Ex-Trump lawyer Giuliani ordered to pay $148 mn for defaming poll workers – Arab News
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WASHINGTON: A jury ordered Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani to pay $148 million in damages on Friday for defaming two Georgia poll workers with his false claims they engaged in election fraud.
The eight-person federal jury awarded Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss more than $16 million each for defamation, $20 million each for emotional distress and $75 million in punitive damages.
The 79-year-old Giuliani was found liable in August of defaming the Fulton County poll workers with his 2020 election lies on behalf of former president Trump.
Giuliani, who led Trump’s legal efforts to overturn the results of the election, posted a video of the pair that falsely accused them of engaging in fraud during ballot-counting and made numerous other baseless claims about them.
Speaking to reporters following the damages award, Moss said the “past few years have been devastating.”
“The flame that Giuliani lit with those lies and passed to so many others to keep that flame blazing changed every aspect of our lives, our homes, our family, our work, our sense of safety, our mental health,” she said.
Giuliani denounced the damages award as “absurd” and told reporters he would appeal.
“I am quite confident when this case gets before a fair tribunal it’ll be reversed so quickly,” he told reporters.
Giuliani also appeared to double down on his baseless allegations against the 64-year-old Freeman and the 39-year-old Moss.
“I have no doubt that my comments were made and they were supportable and are supportable today,” he said. “I just did not have an opportunity to present the evidence that we offered.”
Freeman and Moss, who are Black, testified during the four-day trial that the false accusations of election fraud made against them by Giuliani had completely upended their lives and they were the target of vile racist threats.
The defamation case is just one of a number of legal challenges facing Giuliani, who has been indicted on racketeering charges in Georgia along with Trump and others for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state.
Giuliani was New York mayor from 1994 to 2001, guiding the city through the shock of the September 11 attacks and becoming known as “America’s Mayor” — before signing up as Trump’s personal lawyer while he was in the White House.
Giuliani’s license to practice law has been suspended in New York and in Washington for “false and misleading statements” he made as part of his efforts to overturn the results of the election won by Joe Biden.
Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, has also filed a lawsuit against Giuliani accusing him of computer fraud for accessing personal data on his computer.
In 2020, in a bid to embarrass Biden ahead of the election, Giuliani and Trump allies circulated data from a laptop that Hunter Biden had abandoned at a computer repair shop in Delaware.
LONDON: The majority of the British voting public support giving sanctuary to former Afghan special forces veterans who served alongside the UK military, The Independent reported on Saturday.
The poll of 3,000 British voters, carried out by YouGov, found that just 19 percent of respondents said they should be barred from settling in Britain.
Those veterans who stayed in Afghanistan since the 2021 Taliban takeover have faced assault and torture, and some have been killed.
Several of the veterans — who belonged to the elite UK-funded Commando Force 333 and Afghan Territorial Force 444 units — have made it to Britain via evacuation flights or by boat.
Maj. Gen. Charlie Herbert, a former senior NATO adviser in Afghanistan, said: “I can think of no other Afghan security forces who were more closely aligned to the UK than 333 and 444, nor who more loyally or bravely supported our military objectives.”
The UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, which aims to resettle former Afghan veterans who served alongside the British military against the Taliban, has received character references from many former British colleagues of the soldiers.
However, one former British soldier, Alex, told The Independent that ARAP failed to respond to his reference.
“I provided details about the individual that I served with on the ground in Afghanistan to the Arap team and never got a response,” he said.
“I am aware of a number of other people who served alongside (the Afghan veterans) and never received any contact from the Ministry of Defense or ARAP. The cases were all rejected in the first place and were then rejected on appeal.
“We talk a lot about veterans and their mental health. To think that you’ve left these people behind, you hear what they’re going through. They were looking after you on the ground and you can’t help them.”
PARIS: A French lawmaker has demanded that French nationals who are serving with the Israeli army during its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza must be brought to justice if they are found to have been involved in war crimes.
Thomas Portes, deputy of the French National Assembly, wrote on social-media platform X: “More than 4,000 French people involved in the Israeli army which is committing war crimes in Gaza!”
Portes has called on the French Minister of Justice to scrutinize the status of French nationals presently enlisted in the Israeli army, including those with dual citizenship, and said they must be held accountable if they were involved in war crimes.
Plus de 4000 français engagés dans l’armée israélienne qui commet des crimes de guerre à Gaza !
Une enquête réalisée par Europe 1 indique que 4.185 soldats de nationalité française sont actuellement mobilisés au sein de l’armée israélienne sur le front à Gaza. Il s’agit du… pic.twitter.com/zs5rMNO4kG
“Given the war crimes committed by the Israeli army, both in Gaza and the West Bank, it is unacceptable for French citizens to participate,” Portes posted.
His comments came amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, with Israel pledging to destroy Hamas following the militant group’s attack on Israeli territory on October 7.
Israel’s military response since then has resulted in the deaths of more than 18,800 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-led Ministry of Health in Gaza, the majority of them women, children, or adolescents.
Portes’ call adds a new layer to the intricate dynamics of the region, sparking discussions about the legal implications for French citizens involved in foreign military operations.
This article originally appeared on Arab News en francais, click here to read it.
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘s supporters on Saturday formally nominated him to run in the 2024 presidential election as an independent candidate, state news agencies reported.
The nomination by a group of at least 500 supporters is mandatory under Russian election law for those not running on a party ticket. Independent candidates also need to gather at least 300,000 signatures in their support.
The group that nominated Putin included top officials from the ruling United Russia party, prominent Russian actors and singers, athletes and other public figures.
“Whoever is ready to support the candidacy of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin for the post of president of Russia, please vote. Who’s in favor?” Mikhail Kuznetsov, head of the executive committee of the People’s Front, asked those gathered. The People’s Front is a political coalition, founded in 2011 by Putin.
After the vote, Kuznetsov announced that the group had voted unanimously to nominate Putin.
According to Russian election laws, candidates put forward by a party that isn’t represented in the State Duma or in at least a third of regional legislatures have to submit at least 100,000 signatures from 40 or more regions. Those running independently of any party would need a minimum of 300,000 signatures from 40 regions or more.
Those requirements apply to Putin as well, who has used different tactics over the years. He ran as an independent in 2018 and his campaign gathered signatures. In 2012, he ran as a nominee of the Kremlin’s United Russia party, so there was no need to gather signatures.
At least one party — A Just Russia, which has 27 seats in the 450-seat State Duma — was willing to nominate Putin as its candidate this year. But its leader, Sergei Mironov, was quoted by the state news agency RIA Novosti on Saturday as saying that Putin will be running as an independent and will be gathering signatures.
Last week, lawmakers in Russia set the country’s 2024 presidential election for March 17, moving Putin a step closer to a fifth term in office.
Under constitutional reforms he orchestrated, the 71-year-old Putin is eligible to seek two more six-year terms after his current term expires next year, potentially allowing him to remain in power until 2036.
The tight control over Russia’s political system that he has established during 24 years in power makes his reelection in March all but assured. Prominent critics who could challenge him on the ballot are either in jail or living abroad, and most independent media have been banned.
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks on Saturday with the ruler of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, as the two countries pursue a free trade agreement.
Sultan Haitham is on a three-day visit to New Delhi, which started on Friday. It is the first trip to India by an Omani ruler in more than 25 years. He is accompanied by seven cabinet ministers.
“India and Oman have had an unbreakable bond of deep friendship for centuries. At one end of the Arabian Sea is India and at the other end is Oman. Our proximity is not limited to geography but is also reflected in our thousands of years of trade, our culture, and our common priorities,” Modi said, as he welcomed Sultan Haitham and his delegation.
“Today we are adopting a new ‘India-Oman Joint Vision: A Partnership for Future.’ In this joint vision, concrete action points have been agreed on 10 different areas.”
The India-Oman Joint Vision was an outcome of the Indian prime minister’s visit to Oman in 2018. It focuses on building partnerships in the maritime sector, connectivity, energy security, green energy — especially green hydrogen — space, digital payments, health tourism, disaster management, agriculture, and food security.
During Saturday’s meeting, the Omani delegation also discussed with Indian authorities a free trade agreement, similar to the one India signed with the UAE last year.
“I am glad that the discussions between the two parties on the CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) are continuing,” Modi said.
“Two rounds of this dialogue have been successfully completed in which many important issues have been agreed upon. I hope that we will be able to sign this agreement soon, which will add a new chapter in our economic cooperation.”
Sultan Haitham’s visit comes four months after India hosted the G20 summit, to which it invited Oman — a non-G20 country — to be a special guest, which “reflects the importance and significance attached by the government of India” to the bilateral relationship, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, India’s foreign secretary, said in a press conference after Saturday’s meeting.
“Although the negotiations on CEPA have started recently, they have made substantial progress in the last few rounds of discussion. Both leaders gave strong impetus and push to conclude the CEPA agreement as early as possible,” Kwarta said.
“We are confident (this visit) will add new dimensions to our strategic partnership between India and Oman.”
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is trying to attract Arab visitors by promoting the travels of the famed 14th-century explorer Ibn Battuta, Colombo’s envoy to Riyadh said on Saturday.
The famed Moroccan explorer’s ship arrived in the northwestern port of Puttalam from the Maldives in September 1344. At that time, Puttalam was under the rule of the king of Jaffna, who received him with honors.
He spent a few days there, entertaining the king who, as he recalled in his “Travels,” understood Persian and was interested in his voyages and stories about the rulers of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia whom he had met since starting his journeys in 1325.
Ibn Battuta then went on a pilgrimage to Adam’s Peak, a 2,243-meter tall conical sacred mountain located in central Sri Lanka, which is venerated by Muslims as the site of the footprint of the first man and prophet, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The king gave him a palanquin and sent men to accompany him.
From Adam’s Peak, he took a southern route to Dondra, a southern coastal town, which was a rich temple port town complex. It was destroyed by the Portuguese in the 16th century.
From Dondra, Ibn Battuta went to Galle and Colombo, and from there, he went back to Puttalam and sailed to the coast of Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka, whose economy is highly dependent on tourism, is now hoping to attract visitors from Arab countries by evoking the memory of his travels.
“It’s important to refresh the memories of this historic visit and project it among the Arabs,” P.M. Amza, ambassador of Sri Lanka to Saudi Arabia, told Arab News.
“Ibn Battuta is a celebrated traveler … We believe such a celebrated traveler’s connection with Sri Lanka will be of definite attraction to the tourism sector of Sri Lanka.”
Earlier this week, the embassy in Riyadh inaugurated the Ibn Battuta Trail as part of the Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Ministry’s economic diplomacy program in the Kingdom.
The trail package follows the footsteps of the famed traveler to Adam’s Peak with highlights including cultural attractions, wildlife, nature, adventure activities, and cuisine.
Amza was hopeful that it would contribute to increasing arrivals of Saudi travelers, which have dropped since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We used to attract over 35,000 Saudi tourists to Sri Lanka annually before 2019 and it has significantly dropped since 2019,” he said.
“Now there is a renewed interest, and we would like them to explore Sri Lanka’s beauty, beaches, waterfalls, rich culture, hospitality, nature and adventure.”