370 million: Former President Donald Trump, during the final day of his civil fraud trial in New York City on Thursday, accused the judge, Arthur Engoron, of having his “own agenda.” In closing arguments, Attorney General Letitia James and her team said Trump’s company issued false and inflated financial statements from 2011-2021. She is asking for nearly $370 million in penalties and a lifetime ban against Trump from the Empire State’s real estate industry. Engoron, who endured a bomb threat at his house in the suburbs early Thursday, said he hopes to issue a ruling by Jan. 31.
14: Papua New Guinea has declared a 14-day state of emergency after at least 15 people were killed in rioting in the Pacific Island nation’s two largest cities, Port Moresby and Lae. The violence kicked off after police went on strike Wednesday over their paychecks being chopped by as much as half. The government attributed it to an administrative glitch and said it would be corrected. But amid high unemployment and rising costs, that failed to ease tensions.
2: Pakistan’s Peshawar High Court reinstated the electoral symbol – a cricket bat – of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s political party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, ahead of general elections on Feb. 8. The two-member bench at Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa decided that the Election Commission of Pakistan acted illegally when it stripped the party of its symbol last month. Khan, imprisoned on graft charges, is a popular politician and former cricket star. Meanwhile, a local leader from Khan’s party, Shah Khalid, was shot dead in the same northwestern province on Thursday.
4.7: The International Monetary Fund is granting Argentina access to $4.7 billion as part of a debt restructuring plan. The loan is a lifeline for newly installed President Javier Milei, who’s battling annual inflation that has topped an eye-watering 160%. It also comes just ahead of Argentina’s Feb. 1 deadline for a $2.7 billion repayment to the IMF for an earlier outlay.
24: After 24 years and six Super Bowl titles, Bill Belichick is stepping aside as coach of the New England Patriots. While Belichick had one year remaining on his contract, Robert Kraft, the team’s owner, said they mutually agreed on his departure. “What Bill accomplished, in my opinion, will never be duplicated,” Kraft said of Belichick, who’s expected to look for coaching opportunities elsewhere. Meanwhile, Nick Saban, head football coach at the University of Alabama, has announced his retirement after 17 seasons.
