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Published by Reuters By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to strike down the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that established a nationwide right to an abortion, clearing the way for the procedure to be banned or tightly restricted in 26 states. Below is a look at penalties abortion providers could face in a post-Roe world and whether the laws could apply to women seeking abortions. WHO COULD BE PROSECUTED? The abortion bans that would go into effect would prosecute providers, such as doctors, or pharmacists who provide abortion-inducing pills. If Roe is overturned, a Texas law would carry a sentence of up to life in prison for performing an abortion, while in Louisiana, providers could face up to 10 years hard labor. COULD WOMEN BE PROSECUTED? The laws that would go into effect if Roe is overturned often explicitly shield women who sought or obtained an abortion. Some anti-abortion advocates said women are victims of abortion and are shielded from prosecution. “If the law says that the abortion provider can be held accountable, the woman is not part of that,” Carol Tobias, the president of the National Right to Life Committee. “I don’t see anyone who wants that or thinks it would be appropriate. It’s more scare mongering from the other side.” WHY DO SOME ADVOCATES FEAR WOMEN COULD BE PROSECUTED? Some abortion rights advocates have said they are alarmed by recent events in three states that are poised to ban abortion if Roe is overturned. In Missouri, legislation was proposed that aimed to prevent women from leaving the state to get an abortion and to extend the state’s abortion laws to procedures performed outside the state on its residents. The proposals did not gain traction. In Louisiana, legislators advanced a bill out of a committee earlier this month that aimed to charge women with murder for obtaining an abortion. The bill was later withdrawn. And in Texas, a woman was arrested and charged in April for a self-induced abortion before charges were dropped. In addition to legislation that has been proposed or could be introduced, prosecutors already use existing laws, pro-abortion advocates said. Police and prosecutors can investigate lost pregnancies and charge women under laws related to concealment of a birth, abuse of a corpse and practicing medicine without a license, according to Jill Adams, the executive director of If/When/How, which provides legal support for women facing prosecution related to their pregnancy. “Prosecutors will reach into the code and treat it like a grab bag and pull out what they can,” she said. WHO HAS BEEN PROSECUTED IN THE PAST? Although rare, abortion providers have been prosecuted in the past. In 2013, a doctor in Philadelphia was convicted of murder in the deaths of three infants following late-term abortions. Paul Linton, who has helped draft state laws restricting abortion, said historically women are viewed as victims of abortion and not prosecuted. He said he researched more than 100 years of pre-Roe appellate court records and found only two women charged for violating abortion laws prior to the Roe decision, in cases from 1911 and 1922. However, appeals court records would miss the large number of women who were arrested and never tried or who never appealed a conviction, said Leslie Reagan, a professor at the University of Illinois and author of books on abortion. She said her research showed that before Roe, women were often threatened by police, interrogated in hospitals and forced to testify about intimate personal details. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Lisa Shumaker) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Kerry Washington infuriated her ‘Scandal’ co-stars by declaring she didn’t enjoy kissing either of her two male leads during their sexy scenes on the show. The 45-year-old actress didn’t want to upset Tony Goldwyn, 61, or Scott Foley, 49, by singling either of them out as the better smoocher when quizzed by Ellen DeGeneres back in 2014, but she admitted her bid to avoid conflict only ended with the pair being “p***** for years”. During a return to ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’, Kerry admitted her previous appearance had landed her in hot water, telling Ellen: “I got in a lot of trouble here because you asked me who I liked to kiss better on the show between the two make leads and I thought I was keeping the peace by saying I don’t like to kiss either one of them but they were both pretty p***** for years. “Like ‘Why would you say that on national television?’” Ellen then said: “You could have gone the other way and said you liked kissing both of them equally but instead (you said that) … “Nobody telling the truth … there’s clearly one better kisser …” The host then pushed Kelly to finally reveal her answer, saying: “Who is it? Now that the show’s over”. However, Kerry refused to answer and gestured she was keeping her lips sealed on the matter. The TV star played Olivia Pope in the show and she smooched Tony, who played US President Fitzgerald Grant, and Scott, who later joined the cast as assassin Jake Ballard. ‘Scandal’ ran for seven seasons between 2012 and 2018 with a main part of the story focusing on a love affair between political fixer Olivia and the sitting president. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Ryan Reynolds’ brothers got their ears pierced to “save” him from their dad’s anger. The 45-year-old actor thought it would be a “cool thing” to have an earring when he was around 12 after being inspired by pop duo Wham! but when he confided in one of his siblings, he was warned their father James wouldn’t be impressed. In a clip from David Letterman’s Netflix talk show ‘My Next Guest Needs No Introduction’ obtained by ‘Entertainment Tonight’, he recalled: “My brother said, ‘You’re going to die. You’re going to show up at dinner tonight and there will be a messy stabbing death because Dad is going to take one of the utensils and stab you.” But despite the warning, the ‘Free Guy’ actor – who has three daughters with wife Blake Lively – went to “wherever the hell you go” to get an ear pierced with a friend and his mom anyway, and recalled how nervous he felt when he got home. He said: “I get to the dinner table and I remember sweat was dripping down my lap and I’m looking down and I can feel his gaze hit me.” Fortunately, his brothers had already intervened to ensure Ryan wasn’t the sole focus of James’ wrath. He continued: “He mutters some swear word under his breath, and I look up and I look around and I see that all three of my brothers had gotten an earring to sorta save me. “One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life.” The ‘Deadpool’ star – who is the youngest of four boys – previously spoke of how his dad could be “scary”. Describing his father as “the toughest man alive: a former cop, former boxer and full-time landmine”, he added: “He worked tirelessly to provide for his family and in return, you were expected to do what he said, often before he said it. “In a word, he was scary. Not because he was sadistic or physically abusive. He was scary because he was one of those people with an energetic ‘weight’ to him… “Shifting his weight ever so slightly from one foot to another could transform an otherwise delightful 6th birthday party into what felt like an Irish funeral.” Ryan’s dad died after battling Parkinson’s in 2015 and they were able to mend their troubled relationship before he passed away. View the full article

Published by DPA Palestinian mourners carry the casket of slain Al Jazeera reporter, Shireen Abu Akleh, during her funeral procession to her final resting place. Abu Akleh, 51, a prominent figure in the Arabic news service of the Al-Jazeera channel, was shot dead on 11 May during a confrontation between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Jenin. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa From the Israeli crackdown on the funeral of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jerusalem, to Sweden and Finland submitting their NATO applications, to Eintracht Frankfurt winning the UEFA Europa League title in Seville, DPA International presents its Pictures of the Week. An Israeli border police officer aims his weapon during clashes outside the French hospital where the body of slain Al Jazeera reporter, Shireen Abu Akleh, is kept. Abu Akleh, 51, a prominent figure in the Arabic news service of the Al-Jazeera channel, was shot dead on 11 May during a confrontation between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Jenin. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa Israeli police officers arrest Palestinian protesters during clashes following the funeral of Walid Sharif in East Jerusalem. Sharif dided from a head wound sustained last month after Israeli police fired rubber bullets at Palestinian demonstrator inside Al Aqsa compound. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa Finnish Ambassador Klaus Korhonen (L) and Swedish Ambassador Axel Wernhoff (R) present their countries’ applications for NATO membership to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels. Heta Hassinen/Lehtikuva/dpa Mourners attend the funeral of 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade officer Lt Denys Antipov, at St Nicholas’ Church, after he died fighting Russian troops near the village of Dovhenke. -/Ukrinform/dpa An elderly woman shows the crater site caused by artillery strikes in the Solnechnoe district of Kharkiv. Aziz Karimov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Mona Neubaur (R), top candidate of the Alliance 90/The Greens (Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen) in North Rhine-Westphalia and Felix Banaszak, chairman of greens in North Rhine-Westphalia celebrate after the first forecasts of the state parliament elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state. Friso Gentsch/dpa UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson inspects a Mark 3 shoulder launch LML (Lightweight Multiple Launcher) missile system, at Thales weapons manufacturer in Belfast during a visit to Northern Ireland for talks with Stormont parties. Liam Mcburney/PA Wire/dpa Lebanese women belonging to the Druze ethnoreligious group queue at a polling station before casting their votes during the 2022 Lebanese parliamentary election. Marwan Naamani/dpa Members of Victoria Police detain a man during a Freedom Rally. Diego Fedele/AAP/dpa Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp celebrates with the trophy after winning the UEFA Europa League final soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium. Arne Dedert/dpa Eintracht Frankfurt players celebrate with the trophy after winning the UEFA Europa League final soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium. Arne Dedert/dpa Bayern Munich’s Lucas Hernandez (L) and Thomas Mueller cheer with the 2021-22 Bundesliga shield as they celebrate with the club’s fans from the balcony of the City Hall at Marienplatz after Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga title for the tenth time in a row. Peter Kneffel/dpa Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson (C) lifts the trophy as he celebrates with his teammates winning the English FA Cup final soccer match against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium. Adam Davy/PA Wire/dpa Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara (L) wears a mask depicting his teammate Mohamed Salah as Salah sits next to him while they celebrate winning the English FA Cup final soccer match against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium. Nick Potts/PA Wire/dpa Italian cyclist Alessandro De Marchi of the UCI WorldTeam Israel-Premier Tech competes in the tenth stage of the 105th edition of the Giro d’Italia cycling race, 196 kilometers from Pescara to Jesi. Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa The British rider Hazel Towers falls from Fuzzyfelt during day three of the Chatsworth International Horse Trials at Chatsworth House, Bakewell. Tim Goode/PA Wire/dpa Members of the Classics All Blacks team perform their famous haka during the presentation of the New Zealand rugby team, the Classics All Blacks, ahead of their match against the Spanish team in the Plaza de Oriente. Atilano Garcia/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa The group Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine celebrate after winning the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). Jens Büttner/dpa US actor Tom Cruise arrives to attend the premiere of the film “Top Gun: Maverick” at the Odeon Leicester Square. Ian West/PA Wire/dpa Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison falls on a child on a soccer field during an election campaign visit ahead of the Australian federal election, scheduled to take place on 21 May 2022. Mick Tsikisitings/AAP/dpa A female member of the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) uses a mine detector at the village of Tal al-Reem, nearly 80 km south-east of Mosul, during a mine clearance operation to locate and clear landmines planted by the so-called Islamic State (IS) terror group during its control of the area between 2014 and 2017. Ismael Adnan/dpa People walk on a street covered with yellow dust as a dust storm hit several areas across Iraq sending dozens to hospitals with respiratory problems. Ameer Al-Mohammedawi/dpa A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Joel Kowsky/NASA/dpa The beginning of a lunar eclipse can be seen in the sky in the early morning behind the Frauenkirche and the dome of the Kunstakedmie with the angel “Fama”. Robert Michael/dpa US Coast Guard Academy graduates toss their hats into the air as they celebrate at the end of their graduation ceremony at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. David Lau/U.S. Coast/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa A member of the Sarawak General Operations Force (PGA) lays on the ground after he fainted during the opening ceremony of the 19th Sarawak State Assembly in Petra Jaya. Rushdan Manan/BERNAMA/dpa Female workers process and dry red chilli peppers under the sun on the banks of the Ganges River in the Hooghly district of West Bengal. Every day, after 8 hours of work, these workers earn about 2 US dollars (150 INR), which is one of the main sources of income for their families before the monsoon. Avishek Das/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa A woman arranges clay pots ahead of being transported to sell at a market in Brahmanbaria. Every day, about 3,000 pots are produced here and then taken to be sold at markets at a price of around two euros each. Joy Saha/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Numerous honey bees gathered near hives to produce honey in Idlib Governorate. Anas Alkharboutli/dpa View the full article

Published by DPA Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), delivers a speech during the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Bird’s Nest National Stadium. Michael Kappeler/dpa Athletes and officials who express support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could face sanctions from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), its president Thomas Bach said on Friday. Bach told the 139th IOC Session that they aware that under Russian legislation opposition to the war could lead to imprisonment of up to 15 years but insisted that “under such circumstances, silence in itself can be a message.” Bach highlighted sanctions already issued by the ruling swimming and gymnastics bodies against Russians Evgeny Rylov and Ivan Kuliak respectively over pro-war messages. The IOC president defended the tough stance against Russia and Belarus right after the start of the invasion on February 24 as many sports organizations followed the IOC recommendation to ban athletes and officials from both countries from international competition. Bach said the IOC had to act quickly because “it was evident that governments wanted to decide who can take part in which international competitions” which would have set a dangerous precedent. “Today it is Russia and Belarus, but if we do not act, tomorrow it will be the government from country A not wanting athletes from country B to participate. Or Government C demanding its athletes not to compete against athletes from country D and so on and so forth,” he said. “This would be a situation that is contrary to all the principles we are based on. If it is in the hands of politicians to decide who can take part in which competition, then the non-discriminatory foundation of our global sports system is gone. “It would mean the full politicisation of sport. It would mean that sport and the athletes would become just a tool of the political sanctions system.” Bach also said that what he named “protective measures” rather than “sanctions” were needed because the safety of Russian and Belarusian athletes “could not be guaranteed because of the deep anti-Russian and anti-Belarusian feelings” in many other countries. The February 24 start of the invasion was four days after the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics – where Bach had again called for peace – and fell into the Olympic truce period which covered the Olympics and Paralympics in China. The IOC action included stripping Russian President Vladimir Putin, deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and deputy chief of staff of the presidential executive office Dmitry Kozak of the Olympic Order in an unprecedented act. Bach said “unfortunately we could only appeal, because our relationship with the Russian political leadership has dramatically deteriorated over the past years. “It deteriorated following the doping scandal (around the Sochi 2014 Games), cyber attacks and even personal threats to individuals from the IOC and Olympic Movement.” International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach stands in front of the Olympic rings at an official date. Andreas Arnold/dpa View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA Fresh off his loss in a primary election in North Carolina, soon-to-be outgoing Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn is now calling for a new party to form on the right. “It’s time for the rise of the new right, it’s time for Dark MAGA to truly take command,” Cawthorn wrote in an Instagram post. The post was made days after Cawthorn lost in the Republican primary against Chuck Edwards. That means the youngest member of the U.S. House of Representatives will serve just a lone 2-year term. MEGA Cawthorn has become a political lightning rod for his far-right views and unwavering support of former President Donald Trump. In his first Instagram post since the election, Cawthorn highlighted several “America first patriots,” including Steven Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Cawthorn said few people had his back when he was targeted by the “establishment” in the weeks before the election. He added the people he labeled “America first patriots” were those who came to his defense. “There are other National figures who I believe are patriots, but I am on a mission now to expose those who say and promise one thing yet legislate and work towards another, self-profiteering, globalist goal,” Cawthorn wrote. MEGA The lame-duck congressman said there is an enemy out there to defeat, but it will never be defeated until the “cowardly” and “weak” members lose in the Republican party. Cawthorn did not specify who the enemy is or the members in the GOP who should be targeted. “Their days are numbered. We are coming,” Cawthorn wrote. In the weeks before the election, Cawthorn was involved in a string of embarrassing controversies. They included photos of him dressed in drag and in videos in sexually suggestive positions with other men. MEGA One video showed him naked and thrusting his pelvis into another man. Cawthorn blasted the release of the video and said he wouldn’t back down and blackmail would not win. “Years ago, in this video, I was being crass with a friend, trying to be funny,” he said at the time. “We were acting foolish and joking. That’s it.” View the full article

Published by AFP The young Russian soldier being tried for killing an unarmed Ukrainian civilian told the court he was 'truly sorry'. Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukraine on Friday ordered its last troops holed up in Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steelworks to lay down their arms after nearly three months of desperate resistance against a ferocious Russian assault. Russia’s flattening of the strategic port city has drawn multiple accusations of war crimes, including a deadly attack on a maternity ward, and Ukraine has begun a reckoning for captured Russian troops. The first post-invasion trial of a Russian soldier for war crimes neared its climax in Kyiv, after 21-year-old sergeant Vadim Shishimarin admitted to killing an unarmed civilian early in the offensive. The verdict is due on Monday. Shishimarin told the court on Friday that he was “truly sorry”. But his lawyer said in closing arguments that the young soldier was “not guilty” of premeditated murder and war crimes. While Ukrainian forces fended off the Russian offensive around Kyiv, helped by a steady infusion of Western arms, both eastern Ukraine and Mariupol in the south have borne the brunt of a remorseless ground and artillery attack. “Russian occupation forces are conducting intense fire along the entire line of contact and trying to hit artillery deep into the defences of Ukrainian troops,” Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told reporters. The fighting is fiercest in the eastern region of Donbas, a Russian-speaking area that has been partially controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists since 2014. “In Donbas, the occupiers are trying to increase pressure,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address late on Thursday. “There’s hell — and that’s not an exaggeration.” In the eastern city of Severodonetsk, 12 people were also killed and another 40 wounded by Russian shelling, the regional governor said. Burial with honours Zelensky described the bombardment of Severodonetsk as “brutal and absolutely pointless”, as residents cowering in basements described an unending ordeal of terror. The city forms part of the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in Lugansk, which along with the neighbouring region of Donetsk comprises the Donbas war zone. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said his forces’ campaign in Lugansk was “nearing completion”. Also apparently complete is the capture of the Azovstal steelworks, a totemic symbol of Ukraine’s dogged resistance since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on February 24. A total of 1,908 Ukrainian troops have surrendered this week at the steelworks, according to Russia’s defence ministry, after releasing a video showing bedraggled defenders being taken into captivity. Ukraine’s Azov battalion commander Denys Prokopenko said only the dead remained. “The higher military command has given the order to save the lives of the soldiers of our garrison and to stop defending the city,” he said in a video on Telegram. “I now hope that soon, the families and all of Ukraine will be able to bury their fighters with honours.” Ukraine wants to exchange the surrendering Azovstal soldiers for Russian prisoners. But in Donetsk, the pro-Kremlin authorities are in turn threatening to put some of them on trial. The International Committee of the Red Cross urged both sides to grant it access to prisoners of war and civilian internees, “wherever they are held”. “Many more families need answers,” it said in a statement. In Washington, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said all prisoners of war should “be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention and the law of war”. US President Joe Biden has cast the Ukraine war as part of a US-led struggle pitting democracy against authoritarianism. The US Congress approved a $40-billion (38-billion-euro) aid package, including funds to enhance Ukraine’s armoured vehicle fleet and air defence system. Underground living And meeting in Germany, G7 industrialised nations pledged $19.8 billion to shore up Ukraine’s shattered public finances. Biden offered “full, total, complete backing” to Finland and Sweden in their bid to join the NATO military alliance, when he welcomed their leaders to the White House on Thursday. But all 30 existing NATO members need to agree on any new entrants, and Turkey has condemned the historically non-aligned Nordic neighbours’ alleged toleration of Kurdish militants. Shoigu said the Kremlin would respond to any NATO expansion by creating more military bases in western Russia. Russia’s own expansion in Ukraine has ebbed around the northeastern city of Kharkiv, its troops forced to retreat from a rearguard offensive by defending forces. But Kharkiv remains in Russia artillery range, and hundreds of people are refusing to leave the relative safety of its metro system. “We’re tired. You can see what home comforts that we have,” said Kateryna Talpa, 35, pointing to mattresses and sheets on the ground, and some food in a cardboard box. She and her husband Yuriy are doing their best to cope in the Soviet-era station called “Heroes of Labour”, alongside their cats Marek and Sima. “They got used to it,” Talpa said. burs-jit/har View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) -Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk has denounced as “utterly untrue” claims in a news report that he sexually harassed a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016. Shares of Tesla skidded more than 6% on Friday. Business Insider reported on Thursday that Musk’s private company SpaceX paid $250,000 in 2018 to settle a sexual harassment claim from an unnamed private jet flight attendant who accused Musk of exposing himself to her. The article quoted an anonymous person who said she was a friend of the flight attendant. The friend had provided a statement as part of the private settlement process, according to the article. “I have a challenge to this liar who claims their friend saw me ‘exposed’ – describe just one thing, anything at all (scars, tattoos, …) that isn’t known by the public. She won’t be able to do so, because it never happened,” Musk tweeted late on Thursday. Reuters was not able to verify the Business Insider account. Musk and SpaceX did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on the Business Insider story or on tweets by the billionaire. In a statement to Reuters on Friday, Business Insider said: “We stand by our story which is based on documents and interviews and which speaks for itself.” Business Insider quoted the friend of the flight attendant as saying that in addition to allegedly exposing himself, Musk rubbed the flight attendant’s thigh and offered to buy her a horse if she would “do more” during an in-flight massage. The flight attendant came to believe that her refusal to accept Musk’s proposal had hurt her opportunities to work at SpaceX and prompted her to hire a lawyer in 2018, according to Business Insider. The rocket company made the settlement out of court and included a nondisclosure agreement that prevented the flight attendant from speaking about it, Business Insider said. The news site did not name the friend or the flight attendant. Musk, who is in the midst of a contentious effort to buy Twitter Inc, said on Wednesday that he would vote Republican instead of Democrat, predicting a “dirty tricks campaign against me” would follow. In the Business Insider article, Musk was quoted as saying the flight attendant’s story was a “politically motivated hit piece” and that there was “a lot more to this story.” On Thursday evening, Musk first tweeted: “The attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens – this is their standard (despicable) playbook – but nothing will deter me from fighting for a good future and your right to free speech.” In the initial tweet, he did not specifically mention the allegations in the Business Insider article. “And, for the record, those wild accusations are utterly untrue,” Musk added in another tweet. He also tweeted that the article was meant to interfere with the Twitter acquisition. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Joey Roulette; Editing by Frances Kerry and Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department will release $5 million for states to establish hotlines to report hate crime, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Friday, as a mass shooting in Buffalo heightened concerns about racially motivated violence in the United States. The money is one of several steps Garland outlined to improve reporting and prosecution of hate crimes, which reached their highest level in more than a decade in 2020, the most recent year for which figures are available. Those figures are not comprehensive as state and local authorities are not required to report them to the FBI, which defines a hate crime as a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. The FBI has said it is investigating three recent shootings as possible hate crimes, in Buffalo, New York, Dallas and southern California. Criminologists have said that shooters, mostly young white men, have been inspired by previous racist gun massacres. Authorities say the man charged with Saturday’s shooting in Buffalo posted a racist screed online before killing 10 people, all of them Black. Garland said the Justice Department also will issue new guidelines for raising awareness about hate crimes and will release another $5 million for community-based approaches. Those steps were specified by legislation that President Joe Biden signed into law a year ago. “We will use every legal tool at our disposal to investigate and combat these kinds of hate crimes and their collateral impact that they have on the communities that they hurt.” (Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Chris Gallagher; editing by Grant McCool) View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — The fall TV schedule has everything: firefighters, cops, lawyers. And that’s just CBS. There’s an anthology series about defendants during their trial, an animated series starring Jon Hamm and a reboot of “Quantum Leap.” There’s something for Mom, something for Dad and something for the college kid stealing Mom and Dad’s cable login. All week, network TV executives pitched their fall schedules to advertisers, hoping to bring in the money to fund the next “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Law and Order.” The Daily News attended all the “upfronts” — the events touting new shows — so that you didn’… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jennifer Rigby and Natalie Grover LONDON (Reuters) -The World Health Organization was due to hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the recent outbreak of monkeypox, a viral infection more common to west and central Africa, after more than 100 cases were confirmed or suspected in Europe. In what Germany described as the largest-ever outbreak in Europe, cases have now been confirmed in at least five countries – the United Kingdom, Spain Portugal, Germany and Italy – as well as the United States, Canada and Australia. First identified in monkeys, the disease typically spreads through close contact and has rarely spread outside Africa, so this series of cases has triggered concern. However, scientists do not expect the outbreak to evolve into a pandemic like COVID-19, given the virus does not spread as easily as SARS-COV-2. Monkeypox is usually a mild viral illness, characterised by symptoms of fever as well as a distinctive bumpy rash. “With several confirmed cases in the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal, this is the largest and most widespread outbreak of monkeypox ever seen in Europe,” said Germany’s armed forces’ medical service, which detected its first case in the country on Friday. Fabian Leendertz, from the Robert Koch Institute, described the outbreak as an epidemic. “However it is very unlikely that this epidemic will last long. The cases can be well isolated via contact tracing and there are also drugs and effective vaccines that can be used if necessary,” he said. There isn’t a specific vaccine for monkeypox, but data shows that vaccines that were used to eradicate smallpox are up to 85% effective against monkeypox, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). British authorities on Thursday said they had offered a smallpox vaccine to some healthcare workers and others who may have been exposed to monkeypox. The WHO committee due to meet is the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards with Pandemic and Epidemic Potential (STAG-IH), which advises WHO on infection risks that could pose a threat to global health. UNUSUAL CASES Since 1970, monkeypox cases have been reported in 11 African countries. Nigeria has had a large outbreak since 2017 – so far this year there have been 46 suspected cases, of which 15 have since been confirmed, according to the WHO. The first European case was confirmed on May 7 in an individual who returned to England from Nigeria. Since then, more than 100 cases have been confirmed outside Africa, according to a tracker by a University of Oxford academic. https://twitter.com/MOUGK/status/1527055553876348928 Many of the cases are not linked to travel to the continent. As a result, the cause of this outbreak is unclear, although health authorities have said that there is potentially some degree of community spread. In Britain, where 20 cases have been now confirmed, the UK Health Security Agency said the recent cases in the country were predominantly among men who self-identified as gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men. The 14 cases in Portugal that were all detected in sexual health clinics are also in men who self-identify as gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men. Health authorities in Spain said 23 new cases were confirmed on Friday, mainly in the Madrid region where most infections were linked to an outbreak in an adult sauna. It was too early to say if the illness has morphed into a sexually transmitted disease, said Alessio D’Amato, health commissioner of the Lazio region in Italy. Three cases have been reported so far in the country. Sexual contact, by definition, is close contact, added Stuart Neil, professor of virology at Kings College London. “The idea that there’s some sort of sexual transmission in this, I think, is a little bit of a stretch,” he said. Scientists are sequencing the virus from different cases to see if they are linked, the WHO has said. The agency is expected to provide an update soon. (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby and Natalie Grover in London; Twitter @NatalieGrover; additional reporting by Emma Pinedo Gonzalez, Emma Farge, Catriona Demony and Patricia Weiss;Editing by Josephine Mason and Nick Macfie) Monkeypox virus gay cases View the full article

Published by Reuters By Deena Beasley (Reuters) -The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Wednesday said it had confirmed a single case of monkeypox virus infection in a man who had recently traveled to Canada. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)said its labs confirmed the infection to be monkeypox on Wednesday afternoon. The state agency said it was working with CDC and relevant local boards of health to carry out contact tracing, adding that “the case poses no risk to the public, and the individual is hospitalized and in good condition.” The Public Health Agency of Canada late on Wednesday issued a statement saying it is aware of the monkeypox cases in Europe and is closely monitoring the current situation, adding no cases have been reported at this time. Monkeypox, which mostly occurs in west and central Africa, is a rare viral infection similar to human smallpox, though milder. It was first recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1970s. The number of cases in West Africa has increased in the last decade. Symptoms include fever, headaches and skin rashes starting on the face and spreading to the rest of the body. The Massachusetts agency said the virus does not spread easily between people, but transmission can occur through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores, items such as bedding or clothing that have been contaminated with fluids or sores, or through respiratory droplets following prolonged face-to-face contact. It said no monkeypox cases had previously been identified in the United States this year. Texas and Maryland each reported a case in 2021 in people with recent travel to Nigeria. The CDC also said it is tracking multiple clusters of monkeypox reported in several countries including Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, within the past two weeks. A handful of cases of monkeypox have recently been reported or are suspected in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain. Earlier on Wednesday, Portuguese authorities said they had identified five cases of the infection and Spain’s health services said they were testing 23 potential cases after Britain put Europe on alert for the virus. European health authorities are monitoring any outbreak of the disease since Britain reported its first case on May 7 and has found six more in the country since then. (Reporting by Deena Beasley in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Juby Babu in BengaluruEditing by Sandra Maler) View the full article

Published by Reuters UK LISBON (Reuters) -Portuguese authorities said on Wednesday they had identified five cases of the rare monkeypox infection, and Spain’s health services are testing 23 potential cases after Britain put Europe on alert for the virus. The five Portuguese patients, out of 20 suspected cases, are all stable. They are all men and they all live in the region of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, the Portuguese health authorities said. European health authorities are monitoring any outbreak of the disease since Britain has reported its first case of monkeypox on May 7 and found six more in the country since …Read More Published by Reuters UK By Jennifer Rigby LONDON (Reuters) – A smattering of monkeypox cases in Britain has prompted authorities to offer a smallpox vaccine to some healthcare workers and others who may have been exposed, as a handful more cases were confirmed in parts of Europe. Monkeypox is a usually mild viral illness, characterised by symptoms of fever as well as a distinctive bumpy rash. There are two main strains: the Congo strain, which is more severe – with up to 10% mortality – and the West African strain, which has a fatality rate of about 1%. First identified in monkeys, the viral disease typically spreads…Read More View the full article

[This post contains video, click to play] Published by BANG Showbiz English Taylor Swift was “pleasantly surprised” to receive an honorary doctorate. The ‘Blank Space’ singer was honoured by New York University at their graduation ceremony at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday (18.05.22) and insiders at the event said the 32-year-old star “really blended in” with the other students. A source told E! News: “Taylor really blended in like one of the students. Everyone was really accepting of her and having fun with it.” Taylor took the time to speak to some of the students and asked about their university experiences. The insider added: “She was very sweet and genuine… just listening to different perspectives. “Overall it was a really nice experience and everyone enjoyed it. She was cute and fun and she just seemed really happy. Taylor was telling people how pleasantly surprised she was about the honour.” Taylor delivered a speech to the 2020, 2021 and 2022 graduating classes and joked her cap and gown was “much more comfortable” than the looks she usually wore when performing to similar sized audiences on similar stages. She said: “Last time I was in a stadium this size, I was dancing in high heels and wearing a glittery leotard. This outfit is much more comfortable.” The Grammy winner also quipped that she was only there because one of her 2012 hit single ‘22’, which matched the current calendar year. Taylor said: “I’m 90 per cent sure the reason I’m here is because I have a song called ‘22’.” The ‘I Bet You Think About Me’ singer urged the graduating class that they should “learn to live alongside cringe” as it is an “unavoidable” part of life, citing her fashion choices from a decade ago. Taylor continued: “You will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively. Cringe is unavoidable over the course of a lifetime… You can’t avoid it so don’t try to – for the entirety of 2012 I dressed like a 1950s housewife.” The ‘Love Story’ hitmaker also spoke about the challenges of being a young woman in the music industry, such as “constantly being issued warnings” and how she felt that needed to be the “perfect young female role model” or else she would end up in “pop star jail”. Taylor also mentioned getting “cancelled” – when Kanye West and his then-wife Kim Kardashian alleged that she was a lying about consenting to lyrics on his 2016 track ‘Famous’ – and how it gave her “excellent knowledge” of her wine rack. She said: “Getting cancelled on the internet and almost losing my career gave me an excellent knowledge of all the types of wine.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega The 911 operator who hung up the phone on a Tops Friendly Markets employee while a gunman shot more than 10 people has been placed on administrative leave, Radar has learned. Saturday, as 18-year-old shooting suspect Payton Gendron allegedly opened fire inside the Buffalo supermarket, assistant office manager Latisha Rogers quickly and quietly dialed 911 to report the tragic incident and ask for help. Mega But according to Rogers, the dispatcher who picked up the call allegedly responded with a “nasty tone” and questioned Rogers for whispering before hanging up the call. “I called 911, I go through the whole operator and everything, the dispatcher comes on and I’m whispering to her,” a traumatized Rogers told a local Buffalo news network on Wednesday. “I said ‘Miss, please send help to [Tops Friendly Market] there is a shooter in the store.’” “She says ‘I can’t hear you, why are you whispering? You don’t have to whisper, they can’t hear you,’” the employee recounted. “So, I continued to whisper and I said ‘Ma’am he’s still in the store, he’s still shooting! I’m scared for my life, please send help.’ Out of nervousness, my phone fell out of my hand, she said something I couldn’t make out, and then the phone hung up.” Mega Following the troubling incident between Tops assistant office manager Rogers and the 911 operator, Erie County authorities confirmed they have since obtained the 911 call and were in the process of reviewing the exchange as part of an investigation into the matter. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz also confirmed that the 911 operator in question, who has worked in 911 dispatch for more than eight years, has since been placed on paid administrative leave while his team investigates the incident. A hearing into the matter is scheduled for May 30, at which point the county reportedly plans to “terminate the 911 call taker who acted totally inappropriately and did not follow protocol,” Poloncarz said. As RadarOnline.com reported, Payton Gendron was taken into police custody Saturday afternoon after allegedly murdering 10 people and seriously injuring at least three more after opening fire inside the Buffalo Tops Friendly Markets grocery store. Mega Gendron’s diary obtained after the mass shooting revealed that the 18-year-old was radicalized to white supremacist ideology in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic after spending extensive time on a number of different white supremacist websites. “I can’t sleep,” Rogers added while recalling the heartbreaking incident. “I can eat a little bit, but I just keep hearing gunshots and just seeing the bodies.” “I didn’t realize how important it was until I started working there. They love that store. That is just a traumatic experience to have in that community like that.” View the full article

Published by AFP US President George W. Bush addresses his nation aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf on May 1, 2003, in front of a banner reading Baghdad (AFP) – An embarrassing slip of the tongue by former US president George W. Bush may have drawn laughter from his American audience, but it raised the ire of Iraqis. In a speech Wednesday evening in Dallas about Russia’s war on Ukraine, Bush called the invasion of Iraq, which he himself ordered, “unjustified and brutal” — before quickly correcting himself. The 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and ushered in one of the bloodiest periods in the country’s modern history, marked by sectarian warfare and the rise of jihadists. Between 2003 and 2011, when the US withdrew its troops, more than 100,000 civilians were killed, according to the Iraq Body Count tracker. The invasion cost the lives of nearly 4,500 Americans. But on Wednesday it was the war in Ukraine that Bush talked about during an event organised by his foundation. “The decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq, I mean of Ukraine,” he said in a speech, drawing laughter from the audience. “Anyway — 75,” he added, referring to his own age, to another burst of laughter. Video footage of the gaffe has since gone viral online, with one post on Twitter having been viewed more than 14 million times in less than half a day. It was also picked widely up by Arab media, stoking anger among Iraqis. “The spectre of Iraq’s invasion and destruction haunts Bush Jr. His subconscious exposed it when it took over his tongue,” Iraqi journalist Omar al-Janabi tweeted. “Yes it is a brutal and unjustified invasion which will remain your worst nightmare”, he added. Iraqis also took to Facebook to criticise the former US president. “The moment of truth has come — the invasion of Iraq is a lifelong nightmare that plagues your conscience,” Hamza Qusai wrote. “The crime of your occupation of Iraq and its destruction will remain a nightmare that haunts your sleep and torments your dead criminal consciences,” added Nahedh al-Tamimi. The US-led invasion of Iraq was launched on March 20, 2003 after accusations that the Saddam regime had weapons of mass destruction. None were ever found. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Nicole Kidman failed to be mentioned during a 10-minute-long tribute montage of her ex-husband Tom Cruise at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Despite being married for more than 10 years, and starring alongside Cruise in three movies during their marriage, the 54-year-old The Northman actress wasn’t included in a single clip celebrating the Mission Impossible actor’s 40 years on the big screen. Mega Making Wednesday night’s snub even more insulting is the fact that the three movies the former celebrity couple starred in together – Days of Thunder, Far and Away and Eyes Wide Shut – were all featured in the ten-minute montage, but the scenes included in the tribute reel were all scenes without Kidman. Although it’s not known whether not the 59-year-old Top Gun actor had a hand in the clips selected for the reel or the editing process of the montage, other scenes included in the tribute included a number of costars from Cruise’s nearly 60 movie career – including Kristen Dunst, Penelope Cruz and Dustin Hoffman. Cruise and Kidman first married in 1990 shortly after starring together in the film Days of Thunder, and before divorcing 11 years later in 2001 the couple would go on to star in two more movies together. At the time of their divorce in 2001, rumors were swirling that the Risky Business actor’s commitment to Scientology was causing problems in the pair’s marriage. They divorced shortly after, but still share two adopted children together – daughter Isabella Jane, 29, and son Connor, 27. Mega Following the celebrity couple’s split, both Cruise and Kidman faced their share of ups and down. Most recently, Kidman came under fire after lashing out at a reporter who asked about her and her ex-husband’s marriage while she was promoting her film Being the Ricardos – a film that focused on the marriage and divorce between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. “This film says you can make an extraordinary relationship thrive and leave remnants of it that exist forever,” Kidman said in December while describing her experience playing the role of Ball. “Yeah, that’s really gorgeous. You can’t make people behave how you want them to, and sometimes you’re going to fall in love with someone who isn’t going to be the person you spend the rest of your life with.” When the interviewer asked the Academy Award winning actress if she was describing her marriage to Cruise, Kidman slammed the interviewer and claimed the question was “almost sexist.” Mega “Oh, my God, no, no. Absolutely not,” she replied. “No. I mean, that’s, honestly, so long ago that that isn’t in this equation. So, no.” “And I would ask not to be pigeonholed that way, either,” Kidman continued, fuming. “It feels to me almost sexist because I’m not sure anyone would say that to a man. And at some point, you go, ‘Give me my life. In its own right.’” As for Cruise, he recently came under fire himself for causing “chaos” at Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebration earlier this week after promoting his new film Top Gun: Maverick when he was supposed to be celebrating and commemorating the Queen. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth KYIV (Reuters) -A 21-year-old Russian soldier asked a Ukrainian widow to forgive him for the murder of her husband, as a court in Kyiv met for a second hearing on Thursday in the first war crimes trial arising from Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion. Vadim Shishimarin, a tank commander, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to killing an unarmed 62-year-old civilian, Oleksandr Shelipov, in the northeast Ukrainian village of Chupakhivka on Feb. 28. “I acknowledge my blame … I ask you to forgive me,” he told the widow, Kateryna Shelipova, at the hearing on Thursday attended by Reuters. Boyish, dressed in a tracksuit and with his shaven head lowered, Shishimarin cut a forlorn spectacle in a glass booth for defendants. He spoke calmly, but looked frightened. The Kremlin has said it has no information about the trial and that the absence of a diplomatic mission in Ukraine limits its ability to provide legal assistance. The widow told the court she had heard distant shots fired from their yard and that she had called out to her husband the day he was killed. “I ran over to my husband, he was already dead. Shot in the head. I screamed, I screamed so much,” she said, speaking in her rural accent. She looked distraught and her voice trembled with emotion. Shelipova told the court she would not object if Shishimarin was released to Russia as part of a prisoner swap to get “our boys” out of the port city of Mariupol, a reference to hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who have given themselves up to Russia. The trial takes place as much of Ukraine is gripped by the fate of its soldiers that it hopes Russia will hand over as part of an exchange. Some Russian voices are calling for them to be put on trial for crimes. Shelipova said her husband had been unarmed and was dressed in civilian clothes. They had a 27-year-old son and two grandchildren together, she added. Ukraine has accused Russia of atrocities and brutality against civilians during the invasion and said it has identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes. Russia has denied targeting civilians or involvement in war crimes. Shishimarin is accused of firing several shots with an assault rifle at a civilian’s head from a car after being ordered to do so. Asked if he had been obliged to follow an order that amounted to a war crime, Shishimarin said “no”. “I fired a short burst, three or four bullets,” he told the court. “I am from Irkutsk Oblast (a region in Siberia), I have two brothers and two sisters … I am the eldest,” he said. Shishimarin could face up to life imprisonment if convicted. (Reporting by Max Hunder; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Nick Macfie) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Joseph Ax (Reuters) -U.S. Representative Lucy McBath has been a rising Democratic star since 2018, when she ended 40 years of Republican dominance in a suburban Atlanta seat. Congresswoman Carolyn Bourdeaux staked her own claim to fame in 2020, when she captured the district next door and became the only Democratic House candidate in the country to flip a Republican seat that year. But a new Republican-drawn congressional map aimed at eliminating one of their seats now has the two women squaring off for their party’s nomination in Georgia’s reconfigured 7th district. That ensures only one will advance from Tuesday’s primary to November’s general election, to the irritation of activists who spent years turning Atlanta’s suburbs Democratic. “I was really frustrated with the process of redistricting,” said Mary Baron, a retired attorney who volunteered for McBath’s two previous runs and donated to Bourdeaux’s campaign. “It seemed clear to me that they created it to put a Republican into office.” The race is one of a half-dozen around the United States in which redistricting has pushed incumbents from the same party to run against one another, an awkward result of the once-a-decade process of drawing new congressional lines. The rare contests often serve as a proxy for the larger tensions roiling each party – which, this time around, means establishment Democrats and Republicans competing against the progressive left and Trump-dominated right. In New York this week, a court-appointed special master released a draft congressional map, after the state’s top court invalidated a Democratic-drawn plan as an illegal gerrymander. The new proposal could pit two pairs of Democratic incumbents against one another, including powerful representatives Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, who have each spent three decades in Congress and will face off this August in what will be a massively expensive primary. INTRAPARTY TENSIONS In some states, such as Georgia, the intraparty contests stem from a deliberately partisan effort by one party to draw favorable lines. In other cases, the match-ups are an inevitable outcome of redistricting. West Virginia lost one of its three seats as a result of sluggish population growth, forcing two incumbents to face off. Republican U.S. Representative Alex Mooney defeated fellow Republican congressman David McKinley in last week’s primary election. In Illinois, Republican first-term U.S. Representative Mary Miller – endorsed by former President Donald Trump – is going after fellow Republican Rodney Davis, who has served a decade in the House. Miller, a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, has attacked Davis for his vote in favor of a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Davis, who is seen as a more traditional Republican, has the backing of the state’s party infrastructure. New York’s new map immediately highlighted the antagonism between the Democratic Party’s establishment and left wings. Sean Patrick Maloney, the chair of the national Democratic Party’s congressional campaign arm, announced within minutes of the map’s release that he would run in a new district made up mostly of liberal Black Democrat Mondaire Jones’ seat. Jones criticized the decision in an interview with Politico but has not said whether he will challenge Maloney. Jones could also run against Jamaal Bowman, a fellow first-term Black progressive Democrat, who occupies a neighboring district. The Georgia race has been particularly galling for Democrats, given that McBath and Bourdeaux’s victories were notched in suburban Atlanta – ground zero for President Joe Biden’s surprising statewide win in 2020, as well as for twin Senate runoff elections in 2021 that gave the party control of Congress. Bourdeaux has attacked McBath for abandoning her district, which was redrawn to be heavily Republican, rather than fighting to keep it. “Everything that we have been fighting for, you have been undermining by coming and fighting me here,” Bourdeaux said at a recent debate. McBath has responded by noting that polls suggest she is leading the race, arguing that shows voters know her and the work she has done on their behalf. (Reporting by Joseph AxEditing by Colleen Jenkins and Rosalba O’Brien) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden met the leaders of Sweden and Finland on Thursday after the nations set aside their long-standing neutrality and moved to join the NATO alliance in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hours before his first trip to Asia as president, Biden sat down with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö at the White House to discuss their NATO applications. “This is a historic event, a watershed moment in European security. Two nations with a long tradition of neutrality will be joining the world’s most powerful defensive alliance,” said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Biden has made uniting Europe against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a top priority. Turkey has raised questions about including Finland and Sweden in the alliance, asking Sweden to halt support for Kurdish militants it considers to be part of a terrorist group and both to lift their bans on some sales of arms to Turkey. Sullivan told reporters on Wednesday that U.S. officials are confident Turkey’s concerns can be addressed, and Biden told reporters “I think we’re going to be okay,” on the issue. All 30 NATO members need to approve any new entrant. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in a video posted on his Twitter account on Thursday that Turkey had told allies that it will reject Sweden and Finland’s membership. Biden’s meeting comes as he seeks approval from the U.S. Congress for $40 billion in aid for Ukraine to provide weapons and humanitarian assistance through September. U.S. officials said Wednesday the United States has collected intelligence showing some Russian officials are aware there are abuses being conducted against Ukrainians in Mariupol. “Some Russian officials recognize that despite claiming to be ‘liberators’ of the Russian-speaking city of Mariupol, Russian forces are carrying out grievous abuses in the city, including beating and electrocuting city officials and robbing homes,” the official said, citing declassified intelligence. Russian officials worry these abuses “may further inspire Mariupol residents to resist Russian occupation,” the official said. The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment and Reuters was unable to verify the intelligence claim. (Reporting By Steve Holland; additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Heather Timmons, Lincoln Feast and Nick Zieminski) View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA Russian TV is now targeting the White House’s new spox, just days after she officially started the role. The Vladimir Putin-backed TV channel said Karine Jean-Pierre spreading misinformation about her professional abilities, which was picked up by right leaning papers in the UKincluding The Daily Mail. Putin’s channel told news-starved Russians she was given the job because she was a “dark-skinned immigrant.” The Russian pseudo news commentators claimed without evidence that within weeks, Jean-Pierre will be replaced by a straight white man, according to The Daily Mail. Jean-Pierre took the White House podium from Jen Psaki, who left as chief spokeswoman for a role at news channel MSNBC. Jean-Pierre is the first black, openly gay press secretary. MEGA Russian TV has not been strangers to outlandish claims and strange discussions, especially in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Nuclear weapon usage has been discussed on the channel. The channel used footage from Jean-Pierre’s first press conference to mock the new press secretary, the Daily Mail noted. Ignoring the decades of experience with press and campaigns they fabricated some image of someone else completely ‘When she makes mistakes, that will be her excuse. ‘I’m not a professional, I was chosen for other reasons’,” Andrei Sidorchik said on the channel, and reported by the Daily Mail. Jean-Pierre hasn’t responded to the Russian state claims, though Jean-Pierre has discussed what serving in the role means to her. MEGA “I am a black gay immigrant woman, the first of all three of those to hold this position,” Jean-Pierre said her first briefing, according to Yahoo! News. And her experience is deep and well respected. She has already served in senior communication and political roles in the Biden Administration, the Biden campaign, and to then-Vice President Biden in the Obama Administration. prior to that she was Chief Public Affairs Officer for MoveOn.org and an NBC and MSNBC Political Analyst. Jean-Pierre served as Regional Political Director for the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Obama-Biden administration and as Deputy Battleground States Director for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She served as Southeast Regional Political Director for President Obama’s 2008 campaign, Deputy Campaign Manager for Martin O’Malley for President, Campaign Manager for the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Initiative, and Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Legislative and Budget Affairs for two members in the New York City Council. But the new press secretary hasn’t started without being attacked by the right in the US, which has dug up old comments and recirculated them. In them, she calls out Fox News for its racist reporting. In March 2020, a s one example, she called Fox News racist, as Radar previously reported. “So there is nothing new here,” she claimed on an MSNBC appearance. “I think the difference is they are all-in on being state TV for Donald Trump, and so they will continue to give misinformation.” Jean-Pierre has also faced criticism as her partner is currently a political reporter for CNN. That has led to questions about a conflict of interest between CNN and the White House. But the situation was rectified when CNN restricted the subjects she would be assigned, avoiding political and White House coverage. MEGA View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jonathan Van Ness doesn’t mind what pronouns people use for him. The ‘Queer Eye’ star insisted he is comfortable with both masculine and feminine terms, as well as gender-neutral ones, because he feels like he is “all of those things and none of those things”. Jonathan told Australia’s Daily Telegraph newspaper: “When I say, he, she, they, whatever, I mean it because I feel like in ways I am all of those things and I’m none of those things at the same time. “That’s why I feel like whether you want to say he, she or they, it is okay for me. “If it is they or she, for me who I am is so much more than what that means to other people and to me. “That is where I come at it and why I identify as he, she or they ­because I feel like I’m everything and I feel like I’m nothing at the same time. That is kind of existential, but it is how I see it.” In 2019, Jonathan revealed he had been HIV+ since he was 25 and opened up on his diagnosis to help end the stigma around the condition. The 35-year-old star said: “This is only the beginning. I’m quickly realising that there is still so much misunderstanding, so much sensationalising of living with HIV. The stigma and the difficulty around the process of getting treatment is creating that. My work has only really just begun.” Jonathan has reassured fans that the condition is under control and he is “thriving”. He said: “So there’s a thing called a viral load and that’s how much copies of the virus is in you. “And you take a pill every day and it basically kills all the copies of the virus in your blood and that means you can achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load. There’s been a lot of studies … that basically, undetectable equals un-transmittable. “So as long as you’re adhering to your medication and seeing your doctor every three months – I mean, I’ve picked up figure skating, I’ve done nothing but get cuter and be able to work longer and harder hours. I feel like I’m thriving!” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Dove Cameron is “struggling” with depression and dysphoria and feels “terrorised” by her own image. The ‘Boyfriend’ singer admitted she has been “crying a lot” because she’s struggling to get to grip with who she really is and how other people see her. Alongside a series of selfies of her crying into a mirror, she wrote on Instagram: “I’ve been struggling lately with the concept of self, my inner relationship to who i know myself to be and my outer perceivable self who i feel i have never known but other people seem to. “I’ve been covering mirrors lately. I’ve been feeling wrong in clothing that used to make me feel beautiful lately. i’ve been crying a lot lately, sometimes terrorized by my identity and image. “i don’t know if I’ve ever slowed down enough to learn who i am outside of fight, flight or freeze. but the self finds ways of showing up anyway.” The ‘Descendents’ star – who came out as bisexual in 2020 – explained “sexuality and performative gender norms” were “really throwing” her for “a loop” and she believes social media and a “constant broadcasting of self and visibility” was potentially harmful to mental health. The 26-year-old actress wanted to share her journey so her followers felt less “alone in a sea of what seems like humans who are comfortable in their identity, like they may not even have to think twice about it”. She added: “We all deserve a life unburdened by the societally created identity, we all deserve to unlearn self abuse and self hatred. i am on the journey now, and I’m sharing so that we may all feel more comfortable in a conversation that may be confusing. “emotion is COOL, dysphoria is OK. living as a human is INTENSE. we are all holding hands. Don’t forget.” Dove is “interested in a life unburdened by myself,” but admitted that is easier in theory than in practice, but we’re making room.” She added: “I am beginning to have a hope that the public platform that has been difficult for me to learn to take up space as myself in, can actually be the conduit for change/mutual support/exploration/safety. “Maybe the spaces that are the least human can become the most human, if we want that, and we can all let each other take up a little more space. i love you.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Gabriel Araujo and Steven Grattan SAO PAULO (Reuters) -COVID-19 is on the rise again in the Americas as many countries have abandoned measures like masking and social distancing and many lag in vaccination rates, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday. Cases in the Americas surged 27.2% last week from the prior one, driven primarily by a spike in infections in the United States, according to PAHO. More than half of a total 918,000 infections came from North America as U.S. cases jumped by 33% to 605,000 in the last week. Infections in North America have now been climbing for the past seven weeks. PAHO Director Dr. Carissa Etienne noted that many countries and local governments are giving up measures to protect against the virus and have reopened borders after a period of lower transmission. “Masking and social distancing have served us well since the start of the pandemic and are still valid measures to lower virus transmission,” she said, adding that governments should be ready to scale up these measures whenever there is an increase in cases or deaths. Too many people remain at risk, PAHO said, as only 14 of the 51 countries and territories in the Americas have reached the World Health Organization’s goal of vaccinating 70% of their population, she added during a news conference. PAHO said new COVID-19 infections and deaths in the region have been rising steadily over the past four weeks, with over 3,500 fatalities reported last week. Central America saw the largest percentage rise in cases, with infections soaring by 80%. In Brazil, the second most populated country in the Americas, infections increased by 9% to 120,000. “It is time to take stock of these numbers and act. COVID is again on the rise in the Americas,” Etienne said. “The truth is this virus is not going away anytime soon.” (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Steven Grattan; Editing by Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by Reuters UK LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Royal Mint unveiled a special new commemorative rainbow-coloured 50 pence coin on Wednesday as a tribute to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Pride UK movement. The coin, designed by east London artist and LGBTQ+ activist Dominique Holmes, uses state-of-the-art printing technology to emboss it with the colours of the Pride progress flag. “It humbles me greatly that the words that I coined for the brand – protest, visibility, unity and equality – will be on an actual coin, opposite the queen,” Asad Shaykh, Director of Marketing and Communications at Pride in Lon… Read More View the full article