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Hard Numbers: Trump liable for fraud, Kenya signs a big defense pact, Thailand jails king’s critic, Mexican exports get stranded, Nigeria rescues students
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a 2024 presidential election campaign event at Sportsman Boats in Summerville, South Carolina, U.S. September 25, 2023.
2.2 billion: Donald Trump was found liable for fraud Tuesday by a New York judge for lying about his wealth on financial statements to banks and insurers, inflating his net worth by approximately $2.2 billion dollars. Justice Arthur Engoron stripped the former president of control over some of his properties and sanctioned his lawyers for their behavior. Despite extensive legal troubles, Trump remains the frontrunner – and by a wide margin – for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination.
5: The US and Kenya have signed a 5-year defense agreement under which Washington will support the East African country’s security operations. Kenya has been battling al-Shabab jihadists in neighboring Somalia for years and is now poised — with $100 million in new US support — to lead an anti-gang mission to Haiti. Read more about why Kenya wants the Haiti assignment here.
4: A prominent Thai lawyer and activist who has called for reform of the country’s monarchy was sentenced to 4 years in prison under Thailand’s strict lese-majeste laws. Arnon Nampa was one of the leaders of the mass youth-led protests against the junta-dominated government in 2020. Thai politics were recently upended by the return of exiled former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Read more here.
125: At least 125 people were killed in an unexplained explosion at a crowded fuel depot in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on Tuesday. The victims were among thousands of ethnic Armenians fleeing Karabakh after Azerbaijan retook control over the Armenian-majority region last week for the first time in more than 30 years. Read more background here.
4: Nigerian security forces rescued 14 university students who had been abducted by gunmen in northwestern Nigeria. Half a dozen students remain unaccounted for. Kidnappings for ransom have grown common in the region in recent years, as part of a broader clash between nomadic and pastoral ethnic groups. It is the first major kidnapping of its kind since President Bola Tinubu took office earlier this year with promises to improve security.