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US Supreme Court’s move to hear Trump’s immunity claim gives him gift of delay

A view of the US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. (REUTERS)
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Updated 01 March 2024
Reuters
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US Supreme Court’s move to hear Trump’s immunity claim gives him gift of delay

  • Trump’s lawyers have argued that he should be shielded from prosecution for his effort to reverse President Joe Biden’s election victory over him because he was president when he took those actions
  • Some legal experts criticized the Supreme Court, whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three Trump appointees, for undue delay
Updated 01 March 2024
Reuters

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court appears likely to reject Donald Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution for trying to undo his 2020 election loss, according to legal experts, but its decision to spend months on the matter could aid his quest to regain the presidency by further delaying a monumental criminal trial.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that he should be shielded from prosecution for his effort to reverse President Joe Biden’s election victory over him because he was president when he took those actions, a sweeping assertion of immunity firmly rejected by lower courts.
But the Supreme Court’s decision not to schedule its arguments on the issue until late April reduces the chances that a trial on election subversion charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith could be finished before the Nov. 5 US election. Trump is cruising toward the Republican nomination to challenge Biden, a Democrat.
Some legal experts criticized the Supreme Court, whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three Trump appointees, for undue delay.
“They could have set a more aggressive briefing and argument schedule, as Smith requested,” University of Michigan law professor Leah Litman said. “The immunity claims are also outlandish. They could have been rejected on the papers (legal briefs) if they wanted to be the one to decide it.”
“They’ll reject his immunity bid,” Litman added, but forecast that the soonest a decision would come is May.
Legal experts said the justices would need to rule by about June 1 to leave enough time for Trump’s trial on the charges to wrap up before Election Day.
Smith, seeking to avoid trial delays, had asked the justices on Dec. 11 to launch a fast-track review of the immunity claim. Trump asked the justices to not expedite the review, and on Dec. 22 they did what he requested, opting to let the matter play out in a lower court rather than resolving it right away.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Feb. 6 upheld US District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s Dec. 1 ruling rejecting the immunity claim. Trump on Feb. 12 asked the Supreme Court to freeze the D.C. Circuit ruling. On Feb. 14, Smith asked the justices to reject Trump’s bid to further delay the matter. It took the court two more weeks before it announced it would hear arguments in the matter, which it scheduled for the week of April 22.
The trial had been scheduled to start on March 4 before the delays over the immunity issue. Now no trial date is set.

Four prosecutions
The case is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump faces. A March 25 trial date has been set on charges in state court in New York involving hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. It is unclear when the other criminal cases will go to trial.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four cases, seeking to portray them as politically motivated.
“I should not have to go through any fake prosecutions before the election,” Trump wrote on social media on Feb. 19.
A criminal conviction could harm Trump’s election chances. In Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls, a quarter of Republicans and half of independents said they would not vote for Trump if a jury convicted him of a felony.
If he is elected and becomes president again next January, he could order an end to this case and a second brought by Smith concerning Trump’s handling of classified documents — or seek to pardon himself for any federal convictions.
Republican strategist Ford O’Connell, who worked with Trump during the 2020 campaign, said of the delays in the trial timeline as the Supreme Court resolves the immunity matter: “It’s hard to overstate what a victory this is politically for the Trump legal team and for Donald Trump.”
“This is a great benefit to Trump in terms of the timeline of these cases, and how they may interact with the election, particularly in the fall,” O’Connell said.

Slowing things down
University of Michigan law professor Barbara McQuade, a former senior federal prosecutor appointed by President Barack Obama, said that a time frame for the election subversion trial “is manageable as long as the Supreme Court acts promptly, and remains mindful of the public’s right to a speedy trial.”
McQuade added that “it seems likely that the court will uphold the D.C. Circuit ruling against Trump.”
“I think that Trump’s arguments are pretty thin,” added Georgetown University law professor Erica Hashimoto.
Chutkan has promised to give Trump about 90 days to prepare for trial once the case returns to her courtroom, with a trial expected to last six to eight weeks. For a verdict to come before the election, the trial would need to start by around Sept. 1, McQuade said.
UCLA School of Law elections expert Richard Hasen said that if the Supreme Court’s ruling comes in late June, “it is not at all clear that there could be a trial before the election.”
“I’m also skeptical the judge would make Trump go to trial if he’s the general election candidate on the Republican side,” Hasen added.
Hasen forecast that the Supreme Court “is likely to reject Trump’s immunity argument on the merits.”
Delaying the trial gives Trump more time to rally supporters around his claim that the charges were politically motivated, an assertion that Reuters/Ipsos polls show is broadly held by Republican voters.
Some experts cite Trump’s long-established record of making strategic use of court delays for legal and political advantage.
Hasen noted that “given the weakness of Trump’s position, it’s reasonable to ask whether this is simply an attempt, now more likely to be successful, to run out the clock.”

 

Topics: 2024 US Elections US Supreme Court Donald Trump

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Bangladeshi women break driving taboo on male-dominated roads

Sharmin Akter Pinky, a professional female driver, navigates the roads of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on May 27, 2025. (AN photo)
Updated 55 min 47 sec ago
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Bangladeshi women break driving taboo on male-dominated roads

  • Country’s largest development organization opened all-female driving school in 2012
  • Most of its graduates now employed by NGOs, international organizations
Updated 55 min 47 sec ago
SHEHAB SUMON

DHAKA: When Sharmin Akter Pinky sat behind the steering wheel for the first time, it was because of her aunt, who encouraged her to venture into a field which, in Bangladesh, had traditionally been dominated by men.

“She used to inspire me to be an independent woman and to do something with my own abilities,” Pinky told Arab News.

Her aunt saw women learning to drive at a school in Dhaka and convinced the rest of the family that it would be the right path for her niece as well.

“She kept insisting that if the other girls could do it, I would also be able to do the same,” Pinky said.

“This is how I stepped into this driving career, with the support of my parents, uncle, and aunt.”

Pinky was 20 at the time. Now, eight years later, she is a professional driver working with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.

The all-female driving school she enrolled in was opened by BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), Bangladesh’s largest development organization, in 2012. Each year, more and more women have been taking the classes — making the wheel their tool for earning a livelihood and building a career.

“There was a time when people had a very negative mindset about girls entering the driving profession, but things have improved a lot since then. I would encourage more women to take it up. Girls should be independent and explore the world around them,” Pinky said.

For her, it also comes with a personal mission to help empower others who may not have had as much support from their families as she did.

In Pinky’s village, it was not widely accepted that women could work.

She said: “In the early days, when I went back to the village during holidays, people would say things like ‘This isn’t a respectable job,’ or ‘You’ll have trouble getting married,’ or ‘You might fall in with the wrong crowd.’

“But my father always stood by me. He told me not to listen to what people around us said. He encouraged me to focus on being a good human being, doing honest work, and helping others improve their lives.

“Later, I brought two other girls from my village, arranged driving training for them, and helped them find jobs. Now, people admit that driving can be a good job for women too. I feel proud I have started something.”

For Sharmina Akter Banu, who now also works at FAO, driving offered a means of survival.

When her father and husband passed away, she was left alone caring for her 18-month-old child, younger siblings, and mother.

“I received an offer from the BRAC Driving School to take driving training. I completed the training over a period of three months. After that, I got a job as a professional driver,” she said.

“At that time all of my siblings were still attending school. With the income from my driving job, I took on the responsibility of supporting my younger siblings. Thanks to that, all of them were able to complete their education.”

Banu’s younger brother is now pursuing his honors degree, and her son is completing high school.

The job has become a source of pride for her. She has a stable profession, is financially independent, has been able to support her family, and feels like an equal member of society.

“I’m surrounded by many male drivers and, among them, I am the only female. It’s a matter of pride for me, because as a woman I’ve been able to work in this challenging profession alongside men,” she said.

“Wherever I notice a female driver, it fills my heart with joy. More and more girls are coming into this profession. And they are doing well.”

Banu and Pinky are among more than 3,500 professional women drivers trained by BRAC. They come from various parts of Bangladesh and different backgrounds.

“We have BRAC’s network in the remotest parts of the country … We receive applications from minorities and underprivileged women,” Abdul Quddus, who is in charge of the organization’s driving schools, told Arab News.

“After receiving training, the female drivers start working at different organizations, especially with international NGOs … To date, all the women who received professional driving training from us are doing well at their workplaces.”

They are contributing not only to the workforce and efforts to change social norms, but also to improving road safety in a country where traffic accidents are common.

“The society has now mostly overcome the stereotype that driving is mostly a male job,” Quddus said.

“Women can play a significant role in ensuring road safety. They don’t get involved in risky driving like men, and they are more respectful of the traffic rules.”

Topics: Bangladesh

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Deadly civilian plane crashes in India over the decades

Updated 12 June 2025
Reuters
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Deadly civilian plane crashes in India over the decades

  • Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad on Thursday
  • Plane reportedly crashed on top of the dining area of state-run BJ Medical College hostel, killing many medical students as well
Updated 12 June 2025
Reuters

NEW DELHI, India: An Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said, and India’s federal health minister said that “many people” were killed.
Following are details of some other airline accidents in India in recent years:

AUGUST 2020
Twenty-one people died when an Air India Express Boeing 737 plane skidded off the runway in the southern city of Kozhikode during heavy rain, plunged into a valley and crashed nose-first into the ground.

MAY 2010
An Air India Boeing 737 flight from Dubai overshot the runway at the airport in the southern city of Mangaluru and crashed into a gorge, killing 158 people on board.

JULY 2000
More than 50 people were killed when a state-owned Alliance Air flight between Kolkata and the capital, New Delhi, crashed in a residential area of the eastern city of Patna.

APRIL 1993
An Indian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed during takeoff in the western city of Aurangabad and killed 55 people on board.

AUGUST 1991
An Indian Airlines Boeing 737 flight from Kolkata crashed during descent near Imphal, the capital of the hilly north-eastern state of Manipur, killing all 69 occupants onboard.

OCTOBER 1988
More than 130 passengers died when an Indian Airlines Boeing 737, flying from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, crashed as it was coming in to land.

JANUARY 1978
All 213 passengers of an Air India flight were killed when the captain lost control of the plane after take-off and plunged it into the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, India’s financial hub.
 

Topics: Air India plane crash Indian plane crash India

NATO chief hopeful of spending deal as meets allies in Rome

Updated 12 June 2025
AFP
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NATO chief hopeful of spending deal as meets allies in Rome

  • Rutte is urging NATO members to commit to 3.5 percent of GDP on direct military spending by 2032
Updated 12 June 2025
AFP

ROME: NATO chief Mark Rutte said Thursday he was “pretty confident” of getting a deal on boosting defense spending at a summit later this month, as he met European allies in Rome.
He joined foreign ministers and diplomats from Italy, France, Germany, Britain, Poland, Spain, Ukraine and the EU to discuss defense spending and their support for Kyiv, as Russia escalates its bombardments.
The meeting of the so-called “Weimar+” group comes ahead of a G7 summit in Canada on June 15-17, where allies will push US President Donald Trump to be more aggressive in punishing the Kremlin.
It will be followed by a NATO meeting in The Hague on June 24-25, where the focus will be reaching a deal that satisfies Trump’s demands to spend five percent of GDP on defense.
Rutte is urging NATO members to commit to 3.5 percent of GDP on direct military spending by 2032, and an additional 1.5 percent on broader security-related expenditure.
“We are discussing the final decisions we will take in The Hague. I’m pretty confident indeed... that we will get to a joint position, all 32 (members),” he told reporters heading into the talks in Rome.
He praised Trump’s efforts to reach a peace deal in Ukraine by talking directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying “he broke the deadlock” — even if the discussions are stalled.
Russia has fired record numbers of drones and missiles at Ukraine over recent weeks, escalating three years of daily bombardments as it outlines hard-line demands — rejected by Kyiv as “ultimatums” — to halt the war.
Rutte noted that Russia had sent a historian to talks in Istanbul, “explaining more or less that Ukraine is at fault here. I think that’s not helpful, but at least, step by step, we try to make progress.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the meeting host whose country spends 1.5 percent of GDP on defense, said he was “very happy” with Rutte’s spending plan.
“For Italy it’s important to spend more but we need more time, 10 years, I think it is more or less possible to achieve this goal,” he said.

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Air India plane with 242 on board crashes at India’s Ahmedabad airport

Updated 12 June 2025
Reuters
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Air India plane with 242 on board crashes at India’s Ahmedabad airport

  • The plane was reportedly a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft
  • It was headed to Gatwick airport in the United Kingdom when it crashed in a civilian area near the airport
Updated 12 June 2025
Reuters

NEW DELHI: An Air India plane headed to London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said, without specifying whether there were any fatalities.

The plane was headed to Gatwick airport in the UK, Air India said, while police officers said it crashed in a civilian area near the airport.

Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.

“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates,” Air India said on X.

The crash occurred when the aircraft was taking off, television channels reported. One channel showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge cloud of fire rising into the sky from beyond the houses.

Visuals also showed debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising up into the sky near the airport.

They also showed visuals of people being moved in stretchers and being taken away in ambulances.

According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad airport, the aircraft departed at 1.39 p.m. (0809 GMT) from runway 23. It gave a “Mayday” call, signalling an emergency, but thereafter there was no response from the aircraft.

Flightradar24 also said that it received the last signal from the aircraft seconds after it took off.

“The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB,” it said.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The last fatal plane crash in India involved Air India Express, the airline’s low-cost arm.

The airline’s Boeing-737 overshot a “table-top” runway at Kozhikode International Airport in southern India in 2020. The plane skidded off the runway, plunging into a valley and crashing nose-first into the ground.
Twenty-one people were killed in that crash.

Topics: Indian plane crash New delhi Indian Airport

Hundreds killed as London-bound Air India flight crashes into residential area moments after take-off

Updated 55 min 2 sec ago
AP
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Hundreds killed as London-bound Air India flight crashes into residential area moments after take-off

Updated 55 min 2 sec ago
AP

AHMEDABAD, INDIA: It is likely no one survived on an Air India airliner that crashed Thursday, Ahmedabad’s city police commissioner said, adding that there were likely also casualties from the area of the city where it went down.

The flight crashed midday shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport with more than 240 people on board.

“It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash,” Commissioner G S Malik told The Associated Press, adding that with the plane crashing in a residential area with offices, “some locals would have also died.”

“Exact figures on casualties are being ascertained,” he said.

Visuals on local television channels showed smoke billowing from the crash site in what appeared to be a populated area near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city with a population of more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

Firefighters doused the smoking wreckage of the plane, which would have been fully loaded with fuel shortly after takeoff, and adjacent multi-story buildings with water. Charred bodies lay on the ground.

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“The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.

Modi called the crash “heartbreaking beyond words.”

“In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected,” he said in a social media post.

The airline said the Gatwick Airport-bound flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew. Of those, Air India said there were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the directorate of civil aviation, told The Associated Press that Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes aftertaking off at 1:38 p.m. local time. He said 244 people were on board and it was not immediately possible to reconcile the discrepancy with Air India’s numbers.

All efforts were being made to ensure medical aid and relief support at the site, India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X.

The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engine plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.

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Boeing said it was aware of the reports of the crash and was “working to gather more information.”

The aircraft was introduced in 2009 and more than 1,000 have been delivered to dozens of airlines, according to the flightradar24 website.

Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, said at the moment “our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families.”

He said on X that the airline had set up an emergency center and support team for families seeking information about those who were on the flight.

“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event,” he said.

British Cabinet minister Lucy Powell said the government will provide “all the support that it can” to those affected by the crash.

“This is an unfolding story, and it will undoubtedly be causing a huge amount of worry and concern to the many, many families and communities here and those waiting for the arrival of their loved ones,” she told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

“We send our deepest sympathy and thoughts to all those families, and the government will provide all the support that it can with those in India and those in this country as well,” she added.

Britain has very close ties with India. There were nearly 1.9 million people in the country of Indian descent, according to the 2021 UK census.

The last major passenger plane crash in India was in 2020 when an Air India Express Boeing-737 skidded off a hilltop runway in southern India, killing 21 people.

The worst air disaster in India was on Nov. 12, 1996, when a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight collided midair with a Kazakhastan Airlines Flight near Charki Dadri in Haryana state, killing all 349 on board the two planes.

The crash comes days before the opening of the Paris Air Show, a major aviation expo where Boeing and European rival Airbus will showcase their aircraft and battle for jet orders from airline customers.

Boeing has been in recovery mode for more than six years after Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max 8, plunged into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board. Five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 157 passengers and crew members.

Shares of Boeing Co. tumbled nearly 9 percent before trading opened in the US.

Topics: Air India

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