Page 25 - Us Government

Trump's lawyers seek to freeze classified docs case citing immunity ruling

Donald Trump asked a federal judge Friday to freeze the classified documents case against him in light of a Supreme Court ruling this week that said former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution. Trump's lawyers told US District Judge Aileen Cannon that the prosecution should be put on pause until she resolves pending defense motions that assert that Trump is immune from criminal charges in the case and that special counsel Jack Smith was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a 6-3 opinion Monday that presidents enjoy absolute immunity from prosecution for actions involving their core constitutional powers and are presumptively immune for all other official acts. In a separate concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that Smith's appointment was invalid because there is no law establishing the office of the special counsel. The request Friday underscores the potentially far-reaching implications of the high court's ...

Beryl batters Mexico as Texas officials urge coastal residents to prepare

Beryl battered Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday after hitting near the resort town of Tulum, whipping trees and knocking out power, while officials in Texas urged coastal residents to prepare as the storm moves toward the Gulf of Mexico. Beryl hit Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane but weakened to a tropical storm as it moved across the peninsula. The US National Hurricane Center expects Beryl to regain hurricane strength once it emerges into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where it is forecast to head toward northeastern Mexico and southern Texas, an area soaked by Tropical Storm Alberto just a couple of weeks ago. Beryl spread destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados this week after becoming the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said. Mexican authorities had moved some ..

Biden casts debate as 'bad episode,' says, not sign of serious problem

Asked if he had watched his debate performance, which alarmed Democratic allies, Biden said he didn't think he had

California wildfire: Firefighters make progress but heat, fire risk expand

Firefighters made progress Friday against a California wildfire that triggered extensive evacuation orders, but damage assessments raised the number of destroyed structures to 25, and forecasters said heat and fire risk were expanding on the West Coast. Containment of the Thompson Fire near the Butte County city of Oroville rose overnight from 29% to 46%, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The fire was measured at just under 6 square miles (15.5 square kilometers) after only slight growth overnight. Most evacuation orders covering about 17,000 people were lifted Thursday. Firefighters did a really good job yesterday enforcing containment lines, and wind hasn't been a factor, said Cal Fire Capt. Alejandro Cholico, a fire spokesperson. A new blaze dubbed the French Fire erupted Thursday evening and triggered evacuations in the small Gold Rush town of Mariposa in the Sierra Nevada foothills along a highway leading to Yosemite National Park. Bulldo

Hamas broadly agrees with cease-fire framework with Israel: US official

The official spoke after a half-hour phone meeting between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

What makes disconnecting trade ties with China expensive and challenging

The current global economic environment works against migration, standing in contrast to the increasingly tense geopolitical situation that adds urgency to decoupling

Biden heads into a make-or-break stretch for his imperiled prez campaign

President Joe Biden on Thursday opened a critical stretch in his effort to salvage his imperiled reelection campaign, arguing the stakes extend far beyond his own political prospects to the future of the country's economy and democracy itself. There is a growing sense that Biden may have just days to make a persuasive case that he is fit for office before Democratic support for him completely evaporates in the aftermath of his disastrous debate performance last week against Republican Donald Trump. In an interview with a Wisconsin radio station that aired Thursday, Biden said, The stakes are really high. I know you know this. For democracy, for freedom ... our economy, they're all on the line." He added: The president is the most powerful office in the world. But we need someone with wisdom and character." The interview on the Earl Ingram Show on the Civic Media Radio Network, taped Wednesday, was the part of a media and public events blitz that the Democratic president and his sta

Officials from Quad countries review progress made since May 2023 summit

Senior officials from Quad member countries have reviewed the progress made by various Quad Working Groups in achieving the commitments made at the grouping's summit in May 2023, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday. The officials, who met through video conference on Wednesday, also discussed new ideas to further the grouping's collaboration in delivering public good in the Indo-Pacific region in areas such as health security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, climate resilience, and countering terrorism, the ministry said in a statement. Senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade of Australia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Department of State of the US met to review the progress made by various Quad Working Groups in achieving the commitments made at the May 2023 Quad Leaders' Summit, it said. "They also discussed new ideas to further the Quad's collaboration in delivering public .

US polls: Trump keeps low profile while Biden faces doubts over candidacy

Publicly, Trump has commented little on the calls for Biden to drop out of the race and the growing uncertainty within Democratic ranks

Global markets on alert for Biden's exit as Trump-victory trades mount

The recalibration of portfolios kicked off at the end of last week after Biden's disastrous debate with Trump heightened concerns the 81-year-old Democrat is too old to serve another term

US ends fight against Titanic expedition, battle over future dives possible

The U.S. government has officially ended its legal fight against an upcoming expedition to the Titanic shipwreck after the company that owns the ship's salvage rights scaled back its dive plans. But the U.S. said in court filings last week that it may wage court battles over future expeditions if they break a federal law and an agreement with Great Britain to treat the wreck as a gravesite. The litigation began last year after RMS Titanic Inc. announced the expedition, which is now scheduled for mid-July. The Georgia-based company originally planned to take images inside the ocean liner's severed hull and to retrieve artifacts from the debris field. RMST also said it would possibly recover free-standing objects inside the Titanic, including from the room where the sinking ship broadcast its distress signals. The U.S. filed its legal challenge in August, arguing that entering the Titanic or physically altering or disturbing the wreck is regulated by the 2017 federal law and pact w

Simone Biles to return to Olympics. All details of US Gymnastics team

Simone Biles is eager for a chance to put the Tokyo Olympics firmly in her rearview mirror. Three years after she memorably pulled out of multiple finals to protect her mental health and safety a decision that came with a backlash that still litters her social media feed Biles headlines a U.S. women's gymnastics team filled with familiar faces eyeing a shot at redemption in Paris. Biles will be joined by reigning Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, 2020 floor exercise champion gold medalist Jade Carey, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles and 16-year-old newcomer Hezly Rivera, who will find herself competing next to a couple of her idols as the Americans try to reclaim the spot atop the Olympic podium they ceded to Russia in Japan. Meet the oldest women's gymnastics team the U.S. has ever taken to the Games. Simone Biles returns for a third shot at Olympic glory: The 27-year-old Biles has long been in a class of her own. She will arrive in Paris as the most decorated women's gymna

North Korea claims new ballistic missile capable of carrying huge warhead

North Korea said Tuesday it had test-fired a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a huge warhead, as the country is pushing to modernise its weapons arsenal to cope with what it calls US-led threats. The North's official Korean Central News Agency called the weapon Hwasongpho-11Da-4.5 which can carry 4.5 ton-class super-large warhead. It said the test-fire on Monday was meant to verify flight stability and hit accuracy at the maximum range of 500 kilometres (310 miles) and the minimum range of 90 kilometres (55 miles). South Korea's military earlier said that North Korea launched two ballistic missiles from one of its southwestern towns in a northeastern direction on Monday and that the first missile flew 600 kilometres (370 miles) and the second missile 120 kilometres (75 miles). The second missile's flight distance was too short to reach the waters off the North's east coast, a typical landing site for North Korean test missiles. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff

Category 4 hurricane Beryl intensifies in Caribbean, eyeing Jamaica

Beryl was packing winds of up to 155 mph (250 kmh) as of 2400 GMT on Monday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said

Biden campaign's reset after debate looks a lot like business as usual

President Joe Biden's reset after his disastrous debate performance is looking more like a return to business as usual. Even as his campaign works to quell Democratic anxiety and reassure spooked donors, Biden has been putting the focus on presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump as a threat to the nation, and trying to get back to doing the job of president. The president's schedule this week includes a briefing on extreme weather, a campaign reception, a Medal of Honor ceremony and the traditional July 4th White House barbecue. Then he's off for a weekend at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. Nothing out of the ordinary, it all telegraphed. But Vice President Kamala Harris, in a Sunday night fundraiser, gave a nod to what she called the elephant in the room. The debate, she allowed, wasn't Biden's finest hour. Still, "if we put aside the style points, there was a clear contrast, she argued, going on to call out Trump as a threat to our democracy and a liar. For all of the pub

Could Democrats replace Biden as their nominee? All you need to know

As President Joe Biden attempts to reassure supporters following his widely panned debate performance on Thursday, Democrats still worried about having him at the top of the ticket in November have few realistic options at their disposal, at least as far as party rules and historical precedent are concerned. Those fretting over Biden as the Democratic nominee have some alternative, albeit unlikely, scenarios to consider: One involves Biden stepping aside voluntarily, the other, and by far the least likely, involves an 11th-hour effort to defeat him at the convention by winning over pledged delegates he has won in the nominations contests, who are technically obligated to support him only by good conscience in the party's rules. Challenges to the presumptive nominee can occur, but there are significant hurdles, according to Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert in the party's nominating process. It has been tried, and it usually fails, said Kamarc

Trump's lawyers seek to set aside New York verdict hours after SC ruling

Donald Trump's lawyers on Monday asked the New York judge who presided over his hush money trial to set aside his conviction and delay his sentencing scheduled for later this month. The letter to Judge Juan M Merchan cited the US Supreme Court's ruling earlier Monday and asked the judge to delay Trump's sentencing while he weighs the high court's decision and how it could influence the New York case, the people said. The people could not discuss details of the letter before it was made public and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The Supreme Court on Monday ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution. Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records, arising from what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush money payment just before the 2016 presidential election. Merchan instituted a policy in the run-up to the trial requiring both sides to send him a one-page letter summarising their argume

US SC says Donald Trump has immunity for official acts, not private ones

Trump made his immunity claim to the trial judge in October, meaning the issue has been litigated for about nine months

Prominent US lawmakers assure Hindus against discrimination, Hinduphobia

Prominent American lawmakers have pledged their support to Indian Americans to fight against increasing Hinduphobia and discrimination against the minority Hindu community in the US. Organised by the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA), the 3rd National Hindu Advocacy Day attracted several Hindu students, researchers, and community leaders on June 28 to discuss the concerns faced by the Hindus living in the US. "We are here, and we are fighting," Congressman Shri Thanedar said in his address at the day-long advocacy here. "The voice you all have, the voice the Hindu community has in Congress," said Thanedar, a Democrat, who has introduced House Resolution 1131 (H.Res 1131), which condemns Hinduphobia and attacks on temples, while celebrating the contribution of the Hindu American community. He said that he would not tolerate Hinduphobia, discrimination, or other forms of hate. Congressman Rich McCormick welcomed the continued and growing engagement of the Hindu American

Hurricane Beryl nears Caribbean after strengthening into Category 4 storm

Hurricane Beryl closed in on the southeastern Caribbean late Sunday after strengthening into what experts called an "extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, and government officials pleaded with people to take shelter. The storm was expected to make landfall in the Windward Islands on Monday morning. Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This is a very dangerous situation, warned the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami, saying Beryl was forecast to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge. Beryl was centred about 150 miles (240 kilometres) southeast of Barbados late Sunday. It had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph) and was moving west at 20 mph (31 kph). It is a compact storm, with hurricane-force winds extending 30 miles (45 kilometres) from its centre. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Martinique and Trinidad. A tropical storm watch was issued for Dominica, Haiti's entire southern coas