Judge delays Trump hush money sentencing until after election

NEW YORK,  (Reuters)

A New York judge on Friday delayed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money criminal case until after the Nov. 5 election, writing that he wants to avoid the unwarranted perception of a political motive.

Trump, the Republican nominee for president, had previously been scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 18. His lawyers in August asked Justice Juan Merchan to push back his sentencing date until after the vote, citing “naked election-interference objectives.” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the charges against Trump, is a Democrat.

Merchan said on Friday he now planned to sentence Trump on Nov. 26, unless the case is dismissed before then.

“The imposition of sentence will be adjourned to avoid any appearance – however unwarranted – that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching Presidential election in which the Defendant is a candidate,the judge wrote”The Court is a fair, impartial and apolitical institution.”

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he appreciated that Merchan noted the sentencing would only take place if the judge denies a pending motion by his lawyers to toss out the jury’s verdict.

“This case should be rightfully terminated, as we prepare for the Most Important Election in the History of our Country,” Trump wrote.

In the first-ever criminal trial of a former or current U.S. president, Trump was convicted on May 30 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up his then-lawyer’s $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump a decade earlier.

As Jimmy Carter nears 100, he is buoyed by Harris’s run for president

Washington Post,

Former president Jimmy Carter, 99, turned to his son several weeks ago as he watched President Joe Biden, 81, announce that he was passing the torch to a younger generation. “That’s sad,” Carter said softly

Carter and Biden are friends and share much in common as members of the elite group elected to the White House. Biden is the oldest to ever serve, and Carter has lived longer than any other former president. Neither went to Harvard or Yale. Biden is the son of a used-car salesman, and Carter’s father ran a peanut farm. Now, both will be one-term presidents.

Carter has been in hospice for 18 months, and his health slipped further after his wife, Rosalynn, died in November, two members of his family said. But recently, as the former president’s 100th birthday approaches on Oct. 1, he is talking more, asking about the fast-changing 2024 presidential campaign and delighting in the momentum behind Vice President Kamala Harris, the new Democratic nominee. He is even eating mini cupcakes — red velvet and caramel are his favorites.

James Earl “Chip” Carter III said in an interview with The Washington Post that his father spent days watching all of the speeches from the Democratic National Convention last month that he recorded for him. “He thought Michelle Obama was the best, and he thought Kamala was great, too,” he said.

For Carter’s birthday next month, a concert in Atlanta, a 100-mile bike ride near his hometown of Plains, Ga., and other events are planned. But when Chip Carter told his father that many people believe he is trying to stay alive to reach his birthday, the former president pushed back: “He said he didn’t care about that. It’s just a birthday. He said he cared about voting for Kamala Harris.”

Carter’s state of Georgia is critical to the November election. Biden beat Donald Trump in 2020 by less than 1 percent of the vote in the state, and Carter’s family said he can’t wait to cast his mail-in ballot for Harris.

China’s $200 phones put Samsung on the run in Philippines

Nikkei Asia,

MANILA/GUANGZHOU — Chinese smartphone vendors have been putting longtime leader Samsung Electronics on the defensive in Southeast Asia as budget-friendly phones priced at around the equivalent of $200 proliferate.

Mark Manga, a 25-year-old from the Philippines’ Cavite province, bought an Infinix brand phone made by Chinese manufacturer Transsion Holdings for 9,999 pesos ($178).

“I chose an Infinix phone because my friend suggested that it is a good phone brand for gaming,” Manga said. “And true enough, it performs well and fast in terms of games, plus it has an updated operating system.

“Maybe the only aspect I am disappointed with is the phone’s camera,” he said. “Its quality is quite blurry, but I understand that it is common among gaming phones, since their focus is really on the graphics and the system.

At a cellphone store in a Manila shopping mall, such Transsion brands as Tecno line the displays. They range from less than 8,000 pesos to more than 20,000 pesos.

Transsion phones have high data and processing capacities for such reasonable prices and are especially popular among teens and 20-somethings who are into gaming, according to a sales associate.

Transsion led the Philippine market in the second quarter, with a share of 31%, according to Canalys. Transsion was far ahead of second-ranked Samsung’s 15%.

In Southeast Asia as a whole, Transsion ranked fifth at 14%. It has been rapidly expanding its share since 2023, rising from being virtually unknown just a few years earlier.

Tecno, another Transsion brand, announced in June a partnership with Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. They will collaborate on surveys of cultural preferences regarding skin tones in smartphone portrait imaging. The goal is apparently to apply the results to product development targeting Southeast Asian markets.

Southeast Asia’s smartphone market is recovering from a yearslong slump. Second-quarter shipments totaled 23.9 million units to mark a third straight quarter of year-on-year growth, according to Canalys. Such Chinese players as Transsion are leading the way.

Kolkata doctor rape and murder: Prime accused’s bail plea rejected; Supreme Court rejects former principal’s prayer

The Hindu,

A court in Kolkata rejected the bail petition of Sanjay Roy, one of the prime accused in the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, and remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days till September 20.

While the lawyers were physically present in the court, the accused was present in virtual mode. The counsel of the accused was appointed by the State Legal Services Authority. The counsel argued that Mr. Roy was framed and had no link to the crime.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel reached the court 40 minutes late. The counsel opposed the bail of the accused. Mr. Roy, a civic police volunteer, was arrested by the Kolkata Police hours after the crime.

The Trinamool Congress leadership accused the CBI of being disinterested in the case and cited the investigating officer and CBI counsel not appearing before the court in time.

“After a 24-day delay, the prime accused in the R.G. Kar case, Sanjay Roy, was set to be produced in court today. But where was the Investigating Officer? Where was the @CBIHeadquarters counsel? Nowhere to be seen! This is how utterly disinterested the CBI is when it comes to handling the case,” the Trinamool said on social media.