Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday on whether Donald Trump, as a former president, should be immune from criminal prosecution for acts he committed while in office. The ruling could have far-reaching implications for the extent of US executive power -- and Trump's multiple legal issues as he seeks the White House again. And while most constitutional law experts expect Trump to suffer a legal defeat, he may already have scored a political victory. By taking the case, the court's nine justices delayed -- perhaps indefinitely -- the start of Trump's trial on char...
AFP
New York (AFP) - Star conductor Gustavo Dudamel presented a youth-oriented, pop culturally aware vision of the future to the New York Philharmonic's spring gala Wednesday, previewing his forthcoming takeover of the symphony as its next director. Dudamel brought the rapper Common, the former Yankee slash guitar hero Bernie Williams, and a number of student musicians to the stage as part of the Phil's celebration of music education. The gala was a glimpse into the Venezuelan maestro's upcoming tenure at America's oldest orchestra, which he will start leading in the 2026-27 season, departing his ...
AFP
New York (AFP) - Donald Trump is due back in court Thursday to watch his alleged tabloid co-conspirator continue testimony about their bid to kill salacious stories that could have derailed the Republican's 2016 White House campaign. Less than seven months before his expected rematch with President Joe Biden, the 77-year-old Trump is the first former US head of state to face criminal charges. He is accused of falsifying business records to pay off adult film actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence over a 2006 sexual encounter. Prosecutors say Trump engaged in "election fraud" by hav...
AFP
Baltimore (AFP) - Baltimore Banner reporter Matti Gellman is first to leap in with questions during a recent press appearance by Maryland's state governor and celebrity chef Jose Andres at an urban farm. With her notebook wedged under her arm and a Banner-branded baseball cap on her head, Gellman is launching her career as the long decimation of the news industry in the United States reaches what some have called an "extinction-level event." She and her colleagues are at the vanguard of a fightback, seeking new and innovative ways to sustain local journalism in the world's most powerful democr...
AFP
Los Angeles (AFP) - Arizona has charged 18 people over a scheme to subvert the 2020 election in favor of Donald Trump, the state's attorney general said Wednesday, with US media identifying the ex-president's lawyer Rudy Giuliani among those indicted. The felony indictments, which allege a conspiracy to award Arizona's slate of electors to the defeated real estate magnate, are the latest effort by a state to hold accountable those who backed Trump's false claim that he won the presidential vote. Arizona's Attorney General Kris Mayes said a grand jury had returned indictments on 11 local Republ...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - The United States is the first to acknowledge that its long-awaited $61 billion aid package for Ukraine is not a "silver bullet." As weapons and ammunition are rushed to the country, other issues such as manpower shortages in Kyiv's struggling military have come to the fore. Meanwhile, the monthslong delay in passing the aid package -- caused by wrangling among US lawmakers -- has further weakened Ukraine's position on the battleground, according to analysts. President Joe Biden, who quickly signed the law Wednesday after it passed Congress, said the bill "should have gotte...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - US far-right conspiracy website Gateway Pundit is filing for bankruptcy, its founder said Wednesday, as it battles a string of lawsuits alleging it promoted misinformation related to the 2020 election. Parent company TGP Communications is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Florida, founder Jim Hoft said in a note to readers, blaming "progressive liberal" lawsuits. The Gateway Pundit, launched as a blog in 2004, rose to prominence as it trumpeted conspiracy theories about a range of subjects, from mass shootings to Donald Trump's false claim that the 2020 election wa...
AFP
Austin (AFP) - Spiraling pro-Palestinian protests that are rocking universities across the United States spread to more campuses Wednesday, triggering suggestions from a senior Republican leader that the National Guard could be brought in. The comments from House Speaker Mike Johnson are likely to evoke strong emotions in a country where the 1970 killing by National Guardsmen of unarmed students protesting the Vietnam war lives on in folk memory. Demonstrations erupted at the University of Southern California on Wednesday, and in Texas, where a tense stand-off developed between students and po...
AFP
San Francisco (AFP) - Facebook-owner Meta on Wednesday said its quarterly profits soared last quarter, but worries about the cost of artificial intelligence saw its share price take a hit on Wall Street. The company founded by Mark Zuckerberg said that net profit in the January to March period rose to $12.4 billion with total revenue, mainly from selling ads, up an impressive 27 percent, at $36.5 billion. "We estimate that more than 3.2 billion people use at least one of our apps each day and we're seeing healthy growth in the US," Zuckerberg, who is also CEO, told analysts on an investor cal...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court appeared divided Wednesday on whether Idaho's near-total ban on abortion conflicts with a federal law requiring hospitals to stabilize patients needing emergency care, in a case that carries potentially sweeping national consequences. The hearing comes nearly two years after the conservative-majority bench overturned the national right to terminate a pregnancy, making reproductive rights a pivotal issue that could affect the outcome of the November presidential election. Emotions ran deep outside the court where hundreds of women's rights activists, some...
AFP
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