Trump arrives at court, May 28, 2024. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/Pool
Donald Trump’s lawyers have finished their closing arguments. “This isn’t a referendum on your views of President Trump,” Todd Blanchesaid, urging jurors to set aside their personal views while considering whether Trump should be the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime. Read more.
Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch urged six states to stop using juries with fewer than 12 people in some criminal trials as the high court declined to revisit a five-decade-old precedent that has allowed them to do so. Read more.
Gorsuch lamented that the nine-member court lacked the four votes needed to agree to hear an appeal that raised the question of whether the U.S. Constitution bars juries with as few as six people from deciding felony cases.
In other news …
Israeli tanks hit evacuation zone west of Rafah … Desperate Gazans flee as Israeli tanks advance into Rafah’s center … How Red Sea disruptions are driving up carbon emissions … Putin warns the West not to let Ukraine use its missiles to hit Russia … The Pope issues a rare apology over reported homophobic slur … The number of parties contesting Indian elections is at its highest, but expected winners remain unchanged … Hong Kong arrests six for sedition under new security law … Sri Lanka’s tea producers warn 70% wage hike will hit industry … A heat wave scorches Pakistan … And giant icebergs drift past Canada’s Iceberg Alley.
