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Published by DPA Rescue workers carry a wounded person in front of a multi-storey residential building that was hit by a rocket during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. -/Official Facebook page of Ukrainian State Emergency Service/dpa From the war in Ukraine, to refugees arriving in neighbouring European countries, to global anti-Putin demonstrations, dpa International presents its Pictures of the Week. A Ukrainian soldier stands guard on a road in Kiev amid the Russian invasion of Ukrain. Diego Herrera/EUROPA PRESS/dpa Rescuers carry a wounded person on a stretcher near Kharkiv city hall as they respond to shelling by Russian troops. -/Ukrinform/dpa Ukrainian firefighters work at the crash site of a Ukraine military An-26 transport aircraft that was shot down by Russian forces during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. -/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa A firefighter sits in the vicinity of a civilian building in Kiev after it was hit by a Russian rocket amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Diego Herrera/EUROPA PRESS/dpa A body lies next to a tank on the outskirts of Kharkiv on the third day of the Russian attacks on Ukraine. -/Ukrinform/dpa Residents prepare Molotov cocktails to be sent to the frontlines amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. -/Ukrinform/dpa Ukrainian military equipment are seen destroyed during hostilities with the Russian army in Bucha. -/Ukrinform/dpa Ukrainian soldiers transport military equipment amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Diego Herrera/EUROPA PRESS/dpa A burnt-out car is seen on a street in Kharkiv after shelling by Russian troops. -/Ukrinform/dpa A nurse covers medical equipment for protection in Kramatorsk city hospital, amid the Russian invasion of Ukrain. Andriy Andriyenko/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Workers place sandbags in front of the window in Kramatorsk city hospital to protect against Russian attacks. Andriy Andriyenko/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Soldiers and volunteers fill sandbags to build barricades at Maidan square for protection against Russian attacks. Diego Herrera/EUROPA PRESS/dpa Civilians cross a destroyed bridge in Irpin. The Ukrainian front decided to shell the bridge as it is the direct way for the Russian convoy coming from Belarus to storm the capital. Diego Herrera/EUROPA PRESS/dpa A man walks in front of a destroyed bridge in Irpin. The Ukrainian front decided to shell the bridge as it is the direct way for the Russian convoy coming from Belarus to storm the capital. Diego Herrera/EUROPA PRESS/dpa People board a bus at a border crossing between Poland and Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing from Ukraine to the neighbouring countries due to the Russian invasion. Alejandro Martínez Vélez/EUROPA PRESS/dpa Refugees from Ukraine look for suitable clothes provided by Polish citizens in the Polish border area after crossing from Shehyni in Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing from Ukraine to the neighbouring countries due to the Russian invasion. Michael Kappeler/dpa A woman cries next to a girl from Ukraine at the Polish border area after crossing into Poland. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing from Ukraine to the neighbouring countries due to the Russian invasion. Michael Kappeler/dpa Pro-Ukrainian protestors hold placards during a protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gina M Randazzo/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa A refugee from Ukraine waits for transportation at Przemysl station after crossing into Poland. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing from Ukraine to the neighbouring countries due to the Russian invasion. Bryan Smith/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Refugees arrive from Ukraine at the Przemysl train station. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing from Ukraine to the neighbouring countries due to the Russian invasion. Alejandro Martínez Vélez/EUROPA PRESS/dpa A mother and daughter kiss upon arrival from Ukraine at the Przemysl train station. Hundreds of thousands are fleeing from Ukraine to the neighbouring countries due to the Russian invasion. Alejandro Martínez Vélez/EUROPA PRESS/dpa People take part in a demonstration outside the Russian Embassy at Kensington Palace Gardens, to denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Jonathan Brady/PA Wire/dpa People march in front of the Brandenburg Gate during a demonstration under the slogan “Stop the war! Peace for Ukraine and all Europe” against the Russian attack on Ukraine. Kay Nietfeld/dpa People hold placards and Ukrainian flags during g a demonstration to denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Wenceslas Square in Prague. Øíhová Michaela/CTK/dpa People take part in a candle vigil to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion. Florian Wieser/APA/dpa People take part in an anti-war protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ana Fernandez/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen applauds as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses members of the European Parliament via video conference during an extraordinary plenary session of the European Parliament on the situation in Ukraine after the Russian invasion. Philippe Buissin/EU Parliament/dpa The Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva walk out of the hall during the screening of the pre-recorded speech of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. Jean Marc Ferré/UN Photo/dpa Volunteers at the Klub Orla Bialego (White Eagle Club), sift through donations made by members of the public, prior to their aid convoy setting off to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. Aaron Chown/PA Wire/dpa A protester is seen with her face painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag during a demonstration at the Lumphini park against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa View the full article

Published by AFP Brittney Griner (L) of the US professional team the Phoenix Mercury has been identified as the American athlete being held in Moscow on drug charges Washington (AFP) – US basketball authorities said Saturday that an American star basketball player being held in Moscow on narcotics charges is two-time Olympic champion Brittney Griner. The arrest came as tensions between Moscow and the West have soared over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian Federal Customs Service said in a statement that an inspection of hand luggage carried by a US citizen who arrived on a flight from New York in February “confirmed the presence of ‘vapes’ (and) a liquid with a specific smell”. It said an expert had determined that the liquid was the narcotic cannabis oil (hash oil). The statement did not identify the jailed woman but said she was “a member of the US National Basketball Association, a two-time Olympic basketball champion in the US team”. The customs service said the detained woman faces a potential jail term of five to 10 years. US basketball authorities made clear that the woman was all-star Griner. USA Basketball, the sport’s governing body in the US, said on Twitter that it was “aware of and closely monitoring the legal situation facing Brittney Griner in Russia.” It added: “Brittney has always handled herself with the utmost professionalism during her long tenure with USA Basketball and her safety and well-being are our primary concerns.” Griner, who is 31, is a seven-time all-star center for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team issued a statement echoing the language of USA Basketball and adding, “We love and support Brittney, and at this time our main concern is her safety, physical and mental health, and her safe return home.” At 6-feet-9 (2.06 meters), she is the only woman in US college history to score 2,000 points and block 500 shots. Many WNBA athletes spend the American off-season playing in European leagues, including the Russian and Ukrainian leagues. View the full article

RuPaul’s Drag Race tackles the art of the con this week.RuPaul’s Drag Race Back and DragCon Forth Somehow, RuPaul’s Drag Race is tricking me into recapping panels from DragCon. Not a satire of panels at DragCon. Not a send-up of con panels or wink-wink taking the piss out of the global Drag Race corporate machine. No, instead, on this week’s RuPaul’s Drag Race, we just get to … sit through two panels featuring Drag Race queens discussing men. There are jokes, sure, but no more than you would get at any decent panel. It’s not bad, but is it TV? Convention panels are deep dives for passionate fans, but there’s not a lot of sizzle, not a lot of flash. It’s usually a hastily erected stage in front of the world’s ugliest and most uncomfortable chairs in a nondescript hotel conference room. Who goes to a drag show to see a TEDTalk? What’s frustrating is that the perfect twist is right there. The worst part of any panel at any con is always when they open the floor to questions from the audience. Socially-stunted STANs line up and give long, meandering preambles to questions designed only to showcase their own creepy level of knowledge. Yeah, Bosco and Willow can write a joke. We know. But let’s see them react in real-time to questions from Ru, Michelle, eliminated queens, real Drag Con attendees, whatever. They’ve done DragCon challenges before, but those panels focused on drag skills, required a demo and included audience questions. (Plus, it gave us “proportionizing.”) This is closer to the conversations the gals used to have in a final-three podcast episode or RuPaul Tic Tac lunch. The queens give vulnerable, personal answers alongside some pre-written zingers. They’re good panels, but just panels nonetheless. RuPaul’s Drag Race queens get bombed with Hollywood hunks.The theme of the week is “menzeses.” I originally read this as “menses” and assumed this would be a challenge to put on a grade-school appropriate workshop about going through the change, first periods, our bodies, ourselves, etc. Sort of like a special Drag Queen story hour featuring “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” Doesn’t that sound like fun? Instead, both panels play out like a merciful episode of the fictitious podcast X, Y and Me from And Just Like That (with, thankfully, 100 percent less Che Diaz). That’s the tone. BombCyclone the Men — It’s Raining Queens Willow gains an early advantage by winning a mini-challenge that tasks the queens with photobombing some of Hollywood’s hottest men(zeses). The win gives her the opportunity to choose her own team, and she chooses wisely. She picks DeJa, Camden and Angeria, all strong competitors. It makes sense to avoid the increasingly toxic Daya Betty, the rambling Jasmine Kennedie and Jorgeous, who lacks confidence speaking. But what about Bosco? Did Willow want to avoid another group challenge paired with Bosco, or was she trying to stick one of her strongest competitors with all the deadweight? Whatever the strategy, it works. Willow’s group is easy, breezy on the panel. Willow’s second genius move is to delegate moderating to DeJa. This allows Willow to punctuate the conversation with quick quips and well-crafted answers. She speaks about her medical condition, feeling more confident in drag and lands punchline after punchline. DeJa still shines, as well. As moderator, she seamlessly transitions between segments and keeps the convo moving. Angeria and Camden are charming, but it’s clear Willow and DeJa are the standouts. Bosco is a star in this week’s RuPaul’s Drag Race. Lewk and Glisten Challenge Despite some shaky moments, the other team isn’t hard to watch. Bosco absolutely slays the role moderator, infusing a little twisted humor into her hosting. She makes every word count, while still steering the conversation. Her hilarious, effortless performance snags her this week’s win. Her teammate Daya also acquits herself nicely here. Daya’s standout moment is a cute anecdote about WWE, and I’m just glad to have some company in the Venn diagram of RuPaul’s Drag Race watchers and WWE fans. Clearly in her head, Jasmine makes some, as Tatianna would say, “choices.” First she chooses a lewk the judges HATE. They rip on it endlessly for making the young, vibrant queen look like an aged magician. That’s some pretty harsh criticism, but it’s not unwarranted. After weeks of being berated for talking too much, Jasmine is obviously trying to rein it in and share the stage (a key part of the challenge). Jorgeous stumbles over her words a bit and never seems to fully recover. She doesn’t totally wipeout, but the nerves are on full display. After a pleasing shoulder pad runway (more on the lewks in the rankings), Angeria and Camden are declared safe. The judges praise DeJa’s moderating ability and love her take on a Chanel suit with oversized shoulder pads, it’s just not enough to overcome Bosco’s slamdunk. Even though Michelle isn’t wowed with Bosco’s outfit (and even though I am outraged no one mentioned Jubilee from the X-Men even once), Bosco’s win is undeniable. Lipsync Got a Hold On Me That leaves Jasmine and Jorgeous in the bottom, and, honey, it is everything you expect. The dancing divas tear up the stage for Etta James’ “Something Got a Hold On Me.” They are both instantly clicked-in, nailing the lyrics, facials and timing. It’s also one of those lip syncs that feels more like a duet, and I love that. The whole thing is such a blast, Mama Ru decides to keep them both. That’s right! It’s a double-shantay. So, we’ve brought back two eliminated queens and skipped a week without eliminations. Is this RuPaul’s Drag Race or RuPaul’s Leisurely Drag Stroll? Let’s put the pedal to the metal here! Maybe business will pick up next week with Snatch Game. The teaser gives a lot away in terms of who is playing whom, and let’s just say there are a lot of picks that can go either way. I’ll toss some stray thoughts in the rankings below. Let us know who you think is pulling ahead before next week’s Snatch in the comments! Willow’s on top Willow‘s winning ways continue. I did find it odd that such a ridiculous mini-challenge would yield such a powerful reward. Did Willow really earn that privilege with a demonstrably better photo than the other girls? Really, Willow didn’t even need the leg-up. She was great in the panel, coming off casual while still delivering expert pre-written punchlines. It was surprising to see her so clearly misunderstand the assignment on the runway, though. Luckily, her excellent taste prevailed, shoulders be damned. The teaser for next week is meant to have us believe she’s going to struggle in Snatch Game as Drew Barrymore, but I think it might be a misdirect.It had to be a tough decision to put either Angeria or DeJa in the top this week. While Angie misses out on top marks this week, it was not for lack of trying. I’ve got no notes to improve her performance on the panel; she just didn’t make as big of an impression as her teammates. Her runway was also a stunner, head-to-toe houndstooth the house down. Next week, she tries her hand at *checks notes* … RuPaul’s Drag Race season one oddball Tammie Brown? Is this crazy … or is it so crazy, it just might werk?Do not sleep on Miss Bosco, mama. She is picking up steam at exactly the right time, and she has managed to work her unique point of view into every challenge. It’s unclear whom she’s portraying in next week’s Snatch Game, but it’s definitely a blonde. I actually really dug her iridescent undies under that jacket, but how you gonna go up there in a yellow raincoat, blue gloves, big sunglasses and not make a joke about a mall babe eating chilli fries?Was Lady Camden‘s Blake Lively/Shelton gaffe scripted? Or did she legit forget his name? Either way, it was the only notable part of her performance on the panel. The Nutcracker runway was cute, but she’s always teetering just on the edge of costume. Next week, she’s brining William Shakespeare to Snatch Game, which is a huge swing that could either really pay off or completely tank her.This was Deja‘s best week. She was such an affable hostess, and she made sure she didn’t just manage the conversation, she contributed, too. Her Chanel-style suit was a great runway, and it addressed the brief better than anything else on stage. For Snatch, DeJa is taking a risk as rapper Lil Jon. It strikes me as the kind of character that could be one note (“YEAH! WHAT?!”) and quickly devolve into some season four Romper Room bullsh*t.Daya Betty has become so unlikable, she’s hard to watch. It feels like the other queens don’t even want to be around her, and, frankly, neither do I. Everything she did this week was … fine. It was fine. I just find myself rooting against her, because she’s harshing the vibe! In at least the third male character in next week’s Snatch, Daya is performing as Ozzy Osbourne. I’m predicting some sort of bat-biting, and maybe a quick change into Sharon.I’m not surprised to see Jasmine whiff this week, especially considering how so much of this season has been devoted to Jasmine’s struggles with group conversation. However, Jasmine also has the potential to turn a deficiency into a moment of Alyssa Edwards brilliance. (Remember her Southern accent in The Daytona Wind?) I’m giving her a slight edge over Jorgeous this week, because I think he has the potential to slay Snatch, even if it’s by sort of accident.Jorgeous gonna Jorgeous. We know what she’s good at, she knows what she’s good at, but when she is out of her comfort zone, she is not going to surprise you. She performed exactly as expected in the panel and exactly as expected in the outstanding lip sync. It’s not easy to tell whom Jorgeous is portraying next week, but I can’t see it going well for her. Being quick-witted and speaking confidently in character (or otherwise) are just not this queen’s strong suit. I fear Snatch will be her ultimate undoing.What did you think of last night’s episode? Catch up on our RuPaul’s Drag Race coverage. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Paris Jackson is spilling all about her stay at a behavior modification school where she claims doctors and psychiatrists handed out addictive medication “like candy.” Mega Jackson told LVR Magazine that she suffered from PTSD due to her experiences at boarding school. The daughter of late pop icon Michael Jackson went into great detail on how she would beg psychiatrists at the school to stop giving “behavior medications” to every student that showed a sense of disorder – among several other claims. Paris Jackson’s Rocker Boyfriend Cleans Up His Act To Save Her The 23-year-old attended a private school for three years after her father passed away before being sent to the Utah boarding school in question. She only spent three years at the correction facility but claims to be the most traumatizing thing to happen to her. Paris Jackson’s Med Fueled Meltdown! Singer Misses Tour Date Due To ‘Mystery Illness’ Mega Jackson accuses the “unconventional” school of lying to student’s parents so they “wouldn’t be alarmed when if their kids called to complain.” “If a kid decides to call their parents and say, ‘Please get me out of here,’ the center will likely hang up the phone and call the parents back to say, ‘Don’t listen to them, they are manipulating you, doing everything they can to get out of here.” The school allegedly would medicate the students without vetting the parents at all. “There should be a better vetting process [in everything] — before you medicate — or something even more dangerous, like selling a gun — you should vet them,” Jackson proclaimed. “It’s important in all kinds of situations. It could be as simple as a job, or as complicated as medicine or a weapon.” “Psychiatrists hand out addictive medication like candy without really vetting the patient,” she alleges. “There is no harm in vetting.” Mega Jackson didn’t clarify whether or not she herself was medicated but she claimed to be traumatized by what she DID experience within the walls of the school. She goes on to detail how the school avoided legal trouble, “There are a lot of things at play in those schools. They can shut down and reopen under a different name to avoid lawsuits, and it depends on how state laws work.” View the full article

Published by Reuters LONDON (Reuters) – Russia’s Foreign Ministry protested to the U.S. ambassador in Moscow on Saturday over remarks by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham advocating that President Vladimir Putin be assassinated. It said in a statement that failure to unambiguously condemn the remarks and take concrete measures “will have a further devastating effect on Russian-American relations”, already in tatters following Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan was summoned to the ministry to be told that Graham’s comment would be treated as a serious crime in Russia. “This is a public, terrorist appeal that is completely unacceptable,” the ministry said. Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, called on Twitter for someone in Russia to “take this guy out” – referring to Putin. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday: “We are not advocating for killing the leader of a foreign country or regime change. That is not the policy of the United States.” (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey) View the full article

Published by Reuters LONDON (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Western sanctions on Russia were akin to a declaration of war and warned that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would lead to catastrophic consequences for the world. Putin reiterated that his aims were to defend Russian- speaking communities through the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of the country so that Russia’s former Soviet neighbour became neutral and no longer threatened Russia. Ukraine and Western countries have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for the invasion he launched on Feb. 24 and have imposed a sweeping range of sanctions aimed at isolating Moscow. “These sanctions that are being imposed are akin to a declaration of war but thank God it has not come to that,” Putin said, speaking to a group of flight attendants at an Aeroflot training centre near Moscow. He said any attempt by another power to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would be considered by Russia to be a step into the military conflict. Such a step he said would have catastrophic consequences for Europe and the world. The NATO military alliance has rejected Kyiv’s request for a no-fly zone, on the grounds it would escalate the war beyond Ukraine into a far wider conflict, potentially pitting the United States against Russia. ‘GOING TO PLAN’ Asked about reports that Russian conscripts had been used in Ukraine, Putin said none had been involved and said the military operation was going to plan. “There is not one conscript and we don’t plan for there to be,” Putin said. “Our army will fulfil all the tasks. I don’t doubt that at all. Everything is going to plan.” That description was at odds with assessments from U.S. and British officials. British military intelligence said on Thursday that Russia’s advance on the Ukrainian capital had made little progress and encountered staunch resistance. Putin dismissed concerns that some sort of martial law or emergency situation could be declared in Russia. He said such a measure was imposed only when there was significant internal or external threat. “We don’t plan to introduce any kind of special regime on Russian territory – there is currently no need,” Putin said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the West was behaving like a bandit by cutting economic relations over the conflict in Ukraine but that Russia was far too big to be isolated as the world was much larger than just the United States and Europe. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Frances Kerry) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Elizabeth Culliford (Reuters) -Russia is blocking Meta Platforms Inc’s Facebook, the country’s communications regulator said on Friday, in response to what it said were restrictions on access to Russian media on the platform. The regulator, Roskomnadzor, said there had been 26 cases of discrimination against Russian media by Facebook since October 2020, including restrictions in recent days on state-backed channels like RT and the RIA news agency. The move is a major escalation in an ongoing confrontation between big tech companies and Russia, which has in recent years issued a slew of fines and hobbled services through slowdowns. The tensions have ramped up amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special operation.” Meta’s head of global affairs Nick Clegg said the company would continue to do everything it could to restore its services. “Soon millions of ordinary Russian will find themselves cut off from reliable information, deprived of their everyday ways of connecting with family and friends and silenced from speaking out,” he said, in a statement posted on Twitter. Last week, Moscow said it was partially limiting access to Facebook, a move the company said came after it refused a government request to stop the independent fact-checking of several Russian state media outlets. On Saturday, Twitter also said its service was being restricted for some Russian users. Major tech companies have faced pressure to respond to the Feb. 24 invasion, which has led to economic sanctions against Moscow by governments around the world. Russian state-run media has emerged as a key flashpoint between Moscow and social media platforms during the conflict. Meta this week said it had restricted access to RT and Sputnik across the European Union and was globally demoting content from Russian state-controlled outlets’ Facebook pages and Instagram accounts, as well as posts containing links to those outlets on Facebook. Russia has made several moves to crack down on foreign news media in recent days. It cut access to several news organizations’ websites, including the BBC, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for spreading what it says is false information about its actions in Ukraine. Meta had about 7.5 million users on Facebook in Russia as of last year and 122.2 million users across its other services, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, according to estimates from Insider Intelligence. The leading Russia-based social network VK had 63 million users, the researcher estimated. Popular VPN apps have been downloaded more than 1.3 million times in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine began, according to data from researcher AppFigures, which described the figure as a major surge. Roskomnadzor said in its statement that Meta had restricted access to the accounts of state-backed news outlets in recent days, listing RT, Sputnik, the RIA news agency, the defense ministry’s Zvezda TV and websites gazeta.ru and lenta.ru. It said such restrictions violated the key principles of freedom of information and Russian internet users’ unimpeded access to Russian media. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sharon Bernstein (Reuters) – Texas has appealed a judge’s order that blocked the state from investigating the parents of a 16-year-old transgender girl for providing her with gender-affirming medical treatments that Governor Greg Abbott says are “child abuse.” The appeal notice, first posted online by the Austin American-Statesman newspaper, seeks to overturn a temporary restraining order issued on Wednesday by Travis County District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum to halt the state’s probe of the family. Abbott last month directed the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to conduct such investigations, citing a non-binding legal opinion by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that concluded some medical treatments used to help transgender youth transition away from their birth gender could constitute child abuse. President Joe Biden on Wednesday denounced Abbott’s directive as a “cynical and dangerous campaign targeting transgender children and their parents.” Neither Paxton nor Abbott immediately responded to requests for comment from Reuters on Thursday. Paxton asked for an accelerated appeal from the state’s Third Court of Appeals. The adolescent involved was designated male at birth but identifies as female, and has taken puberty-delaying medications and hormone therapy as part of gender-affirming transitional medical care, according to the lawsuit brought by her parents. The teen’s mother is an employee of the DFPS, the same agency that has been ordered to investigate her. She was placed on leave after inquiring what the governor’s directive would mean for her family, according to the lawsuit, filed on the parents’ behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Lambda Legal. Meachum in her order on Wednesday found the family faces “imminent and ongoing deprivation of their constitutional rights, the potential loss of necessary medical care and the stigma attached to being the subject of an unfounded child abuse investigation.” The judge set a hearing for March 11 on a request for a broader injunction barring enforcement of Abbott’s order against any family in the state, though the appeal could halt that proceeding. The DFPS told Reuters on Tuesday that the agency has opened at least three child welfare inquiries subject to a Feb. 22 directive from Abbott ordering investigations of parents whose children undergo “sex change” procedures. Abbott, a Republican running this year for a third term in office, is named as a defendant in the court challenge, along with DFPS and its commissioner, Jaime Masters. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Aurora Ellis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Daniel Trotta (Reuters) – A Kentucky jury on Thursday acquitted a white former detective of endangering neighbors of Breonna Taylor during a botched raid that killed the Black woman in her home, clearing law enforcement of all criminal liability in a case that rocked the United States in 2020. Detective Brett Hankison, 45, whose stray bullets hit a neighboring apartment in the city of Louisville during the execution of a “no knock” search warrant after midnight, was the only officer charged in the case, with wanton endangerment. Hankison could be heard sobbing behind his face mask as the verdict was read three times, one for each of the occupants of the neighboring apartment, according a Court TV reporter who was in the courtroom. Relatives of Taylor who were in the gallery also wept, the reporter said. The jury deliberated for about three hours after hearing closing arguments on Thursday at the conclusion of a one-week trial at Jefferson County Circuit Court. The death of Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who was unarmed, was one in a trio of cases that fueled a summer of protests against racial injustice and police violence two years ago, when the country was reeling from the still-new coronavirus pandemic. The other cases resulted in guilty verdicts for the murders of two Black men in 2020: George Floyd in Minneapolis and Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia. Those convictions had offered a measure of justice after Black activists and victims have said their protests against racial violence were largely ignored before the advent of cellphone video. In this case, a grand jury cleared the two white officers who shot Taylor but charged Hankison for endangering neighbors in the adjacent apartment. A grand juror on the case later said Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron only presented the wanton endangerment charges against Hankison to the grand jury. That meant the only trial to result from her death hinged on whether a police officer was justified in firing his weapon upon hearing a barrage of gunfire. “Today’s decision adds to the frustration and anger of many over the inability to find more accountability for the tragic events of March 13, 2020,” Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement. “I know that for many, justice has still not been achieved.” Police wanted to search the home in connection with a drug investigation in which Taylor’s ex-boyfriend was a suspect. After police broke down Taylor’s door, her new boyfriend, fearing a break-in and saying he did not hear police identify themselves, fired one shot from and handgun that wounded an officer. That officer and another returned fire, shooting 22 times. In tearful testimony on Wednesday, Hankison said he mistakenly believed his fellow officers were coming under heavy fire. He shot 10 times from outside the apartment. “I think it was absolutely the fact that he was doing his job as a police officer,” defense attorney Stew Mathews told reporters after the verdict, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. “The jury felt like, you go out and perform your duty and your brother officer gets shot, you’ve got a right to defend yourself.” Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, left without commenting, the Courier Journal said. Taylor’s family in 2020 won a $12 million wrongful death settlement from the city of Louisville. Taylor’s death at first drew little national attention but was thrust into prominence after a Minneapolis police officer killed Floyd by pinning a knee to his neck on May 25, 2020. Around then, video surfaced showing the February 2020 shooting death of Arbery after he was chased by three white men. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering Floyd last year and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison. The three civilians charged in Arbery’s death were convicted of murder in a state trial last year. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Donna Bryson, Cynthia Osterman and Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol issued a subpoena on Thursday to Kimberly Guilfoyle, a U.S. television personality who is engaged to be married to Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of the former president. Guilfoyle, who worked on Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, abruptly ended an interview with the Select Committee on Feb. 25, criticizing House of Representatives members who were present. Her attorney issued a statement afterward saying Guilfoyle had agreed to meet only with attorneys for the Democratic-led House committee, not with members of Congress. As a result, the committee said it would issue a subpoena to compel Guilfoyle’s cooperation. The panel asked Guilfoyle to appear for a deposition on March 15. “Guilfoyle met with (former President) Donald Trump inside the White House, spoke at the rally that took place before the riot on January 6th, and apparently played a key role organizing and raising funds for that event,” Representative Bennie Thompson, committee chairman, said in a statement. In a statement, Guilfoyle’s attorney Joe Tacopina accused the committee of “an attempt to smear” Trump, his family and supporters. “She had done nothing wrong,” he said. The Select Committee is trying to establish the actions of Trump and associates before and during the assault on the Capitol by thousands of his supporters. The mobs attacked police, vandalized the building, and sent members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence running for their lives as they gathered to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory over Trump, a Republican. The Select Committee has so far interviewed more than 560 witnesses and issued more than 80 subpoenas as it probes the causes of the attack and the role played by Trump, who continues to push false claims that his election defeat by Biden was the result of fraud. Earlier on Thursday, the panel interviewed Judd Deere, a former White House spokesman who is now a Republican congressional aide. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Rami Ayyub, David Gregorio and Leslie Adler) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge have joined the cast of M. Night Shyamalan’s new film ‘Knock at the Cabin’. The pair have boarded the cast and will feature alongside Dave Bautista, Rupert Grint and Nikki Amuka-Bird. Shyamalan will write, direct and produce the thriller for Universal Pictures although plot details are being kept under lock and key. The flick is set for release in February 2023 and is the latest movie from the acclaimed filmmaker – whose previous credits include ‘The Sixth Sense’, ‘After Earth’ and ‘Old’. Groff recently starred in ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ as the villainous Agent Smith and praised co-star Keanu Reeves for his work ethic on set. The 36-year-old star said: “All of the rumours are true about Keanu’s level of work ethic. He was there training and getting ready before all of us got there. “My first day in the training tent, Keanu was in his jiu-jitsu outfit doing kicks and punches. I mean, he really sets the bar for all of us in the training.” The ‘Mindhunter’ star continued: “It was so exciting to be doing such extraordinary fight choreography with the greatest action star of our time and someone that’s so devoted to their craft. “I really tried to take in every single moment of getting to be with Keanu and I learned so much from working with him. It’s an experience I’ll hold in my heart for the rest of my life. “There’s so much trust that’s involved in these fight scenes because you’re really hitting each other, but you’re not hurting each other. So it’s great abandon matched with great precision.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Dua Lipa thinks being bullied online has made her a better artist. The ‘Levitating’ singer was widely ridiculed for a quirky dance move back in 2018 but she’s now “reclaimed” the choreography because she has a “different perspective” on the situation and can recognise how the trolling she received motivated her to “work harder”. Speaking on ‘The Tonight show Starring Jimmy Fallon’, she said: “The reason we’re talking about it is because I brought it back. I’m doing it on my tour. “I’m reclaiming it because there was a moment where it caused me a lot of grief. Like I was being bullied online. It wasn’t very nice, but now I can look at it from a different perspective. “I look back on it with such fondness because it helped me grow into the artist I wanted to become. It made me work harder. I went in, I did more rehearsal. I just wanted to become a real performer and I think that was the thing I needed.” The 26-year-old star also reflected on collaborating with Sir Elton John on ‘Cold Heart’. She said: “I’m so lucky to have so many pinch-me moments in my life.” The ‘One Kiss’ hitmaker has previously admitted online trolling left her with “anxiety” and questioning whether she was “good enough” to be a star. She said: “I experienced a s*** tonne at the end of my first record, and it was definitely something that gave me anxiety and made me upset and made me feel like I wasn’t good enough and made me feel like, maybe I’m not meant to be here and on the stage. “Even after the Grammys, some people were like, ‘Well, she doesn’t deserve it.’ “There were so many things, especially when you start out, like a video of me dancing and they’re like, ‘Ah well, she has no stage presence’ – but they’d never been to one of my shows, they’d never seen me perform.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday reinstated convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence for his role in the 2013 attack that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others, ruling in favor of the federal government. In a 6-3 decision, the justices sided with the Justice Department’s challenge to a 2020 federal appeals court ruling that had upheld Tsarnaev’s conviction but overturned his death sentence. The Supreme Court faulted the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on its findings both that Tsarnaev’s right to a fair trial under the U.S. Constitution’s Sixth Amendment was violated and that the trial judge wrongly excluded certain evidence about a separate crime. “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev committed heinous crimes. The Sixth Amendment nonetheless guaranteed him a fair trial before an impartial jury. He received one,” conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court. The court’s six conservative justices were in the majority, with its three liberals dissenting. President Joe Biden as a candidate promised to work to pass legislation in Congress to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level and set incentives for states to do as well, instead endorsing life sentences without probation or parole. But his administration last year opted to proceed with an appeal initially launched by the Justice Department under his predecessor Donald Trump to defend Tsarnaev’s death sentence. In a dissenting opinion, liberal Justice Stephen Breyer agreed with 1st Circuit that evidence about the separate crime, a 2011 triple murder in Waltham, Massachusetts linked to Tsarnaev’s older brother Tamerlan, was improperly excluded. Lawyers for Tsarnaev, who is 28 now and was 19 at the time of the attack, have argued that Tsarnaev played a secondary role in the marathon bombing to his brother, who they called “an authority figure” with “violent Islamic extremist beliefs.” As such, the evidence about another crime Tamerlan allegedly committed would be relevant, they argued. “This evidence may have led some jurors to conclude that Tamerlan’s influence was so pervasive that Dzhokhar did not deserve to die for any of the actions he took in connection with the bombings, even those taken outside of Tamerlan’s presence,” Breyer wrote. “And it would have taken only one juror’s change of mind to have produced a sentence other than death, even if a severe one,” added Breyer, who in the past has questioned the constitutionality of the death penalty. The primary source of the evidence about the other murders, a man named Ibragim Todashev, was killed by an FBI agent in 2013 when he attacked officers during an interview. The Supreme Court also found that U.S. District Judge George O’Toole, who presided over the trial, did not violate Tsarnaev’s right to a trial in front of an impartial jury by failing to properly screen jurors for potential bias following pervasive news coverage of the bombings. CONVICTED ON ALL COUNTS The Tsarnaev brothers detonated two homemade pressure-cooker bombs at the marathon’s finish line on April 15, 2013, and days later killed a police officer. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after the gunfight with police. Jurors convicted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in 2015 on all 30 counts he faced and determined he deserved execution for a bomb he planted that killed Martin Richard, 8, and Chinese exchange student Lingzi Lu, 23. Restaurant manager Krystle Campbell, 29, was killed by the second bomb. Marc Fucarile, who lost his right leg in the second blast, said the Supreme Court “did the right thing” and that the three justices who dissented “should be ashamed.” But Fucarile said he has no confidence that the death sentence would ultimately be carried out, especially under the Biden administration. “He got what he deserves,” said Fucarile, 43. “I think we need to send a message, you can’t just kill innocent people and set off bombs in crowds of people.” No federal inmates were executed for 17 years before Trump oversaw 13 executions in the last six months of his term. Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, last July imposed a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department reviews the death penalty. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in March 2021 that Biden continues to have “grave concerns about whether capital punishment, as currently implemented, is consistent with the values that are fundamental to our sense of justice and fairness.” (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration has delivered White House visitor logs from former President Donald Trump’s administration to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the committee said on Friday. NARA also turned over records from former Vice President Mike Pence, meeting a March 3 deadline. “Yesterday, the Select Committee received additional production of records from the National Archives,” a House of Representatives Select Committee aide said. “This included records that the former President attempted to keep hidden behind claims of privilege.” Trump had tried to block the release of the visitor logs, but President Joe Biden rejected his claim that they were subject to executive privilege, “in light of the urgency” of the committee’s work and Congress’ “compelling need.” Several courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have also ruled against the Republican ex-president’s efforts to block the release of various records to the committee. So far, more than 725 people have been charged with playing a role in the attack on the Capitol by mobs of Trump supporters, which left five people dead and more than 100 police officers injured. Another four police officers involved in defending the Capitol later committed suicide. The Jan. 6 committee has been investigating the events surrounding the attack – and the former president’s role in it – for more than seven months. It has made more than 80 subpoenas public, including many issued to top Trump aides and allies, and interviewed more than 560 witnesses. It has also gathered records from social media and other telecommunications firms. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Mark Porter) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jennifer Rigby (Reuters) – Almost a third of people report at least one ongoing symptom between 6 and 12 months after their coronavirus infection, a survey of 152,000 people in Denmark has found. The study includes one of the largest groups yet of people who were not hospitalised with COVID, and followed them for longer than other major studies, the researchers from Denmark’s State Serum Institute (SSI) said. The questionnaire-based study suggested that the most commonly reported long-term symptoms were changes in sense of smell and taste, as well as fatigue. Conducted between September 2020 and April 2021, well before the recent Omicron variant surge, the survey compared the responses of 61,002 people who had tested positive for the coronavirus six, nine or 12 months before with those of 91,878 people who had tested negative. In total, 29.6% of the respondents who had tested positive reported at least one ongoing physical symptom 6 to 12 months after infection, compared to 13% in the control group. Just over half (53.1%) of those with positive tests said they had experienced either mental or physical exhaustion, sleep problems or cognitive problems within the 6 to 12 months after infection. That compared to 11.5% in the control group. New diagnoses of anxiety and depression were also more common among those with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the study showed. The study was published as a pre-print and has not yet been peer reviewed. Study author Anders Peter Hviid, an epidemiology professor at SSI, said the results are another sign that the long tail of COVID-19 should be considered by policy makers. “It’s something you should take into account when you are weighing up the risks and benefits of… the interventions you are making, and vaccinations,” he said in a phone interview, stressing that more studies are needed. Estimates on the prevalence of what is known as long COVID vary. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls the syndrome Post-COVID-19 condition and defines it as ongoing symptoms – including fatigue or shortness of breath, among others – three months after the initial infection that last at least two months. The WHO estimates that between 10% and 20% of people are affected by that point and says more work is needed on the longer-term prognosis. David Strain, lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School in the UK who was not involved in the study, called the report “really concerning.” “If Omicron is causing long Covid at the same rate as these earlier variants, we could be looking at a major crisis over the next 12 months given the number of people who have been exposed to this virus,” he said. (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London; Editing by Nancy Lapid and Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by DPA Gallery security guard Darren Rout stands alongside artwork by Sarah Lucas featuring a cast of Michael Clark's body, at the preview for the Michael Clark: Cosmic Dancer exhibition at the V&A; Dundee. Jane Barlow/PA Wire/dpa An exhibition about Michael Clark, who is described as “the David Bowie of dance”, opens this weekend at the V&A Dundee, Scotland’s museum of design. “Michael Clark: Cosmic Dancer” spans the dancer and choreographer’s career to date and explores his collaborations across the visual arts, music, fashion and film. Born in Aberdeen in 1962, Clark began traditional Scottish dancing at the age of four and in 1975 left home to study at the Royal Ballet School in London. He formed his own dance company in 1984 when he was only 22. As a young choreographer he brought together his classical ballet training with London’s punk, fashion and club culture to establish himself as one of the most innovative artists working in contemporary dance. Film, photography, costume and archive material from throughout his career are presented in a series of different rooms in the exhibition, showing Clark as a pioneer who can transcend different disciplines. Leonie Bell, director of V&A Dundee, said: “Michael Clark is a huge talent who brings new ideas, tradition, energy and amazing skill to dance. So much of his work feels as alive, thoughtful and relevant as it did in the years it was created. “Michael Clark remains hugely relevant today, challenging convention and reflecting the energy of the world around him, with ideas around gender and sexuality explored in breathtakingly beautiful performances. “For me, Michael Clark is the David Bowie of dance, an inventor who with grace and energy has found new ways for us all to enjoy and be inspired by dance.” Clark’s collaborators have ranged from Leigh Bowery and The Fall to non-professional dancers, while his diverse musical influences include Bowie, Jarvis Cocker, Patti Smith, T.Rex and composers Erik Satie and Igor Stravinsky. An immersive film and sound installation has been created for the exhibition by Sophie Fiennes and Susan Stenger, which mixes heavy metal music with Clark’s radical choreography, while Sarah Lucas has conceived two installations for the show, including a parodying sculpture of Clark’s body sitting on a toilet. Meanwhile a room dedicated to “The Fall” and Clark’s landmark performance “I Am Curious, Orange” (1988) features stage props of a huge burger and baked bean cans. The exhibition has been curated by Florence Ostende of London’s Barbican Centre. “I am delighted this exhibition will bring Michael Clark’s visionary creativity back to his home country of Scotland,” she said. “Clark is fascinating as a pioneer who brought together different disciplines to completely change contemporary dance and the British cultural landscape, from embracing and celebrating queer culture in the 1980s through to redefining gender representation and stereotypes within the heteronormative tradition of ballet history. “This exhibition, one of the largest surveys ever dedicated to a living choreographer, presents a comprehensive story of Clark’s career.” The exhibition runs from Saturday until September 4. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) – Incidents of anti-Semitic propaganda in the United States rose by 27% in 2021, the Anti-Defamation League, a New York-based advocacy group, said in a report on Thursday. It said the 352 incidents were up from 277 in 2020. The advocacy group’s tracking of incidents of anti-Semitic and white supremacist propaganda included fliers, stickers, banners, posters and stenciled graffiti. White supremacist propaganda, including racist and anti-LGBTQ messages, dropped to 4,851 cases in 2021 from 5,125 cases in 2020 while still remaining at high levels, the report said. White supremacist propaganda in the United States nearly doubled in 2020 to a record level, it said last year. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security said the United States faced heightened threats from extremist groups domestic and foreign, underscored by January’s hostage standoff in a Texas synagogue and bomb threats at many historically Black colleges and universities. U.S. Justice Department officials have pointed to an increase in domestic threats stemming from white supremacists and anti-government militias. In January, the Justice Department announced the formation of a new domestic terrorism unit, underscoring the threat extremists within the country pose on a par with that posed by militant groups abroad such as Islamic State. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Sir Ian McKellen wishes he told his dad he was gay. The ‘Lord of the Rings’ star – who came out publicly in a BBC radio interview in 1988 – never shared with his father Dennis the truth about his sexuality. During the BBC Two programme ‘Amol Rajan Interviews’ on Thursday evening (03.03.2022), Amol asked if the the 82-year-old actor had “the conversation you needed to have with your father Dennis before he died,” to which, Ian replied: “No, I didn’t talk about being gay.” However, the ‘Stonewall’ co-founder was “glad” that his father was able to see him perform in ‘A Scent of Flowers’, his West End debut, just weeks before he passed away in a tragic accident in 1964. Ian said: He’d been to see me in my first show in the West End, I’m always glad of that. And three weeks later in a car crash he’d died.” The Academy Award winner finds it “inconceivable” that his father would have taken any issue with him being gay. He said: “The idea that he couldn’t have coped with the fact that his son was gay is inconceivable to me, even though I’m not aware that we had any gay friends or that he’d ever thought about it or that it had any impact on his life. Therefore it might have come as some sort of surprise to him, but there would have been no moral judgement.” When Amol wondered if Dennis would have accepted him, he replied, “Yes” The BBC Media Editor then added: “He would have loved you for who you are.” Ian said: “As my sister did,” speaking of his older sister, Jean – five years his senior – who died in 2003, and wished he had told her “years” before he did about being gay. He said: “When I came out to my sister, she said, “Oh I wish you’d told me years ago because I always wanted to talk to you about it.” Last year, Ian shared that he felt coming out improved his acting, saying it made “everything better”. He said: “It changes your life utterly. I discovered myself and everything was better. My relationships with my family, with friends, with strangers and my work got better as I wasn’t hiding anymore.” View the full article