Tag: iab-law

Tom DeLay Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here’s a look at the life of former Texas Congressman Tom DeLay.

Birth date: April 8, 1947

Birth place: Laredo, Texas

Birth name: Thomas Dale DeLay

Father: Charles Ray DeLay

Mother: Maxine (Wimbish) DeLay

Marriage: Christine (Furrh) DeLay (1967-present)

Children: Danielle

Education: Attended Baylor University, 1965-1967; University of Houston, B.S., 1970

Nicknamed “The Hammer.”

Lived in Venezuela as a child.

Owned a pest control company before getting involved in politics.

1979-1984 – Member of the Texas House of Representatives.

1984-2006 – United States Representative for the 22nd District of Texas.

November 13, 2002-September 28, 2005 – House Majority Leader.

September 28, 2005 – Steps down as the House majority leader after a Texas grand jury indicts him on a conspiracy charge stemming from a campaign finance investigation. DeLay is accused of improperly steering corporate donations to Republican candidates for the Texas legislature.

October 3, 2005 – A second indictment is brought against DeLay, charging him with money laundering.

October 19, 2005 – An arrest warrant is issued for DeLay in connection with his indictment for conspiracy and money laundering. He turns himself in the next day.

December 5, 2005 – A judge dismisses the conspiracy charge against DeLay, but upholds the money laundering charges.

January 7, 2006 – Announces he will not try to reclaim the House majority leader post, but he will seek reelection when his term expires in November.

March 7, 2006 – Wins the primary election in his Texas district.

April 4, 2006 – Announces he is dropping his bid for reelection and will resign from Congress in June.

June 8, 2006 – Delivers his farewell address to Congress.

2007 – His memoir, “No Retreat, No Surrender: One American’s Fight,” is published.

2009 – Competes in the ninth season of “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC. He drops out due to stress fractures in both feet.

November 1, 2010 – Money laundering trial begins.

November 24, 2010 – Is convicted of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

January 10, 2011 – Is sentenced to three years in prison for the conspiracy charge and five years for the money laundering charge. But the judge will allow DeLay to serve 10-years on probation with community service on the laundering charge in lieu of the prison sentence, and the two sentences will be served concurrently. DeLay remains free on bond while he appeals his conviction.

2012 – Founds the First Principles PAC.

July 2012 – Registers as a lobbyist on sex-trafficking issues.

September 19, 2013 – Delay’s conviction on money laundering charges is overturned by a court in Texas. The court opinion says that “the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain DeLay’s convictions.”

March 19, 2014 – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agrees to hear the case.

October 1, 2014 – By a vote of 8-1, Texas’s criminal appeals court upholds the lower court’s ruling to throw out DeLay’s 2010 convictions of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

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March 27, 2024
Virginia Tech Shootings Fast Facts | CNN

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Here is some background information about the shootings at Virginia Tech in April 2007, one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history.

Twenty-three-year-old Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, before taking his own life.

Cho was a senior at Virginia Tech, majoring in English. He was born in South Korea in 1984 and became a permanent US resident in 1992.

December 13, 2005 – Cho is ordered by a judge to seek outpatient care after making suicidal remarks to his roommates. He is evaluated at Carilion-St. Alban’s mental health facility.

February 9, 2007 – Cho picks up a Walther P-22 pistol he purchased online on February 2 from an out-of-state dealer at JND Pawn shop in Blacksburg, across the street from Virginia Tech.

March 2007 – Cho purchases a 9mm Glock pistol and 50 rounds of ammunition from Roanoke Firearms for $571.

April 16, 2007 – (Events are listed in local ET)
7:15 a.m. – Police are notified in a 911 call that there are at least two shooting victims at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a four-story coed dormitory on campus that houses approximately 895 students.

9:01 a.m. – Cho mails a package containing video, photographs and writings to NBC News in New York. NBC doesn’t receive it until two days later due to an incorrect address on the package.

9:26 a.m. – The school sends out an email statement that a shooting took place at West Ambler Johnston Hall earlier that morning.

9:45 a.m. – 911 calls report a second round of shootings in classrooms at Norris Hall, the engineering science and mechanics building.

9:50 a.m. – “Please stay put.” A second email notifies students that a gunman is loose on campus.

9:55 a.m. – University officials send a third message about the second shooting via email and text messages to students.

10:16 a.m. – Classes are canceled.

10:53 a.m. – Students receive an email about Norris Hall shooting, with the subject line, “Second shooting reported: police have one gunman in custody.”

12:42 p.m. – VT President Charles Steger issues a statement that people are being released from campus buildings and that counseling centers are being set up. He announces that classes are canceled again for the next day.

April 17, 2007 – Virginia Tech Police announce that they “have been able to confirm the identity of the gunman at Norris Hall. That person is Seung-Hui Cho. He was a 23-year-old South Korean here in the US as a resident alien.”

April 18, 2007 – NBC News announces that they have received a package containing pictures and written material which they believe to be from Cho, sent between the two shootings.

August 15, 2007 – It is announced that the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, funded by private donations, will donate $180,000 to the families of each of the 32 victims. Those injured will receive $40,000 to $90,000, depending on the severity of the injuries, and a waiver of tuition and fees if applicable.

March 24, 2008 – The state proposes a settlement to the families related to the shooting. In it, $100,000 is offered to representatives of each of the 32 people killed and another $800,000 is reserved to those injured, with a $100,000 maximum. Expenses not covered by insurance such as medical, psychological, and psychiatric care for surviving victims and all immediate families are also covered.

April 10, 2008 – Governor Tim Kaine announces that a “substantial majority” of the families related to the shootings have agreed to the $11 million settlement offered by the state. It isn’t clear how many families have not accepted the deal. The settlement will pay survivors’ medical costs for life and compensate families who lost loved ones. By accepting the settlement, the families give up their right to sue the university, state, and local government in the future. Neither the attorneys representing the families nor the governor would discuss the exact terms until final papers are drawn.

June 17, 2008 – A judge approves the $11 million settlement offered by the state to some of the victims and families of those killed in the shooting rampage. Families of 24 of the 32 killed, as well as 18 who were injured are included in the settlement.

April 10, 2009 – Norris Hall reopens. The 4,300-square-foot area will house the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, which relocated to the building.

December 9, 2010 – The US Department of Education releases a report charging that Virginia Tech failed to notify students in a “timely manner,” as prescribed by the Clery Act.

March 14, 2012 – A jury awards $4 million each to two victims’ families who sued the state for wrongful death. The jury finds Virginia Tech failed to notify students early enough following the discovery of two shooting victims at West Ambler Johnston dormitory. The families of Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde argued that had officials notified students and staff earlier of the shooting, lives might have been spared. The Peterson and Pryde families did not accept a portion of an $11 million settlement between the state and the families of victims, opting instead to sue for wrongful death. The amount is later reduced to $100,000 per family.

October 31, 2013 – The Supreme Court of Virginia overturns the jury verdict in a wrongful death suit filed against the state by the families of two of the victims, that “there was no duty of the Commonwealth to warn students about the potential for criminal acts” by Cho.

January 21, 2014 – The court denies a request by the Pryde and Peterson families to reconsider its ruling.

April 2014 – Virginia Tech pays fines totaling $32,500 to the Dept. of Education for violation of the Clery Act, a law requiring colleges and universities to provide timely notification of campus safety information.

West Ambler Johnston Hall (dorm)
Ryan Clark, 22, Martinez, Georgia
– Senior, English, Biology and Psychology
– Resident Assistant on campus, also in the Marching Virginians college band
– Known as “the Stack” to friends

Emily Jane Hilscher, 19, Woodville, Virginia
– Freshman, Animal and Poultry Sciences

Norris Hall (dept. bldg/classrooms)
Ross Alameddine, 20, Saugus, Massachusetts
– Sophomore, English
– Died in a French class

Dr. Christopher “Jamie” Bishop, 35, Pine Mountain, Georgia
– Instructor, Foreign Languages and Literatures (German)

Brian Bluhm, 25, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
– Graduate Student, Civil Engineering

Austin Cloyd, 18, Blacksburg, Virginia
– Sophomore, International Studies and French

Jocelyn Couture-Nowak, 49, born in Montreal, Canada
– Instructor, French

Daniel Alejandro Perez Cueva, 21, Woodbridge, Virginia, originally from Peru
– Junior, International Studies
– Died in French class

Dr. Kevin Granata, 45, Toledo, Ohio
– Professor, Engineering Science and Mechanics

Matt Gwaltney, 24, Chesterfield, Virginia
– Graduate Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Caitlin Hammaren, 19, Westtown, New York
– Sophomore, International Studies and French

Jeremy Herbstritt, 27, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
– Graduate student, Civil Engineering

Rachael Hill, 18, Richmond, Virginia
– Freshman, Biology

Jarrett Lane, 22, Narrows, Virginia
– Senior, Civil Engineering

Matt La Porte, 20, Dumont, New Jersey
– Sophomore, Political Science

Henry Lee, 20, Roanoke, Virginia
– Sophomore, Computer Engineering

Dr. Liviu Librescu, 76, from Romania
– Professor, Engineering Science and Mechanics
– A Romanian Holocaust survivor

Dr. G V Loganathan, 53, born in Chennai, India
– Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
– Had been at VA Tech since 1981

Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan, 34, Indonesia
– Doctoral student, Civil Engineering

Lauren McCain, 20, Hampton, Virginia
– Freshman, International Studies

Daniel O’Neil, 22, Lafayette, Rhode Island
– Graduate student, Environmental Engineering

Juan Ramon Ortiz-Ortiz, 26, San Juan, Puerto Rico
– Graduate student, Civil Engineering

Minal Panchal, 26, Mumbai, India
– Graduate student, Architecture

Erin Peterson, 18, Centreville, Virginia
– Freshman, International Studies
– Died in a French class

Michael Pohle, 23, Flemington, New Jersey
– Senior, Biological Sciences

Julia Pryde, 23, Middletown, New Jersey
– Graduate Student, Biological Systems Engineering

Mary Karen Read, 19, Annandale, Virginia
– Freshman, Interdisciplinary Studies

Reema Joseph Samaha, 18, Centreville, Virginia
– Freshman, University Studies
– Went to the same high school as Cho

Waleed Mohammed Shaalan, 32, Zagazig, Egypt
– Doctoral student, Civil Engineering

Leslie G. Sherman, 20, Springfield, Virginia
– Junior, History and International Relations

Maxine Turner, 22, Vienna, Virginia
– Senior, Chemical Engineering

Nicole Regina White, 20, Smithfield, Virginia
– Sophomore, International Studies

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March 27, 2024
Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here is a look at the Hillsborough Disaster, a 1989 tragedy at a British soccer stadium. Overcrowding in the stands led to the deaths of 97 fans in a crush. Another 162 were hospitalized with injuries. It was the worst sports disaster in British history, according to the BBC.

On April 15, 1989, more than 50,000 people gathered at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, for the FA Cup Semi-Final football (soccer) match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. In order to relieve a bottleneck of Liverpool fans trying to enter the venue before kickoff, police opened an exit gate and people rushed to get inside. More than 3,000 fans were funneled into a standing-room-only area with a safe capacity of just 1,600. The obvious crush in the stands prompted organizers to stop the game after six minutes.

Police initially concluded the crush was an attempt by rowdy fans to surge onto the field, according to the Taylor Interim Report, a 1989 government investigation led by Justice Peter Taylor. As officers approached the stands, it became apparent people were suffocating and trying to escape by climbing the fence.

The Taylor Interim Report describes the scene: “The dead, the dying and the desperate became interwoven in the sump at the front of the pens, especially by the gates. Those with strength left clambered over others submerged in the human heap and tried to climb out over the fence…The victims were blue…incontinent; their mouths open, vomiting; their eyes staring. A pile of dead bodies lay and grew outside gate 3.”

The emergency response was slow, according to the Hillsborough Independent Panel, a 2012 follow-up investigation. The problems were rooted in poor communication between police and ambulance dispatchers, according to the panel.

Fans tried to help each other by tearing up pieces of advertising hoardings, creating improvised stretchers and carrying injured spectators away from the throngs, according to the Taylor Interim Report. People who had no first aid training attempted to revive the fallen. From the report: “Mouth to mouth respiration and cardiac massage were applied by the skilled and the unskilled but usually in vain. Those capable of survival mostly came round of their own accord. The rest were mostly doomed before they could be brought out and treated.” It took nearly 30 minutes for organizers to call for doctors and nurses via the public address system.

South Yorkshire Police Supervisor David Duckenfield was in charge of public safety at the event. He was promoted to match commander weeks before the game and was unfamiliar with the venue, according to his testimony at a hearing in 2015. He acknowledged that he did not initiate the police department’s major incident plan for mass casualty disasters, even as the situation spiraled out of control. Duckenfield had originally blamed Liverpool fans for forcing the exit gate open, a crucial detail that he later admitted was a lie. He retired in 1990, conceding he was probably “not the best man for the job on the day.”

August 1989 – The Taylor Interim Report is released, offering a detailed overview of how the tragedy unfolded. The report is named for Justice Peter Taylor, who is leading the investigation.

January 1990 – The Taylor Final Report is published, proposing a number of reforms for soccer venues. Among the recommendations: football stadiums should replace standing room terraces with seated areas to prevent overcrowding.

August 1990 – Although the Taylor Interim Report faulted police for poor planning and an inadequate response, the Director of Public Prosecutions announces that no officers will face criminal charges.

1991 – The deaths of the fans are ruled accidental by a jury during an inquest. The members of the jury could have returned a verdict of unlawful killing, faulting the police for acting recklessly and compromising the safety of fans. Their other option was an open verdict, an inconclusive ruling.

August 1998 – A group of victims’ families files civil manslaughter charges against South Yorkshire Police supervisors Duckenfield and Bernard Murray.

2000 – The case goes to trial. The jury deadlocks on Duckenfield and finds Murray not guilty of manslaughter. Murray dies of cancer in 2006.

April 2009 – As England observes the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, a new investigation is launched by a group called the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

September 2012 – The panel releases its findings, detailing the numerous failings of authorities on the day of the tragedy and a subsequent cover up that shifted the blame from police to fans. The panel also proclaims that 41 of 96 victims could have been saved if police responded to the crisis more rapidly. The findings prompt Prime Minister David Cameron to issue an apology to the victims’ families.

December 2012 – The High Court quashes the accidental death ruling for the victims, setting the stage for a new investigation and possible criminal charges.

March 31, 2014 – A new round of inquests begins in a courtroom in Warrington, England, built specifically for the case. There are nine members of the jury. They will consider a number of issues relating to the incident, including whether Duckenfield was responsible for manslaughter by gross negligence.

April 2016 – After hearing testimony from more than 800 witnesses, the jury retires to deliberate.

April 26, 2016 – The verdict is delivered, in what is called the longest case heard by a jury in British legal history. The jury finds, by a 7-2 vote, 96 fans were unlawfully killed due to crushing, following the admission of a large number of fans through an exit gate. It is decided Duckenfield’s actions amounted to “gross negligence,” and both the police and the ambulance service caused or contributed to the loss of life by error or omission after the crush began. Criminal charges will now be considered.

June 28, 2017 – Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service announces that it has charged six people, including Duckenfield, with criminal offenses related to the disaster.

March 14, 2018 – The BBC and other British media report that police officers would not be charged who were alleged to have submitted a misleading or incomplete report on the disaster to prosecutors in 1990.

September 10, 2018 – Duckenfield pleads not guilty to the charges of manslaughter by gross negligence.

January 14, 2019 – Duckenfield’s trial begins. Graham Mackrell, a safety officer at the time of the disaster, also stands trial.

March 13, 2019 – The BBC and other media report that Duckenfield will not be called to present evidence during his trial.

November 28, 2019 – Duckenfield is found not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter.

July 27, 2021 – Andrew Devine, a fan injured in the Hillsborough disaster, dies. A coroner confirms Devine as the 97th victim of the disaster and rules he was unlawfully killed.

January 31, 2023 – Britain’s National Police Chiefs Council and College of Policing apologize to families of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster. They also publish a response to a report published in 2017 that detailed the experiences of the Hillsborough families.

December 6, 2023 – UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden announces that the UK government has signed the Hillsborough Charter, acknowledging “multiple injustices” and vowing that no families will suffer the same fates as the relatives of the victims.

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March 27, 2024
David Letterman Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here is a look at the life of former late-night talk show host David Letterman.

Birth date: April 12, 1947

Birth place: Indianapolis, Indiana

Birth name: David Michael Letterman

Father: Harry Letterman, florist

Mother: Dorothy (Hofert) Letterman Mengering

Marriages: Regina Lasko (March 19, 2009-present); Michelle Cook (divorced)

Children: with Regina Lasko: Harry Joseph

Education: Ball State University, B.A., 1969

Letterman is the founder of the production company Worldwide Pants, which produced “Late Show with David Letterman.”

Is a co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Letterman has been nominated for 50 Emmy Awards and won five.

“Late Night with David Letterman” was nominated for 25 Emmy Awards and won three.

“Late Show with David Letterman” was nominated for 76 Emmy Awards and won nine.

“My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman” has been nominated for four Emmy Awards.

1969 – Begins working as an announcer and weekend weatherman at WLWI (now WTHR), an ABC affiliate in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1975 – Moves to Los Angeles and begins performing stand-up at the Comedy Store. Later he is hired by Jimmie Walker, star of the CBS sitcom “Good Times,” as a writer.

1978 – Appears on Mary Tyler Moore’s variety show, “Mary.”

November 1978 – Makes the first of 22 appearances on “The Tonight Show” hosted by Johnny Carson. Letterman also serves as a guest host on “The Tonight Show” several times.

June 23, 1980-October 24, 1980 – Hosts “The David Letterman Show,” a daytime talk show on NBC.

February 1, 1982-June 25, 1993 – Hosts “Late Night with David Letterman” on NBC.

September 23, 1984 – Wins the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

September 18, 1985 – Premiere of the “Top Ten” list.

September 22, 1985 – Wins the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

September 21, 1986 – Wins the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

September 20, 1987 – Wins the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

May 1992 – Carson announces his retirement and speculation begins that Letterman will replace him.

January 1993 – After it is announced that Jay Leno will take Carson’s place, Letterman announces he will be leaving NBC for CBS, and expresses anger over what he regards as NBC’s poor treatment of him.

August 30, 1993-May 20, 2015 – Host of “Late Show with David Letterman.”

September 11, 1994 – Wins the Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series.

March 27, 1995 – Hosts the Academy Awards.

January 14, 2000 – Letterman undergoes quintuple bypass surgery.

September 17, 2001 – Is the first late-night talk show host to return to air after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Instead of starting the show with a humorous monologue, Letterman mourns those lost and praises the city’s firefighters and police officers. His first guest, CBS anchor Dan Rather, breaks down in tears during the broadcast.

March 31, 2003 – Letterman returns to his show after being out for nearly a month due to shingles.

March 17, 2005 – Kelly Frank, a house painter who worked on Letterman’s Montana ranch, is charged with plotting to kidnap Letterman’s son for ransom. In September, Frank pleads guilty to a lesser charge and is sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 2007, he escapes, but is later recaptured.

October 1, 2009 – Letterman admits on air that he has had sexual relationships with female staff members and that someone has been attempting to blackmail him over the affairs.

October 5, 2009 – Letterman apologizes to his wife and female staffers in front of a live studio audience.

March 9, 2010 – Robert “Joe” Halderman, a former CBS News producer accused of trying to blackmail Letterman, pleads guilty to attempted second-degree grand larceny and is sentenced to six months in jail, five years’ probation and 1,000 hours of community service. In September, Halderman is released after serving four months of his six-month prison sentence.

April 2012 – Extends his contract with CBS through 2014.

December 2, 2012 – Is honored at the Kennedy Center Honors gala along with Buddy Guy, Dustin Hoffman, Natalia Makarova and the musical group Led Zeppelin.

October 4, 2013 – Extends his contract with CBS through 2015.

April 3, 2014 – During a taping of “The Late Show,” Letterman announces that he will be retiring in 2015.

May 20, 2015 – Tapes his final show. Counting his work on both NBC and CBS, this is show number 6,028 for Letterman.

October 30, 2016 – Letterman’s segment on climate change for the “Years of Living Dangerously” series airs on the National Geographic Channel. The episode follows Letterman as he travels around India discussing India’s zealous renewable energy plan.

October 22, 2017 – Is awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

January 12, 2018 – In the debut of his new Netflix series “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction,” Letterman interviews former US President Barack Obama. Guests scheduled for the rest of Letterman’s shows include George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Jay-Z, Tina Fey and Howard Stern.

February 1, 2022 – “Late Night” host Seth Meyers welcomes Letterman to help celebrate the show’s 40th anniversary.

December 12, 2022 – Letterman’s interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” debuts on Netflix. Letterman traveled to Kyiv for the wartime interview, which took place in an underground subway station.

‘Late Show with David Letterman’: Our top 10 moments

November 20, 2023 – Returns to his former studio for the first time as a guest on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

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March 27, 2024
Apple Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here’s a look at Apple, Inc, creator of the Mac computer and the iPhone.

The corporate headquarters are in Cupertino, California.

As of September 2023, the company reported that it employs approximately 161,000 people full-time.

April 1, 1976 – Apple Computers, Inc. is founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Their first product is the Apple I personal computer.

June 1977 – The Apple II is released.

December 1980 – Apple conducts an initial public offering of 4.6 million shares at $22 per share.

January 1983 – Apple introduces the Lisa, a new brand of personal computer.

January 22, 1984 – The Macintosh computer is introduced with a futuristic commercial that airs during the Super Bowl.

1985 – Apple discontinues the Lisa after a disappointing run, and Jobs leaves the company.

December 1996 – Apple buys Jobs’ company, NeXT Software.

1997 – In the wake of corporate shakeups and a sales slump, Apple welcomes Jobs back as interim CEO.

August 15, 1998 – The iMac, a streamlined personal computer, debuts.

January 2000 – Jobs becomes permanent CEO.

January 9, 2001 – iTunes is introduced.

October 23, 2001 – The iPod MP3 player makes its debut.

January 2003 – Apple releases the Safari web browser.

April 28, 2003 – Apple introduces the iTunes Music Store.

January 2006 – Apple rolls out its first Intel-based computers, the iMac and the MacBook Pro.

January 9, 2007 – The iPhone is unveiled.

March 2007 – Apple TV hits stores.

January 27, 2010 – The iPad is announced.

June 6, 2011 – Apple announces iCloud, an online media storage system.

August 24, 2011 – Jobs resigns as CEO. Tim Cook takes his place.

October 5, 2011 – Jobs dies after battling cancer.

February 6, 2013 – Apple announces that iTunes has reached a milestone of 25 billion songs sold.

May 28, 2014 – Apple announces deal to buy Beats for $3 billion.

June 9, 2014 – Apple conducts a stock split, bringing the price down from $647.50 to $92.44.

September 9, 2014 – Apple unveils the Apple Watch, a wearable device.

December 16, 2014 – Apple wins an antitrust lawsuit brought by eight million iPod owners who alleged that Apple abused its monopoly power in the music industry to force out competition.

June 8, 2015 – Apple unveils Apple Music, a streaming music service, live radio station and social network.

February 3, 2016 – A jury orders Apple to pay $626 million in damages after finding that iMessage, FaceTime and other Apple software infringed on another company’s patents. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2010 by the company VirnetX, accuses Apple of violating four patents, which mostly involve methods for real-time communications over the Internet.

February 16, 2016 – Apple refuses to comply with a California judge’s order to assist the FBI in hacking the iPhone of the San Bernardino gunman. A public letter signed by Cook states why the company is refusing to abide by the government’s demands.

March 28, 2016 – The Department of Justice says the FBI has “successfully retrieved the data stored on the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone,” and is dropping the case against Apple, since it no longer needs the company’s help.

August 30, 2016 – The European Union rules that Apple must pay Ireland $14.5 billion in back taxes. According to the EU, Ireland had been giving the tech company a break on taxes for more than two decades. Ireland’s finance minister issues a statement criticizing the EU’s ruling and declares that the country does not play favorites with a lower tax rate for certain companies. In a letter, Cook says he anticipates the EU’s tax ruling will be reversed on appeal.

September 12, 2017 – Apple unveils the iPhone X, alongside the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus – all of which support wireless charging. The iPhone X will also feature facial detection technology, no home button, a 3D camera and an edge-to-edge screen.

December 21, 2017 – Apple issues a statement saying that it has used software updates to limit the performance of older iPhones that may have battery issues that would cause them to turn off suddenly.

December 28, 2017 – Apple apologizes to customers for how it rolled out an update that can slow down older iPhones. It is offering cheaper battery replacements to make up for it.

June 15, 2018 – Oprah Winfrey signs a multiyear deal with Apple to create new original programming.

August 2, 2018 – Apple becomes the first American public company to surpass $1 trillion in value.

October 10, 2019 – In a memo to employees, Cook defends Apple’s decision to pull a map app that Hong Kong protesters used to track police, saying that it had been used in ways that “endanger law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong.”

November 1, 2019 – Apple TV+, a subscription streaming service containing original programming, launches.

November 4, 2019 – Apple announces a $2.5 billion financial package to help address the housing crisis in California, which has worsened in part because of the rapid growth of tech companies.

July 29, 2020 – Cook, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, CEO of Google’s parent company Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg all testify before a House subcommittee on anti-trust to address concerns that their businesses may be harming competition.

August 20, 2020 – Apple reaches the $2 trillion market value mark.

November 18, 2020 – Apple agrees to pay $113 million to settle an investigation by states including California and Arizona over how Apple wasn’t transparent about its iPhone battery problems that led to unexpected device shutdowns.

December 14, 2020 – Launches Apple Fitness+, a service built around Apple Watch.

November 23, 2021 – Apple files a lawsuit against NSO Group and its parent company, accusing the Israeli firm of violating a federal anti-hacking law by selling potent software that clients have used to spy on Apple customers. The lawsuit alleges that NSO’s spyware, known as Pegasus, and other malware have caused Apple monetary and property damages, and violated the human rights of Apple users along the way.

January 3, 2022 – Apple becomes the world’s first company valued at $3 trillion.

May 10, 2022 – Apple announces that it is ceasing production of the iPod.

June 18, 2022 – Workers in Maryland vote to form the first-ever labor union at one of Apple’s US stores.

June 30, 2023 – Apple’s stock ends trading valued at $3 trillion, the only company ever to reach that milestone.

December 18, 2023 – Apple announces plans to stop selling its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in US due to a patent dispute. In January 2024, a federal appeals court denies the company’s motion to temporarily pause the ban while it appealed the US International Trade Commission ruling.

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March 21, 2024
Mariah Carey Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here’s a look at the life of Grammy Award-winning singer and actress, Mariah Carey.

Birth date: March 27, 1970

Birth place: Long Island, New York

Birth name: Mariah Carey

Father: Alfred Roy Carey, aeronautics engineer

Mother: Patricia (Hickey) Carey, opera singer and voice coach

Marriages: Nick Cannon (2008-2016, divorced); Tommy Mottola (1993-1998, divorced)

Children: with Nick Cannon: Moroccan and Monroe (twins)

Has a five-octave vocal range.

Supported herself as a waitress and back-up singer before being signed to Columbia Records.

Has won five Grammys and has been nominated for 34.

Is the first artist ever to top the Billboard charts in four different decades.

1988 – Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola listens to Carey’s demo tape and signs her to the label.

1990 – Her debut album, “Mariah Carey,” is released. It goes on to sell more than six million copies and spawn four number one singles.

1991 – Carey wins two Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, for “Vision of Love” and Best New Artist.

1994 – Joins the board of directors of the Fresh Air Fund. She is a supporter of the fund’s Career Awareness Program, which is named Camp Mariah, in honor of her.

Summer 2001 – She suffers an “emotional and physical breakdown” and is hospitalized.

September 2001 – Carey stars in a semi-autobiographical movie, “Glitter,” and releases an album of the same name. Both the album and movie are unsuccessful critically and commercially.

2002 – Virgin pays Carey a reported $28 million to end her contract. She later signs a $20 million deal with the Island Def Jam Music Group.

2006 – Wins three Grammy Awards: Best Contemporary R&B Album, with Brian Garten and Dana John Chappelle for “The Emancipation of Mimi,” Best R&B Song, with Jermaine Dupri, Johntá Austin, and Manuel Seal Jr., for “We Belong Together,” and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “We Belong Together.”

2009 – Portrays a social worker in the film “Precious,” directed by Lee Daniels.

March 2011 – Following reports that she accepted payment in 2009 to perform for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Carey releases a statement that she was “naïve and unaware of who I was booked to perform for. I feel horrible and embarrassed to have participated in this mess.”

2013 – Appears as a judge for the 12th season of “American Idol.”

August 5, 2015 – Carey is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

December 4, 2016 – The eight-episode E! docuseries “Mariah’s World” premieres.

December 31, 2016 – Experiences an audio track malfunction while lip-syncing in front of a live audience on ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.”

April 2018 – Carey reveals she has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In an interview in People magazine, she says she is now in therapy and is taking medication for bipolar II disorder, which involves periods of depression as well as hypomania.

January 16, 2019 – Carey’s former assistant, Lianna Shakhnazaryan, files a civil lawsuit claiming she was harassed and tormented by Carey’s manager, Stella Bulochnikov. In the complaint, Shakhnazaryan alleges that she was physically abused and urinated on by Bulochnikov, and that Carey was sometimes present for the abuse and allowed it to continue. Carey files her own lawsuit against Shakhnazaryan, claiming breach of contract, invasion of privacy and extortion. The case is settled in July 2021 for an undisclosed amount.

December 16, 2019 – Carey’s 25-year-old holiday song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hits No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.

September 29, 2020 – Carey’s memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” is published.

March 3, 2021 – Carey’s brother, Morgan Carey, files a lawsuit against her for defamation, alleging that his depiction in “The Meaning of Mariah Carey” caused him “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” The lawsuit follows a separate suit filed by Carey’s sister, Alison Carey, a month earlier for emotional distress caused by the memoir.

June 3, 2022 – In a complaint filed in New Orleans federal court, Andy Stone sues Carey over her 1994 Christmas classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Stone says he co-wrote a song with the same title five years earlier. The complaint states that Stone’s lawyers first contacted the defendants in April 2021 about their alleged unauthorized use, but were “unable to come to any agreement.” On November 1, Stone files to dismiss the case.

June 16, 2022 – Is inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

November 1, 2023 – Andy Stone re-files his complaint in Los Angeles federal court over “All I want for Christmas Is You.” Stone is alleging copyright infringement and unjust enrichment and is asking for at least $20 million in damages.

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March 19, 2024
Kamala Harris Fast Facts | CNN Politics

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CNN
—

Here is a look at the life of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Birth date: October 20, 1964

Birth place: Oakland, California

Birth name: Kamala Devi Harris

Father: Donald Harris, economics professor

Mother: Shyamala Gopalan Harris, physician

Marriage: Douglas Emhoff (2014-present)

Education: Howard University, B.A. political science and economics, 1986; University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D., 1989

Religion: Baptist

First African American, first woman and first Asian American to become attorney general of California.

First South Asian American attorney general in the nation.

First Indian American and second African American woman to serve as a senator.

First African American woman to represent California in the Senate.

She is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants.

Grew up attending a Black Baptist church and a Hindu temple.

Her name comes from the Sanskrit word meaning “lotus” flower.

1990-1998 – Serves as deputy district attorney for Alameda County, California.

1998 – Is named managing attorney of the Career Criminal Unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

2004-2011 – District attorney of San Francisco.

2009 – “Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer” is published.

2011-2016 – Attorney general of California.

January 3, 2017-January 18, 2021 – Serves in the US Senate.

December 5, 2018 – Accepts the resignation of Larry Wallace, a senior aide, after accusations of harassment surface from the time that he worked with her at the California Department of Justice.

January 8, 2019 – Harris’ memoir, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,” and picture book, “Superheroes Are Everywhere,” are published.

January 21, 2019 – Announces she is running for president in a video posted to social media at the same time she appears on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

October 30, 2019 – In a memo to staff and supporters, Harris’ campaign manager says the campaign will cut staff and expenses to focus on strategy in Iowa. It will lay off staffers in her Baltimore headquarters and deploy staff from New Hampshire, Nevada and California to Iowa.

December 3, 2019 – Harris ends her 2020 presidential campaign.

March 8, 2020 – Harris endorses Joe Biden for president.

August 11, 2020 – Biden names Harris as his running mate, making her the first Black and South Asian American woman to run on a major political party’s presidential ticket.

November 7, 2020 – Days after the election on November 3, CNN projects Harris is elected vice president, making her America’s first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president.

January 20, 2021 – Is sworn in as vice president of the United States.

May 28, 2021 – Harris gives the commencement speech at the United States Naval Academy addressing the 2021 graduating class. She is the first woman to give a commencement speech at the school.

November 19, 2021 – Biden temporarily transfers power to Harris while he is under anesthesia for a routine colonoscopy. Harris becomes the first woman with presidential power.

April 26, 2022 – The White House announces that Harris has tested positive for Covid-19. She is exhibiting no symptoms. She will isolate and work from the vice president’s residence.

May 27, 2023 – Becomes the first woman to deliver a commencement address at the graduation ceremony at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York.

March 14, 2024 – Harris visits a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota, the first time a sitting US president or vice president is believed to visit an abortion provider.

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March 19, 2024
Terry Nichols Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here is a look at the life of convicted Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols.

Birth date: April 1, 1955

Birth place: Lapeer County, Michigan

Birth name: Terry Lynn Nichols

Father: Robert Nichols, farmer

Mother: Joyce Nichols

Marriages: Marife (Torres) Nichols (1990-2003, divorced); Lana (Osentoski) Nichols (1981-1989, divorced)

Children: with Marife Nichols: Christian and Nicole; with Lana Nichols: Joshua

Education: Attended Central Michigan University

Military service: US Army, 1988-1989

The FBI accused Nichols of helping build the bomb and arrange a getaway car for Timothy McVeigh after the bombing.

Nichols’ defense attorneys painted Nichols as a family man who had little to do with the bombing.

Nichols was not in Oklahoma City on the day of the bombing but was at home in Kansas. Prosecutors said Nichols helped McVeigh make the bomb the day before.

Nichols and McVeigh shared a fondness for guns, interest in survivalist training and a distrust of the US government.

Nichols learned how to mix fuel and fertilizer to make bombs while growing up on a farm. His father, a farmer, used such bombs to blow up tree stumps.

Nichols’ wife Marife complained at Nichols’ trial of being jealous of her husband’s close relationship with McVeigh.

May 24, 1988 – Enlists in the Army at the age of 33.

1988 – Meets McVeigh while in basic training at Fort Benning.

May 1989 – Is given a hardship discharge so he can go home to take care of his son Joshua.

Fall 1993 – McVeigh lives with the Nichols brothers, Terry and James, in their farmhouse.

March 1994 – Takes a job as a farmhand in Kansas.

Fall 1994 – Quits his job as a farmhand to go into business with McVeigh, selling guns and military surplus.

October 1994 – Along with McVeigh, steals blasting caps and other explosives materials from a quarry in Kansas.

November 5, 1994 – Reportedly robs Arkansas gun dealer Roger Moore to finance the purchase of bomb materials.

November 1994-January 1995 – Makes a trip to the Philippines where his wife Marife and daughter Nicole are living. Before leaving on the trip, Nichols gives his ex-wife Lana letters and instructions for McVeigh, which are to be read if he doesn’t return from the Philippines.

April 19, 1995 – A bomb explodes at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

April 21, 1995 – Nichols surrenders to Kansas police when he hears they are looking for him.

December 23, 1997 – Is found guilty on federal charges of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and on eight counts of involuntary manslaughter.

June 4, 1998 – Federal Judge Richard Matsch sentences Nichols to life in prison without parole after the federal jury is unable to decide on the death penalty or a life sentence.

September 13, 1999 – A federal judge rejects Nichols’ request for a new federal trial.

September 5, 2001 – The Oklahoma County District Attorney announces that Nichols will face a state trial for his role in the bombing. District Attorney C. Wesley Lane says he is going forward with the trial because he is concerned the federal conviction will be overturned.

March 22, 2004 – Nichols’ state trial opens.

April 20, 2004 – Michael Fortier testifies that McVeigh asked him to help build the bomb because “Terry was backing out.” Fortier was sentenced to 12 years in prison as part of a plea deal for testifying against McVeigh and Nichols.

May 26, 2004 – Nichols is found guilty in Oklahoma state court on 161 counts of murder. The jury spent five hours deliberating before announcing the verdict.

June 11, 2004 – The jury in Nichols’ state trial says it is deadlocked over a sentence of life in prison or death by lethal injection.

August 9, 2004 – District Judge Steven Taylor sentences Nichols to 161 consecutive life terms, without the possibility of parole.

April 1, 2005 – The FBI finds residual bomb making material in Nichols’ former residence, not detected in previous searches.

May 4, 2005 – In a letter written from his Colorado prison cell, Nichols names Arkansas gun dealer Roger Moore as the man who supplied him and McVeigh with bomb components. Moore denies any involvement.

March 16, 2009 – Files a 39-page handwritten lawsuit against the Colorado prison where he is staying for violating his religious and dietary needs. In the lawsuit Nichols requests 100% whole-grain foods, fresh raw vegetables and fruit, a wheat bran supplement and digestive bacteria and enzymes.

February 2010 – Goes on a fast, protesting the processed foods he is being served in prison.

August 12, 2010 – US District Judge Christine M. Arguello dismisses Nichols’ lawsuit over prison food.

November 28, 2011 – Jannie Coverdale, grandmother of two victims of the Oklahoma City bombing, reveals she has been corresponding with Nichols for several years and that he apologized and asked for her forgiveness, which he received. In copies of the letters published in The Oklahoman, Nichols admits he knew there was to be a bombing but didn’t know the federal building was the target and that the building would be occupied.

July 13, 2015 – Nichols files a motion asking the court to force the FBI to turn over approximately 10 firearms, belonging to him, that were seized after the bombings. Nichols suggests in the motion that the FBI turn the guns over to his family so the firearms can be sold to help provide financial support for his children.

April 15, 2016 – Judge Matsch orders the government to destroy the firearms belonging to Nichols, and that the fair market value of $6,922 be applied to his court ordered restitution of $14.5 million.

March 9, 2017 – Evidence from Nichols’ state trial is transferred to the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.

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March 15, 2024
Taliban Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at the Taliban, a Sunni Islamist organization operating primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The group’s aim is to impose its interpretation of Islamic law on Afghanistan and remove foreign influence from the country.

Taliban, in Pashto, is the plural of Talib, which means student.

Most members are Pashtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.

Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has been the Taliban’s supreme leader since 2016.

Reclusive leader Mullah Mohammed Omar led the Taliban from the mid-1990s until his death in 2013.

The exact number of Taliban forces is unknown.

1979-1989 – The Soviet Union invades and occupies Afghanistan. Afghan resistance fighters, known collectively as mujahedeen, fight back.

1989-1993 – After the Soviet Union withdraws, fighting among the mujahedeen erupts.

1994 – The Taliban forms, comprised mostly of students and led by Mullah Mohammed Omar.

November 1994 – The Taliban take control of the city of Kandahar.

September 1996 – The capital, Kabul, falls to the Taliban.

1996-2001 – The group imposes strict Islamic laws on the Afghan people. Women must wear head-to-toe coverings, are not allowed to attend school or work outside the home and are forbidden to travel alone. Television, music and non-Islamic holidays are banned.

1997 – The Taliban issue an edict renaming Afghanistan the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The country is only officially recognized by three countries: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

1997- Omar forges a relationship with Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, who then moves his base of operations to Kandahar.

August 1998 – The Taliban capture the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, gaining control of about 90% of Afghanistan.

October 7, 2001 – Less than a month after terrorists linked to al Qaeda carry out the 9/11 attacks, American and allied forces begin an invasion of Afghanistan called Operation Enduring Freedom.

December 2001 – The Taliban lose its last major stronghold as Kandahar falls. Hamid Karzai is chosen as interim leader of Afghanistan.

November 3, 2004 – Karzai is officially elected president of Afghanistan.

December 2006 – Senior Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani is killed in an airstrike by the United States.

December 11, 2007 – Allied commanders report that Afghan troops backed by NATO have recaptured the provincial town of Musa Qala from Taliban control.

October 21, 2008 – Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal confirms that Saudi Arabia hosted talks between Afghan officials and the Taliban in September. It is reported that no agreements were made.

April 25, 2011 – Hundreds of prisoners escape from a prison in Kandahar by crawling through a tunnel. The Taliban take responsibility for the escape and claim that 541 prisoners escaped, while the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force says the number is 470.

September 10, 2011 – Two Afghan civilians are killed, and 77 US troops are wounded in a truck bombing at the entrance of Combat Outpost Sayed Abad, an ISAF base in Afghanistan’s Wardak province. The Taliban claim responsibility.

September 13, 2011 – Taliban militants open fire on the US embassy and ISAF headquarters in central Kabul. Three police officers and one civilian are killed.

February 27, 2012 – The Taliban claim responsibility for a suicide bombing near the front gate of the ISAF base at the Jalalabad airport in Afghanistan. At least nine people are killed and 12 are wounded in the explosion. The Taliban say the bombing is in retaliation for the burning of Qurans by NATO troops.

June 18, 2013 – An official political office of the Taliban opens in Doha, Qatar’s capital city. The Taliban claim they hope to improve relations with other countries and head toward a peaceful solution in Afghanistan.

September 21, 2013 – A Pakistani official announces that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the founding members of the Taliban, has been released from prison. Baradar had been captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2010.

May 31, 2014 – The United States transfer five Guantánamo Bay detainees to Qatar in exchange for the release of US Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. It is believed Bergdahl was being held by the Taliban and the al Qaeda-aligned Haqqani network in Pakistan. The detainees released are Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Nori, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Mohammad Nabi Omari.

July 29, 2015 – An Afghan government spokesman says in a news release that Taliban leader Omar died in April 2013 in Pakistan, citing “credible information.” A spokesman for Afghanistan’s intelligence service tells CNN that Omar died in a hospital in Karachi at that time.

September 28, 2015 – Taliban insurgents seize the main roundabout in the Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz, then free more than 500 inmates at the prison.

December 21, 2015 – A police official says Taliban forces have taken almost complete control over Sangin, a strategically important city in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

May 21, 2016 – Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour is killed in an airstrike in Pakistan.

May 25, 2016 – The Taliban name Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader. He is a senior religious cleric from the Taliban’s founding generation.

January 25, 2017 – The Taliban release an open letter to newly elected US President Donald Trump. The letter calls on Trump to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan.

April 21, 2017 – The Taliban attack a northern army base in Afghanistan, killing or wounding more than 100 people.

July 25, 2017 – CNN reports it has exclusive videos that suggest the Taliban have received improved weaponry in Afghanistan that appears to have been supplied by the Russian government. Moscow categorically denies arming the Taliban.

August 3, 2017 – Taliban and ISIS forces launch a joint attack on a village in northern Afghanistan, killing 50 people, including women and children, local officials say.

January 27, 2018 – An attacker driving an ambulance packed with explosives detonates them in Kabul, killing 95 people and injuring 191 others, Afghan officials say. The Taliban claim responsibility.

February 28, 2018 – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says the government is willing to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate political party as part of a potential ceasefire agreement.

April 12, 2018 – At least 14 people, including a district governor, are killed and at least five are injured in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan’s southeastern Ghazni province.

June 7, 2018 – In a video message, Ghani announces that Afghan forces have agreed to a ceasefire with the Taliban between June 12 and June 21. The proposed truce coincides with the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the period during which Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.

June 15-17, 2018 – The three-day-old ceasefire between the Taliban, Afghan forces and the NATO-led coalition is marred by two deadly attacks. ISIS, which did not participate in the truce, claims responsibility for a suicide bombing in the Nangarhar province that kills at least 25 people, including Taliban members and civilians. A second suicide bombing is carried out near the Nangarhar governor’s compound, killing at least 18 people and injuring at least 49. There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the second attack.

August 10, 2018 – The Taliban launch an attack on the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni, south of the capital Kabul, seizing key buildings and trading fire with security forces. At least 16 people are killed and 40 are injured, most are Afghan security forces.

October 13, 2018 – The Taliban issues a statement announcing that the group met with the US envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, to discuss the conflict in Afghanistan. The United States does not confirm that the meeting occurred.

November 9, 2018 – In Moscow, Taliban representatives participate in talks with diplomats from Russia, Pakistan, India and other countries, as well as officials from the Afghan government. The United States sends a diplomat from its embassy in Moscow as an observer.

January 22, 2019 – Authorities say at least 12 members of the Afghan military were killed and another 28 injured when the Taliban carried out a suicide attack on a military base in the central province of Maidan Wardak.

January 28, 2019 – Officials from the United States and the Taliban announce they have agreed to a framework that could end the war in Afghanistan. The framework for peace would see the Taliban vow to prevent the country from being used as a hub for terrorism in return for a US military withdrawal. An Afghan source close to the negotiations tells CNN that while a ceasefire and US withdrawal were both discussed, neither side came to final conclusions.

January 30, 2019 – In its quarterly report to the US Congress, the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction declares the Taliban expanded its control of territory in 2018 while the Afghan government lost control of territory. In October 2018, the Afghan government controlled just 53.8% of districts in the country, according to the report. The insurgency made gains to control 12.3% of districts while 33.9% of districts were contested.

February 5-6, 2019 – Talks are held in Moscow between Taliban leaders and politicians from the government of Afghanistan.

March 12, 2019 – Peace talks between representatives from the United States and the Taliban end without a finalized agreement. Khalilzad, the main American negotiator, says that progress has been made and the talks yielded two draft proposals.

September 7-8, 2019 – Trump announces that Taliban leaders were to travel to the Unites States for secret peace talks over the weekend but that the meeting has been canceled and he has called off peace talks with the militant group entirely. Trump tweets that he scrapped the meeting after the Taliban took credit for an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed a dozen people, including an American soldier.

November 28, 2019 – On a surprise trip to Afghanistan for a Thanksgiving visit with US troops, Trump announces that peace talks with the Taliban have restarted.

February 29, 2020 – The United States and the Taliban sign a historic agreement which sets into motion the potential of a full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” outlines a series of commitments from the United States and the Taliban related to troop levels, counterterrorism and the intra-Afghan dialogue aimed at bringing about “a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.”

August 9, 2020 – Afghanistan’s grand assembly of elders, the consultative Loya Jirga, passes a resolution calling for the release of the last group of some 5,000 Taliban prisoners, paving the way for direct peace talks with the insurgent group. The release of the 400 prisoners is part of the agreement signed by the US and the Taliban in February.

April 14, 2021 – US President Joe Biden formally announces his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan before September 11, 2021, deeming the prolonged and intractable conflict in Afghanistan no longer aligns with American priorities.

August 15, 2021 – After the Taliban seize control of every major city across Afghanistan, in just two weeks, they take control of the presidential palace in Kabul. A senior Afghan official and a senior diplomatic source tell CNN that Ghani has left the country.

August 30, 2021 – The last US military planes leave Afghanistan.

September 7, 2021 – The Taliban announce the formation of a hardline interim government for Afghanistan. Four men receiving senior positions in the government had previously been detained by the United States at Guantánamo Bay, and were released as part of a prisoner swap for Bergdahl in 2014.

November 30, 2021 – New research released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) details “the summary execution or enforced disappearance” of 47 former members of the Afghan National Security Forces who had surrendered or were apprehended by Taliban forces between August 15 and October 31. A Taliban deputy spokesman rejects the HRW report, saying that the Taliban established a general amnesty on their first day of power in Afghanistan.

December 27, 2021 – The Taliban says it has dissolved Afghanistan’s election commission as well as its ministries for peace and parliamentary affairs, further eroding state institutions set up by the country’s previous Western-backed governments.

February 11, 2022 – Biden signs an executive order allowing $7 billion in frozen assets from Afghanistan’s central bank to eventually be distributed inside the country and to potentially fund litigation brought by families of victims of the September 11 terror attacks. The Taliban has claimed rights to the funds, which include assets like currency and gold, but the United States has declined access to them after Afghanistan’s democratic government fell. The United States has not recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.

March 23, 2022 – The Taliban prevents girls above the 6th grade in Afghanistan from making their much-anticipated return to school. They are told to stay at home until a school uniform appropriate to Sharia and Afghan customs and culture can be designed, the Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency reported. The Taliban originally said that schools would open for all students – including girls – after the Afghan new year, which is celebrated on March 21, on the condition that boys and girls were separated either in different schools or by different learning hours.

November 13, 2022 – The Taliban orders judges in Afghanistan to fully impose their interpretation of Sharia Law, including potential public executions, amputations and flogging, a move experts fear will lead to a further deterioration of human rights in the impoverished country.

December 20, 2022 – The Taliban government suspends university education for all female students in Afghanistan.

December 24, 2022 – The Taliban administration orders all local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to stop their female employees from coming to work, according to a letter by the Ministry of Economy sent to all licensed NGOs.

June 15, 2023 – The United Nations releases a report saying that since re-taking control of the country,the Taliban has committed “egregious systematic violations of women’s rights,” by restricting their access to education and employment and their ability to move freely in society.

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March 15, 2024
Samuel Alito Fast Facts | CNN

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Here’s a look at the life of US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

Birth date: April 1, 1950

Birth place: Trenton, New Jersey

Birth name: Samuel Anthony Alito Jr.

Father: Samuel Alito, a teacher

Mother: Rose (Fradusco) Alito, a teacher

Marriage: Martha-Ann (Bomgardner) Alito (1985-present)

Children: Philip and Laura

Education: Princeton University, A.B., 1972; Yale University, J.D., 1975

Nicknamed “Scalito” as his views resemble those of the late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court, the first in 1982.

1976-1977 – Law clerk to Leonard I. Garth, judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

1977-1981 – Assistant US attorney for the District of New Jersey.

1981-1985 – Assistant to the US solicitor general.

1985-1987 – Deputy assistant to the US attorney general.

1987-1990 – Named by President Ronald Reagan as the US attorney for the District of New Jersey.

February 20, 1990 – Nominated by President George H.W. Bush to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

April 27, 1990 – Confirmed unanimously by the Senate on a voice vote.

April 30, 1990-2006 – Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Newark, New Jersey.

1991 – Is the only dissenting voice in a Third Circuit ruling striking down a Pennsylvania law that required women to notify their husbands if they planned to get an abortion.

1993 – Agrees with the majority that an Iranian woman seeking asylum could establish eligibility by showing that she has an abhorrence with her country’s “gender specific laws and repressive social norms,” or because of a belief in feminism or membership in a feminist group.

1999 – Writes the opinion in a case that says a Christmas display on city property does not violate separation of church and state doctrines because it included a large plastic Santa Claus as well as a Menorah and a banner hailing diversity.

2001 – Agrees with the majority that strikes down a public school district’s anti-harassment policy, saying the policy – which included non-vulgar, non-school-sponsored speech – violated the First Amendment.

October 31, 2005 – President George W. Bush nominates Alito to be Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s replacement on the Supreme Court.

January 31, 2006 – Alito is confirmed as an associate justice to the Supreme Court. The US Senate votes 58-42. He is immediately sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts.

February 1, 2006 – Sworn in as a Supreme Court justice a second time in a ceremony at the White House.

May 29, 2007 – In a 5-4 ruling, the court dismisses a pay discrimination lawsuit, with Alito writing for the majority. The original suit was filed by a female worker, Lilly Ledbetter against her employer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. She claimed that she was underpaid due to gender discrimination. In the opinion, Alito writes that Ledbetter filed the claim after the federally-mandated 180-day time window, concluding that the “filing deadline protects employers from the burden of defending claims arising from employment decisions long past.”

January 28, 2010 – During a State of the Union address by President Barack Obama, Alito is seen mouthing the words “not true” in response to the president’s criticism of the court’s 5-4 ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which removed long-established legal limits on campaign spending by corporations and unions.

March 2, 2011 – Alito is the sole dissenter in the free speech case involving Westboro Baptist Church. In an 8-1 decision, the court rules that the First Amendment allows the church to carry out anti-gay protests, even at military funerals. Westboro had been sued by the family of a fallen Marine whose funeral was disrupted by church protesters. In his dissent, Alito writes, “Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case.”

June 25, 2013 – Writes the majority opinion in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl where the question is, can an unwed non-custodial parent block an adoption using the Federal Indian Child Welfare Act. The court ruled, 5-4, in favor of the adoptive parents ruling that the ICWA did not apply when the parent had never had physical or legal custody of the child.

June 30, 2014 – Writes the majority opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, with the court ruling 5-4 that family-owned corporations can be exempt from a federal mandate requiring the inclusion of contraception coverage in employee health plans based on religious objections.

June 27, 2018 – The court issues a 5-4 ruling striking down an Illinois law requiring non-union public sector workers to pay fees for collective bargaining. The opinion, written by Alito, reads, “It is hard to estimate how many billions of dollars have been taken from nonmembers and transferred to public sector unions in violation of the First Amendment. Those unconstitutional exactions cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.”

February 1, 2019 – Alito temporarily blocks a Louisiana abortion law from going into effect, filing an order that says the justices need more time to review the filings in the case against a measure restricting access to clinics.

November 25, 2019 – Writes the sole dissent in the court’s denial of National Review’s defamation suit petition. Climate scientist Michael Mann sued the conservative magazine in 2012 after two columnists wrote about his work and the “Hockey Stick” curve graph illustrating the rise in average global temperatures, accusing him of “misconduct” and data “manipulation.” Alito writes that the case brings up First Amendment concerns “that go to the very heart of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech and freedom of the press: the protection afforded to journalists and others who use harsh language in criticizing opposing advocacy on one of the most important public issues of the day. If the Court is serious about protecting freedom of expression, we should grant review.”

June 24, 2022 – The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, holding that there is no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion. In his majority opinion, Alito says “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.”

November 28, 2022 – In a letter, the Supreme Court legal counsel says there is no evidence that Alito violated ethics standards, in response to questions from congressional Democrats about allegations that Alito revealed the outcome of a 2014 decision before it was released.

July 28, 2023 – Alito agrees to temporarily freeze a lower court order that bars the US government from regulating so-called ghost guns – untraceable homemade weapons – as firearms under federal law.

October 6, 2023 – Alito freezes a lower court ruling that blocked the Biden administration from regulating so-called ghost guns.

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March 13, 2024
Notable US Supreme Court Decisions Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at some of the most important cases decided by the US Supreme Court since 1789.

1803 – Marbury v. Madison
This decision established the system of checks and balances and the power of the Supreme Court within the federal government.

Situation: Federalist William Marbury and many others were appointed to positions by outgoing President John Adams. The appointments were not finalized before the new Secretary of State James Madison took office, and Madison chose not to honor them. Marbury and the others invoked an Act of Congress and sued to get their appointed positions.

The Court decided against Marbury 6-0.

Historical significance: Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, “An act of the legislature repugnant to the constitution is void.” It was the first time the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a law that had been passed by Congress.

1857 – Dred Scott v. Sandford
This decision established that slaves were not citizens of the United States and were not protected under the US Constitution.

Situation: Dred Scott and his wife Harriet sued for their freedom in Missouri, a slave state, after having lived with their owner, an Army surgeon, in the free Territory of Wisconsin.

The Court decided against Scott 7-2.

Historical significance: The decision overturned the Missouri Compromise, where Congress had prohibited slavery in the territories. The Dred Scott decision was overturned later with the adoption of the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in 1865 and the 14th Amendment in 1868, granting citizenship to all born in the United States.

1896 – Plessy v. Ferguson
This decision established the rule of segregation, separate but equal.

Situation: While attempting to test the constitutionality of the Separate Car Law in Louisiana, Homer Plessy, a man of 1/8 African descent, sat in the train car for whites instead of the blacks-only train car and was arrested.

The Court decided against Plessy 7-1.

Historical significance: Justice Henry Billings Brown wrote, “The argument also assumes that social prejudice may be overcome by legislation and that equal rights cannot be secured except by an enforced commingling of the two races… if the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.” The Court gave merit to the “Jim Crow” system. Plessy was overturned by the Brown v. Board of Education decision. In January 2022 Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards granted a posthumous pardon to Homer Plessy. The pardon comes after the Louisiana Board of Pardons voted unanimously in November 2021 in favor of a pardon for Plessy, who died in his 60s in 1925.

1954 – Brown v. Board of Education
This decision overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and granted equal protection under the law.

Situation: Segregation of the public school systems in the United States was addressed when cases in Kansas, South Carolina, Delaware and Virginia were all decided together under Brown v. Board of Education. Third-grader Linda Brown was denied admission to the white school a few blocks from her home and was forced to attend the blacks-only school a mile away.

The Court decided in favor of Brown unanimously.

Historical significance: Racial segregation violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

1963 – Gideon v. Wainwright
This decision guarantees the right to counsel.

Situation: Clarence Earl Gideon was forced to defend himself when he requested a lawyer from a Florida court and was refused. He was convicted and sentenced to five years for breaking and entering.

The Court decided in favor of Gideon unanimously.

Historical significance: Ensures the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee to counsel is applicable to the states through the 14th Amendment’s due process clause.

1964 – New York Times v. Sullivan
This decision upheld the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Situation: The New York Times and four African-American ministers were sued for libel by Montgomery, Alabama, police commissioner L.B. Sullivan. Sullivan claimed a full-page ad in the Times discussing the arrest of Martin Luther King Jr., and his efforts toward voter registration and integration in Montgomery were defamatory against him. Alabama’s libel law did not require Sullivan to prove harm since the ad did contain factual errors. He was awarded $500,000.

The Court decided against Sullivan unanimously.

Historical significance: The First Amendment protects free speech and publication of all statements about public officials made without actual malice.

1966 – Miranda v. Arizona
The decision established the rights of suspects against self-incrimination.

Situation: Ernesto Miranda was convicted of rape and kidnapping after he confessed, while in police custody, without benefit of counsel or knowledge of his constitutional right to remain silent.

The court decided in favor of Miranda 5-4.

Historical significance: Upon arrest and/or questioning, all suspects are given some form of their constitutional rights – “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”

1973 – Roe v. Wade
This decision expanded privacy rights to include a woman’s right to choose pregnancy or abortion.

Situation: “Jane Roe” (Norma McCorvey), single and living in Texas, did not want to continue her third pregnancy. Under Texas law, she could not legally obtain an abortion.

The Court decided in favor of Roe 7-2.

Historical significance: Abortion is legal in all 50 states. Women have the right to choose between pregnancy and abortion.

1974 – United States v. Nixon
This decision established that executive privilege is neither absolute nor unqualified.

Situation: President Richard Nixon’s taped conversations from 1971 onward were the object of subpoenas by both the special prosecutor and those under indictment in the Watergate scandal. The president claimed immunity from subpoena under executive privilege.

The Court decided against Nixon 8-0.

Historical significance: The president is not above the law. After the Court ruled on July 24, 1974, Richard Nixon resigned on August 8.

1978 – Regents of the U. of California v. Bakke
This decision ruled that race cannot be the only factor in college admissions.

Situation: Allan Bakke had twice applied for and was denied admission to the University of California Medical School at Davis. Bakke was white, male and 35 years old. He claimed under California’s affirmative action plan, minorities with lower grades and test scores were admitted to the medical school when he was not, therefore his denial of admission was based solely on race.

The Court decided in Bakke’s favor, 5-4.

Historical significance: Affirmative action is approved by the Court and schools may use race as an admissions factor. However, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment works both ways in the case of affirmative action; race cannot be the only factor in the admissions process.

2012 – National Federation of Independent Business et al v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services et al

Situation: The constitutionality of the sweeping health care reform law championed by President Barack Obama.

The Court voted 5-4 in favor of upholding the Affordable Care Act.

Historical significance: The ruling upholds the law’s central provision – a requirement that all people have health insurance or pay a penalty.

2013 – United States v. Windsor
This decision ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined the term “marriage” under federal law as a “legal union between one man and one woman” deprived same-sex couples who are legally married under state laws of their Fifth Amendment rights to equal protection under federal law.

Situation: Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer were married in Toronto in 2007. Their marriage was recognized by New York state, where they lived. Upon Spyer’s death in 2009, Windsor was forced to pay $363,000 in estate taxes, because their marriage was not recognized by federal law.

The court voted 5-4 in favor of Windsor.

Historical significance: The court strikes down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, ruling that legally married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits.

2015 – King et al, v. Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al

Situation: This case was about determining whether or not the portion of the Affordable Care Act which says subsidies would be available only to those who purchase insurance on exchanges “established by the state” referred to the individual states.

The Court ruled 6-3 in favor of upholding the Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Historical significance: The court rules that the Affordable Care Act federal tax credits for eligible Americans are available in all 50 states, regardless of whether the states have their own health care exchanges.

2015 – Obergefell et al, v. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health, et al.

Situation: Multiple lower courts had struck down state same-sex marriage bans. There were 37 states allowing gay marriage before the issue went to the Supreme Court.

The Court ruled 5-4 in favor of Obergefell et al.

Historical significance: The court rules that states cannot ban same-sex marriage and must recognize lawful marriages performed out of state.

2016 – Fisher v. University of Texas

Situation: Abigail Fisher sued the University of Texas after her admission application was rejected in 2008. She claimed it was because she is white and that she was being treated differently than some less-qualified minority students who were accepted. In 2013 the Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower courts for further review.

The Court ruled 4-3 in favor of the University of Texas. Justice Elena Kagan recused herself from the case, presumably because she dealt with it in her previous job as solicitor general.

Historical Significance: The court rules that taking race into consideration as one factor of admission is constitutional.

2020 – Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia

Situation: Gerald Bostock filed a lawsuit against Clayton County for discrimination based on his sexual orientation after he was terminated for “conduct unbecoming of its employees,” shortly after he began participating in a gay softball league. Two other consolidated cases were also argued on the same day.

The 6-3 opinion in favor of the plaintiff, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, states that being fired “merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII” of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Historical Significance: Federal anti-bias law now protects people who face job loss and/or discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

2022 – Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

Situation: Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, passed in 2018 and which greatly restricts abortion after 15 weeks, is blocked by two federal courts, holding that it is in direct violation of Supreme Court precedent legalizing abortion nationwide prior to viability, which can occur at around 23-24 weeks of pregnancy, and that in an “unbroken line dating to Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s abortion cases have established (and affirmed and re-affirmed) a woman’s right to choose an abortion before viability.” The court said states may “regulate abortion procedures prior to viability” so long as they do not ban abortion. “The law at issue is a ban,” the court held. 

Mississippi appeals the decision to the Supreme Court.

The 6-3 opinion in favor of the plaintiff, written by Justice Samuel Alito states that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start…Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”

In a joint dissenting opinion, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan heavily criticized the majority, closing: “With sorrow – for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection – we dissent.”

Historical Significance: The ruling overturns Roe v. Wade and there is no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion, leaving abortion rights to be determined by states.

1944 – Korematsu v. United States – The Court ruled Executive Order 9066, internment of Japanese citizens during World War II, is legal, 6-3 for the United States.

1961 – Mapp v. Ohio – “Fruit of the poisonous tree,” evidence obtained through an illegal search, cannot be used at trial, 6-3 for Mapp.

1967 – Loving v. Virginia – Prohibition against interracial marriage was ruled unconstitutional, 9-0 for Loving.

1968 – Terry v. Ohio – Stop and frisk, under certain circumstances, does not violate the Constitution. The Court upholds Terry’s conviction and rules 8-1 that it is not unconstitutional for police to stop and frisk individuals without probable cause for an arrest if they have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has or is about to occur.

2008 – District of Columbia v. Heller – The Second Amendment does protect the individual’s right to bear arms, 5-4 for Heller.

2010 – Citizens United v. FEC – The Court rules corporations can contribute to PACs under the First Amendment’s right to free speech, 5-4 for Citizens United.

2023 – Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard together with Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina – Colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a specific basis in admissions. The majority opinion, written by Justice John Roberts, claims the court is not expressly overturning prior cases authorizing race-based affirmative action and suggests that how race has affected an applicant’s life can still be part of how their application is considered.

2024 – Donald J. Trump v. Norma Anderson, et al – The Court rules former President Donald Trump should appear on the ballot in Colorado in a decision that follows months of debate over whether Trump violated the “insurrectionist clause” included in the 14th Amendment.

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March 12, 2024
Saddam Hussein Trial Fast Facts | CNN

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Here is some background information about the trials and execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Hussein was charged with premeditated murder, imprisonment and the deprivation of physical movement, forced deportation and torture.

Seven other defendants stood trial with Hussein: Barzan Hassan, Taha Yassin Ramadan, Awad al-Bandar, Abdullah Ruwaid, Ali Dayem Ali, Mohammed Azzawi Ali and Mizher Ruwaid.

July 8, 1982 – Residents of the Shiite Muslim town of Dujail, Iraq, fire on Hussein’s motorcade. In retaliation, about 150 residents are executed.

March 19, 2003 – The second Gulf War begins, code named Operation Iraqi Freedom.

December 14, 2003 – The US Department of Defense announces Hussein has been captured in a cellar, or “spider hole,” at a farmhouse in Tikrit on December 13, 2003.

June 30, 2004 – The Coalition turns over legal control of Hussein and 11 other former top Iraqi officials to the interim Iraqi government, but they remain in the physical custody of the US for security reasons.

July 1, 2004 – Hussein makes his first appearance in court at his arraignment and is charged with a variety of crimes, including the invasion of Kuwait and the gassing of the Kurds. He pleads not guilty.

November 2004 – Hussein’s family fires his chief lawyer Mohammed al-Rashdan, accusing him of using the trial to seek personal fame. Rashdan is replaced by Ziad al-Khasawneh.

July 7, 2005 – Hussein’s chief lawyer Khasawneh resigns because he says the American defense team is trying to take over the case.

July 17, 2005 – The Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) files the first criminal charges against Hussein for the 1982 massacre of 148 people in Dujail. Other charges will be heard at separate trials.

August 23, 2005 – Hussein confirms that he has fired all his previous lawyers and is now solely represented by Khalil Dulaimi.

September 6, 2005 – Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says Hussein has confessed via videotape, audiotape, and signed confessions, to giving the order to gas thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s.

September 8, 2005 – Chief attorney Dulaimi denies that Hussein has confessed to ordering executions and waging a campaign against Kurds in which thousands of people are said to have been killed.

October 19, 2005 – Hussein’s trial begins in Baghdad. He and seven other co-defendants appear before Chief Judge Rizgar Amin and plead not guilty to the torture and murder of Iraqi citizens in Dujail in 1982.

October 20, 2005 – The lawyer for Bandar, Saadoun al-Janabi, is kidnapped and murdered one day after he appears in court for the opening of the trial.

November 8, 2005 – Adel al-Zubeidi, a lawyer for one of Saddam’s co-defendants, Ramadan, is killed and another lawyer wounded during a drive-by shooting.

December 27, 2005 – Three more lawyers join the defense team: Saleh al-Armoti, Ibrahim al-Mulla and Tayseer al-Mudather.

January 15, 2006 – Chief Judge Amin resigns after complaints that he is too lax with the defendants in the trial.

January 23, 2006 – Iraqi officials name Chief Judge Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman to replace Amin.

January 29, 2006 – Judge Abdel-Rahman warns defendants that he won’t tolerate political speeches in the courtroom. Hassan, Hussein’s half-brother, tests the judge by calling the court the “daughter of a whore.” Hassan is then forcibly removed from the courtroom. In response, several members of the defense team leave the courtroom in protest.

February 2, 2006 – Hussein, his seven co-defendants and their defense team boycott the proceedings and plan to stay away from the trial until Judge Abdel-Rahman is removed from the court.

April 4, 2006 – Hussein and six co-defendants are charged by the Iraqi High Criminal Court with genocide relating to the Anfal campaign against Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s. This will be a separate trial from the current one relating to the 1982 Dujail massacre.

May 15, 2006 – Judge Abdel-Rahman formally charges Hussein and seven other defendants with crimes against humanity. Hussein refuses to enter a plea.

June 21, 2006 – Defense attorney Khamis al-Ubaidi is kidnapped from his home by men dressed in Iraqi police uniforms, and murdered. Ubaidi had been defending Hussein and his half-brother, Hassan. In response, all seven defendants in the trial said they will go on a hunger strike until their attorneys are put under international protection.

July 27, 2006 – Court adjourns to deliberate a verdict in the Dujail trial.

August 21, 2006 – A new trial against Hussein begins. He and six co-defendants are being tried on genocide charges for their role in the 1980s campaign, Operation Anfal, in which 100,000 Kurds were killed. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.

September 19, 2006 – Chief Judge Abdullah al-Amiri is removed from the case after telling Hussein that he wasn’t a dictator.

September 20, 2006 – New Chief Judge Mohammad Orabi Majeed Al-Khalefa replaces Amiri.

November 5, 2006 – Hussein is sentenced to death by hanging for the 1982 Dujail massacre. Co-defendants Hassan and Bandar receive death sentences. Former Vice President Ramadan is sentenced to life in prison. Abdullah Ruwaid, Dayem Ali and Mizher Ruwaid receive 15-year sentences. Azzawi Ali is acquitted for lack of evidence.

December 26, 2006 – An appellate chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal upholds Hussein’s death sentence. Judge Aref Shaheen reads the decision of the court and says it is the final word in the case. Therefore, Hussein’s execution must take place before January 27, 2007, under Iraqi law.

December 30, 2006 – Hussein is hanged a few minutes after 6:00 a.m. Baghdad time.

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March 12, 2024
Detained Americans Fast Facts | CNN

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Here’s a look at some recent cases of foreign governments detaining US citizens. For information about missing Americans, see Robert Levinson Fast Facts or POW/MIA in Iraq and Afghanistan Fast Facts.

Afghanistan

Ryan Corbett
August 2022 – Corbett, a businessman whose family lived in Afghanistan for more than a decade prior to the collapse of the Afghan government, returns to Afghanistan on a 10 day trip. Roughly one week into his visit, he was asked to come in for questioning by the local police. Corbett, his German colleague, and two local staff members were all detained. All but Corbett are eventually released. The Taliban has acknowledged holding Corbett, and he has been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department.

China

Mark Swidan
November 13, 2012 – Swidan, a businessman from Texas, is arrested on drug related charges by Chinese Police while in his hotel room in Dongguan.

2013 – Swidan is tried and pleads not guilty.

2019 – Convicted of manufacturing and trafficking drugs by the Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court in southern Guangdong province and given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve.

April 13, 2023 – The Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court denies Swidan’s appeal and upholds his death penalty.

Kai Li
September 2016 – Kai Li, a naturalized US citizen born in China, is detained while visiting relatives in Shanghai.

July 2018 – He is sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage following a secret trial held in August 2017.

Iran

Karan Vafadari
December 2016 – Karan Vafadari’s family announces that Karan and his wife, Afarin Niasari, were detained at Tehran airport in July. Vafadari, an Iranian-American, and Niasari, a green-card holder, ran an art gallery in Tehran.

March 2017 – New charges of “attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic and recruiting spies through foreign embassies” are brought against Vafadari and Niasari.

January 2018 – Vafadari is sentenced to 27 years in prison. Niasari is sentenced to 16 years.

July 2018 – Vafadari and Niasari are reportedly released from prison on bail while they await their appeals court rulings.

Russia

Paul Whelan
December 28, 2018 – Paul Whelan, from Michigan, a retired Marine and corporate security director, is arrested on accusations of spying. His family says he was in Moscow to attend a wedding.

January 3, 2019 – His lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, tells CNN Whalen has been formally charged with espionage.

January 22, 2019 – At his pretrial hearing, Whelan is denied bail. Whelan’s attorney Zherebenkov tells CNN that Whelan was found in possession of classified material when he was arrested in Moscow.

June 15, 2020 – Whelan is convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

August 8, 2021 – State news agency TASS reports that Whelan has been released from solitary confinement in the Mordovian penal colony where he is being held.

Evan Gershkovich
March 30, 2023 – Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, is detained by Russian authorities and accused of spying. The Wall Street Journal rejects the spying allegations.

April 3, 2023 – The Russian state news agency TASS reports Gershkovich has filed an appeal against his arrest.

April 7, 2023 – Gershkovich is formally charged with espionage.

April 10, 2023 – The US State Department officially designates Gershkovich as wrongfully detained by Russia.

April 18, 2023 – The Moscow City Court denies his appeal to change the terms of his detention. Gershkovich will continue to be held in a pre-trial detention center at the notorious Lefortovo prison until May 29.

Saudi Arabia

Walid Fitaihi
November 2017 – Dual US-Saudi citizen Dr. Walid Fitaihi is detained at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh along with other prominent Saudis, according to his lawyer Howard Cooper. Fitaihi is then transferred to prison.

July 2019 – Fitaihi is released on bond.

December 8, 2020 – Fitaihi is sentenced to six years in prison for charges including obtaining US citizenship without permission.

January 14, 2021 – A Saudi appeals court upholds Fitaihi’s conviction but reduces his sentence to 3.2 years and suspends his remaining prison term. Fitaihi still faces a travel ban and frozen assets.

Syria

Austin Tice
August 2012 – Tice disappears while reporting near the Syrian capital of Damascus. The Syrian government has never acknowledged that they have Tice in their custody.

September 2012 – A 43-second video emerges online that shows Tice in the captivity of what his family describe as an “unusual group of apparent jihadists.”

Majd Kamalmaz
February 2017 – Kamalmaz is detained at a checkpoint in Damascus. The Syrian government has never acknowledged Kamalmaz is in its custody.

Cuba

Alan Gross
December 2009 – Alan Gross is jailed while working as a subcontractor on a US Agency for International Development project aimed at spreading democracy. His actions are deemed illegal by Cuban authorities. He is accused of trying to set up illegal internet connections on the island. Gross says he was trying to help connect the Jewish community to the internet and was not a threat to the government.

March 12, 2011 – Gross is found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison for crimes against the Cuban state.

April 11, 2014 – Ends a hunger strike that he launched the previous week in an effort to get the United States and Cuba to resolve his case.

December 17, 2014 – Gross is released as part of a deal with Cuba that paves the way for a major overhaul in US policy toward the island.

Egypt

16 American NGO Employees
December 2011 – Egyptian authorities carry out 17 raids on the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations. The Egyptian general prosecutor’s office claims the raids were part of an investigation into allegations the groups had received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a proper license.

February 5, 2012 – Forty-three people face prosecution in an Egyptian criminal court on charges of illegal foreign funding as part of an ongoing crackdown on NGOs. Among the American defendants is Sam LaHood, International Republican Institute country director and the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

February 15, 2012 – The US State Department confirms there are 16 Americans being held, not 19 as the Egyptian government announced.

February 20, 2012 – South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Arizona Senator John McCain meet with top Egyptian military and political leaders in Cairo.

March 1, 2012 – Some of the 43 detainees including American, Norwegian, German, Serbian and Palestinian activists leave Cairo after each post two-million Egyptian pounds bail.

April 20, 2012 – CNN is told Egyptian officials have filed global arrest notices with Interpol for some of the Americans involved in the NGO trial.

June 4, 2013 – An Egyptian court sentences the NGO workers: 27 workers in absentia to five-year sentences, 11 to one-year suspended jail sentences, and five others to two-year sentences that were not suspended, according to state-run newspaper Al Ahram. Only one American has remained in Egypt to fight the charges, but he also left after the court announced his conviction.

Iran

UC-Berkeley Grads
July 31, 2009 – Three graduates from the University of California at Berkeley, Sarah Shourd of Oakland, California, Shane Bauer, of Emeryville, California, and Joshua Fattal, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, are detained in Iran after hiking along the unmarked Iran-Iraq border in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region.

August 11, 2009 – Iran sends formal notification to the Swiss ambassador that the three American hikers have been detained. Switzerland represents the United States diplomatic interests in Iran since the United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations.

October 2009 – The Iranian government allows a Swiss diplomat to visit the hikers at Evin Prison.

November 9, 2009 – Iran charges the three with espionage.

March 9, 2010 – The families of the three detained hikers speak by phone to the hikers for the first time since they were jailed.

May 20, 2010 – The detainees’ mothers are allowed to visit their children.

May 21, 2010 – The mothers are allowed a second visit, and the detained hikers speak publicly for the first time at a government-controlled news conference.

August 5, 2010 – Reports surface that Shourd is being denied medical treatment.

September 14, 2010 – Shourd is released on humanitarian grounds on $500,000 bail.

September 19, 2010 – Shourd speaks publicly to the press in New York.

November 27, 2010 – Two days after Thanksgiving, Fattal and Bauer are allowed to call home for the second time. Each call lasts about five minutes.

February 6, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer’s trial begins. Shourd has not responded to a court summons to return to stand trial.

May 4, 2011 – Shourd announces she will not return to Tehran to face espionage charges.

August 20, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer each receive five years for spying and three years for illegal entry, according to state-run TV. They have 20 days to appeal.

September 14, 2011 – A Western diplomat tells CNN an Omani official is en route to Tehran to help negotiate the release of Fattal and Bauer. Oman helped secure the release of Shourd in 2010.

September 21, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer are released from prison on bail of $500,000 each and their sentences are commuted. On September 25, they arrive back in the United States.

Saeed Abedini
September 26, 2012 – According to the American Center for Law and Justice, Saeed Abedini, an American Christian pastor who was born in Iran and lives in Idaho, is detained in Iran. The group says that Abedini’s charges stem from his conversion to Christianity from Islam 13 years ago and his activities with home churches in Iran.

January 2013 – Abedini is sentenced to eight years in prison, on charges of attempting to undermine the Iranian government.

January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Abedini, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, and Jason Rezaian, in exchange for clemency of seven Iranians imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.

Amir Mirzaei Hekmati
August 2011 – Amir Mirzaei Hekmati travels to Iran to visit relatives and gets detained by authorities, according to his family. His arrest isn’t made public for months.

December 17, 2011 – Iran’s Intelligence Ministry claims to have arrested an Iranian-American working as a CIA agent, according to state-run Press TV.

December 18, 2011 – Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency broadcasts a video in which a young man says his name is Hekmati, and that he joined the US Marine Corps and worked with Iraqi officers.

December 19, 2011 – The US State Department confirms the identity of the man detained in Iran and calls for his immediate release.

December 20, 2011 – Hekmati’s family says that he was arrested in August while visiting relatives in Iran. The family asserts that they remained quiet about the arrest at the urging of Iranian officials who promised his release.

December 27, 2011 – Hekmati’s trial begins in Iran. Prosecutors accuse Hekmati of entering Iran with the intention of infiltrating the country’s intelligence system in order to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorist activities, according to the Fars news agency.

January 9, 2012 – An Iranian news agency reports that Hekmati is convicted of “working for an enemy country,” as well as membership in the CIA and “efforts to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism.” He is sentenced to death.

March 5, 2012 – An Iranian court dismisses a lower court’s death sentence for Hekmati and orders a retrial. He remains in prison.

September 2013 – In a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry, Hekmati says that his confession was obtained under duress.

April 11, 2014 – Hekmati’s sister tells CNN that Hekmati has been convicted in Iran by a secret court of “practical collaboration with the US government” and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Hekmati, Abedini, and Jason Rezaian, in exchange for clemency of seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.

Jason Rezaian
July 24, 2014 – The Washington Post reports that its Tehran correspondent and Bureau Chief Jason Rezaian, his wife Yeganeh Salehi and two freelance journalists were detained on July 22, 2014. An Iranian official confirmed to CNN that the group is being held by authorities.

July 29, 2014 – Iran releases one of three people detained alongside Rezaian, a source close to the family of the released detainee tells CNN. The released detainee is the husband of an Iranian-American photojournalist who remains in custody with Rezaian and his wife, according to the source.

August 20, 2014 – The Washington Post reports the photojournalist detained with Rezaian in July has been released. At her family’s request, the Post declines to publish her name.

October 6, 2014 – According to the Washington Post, Rezaian’s wife, Yeganeh Salehi, has been released on bail.

December 6, 2014 – During a 10-hour court session in Tehran, Rezaian is officially charged with unspecified crimes, according to the newspaper.

April 20, 2015 – According the Washington Post, Rezaian is being charged with espionage and other serious crimes including “collaborating with a hostile government” and “propaganda against the establishment.”

October 11, 2015 – Iran’s state media reports that Rezaian has been found guilty, but no details are provided about his conviction or his sentence. His trial reportedly took place between May and August.

November 22, 2015 – An Iranian court sentences Rezaian to prison. The length of the sentence is not specified.

January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Rezaian, Hekmati, and Abedini, in exchange for the clemency of seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.

May 1, 2018 – Joins CNN as a global affairs analyst.

Reza “Robin” Shahini
July 11, 2016 – San Diego resident Reza “Robin” Shahini is arrested while visiting family in Gorgan, Iran. Shahini is a dual US-Iranian citizen.

October 2016 – Shahini is sentenced to 18 years in prison.

February 15, 2017 – Goes on a hunger strike to protest his sentence.

April 3, 2017 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran says Shahini has been released on bail while he awaits the ruling of the appeals court.

July 2018 – A civil lawsuit filed against the Iranian government on Shahini’s behalf indicates that Shahini has returned to the United States.

Xiyue Wang
July 16, 2017 – The semi-official news agency Fars News, citing a video statement from Iranian judicial spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejheie, reports that a US citizen has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of spying. Princeton University identifies the man as Chinese-born Xiyue Wang, an American citizen and graduate student in history. According to a university statement, Wang was arrested in Iran last summer while doing scholarly research in connection with his Ph.D. dissertation.

December 7, 2019 – The White House announces that Wang has been released and is returning to the United States. Iran released Wang in a prisoner swap, in coordination with the United States freeing an Iranian scientist named Massoud Soleimani.

Michael White
January 8, 2019 – Michael White’s mother, Joanne White, tells CNN she reported him missing when he failed to return to work in California in July, after traveling to Iran to visit his girlfriend.

January 9, 2019 – Bahram Ghasemi, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, says White “was arrested in the city of Mashhad a while ago, and within a few days after his arrest the US government was informed of the arrest through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.” Ghasemi denies allegations that White, a US Navy veteran, has been mistreated in prison.

March 2019 – White is handed a 13-year prison sentence on charges of insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and for publicly posting private images, according to his attorney Mark Zaid.

March 19, 2020 – White is released into the custody of the Swiss Embassy on medical furlough. One condition of his release is that he must stay in Iran.

June 4, 2020 – White is released, according to White’s mother and a person familiar with the negotiations.

Baquer and Siamak Namazi
October 2015 – Siamak Namazi, a Dubai-based businessman with dual US and Iranian citizenship, is detained while visiting relatives in Tehran.

February 2016 – Baquer Namazi, a former UNICEF official and father of Siamak Namazi, is detained, his wife Effie Namazi says on Facebook. He is an Iranian-American.

October 2016 – The men are sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $4.8 million, according to Iran’s official news channel IRINN. Iran officials say five people were convicted and sentenced for “cooperating with Iran’s enemies,” a government euphemism that usually implies cooperating with the United States.

January 28, 2018 – Baquer Namazi is granted a four-day leave by the Iranian government, after being discharged from an Iranian hospital. Namazi’s family say the 81-year-old was rushed to the hospital on January 15 after a severe drop in his blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat and serious depletion of energy. This was the fourth time Namazi had been transferred to a hospital in the last year. In September, he underwent emergency heart surgery to install a pacemaker.

February 2018 – Baquer Namazi is released on temporary medical furlough.

February 2020 – Iran’s Revolutionary Court commutes Baquer Namazi’s sentence to time served and the travel ban on him is lifted.

May 2020 – According to the family, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) places a new travel ban on Baquer Namazi, preventing him from leaving the country.

October 26, 2021 – Baquer Namazi undergoes surgery to clear a “life-threatening blockage in one of the main arteries to his brain, which was discovered late last month,” his lawyer says in a statement.

October 1, 2022 – Baquer Namazi is released from detention and is permitted to leave Iran “to seek medical treatment abroad,” according to a statement from UN Secretary General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

March 9, 2023 – Siamak Namazi makes a plea to President Joe Biden to put the “liberty of innocent Americans above politics” and ramp up efforts to secure his release, in an interview with CNN from inside Iran’s Evin prison.

September 18, 2023 – Siamak Namazi is freed, along with four other Americans as part of a wider deal that includes the United States unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds.

North Korea

Kenneth Bae
December 11, 2012 – US officials confirm that American citizen Kenneth Bae has been detained in North Korea for over a month.

April 30, 2013 – North Korea’s Supreme Court sentences Bae to 15 years of hard labor for “hostile acts” against the country.

October 11, 2013 – Bae meets with his mother in North Korea.

January 20, 2014 – A statement is released in which Bae says that he had committed a “serious crime” against North Korea. Any statement made by Bae in captivity is sanctioned by the North Korean government. The country has a long history of forcing false confessions.

February 7, 2014 – The State Department announces that Bae has been moved from a hospital to a labor camp.

November 8, 2014 – The State Department announces that Bae and Matthew Miller have been released and are on their way home.

Jeffrey Fowle
June 6, 2014 – North Korea announces it has detained US citizen Jeffrey Edward Fowle, who entered the country as a tourist in April. Fowle was part of a tour group and was detained in mid-May after leaving a bible in a restaurant.

June 30, 2014 – North Korea says that it plans to prosecute Fowle and another detained American tourist, Matthew Miller, accusing them of “perpetrating hostile acts.”

October 21, 2014 – A senior State Department official tells CNN that Fowle has been released and is on his way home.

Aijalon Gomes
January 25, 2010 – Aijalon Mahli Gomes, of Boston, is detained in North Korea after crossing into the country illegally from China.

April 7, 2010 – He is sentenced to eight years of hard labor and ordered to pay a fine of 70 million North Korean won or approximately $600,000.

July 10, 2010 – Gomes is hospitalized after attempting to commit suicide.

August 25-27, 2010 – Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in North Korea, with hopes of negotiating for Gomes’ release.

August 27, 2010 – Carter and Gomes leave Pyongyang after Gomes is granted amnesty for humanitarian purposes.

Kim Dong Chul
October 2015 – Kim Dong Chul, a naturalized American citizen, is taken into custody after allegedly meeting a source to obtain a USB stick and camera used to gather military secrets. In January 2016, Kim is given permission to speak with CNN by North Korean officials and asks that the United States or South Korea rescue him.

March 25, 2016 – A North Korean official tells CNN that Kim has confessed to espionage charges.

April 29, 2016 – A North Korean official tells CNN that Kim has been sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for subversion and espionage.

May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Kim Hak-song
May 7, 2017 – The state-run Korean Central News Agency reports that US citizen Kim Hak-song was detained in North Korea on May 6 on suspicion of “hostile acts” against the regime. The regime describes Kim as “a man who was doing business in relation to the operation of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.”

May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Kim Hak-song, Kim Dong Chul and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Kim Sang Duk
April 22, 2017 – US citizen Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, is detained by authorities at Pyongyang International Airport for unknown reasons. Kim taught for several weeks at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

May 3, 2017 – State-run Korean Central News Agency reports that Kim is accused of attempting to overthrow the government.

May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Tony Kim, Kim Hak-song and Kim Dong Chul appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Euna Lee and Laura Ling
March 2009 – Journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling are arrested while reporting from the border between North Korea and China for California-based Current Media.

June 4, 2009 – They are sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.

August 4, 2009 – Former US President Bill Clinton travels to Pyongyang on a private humanitarian mission to help secure their release.

August 5, 2009 – Lee and Ling are pardoned and released.

Matthew Miller
April 25, 2014 – North Korea’s news agency reports that Matthew Todd Miller was taken into custody on April 10. According to KCNA, Miller entered North Korea seeking asylum and tour up his tourist visa.

June 30, 2014 – North Korea says that it plans to prosecute Miller and another detained American tourist, Jeffrey Fowle, accusing them of “perpetrating hostile acts.”

September 14, 2014 – According to state-run media, Miller is convicted of committing “acts hostile” to North Korea and sentenced to six years of hard labor.

November 8, 2014 – The State Department announces Miller and Kenneth Bae have been released and are on their way home.

Merrill Newman
October 26, 2013 – Merrill Newman of Palo Alto, California, is detained in North Korea, according to his family. Just minutes before his plane is to depart, Newman is removed from the flight by North Korean authorities, his family says.

November 22, 2013 – The US State Department says North Korea has confirmed to Swedish diplomats that it is holding an American citizen. The State Department has declined to confirm the identity of the citizen, citing privacy issues, but the family of Newman says the Korean War veteran and retired financial consultant has been detained since October.

November 30, 2013 – KCNA reports Newman issued an apology to the people of North Korea, “After I killed so many civilians and (North Korean) soldiers and destroyed strategic objects in the DPRK during the Korean War, I committed indelible offensive acts against the DPRK government and Korean people.” His statement ends: “If I go back to (the) USA, I will tell the true features of the DPRK and the life the Korean people are leading.”

December 7, 2013 – Newman returns to the United States, arriving at San Francisco International Airport. North Korea’s state news agency reports Newman was released for “humanitarian” reasons.

Eddie Yong Su Jun
April 14, 2011 – The KCNA reports that US citizen Eddie Yong Su Jun was arrested in November 2010 and has been under investigation for committing a crime against North Korea. No details are provided on the alleged crime.

May 27, 2011 – Following a visit from the US delegation which includes the special envoy for North Korean human rights, Robert King, and the Deputy Assistant Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Jon Brause, to North Korea, Yong Su Jun is released.

Otto Frederick Warmbier
January 2, 2016 – Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia college student, is detained in North Korea after being accused of a “hostile act” against the government.

February 29, 2016 – The North Korean government releases a video of Warmbier apologizing for committing, in his own words, “the crime of taking down a political slogan from the staff holding area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel.” It is not known if Warmbier was forced to speak.

March 16, 2016 – Warmbier is sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for crimes against the state, a North Korean official tells CNN.

June 13, 2017 – Warmbier is transported back to the United States via medevac flight to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. There, doctors say that he has suffered severe brain damage. Doctors say Warmbier shows no current signs of botulism, which North Korean officials claim he contracted after his trial.

June 19, 2017 – Warmbier’s family issues a statement that he has died.

April 26, 2018 – Warmbier’s parents file a wrongful death lawsuit against the North Korean government charging that the country’s regime tortured and killed their son, according to lawyers for the family.

December 24, 2018 – A federal judge in Washington awards Warmbier’s parents more than half a billion dollars in the wrongful death suit against the North Korean government. North Korea did not respond to the lawsuit – the opinion was rendered as a so-called “default judgment” – and the country has no free assets in the US for which the family could make a claim.

Russia

Trevor Reed
2019 – While visiting a longtime girlfriend, Trevor Reed is taken into custody after a night of heavy drinking according to state-run news agency TASS and Reed’s family. Police tell state-run news agency RIA-Novosti that Reed was involved in an altercation with two women and a police unit that arrived at the scene following complaints of a disturbance. Police allege Reed resisted arrest, attacked the driver, hit another policeman, caused the car to swerve by grabbing the wheel and created a hazardous situation on the road, RIA stated.

July 30, 2020 – Reed is sentenced to nine years in prison for endangering “life and health” of Russian police officers.

April 1, 2021 – The parents of Reed reveal that their son served as a Marine presidential guard under the Obama administration – a fact they believe led Russia to target him.

April 27, 2022 – Reed is released in a prisoner swap.

June 14, 2022 – Reed tells CNN that he has filed a petition with the United Nations (UN), declaring that Russia violated international law with his detention and poor treatment.

Brittney Griner
February 17, 2022 – Two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and WBNA star Brittney Griner is taken into custody following a customs screening at Sheremetyevo Airport. Russian authorities said Griner had cannabis oil in her luggage and accused her of smuggling significant amounts of a narcotic substance, an offense the Russian government says is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

July 7, 2022 – Griner pleads guilty to drug charges in a Russian court.

August 4, 2022 – Griner is found guilty of drug smuggling with criminal intent and sentenced by a Russian court to 9 years of jail time with a fine of one million rubles (roughly $16,400).

October 25, 2022 – At an appeal hearing, a Russian judge leaves Griner’s verdict in place, upholding her conviction on drug smuggling charges and reducing only slightly her nine-year prison sentence.

November 9, 2022 – Griner’s attorney tells CNN she is being moved to a Russian penal colony where she is due to serve the remainder of her sentence.

December 8, 2022 – US President Biden announces that Griner has been released from Russian detention and is on her way home.

Turkey

Serkan Golge
July 2016 – While on vacation in Turkey, Serkan Golge is arrested and accused of having links to the Gulenist movement. Golge is a 37-year-old NASA physicist who holds dual Turkish-US citizenship.

February 8, 2018 – Golge is sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.

September 2018 – A Turkish court reduces Golge’s prison sentence to five years.

May 29, 2019 – The State Department announces that Golge has been released.

Andrew Brunson
October 2016 – Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina native, is arrested in Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast, where he is pastor at the Izmir Resurrection Church. Brunson, an evangelical Presbyterian pastor, is later charged with plotting to overthrow the Turkish government, disrupting the constitutional order and espionage.

March 2018 – A formal indictment charges Brunson with espionage and having links to terrorist organizations.

October 12, 2018 – Brunson is sentenced to three years and one month in prison but is released based on time served.

Venezuela

Timothy Hallett Tracy
April 24, 2013 – Timothy Hallett Tracy, of Los Angeles, is arrested at the Caracas airport, according to Reporters Without Borders. Tracy traveled to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country.

April 25, 2013 – In a televised address, newly elected President Nicolas Maduro says he ordered the arrest of Tracy for “financing violent groups.”

April 27, 2013 – Tracy is formally charged with conspiracy, association for criminal purposes and use of a false document.

June 5, 2013 – Tracy is released from prison and expelled from Venezuela.

Joshua Holt
May 26, 2018 – Joshua Holt and his Venezuelan wife, Thamara Holt, are released by Venezuela. The two had been imprisoned there since 2016. The American traveled to Venezuela to marry Thamara in 2016, and shortly afterward was accused by the Venezuelan government of stockpiling weapons and attempting to destabilize the government. He was held for almost two years with no trial.

“Citgo 6”

November 2017 – After arriving in Caracas, Venezuela, for an impromptu business meeting, Tomeu Vadell and five other Citgo executives – Gustavo Cardenas, Jorge Toledo, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano and Jose Angel Pereira – are arrested and detained on embezzlement and corruption charges. Citgo is the US subsidiary of the Venezuelan oil and natural gas company PDVSA. Five of the six men are US citizens; one is a US legal permanent resident.

December 2019 – The “Citgo 6” are transferred from the detention facility, where they have been held without trial for more than two years, to house arrest.

February 5, 2020 – They are moved from house arrest into prison, hours after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido met with US President Donald Trump

July 30, 2020 – Two of the men – Cárdenas and Toledo – are released on house arrest after a humanitarian visit to Caracas by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and a team of non-government negotiators.

November 27, 2020 – The six oil executives are found guilty and are given sentences between 8 to 13 years in prison.

April 30, 2021 – The men are released from prison to house arrest.

October 16, 2021 – The “Citgo 6,” all under house arrest, are picked up by the country’s intelligence service SEBIN, just hours after the extradition of Alex Saab, a Colombian financier close to Maduro.

March 8, 2022 – Cardenas is one of two detainees released from prison. The other, Jorge Alberto Fernandez, a Cuban-US dual citizen detained in Venezuela since February 2021, was accused of terrorism for carrying a small domestic drone. The releases take place after a quiet trip to Caracas by a US government delegation.

October 1, 2022 – US President Biden announces the release and return of Toledo, Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, and Pereira.

Matthew Heath

September 2020 – Is arrested and charged with terrorism in Venezuela.

June 20, 2022 – Family of Heath state that he has attempted suicide. “We are aware of reports that a US citizen was hospitalized in Venezuela,” a State Department spokesperson says. “Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”

October 1, 2022 – US President Biden announces the release and return of Heath.

Airan Berry and Luke Denman

May 4, 2020 – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says two American “mercenaries” have been apprehended after a failed coup attempt to capture and remove him. Madura identifies the captured Americans as Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41. On state television, Maduro brandishes what he claims are the US passports and driver’s licenses of the two men, along with what he says are their ID cards for Silvercorp, a Florida-based security services company.

May 5, 2020 – Denman appears on Venezuelan state TV. He is shown looking directly at the camera recounting his role in “helping Venezuelans take back control of their country.”

August 7, 2020 – Prosecutors announce that Berry and Denman have been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

December 20, 2023 – It is announced that the US has reached an agreement to secure the release of 10 Americans, including Berry and Denman, held in Venezuela.

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March 7, 2024
Quincy Jones Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here is a look at the life of musician, music producer and philanthropist, Quincy Jones.

Birth date: March 14, 1933

Birth place: Chicago, Illinois

Birth name: Quincy Delight Jones Jr.

Father: Quincy Delight Jones Sr., a carpenter.

Mother: Sarah Frances (Wells) Jones

Marriages: Peggy Lipton (1974-1990); Ulla Andersson (1967-1974); Jeri Caldwell (1957-1966)

Children: with Nastassja Kinski: Kenya; with Peggy Lipton: Rashida and Kidada; with Ulla Andersson: Quincy III and Martina; with Carol Reynolds: Rachel; with Jeri Caldwell: Jolie

Jones and his brother, Lloyd, were raised by their father and stepmother, Elvera, in Seattle and Bremerton, Washington. Their mother had been institutionalized in Chicago when they were very young.

An automobile accident at age 14, where Jones saw four of his friends killed, left him so traumatized that he has never driven a car.

Met Ray Charles when they were both teenagers starting out in the music industry. Jones arranged and produced for Charles, and later Charles performed on Jones’ albums. They remained friends until Charles’ death in 2004.

As an arranger in the 1950s, Jones worked with music industry legends such as Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Hampton and Frank Sinatra.

As a music producer for more than 60 years, he has worked with Miles Davis, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Lesley Gore, Jennifer Holliday, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Barry White and many more.

Jones has 80 Grammy Award nominations and 28 wins, including a Grammy Legend Award. He has seven Oscar nominations and received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. He also has received four Emmy nominations, winning one.

Has scored over 30 movies and written the theme for television shows, documentaries and shorts.

Mid-1940s – Sings and plays trumpet with a gospel quartet.

1951 – Jones’ trumpet playing wins him a scholarship to the prestigious Schillinger House in Boston (now the Berklee College of Music). He leaves when the opportunity arises to join the Lionel Hampton Band.

1956 – Joins the Dizzy Gillespie band as trumpeter and musical director.

1957 – Moves to Paris to study. Works for Barclay Disques publishing music.

1961 – Jones is hired as a musical director for Mercury Records and a few months later advances to vice president.

1963 – Earns his first Grammy Award, Best Instrumental Arrangement for “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

1963 – Produces “It’s My Party” for Lesley Gore on Mercury Records, his first pop single to reach number one.

August 1974 – Suffers a brain aneurysm, which forces him to stop playing the trumpet.

1977 – Wins an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) for the film “Roots.”

1982 – Produces Jackson’s album, “Thriller.”

1985 – Conductor and producer for “We Are the World,” the song recorded to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Producer and music composer for the film “The Color Purple.”

1991 – Receives the Grammy Legend Award.

1991-1993 – Co-produces the Montreux Jazz Festival. His association with the festival continues to present day.

1993 – Launches “Vibe” magazine.

1994-1999 – Chairman and CEO of Qwest Broadcasting, a minority-controlled television broadcasting company.

1995 – Receives the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

March 1996 – Executive Producer of the 68th Annual Academy Awards ceremony.

October 1, 2001 – Simon & Schuster publishes his autobiography, “Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones.”

2001 – Kennedy Center Honoree.

2008 – Publishes the book “The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey & Passions.”

2008 – Establishes the non-profit Quincy Jones Foundation.

April 18, 2013 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

July 11, 2017 – Jones’ 2013 lawsuit against Jackson’s estate goes to trial. Jones claims he is owed $30 million in unpaid royalties.

July 26, 2017 – Jones wins $9.42 million in damages in his lawsuit against Jackson’s estate.

September 21, 2018 – “Quincy,” a documentary about the life and legacy of Jones, debuts on Netflix. The film, directed by Alan Hicks and Jones’ daughter, Rashida Jones, wins a Grammy award in February 2019 for Best Music Film.

May 5, 2020 – An appellate court overturns a portion of Jones’ 2017 lawsuit against Jackson’s estate. The court rules that contract interpretation was a judicial function and not meant for the jury, which mistakenly awarded Jones $6.9 million. The $2.5 million award for fees stands.

September 20, 2020 – Jones enters into a global publishing agreement with Warner Chappell Music. The deal covers administration of his current and future songwriting catalog. This includes over 2,000 compositions and work by songwriters Brothers Johnson, Siedah Garrett and others under his company.

September 27, 2023 – Jones is presented with the inaugural Peace Through Music Award by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Marson Jr. The awards recognize an American music industry professional who has played an invaluable role in cross-cultural exchanges and whose music work advances peace and mutual understanding globally.

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March 6, 2024
Iraq Prison Abuse Scandal Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s some background information about the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal which took place during the Iraq war.

Abu Ghraib prison was a US Army detention center for captured Iraqis from 2003 to 2006. An investigation into the treatment of detainees at the prison was prompted by the discovery of graphic photos depicting guards abusing detainees in 2003.

The facility was located 20 miles west of Baghdad on 280 acres.

At the height of the scandal, the prison held as many as 3,800 detainees.

Most of the detainees lived in tents in the prison yards.

The abuses took place inside the prison in cell blocks 1A and 1B.

Eleven US soldiers were convicted of crimes relating to the Abu Ghraib scandal. Seven of those were from Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company. A number of other service members were not charged but reprimanded.

November 2003 – A detainee dies during an interrogation at Abu Ghraib.

January 2004 – Spc. Joseph M. Darby discovers photos on a CD-ROM of Iraqi prisoners being abused. He reports the abuse to superiors, prompting an investigation.

April 4, 2004 – Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba releases his report to Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez about misconduct in the 800th Military Police Brigade.

April 28, 2004 – “60 Minutes II” broadcasts graphic photos of Iraqi detainees being humiliated and tortured.

April 30, 2004 – The New Yorker publishes an article by Seymour Hersh reporting details in the Taguba report on the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

April 30, 2004 – Taguba’s report detailing his investigation of the 800th Military Police Brigade is released.

Taguba’s report states that the following abuses happened in this incident:
– Punching, slapping and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet.
– Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees.
– Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing.
– Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time.
– Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear.
– Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped.
– Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them.
– Positioning a naked detainee on a box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture.
– Writing “I am a Rapest (sic)” on the leg of a detainee accused of rape, and then photographing him naked.
– Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a female soldier pose for a picture.
– A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee.
– Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee.
– Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.

May 4, 2004 – Gen. George W. Casey Jr. announces that in the past 16 months, the US Army has conducted more than 30 criminal investigations into misconduct by US captors during both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

May 5, 2004 – US President George W. Bush records interviews with Al Arabiya and US-sponsored Al-Hurra networks expressing his disgust with the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees.

May 6, 2004 – During a joint news conference with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Bush expresses remorse “for the humiliation suffered” by Iraqi prisoners at the hands of US troops.

May 6, 2004 – The Justice Department announces that it is looking into three suspicious deaths of detainees, two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, and the involvement of the CIA and contractors in the deaths.

May 7, 2004 – US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testifies before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. “These events occurred on my watch…as Secretary of Defense, I am accountable for them and I take full responsibility…there are other photos – many other photos – that depict incidents of physical violence towards prisoners, acts that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhuman.”

May 10, 2004 – Bush views some of the photos at the Pentagon and announces his firm support for Rumsfeld.

May 12, 2004 – Rumsfeld testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee.

August 24, 2004 – An independent commission headed by former US Secretary of Defense James Schleslinger reports that what took place at the prison was due largely to “sadism” on the part of officers working the night shift, but that responsibility for the mistreatment of prisoners went higher up the chain of command, back to Washington, DC.

August 25, 2004 – The Fay-Jones report on the Abu Ghraib scandal finds 44 instances of abuse, some of which amounted to torture.

February 15, 2006 – A new set of graphic photographs and video from Abu Ghraib are aired on the Australian television network SBS’s program “Dateline.” The photos are reportedly from the same period in 2003 that the previous photos were shot, not new incidents.

June 1, 2006 – Sgt. Santos Cardona, an Army dog handler, is found guilty of two of five counts against him, including aggravated assault and unlawfully using his dog to threaten detainees. He is sentenced to 90 days hard labor and a reduction of rank. He must also forfeit $600 of pay per month for a year.

September 1, 2006 – Control of Abu Ghraib is handed over to the Iraqis after all of the detainees are transferred elsewhere.

February 2008 – A documentary about the Abu Ghraib scandal by Oscar-winning director Errol Morris, “Standard Operating Procedure,” debuts at the Berlin Film Festival.

June 30, 2008 – Former detainees of Abu Ghraib prison file a lawsuit against CACI Premier Technology, a military contractor who supplied the army with interrogators.

February 21, 2009 – Abu Ghraib reopens after major renovations which include a new gym, barber shop, sewing room, outdoor recreational areas, a library, and computer room. Its name is changed to Baghdad Central Prison.

September 2009 – Saleh et al v. Titan Corporation et al, a federal class action lawsuit alleging abuse at Abu Ghraib by civilian contractors from CACI International is dismissed by a federal appeals court.

2012 – Defense contractor Engility Holdings Inc. agrees to pay 71 former detainees at Abu Ghraib and other sites $5.28 million to settle a lawsuit filed in 2008.

April 2014 – Iraq closes the prison due to security concerns.

March 20, 2015 – US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein orders the Defense Department to release photos that show detainees being abused in detention centers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

January 18, 2017 – Hellerstein rules that the government must release an estimated 2,000 additional photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and other military facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

August 23, 2019 – The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals allows a 2008 lawsuit filed by former detainees against CACI Premier Technology to move forward. The court denied CACI’s request to immediately appeal a lower court’s ruling that the company can be sued and is not immune from civil suit as a government contractor.

June 28, 2021 – The US Supreme Court denies CACI Premier Technology’s petition, clearing the way for the 2008 lawsuit to proceed.

Spc. Megan Ambuhl
372nd Military Police Company
October 30, 2004 – As part of a plea deal, Ambuhl pleads guilty to one charge of dereliction of duty. She is discharged from the Army without prison time.

Sgt. Javal S. Davis
372nd Military Police Company
February 1, 2005 – Pleads guilty as part of a plea agreement.
February 5, 2005 – Is sentenced to six months in a military prison.
Late May 2005 – Is released after serving approximately three months.

Pfc. Lynndie England
372nd Military Police Company
May 2, 2005 – England pleads guilty to reduced charges as part of a pretrial agreement.
May 4, 2005 – A mistrial is declared after she pleads guilty but then states that she did not know her actions were wrong.
September 21, 2005 – England’s second court-martial trial begins at Fort Hood, Texas.
September 26, 2005 – England is found guilty of four counts of maltreating detainees, one count of conspiracy and one count of committing an indecent act.
September 27, 2005 – Is sentenced to three years in prison and given a dishonorable discharge.
March 2007 – Is released from military prison after serving half of her 36-month sentence.
2009 – Her biography, “Tortured: Lynndie England, Abu Ghraib and the Photographs that Shocked the World,” is published.

Staff Sgt. Ivan “Chip” Frederick II
372nd Military Police Company
October 20, 2004 – Pleads guilty to conspiracy, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, assault, and committing an indecent act under a plea agreement.
October 21, 2004 – Is sentenced to eight years in prison and also sentenced to a forfeiture of pay, a dishonorable discharge and a reduction in rank to private.
October 1, 2007 – Is paroled after serving approximately three years in a military prison.

Spc. Charles Graner
372nd Military Police Company
January 14, 2005 – Graner is found guilty of nine of 10 counts under five separate charges.
January 15, 2005 – Graner is sentenced to 10 years in prison, downgraded to the rank of private with loss of pay, and receives a dishonorable discharge.
August 6, 2011 – Graner is released from prison.

Spc. Sabrina Harman
372nd Military Police Company
May 16, 2005 – Is found guilty on six of the seven charges for her role in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal.
May 17, 2005 – Sentenced to six months in prison. Harman is demoted to private, and receives a bad conduct discharge after she finishes the sentence.

Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan
Director, Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center during the fall of 2003. Jordan is the only officer charged with prisoner abuse.
April 28, 2006 – Charged with eight counts, including disobeying an order, dereliction of duty, cruelty, false statements, fraud and interfering with an investigation.
August 28, 2007 – Acquitted of charges that he failed to control soldiers who abused detainees, but is found guilty of disobeying a general’s command not to talk about allegations of abuse at the prison. On August 29, he is sentenced with a reprimand.
January 10, 2008 – Cleared of all wrongdoing, and the conviction and reprimand are removed from his record.

Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski
Commander of the Army Reserve’s 800th Military Police Brigade, in charge of all 12 Iraqi detention facilities, including Abu Ghraib.
May 5, 2005 – She is demoted from brigadier general to colonel by President Bush after an extensive investigation and is cited for two of four allegations against her, dereliction of duty and shoplifting. The probe clears her of “making a material misrepresentation to an investigating team” and “failure to obey a lawful order.”

Col. Thomas Pappas
Commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade.
May 2006 – Reprimanded, fined, and relieved of command after using muzzled dogs inside interrogation rooms.

Lt. Col. Jerry L. Phillabaum
Commander, 320th MP Battalion.
April 2004 – He is reprimanded and relieved of command of the 320th Military Police Battalion for his role in the scandal.

Spc. Jeremy Sivits
372nd Military Police Company
May 19, 2004 – Sivits pleads guilty as part of a pretrial agreement with prosecutors that leaves him open to testify against other soldiers charged in the scandal. He is sentenced to a year of confinement, discharge for bad conduct, and is demoted.

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February 28, 2024
Ratko Mladic Fast Facts | CNN

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Here is a look at the life of Ratko Mladic, former leader of the Bosnian Serb army, sentenced to life in prison for genocide and other war crimes.

Birth date: March 12, 1942

Birth place: Kalnovik, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Birth name: Ratko Mladic

Father: Nedja Mladic

Mother: Stana Mladic

Marriage: Bosiljka Mladic

Children: Darko and Ana

1965 – Graduates from a military academy and joins the Communist Party.

1992 – As a commander in the Bosnian Serb army, Mladic leads the siege of Sarajevo.

July 1995 – Mladic spearheads an attack on the town of Srebrenica. Approximately 8,000 Muslim men and boys are killed.

1995 – Mladic is indicted by the UN-established International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for war crimes and atrocities.

July 1996 – An international warrant is issued for his arrest.

1996-2001 – He takes refuge in Belgrade with the protection of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

2001 – Mladic goes into hiding after Milosevic is arrested.

October 12, 2007 – Serbian officials offer one million euros for information leading to the capture of Mladic.

May 26, 2011 – Mladic is arrested in Serbia.

July 4, 2011 – Mladic refuses to enter a plea so the presiding judge enters not guilty pleas to all counts against him.

May 16, 2012 – Mladic’s trial begins. He’s charged with two counts of genocide, nine crimes against humanity and war crimes.

January 28, 2014 – He refuses to testify at the genocide trial of former Bosian Serb Leader Radovan Karadzic and denounces the ICTY court as “satanic.”

October 23, 2014 – The ICTY announces that the court will hear details about a mass grave investigators believe has ties to Mladic.

December 7, 2016 – During closing arguments, prosecutors recommend a life sentence for Mladic.

December 15, 2016 – Mladic’s trial is adjourned. Three UN judges begin deliberating on his fate. The process could take up to a year.

November 22, 2017 – Mladic is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.

March 22, 2018 – Appeals his conviction and sentence.

August 25-26, 2020 – Mladic’s appeal hearing takes place.

June 8, 2021 – A UN court upholds Mladic’s conviction and life sentence.

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February 23, 2024
Robert Levinson Fast Facts | CNN

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Here’s a look at the life of Robert Levinson, who went missing in Iran in 2007.

Birth date: March 10, 1948

Birth place: Flushing, New York

Birth name: Robert Alan Levinson

Father: Name unavailable publicly

Mother: Name unavailable publicly

Marriage: Christine (Gorman) Levinson

Children: Douglas, Samantha, David, Daniel, Sarah, Stephanie and Susan

Education: City College of New York, B.A., 1970

During his career at the FBI, Levinson specialized in investigating organized crime in Russia.

His family said Levinson suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure.

1970s – Levinson is hired by the FBI after six years with the Drug Enforcement Agency.

1998 – Levinson retires from the FBI.

1998-2007 – Levinson works as a private investigator.

2006 – Levinson is hired as a contractor by Tim Sampson, head of the Illicit Finance Group within the Office of Transnational Issues at the CIA, to write reports for the agency. The contract is for approximately $85,000. Three CIA employees, including Sampson, later lose their jobs for overstepping their authority as analysts and withholding information about Levinson after he disappeared.

March 8-9, 2007 – According to State Department officials, Levinson travels to Kish Island in Iran and checks into a hotel. Reportedly, Levinson is in the Middle East to investigate cigarette smuggling on behalf of a client. During the visit, he meets with American fugitive Dawud Salahuddin, who is the last person to acknowledge seeing him on March 9.

June 1, 2007 – US President George W. Bush says he is “disturbed” by Iran’s refusal to provide any information on Levinson. “I call on Iran’s leaders to tell us what they know about his whereabouts.”

December 2007 – Levinson’s wife, Christine Levinson, meets with government officials in Iran, but does not learn anything about her husband’s disappearance.

2008 – The CIA pays the Levinson family more than $2 million to head off a lawsuit, according to family attorney David McGee.

March 3, 2011 – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that evidence is growing that Levinson is alive and being held somewhere in southwest Asia.

December 2011 – The Levinson family publicly releases a “proof of life” video they received in November 2010. In the video, Levinson says, “I have been treated well, but I need the help of the United States government to answer the requests of the group that has held me for three-and-a-half years. And please help me get home. Thirty-three years of service to the United States deserves something. Please help me.”

March 6, 2012 – The FBI offers a $1 million reward for information leading to his safe return.

September 2012 – Christine Levinson attempts to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the UN General Assembly in New York. He does not meet with her but tells CNN, “They told me (Levinson) was in Iran, and of course the question came up in my mind, what was an American intelligence officer doing in Iran…an individual is lost, how are we supposed to find him among 7 billion people spread across the globe? What we can do is assist, help and cooperate, which we have been doing, and we are doing… as a humanitarian gesture and action.”

January 2013 – The Levinson family releases a series of photographs they received in April 2011. In the photos, a bearded, shackled Levinson, wearing an orange jumpsuit, holds signs written in broken English.

September 27, 2013 – US President Barack Obama speaks by phone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. One of the topics discussed is Levinson.

December 12, 2013 – The Associated Press and The Washington Post report that Levinson was working for the CIA when he disappeared in 2007, possibly investigating corruption among Iranian officials. The AP says it first learned of Levinson’s CIA ties in 2010 but delayed publishing the information at the government’s request. The next day the New York Times reports it has known of Levinson’s CIA work since 2007 but also delayed publishing the information to avoid jeopardizing his safety.

December 13, 2013 – White House Spokesman Jay Carney says Levinson “was not a US government employee when he went missing in Iran.”

December 2013 – Salahuddin, the last person to acknowledge seeing Levinson, tells the Christian Science Monitor that both he and Levinson were detained by Iranian police on March 9, 2007.

January 21, 2014 – In an interview with CNN, Levinson’s family discloses that they have known for some time that he was working for the CIA. They accuse the US government of failing to do enough to find Levinson.

March 9, 2015 – The FBI increases the reward for information on Levinson to $5 million.

February 11, 2016 – The Senate passes a resolution recognizing that Levinson is the longest held US civilian in US history and urges Iran to “act on its promises to assist in the case of Robert Levinson.”

March 21, 2017 – Levinson’s family files a lawsuit against Iran with the US District Court in Washington, DC. The complaint states that the family is filing suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act “for injuries suffered by each of them as a result of Iran’s unlawful acts of hostage taking, torture and other torts.”

November 4, 2019 – The Department of State Rewards for Justice Program announces a reward of up to $20 million for information leading to the safe return of Levinson, in addition to the FBI’s previously announced reward of $5 million.

March 9, 2020 – On the 13th anniversary of Levinson’s abduction, the FBI renews its “repeated calls to Iran to uphold its prior commitments to cooperate and to share information which could lead to Bob’s return.”

March 25, 2020 – The family of Levinson announces that they believe he is dead. “We recently received information from U.S. officials that has led both them and us to conclude that our wonderful husband and father died while in Iranian custody,” they said in a statement.

October 1, 2020 – A US court orders the government of Iran to pay more than $1.4 billion to Levinson’s family for compensatory and punitive damages.

December 14, 2020 – Senior US government officials say they have identified and sanctioned two senior Iranian intelligence officials who were involved in the abduction and “probable death” of Levinson.

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February 22, 2024
Atlanta Courthouse Shootings Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
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Here’s some background information about Brian Nichols and the Atlanta courthouse shootings. On March 11, 2005, 33-year-old Nichols escaped from the Fulton County Courthouse while on trial for rape, and killed four people.

Birth date: December 10, 1971

Birth place: Baltimore, Maryland

Birth name: Brian Gene Nichols

Children: with Sonya Meredith: a son, March 8, 2005; with Stephanie Jay: Jasmine Jay, 1992

Judge Rowland Barnes, 64, Fulton County Superior Court Judge

Julie Brandau, 46, court reporter

Hoyt Teasley, 43, sheriff’s deputy

David Wilhelm, 40, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent

1995 – Moves to Atlanta with his family.

1996-1999 – Is on probation from 1996 to 1999 for a felony drug case in Cobb County, Georgia. He is arrested with a small amount of marijuana.

Summer 2004 – Is charged with the rape of his former girlfriend.

8:45 a.m. – While being escorted to his retrial for the rape and other charges, Nichols attacks a sheriff’s deputy when she removes his handcuffs, in a struggle that lasts about three minutes and is caught on surveillance video. He takes the key to a lock box where her gun is stored.

Nichols retrieves the gun, changes clothes and crosses a sky bridge into the next building and heads for the courtroom.

Nichols then goes to Judge Rowland Barnes’ private chambers, tears out the phone lines, takes three hostages and asks about the judge’s whereabouts. He leaves a number of times, finally returning with another deputy taken hostage.

8:55 a.m. – Seizes the second deputy’s gun and enters the courtroom from behind the bench, fires a single shot into Barnes’ head, then shoots and kills court reporter Julie Brandau.

Nichols goes down the stairwell, leaves through an emergency exit and sets off an emergency alarm.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, witnesses say he fires multiple shots into the abdomen of another sheriff’s deputy, Hoyt Teasley.

9:05 a.m. – Nichols first steals a dark SUV (2001 Mazda Tribute), drives fewer than three blocks and crashes through the gate of another parking deck.

9:07 a.m. – A tow truck driver, Deronte Franklin, says that after he directs police into the deck, Nichols comes back down and steals his truck at gunpoint.

9:14 a.m. – Nichols then drives to another deck about six blocks away where Almeta Kilgo, an employee of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says he stole her 2004 Mercury Sable. She says she escaped after refusing Nichols’ order to stay in the car.

9:15 a.m. – Atlanta Police Command staff are notified at APD Communications that a Fulton County deputy has been shot.

9:16 a.m. – Nichols carjacks a blue Isuzu Trooper from Sung Chung, at 250 Spring St.

9:19 a.m. – The tow truck (1999 Ford F-350) stolen at 9:07 a.m. is recovered at a parking deck at 98 Cone St.

9:20 a.m. – Nichols drives a couple more blocks to another deck, Centennial Parking, 130 Marietta St., where he steals the car of AJC reporter Don O’Briant, a green 1997 Honda Accord. He says Nichols orders him into the trunk and pistol-whips him when he refuses. O’Briant manages to run away.

9:30 a.m. (approx.) – Police say they believe Nichols moved unnoticed across the street through a crowd gathering for a college basketball tournament, making his escape on a MARTA subway train to the Lenox area. Officials say nothing about Nichols’ whereabouts for the next 13 hours.

9:45 a.m. – The Atlanta Police Department takes command of the crime scene.

By about 7 p.m. – Authorities announce they are offering a $60,000 reward for information leading to Nichols’ capture.

10:40 p.m. – Nichols attempts to rob a couple at an apartment on Lenox Road, getting into a scuffle before fleeing.

Sometime later but less than five minutes away on foot, Nichols encounters US ICE Agent David Wilhelm and he shoots and kills Wilhelm, taking his gun, his badge and his blue Chevrolet pickup.

11 p.m. – An AJC employee finds O’Briant’s green Honda Accord on a different level of the same downtown parking garage, Centennial Parking.

About 2:30 a.m. – Ashley Smith returns from running an errand to her apartment in Duluth, about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta. Nichols forces his way into her apartment at gunpoint and binds her hands and feet.

Smith says as they spoke for hours about religion and family, Nichols began to relax, and eventually unbound her hands and feet.

After 6 a.m. – Smith says she followed Nichols so he could hide the truck and then took him back to the apartment in her car. She says that Nichols did not take any weapons on the trip, and that she had her cell phone but did not call police.

About 6:30 a.m.-7 a.m. – Construction workers arrive at David Wilhelm’s home, find his body and call police, who put out an alert for the blue Chevrolet pickup truck.

Smith says Nichols allowed her to leave to visit her daughter. Nichols gives her money, saying he was going to stay at her apartment for a “few days.”

About 9:50 a.m. – Smith dials 911 and within minutes, a SWAT team converges on the building.

About 11:24 a.m. – Nichols is taken into custody after surrendering by waving a white t-shirt or towel.

READ MORE: Hostage says she gained trust of Atlanta killings suspect

March 15, 2005 – Nichols makes his first court appearance after being captured.

May 5, 2005 – A Fulton County grand jury indicts Nichols on 54 counts, including four counts of felony murder. District Attorney Paul Howard says the state will seek the death penalty.

May 17, 2005 – Nichols pleads not guilty to all 54 counts.

September 27, 2005 – Smith’s book, “Unlikely Angel,” is published by Zondervan/Harper Collins. The book recounts the seven hours she spent as Nichols’ hostage.

February 8, 2006 – Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller rules that Nichols’ trial will take place at the Fulton County Courthouse, the scene of some of the crimes.

November 9, 2006 – Judge Fuller rules that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom, though he leaves open the possibility of some restrictions once the trial begins.

October 15, 2007 – Jury selection begins.

October 17, 2007 – Judge Fuller suspends jury selection indefinitely due to lack of state funding for the defense.

January 30, 2008 – Judge Fuller announces he is stepping down from the case due to the perception by many that he is biased.

July 10, 2008 – The trial resumes and jury selection begins. Nichols pleads not guilty by reason of insanity.

September 17, 2008 – A jury of eight women and four men (six black females, two white females, two black males, one white male and one Asian male) is selected.

September 22, 2008 – Opening statements begin.

November 7, 2008 – After 12 hours of deliberation, a jury finds Nichols guilty on all 54 counts. The jurors reject the defense attorneys’ claim that Nichols suffers from mental illness.

December 13, 2008 – Superior Court Judge James Bodiford sentences Nichols to life in prison without parole, the maximum for all counts, a day after the jury deadlocks on a death penalty sentence.

READ MORE: Jury deadlocked on penalty for Atlanta courthouse shooter

August 18, 2015 – Smith’s book, “Unlikely Angel,” is published by HarperCollins/William Morrow as “Captive: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero.”

September 18, 2015 – The film “Captive” is released by Paramount Pictures and is an adaption of Smith’s book. It stars David Oyelowo as Nichols and Kate Mara as Smith.

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February 21, 2024
Spain Train Bombings Fast Facts | CNN

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Here’s a look at the March 2004 bombings of commuter trains in Spain, which killed 193 people and injured more than 1,800. The bombings are the deadliest terrorist attack in Spain’s history.

On March 11, 2004, 10 bombs in backpacks and other small bags exploded on four commuter trains. One bomb did not explode and was defused. The police did controlled explosions of three other bombs.

ETA, a Basque group labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, and al Qaeda were the original suspects cited by the Spanish government.

Through anonymous phone calls to Basque media outlets, ETA vehemently denied involvement.

Islamic militants who were based in Spain but inspired by al Qaeda were designated later as the prime suspects.

March 11, 2004 – Coordinated attacks including 10 bombs on four commuter trains at three different stations kill 191 people and wound more than 1,800.

March 13, 2004 – An al Qaeda claim of responsibility is made via video tape by a man speaking in Arabic with a Moroccan accent.

March 13, 2004 – Five people are arrested in connection to the case 60 hours after the bombings. Three of those arrested are Moroccans, and two are Indian. Prepaid phone cards and a cell phone from backpacks found at the bombing site link the five to the investigation.

March 14, 2004 – The Spanish Interior Ministry releases the names of five people detained in connection with the attacks. The men are identified as Jamal Zougam, Mohamed Bekkali, Mohamed Cahoui, Vinay Kohly and Sureh Komar.

March 18, 2004 – Spanish authorities arrest four North Africans in connection with the bombings. The radio report says three were arrested in the Madrid suburb of Alcala de Henares and the other North African was arrested in northern Spain. They are: Abderrahim Zbakh, Farid Oulad Ali and Mohamed El Hadi Chedadi, whose brother, Said Chedadi, was indicted last September by a Spanish judge for links to al Qaeda.
– The fourth suspect is not identified but is described as being of Arab descent.
– The fifth suspect is a Spanish citizen who goes by the name of Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras. He is arrested in northern Spain.

March 19, 2004 – Spain’s National Court charges five suspects in connection with the bombings and remands them into custody after an all-night court session. The Court also releases Ali Amrous, an Algerian man held in connection with the Madrid terror attacks and suspected of being an al Qaeda member.

March 22, 2004 – Spanish state radio reports four new arrests in the Madrid bombings.

March 24, 2004 – A Spanish judge charges two more suspects, Naima Oulad and Rafa Zouhier, in the train bombings, bringing the total number of people charged in the attacks to 11.

March 25, 2004 – A Spanish judge charges a Moroccan man, Faisal Alluch, with collaborating with a terrorist group in connection with the train bombings, boosting the number to 12 suspects who have been charged in the case.

March 30, 2004 – Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes names a Moroccan terrorist group, Moroccan Islamist Combat Group (GICM), as the principal focus in the investigation.

March 30, 2004 – Moroccan Fouad El Morabit, who had been released without charges, is rearrested. Court sources also confirm the latest arrest in the case, a man identified as Otman el Gnaout.

March 30, 2004 – Basel Ghayoun, a Syrian man, is charged in the bombings. Hamid Ahmidan of Morocco is charged with collaborating with a terrorist group and a count of drug possession. Three other men are released.

March 31, 2004 – A Spanish National Court judge issues international arrest warrants for six more suspects as the investigation focuses on the GICM. The Interior Ministry says five of the men sought are Moroccans. They include two brothers and a man who is related to other Moroccans previously arrested. The sixth man sought is Tunisian.

March 31, 2004 – Arraignments begin for two men, Antonio Toro Castro of Spain and Mustafa Ahmidam from Morocco.

April 2, 2004 – A bomb found under high-speed rail tracks between Madrid and Seville appears to be made of the same explosives used in the March 11 attacks.

April 2, 2004 – A Spanish judge releases without charges two Syrian men who had been detained in connection with the March 11 Madrid train bombings. He also frees a Moroccan man but orders him to report daily to police until further notice.

April 3, 2004 – Seven suspected terrorists kill themselves and a policeman when they set off an explosion in a suburb of Madrid as police attempt to enter a building. The suspects are presumed to be involved in the train bombings. Fingerprints at the scene later result in more arrests, including Saswan Sabagh.

April 3, 2004 – Spanish authorities arrest two more people but the identities of the two are not released.

April 7, 2004 – A National Court judge charges two more Moroccan suspects, Abdelilah El Fuad and Rachid Adli, in the March 11 Madrid train bombings.

April 12, 2004 – Spanish police arrest three more suspects. One of the three was identified as Morabit, who has now been detained three times. The other two are not identified.

May 6, 2004 – Brandon Mayfield, an American attorney, is taken into custody by the FBI in connection with the attacks. His fingerprints were found on a bag containing detonators of the kind used in the attacks, in close proximity to the blast site. The Spanish Interior Ministry spokesman said the plastic bag was found inside a stolen van left near the Alcala train station, from which the three bombed trains departed. US sources are calling him a material witness, not formally charging him with a crime as of yet, and state that he is a follower of Islam.

November 2004 – Spanish lawmakers launch an inquiry into the train bombings.

January 2005 – Spain’s interior minister says Spanish officials have made 66 arrests in the train bombing investigation.

April 11, 2006 – Twenty-nine people are indicted in a Spanish court in connection with the bombings. Five men are charged with planning and carrying out the plot, and a sixth is named as a “necessary collaborator.” The rest are charged with supporting roles.

February 15, 2007 – Start date of trial for 29 defendants. Seven defendants are considered prime suspects, and they each could face sentences of about 38,000 years in prison for mass murder, if convicted.

March 11, 2007 – For the third anniversary of the bombing, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia dedicate a memorial for the victims at the Atocha station. It is a glass cylinder which opens into a meditation chamber.

June 4, 2007 – One of the 29 defendants in the Madrid train bombings trial, Brahim Moussaten, has been cleared of all charges and is now a free man, a court spokeswoman tells CNN.

October 31, 2007 – Verdicts are read for the remaining 28 defendants. Three men are found guilty of the most serious charges and sentenced to thousands of years in prison. However, under Spanish law, they will serve only 40 years. Eighteen defendants are found guilty of lesser charges. Seven defendants are acquitted, including alleged mastermind Rabei Osman.

July 17, 2008 – Four defendants, Basel Ghalyoun, Mouhannad Almallah Dabas, Abdelilah el-Fadual al-Akil and Raúl González, have their convictions overturned. The acquittal of Osman is also upheld.

December 18, 2008 – A criminal court in Morocco convicts Abdelilah Ahriz of belonging to a terrorist group involved in the train bombings and sentences him to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors originally requested that Ahriz be given a life sentence, saying DNA sampling proved his involvement in preparing the train bombings.

May 12, 2009 – Ten of the 14 suspected Islamic militants accused of assisting the three suspects are acquitted by Spain’s anti-terrorism court. The ruling gives the remaining four sentences between two and nine years for falsifying documents or being part of a terrorist group.

January 13, 2010 – A Spanish court convicts five men accused of Islamic terrorist activities, including aiding fugitives from the Madrid train bombings of 2004 and planning other attacks. Their sentences, on charges of collaborating or belonging to an Islamic terrorist group, range from five to nine years in prison.

February 2011 – Spain’s Supreme Court overturns the lower court’s conviction of the five men convicted in January 2010 for Islamic terrorist activities that included aiding fugitives from the Madrid train bombings and planning other attacks.

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February 21, 2024
Rick Perry Fast Facts | CNN Politics

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Here is a look at the life of former US Secretary of Energy and former Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Birth date: March 4, 1950

Birth place: Paint Creek, Texas

Birth name: James Richard Perry

Father: Joseph Ray Perry, a farmer

Mother: Amelia (Holt) Perry

Marriage: Anita (Thigpen) Perry (November 6, 1982-present)

Children: Sydney and Griffin

Education: Texas A&M University, B.S., 1972

Military Service: US Air Force, 1972-1977, Captain

Religion: Methodist

Is an Eagle Scout.

Met his wife, Anita, in elementary school.

Has devoted years to supporting psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Is the longest-serving governor in Texas history.

1972-1977 – Serves in the US Air Force flying transport planes.

1977 – Returns to Texas to live and work on his father’s farm.

1978 – Forms JR Perry Farms with his father.

1985-1991 – Member of the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat from the 64th District.

1989 – Switches to the Republican Party.

1991-1999 – Commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture.

1999-2000 – Lieutenant Governor of Texas.

December 21, 2000 – Perry is sworn in as governor after George W. Bush resigns to become president of the United States.

November 5, 2002 – Perry is elected to a four-year term.

November 7, 2006 – Is reelected governor.

2008 – Perry’s book “On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For” is published.

November 2, 2010 – Perry is elected for a third term in office.

August 13, 2011 – Declares his candidacy for president during a speech in South Carolina.

January 19, 2012 – Suspends his presidential campaign and endorses Newt Gingrich.

July 8, 2013 – Announces that he will not run for reelection as Texas governor in 2014.

August 15, 2014 – A grand jury indicts Perry on charges of coercion of a public servant and abuse of his official capacity. He allegedly threatened to veto funding for a statewide public integrity unit run by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg unless she resigned following her arrest on a drunk driving charge. She stayed in office, and he later vetoed the funding.

August 19, 2014 – Perry voluntarily appears at the Travis County Court house to be booked and fingerprinted and to have his mug shot taken. He pleads not guilty to charges of coercion of a public servant and abuse of official capacity. The next day he makes the first of six campaign style stops across New Hampshire.

November 18, 2014 – A state district judge in Texas denies a defense motion to have two felony charges dismissed against Perry.

January 15, 2015 – Delivers his farewell address as governor.

June 4, 2015 – Announces he is running for president at a rally in Addison, Texas.

July 24, 2015 – A Texas appeals court dismisses one of two criminal charges against Perry. The court agrees with the argument from Perry’s legal team that a Texas law concerning “coercion of a public servant” violates Perry’s First Amendment freedom of speech rights. The court is allowing a charge related to abuse of power to move forward.

September 11, 2015 – Suspends his campaign for the presidency.

January 25, 2016 – Perry endorses Ted Cruz.

February 24, 2016 – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals drops charges against Perry alleging he abused his power while in office.

August 30, 2016 – Perry is revealed as one of the members of the upcoming 23rd season of reality television dance competition “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC.

September 27, 2016 – Is eliminated from “Dancing With The Stars.”

November 22, 2016 – Returns to “Dancing With The Stars” for the season finale. Perry dances with Vanilla Ice during a live performance of “Ice Ice Baby.”

December 13, 2016 – President-elect Donald Trump announces he has selected Perry to be his nominee for energy secretary.

January 19, 2017 – Perry says that he regrets recommending the elimination of the Department of Energy during a presidential debate in 2012.

March 2, 2017 – Perry is confirmed as energy secretary with a 62-37 vote in the Senate.

July 26, 2017 – Perry’s office acknowledges that he was the target of a prank call on July 19. During the 20-minute call from Russian pranksters, real names Vladimir Krasnov and Aleksey Stolyarov, respectively, one pretends to be Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.

February 5, 2019 – Is named the designated survivor for Trump’s second State of the Union address. As the one member of the Cabinet remaining outside the House chamber during the speech in case disaster strikes, Perry will remain in an undisclosed location.

October 10, 2019 – House Democrats issue a subpoena to Perry for documents related to the Trump administration’s contacts with Ukraine as part of the ongoing House impeachment inquiry.

October 17, 2019 – Perry says he plans to resign in a video posted to YouTube.

November 20, 2019 – Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland testifies that he, along with special envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker and Perry, worked with Giuliani on Ukraine at the “express direction” of Trump and against their better judgment. Sondland also tells lawmakers that he had discussed the investigation in a July 19 email sent to several top US officials, including Perry. In response, the Department of Energy releases a statement denying Sondland’s claims, saying he “misrepresented both Secretary Perry’s interaction with Rudy Giuliani and direction the Secretary received from President Trump.”

December 1, 2019 – Perry resigns as US Secretary of Energy.

January 1, 2020 – Perry is appointed as a director of the general partner that controls Energy Transfer LP, a pipeline company.

February 17, 2021 – In a blog post on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s website, Perry is quoted as saying “partly rhetorically,” that “Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business.” Millions of Texans lost power as the state experienced a massive failure brought on by a historic freeze and a power grid that – unlike the other 47 contiguous states – is separated from the rest of the country and is not under federal regulatory oversight, which prevents Texas from being able to borrow power from other states.

December 17, 2021 – January 6 House committee investigators believe that a November 4 text pushing “strategy” to undermine the presidential election came from Perry, three sources familiar with the investigation tell CNN. First presented on the House floor December 14, the text was included in about 6,000 documents turned over to the committee by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Perry denies being the author.

Moments from Rick Perry’s career

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February 21, 2024