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Donald Trump has been handed a no-penalty sentence following his conviction in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.

The incoming US president has received an unconditional discharge – meaning he will not face jail time, probation or a fine.

Manhattan Judge Juan M Merchan could have jailed him for up to four years.

The sentencing in Manhattan comes just 10 days before the 78-year-old is due to be inaugurated as US president for a second time on 20 January.

Trump appeared at the hearing by video link and addressed the court before he was sentenced, telling the judge the case had been a “very terrible experience” for him.

He claimed it was handled inappropriately and by someone connected with his political opponents – referring to Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg.

As it happened:
Trump sentenced in Manhattan court

Trump said: “It was done to damage my reputation so I would lose the election.

“This has been a political witch hunt.

“I am totally innocent. I did nothing wrong.”

Concluding his statement, he said: “I was treated very unfairly and I thank you very much.”

The judge then told the court it was up to him to “decide what is a just conclusion with a verdict of guilty”.

He said: “Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances.

“This has been a truly extraordinary case.”

He added that the “trial was a bit of a paradox” because “once the doors closed it was not unique”.

US President-elect Donald Trump is seen on the screen at Manhattan criminal court in New York, US, on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.  JEENAH MOON/Pool via REUTERS
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Pic: Reuters

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass had earlier argued in court that Trump “engaged in a campaign to undermine the rule of law” during the trial.

“He’s been unrelenting in his attacks against this court, prosecutors and their family,” Mr Steinglass said.

“His dangerous rhetoric and unconstitutional conduct has been a direct attack on the rule of law and he has publicly threatened to retaliate against the prosecutors.”

Mr Steinglass said this behaviour was “designed to have a chilling effect and to intimidate”.

It comes after the US Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch attempt by Trump to delay sentencing in the case on Thursday.

Trump’s lawyers argued that evidence used during the trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.

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Todd Blanche, attorney for former US President Donald Trump, and US President-elect Donald Trump are seen on the screen at Manhattan criminal court in New York, US, on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.  JEENAH MOON/Pool via REUTERS
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Trump appeared via videolink with his attorney Todd Blanche. Pic: Reuters

Trump’s hush money conviction in May 2024 means he will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the US presidency.

He was found guilty in New York of 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to payments made to Ms Daniels, an adult film actor, before he won the 2016 US election.

Prosecutors claimed he had paid her $130,000 (£105,300) in hush money to not reveal details of what Ms Daniels said was a sexual relationship in 2006.

Trump has denied any liaison with Ms Daniels or any wrongdoing.

The trial made headlines around the world but the details of the case or Trump’s conviction didn’t deter American voters from picking him as president for a second time.

FILE - Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (Timothy A. Clary/Pool Photo via AP, File)
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Trump appears in court during his trial. Pic: AP

What is an unconditional discharge?

Under New York state law, an unconditional discharge is a sentence imposed “without imprisonment, fine or probation supervision”.

The sentence is handed down when a judge is “of the opinion that no proper purpose would be served by imposing any condition upon the defendant’s release”, according to the law.

It means Trump’s hush money case has been resolved without any punishment that could interfere with his return to the White House.

Unconditional discharges have been handed down in previous cases where, like Trump, people have been convicted of falsifying business records.

They have also been applied in relation to low-level offences such as speeding, trespassing and marijuana-related convictions.

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What could Elon Musk do with $1trn?

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What could Elon Musk do with trn?

Elon Musk could be on track for a $1trn pay packet.

Tesla shareholders have approved the whopping financial package for the CEO – who’s already worth an estimated $491bn – if he hits a series of ambitious targets over the next 10 years.

But that $1trn figure (or £761,910,000,000) – which is both one thousand billion and one million million – is almost impossible to imagine for most people.

Even so, we have drilled down into the numbers and examined what you can do with a trillion US dollars – and it turns out, quite a lot.

Show me the money

Laid end to end, a trillion one-dollar bills would cover a distance of approximately 156 billion metres.

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That could wrap around the equator 3,890 times, easily reach the sun from Earth (around 149.6 million km) or loop from Earth to the moon 405 times.

That many one-dollar notes could cover a massive area (roughly 10,339 km squared), meaning you could blanket nearly all of Lebanon or Jamaica in bills.

Spend it on sport

You could splash out on virtually all of the world’s major sporting leagues.

The clubs which make up the Premier League are relatively cheap ($30bn), and even when snapping up the UEFA Champions League clubs and the big five top divisions of Spain, Italy, Germany, and France, there’s still $858bn left in the kitty.

The four major US sports leagues for ice hockey, baseball, basketball, and American football (NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL) have a rough valuation of $544bn, according to Sportico.

But then add the IPL cricket league ($120bn) and F1 ($23.1bn) and Musk still has change from an estimated total spend of $829.7bn.

Elon Musk is in the money if he hits targets set by Tesla's shareholders. File pic: AP
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Elon Musk is in the money if he hits targets set by Tesla’s shareholders. File pic: AP

Take over Tesla’s rivals

He could buy up the top 15 largest publicly traded automakers (excluding Tesla) by market capitalisation.

They would include firms like Japan’s Toyota ($275bn), Chinese automaker BYD ($120bn), and luxury brands like Ferrari ($81bn) and Mercedes-Benz ($62bn), as well as BMW ($52bn), Volkswagen ($50bn) and Ford ($48bn).

But there would still be a little change left over; the total bill would be an eye-watering $992bn.

Buy up San Diego

He could buy up every single residential property in San Diego County – valued at a total of $1trn. Seattle is just slightly out of reach at $1.1trn, according to recent data from real estate firm Zillow.

But if he wanted to buy big – there is always Tennessee. The total value of homes in the US state is estimated at $957bn. Or there is Maryland, which at $1.01trn could be bought if he can find a little more cash behind the sofa.

Sadly, he would struggle to scoop up London’s entire housing stock, which in February was valued at just under £2trn ($2.53trn), according to agents Savills.

Cities like New York ($4.6trn) and Los Angeles ($3.9trn) are also not within his budget, hosting America’s most expensive residential markets.

Do something charitable?

There is always the possibility Musk could follow in the footsteps of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who intends to give away 99% of his vast fortune over the next 20 years.

He could give every single man, woman, and child in the US a share of his cash pile. They would receive approximately $2,917.32 (£2,223.29), based on a population estimate of 342.7 million.

Although it would be roughly $14,348.79 (£10,935.20) for every person (roughly 69.6 million) in the UK.

If he wanted to give the entire globe an early Christmas present, then based on the rough world population estimate of 8.2 billion, everyone would receive $121.80 (£92.87).

Pay off the credit card

With $1trn, he could instantly rewrite history and erase debt interest payments and the government debt from dozens of the world’s sovereign nations.

Or Musk could wipe out the debts of Singapore ($1trn) or South Korea ($0.99trn) in one go, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook (Oct 2025).

But when it comes to the biggest debt-laden countries, $1trn would not even touch the sides.

The US has $38.3trn of government debt (just over one third of the total global debt pile) while the UK has a modest $4.1trn.

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Prince Harry apologises to Canada for wearing LA Dodgers cap at World Series

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Prince Harry apologises to Canada for wearing LA Dodgers cap at World Series

Prince Harry has apologised to Canada for wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers cap while attending a World Series game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Duke of Sussex and his wife, Meghan, were pictured at the baseball game last Tuesday, which Toronto ultimately lost to the Dodgers in a seventh-game decider on Sunday.

The prince joked to Canadian broadcaster CTV that he wore the Dodgers merchandise “under duress”.

He said it felt like “the polite thing to do” after being invited to the dugout by the team’s owner.

“Firstly, I would like to apologise to Canada for wearing it,” he said.

“Secondly, I was under duress. There wasn’t much choice.”

“When you’re missing a lot of hair on top, and you’re sitting under floodlights, you’ll take any hat that’s available,” he joked.

“Game five, game six, game seven, I was Blue Jays throughout. Now that I’ve admitted that, it’s going to be pretty hard for me to return back to Los Angeles.”

Harry, who is in Canada for Remembrance Week events, conducted the interview wearing a Toronto Blue Jays cap.

He added he was “devastated” at the Blue Jays’ defeat.

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A year on from Trump’s win, an untold story emerges

The royal couple, who met in 2016 and married in 2018, moved to California in 2020 – after initially setting up home in Canada. They live in Montecito with their children Archie, six, and Lilibet, four.

Harry’s father, the King, is the head of state of Canada – a Commonwealth nation.

Meghan has previously shown her support for the Blue Jays, a nod to her former home city.

The former actress lived in Toronto while filming the legal drama Suits. She appeared in more than 100 episodes.

She and Harry also spent time together there during the early stages of their relationship.

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Scientist who co-discovered double-helix of DNA dies

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Scientist who co-discovered double-helix of DNA dies

James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix shape of DNA, has died at the age of 97.

James D. Watson shared a 1962 Nobel Prize with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for discovering that deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA.

Their co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped revolutionise medicine, crime-fighting, genealogy and ethics.

The discovery turned him into a legendary figure, but later in life he faced condemnation for offensive remarks, including saying black people are less intelligent than white people.

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