Judge ends Rudy Giuliani bankruptcy case, says he flouted the process with his lack of transparency

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. (Reuters)
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Updated 13 July 2024
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Judge ends Rudy Giuliani bankruptcy case, says he flouted the process with his lack of transparency

NEW YORK: A judge threw out Rudy Giuliani ‘s bankruptcy case on Friday, slamming the former New York City mayor as a “recalcitrant debtor” who thumbed his nose at the process while seeking to shield himself from a $148 million defamation judgment and other debts.
US Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane criticized Giuliani for repeated “uncooperative conduct,” self-dealing, and a lack of transparency. The judge cited failures to comply with court orders, failure to disclose sources of income, and his apparent unwillingness to hire an accountant to go over his books.
“Such a failure is a clear red flag,” Lane wrote.
Dismissing the case ends his pursuit of bankruptcy protection, but it doesn’t absolve him of his debts. His creditors can now pursue other legal remedies to recoup at least some of the money they’re owed, such as getting a court order to seize his apartments and other assets.
Giuliani is now free to also pursue an appeal of the defamation verdict, which arose from his efforts to overturn Republican Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss.
Lane indicated at a hearing Wednesday that he would probably dismiss the case. Giuliani’s lawyer had floated other options to keep the case alive, but agreed ultimately that dismissing it was the best way forward. The dismissal includes a 12-month ban on Giuliani filing again for bankruptcy protection.
“Transparency into Mr. Giuliani’s finances has proven to be an elusive goal,” Lane wrote, and he “sees no evidence that this will change.”
Among his concerns, the judge said, were that Giuliani funneled his income — including at least $15,000 a month from his now-canceled talk radio show — into companies he owned; never reported any income from those entities; failed to disclose that he had started promoting his own “Rudy Coffee” brand; and was late to disclose a contract he has to write a book.
Giuliani’s spokesperson Ted Goodman — drawing a parallel to what he deemed the “grossly unfair” defamation case — said Friday that the bankruptcy matter had been “burdened with many of the same voluminous and overly broad discovery requests and other actions.” Among them, he claimed, were leaks “intended to harm the mayor and destroy his businesses.”
Goodman ascribed political motives to Giuliani’s legal troubles, stating without evidence that they were meant to punish him for investigating President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and “to deter anyone else from asking questions or getting to the truth.” Nevertheless, he said, they’re confident “our system of justice with be restored and the mayor will be totally vindicated.”
Giuliani, a longtime Trump ally, filed for bankruptcy last December just days after the eye-popping damages award to former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. The bankruptcy filing froze collection of the debt.
A lawyer for Freeman and Moss accused Giuliani at Wednesday’s hearing of using bankruptcy as a “bad-faith litigation tactic” and a “pause button on his woes,” and urged Lane to dismiss it so they could pursue the damages they were awarded.
“Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss have already waited too long for justice,” the women’s lawyer, Rachel Strickland, said Friday. “We are pleased the court saw through Mr. Giuliani’s games and put a stop to his abuse of the bankruptcy process. We will begin enforcing our judgment against him ASAP.”
The other people and entities to whom Giuliani owes money wanted to keep the bankruptcy case going with a court-appointed trustee taking control of Giuliani’s assets.
Earlier this month, Giuliani requested the case be converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation — in which an appointed trustee would sell off assets to help pay creditors.
Giuliani’s lawyer Gary Fischoff reconsidered that idea at Wednesday’s hearing and pushed to dismiss the case instead, noting that administrative fees related to liquidation would “consume if not 100 percent, a substantial portion of the assets.”
Freeman and Moss can now bring their effort to collect on the award back to the court in Washington, D.C., where they won their lawsuit. The women said Giuliani’s targeting of them after Trump narrowly lost Georgia to Biden led to death threats that made them fear for their lives.
The bankruptcy is one of a host of legal woes consuming the 80-year-old Giuliani, the ex-federal prosecutor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate who was once heralded as “America’s Mayor” for his calm and steady leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Last week, he was disbarred as an attorney in New York after a court found he repeatedly made false statements about Trump’s 2020 election loss. He is also facing the possibility of losing his law license in Washington after a board in May recommended that he be disbarred.
In Georgia and Arizona, Giuliani is facing criminal charges over his role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
When he filed for bankruptcy, Giuliani listed nearly $153 million in existing or potential debts, including almost $1 million in state and federal tax liabilities, money he owes lawyers, and many millions of dollars in potential judgments in lawsuits against him. He estimated he had assets worth $1 million to $10 million.
In his most recent financial filings in the bankruptcy case, he said he had about $94,000 cash in hand at the end of May while his company, Giuliani Communications, had about $237,000 in the bank. A main source of income for Giuliani over the past two years has been a retirement account with a balance of just over $1 million in May, down from nearly $2.5 million in 2022 after his withdrawals, the filings say.
In May, he spent nearly $33,000 including nearly $28,000 for condo and co-op costs for his Florida and New York City homes. He also spent about $850 on food, $390 on cleaning services, $230 on medicine, $200 on laundry and $190 on vehicles.


UK students could face jail over support for banned Palestine Action

Police officers monitor protesters holding a banner during a protest in support of pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action.
Updated 10 July 2025
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UK students could face jail over support for banned Palestine Action

  • Ex-govt advisor urges universities to warn students of penalties for supporting illegal organizations
  • Palestine Action proscribed as terrorist group after members broke into Royal Air Force base last month

LONDON: University students in the UK face jail if they support the group Palestine Action, the former government advisor on political violence and disruption has warned.

Lord Walney, who wrote a report in 2024 advising that the organization be proscribed, said vice-chancellors should let students know the penalties that could be incurred by promoting the group’s policies, displaying its symbols or voicing support for it.

Palestine Action was declared a terrorist organization earlier this month after activists filmed themselves breaking into a Royal Air Force base in England. 

On Monday, 29 people were arrested for supporting it at a protest in Westminster, with some holding placards stating: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”

Penalties for membership of, or eliciting support for, proscribed groups in the UK include a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Protests in support of the Palestinian cause and against Israel’s war in Gaza have been frequent features across numerous university campuses in the UK since the outbreak of hostilities in October 2023.

In a letter to Vivienne Stern, CEO of Universities UK — a body representing 142 higher education establishments — Walney claimed there was a “clear danger that individuals may be unwittingly lured into expressing support for an entity whose methods are not only criminal, but now formally recognised as terrorism,” and “Universities UK has an important role to play in protecting both freedom of expression and student welfare within the bounds of the law.”

He added: “Palestine Action’s deliberate strategy has long involved drawing students into criminal activity under the guise of legitimate protest, preying on the understandable sympathy for Palestinians felt by large numbers of young people to find recruits.

“With its formal proscription, the legal threshold has shifted: expressions of support, including wearing insignia, arranging meetings, or promoting the group’s activities — whether knowingly or through naivety — now risk serious sanction with students at risk of acquiring a criminal record for a terror offence.

“This risk clearly exists whatever any individual may think of the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action.

“My view is that the group’s systematic campaign of sabotage justifies proscription, given the fact that property damage is included in the legal definition of terrorism.”

UUK told The Times that it had “written to our member vice-chancellors to alert them to the fact that Palestine Action has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000, effective from Saturday July 5, and to their obligation to ensure that staff and students are aware of this.”


A British F35 fighter jet stranded in India may finally fly back home after inspiring memes

Updated 10 July 2025
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A British F35 fighter jet stranded in India may finally fly back home after inspiring memes

  • Jet has been stranded at airport in southern Kerala state due to technical snag, is being repaired by UK engineers
  • One of the memes shows cartoon in which plane is enjoying snacks with group f locals against a scenic background

NEW DELHI: A British F-35B fighter jet stranded at an Indian airport for nearly a month, sparking memes and cartoons on social media, is expected to fly back home as early as next week, Indian officials said.

The stealth fighter, one of the world’s most advanced and costing around $115 million, is stranded at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport in the southern state of Kerala due to a technical snag and is being repaired by UK engineers, officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.

The jet was on a regular sortie in the Arabian Sea last month when it ran into bad weather and couldn’t return to the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, officials said.

The aircraft was then diverted to Thiruvananthapuram, where it landed safely on June 14. Officials said engineers hope to repair the plane in the next few days before it could fly back to UK sometime next week.

The stranded military aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, has triggered A.I.-generated memes in India. In a social media post, the tourism department of Kerala showed the aircraft on the tarmac surrounded by coconut trees and posting a fictitious five-star review.

“Kerala is such an amazing place, I don’t want to leave. Definitely recommend,” it said.

The state’s top official at the tourism department, K. Biju, said the post was put out in “good humor.”

“It was our way to appreciate and thank the Brits who are the biggest inbound visitors to Kerala for tourism,” said Biju.

Another cartoon posted on X showed the plane enjoying snacks with a group of locals against a scenic background.

The British High Commission confirmed to The Associated Press that a UK engineering team has been deployed to “assess and repair” the aircraft.

There has been speculation in India that if the engineers fail to rectify the aircraft, it could be partially dismantled and transported in a cargo plane. The UK’s Ministry of Defense dismissed the speculation in an emailed statement.


Report: Japan, UK, Italy open to Saudi joining fighter-jet program

Updated 10 July 2025
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Report: Japan, UK, Italy open to Saudi joining fighter-jet program

  • Tech sharing, and other issues need resolution, says report
  • Riyadh ‘encouraged’ to boost its nascent aerospace industry

DUBAI: Japan, the UK and Italy are open to having Saudi Arabia join their next-generation fighter-jet initiative, but only once the project has reached a more advanced stage and key issues have been resolved, according to The Japan Times.

The Global Combat Air Program is a joint effort to develop a sixth-generation fighter.

It will likely remain a trilateral initiative until after the GCAP International Government Organization, or GIGO, and the industry-led joint venture Edgewing sign their first international contract, likely by the end of 2025, the newspaper reported recently.

The GIGO, officially inaugurated on Monday in Reading, England, was established last year to oversee government-level coordination for the program.

Edgewing, launched last month, brings together the UK’s BAE Systems, Italy’s Leonardo, and the Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co., and is responsible for designing and developing the aircraft.

“There is no preclusion in having Saudi Arabia join the program, but we first have to define certain criteria and clarify all the points,” one source told The Japan Times, speaking after a virtual meeting between the GCAP nations’ defense ministers on Monday.

Riyadh has been “encouraged” to build up its aerospace expertise — including potentially acquiring and assembling Eurofighter Typhoons — before entering the GCAP, the newspaper reported.

In addition to Saudi Arabia, several other countries are said to have expressed interest in joining the program. These include two unnamed European countries, as well as one Middle Eastern and one Asian nation, according to a source cited by The Japan Times.

The terms of participation and contributions of any future member states remain undefined. Any expansion of the program would require unanimous approval from Japan, the UK and Italy.

The GCAP aircraft will be Japan’s first major defense development with partners other than the US.

It is intended to replace the aging F-2 fighter jets used by Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force, as well as the Eurofighters operated by the UK and Italy. The new jets are scheduled to enter service by 2035.

With the conceptual design phase complete, the program is moving into detailed design and development, and a demonstrator flight is expected within two to three years.

Despite overall satisfaction with the program’s progress, some tensions remain, particularly around access to sensitive intellectual property and full technology sharing.

In April, Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto publicly criticized the UK for not fully disclosing technology to its partners, in an interview with Reuters.

It is a concern that The Japan Times understands is still unresolved.


Bangladesh ex-top cop pleads guilty to crimes against humanity

Updated 10 July 2025
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Bangladesh ex-top cop pleads guilty to crimes against humanity

  • Former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Mamun has agreed to assist the court by acting as a witness, giving “all the knowledge he has regarding the crimes committed during the July-August uprising”

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s former police chief pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity committed during a crackdown on protests last year, while ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina was formally indicted, prosecutors said after the trial resumed Thursday.
Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the United Nations, when Hasina’s government attempted to crush a student-led uprising.
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina’s ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League.
Former inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Mamun “pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity,” Muhammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor at the ICT, told reporters.
Islam said Mamun has agreed to assist the court by acting as a witness, giving “all the knowledge he has regarding the crimes committed during the July-August uprising.”
The court has approved separate accommodation to ensure Mamun’s safety.
The tribunal on Thursday also rejected defense lawyers’ request to have the charges against Hasina and her interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal dismissed.
Both Hasina and Kamal were formally indicted in the same case.
Amir Hossain, the state-appointed counsel for Hasina and Kamal, however remained hopeful.
“The trial is at an initial stage, and there are several other phases,” he said.
Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to India as the protests ended her 15-year rule. She has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka, where her trial in absentia opened on June 1.
Hasina faces at least five charges at the ICT, including “abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising.”
Prosecutors say that Hasina held overall command responsibility for the violence.
She was already convicted of contempt of court in a separate case on July 2, receiving a six-month sentence.
Fugitive former minister Kamal is also believed to be in India.


UN says if US funding for HIV programs is not replaced, millions more will die by 2029

Updated 10 July 2025
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UN says if US funding for HIV programs is not replaced, millions more will die by 2029

  • The $4 billion that the United States pledged for the global HIV response for 2025 disappeared virtually overnight in January when US President Donald Trump ordered that all foreign aid be suspended and later moved to shutter the US AID agency

LONDON: Years of American-led investment into AIDS programs has reduced the number of people killed by the disease to the lowest levels seen in more than three decades, and provided life-saving medicines for some of the world’s most vulnerable.
But in the last six months, the sudden withdrawal of US money has caused a “systemic shock,” UN officials warned, adding that if the funding isn’t replaced, it could lead to more than 4 million AIDS-related deaths and 6 million more HIV infections by 2029.
“The current wave of funding losses has already destabilized supply chains, led to the closure of health facilities, left thousands of health clinics without staff, set back prevention programs, disrupted HIV testing efforts and forced many community organizations to reduce or halt their HIV activities,” UNAIDS said in a report released Thursday.
UNAIDS also said that it feared other major donors might also scale back their support, reversing decades of progress against AIDS worldwide — and that the strong multilateral cooperation is in jeopardy because of wars, geopolitical shifts and climate change.
The $4 billion that the United States pledged for the global HIV response for 2025 disappeared virtually overnight in January when US President Donald Trump ordered that all foreign aid be suspended and later moved to shutter the US AID agency.
Andrew Hill, an HIV expert at the University of Liverpool who is not connected to the United Nations, said that while Trump is entitled to spend US money as he sees fit, “any responsible government would have given advance warning so countries could plan,” instead of stranding patients in Africa when clinics were closed overnight.
The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, was launched in 2003 by US President George W. Bush, the biggest-ever commitment by any country focused on a single disease.
UNAIDS called the program a “lifeline” for countries with high HIV rates, and said that it supported testing for 84.1 million people, treatment for 20.6 million, among other initiatives. According to data from Nigeria, PEPFAR also funded 99.9 percent of the country’s budget for medicines taken to prevent HIV.
In 2024, there were about 630,000 AIDS-related deaths worldwide, per a UNAIDS estimate — the figure has remained about the same since 2022 after peaking at about 2 million deaths in 2004.
Even before the US funding cuts, progress against curbing HIV was uneven. UNAIDS said that half of all new infections are in sub-Saharan Africa and that more than 50 percent of all people who need treatment but aren’t getting it are in Africa and Asia.
Tom Ellman, of the charity Doctors Without Borders, said that while some poorer countries were now moving to fund more of their own HIV programs, it would be impossible to fill the gap left by the US
“There’s nothing we can do that will protect these countries from the sudden, vicious withdrawal of support from the US,” said Ellman, director of Doctors Without Borders’ South Africa Medical Unit. “Within months of losing treatment, people will start to get very sick and we risk seeing a massive rise in infection and death.”
Experts also fear another loss: data. The US paid for most HIV surveillance in African countries, including hospital, patient and electronic records, all of which has now abruptly ceased, according to Dr. Chris Beyrer, director of the Global Health Institute at Duke University.
“Without reliable data about how HIV is spreading, it will be incredibly hard to stop it,” he said.
The uncertainty comes as a twice-yearly injectable could end HIV, as studies published last year showed that the drug from pharmaceutical maker Gilead was 100 percent effective in preventing the virus.
Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the drug, called Sunleca — a move that should have been a “threshold moment” for stopping the AIDS epidemic, said Peter Maybarduk of the advocacy group Public Citizen.
But activists like Maybarduk said Gilead’s pricing will put it out of reach of many countries that need it. Gilead has agreed to sell generic versions of the drug in 120 poor countries with high HIV rates but has excluded nearly all of Latin America, where rates are far lower but increasing.
“We could be ending AIDS,” Maybarduk said. “Instead, the US is abandoning the fight.”