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      Cassie Ventura to again testify in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sex-trafficking trial

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    Ex-girlfriend details sexual and physical abuse as defense zeroes in on text messages about so-called ‘freak-offs’

    Singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, a former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs and a key witness in the federal sex-trafficking and racketeering trial of the music mogul, is returning to the stand on Friday for further examination by Combs’s legal team.

    Ventura, who is eight and a half months pregnant, has been on the stand since Tuesday afternoon, and has detailed years of sexual and physical abuse she alleges she endured during their decade-long relationship.

    In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid . In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org .

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      Ukraine and Russia to hold direct talks in Istanbul but hopes low for progress –live

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    Two sets of meetings due to take place but little optimism after Putin failed to attend

    Reuters is reporting that several vehicles have arrived at Dolmabahçe palace in Istanbul , where we are anticipating trilateral talks between Turkey , Ukraine and the US and then between Turkey , Russia and Ukraine .

    An air alert has sounded in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.

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      Trump hails trade deals as he wraps up Gulf trip - US politics live

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025 • 2 minutes

    President claims he has made agreements worth more than $200bn with the UAE

    Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and will be bringing you the latest news lines over the next few hours.

    We begin with news that Donald Trump has announced deals totaling more than $200bn between the United States and the United Arab Emirates , including a $14.5bn commitment among Boeing , GE Aerospace and Etihad Airways, as he pledged to strengthen ties between the US and the Gulf state during a multiday trip to the Middle East.

    A Republican effort to advance President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax bill hit a setback today, as hardline conservatives demanded larger Medicaid cuts in exchange for their support in a procedural vote. House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington, a Republican from Texas, said that the vote, scheduled for Friday, could be delayed amid internal opposition.

    The Trump administration is planning to drop routine Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women, children, and teenagers, the Wall Street Journal reports . The Department of Health and Human Services, led by secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, is expected to make the change as it introduces a new vaccine approval framework. The timing of the announcement is unclear but could come within days.

    Donald Trump announced deals totaling over $200bn between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, including a $14.5bn commitment between Boeing, GE Aerospace and Etihad Airways, the White House said. The White House said Boeing and GE had received a commitment from Etihad Airways to buy 28 American-made Boeing 787 and 777X aircraft powered by GE engines.

    Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship found no traction today at the supreme court, with justices taking issue at the attempt to sidestep the constitution. However, the conservative majority seemed open to limiting district judges’ ability to issue broad injunctions against federal policies.

    Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Donald Trump for calling America “stupid” as she joined hundreds of protestors outside the supreme court. Trump had earlier called the US “stupid” for upholding the 14th amendment. Pelosi said: “No Mr President, America isn’t stupid. It’s the Constitution of the United States which all of us in elective office take an oath to protect and defend.” She added: “This is about birthright, it’s about citizenship, it’s about due process.”

    Trump arrived in the UAE for day three of his Middle East tour aimed at drumming up investment in the US and securing lucrative economic deals with the Gulf nations. He finished the day walking out of the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi with UAE President Sheik Mohammed after dinner.

    Trump said he will “probably” return to Washington on Friday after a tour of three Gulf countries, although he said his destination is unknown as of yet. Trump earlier had hinted that he could stop in Istanbul for talks on Ukraine.

    His secretary of state Marco Rubio echoed Trump’s earlier remarks that the only way a breakthrough will happen in the efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine would be through direct talks between the US president and Vladimir Putin after Moscow sent a second-tier team to talks taking place in Turkey. Rubio said he would travel to Istanbul for meetings on Friday with Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan and a Ukrainian delegation, but said he did not have high expectations for the talks.

    The Trump administration said it will audit some $15bn in grants to power grid and manufacturing supply chain projects awarded during the Biden administration.

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      Keli review – a brass band player’s search for solidarity

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh
    Martin Green’s play, set in a village still traumatised by the miners’ strike, follows a young musician under pressure from all sides

    Towards the end of Martin Green ’s brass-infused play for the National Theatre of Scotland, there is a resonant metaphor. It makes the connection between directing the breath to play a wind instrument and dealing with life’s stresses.

    “The skill is in controlling that pressure,” says Keli, a 17-year-old tenor horn player who knows all about pressure. On her plate is a thankless job in a supermarket, a mentally ill mother and a solo spot in a national brass band competition.

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      UK agrees to fly home wrongly deported Windrush generation man from Jamaica

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    Exclusive: Winston Knight’s deportation order revoked by Home Office after protracted legal action

    The Home Office has agreed to fly home a member of the Windrush generation who lived in the UK for 47 years before being wrongly deported and forced to live on the streets of Jamaica in horrific conditions for more than a decade.

    In a highly unusual move and after protracted legal action, Home Office officials have accepted that Winston Knight, 64, is a member of the Windrush generation and have agreed to revoke his deportation order.

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      Smokey Robinson under criminal investigation after sexual assault allegations

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    Los Angeles police open investigation after lawsuit filed against Motown singer alleging sexual assault of four former housekeepers over many years

    Los Angeles police have opened a criminal investigation into Smokey Robinson, after allegations of sexual assault made by four of his former housekeepers, which he denies.

    The unnamed women filed a lawsuit last week alleging that the Motown star was a “a serial and sick rapist” who had assaulted them on numerous occasions between 2007 and 2024, across three residences. Robinson and his wife, Frances, are also accused of labour violations, including the failure to pay the women minimum wage and overtime. The women are seeking financial damages.

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