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Published by Reuters (Reuters) -The U.S. government will provide abortion services to veterans in cases of rape or incest, or when the pregnancy puts the life of the woman at risk, even in states that have banned or restricted the practice, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said on Friday. The agency said in a policy document that it decided to offer abortions to veterans in response to a wave of U.S. states enacting bans and restrictions on such services since the Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to abortion in June. The department determined that “providing access to abortion-related medical services is needed to protect the lives and health of veterans” and the rule was meant to “avert imminent and future harm” to veterans, according to the policy document, which the department submitted to the Office of the Federal Register as an “interim final rule.” “This is a patient safety decision,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement. By week’s end, 11 states will likely have near-total bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy in force: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas. In Texas, abortion providers could face up to lifetime imprisonment for helping patients terminate a pregnancy. In Oklahoma, where abortion was already banned with few exceptions, a law that took effect on Thursday makes providing an abortion a felony punishable with up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. The department’s new policy removes or changes some of provisions in the medical benefits package for veterans that excluded abortion services until now. Veterans Affairs healthcare providers will determine whether the pregnancy is a risk to the life and health of the veteran on a case-by-case basis, the department said. In cases of rape or incest, self-reporting by a veteran would constitute sufficient evidence to justify the abortion, it said. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil; Editing by Mark Porter and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Chris Rock says Will Smith managed to do an impersonation of a “perfect man for 30 years” before showing he is “just as ugly as the rest of us”. The comic, 57, finally shared his extensive feelings about being slapped by the 53-year-old actor at this year’s Oscars during a gig with fellow stand-up Dave Chappelle at Liverpool’s M and S Arena on the first night of their joint multi-date tour. Dave, 49, asked Chris in front of the crowd: “Did that s*** hurt?” prompting Chris to exclaim: “Goddam right… the mother***** hit me over a bulls*** joke – the nicest joke I ever told. “Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us. “Whatever the consequences are… I hope he doesn’t put his mask back on again, and lets his real face breathe. I see myself in both men.” Chris also took aim at Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 41, during the show on Thursday night (01.09.22) by mocking her complaints about life and the royal family. He said: “I just don’t get it,” as he spoke about today’s obsession with ‘victimhood’, which the comic labelled a way of getting famous. Will stormed the stage at the Academy Awards in March and whacked Chris after the comic compared the ‘Seven Pounds’ actor’s wife’s shaven head to actress Demi Moore’s buzzcut in the 1997 film G.I. Jane. The actor then twice howled at Chris from his seat in front of stunned A-listers and while watched by millions of film fans around the world: “Keep my wife’s name out your f****** mouth.” Dumfounded Chris said after the slap: “Will Smith just slapped the s*** out of me. Oh, I could go…“ while looking into the stage wings, and then saying: “That was the greatest night in the history of television.” It was later highlighted Will’s wife of 25 years Jada Pinkett Smith, 50, had shaved her head as she suffers alopecia. While issued a grovelling apology in on online video earlier this month and has admitted Chris has not responded to his attempts to reach out. He said: “I will say to you, Chris, I apologise to you. My behaviour was unacceptable and I’m here whenever you’re ready to talk.” There was widespread outrage when Will went on to cry on the Oscars stage after the slap while picking up his best actor trophy for best actor for his role in ‘King Richard’, with many of his critics saying he should have immediately been kicked out of the ceremony by Oscars bosses, banned from after-parties, not allowed to pick up his award and questioned by police. He has since been banned from Oscars events for 10 years. Chris is scheduled to perform with Dave Chappelle in London, Copenhagen and Amsterdam before they return to America later this month for more shows. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sarah N. Lynch and Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The FBI recovered more than 11,000 government documents and photographs during its Aug. 8 search at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, as well as 48 empty folders labeled as “classified,” according to court records that were unsealed on Friday. The unsealing by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in West Palm Beach came one day after she heard oral arguments by Trump’s attorneys and the Justice Department’s top two counterintelligence prosecutors over whether she should appoint a special master to conduct a privilege review of the seized materials at Trump’s request. Cannon deferred ruling immediately on whether to appoint a special master but said she would agree to unseal two records filed by the Justice Department. Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who was appointed by Trump, questioned the usefulness of such an appointment. “I think at this stage, since they’ve (FBI) already gone through the documents I think it’s a waste of time” to have a special master, Barr said in an interview on Fox News. Barr, who left the post in late December 2020, defied Trump by not backing his false claims that the presidential election that year had been stolen from him. In the interview, Barr added that he saw no “legitimate reason” for Trump having documents at his Florida estate if they were classified. He added, “I frankly am skeptical of this claim (by Trump) that ‘I declassified everything.’ Because frankly I think it’s highly improbable and second, if he sort of stood over scores of boxes not really knowing what was in them and said ‘I hereby declassify everything in here,’ that would be such an abuse, show such recklessness that it’s almost worse than taking the documents.” One of the records https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763.39.1_1.pdf, released on Friday, provides a little more detail about the 33 boxes and other items the FBI found inside Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, as part of its ongoing criminal investigation into whether he illegally retained national defense information and tried to obstruct the probe. It shows that documents with classification markings were at times co-mingled with other items such as books, magazines and newspaper clippings. Also found were unspecified gifts and clothing items. Of the more than 11,000 government records and photos, 18 were labeled as “top secret,” 54 were labeled “secret” and 31 were labeled “confidential,” according to a Reuters tally of the government’s inventory. “Top secret” is the highest classification level, reserved for the country’s most closely held secrets. There were also 90 empty folders, 48 of which were marked “classified,” while others indicated that they should be returned to staff secretary/military aide. It is not clear why the folders were empty, or whether any records could be missing. The other record https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763.39.0_2.pdf that was unsealed is a three-page filing by the Justice Department updating the court about the status of its investigative team’s review of the documents seized. That filing, dated Aug. 30, said investigators had completed a preliminary review of the materials seized and will investigate further and interview more witnesses. The Justice Department’s criminal investigation could be potentially put on pause if Cannon agrees to appoint a special master to come in and conduct an independent third-party review of the seized records. However, Cannon signaled at Thursday’s hearing she might be willing to permit U.S. intelligence officials to continue reviewing the materials as part of their national security damage assessment, even if a special master is appointed. The Justice Department has previously said in court filings it has evidence that classified documents were deliberately concealed from the FBI when it tried to retrieve them from Trump’s home in June. The Justice Department also opposes the appointment of a special master, saying the records in question do not belong to Trump and that he cannot claim they are covered by executive privilege, a legal doctrine that can be used to shield some presidential communications. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Jason Lange; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Richard Cowan and Lisa Shumaker) View the full article

Published by The Boot Dolly Parton‘s classic “9 to 5″ is getting revamped as a duet with Kelly Clarkson. The song gets a significant production update from in-demand Nashville producer and songwriter Shane McAnally, as well as Sasha Alex Sloan and King Henry. “I was blown away when I heard what Shane had done with my song,” says Parton, according to Rolling Stone. “This arrangement shows how differently a song can be done and the story can be told in a whole new way. And special thanks to [Dolly Parton Enterprises creative director] Steve Summers for getting the ball rolling on this musical venture.” It was Summers… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Dolly Parton is releasing wigs for dogs. The ‘9 to 5’ hitmaker has teamed up with SportPet designs to create a pet apparel line called ‘Doggy Parton’ and as well as a “blonde bombshell” hairpiece, items in the range include a pink cowgirl hat with tiara, a “gingham Western print two-piece collar and leash set,” tour t-shirts, cowgirl dresses, bandanas, and squeaky toys. A portion of the proceeds from the range will go to rescue organisation Willa B. Farms. Dolly said in a statement: “‘Puppy Love’ was my very first record and six decades later, my love for pets is stronger than ever. “This inspired me to start my own line of Doggy Parton apparel, accessories, toys and more with a little ‘Dolly’ flair. “Part of the proceeds will support Willa B Farms, a rescue where animals in need find never-ending love. Don’t we all need that?’ “ Earlier this month, the 76-year-old county legend unveiled another non-musical venture; plans for a new rollercoaster at her Dollywood theme park. The Big Bear Mountain will open at the attraction – which opened in Tennessee in 1986 – in 2023 and will feature “three separate launches, multiple airtime hills, high-speed carousel turns, and tunnels, including a pass behind a waterfall”. The ‘Jolene’ singer is excited fans will be able to travel the Smoky Mountains themselves via the ride while referencing her 1994 song ‘Smoky Mountain Memories.’ She tweeted: “The Smokies are all about adventure and going exploring. I’m excited our guests will be able to head out on their own trip into the Smokies to see if they can find that Big Bear. Whether he’s out there or not, I’m sure they’ll find a lot of memories along the way that they’ll keep forever.” Meanwhile, Dollywood president Eugene Naughton explained that the ride was “family-friendly” and described it as being “comfortable fun.” He said: “If you’re going to be the No. 1 family attraction in the United States, your product needs to be family-friendly. So, within this ride called Big Bear Mountain, I like to call it comfortable fun.” View the full article

Published by AFP US actress Jane Fonda has announced she is battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Los Angeles (AFP) – US actress and activist Jane Fonda announced Friday that she has cancer, and has begun chemotherapy. The 84-year-old Oscar winner, a prominent supporter of the Democratic Party vowed to fight the “very treatable” illness. “I’ve been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and have started chemo treatments,” she wrote on her verified Instagram account. “This is a very treatable cancer. 80 percent of people survive, so I feel very lucky. “I’m also lucky because I have health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatments.” Fonda, an avowed environmentalist and social campaigner, said her position was more fortunate than that of many others in her situation. “Almost every family in America has had to deal with cancer at one time or another and far too many don’t have access to the quality health care I am receiving and this is not right.” Fonda first appeared on screen in 1960, and scored Academy Awards for best actress for “Klute” (1971) and “Coming Home” (1978). She has scored five other Oscar nominations in her career, four of them for best actress. Fonda continues to work, and appears as the voice of an elegant dragon who is the CEO of a luck-making operation in the Apple TV+ animation “Luck”. She also stars in the popular, long-running Netflix hit “Grace and Frankie.” View the full article

Published by Mongabay By Elizabeth Fitt U.N. member states came tantalizingly close to sealing a deal for a high-stakes, legally binding treaty to conserve biodiversity on the high seas, areas beyond national jurisdiction that comprise two-thirds of the global ocean. At the close of negotiations on Aug. 26 in New York, however, delegates had failed to net consensus. Top sticking points included fair access to marine resources for all and how to establish marine protected areas. The meeting of 168 U.N. member states ended with a commitment to reconvene before the year is over. “We’re closer to the finish line than w… Read More View the full article

Published by Morning Honey More sleepless nights are in store for Taylor Swift fans, as the singer announced her new album “Midnights” will drop this fall! The 32-year-old shared the update on her Instagram with an image of the cover, which shows her holding a lighter and gazing at the flicker through her glittered eyelids. “Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21,” Swift captioned the post on Monday, August 28. “Meet me at midnight,” she added. In the second slide of her post, she gave some insight into the songwriting process. “We lie awake in love and in fear… Read More View the full article

Published by The San Diego Union-Tribune SAN DIEGO — In 1995, 23-year-old Indian filmmaker Aditya Chopra wrote and directed his first Bollywood movie, “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.” The globe-hopping romantic comedy told the story of two young British Indians, Raj and Simran, who fall hopelessly in love, even though Simran has been pledged by her father to an arranged marriage with a stranger in India. Nicknamed “DDLJ” by its legions of fans, the movie became one of the highest-grossing Indian films in history. Chopra would go on to produce some of the nation’s biggest blockbusters. The film’s lead actors Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol bec… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Michael Erman and Julie Steenhuysen (Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized updated COVID-19 booster shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna that target the dominant BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants, as the government prepares for a broad fall vaccination campaign that could begin within days. The new vaccines also include the original version of the virus targeted by all the previous COVID shots. The FDA authorized the shots for everyone ages 12 and older who has had a primary vaccination series and is at least two months out from a previous booster shot, shorter than prior recommended intervals. Dr. Peter Marks, a senior FDA official overseeing vaccines, said he hopes the shots will restore the very good protection against symptomatic disease that the original vaccines offered when launched in late 2020 and early 2021. “We don’t know for a fact yet whether we will get to that same level, but that is the goal here,” Marks said. The government has begun working on the fall rollout, which could start soon after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) outside expert panel meets on Thursday and agency Director Rochelle Walensky makes a final recommendation. The United States has secured more than 170 million doses of the two shots in an attempt to stave off the worst effects of a potential surge in infections as schools reconvene and people spend more time indoors due to colder weather. This could be the last COVID vaccine provided for free to all Americans as the government plans to shift them to the commercial insurance market next year. Moderna’s retooled vaccine was authorized for those aged 18 and above, while the Pfizer/BioNTech shot will be available for those aged 12 and above, the FDA said. Pfizer said it has some doses ready to ship immediately and can deliver up to 15 million doses by Sept 9. Moderna said it expects its new shot to be available “in the coming days.” Experts have said that the updated vaccines will be important for older people and the immunocompromised, but noted there is limited data to support the level of protection the government is hoping for. “For people who haven’t been infected whose last dose was a year ago, yes, it’s going to benefit them. How much, I can’t tell you,” said Dr. Gregory Poland, a vaccine expert at the Mayo Clinic. He said the new shots are unlikely to help those who have been recently infected. The revaccination campaign this fall is expected to target many more people than the previous boosters authorized by the FDA earlier this year. Concerns about long COVID was one reason younger and healthier Americans should get the shot, officials said. “If anything is going to prevent transmission and long COVID, it’s going to be a variant specific vaccine for the variant that’s currently circulating,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said. DIFFERENT VACCINES IN OTHER COUNTRIES About 50% of those in the United States over the age of 12 – some 107 million people – have received at least one COVID-19 booster dose so far. Some scientists were critical of the recommendation that would allow for a new booster just two months after a prior shot, saying a longer gap would improve immune responses. FDA officials said the vast majority of Americans are significantly more than two months out from their most recent shot. Other countries including Canada and the UK also have ordered updated Omicron vaccine boosters for fall campaigns, although some have purchased shots tailored to the BA.1 Omicron subvariant that caused the record surge in COVID cases last winter. The FDA in June asked vaccine makers to tailor shots to the BA.4/BA.5 subvariants of the virus responsible for the most recent surge in infections worldwide. The BA.5 subvariant accounts for more than 88% of U.S. infections. The vaccine makers have not completed testing of the updated BA.4/BA.5-based boosters in humans. The FDA is basing its decision on safety and effectiveness data from the original shots as well as from clinical trials conducted on boosters using the BA.1 Omicron subvariant. (Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru, Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Michael Erman in Maplewood New Jersey; Additional reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by DPA Robert Aramayo (l, Elrond) and Morfydd Clark (Galadriel) in “The Lord of the Rings – The Rings of Power”, launching on Amazon Prime on September 2. Ben Rothstein/Amazon Studios/dpa They dwell in utterly different worlds. HBO’s “Game of Thrones” spinoff, ”House of the Dragon,” is the one with beautifully candlelit buttocks and a steady supply of spilled entrails. “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is the other one. Premiering Thursday night on Amazon, “The Rings of Power” wields a different, family-friendlier set of selling points, though there is a dragon overlap. And in its first five minutes “The Rings of Power” does manage to shoot an arrow into someone’s mouth. For all the obvious contrasts, though, these two streaming fantasy prequels chase the same quarry. They’re after more of the same of whatever worked the first time, but a different sort of same. “The Rings of Power” gets off to a promising, lavishly outfitted start in the first two episodes made available for review. Guessing here, but I think just enough of the flashy stuff seen in the trailer shows up in the early going to keep casual or less committed Middle-earthlings on the hook for a while. The rabid fans were going to watch anyway. The questions for Amazon: Will their kids watch, too? And can “The Rings of Power” in its chosen weight class turn into a water cooler phenomenon, the way “House of the Dragon” has, even in our post-water cooler age? The series represents Amazon’s quest for the holy grail of a prestigious yet populist streaming hit, working off pricey IP. Jeff Bezos, a J.R.R. Tolkien enthusiast, paid $250 million for the adaptation rights alone — not derived from a book or three, but from various Tolkien “appendices” and narrative threads “inspired by, though not contained in, the original source material,” as the end credits phrase it. The eight-episode first season of “The Rings of Power” (just two were made available for preview) takes place many thousands of years prior to “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit,” in the Second Age of Middle-earth and environs. It may be peacetime, and New Zealand, as always, looks lovely both in fantasy peace and fantasy war, all dressed up with the usual, clinically wondrous digital landscapes. But the Dark Lord Sauron lurks somewhere across the Sundering Seas, and he’s shaping up as a strong second-term prospect for an all-powerful reign of terror. The initial table-setting “Rings of Power” episodes focus on the elven warrior commander Galadriel (Morfydd Clark, playing the younger version of the character Cate Blanchett handled in the Peter Jackson “LOTR” trilogy). She’s one of 22 characters jostling for their share of screen time in the kingdoms of elves, humans, dwarves, orcs and the rest of the Tolkien universe. With so many storylines on the burner, “The Rings of Power” makes a strategically wise decision to focus the early going on Galadriel as she braves the seas various and Sundering (excellent digital effects here), makes an uneasy truce with a human castaway (Charlie Vickers), and sets a course for adventure, without which, no story. As with Galadriel, many other characters link back directly or indirectly to those we know from the Jackson trilogy. Much like Liv Tyler and Viggo Mortensen’s heavily discouraged elven/human love story in “LOTR,” in “The Rings of Power” the Sylvan elf Arondir falls in love with the human healer Bronwyn, a single mother whose son is tempted by the forces of darkness. Arondir and Bronwyn, two “noncanonical” newbies created for the show, are played with quiet force by Ismael Cruz Córdova and Nazanin Boniadi. While the introduction of elves of color has already exploded the heads of some “LOTR” purists, whatever. Those people can make their own “Lord of the Rings” prequel. Working with showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, director J.A. Bayona shoots in a style approximating “Lord of the Rings” director Jackson’s endless, pivoting camera glides. Visually the series stalls a bit when setting up the less-than-enthralling elven kingdom doings of young half-elf Elrond (Robert Aramayo here, playing the prequel version of the Hugo Weaving role in “LOTR”). Much goes on simultaneously in “The Rings of Power,” including underground rock-crushing contests and the aboveground crash landing of a mysterious interstellar visitor. The overriding plot in this roiling sea of little plots is right there in the title: Twenty rings will be fashioned, eventually, in master elven architect Celebrimbor’s dream of a forge “able to birth a flame as hot as a dragon’s tongue and as pure as starlight.” Hearing a classically trained actor such as Charles Edwards wrap his vowels around a description like that, well, it’s something many “LOTR” enthusiasts have been missing for a long time now. At one point, Celebrimbor wonders if his life’s work will ever “grow beyond petty works of jeweled craft — and devise something of real power.” The same question looms over Amazon’s series. For now, it’s nice for our streaming pile of fantasy destination vacations to include a noble corrective to the assaultive depravities of “House of the Dragon.” The HBO phenom had zero trouble making the stakes and power dynamics clear in its debut episode, because it’s well-made, the actors sell it and the narrative is ridiculously simple. It may take a while for “The Rings of Power” to sort itself out, by contrast, and get the forge fired up. But so far, pretty good. Prime Video has embarked on a mammoth project, and one that is set to be divisive. Its producers are relaunching “The Lord of the Rings” as a series. After years of male-dominated narratives, women are now also taking the fate of Middle Earth into their own hands. Amazon Studios/dpa Morfydd Clark stars as Galadriel in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”, launching on Amazon Prime on September 2. Matt Grace/Amazon Studios/dpa View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Brad Reed Republicans for decades have relied on the late billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson to fund congressional and presidential races — but now the money spigot he once provided appears to have dried up. Bloomberg News reports that Adelson’s widow, Miriam Adelson, has been hesitant to fork over the massive sums her husband provided prior to his death in early 2021, leaving what the publication describes as a “financial hole” for the GOP. In fact, the only money Adelson has given this year has been a $5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to electin… Read More View the full article

Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden used Philadelphia as the launching point Thursday for a blistering speech warning that “MAGA Republicans” are a threat to American values, and urging voters to choose a different path. Here are six takeaways from the address: A warning for democracyStanding in front of Independence Hall Thursday night, President Joe Biden said it was his duty to warn the country that the democracy born there is under direct threat. “As I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault. We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise,” he said early in his roughly 2… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP The Biden administration has asked Congress for $22.4 billion more in funds to combat Covid-19 New York (AFP) – Warning of “difficult trade-offs” ahead of a feared fall Covid-19 wave, the Biden administration Friday urged Congress to approve $22.4 billion more to maintain key testing and vaccine programs. The request comes as the government readies a new fall initiative for Covid-19 vaccine boosters targeting the Omicron variant after US officials recommended Thursday new Pfizer and Moderna shots. Biden’s request for more money faces an uncertain fate on Capitol Hill amid pandemic fatigue and elevated partisanship ahead of the midterm elections. Noting that a previous White House demand for additional Covid-19 funds stalled in Congress, the administration has been forced “to pull existing funding from critical needs to meet the most pressing needs,” according to an administration memo ahead of the September 30 end of fiscal year 2022. The government on Friday suspended its program to provide free at-home Covid-19 testing kits, citing the lack of congressional funding. The government currently has “some tests available in the stockpile, but we do not have enough if there were a surge this fall,” an administration official told reporters on a briefing. Administration officials also said continued lack of funding would necessitate a transition from government-financed Covid-19 vaccines to a commercial model that would leave out some people. The latest batch of vaccines will continue to be free to the public “through the fall into next year,” an administration official said. “We were always going to have to transition to commercialization, but we’ve had to accelerate the timeline without additional funding,” the official said, noting the need to provide underinsured and uninsured to “the life saving protection of a vaccine.” Besides Covid-19 programs, the administration sought additional funds to support Ukraine, combat the monkeypox outbreak and address natural disasters in Kentucky, California and other states. View the full article

Published by City AM By Adam Bloodworth Gay men had it in the 1980s and 1990s when two landmark plays, Angels In America and The Normal Heart, humanised the tragedies of the AIDS crisis on major theatre stages. And now I, Joan, a new adaptation of the story of Joan of Arc, feels similarly like a crucial and history-making piece of theatre for transgender and non-binary people. This is the first major London theatre production where a trans person is centre stage, in a main role. It could have gone so wrong. A first-time actor in their first major London theatre job, twisting one of history’s great heroines to fit … Read More View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) A 25-year-old man has died from his injuries after being attacked at a gay pride event last week in the northwestern German city of Münster. Prosecutors say the young man — identified only as Malte — came to help other people who were being insulted at a Christopher Street Day rally on 27 August. A man then attacked the victim, knocking him to the ground, before fleeing with another person. Malte succumbed to his injuries early on Friday morning. Police have issued a description of the male suspects and have appealed for witnesses to come forward. The German government’s “queer commissioner”… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Steve Holland, Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden charged Republican allies of Donald Trump with undermining the country’s democracy and urged voters on Thursday to reject extremism ahead of November’s midterm elections. Biden accused lawmakers and others devoted to the Make America Great Again (MAGA) agenda led by former U.S. President Trump as willing to overturn democratic elections, ignore the Constitution and “determined to take this country backwards” to a time without rights to abortion, privacy, contraception or same-sex marriage. “Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said. “As I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault. We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise.” The prime-time speech in Philadelphia, the birthplace of American democracy, marked a sharp turn for Biden as midterm congressional elections approach. Aides say the president is increasingly concerned about anti-democratic trends in the Republican Party, and sees a need to jump into this year’s election fight and recast the stakes of his own 2024 re-election bid. After spending much of 2022 trying to combat high inflation at home and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and enduring two bouts of COVID-19 over the summer, Biden has in recent days repeatedly lashed out at Trump-aligned Republicans. His remarks on Thursday denouncing political violence and urging bipartisan compromise came after speeches in recent days where he condemned MAGA philosophy as “semi-fascism” and assailed Republican threats against the FBI after a search of Trump’s Florida home as “sickening.” House of Representatives Republican leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday accused Biden of ignoring crime and inflation to criticize his fellow citizens. “Instead of trying to bring our country together to solve these challenges, President Biden has chosen to divide, demean and disparage his fellow Americans,” McCarthy said in Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania. “Why? Simply because they disagree with his policies.” A Democratic fundraiser said donors are closely watching Biden’s performance over the next few months to gauge whether to back him in a 2024 presidential run. Some have already decided that Biden, 79, should step aside to make way for fresh leadership, while others want to see if he can lead the party effectively. “If we can pull it off and retain the Senate, then there will be enough voices saying he has earned it and pave the way for re-election,” said a senior Democratic official. “If we don’t, the overwhelming sentiment will be ‘Pass the torch.'” FREE ELECTIONS IN DANGER? Biden spoke in Philadelphia from behind bullet-proof glass and within earshot of chanting Trump-supporting protesters. He made his remarks at a venue meant to signal the historical significance of his appeal, near Independence Hall, where the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution were adopted. Some historians and legal scholars have cast the stakes in starker terms than Biden’s political future, saying free elections and commitment to the rule of law hang in the balance. They say losing Congress would not only make Biden a lame-duck president, but also turn over control of certifying the results of the next presidential election to Trump sympathizers, some of whom never accepted Biden’s 2020 victory and who have pledged to overhaul voting systems. Biden alluded to the concerns, saying “I will not stand by and watch elections in this country be stolen by people who simply refuse to accept that they lost.” The speech echoed Biden’s signature 2020 campaign pledge to restore the “soul of the nation” and, by implication, purge the values associated with Trump. In the nearly two years since Biden was elected, Republican voters have mostly backed candidates aligned with the former president; more than half say they believe Trump rightfully won the election. Confronted by threats after Trump’s loss, one in five election workers polled this year said they may quit before the next presidential election. (Reporting by Steve Holland in Philadelphia, and Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw in WashingtonAdditional reporting by Jeff Mason and Tyler Clifford in WashingtonEditing by Heather Timmons, Jonathan Oatis and Matthew Lewis) View the full article

Published by uPolitics.com A “straight pride” march that commenced in front of an abortion clinic clashed with a large group of LGBTQ and pro-choice protestors in Modesto, California, on Saturday. The fourth annual straight pride event, put on by the National Straight Pride Coalition, was joined by members of the Proud Boys, the far-right group best known for playing a role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Some of the Proud Boy members in Modesto over the weekend were the same members who participated in the breach of the Capitol, according to reports. The two groups were separated by police, but not … Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sarah Morland MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Gay rights activists from across Latin America have called for the region’s governments to take firm steps to prevent the spread of monkeypox, saying a lack of will to provide vaccines and diagnose cases is hurting the region’s gay and bisexual men. Latin America has confirmed around 16% of over 50,000 registered cases worldwide in the recent outbreak, almost exclusively in countries where it is not historically endemic. However, a Latin American network of gay rights activists believes governments are drastically underreporting the extent of the outbreak, in part due to discrimination against men who have sex with men, among whom the disease has so far been circulating overwhelmingly through sex. “The worst thing would be to decide that this will be controlled through herd immunity,” the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s director, Dr. Jorge Saavedra, told Reuters. “The lesions are very painful; and you can’t just condemn people to suffer.” “This is state sadism,” he said. Activists, who gathered in Mexico City on Thursday at an event to call for stronger state responses, said it was unbelievable that Mexico – one of Latin America’s most populous and visited countries – would have only one-third the number of monkeypox cases as Peru, which confirmed its first case a month after Mexico. “Are Peruvians having more sex than Mexicans? Sexologists have found no evidence,” Saavedra said at the event. The situation is particularly worrying in Mexico, activists said, where there is just one centralized diagnostics center forcing people to wait and travel long distances. Grassroots clinics for people living with HIV, who risk suffering much more severe effects of monkeypox, have meanwhile been flooded with patients, they said. Mexico’s government in June issued a statement discouraging messaging that links gay and bisexual men to monkeypox to prevent discrimination. “They stigmatized us 40 years ago during the AIDS crisis,” said HIV researcher Ricardo Forcada. “Now, they’re not helping us under the pretext of not stigmatizing us.” Forcada said the network was prepared to take all available legal actions, including appealing to Mexico’s human rights commission. It hopes the governments will invest in targeted health campaigns and order vaccines. “We don’t want this to turn into an endemic problem like other sexually transmitted diseases,” said Saavedra. (Reporting by Sarah Morland in Mexico City, Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Matthew Lewis) View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune Workers at a Hostess bakery in Chicago accused the snack dessert maker of firing a transgender employee for her gender identity and segregating LGBT employees onto a separate work line at the factory in the Galewood neighborhood on city’s west side at a Wednesday news conference. Danyell Wallace, 43, said she was filing a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after she was fired in June from the company, where she had worked since 2020. Wallace, who is transgender and worked as a machine operator for Hostess, said she had been discriminated against by supervisors and was… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English George Miller has written another ‘Mad Max’ prequel. The 77-year-old director is returning to helm the movie ‘Furiosa’, which will star Anya Taylor-Joy and serves as an origin story for the character played by Charlize Theron in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, and revealed that he has another prequel idea in mind for Max Rockatansky – who has been portrayed by both Mel Gibson and Tom Hardy in the action franchise. In an interview with The AV Club, George said: “We also wrote, not a screenplay, but almost in novel form, Nico Lathouris and I, what happened to Max in that year before, and that’s something that we’ll look at further down the track later.” George explained how he and the crew created backstories for every character in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ so they could be explained in the other films. He said: “In telling the story of Furiosa, everything in ‘Fury Road’ had to be explained. In my mind, I have a back story of the Doof Warrior, who plays the guitar. How could a blind man play a guitar, how does he get to survive in a wasteland where everybody is in extremis? How did he come to be there? “So we wrote little stories for every character when we made ‘Fury Road’.” George revealed that the techniques for developing the story mean that the screenplay for ‘Furiosa’ was complete before ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ was filmed. The ‘Happy Feet’ director said: “We had the screenplay virtually complete before we shot ‘Fury Road’, and we did it because it arose out of wanting to explain to everybody who Furiosa was – to Charlize when she took on the role, and to all the actors and the designers and everybody else working on the Citadel and so on. “The feeling was, gee, this is a pretty good screenplay, and then I kept saying to myself, ‘If ‘Fury Road’ works, I’d really like to tell this story.'” View the full article

Published by New York Daily News A school board in Virginia has passed an anti-trans bathroom and locker room policy critics are calling “invasive and unnecessary” and “the most horrific bathroom policy ever.” The Hanover County School Board voted 5-2 to adopt the policy during a special session Tuesday night, which will make “trans and non-binary students jump through hoops simply to exist in schools,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. Under the new policy, trans students and their parents or legal guardians will be required to “submit a written request to the principal of the school where the stud… Read More View the full article

Published by City AM By Sascha O’Sullivan When the going gets tough, cultural roles get going. In June, Elon Musk told Tesla employees that 10 per cent of the workforce was going to be cut, as a result of his “super bad feeling” about the economy. Amongst those let go were Tesla’s LGBTQ+ community President and several diversity and inclusion programme leads. Mass redundancies have ripped through organisations as global economies brace themselves for a recession; tech companies laid off seven times as many employees in May as they did in the first four months of this year combined. The steep economic downturn and … Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War without bloodshed but failed to prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, died on Tuesday at the age of 91, hospital officials in Moscow said. Below are contrasting reactions from leaders and other high-profile figures outside and inside Russia: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN “Gorbachev was a politician and statesman who had a huge impact on the course of world history. He led our country during a period of complex, dramatic changes and large-scale foreign policy, economic and social challenges… “(He) strove to offer his solutions to urgent problems.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Gorbachev’s hopes for a “romance” with the West were unjustified, adding: “The honeymoon did not work out and the bloodthirstiness of our opponents showed itself. It’s good that we realised this in time and understood it.” OUTSIDE RUSSIA U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN “Mikhail Gorbachev was a man of remarkable vision … As leader of the USSR, he worked with President Reagan to reduce our two countries’ nuclear arsenals … After decades of brutal political repression, he embraced democratic reforms. “The result was a safer world and greater freedom for millions of people.” U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES Gorbachev was “a one-of-a-kind statesman who changed the course of history. He did more than any other individual to bring about the peaceful end of the Cold War. “The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace.” EX-GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL “Mikhail Gorbachev wrote world history. He exemplified how a single statesman can change the world for the better. “I can still feel the fear I had, like many people in the German Democratic Republic, in 1989, wondering whether tanks would roll again… But… no tanks rolled, no shots were fired… “The world has lost a one-of-a-kind world leader. May the memory of his historic achievement make it possible to take a small pause, especially in these terrible weeks and months of Russia’s war against Ukraine.” GERMAN CHANCELLOR OLAF SCHOLZ “We won’t forget that perestroika (restructuring) had made it possible for Russia to be able to try to undertake the establishment of a democracy, that democracy and freedom were possible in Europe, that Germany could be unified, that the Iron Curtain disappeared.” “He died at a time when not only democracy in Russia has failed … but also when Russia and Russian President Putin have dug new graves in Europe and began a terrible war.” GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER ANNALENA BAERBOCK: “In defining moments of our history, Mikhail Gorbachev chose the path of peace and understanding and thereby contributed to the end of the Cold War and Germany’s reunification. Germany will be eternally grateful for this.” FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON Gorbachev was “a man of peace whose choices opened up a path of liberty for Russians. His commitment to peace in Europe changed our shared history”. ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER MARIO DRAGHI “Mikhail Gorbachev …put an end to the experience of the Soviet Union with courage and determination… His desire for peace and his opposition to an imperialist vision of Russia earned him the Nobel Prize. These messages are as relevant as ever in the face of the tragedy of the invasion of Ukraine.” EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT URSULA VON DER LEYEN “Mikhail Gorbachev was a trusted and respected leader. He played a crucial role to end the Cold War and bring down the Iron Curtain. It opened the way for a free Europe … This legacy is one we will not forget.” NATO SECRETARY GENERAL JENS STOLTENBERG “Mikhail Gorbachev’s historic reforms led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, helped end the Cold War and opened the possibility of a partnership between Russia and NATO. His vision of a better world remains an example.” THE REAGAN FOUNDATION AND INSTITUTE “The Reagan Foundation and Institute mourns the loss of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, a man who once was a political adversary of Ronald Reagan’s who ended up becoming a friend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Gorbachev family and the people of Russia.” FRIEDRICH MERZ, CHAIRMAN OF LATE GORBACHEV-ERA GERMAN CHANCELLOR HELMUT KOHL’S CDU PARTY “Without Mikhail Gorbachev, German unity in freedom would not have been possible. The CDU mourns a statesman whom Germany could trust, and who trusted us.” FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE “He was a man who tried to deliver a better life for his people. His life was consequential because, without him and his courage, it would not have been possible to end the Cold War peacefully.” BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON “I always admired the courage and integrity he showed in bringing the Cold War to a peaceful conclusion … In a time of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all.” POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER ZBIGNIEW RAU “He increased the scope of freedom of the enslaved peoples of the Soviet Union in an unprecedented way, giving them hope for a more dignified life.” LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER GABRIELIUS LANDSBERGIS: “Lithuanians will not glorify Gorbachev. We will never forget …that his army murdered civilians to prolong his regime’s occupation of our country. “His soldiers fired on our unarmed protestors and crushed them under his tanks. That is how we will remember him.” OTHER REACTIONS FROM INSIDE RUSSIA SERGEI NARYSHKIN, HEAD OF RUSSIA’S FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: “It fell to Gorbachev to lead the country in a very difficult period, to face many external and internal challenges, for which an adequate response was not found.” JAILED KREMLIN CRITIC ALEXEI NAVALNY (in a tweet issued by his lawyers): Gorbachev “remained one of the very few who did not use power and opportunities for personal gain and enrichment. “He stepped down peacefully and voluntarily, respecting the will of his constituents. This alone is a great feat by the standards of the former USSR.” LYUBOV SOBOL, ALLY OF NAVALNY “Some write that he gave hope, others curse him for the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union would have collapsed anyway. And the role of Gorbachev in history in Russia will still be appreciated.” POPULIST RUSSIA TABLOID KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA It acknowledged that Gorbachev’s critics at home would seek to undo his legacy, adding: “But they won’t be able to. Mikhail Sergeyevich has done too much. He changed the world too irreversibly for his ideological opponents.” (Compiled by Reuters bureaus; Editing by Matthew Lewis, Robert Birsel and John Stonestreet) View the full article