WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll, the longtime advice columnist who has said Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store 30 years ago, lied during the course of civil litigation against him, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The person who confirmed the existence of the investigation was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing inquiry and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The perjury investigation is being led by the federal prosecutors’ office in Chicago, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has had no involvement because of his prior work as Trump’s personal attorney, the person said.

Lawyers for Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on Thursday.

It’s the latest in a series of investigations that Trump’s Justice Department has opened into perceived adversaries of the Republican president. The actions, including securing an indictment last month against former FBI Director James Comey, have raised alarm from Democrats and former officials that an institution meant to make prosecutorial decisions independent of the White House is being weaponized.

Carroll has said a flirtatious, chance encounter with Trump in 1996 at Bergdorf Goodman’s Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan ended violently. She said Trump slammed her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her. Trump has called the allegations a “made-up scam,” and he has attacked her motivations, saying they were politically driven or arose from a desire to promote her memoir.

A jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her, and she was awarded $5 million. The following year, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a defamation case related to Trump’s social media posts about her.

The Justice Department is scrutinizing a statement Carroll made in the course of the civil litigation that no one else was paying her legal fees. It later became public that a Chicago-based organization backed by Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, had helped fund Carroll’s case. Trump’s lawyers in the civil case accused Carroll of concealing that information, which they said called into question whether the case was politically motivated.

A month before the first trial in 2023, then-Trump lawyer Alina Habba sought to delay it, saying in court papers that new revelations about Hoffman partially funding Carroll’s case “raises significant questions as to Plaintiff’s credibility, as well as her motive for commencing and/or continuing the instant action.”

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a Dec. 30, 2024, ruling, upheld the $5 million jury award from 2023. The court addressed Carroll’s credibility after Trump accused her of lying, during a deposition, about how her case was funded.

The court cited Carroll’s explanation that when the question about Hoffman’s contributions was first posed to her in 2022, she had forgotten about “the limited outside funding” received in September 2020.

“It showed that Ms. Carroll simply was not involved in the matter of who was or was not funding her litigation costs,” the appeals court said.

Hoffman has defended the financial assistance, saying in a social media post that “supporting women fight for progress and justice in philanthropy, politics and business has been a longstanding priority of mine, as is supporting America against the threat of Trump.”

A court entry earlier this month said Trump will not have to pay the award until the U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance to review the case or reject an appeal. The appeals court agreed to a request by one of Trump’s lawyers that it let Trump delay the payment to Carroll, though he was required to post a $7.4 million bond to cover any additional interest costs, a request Carroll’s attorney had made.

The Carroll investigation was first reported by CNN.

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Associated Press reporter Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report

An application to licence Hima Fuji, in Lawrence Street, for live music until 2am daily was approved following a City of York Council hearing on Thursday, May 28.

Ze He, the restaurant’s owner, told councillors the licence was only intended to regularise hosting karaoke which takes place in booths which are professionally sound-proofed.

But neighbouring resident Richard Bowen said he feared the licence could open the door to live acts performing at the venue which is close to homes and several elderly people.

Councillors approved the application but added a condition which only allows live music in the restaurant’s five karaoke booths at the back of the building.

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Asian restaurant Hima Fuji’s applied to allow live music during its existing opening hours of 9am to 2am daily and until 3am on bank holidays and New Year’s Eve.

The premises has been licensed since 2018 and was previously home to Mojo’s Chinese Cuisine which has since shut down.

Hima Fuji’s application stated the application had been lodged after a change in the venue’s layout.

Thursday’s licensing meeting heard the application came after council enforcement officers making a routine visit found works had already been done.

It also heard there had been one complaint about noise at the premises in 2023.

No objections against the application were made by official consultees or responsible authorities such as North Yorkshire Police or the council’s licensing team.

Hima Fuji, in Lawrence Street, York (Image: LDRS)

But three objections from people living in Farrar Street and others nearby were lodged, with one branding the application completely insensitive.

They claimed it could see them disturbed by loud music and people leaving the venue in the early hours and fuel antisocial behaviour and parking problems.

Resident Mr Bowen said he was fearful of what he termed licensing creep which could one day result in the premises becoming a fully-fledged music venue if it changes hands.

He said: “The karaoke is perfectly fine, but what concerns me is what this could lead to, a live music licence will make that venue a much more desirable prospect to the type of people who will run that sort of thing.

“One day is is a family-friendly karaoke bar, then one night there’s a band on and lots of students come in and spend a lot of money and then it becomes every night.

“You’ll also have people standing outside smoking and standing, chatting and making a noise up to 2am, there’s elderly people living nearby including one who’s 104.

“Once you open that Pandora’s Box you’re going to have a lot of trouble putting the bands back in and I don’t want to live next to a Fibbers for the next 10 years.”

Fibbers was a well-known live music venue in York which closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

The restaurant’s owner said he understood the concerns of neighbours and he would ensure staff were trained to properly deal with noise.

He added the complaint in 2023 happened when he was away from the premises.

The applicant said: “We’ve been running karaoke for the last four years and we’ve only had that one issue, since then we’ve never had any complaints.

“This is only connected to karaoke, that’s what this application’s for, we wouldn’t want a live band on next to people who are eating.

“All the karaoke rooms are sound-proofed and insulated, even if you’re playing loud music inside one if you’re stood in the corridor outside you can barely hear it.

“The majority of our customers are Chinese students who don’t drive, they walk or take taxis here.”

Emma Barnett, from in Essex, was found guilty of murdering her 14-month-old son Oakley

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A woman has been convicted of murder after administering a lethal combination of prescription drugs to her infant son, having been discovered clutching him in a loft. Emma Barnett and her son Oakley were initially reported missing following a family court hearing on 8 November 2024, at which it had been ruled that her 14-month-old son was to be taken into care.

Officers had believed that Barnett, of Chester Road, Debden in Essex, had taken Oakley to the nearby Epping Forest. Judge Mr Justice Derek Sweeting, told jurors at Cambridge Crown Court, that the 36-year-old had parked her vehicle at Epping Forest before walking back to her home.

Police forced entry into the property on 8 November 2024, where they found Barnett concealed in the loft with her son. She initially refused to come down and engage with police.

As negotiations continued, officers grew increasingly alarmed for the child’s welfare. They forced their way into the loft space, and both Barnett and Oakley were subsequently taken to hospital for treatment.

Tragically, despite the efforts of medical staff, Oakley died in December 2024. Barnett received hospital treatment before being arrested on suspicion of murder in January 2025.

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The judge noted that Barnett had later stated in interview that she “wanted the police to think I was in the forest so I could stay indoors with Oakley”.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed that evidence presented during the trial revealed Barnett had prepared a bottle containing a mixture of milk and medication, which she administered to Oakley, ultimately causing his death. The CPS confirmed Barnett was convicted of murder following her trial.

Officers had communicated with Barnett by telephone and through the loft hatch. Initially, she informed them that Oakley was asleep, before declaring “I have killed him”, according to the CPS.

Police say they carried out a “detailed investigation” which included interviewing Barnett in June 2025. She declined to respond to any questions, police say, but was subsequently charged with one count of murder.

During an 18-day trial at Cambridge Crown Court, jurors heard that Barnett had been scheduled to attend a legal hearing to determine Oakley’s future. The toddler had been placed under an interim care order on the day they disappeared.

Barnett initially pleaded not guilty to murdering the child. However, after six hours of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict.

Summarising the evidence for jurors earlier this week, the judge stated that Oakley was admitted to hospital and died on New Year’s Eve 2024. He explained the prosecution’s position was that Barnett “intentionally administered to him (Oakley) medication prescribed to her intending to kill him and this was the planned outcome”.

Judge Sweeting noted that the defence case was that Oakley’s death was accidental. Outlining the defendant’s position to jurors, the judge continued that her case was that “she didn’t intentionally administer medication or intend serious harm or to kill him”. “Her intention was to take her own life but only at the point Oakley would be removed from her by police,” the judge said, summing up Barnett’s defence case.

Barnett claimed that concealing herself in the loft “was to extend the time she had left with Oakley”, the judge stated. He explained that investigators discovered two baby bottles in the loft containing liquids that tested positive for the antihistamine promethazine, which can induce sedation, and the antidepressant mirtazapine. The judge noted that expert testimony indicated “taken together their effects may be greater than either alone” and they could cause “respiratory compromise”.

Nicola Pope, senior Crown prosecutor, said: “Emma Barnett deliberately gave her baby son a dangerous mixture containing medication which proved fatal. Our prosecution case relied on a detailed and careful analysis of the evidence from the police investigation, including expert medical evidence, to establish how Oakley came to die.

“I hope that today’s outcome provides some measure of peace to Oakley’s family and loved ones during this deeply upsetting time.”

Detective Inspector James Holmes of Essex Police said: “This was an extremely upsetting and difficult investigation for everybody involved. Our thoughts remain with Oakley and everyone who loved him.”

Barnett is due to be sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court on 5 June.

1) The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

2) Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

3) Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

4) My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

5) The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante

6) The Moorland Cottage by Elizabeth Gaskell

7) I’m A Fan by Sheena Patel

8) Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa

Shout-outs

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donaghue

Stories Of Your Life And Others by Ted Chiang

“Labour cuts have left the Council with an £85 million funding gap. We will stand up for our borough. This Council will now be accountable to Southwark residents, not to Keir Starmer. Together, our two parties can transform this council into one that genuinely listens, and where our diverse communities can shape decisions about where we live.”

More than ten pizzerias have opened in the capital so far this year — high profile, or at least well trodden into London’s frenetic food-based discourse. Probably you’ll have seen Dough Hands, Napoli on the Road, Hot Saint, Pizza Nerds, Short Road, Weezie’s, Fresh Hot, Track’s, Connie’s, All Kaps… the list goes on and more are coming (like Carmy’s slice shop in Covent Garden, due this summer). Some are Neapolitan or Roman but most are New York-inspired or at least East Coast in style. Such as Bar Etna, the most hyped of the lot, which opened earlier in May and comes from the lads behind The Plimsoll, a pub best known for its burger.

Israel has intensified its strikes on Lebanon, saying it has hit hundreds of Hezbollah targets in the last few days.

Verified videos show strikes on densely populated neighbourhoods in southern Lebanon along with the destruction caused.

The Lebanese health ministry has said more than 3,000 people have been killed since the start of the war. Merlyn Thomas reports.

Produced by Tom Joyner. Graphics by Mesut Ersoz. Verification by Emma Pengelly, Sarah Jalali and Sherie Ryder.

The inquest is now in its 17th week at Belfast Coroner’s Court

It is “extremely unlikely” that Noah Donohoe entered the storm drain where he was found dead anywhere other than the Premier Drive stream culvert, an inquest has heard.

The inquest, which is being heard with a jury, is now in its 17th week at Belfast Coroner’s Court, and heard further evidence from engineer and hydrologist Jeremy Benn on Thursday about the culvert.

Noah, 14, had set off on his bicycle from his home in south Belfast on the evening of Sunday June 21, planning to meet two friends in the Cavehill area in the north of the city. However, he was later seen on CCTV footage cycling along York Road. The last sighting of him was on Northwood Drive.

Police believe Noah entered the nearby Premier Drive stream culvert, although there is no direct evidence such as CCTV or witnesses to support that. His naked body was found around 600m further down the storm drain tunnel at a Northern Ireland Railways depot almost a week later on June 27 2020.

A post-mortem examination found the cause of death was likely to be drowning.

Mr Benn had previously given evidence along with three other expert witnesses last month.

The inquest heard all four thought it was “extremely unlikely” Noah entered the culvert system at any other point.

Mr Benn said the alternatives were manholes, which he described as having heavy covers, designed not to be easy to lift, and if Noah had entered via a manhole the cover would have remained off.

He said other parts of the watercourse were fenced off, while another section would have involved wading through deep mud, and the train depot where the section of storm drain where his body was found, is gated with 24-hour security.

Meanwhile, the experts were at odds over whether Noah’s body would have moved in the tunnel.

Mr Benn said Noah’s body could have moved a short distance downstream with the outgoing tidal flow, while the other experts felt any movement would have been short, less than a few metres.

The inquest heard Mr Benn was involved with drafting guidance on culverts in 2010 and 2019, and trained staff at Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure on that guidance. He was instructed by the department as an expert witness for the inquest.

Mr Benn was also described as having disagreed with the other expert witnesses over whether there should have been a security screen and fencing at the culvert which was refurbished in 2017.

On Thursday he warned that fencing in the area would have been very costly and difficult to put in.

In terms of security screens at culverts, he said they can lead to other dangers, adding that the flooding of the Westlink bypass in Belfast in 2008 was caused by a security screen at a culvert.

Counsel to the coroner Peter Coll KC, questioned Mr Benn on his assessment of the risk or hazards of the culvert.

Mr Coll suggested that due to it being dark, cold and the storm drain tunnel being so long and filling twice a day with the tide, that it was a “seriously dangerous place for a 14-year-old child, unauthorised, to be in”.

Mr Benn responded saying: “I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s seriously dangerous.”

Returning to resume his evidence after lunch, Mr Benn said the culvert “wasn’t high risk” because of hazards being unlikely, terming it instead as “medium risk”.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Drive on Interstate 10 along the Gulf Coast of the United States, through Louisiana and into Texas, and you’ll see signs of the oil industry everywhere. There are offshore rigs out in the water and refineries lining the shoreline, where tankers deposit crude oil extracted from the Gulf floor.

But what you might not realise from looking at the surface, is that this area is also home to a network of underground salt deposits, known as salt domes.

And dug down deep inside them are caverns, carved out in the late 1970s, that contain the  Strategic Petroleum Reserve, America’s huge stockpile of oil. 

Current stocks stand at 374 million barrels worth of oil, well short of its capacity of 714 million barrels.

With the Strait of Hormuz now closed for more than two months, global oil supplies are being squeezed, with warnings mounting about shortages affecting global industries, from aviation to agriculture. In March 2026, as part of a co-ordinated move by members of the International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels of oil to prevent price spikes, the U.S. began releasing 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Globally, at the end of 2025, global strategic oil stockpiles were estimated at 2.5 billion barrels, with China holding the most.

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we speak to Scott Montgomery, a former petroleum geologist who lectures in international studies at the University of Washington, about why these oil stockpiles were built up in the first place, and how they work.

Montgomery says salt is an ideal place to store oil because it’s impermeable, but also quite movable under the right amount of pressure. “These are not huge open gaping caverns … we haven’t hollowed out the salt dome. We actually have 60 separate smaller what are called bottles, about 200 feet (60 meters) in diameter and up to 2,000 feet (610 meters) in vertical length,” he explains.

But Montgomery says that there is only a certain number of times that oil can be taken out and put back into the bottles. “These really have a safety margin of about five cycles of drawing oil out of them and putting oil back,” he says, without dissolving the sides of the cavern too much. “The geological reality … is that we’re going too have to make new caverns.”

Listen to the interview with Scott Montgomery on The Conversation Weekly podcast, where he traces the history of strategic oil reserves, and explains what happens when they run out.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Gemma Ware, Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Mixing by Eleanor Brezzi and theme music by Neeta Sarl.

Newsclips in this episode are from DW News and CBS News.

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here. A transcript of this episode is available via the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.