Epstein Survivor Claims She Was Paid $15,000 To Have Sex With UK Royal

Prince Andrew's accuser Virginia Giuffre claimed that she was paid thousands of dollars by convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein to have sex with the royal when she was 17, court documents revealed. According to Sky News, the legal papers are among the latest batch released relating to Ms Giuffre's civil defamation case against Epstein's ex-girlfriend and long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell, which was filed in 2015 and settled two years later. In the court documents, Mr Giuffre was asked by lawyers about the occasion when she claims to have spent time with Prince Andrew in 2001. 

"Were you paid 10 to $15,000 by or on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein for having sex with Prince Andrew?" Ms Giuffre was asked, as per the outlet. She responded, "Yes, I did receive $15,000. I don't know what equivalent that is to pounds. I received it in American dollars". Ms Guiffre was then asked if she paid taxes on the money, and she said no. 

Notably, Prince Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. But Ms Giuffre has previously stated that her first experience with the royal took place at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell when she was 17. Maxwell, however, has denied the allegations and is currently serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison for her role in sex trafficking girls alongside Epstein. The disgraced financier died while awaiting trial on federal conspiracy and sex trafficking charges in 2019.

Ms Giuffre previously alleged she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew 3 times between 1999 and 2002 in London, New York and on a private Caribbean island owned by Epstein. Elsewhere in the deposition, she talked about an undated visit to a Club with Prince Andrew, where he ordered them "clear drinks" from the bar and said that her drink contained alcohol. 

Also read | "Hidden Room" In Epstein House Filled With Nude Pics, Claims Survivor

Andrew withdrew from frontline royal duties in late 2019 after public outrage at a BBC television interview in which he defended his friendship with Epstein. In February 2022 settled a US civil case brought by Ms Giuffre, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17.

Andrew's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, stripped him of his honorary military titles and patronages soon afterward, effectively shutting him out of royal life. He has consistently denied sexual assault and even meeting Ms Giuffre.

Jeffrey Epstein socialized with Wall Street titans, royalty, and celebrities before pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008. He took his own life in 2019 at age 66 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. 

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Inside Ira Khan And Nupur Shikhare's Dreamy Udaipur Wedding. See Pics

Hey folks, the wait is finally over. The first pictures of Ira Khan and Nupur Shikhare from their wedding in Udaipur is out and it is straight out of a fairytale. Ira Khan and Nupur Shikhare, who exchanged vows and registered their wedding in an intimate ceremony in Mumbai last week, flew out to Udaipur a few days later to celebrate the wedding festivities with their friends and family. The couple's wedding celebration week began with a mehendi ceremony, followed by a dinner night, a pyjama party, a football match and a fun-filled sangeet night. On Wednesday, the couple got married in the presence of their family and friends. In the pictures shared from the occasion by one of the wedding guests, we can see Ira looking lovely in a white bridal gown while her husband Nupur Shikhare can be seen complementing her in a suit.

Take a look at gthe pictures below:

Aamir Khan's daughter Ira and husband Nupur Shikhare hosted their mehendi ceremony at Taj Aravali Amphitheatre Lawns in Udaipur. The venue was decorated with white flowers. The ceremony started around 11.30 am and continued till 3 PM. The theme of decor was light pastel shades and white. On Tuesday night, the couple hosted the Sangeet ceremony around 8 pm. The theme for the night was royal. Moroccan lanterns and other things were used for decorating the venue.

Nupur Shikhare and Ira Khan registered their marrriage last week in Mumbai after their engagement in September 2022.  Aamir Khan's ex-wife and Ira's mother Reena Dutta, son Junaid, ex-wife Kiran Rao and son Azad attended the festivities.

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Google Faces $7 Billion US Patent Infringement Trial Over AI Technology

Alphabet's Google is set to go before a federal jury in Boston on Tuesday in a trial over accusations that processors it uses to power artificial intelligence technology in key products infringe a computer scientist's patents.

Singular Computing, founded by Massachusetts-based computer scientist Joseph Bates, claims Google copied his technology and used it to support AI features in Google Search, Gmail, Google Translate and other Google services.

A Google court filing said that Singular has requested up to $7 billion (roughly Rs. 58,172 crore) in monetary damages, which would be more than double the largest-ever patent infringement award in US history.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda called Singular's patents "dubious" and said that Google developed its processors "independently over many years."

"We look forward to setting the record straight in court," Castaneda said.

An attorney for Singular declined to comment on the case.

The trial is expected to last two to three weeks.

Singular's 2019 complaint said Bates shared his computer-processing innovations with Google between 2010 and 2014. Singular said Google's Tensor Processing Units, which enhance the tech giant's AI capabilities, copy Bates' technology and infringe two patents.

The lawsuit said that Google's circuits use an improved architecture Bates discovered that allows for greater processing power and has "revolutionized the way AI training and inference are accomplished."

Google introduced its processing units in 2016 to power AI used for speech recognition, content generation, ad recommendation and other functions. Singular said that versions 2 and 3 of the units, introduced in 2017 and 2018, violate its patent rights.

Google told the court in December that its processors work in different ways than Singular's patented technology and that the patents are invalid.

"Google engineers had mixed feelings about the technology and the company ultimately rejected it, explicitly telling Dr. Bates that his idea was not right for the type of applications Google was developing," Google said in a court filing.

A US appeals court in Washington also will hear arguments on Tuesday about whether to invalidate Singular's patents in a separate case that Google appealed from the US Patent and Trademark Office.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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After Kangana Ranaut Requests Stay On Defamation Case, Javed Akhtar Says...

Actor Kangana Ranaut's petition for a stay on proceedings of a defamation complaint filed against her was only a delaying tactic, lyricist and complainant Javed Akhtar submitted to the Bombay High Court on Tuesday.

Javed Akhtar urged the high court to dismiss the petition filed by the Queen actor.

Earlier this month, Kangana Ranaut approached the high court for a stay on Javed Akhtar's criminal defamation complaint filed against her in 2020. She urged the High Court to hear the case along with a cross-complaint filed by her against Javed Akhtar.

The defamation case against Kangana Ranaut is in the magistrate's court in Andheri. A sessions court had stayed Kangana's complaint against Javed Akhtar.

In her petition before the High Court, Kangana Ranaut stated that both cases should be tried together as they had genesis in a meeting (between Kangana Ranaut and Javed Akhtar) in 2016.

Javed Akhtar submitted an affidavit through his advocate Jay Bharadwaj stating Kangana Ranaut has not challenged any order passed by the magistrate's court, and without any basis, has sought a stay on the proceedings of the defamation complaint.

This was nothing but an attempt to delay the proceedings, Javed Akhtar stated.

"Kangana Ranaut is not challenging any judicial order passed by the lower court but has based the entire writ petition on assumptions and presumptions coupled with an unwarranted optimism of the proceedings pending in courts below", the affidavit said.

On Tuesday, when Kangana Ranaut's plea came up for hearing before a division bench headed by Justice Revati Mohite Dere, the High Court said the assignment to hearing such petitions is with a single bench, and not with a division bench.

It directed the high court registry to verify the same and place the petition before the appropriate bench for a hearing.

Javed Akhtar had claimed that Kangana Ranaut defamed and damaged his "immaculate reputation" by dragging his name into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death in her interview with a news channel in July 2020.

In 2021, Kangana Ranaut hit back by filing a counter-complaint against Javed Akhtar before a magistrate's court, alleging criminal intimidation and insult to modesty.

She had claimed that during her meeting with Javed Akhtar at his residence in 2016, he criminally intimidated her, demanding that she apologise to a co-star.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Speaker Verdict On Maharashtra MLAs' Disqualification Requests Today

The political temperature rose in Maharashtra on Tuesday ahead of the crucial verdict by the assembly speaker on the cross-petitions by Shiv Sena factions seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs following a split in the party, an outcome which will decide the way forward for the Eknath Shinde government and also the regional outfit's rival groups.

On the eve of the verdict, the opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) upped the ante as its president Uddhav Thackeray said his party has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court objecting to a recent meeting between Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who is among the MLAs whose disqualification has been sought, and speaker Rahul Narwekar as both sides engaged in a verbal spat.

Mr Narwekar is slated to deliver his much-awaited verdict on the disqualification pleas at 4 pm on January 10 (Wednesday), Vidhan Bhavan officials said, more than 18 months after the Shiv Sena suffered a vertical split, a political development that resulted in a change of guard in the state.

"If the judge (Narwekar) is going to meet the accused, what should we expect from that judge," Mr Thackeray asked, speaking to the media at his residence `Matoshree'.

The affidavit before the SC was filed on Monday, the former CM said.

Mr Thackeray's ally and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, too, said that when someone who is hearing a case meets the person against whom the case is being heard, it "leaves room for doubt".

Hitting back, Mr Narwekar said Mr Thackeray should know for what purposes a speaker could meet a chief minister.

"If he still levels such allegations, then his motive is very clear. There is no rule that a speaker, while hearing disqualification pleas, cannot do any other work," Mr Narwekar contended.

The speaker met Mr Shinde at `Varsha', the chief minister's official residence in south Mumbai on Sunday. Mr Thackeray noted that the two had met in October last year too.

Mr Narwekar's ruling will decide whether "democracy exists in the country or not" or whether the two (speaker and chief minister) will "murder" democracy, said the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader.

"We have filed an affidavit asking whether there is collusion between the judge and the accused," Thackeray said, asking whether there would be further delay by the speaker in giving the ruling.

Mr Thackeray, who stepped down as CM in June-end 2022 following the split in the Shiv Sena, a party founded by his father late Bal Thackeray in 1966, maintained the speaker never goes to meet the chief minister.

It is the speaker who summons the latter, the former CM remarked.

The Supreme Court last month extended the deadline to January 10 for Narwekar to decide on the cross-petitions filed by rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each other's MLAs.

Thackeray said since the SC directed Narwekar in May last year to take a decision on the disqualification pleas, the speaker has met the chief minister twice.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab said such meetings must be brought to the Supreme Court's notice as it was a serious issue.

"We hope the apex court takes this matter seriously," Parab added.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed confidence about the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP (Ajit Pawar group) government remaining stable going forward The senior BJP leader stressed that the alliance government is "legal" and hoped the speaker's ruling will give justice to them.

"The speaker will take a proper and legal decision. Our side is strong. The government formed by us (BJP and Shiv Sena led by Shinde) is legally strong. We expect to get justice from the speaker....Our government was stable yesterday and it will remain stable tomorrow as well," Fadnavis told reporters in Nagpur.

In June 2022, Shinde and several MLAs rebelled against the then-chief minister Thackeray, leading to a split in the Shiv Sena and fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which also comprised the NCP and the Congress.

Cross-petitions were filed by the Shinde and Thackeray factions before the speaker seeking action against each other under anti-defection laws. The apex court in May last year had directed Mr Narwekar to adjudicate on the pleas expeditiously.

The Election Commission had given the 'Shiv Sena' name and 'bow and arrow' symbol to the Shinde-led faction, while the one headed by Thackeray was called Shiv Sena (UBT) with a flaming torch as its symbol.

In July last year, the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP also joined the Shinde-led government.

Assembly polls in Maharashtra are due in the second half of 2024. PTI PR CLS VT KRK GK NSK RSY

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Mira Rajput Reveals Shah Rukh Khan "Insists On" Calling Him These Names

Mira Rajput hosted an ask me anything session on Instagram stories on Monday. A fan asked her to share one word for Shah Rukh Khan. Replying to this query, Mira wrote, "When we meet he insists on several names - Padma shree, Doctor, Sir, Ji." Mira posted a heart emoji after her text. Another fan asked her who is a better dancer between her and husband Shahid Kapoor. Mira replied, "I have 2 left feet... But enough spirit for 2 people."

Mira Rajput has actively been sharing pictures from her recent Bhutan trip. She ushered in new year with husband Shahid Kapoor, daughter Misha and son Zain Kapoor, Shahid's brother Ishaan Khatter, Shahid-Ishaan's mother Neelima Azeem. Mira's parents Bela and Vikramaditya Rajput also accompanied them on the trip. In one of her posts, Mira shared pictures with the queen of Bhutan, Jetsun Pema. She also shared a group photo featuring Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the king of Bhutan. Mira wrote in the caption, "Bhutan : The People's Kingdom. So grateful to have met His Majesty The King @kingjigmekhesar and Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen of Bhutan and spent time on many occasions during our stay.. Their warmth, humility and generosity envelopes one into the comfort of chatting and interacting candidly. Yet their pride for the country,their people & its heritage reminds one of their innate regality." Take a look:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mira Rajput Kapoor (@mira.kapoor)

Mira Rajput also shared famjam pictures from her vacation. She wrote in the caption, "Happiest place in the world.. is with the fam. Also the boys took the best photos so I guess their dumps are better?" Take a look:

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A post shared by Mira Rajput Kapoor (@mira.kapoor)

Shahid Kapoor married Mira Rajput in July in 2015. Their daughter Misha was born a year later in August. Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput are also parents to a son named Zain, who they welcomed in the year 2018.

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IndiGo Fixes Rates Per Seat, Front Row To Cost Up To Rs 2,000

Passengers will have to pay Rs 2,000 for front row seats having more leg room in budget operator IndiGo, with the airline hiking the charges.

The new rates have been updated on the budget carrier's website.

For an A321 aircraft with 222 seats, selecting a window or aisle seat on the front row will cost Rs 2,000. It is Rs 1,500 for the aisle seat in the same row. For the second and third row, all seat types have a flat rate of Rs 400.

"In case you don't wish to purchase a preferred seat you can always select any free seat available or would be assigned a seat free of charge at the time of check-in at the airport," according to IndiGo's website.

The charges are the same for an A321 plane that has 232 seats and also for A320 aircraft with 180 seats, according to the airline's website.

IndiGo, India's biggest carrier, enjoys a market share of little over 60 percent.

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