A request from prosecutors for a gag order aimed at reining in Donald Trump’s rhetoric is putting the judge overseeing his federal election interference case in a tricky position

By Cassandra Garrison MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The U.S. is escalating its conflict with Mexico over agriculture biotech measures, including the

China dropped to the 19th place on the California State Teachers’ Retirement System ranking of country asset exposure,

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The president of the historically Black institution in Jacksonville, Florida, says a campus security officer tipped off by observant students likely stopped the killer who fatally shot three people at a nearby Dollar General Store from carrying out his racist attack at Edward Waters University

Tristan Tate's reaction to Lucy Williamson's reactivation of her Twitter account was immediate and unequivocal

Chris Christie has stepped up his verbal attacks on Donald Trump as the former president faces fresh scrutiny over his handling of classified documents. The former New Jersey governor told the New York Times that Mr Trump was likely to become increasingly erratic as he tried to avoid being sent to prison. “He’s scared,” Mr Christie told the Times. “Look, a guy like him, the last place you ever want to be in life is in jail because you give up all control, and he’s a complete control freak.” Mr Christie spoke out after the ex-president was heard in a leaked tape bragging that he had kept documents about a military strike on Iran after leaving office that he knew were classified. Mr Trump has since rolled out several excuses about the audio, including that he was referring to plans for a golf course, and that he had merely engaged in “bravado”. “For Donald Trump, it is better to be called a liar than to go to jail,” Mr Christie added. “If what it buys him is a get-out-of-jail-free card, he’ll take that trade every day.” Mr Christie, who was among the first Republicans to endorse Mr Trump in 2016, is using his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination to publicly flog his former ally at every opportunity. He told the Times that he expected Mr Trump would show up for presidential primary debates, despite his insistence that he would skip them. “His ego won’t permit him not to. He can’t have a big TV show that he’s not on,” Mr Christie said. Mr Trump is polling at 52 per cent in an average of GOP primary polls over the past six months by FiveThirtyEight.com. In a crowded field, Mr Christie has struggled to attract support and is seventh on 2.7 per cent. On Sunday, former Trump White House spokesperson Stephanie Grisham told MSNBC her former boss would regularly show classified documents to guests at the Mar-a-Lago dining room patio. “He has no respect for classified information [and] never did,” she said. Read More Trump news – live: Ex-Trump press secretary says she saw him show documents to Mar-a-Lago guests Trump’s own words about an indicted president come back to haunt him Ex-Trump spokesperson claims she saw him show off documents on Mar-a-Lago dining patio What's 'Bidenomics'? The president hopes a dubious nation embraces his ideas condensed into the term Chris Christie says McCarthy spoke correctly about Trump the first time Chris Christie attacks Trump for diverting campaign funds to legal battles Chris Christie tells ‘Adonis’ Trump to ‘look in the mirror’ after weight attacks

Hezbollah said it targeted three Israeli military positions on the border with Lebanon on Friday, with Israel’s army

The Georgia prosecutor investigating Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state is reportedly weighing a racketeering indictment against the former president and others. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could rely on evidence tied to Mr Trump’s infamous call to the state’s top elections official to “find” votes for him, as well as the breach of voting machines by a group of Trump-connected operatives, according to The Guardian, citing two people briefed on the matter. Prosecutors are reportedly reviewing a racketeering indictment including statutes related to influencing witnesses and computer trespass. An indictment is expected within the first two weeks of August. The office has been investigating efforts to overturn election results in the state and the baseless allegations of widespread election fraud that fuelled them, adding to a long list of investigations and other legal consequences facing the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president and his allies who rejected 2020 results. Ms Willis’s investigation is separate from the federal probe under US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating a broader effort from Mr Trump and his allies to reverse election results in states Mr Trump lost to Joe Biden, culminating in a pressure campaign around Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to certify electoral college results during a joint session of Congress on 6 January, 2021. A grand jury in the Fulton County case was seated on 11 July. Ms Willis has made a career out of high-profile cases involving charges of racketeering– typically used to break up organised crime – including indictments against more than two dozen people connected to a sprawling Atlanta hip-hop empire, 38 alleged gang members, and 25 educators accused of cheating Atlanta’s public school system. Georgia’s racketeering statute requires prosecutors to show the existence of an “enterprise” with a pattern predicated on at least two other “qualifying” crimes. Evidence in the case is unlikely to be revealed until an indictment is unsealed, but a charge involving influences witnesses could look to Mr Trump’s phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Mr Trump suggested that he “find” him 11,780 votes – enough to swing the election in the state. For the computer trespass charge, in which prosecutors would need to show that defendants used a computer or network without permission to interfere with a program or data, prosecutors could turn to the breach of voting machines in Coffee County. That breach involved a group of people working under former Trump-connected attorney Sidney Powell to copy voting machine data at the county’s election office. That data from Dominion Voting Systems machines was uploaded to a password-protected website in a spurious, failed effort to prove that the 2020 election was rigged against Mr Trump. The Independent has requested comment from the Fulton County District Attorney’s office. Roughly one year into her investigation, Ms Willis took the unusual step of asking for a special grand jury to rely on its subpoena power to compel testimony from witnesses who otherwise would not be willing to talk with prosecutors. That special grand jury was seated in May 2022 and concluded its work in January 2022 after hearing from roughly 75 witnesses before dissolving in January. A partially released report from the special grand jury shows that jurors unanimously agreed that “no widespread fraud took place” in Georgia’s election following interviews with election officials, analysis and poll workers. Mr Trump also faces criminal charges in Manhattan stemming from hush money payments allegedly made to silence stories about his alleged affairs in the lead up to the 2016 election. Mr Trump and his adult children also face a likely trial from a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by the New York Attorney General’s office alleging a years-long fraud operation. A federal judge in Florida has also set a trial date of 20 May, 2024 on charges surrounding the alleged mishandling and illegal retention of dozens of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property. The former president has repeatedly characterised the multiple investigations against him, including the January 6 probe, as a politically motivated “hoax” and an attempt to “steal” the 2024 election from him. On 23 July, Mr Trump published several posts on his social network Truth Social, once again calling the special prosecutor “deranged”. He claimed that investigations into him were a “coordinated HOAX,” pointing to the probe into allegations of collusion between the Trump 2016 campaign and Russia. Mr Trump also went after President Joe Biden, claiming without providing evidence that he’s a “criminal” before going on to call him “the most corrupt and incompetent President in United States history”. “Get smart, Republicans, they are trying to steal the Election from you!” he wrote before referring to Democrats and federal and state prosecutors as “monsters” who are “destroying our country”. Read More Trump classified documents trial will be six months before 2024 election as Jan 6 cases close in - latest Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump Georgia grand jury sworn in to consider Trump charges over attempts to upend 2020 election Trump, January 6 and a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election: The federal investigation, explained

After several quiet weeks in movie theaters, four films entered wide release over the weekend

House Speaker Mike Johnson has unveiled his proposal to avoid a partial government shutdown next weekend by extending government funding for some agencies and programs until Jan. 19 and continuing funding for others until Feb. 2

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, adding his name to the long list of contenders hoping to dent former President Donald Trump’s early lead in the race