Alexander brothers, top NY real estate brokers, convicted at sex trafficking trial

By Luc Cohen and David Thomas

High profile real estate agent brothers Alon Alexander, Oren Alexander, and Tal Alexander in New York

NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - Three wealthy brothers, including two of New York's top real estate brokers, were found guilty on Monday at a closely watched sex ‌trafficking trial over allegations they lured women and girls to exclusive parties where they drugged and raped ‌them.

Oren Alexander, 38, Tal Alexander, 39, and Alon Alexander, 38, had each pleaded not guilty to all charges they respectively faced in an ​indictment alleging trafficking and other criminal conduct related to seven victims.

A federal jury in Manhattan convicted the three brothers after deliberations began on Thursday following a months-long trial.

"This verdict cannot undo the effects of heinous abuse the Alexanders' many victims endured, but it does send a message: New Yorkers want to bring an end to sex trafficking in all our ‌communities," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said ⁠in a statement.

Howard Srebnick, an attorney for Alon Alexander, said in a statement they disagree with the jury's verdict and they plan to appeal. Attorneys for Oren and Tal ⁠Alexander did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oren and Tal Alexander co-founded the luxury real estate brokerage Official, while Alon Alexander was an executive at a private security company.

Tal Alexander faced seven charges in total, and his twin brothers Oren ​and ​Alon faced six.

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Over the course of a six-week trial in ​Manhattan federal court, 11 women testified that one ‌or more of the brothers sexually abused them.

In his closing argument on March 3, prosecutor Andrew Jones said the brothers masqueraded as party boys but really were predators.

"They used a consistent playbook to lure, isolate and rape their victims," Jones said. "They did it with callousness and a perverse sense of pride."

Defense lawyers acknowledged that the brothers had discussed sex amongst themselves in crass terms and behaved in ways that angered women with whom they had relationships. But ‌they argued the sexual encounters at issue were consensual.

"He should ​be and is embarrassed by how he behaved over these years," Srebnick, ​a lawyer for Alon Alexander, said in his ​closing argument on March 3. "That doesn't make the conduct a crime."

The three brothers were arrested ‌in December 2024 and have been jailed since ​then at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention ​Center.

Each brother had his own legal defense team. Oren Alexander's lawyers include Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos, who last year defended rapper and music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs at his sex trafficking trial.

Combs is serving a ​four-year prison sentence after being convicted on ‌prostitution charges, but acquitted of the more serious sex trafficking charges he faced that could have ​landed him in prison for life.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and David Thomas in ​Chicago; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Rosalba O'Brien and Lincoln Feast.)

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

March 09, 2026

Alexander brothers, top NY real estate brokers, convicted at sex trafficking trial

By Luc Cohen and David Thomas High profile real estate agent brothers Alon Alexander, Oren Alexander, and T...

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North Korean leader's sister criticized US-South Korea for proceeding with joint drills

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un criticized the United States and South Korea for proceeding with theirannual joint military exercisesat a perilous moment for global security and warned that any challenge to the North's safety would bring "terrible consequences."

North Korea Party Congress

Kim Yo Jong'sstatement Tuesday came a day after the allies started their 11-day Freedom Shield exercise involving thousands of troops, while Washington also wagesan escalating warin the Middle East.

Without directly referring to the Iran war, Kim said the U.S.-South Korea drills undermine regional stability at a time when the global security structure is "collapsing rapidly and wars break out in different parts of the world due to the reckless acts of outrageous international rogues."

Freedom Shield is one of two annual command-post exercises conducted by the U.S. and South Korean militaries. The largely computer-simulated drills are designed to test the allies' joint operational capabilities while incorporating evolving war scenarios and security challenges. As usual, Freedom Shield will be accompanied by a field training program, called Warrior Shield.

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Mentioning the country'sexpanding nuclear program, Kim Yo Jong said North Korea will continue to bolster its "destructive power" against what it sees as external threats and "constantly and repeatedly convince the enemies of our war deterrence and its fatality."

North Korea has long portrayed the allies' joint drills as invasion rehearsals and often used them as a pretext to ramp up its own military demonstrations or weapons tests. The allies say the exercises are defensive in nature.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry last week described the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran as an "illegal act of aggression" carried out under the pretext of "fake peace."

Amid a yearslong diplomatic freeze with Washington and Seoul, Kim Jong Un has increasingly framed his foreign policy around the idea of a new Cold War, deepening ties withMoscowand Beijing while portraying Pyongyang as part of a united front against Washington.

Pyongyang and Tehran were among the few governments to support Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and both have been accused of supplying Russia with military equipment.

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

March 09, 2026

North Korean leader's sister criticized US-South Korea for proceeding with joint drills

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un criticized the United States and South K...

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Video appears to show U.S. Tomahawk missile hitting the area of the deadly school strike in Iran

Newly surfaced video adds toevidence that the United States likely struck a school in Iran, killing more than 170 people, including scores of children.

The video, geolocated by NBC News, shows what experts say appears to be an American Tomahawk missile hitting a compound belonging to Iran'sIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corpsnext to theShajareh Tayyebeh elementary schoolwhere witnesses said children were trapped under the rubble and "people were pulling out children's arms and legs. People were pulling out severed heads."

NBC News has tried to contact the person who shot the video for further comment about the strikes, which the individual recorded Feb. 28 in the southern town of Minab. The person has not responded.

Published Sunday by Iran's semiofficial Mehr News Agency, the video was first geolocated by theonline research group Bellingcat, which said a Tomahawk — an American-made, long-range cruise missile — was used in the attack near a compound that was once home to a Revolutionary Guard military facility.

Several munitions experts agreed with that analysis, including N.R. Jenzen-Jones, the director of arms intelligence firm Armament Research Services.

The video "appears to show a Tomahawk missile," he said in an email Sunday. "This would indicate a U.S. strike," he said, adding that the U.S. was the only party in the war known to have Tomahawk missiles.

Jeffrey Lewis, the director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California, also said in an interview Monday that he thought "the munition that is visible in that video is clearly a Tomahawk."

"It's long, cylindrical. It has a set of wings. And really no other country in this conflict has a munition that looks like that," he said. He added that it was "incredibly accurate" because it had digital scene matching built in. There will be "an onboard photograph of the thing that it's supposed to hit, and Tomahawk will look, it will match, and then it will strike," he said.

It is "rare that a Tomahawk misfires" but the U.S. does "have a history" of making targeting errors, retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, a Bronze Star winner who served for 21 years, said Monday. "Everybody does."

"If you just have a satellite image, it's just a building and so if you misidentify what's in the building because of other intelligence, then that can lead to improper targeting," added Davis, now a senior fellow and military expert at Defense Priorities, a Washington-based think tank.

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The Pentagon has said it is still investigating the strike, while the Israeli military has maintained it is not aware of any connection between its operations in Iran and the school strike.

Trump on Saturday, told reporters onboard Air Force One that the U.S. was not responsible for the bombing, saying: "In my opinion, based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran."

U.S. Central Command did not comment on the latest video. The White House did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.

But the Defense Department has acknowledged the use of Tomahawk missiles in the war. On the day of the strike on the school, the Defense Visual Information Distribution Servicepublished a photo and video onlineof the USS Spruance, firing a Tomahawk land attack missile. It published a similar picture March 3.

The Spruance, an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyer, is part of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group.

Iranian officials said that more than 170 people, mostly children, were killed in the strike near the school. NBC News has not been able to independently verify the death toll of the attack.

The attack came hours after the U.S. and Israel launched multiple air and missile strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking retaliatory attacks by the Islamic Republic on many of its Middle Eastern neighbors including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and several Gulf states.

Trump administration officials told members of Congress in a closed-door meeting last week that the U.S. had been targeting the area where the school was struck, two U.S. officials told NBC News last week. The administration officials also said their military partner, Israel, was not responsible for the school's bombing.

And a map published online by the Defense Department highlighting strikes on Iran over the first 100 hours of the military operation appeared to show that the area of Minab had been targeted.

"It is increasingly clear that the U.S. military was responsible for the deadly attack," Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said in a text message Monday, adding that it was "hit by a precision weapon, not an errant attack."

If an error was made, he said, it raises "urgent questions regarding why U.S. intelligence was so shoddy that it treated the school as no different from the adjacent military facility."

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

March 09, 2026

Video appears to show U.S. Tomahawk missile hitting the area of the deadly school strike in Iran

Newly surfaced video adds toevidence that the United States likely struck a school in Iran, killing more than 170 people,...

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Trump says war could be over soon, as Iran rallies behind new hardline leader

By Parisa Hafezi, Maayan Lubell and Nandita Bose

Iran names Khamenei's son Mojtaba as new supreme leader

DUBAI/JERUSALEM/DORAL, Florida, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday predicted the war in the Middle East could be over soon, even as Iran's hardliners staged a show of loyalty to new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a sign that it was not prepared to back down any time soon.

The conflicting signals sent markets on a rollercoaster, with oil prices ‌surging and stock markets nosediving before swinging in the other direction after Trump's comments and reports of a possible ease in sanctions on Russian energy.

Khamenei, 56, a Shi'ite cleric with a power base among the security ‌forces and their vast business empire, has been declared unacceptable by Trump, who has demanded Iran's unconditional surrender.

Trump said the war would continue until Iran is "totally and decisively defeated," but predicted it would be over soon.

"It's going to be finished pretty quickly," he told Republican lawmakers. "We've already won in many ways, ​but we haven't won enough," he said.

Trump did not, however, define exactly what victory in the war would look like.

Iranian state media showed large crowds in several cities rallying behind the new leader, waving Iranian flags and holding portraits of his father Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader killed by an Israeli strike on the war's first day.

In Isfahan, state TV reported the sound of nearby explosions from apparent airstrikes as loyalists gathered in the historic Imam Square, chanting "God is the Greatest" below a stage with portraits of Ali and Mojtaba Khamenei.

In a further sign of defiance, Iran's military said it would step up its missile strikes.

POLITICAL SYSTEM RALLIES BEHIND NEW LEADER

Politicians and institutions issued pledges of loyalty to the new supreme leader, whose wife, son and mother also died at the ‌start of the U.S.-Israeli air onslaught according to Iranian state media.

"We will obey the ⁠commander-in-chief until the last drop of our blood," a defence council statement said.

Iranians reached by telephone were divided, with supporters of the authorities hailing the choice as a declaration of defiance and opponents fearful it would dash their hopes for change.

"I am so happy that he is our new leader. It was a slap in the face to our enemies that thought the system ⁠will collapse with the killing of his father. Our late leader's path will continue," said university student Zahra Mirbagheri, 21, from Tehran.

Many Iranians had initially celebrated the elder Khamenei's death, weeks after his security forces killed thousands of anti-government protesters in the worst domestic unrest since the era of Iran's 1979 revolution. But there has since been little sign of anti-government activity, with activists fearful of taking to the streets while Iran is under attack.

"The (elite Revolutionary) Guards and the system are still powerful. They have tens of thousands of forces ready to ​fight ​to keep this regime in place. We, the people, have nothing," said Babak, 34, a businessman in the central city of Arak who ​asked to keep his family name confidential.

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Israel says its war aim is to overthrow Iran's ‌system of clerical rule. U.S. officials mainly say Washington's aim is to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and nuclear programme, but Trump has said the war can end only with a compliant Iranian government.

Israel had said it would kill whoever succeeded the elder Khamenei unless Iran ended its hostile policies.

OIL SURGES, THEN DIPS BACK

The war has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, leaving tankers unable to sail for more than a week and forcing producers to halt pumping as storage fills.

Brent crude futures jumped about 7% to settle at their highest price since 2022 after soaring by as much as 29% during the session, as Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members cut supplies. But prices fell in post-settlement trade.

The price of gasoline has particular political resonance in the United States, where voters cite rising costs as a top concern ahead of the November midterm elections, when Trump's Republicans will try to keep control of Congress.

A Reuters/Ipsos ‌poll released Monday found 67% of Americans expect gas prices to rise over the coming months, and only 29% approve of the war.

After ​speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said the United States will waive oil-related sanctions on "some countries" to ease the shortage. According to multiple ​sources, that could mean a further easing of sanctions on Russian oil, which could complicate efforts to punish Moscow ​for its war in Ukraine.

Other options include a possible release of oil from strategic reserves or restricting U.S. exports, sources said.

OIL REFINERY HIT

Tehran was choked in black smoke after an oil refinery ‌was hit, an escalation in strikes on Iran's domestic energy supplies. World Health Organization chief ​Tedros Ghebreyesus warned the fire risks contaminating food, water and air.

Turkey ​said on Monday NATO air defences had shot down a ballistic missile that was fired from Iran and entered Turkish airspace, the second such incident of the war. Iran did not immediately comment on the report.

Turkey, Iran's neighbour with NATO's second-largest army, had warned Tehran on Saturday against attacking again, but it has not suggested it wants to formally call on bloc members for further protection.

Israel's military said it had launched new attacks in central ​Iran and struck the Lebanese capital Beirut, where Israel has extended its campaign after the ‌Iran-backed militia Hezbollah fired across the border.

U.S.-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran's U.N. ambassador. Lebanon has reported more than 400 people killed there, with nearly ​700,000 people fleeing their homes.

In Israel, ambulance workers said one man died from shrapnel wounds at a construction site near Tel Aviv's international airport, raising to 11 the death toll from Iranian strikes.

(Reporting by ​Reuters bureaux, Writing by Peter Graff, Andy Sullivan and Crispian BalmerEditing by Timothy Heritage, Aidan Lewis, Rosalba O'Brien and Cynthia Osterman)

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

March 09, 2026

Trump says war could be over soon, as Iran rallies behind new hardline leader

By Parisa Hafezi, Maayan Lubell and Nandita Bose Iran names Khamenei's son Mojtaba as new supreme lead...

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Signal and WhatsApp users face sweeping Russian phishing push, Dutch agencies warn

Russia is "engaged in a large-scale global attempt" to take over Signal and WhatsApp accounts,two Dutch intelligence agenciessaid Monday, adding to warnings issued by several groups about the security risk to the messaging apps.

According to the agencies, hackers are using phishing techniques to target high-profile people, posing as accounts with names like "Signal support" and securing details from users that would give them account access.

Signal is believed to be one of the most secure messaging platforms available. It is a common battlefield messaging tool among theUkrainian militaryand last year it became the subject of aWhite House scandalwhen a group of top officials accidentally added a journalist to a group chat discussing military strikes in Yemen.

Now, according to the Dutch report, Russian intelligence has launched a vast campaign to break into Signal and WhatsApp accounts,. The scheme has already compromised the messages of Dutch government employees, the report said, adding that it is "probable that targets include other persons of interest to the Russian government, such as journalists."

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.

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The warning follows a similar one issued byGermany in February, saying that unidentified hackers were trying to phish high-profile Signal users in German military and politics.

Last year, Google said it had identifiedRussian actors trying to phish Signal accountsassociated with the Ukrainian military, and warned that the tactic would likely spread.

"We are aware of recent reports regarding targeted phishing attacks that have resulted in account takeovers of some Signal users, including government officials and journalists. We take this very seriously," the companypostedon social media, alongside an example phishing message.

Hackers havelong targeted WhatsApp, owned by Meta, which as of last year claimed to have more thanthree billion active monthly users. But Signal,operated by a nonprofit, is far less popular and uses a complex type of encryptiondesigned to be unbreakable, even by a theoretical advanced quantum computer.

While Signal verifies a new user's account by texting their phone number, the app deliberately does not show users' phone numbers to each other as a way to better protect their privacy. However, that can make a scam message seem more convincing, since a user who receives a message that comes from "Signal support" — not a real service Signal offers — can't check the phone number associated with the account to see if it's suspicious.

A WhatsApp spokesperson declined to comment but recommended users never share their login information with other people and recommended itsscam protection guide.

byCristiano Ronaldo

in

March 09, 2026

Signal and WhatsApp users face sweeping Russian phishing push, Dutch agencies warn

Russia is "engaged in a large-scale global attempt" to take over Signal and WhatsApp accounts,two Dutch intelli...

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