Former Trump chief strategist’s four-month prison term had been on hold while judges considered appeal
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has reportedly upheld Steve Bannon’s conviction on contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena issued by the United States House select committee on the January 6 capitol attack.
Paul Manafort returned to international consulting after Donald Trump pardoned him in 2020, The Washington Post reports.
Continue reading...Short, shallow recession is over, as UK economy grows faster than forecast in January-March quarter, by 0.6%, fastest quarterly growth in over two years
Labour’s shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has posted that it’s ‘time for change’.
Following this morning’s GDP report, Reeves says:
From no growth to low growth - is that really the scale of the Conservatives’ ambitions?
Food prices are still high, families are paying more on their monthly mortgage bills and working people are worse off.
Construction remains the one area of weakness, particularly in the commercial sector. That’s no surprise.
Real estate is particularly exposed to the effect of higher interest rates, and the upheaval of the pandemic is still rocking the office and retail sector - with increased home working and online shopping permanently changing demand. That’s not a trend that’s unique to the UK.
Continue reading...UN general assembly holds debate on draft resolution; three Israeli whistleblowers working at the Sde Teiman desert camp raise concerns
On a visit to Washington, German defence minister Boris Pistorius expressed “understanding” for the US threat to limit arms supplies to Israel in the event of a full-blown Rafah offensive but stopped short of setting any new red lines on German weapons.
However, he told ZDF public television that Germany must put pressure on Israel “not to go too far” and to “slow down” in its military response to the 7 October attacks. “
Continue reading...Madeleine Westerhout also tells court he would sign checks without reviewing them; Michael Cohen could testify on Monday
Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse.
Court proceedings are scheduled to begin at about 9.30am ET.
Continue reading...Russian officials say nine people were recovered from Moika after vehicle veered off bridge
A bus veered off a bridge in St Petersburg, Russia, killing at least three people and leaving six others injured on Friday, officials have said.
The emergencies ministry said rescuers removed nine people from the water, three of whom died. It said four others were in critical condition, and two more were in a serious condition.
Continue reading...Police had arrested Marianne ‘Mair’ Smyth at a rental home after a podcast on her crimes prompted a listener to reveal her location
A US-born woman who disguised herself as an heiress to a $30m fortune while scamming nearly $100,000 from a television producer – who later sent her to prison and documented her misdeeds on a hit podcast – has been ordered extradited to Northern Ireland on a separate set of fraud charges.
Marianne “Mair” Smyth’s extradition to the UK was authorized by John Nivision, a US federal magistrate judge, on Thursday, more than two months after she was arrested at a short-term rental home in Bingham, Maine, court records show.
Continue reading...Schools changed their names after 2020 George Floyd protests, but will now revert to old names celebrating slave-state leaders
An all-white school board in Virginia has voted to restore the names of Robert E Lee and other Confederate military leaders to two public schools in a backlash to the racial reckoning that followed the police murder of George Floyd.
The decision to restore the names of Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Turner Ashby was taken on Friday morning by the six-member school board in Shenandoah county. Only one of the members voted against the resolution.
Continue reading...Fire chief says incorrect disposal of devices powered by lithium-ion batteries are ‘disaster waiting to happen’
Fires caused by batteries in waste have gone up by 71% in the UK since 2022, as the rise of disposable vapes and other portable battery-powered devices leads to more lithium-ion batteries ending up in the bin.
An increase in the number of these devices being thrown in household rubbish bins has led to more than 1,200 fires in the waste system in the past 12 months, compared with 700 in 2022, according to research conducted by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and the campaign group Recycle Your Electricals.
Continue reading...Group says two women in their 80s took hammer and chisel to protective glass at British Library
Two Just Stop Oil protesters have smashed the glass around Magna Carta at the British Library.
The Rev Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, 85, a retired biology teacher, targeted the protective enclosure with a hammer and chisel on Friday morning.
Continue reading...Actions of Netanyahu’s government have sparked international anger and made a long-threatened ‘diplomatic tsunami’ real
Israel is facing a long-threatened “diplomatic tsunami” on multiple fronts over its handling of the war in Gaza and the unprecedented rise in violent settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
Amid almost monthly sanctions announcements from the US and European capitals over settler violence, which have incrementally expanded their scope, the Guardian understands yet more potential targets are under consideration.
Continue reading...Government sources had indicated flights would begin in July, but order shows first could happen on 24 June
Rishi Sunak’s deportation flights to Rwanda, the cornerstone of the government’s immigration policy, could begin as early as 24 June, court papers seen by the Guardian show.
Government sources had indicated that the first flights carrying asylum seekers would take off in July, but a court order released on Friday has disclosed that the government now says flights could take off in late June.
Continue reading...Further job cuts likely as JLP says it is investing in automation as part of ‘simplifying the way we work’
The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose cut 3,500 jobs last year amid efforts to save costs in a tough market – but employed its first group chief executive on a more than £1m pay deal.
The staff-owned group, which has 34 John Lewis department stores and 329 Waitrose supermarkets, said it employed 72,900 people in its annual report published on Thursday, down from 76,400 a year before, helping to reduce its pay bill to £1.79bn from £1.82bn.
Continue reading...Piran Ditta Khan, 75, was last of seven men convicted for involvement in Bradford robbery in which Beshenivsky was shot
The mastermind of an armed robbery that ended in a police officer being shot dead has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 40 years.
PC Sharon Beshenivsky’s family watched from court as the last member of the gang responsible for the armed raid that claimed her life was sentenced after almost 20 years.
Continue reading...United Democracy Project backing Sarah Elfreth, even with Harry Dunn, former US capitol officer, as fellow Democrat in House race
A pro-Israel lobby group has dropped millions into a Maryland congressional race as tensions remain high over the war in Gaza.
The primary race in the third congressional district, which will be held on Tuesday, has attracted national interest thanks to the candidacy of one Democrat in particular: Harry Dunn. A former US Capitol police officer, Dunn and his colleagues won praise for their actions defending lawmakers against a violent mob of Donald Trump’s supporters on January 6. In his New York Times bestselling memoir, Standing My Ground, Dunn recounted how the insurrectionists repeatedly used the N-word as they attacked him and other Black officers.
Continue reading...Kyiv says initial attacks repelled as Russia seeks to intensify pressure on Ukraine’s second city
Russian forces have attacked across the Ukrainian border to the north of Kharkiv in a potential effort to open a new front in the war and intensify the pressure on Ukraine’s second city.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said there had been “an attempt by the enemy to break through our defence line using armoured vehicles” at about 5am on Friday near the town of Vovchansk, and the initial attacks had been repelled.
Continue reading...Head of the town of Vovchansk’s military administration said transport was being organised for those without cars
Russian forces have advanced one kilometre (0.62 mile) into Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region near Vovchansk, a high-ranking Ukrainian military source said on Friday.
According to Reuters, the source said the Russian military was aiming to advance as much as 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into the region in an effort to establish a buffer zone. Ukrainian forces were fighting to hold back Moscow’s advance.
At approximately 5 am, there was an attempt by the enemy to break through our defensive line under the cover of armoured vehicles.
As of now, these attacks have been repulsed; battles of varying intensity continue.
Continue reading...Authorities moved in overnight to clear campuses from Arizona to Massachusetts of students demanding schools cut ties to Israel
Police moved in to disband several pro-Palestinian student encampments on US campuses on Friday morning as the foment over protests against academic ties with Israel over the war in Gaza continued to roil academia.
Tent encampments at the University of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Arizona, Tucson, were all dismantled in early morning raids that saw cordons of police sweep in and clear the makeshift protest settlements. In Tucson teargas was used, and demonstrators responded by throwing bottles at officers.
Continue reading...Mayor of Alicudi appealed for homes for 600 feral goats which will be removed from tiny volcanic island
When the mayor of a remote Italian island grappling with an overpopulation of feral goats offered to give the animals away, he anticipated a smattering of interest from farmers on neighbouring isles who were perhaps keen to boost their production of ricotta cheese.
But as news of his “adopt a goat” initiative spread beyond Alicudi, he received a flurry of offers from around the world – not just from Europe, but also the US, and even from an animal-lover in Nigeria.
Continue reading...President likely to add sectors such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar cells to range of levies set up under Donald Trump
Joe Biden is expected as early as next week to announce fresh tariffs on Chinese trade, with levies focused on strategic sectors including electric vehicles, in a review of measures first put into place under Donald Trump.
An announcement planned for Tuesday will keep the blanket tax rises introduced by the president’s predecessor but supplement them with targeted levies on industries connected to EVs, including batteries and solar cells, according to reports.
Continue reading...Supreme court judges order Arvind Kejriwal’s release until 1 June and question timing of his arrest on corruption charges
One of India’s best-known opposition leaders, Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, has been granted bail by the country’s supreme court to allow him to take part in general election campaigningafter being kept behind bars for almost two months.
Kejriwal, who heads the Aam Aadmi party (AAP), has been held in jail since March when he was arrested on money-laundering charges. He has maintained that his arrest and detention was politically motivated to prevent him taking part in the election, which began in April and will continue until June.
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