Lori Vallow trial – live: ‘Cult mom’ turns on Chad Daybell in closing argument as murder verdict looms
The fate of “doomsday cult mom” Lori Vallow is in the hands of the jury as her dramatic murder trial draws to a close. Closing arguments concluded in Ada County Courthouse, Boise, Idaho, and the jury of seven men and five women began deliberations on Thursday afternoon before concluding four hours later. While the judge banned cameras from the courtroom, the hotly-anticipated verdict will be livestreamed. Ms Vallow, 49, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and her new husband Chad Daybell’s first wife Tammy Daybell, 49. Tylee and JJ were last seen in September 2019. In June 2020, their remains were found buried on the Daybell property. Tammy died one month after their disappearance in October 2019. Over the last six weeks, prosecutors laid out their case that Ms Vallow conspired with Mr Daybell and her brother Alex Cox to kill the three victims – as part of their doomsday cult beliefs and greed. Ms Vallow, meanwhile, made the shock decision not to offer any defence in the trial. Instead, turning on Mr Daybell via her attorney during closing arguments. Read More Cult beliefs, hazmat suits and charred remains: Key revelations from Lori Vallow’s murder trial What we know about the Lori Vallow Daybell ‘doomsday cult’ murder trial Lori Vallow trial verdict will be livestreamed, judge rules after banning video of testimony
2023-05-12 08:54
Asia Shares Set for Mixed Open After Bonds Rally: Markets Wrap
Stocks in Asia are set for a muted open after a mixed US session that saw Treasuries and
2023-05-12 08:50
Trump Appeals Carroll Sexual Assault Verdict Granting Damages
Donald Trump is appealing the verdict of a New York jury that found him liable for sexually abusing
2023-05-12 06:18
Trump to appeal E Jean Carroll $5m verdict after being found liable for sexual abuse
Donald Trump is appealing the verdict in the E Jean Carroll case after he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation. Ms Carroll was awarded $5m earlier this week by the jury in the civil trial in Manhattan. The appeal was filed not long after Judge Lewis Kaplan entered the jury’s verdict in the case, according to CNN. Ms Carroll, an author and magazine journalist, claimed in the trial that Mr Trump raped her in a dressing room at the Berghof Goodman department store in the mid-1990s. Mr Trump has consistently denied the allegation. The Trump legal team filed the notice of appeal in the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday. The notice was filed only hours after Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the civil trial, wrote a ruling in support of the jury’s verdict, ordering the former president to pay the full $5m. The Trump legal team previously indicated that they would appeal the case. Ms Carroll argued that Mr Trump raped her and that he then defamed her when he rejected her claim and said she made up the story to sell books. The jury awarded Ms Carroll about $2m for the civil battery claim in relation to the sexual assault and about $3m for the subsequent defamation. The jury didn’t find Mr Trump liable for rape. While Ms Carroll testified extensively in the trial, Mr Trump didn’t attend. The twice-impeached ex-president mocked Ms Carroll at the CNN town hall that aired just a day after the verdict. The town hall has been criticised as divisive and even being “a volcano of bulls***” by commentators who accused the network of providing Mr Trump with a platform for airing several dubious claims. Mr Trump described Ms Carroll as a “whack job” and called the trial “rigged”. He was asked what he would tell voters who said the verdict disqualifies him from being president. “Well there aren’t too many of them because my poll numbers just came out – they went up,” Mr Trump said to the crowd, which, according to CNN, was composed of Republicans and undecided voters. The former president also called Ms Carroll’s allegations a “made-up story”. “I swear on my children, which I never do, I have no idea who this woman – this is a fake story, a made-up story,” he said. Mocking her, he said he was too famous to hang around department stores. Ms Carroll had told the jury in her testimony that she and Mr Trump had engaged in playful banter after a chance encounter at Bergdorf Goodman one evening in the mid-1990s. But after taking an escalator up to a deserted 6th floor to look for lingerie, Mr Trump led her to a dressing room, pushed her up against a wall and sexually assaulted her, she claimed. “I was very famous then and I owned the Plaza Hotel right next door and I owned the buildings around it – I’m not going into a dressing room of a crowded department store,” he said at the town hall. He also reiterated claims he did not know Ms Carroll at all, and called the trial “rigged.” “She wasn’t raped, OK? … And I didn’t do anything else either, OK, because I don’t know who the hell she is,” he said during the town hall, as the audience was heard laughing. On Thursday, Ms Carroll told The New York Times that she may sue Mr Trump again after his “vile” comments on CNN. Ms Carroll said that the former president’s comments were “just stupid, it’s just disgusting, vile, foul, it wounds people”. Her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, told the paper that “Everything’s on the table, obviously, and we have to give serious consideration to it”. “We have to weigh the various pros and cons and we’ll come to a decision in the next day or so, probably,” she added. Read More Trump town hall – live: Trump to appeal E Jean Carroll verdict as she threatens to sue him again Trump may be sued again by E Jean Carroll after he called sexual abuse claim ‘fake’ at CNN town hall CNN faces backlash over chaotic Trump town hall event
2023-05-12 05:58
High Court Backs California Humane-Pork Law in Industry Loss
The US Supreme Court upheld California’s new humane-pork law, rejecting an industry challenge in a ruling buttressing the
2023-05-11 22:58
EU Suggests Limits on Its Approach to US-China Rivalry
The European Union should avoid being drawn into a zero-sum contest between Washington and Beijing as it works
2023-05-11 21:50
Britain gives Ukraine new missiles in boost for Zelensky’s counteroffensive
Britain has supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow stealth cruise missiles giving Volodymyr Zelensky’s government the capability to carry out long-range strikes against Russian forces. The missiles with a range of 155 miles, will give a vital boost to Ukrainian forces when they launch their much publicised spring offensive. They have a shorter reach than the 185-mileof the American Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, which President Zelensky has asked for repeatedly, but they will enable Ukrainian forces to carry out strikes not just in occupied territories, but inside Russia. Leaked Pentagon papers revealed, based on electronic eavesdropping, that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, complained in late February to the head of the country’s military, Gen Valeriy Zaluzhny, that Ukraine “does not have long-range missiles capable of reaching Russian troop deployments in Russia”. The Ukrainian government has assured Britain, the US and Nato allies that the Storm Shadow will not be used outside “Ukrainian sovereign territory”. However, Crimea, which was annexed by the Kremlin in 2013 is considered to fall within the term of “sovereign territory” by the UK. Storm Shadows, if deployed against targets in Crimea and seas around, will place Russia’s Black Sea Fleet under threat and also significantly limit the capabilities of Moscow to supply its forces around the peninsula by sea. General Ben Hodges, a former commander of the US army in Europe, said recently he believed Russia’s “Black Sea fleet would already have departed Sevastopol if Ukraine had Storm Shadow”. He held that President Zelenskiy and “would not want to lose the trust of the west” by using long-range missiles beyond agreed limits The US has been extremely cautious about providing weapons to Ukraine that could help them strike within Russian territory. Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Colin Kahl had said August that it is the US assessment Ukraine does not “currently require ATACMS to service targets that are directly relevant to the current fight.” Even with the arrival of the missiles, the offensive may be delayed. President Zelensky said on Thursday that Western military supplies, including armoured vehicles, are coming through in batches and needed to be integrated into Ukrainian forces. Going to early would lead to needless loss of lives, said the President : “With what we already have we can go forward, and, I think, be successful. But we’d lose a lot of people. I think that’s unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time.” Mr Zelensky dismissed fears about losing US support if President Joe Biden, who has vowed to support Ukraine as long as it takes, is not re-elected in 2024. Ukraine, he said, still enjoyed bipartisan support in the US Congress. “Who knows where we’ll be [when the election happens]?” he said. “I believe we’ll win by then.” Donald Trump, who may well get the Republican nomination, had said in the past that he would recognise Russian ownership of Crimea, refused at a CNN town hall on Wednesday to say whether he would continue supporting Ukraine until victory was achieved. “I don’t think of winning or losing, I think in terms of getting it settled. I want everybody to stop dying” said the former President. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
2023-05-11 19:23
Trump town hall – live: Ex-president mocks E Jean Carroll and praises ‘cunning’ Putin at CNN event
Donald Trump returned to prime-time mainstream television on Wednesday evening when he took part in a CNN town hall event in New Hampshire in which he used the platform to repeat debunked lies about the 2020 presidential election, praise Vladimir Putin and rehash other familiar falsehoods, prompting the network to attract criticism for hosting him. The network’s own anchors were among those questioning the broadcast, with Jake Tapper lashing out at the ex-president for calling a Black law enforcement officer “a thug” and making fun of E Jean Carroll’s sexual assault. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and DC police officer Michael Fanone likewise criticised the programme, with the New York representative saying CNN should be “ashamed”. The town hall came just one day after Mr Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming the ex-Elle magazine columnist by a Manhattan jury, who ruled he must pay Ms Carroll $5m in damages. Mr Trump referred to the victim as a “whack job” and again insisted he had never met her. Mr Trump barrelled through the hour-long broadcast in a blizzard of dishonest statements, at times talking over moderator Kaitlan Collins’s fact-checking and requests that he answer the questions asked. Read More ‘Putin’s puppet’ Trump refuses to say if Ukraine should win the war against Russia Trump refuses to acknowledge he lost ‘rigged’ 2020 election at CNN town hall Trump calls Kaitlan Collins ‘nasty’ in tense exchange over classified documents at CNN town hall Disastrous Trump town hall begs the question: What was CNN thinking?
2023-05-11 17:54
German Union Calls for Two-Day Train Strike Starting Late Sunday
Germany’s railway and transport union called for its third nationwide strike this year after wage talks with state-owned
2023-05-11 16:46
Biden Presses for China Contact Despite Risk of Losing Clout
The Biden administration is trying to make it hard for China to say no to engagement by seeking
2023-05-11 16:27
Hong Kong Overnight Funding Costs Surge to Highest Since 2007
The cost to borrow overnight in Hong Kong jumped to a 16-year high as official efforts to enforce
2023-05-11 15:53
South Korea-Japan Deal Helps Counter Pyongyang, Adviser Says
A deal between South Korea and Japan to remedy a long-running impasse can help work with their US
2023-05-11 15:45