A Georgia appeals court on Wednesday agreed to review a lower court ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue to prosecute the election interference case she brought against former President Donald Trump.

The move seems likely to delay the case and is the second time in as many days that the former president has gotten a favorable ruling that could push any future trials beyond the November election, when he is expected to be the Republican nominee for president. A day earlier, the judge in his Florida classified documents case indefinitely postponed that trial date.

Trump and some other defendants in Georgia had tried to get Willis and her office removed the case, saying her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of interest. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee in March found that no conflict of interest existed that should force Willis off the case, but he granted a request from Trump and the other defendants to seek an appeal of his ruling from the Georgia Court of Appeals.

That intermediate appeals court agreed on Wednesday to take up the case. Once it rules, the losing side could ask the Georgia Supreme Court to consider an appeal.

Trump’s lead attorney in Georgia, Steve Sadow, said in an email that the former president looks forward to presenting arguments to the appeals court as to why the case should be dismissed and why Willis “should be disqualified for her misconduct in this unjustified, unwarranted political persecution.”

In his order, McAfee said he planned to continue to address other pretrial motions “regardless of whether the petition is granted … and even if any subsequent appeal is expedited by the appellate court.” But Trump and the others could ask the Court of Appeals to stay the case while the appeal is pending.

McAfee wrote in his order in March that the prosecution was “encumbered by an appearance of impropriety.” He said Willis could remain on the case only if Wade left, and the special prosecutor submitted his resignation hours later.

The allegations that Willis had improperly benefited from her romance with Wade resulted in a tumultuous couple of months in the case as intimate details of Willis and Wade’s personal lives were aired in court in mid-February. The serious charges in one of four criminal cases against the Republican former president were largely overshadowed by the love lives of the prosecutors.

Trump and 18 others were indicted in August, accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn his narrow 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.

All of the defendants were charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, law, an expansive anti-racketeering statute. Four people charged in the case have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.

Trump and other defendants had argued in their appeal application that McAfee was wrong not to remove both Willis and Wade, writing that “providing DA Willis with the option to simply remove Wade confounds logic and is contrary to Georgia law.”

The allegations against Willis first surfaced in a motion filed in early January by Ashleigh Merchant, a lawyer for former Trump campaign staffer and onetime White House aide Michael Roman. The motion alleged that Willis and Wade were involved in an inappropriate romantic relationship and that Willis paid Wade large sums for his work and then benefitted when he paid for lavish vacations.

Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship but said they didn’t begin dating until the spring of 2022, after Wade was hired in November 2021, and their romance ended last summer. They also testified that they split travel costs roughly evenly, with Willis often paying expenses or reimbursing Wade in cash.

The U.S. withheld certain bombs from Israel to prevent their use in an attack on Hamas battalions in the town of Rafah, according to multiple news reports Tuesday evening.

The news, ironically, came on Israel’s Holocaust memorial day, hours after President Joe Biden told Jews: “Never again.”

The reports confirmed stories that first appeared in Axios earlier in the week. The White House, when asked on Monday and Tuesday, refused to confirm or deny withholding weapons from Israel. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted merely that U.S. support for Israeli security was “ironclad.”

ABC News reported:

The Biden administration opted to pause a shipment of some 3,500 bombs to Israel last week because of concerns the weapons could be used in Rafah where more than one million civilians are sheltering “with nowhere else to go,” a senior administration official tells ABC News.

…

The decision to pause the shipment and consider slow-walking others is a major shift in policy for the Biden administration and the first known case of the U.S. denying its close ally military aid since the Israel-Hamas war began.

…

More than half of the shipment that was paused last week consisted of 2,000-pound bombs. The remaining 1,700 bombs were 500-pound explosives, the official said.

The Times of Israel also reported:

The Biden administration confirms reports that it held up a shipment last week of 2,000 and 500-pound bombs that it fears Israel might use in a major ground operation in Rafah.

This is the first time since October 7 that the US has held up a weapons shipment earmarked for Israel.

Washington adamantly opposes a major offensive in the southern city of Gaza, convinced that there is no way for Israel to conduct one in a manner that would ensure the safety of the over million Palestinians sheltering there.

Israel launched an offensive in Rafah on Monday, after Hamas attacked a border crossing over the weekend, killing four Israeli soldiers, and refused to agree to a ceasefire and hostage deal. Israel took the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi corridor, a road running along the Egyptian border that is a key strategic point to prevent smuggling.

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich asked Jean-Pierre how U.S. support for Israeli security could be “ironclad” if the Biden administration were withholding some weapons from Israel. Jean-Pierre said that two things could be true at once.

Critics of Biden’s decision have argued that withholding weapons that Congress has already authorized, absent any finding of human rights violations by Israel, is unconstitutional and violates the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said doctors told him a parasite ate part of his brain, after experiencing memory loss and brain fog in 2010.

The New York Times reviewed a deposition of Kennedy from 2012 that detailed his experience with his symptoms and the dead parasite. The Times reported that Kennedy started dealing with memory loss and mental fogginess in 2010, prompting concerns from a friend that the now-presidential candidate may have had a tumor.

Kennedy gave the 2012 deposition during divorce proceedings from his second wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy. Kennedy discussed his symptoms in the deposition because he argued his cognitive struggles in relation to the situation had diminished his earning power, according to The Times report.

Several doctors who had first concluded Kennedy had a tumor found a dark spot on his brain scans, The Times reported.

However, just as he was packing up to have surgery and remove the tumor, he said in the deposition that another doctor called him and told him he believed Kennedy instead had a dead parasite in his brain.

The doctor told him he believed the spot on the brain scan “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” Kennedy reportedly said in the deposition.

The Times also reported that around the same time as the parasite, Kennedy suffered from mercury poisoning that likely came from eating too much fish, according to the deposition. Mercury poisoning can lead to some neurological disturbance and issues with memory, among other symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“I have cognitive problems, clearly,” he said in the deposition, according to The Times. “I have short-term memory loss, and I have longer-term memory loss that affects me.”

Kennedy launched an independent bid for the White House last year after failing to gain momentum in the Democratic primary against President Biden. Age and health concerns have been listed as some of the top worries for voters headed into the election season, as Biden, 81, and former President Trump, 77, remain the two front-runners for November.

Kennedy, 70, has also called on Biden to prove he has the “mental acuity” to handle another term in the White House.

When reached for comment on the story, a spokesperson for Kennedy’s campaign said the presidential candidate contracted a parasite while traveling.

“Mr. Kennedy traveled extensively in Africa, South America, and Asia in his work as an environmental advocate, and in one of those locations contracted a parasite. The issue was resolved more than 10 years ago, and he is in robust physical and mental health,” the campaign said.

“Questioning Mr. Kennedy’s health is a hilarious suggestion, given his competition.”

According to an interview with The Times this winter, Kennedy said he has recovered from the memory loss and fogginess and had no other aftereffects from the parasite. He also said that he did not require treatment for it.

Kennedy said in the interview that after receiving the 2010 call about the parasite, doctors concluded that the cyst on the brain they found had parasite remnants. He said he did not know what kind of parasite it was or where he may have contracted it.

A FedEx Airlines cargo plane was forced to land in Turkey without the use of its front landing gear on Wednesday morning, May 8, the Turkish transport ministry said.

Fedex Express Flight 6268, a Boeing 767, was flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Istanbul Airport when it informed the Turkish traffic control tower that its landing gear failed to open. Airport rescue and fire teams prepared the runway and the tower instructed the plane’s crew to proceed with landing.

Video of the landing, obtained from Reuters, showed sparks and smoke coming from the front of the plane as it scraped along the runway before coming to a stop. The plane was subsequently doused with firefighting foam.

No one was injured, the ministry said.

The landing video shows the front wheels were initially deployed but appeared to fail to lock into place. They were not used during the landing as the body of the plane made contact with the runway. The aircraft managed to remain on the runway during the landing.

Watch:

WATCH: Terrifying moment Boeing FedEx plane skids along runway as landing gear fails – Location: Istanbul Airport, Turkey

pic.twitter.com/74YwmdzOug

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) May 8, 2024

The runway was temporarily closed to air traffic, but traffic on other runways continued without any interruption, said airport operator IGA, Reuters reported.

Authorities are investigating the incident, a Turkish Transport Ministry official said. It gave no reason for the failure.

The Boeing 767 is a nearly 10-year-old freighter. It is one of the most common cargo planes and uses a model dating back to the 1980s.

FedEX said in a statement to Reuters that it was coordinating with the investigation and would “provide additional information as it is available.”

Manufacturers are not typically involved in the operation or maintenance of aircraft after they enter service.

Boeing has remained under intense media scrutiny following a series of incidents with their aircraft in recent months.

A right-wing politician in Germany has been convicted of a hate crime and fined thousands of dollars for sharing statistics about the disproportionate number of gang rapes committed by immigrants, specifically Afghan nationals, and for questioning whether multiculturalism means accommodating rape culture.

Marie-Thérèse Kaiser is a member of the right-leaning Alternative for Germany. The 27-year-old women’s safety advocate and former model serves as the party’s only representative in the Rotenburg district council.

While campaigning during the 2021 federal election, Kaiser posted on social media, “Afghanistan refugees; Hamburg SPD mayor for ‘unbureaucratic’ acceptance; Welcoming culture for gang rape?”

The German newspaper Junge Freiheit reported that Kaiser was responding in August 2021 to socialist Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher’s announcement that he would take in 200 Afghan workers. Kaiser was evidently concerned about what impact the new cohort might have on local culture and safety.

Her post was reportedly accompanied by a graphic indicating that Afghan and African asylum seekers “are proportionally 40x and 70x more involved in gang rapes than Germans,” citing government statistics.

The then-AfD candidate cited the statistics to justify her concern over uncontrolled immigration and the possibility of rape by “culturally alien masses.”

Background
Mass immigration to Germany from Middle Eastern nations such as Afghanistan has coincided in recent years with a massive spike in violent crime, including rape.

The Pew Research Center indicated that between 2010 and 2016, Germany accepted over 670,000 refugees and 680,000 non-refugee immigrants. Of the roughly 1.35 million immigrants who flooded into Germany during that period, an estimated 850,000 were Muslims.

A government-commissioned study revealed in early 2018 that there was a 10.4% increase in violent crime at the height of the immigration crisis overseen by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had circumvented EU rules and effectively opened the union’s doors to immigrants from Syria and other oriental states. Deutsche Welle reported that 90% of this violent crime increase was attributable to immigrants, predominantly males between the ages of 14 and 30.

Despite altogether amounting to less than 2% of the overall population at the time, the BBC indicated that over 10% of murder suspects and 11.9% of sex offenders were asylum seekers and refugees in 2017.

The situation has not improved.

Reuters reported last month that the number of criminals with non-German backgrounds continues to climb. In 2023, there was a 5.5.% increase in overall crime and a 13.5% increase in the number of suspects with foreign backgrounds.

“What the AfD has warned about for years can no longer be hidden … new crime statistics have triggered a debate on ‘foreigner crime,'” said Richard Graupner of the AfD in Bavaria.

Imported criminality has not only victimized countless Germans but created horrible new customs.

New Year’s Eve, for instance, appears to have become an annual night of immigrant riots and gang assaults on German women. Blaze News previously reported that two-thirds of the rioters detained in the most recent explosion of New Year’s violence were non-citizens, including 27 Afghans and 21 Syrians.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stated in the aftermath on Jan. 4, “Good politics must clearly state what is happening: In major German cities we have a problem with certain young men with a migrant background who despise our state, commit acts of violence and are hardly reached by education and integration programs.”

Outrage over this imported phenomenon has coincided with the rise of the right-leaning AfD party, which has been critical of the country’s immigration policies.

The BBC noted that various high-profile incidents, such as the brutal rape and murder of 19-year-old medical student Maria Ladenburger by an Afghan criminal in 2016, “helped boost the country’s far right.”

German officials appear to have instead treated the AfD as the problem, harassing and censoring party members. With the AfD polling second nationally and state elections scheduled for later this year, there have even been discussions of banning the party outright.

Free speech ends where inconvenience begins
Kaiser was reportedly charged and convicted with incitement to hatred after raising concerns about a very real problem gripping the nation. She indicated in February that she had appealed the ruling and was scheduled to appear in court in May.

“Simply naming numbers, dates and facts is to be declared a criminal offense just because the establishment does not want to face reality,” she wrote on X. “I will not allow myself to be silenced.”

A court in Lower Saxony upheld the guilty verdict Monday.

The court was unmoved by Kaiser’s argument that freedom of expression in politics, particularly in electoral campaigns, must enjoy special latitude in the spirit of democracy. According to Lower Saxony’s local news outlet, the presiding judge stated, “Freedom of expression ends where human dignity begins.”

Kaiser, identified by the judge as an “exemplary defendant” during her sentencing, must now pay a fine of over $7,000.

Kaiser, who indicated on Instagram that the courtroom was packed full of supporters along with her parents, said of the verdict, “The whole world is amazed at this decision by the German courts. After even Elon Musk took up my case, I received numerous letters from supporters and press inquiries.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Marie-Thérèse Kaiser (@kaiser.afd)

The politician was referencing Musk’s Monday response in which he wrote, “Are you saying the fine was for repeating accurate government statistics? Was there anything inaccurate in what she said?”

“My trust in the German constitutional state was once again severely shaken yesterday, but all the letters give me courage and give me confidence,” added Kaiser.

Laken Riley’s suspected killer has been officially charged with the 22-year-old’s nursing student’s murder.

Jose Antonio Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, was indicted on 10 counts by a grand jury in Georgia on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old is also accused of peeping through a window to spy upon a staff member at the University of Georgia on the same day he allegedly killed Riley, as first reported by Fox News.

Riley was beaten to death while she was out for a run on the campus in Athens on February 22.

The indictment claims Ibarra inflicted blunt-force trauma to her head and ‘asphyxiating her in a manner unknown to jurors.’

It also states that Ibarra ‘seriously disfigured her head by striking her head multiple times with a rock.’

Ibarra is charged with malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing or hindering a person from making a 911 call, tampering with evidence and acting as a peeping Tom.

He allegedly went inside one of the university’s apartment complexes ‘for the purpose of becoming a peeping tom in that he did peep through the window and spied upon and invaded [the employee’s] privacy.’

Riley’s body was found the same day on campus in a forested area near Lake Herrick that includes trails popular with runners and walkers.

Ibarra crossed into El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 but had been released from a detention center due to a lack of space.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said he had previously been arrested in NYC.

Police say he concealed a jacket and gloves that were evidence to the alleged murder.

Riley studied at the University of Georgia through the spring of 2023 before transferring to Augusta University’s College of Nursing, according to a statement from the University of Georgia, which does not have a nursing program itself. She remained active in the sorority she joined at the University of Georgia.

The killing shocked Riley’s fellow students in Athens, where more than 41,000 attend UGA and another 210 are enrolled in the medical program where Riley studied nursing.

The nursing student became he face of immigration reform for many conservatives in the days since she was killed.

At the State of the Union address, president Joe Biden held up a pin with Riley’s name on it as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shouted from the gallery: ‘Say her name!’

Hours after Riley was slain, Athens homicide detectives pulled a photo from a surveillance camera of a potential suspect who wore a distinctive Adidas hat, according to a federal affidavit obtained by The Associated Press.

That eventually led them to an off-campus apartment complex where they searched the grounds and a Dumpster nearby and began to piece together details about Ibarra.

Ibarra shared the apartment with his brother Diego, who is accused of possessing a fake green card after he handed it to police as they hunted for the suspect.

Federal authorities found that Diego has ties to the Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua, a violent gang that has been trying to gain a foothold in the US.

Homeland Security Investigators found photos of Diego flashing the gang’s hand signals online, along with identifying tattoos like stars, clocks, trains, weapons and crowns.

More pictures of him with firearms were found online even though illegal immigrants in the US are not legally allowed to own guns.

Diego Ibarra entered the country illegally in April 2023 and was arrested five months later with no license or insurance while driving at 80mph in a 40mph zone and drinking a can of Bud Light.

‘I opened the driver’s door and ordered him to step out of the vehicle, but he turned and began reaching inside of the vehicle, so I forcibly pulled him out,’ the investigating officer wrote.

‘The driver struggled and was brought to the ground, where there was a short struggle to handcuff him.’

Days later, police were called to a domestic disturbance at his apartment but did not arrest him.

Both brothers were cited on October 27 for allegedly stealing more than $200 from an Athens Walmart.

And Diego allegedly returned to steal more items on December 8, earning himself a two-year ban from the store.

UGA Police Chief Jeffrey Clark told reporters that officers searched Jose Ibarra’s apartment in Athens and evidence shows that he acted alone.

‘He did not know her at all. I think this is a crime of opportunity where he saw an individual and bad things happened,’ Clark said.

Andrew Tate has been sued by four British rape accusers including one who claims the disgraced influencer choked her until her eyes started to bleed.

The highly controversial social media star was served his civil proceedings papers at his home in Romania, says the alleged victim’s lawyer.

McCue Jury and Partners said the women are looking to bring Tate, 37, in front of the High Court in the UK.

The law firm said all four women allege Tate raped and assaulted them and are seeking “damages for injuries they suffered as a result”.

They have also made an order to preserve their anonymity “to protect them from harm and harassment by Tate, his
associates, and followers”, claims a McCue Jury and Partners press release.

At the time of the alleged crimes, three of the women went to the police but the Crown Prosecution Service did not bring a charge after a four-year investigation.

A claimant in the latest proceedings said: “We are very pleased that the court has issued our claim, and the case is progressing.

“We only wish that the police had taken proper action when we made our complaints almost ten years ago.

“We are determined to bring Andrew Tate to justice, and this is a major step towards that goal.”

One of the alleged attacks included the 37-year-old “choking them until blood vessels burst in their eyes, beating them with a belt, and raping them numerous times and coercively controlling them”.

One woman even claimed he texted her: “I love raping you.”

Matthew Jury, a solicitor at McCue Jury & Partners, said back in 2023 he was confident the alleged victims could sue Tate.

He said: “We know he is a wealthy individual.

“Depending on the country in which assets are located, UK judgements are enforceable abroad.”

A spokesperson for Andrew Tate said: “The accusations by these four women are demonstrably false and vehemently denied.

“Andrew’s legal team will be vigorously defending him against these allegations.”

The press release also claims the number of female victims of Tate and his brother’s alleged crimes is now up 14.

The former kickboxer is already awaiting trial in Romania on charges of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women – allegations which he denies.

Tate, alongside his controversial brother Tristan, have been accused of at least 10 allegations of rape and sexual assault in the past.

They have denied them all.

As well as the four Brits, Andrew and Tristan are also accused of recruiting women on social media platforms and luring them to their villa on the outskirts of Bucharest.

Both men are alleged to have pretended to fall in love with the women before getting them to work for their business and making them perform sexual acts on webcams.

Two Romanian female suspects – model Georgiana Naghel and former cop Luana Radu – were also formally charged.

The four were released on house arrest in August last year.

A British female darts player forfeited a quarterfinals tournament match after being slated to face a biological male.

Deta Hedman refused to continue playing in the Denmark Open over the weekend after she advanced to the quarterfinals, where she was pitted against Noa-Lynn van Leuven, a biological man who identifies as a woman. Hedman later denied rumors that she backed out of the competition because of illness.

“No fake illness I said I wouldn’t play a man in a ladies event,” Hedman posted on X, according to Fox News. “This subject causing much angst in the sport I love. People can be whoever they want in life but I don’t think biological born men should compete in Women’s sport.”

The British darts player declined to take any compensation over her decision to forfeit the tournament.

The World Darts Federation (WDF), which organized the Denmark Open, allows biological men to compete in women’s competitions if they “submit documentation from a medical practitioner that gender reassignment has been ongoing for at least one year,” according to WDF guidelines.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which sets the rules followed by the Darts Regulation Authority, sets the testosterone level of a transgender competitor wishing to compete against women at 10 nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months. The IOC also states that one cannot have changed his gender identity for at least four years prior.

Van Leuven, 27, began identifying as a woman at the age of 16. The Dutch darts player’s inclusion in women’s competition has roiled players and fans.

Two of van Leuven’s fellow Dutch players quit the national team in protest in March after van Leuven won two titles, one against men and another against women, within one week.

Biological men participating in women’s competitions have upended multiple sports. Some of the most heated reactions have stemmed from incidents in which female athletes have been injured by transgender players.

Earlier this year, the high school girls’ basketball team for Collegiate Charter School of Lowell in Massachusetts forfeited a game at halftime after a number of its players were reportedly injured by a biological male playing on the other team for KIPP Academy.

Collegiate said in a statement about the forfeit that its girls “feared getting injured and not being able to compete in the playoffs.” The school went on to reiterate “its values of both inclusivity and safety for all students.”

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.”