List of All Articles with Tag 'americas'

A spate of weekend mass shootings and violence across the US killed at least nine people, including a Pennsylvania state trooper, and left dozens injured. The shootings follow a surge in homicides and other violence over the past several years that experts say accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic. They happened in suburban Chicago, Washington state, central Pennsylvania, St. Louis, Southern California and Baltimore. “There’s no question there’s been a spike in violence,” said Daniel Nagin, a professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. “Some of these cases seem to be just disputes, often among adolescents, and those disputes are played out with firearms, not with fists.” Researchers disagree over the cause of the increase. Theories include the possibility that violence is driven by the prevalence of guns in America, or by less aggressive police tactics or a decline in prosecutions for misdemeanor weapon offenses, Professor Nagin said. Here's a look at the shootings this weekend: Willowbrook, Illinois At least 23 people were shot, one fatally, early Sunday in a suburban Chicago parking lot where hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate Juneteenth, authorities said. The DuPage County sheriff’s office described a “peaceful gathering” that suddenly turned violent as a number of people fired multiple shots into the crowd in Willowbrook, Illinois, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. A motive for the attack wasn’t immediately known. Sheriff’s spokesman Robert Carroll said authorities were interviewing “persons of interest” in the shooting, the Daily Herald reported. A witness, Markeshia Avery, said the celebration was meant to mark Juneteenth, Monday's federal holiday commemorating the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. “We just started hearing shooting, so we dropped down until they stopped,” Avery told WLS-TV. The White House issued a statement calling the violence a tragedy and saying the president was thinking of those killed and injured. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said in a statement that he was monitoring the investigation. “Gathering for a holiday gathering should be a joyful occasion, not a time where gunfire erupts and families are forced to run for safety,” Pritzker said. Washington state Two people were killed and two others were injured when a shooter began firing “randomly” into a crowd at a Washington state campground where many people were staying to attend a nearby music festival on Saturday night, police said. The suspect was shot in a confrontation with law enforcement officers and taken into custody, several hundred yards from the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival. A public alert advised people of an active shooter in the area and advised them to “run, hide or fight." The festival carried on until early Sunday morning, Grant County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kyle Foreman said. Organizers then posted a tweet saying Sunday’s concert was canceled. Central Pennsylvania One state trooper was killed and a second critically wounded just hours apart in central Pennsylvania on Saturday after a gunman attacked a state police barracks. The suspect drove his truck into the parking lot of the Lewistown barracks about 11am Saturday and opened fire with a large-caliber rifle on marked patrol cars before fleeing, authorities said Sunday. Lt. James Wagner, 45, was critically wounded when he was shot after encountering the suspect several miles away in Mifflintown. Later, Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr., 29, was ambushed and killed by a gunshot through the windshield of his patrol car as he drove down a road in nearby Walker Township, authorities said. The suspect was shot and killed after a fierce gunbattle, said Lt. Col. George Bivens, who went up in a helicopter to coordinate the search for the 38-year-old suspect. “What I witnessed ... was one of the most intense, unbelievable gunfights I have ever witnessed,” Lt Col Bivens said, lauding troopers for launching an aggressive search despite facing a weapon that “would defeat any of the body armor that they had available to them.” A motive was not immediately known. St Louis An early Sunday shooting in a downtown St. Louis office building killed a 17-year-old and wounded nine other teenagers, the city’s police commissioner said. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Commissioner Robert Tracy identified the victim who was killed as 17-year-old Makao Moore. A spokesman said a minor who had a handgun was in police custody as a person of interest. Teenagers were having a party in an office space when the shooting broke out around 1 a.m. Sunday. The victims ranged from 15 to 19 years old and had injuries including multiple gunshot wounds. A 17-year-old girl was trampled as she fled, seriously injuring her spine, Tracy said. Shell casings from AR-style rifles and other firearms were scattered on the ground. Southern California A shooting at a pool party at a Southern California home left eight people wounded, authorities said Saturday. Authorities were dispatched shortly after midnight in Carson, California, south of Los Angeles, KABC-TV reported. The victims range in age from 16 to 24, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. They were taken to hospitals and two were listed in critical condition, the statement said. Authorities said they found another 16-year-old boy with a gunshot wound when they responded to a call about a vehicle that crashed into a wall nearby. Baltimore Six people were injured in a Friday night shooting in Baltimore. All were expected to survive. Officers heard gunshots in the north of the city just before 9 p.m. and found three men with numerous gunshot wounds. Medics took them to area hospitals for treatment. Police later learned of three additional victims who walked into area hospitals with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. The wounded ranged in age from 17 to 26, Baltimore Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said. Kellogg, Idaho Four people were killed in a horrific Father’s Day mass shooting at a home in Kellogg, Idaho, with a 31-year-old suspected gunman now in police custody. The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office said that it responded with the Kellogg Police Department to a home in the city of Kellogg on Sunday evening. Officers arrived at the multi-dwelling units on Brown Avenue behind Mountain View Congregational Church at around 7.30pm where they discovered four victims suffering gunshot wounds. All four were dead on arrival. A suspected gunman was detained and police reassured the community that there is no ongoing threat to the community. Details about the victims, the suspect and the shooting remain scant at this time. The Idaho State Police said that a 31-year-old man was arrested in connection to the shooting, KXLY-TV reported. A neighbour told the local outlet that they believed the shooting was the culmination of an ongoing dispute between neighbours. Read More Four victims killed in Father’s Day mass shooting at home in Kellogg, Idaho Biden says US is at ‘tipping point’ on gun control: ‘We will ban assault weapons in this country’ Parking lot party shooting leaves many people hurt in suburban Chicago

The world first heard the story of American teenager Heather Mack and her mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack when the 62-year-old’s body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Indonesia. But the story actually begins many years earlier. Behind the headlines about the so-called “Suitcase Killer” is a tragic story of a mother who endured years of domestic violence at the hands of her child inside the home they shared in the Oak Park suburb of Chicago. Abuse which ultimately escalated to that day in 2014 when the 18-year-old and her 21-year-old boyfriend bludgeoned her to death at a 5-star resort in Bali. Rasul Freelain, a retired Oak Park Police sergeant who arrested Mack multiple times for allegedly abusing her mother, tells The Independent that the warning signs were there as soon as he met the pair for the first time back in 2010. What he saw was a sadly typical case of a domestic abuse victim reluctant to speak out or take action against the abuser that she loved. The violence grew progressively worse over the next few years until January 2013, when von Wiese-Mack made the chilling admission that she believed her daughter was going to kill her. But – due to the current lack of laws around child to parent domestic abuse – Sgt Freelain and the Oak Park authorities were ultimately helpless to save von Wiese-Mack from her fate. Nineteen months later, her tragic prediction became a reality. “It was like watching a slow-moving train derailment – we can see it and we all look and see it falling off into a ravine,” says Sgt Freelain. “I feel that on some level the entire criminal justice system failed Sheila.” He adds: “Her daughter of course failed her the most. Her child who she loved and raised and doted on and did everything she could to win her affection and approval betrayed her in a way no one could match.” Suitcase murder On 12 August 2014, Mack, then 18, and her then-boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, bludgeoned von Wiese-Mack to death with the metal handle of a fruit stand at the luxury 5-star St. Regis resort in Bali. They then stuffed her body into a suitcase, hailed a taxi and loaded it into the trunk of the car. When they were unable to check out of the luxury resort – using her mother’s credit card – the couple fled the scene, leaving the bloodstained suitcase behind. They were soon tracked down to a budget motel and arrested on suspicion of murder. At the time of the murder, Mack – the daughter of socialite von Wiese-Mack and famed musician James L Mack – was pregnant with Schaefer’s child. Prosecutors revealed that she had flown her lover out on a $12,000 business-class ticket just hours earlier charged to her mother’s credit card. Chilling text messages also showed how the couple likened themselves to the notorious duo Bonnie & Clyde and plotted methods of murder with the help of Schaefer’s cousin Ryan Bibbs. They were both convicted of premeditated murder in Indonesia and narrowly avoided facing the firing squad. Mack’s baby Stella was born in Bali prison and was allowed to stay with her there for the first two years of her life. She is now being raised by von Wiese-Mack’s niece in Colorado. Bibbs was also convicted of conspiracy to kill von Wiese-Mack and sentenced to nine years in prison. After Mack served seven years in an Indonesian jail, she was extradited to the US, where she was arrested on charges of conspiracy to murder in a foreign country in November 2021. Since then, she has been behind bars in Illinois awaiting trial. On Friday (16 June), she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to murder a US national under a plea agreement with prosecutors despite believing – by her own admission – that she has already done her time for her crime. It’s a horror case that has transfixed the nation for the past eight years and raised several questions due to the sheer brutality of von Wiese-Mack’s demise: How could a daughter have plotted her own mother’s death? How could she have then stuffed her own mother’s corpse in a suitcase? And why did she do it? But the bigger question – and one that has rarely been asked over the years – is could von Wiese-Mack’s murder have been prevented? History of violence In the years leading up to the murder, police records reveal that officers responded to a string of violent incidents committed by Mack against her mother at their home in Illinois. Oak Park Police records show at least 35 interactions with officers since 2008 including reports of Mack breaking her mother’s arm, biting her and punching her. The records also include reports of stealing credit cards and money – an apparent motive for the murder. While only Mack now knows when the violence first began, the first record of police being called to the home came in April 2008 for a report that the then-13-year-old had locked her mother in a room and threatened her. The next police report came in January 2010 when Mack allegedly punched her mother’s broken ankle. Sgt Freelain first met von Wiese-Mack in November of that year when she reported that her daughter had stolen her credit card and $1,060 cash. A detective specialising in youth and family issues at the time, he was assigned the case and says he met von Wiese-Mack in person and spoke with her on the phone several times. It was also the first time he met Mack, then aged 15. After interviewing her, Mack admitted that she stole her mother’s credit card but denied stealing the cash. “In that first meeting, I certainly saw how Sheila was torn in terms of what to do about Heather,” Sgt Freelain recalls. “She suspected and then knew that she had stolen from her but didn’t want to follow through on pressing charges against her daughter which is understandable but as things progressed that infliction would make things very difficult for us to be able to help Sheila. “In that first meeting it was clear something was wrong – in terms of both the financial side of things but also her daughter’s behaviour. “But it was the next time when I met Sheila in February 2011, that alarm bells really went off.” Sgt Freelain says that von Wiese-Mack turned up at the police department that night with her right arm broken and in a cast. In one violent incident that January, Mack had pushed her mother causing her to fall and break arm, according to a police report later filed. “Her body language – she looked so beaten back,” Sgt Freelain says of that day in February 2011. “In November, it was clear there was some kind of domestic dynamic that wasn’t good but Sheila hadn’t been forthright in elaborating about what was going on. “But that night I got her more comfortable talking and she opened up about the physical and verbal abuse. We established a good rapport that night that stayed over the next two-and-a-half years.” Von Wiese-Mack told him what had happened to her arm. “I told her ‘I’ve worked with families where the kids abuse the parents and it doesn’t fix itself’,” he says. “I told her about one case where a kid went on to murder their mother.” But when Sgt Freelain says he told von Wiese-Mack that they would have to arrest Mack and that she needed to press charges over the alleged attack, he says “reality hit” and she ran out of the police precinct. “She was so fearful of the idea of Heather being arrested,” he says. “I figured I would never see her again but she came back the next day to say she’d been attacked by Heather again. “An officer came and got me from the detective division and said a ‘woman is asking for you’. “I went out and it was Sheila Mack. She had been attacked and was crying and said ‘I’m sorry, I should have listened to you. Can you help me?’” He adds: “And that was the first day that I arrested Heather.” On 17 February 2011, Mack was arrested for the first time for domestic battery over the January attack on her mother that resulted in her broken arm. This marked a major step forward for von Wiese-Mack. Up until that point, Sgt Freelain says there was a pattern of her calling 911 to report Mack’s alleged attacks but then refusing to cooperate when police urged her to press charges. But it was a cycle von Wiese-Mack ultimately couldn’t get out of. Victim’s conflict “Her behaviour was completely consistent with other families I’ve worked with where kids have been abusive to the parents and in other broader situations of domestic or family abuse,” says Sgt Freelain. “It’s mirrored in what we see in intimate partner violence where the victim is very reluctant to speak out against their abuser. “Sheila’s conflict was ‘I don’t believe she wanted to break my arm, she was just mad at me.’ “It’s what we hear from so many victims of domestic violence.” Following Mack’s first arrest, von Wiese-Mack was given all the options for next steps and decided she did not want the case to go to court. But, by 14 April – less than two months later – Mack was arrested for a second time for biting her mother’s arm. Sgt Freelain was not the arresting officer in that case but, when he heard about it, he contacted von Wiese-Mack and urged her to seek court protection against her daughter. “The situation was escalating and I was trying to both keep Sheila safe and help Heather change her behaviour,” he says. “But Heather didn’t give things a chance and by the summer more and more reports were coming in about her behaviour.” Between that first arrest in February and the end of 2011, Oak Park Police records reveal no fewer than 10 separate interactions where police were called to the suburban home. The reports include incidents of biting her mother’s bicep, threatening her, running away and one where she is described as “out of control”. In early 2012, Mack was convicted of battery in juvenile court over the violence against her mother, according to Cook County juvenile records, obtained by The Chicago Tribune. Under the juvenile conviction, she was ordered to attend counselling, with a specific focus on anger management. Sgt Freelain says that the conviction initially caused von Wiese-Mack to distance herself from the help of police. “She went from thanking me for helping to navigate the chaos as Heather became more violent and aggressive to not speaking to me because Heather was detained,” he says. “You see it a lot in domestic abuse cases.” He adds: “We were going against Sheila’s hardwired desire to protect her own child. Heather was her only child – she was wired to keep her girl safe even though she was going to kill her.” As well as trying to protect von Wiese-Mack, authorities also tried to get Mack the help she needed to change her violent behaviour. Mack spent time at two separate facilities for juvenile offenders who suffer from mental health problems, receiving both inpatient and some outpatient treatment. As well as mental health services, Sgt Freelain connected the teenager with a female detective who specialised in connecting with at-risk girls who could act as her mentor. “My motivation was keeping Sheila safe but also saying what do we need to do for Heather to break this cycle,” he says. “It’s a duality we tried to balance.” Despite the efforts, the alleged domestic abuse continued. Throughout 2012, at least 15 police reports were made about Mack’s behaviour. ‘It wasn’t enough’ “Things then came to a head in January 2013,” says Sgt Freelain. As police records show, von Wiese-Mack confided in him for the first time that she feared her daughter was going to kill her. “When a victim says ‘I think this person is going to kill me, I believe them’,” he says. Sgt Freelain says he passed the information straight away to Mack’s probation officer who shared the same fears about the danger to von Wiese-Mack’s life. They tried to lay out a case that Mack had violated her court supervision and so should be jailed. But, von Wiese-Mack stopped cooperating again, he says, and so the case was dismissed in May 2013. The mother and daughter moved from Oak Park to Chicago, out of the jurisdiction of the police department. Fifteen months on from the case being dropped – and just over a year-and-a-half after von Wiese-Mack disclosed her fears for her life – her only daughter and her boyfriend beat her death. Sgt Freelain recalls the moment he heard about von Wiese-Mack’s murder. “I was driving my car and it came out on the local news radio… I had to pull the car over to the side of the road,” he says. “What Sheila said had happened. It was information overload. I started pounding the steering wheel and saying ‘no, no, no’ in the car. I couldn’t fathom that it had happened even though it was like watching a slow-moving train derailment.” Sgt Freelain says he also recognised the name of Mack’s accomplice Schaefer, having tried “to take him under my wing” while working as an officer at a school that he attended. For the retired detective, he is confident that he did everything he could under the law to try to save the 62-year-old. “In the police department, I felt we were very thorough in terms of documenting every interaction we had and trying to get Sheila to press charges,” he says. “I was the first person who arrested Heather and I arrested her four times in total. I worked to get her convicted and then tried to get her probation violated. “But it just shows it wasn’t enough.” Gaps in the law In the way was the lack of laws protecting parents from domestic violence at the hands of a child or teenager. In Illinois and many other states, there are laws protecting children from abuse by their parents and other adults. There are laws protecting elders from abuse. And there are also laws protecting adults from abuse by domestic partners and other adults in the home. But there are currently no laws in Illinois protecting parents from abuse from their minor children. What this meant was that, once von Wiese-Mack stopped cooperating and refused to press charges, authorities had no power to push ahead and take action against Mack. Sgt Freelain explains that if Mack had been 18 – and therefore an adult under the law – things would have been very different. As it was, Mack was just five months away from her 18th birthday when the case was dismissed. Sgt Freelain asks: “Why is Sheila any safer from a 17-and-a-half-year-old than from an 18-year-old?” “If Heather had been an adult, in Illinois there would have been all kinds of mandatory things that would have kicked in after even one attack,” he says. “She would have been put in jail overnight, there would be a list of restrictions, a mandatory appearance in domestic violence court, an almost guaranteed second court appearance and – even if Sheila stopped cooperating – we could have continued to prosecute Heather. “In other forms of domestic violence, we have things in place that even if the person tells the judge or prosecutors that they don’t want to cooperate, we can continue with the prosecution. But none of those things are in place for child to parent violence.” Because of the lack of laws recognising child to parent abuse, their hands were tied. Here was a case where the same laws that can be used to protect victims of abuse by their partner, child victims of abuse by their parents, victims of elder abuse, or abuse by any domestic adult within the home, could not protect a parent being abused by her child. The state of Illinois is far from alone with this issue. The very first law recognising child to parent abuse (CPA) also came into force in Florida six years ago. And von Wiese-Mack is also far from alone in her suffering. While CPA may be less common and rarely spoken about when compared to partner-to-partner violence or child abuse, it is still far too common. A 2018 study, which looked at 60 years of research, found that CPA exists in between 5 and 21 percent of families. Due to underreporting – perhaps in part due to a stigma on the issue – the true figures are actually expected to be higher. Von Wiese-Mack appears to have felt that stigma. Sgt Freelain recalls that she once attended a support group for domestic violence but, after finding herself the only person in the room being abused by their child, she never went back. While it’s impossible to know, Sgt Freelain believes that the system failed von Wiese-Mack and that her horrific and tragic death may well have been avoided. “I strongly believe that if the systems that are in place for adults who abuse women, if those laws and protocols had been in place for child and teenage abusers, then there would be a greater chance Sheila would not have been killed on August 12 2014,” he says. Logistically, he points out if the case hadn’t been dismissed by the court in May 2013 and Mack had been found in violation of the court order, she would have been sent to jail at 17 and turned 18 behind bars that October. Leaving jail as an adult, she would have then been on parole for any future domestic situations on her release. “It could have changed the dynamic,” he says. Need for change This is why the retired police officer is now pushing for a change in laws to recognise child to parent abuse and shore up the gaps in protections and available responses. He is also calling for more training for police and schools on CPA and improved access to mental health services to support young people like Mack. He is writing a book on the topic centred around this tragic case, with the blessing of von Wiese-Mack’s family. “There are gaps in the criminal justice system – do I feel it let Sheila and Heather down? Yes.” “Sheila lost her life and it’s had a catastrophic effect on people who cared about her and Heather. And it’s sad for Heather as well. I wanted the best for her too,” he says. “It’s a tragedy on all sides. “So I’m motivated by two things: to try to honour the memory of Sheila. We hear about her as someone shoved in a suitcase and about Bonnie and Clyde but what about the victim? She wasn’t perfect but she loved her daughter and wanted to give her the best life and no one deserves to be abused the way she was,” he says. “The second motive is to bring awareness of how this case is an extreme example of what can happen with child to parent abuse if we don’t bring about change in society. We have got to figure this out. “There’s not a day I don’t think about this case and about how families like Sheila and Heather need assistance. Where Sheila and I didn’t agree was because she accused me of pushing too hard and I kick myself now as I feel like I didn’t push hard enough.” This month von Wiese-Mack should be turning 75. Instead, her daughter has just pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill her and now faces up to 28 more years behind bars at her sentencing in December. The sad irony of Sheila’s case is that, were it not for the tragic ending, no one would ever have known the years of abuse she endured behind closed doors. “If it wasn’t for the suitcase, the world wouldn’t have known about this. The world knows because of the horror and because what they had to do to get her in there was unthinkable,” says Sgt Freelain. “But there’s more to it. It’s the unthinkable combination of years of unthinkable abuse.” Read More A body in a suitcase, Bonnie and Clyde fantasy and baby born in Bali prison: The chilling case of Heather Mack ‘Suitcase killer’ Heather Mack pleads guilty to conspiracy to murder – facing up to 28 years in US prison Heather Mack’s family reacts to ‘mastermind’ killer’s guilty plea for mother’s 2014 murder in Bali ‘Suitcase killer’ Heather Mack pleads guilty to conspiracy to murder – facing up to 28 years in US prison A body in a suitcase, Bonnie and Clyde fantasy and baby born in Bali prison: The chilling case of Heather Mack Heather Mack’s family reacts to ‘mastermind’ killer’s guilty plea for mother’s 2014 murder in Bali

Lashing out after his arraignment on federal charges last week, Donald Trump took aim at President Joe Biden and Democrats with language that seemed to evoke another era: He was being persecuted, he said, by “Marxists” and “communists.” Trump has used the labels since he first appeared on the political scene, but it lately has become an omnipresent attack line that also has been deployed by other Republicans. The rhetoric is both inaccurate and potentially dangerous because it attempts to demonize an entire party with a description that has long been associated with America's enemies. Experts who study political messaging say associating Democrats with Marxism only furthers the country's polarization — and is simply wrong: Biden has promoted capitalism and Democratic lawmakers are not pushing to reshape American democracy into a communist system. That hasn't mattered to Trump and other Republicans, who for years have used hyperbolic references to the associated political ideologies to spark fears about Democrats and the dangers they supposedly pose. Hours after pleading not guilty in federal court, Trump told a crowd of his supporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, that Biden, “together with a band of his closest thugs, misfits and Marxists, tried to destroy American democracy.” He added, “If the communists get away with this, it won’t stop with me.” He again hit on the Marxist theme days later during a telephone rally with Iowa voters. The comments came after numerous campaign emails and social posts in recent months in which Trump has claimed that Biden’s America could soon become a “third world Marxist regime” or a “tyrannical Marxist nation.” Other Republicans have piled on with similar messaging. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene last week took to Twitter to lambast what she called the “CORRUPT AND WEAPONIZED COMMUNISTS DEMOCRAT CONTROLLED DOJ.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump's closest rival for the GOP presidential nomination, has argued the U.S. risks falling victim to “woke” ideology, which he has defined in interviews as a form of “cultural Marxism.” Experts say there is a long history of U.S. politicians calling opponents Marxist or communist without evidence — perhaps most infamously the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who led efforts to blacklist accused communists in the 1950s. In a country that has historically positioned itself against Marxism, “red-baiting is as American as apple pie in political communications,” said Tanner Mirrlees, an associate professor at Ontario Tech University in Canada who has researched political discourse about “cultural Marxism.” The attacks are carefully constructed to hit voters emotionally, said Steve Israel, a former U.S. congressman from New York who studied political messaging as chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. “Democrats tend to message to the part of the brain that is about reason and empirical evidence,” he said. “Republicans message to the gut.” For some Hispanic Trump supporters who gathered outside the federal courthouse in Miami where the former president was arraigned, the charges evoked memories of political persecutions their family members had once escaped. “This is what they do in Latin America,” said Madelin Munilla, 67, who came to Miami as a child when her parents fled Fidel Castro's Cuba. She carried a poster with a photo of Biden alongside Castro, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega — leftist leaders whose jailing of opponents has driven immigration to south Florida for decades. Unlike the U.S., which has a tradition of respect for the rule of law and constitutional separation of powers, the judiciary in many parts of Latin America lacks the same independence. In a region where corruption flourishes, poorly paid prosecutors and judges are routinely caught doing the bidding of powerful politicians seeking to settle scores or derail criminal investigations. A surge in immigration from Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War also brought a population of staunchly anti-communist voters, some of whom have aligned with the Republican Party in part because of its forceful messaging on the issue. Yet opposing an actual regime that suppresses individual freedom and opposes a free market economy is different from the way many Republicans use these terms now —- to falsely claim Marxists are U.S. society's ruling class. “Bluntly, there is no empirical ground beneath the Republican claim that Marxists rule the big institutions of American society,” Mirrlees said. Other Republicans, from DeSantis to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, have used another term, “cultural Marxism,” to characterize fights for gender or racial equity that they argue are “woke” and threaten a traditional American way of life. Cruz used it in the title of his book. Though the term has become popular among mainstream Republicans, it has a darker past. Experts say the concept of “cultural Marxism” posing a threat was historically spread by antisemitic and white supremacist groups. For most voters who hear candidates say someone is communist or Marxist, the true meaning may matter less than the negative associations with the terms, said James Gardner, a University at Buffalo law professor who focuses on election law. “The tactic seems to be to pick an adjective that most people think describes something bad and try to associate it with the person you are denigrating,” he said. Still, while railing against communists and Marxists may be effective at animating voters who form the Republican base, it may not be an effective strategy in next year's general election, Israel said. That's because it doesn't as easily sway moderate and independent voters who don't see evidence that ties Democrats to those ideologies. “Moderate voters may succumb to the Republican argument that Democrats are for more spending, but they’re not going to fall for the argument that Democrats are Marxists,” Israel said. “The Republicans are overplaying their hand.” ____ Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Read More Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? 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A Fox News guest discussing last week’s “drag nuns” protest, the Trump prosecution and “the left” has suggested the time may be coming for someone in America to “pull the trigger” like at Concord, the battle which helped to spark the Revolutionary War. Retired MLB pitcher and conservative commentator Curt Schilling made the on-air comments Friday while in conversation with host Jesse Watters. Schilling complained that leaders on the right “talk, talk, that’s all they’re doing” without backing up ideology with action. “We’re up against a side and a force that doesn’t play by the rules – refuses to play by the rules,” Schilling said, adding of conservatives: “We get excited, and we get emotional; that’s it. They break the law; they do the things they need to do to ensure their agenda is driven forward – and we’re watching them gut our nation from the inside out, and I don’t know where the rubber’s gonna meet the road.” Referencing the American founding fathers and “the young men that signed the Constitution,” Schilling continued: “They sacrificed everything to come out from under a tyrannical government and, then, eventually, at some point, there was a man at Concord who decided he was gonna pull the trigger.” The Battles of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775 marked the start of America’s ultimately victorious War of Independence from Britain. “And I feel like we’re getting back to a point where somebody’s gonna have to pull a trigger, because everything we hold dear – everything this country was founded on – is being just dragged through the mud and mocked and made fun of,” he said. “This country was founded on godly principles – no matter how offensive that is to the left, it’s true.” When Watters asked whether his guest meant “pull the trigger” metaphorically, Schilling stumbled slightly over his words. “Absolutely. Well, no,” he said. “I mean, it doesn’t matter if I say ‘metaphorically,’ because they’re gonna run with that quote no matter how I put it. I could’ve phrased it in any possible way, saying ‘stand up and fight and blah blah blah’ – and I would be inciting a riot.” The backlash was swift on social media, where Schilling’s choice of words – despite the partial backtracking – was vilified as inciteful. The Intellectuast, @highbrow_nobrow, tweeted a clip of the interview on Saturday, writing: “This is a very clear dog whistle for stochastic terrorism” while deriding Fox as “dangerous propaganda.” “This is who MAGA are — they prefer violence over voting,” wrote Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell, tweeting a clip of the comments. “It’s not going to work. RT if you plan to vote next November.” Author Brian O’Sullivan called Schilling’s comments “undeniably dangerous” in a tweet, suggesting charges should result “If some right-wing nut ever took his call-to-arms to heart.” Schilling is no stranger to political controversy. The All-Star pitcher was fired by ESPN in 2016 after promoting social media content that appeared to mock the transgender community. He was an outspoken Trump supporter and has espoused the 45th President’s aversion to finesse, coming under fire more than once for posts and statements many deemed offensive. The Independent has reached out to Fox News Media. Schilling, one day after his Fox interview made headlines, attempted clarification again on Twitter. “Be the first to admit it was a bad choice of words but it was clarified immediately,” he wrote on Saturday. “As I said then and we’ve seen now, doesn’t matter. They’ll outright lie and make up s**t to the point where they can quote you and create a fictional quote then jate {sic) you for it or talk s**t. Or the best one is when these clowns do the ‘dog whistle’ BS OR ‘what he meant to say was’ schtick. “No matter, like I said, when you call them out as the American hating lazy ass frauds they are they scream and make s**t up. Their ENTIRE EXISTANCE (sic) is based on race, sexual orientation, unfettered access to abortion, legalizing drugs and emotions. Facts elude them and destroy everything they claim. Facts and an honest days (sic) work that is.” Read More Curt Shilling: Pro-Trump All-Star pitcher blasts ‘coward’ baseball writers after ninth Hall of Fame rejection Fox News host criticised for ‘disturbing’ claim about immigrants Fox News producer out after onscreen message calling President Biden a 'wannabe dictator' A nun commends Dodgers' handling of Pride Night controversy; some archbishops call it blasphemy Former drag queen George Santos launches random vulgar attack on ‘drag nuns’ Trump says ‘Long live the King’ in rant day after Biden said ‘God save the Queen’ Nikki Haley's husband begins Africa deployment as she campaigns for 2024 GOP nomination Fox News producer out after onscreen message calling President Biden a 'wannabe dictator'

Donald Trump’s former defence chief threw cold water on the assertion from his former boss and his allies that the classified records and other documents seized from the ex-president’s home and resort in an FBI raid were his to take. As the ex-president’s loyalists continue to offer a wide scope of defences for their leader ranging from arguments that Mr Trump was allowed to designate the materials as personal records for his own safekeeping to the idea that the prosecution is merely a politicised weaponisation of the Justice Department, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper has offered his own assessment on the situation. On Sunday, he joined CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper, and flatly stated that his ex-boss’s actions were “illegal and dangerous”. “People have described him as a hoarder when it comes to these type of documents. But, clearly, it was unauthorized, illegal and dangerous,” said Mr Esper. “If the allegations are true that it contained information about our nation’s security, about our vulnerabilities, about other items, it could be quite harmful to the nation. And, look, no one is above the law. And so I think this process needs to play out and people held to account, the president held to account,” he continued. It was a firm look at the facts of the investigation from a man who, under the same ex-president now facing roughly three dozen federal charges, had access to some of the nation’s most classified materials and had oversight over America’s armed services as well as the CIA. Mr Esper was one of a number of the former president’s top officials who did not make it through the end of the Trump presidency; in the secretary’s case, he was fired days after the 2020 election as an increasingly volatile then-President Trump ordered thousands of US troops out of an already rapidly-deteriorating Afghanistan — reportedly having wanted the effort to conclude even before the election. Others, like members of his press team and the head of the Department of Transportation, Elaine Chao, would resign following the attack on the US Capitol by thousands of Mr Trump’s supporters on January 6. The withdrawal agreement signed by the Trump administration has widely been cited as contributing to the swift end of Afghanistan’s democratic government at the hands of the Taliban, accelerating with the departure of military contractors under Joe Biden’s presidency in 2021. Mr Trump has pled not guilty to 37 charges related to his allegedly illegal retention of documents from the White House following the end of his presidency, includng classified materials. He separately faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York state. Read More Attorney General Garland keeps poker face as firestorm erupts after Trump charges Miami's Francis Suarez looks to become first sitting mayor to be president Nikki Haley's husband begins Africa deployment as she campaigns for 2024 GOP nomination South Carolina GOP sets Feb. 24 date for first-in-the-South presidential primary Voters think Trump is a criminal, Biden is too old and DeSantis is a fascist, new poll finds DeSantis quiet on Trump indictment as he faces conservatives in Trump country

A new poll out from JL Partners underscores major weaknesses for the three men most likely to be sworn in as president on 20 January 2025, with little good news to soften the blow. With the GOP primary now in full swing, Americans are getting a good look at the alternatives the Republican Party will present to the re-election of President Joe Biden, who was already the oldest president ever to take office when he did so in 2021. But the top contenders in the GOP, former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, each have debilitating labels to overcome if they have any shot of picking up ground with a general election audience, according to the survey. For Mr Trump, voters were most likely to describe him in one word as a “criminal”; others were even less flattering, such as “disgusting”, “liar”, “evil” and “dangerous” (though “patriot” also made a top-10 appearance). The Florida governor got off arguably worse. The top two responses from voters describing Mr DeSantis were “fascist” and “unsure”, the latter indicating possible unfamiliarity with his political record or a lack of name recognition. And while Mr Biden fares better than either of his would-be opponents, the incumbent president nevertheless remains chained to concerns about his age, which dominated the minds of the most voters asked for their one-word summation of him. Altogether, the poll results signaled that Americans are largely unsatisfied with the options they have for leadership over the next half decade. To be sure, those three men are not the only candidates running, but no other Republican is polling at a numerically significant level at present and Mr Biden’s party is highly unlikely to facilitate a primary challenge against an incumbent president. The poll, conducted on behalf of the Daily Mail, most likely outlines the kind of attacks that voters can expect to see in a general election scenario; concerns about Mr Biden’s age and supposed feebleness will be front and centre, as will discussion of Mr Trump’s multiple criminal investigations or Mr DeSantis’s record of support for hard-right conservative legislation in his home state of Florida should either of them be the GOP nominee. JL Partners’ survey included responses from 1,000 likely general election voters between 12-15 June. The margin of error was 3.1 per cent. Read More Attorney General Garland keeps poker face as firestorm erupts after Trump charges Miami's Francis Suarez looks to become first sitting mayor to be president Biden warns union members that Republicans are ‘coming for your jobs’ in 2024 campaign speech in Philadelphia Trump is incredibly guilty: that doesn’t mean he’ll get the prison time he deserves Trump says ‘Long live the King’ in rant about Fox a day after Biden said ‘God save the Queen’ DeSantis quiet on Trump indictment as he faces conservatives in Trump country

Former president Donald Trump began his weekend by lashing out against his long list of enemies, ranting on Truth Social about Biden family conspiracies, the federal indictment against him, and perceived disloyalty at Fox News. In a bizarre post, he compared himself to a “King” and a “Golden Goose.” Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, the former president’s chief rival in the 2024 election sharped his message. Joe Biden told a room full of union members Republicans were coming to take their jobs. “They are coming for your jobs. They are coming for your future. They are coming for the future we are building for your kids and grandkids,” Mr Biden told the crowd. Read More Trump declared ‘food for all’ in post-arrest stop at Miami cafe – but reportedly skipped bill Trump says ‘Long live the King’ in rant about Fox a day after Biden said ‘God save the Queen’ Donald Trump scores rare legal win as DA drops golf course tax probe Trump's promise of payback for prosecution follows years of attacking democratic traditions Is Donald Trump going to prison?

A lawsuit concerning a tragic 2019 plane crash in Florida risks derailing the campaign of a top Republican candidate and could determine who controls Congress. In February of that year, a seaplane with two passengers suddenly came crashing down into a home in Winter Haven, Florida. The crash killed one of the passengers, a flight instructor, and wounded 17-year-old Carmelle Ngalamulumes, who was pinned to a wall by the wreckage. The only person who came away relatively unscathed was Timothy Sheehy, an aerospace executive and former Navy SEAL, who was training to add a seaplane certification to his already lengthy list of flight credentials. Now, Mr Sheehy may run for office in Montana, where the GOP hopes it can help secure control of the US Senate. Right now, US Senator Jon Tester is the only elected Democrat statewide, and Democrats in the US Senate only hold a slim 51-49 majority nationwide. The Ngalamulumes family is suing the Montana businessman, seeking over $100,000 in damages and accusing him of negligent behaviour in the cockpit. A National Transportation Safety Board review of the crash found that Mr Sheehy and his flight instructor, 64-year-old pilot James Wagner, had discussed practising an engine failure, and conducted a thorough pre-flight review of the aircraft before taking off. Not long after taking off, and still flying at a low altitude of around 200 feet above the ground, the instructor reduced the throttle, leading the engine to fully stop producing power. "They identified the failed engine, the instructor took over the flight controls, and selected a forced landing site," the report found. Mr Sheehy was identified as the pilot of the flight, but the NTSB also noted “the instructor’s decision to conduct a simulated engine failure at low altitude” contributed to the crash,” according to The Daily Beast, which reported on the lawsuit. “During the descent, the flight crew’s engine restart procedures were unsuccessful and they determined that the airplane would not reach the selected forced landing site,” a preliminary NTSB report on the incident in April 2019 read. “The instructor then chose a lake to the airplane’s left as an alternate site. During the left descending turn, the airplane slowed, the left wing dropped and the airplane impacted a house, seriously injuring one of its occupants.” In his response to the lawsuit, the Montana businessman has identified the instructor as the commanding pilot, and factored the instructor’s decision making as a key cause of the crash. The Independent has contacted Mr Sheehy for comment. Read More AP News Digest 3:30 am Lawsuit pits young climate change activists against a fossil fuel-friendly state at trial Why did Fox News fire Tucker Carlson? Here are six theories LOCALIZE IT: 10 States sue to halt jump in premiums under flood insurance revamp Blinken seeks to warm up frosty US-China relations in high-stakes Beijing trip Netanyahu says he's opposed to any interim US-Iran deal on nuclear program

With mounting frustration due to an ailing economy, rising unemployment and looming deadly protests, Sierra Leoneans are heading to the polls on Saturday, June 24, to select their next president. Thirteen people are vying for the top job in the west African country. But experts say it's likely to be a two-horse race between incumbent President Julius Maada Bio — elected in 2018 and fighting for his second term — and Samura Kamara, the head of the All People's Congress Party, Sierra Leon's main opposition camp. The winner needs 55% of the vote to clinch victory in the first round or it goes into a runoff within two weeks. More than three million people are registered to vote in the coming week. This would mark the country's fifth presidential election since the end of a brutal 11-year civil war — more than two decades ago — which left tens of thousands dead and destroyed the country's economy. Sierra Leone had witnessed two peaceful transfers of power since, from the ruling party to the opposition party. Bio has been facing increasing criticism because of debilitating economic conditions. Nearly 60% of Sierra Leone’s population of more than seven million are facing poverty, with youth unemployment being one of the highest in West Africa. Multiple deadly anti-government protests rocked the country, with calls for Bio to step down. Fueled by a rise in cost of living, the latest one in August, left dozens dead, including security forces. As of April, Sierra Leone, which has one of the world's weakest currencies, saw inflation rise to more than 43% — from a high of more than 41% in March — and the exchange rate against the U.S. Dollar is under pressure, according to economic analysts. The election also comes during a surge of regional political upheaval, with deadly clashes between supporters of the opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, and police in Senegal as well as military coups in Burkina Faso and Mali. Thus, Sierra Leone having a peaceful vote is of greater importance, say analysts. “We’ve seen this democratic backsliding in the region. So if Sierra Leone's (presidential) election is free, fair and credible, it could be a bellwether for regional democracy,” said Jamie Hitchen, a political analyst focused on Sierra Leone and an honorary research fellow at the University of Birmingham. This week's vote is expected to be a tight race. It will be a reverse of the 2018 presidential elections when Bio — at the time representing the opposition party — faced Kamara from the then-ruling party, whom the former president had handpicked as his successor. Bio, at the time, narrowly beat Kamara in a runoff by a margin of less than 5%, mainly because of support in the southern and eastern districts. Kamara garnered support from the north and west regions. A former military head of state, Bio came to power promising to end rampant corruption. Analysts say that he had invested in improving education in the country and took steps to fight rampant corruption. The country ranked 110 on Transparency International's index in 2022, moving up from 129 when he took office. But the weak economy has drawn criticism, with Sierra Leoneans taking to the streets protesting widespread poverty. Bio coined his current presidential campaign, “The People's Manifesto 2023,” promising to “solidify gains” made during his tenure. “Despite the turbulent times globally, we have done the work in the past five years,” he said at his campaign launch in May, assuring his supporters of a “victory in the polls, with God on our side.” Bio's opponent, Kamara, a seasoned politician who served in various government positions including as foreign minister, is running while facing corruption charges, since 2021, of allegedly embezzling public funds from a renovation project in New York during his time as minister. His case is set to be heard in court by mid-July. He's hoping to catapult support by promising to fix the country’s economic woes. Regardless of who wins the election, economic growth is expected to remain slow, bogged down by sluggish global expansion and a rise in domestic inflation, said Rukmini Sanyal, an analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research and analysis division of the Economist Group. The new government will face the same macroeconomic challenges and so “the risk of social unrest” will continue over the near-term, Sanyal said. Public frustration over soaring inflation, widespread poverty and high unemployment rate "will play a key role in eroding away the incumbent (party's) popularity,” she said. Still, locals say prices have spiked so much, that another term of the current president isn't comforting. “We need someone who can manage the economy because clearly (the president) is unable to, and we are suffering,” said Alpha Kamara, a taxi driver in the capital, Freetown. Some people, however, say the ruling party has a proven track record and they are willing to give it more time. “I want to see more development, which is why I am going to vote for Bio," said Mohamed Lamin, a local, “he provided us with free education, built roads, a new airport and many other (projects).” Rights groups warn that economic troubles are compounding distrust in a population already skeptical of government institutions and that neither party has so far presented “a meaningful path forward.” “One of the biggest fears of (the population) is the fear of crisis. We live in a society where we have a huge level of distrust among ourselves,” said Abdul Fatoma, chief executive for Campaign For Human Rights Development International, a local advocacy group. “The opposition and the ruling party are not giving us a clear roadmap as to how we are going to revamp the economy," he said, "How are we going to build trust in investors (and) businesspeople?” But for many Sierra Leonians, once the votes are cast on June 24, what they'll be watching for is a president who can bring people together. “Within their first 100 days, (the winner) should try not to vilify their opponents, nor create a hostile environment where people start feeling left out,” said Thomas Moore Conteh, the executive director for the Citizens Advocacy Network, a local rights group. “What we expect is (a president who) unifies the country, and works on building a powerful economy." ———- Mednick reported from Dakar, Senegal Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide EU member Slovenia overwhelmingly defeats Moscow ally Belarus for a seat on the UN Security Council Blinken arrives in Beijing for first China visit by US’s top diplomat in five years Trump floats special counsel conspiracy as he claims Fox abandoned ‘King’ of Maga

President Joe Biden on Saturday called the Chinese spy balloon debacle “embarrassing” for the Asian superpower’s leaders – while highlighting his hopes for productive talks as Antony Blinken embarks upon the first high-profile diplomatic trip to Beijing since the 46th president took office. Speaking before boarding a plane to Pennsylvania on Saturday morning, President Biden told reporters that China “has some legitimate difficulties unrelated to the United States. “And I think one of the things that that balloon caused was not so much that it got shot down, but I don’t think the leadership knew where it was and knew what was in it and knew what was going on,” the President said. “I think it was more embarrassing than it was intentional. And so I’m hoping that, over the next several months, I’ll be meeting with [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping] again, and talking about legitimate differences we have – but also how ... to get along.” The already tense relations between the United States and China became further strained earlier this year when the US shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon flying over American soil. China persistently denied that the balloon, which was shot down in February over the Atlantic, had been used for spying. Presidents Biden and Xi agreed to Secretary Blinken’s trip at a meeting last year in Bali, but it was delayed by the balloon drama. Secretary Blinken will be the highest-level American official to visit China since President Biden took office and the first secretary of state to make the trip in five years. He is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sunday, top diplomat Wang Yi, and possibly Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, according to US officials. “Yet prospects for any significant breakthrough on the most vexing issues facing the planet’s two largest economies are slim, as already ties have grown increasingly fraught in recent years,” the Associated Press news agency reported. “Animosity and recriminations have steadily escalated over a series of disagreements that have implications for global security and stability.” Speaking to the AP before Mr Blinken’s departure, two US officials downplayed hopes for major progress and stressed that the trip was intended to restore a sense of calm and normalcy to high-level contacts. “We’re coming to Beijing with a realistic, confident approach and a sincere desire to manage our competition in the most responsible way possible,” said Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia and the Pacific. Kurt Campbell, the top Asia expert at the National Security Council, said “intense competition requires intense diplomacy if we’re going to manage tensions. That is the only way to clear up misperceptions, to signal, to communicate, and to work together where and when our interests align.” Read More Blinken set for high-stakes China visit with tensions rising and breakthrough prospects low China calls hacking report 'far-fetched' and accuses the US of targeting the cybersecurity industry Chinese premier meets with Palestinian president in effort to increase Middle East presence Blinken heads to China this weekend on mission to salvage sinking ties and keep communications open Beijing criticizes new US sanctions on companies over pilot training, weapons development

Joe Biden got his 2024 presidential re-election campaign underway in Philadelphia on Saturday by continuing to pitch voters on his pro-labour bonafides. The Democrat told an audience of union members at the Philadelphia Convention Center he would keep trying to boost the working and middle class with “Bidenomics,” which he framed as opposed to the ideas of Republicans, who recently unveiled a series of tax proposals that would funnel benefits overwhelmingly to the wealthiest Americans. “They are coming for your jobs. They are coming for your future. They are coming for the future we are building for your kids and grandkids,” Mr Biden told the crowd. “And when they come as they did this past week with the trickle down economics plan, cut taxes for the rich, who do you think they are carrying the water for?...Who do you think is going to start carrying the burden? You are. Working people in this country.” According to an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, under the recent tax proposals from the GOP, the richest fifth of Americans would receive $60.8bn in benefits next year, while the poorest would receive nearly 60 times less. During the event, Mr Biden cited initiatives like the bipartisan $50bn semiconductor manufacturing investment bill signed last summer, as evidence of his attempts to back American workers. This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information. Read More Trump says ‘Long live the King’ in rant day after Biden said ‘God save the Queen’ Nikki Haley's husband begins Africa deployment as she campaigns for 2024 GOP nomination Biden seeing collapsed stretch of Interstate 95 from the air over Philadelphia

Donald Trump and Joe Biden made strange royal references this weekend. In a rant on his Truth Social page on Saturday, Mr Trump referred to himself as “The King” in an extended, somewhat inscrutable metaphor about the relationship between him and Fox News. “Well, it’s happened, just as I predicted,” Mr Trump wrote. “The Golden Goose that was so beautiful is being slaughtered by Fools. MAGA has left Fox for more promising “prairies.” Long live the King. The only solution for Fox News is to bring back Trump Allies and MAGA—Backing No Personality Ron DeSanctimonious has been a disaster….” Mr Trump has been fuming at the conservative news network for years, after Fox was early in (correctly) calling the key battleground state of Arizona for Joe Biden during the 2020 election. Things only escalated during the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against the network, in which embarrassing internal communications showed top Fox anchors and leadership questioning or outright mocking Donald Trump and his election-related conspiracies. “Why is Rupert Murdoch throwing his anchors under the table, which also happens to be killing his case and infuriating his viewers, who will again be leaving in droves - they already are,” the former president said on Truth Social. “There is MASSIVE evidence of voter fraud & irregularities in the 2020 Presidential Election. Just look at the documentary ‘2000 MULES’ and you will see large scale ballot stuffing caught on government cameras, or votes cast without Legislatures approval, or just recently, the FBI/Twitter Files Scandal. RIGGED!!!” Mr Trump wasn’t the only one with a monarchy moment in recent days. On Friday, speaking before the National Safer Communities Summit in Connecticut, Mr Biden ended a speech about gun violence with the phrase, “God Save The Queen.” Mr Biden, who often speaks of his pride in having Irish-American heritage, is usually more known for making headlines by being slightly sceptical of the British monarchy. Last month, during a fundraising event in New York, the president said he visited Northern Ireland for the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in April to make sure “the Brits didn’t screw around.” Read More Nikki Haley's husband begins Africa deployment as she campaigns for 2024 GOP nomination Trump can’t bully his way out of his latest legal woes – he’s just too stubborn to know when he’s beaten Watch live: Joe Biden kicks of re-election campaign in Pennsylvania with union rally