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Published by BANG Showbiz English Chris Hemsworth thinks Thor is a constantly evolving character. The 38-year-old actor first played the iconic superhero in 2011 and since then, Chris thinks Thor has been different in every subsequent movie. He reflected: “Where we started in the first film to now, there’s been many versions of the character and so I’ve always hoped … and I think there is something unique about each time we see him in a film, he has changed. There’s been something sort of … unexpected to the character.” Chris believes Thor has become more relatable since director Taika Waititi joined the franchise. The Hollywood star suggested that Taika, 46, has made Thor more humorous and also more emotionally vulnerable. He told IGN.com: “I definitely think from ‘Ragnarok’ onwards, his sense of humour made it all the more relatable and there was a greater sense of fun and enjoyment there to be had. “I think the more vulnerable he became too over times and the more complex – as far as he was susceptible to emotional trauma, or emotional complications – his mental fitness wasn’t always at a ten … I think people kind of appreciated that.” Meanwhile, Tessa Thompson recently revealed that Valkyrie’s sexuality was a “big topic of conversation” among the makers of ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’. The actress has reprised the role of Valkyrie in the new Marvel movie, and she revealed that her character’s sexuality was a major point of discussion before and during the shoot. Tessa – who is attracted to both men and women, but chooses not to label herself bisexual – said: “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.” View the full article

Published by AFP Liz Cheney (pictured during a January 6 attack hearing investigating in Washington, DC, in June 2022) was one of just 10 Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the insurrection by his supporters Washington (AFP) – Congresswoman Liz Cheney, a rising Republican star until she refused to accept Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election, says she has not ruled out a US presidential run in 2024. “I’ll make a decision about ’24 down the road,” she said in an interview Sunday with ABC talk show “This Week.” “The single most important thing is protecting the nation from Donald Trump.” Wyoming representative Cheney was one of just 10 Republicans in the House of Representatives who voted to impeach the former president for inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection by his supporters. The 55-year-old is now vice chair of the special House committee investigating whether Trump was responsible for the attack on the US Capitol, as he sought to stay in power after losing the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden. “A man as dangerous as Donald Trump can absolutely never be anywhere near the Oval Office ever again,” Cheney said, telling ABC she thinks her Republican Party “can’t survive” if the real estate mogul wins the nomination again in 2024. “Those of us who believe in Republican principles and ideals have a responsibility to try to lead the party back to what it can be,” she said. Trump, who still holds outsize influence in the Republican Party, has discussed a potential new candidacy with increasing openness, with some outlets reporting he could announce his campaign by the end of July. Even as Cheney — daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney — mulls a White House bid she is fighting for her political life in Wyoming, where a Trump-backed rival is challenging her in the state’s Republican primary, to be held next month ahead of November’s midterm elections. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Silvio Berlusconi’s ex-partner Francesca Pascale has married her singer girlfriend of two years amid global Pride celebrations. They held a service on Saturday (02.07.22), after reports the former prime minister of Italy, 85, had put his 1,140 square metre mansion on the market, which he bought in 2015. Pascale, 36, and her wife – 57-year-old musician Paola Turci, who has released 17 studio albums – shared a picture of their ceremony on Instagram. The Giornale di Merate newspaper reported Berlusconi’s villa and its surrounding 40,000 square metres of parkland could be up for sale, with a real estate consultant telling the publication: “I have set up meetings. I don’t have an exclusive on it, but I don’t believe it’s been sold yet.” Once the home of footballer and businessman Valentino Giambelli, it was purchased by Berlusconi for €2.5 million (£2.2 million) as a gift for Pascale, who he met in 2006 and started dating a few years later after his split from his former wife. The home underwent a €29 million (£25 million) renovation that included installing a wine cellar, Brianza furniture and a room for the couple’s poodle. Berlusconi and Pascale split at the height of the coronavirus lockdown in 2020 and his ex has since reportedly been living with Turci. Even though the ex-prime minister and Pascale were not married, they had a financial deal that saw her walk away from their relationship with a €20 million (£17 million) payout – equivalent to €2 million (£1.7 million) for every year they were together. She also received a €100,000-a-month (£86,000) monthly payment to sustain her lifestyle. Berlusconi recently made his relationship official with 32-year-old Forza Italia member Maria Fascia. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) -New York state passed a law on Friday banning guns from many public places, including Times Square, and requiring gun-license applicants to prove their shooting proficiency and submit their social media accounts for review by government officials. The law, passed in an emergency legislative session, was forced by a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week that struck down New York’s restrictive gun-license laws. The court’s conservative majority ruled for the first time that the U.S. Constitution grants an individual the right to carry weapons in public for self-defense. New York’s Democratic leaders have decried the ruling and the court, saying there will be more gun violence if there are more people carrying guns. They conceded they must loosen the state’s century-old permit scheme to comply with the ruling, but sought to keep as many restrictions as they could in the name of public safety. Some will likely be targets for further legal challenges. The court ruled that New York’s former license regime, which dates from 1911, gave too much discretion to officials to deny a permit. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who ordered the extraordinary session in the legislature, said the state’s gun-licensing regulations had resulted in New York having the fifth-lowest rate of gun deaths of the 50 U.S. states. “Our state will continue to keep New Yorkers safe from harm, even despite this setback from the Supreme Court,” she told a news conference in the state capital, Albany, while lawmakers were debating the bill. “They may think they can change our lives with the stroke of a pen, but we have pens, too.” The court’s ruling allowed that people could be banned from carrying weapons in certain “sensitive places” but warned lawmakers against applying the label too broadly. The court also made it easier for pro-gun groups to have a regulation overturned. It ruled that a weapons regulation was likely unconstitutional if it was not similar to the sort of regulations around in the 18th century, when the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-2 was ratified, letting states maintain militias and defining a right to “keep and bear Arms.” The law passed on Friday makes it a felony crime to carry a gun into a new list of sensitive places, including: government buildings, medical facilities, places of worship, libraries, playgrounds, parks, zoos, schools, colleges, summer camps, addiction-support centers, homeless shelters, nursing homes, public transit including the New York City subway, places where alcohol or marijuana is consumed, museums, theaters, stadiums and other venues, polling places and Times Square. Law enforcement officials and registered security guards are among those exempt from the sensitive-place restrictions. Republican lawmakers voted against the law, set to take effect on Sept. 1, complaining that it makes the right to carry weapons lesser than other constitutional rights, such as freedom of speech and of religion. “Now, it’s going to be easier to get a concealed-carry” license, said Mike Lawler, a Republican member of the Assembly, during the debate. “But you’re not going to be able to carry it anywhere.” ‘FLAGRANT VIOLATION’ The National Rifle Association, the powerful gun-owners’ rights group whose local affiliate was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, called New York’s law a “flagrant violation” of the ruling by creating more barriers to New Yorkers’ self-defense rights, indicating it may soon face legal challenges. “Gov. Hochul and her anti-Second Amendment allies in Albany have defied the United States Supreme Court with an intentionally malicious rewriting of New York’s concealed carry law,” Darin Hoens, the New York NRA state director, said in a statement. The court ruled in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen that New York licensing officials had too much subjective discretion over who could enjoy what it said was a constitutional right. Applicants were denied a concealed-carry permit if they could not convince an official they had “proper cause,” or some kind of special reason, for carrying a handgun for self-defense. Reluctantly and not without protest, Hochul agreed the state must remove the “proper cause” requirements, though the law still requires licensing officers find the applicant is of “good moral character.” The new licensing rules require applicants to meet with the licensing officer, usually a judge or a police official, for an in-person interview, and provide the contact details of some immediate family members and any adults they live with. The law makes it a felony to carry a gun into private business premises unless the business affirmatively gives notice that concealed weapons are welcome. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Chris Reese, Daniel Wallis and William Mallard) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jason Lange and Jonathan Landay (Reuters) -Police killed Jayland Walker, a Black man in Ohio, by shooting him dozens of times as he ran from officers following a traffic stop, a lawyer for his family said, citing a review of police body-worn camera footage due to be made public on Sunday. In comments published on Saturday by the Akron Beacon Journal, attorney Bobby DiCello described the video as “brutal,” and said Walker’s relatives worried that protests this weekend could turn violent. The shooting was the latest in a spate of killings of Black men by law enforcement in the United States that critics say are unjustified, including the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis that ignited global protests against police brutality and racial injustice. “We’re all bracing for the community’s response, and the one message that we have is the family does not need any more violence,” DiCello said. Akron police have said Walker, 25, fired a gun at officers who were pursuing him. They plan to release their body camera footage following a news conference on Sunday, hours before a protest march is scheduled. “Protest is a way of crying,” Rodderick Pounds Sr., pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Akron, said during a prayer rally there on Saturday after he was permitted to see the video prior to its being made public. Pounds declined to describe in detail “the graphic video the world is about to see,” but he called the footage “shocking,” saying it showed Walker posed no threat when he was shot down in a manner the pastor likened to a “massacre.” “It’s barbaric,” Pounds said in an interview with local television station WEWS-TV. “You’ll see tomorrow.” Officials have said the deadly confrontation began when officers tried to stop Walker for a traffic violation while he was driving early Monday morning. Walker fled, according to the Akron Police Department, which said officers reported a gun being fired from Walker’s vehicle. After several minutes Walker exited his vehicle and ran, while officers chased him on foot and fired at him, saying he presented a “deadly threat,” the police department said in a statement on Tuesday. Walker was pronounced dead in the parking lot where he fell. Police representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday. DiCello said his team has not seen any evidence Walker fired a weapon and that police body-camera footage showed him running with his back to officers when they gunned him down. “He is just in a down sprint when he is dropped by I think the count is more than 90 shots,” DiCello told the Beacon Journal. “Now how many of those land, according to our investigation right now, we’re getting details that suggest 60 to 80 wounds.” It was not clear how many bullets struck Walker because bullets can cause wounds both entering and exiting the body, DiCello said. Television station WJW-TV said a preliminary report from the medical examiner’s office found Walker sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his head, torso and legs, and that a weapon was recovered from a car by Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, though it did not specify which car. Pounds told WEWS that Walker “did not have a weapon when he was shot. It was in his car.” Compounding the tragedy, according to the Beacon Journal, Walker’s fiance had died in a car accident last month, though WJW cited attorneys for his family as saying Walker had no intention of harming himself or others when he was killed. The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave during an investigation, the department’s statement said. (Reporting by Jason Lange and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Adele was a “shell of a person” after cancelling her Las Vegas residency at the last minute. The ‘Easy On Me’ hitmaker stunned fans in January when she axed her concert series just days before it was due to start and she admitted she was plagued by guilt but needed time to “grieve”. Speaking to Lauren Laverne on ‘Desert Island Discs’, she said: “I was a shell of a person for a couple of months. I just had to wait it out and just grieve it, I guess, just grieve the shows and get over the guilt, but it was brutal.” The 34-year-old star knows how disappointing her decision was for fans but she still believes she did the right thing. She said: “The show was not good enough. Maybe my silence has been deadly, I don’t know. But it was horrible. “I definitely felt everyone’s disappointment and I was devastated, and I was frightened about letting them down. I’d thought I could pull it together and make it work and I couldn’t, and I stand by that decision. “I don’t think any other artist would have done what I did and that is why it was such a massive, massive story. It was like, ‘I don’t care. You can’t buy me, you can’t buy me for nothing. I’m not going to just do a show because I have to or because people are going to be let down or because we’re going to lose loads of money.’” While Adele was criticised for staying silent in the aftermath of the cancellation but she insisted it wasn’t necessary for her to keep addressing fans. She said: “Of course I could be someone on TikTok or Instagram Live every day, being like ‘I’m working on it’. Of course I’m working on it! I’m not gonna update you if I ain’t got nothing to update you with, because that just leads to more disappointment.” The ‘Someone Like You’ singer still battles stage fright and she knows when it will be time to call it a day. She said: “My adrenaline means I am excited and my nerves mean I want to go and do a great show. When I don’t feel like that, I am done – l won’t do it any more. I think a lot of people actually don’t care any more and it breaks my heart when I go to a show or I hear an album and I think: ‘I don’t think they care about what they are doing any more’.” The ‘Hello’ singer – who has nine-year-old son Angelo with ex-husband Simon Konecki and is in a relationship with Rich Paul – acknowledged she has tried to keep out of the public eye but her desire to be “such a recluse” has only “fuelled” further interest in her. She said: “Sometimes it used to be two years and I wouldn’t be seen anywhere. I used to just hang out at home. But also I have a whole setup of how I move, and no one ever knows, just so I can go out and be completely carefree.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s top security officer has asked Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to enforce laws barring picketing outside the Maryland homes of high court justices, saying protests and “threatening activity” have increased. Supreme Court Marshal Gail Curley made the request in a July 1 letter to Hogan, noting that Maryland law prohibits people from intentionally assembling “in a manner that disrupts a person’s right to tranquility in the person’s home.” “I am writing to request that the Maryland State Police, in conjunction with local authorities as appropriate, enforce laws prohibiting picketing outside the homes of Supreme Court justices who live in Maryland,” Curley told Hogan, according to a copy of the letter posted on the Fox News website. Abortion rights activists began protesting outside the Maryland homes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the Virginia home of Justice Samuel Alito Jr. after the leak in May of a draft opinion indicating the court would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision guaranteeing women the right to an abortion. The court last month issued a final opinion that did just that. Curley reminded the governor that in May, he said he was “deeply concerned” over picketing outside justices’ homes in his state. Hogan made the statement in a joint letter with Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland seeking enforcement of a federal law barring demonstrations intended to sway judges on pending cases. “Since then, protest activity at Justices’ homes, as well as threatening activity, has only increased,” Curley told Hogan, adding that protesters have for weeks used bullhorns, chanted slogans, and banged on drums. The letter also noted “an attempt on a Justice’s life,” an apparent reference to the arrest last month near Kavanaugh’s home of a California man armed with a handgun, a knife and pepper spray. (Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by David Gregorio) View the full article

Published by AFP The New York state senate — seen here in June 2011 — took action on Friday July 1, 2022 to add the right to an abortion to the state's consitution. New York (AFP) – The US state of New York moved to enshrine abortion rights and access to contraception in its constitution Friday, becoming a vanguard in the pushback against a seismic ruling by the country’s Supreme Court that upended reproductive rights nationwide. The state Senate “advanced the first passage of an amendment to codify the right to an abortion and the right to contraception in the State Constitution,” it said in a statement. New York state law already permits abortions, so the move would add an extra layer of legal protection for the procedure. The amendment also seeks to “update the existing Equal Rights Amendment to extend current protections to several new classes, including on the basis of sex, disability, national origin, ethnicity, and age,” it said. After passing the Senate, the legislation will next go to the state Assembly, where it is expected to be passed. Voters will then cast their ballot on it directly in a referendum. Conservatives in the United States have been working for decades to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that said the US constitution provides for a right to an abortion. Last month they got their wish when the court’s new conservative majority overturned Roe with a decision that was widely expected, but nonetheless ignited nationwide protests and brought international condemnation. The decision handed power back to the states to make their own rules on abortion, and up to half are expected to ban or severely restrict it. Others have declared themselves abortion “sanctuaries” and vowed to protect the right, as well as other rights such as gay marriage which progressives now fear are in the court’s sights. “The reversal of Roe v. Wade made it clear that New York State must continue to stand up and be a national leader to protect women and individual rights,” said New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat, in the statement. View the full article

Published by Orlando Sentinel ORLANDO, Fla. — The new Florida law dubbed “don’t say gay” by its critics kicked in Friday, banning instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in primary grades — and creating fears that all topics related to LGBTQ people are off limits in public schools. State leaders dismiss those complaints, saying the law, officially known as the Parental Rights in Education act, or HB 1557, has been the subject of “fear mongering” and does not attack gay or transgender students, employees or parents. The law’s goal is to limit instruction on those topics in the earliest grades, leaving that up … Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lindsay Lohan has married Bader Shammas. The 36-year-old actress has taken to social media to announce that she’s tied the knot with the Dubai-based financier. Alongside a photo of herself and Bader, Lindsay wrote on Instagram: “I am the luckiest woman in the world. Not because I need a man, but because he found me and knew that I wanted to find happiness and grace, all at the same time. I am stunned that this is my husband. My life and my everything. [heart emoji] every woman should feel like this everyday [heart and prayer emoji] (sic)” A rep for the actress subsequently confirmed to ‘Entertainment Tonight’ that the loved-up couple are now legally married. Lindsay and Bader announced their engagement in November, when the ‘Mean Girls’ star shared the news with her social media followers. Alongside a photo of her sparkling engagement ring, Lindsay said at the time: “My love. My life. My family. My future. @bader.shammas #love [ring emoji] (sic)” Lindsay – who shot to fame as a child and has spent time in rehab due to alcoholism – previously revealed what she was looking for in a man. The Hollywood star explained in 2019 that she was seeking someone who didn’t crave the spotlight and was successful in their own right. She said: “[I want] someone who hates the spotlight. No, seriously, someone who doesn’t have Instagram. [And] a smart businessman. “I haven’t met anyone that’s hit those [marks].” Lindsay also insisted she wouldn’t turn to dating apps in her bid to find love. The actress explained at the time: “It’s great for people that it works for and that love it but, no, it’s not for me, personally.” View the full article

Published by Reuters (Corrects paragraph 15 to attribute testimony about Trump throwing a plate to Cassidy Hutchinson, not Kayleigh McEnaney; corrects name of judge in paragraph two to David Carter, not Andrew Carter) By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. congressional committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol has sought to build a case that then-President Donald Trump behaved illegally when he sought to overturn his 2020 electoral defeat, but what charges might prosecutors bring against Trump and how might he defend himself? Here are some ideas being floated now: OBSTRUCTING AN OFFICIAL PROCEEDING In a March 2 court filing, the committee detailed Trump’s efforts to persuade then-Vice President Mike Pence to either reject slates of electors for Joe Biden, who won the election, or delay a congressional count of those votes.. The president’s efforts likely violated a federal law making it illegal to “corruptly” obstruct any official proceeding, or attempt to do so, said David Carter, the California federal judge overseeing the case. Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, said Trump dismissed concerns that some supporters gathered for his fiery speech outside the White House that day carried AR-15-style rifles, instead asking security to stop screening attendees with magnetometers so the crowd would look larger. She testified Trump demanded to be taken to the Capitol to join supporters rioting ahead of Pence’s expected certification of the vote and tried to grab the steering wheel when his security detail insisted on returning him to the White House. Hutchinson said the conversation was relayed to her by Tony Ornato, a senior Secret Service official who was Trump’s deputy chief of staff for operations. Ilya Somin, professor of law at George Mason University, said the testimony could “bolster the chances of indicting and convicting Trump, especially insofar as some potential charges hinge on his motives and state of mind.” Trump denied Hutchinson’s account in a statement posted on Truth Social, his social media app, and called her story about him grabbing the steering wheel “fake” and “fraudulent.” Trump has accused the committee of conducting a “sham investigation.” The New York Times and NBC, citing sources in the Secret Service, said the head of Trump’s security detail, Robert Engel, and the limousine driver were prepared to testify under oath that Trump never lunged for the steering wheel. CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE UNITED STATES In the March 2 filing, the committee said it was likely that Trump and others conspired to defraud the United States, which criminalizes any effort by two or more people to interfere with governmental functions “by deceit, craft or trickery.” In addition to Trump’s efforts to pressure Pence, the committee cited his attempts to convince state election officials, the public and members of Congress that the 2020 election was stolen, even though several of his allies told him there was no evidence of fraud. According to Hutchinson’s testimony, Trump’s White House press secretary at the time, Trump was so enraged by then-Attorney General Bill Barr’s interview with the Associated Press saying there was no evidence of election fraud that Trump threw his lunch at the wall, breaking a porcelain dish and leaving ketchup dripping down the wall. SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY? Prosecutors already have charged more than a dozen members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups who were at the Jan. 6 riot with seditious conspiracy, a rarely used statute that makes it illegal to overthrow the U.S. government by force. To prove seditious conspiracy, prosecutors would need to show Trump conspired with others to use force, said Barbara McQuade, a law professor at the University of Michigan and a former federal prosecutor. “While her testimony is consistent with that theory, it does not alone establish it,” McQuade said. OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE At the end of Hutchinson’s testimony, Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican, presented possible evidence of witness tampering and obstruction of justice. Cheney showed messages to unidentified witnesses advising them that an unidentified person would be watching their testimony closely and expecting loyalty. If the committee has evidence that the people who sent the messages had a “tacit understanding” with Trump, prosecutors could use it to show there was a conspiracy to tamper with witnesses, said Daniel Medwed, a law professor at Northeastern University in Boston. “They were setting the table for witness tampering and likely have other witnesses coming in to nail that down,” he said. The fact that Cheney did not identify the sender of the messages suggests it may be “more of a shot across the bow to get the person to knock it off,” McQuade said. TRUMP’S DEFENSE? Trump has repeatedly denied doing anything illegal in connection with the Jan. 6 events. If the Justice Department brings charges, prosecutors’ main challenge will be proving that Trump acted with corrupt intent, experts said. Trump could argue he sincerely believed that he won the election and that his well-documented efforts to pressure Pence and state election officials were not meant to obstruct Congress or defraud the United States, but to protect the election’s integrity. Hutchinson’s account could make it more difficult for Trump to assert this defense, Medwed said. “Prior to (Tuesday’s) disclosures, the biggest hurdle to charging Trump related to mental state: to proving that he intended to obstruct an official proceeding or to agree with others to defraud the U.S. or foment rebellion,” Medwed said. “(Tuesday’s) testimony offered powerful circumstantial evidence that it was his intent to do those things.” DOES THIS MEAN TRUMP WILL BE CRIMINALLY CHARGED? No. Neither Carter nor the committee can charge Trump with federal crimes. That decision must be made by the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland. The department is conducting its own sprawling investigation of the Jan. 6 events, but has not signaled whether it intends to indict Trump, a decision that could have enormous political consequences as Trump weighs another run for the presidency in 2024. The department did not respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Kenny Goss didn’t want to be “Mrs George Michael”. The 63-year-old businessman had a 13-year relationship with the pop icon – who died on Christmas Day in 2016, aged 53 – but Kenny admits he wasn’t happy to sacrifice his own career for the sake of their romance. Kenny – who headed a team of 200 sales reps in the US during their relationship – recalled: “He said: ‘Look, you don’t need to work, we have plenty of money.’ He wanted me to be around all the time, to be at home when he came back late from the studio, and to look after the dogs. So, I quit. “Looking back, it was the wrong thing to do. I ate a lot of nice meals, drank a lot of martinis at Claridge’s and became a bit of a party boy. “George was always in the studio, so I’d pass the time going to the gym, tidying the house and walking the dogs. But I didn’t want to be Mrs George Michael – it wasn’t my personality.” The ‘Faith’ hitmaker eventually confronted his partner about the issue. Kenny told the Daily Mail newspaper: “It was a real dressing down. In that very direct and brutally honest way of his, he asked me what I was doing with my life. He said: ‘You have to do something and give back.’ “It brought me to my senses and motivated me to show him what I could do.” George and Kenny’s romance had petered out by 2009. However, they remained on good terms and George “never quibbled about money”. He said: “There was no big falling out – we never shouted at each other or anything like that – but he’d met Fadi Fawaz and I guess he decided it was time to say that it was over. “Our romantic life was over, but the love was still there. He gave me full title to our houses in Dallas and LA – he took care of me. George never quibbled about money.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Adele finds the thought of letting down her fans to be “mortifying”. The 34-year-old singer feels she failed her fans by postponing her residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas earlier this year, and Adele addressed the issue during her BST Hyde Park performance on Friday (01.07.22). The Grammy-winning star – who was performing her first UK gig in five years – told the crowd: “I know that a lot of things have happened with this album and I’m sure a lot of you feel that you’ve been let down and stuff, which is mortifying really and upsetting to me. “But I take my singing very seriously and the last thing I would ever want to do is let people down but I had to do that, it just wasn’t right.” Earlier this year, a source claimed Adele “will do everything she can” to reschedule her Las Vegas residency as soon as possible. The singer was forced to postpone her shows at Caesars Palace after COVID hit her backstage team, but Adele is determined to reschedule the shows as quickly as possible, according to the insider. The source said in January: “There are two slots in this year’s calendar, from the end of February to the start of May, and from the middle of June to the middle of September. But if they can’t work then it could be 2023 by the time they’re rescheduled. “The rest of the weekend dates in the year are taken up by other acts including Sting and Rod Stewart.” Adele has a jam-packed work schedule, but she’s determined to take to the stage in Las Vegas. The insider added: “Adele’s schedule is mammoth and it makes rescheduling a challenge but she is devoted to her fans and will do everything she can to get them back in the diary quickly.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jeff Mason and Rami Ayyub WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden predicted on Friday that some U.S. states will try to arrest women for crossing state lines to get abortions after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to the procedures nationwide. Thirteen Republican-led states banned or severely restricted the procedure under so-called “trigger laws” after the court struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling last week. Women in those states seeking an abortion may have to travel to states where it remains legal. Convening a virtual meeting on abortion rights with Democratic state governors on Friday, Biden said he thinks “people are gonna be shocked when the first state … tries to arrest a woman for crossing a state line to get health services.” He added: “And I don’t think people believe that’s gonna happen. But it’s gonna happen, and it’s gonna telegraph to the whole country that this is a gigantic deal that goes beyond; I mean, it affects all your basic rights”. Biden said the federal government will act to protect women who need to cross state lines to get an abortion and ensure their access to medication in states where it’s banned. New Mexico’s governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, told the meeting her state “will not cooperate” on any attempts to track down women who have had abortions to punish them. “We will not extradite,” she said. Abortion rights groups have filed legislation in multiple states seeking to preserve the ability of women to terminate pregnancies. Judges in Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Utah have since issued decisions preventing those states from enforcing new restrictive abortion laws, while Ohio’s top court on Friday declined to block the Republican-led state from enforcing an abortion ban. [L1N2YI1AD] New York Governor Kathy Hochul told the group that “just a handful of states” are going to have to take care of health of women across the country. “There is such stress out there,” Hochul said. “It is a matter of life and death for American women,” she added. Biden also told the group there were not enough votes in the Senate to scrap a supermajority rule known as the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade’s protections into law. He had proposed that senators remove the filibuster but the suggestion was shot down by aides to key Democratic lawmakers. “(The) filibuster should not stand in the way of us being able to (codify Roe),” Biden said. (Reporting by Rami Ayyub, Jeff Mason and Susan HeaveyEditing by Alistair Bell) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Elliot Page is on his “first dating app ever”. The 35-year-old actor – who separated from Emma Portner in January 2021 after three years of marriage – revealed that he is looking for love online and thanked his ‘Umbrella Academy’ co-star Ritu Arya, 28, for “guiding me on my first dating app ever”. Elliot made the announcement on Instagram. Page publicly announced he was transgender in 2020 when he was still married to Portner and she responded with a supportive Instagram post. She wrote: “I am so proud of @elliotpage. Trans, queer and non-binary people are a gift to this world. I also ask for patience privacy but that you join me in the fervent support of trans life every single day. Elliot’s existence is a gift in and of itself. Shine on sweet E. Love you so much.” And Elliot explained he always knew he was a boy and couldn’t understand when people told him he wasn’t. He said: “All trans people are so different, and my story’s absolutely just my story. But yes, when I was a little kid, absolutely, 100 percent, I was a boy. I knew I was a boy when I was a toddler. I was writing fake love letters and signing them ‘Jason.’ Every little aspect of my life, that is who I was, who I am, and who I knew myself to be. “I just couldn’t understand when I’d be told, ‘No, you’re not. No, you can’t be that when you’re older’. You feel it. Now I’m finally getting myself back to feeling like who I am, and it’s so beautiful and extraordinary, and there’s a grief to it in a way.” View the full article

Published by Fort Worth Star-Telegram FORT WORTH, Texas — A prominent American remains detained in Russia because Brittney Griner is not as prominent as her supporters want to believe. Because Brittney Griner plays in the WNBA, not the NBA. Because Brittney Griner is a woman. Since we’re being honest, it doesn’t help that Brittney Griner is gay, too. Since Brittney Griner was a star at Baylor, she always stood out. She is now stuck in the bizarre circumstance because she doesn’t stand out enough. “This shows how women are fighting for equality and we still have to fight even when it’s an American stuck in a Russian jail,” said Ari… Read More View the full article

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