is a big day for Utah," Utah Gov. Spencer Cox as he stood next to Trump at the White House. "These monument designations are supposed to be the smallest area as possible to protect the antiquities."

Bears Ears was the first national monument created at the request of tribal nations that consider the land sacred. The landscape contains ancestral villages, ceremonial and burial sites and features in some tribes' creation and migration stories. Its designation honored five tribes in the region — Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute and Uintah-Ouray Ute.

Home to hundreds of thousands of objects of cultural and scientific significance, Bears Ears is jointly managed by an agreement between tribal nations and federal agencies.

Grand Staircase-Escalante consists of cliffs, canyons, natural arches and archaeological sites, including rock paintings. It holds large coal reserves, while the Bears Ears area has uranium.

The national monument designation provides sweeping protections not just for significant geological features or artifacts but also for the surrounding landscape, banning drilling, mining and new construction nearby. Proponents of Trump's move to downsize say the protective boundaries stretch too far and hinder mining for critical minerals.

Trump asserted Monday that people can not hunt, fish or "virtually not even walk" on the monuments. That's false: Hunting, fishing, camping and other recreation are permitted under state and federal regulations, said Steve Bloch, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, a conservation group.

Biden designated or expanded more than a dozen monuments and had a goal to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

Trump's policies are largely the opposite: He wants to tap into the natural resource wealth of federal lands that total more than 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers) and offshore areas under federal control, such as in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska.

That's drawn backlash from Democrats who warn of the wholesale disposal of treasured landscapes for commercial gain.

"Today's executive action is another chapter in this administration's war on the West," Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said Monday. He added that Trump was "turning the Antiquities Act on its head."
Land sale proposals fell flat

Trump Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said last year that federal officials would review and consider redrawing monument boundaries as part of a push to expand U.S. energy production.

Trump in his current term has used proclamations to lift commercial fishing prohibitions within expansive marine monuments in areas of the Pacific Ocean and in the Atlantic Ocean off the New England coast. Those monuments were created by Democratic and Republican administrations. The effort to boost the fishing industry, which has been challenged in court, marks a dramatic shift in federal policy by prioritizing commercial interests over efforts to allow the fish supply to increase.

Some Republicans have tried to sell or transfer federal lands to states or other entities. Those efforts have largely fallen flat: A push by some GOP lawmakers in the House to sell public lands ran into bipartisan opposition, while another proposal by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah to sell more than 3,200 square miles (8,300 square kilometers) of federal lands was removed from Republicans' big tax and spending bill.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year turned back a lawsuit from Utah officials who sought to wrest control of vast areas of public land within the state from the federal government.

__

Hannah Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.

Trump says a nuclear renaissance is coming. The deals aren't.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) · Washington Post · AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Evan Halper,

 (c) 2026 , The Washington Post

Sun, July 12, 2026 

As the Trump administration rolled out a cascade of purported breakthroughs that will revive nuclear power, its most audacious announcement came in October, when it unveiled a plan to build a fleet of massive legacy reactors - with Japan poised to foot much of the bill.

Under the terms shared by the Commerce Department, tens of billions of dollars promised to flow from Japan toward 10 new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors - each capable of powering a city the size of Denver.

American taxpayers were assured that, rather than presenting a big financial risk, the partnership would create a windfall for them, as the federal government was claiming an ownership stake in Westinghouse that could be cashed in for billions if the company goes public down the road.

Eight months after this partnership was unveiled, Japan has yet to commit money to a single large reactor. No utility has ordered an AP1000. The administration has declined to identify any customers for the reactors it says are coming, and industry executives involved in trying to make the projects happen say President Donald Trump's plan to boost nuclear power is long on aspiration and light on binding agreements.

"Most of the people I know in the industry are working on the assumption that there is going to be no investment coming out of this deal with Japan," said one senior industry official who is trying to push forward an AP1000 project. They spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for antagonizing the administration.

"Most of us have given up," the official said. "The administration cannot answer basic questions around how this would work."

Another industry veteran was more blunt about the Trump administration's effort to use the threat of tariffs on Japan get it to pay for U.S. AP1000 reactors: "Japan is not going to open their checkbook just because the president says they should. They are not stupid."

A spokesman for the Japanese government did not respond to questions from The Washington Post. Neither did Westinghouse.

Even as the administration tries to show rapid progress on meeting Trump's goal of quadrupling U.S. nuclear electricity production by 2050 - unveiling novel finance deals, announcing research and development gains for nascent small-reactor designs, steering $17.5 billion in loan guarantees toward trying to stimulate the supply chain for the more conventional AP1000s - it is bedeviled by the same realities of economics and physics that have stymied the nation's nuclear "renaissance" since George W. Bush announced one was underway more than two decades ago.

The only major new commercial reactors that have come online since that time are a pair of AP1000s in Georgia that were so much more expensive to build than expected, and were so far behind schedule, that the fallout paralyzed the nuclear industry. Other announced projects were abandoned as things went sideways, as in South Carolina, where billions of dollars of ratepayer money was spent before the plug was pulled on plans to build AP1000s.

The Trump administration, which made reviving nuclear power a pillar in its energy agenda, says things are different now. It points to its push to relax federal nuclear safety regulations, the incubation of commercially untested technologies by the Energy Department and its weaponization of tariffs to pressure allies to fund U.S. projects. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters recently that hyperscalers - the tech companies building massive data centers to fuel the growth of artificial intelligence - are so hungry for power that they are eagerly lining up to invest in big nuclear projects.

"We've seen tremendous interest," he said. "What's different now is that hyperscalers need a quantum amount of power. That is different than really at any time in human history. It's driving the demand growth for energy in the country, and we're expecting that they will enter into long-term power purchase agreements for maybe as long as 25 years. That will be done at prices that will support the building of these units."

The comments came as Wright announced $17.5 billion in federal loans that utilities seeking to build AP1000s could use to place orders for components with long lead times.

The administration framed the loans as game-changing. Industry officials interviewed by The Post described them as marginally helpful, with one calling them a "nonevent." It was telling, they said, that none of the seven utilities that the administration says are interested would identify themselves. Utility executives still risk panicking their shareholders if they commit to a large nuclear project.

Tech companies are equally cautious. While they are willing to sign long-term contracts to buy nuclear power, even at elevated prices, they are just as averse as utilities are to taking ownership of plants, which could leave them strapped with billions of dollars in unplanned costs if things go poorly, as happened in Georgia and South Carolina.

"There have been a lot of press releases, but we are not making forward progress," said Paul Tice, a senior fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics. He added that it is crucial for the U.S. to revive its nuclear industry, as energy demand soars and China positions itself to overtake the U.S. in nuclear energy production. But he said: "The spin is not getting us to the order book we need. We're not moving the needle at all."

The sputtering of the Japan agreement - at least as far as AP1000 construction goes - is particularly frustrating for industry insiders, who say the U.S. government is going to need to step up with much bigger subsidies from its own taxpayers before foreign governments invest.

The Commerce Department declined to answer detailed questions about how the agreement with Japan and a similar partnership with South Korea are structured, whether any deals involving AP1000s are underway or what obligations either country has to invest any money.

"The Department of Commerce continues to progress the President's agenda of promoting new Nuclear Power projects, including through the Japanese and Korean trade deals," the department said in a statement. "With respect to Westinghouse, the Department is in discussions with all relevant parties."

"The industry has never seen anything like this before," said Kevin Kong, CEO of Everstar, a technology firm focused on using AI to more efficiently and safely build large reactors like the AP1000. "There is no formal process."

Kong has been to Asia several times seeking to tap into the Japanese and South Korean investment the administration said would come. Companies there have told him and other U.S. nuclear executives that they will be investing only in viable projects with strong profit potential and will not be absorbing the risk that U.S. utilities and tech firms are refusing to take on.


The Post sought comment from the three industrial firms Japan identified in an October fact sheet as potential partners in constructing AP1000 reactors with up to $100 billion of Japanese government money. Two of the companies, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and IHI, did not respond. The third, Toshiba, wrote in an email: "At this time, Toshiba has not made any specific decisions regarding this matter and is unable to provide further comment at this stage."

There is an obvious reason for the hesitance, said Peter Bradford, a former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and former chair of the commissions that regulate utilities in New York and Maine. "Nuclear power has never been able to compete economically in the competitive markets used in the U.S. for procuring electricity generation," he said. "Nothing that has happened recently has given any sign of changing that. This is an industry that has lived on promises and prophecies and hype for a long time now. The burden is on them to do something more than just tell you they have some really good ideas for the next go-round."


The Trump administration has gotten some traction on one nuclear deal with a Japanese firm, but it involves a smaller, untested reactor that has not been licensed or proven commercially viable. Japan has agreed to invest up to $40 billion to help deploy the 300-megawatt reactors, developed by GE Vernova and Hitachi, in Tennessee and Alabama. They would be manufactured elsewhere, assembled on-site and generate about one-third the power of conventional commercial reactors.

They are part of the push by the administration to bring new reactor designs to the market. That push also includes incubating new small-reactor designs at the Idaho National Laboratory, where four companies announced over the past month that their models have reached criticality, a milestone marking a sustained controlled chain reaction.

There is intense debate in the industry about the significance of this development, as none of the designs have been proven economically practical, and the reactors generally would produce just a fraction of the electricity provided by an AP1000.


The type of reactor Japan says it would help bankroll in Tennessee and Alabama, called the BWRX-300, currently comes with a massive price tag. The first is being built in Ontario. It will cost upward of $20 billion to build four 300-megawatt reactors - exponentially more than other power plants.

GE Vernova-Hitachi has said the costs will come down precipitously once the first reactors are built. But the nuclear industry has a long history of failing to accurately forecast expenses.

"There are a lot of big uncertain questions," acknowledged Ted Nordhaus, co-founder of the pronuclear Breakthrough Institute, who nonetheless sees small reactors as the best option for bringing nuclear power online quickly.

The administration is approaching a pivotal question, industry officials say, as it struggles to turn its frenzy of nuclear power deregulation, diplomacy and scientific development into concrete projects that bring electricity onto the power grid: If utilities, investors and foreign partners won't shoulder that risk, will the federal government?


"You have a need here for an even greater government involvement," said Armond Cohen, executive director of Clean Air Task Force, a clean-energy advocacy group that supports nuclear power. "A utility could announce a $15 billion project to build the next unit, and it would not even be that price tag that would be the problem. It is the possibility that it will cost $17 billion and the shareholders would have to swallow the difference."

Asking taxpayers to absorb that risk would come with a big political price.

"Nuclear has already been subsidized beyond anything given to wind or solar," Bradford said. "There are combinations of renewable energy and storage and power-grid improvements that would be half the cost of what is projected for these new reactors. This is not a matter of shaving a bit off the price here or there. It is the fundamental cost structure."

NJ Takes Step Toward New Nuclear Plants as Sherrill Signs Bill

Will Wade
Mon, July 13, 2026 

(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey is initiating a process to develop new nuclear power plants to meet rising demand for electricity.

Governor Mikie Sherrill signed legislation Monday to set up a competitive process to evaluate proposed projects, but also contains safeguards to protect ratepayers from potential cost overruns, according to a statement.

The initiative demonstrates the rising interest in nuclear energy as demand for power climbs across the nation. However, it also reflects concerns about the industry's history of cost overruns and delays. The last major US nuclear project involved two reactors in Georgia that was seven years behind schedule and cost more than $35 billion, more than double the original projection.

"The decisions we make today will determine the future we leave our kids," Sherrill said in the statement.

While there's strong interest in tapping fission to meet the increased need for electricity across the country, there's little chance of any new reactors going into service anytime soon. It can take years to get all the needed permits and build a new nuclear plant, and only three have been completed in the US this century.

New Jersey gets more than 40% of its power from nuclear plants, but until April the state had rules in place that effectively prohibited construction of new reactors. Sherrill campaigned on addressing rising energy prices, and on her first day in office in January signed executive orders to set up a task force to evaluate developing nuclear projects.

The legislation signed Monday includes provisions that shield ratepayers from cost overruns and delay any cost pass-alongs until a project is built and delivering electricity.