Donald Trump has had a probation interview as part of the sentencing process for his criminal conviction in the New York hush-money case.The former US president did the interview virtually from his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, with a probation officer at the Manhattan court.Trump was accompanied by his lawyer Todd Blanche, a source told CBS News, the BBC’s news partner.The probation officer will use the routine interview, which lasted less than 30 minutes, to compile a pre-sentencing report for Justice Juan Merchan.Trump was convicted last month of 34 counts of falsifying business records and is due to be sentenced on 11 July.

A spokesperson with the New York City mayor’s office said defendants are given the option of an in-person interview, or one via video link.Further exceptions were probably made for Trump due to the high-profile nature of his case, an expert told the BBC.It would be too disruptive for the former president to come to the probation office in New York City, said former New York Supreme Court Judge Diane Kiesel.The press would be all over the building and the Secret Service would have to be there, too,” she said. “It makes more sense to do it this way.”

Convicts in the New York Court system do not usually have their lawyers present for probation interviews, Ms Kiesel added.However, Justice Merchan allowed Mr Blanche to appear alongside his client on Monday.Pre-sentencing reports include information about nearly every aspect of a convict’s life, including where and when they were born, their marriages, criminal history, financial means, health and overall living arrangements.The probation officer probably asked Trump to talk about the crime he was convicted of, Ms Kiesel said.

The reports of the interview are confidential and will only be made available to the judge, the defendant and the lawyers in the case, Ms Kiesel said.

Jurors found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments made to former porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election campaign. Most legal commentators believe that Trump is unlikely to face any jail time, given his lack of criminal history and age.    (BBC News)…[+]

Gaza Reuters US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he arrives at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport in Israel 10 June 2024 Reuters Antony Blinken is visiting the Middle East to seek backing for a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release dealIf diplomats have groundhog days, when they are condemned to reliving the same 24 hours, perhaps Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, felt a certain weariness as his jet approached the Middle East on his latest trip.

It is his eighth diplomatic tour of the region in the eight months since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October last year. The politics of trying to negotiate an end to the war in Gaza and an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners were already complicated.

They are more tangled than ever now that the Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz has resigned from the war cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with his political ally Gadi Eisenkot. Both men are retired generals who led the Israel Defense Forces IDF as chiefs of staff.

Without Benny Gantz, the Americans have lost their favourite contact in the cabinet. Now he’s back in opposition, Mr Gantz wants new elections – he is the pollsters’ favourite to be the next prime minister – but Mr Netanyahu is safe as long as he can preserve the coalition that gives him 64 votes in the 120-member Israeli parliament.

That depends on keeping the support of the leaders of two ultranationalist factions. They are Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister.

That is the point at which Secretary of State Blinken’s mission collides with Israeli politics. President Joe Biden believes that the time has come to end the war in Gaza.

Mr Blinken’s job is to try to make that happen. But Messrs Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have threatened to bring down the Netanyahu government if he agrees to any ceasefire until they are satisfied that Hamas has been eliminated.

They are extreme Jewish nationalists, who want the war to continue until no trace of Hamas remains.

They believe that Gaza, like all the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan, is Jewish land that should be settled by Jews. Palestinians, they argue, could be encouraged to leave Gaza voluntarily.  (BBC)…[+]

The Police Force Suriname (KPS) is looking for the relatives of ten people whose bodies have been at the morgue of the Academic Hospital Paramaribo  (AZP) for several months. Police Spokesman Milton Kensmil told  Times of Suriname that if nobody shows up to claim these bodies within the next two weeks, the bodies will be buried. Three bodies have been at this morgue since 2022 while the remaining seven have been there since 2023. Investigators suspect that these people were either homeless or foreigners.

Foreigners usually have no relatives in Suriname which explains why nobody has claimed these bodies. If relatives do show up to claim these bodies the financial aspect of the funerals could be discussed.…[+]

USA –  Dozens of Donald Trump’s supporters have been requiring medical help at his rallies in the scorching US south-west but it seems lost on him that his plans to reverse climate policies and “drill, baby, drill” for fossil fuels will only worsen extreme weather, campaigners say.

A total of 24 people at a Trump rally in Las Vegas on Sunday required medical attention due to the heat, according to the Clark county fire department, with six taken to hospital for treatment. The hospitalizations come after a further 11 people needed to be admitted to hospital for heat exhaustion as they waited for Trump to speak at a rally in Phoenix on Thursday.

Trump himself noted the severe heat during his speech on Sunday, with the Las Vegas rally starting around noon when the temperature was about 90F (32C) and climbed to around 102F (38C). The rally was held in a park with little shade, although organizers provided water and cooling tents, and allowed attendees to hold shading umbrellas. “It’s 110, but it doesn’t feel it to me,” said Trump, who wore a suit jacket and signature red baseball cap. “I’m up here sweating like a dog. They don’t think about me. This is hard work.”

Trump then said: “I don’t want anybody going on me. We need every voter. I don’t care about you. I just want your vote. I don’t care.” He later said he was joking about not caring about his own voters and complained the media would criticize him for this. Record-breaking heat enveloped much of the US south-west last week, with temperatures soaring beyond 110F (43C) in areas stretching from California to Arizona. Roughly half of Arizona and Nevada were under an excessive heat alert, even though the official start of summer is still a week away, with Las Vegas hitting 110F on Friday and Phoenix reaching 113F (45C).

Scientists have found that heatwaves are moving more slowly and lasting longer due to the climate crisis, which is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Studies last year concluded that the searing heat experienced in Europe and the US would have been virtually impossible without the influence of human-caused global heating. (theguardian)…[+]