Prosecutors accused Donald Trump of engaging in “criminal conspiracy and a coverup” as opening arguments began Monday in the first ever criminal trial of a former US president.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said Trump falsified business records to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels to “silence” her about a potentially politically embarrassing sexual encounter.

“This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a coverup,” Colangelo told the jury of New Yorkers in a Manhattan courtroom. “He orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.”

Trump, dressed in a dark suit and blue tie, sat at the defense table, staring straight ahead as the prosecutor delivered his opening statement, shifting back and forth in his seat a little.

Before the court session began, Trump condemned the case as “election interference” designed to derail his 2024 White House bid.

“It’s a very, very sad day in America,” the 77-year-old Republican presidential candidate told reporters.

“I’m here instead of being able to be in Pennsylvania, in Georgia, and lots of other places campaigning,” he said. “This is a witch hunt and it’s a shame and it comes out of Washington.”

Trump is the first former president to face criminal charges and the case poses substantial risks to him less than seven months before his election rematch with President Joe Biden.

Prosecution witnesses are expected to include Daniels and Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen.

The identities of the jury’s five women and seven men are being kept secret for their own protection.

Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records to pay “hush money” to Daniels to ensure an account of their alleged 2006 extramarital tryst did not get out ahead of the 2016 election.

The alleged crime is less significant than the indictments stemming from Trump’s attack on the 2020 election – which the Republican lost to Democrat Biden – and his hoarding of secret documents.

Trump could face jail time in the current case, although a fine or probation is more likely, analysts say.

Campaign trail

The trial in a dingy courtroom will keep Trump off the campaign trail for four days a week over a possibly six-to-eight-week period, while Biden hammers him from the White House and around the country.

But Trump has tried to used the heavy media attention to fire up his support base by giving regular statements outside the courtroom.

“This is going to be the beginning of probably the most sensational trial in American history,” former prosecutor Bennett Gershman, now a lecturer at Pace University, told AFP.

“Every day we’re going to be hearing testimony that’s going to be damaging to Mr Trump.”

Trump has railed against the case, particularly what he calls the “very unfair” partial gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan to prevent him from using his media presence to attack witnesses, prosecutors and relatives of court staff.

Security was tight Monday after a man set himself on fire last week outside the courthouse in an unrelated but gruesome incident.

A hearing will be held Tuesday at which Merchan will decide if Trump is already in contempt of court due to outbursts during jury selection.

The Republican’s three other criminal cases have been repeatedly delayed due to his successful strategy of challenging every step.

However, Merchan has run the New York fraud trial on a tight schedule.

Potential jurors were grilled last week by prosecutors and defense attorneys about their media habits, political donations, education and whether they have attended pro- or anti-Trump rallies.

Many potential panelists were excused after saying they could not be impartial, before lawyers and the judge whittled down the group to 12 jurors with six alternates.

A unanimous verdict will be required to convict Trump, who has been ordered to attend each day of the trial.

Source: AFP

Donald Trump’s media group said Tuesday it will launch a streaming television platform, but its shares continued to tumble on Wall Street.

The announcement came as 77-year-old former US president Trump sat through a second day of jury selection in his historic criminal trial.

No other ex-president in US history has been hauled before a criminal court and the trial in a Manhattan courthouse comes as scandal-plagued Trump is fighting to make a shock return to the White House in November.

Trump is accused of falsifying business records in a scheme to cover up reports on the eve of his 2016 election victory that he had an extramarital affair with a porn star.

After a winning debut on Wall Street last month, Trump Media and Technology Group shares have suffered a bruising retreat, denting the Republican candidate’s wealth.

The company has seen its market value plummet from around $11 billion to less than $3.2 billion based on its $22.97 share price during mid-day trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq.

Shares that trade under the symbol “DJT” slid more than 12 percent during the day despite an announcement that the operator of Truth Social will add streaming television to the platform.

DJT shares had taken a hit on Monday with a regulatory filing saying Trump’s money-losing media company could issue more than 21 million more shares.

Streamed television content is expected to focus on news, religion, and “family-friendly” films and documentaries, according to the company.

“We’re excited to move forward with the next big phase for Truth Social,” chief executive Devin Nunes said in the release.

“We aim to provide a permanent home for high-quality news and entertainment that face discrimination by other channels and content delivery services.”

The first phase of the roll-out will involve adding streaming television to the Truth Social app, with a stand-alone version released in a second phase, according to the company.

Trump drew criticism during the weekend for a video posted on Truth Social that featured an image of President Joe Biden hog-tied, as if he were being kidnapped.

Biden’s reelection campaign said the post by Republican candidate Trump could lead to violence.

The Trump campaign was unapologetic, accusing Democrats of “weaponizing the justice system” against Trump.

Trump holds 57.3 percent of the company, which was successfully merged into a shell company known as Digital World Acquisition last month; equity owners in such transactions are typically required to hold the stock for six months before cashing out.

The company’s principal asset is Truth Social, the social media platform launched for the ex-president after he was kicked off Twitter and Facebook in 2021 in the wake of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Source:  AFP

Iran has launched drones at Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, appearing to mark a widely anticipated reprisal attack.

The IDF said the wave could take hours to reach Israel, a distance of 1,100 miles (1,800km).

It said Israeli forces were on high alert and “monitoring all targets”.

Iran had vowed to retaliate after an attack on its consulate in Syria on 1 April – for which it blamed Israel – killed several Iranian commanders.

Shortly before news of Iran’s drone launch, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s “defensive systems” were deployed.

“We are ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensively. The State of Israel is strong. The IDF is strong. The public is strong.”We appreciate the US standing alongside Israel, as well as the support of Britain, France and many other countries.”

Source: BBC

Some 95,000 people have fled rampant gang violence in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince since early March, the United Nations said Friday.

Insecurity is “pushing more and more people to leave the capital to find refuge in provinces, taking the risks of passing through gang-controlled routes,” according to the International Organization for Migration.

Source: AFP

North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Monday, Seoul’s military said, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea to meet top officials and attend a democracy summit.

Blinken is in Seoul for the third Summit for Democracy, an initiative of US President Joe Biden, which the South is hosting this week, and is set to meet his Korean counterpart on the sidelines for talks.

Key security allies Washington and Seoul wrapped up one of their major annual joint military training exercises last week, prompting angry retorts and tit-for-tat drills from nuclear-armed Pyongyang.

“North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea,” Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

Japan also confirmed the launch, with the Japan Coast Guard saying the objects appeared to have already fallen.

The launch comes just days after the annual Freedom Shield, which this year involved double the number of troops, ended Thursday. The 11 days of joint exercises were aimed at strengthening South Korean and American deterrence against the North’s nuclear and missile threats.

Pyongyang this month warned that Seoul and Washington would pay a “dear price” over the Freedom Shield drills, and later announced that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had guided an artillery unit it says was capable of striking the South Korean capital.

The nuclear-armed North has long condemned joint US-South Korea military drills, calling them rehearsals for an invasion. It has carried out weapons tests in the past as a response to previous joint exercises of this nature.

Monday’s ballistic missile test is the North’s second this year, after Pyongyang launched one tipped with a manoeuvrable hypersonic warhead on January 14.

Blinken landed Sunday afternoon ahead of the democracy summit, which runs from March 18 to 20 and will bring together government officials, NGOs and civil society members.

Source: AFP

Two crew members have been killed in a Houthi missile strike on a cargo ship off southern Yemen, US officials say – the first deaths the group’s attacks on merchant vessels have caused.

The Barbados-flagged True Confidence had been abandoned and was drifting with a fire on board, managers said.

It was hit in the Gulf of Aden at about 09:30 GMT, they added.

The Houthis say their attacks are to support the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

In a statement, the Iran-backed group said the True Confidence’s crew had ignored warnings from Houthi naval forces.

The British embassy in Yemen said the sailors’ deaths were the “sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping” and insisted the attacks had to stop.

Six crew members were also injured, a US official told the BBC’s US partner CBS.

The attack happened about 50 nautical miles (93km) south-west of the Yemeni city of Aden, a spokesman for the ship’s owners and managers said in a statement.

Following the attack, Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported on Wednesday evening that two US-led air strikes had targeted the international airport in the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port city of Hudaydah.

Source: BBC

A Haitian judge in charge the investigation into the 2021 assassination of the Caribbean nation’s last president has charged some fifty people, including his widow and a former prime minister, according to a document leaked to local media.

According to the 122-page document from Judge Walther Wesser Voltaire, made public by AyiboPost, the president’s widow Martine Moise conspired with former Prime Minister Claude Joseph to kill the president in order to replace him herself.

Moise was shot dead when armed men broke into his Port-au-Prince bedroom on the night of July 7, 2021, a raid that left the former first lady injured.

The judge’s order calls for the arrest and trial of those charged.

The former first lady did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment, nor did Joseph. Moise has criticised on social media what she calls unjust arrests and political persecutions.

Joseph meanwhile told the Miami Herald the president’s de-facto successor, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, was the main beneficiary and was now “weaponising the Haitian justice system” to persecute opponents in “a classic coup d’etat.”

A spokesperson for Henry’s office said the judge was independent and “free to issue his order in accordance with the law and his conscience.”

Henry was appointed to replace Joseph, who now leads an opposition party, days before the assassination. He pledged to hold elections but has postponed these indefinitely citing a devastating earthquake and the growing power of heavily-armed criminal gangs, for which he has sought foreign aid.

The gangs are now estimated to control most of the capital, and Kenya is preparing to lead a UN-ratified international force to support Haitian police, though prior abuses by foreign missions and allegations against Henry’s government have left countries wary of volunteering support.

A separate case on Moise’s killing is being tried in Miami, where six of 11 defendants have pleaded guilty to a plot to send Colombian mercenaries to kidnap Moise, a plan which was at the eleventh hour changed to a plot to murder him.

The conspirators had according to US charges sought to replace Moise with Haitian-American pastor Christian Emmanuel Sanon.

Source: REUTERS

Donald Trump’s latest legal loss hits him where it hurts most because it takes aim at his very identity.

For decades, he has marketed himself as a genius business mogul who made it big in one of the world’s most cut-throat cities.

That image – forever tied to New York deal-making and reinforced by relentless self-promotion – catapulted him to international fame, allowing him to reinvent himself first as a reality TV star and then ultimately president of the United States.

But Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling in a civil fraud case – related to the inflation of property values and lying on financial statements to obtain better loan terms – undermines Mr Trump’s entire narrative. It instead paints him as a fraud and inflicts a massive blow to his business empire and wealth.

Donald Trump once remarked that the mind can overcome any obstacle. But what an obstacle this is.

The verdict significantly curtails the Trump Organization’s ability to do business in New York. He has personally been banned from holding any directorships for three years and his company cannot secure loans with financial institutions registered with the city during that time either.

He has been hit with an enormous financial penalty of $355m (£282m; €329m) – which jumps to more than $450m once interest is included – that far exceeds how much cash he has to hand. His business will continue to be be watched by an independent monitor, with a separate independent director of compliance also signing off on major business decisions.

In perhaps the only bright spot for the former president and Republican frontrunner, the Trump empire was spared from the equivalent of the corporate death penalty – the cancellation of its business licences.

Mr Trump has for decades seemed to rally and recover from scandals and legal challenges that could irreparably damage others, so much so that he has been referred to as Teflon Don, because nothing sticks.

The nickname previously belonged to the mob boss John Gotti after he won a series of high-profile acquittals in the 1980s. But today’s verdict signals that Donald Trump’s luck, like Gotti’s, may be running out.

Judge Engoron noted Mr Trump and the other defendants’ lack of remorse and history of repeated and persistent fraud. In this case, he said the examples of fraud over more than a decade at the company “leap off the page and shock the conscience”.

Yet the defendants were incapable of admitting the error of their ways, he said, writing: “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.”

Unsurprisingly, Mr Trump sees things very differently. He says he built a “perfect company” and rejects that he should be punished for fraud because banks were paid back in full. He continues to repeat claims, without evidence, that his legal challenges are just a plot by elite Democrats to keep him out of the White House.

According to Mr Trump’s estranged niece Mary Trump, the judge’s ruling amounts to the end of the Trump family legacy. “Today is an emotional day, but one thing is for certain: the Engoron decision is absolutely devastating for Donald,” she wrote on social media.

As the son of a real estate developer whose projects included middle-class apartment buildings in the outer boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, Mr Trump always dreamed of making a name for himself among the skyscrapers of Manhattan.

A seven-year spree of construction from 1976-1983, including the eponymous Trump Tower, solidified his reputation as a real estate giant in New York. ”Not many sons have been able to escape their fathers,” he told the New York Times in 1983 – the implication being that at 37, he already had.

And it’s true that the 1980s era of greed and excess was a prosperous time for a young developer with his ambition.

Trump Tower, with its prime location on 5th Avenue, put Donald Trump on the map. Once his reputation was established, he subsequently put his name on every project he did.

By the early 1990’s though, Donald Trump filed for several corporate bankruptcies and nearly lost it all.

It was during this time that Rich Herschlag, the chief engineer in the Manhattan Borough President’s office, worked with Mr Trump and his organization on the Riverside South project, a redevelopment in a former rail yard on the Upper West Side.

He says it meant “everything or darn close to everything” for Donald Trump to be seen as a successful real estate developer – and in particular build an empire from his father’s legacy.

“To watch it [potentially] gutted and decimated, I can’t image that’s anything less than an emotional horror,” he told the BBC.

It is not yet clear how Mr Trump will pay the nearly half a billion dollars that he is liable for and if that will involve selling any assets or businesses to raise the cash. His sprawling real estate empire in New York is valued by Forbes at $490m but there are many other properties around the country, including hotels, golf courses, condominiums and even a winery.

He will appeal against the penalty, which would put the decision on hold until a higher court reviews the case.

But if he wants to avoid paying the fine or having his personal assets seized while the appeal process plays out, he still has to deposit the full amount within 30 days or secure a costly bond.

Selling any of his prime Manhattan real estate would be an indignity for the former president – and a decision he would not take lightly.

Whether or not Donald Trump is able to recover from this financial shock, the outcome looks sure to significantly dent his fortune.

The ruling in the city where he rose to the top – while always remaining something of an outsider – is undoubtedly a big loss. And for more than six decades in New York real estate, there’s no figure Mr Trump has derided more than the “loser”.

Source: BBC

North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles Wednesday, Seoul’s military said, part of a string of weapons tests this year that have accompanied increasingly aggressive rhetoric from leader Kim Jong Un.

So far this year, Kim has declared South Korea his country’s “principal enemy”, jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over “even 0.001 mm” of territorial infringement.

Pyongyang has also ramped up weapons tests, including cruise missiles, an “underwater nuclear weapon system” and a solid-fuelled hypersonic ballistic missile.

“Our military detected several unknown cruise missiles over the waters northeast of Wonsan around 09:00 today (1200 GMT) and South Korea-US intelligence authorities are conducting a detailed analysis,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

It added that the military was “strengthening surveillance and vigilance, and closely watching for any additional signs and activities from North Korea”.

Earlier this week, North Korea announced it had tested a new control system for a multiple rocket launcher it said would have an “increased” battlefield role.

The cruise missile launches have prompted speculation from experts that it is testing the weapons before shipping them to Moscow for use in Ukraine.

Pyongyang and Moscow have bolstered ties in recent months, with leader Kim Jong Un making a rare trip to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin in September.

Seoul and Washington have accused the North of supplying Russia with weapons in exchange for technical support for Kim’s nascent satellite programme, which would violate a raft of UN sanctions on both regimes.

Unlike their ballistic counterparts, the testing of cruise missiles is not banned under current UN sanctions on Pyongyang.

Cruise missiles tend to be jet-propelled and fly at a lower altitude than more sophisticated ballistic missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept.

“It is believed that North Korea exported large quantities of multiple rocket launchers to Russia last year,” Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP.

He added that there may have been quality issues with some of the exported weapons and that the recent spate of testing could be leader Kim “taking action to address the issue”.

‘Put an end’ to South Korea

Kim repeated last week that Pyongyang would not hesitate to “put an end” to South Korea if attacked, calling Seoul the North’s “most dangerous and first enemy state and invariable arch-enemy”.

In January, North Korea fired an artillery barrage near two South Korean border islands, prompting a live-fire drill by the South and evacuation orders for residents.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed a strong response if Pyongyang attacks, calling on his military to “act first, report later” if provoked.

The hawkish Yoon has bolstered defence cooperation with the United States and Japan since coming to office in 2022, including expanding joint drills, to counter Pyongyang’s growing threats.

With a US presidential election later this year, the North could potentially ramp up its provocations to take advantage of American political gridlock, Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for Korean Peninsula Strategy at the Sejong Institute, wrote in a report.

North Korea could “conduct attacks on (South Korea’s) Baengnyeong Island, Daecheong Island, and Socheong Island based on their confidence in the advancement of nuclear and missile capabilities,” he wrote.

Pyongyang has drawn closer to Moscow in areas beyond defence, with a group of Russian tourists — the first known foreign tour group since before pandemic-linked border closures in 2020 — arriving in the North Friday for a four-day visit.

It has become harder for Russians to travel to Europe and the United States since sanctions were imposed following the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has also visited Pyongyang, said last year that the North could be recommended as a tourist destination, Tass reported.

Source: AFP

President Joe Biden says he is concerned about King Charles’s cancer diagnosis and hopes to speak to him soon.

Buckingham Palace announced on Monday that King Charles III was being treated for cancer.

The type of cancer has not been revealed, but according to a palace statement the King began “regular treatments” on Monday.

He was diagnosed during a recent treatment for an enlarged prostate.

Asked by reporters in Las Vegas what his message was for the King, Mr Biden said he had “just heard his diagnosis”.

“I’m concerned about him,” he told reporters at a union event. “Hopefully I’ll be talking to him soon.”

The King is beginning treatment as an outpatient and will pause his public events, but he will continue with his constitutional role as head of state, including paperwork and private meetings.

Buckingham Palace has not released any details about the stage of cancer, but said King Charles “remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible”.

The US State Department called the announcement “incredibly sad news”.

“Our thoughts are with the King … and his family,” spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at a regular news briefing.

Former President Donald Trump said the King was a “wonderful man who I got to know well during my presidency”.

“We all pray that he has a fast and full recovery,” he wrote on his social media site Truth Social.

Prince Harry, who lives in California with his wife Meghan Markle, will travel to the UK to see his father, the BBC has been told.

Source: BBC