Harvard researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos faces detention hearing
A Russian-born scientist and Harvard University researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos into the United States faces a detention hearing in Massachusetts on Thursday.
Kseniia Petrova, 30, has been in federal custody since February and is seeking to be released.
Petrova was returning from a vacation in France, where she had stopped at a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos and obtained a package of samples for research. She was later questioned about the samples while passing through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint at Boston Logan International Airport.
She told The Associated Press in an interview in April that she did not realize the items needed to be declared and was not trying to sneak anything into the country. After an interrogation, Petrova was told her visa was being canceled.
Petrova was briefly detained by immigration officials in Vermont, where she filed a petition seeking her release. She was later sent to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility facility in Louisiana.
The Department of Homeland Security had said in a statement on the social media platform X that Petrova was detained after 'lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.' They allege that messages on her phone 'revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them.'
In May, Petrova was charged with smuggling in Massachusetts as a federal judge in Vermont set the hearing date on her petition. That judge later ruled that the immigration officers' actions were unlawful, that Petrova didn't present a danger, and that the embryos were nonliving, nonhazardous and 'posed a threat to no one.'
The judge released Petrova from ICE custody, but she remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service on the smuggling charge.
Colleagues and academics have testified on Petrova's behalf, saying she is doing valuable research to advance cures for cancer.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Beloved internet star Joshua Blackledge's disturbing cause of death revealed...with 16 year-old's body found next to his TEDDY BEAR
A TikTok star whose sudden passing shocked the internet nearly three months ago died by suicide, it has emerged. Joshua Blackledge, 16, died on March 18 at his home in Newport, North Carolina after suffering a gun shot wound to the head, documents obtained by US Weekly revealed. A family member found his body next to a teddy bear, paper note and a picture. Blackledge had 'exhibited behavioral changes' socially and academically in the year leading up to his tragic death, his family claimed, according to the documents. No drug paraphernalia was present at the scene. Blackledge was a junior at West Carteret high school and had over 1million followers on TikTok. His last post came on March 14 and saw him hanging out with his friend in a white pickup truck. He often posted videos that saw him lip-syncing or hanging out with friends as well as his girlfriend Emmie Gillikin. The pair celebrated their eight month anniversary just days before his death. Gillikin paid tribute to Blackledge with a heartbreaking social media posts two days after the tragedy. 'Missing this sweet boy right now. never would've thought i would have been here without you,' Gillikin wrote on social media on March 20. 'Josh showed me what love really was even [though] im very young. he never failed to put a smile on my face no matter how mad i was at him ... Even after these past couple days nothing seems real and im feeling all the emotions.' She also dismissed rumors surrounding Blackledge's death in a TikTok Post. 'hey so the rumors going around abt Josh are not true and people are taking it way too far, Josh was never bullied,' she wrote. 'Everyone always loved him as a friend and even just someone they knew so if you don't really know what happened then don't spread fake rumors.' The social media star is survived by his parents Jonathan and Jackie Blackledge and his brother Josiah. 'Joshua will be remembered by those who knew him for his enthusiasm and love for life,' read an obituary for the teen posted by Noe-Brooks Funeral Home. 'He had a passion for the outdoors and loved being around water, whether fishing or boating with friends. He also had a love for cars and trucks. 'May his memory bring comfort to all who mourn his passing.' A celebration of life was also held later that month for his family and friends.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
I outran ICE. Now I'm back on the streets looking for illegal work
When a black Jeep rolled into the Home Depot car park just after 8.30am on Friday morning, Abraham sprung into action. As Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents dressed in vests and helmets climbed out of their blacked-out vehicle, he did his best to warn his fellow illegal migrants camped outside the hardware store in search of work. 'La migra! La migra!' he screamed, before sprinting away from the scene. Dozens of people tried to follow him. 'I felt very scared when I saw them coming but I ran like a flash and they didn't get me,' he says. Like the 100 or so men who gather daily outside the DIY shop in Westlake, Los Angeles, that morning Abraham had been hoping to pick up a day's work from customers in need of help for their home improvements. Most of those he was standing with are undocumented. Nicaragua-born Abraham managed to escape but not everyone was so lucky. At least 40 men, some of whom had lived in the US for decades, were handcuffed and detained by ICE agents who had raided a string of workplaces and Home Depot locations that morning, sparking a wave of volatile protests which have gripped Los Angeles and spread to more than 35 other cities. Despite the pervasive threat of deportation, Abraham was back at the Home Depot parking lot on Wednesday morning to resume his search for work. The targeting of day labourers in Home Depots, workers at car washes and clothing manufacturers marks a gear change in the administration's attempts to ramp up its deportation efforts in order to fulfil Donald Trump's 'largest deportation program' in US history. While officials had initially focused their efforts on those with criminal records, Stephen Miller, the architect of Mr Trump's hardline immigration policy, instructed ICE field officers to begin widening their nets. Mr Miller has set a target of 'at least' 3,000 arrests a day, a steep jump from the roughly 660 daily arrests during Mr Trump's first 100 days in office. He is understood to have directed ICE chiefs to start targeting spots where migrants congregate, specifically naming Home Depot. It is a move that has drawn fierce opposition from not only Mr Trump's political opponents such as Gavin Newsom, the Democrat governor, but also from some of the Republican leader's supporters, with Florida State Senator Ileana Garcia, the co-founder of Latinas for Trump, saying the move was 'not what we voted for'. While demonstrations have brought parts of the state to a standstill, the ICE raids have continued at pace, with uniformed officers chasing farmworkers through fields and turning up at churches to arrest migrants. While the majority of migrants have stayed home amid the ongoing threat, Abraham, a father-of-two, who crossed the El Paso border with Ciudad Juarez three years ago, says he has no choice but to take the risk and continue his search for work at Home Depot. 'I'm not afraid to come... I have to work because if I don't work I can't eat,' he tells The Telegraph as he cools himself from the California sun with a pink plastic portable fan. Obdulio, another undocumented worker who managed to flee the Home Depot raid on Friday, had also returned on Wednesday despite seeing at least a dozen people 'grabbed' by ICE agents. The Guatemalan, who has lived in the US for 20 years, was frustrated he could not do anything to help his friends. 'You can't confront them because they're going to take you away, so what we did was shout at people to run and we kept running,' he says. Obdulio, 48, who did not want to give his last name, told The Telegraph: 'We are still in fear because we've heard ICE is still roaming here.' 'We're not criminals, we come to work honestly without harming anyone,' he adds. Standing on the other side of the Westlake Home Depot car park, Edwin Cuadra, who is from Guatemala and has a green card, recounted how he saw ICE agents arriving on Friday morning in his car's wing mirror. 'Those who don't have papers had to escape, they started running,' he says. The number of people out looking for work has since dwindled, he says, because migrants are terrified they will be caught. 'It's very bad,' he adds, becoming tearful. 'They are my brothers, like my family. They need the money to pay rent, to pay bills.' On the sixth day of demonstrations in Los Angeles, a largely peaceful protest of around 1,000 protesters briefly became chaotic when police on horseback charged at protesters and hit them with wooden rods before the area's 8pm curfew came into effect. Officers fired rubber bullets and pepper balls into the crowd before carrying out dozens of arrests and packing protesters into police vans, but the streets downtown were mostly quiet by 9pm. In recent days demonstrations across the city at times became violent, with some agitators setting fire to cars and throwing Molotov cocktails, fireworks and rocks at police. Some of the thousands of National Guard troops controversially deployed by Mr Trump despite governor Gavin Newsom insisting they were not needed have been assisting ICE officers as they round up illegal migrants on raids, standing by with their rifles as agents arrest and detain people. The 700 Marines sent into Los Angeles by Mr Trump will also accompany ICE agents on missions, officials have said, sparking fears that the administration could further intensify the pace of its raids. Mr Newsom has warned the unprecedented militarisation of the state would spread further. 'Democracy is under assault right before our eyes,' he said on Tuesday. 'California may be first, but it clearly won't end here.' The Department of Homeland Security released an Uncle Sam style poster on social media on Wednesday urging members of the public to report 'foreign invaders'. As ICE raids continued in spite of the protests, on Monday morning a Home Depot in Huntington Park, around eight miles away from the Westlake branch, was targeted. Eduardo Baz, 45, who illegally crossed into the US from Honduras 20 years ago, was lucky to have escaped. He had been a safe distance away when he saw federal agents starting to detain migrants in the car park at around 7.30am. The only saving grace, he says, was that it was early so not many people had arrived at the shop. On Wednesday morning he was one of a handful of migrants who had returned to the car park hoping to pick up work. 'Of course we're all afraid,' he says. 'All these years later, they can send you home in one swoop.' 'You're never calm, you're always afraid they might catch you at any moment.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
American woman faces court charged over fatal crash outside N Ireland hotel
An American woman has appeared in court in Northern Ireland charged with causing death by careless driving in what has been described as a tragic incident for all involved. Coleraine Magistrates' Court heard that Cathy Stewart, 66, a special needs teacher from Benton, Illinois, lost control of an electric vehicle as she parked it outside a hotel in Bushmills. The vehicle was described as having 'suddenly bolted forward' into furniture, striking Allison Eichner, aged in her 40s and from Connecticut, on Wednesday afternoon. Ms Eichner was taken to hospital but died of her injuries. Relatives of Ms Eichner watched court proceedings remotely while Stewart was granted bail on a number of conditions, including residing at her home address in Illinois and a £5,000 cash surety, in recognition that the case is unlikely to be heard until 2026 at the earliest. Ms Stewart appeared before the court on Friday morning charged with causing death by careless driving on Wednesday June 11 on the Causeway Road in Bushmills. She indicated she understood the charge when it was put to her. A police constable said she believed she could connect the accused to the charge. She also described a tragic incident for all involved, and said police were 'not entirely opposed to bail', describing the 'big problem' as being the address of the defendant but said with a substantial cash surety, bail could be an option. 'On Wednesday June 11, at approximately a quarter past 12 in the afternoon, a single-vehicle road traffic collision occurred at the front of the Causeway Hotel on the Causeway Road in Bushmills,' she told the court. 'It involved a grey Ford Transit, a multiple person vehicle, being driven by the defendant. The defendant collided with the pedestrian while she sat on a bench at the front of the property.' She said Ms Eichner suffered severe injuries and was treated at the scene by paramedics before being transferred to the Causeway Hospital but died of her injuries a short time later. 'CCTV footage of the collision was obtained from the hotel, and it shows a Ford Transit being parked in the disabled parking bay after which the passengers get out and make their way into the hotel entrance,' she said. 'The driver's door appears to open slightly as though the driver was exiting the vehicle, however the vehicle moves forward slowly, and then suddenly bolts forward colliding with a light fixture, outdoor dining furniture and the victim who was sitting beside her brother on a bench. 'Her brother jumped out of the way but unfortunately the injured party sustained the full impact of the vehicle. 'The defendant was cautioned at the scene and gave an account consistent with the CCTV. The defendant stated she believed she had turned the car off before attempting to exit and as it rolled forward she tried to apply the foot brake however instead she hit the accelerator causing the collision.' The constable said Ms Stewart was interviewed by police with her solicitor, answered all questions put to her, co-operated fully, and appeared remorseful. 'She had been in Northern Ireland since Tuesday afternoon on holiday with family and friends. She had left Belfast that morning with the ultimate destination of heading to Londonderry,' she said. 'The vehicle was a rental vehicle and she described taking time to familiarise herself with the controls before she left the airport. The defendant would say she was very cautious driving and stated she was in no rush. 'She admitted that she had never driven an electric or hybrid vehicle before, she described pulling into the parking space, stating that she pressed the start/stop button on the left hand side of the steering wheel and as far as she was concerned the vehicle shut down and stopped. 'The passengers in the vehicle got out and she remained in the driver's seat for a short time before stepping out of the vehicle and feeling it moving forward. She described trying to get back in and feeling for the brake, trying to stop the vehicle, however she stated she was feeling shocked and disorientated about what happened.' A defence lawyer for Ms Stewart described a 'tragic, tragic case'. 'This was a simple error which has caused catastrophic consequences,' he said. 'This was an electric vehicle, she pushed the button, she assumed that the vehicle was off and of course being electric it doesn't make any noise. Unfortunately it has surged forward. 'At the end of her interview she was asked was there anything she wanted to say, I'll read what she said 'I'm just devastated, I can't get that family out of my mind. I'm the person who protects, to know that someone lost their life is devastating'. 'This is devastating for two sets of people, most especially the family of the deceased, and throughout Mrs Stewart's only thoughts have been with that bereaved family.' He urged that bail is granted, adding she will have no difficulty coming back. 'She worked as a special needs teacher then a counsellor in a secondary school for over 40 years. She now works with a teaching union,' he said. The judge said bail was 'entirely appropriate in this case', given that the evidential and forensic requirements of prosecution are going to take some time. 'Given that, it would be entirely disproportionate and inappropriate to keep you in custody for the duration of the investigation,' he said. 'Equally it would be entirely disproportionate to keep you from the United States whilst the investigation is ongoing, so I will grant bail. The case is next to be mentioned on July 1.
