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The president is reportedly ‘on a warpath’ over a story in the Wall Street Journal – controlled by Trump’s top media ally For days before the Wall Street Journal published its story about Donald Trump’s salacious friendship with Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, the president was frantically working the phones. He reportedly put pressure on the paper’s top editor, Emma Tucker , and even Rupert Murdoch, who controls the paper’s business side, claiming that the alleged facts behind the story were nothing but a hoax, and threatening to sue the paper if it forged ahead. Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/gbuX5kz

Police commissioner says there has been intelligence of formation of organised crime syndicate intent on havoc Trinidad and Tobago has declared its second state of emergency this year amid “grave concerns” about a coordinated threat from organised crime gangs inside and outside the country’s prisons. Announcing the decision on Friday, the commissioner of police, Allister Guevarro, said his force had received intelligence the day before that the gangs had “formed themselves into … an organised crime syndicate” and were intent on wreaking havoc and planning assassinations, robberies and kidnappings. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/rmky9Mc

The controversial film-maker has previously written short stories and essays but this story about a middle-aged Jewish author whose marriage is on the rocks is his first published novel The first novel by the film-maker Woody Allen is due to be released later this year by independent publisher Swift Press . The book, titled What’s With Baum?, is about a middle-aged Jewish journalist turned novelist “consumed with anxiety about everything under the sun”, according to a description from the publisher. Baum’s “turgid philosophical books receive tepid reviews and his prestigious New York publisher has dropped him”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/vjs305Q

Maro Itoje’s rise to the very top of his sport brings both pride and idolisation from the British-Nigerian community It is 2017 and Maro Itoje has just been selected as the youngest member of the British & Irish Lions squad. He is asked for his favourite Lions memory and his response is illuminating. “Ugo Monye scoring his try in the third Test [against South Africa in 2009]. When you’re young and growing up, you look at players that look like you. And, by that, I don’t mean eyes, ears, nose, I mean who have the same skin colour, who you can identify with. Ugo is one I could identify with, as we’re both of Nigerian descent. To see him score that amazing try resonated with me.” On Saturday, when the Lions begin their series against Australia, Itoje will win his 100th Test cap. He is England captain, the first black captain of the Lions and the country’s most prominent rugby player. And you cannot help but wonder to what extent he himself has passed the torch. For there can be lit...

A New York doctor faced a $113,000 penalty from Texas after being accused of shipping abortion pills across state lines A New York county clerk again rejected an effort by Texas to fine a New York-based doctor accused of shipping abortion pills across state lines, in a case that could tee up a US supreme court showdown between states that protect abortion access and those that ban it. On Monday, acting Ulster county clerk Taylor Bruck rejected a court filing by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, which sought to collect a $113,000 penalty against Dr Margaret Carpenter. Paxton had sued Carpenter in December 2024 over allegations she shipped abortion pills to a Texas woman in defiance of the state’s ban on virtually all abortions. When Carpenter didn’t show up to a court hearing earlier this year, a judge automatically ruled against her and ordered her to pay the fine as well as stop mailing pills to Texas. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/iaukn1B

We’ve fled the attacks again and again. Now Israel plans to force us into the ruins of Rafah in order to increase pressure on Hamas After 21 months of war, the Israeli minister of defence, Israel Katz, has proposed a new initiative to force all Palestinians in Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah . I lived west of Gaza city, just five minutes away from the beach. I used to see the waves from the roof of our house. The area was marvellous, with luxury architecture, hotels and tourist resorts. Nour Abo Aisha is a freelance writer based in Gaza Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/G2ABDpf

Actor known as Admiral Piett in the Star Wars movies, and for his many roles in the films of Ken Russell Kenneth Colley, who has died aged 87, after suffering from Covid and pneumonia, was a character actor widely admired by both the press and public for his screen roles over 60 years, from the Imperial officer Admiral Piett in two of the original Star Wars films and Jesus in Monty Python’s Life of Brian to historical figures such as Nelson and Napoleon, and two Adolfs, Hitler and Eichmann. He described his parts as “mad and bad”, while critics variously commented that the sad-eyed actor had “a defeated look if ever there was one” and he could “make your spine tingle with pleasure”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ZxWPG9d