WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution on Tuesday holding Mark Meadows, who served as White House chief of staff for former President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress and recommended he face federal charges.

The vote was 222 to 208, with just two Republicans joining Democrats in backing the measure.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

New York (AFP) – New York will appoint Keechant Sewell as its first-ever woman police chief to head the largest force in the country, mayor-elect Eric Adams said Tuesday, at a time when the city’s trust in law enforcement has been shattered.

Sewell will also be only the third Black person in the post, and will have to restore faith in a police department that has faced accusations of harboring violent, racist and corrupt officers in its ranks.

Adams, a Democrat and former police officer, will become New York’s second Black mayor when he takes office on January 1. 

With Sewell’s appointment, he fills a key post two weeks before his formal start, with security having been one of the main issues during his campaign.

“Keechant Sewell is a proven crime fighter with the experience and emotional intelligence to deliver both the safety New Yorkers need and the justice they deserve,” Adams told The New York Post.

“Chief Sewell will wake up every day laser-focused on keeping New Yorkers safe and improving our city, and I am thrilled to have her at the helm of the NYPD.”

“Violent crime is the number one priority,” Sewell told the Post. 

“I want to actually take a look at what’s working in the city and what’s not working,” she added. 

Commanding approximately 36,000 police officers in the largest city in the United States, 49-year-old Sewell will shoulder the tough task of maintaining security in New York at a time when a surge in crime has accompanied the coronavirus pandemic.

“We welcome Chief Sewell to the second-toughest policing job in America. The toughest, of course, is being an NYPD cop on the street,” said Patrick Lynch, head of the main police union in the city, the Police Benevolent Association.

Sewell is currently chief investigator in Nassau County, east of New York City.

The New York Times reported that she has served in the department for 23 years, working in the narcotics and major cases unit, and as a hostage negotiator.  

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The city of Washington, D.C., sued right-wing groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers on Tuesday, seeking to collect on the financial costs of the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and its aftermath.

The suit aims to hold accountable the groups that helped to organize a rally by thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump that evolved into an assault on Congress aiming to stop it from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.

District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine told reporters the defendants had caused physical and financial harm to Washington and its residents, adding that the city will seek “severe” financial penalties against the defendants.

“Our intent … is to hold these violent mobsters and these violent hate groups accountable and to get every penny of damage we can,” he said at a news conference.

The lawsuit seeks to recover the costs of deploying hundreds of city police officers to defend the Capitol against the attack, as well as medical and paid-leave costs incurred afterward.

It also brings civil assault and battery charges against the two organizations, along with 30 named and 50 unnamed people it alleges were involved in the assault.

The lawsuit opens up another legal front against alleged participants in the Jan. 6 attack.

Four people died and hundreds were injured during the multi-hour onslaught, and one police officer died the next day of injuries sustained while defending Congress. Four officers who were at the Capitol that day have since taken their own lives.

Nearly 700 people face criminal charges stemming from the event. Several alleged leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers have pleaded guilty.

The lawsuit invokes the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which allows people to sue for civil rights violations. It does not name Trump or former members of his administration as defendants.

It is not clear whether the two groups are in a position to defend themselves, or whether the lawsuit will yield any financial penalties.

Racine and other District officials said they hoped it would also serve as a warning to deter similar behavior by other extremist groups.

“If we don’t get a penny in restitution, this lawsuit’s deterrent effect will say, ‘Be prepared to spend money, because we are coming after you,'” said Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District in the House of Representatives.

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan, additional reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Scott Malone, Mark Porter and Bill Berkrot)

New York (AFP) – The number of Americans who identify as non-religious is soaring in the profoundly Christian United States, according to a Pew Research Center study published Tuesday.

Some 29 percent of American adults are now religiously unaffiliated — up from 16 percent 14 years ago — the survey found.

America is home to a powerful, socially conservative Christian right-wing political faction and Christianity remains the overwhelmingly dominant religion in the country.

But the religion is declining markedly, the Pew results showed.

Seventy-eight percent of US adults identified as Christian in 2007. Now, some 63 percent do, according to the research.

In 2007, Pew began tracking religious “nones” — people who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.”

Then, Christians outnumbered nones by almost five-to-one. Today it is closer to two-to-one, the researchers said.

Pew’s researchers did not give reasons for the trend, but it is in line with the wider decline in Christianity across the West.

In 2019, the center said the growth of religious nones in America was particularly evident among younger people.

Pew’s latest survey found that the secular shift was concentrated amongst Protestant communities, with the Catholic share of the population holding relatively steady in recent years.

Some 60 percent of Protestants described themselves as born-again or evangelical Christian, Pew said.

White evangelical Christians are among former president Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters, with 84 percent of the group voting for him in last year’s election, Pew said previously.

Researchers quizzed almost 4,000 respondents between May and August this year for the survey released Tuesday.

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Monday that security personnel had confiscated more than 5,700 firearms at airport security checkpoints in 2021, the highest ever in a single year.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske told reporters at a briefing the prior yearly record was about 4,400 in 2019 and the current rate of gun detections in carry-on luggage at checkpoints per million passengers is twice the prior high.

He said he thinks the increase reflects an increase in firearms being carried by Americans.

Airline passengers can transport an unloaded firearm on an airplane but only in checked baggage.

“It’s a pretty costly mistake to make,” Pekoske said, saying TSA will “always proceed with a civil penalty action that will cost thousands of dollars after we complete an investigation.” TSA also refers the issue to law enforcement if it is a violation of local or state laws.

In November, an accidental shooting at a security checkpoint at Atlanta International Airport prompted chaos.

A TSA officer saw a gun during screening and the passenger lunged into the bag and grabbed it, at which point it discharged, the agency said. The incident briefly prompted a halt to air traffic while Atlanta Police investigated.

Separately, TSA said it is not clear when a federal mandate requiring masks in transit may end.

Earlier this month, TSA extended the federal mask mandate on airplanes, trains, airports and other transit modes through March 18.

Pekoske said the agency relies on what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends on the mask mandate, saying it’s “very, very hard to predict when the mask mandate will end.” The mask mandate has been in place since February.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter and Aurora Ellis)

Elon Musk wants to bring animals and humans to Mars “like a futuristic Noah’s ark”.

The 50-year-old billionaire entrepreneur’s dream is to reach the Red Planet via spacecraft and ultimately create an intergalactic “self-sustaining city”.

In order to fulfil his vision, Musk believes he needs to bring animals into outer space and breed them on Mars, with his idea inspired by the Biblical story of Noah who is saved along with his family and Earth’s creatures from a massive flood by God.

In an interview with TIME magazine, he said: “The goal overall has been to make life multi-planetary and enable humanity to become a spacefaring civilization.

“And the next really big thing is to build a self-sustaining city on Mars and bring the animals and creatures of Earth there. Sort of like a futuristic Noah’s ark. We’ll bring more than two, though – it’s a little weird if there’s only two.”

Musk’s idea to bring animals as well as people to Mars is scientifically correct as humans need to exist as part of a biosphere with other living organisms but the planet’s CO2 atmosphere is a major problem for colonisation plans, as Earth’s animals and humans need to breathe oxygen to survive.

Musk’s plan for his SpaceX project is to land rockets on Mars within the next five years.

On December 9, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted SpaceX a license to conduct an experimental orbital demonstration and recovery test of its Starship rocket in the first quarter of 2022 which means the orbital launch could take place anytime between December 20, 2021 and March 1, 2022, from SpaceX’s testing facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

Musk is still awaiting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to complete its environmental assessment he can launch Starship.

The Tesla CEO has stated that Starship’s first flight into orbit would come in the first three months of 2022, potentially January.

Speaking during an online meeting held by the US government’s National Academies, he said: “We’re close to our initial orbital launch.

“The first orbital flight we’re hoping to do in January.”

By Michael Erman and Deena Beasley

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Pfizer Inc on Tuesday said final analysis of its antiviral COVID-19 pill still showed near 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent lab data suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against the fast spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The U.S. drugmaker last month said the oral medicine was around 89% effective in preventing hospitalizations or deaths when compared to placebo, based on interim results in around 1,200 people. The data disclosed on Tuesday includes an additional 1,000 people.

Nobody in the trial who received the Pfizer treatment died, compared with 12 deaths among placebo recipients.

The Pfizer pills are taken with the older antiviral ritonavir every 12 hours for five days beginning shortly after onset of symptoms. If authorized, the treatment will be sold as Paxlovid.

“It’s a stunning outcome,” Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said in an interview.

“We’re talking about a staggering number of lives saved and hospitalizations prevented. And of course, if you deploy this quickly after infection, we are likely to reduce transmission dramatically,” Dolsten said.

Pfizer also released early data from a second clinical trial suggesting that the treatment reduced hospitalizations by around 70% in a smaller trial of standard-risk adults, including some higher-risk vaccinated people. The results were not statistically significant, but Pfizer said they showed a “positive data trend for reduction in risk.”The trial did not show that the drug alleviated symptoms of COVID-19 in the same population.

The results in standard-risk individuals are from interim analyses at 60% and 80% of enrollment of the now fully-enrolled trial of over 1,100 people. Pfizer will continue the trial and release more data when its done.

Dolsten said he expects authorization for use in high-risk individuals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies soon. He does not believe an FDA advisory panel meeting will be needed.

“We’re in very advanced regulatory dialogues with both Europe and the UK, and we have dialogues with most of the major regulatory agencies globally,” Dolsten said.

Pfizer submitted data to the U.S. FDA last month, asking for emergency use authorization of the drug.

The FDA’s decision could come within a matter of weeks, if not days, said Zarina Saidova, an analyst at Moscow-based Finam Holdings, as the new data confirms what the company previously disclosed and submitted to the regulator.

Saidova expects Paxlovid to generate $15 billion to $20 billion in revenue next year, a significant boost for the company in the face of a potential decline in vaccine sales.

There are currently no oral antiviral treatments for COVID-9 authorized in the United States.

Rival Merck & Co has asked for emergency use authorization of its antiviral pill molnupiravir. But that drug only reduced hospitalizations and deaths in its clinical trial of high-risk patients by around 30%.

Some scientists have also raised safety concerns about the potential for birth defects from the Merck drug, as well as worries that it could cause the virus to mutate.

Pfizer’s drug works differently. It is part of a class of drugs called protease inhibitors currently used to treat HIV, hepatitis C and other viruses.

Pfizer shares fell 0.8% to $54.75 in trading before the bell, while Merck shares were flat at $72.69.

Dolsten said recent laboratory testing showed that activity against the protease of the Omicron variant is as “good as basically any SARS-COV-2 variant of concern.”

The company has said it can have 180,000 treatment courses ready to ship this year and plans to produce at least 80 million more in 2022.

Dolsten said Pfizer is looking to expand that output further as new variants, like the newly-discovered Omicron, could push the need for antivirals substantially higher. Current vaccines appear to be less effective at preventing infection with Omicron.

Pfizer, which makes one of the leading COVID-19 vaccines with German partner BioNTech, has agreed to allow generic manufacturers to supply versions of the drug to 95 low- and middle-income countries through a licensing agreement with international public health group Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). However, Dolsten said that for next year he expects the drug will be mainly produced by Pfizer.

The U.S. government has already secured 10 million courses of the Pfizer drug for $5.29 billion.

(Reporting by Michael Erman in New Jersey and Deena Beasley in Los Angeles, Additional reporting by Mrinalika Roy; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Anil D’Silva and Nick Zieminski)

Washington (AFP) – Lawmakers investigating the assault on the US Capitol prepared Monday to vote on recommending criminal contempt charges against Donald Trump’s former chief of staff for refusing to testify.

Mark Meadows has made clear he has no intention of complying with a subpoena to appear before the cross-party January 6 congressional select committee and missed a scheduled deposition for the second time last week.

Members are investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election through a campaign that led to the deadly Capitol riot — and the help he got from Meadows.  

Trump’s fourth and final White House chief told the panel he would withhold testimony until courts resolve his former boss’s claim of “executive privilege,” which allows presidents to keep certain conversations private.

Investigators maintain Meadows has undermined any right to refuse testimony, as the ultra-conservative former congressman is promoting a new memoir that includes detailed accounts of January 6 and his conversations with Trump.

Many of the questions they want to ask him concern 6,600 pages of records taken from personal email accounts and about 2,000 text messages that he turned over before he stopped cooperating.

‘Uniquely situated’

“There’s no way to sustain the argument that ‘I can’t come in and testify because that would be privileged but here are all these documents on this very subject, which I admit are not privileged. I can’t come in and testify before Congress, but I can write about it in my book,'” panel member Adam Schiff told MSNBC. 

“You can’t have it both ways. And so we will proceed and, I believe, hold him in criminal contempt.”

An appeals court last week rejected Trump’s effort to stop the committee accessing documents and testimony from former White House aides, agreeing with a lower court that the defeated ex-president had provided no reason for secrecy. He was given two weeks to appeal.

Meadows was Trump’s most senior aide at the time of the riot and was reportedly with the then-president in the White House as the rioters breached the Capitol.

The committee says he is “uniquely situated to provide key information, having straddled an official role in the White House and unofficial role related to Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign.”

The probe released a 51-page document Sunday describing some of Meadows’ communications, including a January 5 email in which he told an unidentified person the National Guard was on standby to “protect pro-Trump people.” 

‘Unwise, unjust and unfair’

The committee will green-light the contempt citation Monday evening and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday to refer Meadows to the Justice Department.

A timetable for a charging decision has yet to be revealed. If convicted, Meadows could face a six-month prison term for each contempt charge, but more likely would be fined.

Accusing the select committee of abusing its powers, Meadows sued its nine members and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week, asking a federal court to block enforcement of the subpoenas issued to him and to Verizon for his phone records.

His lawyer George Terwilliger wrote to the panel on Monday to denounce the proposed prosecution as “manifestly unwise, unjust and unfair.”

Thousands of Trump supporters, many associated with ultra-nationalist and white supremacist groups, stormed the Capitol 11 months ago in an effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s election victory. 

In a fiery speech earlier that day, Trump repeated false claims of election fraud that he had been making for months and called on supporters to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell.”

The House voted to recommend charges against ex-White House strategist Steve Bannon in October. He faces trial in July on two counts of contempt.

Chris Noth has filmed a commercial for Peloton.

The 67-year-old actor’s most favour alter ego, Mr. Big, passed away in the opening episode of ‘Sex and the City’ spin-off ‘And Just Like That…’ after suffering a heart attack following his 1,000th session on one of the company’s exercise bikes, and he’s poked fun at his shock exit in a festive advert for the interactive fitness provider.

In the commercial – which is narrated by Ryan Reynolds – Chris sat in front of a Christmas tree and festive-themed fireplace, behind a pair of Peloton bikes as he celebrated “new beginnings” with real-life Peloton instructor Jess King, who was also Big’s coach on ‘And Just Like That…’.

She told him: “You look great.”

He then replied: “Oh, I feel great. Shall we take another ride? Life’s too short not to.”

The company shared the ad on Instagram along with the caption: “And just like that…he’s alive.”

On the new show, it was explained Big – whose lifeless body was found by his wife Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) – had heart issues but his cardiologist had approved for him to work out on his Peloton bike, something which the company claimed afterwards had “maybe even helped delay” his untimely death.

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a preventative cardiologist who sits on Peloton’s health and wellness advisory council said: “I’m sure ‘SATC’ fans, like me, are saddened by the news that Mr. Big dies of a heart attack. Mr. Big lived what many would call an extravagant lifestyle — including cocktails, cigars, and big steaks — and was at serious risk as he had a previous cardiac event in Season 6.

“These lifestyle choices and perhaps even his family history, which often is a significant factor, were the likely cause of his death. Riding his Peloton Bike may have even helped delay his cardiac event…It’s always important to talk to your doctor, get tested, and have a healthy prevention strategy. The good news is Peloton helps you track heart rate while you ride, so you can do it safely.”

Children are playing football on a lawn, people are out walking, holding their faces up to the sun, dogs are sniffing trees, and a musician plays guitar on a bench.

In the (often) harmonious everyday life of New York’s Central Park, a few brown signs on the mid-west side of the grounds rarely stand out.

“Discover Seneca Village” is written on them in white letters.

Central Park, which has served as a setting for countless Hollywood film scenes, is one of the most popular attractions in this city visited by more than 40 million people a year.

Largely shaped by the landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1876, the 3.5-square-kilometre park is an integral part of the cityscape today.

But Seneca Village, the first settlement of freed African-Americans in New York, had to make way for its creation.

Displaced and then forgotten

In 1825, owners John and Elizabeth Whitehead had divided their land – located roughly between 82nd and 89th Streets on the west side of what is now the park – into 200 lots and sold them.

Andrew Williams, a 25-year-old African-American shoeshiner, bought the first three lots for 125 dollars. Saleswoman Epiphany Davis later bought 12 plots for 578 dollars.

Over the years, a small settlement developed – consisting mainly of African-Americans who were freeborn or freed from slavery, as well as some Irish and German immigrants.

By 1850, the settlement already consisted of about 50 houses, three churches, graveyards and a school.

Seneca Village was one of the few African-American settlements at the time and allowed residents to live away from the heavily developed parts of southern Manhattan and away from the unhealthy conditions and racism that confronted them there, according to Central Park operators.

In 1857, however, the New York City Council decided to demolish Seneca Village and have Central Park built.

After that, the settlement was forgotten for a long time.

A few years ago, the park administration began to draw attention to the village’s former existence with signs – and now Seneca Village’s history is being revisited, directly opposite its former location, on the other side of Central Park in the renowned Metropolitan Museum.

“What might have been, had Seneca Village been allowed to thrive into the present and beyond?” ask curators at the Met with their exhibition “Before Yesterday We Could Fly.”

A one-room show in the Met

The show consists of only one room, but it is permanent – and plays with an established exhibition concept of the Metropolitan Museum, the so-called Period Rooms.

These are special rooms in the permanent exhibitions that are supposed to show visitors life in different times and places like 18th century France and ancient Rome with furniture, wallpaper and art.

These rooms have a “special magic,” as Vogue recently wrote – but until now they have dealt almost exclusively with the lives and works of white historical figures.

Now, for the first time, the Met has an “Afrofuturistic Period Room”, designed by production designer Hannah Beachler, who was involved in Beyonce’s music film project “Lemonade” and won an Oscar for her work on the film “Black Panther.”

“This project is important to me because it is a necessary conversation with time, loss, community and hope,” Beachler says.

The room offers an “important opportunity to start new dialogues and illuminate stories that are yet to be told within our walls,” Austrian museum director Max Hollein also said.

In this colourfully wallpapered space, a small house is suggested, filled with artworks and objects such as bowls and combs – inspired by objects from the real Seneca Village found in 2011 during excavations at Columbia University. A video installation runs alongside.

New York Times critic Salamishah Tillet lauded the Metropolitan Museum exhibition as “one of its most thoughtful reparations projects yet” – high praise for a museum often criticised for having a largely white, male perspective on the history of art.

Megan Thee Stallion dedicated her 18th Congressional District Humanitarian Award to her late grandmother.

The ‘WAP’ hitmaker was “honoured” to receieve the prize in her hometown of Houston – where she was raised after being born in San Antonio – on Sunday (12.12.21) in recognition of her local philanthropic efforts.

The 26-year-old hip-hop artist said: “I’m so honoured. It’s my responsibility to take care of the city that took care of me. My grandma always taught me to be kind and giving. I learned that from her.”

The ‘Body’ rapper – whose real name is Megan Pete – also acknowledged how her mother and grandmother – who both passed away in 2019 – had inspired her to complete her health administration degree after she recently graduated from Texas Southern University.

She said: “I was raised by very giving women so I want to dedicate this award to my grandma because she taught me to be the woman I am today.”

Megan later admitted to being grateful for the “recognition” but that she was “just happy” to help out the city that raised her.

She wrote on Instagram:”Today I was given thee 18th Congressional District of Texas Hero Award by congresswoman @sheilajacksonlee In my hometown HOUSTON TX [three rock on emojis] although I appreciate the recognition I’m just happy that I am able to give back to and put smiles on the faces of the people in my city [strong arm emoji] (sic)”

According to Congresswoman Sheila Lee – who handed out the accolade to the ‘Hot Girl’ rapper – the prestigious award is “not given out often” and has a “special promise and special history”.

The Democratic lawmaker said: “This award has not been given out often, or to many. When this award is given, it has that special promise and special history.”

In November 2020, the five-time Grammy Award winner shared about how “hard” going to college – especially juggling a thriving career and during the COVID-19 pandemic – had been.

She said: “School is so hard and online classes are really hard too, but I was already doing online classes before quarantine started. I I had to because I couldn’t go on campus anymore. I mean, my focus was definitely better because I didn’t have a lot of distractions.”

A future James Bond could be non-binary.

Daniel Craig has stepped away from portraying the suave spy and although producer Barbara Broccoli dismissed suggestions a future version of the character would be played by a woman, she admitted it is possible the role could go to someone who doesn’t identify with either gender and uses neutral They/Them pronouns.

Appearing on the ‘Girls On Film’ podcast, host Anna Smith asked if Barbara thought 007 would always be male and she replied: “I do, because I don’t think that we should be making films where women are playing men.

“I think we should be making more films about women. I think Bond will be a man.”

But when Anna suggested “Non-binary, perhaps, maybe one day?”, she replied: “Who knows? I mean, I think it’s open. We just have to find the right actor.”

And the producer confirmed the next Bond may not necessarily be white.

She said: “We want the actor to be British… and British, as we know, can be many things.”

Henry Cavill recently put himself forward as a potential Bond.

Asked about the prospect of playing Bond, Henry – who is best known for playing Superman – shared: “Look … I hate it when people start a sentence with, ‘Look …’ – it sounds like they’re lying about something. I think it would be very exciting to have a conversation with the producers. … In an ideal world, I’d never have to turn anything down.

“Nothing is off the table. It’s an honour to even be part of that conversation.”

And Henry Golding previously revealed that he was “honoured” to be linked with the iconic part and claimed that it was the right time for a non-white Bond.

He said: “It does seem to be a question that always comes up. It was definitely from ‘Crazy Rich,’ maybe [the scene with] the white suit coming out the park.

“I’m Asian and everybody’s fighting for a diverse Bond – sorry, white guys.

“Isn’t it great that we’re having that conversation? Isn’t it great that people are like, ‘Ok, now it’s time, why the hell can’t we have a black Bond, an Asian Bond, a mixed-race Bond, a non-distinct Bond?’

“I don’t know … It’s an honour to even be in the conversation. It’s one of the greatest film roles ever, you’d be stupid to be like, ‘I don’t want to do that s***.’ F*** no, it would be the wildest ride.”

Other names in the frame have included Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Rege-Jean Page, and Paul Mescal.

(Reuters) – California Governor Gavin Newsom said he plans to use a controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling on strict abortion curbs in Texas to design a law that would allow private citizens to sue some gun manufacturers, distributors and sellers.

The Supreme Court on Friday left in effect the Texas law that enables private citizens to sue anyone who performs or assists a woman in getting an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.

The Texas law was designed by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to avoid normal means of legal challenge, because rather than making state officials responsible for enforcement, it instead gave private individuals anywhere the right to sue doctors who provide abortion services in Texas and anyone else who “aids or abets” the process.

While allowing the Texas law to remain in effect, the court ruled legal challenges may proceed against the measure, which critics say amounts to vigilante justice.

Newsom, a Democrat, said on Saturday his team will work with state Attorney General Rob Bonta and the legislature to draft a proposal in line with the Texas law that would let citizens sue manufacturers, sellers or distributors of assault weapons or ghost gun kits for at least $10,000 per violation.

“I am outraged by yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing Texas’s ban on most abortion services to remain in place,” Newsom said in a statement https://bit.ly/31U6PN6.

“If states can now shield their laws from review by the federal courts that compare assault weapons to Swiss Army knives, then California will use that authority to protect people’s lives, where Texas used it to put women in harm’s way.”

Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent to Friday’s decision, blasted the court’s majority for failing to “put an end to this madness” and warned that other states could try to copy the Texas enforcement mechanism.

President Joe Biden said he was “very concerned” by the decision to leave in place the abortion ban but said it was “encouraging” that the court allowed part of the abortion providers’ lawsuit to continue.

(Reporting by Ann Maria Shibu in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)

(Reuters) – Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk was named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2021, a year that saw his electric car company become the most valuable carmaker in the world and his rocket company soar to the edge of space with an all-civilian crew.

Musk is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX, and leads brain-chip startup Neuralink and infrastructure firm The Boring Company. Tesla’s market value soared to more than $1 trillion this year, making it more valuable than Ford Motor and General Motors combined.

Tesla produces hundreds of thousand of cars every year and has managed to avert supply chain issues better than many of its rivals, while pushing many young consumers to switch to electric cars and legacy automakers to shift focus to EV vehicles.

“For creating solutions to an existential crisis, for embodying the possibilities and the perils of the age of tech titans, for driving society’s most daring and disruptive transformations, Elon Musk is TIME’s 2021 Person of the Year,” the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal, said.

“Even Elon Musk’s spacefaring adventures are a direct line from the very first Person of the Year, Charles Lindbergh, whom the editors selected in 1927 to commemorate his historic first solo transatlantic airplane flight over the Atlantic.”

From hosting Saturday Night Live to dropping tweets on cryptocurrencies and meme stocks that have triggered massive movements in their value, Musk has dominated the headlines and amassed over 66 million followers on Twitter.

Some of his tweets have also attracted regulatory scrutiny in the past.

According to the magazine, “The Person of the Year” signifies somebody “who affected the news or our lives the most, for better, or worse.”

Time magazine named the teenage pop singer Olivia Rodrigo as its “Entertainer of the Year”, American gymnast Simone Biles “Athlete of the Year” and vaccine scientists were named “Heroes of the Year”.

Last year, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were jointly given the “Person of the Year” title. Time began this tradition in 1927. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos have also received the title in the past.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu and Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)