Authorities from the New York Police Department are currently probing an incident involving the desecration of a Virgin Mary statue outside St. Rita Roman Catholic Church located in Long Island City. This act is being viewed as a potential hate crime after an individual scaled a fence and proceeded to demolish the statue with a hammer.

Footage released by the Diocese of Brooklyn shows the suspect, wearing a mask, aggressively attacking the statue outside the church. Catholic officials have pointed out that this act is part of a troubling pattern of assaults that have besieged the parish.

Church representatives revealed in a statement that the recent act of vandalism is the fourth to occur at this parish since 2024. The NYPD is actively investigating this episode under the possibility that it’s a hate crime.

As per the Diocese of Brooklyn, the event transpired at approximately 1:42 a.m. on August 1.

The video shows the man, who is wearing a dark T-shirt and shorts, climb over the fence into a courtyard where a statue of the Blessed Mother stood.

The suspect removes a hammer from his pocket and repeatedly strikes the statue before knocking it off its pedestal. He then climbs back over the fence and walks away.

The Diocese said in a statement the attack was the fourth vandalism incident at St. Rita Roman Catholic Church since 2024.

Past acts of vandalism at the parish include the destruction of a 60-year-old stained-glass window and graffiti that defaced a statue of St. Francis of Assisi and the sidewalk.

There was also damage done to a statue of St. Jude inside the church.

The Diocese of Brooklyn told News Media no arrests had been made.

“This week, the NYPD also issued a crime stats update and hate crimes are up by 9.4% over the same 7-month period (Jan-July) of last year,” John Quaglione, deputy press secretary for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn said.

Jefry Yan marked a milestone with a jubilant celebration following his eagerly anticipated first MLB strikeout.

The 29-year-old rookie reliever for the Mets experienced a big moment during his major league debut against the Guardians at Progressive Field. Facing pinch-hitter Angel Martínez, Yan struck him out, unfurling the exuberant celebration that had already made him a minor league internet star.

In an electrifying display, Yan leaped into the air, spread his legs apart mid-air, then landed with an energetic arm pump that left fans talking.

Despite yielding two singles and a walk, the left-handed pitcher later managed to strike out Chase DeLauter and forced Jo Adell to ground into a force out, successfully completing a scoreless sixth inning.

Yan had pledged to bring his signature celebration to the big leagues after the Mets called him up from Triple-A Syracuse this week, and he certainly delivered.

“I am going to continue to go out there the same way,” Yan said through an interpreter Tuesday. “I am going to go out there with the same type of emotion, the same type of fun — have fun like I am playing a kids’ game, like I always have.”

The moment marked the end of a long journey for Yan, who signed with the Angels as a teenager but underwent Tommy John surgery and was out of professional baseball. 

He worked as a roofer and returned to the mound through a men’s league in Arizona and later pitched in the Marlins organization, Japan and the Rockies’ system before joining the Mets.

Yan recorded a 3.24 ERA and 77 strikeouts across 41 2/3 innings between Double-A Binghamton and Syracuse this season before finally getting the call up to the majors.

In a significant development, senators conducting a probe into the Covid-19 pandemic response have now secured data from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s phone. This comes as the prominent health official faces potential contempt charges.

Last week, Dr. Fauci was subjected to intense questioning by the senators on the Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, following which he opted for silence over disclosure. Remarkably, Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights more than 100 times, choosing not to answer the barrage of inquiries about pandemic-era public health strategies.

This Thursday, the subcommittee members will decide Dr. Fauci’s fate with a vote on whether to hold him in contempt for his refusal to cooperate. The decision could set a precedent for how such matters are handled in the future.

While the senators have yet to disclose plans about making their findings public, these insights might provide valuable context to the decisions made by health authorities during the pandemic, arguably one of the most challenging public health crises in modern times.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the phone data, recently handed over to the senators, was obtained by the Department of Health and Human Services, marking a pivotal moment in the investigation as this information undergoes scrutiny by the subcommittee.

A spokesperson for Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the subcommittee, told the publication that Fauci used the phone while serving as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

The subcommittee has pressed for documents related to how public health officials handled the pandemic, including Fauci’s journals, which were released earlier this week.

Sources familiar with the investigation told the Journal that Johnson and Senator Rand Paul have received millions of documents related to Fauci from government servers, and are still pushing for more. 

Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022 and was a critical leader during the Covid-19 pandemic.

His decisions during the health emergency have come under scrutiny and become the subject of political polarization. 

After Donald Trump was elected president in 2024, then-President Joe Biden pre-emptively pardoned Fauci as Republicans vowed to federally prosecute the lead scientist.

Fauci has now found himself at the center of the subcommittee’s investigation, with Senator Paul accusing him of covering up a conspiracy theory that the virus came from a lab leak. 

Fauci has denied the accusations against him and accused Paul of an ‘unhinged obsession’ with him.  

‘Given Senator Paul’s obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution, his repeated slanderous comments about me, and recently his publicly releasing my unredacted personal diary aimed at embarrassing and intimidating me,’ Fauci said during his opening statement at the senate hearing. 

‘The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up in his words “behind bars.”‘

‘Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion,’ he added. 

During questioning, he repeatedly told the senators: ‘On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.’ 

Fauci’s attorney David Schertler was physically removed by security in an explosive moment when he attempted to speak on behalf on Fauci.

‘I didn’t invite you here to testify,’ exclaimed Paul before setting the guards on him to drag him out.

As part of the investigation, Fauci’s personal journals have also been released, which Paul argued showed ‘his love for the newfound fame COVID brought him.

Paul published a paragraph from Fauci’s writings, accusing the scientist of ‘fangirling’ over explaining Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, to Barbra Streisand.

‘She wanted to know if it was okay to get [an] mRNA vaccine. I told her yes,’ Fauci wrote of the ‘great call.’

He then spoke about listening to Streisand’s music on the Alexa device before saying the longtime star ‘really did not know what Alexa was.’

He then admitted to having ‘butt called’ her later the same day, only to discover Streisand had been planning to call him anyway to ask about differences between the Moderna and Pfizer jabs.

Fauci will return to Capitol Hill to face a contempt vote for refusing to answer the senator’s questions. 

Republican senators on the subcommittee have argued that he did not have the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment because he was already pardoned. 

Fauci’s presidential pardon applies only to federal cases, so it does not protect him from state prosecutions. 

After his testimony, officials in Alabama, Louisiana and Florida have announced investigations against Fauci. 

If the subcommittee votes to hold Fauci in contempt, the matter would then be sent to the Senate for a full vote or referred to federal prosecutors.

Fauci could then potentially face a misdemeanor charge of criminal contempt, which can result in fines and a prison sentence of up to a year if convicted.  

A delivery driver is facing criticism after a doorbell camera revealed a package being tossed, rather than carefully delivered, onto a homeowner’s porch.

Florida resident Nathan Pekas shared footage from his Ring camera, showing a driver approaching the house and unceremoniously tossing a package onto the hard concrete porch. The driver then casually lifted their handheld device to snap a photo for proof of delivery before walking away, seemingly unfazed by the dog’s howling from inside.

In the video, the package hits the ground with a noticeable bang, underscoring the lack of care in handling the item before the driver swiftly captured a photo and left without ensuring the package was properly placed at the doorstep.

Pekas informed Storyful that the delivery was handled by Yun Express, a third-party logistics company contracted for certain Amazon shipments.

He also shared a photo showing what appeared to be damage to one corner of the box.

The Florida resident said he was surprised by the driver’s handling of the delivery, joking that the state’s sweltering summer heat “must have been too much to make those extra two steps to the door.”

Amazon acknowledged the incident in a statement provided to Storyful.

“This video does not reflect the standards we have for our delivery partners and we’re looking into this matter,” an Amazon spokesperson said.

It was not immediately clear whether the contents of the package were damaged or whether the driver remains assigned to make Amazon deliveries.

News Media has reached out to Amazon for additional comment.

The incident is the latest package delivery to go viral after being captured on a homeowner’s doorbell camera.

Last month, a FedEx driver in Georgia made headlines after tumbling backward into a front yard swimming pool while stepping away to take a proof-of-delivery photo.

The driver quickly laughed off the mishap, joking, “I needed that,” before climbing out of the pool and returning to the delivery route.

Call me old-fashioned, but wasn’t openly declaring “I love Hitler” once a surefire way to be barred from Manhattan’s prestigious circles?

It certainly seemed that way.

Yet, in these unconventional times, bold displays of antisemitism seem to warrant the welcoming treatment in what some now dub the Bigoted Apple.

Uttering vile slurs like “F–king Jewish bitch!” and “Jewish c–t” at a bar, it seems, doesn’t faze Anna Wintour—who is often jestingly referred to as Her Royal Haughtiness.

Anna Wintour, the influential figurehead at Condé Nast and former Vogue editor, recently showcased this by selecting the embattled British designer John Galliano as the centerpiece for next year’s Met Costume Institute exhibition.

Anna said, “There is no one more deserving.”

So, the one-time Christian Dior creative director, who was found guilty in France in 2011 of going on antisemitic and racist rants, will be feted at the 2027 Met Gala, NYC’s annual gated-community prom, by A-List stars, sports icons, artists and politicians.

Haven’t we spent the last six years being lectured about inclusion by the exact same elite attendees of this $100,000-per-person event? 

Haven’t they loudly driven the point home — typically in the service of self-preservation — that words and deeds matter and have consequences?

Why, yes they have.

Thus, in choosing Galliano, Wintour and her celeb pals are effectively saying, “Except when it comes to vile hate speech about Jews.” 

That’s totally fine with them. In-Vogue, even.

By the way, this is not some vetting “whoopsie!” in which social media users dug up old offensive tweets. Galliano’s guilt is common knowledge. Wintour didn’t become the world’s only famous editor by being dumb. She knows exactly what she’s doing. 

Wintour wasn’t caught between a rock and a racist. Galliano isn’t on the verge of death. He’s 65 — not 90. The Met hasn’t exhausted its supply of designers to showcase.

This is a carefully constructed, calculated exercise in a pal’s image rehab that’s happening opportunistically at a time when she knows she’ll get minimal pushback in the press for rubber-stamping an antisemite. Indeed, she has not.

The devil not only wears Prada — she issues public pardons.

“There is no one more deserving of an exhibition of this scale than John Galliano,” Wintour said on Vogue.com. 

No one more deserving! 

“He’s a great designer and his career isn’t defined by a moment – something that he will live with for the rest of his life. The exhibition won’t shy away from any of the darkness in John’s past. It’s part of what has shaped him. The show will take in the full arc of his career and grapple with all of it.”

A k a a couple of placards buried amidst hundreds of fabulous couture dresses.

What exactly does Wintour consider a fleeting lapse of judgement? 

Would it be this quote caught on video at the Paris bar Le Perle in 2011?

“I love Hitler, and people like you would be dead today,” the designer, who says he was drunk, is seen telling a Jewish woman. “Your mothers, your forefathers, would be f–king gassed and f–king dead.”

There’s only one takeaway to be had: That’s evil. 

After the damning video dropped, Galliano was fired from Dior, went to rehab and reportedly met with the Anti-Defamation League. 

Really, though, had there been no filmed evidence and therefore no conviction, would he have done either? Not a chance. That was a desperate, last-ditch effort to salvage the scraps of his career.

In court, Galliano testified he had no memory of the incidents in 2010 and 2011. The woman claimed he said the word “Jewish” at least 30 times. 

Galliano blamed the tirade on his addiction to alcohol, valium and sleeping pills. Excuse me? Booze did not make any disgusting, bigoted comments. He did. Pills did not sinisterly plant those abhorrent thoughts into his head. They were already there.

Yet what did Wintour say? Ah, yes. “There is no one more deserving.”

And Anna’s gone full-out to ensure that everyone falls in line.

The New York Times reported that Wintour and Met Costume Institute head Andrew Bolton have met with “influential rabbis and Jewish leaders” in New York City “to get their thoughts on the potential issues with next year’s planned fashion extravaganza … and perhaps their blessing for it.”

Yuck. All it should earn is their full-throated condemnation.

This is not an endorsement of cancel culture. People can and have hired Galliano. Two years after the incident, he landed a high-profile residency with Oscar de la Renta that Wintour reportedly helped broker. You can see the pattern here.

Her failure this time is not recognizing the obvious difference between forgiveness and celebration.

She simply cannot throw a giant party, the biggest cultural event of the spring, honoring the guy who flatly said “I love Hitler” angrily at a Jewish bar patron. Ever. But especially right now.

According to NYPD data, about half of all hate crimes committed in 2026 have been against Jewish New Yorkers — the largest share of any group.

This bash is sending a loud-and-clear message from tastemakers that antisemitism is OK — nay, worthy of a showcase and glamorous ball.

That’s the only conclusion from what the all-powerful Anna has proclaimed from behind her sunglasses: For her ilk, there is no one more deserving.

While her young daughter was gracing the runway, it was Lil’ Kim who became the center of attention.

Making an uncommon public appearance, the rapper was present to cheer on her 12-year-old daughter, Royal Reign. The fashion event, known as the Rookie Kids Back-to-School Fashion Show, took place at Iron23 in New York City and featured the offspring of several celebrities.

However, Lil’ Kim, at 52, captivated audience members, as her appearance sparked a flurry of online commentary. Many found her look so transformed that they claimed she was hard to identify.

Comments surfaced expressing disappointment, with one stating, “Very sad. She was a really beautiful girl,” and another suggesting, “That ain’t her, that’s a clone.”

One user summed up the sentiment with a simple question: “What happened?”

‘Lil’ Kim has suffered low self-esteem for countless years,’ a source close to the rapper told the Daily Mail. ‘She gets work done to make her feel better about herself. It’s part of her self-care routine.

‘She likes being youthful and maintaining her looks. Being in your 50s can be daunting. Let’s just say she’ll do whatever she can to make herself look young again.

‘She has this certain reputation as being Queen Bee – of course she wants to live up to that. She’s not going to be one to ever have a wrinkle on her face.’

But Lil’ Kim’s desire to change her looks may run deeper than any vanity project. Instead, they said, it is a desperate bid to find peace with her appearance. 

The hip-hop star previously has said she was forced to undergo corrective surgery after falling victim to physical domestic abuse and being made to feel like she wasn’t good enough for years.

Born Kimberly Denise Jones in Brooklyn, New York, in 1974, she adopted the moniker Lil’ Kim after The Notorious B.I.G. (real name Christopher Wallace) brought her into the hip-hop group Junior M.A.F.I.A., before helping launch her solo career. She went on to have hits with Magic Stick and Lady Marmalade, tallying up numerous awards for her music.

But with her fame came a string of tumultuous relationships, making her question her self-worth.

‘I have low self-esteem and always have,’ she told Newsweek in 2000. ‘Guys always cheated on me with women who were European-looking… that left me thinking “how can I compete with that?” Being a regular black girl wasn’t good enough.’

It was around this time that she was in what she described as an extremely violent relationship with her ex-fiancé Damion ‘World’ Hardy, a former Brooklyn gang leader who ran the Cash Money Brothers criminal enterprise.

Hardy was arrested in 2004, marking the start of lengthy legal proceedings. In 2015, he was sentenced to six terms of life imprisonment following his conviction for racketeering, six murders and other violent crimes.

Lil’ Kim – who in 2005 served her own ten-month prison sentence on three counts of perjury and one count of conspiracy after lying to protect friends involved in a gun fight – later revealed that Hardy left her with ‘black eyes, bloody lips, busted nose,’ and deep physical trauma.

‘I came out of the hospital from getting my nose done and he broke my s**t again,’ she said previously. ‘I had to have MRIs because one time I was beaten so bad that I couldn’t even move, and I had blood clots all in my back and head. I couldn’t walk.’

In a 2005 interview with radio host Angie Martinez, she said: ‘You just got to be strong and say that I am beautiful. As women, we gotta know that. You really got to sit and look in the mirror sometime and say that to yourself. Whether you feel it or not, you gotta just say that and believe that.’

Following the alleged abuse, she said she required medical and cosmetic procedures to repair her facial bones, including a broken nose.

‘It’s not easy to move on after a traumatic experience like that,’ our source said. ‘She can’t escape the past. All she has to do is look in the mirror. The abuse she suffered – she will never forget.

‘It’s truly changed her life. She’s gone through physical abuse from her ex and other type of abuse in her past relationships. It’s hard for her to find someone who doesn’t “use and abuse” her.’

But that was just the beginning of something that would allegedly come to haunt her for years.

Subsequent procedures were later apparently influenced by personal insecurities, vanity and intense pressures of industry beauty standards, which she explained in interviews.

While she has disclosed having multiple nose jobs, breast augmentation surgery and temporary sugar injections for fuller lips – which she said was inspired by her desire to transform her look for a movie role – she has remained largely silent on the rampant speculation about her looks.

Rumors of cheek implants, chin contouring, a brow lift, a Brazilian Butt Lift and even a skin-bleaching treatment have followed her for years.

Lil’ Kim is ‘private about her procedures,’ according to our source, who said, ‘She’s like Madonna. People can speculate but she’ll never address it.’

She has at times, however, fired back at critics. One such occasion was in 2016 when a public debate broke out over her skin tone and she faced accusations of bleaching her skin.

‘Okay but when the f**k did I bleach my skin you miserable moron,’ she snapped.

When asked about skin whitening claims, our source replied: ‘No comment.’

With years of scrutiny, it is perhaps no surprise she has been protective about her image.

Take for example her Fall 2023 Ebony Magazine cover, which celebrated 50 years of hip-hop. Dressed in a pink silk robe and wearing a crown, her face was criticized by fans who claimed there was heavy airbrushing.

The magazine’s photo director, Keith Major, claimed on social media that Lil’ Kim ‘wanted to be in control of the retouching so this is what we got.’

Lil’ Kim appeared to deny the claim, clapping back on Instagram: ‘Who is this?! Cuz that’s not the photo I approved or any other content they’ve put out.

‘I always told Ebony it looked like a painting, but they didn’t wanna listen. They said they loved it. It’s the sabotage for me. The funny s**t about this is that this is THEIR RETOUCHER!’

Our source said: ‘She’s aware of the comments surrounding her appearance and, you know, it is what it is. She can’t stop the people from talking.’

In her 2005 interview with Martinez, she said that such comments ‘don’t bother’ her because she believes she’s ‘beautiful.’

‘There’s certain things that I think I was obsessive with, you know what I mean, and I always have time to fix or whatever but the thing of it is, people think I did it because I had low self-esteem, but that wasn’t the case,’ she said. ‘I think I did it because I was a little too vain at the time. Trying to be perfect. I’m a perfectionist, that’s true.’

But concern from Lil’ Kim’s inner circle has recently turned to her daughter who has access to the ongoing – and often negative – discussion about her mother’s appearance.

‘There are certainly concerns,’ our insider said. ‘Lil’ Kim’s getting media attention for all the wrong reasons. It’s concerning [for] her daughter.

‘It’s heartbreaking. People should be talking about her music, not her face.’ 

Despite her penchant for tweakments, Lil’ Kim is adamant ‘it will be years’ before she lets her daughter touch her own face.

‘She thinks her daughter is beautiful the way she is. She hopes to be a role model to her. Royal means the world to Kim,’ the source continued.

‘She’s out to make her daughter a superstar and would love if she’d follow in her footsteps. Kim’s a great, loving, caring mother and has poured her heart into raising Royal and giving her a good life.’

The Lady Marmalade singer shares Royal with Jeremy Neil aka Mr. Papers. In 2015, Lil’ Kim was embroiled in a domestic violence and custody lawsuit against her ex, alleging he was violent towards her.

Mr. Papers, a rapper from the Bronx, firmly denied the domestic violence claims, and Lil’ Kim asked the court to drop the claims a few weeks later. The exes ultimately reached a joint custody and co-parenting agreement.

For now, Lil’ Kim is focusing on her upcoming tour. In a few weeks, she will join the Pussycat Dolls on their PCD Forever Tour, along with Déjà vu, which kicks off in Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 9.

‘Kim’s super excited to be back on tour and is preparing for her upcoming world tour with the Pussycat Dolls,’ the source said. ‘She’s back and the fans are going to love what she has in store.’

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Lil’ Kim for comment.