Former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger has died aged 100
Former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger has died aged 100.
He passed away at his home in Connecticut on Wednesday, according to a statement from Kissinger Associates Inc.
The veteran politician had major influence on American foreign policy under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Born in Germany in 1923, Mr Kissinger fled the Nazi regime with his family as a teenager and settled in the US in 1938.
During eight years as a national security adviser and secretary of state, Dr Kissinger was involved in major foreign policy events including the first example of “shuttle diplomacy” seeking peace in the Middle East, secret negotiations with China to defrost relations between the burgeoning superpowers and the instigation of the Paris peace talks seeking an end to the Vietnam conflict.
Dr Kissinger with President Gerald Ford and Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1975
In 1973 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to negotiate an end to the Vietnam War.
However, Dr Kissinger, along with President Nixon, also bore the brunt of criticism from the US’s allies following the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces in 1975 as the remaining US personnel fled what is now known as Ho Chi Minh City.
Henry Kissinger meeting President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this year. Pic: AP
His influence over US diplomacy – which continued long after he left office – has not been without controversy, and some activists called for him to be prosecuted for war crimes.
He remained active in politics, even after his 100th birthday in May, attending meetings in the White House, publishing a book on leadership styles, and testifying before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.
In July 2023 he made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During his early life, after becoming a naturalised US citizen in 1943, Dr Kissinger joined the US Army the same year and was awarded a Bronze Star.
He would go on to serve with US counter intelligence in occupied Germany.
Dr Kissinger earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees at Harvard University, where he taught international relations for almost 20 years before President Nixon appointed him national security advisor in 1969.
Henry Kissinger with Richard Nixon and Israeli prime minister Golda Meir
He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Nancy Maginnes Kissinger, two children by his first marriage, David and Elizabeth, and five grandchildren.
According to the statement from Kissinger Associates: “He will be interred at a private family service. At a later date, there will be a memorial service in New York City.”
Senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid tribute to Dr Kissinger on X describing him as a “great one” and saying: “Fortunate indeed is America for his lifetime of diplomacy, wisdom, and love of freedom.”
Winston Lord, former US ambassador to China and Dr Kissinger’s one time special assistant said: “The world has lost a tireless advocate for peace.
“America has lost a towering champion for the national interest. I have lost a cherished friend and mentor.
“Henry blended the European sense of tragedy and the American immigrant’s sense of hope.”
Cindy McCain, the wife of late Senator John McCain said: “Henry Kissinger was ever present in my late husband’s life.
“While John was a POW and in the later years as a Senator & statesman.
“The McCain family will miss his wit, charm, and intelligence terribly.”
A former lawyer for Donald Trump has admitted to jurors in the Republican’s hush money trial that he stole tens of thousands of dollars from his then-boss’s company.
The landmark trial returned with defence cross-examination of Michael Cohen, whose testimony last week directly tied Trump to the alleged hush money scheme.
Defence lawyers have questioned Cohen for hours about his criminal history and past lies to paint him as a serial liar who is on a revenge campaign aimed at taking down Trump.
While being pressed by defence lawyer Todd Blanche, Cohen admitted he pocketed cash that was supposed to be reimbursement for a $50,000 payment he claimed he had shelled out to a technology firm.
But Mr Cohen actually gave the technology firm just $20,000, he said.
“So you stole from the Trump Organisation,” Mr Blanche asked.
“Yes, sir,” Mr Cohen replied.
Donald Trump pictured in court on 20 May. Pic: Mark Peterson/Pool Photo via AP
Mr Cohen said he never paid the Trump Organisation back. He has never been charged with stealing from Trump’s company.
He is the last prosecution witness, and it is not yet clear whether Trump’s lawyers will call any witnesses, let alone the presumptive Republican presidential nominee himself.
Jurors could begin deliberating as soon as next week to decide whether Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first criminal trial of a former US president.
Read more:
Porn stars, sex scandals and zzzs: A to Z of Trump trial
The charges stem from internal Trump Organisation records where payments to Cohen were marked as legal expenses, when prosecutors say they were really reimbursements for porn star Stormy Daniels’ hush money payment.
Trump has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers say there was nothing criminal about the Daniels deal or the way Cohen was paid.
“There’s no crime,” Trump told reporters after arriving at the courthouse on Monday. “We paid a legal expense. You know what it’s marked down as? A legal expense.”
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Trump and lawyer audio about hush money
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is expected to rest its case once Mr Cohen is off the stand, but prosecutors could call rebuttal witnesses if Trump’s lawyers put on witnesses of their own.
Judge Juan M Merchan has said he expects closing arguments to happen on 28 May.
Cohen is the prosecutors’ most important witness, but he is also vulnerable to attack.
The now-disbarred attorney has admitted on the witness stand to previously lying under oath and other falsehoods, many of which he claims were meant to protect Trump.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Cohen served prison time after pleading guilty to various federal charges, including lying to Congress and a bank and engaging in campaign finance violations related to the hush money scheme.
And he has made millions of dollars off critical books about the former president, whom he regularly slams on social media in often profane terms.
Stars have hit out at rapper P Diddy following the release of CCTV footage showing him attacking singer Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016.
Warning: This story includes images readers may find distressing
The video, which was obtained by CNN, was shot on 5 March eight years ago and shows the 54-year-old – whose real name is Sean Combs – shirtless and wearing just a white towel and brightly coloured socks, punching and kicking Ventura.
Sean Combs and Cassie in 2017. Pic: PA
The R&B singer, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura, was his protege and girlfriend at the time.
The footage also shows Combs shoving and dragging her across the floor, as well as throwing a glass vase in her direction.
It closely resembles the description of an incident at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles described in a lawsuit filed by Cassie last year.
Commenting on the video on X, formerly known as Twitter, actress Emily Ratajkowski, wrote: “Monster”.
Fellow rapper 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, shared the video, writing sarcastically: “Now I’m sure Puffy didn’t do it, he is innocent this proves nothing! This is what his lawyers are gonna say, God help us all.”
Jackson also re-posted a screenshot of a statement shared by Combs in December last year, denying allegations against him and accusing those making them of “looking for a quick payday”.
50 Cent wrote: “The lie detector test has determined this was a lie…”
Pic: CNN via AP
Pic: CNN via AP
He also shared a statement from LA police which called the footage “extremely disturbing and difficult to watch,” but explained that it happened too long ago to be prosecuted.
California law has a one-year statute of limitations for assault.
Read more: What is Sean Combs accused of?
The husband of Ventura, Alex Fine, shared a lengthy statement on Instagram titled “Letter to women and children,” calling out men who perpetrate violence against women.
‘Men who hurt women hate women’
He wrote: “Men who hit women aren’t men. Men who enable it and protect those people aren’t men…
“Hold the women in your life with the utmost regard. Men who hurt women hate women.”
The personal trainer also shared the number of a domestic abuse helpline, urging those who need help to call.
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs issues an apology
Meanwhile, lawyers representing Ventura branded Combs’s apology “pathetic,” after he shared a short video on social media on Sunday, saying he was “truly sorry,” and was “disgusted” by his own behaviour.
‘Disingenuous words’
Meredith Firetog, who is a partner at Wigdor LLP, said in a statement: “Combs’ most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt.
“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday.
“That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words.”
‘Leave god and mercy out of this’
US singer and reality star Aubrey O’Day, who previously worked with Combs, also hit out at Combs’s apology video, writing on X: “Diddy did not apologize to Cassie. He apologized to the world for seeing what he did… Leave god and mercy out of this, they aren’t present here, and you know it.”
It is the first time Combs has responded directly to allegations of physical and sexual violence levelled at him in recent months.
Sean Combs’ home raided by federal law enforcement. Pic: AP
Multiple claims
In March, his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York.
In April, Combs was named in a lawsuit that alleges his son sexually assaulted a woman working on a yacht chartered by his father.
Ventura, who began dating Combs a few years after meeting him in 2005, and split with him in 2019, sued him in November, alleging she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs and beaten by Combs over a 10-year period.
The lawsuit claimed he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them. The case was settled the day after it was filed.
Combs has previously denied the allegations in the lawsuits and his lawyers have said he denies any wrongdoing.
An Arizona man who buried his wife alive in a hand-dug grave near their home has been jailed for life.
Seven years after the killing, David Pagniano pleaded guilty to murdering his wife before his trial was due to start and allowed a judge to determine his sentence without a plea agreement.
The 62-year-old was handed a life sentence without the possibility of parole, meaning he will die in prison.
He was also sentenced on 9 May to 16-and-a-half years for kidnapping, forgery and fraud, according to the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office.
“My office pursued the death penalty in this case because of the horrific circumstances surrounding the abduction and murder of a young mother,” County Attorney Dennis McGrane said in a statement.
Authorities said 39-year-old Sandra Pagniano vanished while she was in the process of divorcing her husband in May 2017.
They said the pair were separated but still living in the same home with their two young daughters.
Ms Pagniano’s body was found bound and gagged in packing tape inside a grave in a rural area north of Prescott.
The county medical examiner’s office confirmed she had been buried alive.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Victim may have been conscious for up to five minutes
Officials said evidence showed she vigorously struggled while she was in the grave and may have been conscious for up to five minutes.
In addition, mobile phone evidence showed Pagniano was in the gravesite area days before his wife went missing and the night of the kidnapping.
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Forensic examination of notes revealed they were fake
Detectives recovered two notes that were filed in the divorce case following Mrs Pagniano’s disappearance, purportedly written by her.
The notes said she was leaving her husband and giving him her vehicles, house and custody of their children.
But authorities said a forensic examination of the notes revealed they were written by Pagniano.
A grand jury indicted him on a charge of first-degree murder after his wife’s body was discovered in a remote area 10 miles (16km) northwest of the family home near Prescott in north-central Arizona.
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