Attorney General Merrick Garland is set to come face-to-face with his most ardent critics as House Republicans prepare to use a routine oversight hearing to interrogate him about what they claim is the “weaponization” of the Justice Department under President Joe Biden

The White House issued a stark warning Wednesday that a looming government shutdown could threaten crucial federal programs, blasting "extreme House Republicans" as lawmakers struggle to reach consensus on a funding plan.

Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to forcefully rebuke congressional Republicans who have accused the Justice Department of political bias, according to excerpts of his prepared testimony to be delivered at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.

Explosions rocked parts of Nagorno-Karabakh early Wednesday, a day after Azerbaijani forces launched heavy artillery fire on Armenian positions in the separatist region that local officials said killed or wounded scores of people

'We treated this as a missing persons case, but the day after it happened we were pretty sure it was a hoax', Sheriff Greg Champagne said

A Moscow court has shot down an appeal by Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich challenging a decision to extend his pre-trial detention. Gershkovich, 31, was arrested almost six months ago in Russia on spying charges. Russian officials accused him of collecting state secrets about the military. He – along with the Wall Street Journal and the US government – denies these allegations. The decision to extend his pre-trial detention had been made in August. Last week, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Gershkovich’s family called for his immediate release from Moscow’s Lefortovo prison. The Moscow city court on Tuesday upheld its initial ruling. A judge in Lefortovo Court in Moscow extended the journalist’s pre-trial detention until 30 November. The hearing was held behind closed doors. The WSJ journalist will remain in jail until then, reported Russia’s Tass news agency. “The Moscow City Court considered the lawyers’ complaint in a closed court session and decided to remove the material regarding E Gershkovich from appeal consideration, and send the material to the Lefortovo District Court of Moscow to eliminate the circumstances impeding the consideration of the criminal case in the appellate court,” the court said in a statement. It remains unclear why the court refused to consider Gershkovich’s appeal. The case is expected to be returned to a lower court. The 31-year-old American citizen had been granted accreditation by Russia’s foreign ministry to work there as a journalist. He was arrested by agents of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor agency to the KGB, during a reporting assignment in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on 29 March this year. This is the first instance of a Western journalist being arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the end of the Cold War. If Gershkovich gets convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison. According to Russian law, people found guilty of espionage can potentially receive a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. US envoy to Russia Lynne Tracy, who was present in the courtroom on Tuesday, told the media: “The US position remains unwavering. The charges against Evan are baseless. The Russian government locked Evan up for simply doing his job. Journalism is not a crime.” “Evan is fully aware of the gravity of his situation, yet he remains remarkably strong,” she said. To mark Gershkovich’s 100 days in jail since July this year, the White House press secretary said: “The world knows that the charges against Evan are baseless – he was arrested in Russia during the course of simply doing his job as a journalist, and he is being held by Russia for leverage because he is an American.” After visiting the journalist in prison, Ms Thomas-Greenfield said: “No family should have to watch their loved one being used as a political pawn. And that’s exactly what President [Vladimir] Putin is doing. Russia’s actions are beyond cruel, and they are a violation of international law.” US president Joe Biden said in July that he was “serious on a prisoner exchange”. “And I’m serious about doing all we can to free Americans being illegally held in Russia, or anywhere else for that matter, and that process is underway,” he said. “President [Joe] Biden spoke to us and gave us a promise to do whatever it takes” to bring Gershkovich home, his parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, said in a July interview with ABC News. “He told us he understands our pain,” said Ms Milman, the mother of the WSJ journalist. In a letter earlier this month to the UN’s working group on arbitrary detention, lawyers for the WSJ’s publisher accused Mr Putin of using Gershkovich as a pawn and of “holding him hostage.” The lawyers argue that Mr Putin wants to use Gershkovich “to gain leverage over – and extract a ransom from – the United States, just as he has done with other American citizens whom he has wrongfully detained”. The letter said Gershkovich’s ongoing detention “is a flagrant violation of many of his fundamental human rights”. In June this year, nearly three dozen US senators wrote a letter to Gershkovich expressing their “profound anger and concern” over his detention in the Russian prison. The letter said a “free press is crucial to the foundation and support of human rights everywhere” and that every day he spends in a Russian prison “is a day too long”. “We applaud you for your efforts to report the truth about Russia’s reprehensible invasion of Ukraine, a conflict that has resulted in untellable atrocities, tragedies, and loss of life,” the letter read. It said the senators “understand the enormous burden you may feel as the Russian government uses you as a political tool”. Read More U.S. ambassador to Russia visits jailed WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich Father of imprisoned reporter Evan Gershkovich calls on world leaders to urge Russia to free him A new Iran deal shows the Biden administration is willing to pay a big price to free Americans The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

The second son of Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn made a surprise visit to a New York exhibition featuring the stories of people who have been prosecuted under the country's harsh royal defamation laws, signaling a willingness to talk openly about the taboo topic.

A Republican effort to shift control of the North Carolina State Board of Elections from the governor to legislative party leaders is closing in on final General Assembly approval

The crash of an F-35B Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in South Carolina over the weekend has raised numerous questions about what prompted the pilot to eject after experiencing a malfunction and how the $100 million warplane was able to keep flying pilotless for 60 miles before crashing

At the onset of his unprecedented third term, Xi Jinping stacked China's top ranks with a slate of loyalists who he presumably hoped would smooth the paths to achieve his grand vision for China.

The prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case can be tried over a separate string of alleged sex offences in Portugal, a German court has ruled. The decision overrules the northern city of Braunschweig’s state court’s prior ruling that it did not have the jurisdiction, because suspect Christian Brueckner did not live there. The court had argued its supposed responsibility for the case had been based on the suspect’s last residence before he went abroad and subsequently to prison. However, further evidence of a later residence in the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhalt, where Brueckner was registered as the owner of a property that he kept after going abroad, means it can hear the case. In October 2022, prosecutors charged the 45-year-old – who is currently serving a seven-year sentence for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005 - in several separate cases involving sexual offences allegedly committed there between 2000 and 2017. Brueckner hasn’t been charged in the McCann case, but he remains under investigation for murder. He has denied any involvement in her disappearance but is believed to have lived in Portugal between 1995 and 2007. He was first named in connection with the unsolved mystery in summer 2020, and officially named as a suspect last year. His yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan was reportedly identified as having been near to the Praia da Luz resort where Madeleine went missing. German prosecutors say telecomms data shows Brueckner received a phone call on 3 May 2007 – the day that Madeleine went missing - near the Praia da Luz holiday apartment. But he reportedly claims to have been miles from the scene with a young German woman. In April 2022, he was jailed for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in the same resort. In total, it is believed he has 17 convictions including burglary, and he has also been linked to other disappearances of children. Read More Madeleine McCann prime suspect case ‘on verge of collapsing’ Detectives searching for Madeleine McCann give update after scouring reservoir Madeleine McCann case: Timeline of the missing child’s disappearance How much has the Madeleine McCann investigation cost? Who is Christian Brueckner? Madeleine McCann suspect and the accusations against him Madeleine McCann suspect ‘said she didn’t scream’ when kidnapped, friend claims in explosive interview

Deshaun Watson doesn't look like a franchise quarterback right now