Here are some key facts about Mohammad Mokhber, 68, Iran’s first vice president who became interim president following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

As interim president, Mokhber is part of a three-person council, along with the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary, that will organise a new presidential election within 50 days of the president’s death.

Born on Sept. 1, 1955, Mokhber, like Raisi, is seen as close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has the last say in all matters of state. Mokhber became first vice president in 2021 when Raisi was elected president.

Mokhber was part of a team of Iranian officials who visited Moscow in October and agreed to supply surface-to-surface missiles and more drones to Russia’s military, sources told Reuters at the time. The team also included two senior officials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and an official from the Supreme National Security Council.

Mokhber had previously been head of Setad, an investment fund linked to the supreme leader.

In 2010, the European Union included Mokhber on a list of individuals and entities it was sanctioning for alleged involvement in “nuclear or ballistic missile activities”. Two years later, it removed him from the list.

In 2013, the U.S. Treasury Department added Setad and 37 companies it oversaw to a list of sanctioned entities.

Setad, whose full name is Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam, or the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, was set up under an order issued by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei’s predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It ordered aides to sell and manage properties supposedly abandoned in the chaotic years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and channel the bulk of the proceeds to charity.

Target plans to cut prices on thousands of consumer basics this summer, from diapers to milk, as inflation cuts into household budgets and more Americans pay closer attention to their spending.

The price cuts, already applied to 1,500 items, will eventually include 5,000 food, drink and essential household goods.

Target and other retailers are increasingly catering to customers who are struggling with higher prices for groceries, though inflation has begun to cool.

Many of them have switched to private label brands sold by Target and others big retailers, which are typically less expensive than well-known brands.

Target launched one such collection in January called Dealworthy which includes nearly 400 basic items, ranging from clothing to electronics, that can cost less than $1, with most items under $10.

Last week, McDonald’s said that it was planning to introduce a $5 meal deal in the U.S. next month to counter slowing sales and customer frustration with higher prices. Walmart posted strong quarterly sales last week driven by a influx of customers, including households with incomes of more than $100,000, looking for bargains.

Target is very cognizant of the spending pullback by shoppers and in March reported its first annual decline in sales in seven years.

Inflation has been unexpectedly high in the first three months of this year after having steadily dropped in the second half of 2023. The elevated readings in early 2024 had dimmed hopes that the worst bout of inflation in four decades was being tamed and raised concerns that prices could spike again.

The latest inflation reading released last week showed that those prices, at least last month, had begun to retreat again.

Target Corp. said Monday that the lower prices will roll out over the summer on national brands and its own house brands.

“These reductions are in addition to our everyday low prices, which we routinely adjust to be competitive in the market and make sure you enjoy great value every day,” the company said in a prepared statement.

Target is likely to offer more insight into what it thinks about customer behavior and how it’s addressing any changes when it releases its quarterly financial report Wednesday.

The newest Spirit AeroSystems whistleblower has dismissed conspiracy theories about two other whistleblowers who died shortly after coming forward with claims of safety issues at Boeing suppliers, but admitted he’s remaining vigilant about his own safety.

Santiago Paredes, 40, exclusively spoke to The Independent just before he attended the celebration of life for his former coworker, friend and fellow whistleblower Joshua Dean, who died 30 April at the age of 45 after battling a sudden illness. Dean’s death came weeks after another Boeing whistblower, John Barnett, died by suicide in March.

When asked about wildfire rumours regarding whether something nefarious happened to the men after speaking out, Paredes said: “I don’t think so.

“But, you know, I’m always looking behind my mirror to make sure nobody’s car’s following me,” he said.

“I’m not saying that I’m scared, but at the same time, I can’t put a blind eye to the reality of what could be. I have to prepare myself for that.”

Paredes spent more than a decade as an inspector and team leader at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems before leaving in 2022 after repeatedly issuing warnings to superiors about quality control failings – which at one point resulted in his demotion, he says.

The safety of Boeing’s 737 Max 9 planes came under scrutiny after a door plug blew off in mid-air during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. The FAA grounded all 171 MAX 9 jets and instigated an investigation; multiple whistleblowers have come forward to reveal their concerning experiences at Boeing and its manufacturing supplier Spirit AeroSystems.

Paredes had been friendly with Dean, an auditor, who contacted him last year and asked him to help with a shareholder lawsuit. Paredes agreed to participate anonymously – but went public with his claims earlier this month after Dean’s death, revealing that he’d been encouraged to play down any defects he found when inspecting plane fuselages.

“I’m picking up the mantle of where he left off and I have to carry on and see it through,” Paredes told The Independent.

Both men were represented by lawyer Brian Knowles, who also represented Boeing whistleblower John Barnett – who was found dead by suicide in March.

After Dean’s death, Paredes said, their lawyer “said he felt like we were in a battle and we were losing people.

“I was in a place where I started to freak out about what we were doing – if it was even the right thing,” Paredes said. “It’s discouraging to lose people – not just friends, but friends who are with you in this battle.”

A married father who now lives and works in Lawrence, Kansas, Paredes said he has been praying about the situation and is bolstered by the support and prayers of his family. His mother has been particularly concerned, he said.

“My mom has been scared,” he said on Thursday, just as news broke that up to 450 AeroSystems employees in Wichita would be laid off. “I’ve been like, ‘Nothing’s going to happen. It’s going to be all right. This is something I’ve got to do … somebody’s gotta do it.’”

Paredes said he’d also been buoyed by the outpouring of support from former coworkers and others within the industry – many of whom expressed their own fears and stories of quality failings.

“It gives me hope. I’m very happy for the support I’ve received,” Paredes said. “I was ready for people to try to discredit me, to say bad things about me – but I wasn’t too worried about much, because I know that I’ve impacted a lot of people that work there, and I’ve encouraged a lot of people that work there.”

He said he was hoping the efforts from Barnett, Dean, himself and other whistleblowers will prompt change and safety enhancements.

“What I hope happens next is … they’re just honest,” he said of his former employers. “Look, the first step to making something better is admitting every mistake. Once you admit everything that you’ve done, and you put a highlight on where the things that are wrong are wrong, you can actually change it.

“But right now, you’re so busy trying to hide that you cannot correct it – because if you correct it, then it’s going to highlight that you actually were wrong.”

Morgan Bettinger was just a regular college student — until one unlucky encounter with a Black Lives Matter activist brought her whole world crashing down. She was branded racist and forced to defend herself for years against a country determined to destroy her. The only problem: none of the accusations were true.

Hate crime hoaxes like the type perpetrated against Morgan have become an all-too-common part of American life. We all know the big stories: Jussie Smollet and his hired attackers; Bubba Wallace and the garage door noose; Michael Brown and “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.” These stories faced hyper-scrutiny in the public eye and have been thoroughly debunked. It’s the little people like Morgan who don’t get obsessive media coverage — and have far less opportunity to clear their names.

The Daily Caller is determined to rectify this with our latest documentary, “Demand for Hate,” which exposes the rise of hate crime hoaxes in America today. Our investigative team takes a deep dive into Morgan’s story and shows the real damage that occurs when our cowardly leaders fail to stand up for the truth.

“Demand for Hate” is available to stream exclusively for Patriots subscribers. Catch a first glimpse below.

Morgan, like thousands of other college students in the BLM era, was just a normal kid caught up in a sea of radical leftist activism. When she got into her dream school, the University of Virginia, she thought she was going off to a place that valued free expression and open inquiry. She thought she would spend four years getting a rigorous education that would prepare her for law school and future career. She didn’t know that she had entered a campus that would come to reject all of these in the name of social activism.

The Daily Caller’s own Kate Anderson, who covered Morgan’s story since the beginning, breaks it all down.

EXPOSED: The Origin of the Morgan Bettinger Case

Stream ‘Demand For Hate’ Exclusively at https://t.co/VLT98qHX67 pic.twitter.com/V7xAB4nco2

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 19, 2024

On July 17, 2020, there was a rally for Black Women Matter, a feminist offshoot of BLM, with hundreds of protesters blocking a street near campus. A dump truck was blocking part of the intersection to keep cars from heading down the street when Morgan got stuck driving home from work. She got out of her car and started talking to the truck driver about how she was thankful he was there to prevent the cars from turning protesters into speed bumps.

But the protesters in the street told a different story.

A UVA student activist Zyana Bryant said that Morgan threatened protesters, saying that they would “make good f–king speed bumps.” She tweeted a video of the incident to her thousands of followers and it quickly went viral, but the comments she accused Morgan of saying were conspicuously absent.

Almost immediately, Morgan became a target of vicious harassment online, as the incident came to the attention of university administrators and local media. She didn’t even realize what was going on until a friend texted her, “Are you okay?” It was then she saw the flood of hate pouring in.

Bryant launched a campaign She was called a “Nazi,” a “racist,” and “coddled little white girl” who “promotes domestic terrorism.” Activists uncovered who she was, and spread her personal details publicly online. Students ostracized her, refusing to sit in a class with her — even virtually. Local journalists started going after her as well, uncritically reporting Zyahna’s account. A local outlet C-VILLE Weekly called Morgan’s alleged comments an “especially chilling and violent” threat. UVA’s student council president suggested she should be expelled, and even one of her professors condemned her, going so far as to suggest that she should be arrested.

University leadership offered little support to Morgan, saying only that they would investigate the matter fully. But Morgan could not get a fair trial under the circumstances. She was never even allowed to tell her side of the story.

After witnesses failed to corroborate the incident, the university investigators rightly determined that there was no evidence Morgan said what Bryant accused her of. Even if she had, it was simply a hypothetical statement, not a threat, the university correctly determined.

But in response to Bryant’s agitation, UVA submitted the case to another panel made up of students — the first time she was permitted to tell her side of the story. The student panel agreed with Morgan’s version of events, but nevertheless determined she was being insensitive about the issues BLM was supposedly fighting for. Punishment came swift and severe, in what political scientist Wilfred Rielly called the “most egregious” hate crime hoax he’s ever seen.

Morgan was sentenced to 50 hours of community service, leftist re-education classes, and put on probationary expulsion. If anyone complained about her, she would be expelled for real. While she eventually graduated, she still had the disgrace of expulsion on her permanent record. Meanwhile Bryant went on to have a feted career, securing a prominent partnership with the skincare company Dove.

Standing up to hate crime hoaxers like Zyahna Bryant is about more than any one individual. Morgan spent the prime years of her life defending herself against a college, media and society that would sacrifice her in the name of “justice.” By telling her story, we aim to reclaim a semblance of truth and fairness that used to be critical to our understanding of that word.

Watch “Demand for Hate” now to learn more about Morgan’s story — and how, after years of fighting, she finally found justice.

The Daily Caller’s documentary productions are made possible by our faithful Patriots members, and we wouldn’t be able to do it without them. To watch “Demand for Hate” today — and to help support future investigative documentaries — please consider becoming a member.

“Rage rituals” are the latest wellness trend among women on TikTok.

A new trend is gaining traction online, where women are paying a fortune to go to the woods and smash things, which wellness experts have dubbed “rage rituals”. Some exclusive wellness retreats now include these stress-relieving ceremonies, where participants scream and beat large sticks on the forest’s ground. Since the forest is far away from residential areas, participants have the freedom to fully embody their rage.

For years, self-described “Spiritual Fairy Godmother” Mia Magik has led rage rituals in Scotland. She began doing them for herself and her friends, before adding them as an option to her wellness retreats. These days-long excursions typically include a range of activities and are priced between $2,000 to $4,000. However, she does include a one-day option at $222 per ticket, according to USA Today.

During the rage ritual, Magik guides the participants to sit with their deepest emotions, walking them through warm-ups and deep breaths. Typically, she tells them to conjure “every person who’s ever crossed you, who’s ever hurt you, who’s ever ignored your boundaries or taken advantage of you or abused you in any way.”

“When people do this and give themselves permission to release their anger, their capacity for joy actually expands,” Magik – who’s real name is Mia Banducci – told the outlet. “They’re able to feel more happiness and pleasure, and they go home to their families with more gratitude and ease and peace.”

@miamagik Rage Rituals are one of my greatest honors to lead during my retreats. Check out my YT for the full video. If you want to experience a rage ritual with me and a group of sisters, I’m hosting 2 retreats this fall. #womensretreat #rageritual #spiritualretreat #spiritualtiktok #queendom ♬ LABOUR – the cacophony – Paris Paloma

Liberal women spend $4,000 to bash sticks on the ground and scream at a ‘Rage Ritual Retreat.’

The bizarre wellness retreat is designed to help women deal with anger. pic.twitter.com/xl6XYeRfyb

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 20, 2024

The rituals have resonated with women on social media, as many comment below viral videos on how much of a relief it is to channel their anger – especially in a society that frowns upon women embracing their ugliest emotions.

“Why did I have an immediate visceral reaction and start crying?” one woman wrote.

“I literally cried seeing this… I NEED this,” another said.

“As a now middle aged woman with even more rage, I need this!!” commented someone else.

Reflecting on the positive reaction to her videos, Banducci said it made sense that her rage rituals have resonated with so many women.

“It’s like, ‘Don’t be a b****’ or don’t be angry or don’t be aggressive or don’t stand up for yourself. Don’t protect your integrity. Don’t tell anyone that they don’t have consent to touch your body or speak to you in a certain way,’” she explained. “There are particular emotions that are accepted in the gender binary that we each need to feel. Men need to cry – and it’s so healthy for men to cry – and women need to be able to get angry.”

Banducci isn’t the only one to host rage rituals, with wellness group Secret Sanctuary planning an upcoming “Sacred Rage Ceremony” in Alberta, Canada, in July. Author and mystic Jessica Ricchetti is also reportedly hosting a women’s “Secret Rage” retreat in North Carolina in June.

Experts note that rage rituals likely won’t work for everyone. Depending on the person, rage can be better exorcised with active strategies like a high-intensity workout, while others can benefit from more soothing activities like a sound bath.

Primal scream therapy, which is an important aspect of the rage ritual, was developed in the 1970s by psychologist Arthur Yanov to release repressed trauma, and was touted by the likes of power couple John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Despite it being previously maligned by mainstream psychology, Vogue writes that spiritual gurus like Rachel Pringle – a tantra teacher and the creator of the spiritual workshop Wild Woman – find that physical expressions of rage, such as primal screams, can be therapeutic “when expressed in a safe way, a rage ritual can be a gateway to pleasure, power, creativity.”

Three Americans have been arrested over their alleged involvement in a failed coup in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Video shows what is thought to be two of the men groveling for mercy on the ground as they were surrounded by government forces following a shootout in the capital Kinshasa on Sunday.

Reports in local media suggested the arrested men were CIA operatives although the US ambassador in the city was keen to distance the US from any involvement.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) armed forces repelled an attempted coup d’etat involving Congolese and foreign fighters on Sunday morning, a DRC army spokesperson said in a televised address..The army announces the arrest of American mercenaries. pic.twitter.com/Lfsv5FvINw

— African News feed. (@africansinnews) May 19, 2024

‘I am shocked by the events this morning and very worried by the reports of American citizens allegedly being involved,’ Lucy Tamlyn, the US ambassador to the DRC, posted on X, formerly Twitter.

‘Rest assured that we are cooperating with authorities in DRC to the fullest extent possible, as they investigate these criminal acts and hold accountable any American citizen involved.’

The United Nations’ stabilization mission in the DRC said that its chief, Bintou Keita, condemned the incidents in the strongest terms and offered her support to the Congolese authorities in a post on X.

The DR Congo military named the coup leader as Christian Malanga, 41, a US educated former refugee who was a ‘naturalized American’ and had been ‘definitively neutralized’ by the security forces.

His son Marcel was among those accused of taking part and seized by the military as they retook control.

Footage on social media showed a passport allegedly seized from one of the Americans bearing the name Benjamin Zalman-Polun, a 36-year-old born in Maryland.

Zalman-Polun reportedly has a background as a cannabis entrepreneur and had been previously linked to Malanga.

The military said it thwarted the ‘attempted coup’ involving ‘foreigners and Congolese’ near the offices of President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa.

It happened in the early hours of the morning outside the residence of Economy Minister Vital Kamerhe, in the Gombe area in the north of the capital, near the Palais de la Nation that houses the president’s offices, a spokesman said.

‘An attempted coup d’etat has been stopped by the defense and security forces,’ said General Sylvain Ekenge in a message broadcast on national television.

‘Around 50, including three American citizens – were arrested and are currently undergoing interrogation by the specialized services of the Armed Forces,’ Ekenge told Reuters.

Shots were also heard near the Palais de la Nation at the time of the coup attempt, according to a number of sources.

Later on Sunday, army spokesman General Sylvain Ekenge said a British man were part of the group involved in the operation.

Malanga, who went to school in Salt Lake City, posted a video to Facebook hours before the attack showing a group of heavily armed paramilitaries.

Another American voice can be heard, and one of the men seen begging for mercy in the later video, is pictured with a US flag on his uniform.

Videos on social media showed men in fatigues arriving at the Palais de la Nation, brandishing flags of Zaire – the name of the Democratic Republic of Congo under the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who was overthrown in 1997.

‘The time has arrived, long live Zaire, long live the children of Mobutu,’ a man who appeared to be the head of the group said in Lingala, a language spoken in parts of the DRC.

‘Felix has fallen… we are victorious,’ he added.

The group was made up of ‘several nationalities’, Ekenge said, and that four attackers including Malanga were killed.

‘We also have a naturalized British subject, the number two of the group,’ the spokesman added.

Kamerhe and his family were not harmed in the attack but two police officers looking after them were killed, said a source close to the minister.

The group had planned to attack the home of the new Prime Minister Judith Suminwa, and the residence of Defense Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba.

But they ‘could not identify the home’ of Suminwa and had not been able to find Bemba at his residence.

France’s ambassador had reported automatic weapon fire in the area, urging nationals to avoid it.

The central-African country has been racked by violence from paramilitary groups attempting to control its mineral-rich resources.

In February a US representative to the UN slammed the DRC for collaboration with the FDLR militia, warning it threatened all-out conflict with neighboring Rwanda.

‘We condemn any group that espouses genocide ideology and recognize that the FDLR remains a significant security threat to Rwanda,’ Robert Wood told the UN Security Council.

The attack took place just hours before the US announced it would comply with an order by the government of Niger to remove its troops from the West African country by the middle of September.

Last month neighboring Chad threatened to expel US troops amid alarm about waning US influence on the continent in the face of aggressive Chinese and Russian diplomacy.

But the US has a long history of clandestine military operations in Africa including in Congo where the CIA conspired to assassinate Patrick Lumumba, the country’s first democratically elected leader who was killed in 1961.

🇨🇩 Christian Malanga entrain d’implorer Dieu lors de l’attaque de ce matin au palais de la Nation : « Dieu tu nous a pas menti, Nous t’implorons Dieu, le Zaïre est là. Dieu, tu es un miséricordieux, écoute nos pleures » pic.twitter.com/yeRXUmX4Fb

— The Voice Of Congo (@VoiceOfCongo) May 19, 2024

The Intercept reported in 2022 that US trained officers had led seven coups attempts in the previous 18 months targeting countries including Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Mauritania, and Gambia.

In Congolese capital certain streets near the Palais de la Nation remained closed to traffic on Sunday, but the situation appeared calm, AFP journalists reported.

‘I’m a little afraid to move around like that in Gombe, there aren’t many people… But I have to sell my goods,’ bread-seller Jean-Mbuta said.

Tshisekedi was re-elected at the end of December when he received more than 70 percent of votes in the first round.

The parties backing him won around 90 percent of seats in the parliamentary elections held the same day.

But he is yet to form a government some five months after the elections.

Kamerhe on April 23 was named as a candidate for president of the National Assembly, the DRC’s main legislative body.

Update:

President Raisi, Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, Tabriz Friday Prayers imam Ayatollah Al-e Hashem and several other members of the president’s entourage have all been killed in the helicopter crash in northwestern Iran, according to Iranian media reports.

The IRGC’s Ashura Division Commander says some of the dead bodies are burnt and cannot be identified.

The first video of the area where the wreckage of President Raisi’s chopper was found. Relief and rescue workers will arrive at the scene shortly. pic.twitter.com/O9p4duWzmB

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) May 20, 2024

After speaking with intelligence authorities, US Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer said there is no evidence of “foul play” involving the helicopter crash with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, NBC News reported.

Original:

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed while visiting a northern region and his condition is currently unknown, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported Sunday.

The aircraft, which was also carrying Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, came down in East Azerbaijan Province and emergency crews have so far been unable to reach it due to foggy conditions, IRNA said. It is unclear what the exact status is of Raisi’s helicopter.

The Iranian armed forces have been in the area of the crash since the early hours of Sunday, Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri said. Twenty rescue teams and drones were sent to the area where the helicopter came down.

Raisi and Amir Abdollahian were among a group of dignitaries onboard the helicopter returning from a ceremony for an opening of a dam on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan when it “crashed upon landing in Varzaqan region on Sunday,” IRNA English reported.

IRNA also reported, citing locals, the helicopter crashed in the Dizmar Forest area between the villages of Ozi and Pir Davood. Residents in northern Varzeqan, East Azerbaijan Province, said they heard noises from the area, it added.

Iran’s interior minister Ahmad Vahidi said one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to foggy weather conditions.

“Now different rescue groups are moving towards the area but given that it is foggy and the unsuitable weather and the conditions it may take some time until they reach where the helicopter is,” said Vahidi during a televised address posted on Telegram by Iranian state news agency IRNA.

He added that there had been some contact with the passengers on the helicopter, “but given the area is a bit complicated, making contact is difficult and we are waiting inshallah for rescue groups to quickly reach the location of this accident where the helicopter is and give us more information.”

“From the beginning of this incident being reported regarding the President’s helicopter, Red Crescent Relief Forces and auxiliary military and law enforcement forces have started a widespread effort to find this helicopter,” Tasnim news agency reported.

“Some of the president’s companions on this helicopter were able to communicate with Central Headquarters, raising hopes that the incident could have ended without casualties,” Tasnim added.

The helicopter was part of a convoy of three helicopters. Two of those helicopters were carrying ministers and officials who arrived at their destination safely, according to Tasnim.

Follow live updates.

In an interview with “60 Minutes” airing this Sunday, Pope Francis takes aim at his “conservative critics” in the United States, reportedly saying a conservative is someone who “clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.”

“It is a suicidal attitude,” the pope said as reported by “60 Minutes,” which released a brief clip of the upcoming interview conducted by CBS’ Nora O’Donnell.

“Because one thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past, but quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box.”

Un buen papa hubiese respondido que todos formamos parte de la Iglesia, pero este sujeto es mala gente y lanza a los fieles a los leones para que los devoren. pic.twitter.com/xHNHASlzWh

— AmaDeo (@amadeo_vizcaya) May 17, 2024

Francis has occasionally addressed criticism leveled against him during his more than 10 years as pontiff, saying in August 2023 that the U.S. Catholic Church is characterized by “a very strong reactionary attitude.” He has taken actions recently to limit the influence of some of his most prominent clerical critics in the U.S., reportedly taking some Vatican privileges from Cardinal Raymond Burke and removing Bishop Joseph Strickland, a frequent online critic of the pope, from his post as bishop of Tyler, Texas.

According to CBS, the pope in the recent interview “spoke candidly with O’Donnell about the wars in Israel and Gaza, Ukraine, and the migration crises around the world and on the U.S. southern border.”

“The wide-ranging conversation also touches upon the Church’s handling of its own sexual abuse scandals; Francis’ deep commitment to inclusiveness within the Church; the backlash against his papacy from certain corners of U.S. Catholicism; and an exploration of his thinking on surrogate parenthood,” the network says, adding that the interview marks “the first time a pope has given an in-depth, one-on-one interview to a U.S. broadcast network.”

The full interview, conducted April 24, will air as part of “60 Minutes” on May 19 from 7-8 p.m. ET on CBS and will be available on Paramount+. More of the interview will air in an hourlong prime-time special on Monday, May 20, at 10 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.

The interview comes ahead of the first-ever World Children’s Day, May 25–26, a new initiative by Pope Francis sponsored by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education in collaboration with the Catholic community of Sant’Egidio, the Auxilium Cooperative, and the Italian Football Federation. The Vatican is expecting children from more than 100 countries to travel to Rome for the weekend event with the pope.

Police in Savannah, Georgia, are investigating a shooting that injured 11 people in the city’s downtown area on Saturday night.

The shooting broke out just before midnight in Ellis Square, a fixture of Savannah’s historic district and a popular tourist attraction.

Several precincts responded at 11:55 p.m. to reports of gunfire in the area, the Savannah Police Department said in a news release issued Sunday morning.

At the time, detectives were probing the incident and had interviewed witnesses as part of their investigation, which was still ongoing.

Savannah police have not identified suspects or announced any arrests in the case.

Everyone hurt in the shooting, including the people who suffered gunshot wounds, are adults, according to the police department, and some were transported from the scene to Memorial Health University Medical Center. P

Police did not share details about the nature or extent of those injuries but said in Sunday’s news release that “as of now, no deaths have occurred because of the incident.”

They told CBS affiliate WTOC that at least 10 people were believed to be hurt as a result of the gunfire.

All 11 people received treatment overnight for their injuries, which police said were not considered life-threatening, WTOC reported.

Police have asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact Crime Stoppers at 912-234-2020.

Rishi Sunak will apologise to infected-blood victims today, as a devastating report blames successive governments and the NHS for the scandal.

The Prime Minister will issue a formal apology on behalf of the Government for the handling of a scandal which has claimed more than 3,000 lives and continues to wreck countless others.

Tomorrow ministers will set out plans for a massive compensation scheme, which could cost taxpayers more than £10 billion.

Whitehall sources expect NHS chief Amanda Pritchard to issue her own apology for the worst treatment disgrace in the history of the health service.

The moves come as former High Court judge Sir Brian Langstaff today publishes the long-awaited findings of a public inquiry which was launched in 2018, with an estimated 710 more victims having died since the hearings began.

Both the Department of Health and the NHS are expected to face heavy criticism for continuing to allow the use of imported blood products for years after the first warnings that they could be contaminated with viruses such as HIV and hepatitis C.

They will also be savaged for their evasive response to campaigners seeking the truth, in what victims believe to have been a concerted cover-up lasting decades.

More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C at the hands of the NHS after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. The tainted products were imported cheaply from the US where blood was being collected from paid donors such as prisoners, the homeless and drug addicts.

Most of those infected were people who received treatment for blood disorders such as haemophilia and those who had blood transfusions.

Kate Burt, chief executive of the Haemophilia Society, said: ‘The contaminated blood scandal has been a stain on our nation for too long.

‘For the sake of the thousands of lives lost to this disaster, the Government must accept all the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendations and begin work immediately to rebuild trust in our public services. Only a commitment to deliver radical reform and to treat those it serves with compassion and respect will begin to end this shameful episode in our country’s history.’

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt yesterday described the episode as ‘the worst scandal of my lifetime’ and said the families ‘have got every right to be incredibly angry that generations of politicians, including me when I was health secretary, have not acted fast enough to address the scandal’.

Mr Hunt has signed off on the compensation scheme, although the final bill will not be known until a new committee has established a framework for payments.

Labour health spokesman Wes Streeting said he expected Sir Brian to criticise ‘successive governments’ over the issue.

Mr Streeting said an incoming Labour administration would honour any compensation deal agreed by the Government, adding: ‘Everyone has got their responsibility to bear in this appalling scandal and we have got a shared responsibility to put it right.’

Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir Keir Starmer said the scandal was ‘one of the darkest periods in our country’s modern history’ and a reminder that ‘the NHS is not a shrine to be worshipped at’.

Downing Street was tight-lipped about the content of the PM’s response last night, but he is expected to apologise on behalf of the Government. Appearing in front of the inquiry last summer, the PM said the ‘appalling tragedy’ should never have happened.

Lauren Palmer, who was orphaned by the scandal aged just nine, said she was ‘still sceptical’ about the Government’s commitment to compensate all those affected. ‘If they do, the other question is how long will they take and will they use the election to drag things out further or even worse not do anything at all?’

The scandal began in the early 1970s when new blood clotting products were developed to treat people with bleeding disorders.

A shortage of blood in the UK led ministers to source cheap batches from the US where supplies relied on high-risk donors, including drug addicts. But the products were made by pooling the blood plasma from tens of thousands of donors and a single contaminated donation could be enough to infect an entire batch.

By the mid-1970s there were repeated warnings that the US products carried an increased risk. The inquiry heard that by 1983, Department of Health doctors acknowledged privately that it ‘may be possible’ that Aids was being transmitted in this way. But the inquiry was told that ministers were not informed and continued to insist publicly that there was ‘no conclusive proof’ of a problem.

About 6,000 people with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders were treated with contaminated products. Around 1,250 were infected with HIV, including 380 children. Some unintentionally infected their partners. Fewer than 250 are still alive.

Others hit by the scandal include thousands given blood transfusions between 1970 and 1991. High-profile victims include Body Shop founder Anita Roddick and Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies’s mother Sheila, who both contracted hepatitis C following transfusions of infected blood.

My father’s warnings were ignored by health chiefs

The son of a top blood specialist has told how health officials dismissed his warnings about the safety of new transfusions in the early days of the scandal.

Dr Nick Ibbotson told the Daily Mail that his father Richard thought it was ‘crackers’ to switch from blood sourced from single donors to the product called Factor VIII, which pooled the plasma donations of multiple people.

Richard Ibbotson, the former deputy director of West Midlands Blood Transfusion Service, warned it was ‘outrageous’ that haemophilia patients were given products from high-risk donors as early as the mid-1970s.

He was particularly furious that prisoners in the US were able to make money out of the blood-harvesting scheme.

Dr Ibbotson, a retired GP of Richmond, North Yorkshire, said: ‘My father was not an angry man, but when Factor VIII happened, I remember him being quite vociferous. He said we were being stupid and were building up enormous problems.

‘He said: “We’ve got this new virus we don’t know much about but I can’t think of a better way of spreading it than getting a load of blood samples from a country that pays its donors – it’s madness, it’s crackers.” ‘He protested frequently about the risks of Hep B and Hep C but was overruled by the Department of Health. My father was very concerned over many years about importing blood products from the US, where donors were paid. He would say that what was happening was outrageous.

‘I know the concerns that medics were raising, but there was nothing they could do because the people at the top, in the Government, weren’t listening.’

The looming November rematch between President Biden and former President Trump could be decided by just a handful of states.

Six months out from Election Day, all eyes are on seven toss-up states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — where 93 electoral votes will be up for grabs this fall.

Biden won all but North Carolina back in 2020, but recent polling suggests Trump has an edge over the incumbent in several of those battlegrounds this cycle.

The race for the White House could come down to these swing states:

Arizona

Biden won Arizona last cycle by roughly a third of a percentage point, making it the first Democratic presidential win in the Republican stronghold since the ’90s.

But Trump is now up roughly 6 points over Biden in Arizona, according to Decision Desk HQ/The Hill averages, where issues surrounding the border are set to play a key role in November.

Meanwhile, Democrats are looking to the Grand Canyon State, where 11 electoral college votes are up for grabs, as one of several places where issues around reproductive rights could fuel turnout to boost the party.

The state just repealed a Civil War-era, near-total abortion ban, and organizers are working to get a measure on the ballot that would enshrine protections for the procedure.

Republicans make up the biggest group of registered Arizona voters, but voters unaffiliated with either major party outnumber Democrats in the state, according to voter registration statistics from last month.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, the Democratic Senate candidate in the state, is leading his Republican rival Kari Lake in the closely watched race to replace Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and running ahead of Biden, according to New York Times polling. Gallego scored 45 percent to Lake’s 41 percent, while Biden brought in 42 percent to Trump’s 49 percent.

Georgia

Biden flipped Georgia blue for the first time in decades back in 2020, beating Trump by fewer than 12,000 votes.

But as the pair ready for a rematch in the Peach State, the 2024 race lacks marquee down-ballot races and signs of big turnout that helped boost Biden four years ago.

There are 16 electoral votes on Georgia’s table in November, and polling averages from DDHQ/The Hill put Trump up around 6 points, around 49 percent to Biden’s 43 percent.

The Times polling shows Trump with even more of an advantage, putting the Republican ahead by 10 points.

Last cycle, Georgians surged to the polls to elect Democrat Jon Ossoff as the state’s first Jewish senator and the ​​Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) as the state’s first Black senator.

This year, the Republican primary saw double the turnout of the Democratic contest, and Biden will need to energize the state’s significant Black population amid signs that he’s struggling with the bloc nationwide.

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R), who’s one of a few prominent Republicans backing Biden in November, has called for fellow Republicans not to “fall in line” with Trump. But it’s unclear if Biden will be able to repeat his success in the Peach State this November.

Michigan

In Michigan, a battleground Biden won by nearly 3 points back in 2020, the incumbent saw a significant protest vote push in the Democratic primary from progressives and Arab Americans, which inspired similar ballot-box boycotts in other states, like Wisconsin.

Arab Americans helped carry Biden to victory last cycle, and questions persist on whether the critical bloc will come back into his column after expressing anger in the primaries.

First lady Jill Biden paid a trip to the Great Lakes State this week, with Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes saying the visit is “proving the road to the White House runs through Michigan.”

Trump is up by 4 points in the state, according to DDHQ/The Hill averages. Fifteen electoral college votes are in play.

With its significant Arab American population and big student numbers, strategists say the presidential race in the Great Lakes State has the chance to be a notable bellwether for the 2024 race more broadly.

Nevada

Along with Arizona, Nevada could be another major Sun Belt swing state this November. Both states have notable Latino populations, as both candidates make a play for voters of color this fall.

Biden won by 2.4 percentage points in 2020. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton beat Trump in Nevada in 2016, also by a tight margin.

DDHQ/The Hill’s averages now show Trump with a lead of nearly 7 points. The New York Times polling put Biden behind by 12 points in a head-to-head, his worst showing among the battlegrounds in that survey.

Like in Arizona, a third-party contender in the Silver State could further erode support for the major-party candidates. It’s also another battleground where Democratic Senate candidates are doing better than the president: Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) holds a 2-point advantage over Republican Sam Brown.

There are 6 electoral college votes on the table.

North Carolina

Though Biden swept most of the swing states in 2020, Trump won North Carolina by roughly 1.5 points after taking the state by a slightly bigger margin in 2016.

Biden’s campaign is now looking to flip North Carolina back into Democrats’ column, but it has acknowledged that “relentless effort” is needed to do so over the next six months.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said last month that he thinks Biden has a shot at winning the Tar Heel State. Former President Obama was the last Democrat to win it back in 2008. And Republicans are grappling with a potential political liability in gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who has faced scrutiny for past controversial comments.

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates North Carolina as Republican-leaning, while the other swing states are toss-ups.

There are 16 electoral college votes up for grabs. DDHQ/The Hill averages show Trump with a 4.6 point lead.

Pennsylvania

Last month’s primaries in Pennsylvania highlighted weak points for both Biden and Trump as they hurtle toward their November showdown.

Nikki Haley, who had dropped out of the race nearly two months earlier, received more than 150,000 Keystone State votes, coming close to 20 percent in several counties.

Though her numbers didn’t keep Trump from clinching the winner-take-all primary delegates, they served as a red flag for the former president in the key battleground.

On the other side of the aisle, Biden faced his own protest vote push, with “Abandon Biden” rallying voters to boycott the incumbent at the ballot box over concerns about the administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

But, as with Nevada, there is a relatively popular Democratic senator running for reelection — in this case Bob Casey, who has consistently run ahead of Biden in polls, as well as his GOP rival, David McCormick.

DDHQ/The Hill averages put Biden behind by 1.7 points in the state he won by 1.2 points in 2020. Recent polling from The New York Times/Siena College/Philadelphia Inquirer shows Trump with a little more of an edge, up three points.

There are 19 electoral college votes up for grabs in Pennsylvania.

Wisconsin

Biden won Wisconsin by less than a percentage point during the 2020 cycle, and Trump now leads by less than 1 point, according to DDHQ/The Hill’s averages.

A Quinnipiac University poll released this month showed Biden’s lead over Trump in a Wisconsin head-to-head shrink from 6 points to just 1 point when third-party candidates were added into the mix, suggesting Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other contenders could serve as major spoilers.

Biden traveled to the Badger State earlier this month to tout a $3.3 billion investment by Microsoft to build a new artificial intelligence data center in the state — and to draw a contrast with a planned Trump-era investment that never materialized.

The Republican National Convention will be held this summer in Milwaukee, where Trump has hinted he could announce his running mate for 2024.

“It really is an important state for us. Wisconsin has to be won by us,” Trump told Scripps News in an interview this week. “We want to win it. If we win Wisconsin, I think we win the whole thing.”

Ten electoral college votes are in play in Wisconsin.

Nick Fuentes streamed gay pornography on his cozy.tv account but later suggested that a pro-Israel Telegram channel hacked his cozy channel.

In response to footage of the incident posted on X, Fuentes wrote, “This is getting desperate.

“My proprietary livestreaming site was hacked after my stream went offline by someone claiming to be IDF Unit 8200.

“The hacker took credit by [watermarking] the porn and leaving messages on the back end of the site.

“Easily disprovable nonsense,” he added.

In a statement, Fuentes claimed that the hackers had targeted other streamers in similar attacks.

Fuentes acknowledged that the hack was likely not by the IDF but was connected to a Telegram account called “Am Israel Chai.”

IDF Unit 8200 is an intelligence unit that engages in cyber warfare. However, the unit has not taken responsibility for the broadcasting of the pornography on Fuentes’s stream.

Some families are eyeing faith-based alternatives to the Boy Scouts – soon to be rebranded to Scouting America – as some say the organization has left its founding mission behind.

“Anytime organizations lose their rootedness, and especially if we chase these progressive visions, we end up waking up in a world that’s really hard to recognize and very difficult to navigate, and I think that’s what’s happening to some of these organizations,” Matt Markins, president and CEO of faith-based organization Awana, told ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ on Sunday.

His organization focuses on the discipleship of children, bringing them closer to Christ and preparing them for leadership through a Bible-based youth ministry program. That mission is one Markins says the organization will maintain.

“We have a saying in our organization that Awana is rooted in Scripture, centered on the gospel. We’re never going to move one inch off of that,” he said, speaking to co-hosts Will Cain and Pete Hegseth.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) reemerged onto the news scene recently after announcing plans to rebrand to “Scouting America” next year. It was far from the first controversial change, however. Its prior decisions to allow openly gay scout leaders and members, as well as girls and transgender youth to join, also sparked backlash among some but support from others.

The organization’s name change is its most recent shift toward inclusivity.

In the meantime, numbers reported by the Associated Press indicate a sharp drop-off in membership, falling to 1.12 million last year from 1.97 million in 2019.

The Boy Scouts of America President and CEO Roger Krone told the outlet prior to the name change that the goal is to reduce as many barriers as possible to ensure everyone can accept the organization and join.

Awana has been around for 74 years and has grown, according to Markins. On a global scale, it operates in 135 countries.

“Our mission is to equip leaders to reach kids with the gospel and to engage them in lifelong discipleship. What does every parent want? Parents want their kids to have a thriving future, so I think over the last few years, we’ve gotten more and more visibility into organizations, what they’re doing, and sometimes we’ve become quite alarmed,” Markins said.

“And so we help come alongside parents, churches, coaches and mentors and help them to shape children and youth with lifetime faith. That’s going to help them be resilient in the future and to be able to thrive no matter their cultural context.”

Another faith-based alternative is Trail Life USA, an organization founded in 2013, which aims to teach young boys how to handle real-world challenges while learning outdoor skills and bolstering their faith.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has broken his silence after shocking video of him beating up his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura surfaced this week.

The 54-year-old rapper took to Instagram on Sunday afternoon to apologize, saying ‘I hit rock bottom, but I make no excuses.’

Looking into the camera, Diddy said: ‘So difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, sometimes you got to do that. I was f***ed up.

‘I mean I hit rock bottom, but I make no excuses, my behavior in that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video, I’m disgusted.

‘I was disgusted then when I did it, I am disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help, I got into going to therapy, going to rehab.

‘Had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I am committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness, I’m truly sorry.’

Diddy responds to the backlash he’s been receiving after leaked hotel footage shows him attacking Cassie back in 2016. pic.twitter.com/VudZUKAg7a

— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) May 19, 2024

The shocking surveillance footage of Diddy violently attacking his ex-girlfriend Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 emerged this week.

The video, obtained by CNN, shows the rapper shirtless with a towel wrapped around his waist, chasing Cassie down the hall at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City.

As she tried to get into an elevator, he grabbed her by the back of the head and slammed her to the ground.

He then kicked her as she lay on the floor motionless, before grabbing the two designer bags she’d tried to escape with.

Diddy stood over her, kicked her again, and then dragged her back to their room by the hoodie.

CNN obtains footage of Diddy beating his former girlfriend Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016. pic.twitter.com/oiVymFBmMp

— Rap Alert (@rapalert6) May 17, 2024

Cassie claimed in a since-settled lawsuit that Diddy had paid the same hotel $50,000 for the footage after the attack.

Diddy’s followers were not convinced by his apology, flooding the comments under his video with angry messages.

One said: ‘You swore you did nothing wrong. You gaslighted her and all of us, and ONLY now that the video came out, you’re sorry. Bro, go away.’

Another added: ‘If you were truly sorry then and now why were you lying all along? Your chance for redemption was a long time ago Diddler. It’s over now.’

It comes after the LA County District Attorney said they would not be able to prosecute Diddy for the assault as the statute of limitations had passed.

California’s statute of limitations for simple assault is one year, though aggravated assault is three years. Based on the timeline, neither charge could be levied against Diddy.

Two days after the attack, the pair appeared on the red carpet holding hands for the premiere of The Perfect Match.

In a statement to DailyMail.com this week, Cassie’s attorney Douglas Wigdor said: ‘The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs.

‘Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.’

Cassie sued Combs last year alleging rape and a range of other offenses.

They settled out of court in November for an undisclosed amount.

In a statement at the time, Cassie said: ‘I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control,’ Cassie said in a statement.

‘I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support.’

In his own statement at the time, Diddy’s lawyer said his settling the case was in no way an admission of guilt.

‘Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,’ said his lawyer Ben Brafman.

‘For the past six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail.

‘Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s reputation and seeking a payday.’

The pair dated between 2007 and 2018, after meeting in 2006 when she was 19 and he was 37.

In her suit, Cassie recalled an incident similar to the one caught on security footage at the LA hotel.

The suit claims: ‘In on around March Mr Combs, during an FO at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Mr Combs became extremely intoxicated and punched Ms Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye.

‘After he fell asleep, Ms. Ventura tried to leave the hotel room, but as she exited, Ms Combs awoke and began screaming at Ms Ventura. He followed her into the hallway while yelling at her.

‘He grabbed her, and then took glass vases in the hallway and threw then at her, causing glass to shatter around them as she ran to the elevator to escape.’

Cassie said in the suit that she managed to eventually escape Diddy and go to her own apartment, but decided to return to the hotel for fear of the rapper.

‘Upon realizing that her running away would cause Mr. Combs to be even angrier with her, and completely stuck in his vicious cycle of abuse, Ms. Ventura returned to the hotel with the intention of apologizing for running away from her abuser,’ the settled complaint said.

‘When she returned, hotel security staff urged her to get back into a cab and go to her apartment, suggesting that they had seen the security footage showing Mr. Combs beating Ms. Ventura and throwing glass at her in the hotel hallway.’

The legal claim said Combs paid the the InterContinental Century City $50,000 for the hallway security footage showing the alleged assault.

Cassie has described a years-long, torturous relationship in which he controlled her movements and subjected her to abuse.

He has always denied wrongdoing.

They met while she was recording her debut album after her smash hit One Thing.

The footage of the March 2016 incident comes just two months after Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by Homeland Security as part of a sex trafficking investigation.

He is also fighting lawsuits from other accusers who allege sexual misconduct and abuse.

Combs’ sons, Justin and Christian ‘King’ Combs, were handcuffed during the raid at their father’s residence in Los Angeles.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

Combs and his attorneys have denied all of the lawsuits’ allegations.

The rapper is among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades.

Formerly known as Puff Daddy, he built one of hip-hop’s biggest empires, blazing a trail with several entities attached to his famous name.

He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

President Biden on Sunday gave the commencement address at Morehouse College, an HBCU in Atlanta, Georgia, but with few disruptions from those assembled, despite calls for protests or for the speech to be canceled.

Biden’s address arrived as pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses nationwide have raised pressure domestically over the Israel-Hamas war.

Georgia, a swing state Biden won in 2020, has seen its share of demonstrations and clashes over recent weeks, including at the University of Georgia and Emory University.

The speech is one of several events where the president appeared this week before Black communities — a demographic that has historically backed him as a candidate and whose vote he’s seeking for reelection.

Some students among the graduating class turned their chairs away from Biden as he began his speech, while at least one student held up a Palestinian flag.

Watch:

Morehouse College graduates turn their backs on Crooked Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/jf9d5bVQbF

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 19, 2024

Morehouse Valedictorian DeAngelo Fletcher addressed the crowd while wearing a small Palestinian flag pin, and decorated his mortarboard with another Palestinian emblem. He dedicated part of his speech to calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all Hamas hostages.

“It is my stance as a Morehouse man — nay, as a human being — to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” Fletcher said in his speech, which was given before Biden’s.

Biden’s speech focused on the future of democracy, Israel and Gaza, and encouraging graduates to keep faith and hope, even in dark times.

“Whether you’re young or old, I know what endures. The strength and wisdom of faith endures,” he said.

“Faith asked me to hold on to hope. That’s my commitment to you to show you democracy, democracy, democracy is still the way,” Biden said, later citing the “extremist forces” who seek to disrupt institutions like Morehouse as a threat.

Biden addressed the Israel-Hamas war by saying he has called for “an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and reiterating his support for peaceful protests.

“What’s happening in Gaza and Israel is heartbreaking,” he said.

“What happens in Gaza, what rights do the Palestinian people have? I’m working to make sure we finally get a two-state solution — the only solution where two people live in peace, security, and dignity,” Biden said.

Several students walked out of the graduation ceremony while Biden was presented with an honorary degree following his speech, CNN reported.

Morehouse’s faculty voted 50 to 38 on Thursday to grant Biden an honorary doctorate. Dozens abstained from the vote, per NBC News.

Protests were ongoing outside the graduation site on Sunday, with barricades set up and manned by the Atlanta Police.

Morehouse President David Thomas told CNN Thursday that “disruptive behavior that prevents the ceremony or services” would not be allowed.

Biden is the second sitting president to speak at the college in just over a decade, following then-President Obama’s 2013 address.

A British court could give a final decision on Monday on whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to the United States over the mass leak of secret U.S. documents, the culmination of 13 years of legal battles and detentions.

Two judges at the High Court in London are set to rule on whether the court is satisfied by U.S. assurances that Assange, 52, would not face the death penalty and could rely on the First Amendment right to free speech if he faced a U.S. trial for spying.

Assange’s legal team say he could be on a plane across the Atlantic within 24 hours of the decision, could be released from jail, or his case could yet again be bogged down in months of legal battles.

“I have the sense that anything could happen at this stage,” his wife, Stella, said last week. “Julian could be extradited, or he could be freed.”

She said her husband hoped to be in court for the crucial hearing.

WikiLeaks released hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. military documents on Washington’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — the largest security breaches of their kind in U.S. military history — along with swaths of diplomatic cables.

In April 2010 it published a classified video showing a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack that killed a dozen people in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff.

The U.S. authorities want to put the Australian-born Assange on trial over 18 charges, nearly all under the Espionage Act, saying his actions with WikiLeaks were reckless, damaged national security, and endangered the lives of agents.

His many global supporters call the prosecution a travesty, an assault on journalism and free speech, and revenge for causing embarrassment. Calls for the case to be dropped have ranged from human rights groups and some media bodies, to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other political leaders.

Detained Since 2010

Assange was first arrested in Britain in 2010 on a Swedish warrant over sex crime allegations that were later dropped. Since then he has been variously under house arrest, holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London for seven years, and held since 2019 in Belmarsh top security jail, latterly while he waited a ruling on his extradition.

“Every day since the 7th of December 2010 he has been in one form of detention or another,” said Stella Assange, who was originally part of his legal team and married him in Belmarsh in 2022.

If the High Court rules the extradition can go ahead, Assange’s legal avenues in Britain are exhausted, and his lawyers will immediately turn to the European Court of Human Rights to seek an emergency injunction blocking deportation pending a full hearing by that court into his case at a later date.

On the other hand, if the judges reject the U.S. submissions, then he will have permission to appeal his extradition case on three grounds, and that might not be heard until next year.

It is also possible the judges could decide that Monday’s hearing should consider not just whether he can appeal but also the substance of that appeal. If they find in his favour in those circumstances, he could be released.

Stella Assange said that whatever the outcome she would continue to fight for his liberty. If he is freed she plans to follow him to Australia or wherever he was safe. If he is extradited, she said all the psychiatric evidence presented at court had concluded he was at very serious risk of suicide.

“We live from day to day, from week to week, from decision to decision. This is a way that we’ve been living for years and years,” she told Reuters.

“This is just not a way to live — it’s so cruel. And I can’t prepare for his extradition — how could I? But if he’s extradited, then I’ll do whatever I can, and our family is going to fight for him until he’s free.”

Jimmy Carter is ‘at home, enjoying peanut butter ice cream,’ said the CEO of the 99-year-old’s non-profit, days after his grandson warned that the former president’s life was ‘coming to the end.’

Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander said on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Politically Georgia podcast Wednesday that ‘there really hasn’t been a significant change’ in the ex-president’s health.

The Georgia peanut farmer and oldest living president has been in hospice care for more than a year after deciding to forego any further medical treatment.

‘I mean, he will always be one bad cold away from the end,’ Alexander told the podcast. ‘He is in hospice care, and there are palliative measures if he’s in pain, but nothing else.’

‘He is just the same remarkable man. He has always been outliving and surprising us all,’ Alexander added.

While Jason Carter warned that his grandfather’s death could be imminent he also told a crowd at a mental health froum on Tuesday that ‘he is doing OK.’

‘He has been in hospice, as you know, for almost a year and a half now, and he really is, I think, coming to the end that, as I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him, and there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end and I think he has been there in that space,’ Jason Carter said.

The ex-president entered hospice care in February 2023 after a series of hospital visits.

He has already survived metastatic brain and liver cancer.

In November, he made rare public appearance for his wife Rosalynn’s memorial service, in a wheelchair and covered in a blanket depicting her face.

They were married for 77 years, and lived in the same modest home in Plains, Georgia, for decades.

The longest-married couple in U.S. presidential history, they met when Jimmy was just three years old and Rosalynn was a newborn, and celebrated their 77nd wedding anniversary on July 7, 2023.

Family members say that he was determined to hang on even after entering hospice care, in part to ensure that Rosalynn was never left alone.

‘He was really honored and glad that he made it to the end with my grandmother, and that was a real treasure for him,’ Jason Carter told the New York Times in February.

‘I think that for whatever reason, the way he approaches this is from a place of enormous faith. And so he just believes that for whatever reason, God’s not done with him yet,’ he added.

Rosalynn’s funeral was the only time Carter has appeared publicly since entering hospice, and his frail appearance at the service alarmed friends in the church and well-wishers watching on television.

Carter spends his days in the home in Plains that he has owned for more than six decades, where caregivers attend to his needs and friends and family visit.

The two-bedroom, one-story ranch house was built by Carter himself, and is worth about $240,000.

Carter was elected to the Georgia state Senate on November 5, 1962, following an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate.

He became Georgia’s governor on November 3, 1970.

Carter won the U.S. presidential election on November 2, 1976, thanks in part to Rosalynn’s determined campaign strategy, visiting 40 states and earning her the title of ‘secret weapon.’

He served a single term that was blighted by an oil crisis that forced Americans to wait in line for gas and was defeated by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Since then he has committed himself to philanthropy and living a humble life with Rosalynn, his four children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In August 2015, Carter had a small cancerous mass removed from his liver.

The following year, Carter announced that he needed no further treatment, as an experimental drug had eliminated any sign of cancer.

That same year, he was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma that was detected in his liver and spread to his brain.

About six months after the diagnosis, Carter announced he no longer needed cancer treatment due in part to a groundbreaking medication that trains the immune system to fight cancer tumors.

He was hospitalized two years later for dehydration while building homes with Habitat for Humanity in Canada.

Despite his series of health scares, the president remained active in public life up until recent times.

President Joe Biden went to see Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter at their home in Plains, Georgia in April 2021, several months after he was sworn in, after the couple was unable to make it to the Democrat’s inauguration.

College-educated and working women across X are coming to the defense of Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker after his recent graduation speech at Benedictine College garnered backlash from many across the web and popular media for containing allegedly “sexist” remarks.

The string of posts seemingly began with “Out of Context” podcast host Noelle Fitchett making her rallying cry to women of a similar mindset, writing on the platform Thursday, “Can we start a trend with women with degrees and careers but agree with Harrison Butker’s speech?”

“I’ll go first,” she continued, “My name is Noelle, I have three degrees, and I agree that the world needs more masculinity and that wives/mothers are vital for society.” Others followed suit.

“I graduated last week with my second Bachelors degree as class Valedictorian. I was the only one with kids (6 and 4). Startling [sic] a second career after being a stay at home mom for 5 years and loved every single second. start new job in July,” an account by the name Mamavestor chimed in.

Tara Ross, retired attorney and author of “Why We Need the Electoral College,” wrote, “I am a Rice University grad and a UT Law School grad. I know a ton about the Electoral College, constitutional history, and American history in general. I have authored multiple books. The greatest thing I’ve done in my life, however, are my family/kids. I agree with Harrison Butker. More wives and mothers, please,”

“Hi my name is Rupali,” said another, “I’m a Johns Hopkins educated, double board certified and licensed, practicing physician, but building my family, our legacy is my greater honor. I agree with Harrison Butker! More wives and mothers please!!”

Can we start a trend with women with degrees and careers but agree with Harrison Butker’s speech?

I’ll go first: my name is Noelle, I have three degrees, and I agree that the world needs more masculinity and that wives/mothers are vital for society. pic.twitter.com/qgoGmOJM1y

— Noelle Fitchett (@NoelleFitchett) May 16, 2024

I graduated last week with my second Bachelors degree as class Valedictorian. I was the only one with kids (6 and 4). Startling a second career after being a stay at home mom for 5 years and loved every single second ❤️ start new job in July

— Mamavestor (@mamavestor) May 16, 2024

Sure. I’ll join. My name is Tara. I am a Rice University grad and a UT Law School grad. I know a ton about the Electoral College, constitutional history, and American history in general…. I have authored multiple books.

The greatest thing I’ve done in my life, however, are my… https://t.co/eRzvRtjNs5

— Tara Ross (@TaraRoss) May 19, 2024

Hi my name is Rupali. I’m a Johns Hopkins educated, double board certified and licensed, practicing physician, but building my family, our legacy is my greater honor.

I agree with Harrison Butker! More wives and mothers please!! https://t.co/kxnzxCY9wL pic.twitter.com/YrybnaYvZC

— Rupali Chadha, M.D.🩺 (@RupaliChadhaMD) May 18, 2024

Butker’s words during the May 11 commencement speech grew contentious as he shifted his focus to the female members of the audience and mentioned the significance of becoming a wife and mother.

“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” he said. “How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”

He shifted the focus to his wife, Isabelle, who he stated would be the first to say that her life “truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.” He also praised her for making his success possible. The remarks were met with applause.

Butker earned the support of Gracie Hunt, the daughter of Kansas City Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt, and Hall of Fame college football coach Lou Holtz, among others.

Kelly Stafford, wife of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, had a different opinion.

“It is a choice. It is a woman’s choice whether she is just a mom. It is a woman’s choice whether she decides to be a career woman,” she said. “It is a woman’s choice if she decides to do both and balance and do all that. And I think for someone to get up at a commencement speech and tell women who have been working their butts off for four years, possibly paying their way and are now in debt and they’re gonna need a career, that their biggest success story will be being a mom and a wife and don’t get me wrong, that might be. But it’s their choice whether they do that or not.

“To tell them they have been ‘diabolically lied to,’ you know, in a world where it’s tough. I feel like we constantly tear each other down. I feel like to build each other up, to build men and women up, not tear either down because, you know what, there’s some bright a– women that can change this world. And to tell them that they don’t really belong in the workplace …”

On X, the swath of support for Butker also received backlash.

Kathia Woods, a journalist, replied to Fitchett’s post, writing, “Many of us are wives, mom and wait for it hold degrees. I stayed home for two years with my daughter and it was great but we could afford it and wait for it was my choice. No man or society forced me into it. That’s key part Harrison missed it should be our choice. Not his.”

“But that isn’t what he said that was the issue. He told the women, who like you, were sitting in that chair because of their hard work, time, money, and tears, that they’re going to end up as stay at home moms end of story. That doesn’t have to be the case,” another said, also replying to Fitchett.

Many of us are wives, mom and wait for it hold degrees. I stayed home for two years with my daughter and it was great but we could afford it and wait for it was my choice. No man or society forced me into it. That’s key part Harrison missed it should be our choice. Not his

— Kathia Woods (@kathia_woods) May 16, 2024

But that isn’t what he said that was the issue. He told the women, who like you, were sitting in that chair because of their hard work, time, money, and tears, that they’re going to end up as stay at home moms end of story. That doesn’t have to be the case.

— 🏴‍☠️ (@patricidial) May 16, 2024

Some left-wing voices defended Butker’s right to free speech shortly after.

HBO’s Bill Maher, for one, said, “I don’t see what the big crime is” when touching on the subject.

Whoopi Goldberg also set herself apart from the rest of “The View” as the others took shots at Butker.

“Listen, I like when people say what they need to say. He’s at a Catholic college. He’s a staunch Catholic. These are his beliefs and he’s welcome to ’em,” she said.

“I don’t have to believe ’em. I don’t have to accept them… The same way we want respect when [former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist] Colin Kaepernick takes a knee, we want to give respect to people whose ideas are different from ours.”

A Chicago mom who called 911 during a terrifying break-in was left on her own for hours — with dispatchers telling her to call her local representative to demand more police funding.

Michelle called the emergency hotline six times after coming face-to-face with two masked bandits, only for the strained supervisor to tell her the city’s severe budget cuts had left them with a bare-bones staff.

“A gentleman got on and said sorry to say we have no units to send you … then there was an awkward pause,” Michelle told NBC Chicago Wednesday, declining to share her name or face while her would-be robbers are still on the loose.

“He also recommended I call my alderman and I said why, and he said encourage him to hire more police. The dispatcher also asked me if I would consider defending myself … if I had a weapon or considered getting one.”

According to Michelle, the two strangers walked through her open back door around 12:30 p.m. after she let her dog out.

They were even caught on her security camera “moseying” up to her property after climbing over a 6-foot-tall fence, but quickly sprinting away after finding the homeowner inside the house.

“I screamed: ‘I am calling the police’ and they bolted,” Michelle recalled.

Michelle and a neighbor tried chasing after the men before she followed through on her promise.

A dispatcher promised the frightened mother that help was on the way and directed her to wait outside.

But officers didn’t arrive, Michelle said.

After an hour and a half and six phone calls to 911, she finally demanded answers from a dispatch supervisor, who indicated the slow response was due to the city’s lackluster police department funding.

It would be another two and a half hours before cops finally arrived.

“The officers who did show up cared and were apologetic it took so long to get them there,” Michelle said.

“I don’t think it is the police department’s fault they are overstaffed and overwhelmed.”

Chicago Police told NBC Chicago that the delay in getting officers to Michelle’s home may have been related to the priority list for routine dispatch calls for 911 — because there was no immediate threat to life, Michelle was left waiting as officers addressed more pressing concerns in the area.

Despite her frustration, Michelle heeded the dispatch supervisor’s advice and called her alderman’s office and is waiting to meet with him in person.

“It is awful that our neighbor experienced this, everyone deserves to feel safe in their home,” 1st Ward Alderman Daniel La Spata said in a statement.

“My staff alerted me to the issue as soon as they heard, and I am in contact with 12th District Police leadership. I will continue to support any resources our districts request, and I will continue to work with the City on a proposed satellite location within West Town for the 12th District police.”

It has long been thought that testosterone shortens men’s lives. Studies in neutered animals and Korean eunuchs seem to confirm this. However, a new study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, draws these findings into question.

In this study, led by a team at the University of Western Australia, the researchers combined the results of 11 high-quality studies (known as a meta-analysis) investigating the effect of testosterone levels on lifespan. The studies followed men for at least five years and found that participants with the lowest testosterone levels were more likely to die.

Death in this study was from any cause, but digging deeper into the analysis reveals that this is mostly due to heart disease – still the leading cause of death in men globally.

What is interesting is that the same process underlying heart disease might also contribute to erectile dysfunction — the inability to get and keep an erection firm enough for sex.

Erectile dysfunction often occurs much earlier than symptoms of heart disease and can act as an early warning sign of existing or future heart problems. Testosterone is known to have a large effect on erectile function, again linking levels of this hormone to heart disease.

Testosterone levels typically decline as men age, dropping by about 1% per year from the age of 30. This is sometimes referred to as the male menopause or andropause.

This decrease over time is at least partly due to a slow waning of the ability of the testicles to produce testosterone and a reduction in the signals that tell them to. However, other factors can accelerate this decline, including chronic disease.

Chicken or egg?

So is low testosterone causing disease or is it caused by it?

A limitation of the new study is that it is not able to figure out if low testosterone directly causes an increased risk of death. Testosterone is lowered by illness, so it could be a marker for an underlying disease that results in an increased chance of dying. This is especially true for diseases that have long-term inflammation, of which obesity is one.

Helping unravel this relationship is the situation found in prostate cancer patients. When the cancer spreads, the patient is given drugs that drastically lower testosterone levels. Despite improving prostate cancer, this treatment increases the risk of heart attack and stroke in the patients.

So while low testosterone may be a marker of disease, to some extent it is clearly also a contributing factor in the development of future disease and possibly death.

Figuring out what a “low” level of testosterone is, is complicated. Measuring testosterone on its own might not give the full picture of what’s the right level for someone. What is low for one man may not be low for another.

Researchers use average levels of testosterone from lots of people from different populations to establish normal ranges to help identify people outside of this range with a related disease. This helps doctors to identify and treat patients who might need help.

However, making these generaliations across populations is tricky and often requires larger effects to show these trends. The new meta-analysis suggests that the increased risk of death in men is apparent mostly when testosterone levels are very low.

What is important to note from this is that regardless of the levels defining what is considered normal for any individual, lowered levels for that person seem to increase the risk of dying.

Keeping healthy T levels

Given the risks associated with low testosterone, you might wonder if there is any way to prevent them.

First, men should certainly try to avoid things that reduce it by adopting a healthy lifestyle and avoiding putting on weight. But when levels are low, treatment to replace the missing testosterone could be an option.

There is growing evidence that testosterone replacement therapy may help reduce some of those risks, including death from any cause and from heart attack, in some men. Yet controversy still exists as long-standing – and largely outdated – concerns regarding testosterone therapy causing heart attacks endure.

While most evidence now suggests there is at least no risk of heart disease associated with testosterone replacement therapy, more research is needed to determine if it can improve heart health in men.

While there may be hope on the horizon in the form of testosterone for reducing the risk of men dying from heart attack, it looks as though it will be a long road until treatment becomes a common option. In the meantime, it would be wise to maintain your testosterone levels through a healthy lifestyle.