Supreme Court heard Trump’s immunity claim
After a three-hour hearing in Washington, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared set to narrow the scope of the criminal case against Donald Trump on charges of conspiracy to subvert the 2020 election.
Such a ruling in the case, on whether the former president has immunity from prosecution, would likely return him to a lower court and could delay any trial until after the November election. Several Republican-appointed judges expressed concern about the long-term consequences of leaving future former presidents open to prosecution for their actions.
Trump, accused of an extensive effort to overturn the result of the 2020 election, maintains that he is entitled to absolute immunity from the charges. That case is one of four criminal charges he faces, only one of which has gone to trial in New York.
Whats Next: A final decision could come in early summer. Yeah If Trump wins, there is every reason to think he would sabotage impeachment.
The New York trial: David Pecker, a former tabloid editor, testified about how he helped bury scandalous stories about Trump before the 2016 election, including one involving porn star Stormy Daniels.
More bodies found in mass graves in Gaza
Palestinian authorities said yesterday that they had discovered more bodies in a mass grave on the grounds of a hospital in Gaza. They said they have now found 392 bodies, up from the 283 they had previously identified.
There are conflicting accounts between Israel and Gaza authorities about how and when some of the bodies were buried. A Times analysis of social media videos and satellite images found that Palestinians had excavated at least two of the three burial sites weeks before Israeli troops attacked the complex.
Hostages: President Biden and the leaders of 17 other nations called on Hamas to release all hostages captured in its October 7 attacks on Israel.
Harvey Weinstein’s conviction overturned
New York’s highest court yesterday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for serious sex crimes, a stunning reversal in the seminal case of the #MeToo era.
The court ruled that Weinstein did not receive a fair trial: It concluded that the judge had made a crucial error by allowing prosecutors to call as witnesses a series of women who said Weinstein had assaulted them, but whose allegations were not part of the charges. against him.
Dommaraju Gukesh, a 17-year-old Indian grandmaster, made history. He became the youngest player to win the Candidates Tournament and the youngest to qualify for the World Chess Championship.
CONVERSATION STARTERS
30 years since the end of apartheid
Tomorrow South Africans will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first post-apartheid elections.
Just a month later, on May 29, they will vote in a national election that could bring about a big change: the African National Congress, which has governed for those three decades, could lose its majority for the first time.
“It seems almost impossible to separate the election year from the main anniversary year,” my colleague Lynsey Chutel, reporting from Johannesburg, told me.
“The anniversary is forcing not only the parties but also South Africans to reflect: ‘What do the last 30 years mean to us?’” he added. “’And how will we recover that political optimism and that economic strength?’”
How does the legacy of apartheid influence life in South Africa today?
Lynsey: If you walk the streets of a Johannesburg suburb, you can see the progress made. It is a leafy suburb. There are outdoor cafes. People are chatting.
But most of the people enjoying that progress are white. And most of the people who are waiters or have low-paying jobs are black. Black South Africans simply have not reached their level of wealth.
Fast forward to next month’s elections. What’s the mood?
The ANC’s popularity is possibly at an all-time low and they have never had to work harder to convince South Africans to vote for them. Some young people see this vote as as crucial as the 1994 vote. Many are deeply disillusioned. High unemployment and corruption scandals have eroded their faith in politicians.
Opposition parties are stepping up and saying, “We are finally at a place where we believe we can lead now.”
This is a huge change from 1994, which felt like an affirmation of Nelson Mandela and his party, and the end of apartheid. This year, the sentiment among voters I’ve spoken to is: how can we use the election to get the country back on track and take advantage of that post-apartheid freedom?