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Published by Reuters By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) – As U.S. monkeypox cases rise, U.S. health agencies in a medical journal article published on Wednesday defended their decision to require human trial data to show that SIGA Technologies’ experimental drug TPOXX is safe and effective to treat the virus. U.S. agencies have been under pressure to ease access to the drug, which is being distributed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under a special “compassionate use” access that requires doctors to request it from the agency or their health department and enroll each patient in a study. As of July 22, 223 people have been treated with the drug, compared with more than 6,000 known cases in the United States. The FDA approved TPOXX in 2018 for smallpox in adults and children based on studies of animals infected with monkeypox and rabbitpox, as well as safety data in healthy people. It can only be sold to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile. Authors of the article in the New England Journal of Medicine from the Food and Drug Administration, the CDC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said the latter is planning a U.S.-based randomized clinical trial. Data from that study will be used to determine whether the drug gains U.S. approval for monkeypox. The drug, also known as tecovirimat, is approved for both smallpox and monkeypox in the UK and Europe. The European Union approved it under an “exceptional circumstances” pathway that allows for marketing approval when data cannot be obtained even after authorization. Although TPOXX was only tested in healthy people, the European Medicines Agency said it expects side effects to be similar in infected people, and deemed the drug’s benefits to be greater than its risks. Dr. Jay Varma, director of the Cornell Center for Pandemic Prevention and Response who has advocated for broader access to the drug, said the FDA’s standards ensure U.S. drugs are safe and set a high bar for the world, but in some circumstances, “those strict standards are harming us.” There were 1.7 million doses of the treatment in the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile at the start of the current outbreak in May. On July 21, the CDC and the FDA began allowing doctors to prescribe the drug before the trial paperwork is completed, but still requires approval of a hospital’s institutional review board for each dose. “It’s definitely better. It’s still very burdensome,” said Dr. Karen Krueger, an infectious disease expert at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, who said there is additional paperwork after the patient visit and for several follow-up visits. “It’s doable but certainly a lot more challenging than how we normally prescribe drugs.” Neither the FDA nor the CDC immediately responded to a request for comment. Northwestern has treated at least 20 monkeypox patients with TPOXX and will be one of the sites for the NIH trial. To win approval, SIGA Chief Scientific Officer Dennis Hruby estimates it will likely take a 500-patient, placebo-controlled clinical trial in the United States. If cases remain high, the trial could be fully enrolled within a few months. “It’s not a terribly long trial,” he said. SIGA Chief Executive Phillip Gomez said the company is working to launch trials in the UK, Canada, the United States and Europe. If the United States declares monkeypox a national emergency, Gomez said the drug could be granted an emergency use authorization. However, because the FDA has been “very clear” they want full, placebo-controlled trials, that could still take time, he said. (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; additional reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Editing by Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday sued Peter Navarro, an adviser to former President Donald Trump, seeking emails from his time in the White House that he has refused to return without a grant of immunity. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., centers on Navarro’s use of a personal ProtonMail for some official White House business. Mr. Navarro is wrongfully retaining presidential records that are the property of the United States, and which constitute part of the permanent historical record of the prior administration,” Justice Department attorneys said in the lawsuit. Attorneys for Navarro could not immediately be reached for comment. The case is unrelated to misdemeanor contempt of Congress charges of filed against Navarro by the U.S. government in June over his refusal to provide testimony or documents to a House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riots. Navarro last month declined an offer by the government to plead guilty to a contempt of Congress charge, according to federal prosecutors. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by David Gregorio) View the full article

Published by AFP Multiple gunshot incidents occur daily in New York New York (AFP) – A man in New York has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting a McDonald’s worker for serving his mother cold french fries, police and reports said. Multiple gunshot incidents occur daily in the Big Apple. In this latest case, Michael Morgan, 20, shot the 23-year-old McDonald’s employee in Brooklyn on Monday evening, according to police and the New York Post. The victim is in critical condition in hospital. The incident started as an argument between a 40-year-old woman and the victim, whom she accused of having given her cold fries, the tabloid said. The woman made a video call to her son Morgan, who burst into the fast-food chain and argued with the employee before the two of them went outside. Morgan then shot the employee, according to a police source cited by the Post. The accused has been arrested several times for various crimes, the tabloid said. Morgan was also slapped with a charge of criminal possession of a loaded firearm, a New York Police Department spokesperson told AFP. The number of shooting victims in New York is down almost nine percent compared to last year, falling to 988 from 1,051, according to weekly statistics from the NYPD. There are almost 120 guns for every 100 people in the United States, according to the Small Arms Survey group. More than 45,000 people were killed in 2020 by firearms, half of them by suicide, according to the Gun Violence Archive. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jennifer Coolidge got “a lot of sexual action” after starring in ‘American Pie.’ The 60-year-old actress took on the role of Jeanine Stifler – known as the ‘MILF’ or ‘Stifler’s Mom’ – in the 1999 coming-of-age comedy and joked that she has slept with hundreds of people since playing the part. She said: “I was so happy for ‘American Pie’ and the MILF thing. I got a lot out of being a MILF and I got a lot of sexual action from ‘American Pie.’ There were so many benefits to doing that movie. There would be like 200 people that I would never have slept with [had I not done it!]” Meanwhile, the ‘White Lotus’ star is also known for playing manicurist Paulette Bonafonte in the ‘Legally Blonde’ movies opposite Reese Witherspoon and has to deal with fans coming up to her to do impressions of her ditsy character’s famous line. In ‘Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde’, Paulette says: “Oh my God, you look like the Fourth of July! Makes me want a hot dog real bad.” Jennifer told Variety: “All day long and all night. Y’know, just so many people like say it on a plane, for f**** sake! It’s exhausting, this hot dog story! But I have to go with it. I have to go with it and say ‘Oh my God, you sound just like me when you say that!'” Jennifer is set to appear as Paulette once again in the upcoming ‘Legally Blonde 3’ but revealed she is even yet to see a script for the movie. She said: “Everyone keeps talking about it. I’m very excited about the script that is coming my way but I haven’t seen it yet!” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Aaron Rodgers says ayahuasca had a profound impact on his life. The 38-year-old Green Bay Packers quarterback – who was previously engaged to actress Shailene Woodley – credits the plant-based psychedelic drug with helping him to focus more on “self love”. Speaking to Aubrey Marcus, the founder of supplement company Onnit, on his podcast, Aaron said: “To me, one of the core tenets of your mental health is that self-love. That’s what ayahuasca did for me, was help me see how to unconditionally love myself. It’s only in that unconditional self love, that then I’m able to truly be able to unconditionally love others. And what better way to work on my mental health than to have an experience like that? “The greatest gift I can give my teammates, in my opinion, is to be able to show up and to be someone who can model unconditional love to them. I mean obviously it’s important I play well, and show up and lead and all that stuff. They won’t care about what you say until they know how much you care.” And Aaron credited ayahuasca with helping him to win MVP [Most Valuable Player] back-to-back in 2020 and 2021. He said: “I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I really don’t. I don’t really believe in coincidences at this point. It’s the universe bringing things to happen when they’re supposed to happen. “There’s signs and synchronicities all around us at all times if we’re awake enough to see them and to take them in and to listen to our intuition when it’s speaking to us or pounding us in the head saying, ‘Hey dummy, this is what you’re supposed to be doing.’ “For me, I didn’t do that and think ‘oh, I’m never playing football again’. No, it gave me a deep and meaningful appreciation for life. My intention the first night going in was ‘I want to feel what pure love feels like.’ That was my intention. And I did. I really did. I had a magical experience with the sensation of feeling a hundred different hands on my body imparting a blessing of love and forgiveness for myself and gratitude for this life from what seemed to be my ancestors. “It set me on my course to be able to go back in to my job and have a different perspective on things. To be way more free at work, as a leader, as a teammate, as a friend, as a lover. I really feel like that experience paved the way for me to have the best season of my career (in 2020).” View the full article

Published by Reuters KHIMKI, Russia (Reuters) – A Russian court on Thursday ruled that U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was guilty of drugs possession and smuggling after she pleaded guilty to bringing cannabis-infused vape cartridges to Russia. In its ruling, the court said that Griner committed the crime “deliberately”, despite the defendant having said that it was an “honest mistake”. (Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lady Gaga’s alleged dognapper has been recaptured five months after he was mistakenly freed from a LA jail. James Howard Jackson, 19 – who was one of five people arrested after Gaga’s dog walker Ryan Discher was shot and her French bulldogs were stolen in February 2021 – was previously released due to a “clerical error” but he has now been recaptured. Last month, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Major Crime Team asked for the US Marshals help to apprehend Jackson, offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest, but warned he “should be considered armed and dangerous”. Shortly after the 19 year old was released from jail, Ryan appealed for him to turn himself back to authorities. He said in a statement: “While I’m deeply concerned at the events that led to his release, I’m confident law enforcement will rectify the error. “I ask for Mr. Jackson to turn himself over to the authorities, so resolution to the crime committed against me runs its course, whatever the courts determine that outcome to be. Thank you to everyone who is supporting me during this time.” Jackson – whose full list of charges includes attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, second-degree robbery, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and a felon carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle – is accused of shooting the dog walker with a .40-calibre handgun with him and two suspects allegedly fleeing the scene in a car with two dogs. The animals were returned to police two days later. A woman who returned the dogs after claiming to have found them and the father of another suspect were also charged. Ryan suffered a collapsed lung in the attack and admitted medics were initially unsure he’d survive. He previously said: “The people in the ER, who I had seen that night, told me they didn’t think I was gonna survive that night.” He also praised his famous boss for her support throughout his recovery. He said: “She’s helped me so much. She’s been a friend for me and after I was attacked, my family was flown out and I had trauma therapists flown to me and I stayed at her house for months while friends comforted me and security was around me.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) – In the five months since the U.S. Department of Justice launched a task force to seize Russian oligarchs’ assets to pressure Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, prosecutors also have targeted something less tangible: Russia’s influence. Prosecutors in that period have charged five Russians with acting on the Kremlin’s behalf without registering as foreign agents, as the Justice Department broadly ramps up enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and a related law known by its code number, 951. FARA and 951 let prosecutors go after broader activity – such as lobbying or running media campaigns – than espionage statutes, which focus on agents seeking classified or military information, experts said. “The Russian playbook is so much bigger than that,” said David Aaron of law firm Perkins Coie, a former national security prosecutor. In the latest instance, federal prosecutors in Tampa, Florida, last week charged Russian national Aleksandr Ionov with 951 conspiracy for financially supporting U.S. political groups. In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Ionov – who is in Russia – called the U.S. charges “complete nonsense” and a “political decision.” The charges against the Russians come as U.S. prosecutors increasingly wield the two foreign-influence laws, which they previously used only rarely, against a variety of defendants. Since 2018, the United States has accused 52 people – including Russian, Chinese and American citizens – of violating or conspiring to violate FARA, 951 or both, according to a Reuters analysis of Justice Department statements and records from seven major district courts. In the prior six-year period, just 13 people were charged under those laws, the analysis shows. Of the 52 people, 13 have since pleaded guilty, including Maria Butina, a Russian student who in 2018 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-butina/butina-admits-being-russian-agent-pleads-guilty-in-u-s-to-conspiracy-idUSKBN1OC1AI admitted to 951 conspiracy by trying to create back channels between Moscow and Republican politicians. Others charged include Thomas Barrack – a fundraiser for former president Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign – who will stand trial next month on charges under 951 of illegally lobbying for the United Arab Emirates. Barrack pleaded not guilty. Federal prosecutors have also charged several alleged Chinese agents this year and in 2020. Some have pleaded not guilty and others are at large. The Justice Department declined to comment. Russia has denied interfering in the U.S. election and calls its campaign in Ukraine a “special military operation.” Its embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. CONFERENCE IN YALTA, FORT IN HAWAII Section 951 was passed as part of the 1917 Espionage Act – enacted partly to combat resistance to the World War One draft – and criminalizes acting as a foreign agent without notifying the U.S. attorney general. While once mainly used against traditional espionage, cases brought in recent years have targeted lobbying and influence operations. FARA was enacted in 1938 to counter Nazi propaganda. It requires foreign lobbyists to register with the Justice Department. Prosecutors brought a handful of FARA cases in the postwar era; in recent decades, they were wary of bringing charges under an untested statute, experts said. But in 2019, a Justice Department official said at a legal conference that prosecutors would focus more on FARA in a “big shift https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-lobbying-idINKCN1QO097” spurred by Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. “For national security issues, FARA has become one of the first tools out of the bag,” said Matthew Sanderson of Caplin & Drysdale. In addition to Ionov, the other Russians charged recently include Aleksandr Babakov – a Vladimir Putin-aligned Russian parliament member – and two of his staffers. They were accused in April of hiring consultants to lobby U.S. members of Congress to advance Russia’s interests. Babakov directed an unnamed U.S. associate to invite a U.S. congressman to a 2017 conference in Yalta sponsored by the U.S.-sanctioned leader of Crimea, prosecutors said. The unnamed congressman did not attend. Babakov could not be reached for comment. In March, prosecutors accused Elena Branson, a U.S.-Russian dual national, of violating 951 and FARA by receiving $170,000 in Russian state funds to organize an “I Love Russia” campaign for U.S. youth. She also lobbied Hawaiian officials not to change the name of a formerly Russian fort, prosecutors said. In an October 2021 interview with Russian state broadcaster RT after returning to Russia, Branson said she did not communicate with U.S. politicians. In a March 8 Facebook post, Russia’s embassy in Washington called the charges against Branson “unfounded.” Branson, Babakov and Ionov are believed to be in Russia. They are unlikely to be arrested by U.S. authorities, but charging fugitives sends a message to Moscow to thwart further activity, said Brandon Van Grack, a partner at Morrison Foerster and former chief of DOJ’s FARA unit. “It is a way to deter the other government – to say ‘look, we know what you’re doing here, so stop it,'” he said. (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Amy Stevens and Matthew Lewis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Nia Williams and Anna Mehler Paperny COUTTS, Alberta/TORONTO (Reuters) – In late January five friends, just a few years out of high school, piled into a rented camper van and drove 37 hours in the Canadian winter from southern Alberta to Ottawa to join anti-government protests led by a convoy of truckers. “We were worried about vaccine mandates and our freedom, and it all just going to hell,” said Ursula Allred, 22, from her small, rural hometown of Magrath. Another member of the group, Justin Martin, excitedly phoned home to say the protest — which occupied Ottawa with tractor-trailers, hot tubs, bouncy castles and scattered symbols of hate for weeks until it was broken up by police — was “the best experience, ever,” said his mother, Lynette Atwood. “They wanted their freedom back. These were young men who wanted to date, hadn’t been able to date, wanted to have a life,” she said, referring to the impact of lockdowns and restrictions imposed by provincial and federal governments to curb infections during the coronavirus pandemic. “They just felt that no one was listening.” Their excitement came to an abrupt end a few weeks later, when all five were arrested at another protest they had joined near the U.S.-Canada border in Coutts, Alberta. But the reverberations from the so-called “Freedom Convoy” protests against mandatory vaccination policies had only just begun. The protests, featuring hundreds of trucks and thousands like Allred and Martin, had already paralyzed downtown Ottawa and international border crossings for more than three weeks. Copycat protests featuring trailers and trucks followed in the United States and France. At home, the protests amplified anti-government sentiment among Canadians angry at COVID-19 restrictions and, less visibly, offered a hook for anti-establishment and far-right voices to draw a bigger audience. Extremists used the convoy “as a pulpit to get their ideas across and, in that sense, it was a success,” said David Hofmann, associate professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick, who has been researching extremism in Canada for about a decade. They did that directly, with talk of deposing and prosecuting the heads of Canadian government during the protests, as the convoy’s organizers declared was their goal in a “Memorandum of Understanding” leading up to the blockade. But they were also able to do that less directly, by talking up the merits of the convoy on social media and podcasts that also promoted more extremist rhetoric and conspiracy theories. They were helped by a relatively high level of sympathy for the protesters’ frustrations — which stood at 46% in one Ipsos poll in February — even if most Canadians did not agree with the convoy’s main message of opposing public health measures. Around 30% of Canadians agreed with the convoy’s message in February at the height of the protests, a number that has since shrunk to 25% in July, according to polling research firm Ekos Research Associates. “This has become a lightning rod, a magnet to kind of focus all of this insecurity, disaffection, anger which predated COVID but which has been reinforced and strengthened by COVID,” Ekos President Frank Graves said of the convoy movement. Its message has become: “You’re not alone. You’re not the only one who thinks vaccines are unnecessary… Come on out,” Graves said. Though most COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings, wearing masks and vaccine requirements have been lifted in recent months, smaller anti-government protests have continued, with some held as recently as the national holiday on July 1. ‘GATEKEEPING ELITE’ Among the most prominent to tap into sympathy for the convoy is Pierre Poilievre, the frontrunner in a leadership race for Canada’s opposition Conservative party, who dueled with rivals in a debate over who was first to support the movement. Fashioning himself as an anti-establishment force determined to free Canadians from a “gatekeeping elite,” Poilievre posted footage of himself supporting the convoy rolling into Ottawa. He promises, among other things, to take on the “state media” by defunding the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the public broadcaster, and to sack the Bank of Canada governor. He has also pledged to ban federal ministers from attending the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland — a popular whipping boy for convoy participants and far-right supporters more globally. Anger against the forum has been buoyed by viral videos falsely claiming the WEF used the pandemic to put in motion a plan by “global elites” to subjugate society in a “Great Reset” – a twist on the WEF’s stated plan to identify solutions to major challenges facing the world. “The gatekeeping elites will try to destroy anyone who threatens their power,” Poilievre said on Twitter in response to criticism that he is pushing authoritarian populism. “I want to become PM to give you back control of your life & make Canada the freest country on earth,” he wrote in another post. Poilievre’s campaign did not respond to requests for an interview or to questions on his support for the convoy. Ekos’s Graves says his polling shows that Canadians who support the convoy have “an authoritarian, populist outlook” and could be “the strongest force in the Canadian political landscape” because they are energized and motivated to vote. Not surprisingly, Canadian conservative politicians are trying to appeal to convoy supporters and tap into the rising populist sentiment, says Jared Wesley, political science professor at the University of Alberta. “There’s a group out there that conservative politicians want to bring back into the fold,” Wesley said. “That results in constant escalation of anti-establishment demands, that has the leading candidate for the Conservative Party promising to fire the Governor of the Bank of Canada.” SIMMERING RESENTMENT IN ALBERTA The boldness of the convoy movement — with days of honking in downtown Ottawa, border crossing blockades and the open display of a swastika and confederate flags — took many outside Canada by surprise. But those involved and people close to the protesters said it was a natural progression of frustration and disenfranchisement, especially in parts of western Canada, where resentment towards Ottawa has simmered for decades. Researchers point to a history of anti-government sentiment in largely conservative, oil-rich Alberta. The province prides itself on a frontier spirit and has long felt alienated from eastern Canada, accusing the federal government of relying on its fossil fuels without offering respect or autonomy in return. “Albertans see themselves as the people who pay for everyone else in Canada,” said Peter Smith, a researcher for the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, a non-profit organization that examines hate crimes and hate groups. In Magrath and the nearby town of Raymond, where Allred’s four camper van companions lived, anti-government sentiment and worries about federal over-reach remain strong. Shortly after Allred and her friends were arrested in Coutts in February, a large black flag reading “Fuck Trudeau,” with a red maple leaf replacing the first word’s “u,” flew in a backyard along the main road into Raymond. Another house bore “Hold the Line for Freedom” painted in red across a downstairs window, while many vehicles sported Canadian flags and symbols of support for the blockades. There was widespread sympathy for Allred and her companions, who were each charged, along with five others, with possession of a weapon for dangerous purpose and mischief. They have since been released on bail. In the most serious charges related to the convoy movement, four men from southern Alberta involved in a border blockade were arrested in February and accused of conspiring to kill police officers. They remain in custody awaiting trial. Two weeks after the Coutts blockade disbanded, another protest camp remained on the side of the highway farther north in Milk River: a small encampment of trailers and a food truck in a large open field, monitored by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser parked a discreet distance away. “That is waking the country up,” said Elliot McDavid, one of the camp organizers, adding the protests had achieved their goal of forcing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke the Emergencies Act to disband them. In the Ipsos survey in February, 58% of Albertans found convoy participants’ frustration legitimate and worthy of sympathy, compared to the 46% national figure. ‘A DANGEROUS TIME’ With broad support for policies like universal healthcare and gun control, Canada has long been viewed as more moderate than its southern neighbor. But analysts say right-wing extremism has long had a home north of the U.S. border — and the “Freedom Convoy” movement and related anti-government protests against COVID-19 restrictions have given it new momentum. A 2015 study identified about 100 far-right extremist groups. The number has tripled since then, Hofmann said. Larger groups have splintered but the overall number of participants has also grown, Hofmann said. He and his colleagues have identified about 1,200 visibly active participants who have either had contact with police or the media or have been active on social media, he said. This is up from previous counts but changing methodologies make comparisons difficult, he said. One group that has drawn the attention of analysts in recent months is the Hammerskins, an offshoot of a U.S. neo-Nazi organization. It had been quiet in Canada for nearly a decade but now has a presence in cities like Hamilton, Oshawa, and the Greater Toronto Area, with members also recruiting in British Columbia, said the Canadian Anti-Hate Network’s Smith. Attempts to contact the Hammerskins for comment were unsuccessful. “The convoy was huge and significant and will be a propaganda tool for a long time,” Smith said. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino in February alluded to the link between the convoy protests and extremism, saying: “We need to be clear-eyed about the seriousness of these incidents.” He said that some of those charged had “strong ties to a far-right extreme organization,” which a source in his office said at the time referred to the Diagolon right-wing network. Patches featuring Diagolon’s flag were affixed to body armor police seized in connection with arrests at the Coutts border blockade in February. Jeremy MacKenzie, the de facto founder of Diagolon — a fictional breakaway state that has become a symbol of anti-government sentiment among right-wing Canadians — has given prominent space to the convoy on his podcast and Telegram channel. In an interview with Reuters, MacKenzie said Diagolon started as a joke and is a loose social network of “patriotic people”, rather than a political movement. He says he is being unfairly targeted by Canadian authorities. The convoy was a success for Diagolon “because it is part of their goal is to destabilize and to sow doubt, and to delegitimize the government and the state,” a federal government source familiar with the matter said in February. Another group, Veterans 4 Freedom, emerged from the protests and aims to protect anti-establishment protesters and opposes COVID-19 restrictions, said Andrew MacGillivray, a military veteran who is part of the group. “The rights and freedoms of Canadians are eroding and we are going to work to sustain lawful civic action in order to restore those fundamental rights,” MacGillivray said in an interview. “We just want to make sure that if there’s any sort of protest and counter-protest that our volunteers can help keep the peace.” The group helped organize a June 30 protest in Ottawa featuring a veteran who walked thousands of kilometers to protest vaccine mandates and who now faces a court martial for criticizing vaccine policies while in uniform. Other anti-establishment voices have also been galvanized. Outspoken Calgary pastor Artur Pawlowski, who reckons he racked up about 40 tickets for violating pandemic restrictions, was charged with inciting people to damage or obstruct essential infrastructure during a speech at the Coutts blockade. Out on bail, he told Reuters he is fighting the charges and that the convoy had “awakened” people to fight for freedom. “The truth is I have become a symbol of freedom,” he said, later adding he is considering running for office. “I would clean your swamp. That’s what I do.” His son Nathaniel Pawlowski said he worries about what will happen if people angry at government restrictions are pushed too far: “If you study history, you know this is a dangerous time.” (Editing by Deepa Babington) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Harry Styles assisted a fan with his proposal at his concert in Portugal. The ‘As It Was’ hitmaker brought his ‘Love On Tour’ jaunt to Lisbon’s Altice Arena on Sunday (31.07.22), and helped a couple get engaged during his set. Harry – who is dating 38-year-old actress-and-director, Olivia Wilde – spotted the guy in the crowd and handed him a microphone, before he began singing Elvis Presley’s classic ballad ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ with the help of the crowd. The former One Direction star, 28, could be seen watching on as the man’s partner started singing along in a clip shared on social media. He then got the ring from his wallet and asked her: “Will you marry me?” She said “yes” before screaming and sharing a sweet embrace with her new fiancé. Harry congratulated the pair before resuming the show. The ‘Watermelon Sugar’ singer is always happy to help fans with their special requests at his shows. In June, Harry helped an Italian fan come out as gay at his Wembley Stadium concert. The fan, named Matteo, was holding a sign that read: “From Ono to Wembley: Help me come out.” And the ‘My Policeman’ star was more than happy to oblige. The ‘Sign of the Times’ singer declared Matteo “officially gay my boy” as he raised a Pride flag above his head. He said: “Congratulations Matteo, you are a free man.” And it wasn’t the first time. Last October, the pop star – who has a strong LGBTQ+ following – was performing a solo gig at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, when he assisted an audience member in their request to publicly declare their sexuality. After he spotted a girl holding a sign with “Help me come out” emblazoned across it in the packed-out crowd, the ‘Kiwi’ singer threw up a rainbow pride flag and said: “Anyone particular you’d like to come out to? “Is it for yourself? When I raise this flag you’re officially out, heard that’s how it works! She’s oooout!” The previous month, Harry did a gender reveal for a pregnant fan midway through his show. View the full article

Published by Reuters JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Monkeypox outbreaks in Africa are not concentrated among gay men, unlike in other parts of the world, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa CDC said on Thursday. Outbreaks of the viral disease have been reported from 78 countries, mostly in Europe, and 98% of cases outside the countries in Africa where it is endemic have been reported in men who have sex with men, the WHO says. But in Africa, where repeated outbreaks have been documented since the 1970s, the pattern of transmission is different, the experts said. “Currently 60% of the cases that we have – the 350 – 60% are men, 40% are women,” said epidemiologist Dr Otim Patrick Ramadan, who was answering questions on monkeypox at a media briefing organised by the WHO’s regional office in Africa, and who was referring to the continent’s number of current cases. He said that more than 80% of cases in Africa were in countries where transmission had happened before, and that typically people were initially exposed to the virus through contact with animals carrying it, before passing it to household members. He added that women typically took care of sick people at home, which was one of the factors in the spread among women. Dr Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, acting director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told a separate media briefing there was no evidence that transmission among gay men was a specific factor in African outbreaks. “We’ve been collecting data on monkeypox since 1970 and that particular indicator, men having sex with men, has never come up as a significant issue here in Africa,” he said. More than 18,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide in what the WHO has declared to be a global health emergency. Monkeypox spreads via close contact and tends to cause flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions. Public health agencies have stressed that although in many countries the outbreaks are concentrated among men who have sex with men, anyone can contract the virus through prolonged close contact or from particles on items such as bedding or towels. (Reporting by Estelle Shirbon and Alexander Winning; Editing by David Holmes) View the full article

Published by Reuters (Corrects byline) By Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam and Mohammad Yunus Yawar ISLAMABAD/KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban on Thursday said the government had no information about al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri “entering and living” in capital city Kabul and warned the United States to never repeat an attack on Afghan soil. The United States killed Zawahiri with a missile fired from a drone while he stood on a balcony at his Kabul hideout on Sunday, U.S. officials said, in the biggest blow to the militants since U.S. Navy SEALS shot dead Osama bin Laden more than a decade ago. “The government and the leadership wasn’t aware of what is being claimed, nor any trace there,” Suhail Shaheen, the designated Taliban representative to the United Nations, who is based in Doha, said in a statement. “Investigation is underway now to find out about the veracity of the claim,” he said, adding that the results of the investigation would be shared publicly. Taliban leaders have remained largely tight-lipped about the Sunday drone strike and have not confirmed the presence or death of Zawahiri in Kabul. Referring to the drone strike, the Taliban said “if such incidents are repeated again and if the territory of Afghanistan is violated then responsibility for any consequences will be on United States.” Top Taliban leaders have been holding lengthy discussions about how to respond to the U.S. drone strike, three sources in the group said. How the Taliban react could have significant repercussions as the group seeks international legitimacy and access to billions of dollars in frozen funds, following their defeat of a U.S.-backed government a year ago. Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor, was closely involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and was one of the world’s most wanted men. His death in Kabul raises questions about whether he received sanctuary from the Taliban, who had assured the United States as part of a 2020 agreement on the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces that they would not harbour other militant groups. Shaheen said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – the name the Taliban use for the country and their government – was committed to the agreement, signed in the Qatari capital, Doha. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Taliban had “grossly violated” the agreement by hosting and sheltering Zawahiri. (This story corrects byline) (Reporting by Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam and Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Editing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel) View the full article

Published by Reuters KHIMKI, Russia (Reuters) -A Russian prosecutor demanded U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner be sentenced to nine and a half years in prison on drugs charges at a trial that is expected to end in a verdict later on Thursday. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Feb. 17 with vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. Cannabis is illegal in Russia for both medicinal and recreational purposes. “The verdict is expected to be announced this evening,” said Griner’s lawyer Maria Blagovolina, partner at Rybalkin Gortsunyan Dyakin and Partners law firm. The cartridges threw the 31-year-old Texan athlete into the geopolitical maelstrom triggered when President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. During the most strained U.S.-Russian relations since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, U.S. President Joe Biden is under pressure to intervene on behalf of detained Americans – including Griner. (Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) View the full article

Published by Miami Herald MIAMI — As monkeypox stays on our minds, people turn to the internet for answers to their questions. The internet has no shortage of information, but it also has no shortage of misinformation. Much of the confusion is due to the mystery surrounding the monkeypox outbreak this year, said Dr. John Esin, medical director for the department of emergency medicine at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. In the past month, Esin has seen at least 20 confirmed cases of monkeypox. You may be wondering: How can I sift through monkeypox fact and fiction? Let us help. Is monkeypox a sexually transmitted di… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Michael K. Williams, the late actor who passed away last year from a drug overdose, was high on drugs when he met Barack Obama in 2008, Radar has learned. The startling incident was revealed in Williams’ upcoming posthumous memoir, Scenes from My Life, which he was in the process of writing when he was found dead from a fatal fentanyl, heroin and cocaine overdose in September 2021. Mega According to Williams, the incident took place in 2008 after Obama invited The Wire and Boardwalk Empire actor to meet him during a presidential campaign stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “I couldn’t even put my words together,” Williams wrote in his memoir. “I was such a mess. Obama shook my hand and I could see it in his eyes. He was like: ‘I don’t got time for this.’” “He kept it moving,” Williams continued, revealing he was on a “three-day cocaine binge” before the meeting. “I was not in my right mind. I told people I was nervous but actually I had lockjaw from too much cocaine.” Mega As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Williams was found dead in his Brooklyn, New York apartment on September 6, 2021. He was 54-years-old. The New York City Medical Examiner, who conducted the Lovecraft County star’s autopsy, found that Williams died of “acute intoxication from the effects of fentanyl, heroin and cocaine.” Nearly five months after Williams’ tragic passing, in February 2022, four men were arrested and charged with narcotics conspiracy and suspected conspiracy in connection to the fentanyl-laced heroin that resulted in the actor’s fatal overdose. Prior to his passing in September, Williams was very vocal about his battle with drug addiction and the negative impact it had on both his life and his successful acting career – although he never stopped fighting the battle to get sober. Mega “I still wrestle with the demons that won’t leave me. They never go away, they just get quiet enough so I can think straight,” he wrote towards the end of Scenes from My Life.“The struggles that nearly broke me connect me with so many others. I want to tell my story not because it is unique but because it is not.” “Everyone who is left here has lived to fight another day.” View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — Chicago actor Theo Germaine debuted on screen in the Ryan Murphy Netflix series “The Politician.” Then came their role on the Chicago comedy “Work in Progress” for Showtime. Now Germaine stars alongside Kevin Bacon in the slasher film “They/Them” for Peacock, set at a LGBTQ conversion camp. The movie’s writer-director is one-time Chicago playwright John Logan and Germaine calls it an “experimental journey into a different subgenre, in the sense that it is a clear empowerment film but it’s also a horror film at the same time. It’s a scary movie that takes a lot of negative stereotypes… Read More View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) An anti-LGBTQ campaign named Fetrah is making waves on social media after it urged users to promote the idea that there are only two genders, male and female. Taken from the Arabic word for “human instinct”, Fetrah surfaced after International Pride Month in the Middle East. Its creation follows a number of political controversies particularly in Saudi Arabia where authorities announced a recall of all rainbow-colored toys and clothing for children in Riyadh for “promoting homosexuality”. Designed by three Egyptian marketing professionals who have experience creating marketing campaigns for st… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Brad Reed One-time Republican strategist Stuart Stevens on Wednesday implored Democrats to go on offense ahead of the 2022 midterm elections — and he said that his former party has given them plenty of ammunition to work with. Writing on Twitter, Stevens reacted to a tweet from CNN host Jake Tapper in which he remarked on how productive Congress has been recently in passing significant legislation despite being split at 50-50. “Between infrastructure, gun safety, CHIPs, and the PACT Act, all passed in less than a year, I can’t recall a period of so many big and substantive bipartisan accom… Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet By Meaghan Ellis Several Republican lawmakers and presidential hopefuls have verbalized their support of former President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to make it easier to terminate workers employed with the federal government. Speaking to Axios, a number of lawmakers and Republican hopefuls weighed in with their take on the initiative. The responses indicate the significance of Trump’s influence over the political party. Regardless of whether or not he wins the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, the next Republican president may still carry out his proposed initiative — one that woul… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Selena Gomez is in talks to produce a reboot of the 1980s rom-com classic ‘Working Girl’. According to Deadline, the ‘Only Murders in the Building’ star is in final negotiations to revive the 1988 Mike Nichols flick, which starred Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver. The critically-acclaimed blockbuster told the tale of Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), a secretary whose idea is stolen by her boss, only for her to steal it back by pretending she has her boss’ job. The screenplay is being adapted by Ilana Pena, who is known for her work on Disney+’s ‘Diary of a Future President’. It’s reported that the reboot could be released on Hulu. At the time of writing, there is no director attached or cast. It’s not known if the 30-year-old singer-and-actress will have a role in the film as well as producing. Selena started her career on kids TV series ‘Barney and Friends’ before starring in Disney’s ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ and she recently admitted it was “frustrating” when she later attempted to move into grown-up acting roles. She said: “I felt like it was very difficult for people to take me seriously. I have slowly pushed through that, and I’m really glad, but it was very frustrating. I felt like a joke, you know?” Selena made the move from child star after ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ ended in 2012 and one of her first breakout roles was in crime drama ‘Spring Breakers’ opposite another former Disney star Vanessa Hudgens. She has since been able to carve out a career for herself post-Disney and her most recent project is Hulu TV series ‘Only Murders In The Building’, in which she plays Mabel Mora. Selena also previously served as executive producer of the Netflix teen drama ’13 Reasons Why’. View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Pat Cipollone, a White House counsel to former President Donald Trump, has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol Building, ABC News reported on Tuesday. Cipollone late last month testified by videotape before a congressional committee investigating the events of that day. ABC News, citing unnamed sources, reported that attorneys for Cipollone were expected to negotiate terms of his testimony before the grand jury. Thousands of Trump supporters breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s November 2020 victory. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bradley Perrett) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jane Fonda “avoids depression through exercise”. The 84-year-old actress revealed there is a lot of depression in her family so she does everything she can to avoid it. She told Vogue.com: “I come from a long line of depressed people. One of the ways that I avoid depression is through exercise. When I move, when I walk, when I exercise, the depression lifts. That and activism are the two best anecdotes for depression as far as I’m concerned. I mean, unless you have chronic depression, which is a different thing.” Jane also revealed she finds exercise empowering and has heard similar sentiments from other women who have done her famous workouts over the years. She said: “It started off with ballet. I started there and, oh, boy, that was it. I got hooked. When I took a ballet class, my body would change. So I did ballet almost every day. Then I was making a movie with Michael Douglas, ‘The China Syndrome’. I fell toward the end of the movie, and I broke my foot. It was in a cast for a while. Within a month, I had to do a movie where I wore a bikini, ‘California Suite’. So I had to do something, and I couldn’t do ballet. So after my foot got better, my stepmother told me about a class taught by a woman named Leni Cazden at the Gilda Marx studio. After a few weeks and my foot got better, I went and took the class and it was basically the workout. Oh, my God, it had a huge impact on me. “So that’s what I was doing. Leni and I decided to do a workout studio. Then she got married and was sailing around the world. I went ahead and did it. I was just fascinated with how [people embraced it]. I mean, maybe people started doing it because they wanted to get thin, but women would say to me, ‘I don’t take insulin anymore for my diabetes,’ or, ‘I stood up to my boss for the first time because I could see the muscles in my arms’. It empowered women in very profound ways. I was really happy about that.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Gabriella Borter (Reuters) – Kansas voters on Tuesday rejected an effort to remove abortion protections from the state’s constitution, a resounding win for the abortion rights movement in the first statewide electoral test since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The amendment’s failure in the conservative state lifted Democrats’ hopes that the issue of abortion rights will draw voters to the party in November’s midterm elections even as they worry about surging inflation. The result also will prevent Kansas’ Republican-led legislature from passing severe abortion restrictions in the state, which has become a key abortion access point for America’s heartland. “This should be a real wake-up call for abortion opponents,” said Neal Allen, a political science professor at Wichita State University. “When a total ban looks like a possibility, then you’re going to get a lot of people to turn out and you’re going to lose a lot of the more moderate supporters of abortion restrictions.” Political analysts had expected the Kansas amendment to pass, given that Republicans typically turn out in greater numbers for the state’s primary elections than Democrats and independents. But Tuesday’s vote drew higher-than-expected turnout. With 98% of the vote counted, 59% of voters favored preserving abortion rights compared to nearly 41% who supported removing abortion protections from the state constitution, according to Edison Research. “This is a titanic result for Kansas politics,” said Allen. Kansas’ ballot initiative is the first of several that will ask U.S. voters to weigh in on abortion rights this year. Kentucky, California, Vermont and possibly Michigan will have abortion on the ballot this fall. The successful “vote no” campaign in Kansas could offer a blueprint to abortion rights groups looking to harness voter energy in the wake of Roe’s reversal, Allen said. U.S. President Joe Biden joined Democrats across the country in applauding the results on Tuesday. “This vote makes clear what we know: The majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own health care decisions,” Biden said in a statement. A statewide survey released by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University in February showed most Kansas residents did not support a total abortion ban. Sixty percent disagreed that abortion should be completely illegal, and 50.5% said, “The Kansas government should not place any regulations on the circumstances under which women can get abortions.” Kansas Republicans had been pushing for a state constitutional amendment to eliminate abortion rights since 2019, when the Kansas Supreme Court ruled the state constitution protected the right to abortion. As a result of the ruling, Kansas has maintained more lenient policies than other conservative neighbors. The state allows abortion up to 22 weeks of pregnancy with several restrictions, including a mandatory 24-hour waiting period and mandatory parental consent for minors. HIGH STAKES IN NOVEMBER Patients travel to Kansas for abortions from Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and other states that have banned the procedure almost entirely since the Supreme Court in June overturned Roe, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. A spokesperson for the Trust Women abortion clinic in Wichita said 60% of their abortion patients are from out of state. Tuesday’s referendum drew national attention and money. The Value Them Both Association, which supported the amendment, raised about $4.7 million this year, about two-thirds of that from regional Catholic dioceses, according to campaign finance data. Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, the main coalition opposing the amendment, raised about $6.5 million, including more than $1 million from Planned Parenthood groups. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a national anti-abortion group, said it spent $1.4 million to promote the amendment and canvassed 250,000 homes in Kansas. “Tonight’s loss is a huge disappointment for pro-life Kansans and Americans nationwide,” said Mallory Carroll, a spokesperson for the group. “The stakes for the pro-life movement in the upcoming midterm elections could not be higher.” (Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Washington; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Brad Pitt has praised Ana de Armas’ “phenomenal” Marilyn Monroe performance in ‘Blonde’. The 58-year-old actor revealed the movie was in development for 10 years with his production company Plan B but it was only when Ana was cast that they could finally move forward. He told Entertainment Tonight: “It was 10 years in the making. It wasn’t until we found Ana that we could get it across the finish line. She is phenomenal in it. That’s a tough dress to fill.” ‘Blonde’ is a fictional account of Marilyn’s life, based on the 2000 novel by Joyce Carol Oates. Along with Ana, 34, the movie also stars Bobby Cannavale, Adrien Brody, Julianne Nicholson, Xavier Samuel and Evan Williams. Although Ana has been blasted for keeing her Cuban accent to play Monroe, she insisted she wants to defy traditional casting in Hollywood. She said: “I do want to play Latina. But I don’t want to put a basket of fruit on my head every single time. So that’s my hope, that I can show that we can do anything if we’re given the time to prepare, and if we’re given just the chance, just the chance. You can do any film – ‘Blonde’ – you can do anything. The problem is that sometimes you don’t even get to the room with the director to sit down and prove yourself.” View the full article