With the panel selected, Donald Trump’s trial can enter its next stage, with opening arguments expected on Monday

• US politics – latest updates

Donald Trump’s hush-money trial gained momentum on Friday afternoon with the conclusion of jury selection.

Five alternate jurors were chosen on Friday, following Thursday’s proceedings when the 12 jurors and one alternate juror were picked.

A guide to Trump’s hush-money trial – so far

The key arguments prosecutors will use against Trump

How will Trump’s trial work?

From Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels: the key players

If court curtails use of statute in connection with January 6, it could eliminate two of the four charges against Donald Trump

The US supreme court expressed concern on Tuesday with prosecutors using an obstruction statute to charge hundreds of January 6 Capitol riot defendants, with the justices leaning towards a position that could jeopardize those prosecutions and the criminal case against Donald Trump .

The Trump case was not mentioned at the argument. But a decision curtailing the use of the obstruction statute in connection with the Capitol attack could eliminate two of the four charges against the former president.

If criminally convicted in New York, Trump will face legal humiliations of the sort he loves when applied to other people

The People of the State of New York v Donald J Trump will conclude, according to long-established court procedure. The former US president’s defense attorney will make a closing argument. He will assert that his client is not guilty of the charges of bribery and business fraud to manipulate the 2016 election. Judge Juan Merchan will issue his instructions to the jurors. They will deliberate. When they emerge, the foreperson will read the verdict in open court. If Trump is found guilty, Merchan will adjourn to a later date for sentencing.

If Trump is found guilty on all 34 felony counts, he could theoretically face a maximum of 136 years in prison. Post-conviction, the major question would be whether his sentencing involves actual imprisonment, probation, a fine, or some combination, along with various parole arrangements. To be sure, Trump would then almost certainly file an appeal, but this would not forestall his immediately incurring certain civil disabilities. Above all, he would instantly lose his right to vote.

Ex-president calls New York criminal case due go to court on Monday a ‘communist show trial’

A defiant Donald Trump continued to attack the prosecutor, judge and a key witness in the New York hush-money criminal trial against him, a signal that the former president will continue to embrace bombast as jury selection in the case begins on Monday.

Trump described what will be the first criminal trial against a former US president as a “communist show trial”, during a rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. He also described his indictment as a “badge of honor” and cast himself as a martyr for his supporters. “I’m proud to do it for you,” he said.

Jury trial against military contractor CACI over ‘sadistic, blatant and wanton abuses’ comes 20 years after scandal broke

The first trial to contend with the post-9/11 abuse of detainees in US custody begins on Monday, in a case brought by three men who were held in the US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The jury trial, in a federal court in Virginia, comes nearly 20 years to the day that the photographs depicting torture and abuse in the prison were first revealed to the public, prompting an international scandal that came to symbolize the treatment of detainees in the US “war on terror”.

Manuel Rocha, 73, will also pay a $500,000 fine after pleading guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government

A former career US diplomat was sentenced Friday to 15 years in federal prison after admitting he worked for decades as a secret agent for Cuba , in a plea agreement that leaves many unanswered questions about a betrayal that stunned the US foreign service.

Manuel Rocha, 73, will also pay a $500,000 fine and cooperate with authorities after pleading guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed more than a dozen other counts, including wire fraud and making false statements.

Conservatives are taking legal action against public and private organizations that aim to aid women and people of color

Last year’s supreme court decision to ban affirmative action in college and university admissions was a watershed moment for far-right conservative activists and groups, who have used the momentum to target not only public institutions, but also private organizations that aim to aid women and people of color.

Many of the targeted groups are being sued by complainants who allege that they have been discriminated against because they do not fit diversity requirements. In some cases, the would-be applicants are engaging in presumptive suing – alleging the organizations have engaged in discriminatory behavior without even applying.

He’s losing cash reserves and legal gambits, and his eponymous stock – DJT – took an embarrassing tumble this week

Donald Trump is doing his best Wizard of Oz imitation. These days, Trump is not looking like the “winner” he needs voters to believe him to be. Like the title character in L Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s fantasy and the 1939 movie, there is less there than meets the eye. The 45th president’s lead in the polls evaporates while his cash stash shrinks.

His upcoming felony fraud trial in Manhattan looms. For the record, he is zero for three in his bids to adjourn the trial, and lawyers are expensive.

Far-right US Senate candidate joins Republicans who have decried state supreme court ruling but who blocked appeal effort

Kari Lake, the far-right US Senate candidate and Donald Trump ally, denounced Arizona’s abortion ban on Thursday, arguing that the strict legislation she previously praised does not have the support of the state’s residents.

“This total ban on abortion the Arizona supreme court just ruled on is out of line with where the people of this state are,” she said in a video on Thursday. “I agree with President Trump – this is such a personal and private issue.”