Washington (AFP) – US gun makers earned $1 billion in the past decade from sales of AR-15-style semiautomatic weapons, a House committee said Wednesday as lawmakers grilled firearms manufacturers after a series of grim mass shootings.

“The gun industry has flooded our neighborhoods, our schools and even our churches and synagogues with these deadly weapons and has gotten rich doing it,” Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney said.

“They are choosing their bottom line over the lives of their fellow Americans,” the New York lawmaker told a tense day-long hearing of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. “This is beyond irresponsible.”

Maloney and other Democrats accused the gun manufacturers of using “dangerous” marketing tactics to sell firearms to young people and of failing to “acknowledge their role in the violence plaguing our nation.”

“We know the power of marketing, especially the power of marketing to young people, whether it’s cereal or cigarettes, or in this case, guns,” said Bradley Schneider, a Democratic congressman who lives in Highland Park, where a young man shot dead seven people during a July 4 parade.

At a hearing attended by several relatives of victims of recent mass shootings, Democrats called for a lifting of the immunity from lawsuits enjoyed by gun makers so they can be held accountable.

Under a 2005 law, gun manufacturers are not liable in the United States for the use of their firearms in the commission of a crime.

Marty Daniel, chief executive officer of Daniel Defense — maker of the gun used by a young man to kill 19 school children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas — defended his company’s business practices.

“The stated implied purpose of this hearing is to vilify, blame and try to ban over 24 million sporting rifles already in circulation that are lawfully possessed and commonly used by millions of Americans to protect their homes and loved ones,” Daniel said.

“I believe our nation’s response needs to focus not on the type of gun but on the types of persons who are likely to commit mass shootings,” he said.

Christopher Killoy, president and CEO of Sturm, Ruger & Co., said it would be “wrong to deprive citizens of their constitutional right to purchase a lawful firearm they desire because of the criminal acts of wicked people.”

Bill to ban assault weapons

Republican lawmakers also pushed back against their Democratic colleagues.

“Gun manufacturers do not cause violent crime,” said Representative James Comer of Kentucky. “Criminals cause violent crime.”

“We’ll continue to protect the rights of all law-abiding gun owners who safely use, store and carry firearms including the AR-15,” Comer said.

According to a report by the House Oversight and Reform Committee, five major gun manufacturers reaped more than $1 billion from the sale of assault rifles over the last decade.

Daniel Defense’s revenue from AR-15-style rifles tripled from $40 million in 2019 to more than $120 million in 2021, the report said.

Ruger’s earnings from AR-15-style rifles rose from $39 million to $103 million during the period while Smith & Wesson’s revenue from long guns, including AR-15-style rifles, doubled, from $108 million to $253 million.

The Democratic-controlled House is moving forward for the first time in nearly 20 years with a bill that would ban the sale, import, manufacture or transfer of certain types of semi-automatic weapons.

The “Assault Weapons Ban of 2021” would likely be doomed to fail in the Senate, however.

Democrats have 50 seats in the 100-member Senate and 10 Republican votes would be needed to bring the measure to the floor.

Congress passed a 10-year ban on assault rifles and certain high-capacity magazines in 1994.

But lawmakers let it expire in 2004, and sales of those weapons have soared since then.

After the Uvalde massacre, President Joe Biden appealed to lawmakers to again ban assault rifles or at least raise the minimum age for buying them from 18 to 21.

But Republican lawmakers, who see such a restriction as going against the constitutional right to bear arms, have refused to go along with Biden’s proposal.

Kevin Bacon says the cast of ‘They/Them’ gives him “hope” for positive change in the campaign for queer rights.

The 64-year-old star features in the new LGBTQ+ horror movie and explained that he has been left feeling optimistic that the US Supreme Court will have a tough time reversing queer rights.

Kevin told ET Canada at the film’s premiere: “It’s tough to find hope sometimes these days, but we have to hope still.

“The one thing that we can be hopeful about is that there are young people like the people in this movie who are the future.”

The ‘Footloose’ actor’s comments come after the United States House of Representatives passed legislation that requires states to recognise same-sex marriages that have taken place elsewhere in the country and Bacon hopes that the film can help others recognise the traumas that conversion camps put LGBTQ+ people through as he only discovered the extent of the issue during his research for the part.

He explained: “I just kind of thought, ‘Well, is that really going on?’ And, it is for 50,000 kids a year, in 20 states where it’s 100 per cent legal.

“That’s just not cool and the idea that somebody would want to tell Theo, that Theo can’t be who Theo is, is just kind of sickening to me.”

Kevin revealed that he felt emotional when he started working with his co-stars on the film.

He said: “The first day that I walked out for the very first scene in the movie and I looked out across everybody, all these beautiful faces standing there, I just felt it was very moving for me. I was very, very proud and very moved.

“John Logan (the director) did a very exhaustive search to find the best possible people to play these very specific roles and they can now be represented in this movie with a lot of authenticity and a lot of honesty.”

By Moira Warburton and Rose Horowitch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Executives from major gun manufacturers are set to testify on Wednesday before a U.S. House of Representatives panel investigating recent mass shootings in Texas and New York.

The hearing, held by the House Oversight committee, will “examine the responsibility that the firearm industry bears in contributing to the gun violence epidemic in the United States and the steps Congress can take to hold manufacturers accountable,” Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York, said in a statement.

Confirmed witnesses include Christopher Killoy, president and chief executive of Sturm, Ruger & Co Inc and Marty Daniel, CEO of Daniel Defense LLC. Mark P. Smith, president and CEO of Smith & Wesson Brands Inc, is listed as invited.

The committee sought responses from each of the executives following mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York.

The shootings, which took place just 10 days apart in May, killed 31 people and rattled a country notorious for its high rate of gun violence.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton and Rose Horowitch in Washington; editing by Richard Pullin)

Victoria Beckham will reunite with the Spice Girls for a new documentary series.

The 48-year-old fashion designer declined to rejoin Emma Bunton, Mel B, Mel C, and Geri Horner for their reunion concerts in 2019 but she’s agreed to join them in a new series documenting their rise to stardom and the group’s wider impact on pop culture, The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column reports.

The programme will be made by the same team behind Netflix’s Michael Jordan docuseries ‘The Last Dance’.

Speaking about the basketball programme, Mel B said in an interview in Australia: “The director and the whole concept of how that was shot and filmed is really, really, really good. So we’ll be doing our own version with them.”

The quintet will share some of their favourite stories and previously-unheard anecdotes from their time together.

During her interview, Mel shared one such tale.

She said: “The rap in the ‘Wannabe’ video, I actually wrote on the toilet while the other girls were doing the vocals.

“My kids go, ‘Mummy, your music has come full circle’, and I’m thinking, ‘Ooh they’re going to compliment me’. Then I get told, ‘It’s come full circle because now you’re just vintage’. Old but good.”

It seems Victoria has been getting in the mood for the docuseries because a few days ago, her husband David revealed she had been singing the group’s hit ‘Stop’ on karaoke.

Alongside a video clip of the performance, David wrote on Instagram: “Karaoke night with the one a only Posh Spice”(sic)

The ‘Not Such an Innocent Girl’ singer later reposted the clip to her own Instagram story and captioned it “Only for you @davidbeckham.”

Melanie C was quick to comment on the post and joked that she was pleased to see that her former bandmate was “getting a head start on rehearsals.”

She wrote: “nice to see you getting a head start on rehearsals! [kiss emoji] [cry laugh emoji]”

New York (AFP) – The jacket worn by US astronaut Buzz Aldrin during his 1969 flight to the Moon aboard Apollo 11 was sold at auction for $2.7 million in New York Tuesday, Sotheby’s announced.

The white jacket, adorned with an American flag, NASA’s initials, a patch for the Apollo 11 mission and the name “E. ALDRIN,” is part of a personal collection of items the 92-year-old astronaut decided to put up for sale. 

“The exceptionally rare garment was chased by multiple bidders for almost ten minutes before selling to a bidder on the phone,” Sotheby’s said in a statement. 

“After deep consideration, the time felt right to share these items with the world, which for many are symbols of a historical moment, but for me have always remained personal mementos of a life dedicated to science and exploration,” Aldrin, the last living member of Apollo 11’s three-member flight crew, said in a statement last week. 

He explained the jacket was separate from the spacesuit he wore while walking on the moon with fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong, but that he wore it while flying to and from the Moon. 

“I wore this Inflight Coverall Jacket… in the Command Module Columbia, on our historic journey to the Moon and back home again during the Apollo 11 mission,” Aldrin said.

The suits worn on the Moon by Aldrin and Armstrong are part of the National Air and Space Museum’s collections in Washington. 

In total, the New York auction garnered $8.2 million for 68 items sold out of the 69 offered, including $819,000 for a flight plan. 

New York (AFP) – New York City asked the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday to rename the monkeypox virus to avoid stigmatizing patients who might then hold off on seeking care.

New York has seen more cases of the disease, which the WHO declared a global health emergency over the weekend, than any other city in the United States, with 1,092 infections detected so far.

“We have a growing concern for the potentially devastating and stigmatizing effects that the messaging around the ‘monkeypox’ virus can have on… already vulnerable communities,” New York City public health commissioner Ashwin Vasan said in a letter to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus dated Tuesday. 

The WHO had floated the idea of changing the name of the virus, which is related to the eradicated smallpox virus, during a press conference last month, a proposal Vasan mentioned in his letter. 

Vasan referenced the “painful and racist history within which terminology like (monkeypox) is rooted for communities of color.”

He pointed to the fact that monkeypox did not actually originate in primates, as the name might suggest, and recalled the negative effects of misinformation during the early days of the HIV epidemic and the racism faced by Asian communities that was exacerbated by former president Donald Trump calling Covid-19 the “China virus.”

“Continuing to use the term ‘monkeypox’ to describe the current outbreak may reignite these traumatic feelings of racism and stigma — particularly for Black people and other people of color, as well as members of the LGBTQIA+ communities, and it is possible that they may avoid engaging in vital health care services because of it,” Vasan said.

Anyone is susceptible to contracting monkeypox, which has long been endemic in Central and Western Africa, but so far its spread in Europe and the United States has been mostly concentrated among men who have sex with other men. 

The first symptoms can include a fever and fatigue, followed a few days later by a rash that can turn into painful, fluid-filled skin lesions, which may last for a few weeks before turning into scabs that then fall off.

No deaths have been reported so far in Europe or the United States.

More than 16,000 confirmed cases have been recorded in 75 countries so far this year, the WHO said on Monday.

A limited number of doses of a smallpox vaccine found to protect against monkeypox, called Jynneos, have been administered in New York, mostly to gay and bisexual men. 

Reese Witherspoon feels ‘The Morning Show’ exposes the brutal truth of what women face in the workplace.

The 46-year-old actress plays field reporter Bradley Jackson in the AppleTV+ series, which she also produces, and claims its #MeToo themes are “really resonating” with audiences and are particularly relevant to females in media.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight on Monday (25.07.22), she said: “It’s a lot of hard work. “It’s one of those shows that really touches people, because I think it’s really speaking to the truth about what it is to be a woman in the workplace, in particular a woman in media.

“I think it’s really resonating with audiences around the world.”

The series has had three Emmy nods – Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Reese, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Billy Crudup, and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Marcia Gay Harden.

Reese added: “I was actually on an airplane and then I landed and then I got the news about the Emmy nomination.

“I was so thrilled, just thrilled, to see how many nominations we got for Morning Show. It’s really a labour of love for all of us and we’re a family. We were all very excited that our show is being acknowledged.”

The first episode of season two of ‘The Morning Show’ opened with Jennifer Aniston’s character Alex and Bradley’s public exposure of their boss’s knowledge of sexual misconduct at their news network UBA.

Critics say it rode the coattails of the #MeToo, while Apple touts it as an exploration of “the cutthroat world of morning news and the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning”.

It adds about the show, which was renewed for a third series in January 2022: “Told through the lens of two complicated women working to navigate the minefield of high-octane jobs while facing crises in both their personal and professional lives, ‘The Morning Show’ is an unapologetically candid drama that looks at the power dynamics between women and men, and women and women, in the workplace.”

Joni Mitchell, shown at the MusiCares gala in April 2022, surprised fans with a set at the Newport Folk Festival

New York (AFP) – Joni Mitchell delivered her first full set in more than 20 years this weekend, surprising attendees at the Newport Folk Festival alongside country star Brandi Carlile.

The show followed Mitchell’s stage cameo earlier this year, when she joined other artists as they performed a moving tribute to her life’s work at the MusiCares pre-Grammy gala.

Both moments marked rare public appearances for the trailblazing Mitchell, who in 2015 suffered a brain aneurysm that left her temporarily unable to speak, the aftermath of which has involved extensive physical therapy.

Mitchell and Carlile sang duets including the 78-year-old’s “A Case of You” and “Both Sides Now,” while the Canadian-born folk icon delighted the crowd by playing the lengthy solo from “Just Like This Train” on an electric guitar.

Mitchell last appeared at Newport, an annual festival in Rhode Island, in 1969. 

Sunday’s 13-song set also featured her classic environmentalist anthem “Big Yellow Taxi” and “The Circle Game” along with renditions of “Summertime,” “Love Potion No. 9” and “Why Do Fools Fall in Love.”

The revolutionary singer-songwriter earlier this year was honored as MusiCares’ Person of the Year at the charity gala that precedes the Grammys, where she gave a brief performance.

The next night she accepted the Grammy for Best Historical Album, appearing in a red leather beret, sunglasses and floral pants, her flowing blonde hair in pigtails.

Born in a small town in western Canada, Mitchell had her start playing small clubs and eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she became a pivotal figure in the 1960s Laurel Canyon music scene and beyond.

She is considered one of her generation’s most iconic singer-songwriters, giving rise to the phenomenon of the solitary and thoughtful musician who pours out emotion on stage.

Last summer her seminal album “Blue” charted number one on iTunes as it hit its fiftieth anniversary — outperforming even pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo’s “Sour.”

Voicing her own astonishment over the milestone on the MusiCares red carpet, Mitchell earlier this year explained her album’s enduring popularity and recent resurgence: “Maybe people want to get a little bit deeper.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Marc Short, who was a top staffer to Republican former Vice President Mike Pence, on Monday confirmed he had testified before a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“I did receive a subpoena for the federal grand jury and I complied with that subpoena,” Short told CNN. He declined to provide any details on his testimony.

ABC News first reported that Short, who served as Pence’s chief of staff, had testified on Friday afternoon. Both ABC’s cameras and Reuters cameras captured footage of Short leaving the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., alongside his attorney Emmet Flood.

Short is the most high-profile official known to have appeared before the grand jury, which is also probing the effort by former President Donald Trump’s allies to submit slates of fake electors to overturn the 2020 election.

Short’s appearance is a sign the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into the attack on the Capitol and the fake elector plot is heating up.

In the interview with CNN, Short said it was unfair to characterize the pro-Trump mob as simply exercising their First Amendment free speech rights.

“Certainly there were probably some people who foolishly got caught up in the events that were happening on the sixth, but I think it’s unfair to describe the rioters as patriots who were merely expressing their First Amendment rights,” he said.

Short said although the Secret Service wanted to evacuate Pence from the Capitol, where he was preparing to certify the presidential election results, the vice president wanted to stay.

“The vice president didn’t want the image of a 15-car motorcade fleeing the hallmark of democracy for the world to see,” he told CNN.

In an interview with CNN earlier this year, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco confirmed the Justice Department had received referrals about slates of alternative fake electors that were sent to the National Archives, and said prosecutors were reviewing them.

Copies of the phony electoral slates submitted to the National Archives by pro-Trump Republicans in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were made public in March by the non-profit watchdog group American Oversight, which obtained them through a public records request.

The Office of the Federal Register, part of the National Archives, coordinates some functions of the Electoral College between the states and Congress, including receiving the certificates from the states that identify their electors and receiving the certificates of votes by the electors.

The fake elector plot has featured prominently in multiple hearings of the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives committee probing the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Rusty Bowers, the Arizona state House Republican speaker, testified in June that Trump and his close aides, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and adviser John Eastman, urged Bowers to reject the election results.

In recent months, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., has started issuing grand jury subpoenas to electors, including some who signed the bogus certificates.

According to one subpoena seen by Reuters that is focused on the phony slate of electors in Georgia, investigators are seeking copies of documents from October 2020 related to “any effort, plan or attempt to serve as an elector in favor of Donald J. Trump and/or Mike R. Pence.”

They are also seeking copies of communications between would-be electors and any federal government employees, any employees or agents of Trump, as well as communications with a long list of people including Giuliani and Eastman.

Arizona’s Republican party chair, Kelli Ward, and her husband, Michael Ward, who both signed their names on one of the slates of alternate electors for Trump, have also received subpoenas.

Alexander Kolodin, an attorney for the Wards, told Reuters earlier this month that the DOJ’s investigation is “based on allegations that our clients engaged in core First Amendment-protected activity, namely petitioning Congress for redress of grievances.”

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Tim Ahmann in Washington and Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by Scott Malone and Leslie Adler)