Judge rereads jury instructions in Trump hush money trial as deliberations set to resume
NEW YORK (AP) — The jury in former President Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial will soon resume deliberations after asking to rehear potentially crucial testimony about the alleged scheme at the heart of the history-making case. The 12-person jury met for 4 1/2 hours of deliberations Wednesday without reaching a verdict and will return Thursday. The jury asked to rehear testimony from a tabloid publisher and Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer. The jurors also requested to revisit at least part of the judge’s instructions to them. Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records at his company. The presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee denies any wrongdoing.
The Latest | 2 soldiers are killed in a West Bank car-ramming attack, Israeli military says
The Israeli military says two soldiers have been killed in a car-ramming attack in the occupied West Bank. Violence in the West Bank has surged throughout the war in Gaza as Israel raids Palestinian towns in the territory to crack down on militancy. Israeli incursions have killed more than 500 Palestinians. Slovenia’s government on Thursday endorsed a motion to recognize a Palestinian state and asked the parliament to do the same. The move comes just two days after Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state, which was condemned by Israel.
Supreme Court clears the way for the NRA’s free speech lawsuit against an ex-New York official
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has cleared the way for a National Rifle Association lawsuit against a former New York state official over claims she violated its free-speech rights. The unanimous opinion released Thursday reverses a lower-court decision tossing out the gun rights group’s lawsuit against ex-New York state Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo. The NRA says Vullo pressured banks and insurance companies to blacklist it after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead in 2018. Vullo argues she rightly investigated NRA-endorsed insurance policies sometimes referred to as “murder insurance.”
14 pro-democracy activists convicted, 2 acquitted in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case
HONG KONG (AP) — Fourteen pro-democracy activists have been convicted in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case by a court that said their plan to effect change through an unofficial primary election would have undermined the government’s authority and created a constitutional crisis. After a 2019 protest movement that filled the city’s streets with demonstrators, authorities have all but silenced dissent in Hong Kong through reduced public choice in elections, crackdowns on media and the Beijing-imposed security law under which the activists were convicted.
Partial count in South Africa election puts ruling ANC below 50% as country senses monumental change
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Partial results in South Africa’s national election have put the long-ruling African National Congress at less than 50% of the vote. It raises the possibility that it might lose its majority for the first time since it swept to power under Nelson Mandela at the end of apartheid in 1994. With less than 20% of votes counted and declared, it was only a partial picture after Wednesday’s election. The final results of a vote that could bring the biggest political shift in South Africa’s young democracy were expected to take days. The independent electoral commission says they will be delivered by Sunday.
A violent, polarized Mexico goes to the polls to choose between 2 women presidential candidates
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico goes into Sunday’s election deeply divided: friends and relatives no longer talk politics for fear of worsening unbridgeable divides. Drug cartels have divided the country into a patchwork quilt of warring fiefdoms. The atmosphere is literally heating up, amid a wave of unusual heat, drought, pollution and political violence. It’s unclear whether Mexico’s next president — both major-party candidates are female — will be able to rein in the underlying violence and polarization. Soledad Echagoyen, a Mexico City doctor who supports President AndrĂ©s Manuel LĂłpez Obrador’s Morena party, says she can no longer talk about politics with her colleagues, noting “there have been personal attacks already.”
Lab-grown meat isn’t on store shelves yet, but some states have already banned it
Lab-grown meat is not currently available in any U.S. grocery stores or restaurants. If some lawmakers have their way, it never will be. Earlier this month, both Florida and Arizona banned the sale of cultivated meat and seafood, which is grown from animal cells. In Iowa, the governor signed a bill prohibiting schools from buying lab-grown meat. Federal lawmakers are also looking to restrict it. It’s unclear how far these efforts will go. Some cultivated meat companies say they’re considering legal action, and some states shelved proposed bans after lawmakers argued they would restrict consumers’ choices. The U.S. first approved the sale of lab-grown meat a year ago.
A nurse honored for compassion is fired after referring to Gaza ‘genocide’ in speech
NEW YORK (AP) — A nurse was fired by a New York City hospital after she referred to Israel’s war in Gaza as “genocide” during a speech accepting an award. Hesen Jabr was being honored by NYU Langone Health for her compassion in caring for mothers who had lost babies when she drew a link between her work and the suffering of mothers in Gaza. Jabr said that Palestinian women are going through unimaginable losses “during the current genocide in Gaza,” She was fired the next time she reported for work. A spokesperson for NYU Langone said some of Jabr’s colleagues were upset by her comments.
Boeing reaches deadline for reporting how it will fix aircraft safety and quality problems
Boeing is due to tell federal regulators how it plans to fix the safety and quality problems that have plagued its aircraft-manufacturing work in recent years. The Federal Aviation Administration gave the company 90 days to produce a turnaround plan after one of its jetliners suffered a blowout of a fuselage panel during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. The deadline for submitting the plan is Thursday. Boeing also is the subject of multiple civil and criminal investigations from the panel blowout. Whistleblowers accuse the company of taking shortcuts that endanger passengers, a claim Boeing disputes. A panel convened by the FAA found shortcomings in Boeing’s safety culture.
At 100, this vet says the ‘greatest generation’ moniker fits ‘because we saved the world’
HELEN, Ga. (AP) — Andy Negra Jr. proudly lays claim to being among the last of what is known as “The Greatest Generation.” The World War II veteran, who lives in Helen, Georgia, just turned 100. He was part of the 128th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Armored Division. His unit landed on Utah Beach in Normandy on July 18, 1944. He later fought in the battle to retake the important French Port city of Brest. And he served during the Occupation of Germany. His plans for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion include a visit where he survived a strafing by German planes.
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