Trump Ordered to Pay Carroll $83.3 Million

A jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $83.3 million

A federal jury in Manhattan ordered former President Donald Trump to pay $83.3 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in social media posts, news conferences and on the campaign trail ever since she first accused him in 2019 of raping her in a department store dressing room decades earlier.

It is the second time in less than a year that Trump has been ordered to pay Carroll damages. In May, a different Manhattan jury awarded her $5 million after finding Trump liable for sexually abusing her in the mid-1990s, and for defaming her in a post on his Truth Social website in October 2022.

During closing arguments today from Carroll’s lawyer, Trump rose from the defense table without saying anything and left the courtroom. He returned about 75 minutes later, when his lawyer offered her summation.

Trump posted on Truth Social, calling the verdict “absolutely ridiculous.” He said he planned to appeal, and again accused Carroll’s suit of being a “Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party.” His account made about 16 posts in 15 minutes during the summations.

Trump faces a series of civil and criminal cases as he seeks to return to the White House. During the trial, Trump alternated campaign stops in New Hampshire, where he won the Republican presidential primary, with court appearances, using them as an opportunity to reach voters and complain that he had been mistreated.

A U.N. court ordered Israel to prevent genocide

The United Nations’ highest court said today that Israel must take action to prevent acts of genocide by its forces in Gaza and must let more aid into the enclave. But the court did not call on Israel to immediately suspend its military campaign.

The interim ruling, by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, was an initial step in a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The court is not expected to issue a ruling on the broader genocide charge for years.

U.S. inflation continues to cool

A measure of inflation closely watched by the Federal Reserve continued to cool in December, the latest sign that price increases are coming under control as growth remains solid and the labor market healthy. A core price gauge fell below 3 percent for the first time since 2021.

Many economists spent early 2023 predicting a recession. But one never showed up, forcing a reckoning on Wall Street and in academia.

Leading museums are removing Native displays

The American Museum of Natural History, one of the most visited museums in the world, will close two major halls exhibiting Native American objects, its leaders said today. The move is a response to new federal regulations that require museums to obtain consent from tribes before displaying or performing research on cultural items.

Museums around the country have been covering up displays as curators determine whether Native American cultural items can be shown under the new regulations. The changes are a result of an effort by the Biden administration to speed up the repatriation of sacred items.

A 10-year dream of Spielberg and Hanks lifts off

“Masters of the Air,” a nine-part Apple TV+ series spearheaded by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, premiered today and chronicles the bomber pilots known as the Bloody Hundredth. The unit flew daytime bombing missions over German targets during World War II, knowing that the odds suggested they might not survive.

The show, conceived a little more than 10 years ago, is an heir to the 2001 epic “Band of Brothers.” It’s part of a continuing effort by Spielberg to keep World War II in sight as the years claim the lives of more and more veterans.

Midlife crises aren’t inevitable

Midlife — which, according to the American Psychological Association, spans from 36 to 64 — is known as a high-stress era of lost youth, declining health, job pressures and caretaking. But it doesn’t have to be a crisis. (In fact, they’re uncommon.)

We asked experts for tips on savoring and celebrating this phase of life. Among their advice: Be unapologetic about who you are and go full throttle on a weird hobby. Here’s what else they suggest.

When sports mirror art

The internet is a crowded place, but LJ Rader has managed to do something novel. A largely self-taught art aficionado, Rader connects the pathos of classic artwork to viral moments in sports, which he posts on his Art but Make It Sports social media accounts.

Rader has matched a photo of an exhausted distance runner with a Baroque-period painting of Jesus Christ, likened a baseball player to a piece of taxidermy and linked athletes with sculptures by Rodin.

In identifying those parallels, he has brought fine art to a new audience while showing the art world that beauty and emotion can surface in surprising places — on a soccer pitch, on an ice rink or on an N.B.A. bench.

Have a refined weekend.

Thanks for reading. Matt will be back on Monday. — Jonathan

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