Mj Rodriguez has become the first black transgender woman in history to win a Golden Globe.

The 31-year-old actress was named Best Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista in the hit FX show ‘Pose’, which centres on the drag culture of the 1980s.

Reacting on Instagram, Mj wrote: “OMG OMGGG!!!! @goldenglobes Wow! You talking about sickening birthday present! Thank you! This is the door that is going to Open the door for many more young talented individuals. They will see that it is more than possible. (sic)”

The star – who had celebrated her 31st birthday just two days before her win – added how the “door is now open” for fellow LGBTQAI talent to “reach the stars.”

She added: “They will see that a young Black Latina girl from Newark New Jersey who had a dream, to change the minds others would WITH LOVE. LOVE WINS. To my young LGBTQAI babies WE ARE HERE the door is now open now reach the stars!!!!! @goldenglobes.”

Mj concluded her statement by speaking out about her fellow nominees, which included the likes of Uzo Adaubo for ‘In Treatment’ and Jennifer Aniston for her role in ‘The Morning Show’.

She wrote: “To the nominees we are Queens. I’m so happy to share space with you! Each and every last one of you women are phenomenal.”

LONDON (Reuters) – British republicans said on Monday they would launch a campaign to end the monarchy in the run-up to celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne.

Elizabeth, 95, the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch, will mark her seventh decade as sovereign next month and on Monday Buckingham Palace detailed plans for four days of celebrations for her Platinum Jubilee in June.

But anti-monarchy group Republic used the occasion to say it would begin a “Not Another 70” campaign to call for an end to the historic institution.

“While a vocal minority will want to celebrate the queen’s seventy year reign, we must all start looking to the future. The prospect of King Charles is not a happy one, and there is a good, democratic alternative on offer,” Republic’s Graham Smith said.

“It’s time to have a serious debate about our constitution, accept that Charles is not the best the country has to offer, and that as a nation we are quite capable of choosing our head of state.”

Polls indicate the vast majority of people in Britain support the monarchy and the queen herself is hugely popular. But there is not as much support for her eldest son and heir Charles, and surveys suggest there is growing republican sentiment among younger Britons.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

By Jarrett Renshaw and Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden has three years left in office, but some of his domestic agenda may have a much shorter clock.

The White House has a small window of time to pass any meaningful laws in 2022, including the ‘Build Back Better’ plan, Biden allies tell Reuters, before Congress shifts its attention to the November midterm elections. If Democrats in swing districts get cold feet about passing sweeping legislation as voting gets closer, the $2 trillion landmark bill that funds universal preschool and climate initiatives could be derailed entirely.

Democrats believe chances are slim they will retain a narrow majority in both houses of Congress, which allowed them to pass the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill in 2021.

All 435 members of the House are up for reelection in 2022, and one-third of the U.S. Senate, including Democrats in competitive districts in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada.

“History has shown that lawmakers are risk averse during the mid term,” says Phil Schiliro, who served as legislative affairs director under former president Barack Obama. “Some have felt they have taken enough difficult votes and they want to focus on reelection,” Schiliro says.

What that means is “the first few months, from a legislative perspective, could be the last-best chance for this administration to get anything done,” said a Biden ally.

Some congressional aides and White House allies are holding out faint hope that Biden can renew discussions with U.S. Senate Democrat Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia, and pass key aspects of the Build Back Better plan.

White House officials say there has been no sign of progress with Manchin since he said he wouldn’t back https://www.reuters.com/world/us/manchin-says-white-house-staff-drove-him-reject-bidens-social-policy-plan-2021-12-20 the current bill in mid-December, even on a plan Manchin told Biden he could support just a month ago.

“If it doesn’t happen in the first quarter, we are cooked,” said a Democratic legislative aide involved in the discussions, referring to the first three months of 2022.

VOTING RIGHTS DILEMMA

The White House is expected to detail its midterm strategy in the upcoming weeks, including more aggressive https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bidens-2022-pitch-target-trump-acolytes-woo-swing-voters-2022-01-09 attacks against acolytes of former President Donald Trump.

The strategy includes heavy investment of time and money in competitive elections in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona – all states also considered crucial to retaining the White House in 2024, according to three sources familiar with the plan.

With few potential legislative options, the White House is expected to continue to make fighting COVID and inflation a priority as Biden and other officials tour the country selling the benefits of a $1 trillion infrastructure law https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-needing-boost-sign-1-trillion-infrastructure-bill-2021-11-15 passed in November.

That includes leaning into more grassroots liberal issues like voting and abortion rights and gun control. While the issues may energize Democratic voters, the path forward for new laws is unclear.

Republicans blocked multiple attempts to pass voting-rights reform bills last year, leaving top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer threatening to make changes to the “filibuster” rule https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-us-senate-filibuster-why-is-everyone-talking-about-it-2021-10-06, which requires 60 of the 100 senators to agree on most legislation.

Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema oppose changes, saying they would damage the way the Senate operates.

While other Democrats lean on the duo to change their views, top Senate Republican suggested another approach – changing the 1887 Electoral Count Act https://www.reuters.com/world/us/top-senate-republican-signals-interest-narrow-approach-us-election-reform-2022-01-05, which allows members of Congress to dispute presidential election results when they certify them on January 6th.

After the attack on Congress by Trump supporters on Jan. 6 of 2021, experts fear the process could be at the center of a constitutional crisis over future elections.

“I think it’s worth discussing,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, without providing specifics of what he would change. Democrats say his suggestion is insufficient because it doesn’t include plans to expand access to ballots or remove new barriers being erected by Republican-controlled states.

Biden is expected to publicly demand changes to the filibuster rule to pass voting rights legislation as soon as Tuesday, when he and Vice President Kamala Harris visit Georgia to make a push for voting rights, and make the case that he exhausted options on an issue that his base cares deeply about.

Civil rights groups are asking for more.

“Many policy makers, including in the White House, did not prioritize this issue early enough,” Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP told Reuters, adding the group plans on “doubling down” on efforts to pressure Congress and the White House to act.

However, he said it may be too late. Johnson said the lack of action has the left the country in a “precarious situation” that allowed Republicans to redraw congressional districts, particularly in southern states, without any federal protections against disparate impacts to black voters.

“In addition to that, we’re looking at a midterm elections where many voices will be hampered from truly participating in the election,” Johnson said.

(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw, Trevor Hunnicutt and Richard Cowan in Washington; Editing by Heather Timmons and Diane Craft)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. greenhouse gas emissions rose by 6.2% from 2020 levels last year as the use of coal-fired electricity jumped 17% and drivers returned to the roads after the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report released on Monday.

The projected emissions increase shows the U.S. is now further off the target set by the Biden administration under the Paris climate agreement to slash emissions 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030. U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were 17.4% below 2005 levels in 2021, up from 22.2% below 2005 levels in 2020, according to the Rhodium Group, a research organization.

The group analyzed preliminary U.S. emissions data for 2021, a year that was supposed to be marked by recovery after the pandemic-related upheaval of the economy. It found that emissions growth outpaced the rate of economic recovery, using estimates that GDP grew by 5.7% year-on-year.

Driving the emissions growth were the transportation and electric power sectors, whose greenhouse gas emissions rose 10% and 6.6%, respectively in 2021, both rebounding around 2/3 of the drop from 2019 levels.

In the power sector, high natural gas prices led to a 17% rise in coal generation – the first increase since 2014 – which drove up emissions.

The U.S. transportation sector, which accounts for nearly a third of net US emissions, saw the largest spike in emissions in 2021, a year after experiencing a 15% decline in 2020 from 2019 levels – the largest decline in greenhouse gas emissions led by a drastic drop in road travel due to the coronavirus.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Tilda Swinton believes identity is “entirely flexible”.

The 61-year-old actress – who has 23-year-old twins Honor and Xavier with former partner John Byrne and is in a relationship with Sandro Kopp – doesn’t want to be confined to a “box” and enjoys changing who she is on any given day.

She told Total Film magazine: “For myself, I feel most relaxed when I think that identity is something entirely flexible, that we can choose at any moment, and that it’s nobody’s business, what we choose on any given day, but ours.

“It seems a bit of a waste to just put oneself in a box and cut off all one’s limbs.

“For me, it’s never been more interesting than to stay as flexible as possible and to just play.”

61

In her upcoming movie ‘Memoria’, Tilda plays Jessica, who wakes one day disturbed by a sound in her head and the actress was able to channel her grief for her father, who passed away in October 2018, into the character because of how “alien” she felt.

She told the new issue of Total Film magazine: “I think a lot of people who suffer bereavement experience this sense of disconnection and limbo.

“That limbo is quite a run-of-the-mill – not exotic – experience for human beings.

“But it does make us feel alien when we’re in that scenario.

“Hang on, society is going out there and I’m just not connecting, my battery is not plugged in. So we did talk about that.

“We talked about what it is to have that access to feeling alien and how humane it is.”

The ‘Doctor Strange’ star revealed last year she identifies as queer and has found family in her professional collaborators.

She said: “’I’m very clear that queer is actually, for me anyway, to do with sensibility.

“I always felt I was queer – I was just looking for my queer circus, and I found it. And having found it, it’s my world.

“Now I have a family with Wes Anderson, I have a family with Bong Joon-ho, I have a family with Jim Jarmusch, I have a family with Luca Guadagnino, with Lynne Ramsay, with Joanna Hogg.”

Oprah Winfrey is producing a documentary about Sidney Poitier.

The 67-year-old media mogul is executive producing the project about the late actor – which she has been working on for over a year – for Apple and Reginald Hudlin is directing, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Poitier’s family are involved with the documentary, which is a collaboration with Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and Network Entertainment.

Meanwhile, Oprah mourned the loss of “the greatest of the Great Trees” following Poitier’s death last week.

The ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ actor – who was the first Black winner of the Best Actor Oscar for his work on ‘Lilies of the Field’ – passed away aged 94, and Oprah, who considered Sidney a friend and mentor, paid tribute to him on Instagram.

Oprah wrote: “For me, the greatest of the ‘Great Trees’ has fallen: Sidney Poitier. My honor to have loved him as a mentor. Friend. Brother. Confidant. Wisdom teacher. The utmost, highest regard and praise for his most magnificent, gracious, eloquent life. I treasured him. I adored him. He had an enormous soul I will forever cherish. Blessings to Joanna and his world of beautiful daughters (sic)”

The ‘Butler’ actress spoke about Sidney’s legacy during last year’s Black History Month, and detailed how he had laid the groundwork for her and many others within the industry.

She said at the time: “When I tell you profoundly, I could start weeping right now, I was profoundly, deeply, sincerely moved by that moment. We were being called coloured people at the time. [And] I had never seen a coloured man look like that or present like that. And I just thought if he could do that, I wonder what I could do.

“And because he did that, I was able to do what I have been able to do in the world, and every single other Black person who followed. It only happened because he was able not just to do that, but to be that. It’s what he represented: his dignity, integrity, presence, grace, choice of characters only doing, and choosing roles that were going to reflect the best of what a Black person could be in the world.”

Aaron Sorkin hopes to revisit ‘The Social Network’.

The 60-year-old screenwriter and director penned the script for the 2010 film – which tells the story of the formation of Facebook – and says that he wants to team up with filmmaker David Fincher to make a sequel.

Speaking to Collider, Aaron said: “Well, it’s something I’ve thought about a lot, and I’ve mentioned it to David. I think I’ll leave it there. I don’t want to make any news with regard to a ‘Social Network’ follow up except to agree with you that there’s more story.”

Asked if he would want to tell it with David, Aaron replied: “I’d love nothing more.”

Aaron has also directed the film ‘Being the Ricardos’, which stars Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as ‘I Love Lucy’ co-stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and credits the crew for helping him not feel any pressure to make the movie despite only having 38 days to so.

Quizzed on whether he had doubts during filming, Aaron said: “There wasn’t. I would say before the shoot, I was thinking, ’38 days, how can we possibly do this in 38 days?’ But another person who’s been with me is Stuart Besser, our line producer. He’s the one responsible for the schedule.

“Not only didn’t I ever feel pressured, time pressure, during that time, I felt other kinds of pressure. Not only didn’t I feel time pressure, but there were some days that almost felt luxurious. Like, ‘Wow, we can take our time here. We can rehearse longer. Maybe I can send the crew home an hour early.’ I credit Stuart and a great crew.”

By Tom Balmforth and Mark Trevelyan

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Sunday it would not make any concessions under U.S. pressure at talks this week on the Ukraine crisis and its demands for Western security guarantees, and that there was a risk they might end quickly.

The hard line from Moscow underscored the fragile prospects for negotiations that Washington hopes will avert the danger of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the tensest point in U.S.-Russia relations since the Cold War ended three decades ago.

Talks are due in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna but the state-owned RIA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying it was entirely possible that diplomacy could end abruptly after a single meeting.

“I can’t rule out anything, this is an entirely possible scenario and the Americans… should have no illusions about this,” he was quoted as saying.

“Naturally, we will not make any concessions under pressure and in the course of threats that are constantly being formed by the Western participants of the upcoming talks.”

Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov, who will lead the Russian delegation in Geneva, as saying Moscow was not optimistic going into the negotiations.

The comments from Ryabkov, who has compared the situation to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war, were consistent with the uncompromising line that Russia has been signalling for weeks.

Tens of thousands of Russian troops are gathered within reach of the border with Ukraine in preparation for what Washington and Kyiv say could be an invasion, eight years after Russia seized the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine.

Russia denies invasion plans and says it is responding to what it calls aggressive and provocative behaviour from the NATO military alliance and Ukraine, its former Soviet neighbour which has tilted towards the West and aspires to join NATO.

Last month Russia presented a sweeping set of demands including for a bar on further NATO expansion and an end to the alliance’s activity in central and eastern European countries that joined it after 1997.

The United States and NATO have said large parts of the Russian proposals are a non-starter.

RED LINES

A senior Biden administration official on Saturday said the United States was not willing to discuss limits on U.S. troop deployments or the U.S. force posture in NATO countries in the region.

It was ready, however, to talk about the possibility of each side restricting military exercises and missile deployments in the region.

To accept that limited agenda and abandon its other demands would be a major climbdown that Russia seems unlikely to make, especially after weeks of troop movements near Ukraine and a series of tough statements from President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin leader has said that after successive waves of NATO expansion it is time for Russia to enforce its “red lines” and ensure the alliance does not admit Ukraine or station weapons systems there that would target Russia.

Ukraine won a NATO promise back in 2008 that it would be allowed to join one day, but diplomats say there is no question of that happening any time soon.

NATO says it is a defensive alliance and Moscow has nothing to fear from it. That is far from Putin’s world view, which sees Russia as under threat from hostile western powers he says have repeatedly broken promises given as the Cold War ended not to expand towards its borders. The United States and its allies dispute such pledges were given.

In two conversations with Putin over the past five weeks, U.S. President Joe Biden warned him that Russia would face unprecedented economic sanctions in the event of further aggression against Ukraine. The Group of Seven nations and European Union have joined in threatening “massive consequences”.

Putin responded that this would be a colossal mistake that would lead to a complete rupture of relations.

Russia’s foreign ministry said the team led by Ryabkov had arrived in Geneva, where the formal talks are due on Monday.

Russia is also due to hold negotiations with NATO in Brussels on Wednesday and at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna on Thursday.

(Reporting by Tom Balmforth in Moscow and Mark Trevelyan in London; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)

Paris Jackson wants to be cast as a “superhero or a supervillain”.

The 23-year-old actress-and-musician – who is the daughter of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe – has revealed her aspiration to star in a Marvel or DC blockbuster.

She said: “I want to be a superhero or a supervillain.

“I grew up reading the comics with my brothers. Every time a new Marvel film comes out, we go as a family to watch it … they haven’t let anyone down since 2009.”

The ‘American Horror Stories’ star “grew up on Marvel”, but would be happy to join The DC Multiverse.

She added to Variety: “I don’t think it’s either one or the other.

“I just think that they’re different. I don’t think one is like necessarily better than the other. Marvel is what I grew up on. It’s like comparing The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. They’re very different.”

Meanwhile, Paris recently revealed her godfather, Macaulay Culkin, helped her with her ‘American Horror Stories’ audition.

The actress stars in the FX series, which is a spin-off of the main ‘American Horror Story’ universe, and called on her godfather and acting icon for help for her audition.

Macaulay joined the FX universe for the 10th season of the main series, and so Paris knew she could confide in him to give her advice.

She said: “They were very, very uptight about the NDAs and things like that. But I did figure, he signed an NDA, he’s in the ‘AHS’ family. I feel like if I could tell anyone, it would be him.”

Paris plays mean girl Maya in the first two episodes of ‘American Horror Stories’, and her character comes face-to-face with the franchise’s iconic Murder House.

And before landing her role, she learned from Macaulay to “overdo” parts of her audition to make them more “theatrical”.

She added: “He said overdo it at certain points. Kind of like, overact and kind of make it theatrical.”

Paris also said she and her godfather exchanged behind-the-scenes photos with each other from their respective ‘AHS’ sets.

She said: “I sent him a picture of my face covered in blood and then he sent me a picture of blood in his hair. It was cute.”

The ‘Home Alone’ star has been a longtime friend to Paris, and said back in 2018 he was “protective” of the actress.

Macaulay – who is also godfather to Paris’ brothers, Prince and Blanket – said: “I am close with Paris. I’m going to warn you now I am very protective of her so just lookout. I am a very open book when it comes to things but like with her, she is beloved by me.”

Margaret Atwood, pictured in 2019, was reportedly a target of an alleged scam to steal unpublished manuscripts

New York (AFP) – A mystery that has shaken the literary world for years — the theft of hundreds of unpublished manuscripts —  may finally be about to be solved.

The FBI arrested Filippo Bernardini, a 29-year-old Italian employee of major publisher Simon & Schuster, in New York this week.

He is accused of impersonating literary agents and publishers over email to steal unpublished works from major authors.

The alleged scam had been known in literary circles for around five years with Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan and Sally Rooney among writers reportedly targeted.

Bernardini was arraigned in court in Manhattan on Wednesday after being arrested by agents at JFK airport the day before.

He has been charged with wire fraud and identity theft, crimes punishable by 22 years in prison.

“Filippo Bernardini allegedly impersonated publishing industry individuals in order to have authors, including a Pulitzer prize winner, send him prepublication manuscripts for his own benefit,” said US prosecutor Damian Williams.

“This real-life storyline now reads as a cautionary tale, with the plot twist of Bernardini facing federal criminal charges for his misdeeds,” he added in a statement.

Bernardini worked in London for Simon and Schuster, which said in a statement it was “shocked and horrified to learn of the allegations.”

“The employee has been suspended pending further information on the case,” the publisher said in a statement.

“The safekeeping of our authors’ intellectual property is of primary importance to Simon & Schuster, and for all in the publishing industry, and we are grateful to the FBI for investigating these incidents and bringing charges against the alleged perpetrator,” it added.

Bernardini was released under “home detention” with a $300,000 bond secured on his home, a spokesperson for the Southern District of New York told AFP.

In 2019, Atwood’s agent revealed that the manuscript for “The Testaments” had been targeted.

A New York Times investigation at the end of 2020 found that “Normal People” author Rooney, “Atonement” author McEwan, and actor Ethan Hawke had also been targeted.

One element of the story prosecutors hope to find out is what the accused’s motivations might have been.

None of the stolen manuscripts seemed to appear online and the indictment does not mention whether he made any financial profit from the alleged theft.

Lady Gaga is “very much in love” with Michael Polansky.

The chart-topping pop star has been dating Michael, 44, for more than two years, and she’s “serious” about their romance.

A source shared: “Lady Gaga and Michael are still together and enjoying their relationship.”

Gaga, 35, and Michael made their romance Instagram official in February 2020, when she shared a photo of them on a yacht in Miami, Florida.

The loved-up couple are as happy now as they ever have been.

The insider told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “Gaga and Michael are serious and are very much in love.”

Gaga – whose real name is Stefani Germanotta – is said to see her boyfriend as being a pillar of strength in her life.

A source previously explained: “He is such a grounding and guiding presence for her.”

Last year, meanwhile, Gaga played the part of Patrizia Reggiani in ‘House of Gucci’.

The singer-turned-actress – whose on-screen character was convicted of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband – revealed that she drew on her own “real” trauma for the role.

The ‘Bad Romance’ hitmaker said: “I think I’m just like everybody else really. I’m imagining, sure. I’m creative, sure. But I think that being imaginative comes from a real place, it’s just how you choose to synthesise who you are.

“When I think about my real-life experiences, there was a lot of things that I’ve been through in my life, traumatic experiences, that I drew upon to play Patrizia, and it’s not necessarily imaginative in that way.

“I mean I’m calling upon myself. Now, it might be imaginative to you, you might see it and say ‘oh that looks like it possesses imagination’, but for me it’s not imaginative, it’s real.”

Las Vegas (AFP) – Interactive comment sections and virtual reality headsets: internet-connected fitness gear and services have boomed during the pandemic as at-home athletes seek a proxy for gym life.

While home workouts long predate the coronavirus, they have taken on a social aspect that looks set to become the standard in a world reshaped by the pandemic.

“A big part of going to the gym together is sort of suffering together… you build a camaraderie around that,” Jeremy Needham, who does customer education for US boxing fitness company Liteboxer, told AFP at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

“And now that we don’t share that space, at least in real time, we have to do it virtually,” he added.

Like other companies that sell internet-connected fitness gear, Liteboxer offers customers access to workouts, competitions and other features for a monthly charge — on top of the roughly $1,200 wall-mounted machine. 

The market for fitness tech has been growing for years, but the industry has gotten a boost in the last couple of years, similarly to how the pandemic accelerated e-commerce and remote working trends.

“Connected equipment exploded onto the scene in a big way as consumers had to shift the way to work out during the pandemic,” CES organizer Consumer Technology Association (CTA) noted in an industry forecast.

Internet-connected exercise equipment was a nearly $3.8 billion market in 2021, and double-digit percentage growth is expected this year, CTA’s forecast said.

“(Customers) want connectivity,” said Richard Kowalski, an analyst with CTA. “They want to engage with other people online.”

Need for pandemic release

Connected rowing machine maker Hydrow allows customers to comment and like others’ workouts, and users have developed their own social media groups.

“You start talking to each other and then all of a sudden, you have a group of maybe six guys, you know, from all over the world,” Aquil Abdullah, who leads workouts on the system, told AFP.

“A guy is in London, a guy is out in California, a guy is down in Florida, and you have this community.” 

The machines, which sell for $2,295, have the usual rowing bar and seat, but also a screen that allows clients to exercise along with instructors on the water, in locales from Miami to London.

“We do these workouts, and so that’s part of building community and building those connections,” said Abdullah, who rowed for the US at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

But the connected fitness industry has shown some sensitivity to the changing conditions of the pandemic and the way it affects equipment users’ lives.

Fitness firm Peloton’s shares have been under pressure since early November, when the company cut its forecast as more consumers returned to reopening gyms. 

Credit Suisse downgraded the firm in December, saying the market shifts have forced Peloton to increase advertising and discounting.

However, as cases of Covid’s Omicron variant break records around the world, many are again hunkering down at home.

That shift could work in favor of home fitness tech companies.

CTA took a bullish perspective, saying “the growth trajectory suggests that health-conscious consumers are finding practicality and convenience in exercising at home, even as gyms and workout classes reopen.”

And exercise of any kind has offered some people a relief from the pandemic’s impacts — as work, school and travel disruptions and simmering health worries offer plenty to stress about.

“The pandemic locked us inside… we couldn’t do the things that we loved,” said Needham.

“But the human body still needs cardiovascular activity, it’s quite simple. You just need a really engaging way… to release that energy that builds up in you.”

By Courtney Walsh

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic’s legal challenge to the Australian government’s decision to cancel his visa on arrival this week says a certified COVID-19 infection in December meant he qualified for a medical exemption to the county’s vaccination requirements.A 35-page document lodged in the Federal Circuit and Family Court by his legal team on Saturday outlines the Serbian’s case for challenging the visa cancellation which would prevent him from playing in the Australian Open. The challenge will be heard in court on Monday morning.

The tennis world number one has been held in immigration detention in a hotel in Melbourne since Thursday morning after border officials rejected his claim for a medical exemption.

The filing shows Djokovic said he had received a letter from Tennis Australia’s Chief Medical Officer on Dec. 30 stating he had a medical exemption from vaccination on the basis that he had recently recovered from a COVID infection.

The documents show he had tested positive to COVID on Dec. 16, and by Dec. 30 had been free of symptoms or fever in the previous 72 hours.

The application said he had a valid visa to travel and also received an assessment from the Department of Home Affairs stating “responses indicate(d) that (he met) the requirements for a quarantine-free arrival into Australia where permitted by the jurisdiction of your arrival”, with Victoria the nominated jurisdiction.

The legal documents state that early on Thursday morning, after being informed at Melbourne Airport his visa would be rescinded, a confused Djokovic pleaded to be given time to be able to contact Tennis Australia and his agent.

But he said he was “pressured” by authorities to agree to an interview shortly after 6 a.m., despite accepting an earlier offer than he could rest until 8:30 a.m. and saying he “wanted some help and legal support and advice from [his] representatives”, who were still sleeping at the early hour.

CHALLENGED CANCELLATION

The application says Djokovic challenged an official at the airport when told a recent COVID-19 infection was not considered a substitute for a vaccination in Australia.

“That’s not true, and I told him what the Independent State Government medical panel had said and I explained why. I then referred to the two medical panels and the Travel Declaration,” the legal filing quotes the Serbian as saying.

“I explained that I had been recently infected with COVID in December 2021 and, on this basis, I was entitled to a medical exemption in accordance with Australian Government rules and guidance.”

He said he had provided his medical evidence to Tennis Australia for its two-stage independent assessment process, had made his travel declarations correctly and satisfied all requirements to legally enter Australia on his approved visa.

Among the arguments lawyers for the Serbian superstar raised was a section from the Australian Immunisation Register which states a person can apply for a temporary vaccine exemption due to a recent “acute major medical illness”.

Djokovic’s legal team said that, among a series of what it says are jurisdictional errors, a delegate for the minister for home affairs did not have “a skerrick of evidence”, using an Australian term for a tiny amount to suggest the 20-time major champion’s recent infection did not constitute a contraindication.

Tennis Australia’s chief medical officer, Dr Carolyn Broderick, was one of three medical practitioners on a panel that approved an exemption consistent with guidelines outlined by Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, the filing says.The document says the first decision was then assessed by a second independent medical panel set up by the Victorian state government, consistent with the process that has been outlined publicly by Tennis Australia.

The case is Djokovic V Minister for Home Affairs. Djokovic is represented by legal firm Hall & Willcox, and the government is represented by the Australian Government Solicitor.

(Reporting by Courtney Walsh; Additional reporting by John Mair; Editing by William Mallard)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s $1.8 trillion spending offer he proposed to the White House in late 2021 appears to be no longer on the table following a breakdown between the Democratic lawmaker from West Virginia and the White House, the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

Manchin told reporters this week that he is no longer involved in discussions with the White House and has signaled privately that he is not interested in approving any legislation like President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Package, the newspaper said, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

Manchin’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The legislation is one of Biden’s signature domestic priorities. Manchin’s vote is critical in the evenly divided Senate. His opposition torpedoed Build Back Better in December, drawing ire from Democratic progressives and sending the political party scrambling to find a way to resurrect the package.

The plan includes funding for high-priority issues for many Americans, including free preschool, support for soaring childcare costs, coverage of home-care costs for the elderly and expansion of free school meals.

Manchin has spoken with a raft of officials and others seeking to garner his support for the legislation, including senior White House aide Steve Ricchetti, Larry Kudlow, former economic adviser to ex-president Donald Trump, and Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, according to the Washington Post.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was at Democratic committee headquarters in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, when a pipe bomb was discovered outside, according to a White House official familiar with the matter.

Harris, then the vice-president elect and senator from California, evacuated the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters on Capitol Hill after law enforcement officers discovered the device, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. Secret Service, which provides Harris’ security, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For a year, the FBI has been looking for a suspect wearing a gray hooded top who they say planted an explosive device next to a park bench outside the DNC and another in an alley behind the Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters. The devices, which officials believe were planted the night before, were defused.

Their discovery came on the same day as supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an attempt https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-call-trump-threat-democracy-us-capitol-attack-anniversary-2022-01-06 to overturn the Nov. 3, 2020, election of Joe Biden and Harris.

Harris, Biden and other lawmakers observed the anniversary with speeches at the Capitol on Thursday.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)