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.
Donald Trump tries to turn his guilty verdict into campaign fuel and attacks criminal justice system
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump launched into attacks on the judge in his hush money criminal trial and continues to undermine New York’s criminal justice system while trying to repackage his conviction on 34 felony charges as fuel, not an impediment, to his latest White House bid. Trump spoke to reporters at his namesake tower in Manhattan on Friday, his return to campaigning a day after he was convicted. The Republican’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.
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.
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 past 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.
Tests find AI tools readily create election lies from the voices of well-known political leaders
NEW YORK (AP) — A new report from a digital civil rights group has found that publicly available artificial intelligence tools can be easily weaponized to churn out convincing election lies in the voices of top American and European politicians. The research published Friday from the Washington-based Center for Countering Digital Hate tested six of the most popular AI voice-cloning tools. It checked whether they would generate audio clips of five false statements about elections in the voices of eight prominent politicians. The tools generated convincing voice clones in 80% of cases. The center’s CEO, Imran Ahmed, said more safeguards and transparency are needed to protect voters from AI-generated audio disinformation in a major election year.
Texas Supreme Court rejects challenge to state’s abortion law over medical exceptions
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the U.S. following a lawsuit by women who had serious pregnancy complications. Friday’s ruling from the court is the latest decision to uphold Texas’ abortion ban, which critics say does not offer enough clarity over when exceptions are allowed. Last summer, a state judge had granted a temporary injunction preventing Texas from enforcing the ban against doctors who ended pregnancies that they determined were unsafe because of complications. But that was immediately blocked by an appeal from the Texas attorney general’s office to the state’s Supreme Court.
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 of the small state doing that alone. Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are considering similar measures.
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