A Kentucky man who smashed the window that Ashli Babbitt tried to crawl through during the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has been found guilty, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. “Chad Barrett Jones, 45, of Mount Washington, Ky., was captured on video as part of a group of Donald Trump supporters cursing U.S. Capitol Police officers who were standing outside the glass doors to the Speaker's Lobby while members of Congress were preparing to evacuate as rioters neared,” reported Tom Jackman. “Behind the glass were chairs and tables, and also an armed Capitol Police lieutenant, Michae…

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CAPE MAY, N.J. — The balloon arch was buoyant. The champagne chilled in flower ice rings. A “Bachelorettes Assemble” banner dangled from the second floor balcony; life-sized photos of the groom-to-be's face smiled earnestly out from a row of welcome bags. “Where did we put the, uh, penis?” asked Faith Midgarden, owner of the local bachelorette planning company Crash the Cape, searching the freezer with a touch of alarm. It's bachelorette season, and Cape May — the charming beach town at the bottom of the Jersey Shore, where elderly people chat on Victorian porches and churches advertise commun…

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By Sam Tobin and Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) – A tearful Kevin Spacey said he was “humbled” after a jury in a London court found him not guilty on Wednesday of carrying out multiple sex assaults on four men. After 12 hours and 26 minutes of deliberation, the jury acquitted the Oscar-winning U.S. actor by a majority on nine charges which he was accused of committing between 2004 and 2013 at a time when he was working at London's Old Vic theatre. Spacey, who was also celebrating his 64th birthday on Wednesday, began to cry and mouthed “thank you” to the nine men and three women jurors, befor…

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Rock superstar Mick Jagger is notorious for bedding many of the world's hottest gals, but a shocking book claimed the Rolling Stones frontman canoodled with dudes, too – including TWO of his bandmates! A father-of-eight with five different baby mamas, Jagger is a “bisexual icon” who also had trysts with bandmate Keith Richards and Mick Taylor, a Stones guitarist from 1969 to 1974, according to author Lesley-Ann Jones. In her mind-blowing expose, The Stone Age, Jones claimed Jagger's had a sweet tooth for guys and dished on a singer's claim of having a threesome with Mick and David Bowie. She s…

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Matty Healy, the frontman of the British band The 1975, has found himself at the center of a controversy this week that has sparked a global conversation about LGBTQ+ rights and the role of international artists in advocating for social change.

The Incident: Healy's Stand and the Malaysian Response

During a performance at the Good Vibes festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Healy made a quite clear statement against the country's stance on LGBTQ+ rights, kissing a male bandmate up on stage, saying  “I don't see the fucking point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.” He then went on, “Unfortunately you don't get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I'm fucking furious. And that's not fair on you, because you're not representative of your government. Because you're young people, and I'm sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool.” The comments led to the event being cut short and the band was officially banned from the country the following day.

The Backlash: Local Activists and the International Community React

Critics argue that Healy's actions could provoke a harsher clampdown from the government and have disrupted the work of local activists. “If anything, what Matt Healy and The 1975 have done, is discount and disrupted YEARS of work by local activists who have been pushing for change and understanding AND endangering our vulnerable minority communities,” wrote Joe Lee, a Malaysian music industry professional, in a response to the incident.

Matty Healy is not a ‘white saviour' for showing solidarity with Malaysia's LGBTQ+ people | Peter Tatchell https://t.co/3DVZBy0JfF

— The Guardian (@guardian) July 25, 2023

charli xcx and george daniel fucking for life https://t.co/NALvhOlc0J

— Charli (@charli_xcx) July 25, 2023

Praise Amidst Controversy: Peter Tatchell's Defense of Healy

Many others have praised Healy.  Notably, activist Peter Tatchell defended Healy in his column for The Guardian, “I seriously doubt it was Healy's motivation or intention to ‘save' Malaysia from homophobia or hijack the LGBTQ+ struggle there. As far as I can see, he simply wanted to show solidarity with Malaysia's persecuted queer community,” specifically disagreeing with the accusation of  “accusations of “White Saviour Syndrome.”

However, activist Peter Tatchell defended Healy, stating, “Whatever you think about Healy's actions, he succeeded in drawing global attention to Malaysia's persecution of its queer citizens – more so than any other action by anyone else,” in his Guardian column.

Tatchell went on, “Whatever you think about Healy's actions, he succeeded in drawing global attention to Malaysia's persecution of its queer citizens. Hundreds of millions of people are now aware that Malaysia penalises LGBTQ+ people with up to 20 years jail, plus caning and fines – under a colonial-era law originally imposed by Britain in 1871.”

Healy responded soon after commenting on social media and was immediately inundated iwth preddominantly supportive responses.

Sources:
Dazed Digital Metro

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Kevin Spacey wept in court as he was cleared of all charges at the conclusion of his sex assault trial in London. A jury at Southwark Crown Court found the Hollywood actor not guilty on all nine counts of sexual offences and the ‘House Of Cards' star was seen crying as he stood in the dock listening to the jury forewoman read out the verdicts. Spacey was seen hugging his manager and members of his legal team and thanking court staff as the trial reached its end on Wednesday (26.07.23). He was cleared of seven charges of sexual assault, one charge of causing a person to engage in sexual activit…

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NEW YORK — Dave Chappelle is hitting the road this fall, setting two New York City dates for the kickoff of his 2023 comedy tour. The multi-city “Dave Chappelle Live” comedy jaunt will open at Madison Square Garden on Aug. 22 and Aug. 23. Produced by Live Nation, the tour goes on to include stops in Detroit, New Orleans and Nashville, Tennessee — concluding in early October at the United Center in Chicago. Presale tickets went on sale Wednesday, while the general sale begins Thursday at 10 a.m. local time through Ticketmaster. In recent years, the 49-year-old funnyman has become a lightning ro…

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As America awaits news of the Special Counsel's Washington, D.C. grand jury and whether or not Jack Smith has asked to indict Donald Trump, and whether or not they will, the Republican 2024 presidential candidate is trying to appear as excited about the potential prospect of facing federal felonies, and possibly the rest of his life in prison. Donald Trump on Wednesday morning attempted to spin any fear and outrage he might have at the looming indictment and subsequent criminal trial into a positive and “fun” experience. Special Counsel Jack Smith is widely expected to ask for and receive an i…

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Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis is hitting back at Vice President Kamala Harris for criticizing the state's curriculum that includes the claim that African-American slaves actually benefitted from their own enslavement. The Republican presidential candidate called out Harris for “perpetrating a hoax” when she accused the Sunshine State of whitewashing the history of slavery and racism in America. “She's here to push a fake narrative,” DeSantis said Tuesday in an interview with Fox News' Jesse Watters. “She (came) to Florida to spew this hoax.” Harris jetted into Florida last week to denounce the new cu…

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Israel’s Supreme Court said on Wednesday that it will wait until September to address the recently passed law aimed at weakening the judiciary, but many others in Israel were not prepared to put their views on hold. Opposition groups immediately filed petitions against the law, which in their opinion removes an important check on executive power. Demonstrations took place again on Wednesday across the country. Impacts the new law will have on the economy can already be seen. Just one day after the vote, Morgan Stanley downgraded the country’s credit rating. Another rating agency, Moody’s, warn…

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Dwight Howardreacted to the accusations he assaulted a man who claimed they met on Instagram. The 37-year-old ex-Los Angeles Lakers player denied he battered anyone, claiming he's “not even that type of person,” RadarOnline.com can reveal. Howard's denial comes one week after RadarOnline.com exclusively revealed that he was sued for assault and battery by a male who claimed the athlete pressured him into having a threesome with a man dressed as a woman. The accuser provided text messages, Instagram DMs, and an Uber receipt that he said backed up his allegations. It's important to note that Rad…

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Exactly one day before U.S. Supreme Court handed down its 6-3 decision in what has been called an “entirely hypothetical make-believe” case pitting conservative Christian beliefs masked as First Amendment speech against the rights of LGBTQ people to exist equally in the marketplaces of both commerce and ideas, a bombshell report revealed one critical fact in the case turned out to be false. Apparently, so is a second one. That first false “fact” – a claim in court documents that a San Francisco man, a graphic designer, years ago had reached out to the plaintiff, a Colorado Christian woman, to …

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After former President Donald Trump's campaign allegedly skipped out on the bill following a 2018 rally, officials in Erie, Pa., want the Republican 2024 front-runner to pay up before his rally on Saturday night. City officials said the former president's Make America Great Again rally ran up a $35,129 tab while passing through town for an Oct. 10, 2018 rally at Erie Insurance Arena. That bill for overtime pay for city workers including law enforcement officers was footed by taxpayer money. Trump plans to return to the scene of the proverbial crime at 6 p.m. Saturday following an afternoon of …

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Taylor Swift has laughed at the idea of burying the hatchet with Kanye West. During her ‘Eras' tour performance in Seattle over the weekend, Taylor played her 2017 track ‘This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things', which she wrote about her long running feud with Kanye. Taylor started laughing as she sang the lyrics “And here's to you, 'cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do,” before telling her fans “I can't even say it with a straight face.” The feud between Taylor, 33, and Kanye, 46, kicked off in 2009 at the MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City when Taylor won Best…

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Cher is launching her own gelato brand. The 77-year-old star has taken to social media to announce that she's created a special gelato with dessert experts, called Cherlato. The singer – who is one of the best-selling music artists of all time – said on Instagram: “Yep, this is real … I'm launching my gelato … Watch out LA! All started 5 years ago and now it's finally happening. More to come … (sic)” Cher teased her new venture earlier this year, when she revealed via Twitter that she was poised to meet with a renowned ice cream maker. She explained at the time: “Having meeting about my …

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A growing network of foreign organisations are pouring hundreds of millions of euros into “culture war” groups campaigning to roll back LGBTQ+ rights across Europe, European lawmakers have warned. In a resolution published earlier this month, the European Parliament raised the alarm about foreign interference in all democratic processes in Europe, pointing out that most of the foreign funding originates from Russia and the US. This foreign interference, coupled with disinformation and numerous attacks perpetrated by malicious foreign actors, is predicted to increase in the lead-up to the Europ…

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By day, he was a devoted husband, a perfect father and a seemingly respectable member of his community. He loved to help neighbors, raise money for charities and entertain kids as Pogo the Clown. Once, the local Jaycees even voted John Wayne Gacy their Man of the Year. But by night, Gacy was one of America’s most prolific serial killers: responsible for savagely raping, torturing and slaughtering at least 33 boys and young men during a six-year wave of terror in the 1970s. “He was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a man with two faces,” says shocked friend and neighbor Anthony de Laurentis. Sadistic …

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Kris Tyson has come out as transgender. The 27-year-old YouTube star – who is best known for collaborating with MrBeast on the video-sharing website – was born as a boy and was initially known as Chris Tyson but has now announced that she is “fully confident” that she is a woman. Speaking in a video posted to YouTube, Kris said: “I am a woman! She/her. I've never said that publicly, but I've been fully confident in that decision for over a year now. I wasn't quite sure who I was yet, but I knew I was not cisgender. So I needed the freedom to be able to express myself and be able to figure out …

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On Friday, the White House announced that seven leading artificial intelligence companies have agreed to voluntary safeguards on the technology's development. President Joe Biden and his administration have vowed to manage the new tools as A.I. continues to rise in popularity. Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI formally committed to new standards for security during a meeting with Biden. All seven companies have been attempting to outdo each other with different versions of A.I. that can create text, photos, music and video completely on their own. “We must be cl…

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Israel's parliament passed a law on July 24, 2023, that limits the Supreme Court's ability to rein in government actions, part of a broader proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to strengthen the power of the country's executive branch.

The legislation has divided the country for months, sparking massive demonstrations. Opponents say the law threatens democracy; supporters argue it protects the will of the electoral majority.

Netanyahu has been a political force and survivor in Israeli politics since the 1990s. Yet it makes sense to assess his career now in light of his recent hospitalizations, the latest coming in the middle of the court reform crisis.

As a scholar of Middle Eastern politics, I think that Netanyahu's long-term legacy will be based on three major developments. He has shifted Israeli politics rightward. He has stymied the emergence of a Palestinian state. He has increased Israel's links to nondemocratic foreign governments.

From democracy to theocracy

Netanyahu served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999. He returned to power from 2009 to 2021, and once again in 2022.

A country once known for left-leaning politics now has a right-wing government dominated by Jewish religious nationalists who spearheaded the efforts to curb judicial checks on executive power.

Netanyahu began his first term as prime minister in 1996 with two main qualities – experience living and working in the U.S. and a record focused on Israeli's military security.

The first quality meant he understood American politics and interest groups. That helped Israel keep and enhance its historic strong support from the U.S. government.

The second set him up for political success in a country in which the army is a key – and revered – institution.

Massive U.S. foreign aid and military assistance over many years, along with Netanyahu's political backing, have ensured that Israel's army is far more powerful and well equipped than the armed forces of any other nearby country.

Netanyahu typically portrayed himself as the only leader who could keep his country and its economy secure. Like other elected strongmen, he and his allies have gained support from, and encouraged, right-wing nationalists and divisive politics.

With Netanyahu, that meant allying himself strongly with Jewish settlers – many of them Orthodox – in the West Bank in what international law considers to be occupied Palestinian territory. Because Orthodox Jewish families tend to be larger than more secular ones, Israel's demography has favored politicians and voters who skew towards Netanyahu's consistent support for the settler movement and broader focus on security.

The longer Netanyahu has held power in Israel, the more allegations of corruption and criminal conduct he has faced. His personal legal vulnerability has likely reinforced his autocratic tendencies. Netanyahu's 2022 government demonstrated its authoritarian tilt with the push for the judicial reform bill that will hobble the Israeli judiciary's capacity to review legislation and government action.

This reform appeals to important sectors of Netanyahu's supporters who see the Supreme Court's power as an inappropriate secular check on Israel's increasingly pro-settler and pro-Orthodox government. But it has been divisive: The mass protests against the reform have even spread to prominent military personnel.

Today's Israel is marked by growing splits between secular, urbanized citizens near the Mediterranean coast and Orthodox and other settlers in or near the West Bank. The two groups have different visions for Israel's future, with the latter citizens pushing the country in a more theocratic direction. This divisive battle over Israel's nature owes a great deal to Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership.

Distancing Palestinians

Netanyahu has long pledged to avoid compromising with Palestinians over control of territory and security in the West Bank and Gaza, areas under Israeli military control since 1967. And he allowed rapid expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. He has rarely wavered from these two policies.

Among his most tangible legacies is the physical barrier now separating West Bank Palestinians from Israelis, which gives Israeli authorities great control over how West Bank Palestinians enter Israel.

The barrier has kept Israeli Jews from much contact with Palestinians other than during military service.

This physical separation and a strong Israeli military presence have decreased Palestinian attacks within Israel and increased misery in Palestinian-controlled areas, for example, by making travel into Israel and other countries difficult.

Netanyahu's approach has minimized pressure on Jewish Israelis to make a final deal that would trade occupied land for a broader peace based on separate Israeli and Palestinian states. It has also deprived Palestinians of some basic liberties and opportunities, particularly in Gaza, which human rights activists have called an “open-air prison.”

In fact, Netanyahu has used his formidable military to strike hard when he deems necessary in Gaza, the area between Israel and Egypt that Israel unilaterally returned to Palestinian control in 2004. Hamas, a Palestinian group that advocates military action against Israel, is in charge of Gaza.

Reflecting the sentiments of his right-wing base, Netanyahu has had a generally consistent response to Hamas, and Palestinians more generally. Israel, he says, awaits Palestinian consensus that Israel is a Jewish state, with Jerusalem as its capital, and with no right for Palestinians to return to their pre-1948 homes in Israel.

Many Palestinians find these conditions unfair, particularly as a precondition to negotiations.

Coupled with the Netanyahu government's vast expansion of Jewish settlements, many veteran observers doubt that a two-state solution with Israeli and Palestinian states remains possible.

Reshaping Israel's alliances

Bolstering the Israeli right and undermining Palestinian statehood have accompanied efforts by Netanyahu to reshape Israel's foreign relations. Those efforts stem in part from his relentless drive to curb Iran's influence in the Middle East.

Tehran's leaders are unremittingly hostile toward Israel. Netanyahu has played up this hostility to domestic and international audiences, even urging the U.S. to attack Iran.

The prime minister's anti-Iranian campaign connects to strengthening ties to other countries, whether or not they are democratic, with an interest in combating Tehran and its funding of pro-Iranian militant groups, which encourage anti-Israeli politics and attacks in many Arab countries. Shared security goals, perhaps more than anything else, explain the significant willingness of the United Arab Emirates and several other Arab countries to establish diplomatic ties with Israel through the Abraham Accords of 2020.

More generally, Netanyahu's long time in office and his willingness to fan racist flames have endeared him to other rulers who embrace authoritarian or divisive tactics, such as Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Yet Netanyahu's policies are also causing major cracks in support for Israel from its central ally, the U.S. In recent years, Israeli and American Jews have diverged increasingly on the ethics and importance of Palestinian autonomy. In turn, organizations working with the Israeli government have tried to silence pro-Palestinian voices in the U.S., often by calling them anti-Semitic.

Moreover, Netanyahu's authoritarian tendencies and his government's rightist and theocratic tendencies have amplified American voices of those who have been skeptical that Israel is democratic and who have called for reductions in U.S. support.

Netanyahu has helped reshape Israel and the broader world in profound ways. It's clear that the country's military security and cooperation with major Arab states in the Middle East have expanded. But I see the darker side of the prime minister's emphasis on military and security solutions in the erosion of hopes for Palestinians and challenges for Israel to remain democratic.

This story contains passages from an earlier story published on June 14, 2021.

David Mednicoff, Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, UMass Amherst

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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In a move as unexpected as a plot twist in a thriller, Elon Musk, Twitter Inc's owner, announced a radical rebranding. The iconic blue bird logo is being replaced with an ‘X'. This comes after Musk admitted that advertisers have been slow to return, impacting Twitter's cash flow.

“Interim X logo goes live later today,” Musk tweeted, adding that “X.com” would now redirect to Twitter's website. Musk's X Corp has taken over Twitter, in a surprising move.

Musk also polled his followers on changing the site's color scheme from blue to black. “And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” he said. The company said it would comment on the changes later.

Twitter's new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, tweeted: “It's an exceptionally rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression. Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square.”

Under Musk's leadership, the company has changed its business name to X Corp, reflecting Musk's vision to create a “super app” like China's WeChat.

In April, Twitter's blue bird logo was temporarily replaced by Dogecoin's Shiba Inu dog, causing a surge in the cryptocurrency's market value.

The company faced criticism when Musk announced that Twitter would limit how many tweets per day various accounts can read. This move helped rival service Threads, owned by Meta Platforms, to cross 100 million sign-ups within five days of its July 5 launch.

As we bid farewell to the blue bird and welcome the ‘X', we can't help but marvel at Musk's audacious ambitions. Having already seen Twitter's value halve under his watch, he now sets his sights on transforming it into a ‘super app' akin to China's WeChat. With such a track record, one can only imagine the ‘improvements' in store.

After all, why stop at minor setbacks when you can aim for a spectacular downfall? Only time will tell if this bold move will be a game-changer or just another chapter in the saga of Musk's grandiose misadventures.

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Christopher Nolan has wanted to make ‘Oppenheimer’ since he was a teenager. The 52-year-old director is at the helm of the nuclear biopic that stars Cillian Murphy as the man responsible for the research and design of an atomic bomb during World War II and explained that the life of the historic scientist had been “on his radar” for decades before eventually bringing it to the big screen. He told The Bulletin: “It’s something that’s been on my radar for a number of years. I was a teenager in the ‘80s, the early ‘80s in England. It was the peak of CND, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Gree…

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Britney Spears already has enough material “for several albums” – but she plans to focus on her book release. The 41-year-old pop star is set to release her tell-all memoir, ‘The Woman In Me', in October, and that'll be her focus over the coming months. A source told DailyMail.com: “As far as a new album coming out, she has a ton of content never heard already – enough for several albums. “She is going to focus on her book release before tackling that, though. This will be a mountain.” Despite this, Britney has released a new collaboration with will.i.am, called ‘Mind Your Business'. The track…

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No more fillers! On Saturday, July 22, Blac Chyna uploaded a series of photos showing off her new figure after the reality TV star recently removed her breast and butt implants and dissolved her face filler. “Get into it,” she penned alongside the photoshoot, where she wore an adorable tight fitting white dress, green hoop earrings and some brown platform shoes. In response, fans took to the comments section of the post promoting Chyna's brand, Hearts Pure. “Y'all can hate all y'all want but, sis has always been fine. No homo ,” one fan wrote regarding the transformation, while another cla…

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Conservatives aren't playing with “Barbie,” with many on the right slamming the colorful blockbuster as a “woke … flaming garbage heap.” The likes of conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, Sen. Ted Cruz, and the wife of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz are among those who have taken to the streets — also known as social media and Fox News — to denounce Greta Gerwig's film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Dubbed a “flaming garbage heap of a film,” Shapiro tweeted that the flick is “one of the most woke movies I have ever seen.” Speaking on Fox News, 52-year-old Cruz admitted to not having seen th…

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