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Trump Arrested In Election Case, Historic Mug Shot Released

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Former President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, was arrested at a Georgia jail Thursday on racketeering and conspiracy charges and released on a $200,000 bond after having a historic mug shot taken.

Trump, who is accused of colluding with 18 other defendants to overturn the 2020 election result in the southern state, spent less than 30 minutes inside Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail before leaving in a motorcade for the airport.

Like the other defendants in the case who have surrendered so far, the 77-year-old Trump had his mug shot taken during the booking process — a first for any serving or former US president.

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In the photograph released by the sheriff’s office, he scowled at the camera while dressed in a dark blue suit, white shirt and red tie.

READ ALSO: Trump Indicted For Attempts To Overturn US 2020 Elections

Speaking to reporters after his arrest, Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said it was a “very sad day for America.”

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“What has taken place here is a travesty of justice,” he said. “I did nothing wrong.”

Trump posted the mug shot on his own Truth Social platform with the caption “Election Interference” and a link to his campaign website.

A short while later, he also posted it on X — formerly Twitter, which was Trump’s favourite bullhorn until he was banned from it after the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

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New owner Elon Musk reinstated Trump on X in November of last year, but Trump stayed away and posted instead on Truth Social. This was Trump’s first post since 2021 on what had been Twitter.

Trump was given the inmate number “PO1135809” by the Fulton County Jail, which listed his height as six foot three inches (1.9 meters), his weight as 215 pounds (97 kilograms) and his hair colour as “Blond or Strawberry.”

READ ALSO: Trump Says He Expects To Be Indicted In Capitol Riot Probe

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The billionaire has been criminally indicted four times since April, setting the stage for a year of unprecedented drama as he tries to juggle multiple court appearances and another White House campaign.

Trump was able to dodge having a mugshot taken during his previous arrests this year: in New York on charges of paying hush money to a porn star, in Florida for mishandling top secret government documents, and in Washington on charges of conspiring to upend his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

His arrest came one day after Trump spurned a televised debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, featuring eight of his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — all of whom lag well behind him in the polls.

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He still stole the spotlight, though, with all but two of the candidates saying they would support him as the party’s nominee even if he were a convicted felon.

– Court dates in election race –

A tight security perimeter was set up for Trump’s booking at the Fulton County Jail, which is under investigation for a slew of inmate deaths and deplorable conditions.

READ ALSO: Trump Vows To Ban Nigerians, Others From Birthright Citizenship In US

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Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who filed the sweeping racketeering case, had set a deadline of noon on Friday for Trump and the other 18 defendants to surrender.

Trump and 11 others have turned themselves in so far.

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows surrendered on Thursday and was released on $100,000 bond.

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Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who served as Trump’s personal lawyer when he was in the White House and vigorously pushed the false claims that Trump had won the 2020 election, was booked and released on Wednesday.

John Eastman, a conservative lawyer who is accused of drawing up a scheme to submit a false slate of Trump electors to Congress from Georgia instead of the legitimate Biden ones, has also been booked and released.

A few dozen supporters of the former Republican president gathered outside the jail, including Sharon Anderson who spent the night in her car.

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READ ALSO: Trump Risks 10 Yrs In Prison Over Classified Documents Case Indictment

I think this is a political persecution and now that’s turned into a political prosecution,” Anderson told AFP.

Trump is the first US president in history to face criminal charges.

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His various trials, if they take place next year, may coincide with the Republican presidential primary season, which begins in January, and the campaign for the November 2024 White House election.

Special counsel Jack Smith has proposed a January 2024 start date for Trump’s trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the last election with a lie-fueled campaign that culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.

Trump’s attorneys have countered with a suggested start date well after the election — April 2026.

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Willis, the Georgia district attorney, initially proposed that the racketeering case begin in March next year, the same month Trump is scheduled to go on trial in New York on charges of paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels.

On Thursday, after one of the defendants asked for a speedy trial, she proposed that it begin for all 19 in October of this year, a move met with an immediate objection from Trump’s lawyers.

The Florida case, in which Trump is accused of taking secret government documents as he left the White House and refusing to return them, is scheduled to begin in May.

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AFP

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Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

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Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

READ ALSO:PICTORIAL: NDLEA Intercepts Cocaine, Opioid Shipments Meant For US, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Poland

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A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP

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Trump Signs Order For TikTok’s Sale, Valued At $14bn

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United States President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declaring that his plan is to sell TikTok’s US operations to American and global investors.

As reported by Reuters on Friday, the order requires companies bidding for TikTok to meet the national-security requirements of the 2024 law that otherwise would ban the app unless its Chinese owners divest.

Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office briefing on Thursday, Vice President James Vance said the newly created US entity would be “valued around $14 billion.

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We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but they will make a determination about what they want to invest and what they think is the proper value,” he said.

READ ALSO:Antitrust Trial: US Asks Court To Break Up Google’s Ad Business

The White House on Thursday pushed back the law’s enforcement date to January 20 to allow time for the transaction, investor commitments, and negotiations with Chinese authorities.

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The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s US assets.

However, details remain to be worked out, including how the U.S. company would handle TikTok’s most valuable asset: its recommendation algorithm.

“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.

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READ ALSO:Trump Slams Harvard With New Restrictions On Funds

According to Reuters, Trump’s order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated approval of the plans. “I spoke with President Xi,” Trump said. “We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”

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Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. TikTok did not immediately comment on Trump’s action.

READ ALSO:Judge Throws Out Trump’s $15bn ‘Rage’ Lawsuit Against New York Times

Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, with helping him win reelection last year. Trump has 15 million followers on his personal TikTok account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.

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“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.

He said that Michael Dell, the founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News owner Fox Corp, and newspaper publisher News Corp, and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.

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14-year-old Dies After Botched Secret Breast Surgery

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A 14-year-old girl has died following a secret cosmetic procedure reportedly carried out by her mother’s boyfriend, a tragedy that her biological father only uncovered after her funeral.

The teenager, identified as Paloma Nicole Arellano Escobedo, died on September 20, 2025, after undergoing a breast enlargement surgery in Tijuana, Mexico, as reported by TMZ on Thursday.

Reports say the operation was arranged by her mother without the knowledge or consent of her father, Carlos Arellano.

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Following the surgery, Paloma suffered severe complications that led to cardiorespiratory arrest and brain swelling. She was pronounced dead shortly after.

READ ALSO:Trump To Lead Tributes At Kirk’s Memorial

Her death certificate, however, listed the cause as cerebral oedema caused by a respiratory illness, a claim her father strongly disputes. Information for this report was compiled from multiple sources, including AZ Central.

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Her death certificate falsely stated ‘illness’ as the cause of death in an attempt to cover up the truth,” said Carlos, alleging that the official report was deliberately misleading.

Carlos said he became suspicious after the family received the certificate unusually quickly.

They gave it to us right away. I don’t know how they did it so quickly,” he said, adding that the speed of the process raised further questions about whether officials were attempting to conceal the true cause of death.

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READ ALSO:H-1B Visas: Trump To Impose $100,000 Annual Fee For Skilled Foreign Workers

During the funeral, relatives noticed that Paloma’s chest looked noticeably different.

“At the funeral, some relatives told me her breasts were larger than what she had before, and when I mentioned it to her mother, she told me it wasn’t true, that she didn’t know anything,” Carlos told prosecutors, according to AZ Central.

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When he asked for a private moment to say goodbye to his daughter, Carlos invited his mother, sister, and sister-in-law to help him examine her body.

Sure enough: she had breast implants. We have photographs of the implants and the scars. We immediately requested an autopsy,” he said in his official complaint.

READ ALSO:Trump Slams Harvard With New Restrictions On Funds

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Authorities later confirmed that the surgery had allegedly been performed by Dr Víctor Manuel, a 45-year-old plastic surgeon who owned a private clinic in Durango and was romantically involved with Paloma’s mother.

He has since been suspended by the Mexican Association of Plastic, Aesthetic, and Reconstructive Surgeons while the Durango State Prosecutor’s Office investigates the case.

Carlos accused his ex-wife and her partner of lying to him and attempting to conceal the true circumstances of their daughter’s death.

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“I demand that all those responsible be investigated,” he said, calling for justice and accountability for everyone involved in the unauthorised surgery and possible cover-up.

READ ALSO:Kimmel’s Suspension: Obama Slams Trump For ‘Dangerous’ Attack On Free Speech

Durango’s Attorney General, Yadira de la Garza Fragoso, confirmed that investigators are looking into the role of both the surgeon and the mother.

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We are investigating a probable lack of care on the part of the mother for placing a minor who was under her care and custody in risky situations,” Fragoso said.

The incident has sparked widespread concern over illegal and unsafe cosmetic surgeries involving minors in Mexico. While the country has no explicit national law restricting plastic surgery for those under 18, such procedures typically require the written consent of both parents.

A final autopsy report is pending as authorities continue the investigation.

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