Section: Independent Online (South Africa)
Donald Trump rejects impeachment charges, calling it an affront to Constitution
Washington – President Donald Trump on Monday rejected the Democratic-led House of Representatives’ impeachment charges, describing the allegations that he had abused his power and obstructed Congress as affronts to the U.S. Constitution that must be rejected. “The Senate should speedily reject these deficient articles of...
New Trump legal advisor distances himself from White House response to impeachment charges
Washington – Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard Law emeritus professor who recently joined President Donald Trump’s legal team, on Sunday distanced himself from a response by two White House lawyers to House Democrats’ impeachment case against the president, noting that he did not sign on to the document. “I didn’t sign...
Crimes, what crimes? Prosecutors, defence lay out arguments in Trump impeachment trial
Washington – President Donald Trump’s defence team and the prosecutors of his impeachment are laying out their arguments over whether his conduct toward Ukraine warrants his removal from office. Trump’s lawyers on Sunday previewed their impeachment defence with the questionable assertion that the charges against him are invalid,...
Iran seeks to examine downed Ukrainian plane’s black boxes – report
Dubai – Iran is trying to analyse the black boxes of a Ukrainian airliner that was shot down this month, the state IRNA news agency reported on Sunday, denying a report that a decision had been taken to send the plane’s recorders to Ukraine. Canada, which had 57 citizens on the plane in which 176 people were killed, and other nations...
WATCH: Trump team trades sharp views on impeachment with House managers
Washington — President Donald Trump’s legal team issued a fiery response Saturday ahead of opening arguments in his impeachment trial, while House Democrats laid out their case in forceful fashion, saying the president betrayed public trust with behaviour that was the “worst nightmare” of the founding fathers. The dueling filings previewed...
Donald Trump hires OJ Simpson’s lawyer to fight impeachment
London – The lawyer who got OJ Simpson off murder charges will defend Donald Trump at his impeachment trial, it was announced on Friday night. Alan Dershowitz will be joined in a new legal “Dream Team” by Ken Starr, the lawyer whose investigation of Bill Clinton over his affair with Monica Lewinsky led to the last presidential...
Pompeo says he has a duty to investigate alleged threats to envoy in Ukraine
Washington — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday broke nearly 72 hours of silence over alleged surveillance and threats to the former US ambassador to Ukraine, saying he believed the allegations would prove to be wrong but that he had an obligation to evaluate and investigate the matter. In interviews with conservative radio hosts, Pompeo...
Khamenei says Iran delivered a ‘slap’ to America’s superpower image, calls Trump a ‘clown’
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran had delivered a “slap to the U.S.’s image as a superpower” in this month’s military confrontation, seeking to rally Iranians around an embattled establishment as he led Friday prayers in Tehran for the first time in eight years. His speech came amid unprecedented...
Iran can take fight beyond its borders, Khamenei says after US strike
Dubai – The Revolutionary Guards can take their fight beyond Iran’s borders, the supreme leader said on Friday, responding to the U.S. killing of a top general and to unrest at home over the accidental downing of an airliner. In his first Friday prayers sermon in eight years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also told thousands of Iranians who...
How Putin is laying the groundwork to keep his grip on Russia’s autocracy
In 1999, Russia’s president Boris Yeltsin appointed a competent, little-known security official named Vladimir Putin as acting prime minister, before steering him into the presidency. Here, Yeltsin thought, was a loyalist who would protect him and his family from prosecution but also safeguard Yeltsin’s legacy – a Russia that...
