Jury in Trump’s hush money case will begin deliberations after hearing instructions from the judge
NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors in Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial are expected to begin deliberations after receiving instructions from the judge on the law and the factors they may consider as they strive to reach a verdict in the first criminal case against a former American president. The deliberations Wednesday will follow a marathon day of closing arguments in which a prosecutor accused Trump of trying to “hoodwink” voters in the 2016 presidential election by participating in a hush money scheme meant to stifle stories he feared would harm his Republican campaign. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The ex-president has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
Rallies and debates used to define campaigns. Now they’re about juries and trials
NEW YORK (AP) — Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has been sitting for hours a day in a Manhattan courtroom, where his hush money trial is nearing its end. President Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s own criminal trial is set to start Monday in Delaware. While presidents have been deposed in criminal matters, impeached and pardoned and their family members have been entangled in legal scrapes before, never has the criminal courtroom taken center stage in a presidential election like this. The two cases are in no way related. But politically there is some obvious overlap.
A senior Israeli official offers a grim prediction for the war as fighting rages in Gaza’s Rafah
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A top Israeli official is giving a grim prediction for the war with Hamas and says it’s likely to last through the end of the year. Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi’s remarks on Wednesday to Kan public radio were made as Israel was expanding its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Palestinians say heavy fighting is underway in different parts of Rafah. Israel appears to be broadening its incursion into the southern Gaza city that has already caused over 1 million people to flee. Residents said there was heavy fighting in the city center and the outskirts of a northern neighborhood.
Netanyahu frequently makes claims of antisemitism. Critics say he’s deflecting from his own problems
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly accused critics of Israel or his policies of antisemitism. But his detractors say he is overusing the label to push his political agenda and try to quash even legitimate criticism, and that doing so risks diluting the term’s meaning at a time when antisemitism is surging worldwide. Among other things, he has called the U.S. college campus protests and the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court antisemitic. Netanyahu’s supporters say he is genuinely concerned for the safety of Jews around the world. However, he has repeatedly sidestepped accountability for not preventing Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Biden, Harris to launch Black voter outreach effort amid signs of diminished support
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris head to the battleground state of Pennsylvania as they step up their reelection pitch to Black voters. They’ll launch a new summerlong Black voter outreach effort with a visit on Wednesday to Girard College, an independent boarding school in Philadelphia with a predominantly Black student body. They will also stop by a small business to visit with members of the Black Chamber of Commerce. The push comes at a moment when Biden has seen his solid support among Black voters show signs of erosion. Among Black adults, Biden’s approval has dropped from 94% when he started his term to just 55%, according to an AP-NORC poll published in March.
A woman will likely be Mexico’s next president. But in some Indigenous villages, men hold the power
PLAN DE AYALA, Mexico (AP) — Seventy years ago, Mexican women won the right to vote, and today the country’s on the verge of electing its first woman president. Yet some of the Indigenous women who will vote in Sunday’s national election don’t have a voice in their own communities. Some communities of Tojolabal people in the southern state of Chiapas don’t allow women to participate in local government. It’s one example of the marginalization Indigenous women continue to face. In certain places, such as Plan de Ayala in Las Margaritas, some Indigenous women are pushing for change little by little with help from younger generations. They say they’re seeing progress, for example in workshops where young men and women discuss equality.
South Africans vote in a pivotal election as president says he has no doubt his ANC party will win
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africans are voting in an election seen as their country’s most important in 30 years, and one that could put their young democracy in unknown territory. At stake Wednesday is the three-decade dominance of the African National Congress party. It led South Africa out of apartheid’s brutal white minority rule in 1994 but is now the target of a new generation of discontent in a country of 62 million people. After winning six successive national elections, several polls have the ANC’s support at less than 50% ahead of this one. It might lose its majority in Parliament for the first time. Final results are expected by Sunday.
Weather-weary Texas battered again as powerful storm, strong winds kill 1, cause widespread damage
HOUSTON (AP) — Weather-weary Texas has been hammered again by powerful storms bearing forceful winds that left one person dead, collapsed homes under construction and uprooted trees. In Dallas, the city has opened respite centers where people can get shelter and air conditioning. The high winds were blamed for the collapse of a house under construction Tuesday in the Houston suburb of Magnolia. A 16-year-old construction worker was killed. The storms were a continuation of deadly storms over the Memorial Day weekend, when 24 people were killed in seven states. The potential for heavy rains, localized flash flooding and severe weather continues Wednesday through Oklahoma and Texas.
ConocoPhillips buying Marathon Oil for $17.1 billion in all-stock deal as energy prices rise
ConocoPhillips is buying Marathon Oil in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $17.1 billion as energy prices soar and big oil companies reap massive profits. The deal announced Wednesday is valued at $22.5 billion when including $5.4 billion in debt. Marathon Oil shareholders will receive 0.2550 shares of ConocoPhillips common stock for each share of Marathon Oil common stock that they own. ConocoPhillips said Wednesday that the transaction will add highly desired acreage to its existing U.S. onshore portfolio.
What you will and won’t see from June’s planetary parade
DALLAS (AP) — Six planets will line up in the early morning sky on June 3, but most won’t be visible to the naked eye. A planetary parade happens relatively often when several planets align on the right side of the sun, making them visible across a narrow band of our sky. During the latest parade, astronomers say only Mars and Saturn will be visible to the naked eye. The other planets can only be spotted with a telescope or will be blocked out below the horizon. You can still catch a glimpse of Mars and Saturn through the end of summer.
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