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In another era, a Republican frontrunner facing his second indictment in three months would mean that primary voters would actively be shopping for other candidates to put up against a president as unpopular as President Joe Biden. Instead, former president Donald Trump’s indictment, which he announced on Thursday evening and which was unsealed on Friday, calcified his support among Republican voters at the North Carolina Republican Convention in Greensboro. If anything, the 37-charge indictment accusing Mr Trump of showing highly classified information to unauthorised persons on two separate occasions made Republicans in the Tar Heel State more likely to support him. “After yesterday?” Beverly Atwell of Forsyth County asked in response to a question from The Independent about who she was leaning towards. “Trump.” Ms Atwell said what happened to Mr Trump was “terrible.” “Everybody needs to support him,” she said. “What Joe Biden has done, only somebody like Trump can fight.” Terry Stafford, an attendee, said the indictment would not affect his vote either way. “I know they’re just making s*** up,” he told The Independent. “If they wanted to show us how true they were, Biden would have been arrested for his crimes.” Friday should have been all about Mr Trump’s main rival for the Republican nomination, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis. Mr DeSantis addressed a packed house for the Old North State Dinner at the Koury Convention Center. The super PAC that supports Mr DeSantis called Never Back Down had a booth on the third floor of the building. One campaign button being sold showed Mr DeSantis telling Mr Trump, “hold my beer.” The convention is meant to be a cattle call for the top Republican presidents. Former vice president Mike Pence will speak there on Saturday afternoon during a luncheon and Mr Trump will deliver one of his first speeches since his indictment in the evening after he speaks at the Georgia GOP’s state convention earlier in the day. Alan Pugh of Randolph County told The Independent that the GOP had a wide array of qualified candidates, citing not just Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis but also Sen Tim Scott of South Carolina and Gov Doug Burgum of North Dakota. But he said that Mr DeSantis had received much of the talk. “I think the reason is, simply the fact that his record in Florida,” he said, noting how Mr DeSantis went from narrowly winning his first race to winning re-election by almost twenty per cent and carrying the Hispanic vote. “People like whoever you want to, but we’ve got to win. And DeSantis is a winner.” But Mr Trump dominated the discussion. Even Mr DeSantis spoke about the Department of Justice “weaponising” itself against conservatives, though he didn’t mention the former president by name. “Our Founding Fathers would have absolutely predicted the weaponisation of these agencies, particularly Justice and the FBI, because if we don’t have constitutional accountability, human nature is such that they will abuse their power,” he said. He also criticised the Justice Department for not indicting former secretary of state Hillary Clinton for using a private email server during her tenure as secretary. “Is there a different standard for a Democrat secretary of state versus a former Republican president,” he said. “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country.” Republican presidential candidates find themselves in a bind in that they now have to simultaneously show their support for the twice-impeached and now twice-indicted former president and make the case that they are a more optimal choice. Even Mr Pugh, who praised Mr DeSantis, said that even though he was not committed to any candidate, the charges helped Mr Trump “because he’s being attacked by our own government.” “Our own Justice Department,” he said. “That infuriates me as a lawyer.” Republicans will likely continue to feel pressure to show solidarity with Mr Trump. Charlie Kirk, the chief executive of Turning Point USA, tweeted that every Republican should suspend their campaign and go down to Miami to show support for Mr Trump. “Either we have an opposition party or we don't,” he said. “GO to Miami Tuesday, and show solidarty or we will mark you as part of the oppsition [sic].” The predicament many Republicans face is personified by one poster in one of the booths at the convention centre which featured a quote from Ronald Reagan showing his 11th commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” Read More DeSantis pledges to restore name of notorious Confederate general Braxton Bragg to Fort Liberty Florida man: Why prosecutors charged Trump in the Sunshine State, and what it means for the judge and jury Trump indictment: Ex-president kept nuclear and military papers and showed some to unauthorised people Hiding documents from the FBI and foreign nuclear plans: Key allegations in Trump’s unsealed indictment 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

Four young children have been found alive after more than a month wandering the Amazon jungle, according to Colombia's President Gustavo Petro.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pledged to restore the name of a military fort to the name of a Confederate general in North Carolina if he is elected president. The 2024 candidate for the Republican nomination for president made the remarks at the North Carolina Republican Party convention on Friday evening. “I also look forward to, as President, restoring the name of Fort Bragg to our great military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina,” he said during the Old North State Dinner in Greensboro. “It's an iconic name and iconic base, and we're not gonna let political correctness run amok.” Earlier this month, the Department of Defense announced that Fort Bragg, which was established in 1918, would be renamed Fort Liberty. The Pentagon began the initiative to rename military bases in 2020 in response to the Black Lives Matter protests after a white police officer killed George Floyd. Fort Bragg had been named for Braxton Bragg, who was a general for the Confederate States of America. He also served as a adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He also owned slaves and many in the South also despised him for abandoning Kentucky during the Civil War. Unlike other Confederate generals like Robert E Lee, he refused to surrender. Mr DeSantis is one of three presidential candidates speaking at the state convention. Former president Donald Trump and former vice president Mike Pence will also speak at the convention. The governor also claimed to have banned “Critical Race Theory,” a niche legal theory taught in law schools but that conservatives have used as a catch-all term to describe most teaching about racism. “We place renewed emphasis on American civics, about teaching kids about our Constitution and our Bill of Rights and about what it means to be an American,” he said. “Because no matter what avenue they take, they choose in life. they are all going to be citizens of our republic.” Mr DeSantis also took a subtle swipe at Mr Trump during his speech. “I tell you this leadership at the end of the day is not entertainment,” he said. “It's not brand building.” He also emphasised how he won re-election by double digits in November, while Republicans, many of whom Mr Trump endorsed, fell short in Senate races. “We had good stuff in some other states,” he said. “But we had huge disappointments across the board. We have 49 Republican US senators, we should have 55 Republican US Senators right now.” Mr DeSantis launched his campaign for president last month and is often polling second against Mr Trump but continues to lag by double digits in most surveys. The governor also touched on many themes that have also animated his campaign, such as fighting, “woke ideology,” which he called a form of “cultural Marxism.” “Woke represents a war on truth itself,” also briefly seeming to hit the former president, who said that Republicans who crow about the word “woke” do not know how to define it. Mr DeSantis also mentioned how he banned teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools, most notably with his “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, which triggered a fight with Walt Disney. “And I know in Florida, they basically called the shots for many, many decades but there’s a new sheriff in town,” he said. Mr Trump and Mr Pence will address the North Carolina Republican Convention on Saturday. Read More DeSantis accused of changing pronunciation of his own name DeSantis news – latest: Florida governor most popular with rich Republicans as he defends move to fly migrants to California Fort Bragg drops Confederate namesake for Fort Liberty, part of US Army base rebranding 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

Sir Harley Dalrymple-Hays's plan to build an underground rail in Kolkata did not take off because of lack of funds.

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON American Airlines and JetBlue Airways asked a U.S. judge late Friday to allow them

The pandemic was far from Dr Alena's only challenge on a far-flung archipelago in the Philippines.

Special Counsel Jack Smith has assembled a strong criminal case against Donald Trump that outlines his mishandling of

Kevin McCarthy launched an aggressive defence of Donald Trump after his indictment on 37 counts of mishandling top secret documents. “This is going to disrupt this nation because it goes to the core of equal justice for all which is not being seen today,” the Republican House Speaker told Fox News on Friday. “And we're not going to stand for it.” Mr McCarthy’s comments came after the Department of Justice unsealed a 49-page indictment which laid out in extraordinary detail Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 15-month investigation into Mr Trump’s “willful defiance” of efforts to retrieve the materials. The indictment painted a damning picture of Mr Trump’s reckless storage of top secret material he took to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, and his efforts to obstruct investigators. The classified material included nuclear secrets, war plans, and vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies. Mr Trump told lawyers tasked with complying with a DOJ subpoena that he didn’t want “anyone going through my boxes”, according to the indictment. Mr McCarthy, who is struggling to hold on to the House leadership, called the indictment a “dark day for America”. “You've got a sitting president right now in the exact same situation. You have a former first lady, senator, secretary of state, that had the same situation that nothing was done to,” he told Fox News. Republicans also rushed to defend Mr Trump despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence presented in the 49-page indictment. “We have now reached a war phase. Eye for an eye,” Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs wrote on Twitter. Elise Stefanik, the number three House Republican, tweeted that she was committed to “holding government officials accountable for their endless illegal witch hunt against President Trump”. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley wrote: “If the people in power can jail their political opponents at will, we don’t have a republic.” And Marco Rubio, the Florida senator, said: “There is no limit to what these people will do to protect their power & destroy those who threaten it, even if it means ripping our country apart & shredding public faith in the institutions that hold our republic together.” However, the indictment comes not from political rivals or even from prosecutors but from a grand jury. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was investigated by the FBI in 2016 for her handling of classified material, who opted not to charge her after saying she had been “extremely careless”. President Joe Biden and Trump’s vice president Mike Pence were found to have retained classified materials, but complied with efforts by the National Archive to return them. Read More Trump news — latest: Trump ‘plotted to hide documents from FBI after showing military docs to visitors’ Jonathan Turley tells Fox News the Trump indictment is ‘extremely damning’ and a ‘hit below the waterline’ Trump praised attorney for deleting Hillary Clinton’s 30,000 emails, indictment shows Trump described Pentagon ‘plan of attack’ and shared classified military map with PAC member, indictment shows 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 federal indictment against Donald Trump outlines 37 counts related to retaining classified information, willfully retaining national defence information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and more. The indictment was unsealed on Friday (9 June) afternoon, revealing the Department of Justice’s findings after a nearly year-long investigation into Mr Trump retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Last August, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized boxes of documents from Mr Trump’s home, some of which included top secret records detailing a foreign nation’s nuclear capabilities, via a search warrant. The search warrant was executed after the National Archives made multiple attempts to obtain classified documents that Mr Trump allegedly took with him when he left office in 2021. The indictment lays out various allegations against Mr Trump and names his aide Walt Nauta as a co-conspirator. Here are key points from the indictment: Trump allegedly kept documents containing top secrets of US military and other national defence information The indictment outlines 31 pieces of national defence information, labelled as “Top Secret” and “Secret”, that contained information about the military and nuclear capabilities of other countries, as well as the US military. One document, dated from June 2020, contained information “concerning nuclear capabilities of a foreign country.” Another, from an unknown date, had information “concerning nuclear weaponry of the United States.” The indictment includes that the 31 documents are “all in violation of Title 18, US Code Section 793(e)” otherwise known as the Espionage Act. Trump allegedly kept classified documents in his bathroom, bedroom and more Photos included in the indictment show several rooms in Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home where he allegedly kept boxes containing classified documents. This includes the bathroom and shower at the Mar-a-Lago Club’s Lake Room, the White and Gold Ballroom where events took place, the business center at Mar-a-Lago, a storage room and his residence at The Bedminster Club. Trump allegedly described a Pentagon classified ‘plan of attack’ to a book writer and staff The indictment alleges the former president told a writer and publication “in connection with a then-forthcoming book” about a senior military official’s plan of attack against a foreign country. Mr Trump allegedly showed the writer the supposed plan of attack with two other staffers in the room. The interview was also recorded with Mr Trump’s knowledge and consent. Trump allegedly showed a classified map of a country to a PAC representative According to the indictment, Mr Trump commented on an “ongoing military operation” in a country while meeting with a representative of his political action committee at The Bedminster Club. Mr Trump then showed the PAC representative a classified map of the country. Trump allegedly suggested lawyers ignore a federal subpoena When issued with a federal subpoena in May 2022 to hand over documents with classification markings, Mr Trump allegedly suggested to his lawyers to ignore the subpoena or tell the government there were no documents. Mr Trump allegedly said he did not want “anybody looking through my boxes,” according to one of Mr Trump’s attorneys who remembered the statement in summary. Instead, Mr Trump allegedly suggested: “What happens if we just don’t respond at all or don’t play ball with them” in response to the federal subpoena by a grand jury. He also allegedly said: “Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” and “Isn’t it better if there are no documents?” Trump allegedly directed Mr Nauta to remove boxes before an attorney could search them After the subpoena, an attorney for Mr Trump “made it clear” to the former president that he would search boxes at Mar-a-Lago for classified documents to hand over to the government. The two coordinated a specific date and time to do so. But when the attorney went to search the boxes, stored in the Mar-a-Lago storage room, 64 were gone and allegedly removed by Mr Nauta – at Mr Trump’s direction Mr Nauta allegedly brought the boxes to Mr Trump’s residence and later loaded them onto a plane to fly with Mr Trump to The Bedminster Club. Nauta allegedly made false statements to the FBI about the boxes at Mr Trump’s home During an interview with the FBI in May 2022, Mr Nauta allegedly made false statements to agents, claiming he did not know where boxes were being stored at Mar-a-Lago and did not know they were being stored in storage before moving them to Mr Trump’s room. Each one of Mr Trump’s 37 counts carries a $250,000 fine and potential prison sentence Mr Trump was indicted on 31 hours of willful retention of national defence information, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document or record, one count of corruptly concealing a document or record, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, one count of scheming to conceal and one count of false statements and representations. Each one carries a fine of $250,000 as well as maximum sentences ranging from five years to 20 years in prison. Read More Trump indictment: Ex-president kept nuclear and military papers and showed some to unauthorised people Trump indictment — latest: Trump ‘plotted to hide documents from FBI after showing military docs to visitors’ Conspiracy, false statements and retaining national defence documents: The federal charges against Donald Trump What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing

By Jonathan Stempel The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday sued the federal government, challenging a new law

Former president Donald Trump showed highly-classified information to unauthorised persons on two separate occasions, according to a copy of the indictment against him that has been obtained by The Independent. The 49-page, 37-count indictment was unsealed on Friday after Mr Trump released a series of social media posts revealing that he has been indicted by a grand jury under supervision of Special Counsel Jack Smith. The indictment details the charges against Mr Trump and Walt Nauta, a former US Navy noncommissioned officer who left government service to work for Mr Trump after his term ended in January 2021. According to the indictment, the 37 charges against Mr Trump and Mr Nauta include willful retention of national defence information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and false statements and representations. The former president has lashed out on Truth Social at Mr Smith calling him a “deranged lunatic”. The special counsel for his part gave a brief and dignified explanation of the sweeping indictment and the law applies to everyone. Read More What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing Trump indicted in classified documents case in a historic first for a former president Conspiracy, false statements and retaining national defence documents: The federal charges against Donald Trump Trump has been caught on tape. Congratulations, Donald – you played yourself

Donald Trump has been indicted over his refusal to return classified documents found at his Florida home, the