Jury selection in the high-profile trial of US TV actor Jussie Smollett begins on Monday, nearly three years after he claimed he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack. Mr Smollett, 39, claimed in January 2019 that he was attacked by two men who yelled pro-Donald Trump slogans and tied a noose around his neck. Authorities accused him of staging the attack on himself as a publicity stunt. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Authorities allege that Mr Smollett paid two brothers $3,500 (£2,630) to carry out the attack to promote his career because he was “dissatisfied with his salary”. Mr Smollett has claimed that the payment was for one of the brothers to work as a personal trainer. The former Empire show actor was indicted by a special prosecutor in Illinois last year on six counts of lying to police.(BBC)…[+]

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has appeared in a New York City court to face sex trafficking charges.She is expected to challenge claims she groomed underage girls for convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein for sexual abuse. He died in prison in 2019. Ms Maxwell, 59, has been in a US jail since her arrest last year, awaiting the high-profile six-week trial. Ms Maxwell, who also has American and French citizenship, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against her. Lawyers for Ms Maxwell, as well as family members, have repeatedly complained about her conditions in jail and her legal team has made several unsuccessful applications for bail. Epstein died in a New York prison cell on 10 August 2019 as he awaited his trial on sex trafficking charges.(BBC)…[+]

Riot police in Turkey and Mexico have fired tear gas and smoke bombs at protesters calling for an end to violence against women. In the Mexican city of Guaymas, three people were shot dead in an apparent attack on the city’s female mayor. And in the Turkish city of Istanbul, clashes broke out with security forces. There were also large rallies in Barcelona, Paris and London to mark the international day for the elimination of gender-based attacks. Mexican media say the incident in Guaymas saw armed attackers storm the city’s municipal palace, shooting dead a female protester and two men – a government worker and a bodyguard for Mayor Karla Córdova, who was in the palace at the time. Eyewitnesses told local journalists that they heard something like a grenade exploding at the door of the building, before gunshots rang out.(BBC)…[+]

Emmanuel Macron has reacted angrily to Boris Johnson’s public call for France to take back migrants who reach the UK. The French president accused the UK prime minister of not being “serious” by making the call on Twitter, after the deaths of 27 people on Wednesday. The diplomatic row erupted after France withdrew a summit invitation to Home Secretary Priti Patel. The UK government urged it to reconsider, with the PM saying: “This is a problem we have to fix together.” Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany and the European Commission are due to attend Sunday’s talks in Calais, which Mr Macron set up to try to deal with the recent surge in migrant crossings of the Channel. The diplomatic spat comes as French fishermen are organising a day of action, including blockades, to disrupt cross-Channel traffic, in protest at post-Brexit fishing rights granted by the UK.(BBC)…[+]