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Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was hospitalized last week with flu-like symptoms, does not have COVID-19, a court spokeswoman said on Monday. The court announced on Sunday night that the 73-year-old conservative justice had been admitted with an infection to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington on Friday evening, but did not specify the type of infection. Thomas was being treated with intravenous antibiotics, the court said. “His symptoms are abating, he is resting comfortably, and he expects to be released from the hospital in a day or two,” court spokesperson Patricia McCabe said in a statement on Sunday. McCabe on Monday said Thomas did not have COVID-19. Thomas, who did not join in the court’s oral arguments on Monday, will participate in the consideration of the cases he misses using transcripts, audio of the arguments and briefs, the court said. The Supreme Court, like many workplaces, operated remotely earlier in the pandemic, with oral arguments heard by teleconference. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh tested positive for COVID-19 last October, just days before the court resumed in-person oral arguments. The court building remains closed to the public. (Reporting by Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Molly Ringwald loves to inspire people through her movies. The 54-year-old actress is thrilled that Selena Gomez will executive produce a new series called ’15 Candles’, which is based on John Hughes’ iconic film ‘Sixteen Candles’. Molly – who starred in the 1984 coming-of-age comedy film – told E! News: “I am so happy about that. “I really do feel like when people always ask me about rebooting my movies, I am like, ‘No those movies were wonderful’, but what they should do is take inspiration from them and do something completely different but inspired, so that just sounds fantastic.” The upcoming sitcom will follow four young Latinas as they enter high school. Selena, 29, will serve as an executive producer, after she previously produced the hit Netflix series ’13 Reasons Why’. Meanwhile, Molly previously insisted she doesn’t regret ditching Hollywood for Paris. The actress decided to relocate to the French capital in the 90s, despite enjoying success in Hollywood, where she starred in movies such as ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘Office Killer’. She said: “I don’t regret going to France for a second. I felt like if I was ever going to do something else for a while, that was the right time.” The actress had built a successful career as a teen actress – but she decided to relocate to France following a series of unpleasant incidents. On one occasion, Molly was forced to wear a dog collar on set, even though it wasn’t mentioned in the script. She said: “I told [my agent] and he just laughed and said, ‘Well, I guess that’s one for the memoirs.’ I fired him and moved to Paris not long after.” View the full article

Published by AFP The US Supreme Court, dominated by conservatives following the nomination of three justices by former president Donald Trump, looks poised to possibly overturn Roe v. Wade Washington (AFP) – Measures restricting or protecting abortion are flooding state legislatures ahead of a ruling by the US Supreme Court that could upset the legal framework governing the practice for the past 50 years. A total of 1,844 provisions relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights have been introduced in 46 US states during just the past two-and-a-half months, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for abortion rights. Lawmakers in conservative Republican-led southern states have introduced bills tightening restrictions on abortion, while their counterparts in Democratic-ruled progressive states have submitted measures protecting a woman’s right to choose. The legislative frenzy comes as the Supreme Court, dominated by conservatives following the nomination of three justices by former president Donald Trump, looks poised to possibly overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that held that access to abortion is a woman’s constitutional right. In a 1992 ruling, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the court guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, which is typically around 22 to 24 weeks. In September, the nation’s highest court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, declined to block a Texas law that bans abortion after six weeks, before most women even know they are pregnant. In December, hearing oral arguments about a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks, the court’s conservative majority appeared inclined to not only uphold the law but to toss out Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the Mississippi case by June. Members of the conservative and religious right are feeling optimistic. “We hope the Supreme Court will soon recognize the right of the people in every state to enact laws protecting unborn children and their mothers,” said Sue Liebel with the anti-abortion SBA List. Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood, which operates a number of abortion clinics across the country, said the signals from the court have given politicians “the green light to move forward with their own unconstitutional abortion bans, decimating access to abortion state by state, region by region.” Restrictive Idaho bill According to the Guttmacher Institute, abortion restrictions were introduced in 41 of the 50 US states between January 1 and March 15. In Missouri, a proposed bill would ban abortion in cases of ectopic pregnacy — pregnancies outside the uterus, mostly in the fallopian tubes — even though they are not viable and put the health of the mother in danger. Another Missouri measure would ban women from traveling out of state to have an abortion. The bills are currently only at a preliminary stage and would have to be passed by both legislative chambers and be signed by the governor. Legislation restricting abortion in other states is moving more swiftly, with some taking a cue from the Texas law, which gives members of the public the ability to sue doctors who perform abortions — or anyone who helps facilitate them — once a heartbeat in the womb is detected. They can be rewarded with $10,000 for initiating civil suits that land in court, prompting criticism that the state is encouraging people to take the law into their own hands. Idaho adopted a bill last week modeled after the Texas ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It allows relatives of a “preborn child” to bring suit against abortion providers. The bill is awaiting the signature of Republican Governor Brad Little. Unlike the Texas law, the Idaho bill does allow exceptions for rape or incest, providing the authorities are presented with a police report. Similar bills are in the works in Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Referendum in Vermont Two days after the passage of the Idaho law, Jay Inslee, the Democratic governor of neighboring Washington, signed a bill that would ban lawsuits from being filed against doctors, nurses or other medical personnel performing abortions. “We know this bill is necessary because this is a perilous time for the ability of people to have the freedom of choice that they have enjoyed for decades,” Inslee said. The northeastern state of Vermont has gone even further, with lawmakers approving an amendment to the state constitution that enshrines the right to an abortion and contraception. It will be put to a referendum during the congressional midterm elections in November and is expected to pass. According to Planned Parenthood, more than 100 measures protecting abortion rights are under consideration in various states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Natalia Zinets and James Mackenzie LVIV/KYIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukraine’s military warned the public on Tuesday of more indiscriminate Russian shelling from bogged-down Russian troops, and U.S. President Joe Biden issued his strongest warning yet that Russia is considering using chemical weapons. Amid the devastation caused by Russia’s unceasing bombardment of Ukrainian cities, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy highlighted the death of a 96-year-old survivor of Nazi concentration camps, killed in his flat by shelling in Kharkiv. Nearly four weeks into their invasion, Russian troops have failed to capture any major Ukrainian city and have been halted on nearly all fronts, but are hammering residential districts with artillery, missiles and air strikes. Russian forces were expected to continue to attack critical infrastructure with “high-precision weapons and indiscriminate munitions”, Ukraine’s armed forces said in a statement. Russia has been saying in recent weeks that Ukraine might possess chemical or biological weapons. Biden said those accusations were not merely false, but a sign that President Vladimir Putin might be planning to use such weapons himself. “Now he’s talking about new false flags he’s setting up including, asserting that we in America have biological as well as chemical weapons in Europe, simply not true,” Biden said at a business event on Monday. “They are also suggesting that Ukraine has biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine. That’s a clear sign he’s considering using both of those.” Putin calls the war, the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two, a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from “Nazis”. The West calls that a false pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression. In an address overnight, Zelenskiy drew attention to the death of Boris Romanchenko, a Holocaust survivor killed when his flat in besieged Kharkiv was shelled last week. “Please think about how many things he has come through,” said Zelenskiy. “But (he) was killed by a Russian strike, which hit an ordinary Kharkiv multi-storey building. With each day of this war, it becomes more obvious what ‘denazification’ means to them.” A memorial for the survivors of the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald said Romanchenko had served for many years as a vice president of the Buchenwald-Dora International Committee, devoting himself to documenting Nazi crimes. He had survived the Buchenwald, Dora-Mittelbau and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps in Germany during World War Two. “We mourn the loss of a close friend,” the memorial said. In killing him, “Putin managed to ‘accomplish’ what even Hitler couldn’t,” Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said on Twitter. BIDEN TRIP TO EUROPE Biden is due to travel to Europe this week for meetings with allied leaders to discuss tighter sanctions on Russia, on top of the unprecedented financial penalties already announced. he discussed Russia’s “brutal” tactics in a call with European leaders on Monday, the White House said. Russia’s siege and bombardment of Ukrainian cities, in particular the southern port of Mariupol which has been encircled for weeks, is increasing pressure for action. Sanctions have banished Russia from international commerce to a degree never before visited on such a large economy. But an exception has largely been carved out for Russian energy exports to Europe, its biggest oil and gas customer. EU foreign ministers on Monday disagreed on whether and how to include energy in sanctions, with Germany saying the bloc was too dependent on Russian oil to impose an embargo. NO SURRENDER The conflict has forced nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people from their homes, including more than 3.5 million refugees who have fled the country, half of them children, in one of the fastest exoduses ever recorded. The city of Kharkiv came under increased artillery fire overnight, regional governor Oleh Synyehubov said in televised comments. The governor of the Zaporizhzhia region said buses evacuating civilians from front-line areas were hit by shelling on Monday and four children were wounded. Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Luhansk, one of two eastern regions that Russia demands Ukraine cede to pro-Russian separatists, said the entire region was now being shelled. “We are continuing to evacuate people for as long as we can,” he said. “We see that … the Russians’ only goal is to destroy Ukraine.” On Monday, Ukraine rejected a Russian ultimatum to surrender Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped under constant bombardment, with no access to food, heat, power or water for weeks. A part of Mariupol now held by Russian forces, reached by Reuters on Sunday, was an eerie wasteland. Several bodies wrapped in blankets lay by a road. Windows were blasted out and walls were charred black. People who came out of basements sat on benches amid the debris, bundled up in coats. A group of men were digging a grave in a patch of grass by the roadside. (Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Stephen Coates and Peter Graff; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel and Mark Heinrich) View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was sentenced to nine years in prison after a Russian court found him guilty of large-scale fraud and contempt of court on Tuesday, and police detained both of his lawyers immediately after the hearing. Navalny was already serving a two-and-a-half sentence at a prison camp east of Moscow for parole violations related to charges that he says were fabricated to thwart his political ambitions. His current sentence will be incorporated in the one handed down on Tuesday, his lawyers said. After his sentence was pronounced, Navalny reacted on Twitter: “I want to say: the best support for me and other political prisoners is not sympathy and kind words, but actions. Any activity against the deceitful and thievish Putin’s regime. Any opposition to these war criminals.” Navalny was jailed last year when he returned to Russia after receiving medical treatment in Germany following an attack with a Soviet-era nerve toxin during a visit to Siberia in 2020. Navalny blamed President Vladimir Putin for the attack. The Kremlin said it had seen no evidence that Navalny was poisoned and denied any Russian role if he was. Russian authorities have cast Navalny and his supporters as subversives determined to destabilise Russia with backing from the West. Many of Navalny’s allies have fled Russia rather than face restrictions or jail at home. Navalny’s opposition movement has been labelled “extremist” and shut down, although his supporters continue to express their political stance, including their opposition to Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine, on social media. (Writing by Reuters reporters; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Kevin Liffey) View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected U.S. warnings that it may be preparing to conduct cyber attacks in response to Western sanctions, and said it did not engage in “banditry”. U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday told businesses to do more to protect themselves against possible cyber attacks by Russia, warning there was “evolving intelligence” that Moscow was exploring options on that front. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “The Russian Federation, unlike many Western countries, including the United States, does not engage in state-level banditry.” Russia has previously rejected similar allegations, including accusations that it was responsible for hacks on Ukrainian banking and government websites in February. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday said the U.S. Department of Defense has not suffered any cyberattacks, adding that U.S. officials were open with American business leaders at Monday’s meeting about the likely risk to corporations. “We haven’t seen anything affect our infrastructure or critical U.S government infrastructure,” he told MNSBC. “We wanted to make sure that leaders knew and were aware that the Russians would probably try this kind of tactic going forward.” Important U.S. companies that provide critical infrastructure should improve their cyber defenses, but there was “no certainty” such an attack would occur, senior White House cybersecurity official Anne Neuberger said on Monday. Russian Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Vasiliy Shpak suggested Russia create a division of cyber troops to combat increased threats, in which developers could hone their skills and demonstrate their patriotism. “After this, I hope, they will think 10 times before leaving their motherland in pursuit of easy money in foreign companies,” the RIA news agency quoted Shpak as saying on Tuesday. The cybersecurity arm of the telecoms firm Rostelecom has said efforts to disrupt the operations of company websites have intensified this month. Rostelecom Chief Executive Mikhail Oseevskiy said attacks on Russian websites were continuing and becoming more varied. “We understand what the risks are and how they can be mitigated,” Interfax quoted him as saying. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Jon Boyle) View the full article

Published by The Seattle Times SEATTLE — The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not review a case involving Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, which was sued in 2017 over its anti-LGBTQ+ hiring policy after it declined to hire a bisexual lawyer who applied for a job. Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the decision not to hear the case at this stage. But according to The Associated Press, they said that “the day may soon come” when the court needs to confront the issue the case presents. The Seattle-based Christian organization filed a petition in August 2021, asking the Supreme Court to … Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English ‘Mean Girls’ star Jonathan Bennett married Jaymes Vaughan on Saturday (19.03.22). The 40-year-old actor – who played Aaron Samuels in the 2004 comedy film – and his long-time partner tied the knot at the Unico Riviera Maya Hotel in Mexico. Jonathan wrote on Twitter: “I never thought I’d have the courage to live my truth so boldly, and here I am, a proud gay man, who just became the luckiest man on earth. Meet Mr Mr Bennett Vaughan (sic)” Their wedding ceremony was officiated by YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen. And the wedding party followed the colour theme of black tuxedos from Express and white tuxedos by Robert Stanley Bespoke. Jonathan told People: “It’s gender-neutral but everyone looks represented and feels sexy in their own way. “So it’s like a new tradition for the community. You don’t have to do dresses and tuxes. Anyone who wants to wear a tux, wear a tux, go for it.” Jonathan also recognises that their wedding was about the “entire” LGBTQ community. The actor – who got engaged to Jaymes in 2020 – explained: “As we were going through this process, we realised that our wedding is also more than just about us. It’s about the entire community.” Jaymes admitted their wedding was an emotional occasion and he couldn’t conceal his joy during the ceremony. Reflecting on their special day, he said: “I got to marry my best friend! I knew we’d be emotional but I don’t think either of us realised just how overwhelming that moment would be until we were in it. “Seeing him crying only made me cry harder, and then our guests cry harder, and then we’d all start laughing, and then all back into crying.” View the full article

Published by Sports Illustrated By Dan Lyons 2022 was set to be the final year of his deal with the team. View the original article to see embedded media. The Raiders will release defensive end Carl Nassib, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The decision comes ahead of what was set to be the final year of his three-year, $25 million deal with the team. Nassib was set to earn over $7.7 million this season. The team is reportedly designating him as a post-June 1 release, which will save it $8 million against the salary cap. Per Over The Cap, new general manager Dave Ziegler already had more than $27 million in cap space availa… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Tom Daley makes “willy warmers” for his friends. The Olympic diver’s favourite hobby is knitting and not only is it “therapeutic” for him, its a skill that’s also come in handy when it comes to arranging gifts for his friends. He said: “It’s so therapeutic, and you can make some really crazy things. “Honestly, the most requested thing for my friends’ birthdays and things like that are c*** socks. I’ve done so many willy warmers. It’s unreal.” The 24-year-old sportsman admitted having his son Robbie, three, with husband Dustin Lance Black has unlocked “a whole different level” of his heart. Speaking to TikTok star Holly H on her ‘Planet Weirdo’ podcast, he gushed: “I mean, I’m completely biased, obviously, but he is a really cute kid and he’s just really sweet and kind and caring. I mean, he’s the best. “Becoming a parent is such a weird thing, you don’t realise how much you can love something until you become a parent. “Once you’re a parent, oh my goodness, it unlocks a whole different level of your heart. It’s nuts, to be honest.” Last summer, Tom scooped Olympic gold in the men’s synchronized 10 m platform diving event and bronze in the men’s individual 10m platform diving, and he recalled returning home to chaos and his celebrations taking a grim twist. He said: “All my friends met me at the airport and then came back to my house and stayed with me for a week because my husband was working in Canada, so they didn’t want me to be on my own. “So, I was living with eight humans and three dogs. “The three dogs kept finding bits of food everywhere and they were also puppies, so they were pooing everywhere, throwing up everywhere. “One night we went out and I came back and one of the dogs jumped up onto the bed, threw up on the pillow and I rolled over into it and I had dog vomit in my ear. “And, imagine after a night-out, your first night-out after the Olympics, so it was a big one. “Roll over, vomit in your ear and then the dog ran downstairs and had diarrhoea on my best friend Sophie’s sequined jacket. “So, imagine trying to get diarrhoea out of a sequined jacket when you’re a little bit hungover. I say a little bit hungover, a lot hungover. It was just a whole moment to wake up to.” View the full article

Published by The Spun By Andrew Holleran An Olympic swimmer who competed against Penn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has made her opinion on the matter extremely clear. Thomas, a transgender swimmer for the Penn women’s team, won the 500 meter freestyle at the NCAA Championships this week. Erica Sullivan, an Olympic silver medalist who came in third in the event, is speaking out in support of Thomas. “All athletes — including transgender athletes — deserve to be respected and included, exactly as we are,” Sullivan wrote in an op-ed for Newsweek. “Throughout my life, swimming has enabled me to learn so much both in … Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Simon Rex wants to donate his fake penis to a museum. The 48-year-old actor donned a prosthetic for his role in ‘Red Rocket’ and because he “wasn’t allowed” to take it home as a souvenir at the end of filming, he likes the idea of it being put on display instead. He said: “I don’t think [keeping it] was an option, but it will be in a museum one day.” When asked if he would donate the piece to the newly=opened Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, he added to People magazine: “I like that idea.” Simon – who plays a con man and former porn star in the movie – only confirmed last month that he wore a prosthesis for his nude scenes and was amazed he “got away with it” for so long. Speaking about making the admission when he accepted Best Male Lead at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, he said: “I finally had to let it be known. “I just had fun with it, and me and [director] Sean Baker … we agreed that we were going to keep it mysterious, and not say whether or not that was really me naked. “And at that point, after we won the Spirit Award, I said, ‘It’s time to tell people.’ We did this for eight months. We somehow got away with it for eight months. It was just time to let people know.” The movie has marked a career resurgence for the former model and he admitted his sudden return to success has been “very surreal”. He explained: “It’s been very surreal, because we’ve all been living in this strange time together, in this Twilight Zone pandemic, strange times collectively that we’re all in. “So if you add, on top of that, this amazing highlight of my career, it just adds to the weirdness of it all. “Sometimes I just start laughing. I’ll be in a hotel room by myself and I just start cracking up because it’s kind of like, life is just a big cosmic joke. And how is this happening now? And I still think I’m just reeling from it all.” View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was admitted to a hospital in Washington on Friday after experiencing flu-like symptoms and was diagnosed with an infection, the high court said on Sunday. Thomas, 73, was being treated with intravenous antibiotics, his symptoms were abating, and he expected to be released from the Sibley Memorial Hospital in a day or two, the court said in a statement. The Supreme Court, which is set to be in session on Monday, said that Thomas will participate in the consideration of cases through briefs, transcripts, and audio of the oral arguments. The court is set to hear four cases this week. A court representative said earlier that all nine justices were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and had received booster doses. A conservative and one of two Black men to have served on the Supreme Court, Thomas is the longest-serving of the current justices. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices appointed by President Joe Biden’s Republican predecessor Donald Trump. Thomas was nominated by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of liberal justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black justice on the court. Separately on Monday, hearings will begin for federal appellate judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Biden’s nominee, to become the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Biden has tapped her to replace Stephen Breyer, 83, who is retiring and is the oldest justice on the current court. Thomas spoke on March 11 in Utah and raised concerns about calls to add additional members to the court, and discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the court to conduct arguments remotely. “I didn’t like the free-for-all in oral arguments where we interacted and interrupted each other. It’s more productive now. The arguments are contributing to the process of deciding the case as opposed to what was happening, which was almost like a catfight,” Thomas said, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Stephen Coates) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate begins consideration on Monday of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to be the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, with Republicans expected to pose tough questions about her professional background and judicial philosophy. Democratic President Joe Biden last month nominated Jackson, 51, for a lifetime job on America’s top judicial body to succeed retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, setting up a confirmation battle in the closely divided Senate. Jackson on Monday is set to make an opening statement during the first day of her Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, with the panel’s 22 members questioning her on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Senate has confirmed Jackson to three federal posts, most recently last year, when Biden nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after eight years as a federal district judge in Washington. Her confirmation would not change the ideological balance of the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices appointed by Republican former President Donald Trump. But it would let Biden freshen the court’s liberal bloc with a justice young enough to serve for decades. Breyer, 83, is the court’s oldest member. Jackson was raised in Miami and attended Harvard Law School, later serving as a Supreme Court clerk for Breyer and representing criminal defendants who could not afford a lawyer. She is likely to face sharp questioning from Republicans including Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz on issues such as crime and cases she took when representing criminal defendants. Some senators also could question her on race issues, including whether she should participate in an upcoming case challenging Harvard University’s affirmative action admissions policy used to increase the number of Black and Hispanic students on campus. Jackson serves on the university’s Board of Overseers and has faced calls to recuse herself from the case. A Reuters review of 25 racial discrimination cases in which Jackson issued substantive rulings as a federal district judge found that she ruled in favor of plaintiffs in only three of them. Jackson’s nomination fulfils Biden’s 2020 campaign promise to name a Black woman to the court, a milestone he called long overdue. If confirmed, she would be the third Black justice, following Clarence Thomas, appointed in 1991 and still serving, and Thurgood Marshall, who retired in 1991 and died in 1993. The Supreme Court said on Sunday that Thomas was hospitalized in Washington on Friday with an infection, although it added that he was being treated with intravenous antiobiotics and expected to be released in a day or two. Jackson also would become the sixth woman to serve on the Supreme Court, which currently has three female justices – Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Jackson’s nomination has been backed by prominent lawyers from across the ideological spectrum, civil rights groups and law enforcement organizations including the National Fraternal Order of Police, which represents rank-and-file officers. Democrats narrowly control the Senate, which has the task of deciding whether to confirm a president’s judicial appointments. The Senate is divided 50-50 between the two parties, with Biden’s fellow Democrats controlling it because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote. A simple majority vote would be needed for Jackson’s confirmation, meaning she would get the job if all Democrats are united behind the nomination regardless of what Republicans do. The court’s conservative majority has shown increased assertiveness, with rulings due in cases that could curb abortion rights and expand gun rights. The confirmation hearing ends on Thursday with witnesses testifying about Jackson’s suitability for the job. The Judiciary Committee would then vote on the nomination in the coming weeks, followed by a final confirmation vote on the Senate floor. Breyer has said he would remain on the court until its current term ends, typically in late June. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham, Scott Malone and Gerry Doyle) View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Ukraine defied a Russian demand that its forces lay down arms before dawn on Monday in Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped in a city under siege and already laid to waste by Russian bombardment. In the capital Kyiv, shelling hit a shopping centre late on Sunday, killing at least eight people, wrecking nearby buildings and leaving smoking piles of rubble and the twisted wreckage of burned-out cars spread over several hundred metres. Russia’s almost month-old assault on Ukraine has stalled along most fronts, failing to seize a single major city or swiftly topple the government. But Russian shelling and missiles have caused devastation in built-up residential areas. FIGHTING * Authorities in Odesa accused Russian forces of carrying out a strike on residential buildings in the city’s outskirts early on Monday, the first such attack on the Ukrainian Black Sea port. * Russian air forces hit a Ukrainian army military facility in the Rivne region with cruise missiles, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday. CIVILIANS * Ukraine described the situation in Mariupol on Monday as “very difficult” and said it had been unable to establish a new safe corridor to evacuate civilians from the beleaguered city. Horror and confusion reign in Mariupo, where people are burying dead neighbours by the roadside. * Ten million people have been displaced by the conflict, according to the U.N. refugee agency. SANCTIONS * European Union leaders began a week of intense diplomacy aimed at agreeing further sanctions against Russia, including a possible embargo of its lucrative oil and gas sector demanded by some member states. But that move looks divisive. Germany is sticking to its stance that it cannot dispense with oil imports from Russia, a government spokesperson said. The 27-nation EU still relies on Russia for 40% of its gas. DIPLOMACY * The Kremlin said on Monday peace talks between Russia and Ukraine had not yet made any significant progress. Moscow has accused Kyiv of stalling talks by making proposals unacceptable for Russia. Ukraine has said it is willing to negotiate but will not surrender or accept Russian ultimatums. QUOTES * “The violent aggression against Ukraine is unfortunately not slowing down,” Pope Francis said. “It is a senseless massacre where every day slaughters and atrocities are being repeated.” * “Kyiv calling to the whole world … Come out of neutrality, you boys and girls,” some of the lyrics from Ukrainian punk band Beton’s reworking of the famous “London Calling” by British punk rock group the Clash. (Compiled by Michael Perry and Stephen Coates; Editing by Mark Heinrich) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Mega On February 1, Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson were front and center at the opening night of MJ The Musical, where they showed support for the Broadway production celebrating their late father, Michael Jackson. Now a source tells OK! the sibling are committed to keeping the King of Pop’s memory alive — even if it means speaking out against the allegations of child molestation waged against him. (In 2005, Michael was found not guilty of sexually abusing a 13-year-old.) Mega “They will defend their dad until the end,” says the source. “They believe Michael when he said he was innocent.” JANET JACKSON CLAIMS BROTHER MICHAEL JACKSON USED TO CALL HER A ‘PIG’ & TAUNT HER ABOUT HER WEIGHT IN NEW DOCUMENTARY “They had happy childhoods living at Neverland Ranch,” a source says of the singer’s children living at the estate, where several of the alleged sexual assaults took place. “They loved their dad, and they became very protective of him.” After years of staying silent, the trio has been opening up more about the singer, who died from cardiac arrest in 2009. “Paris says she still has the pajamas her dad wore around the house,” shares the source of the singer, 23. “It makes her happy to look at them.” Meanwhile, college grad Prince, 25, has followed in his father’s charitable footsteps. Mega “He’s told friends he knows his dad would be proud,” notes the source. And although Blanket, 20, stays out of the spotlight, he gave a rare interview last year while touring a room containing items from Michael’s career, musing, “That’s what he was all about.” PRINCE JACKSON RECALLS TRAUMATIC FIRST TIME HE WATCHED ‘THRILLER’ VIDEO WITH DAD MICHAEL JACKSON While the sibs lead drastically different lifestyles, their shared memories of their dad have helped them carry on through the dark days. “Michael gave them so much insight and taught them the importance of family,” explains the source His words made a lasting impression. “When we were growing up, my father would say, ‘We could have nothing, but your brother, your sister and me, that’s all you’ll ever have,’” recalled Prince. “And that always stuck with my siblings and I, and we have such a close relationship.” View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — Two Barrington High School students who are members of the LGBTQ+ community were allegedly targeted in a pellet gun shooting on campus this week in an incident officials say is likely related to the latest TikTok challenge breaking out across the U.S. Barrington resident Kristin Stedman said Friday that her son, Matt Petersen, and his boyfriend were walking to school on Wednesday morning when a student pointed a toy rifle out the window of a car, spraying the two teens with pellets in a parking lot adjacent to the high school’s entrance. “They were walking toward the building and the… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Luann de Lesseps has issued an apology after she was allegedly “kicked out of a piano bar” for drunken behaviour. The ‘Real Housewives of New York’ star insists she is recovering from alcohol addiction and admitted she slipped up after a video surfaced of her “belting out jumbled versions of songs” and being booed at Townhouse gay bar in the Big Apple. In a social media post, the 56-year-old reality star penned: “This week, after a regrettable incident, I was faced with the truth. “I want to apologize to the staff at Townhouse and anyone else I may have offended by my behavior. “Clearly, my struggles with alcohol are real! While I’ve made great strides over the years, there’s been times I’ve fallen. “It’s one day at a time! I’m in recovery and taking steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again. (sic)” She signed off the message: “I’m grateful to my family and my friends for their constant support.” According to The New York Post’s Page Six column, Luann had been performing her song ‘Money Can’t Buy You Class’, and allegedly told one of the people who booed her, “f*** you”, before reportedly being ejected from the bar. Following the incident earlier this week, Luann said via a spokesperson: “I got up and sang a few Broadway songs they were playing. “I realise I was a little bit tipsy, but we were having fun, and it was getting late. I’d been rehearsing, and I was in the mood to sing a few songs. Then Jim [Kierstead] said to me, ‘Lu, I have an early rehearsal,’ and then we left around midnight, 11.30 p.m.” In 2017, Luann was charged for battery, disorderly intoxication and trespassing after an altercation with an officer. She pleaded guilty to the three charges and was ordered to carry out 50 hours of unpaid work, attend AA meetings and get clean. The former countess checked into rehab again in 2018, and previously shared how seeing how pop star Demi Lovato handled their own addictions inspired her to seek help. She said in 2019: “You know who’s really been inspirational also is Demi Lovato, because she’s been very public about her struggle and I think it’s important. “It’s kind of a private thing. But there’s a lot of celebrities at meetings, and so I don’t feel so alone.” Demi, 29, had completed a stint in rehab following their near-fatal overdose in 2018. View the full article

=2Buck Kim Davis’s Gossip Wordplay Moment The Google searchers who land on Kentucky marriage clerk’s pages by mistake might be hilarious if she weren’t so nasty.Kim Davis, the Kentucky marriage clerk who has been found guilty of denying Americans their constitutional rights cost her bosses in lost court cases and obstinate , has become a hero to the dumber end of the Trump Right has some good Google juice going according to Google Trends, but all of the top trending searches for “Kim Davis” seem to be befuddled pop culture gossip followers looking up: (A.) Oscar nominated best actress for portraying Princess Diana (B.) Some combination of the very hard-working couple that entertains on Saturday nights and is big in compression undergarment biz. (C.) Mistaken combinations of the Sex And The City actors who play Samantha and Charlotte, or Carrie, or Miranda Still the woman has managed to stay in the news all on her own. Going on 7 years later, plaintiffs got go ahead to start a jury trial that would make her personally liable for knowingly violating the rights of same-sex couples by denying them marriage licenses. –Editor Published by Reuters (Reuters) – A U.S. judge ruled that a former county clerk from Kentucky knowingly violated the rights of same-sex couples by denying them marriage licenses in 2015, clearing the way for a jury trial seeking damages against her. The ruling from U.S. District Judge David Bunning on Friday also denied a request for immunity from former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis. Davis thrust herself into the center of the U.S. culture wars on the issue of LGBTQ rights by denying the licenses in 2015, citing her religious beliefs. She briefly went to jail for contempt of court over her refusal and a deputy clerk in the eastern Kentucky county issued the licenses. The two couples in the lawsuit had sought to marry in the immediate aftermath of the landmark 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges. They sued Davis in 2015, alleging she had violated their constitutional rights. In the Obergefell case, the highest court in the United States found that, under the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, states must grant same-sex marriages and recognize those of other states. But Davis repeatedly refused to issue marriage licenses, despite a letter from the governor instructing all county clerks to issue the licenses and a legal opinion from the Rowan County attorney, which she had sought, advising that she had a legal requirement to do so. “It is readily apparent that Obergefell recognizes Plaintiffs’ Fourteenth Amendment right to marry. It is also readily apparent that Davis made a conscious decision to violate Plaintiffs’ right,” the judge ruled in a summary judgment. With the essential facts in the case now settled, the two couples, David Ermold and David Moore in one case and James Yates and Will Smith in another, can proceed to jury trial to seek damages against Davis as an individual. Davis had previously been granted sovereign immunity in her official capacity. Liberty Counsel, a Christian organization representing Davis, said it would continue to argue she is not liable for damages because she is entitled to a religious accommodation granted by the state legislature and former Governor Matt Bevin. The group’s statement also noted that conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court could seek to revisit and overturn the Obergefell decision. “This case raises serious First Amendment free exercise of religion claims and has a high potential of reaching the Supreme Court,” Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver said in the statement. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; editing by Jonathan Oatis) View the full article