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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to meet with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, hoping to build a personal relationship despite discord over Ukraine and the threat of a trade war.A month into his job, the conservative Merz, 69, is a staunch transatlanticist at pains to maintain good ties with what he considers post-war Germany’s “indispensable” ally, despite Trump’s unyielding “America First” stance. Merz will hope that his pledges to sharply increase Germany’s NATO defence spending will please Trump, and that he can find common ground on confronting Russia after the mercurial US president voiced growing frustration with President Vladimir Putin.On Trump’s threat to hammer the European Union with sharply higher tariffs, Merz, leader of the bloc’s biggest economy, has argued that it must be self-confident in its negotiations with Washington, saying that “we’re not supplicants”.Despite the tensions, Merz said he was “looking forward” to his first face-to-face meeting with Trump. “Our alliance with America was, is, and remains of paramount importance for the security, freedom, and prosperity of Europe,” he posted on X late Wednesday.His office has also voiced confidence that Merz will be spared the kind of public dressing down Trump delivered in the Oval Office to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa.Merz is looking ahead to his first in-person meeting with Trump “with great calmness and joy”, his spokesman Stefan Kornelius said, pointing to their “very good relationship” so far.”Germany is the third-largest economy in the world, and we have a lot to offer as an economic partner of the USA,” Kornelius said. “At the same time, a very constructive and positive relationship with America is very important to us, for our own economy and for the security of Germany and Europe.”The two leaders — both with business backgrounds and keen golf players — are on first-name terms after several phone calls, Kornelius said, and Merz now has Trump’s cellphone number on speed dial.- Defence and trade -Merz has been given the honour of staying at Blair House, the presidential guest residence on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the White House.Merz has even felt comfortable enough to have a little fun at Trump’s expense, recently telling a TV interviewer that his every second or third word was “great”.Whatever the personal chemistry, the policy issues are potentially explosive.Trump launched his roller-coaster series of trade policy shifts in April, with the threat of 50-percent US tariffs on European goods looming.Merz, who has sat on many corporate boards, is “very experienced in business, too — the world from which Donald Trump comes,” his chancellery chief of staff, Thorsten Frei, told the Funke media group.On the Ukraine war, where Germany strongly backs Kyiv, Merz will hope to convince Trump to heighten pressure on Putin through new sanctions to persuade him to agree to a ceasefire. Trump, 78, has recently expressed frustration with Putin, calling him “crazy”, but without announcing concrete new measures.Merz’s visit comes ahead of a G7 summit in Canada on June 15-17 and a NATO meeting in The Hague at the end of the month.Merz has said Germany is willing to follow a plan to raise defence spending to 3.5 percent of GDP over coming years, with another 1.5 percent dedicated to security-related infrastructure.- ‘Calm and reasonable’ -Another potential flashpoint issue looms — the vocal support Trump and some in his administration have given to the far-right and anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which came second in February elections.US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Trump adviser Elon Musk have all weighed in in support of the AfD, which in Germany is shunned by all other political parties.When Germany’s domestic intelligence service recently designated the AfD a “right-wing extremist” group, Rubio denounced the step as “tyranny in disguise”.Merz slammed what he labelled “absurd observations” from Washington and said he “would like to encourage the American government… to largely stay out of” German domestic politics.German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has also openly criticised Trump, saying this week that he frequently made statements “that seem directed against the fundamental foundations of our coexistence”.ilp-jsk-fz-sr/sea/js

US defence chief Pete Hegseth on Thursday pushed NATO to agree a deal on increasing military spending that could satisfy President Donald Trump at a summit this month.The volatile US leader has demanded that alliance members boost defence budgets to five percent of their GDP at the June 24-25 meeting in the Netherlands.NATO chief Mark Rutte has put forward a compromise agreement for 3.5 percent of GDP on core military spending by 2032, and 1.5 percent on broader security-related areas such as infrastructure.Several diplomats say Rutte looks on track to secure the deal for the summit in The Hague as NATO grapples with the threat from Russia after more than three years of war in Ukraine. But a few allies are still hesitant about committing to such levels of spending. “The reason I’m here is to make sure every country in NATO understands every shoulder has to be to the plough, every country has to contribute at that level of five percent,” Hegseth said at a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Brussels. “Our message is going to continue to be clear. It’s deterrence and peace through strength, but it can’t be reliance. It cannot and will not be reliance on America in a world of a lot of threats,” he said.Most vocal in its reluctance is Spain, which is only set to reach NATO’s current target of two percent of GDP by the end of this year.Diplomats say other countries are also haggling over making the timeline longer and dropping a demand for core defence spending to increase by 0.2 percentage points each year. But the deal appears an acceptable compromise to most, which will allow Trump to claim that he has achieved his headline demand, while in reality setting the bar lower for struggling European allies.The United States has backed Rutte’s plan, but Washington insists it wants to each country to lay out a “credible path” to meet the target.- Germany needs more troops -In a connected move, NATO ministers were due to sign off at their meeting on new capability targets for the weaponry needed to deter Russia.German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius estimated the new requirements meant Berlin would need to add “around 50,000 to 60,000” more soldiers to its army. His Dutch counterpart Ruben Brekelmans said reaching the level requested would cost the Netherlands at least 3.5 percent of GDP. It is not just the fear of Moscow that is pushing Europe to ramp up its ambitions — there is also uncertainty over the United States’ commitment to the continent. “What we will decide in The Hague, what we will spend on defence going forward, the new defence investment plan, of course, is rooted in what we need in terms of the hard capabilities,” Rutte said.Hegseth, a former TV presenter, rocked NATO on his last visit in February with a fiery warning that Washington could look to scale back its forces in Europe to focus on China.Since then, there has been no concrete announcement from the United States on troop withdrawals, but NATO allies remain on tenterhooks. – Ukraine question -With NATO looking set for the defence spending deal, another thorny issue threatening to overshadow the summit in three weeks’ time is what to do about Ukraine.Trump’s return to the White House ripped up Washington’s support for Ukraine and upended the West’s approach to Russia’s three-year-long war.Hegseth underscored the US disengagement with Kyiv by skipping a meeting of Ukraine’s backers in Brussels on Wednesday.Kyiv’s European allies are pressing to overcome US reluctance and invite Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to The Hague as a sign of support. So far, NATO has said only that Ukraine will be represented at the gathering, and has not confirmed that Zelensky will be in attendance. 

US defence chief Pete Hegseth will seek on Thursday to drive home a deal on ramping up NATO defence spending that can satisfy President Donald Trump at a summit later this month.The volatile US leader has demanded that alliance members agree to boost defence spending to five percent of their GDP at the June 24-25 meeting in The Netherlands.NATO chief Mark Rutte has put forward a compromise agreement for 3.5 percent of GDP on core military spending by 2032, and 1.5 percent on broader security-related areas such as infrastructure.Multiple diplomats say that Rutte looks on track to secure the deal for the summit in The Hague — but that some allies are still hesitant about committing to such spending.”I’m really, absolutely, positively convinced that at the summit with the 32, we will come to an agreement when it comes to this really big increase in defence spending,” the NATO chief said on Wednesday. Most vocal in its reluctance is Spain, which is only set to reach NATO’s current target of two percent of GDP by the end of this year.Diplomats say that other countries are also haggling over making the timeline longer and dropping a demand for core defence spending to increase by 0.2 percentage points each year. But the deal appears an acceptable compromise to most that will allow Trump to claim that he has achieved his headline demand, while in reality setting the bar lower for struggling European allies.Hegseth looks set to use a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Brussels to pressure them into signing up to the agreement. The United States has backed Rutte’s plan — but its ambassador to NATO insisted on Wednesday that Washington wants to see “plans, budgets, timelines, deliverables” to meet the target.In a connected move, NATO ministers will sign off at their meeting in Brussels on new capability targets for the weaponry needed to face the threat from Russia.NATO officials have estimated that, on average, meeting the new targets would cost countries between 3.5 and 3.7 percent of GDP.Hegseth, a former TV presenter, rocked NATO on his last visit in February with a fiery warning that Washington could look to scale back its forces in Europe to focus on China.Since then there has been no concrete announcement from the United States on troop withdrawals but NATO allies remain on tenterhooks. – Ukraine question -With NATO appearing headed for the defence spending deal, another thorny issue now threatens to overshadow the summit in three weeks time: what to do about Ukraine?Trump’s return to the White House ripped up Washington’s support for Ukraine and upended the West’s approach to Russia’s three-year-long war.Hegseth underlined US disengagement with Kyiv by skipping a meeting of Ukraine’s backers in Brussels on Wednesday.Kyiv’s European allies are pressing strongly to overcome US reluctance and invite Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to The Hague as a sign of support. So far, NATO has only said that Ukraine will be represented at the gathering — but has not confirmed that Zelensky will be in attendance. 

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an investigation into what Republicans claim was a “conspiracy” to cover up Joe Biden’s declining cognitive health during his time in the White House.The move, which was slammed by Biden, is the latest in a long-running campaign by Trump — with the backing of Republican Party politicians and their cheerleaders in the conservative media — to discredit his predecessor.But it also comes as a growing chorus of Democrats begin to acknowledge the former president appeared to have been slipping in recent years.Those concerns were thrown into stark relief by a disastrous debate performance against Trump during last year’s presidential campaign, in which the then-81-year-old stumbled over his words and repeatedly lost his train of thought.”In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline,” a presidential memorandum issued Wednesday reads.”This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history.”The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.” – ‘Ridiculous and false’ -Biden vehemently denied the allegations.”Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations,” he said in a statement shared with AFP.”Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” he said, slamming the ordered probe as “nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation.” Republicans have long claimed that Biden was suffering from intellectual decline even as the White House pressed ahead with major legislation and presidential decrees during his term.They cite his infrequent public appearances, as well as his apparent unwillingness to sit for interviews as evidence of what they say was a man incapable of doing the demanding job of Commander-in-Chief of the United States.They insist that those around him covered up his physical and cognitive decline, taking decisions on his behalf and using a device that could reproduce his signature to allow them to continue to run the country in his name.- ‘Autopen’ -“The Counsel to the President, in consultation with the Attorney General and the head of any other relevant executive department or agency… shall investigate… whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President,” the document says.The probe will also look at “the circumstances surrounding Biden’s supposed execution of numerous executive actions during his final years in office (including) the policy documents for which the autopen was used (and) who directed that the President’s signature be affixed.”  Biden’s calamitous debate performance ultimately sank his bid for reelection, with key Democratic Party figures soon calling for him to drop out of the race.But it was only several weeks later, after unsuccessful attempts to quieten his critics, that he withdrew, anointing his vice-president Kamala Harris, who eventually lost to Trump.The Democratic Party is increasingly riven by squabbles about whether Biden could have been forced to step down earlier to give the party chance to find a more popular presidential candidate.Biden’s former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday criticized the in-fighting by the Democrats, calling it a “betrayal” of Biden and announcing her departure from the party as a result.The fight has been given oxygen with the publication of a book by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson that claims the former president’s inner circle connived to keep him from public view because of his decline, which included forgetting familiar faces like Hollywood star and party stalwart George Clooney.Trump’s claims of a cover-up were also boosted by news that Biden is suffering from an “aggressive” prostate cancer, with some voices on the right insisting — without evidence — the diagnosis must have been known some time ago to those close to the former president.

Elon Musk has a long way to go before colonizing Mars, but the controversial billionaire already has his own city on a flat patch of Texas, where giant, experimental Starship rockets roar over the incongruous sight of dolphins — and some skeptical human neighbors.Starbase on the south Texas coast is HQ for the Starship project and something of a shrine to its South African-born founder, the world’s richest man and until recently one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisors.Musk’s short Washington tenure spearheading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, ended last week, with a vow to get back to his day job of running his business empire, including SpaceX, Tesla and Starlink.The departure came as investors grew increasingly nervous about the spillover from Musk’s reputational damage after publicly allying himself to Trump and tearing through the US government in search of spending cuts.Now he hopes to hunker down in Starbase near the Mexican border and get back to the matter of reaching Mars.The scene is a curious mix of futuristic high-tech and down-to-earth attractions for a city that was officially incorporated in May but remains very much a work-in-progress.Cars speed down the narrow Boca Chica Boulevard leading to Starbase, where an AFP film crew was not allowed to enter. A huge bust of Musk on the outskirts of the settlement was vandalized in April and now stands with the right cheek peeled off, covered by a giant plaster.A cluster of buildings rises near the launch site, including an imposing corporate tower that bears Musk’s X logo and prefabricated houses painted black, white, and gray.For now, the city has only about 500 residents, some still living in trailers and some in the prefab homes, which have patios and outdoor grills.Looming over the landscape are two models of super heavy launchers and one Starship rocket.”I think it’s pretty cool, making a whole entire city based around a launch site,” said 21-year-old computer engineer Dominick Cardenas who was visiting the area for the unsuccessful test launch last week. “Maybe I’ll move down here one day. Who knows? I’d love to go to Mars, who wouldn’t?”- Environmental impact -But the space city is surrounded by nature and wildlife, especially birds.Activist Christopher Basaldu, who is a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Native American tribe and holds a PhD in sociocultural anthropology, called Musk a “colonizer.””The land here is sacred to the original inhabitants of the area. And SpaceX is polluting and desecrating this land,” he told AFP.There are two federal wildlife refuges in the area where SpaceX operates: the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the Laguna Atascosa.There is also the Boca Chica Beach, where residents have been spending their summers for decades and which is now closed during test flights.”There isn’t supposed to be exploding rockets next to pristine wetlands and habitat,” Hinojosa said.In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency fined SpaceX for unauthorized discharges of water from its deluge system into wetlands near its Starbase launch pad connected to the Rio Grande.Despite protests by Hinjosa and other groups, SpaceX received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to increase the number of launches per year from five to 25.Hinojosa calls it “very much a David versus Goliath situation.””We are one of the poorest communities in the country… and we’re dealing with the biggest bully on the planet, Elon Musk,” she said. “Elon Musk has so much power that he’s found a way around most of our lawsuits,” she added.- Mall, restaurants, power plant -According to a document obtained by CNBC, Starbase City officials have notified the residents that they might “lose the right to continue using” their property as they currently do. A hearing is scheduled for the end of June to discuss the new zoning plan.SpaceX is also building the Rio West giant shopping mall and restaurant complex near Starbase, valued at $15 million, according to official filings.And environmental activists worry that the Rio Grande liquified natural gas plant being built in the neighboring city of Brownsville, which has the capacity to process methane, a gas that powers Starship, could become Musk’s fueling station.SpaceX representatives, Starbase City Mayor Bobby Peden as well as Cameron County officials did not respond to AFP requests for comment for this story.

US President Donald Trump signed a new travel ban Wednesday targeting 12 countries, saying it was spurred by an attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that authorities blamed on a man they said was in the country illegally.The ban, which strongly resembles a similar measure taken in his first presidency, targets nationals of Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.It will go into effect on June 9, the White House said.Trump also imposed a partial ban on travelers from seven countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, the White House said.”The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted,” Trump said in a video message from the Oval Office posted on X.”We don’t want them.”Trump compared the new measures to the “powerful” ban he imposed on a number of mainly Muslim countries in his first term, which he said had stopped the United States suffering attacks that happened in Europe.”We will not let what happened in Europe happen in America,” Trump said.”We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen. That is why today I am signing a new executive order placing travel restrictions on countries including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya, and numerous others.”Rumors of a new Trump travel ban had circulated following the attack in Colorado, with his administration vowing to pursue “terrorists” living in the US on visas.Suspect Mohammed Sabry Soliman is alleged to have thrown fire bombs and sprayed burning gasoline at a group of people who had gathered on Sunday in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.US Homeland Security officials said Soliman was in the country illegally, having overstayed a tourist visa, but that he had applied for asylum in September 2022.”President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said on X.”These commonsense restrictions are country-specific and include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information.” 

The US government threatened Wednesday to strip New York’s Columbia University of its accreditation for allegedly ignoring harassment of Jewish students, putting all of its federal funding and prestige at risk.With the move, the administration of President Donald Trump appeared to be doubling down on its efforts to bring several prestigious universities to heel over claims they tolerated campus anti-Semitism during protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.Several top institutions, including Columbia University, have already bowed to far-reaching demands from the Trump administration, which claims that the educational elite is too left-wing.”Columbia University looked the other way as Jewish students faced harassment,” US Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on X.She accused the reputable Ivy League school of “breaking Title VI protections,” referring to a national law that prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin.”After Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University’s leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus,” McMahon said in a statement.- ‘Immoral’ -“This is not only immoral, but also unlawful.”In the statement, the US Education Department said its civil rights office had contacted Columbia’s accreditor about the alleged violation.It said it had notified the Middle States Commission on Higher Education that “its member institution, Columbia University, is in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws and therefore fails to meet the standards for accreditation set by the Commission.” Withdrawing Columbia’s accreditation would see it lose access to all federal funds.Students attending the university would also not be able to receive federal grants and loans towards tuition.Critics accuse the Trump administration of using allegations of anti-Semitism to target educational elites and bring universities to their knees.The Trump administration has already put $400 million of Columbia’s funding under review, prompting the university in March to announce a package of concessions to the government around defining anti-Semitism, policing protests and conducting oversight for specific academic departments.Following Wednesday’s announcement, a Columbia spokesperson said the university “aware of the concerns” raised by the government with its accreditor.”We have addressed those concerns directly with Middle States,” the spokesperson said, adding that “Columbia is deeply committed to combating anti-Semitism on our campus.””We take this issue seriously and are continuing to work with the federal government to address it.”Columbia found itself at the center of a firestorm last year over claims of anti-Semitism triggered by campus protests against the war in Gaza.Some Jewish students claimed they were intimidated and that authorities did not act to protect them.The protests that roiled Columbia and other US schools culminated in members of Trump’s Republican party grilling higher education leaders before Congress about anti-Semitism accusations.Columbia’s former president Minouche Shafik resigned last August just weeks before the start of the new school year, citing scrutiny she faced over her handling of the demonstrations.

Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill has careened into an Elon Musk-shaped brick wall, complicating its passage into law and risking a schism between the most powerful man in the world and the wealthiest.The US president’s “big, beautiful bill” — the centerpiece of his domestic agenda — could define his second term and make or break Republican prospects in the 2026 midterm elections.But the package is getting a rough ride in Congress over proposals to fund an extension of his 2017 tax cuts by piling on debt and cutting social welfare for the poorest Americans.  Enter tech billionaire Musk, who dropped a nuclear bomb on the 1,100-page blueprint at a crucial stage in negotiations Tuesday, calling it a “disgusting abomination.”And on Wednesday he called for Republicans to “kill the bill,” and for an alternative plan that “doesn’t massively grow the deficit.”In its latest estimate released Wednesday, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill would add $2.4 trillion to US debt by 2034.Musk, who last week ended his brief advisory tenure as Trump’s cost-cutter-in-chief, tore into the bill in a prolonged denouncement.The South African-born tycoon has voiced concerns before, but his language was much more combative, coming across as a declaration of war on the Republican Party, if not Trump himself.The White House brushed off the criticism, saying Trump “already knows where Elon Musk stood,” but the remarks will likely have gotten under the president’s skin.- ‘Lennon and McCartney’ -The stakes could hardly be higher for Trump, who has made clear, with signature hyperbole, that he sees his bill as “arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed.”He has yet to respond personally to Musk’s social media rant — sustained over six hours and 13 posts on Tuesday and still going well into Wednesday.But Washington watchers aren’t necessarily expecting a public falling-out. Behind the scenes, a careful circling of the wagons is underway, with pro-Trump pundits under orders to refrain from trashing Musk and to instead frame his broadside as what Politico called “principled self-interest.”Still, for analysts contacted by AFP, there may be choppier waters ahead.”It’s the Lennon and McCartney of modern politics. Two egos, one spotlight, and a fragile alliance built on mutual benefits,” said Evan Nierman, the founder and CEO of global crisis PR firm Red Banyan.”The moment either one sees more upside in conflict than cooperation, the breakup goes public.”But political consultant and former Senate aide Andrew Koneschusky, a key player in negotiations over Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, believes the Republican leader has nothing to gain by biting back.”Musk has more money. Musk’s megaphone, X, is bigger than Trump’s. And Musk was deeply embedded in the administration for months,” he told AFP. “There’s no telling what Musk heard or saw that could be embarrassing or problematic for the administration if the two were to go to war.”- ‘Bromance’ -Crucially, Musk slammed right-wing lawmakers who voiced concerns over debt but cleared the bill for Senate consideration anyway — almost the entire 220-strong House Republican group.Musk, who spent around $280 million getting Trump elected, undoubtedly has the cash to make his mark on the midterms. And the de facto leader of America’s “tech bro” community demonstrated his political firepower with a single tweet in December that blew up a government funding bill that had enjoyed bipartisan support.His take on the deficit implications of Trump’s proposals is evidenced by copious independent research and he was immediately backed by some fiscal hawks in the Senate. Continued interventions by Musk could be an ongoing headache for Trump, as he bids to shepherd his policy priorities through razor-thin Republican majorities in Congress.But cheerleaders of the package — and independent analysts contacted by AFP — believe the Tesla magnate may discover that his celebrity in Trumpworld relies on the say-so of its mercurial chieftain. “Musk may have had influence in December when his bromance with Trump was in full bloom,” said Donald Nieman, a political analyst and professor at Binghamton University in New York state. “But his break with Trump and his massive unpopularity with voters makes it easy for lawmakers to ignore him. If anything, it helps Trump by distancing him from a man who has become a pariah.”

A prosecutor told jurors at Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault trial Wednesday that “no means no” as they prepared to consider his fate.A New York state appeals court had thrown out Weinstein’s 2020 convictions after irregularities in the presentation of witnesses at his original trial, forcing two victims of his alleged abuse to testify a second time.”He raped three women, they all said no,” said prosecutor Nicole Blumberg as she recounted the evidence of the three alleged victims of Weinstein who testified at this trial.The Hollywood powerbroker had “all the power” and “all the control” over the alleged victims which is why jurors should find him guilty, she said.”The defendant thought the rules did not apply to him, now it is the time to let him know that the rules apply to him.”There is no reasonable doubt, tell the defendant what he already knows — that he is guilty of the three crimes.”Weinstein’s defense attorney insisted the sexual encounters were consensual, pointing to a “casting couch” dynamic between the movie mogul and the women.”We don’t want to police the bedroom” — except in cases of rape, Blumberg fired back.Judge Curtis Farber indicated that he would give his instructions to the jurors Thursday morning, the final step before they withdraw behind closed doors to deliberate.- ‘MeToo’ movement -Weinstein, the producer of box-office hits “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love,” has never acknowledged wrongdoing.The cinema magnate, whose downfall in 2017 sparked the global #MeToo movement, has been on trial again since April 15 in a scruffy Manhattan courtroom.He is serving a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted in California of raping and assaulting a European actress more than a decade ago.Two of the accusers in this case — onetime production assistant Miriam Haley and then-aspiring actress Jessica Mann — testified at Weinstein’s original trial.Their accounts helped galvanize the #MeToo movement nearly a decade ago, but the case is being re-prosecuted at a new trial in New York.His 2020 convictions on charges relating to Haley and Mann, and his 23-year prison term, were overturned last year by the New York Court of Appeals.The tribunal ruled that the way witnesses were handled in the original trial was unlawful.Some 20 years after the earliest incidents were alleged to have taken place, Weinstein’s defense team have sought to cast doubt on the credibility of the accusers. Weinstein has appeared daily in a wheelchair, physically subdued, but laughing and joking with his legal team.He did not speak at his trial, which also featured a new charge of sexual assault committed against former Polish model Kaja Sokola.

A woman told US jurors Wednesday that hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs dangled her over a 17th-story balcony before throwing her onto furniture in an attack that left her traumatized and bruised.Bryana Bongolan testified in the music icon’s ongoing federal criminal trial in New York that she was staying over with her friend Casanda “Cassie” Ventura — Combs’s ex and a key trial witness who recently delivered searing testimony of abuse and coercion.While she was at Ventura’s place, Combs burst into the apartment and seized Bongolan on the balcony.Bongolan, a designer, said Combs repeatedly shouted with expletives that “you know what you did” — and she said she repeatedly told him she did not.The witness also recounted an incident when she saw Combs hurl a knife at Ventura, which Bongolan said Ventura then threw back at him.Bongolan told prosecutors she did not go to the police out of fear: “I was just scared of Puff,” she told the court, using another nickname for Combs.But a defense lawyer for the musician, who faces racketeering and sex trafficking charges, cast Bongolan as a drug abuser and unreliable witness whose story was shifting.Bongolan is among dozens of people who have filed civil suits against Combs in recent years, legal action she told jurors she took “because I wanted to seek justice for what happened to me on the balcony.”Bongolan, who remains friends with Ventura, says the incident left her with post-traumatic stress, including recurring night terrors and paranoia: “Sometimes I scream in my sleep,” she told jurors. Defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland bluntly indicated that Bongolan was lying, and implied that the witness had compared notes with Ventura to get their stories straight as the two filed separate civil suits against Combs.Ventura alleged that she suffered harrowing abuse under Combs, her former on-and-off partner of more than a decade, opening the floodgates against the one-time music powerhouse when she first filed suit against him in November 2023.That suit was settled out of court in less than 24 hours.Westmoreland on Wednesday pushed the narrative that Bongolan’s heavy drug use, including with Ventura, clouded her memories of the alleged events.Bongolan was testifying under an immunity order that protects her from incrimination if she speaks truthfully.She frequently responded to Westmoreland by saying she could not remember every detail — and the occasionally brusque defense questioning of her will continue Thursday morning.Afterwards, the prosecution is expected to call Jane — long-anticipated testimony from a woman who will speak under a pseudonym in relation to one of the sex trafficking charges against Combs.- $100,000 in a paper bag -Combs, 55, faces upwards of life in prison if convicted of crimes of sex trafficking and racketeering. Prosecutors say he ran a criminal enterprise of high-ranking employees and bodyguards who enforced his power with illicit acts including kidnapping, bribery and arson. On Tuesday, a hotel security guard said he received $100,000 in a brown paper bag from Combs in exchange for now-infamous surveillance footage that showed the artist-entrepreneur violently kicking and dragging Ventura in a hotel.Jurors have repeatedly been shown the disturbing clip in open court.The security officer, Eddy Garcia, said he initially rebuffed an attempt from a Combs employee — Kristina Khorram, who has been described as the music heavyweight’s “right hand” — to obtain the video.After repeated calls, including from Combs himself, Garcia eventually agreed to sell the tape, with permission from his supervisor, who got a cut.”‘Eddy, my angel, I knew you could help. I knew you could do it,'” Garcia recounted Combs telling him.Garcia — who was also speaking under an immunity order — testified that he signed a non-disclosure agreement.Last week a former assistant speaking under the pseudonym Mia described violent acts Combs committed against her and also recalled many times that she saw him beat Ventura. Now in its fourth week of testimony, witnesses have included alleged victims, former high-ranking employees as well as assistants and law enforcement officials. The trial in Manhattan is expected to last well into the summer.