The trial of 16 Hong Kong democracy activists charged under a national security law imposed by Beijing began on Monday with security tight for a case that some observers say will be a test of the city’s judicial independence.

The defendants are those who pleaded not guilty out of 47 arrested in a dawn raid in January 2021 and charged with conspiracy to commit subversion for participating in an unofficial primary election organised by democracy supporters in 2020.

More than 100 people queued for seats in the court’s public gallery with dozens of police on standby and a bomb disposal vehicle deployed.

“There’s no crime to answer. It is not a crime to act against a totalitarian regime,” defendant and former lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, known by the nickname “Long Hair”, told the court.

Judge Andrew Chan responded that the hearing was a “solemn occasion” and asked for respect from the defendants and members of the public.

Prosecutors have described the primary election – held to select the strongest candidates to contest an election for the city’s assembly, the Legislative Council (LegCo), as a “vicious plot” to subvert the city government and to wreak “mutual destruction” on it by taking control of the city parliament.

“Running for the LegCo election is what kind of illegal means, what kind of violent threat?” Chan Po-ying, chairwoman of League of Social Democrats and Leung’s wife said outside the court.

The trial is expected to last 90 days, with three defendants expected to testify against the others, prosecutors say. The defendants face sentences of up to life in jail if convicted.

Those who have pleaded not guilty include former journalist Gwyneth Ho, activist Owen Chow and labour unionist Winnie Yu.

All who pleaded guilty, including former law professor Benny Tai and prominent activist Joshua Wong, will be sentenced after the trial.

The then British colony was returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula meant to guarantee its freedoms and an independent legal system for 50 years.

China denies interfering with the city’s way of life but some Hong Kong residents over the years criticised what they saw as the erosion of freedoms by an increasingly assertive Beijing.

Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in 2020 after months of at times violent pro-democracy protests.

Western governments have criticised the law, which punishes subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism with up to life in prison, as a tool to crush dissent.

Chinese and Hong Kong authorities say the law has brought stability to the Asian financial hub.

Since the law was imposed, more than 230 people have been arrested, including newspaper editors following police raids on media outlets, while labour unions and civil society groups have disbanded.

Thirteen of the 47 arrested were granted bail in 2021, while the other 34 – including 10 who pleaded not guilty – have been in pre-trial custody.

The case has drawn international criticism, as government prosecutors repeatedly asked for more time to prepare legal documents and gather evidence.

Among a number of departures from established common law procedures, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam declined to let the defendants face a jury trial. The case is being heard by three High Court judges designated under the national security law: Andrew Chan, Alex Lee and Johnny Chan.

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A major earthquake of magnitude 7.9 killed more than 50 people in southern Turkey on Monday and was felt in Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria, collapsing dozens of buildings and triggering a search for survivors under the rubble in snowy streets.

Turkish authorities scrambled rescue teams and supply aircraft to the region around the city of Kahramanmaras, while declaring a “level 4 alarm” that calls for international assistance.

Early statements by officials suggested the death toll was at least 23 in Turkey’s Malatya province, 17 in Sanliurfa, six in Diyarbakir and five more in Osmaniye. South across the border in Syria, state media said 42 had been killed.

“I have never felt anything like it in the 40 years I’ve lived,” said Erdem, a resident of the Turkish city of Gaziantep, near the quake’s epicentre, who declined to give his surname.

“We were shaken at least three times very strongly, like a baby in a crib.”

It was still too dark to see the nature of the damage, he added.

“Everybody is sitting in their cars, or trying to drive to open spaces away from buildings,” he said, speaking by telephone. “I imagine not a single person in Gaziantep is in their homes now.”

The tremor lasted about a minute and shattered windows, according to a Reuters witness in Diyarbakir, 350 km (218 miles)to the east, where a security official said at least 17 buildings collapsed.

Local authorities said 16 structures collapsed in Sanliurfa and 34 in Osmaniye.

Broadcasters TRT and Haberturk showed footage of people picking through building wreckage, moving stretchers and seeking survivors in Kahramanmaras, where it was still dark.

“Our primary job is to carry out the search and rescue work and to do that all our teams are on alert,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters.

The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said the quake struck at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), while the EMSC monitoring service said it was assessing the risk of a tsunami.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported a series of further earthquakes following the initial tremor, which it put at a magnitude of 7.8. There was a quake measuring 6.7 in Gaziantep and another of 5.6 in the city’s Nurdag area.

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) put the magnitude of the quake at 7.4 near Kahramanmaras and the larger city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border.

Syrian state media said a large number of buildings collapsed in the province of Aleppo, while a source in the Hama civil service said several buildings had collapsed there.

“Paintings fell off the walls in the house,” said Samer, a resident of the capital, Damascus. “I woke up terrified. Now we’re all dressed and standing at the door.”

People in Damascus, and in the Lebanese cities of Beirut and Tripoli, ran into the street and took to their cars to get away from their buildings in case they collapsed, witnesses said.

Tremors were also felt overnight in Ankara, 460 km (286 miles) northwest of the epicentre, and in Cyprus, where police reported no damage.

The area is regularly hit by strong earthquakes.

“The earthquake struck in a region that we feared. There is serious widespread damage,” Kerem Kinik, the chief of the Turkish Red Crescent relief agency, told Haberturk, issuing an appeal for blood donations.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Beyoncé stands alone on her Grammy throne: With her fourth win Sunday night, she has become the most decorated artist in the show’s history surpassing the 26-year-old record once held by the late Hungarian-British conductor Georg Solti.

“I’m trying not to be too emotional,” the superstar said as her husband Jay-Z stood and applauded her. The singer thanked her late uncle, her parents, Jay-Z and her children for supporting her. “I’m just trying to receive this night. I want to thank God for protecting me. Thank you, God.”

Beyoncé has now collected 32 awards after she won for best R&B song for “Cuff It,” dance-electric music recording for “Break My Soul,” traditional R&B performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa” and dance-electric music for her seventh studio album “Renaissance,” which is also nominated for album of the year.

Beyoncé missed the milestone of tying Solti’s record, which stood since 1997. Host Trevor Noah said she was on her way to the ceremony but blamed Los Angeles traffic for not being in person to accept it. The song was written by several writers including Beyonce, The-Dream, Nile Rodgers and Raphael Saadiq.

Once Beyoncé — the night’s leading nominee — finally arrived, Noah presented her with the best R&B song award at her table.

Bad Bunny opened the Grammy Awards with a festive, high-energy performance that brought many of the audience including Taylor Swift who rose to her feet and danced near her table at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.

Noah introduced Bunny calling him a “global force” who is the most streamed and listened to artist in the world.

Styles won the main telecast’s first award for best pop vocal album for “Harry’s House.” The singer said recording the song was one of the “greatest experiences of my life. It’s been my greatest joy.”

Sam Smith and Kim Petras won best pop duo-group performance for their song “Unholy.” Petras said Smith wanted Petras to make the acceptance speech because “I’m the first transgender woman to win this award.”

“I want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight,” said Petras, who made a reference to friend and Grammy-nominated musician Sophie, who died after an accidental fall in Athens, Greece in 2021. “You told me this would happen. I always believed in me. Thank you so much for your inspiration, Sophie. I adore you, and your inspiration will forever be in my music.”

Petras thanked Madonna for being a tremendous supporter of LGBTQ rights.

“I don’t think I could be here without Madonna,” Petras said. “My mother, I grew up next to a highway in nowhere Germany. And my mother believed me that I was a girl. I wouldn’t be here without her and her support.”

During the in memoriam segment, the Grammys recognized the lives of Loretta Lynn, Migos rapper Takeoff and Christine McVie with several star-studded performers paying them homage. The touching performances included Kacey Musgraves singing “Coal Miner’s Daughter” in tribute to Lynn; Quavo and the Maverick City Music hit the stage to honor his nephew Takeoff with the song “Without You;” and Sheryl Crow, Mick Fleetwood and Bonnie Raitt performed “Songbird” to remember McVie.

Kendrick Lamar won sixth career trophy for best rap performance for “The Heart Part 5” and also won best rap album for his studio offering, “Mr. Morales & The Big Steppers.”

“You know, as entertainers, we say things to provoke thoughts and feelings and emotions,” he said. “So making this record is one of my toughest. … I would like to thank the culture for allowing me to evolve in order to make this. I finally found imperfection with this album.”

Viola Davis emerged from Sunday’s show an EGOT — a term for those who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony — after her win for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording. The actor gave an emotional speech and emphatically said “I just EGOT” after she marched on stage to collect her award.

“Oh, my God,” she said. “I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola, to honor her, her life, her joy, her trauma, everything,” Davis said. “It has just been such a journey.”

Tattered streetwear, T-shirts and denim mixed with blinged-out couture, wild patterns and plenty of skin on the Grammys carpet. Lizzo wowed in a bright orange Dolce & Gabbana robe adorned with flowers and a huge hood while Taylor Swift wore a long two-piece sparkly skirt with a high-neck and long-sleeve crop top in midnight blue.

Brandi Carlile made a rare appearance during the pre-telecast for a major artist. The singer showed up after her song “Broke Horses” won for best rock performance and best rock song, a songwriter’s award, and best Americana album.

“It’s rock ‘n’ roll, man,” said a smiling Carlile, who jogged on stage with a couple of her band members. “I cannot tell you how much this means to us. We’re born and raised in Seattle. When I met these guys 22 years ago we decided to get into a band.” Carlile co-wrote “Broken Horses” with twin brothers Phil and Tim Hanseroth.

This year’s Grammys have also introduced several new categories, including one for video game music composition, which went to the soundtrack for “Assassins Creed: Valhalla.”

The show marks a return to Los Angeles after the pandemic first delayed, then forced the Grammys to move to Las Vegas last year. Noah hosted the ceremony as well, which saw Jon Batiste take home album of the year.

© Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved

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Pop superstar Beyonce broke the record for most career wins at the Grammy awards on Sunday and was in the running for more, including the prestigious best album accolade.

The singer picked up four Grammys, including best dance/electronic album for “Renaissance, bringing her career total to 32. That surpassed the lifetime wins by late classical conductor Georg Solti.

“I am trying not to be too emotional. I am trying just to receive this night,” Beyonce said. “I want to thank God for protecting me. Thank you, God.”

She also thanked her family and “the queer community for your love and for inventing the genre.”

Earlier, the singer was absent when she won best R&B song for “Cuff It.” Host Trevor Noah said she was stuck in traffic. He later handed the award to Beyonce at her seat in the audience.

She remained in contention for the night’s top awards – song of the year, record of the year and album of the year, an accolade she has never won.

Beyonce faces a formidable, wide-ranging field that includes Bad Bunny, Styles, singer and flutist Lizzo, British vocalist Adele and disco-era Swedish hitmaker ABBA.

Styles won best pop vocal album for “Harry’s House,” which also was in the race for album of the year.

“This album from start to finish has been the greatest experience of my life,” Styles, 29, said as he held his Grammy trophy. He performed his single “As It Was” during the ceremony, decked head to toe in silver fringe.

Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny opened the show with a rousing Spanish-language medley surrounded by dozens of dancers.

“Every time I listen to him, I get hips I never knew I had,” host Trevor Noah joked.

Bad Bunny took home the award for best música urbana album for “Un Verano Sin Ti.”

“I want to dedicate this award to Puerto Rico, the cradle of reggaeton,” Bad Bunny said in a mix of English and Spanish.

For best rap album, Kendrick Lamar triumphed with “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.”

“I finally found imperfection with this album,” Lamar said on stage.

The show was broadcast live on the CBS network and streaming service Paramount+.

Honorees were chosen by roughly 11,000 members of the Recording Academy, which has faced complaints that it has not given Black talent proper recognition. The organization has worked to diversity its membership in recent years.

In the best new artist category, contenders include Italian rock band Maneskin, jazz artist Samara Joy, American bluegrass singer Molly Tuttle and TikTok phenol Gayle, who rose to fame with “abcdefu.”

Taylor Swift’s 10-minute version of her 2012 song “All Too Well” won best music video. Her latest album, “Midnights,” was released after this year’s eligibility window, which ran from October 2021 through September 2022.

Like other awards shows, the Grammys have seen their television audience decline in recent years. Last year’s ceremony drew roughly 9 million viewers, the second-smallest on record.

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When you’re trying to judge just how wide of an impact any given political scandal is or isn’t having, it can be particularly useful to look far outside the world of politics. Obviously, by nature, every political scandal is going to get some airtime on cable news and is going to see some action on social media. But the scandals that really have an impact are the ones that manage to break beyond the political enthusiast bubble and get traction in places where you’d least expect it.

That’s why it really stood when Playbill.com, a site that covers Broadway plays, posted an article mocking House Republican George Santos for his false claim that he produced a Spider-Man musical. Yes, Santos put himself into Broadway musical headline territory when he got caught falsely taking credit for one of them. But let’s be real here. There are 435 House members, and the average American can’t even name 35 of them. Yet George Santos has become such a punchline in a way that so transcends mere politics, even news outlets that solely cover Broadway are now rightfully dunking on him.

Meanwhile the rest of the House Republican caucus is busy spreading lies about Dr. Fauci, Hunter Biden, the debt ceiling, and any other strategic lies they can come up with – but those lies are getting almost zero mainstream traction. Part of that is because these increasingly dimwitted Republicans aren’t nearly as good at the whole dishonest strategy thing as their predecessors of ten or twenty years ago were. But another part of it is that the endless negative headlines about George Santos are sucking all the oxygen out of the room.

In other words, no one out there cares what Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan are saying, because real life cartoon villain George Santos is getting all the headlines and attention just by being George Santos (or whatever his name is this week). So there’s really no way for House Republicans to push the lies that they want to push, so long as they keep Santos around – and yet they can’t really afford to get rid of him.

House Republicans have a five seat majority. If they were to expel George Santos tomorrow, it wouldn’t cost them the majority. But it could cost Kevin McCarthy his speakership, given that he was elected by a margin much slimmer than five votes. And assuming the Democrats win the special election to replace Santos, House Republicans would find themselves with just a four seat majority. What DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith takes down a few more House Republicans later this year? At some point their majority could cease to exist.

Getting rid of Santos now could really come back to bite House Republicans, now or later. And yet as long as they keep him around, it’ll help keep their agenda from getting anywhere. For that matter, because House Republicans are refusing to get rid of Santos, every negative headline about him is by default a negative headline about them. If Santos does somehow last awhile, he’ll be hanging around the neck of every House Republican in a competitive district in the next election.

In that sense George Santos is truly a gift to House Democrats. He’s a daily scandal for House Republicans, in a way that makes them all look bad and derails their intended agenda. All the Democrats have to is keep weaponizing Santos against the entire House Republican caucus. House Republicans would probably have been better off if they’d lost the Santos election to begin with – but now they don’t have the guts to get rid of him.

The post George Santos has truly become a gift to House Democrats appeared first on Palmer Report.

I had to chuckle before starting this article. This article is about a liar. Now, when writing about liars, it is essential to highlight whatever lie — or lies you’re speaking about. And I chuckled because I remembered the best book about liars in politics ever written.

“Lies and the lying liars who tell them” by former Minnesota senator and current comedian extraordinaire Al Franken was a witty, brilliant, fantastic book on political liars. You might want to read it if you have not. Perhaps CNN should have hired Franken instead of Bill Maher. But I digress.

There are so many liars in politics that it’d be hard to know where to start when naming them all. But I do not plan to do that. No, I am naming only one liar today, a person who is nothing if not foolish, a wind-up doll of Donald John Trump’s, a liar who is so moronic he can’t even lie properly. I speak of Kevin McCarthy.

We’ve spoken a lot about McCarthy. But I have never written an article about a single one of his lies which is so absurd it could only be a lie. McCarthy had a press conference the other day. He beamed, and he smiled, and he opened his mouth, and out came Pinocchio.

Kevin told the press that Democrats are swarming around him, coming up to him to say to him that he’s a great speaker, better even than Nancy Pelosi. Say WHAT? Okay, my friends. Let’s give him a fair trial before deeming him a liar.

Who are these Democrats? Kevin didn’t say. When did this happen? Kevin did not say. What made them say this? Kevin did not say. And the thing about it is — Kevin cannot even lie well. Perhaps George Santos could give him a few lessons.

The lines between fantasy and reality have become blurred for Mr. McCarthy. There is a chance that the Trump disease infected Kevin, and he believes this, but I doubt it.

Kevin is saying what he WISHES was true. In reality, McCarthy isn’t even the speaker. It is his in name only, and he cannot make one move without asking people like Marjorie Taylor Greene if it’s okay. I say he verdict is guilty. Kevin McCarthy is a pathological liar.

The post There’s something wrong with Kevin McCarthy appeared first on Palmer Report.