| | | | | | | Hello. Ivanka Trump opted to keep a relatively low profile after her four-year stint at the White House as an advisor to the president, her father Donald. But her past involvement with the family’s business, now at the centre of a major civil fraud trial, caught up with her, and today it was her turn to testify. From court, Madeline Halpert describes how Ms Trump spoke softly and recalled little. In Lebanon, Orla Guerin speaks to Hezbollah’s deputy chief about the group’s role in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Finally, marvel at a German city’s green revival, and at an Irish chef’s endurance. |
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| | | | | | AT THE SCENE | New York, USA | | Ivanka Trump back in the spotlight | | | | Ivanka Trump fought hard to avoid testifying in the case, but she’s been ordered to take the stand due to her ties to the business. Credit: Getty Images | | Ivanka Trump is the latest of the former president’s children to testify in a New York civil fraud trial. Ms Trump was an executive vice-president of the Trump Organization until she left in 2017 to take on an advisory role in her father’s administration. Unlike her brothers and father, she is no longer a co-defendant in the case after an appeals court ruled in her favour this year. | | | | Madeline Halpert, BBC News |
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| Ms Trump spoke softly into the microphone, sitting upright with her hands in her lap. In composed and succinct responses, she repeatedly said she did not recall specifics. As they did with her brothers, lawyers for the state attorney general's office showed Ms Trump a series of emails meant to bolster their case, asking her if she recognised the messages.
At one point state attorneys produced an email she wrote to then-Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and others about the loan rates. "It doesn't get better than this," she wrote. She said she did not remember that message. Her responses frustrated Louis Solomon, the state lawyer questioning her. "She just spent three minutes describing the plaza hotel," he shouted, "but she has no recollection when I ask her a question. So the witness does have a recollection." |
| | | | • | Precarious normality: A few weeks ago, she was partying with Kim Kardashian and Jeff Bezos. Now, Ivanka Trump has been dragged back into the family circus she has tried to avoid since leaving DC. |
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| | Questions Answered | | Hezbollah’s role in the conflict | | | | Sheikh Naim Qassem spoke to the BBC in an interview in Beirut. Credit: BBC |
| | While Israel’s military focus is currently on Gaza, the army retains a presence along the northern border with Lebanon. There, Israeli soldiers have exchanged fire with Hezbollah fighters, with casualties on both sides, but so far the fighting has remained contained. Talking to the BBC, Hezbollah’s deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem did not exclude the possibility of the conflict spilling over to the region, and squarely blamed Israel for any such development. Here’s the context you need ahead of reading the interview. | | | | Orla Guerin, Senior international correspondent |
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| | What is Hezbollah? | | Hezbollah, meaning "the Party of God", is a Shia Islamist group that is classed as a terrorist organisation by the UK, US and the Arab League. The Iran-backed militia is the largest political and military force in Lebanon. | | What are Hezbollah’s military capabilities? | | The militant group holds an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles. It has up to 60,000 fighters, including special forces, regular fighters, and reserves, according to Nicholas Blanford, a Beirut-based defence and security consultant, who has studied Hezbollah for decades. | | What kind of threat does Hezbollah pose for Israel? | | When an Israeli strike killed a woman and three children in southern Lebanon on Sunday, Hezbollah used Grad rockets for the first time in the conflict, killing an Israeli civilian. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has threatened that every civilian death in Lebanon will reap another across the border. But notably, he has not threatened Israel with all-out war. While insisting that "all options are on the table" the militant group has confined itself to cross-border attacks, hitting mainly military targets. | | | | | | |
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| | The big picture | | Seeking a driver with a need for speed | | | | Bloodhound achieved 628mph using only its jet engine, but it can also fit a rocket. Credit: Bloodhound LSR/CHARLIE SPERRING |
| | To break the world land speed record of 763mph (1,228km/h), the Bloodhound supersonic car needs a capable driver. Besides racing experience, discipline and a thirst for adrenaline, the candidate also needs a major sponsorship deal to back them in the project, estimated to cost around £12m ($14.7m). | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | The 'ugly duckling' city | | How Essen transformed from an industrial wasteland to one of Europe's greenest cities. | | |
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| | And finally... in Japan | | A Japan-based Irish chef has broken the world record for cooking non-stop, beating Nigerian chef Hilda Baci by more than 24 hours. Alan Fisher cooked for 119 hours and 57 minutes, hallucinating at least once in the process. Guess how many potatoes he peeled during his endeavour. |
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– Sofia |
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