World news
Tax Fraud: Swiss Bank On Trial In France
The Swiss banking giant, UBS, goes on trial in Paris on Monday to face accusations it orchestrated a huge tax fraud scheme for wealthy French clients, with potential fines of billions of euros.
After a six-year investigation, judges last year charged the bank and its French subsidiary of laundering proceeds from tax fraud carried out from 2004 to 2012, allegations the bank has denied.
“UBS will finally have the chance to respond to what are usually unfounded claims,” the bank has said, vowing to “strongly defend itself.”
Six bank managers and former managers are also on trial, including Raoul Weil, the former third-in-command at UBS, and Patrick de Fayet, formerly the second-ranking executive for its French operations.
The inquiry was opened after a former employee alerted authorities over the bank’s alleged system of setting up dual bookkeeping to hide the movement of capital into Switzerland.
France’s national financial crimes unit estimates at least 9.76 billion euros ($11.2 billion) was not reported to the French tax authorities.
The bank’s staff allegedly approached French clients, from wealthy businessmen to sports stars, at receptions, golf and tennis tournaments or concerts to convince them to hide their money in Switzerland.
If convicted UBS could face fines of up to half the amount of money laundered, or nearly five billion euros.
The whistleblower in the case, Nicolas Forissier, was sacked by UBS in 2009 for alleged “gross misconduct”.
“My honour will finally be cleared,” Forissier, a former internal auditing chief, said last year when judges ordered the trial after prosecutors and bank executives failed to reach a plea deal.
According to documents provided by German authorities to French investigators, deposits from some 38,000 French clients with UBS amounted to a total of around 13 billion Swiss francs (11 billion euros, $13 billion), a source close to the case told AFP.
Not all these clients are suspected of tax fraud, the source said.
UBS has faced similar accusations in other countries in recent years.
In 2009 the bank was ordered by the US authorities to pay a $780 million fine for allegedly helping 20,000 wealthy clients hide some $20 billion from the Internal Revenue Service.
Belgium has also indicted the bank for organised tax fraud.
France has cracked down hard on tax evasion in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, not least after a former budget minister was found to have hidden money in overseas accounts.
A court upheld Jerome Cahuzac’s fraud conviction this year, handing him a 300,000 euro fine and banning him from public office for five years.
The UBS trial is expected to run until mid-November, barring any procedural delays.
Credit: AFP
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News
Five Dead, Five Injured As Amazon Cargo Plane Crashes Into Vehicle In Miami
At least five people were killed when an Amazon cargo plane overshot a runway after it landed Sunday at Miami International Airport, crashed into vehicles and caught fire, officials said.
Miami-Dade County fire chief Ray Jadallah told reporters that in addition to five fatalities, three people were transported to trauma centers “in critical condition” and two more were treated at a local hospital.
“The airplane did strike a couple of vehicles,” which left “a couple of victims that were actually trapped in the vehicles,” Jadallah said.
“A complex extrication with our technical rescue team” was needed, “including a search and rescue of the pilot and co-pilot that were trapped in this aircraft.”
Jadallah did not clarify whether the pilot or co-pilot survived, and officials declined to answer questions after brief statements were made.
Video showed thick smoke billowing from the blue and white Boeing 767 after it arrived at 1:58 pm (1758 GMT) from Puerto Rico, as fire trucks raced to the scene.
Officials investigate the scene where a Prime Air cargo plane overran the runway and crashed into other vehicles at Miami International Airport at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, on September 6, 2026.
The plane operating as Prime Air Flight 7598 caught fire as a result of the “crash,” fire officials said.
“A total of 60 fire apparatuses arrived, just short, just shy of 200 men and women from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, to begin the actual search and rescue and firefighting,” Jadallah said.
“The actual cause of the incident will be determined by the FAA and the NTSB,” he added, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.
In a statement posted to X Sunday evening, fire officials said they used foam to extinguish a fire in the engine compartment.
“One person was trapped under one of the involved vehicles and had to be extricated by specialized technical rescue personnel. Specialized hazardous materials (HazMat) units safely shut down the aircraft’s engine and worked to control a fuel leak,” the statement said.
Investigation Launched
The NTSB said in an X post on Sunday that the B-767-300 cargo airplane was flying into Miami from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and they have “launched a go team to investigate Sunday’s runway excursion accident.”
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement the tech giant will cooperate with any investigation into the incident.
“We’re heartbroken to learn that five people lost their lives in today’s incident at Miami International Airport. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families, loved ones, and all those affected by this devastating loss,” Nantel said.
Miami Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz told reporters Sunday that her officers encountered a “really tragic scene,” but there was “no apparent threat to public safety.”
The airport closed all runways and taxiways because of the incident and posted an update to its website Sunday evening that travelers should check directly with their airline before heading to the airport.
After hours of holding all flights at the international airport Sunday, with numerous delays and canceled flights for commercial airline passengers, the Miami Herald newspaper reported that two of the airport’s four runways had reopened Sunday.
In a statement on X, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava thanked first responders for their speedy response, saying “our fire rescue team was there within seconds of the crash, so we’re deeply grateful.”
AFP
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World news
Trump Suggests Renaming New Mexico State ‘New America’
US President Donald Trump’s name-changing spree found an unlikely new target on Sunday when he suggested the state of New Mexico could become “New America.”
His proposal, which was immediately dismissed by the state’s governor, comes days after he signed an order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” in the middle of a trade war with neighboring Canada.
“Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico… to NEW AMERICA,” the Republican president posted on social media. “So much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I Love It!!!”
The White House reposted an image showing the Mexico part of the state’s name crossed out and replaced with “America.”
Some US media reports said the idea originated as an internet hoax.
State governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told Fox News that the name “isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed.”
She said the president wanted to “distract Americans” from issues such as soaring gas prices.
Trump last week suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as “Trump Strait” as the war with Iran continues — then hours later implied he was not serious about the plan.
He renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” on his first day back in the White House in 2025 in a move rejected by Mexico.
Canada has also rejected the attempt to rename Lake Ontario.
AFP
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World news
Judge Declares Mistrial In Case Of Woman Accused Of Killing Her Three Children
A judge declared a mistrial on Friday in the high-profile case of an American woman who killed her three children but put his decision on hold to allow the defense to appeal the decision.
Judge William Sullivan said he was freezing his mistrial ruling in the trial of Lindsay Clancy for one hour to allow her lawyer to file an appeal with a higher court.
The jury has been deadlocked 11-1, with the majority apparently leaning towards finding the 36-year-old Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity.
The dramatic developments came after the jury sent a note to the judge Friday morning saying that it was with a “heavy heart” that they were unable to reach a verdict in the case, which has cast a spotlight on maternal mental health.
Clancy does not deny strangling Cora, five; Dawson, three; and Callan, eight months, but claims she was suffering from postpartum psychosis — excusing her from criminal responsibility.
To reach a verdict, all 12 jurors must agree.
Judge William Sullivan addresses the jury (out of frame) during deliberations in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial at the Plymouth County Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on September 4, 2026.
If they cannot agree, the judge declares a mistrial and prosecutors must decide whether to try the case again with a new jury.
Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s lawyer, has repeatedly demanded the replacement of the holdout juror with one of several alternate jurors, but Sullivan declined to do so.
Clancy’s televised five-week trial, which featured more than 80 witnesses and days of distressing testimony, has sparked debate in the United States over maternal mental health.
Clancy has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, saying she heard a voice ordering her to kill her children.
Her lawyers say this was caused by postpartum psychosis, a condition that experts say affects about one to two women in every 1,000 births.
Prosecutors have rejected that argument, saying Clancy had carefully planned the murders of her children and was able to understand the consequences of her actions.
Psychiatrists and people close to Clancy, as well as her estranged husband, were among the witnesses who testified about her fragile mental health during the trial.
‘Lousy Medical Care’
Dozens of women dressed in pink have shown up at the court in Plymouth to extend their support for Clancy — and to make a statement about women’s health more generally.
During closing arguments, Reddington, Clancy’s lawyer, said she had made numerous pleas for help before the killings but had received “lousy medical care” from the doctors she consulted.
After the murders at the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023, Clancy jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt that left her paralysed from the waist down.
The former nurse faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty of first-degree murder.
Jurors can also find Clancy guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility — a verdict that would see her confined to a psychiatric facility.
The trial has revived memories of a similar case that also captivated the country 25 years ago: that of Andrea Yates, a Texas mother who drowned her five children in 2001.
Yates was initially convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but she was found not guilty by reason of insanity at a 2006 retrial and committed to a psychiatric hospital.
AFP
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