The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution states: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

Unconstitutional actions ordered by the POTUS. Are we ready to impeach yet?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/33390661

Sammy Gecsoyler
Sat 19 Jul 2025 14.41 EDT

Demonstrations were held in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol and Truro on Saturday as part of a campaign coordinated by Defend Our Juries.

In London’s Parliament Square, beside the Mahatma Gandhi statue, police officers surrounded people at an event at which signs were held that read “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.

A woman who was detained in Parliament Square said: “We demand that #Palestine Action is de-proscribed.

“Our government is not only arming a genocide, they are using terrorism laws to silence people who speak out."

DAMASCUS/BEIRUT, July 19 (Reuters) - Syria's government misread how Israel would respond to its troops deploying to the country's south this week, encouraged by U.S. messaging that Syria should be governed as a centralized state, eight sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops and on Damascus on Wednesday in an escalation that took the Islamist-led leadership by surprise, the sources said, after government forces were accused of killing scores of people in the Druze city of Sweida.

Damascus believed it had a green light from both the U.S. and Israel to dispatch its forces south despite months of Israeli warnings not to do so, according to the sources, which include Syrian political and military officials, two diplomats, and regional security sources.

That understanding was based on public and private comments from U.S. special envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack, as well as on nascent security talks with Israel, the sources said. Barrack has called for Syria to be centrally administered as "one country" without autonomous zones.

Syria's understanding of U.S. and Israeli messages regarding its troop deployment to the south has not been previously reported.

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on private diplomatic discussions but said the United States supported the territorial unity of Syria. "The Syrian state has an obligation to protect all Syrians, including minority groups," the spokesperson said, urging the Syrian government to hold perpetrators of violence accountable.

In response to Reuters questions, a senior official from Syria's ministry of foreign affairs denied that Barrack's comments had influenced the decision to deploy troops, which was made based on "purely national considerations" and with the aim of "stopping the bloodshed, protecting civilians and preventing the escalation of civil conflict".

Damascus sent troops and tanks to Sweida province on Monday to quell fighting between Bedouin tribes and armed factions within the Druze community - a minority that follows a religion derived from Islam, with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Syrian forces entering the city came under fire from Druze militia, according to Syrian sources.

Subsequent violence attributed to Syrian troops, including field executions and the humiliation of Druze civilians, triggered Israeli strikes on Syrian security forces, the defense ministry in Damascus and the environs of the presidential palace, according to two sources, including a senior Gulf Arab official.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intervened to block Syrian troops from entering southern Syria - which Israel has publicly said should be a demilitarized zone - and to uphold a longstanding commitment to protect the Druze.

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to hold accountable those responsible for violations against the Druze. He blamed "outlaw groups" seeking to inflame tensions for any crimes against civilians and did not say whether government forces were involved.

The U.S. and others quickly intervened to secure a ceasefire by Wednesday evening. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the flare-up as a "misunderstanding" between Israel and Syria.

A Syrian and a Western source familiar with the matter said Damascus believed that talks with Israel as recently as last week in Baku produced an understanding over the deployment of troops to southern Syria to bring Sweida under government control.

Netanyahu's office declined to comment in response Reuters' questions.

Israel said on Friday it had agreed to allow limited access by Syrian forces into Sweida for the next two days. Soon after, Syria said it would deploy a force dedicated to ending the communal clashes, which continued into Saturday morning.

Joshua Landis, head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, said it appeared Sharaa had overplayed his hand earlier in the week.

"It seems that his military staff misunderstood the backing of the U.S. It also misunderstood Israel's stand on the Jabal Druze (in Sweida) from its talks with Israel in Baku," he said.

German authorities say at least 19 people were injured, four seriously, after a fireworks show went awry at a fair in the western city of Düsseldorf.

Fire squad and emergency services deployed after the incident late Friday at the Rheinkirmes event along the Rhine river, where images from the scene showed fireworks going off nearly at ground level along its banks.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/44265100

Public support for Ishiba's administration has tumbled to its lowest level since he took office in October, partly because of frustration over the cost of living.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/44264978

https://archive.is/9kma5

Japanese diplomats told company risk officers that “you are on your own if you put significant assets in Taiwan”, said one person present at one of the conversations.

Foreign direct investment by Japanese companies — traditionally Taiwan’s third-largest source of FDI, after the EU and US — slumped 27 per cent last year to $452mn, and is down from a peak of $1.7bn in 2022.

They may look like travel shampoo bottles and smell like bubblegum, but after a few hundred puffs, some disposable, electronic cigarettes and vape pods release higher amounts of toxic metals than older e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. For example, one of the disposable e-cigarettes studied released more lead during a day’s use than nearly 20 packs of traditional cigarettes.

With help from a longtime Silicon Valley investor turned White House insider, Mr. Huang got the administration to reverse course on restrictions.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/44265309

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/44265087

https://archive.is/JwlJG

Sovereign wealth funds around the world taking another look at China, with 59% calling it a priority emerging-market region, according to a report by U.S. asset manager Invesco.

One Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund told Invesco, "There is no real competitor to China in clean energy and green technology."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/33356350

Huda Skaik
July 7 2025

In the besieged Gaza Strip, three professions have emerged as a lifeline, their practitioners heroic in their efforts to alleviate the worst of the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding under Israel’s constant attacks on civilians and civic infrastructure.

The rescuers, the healers, and the witnesses — civil defense responders making unimaginable sacrifices to try and save people from the rubble of bombed buildings; medical professionals fighting an impossible battle with poor supplies in hospitals; and journalists risking their lives to expose the truth — are all supporting the entire population enduring genocide and famine.

According to the Health Ministry, the Israeli military has killed at least 113 civil defense responders, around 228 journalists, and at least 1,411 medical workers since October 7, 2023.

Brazil's supreme court has ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to wear an ankle monitor.

The decision came as the former president's home and party headquarters in Brasilia were searched on Friday.

Members of Bolsonaro's right-wing Liberal Party said he was also ordered to stop using social media and end communications with diplomats.