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

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

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

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) May 10, 2024

⚡️Hezbollah has brought hell to Kiryat Shmona… Massive fires erupted from Katyusha rockets…. are still ongoing. pic.twitter.com/ijnyFWFaOS

— Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis) May 10, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The report’s findings could put renewed focus on Trump’s business career as the presumptive Republican nominee tries to regain the White House after losing in 2020.

Trump used his cachet as a real estate developer and TV star to build a political movement, yet he has refused to release his tax filings as past presidential candidates have. The tax filings that the public does know about have come from past reporting by the Times and a public release of records by Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee in 2022.

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

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

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

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

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

Trump, meanwhile, is appealing a New York judge’s ruling from February after a civil trial that Trump, his company and top executives lied about his wealth on financial statements, conning bankers and insurers who did business with him. In early April, Trump posted a $175 million bond, halting collection of the more than $454 million he owes from the judgment and preventing the state from seizing his assets to satisfy the debt while he appeals.

Democrat President Joe Biden has said that Trump largely owes his fortune to an inheritance from his father, rather than through his own financial acumen. Biden has gone after Trump for not wanting to pay taxes, while his administration has increased IRS funding in order to increase audits of the ultra-wealthy and improve compliance with the federal tax code.

The Trump campaign opposes the additional funding that Biden and Democrats provided to the IRS. At campaign rallies, Trump has said the United States would be destroyed as a country unless his 2017 tax cuts that are largely set to expire after 2025 are extended.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

pic.twitter.com/SA1r11OBMN

— Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) May 11, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PART 1/3 covered:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s where the alleged attack took place.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Watch:

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

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

— EmmaBorosKidd (@EmmaBorosKidd) May 11, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Their investigation, as of writing, remains ongoing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is the transcript.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Watch:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— הקופסה 🎗 (@Hakufsah) May 10, 2024

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

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

Condemnation

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

The EBU insists it does not play politics.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Security tightened

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Real Time” host Bill Maher wasn’t particularly thrilled with the testimony of adult film actress Stormy Daniels this week in the New York trial against former President Trump.

During a panel discussion Friday night, Maher reiterated his frustrations with how the criminal charges against Trump have been stalled, noting the recent developments with the Georgia and classified documents cases.

“So it’s Stormy or bust,” Maher quipped.

He then got serious, declaring “She’s a bad witness!” He backed up his argument by playing clips of his own interview with Daniels in 2018 while discussing her alleged affair with Trump, something Trump has long denied.

“You say it’s not a Me Too case,” Maher said to her at the time.

“It’s not a Me Too case,” Daniels responded. “I wasn’t assaulted. I wasn’t attacked, or raped, or coerced or blackmailed…. They tried to shove me in the Me Too box to further their own agenda. And first of all, I didn’t want to be part of that because it’s not the truth and I’m not a victim in that regard.”

Bombshell Bill Maher shows a clip from 2018 where Stormy Daniels denies being assaulted or coerced by Donald Trump, stating that her situation is not a “me too” case. Maher points out that Daniels is now saying something different.

pic.twitter.com/Jzo6HSmXre

— 1776 (@TheWakeninq) May 11, 2024

Maher reacted to the clip, “That’s not what she’s saying now.”

“She’s talking about ‘he was bigger and blocking the way.’ It’s all the Me Too buzzwords. She said, ‘There was an imbalance of power for sure.’ ‘My hands were shaking so hard.’ She said she blacked out. Blacked out? She’s a porn star!… Do you really think she blacked out? A porn star is used to having sex with people she doesn’t [like]… I just think she’s not a good witness.”

The HBO host was previously cheery at the beginning of the trial, hyping how it could be a real game changer in the presidential election.

“This one, I got to say I was always against [it] because I thought of all the ones you’re bringing, this is the least serious. … Now I think Trump could lose,” Maher said two weeks ago. “I’m turning on this one because it’s not what I thought it was going to be. And this David Pecker – I mean, brought down by a Pecker, this guy.”

“And by the way, if this goes that way and Trump loses, it’s going to change the whole election,” Maher later said. “A number of independents, a significant number, and Republicans say their vote will change if he is a convicted criminal. And he’ll look like a loser, not that he doesn’t already, but you know.”

“And Alvin Bragg is going to be the rising star of the Democratic Party because everyone said, ‘Not a good idea,’ including me. So, we’ll see,” he added.

A massive solar storm hit the United States and the rest of the globe Friday evening, becoming the biggest in decades.

The intensity of the solar storm painted the night skies in different colors — such as pinks, purples, and greens.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported late Friday that the solar storm would occur over a few hours and days, causing a flare of lights to bloom across the Earth.

“We anticipate that we’re going to get one shock after another, so we’re really buckling down here,” Brent Gordon, chief of the Space Weather Services branch of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said.

The rare solar storm can be seen in photos, capturing the night sky with hues of colors.

The City of San Francisco is providing free beer and vodka shots to homeless alcoholics at taxpayer expense under a little-known pilot program.

The “Managed Alcohol Program” operated by San Francisco’s Department of Public Health serves regimented doses of alcohol to voluntary participants with alcohol addiction in an effort to keep the homeless off the streets and relieve the city’s emergency services. Experts say the program can save or extend lives, but critics wonder if the government would be better off funding treatment and sobriety programs instead.

“Established in countries such as Canada and Australia, a managed alcohol program is usually administered by a nurse and trained support staff in a facility such as a homeless shelter or a transitional or permanent home, and is one method to minimize harm for those with alcohol use disorder,” the California Health Care Foundation explains in an 2020 article describing the pilot program.

“By prescribing limited quantities of alcohol, the model aims to prevent potentially life-threatening effects of alcohol withdrawal, such as seizures and injuries.”

The San Francisco managed alcohol program, or MAP, was established during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent vulnerable homeless people who were placed in isolation in hotel rooms from suffering from alcohol withdrawal. But the program, which started with 10 beds, has since been expanded into a 20-bed program that operates out of a former hotel in Tenderloin with a $5 million annual budget, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Alice Moughamian, the Nurse Manger of the Managed Alcohol Program and the San Francisco Sobering Center, explained in an October presentation that nurses provide clients with a motel room, three meals a day, and enough alcohol “to meet their addiction needs, but keeping someone at a safe level of intoxication.”

Initial success in stabilizing alcoholic patients prompted health officials to expand the pilot into a long-term program with 10 beds earmarked for “the Latinx and indigenous population,” while 12 additional beds are supported at the city’s traditional sobering center, Moughamian said.

Bryce Bridge, a social worker involved with the program, said during the presentation that once a client is identified as having alcohol abuse problems and admitted, they are assessed to determine individual needs. Clients are connected to a primary care doctor, provided resources to secure government identification if they lack a social security card or other documents and assisted with psychiatric care, wellness activities on site and other evidence-based treatments.

“We actually connect them to different community-based organizations that assist us with conducting art groups, and poetry groups and just kind of help them explore ways that they can express themselves,” Bridge said.

Bridge also said marijuana use is “fairly common in our sites” and said there is no policy prohibiting marijuana consumption, though health providers monitor that activity to prevent ill health effects or interpersonal conflicts.

While relatively unknown until now, the program is under fresh scrutiny after Adam Nathan, CEO of an AI company and chair of the Salvation Army San Francisco, made several social media posts criticizing what he witnessed at the location.

“Inside the lobby, they had a kegs [sic] set up to taps where they were basically giving out free beer to the homeless who’ve been identified with AUD (Alcohol Use Disorder),” Nathan wrote on X after visiting the hotel in Tenderloin where homeless alcoholics are served.

“It’s set up so people in the program just walk in and grab a beer, and then another one. All day,” he claimed.

“The whole thing is very odd to me and just doesn’t feel right. Providing free drugs to drug addicts doesn’t solve their problems. It just stretches them out. Where’s the recovery in all this?” he asked.

The Salvation Army promotes abstinence for alcoholics and provides free adult rehabilitation programs.

Public health officials called some of Nathan’s claims misleading. In a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, the health department said alcohol is dispensed by a nurse and homeless people who aren’t participating can’t just walk in to the facility and get a free beer. The program operates in a former Tenderloin tourist hotel that has a bar, but on-site taps are “inoperable and unused,” the statement reportedly said.

Still, the program has also received criticism from none other than San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who said in February that harm reduction was “not reducing harm” but “making things far worse.”

“Are we just going to manage people’s addictions with our taxpayer dollars in perpetuity forever? It seems like that’s basically what we’re saying,” said Tom Wolf, who is in recovery for heroin addiction, in a statement to the Chronicle. “I think we should be spending that money on detox and recovery.”

But recovery is not the point, according to Moughamian.

“Our goal at MAP is not to decrease the amount of alcohol that is consumed, or to taper someone towards abstinence, although both of these things have happened with clients in our program,” she said in the October presentation. “The goal is to mitigate the many health, legal and interpersonal harms associated with unsafe alcohol use.”

San Francisco health officials say the program has saved $1.7 million over six months in reduced hospital visits and police calls made by participants who previously heavily relied on emergency services. Officials said that after clients entered the program, visits to the city’s sobering center dropped 92%, emergency room visits declined more than 70%, and EMS calls and hospital visits were both cut in half, the Chronicle reported.

City officials have previously said that just five residents who struggled with alcohol addiction had cost the city more than $4 million in ambulance transports over a five-year period, with as many as 2,000 ambulance transports during that time, according to the Chronicle.

The San Francisco Fire Department has spoken positively about the program, telling the outlet the managed alcohol program “has proven to be an incredibly impactful intervention” at reducing emergency service use for a “small but highly vulnerable population.”

Other countries, including Canada, Portugal and the U.K. have adopted managed alcohol programs at a much faster pace than the U.S. Canada has more than 40 such programs, according to the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.

A 2022 study of Canada’s managed alcohol programs found that homeless people suffering from severe alcoholism had a reduced risk of death and fewer hospital stays after participating.

Cops prevented a raging mob of Harlem locals from attacking a maniac accused of slashing an 11-year-old girl in the head on a spree through Manhattan Friday afternoon — leaving the youngster now afraid to go outside, her distraught mom said.

Shaquan Cummings, 30, allegedly preyed on the girl after flying through the 116th Street 6 subway platform around 2:15 p.m., moments after allegedly punching an unsuspecting 43-year-old woman around the street corner, according to sources.

The fiend — who has a lengthy rap sheet — knifed the youngster in the back of the head and cut her ear as she stood on a downtown platform holding her mom’s hand, sources said.

The child felt something on the back of her head, and when her mom turned around, she saw “a box cutter” before the suspect fled into the subway, sources said.

Her brave mother tried to chase down her daughter’s attacker, even hailing a conductor to stop a train from departing, but the Cummings still managed to get away, she recalled.

“It was traumatizing,” Gorzata Sladek told The Post Friday evening.

“Terrible. It’s terrible to see a little girl with her head cut, sliced in half and it’s just terrible.”

A UPS worker said the young victim was “scared and crying” while she was being treated by medics near a juice bar.

“Her head [was] bloody. Bleeding can’t stop. [She was] bleeding in her hand and her shirt … she was crying. Scared,” he added.

The girl has since undergone surgery that required multiple stitches and staples to fix the gash, but the emotional scars remain, according to her mother.

“She’s not doing well emotionally. She doesn’t want to go back to school. She doesn’t want to go outside anymore,” Sladek said.

Photos obtained by The Post show one of the blood-soaked victims sobbing as she’s gurneyed into the back of an ambulance.

Cops ultimately tracked Cummings down just a block away, back to the spot where he allegedly punched his first victim of the afternoon.

Wild video posted on social media shows the moment Cummings is surrounded by cops as the outraged mob tries to mete out street justice.

Watch:

This is another view of this afternoon’s mob scene in East Harlem, after a man punched a 43-year-old woman and then slashed an 11-year-old girl. Video from “queensmedia_nyc2” on IG.

Again: Note the absolutely absurdity of having that little police lady in that situation. She was… pic.twitter.com/A8UFlrWdte

— Crime In NYC (@CrimeInNYC) May 11, 2024

In the clip, one man appears to poke him with a cane as the alleged assailant cowers behind cops.

“Back up!” police shout at the crowd.

“You f–king piece of s–t!” one man yells.

“Don’t let him go!” says another man as police hold back the bloodthirsty mob.

Cops finally took Cummings into custody, who sources say has more than 20 prior arrests, including assault, criminal mischief and fare evasion.

Cummings’ last arrest was just two months earlier. He was given a desk appearance for an assault charge, according to law enforcement insiders.

He was charged Friday night with two counts of assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child.

Sladek only hopes for justice in the case, and for the streets to longer be a place where New Yorkers need to constantly look over their shoulder.

“You should be able to walk on the street and not worry that somebody will attack you and attack, actually, my daughter not even attacking a dog, but a little kid,” she said.

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was suspended without pay from his WABC radio show over claims about the “stolen” 2020 election — deepening the legally embattled ex-lawyer’s financial woes, New York Post reported.

“He did it to himself,” radio station owner John Catsimatidis told The Post on Friday.

“I thought he was a great mayor for the city of New York so I always try to support him. But you can’t cross the line.”

Giuliani, 79, went on a “stolen election” tirade during the final three minutes of “The Rudy Giuliani Show” Thursday, violating a company-wide policy “not to state, suggest or imply that the election results are not valid,” according to Catsimatidis, who runs Red Apple Media.

Catsimatidis said he had sent Giuliani a letter warning him that he’s “prohibited from engaging in conversations relating to the 2020 Presidential Election” — prompting the mayor to allegedly fire off a defiant text to the billionaire.

“Please understand I am disregarding every order given in this letter,” he purportedly texted after his show.

Catsimatidis said he fired back Friday afternoon, “I’ve got to take you off the network effective immediately.”

“Does that mean you’re firing me?” Giuliani asked — to which Catsimatidis had not yet responded as of Friday evening.

Giuliani told The Post he had no idea the company policy existed, claiming he’s been talking about the 2020 election on the air for the past three years.

“They don’t want me to say it’s stolen, they don’t want me to talk about the election at all. It’s so broad,” he said.

“I am being told here to promise that I will engage in no conversations relating to the 2020 presidential election. Who the hell could promise that except a liar?” he said.

“It is a blow to me. Absolutely,” he said of losing the job. “This is a major screwing!”

Giuliani said he was making $15,000 a month from working at WABC, adding about the CEO of grocery chains Gristedes and D’Agostino Supermarkets: “He was paying me what I would regard as peanuts.”

He said that he still has shows on X and on Newsmax that generate income.

His on-air rant Thursday was edited out, said Catsimatidis, who said Giuliani had asked for more radio time slots in recent days.

“He wanted more hours on the air. We didn’t volunteer to give it to him,” Catsimatidis said. “He was pushing it very hard the last week or so.”

Giuliani now faces a mountain of legal bills to fight criminal cases in Arizona and Georgia, where he was charged with trying to overturn the 2020 election.

He also needs to pay attorneys to defend him against multiple civil cases, including by the voting machine firms Dominion and Smartmatic and a former associate who accused him of sexual assault.

Giuliani filed for Bankruptcy in New York in December, claiming he owed up to $500 million after a devastating $148 million civil court ruling against him.

In that case, the facts-challenged ex-attorney was ordered to pay two Georgia election workers he defamed after the 2020 presidential election.

Giuliani estimated at the time that he owed $153 million.

In January, he promised a New York bankruptcy court that he’d limit his spending to a sky-high $43,000 per month — but quickly failed to stick to the budget.

He reportedly blew through nearly $120,000 that same month, buying “60 transactions on Amazon, multiple entertainment subscriptions, various Apple services and products, Uber rides, and payment of some of his business partner’s personal credit card bill,” the New York Times reported last week.

Working as a lawyer himself is off the table, too. Guiliani, who is also a former federal prosecutor, had his law license suspended in New York City in 2021.

He faces disbarment for “his utter disregard for facts,” which “denigrate the legal profession,” a panel said last year.

Barron Trump is declining Florida’s offer to be a delegate to the Republican National Convention this summer, citing ‘prior committments,’ according to his mother’s office.

Melania Trump’s office made a statement to DailyMail.com on behalf of her son.

‘While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments,’ the Office of Melania Trump said.

No futher details were given.

On Wednesday, Barron, 18, was elected as an at-large delegate to help formally nominate his father Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee.

It’s now unclear if he will even attend the convention, which takes place in Milwaukee from Monday, July 15 to Thursday, July 18.

Other family members – Don Jr. and his fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos – are also delegates at large for the state of Florida.

Ivanka Trump, who served as a senior adviser in her father’s White House, was the only Trump child not on the delegate list.

Unlike his half-siblings, Barron Trump was rarely seen during his father’s White House years, mainly at the request of his mother Melania who is known to be protective of her son.

She rarely let Barron attend official White House events when she was first lady. Additionally, she would have Barron travel in a separate car – instead of the Beast – when he rode in the presidential motorcade. The dedicated mom made sure he was buckled up in his SUV.

She also had Barron board Air Force One on the back stairs of the plane so there would not be photographs of him climbing the front stairs with his parents.

The former first lady has used her own presence to signal her support or displeasure with her husband. She did attend his announcement at Mar-a-Lago that he would make another presidential bid but she was not there on the night of Super Tuesday, when Trump effectively locked up the Republican presidential nomination.

Barron wasn’t present at any of the above political events.

Previously, Barron has been the target of social media trolls.

Former NBC News executive Mike Sington said Barron was ‘fair game’ turning 18, the birthday that marks adulthood. He later deleted the tweet after facing harsh backlash and criticism online.

The youngest Trump was defended by many of his former first kids, including Chelsea Clinton.

‘I think he’s a private citizen,’ she told ABC’s The View. ‘I feel so strongly that if you are a private citizen, you have an unimpeachable right to privacy, and I think the media should leave him alone.’

And, last year, a Chicago woman was arrested for making death threats against Barron.

Friday’s announcement comes after Donald Trump revealed Barron likes politics and enjoys giving his father advice.

‘He’s really been a great student. And he does like politics. It’s sort of funny,’ the former president told ‘Kayal and Company’ on Philadelphia’s Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.

‘He’ll tell me sometimes, ‘Dad, this is what you have to do,” he added.

Trump also revealed the 18-year-old, who is graduating from high school next week, is weighing what college he might attend. But, he noted, the campus protests have been a factor in that decision.

‘He’s a senior now in high school, and he’ll be going to college. And you know, a lot of, a lot of these choices of colleges are changing because you see what’s going on in the last month,’ Trump said.

A rare and powerful solar storm may occur in outer space today which could wreak havoc on earth, officials have warned – the first in nearly 20 years if it happens.

At least five streams of plasma, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are heading toward Earth, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to issue a severe geomagnetic storm watch for Friday into the weekend.

This is the first such alert aired since 2005 when Earth was hit with the highest dose of radiation in a half-century.

This time around, the ‘unusual event’ could disrupt electronic devices like GPS and parts of power grids, NOAA said – while citing how it may also drape a huge portion of the country, as far south as Alabama, in colorful natural lights.

The CMEs exploded from a massive sunspot, an area on the sun that is cooler than the surface, on May 8 – paving the way for Thursday’s alert.

In it, officials explained how the expulsions of matter and magnetic field from the celestial body’s atmosphere could cause problems for millions of earthlings as soon as noon ET Friday.

‘NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) – a division of the National Weather Service – is monitoring the sun following a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that began on May 8,’ the emergency alert read.

‘Space weather forecasters have issued a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for the evening of Friday.

‘Additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend,’ it went on, before describing the abnormal activity that tipped space specialists off.

‘A large sunspot cluster has produced several moderate to strong solar flares since Wednesday at 5:00 am ET,’ it read.

‘At least five flares were associated with CMEs that appear to be Earth-directed. SWPC forecasters will monitor NOAA and NASA’s space assets for the onset of a geomagnetic storm.’

CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun’s corona, which cause geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth.

A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere – the area around Earth controlled by the planet’s magnetic field.

And the Friday storm has been rated ‘G4’ (on a scale of one to five), making it a ‘severe’ storm.’

‘Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface,’ the statement went on, stating how the storm could ‘potentially [disrupt] communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.’

It also could ‘wipe out the internet’ for some, scientists further warned – as NOAA upped the Geomagnetic Storm Watch from Moderate to Severe for Friday through Sunday late Thursday.

‘SWPC has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action,’ officials wrote upon administering the action.

‘Geomagnetic storms can also trigger spectacular displays of aurora on Earth,’ they added of some of the potential storm’s more scenic side effects.

‘A severe geomagnetic storm includes the potential for aurora to be seen as far south as Alabama and Northern California.’

The last time the Space Weather Prediction Center issued such a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch was in January 20, 2005, beginning just before 2 a.m. ET.

A storm of energetic protons impacted Earth just 15 minutes later, causing a radio burst with a high frequency, indicating the presence of a large number of energetic electrons in very strong magnetic fields.

In the blink of an eye, the outburst shocked Earth with the highest dose of radiation measured in five decades, tripping radiation monitors all over the planet within moments.

‘This flare produced the largest solar radiation signal on the ground in nearly 50 years,’ Richard Mewaldt of the California Institute of Technology said at the time, as other services like the internet were largely spared.

‘But we were really surprised when we saw how fast the particles reached their peak intensity and arrived at Earth,’ the scientist added.

In that case, the raging proton storm peaked in 15 minutes – though normally, the most intense part of a proton event typically takes two hours or longer to build up, officials said Thursday.

The event, if it occurs, will start as early as noon ET, officials warned – after a G5 storm in 2004 caused power outages in Sweden while damaging power transformers in South Africa.

This time around, the US will likely be affected, officials said.

The family of the Missouri teen who suffered severe brain injuries after being attacked has said that a part of her skull has been removed to help with recovery.

Kaylee Gain, 16, from St. Louis, was left in a life-threatening condition by Maurnice DeClue, 15, who allegedly smashed her head into concrete during a violent altercation.

Kaylee suffered a skull fracture and frontal lobe damage during the violent March 8 brawl that was caught on camera near her high school but has since been released from the intensive care unit.

Clint and Jaime Gain, the victim’s parents have shared an update about her health and said she is now at home, after her long hospitalization and two weeks at in-patient rehabilitation facility but still has ‘a long road ahead.’

On her GoFundMe page, the family’s attorney revealed that a part of the teen’s skull had to be removed to ‘relieve the pressure on her brain’ and she now needs to ‘wear a custom helmet.’

‘While hospitalized, Kaylee underwent a craniectomy, which is a neurosurgical procedure that involved removing a portion of Kaylee’s skull in order to relieve the pressure on her brain.

‘The portion of Kaylee’s skull that was removed still has not been put back in place. Ever since Kaylee underwent this procedure it has been necessary for her to wear a custom helmet in order to protect her brain in the event of a fall.

‘Kaylee is scheduled to undergo an additional surgery to reattach this portion of her skull which will require yet another hospitalization,’ attorney Bryan M. Kaemmerer wrote.

Her family also said that the young teen has been experiencing short-term memory loss and will be undergoing extensive neuropsychological testing to determine the long-term impact of her injuries on her cognitive function.

She has also been suffering from ‘trauma, fear and pain’ due to the incident.

The updates comes the same week as a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge’s decision whether Kaylee’s alleged attacker will be tried in court as an adult.

DeClue is facing assault charges. While the hearing is scheduled for today, it is not necessary that the judge provides a decision at the time.

Gain, due to her condition, will not attend the hearing tomorrow, but her mother, father, stepmother and attorney will be present.

‘The family is confident in the legal system, and trusts that the Judge will make an appropriate decision based on all of the facts and evidence in the case.

‘The family will respect the ruling, regardless of the outcome,’ the lawyer said.

Kaylee’s parents have previously slammed their daughter’s accused attacker, who is in custody and demand she be tried as an adult.

The last update shared by Clinton Gain on March 22 shared that Kaylee was finally able to breathe on her own and she was in stable condition at the hospital.

‘We are happy to share that Kaylee is breathing on her own, remains stable and the best news so far is that we have been moved out of the ICU. We are truly blessed by the outpouring of support and your prayers.’

The GoFundMe has raised $419,903 and has garnered over 9,000 donations.

In the weeks following the attack, Kaylee remained in a coma before finally regaining consciousness and leaving hospital at the end of March.

Her parents previously took aim at social media posts they believed were made by DeClue, which referenced WWE and made light of the situation.

However, Bryan Kaemmerer, who represents Kaylee’s family, was forced to retract the claims made in his prior statement, admitting: ‘It appears that the social media posts that were made from an account bearing the name of the accused do not appear to be legitimate in light of additional details that have surfaced about the timing of the accused’s arrest, the accused’s lack of access to her phone after she was taken into custody, and metadata showing precisely when these posts were first published.’

At that time, he added Kaylee is recovering but ‘tends to reiterate the same short sentences over and over’, and that she doesn’t know why she is in the hospital.

DeClue’s parents reportedly told local media that she ‘wants to apologize’ to Kaylee.

They have been visiting DeClue while she remains in juvenile custody and claim police have complied messages on social media which allegedly include threats towards the teen.

His statement said that Kaylee’s family were ‘encouraged’ after DeClue’s parents said she wished to apologize for her actions.

‘While these statements do not change the family’s position that it is appropriate for the accused to be tried as an adult, it is encouraging that the accused appears to be remorseful for what transpired during these unfortunate events,’ he added.

‘The family is thankful that the accused apparently did not post these entirely distasteful messages.

‘This does not, however, change the fact that the family firmly believes that there is more than sufficient evidence for the accused to be tried as an adult.’