Trump's new 'Stormy' story stuns many in West Wing

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump insisted Thursday his reimbursement of a 2016 hush payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels had nothing to do with his election campaign. But the surprise revelation of the president's payment clashed with his past statements, created new legal headaches and stunned many in the West Wing.

White House aides were blindsided when Trump's recently added attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said Wednesday night that the president had repaid Michael Cohen for $130,000 that was given to Daniels to keep her quiet before the 2016 election about her allegations of an affair with Trump. Giuliani's revelation, which seemed to contradict Trump's past statements, came as the president's newly configured outside legal team pursued his defense, apparently with zero coordination with the West Wing.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she first learned that Trump had repaid the hush money from Giuliani's interview on Fox News Channel's "Hannity." Staffers' phones began to buzz within moments. Deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley, who had pre-taped an interview with Fox News earlier Wednesday evening, was suddenly summoned to return for a live interview.

While Giuliani said the payment to Daniels was "going to turn out to be perfectly legal," legal experts said the new information raised a number of questions, including whether the money represented repayment of an undisclosed loan or could be seen as reimbursement for a campaign expenditure. Either could be legally problematic.

Giuliani insisted Trump didn't know the specifics of Cohen's arrangement with Daniels until recently, telling "Fox & Friends" on Thursday that the president didn't know all the details until "maybe 10 days ago." Giuliani told The New York Times that Trump had repaid Cohen $35,000 a month "out of his personal family account" after the campaign was over. He said Cohen received $460,000 or $470,000 in all for expenses related to Trump.

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Hawaii volcano forces 1,500 from homes as lava bubbles up

HONOLULU (AP) — Nearly 1,500 residents were ordered to evacuate from their volcano-side homes after Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano erupted, sending molten lava to chew its way through forest land and bubble up on paved streets.

Volcano officials couldn't predict how long Thursday's eruption may last, prompting Hawaii's governor to activate the National Guard to help with evacuations and provide security to about 770 structures left empty when residents sought shelter.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Hawaii County officials said steam and lava poured out of a crack in Leilani Estates, which is near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island.

Footage shown on local television showed lava spurting into the sky from a crack in a road. Aerial drone footage showed a line of lava snaking through a forest.

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Trump to address NRA amid national gun control movement

WASHINGTON (AP) — Back for a return engagement, President Donald Trump's address to the National Rifle Association on Friday comes after he temporarily strayed from the group's strong opposition to tougher gun controls following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida — only to rapidly return to the fold.

For the fourth year in a row, Trump will speak to the group, which meets this year in Dallas. Last year, he became the first sitting president to appear in more than 30 years, declaring that the "assault" on the Second Amendment had ended. But this year's speech comes as the issue of gun violence takes on new urgency after one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

Student survivors of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead are now leading a massive national gun control movement. While the shooting has not led to major changes from the White House or the Republican-led Congress, it did — at least briefly — prompt Trump to declare that he would stand up to the powerful gun lobby. He later backpedaled on that tough talk.

Trump's attendance at this year's NRA convention was announced just days ago and came after Vice President Mike Pence already was scheduled to appear. Asked why Trump was attending, given the current political tensions around gun violence, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said this week that safety was a "big priority." But, she added, "We also support the Second Amendment, and strongly support it, and don't see there to be a problem with speaking at the National Rifle Association's meeting."

Trump has long enjoyed strong backing from the NRA, which spent about $30 million in support of his presidential campaign. The NRA showcased its high-profile guests for the event, with NRA Executive Director Chris Cox saying on Twitter: "We are honored to celebrate American Freedom with @realDonaldTrump, @VP Mike Pence and others. #2A #watchtheleftmeltdown"

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'Were you lying?' Sanders faces new credibility questions

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is facing a barrage of questions about whether she purposely misled the American people amid fallout over Rudy Giuliani's stunning revelation about hush money paid by President Donald Trump's lawyer to a porn star who alleges a tryst with Trump.

"Again, I gave you the best information that I had," Sanders said over and over again Thursday in response to questions about why the White House failed to disclose that Trump had reimbursed his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 payment to keep Stormy Daniels quiet.

"Were you lying to us at the time? Or were you in the dark?" one reporter asked.

It was an awkward position for Sanders, who is tasked with speaking on behalf of the American president. It also highlighted the difficulty the White House communications office has had in navigating an unpredictable and free-wheeling president.

"As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!" Trump tweeted last year.

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Nobel literature prize will not be awarded this year

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Nobel Prize in literature will not be awarded this year following sex-abuse allegations and other issues that have affected the public image of the Swedish Academy that selects the winner.

The academy said Friday the 2018 prize will be given in 2019. The decision was made at a weekly meeting in Stockholm a day earlier, on the grounds that the academy is in no shape to pick a winner after a string of sex abuse allegations and financial crimes scandals.

"We find it necessary to commit time to recovering public confidence in the Academy before the next laureate can be announced," Anders Olsson, the academy's permanent secretary, said in a statement. He said the academy was acting "out of respect for previous and future literature laureates, the Nobel Foundation and the general public."

It will be the first time since 1949 that the prestigious award has been delayed. Last year, Japanese-born British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro won the prize.

The internal feud within the Swedish Academy — which only hands out one of the six Nobel prizes — was triggered by an abuse scandal linked to Jean-Claude Arnault, a major cultural figure in Sweden who is also the husband of poet Katarina Frostenson, an academy member.

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Polanski's film academy expulsion, 40-years in the making

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Until Thursday, Roman Polanski had been a film academy member for over 40 years since pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in 1977. In his 40 years as a fugitive the "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" filmmaker had been nominated for three additional Oscars, one for "Tess" and two for "The Pianist."

He won an Academy Award for directing "The Pianist" in 2003 to thunderous applause. He continued attracting A-list talent for his films, A-list support for his freedom and had become a contradictory and uncomfortable symbol of an industry that seemed to pick and choose where to bestow its moral outrage.

It's an incongruity that became untenable when the film academy expelled Harvey Weinstein from its ranks in October, made statements about standards of decency among its members and adopted a revised code of conduct, which would allow the organization to suspend or expel members who violate that code or "compromise the integrity" of the academy.

And almost seven months after Weinstein got the boot, the film industry's most prestigious organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, closed the door on the 84-year-old Polanski too, announcing that it had revoked his nearly 50-year membership, along with Bill Cosby's.

Polanski's attorney, Harlan Braun, said the director was "blindsided" by the decision.

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At what point does crying 'lynching' trivialize the word?

WASHINGTON (AP) — R. Kelly says boycotting his music because of the sexual abuse allegations against him amounts to a "public lynching." Bill Cosby's people say his conviction was a lynching, too. Kanye West, in trying to defend his inflammatory comments about slavery, has been tweeting lynching imagery to assure fans he won't be silenced.

The tactical use of lynching references over the past few days by celebrities under fire is generating disgust among historians and others who have studied the ghastly killings and mutilation of thousands of black people in the U.S. in the 19th and 20th centuries.

"Demeaning" and "reprehensible" were some of the terms used by those observing the use of lynching metaphors, which seems to be happening more often and crossing racial lines.

"It detracts and it takes away from the historical significance of what happened, because there are no comparisons to the way it's being used today and the reality of lynch mobs," said E.M. Beck, a retired University of Georgia professor and co-author of "A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings 1882-1930." ''I think it is demeaning to the people who were lynched, and I think in some ways it might be considered to be demeaning by the descendants of those people."

Kelly has been accused of sexually mistreating women and faces demands that he be investigated and shunned. The R&B star's camp responded: "We will vigorously resist this attempted public lynching of a black man who has made extraordinary contributions to our culture."

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Kansas, Oklahoma approve religious veto on LGBT adoptions

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State lawmakers in Kansas and Oklahoma have approved legislation to grant legal protections to faith-based adoption agencies that cite their religious beliefs for not placing children in LGBT homes.

Supporters of such measures argued that the core issue is protecting a group's right to live out its religious faith, while critics saw them as attacks on LGBT rights. Both Kansas and Oklahoma have GOP-controlled legislatures and governors, but in Kansas, the proposal split Republicans.

The Kansas Senate approved a bill early Friday morning, 24-15, that would prevent faith-based agencies from being barred from providing foster care or adoption services for the state if they refuse to place children in homes violating their "sincerely held" religious beliefs. The House had approved it late Thursday, 63-58.

The action in Kansas came after the Oklahoma House voted 56-21 for a similar measure, sending it to Gov. Mary Fallin, who has not said whether she would sign it. Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer supported his state's legislation, with his administration arguing that it would encourage faith-based groups to place more abused and neglected children in state custody.

Backers of the Kansas bill acknowledged that faith-based agencies have been operating in Kansas for decades without issue. But they fear that lawsuits or turnover among state officials could result in an environment hostile to some religious groups' views. A few saw vocal opposition from LGBT-rights advocates as evidence that a shift could be coming.

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Arizona schools reopen after education funding deal reached

PHOENIX (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Arizona schoolchildren can go back to class now that the Legislature passed an education funding deal, ending a six-day walkout that shuttered classrooms around the state.

Strike organizers called for an end to the walkout Thursday after a dramatic all-night legislative session resulted in a 20 percent pay raise by 2020. Some districts planned to reopen Friday, while others said they would resume classes next week.

"We will return to our schools, classrooms, and students knowing that we have achieved something truly historic," said a joint statement issued by Arizona Education Association President Joe Thomas and National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia. "We should take pride in what we have accomplished, and in the movement that we have created together."

The education funding plan approved by lawmakers shortly before dawn was immediately signed by Gov. Doug Ducey, awarding teachers a 9 percent raise in the fall and 5 percent in each of the next two years. Those increases, which are in addition to a 1 percent raise granted last year, will cost about $300 million for the coming year alone.

Ducey praised the legislation as "a real win" for both teachers and students.

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Deadly unrest at Gaza border mirrors Israeli author's novel

JERUSALEM (AP) — For Israeli author Mishka Ben-David, the deadly scenes that have been playing out every Friday for weeks along Gaza's border, with thousands of Palestinian protesters marching and threatening to storm the security fence and Israeli troops opening fire, are eerily familiar.

They have already taken place — on the pages of his best-selling thriller last year, "The Shark."

The novel begins with a cross-border tunnel attack by Hamas militants, followed by a mass march by thousands of Gaza Palestinians into southern Israel. As the story unfolds, Israel's adversaries — Iran, the militant Lebanese Hezbollah group and Syria — enter the fray, backed by Russia.

Events escalate into a region-wide war, with mayhem and death at every turn.

Hamas missiles topple one of Tel Aviv's Azrieli towers and in the book's climax, (SPOILER ALERT) an Israeli submarine fires off nuclear missiles in a desperate attempt to save the country. The book's title, "The Shark," is the name of the submarine at the center of the action.