International News
Trump Docs Trial Set For May 2024 At Height Of White House Race
A US judge on Friday ordered Donald Trump’s trial for mishandling top secret documents to begin in May of next year, at the height of what is expected to be a bitter and divisive presidential election campaign.
US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon set the start of the jury trial of the former president — the first ever to face criminal charges — for May 20, 2024.
Prosecutors had asked for the trial to begin in December of this year, while Trump’s defense attorneys had requested it be held after the November 2024 election.
Cannon said she chose a May start date to give both sides time to process more than 1.1 million pages of discovery evidence and confront the challenge of handling the classified documents at the heart of the case.
“No one disagrees that Defendants need adequate time to review and evaluate it on their own accord,” said Cannon, a Trump appointee who was randomly assigned to the high-stakes legal battle.
The trial will be held at a federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, a city about 130 miles (210 kilometers) north of Miami in a part of Florida handily won by Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential contests.
The 77-year-old Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination and the trial will begin near the end of the primary campaign to select the party’s candidate.
The Republican National Convention, where the nominee will be selected, is to take place July 15-18 in Milwaukee but most of the major primary contests will have already taken place by May 20.
A Trump spokesperson welcomed the judge’s decision not to start the trial in December, calling it a “setback to the (Justice Department’s) crusade to deny President Trump a fair legal process.
“The extensive schedule allows President Trump and his legal team to continue fighting this empty hoax,” the spokesperson said.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said the judge, in choosing a May start date, appeared to be trying to “split the difference” between the requests of the prosecutors and the defense attorneys.
Trump may still seek to push back the start even further, Tobias said, since he has a “penchant for delaying virtually every legal proceeding in which he has been involved over decades.”
“He sees delay as his ‘friend,’” Tobias said.
The trial will not stop the onetime reality television star from campaigning, but a criminal defendant is generally required to be present during the proceedings, which are expected to last weeks, if not months.
If the trial is ongoing and Trump wins the November 2024 election, he could conceivably take action to intervene or even pardon himself upon taking office.
Trump aide also charged
Trump pleaded not guilty last month to some three dozen criminal counts for allegedly refusing to return sensitive government records he took when he left the White House in 2021.
According to the indictment from special counsel Jack Smith, the former president stashed hundreds of classified documents in cardboard boxes at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
Trump kept the records from the Pentagon, CIA, National Security Agency and others unsecured at Mar-a-Lago, the indictment says, including in a ballroom, a bathroom, his bedroom and a storage room.
Trump faces 31 counts of “willful retention of national defense information” relating to specific documents. A conviction on each count carries up to 10 years in prison.
Other charges include: conspiracy to obstruct justice, punishable by up to 20 years in prison; withholding a document or record, which also carries a potential 20-year sentence; and making false statements.
Waltine “Walt” Nauta, a personal aide to Trump, is charged with six counts for helping Trump hide documents at Mar-a-Lago. He has also pleaded not guilty.
Nauta, a 40-year-old US Navy veteran from Guam, served as Trump’s military valet while he was president and has continued working for him in a personal capacity since he left the White House.
Trump, who was impeached twice over allegations of misconduct while in office and was recently found liable for sexual abuse, has vowed to stay in the 2024 White House race regardless of the outcome of the documents case.
Trump faces other legal woes including a looming indictment from Smith for the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump also faces multiple felony counts in a New York fraud case involving alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
AFP
June 5th, Transfermarkt updated. The new market values of Barcelona players. Three players increased and nine decreased, with Raphinha dropping by 10 million to 70 million euros.
Increase (Euros)
Joan-Garcia increased by 5 million to 45 million
Eric-Garcia increased by 5 million to 40 million
Gerard-Martin increased by 10 million to 35 million
Decrease (Euros)
Raphinha decreased by 10 million to 70 million
Kounde decreased by 5 million to 60 million
Balde decreased by 5 million to 50 million
De Jong decreased by 10 million to 35 million
Casado decreased by 2 million to 18 million
Christensen decreased by 1 million to 8 million
Cancelo decreased by 1 million to 8 million
Lewandowski decreased by 1 million to 7 million
Szczesny decreased by 100,000 to 800,000
Unchanged (Euros)
Yamal 200 million
Pedri 150 million
Fermin 100 million
Cubarsi 80 million
Olmo 60 million
Ferran Torres 50 million
Rashford 40 million
Gavi 30 million
Bernal 30 million
Araujo 20 million
Bardghji 15 million
Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 on Friday, its lowest level since October 2024, just before Donald Trump’s election which propelled it to a record high.
The currency fell by about 6 percent around 1615 GMT, to $59.7709, before paring its losses slightly.
The election of Trump, a staunch advocate of cryptocurrencies, to the White House in November 2024 for a second term sparked a wave of enthusiasm in the sector, sending the price of bitcoin soaring to nearly $110,000.
AFP
Man City are considering taking legal action after a Real Madrid presedential candidate said he would sign Erling Haaland, if elected.
What actually happened?
Real presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme, who faces current president Florentino Perez in Sunday’s vote, claimed on Spanish TV show El Hormiguero on Wednesday night that Haaland had a release clause and wants to move to the Bernabeu. He also held up a Real shirt with ‘Haaland 9’ on the back.
Riquelme, who also promised to sign Haaland’s City team-mate Rodri, said: “If I break my promises regarding either of these players, I’ve signed a guarantee where I’d pay 100 per cent of membership costs for next season.
“Haaland has a release clause, and he wants to come to Madrid.”
What was City’s response?
However, Manchester City have moved quickly to refute those claims, saying in a statement that there is “no chance” Haaland will be leaving the Etihad Stadium any time soon. The Premier League club also said they are considering legal action over the shirt stunt.
A City spokesperson said in a statement: “The stories which have emerged from Spain regarding the future of Erling Haaland are untrue.
“There is no chance of this happening and there is no contractual clause to enable it.
“We are considering legal action for the use of our player image in this context.”
Haaland is under contract at the Etihad until the summer of 2034 and Haaland’s agent Rafaela Pimenta and his father Alfie Haaland laughed off suggestions the 25-year-old could soon be heading to the Spanish capital.
A joint-statement released in the early hours of Thursday morning said: “All very entertaining but not true. We wish all the best for both candidates in the Real Madrid elections.”
What was Perez’s response?
Meanwhile, current Real president Florentino Perez made his own election pledge on Wednesday night, seemingly confirming Jose Mourinho’s return to Real Madrid as manager, if he wins next Sunday’s presidential election.
Perez posted a video on X in which Mourinho features in a Real shirt saying: “Yes”, while the only other words to accompany it say: “Meanwhile, on TV, they just keep talking and talking and talking. So much history to be made.”
The video was posted in response to Riquelme’s TV apperaance promoting his rival bid.
Perez has made no secret of his intention to name Mourinho as head coach should he win the vote and remain for an eighth term in the role, but his social media post appears to have made it official.
Mourinho is widely expected to agree a three-year-deal to return to the Bernabeu Stadium and replace Alvaro Arbeloa, who was appointed in January after Xabi Alonso’s departure.
Benfica have yet to confirm Mourinho’s departure, while speculation has been mounting that Marco Silva is being lined up as his successor after the Portuguese announced he will leave Fulham when his contract expires in June.
Real Madrid’s presidential election on Sunday will be decided by the club’s members. It is the first contested election since 2006 as club members will choose between incumbent Perez, 79, and businessman Riquelme, 37.
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