Two dead after vehicle explosion at US-Canada border checkpoint

New York governor says ‘no indication of terrorist attack’ as officials investigate incident at Rainbow Bridge near Niagara Falls

A speeding car crashed in flames on the bridge linking New York state and Ontario at Niagara Falls on Wednesday, killing two people in the vehicle and sparking a security scare that closed four US-Canadian border crossings.

Hours later, federal and state authorities said investigators had found no evidence of an act of terrorism, though circumstances surrounding the crash on the Rainbow Bridge remained murky, leaving it to be determined whether it was accidental or intentional.

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Office of judge presiding over Trump’s New York trial bombarded with threats

Judge Arthur Engoron and his clerk have also received antisemitic abuse since a gag order imposed on the ex-president was lifted

The office of the New York judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial has been bombarded with death threats and antisemitic abuse following the former president’s online attacks.

Judge Arthur Engoron and his clerk, Allison Greenfield, are said to have received hundreds of threatening, harassing and disparaging messages via telephone and social media.

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Trump unleashes outrage at court clerk online barely an hour after gag order paused

New York judge temporarily lifted gag order, opening window through which Trump could vent his unrestrained feelings

Barely an hour after a gag order prohibiting Donald Trump from commenting about court staff at his civil fraud trial in New York was temporarily lifted, he was at it again – unleashing a blitzkrieg of social media outrage at a clerk who has become the lightning rod for the former president’s rage.

On Thursday afternoon a New York appeals court judge, David Friedman, paused a gag order that had been placed on Trump last month. The move opened a window through which Trump could vent his unrestrained feelings.

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New York judge suspends Trump gag order in fraud trial, citing free speech

Trial judge Arthur Engoron had imposed gag order last month after the former president maligned a court clerk

A New York appeals court judge on Thursday paused a gag order that barred Donald Trump from commenting on court staffers in his civil fraud trial. The trial judge had imposed the gag order last month and later fined Trump $15,000 for violations after the former president made a disparaging social media post about a court clerk.

In his decision, Judge David Friedman of the state’s intermediate appeals court cited constitutional concerns about restricting Trump’s free speech. He issued a stay of the gag order, allowing Trump to comment freely about court staff while a longer appeals process plays out.

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Cargo plane forced to return to New York after horse escapes from crate

Boeing 747 cargo plane turns back after horse becomes untethered in flight and pilot says ‘We cannot get the horse back secured’

A cargo plane heading for Belgium was forced to return to New York City after a horse escaped from its crate on board.

The horse became loose on the Boeing 747 cargo plane within 30 minutes of the plane’s initial takeoff, according to the audio clips from air traffic control that were reconstructed on YouTube, ABC News reported.

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Trump Jr hails ‘sexiness’ of father’s properties at New York fraud trial

Donald Trump’s son showers praise on former president as he returns to the stand at $250m real estate fraud trial

Donald Trump’s eldest son hailed the “sexiness” of his father’s properties after returning to the stand at the $250m fraud trial over the former president’s real estate empire.

Lawyers for the Trump Organization summoned Donald Trump Jr at the start of the seventh week of the New York civil trial.

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Robert De Niro’s production company ordered to pay $1.3m to ex-assistant

Canal Productions liable in gender discrimination suit filed by Graham Chase Robinson, while De Niro found not personally liable

Robert De Niro’s production company was found liable on Thursday by a jury for gender discrimination and retaliation, and ordered to pay $1.3m to the Hollywood star’s former assistant.

The 80-year-old actor and director was not found personally liable by the jury in New York after a two-week trial.

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Israeli diplomat pressured US college to drop course on ‘apartheid’ debate

Consul Yuval Donio-Gideon objected to course at Bard College but president says institution ‘stood up for academic freedom’

An Israeli diplomat tried to persuade a leading New York college to cancel a course about the growing debate over whether the Jewish state practices a form of apartheid in the Palestine.

The Israeli consul for public diplomacy in New York, Yuval Donio-Gideon, took the highly unusual step of contacting Bard College earlier this year to object to the course, Apartheid in Israel-Palestine, on the grounds that it breached the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.

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Anything but the fraud: ex-Trump aide focuses on ‘travesty’ courtroom sketch

Former press chief Kayleigh McEnany, now a Fox News host, upset by sketch of ex-president, found liable in New York case

Amid Donald Trump’s rambling court appearance in his fraud trial on Monday, there was one thing that really piqued Fox News: the former president’s appearance in a courtroom sketch.

“A travesty,” was the verdict of Kayleigh McEnany, who served as Trump’s press secretary during the dying embers of his one-term presidency before she became a Fox News host.

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Protesters stage sit-in demanding ceasefire in Gaza at Statue of Liberty

About 500 demonstrators including artist Nan Goldin attend protest on Monday in New York City

Hundreds of protestors staged a sit-in demonstration at New York’s Statue of Liberty on Monday afternoon demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

About 500 members and supporters of Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City (JVP-NYC) waved flags and banners and sang pro-peace songs, according to a spokesperson for the group.

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Trump claims financial statements at heart of $250m fraud trial are ‘worthless’

Former president takes stand in New York Trump Organization trial as judge asks lawyer to ‘control your client’

Donald Trump took the stand in a Manhattan federal courthouse on Monday and angrily claimed the financial statements at the heart of his $250m civil fraud lawsuit were “worthless” and the trial was a political “witch-hunt”.

In a day of sometimes heated, sometimes meandering testimony, Trump maintained he had done nothing wrong and accused his prosecutors of playing politics. “We sit here all day – it’s election interference because you want to keep me in the courthouse!” said Trump.

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New York City Marathon: Tola sets men’s course record as Obiri takes women’s crown

  • Ethiopian eclipses previous best by eight seconds
  • Obiri won Boston Marathon earlier this year

Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia set a course record to win the New York City Marathon men’s race on Sunday while Hellen Obiri of Kenya pulled away in the final 400 meters to take the women’s title.

Tola finished in 2hr 4min 58sec, topping the 2:05:06 set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011. Tola pulled away from his compatriot Jemal Yimer when the pair were heading towards the Bronx at mile 20. By the time he headed back into Manhattan a mile later he was up by 19sec and chasing Mutai’s mark.

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US schools grapple with shortage of a lunchtime staple: milk cartons

Agricultural department says multiple states will be affected, forcing a brainstorm of backup plans

The tiny, half-pint cartons of milk served with millions of school lunches nationwide may soon be scarce in some cafeterias, with districts across the country scrambling to find alternatives.

The problem is not a shortage of milk itself, but the cardboard cartons used to package and serve it, according to dairy industry suppliers and state officials.

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Judge in New York fraud trial extends gag order to Trump’s legal team

Arthur Engoron forbids Trump’s lawyers from discussing ‘confidential communications’ between the judge and his staff

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s $250m fraud trial moved to gag Trump’s lawyers from talking about “confidential communications” between the judge and his staff on Friday.

Judge Arthur Engoron has already fined Trump $15,000 for attacking his clerk on social media and threatened to jail the former president if the attacks continue.

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Trump sons deny knowing of financial statements at heart of $250m fraud trial

Donald Jr says he ‘relied upon accountants’ for financial statements while Eric says he ‘never had anything to do’ with them

Trump’s eldest sons claimed on Thursday that they had no knowledge of the financial statements at the heart of the family’s $250m fraud trial.

Eric and his older brother Donald Trump Jr claimed in court that they had relied on accountants and others to make sure their financial records were correct.

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Eric Trump testifies ‘I don’t recall’ when asked about involvement in Trump Organization valuation – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. For more on this trial, read our latest report:

Prosecutor Colleen Faherty asked Donald Trump Jr whether it’s a fair statement that he was generally familiar with the overall finances of the Trump Organization between 2011 and the present.

“I would think so, yes,” Trump Jr replied, Law360’s Stewart Bishop reports.

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FBI raids home of New York mayor’s top campaign fundraiser

Brianna Suggs questioned by corruption squad as Eric Adams cancels several Washington DC meetings

The home of a consultant with ties to the New York city mayor, Eric Adams, was raided by the FBI on Thursday.

Brianna Suggs, Adams’s top campaign fundraiser, was questioned by the FBI’s public corruption squad as they searched her house in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, the New York Times reported.

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Trump Jr distances himself from documents at center of fraud trial: ‘I don’t recall’

Donald Trump’s eldest son testifies in New York civil trial, claiming repeatedly: ‘I don’t recall’

Donald Trump Jr took the stand in the ongoing fraud trial against his father and the family business on Wednesday and tried to distance himself from the financial statements at the center of the case.

Trump’s eldest son, 45, is the first family member to testify in the civil trial brought by the New York attorney general, Letitia James. His younger brother Eric is expected to testify on Thursday, with Trump and his daughter Ivanka expected in court next week.

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‘Expect the unexpected’: Trump fraud trial becomes family affair

Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka scheduled to give evidence with father this week in case against Trump Organization

Donald Trump’s fraud trial becomes a family affair this week as three of his children, and the former president himself, prepare to be called to the witness stand in New York.

Trump’s appearances in court so far have been controversial, to say the least. The former president has railed against the prosecution, calling it a “witch-hunt”, and has been threatened with jail for attacking one of the court’s clerks on social media.

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New York animal control officer arrested in yorkie dognap plot

Hope the purloined pooch was returned to Jeannine Staller after she was told by Scott Casterline that her dog was dead

A New York state animal control officer was arrested after selling a stolen pet and telling the owner that the animal had died, authorities have said.

Scott Casterline, 51, was arrested on Thursday and charged in connection with stealing the dog, a nine-year-old Yorkshire terrier called Hope, and later selling it while working as an animal control officer, according to a press release from the Steuben county sheriff’s office.

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