Category: WORLDS

  • Donald Trump: ‘Manafort’s a fair man’

    Video Trump: ‘Manafort an excellent man’

    (more…)

  • Cohen leaves court docket as fees indexed

    Video Cohen leaves courtroom as fees listed

    (more…)

  • Donald Trump: ‘Manafort’s an excellent man’

    Video Trump: ‘Manafort’s an excellent man’

    (more…)

  • Paul Manafort convicted: What did we be informed from trial?

    Paul Manafort is shown in a sketch as he sits in federal court on the opening day of his trial on bank and tax fraud charges stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, 31 July 2018 Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption A courtroom sketch displays Mr Manafort seated throughout the starting day of his trial

    Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s conviction follows a tribulation chock-full of testimony a few prime-rolling political operative whose sumptuous way of life used to be “suffering from lies”.

    Evidence approximately his fast automobiles, plush actual estate and flashy apparel – including a $15,000 ostrich coat – made for vibrant news copy.

    However away from the criminal jousting there appeared to be every other man within the dock, as a long way as President Donald Trump used to be involved – Robert Mueller, the different suggest whose Russia inquiry is dogging the White House.

    The legal trial of Mr Manafort was once the first in Mr Mueller’s 18-month research into whether Trump marketing campaign aides colluded with alleged Kremlin makes an attempt to sway the 2016 presidential election the Republican candidate’s method, or if somebody obstructed justice.

    Paul Manafort: The Man who helped Trump win

    The jury on Tuesday discovered him to blame on eight charges, but did not succeed in a verdict on the remaining 10, and the judge declared a mistrial on the ones counts.

    Symbol copyright Alexandria Sheriff”s Office by way of Getty Image caption From Brioni suits to prison clothing: Mr Manafort is on the Alexandria Reformatory in Virginia

    Key history

    Who Is who in Russia drama? How Trump-Russia scandal has spread out what’s the special counsel?

    What did it tell us approximately Robert Mueller?

    Analysts say the Manafort trial provided an intriguing perception into the unique counsel’s playbook.

    Harry Litman, a former US prosecutor and deputy assistant attorney common, informed the BBC that Mr Mueller was once running “a qualified, meticulous, superb operation”.

    Mr Litman added that the prosecution “told the story in as fascinating and dynamic a manner as they might have”, for the reason that the famous person witnesses had been in reality the monetary files.

    “The case itself used to be tricky to research and prepare, however pretty simple to provide: ‘here’s a piece of paper, it is a lie. Here Is some other, it is a lie.’ You add it up and it is 10 years of lies.”

    Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption Paul Manafort resigned as chair of President Trump’s election marketing campaign after months

    Felony analysts say the conviction may additionally encourage different potential Mueller objectives to co-operate to avoid a similar fate to Mr Manafort.

    As for the president, Mr Litman told the BBC that the outcome is likely to be seen as a blow to Mr Trump.

    “He Is drawn a line within the sand to indicate that the entire operation is rigged and illegitimate,” Mr Litman says.

    “He Is made this right into a zero-sum sport between him and Mueller.

    “It don’t need to have performed that, however that’s the upshot of the best way he’s long past to battle in opposition to Mueller those remaining a few months.”

    Media playback is unsupported on your tool

    Media captionManafort’s indictment: Where did the entire money pass?

    But there were also indicators of friction in the course of the trial among Pass Judgement On TS Ellis and the Mueller staff.

    The pass judgement on interrupted the prosecution’s establishing feedback and on a couple of events questioned the prosecution’s tactics.

    Pass Judgement On Ellis did tell the jury to disregard one among his outbursts, saying he was once “most likely incorrect.”

    However some of his scolding by way of the pass judgement on may have been warranted, legal analysts say.

    Virginia-based totally felony defence attorney Greg Hunter informed the BBC that when he was once provide for pre-trial hearings it appeared the prosecution was “poorly prepared and no more than candid”.

    “Their investigative workforce is actually, really good, but they are quick a trial legal professional,” he says.

    “the blokes they sent are just now not terribly excellent at supplying a case to a jury.”

    He delivered that the Mueller prosecutors from time to time stumbled on as too casual, answering Pass Judgement On Ellis – who’s known for his punctiliousness – with “yup’s” and rolling their eyes.

    Mr Hunter also cited that the apparent loss of preparation used to be all of the more surprising for the reason that the dep. of Justice has brought many outstanding circumstances prior to Pass Judgement On Ellis earlier than, including espionage, terrorism, anti-trust, and public corruption.

    “They’re in reality sharp lawyers, they have surely exposed so much of data and performed a fantastic task with their investigating.

    “They weren’t ready to check out a case in Pass Judgement On Ellis’ court and that’s the reason their fault.”

    (more…)

  • LazyTown’s ‘Robbie Rotten’ actor Stefan Karl Stefansson dies

    Robbie Rotten Image copyright LazyTown Entertainment Image caption Stefan Karl Stefansson played villain Robbie Rotten

    Icelandic actor Stefan Karl Stefansson, who played LazyTown villain Robbie Rotten, has died elderly 43 from cancer.

    Stefansson used to be best possible recognized for his function at the kid’s show, which used to be constructed from 2004 to 2014.

    He was once initially identified with pancreatic cancer in 2016, however stated it had been removed with surgical procedure.

    He ceaselessly shared his remedy and development with lovers on-line on social media – announcing in March the illness had back and used to be inoperable.

    “it’s not until they tell you you are going to die quickly that you understand how quick lifestyles is. Time is probably the most valuable thing in life as it by no means comes back. And whether or not you spend it in the fingers of a loved one or on my own in a jail cellphone, life is what you are making of it. Dream big,” he posted to Twitter.

    Image copyright LazyTown Entertainment Image caption The actor wore in depth facial prosthetics in the position

    LazyTown used to be created from 2004-2007, with extra episodes made in 2013 and 2014.

    It followed the lifetime of a crimson-haired eight-yr-old lady named Stephanie and her superhero spouse Sportacus, who attempt to enliven an inactive the city she moved to.

    the nature of Robbie Rotten was once the display’s villain and tried to thwart their schemes, preferring to stick dangerous.

    The display, produced in Iceland, was once translated into dozens of languages and aired in additional than 180 nations world wide.

    Lovers who grew up with the display shared their disappointment on the news of Stefansson’s demise on social media.

    the character’s popularity has endured online in contemporary years, the place his exuberant facial expressions are frequently utilized in memes.

  • Paul Manafort discovered to blame of tax fraud

    Paul Manafort Image copyright Reuters Symbol caption Paul Manafort resigned as chair of President Trump’s election marketing campaign after two months

    Ex-Trump marketing campaign chief Paul Manafort has been found accountable on 5 tax fraud charges at his trial in Virginia.

    He used to be also convicted on one rely of failing to reveal foreign financial institution money owed, and financial institution fraud charges.

    The jury reached a verdict on 8 of 18 fees, however didn’t achieve this on the ultimate 10 and the judge declared a mistrial on those.

    It used to be first criminal trial stemming from the justice department inquiry into alleged Russian election meddling.

    The verdict got here on the fourth day of jury deliberations following a trial that saw 10 days of testimony.

    What took place through the trial?

    Prosecutors offered proof of Mr Manafort’s luxurious lifestyle – together with photos of a $15,000 (£ELEVEN,000) ostrich coat.

    Judge Ellis scolded the prosecution for spending too much time on Mr Manafort’s wealth, saying it “isn’t a criminal offense to have a lot of money”.

    But prosecutors had emphasised Mr Manafort’s extravagant spending was once only imaginable because of his bank and tax fraud.

  • Venezuela ‘paralysed’ by way of release of sovereign bolivar forex

    Venezuelan women hold the new currency, the sovereign bolivar, after its launch Image copyright Reuters Symbol caption The New sovereign bolivar used to be offered in a bid to tackle hyperinflation

    Venezuela came to a standstill on Tuesday because the united states of america tried to care for its newly introduced foreign money.

    Thousands of businesses closed so as to adapt to the “sovereign bolivar”, and many employees stayed at home.

    President Nicolás Maduro introduced the new banknotes on Monday, revaluing and renaming the antique bolivar forex.

    the federal government say this may occasionally take on runaway inflation, but critics say it could make the predicament worse. The notes went into move on Tuesday.

    President Maduro had declared Monday to be a bank vacation.

    Symbol copyright Reuters Image caption an indication on a industry in Caracas reads “Closed for reconversion” in Spanish

    The usa’s black market in greenbacks is even frozen by the foreign money shift, as confusion reigns.

    the federal government announced several different key economic adjustments to accompany the brand new notes, together with raising the minimum wage by 34 instances its earlier level from 1 September, raising VAT and cutting beneficiant gas subsidies.

    President Maduro additionally mentioned the sovereign bolivar could be tied to the petro, a virtual currency the government says is linked to Venezuela’s oil reserves.

    But the us has banned its electorate from buying and selling in it, and one cryptocurrency website, ICOindex.com, has even labelled the petro “a rip-off”.

    “Anchoring the bolivar to the petro is anchoring it to not anything,” economist Luis Vicente León advised AFP news company.

  • Trump election: the people around the president-pick

    As US President-select Donald Trump makes his transition to the White Area, we look on the family members and colleagues who’re part of the team and could have key roles in decision-making right through his presidency.

    THE POLITICIANS

    Vice-President decide on Mike Pence

    The Indiana governor, FIFTY SEVEN, is charged with prime the staff deciding the important thing appointments within the new administration.

    he’s a favorite amongst social conservatives who boasts substantial revel in in Washington.

    Media captionTrump’s VICE PRESIDENT select: what you wish to have to realize

    Mr Pence was once raised Catholic in conjunction with his five siblings in Columbus, Indiana.

    He instructed the Indianapolis Famous Person in 2012 that liberal icons John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr had inspired him to start a profession in politics.

    Symbol copyright Reuters

    Stephen Bannon – chief strategist

    Though no longer a cupboard appointment, Mr Bannon, SIXTY TWO, may just wield tremendous influence in the back of the scenes as one in all Mr Trump’s key advisers.

    The Breitbart Information government will probably be the president’s senior counsellor, though he will work as “equal companions” with Mr Priebus, developing dual power bases within the West Wing.

    A choice of critics have accused Mr Bannon, a former Goldman Sachs banker, of marketing excessive perspectives.

    The firebrand conservative helped turn into Breitbart into the leading mouthpiece of the party’s fringe, anti-establishment wing.

    The combative website serves up an anti-established order schedule that critics accuse of xenophobia and misogyny. Beneath Mr Bannon, it has change into considered one of essentially the most-read conservative news and opinion websites within the US.

    Image copyright Reuters

    Born in Virginia in 1953, Mr Bannon spent four years within the military prior to finishing an MBA at Harvard. He then went into funding banking and, after a spell with Goldman Sachs, moved effectively into media financing.

    He shifted into movie manufacturing, operating in Hollywood prior to branching out into unbiased political documentary making, paying homage to former US President Ronald Reagan, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the Tea Birthday Celebration motion.

    Through this work he met Andrew Breitbart, a staunchly conservative media entrepreneur who desired to create a site that challenged what he saw as liberal-ruled mainstream media.

    Whilst Andrew Breitbart died of a heart assault in 2012, Mr Bannon took over as head of Breitbart News and drove it forward.

    The ‘John Wayne’ of politics

    John Bolton – secretary of state?

    At SIXTY SEVEN, the former US ambassador to the United Countries has years of foreign coverage experience.

    However he has raised eyebrows with a few of his hawkish stances, calling closing 12 months for Iran to be bombed so as to halt its nuclear programme.

    He informed Fox Information this week he has had no contact with the transition group.

    Image copyright AP

    Rudy Giuliani – attorney basic?

    one among Mr Trump’s such a lot ardent surrogates, Mr Giuliani is being discussed for the publish of America’s best prosecutor or, extra recently, secretary of state.

    As The Big Apple Mayor during 9/11, he become the face of the city’s resilience amid the rubble of the sector Industry Center.

    He also introduced a police forestall-and-frisk coverage, which critics stated used to be a form of racial profiling.

    Mr Trump, who ran as the regulation-and-order candidate, has championed the tactic.

    Mr Giuliani, a former Big Apple prosecutor, ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

    When You Consider That leaving workplace, Mr Giuliani based felony and security consulting companies with a large number of wealthy company and world shoppers.

    These overseas ties turned into a political issue when the former The Big Apple prosecutor ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

    Symbol copyright AP

    Chris Christie – commerce secretary?

    After his personal Republican presidential campaign foundered this yr, the brand new Jersey governor right away counseled Mr Trump.

    The 54-12 months-antique has been discussed for various posts within the administration, including commerce secretary.

    However he has been tainted via a scandal over the closure of a major bridge linking New Jersey and Big Apple City, allegedly to punish a local mayor.

    Due To The Fact presidential cabinet appointments should pass before the Senate, confirmation may well be challenging while this cloud hangs over him.

    Symbol copyright Reuters

    Jeff Sessions – defence secretary?

    the u.s. senator from Alabama is being touted as a potential Pentagon chief.

    At his victory bash in Big Apple, Mr Trump mentioned of Mr Classes, “he’s extremely revered in Washington as a result of he’s as smart as you get”.

    The 69-year-antique was a supporter of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, which Mr Trump recently known as “a bad and dull thing”.

    Mr Periods sits at the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Judiciary Committee and the Budget Committee.

    Symbol copyright AFP

    Michael Flynn – national security adviser?

    The retired three-big name US Military lieutenant-normal helped Mr Trump connect to veterans in spite of the candidate’s loss of army service.

    He says he used to be compelled out of his function as director of the Protection Intelligence Agency from 2012-14 because of his views on radical Islam.

    During the marketing campaign, he pilloried the Obama administration’s approach to the danger posed through the Islamic State crew.

    Image copyright AFP

    Steven Mnuchin – treasury secretary?

    Mr Trump himself floated the idea of naming his finance chairman for the submit of treasury secretary.

    nevertheless it is doubtful whether or not Mr Trump’s supporters would welcome the theory of handing the levers of national tax coverage to a consummate Wall Street insider.

    Mr Mnuchin accumulated a fortune throughout his 17 years at Goldman Sachs before founding a movie manufacturing corporate that used to be behind such field place of work hits as the X-Men franchise and American Sniper.

    However, a Trump aide has additionally confirmed they have got requested JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon to be US Treasury Secretary; it isn’t transparent how he answered.

    Image copyright AFP

    THE FAMILY

    Melania Trump

    A former fashion, born in Slovenia, Melania married Donald Trump in January 2005.

    She stood by way of her husband after video pictures emerged during the marketing campaign during which he boasted approximately groping ladies. In July 2016 she made headlines after creating a speech at the Republican Nationwide Convention, which she was once accused of plagiarising from one made by way of Michelle Obama in 2008.

    In an October interview with CNN, the 46-12 months-antique was requested what she would amendment approximately her husband. She responded: “His tweeting”.

    Image copyright AFP Symbol caption Melania has been married to Mr Trump for 11 years and they’ve one son

    Ivanka Trump

    Perhaps the most efficient-identified of Donald Trump’s children, the one daughter of his marriage to Ivana, his first wife. A type in her early years, she is now a vice-president at the Trump Group and was additionally a pass judgement on on her father’s reality TELEVISION display The Apprentice.

    Her brother Donald Junior says Ivanka, 35, is the favorite kid and is noted as “Daddy’s little lady”.

    She has been given a degree of authority within the circle of relatives business that none of his better halves have ever had and she is alleged to address some of the corporate’s biggest deals.

    Symbol copyright Reuters

    She additionally has her own model emblem, with the motto #womenwhowork.

    She converted to Judaism after marrying Jared Kushner in 2009.

    As a a success businesswoman and mother, she appealed to female voters who can have been cast off by some of Mr Trump’s comments approximately ladies.

    In a speech to the Republican Nationwide Congress, she subsidized her father to beef up ladies’s rights: “As a mom myself, of three babies, i know how onerous it is to paintings whilst elevating a family. And That I additionally know that i’m way more fortunate than such a lot. American households want reduction. Policies that permit ladies with kids to thrive won’t be novelties, they need to be the norm.”

    America’s different First Woman?

    Jared Kushner

    Ivanka’s husband is the son of a outstanding Big Apple property developer and has been the landlord of the weekly Observer paper in New York for 10 years.

    The quietly spoken 35-12 months-antique has transform one in all Mr Trump’s closest advisers. He exerted a formidable affect over the Trump campaign – including digital technique and top-stage hires – and looks set to carry that clout into the White House.

    Usually digicam-shy and satisfied to function in the back of the scenes, Mr Kushner is a massively wealthy assets developer and publisher. He owns 666 Fifth Road, a skyscraper a few blocks down from Trump Tower, and in 2006, at simply 25, he purchased the once-venerable Ny Observer newspaper.

    He has no longer been given an reputable place throughout the Trump management but Mr Kushner has been named alongside 3 of Mr Trump’s children within the transition team and he’s said to have the president-select’s ear.

    Image copyright Getty Pictures Symbol caption Jared Kushner smiles for the camera at Donald Trump’s presidential victory celebration

    An Orthodox Jew, he is pronounced to have angered participants of his family while he wrote a defence of Donald Trump’s use of the Big Name of David in a tweet attacking Hillary Clinton.

    Jared Kushner used to be born and raised in comfort in Livingston, New Jersey, along two sisters and a brother. His grandparents had escaped Poland during the battle, arriving within the US in 1949, and his father Charles made his fortune as a new Jersey assets mogul.

    The younger Jared received a spot at Harvard despite terrible grades, in keeping with Daniel Golden, author of The Price of Admissions: How America’s Ruling Elegance Buys Its Approach into Elite Schools. In The year of his admission, in step with Mr Golden’s ebook, Charles Kushner donated $2.5m to the school, along with similar one-off donations to Cornell and Princeton.

    Mr Kushner and Mr Trump share an entire loss of political experience. In his Big Apple Observer editorial, Mr Kushner introduced a politics-as-industry way instead.

    Trump’s proper-hand guy

    Tiffany Trump

    Donald Trump’s daughter through his 2d wife Marla Maples is a former actress and tv character.

    The 23-yr-vintage is an avid person of both Twitter and Instagram, the place her posts depict a glamorous way of life.

    She saved a comparatively low profile during the election marketing campaign however earned her father’s praise for her “implausible” conference speech, by which she said her father was once a “herbal-born encourager”.

    Symbol copyright AFP

    Donald Trump Jr

    Donald Trump’s eldest son from his first marriage to Ivana. Now govt vice-president of The Trump Organization, the 38-12 months-antique married Vanessa Haydon after being offered to her at a fashion show through his father.

    His upward thrust has no longer been loose from controversy. His and brother Eric’s style for searching big sport was once criticised after photos emerged appearing them posing with lifeless animals together with a leopard and a crocodile. Donald Jr was once additionally maintaining the severed tail of an elephant.

    Eric Trump

    The third kid of Mr Trump’s marriage to Ivana. Like his siblings, he is also an govt vice-president of the Trump Organization.

    he is president of the Trump Vineyard in Virginia and oversees Trump golf clubs. In 2006, he additionally arrange the Eric Trump Basis, which has pledged $28m to a research clinic which is helping children struggling with existence-threatening sicknesses.

    He may have damaged the law on election day by tweeting a picture of his poll paper, announcing it was once an “unbelievable honour to vote for my father”.

    Symbol copyright Getty Images Image caption Donald (L) and Eric Trump each have necessary roles of their father’s trade

    (more…)