Author and former US president in the courtroom as proceedings resume in New York court after Covid delay
Trump’s lead attorney, Alina Habba, began her cross of Robbie Myers by suggesting that she was biased.
“You didn’t vote for Donald Trump in 2016, right?” Habba asked. “Or in 2020? You don’t plan on voting for him in 2024, do you?”
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Shifting to federal court in Washington DC, the judge Amit Mehta is on the verge of sentencing the former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro for ignoring a subpoena from the January 6 committee, Politico reports.
He was convicted of contempt of Congress charges last September:
Continue reading...Suspect had told inquiry into Johannesburg apartment fire that he started blaze last year to burn a body
A man who confessed to starting a deadly fire at an apartment building in one of South Africa’s worst disasters has been charged with 76 counts of murder and 86 counts of attempted murder.
The suspect was also charged with arson and was ordered to be kept in police custody until a bail hearing next month. He faces a possible sentence of life in prison. South Africa has no death penalty.
Continue reading...At least four senior figures from Houthis subject to asset freezes and travel bans, say reports; Gaza-run health ministry says situation in Khan Younis hospital ‘extremely catastrophic’
The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, said the conflict in Gaza shows the UN and other world bodies have lost their effectiveness and called on Muslim countries and other nations to unite for a new “fair world order”, reports Al Jazeera.
Reporting from Ankara on Wednesday, where Raisi met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Al Jazeera journalist Sinem Köseoğlu said the main agenda of the meeting had been Israel’s war on Gaza.
Continue reading...UAE firm’s increased investment prompts Cabinet Office order for security panel at telecoms company
The stake in Vodafone held by a United Arab Emirates-backed telecoms group poses a national security risk to the UK, the government said.
The Cabinet Office issued a notice late on Wednesday warning that the 14.6% stake held in Vodafone by Emirates Telecoms, which is also known as e&, amounted to a security concern given Vodafone’s strategic role in the country’s telecommunications services.
Continue reading...Ulf Kristersson says dialogue between countries is needed amid frustrations following Budapest’s failure to ratify Sweden’s Nato membership. This live blog is closed
Two agriculture union chapters have called for a “blockade of Paris” tomorrow, Le Monde reports. They have asked their members to gather on main roads around the capital.
Populist battles are not the way to resolve the conflicts between farmers and environmental policy, the chair of the strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture group said today at the opening of the first meeting in Brussels.
Continue reading...Navarro, trade adviser during Trump presidency, convicted over refusal to comply with subpoena from January 6 committee
The former Trump adviser Peter Navarro faces sentencing on Thursday on two counts of contempt of Congress, arising from his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on Congress.
The mandatory minimum sentence is two months in prison, one for each count. Prosecutors in the case, which saw Navarro convicted in federal court in Washington DC in September, asked for 12 months prison time and a $200,000 fine.
Continue reading...Despite signs of revival, the true costs of conflict are impossible to calculate because no one can say how long it will last
Cafe Merkaz is busy. A handful of patrons sit at its half dozen tables on Jerusalem’s Hanevi’im Street on a sunny lunchtime, while inside the coffee grinders grind and a pile of sandwiches on the counter shrinks hour by hour.
“A month or so ago, things looked pretty desperate. But we had twice as many people through the door this morning by 10am as we had in entire days back then. Now I think the year is just going to be tough, but we’ll hang on,” said Yaakov Saly, the 27-year-old owner.
Continue reading...Igor Girkin has been critical of war effort; Darya Trepova delivered bomb that killed pro-war blogger
Russian courts have jailed a prominent ultra-nationalist critic of Vladimir Putin and, separately, a woman convicted over a blast that killed a pro-war blogger.
In Moscow, a court sentenced Igor Girkin, a former battlefield commander of Russian proxy forces in east Ukraine who was convicted by a Dutch court over the shooting down of flight MH17, to four years in jail on extremism charges prompted by his criticism of the Russian war effort in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Research finds 14 different types of PFAS chemicals commonly used in ski wax on slopes in Austrian ski resorts
Skiers are leaving “forever chemicals” in the snow on ski slopes, a study has found.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – a group of 10,000 or so human-made chemicals widely used in industrial processes, firefighting foams and consumer products – are colloquially known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment; they do not easily break down.
Continue reading...Police start to interview witnesses following Guardian reports on adoptions to the Netherlands nearly 50 years ago
Police in Bangladesh have launched an investigation into historical allegations that children were adopted abroad without their parents’ consent, after a Guardian investigation into adoptions to the Netherlands in the 1970s.
Bangladesh special branch in Dhaka confirmed it had opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the adoption of a number of children between 1976 and 1979.
Continue reading...Objects to go on show at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi as part of Asante king’s silver jubilee celebrations
Gold and silver treasure looted from west Africa by the British army in colonial wars are to be lent to Ghana in a three-year deal, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum have announced.
The precious regalia, which had belonged to the Asante royal court, is regarded as part of the “national soul” of Ghana. Under the deal, 17 objects from the V&A and 15 from the British Museum, will go on show later this year at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the capital of Asante region. Many of the items have not been seen in Ghana for 150 years.
Continue reading...Doha ‘appalled’ at leaked remarks allegedly by Israeli PM in which he said Qatar’s role in talks was ‘problematic’
Qatar has harshly criticised Israel’s prime minister, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of deliberately obstructing ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with Hamas for personal political gain.
Doha’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, said on Wednesday night that his government was “appalled” by leaked remarks allegedly made by Netanyahu in which he criticised the country’s mediation efforts over the war in Gaza, adding that the Israeli leader’s comments were “irresponsible and destructive” but “not surprising”.
Continue reading...Shop will be open only to non-Muslim diplomats – but some fear it is first step to wider availability of alcohol in teetotal kingdom
The news that Saudi Arabia will allow its first alcohol shop has citizens and foreigners alike mulling one question: is this a minor policy tweak, or a major upheaval?
Sources familiar with preparations for the store disclosed details of the plan on Wednesday, as a document circulated indicating just how carefully leaders of the teetotal Gulf kingdom will manage its operations.
Continue reading...Japan media reported Shinji Aoba held a grudge against the studio when he doused the entrance in petrol and set it ablaze in 2019
A court in Japan has sentenced to death a man convicted of murdering 36 people in an arson attack on an animation studio in 2019.
The attack on Kyoto Animation, better known as KyoAni, sent shock waves through Japan, where violent crime is rare, and stunned fans of the studio’s output around the world.
Continue reading...In first such admission, previously secret document says Danish aircraft participated in attacks linked to civilian deaths
Denmark’s defence ministry said it would launch a review after evidence emerged showing its air force participated in airstrikes on Libya that killed 14 civilians in 2011, the first time any of the 10 countries involved in the Nato bombing campaign has acknowledged a possible link to non-combatant casualties.
Documents released under freedom of information show the Danish air force had concluded privately as long ago as 2012 that two F-16 attacks were connected to civilian casualty reports compiled by the UN, media and human rights groups.
An airstrike on Surman, nearly 40 miles west of Tripoli, on 20 June 2011 that killed 12 civilians, including five children and six members of one family. A surviving family member said the target was solely a residential compound, owned by a retired Libyan government member, but Nato said at the time it was “a legitimate military target”, despite reports of non-combatant deaths.
The bombing of an apartment block in Sirte, central Libya, on 16 September 2011 that killed two, a man and a woman who was five months pregnant. Although there were unconfirmed reports of snipers on the rooftop, questions were raised in the aftermath over whether an attack would have been proportionate, given civilians were killed.
Continue reading...Women will take part in the hadaka matsuri in Inazawa, in which thousands of men dressed in next to nothing drive away evil spirits
Women in Japan have been permitted to take part in an ancient ceremony, known as the naked festival, for the first time in the event’s history, albeit with modifications.
Every February, thousands of men dressed in next to nothing take part in the hadaka matsuri at a Shinto shrine in Inazawa, a town in central Japan, to drive away evil spirits over the coming year.
Continue reading...US regulator makes announcement hours after CEO says planemaker will only allow jets to fly when ‘100%’ certain of safety
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved an inspection and maintenance process to allow grounded Boeing 737 Max 9 planes to return to service, following a cabin panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight.
“The exhaustive, enhanced review our team completed after several weeks of information gathering gives me and the FAA confidence to proceed to the inspection and maintenance phase,” FAA administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement.
Continue reading...Israel’s assault on Gaza’s second-largest city continues as Hamas delegation travels to Egypt for ceasefire and hostage-release talks
Thousands of people sheltering in hospitals in Khan Younis are now trapped by Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip’s second largest city, even as a delegation from Hamas travelled to Egypt for the latest round of talks aimed at another ceasefire and hostage-release deal.
The Israeli army said on Wednesday that it had “encircled” the southern city of Khan Younis after two days of heavy fighting, in what Israeli officials have described as the last large ground assault in the three-month-old war before a shift to “lower intensity” operations aimed at eradicating the Palestinian militant group.
Continue reading...Two vessels forced to turn around as Iran-aligned group continues strikes against Red Sea shipping
Two ships sailing close to the Gulf of Aden were forced to seek the support of the US navy after explosions were heard nearby, as the Houthi group kept up their assault on commercial shipping off the coast of Yemen.
The Houthis have said their attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians as Israel bombards Gaza. The ships belonging to the Danish shipping company Maersk came under attack from three anti-ship missiles near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the US central command (Centcom) said. No damage was caused either to the Maersk Detroit or the Maersk Chesapeake.
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