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Palestinian statehood, Trump trial endgame and Graceland sale drama

 
Today's INTERNATIONAL story

Norway, Ireland, Spain recognize Palestinian state

What happened
Norway, Ireland and Spain said Wednesday they will recognize a Palestinian state on May 28, calling the move a step toward a two-state solution and peace as Israel levels much of Gaza following Hamas' deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

Who said what
"Palestine has a fundamental right to an independent state," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said. "In the midst of a war," and 30 years after the Oslo Peace Accords, "we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side, in peace and security."

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said his government was recalling its ambassadors from the countries, accusing them of "attempting to send a message to the Palestinians and to the whole world: Terrorism pays."

"Hamas is not the Palestinian people," said Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris. Gahr Støre said Hamas and other terrorist groups "are not supporters of a two-state solution." With Israel's hard-right government opposed as well, "that long-imagined but never realized dream — the goal of a generation of U.S. diplomats — has never seemed so far away," The Washington Post said.

What next?
Ireland's Harris said he thinks other countries will recognize a Palestinian state "in the weeks ahead." More than 140 countries have already done so, "but most Western European countries and the United States have not," saying "recognition should be achieved through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians" as part of a two-state agreement, The New York Times said. 

 
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Today's LEGAL story

Trump won't testify as trial enters final phase

What happened
Donald Trump's lawyers rested their case Tuesday, ushering the former president's hush-money criminal trial into its final phase. Judge Juan Merchan dismissed the jurors until May 28, when closing arguments will begin.

Who said what
Trump's defense team called "just two witnesses — neither of them the former president," despite Trump's repeated public insistence he wanted to testify, The New York Times said. Prosecutors had called 20 witnesses. "Instead of mounting an effort to demonstrate Trump's innocence," his lawyers "focused on attacking the credibility of the prosecution witnesses," a "routine defense strategy," The Associated Press said. "The burden of proof in a criminal case lies with the prosecution."

What next?
After the jury was sent home, prosecutors and defense attorneys "sparred over what, exactly, jurors should be told before deliberations," especially about the federal law at the heart of the prosecution's felony case, The Washington Post said. "The judge’s determinations of the legal threshold for conviction may have a huge impact on what jurors think of the evidence."

 
 
Today's Culture Story

Elvis Presley's heir halts 'fraudulent' Graceland sale

What happened
Actor Riley Keough, Elvis Presley's granddaughter and trustee of his estate, sued last week to stop a foreclosure sale of Graceland scheduled for Thursday, saying the company purporting to own the Presley home and museum is trying to defraud the family. A Shelby County, Tennessee, judge paused the sale last week. Keough (pictured above outside Graceland with Post Malone) inherited Graceland last year after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley.

Who said what
Keough's lawyers say Naussany Investments & Private Lending is "fraudulently" claiming Lisa Marie Presley used Graceland as collateral on a $3.8 million loan she never repaid. "Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments," which "is not a real entity," the lawsuit said. "Elvis Presley Enterprises can confirm that these claims are fraudulent," the group that manages Graceland said. "There is no foreclosure sale."

Kimberly Philbrick, the Florida notary whose signature is on the purported loan documents, said in an affidavit she never met Pressley and does "not know why my signature appears on this document." Lawyers for Naussany Investments declined to comment.

What next?
The Shelby County Chancery Court judge will consider Keough's injunction request on Wednesday.

 
 

It's not all bad

Sam Sloan surprised the Calhoun Volunteer Fire Department in Missouri with a $500,000 donation that will be used to buy a new tanker pumper, protective gear and two used trucks. At the time, the department had only $189 in the bank. "I've never seen a check with so many zeroes," Chief Mark Hardin told The Washington Post. Sloan, 91, made the donation after retiring and selling most of his farmland and businesses. "I knew at this point in my life, I could help," he said.

 
 
Under the radar

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a law in May 2023 that prohibits people who are "domiciled" in China and do not have U.S. citizenship or green cards from "purchasing or acquiring any interest in real property in the state." Florida's law, SB 264,  also blocks most citizens of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela from "owning or acquiring any interest in real property within 10 miles of any military installation or critical infrastructure in the state." 

The law is controversial because nobody seems to know what "domiciled" means and or agrees on what the legislation is trying to accomplish. 

Many Florida residents have "voiced frustrations about being cut off from the ultimate American dream," The New York Times said. The law's proponents argue it is not meant to be discriminatory but rather aimed at to protecting national security interests. China "has been clandestinely going after land grabs in the United States," Florida State Rep. David Borrero (R) told the Times, and "we can't just have that in our backyard." Civil rights groups including the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are suing Florida to block the law.

SB 264 was put on hold by a federal appellate court, but at least "151 bills restricting property ownership by foreign entities have been considered by 32 states" in 2024, according to the China-U.S. relations organization Committee of 100. Seven of these bills have been passed, in Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota, Utah and Nebraska.

 
 
On this day

May 22, 1992

"The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" aired its final episode, bringing to an end one of the most iconic late night television shows in American history. Carson had no guests on his final show but instead looked back at notable highlights. Jay Leno took over as host of "The Tonight Show" after Carson's departure.

 
 
TODAY’S newspaperS

Elections were held in several states on Tuesday — including in Georgia, where "Fulton County DA Fani Willis routs Democratic challenger as judge in the Trump election case easily wins a full term," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says. But as the big national election looms, "big rent increases leave crucial voters frustrated" in key swing states, USA Today says. Homeowners also "feel pinch as insurers' losses rise" amid increasing climate disasters, The New York Times says. And looming over everything, "Covid-19 infects 2024 election," the Los Angeles Times says, as "voters show signs of trauma from the pandemic in political divisions, views on the economy and more."

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Artificial intellectual

This year's commencement speaker at D'Youville University in Buffalo, New York, was an AI robot named Sophia. The university's president, Dr. Lorrie Clemo, told The New York Times the school wanted to "showcase how important technology is, and the potential for technology to really enrich the human experience." Sophia did not give a traditional speech to the graduates but instead answered questions from the student body president, including: "What is the most common piece of advice given in commencement speeches?"

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Erik Flaaris Johansen / NTB / AFP via Getty Images; Mark Peterson - Pool / Getty Images; Katherine Bomboy / NBC via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images