U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has indefinitely suspended former President Donald Trump’s classified documents trial.

The move had been widely anticipated for some time and marks perhaps the greatest legal victory in Trump’s struggle against his four major indictments. The trial was previously scheduled to take place on May 20.

Cannon gave her reasoning as respecting Trump’s right to due process and the public’s interest in the “fair and efficient administration of justice.”

BREAKING: Judge Cannon indefinitely postpones Trump’s Mar-a-Lago classified docs case pic.twitter.com/D7tKs8cMma

— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) May 7, 2024

Special counsel Jack Smith had urged Cannon to hold the trial in July and laid out his case earlier this month. Trump’s team argued that the trial should be held after the November election or after August at the earliest.

Cannon partially justified the delay as needed in order to comply with the Classified Information Procedures Act, which all cases involving classified documents must abide by.

“The Court also determines that finalization of a trial date at this juncture—before resolution of the myriad and interconnected pre-trial and CIPA issues remaining and forthcoming—would be imprudent and inconsistent with the Court’s duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions before the Court, critical CIPA issues, and additional pretrial and trial preparations necessary to present this case to a jury,” Cannon wrote.

Though not his first official indictment, the classified documents case was the first legal battle with Trump to go public, after FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago compound on Aug. 8, 2022.

The search came as a shock to many and represented the first major legal challenge to Trump since leaving office, coming nearly a half year before his first indictment. He was indicted on 40 charges one year after the search.

Trump is accused of mishandling classified documents from his administration, taking them to his private residence after leaving office, and being uncooperative with government officials trying to retrieve them.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has named her price for backing down on her threat to call a vote on Speaker Mike Johnson’s removal, Politico reported.

In a nearly two-hour long meeting yesterday requested by Greene to explore potential off-ramps, the MAGA firebrand and allied Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) outlined several policy demands they are seeking before calling off their plans.

They include, according to people familiar with the talks:

• No further aid for Ukraine;
• A return to the “Hastert Rule,” meaning no legislation is brought to a vote without support from a majority of the House majority;
• Defunding the special counsel probes into former President Donald Trump in upcoming appropriations; and
• Enforcement of the “Massie Rule,” whereby government funding is automatically cut across the board if no superseding agreement is reached before a set deadline.

They’ll meet again today at 12:30 p.m. in hopes of finding a detente. Spokespeople for Greene and Johnson declined to comment on their discussions, but the speaker struck a conciliatory note after yesterday’s meeting, sympathizing with Greene and pledging to “keep this team together.”

Make no mistake, though, the pressure for Republican party unity in an election year is weighing on Greene, who is battling exasperated GOP colleagues and skepticism from the party’s unquestioned leader, Trump.

Johnson could be in a position to grant at least some of Greene’s asks. Since this Congress has effectively finished passing controversial, must-do items such as funding the government, raising the debt ceiling and extending surveillance authorities, Johnson can probably stick to the Hastert Rule (named for former, now-disgraced speaker Dennis Hastert).

Democrats agreed to a version of the Massie Rule during last year’s spending talks with then-speaker Kevin McCarthy — so Johnson could probably go there as well.

On Ukraine, Congress just sent Kyiv $60 billion in aid — enough to last through the year by most estimates, though Greene might also want to strike an expected nine-figure aid authorization in the annual Pentagon policy bill that’s expected to move later this year.

But defunding special counsel Jack Smith’s Trump investigations could be much trickier. Front-line Republicans in the past have balked at such demands, to say nothing of Democrats. If Greene is expecting Johnson to put up a fight on a much-anticipated September continuing resolution, that would be a recipe for a federal shutdown just weeks before the election.

The two sides don’t have a deal yet — and might never get one — but it’s clear temperatures are dropping. A handshake solution, after all, is in the interest of both parties: It would spare Johnson a risky vote where he’d be relying on the generosity of Democrats to save his gavel.

And for Greene, her relationship with Trump and his inner circle is on the line, we’re told. The former president “could not have been clearer,” one person close to him said last night, in signaling that he isn’t interested in any more intraparty drama this election season.

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance sued in U.S. federal court on Tuesday seeking to block a law signed by President Joe Biden that would force the divestiture of the short video app used by 170 million Americans or ban it.

The companies filed their lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, arguing that the law violates the U.S. Constitution on a number of grounds including running afoul of First Amendment free speech protections. The law, signed by Biden on April 24, gives ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell TikTok or face a ban.

“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban,” the companies said in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit said the divestiture “is simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally. … There is no question: the Act (law) will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.”

The White House has said it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national security grounds but not a ban on TikTok. The White House and Justice Department declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is the latest move by TikTok to keep ahead of efforts to shut it down in the United States as companies such as Snap and Meta look to capitalize on TikTok’s political uncertainty to take away advertising dollars from their rival.

Driven by worries among U.S. lawmakers that China could access data on Americans or spy on them with the app, the measure was passed overwhelmingly in Congress just weeks after being introduced. TikTok has denied that it has or ever would share U.S. user data, accusing American lawmakers in the lawsuit of advancing “speculative” concerns.

Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, top Democrat on a House committee on China, said the legislation is “the only way to address the national security threat posed by ByteDance’s ownership of apps like TikTok.”

“Instead of continuing its deceptive tactics, it’s time for ByteDance to start the divestment process,” he said.

The law prohibits app stores like Apple and Alphabet’s Google from offering TikTok and bars internet hosting services from supporting TikTok unless ByteDance divests TikTok by Jan. 19.

The suit said the Chinese government “has made clear that it would not permit a divestment of the recommendation engine that is a key to the success of TikTok in the United States.” The companies asked the D.C. Circuit to block U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland from enforcing the law and says “prospective injunctive relief” is warranted.

According to the suit, 58% of ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors including BlackRock, General Atlantic and Susquehanna International Group, 21% owned by the company’s Chinese founder and 21% owned by employees – including about 7,000 Americans.

Tensions Over Internet and Technology

The four-year battle over TikTok is a significant front in the ongoing conflict over the internet and technology between the United States and China. In April, Apple said China had ordered it to remove Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China over Chinese national security concerns.

TikTok has spent $2 billion to implement measures to protect the data of U.S. users and made additional commitments in a 90-page draft National Security Agreement developed through negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), according to the lawsuit.

That pact included TikTok agreeing to a “shut-down option” that would give the U.S. government the authority to suspend TikTok in the United States if it violates some obligations, according to the suit.

In August 2022, according to the lawsuit, CFIUS stopped engaging in meaningful discussions about the agreement, and in March 2023 CFIUS “insisted that ByteDance would be required to divest the U.S. TikTok business.” CFIUS is an interagency committee, chaired by the U.S. Treasury Department, that reviews foreign investments in American businesses and real estate that implicate national security concerns.

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump was blocked by the courts in his bid to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat, a unit of Tencent, in the United States. Trump, the Republican candidate challenging the Democrat Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, has since reversed course, saying he does not support a ban but that security concerns need to be addressed.

Biden could extend the Jan. 19 deadline by three months if he determines ByteDance is making progress. The suit said the fact that Biden’s presidential campaign continues to use TikTok “undermines the claim that the platform poses an actual threat to Americans.” Trump’s campaign does not use TikTok.

Many experts have questioned whether any potential buyer possesses the financial resources to buy TikTok and if China and U.S. government agencies would approve a sale.

To move the TikTok source code to the United States “would take years for an entirely new set of engineers to gain sufficient familiarity,” according to the lawsuit.

Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history in a bid to ‘boost inclusion’.

The Texas-based organization is set to become Scouting America as it hopes to improve participation amid flagging membership.

The historic change is the latest in a series designed to take the troop into the 21st century, including allowing gay youth and welcoming girls throughout its ranks.

It comes as the organization is emerging from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims.

‘In the next 100 years we want any youth in America to feel very, very welcome to come into our programs,’ Roger Krone, who took over last fall as president and chief executive officer, said in an interview before the announcement.

The announcement came at its annual meeting in Florida on the fifth anniversary of the organization welcoming girls into Cub Scouting.

Boy Scouts of America began allowing gay youth in 2013 and ended a blanket ban on gay adult leaders in 2015.

In 2017, it made the historic announcement that girls would be accepted as Cub Scouts as of 2018 and into the flagship Boy Scout program – renamed Scouts BSA – in 2019.

Eagle-eyed South Park fans have since come forward to suggest that the cartoon may have predicted the Scouts’ move towards progression.

One episode shows the characters attend their first ever Scout meeting orchestrated by a character named ‘Big Gay Al’.

The move has been met with some backlash, with calls to boycott the institution in the same way that Bud Light customers chose to stop supporting the company after they partnered with a transgender influencer.

‘Boy Scouts are removing the word boy from their name after 114 years. Now they will be called Scouting America,’ one irate X user wrote.

‘Bud light them too. Seriously, BUD LIGHT every piece of garbage institution in this country that is doing everything they can to tear down and torch our culture, our traditions, common sense, biology, and our way of life.’

‘”Everyone can be their authentic self and they will be welcomed here” This is antithetical to Boy Scouts,’ another fumed.

‘The boy is to be shaped by scouting, HE should change, that’s the point. Not the other way around. This is little more than a humiliation ritual.’

Radio presenter Dana Loesch pointed out that a separate organization for Girl Scouts already exists.

JUST IN: The Boy Scouts have rebranded and are dropping the ‘Boy’ to become ‘Scouting America’ so “everyone feels welcome.”

South Park strikes again.

The woke organization says they want to be welcoming and inclusive which is why they are dropping the ‘boy.’

“This will be a… pic.twitter.com/SBXNvbbcpn

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 7, 2024

The organization won’t officially become Scouting America until February 8, 2025, the organization’s 115th birthday. But Krone said he expects people will start immediately using the name.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is being withdrawn worldwide, months after the pharmaceutical giant admitted for the first time in court documents that it can cause a rare and dangerous side effect.

The vaccine can no longer be used in the European Union after the company voluntarily withdrew its “marketing authorisation”. The application to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on Tuesday.

Similar applications will be made in the coming months in the UK and in other countries that had approved the vaccine, known as Vaxzevria.

The decision to withdraw it brings to an end the use of the jab, which was heralded by Boris Johnson as a “triumph for British science” and credited with saving more than six million lives.

AstraZeneca said the vaccine was being removed from markets for commercial reasons. It said the vaccine was no longer being manufactured or supplied, having been superseded by updated vaccines that tackle new variants.

Vaxzevria has come under intense scrutiny in recent months over a very rare side effect, which causes blood clots and low blood platelet counts. AstraZeneca admitted in court documents lodged with the High Court in February that the vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS”.

TTS – which stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome – has been linked to at least 81 deaths in the UK as well as hundreds of serious injuries. AstraZeneca is being sued by more than 50 alleged victims and grieving relatives in a High Court case.

But AstraZeneca has insisted the decision to withdraw the vaccine is not linked to the court case or its admission that it can cause TTS. It said the timing was pure coincidence.

In a statement the company said: “We are incredibly proud of the role Vaxzevria played in ending the global pandemic. According to independent estimates, over 6.5 million lives were saved in the first year of use alone and over three billion doses were supplied globally.

“Our efforts have been recognised by governments around the world and are widely regarded as being a critical component of ending the global pandemic.

“As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied. AstraZeneca has therefore taken the decision to initiate withdrawal of the marketing authorisations for Vaxzevria within Europe.

“We will now work with regulators and our partners to align on a clear path forward to conclude this chapter and significant contribution to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The Telegraph has been told that the company will withdraw marketing authorisations in other countries, including the UK, where it has regulatory approval. AstraZeneca never had approval for the vaccine to be used in the US.

The company said: “We will partner with regulatory authorities globally to initiate marketing authorisation withdrawals for Vaxzevria, where no future commercial demand for the vaccine is expected.”

The Government largely stopped using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine by the autumn of 2021, by which time it had supplied about 50 million doses in the UK. It was replaced in the UK with Pfizer and Moderna jabs in time for the winter booster campaign at the end of 2021.

Marco Cavaleri, head of vaccines at the European Medicines Agency, the body which is responsible for drug and medicine safety within the EU, told Italian media: “The authorisation of the anti-Covid vaccine Vaxzevria by AstraZeneca will be withdrawn and the process has already officially started with the European Commission. This is in line with the expectations that no-longer-used and updated vaccines will be withdrawn, as per our indication.”

Mr Cavaleri said he expected all the “monovalent” vaccines – which dealt only with the original Wuhan strain – to be withdrawn in time.

AstraZeneca accepted the vaccine can cause TTS in a legal document in February this year. The causal mechanism is not known.

Lawyers for claimants in the High Court case argue that the drug caused vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT) – a subset of TTS – and that it was not as safe as individuals were entitled to expect. AstraZeneca has always insisted that “patient safety is our highest priority”.

The company has said: “From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.”

But Kate Scott, whose husband Jamie was left with a permanent brain injury after having the vaccine and who was the first person in the UK to bring a legal action, said: “AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine no longer being used in the UK or Europe, and soon the rest of the world, means no one else will suffer from this awful adverse reaction.

“They say it is for commercial reasons, but maybe it’s because it can no longer be seen as being within the acceptable safety parameters, with 445 confirmed cases of VITT, 81 of these fatal in the UK alone.”

Mr Scott, 47, a father of two who has had to give up work, said: “This is good news, but I will always wish they had, like they did in other countries, paused it in the UK after just one case. More lives could have been saved and I would not be suffering the way I am.”

Sarah Moore, a partner at law firm Leigh Day, which is bringing the legal claims, said: “To those who we represent, all of whom have suffered bereavement or serious injury as a result of the AstraZeneca vaccine, this decision to withdraw marketing authorisation, ending the usage of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the EU, will be welcomed.

“It will be seen as a decision linked with AstraZeneca’s recent admission that the vaccine can cause TTS, and the fact that regulators across the world suspended or stopped usage of the vaccine following concerns regarding TTS.

“This is an important regulatory step, but still our clients remain without fair compensation. We will continue to fight for the compensation our clients need and campaign for reform of the vaccine damage payment scheme.”

The scheme, run by the Government, has paid out to victims. But it has been branded inadequate, prompting them to bring separate civil claims against AstraZeneca, which the drugs firm is contesting.

A judge on Tuesday denied former President Donald Trump‘s request for a mistrial in his hush money case, which Trump made after pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels delivered salacious testimony that tested the limits the court had placed on what she could say.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche told Judge Juan Merchan that Daniels’s testimony differed from the “consensual encounter with President Trump that she was trying to sell” in 2016, according to CNN’s reports from the courtroom.

“But now we’ve heard it, and it is an issue. How can you unring the bell?” Blanche asked, calling her testimony “extraordinarily prejudicial.”

Daniels took the stand as a witness in Trump’s trial and spoke in detail about an alleged sexual encounter she had with Trump. The extent of the detail she provided prompted Merchan to scold prosecutors at one point for soliciting gratuitous remarks.

Merchan had ruled at the start of the day that Daniels could testify about her experience with Trump so long as it did not become too graphic, because their encounter is not what Trump was on trial for. Rather, Trump is facing charges of falsifying records of a payment to Daniels to prevent her from speaking about the encounter ahead of the 2016 election.

Prosecutors said they would comply with the judge’s order and that Daniels would not discuss “genitalia.”

Later, however, prosecutors asked surprise questions such as whether Daniels ever felt “threatened” by Trump, if he wore a condom, and where they allegedly had sex.

Defense attorneys jumped in to object several times, and Merchan frequently sustained their objections.

“The degree of detail we’re going into is unnecessary,” Merchan said at one point.

When Blanche called for a mistrial, Merchan was sympathetic with the defense’s position despite denying the motion.

“As a threshold matter, Mr. Blanche, I agree that there were some things that better be left unsaid,” Merchan said, adding that Daniels was “a little difficult to control.”

Prosecutors opposed the mistrial request, saying that defense attorneys invited their lines of questioning after they attempted to discredit Daniels during their prior questioning of her former attorney Keith Davidson.

“It was incumbent upon us to bring out those details,” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger argued.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is calling on former President Trump to formally debate him during the upcoming Libertarian Party convention.

Kennedy, an independent who considered joining the Libertarian Party after a failed primary bid as a Democrat, wants to take on Trump during the forum held later this month in Washington.

“I’d like to make you an offer. We’re both going to be speaking at the upcoming Libertarian convention on May 24 and 25,” Kennedy wrote in part in a lengthy post on X on Tuesday.

“It’s perfect neutral territory for you and me to have a debate where you can defend your record for your wavering supporters.”

“You yourself have said you’re not afraid to debate me as long as my poll numbers are decent,” Kennedy wrote. “Well, they are. In fact, I’m the only presidential candidate in history who has polled ahead of both major party candidates in head-to-head races.”

Kennedy pointed to data from Zogby, a polling and analytics firm, indicating that the environmental lawyer wins the election over Trump in a two-candidate race, without factoring President Biden into the hypothetical matchup.

“So let’s meet in a couple of weeks and show the American public that at least two of the major candidates aren’t afraid to debate each other,” Kennedy added.

Kennedy has put pressure on both Trump and Biden to debate him in recent weeks, hoping to raise his stature and get on more equal footing with the mainstream presumptive nominees.

Republicans and Democrats are equally skeptical that a debate among two or more of the candidates with Kennedy will happen, noting Trump’s aversion to debating this cycle and Biden’s equally non-committal approach.

The Libertarian event could theoretically level the playing field for Kennedy and Trump as they each look to court voters who are considered harder to define by party and ideology.

While Kennedy has had several conversations with Libertarian officials and leaders about his third-party bid, he ultimately opted out of switching parties again and says he’s committed to see his independent campaign through until he gets on 50 state ballots. His campaign counts 10 so states so far and anticipates adding more as new calendar deadlines approach.

A twenty-year-old illegal migrant has been arrested after allegedly kidnapping and raping an 11-year-old girl outside her Florida home.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office identified Marvin Dionel Perez Lopez as the girl’s attacker, claiming he forced her into his white van where the alleged sexual assault took place.

The child’s mother, according to police, searched for her daughter and saw the van not far from where she and Lopez lived in Lake Worth.

The mother caught a glimpse of her daughter and the suspect in the van and began banging on the door, shouting at him to free the girl, according to an arrest report.

Sherriff’s deputies said Lopez fled from the van at that point. The victim’s mother then stopped by Lopez’s apartment where his brother also lived. Lopez’s brother got him to come home where the mother confronted him.

After listening to Lopez’s pleas for forgiveness, the victim’s mother called 911.

Investigators on the scene interviewed the victim who told them that Lopez forced himself on her even after she tried to refuse and get away.

At the same time, Lopez again tried to flee, this time through a back window of his apartment. Police noticed Lopez doing this and chased after him. It’s not clear if they caught him right there and then, but police confirmed Lopez’s arrest on Monday.

Lopez is from Guatemala and left the Central American country sometime in January, according to local station WPTV. When he crossed into Mexico, he reportedly surrendered to border patrol and was given a court date in 2027, after which he was released.

At the end of January, he made it to Florida. It’s unclear how Lopez secured an apartment in Palm Beach or what he does for work.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said that Lopez ‘has confessed to the crime.’

‘He’s gonna get tried for a capital crime before he even remotely thinks he’s gonna get deported. He’s gonna do the time here first,’ Bradshaw said.

An expert spoke to CBS12, saying that this type of crime is uncommon.

‘Stranger rape is far less prevalent than acquaintance rape. So most oftentimes it is someone that the person knows,’ said Palm Beach County Victim Services director Nicole Bishop.

Hermencia Vasquez, Lopez’s sister-in-law, said she was home when the alleged victim’s mother also came rapping at her door.

‘It was 9 at night and the lady/mom came into my house saying that something happened with her daughter and Marvin,’ Vasquez said in an interview with WPTV. ‘I asked Marvin what would he do if she got pregnant and if he would be responsible, and he said yes he would be responsible for the child.’

Ever since the migrant crisis has begun capturing the attention of politicians and citizens alike, the media has been spotlighting particularly gruesome crimes by migrants who weren’t supposed to be in the US at the time of their offenses.

One case that’s had particular staying power is the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley at the hands of undocumented Venezuelan immigrant Jose Ibarra, 26.

Lopez was taken into custody on counts of kidnapping to sexually assault a minor, sexual assault of a victim under 12 years old, and resisting an officer without violence.

He’s currently being held in the Palm Beach County jail without bond.

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels took the stand to testify in the unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump on Tuesday.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges stem from a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

The charges are related to alleged payments made to silence Daniels about an alleged 2006 extramarital affair with Trump before the 2016 presidential election.

Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, a $130,000 hush money payment ahead of the 2016 presidential election in an effort to keep her silent on allegations of an affair with Trump in 2006.

The payments to Daniels were first revealed in January 2018 in a Wall Street Journal report that said Cohen and Daniels’ lawyer negotiated a nondisclosure agreement to prevent her from publicly discussing the supposed sexual encounter with Trump.

At the time, though, Cohen, Trump, and even Stormy Daniels denied the arrangement.

In January 2018, Cohen said the alleged encounter between Daniels and Trump was a rumor that had circulated “since 2011.”

And in a letter dated Jan. 10, 2018, obtained and reviewed by Fox News, Daniels also denied the allegations.

“I recently became aware that certain news outlets are alleging that I had a sexual and/or romantic affair with Donald Trump many, many, many years ago. I am stating with complete clarity that this is absolutely false,” Daniels wrote. “My involvement with Donald Trump was limited to a few public appearances and nothing more.”

Daniels wrote in the letter that when she met Trump, he was “gracious, professional and a complete gentleman to me and EVERYONE in my presence.”

“Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false,” the letter read. “If indeed I did have a relationship with Donald Trump, trust me, you wouldn’t be reading about it in the news, you would be reading about it in my book. But the fact of the matter is, these stories are not true.”

But in March 2018, Daniels changed her story. During an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Daniels claimed she had a one-time, unprotected sexual encounter with Trump.

At the time, Trump said he was not aware of the payment made to Daniels.

When asked in April 2018 why Cohen made the payment, Trump responded: “You have to ask Michael Cohen — Michael’s my attorney.”

Initially, there were questions about whether the non-disclosure agreement that was signed by Daniels — but not by Trump — was valid.

Daniels began legal efforts to depose Trump and Cohen over the payment. She also filed a defamation suit against Cohen, following a cease-and-desist letter sent by Cohen’s attorney that directed her to refrain from any further “false and defamatory” statements about Cohen following her tell-all “60 Minutes” interview.

Prosecutors, during the third week of the trial, called a number of witnesses to testify, including Keith Davidson, an attorney who once represented Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Davidson said Daniels’ denial of an affair with Trump was technically true. He also testified that the money ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid her was not a payoff, but a “consideration.”

Trump’s defense attorneys, during cross-examination, played audio recordings of Davidson, in which he can be heard admitting Cohen did not need authority from Trump to make the payment to Stormy Daniels.

Meanwhile, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison, after pleading guilty to federal charges that included lying to Congress, campaign-finance violations and tax evasion. The charges against Cohen arose from two separate investigations – one by federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the other by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Cohen pleaded guilty to misleading Congress about his work on a proposal to build a Trump skyscraper in Moscow, and hiding the fact that he continued to speak with Russians about the proposal well into the 2016 presidential campaign.

In the New York case, prosecutors accused Cohen of a years-long “tax evasion scheme” to avoid paying federal income taxes on more than $4 million made through a number of ventures, including through his ownership of taxi medallions, his selling of real estate in Florida and his consulting work for other clients.

Cohen pleaded guilty to arranging the $130,000 payment to Daniels and a payment of $150,000 to model Karen McDougal to prevent them from going public with alleged affairs with Trump. Trump has repeatedly denied those alleged encounters.

A security guard employed by the Canadian rapper Drake was seriously wounded in a shooting near the musician’s Toronto mansion early Tuesday.

The entrance to the sprawling $100 million property was taped off by police after gunfire around around 2:10 a.m., CBC reported.

The suspect fled the ritzy Bridle Path neighborhood in a vehicle, and there was no immediate description of either available, the Toronto Police said.

The victim appeared to have been one of Drake’s security guards, who was injured in what appeared to be a drive-by shooting, a police source told CBC.

He suffered gunshot wounds to the upper chest, and was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.

Drake – who is currently in a heated feud with recording artist Kendrick Lamar – has agreed to cooperate with authorities, sources told CTV News Toronto.

The rapper’s 50,000-square foot manse, known as “The Embassy,” previously made headlines when it was featured in Architectural Digest in 2020.

“Because I was building it in my hometown, I wanted the structure to stand firm for 100 years. I wanted it to have a monumental scale and feel,” the former “Degrassi” star told the outlet of putting down roots in his native city.

Anti-Israel protesters vandalized a World War I memorial in Central Park on Monday and burned an American flag after a mob of more than 1,000 marchers was blocked by cops from reaching the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the star-studded Met Gala was in full swing.

At least one America-hating vandal torched Old Glory at the site of the 107th Infantry Memorial, the base of which was defaced with graffiti reading “Gaza” in large black letters.

Others plastered the statue’s bronze soldiers with stickers of the Palestinian flag that read “Stop the Genocide. End the apartheid. Free Palestine.”

Some of the protesters climbed atop the infantrymen and waved Palestinian flags or draped them over the figures.

The anarchy near the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 67th unfolded with no cops in sight as a large police presence had mobilized about 15 blocks north at the Met to ensure one of the biggest nights in fashion wasn’t crashed by any anti-Israel protesters.

Watch:

A World War I memorial, this isn’t disrespect, it is sheer loathing. These men died so that the West would be free to commit suicide via mass migration. pic.twitter.com/tkoQXzk9Ku

— Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) May 7, 2024

Another Central Park monument, the Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman bronze statue in Grand Army Plaza, was also vandalized Monday night.

“Free Gaza” was graffitied in red letters on the base of the memorial and a Palestinian flag was affixed to its front.

Earlier in the evening, about two dozen anti-Israel protesters were arrested near Madison Ave and East 83rd Street as a massive swarm of demonstrators marched from Hunter College toward the Met, according to police sources.

The crowd, part of a “Day of Rage” protest organized by the Palestinian activist group Within Our Lifetime, had trekked north on Fifth Avenue — blocking traffic along the way — before cops stopped them at the East 79th Street Transverse in Central Park.

“Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” the group chanted as they waved Palestinian flags and wore keffiyeh face coverings.

Despite setting their sights on the glitzy event — which has long been expected to be the target of demonstrations — the demonstrators could not reach the iconic art museum.

Cops managed to divert the crowd into Central Park before blocking the exits, where they remained at a standstill and confused about how to progress.

“This is an exercise in futility at this point. There’s nowhere for them to go,” a cop attempting to corral the crowd was heard telling his partner.

The protesters then filed out of the park and were within sight of the Met, but dozens of police formed a blockade — standing two cops deep — preventing them from heading north.

“Is that the Met?” one protester asked a friend. “Oh no, we were so close.”

The group tried to reach the museum again by turning down East 81st Street but was again stopped by more police barricades at the intersection with Madison Avenue.

Soon after cops met the protesters head-on three blocks uptown and began making about two dozen arrests. Officers were seen tackling at least one woman to the ground while someone chucked a water bottle at the cops.

“Who do you serve? Who do you protect?” the group shouted in a chant at the cops.

Earlier in the evening, several pro-Israel supporters showed up at Hunter College to face off with people they accused of “supporting terrorism.”

“All these people are ignorant, uneducated and blindly following each other. It feels like we’re back in World War two,” said 17-year-old Jewish Upper East Sider Elena Bakhchi.

The two opposing sides engaged in screaming matches on the campus while cops warned demonstrators that they could face arrest for “unlawfully walking in a roadway.”

Across town, nearly 1,000 pro-Israel demonstrators gathered in Riverside Park in support of Jewish students at colleges like Columbia University.

The rally coincided with Yom HaShoah, the day of Holocaust remembrance.

Jewish Columbia students denounced an uptick in antisemitism they said they witnessed on their college campus.

“Today, we stand here 91 years and three months since Hitler was appointed the Chancellor of Germany and 79 years since the last death camp was liberated. Since then, we have all had two main responsibilities. Never forget. And never again,” Columbia sophomore Elisha Baker said.

“Never forget is about the past. Never again is about today, and it’s about tomorrow. For us, this means doing everything in our power to prevent antisemitism from becoming normal in society again,” he continued. “I am here today because I am watching antisemitism become normal in my own backyard. For the first time in my life, it truly feels that never again is right now.”

Ukraine’s spy agency says it thwarted a Russian assassination plot to kill President Zelensky after Putin’s spooks allegedly tried to infiltrate his bodyguards.

The SBU exposed a network of agents who it claims were preparing to take out the Ukrainian leader as well as other political and military top brass.

In a statement posted to Telegram, the SBU wrote: “Yes, the enemy was actively developing plans to eliminate President Volodymyr Zelensky.”

“The network, whose activities were supervised by the FSB from Moscow, included two colonels… who “leaked” secret information of the Russian Federation,” it said.

“One of the tasks of the FSB intelligence network was to search for executors among the military close to the protection of the President, who could take the Head of State hostage and later kill him.”

The SBU also revealed the Russian spies were planning to “liquidate” the head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, and the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence wing (GUR), Kyrylo Budanov, along with other high-ranking officials.

According to Ukraine’s spy agency, part of the foiled plot – including the planned kidnapping of Budanov – was supposed to happen before Russian Orthodox Easter on May 5.

The SBU added: “The enemy’s plan was as follows: first, the recruited agent had to observe the movement of the person under guard and pass information to the enemy.

“According to the coordinates of the house where the official was supposed to be, a rocket attack was planned.

“Then they were going to attack the people who remained at the affected area with a drone.

“After that, the Russians planned to target with another missile, including to destroy traces of the use of the drone.”

Moscow’s alleged Russian intelligence failure comes as Putin was today inaugurated as Russian president for the fifth time following his sham “victory” in the rigged March elections.

Last month, Poland arrested a man believed to be working with the Kremlin’s security services to help plan the assassination of Zelensky.

A joint investigation, led by Polish and Ukrainian law enforcement, found he “established contacts with the Russian Federation directly involved in the war in Ukraine”.

A statement said: “His tasks included the collecting and providing of military intelligence for the Russian Federation with information on the security of the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport”.

His intention was “to help Russian special services plan a possible attack” on President Zelensky,” it added.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin said at the time: “This case is yet another proof that Russia is a threat not only to Ukraine and Ukrainians but also to the entire free world.

“The Kremlin’s criminal regime is constantly trying to undermine European and global security.”

Israeli soldiers raised their flags as they seized control of the vital Rafah border crossing early Tuesday, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the latest Hamas proposal for a ceasefire as an attempt to “sabotage” their operation.

The Israeli military moved into the southern Gaza city — a key crossing to Egypt — and quickly claimed “operational control” of the border point in its push to fully expel Hamas, officials said.

A pair of soldiers in camouflage raised the Flag of Zion on a small pole on the abandoned-looking main road, video shared by the IDF showed.

Another clip showed an IDF tank crushing signs that read “I (Heart) Gaza.”

The Rafah operation was “very precise and limited in space,” Israel claimed – with the goal of eliminating Hamas infrastructure after the terror group launched a deadly rocket attack at the Israel-Gaza border crossing Sunday.

The long-awaited push into Rafah overnight came just hours after Hamas claimed it accepted a ceasefire proposal mediated by Egypt and Qatar.

The supposed deal, however, was quickly dismissed by Israel, with officials insisting it was not approved by the Jewish State — and that it was a “deception” by the terrorist organization.

Netanyahu said Tuesday that the deal was “very far from Israel’s vital demands” and “meant to sabotage the entry of our forces into Rafah.”

“That did not happen,” the prime minister said in a video statement.

The military operation in the key crossing has created global concern over the 1.3 million Palestinians sheltering in the area, where they were previously told to flee when Israel launched its initial incursion on northern Gaza.

On Monday, President Biden again warned Netanyahu against launching an invasion of Rafah following the leader’s order for 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from eastern parts of the area.

The Israeli military ultimately carried out a series of strikes across Rafah overnight, killing at least 23 people – including six women and five children, according to the Associated Press, citing hospital records.

“We did nothing. … We don’t have Hamas,” said Mohamed Abu Amra, who said his wife, two brothers, sister and niece were all killed while they slept.

תיעוד: הטנקים של חטיבה 401 השתלטו על מעבר רפיח pic.twitter.com/j5KoycXHq9

— איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) May 7, 2024

“We found fire devouring us. The house was turned upside down.”

The Rafah crossing and the Kerem Shalom border between Israel and Gaza – both of which are key entry points for aid into the Strip – were closed for two days leading up to the incursion.

Though smaller entry points are still open, the closures are serious blows to the flow of food, medicine, and other supplies to Gaza’s beleaguered civilians – who officials say are already experiencing a “full-blown famine.”

“[The closures] will plunge this crisis into unprecedented levels of need, including the very real possibility of a famine,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for OCHA, the United Nations’ humanitarian affairs office.

Israeli authorities have denied OCHA access to the Rafah crossing, Laerke confirmed.

The IDF, Larke added, “is ignoring all warnings about what this could mean for civilians and for the humanitarian operation across the Gaza Strip.”

Several hours after the initial incursion, a spokesperson for Hamas claimed that a 70-year-old Israeli hostage was killed by Israeli shelling – though he provided no other details nor any evidence.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry slammed the seizure of the border crossing, calling it a “dangerous escalation” in the months-long war.

Egypt has previously cautioned that any Israeli military incursion in Rafah – which is supposed to be part of a demilitarized border zone – or an attack that forces Palestinians to flee into Egypt would threaten the 1979 peace treaty that’s been a key part of regional security.

Chinese scientists have engineered a virus with parts of Ebola in a lab that killed a group of hamsters.

A team of researchers at Hebei Medical University used a contagious disease of livestock and added a protein found in Ebola, which allows the virus to infect cells and spread throughout the human body.

The group of hamsters that received the lethal injection ‘developed severe systemic diseases similar to those observed in human Ebola patients,’ including multi-organ failure,’ the study shared.

One particularly horrific symptom saw the infected hamsters develop secretions in their eyes, which impaired their vision and scabbed over the surface of the eyeballs

While the experiment may spark fears of another lab leak, the researchers say their goal was to find the right animal models that can safely mimic Ebola symptoms in a lab setting.

The study suggested that infected hamsters could be a decent model for studying the spread and treatment of Ebola in the future.

Ebola needs to be handled in Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) facilities which are special high security laboratories, while many are only BLS-2.

To work around this in a lower security setting, scientists used a different virus called vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which they engineered to carry part of the Ebola virus that’s called glycoprotein (GP) that plays a crucial role in helping the virus enter and infect cells of its host.

The team studied five female and five male hamsters that were all three weeks old.

All female Syrian hamsters showed decreased rectal temperature and up to 18 percent weight loss – they all died between two and three days.

The five male hamsters lost 15 percent weight and succumbed to the disease at no later than three and a half days.

However, two male hamsters survived and gained 20 percent more weight than pre-infection.

The team harvested organs from the dead animals, finding the virus accumulated in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, stomach, intestines and brain tissues.

The highest levels were found in the liver and lowest in the brain.

‘It is a sign that 3-week-old Syrian hamsters infected with VSV-EBOV/GP have the possibility of playing a role in the study of optic nerve disorders caused by EVD,’ the team shared in the study, which was published in the Chinese journal Virologica Sinica.

The team concluded that the infected hamsters showed a rapid onset of symptoms, shock liver, systemic infection, and developed severe systemic diseases similar to those observed in human EBOV patients.

They also noted that the experiments provided a rapid preclinical evaluation of medical countermeasures against Ebola under BLS-2 conditions, concluding the study was a success.

The last major outbreak of the virus occurred from 2014 to 2016 in several West African countries was deadly, a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

During those two years more than 28,600 people were reportedly infected, and about 11,300 died.

The virus spread from West Africa to Europe and even over to the United States.

‘The surrogate virus and matched hamster EVD [Ebola virus disease] model will improve the security and economy of the research in the EBOV field,’ the researchers wrote in the study.

Testing infectious viruses is necessary for breakthroughs in treatment and prevention.

But lab leaks happen, and these incidents could lead to the spread of to those outside of the lab.

Experts have confirmed that respiratory viruses – which are spared via coughing and sneezing – are more likely to spread widely through a population.

Data released this March revealed that lab leak incidents occur every year and included the release of controlled pathogens like tuberculosis and anthrax.

There are anywhere from 70 to 100 releases were recorded every year.

However Dr Richard Ebright, a chemical biologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey told DailyMail.com that its unlikely that a lab leak involving VSV would lead to widespread infection in the public.

‘[It] will be imperative to verify that the novel chimeric virus does not infect and replicate in human cells, and does not pose risk of infectivity, transmissibility, and pathogenicity in humans, before proceeding with studies at biosafety level 2,’ he said.

A Georgia candidate for state house says that a group of squatters who’d been arrested at his $450,000 home have returned just hours after making bond to escape jail.

Police arrested six squatters who took residence in the home after they stole a neighbor’s car this past Saturday.

South Fulton cops busted the squatters at 4300 Caveat Court and recovered the stolen vehicle on Saturday – after they had been illegally lodging in the home for five months.

Mel Keyton – a Democratic candidate for the state house in Georgia and president of Hampton Oaks Homeowners Association – says they broke back into the house shortly after 1am Monday morning.

‘This is the worst criminal activity I’ve ever seen in my life,’ Keyton said.

Keyton says the problem is that local laws remain on the side of the squatters encouraging them to return.

‘We have to get the police back involved, the city of South Fulton back involved, and we’ll go through the same process again because they are trespassing. They are already aware that the property is supposed to be vacant,’ he told Fox News.

The National Rental Home Council surveyed its members and found that about 1,200 homes in the Atlanta area have had squatters, reported Newsweek.

‘They were just using the legal system to stay in the house,’ he added.

On Saturday, video showed cops putting the intruders in handcuffs and sitting them on the sidewalk outside of the home.

Keyton told Atlanta News First the neighbor whose car was stolen was out of town.

‘Squatters stole her car and they brought it back over here to drive it in the driveway,’ said Keyton.

According to police the home at 4300 Caveat Court, which has a Zillow estimated worth of $518,400, is supposed to be vacant.

Hampton Oaks Homeowners Association Vice President Kendra Snorton told FOX 5 Atlanta the squatters moved into the vacant house on Christmas Day.

‘The ringleader, we see him walking his dog all the time. He’s very courteous and polite when he interacts with the community,’ Snorton said.

The squatters had been living in the community for months but were finally arrested after they stole the car.

‘When the police showed up, the car was behind us in the yard. That’s how we put two and two together,’ Keyton said.

‘We don’t know who these people are and what they are doing.’

The South Fulton Police Department told DailyMail.com the stolen vehicle was returned to its rightful owner.

‘We sincerely appreciate the vigilance of our community members, who play a vital role in our ongoing efforts to reduce crime in our city,’ police said.

Neighbors in South Fulton hope the passage of a new law will make it easier to evict squatters and it will no longer take them committing crimes like stealing vehicles to get them arrested.

‘Hopefully, it won’t get this bad. Hopefully, we won’t have to use this amount of police,’ Keyton said.

Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 1017, known as the Georgia Squatter Reform Act, into law last month. The bill establishes the offense of unlawful squatting, defining it as ‘entering and residing on the land or premises of the owner without consent.’

Offenders will be required to provide authorization of consent within three days, and failure to do so will result in an arrest for criminal trespassing.

If documentation is provided, the accused squatter must attend a magistrate court hearing within seven days to prove that the documents are legitimate.

The new law, which goes into effect in July, makes squatting a misdemeanor offense. Intruders could face a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail, or both.

False swearing and the submission of improper or fraudulent documentation, meanwhile, count as more serious felony charges.

Those who submit fake documents will be subject to fines covering damages, back rent based on the property’s fair market value and up to a year in jail.

At least one person in Oklahoma has died as a result of a tornado that ripped through small towns, as severe storms moved from the South and into central areas, causing devastation and disruption for millions.

Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden told NBC News that the unidentified person died as a result of a tornado in Barnsdall, a city of about 1,000 people some 40 miles north of Tulsa, amid some of the storm’s worst devastation, on Monday night.

Virden said it was too early to say how many others may have been injured but said his deputies had carried out multiple rescues.

“There’s areas, residences that [have] been completely destroyed. We did several rescues of people trapped in debris,” he said.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said on X that it had established a meeting point in the town for anyone searching for loved ones.

Bartlesville, 20 miles to the northeast, was similarly affected. A hotel in the town was severely damaged, as shown in social media posts uploaded by witnesses — firefighters were called to rescue some people trapped inside.

I took this one.

I was in the Hampton Inn as well. You can use it, give me credit. pic.twitter.com/HoerAAUO8B

— ᏣᏔᎽENG (@nativeamnft) May 7, 2024

Bartlesville’s city’s government said there had been significant damage across Bartlesville, with some power lines down, but only minor injuries reported so far. Residents were urged to stay inside and stay off the roads.

The National Weather Service issued a rare tornado emergency statement for Osage on Monday.

“A large, extremely dangerous and potentially deadly tornado is on the ground,” it said. The tornado watch was extended until 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Osage Nation Emergency Management and local police said on Facebook it had joined “numerous agencies for search and rescue through the Osage Nation Reservation.”

“Our community is strong and eager to help those in need,” it said.

Across Oklahoma, more than 25,000 energy customers were without power as of 5 a.m. local time Tuesday, according to the website PowerOutage.us, while 18,000 were without power in Missouri and almost 10,000 in Arkansas.

The National Weather Service said the severe weather — which has affected parts of the country for more than five weeks — will continue at least into Wednesday as an area of low pressure develops over the Great Lakes.

A tornado also swept through Smithville, Tennessee, bringing down trees and damaging houses, as seen in footage uploaded to social media.

Damage in Smithville, TN pic.twitter.com/J4FjKsxTnF

— Chad Rock (@crockchad) May 6, 2024

Three people had been confirmed dead in Texas as a result of storms and floods there, Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday.

Severe thunderstorms are still moving across parts of the Midwest Tuesday morning, with 29 million people under a severe storm risk in areas including the Tennessee and Ohio River Valleys. Chicago; Nashville, Tennessee; Toledo, Ohio; and Ann Arbor, Michigan could also see devastating weather.

The IDF Spokesperson said on Monday night that the military conducted precise, targeted strikes against Hamas terror targets in Eastern Rafah.

The Prime Minister’s Office said earlier on Monday night that the War Cabinet had agreed to continue with Israel’s planned Rafah operation.

“The War Cabinet unanimously decided that Israel continues the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to promote the release of our hostages and the other goals of the war,” the statement read.

The PMO also noted that in parallel and despite the fact that the “proposal is far from Israel’s necessary requirements, Israel will send a delegation of mediators to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under conditions acceptable to Israel.”

This comes despite Hamas’s earlier agreement with the Qatari and Egyptian ceasefire proposal.

‘Deal doesn’t exist’

A former Senior Israeli security source told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that the proposed “deal” Hamas said they agreed upon doesn’t actually exist.

“This so-called ‘deal’ is proof that we’ve just started to apply pressure [on Hamas] by promoting a ground entrance to Rafah, and we suddenly received a green light from Hamas for a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire.”

The source added that the reported ceasefire deal “is a proposal that no one in the Israeli administration recognizes. It’s a proposal Hamas invented. They are playing with us. They are telling the world – ‘we agreed to a ceasefire,’ to try to prevent Israel from a ground incursion.”

Gantz: ‘We face a cruel enemy’

Chairman of the National Unity Party Benny Gantz stated on Monday: “I want to address the citizens of Israel and especially the families of the hostages. We face a cruel enemy. We will never give up on the effort to bring our hostages home. We will continue to work for their return as a matter of duty. The negotiation team is working around the clock to examine the proposal presented by Hamas, which does not align with the dialogue held so far with the mediators and contains significant differences. Nevertheless, we continue to turn every stone and dispatch delegations to Cairo.”

“Every decision will be brought to the security cabinet – there will be no political considerations,” he added.

“Even the military operation in Rafah is an integral part of our ongoing efforts and commitment to bring back our abductees and change the security reality in the south. We will continue all efforts until we bring them home.”

Judge Juan Merchan found former President Donald Trump violated his gag order for the 10th time, warning next time he would consider imposing a jail sentence.

Merchan previously held Trump in contempt for nine violations of the order, fining him $9,000 and warning future violations could result in jail time.

Prosecutors argued during a hearing last week that Trump should be held in contempt for an additional four violations since the start of the trial.

“Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said.

Merchan said the “magnitude” of the decision was not lost on him. “But at the end of the day, I have a job to do,” he said.

Trump’s defense attorney Todd Blanceh argued last week that Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, has been “inviting and almost daring” Trump to respond through his continued attacks.

The gag order prevents Trump from making statements about witnesses, prosecutors other than the district attorney, court staff and jurors, as well as family members of the staff, district attorney or judge.

Blanche also argued that the gag order prevented Trump from responding to remarks President Joe Biden made about the trial.

A U.S. soldier was detained in Russia last week, a U.S. Army spokesperson said in a statement.

The soldier, Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, had been stationed in South Korea and traveled to Russia on his own and not on official business, according to four U.S. officials.

He had finished his deployment and was heading back to the U.S. when he made a side trip to Vladivostok, Russia, to visit a woman he was romantically involved with, officials said. They added that he had traveled there without permission from his superiors and is now being held in pre-trial confinement.

The soldier is accused of stealing from a woman, the officials said. It was not immediately clear if it was the same woman he was visiting.

The soldier was detained Thursday, U.S. Army spokesperson Cynthia O. Smith said in a statement.

Smith said the soldier was apprehended in Vladivostok “on charges of criminal misconduct.”

“The Russian Federation notified the U.S. Department of State of the criminal detention in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” Smith said. “The Army notified his family and the U.S. Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the Soldier in Russia. Given the sensitivity of this matter, we are unable to provide additional details at this time.”

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he is “deeply concerned” by reports that a soldier was detained in Russia.

“Putin has a long history of holding American citizens hostage,” McCaul said in a post shared on X. “A warning to all Americans—as the State Department has said, it is not safe to travel to Russia.”

Current travel guidance from the U.S. State Department restricts travel for citizens to Russia. “Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions,” according to the State Department advisory. The Pentagon also restricts travel for Defense Department personnel.

Black is one of a number of Americans detained in Russia, including several civilians.

Arrests of Americans in Russia have increased as the relationship between the two countries has sunk to Cold War lows, The Associated Press reported. The U.S. has accused Russia of targeting Americans and using them as bargaining chips, according to the AP.

Among the most prominent U.S. citizens to be detained are Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was jailed last March, and former Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in 2018. The U.S. government has said that both Gershkovich and Whelan are wrongfully detained.

WNBA star Brittney Griner spent 10 months in Russian penal colonies for drug-related charges but was released in a rare prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in 2022.

This MAGA-loving bikini model is suiting up to support Donald Trump — trading the pool for the podium as she lends her ample assets to the Republican National Committee as a new spokeswoman.

Elizabeth Pipko, a 28-year-old born-and-bred Manhattanite, told The Post she’s happy to trade her signature “New York uniform of dark black” for red, white and blue as she helps the rebranded RNC try to re-elect the former president in November.

“The things he’s been through have been unreal. A lot of people look at what he’s up against every day and see his real character,” the Sports Illustrated beauty gushed about Trump, 77.

The RNC, which said it acts as “one unified operation” with the Trump campaign, underwent a major overhaul in March after the ouster of longtime chair Ronna McDaniel.

New co-chairs Michael Whatley and Trump daughter-in-law, Lara Trump have since overseen a significant staffing shake-up that reportedly included some 60 axed employees.

The committee’s current laser focus is on fundraising, beefing up what Trump calls “election integrity” and mounting the “most aggressive early voter turnout campaign ever” in the critical months leading up to the expected nail-biter election Nov. 5 as Trump leads President Biden in key battleground states in new polls.

Pipko, the daughter of Jewish Russian immigrants who fled religious persecution, said she considers herself the embodiment of the American dream — and can’t wait to make “a difference.

“This is one of the biggest elections in this country’s history,” said the self-described “proud religious Jew,” whose resume includes nabbing Ivy League degrees from Harvard and Penn universities and publishing three books.

“Only in this country can a daughter of immigrants who arrived here with nothing get a chance to make some kind of a difference like this. So when you get that chance, you take it.”

Pipko recalled her first trip to the nation’s capital as a young girl and “staring at the White House for six hours,” a reflection of her “obsession with America.”

She said she has been modeling since she was 17, when she signed with the powerhouse agency Wilhelmina, leading to racy features in Maxim, Esquire and Sports Illustrated.

She is also a model of moxie – proudly baring it all and coming out of the fashion closet as a Trump supporter in 2019, eventually damaging her career in a left-leaning industry.

“I lost everything – all of my connections,” including agents, bookers, photographers and friends, Pipko said.

She said that after finding her way back into the industry, she can’t decide which is more cutthroat: modeling or politics.

“I tell people my modeling career prepared me for politics, as they’re both equally brutal,” Pipko said, noting that those with sharp cheekbones and even sharper elbows in modeling groomed her for the political swamp. “Every world I’ve been in is cutthroat.”

She worked her way up from being a Trump campaign volunteer to paid aide during his successful 2016 run, then moved on to political activism as a founder of Exodus Movement, a PAC fighting antisemitism.

The model got married at Mar-a-Lago in December 2018 to Darren Centinello, who she met on the 2016 Trump campaign. Centinello currently works for the Trump campaign.

Pipko said haters who discount and underestimate her because of her looks only fuel her.

“I’ve always been the kind of person who wanted to prove people wrong,” she said.

Asked the burning question that every political observer wants the answer to – who will be Trump’s running mate — Pipko only said, “He’s very big on people earning their way into things.”

She said Trump himself has earned the respect of a widespread demographic, charming starstruck hardhats at construction sites, Bronx bodega workers and Big Apple Bravest while in town for his hush-money trial.

“New Yorkers are real people – they see through everything that’s going on,” she said.

Pipko said she has faith that the American people will cut through what she called Soviet-style tactics to snuff out a political rival.

“But I think it’s less about him and what they’re doing to him and how this has happened in the greatest country in the world,” Pipko said of Trump critics including prosecutors targeting him in four criminal cases. “I think back to everything my parents told me about the former Soviet Union. It’s insane to think that this is basically what we’ve become in front of my eyes.

“I grew up listening to their stories thinking it could never happen in the US, and yet here we are,” she said.

Pipko said that even though swampy DC is her “least favorite place,” she’d be more than happy to return to celebrate a victorious Trump return to the White House.

“I don’t think there’s a day when I haven’t loved America,” Pipko said.

She added that she is more than happy to bust tedious personal stereotypes along the way.

“Any time you accomplish anything, there will always be people who will say to your face, ‘You probably only got that because of your looks,’ ” Pipko said.

But she said she doesn’t lose beauty sleep over it.

“I’m true to myself. I know I’m a lot more than what people think about me.”

Lara Trump said in a statement to The Post, “At a time when patriotism among young Americans sits at record lows, we are lucky to have great Americans like Elizabeth Pipko on our team — she will help to inspire the next generation, rebuild the grand old party, and bring our country back.”