(Reuters) – Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook on Friday sent a letter to a group of U.S. lawmakers asking them to pass federal privacy legislation, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.

“We strongly urge you to advance comprehensive privacy legislation as soon as possible, and we stand ready to assist in this process in the days ahead,” read the letter, which was sent to a group of law makers in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives working on the legislation.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco)

By Leroy Leo

(Reuters) -The U.S. government expects to receive an additional 300,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine against monkeypox in the next few weeks as cases across the country jumped to 45 from 25 four days ago.

The United States currently holds about 72,000 doses of Jynneos in its strategic national stockpile, Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told reporters at a news briefing.

Earlier on Friday, the United States placed an order for an additional 500,000 doses of bulk vaccine to be delivered later this year. The company said the total U.S. inventory of the vaccine would reach nearly 2 million doses when combined with a 2020 order for 1.4 million doses.

The Danish company’s vaccine, which was developed with the support of HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, is approved to treat both monkeypox and smallpox.

O’Connell told the briefing the U.S. has agreed to sell about 215,000 doses of the vaccine back to Bavarian Nordic for use in Europe.

The U.S. doses were produced on a manufacturing line that is still awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. The line has already been cleared for U.S. by European regulators.

“It didn’t make sense that while we were waiting for FDA to get the inspection done, we sit on doses our international colleagues in Europe could actually use,” she said.

O’Connell said she expects the FDA to inspect the manufacturing line in the next few weeks.

The United States also has more than 100 million doses of ACAM2000, a smallpox vaccine from Emergent BioSolutions Inc, that is also effective against monkeypox.

Together, O’Connell said the United States has more than enough doses to meet U.S. demand. To date, the United States has supplied doses and treatments to 16 states and jurisdictions.

Monkeypox, a disease that is endemic in parts of Africa, has been spreading globally in the last month, with more than 1,300 cases reported in countries where it is not endemic, most of them in Europe.

The virus is spread primarily through direct contact with bodily fluids or sores of someone who has monkeypox, or through direct contact with materials that have been touched by an infected person. The virus may also spread through respiratory secretions, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told the briefing.

(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by David Gregorio)

Judy Garland’s daughters have launched a fragrance in honour of her 100th birthday.

The legendary Hollywood actress – who was mother to Liza Minnelli, 76, and Lorna Luft, 69, and is best remembered for her role as Dorothy Gale in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ as well as her iconictorch song ‘Over the Rainbow’ – died of an accidental drugs overdose at the age of 47 back in 1969 and her daughters have created a limited-edition fragrance to honour what would have been her centenary on June 10, 2022.

Liza told PEOPLE: “Actually, Lorna came up with the idea for creating a fragrance to honor my mom on what would have been her 100th birthday. I entrusted Lorna with the many details necessary but she kept me informed, and when the time came to smell the final unisex fine fragrance, it definitely smelled like Mama. “

The two sisters have teamed up with renowned cosmetics designer Vince Spinnato to create the fragrance and he went on to explain he has always been a “big fan” of their mother and wants to “preserve [her] memory” with the new fragrance.

He said: “I have always been a big personal fan of Judy Garland, and to develop a fragrance for her with her children is beyond the rainbow! My goal was to respect Judy Garland’s memory, help preserve her legacy, and hopefully introduce her to a new generation of fans. It’s been a wonderful, unique, collaborative effort between Ms. Garland’s family, estate and myself. I am honored to be entrusted with this responsibility.”

Presented in a ruby red bottle, Judy — A Garland Fragrance was launched with a glitzy event – live-streamed on Instagram – on Thursday (09.06.22) and is described as a “unisex fine fragrance” based on what she would have worn herself and contains hints of the Judy Garland Rose with “the addition of Dark Orchid, Coriander and a medley of sultry Gourmand and spice notes.”

Limited-Edition 100th Birthday Bottle

Ben Platt has joined the cast of the musical comedy ‘Theater Camp’.

The Broadway star has been tapped to star in the movie with Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, Amy Sedaris, Alan S. Kim, Patti Harrison, Owen Thiele, Jimmy Tatro, Ayo Edebiri, Caroline Aaron and Nathan Lee Graham.

The movie marks the directorial debut for Molly and Nick Lieberman. The pair have written the film together with Platt and Galvin.

The flick follows the eccentric staff of a rundown theatre camp in New York, as they band together with the beloved founder’s son to keep the camp going when she falls into a coma right at the start of the summer season. The project will feature original music from Galvin, Gordon, Liebermann, Platt and Mark Sonnenblick.

Erik Feig, Samie Kim Falvey and Julia Hammer will produce for Picturestart alongside Maria Zuckerman and Ryan Heller for Topic Studios.

Feig, the founder and CEO of Picturestart, said: “We haven’t stopped giggling over this movie since Gloria Sanchez first showed us the short and seeing the incredible ambition and creativity Molly, Nick, Ben, and Noah have brought to ‘Theater Camp’ has been our big-time happy place.

“We are so thrilled to work with Maria and Ryan at Topic and can’t wait to bring audiences along to the hilarious and heartwarming ‘summer session’ at camp.”

Topic Studios President Zuckerman added: “When we heard who was coming to this summer camp, we immediately knew we had to join.

“This is a true dream team – visionary creators Molly, Nick, Ben and Noah, amazing partners Picturestart and Gloria Sanchez, and an uproarious group of actors. We can’t wait for the show to begin.”

Robert De Niro has joked he has “all” of Taylor Swift’s albums.

The ‘Taxi Driver’ star opened up about the pop star when asked about the upcoming screening of her ‘All Too Well’ short at his Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and hinted he’s a big fan.

In a joint interview with Variety alongside film festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal, the pair were asked how the collaboration came about with Jane replying: “First of all, she’s in the neighbourhood.”

Robert then asked: “She lives in the neighbourhood?” and Jane went on to say: “Well, I’m not supposed to discuss that … We’re always looking to show artists’ work to show what else they do – the interdisciplinary work. It’s always interesting to watch what artists do when they’re not doing what we think that they should continually do.”

They were then asked if they are fans of the singer’s work, and Robert said: “I have all of her albums … I’m not not a fan. I probably hear her music and like it on the radio. My young daughter puts a station on, and it drives me crazy when they chat. When they have music, it’s OK.”

Taylor wrote, produced and directed the film and the screening will take place on June 11 at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre. She will also take part in a special talk to discuss her filmmaking.

The Tribeca Film Festival kicked off on June 8 and runs until June 19 and also featured a screening of Jennifer Lopez’s documentary ‘Halftime’.

The movie opened the film festival ahead of its debut on Netflix on June 14 and focuses on the singer’s lengthy career and her 2019 performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Chelsea Handler has admitted she “wasn’t respectful” to Joan Rivers and didn’t give the late comic the “the kudos she deserved”.

The pair fell out prior to Joan’s death in 2014 with Chelsea revealing their feud started because she had “kinda blown her off” when she was “young and arrogant”.

Opening up about the bad blood between the pair, Chelsea explained herself during a chat with Joan’s daughter Melissa on the ‘Melissa Rivers’ Group Text Podcast’.

Chelsea said: “Your mom approached me a couple times when we were on E! I just felt like a s*** because I had just kinda blown her off. I wasn’t respectful in the way I realise I needed to be now.”

The ‘Chelsea Lately’ star was among those who paid tribute to Joan in Netflix special ‘The Hall: Honoring the Greats of Stand-Up’ and Melissa was furious when she found out about the tribute from Chelsea.

Melissa told the TV host she “went f****** bananas” when she was told Chelsea would be honouring Joan, prompting the comedian to explain why she did it.

Chelsea said: “(I was) so excited about the opportunity to do it, to go and say those things in front of everybody. To be like, you have to remember that every opportunity that anyone has in this world as a female comedian, you have to thank the people who came before you.”

She added: “When I was on E!, I was so young and arrogant and just thought, ‘I did it. I got myself to where I was.’ I didn’t give her the kudos she deserved and so I was eager to like put that in writing.”

The comedy special debuted in May and during the show Chelsea admitted Joan actually had a huge impact on her career.

She said: “The first time I meet Joan Rivers, we were both on E! – and not the fun kind. It was the basic cable network with the exclamation point, which in hindsight was still a good time.

“But, at the time though, I did not realise the enormous impact Joan had on my career.”

Chelsea went on to say: “I was too wrapped up in my own world. I was too young, too confident, and too arrogant to believe anyone had a hand in my success but myself. Now, I know that for every success I’ve had it was because someone came before me who was bolder and braver and good luck finding someone else who was as bold and as brave as Joan Rivers.”

Joan died on September 4 2014 at the age of 81 after suffering complications during surgery on her throat.

Tim Burton quit the ‘Batman’ franchise over a nipple costume.

The 63-year-old director was at the helm of the 1989 movie ‘Batman’ – which starred Jack Nicholson as the titular DC Comics superhero – and its 1992 sequel ‘Batman Returns’ but explained that he was constantly being told his ideas were “too weird” even though costume designers had created a nipple costume for the movie.

He said: “Back then] they went the other way. That’s the funny thing about it. But then I was like, ‘Wait a minute. Okay. Hold on a second here. You complain about me, I’m too weird, I’m too dark, and then you put nipples on the costume? Go f*** yourself.’ Seriously!”

The acclaimed director – who is known for directing kooky gothic movies such as ‘Beetlejuice’ and ‘Edward Scissorhands – added that the nipple costume drama was the reason he didn’t return to the franchise to direct a third film.

He told Empire: “So yeah, I think that’s why I didn’t end up [doing a third film].”

Tim’s comments come shortly after the costume designer Jose Fernandez – who worked on both of the films and designed the nipples aspect of the outfit worn by Val Kilmer – explained that the nipples were not a “fetish” addition to the costume and were more inspired by Roman armour.

He said: “With Val Kilmer’s suit in ‘Batman Forever’, the nipples were one of those things that I added. It wasn’t fetish to me, it was more informed by Roman armor, like Centurions. And in the comic books, the characters always looked like they were naked with spray paint on them — it was all about anatomy, and I like to push anatomy. I don’t know exactly where my head was back in the day, but that’s what I remember. And so I added the nipples. I had no idea there was going to end up being all this buzz about it.”

Washington (AFP) – Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and other star US gymnasts filed a $1 billion claim against the FBI on Wednesday for mishandling of the investigation into sexual abuse by predatory former team doctor Larry Nassar.

Nassar, 58, is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in late 2017 and early 2018 to sexually assaulting athletes while working as a sports medicine doctor at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University.

Hundreds of women — including Olympic gold medalists Biles, Raisman and McKayla Maroney — have accused Nassar of sexually abusing them during his more than two-decade career.

Biles, Raisman and Maroney are among the more than 90 women who have filed the federal tort claim against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the law firms handling the case said in a joint statement.

“The majority of claimants consists of over 90 young women and girls who were abused after 2015 due to the FBI’s failure to take required steps to protect them,” they said.

The claim against the FBI comes just days after the Department of Justice announced it was not bringing any charges against two now retired FBI special agents who mishandled the Nassar investigation.

“My fellow survivors and I were betrayed by every institution that was supposed to protect us — the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, the FBI and now the Department of Justice,” Maroney said in a statement. 

“I had some hope that they would keep their word and hold the FBI accountable,” she said. “It is clear that the only path to justice and healing is through the legal process.”

‘Grossly derelict’

The law firms said the FBI received credible complaints in July 2015 of Nassar’s sexual assaults and was “then able to immediately end Nassar’s predation.”

“However, the FBI was grossly derelict in their duties by declining to interview gymnasts who were willing to talk about the abuse,” they said.

“As a result, Nassar continued his predatory behavior, sexually assaulting approximately 90 young women and children between July 28, 2015, and September 12, 2016,” they added.

An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment on the legal claim but pointed reporters to testimony before a Senate committee in September 2021 by FBI director Christopher Wray.

Addressing Nassar’s victims, Wray said: “I’m especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in in 2015 and failed.”

“That’s inexcusable,” the FBI director said. “It never should have happened. And we’re doing everything in our power to make sure it never happens again.”

Nassar’s victims reached a $380 million settlement with USA Gymnastics last year, one of the largest ever recorded for victims of sex abuse.

USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy in 2018 after a tidal wave of allegations against Nassar swamped the organization.

Michigan State University reached a $500 million settlement with hundreds of Nassar’s victims in 2018.

(Reuters) – The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has been working for almost a year, interviewing witnesses and amassing documents ahead of public hearings set to start on Thursday.

Here are some facts about the investigation.

MULTIPLE DEATHS

Thousands of supporters of Donald Trump attacked the Capitol, the home of Congress, in a bid to stop formal certification by U.S. lawmakers of the Republican then-president’s 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, causing millions of dollars in damage. Four people died on the day of the attack, and one Capitol Police officer who fought against the rioters died the next day. Four officers have since taken their own lives and 140 others were injured.

THE COMMITTEE

Nine House members sit on the committee, which Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi created on July 1, 2021, after Republicans prevented creation of a bicameral commission.

Its seven Democrats include Representative Bennie Thompson, the panel’s chairperson, as well as Representatives Zoe Lofgren, Elaine Luria, Adam Schiff, Pete Aguilar, Stephanie Murphy and Jamie Raskin.

The panel’s two Republicans, Representatives Liz Cheney – the vice chairperson – and Adam Kinzinger, were censured by the Republican National Committee for their participation. The RNC had never before censured any sitting congressional Republican.

THE INVESTIGATION

The committee and its dozens of investigators have conducted more than 1,000 depositions and interviews. Most people who are interviewed have not been identified, but those known to have appeared include Trump’s daughter and close adviser Ivanka Trump, her husband, Jared Kushner, and attorney Rudy Giuliani.

To compel testimony and obtain documents, the committee has announced it has issued 99 subpoenas and is known to have issued more that have not been made public.

Some of the most notable known subpoenas have been sent to Mark Meadows, a former congressman who served as a Trump White House chief of staff; Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser; Roger Stone, a long-time Republican operative; Trump’s son Eric; major social media firms; and leaders of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups that have backed Trump.

The committee has amassed a trove of more than 140,000 documents and has followed up on 472 tips from its tip line.

CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS

The House has voted, largely along party lines, to recommend contempt of Congress charges for four Trump associates for refusing to cooperate. Trump has urged former aides to disregard committee subpoenas.

The House recommendation referred the four cases – Bannon, Meadows and former top Trump administration aides Peter Navarro and Daniel Scavino – to the Justice Department to decide on whether to bring criminal charges, which bear a penalty of up to a year’s imprisonment and a fine up to $100,000.

The Justice Department has pursued charges against Bannon in a case set to go to trial in July, as well as against Navarro. It has not charged Meadows or Scavino.

The committee also recommended charges for a fifth person, Jeffrey Clark, who was a senior Justice Department official during the Trump administration. The full House never voted on the charges after Clark agreed to a deposition.

CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS

Nearly 850 people have been arrested for crimes related to the attack on the Capitol, including more than 250 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. Over those, about 90 have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.

More than 300 people have pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges, 59 of those to felonies.

Sixteen people who were members of or affiliated with the right-wing Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have been charged with seditious conspiracy, which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Six individuals have been found guilty at trials.

(Compiled by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Scott Malone, Nick Zieminski and Will Dunham)