Illinois
Man charged with mailing white powder in letters to members of Congress
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A 37-year-old Illinois man is charged with sending threatening letters to members of Congress containing a white powder, including one with a note reading “HAH enjoy the gift,” according to federal court records.
The criminal complaint unsealed Monday claims Matthew Ungelsbee sent at least four plain white envelopes with a powdery substance to elected officials in Chicago. They were postmarked in Springfield, Illinois, on Oct. 19 and had Unglesbee’s name handwritten in the return address section.
Unglesbee, of Quincy in southwestern Illinois, is charged with mailing threatening communications and perpetrating a hoax. He was scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon. Court records did not list a defense attorney, and a phone number for Unglesbee could not be found. A Facebook message to a Matthew Unglesbee in Quincy was not immediately returned.
FBI agents interviewed Unglesbee at his home on Sunday and he told them all the letters contained salt, court records show. He claimed he’d sent the letters after hearing someone talk about similar mailings in the news earlier this month.
Testing confirmed the white substance was not dangerous. The records did not identify the substance.
A motive was unclear. But Unglesbee said he knew the congress members would “take it serious” because the powder might be perceived as anthrax, which he knew was dangerous and could prompt a response by hazmat teams, according to the complaint.
Investigators said none of the recipients opened the letters. The most recent envelope was received Oct. 23 at the office of a U.S. senator, records show. It contained a white powdery substance and a handwritten note reading “HAH enjoy the gift,” according to the documents.
The investigation began after an anonymous tipster reported overhearing Unglesbee in a restaurant talking about mailing a suspicious substance to members of Congress. The tip was received Oct. 16, and the FBI tracked Ungelsbee down after the envelopes arrived at the congressional offices days later.
The recipients of the mailings were not named. Authorities searched Unglesbee’s home and found a fifth envelope addressed to another congress member’s Washington, D.C., office, the records show.
Earlier this month, federal authorities said they were investigating letters with “suspicious substances” that had been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide. That investigation by the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police was first disclosed in a message from the Senate Sergeant at Arms obtained Oct. 15 by The Associated Press.
Unglesbee denied involvement in those mailings.
Washington
Supreme Court won’t intervene to allow judges to pause some deportation proceedings
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court declined to intervene Tuesday in a dispute over a Biden-era immigration regulation that allowed immigration judges to pause some deportation proceedings.
The high court turned down a request from Democratic-led cities who say the rule was used to help crime victims and neglected juveniles and should be revived.
Texas and the Trump administration agreed to a court order blocking the regulation after the state sued. Texas alleged that the practice called administrative closure was dramatically expanded under former President Joe Biden and effectively allowed people to stay in the country indefinitely.
The cities of Baltimore, Columbus, Ohio and New Haven, Connecticut, along with the legal group Centro Legal de la Raza, had asked to join the case to defend the regulation. They filed an emergency appeal before the Supreme Court after a judge refused to allow them to intervene.
Represented by the group Democracy Forward, they argued that Texas and the Trump administration had worked together to allow the regulation to be permanently blocked in court, bypassing a public rulemaking process.
The Justice Department had urged the justices to deny the appeal, saying the cities had no legal standing to challenge the settlement and they had not shown they’d suffer immediate legal harm.
Egypt
Court orders closure of one of Egypt’s last independent media outlets, detains editor
An Egyptian court ordered the closure of one of Egypt’s last independent news outlets Tuesday after convicting its editor-in-chief of operating a website without a license in a major blow to the country’s shrinking press freedom.
The publication, Mada Masr, said its editor-in-chief and founder, Lina Attalah, was ordered to pay a fine equivalent to about $53,400. After the verdict, the judge ordered Attalah detained until the fine is paid.
Mada Masr was one of the few remaining news outlets in Egypt known for investigating corruption, the expanding role of the country’s powerful military, and human rights violations in a country where newspapers and television stations are closely controlled by authorities. Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Human Rights Watch called the prosecution of Attalah an escalation in an “outrageous attack on independent media.”
Attalah’s lead lawyer, Hassan el-Azhary, said Mada Masr planned to appeal the closure order.
“Today’s decision represents a crushing blow to press freedom in Egypt and marks a dark day for independent journalism in the country,” Amnesty International said in a statement. By imposing a large fine, ordering the closure of Mada Masr and the seizure of its property, while “detaining Lina Attalah until payment is made, the Egyptian authorities are sending a clear and ruthless message: critical, independent reporting will not be tolerated.”
During Tuesday’s session at a Cairo misdemeanor court — the first in a trial announced last week — the judge rejected all of the defense’s procedural requests and ordered its lawyers to immediately give closing arguments, said Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a rights group, who attended the session.
When Attalah’s eight lawyers refused, the judge brought in a court-appointed lawyer none of them knew, over loud objections from the defense and from Attalah herself, Bahgat said. The judge declined to enter her rejection of the lawyer into the record, he said.
State security prosecutors summoned Attalah for questioning last week on charges of publishing false news and operating without a license, then referred her to trial on the latter charge.
Mada Masr says it first applied for a license in 2018 but never received an answer. Authorities have blocked its website inside Egypt since 2017, and the outlet says this is the sixth case brought against it or its journalists in six years.
Amnesty International and 118 other civil society groups and independent media outlets worldwide called on Egyptian authorities to stop targeting Mada Masr and grant it a license.
Khaled Elbalshy, head of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, the country’s press union, said in a Facebook post that the organization is standing by and supporting Attalah’s case, calling it “a wake-up call” that “runs counter to the demands” for removing press restrictions and media reform.
The case comes amid a broader crackdown on independent media in Egypt. In late September, security forces arrested six journalists from the investigative platform Matsdaash. They remain in pretrial detention on charges including joining and financing a terrorist group and spreading false news.
Egypt ranks 169th among 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 World Press Freedom Index.
Japan
Cartoonist takes new imperial succession law to court over male-only heirs
TOKYO (AP) — A popular Japanese cartoonist who has written books on history and monarchy has sued the government over a revised imperial succession law allowing royals to adopt male relatives from former branch families to father future heirs.
The revised law took effect Saturday despite criticism over the male-only succession rules in Japan’s 1,500-year-old monarchy. Next in line after Emperor Naruhito is his younger brother Akishino, followed by the emperor’s 20-year-old nephew, Prince Hisahito. There are no other eligible heirs in his generation.
The revised law allows adoption of unmarried male descendants, aged 15 or older, of distant imperial relatives, but only through an unbroken male line, into a branch of the royal family. They would not be able to inherit the throne themselves, but their heirs would be eligible.
Four of the 11 former branch families who renounced their royal status in 1947 remain. Officials say they are at least 36 generations removed from Naruhito after splitting from a common male-line ancestor 600 years ago. Critics say they are too distant to be considered relatives.
In his lawsuit, Yoshinori Kobayashi says the adoption of former royals, who are commoners, discriminates against other commoners in violation of Article 14 of the constitution, which guarantees equality regardless of “race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.”
“The adoption would introduce a new class system of ‘former imperial branch family’ in Japan. ... It’s a serious problem,” Kobayashi told reporters after filing the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, a first legal step against the revised law. No trial date has been set.
He said the adoption system undermines “the fundamental value of the constitution ... and changes the monarchy into something completely different.”
The law lets princesses retain their royal status and continue with their official duties after marrying commoners, but does not confer royal status on their husbands and children. It effectively eliminates a chance for Japan’s beloved Princess Aiko to succeed her father, Naruhito.
Kobayashi calls it the “Aiko-sama exclusion law.”
The male-only succession policy was pushed by the conservative government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has said only the paternal bloodline gives authority and legitimacy to the emperor.
Legal experts, including those on a government panel on the imperial succession, have also raised concerns over the constitutionality of the adoption system.
Kobayashi’s lawyer, Rintaro Kuramochi, said winning the case would be difficult, but there was no other way to raise the issue in Japan, where there is no constitutional court and little hope for the law to be rectified by the current government.
In the lawsuit, Kobayashi also demanded damages of 1 million yen ($6,350) for psychological suffering experienced by the manga artist whose works are based on his love of Japan’s monarchy, equal rights and other democratic values.
Japan has had eight female monarchs. The paternal-line male succession was introduced for the first time in the 1890 Imperial House Law, when Japan promoted patriarchal systems of male superiority.
Man charged with mailing white powder in letters to members of Congress
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A 37-year-old Illinois man is charged with sending threatening letters to members of Congress containing a white powder, including one with a note reading “HAH enjoy the gift,” according to federal court records.
The criminal complaint unsealed Monday claims Matthew Ungelsbee sent at least four plain white envelopes with a powdery substance to elected officials in Chicago. They were postmarked in Springfield, Illinois, on Oct. 19 and had Unglesbee’s name handwritten in the return address section.
Unglesbee, of Quincy in southwestern Illinois, is charged with mailing threatening communications and perpetrating a hoax. He was scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon. Court records did not list a defense attorney, and a phone number for Unglesbee could not be found. A Facebook message to a Matthew Unglesbee in Quincy was not immediately returned.
FBI agents interviewed Unglesbee at his home on Sunday and he told them all the letters contained salt, court records show. He claimed he’d sent the letters after hearing someone talk about similar mailings in the news earlier this month.
Testing confirmed the white substance was not dangerous. The records did not identify the substance.
A motive was unclear. But Unglesbee said he knew the congress members would “take it serious” because the powder might be perceived as anthrax, which he knew was dangerous and could prompt a response by hazmat teams, according to the complaint.
Investigators said none of the recipients opened the letters. The most recent envelope was received Oct. 23 at the office of a U.S. senator, records show. It contained a white powdery substance and a handwritten note reading “HAH enjoy the gift,” according to the documents.
The investigation began after an anonymous tipster reported overhearing Unglesbee in a restaurant talking about mailing a suspicious substance to members of Congress. The tip was received Oct. 16, and the FBI tracked Ungelsbee down after the envelopes arrived at the congressional offices days later.
The recipients of the mailings were not named. Authorities searched Unglesbee’s home and found a fifth envelope addressed to another congress member’s Washington, D.C., office, the records show.
Earlier this month, federal authorities said they were investigating letters with “suspicious substances” that had been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide. That investigation by the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Capitol Police was first disclosed in a message from the Senate Sergeant at Arms obtained Oct. 15 by The Associated Press.
Unglesbee denied involvement in those mailings.
Washington
Supreme Court won’t intervene to allow judges to pause some deportation proceedings
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court declined to intervene Tuesday in a dispute over a Biden-era immigration regulation that allowed immigration judges to pause some deportation proceedings.
The high court turned down a request from Democratic-led cities who say the rule was used to help crime victims and neglected juveniles and should be revived.
Texas and the Trump administration agreed to a court order blocking the regulation after the state sued. Texas alleged that the practice called administrative closure was dramatically expanded under former President Joe Biden and effectively allowed people to stay in the country indefinitely.
The cities of Baltimore, Columbus, Ohio and New Haven, Connecticut, along with the legal group Centro Legal de la Raza, had asked to join the case to defend the regulation. They filed an emergency appeal before the Supreme Court after a judge refused to allow them to intervene.
Represented by the group Democracy Forward, they argued that Texas and the Trump administration had worked together to allow the regulation to be permanently blocked in court, bypassing a public rulemaking process.
The Justice Department had urged the justices to deny the appeal, saying the cities had no legal standing to challenge the settlement and they had not shown they’d suffer immediate legal harm.
Egypt
Court orders closure of one of Egypt’s last independent media outlets, detains editor
An Egyptian court ordered the closure of one of Egypt’s last independent news outlets Tuesday after convicting its editor-in-chief of operating a website without a license in a major blow to the country’s shrinking press freedom.
The publication, Mada Masr, said its editor-in-chief and founder, Lina Attalah, was ordered to pay a fine equivalent to about $53,400. After the verdict, the judge ordered Attalah detained until the fine is paid.
Mada Masr was one of the few remaining news outlets in Egypt known for investigating corruption, the expanding role of the country’s powerful military, and human rights violations in a country where newspapers and television stations are closely controlled by authorities. Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Human Rights Watch called the prosecution of Attalah an escalation in an “outrageous attack on independent media.”
Attalah’s lead lawyer, Hassan el-Azhary, said Mada Masr planned to appeal the closure order.
“Today’s decision represents a crushing blow to press freedom in Egypt and marks a dark day for independent journalism in the country,” Amnesty International said in a statement. By imposing a large fine, ordering the closure of Mada Masr and the seizure of its property, while “detaining Lina Attalah until payment is made, the Egyptian authorities are sending a clear and ruthless message: critical, independent reporting will not be tolerated.”
During Tuesday’s session at a Cairo misdemeanor court — the first in a trial announced last week — the judge rejected all of the defense’s procedural requests and ordered its lawyers to immediately give closing arguments, said Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a rights group, who attended the session.
When Attalah’s eight lawyers refused, the judge brought in a court-appointed lawyer none of them knew, over loud objections from the defense and from Attalah herself, Bahgat said. The judge declined to enter her rejection of the lawyer into the record, he said.
State security prosecutors summoned Attalah for questioning last week on charges of publishing false news and operating without a license, then referred her to trial on the latter charge.
Mada Masr says it first applied for a license in 2018 but never received an answer. Authorities have blocked its website inside Egypt since 2017, and the outlet says this is the sixth case brought against it or its journalists in six years.
Amnesty International and 118 other civil society groups and independent media outlets worldwide called on Egyptian authorities to stop targeting Mada Masr and grant it a license.
Khaled Elbalshy, head of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, the country’s press union, said in a Facebook post that the organization is standing by and supporting Attalah’s case, calling it “a wake-up call” that “runs counter to the demands” for removing press restrictions and media reform.
The case comes amid a broader crackdown on independent media in Egypt. In late September, security forces arrested six journalists from the investigative platform Matsdaash. They remain in pretrial detention on charges including joining and financing a terrorist group and spreading false news.
Egypt ranks 169th among 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 World Press Freedom Index.
Japan
Cartoonist takes new imperial succession law to court over male-only heirs
TOKYO (AP) — A popular Japanese cartoonist who has written books on history and monarchy has sued the government over a revised imperial succession law allowing royals to adopt male relatives from former branch families to father future heirs.
The revised law took effect Saturday despite criticism over the male-only succession rules in Japan’s 1,500-year-old monarchy. Next in line after Emperor Naruhito is his younger brother Akishino, followed by the emperor’s 20-year-old nephew, Prince Hisahito. There are no other eligible heirs in his generation.
The revised law allows adoption of unmarried male descendants, aged 15 or older, of distant imperial relatives, but only through an unbroken male line, into a branch of the royal family. They would not be able to inherit the throne themselves, but their heirs would be eligible.
Four of the 11 former branch families who renounced their royal status in 1947 remain. Officials say they are at least 36 generations removed from Naruhito after splitting from a common male-line ancestor 600 years ago. Critics say they are too distant to be considered relatives.
In his lawsuit, Yoshinori Kobayashi says the adoption of former royals, who are commoners, discriminates against other commoners in violation of Article 14 of the constitution, which guarantees equality regardless of “race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.”
“The adoption would introduce a new class system of ‘former imperial branch family’ in Japan. ... It’s a serious problem,” Kobayashi told reporters after filing the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, a first legal step against the revised law. No trial date has been set.
He said the adoption system undermines “the fundamental value of the constitution ... and changes the monarchy into something completely different.”
The law lets princesses retain their royal status and continue with their official duties after marrying commoners, but does not confer royal status on their husbands and children. It effectively eliminates a chance for Japan’s beloved Princess Aiko to succeed her father, Naruhito.
Kobayashi calls it the “Aiko-sama exclusion law.”
The male-only succession policy was pushed by the conservative government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has said only the paternal bloodline gives authority and legitimacy to the emperor.
Legal experts, including those on a government panel on the imperial succession, have also raised concerns over the constitutionality of the adoption system.
Kobayashi’s lawyer, Rintaro Kuramochi, said winning the case would be difficult, but there was no other way to raise the issue in Japan, where there is no constitutional court and little hope for the law to be rectified by the current government.
In the lawsuit, Kobayashi also demanded damages of 1 million yen ($6,350) for psychological suffering experienced by the manga artist whose works are based on his love of Japan’s monarchy, equal rights and other democratic values.
Japan has had eight female monarchs. The paternal-line male succession was introduced for the first time in the 1890 Imperial House Law, when Japan promoted patriarchal systems of male superiority.
