WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Hunter Biden guilty, artistic swimming, and a Lego theft falls to pieces

 
today's international story

Hunter Biden faces jail time for gun convictions

What happened 
Hunter Biden has been found guilty of three felony counts for lying on a federal firearms application, becoming the first son of a sitting US president to be criminally convicted.

Biden had pleaded not guilty to lying about his drug use when he bought a handgun in 2018. He claimed that because he was in recovery from drug addiction at the time his application was correct. A panel of 12 jurors found him guilty after about three hours of deliberations.

Who said what
In the end there was "no defending the indefensible", said Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett. In his closing argument prosecutor Leo Wise repeated the "well-oiled legal idiom" that President Biden invoked after the recent trial of former president Donald Trump: "No one is above the law." 

The convictions are a "shattering blow" for the Biden family, said The New York Times, and come in the middle of an "unforgiving presidential election campaign".

Still, a hung jury or an acquittal for Hunter Biden "would have been a political disaster for his father – and for the nation", said former prosecutor Dennis Aftergut on CNN. In this year's presidential election the "rule of law is on the ballot". Hunter Biden's conviction shows that "the rule of law is working".

What next? 
Biden faces up to 25 years in prison, although legal experts say he will likely receive a fraction of that. Sentencing is usually set for 120 days following a verdict, which means it is likely to happen before the November presidential election.

 
 
today’s politics story

Scottish party leaders clash over cost of living

What happened
Scottish First Minister John Swinney accused Labour and the Conservatives of "not being straight with voters" about £18 billion worth of spending cuts as the leaders of Scotland's main political parties went head-to-head in a televised debate.

Who said what
During what the BBC called a "heated exchange" over what each party would do to help working class families navigate the cost of living crisis, Swinney repeatedly claimed that "independent experts said there would be £18 billion of cuts after this election whether the Conservatives or Labour party form the government".

Labour leader Anas Sarwar countered: "Read my lips: no austerity under Labour", which prompted "loud applause" from the audience, said The Guardian.

What next?
If this was a "rather tame and uneventful" leader’s debate it was largely because of the relative absence of the independence issue that has dominated Scottish politics for two decades, said The Spectator. "For once it actually was about who runs Westminster." But it is doubtful "any voters' minds will have been changed by this somewhat somnolent debate".

 
 
Today’s archaeology story

New evidence found of epic siege by Henry III

What happened
Catapult shots have been discovered in the grounds of Kenilworth Castle, providing evidence of one of the longest sieges in British history.

The eight stone pieces were fired when King Henry III attacked the Warwickshire castle for 172 days in 1266. They range in weight from "that of a cabbage to that of a giant panda", said The Times.

Who said what
"We were able to immediately link these findings to the 1266 siege because of similar fields recovered in the 1960s," said Will Wyeth, property historian at English Heritage (the castle's owner). "However, it's not every day we get lucky enough to stumble across historical remains like this by chance."

"These pieces would have been flung with tremendous force and would have wrought havoc," said The Times's history correspondent Jack Blackburn.

What next?
Work to make the castle more accessible may uncover further signs of the battle.

 
 

It's not all bad

To make mental health tools more accessible to children US publisher Scholastic has launched an online hub providing free print, video and audio resources for students, their families and teachers. The company worked with child development experts to fill the Scholastic Mental Health Resource with assets to boost emotional well-being, help kids learn how to express themselves and get them pumped about reading. Research has shown that children who read often are more likely than infrequent readers to report feeling proud and excited.

 
 
under the radar

Artistic swimming: team selection sinks male hopes

The sport of artistic swimming has missed out on a "landmark moment" after it was confirmed that there would be no male competitors at this summer's Paris Olympics.

Despite the governing body's "bold move" to let men compete in artistic swimming at the Olympics, there will be no male swimmers among the 10 countries competing in the team event after the United States left a male "pioneer" out of its squad, said Reuters.

The first artistic swimming competitions took place in Berlin in 1891 and, interestingly, contests were originally "solely for men", said Aquatics GB. But it was "soon recognised" that artistic swimming was "better fitted to women", who were "overall more buoyant, in particular in the legs".

But in 2022 World Aquatics announced that men would be allowed to compete in artistic swimming at the Olympics, with each country permitted two male swimmers in the eight-athlete team event. It was hoped that men would finally return to the sport.

Bill May was in with a chance of being the first man to compete in the sport at this summer's Olympics, but did not make the US team's final roster of eight swimmers, meaning it will be an all-female affair in Paris.

Age proved a factor: at 45, May is 28 years older than the youngest person on the team, 17-year-old Audrey Kwon. He would have needed the ability to perform as one-eighth of a team of women half his age.

Despite May's omission, World Aquatics is "absolutely determined" that there will be male artistic swimmers in the team competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, as well as a mixed duet competition.

 
 
on this day

12 June 1935

Paraguay and Bolivia agree to an armistice in the conflict over control of the Gran Chaco, a 100,000 square mile desert region between the two nations. It's estimated that about 100,000 lives were lost in the three-year war. Today the Gran Chaco is divided between Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil.

 
 
Today’s newspapers

Rishi Sunak's tax plans have been criticised for being "implausible" and "benefiting wealthier people", said The Guardian. The PM's promise of £17bn in cuts has "failed to satisfy the Tory appetite for boldness", says the FT, but the Daily Mail says he will "reward aspiration". Meanwhile, says the i paper, Labour is expected to promise a minimum £12 an hour to care workers to "improve recruitment in social care and ease burden on NHS". 

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Block bust: police nab Lego thieves

Police in Los Angeles arrested two people last week on suspicion of stealing 2,800 boxes of LEGO. Officers had been investigating the case since December after a local shop reported a number of thefts, including sets costing up to £800. Richard Siegal, 71, is facing a charge of organised retail theft and his accomplice, Blanca Gudino, 39, is charged with grand theft.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Julia O'Driscoll and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images; Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images; English Heritage / Heritage Images / Getty Images.