Headline

Jury Orders Trump To Pay $83.3m For Defamation

Published

2 years ago

January 27, 2024

A federal jury ruled on Friday that former US President Donald Trump must pay $83.3 million in damages for defamatory statements he made denying he sexually assaulted the writer E. Jean Carroll.

According to CBS, the jury awarded Carroll $18.3 million in compensatory damages, and $65 million in punitive damages. The compensatory amount included $11 million for repairing her reputation, and $7.3 million for emotional harm.

Carroll’s attorneys asked the jury to award $24 million in compensatory damages. The lawyer, Roberta Kaplan said the punitive amount should be enough to “make him stop” defaming her client.

After the verdict was read aloud in federal court in lower Manhattan, Carroll emerged from the courthouse smiling and flanked by her legal team.

She declined to speak to a crush of cameras and reporters gathered outside, but issued a statement later, saying, “This is a great victory for every woman who stands up when she’s been knocked down, and a huge defeat for every bully who has tried to keep a woman down.”

Reacting to the verdict on social media, Trump who is contesting the US President he lost to Joe Biden, four years ago, called the judicial system “Broken and Unfair!”

A longtime advice columnist, Carroll wrote a story in New York magazine in 2019 accusing Trump of sexually assaulting her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Trump, who was president at the time, immediately denied the allegations, calling Carroll a “whack job” and claiming he had never met her.

He would go on to repeat similar denials in public appearances, social media posts and even in court, a pattern cited by Carroll’s attorneys during the trial.

Carroll filed two defamation lawsuits over comments Trump made in 2019 and 2022, arguing his disparagements ruined her reputation and subjected her to endless streams of threats.

In the trial to resolve Carroll’s first suit in May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse, and awarded Carroll $5 million.

Before the second trial got underway, the judge ruled that Carroll was telling the truth about the assault, and that Trump’s statements denying her claims were defamatory. The jury was tasked only with deciding what damages Carroll was entitled to receive.

The jurors’ $83 million decision came just days after Trump won the New Hampshire primary, solidifying his status as the front-runner to become the Republican presidential nominee.

Minutes after the verdict was handed down, the former president, who had already left the courthouse, issued a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“Absolutely ridiculous!” Trump wrote. “I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”

Headline

Indian Court Denies Bail To Nigerian Man Over Drug Charges

Published

4 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

A court in India has denied bail to a 44-year-old Nigerian national, Cristian Soporuchukwu, who is currently facing drug trafficking charges in the country.

Cristian Soporuchukwu initially entered India on a business visa but was later arrested over allegations of involvement in the sale of hard drugs.

Reports indicated that after arriving in India, Soporuchukwu travelled through Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai, where he allegedly established links with suspected drug traffickers.

He was accused of purchasing MDMA crystals and distributing them to college students and information technology workers.

According to reports, operatives of the Beguru Police arrested Cristian Soporuchukwu in April 2025 for allegedly selling MDMA crystals around Begur Lake and the AECS Layout Road area.

The New Indian Express reported that the High Court of Karnataka subsequently dismissed the Nigerian’s bail application.

“The anti-narcotics wing seized about 1 kg of MDMA crystals, a pocket weighing machine, 10 zip-lock covers, a mobile phone and a scooter from him,” the report stated.

Justice V. Srishananda, while ruling on the bail application, reportedly held that errors relating to the grounds of arrest could not automatically justify bail in serious narcotics-related offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, NDPS, Act.

The court further noted that Cristian Soporuchukwu had allegedly overstayed his visa in India, according to the report.

Headline

Strait Of Hormuz: US Announces Sanctions Against Iran

Published

4 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States Treasury has announced sanctions against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees, saying they may be providing support to and receiving services from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and therefore may be exposed to sanctions risk.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.

“Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” Bessent said.

Bessent added that the US has succeeded in disrupting tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being accessible to Tehran.

Headline

US Launches New Airstrikes On Iran

Published

4 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States has launched new airstrikes in southern Iran.

The strike shot down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and then a ground control site.

A US official revealed that American forces struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The official described the strikes as purely defensive, saying the US intended to maintain the ceasefire.

Report says this is the second time in three days that the US has carried out self-defense strikes against Iranian military targets in southern Iran.

Recall that on Monday the US carried out airstrikes against Iranian missile locations and boats that US Central Command said were preparing to launch mines in the Strait of Hormuz.