By Karl Plume A merger of U.S. grains merchant Bunge Ltd with rival Viterra would grow the combined

Donald Trump’s lawyer on Sunday previewed a legal defence his client may make in court when his upcoming trial for his actions leading up to January 6 begins next year. Appearing on all the major networks, John Lauro fielded questions from journalists about the idea that Mr Trump was acting illegally when he approached then-Vice President Mike Pence with his plan for Mr Pence to halt or reverse the Senate’s certification of the 2020 election, allowing slates of false electors to be named to replace those set to vote for Joe Biden. Mr Lauro told journalists on NBC that Mr Trump had not directed his vice president to use his power as president of the Senate to interfere with the chamber’s process — instead, he characterised it as an “aspirational” request by the president. “Asking is aspirational. Asking is not action. It’s core free speech,” argued Mr Lauro on CNN. He went on to argue that Mr Pence’s refusal to comply with the request or demand was evidence itself that it had been the former. “I’m not saying that [the January 6 riot] was in any way appropriate, but the ultimate power of the presidency was transferred to Mr Biden,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash. It was the exact same language he used to describe Mr Trump’s overtures to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who was revealed to have been pressured by the president to intercede in that state after Joe Biden was declared the lawful victor. On a now-famous phone call, Mr Trump suggested that Mr Raffensperger would be able to “find” more than 10,000 votes for him that would push him past Mr Biden’s total in the state. "That wasn't a threat at all,” Mr Lauro claimed on NBC. “He was asking for [him] to get the truth...That was an aspirational ask." He would go on to claim that asking Mr Pence to commit an act that violated the US Constitution was not inherently a crime. However, some crimes simultaneously represent violations of one’s constitutional rights, and in the case of Mr Trump this argument could falls flat given that the government will argue that an obstruction of the Senate’s ability to certify the election essentially represented a violation of every American’s right to be represented by the lawfully-elected president. Mr Lauro’s whirlwind Sunday media tour comes as he and the Trump legal team are set to respond to a new filing by the Justice Department seeking to limit what Donald Trump can say publicly about his ongoing prosecution. The federal government has argued that Mr Trump’s recent comments on Truth Social vowing vengeance against those involved with the investigation will have a chilling effect on witnesses; the ex-president is already charged with witness tampering among the dozens of counts he faces. Read More Inside the courtroom, it was clear this indictment is different for Donald Trump Pence and Trump lawyer share opposite stories of what ex-president said ahead of January 6 Trump insists he isn’t a ‘scared puppy’ in defiant attack on Nancy Pelosi Pence and Trump lawyer share opposite stories of what Trump said ahead of January 6 Pence skirts crucial questions about Trump’s election indictment Inside the courtroom, it was clear this indictment is different for Donald Trump

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The EU has launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s X – formerly known as Twitter — over its alleged spreading of disinformation, “in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech” over the recent Hamas attack on Israel. It will be the first inquiry conducted in relation to the European Union’s recently implemented tech regulations and will also scrutinise the procedures at X for managing complaints. Earlier, X announced that it removed numerous accounts associated with Hamas from its platform. In a statement on Thursday, the EU said that “the European Commission services sent to X a formal request for information under the Digital Services Act (DSA)”. “This request follows indications received by the Commission services of the alleged spreading of illegal content and disinformation, in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech. The request addresses compliance with other provisions of the DSA as well.” The EU’s industry chief Thierry Breton clashed online with Mr Musk after telling him in a letter that “violent and terrorist content” had not been taken down from X despite warnings. Mr Breton refrained from giving more specific details about the disinformation mentioned in the letter. However, he noted that instances of “fake and manipulated images and facts” were widely documented on the social media platform. Mr Musk hit back on X saying: “Our policy is that everything is open and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports. Please list the violations you allude to on X, so that the public can see them.” TikTok and Meta have also received warnings from the European Union for their alleged failures in addressing disinformation on their social media platforms. The EU is requesting that X provide information related to its investigation by 18 October. Mr Breton had initially written that Mr Musk should respond within 24 hours. Mr Breton also reminded Mr Musk that the DSA “sets very precise obligations regarding content moderation,” and that X needs “to be very transparent and clear on what content is permitted under your terms and consistently and diligently enforce your own policies”. He added that he expects X “to be in contact with the relevant law enforcement authorities and Europol, and ensure that you respond promptly to their requests”. “I remind you that following the opening of a potential investigation and a finding of non-compliance, penalties can be imposed,” Mr Breton wrote. Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, announced on Thursday that the platform had taken action to remove hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts and had also initiated steps to either remove or label tens of thousands of pieces of content since the attack that occurred on Saturday. Read More Israel-Hamas war live: UN alarmed by north Gaza evacuation order as IDF ‘fires white phosphorus on Strip’ Hamas’s hostages: What to know about Israelis abducted by the militant group France has banned pro-Palestinian protests and vowed to protect Jews from resurgent antisemitism EU asks Elon Musk to ‘walk the talk’ on X/Twitter disinformation over Hamas attack Viral WhatsApp warning of cyberattack targeting Jewish people is fake Microsoft revised deal to buy Call of Duty maker Activision cleared by watchdog

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There will be a new face to lead the Alabama football team under center this upcoming season.While Alabama football fans don't believe the dynasty is dead, they are now coming up on three years without a national championship victory.To be fair, Alabama will once again be on the shortli...