ROHM and TSMC Launch Strategic Gallium Nitride Technology Collaboration for the Automotive Industry
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will be scratched due to an undisclosed injury for Sunday’s game against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena. The team announced Letang’s status approximately a half hour before the opening faceoff but did not provide substantive details as to the nature of Letang’s ailment. Letang logged one of his highest time on ice figures of the season during a 6-3 road loss to the Islanders on Saturday, clocking 25:04 on 27 shifts. A six-time All-Star, the right-handed Letang has appeared in 34 games this season and scored 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) while averaging 23:24 of ice time per contest. His absence adds to the Penguins’ woes on the blue line as left-handers Marcus Pettersson (undisclosed) and Owen Pickering (concussion) are currently designated to injured reserve. With Letang scratched, Nate Clurman is expected to make his NHL debut. The 26-year-old right-hander participated in warmups and skated on the third pairing with left-hander Ryan Shea. In 23 American Hockey League games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season, Shea has six points (two goals, four assists). Clurman has been recalled to the NHL roster three times this season, all within the past month. The most recent recall happened on Friday.
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GameStop Discloses Third Quarter 2024 ResultsEven as the dust has begun to settle on the 2024 presidential election, the divisions that have been building during the past decade remain stark. Sadly, it seems that every election has left us more fractured, with political differences turning into fundamental battles of good vs. evil; absolute right vs. absolute wrong; and angels vs. demons. With emotions still running deep and a political system designed to amplify our differences, it’s no wonder our personal relationships often pay the ultimate price, remaining fractured long after the last vote has been counted. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content.
It has been reported that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is due to visit India during the latter part of December. He and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to have talks on grant assistance projects from India, debt restructuring, people centric digitisation (identity cards, for instance), finality of the Economic and Technological Co-operation Agreement (ECTA), housing projects from India, solar electrification of religious places, agricultural development, defence cooperation, infrastructure development in the north and collaboration in human resource development. President Dissanayake is expected to raise with Premier Modi the issue of Indian fishermen fishing in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters (Sunday Times, 1 December 2024). It is clear from the foregoing report that the scale and scope of India’s agenda overwhelmingly outweighs Sri Lanka’s agenda that is limited to a single issue, namely, “Indian fishermen fishing in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters”. Notwithstanding this serious imbalance, Sri Lanka could gain considerable mileage by expanding the scope of this single issue in its agenda to two issues that would make a significant impact not only to Sri Lanka’s security and its national interests but also to the wellbeing of the Sri Lankan fishing community. The two issues are as follows: These two issues are interlinked because it is the determination of the international boundary, based on international law, that becomes the basis to establish claims for reparations. Therefore, it is only by establishing the location of the international boundary, based on a judgment by the ICJ, that lawful assessment of the claim for reparations could be established. One of the issues that was of significant concern to Sri Lanka and India in the early 1970s was the “ownership” of the island of Katchativu since it was pivotal to the establishment of the maritime boundary between the two countries. This issue was resolved with the signing of the 1974 Agreement by the Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka and India and revised in 1976. However, since these Agreements are based on traditional practices of citizens in both countries and, therefore, had “no legal resolution of ownership” (MDD Peiris, November 24, 2024), at the operational level, adherence to the obligations in the Agreements are fluid. Consequently, the ceding of Katchativu by India to Sri Lanka as per the Agreements is considered by India to be an act of treachery; even Prime Minister Modi is of a similar view. As long as such perspectives persist at the highest level in India, attempting to resolve these contentious issues through dialogue is a futile exercise even if the highest level is committed to policies such as “Neighbourhood First”. Therefore, the only option for Sri Lanka and India, as members of the UN Charter, is to jointly or separately refer the matter to the ICJ for a legal resolution of all issues involved, if there is to any justice under the policy of “Neighbourhood First”, for it to mean what it states and not India First in the neighbourhood. According to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Article 56) the exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing living and non-living natural resources of a Coastal State within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a sovereign right. Despite this, thousands of trawlers from India enter Sri Lanka’s EEZ and not only exploit its resources but also destroy marine resources by resorting to bottom trawling, evidence of which abound. In a United Nations-Nippon Foundation of Japan Fellowship Programme of 2016, Aruna Maheepala claims: “There are over 5,000 mechanised trawlers in Tamil Nadu and nearly 2,500 of them enter Sri Lankan waters on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and often coming at 500 m of the shoreline (emphasis added) ... More than 50,000 marine fishers live in the Northern fisheries districts (Jaffna, Kiliinochchi, Mannar, Mulative), which is around one fourth of the marine fishers of the country. Before the commencement of the war (1982) around 40% of the fish production of the country came from Northern fishery districts (except Killinochchi). However, the contribution of the fish production in the Northern fishery district drastically dropped to 5% in the peak period of the war (2008) and gradually increased after 2009. Furthermore, livelihoods of Sri Lankan fishers’ have been drastically affected as a result of the Indian poaching”. News 1st reported on 14 April 2021: “Indian fishing vessels illegally fishing in Sri Lankan waters pillage around Rs, 900 billion worth of valuable marine resources in the Northern seas of Sri Lanka” (Northern Province Fisheries Asso. Chief, M.V. Subramanium). “Assessing reparation of environmental damage by the ICJ”, (Questions on International Law, QIL) cites the case of compensation for environmental damage in Nicaragua/Costa Rica, the ICJ’s Judgment was: “To shed light on the case, the Court sought support in international law and decisions of arbitral tribunals. In 1927, the ICJ already underlined in its judgment related to the Factory of Chorzów that a breach involves an obligation to make a reparation ‘in an adequate form’. The Court recalled that it had in a previous judgment, in 2015, assigned sovereignty over the area to Costa Rica, and Nicaragua’s activities were, therefore, in breach of that sovereignty. As such, the obligation for Nicaragua to make reparation was no longer to be disputed. Reparation in the form of compensation, as applied in the present case, was determined by the judgment in 2015. Before addressing the issue of compensation in itself, the Court deemed it appropriate to follow a two-fold approach. The Court first determined the existence and extent of the damage to environmental goods and services caused by Nicaragua’s wrongful activities, and then went on to assess the existence of a direct and certain causal link between such damage and Nicaragua’s activities. This section will successively examine the Court’s analysis of the points of contention, its choice of method, and the assessment of the damage as established by the Court”. Basis for maritime boundaries in international law A meeting was held in 1921, between the Colonial Governments of India and Ceylon “in order to avoid over-exploitation of maritime resources and the possibility of competition between the fishermen of India and Sri Lanka in the same waters for their catch, the colonial Governments of Madras and Colombo agreed to delimit the waters in the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay. The two parties met in Colombo on October 24, 1921. The Indian team was led by Mr. C. W. E. Cotton and the team representing the government of Ceylon was headed by Hon. B. Horsburg”. “Both parties accepted the principle of equidistant and the median line could be the guiding factor”. However, since at Kachchathivu the principle of equidistant “would considerably narrow the area of operations for the Indian fishermen”, the Ceylon delegation proposed a line that was three miles west of the island “so that there would be an equitable apportionment in the fisheries domain for both Sri Lanka and India”. The proposal by the Ceylon delegation was based on the fact that “Sri Lanka’s sovereignty over Kachchathivu was never in question, was beyond any doubt and was not a matter for negotiation. He (Hon. B. Horsburg) quoted from the correspondence that the Survey Department and the Department of Public Works in Colombo had exchanged with the counterparts in India, in which the sovereignty of Sri Lanka over Kachchativu had been taken for granted by the Indian authorities... After discussion the delimitation line was fixed three miles west of Kachchativu” (Jayasinghe, p. 14,15). Agreement between the two parties is reflected in the letter from the head of the Indian delegation, C. W. E. Cotton, in which he states: “... we unanimously decided that the delimitation of the new jurisdiction for fishing purposes could be decided independently of the question of territoriality. The delimitation line was accordingly fixed, with our concurrence three miles west of Kachchativu and the Ceylon representatives thereupon agreed to a more orderly alignment south of the island than they had originally proposed...” (Ibid, p. 130). What is relevant from all of the above is that regardless of the basis for establishing a boundary under colonial rule, such boundaries morph into territorial boundaries of independent states under the “Doctrine of Uti possidetis”. Black’s Law Dictionary has defined the legal Doctrine of “Uti possidetis juris” as “the doctrine that old administrative boundaries will become international boundaries when a political subdivision achieves independence (Hansal & Allison, “The Colonial Legacy and Border Stability”, p. 2; quoting Garner 1999). The principle behind this doctrine dates back to Roman times. The principle first emerged in the modern sense with the decolonisation of Latin America when each former Spanish colony agreed to accept territories that were “presumed to be possessed by its colonial predecessors” (Ibid). The same doctrine was accepted by former colonies in the African continent. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has “argued for its relevance across the world” (Ibid). “This principle was stated most directly in the ICJ’s 1986 decision in the Frontier Dispute/Burkina Faso Republic of Mali case. The ICJ had been asked to settle the location of a disputed segment of the border between Mali and Burkina Faso, both of which had been part of French West Africa before independence. In their judgment over the merits of this Frontier Dispute case the ICJ emphasised the legal principle of uti possidetis juris”: “The ICJ judgment in the Mali-Burkina Faso Dispute case also argued that the principle of uti possidetis should apply in any decolonisation situation regardless of the legal or political status of the entities on each side of the border”: “The territorial boundaries which have to be respected may also derive from international frontiers which previously divided a colony of one State from a colony of another, or indeed a colonial territory from the territory of another independent State...There is no doubt that the obligation to respect pre-existing international frontiers in the event of State succession derives from a general rule of international law, whether or not the rule is expressed in the formula of uti possidetis” (ICJ 1986, Ibid). Based on the ICJ Judgment, the Maritime Boundary between India and Sri Lanka should be what existed during Colonial times and continue as the International Maritime Boundary when India and Sri Lanka gained independence. The fact that Sri Lanka failed to use the provision of Uti Possidetis has cost Sri Lanka’s economy dearly and continues to do so in terms of treasure and human suffering. The issue of Indian fishermen fishing in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters was resolved in 1921, when the Colonial Government of India and then Ceylon unanimously agreed on what the maritime boundary was to be. Accordingly, the island of Kachchativu was to be part of Sri Lanka’s sovereign territory as it had been before Ceylon was colonised. Following independence of both countries, the boundaries that were recognised while under colonial rule should have been recognised as the boundaries of independent India and Sri Lanka in keeping with the internationally recognised doctrine of Uti Possidetis cited above. Instead of staking Sri Lanka’s claim on the principle that colonial boundaries transform into international boundaries upon gaining independence, Sri Lanka opted to base their claim on traditional and historical practices and agreements were signed by the Prime Ministers of India and Sri Lanka.in 1974 and revised in 1976. The opportunity to stake Sri Lanka’s claim on the basis of international law was lost, perhaps due to unfamiliarity with related legal provisions. While sovereign countries are free to forge agreements between themselves, their durability is dependent on varying personal political agendas of political actors in each country. Consequently, what is acceptable today may be unacceptable tomorrow. Since these agreements are not based on international law, Indian political leaders, such as Prime Minister Modi, refuse to accept them. These perspectives have emboldened Indian fishermen to violate maritime boundaries and destroy marine resources by resorting to bottom trawling. Furthermore, the numerous discussions between the two governments have failed to resolve substantive issues and have resulted ONLY in the India government’s focus being on the release of arrested Indian fishermen and their vessels. Therefore, since the issue of maritime boundaries has a direct bearing on illegal entry into Sri Lanka’s sovereign territory and destruction of marine resources, the ONLY durable way to resolve this contentious issue is to seek the assistance of the ICJ to rule on a legal determination as to the location of maritime boundaries based on the principle of Uti possidetis, on which depends claims for reparations for damages to maritime resources inflicted over decades. In this regard, Sri Lanka should be encouraged by the ICJ determination in the case of Nicaragua and Costa Rica in 2015 cited above. The opportunity presented by the forthcoming visit of President Dissanayake to India should not be missed by the new Government because all previous Governments and their advisors have failed to address this all-important issue, either because of their timidity or ignorance of relevant international laws. If Dissanayake fails to inform India that Sri Lanka has no option but to seek the assistance of the ICJ to resolve the issue of maritime boundaries, Sri Lanka will have to accept the bitter prospect of the plunder of its resources and the sovereign rights of the people and the nation forever.Smorgie’s New Year’s Eve party features a giant leprechaun dropping into a pot of gold
It was supposed to be a rare victory after a wave of setbacks in Haiti’s war against gangs. The armored police vehicles, manned by Haitian and Kenyan police, rolled into the small farming town north of the Haitian capital to the sounds of residents cheering, dancing and waving tree branches in elation. After threats, kidnappings and a massacre in neighboring Pont-Sondé in October that left at least 70 dead, specialized Haiti National Police and Kenyan police with the Multinational Security Support mission had finally arrived in Petite-Rivière. For two years armed gangs had forcibly taken farmers’ lands and livestock and subjected residents to unimaginable cruelty after making the town their stronghold. But what should have been a moment of relief after police entered downtown Petite-Rivière on Saturday and reclaimed control of the area quickly ended in bloody violence: On one side, armed members of the Savien Gran Grief and Palmis gangs began attacking residents in reprisal. On the other, a so-called citizens’ defense group carried out its own attacks with machetes and knives on suspected gang members and sympathizers. The killing spree, which unfolded over three days, has left at least 150 dead, said Bertide Horace, a local community leader who shared graphic images and videos of the carnage: torched houses, streets and a river strewn with discarded bodies, many of them missing arms and legs. “I am in Ti-Rivière ... I couldn’t walk before. Now I am walking in the bush. I am not scared. They are all thieves,” a voice says on one of the videos that shows several corpses, arms hacked off, floating in a river. The slaughter in Petite-Rivière, a small farming community in central Haiti, overlapped with the killing of more than 100 elderly residents in the Wharf Jérémie neighborhood of the capital by a powerful gang leader who accused them of using witchcraft to kill his ailing 6-year-old son. The back-to-back massacres highlight the anarchy engulfing Haiti and the morbid fallout of a country’s descent into chaos: Haitians now fear being gunned down by warlords or being hacked to death by their own neighbors. “We’re in a non-declared civil war,” said Horace, the spokesperson with the Commission for Dialogue Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite. “The people are the collateral damage. They are the victims.” Horace said most of the killings were carried out by members of the citizens’ defense group, which took advantage of the police presence to take justice into its own hands. Between Sunday and Tuesday, she said, residents were dragged from their homes and off the streets and hacked to death with machetes and knives. The victims, Horace said, were accused of being accomplices of the Gran Grif and Palmis gangs, which joined forces to try to stop the arrival of police. No consideration was given by the vigilante group to people’s innocence or whether the victimts had been coerced by the gangs, she said. Among those killed: a longtime spaghetti vendor who sold meals in the community and a popular soccer player who, while being questioned by police, was somehow set on fire by members of the vigilante group to the horror of his family, which watched the scene on video. “His family has said he had nothing to do with the gangs,” Horace said. “There are people who had criminal ties to gangs but there are also people who were victims of personal vendettas.” The Haitian National Police, which initially declared victory after regaining control of the town’s police station, has not said how many people were killed in Petite-Rivière. Human rights groups in the capital say it’s difficult to pout a number on the death toll because of gangs’ control of the rural region. On Thursday, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé said that the government is working on reinforcing security and providing the police and the army everything they need. He acknowledged that as Christmas approaches, gang members continue “to sow terror” and putting “tears in the eyes of mothers and fathers.” “There is no one on Earth and in the Haitian population who deserves to live in these conditions,” Fils-Aimé said during a rare news briefing where questions were not permitted. “The fight of the government is to guarantee the security of everyone.” He asked the public to “be vigilant” and help the security forces. “No one group can resolve this country’s problems. But I believe in my heart and all my soul that if we put our heads together, we will find the Haiti we want, the Haiti we know where people could walk when they want, take care of their business without fear.” Clarens Renois, a former journalist and head of the Union Nationale pour l’Intégrité et la Réconciliation party, said the country, which remains isolated with its main international airport closed because of gangs shooting at jetliners, is in “total anarchy.” “It is total disorder,” he said. “The government doesn’t control what is happening. All they can do is make declarations. they cannot take any action.” Romain Le Cour, a senior expert at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, a civil-society organization based in Switzerland, said the massacre in the Artibonite region and the killing of the elderly in Port-au-Prince “raise questions about the blurring lines between police and vigilante groups.” “It is alarming that, in recent months, the government and police have extolled the merits of what they describe as a mariage police-population — a marriage between the police and the people — and have called on the citizenry to support law enforcement,” LeCour said. “It is a chillingly dangerous dynamic, considering that many of today’s gangs started out as vigilante groups, and one that sends the message that the state and its police are not able to provide public security.” This year the number of vigilante units, which have replaced police security in dozens of neighborhoods of the capital, has skyrocketed. “With the development of vigilante brigades, in addition to the gangs’ increasing territorial fragmentation, Haiti is witnessing a situation where armed militia-type actors are multiplying and increasingly taking control of government functions,” Le Cour said. Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security in Washington, warned that “unrestrained brutality by the vigilante groups paradoxically strengthens the actors they are working against.” Gang violence has left at least 5,000 people dead this year, the United Nations said. Meanwhile, the massacre in Petite-Rivière has forced 10,000 people to flee, the U.N.’s. International Organization of Migration said Tuesday. More than 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. The escalating violence is yet another blow to the international effort to help Haiti get the gang crisis under control. Currently there are 416 foreign security personnel on the ground who are part of the Kenya-led multinational force. That mission is expected to be reinforced in the coming days, according to sources and reporting by Kenyan media. The new team of officers are among 617 Kenyan police who have been vetted and trained by the United States. A State Department spokesperson declined to discuss deployment plans, citing security concerns. The spokesperson also declined to go into details about funding for the mission, which even with U.S. support has run short of money and equipment. “If there is indeed a deployment of another contingent of Kenyan forces that would be excellent,” said Felbab-Brown, who follows Haiti and the mission’s involvement. “But beyond the deployment it is also crucial to think about how operations are designed and what the Kenya-led (mission) can actually do on the ground.” The situation that must be avoided is short-term deployment that leads to the gangs temporarily retreating but then returning in force after the security forces leave, she said. Such maneuvers, Felbab-Brown added, provoke gangs to counterattack in response and encourage citizens’ defense groups to move against the gangs, sparking cycles of retaliation with the public caught in the crossfire. “In the worst circumstances the so-called self defense groups, the vigilante groups, will start attacking anyone they believe, on the basis of whatever flimsy evidence, is associated with the gangs and they become as indiscriminate in the brutality as the gangs are,” she said. The Gran Grief gang is led by Luckson Élan, one of seven Haitians currently under U.N. sanctions. The joint police operation in Petite Rivière came after police last month took back a police station in Liancourt, where gangs had killed six police officers in January 2023. The Kenyan-led force said the decision to try to dismantle the Gran Grief gang by going into Petite-Rivière was inspired by the inroads it had made in recapturing the Liancourt station. Police launched their operation Saturday from neighboring Pont-Sondé, but lost the element of surprise when their imminent arrival played out on social media, with videos showing the armored motorcade. After the gangs failed to block the security forces’ arrival with containers and trenches, gang members armed with automatic weapons positioned themselves inside Petite-Rivière. But even before police arrived inside the city, violence started to break out. “The people started to feel confident and started attacking gang members with rocks,” Horace said. Two gang members were struck in the head. In retaliation, the gangs opened fire on residents, killing a local judicial official who was standing on the porch of his home. Another, the local justice of the peace, was kidnapped. When police finally made it in, the first of several gun battles between the cops and gang members began. After the gang retreated, the community celebrated. The joy, however, quickly turned to sorrow and fear. Over the following days, members of the local self-defense group, which had formed to protect the area from the gangs, began targeting unarmed civilians — women, merchants and anyone accused of having ties to gang members. Arms were chopped off, and people were fatally beaten. By the end of the day at least 25 people were executed, Horace said, “under the pretense that they had ties to gangs.” By Monday, another 50 residents were killed. The carnage continued on Tuesday, Horace said, as residents begging for a safe route out of the community locked themselves inside their homes. “Even though they closed themselves in, they were still killed,” said Horace, who in October 2022 was forced to flee after gangs killed 11 of her family members. Le Cour said there is no doubt Haiti needs a larger number of security forces. But the problems run deeper. “In recent months, public debate has focused on the need to beef up the capacity of the police and Multinational Security Support Mission with better equipment, such as drones and helicopters,” Le Cour said. “But the most sophisticated armory will not compensate for the lack of boots on the ground and serious deficits in police intelligence.” The arrival of Kenyan personnel is essential, he added, but the Artibonite incident underscored how lack of information and police presence left the public vulnerable to attacks both from gangs and vigilante groups. “Dialogue, coordination and trust must be reestablished between the Haitian authorities and foreign counterparts,” Le Cour added. “Without a strategy, boots on the ground will not be enough to reverse the balance of power.” ©2024 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
AP: Fishermen Seeks Formation of Welfare BoardNolan Arenado open to switch to third base to first and leaving Cardinals for a team he approvesTech entrepreneur Elon Musk caused uproar after backing Germany's far-right party in a major newspaper ahead of key parliamentary elections in the Western European country, leading to the resignation of the paper's opinion editor in protest. Germany is to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalize the country's stagnant economy. Musk's guest opinion piece for Welt am Sonntag —a sister publication of POLITICO owned by the Axel Springer Group — published in German over the weekend, was the second time this month he supported the Alternative for Germany, or AfD. "The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country," Musk wrote in his translated commentary. He went on to say the far-right party "can lead the country into a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes, but reality." Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Co-Chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arrives on Capitol Hill on December 05, 2024 in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images The Tesla Motors CEO also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on...
Intel's $8.5B CHIPS Act award faces cut, report says
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution’s suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea “absurd.” Related Articles National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg National Politics | Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump’s suite at football game The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to “pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a blistering 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork earlier this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won’t include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn’t sentenced and his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment. It’s unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump’s request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution’s suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution’s suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the “ongoing threat” that he’ll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. “To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics,” the defense lawyers wrote. “However, the threat itself is unconstitutional.” The prosecution’s suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they argued. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump has tabbed for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution’s novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump had died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to “fabricate” a solution “based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump” who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September “and a hypothetical dead defendant.” Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what’s already a unique case. “This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers.” Prosecutors acknowledged that “presidential immunity requires accommodation” during Trump’s impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury’s verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution . Other world leaders don’t enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza . Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records . Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. In their filing Friday, Trump’s lawyers citing a social media post in which Sen. John Fetterman used profane language to criticize Trump’s hush money prosecution. The Pennsylvania Democrat suggested that Trump deserved a pardon, comparing his case to that of President Joe Biden’s pardoned son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. Trump’s hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases , which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all. Trump had been scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November. But following Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president’s sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. A dismissal would erase Trump’s conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers urged a judge again Friday to throw out his hush money conviction, balking at the prosecution’s suggestion of preserving the verdict by treating the case the way some courts do when a defendant dies. They called the idea “absurd.” Related Articles National Politics | Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time National Politics | Ruling by a conservative Supreme Court could help blue states resist Trump policies National Politics | A nonprofit leader, a social worker: Here are the stories of the people on Biden’s clemency list National Politics | Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after she ‘sustained an injury’ on official trip to Luxembourg National Politics | Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump’s suite at football game The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to “pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a blistering 23-page response. In court papers made public Tuesday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork earlier this month asking for the case to be dismissed. They include freezing the case until Trump leaves office in 2029, agreeing that any future sentence won’t include jail time, or closing the case by noting he was convicted but that he wasn’t sentenced and his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity. Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove reiterated Friday their position that the only acceptable option is overturning his conviction and dismissing his indictment, writing that anything less will interfere with the transition process and his ability to lead the country. The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment. It’s unclear how soon Merchan will decide. He could grant Trump’s request for dismissal, go with one of the prosecution’s suggestions, wait until a federal appeals court rules on Trump’s parallel effort to get the case moved out of state court, or choose some other option. In their response Friday, Blanche and Bove ripped each of the prosecution’s suggestions. Halting the case until Trump leaves office would force the incoming president to govern while facing the “ongoing threat” that he’ll be sentenced to imprisonment, fines or other punishment as soon as his term ends, Blanche and Bove wrote. Trump, a Republican, takes office Jan. 20. “To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics,” the defense lawyers wrote. “However, the threat itself is unconstitutional.” The prosecution’s suggestion that Merchan could mitigate those concerns by promising not to sentence Trump to jail time on presidential immunity grounds is also a non-starter, Blanche and Bove wrote. The immunity statute requires dropping the case, not merely limiting sentencing options, they argued. Blanche and Bove, both of whom Trump has tabbed for high-ranking Justice Department positions, expressed outrage at the prosecution’s novel suggestion that Merchan borrow from Alabama and other states and treat the case as if Trump had died. Blanche and Bove accused prosecutors of ignoring New York precedent and attempting to “fabricate” a solution “based on an extremely troubling and irresponsible analogy between President Trump” who survived assassination attempts in Pennsylvania in July and Florida in September “and a hypothetical dead defendant.” Such an option normally comes into play when a defendant dies after being convicted but before appeals are exhausted. It is unclear whether it is viable under New York law, but prosecutors suggested that Merchan could innovate in what’s already a unique case. “This remedy would prevent defendant from being burdened during his presidency by an ongoing criminal proceeding,” prosecutors wrote in their filing this week. But at the same time, it wouldn’t “precipitously discard” the “meaningful fact that defendant was indicted and found guilty by a jury of his peers.” Prosecutors acknowledged that “presidential immunity requires accommodation” during Trump’s impending return to the White House but argued that his election to a second term should not upend the jury’s verdict, which came when he was out of office. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution . Other world leaders don’t enjoy the same protection. For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges even as he leads that nation’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza . Trump has been fighting for months to reverse his May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records . Prosecutors said he fudged the documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her claim that they had sex a decade earlier, which Trump denies. In their filing Friday, Trump’s lawyers citing a social media post in which Sen. John Fetterman used profane language to criticize Trump’s hush money prosecution. The Pennsylvania Democrat suggested that Trump deserved a pardon, comparing his case to that of President Joe Biden’s pardoned son Hunter Biden, who had been convicted of tax and gun charges . “Weaponizing the judiciary for blatant, partisan gain diminishes the collective faith in our institutions and sows further division,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. Trump’s hush money conviction was in state court, meaning a presidential pardon — issued by Biden or himself when he takes office — would not apply to the case. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes. Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has ended his two federal cases , which pertained to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A separate state election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, is largely on hold. Trump denies wrongdoing in all. Trump had been scheduled for sentencing in the hush money case in late November. But following Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory, Merchan halted proceedings and indefinitely postponed the former and future president’s sentencing so the defense and prosecution could weigh in on the future of the case. Merchan also delayed a decision on Trump’s prior bid to dismiss the case on immunity grounds. A dismissal would erase Trump’s conviction, sparing him the cloud of a criminal record and possible prison sentence. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted criminal to be elected to the office.None
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On 16 November, the leaders and trade ministers of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), covering more than 60% of global trade, concluded their summit by issuing declarations which include a strong commitment to promoting the use of electronic trade-related documents, and the electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) in particular. Research has shown that switching away from the transfer of physical, paper-based Bills of Ladings could save stakeholders around $6.5 billion in direct costs, enable $30-40 billion in annual global trade growth, transform the customer experience, and improve sustainability. The “Machu Pichu Declaration”, of the APEC leaders is a major milestone to unlocking these benefits for all stakeholders in international trade. Leah Liston of the United States Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President, said: “APEC’s focus this year on the eBL, and the underlying laws and technology needed to operationalise them showed great promise. Digitalisation of trade documents and procedures is the next step in trade facilitation for sustainable and inclusive growth. The progress made this year shows that APEC is taking on the challenge and our traders are benefiting from it.” The commitment of the APEC economies is much welcomed and celebrated by the container shipping industry. Last year, the CEOs of the members of the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA), covering 75% of global containerised trade and issuing the vast majority of bills of lading, also committed to achieve 100% eBL. Additionally, the members of the FIT Alliance (BIMCO, DCSA, FIATA, ICC and Swift) launched an eBL declaration, which was signed by many cargo owners, banks, freight forwarders and IT solution providers. Despite the obvious benefits and industry commitment, barriers to achieving 100% eBL remain and not all barriers can be addressed by the industry itself. Indeed, legislation and government procedures can complicate or even prevent the use of the eBL. In 2024, DCSA published a report pinpointing legal and regulatory barriers for 100% eBL and was invited to share its findings and discuss solutions with the APEC members. Thomas Bagge, CEO of DCSA said: “It is great that in times of geopolitical challenges, global leaders agree that cooperation to achieve digitalisation and standardisation of trade is the way forward. At DCSA we are proud and honoured to be able to contribute to this great milestone in trade digitalisation and remain equally committed to achieving 100% eBL by collaboration with all stakeholders of global supply chains.” As part of the Machu Pichu Declaration, the APEC leaders reaffirmed their commitment to enhance supply chain connectivity. In particular the leaders want to enhance transparency, efficiency, and reliability of trade by digitalising key processes, and the recognition of electronic trade-related documents, such as the eBL. As well as being an excellent host of the APEC summit, the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Peru (Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo) took a leading role in ensuring that the digitalisation of the Bill of Lading is made a priority at the highest levels of global politics. Teresa Mera Gomez, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru said: “Peru’s foreign trade policy strategically focuses on enhancing physical and technological infrastructure to facilitate trade, with a particular emphasis on promoting paperless trade through the digitalisation of key foreign trade documents, such as the electronic Bill of Lading (eBL). The adoption of advanced technologies and the integration of electronic records are crucial for optimising the efficiency and resilience of global supply chains. Collaboration with key industry stakeholders, such as the DCSA and the other FIT Alliance members, is vital for establishing global standards and accelerating adoption. Peru has included the prioritisation of these measures at the highest levels, as reflected in the Joint Ministerial Statements and Leaders’ Declarations. Embedding these priorities into national and regional trade agendas will enable the development of targeted initiatives to drive modernisation and connectivity in international trade.” As follow up to the Machu Pichu Declaration, the APEC economies will work towards aligning their legal frameworks, including with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR)[5], and improve trade facilitation through the use of digitalisation, automation, and international standards, while strengthening border agency cooperation Source: APECPrime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday gave a clarion call for unity and brotherhood in the country in his final Mann ki Baat episode of the year, and urged people to “annihilate the feeling of division and hatred in the society” while he hailed the upcoming Kumbh Mela as a unique scene of unity in diversity. Modi also announced that a special website named constitution75.com has been created to connect the citizens of the country with the legacy of the Constitution. As the Prime Minister informed his audience of the preparations for the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj from January 13, he hailed the spiritual festival as a manifestation of India’s diversity where there is no discrimination against anyone and everyone is treated equally. “The speciality of the Maha Kumbh is not only in its vastness. The speciality of the Kumbh is also in its diversity. Crores of people congregate for this event. Lakhs of saints, thousands of traditions, hundreds of sects, many akharas, everyone becomes a part of this event. There is no discrimination anywhere, no one is big, no one is small. Such a scene of unity in diversity will not be seen anywhere else in the world. Therefore, our Kumbh is also the Maha Kumbh of unity. This time’s Maha Kumbh will also bolster the mantra of Maha Kumbh of unity.” “Let me tell all of you; when we participate in the Kumbh, let us bring along this resolve of unity with us. Let us also make a resolve to annihilate the feeling of division and hatred in society. If I have to say it in a few words, then I will say Mahakumbh Ka Sandesh, Ek Ho Poora Desh... The message of the Mahakumbh, let the whole country be united... and putting it in another way, I will express Ganga Ki Aviral Dhara, Na Bate Samaj Hamara... Like the uninterrupted flow of the Ganga, let our society be undivided. Friends, this time in Prayagraj, devotees from the country and the world will also be witness to the digital Maha Kumbh,” the PM added. This is the second time in as many months that the PM has spoken about unity and peace in society. On November 11, speaking virtually at the 200th-anniversary celebrations of the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Vadtal, Gujarat, Modi urged for collective action to safeguard national integrity. “Unity among citizens and integrity of the nation is important to make India a developed nation by 2047. Some forces are working to divide our society on the basis of caste, faith, language, social status, gender, and the rural-urban divide. We must recognise the gravity of these attempts by those who seek to harm our nation, understand the threat they pose, and work collectively to defeat such divisive acts,” Modi said. The PM also informed that for the first time an AI chatbot will be used at the mega carnival of humanity. “With the help of digital navigation, you will be able to reach different ghats, temples, and akharas of sadhus. The same navigation system will also help you reach parking spaces. For the first time, an AI chatbot will be used in the Kumbh event. All kinds of information related to the Kumbh will be available in 11 Indian languages through the AI chatbot. Anyone can ask for any kind of help through this chatbot, either by typing text or by speaking in. The entire fair area is being covered with AI-powered cameras,” the PM said. If a person gets separated from one’s kith and kin during the Kumbh, these cameras will help find them and devotees will also get the facility of a digital lost and found centre, the PM added. He spoke of how devotees will also be provided information about government-approved tour packages, accommodation and homestays on their mobile phones and a facility to click selfies with #EktaKaMahakumbh. As the government is making mega plans to celebrate 75 years of the installation of the Constitution — which has also been at the centre of major political battles in the recent past between the Congress and the BJP — the Prime Minister in his Mann ki Baat announced that a special website has been created to bring the common people closer to the spirit of the document. “On January 26, 2025, our Constitution is completing 75 years. It is a matter of great honour for all of us. The Constitution, handed over to us by our Constitution makers, has stood the test of time in every sense of the term. The Constitution is our guiding light, our guide. It is on account of the Constitution of India that I am here today, being able to talk to you. This year, on Constitution Day, the 26th of November, many activities have commenced that will go on for a year. A special website named constitution75.com has also been created to connect the citizens of the country with the legacy of the Constitution,” the PM said. “In this”, Modi added, “you can read the Preamble of the Constitution and upload your video. You can read the Constitution in myriad languages; you can also ask questions pertaining to the Constitution. I urge the listeners of Mann Ki Baat, school-going children, college-going youth, to visit this website and become a part of it.” Modi also touted the ministry of information and broadcasting’s upcoming WAVES Summit in New Delhi that the ministry wants to turn into India’s flagship entertainment conference, akin to what the Cannes Film Festival is to France. “A great opportunity is on the way to showcase India’s creative talent to the world. Next year, for the first time, the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit, that is, WAVES Summit is going to be organised in our country. All of you must have heard about Davos, where the world’s economic giants gather. Similarly, in the WAVES Summit, giants from the media and entertainment industry and people from the creative world will come to India. This summit is an important step towards making India a hub of global content creation. I feel proud informing you that the young creators of our country are also joining with full enthusiasm in the preparations for this summit. When we are moving towards a $5 trillion economy, our creator economy is bringing in a new energy. “I would urge the entire entertainment and creative industry of India -- whether you are a young creator or an established artist, associated with Bollywood or regional cinema, a professional from the TV industry, an expert in animation, gaming or an innovator in entertainment technology -- to be a part of the WAVES Summit,” he said. The WAVES Summit was earlier scheduled to be held in Goa alongside IFFI in November but was rescheduled to four months later. Modi also told the country about the first Bastar Olympics that concluded earlier this month and saw the participation of 165,000 players from seven districts. “You will also be happy to know that this is taking place in the region which was once a witness to Maoist violence,” he said. The events included athletics, archery, badminton, football, hockey, weightlifting, karate, kabaddi, kho-kho, and volleyball. “Bastar Olympics is not just a sports event. It is a platform where development and sports are merging together, where our youth are honing their talent and building a new India,” he said.
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