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Published by Reuters By Leah Douglas (Reuters) – Top U.S. meatpacking companies drafted the executive order issued by President Donald Trump in 2020 to keep meat plants running and convinced his administration to encourage workers to stay on the job at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report https://coronavirus.house.gov/sites/democrats.coronavirus.house.gov/files/2022.5.12%20-%20SSCC%20report%20on%20Meatpacking%20FINAL.pdf released on Thursday by a U.S. House panel. The report by the House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis details the meat industry’s influence on Trump’s White House as it tried to keep production rolling even as employees fell ill. More than 59,000 meatpacking workers at plants owned by the nation’s top five meatpackers contracted COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic and at least 269 died, according to the first report by the panel, released in October. “The shameful conduct of corporate executives pursuing profit at any cost during a crisis and government officials eager to do their bidding regardless of resulting harm to the public must never be repeated,” committee chair Representative James Clyburn said. The North American Meat Institute, the leading meat industry trade group, said the report “distorts the truth” and “uses 20/20 hindsight and cherry picks data to support a narrative that is completely unrepresentative of the early days of an unprecedented national emergency.” The report – based on thousands of documents and interviews with workers, union officials and experts – found that in April 2020, meatpacking companies led by Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods drafted an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) to keep meat plants open. The DPA, which was enacted in 1950, gives the president emergency powers to control the domestic economy. The companies sent the draft to Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials and corresponded extensively with the White House, USDA, and other administration officials before the order https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-05-01/pdf/2020-09536.pdf was finalized and signed on April 28, the report found. Industry executives argued at the time that domestic meat supply was threatened by worker absenteeism. Those concerns were “baseless,” the House report said. USDA data showed meatpackers had 622 million pounds of frozen pork in March 2020 and that top meatpackers’ pork exports grew as much as 370% in the first year of the pandemic. Jim Monroe, Smithfield vice president of corporate affairs, said the company is proud of its pandemic response. “Did we make every effort to share with government officials our perspective on the pandemic and how it was impacting the food production system? Absolutely,” he said. Gary Mickelson, a Tyson spokesperson, said the company’s top priority is worker health and safety and that it has collaborated with federal, state and local officials in its pandemic response in the interest of protecting workers. In April 2020, meat industry executives also lobbied the USDA to encourage workers to report to plants as absenteeism rose, resulting in a public statement to that effect from former Vice President Mike Pence, the report found. The industry worked closely with political appointee Mindy Brashears, the USDA under secretary of food safety, and corresponded with her via her personal email and cell phone, a potential violation of the Federal Records Act, the report found. The former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, also told the House committee that he added softening language, like “if feasible,” to CDC guidance for managing COVID-19 spread in meat plants because he was “persuaded by industry concerns” about the potential impact of the guidance. (Reporting by Leah Douglas; Editing by Leslie Adler and Mark Porter) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Mega Madonna is standing by her art. The pop diva, 63, received a ton of backlash on social media after releasing her new NFT in collaboration with token artist Beeple, which strangely depicted Madonna fully in the nude while giving birth to butterflies, insects and trees. To top off her peculiar art, a 3D model of her vagina was displayed in the NFT. Despite the “Material Girl” singer’s fans and foes calling out the creepy piece of digital art, the hit maker couldn’t care less about what they had to say. Mega Fans were not shy in voicing their opinion on the weird venture with one critic writing on Instagram, “Madonna’s latest NFT. If I saw it, you have to too. NFT should stand for NO FKN TACT.” Another bluntly noted, “Madonna is selling an nft of her WHAT? nah f**k this s**t I’m out.” HOLY REQUEST! MADONNA ASKS POPE FRANCIS TO MEET WITH HER AFTER EXHIBITING ‘BLASPHEMOUS’ BEHAVIOR Upon the shocking artwork’s release, the “Hung Up” vocalist backed her project, noting the vision was “to investigate the concept of creation, not only the way a child enters the world through a woman’s vagina, but also the way an artist gives birth to creativity.” Madonna teased her NFT in an Instagram post on Wednesday, May 11, in which she explained: “I’m doing what women have been doing since the beginning of time, which is giving birth.” “But on a more existential level, I’m giving birth to art and creativity and we would be lost without both,” the Evita actress explained. “I think it’s really important that a lot of thought and conversation went into creating these videos.” “I say we need a forest with creepy crawly bugs coming out of me,” the mother-of-six quipped. “Not often does a robot centipede crawl out of my vagina.” Mega MADONNA’S WILDEST MOMENTS THROUGH HER YEARS OF FAME — SEE THE LEGENDARY PHOTOS “My journey through life as a woman is like that of a tree. Starting with a small seed, always pushing against the resistance of the Earth. The endless weight of gravity,” Madonna noted of the vision she and Beeple had. Never one to shy away from controversy, Madonna wanted to ensure the piece was strange and unique to grab the attention of potential buyers. All proceeds from the NFT — entitled “Mother of Creation” — will be given to the charities National Bail Out, V-Day and Voices of Children. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Pro-choice demonstrators dressed as The Handmaid’s Tale gathered outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett to protest the SCOTUS member’s expected vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, Radar has learned. In a sensational development that finds Justice Barrett the latest Supreme Court member to face the outage of activists looking to uphold the federal court’s landmark 1973 ruling, Handmaid protesters congregated outside her private residence on Wednesday to persuade Barrett not to overturn the Supreme Court’s prior decision to protect a woman’s right to an abortion. Mega Video of the protest obtained by Fox News not only showed a group of protesters dressed up in red-and-white costumes straight out of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel-turned-hit TV show, but it also captured the protesters slamming Justice Barrett over her anti-abortion stance even though the SCOTUS member has 7 children. “It’s also possible that the fact that she’s an adoptive mother is influencing her inability to see what it’s like to carry a pregnancy to term,” one protester said in the video, referencing the fact that two of Barrett’s 7 children were adopted. “Not everybody wants to have five kids or four kids or one kid,” the pro-choice protester added. The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel published in 1985 before being adapted into a Hulu series that premiered in 2017, focused on a dystopian American future in which women are systematically raped and forced to give birth against their will by a radical pro-Christian government — a premise that the protesters outside Justice Barrett’s home said will become reality with the expected overturning of Roe v. Wade. Mega “We have no problem with Catholicism,” another protester outside Barrett’s Falls Church, Virginia, home said while holding up a sign reading, “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries.” “However, in this country, there’s a separation of church and state,” the protester added. “So, somebody’s religion, no matter what that might be, cannot dictate how they carry out their job as a public official.” The pro-choice demonstrators reportedly protested outside Justice Barrett’s Virginia home for nearly 30 minutes before returning to their vehicles and driving away. As RadarOnline.com reported, Justice Barrett wasn’t the only SCOTUS member to have protesters gather outside her property as a result of the recent Supreme Court leak suggesting Roe v. Wade will be overturned. Mega Earlier this week, other pro-choice demonstrators protested outside the homes of Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh,and John Roberts to prevent the expected demise of the monumental 1973 ruling protecting a woman’s right to receive an abortion under the Constitution of the United States. While these demonstrations have so far remained peaceful, others uncomfortable with the protests have questioned whether or not protesting outside a Supreme Court justice’s private residence to influence their vote is against federal law. View the full article

Published by AFP Jospeh Varon recalls nurses crying as they faced never-ending ICU admissions, beds in hallways, one intubation after another Washington (AFP) – Joseph Varon — who is chief of intensive care at United Memorial, a small hospital that mainly treats minority patients in Houston — made headlines when a photo of him hugging an elderly Covid patient during Thanksgiving in 2020 went viral. While that man went on to recover, it was those that did not make it that haunt Varon. “As a doctor, just in the last two years I have signed more death certificates than ever,” he said. As the United States marks the grim milestone of one million Covid deaths, health care workers who have served on the frontlines continue to shoulder a heavy burden, even as the rest of society has moved on. Many are exhausted, traumatized, and still afraid of crowded settings. Varon remembers well his first death, that of an immigrant working in a hotel. “He came into the hospital, and literally within a week he died, at 34 years of age without any pre-existing medical conditions,” he said. From then, until the last big wave at the start of this year, there was little respite. Varon recalls nurses crying as they faced never-ending ICU admissions, beds in hallways, one intubation after another. He also remembers his wife asking him to change his clothes in the garage before entering their home, after 20-hour shifts. The Thanksgiving photograph, said Varon, “became a symbol that we doctors also have feelings.” At that moment, he didn’t care about protecting himself, but wanted to give comfort to a man who didn’t know if he’d make it and couldn’t see his wife, since visits were not permitted. The demands of work also extracted a personal toll. Varon feels far older than his 59 years, hasn’t gone on vacation since the start of the pandemic, and was phoning in prescriptions on the day of his daughter’s wedding. He now sees “light at the end of the tunnel” and isn’t seeing many Covid patients — though he is seeing patients with post-Covid disorders including heart and lung issues. Stressed by crowds – Early on, the disease was a total mystery: how it was transmitted, who was most susceptible, how to treat it. Health workers feared bringing it home to their loved ones, or dying themselves. That fear was heightened for Daniel Brenner, an emergency physician interviewed by AFP at the start of the pandemic, when doctors were scrambling to find the right strategies to deal with severe lung injury caused by serious cases of Covid. Brenner’s wife is also an emergency doctor — and until the vaccine came along, they lived in dread of leaving behind their two young children, now aged five and three. “The thought of dying because of what you do and leaving your children as orphans is terrifying,” the 38-year-old said. Now working in Indianapolis, Brenner says he’s found it hard to re-adjust to crowds, despite far lower levels of Covid in the community, and hardly does things he used to take for granted, like eating inside restaurants. “It’s unfortunate because I’m trying to make sure that I don’t inflict my trauma on my kids,” he said, becoming emotional. “I want to make sure that they have enriching fulfilling things in their lives, but it’s really hard when I’m trying to figure out what’s safe.” The vaccine was a major turning point, says Brenner, greatly reducing the risk of severe disease and lifting a weight off his shoulders. But there are still vaccine holdouts getting sick. “I have a mixture of sadness and frustration because it’s preventable and I see people who are spreading misinformation, and doing themselves and their neighbors and their family a disservice,” he said. On a more hopeful note, Brenner makes a point of talking to all high-risk patients he sees about Covid vaccinations, and finds that the hesitant are generally amenable once he addresses their fears. “The vast majority of my patients, after I have that conversation, ask me where to get vaccinated,” he says. Brenner directs them to a walkup clinic within the same hospital. View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Federal prosecutors have opened a grand jury probe into whether former U.S. President Donald Trump mishandled classified records that ended up at his Florida residence, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing two people briefed on the issue. Prosecutors have issued a subpoena to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to obtain the documents, the report said. Authorities have also made interview requests to people who worked in the White House in Trump’s final days in office, it said. A grand jury probe suggests the Justice Department has advanced in its inquiry, which began after NARA said it had recovered 15 boxes of documents, including classified records, that Trump took to his Mar-a-Lago estate when he left the White House in January 2021. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump has previously confirmed that he agreed to return certain records to the Archives, calling it “an ordinary and routine process.” A federal law called the U.S. Presidential Records Act requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes and other written communications related to a president’s official duties. (Reporting by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Grant McCool) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jan Wolfe WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Congressman Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, and other lawmakers received subpoenas on Thursday from the House committee investigating last year’s attack on the Capitol by then-President Donald Trump’s supporters. The Jan. 6 House Select Committee issued the subpoenas to try and secure the lawmakers’ testimony after they had rejected voluntary cooperation with the investigation. McCarthy said in a statement in January that he would not cooperate with what he described as an “illegitimate” committee. “As a representative and the leader of the minority party, it is with neither regret nor satisfaction that I have concluded to not participate with this select committee’s abuse of power that stains this institution today and will harm it going forward,” McCarthy said in the statement. On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, encouraged by the Republican president in a speech outside the White House to protest formal congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in a November 2020 election. The committee is trying to establish what Trump did while thousands of his supporters attacked police, vandalized the Capitol and sent members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence running for their lives. “We also must learn about how the President’s plans for Jan. 6 came together, and all the other ways he attempted to alter the results of the election,” the Select Committee’s chairman, Representative Bennie Thompson, said in a January letter to McCarthy. McCarthy, who has faced criticism from fellow conservatives within his caucus, publicly zigzagged on Trump’s culpability by first saying the former president bore some responsibility for the violence – but finally visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort home in Florida and posed for a photograph with him. (Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Tim Ahmann, Chris Reese and Grant McCool) View the full article

Murray Bartlett joins season 2 of Physical. Enjoy[This post contains video, click to play] Let’s Get ‘Physical’ — Season 2 Here’s the trailer for Apple TVS season two of dark comedy series “Physical,” about the rise of an aerobics star established Rose Byrne’s character in the role of ambitious fitness entrepreneur. This season Murray Bartlett joins as a competitor. Available June 3. Other returning cast include Rory Scovel, Dierdre Friel, Della Saba, Lou Taylor Pucci and Paul Sparks The show stars Rose Byrne who is also executive producer. From creator, writer and executive producer Annie Weisman, the 10-episode second season adds Murray Bartlett (“The White Lotus”), launches June 3 with a new episode every Friday. Bartlett joins the sophomore season as ‘Vinnie Green,’ a charismatic fitness instructor, weight-loss guru and pioneer of the late-night infomercial just as Sheila Rubin (Byrne) has successfully launched her first fitness video. She suddenly finds new and bigger obstacles in her path. It comes down to loyalty to her husband (Scovel) and his values and her likely inappropriate attraction to another. Meanwhile there are new competitors with similar ambitions she needs to beat on the way to building a full-fledged Jane Fonda style fitness empire. Extras Lady Gaga video for her official Top Gun: Mavrick Theme ICYMI: Amy Coney Barret on “Doing Your 9” on Weekend Update First Up, Remastered 2022 version of Madonna’s Get Into The Groove is first of her new compilation of 50 favorite remixes of her 50 No. 1 Dance Hits. Fer Real. And, A Good Look At Where We May Be Returning With Roe v. Wade Overturn by Supreme Court View the full article

Published by AFP New York City's Times Square become deserted during the outbreak of the pandemic in spring 2020 New York (AFP) – The United States has crossed the threshold of one million deaths from Covid-19, the White House said on Thursday, as cities like New York try to turn the page on the pandemic despite threats of another surge. “Today, we mark a tragic milestone: one million American lives lost to Covid-19,” President Joe Biden said in a statement that acknowledged the “unrelenting” pain of those who had lost loved ones during the pandemic. He called on residents to “remain vigilant against this pandemic” and said it was “critical” for Congress to fund resources like testing, vaccines and treatments. For many, the toll of more than one million deaths was difficult to comprehend. “It’s unfathomable,” Diana Berrent, one of the first people in New York state to catch Covid-19, said of the toll that far exceeds epidemiologists’ worst predictions made at the outbreak of the crisis in spring 2020. Then, New York City was the virus epicenter. Hospitals and morgues overflowed and the sound of ambulance sirens rang down empty streets as then-president Donald Trump responded chaotically in Washington. Two years on, and life in the Big Apple is largely back to normal as residents attempt to put the collective trauma of the virus that has killed 40,000 New Yorkers behind them. Broadway stage lights are once again illuminated, tourists are back riding horse carriages in Central Park, yellow taxis clog main avenues and bars in business districts hum with post-work chatter. “Without a doubt you feel the energy of the people that are on the streets. It’s been a long time coming,” Alfred Cerullo, president of a business improvement group in Midtown Manhattan, told AFP. New York’s rebound has been aided by its high inoculation numbers — about 88 percent of adults are fully vaccinated, a rate that was boosted by mandates, including for indoor activities like dining. Jeffrey Bank, owner of Carmine’s restaurant near Times Square, says sales at the Italian eatery are better than they were in 2019, as residents and tourists make up for lost time. “People have been sitting at home for two years. They want to celebrate and they’re entitled to,” he told AFP. ‘Disconnect’ But the city has a long way to go. Many stores remain empty and only 38 percent of Manhattan workers are in the office on an average weekday, according to Kastle Systems, a security firm that tracks building occupancy. The Big Apple’s tourism board also doesn’t expect visitor numbers to get back to the 67 million of 2019 people for a few years. And business owners fear another wave of infections. “Obviously we are worried,” Frank Tedesco, who is unsure how he could keep his jewelry business afloat if another shutdown occurred, told AFP. In recent weeks, the United States has seen an uptick in the number of daily virus cases, largely due to the new Omicron subvariant. The rise has coincided with the lifting of mask mandates. “I think we are in a place where psychologically and socially and economically, people are largely done with the pandemic,” said Celine Gounder, an infectious disease expert at New York University. “(But) the pandemic is not over. So you have a disconnect between what is happening epidemiologically and what’s happening in terms of how people are responding,” she told AFP. Among the most at-risk are the unvaccinated, lower-income populations, uninsured people and communities of color, she says. America recorded its first Covid-19 death, on the West Coast, in early February 2020. By the next month, the virus was ravaging New York and the White House was predicting up to 240,000 deaths nationwide. But those projections were way off. Mandates Trump was late to back social distancing, repeatedly undermined top scientist Anthony Fauci, peddled unproven medical treatments, and politicized mask-wearing — before eventually being hospitalized with the virus himself. In New York and other northeastern urban centers, hospitals become overwhelmed and morgues failed to keep up with the dead. “There were nurses that said if they closed their eyes at night they could hear the patients struggling to breathe and they couldn’t get it out of their heads,” recalled Boston nurse Janice Maloof-Tomaso. Ideological clashes over curfews and mask and vaccine mandates ensued as America racked up the world’s highest death toll. But Trump did pump billions of dollars into vaccine research and by mid-December 2020, the first vaccines were available for health care workers. Deaths kept soaring, however, amid a slow take-up of shots in conservative areas of the country, and in February 2021 the country counted 500,000 dead. New president Biden and many Democratic governors enforced mandates but Republican-led states like Florida and Texas outright banned them, highlighting America’s patchwork of rules that made forming a unified response to the pandemic difficult. “We went from ‘stay home and save lives’ to let it rip,” recalled 47-year-old Berrent, who, after her illness in 2020, founded the group Survivor Corps for people looking for information about long-haul Covid or a current infection. “The question is no longer, ‘Have you had Covid?’ It’s, ‘How many times have you had Covid, and what symptoms do you still have?'” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Leonardo Benassatto and Alessandra Prentice ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (Reuters) – Since Russia invaded Ukraine, doctors at a military hospital in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia have stayed on the job for days at a time as waves of casualties are rushed to them for treatment from nearby frontline areas. On Wednesday, medics at the hospital prepped a wounded man for surgery to remove suspected shrapnel, while in another room nurses lifted a semi-conscious patient from an operating table. Ukraine says thousands of its soldiers have been wounded since the start of the war on Feb. 24, while 3,760 civilians casualties have been recorded, according to the U.N. human rights body. It says the number is likely to be much higher due to the inaccessibility of areas with intense fighting. The crushing workload has not deterred 26-year-old traumatologist Favad Al-Shakh, who said the Zaporizhzhia hospital was so far managing to cope with the influx of patients requiring emergency care. “I, as a doctor, would like to keep working here,” he said with quiet confidence. “And when all of what’s happening will be over, I’m not eager to go anywhere else.” Hospitals like his are under extra strain because the fighting has also damaged or destroyed at least 400 health facilities, putting many of them out of action entirely, according to the Ukrainian authorities. A specially-equipped medical train has been fitted out to serve as a long-distance ambulance, evacuating trauma patients or anyone in need of special medical care from frontline areas in the east or elsewhere to greater safety in western Ukraine. A line of ambulances waited at the main station of the central-eastern city of Dnipro on Tuesday, with paramedics poised to stretcher dozens of wounded people onto the train, which is run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF /Doctors Without Borders). One man with metal pins sticking out of his leg grimaced as his gurney hit a bump when he was rushed aboard the train. Other elderly patients had bandaged heads or sprays of cuts across their faces. The service is intended to relieve the pressure on remaining hospitals and clear beds for the next wave of patients needing urgent care, said MSF medical coordinator Axelle Ronsse, before the train set off on its 20-hour journey to the western city of Lviv. “They do the stabilisation, the first care, and then they send them to the west to be taken care of. Like this they are ready to take some more (patients) the following days. And actually we can see that these last few days, the number has increased,” she said. Russia denies targeting civilians during what it calls its “special military operation”. Around 500 patients have so far been evacuated by train, which has also transferred groups of orphans and elderly people from the east, she said. There is no immediate sign of relief for Ukraine’s health system. On Tuesday, a U.S. intelligence chief warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to be preparing for a prolonged conflict. Ukraine does not provide regular casualty estimates for its armed forces, but in mid-April President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said around 10,000 Ukrainian troops had been wounded. (Writing by Alessandra Prentice, Editing by Angus MacSwan) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Paresh Dave OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) – Facial recognition is making a comeback in the United States as bans to thwart the technology and curb racial bias in policing come under threat amid a surge in crime and increased lobbying from developers. Virginia in July will eliminate its prohibition on local police use of facial recognition a year after approving it, and California and the city of New Orleans as soon as this month could be next to hit the undo button. Homicide reports in New Orleans rose 67% over the last two years compared with the pair before, and police say they need every possible tool. “Technology is needed to solve these crimes and to hold individuals accountable,” police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson told reporters as he called on the city council to repeal a ban that went into effect last year https://library.municode.com/la/new_orleans/munidocs/munidocs?nodeId=34716c774a66d. Efforts to get bans in place are meeting resistance in jurisdictions big and small from New York and Colorado http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb22-113 to West Lafayette, Indiana. Even Vermont, the last state left with a near-100% ban against police facial-recognition use, chipped away https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2022/H.195 at its law last year to allow for investigating child sex crimes. From 2019 through 2021, about two dozen U.S. state or local governments https://www.banfacialrecognition.com/map passed laws restricting facial recognition. Studies had found the technology less effective in identifying Black people, and the anti-police Black Lives Matter protests gave the arguments momentum. But ongoing research by the federal government’s National Institute of Standards and Technology https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/face-recognition-vendor-test-frvt-ongoing (NIST) has shown significant industrywide progress in accuracy. And Department of Homeland Security https://mdtf.org/Rally2021/Results2021 testing published last month found little variation in accuracy across skin tone and gender. “There is growing interest in policy approaches that address concerns about the technology while ensuring it is used in a bounded, accurate and nondiscriminatory way that benefits communities,” said Jake Parker, senior director of government relations at the lobbying group Security Industry Association. Shifting sentiment could bring its members, including Clearview AI, Idemia and Motorola Solutions, a greater share of the $124 billion https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/state-and-local-general-expenditures-percentage-distribution that state and local governments spend on policing annually. The portion dedicated to technology is not closely tracked. Gaining new police business is ever more important for Clearview, which this week settled a privacy lawsuit over images it collected from social media by agreeing not to sell its flagship system to the U.S. private sector. Clearview, which helps police find matches in the social media data, said it welcomes “any regulation that helps society get the most benefit from facial recognition technology while limiting potential downsides.” Idemia and Motorola, which provide matches from government databases, declined to comment. Though the recent studies have eased lawmakers’ reservations, debate is ongoing. The General Services Administration https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/GSAEquityPlan_EO13985_2022.pdf, which oversees federal contractors, said in a report released last month that major facial recognition tools disproportionately failed to match African Americans in its tests. The agency did not respond to requests to provide details about the testing. Facial recognition will be reviewed by the president’s new National AI Advisory Committee, which last week began forming a subgroup tasked with studying its use in policing. ‘FIRST IN NATION’ Virginia approved its ban through a process that limited input from facial recognition developers. This year, company lobbyists came prepared to advance legislation that better balanced individual liberties with police investigation needs, said State Senator Scott Surovell. Beginning July 1, police can use facial recognition tools that achieve 98% or higher accuracy in at least one NIST test with minimal variation across demographics. NIST declined to comment, citing practice against discussing legislation. Tech critics said the standard is well-intentioned but imperfect and that warrants should be required for facial recognition use. “Addressing discriminatory policing by double-checking the algorithm is a bit like trying to solve police brutality by checking the gun isn’t racist: strictly speaking it’s better than the alternative, but the real problem is the person holding it,” said Os Keyes, an Ada Lovelace Fellow at University of Washington. Virginia barred real-time surveillance, and face matches cannot serve as probable cause in warrant applications. Misuse can lead to a misdemeanor. Parker, the lobbyist, called the law https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+sum+SB741 “the first in the nation to require the accuracy of facial recognition technology used by law enforcement to be evaluated by the U.S government” and “the nation’s most stringent set of rules for its use.” Former Virginia Delegate Lashrecse Aird, who spearheaded last year’s law, said companies this year wanted a model to defeat bans across the country. “They believe this ensures greater accountability – it’s progress, but I don’t know,” she said. It contrasts with a Washington state law https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.386&full=true that requires agencies to conduct their own tests beforehand “in operational conditions.” ‘MOMENTS OF CRISIS’ California in 2019 banned police from using facial recognition on mobile devices such as body-worn cameras. But the prohibition expires on Jan. 1 because of a provision state senators added. Now, news reports about rising retail theft and smash-and-grab robberies have captured lawmakers’ attention, said Jennifer Jones, a staff attorney for ACLU of Northern California. As a result, ACLU has faced resistance from law enforcement to make the ban permanent https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB1038. “Police departments are exploiting people’s fears about that crime to amass more power,” Jones said. “This has been for decades, we see new technologies being pushed in moments of crisis.” Activists in New York are also pressing for a facial recognition ban despite increased crime. Eric Adams, who became mayor in January, said a month later that it could be used safely under existing rules, while his predecessor Bill de Blasio had called for more caution. In West Lafayette, officials have twice failed to enact a ban on facial recognition over the past six months, citing its value in investigations. “To ban it or chip away from its application would be a little short-sighted,” said Mayor John Dennis, a former police officer. David Sanders, the city councilor behind the ban https://www.westlafayette.in.gov/egov/documents/1624628332_29088.pdf proposals, said concern about worsening low morale among officers was “dominating people’s reactions.” After the loss in Virginia, civil liberties groups are escalating in New Orleans. Ten national organizations last week told councilmembers to strengthen, not repeal, its ban, citing the risk of wrongful arrests based on faulty identifications. The local group Eye on Surveillance said New Orleans “cannot afford to go backward.” (Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Kenneth Li and Lisa Shumaker) View the full article

Published by AFP Across Ukraine, lives have been turned upside down, forcing millions to make anguished choices of how to respond Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Finland on Thursday took a step towards fast-track membership of NATO, triggering a blunt warning from the Kremlin, as the war in Ukraine throttled supplies of Russian gas to Europe. “Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay,” President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced in a statement in Helsinki. “NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security,” they said. “As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defence alliance.” But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Russia would “definitely” see Finnish membership as a threat. The Russian foreign ministry said Moscow would be “forced to take reciprocal steps, military-technical and other, to address the resulting threats to its national security.” In launching the invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin cited in part what he called the threat from NATO, which expanded eastwards after the Cold War. The foreign ministry accused NATO of seeking to create “another flank for the military threat to our country”. “Helsinki should be aware of its responsibility and the consequences of such a move,” it said. Finland has been a declared neutral in East-West crises for decades, and as recently as January its leaders ruled out NATO membership of the alliance. But the February 24 invasion shocked the Nordic nation. It shares a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border with Russia and its past is studded with conflict with its giant neighbour. NATO has already declared it will warmly embrace two countries with rich pockets and advanced militaries. Finland’s entry will be “smooth and swift,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg promised on Thursday. A special committee will announce Finland’s formal decision on a membership bid on Sunday. Sweden, another neutral state, is widely expected to follow its neighbour. Russian gas Russia’s flow of gas to Europe gas fell meanwhile, spurring fears for Germany and other heavily-dependent economies. Russian energy giant Gazprom announced it would stop supplying gas via the Polish part of the Yamal-Europe pipeline following retaliatory sanctions that Russia announced against Western companies on Wednesday. Gazprom also said Thursday gas transiting to Europe via Ukraine had dropped by a third — a fall it blamed on Ukraine’s pipeline operator, which the company denies and lays on Russia. Ukraine and Poland are major supply routes for Russian gas to Europe and the two sides have kept flows going despite the conflict. The European Union’s heavy reliance on Russian energy has made it reluctant to add oil and gas imports to sanctions that are inflicting a toll on Russia’s economy. Germany accused Russia of using “energy as a weapon”. “The situation is coming to a head,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said. The EU is struggling to overcome Hungarian resistance for plans to ban Russian oil. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, drew a parallel with the 1930s as he urged the bloc to impose an immediate embargo. “If the leaders had acted decisively in 1938, Europe could have avoided WWII,” he wrote on Twitter. “But politicians acted cowardly and flirted with the aggressor. The result is million tragedies. History won’t forgive us if we make the same mistake again.” Shelling Fighting in Ukraine has been concentrated on the south and east since Russia abandoned attempts to seize the capital Kyiv in the opening weeks of the war. Ukraine’s presidency said shelling continued throughout Lugansk — part of the Donbas region where Ukrainian forces are fiercely opposing Russian armour and Kremlin-backed separatists. Russian troops are trying to take complete control of Rubizhne, block a key highway between Lysychansk and Bakhmut highway and seize Severodonetsk, the office said. In the northeastern region of Chernigiv three people were killed and 12 others wounded early Thursday in a strike on a school in Novgorod-Siversky, the emergency services said. Across Ukraine, lives have been turned upside down, forcing millions to make anguished choices of how to respond. Zhanna Protsenko, a social worker in the frontline town of Orikhiv, spoke to AFP as she was about to head off on her bicycle to visit people who refused or were unable to evacuate. “How can I leave them here?” the 56-year-old asked, standing near a hospital that was hit by a strike in the past week. “We work. We have no time to hide,” she said as contractors repaired rows of the hospital’s blown-out windows and an oil drum-sized hole blasted in its brick facade. War crimes The UN Human Rights Council, in a session snubbed by Russia, was due to vote Thursday on a draft resolution calling for an investigation into war crimes. “These have been 10 weeks of sheer horror to the people of my country,” Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova told the meeting from Kyiv. “Only the world standing strong in solidarity with the Ukrainian people can defeat this pure evil.” The invasion has sparked an exodus of nearly six million civilians, many of whom bear accounts of torture, sexual violence and indiscriminate destruction. The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office said it has received reports of more than 10,000 alleged crimes, with 622 suspects identified. On Wednesday, the office said it would launch the first trial for war crimes. Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old Russian soldier, is accused of killing an unarmed 62-year-old civilian as he fled with four other soldiers in a stolen car. Mariupol holdouts – In the southern port city of Mariupol, besieged troops in the vast Azovstal steelworks have been holding out against weeks-long bombardment, refusing demands to surrender. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said “negotiations are under way” about the situation there, focusing on a step-by-step operation beginning with the evacuation of the seriously wounded. “There are hundreds of soldiers and officers of the armed forces, the national guard, the national police, security service, the border service and the defence forces,” she said. “The guys need to be rescued. Everyone needs rescue.” View the full article

Published by AFP This handout image released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) on May 12, 2022, shows the first image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy Paris (AFP) – An international team of astronomers on Thursday unveiled the first image of a supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy — a cosmic body known as Sagittarius A*. The image — produced by a global team of scientists known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration — is the first, direct visual confirmation of the presence of this invisible object, and comes three years after the very first image of a black hole from a distant galaxy. “It’s very exciting to show you today this best-ever image” of Sagittarius A*, EHT project director Huib van Langevelde told a press conference in Garching, Germany. Black holes are regions of space where the pull of gravity is so intense that nothing can escape, including light. The image thus depicts not the black hole itself, because it is completely dark, but the glowing gas that encircles the phenomenon — which is four million times more massive than our Sun — in a bright ring of bending light. “These unprecedented observations have greatly improved our understanding of what happens at the very centre of our galaxy,” said EHT project scientist Geoffrey Bower, of Taiwan’s Academia Sinica. Bower also said in a statement provided by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) that the observations had offered “new insights on how these giant black holes interact with their surroundings”. The results are published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Virtual telescope Sagittarius A — abbreviated to Sgr A, which is pronounced “sadge-ay-star” — owes its name to its detection in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. Its existence has been assumed since 1974, with the detection of an unusual radio source at the centre of the galaxy. In the 1990s, astronomers mapped the orbits of the brightest stars near the centre of the Milky Way, confirming the presence of a supermassive compact object there — work that led to the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics. Though the presence of a black hole was thought to be the only plausible explanation, the new image provides the first direct visual proof. Because it is 27,000 light years from Earth, it appears the same size in the sky as a donut on the Moon. Capturing images of such a faraway object required linking eight giant radio observatories across the planet to form a single “Earth-sized” virtual telescope called the EHT. These included the Institute for Millimeter Radio Astronomy (IRAM) 30-meter telescope in Spain, the most sensitive single antenna in the EHT network. The EHT gazed at Sgr A* across multiple nights for many hours in a row — a similar idea to long-exposure photography and the same process used to produce the first image of a black hole, released in 2019. That black hole is called M87* because it is in the Messier 87 galaxy. Moving target The two black holes bear striking similarities, despite the fact that Sgr A is 2,000 times smaller than M87. “Close to the edge of these black holes, they look amazingly similar,” said Sera Markoff, co-chair of the EHT Science Council, and a professor at the University of Amsterdam. Both behaved as predicted by Einstein’s 1915 theory of General Relativity, which holds that the force of gravity results from the curvature of space and time, and cosmic objects change this geometry. Despite the fact Sgr A* is much closer to us, imaging it presented unique challenges. Gas in the vicinity of both black holes moves at the same speed, close to the speed of light. But while it took days and weeks to orbit the larger M87, it completed rounds of Sgr A in just minutes. The brightness and pattern of the gas around Sgr A* changed rapidly as the team observed it, “a bit like trying to take a clear picture of a puppy quickly chasing its tail,” said EHT scientist Chi-kwan Chan of the University of Arizona. The researchers had to develop complex new tools to account for the moving targets. The resulting image — the work of more than 300 researchers across 80 countries over a period of five years — is an average of multiple images that revealed the invisible monster lurking at the centre of the galaxy. Scientists are now eager to compare the two black holes to test theories about how gasses behave around them — a poorly understood phenomenon thought to play a role in the formation of new stars and galaxies. Probing black holes — in particular their infinitely small and dense centers known as singularities, where Einstein’s equations break down — could help physicists deepen their understanding of gravity and develop a more advanced theory. View the full article

Published by Reuters UK LIMASSOL, Cyprus (Reuters) -A new dynamic has emerged in protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ communities across Europe, but significant difficulties remain and youngsters are particularly vulnerable, activists said on Thursday. Malta retained its top spot on the “Rainbow Europe” for 2022 for respect of human rights and full equality, while Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia and Armenia were at the bottom of rankings among 49 countries compiled by ILGA-Europe, an umbrella organisation for 600 rights advocacy groups. Denmark, France, Iceland and Montenegro also rose in the rankings, the report, released… Read More View the full article

Published by Miami Herald What do Cuba and Florida have in common? Book-banning, censorship — and, added into the mix this week, state-mandated school indoctrination for political purposes. They’re hallmark practices of the Communist Party-led regime in Cuba, tools used for six decades to keep Cubans isolated and in the dark about information that falls outside of what the ruling party’s ideology commands people to believe. Ironically, after this year’s GOP-dominated legislative session, the same manipulative tactics are now pillars of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ public education system. Math textbooks and literary books are be… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has been an able communicator for the Joe Biden administration Washington (AFP) – She could be playing the charmer, hurling verbal explosives, or just applying spin, but whichever version of Jen Psaki appears at the White House podium, there’s little question her departure Friday strips President Joe Biden of an able ally. Instantly recognizable with her fiery red hair, press secretary Psaki, 43, has been the public face of the Biden administration from the moment the veteran Democrat moved into a White House reluctantly vacated by Donald Trump on January 20, 2021. Psaki, who always said she didn’t expect to keep the high-pressure position more than about a year, is now reportedly on her way to a lucrative host position at MSNBC cable news. She’s leaving just as a brutal midterm elections campaign starts, domestic problems like inflation and illegal immigration pile up around Biden, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine lurches into ever more complex geopolitical territory. No doubt that Psaki’s successor Karine Jean-Pierre — making history as the first Black and openly gay person in the job — can expect a torrid next few months. Jean-Pierre, however, will also inherit a presidential press operation rebuilt after the anti-media rantings of the Trump White House. Under Trump, the famous James S. Brady Briefing Room literally gathered dust while the rapidly changing cast of characters in the administration’s press shop often seemed mostly concerned with attacking reporters. Psaki leaves under a minor ethics cloud, given that she was being headhunted by TV outlets — and negotiating her deal — while continuing in her daily press secretary duties. But that aside, there has been widespread praise for her professionalism. Psaki herself stresses the higher calling she sees in the press secretary role, going on Fox News last weekend — her boss’ biggest antagonist — to laud the importance of a free media. “This is the greatest job I’ve ever had, maybe the greatest job I ever have,” she said. #psakibombs With his zest for self-promotion, Trump made the White House press office redundant, preferring to get his message out directly, often by Twitter. The goal, his aides said, was to bypass a biased media, but Trump’s reliance on chaotic informal press gatherings and sometimes garbled or misspelled tweets fueled perceptions that his main aim was to make the presidency his personal reality show. One press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, never held a single briefing in her nine months on the job. Her successor, Kayleigh McEnany, did hold some briefings, but these often veered into bad-tempered back-and-forths where McEnany made clear she shared the president’s loathing for the media. On taking over the warren of tiny offices and cubbyholes constituting the White House press shop, Psaki restored the tradition of daily televised Q&As and established a team always available for questions — even if they did not always provide answers. At the podium, Psaki typically fields queries on everything from Biden’s thoughts about abortion to trade tariffs on Canadian lumber, the war in Ukraine, and the ups and downs of the First Family’s pets. Using skills that will transfer well to the TV host’s chair, she comes to briefings so well prepared that it’s rare for any journalist to trip her. “One day, people will learn not to come for Psaki, but it is not this day,” quipped @Angry_Staffer, a popular political commentator on Twitter, posting a clip of the press secretary turning the tables this week on a reporter’s seemingly tough question with a torrent of counter-arguments. Psaki’s self-confidence comes from deep experience as a Democratic party operative and stints under president Barack Obama as State Department spokeswoman, White House communications director, and election campaign press secretary. And while her most stinging briefing room retorts are celebrated by online fans in #psakibomb memes, she relies less on gotcha tactics as much as a willingness to engage politely with hostile questioners. That’s a trait which got a thumb’s up from no less than Peter Doocy, the Fox News White House correspondent, who has taken up the mantle of Psaki’s chief sparring partner. Some of their on-camera exchanges have been tense, but when Psaki announced she was leaving, Doocy thanked her, saying “you’ve always been a good sport” and adding that he was “sorry to see you go.” To which Psaki, triggering laughter through the briefing room, shot back: “Are you?” View the full article

People take part in the annual Gay Pride Parade, under the protection of riot police in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) For Ukrainian LGBTQ+ rights activists, a Russian victory is an existential threat to both the sovereignty of Ukraine and the rights of LGBTQ+ people. In his Feb. 24 speech, President Vladimir Putin used LGBTQ+ rights as a justification for his military operation, arguing that the West sought to destroy Russian “traditional values” with their “false values.” For some LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, the war is a call to arms — both in support of their homeland and in support of their rights. For others, the threat of persecution is prompting them to flee. But because of powers conferred by martial law, some LGBTQ+ refugees have been pushed back at the border while others are taking dangerous routes out. According to Polish LGBTQ+ activists we spoke with in Warsaw in April 2022, one trans man was pushed back at the border by a Ukrainian border guard and told: “if you want to be a real man, prove it — stay and fight.” The imperative for LGBTQ+ people to fight is also reflected in the advocacy of LGBTQ+ rights groups like Kyiv Pride, Ukraine Pride and LGBTIQ Military. They have positioned LGBTQ+ participation in the military as fundamental to Ukraine’s survival. Posts on Instagram introduce audiences to the gay Ukrainian men fighting for their country, while photos show drag artists donning military attire with the caption “Ukrainian drag queens destroy Moscovian [sic] occupiers!.” But for LGBTQ+ Ukrainians who have fled, these posts and messaging can bring feelings of shame. LGBTQ+ rights on the frontline A narrative is emerging in western media that frames the war as a battle for LGBTQ+ rights against a backward, conservative and intolerant Russia. And it’s influencing the politics of the European Union. The European Commission has long criticized Hungary and Poland over their stance on LGBTQ+ rights. In April 2022, it launched disciplinary proceedings against Hungary — which would cut off EU funding — because the country’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws were violating the rule of law. There’s also growing pressure in the EU Parliament to enact similar steps against Poland. These instances suggest the EU is becoming more robust in its defence of “European values” by standing up to member states that backslide on the democratic standards of the EU. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, centre, watches Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at ‘Stand Up for Ukraine,’ a global campaign for pledging funds for Ukraine. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski) Similarly, LGBTQ+ activists we spoke with in Poland described how the war presents opportunities to change hearts and minds in the country. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda won re-election in June 2020 campaigning against “LGBTQ+ ideology.” For LGBTQ+ activists, the parallels between Duda and Putin may be pivotal in their own advocacy efforts — especially if being pro-LGBTQ+ equals being anti-Russian. One LGBTQ+ activist we spoke with said there is now renewed hope: Militarizing the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights The frequency with which LGBTQ+ rights are currently being positioned as a key battleground is problematic. While we are seeing transformation in the LGBTQ+ rights landscape in Europe, and some activists feel a renewed sense of hope, literature on LGBTQ+ rights, migration and conflict offer some stark warnings. In Queer Wars, the authors draw attention to the increasing geopolitical polarization over LGBTQ+ rights. Political leaders, such as those in Russia, Hungary and Poland, have used anti-LGBTQ+ stances and policies to position themselves as defenders of traditional values against western degeneracy. For Russia, once again, this was used as a justification for the war in Ukraine. But as international relations scholar Cai Wilkinson notes, linking LGBTQ+ rights with the rhetoric of war risks oversimplifying the stakes of queer liberation by replacing a complex view of specific, contextual struggles for rights with monolithic narratives of winners and losers. For example, borrowing from philosopher and queer theorist Jasbir Puar’s concept of “homonationalism,” there is a risk that the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights is simplified into a straightforward narrative of European or western values versus the intolerance of the East or “the rest.” In the years following the so-called European refugee crisis, this rhetoric was used to justify hard borders and the framing of refugees as a threat to European values of liberalism and tolerance, underscored by intense Islamophobia. In 2017, German politician Jens Spahn argued that the moral values of refugees differ significantly to those of Germans, citing homophobia and transphobia as examples. Similar rhetoric has been used by the politicians in the United States, pitting LGBTQ+ rights against Muslims, the threat of foreign regimes and terrorism. In 2021, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, tweeted that the EU is an #LGBTIQFreedomZone in response to the introduction of “LGBTQ+ free zones” in approximately 100 Polish municipalities. However, despite such a declaration, LGBTQ+ rights in Europe remain precarious and many are barred from entering Fortress Europe. Implications for Ukraine While the war in Ukraine appears to be emboldening calls for LGBTQ+ rights protections and transforming the advocacy efforts of groups in Ukraine, there are risks that LGBTQ+ rights and liberation could be swallowed by the rhetoric of war or homonationalist narratives. Despite the promises of freedom and safety, LGBTQ+ refugees from Ukraine face substantial protection gaps in accessing services and support — particularly if they are people of colour, or not Ukrainian passport holders. While it is tempting to view the war in Ukraine as a metaphor for some larger struggle between a tolerant West and an intolerant East, the reality is inevitably far more complex. It is worth interrogating these narratives in order to understand the realities facing LGBTQ+ people. Aydan Greatrick, PhD Candidate, Migration Studies, UCL; Tyler Valiquette, PhD Student, Human Geography, UCL, and Yvonne Su, Assistant Professor in the Department of Equity Studies, York University, Canada This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Photo by Miha Rekar on Unsplash View the full article

Published by uSports.org For its ninth annual LGBTQ+ night on June 3, the Los Angeles Dodgers will wear on-field pride caps for the first time. The famous L.A. lettering on the team hat will be filled with the rainbow colors of the pride flag. The Dodgers and their bitter rival Giants will both don pride caps when they battle in San Francisco on June 11. “The Los Angeles Dodgers are proud to stand with and recognize the LGBTQ+ community in Los Angeles and globally,” Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten said. “The Dodgers have a history of breaking barriers and we’re proud to be a part of another chapter in MLB history as the Dodge… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP The iPod had people shift from buying complete albums on vinyl to paying 99 cents for selected tracks, shaking up the music industry. San Francisco (AFP) – Apple on Tuesday put out word it is no longer making iPods, the trend-setting MP3 players that transformed how people get music and gave rise to the iPhone. Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs introduced the devices nearly 21 years ago with his legendary showmanship flare, and the small, easy to operate players helped the company revolutionize how music was sold. It packed “a mind-blowing 1,000 songs” the company said at the time, and together with Apple’s iTunes shop established a new distribution model for the music industry. Buying complete albums on vinyl gave way to paying 99 cents a piece for selected digital songs. Industry trackers and California-based Apple itself have long acknowledged that the do-it-all iPhone would eat away at sales of one-trick devices such as iPod MP3 players. The trend toward streaming music services, including one by Apple, has made devices designed just for carrying digital tunes around less enticing for consumers. Apple said in a blog post that the current generation of iPods will only be available as long as current supplies last. “Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impacted more than just the music industry,” said Apple senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak. “It also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared.” Joswiak said that the “spirit of iPod” lives on in its lineup of products including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and its HomePod smart speaker. “Since its introduction over 20 years ago, iPod has captivated users all over the world who love the ability to take their music with them on the go,” Apple said in a blog post. “Today, the experience of taking one’s music library out into the world has been integrated across Apple’s product line – from iPhone and Apple Watch to iPad and Mac.” In addition, the Apple Music subscription service provides streaming access to more than 90 million songs, the Silicon Valley giant said. The iPod endured despite analyst worries that the release of the iPhone in 2007 would destroy demand, since the smartphones provided much more than just digital music. News of the end of the line for iPod prompted a flurry of sad, nostalgic posts on Twitter. “Damn… low-key a little sad to see that Apple has officially discontinued the iPod from today,” said a tweet fire off from the verified @MrDalekJD account of a UK Gaming YouTuber. “This thing changed the music game forever. RIP.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega The videos of Jesse Williams showering on stage during his Broadway show Take Me Out have started to be removed from social media — after the company behind the show started to take action. Earlier this week, photos and a video of the 40-year-old actor in the buff were posted on Twitter by an unknown individual who attended the New York performance and broke the no-camera rule. The show features Williams stars in the production as a biracial black professional baseball player who has to deal with the backlash after he comes out as gay. One scene in the show has Williams and his co-star Patrick J. Adams without clothes on. The theater had a rule in place where all attendees had to turn over their cellular devices but one phone was snuck in. Mega Following the leak, Jesse appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen to talk about the scene in question. He said it was all new to him since it was his first Broadway show and he was still getting used to it. Cohen did not press him about the leak but only about the play. Hours later, Second Stage Theater announced they were working to have the photo and video removed from the internet by using take-down notices. They also said they would be hiring additional employees to enforce the no-camera rule during future performances. Mega “It is deeply unfortunate that one audience member chose to disrespect the production, their fellow audience members and, most importantly, the cast in this manner,” Second Stage said. “Taking naked pictures of anyone without their consent is highly objectionable, and can have severe legal consequences. posting it on the internet is a gross and unacceptable violation of trust between the actor and the audience forged in the theater community.” Hours later, a number of the original posts on Twitter were taken down by the social media company — citing the video had violated the rules. A number of new posts have popped up that show how hard it will be to completely erase the footage. As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Jesse is not only dealing with the leak but also a bitter court battle with his ex-wife, Aryn Drake-Lee. Mega View the full article

Published by OK Magazine MEGA Honesty hour! Zac Efron spoke with Ellen DeGeneres about filming his new movie Firestarter, in which he plays a father. Of course, that prompted the talk show host to ask the handsome hunk, 34, if kids and settling down are in his future. “And then when we started filming the movie, I had a two-week quarantine … and when I got out of quarantine, we started filming that Monday, so it was a pretty quick intro to the film, and all of a sudden I had this daughter in front of me,” the High School Musical alum stated. “We had a pretty heavy dad-daughter scene right off the bat, and I realized I was drastically underprepared for this part. I didn’t know what I was doing.” “I think that was a healthy dose to put me off for as long as necessary. I have a little bit more growing to do, probably,” he added. JUSTIN BIEBER & SELENA GOMEZ, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE & BRITNEY SPEARS, MORE! A LOOK BACK ON CELEBRITY TEENAGE ROMANCES: PHOTOS Since the flick, which is a reboot of the 1984 horror film, is scary, Efron didn’t have to think about fatherhood too often. “All things said, there’s a lot going on in the film, so being a dad, as much as it was a weird thing to be happening, there’s a lot more dangerous stuff going on,” he explained. “So I got to focus on that.” MEGA KYLIE JENNER, ZAC EFRON, BEYONCÉ & MORE CELEBRITIES REVEAL WHICH OF THEIR FAMOUS FEATURES THEY HATE This is hardly the first time the California native will portray a dad on the big screen in the new reboot of Three Men and a Baby. “I’m really excited to work on that project,” he said. “We’re just getting a new draft on it soon, so I’m really excited for that. And yeah, I’m already in for round two. Wow, it’s hard to shake this dad thing once you start, isn’t it?” Efron is currently single — he dated Vanessa Valladares for a short while, but they split in November 2020. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Bauer-Griffin / MEGA Comedian Andy Dick was arrested for alleged felony sexual battery after being accused of assaulting a man at O’Neill Regional Park in Orange County, California. Captain Content’s RV captured the very moment cops arrived on his property in a live stream and surrounded his trailer before hauling him away in cuffs. TMZ published the video on Wednesday, and according to the report, onlookers saw police going into Dick’s RV and searching it for possible evidence. RC/©2013 RAMEY PHOTO Interestingly, live stream legal troubles have happened to the embattled TV personality, 56, before. Last month, cops did a welfare check at the place Dick was staying in Las Vegas after a man he was with wielded a gun during an argument, all of which happened on a live video. After chatting with the comedian and being assured he was safe, the police left. As Radar previously reported, Dick also was “mugged” in April as well, claiming he was ambushed by a stranger in Sin City. He recounted what happened while chatting with his rumored fiancée, Elisa Jordana, on her show, Kermit and Friends. ©2002 RAMEY PHOTO Dick said he “didn’t do anything” to cause the beatdown and implied it was a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The wounded star showcased his gruesome injuries and said he may have “blacked out” during the ordeal, also declaring he was “never coming back to Vegas again.” Dick has had multiple brushes with the law in recent years, some involving his partners and other individuals. He was previously sentenced to 14 days behind bars in 2019 for misdemeanor sexual battery after he allegedly groped a woman’s backside, but was released after one night because of overcrowding. © 2001 Ramey Photo Agency Before that, he was axed from an indie film due to being accused of groping cast and crew members in 2017. He denied the claims but did offer some sort of explanation, stating, “I might have kissed somebody on the cheek to say goodbye and then licked them.” “It’s me being funny,” he explained to the Hollywood Reporter at the time, citing his outlandish humor. “I’m not trying to sexually harass people.” Dick added, “Of course I’m going to proposition people. I’m single, depressed, lonely and trying to get a date. They can just say no, and they probably did and then I was done.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Gabourey Sidibe says she doesn’t “need a white dress” at her upcoming wedding. The former ‘Empire’ star is not interested in a “tradition” when ties the knot to her fiance Brandon Frankel and wants to opt for a different sartorial approach to her nuptials. While discussing some of the gowns she wore for the article’s accompanying photoshoot, the 39-year-old actress told Brides magazine: “I’m super against tradition. I definitely don’t need a white dress. My favorite look [from the shoot] was the pink African print. Honestly, whatever I wear on the wedding day will probably be African print. It might have a little white, so it looks like a wedding dress, but it’s definitely going to be colorful.” Gabourey wants to stress the “fun” of her love with her beloved. She said: “It cannot be a traditional wedding. Really, it can’t be. I don’t want anything done the ‘traditional’ way. Our relationship is very much on our terms and I want it to be fun, like a true party.” Gabourey – who met Brandon on the exclusive dating app Raya – “couldn’t imagine” meeting someone like him. She said: “I couldn’t imagine dating someone I actually liked. Turns out, totally possible! So, I’m really happy to have been wrong about where I saw my life going, partnership-wise. [Brandon] is an incredible, incredible partner,” The ‘Precious’ star announced her engagement back to “the sweet human to exist” in November 2020. Gabourey said: “It’s weird that people think we’re already married but I guess our hearts and intentions for each other are just that clear to see. My BFF proposed and now I get to hold him forever. The funniest man I’ve ever met. The sweetest human to exist.” View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — There are ghosts in the house, or so says the latest resident of Gracie Mansion. Mayor Adams said he thinks the stately home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side isn’t “cool enough” for the city’s dapper first man about town — and is haunted to boot. “The mayor of New York lives in Gracie Mansion. That doesn’t seem cool enough for you,” said Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay as Adams dropped by the YES network press booth during Tuesday night’s game at Yankee Stadium. “No, it’s not. Trust me,” Adams said. “And I don’t care what anyone says, there are ghosts in there, man,” the mayor added. … Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News Andy Dick was arrested again Wednesday — and it was captured live on camera by a fellow RV enthusiast in California. The comedian, 56, was detained and charged with felony sexual battery for allegedly assaulting another man at the park, TMZ reported. The arrest was seen live on the YouTube channel “Captain Content’s RV.” The channel’s live video continued rolling for multiple hours after the arrest. Dick was living in an RV camp with several other people in Orange County, California, according to TMZ. Another man at the site, O’Neill Regional Park, accused Dick of sexually assaulting him. The … Read More View the full article

Published by AFP The entrance to the former Genoa US Indian School in Nebraska, where researchers say at least 87 Native American children died Washington (AFP) – More than 500 Native American children died in US government-run boarding schools at which students were physically abused and denied food, a report from the Department of the Interior said Wednesday. “Approximately 19 Federal Indian boarding schools accounted for over 500 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian child deaths,” said the report, which followed an investigation ordered after similar abuses in Canada sparked widespread outrage last summer. “The Department expects that continued investigation will reveal the approximate number of Indian children who died at Federal Indian boarding schools to be in the thousands or tens of thousands,” it said. There are marked or unmarked burial sites at more than 50 locations, out of a total of more than 400 that made up the Federal Indian boarding school system between 1819 and 1969, according to the report. It describes abusive punishments imposed at the schools, but does not specifically link them to the deaths. “Federal Indian boarding school rules were often enforced through punishment, including corporal punishment such as solitary confinement; flogging; withholding food; whipping; slapping; and cuffing. The Federal Indian boarding school system at times made older Indian children punish younger Indian children,” the report said. Children in the boarding school system were not only abused, but taught skills that ill-prepared them for life after graduation. The system “focused on manual labor and vocational skills that left American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian graduates with employment options often irrelevant to the industrial US economy, further disrupting Tribal economies,” the report said. A statement released along with the report said the school system had the “twin goals of cultural assimilation and territorial dispossession of Indigenous peoples through the forced removal and relocation of their children.” ‘Scarred for life’ Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who ordered the investigation that led to the report, condemned the traumatic impact on Native Americans that the boarding school system caused. “The consequences of federal Indian boarding school policies — including the intergenerational trauma caused by the family separation and cultural eradication inflicted upon generations of children as young as four years old — are heartbreaking and undeniable,” Haaland said in the statement. Deborah Parker, of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, highlighted the devastating long-term consequences of the schools. “After generations, we still do not know how many children attended. How many children died… how many children were permanently scarred for life because of these federal institutions,” Parker told a news conference. “Our children deserve to be found, our children deserve to be brought home. We are here for their justice. And we will not stop advocating until the United States fully accounts for the genocide committed against Native children,” she added. Canada is also grappling with the legacy of abuse and neglect at its schools for Indigenous children. Thousands died at the schools, and many were subjected to physical and sexual abuse, according to an investigative commission that concluded the Canadian government engaged in “cultural genocide.” View the full article