Travis King, the US soldier who fled to North Korea, has been charged with desertion and the solicitation of indecent images of children.
The US Army charged the 23-year-old private after he returned from North Korea following two months in detention.
Pte King faces a total of eight distinct charges, ranging from desertion, assault and insubordination.
He was accused of soliciting a Snapchat user in July to “knowingly and willingly produce child pornography”, according to the Army’s charge sheet, and was also accused of possession of indecent images of children.
The US Army also charged Pte King with insubordination for leaving his base after curfew and drinking alcohol in violation of Army regulations.
His third charge was desertion, as the army said Pte King left his post in South Korea with the intention of permanently leaving “and did remain so absent in desertion until on or about 27 September 2023”.
Pte King, who joined the army in January 2021, previously faced two allegations of assault in South Korea.
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He pleaded guilty to assault and destroying public property for damaging a police car during a profanity-laced tirade against Koreans, according to court documents.
Instead of paying a fine, Pte King opted for more than a month in South Korean detention, and was due to face disciplinary action in the US after his release.
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However, he left Seoul International Airport and went to a civilian tour of the border, where he then sprinted into North Korea.
Pte King’s family have hired a legal team including Franklin Rosenblatt, who served as lead counsel during the proceedings against Bowe Bergdahl, a sergeant who was held by the Taliban for five years after walking off post in Afghanistanin 2009.
“I am grateful for the extraordinary legal team representing my son, and I look forward to my son having his day in court,” Claudine Gates, the 23-year-old’s mother, said in a statement.
She also said: “The man I raised, the man I dropped off at boot camp, the man who spent the holidays with me before deploying did not drink.
“A mother knows her son, and I believe something happened to mine while he was deployed.
“The army promised to investigate what happened at Camp Humphreys, and I await the results.”
The private was released from North Korea after negotiations involving the Swedish government, who retrieved him from China and handed him over to the US ambassador.
North Korea’s news agency previously claimed Pte King crossed the border due to “ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination” in the US Army.
FBI agents have boarded a boat managed by the same company whose cargo ship crashed into a Baltimore bridge and caused it to collapse.
The two companies in charge of the ship “recklessly cut corners” and ignored electrical problems on the vessel before the crash in March, alleged the US Justice Department on Wednesday.
Three days later, FBI agents boarded the Maersk Saltoro, a second ship managed by the same company, although authorities did not offer further details on the operation.
Six construction workers were killed when the Dali ship had a power outage and crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The Justice Department alleged that mechanical and electrical systems on the massive ship had been improvised and improperly maintained which led to the power outage.
Authorities are seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port, which was only fully reopened in June.
It could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history and the two Singapore-based companies, Synergy Marine Group and Grace Ocean, are trying to limit their legal liability.
The Justice Department said it will vigorously contest that limitation, arguing that vessel owners and operators need to be “deterred from engaging in such reckless and exceedingly harmful behaviour”.
Darrell Wilson, a Grace Ocean spokesperson, confirmed that the FBI and Coast Guard boarded the Maersk Saltoro in the Port of Baltimore on Saturday morning.
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Mr Wilson has previously said the owner and manager “look forward to our day in court to set the record straight” about the Justice Department’s lawsuit.
The Dali, which was stuck amid the wreckage of the collapse for months before it could be extricated, departed Virginia on Thursday afternoon en route to China on its first international voyage since the March 26 disaster.
The style choices of politicians have long been scrutinised by voters and the media.
Women have historically been subject to more inspection for their looks than men.
But all politicians are communicating through their style, according to two experts.
“We receive most of our information, many of us, through screens and through the visuals,” says Hazel Clark, professor of design and fashion at the Parsons School of Design in New York.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been leaning into trouser suits.
“The well-fitted suit, the more masculine suit, is telling voters that she is not a politician’s wife, she is not the president’s wife, she is the president,” says Deirdre Clemente, professor of history at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
She wore a dark suit to make her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The look “gives that sense of the legal profession, judges and authority. I think it was just saying ‘I’m here to be taken seriously, I can be your leader’,” says Ms Clark.
Many of the audience were wearing white, thought to be a reference to the suffragettes, who fought for women to have vote.
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“I think there’s a lot of weight in the choice of white in the audience of the DNC that night and her choice of a black suit was a power move,” Ms Clemente said.
Donald Trump has had a consistent style for many years – he’s known for his dark blue suit and silky red tie.
“He seems to have been wearing the same red tie since the 1970s. It seems to have gotten longer,” said Ms Clemente.
“It is his way of projecting power, confidence and stability.”
And his vice presidential pick JD Vance seems to have adapted his style to match.
“It’s putting on a uniform to say we are all one, we are all following this person. I think sameness, perhaps, with the party as well,” said Ms Clark.
“With Trump it’s almost become like a costume now.”
Harris often wears a pearl necklace, a reference to her college sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, which was founded by black women at Howard University.
“Her wearing of the necklace is absolutely a shout-out to all the women who have supported her and that sorority is central to that,” said Ms Clemente.
The vice president is also known for her love of Converse shoes.
The trainers, which are associated with American basketball culture, “are a powerful cultural tool because what she’s saying is these shoes are just like the ones you have in your closet”.
Mr Trump and his supporters often wear the instantly recognisable red Make America Great Again baseball cap.
“The MAGA hat has an incredible amount of power, especially here in battleground states,” said Ms Clemente. “You see MAGA hats all around.”
Baseball caps are “ubiquitous in being used to signify something, it’s like having a slogan on your t-shirt”, says Ms Clark.
One accessory all US politicians are rarely seen without is an American flag pin badge on their lapel, which can be used to show patriotism.
It may also project a message that “we are all fighting for the same team” despite political differences, said Ms Clemente.
With seven weeks to go until the US goes to the polls, Sky’s dedicated team of correspondents goes on the road to gauge what citizens in key swing states make of the choice for president.
This week they focus on the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
Mark Stone travels to Florida where the foiled attack took place, while James Matthews has been finding out more about the suspected would-be assassin in his hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina.
Plus, Martha Kelner attended a Trump town hall in Flint, Michigan, to hear him speak for the first time after the attempt on his life, and asked voters if it will impact the way they vote in November.