The trial for Sean “Diddy” Combs kicked off this week in Manhattan with jury selection. Prosecutors have accused Combs’ legal team of consulting with celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, who has represented big-name talent such as Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Jussie Smollett, and the Menendez brothers.  Per CNN, Geragos has been present in court since Monday and was seen speaking with Combs’ defense team in what prosecutors called an “apparent role as an advisor to the defendant.” But Geragos claimed he was only there to support his daughter, Teny Geragos, who was hired to help defend Diddy. “I’m here to support my daughter. (Combs) is a friend,” the high-profile attorney told the outlet on Tuesday. Prosecutors wrote a letter to the judge saying Geragos was acting as “an advisor” for the defense. They say if Geragos is working with the defense, he should have to follow the rules of the court and refrain from publicly commenting about the allegations. They said Geragos has discussed the case on his podcast. Meanwhile, the pool is being narrowed down from 45 potential jurors to 10 as U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian continues questioning the group. Next, the attorneys will have a chance to veto individual jurors. Many of them said they had seen the 2016 surveillance footage of Combs grabbing, dragging, shoving, and kicking his former girlfriend, Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura. At least one man in the pool said the footage “gives the appearance of an angry hostile person who is entitled,” adding that he believes “mostly everybody saw the video.” However, he claimed he was still able to be impartial if selected. Potential jurors were also asked if they were familiar with celebrities like Kanye West, Michael B. Jordan, Mike Myers, and Kid Cudi, but it’s not immediately clear how those individuals will be relevant to the trial. A female juror was dismissed on Tuesday after saying in court on Tuesday, “Diddy has a lot of money to use at his discretion and possibly buy his way out of jail,” per People. When the judge asked her to clarify, she replied, “I don’t know how to explain it.” Ventura will be testifying during the trial using her real name, per multiple reports. Combs, 44, has been charged with sex trafficking, racketeering, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was arrested in September 2024 and has been awaiting trial behind bars after multiple attempts to be released on bail. Combs pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

USA Fencing Chairman Damien Lehfeldt appeared to throw up a middle finger in a social media post ahead of a congressional hearing where he was to be questioned on keeping men out of women’s sports. On Instagram, Lehfeldt posted a photo of himself showing his middle finger extended with the caption, “Game day.” The post was highlighted by the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, which posted screenshots. ? OUTRAGEOUS: @USAFencing Chair Damien Lehfeldt appears to give the middle finger this morning ahead of a Congressional hearing on the mistreatment of female fencers like Stephanie Turner—who took a knee to protest facing a male opponent and has since left the sport. Unclear if… pic.twitter.com/n4ELk2T4ue — ICONS (@icons_women) May 7, 2025 Damien Lehfeldt, chair of the @USAFencing Board of Directors, was subpoenaed to attend today’s @DOGECommittee hearing on saving women’s sports. ? Damien is openly anti-woman. ? Just look at some of the awful & disgusting things he’s said on social media in response to women… pic.twitter.com/tOmHOVKvRA — Independent Women's Forum (@IWF) May 7, 2025 It is unclear whether the USA Fencing chairman’s gesture was intended to be profane, and if so, whether it was directed at female athletes who object to competing with men or Republican lawmakers on the Oversight Committee. Lehfeldt was subpoenaed to appear before the House Oversight Committee’s DOGE subcommittee Wednesday afternoon. Also testifying was Stephanie Turner, a female fencer who was disqualified from a Maryland tournament in March for taking a knee and refusing to compete against a trans-identifying male opponent. She ultimately stepped away from fencing altogether. ??Historic Protest: Female Fencer Takes a Knee in Bout Against Male Opponent, Faces Immediate Disqualification After receiving a black card for refusing to compete against a man, Redmond Sullivan's female opponent was expelled from the @USAFencing event at the Univ. of… pic.twitter.com/IloSnrb2Iu — ICONS (@icons_women) April 2, 2025 “I want to thank God for trusting me with this mission to fight for female exclusive sports and putting me in a place to effectively protest,” Turner told The Daily Wire at the time. Previously, Lehfeldt has repeatedly posted in support of trans-identifying males competing in women’s fencing. When a social media follower asked him, “Are you okay with cis females being at a disadvantage?” Lehfeldt responded simply, “Yeah.” In an article on his blog, The Fencing Coach, Lehfeldt said “transgender women are women” and lectured female athletes that giving trans-identifying male athletes “a sense of belonging and a will to live is more powerful than medals and competitive glory.” The USA Fencing chairman also appears to have posted his email response to a woman who criticized allowing trans-identifying men in women’s fencing, going on a bizarre rant to the woman, named Dorothy, in which he referenced “The Wizard of Oz” and told her the only wizard who could help her is “of the grand wizard variety.” Payton McNabb, a former high school volleyball player who was seriously injured when a trans-identifying volleyball player spiked a ball at her head, also testified during Wednesday’s hearing. Last month, USA Fencing said it might have to change its policy to bar trans-identifying males from women’s fencing. “In the event that USA Fencing is guided to change its current stance in accordance with oversight bodies or federal legislation, the new policy states athletes competing in USA Fencing-sanctioned tournaments must compete according to their biological sex,” the organization said in a statement. “The policy will be implemented only if and when one or more governing bodies require these updates,” USA Fencing added.

Federal authorities say they have saved more than 100 children in an operation that resulted in the capture of more than 200 sex offenders. The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that the FBI arrested 205 child sex offenders throughout the country in Operation Restore Justice, part of a nationwide crackdown on child sex trafficking and abuse that the agency says “resulted in the rescue of 115 children.” “The Department of Justice will never stop fighting to protect victims — especially child victims — and we will not rest until we hunt down, arrest, and prosecute every child predator who preys on the most vulnerable among us,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi as she announced the operation, which took place over the course of five days. “I am grateful to the FBI and their state and local partners for their incredible work in Operation Restore Justice and have directed my prosecutors not to negotiate.” Among the more than 200 suspects arrested in the operation are an illegal alien from Mexico, a former Washington D.C. police officer, and a Minnesota State Trooper and Army reservist. The suspects have been charged with a range of crimes, including child sex trafficking, possessing, producing, or distributing child sexual abuse material, and online enticement of minors. Bondi also warned parents that they must keep an eye on their children’s activity online to ensure that they are not being targeted by predators. “Parents, you have to know this is so serious, your child has no right to privacy on the internet, none,” Bondi noted. “You have to monitor what your kids are doing, whether they’re playing games on the internet, on social media, any other websites that children and teenagers frequent, an online predator can find them.” FBI Director Kash Patel said that the success of the operation, which involved agents from 55 field offices, sends a clear message to those who prey on children. “Every child deserves to grow up free from fear and exploitation, and the FBI will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of those who exploit the most vulnerable among us,” Patel said. “Operation Restore Justice proves that no predator is out of reach and no child will be forgotten. By leveraging the strength of all our field offices and our federal, state and local partners, we’re sending a clear message: there is no place to hide for those who prey on children.”

Eighty years after the end of the deadliest war in human history, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that it’s long past time for the United States to celebrate its victory in World War II. Trump signed a proclamation in the Oval Office, officially recognizing May 8 as “Victory Day for World War II.” The president said that he wants the United States to join Europe, which recognizes “Victory in Europe Day” on May 8, in celebrating the end of the war. “All over the globe, our World War II allies are celebrating this week, but the United States has never joined in with the proper celebration of our own,” Trump said. “And the victory was mostly accomplished because of us, whether you like it or not. We came into that war and we won that war, and we had a lot of help from a lot of people, a lot of great allies, but I think there would be nobody that would say we were not the dominant force in that war.” Trump first hinted at the announcement in a Truth Social post last week, saying he would be “renaming May 8th as Victory Day for World War II and November 11th as Victory Day for World War I.” The White House later clarified that Trump would not be renaming Veterans Day, but that “Victory Day for World War I” would simply be “an additional proclamation that goes out on that day.” “We are going to start celebrating our victories again!” Trump added. .@POTUS announces that he just signed a proclamation officially declaring tomorrow, May 8, as "Victory Day for World War II." pic.twitter.com/Z3aFZhr5sl — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 7, 2025 On May 7, 1945, Nazi Germany signed an unconditional surrender at General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters at Reims, a French city close to the German border. The surrender officially went into effect on May 8, marking the end of the conflict in Europe. The war would continue for the United States until Japan surrendered on September 2, following the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Europe has celebrated VE Day on May 8 since the end of the war, while Russia has observed the day on May 9, the date when the Nazi’s surrender took effect in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia will observe a three-day ceasefire in its war against Ukraine to celebrate the Soviet Union’s victory over the Nazis. Trump said that it’s “a great disservice to the people that lost their lives” for the United States not to celebrate its World War II victory. “It was American tanks and ships and trucks and airplanes and service members that vanquished the enemy 80 years ago this week,” Trump said. “Without America, the liberation would never have happened, and so we have to pay tribute and homage to those people that gave us victory.”

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced his first wave of his judicial nominees on Tuesday, a highly-anticipated event given the massive impact Trump had on the federal judiciary during his last administration. The nominations comes as top Trump administration officials — and Trump himself — daily express their frustration with judges who immediately block the president’s orders. As recently as Wednesday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Our Court System is not letting me do the job I was Elected to do. Activist judges must let the Trump Administration deport murderers, and other criminals who have come into our Country illegally, WITHOUT DELAY!!!” Trump promised The Daily Signal’s Elizabeth Mitchell on Sunday evening that he would release his nominee names “rapidly,” noting, “We’re putting them in rapidly and trying to get very good ones.” Several nominees came from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office, Bailey pointed out on Wednesday, boasting: “Missouri is leading the way in restoring legal excellence to the federal bench.” First came the nomination of Whitney D. Hermandorfer of Tennessee, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh, to serve as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Her nomination drew quick criticism from leftist critics and judicial groups, such as the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights, which called her nomination “appalling.” Trump described her as “a staunch defender of girl’s and women’s sports,” and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) praised her career as “nothing short of outstanding,” dubbing her “a rising star in Tennessee.” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement that “Whitney Hermandorfer’s unwavering commitment to the rule of law, her exacting analytical rigor, and her unshakeable optimism will serve our country well.” JCN’s Carrie Severino predicted that Trump’s other nominees will face criticism from left-wing groups as well, warning, “Expect to see more of the same duplicated attacks from the Left on the president’s judicial picks as we did with Hermandorfer.” The Heritage Foundation’s Thomas Jipping offered a similar prediction: “Expect more of this mantra, with the name of the current nominee cut and pasted, in the months ahead.” Trump also nominated a former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, Joshua M. Divine of Missouri, to serve as judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and Western District of Missouri. Divine also previously served as chief counsel to Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and is currently the Solicitor General of Missouri. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) “Joshua has devoutly served the Great State of Missouri, as the State’s Solicitor General and, previously, as Chief Counsel to Senator Josh Hawley, a true Patriot,” the president said in a Truth Social post. “A former Clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Joshua knows what is required to protect the Rule of Law and Constitutional Rights for the Great People of Missouri. We must have Constitutionalist Judges now, more than EVER BEFORE. Congratulations Joshua!” Trump tapped Zachary Bluestone to serve as judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Bluestone (described by Trump as a “true legal warrior” as well as “tough, smart, and LOVES our great country”) is currently appellate chief and a violent crimes prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri and previously served in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office as Deputy Solicitor General. Maria A. Lanahan, the current principal deputy solicitor general in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, has been nominated to serve as a judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, and Cristian M. Stevens, who served as first assistant attorney general and deputy attorney general of the criminal division in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, is also nominated to serve as judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Trump described Stevens as “a Great Patriot,” and Lanahan as “a very Smart and Talented Lawyer” who “will do GREAT work in this new role.” The last Trump nominee is Edward Aloysius O’Connell, whom Trump is nominating to serve as an associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. O’Connell is currently the chief of staff and deputy general council of the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. He has spent the past two decades serving as a prosecutor in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. “Eddie will help fix Violent Crime in the City by restoring the RULE OF LAW to Washington, D.C.,” Trump posted on Wednesday evening. “Eddie served for nearly two decades as a Tough on Crime Prosecutor for the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he prosecuted many Horrific Crimes, including Homicides, Domestic Violence, Organized Crime, Narcotics Offenses, and more. D.C. could, and should, be a wonderful place, if political hacks would stop making such terrible decisions.” “I know Eddie will help make everyone much safer,” the president added. “Congratulations Eddie!” Demand Justice, one of the most vocal leftist activism groups opposing the president’s nominees, this week accused Trump’s nominees of having  “extreme backgrounds” and arguing that their resumes “signal Trump’s intent to continue to transform the federal judiciary into another arm of the MAGA movement by appointing loyalist judges who will rubber stamp his most controversial and lawless policies.” “These state AGs have aggressively used their offices to advance the MAGA agenda and, in one case, even to protect Trump himself from legal accountability,” the group argued. “Trump’s first slate of nominees is exactly what we predicted–it includes loyalists who have a proven record of advocating for the kinds of radical policies featured in the Project 2025 agenda,” claimed Demand Justice Interim Executive Director Maggie Jo Buchanan. “While Trump and his allies continue to attack fair-minded jurists, he is also going after the independence of our courts by appointing politically motivated lawyers who will greenlight his extreme agenda from the bench.”

“The Last of Us” actress Bella Ramsey, who identifies as “non-binary” and prefers they/them pronouns, said she’s not in favor of doing away with gendered categories for awards shows. The 21-year-old British star made the comments during a recent episode of “The Louis Theroux Podcast.”  “I don’t have the answer and I wish that there was something that was an easy way around it, but I think that it is really important that we have a female category and a male category,” Ramsey said, per Variety. She also noted that it’s vital that “recognition for women in the industry is preserved.” The actress came up with the idea that there could be a category for “best performance in a female character,” but then noted it would exclude some people from being selected. “But then, where do non-binary or gender non-conforming people fit into that? I don’t know,” Ramsey said. Ramsey also told Theroux that though she feels unsettled being categorized as an “actress,” she is fine with being nominated for an Emmy in the Best Actress category for “The Last of Us.” “I have a guttural, ‘That’s not quite right,’ instinct to [being called an actress],” Ramsey said during the interview “But I just don’t take it too seriously … it doesn’t feel like an attack on my identity.” She said, “It’s been very obvious since I was young. I always called myself a tomboy, but it wasn’t that I was a boyish girl, I was always like a bit of an in-between. Leaning to most of the boys side.” “To be honest, I grew up more as a little boy than I did a little girl,” Ramsey said. “I always felt more masculine or more on that side of the spectrum. I guess at the moment I don’t feel like I have access to femininity.” Some ceremonies, such as the MTV Awards, Gotham Awards, Spirit Awards, and Brit Awards, have switched to gender-neutral prizes in recent years as the conversation around gender identity hit a fever pitch. Even the Oscars could eventually change to non-gendered categories. “We are exploring this topic with our awards, membership, equity, and inclusion committees and soon with our Board of Governors,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer said last year. “It’s in the early exploration stage and one of many conversations about the future of awards and the Oscars. We are still investigating how it could look,” he added. Some stars who support non-gendered categories include actress Elliot Page, formerly Ellen Page, and “The Crown” star Emma Corrin, who also identifies as non-binary. Corrin said in 2022, “I don’t think the categories are inclusive enough at the moment. It’s about everyone being able to feel acknowledged and represented.”

'Net-zero emissions profile'

'such a goddamn shitshow'

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