Daily Briefing: And the verdict is...
Former President Donald Trump’s fate rests in the hands of 12 Manhattan jurors. Bird flu is costing the farming industry as stock are culled to cut infections and how natural disasters contribute to homelessness in America.
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Would you wait in 90-degree heat for the Eras Tour?
The most important conversation in America
Jurors continue deliberations Thursday after hearing six weeks of testimony from a parade of 22 witnesses in the first criminal trial ever involving a former U.S. president (Recap: Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels).
The case is in the hands of a dozen Manhattanites in a New York courthouse's jury room who will either issue a unanimous verdict or force a mistrial.
Watching their every move: The jury sent a note Wednesday afternoon requesting to review four sections of testimony from the trial. Almost an hour later, the jurors sent a second note asking to re-hear the jury instructions.
Trump is waiting in the building: USA TODAY's reporter in the room, Aysa Bagchi, says he frequently closes his eyes for extended periods.
What happens if Trump is found guilty? He could theoretically face more than a decade in prison.
Here's the update on bird flu
Bird flu outbreaks have continued across the U.S. as officials work to keep the spread at bay. While the outbreak likely began amongst chicken flocks and spread to dairy cows, reports of the virus infecting other animals have come out of several states. Commercial farming facilities have taken to destroying infected flocks in an attempt to quell the ongoing spread. Even so, a new large-scale infection was reported in Iowa this week, impacting millions of egg-laying chickens. Read more
More news to know now
An Alabama man set to be executed Thursday maintains his innocence.
Israel's war in Gaza could continue until the end of year.
Cleanup efforts begin after brutal storms bashed Texas.
Yale named Maurie McInnis as its first permanent female president.
On today's The Excerpt podcast, the nation's top hurricane forecaster has five warnings as hurricane season begins. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.
What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.
Life on Ukraine’s front line 'worse than hell'
Now in the third year of full-scale war, Ukraine’s top military leaders openly admit that the battlefield situation on the eastern front has deteriorated. Two years of war have sapped Ukraine’s ammunition and manpower, while the country’s failed counter-offensive last year sank morale. And a new push by Moscow earlier this month near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is likely to further divert precious ammunition and personnel from other sections of the front, stretching Kyiv’s military thin at a critical moment in the war. Read more
Hurricane Ian destroyed his house. He's still homeless.
Javier Velez has been homeless ever since Hurricane Ian blew the roof off his Fort Myers, Florida, home and filled it with more than 4 feet of water in September 2022. This summer will be his second living without proper shelter. His work as a truck driver brought him north to New Jersey in May, and with summer forecasts predicting unusually hot temperatures in the northeast, he'll likely face sweltering conditions for weeks. Velez is one of millions of Americans who have been displaced by natural disasters in recent years, facing extreme conditions without a shelter. Read more
Keep scrolling
Negro Leagues' statistics will be incorporated into Major League Baseball’s historical records.
All charges against Scottie Scheffler were dropped.
We're so excited about the "Moana 2" trailer.
Recent National Spelling Bee stars explain how the "Bee" changed their lives.
U.S. Olympic pairs figure skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield was banned for life for misconduct.
Giants pandas are coming back (!)
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute announced this week it will welcome a new pair of giant pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao to the zoo by the end of the year. This comes months after the zoo returned three bears, Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji, to China. Read more
Photo of the day: The inaugural Walter Cup
Minnesota clinched the inaugural Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) championship with a 3-0 win over Boston in Game 5 on Wednesday, as fans celebrated a new chapter for the women's game.
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump trial, bird flu, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Gaza, hurricane, weather, Taylor Swift, pandas: Daily Briefing
