Police bodycam footage shows Newark Mayor Ras Baraka being arrested outside a detention centre in New Jersey, during a protest about US immigration. Officials claim he trespassed, but Baraka and witnesses say he complied with orders.
People in Pakistan and India have been celebrating a ceasefire after the most serious fighting between the nuclear-armed nations for decades. Life is slowly returning to normal in border regions as tensions linger.
Former Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso is set to become the club’s next manager on a three-year deal when he leaves Bayer Leverkusen after this season, Spanish media report.
Alonso, 43, is expected to replace Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, who – despite having a year remaining on his Madrid contract – has just been confirmed as the new manager of Brazil in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup, the Brazilian FA (CBF) said on Monday.
Alonso, who said earlier this month that he was leaving Leverkusen after guiding them to the double last term, will join Real before the inaugural Club World Cup in the United States from June 15 to July 13, multiple media reports said.
Alonso, who also played for Liverpool and Bayern Munich, last season steered Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, ending the Bavarians’ 11-year domination, and they also won the German Cup and German Super Cup.
Ancelotti’s departure from the club come as no surprise after Real’s 4-3 defeat at Barcelona in a thrilling El Clasico on Sunday left his side on the brink of a trophy-less season.
The 65-year-old Italian, who returned for a second stint at Real in June 2021, led the Spanish giants to two Champions League and La Liga doubles, the latest of which came last season.
He exits Real Madrid as the most successful manager in the club’s history with a total of 15 trophies and the first coach to claim titles in Europe’s top five leagues.
However, this season Real were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarterfinals by Arsenal, and allowed Barca to fight back and win 3-2 in the Copa del Rey final.
Second-placed Real are seven points adrift of Barcelona, who could secure the league title on Wednesday without kicking a ball if Real fail to win at home to Mallorca.
Regardless of Real’s result, a Barca victory in the city derby away to Espanyol on Thursday would clinch the title.
An official announcement regarding a managerial change is expected before Real’s last game of the season at home to Real Sociedad on May 25.
Ancelotti is expected to receive a fitting farewell, recognising his four highly successful years with the club.
The United States is discussing an offer from the royal family of Qatar to supply a luxury jumbo jet for use as a presidential plane.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has signalled that it plans to accept the Boeing 747-8 airliner to serve as a temporary replacement for Air Force One. The news has provoked warnings from critics that accepting the plane would be unethical.
Qatar denied in a statement that the plane would be a gift, saying the transfer of the aircraft for “temporary use” was under discussion.
Spokesperson Ali Al-Ansari said the offer was still under consideration by Qatar’s Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defense and “no decision has been made”.
However, in a post on his social media site Truth Social late on Sunday, Trump appeared to confirm that he intends to accept the plane as a gift.
At a cost of about $400m, it would be one of the most valuable gifts ever received by the US government.
“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” the Republican president wrote.
Democrats and good government advocates said accepting the plane as a gift would be unethical and likely unconstitutional.
“Nothing says ‘America First’ like Air Force One, brought to you by Qatar,” Chuck Schumer, leader of the Democrats in the Senate, wrote on X.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected such claims.
“Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. President Trump’s administration is committed to full transparency,” she said.
Trump toured the Qatari-owned 747-8 in February when it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida near his Mar-a-Lago resort.
At the time, the White House said the president did so to get a better understanding of how the updated Air Force One planes would be configured.
Al-Ansari said the proposed arrangement involves Qatar donating the luxury jet to the US government for use as Air Force One during Trump’s presidency.
The aircraft would then be transferred to the Donald J Trump Presidential Library upon his departure from office, according to reports in the US media.
The opening arguments in the high-profile criminal trial of rapper and music mogul Sean Combs, better known by his nickname Diddy, are set to begin on Monday in Manhattan, New York.
The three-time Grammy winner has been in federal custody since September on charges including sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transporting to engage in prostitution. His trial officially began on May 5.
The multimillionaire American record producer and founder of Bad Boy Records has been accused of using his fame and money to abuse women over the course of 20 years.
The 55-year-old rap star has pleaded not guilty to all charges. But if he is found guilty on all counts, he could face a minimum sentence of 15 years and up to a life term.
Here is everything you need to know about his trial:
On Monday, the jury of 12 jurors and six alternates is expected to be finalised, paving the way for opening statements by the government and then the defence.
US District Judge Arun Subramanian will preside over the trial.
Over the course of a two-month trial, jurors are expected to hear testimony from three and possibly four of the rapper’s female accusers, as well as his former employees who prosecutors say helped arrange and cover up his actions.
A five-count indictment against the Hip-Hop artist has accused him of sex trafficking, racketeering and transporting individuals for the purpose of prostitution. The indictment also makes claims of sexual assault, physical violence, kidnapping, forced labour, bribery, obstruction of justice and arson against Combs.
He “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals”, the indictment said.
This involved years of carrying out threatening and coercive behaviour towards women “to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”, it added.
Over two decades, Combs used violence and threats to force women to take part in days-long, drug-fuelled sexual performances with male sex workers known as “Freak Offs”, according to the indictment.
Combs would often watch the performances, masturbate and film them, sometimes using the recordings as blackmail to ensure his alleged victims did not report his abuse, prosecutors say.
In one 2016 incident that was captured on hotel surveillance footage that prosecutors plan to show the jury, Combs was seen kicking and dragging a woman as she was trying to leave a “Freak Off”, prosecutors say.
CNN last year broadcast footage that appeared to show Combs attacking his former girlfriend, the rhythm and blues singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, in 2016 in a Los Angeles hotel hallway. Combs apologised after the video aired.
Ventura is likely to testify as a key witness for the prosecution.
She sued Combs in November 2023, saying he abused her for years, also involving allegations of rape. However, the lawsuit was settled the next day, with the terms of the settlement remaining undisclosed.
But it triggered a law enforcement investigation and was followed by dozens of lawsuits from people making similar claims.
Three other alleged victims, all women and only known to the public by pseudonyms, are also set to testify, as well as former business associates and law enforcement officers.
A central part of the prosecution’s case rests on the 2016 leaked video showing Combs beating Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway.
The video, released by US media outlet CNN in May 2024, was widely circulated on other news platforms and social media sites.
While Combs’s lawyers have argued the video should not be presented in court, Judge Subramanian said he would allow it.
“The defence can’t show the footage is inadmissible,” he said in a ruling in late April. “There’s no unfair prejudice to Mr. Combs.”
Moreover, in March 2024, his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by federal authorities and dozens of electronic devices were recovered.
During a hearing in October, one of the prosecutors, Emily Johnson, said 96 electronic devices had been seized in March. Eight of those contained some 90 terabytes of data, which Johnson labelled as “extraordinary”.
Combs has repeatedly denied the allegations.
His lawyers are expected to argue that the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual, and say there is nothing illegal about a “swingers” lifestyle in which Combs and his girlfriends occasionally brought a third person into their relationships.
Their strategy at trial will hinge on undermining the credibility of the women who testify against Combs, including by arguing they were motivated by money to accuse him of wrongdoing and have unreliable memories.
Marc Agnifilo, his lawyer, has asserted the indictment was an “unjust prosecution” of his client and that Combs was not a “criminal”.
Agnifilo has said the 2016 hotel incident depicted the aftermath of a dispute over infidelity and was not evidence of sex trafficking.
In a court hearing on Friday, Agnifilo said Ventura had a history of domestic violence, undercutting prosecutors’ argument that she was a victim.
Ventura’s lawyer declined to comment.
The Bad Boy Records founder has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, without bail since his arrest in September.
He has been denied bail three times, with Judge Subramanian saying there was a “serious risk” of witness tampering.
Combs could face up to life in prison if the jury convicts him on the racketeering charge.
If convicted on the sex trafficking charge, he would have to serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, and a maximum of 10 years in prison if found guilty on the charges of transporting to engage in prostitution.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will be waiting to meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Turkiye to talk face-to-face, as part of peace negotiations scheduled for May 15. It’s not clear however if Putin will attend.