International
Florida judge dismisses case against Trump for taking confidential documents
Florida Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday dismissed the case of former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump (2017-2021) for the mishandling of confidential documents after his departure from the White House.
The ruling, which comes two days after an attempted assassination of Trump while he was holding a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, represents a legal victory for the former president.
It is the first time that one of the four criminal cases against Trump, who will formally receive his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, has been dismissed outright.
Cannon, who was nominated during Trump’s presidency, argued that the special counsel in charge of the investigation, Jack Smith, was not legally appointed and therefore “violates the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”
The federal judge noted in a 93-page document that Smith’s appointment did not follow the usual procedures, which include confirmation by the Senate.
He added that Congress has a fundamental role in the appointment of special officials and that “that role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or spread to other places, whether in this case or in another, whether in times of greater national need or not.”
Neither the Justice Department nor U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland have yet to comment, but they are expected to appeal the decision in the case in which Trump was accused of illegally retaining classified documents after leaving office and then obstructing repeated government efforts to recover them.
The question of whether Smith’s appointment was legal or not had already been brought to the attention of the judge at the initiative of the former president’s lawyers, during the hearings, to which the special prosecutor’s team argued that addressing this claim should not merit dismissing the case entirely.
The decision comes on the first day of the Republican Party convention, where Trump’s nomination will be made official and he will also announce his running mate for the presidential election next November.
On his social network, Truth, the former president celebrated the decision of the federal judge and pointed out that all criminal and civil cases against him should have the same fate, in pursuit of the “Unification” of the nation.
Trump still faces other trials in Washington, Atlanta and New York.
International
Trump signs order to end federal funding for NPR and PBS
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to halt federal funding for two public media outlets, PBS television and NPR radio, accusing them of being biased.
NPR and PBS are partially funded by American taxpayers but rely heavily on private donations.
Trump has long maintained a hostile relationship with most media outlets, which he has referred to as the “enemy of the people.”
An exception is the conservative Fox News channel, some of whose hosts have played important roles in the administration of the Republican magnate.
“National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) receive taxpayer funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB),” Trump said.
“Therefore, I direct the CPB board and all executive departments and agencies to cease federal funding for NPR and PBS,” he added.
The Republican leader argued that “neither of these entities provides a fair, accurate, or impartial portrayal of current events to the taxpayer citizens.”
At the end of March, Donald Trump called on Congress to end public funding for these two “horrible and completely biased networks.”
International
Man arrested after deliberately driving into seven children in Osaka
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after he rammed his car into a group of seven schoolchildren in an apparent deliberate attack in the city of Osaka.
The children, who were on their way home from school, sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital. All seven remained conscious, according to local authorities.
An Osaka police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect is a 28-year-old man from Tokyo. The officer shared statements the man made after his arrest: “I was fed up with everything, so I decided to kill people by driving into several elementary school children,” the suspect reportedly said.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The injured children, aged between seven and eight, included a seven-year-old girl who suffered a fractured jaw. The six other children—all boys—suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scratches and were undergoing medical evaluation.
Witnesses described the car as “zigzagging” before hitting the children. One witness told Nippon TV that a girl was “covered in blood” and the others appeared to have scratches.
Another witness said the driver, who was wearing a face mask, looked to be in shock when school staff pulled him from the vehicle.
Violent crimes are rare in Japan, though serious incidents do occur from time to time. In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a two-ton truck into pedestrians in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, then fatally stabbed several victims. Seven people were killed in that attack.
Internacionales
Clashes erupt during may day protests across France amid calls for better wages
May Day protests in France were marked by a heavy police presence and clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement in several cities.
In Paris, Lyon, and Nantes, thousands took to the streets to demand better wages, fairer working conditions, and to voice their dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government.
While the majority of the demonstrations remained peaceful, isolated confrontations broke out in some areas. Protesters threw objects at the police, prompting the use of tear gas and resulting in several arrests.
Videos showing police crackdowns circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from labor unions and human rights advocates, who denounced the authorities’ response to the protests.
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