عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Turkish Police Detain 10 Accused of ISIS Links, Minister Says

Turkish police detained 10 people believed to be linked to ISIS. (Getty Images/AFP)
Turkish police detained 10 people believed to be linked to ISIS. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
TT

Turkish Police Detain 10 Accused of ISIS Links, Minister Says

Turkish police detained 10 people believed to be linked to ISIS. (Getty Images/AFP)
Turkish police detained 10 people believed to be linked to ISIS. (Getty Images/AFP)

Turkish police detained 10 people believed to be linked to ISIS and have arrested five of them, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Friday.

Yerlikaya said Türkiye’s MIT intelligence agency, police, and counter-terrorism squads carried out an operation in the western coastal city of Izmir after intelligence showed the suspects had hidden supplies in the city.

The authorities discovered explosive gels, materials used to make explosives, as well as weapons and ammunition hidden in the mountainous region of Izmir's Bornova district, Yerlikaya added.

"As a result of the operation, 10 suspects were detained. Of these, five were arrested and judicial control rulings were made for five others," the minister said on social media platform X.

Under judicial control rulings, the suspects may leave police detention but they have certain conditions and oversights imposed on them.

Footage from the operation, shared by Yerlikaya on X, showed several police cars in a mountainous area, with police searching inside of a small cave for the hidden materials. It also showed authorities searching a house and detaining the suspects. Reuters could not independently verify the footage.

ISIS has conducted numerous attacks across Türkiye, including on a nightclub in Istanbul on Jan. 1, 2017, in which 39 people were killed. Turkish police have carried out several operations targeting the militants.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Renewed Russian Offensive on Ukraine’s Kharkiv Forces Evacuations

Residents from Vovchansk and nearby villages step off a bus during an evacuation to Kharkiv due to Russian shelling, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location near the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region, Ukraine May 10, 2024. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy
Residents from Vovchansk and nearby villages step off a bus during an evacuation to Kharkiv due to Russian shelling, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location near the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region, Ukraine May 10, 2024. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy
TT
TT

Renewed Russian Offensive on Ukraine’s Kharkiv Forces Evacuations

Residents from Vovchansk and nearby villages step off a bus during an evacuation to Kharkiv due to Russian shelling, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location near the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region, Ukraine May 10, 2024. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy
Residents from Vovchansk and nearby villages step off a bus during an evacuation to Kharkiv due to Russian shelling, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location near the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region, Ukraine May 10, 2024. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy

Russian forces began a renewed ground assault on Ukraine's northeast, killing and injuring several and forcing more than 1,700 civilians to evacuate from the Kharkiv region, local officials said Saturday.
Artillery, mortar, and aerial bombardments hit more than 30 different towns and villages, leaving at least three people dead and five others injured, said Kharkiv governor, Oleh Syniehubov.
Ukraine rushed reinforcements to the Kharkiv region on Friday to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defenses, authorities said.
Russian forces stepped up their bombardment of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in late March. Friday’s attack signaled a tactical switch in the war by Moscow that Ukrainian officials had been expecting for weeks.
Russian military bloggers said the assault could mark the start of a Russian attempt to carve out a “buffer zone” that President Vladimir Putin vowed to create earlier this year to halt frequent Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Friday evening that Russian forces were expanding their operations. According to The Associated Press, he also called on the country’s Western allies to ensure that promised deliveries of military aid would swiftly reach the country’s frontlines.
“It is critical that partners support our warriors and Ukrainian resilience with timely deliveries. Truly timely ones,” he said in a video statement on X. “A package that truly helps is the actual delivery of weapons to Ukraine, rather than just the announcement of a package.”
The Kremlin’s forces have repeatedly sought to exploit Ukraine’s shortages of ammunition and manpower as the flow of Western military aid to Kyiv has tapered off in recent months, with promised new support still yet to arrive.
Ukraine previously said it was aware that Russia was assembling thousands of troops along the northeastern border, close to the Kharkiv and Sumy regions. Intelligence officials also said they had expected an attack there though Russia’s most recent ground offensive had been focused on parts of eastern Ukraine farther south.

World

Pyongyang to Deploy New Multiple Rocket Launcher This Year

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) overseeing the test fire of the 240mm multiple rocket launcher system in an undisclosed location in North Korea, 10 May 2024 (issued 11 May 2024). EPA/KCNA
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) overseeing the test fire of the 240mm multiple rocket launcher system in an undisclosed location in North Korea, 10 May 2024 (issued 11 May 2024). EPA/KCNA
TT
TT

Pyongyang to Deploy New Multiple Rocket Launcher This Year

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) overseeing the test fire of the 240mm multiple rocket launcher system in an undisclosed location in North Korea, 10 May 2024 (issued 11 May 2024). EPA/KCNA
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) overseeing the test fire of the 240mm multiple rocket launcher system in an undisclosed location in North Korea, 10 May 2024 (issued 11 May 2024). EPA/KCNA

North Korea will equip its military with a new 240mm multiple rocket launcher starting this year, state media said Saturday, adding a "significant change" for the army's artillery combat capabilities was under way.

Leader Kim Jong Un on Friday oversaw a live-fire test of the "technically updated" rocket system, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said.

The announcement comes as analysts say the nuclear-armed North could be testing and ramping up production of artillery and cruise missiles before sending them to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Pyongyang in February said it had developed a new control system for its 240mm multiple rocket launcher that would lead to a "qualitative change" in its defense capabilities, and last month executed a test-firing of new shells.

The updated rocket launcher will be "deployed to units of the Korean People's Army as replacement equipment from 2024 to 2026", KCNA said Saturday.

South Korea's defense ministry told AFP it could not confirm the Friday test launches.

But Pyongyang said eight shells had "hit point target to intensively prove the advantage and destructive power of the updated 240mm multiple rocket launcher system".

Images released by state media showed leader Kim conversing with military officials during an inspection of the launcher, as well as what appeared to be the live-fire test of the system.

The tests also proved the power of the "controllable shells for (the) multiple rocket launcher", it added.

The largely isolated country has recently bolstered military ties with Russia, and Pyongyang thanked Moscow last month for using its UN Security Council veto to block the renewal of a panel of UN experts that monitored international weapons sanctions on Kim's regime.

South Korea and the United States have accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia, despite UN sanctions banning such a move.

KCNA said Saturday that Kim discussed ways to raise production of the new rocket launcher system and shells to "the highest level".

It also said a "significant change will be soon made in increasing the artillery combat ability of our army", without providing details.

World

Heavy Rains Set Off Flash Floods in Afghanistan, Hundreds Dead

An elderly man collects his belongings from his damaged home after heavy flooding in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mehrab Ibrahimi)
An elderly man collects his belongings from his damaged home after heavy flooding in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mehrab Ibrahimi)
TT
TT

Heavy Rains Set Off Flash Floods in Afghanistan, Hundreds Dead

An elderly man collects his belongings from his damaged home after heavy flooding in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mehrab Ibrahimi)
An elderly man collects his belongings from his damaged home after heavy flooding in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mehrab Ibrahimi)

Flash floods from seasonal rains in Afghanistan have killed hundreds of people and injured a “substantial number,” a Taliban official said Saturday, without giving exact figures.
The floods hit mostly the northern region of the country. The province of Baghlan bore the brunt of the deluges Friday with officials preliminary reporting at least 50 people dead and properties destroyed in multiple districts.
In neighboring Takhar province, state-owned media outlets reported the floods killing at least 20 people.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban government posted on social media platform X on Saturday, saying that "hundreds ... have succumbed to these calamitous floods, while a substantial number have sustained injuries.”
Mujahid underscored the provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan, Ghor and Herat as the worst hit. He added that “the extensive devastation” has resulted in “significant financial losses.”
According to The Associated Press, he also said the government had ordered all available resources mobilized to rescue people, transport the injured and recover the bodies of the deceased.
The Taliban defense ministry said in a statement Saturday that the country’s air force has already begun evacuating people in Baghlan and has so far rescued a large number of people stuck in flooded and transported a hundred injured people to military hospitals in the region.
Officials previously said that in April, before Friday's floods, at least 70 people died from heavy rains and flash flooding in the country. About 2,000 homes, three mosques, and four schools were also damaged.

World

Police Arrest Dozens as they Break Up Pro-Palestinian Protests at US Universities

A police officer watches as workers dismantle the remains of a pro-Palestinian encampent at MIT, at dawn on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A police officer watches as workers dismantle the remains of a pro-Palestinian encampent at MIT, at dawn on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
TT
TT

Police Arrest Dozens as they Break Up Pro-Palestinian Protests at US Universities

A police officer watches as workers dismantle the remains of a pro-Palestinian encampent at MIT, at dawn on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A police officer watches as workers dismantle the remains of a pro-Palestinian encampent at MIT, at dawn on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

Police made dozens of arrests as pro-Palestinian protest encampments were dismantled Friday at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, hours after police tear-gassed demonstrators and took down a similar camp at the University of Arizona.
Philadelphia and campus police at Penn took action around daybreak to remove protesters from an encampment in place for more than two weeks. School officials said protesters were given warnings and the chance to leave without being detained, The Associated Press reported.
Initially, officials said 33 people, including faculty members and seven students, were among those arrested and charged with trespass, the school said. Later, school officials said nine students were among those arrested and that the remainder were people who had no affiliation with Penn. Upon searching the encampment, Penn police recovered several long lengths of heavy gauge chains, as well as smaller chains with nuts and bolts attached that police said could be used as weapons, officials said.
Protest camps have sprung up across the US and in Europe in recent weeks as students demand their universities stop doing business with Israel or companies that support its war efforts. Organizers seek to amplify calls to end Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which they describe as a genocide against the Palestinians. The top United Nations court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies.
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, police in riot gear arrived at MIT around 4 a.m., encircled the camp and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. Ten students who remained were arrested, the university’s president said. A crowd outside the camp began chanting pro-Palestinian slogans but was quickly dispersed.
At the University of Arizona in Tucson, campus police in riot gear fired tear gas at protesters late Thursday — the day before the school's main commencement ceremony — before tearing down an encampment that included wood and plastic barriers. The school said police vehicles were spiked, and rocks and water bottles were thrown at officers and university staff. Two people were arrested, a university spokesperson said. Friday night's commencement will go forward, university President Robert Robbins said.
And at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, police arrested 13 people Thursday night after they refused to leave a damaged and vandalized building. The charges ranged from misdemeanor trespass to felonies including battery on a peace officer, school spokesperson Amanda Bradford said. The building, Hadley Hall, was cleared and open Friday.
Protesters at the University of Wisconsin-Madison agreed Friday to permanently dismantle their 2-week-old encampment and not disrupt graduation ceremonies this weekend, in return for the opportunity to connect with “decision-makers” who control university investments by July 1. The university agreed to increase support for scholars and students affected by wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Graduates from Pomona College in Southern California will have to travel 40 miles (65 km) for their commencement ceremony Sunday, as administrators seek to avoid a current encampment. The college said it will provide transportation to the venue, a historic theater in Los Angeles. In April, protesters entered an administration building and police arrested 20 people.
The protest movement began nearly three weeks ago at Columbia University in New York City. Some colleges nationwide cracked down immediately, while others tolerated the demonstrations. Some recently started calling in the police, citing concerns about disruptions to campus life and safety.
The Associated Press has recorded at least 75 instances since April 18 in which arrests were made at US campus protests. Nearly 2,900 people have been arrested at 57 colleges and universities. The figures are based on AP reporting and statements from schools and law enforcement agencies.
Arizona State University on Friday confirmed that it had placed its campus police chief on paid administrative leave pending a review of “complaints filed related to his actions” two weeks ago when an encampment was removed and police made more than 70 arrests during a pro-Palestine rally on the campus in Tempe.
The school said it was reviewing actions surrounding the establishment and removal of the encampment. Local news outlets reported earlier that ASU Police Chief Michael Thompson had been placed on leave after he had been seen out of uniform cutting and removing tents during the protest. The school told ABC15 Arizona earlier he had left a meeting to respond to the rally.
Although their encampment was cleared after two weeks, demonstrators at George Washington University vowed Friday to keep up their protest campaign.
Police arrested 33 people on Wednesday while ousting the initial encampment. The next night, a crowd of chanting demonstrators returned to the university about five blocks from the White House, setting up tents while a large Metropolitan Police Department force assembled. After multiple warnings to disperse, protests leaders ended the demonstration around midnight. One person was arrested for throwing water at a police officer.
The move at MIT came several days after police first attempted to clear the camp, only to see protesters storm past barriers and restore the encampment, which includes about a dozen tents in the heart of the campus in Cambridge.
Before removing the encampment, MIT earlier in the week started suspending dozens of students, meaning they're barred from academic activities or commencement.
Protesters insist they will keep demanding MIT cut all ties to the Israeli military. The encampment was up for weeks and especially angered Jewish students, who held counterprotests nearby.
“This is only going to make us stronger. They can’t arrest the movement," said Quinn Perian, an undergraduate student and organizer for MIT Jews for Ceasefire. “MIT would rather arrest and suspend some students than they would end their complicity with the genocide going in Gaza.”
MIT President Sally Kornbluth, in a letter confirming Friday's arrests, wrote that her responsibility is “to make sure that the campus is physically safe and functioning for everyone ... and that everyone feels free to express their views.” The encampment, she wrote, “increasingly made it impossible to meet all these obligations.”

World

Iranians Vote to Finalize Makeup of Conservative-dominated Chamber

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
TT
TT

Iranians Vote to Finalize Makeup of Conservative-dominated Chamber

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Iranians had the chance to cast ballots for parliament again on Friday in regions where candidates failed to secure enough votes in March, when conservatives and ultra-conservatives won a majority.

First-round voting saw a turnout of 41 percent, marking the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Candidates needed at least 20 percent of all valid votes in their constituency to be elected in the initial round.

Friday's vote was to fill the seats of 45 deputies, out of the 290 in parliament, in 15 of Iran's 31 provinces, including Tehran, officials said.

Supreme leader Ali Khamenei was among the first to cast a ballot as voting began.

"If God wishes, dear people, everyone should participate in these elections and vote. Greater participation signifies a stronger parliament," he said.

In March, 25 million Iranians took part, out of 61 million eligible voters.

The main coalition of reform parties, the Reform Front, had said ahead of the first round that it would not take part in "meaningless, non-competitive and ineffective elections".

The vote was the first since nationwide protests broke out following the September 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22.

Amini, an Iranian Kurd, had been arrested for allegedly flouting the republic's strict dress code for women.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi on Wednesday said participation in the second round was "as important" as the first.

"Those with influence among the people should encourage the nation to participate in it," he said, according to Mehr news agency.

In the 2016 parliamentary elections, first-round turnout was above 61 percent, before falling to 42.57 percent in 2020 when elections took place during the Covid pandemic.

World

Ukraine to Get Its First F-16 Jets in June-July

FILE PHOTO: A general view of an F-16, on the day of a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Eindhoven, Netherlands, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of an F-16, on the day of a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Eindhoven, Netherlands, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
TT
TT

Ukraine to Get Its First F-16 Jets in June-July

FILE PHOTO: A general view of an F-16, on the day of a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Eindhoven, Netherlands, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of an F-16, on the day of a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Eindhoven, Netherlands, August 20, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

Kyiv expects to receive its first F-16 fighter jets from its Western allies in June-July, a high-ranking Ukrainian military source said on Friday.

Ukraine has sought US-made F-16 fighter jets to help it counter Russia's air superiority for more than two years of war. The source did not say which country would supply the jets.

So far, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium have committed to sending F-16s to Ukraine, according to Reuters.

Illya Yevlash, spokesperson for the air force, said this week that some Ukrainian pilots were completing their training to fly the warplanes.

The Ukrainian military has had to rely on a relatively small fleet of Soviet-era jets as it has fought to hold back Russia's full-scale February 2022 invasion.

With Russian forces slowly advancing in the eastern Donbas region and mounting a fresh assault in the northeast near the city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials see the addition of the F-16 as a vital upgrade for its Air Force.

World

China Says 'Issued a Warning' to US Navy Ship in S. China Sea

The USS Milius DDG69, a multi-mission-capable guided missile destroyer ship, is shown docked at Manila’s south harbour on August 18, 2012. © Noel Celis, AFP
The USS Milius DDG69, a multi-mission-capable guided missile destroyer ship, is shown docked at Manila’s south harbour on August 18, 2012. © Noel Celis, AFP
TT
TT

China Says 'Issued a Warning' to US Navy Ship in S. China Sea

The USS Milius DDG69, a multi-mission-capable guided missile destroyer ship, is shown docked at Manila’s south harbour on August 18, 2012. © Noel Celis, AFP
The USS Milius DDG69, a multi-mission-capable guided missile destroyer ship, is shown docked at Manila’s south harbour on August 18, 2012. © Noel Celis, AFP

Beijing's military on Friday said it had tailed and issued a warning to a US Navy ship in the disputed South China Sea, just days after the same vessel sparked China's ire by sailing through the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. It deploys hundreds of coast guard, navy and other vessels to patrol and militarise the waters.

And on Friday, military spokesman Tian Junli said China had "organised naval and air forces to tail and monitor" the American guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey, AFP reported.

Those forces "issued a warning to drive it away", he added, after the ship "illegally intruded into China's territorial waters near the Xisha Islands without approval from the Chinese government", Tian said, referring to the Paracel Islands by their Chinese name.

"The actions by the United States seriously violate China's sovereignty and security," he added.

In a statement Friday, the US Navy confirmed its ship had "asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands".

"At the conclusion of the operation, USS Halsey exited the excessive claim and continued operations in the South China Sea," it added.

"Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas," the statement said.

Maritime confrontations between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea have raised fears of a wider conflict that could involve the United States and other allies.

This week, US and Philippine forces carried out war games around 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of Taiwan.

China in response warned "any military exercise should not be targeted at or harm the interests of third parties".

Friday's naval spat between US and Chinese forces came just days after the USS Halsey sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a narrow 180-kilometre body of water separating the island from China.

Chinese naval colonel Li Xi called the US warship passage "public hype".

He added in a statement late on Wednesday that the Eastern Theatre Command had also organised naval and air forces "to monitor the passage of the US ship through the entire process".

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not rule out using force to bring the island under Beijing's control.

Taiwanese defence and coast guard officials on Thursday reported dozens of Chinese warplanes and ships had been detected around the island.

World

US Announces New $400 Mln Military Aid Package for Ukraine, Official Says

A new moon rises over smoke appeared after military strikes at a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 09, 2024. (Reuters)
A new moon rises over smoke appeared after military strikes at a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 09, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
TT

US Announces New $400 Mln Military Aid Package for Ukraine, Official Says

A new moon rises over smoke appeared after military strikes at a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 09, 2024. (Reuters)
A new moon rises over smoke appeared after military strikes at a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 09, 2024. (Reuters)

The United States is preparing a $400 million military aid package for Ukraine, as the US returns to a regular pace of supplying weapons to Kyiv after lawmakers passed a $95 billion bill, the White House said on Friday.

The Ukraine aid package includes artillery, munitions for NASAMS air defenses, anti-tank munitions, armored vehicles and small arms that can immediately be put to use on the battlefield, a US official told Reuters earlier on condition of anonymity.

The weapons aid will utilize Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, which authorizes the president to transfer articles and services from US stocks without specific congressional approval during an emergency. As a part of the $95 billion aid bills, Congress authorized $60.8 billion worth of various forms of aid to Ukraine, including $8 billion worth of PDA items.

The aid announcement came after Russian forces launched an armored ground attack on Friday near Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country and made small inroads, opening a new front in a war that has long been waged in the east and south.

As replenishment funds for articles drawn from stocks are deployed, US defense companies would gain more contracts as the Russia-Ukraine war grinds on. The aid package was first reported by Politico.

Experts expect a boost in the order backlog of RTX, along with other major companies that receive government contracts, such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman, following the passage of the supplemental spending bill.

World

Third Week of Evidence Wraps at Trump’s Criminal Trial

Former President Donald Trump, followed by attorney Todd Blanche, left, gestures as he returns from a break in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, Friday, May 10, 2024. (Curtis Means/DailyMail.com via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump, followed by attorney Todd Blanche, left, gestures as he returns from a break in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, Friday, May 10, 2024. (Curtis Means/DailyMail.com via AP, Pool)
TT
TT

Third Week of Evidence Wraps at Trump’s Criminal Trial

Former President Donald Trump, followed by attorney Todd Blanche, left, gestures as he returns from a break in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, Friday, May 10, 2024. (Curtis Means/DailyMail.com via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump, followed by attorney Todd Blanche, left, gestures as he returns from a break in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, Friday, May 10, 2024. (Curtis Means/DailyMail.com via AP, Pool)

Donald Trump's New York criminal trial prepared to wrap up its third week of evidence Friday following bombshell testimony from the adult film star at the heart of the case.

Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had sex with Trump in 2006, denied she threatened him if he did not buy her silence for $130,000, a payment that prosecutors say Trump then covered up.

Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the payment on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, when the story could have proved politically fatal.

The completion of Daniels' marathon testimony and cross-examination this week clears the way for prosecutors to call Cohen, their remaining star witness, who is expected to take the stand on Monday.

The trial is taking place just six months before the November election, when the Republican hopeful will try to defeat Democratic President Joe Biden.

During nearly eight hours over two days, Daniels walked the New York jury through the one-night stand she said she had with Trump at a celebrity golf tournament, and then the financial settlement she says ensued.

And while she was "not threatened verbally or physically" she said she "felt ashamed I didn't stop it, didn't say no."

These were details that the defense argued were irrelevant to the case -- but which they doubled down on and repeated frequently during cross-examination.

The jury also heard from Madeleine Westerhout, a former assistant who described Trump's involvement with all aspects of his business.

It then heard on Friday from specialists at telecoms giants AT&T and Verizon who testified about phone records, and a para-legal in the prosecutor's office.

- Mistrial requests -

Trump has denied having sexual relations with Daniels and his lawyers asked the judge for a mistrial on the grounds her testimony was "extremely prejudicial" in what is essentially a financial records and election-related case.

Judge Juan Merchan denied the mistrial request on Tuesday, and a second one lodged on Thursday.

Trump's lawyers also suggested Daniels was out for the money. They accused her of appearing at strip club events promoted with a picture of Trump.

Merchan has imposed a gag order on Trump prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses and the ex-president -- who has traded insults with Daniels for years, calling her "horseface" and other crude slurs -- has not commented directly on her testimony.

Trump said on Thursday that his side had filed an appeal against the gag order in an appellate court.

His lawyers also demanded that Trump be allowed to hit back publicly at Daniels' claims about their encounter now that she was no longer a witness.

Judge Merchan denied the request to change the gag order, which Trump has been fined $10,000 for breaking.

In addition to the New York case, Trump has been indicted in Washington and Georgia on charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

He has also been charged in Florida with allegedly mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House but that case has been postponed indefinitely.

World

Medvedev Says Aim of Nuclear Exercises Is to Work Out Response to Attacks on Russian Soil

In this photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, Russian troops load an Iskander missile onto a mobile launcher during drills at an undisclosed location in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
In this photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, Russian troops load an Iskander missile onto a mobile launcher during drills at an undisclosed location in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
TT
TT

Medvedev Says Aim of Nuclear Exercises Is to Work Out Response to Attacks on Russian Soil

In this photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, Russian troops load an Iskander missile onto a mobile launcher during drills at an undisclosed location in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
In this photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, Russian troops load an Iskander missile onto a mobile launcher during drills at an undisclosed location in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

The aim of nuclear exercises planned by Russia is to work out the response to any attacks on Russian soil which the West has allowed Ukraine to carry out with the weapons it supplies, senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

Medvedev, a former president who is now deputy chairman of Russia's security council, warned the West that Russia could attack not only Ukraine in response to such attacks.

"Under certain circumstances, the response (to such attacks) will be aimed not only at Kyiv," Medvedev wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "And not just with conventional explosives, but also with a special kind of arms."

Russia said on Monday it would practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a military exercise after what Moscow said were threats from France, Britain and the United States.

Medvedev referred in particular to British Foreign Secretary David Cameron's recent comments about Ukraine being allowed to use British-supplied weapons against targets inside Russia. He used a profanity to describe Cameron.