Cohen's credibility, campaigning at court and other takeaways from Trump trial's closing arguments

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers in Donald Trump’s hush money trial have sparred over evidence and witnesses as they made their closing arguments to jurors who will decide whether the Republican will be the first former American president convicted of a crime. The panel of New Yorkers could begin deliberating as early as Wednesday to decide if Trump is guilty of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign to a porn actor who claimed she had sex with him. Trump says Stormy Daniels’ story of a sexual encounter with him is a lie and that he’s innocent of the charges.

Israeli strikes kill at least 37 Palestinians, most in tents, near Gaza's Rafah as offensive expands

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Renewed Israeli shelling and strikes have killed at least 37 people, most of them sheltering in tents, outside the southern Gaza city of Rafah. That's according to witnesses, first responders and hospital officials. The bombardment overnight and into Tuesday pummeled the same area where Israeli strikes triggered a deadly fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians days earlier, killing 45 people. The tent camp inferno has drawn widespread international outrage over Israel's expanding offensive into Rafah. The U.N. says more than a million people have fled the city in recent weeks. And in a sign of Israel’s growing isolation on the world stage, Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday.

Democrats plan to nominate Biden by virtual roll call to meet Ohio ballot deadline

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will be formally nominated as the Democratic presidential nominee through a virtual roll call ahead of the party’s official convention in Chicago in August — a maneuver that will allow Biden to appear on the ballot in Ohio this November. The issue is because the Democratic National Convention, where the president would otherwise be formally nominated, comes after Ohio’s ballot deadline of Aug. 7. The party’s convention is scheduled for Aug. 19-22. Ohio lawmakers have moved the deadline in the past for candidates of both parties, although they had not done so yet for Biden this year.

South Africans are voting in an election that could send their young democracy into the unknown

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africans are voting in an election seen as their country’s most important in 30 years, and one that could put their young democracy in unknown territory. At stake Wednesday is the three-decade dominance of the African National Congress party. It led South Africa out of apartheid’s brutal white minority rule in 1994 but is now the target of a new generation of discontent in a country of 62 million people. After winning six successive national elections, several polls have the ANC’s support at less than 50% ahead of this one. It might lose its majority in Parliament for the first time.

The toll of Beijing's security law on Hong Kong's activists

HONG KONG (AP) — For decades, Hong Kong's activists have been fighting for democracy. But a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 has dramatically changed their lives. In the city's biggest national security case, 47 democracy advocates were charged in 2021 over their roles in an unofficial primary election. Most of them have been in custody for over three years, facing an uncertain future about when they can reunite with their loved ones. The separation has taken a heavy emotional toll on their families, too. On Thursday, 16 activists who pleaded not guilty will learn their verdicts. If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to life in prison. Others who pleaded guilty will be sentenced later.

Pope apologizes after being quoted using vulgar term about gay men in talk about ban on gay priests

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has apologized after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gay men to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s ban on gay priests. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement Tuesday acknowledging the media storm that erupted about Francis’ comments. They were delivered behind closed doors to Italian bishops on May 20.Italian media on Monday had quoted unnamed Italian bishops in reporting that Francis jokingly used the term “faggotness” while speaking in Italian during the encounter. He had used the term in reaffirming the Vatican’s ban on allowing gay men to enter seminaries and be ordained priests.

Judge denies request to restrict Trump statements about law enforcement in classified records case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents case in Florida has denied prosecutors’ request to bar the Republican former president from making public statements that could endanger law enforcement agents participating in the prosecution. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon says prosecutors didn’t give defense lawyers enough time to discuss the request before it was filed Friday evening. Cannon denied the request without prejudice Tuesday, meaning prosecutors could refile it. The request followed a distorted claim by Trump last week that FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022 were “authorized to shoot" him. Prosecutors say Trump's claim exposes law enforcement officers to the risk of threats and violence.

Transitional council in Haiti selects new prime minister for a country under siege by gangs

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.N. development specialist Garry Conille has been named Haiti’s new prime minister nearly a month after a coalition within a fractured transitional council had chosen someone else for the position. The long-awaited move announced Tuesday evening comes as gangs continue to terrorize the capital of Port-au-Prince, opening fire in once peaceful neighborhoods and using heavy machinery to demolish several police stations and prisons. In addition to choosing a new prime minister, the council also is responsible for selecting a new Cabinet and holding general elections by the end of next year.

Storms leave widespread outages across Texas, cleanup continues after deadly weekend across US

HOUSTON (AP) — Storms with damaging winds and baseball-sized hail have pummeled Texas again. The storms Tuesday left about 1 million businesses and homes without power as much of the U.S. recovered from severe weather, including tornadoes, that killed at least 24 people during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. A 16-year-old construction worker was killed in Texas Tuesday in the Houston suburb of Magnolia. Widespread outages were reported in north Texas, which includes Dallas and Fort Worth. PowerOutage.us says more than 300,000 customers in Dallas County alone lacked electricity Tuesday as the outages extended into rural east Texas. The site showed another 150,000 without power in Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia and Missouri.

Farmers must kill 4.2 million chickens after bird flu hits Iowa egg farm

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 4 million chickens in Iowa will have to be killed after a case of the highly pathogenic bird flu was detected at a large egg farm. The outbreak announced Tuesday is the latest flock to be slaughtered in a yearslong outbreak that is increasingly affecting dairy cattle as well. Nearly 1.4 million chickens also were killed at an egg farm in Minnesota after bird flu was detected May 21. Overall, USDA data shows 92.34 million birds have been killed since 2022. Also in May, officials say a second dairy farmworker was diagnosed with bird flu. It has been confirmed on dairy cattle farms in nine states.