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Willow, Bosco and Daya are The ShangRu-Las on RuPaul’s Drag Race.Right on time, RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14 is hitting that midseason slog. If last week was a breath of fresh air with unexpected twists and turns, this episode loses some gas. It starts promisingly enough, kicking off with the fan-favorite Library reading mini-challenge. The gals don’t disappoint, firing barbs at Kerri’s frozen face, Angeria’s overlong surname and Bosco’s complexion. We even get a little drama when Jasmine accuses Daya of being two-faced. (It blows over like the Daytona Wind later when Jasmine confronts Daya about something Daya said mid-rant during Untucked a few weeks back.) There are a lot of strong reads, but Bosco steals the show. She ends on a mic-dropping moment that ropes Mama Ru into the gag. The joke boils down to Ru requesting all the remaining queens serve as pallbearers at her funeral on the catwalk, that way they can let her down on the runway one last time. Brava! Ru rightly gives her the win. Reading is FUNdamental on RuPaul’s Drag Race.It’s the high point for an otherwise disappointing episode. It’s another group challenge, this time writing lyrics, choreographing a routine and recording vocals for a Drag Race take on 1960s girl groups. Just to further chum the waters, Ru leaves the gals to cobble together their own teams and claw for their song choices. All that’s missing is Daya shouting ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? and a colosseum (sponsored by SweeTarts Sweet Ropes!). The queens immediately start making bids for the tracks. Willow, Bosco, DeJa and especially Daya vie to be part of the trio performing “Bad Boy, Baby.” No stranger to being this season’s villain, Daya really digs in her heels. When one of the milder-mannered queens suggests Rock-Paper-Scissors to resolve the conflict, Daya flat out refuses. Is this squatters’ rights? Occupy Werk Room? Is Daya Betty the Mitch McConnell of Drag Race? But before Daya can go full filibuster, DeJa relents. It turns out to be worth fighting for. Daya lands in the ShangRu-Las with Willow and Bosco. The trio worked together in The Daytona Wind, and they all have a similarly sharp (and twisted) sense of humor. They infuse the lyrics with a naughty little story about falling for a creepy stalker. Maybe it’s because the challenge wasn’t really structured for the verses to tell one cohesive narrative, but, for whatever reason, their lyrics don’t quite gel the way they hope. Still, props for at least attempting to do SOMETHING. Couple that with Willow’s secret choreo talents, and the group shows out. Daya especially shines, never dropping character. After weeks of slowly simmering resentment, Ru finally gives her a win. Daya, Jorgeous and Jasmine get ready to become the Runettes on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Despite surrendering a spot in the winning track, DeJa does OK for herself. As the clear lead of the Runettes, DeJa is serving full Ronnie Spector fantasy. She nails the hair and eye makeup, but she also looks the most comfortable with the choreo — as she should, since she choreographed the number. She even delivers a strong vocal for someone who claimed not to be a singer. Then again, next to her partners Jasmine and Jorgeous, DeJa sounds like Adele. Watching Jorgeous record vocals is truly torturous. At one point, Michelle turns to the producer and simply squeaks, “Help.” Jorgeous knows it’s bad and repeatedly gives the camera a panicked look like this is a very special episode of The Office. It’s so bad, they eventually let her just talk the lines on the track and never speak of it again! She literally couldn’t complete one of the core aspects of the challenge, and she was still safe! I love Jorgeous, but that just doesn’t seem fair. It strikes me as a particularly egregious act of favoritism when Jorgeous’s partner, Jasmine, isn’t afforded the same courtesy. She’s only a marginally better singer than Jorgeous, but she gets no get-out-of-singing-free card. Instead, her caterwauling makes the track, and she seems uncomfortable and distracted during the performance. It lands her in the bottom two this week. The final group is tasked with honoring Ru’s favorite, The RuPremes. Angeria assumes the lead, having incorporated Diana Ross into her shows back home. She’s got the energy and a solid voice, even if dancing isn’t her strong suit. The bright and breezy performance snags Angie a top spot. The making of The Rupremes on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Last week’s winner Lady Camden isn’t as lucky. Her restrained choreo (designed to benefit her partners Angeria and Kerri) handicaps her strongest asses. It’s not very memorable, and the judges put her in the bottom for fading into the background. I’m surprised they don’t clock her makeup for the performance, because I think she looks terrible. It was as if they replaced one of the Supremes with an old crone. Or Madame. Or an extremely dehydrated Miss Richfield 1981. That leaves poor Kerri. She discusses her tough Christian upbringing in the Werk Room, which barred her from most secular music and popular culture. It’s impossible for that not to be a hindrance in a competition where having a wealth of references is the most valuable currency. Even younger viewers who couldn’t tell their Chiffons from their Shirelles have still had a lifetime of references to draw from. That’s got to be a driving reason behind Kerri’s struggles here. She just can’t quite muster the effervescence needed, and instead she infuses the number with a manic, gospel energy. Considering her upbringing, it’s just what she knows, and, sadly, it lands her in the bottom two. When the lipsync against Jasmine begins, it’s not clear if Kerri picked up her dance moves at church or RuPaul’s School of Dance, because she is sleepily step-touching like a true Super Model of the World, mawmaw! Even when Jasmine loses a shoe and her garment barely clings to her torso, Ru has to declare her the winner. It’s sad to see Jasmine send Kerri home after they bonded over their experience with gender on last week’s powerful episode of Untucked. Kerri’s departure wasn’t unexpected (nor unwarranted), but she will be missed nonetheless. The playing field gets tighter and tighter each week. How is your personal top four shaking out? Check out our rankings below, and leave yours in the comments! Even when safe, Willow remains my top pick. She revealed this week she’s been hiding a secret talent: she’s a choreographer. We know she’s smart, funny and creative. We know she can sew. And she can move? Willow may be unstoppable. What I love most about this unique young queen is how she always has a delightful surprise up her sleeve. This week’s panty-dropping Heart-On runway was so fun.It’s neck-and-neck with Angeria, especially after Angie did such a strong job emulating Ru’s idol, Diana Ross. I’ve been humming her catchy little “My baby, he’s the one for me” lick ever since I first saw the episode. I wasn’t nearly as taken by Angeria’s look on tonight’s runway. It was … bizarre. Part Sia, part Cruella, part Meredith Marks, it was a lot! I wish the wig had a cleaner blunt cut. The choppy ends just looked sloppy.Bosco seems primed to breakout any week now. She slays every assignment and, perhaps more than any other queen in herstory, she has an ability to sniff out all the unspoken references in the material. I can easily see her slide right into the top three under the radar without facing a lip sync.You can’t deny Daya‘s dominance this week. She was unquestionably the strongest of any group, and her neon futuristic punk runway was this week’s most memorable. It’s nice to see her doggedness finally pay off, but with still so much race left, can she maintain this intensity to the end?I mean, yes, Jorgeous was a flop in this week’s challenge, but does it even matter? When she’s good, she’s so very, very good, Ru seems content to change the rules to keep Jorgie around. She was excused from the singing portion of this week’s challenge. Why not just let her sit-out choreo? Walk the runway in flats? Ultimately, we know the final challenge always includes a verse on a Ru track, and I’m not sure Ru loves Jorgeous enough to share a Spotify credit with the Bobcat Goldthwait of Drag Race chanteuses.This may be a harsh ranking for Lady Camden, but when I went to list the queens in my notes, I honestly forgot her. It’s the exact criticism the judges levied at Camden this week, and it’s a bad sign. Camden needs more big, bold swings. That’s what won her so much praise last week.Deja was a top performer this week, but I still struggle to see her make it to the end. It just never feels like she’s mixing it up with the likes of Willow, Bosco, Angeria and Daya.Where was the Jasmine that ripped Maddy limb from limb on that runway a few weeks ago? This lip sync was limp. Maybe she just never recovered from losing her heel, but I found the whole thing deeply disappointing. She was never going to be able to sing, but she could’ve done what she did with her Southern accent previously and leaned into the absurdity for the recording. There is something special in Jasmine, and I still think she could bounce back from a few rocky weeks, maybe with a strong Snatch Game.Kerri has been barely holding on for a few weeks, but once she turned the corner with the waistband of her stockings showing, it was all over. The runway looked unfinished, incomplete. It’s actually a testament to Kerri’s beauty, charm and star power that she made it this far despite what seems like a fairly limited skillset. She’s still left quite the impression and can leave the Race with her head held high.What did you think of the episode? Catch up on our RuPaul’s Drag Race coverage. View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA The three former Minneapolis, who stood by idly as George Floyd begged for his life, have been found guilty on all charges by a jury in their federal case. Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane were convicted on Thursday by a 12-person panel following a two-day deliberation, and all face the possibility of the death penalty. MEGA Thao, Kueng, and Lane were on sight and watched as their ex-cop colleague Derek Chauvin held his knee of Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes on May 25, 2020. As he begged for relief, telling Chauvin over and over again he couldn’t breathe, all three officers did nothing to help. The only one to even speak up was Lane, to no avail. All three men were charged with depriving Floyd — who was a Black man — of his civil rights while acting under government authority. Thao and Kueng were additionally charged with not intervening despite Chauvin using excessive force. Lane was not hit with the additional charge because he was caught on camera asking if they should roll Floyd over to which Chauvin scoffed. View the full article

Published by AFP The International Space Station, a symbol of US-Russian cooperation, has been continuously inhabited for more than 21 years Washington (AFP) – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has placed a question mark over the future of the International Space Station, long a symbol of post Cold War cooperation, where astronauts and cosmonauts proudly live and work side-by-side. The outpost was the subject of a menacing Twitter thread by Russian space agency head Dmitry Rogozin, who warned Thursday that US sanctions could “destroy our cooperation” and said the research platform would plummet to the Earth without his nation’s help. Experts view such threats as inflated political rhetoric, given the two sides’ reliance on one another for the safety of their personnel. But it could hasten a long expected divorce in their fragile marriage. “Nobody wants to put the lives of astronauts and cosmonauts in danger by political maneuvering,” John Logsdon, a professor and space analyst at George Washington University, told AFP. “It was a very conscious decision when Russia was brought into the station partnership in 1994 to make the station interdependent,” he added — a decision taken at the time with cost and speed concerns in mind. Hostile tweets The ISS, a collaboration among the US, Canada, Japan, the European Space Agency and Russia, is split into two sections: the US Orbital Segment, and the Russian Orbital Segment. At present, the ISS depends on a Russian propulsion system to maintain its orbit, some 250 miles (400 kilometers) above sea level, with the US segment responsible for electricity and life support systems. Rogozin referenced this co-dependence in a series of hostile tweets posted shortly after US President Joe Biden announced sanctions aimed at Russia’s aerospace industry. “If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from uncontrolled deorbiting and falling on US or European territory?” said Rogozin — noting that the station doesn’t fly over much of Russia. NASA, for its part, responded with a bland statement emphasizing it “continues working with all our international partners, including the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, for the ongoing safe operations of the International Space Station.” Julie Patarin-Jossec, a French academic and author of a book on the ISS, said Rogozin “is a political figure, who is known to be very loyal to power” and has a history of making fiery statements. Those aboard the station — Russia’s Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, the United States’ Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron, and Germany’s Matthias Maurer — are highly trained professionals, and unlikely to be affected, she told AFP. “Most astronauts of the last decades, or who have had experience of the ISS, are very attached to international cooperation,” Patarin-Jossec said. What’s more, she added, withdrawing from the ISS program would leave Russia without a crewed space program — unless it quickly pivots to working with China aboard the Tiangong space station, which is still under construction and currently hosts three crew members. Long history US-Russian cooperation has a long history that stretches back to the height of the Cold War, but it hasn’t been without it ebbs and flows. After America placed the first men on the Moon in 1969, then president Richard Nixon looked for opportunities to make the space program more cooperative, inviting allies to join the Space Shuttle program. “In parallel he and Henry Kissinger decided to use a possible joint US-Soviet mission as a symbol of detente,” explained Logsdon. That led to the landmark Apollo-Soyuz mission of 1975, when US and Russian spacecraft docked for the first time in a globally televised event. The partnership was supposed to expand even further, with possible Space Shuttle missions to an early Russian space station, but president Jimmy Carter nixed such plans after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It wasn’t until the collapse of the Soviet Union that Russian officials reached out to the administration of Bill Clinton about the idea of a merger, which paved the way for the launch of the first module of the ISS in 1998. The ISS has weathered geopolitical storms in the past — most notably the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 — but current tensions, which Logsdon said were the most serious since the Cuban missile crisis, could mark the beginning of the end. Space watcher Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, noted that the US is already developing propulsion capacity using Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo ships. NASA currently wants the station to orbit until 2030, while Russia hasn’t committed itself to beyond 2024. “I would think that unless the current situation gets resolved quickly, that could affect the Russian desire to stay involved, or the US desire to keep them involved,” said Logsdon. View the full article

Published by DPA Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives to attend the Special meeting of the European Council on the situation in Ukraine. Alexandros Michailidis/EU Council/dpa Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday criticized Russia for the first time over its invasion of Ukraine. “Together with our EU and NATO allies, we condemn Russia’s military action,” Orban said in a video posted on his Facebook page. “Russia attacked Ukraine with military force this morning,” he added. Orban had so far avoided naming Russia in connection with the acts of war in Ukraine and its preparations. The right-wing nationalist head of government has maintained a friendly relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years. He had visited him in the Kremlin at the beginning of the month. In Budapest on Thursday evening, several thousand people demonstrated against what they see as Orban’s pro-Moscow policies. They demanded an end to the Budapest government’s dithering and a clear commitment to the West. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Patti LaBelle had ‘no idea’ that the ‘Lady Marmalade’ lyrics were so suggestive. The 77-year-old music legend – who is known for the 1974 hit thought to be about prostitution – had “no idea” what the French lyrics meant when she recorded the song with her band Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. She said: “When we heard it, it sounded great, but that ‘Voulez-vous coucher avec moi,’ sounded so piercing and it just stayed in my ear. So, when we went there, I said that we had to record that one first. After we recorded the song and the song went out and people were loving it, the nuns talked about us and asked, ‘Why are they talking like hookers?!” Patti went on to explain that she was simply “jamming” to the infectious chorus and was oblivious to the fact that the lyrics were in fact sexually suggestive. She told Entertainment Tonight: “I didn’t know ‘Voulez-vous coucher avec moi,’ meant ‘Will you sleep with me tonight?’! I had no clue girl! And I was jamming on that! And the nuns… they called us bad names and stuff, but it sold!” The legendary songstress went on to describe the song – which would later be covered by Christina Aguilera, Lil’Kim Pink and Mya as a four-piece for the film ‘Moulin Rouge!’ as “revolutionary” that pays homage to streetwalkers. She added: “it was revolutionary and it was something that people were doing. Women walked the streets since way back in the day and now there’s a song about them.” View the full article

Published by AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Valery Gergiev during an awards ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 22, 2016 New York (AFP) – In an extraordinary last-minute move Manhattan’s Carnegie Hall has cut the acclaimed Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, a close supporter of Vladimir Putin, from its programming this weekend “due to recent world events,” a spokesperson at the prestigious institution told AFP Thursday. The decision — which Carnegie and the Vienna Philharmonic had earlier delivered in a joint statement, without specifiying an exact cause — comes in the wake of the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine, which has drawn international condemnation. Protesters were expected at the superstar maestro’s three highly anticipated appearances leading the Vienna Philharmonic in New York to begin Friday. Gergiev has not yet spoken publicly regarding Moscow’s offensive, but he has proven fiercely loyal to the Russian president in the past, and has triggered protests at previous New York performances for allying with him on matters including the annexation of Crimea and a law aimed at stifling LGBT rights activists in Russia. Russian pianist Denis Matsuev — another Putin supporter who was scheduled to solo with the Vienna Philharmonic on Friday — was also dropped from the performance. Yannick Nezet-Seguin will fill Gergiev’s spot, according to the statement, conducting the weekend of shows ahead of his direction of Verdi’s “Don Carlos” on Monday at the Metropolitan Opera, of which he is musical director. The soloist for Friday’s program has yet to be announced. “Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are immensely grateful to Yannick Nezet-Seguin for stepping in for these performances at very short notice,” read the statement. The globe-trotting Gergiev has also faced pressure in Milan, where he is currently leading Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” at the Teatro alla Scala, to speak out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. If he doesn’t, “the collaboration will be over,” Italian media quoted Milan’s mayor as saying. Gergiev is also on deck to conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in early May. The prestigious hall did not indicate whether those performances were still scheduled to go ahead as planned. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Barclays has frozen the company’s ex-CEO out of his multi-million bonus amid concerns over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The bank revealed it was withholding Jes Staley‘s shares worth a whopping $29 million, pending an investigation by British banking regulators. Staley’s share payments and bonus have been suspended, Barclays revealed in their annual report on Wednesday. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are probing into Staley’s links to the businessman-turned-accused trafficker. The investigation is centered around how Staley characterized his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting his trial. According to reports, the duo’s relationship dates back to 2000 — more than a decade before Staley joined Barclays as the CEO. Mega Staley left Barclays last year after being informed of the investigation. The banker — whose net worth is estimated to be $120 million — is contesting the preliminary conclusions of the probe. Before his position at the bank, Staley worked for more than 30 years at JPMorgan as the head of its investment banking division. He’s spoken out about his ties to Epstein, telling reporters that their relationship grew almost non-existent after he left JPMorgan. “He was already a client. The relationship was maintained during my time at JPMorgan, but as I left Morgan it tapered off quite significantly,” Staley said in February 2020. In regards to Epstein’s alleged illegal activities, Staley denied knowing anything about his criminal affairs. “Obviously I thought I knew him well and I didn’t,” he said at the time. “And for sure with hindsight of what we all know now I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.” Staley told Barclays he had no communication with Epstein after joining their bank as CEO. Mega Staley isn’t walking out empty-handed. According to reports, the ex-bank boss gets his annual fixed pay worth $3.3 million in both cash and shares. Staley will also receive a fixed pension of $164,000, as well as other benefits until October. Barclays “does not currently expect to make further decisions” on Staley’s bonus “until the conclusion of … regulatory and legal proceedings.” View the full article

Published by DPA Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a televised address announcing a special military operation in Donbass. -/Kremlin/dpa From the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in China, to turbulent weather in Western Europe, DPA International presents its Pictures of the Week. Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a decree recognizing the independence of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, during a ceremony at the Kremlin. -/Kremlin/dpa German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a press conference at the Federal Chancellery. Russian troops have begun their attack on Ukraine. Michael Kappeler/dpa-Pool/dpa A general view of a damaged apartment at a residential building targeted by the shelling of Russian troops in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. -/ukrin/dpa Fines of an exploded projectile is seen embedded on the after shelling by Russian troops in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. -/ukrin/dpa Friends comfort a woman in a red jacket before her departure to visit her family in Ukraine, which was invaded by the Russian army, at Prague's Florenc bus station. Øíhová Michaela/CTK/dpa Refugees from Ukraine who arrived in Poland spend their first night at the train station in Przemysl. The train from Kiev and Lviv with the first refugees arrived in the city of Przemysl, near the Medyka border crossing. Attila Husejnow/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa A protester cries during a protest by Ukrainians against the Russian invasion of Ukraine outside Downing Street, central London. Yui Mok/PA Wire/dpa Members of several Nepalese leftist parties and movements clash with policemen during a protest against the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) after USA proposed a grant of 500 million dollars to the government of Nepal for various developing projects including road developments, infrastructure and cross border transmission lines. Skanda Gautam/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa A man steps out of truck as police move in to disperse protesters near Parliament hill as truckers continue to pritest against the COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions for the third week. Cole Burston/Canadian Press via ZUMA Press/dpa A Palestinian woman falls as Palestinian and Israeli activists scuffle with police during a protest in the East Jerusalem's neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, against the eviction of Palestinian families in favor of Jewish settlers. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa Commuters take the underground in west London after all coronavirus laws in England including the legal requirement for people who test positive to isolate come to an end. Victoria Jones/PA Wire/dpa Fireworks go off above the venue displaying the words "One World" during the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Bird's Nest National Stadium. Michael Kappeler/dpa China's Wenjing Sui and Cong Han compete in the Pair Skating-Short Program of the figure skating competition at Capital Indoor Stadium, during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Ulrik Pedersen/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Finland's Marko Anttila (L) and teammate Peteri Lindbohm take a selfie as they celebrate victory inside their dressing room following the Men's Ice Hockey Gold medal match between Finland and Russian Olympic Committee team at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva/dpa Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo is shown a yellow card by referee Paul Tierney during the English Premier League soccer match between Leeds United and Manchester United at Elland Road. Mike Egerton/PA Wire/dpa Newcastle United's Chris Wood is challenged by West Ham United's Kurt Zouma and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski during the English Premier League soccer match between West Ham United and Newcastle United at London Stadium. Zac Goodwin/PA Wire/dpa The peloton rides during the second stage of the fourth edition of the UAE Tour cycling race, 176 km from From Hudayriyat Island to Abu Dhabi Breakwater. Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa Firefighters continue to extinguish a burned-out apartment complex in Essen's western district. The fire broke out shortly after midnight in Bargmann street. It is still unclear whether people were injured. Fabian Strauch/dpa Syrian painters draw a mural in solidarity with Ukraine on a wall of a destroyed home in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Anas Alkharboutli/dpa Members of Palestinian Hamas security forces show their military skills during a graduation ceremony. Mohammed Talatene/dpa The roof of the O2 Arena in southeast London is seen damaged by Storm Eunice. Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/dpa A man takes a selfie at the beach amid blowing wind as Storm Franklin hit the Belgian coast. Kurt Desplenter/BELGA/dpa Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, raises her arms in the air while stepping out of a slide at the LEGO Foundation PlayLab on the Carlsberg Campus of University College Copenhagen, on day one of a two-day working visit with The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. John Sibley/PA Wire/dpa Costumed revellers take part in the Weiberfastnacht celebrations on the Alter Markt at the opening of the street carnival, held as part of the Cologne Carnival season. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa Swimmers from Hampstead Ponds cross the road in their swimming costumes outside the Royal Courts of Justice as they await the result of a judicial review brought by Christina Efthimiou over whether the charges for bathing at the ponds in Hampstead Heath unlawfully discriminate against disabled people. Victoria Jones/PA Wire/dpa Andreas Knieriem, director at Berlin Zoo, crouches in front of the lion enclosure. After several years of construction, the predator house at Berlin Zoo will reopen on 25 February. Christophe Gateau/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Friday is poised to name federal appeals court judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, making good on his pledge to name a Black woman to the nation’s top judicial body, which would be a historic first. A total of 115 justices have served on the Supreme Court in the nation’s history, including 17 as chief justice. Here is a look at some of the trailblazing justices. 1916: FIRST JEWISH JUSTICE Justice Louis Brandeis was appointed in 1916 by Democratic President Woodrow Wilson and served until 1939. There have been eight Jewish justices in total. 1967: FIRST BLACK JUSTICE Justice Thurgood Marshall, appointed by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson in 1967, had previously worked as a influential civil rights lawyer. He served until 1991, when he was replaced by the only other Black justice to have been appointed, Justice Clarence Thomas, an appointee of Republican President George H.W. Bush. 1981: FIRST WOMAN JUSTICE Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, served from 1981 until her retirement in 2006. A total of five women have served as justices. 1993: FIRST FEMALE JEWISH JUSTICE Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993 and died while in office in 2020. The second Jewish woman on the court is Justice Elena Kagan, who is still serving. 2009: FIRST HISPANIC JUSTICE Justice Sonia Sotomayor, appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama in 2009 and still serving, is the only Hispanic Supreme Court justice to date. 2022: Biden set to nominate Jackson as the court’s first Black woman. (Compiled by Lawrence Hurley in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Maria Tsvetkova KYIV (Reuters) -Russian missiles pounded Kyiv on Friday, families cowered in shelters and authorities told residents to prepare Molotov cocktails to defend Ukraine’s capital from an assault that the mayor said had already begun with saboteurs in the city. Moscow claimed to have captured the Hostomel airfield northwest of the capital, a vital staging post for a planned assault on Kyiv, which has been fought over since the first hours of the war. This could not immediately be confirmed and the Ukrainian authorities reported heavy fighting there. “The city has gone into a defensive phase. Shots and explosions are ringing out in some neighbourhoods. Saboteurs have already entered Kyiv,” said Kyiv’s mayor, former world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitchko. “The enemy wants to put the capital on its knees and destroy us.” Air raid sirens wailed over the capital of three million people, where some residents sheltered in underground metro stations, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion that has shocked the world. Ukrainian officials said a Russian aircraft had been shot down and crashed into a building in Kyiv overnight, setting it ablaze and injuring eight people. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted that there had been heavy fighting with people killed at the entrance to the eastern cities of Chernihiv and Melitopol, as well as at Hostomel. Windows were blasted out of a 10-storey apartment block near Kyiv’s main airport. A two-metre crater showed where a shell had struck before dawn. “How we can live through it in our time?… Putin should burn in hell along with his whole family,” said Oxana Gulenko, sweeping broken glass from her room. Hundreds of people were crowded into a cramped bomb shelter beneath a building after a televised warning of air strikes. “How can you wage a war against peaceful people?” said Viktoria, 35, as her kids of 5 and 7 slept in their winter coats. Alla, 40 said: “The kids were scared, they were crying and asking ‘Mom, will we all die?'” Witnesses said loud explosions could also be heard in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, close to Russia’s border, and air raid sirens sounded over Lviv in the west. Authorities reported heavy fighting in the eastern city of Sumy. ‘NUMBER ONE TARGET’ European Union finance ministers were meeting to agree new sanctions, expected to include asset freezes directly targeting Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for the first time. U.S. officials believe Russia’s initial aim is to topple Zelenskiy and “decapitate” his government. Zelenskiy said he knew he was “the number one target” but would stay in Kyiv. An adviser to Zelenskiy said Ukraine was prepared for talks with Russia, including on staying neutral, one of Moscow’s pre-war demands. But Lavrov said no talks could be held until Ukraine’s military laid down its arms. Putin says Ukraine is an illegitimate state carved out of Russia, a view Ukrainians see as aimed at erasing their more than thousand-year history. Putin says he does not plan a military occupation, only to disarm Ukraine and remove its leaders. But it is not clear how a pro-Russian leader could be installed unless troops control much of the country. Russia has floated no name of such a figure. After Moscow denied for months it was planning an invasion, news that Putin had ordered one shocked Russians accustomed to viewing their ruler of 22 years as a methodical strategist. Many Russians have friends and family in Ukraine. Russian state media have relentlessly characterised Ukraine as a threat, but thousands of Russians protested on Thursday against the war. Hundreds were swiftly arrested. One pop star posted a video on Instagram opposing the war, and the head of a Moscow state-run theatre quit, saying she would not take her salary from a murderer. ‘RUSSIAN WARSHIP, GO FUCK YOURSELF’ Britain said Russia had failed to achieve its initial objectives. “Contrary to great Russian claims – and indeed President Putin’s sort of vision that somehow the Ukrainians would be liberated and would be flocking to his cause – he’s got that completely wrong, and the Russian army has failed to deliver, on day one, its main objective,” defence minister Ben Wallace said. Wallace said Russians had been pushed from the airport they had tried to take near Kyiv, complicating their plan to attack the capital. They had also failed to break through Ukrainian lines near separatist enclaves in the east. Ukrainians were circulating an unverified recording on Friday of a Russian warship ordering a Ukrainian Black Sea outpost to surrender. The Ukrainians reply: “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.” Zelenskiy said the 13 guards were killed by a Russian strike and would receive posthumous honours. Thousands of people crowded Kyiv’s railway station trying to force their way onto packed evacuation trains to Lviv in the west. When a train arrived people rushed the doors; some screamed and guards fired blank shots to scare the crowd away. Maria, 30, had been there since the morning with her child, husband and dog, trying and failing to board the trains. “It’s dangerous to break through the crowd with a kid. The dog is scared. Honestly, we’re exhausted,” she said. When a squad of soldiers marched through the station, people clapped hands and shouted the national military cry of “Glory to Ukraine!”. The soldiers shouted back the traditional response: “Glory to the heroes!” U.N. agencies said as many as five million people could try to flee abroad. Kyiv has banned fighting-aged men from leaving the country, and at borders with Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, those crossing were mostly women and children. Reuters journalists saw women crying as they bade goodbye to male loved ones and crossed into Romania. A democratic nation of 44 million people, Ukraine voted for independence at the fall of the Soviet Union and hopes to join NATO and the EU, aspirations that infuriate Moscow. Western countries have announced new sanctions on Russia, including blacklisting its banks and banning technology imports. But they stopped short of forcing Russia out of the SWIFT system for international bank payments, drawing criticism from Kyiv which says the most serious steps should be taken now. Germany and others use SWIFT to pay for Russian gas. Russia is one of the world’s biggest energy producers, and both it and Ukraine are among the top exporters of grain. War and sanctions will disrupt economies https://graphics.reuters.com/RUSSIA-UKRAINE/zgpomzbjmpd/graphic.jpg around the world. Oil and grain prices have soared. Share markets around the world, many of which plunged on Thursday at news of the outbreak of war, were mainly rebounding on Friday. (Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Maria Tsvetkova in Kyiv, Aleksandar Vasovic in Mariupol, Alan Charlish in Medyka, Poland, Fedja Grulovic in Sighetu Marmatiei, Romania and Reuters bureauxWriting by Peter GraffEditing by Robert Birsel and Gareth Jones) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jarrett Renshaw, Jeff Mason and Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden has selected federal appellate judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House said on Friday, setting the stage for a confirmation battle in the closely divided Senate. Biden picked Jackson, 51, for a lifetime job on the nation’s top judicial body to succeed retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, who at 83 is the court’s oldest member. Of the 115 people who have ever served on the Supreme Court, only two have been Black and both of those were men. The timing of Biden’s announcement had been in flux because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “President Biden sought a candidate with exceptional credentials, unimpeachable character and unwavering dedication to the rule of law,” the White House said in a statement. “He also sought a nominee – much like Justice Breyer – who is wise, pragmatic and has a deep understanding of the Constitution as an enduring charter of liberty,” the White House said of Biden’s selection process. “And the president sought an individual who is committed to equal justice under the law and who understands the profound impact that the Supreme Court’s decisions have on the lives of the American people.” Jackson, if confirmed by the Senate, would become the sixth woman ever to serve on the court, which currently has three female justices. She would join the liberal bloc on an increasingly assertive court that has a 6-3 conservative majority including three justices appointed by Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump. Other contenders for the nomination were J. Michelle Childs, a district court judge in South Carolina and Leondra Kruger, a justice on the California Supreme Court. The Senate voted 53-44 last year to confirm Jackson after Biden nominated her to the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, with three Republican senators backing her. At Jackson’s confirmation hearing last year, Republicans questioned her on whether race plays a role in her approach to deciding cases. She said it did not. The Senate previously confirmed her as a federal district judge, a job she held for eight years. Jackson, who was raised in Miami and attended Harvard Law School, has a varied legal resume including earlier in her career representing criminal defendants who could not afford a lawyer. She was part of a three-judge panel that ruled in December against Republican former President Donald Trump’s bid to prevent White House records from being handed over to a congressional panel investigating last year’s Capitol attack. Democrats are eager to move forward with the confirmation process while they control the Senate. Breyer, who has served since 1994, announced in January his intention to step down when the court’s completes its current term, likely by the end of June. While Biden’s appointee will not change the court’s ideological balance – Jackson would be replacing a fellow liberal – her addition does enable Biden to refresh its liberal wing with a much younger jurist who could serve for decades, just as Trump’s three relatively young appointees are in a position to do. The nomination also gives Biden a chance to shore up political support among women, minorities and liberals ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections in which Democrats are fighting to retain control of both chambers of Congress. Biden’s strength among suburban women, seen as a key reason for his victory over Trump, has eroded since taking office last year, worrying his political aides. CONFIRMATION PROCESS The Senate confirmation process includes hearings before the Judiciary Committee, whose chairman is Democrat Dick Durbin and whose top Republican is Chuck Grassley. Democrats control the evenly split 100-member Senate because of the ability of Vice President Kamala Harris to break a tie. Biden made history in 2020 when he made Harris the first Black vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket. Biden, a former Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, studied the case records of the candidates he was considering and consulted legal experts, the White House said. Illustrating the precarious nature of the Democrats’ control of the Senate, they currently lack a working majority after Democratic Senator Ben Ray Lujan had a stroke. He is expected to recover in time to vote on the nomination. Because of a rules change spearheaded by Republicans to ease the confirmation of Trump’s first nominee Neil Gorsuch in 2017 amid Democratic opposition, only a simple Senate majority vote is needed to confirm Biden’s pick. Democrats have said they plan to move Biden’s nomination on a quick timetable, similar to the single month that Republicans used for Trump’s third appointee Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020. The White House has signaled it will fight back vigorously against Republican attempts to discredit the nominee. Some Republicans have accused Biden of discrimination for pledging to name a Black woman to the post without considering any men or non-Black women. Biden said on January a Black woman serving on the Supreme Court was long overdue. The Supreme Court continues to play an integral role in American life and has moved rightward thanks to Trump’s three appointees. It is due to rule in the coming months in cases that could curb abortion rights and expand gun rights. In its term beginning next October the court is due to hear cases concerning race issues that could end affirmative action policies used by colleges and universities to increase the number of Black and Hispanic students. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, Trevor Hunnicutt, Jeff Mason and Lawrence Hurley; Writing by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating former President Donald Trump’s removal of classified documents from the White House has expanded its probe of the Republican’s handling of records, according to a letter made public on Friday. Representative Carolyn Maloney, the Democratic chair of the House Oversight Committee, wrote to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) asking for more information about what she described as “what appear to be the largest-scale violations of the presidential records act since its enactment.” In a letter to David Ferriero, archivist of the United States, Maloney asked that NARA provide by March 10 information including a detailed description of the contents of boxes recovered from Trump’s Florida home. She also demanded information about any records transferred that Trump had destroyed or attempted to destroy, after reports that aides had discovered documents in a White House toilet during his presidency. The letter, dated Feb. 24, also asked NARA to provide by March 17 documents and communications related to the use of personal messaging accounts for official business by officials in the Trump administration. The National Archives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It had confirmed in a letter to Maloney last week that it had found classified materials in the boxes Trump took with him to Florida. Maloney’s committee has been looking into the handling of records by Trump, who left office in January 2021. Trump has denied wrongdoing since it was discovered that he had brought 15 boxes of presidential documents to his home in Florida, rather than handing them over to the National Archives, as required by law. “The American people deserve to know the extent of what former President Trump did to hide and destroy federal records and make sure these abuses do not happen again,” Maloney said in a statement. The U.S. Presidential Records Act requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes and other written communications related to a president’s official duties. The Washington Post first reported this month that some of the documents taken to Trump’s home and subsequently returned to the Archives were marked as classified, which could intensify the legal pressure Trump or his aides could face. The U.S. Justice Department has not announced whether it has opened an investigation. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters KABUL (Reuters) – As students return to universities across Afghanistan this month, law major Waheeda Bayat will not be among them. The 24-year-old was looking forward to resuming her course at the private Gawharshad University in Kabul, but amid an economic collapse that has dragged millions of Afghans into poverty, she cannot afford to go back. “I’m so happy to see my university,” she said, walking past her old campus on a recent sunny day. “But I wish I could continue my studies, wish I could spend time with my classmates and teachers, and wish I could go to the library to study.” Although the hardline Islamist Taliban are allowing women back into colleges – girls and women were banned from education the last time they ruled – Bayat must focus instead on providing food and shelter for her family of nine. An abrupt halt to most aid to Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in August has plunged the country into crisis. Kabul parks have become shanty towns as people from rural areas seek aid; malnourished newborns fill hospital wards; up to 97 percent of Afghans could be living below the poverty line by the second half of 2022, the U.N.’s development agency has said. The impact on women has been disproportionately large. Data show women have lost jobs at a higher rate than men in recent months – some were thrown out of work due to Taliban restrictions in the immediate aftermath of their conquest – and some rights won over 20 years of Western-backed governments have been reversed. Bayat used to fund her studies from her job at a local media network, where she earned 12,000 Afghanis ($132) a month. But after she and her mother lost their jobs, Bayat manages only 8,000 Afghanis making traditional clothes with her sisters – money that must stretch to support the whole family. “We are worried that Waheeda can’t continue her studies,” her mother, Marzia, told Reuters in their three-bedroom home in the west of the capital. “She is a hard-working girl. I wish I could find some money so that (she) could continue.” The Higher Education Ministry did not respond to questions about the impact of the economic crisis on women’s studies and what restrictions, if any, would be imposed on female students as they returned to class. WOMEN HIT HARD There are no official figures to show how many Afghans – men or women – have abandoned college due to economic pressures. Among women, the rate of attrition appears to be high. Reuters spoke to 15 female university students around the country including in Kabul, Herat in the west and Nangarhar and Laghman in the east, eight of whom said they were dropping out due to financial difficulties. Three more said they faced challenges, forcing them to cut class times and to consider leaving. “The humanitarian crisis is a women’s rights crisis,” said Heather Barr, associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Women and girls have been disproportionately affected by the economic crisis.” She said that both the Taliban’s treatment of women and the international community’s failure to address the economic crisis were to blame. For some students, the relatives who once supported their education are no longer able to. “I wanted to serve my people … but now I cannot continue,” said Mahtab, a psychology student in Herat, who gave only her first name out of concern for her family’s safety. Her older sister once funded her studies, she said, but she lost her job in the communications department of the ousted president’s office. When she was recognised by the Taliban as having taken part in women’s protests after they stormed back to power, the sister decided to flee the country for fear of reprisals. The United Nations and some governments have raised alarm over reprisals against women’s rights activists, including the disappearance of several in recent months. The Taliban have said they are investigating the disappearances. Some women planning to return to classes at public institutions, which re-open in Kabul on Saturday having resumed on Feb. 2 in other regions, worry that men and women will be segregated, subject choices limited and burqas made compulsory. In some parts of the country, where universities have already reopened, such practices were already in place, reflecting the more conservative norms of the area. In others, including relatively liberal centres like Kabul and Herat, there is still uncertainty over rules for women in class and on campus. “If the Taliban force me to wear a burqa, I would rather stay home than go to university,” said 20-year-old psychology student and Kabul resident Anahita. TURNING BACK TIME The expansion of women’s rights, particularly in urban areas, was held up as one of the main achievements of Western military and financial intervention in Afghanistan after the U.S.-led war that toppled the last Taliban government in 2001. Until then, in addition to the education ban, almost all jobs were off limits to women and they could only leave home when accompanied by a male relative and wearing an all-enveloping burqa. Significant investment in girls’ schools and targeted measures at universities such as reserving seats for women in law and engineering, female dormitories and child care centres, saw thousands of women pursue degrees. Female enrolment was around 24% of the total signed up at public universities in 2020, according to figures from the World Bank-funded Higher Education Development Program, roughly 21,000 women. Many more study at private institutes. Sanctions on some senior Taliban members, alongside concerns over human rights and the lack of inclusivity in the government, have effectively cut it off from international funding and from billions of dollars of Afghan central bank reserves held abroad. The Taliban has described Washington’s plans for the $7 billion in assets frozen on U.S. soil as an “injustice” to the Afghan people. The United Nation’s development agency predicts that Afghanistan’s annual per capita income could fall to $350 in 2022 from $508 in 2020. Some data show the crisis hitting women hard. Afghan female employment levels slumped by an estimated 16% in the third quarter of 2021, according to an International Labour Organization report, compared with 6% for men. Bleak job prospects are a concern for many female university students. Economy Ministry spokesman Abdulrahman Habib said the suspension of foreign aid to Afghanistan had hit funding for organisations supporting women, leading to job losses. “The ministry of economy has prepared a policy that supports businesswomen,” he said. “We will do our best to provide all … they need to encourage them and support them in restarting their activities and businesses.” He added that there were women working for the Taliban government without problems. Roma Gul, a third-year political studies student in the eastern province of Nangarhar, faces daunting odds to complete her course. Her part-time teaching job barely covers the 3,000 Afghanis in monthly transport fees she has to pay to get between home, work and campus. It left only 1,000 Afghanis a month to for books, stationery and contributions to her family’s rent. Her job finishes at 1 p.m. each day, meaning she has to rush to campus to get to the last two hours of class, after missing the morning session. But she is still grateful university has re-opened. “I am determined to finish school despite the problems,” she said. (Reporting by Kabul Newsroom and Charlotte Greenfield; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Mike Collett-White) View the full article

Published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate approved legislation Thursday to require students to participate in high school sports according to the sex that appears on their birth certificate. The Senate backed the measure on a party-line vote of 32-22, with Republicans voting in favor of the bill. Similar bills have been proposed in previous years, but this is the first time such a measure has had a vote by a full chamber. State Sen. Marty Harbin, a Republican, said the bill will create fairness for girls who play sports in Georgia schools. “It is our responsibility as legislators and as adults with common … Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Allen ST. PAUL, Minn. (Reuters) -Three former Minneapolis police officers were found guilty on Thursday of depriving George Floyd of his rights by failing to give aid to the handcuffed Black man pinned beneath a colleague’s knee. The jury’s verdict against Tou Thao, 36; J. Alexander Kueng, 28; and Thomas Lane, 38, came in a case that hinged on when an officer has a duty to intervene in another’s misconduct. It is a rare instance of police officers being held criminally responsible for a colleague’s excessive force. Federal prosecutors argued in the U.S. District Court in St. Paul that the men knew from their training and from “basic human decency” that they had a duty to help Floyd as he begged for his life before falling limp beneath the knee of the defendants’ former colleague, Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s killing sparked protests in cities around the world against police brutality and racism. Chauvin, who is white, was convicted of Floyd’s murder at a separate state trial last year and sentenced to 22-1/2 years in prison. Although race was not a part of the state or federal charges, Chauvin’s conviction was seen as a landmark rebuke of the disproportionate use of police force against Black Americans. In December, Chauvin pleaded guilty to the federal charge of violating Floyd’s rights during the arrest in a Minneapolis intersection on May 25, 2020. Under Chauvin’s plea agreement, federal prosecutors are expected to ask at an as-yet unscheduled hearing for a 25-year sentence to run concurrently with his state prison sentence. His three former colleagues face years in prison on the federal charges, and are also due to stand trial in Minneapolis in June on state charges of aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder. BYSTANDER VIDEO Widely seen cellphone video showed Chauvin, 45, grinding his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes as horrified onlookers yelled at him to get off. Thao could be seen steps away from Chauvin, telling onlookers to stay on the sidewalk and rebuffing their concerns. Kueng and Lane were to Chauvin’s right, pinning down Floyd’s buttocks and legs. All three testified in their own defense. Each acknowledged they knew they had a duty of care to people in their custody. But they and their lawyers told jurors they did not realize at the time that Floyd was in dire need of medical aid or that Chauvin’s use of force was excessive and so they could not have been acting with deliberate indifference. To rebuff this, prosecutors repeatedly played videos showing Floyd’s distress was plain to bystanders, including children and an off-duty firefighter, who shouted that Floyd was passing out and begging the police to check his pulse. The three defendants all described deferring to the authority of Chauvin, the most senior officer at the scene with 19 years at the Minneapolis Police Department. They said they assumed he must know what he was doing. Kueng and Lane, who first handcuffed Floyd on suspicion of using a fake $20 bill in a nearby store, also noted they were rookies only a few days out of training, which lasted more than a year. Thao had been on the force for eight years. In a closing argument before deliberations began, LeeAnn Bell, a federal prosecutor, said there were no “free passes” under the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees that people not face excessive force or be deprived of medical care when the government takes them into custody. “There’s no pass for, ‘I was a brand-new officer.’ There’s no pass for, ‘It would have been hard or uncomfortable to speak up,'” she said. “Our constitution weighs the risk and our constitution says you must act.” Medical experts have testified that Floyd almost certainly would have survived the arrest if he had been rolled onto his side once the officers restrained him, as the officers acknowledged they had been taught to do. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in St. Paul, Minn.; Editing by Tim Ahmann, Mark Porter and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Gabriella Borter (Reuters) – Florida’s House of Representatives on Thursday approved a Republican-backed bill that would prohibit classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, a measure Democrats denounced as being anti-LGBTQ. The legislation, referred to by its opponents as the “don’t say gay” bill, has stirred national controversy as the debate over what schools should teach children about race and gender has grown increasingly partisan. The Florida bill states that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” While the language only specifically includes young children in those primary school grades, critics said it could be interpreted to extend to all grade levels depending on what is deemed “age appropriate.” The bill would allow parents to sue school districts in violation. The measure passed 69-47 on Thursday, with mostly Republican support. Ahead of the vote, state Democratic Representative Mike Grieco slammed the bill as an attack on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. “This is an anti-gay bill. And if you vote for this anti-gay bill, after today, you can never ever claim to be an ally of the LGBTQ community. In fact, you are voting to be an opponent,” he told fellow lawmakers. Republican state Representative Tom Fabricio voiced his support for the measure, saying it was necessary to limit what information schools could give to young students. “Little children do not have a fully developed prefrontal cortex. They don’t have that ability to understand things at a certain level,” Fabricio said. A companion bill also is being considered by the state Senate. If passed by both chambers, the legislation would need to receive Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ signature to become law and take effect in July. DeSantis, a Republican, seemed to signal his support for the bills formally titled “Parental Rights in Education” at a public event earlier this month. “Injecting these concepts about choosing your gender…that is just inappropriate for our schools,” he told reporters. The governor’s office did not immediately return a request for comment. (Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Aurora Ellis) View the full article

Published by Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) -Two prosecutors who had been leading the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal probe into former U.S. President Donald Trump and his business practices have resigned, the district attorney’s office said on Wednesday. The departures of Special Counsel Carey Dunne and Mark Pomerantz came less than two months after District Attorney Alvin Bragg assumed office, taking over a probe into Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization. “We are grateful for their service,” said Danielle Filson, a spokeswoman for Bragg, referring to Dunne and Pomerantz. She added that the investigation was ongoing. Bragg had indicated to the pair that he had doubts about pursuing a case against Trump, the New York Times said, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Dunne and Pomerantz could not immediately be reached for comment. Pomerantz had been brought in from an outside law firm to work on the probe. Ron Fischetti, a lawyer for Trump, called the departures a sign that Bragg would not bring criminal charges against the former president, though nothing was official. “In my mind the case is over,” Fischetti said. “There’s no question in my mind that they did it because there wasn’t a case that they could prove, and there was no purpose in them staying there any longer.” Neither the Trump Organization nor its lawyer Alan Futerfas immediately responded to requests for comment. The resignations come as New York Attorney General Letitia James ramps up her civil probe into Trump and his namesake company. Last week, a state judge directed the former president and two of his adult children, Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump, to answer questions in that probe under oath in depositions. The Trump family will appeal that ruling, Fischetti said. James joined Bragg’s criminal probe last May. Trump, a Republican, has previously denied wrongdoing and said the state and city investigations were politically motivated. James and Bragg are Democrats, as is Bragg’s predecessor Cyrus Vance, who began the criminal probe and did not seek reelection. In a statement referring to that probe, a James spokeswoman said: “The investigation is ongoing and there is a robust team in place that is working on it.” Both probes focus on whether Trump misrepresented the value of his real estate properties. Investigators are looking into whether values were inflated to obtain bank loans and reduced to lower tax bills. The criminal probe resulted last July in tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg. In what Dunne called at the time a “sweeping and audacious illegal payments scheme,” Weisselberg allegedly received millions in “off the books” payments from the company that were not disclosed to tax authorities. Weisselberg pleaded not guilty, as did the company. Both are seeking dismissals. Fischetti described the accusations against Weisselberg as “minimal charges.” A new grand jury was convened in September to examine how the Trump Organization valued its assets. Fischetti said that grand jury’s term would expire in April. Donald Trump faces multiple criminal and civil probes, including in Georgia where a prosecutor won permission to convene a grand jury to look into the then-president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results there. Dunne, Vance’s former general counsel, led the office’s successful push to obtain Trump’s tax returns. Pomerantz, a former federal prosecutor, had been on leave from the law firm Paul Weiss while working on the Trump probe. Trump is also among those being investigated by a U.S. House of Representatives select committee looking into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York; Additional reporting and writing by Luc CohenEditing by Jonathan Oatis and Alistair Bell) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Tyler Clifford NEW YORK (Reuters) -The former head of one of New York City’s police unions was charged with fraud, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday, saying that he schemed to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the union. Ed Mullins, who was first elected president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) in 2002, surrendered to authorities in New York and appeared before a judge at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Prosecutors charged him with one count of wire fraud, alleging that his scheme covered a period from 2017 until his resignation as union chief in October 2021 in the face of a federal probe into the labor organization he led, according to a news release. He later left the force. Mullins used a personal credit card to dine at expensive restaurants and shop at luxury stores. He sought to be reimbursed by the SBA for more than $1 million in expenses, much of which was fraudulent, prosecutors say. Mullins “abused his position of trust and authority to fund a lavish lifestyle that was paid for by the monthly dues of the thousands of hard-working sergeants of the NYPD,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. A lawyer for Mullins, Marc Mukasey, declined to comment on the matter. The union could not be reached immediately for comment after the Justice Department statement. The SBA represents 12,000 current and retired members of the largest U.S. police force, according to its Facebook profile. His resignation was applauded at the time by former New York Mayor de Blasio. The union chief frequently used the SBA’s Twitter account to air grievances with the mayor and his administration. Mullins often accused de Blasio of being soft on crime and turning his back on the NYPD. (Reporting by Tyler Clifford; Editing by Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Joseph Ax (Reuters) -Courts in North Carolina and Pennsylvania on Wednesday approved new congressional districts that could bolster Democrats’ chances of holding onto the U.S. House of Representatives in November, after Republican efforts to install more advantageous maps for their party failed in both states. A panel of North Carolina judges rejected the latest map produced by the Republican-controlled General Assembly, ruling that it did not meet the standards of partisan fairness that the state’s Supreme Court set earlier this month. Instead, the judges adopted a map drawn by several court-appointed experts. The new map includes seven likely Republican districts, six likely Democratic districts and one competitive seat, Dave Wasserman, a redistricting analyst at Cook Political Report, said on Twitter. The state Supreme Court had previously tossed out an initial Republican-backed plan as unconstitutionally partisan, finding that Republicans would win a strong majority of the state’s 14 seats under almost any circumstance. The Republican speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Tim Moore, said he would immediately appeal the “egregious” ruling. In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court accepted a map backed by Democrats, weeks after Democratic Governor Tom Wolf vetoed a plan that was passed by the majority-Republican state legislature. The map approved on Wednesday largely eschews major changes, while eliminating one Republican-held district due to the state’s slower population growth. Republicans and Democrats currently hold nine seats each. Both decisions drew immediate criticism from Republicans that the state Supreme Courts – both majority Democratic – acted out of partisan interest rather than judicial impartiality. “These are nothing but partisan rubber-stamps today,” said former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the co-chair of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, which coordinates Republican mapping efforts nationwide. Democrats, by contrast, said the rulings ensured fair maps and protected voters’ rights. “This is a substantial win for Pennsylvanians who now get to vote for the candidate of their choosing in fair, lawful districts for the next decade,” Eric Holder, the chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said in a statement after the Pennsylvania decision. Republicans need to flip only a handful of seats in November’s midterm elections to recapture control of the U.S. House and stymie much of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda. States must redraw their congressional maps every 10 years under federal law to account for population shifts. In most cases, lawmakers control redistricting, leading to partisan gerrymandering, the process by which one party manipulates district lines to increase its power. With more than three dozen states having completed new maps, neither Republicans nor Democrats have gained a significant advantage. Republican gerrymanders in states such as Texas, Tennessee and Georgia have been countered by Democratic ones in Maryland, Illinois and New York. Instead, the biggest change has been the elimination of competitive districts, a shift that is likely to increase polarization and lead to more ideologically extreme candidates, electoral experts say. (Reporting by Joseph Ax;Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Aurora Ellis) View the full article

Published by AFP Users on Donald Trump's new social media network are fixated on some of the ex-president's favorite subjects Washington (AFP) – US President Joe Biden in Taliban fighter garb or stumbling over his words or bungling efforts to avert war in Ukraine –- posts on Donald Trump’s new social media network “Truth Social” have a go-to target. For the users who make it past the waitlist to join and then the ubiquitous tech glitches on the freshly launched app, a first scan reveals that the platform calling itself a “big tent” of ideas has a tight focus on Trump’s favorite fixations. “Truth Social is like one big 2016 Trump rally. Come on over,” Arizona state Senator Wendy Rogers appealed on Twitter, with a picture of her Truth profile. “I am dropping Truth bombs.” After Facebook, Twitter and YouTube barred Trump last year, he is seeking a new direct-to-voter megaphone ahead of a key legislative election this year –- and what his backers hope will be another run for the White House in 2024. The tech giants booted Trump following his supporters’ deadly assault on the US Capitol and accusations he had used the platforms to incite the violent bid to overturn his 2020 election loss. Before being banned, the ex-reality TV star had gained an audience of some 89 million followers on Twitter and used the massive platform to lead, attack and speak his mind. Two days after going live on Apple’s App Store, the waitlist to join Truth had grown to some half-a-million would-be users by Wednesday -– a rapid increase that nonetheless represents a fraction of his defunct Twitter account. ‘Not safe for work’ Still, the internet infrastructure company RightForge, which is hosting Trump’s venture, says it expects the network to eventually grow to more than 75 million users. Users scrolling through the Twitter and Instagram-inspired interface could see a large number of “truths,” as posts on the platform are called, focusing heavily on the former president’s favorite topics. There were broadsides on the “fake news” mainstream media, though in this case it was for their decision to not relay false claims about the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. Among the Biden rebukes was a meme showing the president in a turban and holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher on his shoulder with a caption of “Making the Taliban great again!”, echoing Trump’s attacks after the end of America’s longest war. Messages and user names also repeatedly incorporated the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” — a coded insult against Biden that has become a rallying cry for Trump’s supporters. “Truth Social allows the posting of ‘not safe for work’ and ‘trolling’ content,” the platform says in its community guidelines. A few of the platform’s features however would be welcomed by some social media critics, including Truth’s minimum user age of 18 and a chronological content feed. A 13-year-old age limit at most platforms has been attacked for treating children like adults, and the black box algorithms on services like Facebook have been accused of stoking hate, division and violence in the name of keeping users online. ‘Free thinking’ vs ‘family friendly’ In presenting itself as a “big tent” forum “for free thinking and the ability to share ideas freely”, Truth aligns with right-wing accusations that social media has been inhospitable to conservative points of view. However, Truth’s terms of service say user contributions must not be “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, violent, harassing, libelous, slanderous, or otherwise objectionable”. Twitter, one of the platforms that conservatives accuse of being unfair, takes aim at harmful misinformation notably in specific contexts like Covid-19 hoaxes or misleading information that could influence an election. “We want to be very family-friendly,” Trump Media & Technology Group CEO and ex-congressman Devin Nunes told Fox Business in an interview aired in January. The finer points of the moderation system and its potential capacity to enforce strict limits remain unclear, but Nunes noted the company is working with Hive, a startup that provides automated content moderation. Trump himself was repeatedly accused of making false or misleading statements online, so his future posts could offer some complex test cases for the platform. Yet in an indication of the challenges of using the app so far, an AFP journalist’s Truth account was not able to access Trump’s page and TMTG did not reply to a query about its status. Donald Trump Jr. though has said his father is already online, tweeting an image of the elder Trump’s first “truth”: “Get ready! Your favorite president will see you soon!” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) – Negotiations on new rules for dealing with pandemics will begin at the World Health Organization on Thursday, with a target date of May 2024 for a treaty to be adopted by the U.N. health agency’s 194 member countries. A new pact is among more than 200 recommendations for shoring up the world’s defences against new pathogens made by various reviewers following the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 6.2 million people in two years. The WHO itself is facing calls for reform after an independent panel described it as “underpowered” when COVID-19 struck, with limited powers to investigate outbreaks and coordinate containment measures. A Washington-led effort to build a global pandemic prevention fund hosted by the World Bank is among initiatives that could determine the future of the 74-year old body. WHAT IS THE PANDEMIC TREATY? The WHO already has binding rules known as the International Health Regulations (2005) which set out countries’ obligations where public health events have the potential to cross borders. These include advising the WHO immediately of a health emergency and measures on trade and travel. Adopted after the 2002/3 SARS outbreak, these regulations are still seen as functional for regional epidemics like Ebola but inadequate for a global pandemic. Suggested proposals for the pact include the sharing of data and genome sequences of emerging viruses and rules on equitable vaccine distribution. The European Union is pushing for a ban on wildlife markets and incentives for reporting of new viruses or variants, an EU official told Reuters. Member states have an August deadline to decide on an initial version of the pact, which is backed by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He is likely to be elected unopposed for a second term in May. It would be only the second such health accord after the 2003 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a legally-binding treaty which aims to reduce smoking via taxation and rules on labelling and advertising. HOW DO COUNTRIES VIEW THE PACT? The EU proposed the treaty and is its biggest backer, with support from Britain, Indonesia, Kenya and others. The United States will take part in the talks but has opposed a binding treaty. India and Brazil have also voiced reservations. With so many member countries involved, securing agreement is likely to be tricky. HOW WOULD IT WORK? Because its legal nature remains to be defined, in WHO jargon the pact is an “instrument”, of which there are three types — recommendations, regulations and conventions. Of those, regulations are automatically legally binding for members unless they explicitly object. It is not yet clear how the 2005 regulations and the new pandemic treaty might fit together. One suggestion is that they should be complementary, so that existing rules apply to local outbreaks with the treaty response only kicking in if the WHO declares a pandemic — something it does not currently have a mandate to do. It remains to be determined whether negotiators will include compliance measures such as sanctions. WHAT OTHER REFORMS ARE IN THE WORKS? Separate talks on a U.S. initiative to overhaul the 2005 rules are taking place this week. Washington’s proposals aim to boost transparency and grant the WHO quicker access to outbreak sites. Several diplomats said they are likely to prove too ambitious, with opposition from China and others expected on national sovereignty grounds. China did allow WHO-led expert teams to visit the COVID-19 epicentre in Wuhan, but the WHO says it is still withholding clinical data from early cases that may hold clues about the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Reforms to the WHO funding structure to make it more sustainable and flexible in the event of a pandemic are being discussed by WHO member states in another working group. So far the United States, which until the pandemic was the WHO’s top donor, has opposed plans to increase member countries’ annual contributions. (Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Stephanie Nebehay and Catherine Evans) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Daniel Trotta (Reuters) -The trial of a white former Kentucky police officer charged with wanton endangerment during the 2020 shooting death of Breonna Taylor began on Wednesday, casting a spotlight on another case in the United States that sparked a summer of protests against racial injustice two years ago. Detective Brett Hankison, 45, whose stray bullets hit a neighboring apartment in the city of Louisville during a botched execution of a search warrant in March 2020, was the only officer charged in the case. Kentucky Assistant Attorney General Barbara Whaley reminded the jury in her opening argument on Wednesday that the case was not about Taylor. Rather, she said it concerned whether Hankison exhibited “extreme indifference to human life” when firing the bullets that endangered Taylor’s neighbors, shattered their glass patio door, and caused drywall to fall on one of them, Cody Etherton. Etherton testified on Wednesday that he awoke that March night to a boom, then heard several shots and felt debris falling on him after he left his room. When his glass patio door shattered, Etherton said he went to check it out, whereupon officers pointed guns at him and told him to put his hands out through the broken glass. “It was just reckless,” he said. “There’s not going to be any dispute about the evidence,” said Hankison’s attorney, Stew Mathews, in his opening argument. “The issue is, what was the reasoning behind his firing those shots?” The death of Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician who was unarmed, along with the killings of two Black men – George Floyd in Minneapolis and Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia – captured international attention and sparked weeks of protests over police violence against Blacks and other minority groups. Calls to ban no-knock warrants also intensified after the death of Taylor, who was not the subject of the search warrant. Hankison’s trial in Jefferson County Circuit Court has failed to satisfy activists who believe police got off too easily after Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the lead investigator, said police were justified in using deadly force. The charge against Hankison, who pleaded not guilty, is a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Jury selection began on Feb. 3. A grand jury cleared the two white officers who actually shot Taylor but found reason to charge Hankison for endangering neighbors in the adjacent apartment. When police burst into Taylor’s home while serving a search warrant, her boyfriend Kenneth Walker, who was with her, fired one round from a 9 mm handgun that he was licensed to carry, wounding one officer in the leg. Police responded by firing 32 rounds, hitting Taylor six times. Hankison fired 10 of those shots from outside the apartment and through a sliding glass patio door that had the blinds drawn. Some of his shots pierced the wall and entered the next-door home occupied by a child, a pregnant woman and a man. Hankison told a grand jury he opened fire once the shooting started. As he saw flashes light up the room, he said he mistakenly believed one of the occupants was holding an AR-15 or other long gun as his colleagues came under assault. “I thought they were just being executed,” Hankison said of his fellow officers. Instead, mostly what he heard was other police firing their weapons. Police Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, who was wounded by Walker’s single shot, fired six times and Detective Myles Cosgrove fired 16 shots, the investigation found. Police wanted to search the home in connection with a drug investigation in which Taylor’s ex-boyfriend was a suspect. Taylor’s family won a $12 million wrongful death settlement from the city of Louisville. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Additional reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Mark Porter and Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Matthias Williams KYIV (Reuters) – Volodymyr Zelenskiy swept to power three years ago promising to end a war with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. He now faces a Russian invasion that could result in the overthrow of his government and the end of Ukrainian democracy. As Russia rained missiles down on Ukrainian cities including Kyiv on Thursday, Zelenskiy appealed to all citizens to defend Ukraine, saying weapons would be given to all who wanted them. “Russia treacherously attacked our state this morning, as Nazi Germany did during World War Two, ” Zelenskiy told Ukrainians in a national address. “Russia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself and won’t give up its freedom, no matter what Moscow thinks.” It is a disastrous outcome for Zelenskiy, a 44-year-old former comic actor whose increasingly insistent calls over the past two years for NATO to admit Ukraine, an ex-Soviet republic, have infuriated Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow had demanded that NATO promise never to take in Ukraine, a country of huge geopolitical, historic and cultural importance to Russia, a demand rebuffed by the West. Putin on Monday rejected Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent state, saying it is effectively part of Russia. In recent weeks, Zelenskiy has drawn praise from Western leaders for his composure and his appeals to Ukrainians not to panic as Russia massed up to 150,000 troops near the border. He also criticised foreign embassies and Ukrainian businessmen for leaving Ukraine for security reasons, and renewed his call for companies to stay put, saying they risked inadvertently helping Putin’s efforts to destabilise Ukraine. SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE But Zelenskiy is an unlikely wartime leader. He shot to fame in a popular television series “Servant of the People” in which he played an honest school teacher who is elected president and outwits crooked lawmakers and shadowy businessmen. Winning the presidency by a landslide in April 2019, he pledged to tackle the corruption that has blighted Ukraine’s transition from communism to democracy. But Russia has always posed the biggest challenge to his aspirations to build a modern, democratic and stable European country. His Servant of the People party – named after the TV series – won a big majority in a July 2019 parliamentary election and Zelenskiy initially pursued confidence-building measures with Russia in eastern Ukraine, including prisoner exchanges. But that minor thaw did not last long. Russia, which in 2014 seized Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, continued to back armed separatists battling Kyiv’s forces in the mainly Russian-speaking Donbass region of eastern Ukraine in a conflict that Zelenskiy says has claimed at least 15,000 lives to date. Risking Moscow’s ire, Zelenskiy courted Western leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden at talks in the White House on Sept. 1, 2021. “Everyone should understand…that we are at war, that we are defending democracy in Europe and defending our country, and therefore you cannot just talk to us with phrases about reforms,” Zelenskiy said a June 2021 interview. “Every day we prove that we are ready to be in the (NATO) alliance more than most of the countries of the European Union.” ‘A NEW FACE’ Zelenskiy rode a wave of public discontent with Ukraine’s corrupt political elite to victory over wealthy businessman Petro Poroshenko in 2019. Asked by Reuters ahead of that election how he differed from other presidential hopefuls, Zelenskiy pointed to his face, saying: “This is a new face. I have never been in politics.” “I have not deceived people. They identify with me because I am open, I get hurt, I get angry, I get upset… If I’m inexperienced in something, I’m inexperienced. If I don’t know something, I honestly admit it.” But despite his promises to curb the influence of tycoons in politics, Zelenskiy has had to fend off suspicion that he is a puppet of Ihor Kolomoisky, an oligarch whose TV channel aired “Servant of the People”. Zelenskiy was also drawn unwittingly into U.S. politics after a phone call in which then-President Donald Trump tried to get him to investigate his Democratic rival Biden over business deals in Ukraine. The Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives impeached Trump after an inquiry concluded he had withheld military aid from Ukraine in order to influence Kyiv. Trump denied wrongdoing and the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate later acquitted him. (Reporting by Kyiv bureau, Writing by Gareth Jones, Editing by Angus MacSwan) View the full article