Politica internazionale |
Nord America | USA: (POLITICO) If convicted, would Trump go to prison? It’s not out of the question. - As former President Donald Trump’s first — and, perhaps, only — criminal trial crawls to a conclusion, conventional wisdom holds that even if he’s convicted, he’s unlikely to do prison time. After all, the charges he faces are among New York’s mildest felonies, and if found guilty he would be a first-time offender. Don’t be so sure, according to former prosecutors from the office now charging him.
- The case, in which Trump is accused of falsifying business documents to conceal a payoff to a porn star, is unlike any other. So it’s hard to predict how Justice Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the trial, would handle any sentencing.
- The maximum sentence for the crime Trump is charged with — felony-level falsifying business records — is four years in prison. He is charged with 34 separate counts. If convicted of all of them and sentenced to prison, the prison terms for each count would almost certainly run concurrently.
- Merchan, however, would not be required to issue any prison time. He would have wide discretion to choose a lighter punishment, such as probation or a term of “conditional discharge.” A probation sentence would require Trump to check in regularly with a probation officer and abide by other rules. Conditional discharge would allow Trump to remain free without probation supervision, as long as he stayed out of trouble.
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Medio Oriente | Iran: (Associated Press) Iran further increases its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, watchdog says - Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, according to a confidential report on Monday by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the latest in Tehran’s attempts to steadily exert pressure on the international community.
- Iran is seeking to have economic sanctions imposed over the country’s controversial nuclear program lifted in exchange for slowing the program down. The program — as all matters of state in Iran — are under the guidance of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and that likely won’t change in the wake of last week’s helicopter crash that killed Iran’s president and foreign minister.
- The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency also comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the wider Middle East over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Israel and Iran have carried out direct strikes on each other’s territory for the first time last month.
- The report, seen by The Associated Press, said that as of May 11, Iran has 142.1 kilograms (313.2 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% — an increase of 20.6 kilograms (45.4 pounds) since the last report by the U.N. watchdog in February. Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
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Asia e Pacifico | Taiwan: (REUTERS) Thousands protest as Taiwan's parliament passes contested reforms - Thousands of people protested outside Taiwan's parliament on Tuesday after it passed a reform package to increase oversight of the government pushed by the opposition but opposed by the ruling party, which did not have the numbers to block it.
- The peaceful protests, and sometimes violent confrontations in parliament over the reforms, have been taking place against a backdrop of broader concern about efforts by China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, to influence the island's politics.
- The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Lai Ching-te won the presidency in January elections, but the party lost its majority in parliament. Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), along with the small Taiwan People's Party, together have the most seats.
- The parliament reforms give lawmakers the power to ask the military, private companies or individuals to disclose information deemed relevant by parliamentarians. They also criminalise contempt of parliament by government officials, and require the president to give regular reports to parliament and answer lawmakers' questions, which would be a first for Taiwan.
- The DPP says the reforms were forced through without proper consultation and their content either vague or an over-reach of power, and on Tuesday its lawmakers threw garbage bags and paper planes at their opposition counterparts.
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Africa | Cina: (REUTERS) Post-COVID, China is back in Africa and doubling down on minerals - China's flagship economic cooperation program is bouncing back after a lull during the global pandemic, with Africa a primary focus, according to a Reuters analysis of lending, investment and trade data.
- Chinese leaders have been citing the billions of dollars committed to new construction projects and record two-way trade as evidence of their commitment to assist with the continent's modernisation and foster "win-win" cooperation.
- But the data reveals a more complex relationship, one that is still largely extractive and has so far failed to live up to some of Beijing's rhetoric about the Belt and Road Initiative, President Xi Jinping's strategy to build an infrastructure network connecting China to the world.
- While new Chinese investment in Africa increased 114% last year, according to the Griffith Asia Institute at Australia's Griffith University, it was heavily focused on minerals essential to the global energy transition and China's plans to revive its own flagging economy. Those minerals and oil also dominated trade. As efforts falter to boost other imports from Africa, including agricultural products and manufactured goods, the continent's trade deficit with China has ballooned.
- Chinese sovereign lending, once the main source of financing for Africa's infrastructure, is at its lowest level in two decades. And public-private partnerships (PPPs), which China has touted as its new preferred investment vehicle globally, have yet to gain traction in Africa.
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