Guilty: Trump becomes first former US president convicted of felony crimes
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. Trump sat stone-faced while the verdict was read as cheering from the street below could be heard in the hallway on the courthouse’s 15th floor. He is being sentenced on July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention. Manhattan prosecutors did not say whether they would seek prison time for Trump.
The Latest | Following his conviction in hush money case, Trump is set to hold news conference
NEW YORK (AP) — A day after a New York jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony charges, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee will address the conviction and likely attempt to cast his campaign in a new light. He is expected to hold a news conference Friday morning at Trump Tower. The hush money trial marked the first time a former U.S. president has ever been tried or convicted in a criminal case. The charges are punishable by up to four years in prison, though it’s unclear if the judge will give him time behind bars. Sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
Trump will try to turn his guilty verdict into campaign fuel
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s campaign says it raised $34.8 million as donations poured in after he was convicted in his New York hush money trial. The total announced Friday is more than $1 million for each of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. It’s also more than the Republican ex-president’s political operation raised in January and February combined. Trump is gearing up to give a defiant response to his historic criminal conviction. Trump is holding a news conference at his namesake tower in Manhattan as he tries to turn what would ordinarily be a career-ending judgment into campaign fuel. Trump returns to the campaign trail as the first former president to be convicted of a felony.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia registers as independent, citing ‘partisan extremism’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia says he has registered as an independent, raising questions about his future political plans. Manchin would have faced a tough reelection in November if he had chosen to run. Manchin has long been an outspoken critic of the Democratic Party and an obstacle to many of President Joe Biden’s legislative priorities. Manchin said Friday in a statement that over the last 15 years, he has seen both major political parties leave their constituents “behind for partisan extremism while jeopardizing our democracy.” Manchin hasn’t disclosed if he’ll continue caucusing with Democrats in the Senate, where they hold a slim majority.
Trump Media shares swing wildly and then tumble a day after former president was convicted
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of social networking site Truth Social, are rising in early trading on Friday after former President Donald Trump was convicted in his hush money trial. A New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the two had sex. Shares fell 9% immediately Thursday in after-hours trading as the verdict was announced, but are climbing in Friday morning trading.
Israel confirms its forces are in central Rafah in expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military has confirmed that its forces are operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city. The military said in a statement Friday that its troops in central Rafah had uncovered Hamas rocket launchers and tunnels and dismantled a weapons storage city of the group. The statement did not specify where in central Rafah the operations were taking place, but previous statements and witness reports have pointed to raids in the Shaboura refugee camp and other sites near the city center. More than 1 million Palestinians have fled the city since the assault began, scattering around southern and central Gaza.
Berlin lets Ukraine use German weapons against targets in Russia after the US also eases its stance
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Germany has joined the United States in authorizing Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they are supplying. Friday’s move is a significant policy change that comes as depleted Ukrainian troops are losing ground in the war. Ukrainian officials have expressed frustration over restrictions on the use of Western weapons, especially as the border region of Kharkiv has endured a Russian onslaught this month. Both Germany and the U.S. specifically authorized defense of Kharkiv. The region’s capital city lies only 20 kilometers from Russia. Beyond offering Ukraine a chance of better protecting Kharkiv, it’s not clear what effect the easing of restrictions might have on the direction of the conflict.
French security authorities foil a plan to attack soccer events during the Paris Olympics
PARIS (AP) — The French interior minister says security authorities have foiled a plan to attack soccer events during the Paris Olympics. Gerald Darmanin said in a statement on Friday that an 18-year-old man from Chechnya was arrested on May 22 on suspicion of being behind a plan to attack soccer events that will be held in the city of Saint-Etienne, southwest of Lyon. The Paris Olympics will run from July 26-Aug. 11. Soccer matches will take place in cities across France before the final match is played at Paris’ Stade de France.
In Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, a hidden underground world is under threat by the Maya Train
AKTUN TUYUL CAVE SYSTEM, Mexico (AP) — Mexico’s outgoing leader has rapidly built a train system looping around the country’s southern Yucatan Peninsula. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised the more than $30 billion Maya Train project would connect tourist hubs like Cancún and Playa del Carmen to dense jungle and remote archaeological sites. The government hoped it would draw money into long-neglected rural swathes of the country. But the crown jewel of the populist’s presidency is slowly destroying one of Mexico’s natural wonders: A fragile system of an estimated 10,000 subterranean caverns, rivers, lakes, and freshwater sinkholes.
Vermont becomes 1st state to enact law requiring oil companies pay for damage from climate change
Vermont has become the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather. Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the bill to become law without his signature late Thursday. Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are considering similar measures. Scott wrote in his message to lawmakers that taking on ‘Big Oil’ should not be taken lightly and that he is concerned about the costs and outcomes. Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are considering similar measures.
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