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Published by The Kansas City Star The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board dismissed a request from Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas, asking them to update their ratings system so parents could shield their kids from LGBTQ characters. In a letter responding to Marshall and four other senators, Charles Rivkin, the chairman of the board, argued that parents were satisfied with the current accuracy of television ratings. He pointed to a 2020 national survey that found 95% of parents said they were satisfied with their accuracy and 80% said they had a favorable opinion of the ratings system. He also said shows with… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Seven thousand pairs of shoes, representing the children killed by gun violence between the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 and 2017, are spread out on the lawn on the east side of the US Capitol in Washington in March 2018 Washington (AFP) – Only five months into 2022, more than 17,000 people, including 650 children, have been shot and killed in the United States. The toll of gun violence in America is staggering, according to figures compiled by organizations pushing for stricter regulation of firearms sales. 111 deaths per day – Nearly 41,000 people are killed by gun violence every year in the United States on average, according to the organization Everytown for Gun Safety, translating to 111 victims every day. In Texas, where the sale of personal firearms is only marginally regulated, an average of more than 3,600 people are killed by guns every year, according to Everytown. Since the beginning of 2022, at least 17,199 people have been killed by guns, according to a count by the Gun Violence Archive. About 7,600 of them were victims of homicide, either purposeful or accidental, and more than 9,500 died by suicide. In 2021, more than 45,000 gun deaths were recorded, including 20,920 murders — the highest since 2017, when around 58,000 people were killed, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Shootings also leave other casualties: In the last six months, some 14,000 people have been wounded by a gun. The youngest victims – Children are not spared when it comes to the cost of US gun violence. Even when they are not the direct targets of violence, such as in Tuesday’s massacre at a school in Uvalde, Texas, they can become the collateral victims of stray bullets or accidental discharges. So far in 2022, some 640 minors have been shot and killed, and more than double that number — 1,594 — have been injured. Of that number, 140 of the children killed — and nearly 300 of those injured — have been age 11 or younger. Last year, 1,560 kids were killed and more than 4,000 wounded. More than one mass shooting per day There have been 213 known mass shootings in the United States in the first 145 days of 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which categorizes such incidents as ones in which there are four or more people killed or wounded, not including the shooter. “There have been more mass shootings than days in the year,” Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said in Congress Tuesday. He represents the district where Sandy Hook elementary school, where 26 kids and teachers were killed in 2012, is located. It was the nation’s worst ever school shooting. There were 692 mass shootings in 2021, the most since 2014, when the Gun Violence Archive began keeping records. Record homicides In a country where firearms are easily bought and sold and laws vary by state, 2020 saw 19,350 shooting murders, a historic high — 35 percent more than in 2019 — and 24,245 suicides — 1.5 percent more than 2019 — according to statistics compiled by US health authorities. The homicide rate reached 6.1 per 100,000 residents in 2020, a 25-year record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a report published this month, though the toll was still not as high as the peak of the 1980s. Officials speculated that the struggles of poverty and the Covid-19 pandemic could have contributed to the spike. 390 million guns The right to bear arms is guaranteed in the second amendment of the US Constitution, and the number of pistols, revolvers and other gun types has increased in recent years. More than 23 million guns were sold in 2020, a record, and almost 20 million in 2021, according to numbers published by the site Small Arms Analytics. According to another project called the Small Arms Survey, 393.3 million firearms were in circulation throughout the United States in 2020 — or about 120 guns for every 100 people. And an unknown number of “ghost guns” — sold piece by piece and without serial numbers — must be added to that count. In June 2021, 30 percent of American adults said they owned at least one firearm, according to a survey by Pew Research Center. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Apple has unveiled new Pride bands and a watch face for the Apple Watch to mark Pride Month. The tech giant is releasing a Pride Edition Sport Loop and the Pride Edition Nike Sport Loop for June’s Pride Month. The former has the word “pride” woven into it and has all the colours of the pride flags; light blue, pink, and white in honour of transgender and non-binary people, and brown and black to represent the Black and Latinx communities. The latter symbolises “the full spectrum of the rainbow” along with a Nike Bounce face. The bands are priced at $49/£49 and go on sale at Apple Stores on May 26, and The Pride Edition Nike Sport Loop will also be available via Nike.com shortly. Lastly, the Pride watch face is available now for Apple Watch Series 4 models or later. As per Apple, it “combines colours to represent the strength and mutual support of the LGBTQ+ movement.” View the full article

Published by Reuters UK By Andrius Sytas VILNIUS (Reuters) – Lithuania’s parliament on Thursday voted to accept a draft bill legalizing same-sex civil partnerships for further debate, after voting down a similar bill in May 2021. Seventy lawmakers voted in favour and 52 against accepting the measure for discussion, with several opponents raising questions about whether legalizing same-sex partnerships would go against Catholic teachings. Proponents were mildly encouraged but acknowledged that challenges lay ahead to passage of the bill in the strongly Catholic country. “My feelings are mixed after the vote,” Elzbieta… Read More View the full article

Published by DPA Karl Lauterbach, German Minister of Health, attends a press conference on monkeypox, on the sidelines of the German Doctors Day (Aerztetag). Melissa Erichsen/dpa German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has warned against the stigmatization of gay men in relation to an ongoing outbreak of monkeypox. It must be prevented “that people who are homosexual and have sex with men are stigmatized,” Lauterbach told public broadcaster ZDF. “It is important to say that it can affect anyone.” According to Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for disease control, monkeypox is transmitted through close physical contact. There has been a notable amount of infections among men who had sexual contact with other men. The comments come after Holger Wicht, a spokesman for the German AIDS charity, said on a podcast that the term “risk group” was often understood to mean that gay men pose a particular risk, while it is actually meant to indicate a risk of becoming infected. However, Wicht also told the news portal T-Online: “Mr Lauterbach is making a recognisable effort not to stigmatise.” Sven Lehmann, the German government’s first-ever commissioner for queer affairs, told the newspapers of the Funke media group that it was a fallacy “that gay or bisexual men are intrinsically more at risk – the virus knows no sexual orientation.” “Scaremongering and stigmatization” must be avoided at all costs, he said. Lauterbach also pointed this out on Tuesday: “The main risk group at the moment are men who have had sex with other men. And that must be able to be addressed in order to protect this group.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Todd Chrisley’s ex-lover and employee testified earlier this week that he allegedly helped the reality TV star commit fraud by creating fake documents and impersonating Todd, Radar has learned. In a bombshell testimony that also revealed the 53-year-old Chrisley Knows Best star was having a gay affair, Mark Braddock told a court on Tuesday that he helped Todd and his wife Julie commit tax fraud during their affair in the early 2000s. Mega Then, when Todd and Braddock’s affair ended in 2012, Todd reportedly threw his ex-lover and employee out of his Chrisley Asset Management office and even went so far as to threaten to call the police on Braddock. Following the contentious end to their affair, Braddock turned both Todd and Julie into the FBI for committing tax fraud. Making Braddock’s testimony on Tuesday even more shocking were claims that both he and Todd were blackmailed following their affair by anonymous individuals who threatened to spill their gay relationship unless the pair paid nearly $40,000 for the blackmailers’ silence. “Pay cash and we’ll shut up,” a text message sent to both Todd and Braddock allegedly said. Mega Todd and Braddock ultimately paid the blackmailers $38,000 in cash, according to Braddock’s testimony, which was withdrawn in four $9,500 increments from Braddock’s bank account before being handed off to Todd to pay the blackmailers. In the past, Todd never denied the swirling rumors that he was gay, and even revealed in 2017 that such rumors didn’t “bother” him. “In order for it to disappoint me, it would mean that I don’t agree with someone being gay,” Todd told the Domenick Nati Show at the time. “I don’t believe that’s a choice that you make. I believe that you are the way that God has made you.” “I’m flattered that people think I can get laid on both ends,” he continued. “That doesn’t bother me. And my wife certainly is flattered that as many men want her husband as there are women. With that being said, I’m never going to have a drought. You on the other hand might. But Todd will never have a drought.” Mega Todd and Julie have been married for nearly 26 years and currently share five children: daughter Lindsie, 32, son Kyle, 30, son Chase, 25, daughter Savannah, 24, and son Grayson, 16. The Chrisley are also currently on trial on charges of fraud and for allegedly evading up to $2 million in tax fraud. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Ruhi Soni (Reuters) -The Biden administration made a revised proposal on Wednesday to ban the disposal of mining waste in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed, dealing a potential death blow to the contentious Pebble Mine project that has been pursued for over a decade. The project, one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits, has been through a roller coaster of regulations for the past 15 years as Bristol Bay’s salmon has supported important wildlife and a multibillion-dollar industry. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a statement it is seeking public comments on the revised proposal at hearings in June as well as by written submissions through July 5. (https://bit.ly/3lG2tQs) Pebble Limited Partnership top boss John Shively called the move a giant step backwards for the Biden Administration’s climate change goals. “The Pebble Project remains an important domestic source for the minerals necessary for the Biden Administration to reach its energy goals,” said Shively, chief executive of Pebble, which is owned by Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. “If it blocks Pebble it will have to seek minerals to meet its goals from foreign sources which simply do not have the same environmental standards that we do.” Under former U.S. President Barack Obama, the EPA in 2014 proposed limits on large-scale mining in the watershed, citing environmental concerns. But under former President Donald Trump, the EPA had dismantled scores of environmental rules, including the initial proposal from the Obama administration. The project, however, has faced other regulatory hurdles, after the Army Corps of Engineers, under the Trump administration, denied a key permit for the mine in November 2020 following opposition by Alaska’s Republican senators seeking to protect the $2.2 billion salmon industry that employs 15,000 people. In September last year, the Biden administration had re-launched the process to permanently protect the watershed. (Reporting by Ruhi Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri) View the full article

Published by The Charlotte Observer A bill from North Carolina Senate Republicans that regulates teaching about LGBTQ people is almost surely going to be blocked by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, if it gets that far. But expect to see it live on in the election, which is shaping up to be fought on many familiar culture-war battlegrounds as well as newer ones involving parents’ role in schools. One supporter called it a litmus test for voting this fall. The General Assembly has Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, but not the supermajorities needed to override a veto from the governor unless Democrats vote with them. … Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Los Angeles (AFP) – For nearly two decades, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and its openly lesbian host have beamed into homes across America, busting stereotypes and charming daytime TV audiences with a feel-good blend of quirky comedy and celebrity cameos. But after more than 3,000 episodes, a talk show that came to rival even Oprah Winfrey’s in terms of its cultural impact departs Thursday under a cloud, after allegations of a toxic workplace at stark odds with its “be kind” mantra. “When we started this show in 2003, the iPhone didn’t exist. Social media didn’t exist. Gay marriage wasn’t legal,” DeGeneres said last month, after pre-taping the show’s final episode. “We watched the world change — sometimes for the better, sometimes not.” There is no doubt the cultural landscape has been upended since rising comedian DeGeneres came out in 1997 — simultaneously as her character on sitcom “Ellen,” and in real life with an interview on the cover of Time magazine. DeGeneres was hailed as a gay icon, but her sitcom was cancelled a year later amid a backlash, and she spent five years in the wilderness before reinventing herself as a talk show host. “It was a sensation, it was a landmark — and it became a political football,” said Mary Murphy, associate professor of journalism at University of Southern California. “She led the way. She was probably — and may still be — the most famous LGBTQ person in America.” No ‘gotchas’ While DeGeneres has never shied away from her sexuality, her Rolodex of A-list guests and light touch have been key to the talk show’s success, especially in more conservative parts of America. For 19 seasons, Hollywood A-listers and pop stars have jostled for seats on DeGeneres’ couch, where they are invited to promote their latest projects, and never put through more than a gentle ribbing. Some have appeared more than a dozen times — Jennifer Aniston, the show’s first-ever guest, will return for Thursday’s finale. “She is one with the celebrities, she’s their friend. They know that. And she made it jovial,” said Murphy. “Maybe it was because, having been so burned, as she was, she didn’t want to burn other people. There were no gotchas.” Audience members and the latest viral YouTube stars are also regularly invited on stage to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame, in human interest segments and wacky games. “Ellen is this funny, silly, quirky character that really didn’t take herself too seriously,” said Jeetendr Sehdev, author of “The Kim Kardashian Principle.” “We hadn’t quite seen a daytime talk show host before that looked like her and that behaved like her… She was the cropped haired woman wearing a suit and tie while everyone else was getting blowouts.” ‘Full of contradictions’ But rumors that life was less rosy backstage came to a head with a 2020 Buzzfeed expose alleging a “toxic work culture” including sexual harassment, bullying and racism. Three senior producers were fired, while DeGeneres was accused of failing to mind her shop — and of being less affable with employees in private than her cheery public persona would imply. Last May, DeGeneres announced the show would end after its 19th season, but denied it was due to the workplace claims. “I need something new to challenge me,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. But DeGeneres has courted increasing controversy, including her defense of comedian Kevin Hart after he withdrew as Oscars host in 2018 over a series of homophobic tweets. “Suddenly, she kind of fell from grace,” said Murphy. “She seemed to be… in touch with celebrities, in touch with audiences, out of touch with the people working for her.” According to Sehdev, Ellen has always “been full of contradictions.” “That has been both partly the reason why she has also appealed to people, and has been capable of generating that mass appeal,” he said. “And at the same time, (it) has also been the reason why her integrity and her credibility and authenticity have been questioned.” View the full article

Published by DPA Dyson has issued a call to robotics engineers to join the technology firm as it previews plans to build home assistant robots it wants to have in homes by the end of the decade. Yui Mok/PA Wire/dpa Dyson says it plans to build home assistant robots that will be in homes by the end of the decade, and is issuing a call to robotics engineers to join the technology firm. The UK-founded firm, best known for its hairdryers and vacuum cleaners, announced plans to open a robotics centre at Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire, where work on new types of home robots will be led by Dyson’s chief engineer, Jake Dyson. During the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Philadelphia on Wednesday, the company will publish a short film showing “secret robotic prototypes”, including several robotic hands grasping objects around the home, which the firm said offer a hint to its plans to move beyond robotic vacuum cleaners. The company will confirm plans to hire 250 robotics engineers as part of a wider recruitment it says has already seen 2,000 people join this year globally. Dyson said it also plans to hire 700 more people in the robotics field over the next five years as part of a £2.75 billion ($3.4 billion) investment plan in new technologies, products and facilities, with £600 million set to be spent this year. As a result of the recruitment and investment, which will also a see new robotics labs created in London and some new recruits based at the firm’s global headquarters in Singapore, the company says it wants to have new robotic technologies in people’s homes by the end of this decade. “Dyson employed its first roboticist 20 years ago and this year alone we are seeking 250 more experts for our team,” Dyson said. “This is a ‘big bet’ on future robotic technology that will drive research across the whole of Dyson, in areas including mechanical engineering, vision systems, machine learning and energy storage. We need the very best people in the world to come and join us now.” View the full article

Published by AFP Georgia's Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp speaks during his victory party at the College Football Hall of Fame on May 24, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta (AFP) – Republican voters delivered a stark repudiation Tuesday of Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 US election was stolen, backing Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for re-election by a huge margin over a candidate recruited by the former president. Trump had banked much of his own political capital hand-picking David Perdue to oust Kemp in the nominating contest to compete for the governor’s mansion in November’s midterm elections. Perdue made Trump’s bogus claims about 2020 a centerpiece of his campaign, in a direct appeal to his endorser’s supporters who continue wrongly to question the validity of the outcome. But the former senator was forced to concede, in an embarrassing blow for Trump, as the early count showed him trailing by almost 50 points less than 90 minutes after polls closed. “Four years of the Kemp administration will mean that you keep all of your hard-earned money,” Kemp said in his victory address. “Your communities will be safe. Your kids will be in school without fear of partisan agendas in the classroom. Parents will have a voice and we’ll keep working to bring good paying jobs to every corner of our state.” Kemp, frequently the target of Trump’s wrath for refusing to help overturn the election, was always expected to win, but the margin of defeat represents a stinging rebuke of Trump from a state he lost by the narrowest of margins in 2020. Five states were holding nominating contests for congressional elections that will decide which party controls the US Senate and House of Representatives for the remainder of President Joe Biden’s first term. But all eyes are on Georgia, where wounds from the 2020 presidential election are still festering two years after Biden won the state by under 12,000 votes. Up and down the ballot, the Republican side of the Georgia primary pitted candidates peddling the former president’s election fraud claims against hopefuls who pushed back in defense of the Constitution. ‘Inelegant delivery’ – The race to be Georgia’s secretary of state is seen as equally consequential as the contest for governor, as these are the officials who oversee elections in the United States. Democrats fear that, across the country, Trump will be able to install loyalists who can weaponize specious fraud accusations from 2020 to make it harder for his opponents to vote in 2024. As the man responsible for certifying Georgia’s 2020 election results, Brad Raffensperger was in lockstep with Kemp in pushing back against Trump, making him another key target for the former president’s vengeance. He defeated Jody Hice, one of more than a dozen Trump-backed candidates across America bidding to become secretary of state and professing to believe the 2020 election was stolen. With 98 of precincts reporting, Raffensperger had 52 percent of the vote, clearing the 50 percent threshold that allowed him to avoid going into a head-to-head run-off and enabling him to declare victory outright. In a grueling night for Trump, another of the election deniers he endorsed, John Gordon, lost his challenge to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. Biden was the first Democratic presidential candidate since 1992 to win Georgia, while Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff triumphed in runoff elections in January 2021 that wrested control of the US Senate from Republicans. Warnock cruised through his primary and will face Trump-backed football star Herschel Walker, who had an easy night too, sailing to the Republican nomination for Senate. Georgia’s Democrats are doing all they can to cement their 2021 gains, headlined by Democratic star campaigner Stacey Abrams, who is unopposed in her bid for governor. Abrams courted controversy over the weekend with remarks that Georgia is the “worst state in the country to live,” citing its healthcare and crime statistics, rising incarceration rates and falling wages. At a news conference Tuesday, she attempted to clean up a comment that Republicans have seized on as a sign of her lack of local pride, faulting herself for an “inelegant delivery” of her message. In a brief concession speech, Perdue backed Kemp in his bid to see off Abrams’s challenge. “We’re going to make sure Stacey Abrams is not governor of the state,” he said. Nominating contests are also being held in Minnesota, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas, where a school shooting that left 19 children dead had cast a grim pall over the state’s primary. View the full article

Published by DPA A phone booth, redesigned by the artist Glenn Ligon, on a Manhattan street. The New York city administration began dismantling telephone booths in January 2021, and has been setting up free wi-fi kiosks to replace pay phones. Christina Horsten/dpa The last remaining public telephone booth on the streets of New York City has been removed and will be put in a museum, authorities have said. The telephone booth with two coin-operated machines near Times Square is to be exhibited in the New York City Museum in the future, the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation announced. Over the past years, the city administration has been setting up so-called LinkNYC kiosks across New York, which offer free wi-fi and USB charging ports, to replace coin-operated pay phones. There are still some privately operated pay phones left in the city, however, for example in several subway stations. View the full article

Published by AFP Baz Luhrmann has previously lit up Cannes with 'Moulin Rouge!', 'Gatsby' and 'Strictly Ballroom' Cannes (France) (AFP) – Cannes is set to be shaken, rattled and rolled on Wednesday as the world premiere of “Elvis” rocks the film festival on the French Riviera, in what is proving a vintage year for music-lovers. The highly anticipated new film is the latest from Australia’s Baz Luhrmann, the technicolour genius behind “Romeo and Juliet” and “Moulin Rouge!”. Rising star Austin Butler, 30, steps into the blue suede shoes of Elvis Presley, and whispers around the Cannes Film Festival suggest it will rocket him into the A-list. The film also features Tom Hanks as The King’s infamous manager, Colonel Tom Parker. It has been warmly welcomed by the family of Presley, who died in 1977 at the age of 42 after a descent into drug addiction. His granddaughter Riley Keough, who happened to be at Cannes with her directorial debut “War Pony” last week, said she had watched the film with her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, and grandmother, Priscilla Presley. “There’s a lot of family trauma and generational trauma that started around there. It was a very intense experience,” she told reporters. Luhrmann has become a favourite at Cannes, having wowed critics with his debut “Strictly Ballroom” in 1992, and opening the festival twice, with “Moulin Rouge!” and “Gatsby”. Kaleidoscopic Celebrating its 75th edition, the festival has been a feast for music lovers this year. There were rave reviews for a new documentary about David Bowie, “Moonage Daydream” — part of a recent wave of innovative films about music legends. “It’s not a biography,” its director, Brett Morgen, told AFP. “The film is meant to be sublime, and kaleidoscopic, and kind of wash over you.” Ethan Coen, one half of the beloved Coen brothers film-making duo, was also in Cannes to present a documentary about another rock’n’roll pioneer, Jerry Lee Lewis. Both docs eschew expert talking heads in favour of a more immersive experience. “I don’t care what experts say,” Coen told AFP at the festival. “Jerry Lee is a performer so I want to see the performance — not what some expert thinks about it.” Divided contest As arguably the world’s leading film festival, Cannes seeks a line-up that balances hard-hitting dramas, arthouse experimentation and blockbuster spectacles. This year has seen plenty of Hollywood glamour, with “Elvis” preceded by last week’s launch of “Top Gun: Maverick”, which brought Tom Cruise and a French Air Force display team to the red carpet. While they are playing out of the competition, the race for the top prize Palme d’Or has been a very mixed affair so far. No clear frontrunner has emerged from the 21 films in competition, with critics deeply divided over almost every entry. Perhaps the best reception up to now has been for “Decision to Leave” by Korean director Park Chan-wook, known for his 2003 thriller “Oldboy”. But the awards, to be presented on Saturday, are decided by a jury of film professionals — this year including Indian superstar Deepika Padukone, Iran’s two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi and led by French actor Vincent Lindon. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega The feud between Elon Musk and Bill Gates continues, because the Tesla founder took to Twitter on Tuesday to trash the Microsoft co-founder yet again, Radar has learned. After Breitbart published an article on Monday claiming Gates “poured millions into [a] dark money fund attacking Elon Musk,” the 50-year-old SpaceX founder turned to his favorite social media platform to take a shot at the 66-year-old fellow billionaire. Mega “Sigh,” Musk tweeted alongside a link to the Breitbart article claiming the Gates Foundation donated “hundreds of millions of dollars” to at least 11 groups behind a campaign pressuring advertisers to boycott Twitter should the Tesla founder take over. Breitbart further claimed that Gates is donating the funds via two “dark money” groups: the New Venture Fund and the Tides Foundation. The feud between Musk and Gates first started earlier this month after the Microsoft mogul criticized Musk’s plan to purchase Twitter for a whopping $44 billion. “He actually could make it worse,” Gates said while speaking to the Wall Street Journal at the time. ‘That’s not his track record. His track record with Tesla and Space X is pretty mind-blowing at putting together a great team of engineers and taking people who work in those fields in a less bold way and really showing them up.” Mega “I kind of doubt that’ll happen this time but we should have an open mind and never underestimate Elon,” he added. In the past, Musk has regularly accused the Microsoft co-founder of betting against Tesla stock. “I heard that at one point he had a large short position. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it seems weird,” Musk told Joe Rogan during a sit-down interview. “People I know who know the situation pretty well, I asked them ‘are you sure?’ and they said ‘yes, he has a huge short position on Tesla.’ That didn’t work out too well.” Mega Musk also recently took to Twitter to ridicule Gates’ belly by comparing the 66-year-old billionaire to a pregnant man emoji. “In case u need to lose a boner fast,” Musk wrote along with side-by-side photos of Gates and the pregnant man emoji in question. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Paula Abdul is mulling over plans for her upcoming 60th birthday and admitted she’s hoping to “do something big”. The pop star-turned-TV regular marks the milestone on June 19 and although she hasn’t finalised her party plans, the ‘Opposites Attract’ hitmaker revealed she’s hoping to splash the cash on chartering a yacht or whisking her friends off on an exotic holiday. She told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “I’m gonna do something big. Maybe charter a yacht or go somewhere exotic (and) take some friends.” Paula then joked she may end up staying at home and spending the day with her beloved pet dogs. She laughed: “Knowing me, I’ll stay home, be with my dogs.” However, she’s still hoping to come up with glamorous plan in time for her big day. She added: “I wanna do something fun and something spectacular. “Every day we (should) celebrate ourselves. We are above ground. We are living. We are healthy. You know what? We’re celebrating really important things in life.” It’s been an up and down 12 months for Paula as last year she underwent breast reduction surgery to make her implants smaller. The former ‘America Idol’ judge underwent a corrective operation to reverse a previous breast augmentation procedure. She explained she’d started having back pain and needed the operation to help ease her discomfort – especially when indulging her passion for dancing. In a video shared on Instagram by medical device firm InMode – which Paula is a brand ambassador for – she said: “With my height, I’m petite, I started with smaller breasts and about 20-plus years ago I had implants put in, and the more I was dancing the harder it was getting on my back. “As the years go by, gravity happens too, and I just always felt like [they were] a little too big for my frame, and I wanted to get the old implants out.” View the full article

Published by AFP Nike will stop supplying products to retailers in Russia, extending a freeze in the country following the invasion of Ukraine New York (AFP) – Nike will not renew licensing agreements in Russia, the company said Wednesday, joining a growing list of Western companies pulling back from the country following the invasion of Ukraine. The move affects licensed retailers as Nike shuttered company-owned stores two months ago soon after Moscow sent troops into the neighboring country. “Due to operational challenges in Russia, Nike has made the decision not to renew or enter into any new business commitments, including with our franchisee Up&Run,” the company said. “Our business remains on pause and we are providing pay continuity to our employees.” Nike’s statement was in response to an AFP inquiry into the status after Russian newspaper Vedomisti reported that Up & Run’s parent, Inventive Retail Group (IRG), would shutter its retail locations in Russia because of lack of access to merchandise. IRG’s website shows 37 Nike locations, nine of which are listed as “temporarily closed.” “As you can see from our stores, deliveries are suspended and the goods are in short supply,” IRG spokeswoman Lyudmila Semushina told AFP. “In the current realities, we cannot continue to support the work of Nike mono-brand stores and will be forced to close them.” Nike’s move comes just two days after Starbucks said it was shuttering its 130 cafes in the country, and last week, McDonald’s announced its exit from Russia, where it had 850 restaurants employing 62,000 workers. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into pro-Western Ukraine on February 24, triggering unprecedented sanctions and sparking an exodus of foreign corporations including H&M, Adidas and Ikea. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Elizabeth Piper and Muvija M LONDON (Reuters) -A “humbled” Boris Johnson said he took full responsibility but would not quit after a damning official report on Wednesday detailed a series of illegal lockdown parties at the British leader’s Downing Street office. Johnson has faced repeated calls to resign from opposition politicians and some in his own party over the alcohol-fuelled gatherings, after it was revealed that he and officials had broken COVID-19 rules that all but banned people from socialising outside their households. “I … am humbled and I have learned a lesson,” Prime Minister Johnson told parliament, saying he would not quit over the scandal. His foreign minister Liz Truss, seen as a possible successor, said she backed him “100%” after his apology. The report by senior official Sue Gray did not specifically blame Johnson, but gave graphic details and included photographs from more than a dozen gatherings. He attended some, including a party to celebrate his 56th birthday on June 19, 2020 that he was fined over but which Gray said he was unaware of in advance. “Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen,” the report said. “The senior leadership …must bear responsibility for this culture.” Johnson, who commissioned the report after revelations of boozy Downing Street events, said he was appalled by some of the behaviour it had uncovered. Gray’s interim findings were published in January, but details were withheld until the end of a police inquiry that concluded last week with 126 fines handed out. DISMAYING BEHAVIOUR AT ‘HEART OF GOVERNMENT’ Her full report included emails and messages that showed many gatherings were planned in advance, with discussions on who would bring alcohol – drinks that “we we seem to have got away with”, the then head of Johnson’s Downing Street office, Martin Reynolds, said in one message. [L5N2XH35B] There were warnings from another official that people should not be “waving bottles of wine” before a gathering that coincided with a televised news conference when ministers told the public to follow the COVID rules. At one June 2020 event, Gray said “excessive alcohol consumption” led to one person being sick and a fight between two others. [nL5N2XH35B] At another, the night before the April 2021 funeral for Queen Elizabeth’s husband Prince Philip, individuals partied into the early hours and damaged a swing. “Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of government,” Gray said. “The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this.” She cited multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff who had to remove red wine from walls after one event. For months, evidence of the parties has dripped out into the media, forcing Johnson to apologise, change his office team and promise a reset to try to restore his authority. Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said it was time for Johnson to quit, saying the report laid bare that the government believed that it was one rule for them and another for everyone else. “You cannot be a lawmaker and a law-breaker,” Starmer – himself under police investigation for breaking COVID rules, told parliament. He has said he’ll resign if fined. Johnson’s immediate fate lies in the hands of his Conservative lawmakers who can call for a leadership challenge. Many had said they would wait for Gray’s full report before deciding whether to demand Johnson should go. “Are you willing day in and day out to defend his behaviour publicly?” Tobias Ellwood, a long-time critic of Johnson, implored of his parliamentary colleagues. Others felt the report was less damning than it could have been. “This is all so banal,” one Conservative said on condition of anonymity. Johnson had initially denied there had been parties or rule-breaking at Downing Street, and some lawmakers say his position is untenable if he is found to have lied to parliament, a matter under investigation by the Committee of Privileges. By way of apology for his earlier denials, said he wanted to “correct for the record” that no rules were broken. “Clearly this was not the case for some of those gatherings after I had left,” Johnson told parliament. Drunkenness, vomiting and a scuffle detailed at UK government lockdown partiesFACTBOX-What are the findings from a report into lockdown parties in Downing Street? (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Mujiva M, William James, Andrew MacAskill and Alistair Smout; writing by Michael Holden; editing by John Stonestreet) View the full article