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Published by AFP Heather Booth says that she founded the Washington (AFP) – Heather Booth was a student in Chicago in 1965 when she received a call from a friend in need. His sister, he said, was pregnant but not ready to have a child. She was “nearly suicidal.” Drawing on her contacts in the city, Booth helped the young woman find a doctor willing to perform an illegal abortion — in what she believed would be a one-off “act of goodwill.” “But word must have spread,” the 76-year-old said in an interview from her home in Washington, more than half a century later. That one act would grow into an underground network of women called “Jane,” whose members helped end thousands of unwanted pregnancies, safely and without stigma — eventually performing 11,000 abortions themselves. By January 22, 1973 — when the US Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision created a nationwide right to abortion — seven “Jane” members were awaiting trial. One of them was Martha Scott, who at the age of 80 — and with the court now expected to repeal that right — looks back defiantly on her decision to break the law many years ago. “I felt very strongly… that we are doing this illegal thing because it is important to do, because it can’t be done legally,” Scott said in a video interview from her home in Chicago. “We were just ladies down the street,” she said, but “bad laws require you to choose to act in ways that may be a little risky.” ‘Caring community’ Booth and Scott, whose journey with the “Janes” is spotlighted in an upcoming HBO documentary, have stark memories of the time before Roe — when desperate women would harm themselves attempting to end their pregnancies. “Some were taking lye (a caustic ingredient in soap), some were using a coat hanger,” said Booth. “Some were doing damage to themselves, throwing themselves down stairs or off a rooftop.” Without alternatives, women sought out abortions from illegal providers, many of whom were motivated by profit or unscrupulous in other ways, with little concern for women’s health. Eleanor Oliver, another former member of the network, said when she sought an illegal abortion in Washington, she was told the doctor might want her to be “a little cozier and friendlier than just a patient.” Fortunately, said the now-84-year-old Oliver, “he was very businesslike, very official.” As word got out that Booth could help women get a safe abortion, more and more began contacting her — and she recruited others to help. To be discreet, they told callers to leave a message for “Jane” — and the group, established as a “caring community,” was born. After some time, the group discovered their abortionist was not a licensed doctor — a shock that led some members to leave. But others, said Scott, realized that if a man without professional training could learn how to safely perform abortions, so could they. – ‘Furious’ – In May 1972, the police barged into the apartment where the “Jane” collective was operating. “They kept saying ‘So where’s the doctor?’…’‘Where’s the guy who’s doing abortions?'” recalled Scott, who was in one of the bedrooms-turned-surgeries. “Well, of course, it wasn’t any guy who was doing abortions… we were doing abortions.” She and six others were rounded up and taken to jail, where they spent the night — before being released pending trial. In the wake of Roe v. Wade, the charges against the “Janes” were dropped, and the group disbanded. Half a century later, though, their work appears relevant all over again, after a leak revealed that the Supreme Court is seriously considering a full reversal of Roe. Scott was “furious, just furious” at the news — but “not surprised” either, in light of former president Donald Trump’s nomination of three anti-abortion conservative justices, tilting the bench decisively to the right. If the nationwide right to abortion is struck down — leaving states free to enact “dangerous” restrictions — Scott expects a new generation of activists will need to step up. “What we need to do is use every tool at our disposal,” echoed Booth. While conservative-led states are expected to drastically curb abortion rights if given free rein, it would remain legal in many other states — “islands in the storm,” as Booth calls them. Some, like Illinois, have already moved to loosen their abortion restrictions in anticipation of the Supreme Court decision. The poorest women — less able to travel out of state — will be the hardest-hit, as seen in Texas where abortions after six weeks have already been effectively banned. But new medication can safely induce abortions up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy and — though it would still be illegal — can easily be sent through the mail. And so, Scott and Booth hold out hope that the United States will not be going back to the dark days of back-alley abortions. “The abortions won’t stop,” Booth said, citing data that shows one in four American women will terminate a pregnancy at some point in their lifetime. “It’s not rare, and it needs to be safe.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English George Michael wanted to be remembered as someone “with integrity”. The ‘Careless Whisper’ hitmaker had been working on documentary film ‘George Michael Freedom Uncut’ in the months leading up to his shock death in December 2016, and in the film, he speaks poignantly about his legacy. According to the Sunday Times Culture magazine, he said: “I want to leave songs . . . that will mean something to later generations. I want to be remembered as someone who had some kind of integrity.” Sir Elton John was interviewed for the documentary and remembered his ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me’ collaborator as outspoken and very talented. He said: “Dinner with him was always an event because he would have a definite opinion on anything. He took something I thought was near perfect in Don’t Let the Sun and made it better. That’s the biggest compliment I can pay.” George lived next door to supermodel Kate Moss and the pair had a lot of fun together. She said: “My favourite night was after the Olympics closing ceremony. We went back to his house and we danced and laughed and rewatched his performance. It was a very long night, I was still there when the sun came up. “I told George that I really wanted to go to the final Wham! concert and sat on the phone for eight hours, but they sold out. I was heartbroken. His music is still on all my playlists.” The ‘Freedom’ hitmaker worked on the film with his best friend, David Austin. David reflected: “George made this film the way he made everything. He took complete control.” After his pal’s death, David stopped listening to George’s music for some time. He added “But a few years ago I was in New York walking down Madison Avenue and Praying for Time came on. It took me by surprise. It really hit me and I listened in a different way. I thought, ‘He can really sing.’ “We met when we were a few months old in our prams. We started writing songs together when we were around five. One was called ‘Music Maker of the World’ and we played ‘Crocodile Rock’ by Elton John. George was the drummer and I played guitar and we recorded everything. “He was such a kind, caring, gentle, giving person. I miss my friend. I miss our friendship, doing all the normal things together, speaking three or four times a day. Music was our first love.” View the full article

Published by DPA Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) watches the Victory Day military parade marking the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany during World War II at Red Square in central Moscow. Putin has warned that if Kiev receives long-range missiles, Russia will move and strike sites that have been off-target so far. -/Kremlin/dpa Supplying long-range missiles of Western manufacture to Ukraine will result in a strong response from Russian forces, President Vladimir Putin told state broadcaster Rossija 1. “If they supply, then we will draw the corresponding conclusions from this and deploy our means of destruction, of which we have enough, to deliver blows to those objects that we are not yet attacking,” he said. The West’s aim in supplying arms to Ukraine was to draw out the conflict, Putin said. The Russian leader appeared relaxed about the delivery of modern HIMARS multiple rocket launchers announced by the United States, saying it would not change the balance of forces fundamentally. “There’s nothing new here,” he said, noting that the Ukrainian army already had similar, Russian-made systems and that US deliveries would just replace systems that had been destroyed. Precisely which missiles were deployed would be decisive, Putin said. According to his information, missiles with ranges of between 45 and 70 kilometres would be supplied, similar to Russia’s Uragan, Smerch and Grad systems. Ukraine had 515 such systems when the “operation” began and is still thought to have 360, he said. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Michael Holden and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) -Military bands, dancers, performers and celebrities paraded through the streets of London on Sunday to mark the final day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the British throne. Under leaden skies, open-topped buses, vintage cars, Olympic cyclists and troops from Britain and the Commonwealth travelled along the route the 96-year-old queen took on her coronation day in 1953. Reflecting the different decades of the queen’s reign, dancers dressed in 1950s outfits danced down the Mall – the grand boulevard leading up to Buckingham Palace – while Morris Minor cars carried Union flags and honked their horns. The Gold State Coach that carried the queen to Westminster Abbey to be crowned in 1953 was seen in public again for the first time in 20 years. Sunday’s pageant through central London was due to conclude the fourth and final day of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee that has been marked by a military parade, a Royal Air Force flypast, a service of thanksgiving and a glittering concert. The queen has been forced to miss a number of the events however because of “episodic mobility problems” which have recently caused her to cancel engagements. She has been on the throne longer than any of her predecessors. The monarch was not present at the start of the parade, with her son and heir Prince Charles, and grandson Prince William, watching on from the seated area in front of Buckingham Palace. Emma Woodhouse, a 21-year-old nanny from the eastern county of Norfolk had arrived on the Mall at 5:30 a.m. to get a good view, clutching Union Jack shower caps just in case. “I think everyone’s going to have great spirits,” she told Reuters. “We’re ready to be here, rain or shine.” NATIONAL TREASURE Hundreds of thousands of royal supporters have appeared to watch the events and enjoy picnics in what is for many the first major national public event since the COVID-19 pandemic. Singer Ed Sheeran and more than 100 “national treasures” ranging from former soccer player Gary Lineker to model Kate Moss, runner Mo Farah and children’s TV puppet Basil Brush were also part of the 10,000 strong, eccentric parade. It also included people dressed as flowers, swans and animals, while others danced to Abba. A series of “Big Jubilee Lunches” were being held across Britain, as part of an estimated 16,000 street parties. Another 600 such gatherings took place across the globe, including in Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan and South Africa. Reflecting the country’s quirky sense of humour, races were being held between Corgis, the dog breed beloved by the queen, while on Saturday the monarch appeared in a comic sketch with Paddington Bear before she tapped in time with the Queen anthem “We Will Rock You”. The final day of festivities comes after Prince Charles, 73, paid a personal tribute to his mother at the pop concert outside Buckingham Palace on Saturday night. “You pledged to serve your whole life – you continue to deliver. That is why we are here,” he said in his message to the queen, who was at her Windsor Castle residence outside London. “You have met us and talked with us. You laugh and cry with us and, most importantly, you have been there for us, for these 70 years,” Charles added, referring to the queen as “mummy”. Elizabeth ascended the throne aged 25 on the death of her father, George VI, in 1952, inheriting dominion over a Britain still emerging from the ravages of World War Two and with Winston Churchill as prime minister. In total, there have been 14 UK prime ministers and 14 U.S. presidents during her reign; the Berlin Wall rose and fell; Britain joined and left the European Union; and its once-mighty empire disintegrated, replaced by a Commonwealth of 54 nations. Opinion polls suggest a majority of Britons believe the monarchy should remain and a recent Ipsos survey found nine out of 10 respondents supported the queen. (Additional reporting by Helena WilliamsEditing by David Holmes, Frances Kerry and Raissa Kasolowsky) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) – A mass shooting in Philadelphia left at least three people dead and 11 others wounded, police said on Sunday in the latest case of gun violence in the United States after recent massacres in Texas, New York and Oklahoma where dozens died. A gunman opened fire in Philadelphia’s busy South Street area, which has multiple bars and restaurants, around midnight on Saturday. Two men and a woman were killed, officials said. “There were hundreds of individuals just enjoying South Street, as they do every single weekend when this shooting broke out,” Philadelphia Police Inspector D F Pace said. The incident followed recent shootings at a grocery story in Buffalo, New York, an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a medical building in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that left dozens dead. Gun safety advocates are pushing the U.S. government to take stronger measures to curb gun violence. There have been at least 239 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group. It defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter. Philadelphia police officers observed “several active shooters shooting into the crowd,” with one officer “within about 10 to 15 yards” of an individual firing into the crowd, police said. That officer fired at the suspect, they said. The whereabouts of the shooters were not immediately known, Pace said. Two handguns were recovered at the scene, including one with an extended magazine, he added. There were no immediate arrests. U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday called on Congress to ban assault weapons, expand background checks and implement other gun control measures to address the string of mass shootings. A broad majority of American voters, both Republicans and Democrats, favor stronger gun control laws, but Republicans in Congress and some moderate Democrats have blocked such legislation for years. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis) View the full article

Published by Radar Online ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA A spokesperson for embattled Prince Andrew announced he would be missing the Queen‘s Platinum Jubilee celebrations after testing positive for COVID-19, but royal fans aren’t convinced. Some speculate it is a convenient cover-up to avoid a public appearance in the wake of his military and royal titles being stripped following sexual assault allegations. ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA “After undertaking a routine test, the duke has tested positive for COVID and with regret will no longer be attending tomorrow’s service,” the statement on Thursday read, leading many Twitter users to speak out about the sudden change-up. “The institution knew it would be terrible PR to have him there, but for him to choose not to go would seem like an admission of guilt,” one person speculated. “This is clearly coordinated,” another theorized. A third tweeted, “I just really wish we could have seen the look on #PrinceAndrew’s face when he was told that to save the, ‘firm,’ he was going to test positive for COVID so as not to be seen during the #PlatinumJubilee.” James Whatling / MEGA On Wednesday, he was spotted riding a horse on the Royal Estate in Windsor. The following day, however, he did not appear at their Trooping the Colour event. Many of the royal family members gathered today in honor of Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne, celebrating with “bible readings, prayers and congregational hymns, to recognize and give thanks for The Queen’s reign, faith and lifetime of service.” Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Thursday evening that Elizabeth had “greatly enjoyed” the jubilee’s opening events and made the decision to miss Friday’s service “with great reluctance.” A National Service of Thanksgiving is being held at St. Paul’s Cathedral for the occasion. James Whatling / MEGA Andrew has been avoiding the spotlight for the most part after Virginia Giuffre, who was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. Amid the bombshell claims, Andrew’s lawyers said the duke “unequivocally denies Giuffre’s false allegations against him.” Although he never faced criminal charges, the two parties later agreed to an out-of-court settlement, which was reportedly around $12 million. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Allen (Reuters) – Ohio is set to enact a law that allows teachers and other staff to be armed with guns in schools once they have completed up to 24 hours of initial training. Proponents hope armed teachers will reduce the frequency and deadliness of school shootings, which have become recurrent in the United States. The bill’s opponents, including teachers’ unions and the state’s main police officer union, say it will only make schools more dangerous for children. The bill was finalized 10 days after a teenager with an AR-15-style rifle attacked a school in Uvalde, Texas. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in the massacre. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, has said he will sign the bill into law. The bill https://ohiohouse.gov/legislation/134/hb99 was passed by the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly this week. It was designed to defuse a ruling last year by the Ohio Supreme Court that said a longstanding state law required teachers to complete more than 700 hours in a peace-officer training program before they could be armed with a gun on school premises. Proponents of the bill said it would allow school staff to confront an armed attacker before police entered. “In emergency situations at our schools, seconds matter and tragedies can be prevented,” Representative Thomas Hall, the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement https://ohiohouse.gov/members/thomas-hall/news/hall-champions-historic-school-safety-bill-110271. Armed teachers would be required to undergo criminal background checks and receive 8 hours of additional training each subsequent year. DeWine said in a statement the governor’s office had worked with lawmakers since the Uvalde shooting “to remove hundreds of hours of curriculum irrelevant to school safety, and to ensure training requirements were specific to a school environment.” The Ohio Education Association and the Ohio Federation of Teachers said in a joint statement that the bill was rushed and risky. The bill, they said, put “educators in the impossible position of making split-second life-and-death decisions without sufficient training. This could undoubtedly lead to more tragedies in our schools.” Under the new law, school districts would have to notify parents if they decide to let armed teachers onto school premises. It was not immediately clear how many school districts would choose to allow teachers to be armed. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. health officials on Friday urged doctors to test for monkeypox if they suspect cases, saying there may be community-level spread but that the overall public health risk remained low. So far, there have been 21 cases of the disease in at least 11 states. Affected patients are isolating to help prevent spreading the virus, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials told reporters in a conference call. The CDC said it was aware of 700 cases of monkeypox that have been reported globally outside of parts of Africa, where the disease is endemic. No deaths have been reported so far. The agency is collaborating with global experts to learn more about how this outbreak began and how it is now spreading within the United States and elsewhere. In a detailed report of 17 cases published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, most patients identified as men who have sex with men. In many of the cases the monkeypox rash started in the genital area, which could lead some doctors to diagnose it as a more common sexually transmitted infection such as herpes or syphilis. Health officials believe community transmission is likely, which is why they want doctors to test patients if they have any reason to suspect monkeypox. The CDC stressed that monkeypox is transmitted by close contact with someone who has the virus and to monkeypox sores. “Anyone can get monkeypox and we are carefully monitoring for monkeypox that may be spreading in any population, including those who are not identifying as men who have sex with men,” Jennifer McQuiston, the CDC’s deputy director of the Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, told the briefing. So far, the United States has run 120 tests for monkeypox. Officials said the government has the capacity to run 1,000 tests per day. Currently, all U.S. patients are in recovery or have already recovered. Those who still have a rash are being asked to stay home until they are fully recovered, the CDC said. A patient is considered recovered when all of the sores have scabbed over, the scabs fall off and healthy skin has emerged. McQuiston said an analysis of the genetic sequences of U.S. virus samples found that in most cases it is similar to the variant circulating in Europe. However, U.S. scientists identified two genetically distinct variants of the monkeypox virus among the U.S. samples. Both share common ancestors with strains that have been present in Nigeria since at least 2017. McQuiston said it is possible that some form of the virus has been transmitting under the radar in the United States, albeit on a very limited basis. U.S. officials said the government has ample vaccines within the Strategic National Stockpile, and the government is offering those to people who have had high-risk contact with infected individuals to prevent transmission of the virus. The United States has so far delivered about 1,200 vaccines and 100 courses of treatment. (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen and Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Daniel Trotta (Reuters) – A Republican congressman who came out in support of gun control after a mass shooting in his area dropped out of the race for his re-election on Friday upon coming under withering criticism from Republicans who saw his policy shift as a betrayal. Chris Jacobs, a first-term U.S. representative from suburban Buffalo, New York, said he decided to withdraw to avoid “an incredibly divisive election” for the Republican Party. Jacobs embraced a federal ban on assault weapons and other gun control measures a week ago in the wake of two massacres. Authorities say a white gunman killed 10 Black people inside a supermarket on May 14 in a racially motivated attack, and a gunman killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in another attack in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24. “This has been a profoundly impactful event for me,” Jacobs told the Buffalo News, referring to the Buffalo shooting. The backlash was immediate. Gun rights groups posted his office and cellphone numbers on the internet and local party leaders began pulling their support, the New York Times reported. “The last thing we need is an incredibly negative, half-truth-filled media attack funded by millions of dollars of special interest money coming into our community around this issue of guns and gun violence and gun control,” Jacobs told reporters Friday upon announcing his withdrawal. Jacobs was elected to Congress in New York’s 27th District two years ago with the support of the National Rifle Association but now is in the redrawn 23rd District. The Republican candidate will be chosen in an Aug. 23 primary election ahead of the Nov. 8 general election, when the entire House of Representatives will be decided. Republicans are poised to regain control from the Democrats in the closely divided House, as the party in control of the White House traditionally loses seats in Congress in midterm elections. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) View the full article

Published by AFP A man carries a gun as he visits a memorial for the shooting victims outside the Uvalde County Courthouse in Uvalde, Texas on May 29, 2022 Washington (AFP) – From the Texas school massacre to a Tulsa hospital shooting and many less-reported incidents, a recent spate of gun violence across America bears out a trend police departments have long sworn by: murders go up in warmer weather. The link has been written about for decades by criminologists, with more recent research drilling down on the precise relationship between temperature and crime rates. For those who have studied the question, there are common sense as well as potentially less obvious mechanisms at play. First, the more obvious: “It’s hard to shoot somebody if there’s nobody around,” David Hemenway, a professor of health policy at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, told AFP, explaining why gun crime is lower in bad weather. A second, more controversial idea is that heat itself — as opposed to weather that encourages people to be out — might rev up conflict. While there are many causes behind the rising tide of gun violence in the United States, weather could play an increasingly important role in world that is fast warming due to climate change. Warm days in cold months – Hemenway said he had long been interested in the relationship between heat and higher crime given stereotypes about the north-south divide within the United States and Italy, as well as between the northern European states of Scandinavia and southern Mediterranean countries. In 2020, he co-wrote a paper in Injury Epidemiology led by his then-graduate student Paul Reeping examining the city of Chicago between 2012 and 2016. The paper used reports from the Chicago Tribune to get the number of shootings per day, and then matched those against daily high temperature, humidity, wind speed, difference in temperature from historical average, and precipitation type and amount. They found a 10 degree Celsius higher temperature was significantly associated with 34 percent more shootings on weekdays, and 42 percent more shootings on weekends or holidays. They also found a 10C higher than average temperature was associated with 33.8 percent higher rate of shootings. In other words, said Hemenway, it’s not just heat that’s important, but relative heat: “In the winter, there were more shootings on those days which wouldn’t have been hot in the summer but were warm for winter.” Another recent paper, led by Leah Schinasi of Drexel University and published in the Journal of Urban Health in 2017, looked at violent crime in Philadelphia. “I live in Philadelphia, and I remember biking home from work on a very hot day and observing how cranky everyone seemed. I was interested to see if this observation translated to higher rates of crime on hot days,” she told AFP. She and co-author Ghassan Hamra did indeed find violent crimes happened more often in the warmer months — May through September — and were highest on the hottest days. The contrast was most striking on comfortable days in the colder months — October through April — compared to colder days in those months. When temperatures reached 21C (70F) during that time period, daily rates of violent crime were 16 percent higher compared to 6C (43F) days, the median for those months. – ‘Harm reduction’ – Hemenway believes that both of the main hypotheses on the subject — that more people being outside opens more possibilities of hostile interactions, and that heat itself makes people more aggressive — could be true. A striking study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2019 involved placing university students in Kenya and California in either hot or cold rooms and measuring the impact on a number of behavioral categories. It found “heat significantly affects individuals’ willingness to voluntarily destroy other participants’ assets” in the form of gift cards and vouchers. When it comes to the overall issue of gun violence, there are far bigger drivers than temperature, Hemenway acknowledged. These include the fact there were an estimated 393 million guns in circulation in the United States in 2020, more than the number of people, while many states have moved in recent years to ease rather than toughen restrictions. But better understanding the relationship with weather could have policy implications — for example finding more activities for young males to keep them off street corners on the hottest summer days, and boosting police presence in key areas based on forecasts. “It’s sort of a harm reduction,” said Hemenway. “But even if this wasn’t a gun problem, I suspect we would find the same thing if we had evidence about fights and assaults. What the guns do is make hostile interactions more deadly.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Barbara Goldberg (Reuters) -Harini Logan, 14, of San Antonio won the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday after a first-ever “spell-off” was required for a champion to emerge in the extremely close competition. Logan takes home $50,000 from Scripps, plus further money prizes and reference works from Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica. She beat Vikram Raju, 12, of Denver after their neck-and-neck competition required a “spell-off” to decide the winner, a first in the history of the Bee. The second-place prize is $25,000. They claimed the top spots in the competition that pitted spellers ages 7-15 from across the United States and as far away as Guam for the 94th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. This year’s competition was held at National Harbor, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. In the spell-off, each competitor had 90 seconds to spell as many words correctly as possible. Raju went first and spelled 15 words correctly of the 19 he attempted. Logan, who waited for her turn in a sound-proof area, emerged to spell 21 words correctly of the 26 she attempted. Both had the same list of words read to them, ringing a bell to signal they were ready to advance to the next word. Most Bee contestants were middle-school age and all were required to test negative for COVID-19 to participate and were masked onstage except when actively competing. Logan is an eighth-grade student at The Montessori School of San Antonio. She loves creative writing and plans to publish a book in high school. When she’s not spelling, she plays piano, recorder and is learning the ukulele. This was her fourth and final year as a Bee contender. Last year, when Zaila Avant-garde, 14, from New Orleans correctly spelled “Murraya,” a genus of plants, she became the first African American to win the prestigious competition that began in 1925. Competitors this year included 105 girls, 128 boys, and one speller who identifies as non-binary. The Bee was televised live. Play-by-play commentary heightens the excitement as contestants rack their brains to come up with the correct spellings for often obscure words. After 27 years of being broadcast live on the cable sports channel ESPN, this year’s live show was moved to ION and Bounce, both networks owned by a Scripps subsidiary. The show’s host was actor LeVar Burton. In 2019, an eight-way tie included such mind-bending winning words as “erysipelas,” a skin infection; “auslaut,” the final sound in a word or syllable; “palama,” webbing on the feet of aquatic birds; “pendeloque,” a pear-shaped gemstone or glass pendant; “odylic,” related to a hypothetical life force; “cernuous,” drooping, “bougainvillea,” a climbing plant; and “aiguillette,” the braided ornament on military uniforms. (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien, Robert Birsel) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Rachel Brosnahan was told she was “not funny” before landing the starring role on ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.’ The 31-year-old actress stars in title role of aspiring stand-up comedienne Midge Maisel in the hit Amazon Prime series but was initially told to consider a different kind of acting career before landing the part. She said: “I spent the first couple years of my career being told I was not funny. It wasn’t like an insulting thing. It was really just a lot of people who were professionals kind of saying, ‘You might want to head in a different direction. Maybe consider something over here.’” The former ‘Manhattan’ actress – who eventually won a Primetime Emmy Award for her role in ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ – went on to reveal that just hours before being offered the part, she had been rejected at another audition because casting directors wanted “someone funnier.” Speaking at Prime Video show’s FYC event, she said: “I think it’s been a really challenging and really incredible exercise over the last couple of years. But I’m eternally indebted to [executive producers] Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino for saying yes and taking that kind of chance on someone like me. “The day I found out I was going to be their Midge, [I] lost a role that morning because I wasn’t funny enough. They wanted someone funnier.” During the event, panel moderator Danny Strong recalled a conversation he had with producers about their challenge in finding the right person to take on the role and claimed that had they not found Rachel in the end, the show may “never” have happened. He said: “I was having dinner with them in the early part of the casting process. And Amy, she said, ‘Yeah, I can’t … I haven’t found my lead. And if I don’t find her, I’m just gonna not do the show because I need someone great or it’s just gonna be a waste of my time. Then we had dinner, I don’t know, a month later, three weeks later. And she was like, ‘I found her. We’re all good.’ So literally, if she hadn’t found [Rachel], there may never have been the show.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Amy Tennery NEW YORK (Reuters) – As advocates call on Washington to curb violence after mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, its hometown team the Nationals are already taking up the cause. Professional teams across the United States are jumping into a national debate over gun control, with 75 teams expected to take part in “Wear Orange Weekend,” an annual event that kicked off Friday to advocate for an end to gun violence, according to non-profit Everytown for Gun Safety. While a far cry for the 180-some professional teams spanning baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer, it’s a considerable step up from last year, when 29 teams took part. Players usually wear a small orange ribbon on their uniforms. There are also numerous other U.S. organizations devoted to curbing gun violence with which teams can participate. “This is an unprecedented moment. It’s a tipping point,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, the head of movement building at Everytown for Gun Safety. “They’re also, you know, frankly, meeting their market, meeting the moment.” An 18-year-old gunman killed 19 elementary school children and two teachers with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle last month in Uvalde, days after authorities said a white supremacist killed 10 people at a supermarket in a Black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York. The shootings prompted renewed calls for Congress to curb gun violence though many Republican legislators have said they would resist restrictions on gun ownership. Nearly two-thirds of Americans said they would support moderate or strong regulations on gun ownership, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll last month, including 53% of Republicans. The Nationals, Houston Texans and San Antonio Spurs are among the teams working with Everytown for Gun Safety for the first time this year. The organization declined to provide a full list of the participating franchises. The Nationals on Friday wore T-shirts bearing the message “enough” as they took the field for warmups ahead of their road game in Cincinnati, joining six other D.C.-area teams to “call for an increased commitment to reducing gun violence.” The move came roughly a week after the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays used their social media accounts to publish facts about gun violence in lieu of game coverage. In the NBA, the Toronto Raptors on Friday started a petition to ask Canadian legislators to join the U.S. in observing the first Friday of June as National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Days prior, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr refused to talk about basketball at a pre-game news conference, using the time to call for stricter gun control. On Friday, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) said it was partnering with Everytown for a fourth straight year. “Is there risk involved? Yes. You can isolate your fan base. You can anger your management, you can anger your sponsors,” said Amy Bass, a professor of sport studies at Manhattanville College focused on the intersection of sports, culture and politics. “Or, you know, the reverse can happen: You can empower your fan base.” Bass said the Black Lives Matter activism in the Summer of 2020 created “a new rung on the ladder” for athletes to speak out, calling it a “catalyst” for athletes and teams. “Summer 2020 launched something in sports,” she said. Coco Gauff, who along with four-times Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka bought the Black Lives Movement to the global stage through tennis two years ago, made an appeal to end gun violence at the French Open Thursday. “Although we kind of are holding these athletes in really high esteem, they are they also are members of community,” said Ferrell-Zabala. “It feels like a natural progression for them to utilize their voices to really dig into this problem.” (Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) View the full article

Published by DPA A woman walks past a house destroyed by the Russian military in the village of Andriivka in the Kiev region. 03 June is the 100th day of Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine. Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Ukraine and Russia have exchanged the bodies of some 320 fallen soldiers, according to authorities in Kiev. The exchange took place on June 2 on the front line in the Zaporizhzhya region, with each side handing over 160 bodies, the Ukrainian government said on Saturday. Ukraine had repeatedly called on Russia to receive its fallen soldiers, accusing the leadership in Moscow of treating its own forces like “cannon fodder” and not caring about a dignified burial. Ukrainian intelligence services and the general staff of the armed forces were involved in the exchange. People inspect a destroyed Russian army tank about 40 km west of Kiev. 03 June is the 100th day of Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine. Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jarrett Renshaw and Costas Pitas (Reuters) -Former hedge fund executive David McCormick conceded to wellness celebrity Mehmet Oz on Friday in the Republican primary race for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania, following a recount and securing another Donald Trump-endorsed candidate in a critical midterm election. Oz, who will square off against Democrat John Fetterman in the Nov. 8 midterm election to replace retiring Republican Senator Pat Toomey, won by a margin of 916 votes, according to Edison Research. The race is crucial to Republican hopes of regaining control of a Senate now narrowly held by President Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats. “I will do my part to try to unite Republicans and Pennsylvanians behind his candidacy, behind his nomination for the Senate,” McCormick said in conceding to Oz. Oz secured 419,643 votes versus 418,727 for McCormick, according to Edison Research. Trump has endorsed over 190 candidates in the midterm contests, trying to solidify his status as the Republican Party kingmaker. His picks have not always prevailed. Trump endorsed Oz in April, after his previous pick in the race dropped out when his estranged wife alleged physical abuse and he lost a battle over custody of his children. Oz and McCormick both positioned themselves as champions of Trump’s populist “America First” agenda. “I look forward to campaigning in every corner of the Commonwealth for the next five months to earn the support of every Pennsylvanian,” Oz said on Friday. Republicans are seeking to regain control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in November. They are well positioned to regain control of the House, which could enable them to stonewall Biden’s legislative agenda. Democrats have a better chance of keeping their razor-thin Senate majority, but to do so will need to perform well in races including in Pennsylvania. Fetterman, the state’s current lieutenant governor, said on Friday that he “almost died” from a stroke suffered days before the May 17 primary and which has kept him off the campaign trail, indicating that his condition was graver than initially suggested. “I’m not quite back to 100% yet, but I’m getting closer every day,” he said. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Washington and Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Editing by Eric Beech, David Gregorio and Leslie Adler) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Robbie Williams thinks fame “should come with a health warning”. The 48-year-old singer is returning to Stoke-on-Trent for one-off homecoming concert at Vale Park and reflected on both the positive and negative sides of his career in the limelight – which started when he was a teenager in the boy band Take That. In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Robbie said: “I’m glad it happened to me when it did because there was nothing else happening to me.” The ‘Rock DJ’ hitmaker did liken “extreme fame” to an illness and feels younger people are particularly vulnerable to the perils of stardom. Robbie explained: “It’s something that happens outside of your own body, with people looking at you and behaving in a certain way, make you feel a certain way. “If you’re not that au fait with feeling good about yourself it can have a severe reaction, especially if you’re not old enough to cope with it.” 20,000 fans are expected to attend Robbie’s gig on Saturday (04.06.22), which comes at the home stadium of his football team Port Vale, and the star confessed that he feels a mixture of excitement and trepidation about the performance. He said: “I don’t know how Stoke’s changed really. I’ve got a gilded cage that I arrive and leave in. But out of the window things look quite similar. “Where I’m from, you’re not allowed to have a big head. “You’re not allowed to get ideas above your station. And even though the performance, the character I’ve played on stage really is full of himself, I’m not really – I’m Rob from Stoke. “They say you stop growing the day you get famous and I kind of get it, I’m like a 16-year-old inside a 48-year-old.” View the full article

Published by AFP This handout image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts a monkeypox virion, obtained from a human skin sample Washington (AFP) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday it was aware of more than 700 global cases of monkeypox, including 21 in the United States, with investigations now suggesting it is spreading inside the country. Sixteen of the first 17 cases were among people who identify as men who have sex with men, according to a new CDC report, and 14 were thought to be travel associated. All patients are in recovery or have recovered, and no cases have been fatal. “There have also been some cases in the United States that we know are linked to known cases,” Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the CDC’s Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, told reporters on a call. “We also have at least one case in the United States that does not have a travel link or know how they acquired their infection.” Monkeypox is a rare disease that is related to but less severe than smallpox, causing a rash that spreads, fever, chills, and aches, among other symptoms. Generally confined to western and central Africa, cases have been reported in Europe since May and the number of countries affected has grown since. Canada also released new figures Friday, counting 77 confirmed cases — almost all of them detected in Quebec province, where vaccines have been delivered. Though its new spread may be linked to particular gay festivals in Europe, monkeypox is not thought to be a sexually transmitted disease, with the main risk factor being close skin-to-skin contact with someone who has monkey pox sores. A person is contagious until all the sores have scabbed and new skin is formed. ‘More than enough vaccine’ Raj Panjabi, senior director for the White House’s global health security and biodefense division, added that 1,200 vaccines and 100 treatment courses had been delivered to US states, where they were offered to close contacts of those infected. There are currently two authorized vaccines: ACAM2000 and JYNNEOS, which were originally developed against smallpox. Though smallpox has been eliminated, the United States retains the vaccines in a strategic national reserve in case it is deployed as a biological weapon. JYNNEOS is the more modern of the two vaccines, with fewer side effects. “We continue to have more than enough vaccine available,” Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response in the Department of Health and Human Services, told reporters. In late May, the CDC said it had 100 million doses of ACAM200 and 1,000 doses of JYNNEOS available, but O’Connell said Friday the figures had shifted, though she could not divulge precise numbers for strategic reasons. The CDC has also authorized two antivirals used to treat smallpox, TPOXX and Cidofovir, to be repurposed to treat monkeypox. “Anyone can get monkeypox and we are carefully monitoring for monkeypox that may be spreading in any population, including those who are not identifying as men who have sex with men,” said McQuiston. That being said, the CDC is undertaking special outreach in the LGBT community, she added. A suspected case “should be anyone with a new characteristic rash,” or anyone who meets the criteria for high suspicion such as relevant travel, close contact, or being a man who has sex with men. View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Tom Boggioni In an interview with the Guardian, filmmaker John Waters — creator of cult classics “Pink Flamingoes” and “Female Trouble” — lamented the rise of Donald Trump by claiming he ruined “bad taste,” a hallmark of Waters’s storied filmmaking career. Reflecting on his career during which he has been called “the Pope of Trash, the Sultan of Sleaze, the Duke of Dirt, the Baron of Bad Taste, the King of Puke and Queer Confucius,” Waters was asked about his influence on “camp” in the arts and why it has faded away as a cultural touchstone. As the Guardian’s Catherine Bray wrote, Waters’… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Ohio’s House of Representatives passed a bill that would ban transgender girls from school sports and require verification from a doctor if a student’s sex is called into question. The provision was a last-minute addition to an unrelated bill that passed in a marathon session late on Wednesday, the first day of Pride month. The bill next goes to a vote in the state Senate when it reconvenes in several months after a recess. The Ohio House’s Republican majority took a similar step last year but that effort ultimately failed. More than half a dozen states have passed or enacted similar provisions this year alone. Unlike most of the others, the Ohio measure would require students whose sex is “disputed” to provide a physician’s statement verifying “internal and external reproductive anatomy” and other criteria. Ohio schools that violate the proposed rules could face lawsuits. These provisions target “a handful of Ohio students and their families who simply want to play sports like everyone else,” LGBTQ rights group Equality Ohio said in a statement. The Ohio High School Association (OSHAA) has had a transgender policy in place for 10 years during which there have been “fewer than 20 transgender girls approved to play high school girls sports,” according Equality Ohio and OSHAA. Conservative Republican proponents of such legislation argue it is necessary to give girls a level playing field in sports. Democrats and other opponents say the laws are harmful, unnecessary and unjustly target an already marginalized, vulnerable group. (Reporting by Maria Caspani, Editing by Donna Bryson and Cynthia Osterman) View the full article

Published by Tribune News Service In Terence Davies’ “Benediction,” a moving portrait of English war poet Siegfried Sassoon, the blessing bestowed is both literal and cinematic. While older Siegfried (Peter Capaldi) receives a blessing from a priest while converting to Catholicism, much to the chagrin of his adult son, George (Richard Goulding), the true benediction of “Benediction” is much more than just the on-screen ritual. The blessing of the film is the film itself, and the extraordinary grace that Davies extends toward his subject, a poet who made his pain public but had to keep his intimate life private. Sassoon is know… Read More View the full article

[This post contains video, click to play] Published by Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — The romantic comedy “Fire Island” is a very gay, very horny, very charming riff on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” set on present-day Fire Island in New York. There is banter aplenty, a lot of it dirty. Both sweet and filled with spiky humor, it comes from screenwriter Joel Kim Booster, who also stars alongside Margaret Cho and “Saturday Night Live” cast member Bowen Yang, the latter of whom is one of Booster’s closest friends — on screen and in real life. Though it touches on everything from beauty standards to classism to racism — the snobs in the film are ripped, white and obn… Read More ‘Fire Island’ review: This gay rom-com offers a shallow dip into the ocean that is modern queer culture Fire Island Published by The Seattle Times It’s important for there to be bad queer rom-coms, because there are plenty of bad straight rom-coms. Every quote-unquote “gay movie” does not have to be “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” or “Call Me By Your Name.” In this sense, “Fire Island,” a new movie written by comedian Joel Kim Booster and starring Booster and “Saturday Night Live’s” Bowen Yang, is important. Based on a script originally written for the doomed TV streaming app Quibi, and a plot that feels more like a gimmick (“What if ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ but gay and modern-day?”) than a passion project, “Fire Island” is a mess with a few … Read More Fire Island Movie on Towleroad Kim Petras Covers Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ in Wake of ‘Stranger Things’ Success: LISTEN More If you’re in Berlin, head to Hollywood, at this photography exhibit More Biden says ‘Enough!’ on gun violence, demands action from Congress More Buckingham Palace REJECTS Kim Kardashian’s Pleas To Attend Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee Official Party More Choosing Sides? Sarah Jessica Parker’s ‘Hocus Pocus’ Costar PRAISES Kim Cattrall After ‘SATC’ Drama More NeNe Leakes Laughs Off Homewrecking Lawsuit, Claims She Never Stole Anyone’s Husband After Boyfriend’s Ex Takes Legal Action More A New Olivia Records — Not the 1970’s Lesbian, Feminist Label, The 2020’s Feminist One — Launches With 2 Queer Artists; Challenges Country More Kuwait summons US official over ‘pro-homosexuality’ tweets More Tennis-Billie Jean King receives France’s highest civilian award More School board candidate checks out all LGBTQ books from library to ‘preserve innocence’ More Ahead of U.S. midterms, Democrats struggle to find footing on violent crime More Rainbow Xbox Controller: LGBTQ Players Get Their Wish: Gay Xbox Controller Is Back For Pride (and With Pride); Available to All June 9 More Concerned that Amazon offers anti-trans guides for parents, workers shut down the company’s Pride Month kickoff More Load More View the full article

[This post contains video, click to play] Published by PopCrush In honor of Pride Month, pop singer Kim Petras has released a brand new cover of Kate Bush‘s 1985 track “Running Up That Hill.” The sparkling song is in collaboration with Amazon Music. The Amazon Original cover is featured on their PROUD playlist. Listen below: “Running Up That Hill” is one of Bush’s most famous records. It reached No. 3 on the U.K. Singles Chart and gave Bush her first Top 30 chart hit on Billboard‘s Hot 100. It was also featured in NME‘s “Tracks of the Year” in 1985, where it landed at No. 3. Watch Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” Music Video:The song is often misinterpre… Read More View the full article

Published by DPA A visitor walks past a picture by photographer Helmut Newton in the Helmut Newton Foundation’s “Hollywood” exhibition. In the 1980s and ’90s, Newton took portraits of many actors, directors and musicians in and around Hollywood on behalf of numerous magazines. But the Berlin group exhibition also features other photographers with their interpretations of Hollywood. Britta Pedersen/dpa You can see Elizabeth Taylor submerged in the deep blues of a pool in Hollywood, a green parrot perched on her hand. German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton created the portrait of Taylor during a shoot for Vanity Fair in the 1980s. It is just one of the many gems on display at an exhibition of works focusing on Hollywood, with many by iconic photographer Newton (1920-2004). They are now on show at the Berlin Museum of Photography, suitably, as Newton’s photographic estate is administered by Berlin, where he was born. The photographer made his name portraying celebrity actors and actresses, well-known directors and famous musicians for magazines in the 1980s. Many of his works resemble stills from famous Hollywood films, as he often staged photographs based on cinematic scenes. While Newton’s works are the focal point in the exhibition, you can also see photographs by Eve Arnold, Anton Corbijn, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Michael Dressel, George Hoyningen-Huene, Jens Liebchen, Ruth Harriet Louise, Inge Morath, Steve Schapiro, Julius Shulman, Alice Springs and Larry Sultan, all focusing on Hollywood. There are also publications by Annie Leibovitz and Ed Ruscha. The exhibition opened on Friday and runs until November 20. The “Hollywood” exhibition at Berlin’s Museum of Photography features works focusing on celebrities from the 1980s and 90s, with many by iconic photographer Helmut Newton (1920-2004). Britta Pedersen/dpa A photography of US actress Debra Winger on display at Berlin’s Museum of Photography. Britta Pedersen/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Declaring “Enough, enough!” U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday called on Congress to ban assault weapons, expand background checks and implement other gun control measures to address a string of mass shootings that have struck the United States. Speaking from the White House, in a speech broadcast live in primetime, Biden asked a country stunned by the recent shootings at a school in Texas, a grocery store in New York and a medical building in Oklahoma, how many more lives it would take to change gun laws in America. “For God’s sake, how much more carnage are we willing to accept?” Biden asked. Biden described visiting Uvalde, Texas, where the school shooting took place. “I couldn’t help but think there are too many other schools, too many other everyday places that have become killing fields, battlefields, here in America.” The president, a Democrat, called for a number of measures opposed by Republicans in Congress, including banning the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, or, if that were not possible, raising the minimum age to buy those weapons to 21 from 18. He also pressed for repealing the liability shield that protects gun manufacturers from being sued for violence perpetrated by people carrying their guns. “We can’t fail the American people again,” Biden said, pressing Republicans particularly in the U.S. Senate to allow bills with gun control measures to come up for a vote. Biden said if Congress did not act, he believed Americans would make the issue central when they vote in November mid-term elections. The National Rifle Association gun lobby said in a statement that Biden’s proposals would infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. “This isn’t a real solution, it isn’t true leadership, and it isn’t what America needs,” it said. The United States, which has a higher rate of gun deaths than any other wealthy nation, has been shaken in recent weeks by the mass shootings of 10 Black residents in upstate New York, 19 children and two teachers in Texas, and two doctors, a receptionist and a patient in Oklahoma. Lawmakers are looking at measures to expand background checks and pass “red flag” laws that would allow law enforcement officials to take guns away from people suffering from mental illness. But any new measures face steep hurdles from Republicans, particularly in the Senate, and moves to ban assault weapons do not have enough support to advance. The U.S. Constitution’s second amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms. Biden said that amendment was not “absolute” while adding that new measures he supported were not aimed at taking away people’s guns. “After Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Charleston, after Orlando, after Las Vegas, after Parkland, nothing has been done,” Biden said, ticking off a list of mass shootings over more than two decades. “This time that can’t be true.” PLEA FROM GRIEVING GRANDMOTHER Gun safety advocates have pushed Biden to take stronger measures on his own to curb gun violence, but the White House wants Congress to pass legislation that would have more lasting impact than any presidential order. Biden’s evening address was aimed in part at keeping the issue at the forefront of voters’ minds. The president has made only a handful of evening speeches from the White House during his term, including one on the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and one about the Texas shooting last week. More than 18,000 people have died from gun violence in the United States so far in 2022, including through homicide and suicide, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit research group. Canada, Australia and Britain all passed stricter gun laws after mass shootings in their countries, banning assault weapons and increasing background checks. America has experienced years of massacres in schools, stores and places of work and worship without any such legislation. A broad majority of American voters, both Republicans and Democrats, favor stronger gun control laws, but Republicans in Congress and some moderate Democrats have blocked such legislation for years. Prices of shares in gun manufacturers rose on Thursday. Efforts to advance gun control measures have boosted firearm share prices after other mass shootings as investors anticipated that gun purchases would increase ahead of stricter regulations. In the aftermath of the Texas shooting, Biden urged the country to take on the powerful pro-gun lobby that backs politicians who oppose such legislation. The Senate is split, with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, and a law must have 60 votes to overcome a maneuver known as the filibuster, which means any law would need rare bipartisan support. “The only room in America where you can’t find more than 60% support for universal background checks is on the floor of the U.S. Senate,” said Christian Heyne, vice president for policy at Brady, a gun violence prevention group. While Biden and Congress explore compromises, the Supreme Court is due to decide a major case that could undermine new efforts to enact gun control measures while making existing ones vulnerable to legal attack. Biden said he received a handwritten note from a grandmother who had lost her granddaughter in Uvalde that read: “Erase the invisible line that is dividing our nation. Come up with a solution and fix what’s broken and make the changes that are necessary to prevent this from happening again.” (Reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Alexandra Alper and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Heather Timmons, Mary Milliken, Leslie Adler and Michael Perry) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Although she isn’t used to rejection, Kim Kardashian and beau Pete Davidson were reportedly rejected by Buckingham Palace this week after begging to attend Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee official party, Radar has learned. In a shocking development that no doubt left the 41-year-old reality star and businesswoman reeling, Kim and Pete were promptly rejected by Buckingham Palace after pleading to attend the Queen’s star-studded official party celebrating and commemorating her Platinum Jubilee. Mega According to Daily Mail, the Keeping Up with the Kardashian star’s representatives asked for tickets to the event, but were turned down by the Palace. Kim’s reps then reportedly turned to publicists at the BBC – who are broadcasting the show – in a last-ditch effort to score tickets to the royal extravaganza, but were also rejected by them. “Kim rarely gets turned down to attend any event, so this has been quite surprising, especially as she doesn’t visit the UK often,” a source familiar with the situation told Daily Mail. “Kim and Pete love the Royal Family and really wanted to be a part of this special celebration,” the source added. Mega Although Kim was rejected by both Buckingham Palace and the BBC, she reportedly vowed to obtain tickets for the Platinum Jubilee party by any means necessary – even if that means the tickets are “not VIP.” 10,000 tickets for the party were reportedly given out via a public ballot, in addition to 7,500 more tickets allocated to those in the Armed Forces, volunteers and charities, so it is not known how exactly Kim plans to get her hands on a pair of tickets for her and Pete. It’s no wonder Kim and Pete are desperate to attend the royal party, because the event is set to see performances by the likes of Diana Ross, Nile Rodgers and even the rock band Queen. Other celebrities set to make an appearance include former English soccer legend David Beckham, as well as English broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. Mega Despite not scoring tickets to join the Platinum Jubilee official party, Kim and her 28-year-old comedian boyfriend still reportedly made the best of their time in the United Kingdom. On Tuesday, the celebrity couple were spotted jewelry shopping in London’s Mayfair before enjoying a surprisingly low-key dinner date at London’s River Café. View the full article