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The Strange Case of the 11-Person Jury

New York’s highest court let a verdict by 11 jurors stand in a criminal case that involved an escort, machetes and a mysterious visitor. The ruling broke 342 years of precedent.

© Bettmann, via Getty Images

New York criminal juries have had 12 members since before New York was a state. In 1913, the requisite dozen heard testimony in a murder trial.
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What Trump’s asylum ‘pause’ means – and what it doesn’t

The US president has halted decisions on many asylum claims, but the scope, legality and real-world impact of the pause remain unclear

Donald Trump has ordered a “pause” on asylum claims in the wake of last week’s shooting of two national guard members in Washington. The suspect in the shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is a 29-year-old Afghani national who assisted U.S. forces during the two-decade war there and was paroled into the United States in 2021. US citizenship and immigration services awarded him asylum earlier this year.

It’s not clear how long the president’s asylum pause will last. Trump told reporters Sunday that the directive “has no time limit, but it could be a long time”.

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© Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

© Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

© Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

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The art of tablescaping | Jess Cartner-Morley

Laying a table well is one of the best ways to make guests feel relaxed and cosy. Queen of tablescaping Laura Jackson’s advice? Forget the stiff old rules and have fun with it

A feast is not just about food. Just to sit at a table surrounded by the faces of your people: nothing beats it. A feast is about togetherness, whether there are two people at the table, or 16. The primal joy of good food taps into something even more fundamental than hunger; if food is a love language, a feast is a big hug.

Is it sacrilege to say that being a host matters more than being a cook? Not to disparage the skill of the chef. Quite the opposite, it takes skill to make really good gravy, concentration to remember to take the cake out of the oven before it burns, and years of experience to time a roast to come together at the right moment. It takes no skill to fold a napkin and light a candle, yet with a beautifully laid and bounteously laden table, the night feels special before dinner is served, which takes the pressure off.

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© Photograph: Jermaine Binns/The Guardian

© Photograph: Jermaine Binns/The Guardian

© Photograph: Jermaine Binns/The Guardian

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