A Missouri woman said she had contracted HPV during unprotected sexual encounters in her partner’s vehicle despite him

Los Angeles (AFP) – A US woman who contracted a sexually transmitted disease from her partner during romantic encounters in his car has been awarded $5.2 million in damages from his vehicle insurance company.

The woman in the state of Missouri successfully claimed her partner had negligently infected her with HPV, and that his policy covered her for “injuries and losses.” 

Referred to in court documents only as M.O., the woman had requested an award of $9.9 million, before an arbitrator determined a sum of $5.2 million would cover her “damages and injuries.”

“Insured should have disclosed his diagnosis to M.O. prior to the sexual activity that occurred, but he did not,” found the arbitrator.

GEICO, the insurer, had rejected the woman’s initial settlement offer, and last year contested the award, but it was upheld by the Missouri Court of Appeals this week.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the United States, and high-risk strains can cause cancer. There is a vaccine against it.

In her initial settlement offer, the woman said she had contracted HPV during unprotected sexual encounters in her partner’s vehicle in late 2017 despite him “having knowledge of his condition.”

The arbitrator found that her partner had “been told that his throat cancer tumor was diagnosed as HPV positive.”

The woman requested compensation for “past and future medical expenses,” as well as “past and future mental and physical pain and suffering.”

Reports of the ruling quickly went viral on social media, prompting humor as well as outrage.

“Crazy damages claims like this are a big part of why car insurance costs so much,” tweeted Elon Musk.

“It should be possible to sue law firms for pursuing insane damages claims.”

Washington (AFP) – Thousands of people took to the streets in the United States on Saturday to push for action on the devastating gun violence plaguing the country, where Republican politicians have repeatedly blocked efforts to enact stricter firearms laws.   

Protesters of all ages streamed onto the National Mall in Washington, where a gun violence prevention group placed more than 45,000 white vases holding flowers — one for each person killed by a firearm in the United States in 2020.

“Protect People Not Guns,” said one sign held by a protester near the Washington Monument. “Fear Has No Place In Schools,” read another.

Two horrific shootings last month — one at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 young children and two teachers, and another at a New York supermarket that left 10 Black people dead — helped spark the call for the protests.

But the problem of gun violence — which has killed more than 19,300 people so far this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive — goes far beyond high-profile mass killings, with more than half of those deaths due to suicide.

“The will of the American people is being subverted by a minority,” said Cynthia Martins, a 63-year-old resident of the US capital, referring to the Republican Party.

She carried a sign that used the party’s “GOP” moniker to spell out “Guns Over People.” 

“There’s a reason that we’re still in this situation and there’s still mass shootings,” Martins said, adding: “Hand wringing is not going to do anything — you have to make your voice heard.”

Garnell Whitfield, whose 86-year-old mother was killed in the racially motivated supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York on May 14, spoke from a stage at the Washington protest.

“We are here to demand justice,” Whitfield said. “We are here to stand with those who are bold enough to demand sensible gun legislation.” 

The protests were organized by March for Our Lives, which was founded by survivors of a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, who held a rally that drew hundreds of thousands of people to the nation’s capital in March 2018.

Demonstrators marched in Parkland on Saturday, carrying signs with messages such as “Am I Next?” and “Books Not Bulletproof Backpacks.”

Widespread outrage, little change

Protesters also turned out in New York City, with demonstrations planned at hundreds of locations around the country.

Ease of access to firearms, and mental health problems that can lead to them being used in attacks, have both been in the spotlight in the wake of the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

The massacre was carried out by a gunman who bought two assault rifles shortly after turning 18.

Gun control advocates are calling for tighter restrictions or an outright ban on such rifles, one of which was also used in Buffalo. But opponents of tougher regulations have sought to cast mass shootings as primarily a mental health issue, not a weapons problem.

Frequent mass shootings have led to widespread outrage in the United States, where a majority of people support tighter gun laws, but opposition from many Republican lawmakers has long been a hurdle to major changes.

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed a broad package of proposals this week that included raising the purchasing age for most semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, but the party does not have the requisite 60 votes to advance it in the Senate.

A cross-party group of senators has also been working on a narrow collection of controls that could develop into the first serious attempt at gun regulation reform in decades.

The package would boost funding for mental health services and school security, narrowly expand background checks, and incentivize states to institute so-called “red flag laws” that enable authorities to confiscate weapons from individuals considered a threat.

But it does not include an assault weapons ban or universal background checks, meaning it will fall short of the expectations of President Joe Biden, progressive Democrats and anti-gun violence activists.

Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma are “very serious” about their romance.

The 42-year-old actress has been dating Ramona since January and they’re “super happy together”.

A source told People: “It’s a very serious relationship and they’re super happy together. It’s been very cool for Rebel’s friends to see her this secure with someone.”

Rebel recently made her romantic relationship with Ramona public, as she posted a sweet snap of them together on her Instagram account.

The Hollywood star – who has more than 11 million followers on the photo-sharing platform – said: “I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince… but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess #loveislove. (sic)”

Another source recently claimed that the loved-up duo have already “discussed marriage and starting a family together”.

The insider said: “She and Agruma have grown very close in a short time. Wilson’s mother Sue Bownds, who lives in Sydney, recently flew to LA to meet Agruma, while the couple have openly discussed having a family and getting married.”

Actor and singer Hugh Sheridan also recently revealed that he introduced Rebel and Ramona to each other.

He shared: “I’d been setting Rebel up with various people and Ramona up with various people. I’m a bit of a matchmaker in my spare time, but Rebel was a really hard one and so was Ramona.

“I think for a woman that is successful, it takes a strong man to stay with them, but I thought a woman with a woman that’s successful might lift each other up.

“So I told Rebel later on and they spoke for a week before Rebel came back from Australia to meet her, and they’ve been together ever since.”

Washington (AFP) – Liz Cheney’s dogged pursuit of Donald Trump over last year’s riot at the US Capitol has cemented her status as the sole Republican to gamble her career as she breaks ranks with her party in the fight for US democracy.

The 55-year-old congresswoman from Wyoming, a daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, was once seen as the tax-cutting, God-fearing, small-government apotheosis of American conservatism.

But her refusal to accept Trump’s false claims of a stolen 2020 election set her on a collision course with the Trump-dominated modern Republican Party, which booted her out of the leadership and disowned her at home in the “Cowboy State.”   

Cheney was one of just 10 Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote to impeach the former president for inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection by his supporters.

“Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain,” she said Thursday in her role as the vice-chair of the House committee investigating Trump over the insurrection. 

Cheney and her colleagues on the panel maintain that the president and his inner circle were part of a criminal conspiracy to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden that culminated in the violence of January 6, 2021.

“In our country, we don’t swear an oath to an individual, or a political party,” Cheney said. “We take our oath to defend the United States Constitution. And that oath must mean something.”

‘Evasion and deflection’

Critics of the Republican leadership argue that it is an oath that the party largely abandoned in its unswerving fealty to its wayward leader, and the populist “America First” sentiment that swept him to power.

A year and a half after being defeated by Biden, Trump retains an iron grip on the Republican Party, which in February adopted as part of its official policy platform the falsehood that the mayhem at the Capitol constituted “legitimate political discourse.” 

“The parts of the conservative elite that still have some self-knowledge know Liz Cheney is right,” conservative commentator Bill Kristol tweeted on Friday.

“But they can’t take a stand against the new (Trumpist) establishment of which they desperately want to be a part. So it’s all evasion and deflection.”

Only one other Republican, Adam Kinzinger, has joined Cheney’s rebellion — but the stakes are lower for the Illinois congressman as he retires anyway in January.  

Both have been tarred as “RINOs” — “Republicans in name only” — by colleagues with far less conservative voting records.

Other Republican lawmakers have tried to walk a fine line between condemning Trump’s role in whipping up the crowd that stormed the Capitol and staying in his good graces.

Not Cheney.

“The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” she said as she explained why Trump deserved blame for the insurrection — reprising word-for-word a withering assessment she first deployed during Trump’s second impeachment.    

Wyoming political royalty

Cheney, the elder of Dick Cheney’s two daughters, comes from a family that is the equivalent of political royalty in staunchly conservative Wyoming.

From 1979 to 1989, her now 81-year-old father held the House seat that she now occupies.

Dick Cheney resigned from Congress to become defense secretary under president George H.W. Bush and went on to serve for eight years as vice president under president George W. Bush.

After graduating from University of Chicago law school, Liz Cheney worked for the International Finance Corporation and served in various State Department posts.

She made an abortive bid for a US Senate seat from Wyoming in 2014 before winning election to the House in 2016.

She easily won re-election in 2018 and 2020, defeating her Democratic opponents by more than 40 points each time.

But the self-described “proud rodeo mom” of five children may have a tougher time around when she faces re-election in November.

Republican candidates are already lining up to challenge Cheney in the party primaries — and Harriet Hageman, who has the backing of Trump, appears to have built up a substantial lead.

Cheney, Hageman alleged in a statement on Friday, is doing “nothing to fight for the people who are suffering, instead playing a central role in the illegitimate January 6 committee designed to distract people from the miserable record of President Biden.”

By Lisa Richwine

(Reuters) -An estimated 20 million people tuned in to live U.S. television broadcasts of Thursday’s hearing by lawmakers probing the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the Nielsen ratings agency said on Friday.

The viewership across 12 networks ranked below other political events such as President Biden’s State of the Union address, which pulled in 38 million viewers in March, but higher than most congressional hearings.

The first televised hearing of the impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump, for example, attracted about 14 million viewers on 10 networks in 2019. It was held during the day, when TV viewership is lower.

The committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by Trump supporters is holding rare primetime hearings to spotlight the findings of its nearly year-long investigation. Broadcasters including ABC, CBS and NBC interrupted regular programming to show the event.

Nielsen’s figures included people who watched via traditional television or streamed through Internet-connected TVs, but they do not capture the full extent of online viewing via social media.

The tally also does not include Fox News Channel, which opted to run its regular opinion programming during the hearing. Fox Business Network covered the hearing live.

Of the 20 million viewers, 15.2 million were age 55 and older, Nielsen said. Less than 1 million people age 18 to 34 watched via the TV networks.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)

By David Shepardson and Mike Stone

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration will scrap a paint scheme for Air Force One proposed by former President Donald Trump, after the Air Force determined the design would create too much heat for the presidential aircraft, a U.S. official said on Friday.

The current exterior color scheme on the presidential aircraft, known as Air Force One when the president is on board, is white with two shades of blue and dates back to President John F. Kennedy’s administration.

Trump, who left office in January 2021, wanted to change it to red, white and blue.

“The Trump paint scheme is not being considered because it could drive additional engineering, time and cost,” an administration official said on condition of anonymity.

The Air Force did not immediately comment.

A spokesman for Trump, Taylor Budowich, criticized the decision and said, “it’s no surprise (Biden) wants to remove the beautiful red, white, and blue design for Air Force One.”

On Wednesday, an Air Force spokeswoman said darker colors, among other factors, on the underside of Air Force One “might contribute to temperatures exceeding the current qualification limits of a small number of components.”

In 2018, Boeing Co received a $3.9 billion contract to build two 747-8 aircraft for use as Air Force One by the U.S. president, due to be delivered by December 2024. Boeing is heavily modifying a pair of 747s for the project.

The Pentagon said this year that the planes are not likely to be delivered until 2026.

A Boeing spokesperson said it was making progress, “while navigating through some challenges.”

The Boeing 747-8s are designed to be an airborne White House able to fly in worst-case security scenarios, such as nuclear war, and are modified with military avionics, advanced communications and a self-defense system.

Earlier this week, a government watchdog said the planes face further delay risks because of a tight labor market for mechanics and lower-than-expected security clearance rates.

The need for Boeing to switch to an alternative supplier for some interior work was also cited by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) as a major schedule risk.

In April, Boeing recorded a $660 million charge in its development of the plane.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Grant McCool)

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The District of Columbia office that polices attorneys for ethical misconduct filed charges on Friday against President Donald Trump’s former attorney, Rudy Giuliani, over baseless claims he made in federal court alleging the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

The D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel alleges that Giuliani, who is a member of the D.C. bar, made baseless claims in federal court filings about the results of the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania.

A lawyer for Giuliani did not have an immediate comment.

The charges come a day after the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol had its first prime-time hearing in which it outlined evidence that Trump and his allies sought to overturn the 2020 election and incite throngs of his supporters to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory.

Giuliani, a former U.S. Attorney in Manhattan and New York City mayor, has been among Trump’s most fervent supporters, and repeatedly claimed without evidence that the election had been stolen.

The new ethics charges center on a series of legal challenges Giuliani made in Pennsylvania federal court in 2020. The charges were filed with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility.

The complaint says Giuliani sought an emergency order to prohibit the certification of the presidential election, an order to invalidate ballots cast by certain voters in seven counties, and other orders that would have permitted the state’s assembly to choose its electors and declare Trump the winner in Pennsylvania.

The charges say his conduct violated two professional conduct rules in Pennsylvania that bar attorneys from bringing frivolous proceedings without a basis in law or fact and prohibit conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.

Charges can lead to the suspension of a license to practice law or disbarment.

The charges mark the second time that a bar office has taken action against Giuliani.

His New York law license was suspended in June 2021 after a state appeals court found that he made “demonstrably false and misleading” statements that widespread voter fraud undermined the election.

Giuliani’s DC law license was temporarily suspended after the New York decision.

Apart from having two of his law licenses suspended, Giuliani’s reputation has been stained by his dealings with Ukraine and he is being probed by Manhattan federal prosecutors over those business ties.

He began representing Trump, a fellow Republican and New Yorker, in April 2018 in connection with then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that documented Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Giuliani has not been charged with criminal wrongdoing. His lawyer has said the federal probe is politically motivated.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in WashingtonAdditional reporting by Karen Freifeld in New YorkEditing by Noeleen Walder and Matthew Lewis)

By Daniel Ramos and Brendan O’Boyle

LA PAZ (Reuters) -A Bolivian court found former President Jeanine Anez guilty on Friday of orchestrating a coup that brought her to power during a 2019 political crisis.

She was sentenced to 10 years in prison. An former military commander and ex-police general were also convicted.

Anez, 54, was convicted of making “decisions contrary to the constitution” and of “dereliction of duty.”

The prosecution said Anez, then a right-wing senator, violated norms that guarantee the constitutional and democratic order after Bolivia’s 2019 presidential elections.

Anez’s defense said it would appeal to international bodies to seek justice, and several sectors of the opposition planned marches to protest the ruling.

Bolivia has been split over whether a coup occurred when then-President Evo Morales resigned in 2019, with Anez ascending to the presidency amid a leadership vacuum left in his wake. Morales’ departure followed mass protests over a disputed election in which he claimed to win a controversial fourth consecutive term in office.

Anez maintains she is innocent.

The contentious case has further exposed the fault lines in a deeply divided country while also fueling concerns about the judicial process in Bolivia.

“We are concerned about how this case has been pursued. And we call on superior courts to examine how the proceedings were conducted,” Cesar Munoz, senior researcher for the Americas at Human Rights Watch, said in an interview before the verdict.

Anez was not allowed to attend the trial in person, instead following the hearing and participating from prison. She has been detained since her arrest in March 2021 on initial charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy.

Members and supporters of Morales’ Movement to Socialism (MAS) party, which returned to power in 2020, say Anez played a key role in what it says was a coup against Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, who oversaw a dramatic reduction in poverty as president from 2005 to 2019.

As president, Anez was accused of political score-settling when her administration prosecuted former MAS officials.

Anez’s supporters say her trial was illegitimate and political. In her trial, Anez said she was the product of circumstance and that her ascension to the top office helped calm a tense nation and lay the groundwork for elections in October 2020.

“I didn’t lift a finger to become president, but I did what I had to do. I assumed the presidency out of obligation, according to what is established in the constitution,” Anez said in her final statement to the judge.

(Reporting by Daniel Ramos in La Paz and Brendan O’Boyle in Mexico City; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by William Mallard)

Britney Spears had a panic attack before her wedding.

The 40-year-old star tied the knot with actor and fitness trainer Sam Asghari on Thursday (09.06.22) and Britney admitted that despite her excitement, she had an attack of nerves before the ceremony.

She wrote on Instagram: “Wow !!! Holy holy c*** !!! WE DID IT !!! WE GOT MARRIED !!! Gggggeeeeezzzzz !!! It was the most spectacular day !!! I was so nervous all morning but then at 2:00 pm it really hit me … WE’RE GETTING MARRIED !!! I had a panic attack and then got it together … the crew who created our home into literally a dream castle were fantastic !!! The ceremony was a dream and the party was even better !!! (sic).”

This comes after Britney’s ex-husband Jason Alexander was booked for trespassing, vandalism and two batteries after being arrested for attempting to crash the wedding.

The 40 year old – who married the ‘Gimme More’ singer in Las Vegas in 2004 for just 55 hours before they had their union annulled – had livestreamed himself sprinting through woods in Thousand Oaks, California, as he approached his former partner’s home, and he managed to get inside the rose-covered wedding area, where Britney was about to marry Sam, before Jason was arrested by police.

Meanwhile, Britney made no mention of Jason but praised a number of her fellow celebrities including Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, Madonna and Paris Hilton for attending.

She wrote: “So many incredible people came to our wedding and I’m still in shock !!! @drewbarrymore my girl crush and @selenagomez who btw is way prettier in person if that’s possible both came !!! I was speechless … I kissed @madonna again and we danced into the night with @ParisHilton … Thank you @donatella_versace for designing my dress … I felt so beautiful … Thank you also to @StephanieGottlieb @CharlotteTilbury and @sofiatilbury for my jewelry and makeup !!! I think we all fell on the dance floor at least 2 times !!! I mean come on … we were all VOGUING !!! @SamAsghari I LOVE YOU !!! (sic).”

Sam and Britney also both shared a video of their big day on Instagram with the caption: “Fairytales are real,”, while Sam added: “Out of a movie.”

Filming Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ reunion was “an emotional day on set”.

The pair previously worked together on the 1986 original and bringing their characters – Tom’s Maverick and Val’s Iceman – back together for the sequel, was a huge moment for director Joseph Kosinski.

Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s ‘Behind the Screen’ podcast, Kosinski said: “To see how much respect they had for each other as actors, and to see a friendship that has evolved over 36 years – it really mirrored what you see on screen in the scene. They are just two actors at the top of their game doing this really beautiful scene for the film that’s so important. It was a very emotional day on set.”

Val has previously opened up about the damage to his voice after a tracheostomy in 2014 during his throat cancer battle and Kosinski revealed how they overcame those issues.

He said: “Val and Tom performed the scene, and then we enhanced Val’s voice by blending it with another one, mostly for clarity, more than anything else.”

And, after previously working with Cruise on 2013’s ‘Oblivion’, Kosinski jumped at the chance to collaborate with him again.

He said: “He’s not just an actor in your film. Obviously he’s a producer on this, but it’s really a partnership. He’s involved with every aspect of the filmmaking and that collaboration is what he really feeds off of and enjoys. … He’s just got this energy that is infectious.”

By Laura Sanicola

(Reuters) -The national average price for U.S. gasoline rose above $5 a gallon for the first time on Saturday, according to data from the AAA, extending a surge in fuel costs that are a central feature of rising inflation overall.

The national average price for regular unleaded gas rose to $5.004 a gallon on June 11 from $4.986 a day earlier, AAA data showed.

Gasoline prices have been a headache for President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats as they struggle to maintain their slim control of Congress with midterm elections coming up in November.

Biden has pulled on numerous levers to try to lower prices, including a record release of barrels from U.S. strategic reserves, waivers on rules for producing summer gasoline, and leaning on major OPEC countries to boost output.

Yet fuel prices have been surging around the world due to a combination of rebounding demand, sanctions on oil producer Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, and a squeeze on refining capacity.

U.S. road travel, however, has remained relatively strong, just a couple of percentage points below pre-pandemic levels, even as prices have risen.

Still, economists expect demand may start to decline if prices remain above $5 a barrel for a sustained period.

“The $5 level is where we could see very heavy amounts of gasoline demand destruction,” said Reid L’Anson, senior economist at Kpler.

Adjusting for inflation, the U.S. gasoline average is still approximately 8% below June 2008 highs around $5.41 a gallon, according to U.S. Energy Department figures.

Consumer spending has so far remained resilient even with inflation running at its highest level in more than four decades, with household balance sheets shored up by pandemic relief programs and a tight job market that has fueled strong wage gains, especially for lower-income workers.

Gasoline product supplied, a proxy for demand, was 9.2 million barrels per day last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, broadly in line with five-year seasonal averages.

The high prices for drivers come as major oil-and-gas companies post bumper profits. Shell reported a record quarter in May and Chevron Corp and BP have posted their best numbers in a decade.

Other majors, including Exxon Mobil and TotalEnergies, as well as U.S. independent shale operators, reported strong figures that have spurred share repurchases and dividend investments.

Numerous companies have said they will avoid excessive investment to boost output due to investors’ desires to hold the line on spending, rather than respond to $100-plus barrel prices that have persisted for months.

(Reporting by Laura Sanicola and Shivani Tanna; editing by David Clarke and Jason Neely)

By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) – Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to rally in Washington, D.C., and across the country on Saturday, calling on lawmakers to pass legislation aimed at curbing gun violence following last month’s massacre at a Texas elementary school.

March for Our Lives (MFOL), the gun safety group founded by student survivors of the 2018 massacre at a Parkland, Florida, high school, said it has planned more than 450 rallies for Saturday, including events in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The organization’s 2018 march on Washington, weeks after 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, brought hundreds of thousands of people to the nation’s capital to pressure Congress to take legislative action, though Republican opposition has prevented any new limits on guns from passing the U.S. Senate.

This year’s event in Washington has a simple message to political leaders, according to organizers: Your inaction is killing Americans.

“We will no longer allow you to sit back while people continue to die,” Trevon Bosley, an MFOL board member, said in an emailed statement.

A gunman in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 children and two teachers on May 24, 10 days after another gunman murdered 10 Black people in a Buffalo, New York, grocery store in a racist attack.

The latest mass shootings have added new urgency to the country’s ongoing debate over gun violence, though the prospects for federal legislation remain uncertain.

Among other policies, MFOL has called for an assault weapons ban, universal background checks for those trying to purchase guns and a national licensing system, which would register gun owners.

In recent weeks, a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators have vowed to hammer out a deal, though they have yet to reach an agreement. Their effort is focused on relatively modest changes, such as incentivizing states to pass “red flag” laws that allow authorities to keep guns from individuals deemed a danger to others.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a sweeping set of gun safety measures, but the legislation has no chance of advancing in the Senate, where Republicans have opposed gun limits as infringing upon the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Speakers at the Washington rally include David Hogg and X Gonzalez, Parkland survivors and co-founders of MFOL; Becky Pringle and Randi Weingarten, the presidents of the two largest U.S. teachers unions; and Yolanda King, the granddaughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Members of MFOL have spent the week meeting with lawmakers in Washington to discuss gun violence.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

By Dan Whitcomb

(Reuters) – A Texas judge on Friday blocked, at least for now, Governor Greg Abbott’s directive that child protective services investigate medical providers or parents over gender transition treatments for minors.

Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer issued a temporary restraining order at the request of the gay rights organization PFLAG, which sued Abbott and the state over his February mandate to the Texas Department of Family Protective Services.

“That families will be protected from invasive, unnecessary, and unnerving investigations by DFPS simply for helping their transgender children thrive and be themselves is a very good thing,” Brian Bond, PFLAG executive director, said in a statement.

Abbott did not immediately issue a statement in response to an inquiry by Reuters. The Department of Family and Protective Services, which is named as a defendant along with Commissioner Jaime Masters, has said it cannot discuss specific investigations or comment on litigation.

The governor’s order marked the latest salvo in an ongoing political battle over transgender issues, including medical treatments on children, participation in girls’ sports and access to women’s private spaces.

Abbott called for investigations of health professionals who allow children to be administered hormones to halt puberty or change their bodies or to undergo sex reassignment surgeries. He told DFPS to investigate parents of any child who obtained such treatments.

PFLAG argued in the lawsuit, which was supported by the ACLU and Lambda Legal, that transgender children need access to gender-transition hormones and procedures to protect their mental health until adulthood.

Opponents of such treatments say children and teenagers are too young to make such life-altering decisions and the long-term effects of puberty-blockers and hormones are not yet fully understood.

The Texas Supreme Court found in a previous ruling that the governor could not order the investigations but limited the protection to the specific plaintiffs. The wider case is still pending.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by David Gregorio)

John Stamos has shared the heartbreaking final text message sent to him by Bob Saget.

The actor was left devastated by the death of his former ‘Full House’ co-star back in January and he recently took part in a Netflix tribute to the TV star in which he revealed their final conversation was both emotional and light-hearted.

During the recording of the show, John said: “I’m going to read my last text from Bob. It said, ‘I love you so much. I will say that God gave me the brother that I wanted’.”

John told the audience he responded, saying: “Well, you have a lot of ‘God-given brothers,’ but I’m first, right?” and Bob replied: “(John) Mayer’s an amazing friend, but he’s more fair-weather. You are always there, so you’re number one.”

Musician John Mayer was in the audience for the taping of ‘Dirty Daddy: The Bob Saget Tribute’ and was seen laughing at clapping after the text exchange was revealed.

The special show debuts on Netflix on Friday (10.06.22).

Bob, 65, was found dead in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida on January 9 and his death sent shockwaves across Hollywood.

John, 58, tweeted: “I am broken. I am gutted. I am in complete and utter shock. I will never ever have another friend like him. I love you so much Bobby.”

The actor went on to address mourners at Bob’s funeral and his heartfelt speech was published by the Los Angeles Times. It read in part: “The worldwide ocean of love for him has been unbelievable. Though it’s been hard for me to look at the tributes, stories, magazine covers, millions of social media posts, I feel everyone out there is getting it right, saying the perfect thing, remembering Bob in these remarkable ways.

“I just wish he knew how much the world loved him when he was here. I spent many a night trying to convince him of how loved he really was (or maybe it was the other way around – him trying to convince me how loved he was). But that was just Bob bluster. There’s no way he thought his death would have this kind of impact. This is the kind of coverage that speaks to someone who genuinely connected with people, and not just for a moment, but for generations.”

Darren Criss has said he “thrives on chaos” as he juggles work with parenting duties after welcoming his first child earlier this year.

The ‘Glee’ star became a first-time dad in April when he welcomed daughter Bluesy Belle with his wife Mia Swier and he’s working on a Broadway show as well as hosting the Tony Awards on Sunday (12.06.22).

He told People.com he loves being busy: “It’s a blessing to get all these things happening kind of all at once – personal, home stuff happening among the same fun, prosperity and excitement that is existing in my professional life – there’s something that’s very invigorating about that. So I’m rockin’ and rollin’.”

Darren added: “Chaos begets chaos,. And I, for better or worse, tend to thrive on a bit of chaos.”

He’s currently starring in a production of ‘American Buffalo’ on Broadway and he’s been preparing to co-host the first hour of the Tony Awards alongside Julianne Hough – and they will perform a song he wrote for the occasion.

Darren added of the feat: “We’re still figuring it out … (I) wrote this incredible song and we get to perform together.”

The 35-year-old actor has been married to film producer and tribute band singer Mia,36, since 2019 and they welcomed their daughter back in March.

Darren announced the news on Instagram, sharing a photo of the three of them and captioning it: ” M D made some sweet music. ⁣ ⁣Bluesy Belle Criss⁣⁣⁣ , 4/11/22⁣⁣ Out now.” He emblazoned the post with heart and music emojis.

He announced Mia’s pregnancy back in October, where he joked that the “ultimate spring collab” was on its way. He wrote: “We’ve been making music for years.⁣…But this time we made a BEAT. The ultimate collab droppin Spring 2022!”