By Jonathan Saul LONDON Ukraine's move to create a shipping channel for grain exports is a positive step

Tens of thousands of revelers attending the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert have been asked to

WASHINGTON U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez on Monday said there was a temporary "lull" in

Philippines head coach Alen Stajcic said the Women's World Cup debutants faced a "monumental" task to beat Norway and squeeze...

Mauricio Umansky was seen holding hands with 'DWTS' partner Emma Slater

At least one of Donald Trump’s former lawyers appears to have a pretty low opinion of the newest defence that the ex-president’s legal team is trying out for size. Ty Cobb, former White House counsel, was speaking on CNN when he was asked about a whirlwind Sunday morning media tour embarked upon by John Lauro, one of Mr Trump’s currently defence attorneys. On several shows across the major TV networks, Mr Lauro displayed the Trump camp’s newest excuse for the former president’s efforts to pressure various Republican officials to interfere with state or federal election processes on his behalf, including his vice president, Mike Pence. In multiple interviews, Mr Lauro used the same word — “aspirational” — to describe Mr Trump’s urgings for Mr Pence to attempt to halt the Senate’s process certifying the 2020 election that he did to describe a phone call in which the former president was heard urging Georgia officials to “find” thousands of votes for him that did not exist. Mr Cobb was asked by CNN’s Erin Burnett whether there was any First Amendment defence that would come into play when a politician or elected official requests that a subordinate violate the law. “Not at all. I’m not aware of the ‘aspirational’ defence or the free speech defence to a gang leader saying to two of his subordinates, ‘I need you two to please rob a bank for me,’ and they do it. That’s aspirational but it leads to a crime and that’s exactly what Trump did with Pence,” Mr Cobb responded. His analysis appeared to poke a hole cleanly through the argument that the Trump team has made all weekend — that merely encouraging a crime to be committed is not an offence. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of the 78 criminal charges that the former president is accused of, including the four related to the 2020 election. But the “aspirational” defence appears to be the closest the Trump team has come to acknowledging that the actions the president requested, if carried out, would have been blatantly illegal. DoJ special counsel Jack Smith has argued that Mr Trump conspired to violate the constitutional rights of millions of Americans when he worked to change the results of the 2020 election even after losing all of his court challenges and being told, repeatedly, by his own expert authorities that his claims of election fraud were false. The ex-president is separately charged in two other cases involving classified documents retained from the White House as well as his own hush payments to a porn star in 2016. Despite his professed innocence, his lawyers have said that they expect more charges related to the 2020 election to be handed down in Georgia. His latest criminal indictment has been understood by numerous experts to have been engineered by the Justice Department for speed in the hopes that it will play out, one way or another, before the 2024 presidential election concludes. Mr Trump remains the dominant candidate in the Republican presidential primary. Read More Trump lawyer calls Trump request to Pence for Jan 6 ‘aspirational’ Chris Christie thinks this ex-Trump aide has already flipped Pence says he's now met polling, donor qualifications for first Republican debate Ron DeSantis replaces campaign manager as 2024 bid falters Gavin Newsom rips DeSantis terms for debate: ‘What a joke’ Trump-appointed judge orders Southwest attorneys to take ‘religious liberty training’ from right-wing group

Chloe Rae Sergent and Keola Wimbish were each sentenced to 20 years in prison and an additional 10 years of supervised probation after release

By Shristi Achar A and Amruta Khandekar (Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures were higher on Friday ahead of a keenly

Watch live as Hakim Jeffries, minority leader of the House of Representatives, and other Democrats hold a news conference ahead of a vote on the US debt ceiling on Wednesday evening (31 May). The House is due to vote on a bill to lift the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, a critical step to avoid a destabilising default that could come early next week without congressional action. Republicans control the House by a narrow 222-213 majority, meaning the bipartisan deal - agreed days ago - will need support from both Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Republicans and Joe Biden’s Democrats to pass. Mr McCarthy has predicted that the vote will succeed. “It’s going to become law,” he told reporters. Meanwhile, Mr Biden took to Twitter to outline what failure to pass the bill could mean for America. “Our bipartisan budget agreement prevents the worst possible crisis: a default for the first time in our nation’s history – an economic recession, retirement accounts devastated, and millions of jobs lost,” he wrote. Read More Biden and McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal expected to go to full House vote today – live Australian Parliament takes step toward holding a referendum on Indigenous Voice this year Why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment fight isn't finished yet

Maxwell Frost, the first and only Gen Z congressman in the United States, joined pop rock band Paramore on stage last night shouting 'F*** Ron DeSantis.' The group invited Frost to join them onstage at their concert in Washington, D.C. at the Capitol One Arena during their hit song 'Misery Business'. Lead singer Hayley Williams asked the Florida congressman if he had anything to say to the crowd, to which the Democrat responded by shouting: 'F*** DeSantis! F*** fascism!' When bringing the youngest congressman onto the stage, Williams asked the crowd: 'Can you see this? Can you see the future right here?' Paramore, especially Williams, have used their platform to criticise DeSantis before. Earlier in their US tour, Williams told fans that if they vote for DeSantis 'you're f***ing dead to me.' Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Frost, who was elected in 2022 as congressman for Florida's 10th congressional district, has repeatedly criticised DeSantis, who is the governor of Florida and recently announced his bid to become the Republican Presidential nominee. Later that night, Frost doubled down on his statement by tweeting: "I said what I said." Many conservatives have criticised Frost and Williams for their statement, some called Congressman Frost 'ridiculous' and an 'idiot', others said he 'doesn't understand fascism'. However, the Floridian seemed unbothered by conservative's comments tweeting: Paramore’s recent run of shows is proving eventful to say the least, after the group were forced to stop a concert to deal with a couple fighting and pushing in the crowd at Madison Square Garden. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A group of homeless people in Portland, Oregon, has filed a class action lawsuit challenging new restrictions the city placed on daytime camping in an attempt to address safety issues stemming from a crisis of people living on the streets

xQc's debut as a goalkeeper at this year's Sidemen Charity Match garnered headlines, as his team, the YouTube All-Stars XI, suffered an 8-5 defeat