The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Trump unveils new impeachment legal defence team

    Trump unveils new impeachment legal defence team

    Our Reporter

    Former US President Donald Trump announced a new impeachment legal defence team on Monday, one day after it was revealed he had parted ways with an earlier set of lawyers with just more than a week to go before his Senate trial.

    The two representing Trump will be defence lawyer David Schoen, a frequent television legal commentator, and Bruce Castor, a former district attorney in Pennsylvania who has faced criticism for his decision to not charge actor Bill Cosby in a sex crimes case.

    Both lawyers issued statements through Trump’s office saying they were honoured to take the job.

    “The strength of our Constitution is about to be tested like never before in our history. It is strong and resilient. A document written for the ages, and it will triumph over partisanship yet again, and always,” said Castor, who served as district attorney for Montgomery County, outside of Philadelphia, from 2000 to 2008.

    The announcement on Sunday was intended to promote a sense of stability surrounding the Trump defence team as his impeachment trial nears. The former president has struggled to hire and retain lawyers willing to represent him against charges that he incited the deadly riot at the US Capitol, which happened when a mob of loyalists stormed Congress as lawmakers met on January 6 to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

    That’s a contrast from his first impeachment trial when Trump’s high-profile team of lawyers included Alan Dershowitz, one of the best-known criminal defence lawyers in the country, as well as White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and Jay Sekulow, who has argued cases before the Supreme Court.

    Trump’s team had initially announced that Butch Bowers, a South Carolina lawyer, would lead his legal team after an introduction from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. But that team unravelled over the weekend due to differences over legal strategy.

    One person familiar with their thinking said Bowers and another South Carolina lawyer, Deborah Barbier, left the team because Trump wanted them to use a defence that relied on allegations of election fraud, and the lawyers were not willing to do so. The person was not authorised to speak publicly about the situation and requested anonymity

    Republicans and aides to Trump, the first president to be impeached twice in American history, have made clear that they intend to make a simple argument in the trial: Trump’s trial, scheduled for the week of February 8, is unconstitutional because he is no longer in office.

    “The Democrats’ efforts to impeach a president who has already left office is totally unconstitutional and so bad for our country,” Trump adviser Jason Miller has said.

    Many legal scholars, however, say there is no bar to an impeachment trial despite Trump having left the White House. One argument is that state constitutions that predate the US Constitution allowed impeachment after officials left office. The Constitution’s drafters also did not specifically bar the practice.

    READ ALSO: Donald Trump ‘parts with lawyers’ before impeachment trial

    Castor, a Republican who was the elected district attorney of Pennsylvania’s third-most populated county, decided against charging Cosby in a 2004 sexual encounter. He ran for the job again in 2015, and his judgment in the Cosby case was a key issue used against him by the Democrat who defeated him.

    Castor has said he personally thought Cosby should have been arrested but that the evidence wasn’t strong enough to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

    In 2004, Castor ran for state attorney general unsuccessfully. In 2016, he became the top lieutenant to the state’s embattled attorney general – Kathleen Kane, a Democrat – as she faced charges of leaking protected investigative information to smear a rival and lying to a grand jury about it. She was convicted, leaving Castor as the state’s acting attorney general for a few days.

    Schoen met with financier Jeffrey Epstein about joining his defence team on sex trafficking charges just days before Epstein killed himself in a New York jail.

    In an interview with the Atlanta Jewish Times last year, Schoen said he had also been approached by Trump associate Roger Stone before Stone’s trial about being part of the team and that he was later retained to handle his appeal. Trump commuted Stone’s sentence and then pardoned him. Schoen maintained in the interview that the case against Stone was “very unfair and politicized.”

    Neither Schoen nor Castor returned phone messages seeking comment on Sunday evening.

    (www.newsnow.co.uk)

  • UK condemns Myanmar coup, imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi

    UK condemns Myanmar coup, imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi

    Agency Reporter

    British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday condemned the coup in Myanmar after the military seized power and imposed a state of emergency, saying Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders “must” be freed.

    “I condemn the coup and unlawful imprisonment of civilians, including Aung San Suu Kyi, in Myanmar.

    “The vote of the people must be respected and civilian leaders released,” Johnson said on Twitter.

    British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also added his words of condemnation about the state of emergency the Myanmar military had imposed.

    READ ALSO: U.S. threatens to take action against detainers of Myanmar’s president, others

    “The democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar must be respected, and the National Assembly peacefully re-convened,” he added.

    (Reuters/NAN)

  • U.S. threatens to take action against detainers of Myanmar’s president, others

    U.S. threatens to take action against detainers of Myanmar’s president, others

    Agency Reporter

    The U.S. has threatened to take action against those responsible for the detention of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as President Win Myint in Myanmar.

    “The United States is alarmed by reports that the Burmese military has taken steps to undermine the country’s democratic transition, including the arrest of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian officials in Burma (Myanmar).

    “President (Joe) Biden has been briefed by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan,” White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement.

    Earlier, Western media reported that Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained along with other members of Myanmar’s ruling party in an early morning military raid on Monday.

    “We continue to affirm our strong support for Burma’s democratic institutions and, in coordination with our regional partners, urge the military and all other parties to adhere to democratic norms and the rule of law, and to release those detained today.

    “The United States opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of recent elections or impede Myanmar’s democratic transition, and will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed,” Psaki said.

    The U.S. State Department has also expressed concerns over the detention of multiple civilian government leaders in Myanmar.

    “We call on Burmese military leaders to release all government officials and civil society leaders and respect the will of the people of Burma as expressed in democratic elections on Nov. 8.

    “The United States stands with the people of Burma in their aspirations for democracy, freedom, peace, and development.

    “The military must reverse these actions immediately,” the State Department said in a statement.

    The Australian government has also issued a statement on Myanmar, saying that Australia is a long-standing supporter of Myanmar and its democratic transition.

    “We call on the military to respect the rule of law, to resolve disputes through lawful mechanisms, and to release immediately all civilian leaders and others who have been detained unlawfully,” Australia’s foreign ministry said in a Monday statement.

    READ ALSO: Myanmar charges preacher for defying virus ban to hold services

    Later in the morning, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined international leaders in condemning the actions of Myanmar’s military.

    “I condemn the coup and unlawful imprisonment of civilians, including Aung San Suu Kyi, in Myanmar.

    “The vote of the people must be respected and civilian leaders released,” Johnson wrote on Twitter.

    According to media reports, Myanmar’s military announced a state of emergency on Monday morning, in a declaration signed by First Vice President Win Myint Swe, who will now be serving as Myanmar’s acting president.

    According to the declaration, state power is being handed over to Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Min Aung Hlaing.

    The announcement came after Myanmar’s government leaders and members of the ruling National League for Democracy party were detained.

    In January, Myanmar’s military raised the prospect of a coup d’etat after what they believed was widespread voter fraud during the November 8 election, which was the country’s second general election since the end of military rule in 2011.

    (Sputnik/NAN)

  • Queen Elizabeth to host Biden before G7 summit in June

    Queen Elizabeth to host Biden before G7 summit in June

    Queen Elizabeth will host new U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders at Buckingham Palace before a summit of the G7 big economies in June, the Yesterday Times newspaper reported.

    Describing it as a “soft power” reception, the Yesterday Times said the Queen would be joined by the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The palace declined to comment on the report.

    Britain has announced plans to hold the first in-person summit of the G7 for nearly two years in June in Cornwall, southwest England. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes the meeting will forge a consensus that the global economy must recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in a pro-free trade and sustainable way.

     

  • Explosions and gunfire hit Somalia’s capital

    Explosions and gunfire hit Somalia’s capital

    There were loud explosions and gunfire on Sunday in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

    Witnesses said a speeding car blew up outside a hotel near Somalia’s main international airport. There were unconfirmed reports that militants entered the hotel building.

    Police said there had been casualties but numbers were unclear.

    The city is targeted frequently by the militant Islamist group al-Shabab. There were fears the recent withdrawal of hundreds of American troops could lead to further instability in Somalia, which is due to hold elections next month.

     

  • ‘Millions spent on illegal spy operations for Zuma’

    ‘Millions spent on illegal spy operations for Zuma’

    Our Reporter

     

    South Africa’s spy agency has been accused of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on illegal undercover operations to protect former President Jacob Zuma from corruption investigations.

    The allegations, made by whistle-blowers at a corruption inquiry, include attempts to influence judges and newspapers. The allegations are staggering. Two whistle-blowers, and other witnesses, have given details of a systematic plot to turn South Africa’s state security agency into something almost like a private army for former President Zuma. During his decade in power, Zuma faced – and still faces – multiple allegations of corruption.

    But a judge-led inquiry is now revealing the extent to which, it is alleged, Zuma used state institutions to protect himself during his presidency.

    Witnesses have described how vast sums of money were allegedly stolen from the security agency and funnelled to Zuma’s allies. And how agents were allegedly used for overtly partisan, political operations.

    Zuma has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. But he’s also refused to appear to answer specific allegations at the corruption inquiry – a refusal that South Africa’s constitutional court has now declared unlawful.

     

  • ‘Genocidal war waged in Ethiopia region’

    ‘Genocidal war waged in Ethiopia region’

    Our Reporter

     

    Ethiopian and Eritrean forces have waged a “devastating and genocidal war” in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the region’s ousted leader Debretsion Gebremichael has said.

    Gebremichael urged the international community to investigate the alleged atrocities.

    The Ethiopian government said his claims were “unfounded”, and his forces were guilty of “horrendous crimes”.

    Conflict broke out in November after Debretsion’s forces captured Ethiopian government military bases in Tigray.

    Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy responded by ordering a ground and air offensive, which led to his troops capturing the regional capital, Mekelle, on November 28. Debretsion fled the capital with fighters from his Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and vowed to resist federal control over the region.

    The conflict has led to about two million people, or a third of Tigray’s population, being displaced.

    Read Also: Ethiopia declares military operation in Tigray over

    This was the first time in more than two months that Debretsion had spoken in public. An audio recording of his comments, lasting for about 20 minutes, was broadcast on a Facebook account run by a TPLF media outlet.

    “A devastating and genocidal war was waged against the people of Tigray because they firmly fought for their right to self-determination and they held a democratic election. The invasion and massacre has continued. So does the struggle of the people of Tigray,” he said.

    Debretsion also alleged widespread incidents of murder, rape, torture and starvation.

    It is unclear when the recording was made but he mentioned the killings of other TPLF leaders, which suggested it was recent.

    Debretsion is wanted by the government on charges of treason. The authorities in Ethiopia announced earlier this month that several senior TPLF members, including Ethiopia’s former Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, had been killed in the conflict.

    Debretsion said the TPLF had suffered setbacks because “four governments” were fighting against it in Tigray.

     

  • Russia detains over 2,700 at protests against jailing Navalny

    Russia detains over 2,700 at protests against jailing Navalny

    Our Reporter

     

    Police detained more than 2,700 people and broke up rallies in Moscow and across Russia yesterday as supporters of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny braved the bitter cold and a massive show of police force to demand he be set free.

    The nationwide rallies are the second straight weekend of protests that are part of a high-risk opposition campaign to try to pressure the Kremlin into freeing President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent.

    The opposition politician was arrested on Jan. 17 after returning to Moscow from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Russia last summer. He accuses Putin of ordering his murder, which the Kremlin denies.

    Read Also: Russia: vaccine to sell for $10 globally

    Navalny’s dramatic return to Moscow despite the obvious threat of arrest and the protests that his jailing has sparked pose a major challenge for Putin who has dominated the Russian political landscape for over two decades.

    In a highly unusual move, police imposed a security lockdown in the heart of the capital yesterday, sealing off streets to pedestrians near the Kremlin, closing metro stations and deploying hundreds of riot police as snow fell.

    Yulia, a 40-year-old protester in Moscow, said she had joined the rallies despite having a panic attack the night before because of worrying about repercussions for taking part.

    “I understand that I live in a totally lawless state. In a police state, with no independent courts. In a country ruled by corruption. I would like to live differently,” she said.

    Police have said the protests were illegal as they had not been authorised and would be broken up. Authorities have said demonstrators could spread COVID-19.

    At one point, a column of protesters marched towards the prison in northern Moscow where Navalny is being held, chanting “Let him go!”

    Police put turnout at the Moscow protest at around 2,000 people. Reuters reporters estimated crowds of several thousand that were smaller than last weekend when police estimated 4,000 people and the opposition put the figure at 50,000, an assertion the authorities dismissed as nowhere near the truth.

    Police detained at least 2,737 people nationwide, including 681 in Moscow, according to OVD-Info, a protest monitoring group. The figures were expected to rise.

    Yulia Navalnaya, the Kremlin critic’s wife, was among those detained.

    “If we stay quiet, then they could come for any of us tomorrow,” she wrote on Instagram before joining the protests.

    The protest is a test of Navalny’s support after many of his prominent allies were targeted in a crackdown this week. Several, including his brother Oleg, are under house arrest.

    In the far eastern city of Vladivostok, video footage showed protesters chanting “Putin is a thief” as they linked hands and marched in temperatures of around -13 Celsius (8.6 Fahrenheit). Police detained more than 100 people in the city, OVD-Info said.

    In Tomsk, the Siberian city that Navalny visited before suddenly collapsing on a domestic flight last August, demonstrators gathered in front of a concert hall and chanted “Let him go!”.

    Navalny, 44, is accused of parole violations which he says are trumped up. A court is due to meet next week to consider handing him a jail term of up to three and a half years.

     

  • Trump’s legal team quits a week before impeachment trial

    Trump’s legal team quits a week before impeachment trial

    All five of the impeachment lawyers who were expected to represent former President Donald Trump have called it quits, sources told ABC News.

    The team, led by South Carolina lawyer Butch Bowers, resigned in part because of disagreements over how to mount Trump’s defense, the sources said.

    The lawyers had planned to argue the constitutionality of holding a trial given Trump is now a former president.

    The disagreements over strategy varied, sources told ABC News, but Trump wanted his team to argue there was election fraud, while the lawyers and some top advisers to the former president wanted the focus to remain on the constitutionality of a trial with the president no longer in office.

    A source close to the former president described the change as a “mutual decision” between the parties.

    Trump was impeached by the House on Jan. 13 on a single article for “incitement of insurrection” following the violent siege at the U.S. Capitol that left one police officer and four others dead and left members of Congress and their staffs fearing for their lives.

    The insurrection, which took place Jan. 6, was preceded by a Trump rally when he told his followers to head to the Capitol and repeatedly said they should fight for him.

    “The Democrats’ efforts to impeach a president who has already left office is totally unconstitutional and so bad for our country.

    “In fact, 45 Senators have already voted that it is unconstitutional. We have done much work, but have not made a final decision on our legal team, which will be made shortly,” Jason Miller, a spokesperson for Trump, told ABC News.

    The Senate trial is scheduled to begin on the week of Feb. 8. Two-thirds of the Senate — or 67 senators — would need to vote to convict Trump to be successful.

    That means 17 GOP senators would need to come to the Democrats’ side.

    Sources believe there will be another round of additions to the team in the coming days though the process is nowhere near finalised with just over a week to go.

    Many attorneys who worked with or represented Trump during the last impeachment trial are declining to defend him in the Senate.

    Trump’s former top lawyer, Jay Sekulow, who represented him at his first impeachment trial, will not be taking part in this trial. Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, also said he will not be representing the former president after appearing at the same rally that preceded the siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6.

    The attorneys in addition to Bowers who will no longer be representing Trump are Deborah Barbier, Josh Howard, Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris.

  • China warns that Taiwan’s independence ‘means war’

    China warns that Taiwan’s independence ‘means war’

    Agency Reporter

    China toughened its language towards Taiwan on Thursday, warning after recent stepped-up military activities near the island that Taiwanese “independence means war.”

    China further warned that its armed forces were taking action to respond to provocation and foreign interference.

    Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, reported multiple Chinese fighter jets and bombers entering Taiwan’s south-western air defence identification zone over the weekend, prompting concern in Washington.

    China believes that Taiwan’s democratically-elected government is moving the island towards a declaration of formal independence.

    Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has, however, repeatedly said they were already an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name.

    Asked at a monthly news briefing about the air forces’ recent activities, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said Taiwan was an inseparable part of China.

    “The military activities carried out by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the Taiwan Strait are necessary actions to address the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard national sovereignty and security,” he said.

    “They are a solemn response to external interference and provocations by ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” he added.

    The Chinese incursions coincided with a U.S. carrier battle group entering the disputed South China Sea to promote “freedom of the seas.”

    READ ALSO: China hopes Biden will learn lesson from Trump’s trade war – FM

    Wu said a “handful” of people in Taiwan were seeking the island’s independence.

    “We warn those ‘Taiwan independence’ elements: those who play with fire will burn themselves, and ‘Taiwan independence’ means war,” he added.

    Democratic Taiwan has denounced China’s threats and efforts at intimidation, and Tsai has vowed to defend the island’s freedom and not be coerced.

    China routinely describes Taiwan as its most important and sensitive issue in relations with the United States, which under the former Trump administration ramped up support for the island in terms of arms sales and senior officials visiting Taipei.

    President Joe Biden’s government, in office for a week, has reaffirmed its commitment to Taiwan as being “rock solid,” potentially auguring further strains with Beijing.

    (Reuters/NAN)