24/03/2025

MONDAY | MAR 24, 2025

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Istanbul mayor jailed pending graft trial

Social Security chief keeps agency running WASHINGTON: The head of the US Social Security Administration has backed down from “shutting down the agency” after a federal judge rebuked him for misinterpreting a court ruling that limited Elon Musk’s access to agency information. The agency’s leader, Leland Dudek, who has been cooperating with a Musk-led group tasked with reducing government waste, said in a statement on Friday that the court had clarified its ruling. “Therefore, I am not shutting down the agency,” said Dudek, who was appointed by President Donald Trump as the agency’s acting commissioner. The Social Security Administration administers benefits for tens of millions of older Americans and people with disabilities. Since taking office in January, Trump has vowed to reduce the size of government, tapping Musk to lead an effort to reduce government waste. Trump and Musk say social security fraud is rampant and that Musk’s group, known as DOGE, needs access to agency data to identify people committing fraud to receive benefits payments. But on Thursday, District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander ruled the agency probably violated privacy laws by giving Musk aides “unbridled access” to the data of millions of Americans. She ordered a halt to detailed record-sharing between Dudek’s agency and Musk’s DOGE. Dudek told media outlets including Bloomberg News and the Washington Post that the court’s order would require him also to restrict access to the information for agency employees, which would effectively shut down the agency. Hollander dismissed that view on Friday. “Such assertions about the scope of the order are inaccurate,” the judge wrote in a letter to government counsel. She said her ruling on Thursday stated clearly that Musk’s team could still access records when personally identifiable information, such as names and social security numbers, had been redacted. The judge said the order was clear that agency employees could still access the unredacted documents. “Any suggestion that the order may require the delay or suspension of benefit payments is incorrect,” Hollander said. The Trump administration’s efforts at the Social Security Administration have unsettled many retirees. – Reuters Kennedy shooter had help, says Trump WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Saturday he believes the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy was carried out by Lee Harvey Oswald but asked if the gunman had help. When asked if he believes Oswald killed JFK, Trump responded, “I do. And I’ve always held that, of course he was, was he helped?” Trump told Clay Travis, the founder of sports website Outkick , during an interview on Air Force One. The Justice Department and other federal government bodies have reaffirmed in the intervening decades the conclusion that Oswald was the lone assassin. But polls show many Americans still believe Kennedy’s death in Dallas was the result of a conspiracy. On Trump’s orders, the government released thousands of pages of digital documents related to the Kennedy assassination this week. Trump promised on the campaign trail last year to provide more transparency about Kennedy’s death. Upon taking office, he also ordered aides to present a plan for the release of records relating to the 1968 assassinations of Kennedy’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. – Reuters

o Hundreds detained after nationwide protests

Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, also of the CHP, told reporters that jailing Imamoglu is a disgrace for the judicial system. The government denies that investigations are politically motivated and says courts are independent. It has warned against protests, especially given a nationwide ban on street gatherings that was extended on Saturday for four more days. On Saturday, thousands gathered outside the Istanbul municipality building and the main courthouse, with hundreds of police stationed at both locations using tear gas and pepper spray pellets to disperse protesters, as the crowd hurled firecrackers and other objects at them. Imamoglu has firmly rejected allegations brought against him. “The immoral and baseless accusations directed at me are designed to undermine my standing and credibility,” Imamoglu said in a statement issued by his city administration following police questioning earlier. – Reuters/Bernama

against him last week. The court decided to release the mayor under judicial control measures over a separate terror-related charge, broadcasters Halk TV and AHaber reported, potentially blocking the government from appointing a trustee to run the country’s largest city.

ISTANBUL: A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu (pic) yesterday pending trial on graft charges, state media and other broadcasters said, in a move likely to stoke the country’s biggest protests against President Tayyip Erdogan’s government in more than decade. The decision to send Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival, to prison comes after the main opposition party, European leaders and tens of thousands of protesters criticised the actions against him as politicised and undemocratic. The court said Imamoglu, 54, and at least 20 others were jailed as part of a corruption investigation, one of two that were opened

Imamoglu, who leads Erdogan in some polls, has denied the charges, calling them “unimaginable accusations and slanders”. Also yesterday members of his Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition against Erdogan’s ruling alliance, and others were voting to select Imamoglu as the CHP’s candidate for the next presidential election. No general election is scheduled

until 2028. But if Erdogan, who has led Turkey for 22 years, is to run again, parliament would need to back an earlier election since the president will have reached his limit by that date.

Canadians hold an ‘Elbows Up’ protest against US tariffs and other policies by Trump, at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto on Saturday. – REUTERSPIC

Canada set to hold snap elections OTTAWA: New Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to announce snap elections, seeking a stronger mandate as his country fights off a trade war and annexation threats from Donald Trump’s United States. Canadian patriotism to a new majority – thanks to Trump’s threats. Trump has riled his northern neighbour by repeatedly dismissing its sovereignty and borders as artificial, and urging it to join the United States as the 51st state.

northern neighbour, historically one of his country’s closest partners, has upended the Canadian political landscape. Trudeau, who had been in power since 2015, was deeply unpopular when he announced he was stepping down, with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives seen as election favourites just weeks ago. But the polls have narrowed spectacularly in Carney’s favour since he took over the Liberals, and now analysts are calling this Trump-overshadowed race too close to call. “Many consider this to be an existential election, unprecedented,” said Felix Mathieu, a political scientist at the University of Winnipeg. “It is impossible at this stage to make predictions, but this will be a closely watched election with a voter turnout that should be on the rise.” – AFP

The former central banker was chosen by the centrist Liberal Party to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister, but he has never faced the broader Canadian electorate. That will change on April 28, if, as expected, Carney announces he is bringing parliamentary elections forward several months from October. Government sources told AFP that he would announce the decision in a speech to Canada’s 41-million-strong nation. In power for a decade, the Liberal government had slid into deep unpopularity, but Carney will be hoping to ride a wave of

The ominous remarks have been accompanied by Trump’s trade war, imposing tariffs on imports from Canada that could wreck its economy. “In this time of crisis the government needs a strong and clear mandate,” Carney told supporters on Thursday in a speech in the western city of Edmonton. Domestic issues such as the cost of living and immigration usually dominate Canadian elections, but this year one key topic tops the list: who can best handle Trump. The president’s open hostility towards his