NEW YORK — Cher will come out of “retirement” to perform in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, appearing in the lineup just before the only star big enough to have the “Believe” singer as an opener: Santa Claus.

The Grammy-, Emmy- and Oscar-winner will perform at the end of the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, thrilling the audience before the man of the hour closes the festivities.

Timing will be perfect for the 77-year-old superstar, who just released her first new album in five years, “Christmas.” She’s also expected to drop a 25th anniversary edition of 1998’s “Believe” on Friday.

This year’s parade will begin 30 minutes earlier than usual, at 8:30 a.m., to accommodate a packed schedule of performers and celebrities, Macy’s announced Wednesday.

“Our talented team of Macy’s Studios artisans and production specialists work year-round to deliver the nation’s most beloved holiday event, live on Thanksgiving morning,” parade producer Will Cross said in a statement.

Grammy winner Jon Batiste will open the parade. Other performers include Pentatonix, Manuel Turizo, Chicago, Brandy and Jessie James Decker, among many more.

This year’s parade will include 5,000 volunteers, 16 featured character balloons, 26 floats, 32 heritage and novelty balloons, 12 marching bands and nine performance groups. One of the marching bands will come from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, site of a mass shooting in 2018.

Olympic gymnastics silver medalist Jordan Chiles, Paralympic swimming gold medalist Jessica Long and 2023 Miss America Grace Stanke will be in attendance, with parade organizers teasing “additional stars to be announced.”

There will be seven new massive balloons this year, including Po from “Kung Fu Panda” and the Pillsbury Doughboy. Classics including SpongeBob, Ronald McDonald and Pikachu will return as well.

Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker from the “Today” show will host the festivities on NBC.

In recent years, Macy’s has sought to have superstars perform near the end of the parade to signal Santa’s entrance. The “Queen of Christmas,” Mariah Carey, got the honor last year.

©2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

From peacocks and astronauts to artists and comic book characters, get a glimpse inside Heidi Klum’s 22nd annual Halloween Party presented by Patron El Alto at Marquee on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, in New York City.

Following this week’s mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, a number of concerts and comedy shows have been postponed as the suspect remains at large.

Comedians Pete Davidson and John Mulaney announced they’ll reschedule two upcoming shows in Maine after Wednesday’s massacre left at least 18 people dead.

Both funnymen were scheduled to perform at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, around 35 miles south of Lewiston, on Saturday. They had also been set to take the stage on Sunday at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, about 105 miles northeast. The shows, part of their co-headlining John & Pete comedy tour, will now happen at a later date.

“We are devastated by the events in Lewiston,” the “Saturday Night Live” alums shared in an Instagram Story announcing the postponed dates. “We are thinking of you all.”

Mulaney and Davidson appear to be moving forward with two shows on Friday night in Providence, R.I. at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

Their tour, which kicked off Oct. 5, is scheduled to conclude on Nov. 10 in Windsor, Ontario.

Other concerts and performances being shifted include rising jam rock band Neighbor‘s Friday night concert at Portland, Maine’s State Theatre. The show has been rescheduled to Dec. 28, per the venue’s website.

A performance by Canadian guitarist and singer Matt Andersen with Adam Baldwin at the same venue on Friday night has also been postponed with a new date to be determined.

Hours before their set, The Disco Biscuits pulled the plug on their Thursday night show at the State Theatre.

“Sitting here on our bus, sad and in disbelief,” the Philadelphia-based band shared on social media. “We found out about the events in Maine right after the show in Hartford last night, and our hearts absolutely sank for the entire community. Out of respect for those who lost their lives, their families and friends, and everyone in the Maine community who are no doubt reeling from these events, we will be canceling tonight’s show at the State Theatre.”

U.S. Army reservist Robert Card is suspected of killing 18 people and wounding 13 more in two separate attacks in Lewiston on Wednesday night — one at a bowling alley and another at a restaurant roughly four miles away.

The massacre in Lewiston became the deadliest in the country this year, and the 10th deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Residents across Maine continue to hunker down in their homes as the manhunt for Card drags on.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was essentially given a luxury motorhome worth more than a quarter of a million dollars by a wealthy businessman, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.

The committee released a report Wednesday claiming Anthony Welters lent $267,230 to Thomas for a luxury Prevost Marathon motor coach in 1999 at a 7.5% interest rate, then called it even in 2008 with the loan’s principal still intact. The Senate committee found Thomas paid interest on the loan for a short time, but “never repaid a substantial portion of the loan.”

A handwritten note from Thomas to Welters — written on Supreme Court stationery and dated Dec. 6, 1999 — referenced the agreement between the pair, the committee said.

“Regular Americans don’t get wealthy friends to forgive huge amounts of debt so they can buy a second home,” the committee wrote in its findings. “Justice Thomas should inform the committee exactly how much debt was forgiven and whether he properly reported the loan forgiveness on his tax returns and paid all taxes owed.”

The 40-foot vehicle comes from “a brand favored by touring rock bands and the super-wealthy,” according to The New York Times, whose August story prompted the Senate investigation. Welters told the Times that Thomas’ loan was “satisfied” in 2008.

Thomas, 75, joined the Supreme Court in 1991 after being nominated by former President George H.W. Bush. The conservative jurist’s ethics came under question in April when ProPublica reported that Thomas has been the beneficiary of dozens of luxury vacations footed by wealthy supporters while serving on the nation’s highest court.

“During his three decades on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas has enjoyed steady access to a lifestyle most Americans can only imagine,” that report concluded.

Thomas has not addressed the Senate committee’s findings.

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©2023 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Hitting the snooze button doesn’t hurt, and might even help one wake up, a new study has found.

While use of the snooze button tends to carry negative connotations, a study published Wednesday in the Journal of Sleep Research found otherwise. Lead researcher Tina Sundelin said in a statement, “Those who snooze on average sleep slightly shorter and feel more drowsy in the morning compared to those who never snooze.” However, they found “no negative effects of snoozing on cortisol release, morning tiredness, mood, or sleep quality throughout the night.”

Snoozing for an extra 30 minutes “improved or did not affect performance on cognitive tests directly upon rising compared with an abrupt awakening,” Sundelin and fellow researchers at the University of Stockholm said in the study. “A brief snooze period may thus help alleviate sleep inertia, without substantially disturbing sleep.”

They were even a little more quick-thinking when they did get up, she said.

“For those who usually snooze, it might even be helpful with waking,” Sundelin told NBC News.

In the two-pronged study, researchers looked at snoozing behavior in 1,732 respondents of different ages and walks of life. Tiredness and wanting to awaken slowly rather than be yanked into the day were snoozers’ two main motivations. In all, 69% of the respondents hit snooze or set several alarms at least occasionally, and 60% of those said they usually or always fall asleep between alarms.

Next, 31 regular snoozers spent two nights in a sleep lab, hitting snooze for 30 minutes one morning, and getting up at first alarm the next. Snoozers turned out to be calmer.

“In the snooze condition no one had to wake up from deep sleep, and the snoozers performed a bit better on cognitive tests right upon waking,” the researchers said.

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©2023 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will lead a bipartisan delegation to Israel this weekend amid the widening war between the Jewish state and Hamas.

Schumer, a Democrat, will jet to Israel to show support just days after the Islamist group killed 1,000 Israelis in the worst terror attacks in decades — and the Jewish state strikes back hard.

“The United States stands with Israel, a message that should go out in America and particularly in Israel,” Schumer said Friday. “People should know they are not alone as they fight this scourge of terrorism, which could affect any country in the world.”

Schumer did not say which lawmakers would accompany him on the quickly planned trip, but said it would include Republicans and Democrats.

He cut short a trip to Asia when the terror attacks took place last weekend.

Schumer plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with opposition leader Benny Gantz, who has joined an emergency war cabinet formed after the attacks.

Schumer will be in Israel as the Jewish state continues to pound Gaza, the crowded enclave that Hamas rules with an iron fist.

Israeli airstrikes and missile attacks have already killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians along with Hamas fighters.

Schumer’s trip to Israel follows a visit from Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It also comes ahead of next week’s confirmation hearing for former U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, President Biden’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to Israel.

The Senate hopes to quickly pass a major aid package to Israel, but it may also combine it with aid for embattled Ukraine.

Any aid package will be in limbo until the Republican-led House of Representatives can pick a new speaker.

Don’t blame Taylor Swift if she was totally enchanted when Beyoncé surprised her at the “Eras Tour” film premiere, as both pop stars prepare for their concert flicks to overtake box offices.

The “Enchanted” singer, 33, took to Instagram early Thursday to share a boomerang of the pair posing at the front of an empty auditorium, as Beyoncé, 42, tosses popcorn.

“I’m so glad I’ll never know what my life would’ve been like without Beyonce’s influence,” wrote Swift, whose Eras tour has thus far grossed over $2 billion. “The way she’s taught me and every artist out here to break rules and defy industry norms. Her generosity of spirit. Her resilience and versatility. She’s been a guiding light throughout my career and the fact that she showed up tonight was like an actual fairytale.”

PHOTOS: ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour’ concert movie premiere in L.A.

The previous afternoon, Swift — citing “unprecedented demand” — announced that the “Eras Tour” film would open in North America on Oct. 12, a day earlier than planned, and that additional showtimes were added for the film’s opening weekend.

As of Tuesday, the film had racked up a record-breaking $100 million plus in ticket sales.

AMC Theatres, which first scored access to the film, has released a list of rules for fans who plan to treat the film as their own private concert.

“Taylor Swift Eras attire and friendship bracelets are strongly encouraged! Masks (except for standard face masks used explicitly for health and safety reasons) are not permitted),” said AMC.

While the theater says it will “encourage dancing and singing,” patrons are not allowed to dance atop seats nor block their fellow Swifties “from viewing, safely walking or exiting the auditorium.”

Attendees are allowed to snap selfies and group photos, but are barred from recording the flick.

Netflix uber-producer Shonda Rhimes has snapped up the rights for “Black Barbie: A Documentary,” which chronicles Mattel’s 1980 introduction of the first Black doll, bringing some much-needed diversity to the iconic brand.

The film, first shown at SXSW earlier this year, was written and directed by filmmaker Lagueria Davis, whose aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell worked at Mattel and was one of three Black women who advocated for the groundbreaking toy.

According to the documentary’s logline, “Black Barbie” examines “the importance of representation and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination.”

Cultural commentators, historians and consumers also weigh in on the impact of the doll. Mitchell and other Black women share their own stories of not seeing themselves represented, and how Black Barbie’s arrival affected them.

“Telling Black Barbie’s story has been such a personal journey and it warms my heart to celebrate the legacy of my aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins and Stacey McBride Irby in our film,” Davis said in a statement about the documentary’s acquisition. “We couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than Shondaland and Netflix to bring this story to the world.”

During its 2022 International Women’s Day celebration, Mattel released a Barbie doll in Rhimes’ likeness — dressed in a replica of the outfit she wore for a Variety magazine cover story months before.

Netflix’s “Black Barbie” announcement comes on the heels of Greta Gerwig’s history-making, billion-dollar-plus feature film starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as her anatomically correct male counterpart Ken. The all-star cast also features Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, America Ferrera, Simu Liu and Academy Award winner Helen Mirren.

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©2023 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A prominent international law firm has rescinded its job offer to NYU Law School Bar Association student president Ryna Workman over “inflammatory” comments regarding the deadly weekend attacks on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

“I want to express, first and foremost, my unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians in their resistance against oppression toward liberation and self-determination,” the nonbinary student wrote in a school-wide newsletter posted to social media. “Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life. This regime of state-sanctioned violence created the conditions that made resistance necessary. I will not condemn Palestinian resistance.”

Workman’s missive instead condemned several ideas and institutions — including the “United States military-industrial complex” and “the violence of trapping thousands in an open air-prison” — but not Hamas.

The Gaza Strip houses more than 2 million Palestinians in a 25-mile stretch of land with borders that are largely controlled by Israel. It’s sometimes described as an outdoor detention center. The Palestinian group Hamas polices the Strip itself.

Winston & Strawn LLP, which has offices in the Midtown’s Metlife building, as well as Chicago, Washington D.C., London, Hong Kong, Paris and Shanghai, decried Workman’s position on social media.

pic.twitter.com/Wz1M6ufQtx

— Winston & Strawn LLP (@WinstonLaw) October 10, 2023

“These comments are profoundly in conflict with Winston & Strawn’s values as a firm,” the company posted on X. “Accordingly, the law firm has rescinded the law student’s offer of employment.

The law group referred to Workman as a “former summer associate.”

NYU also distanced itself from the student’s comments.

“The statement issued by the Student Bar Association does not in any way reflect the point of view of NYU,” the school said. “Acts of terrorism are immoral. The indiscriminate killing of civilians and hostage-taking, including children and the elderly, is reprehensible. Blaming victims of terrorism for their own deaths is wrong.”

©2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Gold medal-winning gymnast Mary Lou Retton is in the ICU, where she’s fighting for her life, her daughter McKenna Kelley said on Tuesday.

On a fundraising page asking for prayers and donations, Kelley revealed that the 55-year-old tumbler has been in the hospital for over a week with a “very rare form of pneumonia.”

“She is not able to breathe on her own,” Kelley shared on Spotfund. “Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she not insured. … ANYTHING, absolutely anything, would be so helpful for my family and my mom. Thank y’all so very much!”

Retton earned five medals and superstar status in 1984 with an unforgettable performance at the Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. Her fame resulted in multiple endorsement deals including one from Wheaties, which made her the first female athlete to appear on the cover of the cereal’s famous orange box. She can currently be seen in commercials for Colonial Penn Life Insurance.

The West Virginia native also used her celebrity status to support the candidacy of former President Ronald Reagan and later appeared at the Republican National Convention in Madison Square Garden in 2004.

Retton also appeared on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2018. She was the fifth person to be eliminated in the reality TV competition, but said participating on the show had “been the best time of [her] life.”

By the start of Tuesday evening, the fundraising page promoted by Retton’s daughter, who’s also a former gymnast, had raised more than $12,000.

©2023 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Gold medal-winning gymnast Mary Lou Retton is in the ICU, where she’s fighting for her life, her daughter McKenna Kelley said on Tuesday.

On a fundraising page asking for prayers and donations, Kelley revealed that the 55-year-old tumbler has been in the hospital for over a week with a “very rare form of pneumonia.”

“She is not able to breathe on her own,” Kelley shared on Spotfund. “Out of respect for her and her privacy, I will not disclose all details. However, I will disclose that she not insured. … ANYTHING, absolutely anything, would be so helpful for my family and my mom. Thank y’all so very much!”

Retton earned five medals and superstar status in 1984 with an unforgettable performance at the Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. Her fame resulted in multiple endorsement deals including one from Wheaties, which made her the first female athlete to appear on the cover of the cereal’s famous orange box. She can currently be seen in commercials for Colonial Penn Life Insurance.

The West Virginia native also used her celebrity status to support the candidacy of former President Ronald Reagan and later appeared at the Republican National Convention in Madison Square Garden in 2004.

Retton also appeared on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2018. She was the fifth person to be eliminated in the reality TV competition, but said participating on the show had “been the best time of [her] life.”

By the start of Tuesday evening, the fundraising page promoted by Retton’s daughter, who’s also a former gymnast, had raised more than $12,000.

©2023 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

In a statement, Biden described the deaths as the “heart wrenching” results of an “appalling terrorist assault against Israel.” He said the U.S. believes that the Hamas militant group is likely holding American citizens as prisoners, and he added that the U.S. is working with Israel to handle the hostage crisis.

“This is not some distant tragedy,” the president said in his statement. “The ties between Israel and the United States run deep. It is personal for so many American families who are feeling the pain of this attack.”

The identities of the dead Americans were not immediately released, and it was unclear if any were from New York, which is home to about 1.6 million Jews. In New York City, there was a heavy police presence at synagogues on Monday.

Major U.S. airlines have canceled flights into and out of Israel. At least 50 New York residents were seeking to return from Israel on Monday, according to a count by Rep. Grace Meng’s office.

The State Department said it was in contact with the families of the dead Americans. More than 1,200 people have already been reported dead in the conflict, which was escalating Monday as Israel ordered an intense retaliatory assault on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

At least 700 people have died in Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The Palestinian death toll was 687, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Monday.

Meng, a Democrat who represents much of central and eastern Queens, wrote a letter to the State Department asking it to “use all resources at its disposal” to help Americans in Israel return to the U.S. A spokesman for Meng, Jordan Goldes, said a “handful” of Meng’s constituents were in Israel.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Brooklyn Democrat, said in a statement late Sunday night that he had been briefed on the rising American death tally — then four — and that it would rise.

“The viciousness and brutality of this unprecedented attack from Hamas targeting innocent civilians — children, families, seniors — is overwhelming and heart wrenching,” added Schumer, who is Jewish and is currently on a trip to China.

Schumer, the majority leader, met with China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday and urged China to stand with the U.S. in a united front in support of Israel, Schumer’s office said.  Schumer’s spokesman, Angelo Roefaro, said the majority leader convinced Xi to strengthen a statement opposing violence against civilians in Israel.

NEW In a speech that his office published on social media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said that “Hamas will understand that by attacking us, they have made a mistake of historic proportions.”

“We will exact a price that will be remembered by them, and Israel’s other enemies, for decades to come,” Netanyahu declared.

Israeli officials announces a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip, area home to more than 2M Palestinians

Some Israelis have been taken hostage by Hamas militants, according to Israel.

In his statement, Biden said, “The safety of American citizens — whether at home or abroad — is my top priority.”

“I have directed my team to work with their Israeli counterparts on every aspect of the hostage crisis,” Biden added, ” including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts.”

The targets, be it Israel or the United States or the Russians, are caught off guard by their enemies, stunned, suffering major psychological damage and loss of human life. But then comes the response and the counteroffensive.

Those earlier sneak attacks failed. Hopefully, this one will also. We pray it does.

Hamas claims that its fighters are soldiers, but soldiers don’t kidnap civilians from their homes to seize them as hostages, as Hamas did in launching raids into Israel in addition to their barrage of thousands of rockets fired at civilian population centers, including Tel Aviv.

Both of those are acts of terrorism, which makes perfect sense, as Hamas is a terror group, fittingly on terror lists of the U.S. and European Union.

Also on the terror lists is Hezbollah controlling southern Lebanon to Israel’s north, which is keeping that border quiet — for now. The common factor between the Shiite Hezbollah and the Sunni Hamas is the lead sponsor of terror in the region, Iran, which funnels them weapons and joins them in celebrating the atrocities and calling for Israel’s destruction and the “liberation” of Jerusalem from the Jews.

Hamas has started this new war, or new chapter in an old war, to disrupt the growing movement for a grand U.S.-brokered peace deal between Israel and the richest and most powerful Arab state, Saudi Arabia, following other U.S.-brokered peace deals between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco. Hamas cannot succeed and the Arab-Israeli strides for the larger peace must continue.

Hamas shows that it can make war, but it refuses to make peace. The same for Hezbollah. On the West Bank, the head of the Palestinian National Authority, Abu Mazen, also refuses to make peace. It has been years since he has sat down for talks with the Israelis. Peace will come for the Palestinians, in Gaza and the West Bank, when they decide to join the negotiating table.

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, leading a jittery right-wing coalition that is wrongly trying to undermine the independence of the Israeli courts, will get a reprieve for his many domestic troubles due to this Hamas war. Even President Biden, who has been very cool to Netanyahu, has rallied to his side, as he emphasized from the White House, pledging full support.

Hamas and Iran want Israel to strike back hard, thinking that a massive response will entrap Israel in the Gaza quicksand, sapping her political and military strength. Israel has the might to level Gaza, but Hamas hides among civilians, using them as human shields, which is a war crime. And Hamas now holds captured Israeli soldiers and civilians, complicating everything.

Netanyahu and his commanders have a tremendous challenge before them to destroy Hamas’ military assets while sparing Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Hamas struck first, but their wave of terror will not and cannot prevail. Israel has been hurt hard, but Israel will prevail.

— New York Daily News

Tom Hanks is warning his fans that an “AI version” of him is hawking dental plans on social media.

In an Instagram post over the weekend, Hanks posted a screengrab of a promotional video where his younger, computer-generated likeness pitches teeth cleaning services.

“BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it,” Hanks wrote.

The Academy Award-winning actor’s warning comes in the midst of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike which, in part, concerns how studios will — or won’t — use artificial intelligence in film and TV production, though the contract the union is currently negotiating with producers does not pertain to commercials. The recently ended WGA strike also hinged on the use of AI in scriptwriting.

Hanks himself has been vocal about AI in recent months.

In an appearance on “The Adam Buxton Podcast” in May, Hanks shared that Hollywood contracts were being rewritten to equate an actor’s likeness with intellectual property.

“Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are by way of AI or deep fake technology. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but performances can go on and on and on and on,” Hanks said. “Outside the understanding of AI and deepfake, there’ll be nothing to tell you that it’s not me and me alone. And it’s going to have some degree of lifelike quality. That’s certainly an artistic challenge but it’s also a legal one.”

“This is something that is literally part and parcel to what’s going on in the realm of intellectual property rights right now. This has always been lingering,” Hanks said.

A sea lion got a taste of freedom — and murky brown floodwaters — after a deluge of rain battering NYC caused the Central Park Zoo sea lion pool to flood over on Friday.

The zoo was closed on Friday due to the inclement weather — but the intrepid sea lion swam outside her enclosure as several inches of rain overwhelmed the plaza around the pool.

“A female sea lion at Central Park Zoo was able to swim out of her pool due to flooding of the plaza caused by severe rains in New York City today,” Jim Breheny, Executive Vice President of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Zoos and Aquariums said in a statement.

However, freedom apparently turned out to be not all it was cracked up to be, and she soon turned around and went back home.

“Zoo staff monitored the sea lion as she explored the area before returning to the familiar surroundings of the pool and the company of the other two sea lions,” Breheny added.

The Wildlife Conservation Society oversees the Central Park Zoo, as well as the Bronx Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo and the New York Aquarium.

Central Park received nearly 6 inches of rain on Friday, according to the National Weather Service — levels not seen since Hurricane Ida in 2021.

Widespread flooding and sustained heavy rain across the city promoted both Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams to declare New York City under a state of emergency on Friday. At least 150 school buildings flooded and a half-dozen people were pulled from flooded basements by the FDNY.

Breheny said that water levels have since receded, and that all animals are now contained in their exhibits. No staff or visitors were endangered, and no animals escaped the zoo entirely.

“Animal care staff will continue to monitor the situation through the duration of the weather event,” Breheny said.

Inquiries into the name of the sea lion were not immediately answered.

Turner, 27, sued Jonas, 34, seeking to take their children back to England with her. The next proceeding in that case is scheduled for Oct. 3.

Until the suit is resolved, the two children must remain in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley — legally speaking, the Southern and Eastern districts of New York. Attorneys for Jonas and Turner both signed off on the temporary arrangement.

The short-term deal does not resolve Turner’s lawsuit in any way, and neither Jonas nor Turner has backed down from their respective position in that suit.

“This interim consent order makes no determination on the merits” of Turner’s lawsuit, the document reads.

Jonas and Turner have shielded their children from the spotlight throughout their relationship. They share a 3-year-old daughter, whose first name is Willa and who is identified in court documents as “WRJ.” The couple welcomed a second child in 2022, but never revealed the name. The younger child is identified as “DMJ” in the docs.

Jonas filed for divorce from Turner on Sept. 5 in Florida. Though they signed a prenup before their 2019 wedding, the proceedings quickly turned messy as Jonas and Turner debated the fate of their two children.

In the initial divorce filing, Jonas suggested the two have “shared parental responsibility.” But in her lawsuit, Turner claimed the family had agreed to make a home in England when they settled down from their on-the-go lifestyles.

Turner said Jonas had refused to let her see the kids, which her lawsuit described as “a breach of the mother’s rights of custody under English law, England being the children’s habitual residence.”

Jonas responded with a public statement arguing that the kids have spent much of their life in the U.S. and that he is “OK with the kids being raised both in the U.S. and the U.K.”

McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King and other popular fast food chains are offering incredible deals for upcoming National Cheeseburger Day on Sept. 18.

Available next Monday only, customers will be able to purchase 50-cent double cheeseburgers at McDonald’s if they order through the restaurant’s official app.

Wendy’s announced they’ll be selling Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers for just 1 cent from Sept. 18-22, though customers must order another item through the Wendy’s app to take advantage of the deal. (Burger-lovers might consider pairing their purchase with Wendy’s new seasonal Pumpkin Spice Frosty.)

Burger King, meanwhile, is offering members of its Royal Perks program a variety of limited-time deals from Sept. 18-22, including the chance to get a free cheeseburger with a purchase of at least $1.

For people looking for a more typical restaurant experience, Applebee’s has three classic burgers on Sept. 18 going for $8.99 each, an average discount of around $4-$6. Served with a side of fries, the Classic Burger, Classic Cheeseburger and Classic Bacon Cheeseburger will all be available for the exclusive price when you order online, in the app, or dine in.

The burger-filled news is an uplifting change from an announcement that stirred up the fast-food industry earlier this week.

McDonald’s shared that the company is beginning the process of phasing out self-serve soda machines in all of its U.S. establishments, along with removing dine-in areas in some altogether. The plan isn’t expected to be completed until 2032, so customers still have time to enjoy their personalized soda stream mixtures at certain locations.

College football fans waiting for kickoff in the eagerly-awaited showdown between Utah and Florida got a kick in the head as a dispute between Spectrum Cable and The Walt Disney Co., owner of ESPN, blacked out the game for many fans.

The Thursday night season opener was pulled minutes before the game’s first play, leaving angry boosters for both teams livid. The cable company serves 14.7 million subscribers, many of them infuriated by the decision.

“Waited all day for the SEC football kickoff between Florida and Utah,” wrote one angry fan on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Only to have ESPN CUT OFF RIGHT BEFORE KICKOFF due to a dispute between Spectrum and Disney. This is awful, AWFUL. YOU MIGHT WANNA THINK ABOUT LETTING FOLKS SEE THE GAME.”

Spectrum Cable pulled the Florida football game right at kickoff. A dispute between them and Disney who owns ESPN. We pay for ESPN so how dare they pull the programming during the game. I was already ticked off with them for not having internet one day last week. Refund!

— Tammy (@tammyj0528) September 1, 2023

Tennis fans were equally outraged when the Thursday night U.S. Open coverage disappeared before No. 1-ranked Carlos Alcaraz’s second-round straight-set victory against Dominil Koepfer in Queens.

“We’re very disappointed for our fans and viewers around the country that Spectrum … could not resolve their dispute with Disney,” said U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier. “We’re very hopeful that this dispute can be resolved as quickly as possible.”

The plug-pulling move came without advance warning, prompting a social media outpouring of angst from those expecting to watch the clash between the SEC team and their Pac-12 opponents.

A second fan complained he couldn’t even watch the contest on his ESPN app: “I pay for so many things every month and I can’t get this game?”

Those tuning in were instead greeted by a message posted by Spectrum laying the blame on the Disney side as Utah rolled to a 24-11 victory.

“We apologize for the inconvenience and are negotiating in good faith to reach a fair agreement,” the company wrote. “We offered Disney a fair deal, yet they are demanding an excessive increase … Spectrum is on your side and fighting to keep costs down.”

Disney responded by encouraging Spectrum to work with the media conglomerate to reach a deal, noting the terms proposed by their company were driven by the changing industry marketplace.

“We’re committed to reaching a mutually agreed upon resolution … and we urge them to work with us to minimize the disruption to their customers,” said the Disney statement.

In addition to blacking out the football game, subscribers also lost access to other Disney-own channels including ABC, FX and National Geographic.

“Spectrum Cable pulled the Florida football game right at kickoff,” wrote another angry tweeter. “A dispute between them and Disney who owns ESPN. We pay for ESPN so how dare they pull the programming during the game. I was already ticked off with them for not having internet one day last week. Refund!”

The full list of channels impacted by the dispute include ESPN, SEC and ACC networks, Longhorn Network, FX channels, Freeform, National Geographic, Disney channels, and ABC owned-and-affiliated news stations in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham, Houston, and Fresno.

For two weeks in September, Dairy Queen customers will get the chance to buy its signature dessert at a deep discount.

The fast food chain, known for its twisty soft-serve and mixed ice cream treats, announced this week it will sell its Blizzards for just 85 cents.

From Sept. 11-24, customers who use the DQ mobile app at participating Dairy Queen restaurants across the U.S. can get in on the sweet deal.

The special promotion is to celebrate the 1985 introduction of the Blizzard and the launch of new fall menu — including flavors such as pumpkin pie, snickerdoodle cookie dough, caramel fudge cheesecake, choco-dipped strawberry, Oreo hot cocoa, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup pie, and royal Reese’s fluffernutter — which arrived in stores on Monday.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is getting the big screen treatment with a concert film that will make Swifties’ wildest dreams come true — at least in North America.

The Grammy winner, 33, announced on Instagram Thursday morning that a film compiled from her recent slate of star-studded shows at L.A.’s SoFi Stadium will hit AMC Theatres on Oct. 13. (Dedicated fans will know that Swift — born on Dec. 13 — counts the number as her favorite, often painting it on the back of her hand for performances.)

“The Eras Tour has been the most meaningful, electric experience of my life so far and I’m overjoyed to tell you that it’ll be coming to the big screen soon ,” the “Anti-Hero” singer captioned a trailer. “Eras attire, friendship bracelets, singing and dancing encouraged  1, 2, 3 LGB!!!! (iykyk).”

Speculation emerged earlier this month that Swift might be working on another documentary as fans noticed camera crews at the majority of the tour’s shows. It wouldn’t exactly be far-fetched as Swift’s world tours for albums “1989″ and “Reputation” each got their own concert films, as did her 2020 one-off “City of Lover” show in Paris.

The Eras Tour was a hit well before it officially kicked off in mid-March. Hours-long delays during Ticketmaster’s presale ultimately saw the website crash and stop offering on-sale tickets.

Throughout the summer, Swift has continually announced new dates for her international and domestic legs of the show. Among the stops she’ll be making next year are those in Singapore, Tokyo, London and the E.U., before wrapping up in North America next fall with a handful of shows added to the schedule earlier this month.

The screenings will take place at least four times a day Thursdays through Sundays in the U.S. Unlike the exponentially priced tickets to the tour itself, the film is being priced at $19.89 for adults and $13.13 for kids and seniors — not-so-subtle nods to Swift’s 2015 album and favorite number, respectively.

The lower pre-tax prices, applicable for showings outside of larger formats like IMAX, are intended to keep the film “accessible and affordable,” according to a release sent to AMC investors.

Many assumed the lyrics in Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” — which discuss “minors on an island” and people abusing welfare — denoted a Republican mindset, but Anthony has since tried to separate himself from any political affiliation.

During his interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the overnight sensation similarly took a measured approach to discussing his political stance. However, he admitted that most of his friends in Virginia “vote red” and support Donald Trump. He also at one point took a shot at Barack Obama.

“I love freedom of speech and I love the Second Amendment,” Anthony shared, although he said he knew both issues have been used as “triggers” by the right to drum up support from their base.

At many points in the conversation, Rogan seemed to try to get Anthony to discuss the more controversial points in his song — such as when he sings “If you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds, taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds.”

The country singer, however, would deftly skirt around most of those talking points.

“Fat people shouldn’t be buying f—ing fudge rounds with food stamps,” Rogan said.

“Yeah, and that’s sort of a conversation that got blown multiple ways, and really I’d like to let a song be left up to the interpretation of the listener,” Anthony responded.

He then connected the issue to General Motors (GM) “being bailed out of the recession after making all these terrible decisions,” saying he’d really like to write a song about that.

The conversation then veered into various territories, including aliens, hunting, the Bible and even pornography.

“That stuff’s terrible for people,” Anthony said about porn, adding “that’s one thing I had to give up because it does disconnect you from reality in many ways. I think a lot of the weird perversion we see coming out now at this point — I even reference some of it in the song, of course, but you read about a lot of the weird things people are doing that maybe wouldn’t have been accepted 100 years ago.”

Anthony continued to be fairly vulnerable with other topics, including his battle with anxiety and depression, going “on a run with SSRIs” (which he said didn’t help), and finding peace partially through reading scripture.

He even shared that he first started uploading his music to the internet because he thought he was going to die and wanted to leave something behind for his family.

The primary job of the employee with medical experience will be to make sure the 41-year-old mother of two stays healthy and doesn’t skip on her medicines, sources familiar with the situation told TMZ.

News of the recent hirings comes just weeks after Hesam “Sam” Asghari, Spears’ husband of 14 months, filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences.”

“As everyone knows, Hesam and I are no longer together,” the multi-Grammy-winning artist shared on Instagram late last week, breaking her silence on the split.

Spears admitted she “was a little shocked,” but added she was not going to explain the situation on the social media platform because it was “honestly nobody’s business!!! But, I couldn’t take the pain anymore honestly!!!”

Earlier this week, sources told the entertainment outlet that Spears’ lawyer Mathew Rosengart and her manager Cade Hudson were helping the singer with daily tasks, including making sure she was properly fed, as well as taking care of appointments and professional opportunities.

The “Mind Your Business” singer, whose private life has been under the pop culture microscope for decades, is getting ready to share her side of the facts in her highly anticipated memoir, “The Woman in Me,” out Oct., 24.

“My story, on my terms, at last,” she said in a video shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, early last month.

In November 2021, the “Stronger” singer was freed from a 13-year legal arrangement that placed her father as her conservator, an arrangement that had followed a public mental crisis in 2008.

©2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A motorcycle-riding suspect fleeing a Bronx buy-and-bust drug sting was killed when an NYPD sergeant flung a cooler grabbed from a local family’s sidewalk table at him, with the victim tumbling to his death in the shocking caught-on-video confrontation.

Sgt. Erik Duran, an NYPD Bronx narcotics veteran who joined the force in 2010, was suspended without pay just hours after the lethal afternoon encounter, police said Thursday, with an NYPD source declaring the use of force outside department guidelines.

“It’s crazy that the cop threw a cooler at him,” Erika Duprey Soto, 31, the sister of the dead man, Eric Duprey, told the Daily News. “He used to work as a delivery man for Uber, DoorDash. He used the same scooter for deliveries that he was riding yesterday when he was attacked.”

“I still can’t understand what happened,” she added as tears rolled down her face. “He’s gone. I loved my brother to death.”

An eyewitness, a 25-year local resident, was with relatives when the clash began on Aqueduct Ave. near W. 190th St. in Kingsbridge Heights at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Duprey, a 30-year-old father of three, “was on the bike, moving north when the cops started chasing him,” said the 42-year-old witness, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Then he took a U-turn and was riding on the sidewalk. … The cop then took my cooler, which was filled with soda cans, water bottles, and hit him.”

Surveillance video obtained by The News shows Duprey zipping along the sidewalk before Duran hoisted the cooler and fired it directly at Dupree from close range, with the rider tumbling off the motorcycle and into a parked car as his two-wheeler skidded to a halt.

The witness recalled how children at the family party were “almost paralyzed by what they saw. I think he died the moment he fell on the ground, because there was no movement. The cops tried doing CPR, but that did not do any good.”

A police official said the dead man had just sold drugs to an undercover officer a block away, adding the veteran cop was nonetheless in the wrong for hurling the cooler.

“The use of force here is not consistent with our guidelines,” said the NYPD official. “We don’t train officers to pick up something and throw it at a suspect.”

Duprey’s wife Orlyanis Velez said police were providing her with no details of the deadly encounter.

“We were given no information,” she told The News. “I am scared as [police] are acting as if nothing happened.”

“The NYPD is committed to ensuring that there will be a full, thorough and transparent investigation of this incident to determine the facts and to take the appropriate steps forward,” a police spokesman said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

The city medical examiner’s office will determine the cause of death, with the state attorney general’s office leading the investigation with assistance from the NYPD Force Investigation Division, police said.

State law mandates any death of an civilian that may have been caused by a police officer must be probed by the attorney general’s Office of Special Investigation.

Duran has faced 17 prior complaints of wrongdoing over his career, with only one substantiated, for abuse of authority during an unwarranted stop, according to public records. He was disciplined just last month for that substantiated complaint.

Duran earned 38 department citations for excellent or meritorious police duty and has made 197 arrests during his career.

He was promoted to sergeant in July 2018 and was named in a pair of lawsuits settled for a total of $20,000 in 2020.

Duprey’s stepdad, Jose Colon, stood Thursday near the scene of the confrontation, trying to make sense of what happened.

“Why couldn’t the cop use any piece of equipment which was authorized for him to use?” he asked. “Why did he hit him with a cooler? What happened to the cop’s Taser?”

The dead man’s blood remained visible near the spot where the fleeing suspect slammed into a Jeep.

“They tried to wash it off, but some of it is still left,” said Colon. “[The police] threw the cooler in the grass.”

A longtime friend of the victim told The News Duprey was a kind and loving man with an affinity for children.

“He used to take my child out to the park and play with him,” said Yesenia Guzman, 25, who met the victim more than seven years ago. “My son used to drive a toy truck, and [Duprey] ran right behind him, laughing. He was great with kids, always has been.”

“He was loved by everyone around here,” added Junior Guzman, Yesenia’s twin brother. “Young, old, teenagers, he helped everyone. That’s why everyone is here today at his memorial.”

“I don’t know anything about drug dealing,” Junior Guzman said of the allegations Duprey sold drugs to an undercover moments before the crash.

©2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Former President Donald Trump will once again turn himself in to authorities for the fourth time this year, this time in Georgia in a case involving election interference in the Peach State.

Trump is one of 19 people criminally charged with attempting to overturn the presidential election outcome in Georgia in 2020 after Trump lost the state to President Biden. He is being charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit forgery, and 11 other charges.

When is Trump expected to turn himself in?

That remains unclear. So far, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office has not released any information pertaining to when Trump is expected to turn himself in. We do know that it’s expected Thursday and comes a day before D.A. Fani Willis’ deadline ordering Trump and his co-defendants turn themselves in.

Will Trump receive any special treatment?

No. According to Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat, Trump will be fingerprinted and have a mugshot taken, making Trump the first former U.S. president to have a mugshot.

The Sheriff’s department, however, isn’t treating the proceeding normally. Athorities have been preparing for months should there be any unexpected moments of violence.

What is Trump charged with exactly?

Trump is charged with 13 counts by the Fulton County district attorney, including racketeering under Georgia’s RICO statute. Willis said Trump operated his alleged scheme to overturn the election results in Georgia like a “criminal enterprise” by pressuring state officials in reversing the outcome while also conspiring to create a slate fake electors backing Trump.

Trump is also being charged for solicitation of oath by a public officer for attempting to reverse the election outcome through his now infamous call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, where Trump declared he wants to “find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.”

Is he expected to post bail?

He’s already posted $200,000 bond ahead of his appearance in court today, which comes with a set of conditions he agreed to that include making zero threats on social media toward witnesses, his co-defendants and 30 other unindicted co-conspirators.

Who else is being charged in the case?

Eighteen other people within Trump’s orbit have been criminally charged for various alleged crimes involving alleged election interference in Georgia, notably former Trump attorney and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Other defendants include constitutional lawyer John Eastman, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro. So far, 12 people charged in the case have copped bail deals.

When will Trump be tried?

No official date has been set, though Willis is asking the court to have the trial start on March 4, 2024.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who made a career of prosecuting criminals before his two-term, law-and-order-focused mayoralty, surrendered to Georgia authorities Wednesday on 2020 election interference charges.

Giuliani, who faces 13 counts including violation of the Georgia RICO Act and several false statement charges, was processed at the Fulton County jail. His bail was set at $150,000 bond, according to Fulton County jail records.

At his booking, Giuliani — described in the jail records as 5-foot-11, 230 pounds — wore a navy suit and and a red, white and blue tie, an American flag pin hanging from his lapel. He appeared to lean forward, grimmacing slightly, in his mugshot.

Hours earlier, he told a phalanx of TV reporters outside his Manhattan apartment that he was “going to Georgia” and “feeling very, very good about it.”

“I feel like I am defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney,” he said. “I’m the same Rudy Giuliani that took down the Mafia, that made New York City the safest city in America.”

He arrived by plane at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, outside Atlanta, about 11 a.m., according to WANF-TV, a Georgia station.

Giuliani has been ensnared in the sweeping case led by Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, that produced charges against 18 others, including former President Donald Trump.

Trump, who faces a $200,000 bond, said on his Truth Social platform Wednesday morning that he would “PROUDLY BE ARRESTED” in Georgia on Thursday afternoon.

In January 2021, Trump called Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and asked him to “find” enough votes in the 2020 election to shift the presidential results in the state, according to a recording.

Giuliani, who has served as Trump’s personal lawyer, amplified many of the lies Trump spread about voter fraud after he lost the election to President Biden.

Trump and Giuliani insisted that Trump won in 2020.

In fact, Biden won the election by 74 electoral votes and more than 7 million votes in the popular vote. Independent reviews found no evidence of widespread voter fraud or election rigging.

In New York, the cash-strapped Giuliani has been defending himself against a lawsuit that was brought by a former ShopRite worker and is centered on allegedly inflated assault allegations the former mayor made.

Giuliani had his law license suspended in New York in 2021 over his election lies, a dramatic black mark for a man who spent most of the 1980s crusading against crooks.

As the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, he took down leaders of La Cosa Nostra. Later, he served as mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, earning the title of “America’s mayor” for his hands-on leadership of the city after the 9/11 attack that was widely praised.

But he has been tainted by his ties to Trump, and by his decision to serve as the former president’s legal attack dog after the 2020 election.

“Trump corrupted his soul,” said Ken Frydman, who was Giuliani’s press secretary during his 1993 mayoral campaign. “Trump has a real talent for finding the strike price for someone’s soul.”

Frydman said he thought Giuliani was fundamentally the same as he was when he led the five boroughs, but that a potent mix of avarice and pride had paved America’s path to a Southern county jail.

“It’s definitely greed,” he said. “It’s definitely an overweening need for relevance and access to power.”

An Economist poll published Wednesday found the former mayor has grown deeply unpopular across the U.S. The poll showed 51% of respondents viewed him unfavorably, and 27% saw him favorably.

With Molly Crane-Newman

In the bombshell lawsuit filed Tuesday, Crystal Williams, Arianna Davis and Noelle Rodriguez list a series of accusations such as discrimination, weight shaming, and sexual harassment that included ‘inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers’ at a club in Amsterdam.

“Yeah, she was there with the dildos and the bananas and the vaginas,” the dancers’ attorney Neama Rahmani tells the Daily News. “She’s the one that asked everyone to go, and everyone felt pressure to go to get along with Lizzo. Telling Arianna to touch the nude woman and telling the security guard to pull down his pants. He was whipped by one of the nude performers. Lizzo was an active participant in all of this.”

The “Truth Hurts” artist released a statement Thursday denying all allegations in an Instagram post writing, “These last few days have been gut wrenchingly difficult and overwhelmingly disappointing,” Lizzo posted to Instagram. “My work ethic, morals and respectfulness have been questioned. My character has been criticized.”

“Usually I choose not to respond to false allegations but these are as unbelievable as they sound and too outrageous to not be addressed,” she continued. “These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional.”

“As an artist I have always been very passionate about what I do. I take my music and my performances seriously because at the end of the day I only want to put out the best art that represents me and my fans. With passion comes hard work and high standards. Sometimes I have to make hard decisions but it’s never my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable or like they aren’t valued as an important part of the team.

“I am not here to be looked at as a victim, but I also know that I am not the villain that people and the media have portrayed me to be these last few days. I am very open with my sexuality and expressing myself but I cannot accept or allow people to use that openness to make me out to be something I am not. There is nothing I take more seriously than the respect we deserve as women in the world. I know what it feels like to be body shamed on a daily basis and would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight.”

It’s a response Rahmani, who represents all three plaintiffs in the case, predicted Wednesday when speaking to the News.

“I don’t care if it’s Donald Trump or Lizzo, civil criminal defendants rarely admit responsibility. Fully expect there to be a denial in this case and be litigated and have to go to trial.”

“If Lizzo were to apologize, I would be pleasantly surprised. I would take that to my clients and see what we can do to resolve this, but a public apology would certainly be a good start to fixing or at least undoing some of the harm that she’s caused.”

Rahmani says his clients want “justice.”

“They want their story told. Since we filed, so many people have come forward, current and former employers and dancers, and said, ‘Hey I was treated like this, too. It’s its own ‘me too’ movement.”

In the complaint filed by the Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by the News, the trio is also suing for “weight shaming’ one of the plaintiffs.

The pop star has ­won the adoration of millions of fans in part because of her body confident image.

Rahmani calls that image a false one.

“The Lizzo that people see in public when cameras are rolling is very different from the Lizzo that is an employer.”

Lizzo wrapped up her statement sharing, “I’m hurt but I will not let the good work I’ve done in the world be overshadowed by this. I want to thank everyone who has reached out in support to lift me up during this difficult time.”

Leave it to Dolly Parton to revive The Beatles — like never before.

The recent  Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee has reunited the two living members of the Fab Four for her rendition of the band’s 1970 hit “Let It Be.” Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr joined Parton on a new recording from her upcoming album “Rockstar,” which is set to be released in full Nov. 17. which was released Friday. Fellow legendary rockers Peter Frampton and Mick Fleetwood also appear on the track.

Parton has been slowly sharing songs from the star-studded album since it was first announced in early May. On Friday, Parton took to social media to promote her latest release.

“Does it get any better than singing ‘Let It Be’ with @paulmccartney who wrote the song?,” she captioned a behind-the-scenes video. “Not only that, he played piano! Well, it did get even better when @ringostarrmusic joined in on drums, @mrpeterframpton on guitar and @mickfleetwoodofficial playing percussion.”

McCartney, himself, shared similar sentiments in the comments section of the song on YouTube.

“Thanks Dolly for doing my song. I love your version and am very pleased to be by your side on this one. Rock on ! Love Paul x,” he wrote on Friday.

Does it get any better than singing “Let It Be” with @PaulMcCartney who wrote the song? Not only that, he played piano! Well, it did get even better when @ringostarrmusic joined in on drums, @peterframpton on guitar and @MickFleetwood playing percussion. I mean, seriously, how… pic.twitter.com/is2qsMgM5X

— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) August 18, 2023

“Let It Be” follows last month’s release of Parton’s cover of Queen’s “We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You.”

In June, the country music superstar served up her version of Heart’s 1975 classic “Magic Man,” featuring original group member Ann Wilson, along with the original track “Bygones,” featuring Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford with Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx and John 5.

Parton released the album’s first single, “World on Fire,” in May.

With a jam-packed 30 tracks, “Rockstar” will also feature powerhouse collaborations with Lizzo, Sting, Elton John, Pink, Brandi Carlile and Parton’s famous goddaughter, Miley Cyrus.

©2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Wednesday asked a judge to set a March 4 trial date for former President Trump’s Georgia election interference case — the day before the pivotal Super Tuesday primaries.

The Atlanta prosecutor suggested the date in a new legal filing in the racketeering indictment of Trump and 18 co-defendants.

Willis also asked the judge to set an arraignment for all 19 defendants, including Trump, during the week of Sept. 5, following Labor Day.

The proposed trial date, which many analysts expect to be extraordinarily fast, would come in the middle of the Republican presidential primary fight in which Trump is currently the dominant frontrunner.

Super Tuesday, with primaries in 15 states including California, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Massachusetts, is set for Tuesday, March 5.

The proposed Atlanta trial date would come before Trump’s planned March 25 trial date in the New York case related to the Stormy Daniels hush money payments and a May 20 trial date in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

Special counsel Jack Smith has asked for a Jan. 2 trial date for Trump in the Jan. 6 case.

Trump has not responded yet to that proposed date but he has claimed he should not face any trial before the 2024 election, in which he hopes to win a second term in the White House.

The trial date filing came as Trump reportedly opened negotiations on the terms of his surrender to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office in Atlanta, CNN reported Wednesday..

Trump and 18 indicted co-defendants in the sprawling racketeering case have been given until Aug. 25 to turn themselves in or presumably face further law enforcement action.

Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat has instructed the defendants to appear at the Rice Street jail in downtown Atlanta, which is open 24 hours a day.

He has vowed that Trump will receive no special treatment and will be fingerprinted and photographed like any other defendant.

But the Secret Service will likely be involved in any talks and might seek to streamline the process for Trump for security reasons.

Unlike the scenario in other cases, Trump and other defendants in the Georgia case will not be immediately arraigned and will appear before a judge at a later date.

The racketeering law that Trump and the others were charged with has an unusual requirement that defendants may only be freed pending trial if a judge rules there is “no significant risk” they would seek to intimidate witnesses or others connected to the case.

That will be a tricky bar for Trump to clear given his history of lashing out at witnesses, prosecutors and judges in virtually every criminal case and other disputes he has been involved in.

He wrote on social media that former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan “should not” appear before the grand jury on the day of his indictment, a warning that could be considered witness tampering.

Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s co-defendants, is also embroiled in a defamation lawsuit filed by Atlanta election workers whom he falsely accused of rigging votes for President Biden, a fact that could count against him when asking for bail.

©2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Donald Trump’s effort to boot the judge presiding over his Manhattan hush money case failed resoundingly, according to court papers made public Monday.

State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan rejected the former president’s recusal motion on all grounds.

Finding that recusing himself would not be in the public interest, Merchan said he had examined his “conscience and is certain” in his “ability to be fair and impartial.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has charged Trump with 34 felonies in the case headed to trial next March, alleging he covered up an illegal payment to porn star Stormy Daniels made by his former fixer Michael Cohen in a scheme to bury negative press ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

Trump’s May 31 motion sought to get Merchan off the case, claiming his daughter stood to profit from his downfall at her job at a digital agency representing primarily Democratic candidates.

The former president also argued that small-dollar donations to Democrats totaling $35 from the judge represented an impartiality issue. He further cited Merchan’s handling of Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg’s 2022 case, claiming it showed “a preconceived bias.”

In regards to his daughter, the judge noted that the New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics on May 4 found the case didn’t relate to her job directly or indirectly and that there was nothing “to suggest that the outcome of the case could have any effect on the judge’s relative, the relative’s business, or any of their interests.

“[Trump] has failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds,” Merchan wrote. “The speculative and hypothetical scenarios offered by [Trump] fall well short of the legal standard.”

Regarding the donations, which Trump’s lawyers argued required an on-the-record explanation, Merchan noted the ethics committee had, too, deemed them benign.

“[It] is sufficient to say that these modest political contributions made more than two years ago cannot reasonably create an impression of bias or favoritism in the case before the judge,” the panel wrote.

Trump’s framing of Merchan’s role in Weisselberg’s case was at odds with the lenient term the finance chief received.

Weisselberg was charged alongside the Trump family business — whose finances he oversaw for decades — in June 2021. Not long before trial, the CFO agreed to plead out in exchange for a shorter jail term. The deal required him to testify against the company, which a jury convicted on tax fraud charges in December, leading to a $1.6 million fine.

While the case played out, the company’s lawyers tried vainly to get Merchan off of it, accusing him of inappropriateness during plea talks.

The repeated request in the hush money case, Merchan wrote Friday, “only [serves] to weaken the plausibility of the claim.”

At the CFO’s sentencing, when he received a term of five months on Rikers that ended up being just 99 days, Merchan said he felt Weisselberg deserved harsher punishment but would respect the deal offered.

“Had I not made the promise, I would be imposing a sentence much greater than that,” Merchan said in January, noting Weisselberg’s crimes were “driven entirely by greed.”

Like officials in other legal challenges facing Trump, the veteran judge known for his even temper has been the target of several attacks by Trump.

The News reported that he was inundated with death threats after Trump singled him and his relatives out in televised remarks after his April arraignment.

Bragg’s office and Trump lawyers Susan Necheles and Joe Tacopina declined to comment.

Wheeling, dealing and innovating entertainment executive Clarence Avant is dead at 92.

Dubbed “The Black Godfather” in a 2019 documentary detailing his work with stars including Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, Michael Jackson, Bill Withers and five U.S. presidents, Avant died “gently” in his Los Angeles home, according to a statement from his family published by Variety.

“The joy of his legacy eases the sorrow of our loss,” his loved ones wrote.

The Climax, N.C. native moved to Newark, N.J. as a teenager and got involved in the music business as a nightclub manager. He soon came under the mentorship of Joe Glaser, who helped launch artists including Louis Armstrong and Barbra Streisand.

Avant developed a knack for developing talent and recognizing potential. He takes credit for introducing former NFL star Jim Brown to acting, which launched a hugely successful second act for the “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” star.

Avant started a pair of record labels and helped negotiate the sale of Stax Records before becoming chairman of Motown Records and a board member at PolyGram. He produced Michael Jackson’s “Bad” tour in 1988 after allegedly turning down the gig three times.

“I just do things,” Avant told Variety in 2016. “I just like to take shots.”

Avant’s ability to cut a deal wasn’t limited to music. He helped Muhammad Ali score a TV special on ABC News and negotiated an unprecedented endorsement package for Hank Aaron that paid the MLB great more than he made playing baseball. That deal came when Aaron, dogged by bigoted critics, was closing in on Babe Ruth’s longstanding home run record.

“Without Clarence Avant, there is no Hank Aaron,” Aaron said in “The Black Godfather.”

Bill Clinton, one of the five presidents he advised, said in “Black Godfather” that Avant’s “advice per word is worth more than anyone I ever dealt with.” In the same doc, Barack Obama praised Avant for understanding “the power that comes from being behind the scenes.”