A massive accounting error by the US Defense Department could allow an extra $3bn in American-made weapons to be delivered to Ukraine’s defence forces in the coming months. Two senior American officials told Reuters on Thursday that the Pentagon had overestimated the value of ammunition, missiles and other military materiel that has already been sent to Kyiv, leaving a $3bn deficit between what was believed to have been delivered and what was actually delivered to arm Ukrainian forces in their fight against Russian invaders. “We’ve discovered inconsistencies in how we value the equipment that we’ve given,” said one of the officials, who added that Congress will soon be officially notified of the bookkeeping screw-up. One defence official also said it’s still possible that the amount by which the US has overvalued the aid packages it has already delivered could grow beyond the current $3bn estimate. The Pentagon officials who spoke to Reuters said the overvaluation was introduced into the process for assigning values to weapons being shipped to Ukraine when the Defense Department erroneously calculated totals using the estimated cost to replace the weapons that were being provided from existing US stockpiles. Instead, the Pentagon should have assigned monetary values based on the original cost of the weapons, minus value subtracted to account for depreciation in the years between the original purchase date and when they were taken out of the US inventory to be sent to Ukraine. The updated — and presumably lower — value of the defence aid packages that have already been provided to the Ukrainian government could give the Biden administration more time before it must ask Congress to authorise additional aid for Kyiv. To date, the Ukrainian government has benefited from approximately $21bn in American defence aid, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers, Javelin anti-tank weapons and two Patriot surface-to-air missile batteries. Read More Ukraine war – live: Putin launches day-long barrage on Bakhmut but Kyiv ‘repels all’ Ukraine repels Russian forces in Bakhmut after overnight strikes on Kyiv

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During his arraignment, Bob Lee's family lined up on one side of the courtroom while Nima Momeni’s mother and sister Khazar Elyssiana sat on the other

A grand jury in Georgia has indicted three former sheriff's officers in the beating of a Black jail detainee that was recorded by security cameras

As negotiations over addressing the debt ceiling continue and the threat of default draws closer, President Joe Biden has resurfaced the controversial idea of using the 14th Amendment as a way to lift the borrowing cap without Congress.

Ecuadorian lawmakers who were ousted when President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly denounced the move Thursday and argued it wasn't legal because the country wasn't facing any urgent crisis. The conservative president, who had sparred with the left-leaning assembly over his pro-business agenda since taking office in 2021, disbanded the chamber Wednesday just as it tried to oust him on mismanagement allegations in an impeachment trial. Lasso was making first use of a 2008 constitutional provision that allows the president to dissolve the assembly during times of political crisis, with the requirement that new elections be held for both lawmakers and the president. However, a lawsuit filed Thursday by the assembly’s former head, Virgilio Saquicela, argues that Lasso’s move violated the constitution because the country was not experiencing any social upheaval. Instead, Lasso’s detractors have argued, the president chose to disband the chamber merely to avoid his own ouster. Saquicela’s lawsuit — and two other challenges filed Wednesday — are before the country’s Constitutional Court, which is known to act slowly. Lawmakers have been urging the panel to act quickly this time. “We require, we demand an immediate pronouncement from the Constitutional Court,” Virgilio Saquicela said in an interview with The Associated Press. Meanwhile, the National Electoral Council is moving forward with setting a date for elections. Council President Diana Atamaint told the Teleamazonas television network that the electoral body has until Wednesday to decide. The tentative date is Aug. 20. If needed, a runoff would take place Oct. 15. The constitution allows the president to dissolve the assembly when it oversteps its mandate under the constitution or during times of “serious political crisis and internal commotion.” Minister of Government Henry Cucalón defended Lasso’s decision during a news conference Thursday, arguing that the constitution makes it clear that the dismissal is up to the president's “judgment, criteria, discretion and reason," and that it does not require approval of any other entity. The president appears to have the support of the armed forces, but faces pushback from critics including a powerful confederation of indigenous group that previously has nearly paralyzed the country with protests. Lasso can now govern for up to six months by means of decrees on economic and administrative issues under the oversight of Ecuador’s Constitutional Court. The National Electoral Council is required to set a date for presidential and legislative elections within seven days from Lasso’s decision. Lawmakers want the court to issue a ruling before the council makes a decision, because after the election date is set “no authority may interfere in the carrying out of the process,” lawyer and electoral analyst Medardo Oleas said. He added that if the Constitutional Court interfered, its members “could be dismissed.” Those elected would finish the terms of Lasso and the lawmakers he ousted, which had been set to end in May 2025. Lasso, a former banker, can choose to run in the election. Lawmakers had accused Lasso of not having intervened to end a contract between the state-owned oil transport company and a private tanker company. They argued Lasso knew the contract was full of irregularities and would cost the state millions in losses. During impeachment proceedings Tuesday, Lasso noted that the contract predated his administration. He also said that the state-owned company experienced losses of $6 million a year before he took office, and that it has seen $180 million in profits under his watch. Lasso had clashed from the start of his four-year term with the opposition-led National Assembly. He accused them Wednesday of focusing “on destabilizing the government.” Saquicela, in an interview with AP, accused Lasso’s government of being “incapable of solving the real problems of Ecuadorians” including health, transportation and security issues. He rejected any shared responsibility for the turmoil affecting the country arguing that the assembly had complied with its constitutional obligation to legislate. “I do not want to justify whether the assembly has been good or bad, what I defend is the constitutional framework,” he said. “However, we believe that as a political class, we fell short in our legislating and oversight duties.” Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Group plans to put legalization of medical marijuana on Nebraska ballot Explainer: Why Supreme Court tiptoeing past Section 230 helps Big Tech fueled by social media Trial delayed for driver held since 2015 in deadly Las Vegas Strip pedestrian crash

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The Walt Disney Company has pulled the plug on a $1bn office complex in Orlando, following a warning from Disney leadership that billions of dollars in projects were on the line after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis escalated his feud with the company. The development scheduled for construction in the Orlando area was set to bring 2,000 jobs to the region, with 1,000 employees expected to be relocated from southern California. In an email to employees on 18 May, Disney’s theme park and consumer products chair Josh D’Amaro pointed to “changing business conditions” for the cancellation of the 60-acre Lake Nona Town Center project, according to The New York Times, which first reported the move. “I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business,” he added, noting that the company has still planned $17bn in projects over the next decade its Disney World campus. “I hope we’re able to,” he said. For years, Florida legislators and the governor’s office enjoyed a close relationship with the state’s largest taxpayers, among the state’s largest employers, which has wielded enormous political influence while bringing in billions of dollars to the state each year. Now, the company and DeSantis allies are suing one another, following a year-long feud over opposition to what opponents have called Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law that boiled over into political and legal battles that could shape the company’s business in the state. Moments after board appointed by Mr DeSantis voted to strip the company’s control of its Florida park, Disney filed a federal lawsuit against the governor and state officials alleging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” for “expressing a political viewpoint.” The lawsuit follows the governor’s state takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, now the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, made up of conservative activists and DeSantis loyalists, a move that followed Florida Republicans’ punitive measures against the company after its public opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Days later, the board voted to sue Disney in state court. In March, Disney slammed the governor’s “anti-business” approach to the company, which Mr DeSantis has accused of advancing a “woke agenda” while his administration targets LGBT+ people and their families with sweeping laws to control public school education, healthcare access and speech. The governor dissolved a decades-old municipal district that allowed Disney to control its own land use, zoning rules and public services, without putting a tax burden on Florida residents. In effect, Disney taxed itself to foot the district’s bill for its municipal needs. “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” Disney CEO Bob Iger said on a conference call with analysts last week. A statement from Disney said the company has decided to pull out of the new campus construction “given the considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new leadership and changing business conditions.” The “Parental Rights in Education Act” – what opponents have called “Don’t Say Gay” – prohibits instruction of “sexual orientation or gender identity” from kindergarten through the third grade and any such discussion “that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students” in other grades. The governor recently expanded the law to explicitly extend such restrictions to all grades. Critics have warned that the broadly written law threatens to freeze classroom speech involving LGBT+ people and issues, from civil rights history lessons to discussion of LGBT+ students, school staff and their families. Following passage of the Florida law, lawmakers across the US and in Congress have introduced similar legislation, including more than two dozen measures in current legislative sessions. Read More DeSantis v Disney: Why Florida’s governor is at war with the Mouse ‘We will not be erased’: Critics slam Ron DeSantis for unprecedented bills attacking LGBTQ+ people Penguin Random House sues Florida school district over ‘unconstitutional’ book bans Florida teacher under investigation for showing Disney movie with LGBT+ character speaks out

NEW YORK Charlie Javice, who has been accused of defrauding JPMorgan Chase & Co through her now-shuttered college

The company makes the decision amid an escalating legal battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

The US Supreme Court handed a victory to Twitter, Facebook and Google on Thursday, saying the social media giants could not be held liable by victims of terrorist attacks for...

State investigators determined that a fire and explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle that injured one person and killed an estimated 18,000 head of cattle was an accident that started with an engine fire in a manure vacuum truck