AFP

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have settled their acrimonious defamation case, they said Monday, with the actress agreeing to pay her former husband $1 million over claims he physically abused her.

In a post on Instagram, Heard said she was dropping an appeal against the $10 million payout she had been ordered to make by a jury because she “simply cannot go through” another trial.

“After a great deal of deliberation I have made a very difficult decision to settle the defamation case,” she said.

“I make this decision having lost faith in the American legal system, where my unprotected testimony served as entertainment and social media fodder,” the 36-year-old said.

“Now I finally have an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree to,” she said. “I have made no admission. This is not an act of concession.”

In a legal battle involving suits and countersuits, a Virginia jury found Depp and Heard both liable for defamation — but sided more strongly with the “Pirates of the Carribean” star following an intense six-week trial riding on bitterly contested allegations of domestic abuse.

The jury awarded $10.35 million in damages to Depp, and $2 million to Heard.

Lawyers for 59-year-old Depp on Monday hailed the settlement.

“We are pleased to formally close the door on this painful chapter for Mr. Depp, who made clear throughout this process that his priority was about bringing the truth to light,” attorneys Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez said.

“The jury’s unanimous decision and the resulting judgement in Mr. Depp’s favor against Ms. Heard remain fully in place.

“The payment of $1 million — which Mr. Depp is pledging and will (actually) donate to charities — reinforces Ms. Heard’s acknowledgement of the conclusion of the legal system’s rigorous pursuit for justice.”

– ‘Defended my truth’ –

Depp sued Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”

The Texas-born Heard did not name Depp in the piece, but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and sought $50 million in damages.

Heard countersued for $100 million, saying she was defamed by statements made by Depp’s lawyer, Adam Waldman, who told the Daily Mail her abuse claims were a “hoax.”

The case, livestreamed to millions, featured lurid and intimate details about the Hollywood celebrities’ private lives.

Heard’s lawyers said following the trial that the actress did not have the resources to pay Depp the $10 million in damages.

In her Instagram post, Heard said she “defended my truth and in doing so my life as I knew it was destroyed.

“The vilification I have faced on social media is an amplified version of the ways in which women are revictimised when they come forward,” she said.

“I was exposed to a type of humiliation that I simply cannot relive.

“Even if my US appeal is successful, the best outcome would be a retrial where a new jury would have to consider the evidence again,” she said. “I simply cannot go through that for a third time.”

Entertainment outlet Variety said Heard had initially made claims of domestic abuse in 2016 during her divorce from the “Edward Scissorhands” star.

In a settlement she was granted $7 million and the issue was shelved, with the couple signing non-disparagement and non-disclosure agreements.

Much of the detail on Donald Trump’s alleged misconduct aired Monday by the panel probing the 2021 US Capitol insurrection had already been made public.

But a summary of the upcoming report on the congressional committee’s findings was full of tidbits that had not come out before. 

Here are five takeaways from the 154-page document.

– Trump was the ‘central’ cause of the violence –

“(The) evidence has led to an overriding and straightforward conclusion: the central cause of January 6th was one man, former president Donald Trump, who many others followed,” the summary reads.

“None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”

– Laws Trump and others allegedly broke –

The document explicitly sets out the multiple criminal statutes it says Trump violated his bid to cling to power — justifying its referrals for insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and obstructing an official proceeding.

None of Trump’s aides was referred to the Justice Department under specific statutes but the summary suggests there could be sufficient evidence to charge Trump lawyer John Eastman and “others.”

The summary details 17 findings undergirding its reasoning for criminal referrals, alleging that Trump knew the fraud allegations he was pushing were false and that his decision to declare victory falsely “was premeditated.”

– Seditious conspiracy? –

The summary raises the possibility of additional “seditious conspiracy” charges against Trump similar to those leveled against members of the Oath Keepers militia over the insurrection.

“The Department of Justice, through its investigative tools that exceed those of this committee, may have evidence sufficient to prosecute President Trump under Sections 372 and 2384.” it reads.

“Accordingly, we believe sufficient evidence exists for a criminal referral of President Trump under these two statutes.”

Committee member Jamie Raskin said after the hearing any potential further charges, beyond the four it has recommended, would be “a judgment that the Department of Justice will have to make.”

– Ivanka Trump not ‘forthcoming’ –

The summary makes clear that several figures close to Trump were evasive or made claims of memory lapses that were not credible during testimony.

It specifically names the former president’s daughter and former advisor Ivanka Trump, saying she appeared to know more than she was acknowledging during questioning.

“Ivanka Trump was not as forthcoming as… others about President Trump’s conduct,” the document says, noting her “lack of full recollection of certain issues.”

The panel also notes that former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany “seemed evasive, as if she was testifying from pre-prepared talking points.” 

“In multiple instances, McEnany’s testimony did not seem nearly as forthright as that of her press office staff, who testified about what McEnany said,” the summary states.

– Non-criminal referrals –

The summary says several Republican lawmakers are being referred to the House Ethics Committee for refusal to cooperate with the investigation.

They include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is vying to be House Speaker in the next Congress, the third most powerful political position in Washington, and three hardline right-wingers. All four defied subpoenas to give evidence.

“If left unpunished, such behavior undermines Congress’s longstanding power to investigate in support of its lawmaking authority and suggests that members of Congress may disregard legal obligations that apply to ordinary citizens,” the text says.

Twitter users voted on Monday to oust owner Elon Musk as CEO in a highly unscientific poll he organized and promised to honor, just weeks after he took charge of the social media giant.

A total of 57.5 percent of more than 17 million accounts voted for him to step down. Musk, who is also the boss of car maker Tesla and rocket firm SpaceX, has not yet responded.

“The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive,” the South African-born billionaire tweeted before the vote closed.

In a response to another tweet he added: “No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.”

Musk has fully owned Twitter since October 27 and has repeatedly courted controversy as CEO, sacking half of its staff, readmitting far-right figures to the platform, banning journalists and trying to charge for previously free services.

Analysts have also pointed out that the stock price of Tesla has slumped by one-third since the Twitter takeover and the share price briefly rallied by 3.3 percent on Monday before fading.

“It’s hard to ignore the numbers since [Twitter] deal closed,” tweeted investment expert Gary Black, saying he reckoned Tesla’s board was putting pressure on Musk to quit his Twitter role.

In discussions with users after posting his latest poll, Musk renewed his warnings that the platform could be heading for bankruptcy.

– ‘Won’t happen again’ –

Resorting to Twitter’s polling feature has been a favorite strategy of Musk’s to push through decisions, including the reinstatement of the account of former president Donald Trump.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, which defends the freedom of the press around the world, said the polls were a “crude and cynical” ploy.

“These methods appear to be democratic procedures, but in reality they are…the opposite of democracy,” said the group’s head Christophe Deloire.

The unpredictable entrepreneur posted his latest poll shortly after trying to extricate himself from yet another controversy.

On Sunday, Twitter users were told they would no longer be able to promote content from other social media sites.

But Musk seemed to reverse course a few hours later, writing that the policy would be limited to “suspending accounts only when that account’s *primary* purpose is promotion of competitors.”

“Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again,” he tweeted.

The attempted ban had prompted howls of disapproval and even bemused Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, who had backed Musk’s takeover.

He questioned the new policy with a one-word tweet: “Why?”

– ‘Perfect storm’ –

Musk has generated a series of controversies in his short reign.

Analyst Dan Ives from Wedbush called his tenure a “perfect storm.” 

He flagged that “advertisers have run for the hills and left Twitter squarely in the red ink potentially on track to lose roughly $4 billion per year.”

Shortly after taking over the platform, Musk announced the site would charge $8 a month to verify account holders’ identities, but had to suspend the “Twitter Blue” plan after an embarrassing rash of fake accounts. It has since been relaunched.

On November 4, with Musk saying the company was losing $4 million a day, Twitter laid off half of its 7,500-strong staff.

Musk also reinstated the account of Donald Trump — though the former US president indicated he had no interest in the platform — and said Twitter would no longer work to combat Covid-19 disinformation.

In recent days, he suspended the accounts of several journalists after complaining some had published details about the movements of his private jet, which he claimed could endanger his family.

Employees of CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post were among those affected in a move that drew sharp criticism, including from the European Union and the United Nations.

The Washington Post’s executive editor Sally Buzbee said the suspension of journalist Taylor Lorenz’s account “further undermines Elon Musk’s claim that he intends to run Twitter as a platform dedicated to free speech.”

Some of the suspended accounts have since been reactivated.

President Vladimir Putin denied plans to absorb Belarus as he paid a rare visit Monday to the country whose strongman assisted his invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

Putin flew into Minsk with his defence and foreign ministers in tow, hours after Russian forces launched a swarm of attack drones at critical infrastructure in Kyiv, which provoked emergency blackouts in a dozen regions.

Putin said that Russia and Belarus — slapped with new Western sanctions since President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner of a sixth term in 2020 elections widely criticised as fraudulent — were “united by a common history and spiritual values”.

Putin called the countries “closest allies and strategic partners” but said that rumours that Russia sought to take over Belarus came from “ill-wishers”.

“Russia has no interest in absorbing anyone, this would simply make no sense,” Putin said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price scoffed at Putin’s remarks.

“I think a statement like that has to be treated as the height of irony coming from a leader who is seeking at the present moment — right now — to violently absorb his other, peaceful next-door neighbour,” Price said.

“We have seen the Lukashenko regime essentially cede its sovereignty — cede its independence — to Russia,” Price said.

Belarus has let Russian forces use its territory and hours before Putin touched down in Minsk, Moscow released footage of drills with Belarusian forces including tank manoeuvres and sniper fire at a snow-dusted training ground.

Lukashenko urged closer military cooperation and said that Russia and Belarus are “open for dialogue with other states, including European ones.”

“I hope that soon they will listen to the voice of reason,” Lukashenko said.

Speculation mounted ahead of the Russian leader’s visit that he would pressure Lukashenko to send troops to Ukraine to fight alongside the Russians after Moscow suffered a string of defeats in nearly 10 months of fighting.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, dismissed the reports “as totally stupid, groundless fabrications.”

In October, Belarus announced the formation of a joint regional force with Moscow with several thousand Russian servicemen arriving in the ex-Soviet country.

– New explosions near Kyiv –

The drone attacks wounded three people near Kyiv. They came as Russia said it shot down several US-made missiles over its airspace near Ukraine.

“I first heard the air raid siren… I thought there is going to be a drone attack. For the first time, it scared me,” said Natalia Dobrovolska, a 68-year-old resident of Kyiv.

She described hearing multiple explosions before power shut off in her building in western Kyiv. Officials said Russia had flown in 35 attack drones nationwide, including 23 over Kyiv.

Ukraine said it downed 30 of the aerial weapons, including Iranian-made “Shaheds”, which have pummelled the capital in recent weeks.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said critical infrastructure facilities were damaged while regional authorities said nine homes had been scarred by the attacks.

Ukraine has experienced frequent and deadly aerial attacks. After a series of battlefield setbacks, Moscow stepped up its aerial campaign to target the country’s energy grid.

– Russia ‘must fail’ –

With winter setting in, missile and drone attacks have plunged cities around the country into darkness, and severed water and heat supplies to millions of Ukrainians.

Speaking to the leaders of several NATO countries via video link on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukraine’s allies to supply its military with more weapons.

“Russian aggression can and must fail. And our task now is to accelerate it,” he told the leaders assembled in Riga.

He said in a late-night address Sunday that some nine million of Ukraine’s estimated 40 million people had their electricity restored after Russia’s previous missile barrage last week.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a year-end news conference, said with regret that he expected the war “will go on.”

“I am not optimistic about the possibility of effective peace talks in the immediate future,” Guterres said.

– Gas price cap –

The West has sought to keep the pressure on Russia. European Union ministers, after months of wrangling, on Monday decided on a price gap on Russian natural gas, following an agreement that came in force this month on Russian oil.

The price ceiling on natural gas was fixed at 180 euros per megawatt hour, although the European Commission said it may suspend the cap if “the risks outweigh the benefits” following protracted negotiations involving Germany, the continent’s largest economy which backs Ukraine but is highly dependent on imported energy.

“It wasn’t an easy thing to achieve,” Maltese Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said.

The Kremlin lashed out at the latest measure, with Peskov saying the cap was “unacceptable” and a violation of market processes.