Provides an overview of Chechnya, including key facts about this Russian Caucasian republic.

Ava Marie Ziegler has performed a near-flawless free skate to win the NHK Trophy and lead a U.S. 1-2 finish on the podium

In the U.S., the terms ‘bison’ and ‘buffalo’ are used interchangeably—but they’re actually two different animals. Here’s how to tell them apart.

US president Joe Biden labelled Xi Jinping a dictator during a political fundraiser in California on Tuesday night. The comments came a day after US secretary of state Antony Blinken visited Beijing to stabilize bilateral relations, that China said was at its lowest point since formal ties were established. Mr Biden also said Mr Xi was very embarrassed when a suspected Chinese spy balloon was blown off course over the US airspace early this year, making the remark about the Chinese leader when Mr Blinken said on Monday the "chapter" should be closed. It was, however, unclear why Mr Biden made the comment about his Chinese counterpart. "The reason why Xi Jinping got very upset in terms of when I shot that balloon down with two box cars full of spy equipment in it was he didn’t know it was there," Mr Biden said. "That’s a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didn’t know what happened. That wasn’t supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course," Mr Biden added. Mr Biden also said China "has real economic difficulties". While Mr Xi, who met with US’s top diplomats on Monday, has not publicly responded to Mr Biden‘s comments, but they are unlikely to go down well in Beijing and could jeopardise efforts by both countries to bring their relationship back to a more stable footing after the balloon incident. Earlier, Mr Blinken and Mr Xi agreed in their meeting to stabilize the intense rivalry between Washington and Beijing so it did not veer into conflict, but failed to produce any breakthrough during the secretary of state’s rare visit to China. Mr Biden however, praised Mr Blinken’s work in attempting to repair the relationship between the two countries, adding that it would take time. Mr Biden told the fundraiser that US climate envoy John Kerry may go to China “pretty soon”. Mr Biden said he thought relations between the two countries were on the right path, and he indicated that progress was made during Mr Blinken’s trip – the first such visit by the US secretary of state in the last five years. “We’re not going to have success on every issue between us on any given day, but in a whole variety of areas, on the terms that we set for this trip, we have made progress and we are moving forward,” Mr Blinken said in Beijing on Monday. A day later, Mr Biden said that Mr Xi had been concerned by the so-called Quad strategic security group, which includes Japan, Australia, India and the United States. The US president said he previously told the Chinese counterpart that the US was not trying to encircle China with the Quad. "He called me and told me not to do that because it was putting him in a bind," Mr Biden said. “We’re just trying to make sure the international rules of air and sea lanes remain open.” Later this week, Mr Biden will meet Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and China is expected to be a topic of discussion between the two leaders. Additional reporting from the wires Read More Why haven't China and the U.S. agreed to restore military contacts? Modi US visit: Amnesty calls for human rights to be central in talks with Joe Biden Biden-Modi relationship built around mutual admiration of scrappy pasts, pragmatic needs US and China hold top-level talks, but their rivalry remains unchecked Biden is ready to fete India's leader, looking past Modi's human rights record and ties to Russia

It was anticipated that a federal investigation into Donald Trump’s retention of top-secret documents months after he left the White House would result in charges in Washington DC. But the damning 37-count indictment, with more than two dozen counts of illegally withholding classified documents under the Espionage Act, was filed on 8 June in US District Court in Florida, his primary residence and the location of his notorious Mar-a-Lago resort property, where mounds of boxes with sensitive government documents were discovered by federal law enforcement. Photographs in an unsealed indictment released on 9 June showed stacks of them on a ballroom stage and gilded bathroom with a chandelier. Interviews with witnesses and transcripts of conversations in the sweeping indictment appear to show a depth of coordination among Mr Trump, his aides and attorneys to bring them to the property and, later, conceal them from law enforcement. So it makes sense that prosecutors would charge him and his associate Walt Nauta in Florida. But determining the venue for a case against the former president, or any defendant, isn’t necessarily a straightforward one. “It really could make a huge difference. The jury pool is different. The judges are different,” according to former assistant US Attorney Andrew Weissmann, speaking to MSNBC. “Also, DC is a location where the court is very used to dealing with classified information. There’s an expertise there. So in terms of speed, getting this case to trial, the venue matters,” he added. The Republican former president also has repeatedly rejected charges and investigations against him in several jurisdiction as political “witch hunts,” pointing to the Democratic majorities in New York City – where was found liable for sexual abuse, hit with a $250m lawsuit from the state attorney general, and criminally charged with more than 30 counts of falsifying business records – and Atlanta, where his efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election are expected to result in charges this summer. Mr Trump won the state of Florida in 2016 and 2020, though he lost the county of Miami-Dade, where he is facing a federal indictment. A form attached to the indictment also noted that the case was filed in the West Palm Beach court division, suggesting that a prospective jury pool may be drawn from there. Voters in Palm Beach County have reliably voted for Democratic presidential candidates, but Republican Governor Ron DeSantis won 51 per cent of the county vote last year. Mr DeSantis – Mr Trump’s rival for the 2024 Republican nomination for president – said in a statement after news of the indictment that he “will bring accountability to the [US Department of Justice], excise political bias and end weaponization once and for all” but stopped short of saying he would do anything to intervene. “The fact that this is being charged in Florida is enormously significant,” according to CNN legal analyst Elie Honig. “Legally, I think it’s the right move by [the Justice Department], because they’re going to avoid a messy question about venue.” Subpoenas may have been issued from Washington DC, but courts have upheld that the venue must be tied to where the unlawful conduct was committed. Florida may ultimately be “less advantageous” for federal prosecutors and the Justice Department in a case dealing with classified documents and the aftermath of a presidential administration, typically the purview of Washington courts, but the state is a “legally a less risky venue at this juncture,” according to Mr Weissmann and Ryan Goodman. “Whatever legal and factual arguments might support venue in Washington DC, the consequences of getting that calculus wrong, is an unknown variable that will counsel in favor of caution on the part of the [Justice Department],” they wrote. Prosecutors also likely do not want to “risk spending the first year fighting over venue,” former federal prosecutor Randall D Eliason told The Washington Post. For now, Mr Trump’s case will be handled by a federal judge he appointed to the bench in 2020 – and who already has delivered controversial rulings in the investigation that were rejected by an appeals court. US District Judge Aileen Cannon is scheduled to preside over his federal court case in Miami. Last year, Judge Cannon appointed a “special master” to review materials seized by federal law enforcement and restricted the FBI from using those documents as part of the investigation until she completed a review, effectively freezing the Justice Department probe. That order was ultimately thrown out entirely by a three-judge panel at a federal appeals court, which sharply criticised the judge’s actions and stressed that a court cannot simply “write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant” or “write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so.” If she does not recuse herself from the case and she remains a trial judge, she could play a potentially critical role in the case’s development, including whether to set a trial before or after presidential primary elections and the general election in 2024, as Mr Trump seeks the Republican nomination for president. He already is scheduled to return to Manhattan Criminal Court on 25 March – days after voting begins in primary states. A trial in a fraud lawsuit targeting Mr Trump, his adult children and his business entities is slated to begin in October. Read More Trump indictment — latest: Trump ‘plotted to hide documents from FBI after showing military docs to visitors’ Read Donald Trump’s 37-count federal indictment in full Conspiracy, false statements and retaining national defence documents: The federal charges against Donald Trump Hiding documents from the FBI and foreign nuclear plans: Key allegations in Trump’s unsealed indictment Jack Smith defends Trump indictment: ‘We have one set of laws and they apply to everyone’

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SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 5, 2023--

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County commissioners are vowing security upgrades and a thorough review of procedures following the escape of a homicide suspect who used bedsheets to escape from a northwestern Pennsylvania jail last week