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An innocent man who spent 35 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting a school girl has been awarded more than £1m in compensation.

Louis Wright, now 65, was released earlier this month after DNA tests ruled him out as the perpetrator of the 1988 attack on the 11-year-old girl in Albion, Michigan.

Mr Wright became the prime suspect after an off-duty officer said he had seen him in the neighbourhood five hours earlier.

Police claimed he had confessed – but the interview was not recorded and he did not sign a confession, according to the Cooley Law School Innocence Project, which represented Mr Wright.

No identification procedures were conducted by police and the victim was never asked to identify Mr Wright, said the independent, non-profit law school, which has helped to free nine innocent people.

Mr Wright eventually pleaded no-contest to the charges and was jailed for between 25 and 50 years.

A request to withdraw his plea at sentencing was denied.

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But he was exonerated after DNA analysis established he was not responsible for the attack on the girl in September.

People who are exonerated based on new evidence are eligible for $50,000 (£39,000) for every year spent in a Michigan prison.

The attorney general’s office sometimes resists making payment – but quickly agreed to compensate Mr Wright.

He was awarded $1.75m (£1.37m) in a deal approved by a judge on Wednesday.

‘Nothing can make up for 35 years in prison’

Mr Wright told the AP news agency that he would probably use some of the money for a house and a vehicle for his sister, Darlene Hall.

His lawyer, Wolf Mueller, said in a statement: “Nothing can make up for 35 years in a Michigan prison for something he did not do.

“This is the first step toward getting Louis’s life back at the age of 65.”

Mr Wright was eligible for parole consideration on several occasions, starting in 2008.

But he refused to take a sex offender therapy class – a key condition for his release – and remained in prison until he was cleared by the DNA evidence.

Mr Mueller added: “[Mr Wright] said, ‘I didn’t do this crime. I’m not taking a therapy class’.

“He cost himself several years, just standing on principle.

“Not a lot of guys would do that.”

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But Mr Wright insisted he knew he would be cleared by the DNA evidence.

“I spent the last couple (of) months in prison with a smile on my face. Everyone thought I had something up my sleeve,” he said.

He has since been enjoying spending time with family and simple activities such as playing pool.

The Calhoun County prosecutor has now committed to reopening the investigation in a bid to establish the identity of the person responsible for the attack.

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At least 20 reported dead in Israeli airstrike on Gaza school housing displaced people

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At least 20 reported dead in Israeli airstrike on Gaza school housing displaced people

At least 20 people have been killed and dozens more injured after an Israeli airstrike targeting a school in Gaza, health authorities have said.

Reuters news agency reported the number of dead, citing medics, with the school in the Daraj neighbourhood having been used to shelter displaced people who had fled previous bombardments.

Medical and civil defence sources on the ground confirmed women and children were among the casualties, with several charred bodies arriving at al Shifa and al Ahli hospitals.

The scene inside the school has been described as horrific, with more victims feared trapped under the rubble.

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Trump criticises Putin after deadly strikes across Ukraine

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Trump criticises Putin after deadly strikes across Ukraine

Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”

The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.

Trump criticises Putin – latest updates

Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”

Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.

“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.

Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.

It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.

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Trump says will postpone 50% tariffs on EU until July

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Hundreds of drones fired at Ukraine

‘Shameful’ attacks

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.

In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.

Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.

Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.

Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, killed in Russian airstrike. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
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Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa

Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.

The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.

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Donald Trump says he will postpone 50% tariffs on EU until July

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Donald Trump says he will postpone 50% tariffs on EU until July

Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.

It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.

The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.

But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.

Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.

The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.

Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.

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“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.

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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”

On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.

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12 May: US and China reach agreement on tariffs

Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.

Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.

“We stand ready to defend our interests.”

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