IN DEEPER: A key player now in the legal troubles of Donald Trump is his Mar-a-Lago property manager, 56-year-old Carlos De Oliveira, who was added this week to the indictment of the former president regarding his possession and handling of secret documents.

  De Oliveira is accused of working with Trump to hide documents being sought by the National Archives, an action that indicates knowledge of guilt, further compounding the seriousness of Trump’s situation.

  Security footage from Mar-a-Lago shows De Oliveira and Trump’s body man, Walt Nauta, moving boxes in a storage room at a time when materials were being sought for return. Then, according to the superseding indictment unsealed Thursday, De Oliveira told another employee “the boss” wanted the video on the security server deleted.

  Prosecutors gave De Oliveira an opportunity in April to come clean about it all, essentially offering to have him become a witness against Trump. He didn’t and he was indicted. Now it’s a question of whether he will bear up under prosecution or give up. 

THE WAR ROOM: Ukraine appears to be trying to bring the war home to Russia. Moscow says it shot down a drone in Taganrog, about 30 miles east of the Ukrainian border. Nine people were reported injured.

  Drones have previously been aimed at Moscow.

  Grinding along on the ground, Ukraine is pressing to get its artillery within range of supply lines in occupied areas. “The main task we face now, in addition to moving forward, is, of course, to weaken the enemy’s ability to defend itself,” Hanna Malyar, the deputy minister of defense, said on Ukrainian national television. 

  To get there, the Ukrainians are slogging through trench lines and minefields while facing Russian artillery and machine guns. The Russians installed lines of the concrete obstacles known as “dragons’ teeth.” But the Ukrainians are creeping forward to bring to bear the US-made HIMARS truck mounted, satellite-guided rocket systems that would bring havoc behind the Russian lines.

POINT OF A GUN: A general in the army of Niger who led a coup toppling the country’s democratic government has asked for national and international support for his new unelected regime. The soldiers who staged the mutiny have already lined up behind him. 

  Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani displaced President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected two years ago in Niger’s first peaceful transfer of power since independence from France in 1960.

  Niger has been a partner for the West in efforts to battle jihadists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State. The fear now is that Russia will inject its influence into Niger to get its hands on the country’s uranium deposits. If the US designates the takeover as a coup, Niger could lose millions of dollars of military aid and assistance.

THE OBIT PAGE: Hugh Carter Jr., who helped run the presidential campaign of his cousin Jimmy Carter, then became an aide in charge of pinching pennies in the White House budget, died on Sunday at home in Tampa, Florida. He was 80.

  Hugh Carter organized The Peanut Brigade, a group of Georgians who campaigned for Cousin Jimmy to introduce the relatively unknown presidential candidate to the nation. His efforts, in part, led to Jimmy Carter winning the Democratic nomination and ultimately the presidency. 

THE SPIN RACK: Singapore, which is unforgiving about drug dealing, has executed its first woman in nearly 20 years for drug trafficking. Saridewi Binte Djamani, 45, was hanged for her conviction of possessing “not less than 30.72” grams of heroin. The death penalty kicks in at just 15 grams and Singapore has hanged 15 people for drug offenses since March 2022. — The 75th Emmy Awards ceremony, scheduled to air on Fox on Sept. 18th, has been postponed because of the Hollywood writers and actors strikes. — The Infamous “Preppy Killer” Robert Chambers, who strangled a teenage girl in New York’s Central Park back in 1986, was paroled from prison this week after serving 15 years in a separate drugs and assault case. Chambers, now 56, had previously served 15 years for killing 18-year-old Jennifer Levin. — It’s so hot in the Phoenix area that saguaro cactuses are collapsing.

BELOW THE FOLD: In an effort to crack down on waste, New York City is banning the inclusion of “utensils, condiment packets, napkins, or extra containers” in takeout orders unless customers ask for them.

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