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WASHINGTON: A US judge on Monday granted Donald Trump’s request for the appointment of a “special master” to independently review material seized in an FBI raid on his Florida home, dealing a blow to prosecutors. Government attorneys had opposed Trump’s request, arguing that the appointment of a special master to screen for privileged material could harm national security, and was also unnecessary as a team had already completed a screening. The decision could delay the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified materials and is a boost for the former president, who has denounced the August 8 raid as “one of the most egregious assaults on democracy in the history of our country,” and denied all wrongdoing. Judge Aileen Cannon wrote in her order that “a special master shall be appointed to review the seized property, manage assertions of privilege and make recommendations thereon, and evaluate claims for return of property.” The ruling — which temporarily blocks the government from reviewing or using materials seized in the raid — made an exception for “intelligence classification and national security assessments.” The judge gave both sides until Friday to come up with a list of candidates for the role of special master. The Justice Department “is examining the opinion and will consider appropriate next steps in the ongoing litigation,” spokesman Anthony Coley said in a statement. Trump is facing mounting legal pressure, with the Justice Department saying top secret documents were “likely concealed” to obstruct an FBI probe into Trump’s potential mishandling of classified materials. When agents searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, they found material so sensitive that “even the FBI counterintelligence personnel and DOJ attorneys conducting the review required additional clearances before they were permitted to review certain documents,” a government court filing said.
The FBI raid came after a review of “highly classified” records that Trump finally surrendered to authorities in January after months of back and forth with the National Archives and Records Administration. The 15 boxes handed over by Trump were found to contain 184 documents marked as confidential, secret or top secret. After prompting from the FBI, Trump’s lawyer eventually turned over an additional 38 classified documents — and provide “sworn certification” that they represented the last of the material. But the FBI went on to uncover “multiple sources of evidence” showing classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago. Trump reacted to the judge’s decision Monday by saying on his Truth Social platform: “Now that the FBI and DOJ have been caught in a massive and determinative Election Rigging Scam, are they going to change the results of the 2020 Presidential Election? They should!!!“ Attorney General Merrick Garland said he personally approved the Mar-a-Lago raid, and the decision on whether Trump is charged with a crime ultimately rests with him. Bill Barr, who held the same post during Trump’s presidency, has said the government appeared justified in raiding Trump’s home, and that he suspected authorities have “good” evidence of obstruction. In addition to the documents probe, Trump faces investigations in New York into his business practices, as well as legal scrutiny over his efforts to overturn results of the 2020 election, and for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. Trump was impeached for a historic second time by the House of Representatives after the Capitol riot — he was charged with inciting an insurrection — but was acquitted by the Senate.
BRUSEELS: The European Commission on Friday urged EU member states to reassess the terms on which they grant visas to Russian travelers and to root out applicants that pose a security threat. “We should not be naive, Putin’s aim is to destroy the EU and he would like to attack us where we are weakest,” warned EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson. She told a news conference in Nuijamaa near Finland’s border with Russia, that Moscow was responsible for an unprovoked war in Ukraine and warned that civilians could act as spies, saboteurs or provocateurs. She alleged that some Russian travelers had sought to harass and humiliate Ukrainian refugees, who have been granted protected status within the EU. “We can not exclude that people are coming with the aim to provoke, to try to get some social unrest, or to provoke violence or riots or things like that or to try to use propaganda,” she said. On Friday, the EU formally suspended a 2007 visa facilitation pact that had made it easier and cheaper for Russians to travel to Europe, but stopped short of the full travel ban demanded by some member states. Johansson said the new rules would still allow passage to vetted dissidents, journalists and humanitarian cases, but that applications for simple tourist and business visas should be “reassessed.” The Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania — which border Russia — have already toughened their own visa rules, but Johansson said she expected them to follow the EU guidelines. Just under a million Russians already hold visas for the EU’s Schengen travel area, and the commissioner said member states should also reassess these existing travel documents.
LONDON: The sultan of Brunei is now the world’s longest-serving monarch following the death on Thursday of Elizabeth II, who was the queen of the UK and 15 other Commonwealth realms. Hassanal Bolkiah, who ascended to the throne in 1967, has reigned for 54 years and 339 days. His reign is four years longer than that of Danish Queen Margrethe II, who is now the world’s second-longest reigning monarch. Before her sudden passing on Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving monarch in the world. Her platinum jubilee — marking 70 years since her coronation — was celebrated in June. Bolkiah was reportedly good friends with the queen, with the sultanate and Britain enjoying a close relationship marked by several ceremonial associations. Members of the Brunei royal family hold several honorary positions in the British Armed Forces. Bolkiah was knighted by the queen, an honor that was also bestowed upon his father, and the pair met on serval occasions in both London and Brunei’s capital Bandar Seri Begawan.
DUBAI: Germany’s difficulties in getting European partners to sign bilateral agreements on sharing gas in case of an emergency predate the current situation, the economy ministry said on Friday in response to a report outlining the problems. “There has been an obligation to conclude solidarity contracts since 2018,” a ministry spokesperson said. “The negotiations and willingness to conclude them was very difficult” even before Germany’s current coalition government took power in December 2021, the spokesperson told Reuters. With Russia reducing its gas exports to Europe’s biggest economy, Germany has already agreed such pacts with Denmark, Czech Republic and Austria, aiming to avoid panic if a supply crisis strikes and reduce the risk countries would hoard fuel. In July, the economy ministry said Germany had been working intensively and for a long time on further agreements with other nearby states such as Poland and Italy. Welt newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an economy ministry report to German lawmakers, that these talks were proving to be more difficult than expected, Welt reported. “Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland are evading the constructive negotiations and conclusion of the bilateral solidarity agreements with us,” the report said. European Union members agreed in July to free up fuel to share around in a supply crisis, but it was up to individual countries to sort out how that sharing will happen in practice. The ministry said the Italian government could only re-engage in talks after the parliamentary election due at the end of September. It was not foreseeable when Berlin could sign a trilateral agreement with Switzerland and Italy, the report said. According to the report, Germany’s neighbors were reluctant to sign due to disagreements over compensation Berlin would have to pay to its companies for expropriating their gas to offer to neighbors.
NEW DELHI: New Delhi is seeking to enhance its strategic partnership with Riyadh and cooperation on international platforms, the Indian government said on Friday, ahead of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s first official trip to Saudi Arabia.
Jaishankar is scheduled to arrive in the Kingdom on Saturday for a three-day visit, during which he will co-chair with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan the inaugural ministerial meeting of the Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation under the framework of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the ministers would “undertake a comprehensive review” of the bilateral relationship.
“During the visit, EAM will also meet other Saudi dignitaries, as well as Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council H.E. Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajjraf. Both sides will review the bilateral relations and discuss ways to enhance them,” the ministry said.
“Both sides will also discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest including their cooperation at the UN, G20 and GCC.”
Jaishankar will meet representatives of the 3.5 million Indian expats living and working in the Kingdom.
Saudi-Indian ties reached new highs when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited New Delhi in February 2019. In October that year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Riyadh at the invitation of King Salman, and the Strategic Partnership Council was established.
The India-Saudi strategic partnership is focused on four areas: Political issues, security, socio-cultural relations and defense corporation.
“India and Saudi Arabia in the last few years exponentially strengthened their bilateral relations in various fields — be it political contacts, cooperation in the fight against COVID-19, at multilateral forums as well, whether it is the United Nations or the G20, which Saudi Arabia was heading in 2020,” Muddassir Quamar, a fellow at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyzes in New Delhi, told Arab News.
Jaishankar’s visit is likely to further strengthen ties.
“Given the kind of regional and international developments we are witnessing today and given the fact that both India and Saudi Arabia are very important actors — regional and international actors — this is a very important visit from all these perspectives,” Qamar said.
The trip is also expected to help the leaderships of the two countries establish ways to proceed with investment projects.
“We have a strategic partnership between India and Saudi Arabia and there is a council also, and this council supervises various committees — economic, political, cultural. It supervises bilateral relations in various arenas: Investment, economic partnerships, counterterrorism, and also many other fields,” Prof. Zikrur Rahman, founding director of the India-Arab Cultural Center, who as a diplomat had served in several Middle Eastern countries, told Arab News.
“This is an important visit which will give an idea to the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as the leadership of India, about how to proceed further regarding big investments and also opportunities for the new projects, which are being launched by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”