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Kamis, 09 Mei 2024

Live updates: Stormy Daniels takes witness stand in Trump trial - The Independent

Trump claims Biden has abandoned Israel: ‘It’s disgraceful’

Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial has resumed at Manhattan Criminal Court following Wednesday’s recess, with the porn star Stormy Daniels back on the witness stand facing more cross-examination from the defendant’s lawyers.

Ms Daniels sparred with Trump attorney Susan Necheles over alleged inconsistencies in her various tellings of her sexual encounter with Mr Trump in 2006 as well as her career as an adult entertainer, but remained calm and firm in her testimony.

Earlier in cross-examination, she was confronted about whether she “hates” Mr Trump and wants to see him in jail – to which she replied she wants to see him held accountable for his actions.

On Tuesday the defence moved for a mistrial citing Ms Daniels’ “prejudicial” evidence, which was denied by Judge Juan Merchan. Prosecution attorney Susan Hoffinger is now questioning her on redirect examination.

Elsewhere, Mr Trump spent his day off from court hosting an event at Mar-a-Lago for people who bought his superhero NFTs, rather than hitting the campaign trail.

Alex Woodward is covering Mr Trump’s trial in Manhattan and will be providing regular updates on proceedings.

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Redirect examination begins

Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger is up for the prosecution for redirect examination of Stormy Daniels.

Hoffinger notes that Daniels’ prior testimony about “hiding in plain view”.

“This was a friend, who was trying to give me advice … His friends in the military use the term ‘get high, stay high.’ Something won’t happen to you because everyone is looking at you.”

But you were also happy to take the money?

“We’re all happy to take the money. It was just a bonus.”

Hoffinger brings up this text conversation again, from 16 June 2018, between National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard and her agent Gina Rodriguez:

Dylan Howard’s texts from June 2016:

Rodriguez: I have her

Howard: Is she ready to talk?

Howard: I though [sic] she denounced it previously

Rodriguez: She said she will do it under 2 conditions

And we see another text in that exchange, which wasn’t shown previously when the defense introduced the exchange:

Rodriguez: She never did

Alex Woodward9 May 2024 17:02

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Necheles turns to the $130,000 payment, stressing that Daniels has not spoken with Trump since 2007, has “no personal knowledge about his involvement in that transaction” and that she didn’t negotiate with him.

Necheles asks Daniels if she is aware that Trump is charged for the way his reimbursement payments to Cohen were labelled. Daniels says she is here to testify about things that she has knowledge of. Nechels says she celebrated his indictment. “There are a lot of indictments,” Daniels says.

You know nothing about the business records?

“Why would I?”

Isn’t it a fact that the reason you changed your story so many times is that you never had an affair, and you’ve been making money off that story for 12 years?

Objection, sustained.

No further questions from the defense.

Lawyers are speaking with the judge before we move to redirect.

Alex Woodward9 May 2024 16:54

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We see two Instagram posts from her account promoting her 2018 tour. The posters she shared include “Make America Horny Again” and “Making America Horny Again Tour”.

She said she didn’t make the posts or have anything to do with them other than sharing them to promote the tour. She said she fired someone over them.

Oliver O'Connell9 May 2024 16:48

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Court resumes after break

Stormy Daniels is back on the witness stand and the jury is brought back in.

Questioning returns to the “Make America Horny Again” tour in which Daniels performed in 2018.

Alex Woodward is reporting for The Independent from the courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

Oliver O'Connell9 May 2024 16:43

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Trump gives usual fist pump as he leaves court for break

Oliver O'Connell9 May 2024 16:31

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Daniels reiterates sex was consensual

Oliver O'Connell9 May 2024 16:29

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Trump’s fraud trial judge faces probe

Kelly Rissman reports:

The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial is now under investigation after a hotshot New York real estate attorney claimed he gave him unsolicited advice ahead of the hotly-anticipated multi-million-dollar ruling, according to a report.

Attorney Adam Leitman Bailey told NBC New York that he spoke to Judge Arthur Engoron three weeks before he made his final judgment in the former president’s case, where he found Mr Trump, his two oldest sons, as well as their Trump Organization associates and properties liable for $464m for falsely inflating his assets.

Continue reading...

Oliver O'Connell9 May 2024 16:26

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Daniels is calm, leaning slightly to her right throughout. Annoyed but firm, not moved by Necheles’ attempts to undermine her entire story and livelihood.

The court breaks for a mid-morning recess.

Alex Woodward9 May 2024 16:23

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Daniels routinely glares back at Necheles after she answers a question, briefly shaking her head in disbelief.

When Necheles gets stuck, she asks whether her story has changed or if she’s making it up.

“Your story has completely changed, hasn’t it?” she asks.

“No! Not at all,” Daniels says. “You’re trying to make me change but it hasn’t changed.”

Alex Woodward9 May 2024 16:19

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Necheles’ line of questioning of Daniels boils down to a whole series of exchanges about whether dinner involves food, if Trump stood up when he said something, and that she shouldn’t be surprised by a potentially nonconsensual sexual encounter because of her career in adult entertainment.

Alex Woodward9 May 2024 16:18

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Israel-Gaza war: Biden to halt some arms supplies if Israel invades Rafah - BBC

Mike Wendling & Tom Bateman in Washington

BBC News

President Joe Biden has warned Israel that the US will stop supplying some weapons if it launches a major ground operation in the Gaza city of Rafah.

"If they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah," he said during an interview with CNN.

He added that he would "continue to make sure Israel is secure".

Despite firm and vocal US opposition, Israel appears poised to mount a large-scale invasion of Rafah.

The congested part of southern Gaza is Hamas's last major stronghold in the territory. US officials have warned that an operation in the city - where the population has swelled with refugees from other parts of Gaza - could lead to extensive civilian casualties.

"We're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells," Mr Biden said in the interview, which aired on Wednesday.

Israel's ambassador to the UN said the country was "very disappointed" by Mr Biden's intervention.

"If Israel is restricted from entering an area as important and central as Rafah where there are thousands of terrorists, hostages and leaders of Hamas, how exactly are we supposed to achieve our goals?" he said on public radio.

Mr Biden told CNN that the US did not define the current situation in Rafah as a ground operation. "They haven't gone into the population centres. What they did is right on the border," he said.

"But I've made it clear to [Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu] and the war cabinet, they're not going to get our support, if in fact they go in these population centres."

Mr Biden acknowledged that US weapons had been used by Israel to kill civilians in Gaza.

When asked if Israel had crossed a "red line", the US president replied "not yet".

The comments amount to the president's strongest warning yet over a potential ground invasion of Rafah, and mark the first time he has said the US could stop shipments of American weapons to Israel.

The US has already delayed a shipment of thousands of bombs to Israel, and has said it is reviewing future deliveries.

On Wednesday, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the delay of the bomb shipment - some of the most destructive munitions in Western military arsenals - while testifying in front of the Senate.

The weapons being held back by the US are related to a future delivery, so the move is unlikely to have an immediate impact. But given the rate at which Israel is bombing it will probably affect future strikes fairly soon.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, has said that the two countries will resolve disagreements "behind closed doors".

President Biden faces mounting domestic pressure - from some Democrats and parts of the US public - to rein in Israeli operations in Gaza amid rising civilian deaths and a worsening humanitarian situation.

With November's presidential election looming, opinion polls indicate many young voters and Arab-Americans in key states such as Michigan are critical of what they see as the president's support for the Israeli war effort.

US officials confirmed that no new aid supplies had been delivered in Gaza via two gates in the south since Israeli tanks rolled into southern Rafah and took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing with Egypt this week.

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Rafah has been a key entry point for aid, and the only exit for people able to flee, since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas last October.

The crossing remained closed on Wednesday morning, but the Israeli military said it was reopening the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, which had been closed for four days because of Hamas rocket fire.

On Monday, the Israeli military ordered tens of thousands of civilians to begin evacuating eastern parts of Rafah city, ahead of what it called a "limited" operation to eliminate Hamas fighters and dismantle infrastructure.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to reach a ceasefire, alongside the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. In Cairo, delegations from Israel and Hamas have resumed negotiations through mediators.

A US official said that talks with Israel were "ongoing and have not fully addressed our concerns" and the US had been reviewing its weapons transfers to Israel since April.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 252 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 34,780 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

A deal agreed in November saw Hamas release 105 hostages in return for a week-long ceasefire and some 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israel says 128 hostages are unaccounted for, 36 of whom are presumed dead.

Additional reporting by Raffi Berg

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2024-05-09 15:23:08Z
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Russia Victory Day parade: Only one tank on display as Vladimir Putin says country is going through 'difficult period' - Sky News

Russia only had one tank on display during its Victory Day parade this year.

Every year, Moscow wraps itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, a celebration of its victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

Today marks the 79th anniversary and Mr Putin addressed the parade in the Red Square, talking up his country's military capabilities in a speech aimed as much at a foreign audience as a domestic one.

Vladimir Putin used his Victory Day speech this year to try and warn Russia's combat forces were "always ready" but admitted the country was going through a "difficult period".

In the parade in Moscow, only one tank was present throughout the entire display - as the country continues to dedicate considerable firepower and resources to its war in Ukraine.

The Second World War T34 tank was the only one present - as it was last year too.

Back in the delayed 2020 parade there were reportedly over 20 tanks present, compared to just one in 2023 and one in 2024.

Other armoured vehicles were pictured as thousands of servicemen marched along the parade.

A demonstration of military might and menace which the crowd lapped up

The ground actually shuddered as the intercontinental ballistic missile launchers thundered past.

They were the final flourish of a 61-strong line-up of military hardware, and seeing the colossal Yars system up close was unnerving to say the least.

And that's the point. This was a demonstration of military might and menace.

But those watching on Red Square lapped it up. Perhaps it's no surprise - they have been immersed in a narrative which presents these weapons of mass destruction as tools to secure peace.

"It's wonderful," Olga told Sky News. "We have a great country, we have a great army and, of course, a great people. When our soldiers march across the square, our hearts beat in time with their steps."

The crowd were offered blankets against the snow and icy wind, while the parade offered a cloak of pomp and patriotism, as a means to justify Russia's current path of aggression.

There were periodic roars of "hurrah" from the phalanxes of troops; goose-stepping soldiers marched with mesmerising precision; and the military bands pumped out war songs at a volume so loud one could feel the vibrations.

During this year's speech, Mr Putin admitted that Russia was going through a "difficult period" as the "future of the motherland depends on us".

"Today on Victory Day we are conscious of that even more acutely," he said before warning: "Our strategic forces are always combat ready."

The leader of the Kremlin also said Russia's nuclear forces were always at combat readiness, as he addressed massed ranks of Russian servicemen.

Mr Putin, who this week began his fifth term in office, said Russia would do everything it could to avoid global confrontation, but it would not allow anyone to threaten it.

He also used the speech to send a message to the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, trying to bolster their morale as the war continues to drag on.

He finished on: "For Russia! For victory! Hurrah!" as thousands of soldiers cheered in return.

Earlier this year, Russia began refitting old tanks after losing 3,000 while fighting in Ukraine, according to a leading research centre.

Moscow lost more than its entire pre-invasion active inventory of tanks in its war with Ukraine, but has enough lower-quality armoured vehicles in storage for years of replacements, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said.

But even after such losses, the IISS said Russia still had about twice as many available for combat as Ukraine.

Since coming to power, Mr Putin has made 9 May an important part of his political agenda, featuring displays of military might.

Columns of military vehicles and missiles roll across Red Square every year and squadrons of fighter jets roar overhead as medal-bedecked veterans join him to review the parade.

Many wear the black-and-orange St George's ribbon that is traditionally associated with Victory Day.

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