List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

Finland’s former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said Tuesday he will run as a candidate in the presidential election early next year, in a race that also includes a popular former Finnish foreign minister who was a key negotiator of the Nordic country’s recent membership in NATO. Stubb, 55, who headed the Finnish government in 2014-2015 and later served as foreign minister, said he was “both honored and thankful for the trust bestowed upon me.” Prime Minister Petteri Opo and Finland’s conservative National Coalition Party had asked him to run. The Finnish head of state is elected by a popular vote every six years. Finland’s president has substantial powers, particularly in matters related to foreign and security policy, which the president decides together with the government. The president also signs bills into law, can veto legislative proposals and acts as Finland’s supreme military commander. The two-leg Finnish presidential elections will be held in January and February 2024. Stubb's candidacy is important for Finland's center-right parties, Finnish broadcaster YLE said, noting that Stubb has a “phenomenal ability to collect votes” and that there is widespread respect for his language skills, international contacts and ability to make quick decisions. Stubb, who is known for being very active on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, will face the popular former Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto among others. Haavisto, the former leader of the Greens party, will run as an independent candidate. He stepped down as foreign minister following April’s general election, which the center-side won, ousting a center-left government. Haavisto is one of Finland’s most popular politicians and topped recent presidential polls by several media outlets. He was the runner-up in the 2012 and 2018 presidential elections but was beaten on both occasions by current President Sauli Niinistö, whose second six-year term ends in March 2024. He is not eligible for reelection. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

European equities slipped amid light trading, as China’s central bank decision to unexpectedly cut a key interest rate

Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said a court judge had acquitted him of four abuse of power

Japan’s currency dropped toward a level that triggered the first yen-buying intervention since 1998 in September, prompting a

China suspended publishing data on its soaring youth unemployment rate to iron out complexities in the numbers, fanning

A sprawling indictment targeting Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn election results in the state of Georgia includes 18 co-defendants, including his former White House chief of staff, several Trump-allied attorneys, and the so-called “fake” electors who joined a scheme to subvert the outcome. All are charged under the state’s anti-racketeering statute, marking one of the largest criminal cases against the former president and his allies for alleged crimes committed while he was in office in an attempt to remain in power at whatever cost. Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Kenneth Cheseboro and Jenna Ellis are among the 19 defendants, along with former US Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, several Trump aides, and those falsely appointed as “alternate” Georgia electors. The indictment alleges 40 separate crimes. “Trump and the other Defendants charged in this Indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump,” according to the indictment. “That conspiracy contained a common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, and in other states.” Mr Trump and the 18 others named in the indictment are accused of making false statements in an effort to fraudulently persuade state officials, the US Department of Justice and Vice President Mike Pence to reject lawful votes and select a slate of electors loyal to the former president despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state. They also are accused of traveling to the state to harass an election worker, “intimidate her, and solicit her to falsely confess to election crimes that she did not commit.” Mr Trump and others also “corruptly conspired” to illegally access voting machines in the state, some of which was removed – “including ballot images, voting equipment software, and personal voter information” – and then “distributed to other members of the enterprise, including members in other states.” This is a developing story Read More Trump indictment live: Trump and allies indicted by Georgia grand jury in 2020 election investigation Read Fani Willis’ explosive Georgia indictment against Trump and his inner circle

Part of Donald Trump’s indictment in Georgia was televised after a judge decided in the media’s favour. The Fulton County superior court judge presiding over the grand jury in the case, Robert McBurney, told reporters that “if a grand jury presents an indictment, that’s usually in the afternoon, and you can film and photograph that,” The Messenger reported. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis presented her case to the jury on Monday, which voted to indict Mr Trump for his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. There are 13 felony charges against Trump, including RICO, conspiracy to commit forgery, filing false documents, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer and more. In addition, 18 Trump associates have also been indicted, including former White House chief of staff mark Meadows and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. When Mr Trump was indicted on the federal level, cameras weren’t allowed in court. Ms Willis has been investigating Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state and was expected to seek an indictment from a grand jury this week. It would be Mr Trump’s fourth indictment within the span of five months. There was plenty of confusion regarding possible charges against Mr Trump in the Georgia election interference case. Reuters reported on Monday that a document outlining the charges against Mr Trump had been posted and then removed from the Fulton County website. Mr Trump then used the document to ask for donations from his supporters, arguing that he was being denied due process. The Office of the Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Magistrate Courts then issued a statement on Monday afternoon saying that a “fictitious” document had been shared online. “While there have been no documents filed today regarding such, all members of the media should be reminded that documents that do not bear an official case number, filing date, and the name of The Clerk of Courts, in concert, are not considered official filings and should not be treated as such,” the court said. They added that “Media members can expect to be notified of any/all filings in real-time and will be provided access to filings via equitable communication”. Read More Trump’s Georgia case hit by chaos as court accused of posting and deleting charge sheet - latest How prosecutors could charge Trump with racketeering in Georgia case Can Donald Trump pardon himself?

A Georgia grand jury has returned indictments against former president Donald Trump and a wide swath of his confidantes and allies who prosecutors allege to have participated in a criminal enterprise with the goal of overturning the disgraced ex-president’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. Grand jurors returned indictments against against Mr Trump and 18 other defendants late Monday after hearing from a number of key witnesses in the long-running Georgia election probe, including Gabe Sterling, who served as a top manager in the Georgia Secretary of State’s office in late 2020, and Geoff Duncan, the state’s former Republican lieutenant governor. Although the courthouse closes normally around 5.00 pm ET, authorities reportedly asked grand jurors to stay until approximately 9.00 pm to finish voting on what a cover sheet delivered to Judge Robert McBurney indicated to be 10 separate indictments. But the 98-page document unsealed later Monday evening was the only set of charges pertaining to Mr Trump and his co-defendants, a group which includes his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, ex-New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, ex-law professor John Eastman, Trump campaign lawyer Ken Cheseboro, and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had been understood to be considering seeking charges against the ex-president under the state’s wide-ranging Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations statute, which is itself patterned after a Nixon-era federal law passed to combat the Italian-American Mafia crime syndicates. The former president is charged with violating Georgia’s Rico law, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, Conspiracy To Commit Impersonating a Public Officer, Conspiracy To Commit Forgery in the First Degree, Conspiracy To Commit False Statements and Writings, Filing False Documents and other charges stemming from his efforts to pressure Georgia officials into fraudulently reversing his loss and his role in a scheme which purported to submit what were forged electoral college certificates to the National Archives. Other charges referenced in the charging document include Impersonating a Public Officer and Criminal Attempt to Commit Influencing Witnesses. The grand jury which returned the indictments against Mr Trump and his co-defendants was the second to hear evidence against the ex-president as part of a long-running probe which Ms Willis first announced in early 2021, not long after a recording emerged of Mr Trump pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough non-existent votes in his favour to justify decertifying the state’s presidential election results. She subsequently asked the Fulton County District Court to empanel a special grand jury to investigate Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. That investigation, which wrapped up late last year, saw witnesses from all over the country summoned to give evidence behind closed doors in the Fulton County courthouse. Because special grand juries are not permitted to issue indictments under Georgia law, Ms Willis had to present that grand jury’s findings to a second, regular grand jury which began to meet in July. Mr Trump, who is also facing criminal charges from a local district attorney in his former home state of New York and set to be tried on Espionage Act and obstruction of justice charges in a Florida federal court next May, had unsuccessfully sought to have Ms Willis blocked from prosecuting him and has asked two Georgia courts to throw out the entire special grand jury proceeding, citing alleged deficiencies in the law providing for special grand juries and Ms Willis’ attendance at Democratic political fundraisers. Judge McBurney, the Fulton County Superior Court jurist who has been overseeing the proceedings for the last two years, wrote in a ruling issued last month that Mr Trump and a co-plaintiff who was one of the fake electors under investigation had lacked any standing to challenge the investigation in a pre-indictment phase. “The movants’ asserted ‘injuries’ that would open the doors of the courthouse to their claims are either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized,” he said. “They are insufficient because, while being subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation.” Judge McBurney also called Mr Trump and his co-plantiff’s “professed injuries” from being targets of the investigation “speculative and unrealized” because neither has been indicted as of yet, and the mere possibility of an indictment “not enough to create a controversy, cause an injury, or confer standing”. Now, with charges against him having been officially approved by a grand jury, Mr Trump could seek to renew the litigation. But unlike in the two federal cases pending against him, the former president cannot count on regaining the power of the presidency or help from a Republican ally in the Georgia governor’s mansion to protect him. Unlike many US states, the Peach State does not grand its’ chief executive the authority to issue pardons for crimes committed against the state. Instead, pardon power is delegated to a nonpartisan board, and it can only be invoked to grant a pardon after a criminal has completed his or her sentence. Read More Trump campaign launches sprawling attack as Georgia grand jury hands down indictments Republicans decry Trump’s Georgia indictment before details are released Hillary Clinton reveals one ‘satisfaction’ she gets from Trump’s indictment All the lawsuits and criminal charges involving Trump and where they stand Trump legal team tries again to block Georgia election interference grand jury probe Trump probe ‘subpoenaed CCTV from Georgia 2020 ballot counting centre’ Georgia Supreme Court tosses Trump attempt to challenge 2020 election investigation over vote call

Donald Trump’s campaign launched a sprawling attack against the various legal authorities prosecuting his wide range of alleged criminal activity Monday evening after it was reported that a grand jury had voted to hand down multiple indictments. A lengthy statement from the Trump campaign underscored the anger the former president has shown for weeks as he continues to see the myriad legal problems surrounding him as nothing more than political attacks launched by his enemies. Reporters in the courtroom in Fulton County, Georgia indicated Monday evening that the grand jury hearing evidence in Mr Trump’s latest case had voted to hand down 10 indictments; however, it was unclear how many (if any at all) related to the ex-president. “Combined with the intentionally slow-walked investigations by the Biden-Smith goon squads and the false charges in New York, the timing of this latest coordinated strike by a biased prosecutor in an overwhelmingly Democrat jurisdiction not only betrays the trust of the American people, but also exposes true motivation driving their fabricated accusations,” the Trump campaign’s statement complained. “These activities by Democrat leaders constitute a grave threat to American democracy and are direct attempts to deprive the American people of their rightful choice to cast their vote for President. Call it election interference or election manipulation—it is a dangerous effort by the ruling class to suppress the choice of the people. It is un-American and wrong.” More follows... Read More Republicans decry Trump’s Georgia indictment before details are released Hillary Clinton reveals one ‘satisfaction’ she gets from Trump’s indictment Giuliani says he feels ‘sorry for me’ if he’s included in latest Trump indictment

An Atlanta grand jury handed up indictments amid a local prosecutor’s probe over former President Donald Trump’s efforts

Republicans blasted former president Donald Trump’s supposed indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, despite the fact details of the indictment haven’t been released. Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX), who led efforts to try and challenge the 2020 presidential election results, appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News programme decrying the indictment, before the release of any details. “I’m pissed at these over and over and over again, if they’re indictments, it’ll be the fourth indictment of Donald Trump” Mr Cruz, who lost the Republican nomination for president to Mr Trump in 2016, said. “This is disgraceful. Our country’s over 200 years old. We’ve never once indicted a former president, or a candidate or a leading candidate for president and this is Joe Biden and this is the Democrats weaponizing the justice system because they're afraid of the voters.” Similarly, Sen Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox News how Mr Trump spent more on legal fees than he did on campaigning for president. “The American people can decide whether they want him to be president or not,” he said. “This should be decided at the ballot box and not in a bunch of liberal jurisdictions trying to put the man in jail. They’re weaponizing the law in this country. They’re trying to take Donald Trump down.” Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), one of Mr Trump’s biggest defenders in Congress, tweeted that voters did not care about the indictment and just wanted lower gas prices. “The media and elite Democrats need to stop pearl clutching in their Trump Derangement support groups and go out in the real world where seniors and working folks can’t afford food, bills, and gas,” she tweeted. “How to lose an election 101 is on display by the Get Trump Democrat Party.” Read More Trump campaign launches sprawling attack as Georgia grand jury hands down indictments Hillary Clinton reveals one ‘satisfaction’ she gets from Trump’s indictment Giuliani says he feels ‘sorry for me’ if he’s included in latest Trump indictment

Hillary Clinton responded in real-time to the news of Donald Trump’s likely fourth indictment in Georgia, revealing the one “satisfaction” she feels. “I don’t know that anybody should be satisfied,” Ms Clinton told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow late Monday. “This is a terrible moment for our country, to have a former president accused of these terribly important crimes. The only satisfaction may be that the system is working. Justice is being pursued.” A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, has returned an indictment in the investigation into Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. News of the indictments broke around 9pm ET on Monday. The indictment has not yet been unsealed, meaning no defendants – including Mr Trump – have been named thus far. Mr Trump faces two federal indictments over his mishandling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He is also under indictment in New York City for his hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, when Mr Trump faced Ms Clinton as the Democratic nominee for president. Ms Clinton reflected on the seriousness of the criminal cases against Mr Trump. “I feel great profound sadness that we have a former president who has been indicted for so many charges that went right to the heart of whether or not our democracy will survive,” Ms Clinton said, speaking of the former president’s various criminal charges generally as the world waits to see the details of the Georgia case. Mr Trump has railed against the criminal cases against him, voted on by a grand jury of his peers in multiple jurisdictions. The former president has baselessly complained that the cases amount to “election interference” against him and has accused President Joe Biden of prosecuting a political opponent. Despite his mounting legal trouble, Mr Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination. He leads all other candidates in the polls, and his GOP rivals have largely been unable to capitalise on the legal peril facing the former president. Read More EXPLAINER: What are special counsels and what do they do? Bill Clinton's presidential center expanding, will add Hillary Clinton's personal archives Winfrey, Maddow and Schwarzenegger among those helping NYC's 92nd Street Y mark 150th anniversary