Connect with us

Published

on

Maine’s top election official has disqualified Donald Trump from the state ballot in next year’s US presidential primary election – making it the second state to bar the former president over the Capitol riots.

Maine secretary of state Shenna Bellows ruled that Mr Trump incited an insurrection when he spread false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election and then urged his supporters to march on the Capitol on 6 January 2021.

“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Ms Bellows wrote in her 34-page decision, which follows Colorado’s banning of the former president earlier in December.

“I am mindful that no secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” she said. “I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”

The ruling, which can be appealed to a state court, applies only to the March primary election, but it could affect Mr Trump’s status for the November general election.

It will likely add to pressure on the US Supreme Court to resolve questions about Mr Trump’s eligibility nationwide under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it from holding office.

The Maine case will almost certainly wind its way up to the Supreme Court

This is an indicator of what the coming year will look like: court cases of varying types and levels across the land, all with Donald Trump at their heart.

It’s a hint of chaotic twists, turns and fault lines in America’s political journey which are impossible to predict. But in this particular case don’t read too much into it, yet.

Maine is the second state to bar him from their state ballot, following the stunning ruling in Colorado. They are, for the moment at least, outliers though

Most courts tasked with citizen-led cases brought to try to disqualify Trump have sided with him. Recent cases in Michigan, Arizona and Minnesota all went in the former president’s favour.

The Maine case, following the Colorado ruling, will increase pressure on the federal Supreme Court in Washington to weigh in.

It is the highest court in the land and must surely rule on this unprecedented constitutional quandary.

The nine justices of the Supreme Court already look set to determine so many aspects of the 2024 race.

Even before that, Trump’s team will appeal the Maine Secretary of State’s decision, which is administrative in nature.

It will go first to a trial court in the state (which doesn’t have appeal courts) and then depending on that outcome, it could go to the state’s Supreme Court.

So the legal process here hasn’t really begun.

Despite that though – these decisions and the headlines they generate only serve to rile Mr Trump’s supporters, and many Republicans more widely, underlining the view that the so-called establishment is out to get Mr Trump.

On the ‘establishment plot’, it’s important to remember that in Colorado, the case to bar Mr Trump was brought by Republican and unaffiliated voters, not ‘establishment’ Democrats. Hardly a Democrat witch-hunt.

For the nation though huge jeopardy surrounds all this.

Legal due process and judicial interpretation of the constitution of an unprecedented nature is taking place in a highly partisan and fractious political environment.

The optics of it all could determine how all this is interpreted and plays out. It will be seen by many as an attempt to remove an opponent even if it is not.

Mr Trump has been indicted in both a federal case and in Georgia for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election but he has not been charged with insurrection related to the 6 January attack.

His lawyers have disputed that he engaged in insurrection and argued that his remarks to supporters on the day of the 2021 riot were protected by his right to free speech.

The Trump campaign said it would file an objection to the “atrocious” decision made by Maine’s secretary of state.

“We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung added in a statement.

On 19 December, Colorado became the first state to disqualify Mr Trump from its primary ballot, making him the first candidate in US history to be deemed ineligible for the presidency for engaging in insurrection.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Colorado bars Trump from ballot

Mr Trump has vowed to appeal the Colorado ruling to the Supreme Court.

Read more:
All you need to know about Trump’s legal labyrinth
After removal from the Colorado ballot, what happens next?

Similar attempts to disqualify Mr Trump in other states have been rejected.

The top court in Michigan, a pivotal battleground state in the general election, declined on Wednesday to hear a case seeking to disqualify Mr Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

Maine is rated as likely Democratic by non-partisan election forecasters, meaning that President Joe Biden is expected to win the state.

But Mr Trump captured one electoral vote from Maine in both the 2016 and 2020 elections due to an unusual set-up that allows the state to split its four Electoral College votes.

Candidates must win 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency.

Continue Reading

World

Israel approves plan to seize all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely, officials say

Published

on

By

Israel approves plan to seize all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely, officials say

Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.

According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.

The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.

On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.

Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.

Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Image:
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP

Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.

More from World

They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.

It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.

The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.

It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza

Read more:
Israeli pilots’ letter reveals deepening rift
Seriously ill children from Gaza allowed into UK

More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.

A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.

Continue Reading

World

At least 15 injured in ‘US-British’ strike on Yemeni capital, according to Houthi group

Published

on

By

At least 15 injured in 'US-British' strike on Yemeni capital, according to Houthi group

Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has said 15 people have been injured in “US-British” airstrikes in and around the capital Sanaa.

Most of those hurt were from the Shuub district, near the centre of the city, a statement from the health ministry said.

Another person was injured on the main airport road, the statement added.

It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” following a missile attack by the group on Israel’s main international airport on Sunday morning.

It remains unclear whether the UK took part in the latest strikes and any role it may have played.

On 29 April, UK forces, the British government said, took part in a joint strike on “a Houthi military target in Yemen”.

“Careful intelligence analysis identified a cluster of buildings, used by the Houthis to manufacture drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, located some fifteen miles south of Sanaa,” the British Ministry of Defence said in a previous statement.

More from World

On Sunday, the militant group fired a missile at the Ben Gurion Airport, sparking panic among passengers in the terminal building.

The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly caused flights to be halted.

Four people were said to be injured, according to the country’s paramedic service.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Continue Reading

World

Netanyahu vows to retaliate against Houthis and Iran after missile attack

Published

on

By

Netanyahu vows to retaliate against Houthis and Iran after missile attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.

A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.

“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters

The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.

Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.

Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.

The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.

More on Iran

Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.

Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.

Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.

Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.

Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.

Continue Reading

Trending