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Republican seeks to bar party from paying Trump’s legal bills

Republican seeks to bar party from paying Trump’s legal bills
Former US President Donald Trump speaks outside the courtroom on the day of a court hearing in the New York State Supreme Court on charges of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election. (Reuters/File)
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Updated 25 February 2024
Reuters
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Republican seeks to bar party from paying Trump’s legal bills

Republican seeks to bar party from paying Trump’s legal bills
  • The former president faces four criminal trials and was recently ordered to pay about $540 million in judgments in two civil cases
  • “The RNC’s job is to win elections. It’s not to pay the legal bills for any leading candidate,” says the Republican National Committee member
Updated 25 February 2024
Reuters
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NEW YORK: A Republican National Committee member has submitted resolutions that would prohibit the party from paying presidential candidate Donald Trump’s legal bills, according to a draft, but the measures must get more backers soon to move forward.

Mississippi RNC committeeman Henry Barbor drafted the resolution on Trump’s legal expenses and another requiring the party committee to stay neutral in the presidential race until he receives enough delegates to secure the nomination.
“The RNC’s job is to win elections. It’s not to pay the legal bills for any leading candidate. He’s got to fight his own legal fight,” Barbor told Reuters on Saturday.
Barbor needs to get two cosponsors from 10 states to join the effort by Tuesday for the resolutions to proceed to a full vote by the RNC’s 168 committee members. That vote could come in March and would require a simple majority to pass. But Barbor predicted they would be defeated if they reach that point.
Former President Trump, who denies all wrongdoing, faces four criminal trials and was recently ordered to pay about $540 million in judgments in two civil cases.
A Trump super PAC reported paying more than $47 million in legal expenses for him in 2023.
Trump is seeking to cement his status as Republican presidential nominee and gain more control over the RNC, including by nominating daughter-in-law Lara Trump as co-chair.
Lara Trump has said it is “a big interest to people” to pay fees for her father-in-law’s criminal and civil cases.
Barbor said pro-Trump forces were “jumping the gun” by seeking to declare Trump the party’s presidential nominee while longshot challenger Nikki Haley remains in the race for the Republican nomination to face Democratic President Joe Biden in the November election. Trump is on course for another easy win in South Carolina’s primary on Saturday.
The resolutions were first reported by The Dispatch. Trump campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita, who Trump has proposed serve as the RNC’s chief operating officer, on Saturday said in a statement that it is “the RNC’s sole responsibility to defeat Joe Biden and win back the White House.”
On Friday, he said the RNC would not use raised funds to pay for Trump’s legal bills.

Topics: Donld Trump Republican Party

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Thailand protests Myanmar’s navy firing at Thai fishing boats

Thailand protests Myanmar’s navy firing at Thai fishing boats
Updated 58 min 3 sec ago
Reuters
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Thailand protests Myanmar’s navy firing at Thai fishing boats

Thailand protests Myanmar’s navy firing at Thai fishing boats
  • Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra questioned claims that the fishing boats had intruded into Myanmar’s territorial waters
  • Thailand seeking more details on the incident and a quick release of four Thai nationals who were among the 31 fishermen detained
Updated 58 min 3 sec ago
Reuters

BANGKOK: Thailand protested an incident involving Myanmar’s navy firing on Thai fishing vessels, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Sunday, after one fisherman drowned, two were injured and dozens were detained from one of the boats.
Shinawatra questioned claims that the fishing boats had intruded into Myanmar’s territorial waters when Myanmar’s navy opened fire on the vessels on Saturday.
The Thai defense ministry earlier said two of 15 Thai fishing vessels were fired on when they were 4-5.7 nautical miles (7.4-10.6 km) inside Myanmar’s territorial waters near the southern Thai province of Ranong.
“It is inconclusive,” Shinawatra said, when asked by reporters whether Thai fishing boats encroached on Myanmar’s territorial waters.
“We don’t support violence whatever the circumstances,” she said, adding that Thailand was seeking more details on the incident and a quick release of four Thai nationals who were among the 31 fishermen detained.
Myanmar’s ruling junta did not immediately respond to a telephone request for comment.
Thai Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said a letter protesting the use of force was sent to Myanmar through a local border mechanism, demanding clear details about what happened and a quick return of the Thai boat and crew detained.
Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa also issued a letter of concern over the incident to the Myanmar government and summoned the Myanmar ambassador for a meeting on Monday, seeking clarification about what happened and a quick release of the four Thai nationals.
Myanmar has been in crisis since 2021 when the military seized power, toppling an elected government and sparking an armed rebellion by crushing protests with lethal force.

Topics: Thailand Myanmar

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Pakistan national airline hopes to resume Europe flights soon after regulator lifts ban

Pakistan national airline hopes to resume Europe flights soon after regulator lifts ban
Updated 01 December 2024
Reuters
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Pakistan national airline hopes to resume Europe flights soon after regulator lifts ban

Pakistan national airline hopes to resume Europe flights soon after regulator lifts ban
  • The European Union Aviation Safety Agency suspended PIA’s authorization to operate in the EU in June 2020
  • Once PIA gets approval for UK flights, London, Manchester, and Birmingham would be the most sought-after destinations
Updated 01 December 2024
Reuters

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Sunday it expects to resume European routes soon and is eyeing several UK destinations after the EU aviation regulator lifted its bar on the flag carrier.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended PIA’s authorization to operate in the EU in June 2020 over concerns about the ability of Pakistani authorities and its Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) to ensure compliance with international aviation standards.
“PIA plans to approach the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) for UK route resumption, as EASA clearance is a prerequisite for their decision,” PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan told Reuters.
EASA and UK authorities suspended permission for PIA to operate in the region after Pakistan began investigating the validity of pilots’ licenses following a deadly plane crash that killed 97 people.
Khan said the airline expects to resume flights to Europe, starting with Paris, within the next three to four weeks.
Once PIA gets approval for UK flights, Khan said London, Manchester, and Birmingham would be the most sought-after destinations.
PIA and the government, which is aiming to sell a 60 percent stake in the carrier, had urged EASA to lift the ban, even provisionally. The ban cost the airline 40 billion rupees ($144 million) annually in revenue.
Khan said the company has sufficient cash flow to add new routes. Decisions on leasing new aircraft will be made after the government finalizes privatization discussions, he said.
The loss-making national carrier has a 23 percent stake in Pakistan’s domestic aviation market, but its 34-plane fleet can’t compete with Middle Eastern carriers which hold a 60 percent market share, due to a lack of direct flights, despite having agreements with 87 countries and key landing slots.
The government’s attempt to privatize the airline fell flat when it received only a single offer, well below its asking price.
“With Europe now, and upcoming UK routes, we anticipate increased revenue potential and hence a rise in PIA’s value during the privatization process,” Khan said.

Topics: aviation Pakistan Pakistan International Airlines Europe UK

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New EU chiefs visit Kyiv on first day of mandate

New EU chiefs visit Kyiv on first day of mandate
Updated 01 December 2024
AFP
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New EU chiefs visit Kyiv on first day of mandate

New EU chiefs visit Kyiv on first day of mandate
  • The European Union’s new leadership team is keen to demonstrate it remains firm on backing Kyiv at a perilous moment for Ukraine
  • Questions are swirling around the future of US support once Donald Trump assumes office in January
Updated 01 December 2024
AFP

Kyiv: The EU’s new top diplomat Kaja Kallas and head of the European Council Antonio Costa arrived in Kyiv Sunday in a symbolic show of support for Ukraine on their first day in office.
“We came to give a clear message that we stand with Ukraine, and we continue to give our full support,” Costa told media outlets including AFP accompanying them on the trip.
The European Union’s new leadership team is keen to demonstrate it remains firm on backing Kyiv at a perilous moment for Ukraine nearly three years into its fight against Russia’s all-out invasion.
Questions are swirling around the future of US support once Donald Trump assumes office in January and there are fears he could force Kyiv to make painful concessions in pursuit of a quick peace deal.
Meanwhile, tensions have escalated as Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to strike government buildings in Kyiv with his new Oreshnik missile after firing it at Ukraine for the first time last month.
The Kremlin leader said the move is a response to Kyiv getting the green light to strike inside Russia with American and British missiles, and he has threatened to hit back against the countries supplying the weaponry.
As winter begins Russia has also unleashed devastating barrages against Ukraine’s power grid and on the frontline Kyiv’s fatigued forces are losing ground to Moscow’s grinding offensive.
“The situation in Ukraine is very, very grave,” Kallas, a former prime minister of Estonia, said. “But it’s clear that it comes at a very high cost for Russia as well.”
Ceasefire?
The new EU leaders — the bloc’s top officials along with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen — were set to hold talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky on Friday appeared to begin staking out his position ahead of any potential peace talks.
He called on NATO to offer guaranteed protections to parts of Ukraine controlled by Kyiv in order to “stop the hot stage of the war,” and implied he would then be willing to wait to regain other territory seized by Russia.
“If we speak ceasefire, (we need) guarantees that Putin will not come back,” Zelensky told Britain’s Sky News.
Kallas said that “the strongest security guarantee is NATO membership.”
“We need to definitely discuss this — if Ukraine decides to draw the line somewhere then how can we secure peace so that Putin doesn’t go any further,” she said.
Diplomats at NATO say there appears little prospect of the alliance granting Ukraine membership soon given opposition from a raft of members cautious of getting dragged into war with Russia.
Kallas said the EU “shouldn’t really rule out anything” in terms of the question of sending European troops to help enforce any ceasefire.
“We should have this strategic ambiguity around this,” she said.
’Transactional language’
Trump has cast doubt on continuing Washington’s vast aid for Ukraine and called on EU countries to do more.
Europe together has spent around $125 billion on supporting Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, while the United States alone has coughed up over $90 billion, according to a tracker from the Kiel Institute.
Kallas said the EU would use a “transactional language” to try to convince Trump that backing Kyiv was in the interest of the US.
“Aid for Ukraine is not charity,” she said. “A victory for Russia definitely emboldens China, Iran, North Korea.”
The new EU foreign policy chief said the bloc would continue seeking to put Ukraine in the “strongest” position — if and when Kyiv chose it was time to negotiate with Moscow.
But she conceded that it was becoming “increasingly difficult” for the 27-nation bloc to agree on new ways to ramp up support for Ukraine.
“This war has been going on for quite some time and it is harder and harder to explain it to our own people,” she said. “But I don’t see any option.”

Topics: Ukraine-Russia war

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Russian drones target Kyiv in overnight strike

Russian drones target Kyiv in overnight strike
Updated 01 December 2024
Reuters
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Russian drones target Kyiv in overnight strike

Russian drones target Kyiv in overnight strike
  • Russia has regularly sent missiles and drones at Ukrainian settlements far beyond the front line
Updated 01 December 2024
Reuters

KYIV: Russia launched attack drones at Kyiv in its latest overnight air strike on the Ukrainian capital, city officials said on Sunday.
Air defenses destroyed around a dozen drones over the city, according to military administrator Serhiy Popko. No injuries were reported after debris fell on one city district, he said.
Reuters correspondents heard explosions above the city later in the morning during the second air-raid alert of the day.
Russia has regularly sent missiles and drones at Ukrainian settlements far beyond the front line of its nearly three-year-old invasion, targeting the energy grid in particular as winter sets in.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Russia Ukraine Kyiv

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War has no winners, Taiwan president says in visit to Hawaii

War has no winners, Taiwan president says in visit to Hawaii
Updated 01 December 2024
Reuters
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War has no winners, Taiwan president says in visit to Hawaii

War has no winners, Taiwan president says in visit to Hawaii
  • Taiwan President Lai Ching-te is making a sensitive two-day trip to Hawaii
  • He is on his way to three Pacific island nations that maintain formal ties with Taiwan
Updated 01 December 2024
Reuters

TAIPEI: War has no winners and peace is priceless, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Saturday in Hawaii after visiting a memorial to the attack on Pearl Harbor on a trip to the United States that has angered Beijing.
Lai is making a sensitive two-day trip to Hawaii that is officially only a stopover on the way to three Pacific island nations that maintain formal ties with Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.
Speaking to members of the overseas Taiwan community and Hawaii politicians, including members of Congress Ed Case and Jill Tokuda, Lai referred to his visit to the USS Arizona Memorial earlier in the day and laid a wreath in memory of those who died in the 1941 Japanese attack.
“Our visit to the memorial today in particular reminds us of the importance of ensuring peace. Peace is priceless and war has no winner. We have to fight — fight together — to prevent war,” Lai said in English, in a speech carried live on television in Taiwan.
As Lai was attending the event, China said it had complained to Washington for arranging for his transit through US territory, while vowing “resolute countermeasures” against a potential arms sale to Taiwan that the US announced hours before Lai started his trip.
China’s foreign ministry lodged “stern representations” over the transit, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement.
“We are firmly opposed to official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan, and we are firmly opposed to the ‘transit’ of leaders of the Taiwan region to the United States under any name and for any reason,” it said.
Security sources have told Reuters that China could launch a new round of war games around Taiwan in response to his visit, his first overseas trip since assuming office in May, having won election in January.
China has staged two rounds of major war games around Taiwan so far this year.
In his speech Lai switched to Taiwanese, also known as Hokkien, and said that by uniting together, all difficulties could be overcome. “Taiwan’s democracy can become a model for the international community,” he said.
Lai and his government reject Beijing’s sovereignty claims and say they have a right to visit other countries.
After Hawaii, Lai will go to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, with another stopover in the US territory of Guam. Hawaii and Guam are home to large US military bases.

Topics: Lai Ching-te Taiwan Hawaii China

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