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Published by Reuters By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate votes on legislation protecting gay marriage on Thursday were put off until after the Nov. 8 congressional elections, as negotiators failed to win enough Republican support to ensure passage. The delay dashed the hopes of advocates who had sought prompt action on a bill already passed by the House of Representatives that would ensure protection for same-sex and interracial marriages. The move came after weeks of closed-door talks between a small group of Democratic and Republican senators who looked at ways to amend the House bill in order to attract at least 10 Republican supporters who would join 48 Democrats and two independents. The U.S. Census Bureau in 2019 estimated that there were 543,000 same-sex married couple households and 469,000 households with same-sex unmarried partners living together. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is “extremely disappointed” that there were not at least 10 out of 50 Republicans willing to come forward to support the gay rights legislation, spokesman Justin Goodman said in a statement. Goodman added that Schumer nonetheless is “100% committed” to holding a vote this year. Schumer had hoped to set up a first procedural vote on the legislation on Monday. Senators leading the negotiations issued a statement saying that they needed additional time to work on the bill. “We are confident that when our legislation comes to the Senate floor for a vote, we will have the bipartisan support to pass the bill,” said Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin and Kyrsten Sinema and Republicans Susan Collins, Rob Portman and Thom Tillis. Earlier, Baldwin told reporters that a bill will be put to a vote following the elections. Joni Madison, the interim president of LGBT civil rights organization Human Rights Council, called for the bill to be brought to the floor for a vote “at the earliest possible moment,” calling the delay disappointing. “Marriage equality – for both LGBTQ+ and interracial couples – is not and should not be a partisan issue, and to treat it as such is an insult to the millions of families who are impacted,” Madison said in a statement. The thinking behind the delay is that following the midterm elections Republican senators will feel freer to back the legislation at a time when any voter backlash would be two years away with the next elections. “If they think that improves their chances of passage, that’s their prerogative,” Republican Senator John Cornyn told reporters, adding that he would vote against a bill codifying same-sex marriage into law. The Senate’s failure to win sufficient Republican support for a bill came after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in mid-July passed such a measure with the backing of 47 Republicans. Schumer has been careful to give negotiators — and wavering Republicans — the space they needed to put together a bill that would succeed, rather than just force senators to go on record for or against but result in a failed vote. Over the past several days, the small group of senators and their staffs worked on an amendment designed to protect the “religious liberty” concerns of some Republicans. But some supporters of the bill said the real snag was that there just were not enough Republicans willing to back any such bill, especially six weeks before the elections. “The Republicans need to stand up and explain why they don’t want to vote for equality among all human beings and the right to marry the person you love,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren told reporters upon hearing about the delay. Republican Senator Rob Portman told reporters, “We were very, very close” to moving toward passage of a bill. The push to enact a federal law recognizing gay marriage arose after conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in June wrote that the same logic that led the court to overturn the national right to abortion could also lead it to reconsider its earlier decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Early on, Senator Mitt Romney was one of several Republicans saying there was no need to tackle such legislation after the Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples. The court in 2015, however, was markedly less conservative than the current high court. Supporters of the legislation fear that the delay – the second in two months – could see support further erode, especially if Republicans win in November elections. (The story corrects to ‘were’ in lead.) (Reporting by Richard Cowan, Makini Brice and Moira Warburton; editing by Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent two planeloads of migrants to the posh vacation island of Martha’s Vineyard this week, to protest the Biden administration’s immigration policies. It’s the latest provocation by DeSantis, a Republican who is seeking re-election as governor in November and is considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate. POLITICAL RISE DeSantis, 44, was elected Florida’s governor in 2018 after President Donald Trump endorsed the then-congressman over a more established Republican candidate. His national profile grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he resisted mask and vaccine mandates and argued for the opening of schools. He has governed Florida with a brash and heavy hand, blasting critics, pushing his priorities through the legislature and punishing his enemies. He recently removed from office an elected Democratic prosecutor in Tampa for what DeSantis called an unwillingness to enforce abortion restrictions. IMMIGRATION DeSantis has taken an aggressive approach to illegal immigration despite the fact that Florida does not share a border with another country. He sued Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration over its immigration policies and sought to ban so-called “sanctuary cities” – places that refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities – from being established in the state. “People are wondering, ‘Why are you doing this?,’” DeSantis said earlier this year. “People will say, ‘Let Texas or Arizona worry about that.’ Let me tell you, people trying to come in illegally are trying to get to Florida.” CULTURE WARRIOR DeSantis has been the party’s leading figure in fighting “culture wars,” particularly with regard to education. He championed the “Don’t Say Gay” law that prohibits Florida teachers from discussing sexual orientation with young students, sparking a clash with Disney, a large employer in the state. He has backed restrictions on what teachers can teach about U.S. history and race relations, arguing that public schools “indoctrinate” students with liberal values. He also has seized control of the state Board of Education and supported conservative school board candidates in local races. PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS As his prominence within the Republican Party has risen, so has talk about DeSantis running for president in 2024. The biggest obstacle in his path is Trump himself, who is expected to seek another term in office. DeSantis has been cagey about whether he would challenge Trump, who is still the most popular figure in the party. Meantime, DeSantis has proved to be a prolific fundraiser, having raised $172 million for his re-election campaign from sources inside and outside of Florida – on pace to set the record for fundraising in a gubernatorial race. He has continued to build national recognition, taking time away from the state to stump for other Republican candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections. (Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jarrett Renshaw and Phil Stewart PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Pennsylvania Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro on Wednesday plans to debut a new online ad aimed at Black voters that features his Republican rival posing in a Confederate military uniform, the campaign told Reuters. The ad features a photo first reported last month of Doug Mastriano, a Donald Trump-backed candidate and state senator, wearing the uniform in a faculty photo at the Army War College. The photo obtained by Reuters showed Mastriano in a 2013-14 portrait for the Department of Military Strategy, Plans, and Operations, where he worked. Faculty at the time had been given the option of dressing as a historical figure and at least 15 of the 21 faculty in the photo opted to appear in regular attire. Mastriano was the only one wearing a Confederate uniform. Mastriano, who has not responded to Reuters requests for comment, came under fire from Shapiro, who said it was a “traitor’s” uniform that has come to symbolize racism. The new ad features a close-up view of Mastriano in the Confederate uniform with a voice over that notes the War College said the photo failed to meet the War College’s values. “Does it reflect your values?” the narrator asks. The six-figure ad campaign is part of $1.2 million that Shapiro, the state’s attorney general, has budgeted for digital ads. Pennsylvania plays an outsized role in U.S. politics as a swing state in presidential elections, and Mastriano, who has embraced Trump’s stolen election lies, is trailing in polls and in fundraising ahead of the Nov. 8 contest. The winner of the governor’s race will choose the state’s top elections official, who will oversee its 2024 presidential election. The governor will also have the power to block or advance efforts by the Republican-led state legislature to severely restrict abortions. Displays of Confederate symbols are painful reminders to many of racial oppression and the Civil War, which saw 11 rebelling Confederate states fight to keep Black people enslaved. The U.S. military issued a de facto ban on displaying the Confederate flag and has sought to remove segregationist symbols from bases and academic institutions following the murder in May 2020 of George Floyd, a Black man whose killing by a white police officer in Minneapolis triggered protests worldwide. The War College removed the photo from a display after Reuters inquired about it. (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia and Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Mike Lindell, the CEO of My Pillow and an outspoken defender of ex-President Donald Trump’s voter fraud claims, said the FBI seized his cellphone this week, RadarOnline.com has learned. According to Lindell, the incident took place on Tuesday while the My Pillow founder was picking up dinner at a Hardee’s restaurant in Colorado. Mega While Lindell was in the drive-through line, he was allegedly surrounded by FBI agents who served him with a grand jury subpoena ordering the turnover of his cellphone. The subpoena was reportedly in connection to potential information to help with the agency’s ongoing investigation into a Colorado 2020 presidential election security breach. Mega “Cars pulled up in front of us, to the side of us and behind us and I said, ‘These are either bad guys or the FBI.’ Well, it turns out they were the FBI,” Lindell revealed during his struggling online show, The Lindell Report, Tuesday night. “He goes, ‘Well, I got some bad news … he goes, ‘We’re taking your cellphone. We have a warrant for your cellphone,” Lindell continued. “I want to say this for the record, they were pretty nice guys. None of them had an attitude.” The My Pillow CEO and staunch Trump defender further revealed he was questioned about Tina Peters, a Mesa County, Colorado clerk currently under investigation for allegedly allowing an unauthorized individual to access voting machines. “I said, ‘Come on, bring me to January 6,’” Lindell allegedly told the FBI agents after initially believing the subpoena was in connection to the ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. “I want to be part of that show.” Mega “They thought they were there to intimidate me,” he added during an interview with CNN, “they won’t intimidate me.” Although a spokesperson for the FBI could not officially corroborate Lindell’s claims, the spokesperson confirmed agents of the agency were at Hardee’s Tuesday night to execute a search warrant. “Without commenting on this specific matter, I can confirm that the FBI was at that location executing a search warrant authorized by a federal judge,” the agency’s spokesperson told CNN. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Russian tank.MEGA Russia has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to interfere with foreign elections, according to declassified United States intelligence, Radar has learned. The country’s influence in foreign elections has included the funding of political parties, officials and politicians. Moscow’s interference has been in place in at least two dozen countries over four continents since 2014, the U.S. stated. Russia’s interactions have been further under the microscope since it began its invasion of Ukraine in February. The Biden Administration has shared the findings with 110 other countries in order to expose Russia. “What Russia is doing around the world in terms of its election meddling is also an assault on sovereignty, is an effort to chip away at the ability of people around the world to choose the governments that they see best fit, to represent them to represent their interests, to represent their values,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said Sept. 13. MEGA “Part of our charge, not only is to do that assessment and to collect and to do that analysis, but then to expose what we know.” Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to continue his interference in foreign politics with the goal of having global influence. Russia has been accused of foreign election interference for years while denying all claims. According to a Federal Grand Jury indictment, Russians used a monthly budget of $1.2 million to interfere with the 2016 United States presidential election between former President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. However, the new report on Russia’s influence in foreign elections did not cite how effective it has been. The release of the declassified information has been a tactic the Biden Administration has used to expose Russia, one that CIA Director William Burns said last week has been effective, according to NBC News. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen setbacks recently as the invaded country has been pushing the aggressors back. View the full article

Published by Radar Online The fight over abortion.MEGA A Louisiana woman carrying a skull-less fetus had to travel approximately 1,400 miles to get an abortion in New York because of the overturn of Roe v. Wade, Radar has learned. Nancy Davis, 36, who was carrying a fetus that would die shortly after birth, had to go out of state to get the termination because of uncertainty over abortion laws in her home state of Louisiana. Davis had the procedure done Sept. 1 in Manhattan, a long way from her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a state that’s outlawed abortion aside from a few exceptions. New York is among U.S. states where abortion is still legal. Davis found out in July, when she was about 10 weeks pregnant, that the fetus was missing the top of its skull, a rare, fatal condition called acrania, which kills babies shortly after birth. The condition is not explicitly listed as an exception in Louisiana’s abortion law. Louisiana state Sen. Katrina Jackson, who authored the law, has insisted that Davis could have had the procedure done in the state despite the lack of an explicit exception. Still, a Louisiana hospital refused to provide an abortion for Davis in fear that they could face prison time, fines and forfeiture of their licenses. “Basically … I [would have] to carry my baby to bury my baby,” Davis has previously said. More than 1,000 people have donated nearly $40,000 to a GoFundMe campaign for Davis in hopes of traveling to a state where she could legally get the abortion. Davis originally was going to North Carolina for the procedure but wound up going to a Planned Parenthood facility in Manhattan instead. Davis is one of several women across the United States who have had to go out of state for abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June. Many states have already banned abortions, while others, like Indiana, are in the process of making it happen. In late August, Davis stood outside Louisiana’s capitol building alongside civil rights attorney Ben Crump while calling on the state to clarify Louisiana’s abortion ban. Crump said Davis suffered “unspeakable pain, emotional damage and physical risk” due to the law, and he added that state lawmakers “replaced care with confusion, privacy with politics and options with ideology,” according to The Guardian. “This [was] not fair to me. And it should not happen to any other woman,” Davis said. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) – The White House released new details on Wednesday on how it plans to invest more than $2 billion in the U.S. biotechnology sector as it hosts a meeting of government leaders to discuss the emerging industry. President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order that launched a national biotechnology and bio-manufacturing initiative, and on Wednesday the White House will hold a summit with top government officials and department heads to discuss plans on how to administer the order and allocate the money. The executive order allows the federal government to direct funding for the use of microbes and other biologically derived resources to make new foods, fertilizers and seeds, as well as making mining operations more efficient, administration officials said. It also will help fund a quest for medical breakthroughs, such as a vaccine to prevent cancer, or a blood test that could detect cancer in an annual physical. The spending plan released by the White House includes $1 billion from the Department of Defense to fund bio-industrial domestic manufacturing infrastructure over five years to boost the industry and make it accessible to U.S. innovators. Other spending includes a $250 million grant program administered by the Department of Agriculture to support sustainable American fertilizer production. A further $40 million will be used to expand the role of bio-manufacturing for active pharmaceutical ingredients, antibiotics and key materials needed to produce medications and respond to pandemics. The federal government is already a source of funds to biotechnology research and development through the National Institute of Health, the DoA and other agencies. Overall U.S. funding for R&D has dropped as a percentage of gross domestic product since a peak in the 1950s, a trend Biden has pledged to reverse. (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) View the full article

Published by AFP John Boyega, Thuso Mbedu, Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, and Sheila Atim star in Toronto (Canada) (AFP) – Viola Davis said the future of big-budget Black female filmmaking in Hollywood is at stake as her ground-breaking African warrior epic “The Woman King” hits theaters this weekend. The Oscar-winning actress told AFP Wednesday she feels intense pressure and conflicting emotions, because she knows the movie’s performance will be judged in a way that films with white directors and casts are not. “First of all, the movie has to make money. And I feel conflicted about that — that we sort of have one or two chances,” she said. “If it doesn’t make money then what it means overall, is that, what, Black women, dark-skinned Black women can’t lead a global box office? “That’s it, period. And now they have data on it because ‘Woman King’ did a, b and c. And that’s what I’m conflicted about. “Because it simply isn’t true. We don’t do that with white movies. We simply don’t. If a movie fails, you do another movie, and you do another movie just like it.” Sony Pictures’ “The Woman King,” which portrays the real-life 19th century all-female warriors of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, is in many ways a step into the unknown for a major Hollywood studio. With a Black female director, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and a majority Black and female cast, it will open in more than 3,000 domestic theaters, with a budget including marketing that reportedly approaches $100 million. Davis, the only African-American to win an Oscar, Emmy and Tony, spent six years trying to get “The Woman King” made, with studios and producers reluctant to take the plunge. ‘Prove it’ She plays veteran warrior Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits fending off a larger, rival African kingdom and European slavers. The all-female army of the Dahomey kingdom served as an inspiration for the elite women fighters in “Black Panther,” which grossed $1.3 billion worldwide. Davis called on the movie-going public to prove that films like “The Woman King” can succeed without being part of the Marvel superhero franchise. “We’re all in this together, right? We know that we need each other. We know that we’re all committed to inclusion and diversity,” she said. “Then, if you can plop down your money to see ‘Avatar,’ If you can plop down your money to see ‘Titanic,’ then you can plop your money into seeing ‘The Woman King.’ “Because here’s the thing. It’s not even that it’s just Black female-led, the cultural significance of it. It’s a very entertaining movie. “And if we are indeed equal, then I’m challenging you to prove it.” ‘You won’t see us’ The movie received largely positive reviews following its world premiere at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival. Variety called it a “compelling display of Black power,” with Davis in “her fiercest role yet.” But, Davis said, the film’s muscular battle scenes had drawn criticism and misogyny from within the Black community. “You even have people in the Black community saying, ‘Ah, it’s dark-skinned women, why do they have to be so masculine? Why can’t they look prettier? Why couldn’t it be a romantic comedy?'” she told AFP. “Well, guess what, if this movie doesn’t make money September 16 — by the way, I am 150 percent certain it will — but if it doesn’t, then guess what? You won’t see us at all,” she said. “That’s the truth. I wish it were different.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Tim Reid (Reuters) – Republicans who back former President Donald Trump’s false claim the 2020 election was stolen have become their party’s nominees for secretary of state in battleground states where they can play a decisive role in choosing a U.S. president. Should they defeat their Democratic opponents in a Nov. 8 vote, these election deniers will be in charge of elections and vote counts in the swing states of Arizona, Michigan and Nevada during the 2024 White House contest. Democratic President Joe Biden narrowly won all three states in 2020. Voting rights groups say the election of any of these Republican candidates threatens both the integrity of the next presidential election and U.S. democracy itself. The fear is they could help Trump, if he decides to run again, or another like-minded Republican, overturn election results in 2024. Here are the Republican secretary of state candidates in the three states. MARK FINCHEM, ARIZONA Finchem is a state legislator, has claimed membership of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers, and has parroted false conspiracy theories propagated by the QAnon movement, including that leading politicians are part of a pedophile ring. Finchem supported the “Stop the Steal” movement that falsely claimed the 2020 election was fraudulent and attended Trump’s rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, that preceded the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Finchem says he did not travel from Trump’s rally to the Capitol that day. Finchem has said he would not have certified Biden’s 2020 victory in Arizona. He supported an audit of Arizona’s election results and co-sponsored a bill that would give the state’s Republican-controlled legislature the power to overturn election results. After the 2020 election he also called for the arrest of the state’s Democratic secretary of state, Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor this November. KRISTINA KARAMO, MICHIGAN Karamo was a little-known political figure in Michigan but soared to prominence – and onto Trump’s radar – when she claimed in 2020 that she had witnessed fraud at Detroit’s absentee counting board as a poll observer. A community college professor who opposes the teaching of evolution in schools, Karamo testified before the state legislature that she had seen sacks of votes being mysteriously dropped off in the middle of the night, and that voting machines flipped votes to Biden. No evidence has ever emerged supporting those claims. JIM MARCHANT, NEVADA A former state assemblyman, Marchant opposed certification of Biden’s win in Nevada. He was a member of Nevada’s bogus alternative slate of presidential electors that sought to overturn Biden’s victory in the state. Marchant ran for the U.S. Congress in 2020 but lost. He unsuccessfully sued to have that result overturned, basing his case on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. Marchant is a member of the America First Secretary of State Coalition, a group supporting a slate of candidates supporting Trump’s baseless claims about the 2020 election. In Nevada, the secretary of state does not have the power to certify results but can set and enforce election rules. (Reporting by Tim Reid, editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Manas Mishra (Reuters) -The world has never been in a better position to end the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, urging nations to keep up their efforts against the virus that has killed over six million people. “We are not there yet. But the end is in sight,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a virtual press conference. The comment was the most optimistic from the UN agency since it declared COVID-19 an international emergency and started describing the virus as a pandemic in March 2020. The virus, which emerged in China in late 2019, has killed nearly 6.5 million people and infected 606 million, roiling global economies and overwhelming healthcare systems. The rollout of vaccines and therapies have helped to stem the severity of disease. Deaths from COVID-19 last week were the lowest since March 2020, the U.N. agency reported. Still, countries need to take a hard look at their policies and strengthen them for COVID-19 and future viruses, Tedros said. He also urged nations to vaccinate 100% of their high-risk groups and keep testing for the virus. The WHO warned of the possibility of future waves of the virus and said countries need to maintain adequate supplies of medical equipment and healthcare workers. “We expect there to be future waves of infections, potentially at different time points throughout the world caused by different subvariants of Omicron or even different variants of concern,” said WHO’s senior epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove. Monkeypox cases, too, were on a downtrend but Tedros urged countries to keep up the fight. WHO officials said last month that it is possible to eliminate the monkeypox outbreak in Europe by stepping up vaccination and testing. “As with COVID-19, this is not the time to relax or let down our guard.” (Reporting by Manas Mishra and Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, William Maclean and Josephine Mason) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union executive will recommend suspending billions of euros earmarked for Hungary over corruption woes, two officials told Reuters on Wednesday, in what would be the first such move against Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The head of the executive, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her annual policy speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday she would freeze funding for members damaging democracy, and singled out corruption. “We must fight for our democracies… I would like to focus on corruption,” she said, without naming Hungary specifically. But her executive was expected to recommend on Sunday the suspension of up to 70% of 22.5 billion euros ($22.44 billion)worth of cohesion funds earmarked for Hungary from the EU’s 2021-27 budget, according to the EU officials. Neither specified the exact sum in question. The Hungarian forint and bonds weakened on the news on Wednesday as European lawmakers denounced Orban for years of dismantling the rights of migrants, gays and women, as well as the freedom of media, academics and courts. “Hungary isn’t really a true democracy at all,” said Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, a Green French lawmaker. Hungary’s veteran premier Orban denies such criticism but is under pressure to secure funds for his ailing economy. Budapest promised to set up an anti-corruption agency and said repeatedly it was hoping for a deal with Brussels. CORRUPTION But the Commission has been cautious, with distrust running high after years of acrimonious feuds with Orban. Any cuts would come on top of some 6 billion euros from the bloc’s separate COVID-19 economic stimulus earmarked for Hungary but blocked by the Commission over the same corruption concerns. EU countries would have up to three months to decide on the Commission recommendation through a majority vote. One of the officials said any final decision could still change if Hungary follows up with “more detail and implementation” of the anti-graft measures it proposed during that time. Hungary had by far the highest share of irregularities in the whole bloc in spending EU funds in 2015-19, according to the EU anti-fraud agency. Brussels has long called for transparency, competition and accountability in Hungarian public procurement. ($1 = 1.0025 euros) (Additional reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Anita Komuves, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) View the full article

Published by AFP The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meanwhile published a report about two unvaccinated men in their thirties who experienced brain and spinal cord inflammation as a result of the virus Washington (AFP) – A second US death was linked to monkeypox on Tuesday as health authorities published a study describing how two previously healthy young men experienced inflammation of the brain and spinal cord as a result of the virus. There have been nearly 22,000 US cases in the current global outbreak, which began in May, but new infections have been falling since mid-August as authorities have distributed hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses. The latest fatal case involved a severely immunocompromised resident of Los Angeles County who had been hospitalized, the local health department said, without revealing further details about the case. “Persons severely immunocompromised who suspect they have monkeypox are encouraged to seek medical care and treatment early and remain under the care of a provider during their illness,” the department said. The first US death linked to the viral illness occurred in Texas and was announced on August 30, although authorities said that as the person was severely immunocompromised, they were investigating what role monkeypox had played. The current global outbreak is primarily affecting men who have sex with men. Historically, the virus has been spread via direct contact with lesions, body fluids and respiratory droplets, and sometimes through indirect contamination via surfaces such as shared bedding. But in this outbreak, there is preliminary evidence that sexual transmission may also play a role. Brain and spinal cord inflammation The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meanwhile published a report about two unvaccinated men in their 30s who experienced brain and spinal cord inflammation after testing positive for the virus. The first, patient A, was a gay man in his 30s from Colorado whose symptoms began with fever chills and malaise but progressed to rashes on his face, scrotum and extremities, with swabs of lesions testing positive for the virus. He also developed lower extremity weakness and numbness, was unable to empty his bladder, experienced a persistent and painful erection, and was hospitalized. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed brain and spinal cord inflammation, and he was treated with the oral monkeypox antiviral tecovirimat as well as other drugs, and began to improve at two weeks. He was released but continued to have left leg weakness and required an assistive walking device at one month followup. A second person, patient B, was also a gay man in his 30s from the capital Washington. His fever, rashes and muscle pain progressed to bowel and bladder incontinence and progressive flaccid weakness of both legs. Brain and spinal cord inflammation was confirmed on MRI and he was intubated in an intensive care unit, where he was treated with intravenous tecovirimat, as well a drug to reduce inflammation, and finally blood plasma exchange. He remains in hospital but can walk with the assistance of a device. The report said the underlying mechanism behind the two cases was unclear — it might have been direct invasion of the central nervous system, or an autoimmune response triggered by monkeypox infection elsewhere in the body. View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega King Charles III has taken over as head of the monarch after his later mother Queen Elizabeth passed this week — with his wife Queen Camilla by his side — but the Royal has been dogged by gay rumors for decades. The twice married and father of two strapping son has dealt with whispers it was all a beard to cover up his shocking secret life. Even his first wife Princess Diana raised questions about her husband’s sexuality. She recorded servant George Smith’s claims that he’d actually caught Charles in bed romping with a male aide. And there has been more talk over the years about alleged trysts between the now-King of England and various guys. “Rumors that Charles might be gay or bisexual have plagued the Royal family for years, ever since his marriage to Diana hit the rocks,” said one source. It’s well known that throughout his 15-year marriage to Di, Charles was caught carrying on with the wife of one of his close friends, Camilla Parker-Bowles, whom he ultimately wed in 2005. mega In 2011, a high-placed Palace source revealed to RadarOnline.com that even then, “many believed his romance with Camilla was just a cover for his real lifestyle.” The most devastating accusation came from former palace servant Smith, a gay man and a military veteran who suffered mental problems from his service. Valet Smith claimed that he was bringing Charles his breakfast in bed and stumbled upon the Prince and an “unmistakably sexual position” with a male aide. mega Charles’ supporters blasted the servant’s tale, declaring the man was a serious drink with mental issues. Also, Smith had a grudge against the man he said was romping with Charles. Smith charged that the man, later identified as Palace valet Michael Fawcett by “Majesty” magazine editor Ingrid Seward, has sexually attacked him — twice! “Mr. Smith claimed the aide raped him in 1989 and later tried to assault him again while they were accompanying the Prince of Wales on a tour to Cairo,” said a newspaper source. Scotland Yard investigated the rape claims but later dropped the case when Smith decided not to press charges. mega Still, Di recorded Smith’s shocking story on an audiotape which was later found in a locked box following her tragic 1997 death in a car crash in a Paris tunnel. “It’s clear from the tape that Diana may have had her doubts about the Prince’s sexuality,” noted Royal author Nicholas Davies. The tape has mysteriously disappeared. But newspapers around the world carried stories about the gay rumors, and Charles was forced to deny being a homosexual. Camilla stood by Charles and branded the Smith story as ridiculous. “It’s all nonsense, she said. “The bitter ramblings of a disturbed alcoholic.” Smith died in 2005 at the age of 44. Fawcett continued to be a part of King Charles’ inner circle for decades and worked for his foundation up until 2021. View the full article

Published by New York Daily News Actor Michael K. Williams has become a best-selling author, one year after his shocking death. The Brooklyn-born star of “The Wire” and “Boardwalk Empire” died on Sept. 6, 2021, at age 54. His autobiography, titled “Scenes From My Life” was nearly done when Williams suffered a lethal overdose of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine. The 18-chapter tome, co-written by Jon Sternfeld, hit shelves on Aug. 23 and immediately became a bestseller. The book offers unflinching details of Williams’ childhood trauma, his battles with drug addiction and an acclaimed career that exceeded his own expectations. Alth… Read More View the full article

Published by St. Louis Post-Dispatch When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively allowing Missouri and other red states to immediately outlaw abortion, many who supported that decision scoffed at warnings that same-sex marriage and even interracial marriage rights could be next. Now, as congressional Democrats and some Republicans push legislation to protect marriage at the federal level, opposition from Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and other conservatives shows that there is, in fact, a genuine threat to existing marriages. In overturning Roe earlier this year, the court’s conservative majority rejected Roe’s constit… Read More View the full article

Published by Kaiser Health News Dan DeChellis started looking for a monkeypox vaccine around July Fourth but was unable to find a place that offered one in Orlando, Florida, where he lives. After about a week of searching online, he and three friends made an appointment in Wilton Manors, a city about 3½ hours south by car. DeChellis, who is gay, said he doesn’t understand why the vaccine wasn’t available closer to home or why getting answers about who was eligible from his local health department was so difficult. “My biggest takeaway from our experience has been just the difference in the state of Florida from county to cou… Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet By Meaghan Ellis Since former President Donald Trump left office, the widespread conspiracy theories of satanist pedophilia have slightly waned but now it appears those baseless claims are making their way back to the forefront. In a new analysis published by NBC News, senior reporter Brandy Zadrozny explained the latest Satanic obsession brewing among members of the QAnon community. “While the current obsession with Satan was boosted in part by the QAnon community, partisan media and conservative politicians have been instrumental in spreading newfound fears over the so-called ritualistic abu… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Luke Evans says the UK has lost a “grandmother” after the death of Queen Elizabeth. The 43-year-old actor – who has done a lot of work with the Prince’s Trust – was flying when he heard that the monarch has passed away aged 96, and it made the Welshman want to “come home to London”. Appearing on Tuesday’s episode (13.09.22) of ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’, he said: “I was flying to New York [from LA] and as they called us for the plane they announced she’d died and it felt like we’ve lost our grandmother and all I wanted to do was come home to London.” Luke also opened up on the parallels to the Queen Mother’s death in 2002. He added: “The Queens mother died the day I arrived in London to live as a teenager and it felt like we were mourning together.” Through the Prince’s Trust, Luke has also worked with King Charles III during his time as the Prince of Wales, a title which has now been past on to his son Prince William. He said: “Charles made me feel a million dollars finding something I’m interested in and talking about it… “The prince’s trust has helped so much over 50 years and still is for young people who may not have had the best start in life.” Meanwhile, Luke’s comments about the queen were echoed by ‘Ted Lasso’ actress Hannah Waddingham, who admitted her death had hit her “far worse” than she expected. She told Variety: “It makes me emotional to think about it. “I sat with my dad on the sofa and I watched it all night until I couldn’t keep my eyes open because I couldn’t believe it. It is like a grandmother dying. “It hit me far worse than I thought it would and the enormous pressure that our King has on his shoulders now.” The queen’s death was announced on Thursday (08.09.22), with a Buckingham Palace spokesman saying at the time: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. “The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Nandita Bose and Trevor Hunnicutt BOSTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden signed orders on Monday to push more government dollars to the U.S. biotechnology industry, as he promoted his initiative to create new treatments and cut the death rate from cancer. Cancer “doesn’t care if you’re Republican or Democrat,” Biden said at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, on the 60th anniversary of JFK’s ‘Moonshot’ speech that urged Americans to lead in the exploration of space. Biden drew a parallel between the former president’s goal of reaching the moon and his own goal of cutting cancer death rates in half in the next 25 years. “Today I’m setting a long term goal for the Cancer Moonshot – to rally American ingenuity, we engage like we did to reach the moon, but actually cure cancers…once and for all,” Biden said. He said research could spark medical breakthroughs, including a vaccine to prevent cancer, or a blood test that could detect cancer in an annual physical. The executive order allows the federal government to direct funding for the use of microbes and other biologically derived resources to make new foods, fertilizers and seeds, as well as making mining operations more efficient, administration officials said. The order “directs the federal government to ensure biotechnologies invented in the United States of America are made in the United States of America,” Biden said. Biomanufacturing has been used to generate cancer treatments, including those derived from plants or using re-engineered immune cells. The White House did not provide any specifics on how much money would be available, where it would come from or how it would be allocated. Further details are expected at a White House summit on the topic Wednesday. The U.S. federal government is already a source of funds to biotechnology research and development (R&D) through the National Institute of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies. Overall U.S. funding for R&D has dropped as a percentage of gross domestic product since a peak in the 1950s, a trend Biden has pledged to reverse. Potential applications range from the biodiesel fuels made by Renewable Energy Group to the COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech or the genetically modified seeds made by Corteva Inc. Biden also named Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, a longtime science adviser and who most recently served at the biotech company Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Inc, as the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a U.S. government-run biomedical research group. Biden’s son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46, something the president has said helps inform his passion for the project. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose; Editing by Heather Timmons and Aurora Ellis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to publicly comment on a lightning rout of his forces in north-eastern Ukraine, but is under pressure from nationalists at home to regain the initiative. He has few quick fix options, if Western intelligence and open source analysis is accurate, and most of the potential steps he could take come with domestic and geopolitical risks. Since coming to power in 1999, Islamist militants in Chechnya and the wider North Caucasus region are among the toughest armed foes Putin has faced. In that instance, he chose to escalate with more force. These are some of his main options in Ukraine: STABILISE, REGROUP, ATTACK Russian and Western military analysts agree that — from Moscow’s point of view — Russian forces need to urgently stabilise the frontline, halt Ukraine’s advance, regroup and, if they can, launch their own counter offensive. There are however doubts in the West about whether Russia has the ground forces or sufficient equipment, given how many casualties it has taken and how much hardware has been abandoned or destroyed during what Russia calls its “special military operation” to destroy the Ukrainian army. “There is no manpower,” Konrad Muzyka, director of Poland’s Rochan Consulting, said after Russia’s setback in the north-east. “Volunteer battalions are under strength, and the recruitment campaign is not delivering what was expected. And I think it will only get worse as fewer men will now want to join. If Moscow wants to add men, it needs to conduct a mobilisation.” Russian efforts to increase the number of troops it can deploy include the formation of a new 3rd Army Corps, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov marshalling new forces, and Putin last month signing a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces. Putin will need to decide whether to agree to demands from nationalist critics that he sack or reshuffle the military’s top brass, including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, a close ally. Putin has traditionally not given in to immediate pressure to fire subordinates, but has sometimes parted company with them at a later date. MOBILISATION Mobilising Russia’s reserves, who number around 2 million men with military service within the past five years, is doable but it takes times to train and deploy people. The Kremlin said on Tuesday there was no discussion of a nationwide mobilisation “at the moment.” Such a move would be popular with nationalists, but less so with some Russian men in urban centres who, anecdotal evidence suggests, are less keen on joining the fight. It would mean recalibrating official messaging on Ukraine and moving away from describing it as “a special military operation” with limited goals to an open-ended war. That in turn would force the authorities to abandon their policy of trying to ensure that the lives of most Russians go on as they did before Feb. 24 when Putin invaded Ukraine. Putting Russia on a full wartime footing would come with domestic political risks too, notably the risk of a public backlash against a forced draft. It would also constitute an admission that Russia is engaged in a full-scale war against a fellow Slav country – and that the war is going badly for Moscow. Andrey Kortunov, head of RIAC, a think tank close to the Russian foreign ministry, has said he believes the authorities are reluctant on mobilisation. “In big cities many people do not want to go and fight and mobilisation is not likely to be popular,” said Kortunov. “Secondly I think it is arguably in Putin’s interests to present the whole thing as a limited operation. The state would like to preserve as much as possible as it was before without making any radical changes.” Tony Brenton, a former British ambassador to Russia, has said it would take months before a mobilisation would have any effect on Russia’s fighting strength in any case. BET ON ‘GENERAL WINTER’ Two Russian sources familiar with Kremlin thinking told Reuters last month that Putin is hoping that sky-rocketing energy prices and possible shortages this winter will persuade Europe to strong arm Ukraine into a truce — on Russia’s terms. Some European diplomats believe that Ukraine’s recent battlefield success has undermined the urge of some Europeans to push Kyiv to make concessions however, while countries like Germany appear to have grown tougher on Moscow in recent weeks and more determined to ride out winter energy problems. The European Union has banned Russian coal and approved a partial ban on Russian crude oil imports. Russia in turn has sharply cut gas exports to Europe and made clear it could ban all energy exports, a lever Putin has yet to pull. EXPAND MISSILE TARGETING After its setback in north-east Ukraine, Russia struck Ukrainian power infrastructure with missiles. That caused temporary blackouts in the Kharkiv and adjacent Poltava and Sumy regions. Water supplies and mobile networks were also affected. The move was cheered by some Russian nationalists who would like to see Moscow use cruise missiles to cripple Ukrainian infrastructure on a more permanent basis, a move certain to attract international condemnation. The same nationalists have also long called for Moscow to strike what they call “decision-making” centres in Kyiv and elsewhere, something that it is unlikely could be achieved without significant collateral damage. END OR DOWNGRADE GRAIN DEAL Putin has complained that a U.N. and Turkey-brokered deal that allows Ukraine to export grain and other foodstuffs via the Black Sea is unfair to poorer countries and Russia. Putin is due to holds talks this week with Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan to discuss revising the deal, which provides Ukraine with much needed budget revenues. If Putin wants to immediately hurt Ukraine he could suspend or cancel the pact or refuse to renew it when it expires in November. The West and poorer countries in Africa and the Middle East would accuse him of worsening global food shortages; he would blame Ukraine. PEACE DEAL The Kremlin says it will dictate to Kyiv the terms of any peace deal when the time comes, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he will use force to liberate his country. Zelenskiy has said that includes Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Moscow has repeatedly said that Crimea’s status is settled forever. Conceding captured territory in eastern Ukraine in the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic or Luhansk People’s Republic also looks politically impossible for Moscow as it has formally recognised them. Fully “liberating” the two self-proclaimed statelets from Ukrainian forces was one of the main reasons given for the “special military operation” in the first place. Handing back captured territory in southern Ukraine where Russia partially controls three regions looks like a hard domestic sell too. The southern Kherson region is directly north of annexed Crimea and the location of a canal which supplies the Black Sea peninsula with most of its water. Along with the neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region, Kherson also gives Russia a land corridor through which it can supply Crimea, something Moscow has touted as a major prize. GO NUCLEAR Russian government officials have dismissed Western suggestions that Moscow would use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but it remains a worry for some in the West. Apart from inflicting mass casualties, such a move could start a dangerous escalatory spiral and formally draw Western countries into a direct war with Russia. Russia’s nuclear doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons if they – or other types of weapons of mass destruction – are used against it, or if the Russian state faces an existential threat from conventional weapons. Putin, in a quasi-autobiography in 2000, recalled cornering a rat in a corner with a stick when growing up in a dilapidated apartment building in then Leningrad and being surprised when the cornered animal threw itself at him and turned the tables. Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, has warned that a cornered Putin could go nuclear if he faced a humiliating defeat with no face-saving off-ramp. “If the choice for Russia is fighting a losing war, and losing badly and Putin falling, or some kind of nuclear demonstration, I wouldn’t bet that they wouldn’t go for the nuclear demonstration,” said Brenton. Retired U.S. general Ben Hodges, former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, agrees it’s a risk but has said he thinks it unlikely. “There is no real battlefield advantage to be gained, it would be impossible for (the) U.S. to stay out/not respond, and I don’t think Putin or his closest advisers are suicidal,” said Hodges. (Editing by William Maclean) View the full article