World

By Ashe O
Washington, Sep 17 (IANS) When Florida Judge Aileen Cannon appointed Raymond J. Dearie, a former Chief Federal Judge in New York, to sort through more than 11,000 documents - including classified materials - that FBI agents seized from former president Donald Trump's Florida residence last month, jurists across both the Republican and Democrats side hailed the move.


The 78-year-old Dearie, a former Chief Federal Judge in New York and the then President Ronald Reagan appointee, was described by his peer group lawyers and colleagues as an exemplary jurist who is well suited to the job of special master, having previously served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), which oversees sensitive national security cases.

The Department of Justice also said he was acceptable to them after Judge Cannon rejected two candidates proposed by them.

In 2015, Dearie took the unusual step of reducing the prison sentences of three convicted Canadian terrorists, saying he had been "haunted" by the case and his growing sense that their sentences were unfair. Under federal law, Dearie had been required to sentence the men to 25-year terms for conspiring to acquire missiles on behalf of the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group fighting the government of Sri Lanka. He later cut those sentences to 15 years.

While the DOJ has been hit by Florida Judge Cannon's ruling to slow down investigation into Trump's classified documents case until Dearie reviews the documents in public interest to prevent reputational harm with a possible indictment of the former President, the DOJ has continued to maintain that a special master is legally unnecessary and should not be charged with reviewing any of the 100 or so seized documents marked as classified.

Appointing a special master to review these documents, prosecutors argued in numerous court filings, would slow down a criminal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information and could pose a national security risk, according to multiple reports in the media outlets.

Here's everything you need to know about Dearie and what he will be doing in this high-profile and unusual investigation.

What is a special master? A special master is an impartial outside expert who can essentially be viewed as a judge's helper, said David R. Cohen, an attorney and longtime special master. In theory, the special master can help with whatever a judge needs.

In this case, Cannon appointed a special master to sort through the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago on August 8 to see if any should be shielded from criminal investigators because of attorney-client or executive privileges.

How did Judge Cannon choose Dearie? When Cannon granted Trump's request to appoint a special master earlier this month, she asked the Justice Department and Trump's legal team to jointly submit a list of potential candidates. In a subsequent joint filing, the Justice Department named two judges as candidates. Trump's side proposed a lawyer who is not a judge, and Dearie. Trump's lawyers then told the judge they did not believe any of the Justice Department's candidates would be suitable special masters. The Justice Department said they thought Dearie would be acceptable. Days later, Cannon named Dearie for the high-profile job.

Is Dearie still working as a judge? Yes, Dearie still serves as a judge in Brooklyn federal court, albeit on senior status, which means he can take a reduced caseload if he chooses. He has also recently signalled that he plans to leave the bench. It is not immediately clear if the appointment will speed his departure from Brooklyn federal court or if court administrators will work out some other accommodation for the unusual dynamic of a judge appointing another judge a special master.

What will he do as a special master in this case? The Justice Department and Trump's lawyers have held drastically different positions on what the special master should do in this case. Trump wants the special master to search through all the seized documents - including the classified ones - to see if any are protected by attorney-client or executive privileges and should not be used in the investigation.

On the other side, the Justice Department has questioned whether Trump, who is no longer President, can even invoke executive privilege - a power that Presidents can assert to shield communications from courts, Congress, or the public.

Either way, the Justice Department did not want classified documents to be part of the special master review, saying that privilege would not apply to them or to the unclassified documents, and that delaying investigators' access to those sensitive documents could pose national security risks.

Ultimately, Cannon ruled in Trump's favour. She also denied a bid by prosecutors to allow them to use the seized material in their ongoing criminal investigation before Dearie conducts his review.

How long does Dearie have to complete the job? Cannon ordered Dearie to complete his review by November 30. She said he should prioritise sorting through the classified documents, though she did not provide a timeline as to when that portion must be completed.

The Justice Department had asked in a previous court filing for the review to be completed by October 17. And Trump's lawyers had said a special master would need 90 days to complete a review.

Does Dearie have the necessary clearance to sift through these highly classified materials? Because Dearie previously served on the FISA court, it will probably not take much time or effort to get him authorised to review the classified material, and he may not have to travel far to look at them. New York City has a number of federal facilities in which Dearie could review highly classified material, which is important since the storage and safekeeping of such documents is the crux of the case.

Can Dearie get help for his review? In theory, yes. Special masters typically have others help them review documents. But in this case, staff assistance could be complicated by the 100 classified documents, and whether any potential assistants have the necessary security clearances. It is possible that Dearie could end up reviewing that material on his own, and hiring others to help him with the non-classified documents.

Now what? The Justice Department is expected to file an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta. Depending on what part of Cannon's decision the government challenges, the appeal may or may not interfere with the special master's review.

Once Dearie completes his review, he would deliver his recommendations to Cannon on what documents should be shielded from investigators. It's up to Cannon to decide whether she will follow those recommendations.

--IANS
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Islamabad, Sep 17 (IANS) Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has warned former premier Imran Khan to stop the pursuit of making the appointment of the new army chief controversial as it "will embolden India", adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will instate him in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

Shelving Khan's demand of postponing the appointment of the army chief till August, Asif said he will not let the former Prime Minister put the country at stake and appease India, Samaa TV reported.

"The appointment will be made in November as per schedule," he said during a presser.

He also remarked that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief is rewarding India by promoting political uncertainty in the country, Samaa TV reported.

Earlier in the press conference, Asif termed the Sharif's visit to Samarkand for the SCO Summit as "extremely successful".

He said the premier met with the heads of 10 countries during the two-day visit who promised to extend support to the flood-stricken people of Pakistan.

The Prime Minister represented Pakistan in the Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO on Thursday and Friday.

Asif said the meetings with Chinese, Russian, Iranian, and Turkish heads of state were the highlight of Sharif's visit.

"All these countries promised assistance to Pakistan," he maintained.

The Defence Minister also announced that the premier will visit Beijing in the first week of November at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

--IANS
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Kathmandu, Sep 17 (IANS) At least 17 people were killed and five remain unaccounted for due to landslides in Nepal's Achham district, a local official said on Saturday.

Incessant rain since Friday morning triggered the overnight landslides, which swept away houses in three different parts of the district, the official told Xinhua news agency.

"Rescue teams have recovered the dead bodies of 17 people and rescued 11 injured people from the scenes," he said.

"The search for five missing people is ongoing," the official said, noting that the army and the police have been mobiliaed for the rescue operations.

Of the injured, three were in serious condition and have been airlifted for treatment in the neighbouring province.

--IANS
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By Rahul Kumar
New Delhi, Sep 17: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday that the Indian Ocean region should be open to all for freedom of navigation. He also said that Sri Lanka was open to the navies of all countries, hinting at a possibility that Chinese ships are likely to pay a visit to Sri Lankan ports in the future.


Wickremesinghe added that Sri Lanka does not want to be part of any "big power rivalry" in the Indian Ocean region and lamented the fact that geopolitics had made Sri Lanka a "punching bag". In a bid to defend the visit of a Chinese research ship to the Hambantota port, he also said that the Chinese operate around 17 ports in the Indian Ocean including the Hambantota Port.

So, what has prompted Wickremesinghe to launch a tirade about the Indian Ocean not being free and open? Is he sending a signal to China which has kept mum about restructuring debt despite numerous requests to Beijing since Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Colombo in January 2022.

Dhananjay Tripathi, Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at South Asian University, Delhi, told India Narrative: "The timing of his statement is a bit confusing because the world including Japan are helping Sri Lanka come out of the crisis. It is possible that Wickremesinghe is posturing keeping Beijing in mind because China has not said anything about restructuring the loans it gave to Sri Lanka."

An agreement over restructuring of bilateral loans is important to Colombo as this is one of the requirements for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bail-out agreement. But China has been evasive over restructuring its infrastructure loans that enabled Colombo to build the Hambantota port, an international airport that lies unused, the Lotus Tower and similar other projects.

Without a Chinese nod over bilateral debt restructuring, Sri Lanka's IMF bail out could face hurdles. Japan and India are in agreement over restructuring their debts and paving the way for IMF support. Japan has even taken a lead in trying to organise a meeting of Sri Lanka's creditors.

This year Colombo weathered a major economic challenge with New Delhi's $4 billion support. It enabled the country to pull back from the brink of a major humanitarian disaster after it had little forex for importing essential commodities including food and oil.

India too has hinted that it does not intend to continue financial support to Sri Lanka as it has given enough. Media reports in Sri Lankan newspapers have said that India now hopes the IMF will take over.

"India's statement is not borne out of frustration. It is just fanciful to think that India alone will keep helping Sri Lanka in its financial crisis while the world watches. India has responded well as a neighbour at a time when financial crisis was as its peak. Now, the international community has to pitch in and help," says Tripathi.

The island nation has hired international consultants to help it restructure its debt with its major bilateral lenders. But Sri Lanka is still learning how to placate a silent China and balance itself between powers.


(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

--indianarrative

Tokyo, Sep 17 (IANS) The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said on Saturday that it is ready to issue a special typhoon warning for some areas in the Kyushu region as an "unprecedented" storm is expected to approach.

Large and powerful typhoon Nanmadol is forecast to make landfall in Kagoshima and bring record rain to the prefecture and nearby areas, with the JMA calling for maximum vigilance as damaging winds and high waves are expected, possibly triggering landslides and flooding, reports Xinhua news agency.

The JMA said it may issue the most serious typhoon alert as early as Saturday evening for Kagoshima and other areas in Kyushu, which would be the first such alert for Japanese prefectures apart from Okinawa.

The director of forecasts at the weather agency said that the typhoon had rapidly intensified since Friday night and become a dangerous storm like people have never experienced before.

As of Saturday afternoon, Nanmadol, rated as large in scale and violent, was about 200 km east of Minamidaito island and moving northwest at 10 km per hour.

It was carrying winds near its centre of 198 km per hour with maximum gusts of up to 270 km per hour, with an atmospheric pressure of 910 hectopascals at its centre.

--IANS
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Damascus, Sep 17 (IANS) Five soldiers were killed during an Israeli missile attack on the international airport in Damascus and military sites south of the capital, the military said on Saturday.

The Syrian air defences were triggered by the attacks, shooting down a number of the Israeli missiles, Xinhua news agency quoted the military as saying.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the attacks targeted the countryside of Damascus and the Sayyida Zainab area, where the Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shia armed group, is present.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 17 (IANS) Elon Musk-run Tesla must tell its employees about a lawsuit it is facing over allegedly violating federal laws by requiring workers to sign separation agreements, a US judge has ruled.

The electric car-maker Tesla was sued by two employees in June, who were sacked in the mass layoff at the company.

John Lynch and Daxton Hartsfield, who worked at Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada state, said in the lawsuit that they were among "more than 500" Gigafactory employees who were terminated.

Now, the District Court has ordered that Tesla must continue to inform its employees about the suit "until the merits of Plaintiffs' claims are resolved in federal court or in arbitration proceedings", reports TechCrunch.

Tesla had filed a motion last month to dismiss the claims.

More than 500 other employees were sacked from Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada, after CEO Elon Musk announced to lay off 10 per cent of its salaried workforce.

According to the lawsuit, the Tesla mass layoff violates the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

The act requires employers to notify workers at least 60 days in advance before shutting down a facility or laying off 50 or more workers from the same site.

"Tesla has failed to give Plaintiffs and the Class Members any advance written notice of their terminations," read the lawsuit.

"Instead, Tesla has simply notified the employees that their terminations would be effective immediately. Tesla has also failed to provide a statement of the basis for reducing the notification period to zero days advance notice," it added.

--IANS
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Los Angeles, Sep 17 (IANS) Singers Beyonce and Billie Eilish have been inducted into the Guinness World Records Hall of Fame.

Both Eilish and Beyonce appear multiple times in the 2023 edition of the book, that's been tracking record-breaking achievements since 1955, reports billboard.com.

Eilish lands two new nods, for 'Most consecutive Grammy nominations for Record of the Year (female)' and 'Youngest person to win the Triple Crown of film music awards', taking home an Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy for her James Bond track, 'No Time to Die' at just aged 20.

Beyonce, meantime, lands more than a dozen entries in this year's Guinness World Records book, including 'First act to debut at number one with their first first six studio albums' (now seven albums with the recent release of her album 'Renaissance') and 'Highest annual earnings for a female singer'.

Beyonce also tops Guinness' list of 'Most current Twitter engagements (retweets) for a female musician' and shares the world record with husband Jay-Z for 'Highest earning couple in Hollywood ever.'

The accolades are enough to make Beyonce the latest person inducted into the Guinness World Records Hall of Fame, whose recent inductees also include BTS, Simone Biles and Greta Thunberg.

--IANS
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Khartoum, Sep 17 (IANS) Leaders of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council agreed on the appointment of a Prime Minister and head of state by civilian political forces,.

"The meeting with Chairman of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, on Thursday firmly agreed that the civilians are to select civilian heads for the sovereign council and the cabinet," Deputy Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said in a statement published on the website of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday.

Dagalo, who is also the Commander of the RSF, stressed strict adherence to his previous pledges that the military establishment would exit the political scene to completely devote itself to its tasks stipulated in the constitution and the law, reports Xinhua news agency.

He further expressed hope that the revolutionary forces would reach consensus on the formation of a full civilian government to complete the tasks of the transitional period, in a manner that lays the foundations for a real democratic transformation, the statement said.

He stressed the importance of coordination and cooperation among all the Sudanese to remove the difficulties facing the transition process and create a conducive environment to move forward to achieve people's aspirations in building a stable and democratic state.

On July 4, Al-Burhan announced that the military establishment would not participate in the political talks facilitated by the international community to pave the way for the civil groups to form an independent government.

Sudan has been suffering a political crisis since Al-Burhan, also the general commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, declared a coup on October 25, 2021 and dissolved the Sovereign Council and the government.

Since then, the capital Khartoum and other cities have been witnessing continued protests demanding a return to civilian rule.

--IANS
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Rome, Sep 17 (IANS) At least 10 people were killed and four others remain unaccounted for after flash floods hit the Marche region in Italy, creating what a local mayor described as an "apocalyptic situation".

Violent thunderstorms shook Marche and the surrounding areas on Thursday and Friday, sparking flash floods that uprooted trees, destroyed homes and swept away vehicles, reports Xinhua news agency.

Rescue officials said the four missing people included an eight-year-old boy.

According to Carlo Manfredi, mayor of Castelleone di Suasa town, one of the areas hit hardest by the flooding, the boy was lost after he and his mother had escaped the approaching floodwaters from their car.

Manfredi said the mother survived, but the boy was swept away from her arms.

Also missing late on Friday were a 17-year-old girl and her mother, aged 56.

The authorities did not disclose information about the fourth missing person.

According to accounts on social media, dozens of other people managed to escape the floods by climbing onto rooftops or trees.

According to news reports, at least six months' worth of rain fell in some areas in the span of a few hours.

Severe property damage was reported across Marche and in the neighbouring region of Tuscany, with heavy rainfall also reported in Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise and Lazio in central Italy and in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and Liguria in northern Italy.

President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Mario Draghi issued statements of solidarity with the residents of the hard-hit areas.

Draghi on Friday said that the region would receive the financial support needed to repair the damage and to set up temporary housing for those displaced by the tragedy.

So far this year, the weather in Italy has been the most extreme on record.

The summer was unusually hot and dry, with water levels of the country's rivers dropping to historic lows, reducing agricultural output by a third or more.

The Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the National Research Council said in August that 2022 was expected to be the hottest year since records began in 1800.

In July, a massive glacier in the Dolomite Mountains collapsed, killing 11 people and severely injuring eight others.

Last month, violent thunderstorms ravaged parts of northern Italy, causing flooding and mudslides causing large-scale property damage.

--IANS
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