May 31, 2024

TRUMP NEW YORK TRIAL | A Manhattan jury yesterday returned a verdict in the New York criminal business records falsification and hush money trial of Donald Trump, finding the former president guilty on all 34 felony charges against him. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for July 11, and attorneys for Trump indicate that he intends to appeal the conviction. [more]

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR | Updates from day 238 of the conflict:

• Israel has announced the end of its 20-day military operation in and around northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp. Palestinian officials say more than 1,000 homes were destroyed by Israel’s military during the operation. [more]
• Israeli officials say some 300 Hamas militants have been killed in Rafah since their forces began operations in and around the city on May 6. [more]

UKRAINE | Today is day 827 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here are your updates:

• Reports say both the U.S. and Germany have approved Ukraine’s limited use of donated weapons for strikes inside Russian territory, but only for the purpose of defending against Russia’s ongoing offensive around the city of Kharkiv. [more]
• Ukrainian officials say at least four people were killed, and 25 others were injured, in an overnight Russian missile strike that hit an apartment building in the city of Kharkiv. [more]

U.S. ECONOMY | In a downgrade from its previous 1.6% estimate, the Commerce Department says the U.S. economy, as measured by gross domestic product, grew at a 1.3% annual rate in the first quarter of 2024 – the lowest quarterly rate since the spring of 2022. [more]

MINNESOTA | Authorities in Minnesota say a Minneapolis police officer and two other people were killed, and several others were wounded, yesterday in a series of shootings at two locations in the city’s Whittier neighborhood. Reports cite state officials as saying the police officer, Jamal Mitchell, was ambushed while stopping to aid someone he thought to be a victim. [more]

U.S. TAXES | The Internal Revenue Service announced yesterday that, after a successful pilot program, it intends to make its Direct File electronic tax return filing system permanent and that it has asked all 50 states and the District of Columbia to make filing state tax returns available through the system by 2025. [more]

GLOBAL REFUGEE MIGRATION | In a speech before the U.N. Security Council yesterday, U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi said 114 million people worldwide have been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence, and persecution. Grandi suggested that failure to address root causes of forced migration and countries’ refusals to comply with international humanitarian law have resulted in the increased forced migration. [more]

YEMEN | Iran-backed Houthi rebels say at least 16 people were killed, and 42 others were wounded, yesterday in joint U.S.-British airstrikes on the group’s underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, and other facilities. U.S. and British officials say the strikes were in response to ongoing Houthi targeting of ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in support of Palestinians amidst Israel’s military operations in Gaza. [more]

INDIA | Amidst India’s ongoing heatwave, officials in the country’s eastern states of Bihar and Odisha say at least 24 people have died this week of suspected heatstroke. Reports note that the Indian capital Delhi recorded the country’s highest-ever temperature of 52.9 degrees Celsius, or 127.22 degrees Fahrenheit, this week. [more]

NORTH KOREA | Eighteen short-range ballistic missiles were fired by North Korea into the sea off its east coast yesterday as a warning to South Korea and a demonstration of its ability to defend its sovereignty, according to the the North’s state-run KCNA news agency. [more]

EUROPEAN ECONOMY | E.U. statistics agency Eurostat reports that consumer inflation in the 20 nations that use the euro currency rose 2.6% in May, compared to the same period last year – up from a 2.4% annualized rate in April. [more]

MEXICO | National elections in Mexico will be held on Sunday, with the country’s presidency expected to be won by a woman for the first time. Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez currently lead in national polls over male candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez. [more]

SLOVAKIA | Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was released from hospital yesterday following weeks of treatment and recovery from gunshot wounds suffered in a May 15 assassination attempt. [more]

BASKETBALL | The Dallas Mavericks advanced to the NBA Finals with a 124-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves last night in game five of the teams’ Western Conference finals series. [more]

SPELLING BEE | Twelve-year-old Bruhat Soma of Florida won the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee last night with his correct spelling of the word “abseil” during a lightning-round tiebreaker with opponent Faizan Zaki. [more]

TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1889, some 2,200 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, died after the South Fork Dam collapsed, sending an estimated 20 million tons of water rushing through the town. [more history]