Biden and Putin meet in Geneva for summit

President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged from their summit with the Russian leader deeming it “constructive” and the U.S. president calling it “positive.” But back-to-back news conferences made clear that the two sides remain at odds over human rights, cyberattacks and Ukraine. Biden said he raised the case of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny as well as two “wrongly imprisoned” Americans held in Russia. “The bottom line is I told President Putin that we need to have some basic rules of the road that we can all abide by,” Biden told reporters after his first face-to-face meeting as president with Putin.

 

Iran votes in presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Iran on 18 June 2021. Ebrahim Raisi won with 62 percent of the votes (17.8 million out of 28.6 million votes). It was the thirteenth presidential election in Iran since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Under the 1979 constitution, Hassan Rouhani, the incumbent president, was ineligible to run for re-election as he was limited to two consecutive terms or eight years in office. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported 42 cases of journalists being summoned or threatened for writing about candidates. There were calls to boycott the election, and the chief of the police threatened against telling people to not vote. At 48%, the election had the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. More than 4 million votes were void.

The President of Iran is elected for a four-year term by universal adult suffrage with a minimum voting age of 18. The presidential term is renewable once in a consecutive manner. It is the country’s highest directly elected official, the chief of the executive branch, and the second most important position after the Supreme Leader. “Under Iran’s political system, it is ultimately the Supreme Leader, not the president, who makes the final call on all major matters of state.” According to Islamic Republic of Iran’s constitution, any Iranian citizen who believes in Shia Islam, loyal to the Constitution, the ideology of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist and the Islamic Republic can participate in election as a presidential candidate. An institution called the Election Monitoring Agency (EMA), managed by the Guardian Council vets registered candidates and selects a handful to run in the election.

The Guardian Council does not publicly announce the reason for rejections of particular candidates, although those reasons are privately explained to each candidate. Women are not constitutionally restricted from running; however, all women who registered as candidates have been excluded from standing for election by the Guardian Council. “We have not rejected any woman due to being a woman”, the spokeman of the Guardian Council said. He clarified that there is no obstacle for women’s registration in the elections.

Those approved by the Guardian Council are put to a public vote on the weekend. The winner is the candidate who receive a majority (50% plus one) votes. If no candidate receives enough votes another election is held between the two candidates with the most votes the following Friday. Iranians who voted during the election receive a stamp that indicate so on their birth certificates. According to the constitution, once the result is known, the Supreme Leader must sign the decree of the elected president, and if he refuses to sign, the elected president will not assume the presidency. So far, Supreme Leaders have always signed the decree of the elected president. After that, the elected president must recite and sign an oath in a session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, in the presence of the to the members of the Guardian Council and the head of the Supreme Court. In the Oath, the elected President must swear that he will guard the official religion (Islam), protect the Constitution and the Islamic Republic, and that he will dedicate himself to the service of the nation, its people, and its religion (among other things).

 

US Democracy under attack – Scenes from the U.S. Capitol siege

The 2021 storming of the United States Capitol was a riot and violent attack against the 117th United States Congress on January 6, 2021, carried out by supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. After attending a rally organized by Trump, thousands of his supporters marched down Pennsylvania Avenue before many stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to disrupt the Electoral College vote count during a joint session of Congress and prevent the formalization of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory. Breaching police perimeters, rioters then occupied, vandalized, looted, and ransacked parts of the building for several hours. The breach led to the evacuation and lockdown of the Capitol building, as well as five deaths.

Called to action by Trump, his supporters gathered in Washington, D.C. on January 5 and 6 in support of his false claim that the 2020 election had been “stolen” from him, and to demand that Vice President Mike Pence and Congress reject Biden’s victory. At a January 6 “Save America March” on the Ellipse, Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and several members of Congress incited a crowd of Trump supporters. Trump told them to “fight like hell” to “take back our country” but encouraged them to peacefully march over to the Capitol. Giuliani called for “trial by combat” and Trump Jr. threatened the president’s opponents by saying “we’re coming for you”, having called for “total war” in the weeks leading up to the riots. After marching to the Capitol building and overwhelming thinly manned police barricades, many protesters became violent; they assaulted Capitol Police officers and reporters, erected a gallows on the Capitol grounds, chanted “Hang Mike Pence”, and attempted to locate lawmakers to take hostage and harm, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Pence, the latter for refusing to illegally overturn Trump’s electoral loss.

As the rioters entered the Capitol by breaking through doors and windows, Capitol security evacuated the Senate and House of Representatives chambers. Several buildings in the Capitol complex were evacuated, and all were locked down. Rioters broke past interior security to occupy the empty Senate chamber while federal law enforcement officers drew handguns to defend the evacuated House floor. The offices of many members of Congress, including Pelosi, were looted and vandalized. Improvised explosive devices were found on the Capitol grounds, as well as at offices of the Democratic National Committee, the Republican National Committee, and in a nearby vehicle. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died from the events, while dozens more were injured.

Trump initially resisted sending the District of Columbia National Guard to quell the mob. In a Twitter video, he called the rioters “great patriots” and told them to “go home in peace” while repeating his election claims. Pressured by his administration, the threat of removal, and numerous resignations, Trump committed to an orderly transition of power in a televised statement. The crowd was dispersed from the Capitol later that evening, and the counting of the electoral votes resumed and was completed in the early morning hours. Pence declared Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris victors and affirmed that they will assume office on January 20. Three days later on January 9, it was reported that Trump told White House aides that he regretted his “orderly transition” statement and that he would not resign from office.

The events were widely condemned by political leaders and organizations in the United States and internationally. Speaking in Congress immediately following their return to the floor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called the storming of the Capitol a “failed insurrection” and affirmed that Trump’s claims of election fraud were false. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for Trump to be removed from office, through the 25th Amendment or by impeachment. Facebook locked Trump’s accounts and removed posts related to the incident; Twitter initially locked his account for 12 hours before permanently suspending it.

The storming of the Capitol was variously described as treason, insurrection, sedition, domestic terrorism, and an attempt by Trump to carry out a self-coup or coup d’état incited by the President, being the head of the Executive branch of the Federal government of the United States, against the coequal Legislative branch and his own Executive branch Vice President. Opinion polls showed that the large majority of Americans disapproved of the storming of the Capitol and of Trump’s actions leading up to it, although some Republicans supported the attack or did not blame Trump for it. On January 11, 2020, President Trump admitted to senior Republican House and Senate leaders he was partially to blame for the violence that occurred at the US Capitol.

Courtesy : Wikipedia

 

Lebanon government resigns amid outrage over Beirut blast

Lebanon s prime minister announced his government s resignation, saying a huge explosion that devastated the capital and stirred public outrage was the result of endemic corruption. Lebanon’s prime minister announced his government’s resignation Monday night in the aftermath of last week’s devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut and the public protests that followed. “We want to open the door to national rescue, a rescue that the Lebanese will participate in achieving,” Prime Minister Hassan Diab said in a televised speech. “Therefore, today I announce the resignation of this government. May God protect Lebanon.” Diab had formed his government in January after a protracted political crisis. He laid the blame for the country’s myriad problems at the feet of the political elite, who have ruled Lebanon since the end of the civil war nearly 30 years ago. He said they have caused political and economic devastation and brought about last week’s tragedy and he called for accountability. After addressing the nation, Diab went to the presidential palace where President Michel Aoun accepted the government’s resignation.

 Diab’s government will now be a caretaker until new elections are held. He did not say when that would be, but he had previously said he would draft legislation calling for early elections. The decision comes after several ministers and lawmakers resigned, but calls continued for the entire government to go, including in mass demonstrations Saturday and Sunday. Ahead of Diab’s announcement, protesters gathered in central Beirut near the parliament building. There were clashes with security forces and the Lebanese Red Cross reported transporting seven injured people to the hospital and treating nearly 40 others on the scene. The massive blast, which killed at least 160 people, injured thousands and left more than 250,000 homeless, has been blamed on the detonation of 2,750 metric tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored for six years at the Port of Beirut.

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the voices of the Lebanese people must be heard. “It is important that a credible and transparent investigation determine the cause of the explosion and bring about the accountability demanded by the Lebanese people,” Guterres told a humanitarian briefing on Lebanon. His spokesperson said the U.N. stands ready to assist with an investigation, should the Lebanese authorities request it. International solidarity with Lebanon has been strong and immediate. On Sunday, at a donor’s conference co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and the United Nations, world leaders pledged nearly $300 million to help the country – already reeling from political, economic and health crises – recover from the explosion.

Courtesy : VOA

Bloody street protests in Belarus after election

Belarusian police clash with opposition protesters who accuse strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, of rigging his re-election victory. The ongoing 2020 Belarusian protests, nicknamed the Slipper Revolution and the Anti-Cockroach Revolution, are a series of street protests against Belarus’s authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko. The demonstrations, part of the Belarusian democracy movement, started occurring in the lead-up to and during the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, in which Lukashenko sought a sixth term in office. protesters lead to massive spread of COVID-19 in the country which forced the country into lockdown.

 Alexander Lukashenko has been called Europe’s “last dictator”. At the outset of the protests, he had been in power for 26 years, making him the longest-tenured head of state in the former Soviet Union, having led the country since 1994. Under his authoritarian rule, the government has frequently oppressed the opposition. Lukashenko had faced greater public opposition amid his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which Lukashenko has denied is a serious threat. Of the five elections won by Lukashenko, only the first was credibly deemed free and fair by international monitors. During the presidential campaign, presidential candidate Tsikhanouskaya has stated that the people of Belarus have to find a way to protect their vote. Therefore, all of the protests against Lukashenko were “leaderless”.

 On 29 July, supported by the Belarussian government news, 33 alleged mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, were recently arrested in a sanatorium near Minsk. On 30 July, a permitted rally of presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya took place in the Friendship of Peoples Park in Minsk. According to human rights activists, 63,000–70,000 people gathered, and the police recollected only about 18,250 people there. It was one of the biggest meetings since 1991. On 6 August, an estimated 5,000 peaceful protesters took to the streets in Minsk, waving white ribbons, calling for free and fair elections. Over the first week in August, tens of thousands of Belarusians demonstrated against Lukashenko in towns and cities across Belarus. 63,000 people demonstrated in the capital Minsk, which is the most massive street protests in post-Soviet Belarus.

On 9–11 August, several independent journalists were arrested in Minsk, Brest, and Babruysk. According to a statement by the Belarusian Association of Journalists, on 10 August, internal troops and other government forces deliberately shot rubber bullets at independent journalists in Minsk (including Tut.by and Nasha Niva), who wore special high visibility jackets and had personal IDs. Nasha Niva editor-in-chief (also wearing a jacket) disappeared during the night, but he managed to send an SOS-SMS to his wife, saying he was arrested. His fate was unknown as of 13:30 local time, and the Nasha Niva website wasn’t updated for many hours after his presumed arrest. Several journalists, including foreigners, were slightly injured during the suppression of the protests. A rubber bullet hit the plastic ID of Getty Images’ photojournalist Michal Fridman. Several Russian journalists from both official media and Internet projects were arrested but was soon released. On 11 August, it was reported that police officers and other government agents forcibly took away memory cards from devices of many journalists, forced them to delete photos or sometimes crushed their cameras. BBC News Russia reported that three of its journalists were beaten by the government forces that night while covering the protests.

Egypt buries Mubarak, the ‘Pharaoh’ toppled by Arab Spring

Egypt held a military funeral for its former President Hosni Mubarak, bestowing the state’s final rehabilitation on the man who ruled for 30 years until he was ousted in disgrace in a 2011 popular uprising. Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian military and political leader who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in the Egyptian Air Force. He served as its commander from 1972 to 1975 and rose to the rank of air chief marshal in 1973. He assumed the presidency after the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981. Mubarak’s presidency lasted almost thirty years, making him Egypt’s longest-serving ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha, who ruled the country from 1805 to 1848, a reign of 43 years.  Mubarak stepped down after 18 days of demonstrations during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. On 11 February 2011, former Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak and he had resigned as president and vice president respectively and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

On 13 April 2011, a prosecutor ordered Mubarak and both of his sons (Alaa and Gamal) to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power. Mubarak was then ordered to stand trial on charges of negligence for failing to halt the killing of peaceful protesters during the revolution. These trials began on 3 August 2011. On 2 June 2012, an Egyptian court sentenced Mubarak to life imprisonment. After sentencing, he was reported to have suffered a series of health crises. On 13 January 2013, Egypt’s Court of Cassation (the nation’s high court of appeal) overturned Mubarak’s sentence and ordered a retrial. On retrial, Mubarak and his sons were convicted on 9 May 2015 of corruption and given prison sentences. Mubarak was detained in a military hospital and his sons were freed 12 October 2015 by a Cairo court. He was acquitted on 2 March 2017 by the Court of Cassation and released on 24 March 2017. He died on 25 February 2020. He received a military burial at a family plot outside Cairo.

Delhi Riots, A day of shame, When Humanity Dies

On 24 February 2020, a series of riots and violent incidents began at North East Delhi in which 37 people were killed and more than 200 people were injured. Protests were being held against the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) when a BJP leader and former legislator Kapil Mishra issued a three day ultimatum to the Delhi Police to clear the roads being occupied by the protestors failing which he stated that he would forcefully end the protests. Following his comments, multiple clashes began occurring across North East Delhi from the next day, resulting in widespread police and civilian deaths. The police have been accused by many witnesses of not doing enough to prevent violence and in many instances aiding the perpetrators. As of 27 February 2020, police have registered 48 FIRs and arrested 106 individuals, involved in the violence.

Protests began across India in December 2019 in response to the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) by both houses of Parliament. Protesters have agitated not only against the citizenship issues of the CAA, but also against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR). On the intervening night of 22–23 February 2020, around 500 to 1000 women started a sit-in protest at a stretch of Seelampur–Jaffrabad road in North East Delhi. The protest blocked the entry and exit to the Seelampur metro station. According to the protesters, the sit-in was in solidarity with the Bharat Bandh called by the Bhim Army, which was scheduled to begin on 23 February. Police and paramilitary personnel were deployed at the site.

Senate acquits Trump in historic vote

President Donald Trump has been found not guilty in his impeachment trial, ending a bid to remove him from office that bitterly divided the US. The Senate, run by the president’s fellow Republicans, voted to acquit him 52-48 on charges of abuse of power and 53-47 on obstruction of Congress. Democrats charged Mr Trump in December with pressuring Ukraine to smear a potential White House rival. He will now become the first impeached president to seek re-election. Impeachment allows Congress – the part of the US government that writes and brings in laws – to put presidents on trial. It is a rare event and a political process, rather than a criminal one.

In its historic vote on Wednesday, the Senate decided not to remove America’s 45th president from office on charges arising from his dealings with Ukraine. If convicted on either charge, Mr Trump would have had to turn over his office to Vice-President Mike Pence. The Democratic-led House of Representatives approved the articles of impeachment on 18 December. Mr Trump, who is seeking a second four-year term in the 3 November election, always denied wrongdoing. His re-election campaign said in a statement: “President Trump has been totally vindicated and it’s now time to get back to the business of the American people. “The do-nothing Democrats know they can’t beat him, so they had to impeach him.” It said “this terrible ordeal” and “nonsense” was merely a Democratic campaign tactic.

Courtesy : BBC News

Inside Trump’s Senate impeachment trial

The impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 45th and incumbent president of the United States, began in the U.S. Senate on January 16, 2020, and is planned to conclude on February 5. It is a result of the impeachment of President Trump by the U.S. House of Representatives on December 18, 2019, following an inquiry stage that lasted from September to November 2019. The House passed two articles of impeachment, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

 After a partisan standoff over trial terms, on January 21, the Republican majority voted down 11 amendments proposed by Democrats, which among other things, requested subpoena authority to introduce testimony from current and former White House officials, and Trump administration documents which were not provided to House investigators. The prosecution made its opening arguments between January 22–24, and the defense, a team of attorneys selected by Trump, made its arguments between January 25–28. This was followed by a period of questions and answers and debate. On January 31, a Senate majority of 51 Republican senators voted against allowing subpoenas to call witnesses or documents. The Senate plans to conclude the trial on February 5, 2020, with a vote on the verdict, which requires a two-thirds majority to convict the president. The penalty for conviction is the removal from office; a separate vote would be required for disqualification from holding office in the future.

 Under the U.S. Constitution, the House has the sole power of impeachment (Article I, Section 2, Clause 5), and after that action has been taken, the Senate has the sole power to hold the trial for all impeachments (Article I, Section 3, Clause 6). Trump is the third U.S. president to face a Senate impeachment trial, after Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. After the emergence of Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, House leadership came to the conclusion that impeachment might be necessary, and began an inquiry. As this was happening, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was quietly planning a possible trial. On October 8, 2019, he led a meeting on the subject, advising the Republican Senators to craft their responses according to their own political needs. McConnell proposed two potential avenues: state opposition to the House process, or refuse to comment due to being potential jurors.

 As the articles of impeachment moved to a vote before the full House and referral to the Senate for trial, Mitch McConnell met with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and congressional liaison Eric Ueland, later stating, “Everything I do during this I’m coordinating with the White House counsel. There will be no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this … I’m going to take my cues from the president’s lawyers.” As part of the “total coordination”, McConnell stated that the president’s lawyers could decide if witnesses would be called for the trial.  McConnell also said there was “no chance” the Senate would convict Trump and remove him from office, while declaring his wish that all Senate Republicans would acquit Trump of both articles of impeachment. On December 14, Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham stated, “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here … I will do everything I can to make [the impeachment trial] die quickly.” Three days later, McConnell stated, “I’m not an impartial juror. This is a political process. There is not anything judicial about it. Impeachment is a political decision.” The Constitution mandates senators to take an impeachment oath, in which by Senate rules is stated, “I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help me God.

The White House has formally announced its Senate trial counsel as being led by White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow, alongside Ken Starr, Alan Dershowitz, Pam Bondi, Jane Raskin, Eric Herschmann, and Robert Ray. Additionally, Michael Purpura and Patrick Philbin will participate in the trial. On January 20, the White House named eight House Republicans to serve on Trump’s defense team: Doug Collins, Mike Johnson, Jim Jordan, Debbie Lesko, Mark Meadows, John Ratcliffe, Elise Stefanik, and Lee Zeldin.

Closing arguments were given by the prosecution and defense teams on February 3. That day, Democratic senator Joe Manchin, who was undecided on the trial vote, proposed the Senate censure the president to prevent his behavior to go “unchecked by the Senate,” though there appeared to be little support for it.[169] On February 5, the Senate plans to vote on whether or not to convict the president on the charges and evidence as they have been presented and debated upon. Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 of the Constitution, a two-thirds majority of the Senate (in this case, 67 if all members are present) is required to convict the president. This means at least 20 Republican senators would need to vote with all Democratic (and two independent) senators to convict Trump. Conviction for impeachment cannot be appealed or pardoned; the penalty is removal from office; a separate vote, by simple majority, would be required for disqualification from holding office in the future. If Trump is removed from office, Mike Pence will become president in accordance with the 25th Amendment

Celebration, Resignation as Britain leaves the EU on Brexit Day

The U.K. finally left the EU after 47 years of membership, marking one of the biggest political and economic shifts in modern European history. Brexit brings about the end of a tumultuous three-and-a-half year departure process that has caused turmoil in the U.K.’s political establishment, economic uncertainty and heightened tensions between the U.K. and the EU — its largest single trading partner as a bloc. The departure on January 31 also marks the start of a “transition period” in which the U.K. remains a member of the single market and customs union and begins negotiations with the EU to strike a free-trade deal. During the transition period, the U.K. will not have voting rights on EU matters but will still be bound by EU rules. The U.K. government has set an ambitious (and some say, unviable) deadline of the end of 2020 in which a deal must be reached, otherwise it will leave the single market with “no deal” and will have to revert to World Trade Organization rules.