Donald Trump Jr's wife Vanessa files for divorce; both say they will 'always have tremendous respect for each other'

Agencies
March 16, 2018

New York, Mar 16: Donald Trump Jr's wife took legal steps on Thursday to formally end their 12-year marriage, and the couple issued a statement saying they're going their separate ways but "will always have tremendous respect for each other and our families."

Vanessa Trump, a former model, listed the breakup as "uncontested" in a state Supreme Court divorce complaint filing that is secret except for the title of the case.

The Trumps, each 40 years old, were married in 2005 and have five children. Their first child, a girl born in 2007, made a grandfather of Donald Trump a decade before he became president.

In a statement issued through The Trump Organisation, where Donald Trump Jr is an executive, the couple said in part: "After 12 years of marriage, we have decided to go our separate ways....We have five beautiful children together and they remain our top priority."

The divorce filing comes as Trump Jr has emerged as a central figure in at least one focus point of the special counsel's investigation into Trump ties to Russia: A June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower involving a Russian lawyer and top campaign aides that, according to Trump Jr's emails, he accepted after being promised dirt on Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic rival.

Trump Jr was an enthusiastic mainstay on the campaign trail during his father's 2016 march to the Republican presidential nomination and then the presidency and now co-runs the family business with his brother Eric Trump, overseeing a global empire that includes hotels, golf courses and a winery.

He is a popular GOP fundraising draw and has expressed political ambitions of his own, though he has drawn criticism for peddling online right-wing and alt-right memes.

Vanessa Trump's engagement and marriage to Trump Jr had been a subject of tabloid fascination in New York long before her father-in-law, who has been divorced twice and married three times, entered politics.

At the time of their engagement, there were unflattering stories about how Trump Jr had accepted a free diamond ring from a jewellery merchant in New Jersey in exchange for staging a recreation of his wedding proposal outside the store for reporters and TV cameras.

But soon, Trump Jr's name was more often associated publicly with his appearances alongside his father on The Apprentice or as a judge at beauty pageants.

A profile on the couple by The New York Times in 2006 reflected the lightheartedness and pressures of the pair's early days and led Trump Jr to reflect on the spotlight that fell on his father anytime the family business soured or he confronted divorce.

"Sometimes being a Trump, everyone kind of wants to see you fail," Trump Jr told the newspaper.

The article said Vanessa Haydon Trump grew up in a town house on Manhattan's Upper East Side, and it recalled her amusement at their initial 2003 meeting when Donald Trump introduced himself and his son to her, only to return later and say: "I don't think you've met my son Donald Trump Jr" The Times quoted Vanessa Trump as responding: "Yeah, we just met, five minutes ago."

When the young couple met again at a party six weeks later, they didn't remember the earlier meeting until they talked for an hour and Vanessa Trump suddenly recalled that encounter, the newspaper said.

Last month, Vanessa Trump opened a letter to her husband containing an unidentified white powder and was briefly hospitalized as a precaution, but the substance turned out to be nonhazardous. A Massachusetts man later was charged with sending the threatening letter.

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News Network
February 27,2020

Dubai, Feb 27: Twenty two people have died so far from the new coronavirus in Iran, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported in a chart it published on Thursday.

The number of people diagnosed with the disease is 141, the chart showed. It did not specify whether those who have died were included in the tally of those infected.

Iranian officials on Wednesday reported a total of 139 cases of coronavirus and 19 deaths.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Islamabad, Jun 10: The World Health Organization has told Pakistan it should implement "intermittent" lockdowns to counter a surge in coronavirus infections that has come as the country loosens restrictions, officials said.

Since the start of Pakistan's outbreak in March, Prime Minister Imran Khan opposed a nationwide lockdown of the sort seen elsewhere, arguing the impoverished country could not afford it.

Instead, Pakistan's four provinces ordered a patchwork of closures, but last week Khan said most of these restrictions would be lifted.

Health officials on Wednesday declared a record number of new cases in the past 24 hours. The country has now confirmed a total of more than 113,000 cases and 2,200 deaths -- though with testing still limited, real rates are thought to be much higher.

"As of today, Pakistan does not meet any of the pre-requisite conditions for opening the lockdown", the WHO said in a letter confirmed by Pakistan officials on Tuesday.

Many people have not adopted behavioural changes such as social distancing and frequent hand-washing, meaning "difficult" decisions will be required including "intermittent lockdowns" in targeted areas, the letter states.

Some 25 percent of tests in Pakistan come back positive for COVID-19, the WHO said, indicating high levels of infection in the general population.

The health body recommended an intermittent lockdown cycle of two weeks on, two weeks off.

Responding to the WHO's letter, Zafar Mirza, the prime minister's special advisor for health, said the country had "consciously but gradually" eased lockdowns while enforcing guidelines in shops, mosques and public transport.

"We have to make tough policy choices to strike a balance between lives and livelihoods," Mirza said Wednesday.

Punjab's provincial health minister Yasmin Rashid, who received the WHO's letter, said the provincial government had already given "orders to take strict action against those violating" virus guidelines.

Hospitals across Pakistan say they are at or near capacity, and some are turning COVID-19 patients away.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday that 136,000 cases had been reported in the previous 24 hours, "the most in a single day so far", with the majority of them in South Asia and the Americas.

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Agencies
May 17,2020

Washington, May 17: The overall number of global coronavirus cases has increased to over 4.6 million, while the death toll has surpassed 311,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

As of Sunday morning, the total number of cases stood at 4,634,068, while the death toll increased to 311,781, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

The US currently accounts for the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 1,467,796 and 88,754, respectively.

In terms of cases, Russia has the second highest number of infections at 272,043, followed by the UK (241,461), Brazil (233,142), Spain (230,698), Italy (224,760), France (179,630), Germany (175,752), Turkey (148,067) and Iran (118,392), the CSSE figures showed.

Meanwhile, the UK accounted for the second highest COVID-19 deaths worldwide at 34,546.

The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are Italy (31,763), Spain (27,563), France (27,532), and Brazil (15,662).

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