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Published by PopCrush A man took to Reddit explaining he became frustrated after his co-worker began oversharing about her pregnancy with him. At first he didn’t mind talking to her about her pregnancy, but it soon became an everyday discussion and now he says he knows “the ins and outs of her pregnancy better than her gyno at this point.” The man detailed that his co-worker would talk to him a minimum of 20 minutes each day about her pregnancy, going into private details he simply didn’t care to hear about. After asking her to stop, she revealed she had stereotyped him as the “gay guy” in the office — meaning she … Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Simone Biles competing on the vault at the 2016 P&G Gymnastics Championships in St. Louis, Missouri Washington (AFP) – Gymnastics star Simone Biles, actor Denzel Washington and the late tech visionary Steve Jobs have been named as recipients of America’s highest civilian honor, the White House said Friday. President Joe Biden designated 17 Americans to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, three of them posthumous. The White House said the medal recognizes “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.” Among the recipients is Megan Rapinoe, the Olympic gold medalist soccer star, two-time Women’s World Cup champion and outspoken advocate on equality, race and LGBTQ issues. Ahead of a ceremony on July 7, the White House said those honored had “overcome significant obstacles… and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities — and across the world — while blazing trails for generations to come.” One posthumous recipient this year is John McCain, a one-time Republican presidential nominee, long-time senator from Arizona, and Vietnam War veteran who won a Purple Heart. Previous winners of the presidential medal include the basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Motown singer Diana Ross and the actor Robert De Niro. View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Brad Reed A new report from the Washington Post provides more details about former President Donald Trump’s desire to match to the Capitol with supporters who would subsequently illegally break into the building and send lawmakers fleeing for their lives. One source tells the Post that Trump repeatedly brought up the idea of marching with his supporters down to the Capitol, as he thought it would deliver “a dramatic, made-for-TV moment that could pressure Republican lawmakers to support his demand to throw out the electoral college results” that showed Joe Biden winning the 2020 election. I… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Arnd Wiegmann SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland (Reuters) – Alois Carnier, 57, and Peter Leu, 67, said “wholeheartedly, I do” to each other on Friday as same-sex marriages became legal in Switzerland. It is the first time two men have walked out of the civil registry in their town of Schaffhausen as husband and husband. Voters approved the “Marriage for All” initiative by a nearly two-thirds majority last September, making Switzerland one of the last countries in Western Europe to legalise same-sex marriage. “The ceremony was really very important to me because this has been 20 years in the making,” said Carnier, who entered into a registered partnership with Leu in 2014 and has been active in a decades-long campaign to recognise gay rights. Across the country in Geneva, Aline, 46, and Laure, 45, also tied the knot after being together for 21 years. They have a four-year-old son and, like Leu and Carnier, they had previously been in a civil partnership. “In every sense, this is a new stage (for us),” said Laure, a human resources specialist who like her partner declined to give her family name. “It was a very moving and much-awaited moment, which sends a strong message to society… to be free to love,” said Geneva Mayor Marie Barbey-Chappuis, who attended the ceremony. EQUALITY Same-sex couples won the right to enter civil partnerships in 2007 and the right to adopt children parented by their partner in 2018. But they lacked rights granted married heterosexual couples, including access to regular adoption and sperm donations, as well as an easier path to citizenship for foreign spouses. Same-sex partners now have these options through marriage. For Leu and Carnier, the change carried emotional and societal weight. “I think it’s important that our marriage is recognised equally and isn’t put to the side in a special category,” said Leu. The men plan to cement their marriage with a religious wedding next year. In June, the council presiding over the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland to which Carnier belongs voted to bless the marriages of same-sex couples with the same sacraments and rituals as heterosexual weddings. The couple plans to invite family and friends to their religious ceremonies, including two adult children Leu shares with his ex-wife and a two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter. “I’m convinced that if she grows up with three grandfathers, then it will be something very natural for her,” Leu said. “The horizons have expanded. One sees there are many different ways to live today.” (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Arnd Wiegmann in Schaffhausen and Boris Heger in Geneva; Editing by Gareth Jones) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Valkyrie’s sexuality was a “big topic of conversation” among the makers of ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’. Tessa Thompson has reprised the role of Valkyrie in the Taika Waititi-directed Marvel movie, and she’s revealed that her character’s sexuality was a major point of discussion before and during the shoot. Tessa, 38 – who is attracted to both men and women, but chooses not to label herself bisexual – shared: “We talked about it a lot, it was big topic of conversation. Because I think rightfully there’s this real want in audiences to see characters be very clearly queer or LGBTQIA inside these spaces. And I think it’s hugely important to have representation. “And also, as humans, I think that we are not defined by our sexuality, and by who we love. And so sometimes I think to hang a narrative completely on that is a way of actually diminishing the humanity of the character. Because you don’t allow them to be anything else.” Tessa admits it’s difficult to explore the issue in real depth in a movie like ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’. However, she’s hopeful that it’ll happen one day. She told Yahoo Entertainment: “It becomes the only storyline, particularly in a movie like this where you don’t, frankly, have a lot of room for storyline,. “So there was a lot of conversation in terms of how to treat that with Valkyrie. And I feel really good, personally, about where we got to. “I hope that she’s a character that fans continue to connect to, that we have a lot of time to explore her, in all of her humanity. But whether or not she finds love in this movie doesn’t mean she’s not still a fabulous queer character that is open to finding love when it makes sense.” View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Playwright Donja R. Love wanted to write a show about a topic underrepresented on stage — and audiences have responded. His play “soft,” about life, death and HIV at a correctional boarding school, just had its run extended for the second time at the MCC Theater in Hell’s Kitchen. The show, which opened on June 9, was supposed to close June 26, but was extended, first to July 10, and now through July 17. “It’s beautiful and I’m in a bit of shock,” Love — who identifies as Afro Queer — told The Daily News. “I’m just really overwhelmed that it’s been received the way that it is and th… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority has shown in its blockbuster abortion ruling and other high-profile decisions in recent days that it is fearless when it comes to overturning – and even ignoring – historic precedents. And the conservative justices, with a 6-3 majority, may just be getting started, even as their current term came to a close on Thursday. Among the cases the court already has taken up for its next term, starting in October, are two that give its conservative bloc an opportunity to end college and university policies considering race in admissions to achieve more student diversity – an approach the court upheld in a 2003 precedent and reaffirmed in 2016. Another case in the coming term involving federal protections for waterways will put a further precedent to the test. The court in a flurry of recent rulings has overturned or undermined its own decades-old precedents. “I think the most conservative justices dislike much of modern American law and are actively changing it. They aren’t going to let precedent get in their way,” University of Virginia Law School professor Douglas Laycock said. The conservative justices have become increasingly assertive since the addition of former President Donald Trump’s third conservative appointee Amy Coney Barrett in 2020. Democratic President Joe Biden’s appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, sworn in to replace retiring fellow liberal Justice Stephen Breyer on Thursday, does not change the court’s ideological balance. In the abortion ruling, called Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the procedure nationwide, as well as one from 1992 that reaffirmed it. The conservative majority also consigned to oblivion rulings from 2016 and 2020 that struck down Republican-backed state abortion restrictions. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas has been forthright about his willingness to ditch Supreme Court precedent. “When faced with a demonstrably erroneous precedent, my rule is simple: We should not follow it,” Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion in a 2019 case. That Thomas opinion focused on “stare decisis,” a Latin term referring to the legal principle that courts should not overturn precedents without a special reason. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito seemed to take the same view in the June 24 abortion ruling https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf, writing that the Roe landmark was “egregiously wrong.” Thomas in the abortion case caused considerable alarm on the left by writing in his concurring opinion that the court should consider overturning other precedents protecting individual freedoms including the 2015 ruling that legalized gay marriage, the 2003 ruling that ended state bans on same-sex intimacy and the 1965 decision that protected access to birth control. RELIGIOUS RIGHTS In a June 27 religious rights ruling, the court took a slightly different approach to precedent when it further narrowed the separation of church and state in a decision in favor of a public high school football coach who was suspended by the local school district for leading prayers on the field with players after games. The court effectively overruled a 1971 precedent that had outlined how to determine if a government has violated what is called the “establishment clause” of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which prohibits governmental endorsement of religion, although it did not explicitly say so. Instead, conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that the court “long ago abandoned” the prior ruling and subsequent decisions that had built upon it. Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissenting opinion that nothing in the court’s previous cases “support this court’s decision to dismiss that precedent entirely.” David Gans, a lawyer at the liberal Constitutional Accountability Center, said the court did not appear to want to acknowledge a “sea change” in the law. “It’s very flippant,” Gans added. Conservatives have long complained about affirmative action policies used by many colleges and universities to increase their numbers of Black and Hispanic students. The cases the court will hear involve Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The court also will consider limiting the scope of a landmark federal environmental law that regulates waterways in a case in which the challengers have asked the court to reconsider a 2006 precedent. Among other major cases next term, the court will hear an appeal by North Carolina Republicans that could give state legislatures far more power over federal elections by limiting the ability of state courts to review their actions. Another case could further weaken the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act enacted to protect Black and other minority voters in a dispute over Republican-drawn U.S. House of Representatives districts in Alabama. The court throughout its history has occasionally explicitly overturned its precedents, starting in 1810 when it threw out a ruling from just two years earlier, according to a federal government database that lists 234 such cases. In recent years, the court was most willing to overturn precedent in 2019, when it did so four times. The court has found over time “lots of ways to evade, distinguish or overrule precedent,” Laycock said, adding that a liberal majority likely would do the same thing. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Steve Gorman (Reuters) – Just days after the U.S. Supreme Court abolished women’s constitutional right to abortion, Alabama has cited that ruling in a bid to outlaw parents from obtaining puberty blockers and certain other medical treatment for their transgender children. The citation came in an appeal by Alabama’s attorney general seeking to lift a federal court injunction that partially blocked enforcement of a newly enacted state ban on medical interventions for youth whose gender identity is at odds with their birth sex. The appeal is believed to mark the first time a state has expressly invoked the recent Supreme Court opinion overturning its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion and applied the same reasoning to a separate issue bearing on other rights. Echoing the high court’s language in striking down Roe, the Alabama appeal filed on Monday argued that the state has the authority to outlaw puberty-blocking hormones and other therapies for transgender minors in part because they are not “deeply rooted in our history or traditions.” The appeal also asserted that such treatments are dangerous and experimental, contrary to broad agreement among mainstream medical and mental health professionals that such gender-affirming care saves lives by reducing the risk of depression and suicide. Last Friday’s 5-4 decision from the Supreme Court’s conservative majority immediately paved the way for numerous states to enact measures erasing or restricting a woman’s ability to terminate her own pregnancy. But civil liberties advocates have also worried that the latest abortion ruling, in a Mississippi case titled Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, would invite attempts by Republican-controlled legislatures to take aim at other rights that conservatives oppose. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said nothing in the Dobbs decision should “cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.” However, Justice Clarence Thomas, in a concurring opinion, urged the court to reconsider past rulings protecting the right to contraception, legalizing gay marriage nationwide and invalidating state laws banning gay sex. CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATION The Alabama appeal seeking to restore its law barring parents for providing gender-transitioning medical care to their children appeared intended to draw just such a review, according to LGBTQ rights proponents. “This is the first case, to our knowledge, in which a state has invoked Dobbs to attack another fundamental right,” Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said in an email to Reuters on Thursday. Still, Minter said Alabama’s strategy was “unlikely to gain much traction because the majority opinion was so clear that its holding was restricted to the right to abortion.” Alito sought to distinguish abortion from other established rights because of its implication for terminating what the Roe ruling termed “potential life.” But many legal scholars have noted that Dobbs calls into question the constitutional foundation for other rights later recognized by the court. The Alabama law, passed by a Republican-dominated legislature, was blocked from enforcement in May, less than a week after it went into effect, in a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Liles Burke, an appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump. Burke held that higher court rulings made clear that parents have a right to direct the medical care of their children if it meets acceptable standards and that transgender people are protected against discrimination under federal law. Burke left in place the part of the law banning sex-altering surgeries, which experts say are extremely rare for minors, and other provisions prohibiting school officials from keeping certain gender-identity information secret from parents. (Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Robert Birsel) View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Matthew Chapman On Friday, the Green Bay Press Gazette reported that a prison guard in Brown County, Wisconsin will be given a plea deal that removes hate crime charges after he allegedly threw an LGBTQ woman into a fire. “According to police reports and witness accounts, on July 3, 2021, Green Bay Correctional Institute officer Shane Nolan called Dessiray Koss a derogatory term for LGBTQ people, threw her into an active fire pit and tried to strangle her when she fought back,” reported Natalie Eilbert. “Koss is openly gay and was at her private residence at the time of the incident. The at… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News Kim Cattrall has landed another new gig. The former “Sex and the City” star has been tapped to play a makeup mogul on Netflix’s upcoming queer-themed series “Glamorous.” The streaming giant announced the casting notice on Thursday to close Pride Month 2022. “Glamorous” revolves around Marco Mejia, a gender-nonconforming queer young man who lands a job working for makeup mogul Madolyn Addison. YouTube sensation Miss Benny was previously announced to play the lead; Cattrall will play Addison. The 65-year-old Golden Globe Award winner will get a chance to return to her fashion forward, no-nonsens… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Kristi Lieske conducts a survey of horseshoe crabs spawning on a beach at the Ted Harvey Wildlife Area near Dover, Delaware Dover (United States) (AFP) – On a bright moonlit night, a team of scientists and volunteers head out to a protected beach along the Delaware Bay to survey horseshoe crabs that spawn in their millions along the US East Coast from late spring to early summer. The group make their way up the shoreline laying a measuring frame on the sand, counting the individuals inside it to help generate a population estimate, and setting right those unfortunate enough to have been flipped onto their backs by the high tide. With their helmet-like shells, tails that resemble spikes and five pairs of legs connected to their mouths, horseshoe crabs, or Limulidae, aren’t immediately endearing. But if you’ve ever had a vaccine in your life, you have these weird sea animals to thank: their bright blue blood, which clots in the presence of harmful bacterial components called endotoxins, has been essential for testing the safety of biomedical products since the 1970s, when it replaced rabbit testing. “They’re really easy to love, once you understand them,” Laurel Sullivan, who works for the state government to educate members of the public about the invertebrates, tells AFP. “They’re not threatening at all. They’re just going about their day, trying to make more horseshoe crabs.” For 450 million years, these otherworldly creatures have patrolled the planet’s oceans, while dinosaurs arose and went extinct, and early fish transitioned to the land animals that would eventually give rise to humans. Now, though, the “living fossils” are listed as vulnerable in America and endangered in Asia, as a result of habitat loss and overharvesting for use in food, bait, and the pharmaceutical industry, which is on a major growth path, especially in the wake of the Covid pandemic. Recruiting citizen scientists helps engage the public while also scaling up the government’s data collection efforts, explains the survey project’s environment scientist Taylor Beck. Vital ecological role- “Crabs” are something of a misnomer for the animals, which are in fact more closely related to spiders and scorpions, and are made up of four subspecies: one that inhabits the Eastern and Gulf coasts of North America, and the other three in Southeast Asia. Atlantic horseshoe crabs have 10 eyes and feed by crushing up food, such as worms and clams, between their legs then passing the food to their mouths. Males are noticeably smaller than females, whom they swarm in groups of up to 15 when breeding. Males grasp females as they head to shore, where the females deposit golf ball-size clusters of 5,000 eggs for the males to spray their sperm on. Millions of these eggs, tiny green balls, are inadvertently churned up onto the beach surface, where they are a vital food source for migrating shorebirds, including the near-threatened Red Knot. Nivette Perez-Perez, manager of community science at the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, points out a vast band of eggs that stretch nearly the whole beach at the James Farm Ecological Preserve. As she gestures, aptly-named laughing gulls with bright orange beaks swoop down to feast. Like others in the area, Perez-Perez long ago succumbed to the crabs’ charms. “You’re so cute,” she tells a female she has picked up to point out its anatomical features. Just flip ’em Breeding is a dangerous business for horseshoe crabs as it’s on the beach that they are at their most vulnerable: as the tide washes in, some end up on their backs, and while their long hard tails can help some right themselves, not all are so lucky. Around 10 percent of the population is lost each year as their exposed undersides bake in the Sun. In 1998, Glenn Gauvry, founder of the Ecological Research & Development Group, helped start the “Just flip ’em” campaign, encouraging members of the public to do their part by gently picking up upturned crabs that are still alive. “Where it matters most of all, is changing the heart,” he tells AFP on Delaware Bay’s Pickering Beach, proudly sporting a “Just flip ’em” baseball cap festooned with horseshoe crab pins. “If we can’t get people to care and to connect to these animals, then they’re less likely to want legislation to protect them.” Every year around 500,000 horseshoe crabs are harvested and bled for a chemical called Limulus Amebocyte Lysate, vital for testing against a type of bacteria that can contaminate medications, needles and devices like hip replacements. Estimates place the mortality rate of the process at 15 percent, with survivors released back to sea. A new synthetic alternative called recombinant factor C appears promising, but faces regulatory challenges. Horseshoe crabs are a “finite source with a potentially infinite demand, and those two things are mutually exclusive,” Allen Burgenson, of Swiss biotech Lonza, which makes the new test, told AFP. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Vladimir Putin did not hold back after the members of G7 joked about the infamous picture showing the Russian leader riding a horse with no shirt on, Radar has learned. On Thursday, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States met to discuss Russia and the war in Ukraine. Mega During the meeting, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly suggested that the seven leaders remove their shirts to “show that [they’re] tougher than Putin” and “show them [their] pecs.” The quip was in reference to the 69-year-old Russian strongman’s habit of being photographed shirtless while riding horses, fishing, hunting and participating in other physical activities. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also joked about Putin’s penchant for shirtless photos when he suggested the seven leaders try to match the Russian president’s “bare-chested horseback riding display” – alluding to the infamous photo from 2009 showing Putin shirtless on a horse. Shortly after the Group of Seven’s meeting in the German Alps on Thursday, Putin fired back at the leaders while he was speaking to reporters in Turkmenistan. Mega “I don’t know how they wanted to get undressed, above or below the waist,” Putin said. “But I think it would be a disgusting sight in any case.” “Everything in a person should be harmonious: both body and soul,” the Russian despot continued, “but for that to happen it’s necessary to stop abusing alcohol and other bad habits, do physical exercise and take part in sports.” Putin patronized the G7 leaders even further when he described them as “people of character who could achieve success if they put their minds to it.” “[They] must work on themselves, but the very fact that they are talking about it is already good, is praiseworthy,” he concluded. Mega As RadarOnline.com reported, this is just the latest incident in which Putin disparaged members of G7 – the inter-governmental political forum that focuses on global leadership. Earlier this week it was revealed that – during a phone call between French President Emmanual Macron and the Russian president in February – Putin suggested he would rather play ice hockey than meet with United States President Joe Biden to discuss Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. “To be honest, I wanted to go play ice hockey,” Putin flippantly responded when Macron suggested he, Putin and Biden meet for a summit. “Here I am talking to you from the sports hall before starting the physical exertion. But first I will talk with my advisors.” View the full article

Published by New York Daily News A new Spider-Man is coming out — and he’s gay, proud, and fabulous. Marvel is introducing its first gay Spider-Man, a character named Web-Weaver, in the upcoming “Edge of Spider-Verse #5,″ out in September. Earlier this month, writer Steve Foxe announced on Twitter that he’d “had the huge gay honor of helping to co-create WEB-WEAVER, who’ll make his debut in EDGE OF THE SPIDER-VERSE #5 this September!” The character was designed by Kris Anka, who shared on Twitter late last week that he took inspiration from the late fashion designers Alexander McQueen, from England, and Thierry Mugler, from F… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth KYIV (Reuters) – Russian forces abandoned the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island on Thursday in a victory for Ukraine that could loosen the grip of Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian ports. Russia said it had decided to withdraw from the outcrop as a “gesture of goodwill” to show Moscow was not obstructing U.N. efforts to open a humanitarian corridor allowing grains to be shipped from Ukraine. Ukraine said it had driven the Russian forces out after an artillery and missile assault overnight. “KABOOM!” tweeted Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff. “No Russian troops on the Snake Island anymore. Our Armed Forces did a great job.” In another boost for Ukraine’s struggle to beat back the Russian invasion, the United States said it would provide another $800 million in weapons and military aid to Kyiv. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking after a NATO summit in Madrid, said Washington and its allies were united in standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I don’t know how it’s going to end, but it will not end with Russia defeating Ukraine,” Biden told a news conference. “We are going to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.” SMOKE AND FIRE The retaking of Snake Island came after weeks in which momentum in the four-month-old conflict appeared to be shifting in favour of Russia, which has focused its firepower on capturing cities and towns in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian military posted an image on Facebook of what appeared to be the island, seen from the air, with several columns of black smoke rising above it. “The enemy hurriedly evacuated the remains of the garrison with two speed boats and probably left the island. Currently, Snake island is consumed by fire, explosions are bursting,” it said. Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov said Ukrainian forces were not yet occupying the island but would do so. The rocky outcrop overlooks sea lanes to Odesa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port, where Russia is blocking food cargos from one of the world’s leading grain suppliers. Snake Island captured world attention after Russia seized it on the war’s first day. A Ukrainian guard, ordered by Russia’s flagship cruiser Moskva to surrender, radioed back “Russian warship: go fuck yourself”. “The most significant aspect is that this could open the door to Ukrainian grain exports from Odesa, which is critical for Ukraine’s economy and for the global food supply,” Rob Lee of the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said. Lifting the blockade has been a primary goal of the West. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused Russia of deliberately causing world hunger as “blackmail”. Moscow denies blocking the ports and blames food shortages on Western sanctions it says limit its own exports. “We do not prevent the export of Ukrainian grain. The Ukrainian military has mined the approaches to their ports; no one prevents them from clearing those mines and we guarantee the safety of shipping grain out of there,” Putin said on Thursday. Several military experts said that driving the Russians from Snake Island would not by itself be enough to unblock the ports. “Does that mean that suddenly the grain flows? No it doesn’t really,” said Marcus Faulkner, a lecturer of War Studies at King’s College London, noting that ports were still mined and that Russia could still intercept cargo ships at sea. Russia had defended the island since February despite Ukraine claiming to inflict severe damage, sinking supply vessels and destroying Russian fortifications. New weapons sent by the West made the Russian garrison even more vulnerable, especially HIMARS, a rocket system supplied by the United States which Ukraine began fielding last week. Lee said Russia’s abandonment of the island was “likely a tangible result of NATO arms deliveries to Ukraine”. Mathieu Boulegue of the Chatham House think tank in London cautioned that the Russian move could free up the assets deployed on Snake Island to strengthen its forces elsewhere on the Black Sea coast. “We should not be fooled by it…It might be short-term relief but there will be long-term pain,” he said. RUSSIAN MOMENTUM In the battle for the Donbas, Ukrainian authorities said they were trying to evacuate remaining residents from the city of Lysychansk, where they believe around 15,000 people remain. Russian forces have been trying to encircle Lysychansk since they captured Sievierodonetsk, on the opposite side of the Siverskyi Donets River, last week after weeks of heavy fighting. “Fighting is going on all the time. The Russians are constantly on the offensive. There is no let-up,” regional Governor Serhiy Gaidai told Ukrainian television. An official from the pro-Russian separatist administration in the province told RIA news agency the Lysychansk oil refinery was now fully controlled by Russian and pro-Russian forces, and all roads to Lysychansk were also under their control. Ukraine says the main road out is largely impassable because of fighting, but the city is not yet fully cut off. Despite yielding ground and taking punishing losses in the Donbas in recent weeks, Ukraine hopes to inflict enough damage to exhaust Russia’s advancing army. Ukrainian forces have been mounting a counter-attack in the south, where Russian-installed proxies have announced preparations for votes to join Russia. In Madrid, the NATO leaders repositioned the alliance on a Cold War footing once more, declaring Russia to be its main adversary and announcing plans to put 300,000 troops on a higher alert. The alliance invited Finland and Sweden to join, and leaders promised more weapons for Ukraine, including Biden’s pledge of a $800 million tranche of support on top of the more than $6.1 billion already announced by the United States since Russian forces rolled into Ukraine. Britain offered a further $1.2 billion in military aid, including air defence systems. (Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Peter Graff and Angus MacSwan; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Andrew Heavens) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department has opened a probe into a division of the New York City Police Department looking at whether it engages in gender-biased policing, including how it handles investigations of sexual assault and treatment of survivors, the department said on Thursday. The Justice Department said in a statement that it received information alleging deficiencies at the NYPD’s Special Victims Division (SVD) that have “persisted for more than a decade.” The alleged deficiencies include failing to conduct basic investigative steps and instead shaming and abusing survivors and re-traumatizing them during investigations, the Justice Department said. The probe will include a comprehensive review of the policies, procedures and training for SVD investigations of sexual assault crimes, the department said. “Based on information provided to the Justice Department, we find significant justification to investigate whether the NYPD’s Special Victims Division engages in a pattern or practice of gender-biased policing,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general, of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Victims of sex crimes deserve the same rigorous and unbiased investigations of their cases that the NYPD affords to other categories of crime,” the Justice Department said. The NYPD said it welcomed the review. “I believe any constructive review of our practices in the Special Victims Division will show that the NYPD has been evolving and improving in this area but we will be transparent and open to criticism as well as ideas in the process,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a statement. The probe will include a review of how SVD interacts with survivors and witnesses, how it collects evidence and completes investigations, and any steps the NYPD has taken to address deficiencies in its handling of sexual assault crimes, the Justice Department said. The Justice Department said it will also reach out to the public to learn about their experiences with the SVD. The department said it that in addition to notifying the police commissioner, it has notified New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYC Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix, who have agreed to cooperate with the investigation. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Leslie Adler) View the full article

Published by The Street By Veronika Bondarenko “The board has full confidence in him and his leadership team,” Disney’s board announced on Wednesday. When it comes to leadership of a company as big as Disney (DIS) – Get The Walt Disney Company Report, there truly is no pleasing everyone. there is always someone who will praise and someone who will want to oust top leadership. The entertainment company’s board on June 27 unanimously voted to extend CEO Bob Chapek’s contract by another three years until 2025. “Bob is the right leader at the right time for The Walt Disney Company, and the board has full confidence in hi… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA An online petition demanding that Justice Clarence Thomas must resign from the Supreme Court immediately or else be impeached is quickly gaining traction, Radar has learned. More than 450,000 signatures have rolled in since its launch. MEGA The creator via advocate group MoveOn explained why it’s “important” to sign the petition, citing how the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week, which in turn allowed each state to decide its own laws on abortions. “Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — who sided with the majority on overturning Roe — made it clear what’s next: to overturn high court rulings that establish gay rights and contraception rights,” the description continued. Thomas had argued in a concurring opinion that the Supreme Court “should reconsider” its past rulings on those matters. The petition also highlights that Thomas voted against a Supreme Court decision to compel the release of Donald Trump‘s records regarding the January 6 insurrection in 2021, mentioning Thomas’ wife as well amid questions over her involvement. The lawyer for the wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, has said his client will not voluntarily testify about what role she may have played in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and stay in power, as RadarOnline.com reported. Ron Sachs – CNP / MEGA In a letter obtained by The New York Times, Ginni’s attorney responded to the House January 6 committee, writing that there was no “sufficient basis” for her to appear. All of the above has fueled more public outcry in the wake of Cassidy Hutchinson‘s bombshell testimony against Trump, which he denied via his own platform, Truth Social. Hutchinson, who served as an aide to his last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, claimed Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his presidential vehicle and lunged at a Secret Service agent when he was “furious” they would not take him to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. MEGA Amid the controversies, Thomas has been accused of “mixing his powerful role with his conservative political activism.” The petition argues, “He must resign — or Congress must immediately investigate and impeach.” View the full article

Published by Reuters UK By Henriette Chacar JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Unilever on Wednesday sold its Ben & Jerry’s ice cream business in Israel to its local licensee for an undisclosed sum, aiming to smooth over a potentially damaging diplomatic row over the company’s political stance. The deal comes after the U.S. ice cream brand announced last year it would stop marketing products in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, saying that selling there was “inconsistent” with its values. Under the new arrangement Ben & Jerry’s ice cream will be available to all consumers in Israel and the occupied West Bank. The episo… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English London Pride will feature a Snapchat-powered AR art exhibition to celebrate queer artists. The annual event – which is set to take place in the capital on Saturday 2 July – is designed to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and and this year will project work from “underrepresented” artists onto iconic London landmarks with an exhibition titled ‘Pride Augmented: A Celebration of Queer Art’, which attendees can experience with Snapchat. Nnamdi Obiekwe, Co-Founder, V.O Curations said: “The opportunity to tell the stories of underrepresented and emerging LGBTQ+ artists through Snap’s AR technology is truly powerful and exciting. Pride Augmented: A Celebration of Queer Art is an exhibition geared towards creating a more inclusive LGBTQ+ community, a celebratory space for unique identities, and a restorative one for those who have faced barriers in their day-to-day lives. The exhibition is a reminder to all of the importance of representing and amplifying queer voices.” Curated by V.O Curations, the exhibition includes the artworks of Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Flo Brooks, Emanuel de Carvalho, Guendalina Cerruti, Bernice Mulenga and Ebun Sodipo and pride goers can discover the exhibition, by opening their Snapchat camera to scan a rainbow-splashed Snapcode and enjoy a virtual tour of the exhibition from ‘The Orb.’ Paul Sabas, Co-Lead, Snap Pride said: “It’s our privilege to partner with VO Curations to showcase and celebrate the beautiful artwork of underrepresented, emerging artists from the LGBTQ+ community ahead of London Pride. This is an exhibition that truly celebrates and empowers diverse voices from the queer community. AR is a powerful tool for storytelling and for inclusivity. We are excited to bring the stories of these artists to life for Snapchatters and make these artworks accessible to our Gen Z community – we hope this exhibit will spark important conversations and help marginalised individuals in the LGBTQ+ community feel seen.” View the full article

Published by The Boot To fans, Trixie Mattel is the raucous winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3. To the government, she’s Brian Michael Firkus and, no matter what you call her, she’s not just a pretty face: Mattel combines her act with country music that is as touching (and sometimes cheeky) as the best of them. Mattel grew up in Milwaukee, Wis. and developed an affinity for country music while living with her grandparents. Her grandfather, a country music musician, showed her the ropes. With a flair for the stage, Mattel earned a BFA in musical theater at the Peck School of the Arts at the University o… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Kit Connor says attending his first fashion show was “surreal”. The ‘Heartstopper’ star called attending the Loewe catwalk at Paris Fashion Week “crazy” and lived up the hype after being invited by creative director Jonathan Anderson – who has dressed stars such as Josh O’Connor and Sir Anthony Hopkins – after he finished his final school exams. The 18-year-old actor told GQ: “It was probably one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had, I did not see that coming. It’s one of those things that you always hear about as being one of the crazy experiences, and it lives up to it.” Kit loved the outfit that Jonathan dressed him, saying “It was a look that fed into my own classic taste, but had a subtle edge,” and admitted that supporting LGBT designer was “a message that he wants to continue with” and vowed to “support the community as best he can.” The Netflix star found his “outfit felt like a suit of armour” against the prongs of fans in the French capital. Kit said: “The crowds of Heartstopper fans in Paris were quite mad and myself and the other cast members were quite swamped when we left the hotel. In a weird way my outfit felt like a suit of armour, which I think is something that’s really great about fashion – it gives you a shield of confidence.” He also knows “there’s a lot” sartorially for him to try out before he finds his true style. Kit said: “I’m still only 18 years old and so I think there’s lot for me to try out. I love photo shoots and I love getting to wear things I’d never usually wear.” View the full article

Published by PopCrush On Reddit, a protective father shared how he called his sister out for disrespecting his son, which resulted in him promptly storming out of her wedding. The single father-of-three took to Reddit explaining his son, Connor, 15, came out as transgender five years ago. The man and his sons were invited to his sister’s wedding, who was “pretty indifferent” to Connor’s transition. “Her wedding was super well organized to the last detail. She wanted all the men to wear shirts and ties and the women, sundresses,” he wrote via Reddit. “I texted her a picture of our outfits the day before the wedding,… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Joseph Ax and Alexandra Ulmer (Reuters) -This week’s testimony at congressional hearings on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol assault portrayed an enraged Donald Trump throwing food against a White House wall, voicing support for threats against his vice president, and dismissing the news that some of his supporters had come armed with rifles. Democrats hope the revelations will remind voters why they didn’t reelect the former president in 2020. But the biggest political beneficiary may be Trump’s fellow Republican, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his top potential rival for the 2024 presidential nomination. Neither Trump nor DeSantis has yet declared a 2024 run for the White House, the first nominating contests are more than 18 months away, and the nation still needs to get through the Nov. 8 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the next two years. Trump has proven remarkably resistant to political damage and remains his party’s most popular figure. But still, there are signs that DeSantis’ star is rising. Dan Eberhart, a prominent Republican donor, estimated three-quarters of roughly 150 fellow donors with whom he regularly interacts backed Trump six months ago, with a quarter going for DeSantis. Now, the balance has shifted: about two-thirds want DeSantis as the 2024 nominee. “The donor class is ready for something new,” said Eberhart, who supports both politicians but says he’s much more excited about DeSantis. “And DeSantis feels more fresh and more calibrated than Trump. He’s easier to defend, he’s less likely to embarrass, and he’s got the momentum.” DeSantis has emerged as a fundraising giant, with a political war chest similar to Trump’s in size. He has raised more than $120 million since winning office in 2018, with recent financial disclosures showing his political accounts had over $110 million in cash in mid-June, with a November reelection campaign ahead. By comparison, Trump’s Save America group – his main political committee – had just over $100 million in cash at the end of May, according to a federal disclosure. Should DeSantis run for president, federal election rules would bar him from transferring leftover gubernatorial race money to a presidential campaign. He could, however, refund donors and resolicit the money for a White House bid. EASIER TO ‘INCH AWAY’ It remains to be seen whether the Jan. 6 hearings, which have presented evidence that Trump and his inner circle pushed conspiracy theories about voter fraud they knew to be false, will mar Trump’s standing among his supporters. The twice-impeached Trump has defied conventional wisdom many times in the face of prior scandals. In posts on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, Trump lambasted a former White House aide who testified about his behavior on Jan. 6 and denied her most explosive allegations. His reaction proved that he recognized how damaging the testimony was, said Douglas Heye, a Republican strategist. “It’s beneficial for anybody who’s looking at running for 2024,” Heye said. “This is making it easier for Republicans – candidate and voter – to inch away from Trump.” An opinion poll released last week in the state of New Hampshire, traditionally the site of the first presidential primary, showed Trump and DeSantis in a statistical tie among likely Republican voters. The University of New Hampshire poll found 39% supported DeSantis, with 37% backing Trump. That’s a dramatic swing from October, when Trump had double DeSantis’ support. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is weighing a 2024 campaign after breaking with Trump following the Capitol riot, was in a distant third at 9%. There have been other signals suggesting Trump’s power over Republican voters is not absolute. He has seen mixed results for his most high-profile endorsements in key swing states during this year’s midterm elections. Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich said Trump was in a “stronger position” than ever. “The American people remain hungry for his leadership,” Budowich said. A DeSantis spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. DeSantis, 43, owes his political rise in part to Trump, who endorsed him for governor in 2018 when DeSantis was a relatively obscure congressman. Trump’s backing helped propel DeSantis to an upset victory in the Republican primary, and he edged out a scandal-damaged Democratic candidate, Andrew Gillum, that November. After the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, DeSantis was aggressively skeptical on containment policies, relaxing restrictions on businesses and schools in defiance of federal guidelines and overruling local officials who sought to preserve mask mandates. He has also enacted numerous conservative bills with the help of the Republican-controlled legislature, including an election “police force” dedicated to investigating voter fraud, new voting limits, and a ban on teachers discussing gender identity with young children – decried by critics as the “don’t say gay” law. In an unprecedented move, he effectively took over the redistricting process from Republican lawmakers, vetoing their congressional map and substituting his own proposal that eliminated two majority-Black districts while delivering four additional seats to Republicans. “He’s taking on every culture war fight that he can to demonstrate to the base that he’s a fighter,” Heye said. (Additional reporting by Jason Lange in Washington, Editing by Scott Malone and Rosalba O’Brien) View the full article

Published by Al-Araby Amazon has restricted the sale of LGBTQ-related products on its website in the UAE following “government pressure”, according to reports on Wednesday. The tech giant blocked over 150 LGBTQ-related search terms alongside the sales of items including Pride flags and books, after the UAE gave Amazon until Friday to adhere to its demands, according to company documents seen by The New York Times. The UAE is classified by UK LGBTQ Charity Stonewall as a Zone 3 country, which means “sexual acts between people of the same sex are illegal”. The move comes as Pride Month, dedicated to empowering the LG… Read More View the full article

Published by Al-Araby For the LGBTQI+ community in North Africa and the Middle East, Pride Month is bittersweet. While celebrating their love and existence within safe and private spaces, members of the queer community in many North African and Middle Eastern countries are painfully reminded on an almost daily basis of the prevailing homophobia that exists within their societies. “Tunisia is often hailed as a shining example when it comes to advancements in gender justice in the region in the wake of the Arab Spring; however, there is still a lot of work to do” Confronting the challenges that continue to exist for … Read More View the full article