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Federal investigators searched Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Monday bearing a warrant that broadly sought presidential and classified records that the justice department believed the former president unlawfully retained, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The criminal nature of the search warrant executed by FBI agents, as described by the sources, suggested the investigation surrounding Trump is firmly a criminal inquiry that comes with potentially far-reaching political and legal ramifications for the former president.

And the extraordinary search, the sources said, came after the justice department grew concerned – as a result of discussions with Trump’s lawyers in recent weeks – that presidential and classified materials were being unlawfully and improperly kept at the Mar-a-Lago resort.

Meanwhile, Republican and rightwing groups have swiftly used the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago to raise money from their supporters by bombarding them with fundraising emails and appeals for donations.

  • Could the Mar-a-Lago raid benefit Trump politically? Trump is widely believed to be pursuing a presidential run in 2024. Some suggested that it would fuel his supporters’ suspicion of federal law enforcement officials, whom Trump and his allies have long disparaged as corrupt and biased.

  • Why didn’t the FBI just use a subpoena? The fact that the FBI sought a search warrant rather than a subpoena implies it did not trust Trump to hand over or preserve official documents in his possession.

  • What else has the FBI done? Federal investigators seized the cellphone of the Republican congressman Scott Perry on Tuesday, his office said. Perry is a close ally of Trump.

Biden administration ends Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy

A US border patrol looks on as people wait to have their identities checked and taken to a processing center in Yuma, Arizona, in June. Photograph: Étienne Laurent/EPA

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that it had ended a Trump-era policy requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in US immigration court, hours after a judge lifted an order, in effect since December, that the so-called Remain in Mexico rule be reinstated.

The timing had been in doubt since the US supreme court ruled on 30 June that the Biden administration could end the policy.

Homeland security officials had been largely silent, saying they had to wait for the court to certify the ruling and for a Trump-appointed judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, in Amarillo, Texas, to then lift his injunction.

The supreme court certified its ruling last week and critics of the policy had been increasingly outspoken about the Biden administration’s reticence on Remain in Mexico, calling for an immediate end to it.

  • What will happen now? The program now will be unwound in a “quick, and orderly manner”, DHS said in a statement. No more people are being enrolled and those who appear in court will not be returned to Mexico when they appear in the US for their next hearings.

  • Why did the Biden administration decide to end the policy? The policy “has endemic flaws, imposes unjustifiable human costs, and pulls resources and personnel away from other priority efforts to secure our border”, the department said.

‘This is about striking fear’: China’s Taiwan drills the new normal, analysts say

Chinese People’s Liberation Army warplanes conduct what it described as a combat training exercise around Taiwan on Sunday. Photograph: Wang Xinchao/AP

China’s military drills targeting Taiwan have set a new normal, and are likely to “regularise” similar armed exercises off the coast or even more aggressive action much closer to the island, analysts have said.

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been conducting live-fire exercises and other drills in the seas around Taiwan’s main island for almost a week, in a purported response to the controversial visit to Taipei by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

Beijing claims Taiwan as a province. It has not ruled out taking it by force and objects to any and all foreign shows of support for its sovereignty. Taiwan has accused Beijing of using Pelosi’s visit as an excuse to prepare for an invasion.

While some drills are continuing, the big show put on last week has ended, and observers are now trying to assess how the dynamics of the region have changed, and what the future holds for cross-strait relations.

  • What does Taiwan think? Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, said yesterday there was concern the PLA would “routinise” crossing the median line. He urged the international community to push back, saying Beijing clearly aimed to control the strait.

In other news …

In an article for Vogue, Serena Williams explained her intention to further expand her family was one of the main reasons she was retiring. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
  • Serena Williams, one of the greatest athletes of all time and a 23-time grand slam singles champion, has announced that she is retiring from professional tennis, indicating she could step away after the upcoming US Open. Here’s how how Serena Williams became a rare legend.

  • Elon Musk has sold $6.9bn (£5.7bn) worth of shares in Tesla after admitting that he could need the funds if he is forced to buy the social media platform. The Tesla chief executive walked away from a $44bn deal to buy Twitter in July but the company has launched a lawsuit demanding that he complete the deal.

  • China is racing to stamp out Covid-19 outbreaks in the tourist hubs of Tibet and Hainan, with the authorities launching more rounds of mass testing and closing venues to contain the highly transmissible Omicron variant as Beijing presses ahead with its Covid zero strategy.

  • A former Twitter employee has been found guilty of spying on Saudi dissidents using the social media platform and passing their personal information to a close aide of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A jury found Ahmad Abouammo had acted as an unregistered agent of the Saudi government.

Don’t miss this: A rebel fighter who risked his life for love was murdered, and part of me died too

Naxalite fighters in the forests of Chhattisgarh in 2007: Korsa Joga had been a member of the revolutionary group for many years. Photograph: Mustafa Quraishi/AP

“As a journalist in a conflict zone I was used to covering deaths. But then a young insurgent who had laid down his weapons and become a friend was killed,” writes Ashutosh Bhardwaj. “I was sent photographs on WhatsApp, of his corpse lying on a road in a puddle of blood. In that moment a man deep inside me, who loves, who yearns for love, a part of that man was also murdered. A journalist often lives in bewildering haste, in a frenzied endeavour to locate news in every element around … Imperceptibly, but profoundly, reporting begins to mutate your being. You find yourself ineligible for writing on topics that don’t involve blood or sorrow.”

Climate check: Can citizen scientists turn the tide against America’s toxic algal blooms?

An aerial view of red tide off Florida’s south-west coast. Photograph: Mote Marine Laboratory’s Manatee Research Program

As climate change heats the oceans, predictions of a dangerous phenomenon known as “red tides” are on the rise. Red tides occur a type of rust-colored alga known as Karenia brevis grows, which produces toxic compounds that are harmful to humans as well as dolphins, manatees and other sea life. In an effort to address the threat, the Red Tide Respiratory Forecast was launched. It’s an online map that shows the presence and severity of red tide at select locations, which community of citizen science volunteers contribute to.

Last Thing: The transatlantic battle over a 7ft Frankenstein figure

Schoolchildren get up close with Frankenstein’s monster. Photograph: Getty

Measuring almost 7ft tall, a Frankenstein’s monster mannequin and costume is one of the largest – and strangest – costumes owned by the V&A museum in London. The only problem? The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) thinks it owns it too. The NHM said it was given the monster, and the costume, by Universal Studios in 1935. It in turn lent it to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where it was reported as being destroyed in 1967. So the NHM was a bit surprised when it showed up in London.

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Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/10/first-thing-fbi-were-seeking-classified-presidential-records-at-trumps-home

Some Justice Department officials believe the department should provide a public statement about the unprecedented search of former President Donald Trump’s home and club in Florida, a view that so far hasn’t changed the silence from the top.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has tightly limited the Justice Department’s public statements about investigations, particularly the sprawling January 6 criminal probe and especially anything having to do with the former president. The FBI search Monday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, tied to a criminal investigation into the handling of classified information, was partly engineered to avoid a spectacle, according to people briefed on the matter. Agents appeared around 10 a.m. ET in plainclothes, not in the early-morning hours and wearing the FBI logo jackets commonly seen at searches. Trump was in New York at the time.

It became public when Trump issued a public statement near the end of the hours-long search, portraying it as a “siege.”

Garland has repeatedly addressed why he says so little about the ongoing investigations, citing not only the department’s general policy not to comment but also as part of a strategy to protect the investigation by not letting potential targets know what the department is doing. He also has cited the importance of protecting the rights of people not yet charged with crimes so as to avoid them being tried in the public sphere before the Justice Department brings a case.

Biden faces October deadline to decide whether to help Trump avoid questions in Strzok lawsuit

Some Justice and FBI officials, though, have argued internally that the silence is harmful to the department’s and the public’s interest, in part because Trump and allies have filled the void.

On Wednesday, the department avoided questions about the Trump search by issuing a recorded video statement on a major criminal case, charging an Iranian military official with trying to assassinate John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser.

The video statement from Matt Olsen, assistant attorney general for National Security, and Larissa Knapp, executive assistant director for the FBI’s national security branch, was unusual.

Such a high-profile case would normally be the subject of an attorney general press conference. But having a press conference this week likely would be dominated by questions about Mar-a-Lago.

It isn’t unusual for the FBI and US attorneys to issue public statements on search warrants, at a minimum confirming that investigators were carrying out court-authorized searches when their presence is plainly seen by members of the public or caught on camera.

Recently, they did so after the public noticed an FBI search of the home of Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, and after former Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark went public to complain about his home being searched.

In this instance, the only comment has come from the FBI agents’ association, which obliquely defended the conduct of agents without making reference to the Mar a Lago search.

Trump seizes on FBI search to fuel backlash

“FBI Special Agents perform their investigative duties with integrity and professionalism, and remain focused on complying with the law and the Constitution,” Brian O’Hare, president of the FBI Agents Association, said. “As a part of this process, all search warrants executed by Special Agents are issued by federal District Court or magistrate judges, must satisfy detailed and clear procedural rules, and are the product of collaboration and consultation with relevant Department of Justice attorneys.”

US Justice Department charges Iranian with trying to assassinate John Bolton

FBI Director Chris Wray in Omaha on Wednesday was asked about Trump’s accusation that the agency could have planted evidence in the search and about threats against agents.

“I’m sure you can appreciate that’s not something that I can talk about so I’d refer you to the department,” said Wray, a 2018 appointee of Trump.

“As to the issue of threats, I will say that I am always concerned about violence and threats of violence against law enforcement, he said. “Any threats made against law enforcement, inducing the men and women of the FBI, as with any law enforcement agency, are deplorable and dangerous.

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/10/politics/justice-department-officials-silence-mar-a-lago-search/index.html

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday repealed his traffic-clogging immigration order that backed up commercial trucks at the U.S.-Mexico border, after a week of intensifying backlash and fears of deepening economic losses.

The Republican governor dropped his new rules that had required all commercial trucks from Mexico to undergo extra inspections to curb the flow of migrants and drugs and ratcheted up a fight with the Biden administration over immigration policy.

Some truckers reported waiting more than 30 hours to cross. Others blocked one of the world’s busiest trade bridges in protest.

Abbott, who is up for reelection in November and has made the border his top issue, fully lifted the inspections after reaching agreements with neighboring Mexican states that he says outline new commitments to border security. The last one was signed with the governor of Tamaulipas, who earlier this week said the inspections were overzealous and created havoc. On Friday, he joined Abbott and said they were ready to work together.

When Abbott first ordered the inspections, he did not say lifting them was conditional on such arrangements with Mexico.

Pressure was building on Abbott to retreat as gridlock on the border worsened. The American Trucking Association called the inspections “wholly flawed, redundant and adding considerable weight on an already strained supply chain.” One customs agency in Mexico estimated the losses at millions of dollars a day, and produce distributors warned of empty shelves and higher prices if the order was not rescinded soon.

Abbot acknowledged the trade slowdowns but showed no sign of regret. He said he was prepared to reimpose the inspections if Mexican states don’t hold up their end of the deal.

“I’m not hesitant to do so whatsoever,” Abbott said.

The U.S.-Mexico border is crucial to the U.S. economy and more of it is in Texas — roughly 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) — than any other state. The United States last year imported $390.7 billion worth of goods from Mexico, second only to China.

Trucks are inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents upon entering the country. Texas began its own inspections after the Biden administration said pandemic-related restrictions on claiming asylum at the border would be lifted May 23.

Abbott called the inspections a “zero tolerance policy for unsafe vehicles” smuggling migrants. He said Texas would take several steps in response to the end of the asylum restrictions, which is expected to lead to an increase in migrants coming to the border.

State troopers inspected more than 6,000 commercial vehicles over the past week, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Nearly 1 in 4 trucks were pulled off the road for what the agency described as serious violations that included defective tires and brakes.

Troopers did not turn up any human or drug trafficking during the inspections, said Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw. He described it as unsurprising, saying cartels knew the inspections were taking place.

But migrants are stopped at ports of entry in only about 5% of CBP encounters. The vast majority cross in mountains, deserts and cities between official crossings.

The dynamic with drug seizures is different, with fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and other hard narcotics being seized overwhelmingly at official crossings instead of between them. Their compact size and lack of odor make them extremely difficult to detect.

Abbott has also chartered buses to Washington, D.C., for migrants who wanted to go. The first drop-offs happened Wednesday, drawing criticism from the Biden administration. On Thursday, CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said Texas was moving migrants without “adequately coordinating” with the federal government.

Source Article from https://apnews.com/372a4ee1a1847e935d18fa7aa78f5786

STOCKHOLM, April 17 (Reuters) – Three people in the Swedish city of Norrkoping needed medical attention after being hit by police bullets during clashes between police and protesters following Quran burnings that caused riots in several Swedish towns over the Easter weekend.

In some places counter-protesters attacked police ahead of planned right-wing extremist demonstrations. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has condemned the violence. read more

“Three people seem to have been hit by ricochets and are now being cared for in hospital. All three injured are arrested on suspicion of crime,” police said in an online statement, adding none of the injuries were life-threatening.

Police said the situation in Norrkoping was calm on Sunday evening.

Police and protesters have been engaged in serious clashes during the past days where several police have been injured and multiple vehicles have been torched.

The violence began on Thursday after a demonstration organised by Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish far-right political party Hard Line. Paludan, who had permission for a series of demonstrations across Sweden during the Easter weekend, is known for Quran burnings.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source Article from https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/three-people-injured-riots-sweden-2022-04-17/