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Published by Reuters By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump warned his fellow Republicans on Friday not to “destroy” federal retirement and health benefits as they try to exact spending cuts from President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies in the looming debate over the debt ceiling. “Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security,” Trump said in a two-minute video message posted to social media that could test his influence among Republicans who now control the U.S. House of Representatives. “Do not cut the benefits our seniors worked for and paid for their entire lives. Save Social Security. Don’t destroy it!” Trump’s call to protect the two single largest federal spending programs could put him at odds with some House Republicans who have said they should not be off the table in budget talks. Social Security, which provides retirement and disability payments, accounted for 17% of federal spending in the 2021 fiscal year, while Medicare, the health-insurance program for seniors, accounted for 13%, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Both programs are projected to grow dramatically in coming years due to an aging population. Trump, who launched his 2024 presidential reelection bid in November, was rebuffed by hard-line conservative House Republicans earlier this month when he urged them to fall in line behind Representative Kevin McCarthy as he sought to lead the chamber. Trump’s video appeared a day after the U.S. Treasury hit its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit, forcing the agency to use “extraordinary” cash-management measures to pay its bills. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has asked Congress to promptly raise the cap to stave off a default, which she said could come by June 5. Republicans, with their newly won House majority, want to extract steep spending cuts from Biden and congressional Democrats. They also intend to call on the Treasury to continue making debt and other payments should the government face default without an agreement to raise the borrowing limit. Republicans want to balance the federal budget within a decade, and some have said that changes to Social Security and Medicare should be considered. But House Republican leaders have called for preserving the popular programs. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that they want to “move quickly” to raise the cap. Trump urged Republicans to concentrate funding cuts on “waste, fraud and abuse” as well as programs focused on foreign aid, immigration, climate change and LGBTQ rights. (Reporting by David Morgan; editing by Andy Sullivan and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Convicted sex cult leader Lawrence Ray was sentenced to 60 years in prison in Manhattan federal court Friday for terrorizing Sarah Lawrence college students and forcing them into prostitution. The 63-year-old was convicted in April of mentally and physically abusing a small group of students at the prestigious Westchester County school between 2010 and 2020. Describing Ray as “evil,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman said Ray’s crimes were “distinctive” and “particularly horrible.” He said he wanted to make sure Ray spent the rest of his years in prison and “is never released.” “He de… Read More View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega Believe it or not, even Madonna has insecurities. During a recent interview, the Queen of Pop, 64, opened up about the obstacles motherhood has brought her throughout the last 26 years — especially since she welcomed six children and mostly raised them as a single mom. mega “Growing up with a mother like me is a challenge,” Madonna admitted during Vanity Fair‘s cover story of the artist published Wednesday, January 18. JENNIFER LOPEZ REVEALS SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE PART OF MADONNA & BRITNEY SPEARS’ 2003 VMAS KISS “It has been the most difficult, the hardest battle,” the “Material Girl” singer — who announced her 2023 world tour just one day prior —confessed. @madonna/instagram “Today, I am still struggling to understand how to be a mother and do my job,” the legendary artist continued. Despite her recently revealed insecurities and constant backlash over her “attention-grabbing” and provocative persona on social media, Madonna has continuously received credit for her applauded efforts in the way she raises and cares for her kids. The mother-of-six shares her daughter Lourdes, 26, with ex-boyfriend Carlos Leon, her son Rocco, 22, with ex-husband Guy Ritchie, and adopted four of her children — David Banda, 17, Mercy James, 16, and twins Estere and Stelle, 10 — from Malawi. MADONNA IS BACK & BETTER! QUEEN OF POP ANNOUNCES WORLDWIDE ‘CELEBRATION TOUR’: ‘COME JOIN THE PARTY!’ Madonna continued to express her difficulties, stating, “Because, whoever you are, having children and raising them is a work of art. And no one gives you a manual. You have to learn from mistakes. It is a profession that requires a lot of time. And it is exhausting because there is never rest.” mega Although she constantly feels unsatisfied with her nurturing abilities, the pop icon happily confirmed that “each of them has discovered their own creativity and that it comes from an authentic place.” “I have never encouraged my daughter Lola [Lourdes] to make music or my son Rocco to paint. But I’ve always exposed them to art, to music, and I’m happy that they’ve found ways to express themselves. I have respect and admiration for them and for what they do,” Madonna explained. The “Like a Virgin” vocalist concluded by sweetly confessing that “much of [her] happiness” comes from her precious brood. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Dolly Parton plans to spend her birthday “in the studio”. The chart-topping icon turns 77 on Thursday (19.01.23) – but Dolly insists that she’ll be hard at work on her big day. Speaking about her birthday plans, Dolly told E! News: “I’m actually in the studio recording a rock ‘n’ roll album, so I’m actually working on my birthday. “I’m sure I’ll have time for some sort of a little birthday cake or something.” Dolly’s new album, ‘Rock Star’, features duets with a host of big-name stars, including Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, and Sir Ringo Starr. The country music star is also hoping to host ‘Saturday Night Live’ in the coming months, having first hosted the show in 1989. She said: “When I did the show with Miley [Cyrus] – the New Year’s Eve show from Miami – that was produced by Lorne Michaels. “I talked to Lorne about me doing it again because when I was on that before I was hosting, I was the musical guest and I was in the skits. It about killed me. I might have to pull back a little bit but I’d love to be on it at some point.” Meanwhile, Dolly recently revealed that she doesn’t have any plans to retire. The award-winning star also insisted that she’ll keep performing until she “can’t do it anymore”. She said: “I don’t think I could retire if I wanted to. Cause I’ve dreamed myself into a corner, as I say. Cause all these wonderful things keep happening and you gotta keep the dream alive. “Since I love to work, I always say I’ll just work. ‘I’m gonna make hay while the sun shines,’ is the old saying. So, I’m gonna do that until I can’t do it anymore.” View the full article

Published by New York Daily News A homeless New Jersey veteran said Wednesday that he is certain Republican Rep. George Santos is the phony animal advocate who scammed him out of $3,000 that big-hearted donors chipped in to save his dying dog. “I recognized his face, and it just turned my stomach when I saw him.” Richard Osthoff told CNN about the lying Republican lawmaker. Santos insisted he didn’t run off with the cash earmarked for what should have been life-saving surgery on Osthoff’s cancer-stricken pit bull named Sapphire. “Fake,” Santos texted Semafor, a news site. “No clue who this is.” But Osthoff, who served in the … Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story The North Dakota House of Representatives has introduced a bill that would strictly prohibit expanded use of pronouns outside of the gender that the person was born. House Bill 2199 restricts the definition of gender to the person’s natural gender at birth and then requires that all pronoun use be reflective of that same gender. Any violation by anyone who works at an institution that receives state funding, including public schools would be subject to a $1,500 fine. If gender is challenged, the bill puts the responsibility on the individual to prove their gender. “Say, they’re a boy, but they… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) accepted large, albeit as-of-now unspecified, sums of money into his gubernatorial inauguration fund from several corporations that he has publicly trashed for being “woke,” and, in some cases, even used state policy to punish, according to The Washington Post. “Two major fundraisers are lobbyists for Disney, the entertainment giant that DeSantis moved to punish for speaking out against his bill restricting classroom discussions of sexuality,” said the report. “Another inauguration co-chair lobbies for BlackRock, the investment powerhouse that DeSantis’s administration… Read More View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune My kids and I were in a hurry to get to the lake, and I ran into a gas station looking for a hat. My only options living in the Midwest were hats saying “Guns Save Lives” and “Make America Great Again.” The only somewhat subtle hat was an all-black hat that had the American flag on it. In the aftermath of the 2020 election controversy, I hesitated because I didn’t want to support the election deniers. I was desperate, so I bought it anyway. As soon as I got into the car and passed out the Gatorade, my kids all said, “Mom you can’t wear that hat! That’s a Trump hat!” Shocked and saddened, I ask… Read More View the full article

Published by NJ.com After complaints from parents and consultation with the school district’s lawyers, the Washington Township School District superintendent decided to remove rainbow-colored Safe Zone signs that had been hanging in Long Valley Middle School since 2019. Superintendent Peter Turnamian announced the change at the Jan. 3 board of education meeting. To replace the signs, a traditional symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community, Turnamian said the school’s mascot, the panther, would be incorporated to encourage kindness to all students. “Ultimately, the advice of le… Read More View the full article

Published by Sports Illustrated By Jimmy Traina Stephen A. Smith actually issued an apology after saying Rihanna is no Beyoncé. 1. “She’s fantastic.” “She’s spectacular.” “Rihanna’s music is fantastic.” “She’s great.” “I love her dearly.” “I listen to her music.” “She’s gonna be good. She can’t be bad. She’s too great not to be good.” Imagine saying all those things about someone and then having to apologize. That’s what happened to Stephen A. Smith on Wednesday after he riled up Rihanna fans. Smith appeared on a talk show and was asked whether he was excited about Rihanna’s upcoming halftime performance at the Super Bowl. A… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters UK By Charlotte Van Campenhout AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A hair salon in Amsterdam’s nightlife district opened after hours at the weekend to offer a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community who do not feel safe in the city to dress before going out for the night. The “DRESS&DANCE” pilot project was organised by students at the InHolland University and Maud Gussenhoven, who manages the city’s central Reguliersdwarsstraat street. “It is sad that this is needed but there have been incidents that have made people feel unsafe,” said Gussenhoven. Even though Amsterdam is known as a queer-friendly cit… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Praveen Menon (Reuters) – Jacinda Ardern has put tiny New Zealand on the map in her five years as prime minister, becoming a global icon for left-leaning politics and women in leadership, even as she struggled at home with the economy and COVID-19 restrictions. The 42-year-old – who gained attention for bringing her baby to a United Nations meeting and wearing a hijab after a massacre targeting Muslims – announced in similarly dramatic fashion on Thursday that she will step down in less than three weeks, saying she had “no more in the tank”. “Be strong, be kind,” New Zealand’s youngest prime minister in more than a century repeated through her eventful tenure, but her empathetic leadership and crisis management skills often masked her government’s shortcomings. Considered personable and engaging, Ardern turned speaking from the heart and smiling through adversity into a winning formula for surging to power in 2017 and returning with a blowout win in 2020 that ushered in New Zealand’s first purely left-leaning government in decades. Her leadership was marked by unprecedented events for the island nation of 5 million: the 2019 massacre of 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch by a white supremacist and the eruption of the White Island volcano, and, the next year, the pandemic. “I hope I leave New Zealanders with a belief that you can be kind but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focussed,” Ardern said in an emotional resignation announcement. “And that you can be your own kind of leader – one who knows when it’s time to go.” PROBLEMS MOUNT, RATINGS FALL Ardern received worldwide praise for her response to the Christchurch attacks, which she labelled terrorism. Wearing a headscarf, she met the Muslim community, telling them New Zealand was “united in grief”. She delivered a ban on semiautomatic firearms and other gun curbs within weeks of the massacre, a stark contrast to the United States, where lawmakers and activists have struggled to address gun violence despite regular mass shootings. Launching a global campaign to end online hate, she has often herself been a target of right-wing extremists online. Ardern made global headlines in 2020, presiding over New Zealand’s most diverse parliament, with more than half the members women and the highest number of indigenous Maori lawmakers. When COVID arrived, she was among the first leaders to close borders and pursue a zero-tolerance strategy that kept New Zealanders safe from the virus, holding death rates far below those of other advanced nations. But not everyone was happy with her “go hard, go early” approach, which included a nationwide lockdown over a single infection. While Ardern’s popularity rose internationally, at home she has faced growing political headwinds, struggling to prove that her leadership extended beyond crisis management and kindness. Her ratings have dropped in recent months on a worsening housing crisis, rising living costs and mortgage rates, and growing concerns about crime. She remains, however, more popular that her rivals. Despite her promises of transformational leadership, Ardern’s affordable housing programmes have been set back by blunders. Even on climate change, which Ardern called “my generation’s nuclear-free moment”, progress has been incremental. REFRESHING Ardern burst onto the global scene in 2017 when she became the world’s youngest female head of government at the age of 37. Riding a wave of “Jacinda-mania,” she campaigned passionately for women’s rights and an end to child poverty and economic inequality in the country. Raised a Mormon by her mother and police officer father, Ardern left the church over its stance on LGBTQ people in the early 2000s and has since described herself as agnostic. Hours after being appointed Labour Party leader, she was asked whether she planned to have children. Ardern said it was “totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace”. Eight months after becoming premier, she had a baby daughter, becoming only the second elected leader to give birth while in office, after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto. Less than three months later, Ardern brought the baby, Neve Te Aroha, to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Many took her pregnancy and prime minister’s maternity leave as symbolising progress for women leaders, part of a wave of progressive female leaders including Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Meeting with Marin in Wellington in November, Ardern shot back at a question whether the two were meeting only because of they were young and female. “I wonder whether or not anyone ever asked Barack Obama and John Key if they met because they were of similar age,” Ardern said, in reference to the former U.S. president and New Zealand prime minister. “Because two women meet, it’s not simply because of their gender.” (This story has been corrected to fix Ardern’s age in the second paragraph) (Reporting by Praveen Menon in Sydney; Editing by William Mallard) View the full article

Published by AlterNet Former beauty queen turned anti-LGBTQ activist Carrie Prejean is back, and declaring that the Miss Universe Pageant now being owned by a transgender women is a declaration of “war.” In 2009, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, gained national attention for her response to a question by a gay blogger at the Miss USA Pageant about same-sex marriage. What followed were repeated efforts to capitalize on her anti-LGBTQ fame, including a short stint as a spokesperson for NOM, the National Organization For Marriage, an anti-LGBTQ organization that aggressively attempted to prevent same-sex couples from … Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet A new report is raising awareness about the growing concerns transgender Americans are facing, namely in states like North Dakota as Republican lawmakers advocate for an alarming number of anti-trans pieces of legislation. According to a new report published by The Daily Beast, Decca Muldowney began with a brief overview of the uptick in proposed bills targeting members of the LGBT community. Sharing details from the Trans Legislation Tracker, Muldowney wrote, “Last year’s legislative season saw a record-breaking number of anti-LGBT bills filed across the country, many aimed at restricting the… Read More View the full article

Published by St. Louis Post-Dispatch ST. LOUIS — More than a dozen faith leaders filed suit Thursday in St. Louis Circuit Court to overturn Missouri’s abortion ban, arguing state legislators acted based on their personal religious beliefs and violated the separation of church and state protected in Missouri’s Constitution. The faith leaders, from St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia, represent several Protestant and Jewish denominations. They partnered with the National Women’s Law Center and Americans United for Separation of Church and State in drafting the suit. “What these abortion restrictions do is enshrine into law the part… Read More View the full article

Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — Coach John Tortorella said on Thursday that he had spoken to defenseman Ivan Provorov “probably a week before the game” regarding his decision to not take part in warmups on Tuesday night to avoid wearing a Pride Night-themed jersey. General manager Chuck Fletcher was also involved in those conversations, Tortorella said. Additionally, Tortorella said he spoke to Flyers Pride Night ambassador Scott Laughton, who helped start an initiative to invite members of the LGBTQ+ community to Flyers games throughout the season. Per a league source, Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO Dave … Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet United States Congressman George Santos (R-New York) became the first openly gay non-incumbent Republican elected to the House of Representatives in the November 2022 midterms. But a newly surfaced video from 2020 shows Santos railing against children whose parents are the same gender. Speaking with right-wing commentator John Stubbins on his podcast, Indivisible, Santos – who has been outed as a fraud and pathological liar – said that schools should refrain from teaching kids about family diversity and declared that same-sex couples have destabilizing influences over a young person’s psycholo… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Steven Grattan SAO PAULO (Reuters) -U.S. Representative George Santos competed as a drag queen in Brazilian beauty pageants 15 years ago, two acquaintances told Reuters on Wednesday, adding to contrasts that have drawn criticism of the openly gay Republican congressman’s staunchly conservative views. The embattled freshman congressman has also faced calls from fellow New York Republicans to step down over fabrications about his career and history. A 58-year-old Brazilian performer, who uses the drag name Eula Rochard, said she befriended the now-congressman when he was cross-dressing in 2005 at the first gay pride parade in Niteroi, a Rio de Janeiro suburb. Three years later, Santos competed in a drag beauty pageant in Rio, Rochard said. Another person from Niteroi who knew the 34-year-old congressman but asked not to be named said he participated in drag queen beauty pageants and aspired to be Miss Gay Rio de Janeiro. The congressman said on Twitter on Thursday that claims “that I am a drag Queen or ‘performed’ as a drag Queen” are “categorically false,” adding: “I will not be distracted nor fazed by this.” Santos is the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat in Congress as a non-incumbent, but has positioned himself as a staunch conservative on many social issues. He has backed Florida’s controversial “Parental Rights in Education” law, which prohibits classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, leading critics to call it the “don’t say gay” law. Republicans are increasingly denouncing drag shows and performers, claiming they are harmful to children. Santos, responding in October to criticism of his support for the Florida law, told USA Today: “I am openly gay, have never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade, and I can tell you and assure you, I will always be an advocate for LGBTQ folks.” Rochard said the congressman was a “poor” drag queen in 2005, with a simple black dress, but in 2008 “he came back to Niteroi with a lot of money,” and a flamboyant pink dress to show for it. Santos competed in a drag beauty pageant that year using the drag name Kitara Ravache but lost, Rochard said. “He’s changed a lot, but he was always a liar. He was always such a dreamer,” Rochard said. (Reporting by Steven Grattan; Editing by Brad Haynes, Heather Timmons, Edmund Klamann and Deepa Babington) View the full article

Published by Raw Story A day meant for reflecting on peace turned violent on Monday when an unidentified Chicago man went on a violent attack that apparently targeted the LGBTQ community at a bar in the Rogers Park neighborhood, reports local news station WGN 9. Right before 6 p.m. at R Public House restaurant, a man approached a man and a woman when they were leaving a vehicle and started screaming anti-homosexual comments and homophobic slurs. The unidentified man then suddenly walked away from the group. After the man and woman entered the restaurant together, the same unidentified man returned with a hammer and … Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet A longtime Republican political aide in his 30’s is now suing Matt Schlappfor $9.4 million in a lawsuit that accuses the well-known head of the company that produces the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) of “aggressively fondling” the man’s “genital area in a sustained fashion” while the two were alone in a car, The New York Times reports. The Daily Beast reports the staffer is suing “for battery, defamation, and conspiracy.” “In a letter, the staffer’s attorney, Tim Hyland of Hyland Law, called Schlapp a ‘sexual predator,’” The Daily Beast adds. “Mr. Schlapp has not direc… Read More View the full article

Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — Not long ago, John Tortorella would’ve benched a player for kneeling during the national anthem. These days, if you wear your homophobia like a Pride flag, you earn Tortorella’s respect. Oh, how far we’ve come. There will be some who will equate that asking Ivan Provorov to skate in a Pride-themed jersey Tuesday night was like forcing him to kneel during the national anthem back in 2016. That’s ridiculous, of course. Kneeling protested systemic racism aimed at Black men in the criminal justice system of the United States. Meanwhile, warming up in a jersey with rainbow numbers an… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters (Note language that may offend some readers in paragraph 17) By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A prosecutor urged a jury on Wednesday to convict four members of the far-right Oath Keepers of seditious conspiracy, saying they plotted to stop the U.S. Congress from certifying the 2020 election because they could not accept President Joe Biden’s victory. “The defendants could not let the election stand. They could not let Biden come to power,” federal prosecutor Louis Manzo told the jury. Thousands of supporters of Republican then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn Democrat Biden’s victory. In closing arguments, Manzo pointed across the room to defendants Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel and Edward Vallejo, and accused the men of upending America’s two-century record of “the routine peaceful transfer of power.” “Our democracy was under attack, but for these defendants, it was everything they trained for,” he said. Defense attorneys for the four deny that their clients hatched a plot to block the certification of the 2020 election, and have accused prosecutors of cherry-picking evidence to present what they called a misleading narrative. The closing arguments on Wednesday marked the end of the second major seditious conspiracy trial stemming from the attack. Four people died during the chaos and five police officers died afterwards, while about 140 officers were injured and the Capitol sustained millions of dollars in damage. The Oath Keeper members are accused of conspiring to block Congress from certifying Biden’s election victory. Seditious conspiracy is a rarely prosecuted Civil War-era statute that carries up to 20 years in prison if convicted. In November, a jury convicted Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and a Florida chapter leader of seditious conspiracy, but acquitted three other Oath Keeper defendants of the charge. All five Oath Keepers in that case, however, were convicted of obstructing Congress from certifying the electoral votes – a charge that can also carry up to 20 years. A third seditious conspiracy trial against five members of the far-right Proud Boys group, including its former chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio – is underway in the same courthouse. In both Oath Keepers’ trials, Rhodes’ fiery rhetoric and inflammatory statements about “civil war” and “bloody war” took center stage, with prosecutors saying the other members were inspired to carry out his vision. Through his leadership, prosecutors said, some members of the group breached the Capitol clad in tactical gear, while others stood back with a stockpile of firearms stashed at a hotel in nearby Arlington, Virginia. Hackett, Minuta and Moerschel were among the members who physically entered the Capitol, while Vallejo is accused of helping to organize the Virginia weapons stockpile. None of the four held leadership roles in the group, though Minuta gained some attention for his role in providing security to Trump ally and Republican political operative Roger Stone. Prosecutors highlighted numerous inflammatory videos Minuta streamed of himself on social media on the day of the attack, including one in which he said: “You know what? Millions will die. So what? Get your fucking soul ready. Get right with God.” Minuta’s attorney William Shipley, in his closing arguments on Wednesday, acknowledged his client was acting “crazy” in the videos, but said they had nothing to do with Rhodes, and he accused the government of taking the evidence out of context. “This case is about a narrative in a sea of evidence,” he said. “But the evidence isn’t there.” (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell) View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Music, movie and sports superstars will come together as co-chairs of the 2023 Met Gala. Dua Lipa, Penelope Cruz, Michaela Cole and Roger Federer are this year’s selections for the glitzy, fashion-focused event in New York City paying tribute to designer Karl Lagerfeld, organizers announced Wednesday. The latest edition of the Metropolitan Museum fund-raising gala takes place May 1. The night’s Lagerfeld theme coincides with an exhibit, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” opening May 5 and featuring more than 150 of the designer’s original looks. The selection of Federer as a co-cha… Read More View the full article

Published by City AM By Adam Bloodworth George Takei’s most famously known from the original cast of Star Trek, but in recent years has been celebrated as an LGBTQ role model following his decision to come out in 2005 aged 68. It’s curious that Allegiance, the play Takei calls his “legacy” play, omits queer themes. But nevertheless, it’s a hammerblow critique on human rights violations of a different kind. Allegiance is about historical cases of racism from White US forces in the Second World War towards Japanese Americans. In the Second World War, residents of Japanese descent were taken from their homes and held… Read More View the full article

Published by DPA Directly opposite the newly reopened Oscar Wilde House is a park containing a marble statue of the playwright with a famously two-faced expression – one side reflecting the author's seemingly frivolous nature, the other betraying a profound sadness beneath. Mareike Graepel/dpa The childhood home of Oscar Wilde is reopening to visitors in Dublin with its well-known tour paying tribute to the author’s biting wit and layered texts and telling the story of his demise under laws persecuting homosexuals. Closed for renovations until January, the Oscar Wilde House is once again taking up its position as a major literary landmark of Dublin, alongside the James Joyce Tower and Museum of Literature Ireland. The house located on Merrion Square 1, minutes from the National Gallery and popular shopping street of Grafton Street, was the home of Wilde and his parents, Jane and William Wilde, from 1855 onwards. Since the building also houses a college, during the winter study periods visitors can only see it on weekends as part of a 90-minute guided tour (€18). From the end of April to the beginning of September, you can visit the house without an appointment, according to the website. Directly opposite the Wilde home is a park containing a marble statue of the playwright with a famously two-faced expression – one side reflecting the author’s seemingly frivolous nature, the other betraying a profound sadness beneath. View the full article