The encounter, as recalled by E Jean Carroll, was friendly at first. Ms Carroll, then a magazine feature writer and TV host, bumped into Donald Trump in the upmarket New York department store Bergdorf Goodman. As Ms Carroll wrote in her 2019 memoir What Do We Need Men For?, he recognised her as “that advice lady”. She knew him as “that real-estate tycoon”. Mr Trump supposedly told her that he was there to buy a gift for “a girl”, and asked for help to choose an appropriate item. She placed the incident in either late 1995 or early 1996, when the future president was married to Marla Maples. The pair made their way to the lingerie section, where Mr Trump suggested that she try on a lace bodysuit. She claims she jokingly said that he should try it on instead. As they reached the dressing rooms, Ms Carroll alleges that Mr Trump shoved her against a wall, put his hands underneath her dress and pulled down her tights. He then unzipped his pants, and “forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway — or completely, I’m not certain — inside me”, she wrote. A “colossal struggle” ensued, she said, and Ms Carroll eventually pushed him away and ran out of the dressing room. The episode was over in under three minutes, she wrote. After the allegations were first made in a book excerpt in New York magazine in June 2019, Mr Trump angrily denied it. "I've never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book — that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section,” he said in an official White House statement that month. Then days later in an interview in the Oval Office with The Hill, Mr Trump went even further. “I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?” Ms Carroll then filed a defamation lawsuit against Mr Trump alleging he had damaged her reputation, substantially harmed her professionally, and caused emotional pain. After writing her Ask E Jean column for Elle magazine for nearly 30 years, the magazine terminated her contract abruptly in December of that year. The magazine denied it was related to Ms Carroll’s allegations. Months after Ms Carroll filed against Mr Trump, the Department of Justice intervened and transferred the case to federal court, arguing that he was immune from prosecution as president at the time of the initial defamation. But the federal court disagreed with the position of the DoJ and allowed discovery in the case to continue. And when the former president failed to have the case dismissed last October, he took to Truth Social to again unleash his denial, and unwittingly at the same time allowed Ms Carroll to file the new defamation claim. In 2022, New York passed the Adult Survivors Act which allowed adult sexual assault survivors one year to sue their alleged abusers. Ms Carroll filed a second lawsuit against Mr Trump for rape and for additional alleged defamatory statements made by him in October 2022 where he called her a “complete con job”. It is this second case for which court proceedings began on 25 April. In a court filing earlier this year, Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote that the central issue in both cases is the same — whether Mr Trump raped Ms Carroll. “If he did not, then Ms Carroll’s sexual assault claim ... and her libel claims in both cases likely would fail. “If he did, then little would remain in either case except perhaps a few minor issues related to Mr Trump’s statements and determination of damages.” Ms Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan said they tried for three years to obtain Mr Trump’s DNA sample to compare it with stains found on the dress she was wearing on the day. After refusing to provide a sample, Mr Trump’s attorneys then made an 11th-hour offer to do so earlier this year. Judge Kaplan rejected the offer. As the case is being tried in civil court, the jury will likely be asked to find whether there is “a preponderance of evidence” to prove Ms Carroll’s claims, rather than the criminal standard of “beyond reasonable doubt”. Over the course of the trial so far, Ms Carroll’s witnesses have included the columnist herself, friends who she spoke to about allegations at the time, mental health experts, and a few of the more than two dozen women who have accused Mr Trump of sexual assault. Ms Carroll took the stand on 26 April, testifying that she and Mr Trump were shopping around the department store at the time when he asked her to try on a piece of lingerie that he was looking to purchase – a blue bodysuit. “He was having a good time, and so was I,” Ms Carroll said, adding that the two were harmlessly flirting with one another. As the two reached the dressing room, Ms Carroll said Mr Trump “shut the door and shoved me up against the wall.” “I was confused. I laughed,” Ms Carroll said. She said she pushed Mr Trump back but he “thurst” her into the wall again. From there, Ms Carroll described how Mr Trump pulled down her tights and inserted his fingers into her vagina. “It was extremely painful,” Ms Carroll recalled emotionally. “It was a horrible feeling. He put his hand inside me and curled his finger. As I sit here today, I can still feel it.” When asked if she screamed for help or told Mr Trump to stop, Ms Carroll said, “I’m not a screamer. I’m a fighter.” Ms Carroll alleges Mr Trump then inserted his penis and began to rape her. “I wonder why I walked in there, to get in that situation... I’m proud to say I got out of there,” Ms Carroll. After the assault, Ms Carroll said she left the department store quickly and called her friend, Lisa Birnbach. Later on, Ms Carroll would tell Carol Martin, an anchorwoman at ABC, about the assault, but did not confide in many others. Ms Carroll said she felt “very stupid” for going into the dressing room. She described how the alleged rape left her “unable to ever have a romantic life again.” Later on, Ms Carroll elaborated on her inability to form and maintain romantic relationships saying that because she was allegedly raped by Mr Trump after flirting with him, it hindered her ability to engage with men. For the defence, Mr Trump’s attorneys initially included him, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, and several others on their list of potential witnesses. But on 3 May, his lawyers announced that they would not be presenting any witnesses – or a defence case. After the legal teams rested their cases on 4 May, Judge Lewis Kaplan gave Mr Trump until 5pm on 7 May to decide if he was going to testify in the trial. The judge’s comments came after Mr Trump said he would cut his golfing trip to Scotland and Ireland short to “confront” Ms Carroll, but the deadline passed without the Trump legal team filing a motion to include Mr Trump in the proceedings. Ariana Baio contributed to this report Read More Trump misses deadline to testify in E Jean Carroll trial – despite vowing to ‘confront’ case Trump news – live: Trump misses last chance to testify in E Jean Carroll trial as closing arguments begin Who is Natasha Stoynoff? The journalist whose testimony could help bring down Trump

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. raised $8.7 million in the third quarter while he was running for the Democratic

Nikki Haley is once again pressing Washington’s greying political establishment to step aside after a pair of concerning moments involving two of the Senate’s oldest members grabbed headlines in recent days. The former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador spoke to CBS’s Margaret Brennan in an interview that aired on Sunday; she is currently campaigning in early primary states as she seeks the GOP nomination for president. A central tenet of her campaign’s message since its onset has been a call for a new generation of leaders to take the helm in both parties. As such, Brennan asked her about the moment that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze and appeared unable to speak at a press conference on Wednesday, after which he was led away by a colleauge. It was later revealed that the Senate GOP leader had suffered an undisclosed fall earlier in July while still recovering from a concussion suffered in the spring. “I think Mitch McConnell did an amazing job when it comes to our judiciary. When we look at the judges, when we look at the Supreme Court, he's been a great leader. But I do think that this is one – you know, we've got to stop electing people because they look good in the picture or they hold a baby well,” she told CBS News. “We've got to stop electing people because we like them and they've been there a long time. That's actually the problem. You need to have term limits, because we need new ideas, new solutions. We've got to have a new generation.” Ms Haley added when pressed by Brennan on whether she had confidence in Mr McConnell remaining leader of the Senate Republican caucus: “What I am saying about Mitch McConnell, Dianne Feinstein, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, all of them: know when to walk away, know when to walk away. We have huge issues that need new solutions. We need new generational leaders. We appreciate your service. We appreciate what you've done. But this is why we will fight for term limits. We've got to get it done in America.” Her remark naming Senator Feinstein was an apparent reference to another moment that drew the attention of reporers this past week when the senior senator from California appeared confused during a committee hearing and launched into a speech calling for a vote which was already in progress. And persistent concerns about Joe Biden’s age have followed him doggedly throughout his first term. The 80-year-old Mr Biden was already the oldest US president to be sworn into office in 2021, and is now facing some calls from progressives and others concerned about criticisms focused on his mental acuity to step aside and allow a younger politician to be the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer. Ms Pelosi’s inclusion on the list is only notable given that she is the sole named party leader to have already given up her leadership position, willingly, earlier this year. The 83-year-old California congresswoman handed over command of the Democratic caucus to Hakeem Jeffries at the beginning of the year while Republicans struggled to annoint their own leader in a chaotic speakership election. Ms Haley was less certain in her interview with CBS whether Donald Trump, 77, would be included in her call for ageing politicians to step aside. But she maintained that he should take a mental acuity test, as she argues all presidential contenders should. And she relented after pressing from Brennan that Mr Trump was “of course” not who she had in mind when she made her call for leaders with new ideas, age notwithstanding. “I just said we need a new generational leader,” she noted. “I mean, that goes ... for all of them. You can look across DC ... Of course, I'm talking about Trump. I've said that all throughout this campaign that it is time for us to have a new generation. We've lost – Republicans have lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president. That's nothing to be proud of, we should want to win the majority of Americans, we've got to start going with a new generation so that we can do that. “ Read More Mitch McConnell vows to serve out full Senate term following questions over his health Sen Dianne Feinstein appears confused and is instructed to vote ‘aye’ by fellow senator at meeting Mitch McConnell leaves press conference abruptly after appearing unable to speak Joe Biden, America's oldest sitting president, needs young voters to win again. Will his age matter? Trump, amid legal perils, calls on GOP to rally around him as he threatens primary challenges Biden acknowledges Hunter’s daughter Navy in public for first time

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When Ukraine announced it had re-captured the village of Robotyne, its message to the world was that it had found a way to pierce Russian...

Terry R

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NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 17, 2023--

For five days, expert cave explorer Mark Dickey has been stuck 3,400 feet below the surface in a cave in the Taurus Moutain region of Turkey. Mr Dickey, 40, is an experienced caver who embarked on an expedition mission to map one of the deepest caves in the world – the Morca cave system in southern Turkey. But the expedition was suddenly cut short after Mr Dickey fell ill with gastrointestinal bleeding. Now, a rescue team of over 150 personnel from several international organisations have combined their efforts to try to retrieve Mr Dickey, who cannot leave the cave due to the emergency medical situation. As of Thursday, officials in the Speleological Federation of Turkey said that Mr Dickey’s situation had improved but that he would require a stretcher, making the rescue mission even more complicated. An expert caver Hailing from Croton-on-Hudson, New York, Mr Dickey is a highly-trained caver, cave rescuer himself and well-known in the international speleological (cave expert) community, according to the European Cave Rescue Association (ECRA). His resume of cave explorations and expert status is endless: secretary of the ECRA medical committee, lead instructor for Caving Academy, a US-based organisation that prepares other cavers for exploration and a national instructor for the National Cave Rescue Commission. He also volunteers with the New Jersey Initial Response Team, a nonprofit search-and-rescue team. Having participated in many cave explorations in karst areas around the world for many years, Mr Dickey is knowledgeable and skilled – the kind of person you’d want on complicated cave exploration like the Morca mission. Mr Dickey was on an expedition to map the 4,186-foot-deep cave system in southern Turkey for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association. Photos from a Facebook page that seemingly belongs to Mr Dickey show him happily preparing for the mission by inspecting all the necessary gear before embarking. But what Mr Dickey, and others, could not prepare for was the sudden emergency medical situation he found himself in during the journey. On 2 September, Mr Dickey fell ill with severe gastric pain that was escalating quickly. Though there was initial hope that Mr Dickey could exit the cave on his own, the pain turned into gastrointestinal bleeding and it was clear he needed medical attention quickly. The Speleological Federation of Turkey sent a medical team and six units of blood in the following days in the hopes of stabilising Mr Dickey’s medical situation. On Thursday, Mr Dickey appeared in a video for the first time, obtained by The Associated Press, where he thanked Turkish authorities for responding quickly to his medical needs. “I don’t quite know what’s happened, but I do know that the quick response of the Turkish government to get the medical supplies that I need, in my opinion, saved my life,” Mr Dickey said. “I was very close to the edge.” While doctors worked to assist Mr Dickey, cave experts began putting their teams together to figure out how to rescue Mr Dickey through one of the deepest, and very complicated, cave systems. “A long and challenging rescue operation is initiated to carry Mark out on a stretcher,” the ECRA said in a statement. A complicated route Teams from Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy and Poland are working to create a path out of the cave system. The Morca cave system descends through various, very narrow, twists, turns and rappels – making it a difficult exploration for any person in good health. The underground equivalent of the cave is like climbing Mount Everest. “It takes a full 15 hours for an experienced caver to reach the surface in ideal conditions,” the Speleological Federation of Turkey said. To tackle the issue, the team of international experts has divided up the depths of the cave and assigned it to a specific team to figure out a solution for that specific area. At multiple very narrow spots, a demolition team will need to widen them so Mr Dickey can pass through on a stretcher. They will also need to set up several camp spots on the way up to continuously monitor Mr Dickey and give him and his team sections to rest in. To make the matter more complicated, communication between the underground team and the surface team is limited. Runners are being used to travel from the camp where Mr Dickey is to the surface where a telephone line is to speak with officials, according to AP. Hungarian Cave Rescue Service member, Marton Kovacs, told CBS News that they were also addressing the danger of falling rocks in several places. The Hungarian team is working between the 590 to 1180-feet depths Mr Kovacs said Mr Dickey’s exit will take several days and they hope to begin on Saturday or Sunday depending on Mr Dickey’s condition. Read More Trapped American explorer says he was ‘very close to the edge’ in emotional first video from Turkish cave American explorer trapped 3,400 feet in Turkey cave shares emotional video as rescue effort drags on - latest Dramatic rescue underway for renowned American caver stuck 3,700 feet underground Trapped American explorer releases emotional video from deep in Turkish cave Explorer Mark Dickey trapped 3,400 feet in Turkey cave shares emotional video Peter Navarro found guilty of contempt of Congress for defying Jan 6 committee

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s possible trip to Russia this month might be like his first one in 2019 — a rattling, 20-hour ride aboard a green-and-yellow armored train that is a quirky symbol of his family’s dynastic leadership