Former New York governor and stepson attacked and injured on city street

David Paterson, 70, and Anthony Sliwa, 20, were on Upper East Side when a verbal altercation with five people escalated

David Paterson, the former New York governor, and his stepson were attacked and injured on New York City’s Upper East Side on Friday night, the city police department said.

Paterson, 70, and his stepson, Anthony Sliwa, 20, had been walking in the upscale neighborhood at about 8.30pm when they were attacked after a verbal altercation with five people, according to the police.

Continue reading...

Walz-Vance debate: when is it and how can I watch?

The debate between the Ohio senator and Minnesota governor will be hosted by CBS News at 9pm ET on Tuesday

Tim Walz and JD Vance will face off Tuesday night in the first – and only – vice-presidential debate before the November election. With the campaigns currently neck-and-neck in the polls, and with voting under way in some states, it’s a chance for the would-be vice-presidents to introduce themselves to a wide US audience.

While VP debates don’t usually tip the scales much, they could matter in a close race – and they build profiles for lower-profile politicians who will probably stay on the national scene for years to come.

Continue reading...

New York mayor Eric Adams pleads not guilty to federal corruption charges

Beleaguered mayor in court as prosecutors allege Adams, 64, ‘sought and accepted improper valuable benefits’

Eric Adams, the embattled Democratic mayor of New York City, who was indicted on federal criminal charges in an unprecedented scene for a sitting mayor of the city, pleaded not guilty in court in Manhattan early on Friday afternoon.

The mayor arrived at court on Friday morning hours ahead of a scheduled arraignment, accused of accepting illegal campaign contributions and free overseas trips from foreign actors seeking influence.

Continue reading...

US Catholic diocese agrees to pay $323m to child sexual abuse survivors

Rockville Centre diocese in New York settles with more than 530 victims after proposed deal comes close to failure

A Roman Catholic diocese in Long Island, New York, announced a new bankruptcy settlement on Thursday that would pay more than $323m to about 530 sex abuse survivors who alleged they were abused by priests when they were children.

The diocese of Rockville Centre, which serves about 1.2 million Catholics in Nassau and Suffolk counties, said earlier this year that it did not think a bankruptcy settlement would be possible after abuse survivors rejected the diocese’s previous $200m settlement offer.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump says he will meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday – as it happened

This live blog is now closed. For our latest US politics news, head to:

Here is more from the federal indictment against Eric Adams:

In 2014, Eric Adams, the defendant, became Brooklyn borough president. Thereafter, for nearly a decade, Adams sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish govermnent official seeking to gain influence over him.

By 2018, Adams – who had by then made known his plans to run for mayor of New York City – not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, as well as other things of value, from foreign nationals.

Eric Adams, the defendant, sought and accepted illegal campaign contributions in the form of ‘nominee’ or ‘straw’ contributions, meaning that the true contributors conveyed their money through nominal donors, who falsely certified they were contributing their own money.

By smuggling their contributions to Adams through US-based straw donors, Adams’ overseas contributors defeated federal laws that serve to prevent foreign influence on US elections.

Continue reading...

‘Stop killing children’: protests as Netanyahu arrives for UN address

Protesters gather outside UN headquarters in New York to oppose Israeli PM’s visit and to call for end to Gaza war

As the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, arrived in New York on Thursday ahead of his address to the United Nations general assembly, scheduled for Friday morning, protesters opposed to the war in Gaza gathered near UN headquarters.

One group of people who waved Israeli flags and campaign banners described themselves as an informal coalition of Jewish and Israeli-led organizations taking an anti-occupation and anti-war stance in relation to the Palestinian territories. They assembled close to the UN building in Manhattan to protest against Netanyahu’s arrival after he flew in from Israel overnight.

Continue reading...

Eric Adams, New York City mayor, reportedly indicted after corruption inquiry

Mayor says he will stay in his role after reports emerge that he may soon become the first sitting mayor of the city to be criminally charged

Eric Adams, the New York City mayor, has said he will stay in office despite reports emerging that he had been indicted following a federal corruption investigation.

It is still unclear what charges Adams, 64, will face but federal prosecutors are expected to layout the details of the charges Thursday, the New York Times reported.

Continue reading...

Caroline Ellison sentenced to two years after serving as star witness against FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried

Ex-Alameda CEO and ex-girlfriend of fallen crypto mogul pleaded guilty, but prosecutors requested lenient sentence

Caroline Ellison, the former crypto executive and romantic partner of the disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, was sentenced to 24 months in prison in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday. Ellison was a central figure in the FTX bankruptcy saga and key witness for the prosecution in the $8bn fraud trial that ended with Bankman-Fried’s conviction.

Ellison served as the chief executive of Alameda Research, which was the trading arm of the now defunct FTX crypto exchange. The collapse of FTX, once valued at $32bn, was directly linked to revelations that it was attempting to financially prop up Alameda with fraudulent accounting. Subsequent investigations and criminal charges found that FTX and the hedge fund had used billions in customer funds for risky trades and lavish personal spending.

Continue reading...

Kerry gives scathing rating on climate action: ‘Is there a letter underneath Z?’

Former secretary of state accuses oil and gas companies of ‘business as usual’ at major climate summit in New York

Countries are ignoring commitments they made less than a year ago to shift away from fossil fuels and to provide aid to those most vulnerable to the climate crisis, a host of leading figures have admitted during a gloomy start to a major climate summit in New York.

Al Gore, the former US vice-president, and John Kerry, the former US secretary of state and climate envoy, have led the condemnation of the largest greenhouse gas emitters, led by China and the US, for failing to follow a UN pact signed in Dubai by nearly 200 countries in December to “transition away” from oil, coal and gas.

Continue reading...

Harris calls out Trump again for ‘looking for an excuse’ to avoid a second debate

Democratic nominee says she accepted an invitation from CNN to debate Republican rival, who said it was ‘too late’

Kamala Harris laid down another challenge to Republican rival Donald Trump to meet her for a second debate before November’s presidential election, telling supporters in New York that her opponent “seems to be looking for an excuse” to avoid a second confrontation.

On Saturday, the vice-president and Democratic nominee said she had accepted an invitation from CNN to debate the former president, but Trump said it was already “too late”.

Continue reading...

Pro-Palestinian protester wearing keffiyeh charged with violating New York face mask ban

Man was arrested during protest in front of Orthodox synagogue near borough of Queens

A pro-Palestinian protester wearing a keffiyeh scarf has been charged with violating a suburban New York City county’s new law banning face masks in public, reviving fears from opponents that the statute is being used to diminish free speech rights.

Police said the 26-year-old North Bellmore resident was arrested on Sunday afternoon during a protest in front of Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, an Orthodox synagogue near the New York City borough of Queens.

Continue reading...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to stay in jail until sex-trafficking trial begins as bail again denied

Second judge refuses bail to music mogul, 54, citing possibility that he could tamper with witnesses

Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs will have to await trial on sex-trafficking and racketeering charges in a Brooklyn jail instead of his luxurious Miami Beach mansion after a second judge refused to grant a $50m bail package offered by his lawyers.

On Wednesday, US district judge Andrew L Carter Jr denied Combs’s request to be released to home detention with GPS monitoring, pointing to the possibility that Combs may tamper with witnesses.

Continue reading...

Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge as he awaits retrial

New allegations against disgraced film mogul, currently jailed in New York, not related to his overturned conviction

Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.

Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.

Continue reading...

Harvey Weinstein undergoes emergency heart surgery at New York hospital

Representatives say Weinstein, 72, awaiting retrial on rape and sexual assault charges, is recovering after procedure

The disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was rushed from prison to a New York City hospital for emergency heart surgery after he experienced chest pains, his representatives told US media.

“Mr Weinstein was rushed to Bellevue Hospital last night due to several medical conditions,” Weinstein representatives Craig Rothfeld and Juda Engelmayer said in a statement first reported by ABC News.

Continue reading...

Pakistani man in Canada charged with planned mass shooting of Jewish New Yorkers

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, arrested near US border after allegedly planning attack with undercover agents

A Pakistani man living in Canada is facing federal criminal charges for allegedly planning to carry out a mass shooting in New York against Jewish people on the anniversary of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack in Israel, the US justice department announced on Friday.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, was arrested Wednesday in Canada and charged with attempting to provide material support as well as resources to a foreign terrorist organization – in this case, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.

Continue reading...

Ex-aide to New York governors charged with being agent of Chinese government

Linda Sun, Kathy Hochul’s former deputy chief of staff, arrested for ‘furthering’ Chinese interests, attorney says

A former New York state government official who worked for the former governor Andrew Cuomo and current governor, Kathy Hochul, was charged on Tuesday with acting as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors revealed in a sprawling indictment.

Linda Sun, who held numerous posts in New York state government before rising to the rank of deputy chief of staff for Hochul, was arrested on Tuesday morning along with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $3.5m home on Long Island.

Continue reading...

Martin Shkreli ordered to turn over all copies of unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album

Judge also bars ex-pharmaceutical executive, ‘Pharma Bro’, from streaming any more of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin

So-called “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli has been ordered by a federal judge to turn over all copies of the ultra-rare unreleased 2015 Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin and is barred from streaming any additional content from the record.

The Wu-Tang Clan spent six years creating Once Upon a Time in Shaolin before putting a single copy of the 31-track double album up for auction in 2015 on the condition that it not be released publicly. The multi-platinum hip-hop group wanted it viewed as a piece of contemporary art.

Continue reading...

Coyote sightings raise panic in a New York City neighborhood

Bronx’s Claremont Park has seen increased numbers of coyotes, but officials say there’s no need for concern

Officials are urging calm in a New York City neighborhood after it became alarmed by an increase in sightings of coyotes.

Over the summer, residents around Claremont Park in New York’s Bronx borough say that they have seen an uptick in coyotes, leaving some park-goers scared for their safety and that of their pets.

Continue reading...

‘A police state’: US universities impose rules to avoid repeat of Gaza protests

Students, faculty and advocates warn of chilling effect on free speech as schools across US introduce restrictions

Universities across the US are planning tougher rules to restrict protests when students return from summer vacation, an effort to avoid the chaos of last semester when demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza led to police crackdowns on campuses nationwide.

Columbia University students, who were at the vanguard of the movement, may encounter the most changes. The university president, Minouche Shafik, resigned this week in the wake of criticism for her handling of the protests, but not before overseeing the installation of fencing around the lawns of the school’s quad – the heart of campus life and the site of large protest encampments.

Continue reading...

New York Planned Parenthood staff decry ‘devastating’ abortion service cuts

Health non-profit’s affiliate announced changes for September, but staff say abortion access is already limited

In the coming weeks, Planned Parenthood’s Manhattan health center will stop offering core reproductive health services, including abortions after 20 weeks and deep sedation for procedures like abortion or IUD insertion.

The Manhattan clinic currently offers abortion through 24 weeks and is the only Planned Parenthood location in the state that does so. The group has been beset by financial challenges, and plans to close a number of New York clinics in the near future.

Continue reading...