As the historic second impeachment trial of Donald Trump got underway on Tuesday afternoon, the former President decided to spend the entire week watching events unfold on TV.

“A notable difference from Trump’s first impeachment trial will be the expected silence from the accused. During his first impeachment trial, Trump kept up a running commentary on Twitter, at one point posting 142 tweets in a single day as prosecutors laid out their case against him. Americans will be deprived of Trump’s analysis this time round, after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube following the Capitol assault,” The Guardian reports.

A 56-44 vote at the end of the arguments determined the trial to be constitutional — so further proceedings can now go ahead. 6 Republicans broke rank with their party to vote in favour of the constitutionality of the trial. Forty-five Republican senators had already signed on to a motion before the trial started arguing that the proceeding is unconstitutional. Eventually, one more Republican senator defected at the end of Day One of the trials.

Who presides over the trial?

Trump’s first impeachment was presided over by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, according to US Constitution. However, as this trial is of former president, the longest-serving Democratic senator, Patrick Leahy, who holds the title of president pro tempore – will preside. It will be prosecuted by a team of nine impeachment managers from the House, and the whole Senate was sworn in as the jury on 26 January.

What could happen after the trial?

Since Mr. Trump is no longer in office, he can’t be removed from it which is what a conviction would normally lead to. Instead, in this unusual case, there could be another separate vote to bar him from running for office again. That would require a simple majority vote and would prevent him from running for President in 2024 which he has indicated he might want to do.

But even in the unlikely event that he is convicted and barred from running for federal office again, Mr. Trump could still continue to remain a force in American politics by endorsing candidates, holding rallies or becoming a conservative media personality.

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The Iranian plane, belonging to Mahan Air, was heading from Tehran to Beirut when the pilot staged a safety manoeuvre, in an incident that Iran’s Foreign Ministry said would be investigated.

Tensions have spiked between Tehran and Washington since 2018, when US President Donald Trump exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and re-imposed sanctions that have battered Iran’s economy.

Iran’s official IRIB news agency quoted a passenger describing how his head had hit the roof of the plane during the change in altitude, and video showed an elderly passenger sprawled on the floor.

All the passengers left the plane, some with minor injuries. The plane arrived back in Tehran in the early hours of Friday.
The US military’s Central Command, which oversees American troops in the region, said the F-15 aircraft was conducting a visual inspection of the Iranian aircraft when it passed near the Tanf garrison in Syria where US forces are present.

Captain Bill Urban, the senior Central Command spokesman, said the F-15 “conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from the airliner this evening.”

“The visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at Tanf garrison,” Urban said. “Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft.”

He added the intercept was carried out in accordance with international standards.
The pilot of the passenger plane contacted the jet pilots to warn them to keep a safe distance and they identified themselves as American, IRIB reported.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the necessary legal and political actions would be taken, according to the ministry’s website.

Israel and the United States have long accused Mahan Air of ferrying weapons for Iranian-linked guerrillas in Syria and elsewhere.

The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, saying it provided financial and other support to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

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Protesters were carrying placards which included slogans like “Hate Has No Home Here”, “Senator Durbin Hates Indian Immigrants” and “Racism is a Disease”. Indian immigrants, including women and children also participated in the protest rally.

“These are taxpaying law-abiding skilled immigrants who are already in the country for many years- doctors, engineers, scientists and professors. They are stuck in the long green card backlog which will span 150 years! What we are doing here is protesting Senator Durban’s hold on the bill yesterday and he is making sure that Indian immigrants who are already here would not get equal treatment under the law, which is unfair,” said Aman Kapoor, Immigration Voice president.

Today protests broke out outside @SenGaryPeters’s office protesting @SenatorDurbin’s bigotry against Indian immigrants.

Durbin needs to be constructive by negotiating with Senator Lee, instead of shamelessly grandstanding on the Senate floor.

Sen Peters needs to denounce Durbin pic.twitter.com/m0Jl0cWCMs

— Immigration Voice (@immivoice) July 23, 2020

During the rally, the group also demanded that the green card backlog must be cleared up before the wait time.

The decision to ban visas are a huge set back for a large number of Indian IT professionals and several American and Indian companies who were issued H-1B visas by the US government for the fiscal year 2021 beginning October 1.

They would now have to wait at least till the end of the current year before approaching the US diplomatic missions to get stamping.

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