TRUMP BLASTS NYT OVER ARTICLE ON US SC JUDGE

NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump blasted The New York Times on Monday after the newspaper updated a story that detailed a previously unreported accusation of sexual misconduct by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to say the alleged victim did not recall the incident.

The article made waves when it was published over the weekend, re-examining sexual assault allegations aired last year at Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation hearing.

On Monday, The Times said its story failed to include key details: that the alleged victim declined to be interviewed and “friends say she does not recall the episode”.

“That information has been added to the article,” the Times said in an editor’s note.

Trump seized on the story and the update to launch a fullthroated attack on the Times, urging Kavanaugh to sue for libel and suggesting the justice department “come to his rescue”.

“DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT THESE HORRIBLE PEOPLE WILL DO OR SAY,” Trump tweeted. “They are looking to destroy, and influence his opinions - but played the game badly. They should be sued!” LUXEMBOURG:BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson skipped a joint media conference with his Luxembourg counterpart on Monday after holding Brexit talks with the European Commission chief that offered no breakthrough.

Britain has not proposed any workable alternatives to its Brexit withdrawal agreement, the EU said on Monday after talks with Johnson ended without a breakthrough.

It said the meeting between Johnson and EU Commission president Jean-claude Juncker failed to yield any alternative to proposals on the Northern Ireland border that the British leader has rejected.

Johnson has vowed to take Britain out of the bloc by the scheduled date of October 31, though parliament has ordered him not to do so without striking a deal with Brussels first.

Luxembourg’s premier Xavier Bettel, who had a meeting with Johnson following the British leader’s working lunch with Juncker, went ahead with the briefing in front of flags from his country and the UK and an empty podium where Johnson was meant to have stood, telling the absent prime minister: “The time is ticking. So stop speaking and act.”

He echoed the EU’S message that the UK had offered up no viable alternative to the safeguards in that agreement to protect peace in Northern Ireland.