Some of the nation’s most influential Black leaders say many of the threats to democratic institutions in the U.S. appear to be aimed squarely at their community, including efforts to make voting more difficult, censor lessons around race and weaken social safeguards such as affirmative action

Donald Trump has missed the deadline to testify in the civil rape trial brought against him by writer E Jean Carroll. The Sunday 5pm ET deadline passed without Mr Trump’s lawyers filing a motion to inform the court of any change in plans – despite the former president saying last week that he was cutting his trip to Scotland and Ireland short to head back to New York and “confront” Ms Carroll. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan had warned Mr Trump that once the deadline passed, he would no longer have the opportunity to testify in the case. “That ship will be irrevocably sailed,” he said. Ms Carroll, a former Elle advice columnist, claimed that he raped her in a dressing room in Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1995 or 1996 – a claim Mr Trump strongly denies. Now, the defamation and battery trial is set to enter its final stages as closing arguments begin on Monday. Judge Kaplan issued the Sunday 5pm deadline on Thursday giving Mr Trump an extension to appear and testify in court. This came after Mr Trump told reporters in Ireland that he would “probably” shorten his trip and return to the US to attend the trial. “I’m going to go back, and I’m going to confront this,” Mr Trump said, adding that “this woman is a disgrace and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen in our country”, according to The Daily Beast. He also attacked Ms Carroll, calling her “fake” and saying that Judge Kaplan was “extremely hostile”. “I have to leave early. I don’t have to but I choose to,” Mr Trump said, according to the New York Daily News. “I was falsely accused by this woman. I have no idea who she is. It’s ridiculous.” “He doesn’t like me very much,” Mr Trump added of Judge Kaplan. “It’s a disgrace but we have to do it. It’s a part of life.” Judge Kaplan mentioned Mr Trump’s comments in Ireland when saying that the jury needed the opportunity to hear from him personally. “In the interests of justice,” the judge said he would allow the case to be reopened for a short period of time to give Mr Trump an opportunity to testify. “If he has second thoughts, I’ll at least consider it,” the judge said as he announced the deadline. But, despite Mr Trump’s comments, his lawyer Joe Tacopina said on Thursday that he wouldn’t be attending the trial. Ms Carroll’s legal team called 11 witnesses during the two-week proceedings while the defence called none. Both legal teams rested their cases on Thursday. Mr Trump has rejected all allegations in relation to the case, saying that Ms Carroll wasn’t his “type” and that he doesn’t know who she is. In his deposition in October of last year, which was partly shared by Ms Carroll’s legal team in court, he called Ms Carroll a “nutjob” who had made up the story of the rape to boost her book sales. Following Monday’s closing arguments, the jury is set to receive the case for deliberation on Tuesday. Read More Trump news – live: Trump misses last chance to testify in E Jean Carroll trial as closing arguments begin Biden trails Trump in brutal new poll after 2024 kickoff Trump rejects last chance to testify at New York civil trial Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

The judgement in a domestic dispute case allowed a housewife equal share in her husband's property.

Advocacy group Climate Power is committing $80 million in advertising to call attention to President Joe Biden's climate and environment agenda ahead of the 2024 election, the group announced Monday.

Veteran journalist AJ Benza rubbished Foxx's family's statement as 'all lies' and 'baloney'

Despite this past week’s thrashing at the polls, Republican lawmakers in Ohio have vowed to try again to pass a measure making it harder to change the state's constitution

Emerging images and maps reveal the full scale of the devastation caused by the Kakhovka dam disaster in southern Ukraine.

The Netherlands and Denmark will supply dozens of F-16s to Ukraine as they pledged “unwavering support” in a landmark announcement yesterday. While Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would receive 42 jets in total, the two donor countries did not specify numbers in a joint statement confirming the deliveries. Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen said 19 jets will “hopefully” be sent to Kyiv, of which six will arrive around the new year, eight more next year and the remaining five will be sent in 2025 as he asked Ukraine to “please take this donation as a token of Denmark’s unwavering support for your country’s fight for freedom”. Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands has 42 of the jets, but said some will be needed for training purposes. Ukraine has been asking its allies for advanced fighter jets since the very beginning of Russia’s invasion, but its Western allies have been reluctant to provide military donations that could be used to strike deep inside Moscow’s territory. It comes as nearly 50 flights to and from Moscow were disrupted after Russia said it foiled attacks by two Ukrainian drones in the city. Read More ‘Wagner is victim of its own brand name’: How much of a threat does mercenary group pose in Belarus? Zelenskyy visits NATO candidate Sweden for 1st time since full-scale war with Russia Ukraine war troop deaths and wounded nearing 500,000, say US officials

A top investigator on the Gilgo Beach serial killings task force has described the suspect, Rex Heuermann, as a "demon" and said it's possible there may be more victims out there.

The American Museum of Natural History in New York will remove all human remains displayed in its exhibits and is preparing a new storage location for its collection of 12,000 remains -- which includes skeletal remains of Indigenous and enslaved Black people -- according to a letter from the museum president obtained by CNN.

By Alexandra Ulmer Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, the biggest individual donor to a group supporting Ron DeSantis' presidential

The Court of Appeal has ruled the government's Rwanda policy is unlawful.