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Published by DPA Researchers have uncovered yet another variant of the coronavirus, XE, essentially the child of two Omicron subvariants. While it's thought to be potentially more contagious, experts say it's too early to draw conclusions. Julian Stratenschulte/dpa Los Angeles (tca/dpa) — Even as the highly contagious Omicron subvariant BA.2 is increasingly dominating around the world, an even more potentially contagious subvariant, XE, has attracted the attention of global scientists. Early estimates as noted by the World Health Organization say XE may be 10% more transmissible than BA.2, but it’s too soon to say whether XE will become the next prolific Omicron subvariant that will become another household name. The British government has also noted that data showing XE’s growth rate advantage over BA.2 have not remained consistent, so more data will be needed to assess XE’s likely future trajectory. XE was first detected in Britain on January 19, the WHO said. And more than 700 cases of XE have been reported in Britain, with more than 600 of them in England, according to British authorities. There have not been significant numbers of the XE subvariant in countries outside of Britain, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Tuesday. The preliminary data available so far suggest XE “is going to be easier to catch,” said University of California, San Francisco infectious diseases expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong in an interview, although people who are vaccinated and boosted should have a relatively lower risk of suffering hospitalization and death, as is the case with other Omicron subvariants. “But if XE becomes more prominent […], it does add a little bit of fire for people to get boosted overall,” Chin-Hong said. XE likely developed from someone who was co-infected with BA.2 and the earlier Omicron subvariant, BA.1, Chin-Hong said. BA.2 is more contagious than BA.1, and BA.1 was more contagious than the variant that swept the globe last summer, Delta. So XE is essentially “a child of BA.1 and BA.2 that came together and had a recombinant event. So it arose in one person, and it just spread more easily,” Chin-Hong said. XE likely represents about 1% of new cases in Britain, he said. “It’s coming at a time that’s a little bit concerning,” Chin-Hong said. “And that time is when jurisdictions and countries are decreasing efforts to track variants and person-power to do sequencing (to identify the variants of new cases), potentially, because you have less resources because it’s quote-unquote ‘not an emergency anymore.'” That means identifying the latest subvariant or variant might take longer to identify than before, Chin-Hong said. It’s also possible XE could fizzle out, such as the so-called “Deltacron” subvariants — mishmashes of the Delta and Omicron variants — that gained attention last month but faded from the public view. The “Deltacron” subvariants are known as XD and XF, Chin-Hong said. At a briefing to UC San Francisco colleagues last week, infectious diseases expert and epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford said XD had elements of its genetic material from Delta and Omicron’s BA.1 subvariant; and XF is mostly BA.1 but has some elements of Delta. This mishmash of subvariants is not unexpected, Rutherford said, and viruses go through such recombination all the time. As of last week, British authorities were still “sort of ho-hum about it,” Rutherford said, and more data still need to come out to really determine whether it’s more transmissible than BA.2. Ferrer agreed that more data need to emerge to really know what to expect with XE. “There is still too little data to draw conclusions about growth advantage or other properties of this variant,” Ferrer said. “But just be aware that there are these recombinant lineages that are starting to show up,” Rutherford said. Scientists say the increasing prolificness of new variants is expected when more people are getting infected with the coronavirus. The more infections there are, the more likely are the chances new strains can develop. Strains that combine aspects of more than one strain are yet another reason to stay vigilant about Covid-19, said Orange County health officer Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong. “We have all been humbled by Covid over the last two years,” Chinsio-Kwong said. “Covid can continue to change … it can decide to escape our immune defenses, even if we’re vaccinated, or it can be more transmissible. “The best thing we can do is continue to keep our guard up and be vigilant,” Chinsio-Kwong said. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jan Wolfe and Jacqueline Thomsen WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A leader of the far-right Proud Boys pleaded guilty on Friday to charges related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol, a victory for prosecutors that could bolster their cases against members of the group. Charles Donohoe, the leader of the group’s North Carolina chapter at the time of the Capitol attack, entered the guilty plea during court hearing on Friday in the District of Columbia. Donohoe admitted to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and assaulting and impeding police officers. Under U.S. sentencing guidelines, Donohoe faces a likely sentence of around six years in prison, with credit for time already served. He will be sentenced at a later court hearing. Donohoe agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as they prepare for trial against other Proud Boys defendants. Donohoe, 34, was arrested in March 2021. He has been in custody since last year. Former President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the seat of Congress that day in a bid to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Donohoe and other Proud Boys were videotaped leading a crowd toward the Capitol during the riot. “Mr. Donohoe is charged with interfering in the nation’s peaceful transfer of power,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said during a court hearing in June, adding that the charges are “gravely serious matters that favor detention.” An indictment unsealed last month alleged that Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio was deeply involved in recruiting members of the group and directing their actions in the days prior to the Jan. 6 attack. Tarrio’s attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf during a hearing on Tuesday. In a separate hearing on Friday, a different judge declined to postpone a trial scheduled for some members of the Oath Keepers militia group who joined in the Capitol breach. Those defendants are charged with seditious conspiracy, a rarely used law prohibiting attempts to overthrow the government. Defense lawyers had requested the delay, saying they needed more time to review evidence. But U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta cited his own scheduling conflicts and the need to bring cases to trial. Lawyers also suggested that all 11 Oath Keepers defendants go on trial at the same time. Mehta said that proposal was logistically impossible in the federal courthouse in the District of Columbia. (Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Jacqueline Thomsen; additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jan Wolfe and Jacqueline Thomsen WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A leader of the far-right Proud Boys pleaded guilty on Friday to charges related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol, a victory for prosecutors that could bolster their cases against members of the group. Charles Donohoe, the leader of the group’s North Carolina chapter at the time of the Capitol attack, entered the guilty plea during court hearing on Friday in the District of Columbia. Donohoe admitted to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and assaulting and impeding police officers. Under U.S. sentencing guidelines, Donohoe faces a likely sentence of around six years in prison, with credit for time already served. He will be sentenced at a later court hearing. Donohoe agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as they prepare for trial against other Proud Boys defendants. Donohoe, 34, was arrested in March 2021. He has been in custody since last year. Former President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the seat of Congress that day in a bid to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Donohoe and other Proud Boys were videotaped leading a crowd toward the Capitol during the riot. “Mr. Donohoe is charged with interfering in the nation’s peaceful transfer of power,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said during a court hearing in June, adding that the charges are “gravely serious matters that favor detention.” An indictment unsealed last month alleged that Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio was deeply involved in recruiting members of the group and directing their actions in the days prior to the Jan. 6 attack. Tarrio’s attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf during a hearing on Tuesday. In a separate hearing on Friday, a different judge declined to postpone a trial scheduled for some members of the Oath Keepers militia group who joined in the Capitol breach. Those defendants are charged with seditious conspiracy, a rarely used law prohibiting attempts to overthrow the government. Defense lawyers had requested the delay, saying they needed more time to review evidence. But U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta cited his own scheduling conflicts and the need to bring cases to trial. Lawyers also suggested that all 11 Oath Keepers defendants go on trial at the same time. Mehta said that proposal was logistically impossible in the federal courthouse in the District of Columbia. (Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Jacqueline Thomsen; additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -At least 39 people were killed and 87 wounded in a missile strike on Friday on a railway station in east Ukraine that was packed with women, children and elderly trying to flee fighting, Ukrainian authorities said. Officials said many of the wounded had lost limbs and were being operated on after the strike in the city of Kramatorsk, which President Volodymr Zelenskiy said was a deliberate attack on civilians using a Tochka U short-range ballistic missile. “Lacking the strength and courage to stand up to us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying the civilian population,” Zelenskiy said in a statement. “This is an evil that has no limits. And if it is not punished, it will never stop.” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, on Twitter, and British defence minister Ben Wallace, during a visit to Romania, both denounced the attack. White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said there was “mounting evidence that Russian forces are committing war crimes in Ukraine” and the U.S. embassy in Ukraine denounced it as “one more atrocity committed by Russia in Ukraine.” Zelenskiy later said in a video address to Finland’s parliament that no Ukrainian troops had been at the station at the time of the attack. Reuters could not verify what happened at the station. The Russian defence ministry was quoted by RIA news agency as saying the missile said to have struck the station was used only by Ukraine’s military and that Russia’s armed forces did not have any targets assigned in Kramatorsk on Friday. Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian forces had fired a Tochka missile containing cluster munitions, but did not share what evidence he had of this. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the allegation. Russia has previously denied using cluster munitions in Ukraine. Banned by the United Nations under a 2008 international convention that Russia is not a party to, cluster munitions are made up of a hollow shell that explodes in mid-air, dispersing dozens or even hundreds of smaller “bomblets” over a wide area. 4,000 AT THE STATION, MAYOR SAYS Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksander Honcharenko estimated that about 4,000 people were at the station at the time of the attack. At least four of those killed were children, he said. “Some people have lost a leg, others an arm. They are now receiving medical assistance. The hospitals are carrying out about 40 operations simultaneously,” the mayor said in an online briefing. MSF said a service of east-to-west medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients by train set up this month was now under threat. “It is a big question whether we will be able to go back to evacuate more people,” the medical charity’s emergency coordinator, Christopher Stokes, said. Governor Kyrylenko published a photograph online showing several bodies on the ground beside piles of suitcases and other luggage. At least one man lay in a pool of blood. Armed police wearing flak jackets walked beside the corpses. Another photo showed rescue services tackling what appeared to be a fire, with a pall of grey smoke rising into the air. “The ‘Rashists’ (‘Russian fascists’) knew very well where they were aiming and what they wanted: they wanted to sow panic and fear, they wanted to take as many civilians as possible,” he wrote in an online post. Reuters could not immediately verify the photos. CROWDED STATION “They (Russian forces) wanted to hit the station,” Mayor Honcharenko said, a view shared by presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych. “It must be understood that such strikes are preceded by a thorough reconnaissance of the target, at least by drones, gunners on the ground – it’s too expensive a missile and too difficult and risky to organise such strikes,” Arestovych said. “They (Russian forces) could clearly see that they were striking civilians early in the morning, that there were thousands of people trying to evacuate at the station at that time – families, children, the elderly.” Three trains carrying evacuees were blocked in the same region of Ukraine on Thursday after an air strike on the line, according to the head of Ukrainian Railways. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have been regrouping for a new offensive, and that Moscow plans to seize as much territory as it can in the eastern part of Ukraine known as Donbas bordering Russia. Local authorities in some areas have been urging civilians to leave while it is still possible, and relatively safe, to do so. Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls its “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing and “denazifying” Ukraine. The Kremlin’s position is rejected by Ukraine and the West as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion. (Additional reporting by Max Hunder and Emma Farge in Geneva, writing by Timothy Heritage and Alessandra Prentice, editing by Mark Heinrich and John Stonestreet) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -At least 39 people were killed and 87 wounded in a missile strike on Friday on a railway station in east Ukraine that was packed with women, children and elderly trying to flee fighting, Ukrainian authorities said. Officials said many of the wounded had lost limbs and were being operated on after the strike in the city of Kramatorsk, which President Volodymr Zelenskiy said was a deliberate attack on civilians using a Tochka U short-range ballistic missile. “Lacking the strength and courage to stand up to us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying the civilian population,” Zelenskiy said in a statement. “This is an evil that has no limits. And if it is not punished, it will never stop.” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, on Twitter, and British defence minister Ben Wallace, during a visit to Romania, both denounced the attack. White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said there was “mounting evidence that Russian forces are committing war crimes in Ukraine” and the U.S. embassy in Ukraine denounced it as “one more atrocity committed by Russia in Ukraine.” Zelenskiy later said in a video address to Finland’s parliament that no Ukrainian troops had been at the station at the time of the attack. Reuters could not verify what happened at the station. The Russian defence ministry was quoted by RIA news agency as saying the missile said to have struck the station was used only by Ukraine’s military and that Russia’s armed forces did not have any targets assigned in Kramatorsk on Friday. Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Russian forces had fired a Tochka missile containing cluster munitions, but did not share what evidence he had of this. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the allegation. Russia has previously denied using cluster munitions in Ukraine. Banned by the United Nations under a 2008 international convention that Russia is not a party to, cluster munitions are made up of a hollow shell that explodes in mid-air, dispersing dozens or even hundreds of smaller “bomblets” over a wide area. 4,000 AT THE STATION, MAYOR SAYS Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksander Honcharenko estimated that about 4,000 people were at the station at the time of the attack. At least four of those killed were children, he said. “Some people have lost a leg, others an arm. They are now receiving medical assistance. The hospitals are carrying out about 40 operations simultaneously,” the mayor said in an online briefing. MSF said a service of east-to-west medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients by train set up this month was now under threat. “It is a big question whether we will be able to go back to evacuate more people,” the medical charity’s emergency coordinator, Christopher Stokes, said. Governor Kyrylenko published a photograph online showing several bodies on the ground beside piles of suitcases and other luggage. At least one man lay in a pool of blood. Armed police wearing flak jackets walked beside the corpses. Another photo showed rescue services tackling what appeared to be a fire, with a pall of grey smoke rising into the air. “The ‘Rashists’ (‘Russian fascists’) knew very well where they were aiming and what they wanted: they wanted to sow panic and fear, they wanted to take as many civilians as possible,” he wrote in an online post. Reuters could not immediately verify the photos. CROWDED STATION “They (Russian forces) wanted to hit the station,” Mayor Honcharenko said, a view shared by presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych. “It must be understood that such strikes are preceded by a thorough reconnaissance of the target, at least by drones, gunners on the ground – it’s too expensive a missile and too difficult and risky to organise such strikes,” Arestovych said. “They (Russian forces) could clearly see that they were striking civilians early in the morning, that there were thousands of people trying to evacuate at the station at that time – families, children, the elderly.” Three trains carrying evacuees were blocked in the same region of Ukraine on Thursday after an air strike on the line, according to the head of Ukrainian Railways. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have been regrouping for a new offensive, and that Moscow plans to seize as much territory as it can in the eastern part of Ukraine known as Donbas bordering Russia. Local authorities in some areas have been urging civilians to leave while it is still possible, and relatively safe, to do so. Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls its “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing and “denazifying” Ukraine. The Kremlin’s position is rejected by Ukraine and the West as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion. (Additional reporting by Max Hunder and Emma Farge in Geneva, writing by Timothy Heritage and Alessandra Prentice, editing by Mark Heinrich and John Stonestreet) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sharon Bernstein (Reuters) – More than a thousand book titles, most addressing racism and LGBTQ issues, have been banned from U.S. classrooms and school libraries in the last nine months, many under pressure from conservative parents and officials, the writers’ organization PEN America said on Thursday. PEN compiled a database of banned books that includes the first novel by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison and a memoir by actor and activist George Takei about being sent to an internment camp in California as a Japanese-American child during World War Two. “Challenges to books, specifically books by non white male authors are happening at the highest rates we’ve ever seen,” Jonathan Friedman, director of PEN America’s Free Expression Program and lead author of the report, said in a news release. “What is happening in this country in terms of banning books in schools is unparalleled in its frequency, intensity, and success,” he said. In recent months, conservative parents have addressed school board meetings in numerous states to assail books they view as sexually explicit or as addressing racism in a way to make white children feel bad about themselves. In Congress on Thursday, the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing on book bans and academic censorship. Earlier in the week the American Library Association released its own list of banned and challenged books that closely tracked the PEN results. “Learn to tolerate the speech you abhor as well as the speech you agree with,” Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat, said, imploring conservatives as well as liberals. “If we cancel or censor everything that people find offensive, nothing will be left,” he said Raskin cited criticism from the left seeking to remove the Mark Twain classic “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” because it uses a racial slur even though its overall theme is opposed to racism and slavery. PEN found that 86 school districts had removed 1,145 titles from their shelves over the last nine months, some permanently and others while an investigation was under way. Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” was removed in 11 school districts, while Ashley Hope Perez’ “Out of Darkness” was removed in 16 districts. Both novels address racism and include sexual content. Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer: A Memoir” was removed in 30 districts, the organization said. More than two-thirds of the banned books were fiction, but non-fiction titles including biographies for children of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr, Duke Ellington and Nelson Mandela were also among those removed from shelves and school curricula. Five poetry collections were also banned. Four in ten removals were tied to political pressure in eight school districts in Texas, South Carolina and Georgia, the report said. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Donna Bryson and Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sharon Bernstein (Reuters) – More than a thousand book titles, most addressing racism and LGBTQ issues, have been banned from U.S. classrooms and school libraries in the last nine months, many under pressure from conservative parents and officials, the writers’ organization PEN America said on Thursday. PEN compiled a database of banned books that includes the first novel by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison and a memoir by actor and activist George Takei about being sent to an internment camp in California as a Japanese-American child during World War Two. “Challenges to books, specifically books by non white male authors are happening at the highest rates we’ve ever seen,” Jonathan Friedman, director of PEN America’s Free Expression Program and lead author of the report, said in a news release. “What is happening in this country in terms of banning books in schools is unparalleled in its frequency, intensity, and success,” he said. In recent months, conservative parents have addressed school board meetings in numerous states to assail books they view as sexually explicit or as addressing racism in a way to make white children feel bad about themselves. In Congress on Thursday, the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing on book bans and academic censorship. Earlier in the week the American Library Association released its own list of banned and challenged books that closely tracked the PEN results. “Learn to tolerate the speech you abhor as well as the speech you agree with,” Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat, said, imploring conservatives as well as liberals. “If we cancel or censor everything that people find offensive, nothing will be left,” he said Raskin cited criticism from the left seeking to remove the Mark Twain classic “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” because it uses a racial slur even though its overall theme is opposed to racism and slavery. PEN found that 86 school districts had removed 1,145 titles from their shelves over the last nine months, some permanently and others while an investigation was under way. Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” was removed in 11 school districts, while Ashley Hope Perez’ “Out of Darkness” was removed in 16 districts. Both novels address racism and include sexual content. Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer: A Memoir” was removed in 30 districts, the organization said. More than two-thirds of the banned books were fiction, but non-fiction titles including biographies for children of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr, Duke Ellington and Nelson Mandela were also among those removed from shelves and school curricula. Five poetry collections were also banned. Four in ten removals were tied to political pressure in eight school districts in Texas, South Carolina and Georgia, the report said. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Donna Bryson and Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by PsyPost New research suggests that interest in BDSM (bondage, domination, and sadomasochism) is fairly common in Finland. The findings have been published in The Journal of Sex Research. BDSM has been considered deviant and pathological in the past, but attitudes towards the practices have shifted in recent times. Despite this change in attitudes, the prevalence of BDSM is still unknown in several European countries. The authors of the new study sought to explore the prevalence of BDSM interest and BDSM-related activities in a large, population-based sample of Finnish adults. “I had previously done my… Read More View the full article

Published by PsyPost New research suggests that interest in BDSM (bondage, domination, and sadomasochism) is fairly common in Finland. The findings have been published in The Journal of Sex Research. BDSM has been considered deviant and pathological in the past, but attitudes towards the practices have shifted in recent times. Despite this change in attitudes, the prevalence of BDSM is still unknown in several European countries. The authors of the new study sought to explore the prevalence of BDSM interest and BDSM-related activities in a large, population-based sample of Finnish adults. “I had previously done my… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News Nearly two-thirds of adults in the United States say they would be comfortable if their child came out as lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to a new survey, but only half would be comfortable with having a transgender or nonbinary child. The poll released Thursday by The Trevor Project, a nonprofit group focused on suicide prevention and mental health for LGBTQ and questioning youth, analyzed overall knowledge, understanding and comfort regarding sexual orientation and gender identity among U.S. adults. More than 2,200 respondents answered questions on family acceptance, personal knowledge o… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News Nearly two-thirds of adults in the United States say they would be comfortable if their child came out as lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to a new survey, but only half would be comfortable with having a transgender or nonbinary child. The poll released Thursday by The Trevor Project, a nonprofit group focused on suicide prevention and mental health for LGBTQ and questioning youth, analyzed overall knowledge, understanding and comfort regarding sexual orientation and gender identity among U.S. adults. More than 2,200 respondents answered questions on family acceptance, personal knowledge o… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Maria Caspani (Reuters) – Alabama lawmakers passed a bill on Thursday that would criminalize gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth, with a threat of 10 years in prison for medical providers. The legislation, passed 66-28 by the state’s House of Representatives on the last day of the legislative session, is the latest in a flurry of measures in Republican-led states dealing with transgender youth. The American Civil Liberties Union called it the first bill of its kind to make healthcare for transgender youth a felony and said it would challenge the bill in court if Republican Governor Kay Ivey signed it into law. The bill http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/ALISON/SearchableInstruments/2022RS/PrintFiles/SB184-eng.pdf would make it a felony punishable with up to 10 years in prison to provide medical care including hormone treatment, puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgery to minors. Democrats in the minority tried to fight the bill in part by arguing it contradicted Republican principles on the role of government. “This is not small government; this is not a conservative bill,” Democratic Representative Neil Rafferty told the chamber. But Republican Representative Wes Allen likened the initiative to laws that prevent minors from getting tattoos or buying nicotine products. “We make decisions in this body all the time that are to protect children from making decisions that could permanently harm them,” Allen said. Ivey has not said whether she would sign the bill, but last year she signed one banning transgender athletes from school sports. Ivey’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The bill would also compel school personnel to disclose to the parent or legal guardian that a “minor’s perception of his or her gender or sex is inconsistent with the minor’s sex.” Last week, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed a bill banning irreversible gender reassignment surgery for minors. Mainstream medical and mental health professionals say gender-affirming care saves lives by reducing the risk of depression and suicide. Gender-reassignment surgery for people under 18 is extremely rare and would take place only after years of treatment in cases where the patient’s wishes are unwavering, according to medical experts. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly opposed the bill and urged Ivey to veto it. “This legislation targets vulnerable young people and puts them at great risk of physical and mental harm,” Mark Del Monte, the academy’s chief executive, said in a statement. “Criminalizing evidence-based, medically necessary services is dangerous.” The Alabama Senate has also passed a bill that would require students in public schools to use bathrooms or changing rooms that match the gender on their original birth certificates. An amendment was attached to the bill, which now has to go back to the House for a vote, prohibiting classroom discussion on sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grades. Transgender rights have emerged as one of the issues at the forefront in the culture wars ahead of the November mid-term congressional elections. Lawmakers have introduced hundreds of bills across state legislatures, the majority of them dealing with trans youth. Many Republicans and conservative activists promote the laws as safeguards for children and parental rights. Opponents, including Democrats and LGBTQ+ organizations, say the legislation is harmful, unnecessary and unfairly targeting vulnerable and underrepresented communities. (Reporting by Maria Caspani; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Bradley Perrett) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Everyone wants a piece of the King of Pop. It has been over 12 years since Michael Jackson had passed away, and articles of clothing from his estate are still being valued at astronomical amounts. Mega According to recent legal documents obtained by The Blast, the late pop star’s estate currently lists Jackson’s one-of-a-kind outfit used in the filming of the Bad music video as worth $271,875. The black leathered, multi-belt, and buckle laded fit had been hanging in Michael’s closet since the ’80s but is now considered one of the most sought-after pieces of Jackson memorabilia out there. The MJ Estate and its executors spent over a decade following the pop star’s death cleaning up the father of three’s financiers and eventually got it to a place where it earns hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year. It’s currently unclear whether or not the estate is holding on to the piece or if it is displayed in some other location as there are multiple Jackson museum exhibits and collectors around the world. Mega This isn’t the first of the King of Pop’s many iconic outfits to be valued at high amounts. The red and black jeans and jacket he wore in the Thriller music video fetched $1.8 million during an auction held in recent years. The jacket was worn during Michael’s first solo tour, even selling for over a quarter-million to a Texas businessman with many believing the $298k price tag to be a bit too conservative. The entirety of Jackson’s estate is valued at over $2 billion since his tragic death. Mega Following MJ’s death, executors of his estate set up his finances to continue providing for his three children, Paris, Prince, and Bigi aka “Blanket”, as well as his mother Katherine. “Michael Jackson provided the sole financial support for his children and was Mrs. Jackson’s primary source of support. The Executors have endeavored to continue to meet the financial needs of Mrs. Jackson and the children. The Executors have done so through a family allowance for Mrs. Jackson and the children as well as various other means,” the document stating the handling of Michael’s belongings reads. It continues, “Mrs. Jackson resided in the Estate’s real property on Hayvenhurst Avenue in Encino, California for more than thirty years. At the time of Michael Jackson’s death, the mortgage on Hayvenhurst was in default. The Executors paid the mortgage in full. The Executors made and continue to make from time to time necessary repairs and improvements to Hayvenhurst to address maintenance and other issues. The Executors have continued to provide for the maintenance of Hayvenhurst, including estate management, security, and staff.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Vladimir Putin’s Russian invasion of Ukraine is moving into disturbing territory as Russian troops have allegedly been ordered to slaughter entire villages of civilians. A furious commander allegedly screamed “kill them all” after his own soldiers warned the military leader that they had innocent villagers in their sight. Mega Ukrainian spies claim to have hacked a call during the battle of Mariupol, which led to 150,000 people trapped by a Russian siege. At least 5,000 innocent people are thought to have been killed in the relentless bombardment of Russian troops firing at the neighboring nation. In the alleged call — which has yet to be verified — a Russian soldier tells his commander that he can see two people wearing civilian clothes. Their commander allegedly yelled at the soldier to “Take them all out! Kill them all!” The soldier then replied “Understood.” The commander allegedly asked, “What are you waiting for?” before being told, “it is a village of civilians”. The Russian chief was then heard yelling to “Shoot the civilian cars.” Mega The recent claim emerged on the heels of Ukrainian troops being accused of killing Russian prisoners of war. A video posted online appears to show four Russian paratroopers lying on a road in pools of blood with one man being getting shot by a Ukrainian soldier. The validity of this video is also up in the air as the BBC’s team suggests that the video was filmed before March 29th, the date it was allegedly filmed. In the latest reports from the war front, Russian forces are currently marching from the north at Izyum, the east in Donbas, and are poised to advance from the south. Women, children and the elderly have been urged to flee from Dnipro as it had been given similar warnings for civilians to “flee or face death” in the frontline regions of the war-torn nation. Western officials warned that Russia is focusing on the Donbas region, which had been partly controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014. Mega Russia was recently suspended from the UN Human Rights Council as 93 of the 193 members voted in favor of the U.S.-led proposal with only 24 against and 58 abstentions. It was only the second-ever suspension of a country since the international organization’s inception. Russia has been hard-pressed to find any support from the developed nations. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene reported Jimmy Kimmel to the Capitol police over a joke about Will Smith during Wednesday night’s episode of his late-night show. Mega The Republican from Georgia tweeted a clip from Kimmel’s show where, during the opening monologue, he brought up Greene’s comments on the recent Supreme Court vote. In the short clip, the comedian said: “This woman, “Klan mom” is especially upset with the three Republican senators who said they’ll vote yes on Ketanji Brown Jackson, who’s nominated for the Supreme Court. She tweeted, ‘Murkowski, Collins, and Romney are pro-pedophile. They just voted for KBJ.'” He then went on to joke, “Wow, where is Will Smith when you really need him?” The joke is in reference to Will slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars last week. Mega Greene said, “ABC, this threat of violence against me by Jimmy Kimmel has been filed with the Capitol Police.” Kimmel retweeted Greene’s post writing “Officer? I would like to report a joke.” Many have been calling out Greene for her blatant “hypocrisy.” Many on Twitter argued Kimmel didn’t even make an actual threat while others called the 47-year-old politician a “Karen.” Mega One individual not impressed commented, “weird how fast the free speech brigade shapeshifts into a giant snowdrift the moment anyone says something they don’t like.” Mega The Capitol Police have yet to comment on the matter. View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune In the war for the hearts, minds and corporate relocations of businesses, Chicago has fired another shot across the bow at three Sun Belt rivals over recent legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community, such as the Florida education law critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” World Business Chicago, the city’s public-private economic development arm, bought full-page ads Thursday in the Orlando Sentinel, Dallas Morning News and Phoenix Business Journal to launch a new marketing campaign and promote Chicago as a more inclusive business climate. “In Chicago, We Believe,” takes on a lightning rod issu… Read More View the full article

Published by uInterview.com Internet star JoJo Siwa confirmed that the film Bounce, which was set to be her feature film acting debut, “got put on hold, and then went away,” and that “it wasn’t the one,” for her. While the film was backed by Will Smith’s production company Westbrook, insiders said that the dissolution of the project happened months ago and had nothing to with Smith’s Oscars controversy. Bounce, an adaptation of the 2016 YA novel written by Megan Shull, would have starred Siwa as Frannie, a teenager that wishes for a different life, and then ends up getting a new one every day and has to try and find her … Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online 2006 Kathy Hutchins / Hutchins/Newscom/The Mega Agency Sharkboy and Lavagirl actress Taylor Dooley, who portrayed Lavagirl alongside costar Taylor Lautner in the 2005 film, is taking a firm stance against Disney by protesting outside of their Burbank headquarters. The We Can Be Heroes star took to Instagram Stories with a statement on Wednesday, reading, “Disney has grossly underestimated the power of the parents. What’s going on with Disney & their agenda is so sad & disgusting. As a parent, it’s our job to protect our children. In Jesus’ mighty name, this is where we take back the family. God has called all of us to stand up for such a time as this!!” JE2/John Cronise/ WENN/Newscom/The Mega Agency Dooley is supporting a movement started by Hold the Line founder Sean Feucht, who has spoken out in protest of what many critics call the corporation’s “woke” agenda. Disney has faced backlash in recent weeks after CEO Bob Chapek denounced the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida, prohibiting teachers from addressing gender identity and sexual orientation to kids in kindergarten through third grade. Debates have also started over Disney World and Disneyland deciding to ban the use of “gender greetings” within their parks. For instance, the greeting “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” was removed from Magic Kingdom’s fireworks show last year. 2006 Kathy Hutchins / Hutchins/Newscom/The Mega Agency Dooley posted a supportive “YES” while reposting one of Feucht’s messages, reading, “The sexualization & indoctrination of 4-year-old children SHOULD BE a line in the sand for every sane person. You don’t wanna be on the wrong side of this issue.” She followed up with another statement alongside a selfie before the rally, which read, “Let’s protect our children. Let’s protect this next generation. In Jesus’ mighty name, it’s time to stand up for what is right … it’s time to take back the family.” 2006 Kathy Hutchins / Hutchins/Newscom/The Mega Agency Feucht stopped by for an interview on Fox & Friends Wednesday and shared his thoughts leading up to the gathering. “Most of the employees… they’re good,” Feucht said. “They’re Christians, they love America, and they just want to create safe content for children, and they see that their corporations being hijacked by a bunch of woke… crazy people that are trying to indoctrinate kids with this crazy sexualization.” “Disney has entertained our kids for decades,” Feucht added. “We’ve loved it … but they crossed a line in the sand when they began to enable those who want to fight to sexualize our kids.” View the full article

Published by Sports Illustrated By Naya Samuel The shot put star reflects on her journey to the global stage and her hopes for other athletes like her to see themselves competing at the Olympics. Sports Illustratedand Empower Onyx are putting the spotlight on the diverse journeys of Black women across sports—from the veteran athletes, to up-and-coming stars, coaches, executives and more—in the series, Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports. Two-time Olympian and track and field superstar Raven Saunders is used to all of the attention. A 5’5” queer, Black woman, the self-proclaimed “Hulk” had to defy the odds to be… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lawrence Hurley, Andrew Chung and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court in a milestone for the United States and a victory for President Joe Biden, who made good on a campaign promise as he seeks to infuse the federal judiciary with a broader range of backgrounds. The vote to confirm the 51-year-old federal appellate judge to a lifetime job on the nation’s top judicial body was 53-47, with three Republicans – Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney – joining Biden’s fellow Democrats. A simple majority was needed, as Jackson overcame Republican opposition in a Supreme Court confirmation process that remains fiercely partisan. Jackson will take the 83-year-old Breyer’s place on the liberal bloc of a court with an increasingly assertive 6-3 conservative majority. Breyer is due to serve until the court’s current term ends – usually in late June – and Jackson would be formally sworn in after that. Jackson served early in her career as a Supreme Court clerk for Breyer. Democrat Raphael Warnock, one of the Senate’s three Black members, said in debate before the vote: “I’m the father of a young Black girl. I know how much it means for Judge Jackson to have navigated the double jeopardy of racism and sexism to now stand in the glory of this moment. … Seeing Judge Jackson ascend to the Supreme Court reflects the promise of progress on which our democracy rests. What a great day it is in America.” Of the 115 people who have served on the Supreme Court since its 1789 founding, all but three have been white. It has had two Black justices, both men: Clarence Thomas, appointed in 1991 and still serving, and Thurgood Marshall, who retired in 1991 and died in 1993. Current Justice Sonia Sotomayor is the only Hispanic ever to serve on it. Jackson is set to become the sixth woman justice ever. Presidential nominations to the Supreme Court have become a flashpoint in American politics. The court wields great influence in shaping American policy on hot-button issues including abortion, guns, voting laws, LGBT rights, religious liberty, the death penalty and race-based practices. Before Jackson joins the bench, the Supreme Court is due to rule in major cases including one that could overturn the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide and another that could expand gun rights. Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican, criticized Jackson in the debate before the vote, calling her the choice of the “radical left” and saying her “disturbing” judicial record included injecting personal policy biases in rulings and treating convicted criminals as gently as possible in sentencing. Vice President Kamala Harris, who became the first Black woman to hold that post after Biden selected her as his 2020 election running mate, presided over the vote. A Harris spokesperson said the vice president believes Jackson will become an “exceptional” justice. ‘EQUAL JUSTICE’ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer noted the country’s legacy of slavery and past struggles to bring rights to women and Black Americans, adding: “Today we are taking a giant, bold and important step on the well-trodden path toward fulfilling our country’s founding promise.” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee chairman, said, “We are beginning to write another chapter in our nation’s quest for equal justice under the law, and that chapter begins with three letters: KBJ,” using her initials. Biden appointed Jackson last year to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after she spent eight years as a federal district judge. Like the three conservative justices appointed by the Democrat Biden’s Republican predecessor Donald Trump, Jackson is young enough to serve for decades in the lifetime job. During her March confirmation hearings, Jackson said what she hopes to bring to the Supreme Court is similar to what the prior 115 justices have delivered: their own life experiences and perspectives. She said hers included time as a federal judge, a court-appointed lawyer for criminal defendants who could not afford an attorney, a member of a federal commission on criminal sentencing and “being a Black woman, lucky inheritor of the civil rights dream.” Jackson noted that she was born in 1970 in the aftermath of congressional passage of major civil rights laws aimed at curbing discrimination against Black people and other minorities and referenced the fact that her parents had experienced lawful racial segregation first-hand in their hometown of Miami. Biden has aimed to bring more women and minorities and a broader range of backgrounds to the federal judiciary. His appointment of Jackson fulfilled a pledge he made during the 2020 presidential campaign to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court. The other women to have served on the Supreme Court include current members Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan and Sotomayor, the retired Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in 2020. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Richard Cowan in Washington and Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by AFP The United States led the push to suspend Russia from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine United Nations (United States) (AFP) – The UN General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine. Of the 193 members of the assembly, 93 voted in favor of suspension as proposed by the United States while 24 voted against and 58 abstained, suggesting weakening international unity against Russia at the United Nations. It was the second ever suspension of a country from the council. Libya was the first, in 2011. Suspension required two-thirds of the votes for and against; the abstentions did not count. The countries voting against included China, a Moscow ally which has steadfastly abstained from criticizing the invasion. Others were Iran, the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan and communist Cuba, as well as Russia itself, Belarus and Syria. Despite pressure from Moscow for a no vote, several African countries only abstained, such as South Africa and Senegal. Also abstaining were Brazil, Mexico and India. The US argues that this punishment — suspending Russia from the Geneva-based organization that is the UN’s main human rights monitor — is more than symbolic and in fact intensifies Russia’s isolation after the assault on Ukraine that began February 24. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also called for Russia to be expelled from the UN Security Council “so it cannot block decisions about its own aggression, its own war.” But Washington has admitted there is little anyone can do about Russia’s position on the Security Council, where it has a veto. Match words with ‘action’ More than 11 million people have been displaced since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. The world has been outraged by images of scores of civilians apparently executed and left in mass graves in areas formerly controlled by Russian troops. This carnage has led to new rounds of sanctions against Russia. Journalists including from AFP last weekend found corpses in civilian clothes, some with their hands bound in the town of Bucha outside Kyiv. “The images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us to now match our words with action,” US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Monday as she pressed for Russia’s suspension from the rights council. “We cannot let a member state that is subverting every principle we hold dear to continue to participate” in the council, she said. The Kremlin has denied Russian forces killed civilians, and alleged that the images of dead bodies in Bucha were “fakes.” The UN Human Rights Council was founded in 2006 and is composed of 47 member states chosen by the General Assembly. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Blake Brittain (Reuters) – The Boy Scouts of America’s use of the word “Scouting” to advertise co-ed programs does not violate the Girl Scouts’ trademark rights, a Manhattan federal court ruled https://tmsnrt.rs/3x5O3QC on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said a lawsuit by the Girl Scouts over the term was based on fear of competition from the Boy Scouts, and the Boy Scouts has the right to use “Scouts” and “Scouting” without reference to gender. The Girl Scouts said in a statement that the group was “deeply disappointed” by the ruling and planned to appeal. The Boy Scouts did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hellerstein had said at a September hearing that he planned to rule for the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts announced in 2017 that it would allow girls to join and later launched an ad campaign for co-ed scouting called “Scout Me In.” It changed the name of its main scouting program to “Scouts BSA” and officially started welcoming girls in 2019. The Girl Scouts sued in 2018, alleging the Boy Scouts’ use of “Scouts” and “Scouting” to market to girls violates its trademarks. It said the rebrand created confusion and threatened to marginalize the group. The Boy Scouts has called the lawsuit part of a Girl Scouts “ground war” to counter its entry into girls’ scouting. Both organizations have lost significant membership in recent years, and the Boy Scouts is trying to finalize a proposed $2.7 billion settlement of thousands of sex abuse claims in bankruptcy court. Hellerstein said in his ruling that there was no trademark confusion, and that the Girl Scouts’ lawsuit was not based on trademark concerns but out of “fear for their competitive position in a market with gender-neutral options for scouting.” (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by Reuters UK By Natalia Zinets and Max Hunder (Reuters) -Ukraine was trying to evacuate as many trapped civilians as possible on Thursday, warning of a new offensive by Russian forces pounding cities in the east and south of the country. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced agreement with Russia on opening 10 safe corridors, mostly in southern and eastern Ukraine, but said residents trying to leave the besieged city of Mariupol would have to use their own vehicles. Underlining the problems facing civilians, the head of the state railway company said three trains carrying evacuees had been block… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Sarah K. Burris Former President Donald Trump has faced a crisis in bank lending for his business operations. The Trump Organization was the company behind “The Apprentice” and business leaders clamored to “win” a competition that would legitimize their careers. Now it’s Trump who needs help appearing trustworthy to anyone who can lend him money and he’s going to a few odd places searching for capital. According to NBC News, Trump Tower was refinanced with a $100 million loan from Axos Financial, an obscure internet-only bank in San Diego and Las Vegas, financial documents from New York Cit… Read More View the full article