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Trump conviction, South Africa election and Boeing intervention

 
Today's NATIONAL story

Trump guilty on all counts in hush money case

What happened
A New York jury on Thursday evening found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by secretly paying off a porn actress to hide a politically damaging sex scandal. Trump is the first U.S. president convicted of a felony.

Who said what
Exiting the courtroom, Trump called the verdict a "disgrace" and himself a "very innocent man," adding, "The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5, by the people." In fundraising solicitations, Trump's campaign called him a "political prisoner" and said "JUSTICE IS DEAD IN AMERICA!" 

"The only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

Trump's conviction "ushers in a new era of presidential politics," The New York Times said. He will "carry the stain of the verdict during his third run for the White House as voters now choose between an unpopular incumbent and a convicted criminal."

What next?
Judge Juan Merchan will sentence Trump on July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention. Until then, "Trump will have the same experience as anyone else convicted of a felony" in New York, the Times said, including an interview with the city probation department before it recommends a sentence ranging from community service to four years in jail. Trump's lawyers plan to appeal.

 
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Today's international story

South Africa's ANC on track to lose majority

What happened
South Africa's long-dominant African National Congress party appears to have lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since it rose to power in 1994 under Nelson Mandela at the end of apartheid, according to preliminary results from Wednesday's national elections released Thursday.

Who said what
Many of the voters who turned out in high numbers Wednesday "blame the ANC for the high levels of corruption, crime and unemployment," the BBC said.

The ANC has about 42% of the vote, according to partial results — down from its current majority of 57%, already its worst showing in 30 years — followed by the Democratic Alliance at 23%.

If the ANC gets less than 50% of the vote, it will have to form a coalition. South Africa's 400-seat National Assembly elects the president, and it's unclear if President Cyril Ramaphosa would get a second term.

What next?
The independent electoral commission said final results will be released by Sunday. The ANC's "best bet is an alliance with the plethora of small parties," diluting each party's influence and keeping "real power concentrated" in ANC hands, The Washington Post said.

 
 
Today's BUSINESS Story

Boeing releases safety plan to skeptical FAA

What happened
Boeing executives met Thursday with Federal Aviation Administration officials to present a comprehensive safety plan FAA officials had demanded following the Jan. 5 loss of a door plug on an airborne Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 airliner. 

Who said what
The FAA "reviewed Boeing's roadmap" and "underscored that they must follow through on corrective actions and effectively transform their safety culture," FAA administrator Mike Whitaker said. Boeing is "confident in the plan" and will "work under the FAA's oversight" to uphold its "responsibility to the flying public to continue delivering safe, high-quality airplanes," said Boeing airline division CEO Stephanie Pope. 

The plan presented Thursday is "not the first time Boeing has promised it will clean house following a disaster," and it's "unlikely to quell concerns from the planemaker's sharpest critics," Politico said. It includes "several components to improve employee training, clarify instructions for assembly line employees, prevent suppliers from shipping defective components" and strengthen audits, CNN said.

What next?
FAA officials and Boeing are expected to meet weekly to assess their progress.

 
 

It's not all bad

Using high-resolution microscopy, scientists at the University of Sheffield and the Central Laser Facility have uncovered the secret of how butterfly wings become so vibrant. Researchers found that denser actin bundles, a protein in butterflies' scales, result in more reflective and colorful structures. This discovery could inspire innovative technologies in sensing, diagnostics and sustainable paints. By mimicking butterfly scale structures, scientists aim to develop long-lasting UV-resistant colors for applications both in and out of the laboratory.

 
 
Under the radar

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit in 1990, and NASA estimates that it will end its lifecycle in the mid-2030s. But one private citizen is taking steps to save the Hubble — seemingly to NASA's chagrin. 

Jared Isaacman, a wealthy entrepreneur and citizen astronaut, has floated a self-funded maintenance mission to the telescope to expand its lifecycle. A new NPR report reveals that NASA has internally expressed concerns about the safety and possibility of this mission.

NASA's main concern is that Isaacman's proposal involves a spacewalk that would seek to refurbish the telescope by way of SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule. While a "well-planned" mission could extend the Hubble's usage, a spacewalk of this type is "unnecessary and risky," said Keith Kalinowski, a retired Hubble operations expert.

SpaceX, a private company founded by Elon Musk, has a "willingness to accept risk" that is "considerably different than NASA's," said Dana Weigel, NASA's program manager for the International Space Station. 

NASA has used spacewalks to refurbish the Hubble before, but SpaceX "has yet to prove that astronauts can safely venture outside of the company's Crew Dragon capsule," said Futurism. SpaceX's capsule does not have an airlock, so "for an astronaut to step outside, the entire interior will have to be depressurized and exposed to the vacuum of space when the hatch opens," said NPR. Also, prior NASA missions could linger around the Hubble for a week, "giving astronauts time to tinker with the hardware, but Dragon doesn't have that capability," said Extreme Tech.

 
 
On this day

May 31, 2009

Millvina Dean, the last living survivor of the RMS Titanic, died at age 97. Dean was the youngest passenger on the ocean liner, as she was just two months old when the Titanic sank in 1912. Her death came 98 years to the day after the ill-fated ship was first launched in Belfast.

 
 
TODAY’S newspaperS

There is only one top story in Friday's newspapers. "GUILTY" is the headline The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and the New York Daily News deploy to announce Donald Trump's 34 felony convictions in his New York hush money case. The Wall Street Journal goes with "Trump convicted," The Washington Post says "Trump found guilty," and the Los Angeles Times adds "guilty on all counts." "Convicted felon," the Chicago Sun-Times says. The Philadelphia Daily News gets creative, with "Orange crush: Oh, how the mighty have felon," and the New York Post marches to its own beat: "INJUSTICE."

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Wheel of fortune

Thousands of dairy-devils headed to Gloucester, England, on Monday for the annual cheese rolling races down Cooper's Hill. The event, which dates back to at least 1826, features competitors hurling themselves down the near-vertical hill to chase a 7-pound wheel of cheese; the first person to grab it takes it home. This year the course was slippery due to wet weather, The Associated Press said, and local rugby players gathered at the bottom of the course to catch tumbling participants.

 
 

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: Seth Wenig / Pool / AFP via Getty Images; Zinyange Auntony / AFP via Getty Images; Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images