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Published by Reuters By Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday Ukraine was at a “strategic turning point” in the war as Russian forces bombarded cities across the country and appeared to be regrouping for a possible assault on Kyiv, with satellite images showing them firing artillery as they closed in on the capital. The governor of the Kharkiv region, on the Russian border, said a psychiatric hospital had been hit, and the mayor of the city of Kharkiv said about 50 schools there had been destroyed. Russia also carried out air strikes deeper into western Ukraine, far from the battlefields in the north, east and south where ground combat has raged. In the besieged southern city of Mariupol, the city council said at least 1,582 civilians had been killed as a result of Russian shelling and a 12-day blockade that has left hundreds of thousands trapped with no food, water, heat or power. Russia’s defence ministry said the Black Sea port was now completely surrounded and Ukrainian officials accused Russia of deliberately preventing civilians getting out and humanitarian convoys getting in. A new effort to evacuate civilians along a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol appeared to have failed, with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk saying Russian shelling prevented them from leaving. “The situation is critical,” Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko said. Western countries meanwhile took more economic steps to try to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his assault. President Joe Biden, who this week banned U.S. imports of Russian oil, said the G7 industrialised nations would revoke Russia’s “most favoured nation” trade status. He also announced a U.S. ban on imports of Russian seafood, alcohol and diamonds. Washington later sanctioned more oligarchs and elites, including board members of Russian banks, in addition to a dozen lawmakers. European Union leaders said they were ready to impose harsher sanctions on Russia and might give Ukraine more funds for arms. But they rejected Ukraine’s request to join the bloc. At a meeting with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said there were “certain positive shifts” in talks with Kyiv, but did not elaborate. GEARING UP With the Russian assault in its third week, Zelenskiy, who has rallied his people with a series of addresses from Kyiv, said Ukraine had “already reached a strategic turning point”. “It is impossible to say how many days we still have (ahead of us) to free Ukrainian land. But we can say we will do it,” he said. “We are already moving towards our goal, our victory.” Russia’s main force has been stalled north of Kyiv, having failed in what Western analysts say was an initial plan for a lightning assault. But images taken on Friday and released by private U.S. satellite firm Maxar showed Russian forces were continuing to deploy closer to Kyiv and firing artillery toward residential areas, according to the company’s analysis. Multiple homes and buildings were on fire and widespread damage was seen throughout the town of Moschun, northwest of Kyiv, Maxar said. Reuters could not independently verify the images. Britain’s defence ministry said Russia appeared to be gearing up for a new offensive in coming days that would probably include Kyiv. However, the Russian ground forces were still making only limited progress, hampered by logistical problems and Ukrainian resistance, it said in its intelligence update. The Ukrainian general staff said Russian forces were regrouping after taking heavy losses. Ukrainian troops had pushed some back to “unfavourable positions” near the Belarus border, it said. Kyiv’s mayor, former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, said the capital had enough essential supplies to last a couple of weeks. Supply lines remained open. ‘WRONG ASSUMPTIONS’ Ukrainian authorities said a psychiatric hospital near the eastern town of Izyum had been hit. Emergency services said no one was hurt, but Kharkiv governor Oleh Synegubov called the attack a war crime. Reuters could not verify the report. Moscow denies it has been targeting civilians in what it calls a “special operation” to disarm and “de-Nazify” Ukraine. Ukraine and its allies say this was a baseless pretext for Russia’s invasion of the democratic country of 44 million. Air strikes near a kindergarten in the central city of Dnipro killed at least one person on Friday, emergency services said. The mayor of Lutsk said four people were killed and six wounded in an attack on an airfield – a rare strike so far into western Ukraine. A U.S. official said such attacks were aimed at preventing western bases from being used by Ukraine’s air force. Britain’s defense intelligence ministry said Russian air and missile forces struck the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk in the past 24 hours. In Kharkiv, hundreds were sheltering in metro stations. Nastya, a young girl lying on a makeshift bed on the floor of a train carriage, said she had been there for over a week, unable to move around much and ill with a virus. “I’m scared for my home, for the homes of my friends, very scared for the whole country, and scared for myself of course,” she said. Moscow said its separatist allies in the southeast had captured the town of Volnovakha, north of Mariupol. But Mathieu Boulegue, an expert at London’s Chatham House think tank, said Moscow might not have sufficient troops to achieve its goals. “You can’t invade a country on a one-on-one ratio (of troops). Nobody has done it, which means that either something was wrong or they had very wrong assumptions,” he told Reuters. In a nighttime video address, Zelenskiy accused Russia of abducting the mayor of Melitopol, a captured city in southeastern Ukraine, calling it a “new stage of terror.” Russia has not commented on the fate of Mayor Ivan Fedorov. Zelenskiy said 7,144 people were evacuated from four cities on Friday, a sharply lower number than each of the two previous days. He accused Russian troops of refusing to allow civilians out of Mariupol and vowed to try to deliver food and medicines there on Saturday. Ukraine also raised the prospect of Moscow’s ally Belarus entering the war, accusing Russia of staging “false flag” air attacks on Belarus from Ukraine to provide an excuse. Belarus has served as a staging post for Russian forces before and after the Feb. 24 invasion. The Kremlin did not respond to a request for comment. Putin and Lukashenko agreed Moscow would supply its smaller neighbour with up-to-date military equipment, the official Belarus Belta news agency said. NO EU MEMBERSHIP Away from the battlefields, EU leaders meeting near Paris agreed to spend more on defence and cut reliance on Russian energy supplies by 2027. But they declined Ukraine’s call for a speedy admission to the EU. Western countries have moved to isolate Russia from the global financial system. The Russian rouble ended a third week of hefty losses, stripped of a third of its value in Moscow exchanges since Russia invaded Ukraine. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. economy was strong – though inflation was a problem – and acknowledged there would be spillovers from sanctions against Russia. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that on Saturday the bloc would suspend Moscow’s privileged trade and economic treatment; crack down on its use of crypto-assets; and ban the import of iron and steel goods from Russia as well as the export of luxury goods in the other direction. (Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Peter Graff, Angus MacSwan and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Kevin Liffey and Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Grimes has reportedly moved on from Elon Musk with whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The ‘Oblivion’ singer clarified this week that she and the billionaire businessman “broke up” before it was revealed that they secretly welcomed their second child. Grimes – who also shares 22-month-old son X Æ A-Xii, with Tesla CEO Elon – announced that the pair welcomed a daughter in December 2021 via surrogate in an interview with Vanity Fair. The baby’s name is Exa Dark Sideræl, though the pair are said to have nicknamed her Y. Now, it’s been claimed the mother-of-two is “getting serious” in her new relationship with 34-year-old activist Chelsea, who was imprisoned after she leaked classified documents to WikiLeaks in 2010. A source told Page Six: “They’re getting serious. They U-Hauled it. They’ve been living together in Austin.” As well as confirming she and the Space X founder are no longer in a relationship, Grimes clarified that her newborn daughter’s name is likely to change. The music star, who intended to keep the birth of her daughter a secret, won’t be revealing the new name to the public, as they want to keep their little girl out of the spotlight. The ‘Genesis’ singer tweeted: “2 clarify a few things; I did this to speak abt my work, not ‘reveal all’ haha. Def held back a lot, contrary 2 headline. And didn’t mean for them 2 find out about my daughter so please respect her privacy as I’d love her to be able to live as private of a life as possible. (sic)”. When a follower asked about her daughter’s name, she replied: ”This will most definitely change btw haha but it won’t be for public. (sic)” Grimes added that she will no longer be doing “traditional press” The experimental artist explained her daughter’s unique name by describing how Exa refers to a supercomputing term, exaFLOPS, while Dark Universe represents “the unknown”. She said in the article: “People fear it but truly it’s the absence of photons. Dark matter is the beautiful mystery of our universe.” Grimes described Sideræl as the “more elven” spelling of ‘sidereal’ – which she defined as “the true time of the universe, star time, deep space time, not our relative earth time.” The name is also a nod to the star’s favourite ‘Lord of the Rings’ character, Galadriel. Despite splitting up last September, Grimes had insisted she still considered Elon to be her “boyfriend” but described their relationship as “very fluid”. The pop star – whose real name is Claire Boucher – said: “There’s no real word for it. I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we’re very fluid. “We live in separate houses. We’re best friends. We see each other all the time… We just have our own thing going on, and I don’t expect other people to understand it. “This is the best it’s ever been… We just need to be free.” Grimes also hinted that she and Elon want to have more children. She said: “We’ve always wanted at least three or four.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Laverne Cox felt “like she [was] somebody” when she was in the same nightclub as Leonardo DiCaprio. The 49-year-old star worked as a waitress when she first moved to New York in a bid to kickstart her acting career but she loved the buzz of knowing she could go out somewhere and be in close proximity to some of the biggest names in showbiz at the time. She said: “I remember during the early 2000s being in a club called Lot 61…” “I was a waitress at the time, an aspiring actress…this is 2000…around the year 1999 or 2000…and Leonardo DiCaprio was two feet away from me. “There were about 12 to 20 women who could be Victoria’s Secret models sort of, you know, surrounding [Leonardo Dicaprio, David Blaine, and Elijah Wood]. “I saw this live. So this was kind of my life, and I remember in the late 90s and early 2000s being in proximity to Leonardo DiCaprio feeling so utterly and completely fabulous because I was two feet away from Leonardo DiCaprio in the same club. “It made me feel so fabulous and like I was, you know, like I was somebody.” Laverne’s early experiences came back to her when she was first introduced to Netflix’s ‘Inventing Anna’, the true story of ‘fake heiress’ Anna Delvey, in which she plays Kacy Duke. Speaking to Tom Power on ‘The Q Interview’ podcast, she said: “When I read about [Inventing Anna] initially, it made me think of my early days in New York City in the 90s. “Clubs were very integrated in the 90s and early 2000s. You could be in, you know, LimeLight, and Jon-Paul Gautier might be standing right next to you or something.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Rihanna is reportedly launching her lingerie firm on the stock market. The 34-year-old pop star – who is thought to be worth $1.7bn after launching Fenty Beauty cosmetics company back in 2017 and Savage x Fenty the following year – is now said to be in talks to offer the public shares in the fashion company through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) which could see the value of the brand jump to over $3bn. Bloomberg reports: “Savage X Fenty is working with banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. A listing could happen as soon as this year, one of the people said.” The news of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) comes shortly after the ‘Umbrella’ hitmaker – who is expecting her first child with boyfriend and rapper A$AP Rocky – had opened a chain of physical stores for the underwear brand after the store had been online only since its inception as she noted that she wanted her customers to “come in and feel represented.” She said: “The whole idea of the retail space is that I wanted women and men to come in and feel represented, to walk away from the experience feeling confident and that they belong. I’ve experienced being a customer and shopping in the lingerie space and have felt as if I didn’t fit the mould of the product. But Savage X Fenty is very inclusive, and I want to continue to expand on that so that our consumers can feel our commitment within the retail space.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Elizabeth McGovern “doesn’t understand” the popularity of ‘Downton Abbey’. The 60-year-old actress will reprise her role as Cora Crawley, the Countess of Grantham, in ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’, and although she’s confident it will be a hit, Elizabeth is still unsure why it’s so successful. Speaking to the UK edition of OK! magazine, she said: “People ask me why the show has succeeded over the years and I have no idea. “I don’t understand it. I am just grateful. But viewers connect to it for different reasons.” Elizabeth thought making the ‘Downton’ movies would be a bigger and better experience than working on the TV show. But the actress found there to be very little difference. She said: “The funny thing is that it felt very similar. “I thought the snacks on the [film] set would be better but no… they weren’t. “We were in the same house, we were staying in the same little bed and breakfasts around [Highclere Castle]. “The film looked and felt so much bigger, expansive and more ambitious than the TV show, but the actual act of shooting it really feels the same. “You are still having to hit your marks and say your lines. So that was kind of surprising to me.” The American actress initially found the way of working on the show very “foreign”. She said: “I do think there is a real cultural divide between the US and the UK. “The way the English approach work was very foreign to me. “I suppose it is as much to do with language as anything else. “Sometimes I did feel like I was foreign and on another planet among all these very English actors, many of them coming from these traditions going back generations.” View the full article

Published by DPA A picture from NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn's camera shows the International Space Station (ISS) and the Earth below. The chief of the Russian space agency Roscosmos suggested the International Space Station (ISS) could crash, as he railed against Western sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. NASA/dpa The chief of the Russian space agency Roscosmos suggested the International Space Station (ISS) could crash, as he railed against Western sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. In a Telegram message on Saturday, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin questioned where on Earth the ISS would crash if it fell out of orbit. The ISS partners have been asked to withdraw the “unlawful” punitive measures against Russian companies, Rogozin said. Roscosmos is responsible for maintaining the ISS and flights to it. A Soyuz space capsule is scheduled to return to Earth from the human outpost on March 30, carrying US astronaut Mark Vande Hei and cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov. German astronaut Matthias Maurer is to remain on board the ISS. Several companies in Russia that are important for space travel are affected by the tightened sanctions. The ISS is ageing but so far, there are no plans as to when the ISS will finally be taken out of service. Recently, Roscosmos announced it was suspending deliveries of rocket engines to the United States in response to US sanctions. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Saturday said it would rush up to $200 million in additional small arms, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine, as Ukrainian officials pleaded for more equipment to defend against heavy shelling by Russian forces. President Joe Biden on Saturday authorized the additional security assistance, the White House said, paving the way for the “immediate” shipment of fresh military equipment to Ukraine, a senior administration official said. Biden’s decision brings total U.S. security aid provided to Ukraine to $1.2 billion since January 2021, and to $3.2 billion since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine, according to senior administration officials. In a memorandum to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden directed that up to $200 million allocated through the Foreign Assistance Act be designated for Ukraine’s defense. Blinken said he had authorized a fourth drawdown of U.S. defense stocks, in line with Biden’s directive, “to help Ukraine meet the armored, airborne, and other threats it is facing” as the war entered a third week. He lauded the “great skill, iron will and profound courage” being shown by the Ukrainian armed forces and citizens, and said the United States would also continue to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need. “The United States and our allies and partners stand in solidarity with the people and government of Ukraine in the face of the Kremlin’s aggression,” he said in a statement. “The international community is united and determined to hold (Russian President Vladimir) Putin accountable.” Russia says it is engaged in a “special military operation” that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour’s military capabilities and “de-Nazify” Ukraine. The funds “will provide immediate military assistance to Ukraine, including anti-armor, anti-aircraft systems, and small arms in support of Ukraine’s front-line defenders,” one of the U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Ukraine has been asking for more Javelin anti-tank weapons and Stinger missiles to shoot down aircraft. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, on Saturday underscored Ukraine’s need for additional military supplies in an interview with the non-profit Renew Democracy Initiative. The United States has drawn from U.S. weapons stocks to supply Ukraine repeatedly, beginning in the fall of 2021 and then again in December and February. The last batch of U.S. weapons provided in February included anti-armor, small arms, body armor and various munitions, according to the Pentagon, as well as anti-aircraft systems. On Thursday night the U.S. Congress approved $13.6 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine as part of a $1.5 trillion measure to fund the U.S. government through September. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland; Editing by Alistair Bell, Grant McCool and Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by Inven Global A new wave of hate raids is being reported by various LGBTQ and women streamers on Twitch. Twitch responded to the claims on Friday by confirming that over the past 24-hours there has been a huge uptick in this activity, saying, “hate has no place on Twitch, and we’ve identified and suspended the Twitch accounts of the individuals participating.” Similar hate raids sparked the #DayOffTwitch boycott last year, where many small and mid-tier streamers took a day off streaming to protest hate raids. A new wave of hate raids descends on TwitchThe new hate raids began on Thursday, with numerous stre… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Andrew Hay (Reuters) -A Texas judge on Friday temporarily blocked the state from investigating parents who provide their transgender children with gender-transitioning medical treatments that Governor Greg Abbott calls “child abuse.” District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum imposed a statewide temporary injunction on investigations that Abbott ordered the Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS) to carry out, saying the probes endangered children and their families. The ruling marked a victory for LGBTQ groups, medical professionals and civil liberties advocates opposing moves by conservative politicians in dozens of states to criminalize the provision of gender-transitioning treatments for trans youth. Critics of such proposals have accused Republicans of seizing on issues surrounding gender identity as a wedge issue in the run-up to November’s mid-term congressional elections, with Republicans keen to try and retake the majority in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The injunction issued Friday in Texas is to remain in place until it is fully litigated and settled by a judgment or other means. Meachum scheduled a trial to start July 11. In her decision following a seven-hour hearing, Meachum said Abbott had overreached. “The governor’s directive was given the effect of a new law or a new agency rule, despite no new legislation,” Meachum said, saying the actions of the governor and the DFPS commissioner violated “separation of powers by impermissibly encroaching into the legislative domain.” Abbott’s February directive called on doctors, nurses and teachers to report such treatment or face criminal penalties. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Lambda Legal lawsuit challenged Abbott’s order on behalf of the family of a 16-year-old transgender girl targeted for investigation. The child has taken puberty-delaying medications and hormone therapy. Her mother is a DFPS employee and was put on paid administrative leave after asking what Abbott’s directive would mean for her family. Meachum last week temporarily blocked a probe of the teen’s parents. At Friday’s hearing, she approved a request to go one step further, stopping the probes statewide. ‘IRREPARABLE INJURY’ Meachum said the plight of the 16-year-old and her parents, whose names were withheld in the lawsuit, was an example of the “irreparable injury” that would be caused unless the investigations were stopped, given the stigma attached to being the targets of a child abuse investigation, as well as the loss of livelihood. Representing the state, assistant attorney general Courtney Corbello argued that gender-transitioning procedures constituted child abuse, saying they involved administering controlled substances that physically and mentally impaired children. The position was countered by doctors, testifying as expert witnesses, who said procedures like puberty blockers and hormone therapy were safe, reversible medical treatments. Andrea Dalhouse, a parent of a transgender child, said she felt trapped between activists who saw “trans medicine” as “blissful,” pharmaceutical companies selling products, and Texas politicians like Abbott who wanted procedures banned. “It’s shut down the possibility of having a civil and compassionate discussion about the real science that we don’t have yet,” said Dalhouse, the mother of a trans-identifying 17-year-old. “We don’t know, if we’re jumping all these kids on hormones and lopping off body parts, what this means longterm.” Over 60 major U.S. businesses, including Apple Inc and Johnson & Johnson, signed their names to an advertisement that ran in Texas on Friday opposing Abbott’s directive, saying “discrimination is bad for business.” The DFPS has opened nine child welfare inquiries under Abbott’s directive, a spokesman said. Abbott, a Republican running for a third term in office, issued the directive based on the Feb. 18 non-binding legal opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton days before a Texas primary election that Abbott easily won. The court heard from a DFPS supervisor who said that under the directive child abuse inspectors were told they had to investigate parents of transgender children, even if they did not think abuse had occurred. “We had to be investigating these cases,” Randa Mulanax testified, adding that she has handed in her resignation letter because she believed the directive was “unethical.” (Reporting by Andrew Hay in Taos, N.M.Editing by Donna Bryson, Matthew Lewis, Rosalba O’Brien, Aurora Ellis and Leslie Adler) View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega Just one day after Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail, it’s been revealed that he will be held in protective custody during his time behind bars, TMZ reported on Friday, March 11. According to documents obtained by the outlet, Judge James Linn said the actor and his team requested the protection. “Protective custody is a type of imprisonment to protect a person from harm, either from outside sources or other prisoners,” the definition reads. mega The Hollywood star was sentenced to 30 months’ probation, and he will spend 150 days in Cook County Jail. In December 2021, Smollett was found guilty of lying to the police about a hate crime, which was ultimately determined to be a hoax. Cooks County Jail In January 2019, Smollett claimed that he was part of a racist and homophobic hate crime by two brothers in Chicago. He was later found guilty on five counts of felony disorderly conduct for lying to the police, and he was also charged with a sixth count of felony disorderly conduct for lying to a detective in the weeks following the “attack.” The judge believes that Smollett was craving attention when he began his whole web of lies. “You wanted to make yourself more famous, and, for a while, it worked,” Linn said at the end of the hearing. “You were throwing a national pity party for yourself.” At first, Smollett wasn’t going to make a statement to the court, but once he heard he would be spending time in jail, he shouted in the courtroom, “I am NOT suicidal … I am innocent … if anything happens to me when I go in there I did not do it to myself.” “If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBT community,” Smollett replied. “Your Honor, I respect you and I respect the jury but I did not do this. And I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that.” mega View the full article

Published by AFP Disney had faced criticism over its silence on the 'Don't Say Gay' bill in Florida Los Angeles (AFP) – Entertainment and theme park giant Disney has halted all political donations in Florida after an outcry among LGBTQ staff over its silence on perceived “anti-gay” legislation, its CEO said Friday. Florida’s state senate this week passed a bill banning lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools, the latest effort by Republicans in the United States to reshape education policy along conservative lines. Opponents and LGBTQ rights activists lobbied against what they call the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which will affect kids in kindergarten through third grade, when they are eight or nine years old. Disney, which has a huge presence in the southern state in the form of its Walt Disney World resort, had faced weeks of criticism both internally and externally over its lack of public response. Staff at Disney-owned Pixar Animation Studios said they were “disappointed, hurt, afraid and angry” over their company’s silence on the Florida legislation. On Friday chief executive Bob Chapek told them he was sorry the company had let them down. “It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights,” he wrote in an email, published by Variety. “You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights and I let you down. I am sorry.” Chapek said Disney would be bolstering its support for campaigns aimed at preventing similar legislation in other states as part of an effort to “ensure our advocacy better reflects our values.” “And today, we are pausing all political donations in the state of Florida pending this review.” Chapek said the company had to do more, but insisted he had the backs of sexual minority staff. “I truly believe we are an infinitely better and stronger company because of our LGBTQ+ community. “I missed the mark in this case but am an ally you can count on — and I will be an outspoken champion for the protections, visibility, and opportunity you deserve.” The Florida legislation, championed by possible presidential nominee Governor Ron DeSantis, is part of nationwide effort by Republicans who feel they are wresting back control from liberal policies they say undermine traditional family values. Similar moves are afoot in other Republican-led or Republican-leaning states, chiefly in the south. They include a plan by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to label as “child abuse” medical treatments considered in progressive states to be standard care for transgender teenagers. The political fight leaves businesses in the often-uncomfortable position of having to take sides on an issue that may pit one group of customers or staff against another. View the full article

Drag Race: Daya Betty portrays Ozzy Osbourne (sort of) on RuPaul’s Drag Race The last few weeks of RuPaul’s Drag Race have been chocked full of season-stretching shenanigans (the double shantays, weeks without eliminations, bringing back eliminated queens, THE CHOCOLATE BARS). However, what transpired during this week’s Snatch Game warrants some special circumstances. In countless seasons, All Stars twists and international iterations, we have seen a wide range of Snatch Game performances, from the sublime to the “romper room bullsh*t,” but never has a Snatch felt so disappointing. Without question, this was the hands-down worst Snatch Game in herstory. Yes, even worse than the bizarre season four car crash that managed to mangle impressions of Beyoncé, Snooki, Diana Ross and Lady Gaga. It has been a hotly-contested season, with several strong contenders regularly one-upping each other, especially when it comes to comedy challenges. Willow and Bosco are clever, DeJa and Camden serve theatricality, and Jasmine and Angeria have the potential to get laughs without really trying. Daya commits to everything she does, and Ru has a soft spot for Jorgeous. All signs were pointing toward a killer Snatch Game. Instead, we got seven losers. How did we get here? A lack of any drama or tensions with the queens’ Snatch choices after Ru’s visit should have been my first indication something was amiss. We head into the game with all the gals feeling fairly confident in their first choices. Our players include RuPaul regular (and Ru’s personal makeup artist) Raven. She’s playing against actress (and soon-to-be Powerpuff Girl) Dove Cameron. The latter is especially great this episode, volleying best she can with the queens during Snatch and offering (much needed) criticism later. In fact, she likely gave the true best performance of the night. RuPaul’s Drag Race serves the worst Snatch in her story. But our queens? Universally bad. Even the winner! After weeks of strong performances, DeJa finally gets her win. (Talk about winning an ugly dog contest … ) DeJa is undoubtedly the best of the night, but that’s paltry praise indeed. Her choice to portray Lil Jon is smart, and DeJa nails his look. In terms of character work, DeJa does exactly what you expect. She punctuates the show with YEAH! and references to the A-T-L. It’s solid, but it’s missing a joke beyond the shallow silliness. And that was the best! It only gets worse from here. Despite DeJa’s one-note performance, at least the note was in tune. The same can’t be said for Angeria, whose bold choice to play Tammie Brown starts out promising enough. Unfortunately, Angeria knows exactly one mannerism and voice for Tammie, an oddball queen with at least 1,000 of each. What she has isn’t bad, but there’s just not enough of it. She fails to reference some of Tammie’s most iconic lines. (How dare she neglect, “Come on Teletubby, teleport us to Mars!“) Had she not told us, I think most viewers — even diehard Drag Race fans — would struggle to identify Tammie from this performance. Lady Camden decides to do a gender-bending Shakespeare with a naughty side, which, again, on paper, sounds perfect! What we get instead is Blu Hydrangea’s Austin Powers inside Powerpuff Girls villain HIM. (Maybe it was a promotional tie-in?) The weirdness alone should be enough to sell it, but the problem is Camden struggles at every turn to integrate her humor into the game itself. It leads to awkward moments, like when she answers a prompt, “Even [Prince Harry’s] BLANK has a red carpet” with a convoluted poem that leads us to believe she’s going to say “F***” but instead says “Fairytale.” I mean, ok. That’s a fine joke, maybe even a good one by this show’s comedy standards, but it doesn’t really make sense, does it? Neither F*** nor “fairytale” complete that sentence in any kind of satisfying way. Without that, it just seems a bit random. The other gals also struggle to merge their visions for their characters with the game at hand. Jasmine Kennedie begins the game at a disadvantage with inexplicable hair and makeup choices for Betsy DeVos. By all means, DRAG HER ASS, but it just doesn’t read. She also leans too hard on literal Betsyisms about reading the Bible and not preparing for briefings. (For an all-time great Betsy DeVos sendup, I simply must recommend comedian Jo Firestone on The Tonight Show. I wish Jasmine borrowed from this kooky approach instead.) DeJa as Lil Jon, Angeria as Tammie Brown and Jasmine as Betsy DeVos on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Speaking of Brooklyn comedians, Jorgeous has an inpsired pick in Broad City‘s Ilana Glazer. It’s a great choice, because she is someone familiar to Ru (Mama Ru appeared in several episodes during Broad City‘s run), she has a ton of unique mannerisms, and we’ve never seen anyone like her in Snatch before. It’s a hip, young pick for a hip, young queen. I like it. Jorgeous clearly is familiar with Ilana’s work, and she comes prepared with a few tricks in her [nature’s] pocket. We knew this would be a difficult challenge for Jorgeous, and it’s not long before she’s clearly struggling to weave her prepared jokes into the game format. Once the wheels start coming off, she gets in her head and fizzles out. Daya decides to do Ozzy Osbourne, and it’s fine. She does the requisite joke about biting heads off stuff, but then spends the rest of the game duplicating Bosco’s answers. It’s not like the answers were so original, so it’s possible they just land on the same, obvious thought. Regardless, considering Bosco’s own struggles, she’s not the queen whose paper I’d be cheating off of. To her credit, Bosco at least comes in with a solid plan. She’s going to skewer Gwyneth Paltrow’s ridiculous GOOP content and products. OK! There’s a lot there to work with, and Bosco tries her hardest with all of it, including one of Gwyneth’s vagina candles, as well as a large jug filled with a viscous substance and label featuring a … creative … spelling of “kombucha.” It all feels like variations on the same mediocre joke. But even one mediocre joke is more than Willow lands. I save her for last, because she is the most disappointing. From the first episode of the season, Willow established herself as one the most inventive and hilarious queens. She clearly has an encyclopedic knowledge of art and pop culture. This should have been right up her alley! It feels like a case of a queen picking a celeb she admires too much. Maybe Willow’s love of Drew Barrymore kept her from “taking the piss out,” as they say across the pond. Willow has Drew’s mannerisms down, and she gives her a little bit of a ditzy, new-agey vibe, but no more than the ditzy, new-agey vibe Drew usually has on her talk show. It’s so frustrating to think what Willow could have done had she just layered on one more idea: Drew Barrymore on mushrooms, Drew Barrymore after three coffee enemas, Drew Barrymore struggling to maintain her sunny disposition in the face of a pandemic, #MeToo, racism, late-stage capitalism and the pressures of a Wordle streak, something! The result of all these middling impressions is a chillingly laughless Snatch Game. As it drags on, you can feel the panic settling in. It’s hard to watch, but impossible to look away from. We are watching herstory, one way or another. Judging isn’t quite the bloodbath it could be. At one point Ru tells Jorgeous not to be so hard on herself, because they were all equally bad. She’s not wrong! Michelle turns the mainstage into a crime scene, investigating exactly what went down on the night this Snatch Game was murdered. DeJa gets heaps of praise for a Snatch that was no better than fine, and she she is eventually given the win she’s been so deserving of (even if this wasn’t her most-deserving week). As for the remaing seven, Ru declares them all (rightfully) in the bottom. She also demands to see them all lip sync … but tonight. Instead, next week, we’ll have a Lip Sync LollapaRuza to determine who will go home. That means we are without an elimination yet again, but I’m OK with it! Considering how fantastically this season’s queens flopped the Snatch, a single — or even double elimination — doesn’t feel appropriate. This also adds a ton of drama, because a lip sync challenge favors Jorgeous and Jasmine, two queens who would otherwise be considered our bottom gals. As Mama Ru once said, I can’t wait to see how this turns out. How did this disaster shake up our rankings? Find out below, and leave your rankings in the comments! 1. I do not feel good about Willow‘s chances to hold on to this top spot next week. We know she’s a choreographer, and her opening talent was technically a lip sync, but up against Jorgeous? Jasmine? Willow’s Drew Barrymore wasn’t the worst on stage tonight, but it still stung to see such a funny queen crash and burn like that. Luckily, she did turn it out on the runway in Holy Couture. It was a loose interpretation, but I’ll buy she “worships” mushrooms. I appreciated her explanation of how mushrooms helped her face death (especially after watching the great Netflix doc Fantastic Fungi), but, more importantly, it was really beautiful. That’s it, mushrooms are officially gay now. Sorry, that’s just science. 2. Thank the good lordt for Angeria‘s stunning church lady couture, because I rebuke her Tammie Brown in the name of the father, son and House of Gucci. It was barely Tammie (and barely comprehensible). We haven’t seen Angeria lip sync for her life, but her talent show performance displayed a ton of energy and panache. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s unlikely we see Angie go home next week. 3. Unlike some other queens who just didn’t know what they were doing up there, Bosco had a vision and executed what she planned. It just wasn’t very funny. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than someone like Jorgeous or Camden, whose half-baked ideas never really materialize fully enough to truly fail. It does seem like a fluke misstep, but it could not have come at a worse time or during a more important challenge. Bosco’s naughty nun runway was striking, and the cloven hooves were a nice touch, but I worry Michelle is gonna come calling for all those bikinis and panties on the runway. 4. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for DeJa‘s performance this week, she did clearly win. I’m glad to see her getting recognized and mixing it up with the other top queens. She looked beautiful on the runway, dressed as she described as “Joan Jett of Arc.” (I got a little more Florence Welch from it, personally.) 5. DeJa’s gain is Lady Camden‘s loss, though. After a few strong weeks, Camden is back to treading water. Her Shakespeare was about 70 percent of a good idea that just need a bit more time and thought to come together. She looked great, and she gave it her all, but it just did not work. Compounding matters, her runway this week missed several marks. I get it. If Willow gets to worship mushrooms, Camden gets to worship the Spice Girls, but at a certain point we’re losing the point. Worse yet, Camden is getting a reputation for being “off-the-rack” and “costumey.” Will her dance skills be enough to save her next week? 6. I have to imagine next week is the week Daya really cracks. She’s been slowly simmering with resentment all season. The pressure of a failed Snatch and a lip sync for your life sudden death competition will likely be the point where she goes full villain, and, frankly, I can’t wait. Don’t be surprised to see a “shocking” elimination next week come at the expense of Daya Betty, out-danced (and out-charmed) by the other queens. 7. Jorgeous has the opposite problem as Daya. Jorgeous has not been doing well in the competition, but I still want to keep her around, because she is so likable. (Unlike Daya, whom I’m tired of seeing scowling on my screen, even if she is performing well.) As a Broad City fan, I knew what she was trying to do, but she just did not know when to do it. As a marijuana fan, I loved Jorgeous on the runway. Given the pint-sized queen’s dancing ability, I like her chances to survive next week. 8. Speaking of likability, I’ve really come around on Jasmine Kennedie, as well. I really appreciate her sort of Alyssa Edwards-esque silliness, which is why it was so disappointing to see her locked into these Betsy DeVos soundbites. I would rather see Jasmine try to portray someone she knows NOTHING about. Like Jorgeous, Jasmine is going into next week with an advantage, so don’t be surprised to see her skate by another week. Catch up on our RuPaul’s Drag Race coverage. View the full article

Published by Reuters LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co is pausing all political donations in Florida after an employee outcry over legislation that would limit LGBTQ discussion in schools, Chief Executive Bob Chapek said in a memo to employees on Friday. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; editing by Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump cannot countersue E. Jean Carroll, a writer who says he raped her in the mid-1990s, on the ground her defamation lawsuit against him violated a New York state law intended to protect free speech, a federal judge ruled on Friday. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said a ruling for the former U.S. president would needlessly cause further delays for Carroll’s lawsuit, which began in November 2019. He also accused Trump of engaging in “bad faith” to prevent Carroll, 78, from pursuing a case that could have been decided long ago. “The defendant’s litigation tactics, whatever their intent, have delayed the case to an extent that readily could have been far less,” Kaplan wrote. Letting Trump countersue “would make a regrettable situation worse,” he added. A lawyer for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York: editing by Grant McCool) View the full article

Published by DPA The logo of Facebook is pictured at the Gamescom video games fair. Facebook is relaxing its rules on calls for violence, creating a partial exception when the proposed target is Russian troops in Ukraine. Christophe Gateau/dpa Facebook is relaxing its rules on calls for violence, creating a partial exception when the proposed target is Russian troops in Ukraine. As an example of an exception for statements that would normally have violated guidelines, a spokesperson for Facebook’s parent company, Meta, cited the phrase “Death to the Russian invaders” late on Thursday. “We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” the spokesperson wrote on Twitter. The relaxation only applies to users in some countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Hungary, The New York Times wrote. Many Ukrainians have been venting their anger on Facebook amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which started two weeks ago. Russian parliamentary leader Vyacheslav Volodin said the move would have to be examined by the Russian prosecutor’s office, the TASS news agency reported. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned that there could be “decisive measures” taken against Meta services if the calls to violence are not blocked. Facebook is blocked in Russia, while other Meta services, such as WhatsApp and Instagram, are still functioning. View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Apple Inc Chief Executive Office Tim Cook raised concern on Thursday over LGBTQ laws in the United States, mainly those focused on young people that opponents refer to as “don’t say gay” legislation. Florida lawmakers recently passed a Republican-backed bill prohibiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for many young students. The legislation has stirred national controversy amid an increasingly partisan debate over what schools should teach children about race and gender. “As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, I am deeply concerned about laws being enacted across the country, particularly those focused on our vulnerable youth,” Cook said on Twitter. Walt Disney Co’s Bob Chapek is another chief executive to voice his disappointment about the LGBTQ legislation. Another case that has stirred corporate concern about LGBTQ rights is that of a Texas judge who recently issued an order blocking the state from investigating the parents of a 16-year-old transgender girl for providing her with gender-affirming medical treatments. Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the treatments are “child abuse” and the state has appealed against the judge’s order. Major U.S. tech firms, including Alphabet Inc’s Google, Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc and Apple are among more than 60 companies that have opposed equating gender-affirming treatment with child abuse by putting their names to an ad that will run in Texas on Friday, according to Axios. Google, Microsoft, Apple and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Robert Birsel) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Jussie Smollettwas sentenced to 30 months’ probation with the first 150 days to be spent in Cook County Jail. The sentencing was finally revealed three months after the actor was found guilty in December of lying to police in connection to a hate crime that was ultimately determined to be a hoax. Mega Smollett reportedly stood up after sentencing and stated over and over, “I am NOT suicidal … I am innocent … if anything happens to me when I go in there I did not do it to myself.” The 39-year-old disgraced actor appeared at Chicago’s Cook County Courthouse on Thursday in anticipation of his sentencing after he was found guilty on five counts of felony disorderly conduct for lying to police about, what he claimed at the time, was a racist and homophobic hate crime against him by two brothers in Chicago on January 29, 2019. Smollett was also charged with a sixth count of felony disorderly conduct for lying to a detective in the weeks following the “attack,” but the actor was ultimately acquitted on the sixth count. Prior to Judge James Linn’s sentencing of the convicted actor on Thursday, Smollett was facing up to three years in prison for the five counts of lying to police. Although Smollett was potentially facing three years behind bars, legal experts reported at the time that they thought it was highly unlikely he would see time in prison due to his previously clean criminal record and the fact that the charges against him were of non-violent nature. Mega As Radar reported, the whole chronicle of Smollett’s hate crime hoax started when he claimed he was attacked by two masked men wearing MAGA hats who shouted both homophobic and racist slurs at him near his residence in Chicago. When the Chicago police showed up at his home, Smollett also reportedly had a noose around his neck. But when the former Empire actor’s trial started in November, his story quickly started falling apart, and although he adamantly denied he lied to police regarding the hate crime, the jury ultimately had enough evidence to determine he lied to authorities over what truly transpired on that January 2019 night. Mega “Mr. Smollett, when on that witness stand, took an oath he was going to tell the truth, and he made many, many false statements to you. He lied under oath to you as jurors,” prosecutor Dan Webb said during closing arguments. Actor Jussie Smollett sentenced to 150 days in jail and probation, beginning immediately, and shouts as he is led from court Published by Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — At the conclusion of a three-year firestorm of allegations he faked a hate crime attack on himself, Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 30 months of probation Thursday for his conviction in the hoax — and he must spend the first 150 days of the sentence in Cook County Jail. After the sentence, Smollett stood up and stated over and over in court that he is not suicidal and that he is innocent. “If anything happens to me when I go in there I did not do it to myself,” he said. “I am not suicidal!” he repeatedly yelled as he was led from court, raising a fist in the air. While special prose… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega Kevin Spacey has failed to convince a judge to dismiss the lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp — and the two will be heading to trial this fall. According to court documents obtained by Radar, a federal judge in New York has set a trial date for October 4, 2022. In the suit, Rapp claims that a then 26-year-old Spacey sexually assaulted him at his apartment when he was only 14. Rapp says the actor invited him over to his pad for a party. In court docs, he claims the Hollywood star came on to him by grabbing his backside without permission. Rapp says Spacey proceeded to lift him on a bed and got on top without consent. Rapp says the entire situation caused him extreme emotional distress that he carries to this day. Spacey originally responded to the lawsuit with a public statement claiming he had no recollection of the incident but apologized admitting it could have been drunken behavior. mega “I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years,” he said. In court, Spacey hired an expert who wrote a report claiming Rapp fabricated the allegations in an effort to be a part of the #MeToo movement. mega In his recent attempt to dismiss the claims, Spacey filed a declaration under oath stating, “I categorically deny [Rapp’s] claim that I sexually assaulted him or otherwise made a “sexual advance” on him.” “I met [Rapp] several decades ago. I never had a sexual encounter with Mr. Rapp. Nor did I harbor any sexual interest or desire in Mr. Rapp at that time or any time,” he said. The judge clearly believes a jury should make a determination on the facts. The filing notes the trial is expected to last 2 weeks or less. Spacey and Rapp are both set to take the stand and testify. mega View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Dawn French admitted she didn’t like “posh” Jennifer Saunders when they first met. The ‘Vicar of Dibley’ star confessed to not taking immediately to her future ‘French and Saunders’ double act partner, 64, at drama school in the 70s but soon became such good friends they “sort of in love”. Speaking to the ‘Finding the Funny’ podcast, the 64-year-old comic told Ange and Ruth Corden: “I didn’t really like Jen that much at the very beginning because she’s quite posh, or I thought she was but she’s not really. She had a whole friendship group of way out of my league sort of people, and then I had to share a flat with her. “But as soon as I got rid of my prejudice about her, which I still have to this day – prejudice against posh people, they have to prove their worth to me – I thought, ‘She’s actually great.'” “We were just children together, enjoyed showing off for each other, and were sort of in love, really. Because we were friends first and this career came as a result of that we have been very careful to make sure the friendship is what is preserved.” Jennifer and Dawn will be reuniting for the Comic Relief, the charity pioneered by Dawn’s ex Lenny Henry, 64 – and the father of their daughter Billie, 31, – a gig she “wouldn’t ever want to let anyone down”. Dawn said: ‘I know that the money is spent correctly and I know that there are projects that are ongoing that need us to be ongoing and I wouldn’t ever want to let anyone down.” “So I think the more that we can do to boost and support, the better!” The funny gals will be spoofing the BBC One show ‘The Repair Shop’, which the ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ star labelled as the “perfect thing” for them to parody. Jennifer added: “As I watched The Repair Shop, I thought all I could ever see was these characters going into The Repair Shop, or me and Dawn, pretending to mend something or imitating the characters. You know, I just thought, this is the show for us.’ “Then Comic Relief said we’ve got The Repair Shop and it was like the perfect thing. It was so perfect!” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lisa Rinna congratulated her husband Harry Hamlin for securing his first major studio film in 40 years. The ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ star gushed about her “stud” 70-year-old husband and his latest professional success. On Instagram, the 58-year-old reality television personality wrote: “I’d like to share a little story about my husband. 40 years ago he started in a Movie for @20thcenturystudios called Making Love. “It was the first gay love story controversial and groundbreaking. 40 years later Harry just got his first Studio movie.” “He hasn’t worked for a MAJOR film studio in 40 years. Talk about Tenacity and standing your ground and risk-taking and being a f- – – ing Stud!!! I’m so blessed and honored to be able to call myself his wife. Congrats Harry Hamlin!!!!!!!” Lisa – who shares two daughters, the fashion models Delilah Belle, 23, and Amelia Gray, 20, with Harry – teased that his as-yet-unnamed co-star was something special in the as-yet-unnamed project. She said: “ps wait until you hear who he is starting in the new movie with.” Harry – who in the 1982 movie played Bart McGuire, who begins an affair with a married doctor, played by Michael Ontkean, 76 – has appeared in Lifetime movies and many television series since the movie, such as ‘Mad Men’, ‘Shameless’ ‘Glee’, along with making cameos on the Bravo reality franchise that his wife stars in. Last month, Harry – who also has son Dimitri, 40, with his ex Ursula Andress, 85 – claimed that he and Lisa were able to mark 25 years of marriage because they were “diametrically opposed”. He said: “[The secret is] being diametrically opposite. I like going up to the mountains, and her idea of camping is anything below the 10th floor of the Four Seasons.” View the full article