Nation & World Glance
New York appeals court rejects Donald Trump’s third request to delay Monday’s hush money trial
NEW YORK – Donald Trump is now 0 for 3 in last-minute attempts to get a New York appeals court to delay his looming hush money criminal trial. An appeals court judge Wednesday swiftly rejected the latest salvo from the former president’s lawyers, who argued he should be on the campaign trail rather than “in a courtroom defending himself” starting next week.
Trump’s lawyers had asked the state’s mid-level appeals court to halt the case indefinitely while they fight to remove the trial judge and challenge several of his pretrial rulings, which they argue have seriously hindered the presumptive Republican nominee’s defense.
Justice Ellen Gesmer’s ruling, after a third straight day of emergency hearings on Trump’s delay requests, was yet another loss for Trump, who has tried repeatedly to get the trial postponed. Barring further court action, the ruling clears the way for jury selection to begin next Monday.
“We’re here for this stay because there are restrictions in place that cannot operate in a constitutional way in a trial environment,” Trump lawyer Emil Bove argued at the hearing, which was held in a court basement lobby because the regular courtroom was in use.
“It’s an incredibly important trial. It’s a historic, unprecedented proceeding,” Bove said, adding: “This can only be done once and it must be done right.”
South Korea’s prime minister and top presidential officials offer to resign after election defeat
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea’s prime minister and senior presidential officials offered to resign en masse on Thursday, after their conservative ruling party suffered a crushing defeat in parliamentary elections.
The results of Wednesday’s elections were a huge political blow to President Yoon Suk Yeol, likely setting back his domestic agenda and leave him facing an intensifying political offensive by his liberal opponents during his remaining three years in office.
Prime Minster Han Duck-soo and all senior presidential advisers to Yoon, except those in charge of security issues, submitted their resignations, according to Yoon’s office. It didn’t immediately say whether Yoon accepted their resignations.
Executive power in South Korea is heavily concentrated in the president, but the prime minister is the No. 2 official and leads the country if the president becomes incapacitated.
Yoon said he will “humbly uphold” the public sentiments reflected in the election
outcome and focus on improving people’s economic situations and on reforming state affairs, according to his office.
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills 3 sons and 4 grandchildren of Hamas’ top leader
TEL AVIV, Israel – Israeli aircraft killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate cease-fire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed.
Ismail Haniyeh ’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.”
The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated cease-fire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far apart on key issues.
The slayings also come as Israel is under intensifying pressure – increasingly from its top ally, the U.S. – to change tack in the war, especially when it comes to humanitarian aid for desperate people in Gaza.
Haniyeh said Hamas would not cave to the pressure leveled by the strike on his family.
Former Trump executive Allen Weisselberg sentenced to 5 months in jail for lying
NEW YORK – Allen Weisselberg, a retired executive in Donald Trump’s real estate empire, was sentenced Wednesday to five months in jail for lying under oath during his testimony in the civil fraud lawsuit brought against the former president
by New York’s attorney general.
Weisselberg, 76, was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs following the sentencing, which lasted less than five minutes.
Asked if he wanted to address the court, Weisselberg, wearing a black windbreaker and a face mask, responded, “No, your honor.”
It is Weisselberg’s second time behind bars. The former Trump Organization chief financial officer served 100 days last year for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in company perks, including a rent-free Manhattan apartment and luxury cars.
Now, he’s again trading life as a Florida retiree for a stay at New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex, though he’s also getting something in return.
Water pouring out of rural Utah dam through 60-foot crack, putting nearby town at risk
SALT LAKE CITY – Workers hurriedly tried to shore up a rural Utah dam after a 60-foot (18-meter) crack sent water pouring into a creek and endangering the 1,800 residents of a downstream town.
State and local leaders don’t think the Panguitch Lake Dam is in imminent danger of breaking open but have told residents to be prepared to evacuate if conditions worsen. Emergency management officials passed out a list of evacuation procedures to worried residents at a Wednesday evening town meeting meant to mitigate panic.
“I can’t say that the emergency situation is entirely averted, but I’m very, very encouraged by the progress we’ve made today,” Everett Taylor, an assistant state engineer for dam safety with the Utah Division of Water Rights, told residents of the southern Utah town.
Lowering the reservoir to below the affected area will take several days, he said. About 2 feet (61 centimeters) of water remained above the crack as of Wednesday evening, and workers had covered nearly 45 feet (nearly 14-meters) of the crack with boulders.
An ice sheet on the reservoir had pushed up against the dam, causing the top to crack and tilt downstream, with water gushing through the opening, Taylor explained. His staff was able to relieve some of the pressure against the dam by making large cuts across the ice sheet. The ice has now pulled away, and the top of the dam has tilted back, he said.
Biden praises Prime Minister Kishida’s leadership and Japan’s growing international clout
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden praised Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “bold” leadership on a series of global crises as he welcomed the Japanese leader to the White House on Wednesday for wide-ranging talks that touched on the delicate security situation in the Pacific, the war in Ukraine, the Israel-hamas conflict and more.
Kishida’s official visit, which included a glitzy state dinner at the White House on Wednesday evening, completes the Democratic administration’s feting of the leaders of the Quad, the informal partnership among the U.S., Japan, Australia and India that the White House has focused on elevating since Biden took office. As administration officials put it, they saved the most pivotal relationship for last.
“The unbreakable alliance between Japan and the United States is the cornerstone of peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-pacific and around the world,” Biden said as he welcomed Kishida to a pomp-filled arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn.
The visit also marks the realization of Japan’s transformation from a regional player to a global influencer – with senior Biden administration officials noting appreciatively there is little the U.S. does across the globe that Tokyo doesn’t support. They pointed to Japan’s eagerness to take a leading role in trying to bolster Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and with the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“The cooperation between our countries bound together by common values and commitment has become a global one with the scope and depth covering outer space and the deep sea,” Kishida said. “Today the world faces more challenges and difficulties than ever before. Japan will join hands with our American friends and together we will lead the way in tackling the challenges of the Indo-pacific region and the world, while tirelessly developing the relationship.”