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Published by BANG Showbiz English Barry Manilow’s ex-wife Susan Deixler is “glad that he’s found love” with his husband Garry Kief. The ‘Copacabana’ crooner and Susan were high school sweethearts and they married in 1964. However, the union quickly unravelled and they split just a year after they tied the knot, with Susan having the marriage annulled in 1966. They have remained friends over the years, and Barry went on to wed for a second time in 2014 – exchanging vows with his longtime partner Garry. Susan has now told America’s Closer magazine she is thrilled her ex found the love of his life, saying: “What happened between us, our relationship is ancient history. “I wish him well. I’m happy for him. I’m glad he’s found love and happiness.” Barry struck up a romance with Garry in 1978 but they kept their relationship a secret for years and quietly tied the knot in 2014 in a private ceremony at their home in Palm Springs after same-sex unions were legalised in California. However, they waited another three years before going public with their love. After coming out publicly in 2017, Barry admitted he kept his personal life private for so many years because he was worried about disappointing his fans. The ‘Mandy’ hitmaker explained: “I’m so private. I always have been. I thought I would be disappointing them if they knew I was gay. So I never did anything.” On the positive reaction the news, he added: “When they found out that Garry and I were together, they were so happy. “The reaction was so beautiful – strangers commenting, ‘Great for you!’ I’m just so grateful for it.” View the full article

Published by The Kansas City Star The arch conservative Liberty Alliance has unveiled its new “Woke Heat Map” of Missouri, dotted with “hot spots” where it says the “the Woke agenda … is permeating all across” the state. Click on one, and you’ll see the spots tie to instances where someone has raised a stink about one of the right-wing culture war outrages of the day: diversity training, a lesson about George Floyd, “gingerbread person” cookies. What ties all these hot spots together? Each one targets a school. And what reason could there be to drop pins on a map other than to mark the sites for protest — or worse? If there’s … Read More View the full article

Published by Miami Herald Kerlie Leonce wasn’t always proud to be Haitian. A first-generation American, Leonce doesn’t speak Creole and, a times, felt ostracized because of it, as if she always had to prove herself to other Haitians. At one point, Leonce even began introducing herself as “Kelly” because she was ashamed of her birth name. In college, however, something changed: between Florida International University’s robust Caribbean community, her own research and just genuine maturation, Leonce eventually began to embrace her heritage. “Not anybody else can say that they have the history that my blood has,” Leonce … Read More View the full article

Published by SI Swim By Evan Nachimson The SI Swimsuit rookie kicked off the month-long celebration of the LGBTQ community by posting a photo of herself wearing a “Love is Love” T-shirt. “HAPPY PRIDE MONTH. June is Pride Month. SI Swimsuit rookie and social media editor-at-large Olivia Ponton kicked off the month-long celebration of the LGBTQ community by posting a photo of herself wearing a “Love is Love” T-shirt. “HAPPY PRIDE MONTH. Pansexual and proud.” Ponton writes. Pansexuality means a person can feel a sexual, romantic or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex or gender identity. View t… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Maria Caspani (Reuters) – North Carolina lawmakers advanced legislation on Wednesday that would prohibit classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for some public school students, a move decried by opponents as harmful to LGBTQ youth. The “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” a broad piece of legislation that opponents say mirrors Florida’s so-called “Don’t say gay bill,” cleared the state’s Republican-led Senate and will head to the House of Representatives, which also has a Republican majority. It could reach the desk of Governor Roy Cooper as soon as this week. Cooper, a Democrat, has spoken against the bill and is all but certain to veto it. Advocates and civil rights groups have tracked hundreds of bills this year across state legislatures directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, including many that target transgender youth specifically. Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill was signed into law in March. In April, the governor of Alabama signed a bill prohibiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grades, and similar measures are being considered in Louisiana and Ohio. The North Carolina measure would prohibit mention of sexual orientation or gender identity in curricula for students from kindergarten through third grade. Schools would also have to notify parents if a student requests to be addressed by a different name or pronoun. Supporters of the Republican-sponsored measure say it would allow greater involvement of parents in their children’s education and well-being. Those opposing the legislation warned it could result in youth being outed to their families. If enacted, critics said, it will put an unnecessary burden on teachers and create a more hostile school environment for LGBTQ children who already face marginalization and are at greater risk of suicide. “We’re disappointed but not surprised. And we will continue to fight for the rights of LGBTQ youth,” the ACLU North Carolina chapter said on Twitter. Shortly after senators cast their votes, opponents of the measure in the gallery erupted in chants of “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re not going anywhere.” (Reporting by Maria Caspani, Editing by Aurora Ellis) View the full article

Published by Reuters UK By Natalie Grover LONDON (Reuters) -Monkeypox appears to be spreading from person to person in England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Wednesday. The usually mild viral disease, which is endemic in west and central Africa, is understood to spread through close contact. Until early May, cases rarely cropped up outside Africa and were typically linked to travel to there. “The current outbreak is the first time that the virus has been passed from person to person in England where travel links to an endemic country have not been identified,” the agency said. According to the UKHSA, … Read More View the full article

Published by XXL Mag Lil Nas X has called out BET for excluding him from their list of 2022 awards nominees. On Wednesday (June 1) Lil Nas X hit up Twitter to let his 7.7 million followers know he definitely feels he’s been snubbed for the second straight year. In the since-deleted tweets, the Montero artist sarcastically acknowledged being left off the list of BET Awards nominees, throwing shots at the media brand’s longstanding mantra of Black excellence accompanied by a heart and folded hands emoji. “Thank you, BET Awards,” Lil Nas X wrote. “An outstanding zero nominations again. Black Excellence.” Among the 42… Read More View the full article

Published by Orlando Sentinel ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t had any problem pushing his firebrand conservative agenda through the Florida Legislature, scoring national headlines that have propelled him to the top of potential GOP contenders for president in 2024. But some of hisbiggest priorities — combating what he calls Big Tech censorship, creating a new “anti-riot” law and banning so-called sanctuary cities — have hit a wall in the courts with key provisions being blocked. More courtroom battles loom. DeSantis, a Harvard law graduate, is defending legal challenges to his congressional redistricting map, his … Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters UK By Horaci Garcia KYIV (Reuters) – As volunteer fighters Oleksandr Zhuhan and Antonina Romanova pack for a return to active duty, they contemplate the unicorn insignia that gives their uniform a rare distinction – a symbol of their status as an LGBTQ couple who are Ukrainian soldiers. Members of Ukraine’s LGBTQ community who sign up for the war have taken to sewing the image of the mythical beast into their standard-issue epaulettes just below the national flag. The practice harks back to the 2014 conflict when Russia invaded then annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, “when lots of people… Read More View the full article

Published by DPA A London cyclists wearing a frame shaped like a car to demonstrate how much space car are taking up on the roads. Dott/PA Media/dpa Cyclists wearing frames shaped like cars are taking to the streets of London to demonstrate that vehicles are “hogging” roads. Micromobility firm Dott is carrying out the stunt in Hammersmith, west London, this week. It estimated that reducing the number of cars used in the capital by 20,000 – equivalent to less than 1% – would free up 55 miles (88km) of roads and create enough space for 80,000 bikes. Dott has been one of three operators involved in a trial of rental e-scooters in London since June 2021. It began offering rental e-bikes in the city in March. Dott co-founder and chief executive Henri Moissinac said: “Our latest project highlights the absurdity of single drivers hogging the capital’s roads, when other forms of transport are openly available and so much better for both the individual and the community. “It’s time we reimagined how we travel across our cities, which is why we’re here to unlock London with clean rides for everyone.” View the full article

Published by The Charlotte Observer CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Wake County teacher has resigned amid the controversy over the use of LGBTQ themed flash cards in her preschool classroom. The preschool teacher, who was not immediately identified by the Wake County school system, resigned from Ballentine Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina on Friday, according to Lisa Luten, a district spokeswoman. Some critics on social media had demanded that the teacher be fired, but a parent in that special-needs preschool class praised the teacher as being a caring educator. “She is an amazing teacher who has worked tirelessly in an unpredictable scho… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Simu Liu has been waxing his body for the new ‘Barbie’ movie. The 33-year-old actor appears alongside Margot Robbie in the much-anticipated new film, and Simu admits that getting his body waxed has been a “painful” experience. He shared: “Waxing has been an education to say the least. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I have such a newfound admiration for the incredibly brave women who go through this on a monthly basis.” The ‘Barbie’ movie has become a source of much speculation over recent months, and Simu likes that so little is still known about the project and how it’s been approached. He told The Independent: “Honestly, the discourse online is giving me life. With every casting announcement or bit of news, they’re like: ‘What is this?’ And that’s perfect – the less you know about it the better.” Meanwhile, Simu previously revealed he was happy to accept any roles at the start of his career. The ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ star initially pursued a career in accountancy, before he followed his real ambitions in the movie business. He said: “I felt like I was making up for lost time. My perception was that everybody was further ahead than me, so if I stood any chance, I had to catch up.” Simu also discovered that opportunities were limited for actors with an Asian background. He noted that Hollywood wasn’t “having those political conversations” at the time. He said: “In the beginning, if I was a stunt guy who got beaten up by one of the white male characters, I was over the moon. “Survival mode. Figure out a way to get on sets, figure out a way to work, that was it.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega So You Think You Can Dance made headlines after Matthew Morrison revealed he got booted as a judge for “violating production protocols.” Radar has obtained the contract that dancers are forced to sign which lays out the ground rules for the competition series as speculation continues to grow around Morrison’s shocking exit. “Having the opportunity to be a judge on ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ was an incredible honor for me,” Morrison said in a statement on Friday. “Therefore, it is my deepest regret to inform you that I will be leaving the show. After filming the audition rounds for the show and completing the selection of the 12 finalists, I did not follow competition production protocols, preventing me from being able to judge the competition fairly.” He added, “I cannot apologize enough to all involved and I will be watching alongside you all on what I know will be one of the best seasons yet.” Mega In the contract obtained by Radaronline.com, dancers are given clear instructions on what could get them axed from the hit show. We’re told SYTYCD judges are required to sign similar documents. Contestants must abide by all rules of conduct. “I will not harass, intimidate or threaten anyone with whom I am in contact in connection with my participation” on the show, the documents state. The contract outlines that it’s a federal offense “to rig or attempt to rig in whole or in part a quiz show, game show, or contest.” By signing the documents, dancers also agree they will not “give, shall agree to give, have given or have agreed to give anything of value to any member of the production staff, anyone associated in any manner with the television series.” Fox’s policy prohibits payments “or the giving of anything of value to arrange personal appearances on the Program.” Mega Dancers are also forced to acknowledge that it is a federal offense “to accept or agree to accept anything of value to promote any product, service, or venture on the air,” as well as receiving payments “or the giving of anything of value to arrange personal appearances on the Program.” They agree not to “engage in any activity, publicity, speech, social media commentary, blogging, and/or vlogging and/or any other commentary in any and all media and/or any behavior that may be deemed grossly offensive.” This includes “blatant expressions of bigotry, prejudice, homophobia, racism, sexism, harassment and/or any other activity Producer, in its sole discretion, finds to be vulgar, indecent, disrespectful, offensive, hate speech and/or otherwise objectionable.” Mega If any of the contestants violate the contract policies, the documents read the “Producer shall be entitled to take any action that Producer deems appropriate, including, without limitation and as applicable, removing me from consideration as a contestant on the Program.” Fox did not disclose what production policies Morrison violated that caused him to get fired. Radaronline.com was told that Morrison’s violation most likely did not include a dancing pro or contestant. An industry insider told us the pros have not been revealed and will find out if they made the show when America does. If Morrison’s violation involved a contestant, they would have also been fired, which we’ve learned hasn’t happened. Fox is currently scrambling for a replacement judge, who will join JoJo Siwa, 19, and Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss, 39, during the next round of the competition series when it airs on June 15. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Howie Mandel has learned to “agree to disagree” with the ‘America’s Got Talent’ judges. The 66-year-old comedian sits on the show’s judging panel alongside Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara and Simon Cowell, and although they don’t always agree with each other, Howie still loves filming the programme. He shared: “What’s great is, I think we disagree but we agree to disagree. We respect the disagreement. “We don’t have the same taste and that’s what we love about everybody there. That’s what I love about Heidi, Sofia, and Simon.” Howie has particularly enjoyed working with Simon once again, after the outspoken star broke his back when he fell off his electric bike in 2020. Speaking to ‘Entertainment Tonight’, Howie – who joined the show in 2010 – quipped: “Simon, I’m just glad to have him, [because] he keeps falling off his bike.” Meanwhile, Howie recently revealed he went “insane” when he had to quarantine after contracting COVID-19. The ‘America’s Got Talent’ judge – who has previously spoken openly about his struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety – admitted the “mental pain” of being isolated away from his loved ones was far worse than the physical symptoms of the virus. He shared: “I got locked away for 10 days. I’m vaxxed, and I’m boosted, so my symptoms weren’t terrible. But … the mental pain of me being locked in a room for 10 days, not going near anybody … I went insane. “I still feel like I’m recovering from that, the insanity. And I’m not joking. I got incredibly depressed, incredibly neurotic. “My only panacea to my physical health and my mental health is distracting myself. You can’t distract yourself for 10 days alone in a room.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA A Russian official on state TV made an ominous threat to the U.S. when he claimed that four nuclear weapons could take out the entirety of both coasts, according to reports. The East Coast — from Florida to Maine — has a population of about 188 million, more than half of the U.S. The West Coast has a population of about 54 million. Alexei Zhuravlev, a member of the Russian parliament, said there would be “nothing left” of the coasts if Russia uses its new nuclear weapon, according to The Daily Mail. “I will competently tell you, that to destroy the entire East Coast of the US, two Sarmat missiles are necessary and two missiles for the West Coast,” he said. “Four missiles, and there will be nothing left. They think the mushroom cloud will be taller than a high rise. That mushroom cloud will be visible from Mexico.” MEGA The comments are the latest in a line of nuclear talk by Russian TV and propagandists. While Moscow has downplayed the use of nuclear weapons in connection to the invasion of Ukraine, it’s a conversation that keeps coming up. Russia is one of the nuclear superpowers and the threat of the weapon has led some pundits to believe that is why western countries have been reluctant to get directly involved in protecting Ukraine. MEGA The Ukraine-Russia conflict is now in its third month, lasting longer than many experts predicted. Russian forces have made progress in Eastern Ukraine, taking control of land and cities. Zhuravlev also spoke about Ukraine and estimated that 2 million citizens will have to be de-Nazified,” according to the report. He then added that meant they would have to be “destroyed.” MEGA It’s not the first time Russian officials have talked about de-nazifying Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin made the comments in his justification for the invasion. But it has also led some to decry war crimes. Officials in Ukraine, the U.S. and the European Union have said they are gathering evidence of war crimes during the conflict for possible future prosecutions. View the full article

Published by AFP University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas reacts after her team wins the 400 yard freestyle relay during the 2022 Ivy League Womens Swimming and Diving Championships on February 19, 2022 in Cambridge, Massachusetts Washington (AFP) – Swimmer Lia Thomas, the first transgender athlete to win a top-tier US university title, insisted Tuesday that trans athletes don’t transition to gain an edge in sports and voiced ambitions to compete in the Olympics. “It’s been a goal of mine to swim at Olympic trials for a very long time, and I would love to see that through,” Thomas said on the ABC program “Good Morning America.” Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle at the US collegiate championships in March. She competes for the University of Pennsylvania, and was on the men’s team for three years before switching to the women’s squad this season. Controversy has shrouded Thomas throughout the year, with critics and some fellow swimmers saying she should not have been allowed to compete and has an unfair physiological advantage. Others say she should be allowed to compete freely as a woman. In the ABC interview she said, “Trans people don’t transition for athletics.” “We transition to be happy and authentic and our true selves. Transitioning to get an advantage is not something that ever factors into our decisions,” said Thomas. “Trans women are not a threat to women’s sports,” she added. US Olympic swimming trials for the Summer Games of 2024 in Paris begin in June in Indianapolis, Indiana. After a weightlifter in the Tokyo games last year became the first trans athlete to compete in the Olympics, transgender issues have roiled the world of sports. In November the International Olympic Committee essentially left it up to each sport, saying there was no scientific consensus on the role of testosterone on performance in sports. The controversy has political overtones, too, in the United States. Several states run by conservatives have recently barred trans girls from competing in school sports. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Brenda Goh SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Following two months of frustration, despair and economic loss, Shanghai’s draconian COVID-19 lockdown ended at midnight on Wednesday morning, prompting celebrations tempered with fear that an outbreak could return. Most of Shanghai’s 25 million residents can now freely leave home, return to work, use public transport and drive their cars – a moment that for many in China’s largest and most cosmopolitan city felt like it would never arrive. At midnight, small groups gathered in the city’s former French Concession neighbourhood whistled, shouted “ban lifted” and clinked glasses of champagne. Earlier, streets were lively as residents picnicked on grassy patches and children rode bikes down carless roads. Dancing retirees, a common evening sight in Chinese cities, strutted their stuff for the first time in months in open air plazas and along the Huangpu river. Shanghai Disneyland, which has yet to announce a reopening date, livestreamed a lightshow to “celebrate the lifting of Shanghai’s lockdown”. They used a Chinese expression that also means “ban” that city officials have avoided. Under streetlamps, barbers gave haircuts to residents who had grown shaggy under lockdown. On the WeChat social media platform, shops announced their reopening plans. “I walked the dog and the dog is pretty excited, because it has been a really long time for it to come outside,” said Melody Dong, who was looking forward to eating hot pot and barbecue – foods that are difficult to make at home. Shanghai’s ordeal has come to symbolise what critics say is the unsustainability of China’s adherence to a zero-COVID policy that aims to cut off every infection chain, at any cost, even as much of the world tries to return to normal despite ongoing infections. The lack of a roadmap to exit from an approach that is increasingly challenged by the highly contagious Omicron variant has rattled investors and frustrated businesses. COVID curbs in Shanghai and numerous other Chinese cities have battered the world’s second-largest economy and tangled global supply chains, although case numbers have improved and curbs have eased from the depths of April’s lockdowns. China says its approach, a signature policy of President Xi Jinping, is needed to save lives and prevent its healthcare system from being swamped. The uncertainty and discontent caused by China’s COVID management has created unwanted turbulence in a sensitive political year, with Xi poised to secure a third leadership term in the autumn. “The mood tonight is a bit like high school days. On the eve of the school year I was full of expectations for the new semester but I feel a little uneasy in my heart,” wrote one user of the Twitter-like Weibo. A CITY SCARRED During two months, numerous residents of the country’s most important financial and economic hub struggled to get enough food or medical care. Families were separated and hundreds of thousands were forced into centralised quarantine facilities. At the factories and offices that remained open – including those of Shanghai government officials – workers lived on-site in “closed-loops”, bunking on makeshift beds, with many of them only now able to return home. Curbs were lifted for about 22.5 million people in low-risk areas. Residents must still wear masks in public and avoid gatherings. Restaurant dining remains banned. Shops can operate at 75% capacity. Gyms will reopen later. Residents will have to test every 72 hours to take public transport and enter public venues, heralding what may become a “new normal” in many Chinese cities. Those testing positive, and their close contacts, face onerous quarantines. During lockdown, Shanghai residents staged rare protests, banging on pots and pans from their windows and evading censors to vent on China’s heavily policed social media. Frustrations stemmed from the lockdown itself as well as heavy-handed and often uneven enforcement and unclear communication. “The Shanghai government needs to make a public apology in order to obtain the understanding and support of the people of Shanghai and repair the damaged relationship between the government and the people,” Qu Weiguo, a professor at Fudan University’s school of foreign languages, posted on WeChat. On Tuesday, the city’s largest quarantine facility – a 50,000-bed section of the National Exhibition & Convention Center – discharged the last two of the 174,308 COVID-postive cases who had been housed there. It declared itself shut. (Reporting by Brenda Goh and the Shanghai bureau, Writing by Tony Munroe, Editing by Angus MacSwan) View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA As Monica Lewinsky explains in a fascinating Vanity Fair op-ed, she was a late comer to the Johnny Depp–Amber Heard trial proceedings. It was only after retweeting a May 23 thread from writer Ella Dawson that she fully dove into public discourse of the high-profile defamation case. Much of the tone, she says, was familiar. “I wasn’t surprised that the memes about Amber Heard far outnumbered those about Johnny Depp,” Lewinsky writes. “I wasn’t surprised that the cruel and vitriolic discourse was predominantly aimed at the woman.” MEGA “And I shouldn’t have been surprised (but I was) that shortly after my search, I began to be served suggested posts on the trial,” she continued. “But they were less about Depp and Heard; more seemed to idolize Camille Vasquez (Depp’s lawyer) for her ‘performance’ cross-examining Heard. (Oh, you thought we wouldn’t have any girl-on-girl action in this trial? That’s on msogyny’s greatest-hits album.)” Lewinsky’s own scandal, fueled by The Drudge Report, happened 24 years ago. The one nobody forgets that led to the impeachment of then-President Bill Clinton. MEGA In such matters today, there is a big new layer of scrutiny, leading many in her opinion to become “social-media-mongrelized.” Her principal question is whether a personal opinion about something is entitling people today to take things too far on social media. Cruelty and misogyny are often the norm, she notes, and cheap shots at the expense of individuals already suffering amounts to an amoral way for individuals to gain traction and media outlets clicks. MEGA Lewinsky cites the movie “The Matrix” and also, more chillingly, Aldous Huxley’s landmark dystopian novel “Brave New World,” published in 1932. Prophetically, the fake feel-good drug the author had his protagonists hooked on, soma, sounds almost like a hip abbreviation of social media. The Vanity Fair piece is a vivid reminder of the education Lewinsky pursued after her own 1998 scandal. The thesis that helped her graduate with a Master of Science degree in social psychology from the London School of Economics was titled: “In Search of the Impartial Juror: An Exploration of the Third-Person Effect and Pre-Trial Publicity.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA Supreme Court officials are intensifying their efforts to find the person who leaked a draft opinion setting off an abortion-debate firestorm, according to reports. The effort comes as Republicans in Congress introduce a new bill to make leaking Supreme Court information a crime. According to CNN, the Supreme Court is making law clerks provide cell phone records and sign affidavits in connection to the investigation. MEGA Some outside the court said the move has raised concerns about the intrusiveness on the clerk’s personal lives, according to the report. It has also led some to question whether they need lawyers. “That’s what similarly situated individuals would do in virtually any other government investigation,” an unnamed appellate lawyer told the oulet. “It would be hypocritical for the Supreme Court to prevent its own employees from taking advantage of that fundamental legal protection.” MEGA Clerks are often young lawyers who provide help and guidance to judges as they work on opinions and cases. The clerks are being targeted as the Supreme Court tries to determine who leaked a draft opinion that showed the court nearing a move to overturn Roe v. Wade, which guarantees federal election protections. The leak has set off a political firestorm with both sides taking to the proverbial soapbox to speak about the decision. MEGA So far, the Supreme Court has not released its final decision. But experts say that could happen within days. The investigation also comes as Republicans in Congress on Tuesday introduced a bill to make leaking Supreme Court information a crime, as Knewz reported. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) introduced the bill that would make leaking a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine. The bill hasn’t gone anywhere in Congress, though numerous Republicans have previously backed making leaking a crime. “The unauthorized leak of the draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health constitutes a grave breach of judicial ethics and a deliberate attack on the independence of the Supreme Court,” Johnson said. “This legislation is now, unfortunately, a necessary step to discourage future such attempts to intimidate justices during their deliberative process and restore independence to the Court so that it can ensure the American people are afforded equal and impartial justice under the law. The institution of the Court has been damaged and we must do what we can to try to repair it.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he planned to meet with lawmakers in Congress about guns after the Texas elementary school shooting last week in which 19 children and two teachers were killed. “There’s an awful lot of suffering,” Biden said during a meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in the Oval Office. Biden, who visited with families of the shooting victims in Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday, said he thought he had been to more mass shooting aftermaths than any other U.S. president. “Much of it is preventable, and the devastation … is amazing,” he said. “I will meet with the Congress on guns. I promise you,” he said to reporters as he exited the room. Ardern expressed condolences for victims of the shootings in Texas and a May 14 racist shooting in Buffalo that killed 10 people. “It’s been devastating to see the impact on those communities,” she said. Ardern said she would be glad to share anything about New Zealand’s experience dealing with guns if it could be valuable. Biden called what the country was doing with technology companies “important.” After a 2019 massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which a lone gunman killed 51 Muslims, Ardern delivered a ban on semiautomatic firearms and other gun curbs, a stark contrast to the United States, where lawmakers and activists have struggled to address gun violence despite numerous mass shootings. In the United States, U.S. lawmakers have repeatedly failed to tighten gun laws after similar massacres over the past decade. Biden’s fellow Democrats are open to new gun restrictions while Republicans have an expansive vision of gun rights. U.S. lawmakers from both parties are working on potential legislative action, despite previous attempts having failed. The White House said on Tuesday that Biden did not support a ban on all handguns and reiterated that it is studying potential executive actions on gun violence protection. The White House is urging Congress to act on the issue and Biden has, for the moment, sought to give lawmakers space to find compromises that could pass. “We’re going to let that process go,” spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has repeatedly said in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting last week that gun regulations are not the solution. (Reporting by Jeff Mason;Additional reporting by David BrunnstromWriting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Alistair Bell and Aurora Ellis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) – Two Black Minneapolis residents on Tuesday filed federal civil rights lawsuits against Derek Chauvin, the white former police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, alleging he had dealt with them similarly in the past. John Pope Jr and Zoya Code claimed racism and civil rights violations in the lawsuits, lawyers representing them told reporters. The lawsuits stem from incidents that go back to 2017. Floyd, a Black man suspected of passing a counterfeit bill, was killed in May 2020 when Chauvin knelt on his neck as three other officers watched. The incident triggered a wave of protests over racial injustice across the world. Chauvin was sentenced to 22-1/2 years in prison last year after his conviction on murder charges. He pleaded guilty in federal court to charges he violated Floyd’s civil rights. Pope was 14 years old in 2017 when officers were called to his home for a reported domestic disturbance. Chauvin was one of the officers who responded, and he entered Pope’s bedroom, where Pope was on his cell phone and lying face down on the floor, the lawyers said on Tuesday. “Chauvin rushed Pope and struck him multiple times on the head with a large flashlight” and “pinned Pope to the floor with his knee, the same tactic he used on George Floyd,” they said. In the case of Code, attorneys alleged Chauvin also used excessive force, adding he slammed her head on the ground and put his knee on the back of her neck. Chauvin’s attorneys were not immediately available for comment. Criminal charges against both Pope and Code were eventually dropped. Joining their lawyers in Tuesday’s press briefing, the plaintiffs said they were left traumatized after Chauvin’s actions. Their lawsuits also name the city of Minneapolis as a defendant. “The incidents involving John Pope and Zoya Code are disturbing. We intend to move forward in negotiations with the Plaintiffs on these two matters and hope we can reach a reasonable settlement,” the Minneapolis City Attorney’s Office said. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Frank McGurty and Matthew Lewis) View the full article

Published by AFP A Supreme Court ruling leaves it to a federal district court in Texas is to figure out whether a freshly inked Texas law barring social media platforms from filtering content based on viewpoints, no matter how vile, is constituionally flawed. Washington (AFP) – The US Supreme Court on Tuesday put back on hold a controversial Texas law barring social media platforms from “censoring” posts based on viewpoints. The law threatens to essentially make it a crime for social media platforms to curb hate speech or bigoted tirades, or even point out when posts are demonstrably false. Political conservatives have accused Facebook, Twitter and other social media giants of stifling their voices, providing no evidence to support the claims. Social media platforms have consistently defended themselves against such accusations, saying content moderation decisions are based on factors such as risk of real-world harm. Former US president Donald Trump was booted from Facebook and Twitter after a group of his supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an attempt to prevent his rightly elected successor Joe Biden from taking office. People died during the attack, and there were concerns Trump would use social media to incite further violence. The Texas law bars social media platforms with more than 50 million users from banning people based on their political viewpoints. NetChoice trade association, whose members include Amazon, Facebook and Google, challenged the law and convinced a federal court in Texas to stop it from being enforced until it was resolved whether it runs afoul of the US Constitution’s First Amendment. An appeals court later sided with Texas, saying the state could go ahead with the law, prompting the matter being taken to the Supreme Court. The top court in the United States on Tuesday backed the original decision to put Texas law HB 20 on hold while the question of whether it should be tossed out completely is resolved. “Texas’s HB 20 is a constitutional trainwreck — or, as the district court put it, an example of ‘burning the house to roast the pig,'” NetChoice counsel Chris Marchese said in a release. “Despite Texas’s best efforts to run roughshod over the First Amendment, it came up short in the Supreme Court.” NetChoice welcomed the decision, which sends the case back to a district court in Texas to hear arguments regarding the law’s constitutionality. In its original decision about the stay, the district court said social media platforms have a right to moderate content disseminated on their platforms, and that a provision against putting warning labels on misinformation even risked violating the free speech rights of internet firms. “Texas’s law violates the First Amendment because it compels social media companies to publish speech they don’t want to publish, and because it prevents them from responding to speech they disagree with,” said attorney Scott Wilkens at Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute. “In addition, the theory of the First Amendment that Texas is advancing in this case would give government broad power to censor and distort public discourse.” View the full article

Published by AFP New Georgia Project canvassers Kayla McCall and Mardie Hill go door-to-door to inform residents about the upcoming primary election on May 23, 2022, in East Point, Georgia Atlanta (AFP) – Under slate gray skies in an African American neighborhood in the southwestern outskirts of Atlanta, Mardie Hill knocks on doors, her easy charm an antidote to an unusually frigid late spring afternoon. The 64-year-old grandmother has been going door-to-door for more than 15 years to encourage residents who may otherwise slip through the net to exercise their hard-won right to vote. The Deep South state of Georgia is poised to become ground zero for both parties in November’s midterm elections, with broad implications for Joe Biden’s presidency and the US Congress. But casting ballots has been getting more difficult, says Hill, amid an unprecedented barrage of restrictions that have made the already confusing voting landscape even harder to navigate. “One year you will have one set of rules, the next year you have lines drawn where it wasn’t drawn before,” she told AFP during a recent “get out the vote” drive for civic engagement group the New Georgia Project in the bungalow-lined streets of East Point. “And we have to ask our politicians: ‘Why are you doing that?’ We’ve got to hold them accountable. ‘Why do you have to keep changing things?'” Like Republican-run states across America, Georgia has spent Biden’s term leveraging his defeated opponent Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election to introduce restrictive laws that opponents say are an assault on democracy. After three presidential ballot counts and the collapse of multiple lawsuits brought by Trump’s campaign, no evidence of significant voter fraud ever surfaced in the key battleground. Nevertheless the Republican-controlled legislature passed the Election Integrity Act of 2021, a law so far out of the mainstream that is now a crime in Georgia to hand out water to voters waiting in line if you are not a poll worker. The controversial package also contains numerous provisions limiting voting access, including narrowing the window for requesting absentee ballots and tough new ID requirements. Racial discrimination Drop boxes have been also been severely curtailed and mobile voting centers are all but outlawed. Long voting lines and spotty access to government issued ID tend to be a bigger issue in Black areas, leading to complaints of racial discrimination. Defenders of the tough new rules accuse Democrats of exaggerating fears of voter suppression as a way of juicing fundraising among their base. They say record early turnout numbers in this year’s primaries — three times higher than in the 2018 midterm cycle — prove that the fuss around the law is bogus. Voting rights groups and Democrats respond that the big numbers are down to a shift in tactics to mobilize voters under the new rules. “In fact, what we’re seeing is that Georgians (are) turning out in historic numbers, in spite of their shenanigans and their attempts to make it more difficult to vote,” Nse Ufot, chief executive of the New Georgia Project, told AFP. “That… is much more a credit to the organizing that is being done.” The get-out-the-vote efforts of civic engagement groups like the non-partisan NGP helped Biden become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state in nearly three decades. Victory for two Democrats in runoff elections in January 2021 also gave control of the US Senate to Democrats. One of them, Raphael Warnock, is running again in November and defeat could hand the chamber back. Biden’s victory margin in Georgia was just 11,779 votes out of nearly five million cast, meaning a small chipping away at turnout around the edges is all it would take to reverse the outcome next time. ‘Apple pie and baseball’ “What we like to say here at NGP, is that it’s death by 1,000 cuts,” Jada Richard, 23, who works in communications for the group, told AFP. “So if they can get just 12,000 people, 5000 people, to stop voting or to feel that it’s too difficult, that’s enough at this point to decide an election.” Asked to characterize the voting landscape in Georgia, local civil rights leader Jamal Bryant says the state is “somewhere between Jim Crow’s Dixie and South Africa’s apartheid.” “I think that the ‘1,000 cuts’ is much too passive. I would say it’s not ‘1,000 cuts,’ it’s ‘100 bullets,'” the senior pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church tells AFP. Voting rights groups see increasing turnout as their best weapon to ensure that the November’s election can be a fair reflection of the will of every Georgian. In the case of the New Georgia Project, the goal is to register 55,000 new voters by the end of the year, preferably highly-motivated “super-voters” who will participate in every election. Meanwhile Bryant’s 9,000 seat megachurch in the city of Stonecrest, in Atlanta’s southeastern suburbs, is working with a network of faith leaders on education, registration and getting out the vote. “Whether you are wealthy or welfare, you have the same vote and you have the same voice,” Bryant tells AFP at his trophy-lined office behind his arena-sized sanctuary. “It is — excuse the cliche — as American as apple pie and baseball.” View the full article

Published by AFP Dinesh D'Souza, director of the new movie '2000 mules,' at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania in May 2022 Washington (AFP) – A new movie that pushes dubious and widely debunked conspiracy theories to bolster Donald Trump’s claim that he was robbed of a second term as president has become a surprise hit at the US box office. Despite warnings by experts, “2000 Mules,” a film by Dinesh D’Souza — who was convicted of violating campaign finance laws before being pardoned by the former president — has garnered more than $1.2 million at the box office since its release in late May. With large buckets of popcorn in hand, a group of elder moviegoers crowd into a matinee screening in a cinema in a commercial district in Virginia. Passing by theaters showing the adventures of “Doctor Strange” or the latest “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie, the senior citizens settle down in front of the documentary promising to “expose widespread, coordinated voter fraud in the 2020 election, sufficient to change the overall outcome.” ‘Lifeblood of democracy’ The film opens with footage of anonymous voters enthusiastically slipping their ballots into boxes stamped with the American flag, while D’Souza tells the audience that “elections are the lifeblood of our democracy.” But, he says as the background darkens, the 2020 election “haunts the American mind.” Like millions of Americans, including former president Trump, D’Souza voices the debunked belief that the Democrats rigged the result of the last presidential election, relying on the widespread use of mail-in ballots during the Covid-19 pandemic. “We can’t move on unless we know the truth,” the director says in his voiceover. In an attempt to prove his theory, which has been rejected by all relevant US authorities, D’Souza shows himself, leaning on a kitchen counter and phoning a group based in Texas called True the Vote, which claims to “support election integrity.” A meeting is arranged. ‘A cartel’ In a kind of hangar packed with computer servers, two members of the group claim to have proof of the existence of a well-planned operation which, “like a cartel,” hired “mules” to stuff ballot boxes in a series of states that were key to Joe Biden’s victory in 2020. To validate their hypothesis, they rely on vast troves of anonymous location data from smartphone apps, which they claim show the comings and goings of these “mules” between the headquarters of various NGOs and ballot boxes. It’s a “heist” and “a crime,” says the outraged D’Souza. In the theater in Virginia, the audience is sold. “It’s like a nuclear bomb,” says one man. The theories pushed in the movie have been seriously questioned by multiple disinformation experts. They say that a delivery man, a taxi driver, or a postman working in the neighborhood could easily have given the mistaken for people making such nefarious trips. But for Trump and his supporters, this is the ultimate proof of the fraud they have been decrying for a year and a half. “They rigged and stole the 2020 election, we cannot be okay with this, we cannot simply move on,” says D’Souza as the film ends. And as the first notes of the American national anthem play, he issues a call to action: “The America we love needs us now more than ever.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Johnny Depp‘s fans showed their support, giving the actor a standing ovation during his performance on Monday hours before the jury continued their deliberation in his defamation trial against Amber Heard. The 58-year-old escaped the Fairfax County, Virginia, courtroom on Friday, where he’s been battling his ex-wife for weeks, and headed across the pond to the United Kingdom. Performing for the second night in a row alongside fellow singer and friend Jeff Beck, the two rocked out to a packed crowd at Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday. After covering hits like John Lennon’sIsolation and Marvin Gay’s What’s Going On, Depp was greeted with a standing ovation from his adoring fans. Mega The Pirates of the Caribbean star’s loyal “Deppheads” took to social media to praise the actor-turned-musician. “Johnny is an absolute mad man… leaves court Friday. playing a gig in Sheffield UK Sunday with Jeff Beck mind blown,” one fan posted to Twitter following his Sunday show. “What a creative and courageous man,” someone else replied. Depp’s followers have continued to show loyalty throughout his agonizing trial against Heard, with many showing up at the courthouse over several weeks. Holding posters and chanting their support, the crowd has often been greeted with appreciation from Depp and his legal counsel. Mega; Law & Crime During the trial, Heard’s friend claimed Depp would often get drunk and insult his fans behind their backs. “Alcohol would bring out a very ugly side of him,” iO Tillett Wright stated in the recorded deposition. “He would call [his fans] ‘remoras,'” he continued, explaining, “A fish that attaches itself to the hull of the ship and puts holes in it and sinks it.” Depp sued Heard for $50 million over an op-ed she wrote in the Washington Post, in which she claimed she was a survivor of domestic violence. During the trial, she painted her ex-husband as an abusive drunk and claimed he often got violent with her. Heard also testified that Depp sexually assaulted her with a vodka bottle. Mega He has denied getting violent with Heard, claiming she was the abuser throughout their relationship. Heard countersued Depp for $100 million, alleging he was attempting to tarnish her reputation by calling her accusations against him “false.” After several weeks of testimony, the jury began deliberating on Friday following closing arguments. Depp’s team declined to comment when asked by Page Six if he will be present in the Virginia courtroom when the verdict is read. View the full article