International
Jurors hear final arguments before deciding Trump's fate in porn star hush money case
New York, May 28 (IANS) Hearing final arguments from lawyers for the defence and the prosecution on Tuesday, jurors prepared on Tuesday to decide the fate of former President Donald Trump in the historic criminal case charging him with faking business ledgers during an attempt to buy a porn star’s silence.
Trump is the first former President to face a criminal trial and his conviction or acquittal could impact the closely fought presidential election pitching him against President Joe Biden.
This is the only one of four criminal cases pending against him that will be decided before the November election where early opinion polls show them virtually tied with Trump having a 1.1 per cent lead, according to the aggregation of polls by RealClear Politics.
Trump’s lawyers took aim at the credibility of his former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen who paid off the porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public with allegations that she had a sexual encounter with him. The case hinges on a payment of $130,000 to Daniels that was recorded in Trump’s business ledgers as legal fees to Cohen.
The prosecutors, who were to follow Trump’s lawyers, allege that it is a criminal falsification of business records as the money was a payoff to avoid a scandal during the 2016 election campaign and the money was not lawyer’s fees, and, therefore, the payoff was also an election interference.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche in his closing arguments on Tuesday countered that the business records were accurate as the payments were made directly to Cohen and the former President was not aware of what Cohen did with the checks. He said that the prosecution’s star witness Cohen, who admitted on the witness stand to stealing $30,000 from Trump and made contradictory statements, was not a credible witness.
Blanche said that the sexual encounter claimed by Daniels 18 years ago and denied by Trump was not an issue in the case.
The panel of 12 jurors made up of ordinary citizens under the New York State legal system are expected to begin deliberating the case in private on Wednesday.
Each juror has a veto because a unanimous verdict is required to convict or acquit him and if they cannot agree on a united verdict, Judge Juan Merchan will have to declare a mistrial, which will not amount to an acquittal, and allow the prosecution to retry him.
The jury could also convict him unanimously on some parts of the charges. If convicted, Trump faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
That would create the strange spectacle of Secret Service agents accompanying him to prison to provide protection mandated for him as a former President by US law.
He would certainly appeal a conviction, keeping him out of prison during the presidential campaign and the Republican Party Convention in July that will officially make him the party candidate.
Merchan, however, has threatened Trump with being sent to prison for contempt of court if he continued to criticise persons connected to the case, which Trump has defiantly continued.
Before entering the court, Trump told reporters: “This is all election hunting, election interfering, going after Joe Biden’s opponent because he can’t do it himself.”
The prosecutor waited seven years to bring the case in the middle of the campaign, he said.
Manhattan Public Prosecutor Melvin Bragg, who brought the case, is a Democrat elected to the post in a partisan election. While the lawyers made their final arguments, outside a raucous scene played out with his supporters and opponents holding demonstrations with colourful banners and posters. President Joe Biden’s campaign added to the drama, bringing Actor Robert DeNiro outside the courthouse to denounce Trump accusing him of wanting to “destroy not only this city and country, but the whole world” and reciting an obscenity-laced litany of the former President’s failings.
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
–IANS
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International
Gaza monastery added to UNESCO list of World Heritage in Danger
Ramallah, July 27 (IANS) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added an archaeological site in the Gaza Strip to its list of World Heritage in Danger, the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism has said.
Palestine succeeded in the emergency registration of the Monastery of Saint Hilarion in Gaza on the list of World Heritage in Danger during the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee held in India, Xinhua news agency quoted the ministry as saying in a statement on Friday.
The urgent and emergency registration comes to preserve the Palestinian cultural heritage in Gaza in light of the Israeli war on the enclave, which destroyed more than 100 heritage, archaeological and cultural sites, completely or partially, said the Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Hani Al-Hayek in the statement.
The Monastery of Saint Hilarion, one of the oldest sites in the Middle East, was founded by Saint Hilarion and was home to the first monastic community in the Holy Land, according to UNESCO on Friday.
Situated at the crossroads of the main routes of trade and exchange between Asia and Africa, it was a centre for religious, cultural and economic exchanges, illustrating the prosperity of desert monastic sites in the Byzantine period, it added.
Inclusion on the list of World Heritage in Danger automatically opens the door to enhanced international technical and financial assistance mechanisms to guarantee the protection of the property and, if necessary, to help facilitate its rehabilitation, according to UNESCO.
–IANS
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International
Norway closes embassy in Uganda
Kampala, July 27 (IANS) Norway has officially closed its embassy in Uganda, marking the end of 19 years of diplomatic presence in the east African country.
The embassy posted on its official handle on X, formerly Twitter, Friday, saying that the country’s flag had been formerly lowered.
“It is with mixed emotions as we lower the Norwegian flag for the last time. The Embassy is now closed, but Norway remains engaged in Uganda,” the embassy posted. The lowered flag was handed to Norwegian Ambassador to Uganda Kristin Hermansen.
According to the embassy, the flag was raised in Uganda in 2005.
At an earlier function, Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Odongo Jeje Abubakher emphasised the “strength and tangible results of the Uganda-Norway relationship over the years, expressing Uganda’s deep appreciation for this partnership”, Xinhua news agency reported.
“He acknowledged Norway’s sovereign decision to close its embassy in Kampala while welcoming the assurance that bilateral relations will persist and flourish,” an embassy statement posted on X said.
Norway shut down five missions in 2022. The closure of its embassy in Uganda, which was also overseeing Rwanda and Burundi, was first announced last October, signalling that several changes were underway in the country’s diplomatic presence abroad.
Norway supports a variety of projects in Uganda, including education, health, agriculture, and assistance to refugees.
–IANS
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International
Trump vows to bring peace to West Asia if re-elected
Washington, July 27 (IANS) Former US President Donald Trump on Friday pledged to bring peace to West Asia if re-elected to the White House and that he will stop the spread of anti-Semitism in America.
In a statement released by the Trump campaign after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the former President also expressed solidarity with Israel on the “heinous” October 7 attack. The former President pledged that “when he returns to the White House, he will make every effort to bring peace to the Middle East and combat anti-Semitism from spreading throughout college campuses across the United States”.
The Trump campaign said the Israeli Prime Minister “thanked President Trump and his Administration for working to promote stability in the region through, among many historic achievements, the Abraham Accords, moving the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, eliminating Qasem Soleimani, ending the horrific Iran Nuclear Deal, as well as combating anti-Semitism in America and abroad”. Soleimani was the head of Iran’s Quds Force who was killed in a US drone strike in 2020.
Trump welcomed Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu warmly at his Mar-a-Lago in Florida, a video of which was posted on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns.
Trump and Netanyahu had shared a close bond going back to the former President’s first term, when he had moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in recognition of a long-standing Israeli demand for the world to consider Jerusalem as the capital, despite its status as a city party claimed by the Palestinians. Trump had also recognised Golan Heights as a part of Israel, which had captured the territory from Syria in the 1967 war. The former President had capped his tight embrace of Israel by brokering the Abraham Accords that paved the way for the normalization of ties between Israel and Bahrain and Israel and the UAE.
They fell out in early 2021 when Netanyahu became one of the first world leaders to call and congratulate President Joe Biden, whose election Trump has continued to dispute to this day.
Netanyahu is a close observer of US elections and has inserted himself into US politics several times over the years. He has recently quarrelled with Biden over military supplies for Israel and could be preparing himself for Trump’s return to the White House, a possibility that is being considered in capitals around the world.
–IANS
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International
Trump receives Netanyahu, wife at Mar-a-Lago
Washington, July 26 (IANS) Former US President Donald Trump welcomed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, calling out “Come on in, come on in”.
Netanyahu was accompanied by his wife Sara Netanyahu, who were both greeted warmly by Trump, in a video the former President posted on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns.
Trump and Netanyahu had shared a close bond going back to the former President’s first term, when he had moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in recognition of a long-standing Israeli demand for the world to consider Jerusalem as the capital, despite its status as a city party claimed by the Palestinians.
Trump had also recognised Golan Heights as a part of Israel, which had captured the area from Syria in the 1967 war.
The former President had capped his tight embrace of Israel by brokering the Abrahamic Accords that paved the way to the normalisation of ties between Israel and Bahrain and Israel and the UAE. They fell out in early 2021 when Netanyahu became one of the first world leaders to call and congratulate President Joe Biden, whose election Trump has continued to dispute to this day.
No details were available at this time of the meeting on Friday.
Netanyahu is a close observer of US elections and has inserted himself into US politics several times over the years. He has recently quarrelled with Biden over military supplies for Israel and could be preparing himself for Trump’s return to the White House, a possibility that is being considered in capitals around the world.
The Israeli Prime Minister addressed a joint meeting of the US Congress on Wednesday and met President Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris in the White House on Thursday.
–IANS
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International
Water level of major rivers in Myanmar exceeds warning mark amid heavy rains
Yangon, July 26 (IANS) Water level of major rivers in Myanmar has exceeded the warning mark in 12 towns across the country, Myanmar’s weather agency reported on Friday.
Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology said that the water level of the rivers, including Ayeyarwady river, Sittaung river and Ngawun river, has risen above the warning mark.
The weather agency has urged residents living near riverbanks and in low-lying areas to take precautionary measures, Xinhua news agency reported.
Heavy rains have been hitting parts of the Southeast Asian country in recent days, causing floods in many areas.
July and August are the middle of the rainy season in Myanmar, and heavy rains are typical during the period.
–IANS
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