Ceylon times (2024)

01/03/2024

"𝐁𝐢𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝": 𝐄𝐱-𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫'𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐁𝐂𝐂𝐈 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬

The Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) on February 28 announced the annual player contracts for 2023-24 season. While Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan hogged the limelight for being excluded from the list, there were several other star players too who failed to make a cut. One among them is spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Former India opener Aakash Chopra has expressed his surprise over the leg spinner being excluded from the central contracts of the BCCI. He added that Chahal's ouster means the selection committee is looking at other options.

"I am a bit surprised that Yuzi Chahal's name is not there. Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and Shikhar Dhawan - their names not being there, I can understand. Even Deepak Hooda for that matter. But Chahal's name not being there - what does that signify? It seems to indicate that they (BCCI) are looking in a different direction. This is a validation of the theory. He might have had a ray of hope, but it wasn't to be. His name is not there," said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

The out-of-favour duo of Kishan and Iyer were excluded after ignoring the directive to play Ranji Trophy, while skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli expectedly retained their place in the top bracket as the BCCI unveiled its centrally-contracted players for this year.

The 25-year-old Kishan did not turn up for Jharkhand throughout the team's campaign in Ranji Trophy despite not being on national duty since leaving from the tour of South Africa in December citing personal reasons. He has instead focussed on preparing for the IPL next month.

Iyer, on the other hand, did not make himself available for Mumbai's Ranji quarterfinal against Baroda after being excluded from the Indian team after the second Test against England. He, however, has been picked for the Ranji semifinals starting March 2.

While announcing the central contracts for 2023-24, the BCCI once again advised all India cricketers to play domestic games when not on national duty.

01/03/2024

𝐔𝐒 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐕𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧

Washington: The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to keep federal agencies funded and avoid a costly election-year government shutdown, advancing a stop-gap funding measure that could clear the Senate within hours.
With the cash for many departments due to dry up after 11:59 pm Friday, the Republican-led lower chamber passed a bill that keeps the lights on until at least March 8.

01/03/2024

𝐏𝐚𝐤 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐨 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐌 𝐎𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟑, 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐡𝐛𝐚𝐳 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐟 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫

Islamabad:
The National Assembly (NA) Secretariat has released the timetable for the prime ministerial election to be held in Pakistan on March 3, as per ARY News.

Newly sworn-in MNAs will participate in the voting process for the prime minister's position on Sunday.

According to the schedule issued by the NA Secretariat, aspirants for the premiership can submit their nomination papers by 2 pm on March 2. The final list of candidates will be issued following scrutiny of the nomination papers.

Nomination papers can be obtained from the legislation department, with candidates instructed to submit them to the NA Secretariat.

Notably, Shehbaz Sharif has been nominated by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and other allies, while the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) has named Omar Ayub as its candidate.

The 16th National Assembly commenced its proceedings earlier in the day, with newly elected MNAs taking their oaths administered by Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. The session, scheduled for 10 am, commenced after 11 am amid a turbulent atmosphere, with PTI-backed lawmakers aligned with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), encircling the speaker's rostrum.

On February 20, SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza announced the party's intention to nominate its prime minister, as (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) PTI-backed independent members began affiliating with the religious party.

Earlier, on February 13, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif nominated his younger brother and party president, Shehbaz Sharif, for the position of prime minister, while PML-N senior vice president Maryam Nawaz was nominated for Punjab's chief ministerial post.

The forthcoming prime ministerial election marks a crucial juncture in Pakistan's political landscape, as parties manoeuvre to secure leadership roles in the country's governance structure.

01/03/2024

𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐓𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚

Sydney:
Facebook parent Meta announced Friday it would no longer pay Australian media companies for news, prompting a government warning that the firm was in "dereliction" of past promises.

Extending a global retreat from news content, Meta said it would scrap the Facebook News tab in Australia and would not renew deals with news publishers worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"People don't come to Facebook for news and political content," the firm said, explaining the move.

The decision had been on the cards, but will come as a hammer blow for Australian news outlets already struggling to stay afloat.

Meta had previously announced it would not renew content deals with news publishers in the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

The social media giant had been pushed into paying for news by governments hoping to level the media playing field and support struggling news firms.

Media companies around the world have seen a decline in revenues for years, with advertisers flocking to popular digital platforms like Google and Facebook to reach consumers.

Three years ago, Meta's promise to pay news outlets prompted the Australian government to water down legislation governing online platforms and their relationships with the news media.

On Friday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland expressed anger at Meta's announcement and suggested the government may take retaliatory measures.

"Meta's decision to no longer pay for news content in a number of jurisdictions represents a dereliction of its commitment to the sustainability of Australian news media," Rowland said.

"The decision removes a significant source of revenue for Australian news media businesses. Australian news publishers deserve fair compensation for the content they provide."

01/03/2024

𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐀𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭

Los Angeles:
A manhunt was launched by police in the California city of El Cajon on Thursday after a shooting at a dentist's office left one dead and two injured, local media reported.

Police in the town, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) outside of San Diego, said on social media they were searching for an "armed and dangerous" 29-year-old suspect who fled the scene after the attack, which they described as "an active shooter event."

The two people who were injured were taken to the hospital in stable condition, local TV station K**I reported.

It was unclear whether the shooter knew the victims.

Gun violence is common in the United States, where there are more guns than people and about a third of adults own a firearm.

Polls show a majority of Americans favor stricter gun regulations in theory, but the powerful fi****ms lobby and mobilized voters supporting the country's culture of strong gun rights have repeatedly made congressional action politically difficult.

A divided US Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday on the legality of "bump stocks," simple devices that can allow rapid fire from otherwise semi-automatic guns.

That case stems from the worst mass shooting in US history, in October 2017, when a man fired on a crowd attending an outdoor music concert in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and wounding around 500.

01/03/2024

𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐎𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐖𝐞𝐛

Taipei, Taiwan:
Hackers stole "sensitive information" including military and government documents from Taiwan's largest telecom company and sold it on the dark web, the island's ministry of national defence has said.

The confirmation of the democratic island's latest major data leak followed a report by local news channel TVBS on the hack of telecom giant Chunghwa Telecom.

That report included a screenshot of a post in which hackers announced they were "selling Chunghwa Telecom 1.7 TeraBytes of data" that included government contracts.

"The initial analysis of this case is that hackers obtained Chunghwa Telecom's sensitive information and sold it on the dark web, including documents from the armed forces, foreign affairs ministry, coast guard and other units," the defence ministry confirmed in a statement sent to AFP Friday.

Taiwan is one of the world's top targets for cyber-security attacks, according to digital data experts. Some have have suggested that tactics employed against Taiwanese infrastructure bear the hallmarks of Chinese state-sponsored groups.

Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control.

The defence ministry added that an air force contract included in the Chunghwa leak was "not confidential information, thus (there was) no information leakage".

Correspondence between the navy department and Chunghwa also contained no classified information, the ministry said.

"We have asked the contractor involved to strengthen its information security control to prevent any further incidents," it said.

Neither the ministry statement nor the TVBS report identified the hackers or said where they were located.

Chunghwa, a publicly traded company, announced in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange Thursday that it had "conducted investigations to clarify the cause of the suspected incident".

01/03/2024

𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐢 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐧𝐲: 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲

Moscow:
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was so loathed by President Vladimir Putin that the Kremlin leader refused to say his name in public.
Navalny, whose death in an Arctic prison was announced on February 16, was Putin's most prolific critic for over a decade, blasting what he called rampant corruption and refusing to back down even after being poisoned.

The lawyer-turned-politician exposed what he said were the ill-gotten gains of Putin's inner circle in investigations that drew tens of thousands onto the streets.

He leveraged the fatigue of ordinary Russians with the country's politics and his optimistic vision for a democratic Russia resonated around the country.

Before his near-fatal 2020 poisoning, Navalny had already been jailed, charged with fraud, held on house arrest, harassed and partially blinded by a chemical attack.

He died isolated, incarcerated in a Siberian prison colony, aged 47.

'Brave, principled'
His treatment by the Russian authorities drew scorn from Russia's opposition and in the West.

Nobel Peace Prize winner journalist Dmitry Muratov said Navalny had been "tortured and tormented" since his arrest in January 2021.

His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, accused Putin of ordering his killing in a final ruthless act by the former KGB agent. She vowed Putin would pay for what he had done "to our country ... to my husband."

US President Joe Biden also said Putin was "responsible" for Navalny's death.

Navalny "was brave, he was principled, he was dedicated to building a Russia where rule of law existed and where it applied to everybody," Biden said

'Putin fears me'
Even in death, Navalny's team said the Kremlin feared him as they accused Russian authorities of thwarting a public funeral.

Navalny shot to prominence in the 2010s with flashy YouTube videos exposing what he cast as systemic corruption at the heart of government.

The investigations -- which uncovered palaces, mistresses and foreign bank accounts -- embarrassed the Kremlin and brought crowds onto Russian streets. Riot police cracked down on protestors.

01/03/2024

𝐔𝐒 𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Washington:
An uncrewed American lander that became the first private spaceship on the Moon sent its final image Thursday before its power banks depleted, the company that built it said.
Houston-based Intuitive Machines posted a picture that was captured by Odysseus on February 22, the day it touched down near the south pole.

But the image was only received Thursday. The company shared earlier that a wonky landing had left the vessel's antennas misaligned and unable to transmit at an optimal rate.

The photograph "showcases the crescent Earth in the backdrop, a subtle reminder of humanity's presence in the universe," said Intuitive Machines, which also achieved the first lunar touchdown by an American spaceship since the manned Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

"Goodnight, Odie. We hope to hear from you again," the company added, using a nickname for the spaceship that refers to the canine sidekick from the Garfield comic series.

The onset of the long lunar night means it will be another two or three weeks before flight controllers can attempt to awaken the vessel -- just as Japan's SLIM spaceship that landed upside down in January was resurrected this week -- but nothing is certain.

Odysseus' historic mission was hailed as a success by both the company and NASA, even as it ran into multiple problems along the way.

A failure in the lander's navigation system -- the result of a human error in omitting to toggle a laser safety switch before lift-off -- meant engineers had to improvise a fix, switching to an experimental NASA system intended only as a technology demonstration.

It came skidding down in its final seconds with too much horizontal velocity, resulting in one or two landing gear breaking and the vehicle coming to rest at an angle. In its latest update, Intuitive Machines said the tilt was about 30 degrees.

NASA is planning to return astronauts to the Moon later this decade, and paid Intuitive Machines around $120 million for the mission, as part of an initiative to delegate cargo missions to the private sector and stimulate a lunar economy.

Odysseus carries a suite of NASA instruments designed to improve scientific understanding of the lunar south pole, where the space agency plans to send astronauts under its Artemis program later this decade.

The United States, along with international partners, wants to eventually develop long-term habitats in the region, harvesting polar ice for drinking water -- and for rocket fuel for eventual onward voyages to Mars.

01/03/2024

𝐄𝐥𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐒𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐀𝐈, 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐎𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭

Elon Musk has sued OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman, among others, accusing them of breaching contractual agreements made when he helped found the ChatGPT-maker in 2015, according to a lawsuit filed on Thursday in San Francisco.

The lawsuit said Sam Altman, along with OpenAI's co-founder Greg Brockman, originally approached Elon Musk to make an open source, non-profit company that would develop artificial intelligence technology for the "benefit of humanity".

The Microsoft-backed company's focus on seeking profits breaks that agreement, lawyers for Elon Musk said in the lawsuit.

OpenAI, Microsoft and Elon Musk did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but stepped down from the company's board in 2018. He also runs the electric vehicle maker Tesla and bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022.

ChatGPT, the chatbot from OpenAI, became the fastest-growing software application in the world within six months of its launch in November 2022. It also sparked the launch of rival chatbots from Microsoft, Alphabet and a bevy of startups that tapped the hype to secure billions in funding.

Since its debut, ChatGPT has been adopted by companies for a wide range of tasks from summarizing documents to writing computer code, setting off a race amongst Big Tech companies to launch their own offerings based on generative AI.

01/03/2024

"𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐔𝐬": 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐀𝐢𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐬

Palestinian Territories:
Thousands of Palestinians flocked to an aid distribution point early Thursday, desperate for food amid Gaza's looming famine, only to be met with lethal chaos including live fire by Israeli troops.

By mid-afternoon the Hamas-run health ministry said more than 100 people were reported dead in the grisly incident which underscored worsening shortages in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

"There were crowds of people, but the occupation (forces) kept firing towards us," one young man told AFP while lying on the dirty, crowded floor at Kamal Adwan Hospital waiting for treatment.

He was among those wounded in the chaos. But there were conflicting reports on what exactly unfolded in the hours before dawn.

Ali Awad Ashqir, who had gone to get some flour for his starving family, had been waiting for two hours when violence erupted.

"At approximately 4:00 am the trucks began to arrive. The moment they arrived, the occupation army fired artillery shells and guns," he told AFP.

"I was hit by a bullet in the left foot and taken to Al-Shifa Hospital. I was later discharged because my injuries were moderate."

Hossam Abu Safiya, director at Kamal Adwan Hospital, said all the casualties were hit by "bullets and shrapnel from occupation forces".

Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for Gaza's health ministry, denounced what he called a "massacre" at Gaza City's Nabulsi roundabout, saying 112 people were killed and 760 wounded.

He blamed Israeli troops, and Israeli sources confirmed to AFP that the Israeli forces at the scene did open fire, having perceived the crowds near the trucks as a "threat".

But a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said many of the dead were crushed by the trucks themselves.

29/02/2024

𝐀𝐦𝐢𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐏𝐚𝐤'𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐚𝐭𝐡

Islamabad :
Lawmakers were sworn in during the first sitting of Pakistan's new parliament Thursday, three weeks after an election marred by widespread allegations of rigging.

Pakistan's February 8 poll took place with ex-prime minister Imran Khan jailed and barred from running, and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party targeted by a campaign of arrests and censorship.

Khan's followers defied the crackdown to win more seats than any other party but the military-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is set to shut them out of power with a coalition government.

According to the coalition agreement, former premier Shehbaz Sharif -- who ousted Khan in a 2022 no-confidence vote -- will be elected prime minister again by new lawmakers in the coming days.

Parliamentarians began arriving at the 336-seat National Assembly in Islamabad on Thursday morning and took their oaths of office in unison around 11:30 am (0630 GMT).

PTI members were forced to run as independents in the election but some arrived at parliament carrying portraits of Khan, brandishing them in defiance as Sharif and other PML-N leaders entered the chamber.

"In democracy, the parliament is a sacred place," PTI's acting chief Gohar Ali Khan told reporters as he arrived to be sworn in.

"Those who don't have public trust and don't have the mandate should not be sitting here."

Gohar held aloft a poster reading "Release Imran Khan" as he signed the register of parliamentarians but the moment was omitted from state TV broadcasts as cameras cut away.

The Sharif family's PML-N has agreed to govern with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) run by the dynasty of~CHECK~ ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, as well as several smaller factions.

In return, the PPP has been promised the office of president for their patriarch and Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari.

Cabinet positions have yet to be announced.

Analysts regard the broad alliance as a shaky enterprise, facing overlapping economic and security crises plaguing the nation of more than 240 million.

Monitors have also warned the PML-N coalition may suffer from a perceived lack of legitimacy by portions of the public sceptical over whether their votes were counted.

Despite PTI-aligned candidates exceeding expectations, Imran Khan claims the election was brazenly rigged to prevent his party's landslide return to power.

Islamabad cut mobile internet signal nationwide on election day, citing security reasons but declining to give specifics. Results were also delayed, further stoking rigging claims.

29/02/2024

𝐔𝐒 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦

Washington:
The US Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to decide Donald Trump's claim of immunity from prosecution on charges brought by a special counsel involving his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, further delaying Trump's criminal case as he seeks to regain the presidency.

The justices put on hold the criminal case being pursued by Special Counsel Jack Smith and will review a lower court's rejection of Trump's claim of immunity from prosecution because he was president when he took actions aimed at reversing President Joe Biden's election victory over him.

Trump's lawyers had requested a stay of that ruling, warning of dire consequences for the presidency absent such immunity.

Trump, the first former president to be criminally prosecuted, is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden, a Democrat, in the Nov. 5 U.S. election.

The case once again thrusts the nation's top judicial body into the election fray, as the justices are due to issue a ruling on whether to overturn a decision by Colorado's top court that barred Trump from the state's Republican primary ballot based a constitutional provision regarding insurrection.

The justices set the case for oral argument during the week of April 22 on a single question: "Whether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office."

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Feb. 6 ruled 3-0 against Trump's immunity claim, rejecting his bid for "unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power - the recognition and implementation of election results."

Smith in August 2023 brought four federal criminal counts against Trump in the election subversion case. A March 4 trial date was postponed as Trump pressed his immunity claim, with no new date yet set. He has trials pending in three other criminal cases. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of them, seeking to portray them as politically motivated. His lawyers asked the Supreme Court on Feb. 12.

In a filing to the Supreme Court, they said a months-long criminal trial would "radically disrupt" Trump's ability to campaign against Biden. They also warned of dire consequences for future presidents if Trump's prosecution is allowed such as partisan prosecutions, extortion, blackmail and more.

Smith's charges accused Trump of conspiring to defraud the United States, obstructing the congressional certification of Biden's electoral victory and conspiring to do so, and conspiring against right of Americans to vote.

Trump and his allies made false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and devised a plan to use false electors to thwart congressional certification of Biden's victory. Trump also sought to pressure Vice President Mike Pence not to allow certification to go forward. Trump's supporters attacked the Capitol in a bid to prevent the certification.

If Trump regains the presidency, he could seek to use his powers to force an end to the prosecution or potentially pardon himself for any federal crimes.

Trump last October sought to have the charges dismissed based on his claim of immunity from criminal prosecution related to actions taken by a president while in office. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected that claim on Dec. 1, prompting Trump's D.C. Circuit appeal.

During arguments in January, one of Trump's lawyers told the three D.C. Circuit judges that even if a president sold pardons or military secrets or ordered a Navy commando unit to assassinate a political rival, he could not be criminally charged unless he is first impeached and convicted in Congress.

In its unanimous decision rejecting Trump's immunity claim, the three-judge panel wrote: "We cannot accept that the office of the presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter."

The Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump.

The justices heard arguments on Feb. 8 in another case involving Trump with implications for the November election. The justice signaled skepticism toward a ruling by Colorado's top court that barred Trump from the state's Republican primary ballot, based on language in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, after finding he engaged in an insurrection related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters.

The Colorado and immunity cases put the Supreme Court in the election spotlight in the most direct way since a 2000 ruling that effectively handed the White House to Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore.

Trump, who served in the White House from 2017 to 2021, has made sweeping claims of immunity both while in office and since leaving the White House.

Smith was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to investigate Trump's actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election and his retention of classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021. Smith brought charges against Trump concerning both issues.

The four criminal cases pending against Trump include the two pursued by Smith, one in a Georgia state court also involving his efforts to undo his 2020 loss and one in a New York state court involving hush money paid to a p**n star.

The Supreme Court in 2020 spurned Trump's argument that he was immune from a subpoena issued as part of a state criminal investigation while he was president.

In a separate case, the justices also have agreed to decide whether a man involved in the Capitol attack can be charged with obstructing an official proceeding - the congressional certification of the 2020 election results. That case has potential implications for Trump because Smith brought two obstruction-related charges.

29/02/2024

𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝟏𝟗 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐀𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭, 𝟕 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧

Taipei:
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) has detected 19 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels close to the country in the last 24 hours until 6 am (local time) today.

According to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence, among the 19 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 12 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line.

After China's action, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defence missile systems to track the activities of the People's Liberation Army, Taiwan News reported.

In a statement shared on X, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence stated, "19 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC 8) today. 12 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's northern, southwestern, and eastern ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities."

So far in February, Taiwan has detected Chinese military aircraft 253 times and naval ships 150 times, according to a Taiwan News report. Since September 2020, China has intensified its use of gray zone tactics by increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan.

Gray zone tactics have been described as "effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempt to achieve one's security objectives without resorting to direct and sizable use of force," Taiwan News reported.

On February 14, the US nominee to helm US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Paparo, warned that China could soon have the capability to use military exercises to conceal an invasion of Taiwan, Taiwan News reported.

Admiral Paparo made the remarks at a conference organised by the Defence Innovation Unit in Silicon Valley to discuss ways in which the private sector can collaborate with the US military in leveraging emerging commercial technologies to strengthen America's defences.

Paparo touched on the growing threat by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and ways that the US could use new technologies to deter Beijing. The US Commander further said that despite economic, demographic woes in China, and the corruption scandals within the PLA, Beijing's leadership is "undaunted in their ambitions."

He added that these ambitions include the world, the West Pacific, the South China Sea, and "more acutely for Taiwan," Taiwan News reported. According to Paparo, the PLA within the past three years has achieved "step-level changes" in its force levels and the "jointness" of those forces.

He said that these developments, along with PLA rehearsals demonstrating joint capabilities and the heightened threshold of warnings, indicate that China will soon reach a point at which it will have sufficient forces to launch a "profound military operation" that can be operated "under a fig leaf of exercise."

At the same time, Paparo said that the "erosion of strategic operational and tactical warning is real" and presents a challenge to the ability of the US and its allies to detect warning signs of a Chinese attack. He said that this could hinder the ability of the US military to be properly positioned to support allies and partners and affect its readiness to defend Taiwan if China should "decide to settle matters with the use of force."

29/02/2024

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐙𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩, 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 "𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬"

Wellington, New Zealand :
New Zealand on Thursday became one of the last Western countries to designate all of Hamas as a "terrorist entity", saying the attacks of October 7 had shattered the notion its political and military wings could be separated.

"The organisation as a whole bears responsibility for these horrific terrorist attacks," the government said, announcing a move that spells a freeze on Hamas assets in New Zealand and a ban on providing it with "material support".

"The terrorist attacks by Hamas in October 2023 were brutal and we have unequivocally condemned them," New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a statement.

Luxon stressed the designation was about Hamas "and is not a reflection on the Palestinian people in Gaza and around the world" while indicating humanitarian support would continue.

"The designation does not stop New Zealand providing humanitarian and future development assistance to benefit civilians in Gaza."

New Zealand had designated the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas as a terrorist entity since 2010.

But it has been reluctant to follow other Western nations in designating the entire group -- which is also a political party and has enjoyed widespread Palestinian support.

Hamas won elections in Gaza in 2006 and has ruled without fresh polls ever since.

Some New Zealand political figures have argued that Hamas' "terrorist" designation should be matched by a similar designation of the Israel Defense Forces over its months-long Gaza bombing campaign that has killed almost 30,000 people, according to Hamas-controlled authorities in the territory.

Such a move is highly unlikely, but New Zealand on Thursday also announced sanctions on about a dozen "extremist Israeli settlers" accused of violence against Palestinians.

"We are imposing travel bans on a number of people known to have committed violent acts. These individuals will not be able to travel to New Zealand," said Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

Ceylon times

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