New York’s attorney general is suing the Trump Foundation, as well as Donald Trump and his children, alleging “extensive and persistent” lawbreaking.
Barbara Underwood said the charitable foundation had engaged in “unlawful political co-ordination” designed to influence the 2016 election.
The lawsuit seeks to dissolve the foundation and $2.8m (£2.1m) in restitution.
The foundation denied the charges, calling them politically motivated.
The president hit back at the lawsuit on Twitter, saying that “sleazy New York Democrats” were “doing everything they can to sue me.”
He vowed he would not settle the case.
The attorney general is also seeking to bar the president and three of his adult children, Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka, from serving on the board of any New York-based charity, “in light of misconduct and total lack of oversight.”
She has referred the case to the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission, according to reports.
Ms. Underwood filed a petition at the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday, Mr. Trump’s 72nd birthday.
It accuses the foundation and its directors – Mr. Trump and his three eldest children – of unlawfully co-ordinating with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated self-dealing transactions, and violating laws under which non-profit organisations must operate.
In a statement, Ms. Underwood said Mr. Trump had illegally instructed the foundation to provide support to his presidential campaign by using the foundation’s name and funds it raised to promote the campaign.
The petition also claims that Mr. Trump used charitable assets to pay off legal obligations, to promote his own businesses and to purchase personal items, including a painting of himself.
South Korea and US discuss future of joint war games
The defence ministers of South Korea and the US have discussed the future of their joint military drills after the US president said they would be ending.
Donald Trump made the surprise announcement following his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The US has insisted its alliance with Seoul – which has always said the drills are essential – is “iron clad.”
Separately, South and North Korea have said they will completely restore their military communication lines.
There are about 29,000 US soldiers based in South Korea and each year the two countries regularly conduct large scale military drills, often called war games.
The next joint drill was scheduled for this autumn.
But following his talks with Kim Jong-un in Singapore, Mr. Trump described the drills as “very provocative” – contradicting previous US administrations’ insistence that the drills are purely defensive – and said he was ending them.
South Korean Defence Minister Song Young-moo on Thursday held talks with his US counterpart James Mattis to discuss the exercises.
The two agreed to “continuously strengthen efforts to provide defence support, based on the solid South Korea-US alliance,” the South Korean defence ministry said.
Mr. Song said the two allies should be “flexible” about how much military pressure they put on the North, the ministry said, adding that the US and South Korea would hold further discussions soon.
North Korea has long condemned the drills as an unacceptable act of aggression and provocation.
Mr. Trump’s nominee as next ambassador to South Korea, Harry Harris – previously a supporter of the drills – has said that “major exercises” should be paused to allow time to test Pyongyang’s commitment about dialogue.
The decision to end the military exercises has been widely criticised as a major concession to North Korea, while the joint declaration Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim signed at the end of the Singapore summit has been criticised as lacking in detail.
Ex-FBI chief, Comey, broke norms but not biased – Watchdog report
A highly anticipated US Department of Justice report has accused ex-FBI director James Comey of being “insubordinate” but not politically biased.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz said he had broken “dramatically from FBI and department norms” in handling an inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Mrs. Clinton has blamed Mr. Comey for her election loss to Donald Trump in 2016.
The report also reveals Mr. Comey used a private email account to conduct official FBI business.
FBI director, Christopher Wray, said he accepted the report’s findings but he added that nothing in the report pointed towards political bias or impugned the FBI as an institution.
In his report, the inspector general criticised Mr. Comey’s decision to reveal publicly a week before the election that he had reopened the inquiry into Mrs Clinton’s emails, rejecting Mr. Comey’s argument that he had acted in the interests of transparency.
READ ALSO: 3 dead in South Africa mosque attack
He found that while Mr. Comey’s actions were not the result of political bias, “by departing so clearly and dramatically from FBI and department norms, the decisions negatively impacted the perception of the FBI and the department as fair administrators of justice.”
The 500-page report also found “a troubling lack of any direct, substantive communication” between Mr. Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
But the report also touched on text messages between two FBI officials who later worked on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the US election.
Peter Strzok, who was Mr. Mueller’s lead agent in the Russian inquiry, was having an affair with Lisa Page, an FBI lawyer who also temporarily worked on the Mueller investigation.
When Ms. Page asked if Mr. Trump would become president, Mr. Strzok responded: “No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it.”
The report called this “not only indicative of a biased state of mind but, even more seriously, implies a willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral prospects.”
Eurydice Dixon: Comedian’s killing prompts anger in Australia
The alleged rape and murder of a young comedian as she walked home at night in Australia has prompted an outpouring of public grief and anger.
The body of Eurydice Dixon, 22, was found at a football field in Melbourne early on Wednesday, only hours after she had performed a gig at a city bar.
A man, 19, has been charged by police.
Comedians and the public have inundated social media with tributes to Ms. Dixon, in a case that has reignited local debate about violence against women.
For many, it has evoked memories of the 2012 murder of an Irish woman, Jill Meagher, whose death in an adjacent Melbourne suburb prompted a peace march involving an estimated 30,000 people.
Although not widely known, Ms. Dixon has been remembered as a talented comedian at the start of her career.
“She had a great passion for women’s issues and social justice issues and she drew upon them a lot in the material that she produced as a comic,” fellow comedian Nicky Barry told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Authorities allege that Ms. Dixon was attacked in the suburb of Carlton North sometime after leaving a bar in central Melbourne about 22:30 local time on Tuesday.
A 19-year-old man, Jaymes Todd, handed himself to police on Wednesday and was charged with her rape and murder.
Police say they did not know each other.
Local media reported that Ms. Dixon was a few hundred metres from home when she was attacked.
According to the BBC, she had earlier sent a text message to a friend saying: “I’m almost home safe, HBU [how about you].”
On Thursday, a court prohibited the publication of images of Mr. Todd after his lawyer argued that he was vulnerable in custody, and that intense media scrutiny could affect the reliability of witness statements.
Mr. Todd did not apply for bail and will face a court again on October 3.
Boris Becker claims diplomatic immunity in bankruptcy case
Former tennis champion Boris Becker is claiming diplomatic immunity against an attempt to sue him.
The three-time Wimbledon winner claims his appointment as a diplomat by the Central African Republic affords him protection from any legal claims.
Mr. Becker was declared bankrupt in 2017 over money owed to private bank Arbuthnot Latham.
He is now being pursued for “further assets.”
His defence has been lodged in the High Court.
The Central African Republic made Mr. Becker a sport and culture attache to the EU in April 2018.
His legal team said: “This means he cannot be subject to legal process in the courts of any country for so long as he remains a recognised diplomatic agent.”
Mr. Becker said the proceedings were “unjustified and unjust” and being declared bankrupt “inflicted a whole heap of damage on me.”
He said he was asserting diplomatic immunity to “bring this farce to an end” and stop “the gravy train for the suits.”
He added: “I am immensely proud of my appointment [by] the Central African Republic…sport is incredibly important in Africa and is fast becoming a universal language.”
Mr. Becker was declared bankrupt after Arbuthnot Latham claimed he owed them a large sum for more than two years.
At the time, he said: “This order relates to one disputed loan which I was due to repay in full in one month’s time.”
But the registrar said Mr. Becker gave the impression of “a man with his head in the sand.”
He has appointed Ben Emmerson QC, who has previously represented Julian Assange and Marina Litvinenko, the widow of Alexander Litvinenko.
Mr. Becker became the first German to win Wimbledon when he did so at the age of 17 in 1985.
He won it again in 1986 and 1989 among the 64 ATP Tour titles he claimed during a 15-year career.
After his retirement he became a pundit for the BBC.
