‘You’ll own nothing in retirement and be happy’…

World Economic Forum founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab will be stepping back from his role running the global gathering since he founded it in 1971, Semafor reported.

Schwab announced his intentions in an email to staff on Tuesday that was shared with Semafor by a person connected to the organization.

He will be stepping down as executive chairman and transitioning to a role as non-executive chairman, he said, adding the change in his role is pending approval by the Swiss government but should be finalized ahead of the WEF’s annual meeting in 2025.

Schwab has not named his successor, but said that over the last year, the group’s executive board, “under the leadership of President Børge Brende, has taken full executive responsibility.”

Brende is a former Norwegian conservative leader.

The Forum operates much like a family business, with Schwab’s children appointed to high-ranking positions and his wife Hilde heading the organization’s foundation and awards ceremonies in Davos.

Over the years, its annual Davos gathering has become a must-attend event for the global elite.

Succession at the WEF has been the subject of fevered speculation, and a Politico article floating possible names roiled the gathering in 2023.

The WEF nonprofit organization brought in nearly $500 million in revenue in the year ending March 2023, and had a neat 200 million Swiss francs sitting in cash.

It was a tumultuous day in court for Donald Trump‘s hush money trial, in which a judge briefly cleared the courtroom after a heated exchange with a witness who had been called to help the former president’s case.

When Trump exited the courtroom on Monday, he praised the witness, Robert Costello, a former adviser to his ex-attorney and fixer Michael Cohen. Costello’s words were integral to the defense’s efforts to undercut Cohen’s claims about Trump’s alleged involvement in a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, for which Trump is now facing charges.

“You saw what happened to a highly respected lawyer today, Bob Costello. Wow. I’ve never seen anything like that,” Trump said. The former president also said presiding Judge Juan Merchan has a chance to gain back “respect” if he agrees to dismiss the charges before the jury deliberates on whether to convict or acquit Trump of the 34-count indictment.

“This case should be dropped by the judge,” Trump said, adding if the judge did that, Merchan could “gain the respect back.”

Trump, who is under a gag order that prevents him from commenting on witnesses, has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in the case.

Here are five key takeaways from the dramatic proceedings on Monday.

Prosecution rests its case against former president

After calling more than 20 witnesses and showing jurors more than 200 pieces of evidence, prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office finished presenting their side of the case against Trump late Monday afternoon.

Their final and most crucial witness was Cohen. After watching defense attorneys hammer Cohen about his credibility and key parts of his story for three days during cross-examination, prosecutors’ last move was to elicit testimony from Cohen during a redirect questioning about calls he made to Trump, during which Cohen claims he spoke to Trump about Daniels.

One such call, which Cohen made to Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller on the night of Oct. 24, 2016, has been a point of contention throughout the trial.

Defense attorneys highlighted how the call was a mere 90 seconds long and had been preceded by calls and texts between Cohen and Schiller about how Cohen needed to speak with the bodyguard about being harassed by a 14-year-old. They argued Cohen would not have had enough time, in under two minutes, to have a full conversation with Schiller about the harassment and then have a separate conversation with Trump in which the hush money scheme was hatched.

Prosecutors on Monday countered that by admitting into evidence a still shot of a video of Trump physically near Schiller around the exact same time the call was placed in an attempt to show Cohen could have spoken to Trump about Daniels on the call.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Cohen how many times he believed he conversed with Trump about Daniels in October 2016.

“More than 20,” Cohen replied.

The prosecution was largely expected to rest their case this week. But the decision to do so Monday was still enormous for the trial because it meant Bragg’s office believes it has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified business records with the intent to commit another crime. The other crime, however, remains unspecified.

Cohen admits to stealing from Trump Organization

Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche grilled Cohen on how he lied about a reimbursement request in 2017 so that the Trump Organization would overpay him by tens of thousands of dollars.

Cohen testified he was reimbursed $50,000 for payments to Red Finch for technology services but that he only paid Red Finch $20,000, resulting in him effectively stealing money from the Trump Organization.

Blanche’s questions intensified and his voice became high-pitched as he drilled down on the admission.

“Did you ever have to plead guilty to larceny?” Blanche asked.

“No, sir,” Cohen said.

The reimbursement was included in the broader $420,000 payment plan that is at the heart of the case against Trump. The plan, which evidence shows was crafted by the Trump Organization’s ex-Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, included paying Cohen for the payment he made to Daniels, the Red Finch payment, an annual bonus, and taxes.

Cohen admitted to stealing the Red Finch money and also admitted that because the reimbursement was part of the broader payment plan, the tax aspect of the plan caused the Red Finch payment to Cohen to double. In other words, Cohen admitted to stealing $60,000 rather than $30,000.

When asked by the prosecution about this on redirect, Cohen said he did so because he was angry about getting a lower annual bonus.

“I was angry because of the reduction in bonus, and so I just felt like it was almost like self-help,” Cohen said.

Key points from Robert Costello’s testimony

Robert Costello, who gave Cohen legal advice when Trump’s ex-fixer was the target of a federal prosecution in April 2018, was asked Monday by defense attorneys about a pivotal meeting Cohen and Costello had at the Regency Hotel that month.

While Costello was severely limited by the judge in what he could say, he emphasized that Cohen appeared to be in a crisis during the meeting and yet had no damning evidence against Trump that could have helped Cohen avoid prosecution.

Costello, a former prosecutor fresh off his revealing testimony to Congress last week, indicated Monday that his client said “numerous times” that Trump knew nothing about the hush money payments to Daniels.

“Michael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own,” Costello said. “And he repeated that numerous times.”

Judge reprimands Costello and tells reporters to leave courtroom

When he was seated at the witness stand, Costello audibly reacted in a negative way as Merchan sustained several objections from the prosecution. He audibly said, “Geez,” after one was sustained. Appearing exasperated, Costello also said he would strike one of his own responses from the record after Merchan repeatedly shut down his answers.

Merchan responded to the behavior by asking the jury to leave the courtroom briefly Monday afternoon so he could address Costello’s decorum.

After the judge’s stern warning, Costello gave him a long glare, and Merchan responded by asking, “Are you staring me down?” Then, in a stunning turn, the judge yelled, “Clear the courtroom!” The order prompted alarm from the press, and after several minutes, everyone was allowed back into the room.

According to a transcript from Monday’s proceedings, Merchan threatened Costello with contempt while the press was not in the courtroom.

“Your conduct is contemptuous right now. I’m putting you on notice that your conduct is contemptuous. If you try to stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand,” Merchan said.

Trump attorney calls for judge to dismiss the charges

Later in the afternoon, Blanche asked Merchan to dismiss all the charges in the case.

“So you’re asking me to find Mr. Cohen not credible as a matter of law?” Merchan asked the lawyer. “You want me to take it out of the jury’s hands and decide before it even gets to the jury?”

“Yes,” Blanche replied. The defense lawyer argued they didn’t just catch Cohen in one lie but rather “he came in here with a history of lying.”

The move, known as seeking a “directed verdict,” is not an uncommon ask from a defense attorney.

Merchan said at the end of the day that he would reserve his decision on the defense’s call to dismiss the charges.

The defense attorneys said they planned to finish questioning Costello on Tuesday and likely had no further witnesses after him. They indicated they could rest their case by Tuesday morning, meaning there is a low chance Trump himself will take the stand.

One person has died and at least 71 others were injured on board a Singapore Airlines plane that encountered severe turbulence on a flight from London to Singapore.

The Boeing 777-300ER plane diverted to Bangkok, according to a post on the Singapore Airlines Facebook page. It said 211 passengers and 18 crew were on board.

The company said initially in a post that 30 passengers had been hurt in the mid-air disruption and were being treated in hospitals, while other travelers were receiving outpatient care at the airport.

The one person who died was a 73-year-old British man, General Manager of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport Kittipong Kittikachorn said on Tuesday.

The flight landed in the Thai capital at 3:45 p.m. local time (4:45 a.m. ET) Tuesday.

Kittikachorn, who inspected the aircraft, told CNN he was informed of the emergency landing 10 minutes before it touched down. He also said that several passengers had sustained broken arms but that the majority of injuries were cuts and bruises.

Some injured passengers were sent to the nearby Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital, Kittikachorn said, adding that almost 200 travelers were waiting to take onwards flight to their destinations.

The hospital said in an update that at least 71 people had been injured, including citizens from Malaysia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Spain, the United States and Ireland. It also said six people are severely injured. Earlier, Kittikachorn had said seven people were critically injured.

The aviation tracking site FlightRadar24 says, based on its data, that the turbulence on Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 occurred over Myanmar at approximately 7:49 a.m. UTC (3:49 a.m. ET).

This lines up with a statement from the airline stating that the plane, “encountered sudden extreme turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin [a river in Myanmar] at 37,000 feet, about 10 hours after departure.”

📹 MatichonOnline pic.twitter.com/NBavrogRcU

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) May 21, 2024

FlightRadar24 said in a blog post that, according to its data, at that time, ”the flight encountered a rapid change in vertical rate, consistent with a sudden turbulence event.”

The data show the flight changing course about 14 minutes later. The airline says, “The pilot declared a medical emergency and diverted the aircraft to Bangkok.”

The FlightRadar24 data show the flight, which was cruising at 37,000 feet, suddenly dipping then rapidly climbing a few hundred feet before dipping and climbing again and then finally settling back at its cruising altitude. The entire disruption took about 90 seconds, according to the data, but resulted in dozens of injuries, including a fatality.

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam issued a statement on his social media accounts, expressing “condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased.”

“We do not have the details of those affected, but know that the government ministries and agencies, as well as SIA, are doing their utmost to support all those affected and working with the authorities in Bangkok, where the plane had been diverted to,” Shanmugaratnam said.

Singapore’s Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat said he was “deeply saddened to learn about the incident,” in a statement posted to his social media.

“Ministry of Transport, Singapore, Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Changi Airport officials as well as SIA [Singapore Airlines] staff are providing support to the affected passengers and their families,” he said.

Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement that it was investigating the situation involving SQ321 and its Transport Safety Investigation Bureau was in touch with their Thai counterparts.

Turbulence occurs when a plane flies through clashing bodies of air moving at widely different speeds.

With light and moderate turbulence passengers might feel a strain against their seatbelt, and unsecured items could move around the cabin.

But in severe cases turbulence can throw passengers around the cabin, causing severe injuries and occasionally death.

In March 2023, violent movements on a private jet resulted in the death of a former White House official, though an investigation later found that weather was not involved in that incident. That incident came just days after seven people were transported to hospitals after a separate commercial flight hit significant turbulence.

In July 2023, seven people were injured on a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Sydney, Australia, when the plane was buffeted by severe turbulence, and 36 people were injured on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Arizona to Honolulu in December 2022, with 20 people taken to emergency rooms.

A September 2022 study predicts that clear-air turbulence will increase significantly around the globe by the period 2050-2080, in particular along the busiest flight routes, and the strongest type of turbulence will increase the most.

Singapore Airlines is often considered one of the world’s safest carriers.

Its only previous fatal accident was in October 2000 when flight SQ006 crashed when the Boeing 747-400 took off from a closed runway in Taiwan amid heavy rain, killing 83 on board.

Boeing has said it is in touch with the Singaporean carrier and is “ready to support them.” The manufacturer is deferring further questions to the airline and local authorities.

The Trump campaign said it will sue the “pretend filmmakers” behind “The Apprentice,” which premiered on Monday at the Cannes Film Festival.

The campaign took issue with many aspects of the film, namely a rape scene involving Trump and his first wife, Ivana, that was described as “violent” and “uncomfortable.”

The Daily Mail describes the scene: “at one point it depicts Trump raping his wife and asking: ‘Did I find your g spot?'”

“We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said, per the Daily Mail. “This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked.”

He went on to suggest that “this is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice because nothing they have done has worked.”

“This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should not see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store,” Cheung added. “It belongs in a dumpster fire.”

Also among those who were unhappy with the film was Dan Snyder, a billionaire who is friends with Trump and until recently owned the Washington Commanders. He had put money into the project believing that it would paint the Donald in a positive light, however he realized that was not the case after viewing a cut of the film earlier this year.

According to Variety, Snyder helped fund the film via Kinematics, a finance and production company. After seeing the direction director Ali Abbasi and his team chose to take, Kinematics’ lawyers began sending cease and desist letters demanding that the film be canned.

Those familiar with the matter told the outlet that Snyder advised myriad changes, but was particularly incensed by the fact that the film included the aforementioned rape scene.

The former Mrs. Trump had accused him of abuse during divorce procedings in the 1990s, but later recanted, saying “I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”

While it is unclear exactly how far Snyder went in demading changes, Kinematics’ president Emanuel Nuñez has maintained that, “all creative and business decisions involving ‘The Apprentice’ have always been made by Kinematics,” noting that, “Mark [Rapaport] and I run our company without the involvement of any other third parties.”

The film, which stars Sebastian Stan, focuses on the time in Trump’s life where he was under the wing of infamous attorney Roy Cohn, attracted a number of big investors. The Canadian government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as the Danish and Irish governments, all put money into the project, which was filmed in part in Toronto.

Jailed former White House economic adviser Peter Navarro predicted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would get the boot in a second Trump administration.

The Semafor interview was conducted from a federal prison where Navarro is serving a four-month sentence for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena issued by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Read the full interview below:

Gina Chon: What are Trump’s economic priorities if he wins?

Peter Navarro: The New MAGA Deal documents 100 actions in 100 days. At the top of the trade list is Trump’s Reciprocal Trade Act, originally introduced by Congressman Sean Duffy in 2019. If countries refuse to lower their tariffs to our levels, the president would have the authority to raise our tariffs to theirs. It is the most common sense route to balancing our trade deficit and thereby stimulating economic growth, and strengthening the US dollar. It should appeal to protectionists and free traders alike.

Chon: What didn’t get done in the last term that would be back on the table?

Navarro: One of the biggest pieces of unfinished Trump business is to solidify Buy American, Hire American government procurement, and reshore our private sector supply chains and manufacturing back to US soil. We are dangerously vulnerable to foreign coercion in everything from defense applications and tech, to pharmaceuticals.

Trump will also quickly seal the border and begin mass deportations. Biden has imported a wave of crime and terrorism along with an uneducated mass that drives down wages of Black, brown, and blue-collar Americans. Blacks and Hispanics, particularly males in the workforce, are flocking to Trump in droves.

Chon: What are the plans for the Fed and current Chair Jay Powell?

Navarro: Powell was Mnuchin’s folly — Powell raised rates too fast under Trump and choked off growth. To keep his job, Powell then raised rates too slowly to contain inflation under Biden. My guess is that this punctilious non-economist will be gone in a hundred days one way or the other. Former Council of Economic Advisers Chair Kevin Hassett would be a logical replacement; former CEA Chair Tyler Goodspeed would be a bold choice.

Chon: Is there a place for someone like JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon in a Trump administration?

Navarro: I’m sure if Jamie raises $100 million for Trump 2024 and doesn’t hedge his Biden bet, there may be an ambassadorship somewhere in Asia where JPMorgan helped offshore millions of American jobs.

Frankly, [Blackstone CEO] Steve Schwarzman’s unforgiveable alleged unregistered foreign lobbyist activities in weakening the China trade deal has made it difficult for those of us in Trump World to trust that Wall Street denizens like Dimon, [Citadel CEO] Ken Griffin, and Schwarzman will ever represent Main Street.

Chon: What about people like Gary Cohn or Steven Mnuchin, whom you labeled as “globalists,” returning in a second Trump term?

Navarro: Gary Cohn did everything he could to block Trump’s trade agenda, particularly steel and aluminum tariffs. When [former Commerce Secretary] Wilbur Ross and I finally outmaneuvered him, he quit in a huff — good riddance.

Mnuchin did everything he could as well to stop or soften Trump’s trade agenda and regularly clashed with Ross, Lighthizer, and myself. Together, Cohn and Mnuchin prove, as I wrote in my Taking Back Trump’s America book, that Bad Personnel is both Bad Policy and Bad Politics.

Chon: Trump wants to ratchet up tariffs on Chinese products, which he started when he was president. Given the challenges the Fed is facing in tamping down inflation, won’t tariffs make the problem worse?

Navarro: The imposition of tariffs on Communist China had ZERO impact on inflation. In a general equilibrium economic world, tariffs over time boost growth and real wages; they are not inflationary.

Chon: Nippon Steel’s effort to buy US Steel is facing challenges in Washington. Should that deal go through?

Navarro: If Trump had been president, Cleveland Cliffs would have consummated its merger with US Steel and created a real American national champion in the world market. The Nippon deal is bad for America.

Chon: Are there US companies or industries that you think are un-American or acting against American interests?

Navarro: American multinational corporations naturally want to offshore American jobs in their search for cheap, sweatshop labor and pollution havens. That’s why God created tariffs.

OpenAI has decided to remove one of the voices previously used by ChatGPT, according to Tech Crunch. Some users discovered that one of the five voices used sounded suspiciously similar to actor Scarlett Johansson’s voice.

A video made its way around social media last week, with users finding one of the voices to be similar to Johansson’s actual voice. Some even ridiculed the voice for being too flirtatious, and others compared it with a voice that might manifest in a male fantasy.

The report noted that Johansson had hired a legal team to investigate the origins of OpenAI’s “Sky” voice and how it was developed.

In a statement on Monday, Johansson said she was approached by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in September about voicing an audio feature for ChatGPT.

However, she said she decided not to participate in Altman’s project “after much consideration and for personal reasons.”

“He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI,” Johansson said.

Say hello to GPT-4o, our new flagship model which can reason across audio, vision, and text in real time: https://t.co/MYHZB79UqN

Text and image input rolling out today in API and ChatGPT with voice and video in the coming weeks. pic.twitter.com/uuthKZyzYx

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) May 13, 2024

The company released a statement on Sunday, writing:

Voice Mode is one of the most beloved features in ChatGPT. Each of the five distinct voices you hear has been carefully selected through an extensive process spanning five months involving professional voice actors, talent agencies, casting directors, and industry advisors. We’re sharing more on how the voices were chosen.

In September of 2023, we introduced voice capabilities to give users another way to interact with ChatGPT. Since then, we are encouraged by the way users have responded to the feature and the individual voices. Each of the voices—Breeze, Cove, Ember, Juniper and Sky—are sampled from voice actors we partnered with to create them.

The voice under scrutiny is the “Sky” voice. In the statement, OpenAI appeared to insist that “AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice—Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice.”

Statement from Scarlett Johansson on the OpenAI situation. Wow: pic.twitter.com/8ibMeLfqP8

— Bobby Allyn (@BobbyAllyn) May 20, 2024

However, the company said they could not release the name of the actress they used for privacy reasons.

Some people compared the “Sky” voice to the AI voice featured in the 2013 film “Her,” which was performed by Johansson. And while the company has not said the “Sky” voice belongs to Johansson, Altman posted to X last week with a simple word: “her.”

Amber Rose has revealed she is endorsing Donald Trump for President of the United States in 2024.

The 40-year-old model posted a photo of her posing with Trump, 77, and his wife Melania, 54, at a black-tie event on Monday.

The former president is the presumed Republican front-runner in the 2024 race.

Rose stated in the caption, ‘Trump 2024 ususus,’ which lead to a slew of backlash from fans in the comments.

Rose has long been an advocate for women’s rights – creating Slutwalk in 2015 in an effort to end rape culture and victim blaming.

Rose’s endorsement comes nearly two months after she revealed on Just B With Bethenny Frankel that she’s always been ‘conservative.’

‘I am conservative actually.’

‘I have always been conservative since I was young,’ adding when she started dating Kanye West in 2008 she became, ‘this sexpot type of girl.’

‘That was my first relationship with a celebrity ever but also in the public eye. And he knows a lot about fashion and he always wanted me to dress very sexy,’ she said.

‘And I’m like, “Ugh, I’m so not her.” Like, I’m so not her and I get what I come off as but I am so not her,’ Rose insisted.

Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, on Monday disclosed that it lost $327.6 million on just $770,500 in revenue during the first quarter of 2024.

TMTG brought in less money between January and March of this year than in the same period for 2023 (which already wasn’t anything to write home about).

For context, Twitter regularly topped $1 billion in quarterly revenue before its sale to Elon Musk.

The giant loss is largely driven by one-time expenses related to TMTG’s merger in March with a blank-check company, which is how it went public.

That said, TMTG is nowhere close to profitable.

TMTG surprised many by releasing these numbers, given that its auditor recently agreed to stop auditing public companies after being accused of “massive fraud” by federal securities regulators.

It does not yet appear to have hired a replacement, noting that all of the quarterly and annual financials are unaudited.

TMTG doesn’t disclose user numbers, unlike other publicly traded social media companies.

TMTG continues to command a market value north of $6 billion, which is the sort of price multiple that most other meme stocks can only dream of achieving.

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former attorney, admitted while on the stand Monday that he stole tens of thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization, according to live reporting from the courthouse.

During his third day of testimony, Cohen acknowledged that he pocketed money from the Trump Organization that was supposed to go to RedFinch, a technology company.

Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, confronted Cohen about his claim that he was shorted $100,000 on his yearly bonus from the Trump Organization in 2017.

“That’s correct,” Cohen stated, noting that he usually received a $150,000 annual bonus.

“So, the $50,000 that you got back from RedFinch … you only paid the RedFinch owner $20,000, right?” Blanche asked Cohen.

“Yes, sir,” Cohen responded.

Cohen acknowledged that he withdrew the cash over a couple of days because he “didn’t want to take out $20,000.”

“I don’t recall if it was exactly $20,000,” Cohen added.

“So, you stole from the Trump Organization,” Blanche said.

“Yes, sir,” Cohen replied.

“You didn’t just steal the $30,000, because it was grossed up; it was $60,000,” Blanche continued.

Cohen again responded, “Yes, sir.”

When asked whether he ever had to plead guilty to larceny, Cohen stated that he had not.

Cohen received a total of $420,000 from Trump in 2017. According to Cohen, he was paid $130,000 for the settlement payment he made to porn actress Stormy Daniels, $50,000 for technology services to RedFinch, $180,000 for estimated taxes, and a $60,000 bonus. However, Cohen admitted that he only paid RedFinch $20,000 and pocketed the rest. Despite allegedly admitting to the theft to the district attorney’s office, he did not face any charges.

“I was angered because of the reduction in the bonus, and so I just felt it was almost like self-help,” Cohen testified. “And again $130,000 to have my bonus cut by two-thirds was very upsetting to say the least.”

Cohen maintained that the $420,000 he received from Trump had nothing to do with legal services.

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig called Cohen’s admission a “bomb dropped right in the middle of the prosecution’s case.”

Laura Coates with CNN stated that the defense “can establish Michael Cohen as somebody who is not to be trusted about the amount of money as well, then they might be able to establish that Donald Trump had no idea about what he was truly paying.”

Blanche also presented to the jury an email from Allen Weisselberg, Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, to Cohen, discussing a potential retainer agreement. Cohen has claimed that he never had an agreement to provide legal services to the Trump Organization after he was made Trump’s personal attorney.

“Thank you. You never stopped on for a bro hug. Anyway please prepare the agreement we discussed so we can pay you monthly,” Weisselberg’s email to Cohen read.

Additionally, Blanche confirmed with Cohen that he changed his email signature to display his role as attorney to the former president.

“It always said personal attorney to President Donald J. Trump,” Blanche explained. “His job changed — meaning President Trump’s job changed — your job didn’t.”

Cohen agreed with Blanche.

“You told everybody that was happening, correct?” Blanche asked.

“Not everybody, but I was certainly proud of the role and I announced it,” Cohen responded. He acknowledged that he told TMZ, the New York Times, and appeared on Sean Hannity’s show to discuss his role.

Blanche also questioned Cohen about meeting attorney Robert Costello.

Costello claimed he worked as Cohen’s lawyer from April 2018 to July 2018. Cohen has denied ever having an agreement with Costello.

Last week, Costello told lawmakers during a hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government that Cohen had lied on the stand in the New York criminal case against Trump. Costello smeared Cohen’s reputation, calling him an “inveterate liar.”

Costello stated that Cohen repeatedly told him that he made the $130,000 payment to Daniels on his own.

“He wanted to do something to put himself back into the inner circle of Donald Trump. That’s why he took care of this on his own. There had to be a motivation. Michael Cohen is always working for things that benefit himself,” Costello stated.

During Monday’s trial, Blanche showed the jury several emails between Costello and Cohen that suggested Costello was acting as Cohen’s attorney, with or without a retainer agreement.

“Would it surprise you to learn that you actually communicated on the phone either you calling Mr. Costello or Mr. Costello calling you 75 times?” Blanche asked Cohen.

“Seems excessive but,” Cohen paused for a while. “Possible.”

The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, the court’s prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Monday.

Khan said the ICC’s prosecution team is also seeking warrants for Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as two other top Hamas leaders — Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the leader of the Al Qassem Brigades who is better known as Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader.

The warrants against the Israeli politicians mark the first time the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close ally of the United States. The decision puts Netanyahu in the company of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant over Moscow’s war on Ukraine, and the Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, who was facing an arrest warrant from the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity at the time of his capture and killing in October 2011.

By applying for the arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders in the same action, Khan’s office risks attracting criticism that it places a terror organization and an elected government on an equivalent footing.

A panel of ICC judges will now consider Khan’s application for the arrest warrants.

Khan said the charges against Sinwar, Haniyeh and al-Masri include “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention.”

“The world was shocked on the 7th of October when people were ripped from their bedrooms, from their homes, from the different kibbutzim in Israel,” Khan told Amanpour, adding that “people have suffered enormously.”

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people across several locations in southern Israel on October 7 and took some 250 hostages into Gaza. Many of the hostages are still being held in Gaza – Khan told Amanpour this meant crimes continued to be committed against “so many innocent Israelis … that are held hostage by Hamas and families that are waiting for their return.”

Khan told Amanpour his team has a “variety of evidence” to support the application for arrest warrants against Sinwar, Haniyeh and al-Masri, including authenticated video footage and photographs from the attacks as well as evidence from eyewitnesses and survivors.

Khan said Israel had “every right and indeed an obligation to get hostages back, but you must do so by complying with the law.”

Responding to the announcement by Khan, Hamas said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the attempts of the ICC Prosecutor to equate victims with aggressors by issuing arrest warrants against a number of Palestinian resistance leaders without legal basis.”

“Hamas calls on the ICC Prosecutor to issue arrest warrants against all war criminals among the occupation leaders, officers, and soldiers who participated in crimes against the Palestinian people, and demands the cancellation of all arrest warrants issued against Palestinian resistance leaders,” the group added.

‘Nobody is above the law’

The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” Khan told Amanpour.

“The fact that Hamas fighters need water doesn’t justify denying water from all the civilian population of Gaza,” he added.

More than 35,500 Palestinians have been killed and more than 79,000 wounded in Gaza since October 7, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Monday. CNN cannot independently verify the figures.

Netanyahu called the decision “a political outrage.”

“They will not deter us and we will continue in the war until the hostages are released and Hamas is destroyed,” he said at a meeting of the parliamentary group of his Likud party.

Other Israeli officials echoed his sentiments. Benny Gantz, a member Israel’s war cabinet, criticized Khan’s decision immediately after it was announced, saying that Israel was fighting “with one of the strictest moral codes in history, while complying with international law and boasting a robust independent judiciary.”

“Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a blood-thirsty terror organisation is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy,” he said, adding that the decision by the prosecutors “is in itself a crime of historic proportion to be remembered for generation.”

The leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, said the application for the arrest warrents was “a complete moral failure.”

“We cannot accept the outrageous comparison between Netanyahu and Sinwar … We will not remain silent,” he said.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog called it “beyond outrageous.”

When reports surfaced last month that the ICC chief prosecutor was considering this course of action, Netanyahu said that any ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli government and military officials “would be an outrage of historic proportions,” and that Israel “has an independent legal system that rigorously investigates all violations of the law.”

Asked by Amanpour about the comments made by Netanyahu, Khan said: “Nobody is above the law.”

He said that if Israel disagrees with the ICC, “they are free, notwithstanding their objections to jurisdiction, to raise a challenge before the judges of the court and that’s what I advise them to do.”

Israel and the United States are not members of the ICC. However, the ICC claims to have jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank after Palestinian leaders formally agreed to be bound by the court’s founding principles in 2015.

The ICC announcement on Monday is separate from the case that is currently being heard by the the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over an accusation from South Africa that Israel was committing genocide in its war against Hamas following the October 7 attacks.

While the ICJ considers cases that involve countries and nations, and the ICC is a criminal court, which brings cases against individuals for war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Monday’s announcement is not the first time that the ICC acted in relation to Israel. In March 2021, Khan’s office launched an investigation into possible crimes committed in the Palestinian territories since June 2014 in Gaza and the West Bank.

Located in The Hague, Netherlands, and created by a treaty called the Rome Statute first brought before the United Nations, the ICC operates independently. Most countries – 124 of them – are parties to the treaty, but there are notable exceptions, including Israel, the US and Russia.

That means that if the court grants Khan’s application and issues arrest warrants for the five men, any country that is a member would have to arrest them and extradite them to The Hague.

Under the rules of the court, all signatories of the Rome Statute have the obligation to cooperate fully with its decisions. This would make it extremely difficult for Netanyahu and Gallant to travel internationally, including to many countries that are among Israel’s closest allies – including Germany and the United Kingdom.

Sinwar, Haniyeh and al-Masri have been officially designated as global terrorists by the US, meaning they are under travel bans, asset freezes and sanctions. The US, the UK, Japan, Canada as well as the European Union and others have designated Hamas as a terror group and imposed sanctions on its leaders.

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

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

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

Mokhber was part of a team of Iranian officials who visited Moscow in October and agreed to supply surface-to-surface missiles and more drones to Russia’s military, sources told Reuters at the time.

The team also included two senior officials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and an official from the Supreme National Security Council.

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

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

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

Setad, whose full name is Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam, or the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, was set up under an order issued by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei’s predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

It ordered aides to sell and manage properties supposedly abandoned in the chaotic years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and channel the bulk of the proceeds to charity.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Daily Caller is determined to rectify this with our latest documentary, “Demand for Hate,” which exposes the rise of hate crime hoaxes in America today.

“Our investigative team takes a deep dive into Morgan’s story and shows the real damage that occurs when our cowardly leaders fail to stand up for the truth.” “Demand for Hate” is available to stream exclusively for Patriots subscribers. Catch a first glimpse below.

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

EXPOSED: The Origin of the Morgan Bettinger Case

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

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 19, 2024

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

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

But the protesters in the street told a different story.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“When people do this and give themselves permission to release their anger, their capacity for joy actually expands,” Magik – who’s real name is Mia Banducci – told the outlet.

“They’re able to feel more happiness and pleasure, and they go home to their families with more gratitude and ease and peace.”

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

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

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 20, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trans-identifying Scottish Green Party candidate Sophie Molly tangled with “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling in a brief exchange on X, and things did not appear to go as planned.

The spat began with a post from Rowling announcing how proud she was to be a part of the soon-to-be-released book “The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht: Voices From the Front-Line of Scotland’s Battle for Women’s Rights.”

“I’m very proud to have contributed an essay to this book, alongside many women I’m proud to call my friends. For non-Scots, ‘wheesht’ means ‘be quiet’ or ‘hush up’, but I suspect you could have worked that out from the context …” Rowling posted on Thursday.

On Saturday, Molly responded — and in addition to claiming that the book was “deeply transphobic,” complained that anyone who was “gender critical” was taking away rights from those who identify as transgender.

“This book is deeply transphobic. It puts the safety of all trans people at risk. Promoting hate does nothing but harm society. Trans people are not removing anyone’s rights. The Gender Critical have removed trans people’s right to feel safe in public spaces,” Molly posted.

This book is deeply transphobic. It puts the safety of all trans people at risk. Promoting hate does nothing but harm society. Trans people are not removing anyone’s rights. The Gender Critical have removed trans people’s right to feel safe in public spaces. https://t.co/0UhMtk7lOZ

— Sophie Molly 💚🏳️‍🌈😸 (@SophieMolly_SG) May 18, 2024

Rowling replied on Sunday, pointing out the fact that Molly was passing judgment on a book that had not yet been published.

“.@SophieMolly_SG I’m seriously impressed that you’ve been able to read and review an unpublished book of which there are currently only two copies in existence, neither of which have been lent to you,” Rowling said in her follow-up post on X.

.@SophieMolly_SG I’m seriously impressed that you’ve been able to read and review an unpublished book of which there are currently only two copies in existence, neither of which have been lent to you. pic.twitter.com/NLJ64W1pGX

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 19, 2024

“I can say with absolute certainty that you are a transphobe. It’s basic biology,” Molly said in a later post directed at Rowling.

The author replied, “Really interesting campaign you’re running. I shall follow your political journey with interest.”

Really interesting campaign you’re running. I shall follow your political journey with interest.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 19, 2024

Molly kept trying, replying to Rowling again: “And yes of course I know she’s being sarcastic. I’m just humouring her. Terrible writer. I am superior with the English vonacular [sic].”

“My English vonacular is indeed very rusty,” Rowling replied.

Molly later edited the post, blaming “autocorrect” for spelling “vernacular” incorrectly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Update:

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

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

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

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

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

Original:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Follow live updates.

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

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

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

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

— AmaDeo (@amadeo_vizcaya) May 17, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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