Former lawyer Michael Cohen took the witness stand Monday morning in the New York criminal case against former President Trump.

Cohen’s testimony is central to the case against Trump, as he is alleged to have been the go-between for Trump’s alleged hush money payments to pornography actress Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office argue Trump falsified his business records in relation to the payments.

Cohen appeared visibly nervous as he took the stand. Prosecutors began by asking him about his family history and other innocuous topics. He also recounted how he came to work for Trump, revealing that he ultimately had a salary of some $525k per year at the time of the 2016 election.

Prosecutors have been building toward Cohen’s testimony for weeks, also calling Daniels to the stand last week.

Trump was joined by a large group of powerful supporters as he entered the courtroom on Monday. Among his retinue were Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-NY, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Trump’s son, Eric Trump.

Cohen testifies that he spoke to Trump ‘every single day’

Former lawyer Michael Cohen testified Monday that he spoke to former President Donald Trump “every single day, and multiple times a day” before the 2016 election.

Cohen, who is a central witness in the prosecution’s case against Trump, noted that he could reach Trump via multiple cell phone numbers or even by stopping by his office, but added that Trump never used email and would often make comments about people “getting in trouble” or “gone down as a direct result of using emails.”

The former lawyer added that he was also frequently meet Trump in his office at variously points through the day, saying that he did not have to make an appointment with Trump because of Trump’s open door policy.

Trump, defenders show up in force ahead of Cohen testimony

Former President Donald Trump was joined by a bevy of high-profile supporters Monday morning outside the Manhattan courtroom, where the NY v. Trump trial will hear from key witness Michael Cohen.

As Trump spoke to the media early Monday morning, Republican supporters such as Ohio Sen. JD Vance, New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, his son Eric Trump, and others were seen standing behind the 45th president for what is anticipated to be an action-packed day in court.

Trump’s comments ahead of court Monday focused on his argument the case is a “baseless, politically motivated prosecution” promoted by the Biden administration, while highlighting a recent poll showing him leading Biden in key battleground states.

“The New York Times just came out with a poll that shows us leading everywhere by a lot. This is the cover story. And I think you’ll find it very interesting, but I’m sure you’ve all read it. Leading in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and Nevada. Nevada, we are leading actually by 12 points, which is generally a Democrat state,” Trump said.

‘Convicted liar’: Cohen claims he often lied and bullied people for Trump in trial testimony

Former lawyer Michael Cohen testified Monday that he would often lie to others for former President Donald Trump because it “was needed in order to accomplish the task.”

The former lawyer also said he would also often bull people because “the only thing on my mind was to accomplish the task, to keep him happy,” Cohen said, referring to Trump.

Cohen, who noted that he called Trump “boss” or “Mr. Trump” during his time working for the organization said that he enjoyed his time working for Trump, saying that the organization “was fantastic… working for him of those 10 years was an amazing experience… there were great times, there were less than great times, but for the most part, I enjoyed the responsibilities given to me.”

The former Trump lawyer added that Trump also liked to be frequently informed on tasks Cohen was carrying out, especially if that matter was troubling for Trump.

Cohen’s credibility has been questioned by Trump allies, with top GOP lawmakers Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., arguing that the former lawyer is a “convicted liar.”

Cohen pleaded guilting in 2018 to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

After the head of the United Nation’s atomic watchdog agency warned that Iran has enough uranium to produce “several” nuclear bombs, a firebrand Iranian lawmaker declared on Friday that the Islamic Republic of Iran possesses atomic weapons.

“In my opinion, we have achieved nuclear weapons, but we do not announce it. It means our policy is to possess nuclear bombs, but our declared policy is currently within the framework of the JCPOA,” Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani told the Iran-based outlet Rouydad 24 on Friday, according to an article published by the independent news organization Iran International in London.

The JCPOA is an abbreviation for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name for the Iran nuclear deal. President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA in 2018 because, his administration argued, the accord did not stop Iran’s drive to build atomic weapons.

The JCPOA provides massive economic sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for assurances it will not, within a limited time period, build a nuclear weapon.

Ardestani, who was re-elected to Iran’s quasi-parliament in March, added, “The reason is that when countries want to confront others, their capabilities must be compatible, and Iran’s compatibility with America and Israel means that Iran must have nuclear weapons,”

The Iranian parliament member noted, “In a climate where Russia has attacked Ukraine and Israel has attacked Gaza, and Iran is a staunch supporter of the Resistance Front, it is natural for the containment system to require that Iran possess nuclear bombs. However, whether Iran declares it is another matter.” Fox News Digital sent press queries to Iran’s Foreign Ministry in Tehran and its U.N. mission in New York.

Experts on Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program warned about the seemingly speculative comments made by Ardestani. Jason Brodsky, the policy director of the U.S.-based United Against a Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital that “Ardestani is only a member of parliament, and he’s not in the inner core of the regime’s nuclear decision-making circle, so while his comments are interesting, I think they have to be weighed properly given his access and standing.”

Just two days before Ardestani’s announcement, the president of the Iranian Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Kamal Kharrazi, told Al-Jazeera Network Qatar, “I announced two years ago, in an interview with Al-Jazeera TV, that Iran had the absorptive capacity and the capability to produce a nuclear bomb. Iran still has that capability, but we have not made the decision to produce a nuclear bomb. However, if the Iranian interests are threatened in this manner, we may change this doctrine. The military officials in Iran have announced that if our nuclear facilities would be attacked, we may change our military doctrine, with regard to the nuclear facilities.” The U.S.-based Middle East Media Institute (MEMRI) translated and published Kharrazi’s May 8 interview.

Brodsky said, “Kharrazi’s comments are part of an increasingly loud chorus of threats from Iranian officials that they will change Iran’s nuclear doctrine if Israel attacks them. The current advanced state of Iran’s nuclear program provides it with the luxury to make these threats as it hopes to deter Western policymakers from launching pressure campaigns on Tehran.”

Critics of the Biden administration’s Iran policy argue the White House strategy of de-escalation and containment targeting Iran’s atomic program has backfired. Iran’s regime – the world’s worst state-sponsor of international terrorism – is moving at an astonishingly fast pace to secure an operational nuclear weapon.

Nuclear security alarm bells are ringing over Iran’s illicit atomic program in Europe. Fox News Digital obtained the April intelligence agency report for Germany’s most populous state, Nordrhein-Westfalen.

The German intelligence report notes, “The Islamic Republic’s continued intensive procurement efforts by Iran in Germany continues” for its “nuclear and missile program.” The German experts added “proliferation-relevant activities by Iran to circumvent existing sanctions in favor of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs can still be assumed.” A State Department spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital, “As the president and the secretary have made clear, the United States will ensure one way or another that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon. We continue to use a variety of tools in pursuit of that goal, and all options remain on the table.”

David Wurmser, a former senior adviser for nonproliferation and Middle East strategy for former Vice President Dick Cheney, told Fox News Digital, “The distance from where Iran is purported to be to an actual deliverable device is still a ways away, provided the information that we have in our operating from is correct. And that is quite a proviso. We know that North Koreans have been interacting with the Iranians, and we know relations with North Korea go back many, many years.”

The communist state of North Korea previously aided Syria in building its illicit nuclear reactor. Israel’s air force knocked out the reactor in 2007.

Wurmser warned, “As since intelligence is generally incomplete and is inherently seeking to discover that which is given to being opaque with much hidden, we have to assume surprises. I realize in the Iraq war we imagined there was more there than there actually was – and there was more than what is popularly understood – but Iraq is actually a very rare circumstance. The Pakistani, the Russian, the Chinese, the Indian, and even the South African programs all were ahead of what we had expected when they were exposed. For that matter, that was the case with Libya as well.”

The non-proliferation expert noted, “So, on balance, I doubt Iran has a nuclear weapon yet, but I also doubt that the program is in a stable state, even a stable state regarding weaponization. I think Iran is pushing ahead and has every intention to go all the way. So time on this may still be there, but it is short and running out fast. And of course, the consequences of an Iranian bomb are catastrophic for the region, for Israel’s survival, and for the status of American power in the globe.”

The recent saber-rattling over Iran’s nuclear weapons program from regime officials and lawmakers coincides with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi’s May 8 statement that his organization was working “very hard with [Iran] to prevent [nuclear weaponization] from happening.”

The Washington D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War wrote this suggests “that Iran has already obtained or is close to obtaining the ability to procure nuclear weapons.”

It seems no one is safe on the streets of the Big Apple these days – not even beloved hometown actor and Brooklyn native Steve Buscemi.

Buscemi, 66, was strolling through Kips Bay last week when a brute walked up and struck the “Boardwalk Empire” star in a broad-daylight attack – one of the latest unprovoked assaults in the five boroughs, law enforcement sources told The Post.

The actor suffered swelling to his face and left eye and was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, his deranged assailant took off and is still on the lam, police sources said.

“Steve Buscemi was assaulted in Mid-Town Manhattan, another victim of a random act of violence in the city,” Buscemi’s publicist said in a statement to The Post.

“He is ok and appreciates everyone’s well wishes, though incredibly sad for everyone that this has happened to while also walking the streets of New York.”

Cops said the random attack happened around 11:48 a.m. on Wednesday in front of 369 Third Ave.

“I saw he was with a woman, and then through the corner of the window I saw him trip and fall backwards,” a worker in the area who witnessed part of the assault told The Post. “He right away got up and ran in the opposite direction. I didn’t see who hit him.

“It worries me for when we close because we close at 11 and it can get scary around that time,” said the woman, who asked to be identified only as Nat.

The NYPD released surveillance photos of the alleged attacker, a bearded man wearing a baseball cap, a blue t-shirt and black sweatpants.

The actor, a former FDNY firefighter, has a movie career that has spanned four decades, and includes roles in award-winning films like “Fargo” and “Reservoir Dogs.”

Buscemi earned wide acclaim for his portrayal of corrupt Atlantic City pol Enoch “Nucky” Thompson in the hit HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.”

Last week’s unprovoked attack makes him the second actor from the popular series to fall victim to random New York City street violence this year.

On March 31, actor Michael Stuhbarg, who played gangster Arnold Rothstein on the show, was out for a run on the Upper East Side when he was struck in the back of the neck with a rock.

The NYPD arrested a deranged vagrant, Xavier Israel, 27, in the assault, which took place around 7:45 p.m. near East 90th Street and East Drive.

Israel had previously been arrested for assault and robbery in 2022.

Stuhlbarg chased after the thug and into the hands of police stationed outside the Russian Consulate.

Meanwhile, an NYPD spokesperson said Sunday that Buscemi’s attack remains at large.

Buscemi has been a beloved figure in his native New York and famously rushed to the site of the World Trade Center after the 9/11 terror attacks to join his former fire company, Engine 55.

The former Emmy Award winner was one of New York’s Bravest in the 1980s.

In 2021, he dressed up as a character he played in the hit show “30 Rock” to hand out candy to children on Halloween from a stoop in Park Slope.

Former President Donald Trump is leading President Biden in five critical, toss-up swing states — all of which Biden won in 2020, a new set of polls revealed.

Surveys by the New York Times, Siena College and the Philadelphia Inquirer found that Trump was more popular than Biden among voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, while Biden led among voters in only one battleground state, Wisconsin.

All six of the battleground states looked at in the polls were won by Biden in 2020, and victories in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in 2024 would be enough for Biden to secure his re-election, as long as he did not lose any of the states he won four years ago.

The poll numbers revealed how issues like the cost of living, the economy, the Israel-Hamas war, and immigration have caused widespread dissatisfaction among Americans, all while raising concerns over Biden’s ability to improve their quality of life.

Nearly 70 percent of voters polled said the country’s political and economic systems need a major overhaul — and only 13 percent of Biden’s supporters believe he would be able to bring about such change during a second term.

Almost 40 percent of Trump supporters polled said the economy or cost of living was the most important issue in the election, with many doubting the Biden administration’s insistence that the economy is improving.

Many of the voters polled even admitted that even while they dislike Trump, he would be the candidate to drive much-needed change.

Trump and Biden are tied among 18- to 29-year-olds and among Hispanic voters, even though over 60 percent of the demographic voted for Biden in 2020.

Trump has also secured 20 percent of black voters’ support — the highest level of black support for any Republican presidential candidate since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to the Times poll.

The former president’s newfound popularity among young and nonwhite voters has seemingly opened up the electoral map, pushing him ahead in more diverse states like Arizona, Georgia and Nevada where Biden was previously successful.

Despite this, Biden seems to have maintained much of his foothold among older and white voters who, as a group, seem to be demanding fewer fundamental changes. As a result, Biden has become more competitive in swing states with a greater population of white people, like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Abortion continues to be a hot-button issue among voters, with 64 percent in battleground states saying abortion should always or mostly be legal, including 44 percent of Trump supporters, according to the polls.

The surveys also found that nearly 20 percent of voters blame Biden more than Trump for the Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade, a shocking statistic that will likely drive the president to work to rebuild trust among that group of voters.

Still, voters prefer Biden over Trump to handle the issue of abortion by 11 points, 49 to 38 percent.

Trump, meanwhile, is polling well among voters who believe the political and economic systems need to be torn down, including 2 percent of “very liberal” voters who went for Biden in 2020, according to the polls.

Additionally, about 13 percent of voters who voted for Biden in 2020 but do not plan to again said his foreign policy on the war in Gaza was their most important issue. About 17 percent of those voters said they sympathized with Israel.

The polls surveyed 4,097 registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin from April 28 to May 9.

Russian state media is confirming a huge breaking development that President Putin has removed his longtime Defense Minister and personal friend Sergei Shoigu as defense chief, who has overseen the Ukraine war since its beginning in Feb. 2022. He will now serve as head of the nation’s security council.

“Sergei Shoigu is likely to lose the post of Minister of Defense of Russia to acting First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov,” English-language RT is reporting. “His candidacy was proposed by President Vladimir Putin, the Federation Council announced on Sunday.”

Putin has also reportedly dismissed Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, according to Interfax.

This appears in order to shuffle Shoigu into that position. Putin has now appointed Shoigu as new Secretary of the Russian Security Council. Likely Patrushev is also being moved to another position too.

The proposed candidate for new defense chief, Belousov, has a background in Russia’s central bank and economics and finance…

Below is some background on Belousov and his last two decades of government experience, though specific military decision-making or army experience on a strategic level appears to be absent, interestingly:

2000‒2006: General Director, Centre for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting.

2000‒2006: External adviser to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

2006‒2008: Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Deputy Minister of Economic Development.

2008‒2012: Director, Government Department of Economy and Finance.

2012‒2013: Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

2013‒2020: Presidential Aide.

21 January 2020: First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, appointed by executive order of the President of Russia.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov addressed this lack of military experience as follows in a late Sunday press briefing:

Explaining Shoigu’s replacement with a non-military official, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “natural” for Putin to decide that a civilian official to head the Defense Ministry.

“The Defense Ministry must be absolutely open to innovation, to introduce advanced ideas and to create conditions for economic competitiveness — that’s why the president chose the candidacy of Andrei Removich Belousov,” Peskov told reporters.

According to more details of Putin’s big reshuffling via RT:

Senators are scheduled to engage in consultations regarding the nominees put forth by the president during committee sessions on May 13 and during a Federation Council meeting on May 14, as announced by the upper house of the Russian parliament.

No further alterations have been made to the roster of candidates Putin has submitted for cabinet positions. His nominations include Vladimir Kolokoltsev for the position of interior minister, Alexander Kurenkov for minister of emergency situations, Sergey Lavrov for foreign minister, and Konstantin Chuichenko for justice minister.

Denis Manturov, who served as deputy prime minister and head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade during Putin’s last term in office, has been nominated for the position of first deputy prime minister.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, says the Kremlin wanted to appoint an economic official to run the defense ministry after Russia’s security budget ballooned to 6.6 per cent of gross domestic product.

“This demands special attention,” he told reporters.

— max seddon (@maxseddon) May 12, 2024

And TASS has this further confirmation and backgrounder on Belousov (machine translation)…

“Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the candidacy of Andrei Belousov for the post of Minister of Defense, which was previously held by Sergei Shoigu. This is stated in a message on the Telegram channel of the Federation Council. In the previous government, Belousov worked as first deputy prime minister.”

“65-year-old Belousov at various times held the positions of assistant to the head of state Vladimir Putin on economic issues, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, director of the Department of Economics and Finance of the Government of the Russian Federation, general director of the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting, and worked at the Russian Academy in 1981-2006 Sciences (until 1991 – USSR Academy of Sciences). From April 30 to May 19, 2020, during Mishustin’s hospitalization with coronavirus infection, Belousov served as acting head of the Cabinet.”

The Broadway box office numbers for the week of May 5 revealed that Hillary Clinton-produced stage play “Suffs” is on the bottom rung of shows in terms of filling capacity.

Broadway Theatre Industry official site “The Broadway League” shared the weekly grosses from the 35 shows currently playing on Broadway, which include “Suffs,” “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child,” and classics like “Romeo & Juliet,” Sweeney Tod” and “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.”

According to the data, Clinton’s play only reached 81% capacity across eight performances that week, placing it among the bottom eight productions in that category – the bottom 23% of all 35 shows for the week.

Noting that the play’s lagging numbers look even worse considering it’s a new show, Breitbart News argued the performance “should still be drawing big crowds during Broadway’s peak season – the month before the Tony Awards,” which is right now.

The play first opened on Broadway last month, following an Off-Broadway run that started in 2022 in New York City’s “The Public” theater. The musical was by singer-songwriter Shaina Taub, directed by Leigh Silverman, and produced by lead producers Jill Furman and Rachel Sussman, along with co-producers Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai.

Breitbart also noted that Vice President Harris’s niece, Meena Harris, is another producer on the stage play.

The three-hour-long play brings the women’s suffrage movement of the early 1900s to the stage. According to the show’s website, Suffs “boldly explores the victories and failures of a struggle for equality that’s far from over.”

The play features an “entirely female and non-binary cast – among them Tony winner Nikki M. James, Jenn Colella, Emily Skinner, and Grace McLean as President Woodrow Wilson,” according to Playbill.com.

Clinton stated she relates to “all of” the characters in the play, telling the Associated Press last month she knows “how hard it is to make change.”

“I know how important it is to have relationships with the people you’re working for, as you’re taking risks and you’re doing things that have never been done, whether it’s running for president in my case or having a march on Washington in 1913 to try to convince the president and the Congress to adopt the amendment to let women vote,” she said.

The former U.S. Secretary of State added, “But more than that, I see it as relevant today. We have a lot of challenges in our country.”

BroadwayLeague.com’s numbers also revealed that last week’s numbers for “Suffs” were even worse, with the show only filling 78% of its 7,784 total seats across performances.

With over 100 million users, the encrypted messaging service app Signal is touted as private and secure; however, a new report reveals the app was allegedly not only launched with government funds but is headed by National Public Radio’s (NPR) CEO, Katherine Maher.

Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, released a piece Monday about the alleged connections between the U.S. government, Maher and Signal. The platform, which prides itself on privacy for users, has been endorsed by notable figures, including National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Eric Snowden, Tesla and Space X founder Elon Musk and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Signal’s technological foundation, however, was originally funded “in part” by government resources, Rufo claims. The technology — used in the Facebook messaging app, WhatsApp — for the platform — which also ran as a nonprofit foundation — reportedly received a $3 million grant awarded by government agency Open Technology Fund (OTF) sometime between 2013 and 2016, according to Voice of America (VOA).

While the OTF is reportedly a spin-off of a government-funded private news service, Radio Free Asia, the technology fund claims their goal is to “advance internet freedom in repressive environments by supporting the research, development, implementation, and maintenance of technologies that counter censorship and combat repressive surveillance to enable all citizens to exercise their fundamental human rights online,” according to their site.

Awards from the OTF to technology platforms are not uncommon; a 2020 VOA report shows the government agency awarded millions to others in addition to OTF. The connection between OTF and Signal, though, is allegedly deeper than just the grant. An anonymous source who “worked extensively with OTF” claimed to Rufo that, over time, it appeared “the project was actually a State Department-connected initiative that planned to wield open source Internet projects made by hacker communities as tools for American foreign policy goals.” The initiative allegedly empowered “activists [and] parties opposed to governments that the USA doesn’t like,” Rufo reported.

In addition to the implications of Signal’s background, the company’s current chairman of the board is Maher, according to Rufo and her NPR bio. One of the NPR CEO’s digital communications positions was working as an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) program officer for the National Democratic Institute. The Institute claims it works “around the world to strengthen and safeguard democratic institutions, processes, norms and values to secure a better quality of life for all” by partnering with American foreign policy campaigns.

Maher was allegedly recruited for her position with Signal by the foundation’s current president, Meredith Whittaker, due to their mutual connection to OTF, the anonymous insider told Rufo. Maher reportedly serves as an advisor to OTF as well as another nonprofit, Access Now, which focuses on “digital rights of people and communities at risk,” according to their site.

Maher received massive backlash online in April 2024 after an NPR whistleblower and senior editor, Uri Berliner, revealed details of the outlet’s apparent bias against former President Donald Trump during his term. While Maher defended NPR’s reporting during the time, her previous comments about the First Amendment and support of President Joe Biden resurfaced. In November 2020 Maher announced online her support of Biden; in June 2021 the CEO was recorded claiming the First Amendment poses obstacles to countering “bad information.”

Maher’s comments from an August 2021 TED Talk video also resurfaced, with the NPR CEO claiming the “reverence” for truth may be a “distraction” to finding “common ground and getting things done.”

“Perhaps for our most tricky disagreements, seeking the truth and seeking to convince others of the truth might not be the right place to start,” Maher claimed in her presentation. “In fact, our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that’s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done.”

“Clearly, the search for the truth has led us to do great things, to learn great things. But, I think if I were to really ask you to think about this, one of the things that we could all acknowledge is that part of the reason we have such glorious chronicles to the human experience and all forms of culture is because we acknowledge there are many different truths.”

The terrifying future of crime-fighting has arrived in the form of drones that are now capable of pursuing criminals in action.

One police force has recruited the technology seemingly straight out of science fiction to tackle theft and other petty crimes.

Police in Bensalem Township, Pennslyvania, just 30 minutes northeast of Philadelphia recently released footage of drones tracking down and helping catch suspected thieves to local ABC News affiliate WPVI.

Detective Glenn Vandegrift explained that their “small fleet” of drones is part of a Bensalem Secure Task Force, meant to address growing retail theft issues.

“Our goal is to bring our business community together in collaboration with law enforcement to reduce theft with practical and sustainable solutions,” reads the task force’s website.

Last year, the county reported nearly 900 retail thefts; up around 50% from just four years prior.

In 2019, they reported only 484 retail theft incidents.

Part of the effectiveness of the drones is credited to the speed at which they can be dispatched and locate suspects.

Because they are airflown, and not bound by traffic patterns or traditional road routes, the police say an operator can typically get a device on the scene within two minutes.

“Our clearance rate for retail thefts is 62%. That is significantly higher than the national average,” said Vandegrift.

The detective believes the success of his department should serve to inspire other departments to invest in drone technology.

How It Works

When a call is made regarding a shoplifting incident, the department immediately dispatches a drone, equipped with a camera that allows real-time footage and video recording to search for and go after the thief.

Once the drone operator locates a perpetrator, they track the individual until law enforcement can apprehend them.

In one instance, a perpetrator stole a bicycle and was caught using drones.

A description of the thief, the bike, and the location of the incident were provided to the police and a drone was able to locate and follow the suspect.

Less than a mile from where the bicycle was stolen, officers made an arrest using information fed to them by the drone operator in pursuit.

Another suspect, in an undisclosed crime, was also seen being arrested on drone footage.

“This guy would have been able to get away if the drone was not involved,” contented Vandergrift.

The video revealed the fleeing suspected thief looking over his shoulder as he ran through a parking lot before crossing a road.

Shortly after making his way across the road, two police cars pull up and officers jump out, apprehending the suspect.

While some might think that this is an excessive amount of effort for shoplifting, Vandergrift has a different perspective.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s $20 or $200, we’re coming at you just as hard,” he said.

Their drone technology might also one day be used in other criminal investigations and chases.

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.