Source: BBC
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Gaps in Coastal Radar Enabled Israeli Raid in Batroun, Army Commander Says
Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Monday 15 April 2024 08:50:32
Donald Trump's Historic Hush-Money Trial to Begin in New York
Donald Trump will set foot in a New York courthouse on Monday and become the first former US president to stand trial in a criminal case.
He is accused of falsifying his business records to disguise a hush-money payment made to Stormy Daniels, a former adult film star, shortly before the 2016 election.
Mr Trump, 77, faces a maximum of four years in jail if convicted, but could avoid jail time and be fined instead.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Mr Trump's historic trial will take place against the backdrop of his presidential campaign, and could ultimately see the presumptive Republican nominee become a convicted felon months before voters head to the polls in November.
"It's unprecedented," said Alex Keyssar, a professor of history and public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School. "There's been nothing remotely comparable to it."
The trial, which will begin with jury selection on Monday, is expected to last six to eight weeks and will center around a reimbursement Mr. Trump made to his former fixer Michael Cohen.
Cohen, 57, claims he was directed to pay Ms Daniels $130,000 (£104,000) in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Mr Trump, something prosecutors have described as an attempt to "unlawfully influence" the 2016 election.
Hush money payments are not illegal. However, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office alleges that Mr Trump committed a crime by improperly recording the reimbursement to Cohen as legal expenses.
In total, he is accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. To reach a verdict, all 12 jurors must agree on whether Mr Trump is guilty or not guilty of a specific charge.
The trial in Manhattan is expected to feature testimony from a cast of colorful characters at the heart of the case, including Cohen, Ms Daniels, and Mr Trump's lawyer who went to prison in part over the scandal.
Experts are divided over the strength of the prosecution's case, which involves a more novel legal approach to bringing felony charges over the falsification of business records.
Mr Trump has made several unsuccessful attempts to delay the jury trial and move it from Manhattan, which is comprised predominantly of Democrats.
His fiery remarks about the case, which he has repeatedly described as politically motivated, led the judge to impose a gag order that bans him from making public comments about people related to the case, including witnesses.
The order was extended after Mr. Trump turned his online attacks on the judge's daughter, calling her a "Rabid Trump Hater".
The Trump campaign said the gag order was unconstitutional and violated his free speech rights.
This criminal case is just one of four Donald Trump is facing this year. But it could be the only trial to take place before his 2024 election rematch with President Joe Biden.
As a first-time offender, even if Mr Trump is convicted, experts say he is unlikely to go to prison. Even if he did, under US law, he could still serve as president.
But his conviction would mark the first time a felon has run for president as a major-party nominee, Mr Keyssar said.
"What's remarkable about this is that it doesn't seem to bother a significant portion of the electorate," Mr Keyssar said, noting Mr Trump's popularity has not suffered as a result of his criminal indictments.
But the potential court drama will place him at the center of the news cycle with just months to go before the election.
And that heightened attention means that any small piece of news from the court - good or bad for Mr Trump - could play a role in the race between the former and current president, said Georgetown University government Professor Hans Noel.
"I expect this to be a very close election," he said, "and so any small thing could matter".