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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is considered Donald Trump's strongest Republican rival in the crowded 2024 contest, but many voters are only starting to get to know DeSantis

A three-judge panel would be required for most nationwide injunctions

By Jarrett Renshaw and Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON The central pillar of any debt-ceiling agreement between President Joe Biden

Household debt also exceeds Canada's entire GDP, housing agency data reveals.

Ron DeSantis will launch his 2024 presidential campaign during a Twitter chat with Elon Musk. The Florida governor, who is seen as the leading rival to Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, will kick off his bid for the White House during a Wednesday night Twitter Spaces event with the billionaire. The Twitter Spaces event will take place at 6pm ET and be moderated by tech entrepreneur David Sacks, who is a supporter of Mr DeSantis and a close business adviser to Mr Musk, according to NBC News. Following the event, Mr DeSantis’ campaign will also release a video about his attempt to beat Mr Trump, and he will begin visiting key states after Memorial Day on 29 May. Mr Musk has previously talked about his admiration for Mr DeSantis and said that he would support him if he ran for president. It is unclear if Mr Musk, who has 140 million Twitter followers, will formally endorse Mr DeSantis at the event. The far-right governor’s team has been in talks with the Tesla CEO for several weeks, a source familiar with the discussions told NBC News. And during those talks, Mr Musk reportedly told them that he does not believe Donald Trump, who leads all polls for the GOP nomination, can beat Joe Biden and take back the White House. “He’s interested in the future, and he’s interested in winning again,” the source told the outlet. The Independent did not receive a response when it asked Twitter for comment. On Monday, Mr DeSantis, 44, teased his 2024 bid while speaking at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Orlando in which he outlined his vision for a conservative grip on the Supreme Court to last a quarter of a century. In what appeared to be a subtle swipe at Donald Trump he announced his plans to run for eight years – something Mr Trump cannot do. Read More Ron DeSantis news – live: Governor to announce 2024 run in live Twitter event with Elon Musk on Wednesday Ron DeSantis boasts about ‘quarter century’ of 7-2 conservative Supreme Court majority if he wins in 2024 DeSantis v Disney: Why Florida’s governor is at war with the Mouse Ron DeSantis teases 2024 bid as he makes subtle dig at Trump and vows to ‘protect faith and family’ Trump slams Fox News’ Laura Ingraham over ‘hit piece’ saying DeSantis would do better against Biden than him 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

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the interior minister won’t face investigation over allegations that she tried to pull strings after getting a speeding ticket

For years, Florida legislators and the governor’s office enjoyed a close relationship with The Walt Disney Company, among the state’s largest employers, wielding enormous political influence while bringing in billions of dollars to the state each year. Now, the company and allies of Republican governor Ron DeSantis 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. The state’s feud with the company is entangled with volatile far-right attacks smearing Disney and LGBT+ people as “groomers” and “paedophiles,” while similar threats to LGBT+ people are making their way through state legislatures and governor’s offices across the country Last year, Governor DeSantis endorsed a broadly written bill from Republican lawmakers – the “Parental Rights in Education Act” – that 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. LGBT+ advocates and civil rights groups warned that the measure’s broad scope could freeze classroom speech involving LGBT+ people and issues – from civil rights history lessons to discussions with students, school staff and their families – under the threat of potentially financially destructive litigation and harassment from third parties who accuse schools of violating the law. Following passage of the bill, more than three dozen similar measures have been proposed in nearly half of US states, including 26 measures in 14 states in their current legislative sessions alone. Here is how – as Disney writes in a recent lawsuit – “it has come to this.” Disney faces pressure to respond to ‘Don’t Say Gay’ threats Disney is a political heavyweight in the state. The company dispatches several lobbyists to the state capitol in Tallahassee and gives millions of dollars through its many entities to both Democratic and Republican officials every election cycle to promote its business. It’s also a cultural and economic powerhouse, drawing millions of visitors to the state each year. The company’s voice on controversial legislation could, until recently, carry significant weight. But reporting from The Independent and other outlets found that Disney entities contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Mr DeSantis and other Republican lawmakers central to the “Don’t Say Gay” law, despite the company’s history of LGBT+ advocacy. In February 2022, Bob Iger – just weeks into his retirement from Disney leadership – announced that if the bill passed, it will “put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy.” Eleven days later, facing pressure from LGBT+ advocates and Disney employees, now-former CEO Bob Chapek issued a company memo stating that “corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds” while asking staff to not “mistake a lack of a statement for a lack of support.” On 11 March, 2022, Mr Chapek announced that the company would oppose the bill and suspend its political donations in the state. He stated that the company would “immediately” begin supporting efforts to combat similar legislation elsewhere and pause “all political donations” in the state pending a review of the company’s political giving, conceding that the company failed to “be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights”. The company’s LGBT+ employees and staff opposed to the legislation staged daily walkouts to pressure Disney to indefinitely cease all campaign donations to state officials who created or helped pass the measure and demand that Disney leadership publicly commit to an actionable plan that protects employees from anti-LGBT+ legislation. The actions culminated in a full workday walkout or “sick out” on 22 March. “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down by the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organisations working to achieve that,” the company said on 28 March 2022, when the governor signed the bill into law. Governor DeSantis and members of his administration quickly lashed out at the company, igniting a feud that escalated to Republican threats to punish its operations in the state. By the end of that year, Mr Iger returned to Disney as CEO. DeSantis pushes for the end of Reedy Creek In April 2022, Governor DeSantis expanded the scope of a special legislative session on the state’s redistricting plans to also consider the “termination of all special districts that were enacted in Florida prior to 1968,” including the municipal taxing and government district that allows Disney to tax and regulate its sprawling park and resort properties in the Orlando area. The Reedy Creek Improvement District was first created in 1967 to give Disney control of its land use, zoning rules and public services without putting a tax burden on Florida residents. The district encompasses Disney World properties in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, spanning 39 square miles and land across Orange and Osceola counties. With Disney as the primary landowner for the district, the company is largely responsible for all costs of those municipal services that otherwise would fall under the jurisdiction of county and local governments, including the taxpayers who live within them. In effect, Disney used the Reedy Creek board to tax itself to foot the bill for all of its municipal needs. The governor and Republican lawmakers wanted to blow up that arrangement. On 19 April 2022, Republican state Rep Randy Fine introduced House Bill 3C, the “Independent Special Districts” bill. A companion measure, Senate Bill 4C, was introduced in the state Senate. The governor and his administration insisted that the initial proposal was intended to block what they called “special privileges” for big business in the state, but fundraising messages promoting Reedy Creek’s demise pointed to Disney’s “woke” opposition to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill. “Disney thought they ruled Florida,” an email from his campaign on 19 April said. “They even tried to attack me to advance their woke agenda. Now, parents see Disney for what it is. And now is the time to put the power back in the hands of Floridians and out of the pockets of woke executives.” State lawmakers bristled over the governor’s initial plans to dissolve Reedy Creek over concerns that doing so would not only violate state law but force Florida taxpayers to pay for infrastructure projects like road construction that Disney was effectively paying for through the district’s arrangement. Instead, the governor’s own appointees will be in charge of the district and its powers to tax, build and borrow money under a new “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District”. During an event on 27 February, Governor DeSantis signed a bill that amounts to a state takeover of the new district, with a five-member board made up of his own appointees. “Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” the governor said inside a Reedy Creek fire station in Lake Buena Vista that day. “There’s a new sheriff in town and accountability will be the order of the day.” Orlando-area Democratic state representative Anna Eskamani said in a statement that it is “absolutely wild to see a self-proclaimed capitalist like DeSantis celebrate the government takeover of a private board”. “All this bill does is rename Reedy Creek and allow Governor DeSantis to appoint hostile conservative cronies to a new board,” she said. “Disney still maintains the same tax breaks – but their First Amendment rights have been suppressed, and it sends a message to any private individual or company that if you don’t purport to what the governor wants, then you’ll be punished.” DeSantis appointees take control Among the governor’s controversial appointees include a donor who gave the DeSantis campaign $50,000 in 2022 and supported the governor’s efforts to remove an elected state attorney from office. The governor also appointed the CEO of a right-wing ministry, and the founder of the right-wing activist group Moms for Liberty which the governor has supported to transform local school boards. Board member Ron Peri, CEO of The Gathering USA ministry, was captured in a since-deleted YouTube video suggesting tap water has turned Americans gay. “So why are there homosexuals today? There are any number of reasons, you know, that are given. Some would say the increase in estrogen in our societies. You know, there’s estrogen in the water from birth control pills. They can’t get it out,” Mr Peri said in the video, according to CNN. “The level of testosterone in men broadly in America has declined by 50 points in the past 10 years. You know, and so, maybe that’s a part of it.” Despite public notice of proposed changes before the new board stepped in, the governor’s appointees were outraged to find the Reedy Creek board approved new agreements to make major changes at Disney’s campus, changes that would remain in effect for years to come. Then came the lawsuits Moments after the new board voted to strip control of its Florida resort, the company filed a federal lawsuit against the governor and state officials alleging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation”. On 26 April, the board voted to nullify those agreements, the “latest strike” from Mr DeSantis, according to the lawsuit. “Disney regrets that it has come to this,” the lawsuit states. “At the governor’s bidding, the state’s oversight board has purported to ‘void’ publicly noticed and duly agreed development contracts, which had laid the foundation for billions of Disney’s investment dollars and thousands of jobs,” the complaint alleges. “This government action was patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional.” The lawsuit also quotes the governor’s other retaliatory statements directed towards the company, including weighing potential new taxes and tolls on its hotels and roads and the possibility of a “state prison” near the parks. A statement from the governor’s communications director Taryn Fenske shared with The Independent said that “we are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state”. “This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law,” the statement added. Disney CEO Bob Iger hinted at the company’s case against the board when he told shareholders in April “the company has a right to freedom of speech just like individuals do”. “The governor got very angry about the position that Disney took, and it seems like he’s decided to retaliate against us... in effect, to seek to punish a company for its exercise of a constitutional right,” Mr Iger said. “And that just seems really wrong to me – against any company or individual, but particularly against a company that means so much to the state that you live in.” It didn’t take long for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District to respond. On 1 May, days after Disney’s federal lawsuit was filed, the board unanimously agreed to sue the company in state court. Disney fights back On 18 May, the company announced that it was pulling the plug on a $1bn office complex in Florida, following through on a warning from Disney leadership that billions of dollars in projects were potentially on the line with the governor’s feud. The development scheduled for construction was set to bring 2,000 jobs to the region, with 1,000 employees expected to relocate from southern California. In an email to employees, 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 project. “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 at its Disney World campus. “I hope we’re able to,” he said. A ranking from Axios and Harris Poll that guages the reputations of the most visible brands in America places Disney at No 77 with a score of 70.9, or “good,” falling 12 points from an earlier report. This story was initially published on 1 May and has been updated with developments Read More Disney cancels $1bn Florida theme park extension amid war with DeSantis DeSantis expected to launch 2024 presidential bid next week, reports say Trump posts fresh attack on DeSantis while insisting ‘I couldn’t care less’ if Florida governor runs against him He lost his job and health insurance after his arrest under a DeSantis election unit. The case was dismissed

A federal prosecutor who President Joe Biden nominated to become a U.S. district judge in Kansas has withdrawn his name from consideration

Donald Trump tried to steal the spotlight away from Ron DeSantis’ 2024 campaign announcement day by launching into an insult-packed rant about the Florida governor on his Truth Social platform. The former president began his day on Wednesday morning by spewing a series of attacks at the man expected to be his biggest rival for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential race. Resorting to his nicknames of “Ron DeSanctus” and “Rob DeSanctimonious”, he repeated his usual talking points for the Florida governor and one-time close ally saying he “desperately needs a personality transplant” and calling him a “disloyal person” and a “disciple of horrible RINO Paul Ryan”. He also once again tried to take credit for Mr DeSantis’ successful 2018 gubernatorial bid. “Look, Rob DeSanctimonious came to me asking for help. He was losing badly, by 31 points, to popular Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam,” he fumed. “He was getting ready to drop out of the race - Ran a terrible campaign! Ron told me he had one last chance, my Support & Endorsement, which Putnam, and everyone else, wanted also. I gave it to Ron, and the race was over. In one day, he went from losing badly, to winning by a lot. With 3 LARGE TRUMP RALLIES, he WON THE GENERAL ELECTION in an upset. DISLOYAL!!!” Mr Trump continued in another post: “Ron DeSanctus can’t win the General Election (or get the Nomination) because he VOTED TO OBLITERATE SOCIAL SECURITY, EVEN WANTING TO RAISE THE MINIMUM AGE TO 70 (or more!), VOTED TO BADLY WOUND MEDICARE, AND FOUGHT HARD AND VOTED FOR A 23% “TAX ON EVERYTHING” SALES TAX. He was, and is, a disciple of horrible RINO Paul Ryan, and others too many to mention. Also, he desperately needs a personality transplant and, to the best of my knowledge, they are not medically available yet. A disloyal person!” In another post, he resorted to an all-caps rant making several dubious claims about his own record during his one term in the White House. “I BUILT THE GREATEST ECONOMY IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, NO INFLATION, ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, AND SOON DOMINANCE, THE STRONGEST BORDER EVER, RECORD BEST EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS, BIGGEST TAX & REGULATION CUTS, REBUILT OUR MILITARY, NO WARS WITH RUSSIA/UKRAINE OR CHINA/TAIWAN (OR ANYWHERE!), AND THE USA WAS RESPECTED ALL OVER THE WORLD! WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY?” he wrote, before adding: “ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!” Mr Trump’s fury comes as Mr DeSantis is expected to officially enter the 2024 race on Wednesday in a Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk. The audio-only event will involve a live interview with Musk, moderated by controversial tech entrepreneur David Sacks. Following the event, Mr DeSantis is expected to release an official launch video and make an appearance on Fox News. On Tuesday night, the governor’s wife Casey DeSantis kicked off his campaign by posting a video of him getting ready to go on stage in front of an American flag. “America is worth the fight... Every. Single. Time,” she tweeted. Mr DeSantis, 44, is seen as Mr Trump’s biggest rival for the Republican vote with several Republican lawmakers and right-wing media rallying behind him after the midterms. However, the latest polls show Mr DeSantis trailing Mr Trump. Read More Ron DeSantis news – live: Florida governor’s wife launches his 2024 presidential run Trump news – live: Trump seeks meeting with Garland over special counsel probes as hush money trial date set 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

The defence minister's comments come as further drone attacks are reported in Belgorod region.

Greeks will head to the polls for a second time after the three main party leaders rejected a mandate by Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou to form a coalition government, following Sunday's inconclusive vote.

The families of two of the four University of Idaho students stabbed to death in an off-campus home are now preparing to sue the college over their brutal murders, it has been revealed. An attorney representing the families of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, filed tort notices this month leaving them open to filing lawsuits within the next two years. The notices, obtained by ABC News, protect their rights to sue the University of Idaho, Washington State University – the university where accused killer Bryan Kohberger was a student – the city of Moscow and Idaho State Police. No lawsuit has been filed at this stage and the notices do not reveal what claim the families may make or how much damages they may seek. The families’ attorney Shanon Gray said that the legal move isn’t mean to do anything “other than protect the interests of the families and the victims moving forward”. “Filing a tort claims notice is really just a safeguard,” he told ABC News. “It’s a safeguard to protect the interests of the families, the victims and really the whole community around, because if something goes wrong, or was done improperly, then someone is held accountable for that.” The notices, filed in early May, come as the man accused of killing Goncalves, Mogen, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Etham Chapin, 20, appeared in court for his arraignment. Mr Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology PhD student, appeared in Latah County Court on Monday morning where he refused to enter a plea on four charges of first-degree murder and one charge of burglary. Shackled and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, the accused killer showed no emotion as the judge read out the charges and the names of the four victims who he is accused of violently killing. Mr Kohberger spoke only to answer defiantly and loudly “yes” and “yes I do” when asked if he understood the charges, maximum penalties and his rights in the court. His attorney Anne Taylor told the court that he was “standing silent” on the charges, leaving the judge to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf. Judge John Judge set Mr Kohberger’s trial date for 2 October 2023 and the prosecution now has 60 days to confirm whether or not they are seeking the death penalty. 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 week, a grand jury indicted Mr Kohberger on the charges, paving the way for the case to proceed to trial without that hearing. Mr Kohberger is accused of breaking into an off-campus student home on King Road in the early hours of 13 November and stabbing the four students to death with a large, military-style knife. Two other female roommates lived with the three women at the property and were home at the time of the massacre but survived. One of the survivors – Dylan Mortensen – came face to face with the masked killer, dressed in head to toe black and with bushy eyebrows, as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders, according to the criminal affidavit. For more than six weeks, the college town of Moscow was plunged into fear as the accused killer remained at large with no arrests made and no suspects named. Then, on 30 December, law enforcement suddenly swooped on Mr Kohberger’s family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania and arrested him for the quadruple murders. 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 close to the crime scene. New details have emerged since about what was found during an initial search of his apartment in Pullman and a rental storage unit. The court documents show that two items found in his apartment – a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow – tested positive for blood. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to. Investigators also seized a string of other items from his home including possible human and animal hair strands, a disposable glove and a computer. Meanwhile, 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. Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, took this photo together hours before they died 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”. 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 refuses to enter plea at arraignment over student stabbings Bryan Kohberger allegedly broke into female student’s home and spied on her months before Idaho murders Four students stabbed to death, a weeks-long manhunt and still no motive: What we know about the Idaho murders