International
An appeals court disqualifies the prosecutor in the election case against Trump in Georgia
A Georgia appeals court disqualified District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday in the accusation she was carrying against the now elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, for alleged electoral interference in the 2020 elections.
The court’s decision forces the prosecutor to withdraw from this case and possibly in the long run implies the suspension of the judicial process by which the former president (2017-2021) and 18 other people were accused of wanting to illegally annul the result of that year’s elections in Georgia, where Democrat Joe Biden won by about 17,000 votes.
The appeals court did not dismiss the accusation, which had been paralyzed for months and whose future is now uncertain.
The prosecutor disqualified in the case against Trump
Prosecutor Willis, from Fulton County, was under scrutiny after it was discovered that she was in a romantic relationship with a prosecutor who was part of the team that was taking the case.
The appeals court dismissed a previous decision by District Magistrate Scott McAffee, which allowed Willis to continue to lead this case because the prosecutor in question, Nathan Wade, decided to abandon the process.
The above, however, did not prevent Willis’ “appearance of incorrectness”, according to the decision of the Court of Appeals, which concluded that McAffee “made a mistake in not disqualifying the prosecutor Willis and his office.”
Trump’s lawyers asked to dismiss the case
The decision is a new victory for Trump, who has already seen how the Federal Prosecutor’s Office withdrew the accusations against him about alleged electoral interference and for his role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Earlier this month, Trump’s lawyers asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to dismiss this case on the grounds that there was no jurisdiction.
“Any ongoing criminal proceedings against a sitting president must be dismissed in accordance with the United States Constitution,” Steve Sadow, Trump’s lawyer, told the media at the time.
Magistrate McAffe had dismissed last September some charges against the Republican, who since then faced eight charges in this process and not the 13 contained in the original accusation.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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