U.S. and world news for May 28

Memorial Day messages: There was a sharp contrast between the Memorial Day messages from President Biden and Donald Trump. After laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery in honor of the fallen members of the U.S. military, Biden made a speech in which he called for their sacrifices never to be forgotten. Biden underscored the importance of defending democracy from the threat of those who would become dictators. Trump, in an internet post, honored himself while blasting the U.S. judicial system and the judges and jurors who serve it. Trump’s son Eric posted a message urging people to mark Memorial Day by buying Trump merchandise.

Trump trial: Today’s closing arguments in the Donald Trump hush money trial were expected to replicate the closing arguments in any criminal case in the New York state court system. They typically see the defense trying to poke enough holes in the evidence introduced by the prosecution to create reasonable doubt in the minds of at least some jurors. The prosecution, on the other hand, summarizes how it believes each piece of evidence constitutes a piece of the puzzle, which when put together points to the absolute guilt of the accused.  

Rafah airstrike: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the Israeli attack that led to a fire in a tent camp in Rafah in Gaza was a tragic mistake. About 45 Gaza civilians were killed and about 200 wounded. Israel said that two Hamas leaders who had been targeted were killed. Israel said that it used small arms to target the Hamas leaders and that the fire that tore through the refugee tent camp was caused by a secondary explosion. Netanyahu also said that Israel will not end the war against Hamas until it achieves all of its military goals.  

Heavy weather: More than 675,00 electric customers were without power this morning after a new series of severe storms struck the area around Dallas. Another 400,000 were without power in an area from Alabama to New York that was affected by storms. At least 23 people were killed in the Memorial Day storms that struck parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Arkansas and included numerous tornadoes.

Communications deal: T-Mobile and UScellular today announced that T-Mobile has agreed to acquire substantially all of UScellular’s wireless operations. This includes UScellular’s wireless customers and stores. T-Mobile will pay approximately $4.4 billion for the assets being acquired from UScellular in a combination of cash and up to $2.0 billion of debt to be assumed by T-Mobile. The companies said that the transaction will create a much-needed choice for wireless in areas with what they called expensive and limited plans from AT&T and Verizon, and for those that have been limited to one or no options for home broadband connectivity.

Landslide: The government of Papua New Guinea ordered thousands of people to leave the area around the small village of Yambali where a landslide buried an estimated two thousand people last Friday. Rescuers continue to use hand tools to try to move the mud in an on-going search for possible survivors. Only five bodies were reported to have been recovered as of Tuesday. From 6,000 to 8,000 people lived in the area where the landslide occurred.