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Trump sentenced in New York hush-money case days before taking office

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(Aljazeera)

Donald Trump has become the first former United States president ever sentenced for a crime.

But the US president-elect avoided penalties for his conviction for falsifying business documents in relation to hush-money payments made to an adult film actress.

Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to an “unconditional discharge” on Friday, a day after the US Supreme Court rejected an attempt by Trump’s legal team to delay the sentencing, which took place before the Republican leader’s inauguration on January 20.

The decision means that Trump’s conviction will appear on his permanent record, but he does not face imprisonment, a fine or probation — leaving him unencumbered to enter the White House.

Trump, who previously served as president from 2017 to 2021, was found guilty in late May,  on 34 counts of falsifying business documents related to a $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels, among other things.

The US president-elect has denied any wrongdoing and said he plans to appeal his conviction.

Trump appears virtually during his New York sentencing hearing
Trump appeared virtually during Friday’s sentencing hearing [Aljazeera]

Appearing virtually at Friday’s sentencing hearing, Trump said his criminal trial and conviction had “been a very terrible experience” and insisted he committed no crime.

“It’s been a political witch-hunt,” Trump said before the judge issued his decision. “It was done to damage my reputation so I would lose the election and obviously that didn’t work.”

Prosecutors in the New York case had argued that the hush-money payments aimed to conceal allegations of a sexual relationship with Daniels  that could have been politically damaging.

The payments were made ahead of the 2016 US presidential election, which saw Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the White House.

Trump, who pleaded not guilty in the case, has denied any sexual relationship took place.

Reporting from Washington, DC, on Friday morning, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said prosecutors had argued “it was important that Donald Trump was held responsible”.

“The judge himself said this was a unique and difficult case, but in the end, he decided that the sentence had to be an unconditional discharge,” Fisher said.

Under New York’s penal code, a court can sentence a defendant to an unconditional discharge if it “is of the opinion that no proper purpose would be served by imposing any condition upon the defendant’s release”.

Earlier this week, Trump’s lawyers had asked the Supreme Court to delay the sentencing “to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government”.

They argued that a ruling last year by the top court grants presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution, and that means some of the evidence should not have been presented in the case

But a majority of the justices on the Supreme Court said in a decision late on Thursday that the “alleged evidentiary violations” at Trump’s state-court trial “can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal”.

They also said “the burden that sentencing will impose” on Trump’s responsibilities “is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of ‘unconditional discharge’ after a brief virtual hearing”.

Now that he has been sentenced, Trump is free to pursue the appeal, a process that could take years and play out while he is serving his second four-year term as president.

“Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after his sentencing.

(Aljazeera)



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Zimbabwe stun Sri Lanka to enter Super Eight unbeaten

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Sikandar Raza counterattacked to release the pressure [Cricinfo]

One time is a shock. Two times, and the second to beat hosts Sri Lanka at their own game, is Zimbabwe. Led by their canny bowling, Zimbabwe pulled Sri Lanka back from a flying start to keep them to 178 on a sluggish Premadasa track. Their opener Brian Benett, quickest scorer in their history, dropped anchor, stayed unbeaten like his team, and Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl and Tadiwanashe Marumani did all the damage from the other end to seal their second-highest successful T20I chase.

Sri Lanka’s innings had three neat divisions: first 29 balls for 54 for 0, next 72 for 82 for 4 and then a finishing kick of 42 for 3 off the last 19 balls. Zimbabwe went Bennett and non-Bennett. Bennett scored 63 off 48; the other three combined for 102 off 64 balls. Raza was the decisive hand: 45 off 26 after the asking rate had gone past 11.

Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 182 for 4 in 19.3 overs (Brian Bennett 63*, Tadiwanashe Marumani 34, Ryan Burl 23, Sikandar Raza 45; Dasun Shanaka 1-26, Dushan Hemantha 2-36, Dunith Wellalage 1-27) beat Sri Lanka 178 for 7  in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 62, Kusal Perera 22, Kusal Mendis 14, Pavan  Rathnayake 44, Dunith Wellalage 15*; Blessing Muzarabani 2-38, Graeme Cremer 2-27, Brad  Evans 2-35) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Ex-UK Prince Andrew arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office

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Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the former United Kingdom royal, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, according to UK media reports.

A statement from Thames Valley police was released Thursday which said, “As part of the investigation, we have today (19/2) arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.

“The man remains in police custody at this time.”

“We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance. Please also remember that this case is now active so care should be taken with any publication to avoid being in contempt of court, ” the statement added.

“Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said: “Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office.

“It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence.

“We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.”

Andrew, the former British prince, who was stripped of his title last year over his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, should cooperate with the US authorities in their investigation, the UK Prime Minister Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said.

[Aljazeera]

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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts

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Advisory for Severe Lightning
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre  at 12.00 noon 19 February 2026 valid for the period until 11.00 p.m. 19 February 2026

The public are warned that thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur at some places in in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts after 2.00 p.m.

There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers.

General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:

The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
 Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
 Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
 Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
 For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

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