International
A U.S. media manager says he favored Trump to help him in his 2016 campaign
A director of a media outlet that testifies in the trial against Donald Trump, named David Pecker, said on Tuesday in a court in New York that he favored the campaign of the then Republican candidate in 2016 after an agreement that, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, was part of a “criminal structure” to corrupt the elections.
The former US president, present in the courtroom, is criminally accused of falsifying accounting records to buy the silence of the porn actress Stormy Daniels and that an alleged love affair between the two did not come to light that would have put in check his promotion to the White House eight years ago.
According to the Manhattan Prosecutor’s Office, the work of Pecker – former editor of the tabloid The National Enquirer – contributed to the plot by buying the publication rights of two other extramarital stories – an alleged ‘affair’ with model Karen McDougal and a false illegitimate son of Trump – to leave them stored in a drawer and thus protect the candidacy of the Republican politician.
A strategy known in English as ‘catch and kill’, which he applied after paying $150,000 to McDougal and $30,000 to the man who claimed to have the exclusive of Trump’s alleged unrecognized offspring, revealed Pecker.
“I made the decision to buy the story (of the alleged illegitimate son) due to the possible embarrassment it would mean for the campaign and for Mr. Trump,” he clarified.
Shortly before, the former American media magnate had explained that they also harmed the former ruler’s political rivals.
“What I had to do was publish positive stories about Mr. Trump and publish negative stories about his opponents,” Pecker, the first witness to testify at the trial, who was called by the Prosecutor’s Office after finishing the initial allegations, confirmed with a calm attitude.
Prosecutors argued on Monday that this “conspiracy,” in which Michael Cohen – former lawyer of the former president of the United States – was forged with a meeting at the Trump Tower in 2015.
International
Pope Francis meets former Gaza hostages
Pope Francis met on Thursday at the Vatican with 16 Israelis who had been held hostage in Gaza for months by the Islamist group Hamas, according to the official Vatican news website.
The group consisted of ten women, four men, and two children, as reported by the same source. Several of the former hostages showed the Argentine pontiff banners or photos of their loved ones who remain in captivity.
Francis had previously met with the families of hostages in April this year and November 2023, but this was the first time he had met with individuals who had personally endured captivity.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, the pope has repeatedly called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages, while also condemning the suffering of the Palestinian population.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Islamist militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,206 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures that include hostages who died in captivity.
Of the kidnapped, 97 are still being held in Gaza, but the Israeli military estimates that 34 of them have died.
The military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed at least 43,736 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-governed territory.
International
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus kill 15 and injure 16, including women and children
Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on residential buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and its surroundings on Thursday, resulting in at least 15 deaths and 16 injuries, according to Syria’s Ministry of Defense and state television.
The ministry stated that around 3:20 p.m. local time (12:20 GMT), the Israeli military launched an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several residential buildings in the Mazzeh neighborhood in western Damascus and the Qudsaya suburb to the northwest of the capital.
The airstrikes “resulted in the death of 15 people and injuries to 16 others, including women and children,” based on initial estimates, in addition to significant damage to private property and civilian buildings, the ministry added.
Meanwhile, state television reported Israeli airstrikes on three buildings in Mazzeh and another on a building in an educational complex located in a residential area of Qudsaya.
Following the strikes, loud explosions were heard throughout the city, and thick plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the targeted locations. Ambulances and emergency services rushed to the scene to attend to the victims.
International
Drug trafficker dies after boat collision with Guardia Civil Vessel in Sanlúca
Three people were on the boat that collided with a Guardia Civil vessel around midnight at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near the Andalusian city of Cádiz, a spokesperson for the Civil Guard reported.
Two officers sustained “contusions,” the spokesperson explained.
The drug traffickers managed to bring the boat to shore, where one of them was “abandoned” severely injured. The other two fled.
The Civil Guard officers attempted to resuscitate the victim before transporting him to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, but he ultimately died early in the morning.
The other two suspects took advantage of the officers’ absence while they were taking the victim and returned to set their boat on fire.
The collision occurred very close to the site of another accident on September 1, where a drug trafficker died following a Guardia Civil pursuit.
The suspects’ boat traveled “400 meters” before crashing head-on and “at full speed” into the riverbank, where a hundred bundles of hashish were found.
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