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Comey seeks to toss seashell ’86’ case, accusing Trump, DOJ of vindictive prosecution
Former FBI director James Comey has asked a federal judge to dismiss charges alleging that an Instagram post showing seashells arranged as “86 47” threatened President Trump. His lawyers argue that the case is a selective and vindictive prosecution driven by Comey’s criticism of Trump, and that it impermissibly targets protected political speech. The filing…
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Andy Burnham refuses to commit to raising UK defence spending by 2030
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declined to commit to raising UK defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030, a target his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer’s government had also failed to firmly guarantee. Speaking at a press conference in North London, Burnham instead pointed to the later Nato-wide target of 3.5 per cent…
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Fauci cites Fifth Amendment during Senate COVID origins hearing
Dr Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer questions at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing into the origins of COVID-19 and his pandemic-era conduct. The confrontation, led by Republican chairman Rand Paul, renewed a long-running political dispute over whether the virus came from a laboratory and whether US-funded research in China…
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Beshear challenges Jennings, CNN to call McConnell live on air: ‘Put all the speculation to rest’
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear challenged CNN commentator Scott Jennings to telephone Senator Mitch McConnell live on air, arguing that doing so would end public speculation about McConnell’s health and political future. The exchange highlights continuing concern over the veteran senator’s fitness for office and the wider uncertainty around his role in Republican politics. McConnell, then…
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Trump, DOJ appeal E. Jean Carroll defamation suit verdict to Supreme Court
The article’s text is unavailable because the page is blocked, so I cannot reliably summarise its contents without risking inaccuracies. The headline indicates that Donald Trump and the US Department of Justice are appealing an E. Jean Carroll defamation verdict to the Supreme Court. The dispute concerns Carroll’s claim that Trump defamed her when denying…
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Lib Dem MP calls for investigation into Reform deputy leader’s £80,000 loan
A Liberal Democrat MP has referred Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, to parliament’s standards watchdog over an undeclared loan of nearly £80,000 from George Cottrell, an aide to Nigel Farage. The move raises the possibility of a fresh inquiry into a Reform UK MP by the same commissioner whose separate investigation into Farage, over…
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The Gavel: An attempt to take down super PACs
Maine is defending a voter-approved law that would cap donations to super PACs, as the case reaches the First Circuit Court of Appeals. The challenge matters because a ruling for the state could reopen the legal basis for unlimited political donations and potentially lead to Supreme Court review. Nearly 75 per cent of Maine voters…
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Congress can’t seem to figure out that sports gambling is just sports gambling
Both the direct fetch and the article text you pasted returned an access-denied/JavaScript-required page rather than the actual article content — I can’t reach the real article through the available tools. I’m unable to produce a summary because The Hill’s site is blocking automated access (403 Forbidden / JavaScript-required wall), and no usable article text…
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“I feel like shooting people!” In the run-up to 1988’s US presidential election, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck had some outrageously dark and violent thoughts
Ahead of the 1988 US presidential election, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck revealed in an interview that he had been gripped by outrageously dark and violent thoughts about the prospect of a Republican victory. He described feeling murderous impulses, including saying “I feel like shooting people”, reflecting the despair many liberal-leaning Americans felt as polling day…
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New UK leader Burnham vows to fix a ‘broken’ social care system
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to fix England’s “broken” social care system, describing decades of political failure to provide affordable, decent care as a “major dereliction of duty.” Speaking at a London care home, Burnham said the system was as unfair as American healthcare, with vulnerable people bearing the brunt of costs, and…