10 Things to Know for Today

Friday, May 4, 2018 4:25 AM

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

1. NEW TWISTS IN PRESIDENT'S PAYOFF TO PORN ACTRESS

The surprise revelation of the president's reimbursement to his lawyer of a 2016 hush payment to Stormy Daniels stunned many in the West Wing.

2. TRUMP TO SPEAK TO NRA AMID CALLS FOR TIGHTER WEAPONS RULES

The president's address comes after he briefly strayed from the group's strong opposition to tougher gun controls in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida as nationwide grief turned to burgeoning activism.

3. AUTHOR AWARD FALLS VICTIM TO SCANDAL

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.

4. WHO HAS CREDIBILITY ISSUES AT THE WHITE HOUSE

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is facing a barrage of questions about whether she purposely misled the American people about hush money paid to a porn star who alleges a tryst with President Trump.

5. ISLAND STATE MOUNTAIN LOSES ITS COOL

Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano has erupted, leading to the evacuation of nearly 1,500 residents and sending molten lava to chew its way through forest land and bubble up on paved streets.

6. WHICH NOVEL IS EERILY REFLECTING MIDEAST CONFLICT

Violent scenes in Mishka Ben-David's "The Shark," a best-selling 2017 thriller, have been playing out in real life, every Friday for weeks in protests along Gaza's border with Israel.

7. RUSSIAN LEADER SETS LOFTY GOALS FOR NEW 6-YEAR TERM

Vladimir Putin wants to advance his country in new technologies and artificial intelligence, improve its notoriously poor roads and have its people living significantly longer.

8. DISTURBING METAPHOR DRAWS CRITICISM

The tactical use of lynching references by celebrities under fire is generating disgust among those who have studied the ghastly killings and mutilation of thousands of black people in the U.S.

9. WHERE STUDENTS ARE BACK IN THE CLASSROOM

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 by teachers.

10. HOLLYWOOD IS NO LONGER LOOKING THE OTHER WAY

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expels director Roman Polanski, over 40 years after he pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in 1977.

10 Things to Know for Today

In this photo released by U.S. Geological Survey, ash plume rises above the Puu Oo crater, on Hawaii's Kilaueaa Volcano Thursday, May 3, 2018 in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. 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. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

The Associated Press

File - In this Friday, April 27, 2018 file photo, Palestinian protesters evacuate a wounded youth during a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, east of Khan Younis. The deadly scenes that have been playing out for weeks now along Gazas border, with thousands of Palestinians marching and threatening to storm the security fence and Israeli troops opening fire, are eerily familiar to Israeli author Mishka Ben-David. They have already taken place _ on the pages of his best-selling thriller last year, The Shark. And while the novels doomsday scenario may seem far-fetched to some, Ben-David fears for the region in the absence of an overall peace initiative. (AP Photo/Adel Hana, File)

The Associated Press

Teachers embrace in the Arizona House of Representatives gallery during continued protests as budget legislation nears the end of session at the Arizona Capitol Thursday, May 3, 2018, in Phoenix. After an all night legislative budget session the legislature passed the new education spending portion of the budget and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed that part of the budget. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The Associated Press

FILE In this file photo taken on Sunday, April 8, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he attends the Easter service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia. If Vladimir Putin fulfills the goals hes set for his new six-year term as president, Russia in 2024 will be far advanced in new technologies, many of its notoriously poor roads will be improved, and its people will be living significantly longer. But theres wide doubt about how much of that hell achieve, if any of it. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

The Associated Press

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2011 file photo, Swedish Academy member Katarina Frostenson, left and photographer Jean Claude Arnault attend the Kings Nobel dinner at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The Nobel Prize in literature will be not awarded this year following sex-abuse allegations and other issues within the ranks of the Swedish Academy that selects the winner, it was announced on Friday, May 4, 2018. The Swedish Academy's internal feud 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. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP, File)

The Associated Press