State Of Maine Blocks Trump From Republican Presidential Primary

Maine joins Colorado, where the state supreme court this month found Trump ineligible for the presidency, moves that will certainly be challenged in the US Supreme Court.

 The US state of Maine on Thursday blocked former president Donald Trump from its Republican presidential primary ballot, the second state to disqualify him over his role in the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol.

Maine’s top election official, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, decided in favor of the citizens who had claimed that Trump should be constitutionally barred from seeking re-election after trying to upend the 2020 election.

Bellows said in her decision that the January 6 attack “occurred at the behest of, and with the knowledge and support of, the outgoing President.”

“The US Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government and (Maine law) requires me to act in response,” read the decision, which came in response to challenges filed by a handful of Maine voters.

Maine joins Colorado, where the state supreme court this month found Trump ineligible for the presidency, moves that will certainly be challenged in the US Supreme Court.

Bellows said she was suspending the effect of her decision pending any court appeal by Trump.

The decisions in both states invoked the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which bars from office anyone formerly sworn to protect the country who later engages in insurrection.

“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” wrote Bellows, a Democrat. “I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the 14th Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”

Later on Thursday, California’s top election official declined to remove Trump from the presidential primary ballot in the most populous US state, defying pressure from fellow Democrats.

 ‘Attempted theft of an election’

Trump’s campaign quickly slammed Bellows’s decision as “attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter” and called her a “virulent leftist and a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat.”

“These partisan election interference efforts are a hostile assault on American democracy,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement, accusing President Joe Biden and Democrats of “relying on the force of government institutions to protect their grip on power.”

Cheung said Trump would appeal the decision.

Fellow Republicans jumped to Trump’s defense, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who is also seeking the party’s nomination.

“It opens up Pandora’s Box. Can you have a Republican Secretary of State disqualify Biden from the ballot?” he said.

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine agreed.

“Maine voters should decide who wins the election – not a Secretary of State chosen by the Legislature,” she wrote on social media platform X.

A Democratic representative from Maine, Jared Golden, also said Trump should be on the ballot.

“I voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the January 6th insurrection. I do not believe he should be re-elected as President of the United States,” Golden wrote on X. “However, we are a nation of laws, therefore until he is actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should be allowed on the ballot.”

 Super Tuesday

The Maine decision comes as Trump remains the front-running Republican candidate to challenge Biden in next year’s vote.

The two are neck-and-neck in polls, and Biden has stepped up his attacks on his predecessor in recent weeks, saying Trump “certainly supported an insurrection. No question about it, none, zero.”

Biden recently told a campaign reception that “the greatest threat Trump poses is to our democracy. Because if we lose, we lose everything.”

He described Trump as “sitting there, watching it unfold on TV as a mob attacked the Capitol” in the assault by the Republican’s supporters on January 6, 2021, aimed at overturning Trump’s loss to Biden.

The twice-impeached Republican former president continues to claim, without proof, that he is the rightful winner of the 2020 vote.

He is scheduled to go on trial in Washington in March for conspiring to overturn the results of the election, and also faces racketeering charges in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to upend the election results in the southern state after his defeat.

Maine and Colorado hold their nominating contests on March 5 — also known as “Super Tuesday” — when voters in more than a dozen states, including populous California and Texas, go to the polls.

Similar challenges have been filed in other states as well. Courts in Minnesota and Michigan recently ruled that Trump should stay on the ballot in those states. Another ruling is soon expected in Oregon.

Tottenham’s Son Leads South Korea Squad ‘Ready’ To Win Asian Cup

Tottenham’s Son Leads South Korea Squad ‘Ready’ To Win Asian Cup

Son will captain a squad that includes Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae and 22-year-old Paris Saint-Germain attacking midfielder Lee Kang-in.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min was named in South Korea’s Asian Cup squad on Thursday and coach Jurgen Klinsmann said it was “about time” they ended their 64-year continental title drought.

Wolves forward Hwang Hee-chan, who scored his 10th Premier League goal of the season against Brentford on Wednesday, was also among Klinsmann’s 26-man selection for the tournament, which kicks off in Qatar on January 12.

Son will captain a squad that includes Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae and 22-year-old Paris Saint-Germain attacking midfielder Lee Kang-in.

South Korea have not won the Asian Cup since 1960 and Klinsmann said: “It’s all about timing now and I think we are ready for this big, big competition.

“It’s 64 years — 64 years is a long time for Korea. It’s about time that we get this done.”

South Korea have been drawn in Group E and will face Malaysia, Jordan and Bahrain in the first round.

They lost 1-0 to eventual champions Qatar in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Klinsmann, a World Cup winner with Germany in 1990, will have one of the strongest squads in the tournament in Qatar and he said he could “see it in their eyes that they are hungry for it”.

“I have a good feeling because they’re doing well at their clubs,” he said.

“They’re healthy, they’re fit, they’re ambitious and they’re very hungry. This is the foundation for playing a good tournament.”

Son will be appearing at his fourth Asian Cup and was part of the South Korea team that lost to hosts Australia in the 2015 final.

Hwang scored twice in Wolves’ 4-1 win over Brentford to move one goal behind Son, who has 11, in the Premier League scoring charts.

 ‘One of the favourites’

Lee is also making a splash after moving to Paris from Mallorca in the summer, and Klinsmann described him as “a flower that starts to bloom”.

“We have a lot of different pieces in that roster and that makes us one of the favourites for the Asian Cup,” said Klinsmann.

“We have to fine tune these elements over the next couple of weeks and then go into the tournament with confidence.”

Klinsmann was unable to select Hwang Ui-jo, who has been suspended by South Korea because of a police investigation into allegations he illegally filmed an ex-girlfriend.

The Norwich City forward is accused of filming a sexual encounter with the former partner on his phone without consent. He denies the allegation.

“It’s very difficult for us coaches to deal with that because it’s not in our power,” said Klinsmann.

South Korea squad:

Goalkeepers: Kim Seung-gyu (Al Shabab/KSA), Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan), Song Bum-keun (Shonan Bellmare/JPN)

Defenders: Kim Young-gwon (Ulsan), Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich/GER), Jung Seung-hyun (Ulsan), Kim Ju-sung (FC Seoul), Kim Ji-soo (Brentford/ENG), Seol Young-woo (Ulsan), Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan), Lee Ki-je (Suwon), Kim Jin-su (Jeonbuk)

Midfielders: Park Yong-woo (Al Ain/UAE), Hwang In-beom (Red Star Belgrade/SRB), Hong Hyun-seok (Gent/BEL), Lee Soon-min (Gwangju), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz/GER), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Son Heung-min (Tottenham/ENG), Jeong Woo-yeong (Stuttgart/GER), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves/ENG), Moon Seon-min (Jeonbuk), Park Jin-seob (Jeonbuk), Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic/SCO)

Strikers: Cho Gue-sung (Midtjylland/DEN), Oh Hyeon-gyu (Celtic/SCO).

Over 40 Feared Dead After Liberia Tanker Crash

Over 40 Feared Dead After Liberia Tanker Crash

The tanker carrying gasoline crashed and tipped into a ditch along a road in Totota, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) from the capital Monrovia.

More than 40 people were feared dead when a tanker truck exploded after crashing in central Liberia, the country’s chief medical officer told local media on Wednesday.

The tanker carrying gasoline crashed and tipped into a ditch along a road in Totota, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) from the capital Monrovia.

Dr Francis Kateh told local broadcaster Super Bongese TV it was difficult to determine the number of victims because some had been reduced to ashes but he estimated that more than 40 people were killed in the incident.

“We have our team going from home to home to check those that are missing,” he told AFP.

Police earlier put the death toll at 15 and said at least 30 people were injured as locals gathered at the scene.

“There were lots of people that got burned,” said Prince B. Mulbah, deputy inspector general for the Liberia National Police.

Another police officer, Malvin Sackor, said that after the crash, some locals had begun to take the leaking gas when the tanker exploded, killing some and wounding others.

He said that the police were still gathering the total number of injured and killed.

An eyewitness from Totota, Aaron Massaquoi, told AFP that “people climbed all on top of the truck taking the gas, while some of them had irons hitting the tanker for it to burst for them to get gas.”

“People were all around the truck and the driver of the truck told them that the gas that was spilling they could take that,” Massaquoi said.

“He told them not to climb on top of the tanker and that they should stop hitting the tanker…. but some people were even using screwdrivers to put holes on the tank.”

Burkina Faso Opposition Leader Goes Missing

Burkina Faso Opposition Leader Goes Missing

In early November, the Burkina military drafted the 70-year-old Ouedraogo intending to send him to the front to assist in "the fight against terrorism" in the country, where a jihadist insurgency has raged for years.

Burkina Faso’s former foreign minister-turned-opposition-leader has been missing for three days after being taken away from his house by people who said they were police, his party said on Wednesday.

Besides foreign minister, Ablasse Ouedraogo served as deputy director general of the World Trade Organization and has held positions at the African Development Bank.

He is currently head of the opposition party Le Faso Autrement, and has been critical of the military regime that has ruled Burkina following a September 2022 coup.

In early November, the Burkina military drafted the 70-year-old Ouedraogo intending to send him to the front to assist in “the fight against terrorism” in the country, where a jihadist insurgency has raged for years.

At the time, his political party condemned the move as retribution for Ouedraogo’s criticism of the country’s rulers.

Around a dozen dissidents have been drafted by the military to participate in the fight against jihadists, Human Rights Watch said in November.

On Sunday evening, Ouedraogo “was taken away by individuals who presented themselves as members of the national police at his house in Ouagadougou,” Le Faso Autrement said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Since then, the party has not had any news of his whereabouts and has been unable to contact him, it said, calling for Ouedraogo’s “immediate release without conditions”.

Ouedraogo served as foreign minister under President Blaise Compaore in 1994-1999.

In an open letter published in early October, he denounced what he said were “restrictions on individual and collective liberty, muzzling of the press” and “decline of democracy” under the junta.

Led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, the military seized power in the former French colony in 2022, citing failing efforts to quash a jihadist insurgency that erupted in 2015, when a rebellion by Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremists spilt over from neighbouring Mali.

In December, the US State Department expressed concern over the “growing use of targeted forced conscriptions, shrinking civic space, and restrictions on political parties”.

 Burkina Faso Opposition Leader Goes Missing

In early November, the Burkina military drafted the 70-year-old Ouedraogo intending to send him to the front to assist in "the fight against terrorism" in the country, where a jihadist insurgency has raged for years.

Burkina Faso’s former foreign minister-turned-opposition-leader has been missing for three days after being taken away from his house by people who said they were police, his party said on Wednesday.

Besides foreign minister, Ablasse Ouedraogo served as deputy director general of the World Trade Organization and has held positions at the African Development Bank.

He is currently head of the opposition party Le Faso Autrement, and has been critical of the military regime that has ruled Burkina following a September 2022 coup.

In early November, the Burkina military drafted the 70-year-old Ouedraogo intending to send him to the front to assist in “the fight against terrorism” in the country, where a jihadist insurgency has raged for years.

At the time, his political party condemned the move as retribution for Ouedraogo’s criticism of the country’s rulers.

Around a dozen dissidents have been drafted by the military to participate in the fight against jihadists, Human Rights Watch said in November.

On Sunday evening, Ouedraogo “was taken away by individuals who presented themselves as members of the national police at his house in Ouagadougou,” Le Faso Autrement said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Since then, the party has not had any news of his whereabouts and has been unable to contact him, it said, calling for Ouedraogo’s “immediate release without conditions”.

Ouedraogo served as foreign minister under President Blaise Compaore in 1994-1999.

In an open letter published in early October, he denounced what he said were “restrictions on individual and collective liberty, muzzling of the press” and “decline of democracy” under the junta.

Led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, the military seized power in the former French colony in 2022, citing failing efforts to quash a jihadist insurgency that erupted in 2015, when a rebellion by Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremists spilt over from neighbouring Mali.

In December, the US State Department expressed concern over the “growing use of targeted forced conscriptions, shrinking civic space, and restrictions on political parties”.

 

Supreme Court Declines To Fast-Track Trump Case

Special Counsel Jack Smith had asked the nation's highest court to take up the immunity case on an expedited basis, bypassing the federal court of appeals.

The US Supreme Court declined on Friday to immediately hear former President Donald Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution, potentially delaying his 2020 election interference trial.

Special Counsel Jack Smith had asked the nation’s highest court to take up the immunity case on an expedited basis, bypassing the federal court of appeals.

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices nominated by Trump, denied the request in a one-line order that did not provide any reason for the decision.

The 77-year-old Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is currently scheduled to go on trial on March 4, 2024 on charges of conspiring to overturn the November 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly sought to delay the trial until after next year’s election, including with the claim that a former president enjoys “absolute immunity” and cannot be prosecuted for actions he took while in the White House.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is to preside over Trump’s March trial, rejected the immunity claim on December 1, saying a former president does not have a “lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.”

“Defendant’s four-year service as Commander in Chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens,” she added.

Trump’s lawyers appealed Chutkan’s decision to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and Smith, the special counsel, asked the Supreme Court to step in and hear the case itself.

“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office,” Smith said in a filing to the Supreme Court.

“It is of paramount public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved as expeditiously as possible — and, if respondent is not immune, that he receive a fair and speedy trial on these charges,” he said.

– Appeals court hearing on January 9 –

With the Supreme Court’s rejection of Smith’s request, the appeals court will now first hear the immunity case.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said this could make it difficult to maintain the March trial date.

Tobias noted the Supreme Court had agreed to “fast-track” appeals in 19 cases over the past four years and it was unclear why the justices had declined to do so here.

Trump welcomed the Supreme Court’s move and said he was looking forward to presenting his arguments before the appeals court.

“Of course I am entitled to Presidential Immunity,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“I was President, it was my right and duty to investigate, and speak on, the rigged and stolen 2020 Presidential Election,” he said, repeating his baseless claims to have won the election.

The DC appeals court has scheduled arguments for January 9 and its ruling is expected to eventually reach the Supreme Court, whose current session ends in June.

Trump’s lawyers are also expected to ask the nation’s highest court to rule on a decision by the Colorado Supreme Court that would keep the former president off the Republican primary ballot in the western state.

The Colorado court ruled Tuesday that Trump had incited an insurrection — the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters — and was therefore ineligible to hold office again.

The US Supreme Court has already agreed to hear a challenge to the use of a law behind one of the charges lodged against Trump and hundreds of his supporters who took part in the attack on the Capitol.

Trump was indicted in Washington in August for conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction for his efforts to upend the results of the 2020 election.

He faces similar election-related charges in Georgia and has been indicted in Florida for alleged mishandling of top secret documents after leaving the White House.

Trump was impeached by the Democratic-majority House of Representatives following the attack on the Capitol for “incitement of insurrection” but was acquitted by the Senate.

Taiwan Detains One For ‘Fabricated’ Election Polls

Taiwan Detains One For ‘Fabricated’ Election Polls

Citing bank account transactions as evidence, they detained Hsu, a man identified only by his family name, "for violating election and anti-infiltration laws".

Taiwan’s authorities have detained one person for “fabricating” opinion polls, which prosecutors said Saturday were intended to influence next year’s elections.

Democratic Taiwan will hold presidential and parliamentary elections in January, which will be closely watched from Beijing to Washington as results could shape future relations with China.

Taiwan’s officials have repeatedly warned of instances of election interference linked to China, which claims the self-ruled island as its territory.

In Taiwan’s southern city of Kaohsiung, prosecutors questioned four people on Friday for allegedly spreading “fabricated presidential polls” through various news outlets and social media platforms.

Citing bank account transactions as evidence, they detained Hsu, a man identified only by his family name, “for violating election and anti-infiltration laws”.

The candidates and parties that the fabricated opinion polls favoured were not identified.

Prosecutors also said Hsu was a chief consultant of a “new residents” association, a community organisation for newcomers to Taiwan.

The association was accused by prosecutors earlier this month of arranging free trips to China for dozens of voters in a bid to “influence” elections.

“They aimed to use Taiwan’s large new resident population to develop organisations that could be controlled by these hostile foreign powers… to influence the current election, thereby endangering national security,” prosecutors said Saturday.

Last month, Premier Chen Chien-jen warned the Taiwanese public to “be mindful of the methods used in election interference” and not to “fall into China’s trap”.

Relations have plunged in recent years as China has stepped up pressure on self-ruled Taiwan, sending in near-daily incursions of warplanes and naval vessels, while trying to isolate the island internationally by poaching its diplomatic allies.

Residents Return To Iceland Town As Volcano Eruption Eases

Residents Return To Iceland Town As Volcano Eruption Eases

The eruption, which began on Monday evening, opened a fissure in the ground about four kilometres (2.5 miles) long, spewing glowing fountains of orange lava into the sky only three kilometres from Grindavik.

Evacuated residents of the town of Grindavik in Iceland began returning Thursday for daytime visits as the volcano decreased in intensity, though their hopes of spending Christmas at home were dashed.

The eruption, which began on Monday evening, opened a fissure in the ground about four kilometres (2.5 miles) long, spewing glowing fountains of orange lava into the sky only three kilometres from Grindavik.

By Thursday, the eruption had declined in intensity and on live video feeds the lava flow could no longer be seen.

“The likelihood of a new eruption forming without warning near Grindavik has decreased,” the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said late Wednesday.

But it said the “hazard level in that area is nevertheless considered substantial” as “the magma can reach the surface quickly, leaving little time to issue warnings”.

Authorities therefore allowed Grindavik’s 4,000 residents access to the small fishing port between 7:00 am and 4:00 pm.

Local resident watch smoke billow as the lava colour the night sky orange from an volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula 3 km north of Grindavik, western Iceland on December 19, 2023. A volcanic eruption began on Monday night in Iceland, south of the capital Reykjavik, following an earthquake swarm, Iceland’s Meteorological Office reported.

They were evacuated on November 11 after a series of earthquakes, considered a possible precursor to an eruption.

First responders were present in the town on Thursday in case an emergency evacuation was required.

Streets of the town were still largely empty on Thursday morning, with Christmas decorations the only lights coming from the abandoned houses.

But some residents were quick to get back to work, including the staff at fishing company Thorfish who rushed to save the catch caught just before the eruption.

“Now they are trying to pack it and prepare it so it won’t get damaged, and then clean up the whole place for Christmas,” Jon Emil, purchasing manager for Thorfish.

‘Very Different’ Christmas

Authorities still say it is unsafe to stay in the town overnight, and on Wednesday they said residents would not be able to return to stay in their homes before Christmas.

Bergsteinn Olafsson, a 59-year-old municipal worker from Grindavik,  “different, very different”.

“But if you have your family, everything is ok.”

In an update early Thursday, the IMO said the “power of the eruption has decreased with time as well as the seismicity and deformation”.

It said just one crater showed activity overnight.

Volcanic eruptions are common in Iceland, which is home to 33 active volcano systems, the highest number in Europe.

But until 2021, the Reykjanes peninsula had not experienced an eruption for eight centuries.

Since then, eruptions have struck in 2021, 2022 and earlier this year — all in remote, uninhabited areas. Volcanologists say this could be the start of a new era of activity in the region.