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Friday, May 10, 2024

5/10 WAKE-UP CALL: Stormy Depicted As Hu$tler


Donald Trump’s lawyer sought to portray porn star Stormy Daniels as a fabulist who talks to ghosts and a hustler who profited from her story of sex with the former president. 
Her cross-examination in Trump’s hush-money trial hit upon her work as a porn star creating sexual fantasies and as a medium and self-described paranormal investigator. Daniels said that if she had made up the Trump tryst, it would have been a lot better. She made millions of dollars from a $130,000 payment, a book, #TeamStormy merchandise and a strip-club tour called “Make America Horny Again.” Trump, accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for allegedly covering up a payment intended to silence Daniels, pleaded not guilty and has denied the encounter. The presumptive Republican nominee has said political spite motivated the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, to charge him.

➤BOMBARDMENTS HIT RAFAH:  Israeli forces bombarded areas of Rafah on Thursday, Palestinian residents said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to withhold weapons from Israel if it assaults the southern Gaza city. A senior Israeli official said late on Thursday that the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities in Gaza had ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned. In Gaza, Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters fired anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli tanks massed on the eastern outskirts of the city.

About 80,000 people have fled the southern Gaza city of Rafah this week as Israeli tanks gather on the edge of the city and humanitarian aid is choked off by border closures, U.N. agencies said Thursday. "The toll on these families is unbearable," the U.N. Relief and Works Agency said. "Nowhere is safe."

➤WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE CEASE-FIRE?:  Talks in Cairo were paused Thursday as hopes dimmed for a cease-fire agreement. No aid has entered through southern border crossings in two days because of the increasing intensity of Israel's military operations, which have also severed access to fuel, threatening hospitals, water wells and sewage pumps, which could run out of fuel within days, if not hours.

➤BIDEN THREAT SET OFF ALARMS:  President Biden’s threat to freeze some weapons deliveries raised alarm in Israel. If he went through with it, the country’s ability to fight on multiple fronts could have been at risk in the long-term, though not the short-term. The White House doesn’t want Israel to launch a major assault in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering. Israel’s war and security cabinets were expected to discuss the country’s response to ruptured relations with its most important international supporter. The warning set up a showdown between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to achieve a “total victory” over Hamas, including in Rafah.

➤Z FIRES SECURITY CHIEF: Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed the head of the unit that protects Ukraine’s top officials following the arrest of two colonels who were allegedly involved in a Russian plot to assassinate the president. Serhiy Rud, who was fired by a decree signed Thursday evening by Zelenskiy, had been in his post since 2019 and previously led the president’s personal security unit. He survived in his position since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022 despite multiple reported attempts to kill the country’s leader.


📲TECH TALK: T-Mobile and Verizon are in talks to carve up U.S. Cellular, according to people familiar with the matter. The split-share structure giving both telecom giants access to valuable airwaves is designed to convince antitrust authorities who will review the deal that it won’t hurt competition. U.S. Cellular is one of the country’s last major regional wireless carriers. Elsewhere on Wall Street, investors are trying to figure out how to make money off the weight-loss revolution; the Dow Jones Industrial Average logged its longest winning streak of the year; and Norfolk Southern’s shareholders voted against unseating CEO Alan Shaw. The activist investor who wanted him out has criticized freight railroad’s operational and financial performance as well as its handling of last year’s train derailment that released toxic chemicals in Ohio.

➤WIFE OF TRUMP PROSECUTOR IS DEM CONTRIBUTOR:  Wife of top Trump prosecutor gave thousands to Biden campaign . . . The wife of an ex-Biden Department of Justice official, who is currently serving as a top prosecutor with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office targeting former President Trump, donated thousands of dollars supporting President Biden’s 2020 campaign. Anne K. Small, the wife of Matthew Colangelo and a former Obama White House official, donated $2,800 to Biden’s campaign in 2020, according to FEC records reviewed by Fox News Digital. Small also supported Obama’s successful 2008 campaign and donated $500 to John Kerry’s failed 2004 presidential campaign. 

➤TRUMP SAID TO HAVE PLAN TO END 'DEEP STATE':  Trump and GOP devise plan to unravel the deep state . . . The effort would be multi-faceted. Trump would unilaterally try to revise, revamp, and toss out Biden-era rules through the power of executive orders. Congress and Trump jointly would attempt to scrap rules passed during Biden’s last year using the Congressional Review Act, a tool that allows for expedited votes to cancel recently imposed regulations. Lastly, Republican lawmakers would pass legislation to overhaul Biden rules — and reform the rulemaking and approval process itself. 

➤BARRON TRUMPS GETS POLITICAL: Barron Trump to appear as a delegate at Republican National Convention. . . Barron Trump will enter the political arena at the Republican National Convention this summer. The convention will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July. Trump’s selection as delegate comes as the 18-year-old is set to graduate high school next week from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach. Trump will join his siblings Tiffany Trump, Eric Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. as Florida at-large delegates for the convention.

➤TEENS' BLACK FACE WAS ZIT CREAM: Teens forced out at Calif. school for 'blackface' get $1M after proving it was green acne medication . . . Two California teens who were forced to withdraw from an elite Catholic high school over accusations of blackface have been awarded $1 million and tuition reimbursement. A Santa Clara County jury sided with the teens, identified by the initials A.H. and H.H., on two claims concerning breach of oral contract and lack of due process. The boys sued Saint Francis High School in August 2020 after photos circulated of them sporting acne treatment masks.

➤MIGRANTS REFUSE TO LEAVE DENVER ENCAMPMENT: A group of illegal immigrants in Denver is refusing to leave encampments until the city meets its demands. The migrants published a document with 13 specific demands before they acquiesce to Denver Human Services’ request to leave the encampments and move to more permanent shelters funded by the city. "At the end of the day, what we do not want is families on the streets of Denver," said Jon Ewing, a spokesman for Denver Human Services. 

⚾TWINS ARE SURGING: With 15 wins in their last 17 games. the Minnesota Twins are on a roll as they open a three-game series Friday night at the Toronto Blue Jays. The Twins completed a 5-2 homestand Thursday afternoon with an 11-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, have lost 10 of 14. They had Thursday off after a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday finished a 2-3 trip. Minnesota is scheduled to start right-hander Joe Ryan (1-2, 3.54 ERA). Ryan's only career start against the Blue Jays was last June 10 at Toronto. He allowed three runs, six hits and one walk with four strikeouts in a six-inning no-decision as Minnesota won 9-4.

⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Astros 4 Yankees 3
  • Royals 10 Angels 4
  • White Sox 3 Guardians 2
  • Brewers 7 Cardinals 1
  • Rockies 9 Giants 1
  • Twins 11 Mariners 1
  • D-Backs 5 Reds 4

🏀NBA SCORES

  • Mavericks 119 Thunder 110
  • Cavaliers 118 Celtics 94

🏒NHL SCORES

  • Stars 5 Avalanche 3
  • Rangers 3 Hurricanes 2


➤FRIDAY WEATHER:



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