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Trump Back On Trial For Defamation In Sexual Assault Case

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Donald Trump is expected to be back in court Tuesday in New York for a civil case in which he has already been found liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll.

A jury in May of last year concluded that Trump sexually assaulted her in the dressing room of a New York department store in 1996.

It awarded her around $2 million for the assault and $3 million for defamation over Trump’s remark in 2022, calling her claim “a complete con job.”

Tuesday’s trial will address how much Trump should be forced to pay for separate remarks he made about Carroll in 2019, as president. She is seeking $10 million in damages.

The second trial opens with jury selection just a day after Trump’s big win in the Iowa caucuses — the opening of the Republican presidential nomination process — and ahead of the New Hampshire primary.

Trump, the runaway favorite for the Republican nomination, said last week he planned to attend the proceedings in person and face Carroll, now 80. He did not do this in the first trial.

US media reported he will attend the opening session on Tuesday, before heading to a campaign rally in New Hampshire.

According to a document filed in the case, Trump, 77, requested a postponement to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law, Amalija Knavs, Thursday in Florida.

But Judge Lewis Kaplan refused, pointing out that Trump was still planning to meet with supporters in New Hampshire.

Last week the former president continued to insist of Carroll that “I never saw this woman in my life.”

“I have no idea who this woman is,” said Trump, who variously has called her a liar, “a wack job” and “not my type.”

Counting Tuesday’s trial, Trump is ensnared in at least six civil and criminal trials, including two stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

Trump claims he is being politically persecuted and has made speeches full of invective, targeting judges and prosecutors who he says are trying to deny him a second term in the White House.

With tensions high around Trump’s trials — court officials in his civil fraud case whom he has criticized by name have received death threats — the judge ordered that the jurors’ names be kept secret.

He also warned that the only issue at stake will be the harm caused to Carroll by Trump’s comments, which Kaplan already said he considered “defamatory,” “false” and “malicious.”

Trump cannot introduce any evidence to argue he did not sexually assault her and that he did not defame her, the judge has said.

AFP

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Death toll in Hong Kong fire rises to 44 with 279 still missing, authorities say

Hong Kong authorities say the fires in four of the buildings have been brought under control, but large plumes of smoke are still hanging over the residential estate.

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At least 44 people have been killed so far in a major fire engulfing public housing apartments in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district, with 279 people not accounted for.

Three construction company executives have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter connected to flammable materials, including mesh and plastic sheets, that may have allowed the fire to spread quickly.

More than 800 firefighters are tackling the blaze at Wang Fuk Court, which has been burning for over 18 hours.

The fire has been classified a level five blaze, the most serious level in Hong Kong.

A baby and an elderly woman were rescued during a late-night rescue, local media reports.

Hong Kong authorities say the fires in four of the buildings have been brought under control, but large plumes of smoke are still hanging over the residential estate.

I can smell it in the air. I can also see a number of small fires still burning in the apartment blocks.

Even more fire engines and an ambulance have arrived this morning to help with rescue efforts

BBC.

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BREAKING: Indian fighter jet crashes at Dubai airshow

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An Indian fighter jet has crashed while performing a display at an airshow in Dubai, officials have said.

Details later.

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JUST IN: Bangladesh war Crimes Court Sentences Ex-PM Hasina to Death

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A Bangladeshi war crimes tribunal has sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death.

The verdict, delivered on Monday, November 17, 2025, follows a months-long trial that found Hasina guilty of ordering a lethal crackdown on a student-led uprising last year. She received a death sentence for the killing of several protesters and a life sentence on charges of crimes against humanity.

The ruling marks the most significant legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader in decades and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected in early February 2026. There was cheering and clapping in the courtroom as the death sentence was pronounced. The verdict can be appealed in the Supreme Court, though Hasina’s son and adviser, Sajeeb Wazed, said they would not appeal unless a democratically elected government, including the Awami League, is in office.

Prosecutors told the court that evidence showed Hasina directly ordered security forces to use lethal force to suppress protests in July and August 2024. A United Nations report estimates that up to 1,400 people were killed during the demonstrations, with thousands more injured, making it the deadliest unrest in Bangladesh since its 1971 war of independence.

Hasina, represented by a state-appointed defense lawyer, denied the charges, calling the tribunal proceedings unfair and claiming a guilty verdict was “a foregone conclusion.”

Tensions in Bangladesh had escalated ahead of the verdict, with at least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles torched in recent days, though no casualties were reported.

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