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A US judge pleaded not guilty on Thursday to helping a man evade immigration agents, court documents showed, as she argues that federal officials have no power to prosecute her.Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on charges of obstructing an official proceeding and concealing a person from arrest. Her attorney issued a statement saying that Dugan “asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court,” according to the New York Times.President Donald Trump has conducted a crackdown on undocumented migrants since coming to power in January, and has clashed with several courts which have argued he has not followed due process. Dugan’s arrest set off a torrent of criticism by Democrats and applause by some Republicans, while more than 150 former state and federal judges signed a letter to the Justice Department calling the arrest an attempt to intimidate the judiciary.Dugan is seeking to dismiss the case, arguing that she cannot be prosecuted over actions she took as a judge in and around her courtroom, according to local media. Her lawyers have pointed to a Supreme Court decision last year that found that Trump was immune from prosecution for official acts.The charges stem from a standoff with federal agents outside Dugan’s courtroom in downtown Milwaukee in April. They had come to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Mexican defendant appearing on misdemeanor battery charges whom immigration officials say was deported in 2013.Prosecutors say Dugan sent the agents down the hall to see the chief judge and, while they were away, postponed Flores-Ruiz’s hearing and escorted him through a jury exit to a private part of the courthouse.The area leads to the public hallway where immigration agents were waiting. But Flores-Ruiz was allowed to leave the building before being arrested outside.Dugan was arrested a week later in a sting publicized by FBI Director Kash Patel, who posted a photo on social media of her being led away in handcuffs. Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Dugan of “protecting a criminal defendant over victims of crime.”Protesters gathered outside the court in Milwaukee in support of Dugan, waving signs reading “Stop Trump’s war on democracy,” “Intimidation is a tool of fascism” and “No justice, no peace.”A trial has been scheduled for July.

Walmart on Thursday reported another solid quarter but warned of price increases due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China and other major trading partners.”We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure,” Chief Executive Doug McMillon said in a conference call with analysts.Executives with the big box store chain welcomed the de-escalation of the US-China trade war announced this week, but said the levies on China remained too high. The tariffs have a particularly strong impact on items such as electronics and toys.Consumers will begin to see more price increases in the latter part of May, with a more noticeable impact in June, said Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey.”If you’ve got a 30 percent tariff on certain items, you’ll likely see a double digit” price increase, Rainey said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.Walmart officials said the extent to which tariffs are passed on to consumers will depend on the individual item.Rainey said Walmart saw an opportunity to play “offense” with some products, meaning the retail giant could absorb more of the tariff to keep prices lower and boost its market share.”We could see higher prices on some non-tariffed items and stable or even lower prices on some tariffed products,” said CFRA Research senior equity analyst Arun Sundaram.- Uncertain profit hit -The comments came as Walmart reported profits of $4.5 billion, down 12.1 percent from the year-ago level, but topping analyst expectations. Revenues rose 2.5 percent to $165.6 billion.The retail giant posted a 4.5 percent rise in first-quarter comparable sales in Walmart’s US stores behind another robust performance in groceries. McMillon said Walmart’s scale enables it to absorb tariffs on some items without passing them on to consumers. In some cases, suppliers have shifted to materials without tariffs such as fiberglass instead of aluminum, which has a tariff.McMillon flagged tariffs on countries like Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia on items such as bananas, avocados, coffee and roses.”We’ll do our best to control what we can control in order to keep food prices as low as possible,” McMillon said.Besides China, Walmart imports heavily into the United States from Mexico, Vietnam, India and Canada. The Trump administration is at various stages of negotiation following the president’s sweeping April 2 announcement that affected all US trading partners.While maintaining its full-year projections, the company did not offer a range on its second-quarter profit outlook, citing uncertainty around US trade policy.Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said Walmart was better positioned than other retailers amid the tariffs because of the importance of grocery, a category where “consumers will continue to prioritize spending out of necessity,” he said in a note.”Although the waves caused by tariffs now seem to be calmer, it would be incorrect to assume that the waters are completely safe. There will be a lot of further disruption ahead,” Saunders said, adding that Walmart is “one of the sturdiest ships” in retail.Shares initially rallied on the earnings, but fell after Walmart’s comments on pricing increases.CFRA analyst Sundaram said the fall in shares reflected investor disappointment that Walmart didn’t raise its full-year outlook after recent positive developments on the tariff front.”Uncertainty grew when Walmart chose not to provide second-quarter profit guidance,” Sundaram said. “While we still believe the company can exceed its full-year operating profit and (earnings) forecasts, we now expect more earnings volatility over the next few quarters compared to our initial projections.”

Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs on Thursday tried to chip away at the credibility of Casandra Ventura, the music mogul’s former girlfriend, after two days of her grueling testimony in his trial on sex trafficking charges.Ventura, the singer widely known as Cassie, told jurors that Combs raped, beat and forced her into drug-fueled sex parties during their more than 10 years together — excruciating accounts that now open her up to a grilling from defense lawyers.Combs’s attorney Anna Estevao focused on aspects of their relationship that were tender, admitting into evidence numerous emails and text exchanges that include Combs and Ventura expressing love for each other. Other messages were sexually explicit.When asked why she would look forward to seeing Combs after he had traveled, the 38-year-old Ventura replied: “Because I had fallen in love with him and cared about him very much.”One of the messages from Ventura to Combs, dated 2009, read: “I’m always ready to freak off lolol.”That refers to the so-called “freak-offs” with Combs, Ventura and male escorts — sex performances directed by the music mogul that sometimes lasted for days, according to Ventura.In her third day on the witness stand in Manhattan federal court, Ventura — who is heavily pregnant with her third child — was soft-spoken and matter-of-fact, answering many defense questions with a simple “yes.”Combs, 55, was once one of the most powerful figures in the music industry, but is now incarcerated on charges of sex trafficking and leading an illegal sex ring that enforced its power with crimes including arson, kidnapping and bribery.Combs — known during his career as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Diddy — has rejected all charges against him and pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.Ventura is the prosecution’s star witness: On Tuesday and Wednesday, she described Combs as controlling and willing to wield his wealth and influence to fulfill his desires.She gave vivid accounts of coercive sex parties — she participated in hundreds, she testified — and brutal beatings.That testimony will underpin much of the prosecution’s case against Combs, who is alleged to have used violence and blackmail to manipulate women over many years.However, the defense contends that while Ventura’s relationship with Combs was complicated and included domestic abuse, it did not amount to sex trafficking, and that she behaved erratically and even violently herself.”Being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” said defense lawyer Teny Geragos earlier this week.The defense implied Thursday that Ventura was taking an active role in planning the sexual encounters, though the singer reiterated that it was with Combs that she wanted to be intimate, not random escorts.- ‘Humiliating’ -On Wednesday, Ventura alleged that in 2018, as she and Combs were breaking up, he raped her in her living room.And she testified that her time with the artist — often credited with helping to usher hip-hop into the mainstream — left her with post-traumatic stress disorder, drug addiction and suicidal thoughts.The drugs were a “buffer” to withstand the “humiliating” and often filmed sexual encounters, she said.In a graphic hotel surveillance clip from March 2016 shown to jurors Monday, Tuesday and again Wednesday, Combs is seen brutally beating and dragging Ventura down a hallway.The prosecution played portions of the footage while Ventura was on the stand.When asked why she did not fight back or get up, Ventura answered simply that curled up on the ground “felt like the safest place to be.”Following the hotel assault, Ventura was forced to attend the premiere of her movie “The Perfect Match” days later while covered in bruises, the jury heard. She said she wore sunglasses to conceal a black eye.Judge Arun Subramanian on Thursday urged the defense to move more quickly in cross-examining Ventura given her late-stage pregnancy, and attorneys said they would attempt to wrap up by Friday.Trial proceedings are anticipated to continue well into the summer.

Retail sales in the United States were near-flat in April, government data showed Thursday, with indications that spending is slowing after consumers rushed to beat higher prices from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.Overall sales nudged up 0.1 percent to $724.1 billion last month, the Commerce Department said, slightly below a Briefing.com consensus forecast.But the rate was significantly down from March’s revised growth of 1.7 percent, when buyers sought to get ahead of Trump’s broad levies that he said were coming in April.From a year ago, retail sales were still up by 5.2 percent last month.”It does look like the consumers, as was generally expected, are starting to pull back,” Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic told AFP.”They pulled forward so much spending ahead of the tariffs. It’s only natural that we’re going to see some payback in the coming months,” she added.Analysts had expected headline retail sales to be relatively flat, in part after auto sales jumped in March.Excluding sales at motor vehicles and parts dealers, retail sales rose 0.1 percent between March and April.Sales at gasoline stations dropped 0.5 percent from the prior month in April, while those at vehicles and parts dealers slipped 0.1 percent too.But Oxford Economics’ deputy chief US economist Michael Pearce noted the auto sector’s performance remained resilient and that “a decent rise in spending at bars and restaurants” suggests a plunge in consumer confidence had yet to fully hit discretionary spending.Sales at restaurants and bars increased 1.2 percent.Although analysts at Pantheon Macroeconomics anticipated other components to hold up, spending on clothing and at department stores slid.- ‘Broader slowdown’ -The shifts came as consumer confidence fell last month, reflecting concerns about Trump’s tariffs on friend and foe, particularly targeting goods from China.Apart from imposing a 10 percent tariff on most trading partners, Trump targeted imports from China with much sharper levies above 100 percent, but now at 30 percent after a temporary de-escalation this week.Pearce of Oxford Economics said retail spending will likely weaken ahead, anticipating a “broader slowdown in response to tariff-fueled price increases.”Already, major retailer Walmart warned Thursday of higher prices and continued uncertainty over tariffs.”That’s going to weigh on spending,” said Bostjancic. “We also think that the labor market will continue to weaken,” translating to less job and income growth that consumers can tap to fund purchases.

The first Melania Trump statue in her native Slovenia was destroyed by fire and now its bronze replacement has gone missing, prompting a police investigation.The life-sized bronze of the US first lady was unveiled near her hometown of Sevnica in 2020, towering over a field on a tree stump, after arson destroyed the previous wooden statue.According to police and the bronze’s creator, American conceptual artist Brad Downey, the statue was chopped off at the ankles and carted away.”The theft was reported on May 13 and immediately police officers visited the crime scene and launched an investigation,” police spokeswoman Alenka Drenik Rangus told AFP on Thursday.Downey said he learnt about the theft while preparing a new project in Germany and said he was “a bit sad that it’s gone”.”My feeling (is) that it has something to do with the new election (of Donald Trump), but who knows, right?” Downey told AFP.He added when the original statue had been burnt “it didn’t feel right” so he decided to replace it with a bronze copy, which he has described as an “anti-monument, anti-propaganda”.The original statue featuring a blue dress and heels had been carved with a chainsaw by local artist Ales Zupevc out of a tree.The bronze statue was placed on a private field — fixed with concrete and metal bars — near Sevnica toward the end of Donald Trump’s first term as US president, while he was campaigning for re-election.Melania’s arrival in the White House when her husband Donald became US president raised hope he may one day visit her homeland, which has yet to happen.Melania left the EU member of two million when it was still part of communist Yugoslavia.In Sevnica, some 90 kilometres (60 miles) east of the capital Ljubljana, she has inspired numerous products, including cakes and chocolates, named after her.

A 62-year-old man known as the “Cross-Country Killer” is set to be executed by lethal injection in the southern US state of Florida on Thursday.Glen Rogers is to be put to death at 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) at the Florida State Prison in Raiford for the November 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs.Cribbs, a 34-year-old mother of two children, was stabbed to death and her body was found in a hotel bathtub.Rogers was also convicted of the murder that same year of Sandra Gallagher, 33, in California and was a suspect in the murders of at least two other women, one in Mississippi and another Louisiana.There have been 15 executions in the United States this year: 11 by lethal injection; two by firing squad; and two using nitrogen gas.The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday warned of the possibility of “more persistent” supply shocks, as US central bankers met for talks against a backdrop of uncertainty kicked up by Donald Trump’s tariff rollout.The US president’s on-again, off-again approach to tariffs has caused a surge in volatility, with sharp movements in both US and global financial markets.Before a de-escalation this week,steep US tariffs on China and retaliatory measures by Beijing also raised fears of potentially major trade disruptions between the two countries.”We may be entering a period of more frequent, and potentially more persistent, supply shocks — a difficult challenge for the economy and for central banks,” Powell told his colleagues in Washington. Powell’s remarks acknowledged the post-pandemic supply shock, when temporary supply chain problems caused a surge in inflation that the Fed has previously admitted it was too late to address.In the speech, which came at the start of the Fed’s first public strategy review for five years, Powell said the economic landscape had changed since the last meeting, when interest rates were far lower than they are today.The Fed’s key lending rate currently sits at between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent as the policymakers look to cool inflation without pushing up unemployment. “Longer-term interest rates are a good deal higher now, driven largely by real rates given the stability of longer-term inflation expectations,” he said, referring to “real,” inflation-adjusted interest rates.The higher rates could also reflect fears of higher volatility going forward, he added. Powell also said the Fed may reconsider its focus on targeting average inflation over time — an approach which gives policymakers the leeway to take a longer-term view if inflation deviations from its long-run two percent target for short periods.But while Fed could tweak its approach to monetary policy, its key long-term inflation target will remain unchanged, Powell told his colleagues. “Anchored expectations are critical to everything we do, and we remain fully committed to the two percent target today,” he said.

Casandra Ventura, the former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs, is set to receive intense cross-examination from the music mogul’s defense team Thursday in his sex trafficking trial.Ventura, the singer widely known as Cassie, told jurors over two days that Combs raped, beat and forced her into drug-fueled sex parties over the course of their more than a decade together, excruciating testimony that now subjects her to a grilling from defense lawyers.Combs’s lawyers indicated they would seek to emphasize that Ventura took drugs of her own free will, and behaved erratically and even violently herself.While Ventura’s relationship with Combs was complicated and included domestic abuse, the defense said in opening statements, it did not amount to the sex trafficking he is charged with.”Being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” said defense lawyer Teny Geragos earlier this week.Combs, 55, was once one of the most powerful figures in the music industry, but is now incarcerated on charges of sex trafficking and leading an illegal sex ring that enforced its power with crimes including arson, kidnapping and bribery.Ventura is the case’s star witness: over two days of testimony, the now 38-year-old described Combs as controlling and willing to wield his wealth and influence to fulfill his desires.She gave vivid accounts of coercive sex parties — she participated in hundreds, she testified — and violent beatings that will underpin much of the prosecution’s case against the music industry figure, who is alleged to have used violence and blackmail to manipulate women over many years.- ‘Humiliating’ -Heavily pregnant with her third child, Ventura told jurors in a measured tone — but sometimes through tears — how she was forced to engaged in “freak-offs” with Combs and male escorts, sometimes engaging in days-long sex performances directed by the music mogul.She described how in 2018, as she and Combs were breaking up, he raped her in her living room.And she testified that her time with the artist left her with post traumatic stress disorder, drug addiction and suicidal thoughts.The drugs were a “buffer” to withstand the “humiliating” and often-filmed sexual encounters, she said.In a graphic hotel surveillance clip from March 2016 shown to jurors Monday, Tuesday and again Wednesday, Combs is seen brutally beating and dragging Ventura down a hallway.The prosecution played portions of the footage while Ventura was on the stand.When asked why she didn’t fight back or get up, Ventura answered simply that curled up on the ground “felt like the safest place to be.”Following the hotel assault, Ventura was forced to attend the premiere of her movie “The Perfect Match” days later while covered in bruises, the jury heard as they were shown photographs of the actress with Combs at the event.Ventura said she wore sunglasses to conceal a black eye.Combs’s defense team insists while some of his behavior was questionable, it did not constitute racketeering and sex trafficking. He denies all counts.Ventura’s testimony is expected to last at least until the end of the week, and trial proceedings are anticipated to continue well into the summer.

Colombian Sindy Estrada and her family try to stay off the streets of New York as they battle her deportation order for fear they could be detained by the authorities.Estrada and her family received a deportation order from the US government telling them to leave the country by April 30.”It has caused a nervous breakdown — we have suffered stress, depression, anxiety, panic,” said the businesswoman, 36, who fled Colombia three years ago after her husband’s business was targeted by extortionists.Now, US immigration officials have fitted her husband with an electronic ankle bracelet to track his whereabouts and her 16-year-old son has begun therapy amid the emotional toll of their situation.Her son “started biting his nails and couldn’t sleep, his grades dropped a lot,” Estrada said. “At his school they ask him what’s going on — whether he will stay or go.””(Despite) my desire to pack a suitcase and go… I think about what would await me there. I’m afraid to return to Colombia.”Estrada and her family, who live in New Jersey, are among the millions of undocumented migrants in the United States fearful of President Donald Trump’s onslaught against non-citizens.Experts say his crackdown has exerted a psychological toll akin to the September 11, 2001 attacks that claimed almost 3,000 lives.Trump has vowed to undertake the largest mass deportation of undocumented migrants, who number around 11 million, in US history.He denounces people who entered the country illegally, visa overstayers, or those with legal temporary residence permits while they pursue options like asylum, describing them as “criminals” who must be returned at all costs.Trump has been accused of unlawful deportations without due process to a maximum security counterterrorism prison in El Salvador while also scrapping the longstanding policy of US citizenship through birth and seeking to block migrants challenging their detention. – ‘Totally traumatizing’ -In the past week the Republican offered a $1,000 payout to undocumented migrants who leave voluntarily.Although the shock troops of Trump’s crackdown, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, insist they target undocumented criminals, US media reports few arrestees fall into that category.The presence of ICE agents in migrant neighborhoods or on subway routes used by immigrants — particularly Hispanics — has sown fear.The “uncertainty, fear, anguish” experienced by migrants “is similar to what was endured during the September 11 attacks” of 2001, said New York City Department of Health Services mental health consultant Juan Carlos Dumas.The mental health crisis has led to increased alcohol and drug abuse, as well as family conflict, the Argentine psychotherapist, 68, told AFP.”The anguish has to go somewhere,” he said.Self-harming among young people has increased, just as it did after 9/11, he said.Youths “exorcise their feelings through aggression,” Dumas said at the gate of a school in Harlem where he works to detect such issues among pupils. “They each try to deal with the fear in their own way,” he said. “We haven’t seen anything like this for years.”Migrants who have been in the country for many years and built a life are affected the most.The prospect of having to leave it is “totally traumatizing,” he said, recommending that no one should feel the need to stay indoors.Dumas said that New York, a sanctuary city where local police do not cooperate with ICE to deport people, has a range of mental health services including social workers, psychologists and therapists for those in need.”Not everyone has it in for migrants,” he said.

Big tech companies are increasingly waving the US flag in Washington where President Donald Trump is back in charge, pushing his America First agenda.Leading this performance of nationalism are Meta, OpenAI and, more predictably, Palantir, the AI defense company founded by Peter Thiel, the conservative tech billionaire who has played a major role in Silicon Valley’s rightward shift.But the full-throated call to defend the nation — often paired with warnings about communist China or Europe’s regulation — raises concerns about alienating international partners who represent a significant portion of big tech’s business.In the defense industry, US companies have historically balanced pro-American positioning with patriotic discretion to attract international business. But Trump and Vice President JD Vance routinely denigrate close allies, all while promoting a nationalist agenda that many US companies feel little choice but to endorse.While Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Arab states largely escape Trump’s ire, they are investing billions in US AI projects and building their own ventures with White House backing. Perhaps most surprising is ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s embrace of American exceptionalism. The company now actively lobbies for US tech to become the global platform for generative AI, has adjusted policies to allow defense contracts, and is helping build AI for the Pentagon in partnership with drone maker Anduril, another Thiel-connected company.”I don’t want to live in Europe either,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told a Senate panel on US AI dominance last week. “I think America is just an incredible and special thing, and it will not only be the place where the AI revolution happens, but all the revolutions after.”Meta has similarly swung to the right since Trump’s return. CEO Mark Zuckerberg appointed a prominent Republican lobbyist to lead public policy, who regularly criticizes European regulations and aligns Meta’s positions with conservative viewpoints.The company has also touted AI models like its own as “essential for the US to win the AI race against China and ensure American AI dominance.”The most vocal proponent is likely Palantir, whose market valuation has soared based on expectations that its technology will transform security, surveillance and defense.Tech “is more of a metier or an art form than a science. And all the artists are in America,” said Palantir CEO Alex Karp at Washington’s Hill and Valley tech conference earlier this month.Palantir executives largely believe this can only be achieved through overwhelming American military and technological dominance, ensuring global peace through a Pax Americana.”AI is scary (and) can be abused” by great powers, “which is why we have to win this in America,” Karp stated.- ‘Tightrope’ -Professor Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, notes that defense technology companies like Palantir must balance US allegiance with respect for national sovereignty abroad.”It’s a diplomatic tightrope. When the political rhetoric becomes too parochial or polarizing—especially tied to specific administrations—it risks undermining” US companies’ appeal overseas, she explained.Trump’s nationalism is pressuring companies to adopt patriotic positions that Silicon Valley traditionally avoided, but this “can create friction abroad, especially in Europe, where concerns about sovereignty, data localization, and technological dependence are growing,” Kreps added.Taking a more measured approach is Microsoft, the 50-year-old tech giant that—like rivals Google and Amazon Web Services—serves both the US government and foreign markets where American nationalism might deter potential customers.For decades, co-chairman and president Brad Smith has navigated this complex terrain, aligning with Washington’s political climate while reassuring global customers of Microsoft’s trustworthiness. While co-founder Bill Gates, who now serves as an advisor to Microsoft, spoke out against Trump’s tariffs this week, Smith walks the line more carefully.”We need to remember that as a country, only four and a half percent of the world’s people live in the United States,” Smith told the same Senate panel where OpenAI’s Altman advocated for US leadership in AI.The risks extend beyond lost sales opportunities. Microsoft’s business, like all US tech giants, depends on agreements allowing transatlantic data flows—arrangements repeatedly challenged in EU courts.Professor Susan Ariel Aaronson of George Washington University warns these arrangements are precarious. “American AI will not be successful if it is not trusted. And how do you build trust? You don’t become the world’s disrupter,” she told AFP.