Jury is chosen in Hunter Biden’s federal firearms case and opening statements are set for Tuesday
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The jury has been seated in Hunter Biden’s federal firearms case. Twelve panelists and four alternates were chosen after one day of jury selection. Opening statements will begin Tuesday. The president’s son has been charged with lying on federal gun purchase forms when he said he wasn’t a drug addict. He has pleaded not guilty and argues he’s being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department. Prospective jurors are being asked about their knowledge of the case, their thoughts about gun ownership and whether they or anyone close to them have struggled with substance abuse or addiction or ever owned a gun.
India’s marathon election enters final stage of vote counting with Modi widely tipped for third term
NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s election is entering its final phase with the counting of more than 640 million votes in the world’s largest democratic exercise, which is widely expected to return Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a third term. The 6-week-long election was widely seen as a referendum on Modi. If he wins it will only be the second time an Indian leader has retained power for a third term after Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister. The tallying of votes at counting centers in each of the 543 constituencies where polls were held could stretch into Tuesday evening before a final result is declared by the Election Commission of India.
China’s spacecraft carrying rocks from the far side of the moon leaves the lunar surface
BEIJING (AP) — China says a spacecraft carrying rock and soil samples from the far side of the moon has lifted off from the lunar surface to start its journey back to Earth. The ascender of the Chang’e-6 probe lifted off Tuesday morning Beijing time and entered a preset orbit around the moon, the China National Space Administration said. The Chang’e-6 probe was launched last month and its lander touched down on the far side of the moon Sunday. The container with the samples will be transferred to a reentry capsule that is due to return to Earth about June 25.
Biden prepares an order that would shut down asylum if a daily average of 2,500 migrants arrive
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is telling lawmakers that President Joe Biden is preparing to sign off on an executive order that would shut down entries to the U.S.-Mexico border once the number of daily encounters hits 2,500 between ports of entry. The impact of the 2,500 figure means the border could be closed to migrants seeking asylum effectively immediately, because daily figures are higher than that now. Several people familiar with the discussions said Monday the border would reopen once that number declines to 1,500. Biden is expected to unveil his actions at the White House on Tuesday at an event to which border mayors have been invited.
French children hail D-Day veterans as heroes as they arrive in Normandy for anniversary events
DEAUVILLE AIRPORT, France (AP) — French schoolchildren have greeted dozens of U.S. World War II veterans with a big poster saying ‘’thank you” as they arrived on Monday in Normandy. The veterans are commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Many are in their 100s. France’s first lady Brigitte Macron and top French officials met the 48 veterans as they arrived on board a special flight from Atlanta. Children from local schools sang the French and U.S. national anthems. Among the veterans was Jake Larson, a 101-year-old American best known on social media under the name “Papa Jake.” They will take part in commemoration of the June 6 landings by soldiers from across the United States, Britain, Canada and other Allied nations.
How Trump’s deny-everything strategy could hurt him at sentencing
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has had plenty to say since his hush money trial conviction last week. What he hasn’t done is utter any variation of the words that might benefit him most come sentencing time next month: “I’m sorry.” It’s an age-old truism of the criminal justice system that defendants hoping for lenient treatment at sentencing are expected to take responsibility for their actions, even express remorse. But that approach flies in the face of the “deny everything” strategy that Trump and his legal team employed at trial — and the combative posture the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has adopted during years of investigations into his business career, presidential activities and post-White House life.
Fauci pushes back partisan attacks in fiery House hearing over COVID origins and controversies
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci was back before Congress, calling Republican allegations that he’d tried to cover up COVID-19’s origins “simply preposterous.” The top U.S. infectious disease expert until 2022, Fauci was grilled by the House panel behind closed doors in January. On Monday, they questioned him again, in public and on camera. The Republican-led subcommittee has spent over a year probing the nation’s response to the pandemic and whether U.S.-funded research in China may have played any role in how it started. Democrats said the investigation has found no evidence that Fauci did anything wrong.
With its top editor abruptly gone, The Washington Post grapples with a hastily announced restructure
NEW YORK (AP) — One of the nation’s top news organizations was in some turmoil following a hastily-announced restructuring plan that led to the exodus of the newspaper’s executive editor. Sally Buzbee’s temporary replacement met with staff members the day after a late-night email announcing the plan went out. Under new publisher Will Lewis, the money-losing newspaper is trying to halt an exodus of readers, and is setting up a new department primarily designed to think of ways to bring more people back. Buzbee had been in the job for only three years during tough economic times for the news business. She reportedly had concerns about how the new structure would work.
Biden says Hamas is sufficiently depleted. Israel leaders disagree, casting doubts over cease-fire
JERUSALEM (AP) — President Joe Biden has called for a quick cease-fire and end to the fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, saying the militant group is no longer capable of launching an attack on Israel like the one on Oct. 7. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right ministers disagree, saying that destroying Hamas will require continued Israeli military operations in the strip. These differing visions of what it looks like to destroy Hamas have raised questions about a new cease-fire effort and threaten to exacerbate already-strained tensions between the close allies.
Market jitters follow election of first woman as Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s first female president held out an olive branch to the more than one-third of Mexicans who didn’t vote for her, but she faces a market meltdown and a tough path toward reconciling a country left deeply divided by outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor, said “our duty will always be to look out for each and every Mexican, without distinctions.” Long-delayed initial vote counts gave her a crushing margin of victory, higher even than the one López Obrador won in 2018. With about 78% of votes counted, Sheinbaum was getting about 59% of votes, about twice as many as her nearest competitor Xóchitl Gálvez, who got around 28%.
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