Michael Cohen calls Trump’s $500 million suit against him “pure retaliation”

By Karen Freifeld and Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s onetime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen asked a court to throw out the former U.S. president’s $500 million lawsuit against him, calling it an “abusive act of pure retaliation and witness intimidation.”       Cohen’s lawyers in a filing late Monday in Miami federal court said…

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Thailand’s influential ex-PM Thaksin eyes July return from exile

By Panu Wongcha-um BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand’s billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Tuesday he would return home in July after 17 years in self-imposed exile, just days ahead of an election his party is expected to win. Although Thaksin, arguably Thailand’s most influential and divisive former leader, has failed to make good on…

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Erdogan accuses opposition of provocations ahead of tight Turkish vote

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the opposition on Monday of provoking disorder and siding with terrorists, without providing evidence, in a fiery speech days before close and increasingly fractious elections. Erdogan appeared to suggest his opponents had incited confrontations a day earlier when crowds threw stones at a key opposition figure in the…

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Ex-Fox News producer dismisses Delaware lawsuit against Fox, NY lawsuit pending

By Helen Coster (Reuters) – Former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg has dismissed one lawsuit accusing the cable network, parent company Fox Corp and Fox News lawyers of defamation and pressuring her to make false statements in the now-settled Dominion Voting Systems case, a court filing on Friday showed. The Delaware lawsuit was dismissed “without…

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Tight security as Nigeria presidential election result challenged

By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) – Police blocked roads in the centre of Nigeria’s capital on Monday as judges started hearing opposition petitions disputing president-elect Bola Tinubu’s victory in February’s presidential election. Yards away from the Court of Appeal in Abuja, around 100 protesters stood quietly holding up pre-printed banners saying Tinubu should not be…

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‘We can’t afford anything’: Turkey’s cost-of-living crisis threatens Erdogan’s re-election

By Ali Kucukgocmen ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Istanbul barber Hakim Ekinci, a long-time supporter of Tayyip Erdogan, won’t be voting for the president next Sunday, blaming his economic policies for eroding Turks’ purchasing power and leaving many unable to afford even basic foodstuff. Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party were able to maintain their voter base,…

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