Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said on Saturday that another one of the hostages abducted during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel has died.

Hamas released a video saying that Nadav Popplewell, who was taken hostage from the southern Israeli community of Kibbutz Nirim, died after being wounded in an Israeli strike in Gaza.

The Israeli military did not offer immediate comment on the latest video. It has referred to previous videos of hostages released by Hamas as psychological terror.

It has also denied some of the previous accusations by Hamas that hostages were killed by Israeli fire.

Earlier on Saturday Hamas released an undated video of the 51-year-old captive in front of a white wall, with a bruise on his right eye, and speaking his name.

Hours later, in the second video, it said Popplewell died of wounds sustained a month ago in an Israeli air strike.

Hamas said Popplewell, whom it said was also a British citizen, was being detained with a woman hostage when the place they were being held was targeted by an Israeli missile.

“He died because he didn’t receive intensive medical care at medical facilities because of the enemy’s destruction of hospitals in Gaza,” the Hamas armed wing spokesman, Abu Ubaida, said in a statement.

Of 252 people abducted on Oct. 7, 128 remain in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. At least 36 of them have been declared dead by an Israeli forensic committee.

Israel says securing the release of the hostages is the aim of its offensive in Gaza, along with eliminating Hamas, which has ruled the enclave since 2007.

Popplewell, according to the hostages support group, was captured with his mother from her home in Kibbutz Nirim. His brother was killed during the attack. His mother was freed during a brief truce in November.

Sen. Bob Menendez is charged with more than a dozen corrupt acts that span the globe. But no detail gripped the public like the gold bars found stashed in his New Jersey home.

Not only did federal investigators find 13 gold bars in the summer of 2022, but Menendez’s own curiosity about their value shows up in repeated Google searches. Three separate times, according to prosecutors, Menendez searched online for the cash value of the gold.

Those details and more are expected to emerge at the senator’s criminal trial that begins Monday.

Prosecutors allege that the senator or his wife, Nadine Menendez, took bribes to influence state and federal prosecutors to go easy on his associates, aid the government of Egypt and help seal a deal between an associate and an investment company led by a member of the Qatari royal family — even as he was one of America’s most powerful officials on international affairs, as a leader of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

To prove their case, prosecutors will need to tie those gold bars to things the senator is alleged to have done to receive them. It helps that prosecutors have years of the senator’s phone and electronic records, including Google searches.

Prosecutors say those searches largely followed interactions involving the Menendezes and Fred Daibes, a New Jersey businessperson who is accused of bribing Menendez. The senator is alleged to have tried to help Daibes avoid legal troubles and to seize on a business opportunity involving an investment company run by a member of Qatar’s royal family.

Another co-defendant in the case, Egyptian-American businessperson Wael “Will” Hana, is also alleged to have provided the Menendezes with gold bars. Nadine Menendez is said to have sold some of them before investigators searched the couple’s home and deposited the proceeds into bank accounts she controlled.

Here’s how prosecutors have framed the timing of each Google search:

‘How much is one kilo of gold worth’

In mid-October 2021, Menendez and his wife had just returned from a trip to Qatar and Egypt, where they’d met with Egyptian officials and had dinner with Hana. They were picked up at JFK Airport by Daibes’ driver, according to the federal indictment.

Federal prosecutors allege Menendez tried to get other prosecutors to go easy on Daibes, who is facing separate fraud charges in New Jersey federal court.

The driver took the Menendezes to their home in New Jersey.

The next day, the senator searched for “how much is one kilo of gold worth.”

‘Kilo of gold price’

In January 2022, Daibes’ driver — who is not named in the indictment — called Nadine Menendez and then she texted Daibes, “Thank you. Christmas in January.”

About two hours later, the senator called a federal prosecutor handling Daibes’ case — the first time the senator had ever called the person, according to federal prosecutors.

Several days later, the senator searched for “kilo of gold price.”

The driver’s fingerprints were later found in the couple’s New Jersey home on an envelope containing thousands of dollars in cash. The envelope also had Daibes’ DNA and his return address.

‘One kilo gold price’

In May 2022, after a meeting between Menendez and Daibes, the Qatari investment company signed a letter to invest in a major real estate project Daibes had been working on in New Jersey.

“Thereafter,” according to the indictment, “Daibes provided Menendez with at least one gold bar.”

Three days after the letter was signed, the senator, his wife and Daibes had dinner in Edgewater — the New Jersey town where Daibes’ development would be. Later that evening at around 10:30 p.m., the senator hit Google again, searching for “one kilo gold price.”

Former President Donald Trump attracted a massive crowd to a Saturday rally in New Jersey, with attendance estimates ranging from 80,000 to 100,000 people, Fox News reported.

At the rally in Wildwood, a south Jersey beach city with a year-round population of 5,157 according to the 2020 census, Trump energized the crowd and predicted a sweeping victory in the upcoming November election.

Republican New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a former Democrat, described the event as the largest political gathering in New Jersey’s history, according to Fox News.

In Wildwood, NJ waiting for President Trump with my colleagues Reps. Jeff Van Drew & Chris Smith, as well as our friend @JrzyJoePiscopo pic.twitter.com/kDfjHzenuf

— Nicole Malliotakis (@NMalliotakis) May 11, 2024

“Welcome to the LARGEST political rally in the HISTORY of the state of New Jersey.” — U.S. Congressman Jeff Van Drew @Congressman_JVD pic.twitter.com/g3ZWh7npsc

— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) May 11, 2024

Republican North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, a former 2024 candidate for president, also flew with Trump to the rally and gave the first speech of the night, according to the New York Post.

Trump calls out Doug Burgum at NJ rally amid speculation he’s a top contender for VP.

“Just get ready for something, just get ready!” Trump says of Burgum. pic.twitter.com/1HxOGmLYU2

— Diana Glebova (@DianaGlebova) May 11, 2024

Doug Burgum exits Trump Force One on his way to Wildwood, NJ rally.

👀@nypost pic.twitter.com/UvgBlesVXZ

— Diana Glebova (@DianaGlebova) May 11, 2024

“We’re going to win New Jersey,” the former president said. “As you can see today, we’re expanding the electoral map because … we’re going to win the state of New Jersey. I think we’re going to win them all. All across America, millions of people, so-called blue states, are joining our movement based on love, intelligence, and a thing called common sense.”

Trump also heavily criticized President Joe Biden and accused him of enacting damaging economic and border policies that have significantly increased living costs for New Jersey families.

President Trump: “I have been indicted more than Al Capone on bull shit.”

Then the massive crowd started chanting “bull shit.” Trump’s Wildwood, New Jersey rally is must watch TV. pic.twitter.com/ZhRYxt0Piu

— Charles R Downs (@TheCharlesDowns) May 11, 2024

“The Biden price hikes are continuing to drain over $1,000 from the typical New Jersey family budget every single month,” Trump said, the outlet stated. “You look at the Afghanistan disaster, you look at the border, you look at the economy — the real economy, not the fake economy — everything [Democrats] touch turns to, what?”

“Shit!” the crowd answered the former president.

TRUMP: “Everything they touch turns to what?”

Crowd: “SH*T” 🤣 pic.twitter.com/c6mdF4ALSW@bennyjohnson

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 12, 2024

Trump promised to discard Biden’s policies on his first day back in office. “On Day One, we will throw out Bidenomics, and we will reinstate MAGAnomics. And we’re going to bring manufacturing, tourism and other industries back to New Jersey like we’ve never seen before,” he added.

5/11/24 | Wildwood, NJ… pic.twitter.com/WkuQe4CYSM

— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) May 12, 2024

Lawrence Taylor was a lifelong Democrat. And then the Hall-of-Fame linebacker met Donald Trump.

‘I just wanted to say I grew up a Democrat and I’ve always been a Democrat until I met this man right here,’ the 65-year-old Taylor told Trump supporters at a campaign event along the Jersey Shore on Saturday. ‘He will not have to worry nobody in my family ever voting for a Democrat again.’

Taylor is a beloved figure in New Jersey, where helped lead the East Rutherford-based New York Giants to a pair of Super Bowl titles during his decorated – and troubled – NFL career.

It’s unclear when he and Trump first met, although the real estate mogul did own a USFL team in the 1980s that shared a stadium with Taylor’s New York Giants.

Taylor was joined on stage by his former teammate, retired running back Otis Anderson.

‘Don’t you just love that guy?’ Anderson asked, referring to Trump. ‘Don’t you just love that guy? I tell you it has been a very exciting day. You guys, not one person left here. You’re still here yelling and screaming.’

BREAKING: ‘I will never vote for Democrats again’, Lawrence Taylor and Otis ‘OJ’ Anderson, New York Giants Icons, Declare Support for Trump at MASSIVE New Jersey Rally. WATCH pic.twitter.com/qTU0gLpOL0

— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) May 12, 2024

Taylor’s support comes with a bit of controversy, not that Trump seemed to mind on Saturday.

The pass rusher extraordinaire has battled personal problems away from the football field, both during and after his career, which ended in 1993. In one 1995 incident, the retired Taylor choked long-time Giants reporter Ernie Palladino after a verbal altercation.

In addition to numerous drug-related arrests, the former University of North Carolina star declared bankruptcy in 1998 and has had at least two stints in drug rehab. He was also arrested following a 2009 hit-and-run crash in the Miami area, although no one was injured.

He was arrested the following year and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of sexual misconduct and sex with an underage prostitute. He received a sentence of six-years’ probation, but was ultimately arrested in 2022 for failing to report an address change.

Taylor has stayed in the public eye following retirement, appearing on ABC’s ‘Dancing With the Stars’ in 2009 and starring alongside Al Pacino in ‘Any Given Sunday’ in 1999.

An avid golfer, Taylor has been hosted at several of Trump’s country clubs and was pictured on the company’s Facebook page alongside Anderson at Mar-a-Lago in 2021.

Trump’s ‘Fabulous World of Golf’ – a Golf Channel show that ran for two seasons – included one episode with Taylor and San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice.

President Joe Biden’s campaign plans to host a major fundraiser in Los Angeles next month with former President Barack Obama and Hollywood superstars George Clooney and Julia Roberts, according to a campaign official.

The star-studded lineup is expected to boost Biden’s fundraising efforts at a time when Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee are aiming to close the cash gap now that the former president has won the delegates needed to secure the nomination, allowing him to use all the GOP tools at his disposal.

The high-profile Biden event, set for mid-June, will feature a contest with Clooney and Roberts run across the campaign’s social media platforms to engage grassroots donors, as well as top celebrities and surrogates, according to details first shared with NBC News. The two Academy Award winners will also lend their names for campaign emails and text messages, in hopes of attracting more contributions.

The campaign plans to promote the Los Angeles fundraiser in a fashion similar to the glitzy evening Biden held with Obama and former President Bill Clinton in New York City in late March, which brought in $26 million. Biden campaign aides said that amount was a Democratic fundraising record for a single event.

The president is also expected to hold a fundraiser with Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the East Coast early this summer, according to a source familiar with the plans, first shared with NBC News.

For months, the Biden campaign has had a cash advantage over Trump, allowing it to build out infrastructure in battleground states and hire staff.

“We’re not under any illusion that he’s not going to narrow the gap,” a Biden campaign adviser said. “But what he can’t get back is the time we’ve had with all this money to do what we’ve done.”

Biden just concluded a West Coast fundraising swing through Northern California and the Seattle area this weekend, raking in $10 million in two days, according to a source familiar with the total amount who first shared the details with NBC News.

News of another marquee fundraiser comes as the campaign is bracing for new campaign finance filings that may for the first time show Trump’s campaign eating into what had been Biden’s biggest advantage so far in the 2024 race.

The Biden campaign ended March with $85.5 million in cash on hand after raising $43.8 million that month — nearly tripling the Trump campaign’s haul in that period, according to the most recent filings with the Federal Election Commission. The Biden campaign’s financial position when factoring in the Democratic National Committee is almost double that of Trump and the Republican National Committee — $131 million versus $67 million.

Team Biden’s strong March was boosted by the three-presidents fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall. But Trump answered back quickly with his own high-dollar affair in Palm Beach, Florida, in early April. His campaign said the event raised $50.5 million, portions of which will likely be reflected in the next FEC filing.

The Republican National Committee said this month that along with the Trump campaign it expects to report raising a combined $76 million in April.

The Biden campaign expects to release its April fundraising figures closer to the May 20 deadline. One campaign official said it’s to be expected that Trump’s fundraising would pick up now that the Republican nomination fight is over, but insisted that Biden’s fundraising pace remains strong.

Speaking with reporters last week, Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said regardless of what Trump’s tally is from April, the president’s campaign has long been leveraging its cash advantage to build out a significant re-election effort on the ground and boost its message across the battleground state airwaves.

“I’ll take that over whatever dollar figure Trump and his team actually end up filing in their report,” Tyler said.

Biden has often seen significant spikes in small-dollar donations around major events, like Trump’s victories this year in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries, as well as the State of the Union address in March. April, though, was largely dominated by Trump’s court cases as Biden held a series of battleground-state visits to discuss the economy, abortion rights and student debt.

Biden attended only two high-dollar fundraisers — in Chicago and the New York area — in April. One New York-based Biden campaign donor who serves on the national finance committee said the number of events featuring not just Biden but other surrogates has “dried up” as donors felt tapped out after the event with Obama and Clinton. But the donor expects the pace to pick up again this summer.

Obama has been a key part of Biden’s fundraising efforts. In April, the campaign launched a series of digital ads featuring Obama and Biden pitching viewers to make small-dollar donations. In the year since Biden kicked off his re-election effort, small-dollar solicitations from Obama have helped generate more than $17 million, the campaign said.

The Biden and Obama teams continue to discuss the scope of the former president’s engagement, including a recent in-person meeting between Obama and Biden senior adviser Mike Donilon, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Obama is also expected to do fundraisers in the coming months for the Democrats’ Senate and House campaign committees, as well as the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, according to an Obama official.

A graduation ceremony for nursing students at Howard University ended abruptly and in chaos after angry family members chanted “Let us in!” and pounded on the doors and smashed a window after being locked out when the auditorium hit capacity.

Loved ones of students in the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences packed into the Cramton Auditorium in Washington, DC, on Thursday, but not all relatives made it inside the building before the ceremony was abruptly canceled during the keynote address.

Chaotic video footage shows dozens of people standing outside the auditorium chanting “Let us in! Let us in!” as the ceremony began.

Pictures showed a glass door had been shattered during the commotion as people banged on the doors and tried to push past security to go inside.

“While they were doing the keynote speaker, there was, like, loud banging, even before that, for like 10 minutes straight,” graduate Bria Flowers told NBC Washington. “Just like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”

School officials told students and their families mid-ceremony that the fire department had come to shut things down.

“Because of the size of the room and because our relatives sometimes do not know how to act, the fire department is now here to shut us down,” Dr. Gina S. Brown, dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, said to a roaring response of boos.

However, D.C. Fire and EMS denied shutting down the graduation.

“D.C. Fire and EMS did not shut down tonight’s event,” the department said.

“At 6:42 p.m., we responded to the Cramton Auditorium for a medical local at the request of campus police. The patient was evaluated and refused transport, and D.C. Fire and EMS departed.”

1 hurt in chaos after Howard University nursing graduation ceremony reaches maximum capacity 📹: @Dream_Girl_MG https://t.co/BEL54p8OVJ pic.twitter.com/v82nASe5b9

— Allison Papson (@AllisonPapson) May 10, 2024

Students and their families were left shocked and upset by how quickly things got out of hand.

“I’m confused why it got so crazy, how it got so quick, so bad so fast,” graduate Kiana Hamilton said.

Fellow graduate Halle Ragoonanan said the incident was especially heartbreaking for her and her family because she didn’t get to walk during her high school graduation in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I didn’t even get to walk,” she said. “I didn’t get to walk. I graduated magna cum laude and I didn’t even get to walk. I’m the class of 2020. I didn’t get to walk for my high school graduation and I didn’t get to walk for my college graduation.”

Other graduates lamented over how much money their families had spent to be there for their special day just for it to be canceled.

This mother’s day weekend Howard University shutdown graduation and blamed the families instead of taking accountability for poor planning. What did you expect when you have the largest graduating class and no headcount limit per graduate. Let them walk at commencement! pic.twitter.com/PipTkmr7D1

— Dee (@darling_daphney) May 10, 2024

“All the money we spent,” an unnamed student told the station. “My father and grandmother came down from North Carolina.”

Howard said security removed someone from the building before the ceremony who returned and smashed the glass door outside the auditorium.

One student was found with cuts on their hands from the broken glass.

“This incident led to a disturbance among guests outside of the facility, resulting in a disruption of the program,” Howard’s statement said. “Guests in attendance were immediately dispersed following this incident.”

Some of the affected students were able to walk in the university’s main commencement ceremony on Saturday, while individual awards were given out to students on Friday.

Roger Corman, the “King of the Bs” who helped turn out such low-budget classics as “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Attack of the Crab Monsters” and gave many of Hollywood’s most famous actors and directors early breaks, has died. He was 98.

Corman died Thursday at his home in Santa Monica, California, according to a statement released Saturday by his wife and daughters.

“He was generous, open-hearted and kind to all those who knew him,” the statement said. “When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that.’”

Starting in 1955, Corman helped create hundreds of B-movies as a producer and director, among them “Black Scorpion,” “Bucket of Blood” and “Bloody Mama.” A remarkable judge of talent, he hired such aspiring filmmakers as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron and Martin Scorsese. In 2009, Corman received an honorary Academy Award.

“There are many constraints connected with working on a low budget, but at the same time there are certain opportunities,” Corman said in a 2007 documentary about Val Lewton, the 1940s director of “Cat People” and other underground classics.

“You can gamble a little bit more. You can experiment. You have to find a more creative way to solve a problem or to present a concept,” he said.

The roots of Hollywood’s golden age in the 1970s can be found in Corman’s films.

Jack Nicholson made his film debut as the title character in a 1958 Corman quickie, “The Cry Baby Killer,” and stayed with the company for biker, horror and action films, writing and producing some of them. Other actors whose careers began in Corman movies included Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern and Ellen Burstyn.

Peter Fonda’s appearance in “The Wild Angels” was a precursor to his own landmark biker movie, “Easy Rider,” co-starring Nicholson and fellow Corman alumnus Dennis Hopper. “Boxcar Bertha,” starring Barbara Hershey and David Carradine, was an early film by Scorsese.

Corman’s B-movie directors were given minuscule budgets and often told to finish their films in as little as five days. When Howard, who would go on to win a best director Oscar for “A Beautiful Mind,” pleaded for an extra half day to reshoot a scene in 1977 for “Grand Theft Auto,” Corman told him, “Ron, you can come back if you want, but nobody else will be there.”

“Roger Corman was my very first boss, my lifetime mentor and my hero. Roger was one of the greatest visionaries in the history of cinema,” Gale Ann Hurd, whose notable producing credits include the “Terminator” film franchise, “The Abyss” and “The Walking Dead” television series, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Initially only drive-ins and specialty theaters would book Corman films, but as teenagers began turning out, national chains gave in. Corman’s pictures were open for their time about sex and drugs, such as his 1967 release “The Trip,” an explicit story about LSD written by Nicholson and starring Fonda and Hopper.

Meanwhile, he discovered a lucrative sideline releasing prestige foreign films in the United States, among them Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers,” Federico Fellini’s “Amarcord” and Volker Schlondorff’s “The Tin Drum.” The latter two won Oscars for best foreign language film.

Corman got his start as a messenger boy for Twentieth Century-Fox, eventually graduating to story analyst. After quitting the business briefly to study English literature for a term at Oxford University, he returned to Hollywood and launched his career as a movie producer and director.

Despite his penny-pinching ways, Corman retained good relations with his directors, boasting that he never fired one because “I wouldn’t want to inflict that humiliation.”

Some of his former underlings repaid his kindness years later. Coppola cast him in “The Godfather, Part II,” Jonathan Demme included him in “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia” and Howard gave him a part in “Apollo 13.”

Most of Corman’s movies were quickly forgotten by all but die-hard fans. A rare exception was 1960’s “Little Shop of Horrors,” which starred a bloodthirsty plant that feasted on humans and featured Nicholson in a small but memorable role as a pain-loving dental patient. It inspired a long-lasting stage musical and a 1986 musical adaptation starring Steve Martin, Bill Murray and John Candy.

In 1963, Corman initiated a series of films based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The most notable was “The Raven,” which teamed Nicholson with veteran horror stars Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone. Directed by Corman on a rare three-week schedule, the horror spoof won good reviews, a rarity for his films. Another Poe adaptation, “House of Usher,” was deemed worthy of preservation by the Library of Congress.

“It was my privilege to know him. He was a great friend. He shaped my childhood with science fiction movies and Edgar Allen Poe epics,” John Carpenter, director of “Halloween,” “The Thing” and other classic horror and action films, said on X. “I’ll miss you, Roger.”

Near the end of his life, Karloff starred in another Corman-backed effort, the 1968 thriller “Targets,” which marked Peter Bogdanovich’s directorial debut.

Corman’s success prompted offers from major studios, and he directed “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” and “Von Richthofen and Brown” on normal budgets. Both were disappointments, however, and he blamed their failure on front-office interference.

Roger William Corman was born in Detroit and raised in Beverly Hills, but “not in the affluent section,” he once said. He attended Stanford University, earning a degree in engineering, and arrived in Hollywood after three years in the Navy.

After his stint at Oxford, he worked as a television stagehand and literary agent before finding his life’s work.

In 1964 he married Julie Halloran, a UCLA graduate who also became a producer.

He is survived by his wife, Julie, and children Catherine, Roger, Brian and Mary.

The first recipient of a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died nearly two months after he underwent the procedure, his family and the hospital that performed the surgery said Saturday.

Richard “Rick” Slayman had the transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital in March at the age of 62. Surgeons said they believed the pig kidney would last for at least two years.

The transplant team at Massachusetts General Hospital said in a statement it was deeply saddened by Slayman’s passing and offered condolences to his family. They said they didn’t have any indication that he died as a result of the transplant.

The Weymouth, Massachusetts, man was the first living person to have the procedure. Previously, pig kidneys had been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors. Two men received heart transplants from pigs, although both died within months.

Slayman had a kidney transplant at the hospital in 2018, but he had to go back on dialysis last year when it showed signs of failure. When dialysis complications arose requiring frequent procedures, his doctors suggested a pig kidney transplant.

In a statement, Slayman’s family thanked his doctors.

“Their enormous efforts leading the xenotransplant gave our family seven more weeks with Rick, and our memories made during that time will remain in our minds and hearts,” the statement said.

They said Slayman underwent the surgery in part to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive.

“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever,” the statement said.

Xenotransplantation refers to healing human patients with cells, tissues or organs from animals. Such efforts long failed because the human immune system immediately destroyed foreign animal tissue. Recent attempts have involved pigs that have been modified so their organs are more humanlike.

More than 100,000 people are on the national waiting list for a transplant, most of them kidney patients, and thousands die every year before their turn comes.

After President Biden gave his ultimatum of withholding offensive weapons to the Jewish state if Israel were to launch an invasion of Rafah, rocket attacks rained down on Israel on Friday from Rafah, with more rockets fired on Saturday.

Hamas launched rockets from Rafah at the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on Friday for the first time since December, as Iranian proxy Hezbollah sent a barrage of rockets into the northern Israel city of Kiryat Shmona, causing a massive fire.

Within the Gaza Strip on Friday, four Israeli soldiers were killed.

⚡️Hezb-Allah missiles burning the occupied town of Kiryat Shmona pic.twitter.com/fgDMrDPL0A

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) May 10, 2024

"Kiryat Shmona" settlement once again on fire from Hezb-Allah 35+ rocket barrage pic.twitter.com/C1axkCmrom

— julia m.k. (@bintmachgara) May 10, 2024

“When administration officials attacked or berated Israel publicly previously during the war, Hamas hardened its demands in return for releasing hostages, in fact delaying and minimizing the chances of success of the delicate negotiation,” Jonathan Conricus told Fox News Digital. Conricus served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for 24 years as a combat commander in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

“When Israel’s enemies detect tension between the U.S. and its most loyal and steadfast ally in the region, Israel, it emboldens them to attack Israel more and continue with their tactics of using human shields, since they understand that the U.S. will eventually punish Israel for defending itself, regardless of Hamas and Hezbollah’s actions.”

Conricus, who served as an IDF spokesman during the Gaza war and is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies added, “In the short term, these American statements will lead to enhanced violence and fighting, since they embolden Israel’s enemies. In the long term, they may push another American Middle Eastern ally away from the U.S. sphere of influence, and reinforce concerns harbored by many U.S. partners about the quality and steadfastness of U.S. support when needed the most.”

America’s former Ambassador to Israel during the Trump administration, David Friedman, posted a blunt message on X about the new Biden policy: “Hamas now firing rockets from Rafah into Beersheva — Israel’s largest southern city. Why wouldn’t they? — they have no fear of a reprisal. Biden has emboldened Hamas!”

Fox News Digital reported that many Israelis view Biden’s pause of weapons deliveries to be a betrayal of his assurance that he backs the Jewish state with an “ironclad” security promise.

Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.) told Fox & Friends on Friday that Biden is “walking away from Israel,” and called Biden’s decision “stunning.”

The enemies of Israel and America are closely watching Biden’s decision to reportedly create daylight between the U.S. and the Mideast’s only democracy, Israel.

On Thursday, John Kirby, the White House National Security Communications Adviser, said the U.S. was fully behind Israel. “The arguments that somehow we’re walking away from Israel fly in the face of the facts. I mean, this is a president who visited Israel within days of the October 7th attacks. This is a president who rushed additional military articles to Israel and, frankly, provided expertise from our own military to go over there to help them as they thought through their planning and their operation,” he told reporters at the White House.

Kirby continued “this is a president who put American pilots — fighter pilots — in the sky to help shoot down more than 300 missiles and drones fired by Iran in . . . mid-April. So the argument that somehow we’re walking away from Israel, we’re not willing to help them defeat Hamas just doesn’t . . . comport with the facts.”

Matthew Levitt, the director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at The Washington Institute, told Fox News Digital, “By default, working arms before hostages—including U.S. hostages—are released, and after Hamas’ bad faith behavior in negotiations, could embolden both Hamas and Hezbollah.”

Hamas has over 100 hostages in its captivity, including Americans. The terrorist mastermind behind Hamas’ massacre of nearly 1,200 people, including over 30 Americans, Yahya Sinwar is believed to be using hostages as human shields to hold off Israeli soldiers seeking to capture him in a tunnel deep below Gaza.

The State Department did not answer questions about whether Biden’s blockage of offensive weapons to Israel emboldens Hamas and Hezbollah.

On Thursday, spokesman Matthew Miller said, “What the President made clear is that we have concerns about a potential military operation in Rafah. I don’t think that’s any secret. We’ve been making those concerns known publicly, and we have made those concerns quite clear to the Government of Israel. And as the President noted, there are certain types of military assistance that we will not make available to Israel for use in a campaign in Rafah,” said Miller.

The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) published a letter from a who’s who of retired U.S. military leaders, criticizing Biden’s arms directive. “Amid surging antisemitism in America and the world, following the largest one-day loss of innocent Jewish life since the Holocaust, U.S. support for the only Jewish state should be clear, unwavering, and not conditioned. The benefits of this partnership for the American people and this important region are many, and too valuable to forsake.”

The letter added: “America must support Israel as it restores its security, shattered on October 7, against Iran and its terrorist proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen that all seek to destroy the Jewish state. These forces are also enemies of the United States and everything we stand for.

“This Iranian-backed axis of terror, as well as other adversaries and allies around the world, are watching closely to see whether the United States will stand by one of its closest allies fighting in self-defense, even when the going gets tough.”

Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former National Security Council official, warned, “There’s zero doubt that Iran and Hezbollah are going to escalate the longer this illegitimate embargo drags on. Our shared enemies feed on the perception of space between the United States and Israel, and the projection of weakness and desperation in both capitals.”

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was a surprise guest on former president Donald Trump’s “Trump Force One” campaign plane Saturday, joining the presumptive GOP nominee as he flew over a massive Jersey Shore crowd gathering for an oceanside rally.

Burgum, rumored to be on Trump’s vice presidential shortlist, and his wife Kathryn remained behind on the plane to speak privately with Trump before he stepped out on the tarmac.

The Trump campaign set a high bar for the event in Wildwood, New Jersey, as officials told The Post they believed 80,000 supporters would descend on the beach for their candidate’s first major rally in the New York area by the president since 2020.

The Post was the only news outlet on board Trump’s plane as it flew from New York’s LaGuardia airport into Atlantic City.

Hundreds of people set up camp overnight on the resort’s famed boardwalk, NJ.com reported, as fans traveled hours to attend.

“I think this country needs him back, because I don’t think this country can survive another four years of Democratic rule,” Chris Mitchell of Sussex County, NJ told the outlet.

Thousands more arrived early Saturday morning to set up pre-rally tailgate parties, adding to the breezy day’s festival atmosphere.

“Feel the energy here,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) told Fox News. “Tens of thousands of people that know we have to do better, that this is the greatest nation on the face of the earth, and that we can do better.”

There could be 50 contenders on Donald Trump’s vice presidential shortlist — but there was room for only one of them on his campaign plane Saturday.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was a surprise addition to Trump’s manifest as he joined the presumptive GOP nominee for a short flight from LaGuardia Airport to Atlantic City, NJ.

Burgum and his wife Kathryn remained behind on the plane to speak privately with the former president before he stepped out on the tarmac and they all then motorcaded to a huge oceanside rally — in nearby Wildwood.

The Post spoke to Burgum after his speech at the New Jersey rally while he watched alongside his wife, asking him why he thought he was chosen to give the first speech of the night.

“First of all, it’s so important for the country that President Trump gets re-elected. As a governor having had the opportunity to serve under President Trump and President Biden, I get to see a front row seat on the difference in what leadership means. And so if the Trump team says ‘hey can you come and help out?’ we say ‘yes.’”

The Post asked Burgum if he had the opportunity to speak to Trump on the plane ride over.

“We did. And of course, there’s – President Trump, one of the things that’s so remarkable about him is how hard he works. And when he’s on that plane, every minute he’s on that plane, he and everybody on the team is working,” the governor said.

“This time we had Wendy’s, instead of McDonalds, as you know, you were there, but everybody’s working. It was great to see. Everybody on that team cares so deeply about that country.”

On reports he’s being considered for a Cabinet position or VP, Burgum deflected, saying Trump has said he still has dozens of people in mind.

“I dismiss sort of all of that. Because just a week ago at Mar-a-Lago, when someone asked him, during his remarks, he said that there was over 50 people on the shortlist. So the shortlist could be very long.”

“And I think everybody who cares about this country should be out helping the campaign for President Trump and that’s what the first lady and I are doing,” Burgum concluded.

Trump called out Burgum on stage after the governor delivered his remarks at Wildwood, telling him to “get ready” for “something.”

“Another day at the beach,” Burgum told The Post with a grin after delivering his short but rousing speech to the raucous crowd on the beach, which Wildwood officials estimated was between 80,000 and 100,000, a record for a Garden State political rally.

“Donald Trump means strength, Joe Biden means weakness,” Burgum said. “If you want to make America strong again, you know what to do.”

https://twitter.com/DanScavino/status/1789431762776408547

Burgum, 67, unsuccessfully vied for the 2024 GOP nod before dropping out late last year — but unlike his fellow presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, he immediately endorsed Trump upon leaving the race.

Trump on Saturday shot down a report that Haley had vaulted into a top contender for the role.

“Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot, but I wish her well!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Former President Donald Trump may face an IRS bill in excess of $100 million after a government audit indicates he double-dipped on tax losses tied to a Chicago skyscraper, according to a report by The New York Times and ProPublica that drew on a yearslong audit and public filings.

The tax filings that the public does know about have come from past reporting by the Times and a public release of records by Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee in 2022.

Trump’s presidential campaign provided a statement in son Eric Trump’s name saying the IRS inquiry “was settled years ago, only to be brought back to life once my father ran for office. We are confident in our position.”

The tax records cited by the report indicate that Trump twice deducted losses on the Trump International Hotel and Tower, which opened in 2009 near the banks of the Chicago River that cuts through that city’s downtown.

The report said Trump initially reported losses of $658 million in his 2008 filings under the premise that the property fit the IRS definition of being “worthless” because condominium sales were disappointing and retail space went unfilled amid a deep U.S. recession.

But in 2010, the published report said, Trump transferred the ownership of the property to a different holding company that he also controlled, using the move to save money on taxes by reporting an additional $168 million in losses over the next decade on the same property.

The report did not have any updates on the status of the IRS inquiry since December 2022, but said Trump could owe more than $100 million, including penalties, if he were to lose the audit battle.

Trump, meanwhile, is appealing a New York judge’s ruling from February after a civil trial that Trump, his company and top executives lied about his wealth on financial statements, conning bankers and insurers who did business with him.

In early April, Trump posted a $175 million bond, halting collection of the more than $454 million he owes from the judgment and preventing the state from seizing his assets to satisfy the debt while he appeals.

Switzerland’s self-described “non-binary” rapper Nemo has won the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song “The Code”.

Held in Malmö, this year’s Eurovision contest was marred by anti-Israel demonstrations in the multicultural Swedish city over the participation of 20-year-old Russian-Israeli singer Eden Golan.

While Golan received large support from the public, receiving a surprising 338 points from the audience vote — temporarily putting Israel in the lead — Golan ultimately ended up in fifth place. Meanwhile, Britain’s Olly Alexander received an embarrassing zero votes from the public, many of whom cast their votes in favour of Golan, in an apparent protest against the large-scale anti-Israel demonstrations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiGDvM14Kwg&t=9s

It was Swiss rapper Nemo who came out on top at the end with a total of 591 votes from the public and Eurovision judges, becoming the first so-called “non-binary” performer — demanding to be addressed by they/them pronouns — to win the contest and the third contestant to win the contest, following Lys Assia in the first edition of the contest in 1956 and Celine Dion in 1988.

Accepting the award, Nemo said per Sky News: “I want to say thank you so much, I hope this contest can live up to its promise and continue to stand for peace and dignity for every person in this world”.

Non-binary finery 💖🇨🇭🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ pic.twitter.com/QO2nmRM1uZ

— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 11, 2024

Nemo was not the only “non-binary” contestant this year, with Ireland’s entry, Bambie Thug, who claims to practice “neo-pagan blood magic” also identifying as such and demanding “they/them” pronouns.

The Irish performer, whose song “Doomsday Blue” heavily featured Satanic and “Wiccan” imagery, said that she “cried with her team” when hearing that Israel had reached the Eurovision final and reportedly forced organisers to relocate Israel’s Eden Golan into a separate waiting room ahead of the final.

During her final performance, Golan was forced to perform in front of boos from the Eurovision audience in Sweden, with chants of “free Palestine” being heard. The booing intensified as Golan began to sing a verse from her song, “Hurricane”, in Hebrew.

Bizarre to see Israel booed this evening (edited out of TV version) by an audience many of whose members would be imprisoned (or worse) if they lived in any other MidEast country (1/2)

pic.twitter.com/SA1r11OBMN

— Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) May 11, 2024

Securing 375 votes, Golan came in fifth in the contest, beating out Bambie Thug, who came in sixth place with 278 votes. Israel also received the second-most votes from the public at 323, only trailing Croatia, which received 337.

During the contest, Golan was largely confined to her hotel room under heavy guard and was escorted in a police convoy to the finals as upwards of 10,000 anti-Israel protesters took to the streets of Malmö on Saturday over the Jewish singer’s participation in the pop contest.

The protesters were joined once again by professional activist Greta Thunberg, who appeared at the rally dressed in Palestinian colours before being arrested again.

A House committee is scheduled to examine factors contributing to the historic surge in Chinese illegal immigration next week, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.

The House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability will hold a hearing on Thursday concerning the roughly 8,000% increase in Chinese illegal immigration the U.S. has experienced since March 2021, as well as policies by border authorities that may have contributed to the spike, a committee spokesperson told the DCNF.

The DCNF recently revealed an internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) email showing that the Biden administration dramatically simplified the vetting process for Chinese illegal immigrants in April 2023, which has increased the speed of Chinese illegal immigrants entering the country.

The CBP email directed Border Patrol agents to reduce the 40 questions they were required to ask Chinese illegal immigrants down to just five “basic questions” concerning their “Military Service,” “Universities,” “POB/Region,” “Employment” and “Political Party.”

North Carolina Republican Rep. Dan Bishop, chair of the subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability, told the DCNF that a “wide-open border presents a ripe opportunity for the [Chinese Communist Party] to undermine our national security.”

“This dramatic surge calls for intense scrutiny — especially as Border Patrol agents have been instructed to decrease vetting for Chinese nationals in order to process them into the country faster,” Bishop said. “As the CCP continues its quest for geopolitical dominance and threatens our sovereignty, we must examine the risks presented by releasing ever-increasing numbers of minimally-vetted Chinese nationals into our communities.”

READ the leaked @CBP email obtained by the @DailyCaller showing that the Biden Admin radically simplified the vetting process for Chinese illegal immigrants@DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/06sZK3Kiuz

— Philip Lenczycki 蔡岳 (@LenczyckiPhilip) January 2, 2024

U.S. authorities have encountered 24,376 Chinese nationals at the southwest border in fiscal year 2024 alone, according to the committee. In February 2024, the Republican National Committee adopted a resolution condemning the Biden administration’s immigration policies, citing the national security threat posed by “Chinese military-aged men” entering the country illegally, the DCNF reported.

Ammon Blair, a former Border Patrol agent and Army veteran, told the DCNF that “being a Border Patrol agent during the surge in Chinese illegal aliens felt like confronting a scene from ‘Red Dawn.’”

“Gradually, it appeared that our role was being coerced by current administration policies, from honorably defending our borders to paradoxically laying down a ‘Silk Road’ for our adversaries,” said Blair, who now works as senior fellow for the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “This evolution in policy seems complicit in the CCP invasion and their embedded threats like cyber warfare, drug warfare with Mexican cartel proxies, and economic destabilization.”

The simplification of the vetting process for Chinese illegal immigrants and other Biden administration policies have “created pitch-perfect conditions” for “the infiltration of Chinese agents of espionage,” Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center For Immigration Studies, told the DCNF.

“Intelligence community assessments show that China intends to ramp up espionage and political suppression campaigns in the coming years inside the U.S. and will need an expanded labor force for the effort,” said Bensman, who is one of three experts scheduled to testify during Thursday’s hearing.

THREAD@BryanDeanWright kindly had me on his podcast to discuss recent @DailyCaller investigations re: CCP influence operations

PART 1/3 covered:

– leaked @CBP email re: how @POTUS simplified vetting process for 🇨🇳 illegals

🙏PLEASE WATCH & SHARE – THANK YOU!🙏 pic.twitter.com/HreHdynFSD

— Philip Lenczycki 蔡岳 (@LenczyckiPhilip) March 8, 2024

Bensman’s testimony will feature photos of identification cards and passports discarded by Chinese illegal immigrants just after crossing the U.S. southern border, a committee source told the DCNF.

Cory Gautereaux, a small business owner and veteran living near the San Diego border, collected those discarded materials and shared them with Bensman.

Gautereaux told the DCNF that he believes Chinese illegal immigration is a “serious national security threat.”

“If they are discarding their IDs and hiding their identity there is a reason,” Gautereaux said. “Since our elected leaders are reluctant to visit the border, I’ll be glad to physically deliver these items to Washington and testify to what I’ve seen.”

The suspect accused of lassoing and raping a woman on a Bronx street in a horrific act caught on video was photographed Saturday after his arrest by the NYPD.

Kashaan Parks was arrested at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday and charged with attacking the 45-year-old victim in The Bronx at around 5 a.m. on May 1, the NYPD confirmed to Fox News Digital.

The NYPD released photos of the suspect on Friday and asked the public for assistance in finding him.

Surveillance video recorded the assault and shows a man throwing a looped belt around the woman’s neck before choking her unconscious and dragging her away on a dark city street.

In the video, the man is shown looking up and down the block before it cuts out.

“The male then dragged the victim between two cars and sexually assaulted her,” the NYPD said in a statement.

The video, which circulated widely online Thursday, shows the masked man sneak up behind his victim, snag her around the throat with a looped belt and drag her to the ground.

🚨Another horrifying incident surfaces in NYC as a woman is strangled by a belt and dragged between two cars, enduring assault. This comes amid a string of crimes against women, including the recent stabbing of a 17-year-old girl outside a Queens subway station. #NYCCrime pic.twitter.com/JPwzDYAVkM

— US-Crimes (@OfficialUScrime) May 10, 2024

She appears to lose consciousness within seconds, her hands falling from a defensive position to her sides as he drags her between two parked cars.

That’s where the alleged attack took place.

NYPD said the male suspect then fled on foot towards Melrose Avenue.

The victim was transported to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln and is in stable condition, authorities said.

Police said Parks, 39, was identified and wanted in connection to the assault.

An NYPD spokesperson said Parks was charged with rape, assault, strangulation, sex abuse, public lewdness and harassment. He is in the custody of Bronx Special Victims.

As of May 5, there were 511 rapes reported in New York City, the same total as last year over the same period, according to NYPD data.

Traumatic footage show a transgender murder suspect running over a victim twice with a Dodge Challenger in suburban Houston – before kissing and stabbing his limp body.

Law enforcement sources close to the case said the footage was some of the most horrifying they’ve seen in their careers, and culminated with the victim’s death.

The incident on Woodridge Square Drive on May 3 happened in broad daylight – with 20-year-old Karon Fisher seen careening toward Steven Anderson, 64, as he walked to retrieve some mail.

Hit first and run over again as Fisher backed up, Anderson is seen looking back in disbelief seconds before he is struck. KTRK cut away before the moment of impact.

As neighbors crowded around, Fisher is seen returning to the scene with a knife, flipping the victim over and stabbing him multiple times. Seconds before, he takes the time to straddle and kiss him, eventually running off. He is now in custody, cops said – crediting that with tips received from several horrified witnesses.

Cops have kept mum on whether he knew Fisher, but revealed in a statement he was in custody. He is identified in court records as a man, but was also described as a woman in a Monday statement from by police.

‘Charges have been filed against a suspect arrested in the fatal stabbing of a man in 7000 block of Woodridge Square Drive about 7:50 p.m. last Friday (May 3),’ it read.

‘The suspect, Karon Fisher, 20, is charged with murder in the 185th State District Court.’

The statement indicated Anderson did not die by either impact, and was killed as a result of the nine knife wounds left by the attacker.

Officials also attached booking photo of Fisher with a blonde weave, seemingly the same one he sports in the footage.

The video, taken from a neighbor’s security camera, also shows him wearing either only undergarments or a bathing suit, as he slowly strolls back to the patch of street where Anderson was writhing on the ground.

Watch:

Trans “woman” and murder suspect runs over his victim, reverses over him, gets out of the car, straddles him, kisses and stabs his victim nine times before skipping over his dead body and taking off.

Karon Fisher is seen careening toward Steven Anderson, 64, hitting him twice —… pic.twitter.com/BtDoTXnCoe

— EmmaBorosKidd (@EmmaBorosKidd) May 11, 2024

As this happens, neighbors who flocked to Anderson’s aid look on in horror, after bringing a pillow to the suffering victim and calling 911.

Homicide Division Sergeant N. Lazo and Detective M. Providence of the Houston Police department added that officers responded to the call ‘for service for an individual who failed to stop and render aid to another person outside’ Anderson’s residence.

Officers found the victim unresponsive in the driveway, bearing multiple stab wounds left by Fisher.

He was pronounced deceased at the scene, the officers wrote – adding how witnesses provided officers them information on the whereabouts of the suspect at a nearby location.

The location was not specified, but Fisher was detained and questioned by detectives, cops said.

‘She was subsequently charged and taken to the Harris County Jail,’ the statement from HPD further revealed.

Public records, meanwhile, indicate he is being held on a $2million bond, as cops have aired hopes that the neighbor’s security footage leads to a quick conviction.

Justice for Anderson’s family was another objective aired by detectives vetting the case, as neighbors recalled the horror of his final moments.

‘It’s very disturbing. I have kids here; they could have been out here playing, and imagine them,’ one neighbor told ABC13.

‘Broad daylight. People around every time and it happened right under our noses,’ added another, as some reportedly declined to talk due to the graphic nature of what they had witnessed.

The disturbing video, however, tells the rest of the story, and the car reversed and hit an already grounded Anderson again, seconds after he was struck at an unbelievable rate of speed.

Somehow surviving, he is seen lying sedentary on the floor as neighbors frantically call 911.

One neighbor is seen running out of their home with a pillow, before being met with the returning suspect, knife in hand.

Seemingly in a trance, he casually walks over to Anderson’s body before flipping it over and bending down, straddling and kissing him before delivering the fatal blows.

The suspect, arrested by the department in 2022 for an unspecified disturbance 30 minutes away, again casually walking away as if nothing had happened.

He even takes the time to skip over Anderson’s corpse, after attempting to enter another car while talking to witnesses.

He is then seen escaping, before eventually being apprehended by police.

As he remains custody, records show Fisher was already on community supervision for evading arrest in 2023, for a timeframe of five years

They also show Fisher was charged with prostitution in 2021, but the case was later dismissed.

Social media profiles further indicate he attended high school in Houston, graduating in 2019.

Their investigation, as of writing, remains ongoing.

Target will be limiting the distribution of its “Pride” merchandise this year after widespread backlash last summer against its sale of products like “tuck-friendly” female swimming suits led to boycotts and sinking sales.

The retailer told the Associated Press on Friday that only a limited number of its stores would be carrying special LGBT-themed merchandise in June. The store said the merchandise would only be available in select markets, based on “guest insights and consumer research.”

Despite the pullback, the store said that it still maintained that it fully supported the LGBT movement.

“Target is committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round,” Target said. “Most importantly, we want to create a welcoming and supportive environment for our LGBTQIA+ team members, which reflects our culture of care for the over 400,000 people who work at Target.”

Last year’s backlash to the retail giant began after customers pointed out that the outlet was selling “tuck-friendly” and “extra crotch coverage” female swimsuits.

The swimsuits were a part of Target’s Pride collection and were described as having been “thoughtfully fit on multiple body types and gender expressions.”

Other products in its “Pride Collection” included small shirts with phrases like “Just Be You And Feel The Love,” Pride-themed onesies, as well as rainbow-colored leggings, tutu skirts, and jumpers.

The merchandise spurred calls for boycotts of Target, leading to declining sales and stock prices. Its sales plummeted during the second quarter, after the backlash started, and fell for the first time in six years, falling 5.4% compared to the same period last year.

Online sales fell nearly twice as much, 10.5%, Target said. The company also said that the number of transactions and the average dollar amount of a transaction fell this past quarter. Target’s total revenue of $24.8 billion was 4.9 percent lower than the previous year’s second quarter.

Target responded to the backlash with emergency meetings, because it wanted to avoid a “Bud Light” situation, referring to the massive drop in sales of the beer brand after it partnered with transgender-identifying activist Dylan Mulvaney.

“We were given 36 hours, told to take all of our Pride stuff, the entire section, and move it into a section that’s a third the size. From the front of the store to the back of the store, you can’t have anything on mannequins and no large signage,” an insider said at the time.

Donald Trump on Saturday made it clear that former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is not on his running mate shortlist, quieting rumors that his campaign had been considering her as an option.

“Nikki Haley is not under consideration for the V.P. slot, but I wish her well!” the presumptive GOP presidential nominee wrote in a Truth Social post, signing the message “DJT.”

The comment came several hours after Axios reported that Haley was in the Trump campaign’s vice president conversation, citing two anonymous sources. Several media reports later echoed the rumors.

The political calculus behind a Trump-Haley ticket is plain to see.

Haley’s wealthy donor base could help Trump make up his fundraising problems, which are compounded by legal fees related to several ongoing lawsuits.

Plus, Haley, who has not yet endorsed the former president, could help win over Trump-skeptical Republican voters, whom President Joe Biden’s campaign has been vying for since Haley dropped out of the race.

Haley suspended her presidential campaign in March but is still racking up votes, including in Indiana’s Thursday primary, where she won almost 22% of the votes.

Despite the apparent political advantages, the bitter fight between Trump and Haley during the Republican primary ruled out her vice presidential chances.

“She is not presidential timber,” Trump said of Haley at a New Hampshire rally in January. “Now when I say that, that probably means that she’s not going to be chosen as the vice president.”

For her part, Haley repeatedly said she had no interest in the vice presidential seat while she was still on the campaign trail.

Trump’s veepstakes have been gathering more attention over the past several weeks, including from high-dollar donors looking to push their own recommendations.

Some names on the list include House Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., former GOP presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fl. and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem had also appeared to be a VP frontrunner, though her chances seem to have weakened due to backlash about her new memoir, which contains anecdotes about her shooting and killing several of her family’s farm pets and an unverified story about meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

“I liked her a lot,” Trump said in a Tuesday interview with Spectrum 1 News Wisconsin. “I don’t want to comment on anybody on the list. But she had a rough couple of days. I will say that.”

As all the VP hopefuls help Trump’s campaign, the former president has dragged out making a final call on his would-be running mate.

Nancy Pelosi and her husband attended a public debate at the Oxford Union in Oxford, England. The Oxford Union is a highly esteemed debating society and is one of Britain’s oldest university unions founded in 1823.

Nancy and Robert Pelosi attended the Oxford Union debate on April 25 on populism hours after she was interrupted by pro-Gaza protesters from Youth Demand who support Gaza militants and want to put an end to fossil fuels.

Winston Marshall is a popular writer, musician and podcaster. Marshall was part of the British folk rock group Mumford and Sons where he was lead guitarist and won a Grammy and two Brit Awards. Marshall was forced out of the band after posting a tweet saying journalist Andy Ngo was “brave” for his book which says far-left activists have “radical plans to destroy democracy”.

Winston Marshall participated in the debate on populism and its perceived threat by the global elites.

During his speech Pelosi rudely interrupted the brilliant young mind to argue that the violent and costly month-long protests and attacks on the City of Portland were not as devastating as the Jan. 6 protests and riot.

Here is the transcript.

Introduction: Populism is not a threat to democracy. Populism is democracy. I now look to Mr. Winston Marshall to close the case for the opposition.

Winstson Marshall: Ladies and gentlemen, words have a tendency to change meaning. When I was a boy, woman meant someone who didn’t have a cock. Populism has become a word used synonymously with racist, we’ve heard ethnonationalist, we’ve bigot, with hillbilly, red neck, with deplorables. Elites use it to show their contempt for ordinary people. This is a recent change, not Not long ago, Barack Obama, while still President at the North America’s Leaders Summit in June 2016, he took umbrage of the notion that Trump be called a populist. How could Trump be called a populist? He doesn’t care about working people. If anything, Obama argued he was the populist. If anything, Obama argued Bernie was the populist. It was Bernie who’d spent five decades fighting for working people.

But with Trump… Something curious happens. If you watch Obama’s speeches after that point, more and more recently, he uses the word populist interchangeably with strong man, with authoritarian. The word changes meaning it becomes a negative, a pejorative, a slur. To me, populism is not a dirty word.

Since the 2008 crash, and specifically the trillion dollar Wall Street bailout, we are in the populist age. And for good reason, the elites have failed. Let me address some common fallacies, some of which have been made tonight. If the motion was that demagoguery was a threat to democracy, I would be on that side of the If the motion was that political violence was a threat to democracy, I’d be on that side of the House.

January sixth has been mentioned, a dark day for America indeed. I’m sure Congresswoman Pelosi will agree that the entire month of June 2020, when the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, was under siege and under insurrection by radical progressives, those two were dark days for America. Yes?

Nancy Pelosi: It’s not. There is no equivalence there. It is not like what happened on January 6th which was an insurrection…

Winston Marshall: So you don’t agree. It’s fine. You don’t agree…

Winston Marshall: So you don’t agree. But you’ll condemn those days. My point, though, is that all political movements are susceptible to violence and indeed, insurrection. And if we were arguing that fascism was a threat to democracy, I’d be on that side of the house. Indeed, the current populist age is a movement against fascism. I’ve got quite a lot to get through. Populism, as you know, is the politics of the ordinary people against an elite.

Populism is not a threat to democracy. Populism is democracy. And why else have universal suffrage if not to keep elites in check? Ladies and gentlemen, given the success of Trump, and more recently, Javier Mallet taking a chainsaw to the state behemoth of Argentina’s bureaucratic monster, you’d be mistaken for thinking this was a right wing populist age. But that would be ignoring Occupy Wall Street. That would be ignoring Jeremy Corbin’s For the Many, Not the Few. That would be ignoring Bernie against the Billionaires, RFK Jr. Against Big Pharma, and more recently, George Galloway against his better judgment. Now, all of them, including Galloway, recognize genuine concerns of ordinary people being otherwise ignored by the establishment.

I’m actually rather surprised that our esteemed opposition, Congressman Pelosi, is on that side of the motion. I thought the left was supposed to be anti-elite. I thought the left was supposed to be anti-establishment. Today, particularly in America, the globalist left have become the establishment. I suppose for Ms. Pelosi to have taken this side of the motion, she’d be arguing herself out of a job. But it’s here in Britain where right and left populists united for the Supreme Act of democracy, Brexit. Polls have shown the number one reason people voted for Brexit was sovereignty for more democracy. Thank you. What was the response of the Brussels elite? They did everything in their power to undermine the democratic will of the British people, and the Westminster elite were just as disgraceful. As we’ve heard, David Cameron called the voters Fruitcakes, Loonies, and Closet Racists. The liberal Democrats did everything they could to overturn a democratic vote. Kirstama(?) campaigned for a second referendum. Elites would have us voting and voting and voting until we voted their way. Indeed, that’s what happened in Ireland and in Denmark. Let’s look at some of the other populist movements. The Hong Konger populist Revolt is literally called the Pro-Democracy Movement. The Pharma Revolt, from Netherlands to Germany, France, Greece to Sri Lanka, are taking their tractors to the road to protest ESG policy that’s floated down to us from those all-knowing infallible elites of Davos.

The trucker movement in Canada became anti-elitist when petty tyrant Prime Minister Justin Trudeau froze their bank accounts, not the behavior of a democratic head of state. The gilets jaunes in France, Ulez in London, working people, protesting policy that hurt them. And how are they treated? They’re called conspiracy theorists. They’re called far-right by the mayor as well. Ladies and gentlemen, populism is the voice of the voiceless. The real threat to democracy is from the elites. Now, don’t get me wrong, we need elites.

If-when President Biden has shown us anything, we need someone to run the countries. When the President has severe dementia, it’s not just America that crumbles, the whole world burns. But let’s examine the elites. European corporations spend over €1 billion a year lobbying Brussels. Us corporations spend over €2 billion a year lobbying in DC. Two-thirds of Congress receive funding from pharmaceutical companies. Pfizer alone spent €11 million in 2021. They made over $10 billion in profit. No wonder then that 66% of Americans think the economy is rigged against them for the rich and the powerful. And by the way, we used to have a word for when big business and big government were in cahoots.

Let Let me read you some mainstream media headlines.
The New Yorker the day before the 2016 election, “The Case Against Democracy.”
The Washington Post, the day after the election, “The problem with our government is democracy.”
The LA Times, June 2017, “The British election is a reminder of the perils of too much democracy.”
Vox, June 2017. “The two eminent political scientists say the problem with democracy is voters.”
New York Times, June 2017. “The problem with participatory democracy is the participants.”

Mainstream media elites are part of a class who don’t just disdain populism, they disdain the people. If the Democrats had put half their energy into delivering for the people, Trump wouldn’t even have a chance in 2024. He shouldn’t He shouldn’t have a chance.

You’ve had power for four years. From the fabricated Steele Dossier to trying to take him off the ballot in both Maine and Colorado, the Democrats are the anti-Democrat Party. All we need now is the Republicans to come out as the Promonicist Party.

Ladies and gentlemen, populism is not a threat to democracy, but I’ll tell you what is. It’s elites ordering social media to censor political opponents. It’s police shutting down dissenters, be it anti-monicists in this country or gender critical voices here, or last week in Brussels, the National Conservatives Movement.

I’ll tell you what is a threat to democracy. It’s Brussels, DC, Westminster, the mainstream media, big tech, big pharma, corporate collusion, and the Davos cronies.

The threat to democracy comes from those who write off ordinary people as deplorable.

The threat to democracy comes from those who smear working people as racist.

The threat to democracy comes from those who write off working people as populists.

And I’ll say one last thing. This populist age can be brought to an end at the snap of a finger. All that needs to be done is for elites to start listening to, respect it, respecting, and, God forbid, working for ordinary people. Thank you.

Watch:

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas spoke out about the criticism flowing his way in recent months that has spilled into attacks on his friends and family.

The longest-serving justice on the current Supreme Court has been under fire for reports about lavish gifts from his friend and conservative donor Harlan Crow.

He has also refused to recuse himself from cases related to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, though his wife Virginia Thomas was involved in the fight to contest the results of the 2020 election.

Thomas made the comments at a judicial conference in Alabama, though he did not specifically address the controversies.

“My wife and I, the last two or three years, just the nastiness and the lies,” Thomas said. “There’s certainly been a lot of negativity in our lives, my wife and I, over the last few years, but we choose not to focus on it.”

Supreme Court justices don’t generally speak with reporters or in public, so Thomas’s comments are rare. He repeated that he and his wife try to ignore their critics.

“You don’t get to prevent people from doing horrible things or saying horrible things,” he said.

“But one, you have to understand and accept the fact that they don’t, they can’t change you unless you permit that.”

The conservative justice previously faced criticism for not disclosing years of gifts and trips from his friend Crow and other conservative donors.

Virginia’s controversy stems from text messages she made to former President Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, urging him to pursue overturning the 2020 election after Trump lost to President Joe Biden.

Thomas is both the oldest and longest-serving Supreme Court justice. Former president George H.W. Bush appointed him in 1991 to succeed Thurgood Marshall, the nation’s first black Supreme Court justice.

The Eurovision Song Contest final gets underway in Sweden’s Malmo on Saturday, with thousands of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protesters expected to rally against Eden Golan’s participation amid the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel ranks with Croatia and Switzerland as one of the bookmakers’ favorites to succeed Sweden and win the colorful and kitschy competition watched by more than a hundred million people.

Police said up to 20,000 demonstrators are expected to rally against Israel’s participation in Malmo, whose more than 360,000 inhabitants represent 186 nationalities, many from the Middle East.

Sweden’s third-largest city is also expecting up to 100,000 fans from 90 countries, on the 50th anniversary of the iconic pop group ABBA’s Eurovision win with “Waterloo.”

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which oversees the event, confirmed in March the participation of Israel’s contestant Eden Golan, despite calls for her exclusion from thousands of musicians around the world. More recently, nine of the acts, seven of whom are finalists, have called for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

In video from Friday night’s rehearsal in Malmo, loud and prolonged booing could be heard when Golan came on stage.

קריאות הבוז לעדן גולן נשמעות היטב באולם במאלמו במהלך חזרת השופטים. אבל כפי שיעיד חצי הגמר, זה לאו דווקא אומר משהו על התוצאה pic.twitter.com/RdCN8zhK8s

— הקופסה 🎗 (@Hakufsah) May 10, 2024

The war started with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Terrorists also seized 252 hostages, of whom Israel estimates 128 remain in Gaza, not all of them alive.

In response to the onslaught, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza with the aim of toppling Hamas and securing the release of the hostages. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says over 34,000 have been killed in the coastal enclave since the start of the war. The figures have not been verified and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Condemnation

Golan’s song is an adaptation of an earlier version named “October Rain,” which she modified after organizers deemed it too political because of its allusions to the Hamas onslaught.

The EBU insists it does not play politics.

This neutrality was challenged on Tuesday by Swedish singer Eric Saade, who took part in the opening number of the competition wearing a keffiyeh around his arm.

Two days later, the unions at Belgian broadcaster VRT briefly interrupted the transmission of the second semifinal to broadcast a message in support of the Palestinians.

“We condemn the violations of human rights by the state of Israel,” the message said in Dutch, accompanied by the hashtags #CeasefireNow and #StopGenocide.

Inside the Malmo Arena, where organizers have banned all flags other than those of the participating countries, it’s all neon lights, bright costumes and upbeat melodies.

Last year’s showpiece in Britain’s Liverpool “was a huge party, a celebration thrown in Putin’s face,” after Ukraine’s win, anthropologist and Eurovision specialist Lisanne Wilken told AFP, referring to Russia’s leader.

“This year it really is more difficult for Sweden to position itself,” she added.

Security tightened

To gain access to the Malmo Arena, the some 9,000 spectators have to pass through a reinforced security system designed in particular to discourage protesters from approaching.

Police have said there are no threats directed at the competition, but their presence has been strengthened with reinforcements from Norway and Denmark.

Golan has been accompanied by a heavy security presence throughout the competition, and has skipped almost all events in Malmo aside from the live shows and dress rehearsals, in light of a wide range of threats made against Israel’s participation.

Sally Sadler, a music fan from the United Kingdom, said the protests had dampened the spirit of Eurovision “a little bit.”

“But it’s all about unity and music. We’re all here together, all nations, for love not hate,” she told AFP.

For the fans, it is now time for rhinestones and lively rhythms and the 2024 edition offers a wide range of musical genres.

Several acts “are about mental health, many young artists express that they are not feeling well and are struggling with their identities,” Andreas Onnerfors, professor of the history of ideas and a Eurovision specialist, told AFP.

“Another clear theme is religious and spiritual allusions. Then there is the classic range of love songs from disappointment to innocent infatuation,” he continued.

While politics is mostly absent on stage, it is closer than organizers were hoping for.

At the press conference after the second semifinal, the Netherlands’ Joost Klein repeatedly covered his face with a Dutch flag, seemingly signifying he didn’t agree with being placed next to Golan.

Klein was absent from Friday’s dress rehearsal, with the EBU investigating “an incident” involving the artist.

The SVT state broadcaster suggested the incident in question had been a confrontation with an employee of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Greek singer Marina Satti appeared to pretend to fall asleep when Golan spoke during a press conference, while former Finnish Eurovision competitor Käärijä filmed a lighthearted video with Golan, before later disavowing the clip after it circulated online.