Special counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate allegations of Russia's interference in the 2016 elections, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter.
It is believed the jury has issued subpoenas over the June 2016 meeting between President Donald Trump's son and a Russian lawyer.
US President Trump has poured refuted on any suggestion his team colluded with the Kremlin to beat Hillary Clinton.
The move is a sign that the the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election is gaining speed.
The newspaper reported that the grand jury, which began its work in recent weeks, signals that the inquiry will likely last for months.
Ty Cobb, special counsel to the president, said “he wasn’t aware that Mr. Mueller had started using a new grand jury.”
“Grand jury matters are typically secret, the White House favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly.…The White House is committed to fully cooperating with Mr. Mueller” he said.
The appointment of a Grand Jury would allow prosecutors to subpoena documents, put witnesses under oath and seek indictments, if there is evidence of a crime, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In the US legal system, grand juries are set up to consider whether evidence in any case is strong enough for indictments to be issued for a criminal trial. They do not decide the innocence or guilt of a potential defendant.
“This is yet a further sign that there is a long-term, large-scale series of prosecutions being contemplated and being pursued by the special counsel,” said Stephen I. Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas told the Wall Street Journal.
The paper also said that Greg Andres, a top partner in a powerhouse New York law firm, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, has joined Mr. Mueller’s team.
This comes as Congress moved this week to protect Mr. Mueller’s position and independence.
The news of a grand jury comes up as the US President prepares to take a 17-day-vacation to New Jersey later this week.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 1
Kane (50')
Newcastle United 0
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')
Sevilla 0
Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter