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Published by Reuters By Matt Spetalnick and Laura Sanicola WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A New York Times report of a former anti-abortion leader’s claim that he was told in advance about the outcome of a major 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case involving contraceptives triggered calls on Saturday for an investigation of a court still reeling from the leak of landmark abortion rights ruling. Rev. Rob Schenck was quoted by The Times as saying he was informed weeks before the public announcement of the 2014 ruling shortly after two conservative allies had dinner at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and his wife. Alito wrote that majority opinion as well as a recent one overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide, both of which were victories for the religious right. Schenck, who used to lead an evangelical nonprofit in Washington, said in a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts and in interviews with The Times that he was informed ahead of time about the ruling of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, a case involving contraception and religious rights, the newspaper said. Schenck used his knowledge of the ruling to prepare a public relations campaign and he also tipped off the president of the Christian evangelical-run craft store chain Hobby Lobby that he would win the case, according to The Times. Alito said in a statement that any allegation that he or his wife leaked the 2014 decision was “completely false.” Neither Schenck nor Chief Justice Roberts immediately responded to requests for comment. “Today’s well-sourced NY Times article strongly suggests Justice Alito leaked the 2014 opinion in Hobby Lobby, and describes a conspiracy by the far-right donor class to influence the Supreme Court Justices,” U.S. Representative Mondaire Jones, a Democrat from New York, wrote on Twitter. “The House Judiciary Committee must investigate this while we still can.” Brian Fallon, executive director of the progressive judicial group Demand Justice, called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate, saying The Times’ report was “the latest proof that the Republican justices on the Court are little more than politicians in robes.” “The first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem. At SCOTUS, the problems run deep,” Democratic U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island wrote on Twitter. COURT UNDER SCRUTINY A draft of the majority opinion to overturn Roe, reversing five decades of abortion rights, was leaked in May, spurring scrutiny of the court’s procedures at a time when critics were accusing its conservative majority of politicization. Polls show that the court’s public approval has reached record lows. Alito had called the Roe leak, which was confirmed when the ruling was announced in June, a “grave betrayal.” Schenck was quoted by The Times as saying he had worked for years to gain access to the court and that in early June 2014 two of his star donors, Ohio couple Donald and Gayle Wright, ate a meal with Justice Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann. Schenck said one of the Wrights then told him that Alito had authored the Hobby Lobby opinion and that it would be in its favor, The Times said. The decision announced three weeks later held that requiring family-owned businesses to pay for insurance covering contraception violated their religious freedoms. In his statement, Alito said: “The allegation that the Wrights were told the outcome of the decision in the Hobby Lobby case, or the authorship of the opinion of the Court, by me or my wife is completely false.” “My wife and I became acquainted with the Wrights some years ago because of their strong support for the Supreme Court Historical Society, and since then, we have had a casual and purely social relationship,” Alito’s statement said. “I never detected any effort on the part of the Wrights to obtain confidential information or to influence anything that I did in either an official or private capacity, and I would have strongly objected if they had done so.” Gayle Wright, in a phone interview, denied obtaining or passing along any such information, The Times reported. She could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Laura Sanicola; Editing by Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega Stormy Daniels has a new project up her sleeve: she will be hosting a new gay dating series, For The Love of DILFs, on OUTtv, the world’s first LGBTQ+ television network and streaming service, when it premieres in early 2023. The show follows two groups of gay men — “Daddies” and “Himbos” — as they compete to find love and win a $10,000 investment into their relationship. Not only will Daniels be the host, but she also lives with the singles in a mansion and gives them advice throughout their journey to find the perfect partner. out tv “For years the internet has been obsessed with these two specific gay subcultures, which on the surface seem like total opposites. But if reality TV teaches us anything, it’s that sometimes opposites attract,”Topher Cusumano, Daddy TV’s co-founder, said in a statement. “There was no better person to help these men find love with each other than Stormy. She adds so much humor and heart to the show. You can tell just by watching how she was genuinely invested in the singles and their happiness.” Additionally, OUTtv COO Philip Webb shared why the TV star is important to the series. “We’re thrilled to be working with Stormy. She has a long public history of standing up for the LGBTQ+ community. That allyship, starpower, and relationship expertise makes her the perfect fit to helm a show about guys hunting for love,” he said. As OK! previously reported, the blonde beauty has been back in the spotlight ever since she appeared on The Surreal Life. mega “I initially repeatedly said no [when she was approached for the show],” the 43-year-old exclusively told OK!. “The entire universe knows what happened to me the last time I went into a stranger’s room. I apparently didn’t learn my lesson because I eventually caved and said yes. The show was pitched to me as you’re not going to have any scripts, you’re not going to be coached, producers aren’t going to lead you. You look at some reality shows and you can tell that they are definitely set up. They’re coached on what to say.” For The Love of DILFS is an OUTtv Original, produced by Daddy TV. The 8-episode season is set to premiere in early 2023. View the full article

Published by Raw Story The far-right group seeking to overturn the FDA’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone has hand-picked a controversial Trump-appointed judge in Texas to rule on their argument. “The anti-abortion group behind the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade has now filed a federal lawsuit seeking to reverse the approval of the abortion drug, mifepristone,” Jezebel reported. “The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)—representing four Texas doctors and four anti-abortion groups—sued both the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, claiming that the FDA excee… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Self-proclaimed Twit Chief Elon Musk announced he’s restoring several suspended accounts, including his number one impersonator, comedian Kathy Griffin. But when it comes to Donald Trump, he hasn’t decided on whether to lift the ex-president’s Twitter ban, RadarOnline.com can reveal. Elon — who has been making more enemies than friends at headquarters since taking the business over at the end of October — announced the news in a tweet on Friday, but the decision came with a warning. “New Twitter (TWTR) policy is freedom of speech, not freedom of reach,” the billionaire businessman, 51, wrote, revealing the new Twitter has standards contrary to belief. “Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter (TWTR).” Mega Musk — who himself posted and deleted an unfound anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theory about Paul Pelosi’s hammer assault within 48 hours of his Twitter takeover — revealed Griffin will be welcomed back to the platform after she was suspended earlier this month for impersonating him. Of course, he misspelled her name, leaving Griffin to think it was a power play. He also restored Canadian podcaster Jordan Peterson and the right-leaning satire website Babylon Bee, both of which had been banned. “Kathie Griffin, Jorden Peterson & Babylon Bee have been reinstated,” Musk tweeted, also misspelling Peterson’s first name. Mega “Dear Eilon,” Griffin responded on her Instagram. “You f—– up, fool. I’m going downstairs to my basement of heads. You’re up. Xxoo, The Beheader,” she added, referencing her gruesome spoof photo of her beheading former President Trump. But when it came to #45, Musk stopped short of reinstating his account. “Trump decision has not yet been made,” he informed his followers ahead of the weekend. Trump — who announced he is seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 — was permanently banned from the platform after his right-winged supporters stormed the U.S. capitol on January 6, 2021. Mega Earlier this week, the former commander-in-chief — who is under investigation for the incident — asked the U.S. appeals court to reinstate his lawsuit against Twitter Inc, claiming the ban marked “overtly partisan censorship” and was “contrary to First Amendment principles deeply rooted in American history and law.” According to Musk, he will wait to make a ruling on whether Trump’s welcomed back until he can install a “content moderation council” that will review and make the call. View the full article

Published by uInterview.com Dustin Lance Black and his husband Tom Daley were glowing on the red carpet for the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2022 in London. Both wore stylish and sleek all-black ensembles with Daley going for a longer peacoat over a crew-cut shirt with white patterns at the collar, and Black wearing a more cropped suit on top of a black button-up with no tie. IN MEMORIAM 2022: 100 GREAT CELEBRITIES WHO DIED THIS YEAR! The pair met in 2015, over a year after Daley’s viral coming-out video where he came out as gay. They married at Bovey Castle in May of 2017 and had a son through a surrogate in 2018. Daley is… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP The reinstatement of accounts banned for violating Twitter's content moderation rules has been seen as a bellwether of where new owner Elon Musk, a self-described 'free speech absolutist,' wants to take the site San Francisco (AFP) – After turning Twitter upside down, Elon Musk on Tuesday tried to clarify his plans for content moderation, a key issue for the future of the influential platform after the departure of advertisers and top executives. Musk on Friday said he had reinstated certain banned accounts on his site, but added that no decision had been made on welcoming back former US president Donald Trump. Twitter watchers have been tracking closely to see whether Musk will reinstate Trump, banned for inciting last year’s attack on the Capitol by a mob seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The reinstatement of accounts ousted for violating Twitter’s content moderation rules has been seen as a bellwether of where Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” wants to take the site. In the same blast of tweets, Musk unveiled a new method for handling future hateful or “negative” content that seemed to seek a balancing act between unadulterated free speech and some form of policing on the site. Finding a solution to content moderation became especially urgent after Musk’s fist major rejig to the site — expanding a paid subscription service — sparked an embarrassing spate of fake accounts that sent advertisers running. “New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,” Musk tweeted on Friday. “Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter,” he wrote. ‘Core principle’ In essence, Musk seemed to be pointing to a policy similar to strategies at YouTube, the Google-owned video platform, where some provocative content is given less priority in the site’s algorithm, but is not entirely taken down. “You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from the rest of the Internet,” Musk said. Ella Girwin, his newly installed chief of trust and safety, called Musk’s approach “a core principle for Twitter… helping us ensure we maintain a healthy platform.” To make his point, Musk then announced the reinstatement of three twitter accounts that had been banished for violating Twitter’s content moderation policies. Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson was suspended from Twitter in June, before Musk’s ownership, following a post about transgender actor Elliot Page that broke the site’s rules on hateful conduct. Peterson had often made comments against the rights of transgender people and was asked by Twitter to remove the post on Page. The Babylon Bee, a conservative parody site, was banned in March for similar tweets against Rachel Levine, a trans woman serving as US assistant secretary of health. The third account, belonging to comedian Kathy Griffin, was banned earlier this month when Musk cracked down on accounts that impersonated others. Griffin, who has two million Twitter followers, switched her username to Elon Musk, taking advantage of the website’s relaxed oversight under the billionaire. ‘Catastrophic’ In an opinion piece in the New York Times, Twitter’s former content chief Yoel Roth said it was a “near certainty” that Trump would be returned to the site. Expanding at length on why he had left Twitter last week after seven years, Roth said that Musk was facing a huge challenge to achieve his free speech vision. Roth warned his former boss that advertisers, which he “neither controls nor has managed to win over,” would pose a clear threat to his revenue stream if they were spooked by the site’s direction. And even if he found another way to make money, regulators in the United States, Europe and India were also wary, threatening Twitter with big fines or government interference if the platform fails to play by the rules. But most of all, Roth said it will be the app stores run by Apple and Google’s Android that hold the greatest sway over the future of Twitter. “Failure to adhere to Apple and Google’s guidelines would be catastrophic,” Roth warned. Their often vague rules on content could see access by users to Twitter’s phone app switched off immediately and by diktat from competing big tech companies. “Twitter will have to balance its new owner’s goals against the practical realities of life on Apple and Google’s internet,” said Roth. View the full article

Published by DPA FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks at a press conference ahead of the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup. Tom Weller/dpa “Today I have strong feelings. Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled, I feel a migrant worker.” FIFA president Gianni Infantino on his feelings ahead of the World Cup in Qatar starting on Sunday FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks at a press conference ahead of the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup. Robert Michael/dpa View the full article

Published by 90min (EN) By Henry Burt FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s much-discussed speech on the eve of the World Cup has prompted a response from Amnesty International, who have accused the Italian of ‘brushing aside legitimate human rights criticisms.” In a sprawling and bizarre address, Infantino claimed that Europeans had no right to criticise Qatar for their human rights record and compared the treatment of foreigners in the country to being bullied for having red hair. Infantino also made headlines with the opening of his speech, saying: “Today I have strong feelings. Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I fee… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Stephen Fry won’t “abandon” his friendship with JK Rowling – despite her controversial comments about the transgender community. The 65-year-old actor has called for the calm in the debate over transgender issues, even though the author’s remarks have upset some of his transgender friends. Asked if he wants to take part in the debate, Stephen explained: “I wouldn’t. I definitely wouldn’t because I am aware that you are talking about an issue where two sides are very sore and anxious about their enemies.” The actor admitted that he finds himself in an awkward situation, having friends on both dies of the debate. He said on the ‘Beeb Watch’ podcast: “She is a friend of mine and I have trans friends and intersex friends who are deeply upset by her. “That is a circle I have to square personally.” Stephen ultimately hopes to see an end to the fighting. The ‘V for Vendetta’ star – who married comedian Elliott Spencer in 2015 – explained: “I know that JK Rowling doesn’t want to see trans people bullied, alienated, shut out of society, made to feel ashamed, guilty, laughed at, all those things. “But I also know that there are people who believe that safe feminine spaces and the idea of difference between sex and gender is very important, and that they repudiate with all their strength the Judith Butler – the idea of created gender and so on. “It is not an argument I want to get involved in because it is upsetting to both sides and I would wish them both to retreat and to consider that is possible for trans people to live full, accepted lives according to their terms in society, and for women to have all the rights and dignities they demand. “But it isn’t possible if each side looks on the other as an enemy and the trans people just shout ‘terf’ and the feminists seem to, as it were, undermine the dignity and rights of the trans community, if I can use the word community – it is a bit of a greasy word, but there you go.” View the full article

Published by DPA Denmark's Christian Eriksen pictured prior to the start of the International friendly soccer match between Germany and Denmark at Tivoli Stadium. Eriksen said his team could stage further protests during the World Cup in Qatar. Federico Gambarini/dpa Denmark star Christian Eriksen said his team could stage further protests during the World Cup in Qatar. He confirmed that captain Simon Kjaer will wear the multi-coloured One Love armband in the opening game against Tunisia on Tuesday to promote equality and diversity. “And then we have to see if we will do more than that. We’ll do what we can,” Eriksen told a news conference on Saturday. This will be the first major tournament with the national team for the midfielder since he suffered a cardiac arrest at the Euros last year. Denmark asked football governing body FIFA to wear shirts carrying the slogan “Human rights for all” during training sessions, but the request was denied because it’s a “political message,” according to the federation. Qatar has been widely criticized for the human rights conditions in the country, the death of migrant workers and its handling of the LGBTQ community. Danish federation director Peter Möller said during the news conference that they are ready to take a fine for the armband in case FIFA decides to apply one. “I have no idea of what the penalty could be,” he said. FIFA hasn’t banned the One Love armband so far, but political statements are are prohibited by the statutes. Asked about the One Love armband during a news conference on Saturday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino was vague and didn’t say whether there will be fines. “We have regulations about the armbands, they are provided by FIFA,” the president said, adding that these regulations are based on universal campaigns and that “the field of play of the World Cup should really be about football and global causes.” View the full article

Published by Al-Araby British pop star Robbie Williams has hit back at critics of his decision to perform at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, saying it would be “hypocritical” of him not to go. Williams, 48, spoke to Il Venerdi di Repubblica to highlight the alleged double standards in singling out Qatar for criticism. The Gulf state has been targeted by a negative media campaign in the lead-up to the World Cup, focused on alleged mistreatment of migrant workers and persecution of the LGBTQ community. Qatari authorities say most of the claims are sensationalised or untrue, and that everyone is welcome at the World Cup … Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Kanye West was spotted with the alt-right political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos this week despite the current controversy surrounding the embattled rapper and Milo’s own fall from grace roughly five years ago, RadarOnline.com has learned. In a surprising development to come in the wake of Kanye’s anti-Semitic remarks that cost him billions of dollars in contracts with brands like Adidas, Balenciaga and Vogue, the 45-year-old rapper and fashion designer was seen partying with Milo in Los Angeles on Thursday night. Mega Kanye, alongside Milo and an unidentified woman, was photographed sipping champagne outside the Beverly Hills Hotel while wearing his Balenciaga x Adidas collection. But even more surprising was Kanye’s decision to hang with the likes of Milo – who came under fire in February 2017 for a series of comments he made regarding sex, pedophilia and the age of consent. “No, no, no. You’re misunderstanding what pedophilia means,” the 38-year-old controversial alt-right commentator said at the time. “Pedophilia is not a sexual attraction to somebody 13 years old who is sexually mature,” he continued, seemingly condoning relationships between grown men and 13-year-old boys. “Pedophilia is attraction to children who have not reached puberty.” Mega In the wake of Milo’s concerning comments, the former Breitbart News editor lost a lucrative book deal and was uninvited from the Conservative Political Action Conference that year. Milo has since fallen into obscurity as a result of his provocative alt-right stance and widely condemned pedophilia remarks, and most recently signed on to become an unpaid intern for Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Kanye has recently been suffering the fallout from his own controversial comments that not only further damaged his reputation but also resulted in him losing upwards of $2 billion in the short span of 24 hours. “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” West wrote on Twitter in October, marking the first of many anti-Semitic remarks he would make in the days and weeks to follow. Mega “The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because Black people are actually Jew [sic] also,” he continued. “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.” Besides losing billions of dollars in contracts with brands like Adidas and Balenciaga, Kanye has also been dropped by his lawyers, his bank and his record label. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Joseph Ax and Moira Warburton (Reuters) -U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert, the polarizing Republican who gained national notoriety during her first term with her combative brand of politics, won re-election in a surprisingly close race after her Democratic opponent conceded on Friday. Adam Frisch, a businessman and former city councilman in Aspen, Colorado, said he had called Boebert and conceded the contest, which appears destined for an automatic recount with Boebert leading by fewer than 600 votes out of more than 325,000 cast in the Nov. 8 midterm election. “The likelihood of this recount changing more than a handful of votes is very small,” Frisch said in a news conference streamed on his Facebook page, adding that he did not want to raise money from supporters for an effort that would not succeed. Republicans this week were projected to have won a narrow majority in the U.S. House, setting the stage for two years of divided government with Democrats still in control of the Senate. House Republicans will be able to block much of Democratic President Joe Biden’s agenda. Boebert’s victory gives Republicans 219 seats compared to 212 for Democrats, according to Edison Research, with four races still too close to call. Boebert rose to prominence in 2020 when she refused to close her gun-themed restaurant in accordance with Colorado’s COVID-19 restrictions, endearing her to many in a mostly rural district in southwestern Colorado where opposition to government efforts to contain the pandemic ran high. She went on to defeat a five-term incumbent Republican in that year’s primary and won the seat in the general election. Along with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Boebert has developed a reputation as one of the most outspoken supporters of former President Donald Trump in Congress. She faced calls to resign after she posted on Twitter about the location of several members of Congress during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. This year’s unexpectedly close race – she was heavily favored to win after redistricting made her district even more Republican – was one of several across the country that raised questions about the depth of support that Trump and his loyal backers still enjoy with voters. Boebert, who has echoed Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent, repeatedly refused to say whether she would accept the results of the election if she lost. On Friday, Boebert wrote on Twitter that Frisch had called her to concede and added, “I look forward to getting past election season and focusing on conservative governance in the House majority. Time to get to work!” (Reporting By Christopher Gallagher and Moira Warburton; Additional reporting by Joseph Ax and Paul Grant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday named Jack Smith, a war crimes prosecutor, to serve as special counsel to oversee Justice Department investigations tied to Donald Trump involving the former president’s handling of sensitive documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Garland’s announcement came three days after Trump, a Republican, announced he would run for president again in 2024. Garland said Trump’s candidacy, as well as Democratic President Biden’s stated intention to run for re-election, made the appointment of a special counsel necessary. Special counsels are sometimes appointed to investigate politically sensitive cases and they do their jobs with a degree of independence from the Justice Department leadership. “The pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under my watch,” Smith said in a statement. “I will exercise independent judgment and will move the investigations forward expeditiously and thoroughly to whatever outcome the facts and the law dictate.” Smith will oversee the investigation into Trump’s handling of government documents after leaving the White House last year and the probe into attempts to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 election, Garland said. “Appointing a special counsel at this time is the right thing to do,” Garland said at a news conference. Trump, in a statement to Fox News, said he “won’t partake” in the special counsel’s investigations. “For six years I have been going through this, and I am not going to go through it anymore,” Trump said. Biden, who appointed Garland, did not respond to shouted questions from reporters about the special counsel during his only public appearance of the day. The White House was not involved in the decision to appoint Smith, an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. This marks the second time in the span of five years that the Justice Department has appointed a special counsel to probe Trump’s conduct. Former FBI director Robert Mueller, appointed as a special counsel in 2017, documented contacts between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, but found insufficient evidence to bring a charge of criminal conspiracy. Smith’s appointment was made at a time when FBI agents across the country have faced threats in the aftermath of the law enforcement agency’s seizure of thousands of government records, some marked as highly classified, during a court-approved Aug. 8 search of Trump’s Florida estate. The search was part of a criminal investigation that Trump has called politically motivated witch hunt. Investigators also are examining Trump for possible obstruction of the probe. Trump filed a civil lawsuit in an effort to delay the documents investigation and keep some records from investigators, claiming they are privileged. The other investigation is a sprawling probe into a failed plot by Trump’s allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election by submitting batches of phony slates of electors to the U.S. National Archives and trying to block Congress from certifying Biden’s election victory. A grand jury is hearing evidence in that case, with prosecutors issuing subpoenas for testimony to top former White House attorneys and close advisers to Vice President Mike Pence. While Garland ultimately has authority over the special counsel, the appointment of an independent third party will allow Garland to create some political distance that could bolster public confidence in the integrity of the two investigations. Career prosecutors are expected to continue working on the two investigations alongside Smith. Smith, a political independent, until recently served as the chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, tasked with prosecuting war crimes in Kosovo. He previously oversaw the Justice Department’s public integrity section and worked as a federal and state prosecutor in New York. Smith recently underwent surgery after injuring a knee in a biking accident. He did not attend the news conference. The raft of criminal and civil state and federal investigations against Trump also includes a civil lawsuit by New York state’s attorney general involving his business practices. Smith is the Justice Department’s third special counsel to be appointed since 2017 to handle a politically sensitive case. Mueller in his investigation did not explicitly reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, prompting then-Attorney General William Barr to make his own determination that there was not a basis for such a charge. In 2019, Barr appointed John Durham as special counsel to investigate the origins of the FBI’s probe into Trump’s 2016 campaign. Of the three criminal prosecutions Durham brought, two resulted in acquittals earlier this year. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Rami Ayub; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Joey Ax; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Elon Musk had a meltdown on Twitter after it was revealed his newly acquired social media company is in danger of being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission, RadarOnline.com has learned. As RadarOnline.com previously reported, upwards of 75% of Musk’s Twitter workforce departed the company this week after the 51-year-old billionaire gave his workers until 5 PM Thursday to decide whether they wanted to stay on or leave the platform he is now in charge of. Mega To make matters worse, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) revealed on Thursday that he and six of his Senate colleagues have penned a letter to the FTC requesting the commission open an investigation into Twitter following Musk’s acquisition of the company on October 27. “We write regarding Twitter’s serious, willful disregard for the safety and security of its users, and encourage the Federal Trade Commission to investigate any breach of Twitter’s consent decree or other violations of our consumer protection laws,” Senator Markey and his colleagues wrote. The lawmakers also requested the FTC launch an investigation into the “alarming steps that have undermined the integrity and safety of the platform,” as well as Musk’s alleged newly implemented “growth-at-all-costs strategy” that has left Twitter users openly exposed to “fraud, scams, and dangerous impersonation.” Following Markey’s revelation to Politico on Thursday, and after 75% of Musk’s workforce left the company, the Tesla and SpaceX founder took to his own Twitter account to fume about the potential investigation into his company while the now-bankrupt and defunct crypto-currency company FTX goes unchecked. “FTX losing over a billion dollars of clients funds,” Musk captioned a meme of two rhinoceroses mating while a wildlife photographer looks the other way. “Senators calling for the FTC to investigate Twitter,” Musk added in a caption above the oblivious photographer. As RadarOnline.com reported, Twitter is now on the verge of collapse as a result of three quarters of its workforce opting to depart the company on Thursday. “The team that maintains Twitter’s core system libraries that every engineer at the company uses is gone after Thursday,” one employee revealed. “You cannot run Twitter without this team.” Mega “I know of six critical systems (like ‘serving tweets’ levels of critical) which no longer have any engineers,” said another employee who has since the company. “There is no longer even a skeleton crew manning the system.” “It will continue to coast until it runs into something, and then it will stop.” Meanwhile, Musk has also been trolled online and at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco after one anonymous individual projected a digital banner on the side of the company’s main building Thursday night. “Elon Musk: mediocre manchild, pressurized privilege, petty racist, megalomaniac, worthless billionaire, bankruptcy baby, supreme parasite, petulant pimple, apartheid baby,” the digital banner read. View the full article

Published by AFP US Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee the criminal investigations former president Donald Trump Washington (AFP) – The US Justice Department on Friday named a former war crimes investigator as a special counsel to oversee criminal probes into Donald Trump, three days after the former president announced a new White House run in 2024. The dramatic move sets up the prospect of a drawn-out legal battle, with Trump likely to claim he is being targeted by the administration of Joe Biden to prevent him winning back the presidency. At a press conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of Jack Smith, until recently a chief prosecutor in The Hague charged with probing Kosovo war crimes, to take over the two ongoing federal investigations into Trump. One is focused on the former president’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters. The other is an investigation into a cache of classified government documents seized in an FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in August. Garland said naming a special counsel was in the public interest because both the Republican Trump and his Democratic successor Biden have stated their intention to run in 2024 — although only Trump has officially declared for now. “Appointing a special counsel at this time is the right thing to do,” Garland said. “Such an appointment underscores the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. “The extraordinary circumstances presented here demand it,” he said, adding that Smith was the “right choice to complete these matters in an even-handed and urgent manner.” In a statement, Smith, who previously headed the Justice Department’s Public Integrity section, said he would conduct his investigation “independently and in the best traditions of the Department of Justice.” “The pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under my watch,” he said. “I will exercise independent judgement and will move the investigations forward expeditiously and thoroughly to whatever outcome the facts and the law dictate.” Delicate matter Trump’s entry into the White House race on Tuesday makes indicting him a much more delicate matter. The appointment of an independent prosecutor to oversee the twin investigations could serve to help insulate Garland, a Biden appointee, from charges that the probe is politically motivated. The special counsel will determine whether the former president — who says he is a victim of political persecution — should face any charges in connection with either investigation. The special counsel would still report to the attorney general, who would have the ultimate say on whether charges should be brought. Even if charged, the 76-year-old Trump can still run for president — nothing in US law bars a person charged with or convicted of a crime from doing so. While in office, Trump was investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller over obstruction of justice and possible 2016 election collusion with Russia but no charges were brought against him. In addition to the federal investigations, Trump faces other legal woes. New York state’s attorney general Letitia James has filed a civil suit against Trump and three of his children, accusing them of business fraud. And Trump is being investigated for pressuring officials in the southern swing state of Georgia to overturn Biden’s 2020 victory — including a now-infamous taped phone call in which he asked the secretary of state to “find” enough votes to reverse the result. Trump’s unusually early announcement that he was running for president in 2024 was seen by some analysts in Washington as an attempt to stave off potential criminal charges. Trump was impeached by the Democratic-majority House of Representatives in 2019 for seeking political dirt on Biden from Ukraine and again after the January 6 attack on the Capitol but was acquitted by the Senate. A series of explosive hearings by a House committee investigating the attack on Congress by Trump supporters offered a roadmap for potentially charging the ex-president with a crime. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Brendan Pierson (Reuters) – Anti-abortion groups on Friday filed a lawsuit asking a court to overturn U.S. regulators’ approval of the drug mifepristone for medication abortion, which could hobble access to medication abortion nationwide. The lawsuit, filed in Amarillo, Texas, federal court by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and others, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lacked authority to approve the drug for abortion when it did so in 2000 and that it failed to study its risks for minors adequately. The FDA “failed America’s women and girls when it chose politics over science and approved chemical abortion drugs for use in the United States,” the lawsuit said. The FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Joe Biden’s administration earlier this year moved to expand access to medication abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing abortion rights nationwide. Mifepristone is a prescription drug approved by the FDA to induce an abortion up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy. It must be followed by a second drug, misoprostol. Both drugs also have other uses. The plaintiffs in Friday’s lawsuit said the FDA improperly approved mifepristone for abortion in 2000 under an expedited process intended to allow patients quicker access to better treatments for an illness, even though pregnancy is not an illness, and waived a requirement to study it separately for pediatric patients. The Supreme Court’s June ruling put a spotlight on medication abortion, which accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions. A Dutch supplier of abortion pills by mail saw demand surge in the wake of the decision, which has allowed more than 20 states to begin enforcing new restrictions on abortion. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by The Street By Luc Olinga The new boss has revealed clues about the direction that his content management policy will take. Elon Musk began to lift the veil Friday on the messages that will be deemed acceptable on Twitter, thus drawing a content management policy eagerly awaited by many advertisers. The billionaire also lifted for the first time permanent suspensions affecting certain accounts. The account of comedian Kathy Griffin, which he himself suspended on November 7 after she impersonated him, is active again. Musk also said the accounts of Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and conservative-lea… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Antoni Porowski has got engaged. The ‘Queer Eye’ star has revealed he and Kevin Harrington are making plans to marry after three years together. Sharing an out-of-focus photo of himself and Kevin on Instagram, Antoni wrote: “I really hope the wedding photos are less blurry [prayer emoji] (sic)” And Kevin shared a carousel of images that began with a photo of him and Antoni holding hands and ended with them dressed in zombie make-up. He captioned the post: “Officially together until we look like the last pic #engaged (sic)”. Antoni joked in the comments: “Don’t worry I’ll prolly be dabbling w Botox by then (sic)” The 38-year-old culinary expert and his partner were quickly congratulated by the other stars of ‘Queer Eye’. Karamo Brown posted: “Yessssssssss!!!! So excited for you two! This is amazing.” Jonathan Van Ness joked: “So cute, love soy much [heart emojis] Already sourcing my flower girl looks!!!(sic)” Tan France offered: “I volunteer as wedding selfie-photographer.” And Bobby Berk wrote: “So damn happy for you two! You both got a good one!!! [crying emojis] (sic)” The couple’s friend and neighbour, Gigi Hadid, also shared her excitement. Along with emojis of two dark-haired men and one blonde woman, all in tuxedos, she wrote: “So excited for our wedding.” She repeated the sentiment on her own Instagram Story over a photo of the three of them together and also wrote: “Congrats @antoni and @kevharrington so excited for our wedding [and] cheers to being neighbors forever. You’re stuck with me. Love you both.(sic)” Antoni previously spoke of how he and Kevin grew closer during the COVID-19 lockdown after his partner’s planned four-day visit being extended, and they eventually fostered a dog together. He said: “We went from being in a relationship and each having our own apartments and not having a dog, to living in the same place with a dog. It escalated quickly. “But I don’t have any complaints, which is kind of nice. When something is stable and really good — and you communicate a lot, and you check in with each other and with your own therapist about it — I feel like that’s kind of the key.” View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega As AMC’s The Walking Dead approaches its series finale, set to premiere on Sunday, November 20, Ross Marquand, who plays Aaron in the hit zombie drama, teamed up with The Sexton® Single Malt to create a special cocktail meant to represent the show’s epic end. North Coast Photographer “We had a lot of fun coming up with the naming for this and everything. We floated around a few different ideas,” Marquand tells OK! in an exclusive interview. “There was a lot of talk about ‘Blood in the Water’, ‘Saving Gracie,’ and I feel like ‘The Final Showdown’ was the most logical choice because it is in fact the last episode and the final showdown for these characters.” ‘THE BEST THING’: WHY ‘THE WALKING DEAD’ STAR ROSS MARQUAND BELIEVES HELPING INSPIRE LGBTQ+ FANS IS HIS LIFE GOAL The alcoholic beverage featuring smooth Sexton whiskey, fresh fruit juice, agave syrup and red wine — Marquand reveals the incorporation of wine is an “on the nose” representation of all the “blood in the show” — is the perfect finale sip for diehard fans. The Sexton “It’s a fun, light cocktail that I think a lot of people would enjoy, but it’s also got a lot of complexity,” the Avengers: Endgame actor says, noting that he’s usually a “purist when it comes to whiskey,” but he was very “impressed” with the layers of flavors. ‘THE WALKING DEAD’ STAR NORMAN REEDUS CANCELS CONVENTION APPEARANCE AFTER SUFFERING A CONCUSSION IN ON-SET ACCIDENT “It’s gonna be a nice send off to the final episode, which is so insane that we’re coming up upon this after all these months of filming, and years and years of planning,” he continues. “It’s very bittersweet, but we’re grateful to be kind of sending it off like a Viking ship lit on fire … saying goodbye to this beautiful show that’s been so important to so many of us for so many years.” mega Marquand also comments on how Sexton wants fans to remember to enjoy the simple things in life with their mantra “You Have a Single Life. Drink A Single Malt,” noting that idea was largely what drew him to the partnership with Sexton. TheInvincible voice actor believes the message perfectly complements moments in The Walking Dead, specifically in the episode “One More” in which Aaron and Gabriel bond over a bottle of whiskey in the midst of the many dangers of the zombie apocalypse. “These two characters are relishing in this fine whiskey that they find in the stock room before they square off with Mays,” he continues, referring to a single-episode antagonist played by Robert Patrick. “I think it’s just such a beautiful reminder of just how fragile life is. You know?” “We don’t know how long we have on this earth,” he adds. “We don’t know how long we’re gonna see these characters on the show.” Catch the series finale of The Walking Dead on AMC on Sunday, November 20. View the full article

Published by Kaiser Health News Among the more remarkable legacies of the covid-19 pandemic is how quickly federal regulators, the health care industry, and consumers moved to make at-home testing a reliable tool for managing a public health crisis. But that fast-track focus is missing from another, less publicized epidemic: an explosion in sexually transmitted diseases that can cause chronic pain and infertility among infected adults and disable or kill infected newborns. The disparity has amplified calls from researchers, public health advocates, and health care companies urging the federal government to greenlight at-home… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story A defense attorney representing Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes on Friday tried to soften the far-right militia’s image for jurors by criticizing past media reports that depicted them as some kind of white nationalist organization. As reported by Politico’s Kyle Cheney, Rhodes attorney Lee Bright said that the Oath Keepers’ reputation as a group of bigots was completely unwarranted, and he pointed to some of its own members as showing its tolerance of diversity. Specifically, Bright pointed out that Oath Keeper Michael Greene is a Black man and that Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins, who along wi… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Fresh off of winning a Tony Award for the recently canceled “Paradise Square,” Joaquina Kalukango has landed a plum gig in one of this Broadway season’s hottest shows. The acclaimed actress will weave her magic into the role of the Witch in the hit revival of Stephen Sondheim’s beloved musical “Into the Woods.” Kalukango will begin performances on Dec. 16 until the limited engagement’s extended run ends Jan. 8 at the St. James Theatre, producers said Thursday. “It’s the greatest playground for an actor to get to interpret the lyrical genius that is Sondheim. How fortunate am I that … Read More View the full article