Prosecutor argues each story Trump tried to have buried amounts to unlawful campaign contribution – live

Former president in court for closing arguments in trial charging him with 34 counts of felony falsification of business records

Donald Trump is entering the courtroom. He’s wearing a red tie and a suit that appears to fall somewhere between black and slate gray.

Tiffany Trump is here as well as two of Trump’s sons.

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Election conspiracies are ‘done all the time’, Trump lawyer tells trial jurors

Hush-money trial enters final stages as defense makes closing argument in case centered on allegedly falsified business records

Donald Trump’s secret plot to bury negative press ahead of the 2016 election deprived Americans of their right to choose a candidate at the ballot box, said the prosecution in its summation on Tuesday at the former president’s New York hush-money trial.

Steinglass’s closing statement reminded jurors of a summer 2015 meeting at Trump Tower where the real estate mogul sat with then consigliere Michael Cohen and tabloid honcho David Pecker.

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Nikki Haley writes ‘finish them’ on IDF artillery shells during Israel visit

Ex-governor also criticises Biden administration for temporarily withholding weapons to discourage attack on Rafah

Nikki Haley, the failed Republican presidential nominee, signed Israeli artillery shells with the inscription “Finish Them!” on a Memorial Day visit to Israel.

The former South Carolina governor’s graphic display of support came on a trip to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where she was accompanied by Danny Danon, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and a noted hawkish member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in the Knesset.

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Bankruptcy trustee should take over Giuliani’s assets, creditors’ attorneys say

Former mayor repeatedly lied and deceived creditors about his finances to avoid money going to them, lawyers say in court filing

A bankruptcy judge should appoint a trustee to immediately take control of Rudy Giuliani’s financial affairs after the former mayor repeatedly lied and deceived creditors about his finances, lawyers for the creditors said in a Tuesday court filing.

Among other things, the lawyers said Giuliani was funneling money into his businesses to avoid it going to creditors, undervalued his jewellery, and refused to disclose what several Apple and Amazon purchases were for. Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December, shortly after a jury in Washington DC ordered him to pay $148.1m in damages to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss – two Atlanta, Georgia, election workers he spread lies about after the 2020 election.

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Nikki Haley pictured writing ‘finish them’ on IDF artillery shells in Israel visit – as it happened

This blog is now closed. You can read our full story here:

Up next was Harry Dunn, a former Capitol police officer.

He referenced his campaign for Congress representing a Maryland district, which ended last week when he lost the Democratic primary.

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US aid to Gaza stalls after temporary pier breaks apart in heavy seas

Crucial supply line for aid deliveries to starving Palestinians cut off and will take at least a week to repair, Pentagon says

US aid efforts for Gaza have suffered an embarrassing setback after the temporary pier built by the military broke apart in heavy seas, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

The $320m pier was intended to provide a crucial supply line for aid deliveries by sea to reach starving Palestinians and alleviate a humanitarian catastrophe. Now the effort is on hold for at least a week.

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Trump judge in Mar-a-Lago case denies prosecutors’ request for gag order

Setback for special counsel Jack Smith as Aileen Cannon denies motion filed after Trump falsely claimed FBI was ready to kill him

The judge handling Donald Trump’s classified documents case has rejected a request by prosecutors to impose a gag order on the former president over his false claims that FBI officers were prepared to shoot him when they raided his Mar-a-Lago estate.

The ruling, by Aileen Cannon, Florida federal district judge, is the latest in a series of setbacks for Jack Smith, the special counsel who has spearheaded the prosecution into Trump’s alleged mishandling of documents from his time in the White House.

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David DePape apologizes for attacking Paul Pelosi and gets 30-year sentence – again

DePape, who didn’t get to speak in court in original trial on assault of Nancy’s Pelosi’s husband, gets no change to original sentence

The man who was convicted of assaulting then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in 2022 was re-sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday, with no change in the original sentence after the case was reopened so he could speak during his sentencing hearing, local news reported.

David DePape was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison on 17 May for forcibly entering Pelosi’s home in San Francisco early on 28 October 2022 and clubbing her husband, Paul, in the head with a hammer in a politically motivated attack.

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Biden official says more sanctions are needed to counter Russia war economy

Daleep Singh said that sanctioning third parties that trade with Russia is needed, in addition to seizing assets for Ukraine

Russia’s shift towards a full-fledged war economy requires the west to extend its sanctions policy, including by sanctioning third-party entities that trade with Moscow, a senior White House official signalled on Tuesday.

Daleep Singh, deputy national security adviser for international economics, said the United States would consider export controls to prevent China-Russia trade that threatens American security and take further action to increase the cost of Russia using a shadow fleet to evade the G7 countries’ oil price cap.

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Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed

Exclusive: Investigation reveals how intelligence agencies tried to derail war crimes prosecution, with Netanyahu ‘obsessed’ with intercepts

When the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, he issued a cryptic warning: “I insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately.”

Karim Khan did not provide specific details of attempts to interfere in the ICC’s work, but he noted a clause in the court’s foundational treaty that made any such interference a criminal offence. If the conduct continued, he added, “my office will not hesitate to act”.

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Revealed: Israeli spy chief ‘threatened’ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry

Mossad director Yossi Cohen personally involved in secret plot to pressure Fatou Bensouda to drop Palestine investigation, sources say

The former head of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, allegedly threatened a chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in a series of secret meetings in which he tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes investigation, the Guardian can reveal.

Yossi Cohen’s covert contacts with the ICC’s then prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, took place in the years leading up to her decision to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestinian territories.

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How Ozempic is re-shaping the US

The company behind the weight-loss drug has made millions, but without health insurance it is unaffordable for many. George Chidi reports

George Chidi, a politics and democracy reporter for Guardian US, recently came to Europe on holiday. He had been looking forward to eating his way around Paris and London, and was especially looking forward to the cheese. But when he got here, something surprised him. He enjoyed the food but found he wasn’t overeating.

For the past few months, he explains to Hannah Moore, he has been taking the weight-loss drug Ozempic. Almost 2% of the population in the US is taking it and the company behind it is worth billions. But while it’s been a big year for semaglutide weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, the changes they are making to US society are only just beginning.

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‘Serial slingshot’ suspect who terrorized California neighborhood arrested

‘We’re not aware of any kind of motive other than just malicious mischief, say police, of 81-year-old man who was arrested

An 81-year-old man who investigators say terrorized a southern California neighborhood for years with a slingshot has been arrested, police said.

While conducting an investigation, detectives “learned that during the course of 9-10 years, dozens of citizens were being victimized by a serial slingshot shooter”, the Asuza police department said in a statement.

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Biden honors troops on Memorial Day as Trump lashes out at his ‘human scum’ enemies

In divergent messages, president pays tribute to fallen heroes, while Trump fulminates on social media against opponents

Joe Biden and Donald Trump marked the Memorial Day national holiday honoring America’s war dead with jarringly divergent messages that promised to foretell the forthcoming US presidential election campaign as a contest of sharply contrasting characters.

In a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Biden paid tribute to the fallen as heroes who sacrificed themselves in the service of American democracy and ideals. Meanwhile, Trump, taking to his Truth Social site, took a very different tack – bestowing holiday wishes on those he branded “human scum” and accused them of trying to destroy the country.

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‘One of a kind’ NBA champion and broadcaster Bill Walton dies at 71

  • Center won championships with Portland and Boston
  • Walton became a popular broadcaster after playing career

Hall of fame basketball star and two-time NBA champion Bill Walton has died of cancer at the age of 71, the NBA announced on Monday.

“Bill Walton was truly one of a kind,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “As a Hall of Fame player, he redefined the center position. His unique all-around skills made him a dominant force at UCLA and led to an NBA regular-season and Finals MVP, two NBA championships and a spot on the NBA’s 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams.”

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At least 21 people dead as storms leave path of destruction across central US

Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas saw hundreds injured and homes obliterated as storms move into Georgia and South Carolina

Powerful storms were moving into the eastern half of the US on Monday, after killing at least 21 people, injuring hundreds, obliterating homes, and leaving a path of destruction that spread across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas over the Memorial weekend.

As the weather system moved into Georgia, the Storm Prediction Center issued a severe thunderstorm watch for more than 7 million people in the state and South Carolina. Heavy rain is expected to drench parts of the East Coast, where damage from strong winds is also possible. Intense heat will also hit parts of the south.

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Mike Tyson ‘doing great’ after health issue on flight to Los Angeles

Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson suffered an apparent medical scare on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles on Sunday

Former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson suffered an apparent medical scare on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles on Sunday. The incident came in the run-up to a scheduled July bout between the 57-year-old and YouTuber turned fighter Jake Paul in Dallas.

According to In Touch Weekly, passengers heard an announcement asking for medical professionals roughly 30 minutes before the plane landed in LA. Passengers were reportedly delayed from disembarking for 25 minutes after the flight landed so paramedics could attend to Tyson.

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Johnny Wactor: General Hospital actor shot dead in suspected robbery

37-year-old actor killed in Los Angeles early on Saturday after confronting three men allegedly attempting to steal from a vehicle

Johnny Wactor, the actor best known for his role on long-running soap opera General Hospital, has died after being shot during a suspected robbery in Los Angeles. He was 37.

His mother, Scarlett, first confirmed his death to TMZ. The Los Angeles police department later confirmed that Wactor was shot around 3am on Saturday after confronting three men who were allegedly attempting to steal the catalytic converter from a vehicle.

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Family infected with parasitic worms in US after eating bear meat, CDC says

Six people who ate a meal in South Dakota in 2022 with black bear meat diagnosed with trichinellosis, a parasitic zoonotic disease

Six people who shared a meal involving black bear meat kebabs have been diagnosed with trichinellosis, a parasitic zoonotic disease.

In a new report released this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that in July 2022, a 29-year old hospitalized patient with suspected trichinellosis was reported to the Minnesota health department. His symptoms included fever, severe muscle aches, periorbital edema or eye swelling, and eosinophilia or the condition of elevated levels of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell.

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Republican Tim Scott falsely claims Biden policy resegregates public schools

Possible Trump running mate makes extreme remark as former president steps up efforts to woo Black and minority voters

Donald Trump’s inner circle is stepping up efforts to woo Black and other minority voters, with a leading candidate to be his vice-presidential running mate claiming falsely on Sunday TV that Joe Biden was resegregating US public schools.

Tim Scott, the US senator from South Carolina who has been open about his desire to be on Trump’s ticket, made one of the most extreme claims yet. Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union show, he described President Biden as a supporter of educational segregation.

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