Geoff Duncan, former lieutenant governor of Georgia, had harsh words for Donald Trump on Monday after offering his testimony in the Fulton County grand jury investigation into the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. The former official argued it was time for the Republican party to move on from Mr Trump. “Politically speaking, this is a pivot point for this country to do something more than just stew on the 2020 election cycle,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re either going to, as Republicans, take our medicine and realise the election wasn’t rigged and Donald Trump was the worst candidate ever, in the history of our party, even worse than [US Senate candidate] Herschel Walker.” “We want to win an election in 2024,” he added. “It’s going to have to be somebody other than Donald Trump.” Mr Trump railed against the Georgia official on Monday. "I am reading reports that failed former Lt. Governor of Georgia, Jeff Duncan, will be testifying before the Fulton County Grand Jury," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "He shouldn’t,” the former president added. “I barely know him but he was, right from the beginning of this Witch Hunt, a nasty disaster for those looking into the Election Fraud that took place in Georgia." Mr Duncan was one of the rare Republican officials to affirm the results of the 2020 election, and he condemned Mr Trump in 2021 for a call to Georgia officials pressuring them to “find” enough votes for Mr Trump to win the state. “I am 100 per cent certified to tell you that it was inappropriate. And it certainly did not help the situation,” he told CNN. “It was based on misinformation, it was based on, you know, all types of theories that have been debunked and disproved over the course of the last 10 weeks.” Read More Live updates: Trump rails against Georgia charges ‘leak’ as court claims document is fake Was Fulton County Court hacked? How a ‘fictitious’ Trump charge sheet brought chaos to Georgia grand jury Judge in Donald Trump’s hush-money case denies bias claim, won’t step aside

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The White House said it had information that Russia was executing its own soldiers who retreated from an offensive in Ukraine or refused to follow orders. “We have information that the Russian military has been actually executing soldiers who refuse to follow orders,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told a media briefing on Thursday. “We also have information that Russian commanders are threatening to execute entire units if they seek to retreat from Ukrainian artillery fire,” he added. The US also claimed that some of the Russian casualties near Avdivvka were “on the orders of their own leaders”. Ukrainian forces have been fighting a Russian military onslaught in the frontline town of Avdiivka – a few kilometres north of occupied Donetsk – for several weeks since mid-October. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky described the situation as “particularly tough” earlier this week. Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, made no reference to the White House statement but said that the latest military aid package of $150m to Ukraine by the US was “provocative and inflammatory actions in the international arena that look more like pouring oil on the fire”. He wrote on Telegram: “It is long past time to halt the mindless multi-billion dollar flow to the bankrupt Kyiv regime. Time to stop showing total disdain towards the opinions of your own citizens and indifference to the growing number of victims dying from American weaponry.” Mr Kirby confirmed that since 11 October Russia lost “at least 125 units of armoured vehicles around Avdiivka and more than a battalion’s worth of military equipment”. White House also said that the Russian troops in Avdivvka are struggling with “low morale”. Mr Kirby warned that Russia will likely continue to attack around Avdiivka and “may be able to achieve some tactical gains” in the coming months. However, he added that this will come at the cost of “thousands of casualties” as the Russian soldiers are thrown into battle without proper training and with “poor morale”. Mr Kirby said threats to execute the soldiers were barbaric, according to Reuters. “I think it’s a symptom of ... how poorly Russia’s military leaders know they’re doing and how bad they have handled this from a military perspective.” Additional reporting with agencies Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary As the Turkish Republic turns 100, here's a look at its achievements and challenges ahead White House says Russia is executing its own soldiers for not following orders Russia recruits prisoners for Ukraine war as Putin replicates Wagner

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Ian Machado Garry is nothing if not unapologetic. He is unapologetic in every kick he skims off foreheads, in every punch he pistons at jaws, and he is certainly unapologetic in every word he utters. And when the Irishman delivers the anecdote of the day – one of the anecdotes of the week in the MMA world – it is punctuated with a “there’s a piece for you to write, for sure”. So, it will come as a surprise to some that the anecdote in question, on being banned from the UFC welterweight champion’s gym, is not delivered brashly. Machado Garry, his gaze occasionally drifting past me and fixing on the London skyline over an autumnal Southbank, selects his words with the same precision and intent with which he selects his shots in the Octagon. “I don’t want any s*** with any gyms... I love the guys at that gym, they were very welcoming, lovely and nice to me.” It is not clear who Machado Garry’s critics want him to be, yet regardless, it seems he will never be that person. The 25-year-old, soon to turn 26, has been criticised for ‘trying to be’ Conor McGregor 2.0, and for what some deem an overinflated sense of self. But he believes a considerable reaction from fans will accompany what he is about to say, and a few hours after the first segment of our interview goes live, he is proven right. He is even proven right by the segment of fans who dismiss his significance in this sporting sphere. According to Machado Garry, he is not allowed back to train with Leon Edwards due to “doubts and insecurities” in the welterweight champion and his coach. Team Renegade, where Edwards trains, suggests to The Independent that Machado Garry was “refused entrance” as he did not “add to the team’s culture”. Still, the gym’s statement praises the 25-year-old’s career, just as he praises the environment there. There is an irony in the fact that such an absorbing back-and-forth stems from a long chat in which Machado Garry and I mainly discuss family, travel and culture. Machado Garry has been refused entrance to gyms before but also enjoys what Renegade labels a “nomadic approach”, and as the gym notes: It has given him “great results”. Indeed, Machado Garry, his wife and young son will travel to Brazil just two days after our interview, but it is not just about learning within the four walls of gyms, or from the martial artists on their mats. “It’s so beautiful, interesting, intriguing – seeing different cultures, different natural wonders, eating different foods. If you compare Iceland to Barcelona to England to Dublin to Brazil to America, they’re all vastly different and offer different positives and negatives. For growth as a human, to see all these things... it’s very, very cool.” Machado Garry’s enthusiasm is apparent not only in his words but his delivery. The 25-year-old’s voice blares at times, and he often leans in, his hands almost gesturing either side of my face. I can see how that reach is useful in the ring. “In Brazil, having a babá – a nanny and chef – is very popular for people with more than the average income,” he continues. “Their attitude as a country is: If you have money, why don’t you pay this woman who doesn’t have money, so she can feed her kids? She’s an amazing cook, why don’t you hire her? The level of open-mindedness from that, it’s so forward-thinking. I find that so empowering, so special, so beautiful.” Machado Garry would use the same words to describe his experience of fatherhood, which began in his early 20s as he and his wife, Layla, 40, began raising their son Leo. Machado Garry has always had a clear trajectory in mind for his career, and he has followed that trajectory like he is magnetised to its track, but what of a family? Did he imagine he would form one so soon in life? “I always knew I wanted to have a son. To watch a little version of me grow up, and to help him through life. Not to steer anything for him – I will always want him to be his own person – but my goal is to be a better example than my dad was. That sounds a bit like my dad was a d***, but he’s not!” Machado Garry laughs. “It’s evolution: I want to give my son more than I had. Then, my son’s son or daughter will have more than I gave to him. I want a best friend in my son, and I want my son to feel like he has a best friend in his dad. [It’s special] to have someone who looks up to you, who comes to you for fun. ‘Let’s go play football or a round of golf!’ “And then, from the moment I met my wife, I was hooked. I was done. I would’ve married her the next day. On the spot, I knew she was perfect. She is my biggest inspiration and mentor in life. I learn the most from her about religion, racism, culture, being a better father. When she says something, I hear it. I need to respect it. And I feel like I always knew we’d have a kid, but I never thought about time. I couldn’t be happier that I had a kid when I did, that I got married when I did. Time and age isn’t something my brain equates – I don’t see it as an issue or anything like that.” Something else that Machado Garry doesn’t see as an issue is his impending fight with Vicente Luque, a former teammate, in December. While friends in other divisions refuse to square off in the cage, Machado Garry has no such qualms. And neither does Luque. “I’ve never understood this,” Machado Garry begins. “Firstly, I choose to fight. It’s my job. Imagine you going into work, and saying: ‘He’s my friend, I don’t want to do a piece on him.’ What the f*** are you talking about? I would happily do my entire camp on the same mat as Vicente, I would spar Vicente to fight Vicente. I have no ego, no animosity. I suppose that’s because I’m confident in my own abilities. I can go in there and cause violence and damage to a person I like, because it’s my job and I try to do it for fun. For Vicente and me, it’s out of nothing but respect. “I really, really like Vicente as a person, but at the end of the day, he’s ranked above me – and if I beat him, it adds more legitimacy to my run. Beating him, and doing it in style, does so much for my career. He’s a savage, and [his mindset] is the exact same: He knows that I’m one of the biggest fights in the division – in the entire UFC – right now. There’s a lot of hype behind my name, people are interested by what I’m doing. Both of us are true martial artists and see the benefits, more than we see: ‘Oh, but I’m fighting a friend!’ “One thing I’m learning at the moment is that even adults, people I look up to and am inspired by, don’t deal with conflict very well. We’re in such an alpha-dominated sport, but dealing with conflict is so difficult for most people in MMA. If you don’t like X, don’t just ignore it; have a grown-up conversation, explain it to me. I struggle a little bit sometimes with pushing people to be better. I don’t expect everyone in the world to be perfect, but... And I’m the 25-year-old! Why am I the one having to deal with this? But I’m included in this: I need to deal with conflict better.” I sense that Machado Garry is hinting again at the situation with Edwards’s gym. And with the Irishman and the Jamaican-born Briton both set to compete at UFC 296 on 16 December, I sense that the situation will soon unravel itself further. Then, we will see how both fighters deal with conflict. So. There was a piece for me to write. Read More Leon Edwards’s gym responds to Ian Machado Garry’s ‘insecurity’ claim UFC’s Ian Garry: ‘Leon Edwards and his coach said I can’t train at their gym anymore’ Elon Musk reignites Mark Zuckerberg fight feud: ‘A duel under any circumstances’ Elon Musk reignites Mark Zuckerberg fight feud: ‘A duel under any circumstances’ UFC schedule 2023: Every fight happening this year When will Conor McGregor return to the UFC?

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