The judge overseeing Donald Trump's election interference case in Georgia has ruled that all court proceedings can be live-streamed to the public, setting the stage for what could easily become the most watched trial in US history.
Global and domestic television audiences have followed high-profile US cases with intense interest over the decades, but never before has a former president been prosecuted, let alone on live TV.
The stakes could hardly be higher for Mr Trump, who is the Republican Party front-runner to win next year's nomination to run for president.
He has vigorously denied all charges and says his criminal cases are politically motivated, and the former TV host may well play to the camera as he fights the felony racketeering charges against him.
“If the public is to fully accept the outcome, it will be vitally important for it to witness, as directly as possible, how the trials are conducted, the strength of the evidence adduced and the credibility of witnesses,” a group of Democrats in Congress wrote in a letter last month asking that all of Mr Trump's trials be televised.
US courts vary in whether they permit cameras in the courtroom. Federal courts ban them, but state courts often allow them, including in Georgia, where Mr Trump is due to stand trial on charges he conspired to overturn the 2020 election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden by seven million votes.
Of the four criminal cases Mr Trump faces, only the one in Georgia is being prosecuted by a state, meaning the judge can permit cameras. The other three cases – in Miami, Washington and New York – are federal.
Several of Mr Trump's 18 co-defendants have already asked to have their cases transferred to federal court, where they would avoid the camera's stare.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said on Thursday that he planned to allow live-streaming of the trial on a Fulton County-provided YouTube channel. He said he would also allow video and photographs to be shot by press pool members.
High-profile trials attract millions of viewers in the US and abroad. Some of the more memorable moments of courtroom drama include OJ Simpson, who had been accused of murdering his wife, trying on a pair of gloves that prosecutors said he wore when he killed her.
The gloves appeared far too small for him, leading to his lawyer Johnnie Cochrane's famous line: “If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.”
Simpson was acquitted in 1995.
Trump co-defendant mugshots – in pictures
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Schedule
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
