THE NEWS

Disney’s left-wing late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel made yet another ill-timed remark involving the death of someone across the political aisle from him — this time, joking about Rudy Giuliani rising from “the grave” just days before the former New York City mayor was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
The post Jimmy Kimmel Jokes About Rudy Giuliani Being in ‘the Grave’ Before Hospitalization appeared first on Breitbart.

Monday on MS NOW’s “Deadline,” author Adam Kinzinger predicted that in five to ten years, there won’t be a single person left in this country who will ever admit to supporting President Donald Trump,
The post Kinzinger: In 5-10 Years No One Will Admit They Supported Trump appeared first on Breitbart.

“Rare Sight”: USAF C-17 Jets Land In Beijing Ahead Of Trump-Xi Summit

As the Strait of Hormuz takes center stage Monday morning, Iran is threatening to attack any ship that attempts to transit the critical waterway. This directly challenges President Trump’s plan for the U.S. Navy to “guide” tankers and container ships through the chokepoint.

Looking beyond the ongoing Hormuz crisis, the China topic is next: Trump is still expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming weeks. This means any U.S.-Iran escalation could leave Hormuz disrupted for even longer and will undoubtedly be a major topic at the upcoming Trump-Xi summit in Beijing.

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo that the Trump-Xi summit is still “happening, as far as I know.”

This leaves us searching for real-world signals, not just headlines from officials, that the two-day summit is still scheduled to happen on May 14 despite the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict.

One signal comes from an aviation observer account on X, by the name “Safari,” who says two U.S. Air Force C-17 transport jets landed at Beijing Capital International Airport in recent days, “making them a rare sight” at the airport.

为特朗普访华运送先遣物资任务的美国空军两架 C-17 在 5 月 1/2 日降落北京国际机场，属于是 PEK 难得一见的客人了。 pic.twitter.com/uYMDjCD4S5
— safari (@safaricheung) May 3, 2026
Safari continued,

On May 3, two more C17 transport planes carrying advance supplies for Trump’s China visit landed at Beijing Capital International Airport, bringing the total to 4 aircraft. There are already so many plane spotters here to photograph the advance transport planes; I can’t even imagine what kind of spectacle it’ll be around Capital Airport when Air Force One actually arrives

为特朗普访华运送先遣物资任务的美国空军两架 C-17 在 5 月 1/2 日降落北京国际机场，属于是 PEK 难得一见的客人了。 pic.twitter.com/uYMDjCD4S5
— safari (@safaricheung) May 3, 2026
Polymarket odds:

Will Trump visit China by May 15?
Yes 85% · No 15%View full market & trade on PolymarketAs of this moment, based on Bessent’s comments and reports of USAF C-17s landing in Beijing, all indications so far suggest that the Trump-Xi meeting is set to happen at the midpoint of this month.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 05/04/2026 – 21:20

An Ohio daycare worker accused of terrorizing toddlers in her care — including repeatedly binding a 2-year-old with tape and leaving the child face down under a blanket — has been sentenced to years behind bars.Katelyn Ann Strohacker, an employee at Over the Rainbow Children’s Center in Licking County, was convicted on 31 counts, including kidnapping and child endangerment, after entering a no-contest plea. She was sentenced to 8 to 12 years in prison, according to court records obtained by Fox News Digital.The case began in August 2025 when a concerned parent raised alarms about the treatment of a toddler.TEXAS DAYCARE WORKER ALLEGEDLY KICKED TODDLERS MORE THAN 100 TIMES, STOOD ON THEIR HANDS AS PUNISHMENTAccording to court documents, Strohacker used painter’s tape to bind the child and admitted to carrying out the abuse on multiple occasions. In one incident, the child was left restrained until a coworker intervened.Investigators later reviewed surveillance footage and found the abuse was not isolated. Authorities say video showed Strohacker repeatedly abusing at least eight children over several weeks, including pushing, kicking and yanking toddlers.In one incident, prosecutors say she purposely shut a child’s finger in a cabinet door.”The defendant frequently shoved or yanked [the child], including one incident on July 11, 2025, where the defendant purposely shut the victim’s finger in a cabinet door,” as noted in court documents.Officials say the impact on the children was severe. Several victims suffered night terrors, separation anxiety and behavioral issues.NEW JERSEY TEACHER TAPED 9-YEAR-OLD BOY TO DESK FOR NEARLY AN HOUR, POLICE SAYInvestigators noted Strohacker had worked at the daycare for more than three years and had received “all necessary training and continuing education.”During Friday’s sentencing hearing, emotional parents spoke out about the lasting trauma.One mother said she hopes Strohacker is “never allowed to be alone with children ever again,” according to WSYX.”May God have mercy on your soul, but I can’t — because we pray he doesn’t,” the mother said.Another parent described the toll on her young daughter.”For our daughter, she’s been trapped in a cycle of sleep aggression and night terrors at two years old,” the parent said.FORMER NYC DAYCARE OWNER LEARNS FATE FOLLOWING TODDLER’S FENTANYL POISONING DEATHStrohacker, who was facing a possible 87 to 92.5 years behind bars, remained largely silent in court, responding only to the judge’s questions, according to KENS5.Her attorney delivered a brief apology to the victims’ families on her behalf.The Licking County Sheriff’s Office could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.

Justice Alito during an interview with Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institute.
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito blasted liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Supreme Court sped up a timeline and immediately allowed Louisiana’s redistricting judgment to go into effect ahead of the midterms.
The Supreme Court last month declared Louisiana’s newly-drawn Congressional map an unconstitutional gerrymander.
The high court issued the ruling 6-3.
Liberal justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson dissented.
The case, State of Louisiana v. Phillip Callais (and the related Press Robinson v. Phillip Callais), stems from Louisiana’s woke lawmakers caving to left-wing judges and creating a second “majority-minority” congressional district.
Louisiana delayed its May 16 House primaries last Thursday after the Supreme Court’s blockbuster ruling.
On Monday, the Supreme Court fast-tracked the timeline and Justice Jackson dissented.

Justice Alito, with whom Thomas and Gorsuch joined, blasted Justice Jackson and called her dissent “baseless and insulting.”
The Hill reported:
The Supreme Court on Monday immediately put into effect its ruling invalidating Louisiana’s congressional map, leaving conservative Justice Samuel Alito and liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on opposite sides and accusing each other of lacking restraint.
The order speeds up the normal 32-day timeline before the justices formally return a case to the lower court.
Some groups questioned if the lower court had jumped the gun in the Louisiana case when it moved quickly to ensure state Republicans would have an opportunity to draw a new map before conducting this year’s election. Technically, the case remained with the justices.
By returning it, the decision clears the way for the state to almost certainly redraw one of the state’s two Black-majority House districts, which would offer a pickup opportunity to House Republicans ahead of November.
In dissent, Jackson said the majority “unshackles itself” from “constraints.” The court should follow the default rule, she insisted.
It sparked a sharp rebuke from Alito, joined by fellow Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. The trio, all part of the court’s conservative wing, called one part of Jackson’s dissent “baseless and insulting.”
“The dissent in this suit levels charges that cannot go unanswered,” Alito wrote. “The dissent would require that the 2026 congressional elections in Louisiana be held under a map that has been held to be unconstitutional.”
The post Justice Alito BLASTS Ketanji Brown Jackson as Supreme Court Fast-Tracks Louisiana’s Redistricting Judgment Ahead of Midterm Elections appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The U.S. Secret Service shot a man near the Washington Monument on Monday after spotting a person with a gun nearby and called for backup.

Geno Auriemma has 11 national titles to his name, but the UConn legend recently admitted he acted like a total rookie during his latest Final Four exit.Speaking from the UConn campus, Auriemma finally addressed that viral shouting match with South Carolina’s Dawn Staley.ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!In case you missed the scene in Phoenix …Auriemma decided to spend the closing moments of a 62-48 loss confronting Staley. He was apparently fed up with South Carolina’s physical play and a lack of the usual whistles, even going so far as to claim Staley snubbed him during the pregame handshake.Staley, for her part, brushed it off with the casual confidence of someone who knows they have the better team.BASKETBALL LEGEND CANDACE PARKER TAKES AIM AT GENO AURIEMMA AFTER DAWN STALEY CONFRONTATION”I speak to a lot of coaches before the game,” Staley told reporters, essentially hitting Geno with the “I don’t even think about you” treatment. “I thought I did what I normally do.”Fast forward to Monday, and the Hall of Famer seems to have realized the optics weren’t great.”You do things on the spur of the moment sometimes, but they usually come from things that have been building up for some time,” Auriemma admitted to the media.”When I walked into the locker room afterward, you’re just shaking your head going, five more seconds, you couldn’t keep it in for five more seconds? I just feel like a dumb— for the way it played out. We are all human and we all do dumb s—.””I wish I had those five seconds back,” he added. “But that’s not how it works.”For Auriemma, maybe spend less time breaking down handshake film and more time figuring out how to not get run out of the gym by Dawn Staley.Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela 

Generation Z is ditching the “spiritual but not religious” label for the pews of the Roman Catholic Church, fueling a conversion boom that experts say is driven by a desire for moral order, ancient tradition, and a rejection of modern secularism.What was once dismissed as a post-pandemic fluke has transformed into a measurable cultural shift. According to recent data from the Barna Group, a firm tracking U.S. faith trends, Gen Z Christians are now attending church more frequently than Millennials, Gen X, and even Baby Boomers.In 2025, the typical Gen Z churchgoer attended services nearly two weekends a month—the highest level since tracking began and a 100% increase from 2020 levels.CATHOLIC CONFERENCE SHATTERS ATTENDANCE RECORDS AS 26,000 YOUNG PEOPLE FLOCK TO FAITH EVENTThe shift is particularly pronounced among young men, a demographic that has become an increasingly pivotal and competitive voting bloc in recent election cycles.A Gallup poll released in April 2025 revealed a staggering rise in religious importance among young males. Approximately 42% of young men now report that religion is “very important” to them, up sharply from 28% in 2023. For the first time in recent history, young men have overtaken young women in religious devotion—a reversal of a decades-long trend in American sociology.The epicenter of this revival is surprisingly found in deep-blue urban centers. In New York City, parish communities are struggling to find enough floor space for the influx of new converts.At St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village, the congregation has reportedly ballooned to four times its usual size. A recent 6 p.m. Sunday Mass was described by onlookers as a “sold-out event.””Every inch of pew space was filled, mostly with young adults,” a recent Wall Street Journal report noted of the scene. “Latecomers squeezed into makeshift rows of plastic folding chairs or stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the foyer… Others squatted on balcony steps for the 90-minute service.”The “social” aspect of the faith is also evolving. At St. Joseph’s, the “Pizza to Pews” pre-Mass meetup at a nearby restaurant saw attendance jump from 100 to over 200 participants in just three weeks, with some young adults traveling from as far as Boston to attend.POLL FINDS SHARP RISE IN YOUNG MEN CALLING RELIGION ‘VERY IMPORTANT’The trend is also manifesting in the “Trad” (traditional) lifestyle movement on social media. Isabella Orlando, 23, a nutrition consultant, launched the “Holy Girl Walk” in Central Park—a Catholic spin on the viral “hot girl walk” trend.What began as a small gathering of 50 women grew to over 150 participants after a video of the group praying the Rosary went viral.The Rev. Boniface Endorf, pastor at St. Joseph’s, believes the surge is a direct response to the emptiness of modern digital life.”People are looking for more than career and consumption,” Endorf said. “What does it mean to grow up? They’re looking for guidance.”The movement comes as many young Catholics express a preference for “Traditional Latin Mass” and more formal liturgies, seeking a “counter-cultural” experience that stands in stark contrast to the progressive values prevalent in modern academia and corporate culture.CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Iran War Threatens China’s 4.5 Percent Growth Target: Analysts

Authored by Jarvis Lim via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

China’s already-strained economy faces mounting pressure as the Iran war threatens to choke export growth and suppress domestic demand, putting its 4.5 percent growth target at risk, experts say.
A woman takes a photo of the Lujiazui financial district across the Huangpu River on the Bund promenade in Shanghai, China, on March 5, 2026. Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images

As the U.S.–Israeli war against the Iranian regime stretches past the two-month mark, President Donald Trump said in an April 29 interview with Axios that he will continue to maintain a blockade of Iran until Tehran agrees to a deal addressing concerns over its nuclear program.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, briefly spiked to over $120 a barrel after Trump’s remarks, hitting a four-year high before dropping back to $114. It now sits at around $108 as of Sunday afternoon.

Rising oil costs have also driven up plastic prices across Southern China, squeezing profit margins and triggering panic buying throughout the supply chain at Dongguan’s Zhangmutou—the nation’s top plastics trading hub.

China is the world’s largest producer, consumer, and exporter of final plastic products, according to a 2025 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, an intergovernmental organization.

Export Squeeze 

Tsai Ming-fang, a professor of industrial economics at Tamkang University in Taiwan, said that while many argue China’s strategic oil inventories would shield it from the effects of a blockade, the turmoil in China’s plastics markets shows the conflict is already weighing on its manufacturing exports.

China is estimated to be holding the world’s largest crude stockpiles, at nearly 1.4 billion barrels as of December 2025 and growing in 2026, according to an analysis released in April by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“Surging energy prices in financially unstable countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam are squeezing out discretionary spending, dragging down China’s export shipments,” Tsai told The Epoch Times.

“If consumers don’t consider these Chinese goods necessities, China’s shipment volumes will naturally fall further.”
Containers at the Longtan port in Nanjing, eastern China’s Jiangsu province on Jan. 14, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—China’s largest trading partner—with bilateral trade reaching 6.82 trillion yuan ($999 billion) in the first 11 months of 2025.

Chinese exports to the bloc totaled 4.29 trillion yuan ($628 billion) over the same period, up 14.6 percent year on year, data from the Economic and Commercial Office of the Mission of the People’s Republic of China to ASEAN showed.

Echoing the concern, Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis Research, said China’s export engine is now caught in a “double bind,” with higher shipping costs driven by Hormuz disruptions and softening end-markets across Southeast Asia.

“This is not yet a cliff edge, but the directional pressure [on China’s exports] is clearly downward, particularly in electronics, machinery, and mid-tier consumer goods,” Garcia-Herrero told The Epoch Times.

Liu Meng-chun, director of the Chung-Hua Institution of Economic Research’s mainland China division in Taipei, said war-driven inflation in advanced economies like the United States and Europe is eroding purchasing power, stifling demand for Chinese goods and compounding the country’s chronic overcapacity.

“The European Union overtook the United States as China’s second-largest export destination in 2025, but the conflict has stoked price pressures across the region, eating into the profit margins of Chinese firms,” Liu told The Epoch Times.

Exports from the world’s second-largest economy grew just 2.5 percent year on year in March, a sharp pullback from the 21.8 percent expansion recorded in January and February, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.

Faltering Demand

On the consumer front, Chinese car sales—widely viewed as a barometer of domestic demand—are declining.

Passenger vehicle retail sales in China fell 15 percent year on year in March to 1.648 million units, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

Cumulative sales in the first quarter of 2026 reached 4.226 million units, down 17.4 percent from a year prior.

“The prolonged stalemate in the Middle East crisis has driven international oil prices sharply higher … suppressing the release of consumer potential,” the industry body said.
A receptionist sits near the Leapmotor T03 model displayed at a showroom in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Caroline Chen/AP Photo

Garcia-Herrero noted that China’s domestic demand was already under strain before the Iran war, warning that the ongoing energy shock will only exacerbate the decline.

“Elevated oil prices are feeding directly into transport and manufacturing input costs, squeezing household purchasing power and eroding consumer confidence,” she said.

China’s consumer price index, a key gauge of inflation, rose 1 percent year-on-year in March and was down 0.3 percentage points from February, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

The producer price index (PPI)—a measure of costs at the factory gate—climbed 0.5 percent in March from a year earlier, reversing a 0.9 percent decline in February and marking its first rise after 41 consecutive months of contraction.

But Tsai cautioned against interpreting China’s PPI increase as a sign of economic recovery.

“The PPI rebound stems from energy cost pass-throughs driven by the conflict, rather than any genuine pickup in domestic spending,” Tsai said.

“The latest data indicates China is likely still grappling with internal ‘involution.’”

“Involution” describes a cycle in which Chinese firms compete ever more fiercely for a shrinking pool of consumers, driving down prices and profits without generating real economic growth.

As the fighting in Iran persists, the erosion of both domestic spending and export growth will inevitably deal a severe blow to China’s job market, according to Liu.

“The export sector has traditionally offered massive employment opportunities, but sluggish foreign trade is now constraining wage growth,” Liu said.

“Under these circumstances, the unemployment rate could rise further, hidden unemployment will become more pronounced, and the labor market will continue to contract.”

According to data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on April 21, the unemployment rate for those aged 16 to 24, excluding students, rose to 16.9 percent in March, up from 16.1 percent in February.

Dimming Outlook  

In March, China’s State Council announced an economic growth target of 4.5 to 5 percent for 2026, its lowest since the early 1990s, not including the pandemic.
Construction workers leave a building site for a new office tower in the Central Business District in Beijing on April 3, 2025. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Tsai said Beijing’s decision to lower its growth target reflects its own lack of confidence in the economy, and the protracted conflict in the Middle East has only darkened the outlook further.

“Unless China’s major trading partners—including Africa, Southeast Asia, and the EU—dramatically scale up imports, hitting Beijing’s growth target looks increasingly unlikely,” Tsai said.

“Besides, new legislation from the EU is piling further pressure on China’s economy.”

The European Commission unveiled the Industrial Accelerator Act on March 4, imposing strict screening on foreign investments exceeding 100 million euros ($117 million) in sectors that account for more than 40 percent of global capacity, such as electric vehicles, batteries, solar energy, and critical raw materials.

The move—widely viewed by analysts as targeting China—drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing, which claimed the framework was “discriminatory,” and constituted “severe investment barriers.”

Echoing Tsai’s assessment, Garcia-Herrero said hitting 4.5 percent growth remains “achievable on paper,” but the margin for error has narrowed considerably.

“Beijing retains meaningful policy tools—fiscal stimulus, targeted monetary easing, and strategic energy reserves,” Garcia-Herrero said.

“But deploying them effectively against an externally driven inflation shock is a different challenge than managing domestic cycles.”

Garcia-Herrero predicted that if the Hormuz blockade extends beyond the second quarter, a revision toward 3.8 to 4.2 percent looks “increasingly likely.”

“The 4.5 percent target now depends heavily on a conflict resolution timeline that China cannot control,” she said.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 05/04/2026 – 20:55

Midway through the 2026 season, LIV Golf is at a crossroads. The breakaway golf tour is dealing with major financial challenges, as the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) will no longer back the league and its expensive contracts. That funding was instrumental in getting stars like Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm to leave the PGA Tour, as well as the ability to stage fewer events in international locations. Even as rumors swirled about the tour’s future, CEO Scott O’Neil expressed public confidence that the season would go on as scheduled. Soon afterward, an announced date in Louisiana was canceled. With the PIF backing out at the end of the 2026 season, LIV essentially needs to find new investors to continue as a rival tour. That financial reality has led to speculation about the future of LIV players. Will the PGA Tour open up a new program with penalties similar to those Brooks Koepka faced upon his return? Will some players have to earn their PGA card back, as Patrick Reed is currently trying to do?LIV GOLF’S END MAY BE IMMINENT AS REPORT SIGNALS SAUDI ARABIA IS PREPARING TO CUT OFF FUNDINGHow it plays out for the entire roster remains to be seen, but there’s one LIV golfer who, to put it mildly, has no interest in going back to the PGA Tour regardless of what happens.Thomas Pieters, a seven-time winner as a professional, predominantly on the European Tour, spoke with Dan Rappaport in a new interview for the “Dan on Golf” show about the future of LIV and how it relates to the PGA Tour. And he was adamant that his time as a PGA member is finished, no matter what happens next.”I’m definitely never going back to the PGA Tour. I’ve never liked that life,” Pieters said. “And that’s not me having a go at the PGA Tour, it’s not for me. I tried it and I just wasn’t happy out there. If it (LIV) goes away, I’ll probably try and play some on the European Tour or I don’t know. I really don’t know.BRYSON DECHAMBEAU CALLS OUT LIV GOLF MEXICO CITY COURSE CONDITIONS AMID FUNDING CONCERNS”I’m not too fussed about it at this point because I feel like I still have a duty to focus on these next six, seven tournaments on LIV and then we’ll see. They’re obviously trying to get it together next year. I think you know more than I do at this point, so we’ll see.”Pieters also addressed the rumors that LIV players hadn’t been paid around the Mexico City event, saying “We got paid, or we are getting paid.” As far as first-quarter payments, Pieters said that it might have been “a week late,” though “some got it early, some got it a week late.” He then added, humorously, “I’m not sure all these guys check their bank accounts every two seconds.”Rappaport asked him what LIV was telling players internally about future deliberations, and somewhat surprisingly, Pieters said they aren’t getting more information than the public.ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! “Not much. I think whatever comes out officially from LIV is what we’re getting half a day before it goes out. I know Scott is telling us that he’s obviously going to a broader market and trying to fund this for next year. I guess it’s a massive challenge, but we just have to wait and see.”Pieters, refreshingly honest, also said it was “100% accurate” that he wasn’t too worried about the future of LIV because his mindset was to enjoy the bigger financial paydays while it lasted. He added that he’s eventually going to be out of the game, so he hasn’t been worried about when it does come to an end.One of the advantages LIV had over the PGA Tour, beyond the signing bonuses and larger purses, was the reduced schedule. Instead of a weekly grind, where players are finishing on Sunday and immediately traveling to start prepping for the next tournament, events are more spread out. Several players cited that extra rest and time at home as a significant motivation for leaving. Pieters clearly appears to agree with them. What happens with LIV and its players later this year will be the most fascinating story in the golf world. Many fans have been clamoring for both sides to be unified again. But if that happens, it sure sounds like Thomas Pieters won’t be with them.