UK art dealer jailed in US for defrauding clients of up to $30m

Timothy Sammons used works by Picasso and Chagall as collateral for personal loans

A prominent British art dealer who defrauded his clients out of millions by using a scheme that involved masterpieces by artists including Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall has been sentenced for up to 12 years in prison.

Timothy Sammons – a former Sotheby’s specialist who had offices in New York and London and who brokered multimillion-pound deals for the likes of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – used art that did not belong to him as collateral to obtain personal loans between 2010 and 2015.

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Neil deGrasse Tyson to keep museum job after sexual misconduct inquiry

Astrophysicist was accused of behaving inappropriately with two women in an article published in November on website Patheos

The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will keep his job as head of the Hayden Planetarium at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, after the museum concluded its investigation into sexual misconduct accusations against him.

Related: Neil deGrasse Tyson answers allegations of sexual misconduct

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Jeffrey Epstein found unconscious in jail cell, say reports

Financier facing charges of sex trafficking was found injured, sources say

Jeffrey Epstein, the financier facing charges of sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls, was found unconscious in a Manhattan jail cell with injuries to his neck, US media reported late on Wednesday, citing unidentified sources.

Epstein was found by guards sprawled on the floor of cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Wednesday, media reported.

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Ocasio-Cortez wants ‘9/11-style commission’ on family separations

  • Democratic congresswoman hosts event in New York district
  • Tells crowd Trump ‘sent me back to Queens’ with racist attack

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for a “9/11-style commission” to investigate child separation on the border with Mexico on Saturday, and said the US government has a life-long responsibility to children it severed from their parents, to provide them with mental health support.

Related: Bieber thanks Trump over A$AP Rocky but urges: 'Let those kids out of cages'

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El Chapo: Mexican drug lord sentenced to life in prison

US district judge imposed life sentence plus 30 years at hearing in federal Brooklyn court

Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Mexican drug lord found guilty of running a murderous criminal enterprise that smuggled tons of drugs into the United States, was sentenced by a US judge on Wednesday to spend the rest of his life in prison.

US District Judge Brian Cogan imposed the sentence of life plus 30 years, which was mandatory under the law, at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn.

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‘Today we can’t breathe’: Garner family react after prosecutors fail to charge NYPD officer – video

The family of Eric Garner have spoken of their anger after no charges were brought against Daniel Pantaleo, a white police officer implicated in the chokehold death of Garner, an African American man was killed almost five years ago. The arrest was captured on cellphone video, which showed Garner repeating the phrase 11 times as Pantaleo pulled him to the ground in what has been described as a banned chokehold. Eric Garner's mother said: 'My son said 'I can't breathe' 11 times, and today we can't breathe' 

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New York citizens direct traffic after power cut hits Manhattan – video

Members of the public stepped in to direct traffic in central Manhattan on Saturday night after a power outage knocked out traffic lights and other infrastructure in the heart of New York. Thousands of people streamed out of darkened buildings, crowding Broadway pavements next to bumper-to-bumper traffic. The outage came on the anniversary of the 1977 New York City blackout that left most of the city without power


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Heart of New York goes dark as fire causes blackout in Manhattan

Power outage affects about 73,000 people and disrupts traffic, subway system, businesses and Broadway productions

Authorities scrambled to restore electricity to Manhattan following a power outage that knocked out Times Square’s towering electronic screens, darkened marquees in the theatre district and left businesses without electricity, elevators stuck and subway cars stalled.

The New York City Fire Department said a transformer fire on Saturday evening at West 64th Street and West End Avenue affected more than 73,000 customers along a 30-block stretch from Times Square to about 72nd Street and Broadway.

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‘Every day, it is a risk’: immigrant communities paralyzed by fear of impending Ice raids

Mayors in major cities have pledged to support those targeted by Sunday’s ‘enforcement operations’

When CG heard that Donald Trump had announced raids by the immigration enforcement agency Ice a few weeks ago, she turned to her husband. Get groceries, she told him, like a storm is coming.

“Bananas, milk and bread,” CG lists off, remembering what she told him, “Because who knows when we’ll leave the house.”

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Jeffrey Epstein asks to be released on bail while awaiting sex trafficking trial

Epstein’s lawyers argued that home confinement and electronic monitoring would be enough to ensure that he does not flee

Disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein has asked a federal judge to let him out of jail and allow him to remain under house arrest as he awaits trial on charges of sex trafficking underage girls.

In a filing in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, Epstein’s lawyers argued that home confinement, along with electronic monitoring, surveillance and a bond secured by a mortgage on his $77m Manhattan mansion would be enough to ensure that he does not flee the country.

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Jeffrey Epstein charged with federal sex trafficking crimes

  • Some victims were just 14 years old, prosecutors allege
  • Billionaire sex offender pleads not guilty in New York court

The billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking contained in a newly unsealed 13-page Manhattan federal court indictment. Some victims of Epstein’s abuse were just 14 years old, prosecutors alleged in the shocking document.

Related: Jeffrey Epstein: inside the decade of scandal entangling Prince Andrew

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Trump calls Ocasio-Cortez ‘Evita’ in new book American Carnage

  • President interviewed for book on Republican civil war
  • Comparison to Eva Perón indicates respect for Democrat

Donald Trump has compared Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Eva Perón, saying that though he first saw the New York congresswoman “ranting and raving like a lunatic on a street corner” and thinks “she knows nothing”, she has “a certain talent”.

Related: When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez met Greta Thunberg: 'Hope is contagious'

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Jeffrey Epstein charged with sex trafficking, reports say

US billionaire will reportedly appear before a federal magistrate on Monday

Jeffrey Epstein, the politically well-connected US billionaire, has been charged with sex trafficking, according to reports.

The New York Times reported that Epstein, a wealthy Florida financier, was arrested in the New York area and was in custody. He is expected to appear before a federal magistrate on Monday. The NYT cited two anonymous sources.

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New York leads way as Pride marches mark 50 years since Stonewall – as it happened

That’s all for today – thanks for reading, everyone. Here’s what happened:

And, before we close down for the evening, a quick look at festivities in Seattle, which also hosted a Pride parade today.

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New York leads Pride parades as LGBTQ activists debate state of movement

New York’s massive LGBTQ Pride march kicked off Sunday with attendees cheering the cast of Pose, the FX show about late-20th century ballroom culture, and a car representing the activists Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson as the procession moved through Manhattan.

Related: We've been to a marvelous party: when gay Harlem met queer Britain

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Love and Resistance review: priceless pictures of LGBTQ pioneers

Fifty years after Stonewall, photographs Kay Tobin Lahusen and Diana Davies pin the zeitgeist to the page

Forty-nine years ago, on the first anniversary of the riots outside the Stonewall Inn, thousands of “young men and women homosexuals” from all over the north-east marched from Greenwich Village to the Sheep Meadow in Central Park. As Lacey Fosburgh put it on the front page of the New York Times, they proclaimed “the new strength and pride of the gay people”.

Related: We've been to a marvelous party: when gay Harlem met queer Britain

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Luis Alvarez, September 11 first responder and campaigner, dies at 53

Luis Alvarez, a former New York City police detective who was a leader in the fight for proper support of the September 11th victim compensation fund has died. He was 53.

Related: Jon Stewart demands Congress act for 9/11 responders: 'They did their jobs – do yours'

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Apollo 11 tapes bought for $218 may sell for millions after nearly being lost

Tapes identified in 2008 as the only surviving original recording of the first moon landing in 1969 are to go up for auction in July

When Gary George bought a truckload of videotapes for $218 from a US government surplus auction more than 40 years ago, he planned to sell them to television stations – to record over.

Fortunately, he decided to hold on to the three tapes labelled “Apollo 11 EVA”, which have since been identified as the only surviving original recording of the first moon landing, in 1969.

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