List of All Articles with Tag 'eric'

Donald Trump will appear in court by video today for his second hearing in his criminal case after he became the first US president in American history arrested and charged with a crime. The former president will appear virtually in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday afternoon so that Judge Juan Merchan can make sure he understands the terms of the protective order in the case. The judge imposed the order after Mr Trump took aim at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Judge Merchan himself as he was charged with 34 felonies for falsifying business records while making hush money payments to cover up alleged affairs with women. This comes as Mr Trump’s other legal troubles are also heating up. On Monday, author E Jean Carroll amended her remaining defamation lawsuit against Mr Trump to include the derogatory remark she made about her at a CNN town hall. Attorney Roberta Kaplan filed a proposed update to the $10m Manhattan civil court complaint to include the comments which were made by Mr Trump after he was found liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of Ms Carroll by jury trial in New York. Read More E. Jean Carroll adds Trump's post-verdict remarks to defamation case, seeks at least $10M Trump bashes DeSantis as he shares surprisingly positive response to another 2024 challenger: ‘Good luck Tim!’ A timeline of Donald Trump’s rivalry with Ron DeSantis Trump Media files $3.78bn defamation lawsuit against Washington Post over Truth Social reporting

Donald Trump will appear in court by video today for his second hearing in his criminal case after he became the first US president in American history arrested and charged with a crime. The former president will appear virtually in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday afternoon so that Judge Juan Merchan can make sure he understands the terms of the protective order in the case. The judge imposed the order after Mr Trump took aim at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Judge Merchan himself as he was charged with 34 felonies for falsifying business records while making hush money payments to cover up alleged affairs with women. This comes as Mr Trump’s other legal troubles are also heating up. On Monday, author E Jean Carroll amended her remaining defamation lawsuit against Mr Trump to include the derogatory remark she made about her at a CNN town hall. Attorney Roberta Kaplan filed a proposed update to the $10m Manhattan civil court complaint to include the comments which were made by Mr Trump after he was found liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of Ms Carroll by jury trial in New York. Read More E. Jean Carroll adds Trump's post-verdict remarks to defamation case, seeks at least $10M Trump bashes DeSantis as he shares surprisingly positive response to another 2024 challenger: ‘Good luck Tim!’ A timeline of Donald Trump’s rivalry with Ron DeSantis Trump Media files $3.78bn defamation lawsuit against Washington Post over Truth Social reporting

Emirati leaders extended a long-sought invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attend the U.N climate conference, known as COP28, in November. The United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also invited Israel's figurehead President Isaac Herzog and dozens of other leaders including Syrian President Bashar Assad to COP28, in Dubai. The Israelis did not immediately accept the invitation, but Netanyahu thanked the Emiratis for the gesture. The invitation falls short of the high-profile bilateral visit Netanyahu has sought. But a trip to the Gulf Arab country would nonetheless give an important boost to the Israeli leader who has established official ties with the UAE as part of the 2020 Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between the two countries. Netanyahu has repeatedly called for closer ties with Arab countries across the region, but has yet to pay the UAE an official visit since the accords were signed. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, has sought to return to the world stage. to the world stage. Since returning to office late last year, he has made official visits to Italy, Germany and Britain. He had hoped to visit the UAE shortly after his right-wing government took office, but the plan was postponed after national security minister and ultranationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir last January visited the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The same site is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to Muslims. Such visits are widely viewed as provocations that could lead to new clashes between the Israelis and Palestinians. The UAE condemned Ben-Gvir's actions at the time. He visited the site again on Sunday, declaring Israel “in charge” and drawing renewed criticism from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt and the United States. Netanyahu's alliance with far-right figures like Ben-Gvir has drawn repeated criticism from close allies. He remains uninvited to visit U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington, which some interpret as a White House snub. The U.S. administration has criticized Israel's settlement policies in the occupied West Bank, Ben-Gvir's visits to the disputed compound and the government's push to overhaul Israel's judiciary system. The administration has said he's likely to receive an invitation at some point. Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been internationally ostracized during his country’s civil war, has also been invited after returning to the Arab League following a 12-year suspension. The annual U.N. climate talks are designed to keep countries accountable to their pledges to cut down on carbon emissions. In November, the talks in Dubai will be hosted by Sultan al-Jaber, the chief executive officer of the Emirates’ state oil company. Choosing the oil-rich emirate as well as al-Jaber to host the climate conference has drawn criticism from various environmental groups and activists. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide

No one will be watching more keenly than Donald Trump this week as Florida governor Ron DeSantis finally makes the long-awaited announcement that he will seek the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024. During his own tenure in the White House in 2018, Mr Trump loudly cheered Mr DeSantis’s bid for the governor’s mansion, throwing his weight behind the former congressman and appearing at rallies to stump for him, playing an important role in the candidate’s narrow defeat of Democratic rival and Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum. Since then, however, a great deal of water has passed beneath the bridge and the two men are now increasingly antagonistic towards each other. Mr Trump has launched a stream of insults and barbed nicknames yelled across the state from Mar-a-Lago, the majority of which Mr DeSantis has wisely allowed to pass without public comment. Here is a timeline of their disintegrating relationship. 17 November 2018 Ron DeSantis is elected governor of Florida, defeating Democrat Andrew Gillum. Then-president Donald Trump, who had campaigned for Mr DeSantis in person and on Twitter, loudly celebrates his victory as the latest demonstration of his own power and influence. 11 March 2020 After a relatively quiet first year in the governor’s mansion, Mr DeSantis faces a major crisis when the US Centers for Disease Control announces that Covid-19 is spreading in his state. Within days, the entire world is going into lockdown to control the spread of the contagious respiratory disease. While Mr Trump bungles the federal response to the crisis, making empty promises as to when society can reopen, openly speculating that injecting bleach might provide a cure and eventually contracting the coronavirus himself one month before Election Day, Mr DeSantis recognises opposition to masks and social restrictions as a culture war flashpoint and uses the mood to his political advantage. “We’re not shutting down, we’re gonna go forward, we’re gonna continue to protect the most vulnerable,” he said in a speech in June. “Particularly when you have a virus that disproportionately impacts one segment of society, to suppress a lot of working-age people at this point I don’t think would likely be very effective.” 20 January 2021 Joe Biden succeeds Mr Trump as president, the latter leaving Washington two weeks after his two-month campaign to prove the false contention that the 2020 presidential election was rigged had ended with the Capitol riot in which his misled supporters laid siege to the legislative complex baying for blood and threatening to lynch vice president Mike Pence and kidnap House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Disgraced, discredited, twice-impeached and banned from social media, Mr Trump slinks off back to his Palm Beach estate, while the same state’s governor continues to make a name for himself, capitalising on his pandemic popularity among Republicans by eventually taking on LGBT+ rights and the might of the Walt Disney Corporation, cheered on by a movement looking for a less contaminated and compromised alternative to Mr Trump, who can only look on with envy. 29 April 2021 Mr Trump tells Maria Baritromo on Fox Business Network: “He’s a friend of mine. I endorsed Ron, and after I endorsed him, he took off like a rocket ship.” On the suggestion that Mr DeSantis might make a good successor to Mr Pence as a running mate, Mr Trump answers: “A lot of people like that – you know, I’m just saying what I read and what you read – they love that ticket. But certainly, Ron would be considered. He’s a great guy. 4 October 2021 Addressing the prospect of having to square up against Mr DeSantis in a future election race, rather than their joining forces, Mr Trump tells Yahoo! Finance he would beat the governor with ease. “I don’t think I will face him. I think most people would drop out, I think he would drop out,” he says. “If I faced him, I’d beat him like I would beat everyone else. If I do run, I think that I’ll do extremely well.” For his part, Mr DeSantis tells Fox News: “I’m not considering anything beyond doing my job. We got a lot of stuff going on in Florida.” 21 June 2022 Increasingly bothered by Mr DeSantis’ rise, Mr Trump begins to insist that the former owes his success entirely to his support. On the prospect of the governor running for the White House, as discussed at length in The New Yorker, its former occupant tells Newsmax: “I don’t know that he wants to run, you know, I have a good relationship with Ron. But I was very responsible for him getting elected, as you know… We’ll see what happens.” 14 September 2022 Mr DeSantis engages in a distinctly Trumpian stunt by sending approximately 50 Venezuelan asylum seekers by air from San Antonio, Texas, to Crestview airport in Florida and then on to the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, a Democratic stronghold. A piece of provocative political theatre, Mr Trump gripes that he thought of it first. 24 September 2022 While that episode brought liberal condemnation, including from President Biden, who called it “inhumane”, Mr DeSantis wins praise soon after by declaring a state of emergency when Hurricane Ian strikes his state. He would later be praised for his swift and decisive response to the natural disaster. 8 November 2022 The two men hold competing rallies in Florida in the final days before the midterm elections, with Mr Trump debuting his prized “Ron DeSanctimonious” nickname at his. But the governor goes on to win re-election in commanding fashion, beating Democrat Charlie Crist by a nearly 20-point margin and drawing in previously untapped support from Latinos and suburban voters. By contrast, Mr Trump’s preferred candidates lose races across the country from Pennsylvania to Arizona as the widely predicted “red wave” fails to materialise, causing the GOP to miss out on the Senate and only narrowly win a majority in the House of Representatives and prompting many to question the former president’s continued stranglehold over their party and begin to look elsewhere for alternative leadership. 11 November 2022 The fallout from the midterms really sets the rivalry simmering, with Mr Trump resorting to suggesting he had deployed the FBI to secure Mr DeSantis’ win over Mr Gillum in 2018. Taking to Truth Social, Mr Trump calls his rival an “average Republican governor with great public relations” who was “politically dead” until he helped turn his fortunes around. He writes: “I was all in for Ron, and he beat Gillum, but after the Race, when votes were being stolen by the corrupt Election process in Broward County, and Ron was going down ten thousand votes a day, along with now-Senator Rick Scott, I sent in the FBI and the US attorneys, and the ballot theft immediately ended, just prior to them running out of the votes necessary to win. I stopped his Election from being stolen…” The post, inevitably, invites calls for the matter to be investigated urgently. 16 November 2022 Mr Trump announces his intention to run again for the US presidency in a low-key televised address from Mar-a-Lago that many feel lacks the energy of his earlier political speeches. Doubts remain over whether the myriad civil and criminal investigations into his affairs could yet derail him. 29 January 2023 Continuing to obsessively re-litigate Mr DeSantis’s 2018 gubernatorial win in order to bolster his own role in it, Mr Trump accuses his rival of “trying to rewrite history” over his record in responding to Covid, claiming he had “changed his tune a lot” on the introduction of vaccine mandates. Speaking to reporters while campaigning in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Mr Trump griped: “Ron would have not been governor if it wasn’t for me. When I hear that he might [run] I think it’s very disloyal… There are Republican governors that did not close their states. They’re trying to rewrite history.” 8 February 2023 Clearly preparing to get nasty, Mr Trump resorts to amplifying a nasty, unfounded claim about Mr DeSantis on Truth Social relating to his short-lived career as a high school teacher in Georgia as a younger man. 18 February 2023 A new nickname, “Meatball Ron”, is reported to have been trialled by Mr Trump, still seeking a way to trash-talk his likely opponent, as he had done so many times before, but this time he unexpectedly denies it is his coinage. “I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will,” he raves on Truth Social. “Even though FoxNews-killing lightweight Paul Ryan is revered by him, Low Energy Jeb Bush is his hero and always at his side, his beaches and State were closed for long periods of time, his testing, testing, testing for the China Virus didn’t work out too well, and his loyalty skills are really weak, it would be totally inappropriate to use the word ‘meatball’ as a moniker for Ron!” 8 March 2023 Another new nickname, “Tiny D”, is reported by Bloomberg as being workshopped by Mr Trump, this time either a lewd reference to the governor’s manhood or an allegation that he had been spotted wearing heeled cowboy boots in order to increase his height. 30 April 2023 Responding to Mr DeSantis setting out on a global tour, visiting the UK and Japan in the interest of looking statesmanlike on the world stage, Mr Trump tries a new attack line, saying he “couldn’t care less” if the governor runs against him. “I couldn’t care less if Ron DeSanctus [sic] runs, but the problem is the Bill he is about to sign, which allows him to run without resigning from being Governor, totally weakens Election Integrity in Florida,” he posted. 16 May 2023 Still searching for that killer attack line, Mr Trump tells The Messenger his political opponent is a “rank amateur”. “I think the media has said he’s doing a terrible job and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. You know, the media has not been friendly to him. They’re saying that he’s a rank amateur. And you know, he started off fine, but then he hasn’t done very well. You look at the polls.” Returning to the disloyalty argument, Mr Trump manages so sound genuinely wounded as he complains: “He’s very disloyal. He was a dead man walking. He was dead, dead as a doornail. And I revived him. “I’m a loyal person. If that happened to me, I would never run against the guy that did that. He’s got plenty of years left. And I think if he runs, he’s gonna lose MAGA votes forever. That’s my opinion. And the MAGA votes are almost everything in the Republican Party, far bigger than you think.” Mr Trump added that it was “too early” to say if he would endorse Mr DeSantis if he won the GOP primary. “So far, I’m not a fan of the way that he’s running. First of all, he shouldn’t be running right now because he hasn’t filed. The guy’s doing ads. He’s acting as a candidate, but he doesn’t have to play by the rules because he hasn’t filed, which is a total violation. I mean, this guy’s doing interviews as a candidate, but he hasn’t filed, which is really not appropriate.” In the same interview, he said Florida’s new six-week abortion ban was “too harsh” and likely to alienate voters. Unusually, Mr DeSantis did respond to that one by arguing: “Protecting an unborn child when there’s a detectable heartbeat is something that almost 99 per cent of pro-lifers support. As a Florida resident, you know, he didn’t give an answer about, ‘Would you have signed the heartbeat bill that Florida did, that had all the exceptions that people talk about?’” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung came back with: “Ron DeSantis is flailing in the polls and is closer to the bottom of the pack than he is to President Trump, who is dominating in every single poll.” The feud continues as Mr Trump claims “Ron’s magic is GONE” after two candidates endorsed by Mr DeSantis suffer embarrassing election defeats within a week: Daniel Davis fails to become mayor of Jacksonville and Kelly Craft loses out on the Republican nomination to be the next governor of Kentucky. Read More Ron DeSantis news – live: Florida governor slams NAACP ‘stunt’ travel advisory as 2024 campaign launch nears Trump news – latest: E Jean Carroll targets Trump again after his derogatory CNN town hall smears Who is Tim Scott? 5 things to know about the newest 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

Ron DeSantis is expected to officially enter the 2024 presidential race this week following months of speculation. The Florida governor is tipped to file formal paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Thursday 25 May, coinciding with his candidacy declaration after a donor meeting in Miami, Reuters reported last week. This comes just days after the NAACP issued an advisory warning travelers that Florida is “openly hostile” towards Black people, people of colour and LGBT+ people following a series of laws implemented by the governor in recent months. Mr DeSantis, 44, is seen as Donald Trump’s biggest rival for the Republican vote and has been expected to throw his hat into the ring for some time. Following the GOP party’s disappoining midterms – where the “red wave” failed to appear and Mr Trump-endorsed candidates fell flat – several Republican lawmakers and right-wing media have rallied behind Mr DeSantis. However, the latest polls show Mr DeSantis trailing Mr Trump, with the RealClearPolitics polling average giving the former president a 36-point lead. Mr DeSantis will join an already crowded race, with Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Larry Elder and Tim Scott already announcing bids. Read More College student who tracked Elon Musk’s private jet is now following Ron DeSantis Who is Casey DeSantis? What we know about Florida governor Ron’s wife who could become America’s first lady DeSantis responds to NAACP call for tourists to boycott Florida

Lauren Boebert hit out at unsubstantiated claims that she was in a romantic relationship with a pro-Trump country singer following her divorce from her longtime husband. The hard-right congresswoman told The Daily Beast that there was "absolutely nothing romantic" between her and Christian strummer Sean Feucht, nor had there ever been. "How can I be with a man with better hair than me?" she quipped, referring to Mr Feucht's chest-length mane of blond curls. For his part, Mr Feucht called the claims "false and defamatory", threatening to sue anyone making the accusation. Ms Boebert, a staunch conservative and outspoken Christian who represents Colorado in the US House of Representatives, filed for divorce from her husband Jayson Boebert last week after more than 15 years together. Rumours immediately began circulating on Twitter that she had begun romancing Mr Feucht, but those peddling the claim gave no evidence to support it. Asked for comment on Monday, Ms Boebert said: "“There is absolutely nothing romantic between Sean Feucht and I, nor has there been. "He is a wonderful friend, and he and I have done a lot of events together. His wife is wonderful, and we have had worship in the [US Capitol] rotunda... "I have been very, very transparent with my personal life since I started campaigning. And I think there are a lot of politicians who are not transparent. "They just give the sweet, pretty pieces of their life – and I have been raw in the details of my upbringing and what I have been through, and the challenges my husband and I have faced over the years." Since 2020, Mr Feucht has campaigned vigorously against Covid lockdown measures, leading a protest movement called Let Us Worship and running as a Republican for one of California's seats in the US House. He is a strong supporter of former president Donald Trump, whom he believes has been unfairly persecuted and who once signed an American flag guitar for him. According to the Beast, Ms Boebert also blamed the rumours on "the Left" and said there were no skeletons in her closet. Read More GOP Rep Clay Higgins filmed shoving activist who questioned Lauren Boebert’s divorce Lauren Boebert denies claim husband flew into rage after being served divorce papers E Jean Carroll targets Trump again after his derogatory CNN town hall smears E Jean Carroll targets Trump again after his derogatory CNN town hall smears Nebraska senators shield sick colleague brought from hospital to pass abortion ban Pride events cancelled across Florida due to ‘climate of fear’ after anti-LGBT+ laws

Pride organisers in Florida have called off events that were to take place during the Pride Month in the wake of the latest anti-LGBT+ laws signed by Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Organisers based in the town of St Cloud outside Orlando announced on Thursday that they have cancelled the upcoming 10 June event, saying they are aware that it is “unsafe to hold the event”. “As you know, Florida has recently passed a number of laws that target the LGBTQIA+ community. These laws have created a climate of fear and hostility for LGBTQIA+ people in Florida,” the organisers said. “We believe that holding an LGBTQIA+ event in this environment would put our community at risk.” Officials and organisers in Port St Lucie city announced the cancellation of Pride parades last month and limitation of other activities for those who are 21 years or older. Mr DeSantis, a 2024 presidential hopeful, has signed several bills last week that banned gender-affirming care for minors, restricted pronoun use in schools and forced individuals to use restrooms corresponding with their biological sex – an expansion of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill enacted into law last year. The laws have been dubbed as a “slate of hate” by activists and opponents. The new laws will target drag shows in the state, limit the use of preferred pronouns for pupils in schools, and ban trans people from using public bathrooms that do not match with their gender assigned at birth. NAACP, a civil rights group, issued a formal travel advisory for Florida, stating that the state has become “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of colour and LGBTQ+ individuals”. It denounced the state’s "aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes in Florida schools”. LGBT+ advocacy group Equality Florida also issued a similar advisory after Mr DeSantis signed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law. "That law, along with additional proposals being considered, has turned the state’s classrooms into political battlefields and is telegraphing to LGBTQ families and students that they are not welcome in Florida," the group said. Florida’s Lake County Pride, however, pushed back against the laws, saying: “No unconstitutional law will keep us from celebrating our PRIDE event”. “Lake County Pride will never back down, and we stood firm and united in fighting against the "Drag Ban,” it said. Read More E Jean Carroll targets Trump again after his derogatory CNN town hall smears MLK’s daughter backs call for tourists to boycott ‘racist’ Florida and blasts Cruz Founder of student aid startup Frank pleads not guilty to fraud Haley vs. Scott: From South Carolina allies to 2024 rivals Who is Tim Scott? 5 things to know about the newest 2024 GOP presidential candidate Two fishermen bitten by sharks just hours apart in the Florida Keys

Joe Biden has again been criticised for saying that his late son Beau “lost his life in Iraq” – a reference to the president’s long-held belief that toxic burn pits led to the younger Biden passing away from brain cancer at the age of 46. The president made his latest remarks to US troops stationed in Japan during his trip to the country, after making similar remarks at least twice last year. “My son was a major in the US Army. We lost him in Iraq,” said Mr Biden during an informal visit with troops at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni last Thursday in a video obtained by The New York Post. Right-wing media outlets have attempted to use Mr Biden’s comments on Beau’s death as a sign that the 80-year-old Democrat has memory issues ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Mr Biden’s son died of brain cancer in 2015 at the Walter Reed military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Last October Mr Biden made similar comments while speaking close to Vail, Colorado, as he designated Camp Hail as a national monument. The area, covering 436 square miles, was the training site of the 10th Mountain Division during the Second World War. Mr Biden spoke of the bravery of the division as they fought in Italy, before stating that he lost his son in Iraq. “Just imagine, I mean it sincerely, I say this as a father of a man who won the Bronze Star, the conspicuous service medal, and lost his life in Iraq. Imagine the courage, the daring, and the genuine sacrifice they all made,” the president said. A clip of the moment shared by the conservative Washington Examiner on Twitter has been viewed more than a million times. Beau Biden served in Iraq between 2008 and 2009 as a member of the Delaware Army National Guard. He was the Delaware Attorney General between 2007 and 2015. Just months after leaving the post, he passed away at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on 30 May 2015. After his passing, he was given the Delaware Conspicuous Service Cross for “heroism, meritorious service and outstanding achievement”. “Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015, more than five years after he returned from a year serving in Iraq. Joe Biden has attributed the cancer to Beau Biden’s proximity to burn pits in Iraq, though sometimes conceded he isn’t sure,” CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale tweeted. In 2016, then-Vice President Biden said his son’s cancer could have been caused by the toxic burn pits that he was exposed to during his service in the Middle East. The New York Times reported that Mr Biden said he was “stunned” when he read a chapter concerning the death of his son in the book The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers by Joseph Hickman. “Guys, I’m going to be the biggest pain in your neck as long as I live, until we figure out about these burn pits,” he said in a conference room in the congressional complex. Burn pits were used to get rid of waste, such as plastics, rubber, and batteries, in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The smoke from the pits could be toxic, Newsweek noted. The Department of Defence has stated that almost 3.5 million service members could have been exposed to toxins at harmful levels because of the practice. “I’ve always believed that we have a sacred obligation to equip those we send to war, and care for those and their families when they come home,” Mr Biden said during his State of the Union speech earlier this year. “And they come home, many of the world’s fittest and best-trained warriors in the world, never the same. Headaches. Numbness. Dizziness. A cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin.” While Mr Biden said he couldn’t be entirely sure that his son’s cancer was caused by the burn pits, he said his administration would be “finding out everything we can”. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states on its website that it “understands that many Veterans are especially concerned about exposure to the smoke and fumes generated by open burn pits”. “In Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas of the Southwest Asia theater of military operations, open-air combustion of trash and other waste in burn pits was a common practice. The Department of Defense has now closed out most burn pits and is planning to close the remainder,” the agency adds. “Researchers, including experts at VA, are actively studying airborne hazards like burn pits and other military environmental exposures. Ongoing research will help us better understand potential long-term health effects and provide you with better care and services,” the site states. Read More DeSantis eases voting rules in counties devastated by Ian Trump supporter pleads guilty in staged ’Biden 2020’ arson attack he blamed on Antifa ‘The goose is cooked’: Why legal experts are now saying there’s enough evidence to charge Trump over Mar-a-Lago docs Biden ‘optimistic’ about McCarthy talks; AOC slams ‘dysfunctional’ debt ceiling E Jean Caroll targets Trump again after his derogatory CNN town hall smears Marjorie Taylor Greene’s boyfriend caught in drag video

President Joe Biden on Monday said he was “optimistic” about the chances of finding an agreement with the Republican-led House of Representatives that would avoid a catastrophic default on America’s sovereign debt. Speaking at the outset of a crucial meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Mr Biden said the source of his optimism was a shared agreement between the two men that a debt default is “off the table”. Mr Biden also said the consequences that would arise should the US fail to meet its’ outstanding debt obligations would be “a kick in the ... economic well-being” for the American people. The negotiating session between the president and House speaker comes with just ten days remaining before the US Treasury is set to lose the ability to pay its’ bills by issuing new bonds. In a letter to Congress, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that “it is highly likely” that the Treasury would run out of operating funds in the event that Congress does not raise the department’s statutory debt limit. A default on America’s sovereign debt would be a financial catastrophe both for Americans and people around the world who rely on US financial stability. Mr Biden said he and Mr McCarthy “talked about the need for bipartisan agreement” and stressed that he was “optimistic” that he and Mr McCarthy were “going to make some progress” during the Monday evening session. For his part, the House Speaker said he and Mr Biden had a “very productive” conversation during a phone call held on Sunday while Mr Biden was returning to Washington from the G7 summit aboard Air Force One. Earlier in the day, Mr McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol that “decisions have to start being made” on spending for the next fiscal year since “we’re 10 days out” from the debt ceiling deadline. “We have to spend less next year than we spent this year,” he said before pointing to the House’s proposal for spending cuts as the “framework” for a deal. “I’m hopeful,” he added. Read More Watch live: Biden and McCarthy meet to discuss US debt ceiling Who is Tim Scott? 5 things to know about the newest 2024 GOP presidential candidate A timeline of Donald Trump’s rivalry with Ron DeSantis

Bryan Kohberger is believed to have broken into the home of a female student and then installed security cameras to spy on her in the months before he allegedly killed four other students in a horror attack in Moscow, Idaho. The 28-year-old criminology PhD student had befriended the woman after he moved to Pullman, Washington state, to begin a graduate program in criminal justice at Washington State University (WSU), according to a source. One day, the woman returned to her apartment and found that someone had broken in and moved items around the home – but that nothing was missing. Since nothing was taken, the woman decided not to call the police but instead called her new friend Mr Kohberger and asked him to come over. Mr Kohberger allegedly offered to install a video security system inside her home and the woman agreed. Following its installation, investigators believe Mr Kohberger used the security cameras to spy on the woman as – knowing her wifi password – he was able to tap into the cameras when within close proximity to the apartment. The bombshell allegation was revealed for the first time in an NBC Dateline episode titled “The Killings on King Road”, which reported that Mr Kohberger is now a strong suspect in the initial break-in. Months later, on 13 November, Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, and stabbing to death Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20. Former FBI profiler Greg Cooper told Dateline that the incident was a “step in progression” for Mr Kohberger to move from breaking into a home when no one was in to allegedly breaking in when multiple people were home at the King Road address that deadly night in November. “I would expect that he orchestrated the whole thing, he was not looking at her as a potential victim necessarily,” said Mr Cooper. “But he orchestrated it so that she would come to him and that he would be able to help her. It is another level of power and domination and control over another person. “The hero image that he can portray. ‘You’ve got this problem, I’m here to solve the problem for you and to make it better for you.’” In the Dateline episode, sources also revealed that Mr Kohberger’s sister was growing suspicious that her brother could have been responsible for the murders when the family gathered to spend the holidays together. In mid-December, Mr Kohberger left his student rental home in Pullman, Washington, to travel cross country with his father back to the family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, for the holidays. During his time at home, his family members noticed that he was behaving somewhat bizarrely. The source said that Mr Kohberger was constantly wearing latex gloves, including inside their own home. One of his two older sisters began to wonder if he could have played a part in the murders – and, at one point, she raised her concerns with her other family members. She “loudly pointed out” that, at the time of the murders, her brother was living just a few miles from the crime scene and that he drove a white Hyundai Elantra – the make and colour of vehicle at the centre of the investigation. Along with his bizarre tendency to wear latex gloves at all time, she believed that the family should consider that Mr Kohberger might have killed the four victims, the source said. Mr Kohberger’s father allegedly defended his son and insisted he could not have been involved. But her suspicions were so great that – at one point – several family members searched Mr Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra for possible evidence of the crime, the source said. By that point, police said Mr Kohberger had already been spotted cleaning his car out with bleach and so the family members didn’t find anything of note, the source said. It is not clear if Mr Kohberger was aware of his family members’ suspicions that he could have been behind the murders – or what potential prior behaviour may have led his own sister to suspect him capable of carrying out such a brutal crime. Soon after, in the early hours of 30 December, law enforcement swooped on the family home and arrested him for the murders. At the time of his arrest, the source said Mr Kohberger was wide awake standing in the kitchen wearing latex gloves and putting his personal trash in plastic bags to take it out to a neighbour’s trash can. An attorney close to Mr Kohberger’s family declined to comment on the revelations to Dateline. On Monday (22 May), he will appear in court for his arraignment on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. The 28-year-old is now scheduled to be arraigned in Latah County Court in Moscow, Idaho, where he is expected to enter a plea on the charges. Mr Kohberger had been due to appear in court for a week-long preliminary hearing on 26 June, where the prosecution would lay out the case and evidence against the suspect. However, last Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the charges, paving the way for the case to proceed without and leading to the cancellation of the preliminary hearing. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into the student home in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death in a horror attack that rocked the college town of Moscow and sent shockwaves across America. The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students – if any – prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohberger’s DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders. It also revealed that his white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance footage at the crime scene and that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the killer – masked, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows – as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders. New details have also emerged about what was found during an initial search of his apartment and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment tested positive for blood. The two items were a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow, both of which had visible “reddish brown stains”. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to. Investigators seized a string of other items from his home including possible human and animal hair strands, a disposable glove and a computer. The murder weapon – a fixed-blade knife – has still never been found. As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University – first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime”. Now, the criminology PhD student is set to appear in Latah County Courthouse in Idaho for his preliminary hearing on 26 June. He is facing life in prison or the death penalty for the murders that have rocked the small college town of Moscow and hit headlines around the globe. Read More Bryan Kohberger – live: Idaho murders suspect faces arraignment over quadruple stabbing today Who is Bryan Kohberger? The criminology graduate being arraigned over the Idaho college murders Four students stabbed to death, a weeks-long manhunt and still no motive: What we know about the Idaho murders

Bryan Kohberger’s sister feared that her brother was involved in the stabbings of four University of Idaho students before police swooped on their parents’ home and arrested him for murder, according to a bombshell report. Sources told NBC’s Dateline that one of the accused killer’s older siblings grew increasingly suspicious of her brother and his behaviour when the family gathered to spend the holidays together. Her suspicions were so great that – at one point – several family members searched Mr Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra for possible evidence of the crime, they said. Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found brutally stabbed to death in the off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, that the three women shared with two other roommates back on 13 November. For more than six weeks, no suspects were publicly identified and leads appeared to have gone cold. In mid-December, Mr Kohberger – a 28-year-old criminology PhD student at Washington State University (WSU) – embarked on a cross-country trip with his father from his student rental home in Pullman, Washington, back to the family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, to spend the holidays together. But, during his time at home, his family members noticed that he was behaving somewhat bizarrely. The source said that Mr Kohberger was constantly wearing latex gloves, including inside their own home. One of his two older sisters began to wonder if he could have played a part in the murders – and, at one point, she raised her concerns with her other family members. She “loudly pointed out” that, at the time of the murders, her brother was living just a few miles from the crime scene and that he drove a white Hyundai Elantra – the make and colour of vehicle at the centre of the investigation. Along with his bizarre tendency to wear latex gloves at all time, she believed that the family should consider that Mr Kohberger might have killed the four victims, the source said. Mr Kohberger’s father allegedly defended his son and insisted he could not have been involved. But the concerns were clearly big enough for several of the family members to reportedly decide to search the 28-year-old’s vehicle to look for possible evidence. By that point, police said Mr Kohberger had already been spotted cleaning his car out with bleach and so the family members didn’t find anything of note, the source said. It is not clear if Mr Kohberger was aware of his family members’ suspicions that he could have been behind the murders – or what potential prior behaviour may have led his own sister to suspect him capable of carrying out such a brutal crime. Soon after, in the early hours of 30 December, law enforcement swooped on the family home and arrested him for the murders. On Monday (22 May), he will appear in court for his arraignment on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. The 28-year-old is scheduled to be arraigned in Latah County Court in Moscow, Idaho, where he is expected to enter a plea on the charges. Mr Kohberger had been due to appear in court for a week-long preliminary hearing on 26 June, where the prosecution would lay out the case and evidence against the suspect. However, last Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the charges, paving the way for the case to proceed without and leading to the cancellation of the preliminary hearing. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into the student home in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death in a horror attack that rocked the college town of Moscow and sent shockwaves across America. The motive remains unknown and it is still unclear what connection the WSU PhD student had to the University of Idaho students – if any – prior to the murders. However, the affidavit, released in January, revealed that Mr Kohberger’s DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene of the murders. It also revealed that his white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance footage at the crime scene and that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the killer – masked, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows – as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders. New details have also emerged about what was found during an initial search of his apartment and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment tested positive for blood. The two items were a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow, both of which had visible “reddish brown stains”. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to. Investigators seized a string of other items from his home including possible human and animal hair strands, a disposable glove and a computer. The murder weapon – a fixed-blade knife – has still never been found. As a criminal justice PhD student at WSU, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman. He had moved there from Pennsylvania and began his studies there that summer, having just completed his first semester before his arrest. Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University – first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022. While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him. He also carried out a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime”. Now, the criminology PhD student is set to appear in Latah County Courthouse in Idaho for his preliminary hearing on 26 June. He is facing life in prison or the death penalty for the murders that have rocked the small college town of Moscow and hit headlines around the globe. Read More Bryan Kohberger – live: Idaho murders suspect faces arraignment over quadruple stabbing today Who is Bryan Kohberger? The criminology graduate being arraigned over the Idaho college murders Four students stabbed to death, a weeks-long manhunt and still no motive: What we know about the Idaho murders

Ron DeSantis is expected to officially enter the 2024 presidential race this week following months of speculation. The Florida governor is tipped to file formal paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Thursday 25 May, coinciding his candidacy declaration with a donor meeting in Miami, Reuters reported last week. This comes just days after the NAACP issued an advisory warning travelers that Florida is “openly hostile” towards Black people, people of colour and LGBT+ people following a series of laws implemented by the governor in recent months. Mr DeSantis, 44, is eyed as Donald Trump’s biggest rival for the Republican vote and has been expected to throw his hat into the ring for some time. Following the GOP party’s disappoining midterms – where the “red wave” failed to appear and Mr Trump-endorsed candidates fell flat – several Republican lawmakers and right-wing media have rallied behind Mr DeSantis as their candidate of choice. However, latest polls show Mr DeSantis trailing Mr Trump, with the RealClearPolitics polling average giving the former president a 36-point lead. Mr DeSantis will join an already crowded race, with Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Larry Elder and Tim Scott already announcing bids. Read More NAACP advises against traveling to Florida: ‘Openly hostile toward African Americans’ DeSantis meets New Hampshire lawmakers, greets voters ahead of expected 2024 announcement DeSantis super PAC tackles tricky task of organizing support for him in Iowa without the candidate