PRIME SUSPECTS: The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that he has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and leaders of Hamas for their conduct of the war in Gaza and Israel.

  The request by prosecutor Karim Khan must be approved by the court’s judges before warrants are issued, but it is a political blow to Netanyahu and his government. It basically says they’re no better that the Hamas militants who slaughtered 1,200 Israelis on October 7^th. Israel’s bombing and ground war campaign in Gaza have killed more than 35,000 people, the vast majority of them unarmed civilians. Just yesterday, an Israeli airstrike killed 20 people in central Gaza, mostly women and children.

  Israel is not a member of the court and doesn’t recognize its jurisdiction in Israel or Gaza. But if warrants are issued, the people named could be arrested if they travel to any of the court’s 124 member nations, which includes most European countries but not the US.

IRAN LEADER DOWN: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and other officials were killed yesterday in a helicopter crash in remote mountainous territory. No cause was given.

  The downed helicopter was one of three carrying Iranian officials following the opening of a dam attended by Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan.

  Raisi was the second most powerful man in Iran’s political structure, answering ultimately to the clerical supremacy of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His death occurred as the US is trying to cool relations with Iran and avoid a regional conflict sparked by the Israel/Hamas war in Gaza.

  The hard-line Shiite cleric was behind the crackdown on protests against the government, particularly on women straining against the strict Islamic dress code. He was the leader of a government that has been expanding its regional influence through militia groups in other countries and a program to enrich uranium to weapons-grade for nuclear bombs.

TRUMP ON TRIAL: Donald Trump’s criminal trial in the payoff to porn actress stormy Daniels is expected to wind down this week with the possibility of dragging on past the memorial Day weekend. Court will be in session only today, tomorrow, and Friday.

  Defense lawyers are expected today to finish their cross-examination of former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen. Reporters Ben Protess and Jonah Bromwich write for The NY Times that under New York Law the weight of the evidence is against Trump if the jury follows the trail.

  They write that the evidence against Trump includes: “A recording of his voice directing a fixer to pay in cash. Phone calls, text messages, emails and a photograph that illustrate the case against him. And a parade of 18 witnesses who together told a compelling story: that Mr. Trump orchestrated a conspiracy to suppress sex scandals during the 2016 election, and after winning, sought to bury a porn star’s story for good.”

  The Times reporters write that despite the record of the case’s star witness Michael Cohen as a professional liar, the paper and audio evidence support Cohen’s testimony that Trump approved the payment to Daniels for her silence about a sexual fling, and the repayment of Cohen for advancing the $130,000. The prosecution only needs to show that Trump “caused” his company to file false records in order to be found guilty.

OUTER LIMITS: More than 60 years after he was chosen to be the first Black astronaut under the Kennedy administration, 90-year-old Ed Dwight finally broke the surly bonds of Earth in a 90-minute space flight launched by Blue Origin. Five other space tourists were also on board.

  “Fantastic! A life-changing experience. Everyone needs to do this!” Dwight said after touchdown. “I didn’t know I needed this in my life, but now I need it in my life.”

THE OBIT PAGE: Brig. Gen. Bud Anderson, the last of World War II’s “triple ace” American fighter pilots, died at home in California at age 102. An ace is a pilot who shoots down five planes, and Anderson single-handedly shot down 16 Germans over Europe. 

  Anderson was squadron mates with the renowned Chuck Yeager and also flew with him in the pioneering days of test pilots. Flying a P-51 Mustang in the war, Anderson logged 116 missions totaling 480 hours of combat without getting shot down himself. He ended the war with the rank of major at the age of 23.

  Anderson wrote in his memoir, “My eyes, I’ve always believed, communicate with my brain a bit more quickly than average.”

THE SPIN RACK: An order of nuns affiliated with Benedictine College denounced the commencement speech delivered by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker in which he said the female graduates should spurn a career and aspire to the highest position appropriate for a woman, “homemaker.” — Sean “Diddy” Combs issued an apology after CNN released a video of him beating up his then Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway. Combs originally denied the incident. “It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Combs says in a video posted to Instagram. “I was fucked up — I mean, I hit rock bottom — but I make no excuses.” Ventura’s lawyers described it as a pathetic attempt at an apology that was mostly about himself. — Could Mickey Mouse become a union enforcer? The 1,700 employees in the character and parade departments at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park, including the people who play Mickey, Goofy, and Chewbacca, have noted to join the SAG-AFTRA performance union. Their base wage now is $24.15 an hour. 

BELOW THE FOLD: In advance of the Paris Olympics, France has issued scratch-and-sniff baguette postage stamps.

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