Tag: United States

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Justin Timberlake reveals Lyme disease diagnosis

Justin Timberlake has said he is suffering from Lyme disease, a serious illness usually contracted after being bitten by a tick and that has seen an upsurge in prevalence across a swathe of the US in recent years.

In an Instagram post, the pop singer wrote: “I’ve been battling some health issues, and was diagnosed with Lyme disease – which I don’t say so you feel bad for me – but to shed some light on what I’ve been up against behind the scenes.”

He added: “If you’ve experienced this disease or know someone who has – then you’re aware: living with this can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically. When I first got the diagnosis I was shocked for sure. But, at least I could understand why I would be on stage and in a massive amount of nerve pain or, just feeling crazy fatigue or sickness.”

Timberlake’s post came at the end of more than a year of him being on tour, which kicked off in April 2024, about one month after he released the album Everything I Thought It Was.

The singer faced scrutiny following perceived lackluster performances on the road, with some who bought tickets criticizing the concert on social media. Recently, some fans and commentators have pointed out what they felt were signs of fatigue or ill health during his performances.

Timberlake addressed the concerns, saying: “I was faced with a personal decision. Stop touring? Or, keep going and figure it out. I decided the joy that performing brings me far outweighs the fleeting stress my body was feeling. I’m so glad I kept going.”

He added: “Not only did I prove my mental tenacity to myself but, I now have so many special moments with all of you that I will never forget. I was reluctant to talk about this because I was always raised to keep something like this to yourself. But I am trying to be more transparent about my struggles so that they aren’t misinterpreted.”

His statement on social media was met with an outpouring of support from fans. “You are so loved, and we’ll be here supporting whatever you decide to do next,” said one. Another added: “Justin you are so appreciated. Thank you for showing up for us time and time again. Take care of yourself. We love you and will continue to ride for you.”

According to Billboard, the Forget Tomorrow world tour pushed Timberlake to the 10th spot of Billboard‘s midyear Boxscore report of touring artists, with the tour grossing $73.2m across 41 shows as of late May.

Timberlake is not the first famous musician who has spoken out publicly about their struggles with a diagnosis of Lyme disease, a condition which can cause a rash and symptoms such as fever, chills, fatigue and muscle and joint aches. Avril Lavigne, Justin Bieber and Shania Twain have also revealed they have suffered from the illness.

Lyme disease can last many months or even years. Potentially disease-bearing ticks have been flourishing recently in the US, especially as climate change leads to warmer summers that encourage tick populations to thrive.

This year, as compared to recent years, there has been an increase in the reported number of ticks and visits to the emergency room because of bites from the tiny parasitic arachnid, according to data from universities and the US federal government.

In May and June this year, the US has seen the highest number of emergency room visits during those months for tick bites since 2019, according to the CDC.

Timberlake began his career as a “Mouseketeer” on the All-New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993, where his cast mates included fellow singers Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. He rose to fame in the popular boy band ‘NSync, before going solo in 2002 and going on to become one of the best-selling pop artists of the 2000s. (Guardian)

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Canada to recognise Palestinian state at UN General Assembly

Canada plans to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday, a major policy shift that drew an angry response from US President Donald Trump and was rejected by Israel.

Carney said the move was necessary to preserve hopes of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a long-standing Canadian goal that was “being eroded before our eyes.”

“Canada intends to recognise the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025,” the prime minister said.

This makes Canada — a G7 nation — the third country, following recent announcements by France and the United Kingdom, to signal plans to recognise a Palestinian state in September.

Carney said the worsening suffering of civilians in Gaza left “no room for delay in coordinated international action to support peace.”

Israel blasted Canada’s announcement as part of a “distorted campaign of international pressure,” while Trump warned that trade negotiations with Ottawa may not proceed smoothly.

“Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”

Asked by reporters if there was a scenario where Canada could change its position before the UN meeting, Carney said: “There’s a scenario (but) possibly one that I can’t imagine.”

Canada’s intention “is predicated on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to much-needed reforms,” Carney said, referring to the body led by President Mahmoud Abbas, which has civil authority in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Carney said his plans were further predicated on Abbas’s pledge to “hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part, and to demilitarise the Palestinian state.”

With Wednesday’s announcement, Carney positioned Canada alongside France, after President Emmanuel Macron said his country would formally recognise a Palestinian state during the UN meeting, the most powerful European nation to announce such a move.

The Israeli embassy in Ottawa said, “Recognising a Palestinian state in the absence of accountable government, functioning institutions, or benevolent leadership, rewards and legitimises the monstrous barbarity of Hamas on October 7, 2023.”

The PA’s Abbas welcomed the announcement as a “historic” decision, while France said the countries would work together “to revive the prospect of peace in the region.”

Canada’s plan goes a step further than this week’s announcement by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Starmer said the UK will formally recognise the State of Palestine in September unless Israel takes various “substantive steps,” including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.

Carney stressed that Canada has been an unwavering member of the group of nations that hoped a two-state solution “would be achieved as part of a peace process built around a negotiated settlement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.”

“Regrettably, this approach is no longer tenable,” he said, citing “Hamas terrorism” and the group’s “longstanding violent rejection of Israel’s right to exist.”

The peace process has also been eroded by the expansion of Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, Carney said.

The prime minister said a two-state solution was growing increasingly remote, with a vote in Israel’s parliament “calling for the annexation of the West Bank,” as well as Israel’s “ongoing failure” to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

He framed his decision as one aimed at safeguarding Israel’s future.

“Any path to lasting peace for Israel also requires a viable and stable Palestinian state, and one that recognises Israel’s inalienable right to security and peace,” Carney said. (Punch)

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Unsung hero behind hula hoop invention dies aged 101

Joan Anderson, who coined the name for the hula hoop and played an unsung role in its rise, has died age 101.

The former model was visiting her native Australia from her home in the US when she spotted groups of people swivelling wooden hoops around their waists.

She was so mesmerised by the growing craze in Australia that she had one of the strange new toys shipped to the US.

The 2018 documentary Hula Girl retold Ms Anderson’s story of dubbing it the hula hoop after the hip-swivelling Hawaiian dance, and how it was she and her husband who first showed it to a toy company boss.

It went on to sell millions and become a global sensation – but the couple went uncredited for their role in its rise.

Recounting meeting the boss of American toy conglomerate Wham-O in the early 1960s, Ms Anderson told documentary makers: “We told him, ‘we’ve called it the hula hoop,’.

“He said, ‘looks like it has some merit, if it makes money for us, it’s going to make money for you’.”

Ms Anderson claimed the deal was sealed with a “gentleman’s handshake” and it began to fly off the shelves in the US.

But in the years that followed, the firm’s boss “kept putting us” off, Ms Anderson said, and the pair eventually filed a lawsuit which resulted in a modest financial settlement – but crucially, no formal recognition of their role in its rise.

Later accounts of its invention mentioned how an “Australian friend” brought an early version to the US.

She told documentary makers: “I think that bugged me more than anything. It was never reported correctly at all. I was not a ‘friend’.”

Born Joan Constance Manning in Sydney on 28 December 1923, she worked as a swimsuit model and met Wayne Anderson, a US Army pilot, on Bondi Beach and married him soon after.

Speaking to the BBC, the filmmaker behind the story of Ms Anderson’s life said: “Telling Joan’s story was such a rewarding experience.

“She was 94 when we met and even with everything she’d been through, she had lived an amazing, full life.

“Seeing her finally get the recognition she deserved after all those years was incredible.”

Ms Anderson died on 14 July at a nursing home in Carlsbad, California, having lived “a wonderful life”, her family said.

She is survived by two sons, a daughter and six grandchildren. Another son, Carl, died in 2023. (BBC)

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New York gunman was targeting NFL but went to wrong office, mayor says

A gunman who killed four people when he stormed a skyscraper in the heart of New York on Monday evening left a note that appeared to blame the National Football League (NFL) for a brain injury, the city’s Mayor Eric Adams says.

The attacker, 27-year-old Shane Tamura of Las Vegas, shot himself dead after opening fire in a building where the American football league has its headquarters, but went to a different part of the building after taking the wrong lift.

The gunman was carrying a note in which he blamed CTE, a brain disease triggered by head trauma, for his mental illness, Adams said.

Tamura played football as a teenager but did not play in the NFL, ex-teammates have told US media.

New York City police officer Didarul Islam, 36 – who was working as a security guard at the building – was among those killed.

Another of the victims was an employee of finance giant Blackstone, who was named by her company as Wesley LePatner.

Two male civilians were also killed. An NFL employee was also “seriously injured” in the attack, the league’s commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a message to staff.

Asked about a possible motive, Adams told CBS: “[He] did have a note on him. The note alluded to that he felt he had CTE, a known brain injury for those who participate in contact sports.

“He appeared to have blamed the NFL for his injury.”

Tamura was a football player during his time at high school in California, ex-teammates earlier told NBC News.

The gunman appears to have driven across the US from Las Vegas to New York, and used an assault-style rifle during the attack.

After opening fire in the lobby, Tamura is believed to have entered a lift to the 33rd floor of the skyscraper and continued to open fire.

Mayor Adams said a preliminary investigation shows that the gunman mistakenly went to the office of Rudin Management, which owns the building.

Tamura later turned his gun on himself.

The incident brought parts of Midtown Manhattan and public transportation to a halt. A BBC journalist at the scene reported seeing scores of police vehicles and at least one person with a bloodied chest being taken away on a stretcher.

Bystanders reported hearing what sounded like gunshots and police told those in the area, including the BBC journalist, to shelter in nearby buildings. (BBC)

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US FCC clears $8bn Skydance-Paramount merger

An $8bn (£5.9bn) merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media has been approved by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The merger between the independent film studio and one of Hollywood’s oldest and most storied companies was first announced in 2024.

The approval came just weeks after Paramount Global agreed to pay $16m (£13.5m) to settle a legal dispute with US President Donald Trump over an interview it broadcast on subsidiary CBS with former Vice-President Kamala Harris.

The settlement did not include a statement of apology or regret.

FCC head Brendan Carr, who was appointed by the president, announced the merger’s approval on Thursday, saying he welcomed Skydance’s ideas to make “significant changes” at CBS.

The approval means the merger could be finalised soon but Paramount did not provide an expected completion date when asked by the BBC. Skydance did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The FCC agreed to transfer broadcast licences for 28 owned-and-operated CBS television stations to the new owner.

“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly,” Mr Carr said. “It is time for a change.”

Mr Carr said Skydance had made promises to the agency, including a “commitment to unbiased journalism” where the merged company would install a ombudsman to evaluate complaints of bias.

Skydance also promised to end diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, something the Trump administration has targeted.

The FCC voted 2-1 to approve the deal, with one commissioner, Anna Gomez, a Democrat, dissenting.

“After months of cowardly capitulation to this administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted. Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions,” she wrote.

Paramount Global traces its origins back more than a century to the founding of Paramount Pictures Corporation in 1914. The studio has made many hit films, including the Godfather, Star Trek, and Mission: Impossible series.

Paramount owns streaming service Paramount+, as well as Paramount Pictures, CBS, Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and other media brands.

But the entertainment giant has struggled over the past decade.

Skydance is owned by David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, who founded US technology giant Oracle.

The FCC’s approval was necessary for the deal to move forward.

The deal, which includes CBS, Paramount Pictures and Comedy Central, was approved after a series of moves by Paramount, including settling a lawsuit from Trump.

According to both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, the settlement over the 60 Minutes interview was agreed – with the help of mediator – so as to not affect the planned merger, which the FCC was reviewing and therefore Trump technically had the power to halt.

Trump had alleged the network had deceptively edited an interview that aired on its 60 Minutes news programme with his presidential election rival Kamala Harris, to “tip the scales in favour of the Democratic party”.

Paramount said it would pay to settle the suit, but with the money allocated to Trump’s future presidential library, not paid to him “directly or indirectly”.

It also comes just days after CBS, owned by Paramount, announced it would end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, who has been critical of Trump.

The network said the move “is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night [television]” and “is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters”. (BBC)

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France defends move to recognise Palestinian state

France defended its decision to recognise Palestinian statehood amid domestic and international criticism on Friday, including against the charge that the move plays into the hands of militant group Hamas.

President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that his country would formally recognise a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September, the most powerful European nation to announce such a move.

Macron’s announcement drew condemnation from Israel, which said it “rewards terror”, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “reckless” and said it “only serves Hamas propaganda”.

Mike Huckabee, US ambassador to Israel, quipped that Macron did not say where a future Palestinian state would be located.

“I can now exclusively disclose that France will offer the French Riviera & the new nation will be called ‘Franc-en-Stine’,” he said on X.

Hamas itself — which is designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union — praised the French initiative, saying it was “a positive step in the right direction toward doing justice to our oppressed Palestinian people”.

But French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Friday argued that Macron’s initiative went against what the militant group wanted.

“Hamas has always ruled out a two-state solution. By recognising Palestine, France goes against that terrorist organisation,” Barrot said on X.

With its decision, France was “backing the side of peace against the side of war”, Barrot added.

Domestic reactions ranged from praise on the left, condemnation on the right and awkward silence in the ranks of the government itself.

The leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, said the announcement was “rushed” and afforded Hamas “unexpected institutional and international legitimacy”.

Marine Le Pen, the RN’s parliamentary leader, said the French move amounted to “recognising a Hamas state and therefore a terrorist state”.

On the other side of the political spectrum, Jean-Luc Melenchon, boss of the far-left France Unbowed party, called Macron’s announcement “a moral victory”, although he deplored that it did not take effect immediately.

By September, Gaza could be a “graveyard”, Melenchon said.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, a right winger whose relationship with Macron is tense, declined on Friday to give his opinion, saying he was currently busy with an unrelated “serious topic” linked to the “security of French people on holiday”.

But the vice president of his Les Republicains party, Francois-Xavier Bellamy, blasted the decision as possibly “counter-productive” or, at best, “pointless”.

The move risked “endangering Israeli civilians” as well as “Palestinian civilians who are victims of Hamas’s barbarism”, he said.

Bellamy said that Macron’s move was a departure from the president’s previously set conditions for recognition of Palestine, which included a Hamas de-militarisation, the movement’s exclusion from any future government, the liberation of all Israeli hostages in Gaza and the recognition of Israel by several Arab states.

“None of them have been met,” he said.

Among people reacting to the news in the streets of Paris was Julien Deoux, a developer, who said it had been “about time” that France recognised Palestinian statehood.

“When you’ve been talking about two-state solutions for decades but you don’t recognise one of the two states, it’s a bit difficult,” he told AFP.

But Gil, a 79-year-old pensioner who gave only his first name, said he felt “betrayed” by his president.

“As a Frenchman, I’m ashamed to see that tomorrow Hamas could come to power in the territory,” he said.

While France would be the most significant European country to recognise a Palestinian state, others have hinted they could do the same.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced he would hold a call on Friday with counterparts in Germany and France on efforts to stop the fighting, adding that a ceasefire would “put us on a path to the recognition of a Palestinian state”.

Germany, meanwhile, said on Friday it had no plans to recognise a Palestinian state “in the short term”.

Norway, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia all announced recognition following the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, along with several other non-European countries.

Once France follows through on its announcement, a total of at least 142 countries will have recognised Palestinian statehood. (Vanguard)

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Ellen DeGeneres says she moved to Britain because of Trump

US TV star Ellen DeGeneres has made her first public appearance since moving to the UK, saying she decided to settle in England the day after Donald Trump was re-elected US president.

The comedian and host told a crowd in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, that life “is just better” in the UK.

Ellen said she and wife Portia de Rossi were considering getting married again in England after some moves in the US to reverse the right to gay marriage, and that America can still be “scary for people to be who they are”.

She also addressed allegations of a toxic workplace that led to the end of her long-running chat show in 2022, admitting she could be “very blunt”, but dismissed the stories as “clickbait”.

Ellen was one of the biggest names on US TV for 30 years, thanks to her daytime chat show, as well as for her self-titled 1990s sitcom, for hosting the Oscars, Grammys and Emmys, and for voicing Dory in Finding Nemo.

After her talk show was cancelled, she went on a “final stand-up tour” in the US in 2024 then bought a house in the Cotswolds, a historic and picturesque area mainly spanning parts of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.

On Sunday at the Everyman theatre in nearby Cheltenham, she was in conversation with broadcaster Richard Bacon, who asked whether reports that she moved because of Donald Trump were correct. “Yes,” she replied.

The 67-year-old said she and De Rossi had initially planned to spend three or four months a year in the UK and bought what they thought would be “a part-time house”.

“We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, ‘He got in’,” she said. “And we’re like, ‘We’re staying here’.”

Ellen has been giving glimpses of her new rural life on social media, in videos showing her farm animals including sheep – although they have now been sold after they kept escaping.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she said. “We’re just not used to seeing this kind of beauty. The villages and the towns and the architecture – everything you see is charming and it’s just a simpler way of life.

“It’s clean. Everything here is just better – the way animals are treated, people are polite. I just love it here.

“We moved here in November, which was not the ideal time, but I saw snow for the first time in my life. We love it here. Portia flew her horses here, and I have chickens, and we had sheep for about two weeks.”

On her last tour, she joked that she had been “kicked out of show business twice” – the first time being when she came out as gay in 1997.

That effectively led to the end of her sitcom after advertisers pulled out and the network stopped promoting it, she told the Cheltenham crowd on Sunday.

Bacon asked whether her visibility had encouraged other people to come out. “I would say no,” she replied. “I imagined a lot of people coming out like meerkats poking out of a hole and going back in again. ‘How’s she doing? OK, no, no.'”

But it is “a really hard decision” that doesn’t suit everyone, she continued, and said things are better today “in some ways” but not others.

“If it was [better], all these other people that are actors and actresses that I know they’re gay, they’d be out, but they’re not, because it’s still a problem. People are still scared.”

Ellen also referenced a recent move by the Southern Baptist Convention to endorse the reversal of a Supreme Court case allowing same-sex marriage. At least nine state legislatures have introduced bills to do the same.

“The Baptist Church in America is trying to reverse gay marriage,” she said. “They’re trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it. Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we’re going to get married here.”

Later, in response to an audience question, she added: “I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences.

“So until we’re there, I think there’s a hard place to say we have huge progress.”

However, the younger generation are “more comfortable with it” and are “just kind of fluid”, she added. “So I think the younger generation is going to show us the way.”

After some former workers on her talk show made allegations of a toxic workplace culture, the star – who ended every episode by telling viewers to “be kind to one another” – was dubbed as “mean” in the media.

Following the scandal three producers were sacked amid allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment, and the final season of the show opened with Ellen giving an on-air apology.

She addressed that in her 2024 tour and the accompanying Netflix stand-up special.

“No matter what, any article that came up, it was like, ‘She’s mean’, and it’s like, how do I deal with this without sounding like a victim or ‘poor me’ or complaining? But I wanted to address it.

“It’s as simple as, I’m a direct person, and I’m very blunt, and I guess sometimes that means that… I’m mean?” (BBC)

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Donald Trump files suit against Rupert Murdoch, Dow Jones over Wall Street Journal’s Jeffrey Epstein story

Donald Trump has followed through on his threat to sue Rupert Murdoch and his media companies over the Wall Street Journal‘s report on a bawdy letter in his name that was included in an album given to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.

A defamation lawsuit (read it here) was filed in a Florida federal court Friday seeing damages “not less than $10 billion” and a jury trial. It names Murdoch, Journal publisher Dow Jones, parent company News Corp and its CEO Robert Thomson and the reporters on the story, Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.

Trump confirmed the filing in a Truth Social post, writing in part, “This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favorite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media.”

He added, “I hope Rupert and his ‘friends’ are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case.”

The WSJ story published on Thursday included Trump’s denials that he ever wrote the letter, as well as his legal threat.

A spokesperson for the Journal said, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”

The WSJ report centered on a birthday album that was given to Epstein in 2003, featured collected letters from some of his friends. Among the letters was one bearing Trump’s name that “contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker,” the Journal reported, adding that a “pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.”

The letter text included an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, according to the Journal, that concluded with the line, “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”

In the president’s lawsuit, he claimed that the reporters “falsely pass off as fact that President Trump, in 2003, wrote, drew, and signed this letter. And on the other hand, Defendants Safdar and Palazzolo failed to attach the letter, failed to attach the alleged drawing, failed to show proof that President Trump authored or signed any such letter, and failed to explain how this purported letter was obtained. The reason for those failures is because no authentic letter or drawing exists. Defendants concocted this story to malign President Trump’s character and integrity and deceptively portray him in a false light.”

The Journal reported that it was Ghislaine Maxwell who collected the letters from Trump and dozens of Epstein’s other associates. The story described the letter as one “bearing Trump’s name.”

Trump’s lawsuit stated that the letter “does not explain whether Defendants have obtained a copy of the letter, have seen it, have had it described to them, or any other circumstances that would otherwise lend credibility to the Article.”

The lawsuit claimed that Murdoch and Thomson “authorized the publication of the Article after President Trump put them both on notice that the letter was fake and nonexistent.” In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump wrote that he “told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story.”

To prevail in a defamation case, Trump would have to show not only that the article’s statements were false, but that they were done with malice or reckless disregard for the truth. He claimed in the lawsuit that the defendants acted with “actual malice, oppression and fraud in that they were aware at the time of the falsity of the publication and thus, made said publications in bad faith, out of disdain and ill-will directed towards Plaintiff without any regard for the truth.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier on Friday, “I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!” (Deadline)

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Three killed in explosion at Los Angeles police training facility

Three officers were killed in an explosion at a law enforcement training facility in East Los Angeles, officials say.

The blast occurred at around 07:30 local time (15:30 BST) on Friday at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training facility, which houses the Sheriff’s department’s special enforcement bureau and arson explosives detail, including the bomb squad.

The exact cause of the explosion is still under investigation, but Sheriff Robert Luna of the LASD described it as “an isolated incident”. There were no additional injuries.

The three officers killed in the blast were “fantastic experts” and veterans of the department, each serving between 19 to 33 years, the sheriff said.

Authorities have not released the names of the deceased officers, citing the need to notify their families first. All three were assigned to the sheriff department’s arson explosives detail.

Friday’s incident represents the department’s largest loss of life in a single incident since its founding in 1857, Sheriff Luna said.

“We have to go back and investigate what happened from the very beginning,” he said. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting with the investigation.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi called the incident “horrific” and said federal agents had been deployed on the scene and “working to learn more”.

Authorities say the explosion took place in the parking lot of the facility’s special enforcement bureau.

US media, citing sources, report that officers were handling an unexploded ordnance recovered from a recent bomb disposal call when it detonated.

The bomb squad typically picks up potential explosives across the region daily, but it’s a situation that’s always fraught with danger because it’s hard to assess the stability of materials and their age, the Los Angeles Times reported citing law enforcement sources.

The area surrounding the facility was evacuated and has since been sealed off as investigators continue to work at the scene.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed about the explosion and he is “closely monitoring the situation”, his office said in a statement on X.

Newsom’s office added that state assistance has also been offered to help respond to the incident.

Kathryn Barger, Chief of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, wrote in a statement that she is “closely tracking the situation as we learn more about what occurred and the condition of those affected”.

“My heart is heavy, and my thoughts are with the brave men and women of the Sheriff’s Department during this difficult time,” she said. (BBC)

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White House says Trump diagnosed with vein condition after questions about bruises

US President Donald Trump is suffering from a chronic vein condition, the White House announced on Thursday, after days of speculation regarding photographs showing bruising on the president’s hand.

After recently experiencing swelling in his legs, Trump underwent a “comprehensive exam” including a diagnostic vascular study, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Leavitt said Trump’s bruised hand was consistent with “tissue damage from frequent handshaking” while taking aspirin, which she said is “part of a standard cardio-vascular prevention regimen”.

Trump, 79, has regularly touted his good health and once described himself as “the healthiest president that’s ever lived”.

The vein condition discovered in the recent exam is called chronic venous insufficiency, which occurs when leg veins fail to pump blood to the heart, causing it to pool in the lower limbs, which can then become swollen.

Leavitt said that there was “no evidence of deep vein thrombosis or arterial disease” and that all results from the test were “within normal limits”.

According to a note from White House physician Sean Barbabella released to reporters, the condition is “benign and common”, especially in people over age 70.

Additional testing showed “no signs of heart failure, renal impairment, or systemic illness” in Trump, Barbabella said in the note, which confirmed the information from Leavitt’s earlier briefing.

Overall, Trump is in “excellent health”, the doctor wrote.

Photographers captured what appeared to be Trump’s swollen legs during the Fifa Club World Cup final in New Jersey on 13 July, with subsequent photos taken earlier this week showing his bruised hands during a meet with Bahraini Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the White House.

A bruised hand on the president had previously been photographed during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in February.

The swollen legs and bruising prompted online speculation and rumours that the president may have been experiencing an illness that hadn’t been made public.

Following an annual physical exam in April, Barbabella wrote that Trump “exhibits cognitive and physical health”.

Trump was 78 years and seven months old when he was sworn in for his second term in January, making him the oldest president to ever be inaugurated as US leader. (BBC)