Headlines
Guilty As Charged! Trump Convicted in Hush-Money Case, Awaits Sentencing
A New York jury convicted Donald Trump on all charges in his hush-money case on Thursday in a seismic development barely five months ahead of the election where he seeks to recapture the White House.
The verdict makes Trump the first criminally convicted former US president but does not prevent him from campaigning for another term.
Addressing reporters outside minutes later, though, he branded the result a “disgrace” and “rigged,” vowing that the “real verdict” would come from voters in the November 5 presidential election.
The conviction thrusts the United States into uncharted political territory.
However, it does not bar Trump from his continuing his White House run, even in the unlikely event that Judge Juan Merchan sentences him to prison.
Sentencing was set for July 11 – right before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is due to receive the party’s formal nomination to face Democratic President Joe Biden in the election.
Biden’s campaign issued a statement saying that the trial showed “no one is above the law.” It added that “the threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater.”
The 12-member jury deliberated for more than 11 hours over two days before announcing the unanimous conclusion within a matter of minutes.
Merchan thanked the jurors for completing the “difficult and stressful task.”
Their identities had been kept secret throughout proceedings, a rare practice more often seen in cases involving mafia or other violent defendants.
– Election conspiracy –
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, when her claim to have had sex with him could have proved fatal to his campaign.
The trial featured lengthy testimony from the adult performer, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford and who described to the court in graphic detail what she says was a 2006 sexual encounter with the married Trump.
Prosecutors successfully laid out a case alleging that the hush money and the illegal covering up of the payment was part of a broader crime to prevent voters from knowing about Trump’s behaviour.
Trump’s defence attorneys had countered that “trying to influence an election” was simply “democracy” and that the former president did nothing wrong.
– Campaigning in courthouse –
The trial has distracted Trump from his campaign to unseat Biden.
However, he milked the media attention throughout, with daily speeches in front of the cameras outside the courtroom in which he complained about being a political victim.
Yet after teasing the prospect for weeks, Trump — who denied ever having sex with Daniels at a 2006 celebrity golf tournament — opted not to testify.
Keith Gaddie, a political analyst and professor at Texas Christian University, said the political impact of the shocking events has yet to be determined.
“It probably doesn’t move a lot of votes, but in particular states with particular swing votes, it could matter around the margins. So in particularly tight races, it can tip things back from one direction to the other,” she said.
The Republican, who made his name as a brash real estate mogul before a stunning ascent to the nation’s highest office in the 2016 election, now faces prison or, more likely, probation.
In theory, he could face up to four years in jail for each count of falsifying business records but legal experts said as a first-time offender he is unlikely to go behind bars.
An appeal could take months to complete.
Should he win the presidency he will not be able to pardon himself, given that the case was not brought by the federal government but by the state of New York, where only the governor could clear his name.
Trump also faces federal and state charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Biden, and for hoarding secret documents after leaving the White House.
AFP
Headlines
Book of Infamy: Umo Eno, Umar Bago, Egbetokun Listed Among Media Unfriendly Public Officers
Niger and Akwa Ibom state governors, Umar Bago and Umo Eno respectively, have been listed in the “Book of Infamy” by the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria as the worst offenders of media repression in the country.
The IPI also included the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, in the blacklist for continued police harassment and attacks on journalists.
This was made known on Tuesday during the IPI Annual Conference in Abuja, with Vice President Kashim Shettima and Minister of Information and National Orientation, in attendance.
At the conference, IPI President Musikilu Mojeed said the governors and the police chief have consistently prevented journalists from performing their legitimate responsibilities.
He said, “Mohammed Umar Bago, Niger Governor, Umo Eno, Governor of Akwa Ibom and the IG of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, are hereby written in the book of infamy.”
Mojeed added that Egbetokun was added for “failing to uphold his constitutional duties and allowing systematic media oppression”.
In recent years, media reports have highlighted multiple instances of repression under the two governors.
In August 2025, Governor Umar Bago was reported to have ordered the closure of Badeggi FM, a privately owned radio station in Minna, Niger State, accusing it of inciting violence.
The station was sealed by security agents, prompting condemnation from rights organisations such as Amnesty International and the Nigerian Bar Association, which described the move as unlawful and an attack on independent journalism.
Earlier in 2025, a postgraduate student at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Isah Mokwa was reportedly arrested and detained after criticising Governor Bago on social media.
In Akwa Ibom State, under Governor Umo Eno, a Channels Television reporter and cameraman were expelled from the Government House Press Centre in May 2025 after airing a video in which the governor allegedly announced plans to defect from his political party.
President Bola Tinubu has named retired General Christopher Gwabin Musa as the new Minister of Defence.
This comes barely 24 hours after the presidency announced the resignation Of Mohammed Badaru Abubakar from the position.
While presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, had said Badaru resigned on health grounds, the 63-year-old former Jigawa State governor’s resignation may not be unconnected with the recent surge in insecurity in the country.
Onanuga said, “In a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu conveyed General Musa’s nomination as the successor to Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.”
General Musa, 58, served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025.
He won the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa received his primary and secondary education there before attending the College of Advanced Studies in Zaria. He graduated in 1986 and enrolled at the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation in 1991.
In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training/Operations, Headquarters Infantry Centre and Corps; Commander, Sector 3, Operation Lafiya Dole; and Commander, Sector 3 Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Region.
In 2021, General Musa was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai. He later became Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before being appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023.
In the letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed confidence in General Musa’s ability to lead the Ministry of Defence and further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.
The US House of Appropriation Committee will today lead a joint congressional briefing addressing allegations of Christian genocide in Nigeria.
A notice shared on X by US Congressman Riley Moore, shows that the House Appropriations Committee Vice Chair and National Security Sub-committee Chairman Mario Díaz-Balart will convene the briefing, alongside other Appropriators and members of the Foreign Affairs and Financial Services Committees.
The notice notes that representatives from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and other experts will be part of the meeting.
“President Trump asked me and @HouseAppropsGOP to investigate the persecution of Christians in Nigeria,” he wrote.
Moore said that the briefing aimed “to spotlight the escalating violence and targeted persecution of Christians in Nigeria.”
He added that the roundtable would collect testimony for a comprehensive report directed by President Trump on the alleged massacre of Nigerian Christians and the steps Congress could take to support the White House’s efforts to protect vulnerable faith communities worldwide.
“As part of this investigation, the committee is hosting a roundtable to continue building on the work we’ve done so far. We will never turn a blind eye to our brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer for their faith,” he stated.
The briefing comes as part of US efforts to deepen security cooperation with Nigeria amid allegations of a Christian genocide in the country.
President Bola Tinubu recently cleared Nigeria’s delegation for the new US–Nigeria Joint Working Group, launched to make commitments from high-level talks in Washington, led by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The group, made up of top ministers and security officials, seeks to strengthen counterterrorism operations, improve intelligence sharing, bolster border security, and enhance coordination on humanitarian and civilian protection issues.
The initiative comes amid growing concerns over terrorism, banditry, and targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria, drawing heightened US scrutiny and renewed warnings on safeguarding vulnerable communities.
Trump added Nigeria to countries on watchlist for Christian genocide on October 31.
He referenced alleged grave violations of religious freedom, including the persecution of Christians.
He alleged that Christianity faced an existential threat in Nigeria, with thousands of Christians reportedly killed by radical Islamist groups.
He also warned that the US could take action including the possibility of military intervention if Nigeria failed to address the issue.
Nigeria was first designated a CPC by President Donald Trump in 2020, but his successor, President Joe Biden, removed the country from the list after assuming office.
