National Harbor (United States) (AFP) – US conservatives kicked off their annual convention Thursday with an array of firebrand speakers aiming their sharpest verbal attacks at other Americans rather than foreign adversaries.

Key names at the Conservative Political Action Conference devoted some floor time to the US-Chinese rivalry and the immigration crisis, but the real crowd-pleasing zingers came in the rants against the LGBT+ community and calls for the arrests of liberals.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said recently-retired scientist Anthony Fauci, the government’s point man on the Covid-19 pandemic, should be jailed over health curbs that had “ruined more lives than any bureaucrat in the history of our nation.”

He accused US President Joe Biden of not giving “a damn” about a recent train derailment that sparked fears of environmental contamination in Ohio, and said the administration would have been quicker to help if the locals had been “transgender tech workers.”

Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama railed against trans athletes and “all this woke” taking priority over traditional school subjects, alleging that “half the kids, when they graduate, they can’t read their diploma.”

South Carolina congressman Ralph Northam accused America’s top military officer — decorated combat veteran Mark Milley — of being a “traitor.”

‘Leftists and Marxists’

No stranger to incendiary hyperbole, Pennsylvania congressman Scott Perry, who is under investigation for his role in former president Donald Trump’s attempt to subvert the 2020 election, threatened that “if it’s up to me, there’s going to be a firestorm” targeting liberals.

“These leftists, these Marxists that have prevailed upon the American people and used the awesome power of the federal government to cow us into fear in our homes, they’ve got to be put on notice,” he said.

“They’ve got to be quaking in fear, they’ve got to be worried, they’ve got to be losing weight because they’re not eating, because they’re worried they’re going to end up going to jail.” 

CPAC, which returned to its home in Maryland’s National Harbor after pandemic-era editions in Texas and Florida, is a sprawling gathering that sees itself as promoting liberty, economic prosperity and family values.

Its panelists speak glowingly of president Ronald Reagan, while posters decry gun restrictions, liberal school curriculums and big government.

This year’s event, which culminates in a keynote address from Trump on Saturday, will be an opportunity for delegates to vet the tycoon and other potential candidates for the 2024 presidential election. 

Among them is Trump’s former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who is expected to make the case Friday that the Republican Party needs a new generation of leaders, unencumbered by the taint of recent election failure.

Several major players have stayed away, however, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, seen as a formidable potential challenger to Trump for the 2024 nomination, and former vice president Mike Pence.

The “wonderful family” from ‘The White Lotus’ scooped the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series honour at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards on Sunday (26.02.23).

The HBO vacation satire picked up the accolade ahead of ‘Ozark’, ‘Better Call Saul’, ‘The Crown’ and ‘Severance’ and as the cast gathered on stage at Los Angeles’ Fairmont Century Plaza hotel, F. Murray Abraham – who played Bert Di Grasso – took the mic to offer an acceptance speech on their behalf, and paid tribute to everyone who had worked on the show.

He said: “Thank you, thank you SAG-AFRTA, Than you HBO, this was the best job I ever had, not only because of this really remarkable, wonderful family of actors but because Mike and David and Mark pulled together an international company of technicians and actors.

“We all lived together in the same place and ate together and worked together, so this is not only for the actors, this is for the entire company.”

The veteran actor also took the time to recognise global issues.

He said: “This is a wonderful time but I ‘d like to send a prayer out to the earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey, and a prayer for peace in Ukraine and Russia.”

Earlier in the evening, ‘The White Lotus’ star Jennifer Coolidge was tearful when she picked up the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series honour ahead of Elizabeth Debicki (‘The Crown’), Zendaya (‘Euphoria’) and ‘Ozark’ actresses Julia Garner and Laura Linney.

She said: “Wow. Wow. You know… It’s been a very special year, overwhelming, ‘White Lotus’ and Mike White writing me a great part that went on for two seasons. HBO giving me the thumbs up to let me do it and I just wanna say, I want you all to know that I’m just so grateful.”

She then paid tribute to her father for igniting her love of film with a day out when she was a child.

Jennifer added: “What I really wanna say is I have these amazing parents and they had this incredible gift. I think It was impossible for them to lie, they just couldn’t do it, except that my father one day the school principal came to my first grade class and said I had to be called to the office.

“I went and she said my father’s here and he said ‘Yeah Jenny we have to go’ and the principal said ‘Jennifer get well’. I didn’t know what that meant but we got in the car and my father said, ‘I’m never gonna tell a lie again but we’re going somewhere really cool.’ We drove to Massachusetts and it was the Charlie Chaplin film festival and I swear to god having that experience, it’s my love of film, my love of actors, all of that came from that first grade experience.”

Meanwhile, Jason Bateman was pleased he had the opportunity to “say a final thank you” after he won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Marty Byrd in the final season of ‘Ozark’, taking the honour ahead of ‘Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks, Jeff Bridges for ‘The Old Man’ and ‘Severance’ star Adam Scott.

He said: “Thanks you to anybody who voted for me, it gives me the chance to say a final thank you to not only the people who watched this show, but I get to say thank you to my wife Amanda, my two kids at home, they made me feel like a good dad even though I was gone for six months a year so they’re better actors than I am.

“Ted Sarantos gave me all the trust I could ask for. Laura, Julia and the rest of the cast taught me so much and made the show what it is. Chris Mundy and the writing staff wrote incredible stuff we all got to enjoy, myself included.

“Finally to the crew, we’re lucky enough to work on great projects because it was a great crew, it was a great family… Thank you guys, I love you all.”

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ was the big winner at Sunday’s (26.02.23) Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards.

The Daniels’ comedy-drama beat off competition from ‘Babylon’, ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, ‘The Fabelmans’ and ‘Women Talking’ to take the night’s biggest prize, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, and there were also individual wins for cast members Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan.

Michelle dedicated her win in the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role category to “every little girl that looks like” her.

She said on stage at Los Angeles’ Fairmont Plaza: “This is not just for me, it’s for every little girl that looks like me.

“We’re here because we love what we do and we’ll never stop doing this but thank you for giving me a seat at the table so many of us need this, we want to be seen, we want to be heard. I am grateful and my mom will be eternally grateful too.”

Her co-stars scooped the Outstanding Performance by a Female and Male Actor in a Leading Role honours.

Meanwhile, ‘The White Lotus’ also scored two wins, with Jennifer Coolidge taking home the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series accolade, and the show itself triumphing ahead of ‘Ozark’, ‘Better Call Saul’, ‘The Crown’ and ‘Severance’ to take the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series honour.

Meanwhile, Jason Bateman was pleased he had the opportunity to “say a final thank you” after he won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Marty Byrd in the final season of ‘Ozark’, taking the honour ahead of ‘Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks, Jeff Bridges for ‘The Old Man’ and ‘Severance’ star Adam Scott.

He said: “Thanks you to anybody who voted for me, it gives me the chance to say a final thank you to not only the people who watched this show, but I get to say thank you to my wife Amanda, my two kids at home, they made me feel like a good dad even though I was gone for six months a year so they’re better actors than I am.”

Brendan Fraser’s performance in ‘The Whale’ saw him win Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.

In the TV comedy categories, ‘Abbott Elementary’ won the ensemble prize, while the individual honours went to ‘The Bear’ star Jeremy Allen White and ‘Hacks’ actress Jean Smart, while ‘1883’ star Sam Elliott and ‘George and Tammy’s Jessica Chastain took home the Television Movie or Limited Series prizes.

Sally Field was honoured with a lifetime achievement award.

SAG Awards 2023 list of winners:

The SAG Award winners will be announced on February 26, at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

Full list of nominees:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series:

Sam Elliott – 1883

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series:

Jessica Chastain – George and Tammy

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series:

‘Abbott Elementary’

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series:

Jeremy Allen White – The Bear

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series:

Jean Smart – Hacks

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series:

Jason Bateman – ‘Ozark’

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series:

Jennifer Coolidge – ‘The White Lotus’

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series:

‘The White Lotus’

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:

Jamie Lee Curtis – ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:

Ke Huy Quan – ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:

Michelle Yeoh – ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:

Brendan Fraser – ‘The Whale’

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture:

‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series:

‘Stranger Things’

Lady Anne Glenconner had a 34-year affair with a mystery man.

The 90-year-old socialite was lady-in-waiting to the late Princess Margaret – who died in 2002 at the age of 71 – and was a maid of honour at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953 but admitted that even though she had “completely fallen” for Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner, she ended up having an affair when the marriage became difficult.

She told Fox News Digital: “[Colin] was attractive, he was funny. He was full of wonderful ideas and just made me see that my life could be different. It could be a great adventure. And I completely fell for him. He was also a great friend of Princess Margaret. He was one of the young men she went out with. And I was always rather amazed that he chose me, that he actually wanted to marry me. And a lot of the time we were very happy. I had seen him lose his temper before we got married.

“He always said, ‘The minute we’re married, I won’t need to lose my temper.’ Which, of course, I believed. But he lost his temper on our honeymoon. His promise of not to lose his temper didn’t last long.

“I lost my trust in men. We saw each other once a week. We had lunch and the occasional weekend. But he gave me back [my trust]. And I realized that men can be wonderful, that men could be kind, and all that. He made so much difference in my life.”

The baroness – who remained married to Colin until he died in 2010 at the age of 83 following a battle with prostate cancer – claimed that the mystery man’s wife was aware of the affair but alleged that she was possibly guilty of adultery too as she insisted that being unfaithful was how marriages were kept “together” in those days as an “alternative” to divorce.

She added: “She sent me a memento after he died… I think she probably had some of her own. That’s what people used to do in marriages. That’s how they kept marriages together, really. People had affairs. And yet, we carried on. It was an alternative to divorce.”

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin awarded US actor Steven Seagal, known for the 1990 US action thriller Hard to Kill, the Russian Order of Friendship.

Seagal, who holds Russian citizenship, among others, is receiving the award for his “great contribution to the development of international cultural and humanitarian cooperation,” according to a Putin decree published on Monday.

The 70-year-old star of numerous action films is the special representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry for humanitarian relations with the United States and Japan.

Seagal is considered a supporter of the Russian war against Ukraine and a friend of Putin.

He is also a member of the pro-Kremlin Just Russia party and repeatedly follows the line of Moscow’s state propaganda. Seagal visited the Russian side in the war zone last year, which Moscow’s state media treated as a kind of world event.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, himself a former actor, counts numerous US stars among his friends.

Adele’s rumoured engagement ring from her boyfriend Rich Paul is said to a be worth more than £500,000.

The ‘Chasing Pavements’ singer, 34, is reportedly planning to get married to the sports agent, 41, this summer after two years of dating and a jewellery expert said the huge sparkler she has been spotted wearing during her Las Vegas residency features an 8 carat diamond.

Gemologist Alexandra Michell from Channel 4’s ‘Posh Pawn’ told Mail Online on Monday (27.02.23): “Adele is rocking an approx 8 carats pear cut diamond on a fine platinum band and simple 4 claw setting.

“The band itself is pave set with small round brilliants either side of the centre stone. A beautiful design where the pear shape stone diamond really stands out.

“If this 8 cts stone is D colour and IF clarity grade, the price tag would easily top over half a million pounds.”

Entertainment site Deux Moi first claimed Adele and Rich were engaged, citing a “very reliable” source.

Adele, who has son Angelo, 10, with her ex-husband Simon Konecki, 48, was then seen wearing her engagement ring over the weekend during her Vegas shows.

She has been spotted wearing it as early as last February, when she was seen wearing it at the BRIT Awards.

Despite the couple having been reportedly engaged for a year, they have stayed private about talk they are to get married.

But in December she opened up about Rich by dedicating a song to him during one of her Vegas shows in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and sang Happy Birthday to him during her set.

She added: “And I love him more than life itself, so can we wish him happy birthday? His name’s Rich!”

In an Elle interview in August, Adele has revealed her dream is to be a “homemaker” as she revealed she wanted marriage and children with Rich.

Paul Burrell is “a little bit scared” of undergoing an operation for cancer.

The 64-year-old former butler – who used to work for, and was a confidante of, the late Princess Diana – was diagnosed with prostate cancer last summer and has now admitted that he “doesn’t know what to expect” and is unsure of how things will turn out.

He told The Daily Mirror newspaper: “It’s a little bit scary. I’m apprehensive because I don’t know what to expect and I don’t know what the outcome is going to be. I’ll go for a two-hour procedure and they will inject radium into my prostate. My recovery will be for the rest of that week. And then for the next three weeks I will have to go to radiotherapy appointments – to kill it from the outside as well as the inside. Hopefully, at the end of that period I’ll be all clear.”

The former ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!’ contestant – who is married to Graham Cooper and has sons Alex and Nick with him – went on to add that he often gets “emotional” over the thought of the treatment and even though is going to be a “mess” for a long period of time, he is willing to go through with it for the sake of his husband.

He added: “I get so emotional because of the hormone therapy, which she said I’ll have to continue after the operation. I get so emotional because of the hormone therapy, which she said I’ll have to continue after the operation. I’m going to be a mess for a very long time. But you have to trade off certain things to get to a point of living. This isn’t about me, is it? It’s about the big picture – it’s about my hubby, Coop. “It’s about our relationship, the way forward. I had to talk about all of that.”

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. government watchdog will audit Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s use of government airplanes for some trips as part of a broad review dating back to 2017.

The Transportation Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) will review 18 flights Buttigieg made on Federal Aviation Administration-operated (FAA) planes on seven total trips after a request by Republican Senator Marco Rubio.

The costs of the flights for Buttigieg and staff was $41,905.20, and in six of seven trips costs to fly on FAA planes were less expensive than flying commercial, a department spokesperson confirmed to Reuters, adding it “will fully cooperate with the IG on this.”

“Glad this will be reviewed independently so misleading narratives can be put to rest,” Buttigieg wrote on Twitter. “Bottom line: I mostly fly on commercial flights, in economy class. And when I do use our agency’s aircraft, it’s usually a situation where doing so saves taxpayer money.”

The OIG said it will review if the Office of the Secretary complied with regulations, policies, and procedures regarding executive travel on government aircraft and will “focus on official trips taken since January 31, 2017.”

Elaine Chao served as Transportation secretary from 2017 through early 2021 under President Donald Trump.

The Washington Post first reported the audit.

Rubio requested the review in December after Fox News reported on the flights and asked if any violations of Transportation Department policy were identified.

“American taxpayers deserve assurances that their tax dollars are not wasted by the government’s highest officials,” Rubio wrote.

A 1992 White House memo allows senior government officials to travel on government aircraft but with restrictions.

(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Chris Reese and Bill Berkrot)

By Jason Lange and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Republicans are eyeing $150 billion in spending cuts that reflect a hardline drive to target education, healthcare and housing – particularly efforts to address racial inequities that conservatives deride as “woke” – as they push forward in talks on the federal debt ceiling.

House of Representatives Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington said Republicans are assembling a budget along the lines of a budget proposal developed by Russell Vought, who served as Republican President Donald Trump’s budget chief.

“It is consistent with what’s in his budget,” Arrington said in an interview. The congressman, whose party controls the House, did not provide specifics of what cuts he would suggest to his fellow Republicans, who return to Washington on Monday after a two-week break.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has vowed not to allow an increase in the $31.4 trillion legal limit on federal borrowing without an agreement from President Joe Biden’s Democrats in Congress to rein in federal spending.

Failing to lift the debt ceiling could trigger a default on the federal government’s debt that would take a heavy toll on the American and probably world economies. A prolonged 2011 debt-cap standoff led to a cut in the government’s top-tier credit rating.

During Biden’s State of the Union speech early this month, Republicans loudly vowed not to pursue cuts to the Social Security retirement or Medicare healthcare programs. They also mostly oppose military cuts.

That leaves them scouring only a sixth of the budget for cuts.

Arrington said the $150 billion in cuts he is eyeing would mostly hit nondefense discretionary spending, whose programs cost about $900 billion in the last fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

Even eliminating those programs wouldn’t erase the roughly $1.6 trillion deficit – a measure of how far the government runs into the red each year.

BALANCE ‘ASPIRATIONAL’

That makes the conservative goal of a balanced budget within 10 years “aspirational” for now, Arrington said. Vought, whose plan also calls for $150 billion in cuts, said Democratic control of the Senate makes limited austerity more politically realistic.

“We’re in divided government. So what’s the easiest place to cut spending? It’s the bureaucracy, and that’s where we want to focus the fight,” Vought said in an interview, adding that he would go after programs he considered “significantly woke and unaccountable.”

Vought, who directed the Office of Management and Budget between 2019 and 2021 and now heads a conservative think tank, said the cuts he proposes would eventually slice the deficit by just a third if they were sustained for 10 years.

Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer say they will not discuss spending cuts until after the debt ceiling is raised, which is needed to cover the costs of spending and tax cuts previously approved by Congress.

Nonetheless, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an interview the fiscal year 2024 budget Biden plans to unveil on March 9 would contain “substantial deficit reduction over the next decade.”

TARGET LIST

Vought’s proposals move the debate forward from the back-and-forth on Social Security and Medicare that dominated much of the past month.

He did not provide a full accounting of the proposed $150 billion in cuts, but said it included about $25 billion from the Department of Education, including what he called “woke” policies such as score-improvement programs and culturally responsive schooling.

Republicans have increasingly used “woke” as a pejorative term regarding liberal views on race, gender and sexuality, for example attacking school courses about U.S. racial injustice and LGBTQ rights.

Vought said he would seek cuts to the departments of Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services, as well as to foreign aid, and to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention programs aimed at preventing chronic and sexually transmitted diseases.

He said his ideas have been best received in the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Arrington said his goal is to return domestic spending to its fiscal 2022 level, while keeping defense spending flat, in the fiscal 2024 budget proposal House Republicans aim to unveil by April 15.

He said his main priority is producing a 2024 budget that can serve as a baseline for years of spending reductions.

“You can save over $1.5 trillion over that 10 years,” he said. “That’s real savings.”

Another Budget Committee Republican, Freedom Caucus member Ralph Norman, described in general terms a debt-ceiling playbook, backed by other conservatives, that aligned with Vought’s plan.

Like other committee hardliners, Norman wants to cut nondefense discretionary spending to pre-pandemic levels. The conservatives also want to hold defense spending steady and increase outlays on security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

McCarthy spokesman Mark Bednar said federal spending growth was “entirely unsustainable, and House Republicans were elected to bring it to an end.”

The House Budget Committee’s top Democrat, Brendan Boyle, expressed skepticism that the hardliners’ plan would win wide backing: “Republicans needed 15 rounds just to elect a speaker, so I can’t imagine they will have an easy time advancing a budget that all of their members will support.”

But budget committee and Freedom Caucus member Bob Good, one of 20 hardline conservatives who forced McCarthy to undergo 15 floor votes before being elected House speaker, said the political drama surrounding the speakership election should empower McCarthy to take a hard position with Biden and Schumer.

“When Kevin McCarthy says Republicans won’t vote for doing what we’ve always done and just raising the debt ceiling without meaningful spending cuts and reforms, I think the president and the Senate majority leader will recognize that he’s telling the truth,” Good said.

(Reporting by Jason Lange and David Morgan, additional reporting by David Lawder in Bengaluru; Editing by Scott Malone)

Miami (AFP) – Florida’s governor seized control of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district on Monday, hailing the end of the “corporate kingdom” as he effectively punished the entertainment giant over its “woke” opposition to his political agenda.

The bill allows Republican Ron DeSantis to appoint his own board to oversee the services provided in the theme park by Disney, which attracted the governor’s ire last year after it criticized a law banning school lessons on sexual orientation.

“Today the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” said DeSantis, who is widely expected to join the race for the White House in 2024, as he signed the bill. 

“There’s a new sheriff in town, and accountability will be the order of the day.”

The move is seen as part of a broader effort by DeSantis to reform institutions which he believes have been hijacked by “woke” progressive activists and addresses criticism that the arrangement gave Disney an unfair advantage over rivals.

But critics have voiced fears that the arrangement will make Disney beholden to DeSantis and much less likely to feel able to speak out against his policies.

Walt Disney World, near Orlando, is the largest theme park in the world and has been governed since it opened in the 1970s by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, an independent authority with broad local management autonomy that exempted it from most state regulations. 

The 39-square-mile (101-square-kilometer) park operated largely unnoticed by the state government until it opposed the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law enacted last year, which bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

“We want our kids to be kids, we want them to be able to enjoy entertainment, school, without having an agenda imposed upon them,” said DeSantis, who has labeled Disney a “woke corporation” in the past.

Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature passed a law that would have dissolved Reedy Creek as of June 1 — but scaled back its plan from dissolution to reform after experts warned the district’s $2 billion debts could be pushed on to local taxpayers.

‘Bad policy’

The new law leaves Reedy Creek and its debt obligations intact, changes its name to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and subjects it to closer oversight by the government in Tallahassee. 

Reedy Creek was independent, but its board was elected by landowners, and Disney owns two-thirds of the district. 

Its five members are to be replaced Monday by DeSantis allies, including a prolific Republican donor who gave $50,000 to the governor’s reelection, a co-founder of the conservative Moms for Liberty group and the wife of the Florida Republican Party’s chairman.

“Allowing a corporation to control its own government is bad policy, especially when the corporation makes decisions that impact an entire region,” DeSantis said in a written statement. 

“This legislation ends Disney’s self-governing status, makes Disney live under the same laws as everybody else, and ensures that Disney pays its debts and fair share of taxes.”

Democratic state congresswoman Anna Eskamani, who represents the area around Walt Disney World, pointed to what she called the “absolutely wild” scenario of a capitalist like DeSantis celebrating the government takeover of a private board.

“Disney still maintains the same tax breaks but their First Amendment rights have been suppressed,” she said in a statement. 

“And it sends a message to any private individual or company that if you don’t purport to (want) what the governor wants, then you’ll be punished.” 

Disney, which employs more than 75,000 people in Florida, has said it will not fight the reforms. 

By Sheila Dang

(Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk on Sunday accused the media of being racist against whites and Asians after U.S. newspapers dropped a white comic strip author who made derogatory comments about Black Americans.

The Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and USA Today were among newspapers that canceled the cartoon “Dilbert” after its creator Scott Adams said Black Americans were a hate group and posted racist comments on his YouTube channel on Wednesday.

In replies to tweets about the controversy, the Tesla and Twitter chief executive said the media had long been racist against non-white people but are now “racist against whites & Asians.”

“Maybe they can try not being racist,” Musk tweeted.

In response to an account that said white victims of police violence get a fraction of media coverage compared to Black victims, Musk said the coverage is “Very disproportionate to promote a false narrative.”

Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk’s views on social issues have been increasingly under the microscope since he took over Twitter in October.

He has sparred with civil rights groups over Twitter’s level of protection against hateful content and the reinstatement of some accounts that previously had been suspended. Some advertisers have left the platform over concerns about brand safety, and Twitter has rolled out some new controls for ad placement.

Musk’s latest tweets come after the Dilbert creator suggested white Americans “get the hell away from Black people”. Adams, the cartoonist, was responding to a poll by the conservative Rasmussen Reports that said 26% of Black respondents said they disagreed with the statement “It’s OK to be white.”

The move to drop the cartoon was “not a difficult decision”, the Plain Dealer newspaper in Ohio told its readers on Friday.

(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; Editing by Peter Henderson and Lisa Shumaker)

Harry Styles, Spice Girls and Sir Elton John have all turned down an approach to perform at King Charles’ coronation concert.

A huge musical extravaganza is set to take place at Windsor Castle on 7 May, the day after the monarch formally takes the throne, but the former One Direction hunk is “tied up” with other commitments and the king’s top choice Elton will be in Europe as part of his ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour.

A source told The Sun on Sunday newspaper’s Bizarre column: “Organisers are working against the clock to pull together an exciting line-up but have hit a series of challenges.

“Elton John was top of Charles’ list but due to his European tour, which sees him performing in Germany the Friday before then again soon after the Windsor concert, he isn’t able to make the dash to the UK work.

“Meanwhile, man-of-the-moment Harry Styles is also tied up with touring and unable to get key band members together as they’ll be on much-needed downtime.”

A proposed full Spice Girls reunion is off as they are unable to commit to the show because the five individual members, Mel B, Melanie C, Victoria Beckham, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton, are too busy with their individual pursuits to fit in rehearsals.

Take That are due to headline the concert, though a proposed reunion with Robbie Williams won’t be happening, while Kylie and Dannii Minogue, Lionel Richie, and Andrew Lloyd Webber are also going to be involved.

In addition, ‘Troublemaker’ singer Olly Murs is also in talks to perform.

The source added: “Olly has such stage presence and a huge fanbase, he’d be a great addition.”

News of Harry, Elton and the Spice Girls’ absence comes a week after it was revealed both Adele and Ed Sheeran have also turned down the royal gig due to other commitments.

Madonna “always supported” her estranged brother Anthony Ciccone before his death.

The older sibling of the 64-year-old pop icon passed away at the age of 66 on Friday (25.02.23) and despite claims that he had lost touch with her over the last decade and had been left homeless, an insider has now explained that she “supported” him in whatever way she could.

The source told PEOPLE: “They were all there for him and despite being estranged, Madonna supported him in every way she could when he was willing to take the support. Family members including Madonna visited him while in his rehab facility as he declined these past few months.”

The ‘Like A Virgin’ hitmaker – who is thought to have a net worth of $850 million – is yet to speak out on the passing of her brother but his death was confirmed on Sunday (26.02.23) by his brother-in-law Joe Henry, who is married to Madonna’s younger sister Melanie.

Without revealing a cause of death, he wrote on Instagram: “My brother-in-law, Anthony Gerard Ciccone, exited this earthly plane last evening. I’ve known him since I was 15, in the spring of our lives in Michigan so many years now gone. “As brother Dave Henry (who took this photograph) notes here, Anthony was a complex character; and god knows: we tangled in moments, as true brothers can. But I loved him, and understood him better than I was sometimes willing to let on. But trouble fades; and family remains— with hands reached across the table. Farewell, then, brother Anthony. I want to think the god your blessed mother (and mine) believed in has her there, waiting to receive you. At least for today, no one shall dissuade me from this vision.”

In 2011, Anthony claimed that he was a “nobody” to his family as he implied that he had received no financial help from his multi-millionairess sister.

He said: “He said: “I’m a zero in their eyes; a non-person, an embarrassment. If I froze to death, my family probably wouldn’t know or care about it for six months. My family turned their back on me, basically, when I was having a hard time. You think I haven’t answered this question a bazillion times – why my sister is a multi-bazillionaire and I’m homeless on the street? Never say never. This could happen to anybody.”

Dwyane Wade’s daughter Zaya has been granted a name change and legal transition in court.

The 15 year old – who is the daughter of basketball star Wade and his ex Siohvaughn Funches-Wade – changed her name to Zaya in 2020 after coming out as transgender and she is now legally known as Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade.

According to PEOPLE, which obtained a filed in Los Angeles’ Superior Court, the judge also granted approval for her legal transition.

Dwyane, 41, and his wife, Gabrielle Union, 50, have been extremely supportive of Zaya’s transition, but her mother, has not.

Dwyane and Siohvaughn began dating in high school and had two children together before separating in 2007.

In 2011, he was awarded sole “care, custody and control” of their kids and, in August 2022, he filed documents for Zaya to legally change her name and gender.

However, in November, Siohvaughn submitted court documents objecting to the change, alleging Wade is “positioned to profit” from the name and gender change and added she had concerns that he “may be pressuring” Zaya for financial gain.

Dwyane responded on Instagram, saying: “I’ve received a social media post about me forcing our 15 year old child to be someone she’s not and to do something against her will. These are serious and harmful allegations that have hurt our children.

“While none of us are surprised by Siohvaughn’s attempt to fight Zaya’s identity and her unwavering attempt to drag my name through the mud, I’m very disappointed that she continuously finds ways of centering herself and HER needs, without regard to her children.”