The US Supreme Court is this week expected to deliver a decision on whether American presidents are immune from criminal prosecution after they leave office.
The expected decision stems from a case against former president Donald Trump, who has been charged in Washington with trying to subvert the 2020 election and prevent the peaceful transfer of power after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump's legal team says former presidents have immunity from prosecution for official acts, which extends to after they leave office – and that the election interference indictment he faces should be dismissed.
Special counsel Jack Smith, however, has argued that only sitting presidents can claim immunity from criminal prosecution.
Oral arguments produced several notable exchanges, with perhaps the most shocking being a claim from Trump's legal representative that a president had the authority to assassinate a political rival.
During previous lower court proceedings, Trump lawyer John Sauer had said that, under certain circumstances, a president could order Seal Team 6 to take out a political rival without facing prosecution.
“I'm going to give you a chance to say … if you stay by it: the president decides that his rival is a corrupt person and he orders the military, or orders someone, to assassinate him – is that within his official acts for which he can get immunity?” Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Mr Sauer.
He responded: “It would depend on the hypothetical. We could see that could well be an official act."
Mr Sauer referred to a Supreme Court ruling from the 1980s that held a president is immune from civil liability related to official acts.
Donald Trump’s legal woes – in pictures
The Supreme Court has previously ruled that former presidents cannot be sued in civil cases for what they did in office, but it has never included criminal immunity.
The court's decision could come as early as Thursday or Friday, before the current term ends. It has been reviewing the case since April.
In late May, a New York jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments made to people claiming to have scandalous stories during his 2016 campaign. He is set to be sentenced on July 11.
He has been charged in three other criminal cases, although it is the election interference case that has made it to the Supreme Court.
If the heavily conservative court sides with Trump, it could upend many of the charges against him connected to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
A decision this week would come at about the same time as the first debate between Trump and Mr Biden.
Critics have said that the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority and three justices appointed by Trump, has politicised the case and is taking longer to rule to delay the Washington trial until after the November 5 election.
Eric Holder, a former US attorney general, said the idea that a president can be protected after committing a crime if it was done within their “official capacity” is “an absurd and dangerous conclusion”.
“And I'm worried that the length of time that it has taken for the … court to decide this case, that something along those lines might come out in the Supreme Court,” Mr Holder told MSNBC.
Others, however, have cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the reasons behind the amount of time the court is taking to consider the case.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: JAP Almahfuz, Fernando Jara (jockey), Irfan Ellahi (trainer).
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Momtaz, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
6pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,400m
Winner: Yaalail, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Listed (PA) Dh180,000 1,600m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: Dahess D’Arabie, Fernando Jara, Helal Al Alawi.
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 2.200m
Winner: Ezz Al Rawasi, Connor Beasley, Helal Al Alawi.
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Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Honeymoonish
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
PROFILE BOX:
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Rami Salman, Rishav Jalan, Ayush Chordia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Technology, Sales, Voice, Artificial Intelligence
Size: (employees/revenue) 10/ 100,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($800,000)
Investors: Eight first-round investors including, Beco Capital, 500 Startups, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Hala Fadel, Odin Financial Services, Dubai Angel Investors, Womena, Arzan VC
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The team
Videographer: Jear Velasquez
Photography: Romeo Perez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Models: Meti and Clinton at MMG
Video assistant: Zanong Maget
Social media: Fatima Al Mahmoud
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
