Zelensky is Time Magazine’s 2022 Person of the Year

Time Magazine has named Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and “the spirit of Ukraine” as its 2022 Person of the Year.

The award goes to an event or person deemed to have had the most influence on global events over the past 12 months.

Other finalists included protesters in Iran, China’s leader Xi Jinping and the US Supreme Court.

The magazine’s editor said the decision was “the most clear-cut in memory”.

“In a world that had come to be defined by its divisiveness, there was a coming together around this cause, around this country,” Edward Felsenthal wrote.

He added that the “spirit of Ukraine” referred to Ukrainians around the world, including many who “fought behind the scenes”. This includes people like Ievgen Klopotenko, a chef who provided thousands of free meals to Ukrainians and medic Yuliia Payevska who was captured, then released after three months in Russian captivity.

The magazine said Mr Zelensky had inspired Ukrainians and was recognised internationally for his courage in resisting the Russian invasion.

“Zelensky’s success as a wartime leader has relied on the fact that courage is contagious,” it said.

British trauma surgeon David Nott, who went into Ukraine to help those injured in the war, is one of several others who feature on the magazine’s cover.

Women in Iran were Time’s 2022 Heroes of the year and the K-pop band Blackpink were recognised as Time’s Entertainer of the year.

American baseballer Aaron Judge has been recognised as the Athlete of the Year and Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh is the Icon of the Year.

Elon Musk, who was last year’s winner, was again listed as a finalist. In 2021, his electric car company, Tesla, became the most valuable carmaker in the world.

The tradition began in 1927 – although back then it was the Man of the Year.

Other past winners have included the former dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler in 1938, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was 2007’s Person of the Year.

(BBC News)

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New Peru president sworn in after impeachment of predecessor Pedro Castillo

Peru has a female president for the first time, after ex-president Pedro Castillo was impeached - hours after he tried to dissolve parliament.

Dina Boluarte - previously the vice-president - was sworn in after a dramatic day in Lima on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Mr Castillo had said he was replacing Congress with an “exceptional emergency government”.

But lawmakers ignored this, and in an emergency meeting impeached him. He was then detained and accused of rebellion.

Ms Boluarte, a 60-year-old lawyer, said she would govern until July 2026, which is when Mr Castillo’s presidency would have ended.

Speaking after taking the oath of office, she called for a political truce to overcome the crisis which has gripped the country.

“What I ask for is a space, a time to rescue the country,” she said.

Wednesday’s dramatic chain of events began with President Pedro Castillo giving an address on national television in which he declared a state of emergency.

He announced that he would dissolve the opposition-controlled Congress, a move which was met with shock both in Peru - several ministers resigned in protest - and abroad.

The head of the constitutional court accused him of launching a coup d’etat, while the US “strongly urged” Mr Castillo to reverse his decision.

Peru’s police and armed forces released a joint statement in which they said they respected the constitutional order.

Mr Castillo tried to dissolve Congress just hours before it was due to start fresh impeachment proceedings against him - the third since he came to office in July 2021.

In his televised address he said: “In response to citizens’ demands throughout the length and breadth of the country, we have decided to establish an exceptional government aimed at re-establishing the rule of law and democracy.”

He said that “a new Congress with constituent powers to draw up a new constitution” would be convened “within no more than nine months”.

But Congress, which is controlled by parties opposed to Mr Castillo, convened an emergency session and held the impeachment vote Mr Castillo had been trying to prevent.

The result was overwhelming: 101 voted in favour of impeaching him, with only six against and 10 abstentions.

The head of the constitutional court accused him of launching a coup d’etat, while the US “strongly urged” Mr Castillo to reverse his decision.

Peru’s police and armed forces released a joint statement in which they said they respected the constitutional order.

Mr Castillo tried to dissolve Congress just hours before it was due to start fresh impeachment proceedings against him - the third since he came to office in July 2021.

In his televised address he said: “In response to citizens’ demands throughout the length and breadth of the country, we have decided to establish an exceptional government aimed at re-establishing the rule of law and democracy.”

He said that “a new Congress with constituent powers to draw up a new constitution” would be convened “within no more than nine months”.

But Congress, which is controlled by parties opposed to Mr Castillo, convened an emergency session and held the impeachment vote Mr Castillo had been trying to prevent.

The result was overwhelming: 101 voted in favour of impeaching him, with only six against and 10 abstentions.

After the impeachment, Mr Castillo was seen on police premises.

In the photos - which were shared by police on Twitter but subsequently deleted - he could be seen sitting, seemingly relaxed, and chatting to others. Footage was then released of Mr Castillo signing papers with prosecutors.

He was later detained and accused of rebellion for breaking the constitutional order.

Peru has been going through a rocky political period, with multiple presidents ousted from office in recent years. In 2020, it had three presidents within the space of five days.

Mr Castillo, who is a left-wing former school teacher, was elected in June 2021 in a polarising election in which he defeated his right-wing rival Keiko Fujimori.

He had recently been fighting allegations of corruption, which he said were part of a plot to oust him.


Source: BBC

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Trump Organization found guilty of tax fraud scheme

Donald Trump’s real estate company was convicted on Tuesday of carrying out a 15-year-long criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities, adding to the legal woes facing the former U.S. president as he campaigns for the office again in 2024.

The Trump Organization - which operates hotels, golf courses, and other real estate around the world - was found guilty of paying personal expenses for top executives including former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, and issuing bonus checks to them as if they were independent contractors.

The company faces up to $1.6 million in fines after being convicted on all charges, including scheming to defraud tax authorities, conspiracy and falsifying business records. Trump was not charged in the case.

Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial in state court in New York, set a sentencing date for Jan. 13.

While the fine is not expected to be material for a company of the Trump Organization’s size, the conviction could complicate its ability to do business.
Weisselberg, 75, testified as the government’s star witness as part of a plea deal that calls for a sentence of five months in jail.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted the case, called the verdict “very just.”

“The former president’s companies now stand convicted of crimes,” Bragg said in the New York courthouse after the verdict, speaking of the Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation, the two units of the Trump Organization which were convicted.

Asked if he regretted not charging Trump in the case, Bragg did not respond.
He has said that the office’s investigation into Trump is continuing.

APPEAL

Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said the company would appeal and that the criminal law governing corporate liability was vague.

“It was central to the case,” he told reporters after the verdict.
The jury deliberated for about 12 hours over two days.

The case centered on charges that the company paid personal expenses like free rent and car leases for executives including Weisselberg without reporting the income, and gave them bonuses as non-employee compensation from other Trump entities like the Mar-a-lago Club, without deducting taxes.

According to testimony during the four-week trial, Trump himself signed the bonus checks annually, paid private school tuition for Weisselberg’s grandchildren, authorized the lease for his luxury Manhattan apartment and approved a salary deduction for another executive.

“The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told jurors during his closing argument on Friday.
He said the “smorgasbord of benefits” was designed to keep top executives “happy and loyal.”

Republican Trump, who on Nov. 15 announced his third campaign for the presidency, said in a statement he was “disappointed” by the verdict but called the case a “Manhattan witch hunt.” Both Bragg and his predecessor who brought the charges, Cyrus Vance, are Democrats.

SEPARATE LAWSUIT

The Trump Organization separately faces a fraud lawsuit brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump himself is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice over his handling of sensitive government documents after he left office in January 2021 and attempts to overturn the November 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Lawyers for the Trump Organization argued that Weisselberg carried out the scheme to benefit himself, not the company. They tried to paint him as a rogue employee.

Weisselberg is currently on paid leave and testified that he hopes to get another $500,000 bonus in January. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Nov. 19. that his family got “no economic gain from the acts done by the executive.”

Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty in August to concealing $1.76 million in income from tax authorities, testified that although Trump signed checks involved, he did not conspire with him.

He said that the company saved money by paying for his rent, utilities, Mercedes-Benz car leases for him and his wife and other personal expenses rather than raising his salary, because a wage hike would have had to account for taxes.

He said Trump’s two sons - who took over the company’s operations in 2017 - gave him a raise after they knew about his tax dodge scheme.
By then, Trump was president, and the company was preparing for greater scrutiny.

“We were going through an entire cleanup process of the company to make sure that since Mr. Trump is now president everything was being done properly,” Weisselberg testified.

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