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Published by New York Daily News Elton John is hitting the South Lawn for a night of healing. The “Tiny Dancer” singer will play at the White House Friday night for “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme,” the Biden administration announced Tuesday. The night “will celebrate the unifying and healing power of music, commend the life and work of Sir Elton John, and honor the everyday history-makers in the audience, including teachers, nurses, frontline workers, mental health advocates, students, LGBTQ+ advocates and more,” according to the White House. The 75-year-old British musician, who was already scheduled to be in town to p… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Erica Suter, the lawyer for Adnan Syed, addresses reporters after a judge vacated his conviction for the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend Baltimore (AFP) – A US judge on Monday threw out the conviction of a man who has served more than two decades in prison for his ex-girlfriend’s murder — a case that received worldwide attention thanks to the hit podcast “Serial.” Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn vacated the conviction of Adnan Syed, 42, who has been serving a life sentence since 2000 for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee. Phinn ordered Syed released immediately on his own recognizance “in the interests of justice and fairness.” Cheers erupted in the packed courtroom when the judge ordered officers to “remove the shackles” from Syed, who was sporting a thick beard and wearing a white shirt, dark tie and a white skullcap. Lee’s body was found buried in February 1999 in a shallow grave in the woods of Baltimore, Maryland. The 18-year-old had been strangled. Syed has steadfastly maintained his innocence but his multiple appeals had been denied, including by the US Supreme Court which declined in 2019 to hear his case. In a surprise move last week, the Baltimore City state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, announced that she had asked the court to vacate Syed’s conviction while a further investigation is carried out. Assistant state’s attorney Becky Feldman told the judge on Monday the decision was prompted by the discovery of new information regarding two alternative suspects and the unreliability of cell phone data used to convict Syed. “The state has lost confidence in the integrity of his conviction,” Feldman said. “We need to make sure we hold the correct person accountable. “We will be continuing our investigation,” she said, while promising to “do everything we can to bring justice to the Lee family.” Syed’s attorney, Erica Suter, also addressed the court, saying “my client is innocent.” Suter was asked by reporters how Syed, who did not make any public statement, reacted to the judge’s decision. “He said he could not believe it’s real,” she said. ‘Blindsided’ Baltimore City prosecutors now have 30 days to either bring new charges against Syed or dismiss the case. “We’re not yet declaring Adnan Syed is innocent,” Mosby, the state’s attorney, told reporters after the hearing. She said the state was awaiting the results of new DNA tests on Lee’s clothing before deciding whether to drop all charges or organize a new trial. Before the hearing began, Lee’s brother, Young Lee, addressed the court by Zoom. An emotional Lee said he was “kind of blindsided” by the prosecutor’s decision to vacate Syed’s conviction. “Out of nowhere I hear that there’s a motion to vacate judgment,” he said. “It’s tough going through this again and again and again.” Lee said he “trusts the court system” and asked the judge to “make the right decision.” Syed’s case earned worldwide attention when it was taken up in 2014 by “Serial,” a weekly podcast that saw a journalist revisit his conviction and cast doubt on his guilt. His case has also been the subject of a four-part documentary on the HBO channel called “The Case Against Adnan Syed.” The “Serial” podcast — a mix of investigative journalism, first-person narrative and dramatic storytelling — focused its first season on Syed’s story in 12 nail-biting episodes. Both Syed and Lee were high school honor students and children from immigrant families — he Pakistani, she South Korean — who had concealed their relationship from their conservative parents. Prosecutors said during the trial that Syed was a scorned lover who felt humiliated after Lee broke up with him. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Ted Hesson and Trevor Hunnicutt GEORGETOWN, Del. (Reuters) -The White House on Tuesday said it was aware of reports of a flight carrying migrants to an area near President Joe Biden’s vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and would work with state and local officials to help the migrants if they arrived, while condemning it as a “political stunt.” Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis did not confirm reports of the flight on Tuesday nor did he indicate if he was behind the action. Last week, he took credit for a pair of planes that dropped off nearly 50 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, on the wealthy vacation island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, with no warning. Asked at the White House about his reaction to the possibility of DeSantis sending migrants near his Delaware beach house, Biden told reporters, “He should come visit. We have a beautiful shoreline.” The White House said it was coordinating closely with local officials and had received no heads up from DeSantis, with spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre saying “his only goal is to create chaos.” She called the moves “political theater” and a “cruel, premeditated political stunt” DeSantis, who is up for re-election in November and seen as a possible presidential contender in 2024, joins Republican governors from Texas and Arizona in sending migrants to Democratic-controlled cities, in an effort to criticize the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border where there have been a record number of crossings. “I think it’s opening people’s eyes to the solution, which is let’s have a secure border,” DeSantis said in a press conference Tuesday. Texas, which has sent more than 11,000 migrants to Washington D.C. and New York City since April, stepped up its campaign in recent days, dropping migrants off near the official residence of Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington. A spokesperson for Delaware Governor John Carney said in a statement that the state was coordinating with federal officials and other groups and “are prepared to welcome these families in an orderly manner.” (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Andrea Shalal in Washington and Ted Hesson in Georgetown; Additional reporting by Jason Buch in Madison, Kristina Cooke in San Francisco, and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Aurora Ellis) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Prince Harryhas been warned to ditch his explosive $20 million tell-all, or there will be “no trust” with the royal family — but as RadarOnline.com reported, the exiled Duke of Sussex has no plans to drop his memoir, even after Queen Elizabeth‘s death. Harry delighted the world when he rejoined his estranged family — including his father, King Charles III, and his brother, Prince William, over the 11-day morning period to pay tribute to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. However, unless he severs ties with his publishing company, we may never see the trio together again. ‘Don’t Be Fooled — It’s Just Small Talk’: Prince William & Kate Middleton NOT Speaking To Harry Or Meghan Mega RadarOnline.com has learned that royal experts believe this could be Harry’s chance to weasel his way back into the family, but he’ll have to make sacrifices. “This is an incredible moment to be used. The country loved that feeling of unity and seeing the brothers back together, it was a beautiful sight,” ex-Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown said. “But unless he gives up his book and the tell-all documentaries and interviews then there can be no trust. I think if he does that there can be a way,” she continued. Brown also made it clear — his wife Meghan Markle needs to step up. Mega “The Royal Family needs him and there’s a lot of work to be done. Kate doesn’t want to be traveling the world, she’s the mother of three children,” she explained. “They have to somehow divvy this stuff up and Harry has a big role to play if he wants to. And if Meghan wants to, because of course she hated every bit of it.” Brown came up with a plan to make everyone happy, suggesting to Lorraine that Harry and Meghan spend “four or five months” in California and the rest of their time on royal duties. Mega “The question is whether they’ve each got the give to do it, because as we know family rancour can go very deep,” Brown stated. “If Harry doesn’t want to bin the book then I can’t see a way forward.” Sources told RadarOnline.com that Harry is refusing to back down from publishing the memoir, and he’s even writing new chapters to include Queen Elizabeth’s death. “The book is the key to Harry’s future in the family. If the book goes away, Harry will be back in with the family. However, if the book is published, trust will be permanently damaged, and he will never again be welcomed into the new King’s inner circle,” insiders revealed. The palace insider continued to spill, adding, “A line has been drawn in the sand. Now it is up to Harry.” “The choice could not be more obvious inside the palace. Harry picks his family, or he picks $20 million. That’s the price of being welcomed back into the fold. Having Meghan trash, them is one thing, but having Harry do it is another. If he burns this bridge, he will never be able to rebuild it.” View the full article

Published by Fadeaway World By Divij Kulkarni Anthony Edwards has been fined $40K following his controversial Instagram story. View the original article to see embedded media. The NBA is an organization that is committed to social justice causes and being as inclusive as it can be. The league has worked tirelessly to be a better space for diverse fans, people of different races, genders, and sexual orientations. As such, when players breach this policy by their words or their actions, it is a matter that the league takes seriously. The latest NBA player to find out about this is Anthony Edwards. The Minnesota Timberwolve… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Matthew McConaughey refused to let being blackmailed into having sex when he was 15 and drugged and molested by a man when he was 18 “beat him”. The ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ star previously shared the harrowing accounts in his autobiography, ‘Greenlights’, and he’s detailed the conversations he had with his father that informed him that this was not how anyone should be treated. Speaking on Amanda de Cadenet’s ‘The Conversation: About the Men’ podcast, he said of his parents’ lessons on sexual intimacy and respect: “Well, I had been taught, been guided by my parents about respect for a woman, respect for the relationship, respect for sexual intimacy, respect for space. “My dad had always had this thing when he taught us the birds and the bees, he sat me down talking the birds and the bees, he said, ‘You’re getting that age you kiss?’ and I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ And he goes, ‘Well, it’s gonna go further than that one day. It’s probably gonna go to where you’re gonna get intimate and there’s gonna be the breast, and there’s gonna be below the belt.’ I’m paraphrasing, and he goes, ‘It’s gonna happen to you as well.'” Recalling being taught about sexual consent, he continued: “And so he goes, and he’s talking to me, he says, ‘Son, as a male in the situation,’ speaking to me about a heterosexual relationship, ‘If you ever feel the girl, the female, hesitate, stop.’ He even said this, he goes, ‘You may even feel them hesitate, and then after you stop, they may go, oh, no, no, come on. Don’t. Wait till next time.’ And he was right, I got in certain senses where it was like, ‘No, no, no. OK, I’m out.’ And saying, ‘OK, cool. I’m out.’ The girl went, ‘Oh, well, no, come on.’ And I was like, ‘No, no, no.’ He said, ‘Trust you’ll have another day, if it is to be.'” The 52-year-old actor was still able to have some “healthy sexual relations” with girls that weren’t “ugly” after the blackmailing. He went on: “But I was very clear, again, that was not right, that was not cool, that was not the way it is. “After that, I got to have some healthy sexual relations and have girls that I liked and liked me, and we slowly got intimate and it was beautiful and clumsy, and all those things, but it wasn’t ugly like that was.” When he was molested a few years later, he “didn’t connect” the two experiences. The ‘Gold’ star hasn’t had therapy but says the people around him have helped him deal with the trauma. Matthew vowed to himself to never let the abuse he experienced in his adolescence make him “afraid of relationships” or stop him from trusting others. He said: “I’m not gonna be afraid of relationships because my first experience was blackmail. Uh uh. That’s an aberration. No, no. That’s not the way it is. And if I go on – and I’m not gonna let it beat me. I’m going, ‘I’m not gonna let that beat my sense of trust in people and say, ‘No, I can have a healthy relationship.’ Non-negotiable. No.” He added: “Happened. Am I denying that it happened? No. I’m not denying that it happened. Ugly. Ugh. I still get, even telling you this story, I get — but am I gonna carry that? I chose, non-negotiably, I’m not going to carry that, bring that baggage into the life I’m going to lead, and how I treat people and how I trust people, and how I look at circumstances and the risk I may take.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Ahmed Aboulenein WASHINGTON (Reuters) – What is the status of COVID-19 now that President Joe Biden has told the CBS 60 Minutes news program the pandemic is over in the United States? HAS THE U.S. FORMALLY DECLARED THE END OF THE PANDEMIC? No. The United States is still operating under the public health emergency, first declared in January 2020. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is expected to renew that designation in October but then let the public health emergency expire in January 2023. Health officials like White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha have as recently as this month said “the pandemic is not over,” but have acknowledged that there is a shift under way in its fight against the virus. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week that the “end is in sight” for the pandemic, but still urged nations to maintain their vigilance. WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH COVID-19 NOW? The virus, which emerged in China in late 2019, has killed over 6.5 million people – including 1 million this year – and infected 608 million people. Vaccines and treatments have helped lower death rates, and global deaths from COVID-19 last week were the lowest since March 2020, according to the WHO. In the United States, an average of nearly 400 people a day continue to die from COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and an average of over 4,300 are hospitalized each day. WHAT SIGNS ARE THERE OF A PANDEMIC IN RETREAT? Biden made his comments on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show, the largest in North America, where the president noted that very few people around him were wearing masks. CDC mask guidelines since February have recommended that people in counties with low or medium COVID-19 levels – now almost 87% of the country – do not need to wear masks indoors. U.S. government agencies have also dropped mask requirements in federal buildings in the Washington area and other places with low or medium levels of COVID-19. The federal government stopped requiring masks on public transportation after the courts said it did not have the authority to do so. Most states have also lifted mask requirements, including New York, as they try to persuade more workers to return to offices. Most schools nationwide are abandoning remote learning for in-person classes and the CDC said last month it would no longer recommend quarantines for people exposed to the virus, making it easier for teachers and students to remain in class. The CDC also no longer recommends unvaccinated people quarantine after exposure. Around 95% of the U.S. population has either been vaccinated, had COVID-19 already, or both, it said. The United States has just begun a new COVID vaccination campaign with boosters tailored to the Omicron variant that leading infectious disease doctor Anthony Fauci compared to the annual flu vaccination efforts. (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Caroline Humer and Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Brad Pitt has made a surprise debut as an artist. The 58-year-old actor unveiled a number of sculptures at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Finland over the weekend as part of a larger exhibition by British artist Thomas Houseago, who also features a ceramic series by singer Nick Cave. Brad told Finnish broadcaster Yle: “For Nick and I this is a new world and our first entry. It just feels right.” The ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ actor explained the nine works he has in the exhibition – including a series of house-shaped silicone sculptures that have each been shot with different ammunition and a moulded plaster panel “depicting a gunfight” – are about “self-reflection” and “taking account” of the wrong decisions he’s made in his life. He said: “To me it’s about self-reflection. It’s about where I have gotten it wrong in my relationships, where have I misstepped, where am I complicit. “For me, it was born out of ownership of what I call a radical inventory of self, getting really brutally honest with me and taking account of those I may have hurt, moments I have just gotten wrong.” Meanwhile, Australian singer Nick’s exhibition was titled ‘The Devil: A Live’ and the 17 individual pieces depict “the life of Satan in 17 stations, from innocence through experience into confrontation of our mortality.” The glazed ceramic figurines stand between six and 19.5 inches high and were hand-crafted, painted and glazed by the musician in England between 2020 and 2022. Both stars created their works in dialogue with Houseago, who has showcased a number of paintings alongside new sculptures made from redwood and plaster in the exhibition. Speaking of his decision to team up with Brad and Nick, the artist said in a statement: “I am not an I. I’m a WE!” View the full article

Published by DPA A general view of a vessel found during excavations at Tel Yehud, where Israeli researchers discovered 3,500 year-old traces of opium inside ceramic vessels at an ancient burial site. Assaf Peretz/Israel Antiquities Authority/dpa Israeli researchers have found traces of opium in ceramic vessels in an ancient burial site dating back some 3,500 years. It is the earliest known evidence of human opium use, according to a statement released on Tuesday by Tel Aviv University, the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Israel Antiquities Authority. The Canaanites used the psychoactive drug as an “offering for the dead,” researchers believe, according to the statement. The ceramic vessels containing opium were found during excavations at Tel Yehud, near Tel Aviv, where Canaanite tombs dating back to the 14th century BC are located. “This exciting discovery confirms historical writings and archaeological hypotheses according to which opium and its trade played a central role in the cultures of the Near East,” the joint statement said. The vessels, some of which were made in Cyprus and some locally, resembled an opium poppy capsule in shape, according to the statement. A general view of vessels found during excavations at Tel Yehud, where Israeli researchers discovered 3,500 year-old traces of opium inside ceramic vessels at an ancient burial site. Assaf Peretz/Israel Antiquities Authority/dpa View the full article

Published by DPA The average face mask is limited to preventing the spread of viruses, but scientists believe high-tech versions will let you know when they have detected a nearby virus. Marijan Murat/dpa Scientists in China say they have developed a sensor to be worn on face masks that can detect small amounts of coronavirus and other flu viruses in the air and alert the wearer on their smartphone. With a “real-time detection platform for various respiratory infectious diseases,” the device could serve as an early warning system to prevent viral outbreaks, according to research published in the scientific journal Matter00477-5). The postage stamp-sized sensor, which can be attached to common face masks, can transmit a warning to a smartphone within 10 minutes to alert the user to the danger, say the device’s six developers at Shanghai’s Tongji University. “Wearable sensor platforms for analysing airborne media remain underexplored,” say the researchers, who note that their sensor has the potential to identify viruses such as H1N1, H5N1 and SARS-CoV-2. The cost of the device was not mentioned. View the full article

Published by DPA After Sanghya started showing coronavirus symptoms at the height of the pandemic, many ailments failed to disappear, while health returned to many infected people around her. Too often, the response from doctors was: “We just don’t know anything yet.” Sina Schuldt/dpa I go to the Strand at California’s Hermosa Beach each week and take in the fresh air. Most weeks, I get there and the sun is setting, the sky is an orangish-purple-pink Creamsicle colour and the clouds are fluffy. The predictability of this place calms me: the salty air, the sounds of rushing waves, the pitter-patter of the runners, seagulls chirping and the wind dancing on the sand. My visits allow me to have a clear slate for the week and reflect on the progress I’ve made mentally and physically. About 2½ years ago, I started showing symptoms of Covid-19. But unlike my friends and family members who bounced back from the infection, some of my symptoms continued. It would take dozens of doctor’s and medical appointments to confirm that I had long Covid. I am a data journalist at the Los Angeles Times and have a deep appreciation for spreadsheets, so my inclination was to track my symptoms. My planner became a living document in which I detail the good days and the bad using colour-coded dots to denote how I am feeling. I used to take an even more comprehensive approach, tracking in a spreadsheet every time I had shortness of breath, my blood pressure dropped or I lost my voice. The reality is, although the note-taking was helpful for taking to doctor’s appointments, the daily data collection for a year wore on me. I wanted to believe that my meticulous data keeping would result in answers from my doctors, a precious “aha” moment that every person with a rare disorder longs for. But by the late summer of 2021, I felt completely overwhelmed with test results, research I came across in my long Covid support group and the reality that no one doctor has a perfect solution for dealing with my symptoms. There were days when I had to make calls to get the earliest available appointments, do interviews, go to one or two doctor’s appointments and analyze data, as well as manage my day-to-day life. The doctors kept saying, “We just don’t know anything yet” and “Let’s try this new medicine, but we’ll have to monitor you for two to three months.” That, on top of the news I was covering every day, made me feel as though I was wading deeper and deeper into the dark ocean. My doctors told me if I didn’t schedule a break, my body would take one for me. So I took a step back from work and said “yes” to taking care of myself. I am very fortunate to have a supportive employer and family and friends and the financial means to go on leave. Rest is crucial after Covid, but unfortunately the systems in this country don’t support mental health well or the physical health needs of folks who need it the most. My leave allowed me to focus on my health and only my health, instead of trying to juggle five things at once. I realized that, as much as I enjoy data collection, it was time to ditch the spreadsheet of my personal symptoms and shift my focus and energy and just be kinder to myself. I swapped my spreadsheet for an Apple Watch and spent more time outside, focusing on the gains I could make during walks — each day a little bit longer and more challenging. It freed up my brain space to think about what I really enjoy doing. I started to paint during my leave to still use my creative side, especially since I was not writing much. At first, it offered an escape on my worst days, but over the last few months, it has developed into much more. Painting allows me to express myself in a way that reporting, writing and data analysis doesn’t. It is the one space in my life where I don’t have a deadline, a colour palette I must abide by, or a set routine I need to follow. Often my paintings are of the cotton candy clouds I see at the beach at 7 p.m. In a space of uncertainty, painting sunsets allows me to have a feeling of normality and calmness. These moments let me leave my body just for a minute and focus on the wet paint, bright pink hues and take me back to sitting in the sand, watching the horizon and ocean melt into one another. Painting also allows me to find balance and the resilience to keep helping others. Along with shifting my personal data tracking, I’ve also shifted from tracking daily coronavirus cases to doing longer interviews with other Long Covid patients. I’m able to empathize with a whole pool of younger people, like myself, who are faced with learning to live with a chronic illness much earlier than they imagined. Although I enjoy doing the interviews, some of them remind me of my early days of trying to get the care I needed and leave me wanting to do something more to help these people. On these days, painting gives me a place to release the medical trauma that people share with me and keep going. And though my symptoms are tapering off, I’m still pacing myself and allowing time to paint, even if I’m not at my worst. There’s nothing quite like peeling the plastic off a new canvas, squirting a little glob of acrylic paint onto my palette and letting the brush glide across, capturing another sunset. Specialist clinics, like this one in Germany, have been set up around the world to help treat the millions of patients suffering from Long Covid. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Kelly Clarkson felt “freaked out” to be “cemented in history” on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The 40-year-old pop star shot to fame back in 2002 when she won the inaugural series of ‘American Idol’ and has been given the prestigious honour of a spot on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles located outside the Dolby Theater where the reality singing competition was filmed. Asked what it felt like to be “cemented in history”, she told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “Wow, how you just said it kind of freaked me out, that’s crazy. I didn’t really think about it like, that but it’s incredible. I mean, you know, you’ve seen these pictures since you were a kid, with all these major people that influenced you artistically in your life, and it’s cool to be a part of that.” The ‘Behind These Hazel Eyes’ hitmaker is the 2,733rd person to be honoured with the star on the landmark tourist destination, joining the likes of screen legends Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland as well as fellow pop icons Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera but thinks it is “awesome” to have been cemented in between ‘Harry Potter’ actor Daniel Radcliffe and ‘Deadpool’ star Ryan Reynolds. The ‘Because of You’ songstress – who has sold more than 25 million records since her victory on the ABC show – was reunited with original ‘American Idol’ judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson for the ceremony on Monday (19.09.22) and gave a speech where she thanked the three music moguls for being “honest” with her as they guided her to stardom. She said: “From the beginning, with ‘Idol, all three of you were very honest with me…I just wanted to say thank you, to be surrounded — even my band on the road, my family, like last night, we’re listening to my new album and telling me what they love, what they don’t love — and I have people like that, and I think it’s important to have not just ‘yes’ people, but people that actually love you, and care about you and give their honest advice, and I’ve always welcomed. “And I think that is why I’m here today. Not just because of myself, but because of having constantly teams of people that love you and support you, and really want to make your dreams come true while making their dreams come true.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Nate Raymond (Reuters) – A federal law prohibiting people under felony indictment from buying firearms is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Texas has concluded, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that significantly expanded gun rights. U.S. District Judge David Counts, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, reached that conclusion on Monday in dismissing a federal indictment against Jose Gomez Quiroz, who had been charged under the decades-old ban. Counts cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June declaring for the first time that the right to “keep and bear arms” under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment protects a person’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense. Counts said that while the U.S. Supreme Court decision did not erase societal and public safety concerns about guns, it had “changed the legal landscape.” “The Second Amendment is not a ‘second class right,'” Counts wrote. “No longer can courts balance away a constitutional right.” Quiroz’s attorney and representatives for U.S. Attorney Ashley Hoff, whose office prosecuted the case, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. Quiroz had been indicted in a Texas state court for burglary and later for bail jumping when he attempted in late 2021 to buy a 22-caliber semiautomatic handgun, leading to his federal indictment. A federal jury on June 23 found him guilty of one count of illegal receipt of a firearm by a person under indictment and one count of making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm. That same day, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority handed down its ruling, which struck down New York’s concealed carry law. Quiroz then moved to have the case dismissed, citing that decision. Counts granted the request, saying a historical survey found “little evidence” that the federal ban “aligns with this Nation’s historical tradition.” (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Karen Freifeld and Sarah N. Lynch NEW YORK (Reuters) -Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers resisted revealing whether he declassified materials seized in an August FBI search of his Florida home as the U.S. judge appointed to review the documents planned his first conference on the matter on Tuesday. Judge Raymond Dearie on Monday circulated a draft plan to both sides that sought details on documents Trump allegedly declassified, as he claimed publicly and without evidence, though his lawyers have not asserted that in court filings. In a letter filed ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Trump’s lawyers argued it is not time and would force him to reveal a defense to any subsequent indictment – an acknowledgement that the investigation could lead to criminal charges. Dearie, a senior federal judge in Brooklyn, was selected as an independent arbiter known as a special master. He will help decide which of the more than 11,000 documents seized in the Aug. 8 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home should be kept from the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into the alleged mishandling of the documents. Dearie will recommend to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon which documents may fall under attorney-client privilege or an assertion of executive privilege, which allows a president to withhold certain documents or information. It is unclear whether the review would go forward as instructed by Cannon, the Florida judge appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020 who ordered the review. Trump is under investigation for retaining government records, some marked as highly classified, at the resort in Palm Beach, his home after leaving office in January 2021. He has denied wrongdoing, and said without providing evidence that he believes the investigation is a partisan attack. The Justice Department on Friday appealed a portion of Cannon’s ruling, seeking to stay the review of roughly 100 documents with classified markings and the judge’s restricting FBI access to them. Federal prosecutors said the special master review ordered by the judge would hinder the government from addressing national security risks and force the disclosure of “highly sensitive materials.” On Tuesday, Trump’s legal team filed its response to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, opposing the government’s request and calling the Justice Department’s investigation “unprecedented and misguided.” In their 40-page filing, Trump’s attorneys said the court should not take the Justice Department at its word that the roughly 100 documents in question are in fact still classified, and said the special master should be permitted to review them as a step towards “restoring order from chaos.” In Cannon’s order appointing Dearie as special master, she asked him to conclude his review by the end of November. She instructed him to prioritize the documents marked classified, though her process calls for Trump’s counsel to review the documents, and Trump’s lawyers may not have the necessary security clearance. The Justice Department has described the special master process as unnecessary, as it has already conducted its own attorney-client privilege review and set aside about 500 pages that could qualify. It opposes an executive privilege review, saying any such assertion over the records would fail. The August FBI search came after Trump left office with documents that belong to the government and did not return them, despite numerous requests by the government and a subpoena. It is still unclear whether the government has all the records. The Justice Department has said some classified material still could be missing after the FBI recovered empty folders with classification markings from Mar-a-Lago. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld, additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham, David Gregorio and Chizu Nomiyama) View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Brad Reed Former President Donald Trump has been explicitly promoting QAnon content on both his Truth Social platform and his campaign rallies — and even some of his allies are reportedly scratching their heads. Rolling Stone reports that some Trump allies are expressing “abject confusion” about his new QAnon kick, with one telling the publication that “f*ck if I know” why he’s been promoting it. Another person close to Trump offered a simple explanation for why Trump likes QAnon content: He really likes that they believe he’s the savior of humankind who will rescue the world from a shado… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Sarah K. Burris Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is running for reelection in Florida, but he’s been spending a lot of time at national GOP events around the country instead of campaigning in his home state. Over the weekend, DeSantis was supposed to be one of the speakers at a Family Research Council conference called “Prayer Vote Stand” in Atlanta. But according to Religion Dispatches, he was a “no-show.” Former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback told the anti-LGBTQ activists that they must form their own groups that promote so-called “religious freedom” and organize around different faith communi… Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet By Mia Brett Another week, another totally bonkers ruling out of a federal court in Texas. Earlier this month, Judge Reed O’Connor (the same judge who tried overturning the entire Affordable Care Act in 2018 before we being overruled by the US Supreme Court) decided that employers do not have to offer insurance plans that cover PrEP (drugs that prevent the spread of HIV) if they have religious objections. Apparently providing healthcare to the poor, the sick and the vulnerable can be anti-Christian. Who knew? Kidding – those of us who need reproductive healthcare have known for a while. Republ… Read More View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago has increased security and moved a transgender youth support group from in-person meetings to virtual ones after it became the latest children’s hospital to face criticism online over its gender development program. An account called Libs of TikTok posted a number of tweets late last month criticizing Lurie’s program, which aims to support “the physical, mental and social health of patients and their families as youth progress through gender identity development,” according to Lurie’s website. Many of the program’s patients are gender-nonconforming children… Read More View the full article

Published by Kaiser Health News DALLAS — J.R. Chester got pregnant the summer before her senior year of high school. A bright student with good grades, she gave birth, graduated, and was pregnant again when she arrived at college that fall. She was a teen mom — like her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother. Her school did not teach sexual health education, and preventing pregnancy was a foreign concept. Her sons are now teenagers. “If you don’t know your options, you don’t have any,” said Chester, now a program director for Healthy Futures of Texas, a nonprofit sexual health advocacy and education organization…. Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Philip Pullella and Charlotte Van Campenhout VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Flemish Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday issued a document effectively allowing the blessing of same-sex unions, in direct defiance of a ruling against such practices by the Vatican’s doctrinal office. The document published on the website of the Bishops’ Conference of Belgium suggested a ritual that included a prayer and a benediction for stable same-sex unions. But it stressed that it was not “what the Church understands by a sacramental marriage”. It said the Church wanted to be “pastorally close to homosexual persons” and be a “welcoming Church that excludes no one.” The ritual would start with prayers and includes a commitment by the two people in front of family and friends to be faithful to each other. It would end with more prayer and what the document called a “benediction”. A Vatican spokesman had no immediate comment. In March 2021, in response to formal questions from a number of Roman Catholic dioceses on whether the practice of blessing same-sex unions was allowed, the Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), ruled that it was not. At the time, the CDF said its ruling was “not intended to be a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite” of the sacrament of marriage and the blessing associated with it. In response to that ruling, Bishop John Bonny of Antwerp said he felt “shame for my Church” and apologised to those he said had been hurt by the “painful and incomprehensible” decision. POPE SUPPORTS CIVIL UNIONS BUT NOT MARRIAGE Pope Francis has said he is opposed to same-sex marriage in the Church but supports civil union legislation to give same-sex couples legal protection and rights such as inheritance and shared health care. A spokesman for the bishops, Geert De Kerpel, said their intention was not to defy the Vatican ruling. “This is first and foremost a positive message,” he told Reuters, adding that it conformed with the pope’s calls for a more inclusive Church. The Flemish bishops document said that some Catholic gays remained celibate and that the Church appreciated it. The Church teaches that while homosexual orientation is not sinful, homosexual acts are. But the document added that “some prefer to live as a couple, in lasting and faithful union with a partner” and that such a relationship “can also be a source of peace and shared happiness”. The bishops denounced “homophobic violence,” and said they wanted to “structurally anchor their pastoral commitment to homosexual persons”. They announced the appointment of Willy Bombeek, a gay Catholic, as an additional staff member to their department for pastoral care of families to oversee care of gay Catholics. One with similar duties would be appointed to each diocese in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. “I’m proud to belong to the Flemish Church,” Bombeek told Reuters. “I hope that religious people in other countries will also get to experience this, and hopefully, this is only the beginning”. Francis DeBernardo, executive director of U.S.-based Catholic LGBTQ group New Ways Ministry, said the move would be a blessing for both the couple and for the Church. “These prelates recognise that love is love. Love is more important than sexual behaviour, and love is something that the Church should always bless,” he said in a statement. (Charlotte Van Campenhout reported from Amsterdam; Editing by Catherine Evans, Mark Heinrich, Mark Porter, Angus MacSwan and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Radar Online The Royal Family is worth roughly $23 billion dollars — and the money continues to roll in. A new report estimated the value of their assets from their many sprawling properties to the Firm’s claim on priceless art and mineral rights. mega The most valuable institutions are the Duchies of Lancaster and the Crown Estate. Their worth has doubled in only ten years, with the latter now worth a staggering $18 billion. The Crown Estate owns lavish properties all over the U.K., including shops, upscale clubs and plots of land in Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Despite the immense wealth in the massive estate, neither King Charles III nor any other members of the family are allowed to sell the Crown Estate’s assets or receive any direct income from the businesses. All profit goes back into the Treasury, then a small amount is given to the monarch under the Sovereign Grant Act which acts as payment to fund official duties. mega As for most wealth members of the Royal family, Charles and Prince William are both estimated to be worth around $1 billion following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty’s daughter, Princess Anne, is believed to have a net worth of $52 million, and Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, are worth $12 million. Disgraced royal Prince Andrew is said to have less than $8 million to his name after being stripped of his military pension. Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who abandoned their royal duties to pursue a new life and new business opportunities in the United States, are estimated to be worth $22 million, with a majority being saved from funds the Duke of Sussex inherited following the death of his mother, Princess Diana. However, between their bombshell Netflix deal and Harry’s upcoming $20 million memoir, it is likely their wealth could grow by the tens of millions in the coming year. mega As Radar previously reported, Harry is refusing to scrap his bombshell tell-all book, despite pressure from the King. “The book is the key to Harry’s future in the family. If the book goes away, Harry will be back in with the family,” a source spilled. “However, if the book is published, trust will be permanently damaged, and he will never again be welcomed into the new Kings inner circle.” The Sunday Times was first to publish the report on the Royal Family’s estimated wealth. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Woody Allen is planning to retire from filmmaking. The 86-year-old director – who has directed 49 and won four Academy Awards since starting his career back in the 1960s – is set to take a step back from movie making after he completes the shooting of ‘Wasp 22’ in Paris so he can concentrate on writing novels. He said: “I don’t know if I will write more memoirs, I don’t think so. My next film will be number 50, I think it’s a good time to stop. My idea, in principle, is not to make more movies and focus on writing, these stories and, well, now I’m thinking more of a novel, which would be my first novel.” The acclaimed actor-turned-director – who is known for directing classics such as ‘Annie Hall’ and ‘Manhattan’ – went on to explain that his potential novel will be “humorous” because that is what comes most “naturally” to him but acknowledged that the industry of moviemaking has “changed” because many cinemas in the US have closed. He told La Vanguardia: “But film business has changed, human stories are no longer so interesting. In the US, many cinemas have closed. I imagine it will have a lot of humour because that’s what comes naturally to me. But, if I had a very serious idea, I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing I did in some of my films, the serious calls. [My 50th movie] will be similar to [his 2005 thriller] ‘Match Point’, exciting, dramatic, and also sinister.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega Prince Harry dutifully stood guard by Queen Elizabeth II‘s coffin at Westminster Hall on Saturday, September 17, but there was something missing from his attire. The Duke of Sussex has been heartbroken since the passing of his grandmother and the Royal Family seemingly added insult to injury by ordering the removal of Her Majesty’s “ER” initials from his military uniform. However, disgraced Prince Andrew was allowed to keep the special letters. mega The royal cypher is worn by those presently “in service” of the reigning monarch. The removal of the initials is believed to be a fairly typical uniform regulation, however, Harry was said to be “devastated” when he found out about the change. The Duke of Sussex is a military veteran who served in the British Army for 10 years, including deploying on two tours to Afghanistan. While he is no longer in the military and has since left his royal duties to seek a new life in the United States with his wife, Meghan Markle, and his children, Archie and Lilibet, he continues to work directly with charity efforts for servicemen and women. Shortly before leaving the military, Harry launched the Invictus games in 2014, which supports wounded, injured and sick active duty servicemembers as well as veterans. “He is heartbroken,” a friend revealed in a recent interview. “To remove his grandmother’s initials feels very intentional.” mega The snub appeared especially pointed as Andrew was allowed to keep his mother’s letters on his own uniform, despite losing his military titles and royal patronages amid the Virginia Giuffre scandal. The Duke of York, who was known to have a close affiliation with both Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, was accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with Giuffre when she was only 17-years-old. He reached a settlement in the case earlier this year. Although the sum was not disclosed, it is believed to be around $10 million. Following being stripped of his titles, Andrew also lost his annual Navy pension of over $20,000. mega The friend spoke to The Sunday Times. View the full article

Published by AFP Viola Davis discusses Los Angeles (AFP) – “The Woman King,” an epic about an all-female army of African warriors, easily topped the North American box office this weekend with an estimated take of $19 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. The new Sony release, loosely based on a true historical episode, stars Oscar-winner Viola Davis as the fierce general who leads an army known as the Agojie as it protects the 18th-century kingdom of Dahomey. Days earlier, Davis told AFP that she felt “conflicted” because if the Black-led, woman-dominated film fell short, it would unfairly damage the prospects for future such endeavors. Instead, boosted by a favorable critical reception — “Reviews are sensational,” said the FranchiseRe website — it exceeded analysts’ expectations, more than tripling the ticket sales of the next-highest finisher, 20th Century’s “Barbarian.” That horror film tells the story of a woman (Georgina Campbell) who checks into an AirBnB rental in a sketchy Detroit neighborhood only to find it has also been booked by an oh-so-creepy Bill Skarsgard. “Barbarian” took in $6.3 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period. In third place was a slasher film, “Pearl,” a new low-budget release from A24, with ticket sales just over $3.1 million. Mia Goth stars in a blood-soaked tale that involves the brutal use of both an axe and a pitchfork, on animals and humans. Enough said. Searchlight’s comic mystery “See How They Run” placed fourth in its opening weekend, at $3.1 million. Sam Rockwell stars as an often-inebriated Scotland Yard detective, Saoirse Ronan as his eager but hapless assistant, and Adrien Brody as a sleazy Hollywood director in London to make a film version of Agatha Christie classic “The Mousetrap” — until fate intervenes. And in fifth place was Sony action thriller “Bullet Train,” starring Brad Pitt, at $2.5 million. Rounding out the top 10 were: “Top Gun: Maverick” ($2.2 million) “DC League of Super-Pets” ($2.2 million) “The Invitation” ($1.7 million) “Minions: The Rise of Gru” ($1.3 million) “Moonage Daydream” ($1.2 million) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said in an interview aired on Sunday that his predecessor Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents was “totally irresponsible” but that he is staying out of the investigation. Seeing the classified documents turned up by an Aug. 8 FBI search of Trump’s Florida residence at Mar-a-Lago caused Biden to wonder “how anyone can be that irresponsible,” he said in an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” program. “I thought, what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods? And by that, I mean, names of people who help etc., and it’s just totally irresponsible.” The remarks broke with Biden’s pattern of avoiding commenting on the Justice Department’s criminal probe of his onetime political rival for possibly taking ultra-sensitive material to his residence after his term ended in January 2021. Biden, a Democrat, defeated the Republican Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Trump, who has weighed another run for office, has described the court-approved search as politically motivated. Biden said he had not received a classified briefing on the contents of those documents. “I have not asked for the specifics of those documents because I don’t want to get myself in the middle of whether or not the Justice Department should move or not move on certain actions they can take,” Biden said. “I agreed I would not tell them what to do and not, in fact, engage in telling them how to prosecute or not.” The Justice Department has said it was investigating Trump for removing White House records because it believed he illegally held documents including some involving intelligence-gathering and clandestine human sources – among America’s most closely held secrets. Biden’s intelligence chief is also investigating whether the disclosure of information in those documents presented national security risks. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Bradley Perrett) View the full article