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Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, detained in Russia for months, was not able to speak to her wife as scheduled due to a logistical error compounded by Russia’s restrictions on the U.S. embassy’s operations in Moscow, the State Department said on Tuesday. “We deeply regret that Brittney Griner was unable to speak to her wife over the weekend because of a logistical error,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, adding that the call has been rescheduled. The Associated Press on Tuesday reported that Griner tried to call her wife nearly a dozen times through the American embassy in Russia on their fourth anniversary on Saturday but they never connected as the phone line at the embassy was not staffed, according to Cherelle Griner. “It was a logistical issue that was compounded in part by the fact that our embassy in Moscow is under significant restrictions in terms of its staffing,” Price told reporters. The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) seven-time All-Star was detained at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17 when a search of her luggage allegedly revealed multiple cannabis oil vape cartridges. She could face up to 10 years in prison. Last week her pre-trial detention was extended to July 2. Russia and the U.S. were locked in a dispute over the size and functioning of their respective diplomatic missions long before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he calls his “special military operation” against Ukraine on Feb. 24. In October 2021, a senior State Department official briefing reporters said the Department was getting to the point of being able to maintain only a “caretaker presence” in Russia. At the time, the staff at the embassy in Moscow — the last operational U.S. mission in the country after consulates in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg were shuttered – had shrunk to 120 from about 1,200 in early 2017. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Ken Ferris) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Shrivathsa Sridhar BENGALURU (Reuters) – Transgender cyclist Veronica Ivy questioned the move by swimming’s governing body FINA to restrict the participation of trans athletes in elite women’s competitions, telling Reuters that there had not been enough research to guide such decisions. Ivy also criticised FINA’s plans to explore an “open” category as part of its policy that was passed following a vote at its extraordinary general congress on Sunday, saying such a move does not show respect to trans athletes. FINA’s decision, the strictest by any Olympic sports body, came after members heard a report from a transgender task force comprising medical, legal and sports figures. The new eligibility policy for FINA competitions states that male-to-female transgender athletes are eligible to compete only if “they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 (of puberty) or before age 12, whichever is later.” Canadian Ivy, who in 2018 became the first transgender UCI masters world track cycling champion by winning in the women’s 35-44 years category, described FINA’s policy as “unscientific”. “There hasn’t been a single peer-reviewed study on trans women competitive swimmers to show that there’s any competitive advantage for transitioning post puberty,” Ivy said. “So to single out puberty as the break-off point isn’t based on any evidence, it’s not based on them seeing an advantage for trans women, they have only looked at cisgender male athletes compared to cisgender female athletes. “That’s not how this works. When you’re trying to single out trans women, you need to study trans women athletes… FINA has not done that.” With the world championships currently taking place in Budapest, FINA was not immediately available for comment. But FINA’s contention that trans women athletes retain some physical advantages despite testosterone suppression after going through male puberty has been backed by a study from Joanna Harper, a doctoral researcher at Loughborough University. That paper concluded “strength may be well preserved” in trans women during the first three years of hormone therapy. ‘MEANINGFUL COMPETITION’ “It’s reasonable to put restrictions on trans women in international level sports competitions,” Harper said, adding she was disappointed but not surprised by FINA’s policy. “Restricting participation to only those trans women who have never experienced male puberty is not necessary to ensure meaningful competition for all women. “In terms of the open category, I’m sceptical, but I’ll reserve judgment until I see the finished product. Will there be Olympic medals in swimming in the open category? Will swimmers in that category be able to earn a living as professionals?” The debate surrounding trans women athletes has intensified after University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history after winning the women’s 500-yard freestyle this year. Rugby league also banned transgender players from women’s international competition on Tuesday. Soccer’s global body FIFA is in a consultation process over transgender participation while World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe has praised FINA for its stance. The International Cycling Union has also tightened its rules on transgender participation. Ivy said that FINA’s decision was likely because of Thomas, who has not won a world title or participated in the Olympics. “In the United States trans people are under attack… People trying to outlaw treatments and access to healthcare and sport… politicians calling for us to be murdered,” she said. “That’s the context in which we see something like this.” Harper said it was important for sports bodies to continue collecting data. “I’d suggest that whatever decisions they make today, they review them regularly and hopefully, as more and better data is published, they make better policies,” Harper said. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Mega A date fit for a Disney Princess! On Tuesday, June 21, actress Rebel Wilson took to Instagram to share a sweet snap of her and partner during a romantic date. “Circled the block and eventually got a great parking spot ,” the actress captioned a photo of her near a red car, later following up with another image of her girlfriend, Romana Agruma, and a friend. The sweet pictures come weeks after the star came out instagram, sharing a cute selfie of her and her partner. Of course, people loved seeing the Pitch Perfect alum out and about. One person wrote, “Ciao ,” while another added, “ANGELS!” A third person added, “So happy for you love!” Earlier this month, the blonde babe revealed that she was off the market. “I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince… but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess #loveislove,” she wrote at the time. Naturally, fans and celebrities couldn’t help but gush over her romance. One person wrote, “So happy for you!!!!! ,” while another added, “YESSSSS!!!!! .” A third person gushed, “Love you #loveislove.” mega REBEL WILSON FLAUNTS INCREDIBLE WEIGHT LOSS TRANSFORMATION IN BATHING SUIT ON SUN-DRENCHED FIJI BEACH: PHOTOS The Australia native, who previously dated Jacob Busch, didn’t disclose that she was dating a woman until recently. However, she told People a few months prior that there was someone new in her life. mega “We spoke on the phone for weeks before meeting. And that was a really good way to get to know each other,” she said. “It was a bit old-school in that sense — very romantic.” “I think going through the process of finding more self-worth, I think that what you want in a partner is elevated and so it’s great to have someone who feels like an equal partner and be in a healthy relationship,” she continued. “There were times — I’m not saying with all my exes, they’re great — but there were some times that I was probably putting up with that I shouldn’t have. So it feels different to be in a really healthy relationship.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) – A Delaware judge on Tuesday rejected a motion by the parent of Fox News Network to dismiss Dominion Voting Systems Inc’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit over the network’s 2020 presidential election coverage. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, who last December said Dominion could sue Fox News Network, said the voting machine company can also sue Fox Corp on a theory it was directly liable for statements on the network. Fox Corp did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a statement, Dominion said: “We are pleased to see this process moving forward to hold Fox accountable.” Dominion accused Fox of trying to avoid viewer defections to conservative rivals Newsmax and One America News by amplifying false theories that the company rigged the 2020 election so Republican Donald Trump would lose to Democrat Joe Biden. Some theories were floated by Trump surrogates like the lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, and included claims that votes were changed through algorithms created in Venezuela to rig elections for that country’s late president Hugo Chavez. In court papers, Dominion claimed that Fox Corp, through Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch directly participated in, approved and controlled the network’s election coverage and its aftermath. Without ruling on the merits, Davis said the allegations permitted “reasonable” inferences that Fox Corp acted with malice and proximately caused Dominion’s alleged damages. “Dominion has adequately pleaded actual malice with respect to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch,” the judge wrote. Davis dismissed a related defamation claim against another Fox entity, Fox Broadcasting, for posting the challenged statements on fox.com, citing a lack of evidence that anyone there was “subjectively aware of anything.” Smartmatic, another voting machine company, is also seeking billions of dollars in damages from Fox and various Trump allies it has accused of defamation. The case is US Dominion Inc et al v Fox Corp, Delaware Superior Court, No. N21C-11-082. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Elliot Page says transitioning has “improved his life drastically”. The ‘Umbrella Academy’ actor – who came out as trans in December 2020 – urged people who have been negative about his transition to simply look at the positive impact its had on his own happiness. Appearing on ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’, he said: “I think it’s made me better in so many facets. As a person, as a friend, and in relationships… “It’s improved my life drastically, and I hope that people who do have an issue with me could try and hear that and embrace that on some level.” While the 35-year-old star is “grateful” for the support he’s received from his loved ones, negative feedback online can be “overwhelming”. He added: “What I want to focus on right now, and has been so extraordinary, is the degree of joy that I feel, the degree of presence that I feel. “I feel a way that I really never thought possible for a long, long time. That’s really what I’m focusing on and embracing the most.” “Of course, some moments can be overwhelming.[And] I feel like it’s so unfortunate because we’re all on the same team here, you know? “Whether you’re trans, non-binary, cis, we all have these expectations and these limits and constraints… To me it would be so special for us to all be able to connect and talk about how similar we all are.” Meanwhile, Elliot noted how collaborative the upcoming third season of ‘The Umbrella Academy’ was, as he played a big role in his character Vanya Hargreeves – now Viktor – also transitioning on screen. He said: “When we first talked about it, [creator Steve Blackman] seemed really excited about incorporating it into the show.” They also worked with trans author and journalist Thomas Page McGee, and Elliot noted how he “came on board and helped out”. He gushed: “I feel proud of it and I’m excited for people to see it.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lisa Richwine SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Reuters) -A California jury in a civil case ruled on Tuesday that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted a woman at the Playboy Mansion in 1975 when she was a teenager and ordered the comedian to pay her $500,000 in damages for emotional distress from the incident. Judy Huth had testified that the comedian invited her and a friend to the mansion when she was 16, and he was 37, and forced her to perform a sex act. The verdict came nearly a year after Cosby was freed from prison when Pennsylvania’s highest court threw out his sexual assault conviction in a different criminal case there. Huth’s lawsuit was the first civil case against Cosby to come to trial. Huth, now 64, said she was “elated” by the ruling in the case, which she filed in 2014 after media reports detailed accusations against Cosby by multiple women. Those reports helped stir up memories of her encounter with Cosby, Huth said, and triggered four years of anxiety and other symptoms. “It’s been so many years, so many tears,” Huth told reporters outside California Superior Court in Santa Monica. “It’s been a long time coming.” Huth told the jury that Cosby had invited her and the friend to the mansion a few days after they met the then-famous actor and comedian at a public park. After she emerged from a bathroom, Cosby took her hand and used it to masturbate his penis, she said. Cosby, who did not appear in person at the trial, denied Huth’s allegation. His defense team will appeal the verdict, Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said. “Mr. Cosby continues to maintain his innocence and will vigorously fight these false accusations, so that he can get back to bringing the pursuit of happiness, joy and laughter to the world,” Wyatt said in a statement. Cosby, 84, is best known for his role as the lovable husband and father in the 1980s television comedy series “The Cosby Show,” earning him the nickname “America’s Dad.” But his family-friendly reputation was shattered after more than 50 women accused him of sexual assaults over nearly five decades. Huth brought the case under a California law that allows people who claim they were abused as children to file civil cases years later as adults. Three other women who have accused Cosby of abuse attended the trial and told reporters they felt vindicated by the verdict. Lili Bernard, who has a civil lawsuit pending against Cosby in New Jersey, said the ruling was “important for every sexual assault survivor who has not received justice.” “We will never give up,” she said. The jury did not rule entirely in Huth’s favor. By a 9-3 vote, they said she had not provided “clear and convincing evidence” that Cosby had acted with “malice, oppression or fraud.” If jurors had voted yes on that question, they could have provided additional punitive damages to Huth. In video of a deposition shown to jurors, Cosby said he did not remember Huth. But he said the incident could not have happened because he would not have pursued sexual contact at that time with someone who was under age 18. Cosby attorney Jennifer Bonjean challenged Huth’s account throughout the trial, including her revised timeline. When the lawsuit was filed in December 2014, Huth said the incident occurred in 1974, when she was 15. She told jurors she recently concluded that she had been mistaken about the year and now believes it happened in 1975. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Writing by Tyler Clifford; Editing by Richard Chang and Richard Pullin) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Ryan Reynolds is launching a nonprofit to help people from underrepresented communities get started in creative careers. The ‘Deadpool’ actor hopes The Creative Ladder can help “talent of all backgrounds” has the chance to flourish, while the organisation will offer programmes and services to boost career options in advertising, marketing, design and commercial production, as well as providing leadership training, mentorship and more. Ryan said in a statement: “We started talking about The Creative Ladder right after we launched the Group Effort Initiative, so I am so thrilled the day is finally here. “I love making ads and want to help make sure talent of all backgrounds have the access and information they need to succeed. “Ads are just another form of storytelling and a more representative workforce will only make this industry stronger and enable it to tell better stories.” The 45-year-old star’s project will officially launch later this year alongside a leadership conference and the six-month Leadership Academy, which will virtually teach management skills. Professional services network Deloitte has signed on as a founding donor with a $500,000 donation. The company’s US executive chair Janet Foutty added: “As a founding donor of The Creative Ladder, Deloitte is thrilled to support their mission to strengthen the pipeline of racially and ethnically diverse professionals seeking careers in the creative field, and create more leadership pathways for the next generation of creative professionals. “Underrepresented communities haven’t had the same networking and career development opportunities as most creatives. “Creating a more diverse pool of talent is a critical step in creating an equitable future across multiple creative segments.” Meanwhile, Ryan – who has daughters James, seven, Inze, five, and Betty, two, with his wife Blake Lively – has admitted “brutal” parenting mistakes have been an education. Speaking in Cannes, he said: “I used to tell my kids, ‘Don’t waste your mistakes’. “When you’re making mistakes it’s easy to sort of be absorbed by shame and sort of this idea that you’ve done something wrong, but you also have to look at it critically and use it as a stepping stone to learning something profound.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Gillian Anderson would “like to kill somebody” in her next on-screen role. The 53-year-old actress – who starred as former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Crown’ – has grown tied of playing “serious women” and she’s now looking for something completely different. Speaking about her acting ambitions, Gillian admitted: “There is so much to do. I haven’t killed anybody. Oh, no, maybe I killed somebody once? I’d like to kill somebody. “I keep playing very, very, serious women who seem to have it all together and I’d like to be a basket case, because I am a basket case! It would be good to do that.” Gillian stars as therapist Jean Milburn in the hit Netflix series ‘Sex Education’, and she thinks “prudish” Brits play a part in the show’s success. The actress – who is best known for playing FBI agent Dana Scully in ‘The X-Files’ – told The Sun newspaper: “I think that is what partly makes it so funny. “What I have heard from fans of all ages is that they have felt seen and heard and it seems to pretty much cover the cross section of humanity.” Meanwhile, Gillian previously revealed she’d banned her kids from watching ‘Sex Education’. The actress – who has Piper, 27, with Clyde Klotz, as well as Felix, 13, and Oscar, 15, with Mark Griffiths – explained that she had initially banned her kids from watching the steamy show. She shared: “I am living happily in the denial that my children do not watch the show – I hope they haven’t. When it first came out, I told them they weren’t allowed to. “But I have no control over what they do at their friends’ houses. I have no control over what their friends show them.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Prince William believes discrimination remains “an all too familiar experience” for black men and women in Britain. The 40-year-old prince made the comment during a speech at Waterloo train station in London, where William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, unveiled a new monument to celebrate the dreams and courage of the Windrush generation. He said: “Discrimination remains an all too familiar experience for black men and women in Britain in 2022.” The statue has been designed by the Jamaican artist and sculptor Basil Watson, and was unveiled by the royal couple as part of a series of engagements to mark Windrush Day (22.06.22) in the UK. The monument features a depiction of a man, woman and child stood on top of their suitcases after arriving in the country. Prince William spoke out against the Windrush Scandal – which involved the wrongful deportation of members of the Windrush generation – and he also conceded that real equality remains some way off. He said: “Only a matter of years ago, tens of thousands of that generation were profoundly wronged by the Windrush Scandal. That rightly reverberates throughout the Caribbean community here in the UK as well as many in the Caribbean nations. “Therefore, alongside celebrating the diverse fabric of our families, our communities and our society as a whole – something the Windrush Generation has contributed so much to – it is also important to acknowledge the ways in which the future they sought and deserved has yet to come to pass.” Windrush Day was introduced in 2018 in the hope of encouraging communities across the UK to celebrate the contribution of the Windrush generation, who migrated to the country after World War Two. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also met young people from the the British-Caribbean community at Elevate, a non-profit organisation in London that brings together creativity and culture. Elevate hopes to provide young people with the opportunities they need in order to forge successful careers within the creative industries. View the full article

Published by InsideHook By Kirk Miller Earlier this month a number of Tampa Bay Rays players ripped off rainbow-colored logos on their hats during a game that was also a celebration of “Pride Night.” The players later cited religious beliefs as the reason behind their decision. Unfortunately, it sounds like more than five players in Major League Baseball might also not be so accepting, at least according to New York Mets outfielder Mark Canha. “I would like to sit here and say, ‘Oh we should have a discussion,’” Canha told SNY. “’The more we talk about it, the more we have open discussions about it, the faster that w… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Rohith Nair and Aadi Nair (Reuters) -The International Hockey Federation (IHF) and World Triathlon have joined a raft of governing bodies reviewing their policy on the involvement of transgender athletes in women’s sport following last weekend’s ruling by swimming’s top body FINA. On Sunday, FINA voted to ban anyone who has been through male puberty from elite women’s competitions and to create a working group to establish an “open” category for transgender swimmers in some events as part of its new policy. “We are conducting a review of our transgender policy and this is a current work in progress in consultation with the IOC (International Olympic Committee),” a spokesperson for the IHF told Reuters on Wednesday. World Triathlon are working on their own guidelines which will be released after the approval of the Executive Board in November, following a review by the medical committee, women’s committee and equality, diversity & inclusion commission. “Once approved, it will be implemented at international level (World Triathlon) and also distributed to all National Federations for their implementation at a local level,” a World Triathlon spokesperson said. “We have also reached out to the transgender community to receive their feedback and inputs. “We really hope that new guidelines will provide a fair and inclusive competition for all athletes, including transgender, cisgender and non-binary athletes.” The International Canoe Federation (ICF) is also preparing a transgender policy which will be presented at its full board meeting in November. “Currently we are following the IOC’s guidelines regarding sports where physical strength is a factor,” an ICF spokesperson said. World Athletics, soccer’s governing body FIFA and World Netball are reviewing their transgender inclusion policies after FINA’s verdict, the strictest by any Olympic sports body. Rugby league banned transgender players from women’s international competition until further notice on Tuesday, while the International Cycling Union (UCI) last week tightened its eligibility rules. LGBT rights group Athlete Ally said FINA’s new eligibility criteria was “discriminatory” and “harmful”, while transgender cyclist Veronica Ivy described the policy as “unscientific”. Advocates for transgender inclusion argue that not enough studies have yet been done on the impact of transition on physical performance, and that elite athletes are often physical outliers in any case. The IOC said in November that no athlete should be excluded from competition on the grounds of a perceived unfair advantage, while leaving it up to sports federations to decide where the balance between inclusion and fairness lay. “When push comes to shove, if it’s a judgement between inclusion and fairness, we will always fall down on the side of fairness — that for me is non-negotiable,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in announcing his organisation’s review. World Rugby instituted a ban on transgender players competing at the elite level of the women’s game last year, citing safety concerns. New Zealand Rugby (NZR) said on Wednesday they were undertaking a consultation over their transgender eligibility policy in the grassroots of the game and were aiming to be as inclusive as possible. (Reporting by Rohith Nair and Aadi Nair, Writing by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Christian Radnedge) View the full article

Published by DPA Matt Rogers, Zane Phillips and Tomas Matos in the queer rom-com hit “Fire Island”, which launched for Disney+ subscribers in June. Jeong Park/Searchlight Pictures/20th Century Studios/dpa Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang remember that first trip, years ago, to the beachy New York LGBTQ resort that would inspire the Hulu rom-com, “Fire Island.” Before playing BFFs Noah (Booster) and Howie (Yang) in the film, who find unexpected romances while vacationing at the Long Island party destination, the real-life friends were on a similar getaway, staying 12 deep in a three-bedroom house, “really making it work despite our comedians’ salaries,” said Yang. “There is a magical energy, an ephemeral thing about it,” Yang said from New York City ahead of the film’s early June release. “You get on the ferry and it’s like a portal into another dimension.” Connected by wooden boardwalks and accessible only by water, idyllic Fire Island offer a place of unique liberation, and one not just free of cars. “I’ve never felt closer to my friends than when we’re on Fire Island together experiencing the freedom that comes with not being around straight people,” said actor-writer Booster, videochatting from Los Angeles about the acclaimed Searchlight Pictures film, which has a breakout ensemble. “Not having to navigate a heterosexual society for that one single week is so freeing, it really does unlock a lot inside of you.” There were downsides. On that first visit, Yang was still a few years away from his “Saturday Night Live” stardom and Booster, who came up through Chicago’s underground comedy scene, had yet to land his own TV breakthroughs on “Sunnyside,” “Shrill” and “Big Mouth.” Rereading Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice,” he started noticing parallels between the classic and the interactions he and his friends had among the scene’s predominantly white, wealthy party set. “When a premium is put on sex and aesthetics, it can be really toxic,” he said. “The things that make it difficult to navigate the world as a person of colour or a person who doesn’t maybe have the ‘ideal’ body type or who might not be rich, suddenly all of those problems, like the good stuff, get outsized and blown up and become unavoidable if you don’t go with the right support system.” Booster channeled it all — the magic, the romance, the sex and social hierarchies, dance parties and Britney Spears karaoke — into “Fire Island,” a fresh spin on Austen’s 19th-century novel. The first major studio rom-com to center gay Asian American leads, it’s also the only movie to earn a special exception to the Bechdel Test following a critique earlier this month by writer Hanna Rosin, who slammed the film’s female representation in a since-deleted viral tweet. “Okay, I just added a corollary: Two men talking to each other about the female protagonist of an Alice Munro story in a screenplay structured on a Jane Austen novel = pass,” tweeted Alison Bechdel herself, putting the matter swiftly to rest. Even before the brouhaha, Booster admitted he was too online, reading comments both good and otherwise and bracing for all sorts of reactions. “It’s a really personal story, and it’s hard not to want to protect it and jump in every comment section,” he said. He was still processing that a studio let him not just make a movie starring queer Asian leads, but dive more deeply into complex issues that affected them. “Those layers are missing from the modern rom-com,” he said. “We love the high jinks and we love knowing that they’re going to get together, but how are they going to get together? I was interested in sitting in the quiet moments of these relationships and exploring the things that are keeping these people apart that aren’t necessarily plot devices, but existential ways of feeling about yourself within a community.” Informed by his friendship with Yang and the oeuvre of Nora Ephron, Booster plays happily broke and single Noah, who vows to stay celibate on his Fire Island holiday until he can help hopeless romantic Howie (Yang, as the Jane to his Lizzie Bennet) hook up with the man of his dreams. But their lives are drifting apart too, placing more at stake than just summer loving. “I have had to convince Bowen not to leave vacations early,” said Booster. “I’m sure he’d hate me revealing that! Bowen’s called me out on my s— plenty of times too. It is just the way good friends operate.” When Howie falls for Charlie (James Scully), the cute doctor comes as a package deal with the disdainful Cooper (Nick Adams) and aloof Will (Conrad Ricamora), who strikes an instant love-hate sizzle with Noah. Meanwhile, the Wickham-esque Dex (Zane Phillips) adds to the dramatic entanglements threatening to ruin what could be Howie and Noah’s last getaway with their closest friends. For Ricamora, who played Oliver on “How to Get Away with Murder,” and starred in “Soft Power” and “Little Shop of Horrors” off-Broadway, the chance to portray what director Andrew Ahn describes as “our Asian Mr. Darcy” was an unexpected gift. Although written to be played by an actor of color, the character was not explicitly Asian until Ricamora walked in for a chemistry read and left Booster flustered. When he first got the call, he assumed it was a mistake. “‘They can’t be sending this to another Asian American. They don’t allow this many of us to be in things,'” thought Ricamora, who had never been to Fire Island before the film. “Growing up, I was constantly watching people like me in TV and film being emasculated and being the butt of the joke. To get to be part of reversing that trend feels really great.” Originally written on spec as a half an hour comedy series and filmed partly on location in the Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove, known as America’s first gay and lesbian town, “Fire Island” boasts an all-queer ensemble and the kinds of romantic lead roles that Booster and Yang never imagined they’d get to play. “People ask me: Did you ever expect to be on ‘SNL?’ And no, it never dawned on me,” said Yang, who not only flexes dramatic and romantic chops but performs an iconic karaoke rendition of Spears’ shy girl anthem “Sometimes.” “Joel really gave me a gift. It’s surreal. I never thought I would chemistry test with a love interest, these things that you just don’t consider and don’t expect for yourself.” Both assumed that in Hollywood’s limited, tokenizing fashion they would never get to act in the same project together, let alone star. But in the lead up to finding a home for “Fire Island” (then called “Trip”), Booster starred in his own Comedy Central stand-up special, released his 2018 debut stand-up album, “Model Minority,” and honed his act around deeply personal observations on race, sex and identity. He found power as a storyteller in his experience as a gay man and Korean adoptee raised in a white conservative Christian family in the Midwest. “For the first half of my life, I wasn’t allowed to talk about what I was feeling, what I was experiencing,” he said. “So as soon as I had the opportunity, as soon as anyone was willing to listen, I just exploded … When I was starting out there was a real hunger for authenticity. And for me, finding that authenticity was just as freeing.” In the spring of 2020, Quibi gave Booster’s series a greenlight. By December, the upstart micro platform had shuttered. When Searchlight and Hulu revived the project as a feature film in 2021, Booster redeveloped it, knowing that he wanted to find a director to whom he wouldn’t have to explain what being gay and Asian felt like. “And that was Andrew,” said Booster, also an executive producer on the film. Ahn had two acclaimed films under his belt with his 2016 debut, “Spa Night,” and 2019 drama “Driveways,” and he had interviewed for the project when it was at Quibi but didn’t get the gig. (“Jeffrey Katzenberg didn’t think I was funny enough!” he jokes.) By the time it came back around a year into the pandemic, a big part of his life had shifted when he moved out of the Echo Park house he shared with his closest friends. “I was sheltering in place, super depressed, and I saw this story in a really different light,” said Ahn. “This was a film about queer Asian American friendship and joy.” Pitching producers and studio executives, he shared photos from the raucous themed parties that he and his housemates would throw. “We had a blacklight party we called ‘Asian Glow,'” said Ahn, laughing. “We have a lot of fun being silly and stupid, not having to worry about, like, representation. I went into the pitch with that attitude.” That spirit went into casting Noah and Howie’s close-knit family of friends. “It was important to us to find people that meshed and gelled,” said Booster. They cast Rogers, who co-hosts the popular “Las Culturistas” podcast with Yang, as Luke, the impetuous Lydia of the group; Tomás Matos as effervescent Keegan, their Kitty; and Torian Miller as Max, the practical Mary of the bunch. “We lucked out so well. Tomás and Matt were a dream team. Torian is incredible and has such a huge task, being a little curmudgeonly but still funny. Everybody showed up.” After a veteran male actor dropped out, prompting a gender swap, Margaret Cho stepped in to play worldly lesbian den mother Erin. “I can draw a straight line from ‘All-American Girl’ to this movie because I don’t know that I ever had a conception for what was possible for me in this industry before I saw her and that family on television,” Booster said of Cho’s groundbreaking 1994 sitcom. “I think every gay person on set took her aside and had a moment like, ‘I hope you know you’ve changed my life.'” The actor, comedian and podcaster had offered her support of the film even before taking on the matriarchal role. Lounging poolside on days off, swapping clothes with her co-stars, “it was like being with a bunch of your sisters on vacation,” she said. Moreover, the film’s Austenesque themes struck a chord. “When you’re gay, you feel like you can’t possibly be discriminatory towards anybody else because you’re oppressed, but in reality that’s not the case,” said Cho. “The most intense experiences of racism, classism, sexism and homophobia happen within the community yet we don’t ever talk about it, because that would negate the idea of pride.” She especially related to the cautionary lessons Erin tries to give Noah about alienating the people he loves. “It was something that I totally understand because lesbians love to hold a grudge,” said Cho. “There are fights that I’ve had with women that have been going on since the ’80s. But that’s how it is to be gay. You’re gay with the same gays all day, every day, forever, if you’re lucky enough to live that long.” In the waning days of summer, production moved from New York City to shoot amid local landmarks as Ahn, cinematographer Felipe Vara de Rey and their cast and crew captured Fire Island’s textures and iconography, racing against time and tricky logistics. (One crucial rain scene even left Booster and Ricamora near-hypothermic.) But in the evenings, Ahn remembers, he could hear his actors cackling over “Real Housewives” through the vents in their shared bed-and-breakfast. “The island brings people together,” he said. “I don’t think we would have that authenticity of friendship and intimacy if we weren’t on a tiny island, shooting during the day and going to the Canteen at night to get chicken fingers and drinks.” The big summer continues for Booster, who stars in the Maya Rudolph comedy series “Loot” for Apple and just released his new Netflix special, “Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual.” Meanwhile, Rogers appears in Showtime’s “I Love That For You” opposite Vanessa Bayer and Yang will be seen this fall in the Billy Eichner-led Universal rom-com “Bros.” Before writing “Fire Island,” Booster had never been called in to audition for a romantic lead role. He’s still processing that audiences and the industry can now see him in that light. “I spent 34 years not considering myself a romantic leading man type because of my race or how effeminate I may or may not be, or my sexuality, or how attractive I am or aren’t. So it’s wild to be in this moment.” And he’s already evolving creatively, examining his own identity-forward comedy and the unexpected burden of representation in the Netflix special “Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual.” “Years ago in college, all I wanted to do was write for ‘The Wire,'” he said. “Hopefully I won’t have to write the next one, but we’ll see. I’m willing to do it if I have to.” Bowen Yang, Tomas Matos, Matt Rogers, Torian Miller, Joel Kim Booster and Margaret Cho in the queer rom-com hit “Fire Island”, which launched for Disney+ subscribers in June. Jeong Park/Searchlight Pictures/20th Century Studios/dpa Conrad Ricamora and Joel Kim Booster in the queer rom-com hit “Fire Island”, which launched for Disney+ subscribers in June. Jeong Park/Searchlight Pictures/20th Century Studios/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sharon Kimathi LONDON (Reuters) – American pop star Beyonce Knowles-Carter has surprised fans with an early release of her single ‘Break My Soul’ from upcoming album ‘Renaissance’, setting social media ablaze with song lyrics that some say tap into rising worker anger at conditions. “I’m gonna find new drive / damn, they work me so damn hard / Work by nine, then off past five /And they work my nerves, that’s why I cannot sleep at night,” sings the artist, adding “I just quit my job.” Some commentators said the words channeled the post-pandemic “Great Resignation” in which businesses are struggling to find enough employees. “Beyoncé saw that it was the summer of late-millennial burnout, the labor movement, ‘90s revival, and queer pride and was like, ‘Yeah, I can make a song about that’,” wrote Patu Patel, editor-in-chief of music magazine Pitchfork on social media platform Twitter. Knowles-Carter has not commented on the meaning of the lyrics. The single was co-written by her husband Sean Carter (Jay-Z) and samples singer Robin S’s 1990s dance classic ‘Show Me Love’ as well as featuring gay American rapper Big Freedia’s song ‘Explode’. The song debuted on Tidal, the streaming service co-owned by Jay-Z, and dropped at midnight EST (5am GMT) on June 21 on other major music streaming services, with an accompanying lyric video published on YouTube. Knowles-Carter, 40, released ‘Be Alive’, her Oscar-nominated contribution to the soundtrack of the movie ‘King Richard’, in November 2021. She also launched the soundtrack album ‘The Lion King: The Gift’, with the songs appearing in both the ‘Black is King’ and ‘Lion King’ movies in July 2019. However, Renaissance (Act 1) is the artists’ first solo studio album since Lemonade was released in April 2016. The record will include 16 tracks and is set to launch on July 29. She is the most nominated woman and the most awarded singer in Grammy Award history, winning a total of 28 awards and 79 nominations for her music, including her work in music group Destiny’s Child and ‘The Carters,’ an album co-released with her husband. She is also the eighth-most awarded artist at the Billboard Music Awards. (Reporting by Sharon Kimathi; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel) View the full article

Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — On June 25, a memorial procession will make its way through the streets of Philadelphia’s Washington Square West. There will be funeral urns carried aloft, shrouds, ceremonial robes, and music. But this will be no ordinary funeral march. In those urns will be the paper ashes of the names of people who died without a procession, some decades ago, too many unmourned and alone. They are among the thousands of Philadelphia area residents lost to AIDS. “I think there’s a hunger in our communities today to say we have so much loss,” said Chris Bartlett, executive director of the Will… Read More View the full article

Published by Al-Araby In the diaspora, unheld conversations about sexuality are tangled up with other forms of unutterable discourse about identity. I’m one of those diasporic Arabs who enjoys a special kind of privilege from the benefits of these overlapping silences, something that produces, as it does with all privileged people, a miasma of guilt and self-doubt, a nauseating, tedious, third-culture self-analysis that is in danger of resulting in heavy-handed poetry about pomegranate seeds. The particularly grotesque identity twist is found where straight passing meets white passing. As a pale and unaccented Pale… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English The Duchess of Cornwall is an obsessive Wordle player. Camilla made the admission in an interview to mark her upcoming 75th birthday, revealing she compares her scores on the online word-guessing game every day with her granddaughter via text. She told British Vogue: “She’ll text me to say ‘I’ve done it in three’. And I say, ‘Sorry, I’ve done it in two today’. “It’s very satisfactory when it tells you how brilliant you are.” Camilla – due to turn 75 on July 17 – went on to say she loves getting texts from her five grandchildren, all of whom are aged between 12 and 14. She added: “It’s very nice getting a text. We learn from very young people and they learn from us, too. That’s the way it’s always been.” The duchess also disclosed that her grandchildren had unsuccessfully tried to convince her to get her ears pierced. She described watching her granddaughters “beginning to get into clothes and makeup” as “rather frightening” – adding: “You see them coming out with pierced ears and a lot of new makeup and funny-coloured hair and stuff.” While preparing for her Vogue shoot, the magazine’s team proposed she wear an outfit matching the wisteria in the garden at Clarence House. The idea was immediately snubbed by the duchess who has called the colour “menopausal mauve”. She instead opted for an evening dress by Bruce Oldfield Couture from her own wardrobe, saying at the shoot: “I did have some (press-on) nails, but I lost them all gardening yesterday.” She also told how she and her and husband the Duke of Cornwall, 73, attempt to make time for each other. Camilla added about her relationship with Prince Charles: “Sometimes it’s like ships passing in the night, but we always sit down together and have a cup of tea and discuss the day. “When we go away, the nicest thing is that we actually sit and read our books in different corners of the same room. “It’s very relaxing because you know you don’t have to make conversation. You just sit and be together.” And she revealed how negative public reaction to her relationship with the Prince of Wales in the wake of his split with Princess Diana was a challenge, admitting: “I was scrutinised for such a long time that you just have to find a way to live with it. “Nobody likes to be looked at all the time and, you know, criticised and… but I think in the end, I sort of rise above it and get on with it.” View the full article

Published by AFP Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov poses with his Nobel Peace Prize medal, which he auctioned off for $103.5 million to benefit children in Ukraine New York (AFP) – Dmitry Muratov, the Russian editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, on Monday auctioned off his Nobel Peace Prize gold medal for a whopping $103.5 million to benefit children displaced by the war in Ukraine. The medal was sold to an as yet unidentified phone bidder at the sale in New York organized by Heritage Auctions. The sale was a spirited one, with lots of applause and bidders egging one another on to increase the total. Muratov was seen recording videos of the bidding screen and those in the room. When the final bid came in, at tens of millions of dollars more than the previous offer, many in the room expressed shock, including Muratov himself. “I’m just like you in that regard,” he told AFP, speaking through a translator after the sale. Muratov won the prize in 2021 alongside journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines, with the committee honoring the pair “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression.” He was among a group of journalists who founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993 after the fall of the Soviet Union. This year, it became the only major newspaper left voicing criticism of President Vladimir Putin and his tactics inside and outside the country. In March, more than a month into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Novaya Gazeta suspended operations in Russia, after Moscow adopted legislation providing for tough jail terms against anyone criticizing the Kremlin’s bloody military campaign. In April, Muratov was assaulted on a train when a person threw oil-based paint mixed with acetone on him, causing his eyes to burn. Muratov’s medal was available to bidders both in person and online, with all proceeds going to UNICEF’s Humanitarian Response for Ukrainian Children Displaced by War. When asked why he chose UNICEF as the recipient of the funds, Muratov said: “It’s critical to us that that organization does not belong to any government. It can work above government. There are no borders for it.” ‘We must stay in our jobs’ Since 2000, six of Novaya Gazeta’s journalists and collaborators have been killed in connection with their work, including investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya. Muratov dedicated his Nobel prize to their memory. On Monday, he hailed the persistence of journalists as an important check on governments, and one way that war can be prevented. “So no matter how many times each one of us wants to turn in our notice and quit, we must stay in our jobs,” he told AFP. Speaking in a video released by Heritage in connection with the sale, the prominent journalist said that winning the Nobel “gives you an opportunity to be heard.” “The most important message today is for people to understand that there’s a war going on and we need to help people who are suffering the most,” he said. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Harry Styles has designed a line for Gucci. The ‘As It Was’ hitmaker has collaborated with the brand’s creative director Alessandro Michele to create a capsule collected HA HA HA – the play on the pair’s initials – debuted in Milan and will arrive in stores in October. Alessandra praised the 28-year-old musician’s – who is a noted fan of the Italian fashion house – “clear and precise point of view”. The 44-year-old fashion designer told GQ: “Harry has a very clear and precise point of view, on top of great instinct and he chooses his clothes with much care. The idea of this capsule is banal in its simplicity, and it’s an act of love, but it has value, it’s sophisticated and we paid a lot of attention to fabrics and sartorial details. It was a lighthearted activity and easy with this kind of relationship. But the result is serious. Alessandra told the magazine about the creative inspirations, such as “1970s pop” and “bohemian” shared between him and the ‘Golden’ hitmaker. He said: “I proposed creating a ‘dream wardrobe’ with him, starting from those small oddities that come together in childlike visions,” Michele continues. “We ended up with a mix of aesthetics from 1970s pop and bohemian to the revision of the image of the gentleman in an overturned memory of men’s tailoring.” In a statement, Alessandra gushed about Harry – who wore the brand on a 2020 cover of Vogue- and his “incredible sense of fashion”. He said: “Harry has an incredible sense of fashion.” “Observing his ability to combine items of clothing in a way that is out of the ordinary compared to the required standards of taste and common sense and the homogenisation of appearance, I came to understand that the styling of a look is a generator of differences and of powers, as are his reactions to the designs I have created for him, which he has always made his own; these reactions restore me with a rush of freedom every time.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Stephen Colbert endured an “interesting” weekend after staff at ‘The Late Show’ were arrested at the Capitol Building. The 58-year-old comedian explained that seven members of his show’s production team were arrested when they travelled to Washington DC to film a segment with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, a puppet character created by Robert Smigel. Stephen joked: “How was your weekend? I certainly had an interesting one, because some of my staff had a memorable one. “Triumph offered to go down to D.C. to interview some Congress people to highlight some January 6 hearings. I said, ‘Sure, if you can get anyone to agree to talk to you. Because, and please don’t take this as an insult, you’re a puppet.'” The comedian subsequently explained that his staff, including Robert Smigel, were arrested by police officers. However, Stephen conceded that the officers were “just doing their job” and he understood their cautious approach in light of the riot at the Capitol Building in January last year. He said: “[My staff] were doing some last-minute puppetry and jokey make-em-ups in a hallway, when Triumph and my folks were approached and detained by Capitol Police, which actually is not surprising. “The Capitol Police are much more cautious than they were 18 months ago and for a very good reason.” Despite this, Stephen admitted it was a “very unpleasant experience” for his staff. The comedy star explained: “The Capitol police were just doing their job, my staff was just doing their job, everyone was very professional, everyone was very calm. My staffers were detained, processed and released. A very unpleasant experience for my staff.” Meanwhile, Capitol police confirmed that officers “observed seven individuals, unescorted and without Congressional ID, in a sixth-floor hallway”. The statement added: “The building was closed to visitors, and these individuals were determined to be a part of a group that had been directed by the USCP to leave the building earlier in the day.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By David Lawder ROSEBUD, South Dakota (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced his intention to appoint Mohegan Indian Tribe Lifetime Chief Marilynn Malerba as U.S. Treasurer, marking the first time a Native American’s signature will appear on U.S. currency. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is visiting the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota on Tuesday, also announced the creation of a new Treasury Office of Tribal and Native Affairs, which will report to the treasurer and administer tribal relations. Malerba’s appointment by Biden also will allow Yellen’s signature to be added to the U.S. currency, as this was prohibited without a U.S. treasurer in place. Dollar notes have been printed since Yellen took office last year with former Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin’s signature on them. The appointment helps reduce a long list of unfilled and unconfirmed senior positions at Treasury. The treasurer position has been vacant since January 2020, when Jovita Carranza left to become Small Business Administrator in the Trump administration. The U.S. Treasurer directly oversees the U.S. Mint, the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, storage of about $270 billion worth of gold at Fort Knox and is a key liaison with the Federal Reserve. Malerba’s appointment to the position no longer needs confirmation by the U.S. Senate. “With this announcement, we are making an even deeper commitment to Indian Country,” Yellen said in prepared remarks to be delivered at the Rosebud Sioux reservation. “Chief Malerba will expand our unique relationship with Tribal nations, continuing our joint efforts to support the development of Tribal economies and economic opportunities for Tribal citizens.” Malerba, who had a lengthy career as a registered nurse, has been chief of the Connecticut-based Mohegan tribe since 2010 and previously chaired its tribal council and served as its executive director of Health and Human Services, according to the Mohegan website https://www.mohegan.nsn.us/explore/heritage/our-ceremonial-leaders/chief. The Treasury said Malerba will join Yellen at the Rosebud Sioux reservation on Tuesday, where Yellen will discuss the impact of some $30 billion in federal COVID-19 aid to tribal governments. Yellen’s visit to the Rosebud Sioux reservation marks the first time that a Treasury secretary has visited a tribal nation – department officials said they could find no record of a prior visit. Yellen will tour programs at the reservation that are using nearly $200 million in funds last year’s American Rescue Plan, including $40 million worth of affordable housing projects. The Treasury on Tuesday also announced that it has approved the tribe’s plan to use more than $160,000 to upgrade its broadband internet infrastructure under a $10 billion broadband fund for state, local and tribal governments. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Bradley Perrett and Angus MacSwan) View the full article

Published by AFP A pro-Trump mob attacked the US Capitol, pictured on on June 21, 2022, after vice president Mike Pence refused to overturn the election Washington (AFP) – Lawmakers investigating the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol are due to focus at a hearing Tuesday on the pressure that former president Donald Trump mounted on state officials to overturn the 2020 election. The presentation launches a third week of summer hearings in which the panel has set out its initial findings that Trump led a multi-pronged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election, culminating in the insurrection in Washington. Committee aides say they have evidence that Trump and his allies were personally involved in pushing Republican-controlled legislatures to flip the results in several swing states, away from Joe Biden and into Trump’s column. The panel will hear from several top Republican state officials who found themselves cajoled by the Trump campaign to thwart the will of millions of voters based on bogus claims of election fraud. “Donald Trump knew that there was no widespread fraud — he knew that those claims were baseless, he knew that the numbers simply weren’t there to potentially overturn the election — and he continued to drive these campaigns anyway,” a committee aide said. “He knew they were false and it became increasingly clear that this pressure campaign could lead to violence, and he continued to do it anyway.” ‘Fake electors’ US presidents are not elected directly by citizens, but chosen by “electors” named to a body called the electoral college. Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress and there are 538 in total. The parties in each state pick their own slate of potential electors and, in almost every part of America, the winning side in the statewide tally for president gets all the electoral votes for that state. The committee says a key plank of the plot to subvert the 2020 election was getting pro-Trump Republicans in swing states won by Biden to submit official-looking but fake certificates claiming they were the legitimate electors. The committee says it will demonstrate that the former president pressed his vice president Mike Pence to accept these “fake electors” when he was overseeing certification of Biden’s victory on January 6, 2021. Pence ultimately refused to recognize the pro-Trump slates and the president’s supporters rioted for hours at the Capitol in unprecedented scenes of brutality that led to at least five deaths. The committee will hear from Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, whom Trump infamously pushed to “find” enough votes to overcome Biden’s lead in the battleground state in a phone call that is the subject of a state-level criminal probe. Rusty Bowers, speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, is expected to testify about pressure to reverse his state’s results from Trump, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. ‘Death threats’ The committee has asked to speak with Ginni Thomas, who indicated to a conservative news outlet that she was looking forward to the opportunity to “clear up misconceptions.” Also appearing in person will be Shaye Moss, a former Georgia election official who processed ballots in 2020. Trump and Giuliani falsely accused Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman of “rigging” the presidential election count in Georgia with “suitcases” full of ballots for Biden. Moss and Freeman — who received death threats after Trump publicly named them — are suing Giuliani in federal court. A committee aide said that Moss would detail how “being targeted by the former president has upended her life and that of her mother.” “They were called professional vote scammers, they were subjected to death threats, intimidation, coercion, forced to go into hiding,” the aide said. He added that the panel would show that threats to election workers continue and the danger to democracy posed by “lies about the 2020 election and lies about future elections” is ongoing. Trump continued to rail against the committee “of political thugs who have criminalized justice to a level never seen before in our country” on his social media platform Tuesday, reprising debunked conspiracy theories about voter fraud and spying on his 2016 campaign. The hearing begins at 1:00 pm (1700 GMT). View the full article

Published by Reuters By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator John Cornyn, the lead Republican negotiator in bipartisan gun legislation talks, told Reuters on Tuesday that negotiators expected to introduce a bill to address mass shootings later in the day. The Texas Republican said negotiators, including his fellow Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senators Chris Murphy and Kyrsten Sinema, spoke early in the day by phone and were now waiting for staff to produce legislative text. “I think we’re on a glide path, and hopefully it will land shortly,” Cornyn said in an interview shortly after speaking with his fellow negotiators. He added that he expected the bill to be introduced on the Senate floor later in the day but gave no specific time. Introducing the bill on Tuesday would improve the odds of Senate passage before lawmakers leave for their two-week July 4 break at the end of this week. The bipartisan group has been working on a deal to curb gun violence since a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, less than two weeks after a racist shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, left 10 dead. Talks have bogged down in recent days. The group announced a framework deal more than a week ago. But talks had bogged over a few issues, including whether to include “Hyde Amendment” language to prevent the proposal from being used to pay for abortions. Asked if the abortion impasse had been overcome, Cornyn said: “Yes. I believe so. Hyde applies.” The measure does not go as far as Democrats including President Joe Biden had sought, but, if passed, would still be the most significant action to combat gun violence to emerge from Congress in years. Lawmakers had also been negotiating over a provision to encourage states to adopt “red flag” laws, in which guns can be temporarily taken away from people who are deemed dangerous; and a “boyfriend loophole:” authorities can block abusive spouses from buying firearms but not “intimate partners” who are not married. Cornyn walked out of the talks on Thursday, demanding that the red flag provision also allow funding for states that opt for other intervention methods instead. The next day, at his state’s Republican convention, he was booed as he discussed the bill in a speech. (Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) -The law enforcement response to the Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers was “an abject failure” in which a commander put the lives of officers over those of the children, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said on Tuesday. “There is compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything we’ve learned,” McCraw said at a Texas Senate hearing into the May 24 mass shooting. Police actions after the gunman entered Robb Elementary School and began shooting have come under close scrutiny amid anguished parents’ anger over the response. “Three minutes after the subject entered the west building, there was a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate, distract and neutralize the subject,” McCraw added. “The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111, and 112, was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children,” the director said in the hearing. Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo said earlier this month he never considered himself the incident commander of the scene of the shooting, and that he did not order police to hold back on breaching the building. Community members along with parents of the victims urged Arredondo to resign during an impassioned school board meeting on Monday night, ABC News reported. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Doina Chiacu) View the full article