Trump talk ignites calls for ‘ uprising’
US film director Bryan Singer is being sued for allegedly raping a 17- year- old boy on a yacht in Seattle in 2003.
The alleged victim, Cesar Sanchez- Guzman, accused the director of forcing him to perform a sex act. According to the suit, filed in Seattle yesterday, the director then forcibly performed two sex acts on him.
Singer’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit came just days after Fox fired Singer as director of Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic of Freddy Mercury now shooting in London. US SENATOR Al Franken announced yesterday he’s resigning from Congress, succumbing to a torrent of sexual harassment allegations and evaporating support from fellow Democrats.
But the 66- year- old fired a defiant parting shot at President Donald Trump. “There is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office,” he said.
At least eight women have accused Mr Franken of inappropriate sexual behaviour. THE Islamist group Hamas is urging Palestinians to abandon peace efforts and launch a new uprising against Israel in response to US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as its capital.
Palestinian factions called for a “Day of Rage” as a wave of protest in the West Bank and Gaza yesterday brought clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops.
At least 31 people were wounded by Israeli gunfire and rubber bullets, medics said.
The Israeli military said an aircraft and a tank had targeted two posts belonging to militants in the Hamas- ruled Gaza Strip after three rockets were launched at Israel.
A jihadist Salafi group in Gaza called the Al- Tawheed Brigades – which does not heed the call from the enclave’s dominant force, Hamas, to desist from firing rockets – claimed responsibility for the launches.
The military said it was reinforcing troops in the occupied West Bank. Some protesters threw rocks at soldiers and others chanted: “Death to America! Death to the fool Trump!”
Mr Trump reversed decades of US policy midweek by recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, angering the Arab world and upsetting Western allies.
The status of Jerusalem, home to sites considered holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians, is one of the biggest obstacles to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Palestinians equally lay claim to Jerusalem and want the eastern part of the city as capital of a future state.
“We should call for and we should work on launching an intifada ( Palestinian uprising) in the face of the Zionist enemy,” Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a speech in Gaza.
Naser Al- Qidwa, an aide to Western- backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior official in his Fatah party, urged Palestinians to stage peaceful protests.
A senior Palestinian official said US Vice- President Mike Pence was “not wel- come in Palestine” following the policy shift.
But the White House said it would be “counterproductive” to cancel a scheduled meeting between Mr Pence and Mr Abbas later this month.
Mr Trump yesterday celebrated an “especially special” Hanukkah at the White House.
“Right now I’m thinking about what’s going on and the love that’s all over Israel and all about Jerusalem,” he said.
“I think this one will go down as especially special.”