The in-form Rory McIlroy and the world number one Scottie Scheffler lead the contenders at the 151st British Open as the world's best golfers are...

Taylor Swift appeared at the Kansas City Chiefs' Sunday win over the Chicago Bears to support Travis Kelce. The internet went wild.

Donald Trump’s supporters and many Republican officials contend that the former president is the target of a politically weaponised justice system that has ignored similar alleged crimes committed by his rivals. “Lock her up” chants directed at Hillary Clinton still dominate GOP rallies. House Republicans have launched committees to investigate the sitting president and his family. But in classified documents cases involving President Joe Biden and former vice president Mike Pence, both men cooperated with federal law enforcement and returned those records. Ms Clinton was not found to have deliberately mishandled classified information or obstruct justice in the recovery of communications. Mr Trump, according to prosecutors, did exactly that. A federal indictment details the alleged coordination among Mr Trump, his aides and attorneys to bring documents to his Mar-a-Lago property and, later, conceal them from law enforcement when US officials sought their return. His alleged refusal and obstruction is at the centre of the 37-count indictment against him. The indictment lays out more than 40 pages of allegations based on witness testimony and recordings allegedly showing how the former president sought to hide and keep classified documents by conspiring with his aides to obstruct an investigation into their recovery, then lied to both the government and his own attorneys about them. He faces 31 counts of willful retention of national defence information in violation of the Espionage Act, carrying a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. Each count represents a different top-secret document Mr Trump held at his Mar-a-Lago property, months after he left the White House in January 2021. The indictment does not include charges connected to dozens of other documents that he ultimately did return in the course of investigations surrounding the case – underscoring some of the key differences between his prosecution and those involving the former vice presidents. Late last year, a lawyer for Mr Biden discovered a “small number” of classified documents from his time as vice president under then-President Barack Obama during a search of a Washington DC office space. Those documents were returned to the Justice Department. Another batch of documents were discovered at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. Federal law enforcement agents found more when they searched the property. In January, US Attorney General Merrick Garland named a special counsel to investigate those documents, which is still ongoing. No charges have been filed. The Justice Department also closed an investigation into Mr Pence earlier this month after the discovery of classified material at his home in Indiana. There were no allegations of obstruction or the willful retention of such documents, and no charges were brought against him. And in Ms Clinton’s case, then-FBI director James Comey said she was “extremely careless” with her handling of sensitive information, but law enforcement officials found no clear evidence that she intentionally obstructed justice or committed any other crimes in connection with the server. He said “no reasonable prosecutor” would have brought a case against her. Those findings stand in stark contrast to the allegations in the indictment against Mr Trump, who is accused of actively concealing documents and even suggesting that a lawyer hide them or falsely state to authorities that all requested records were returned, while hundreds remained at his property. None of the nearly 200 documents that Mr Trump ultimately returned to authorities are connected to the charges against him, suggesting that if he had returned them in the first place, he may not face criminal prosecution. In January of last year, a year after leaving the White House after losing his 2020 re-election bid, Mr Trump gave 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives and Records Administration, as required under the Presidential Records Act. The agency wrote to Mr Trump in May 2021 noting that some documents were missing, noting that there are “certain paper/textual records that we cannot account for.” Around that same time, according to the indictment, Mr Trump directed aides to clear a storage room on the ground floor of Mar-a-Lago. More than 80 boxes were moved there, according to prosecutors. A few months later, he allegedly showed a “plan of attack” document prepared by the US Department of Defense to a group at his Bedminster, New Jersey club. “As president I could have declassified it,” he said, according to a transcript of a recorded conversation in the indictment. “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.” The National Archives received 15 boxes from Mr Trump in January 2022, 14 of which contained classified materials, according to prosecutors. Among them, 67 were marked “confidential,” 92 were marked “secret” and 25 were marked “top secret.” The next month, the agency alerted the US Department of Justice that classified information was discovered in those boxes. It was then that a criminal investigation surrounding the former president started to build – not from the results of the National Archives and its ultimately successful recovery of 15 boxes. A federal grand jury was opened in April of last year. In the weeks and months that followed, Mr Trump’s aide Walt Nauta began moving more than a dozen boxes out of the storage room, according to the indictment. Mr Nauta also is charged in connection with the case. On 3 June of last year, Mr Trump’s then-attorney Christina Bobb falsely certified to federal law enforcement that the former president’s legal team performed a “diligent search” for “any and all responsive documents” at his property, and that no other classified documents were found, according to prosecutors. The Justice Department received 38 documents in that file, including 17 marked “top secret,” 16 labeled “secret” and five others marked as confidential. Meanwhile, Mr Nauta and others loaded several boxes onto a plane that Mr Trump boarded out of his Florida home, according to the indictment. In August, FBI agents performed a search of Mar-a-Lago and discovered more than 100 classified documents among hundreds of government documents and photographs. In the documents outlined in the indictment, at least two of which involved nuclear secrets according to an inventory listed in the indictment, 21 were discovered by FBI agents who searched Mar-a-Lago. Ten others were turned over to federal authorities last June in response to a grand jury subpoena. Others involved intelligence briefings, foreign military activity, communication with foreign leaders, foreign military impacts on US interests, and communications with a foreign leader. According to prosecutors, Mr Trump conspired to conceal documents from a grand jury and federal officials, by suggesting that his attorneys make false statements to authorities, by moving boxes of documents to hide from attorneys, by suggesting that documents be hidden or destroyed, and by falsely certifying that classified documents were produced to authorities “when, in fact, they had not.” Prosecutors are expected to present compelling evidence that the former president knowingly and deliberately misled his attorneys about his retention of sensitive documents He also appears, on a tape, six months after leaving office, saying that a document in his possession was “classified”, “highly confidential” and “secret information” while admitting that he was not able to declassify it, because he was no longer president – undercutting a critical part of his public defence over the last several months. Read More Trump indictment - news: Trump vows revenge as he lands in Miami for arraignment on 37 federal charges Trump, Biden, Pence - who else? Inside the presidential scramble to check for classified documents How Trump’s second indictment unfolded: A timeline of the investigation into Mar-a-Lago documents ‘This is war’: Police monitoring online far-right threats and pro-Trump protests with federal indictment Handcuffs, fingerprints or a mugshot? What to expect as Trump faces arraignment in federal court Aileen Cannon: The judge with Trump’s fate in her hands was appointed by him

'WAP' was controversial because of its explicit lyrics and received criticism from conservative pundits

New York wants to introduce car-loving America's first congestion charge, but the move faces fierce opposition -- including from the...

Former President Donald Trump, now a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, claimed in a television interview on Thursday that he not only purchased 75 million barrels of oil for the national Strategic Petroleum Reserve but did so for a remarkably low price.

Twitter is broken and the proposed solution is even worse this time around. Is it finally curtains?

Chris Eubanks has reached the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time by stunning two-time major runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets

Jurors are deliberating for a third day as they weigh whether Ms Taylor's civil rights were violated.

I remember seeing her move with my naked eye for the first time. I was like: ‘What in the name of God is this?’” Peter Carroll, a combat-sports journalist and Dublin native, is recalling his first time meeting Katie Taylor. “She was 2-0. Me and maybe five other media guys are called to this tiny boxing gym in rural Ireland,” Carroll tells The Independent, leaning over a raised table in the foyer of Dublin City Convention Centre. “The gym’s roof is leaking, it’s this run-down spot, there’s room for the boxing ring and nothing else.” That’s all Taylor has ever needed. Four corners, three ropes, one canvas on which to physically plant her feet and figuratively paint a pioneer’s legacy. Born in Bray, 20 miles south of Dublin, Taylor was raised by her mother Bridget Cranley and father Pete Taylor – a former boxing champion who would coach Katie for some years. Early in her boxing journey, Katie was a girl pretending to be a boy, just for the chance to compete; now 37, she is a queen of combat sports who has carried women’s boxing on her back for over a decade. As an amateur, she claimed Olympic gold for Ireland in 2012, after carrying her nation’s flag at the opening ceremony in London. She won five consecutive world titles and took six European crowns. As a professional, she has reigned atop two weight classes, ruling the lightweight division as undisputed champion. She has headlined Madison Square Garden and earned the first seven-figure payday in women’s boxing. Until May, she had never been beaten as a pro. But this is to tell Taylor’s story as an outsider. Ireland, however? Ireland will tell you stories about Katie Taylor. “My first time hearing about Katie would have been before the 2012 Olympics,” says Mel Christle, who will be supervising Taylor’s rematch with Chantelle Cameron on Saturday, as the chairman of the Boxing Union of Ireland. “There was this little ‘legend’ – but a true one – that she was boxing teenagers and grown adults when she was young. I also heard what a talented footballer she was. I’ve no doubt that, if not for her boxing, she would’ve gone on to play for Ireland – at senior level, not just juniors. She’s just a special athlete.” Or something more. “She’s like a deity, she’s not like an athlete,” Carroll says. “I don’t think anyone has meant as much to Ireland as Katie.” Christle, Carroll and other Dublin locals are speaking to The Independent two days out from Taylor vs Cameron 2. Six months ago, Cameron stepped off a plane from England, strode into the 3Arena, and outpointed Taylor. In truth, she outworked Taylor to do so. With that, Cameron retained the undisputed super-lightweight titles, but this weekend, Taylor has another chance to take those belts from the first woman to beat her as a pro – and to become an undisputed champion in a second division. “I think what happened was, all week we celebrated the icon and forgot about the competitor,” Carroll says of the first fight. “Immediately after the event, we’re face to face with the competitor, when [her promoter] Eddie Hearn is like: ‘She wants to do the exact same thing again.’ We’re thinking, ‘Oh, my God.’ I personally think she’s the greatest Irish athlete ever, and that won’t change if she loses on Saturday. People will bring up GAA [Gaelic football] players and rugby players... Where are the world titles? I want to see you leaving this island and doing something magical.” Carroll mentions former rugby union captain Brian O’Driscoll and retired jockey Ruby Walsh as Irish athletes who “might be held in that regard”. But? “I don’t think anyone comes near Katie Taylor. I’ve never heard anyone go, ‘You know what? Katie Taylor really p****s me off,’ and she’s been around since I was a child! You can’t even compare Conor McGregor to her,” Carroll adds, referencing the former two-weight UFC champion, who once held a nation’s adoration in the palm of his 4oz gloves. “His achievements are overlooked in Ireland now, based on what he’s done outside of the cage. “The thing with McGregor was: He became a massive sensation over the space of three years, then it went away. He’s not beloved by everyone in Ireland anymore, but he was what we are. Katie Taylor is what we want to be. That’s why she’s taken on this saintly aura to Irish people. She’s the definition of Irishness for a lot of people, and when she fights and represents us, we come away feeling good.” And crucially, you don’t need to be immersed in boxing to feel that effect – the Katie Taylor effect. “She is a deity, she’s brilliant,” says Tony Coleman, a sightseeing guide in Dublin. “She put boxing on the map for every woman in Ireland, for every woman in the world. Everybody looks up to her, all the kids around Ireland look up to her. She’s not a show-off. She wouldn’t walk by a person on the street without saying hello. She’s not one of these people like Conor McGregor, coming out and shouting at people; she’s a beautiful person. You can tell that just by the way she goes on. She’s a lovely woman.” Christle echoes that sentiment. “If I could sum it up for you in one word: Humility,” he says emphatically. “She never boasts or brags. If you’re nine years old or 90, she’ll afford you the same respect.” Taylor’s commitment to her religion also contributes to her stark connection with a Catholic country. “Sports fans love Katie, and priests like Katie! She’s pure,” Carroll says, while Christle concurs: “She’s a religious soul to her core. She’s a very principled person, whether or not you believe in the same principles as her.” A patron at The Storyteller on Grand Canal Street is also quick to acknowledge that element of Ireland’s affinity with Taylor: “She believes in a higher power. The good Lord is looking down on her.” So, when Taylor fights, God looks down and Irish children look up. Everybody looks on. At 10.30pm on Saturday, Dublin and its people will stop in their tracks, having sought out the nearest TV or laptop screen – if not a seat at the 3Arena. “We’ve shown every one of her fights,” says Paul Lynch, assistant manager at the River Bar on Burgh Quay. “There’s always more people, it’s packed. It’s standing room only. And all our doormen are boxers or did MMA.” Carroll adds: “I think everybody’s always aware it’s happening. For instance, I’ll be at the fight on Saturday night, and my missus will be at home with all her mates, watching Katie fight.” Christle, meanwhile, will stop by Taylor’s locker room before the deity appears before the worshipping masses in the 3Arena. Even in the moments after Taylor’s defeat by Cameron, the mood around Ireland was positive. “It wasn’t so bad, she still did everybody proud,” Lynch says, while Carroll recalls: “All the press were saying, ‘Regardless of the result, thank God this event happened and she got to walk out in front of the Irish people and be embraced like an icon.’ We had a moment.” The mood in Taylor’s locker room, however, was altogether different. Christle insists that something was not right, just as Taylor has stated over the last two weeks. She is adamant, however, that things will be different this time. Already, she says, she “feels” different. On Saturday night, Ireland will hold its breath – a nation in awe of an athlete who has transcended far beyond that label. Read More Katie Taylor: ‘I hate these press conferences, there’s nothing to say!’ Katie Taylor: ‘Failure is where all your growth happens’ Who is fighting on the Katie Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron undercard this weekend? What time does Katie Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron start this weekend? How to watch Katie Taylor vs Chantelle Cameron online and on TV this weekend Why Katie Taylor’s rematch with Chantelle Cameron has all the makings of a classic

With Silvio Berlusconi gone, the spotlight turns to a potential succession drama as his heirs inherit the controlling stake of the late...

BEIJING A European Commission investigation into Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) feared to have benefited from state subsidies will