President Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, panned a short address given by his former boss on Tuesday as nothing more than panicked bluster in response to two criminal indictments filed by prosecutors in New York and the US Department of Justice. Mr Kelly spoke to The Washington Post after the ex-president appeared at his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, in front of a crowd of $1,000-a-pop attendees gathered hastily to hear his post-arraignment remarks. And he chalked up the president’s threats to go after Joe Biden and his family with the full power of a weaponised Department of Justice as president to little more than a tantrum. “He’s scared s***less,” said Mr Kelly. “This is the way he compensates for that. He gives people the appearance he doesn’t care by doing this.” “For the first time in his life, it looks like he’s being held accountable. Up until this point in his life, it’s like, ‘I’m not going to pay you. Take me to court.’ He’s never been held accountable before,” added the former senior White House official and retired Marine Corps general. It was a comment that was simultaneously unsurprising yet notable due to the credence it lends to the idea that Donald Trump’s inner circle of advisers has done nothing but shrink since he took office in 2017 and left unceremoniously just four years later. In particular, Mr Trump is reported to have iced out all but those who agree most closely with his strategy and tactics, leaving behind even previously close aides like son-in-law Jared Kushner as he becomes further and further ensnared in legal entanglements. Mr Kelly was long seen as one of the president’s cool-headed influences in the White House, often clashing with more fervent True Believers in the administration like Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller. His brush-ups with the former eventually led to Mr Bannon departing the White House entirely before the end of Mr Trump’s first year in office. But Mr Kelly himself eventually left the White House, too, replaced by yes-men Mick Mulvaney and Mark Meadows who fed the president’s ego and enabled his most controversial actions, including his refusal to accept his election defeat to Mr Biden in 2020. Mr Meadows was most recently reported by The Independent to be cooperating with federal investigators in two probes examining his former boss’s undertakings as part of an immunity deal: One into the January 6 attack, and another dealing with presidential records and classified material taken from the White House. Mr Kelly is one of many former Trump White House staffers who have denounced their former boss since leaving his service; in 2020, Mr Kelly was reported to have described then-President Trump as one of the most dishonest people he has ever known in a CNN report. “The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship, though it’s more pathetic than anything else. He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life,” Mr Kelly has told close friends, according to the news outlet. Mr Trump was indicted last week on 37 criminal counts related to his handling of presidential records, including classified documents reportedly related to US defense and the military. He faces a separate 32-count indictment in New York, a result of a 2016 hush money scheme involving porn star Stormy Daniels. Read More Trump indictment – live: Trump speech lambasted as ex-president celebrates birthday post-arrest Special counsel Jack Smith stared at Trump throughout historic court appearance, report says Ex-Trump lawyer says evidence in indictment is like ‘a gun with Trump’s fingerprints on it’ Trump’s second arraignment: Watch how it happened Fox News calls Biden ‘wannabe dictator’ as it shows Trump speech on nuclear secret charges Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked for telling CDC chair: ‘I dont want my staff educated’

By Chen Lin and Xinghui Kok SINGAPORE (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin rebuked China on Saturday for refusing

Hardest Geezer has shared an update while running the entire length of Africa, revealing that he’s facing a long delay after being robbed at gunpoint. The YouTuber, real name Russ Cook, is attempting to become the first person ever to complete the feat as part of “Project Africa” for charity. However, Cook and his team are facing “frustrating circumstances” while the group has to wait to get new visas. On the 64th day of his journey, he revealed he and his crew had been robbed at gunpoint by two “desperate” men. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Cook wrote at the time: “Nothing like a gun being pointed at your face to let you know you’re alive. Lively one today.” He added: “A couple lads popped open the side door and demanded everything we have. Desperate blokes with guns pointed. Infamously bad situation to find yourself on the end of. Proper spot of bother. Damage limitation.” Why I was forced to LEAVE Angola www.youtube.com Cook also said: “None of us got killed or injured. We didn’t let them march us out the van. But we did lose a lot of our gear. Couple cameras, 2 iphones, all of our cash, passports + few other bits.” Losing the passports and documentation means that they’ll now face a significant delay while they wait for new documentation. Cook revealed that the group has been forced to drive back to Windhoek in Namibia which is 1,281 miles in the wrong direction in order to get their new visas. “Most importantly, they took my passport, which had a visa for Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of Congo in it,” he said about the passport [via BBC News]. “Logistics in Africa is especially difficult. We were in Luanda for six days trying to get the new visa, sweet talking every man and his dog. But ultimately, we left with our pants pulled firmly down.” He also said: “We can’t go anywhere until we have the visas.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Swansea are progressing with talks for Michael Duff to become their new manager. Discussions are on-going for the Barnsley boss to succeed Russell Martin in Wales. Swansea have made an approach to the Tykes but no deal has been struck between the clubs yet, the PA news agency understands. The Swans, who finished 10th in the Championship last season, want the ex-Cheltenham boss with Martin poised to move to Southampton. Saints are close to officially announcing Martin as their new manager after the 37-year-old agreed to move to St Mary’s last month. Southampton and Swansea have disagreed over the amount of compensation which should be paid. They have been haggling over £700,000 with Martin’s release clause for Championship clubs and Premier League sides different. The Saints felt they should pay the smaller amount, around £1.25million, after their relegation from the top flight while the Swans have been holding out for £2million. Former Swansea assistant Chris Davies, who is expected to join Ange Postecoglou’s coaching staff at Tottenham, was linked while the club held an interest in Birmingham boss John Eustace. But Duff has emerged as the No.1 candidate after just a year at Oakwell having guided them to the League One play-offs. The Tykes lost 1-0 in the last minute of extra time to Sheffield Wednesday in the final at Wembley. Former Burnley midfielder Duff spent four years as Cheltenham manager, winning League Two in 2021 – the club’s first league title in their history – before cementing the Robins’ place in League One and joining Barnsley last summer, finishing fourth last season. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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Nadine Arslanian, who would later go on to marry New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and become Nadine Menendez, hit and killed a pedestrian in a 2018 car crash, which is alleged to be the inception of a bribe in the federal indictment against the couple, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

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A father has been praised for the “embarrassing” dance moves he’s performed when picking his daughter up from high school. Jevin Smith shared a video to TikTok last month of some of the “most embarrassing parent pick ups” he’s done at his daughter’s school. Smith’s video started off with him wearing a gold jacket and black pants, while he danced to MC Hammer’s “2 Legit 2 Quit.” While continuing some of his moves, he started making his way towards his daughter, Jayna, who had her head down, seemingly due to her embarrassment over her father’s arrival. As she continued to walk next to her father while they headed towards his car, Smith danced in front of her. He also continued dancing as he walked towards the driver’s seat of the car. Although the next clip of the montage began in a similar fashion, it had a different musical theme, as the text read: “How I would have picked up my daughter in the 80s.” Jayna was seen laughing and shaking her head, as her father was wearing a curly wig with a sweatband over it, a striped tank top, tan shorts, and socks that went up to his knees. The video continued with Smith dancing to “I Feel For You’” by Chaka Khan, before he opened his car door for his daughter. In the background, some of the other students at Jayna’s school were seen laughing and cheering Smith on. Smith’s third video in the montage showed him wearing a curly wig, hat, black sweatshirt, and matching jeans, before making his way towards his daughter, who was was exiting her school. While Jayna was laughing and had her head down, Smith went on to rap along to Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day”. He also poked fun at the song’s title in the text on the video, writing: “Today was a good day for me, but was it for my daughter?” As he continued his singing and dancing, he put his arm over his daughter’s shoulder, before taking her school bag from her. He then opened the backseat door of his car for her, while she still appeared embarrassed by her father’s dancing. Smith’s video has quickly gone viral on TikTok, where it has amassed more than four million views. In the comments, many people went on to applaud the father for his dance moves, and made jokes about how he could have entertained some of the other students at the school. @wealthyjev Here’s a #throwback of some of my most #embarrassing #DaddyDaughterPickUp s ??? I know my daughter @Reigny cant wait yo graduate ??♂️ Which #parentpickup was your favorite? ? #throwbackthursday ♬ original sound - Wealthy Jev “I absolutely love that you open the door for her! Great dad!!” one wrote. “This man better have his own page in the yearbook,” another quipped, while a third added: “If I was a teacher at that school, I would be RUNNING after the bell rings to watch this in person.” Speaking to Today, Jayna, who’s a senior in high school, noted that while she was initially embarrassed by her father’s dances, she now finds them to be quite amusing. “In the beginning, when he first started doing it, I was like, this is unbearable. Imagine watching your father get out of the car and start dancing,” Jayna said. “Now I think it’s hilarious. There’s never a time when I’m upset. He’s like a celebrity at school now. Everyone loves his TikTok.” Smith also noted to the publication that, while he started doing these dances for Jayna during her sophomore year, he doesn’t do them all the time. The father, who picks his daughter up from school everyday, acknowledged that he can tell by her face when she’s had a bad day. During those instances, he’ll “either tone down the dance, or get right back in the car,” as reported by Today. He added that he also only does the dances once a month, and doesn’t tell her daughter when it’s going to happen. The Independent has contacted Smith for comment. Read More Lily Allen celebrates third wedding anniversary with David Harbour in sweet Instagram post Elon Musk reveals names of his twins with Shivon Zilis Alabama Barker shares sweet note from ‘best dad’ Travis Barker Alabama Barker shares sweet note from ‘best dad’ Travis Barker Gigi Hadid talks about balancing work and co-parenting with Zayn Malik Seal praises his and Heidi Klum’s daughter Leni for making him ‘a better person’

Kyle Farmer went 3 for 4 with a pair of two-out RBIs, Max Kepler hit a three-run triple and the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins beat the New York Mets 8-4

Miami football is looking forward, not backward, and there’s good reason for that