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Published by AFP Vicente Carrasco, originally from Mexico, formed a group to help protect fellow New York delivery workers from assault and bike theft New York (AFP) – “A colleague needs help to recover his bicycle!” says a message in the WhatsApp group of the Delivery Boys United, a team of food delivery workers in New York who are organizing to defend themselves following attacks and thefts. Vicente Carrasco, a 39-year-old from Mexico, formed the group in March after he was assaulted. They aim to protect themselves and their electric bikes, which cost around $3,000 and, along with their phones, are their livelihoods. Every night after a long day riding around the Big Apple, Carrasco and other “deliveristas,” mostly men, meet under the Queensboro Bridge on the Manhattan side of the East River where they wait to come to the aid of any colleague in trouble. “If there is a bicycle stolen with GPS we follow it,” he tells AFP, stressing they never go alone. “When there are many of us, we will always try to get it back. We don’t want to risk our lives too much. You don’t know if people are armed. We do what we can do.” There have been several reports of attacks on delivery personnel in New York this year. In October a 51-year-old rider was stabbed to death and had his e-bike stolen in Chinatown. In April, a deliverista was shot dead in a Harlem. That same month, another on his scooter was hit by a vehicle in Queens. Eric Adams, expected to be elected New York’s next mayor Tuesday, has pledged to make the city’s streets safer should he take office in January. For now, Carrasco’s group is working alongside three other organizations that bring together more than 1,000 delivery riders across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. “This is my way of life,” says another organizer Jose Rodrigo Nevares, whose friend was killed during a theft of his bicycle. “With my bike, I feed my family, I pay my rent. I can’t just leave it so someone takes it away,” he adds. There are roughly 65,000 deliveristas in New York, according to official figures. With their frustration building over how police have handled cases, Carrasco and the other groups decided to take safety into their own hands. “We did this because when you call the police when you’ve been robbed, they never arrive,” he says. “We organize ourselves to be able to defend ourselves, to be faster.” For its part the New York Police Department says its “Operation Identification” helps recover registered stolen bicycles, and that NYPD duly investigates such crimes. “The NYPD takes these crimes very seriously and will exhaust all leads available in order to catch those responsible,” spokesman Sergeant Edward Riley tells AFP. Some 80 percent of the deliveristas are undocumented immigrants, according to rights groups, meaning they are often reluctant to contact police. Nevares, who became a deliveryman after losing his waiter job during the Covid-19 pandemic, says that reluctance is “out of fear, because you know that you are going to get into trouble.” – ‘Not violent’ – While Carrasco’s group sometimes recovers stolen bikes on their own, the operations have raised safety concerns. “Our fear is that someone will end up injured,” says Ligia Guallpa, from the Labor Justice project, who has been fighting for years to improve conditions for undocumented workers. Many who support the workers distance themselves from the self-defense groups. But Carrasco dismisses suggestions that the men are vigilantes. “We are not violent,” he states. Food delivery workers — many of whom are of Latino, African or Asian origin — average $2,345 a month, below the hourly $15 minimum wage in New York’s service sector. They receive no social security, no health insurance and no overtime. Nor do they have a right to unionize. Guallpa calls the working conditions “inhumane.” Only from next year will they be allowed to use the restrooms of restaurants where they collect food, after a campaign by Guallpa’s organization. Revenue from food delivery apps has surged more than 200 percent over the past five years, with profits skyrocketing during the lockdown. It’s been a win-win for the apps, which earn fees from customers and restaurants while having no commitments to the freelance deliveristas, according to a 2020 survey conducted by the Labor Justice Project and Cornell University. Activists say it’s time to give the riders the same protections as other workers. Almost half of the survey’s 500 respondents said they had had an accident, including being run over, while working — and three quarters of those paid their medical expenses themselves. Fifty-four percent of respondents had their bicycles stolen — and one third of them had been victims of assault during the robbery. “We have to change the system, otherwise we are not changing the root problem,” says Guallpa. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a bid by a Catholic hospital in California to avoid a lawsuit over its refusal to let its facilities be used to perform a hysterectomy on a transgender patient who sought the procedure as a part of gender transition from female to male. The justices turned away an appeal by Mercy San Juan Medical Center, a Sacramento-area hospital owned by Dignity Health, and let stand a lower court ruling that revived Evan Minton’s lawsuit accusing it of intentionally discriminating against him in violation of California law because he is transgender. The justices on Monday also bolstered a Roman Catholic-led challenge to a New York state requirement that health insurance policies provided by employers cover abortion services. The justices told a lower court to reconsider its decision to throw out a bid by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and other plaintiffs to widen an existing religious exemption to a 2017 state regulation that requires health insurance policies to cover “medically necessary” abortions. Conservative Justices Thomas Alito, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have taken up both cases for argument. In the California case, the hospital said it does not discriminate against transgender patients, but does not allow its facilities to be used for a certain procedures including abortion, sterilization and euthanasia, which it contends are contrary to Catholic teachings. The hospital in 2016 had initially scheduled Minton’s hysterectomy – surgical removal of the uterus – but canceled it after learning the reason Minton wanted it, according to the lawsuit. The hospital let Minton’s physician perform the procedure at a different facility in its system a few days later. Minton sued in state court, accusing the hospital of violating a California civil rights law that prohibits discrimination by business establishments, including hospitals, based on race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. After a trial judge ruled against Minton, a California appeals court in 2019 revived the case, rejecting the hospital’s argument that forcing it to perform procedures contrary to its religious beliefs would violate its right under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment to the free exercise of religion. “This case poses a profound threat to faith-based health care institutions’ ability to advance their healing ministries consistent with the teachings of their faith,” the hospital told the justices in a court filing. Minton said the hysterectomy was medically necessary to treat gender dysphoria, which the American Psychiatric Association defines as “clinically significant distress” due to a conflict between a person’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth. The hospital routinely performs hysterectomies on non-transgender patients to treat other issues, such as chronic pelvic pain or uterine fibroids, Minton told the justices in a legal filing. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Booby Tape Hollywood takes Halloween! No one does spooky season like your favorite A-list celebrities. These masters of disguises looked scary-good while dressed up for the Booby Tape Halloween celebration in West Hollywood on Saturday, October 30. Scroll through the images below to see A-list celebs rocking costumes. Paris Hilton Booby Tape Paris Hilton put her own spin on Cinderella. The TV personality donned a sexy powder blue corset dress and a tiara to go with her blonde locks. She topped the look off with gloves and silver pumps to represent the classic Disney princess. Sophie Turner & Joe Jonas Booby Tape Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas got creative with their Lizzie McGuire-themed costumes. The power couple looked glamorous while the Game of Thrones actress took on Hilary Duff‘s famous character. Justin & Hailey Bieber Booby Tape Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber looked adorable dressed as decked out characters from The Jungle Book. The pop singer dressed as Baloo the bear, while the model looked stylish in an all-black outfit resembling the black panther Bagheera from the Disney film. Demi Lovato & Vas J Morgan Booby Tape Demi Lovato posed alongside Vas J Morgan while sporting a goth chic look with black lipstick and a haunting dark smokey eye. Emma Roberts Booby Tape Emma Robertsgot into the Halloween spirit with a head-to-toe clown inspired look. Paris Jackson Booby Tape Paris Jackson rocked a brown mini dress paired with knee-high brown boots while she dressed as a glamorous witch for the evening. Madelaine Petsch, Camila Mendes & Lili Reinhart Booby Tape The women of Riverdale reunited for a photo while decked out in Halloween looks. Madelaine Petsch and Camila Mendes went as the famous female duo Scooby Doo, Velma and Daphney, while Lili Reinhart rocked an evil witch ensemble. Rebel Wilson Rebel Wilson appeared to have a blast at Booby Tape’s Squid Game themed event, where she and her pals dressed up as characters from the hit Netflix show. Olivia Rodrigo & Conan Gray Booby Tape Olivia Rodrigo posed alongside fellow up-and-coming artist Conan Gray while rocking a throwback costume look. The “Brutal” singer looked demure as Elvira Hancock from Scarface. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – November is shaping up to be a momentous month for President Joe Biden as Democrats controlling the U.S. Congress face a formidable workload that, if completed, would lock in the $2.75 trillion pillar of his domestic agenda – one that some compare to the 1930s “New Deal” or the 1960s “Great Society.” If the sheer dollar figure was not daunting enough, Biden last week framed the early November agenda this way in a closed-door meeting with House of Representatives Democrats, according to a source familiar with his remarks: “I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the House and Senate majorities and my presidency will be determined by what happens in the next week.” That is just for starters. A further $1.5 trillion in annual domestic spending to fund routine government operations also must be cobbled together before a Dec. 3 deadline. Failure in the deeply divided Congress could trigger a partial government shutdown. Layered on top of that is the same Dec. 3 deadline for raising Washington’s $28.4 trillion cap on borrowing, a mundane process in which Republicans say they will refuse to participate. Failure on that front would plunge the federal government into a historic default on its debt, creating financial troubles that could ripple through the global economy. As soon as this week, the House could vote to pass the first prong of the $2.75 trillion package – more than $1 trillion to improve roads, bring broadband to underserved rural areas and invest in other infrastructure. It is a bill that even some Republicans support. That could follow quickly with debate on the partisan, $1.75 trillion bill Democrats have fought over among themselves for months, undercutting Biden’s popularity. It is half of the $3.5 trillion Biden initially sought. Biden, who is in Europe for G20 and climate summits, said on Sunday that the package will be voted on sometime this week, “God willing.” With a large portion of the public saying it is unaware of the larger bill’s tax cuts for lower-income families with children, expanded social safety-net programs and $550 billion of investments to tackle climate change, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took to the airwaves on Sunday to tout them. “This is not half a loaf. It is a feast of good policy,” Buttigieg said on ABC’s “This Week.” BATTLES ABOUND With Republicans united against much of the Democrats’ spending plans and the Democratic caucus fractured, it is unclear Congress can manage such a heavy load. Adding to that is a looming Senate fight over election reform legislation. If the Democrats’ effort falters, as expected, it could prompt them to alter the “filibuster” rule so that minority Republicans cannot block such bills so easily. But the Democrats’ top priority will be passage of the two massive bills that together make up most of Biden’s domestic agenda. After months of negotiation, moderates and liberals in the party were nearing agreement on the safety-net bill. But Senator Bernie Sanders, a leading liberal, told CNN’s “State of the Union” broadcast on Sunday that he insists a provision be included to cut prescription drug costs. With the November 2022 congressional election campaigns nearing, the flurry of legislation will test whether Democrats, without much help from Republicans, can push through a major expansion of government programs while cutting taxes for some and raising them on the ultra-wealthy and corporations. Democrats could be emboldened if the party scores a victory in Tuesday’s tight election for governor in Virginia. A possible Republican upset could give Democratic moderates in Congress second thoughts, however, about signing onto Biden’s sweeping “Build Back Better” plan. (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Peter Cooney) View the full article

Published by DPA Last year, facial cosmetic surgery boomed during a rise in Zoom calls in which people saw their own faces more often than usual. David Parry/PA Wire/dpa Since the first lockdowns of March 2020, cosmetic surgery specialists have been reporting a dramatic rise in requests for minor facial procedures in the wake of the global shift to remote working. The way we perceive our own face in video chat programs like Zoom is typically more negative than our the mirror image, says Joerg Blesse, who heads the annual conference of the German Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (DGAePC). He’s one of many surgeons around the world who linked a surge in demand for facial procedures this year and last to the rise of Zoom and other video conferencing tools as millions were asked to work from home during lockdown. In Britain, in the weeks after the first lockdowns of 2020, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) was already forecasting a “Zoom Boom” during the pandemic and noting a 33 per cent rise in men and 66 per cent rise in younger women seeking virtual consultations about plastic surgery. In the US, 64 per cent of plastic surgeries were reporting an increase in their telemedicine consultations by June 2020. The trend appears to be continuing and according to a 2021 survey of DGAePC patients in Germany, procedures to beautify the face without major incisions – like operations to have the eyelids tightened – are much more in demand in 2021 than in previous years. This is also evident in the statistics of the country’s largest professional society, the Association of German Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (VDAePC). So what it is about Zoom that’s makes people all over the planet want to change their faces? “Many then think to themselves: ‘Oh, that’s me there’,” says Blesse and then focus on their face during much of a meeting. But the way we look at our faces in Zoom is also different to the way we see ourselves in the mirror or take selfies with our phones, researchers say. “Unlike the still and filtered selfies of social media, Zoom displays an unedited version of oneself in motion, a self-depiction very few people are used to seeing on a daily basis,” write the authors of a November 2020 study on the impact of Zoom on self-perception. Unlike in real-world conversations, where we don’t see our faces, let alone compare them to those of others, in Zoom we are constantly shown what we look like. “This may have drastic effects on body dissatisfaction and desire to seek cosmetic procedures,” say the authors of the paper, published in Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine. “In addition, cameras can distort video quality and create an inaccurate representation of true appearance,” authors Shauna M. Rice, Emmy Graber and Arianne Shadi Kourosh write, noting that the size of a nose can be distorted by different lenses and their distance from the subject. “Webcams, inevitably recording at shorter focal lengths, tend to produce an overall more rounded face, wider set eyes and broader nose.” Not only that, but the person confronted with their own face at length during online meetings can also be emotionally impacted by what they see in themselves. What you might see as wrinkly or tired-looking eyes can lead you to perceive yourself as sad or tired as a result, the researchers write. We shouldn’t attribute the rise in cosmetic surgery entirely to video chat however, and Blesse notes that the obligation to wear a mask has also drawn more attention towards the eyes. In any case, the rise in minor facial procedures due to a more intensive preoccupation with self-image is also worrying many specialists in Germany. For more and more people, the threshold for such minimally invasive procedures is much lower than for more complex operations, says Harald Kaisers, president of surgeon association DGAePC. “We are particularly critical of the presentation of such aesthetic plastic treatments on social media. There is a lot of information, but not explanation.” Influencers on platforms such as Instagram, who present such treatments as a lifestyle product and not as a medical intervention, also contribute to this. Those who want to have Botox or hyaluronic acid injected do not necessarily have to consult a specialist. Such “filler materials” against wrinkles are medical products, VDAePC President Steffen Handstein says. “Anyone can purchase them. It’s quite a bizarre situation. There are many places that can do it legally, although they could not treat possible complications.” On platforms like YouTube, there are even video instructions to inject yourself with hyaluronic acid, says Kaisers. “You can go blind if you inject it incorrectly.” The two associations are therefore calling for greater restrictions on the business of such treatments. “This belongs in the hands of specialists,” Kaisers said, stressing that the trend towards such minor interventions is likely to continue even after the pandemic. View the full article

Published by DPA Experts say your best protection against coronavirus is one to two weeks after the second vaccination, after which the protection against infection slowly decreases. Michael Kappeler/dpa Many of us have been hearing of more and more breakthrough cases in recent weeks – friends of friends, celebrities and government figures are testing positive for coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated. Some get Covid-19 symptoms, albeit mostly mild. In Germany alone, 117,763 probable vaccination breakthroughs – i.e. infections with symptoms – were recorded since the beginning of February by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) leading the country’s pandemic response. And yet experts do not see a lack of effectiveness of vaccines, which continue to protect very well against severe symptoms, even if booster vaccinations are needed to maintain this level of protection. How breakthrough infections occur “You have to know: The protection against infection is no longer as good six months after vaccination,” says virologist Hendrik Streeck. Vaccine researcher Leif Sander from the Charite hospital in Berlin agrees. The best protection is one to two weeks after the second vaccination, after which the protection against infection slowly decreases, Sander says. However, vaccinated people remain much better protected than unvaccinated people. While many are surprised at the fact that the coronavirus is still a threat to those who are vaccinated, this diminishing level of immunity is not unexpected in the scientific community. Leading German virologist Christian Drosten said in April that vaccinated people could contribute to the transmission of the virus again after a few months. Much more important than being safe from infection, however, is a protection against a severe case of Covid-19 – which remains stable, emphasises Streeck. According to experts, those who become infected despite vaccination are usually mildly ill or do not notice anything. In general, vaccine breakthroughs also occur with vaccinations against other diseases. The risk posed by vaccinated and unvaccinated infected persons also differs. “According to one study, when vaccinated persons become infected, their viral load is briefly as high as that of unvaccinated persons,” Streeck explains. “But this drops much more quickly. Thus, vaccination shortens the time span in which the virus can be passed on.” Vaccine breakthroughs can be dangerous It’s important to know that an infection can be particularly dangerous in older people or those with previous illnesses. The immune response of older people, for example, is lower after vaccination, and they can then become more seriously ill. According to the RKI, 782 of the 1,076 Covid 19 cases with vaccine breakthroughs that died between the beginning of February and the end of last week were at least 80 years old. “This reflects the generally higher risk of death – regardless of vaccine efficacy – for this age group,” it says. The share of vaccine breakthroughs in all Covid-19 cases shows “that only a small proportion of hospitalised, ICU-attended or deceased Covid-19 cases can be assessed as vaccine breakthroughs.” The RKI calls the increase in breakthrough infections over time “predictable” – more and more people are vaccinated, and the virus is able to spread more again as restrictions end. “This increases the probability of coming into contact with the virus as a fully vaccinated person.” Experts where vaccination programmes have helped immunize the majority of the country are now keen to maintain that level of immunity with booster jabs. And yet some experts are worried the level of trust in vaccines will suffer if there were a widespread call for boosters now. And yet for Charite scientist Sander, “offering all vaccine-ready people a third vaccination six months after the second vaccination would also have a dampening effect on the spread of the virus in the population.” Sander also cites Israel’s recent experience, where they “boosted” themselves out of the past wave. Opponents of an expansion of booster vaccinations, including Streeck, point to the worldwide shortage of vaccines, and stress that the majority of countries still need doses more urgently than those where booster vaccination are an issue. In addition: The health system would be relieved more if vaccination gaps were closed for people over 60 – and less with third vaccinations for people in their mid-20s. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki has become the latest of a long list of high-profile individuals to contract the coronavirus despite being vaccinated. Such breakthrough cases are no surprise, say many experts. Some say they’re proof we need to take action. Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lawrence White LONDON (Reuters) – Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley is leaving the bank after a dispute with British financial regulators over how he described his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Staley will be replaced as chief executive by the bank’s head of global markets C.S. Venkatakrishnan, who pledged on Monday to continue his predecessor’s strategy for Britain’s third-biggest bank by market value. Staley’s shock departure comes after Barclays was informed on Friday of the unpublished findings of a report by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) into Staley’s characterisation of his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on charges related to sex trafficking. “In view of those conclusions, and Mr Staley’s intention to contest them, the Board and Mr Staley have agreed that he will step down from his role as Group Chief Executive and as a director of Barclays,” the bank said. “It should be noted that the investigation makes no findings that Mr Staley saw, or was aware of, any of Mr Epstein’s alleged crimes, which was the central question underpinning Barclays’ support for Mr Staley following the arrest of Mr Epstein in the summer of 2019,” it said in a statement. The investigation has yet to be published, though regulators have said previously that it was focused on how truthful Staley was about his ties to Epstein. If Staley is found to have misled regulators he could face a fine, a ban from Britain’s financial industry or both. Barclays shares fell 2% following the announcement, before paring losses to trade down 1% at 1315 GMT, underperforming European rivals. ‘I THOUGHT I KNEW HIM WELL’ Staley dealt with Epstein during his long career at JPMorgan, where Epstein was a major private banking client until 2013. A college dropout who styled himself as a brilliant financier, Epstein socialised in elite circles, including with former and future U.S. presidents. In 2008, he was registered as a sex offender but continued to maintain ties with powerful players in business and finance. The New York Times reported in 2019 that Epstein had referred “dozens” of wealthy clients to Staley. It reported that Staley visited Epstein in prison when he was serving a sentence between 2008-09 for soliciting prostitution from a minor, while Bloomberg reported he visited Epstein’s private island in 2015. Staley told reporters last February that his relationship with Epstein had “tapered off significantly” after he left JPMorgan in 2013, and that he had not seen the disgraced financier since taking over as CEO of Barclays in 2015. “I thought I knew him well, and I didn’t. I’m sure with hindsight of what we all know now, I deeply regret having had any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” he said at the time. Epstein’s links with prominent men have come back to haunt some of them. Leon Black, the billionaire investor, stepped down https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apollo-global-clayton-idUSKBN2BE1E0 from Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm he co-founded, earlier this year after an outside review found he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning. Britain’s Prince Andrew https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/prince-andrew-seeks-dismissal-accuser-giuffres-lawsuit-2021-10-29 has quit royal duties over his associations with Epstein while Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has said it was a “huge mistake” to spend time with the financier. Britain’s FCA and PRA regulators said in a statement they could not comment further on the Epstein investigation, which was launched https://www.reuters.com/article/us-barclays-results-idUSKBN2070NF after JPMorgan provided them with emails between Epstein and Staley from Staley’s time as head of JPMorgan’s private bank, the Financial Times reported last year. RIGHT STRATEGY Staley told staff in an internal memo seen by Reuters that he did not want his personal response to the investigations to be a distraction. “Although I will not be with you for the next chapter of Barclays’ story, know that I will be cheering your success from the sidelines,” he said. Staley has 28 days to formally notify the FCA that he is contesting its findings, after which an independent committee inside the watchdog will uphold or reject its conclusions, a source familiar with the process told Reuters. If upheld, the investigation passes to an independent Upper Tribunal which again can back or reject the findings, the source said, in a process that could take months. The bank’s new CEO Venkatakrishnan, who followed Staley to Barclays from JPMorgan and is known as Venkat, told staff on Monday the strategy put in place by his predecessor was “the right one”, according to a separate memo also seen by Reuters. Venkat added that he would announce changes to the organisation of the investment bank in the coming days, likely to mean filling his previous role and any other resulting vacancies, sources at the bank said. Barclays’ share price has fallen 9% since Staley’s joined the bank nearly six years ago, a tenure not without controversy. His greatest success, insiders and analysts say, was to fight off a campaign by activist investor Edward Bramson in 2018 to have Staley removed on the grounds that Barclays’ investment bank was underperforming and should be cut back. Bramson sold his stake earlier this year, and the bank’s recent results have shown the investment bank performing strongly. Also in 2018, Britain’s financial regulators and Barclays fined Staley a combined 1.1 million pounds ($1.5 million) after he tried to identify a whistleblower who sent letters criticising a Barclays employee. (Reporting by Rachel Armstrong and Lawrence White; Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Huw Jones; Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan and David Clarke) View the full article

Published by Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) -A rush of eleventh-hour inoculations sharply reduced the number of New York City emergency responders who failed to meet the city’s coronavirus vaccination requirement as it began to be enforced on Monday, officials said. The vaccination rate for all city employees, including police officers and firefighters, rose to 91% from 86% late last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said over the weekend on Twitter. De Blasio on Oct. 20 ordered the city’s 50,000 uniformed services workers, including emergency medical and sanitation employees, to have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine by late Friday afternoon. Enforcement of the mandate in the city of 8.8 million people was set to start on Monday, with de Blasio saying that employees reporting for duty who had failed to get immunized would not be paid. Union officials, who said last week at least one-third of firefighters and police officers were unvaccinated, predicted worker shortages as a result of the mandate, which eliminated a COVID testing alternative that they said had worked well. At a pre-dawn briefing, Uniformed Firefighters Association President Andrew Ansbro predicted that dozens of fire companies would be forced to shut down, and urged the city to give his members more time to comply, NY1 TV reported. But Ansbro added, “This is not a city in crisis.” De Blasio, a Democrat, who had predicted a last-minute vaccination surge, said 2,300 workers were immunized on Saturday alone. “More than half of the workers who haven’t been vaccinated yet have submitted exemption requests and those requests are being processed,” he said on Twitter on Saturday. Workers with pending exemption requests will continue to be paid, officials have said. By Sunday, the mayor’s office said the vaccination rate for Emergency Medical Services workers had jumped to 87% from 74% on Thursday. The Fire Department of New York reported late Friday that its rate had jumped to 77% from 64% a day earlier. The recent vaccination rate for the New York Police Department, which de Blasio put at 74% on Thursday, was not immediately available. The dispute in the largest U.S. city is the latest to erupt as vaccine mandates have been increasingly imposed by political leaders across the country, including President Joe Biden, to help stem the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. Police officers and firefighters in Chicago and Los Angeles have also pushed back hard. New York City police and firefighter unions have challenged the mandate in court. But the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York said courts last week rejected its requests for an emergency order to halt the mandate’s enforcement. (Reporting by Peter Szekely and Trevor Clifford in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney and Peter Graff) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine It’s been nearly three decades sinceNicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were stabbed to death, but the case — and O.J. Simpson’s controversial acquittal — still captivates the nation. During a recent moment on Big Brother VIP, Caitlyn Jenner touched on the events that followed the shocking 1994 Brentwood, Calif., murders. At the time, Caitlyn — then known as Bruce Jenner — was married to Kris Jenner, who was close to the late mom-of-two. (Simpson and Brown, who were in the midst of a divorce when she was killed, shared Sydney, now 36, and Justin, now 33.) Kris’ ex-husband, Robert Kardashian, was also part of the “Dream Team” defending the former NFL star in what became known as The Trial of The Century. MEGA “It was an extraordinarily difficult time. Nicole was Kris’ best friend [and] had been for a long time,” the 72-year-old recalled. “I was at Nicole’s house two days before the murder.” O.J. SIMPSON IMPLIES HE DOESN’T LIKE TO TRAVEL TO LOS ANGELES BECAUSE HE MIGHT RUN INTO NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON’S ‘REAL’ MURDERER “Obviously he did it and he got away with it, and at one point he even told Nicole, ‘I’ll kill you and get away with it because I’m OJ Simpson,’” Caitlyn revealed, noting the late woman “relayed that onto Kris at one point — and unfortunately, she was right.” “We were at the courthouse. We were watching what was going on in the other room,” the gold medalist continued. “Even after the not guilty verdict, the first thing Kris turns around to me and goes, ‘We should’ve listened to Nicole. She was right, right from the beginning.” Though Simpson was acquitted, Brown and Goldman’s families sued him in civil court for wrongful death and won a $33.5M judgment. However, in February, Fred Goldman — Ron’s father — revealed he only received $132,000 of the money owed to him. As OK! reported, Simpson was recently ordered to discuss questions regarding his assets, including “employment, property and funds,” with Fred’s lawyer in what is believed to be an attempt to satisfy the outstanding balance. MEGA Caitlyn’s step-daughter, Kim Kardashian, recently spoke out about Simpson while hosting Saturday Night Live last month. Noting in her opening monologue that she “met my first black person” because of her late father, the 41-year-old quipped: “Wanna take a stab at the dark at who it was? I know it’s sorta weird to remember the first black person you met but O.J. does leave a mark, or several or none at all. I still don’t know.” (Following the airing, Nicole’s sister Tanya told TMZ that the reality star’s jokes were “distasteful” and in “poor taste”.) FRED GOLDMAN SLAMS O.J. SIMPSON CALLING IT A ‘SHAME’ HE SURVIVED COVID In 2018, footage from a bizarre interview Simpson did to promote his book If I Did It — which contained a “hypothetical” account of the murders — with publisher Judith Regan recirculated on a two-hour special, O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession? MEGA “As things got heated, I just remember Nicole fell and hurt herself,” the the former running back said — in what was dubbed a “shocking hypothetical account” — at the time. “And I remember I grabbed a knife, I do remember that portion, taking the knife from Charlie, and to be honest, after that, I don’t remember.” Simpson, who has maintained his innocence, joined Twitter days after the 25th anniversary of his late wife and Ron’s death. View the full article

Published by AFP Police officers stand by security barricades set up outside the US Supreme Court ahead of legal challenges to a restrictive abortion law passed by Texas Washington (AFP) – The conservative-majority US Supreme Court hears challenges on Monday to the most restrictive law passed since abortion was made a constitutional right nearly 50 years ago — a Texas bill that bans a woman from terminating a pregnancy after six weeks. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the court in downtown Washington ahead of two hours of arguments before the nine-member panel. “Keep Your Laws Off Our Bodies,” read signs carried by demonstrators supporting the right to an abortion. “Let Their Hearts Beat,” read signs carried by anti-abortion protesters. The “Texas Heartbeat Act” bans abortions after a heartbeat can be detected in the womb, which is normally around six weeks — before many women even know they are pregnant — and makes no exceptions for rape or incest. The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority after Donald Trump nominated three justices, is to hear two hours of arguments in a case that has sparked a fierce legal and political battle. The Supreme Court was asked by abortion providers to block the law when it took effect on September 1, but the court declined to do so citing “procedural issues.” The case is now back before the top court after Texas, the second-largest US state, was sued by Democratic President Joe Biden’s Justice Department and a coalition of abortion providers, who say the restrictions are unconstitutional. Biden was among those who criticized the court for failing to tackle a law that “blatantly violates the constitutional right established under Roe v. Wade,” the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling enshrining a woman’s legal right to an abortion. Laws restricting abortion have been passed in other Republican-led states but were struck down by the courts because they violated previous Supreme Court rulings that guaranteed the right to an abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, which is typically around 22 to 24 weeks. ‘Why are they making me keep it?’ Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8) differs from other efforts in that it insulates the state by giving members of the public the right to sue doctors who perform abortions, or anyone who helps facilitate them, once a heartbeat is detected. They can be rewarded with $10,000 for initiating cases that land in court, prompting criticism that the state is encouraging people to take the law into their own hands. “The most pernicious thing about the Texas law is it sort of creates a vigilante system, where people get rewards,” Biden said at the White House in September. Many clinics in Texas — fearful of potentially ruinous lawsuits — have closed their doors, and the number of abortions in the state fell to 2,100 in September from 4,300 a year earlier, according to a University of Texas study. Planned Parenthood, one of the largest providers of women’s health care in the nation, sent a 30-page legal brief to the court containing testimony from women and doctors affected by the Texas law. One patient, identified as I.O., was 12 years old. “The mother said they could not travel out of State — they had barely made it to the Texas health center,” the brief said. The 12-year-old was quoted as saying, “Mom, it was an accident. Why are they making me keep it?” The Supreme Court could make a decision at any time after oral arguments but is widely expected to rule before hearing another abortion case on December 1. In that case, the court will hear a challenge to a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks. At least four justices appear ready to block the Texas law: the three liberals on the court and Chief Justice John Roberts, who expressed concerns about SB8 when it previously appeared before the court. “Now the question is, ‘Is there a fifth vote?'” Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas, asked on a podcast. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Ed Sheeran “thought [he] was gay for a bit” during his childhood. The 30-year-old pop star has revealed he used to question his sexuality because he loved musicals and songs by Britney Spears as a child. He shared: “I have a definite feminine side, to the point that when I was a kid I thought I was gay for a bit. “I definitely have a big feminine side. I love musical theatre, I love pop music, I love Britney Spears. “My masculine side probably stops at drinking beer and watching football.” The ‘Perfect’ hitmaker – who is an Ipswich Town fan – actually prefers women’s soccer to the men’s game. And Ed revealed that he converted to the women’s game after his daughter, Lyra, was born in August last year. He told the ‘Man Man Man’ podcast: “I watched it and I was like, ‘I don’t know why I watch male football, this is much better’. “I am not a hugely masculine person anyway. I am not a car guy. I like a nice car, but I’m not a car guy.” Ed admits that his wife, Cherry Seaborn, has had a huge impact on how he looks at life. He explained: “My wife is super pro-women and femininity. “As soon as we started dating, my life shifted to that.” Meanwhile, Ed recently revealed that he’s “cool with everyone” in the music industry. The singer is often praised for being one of the most likeable people in the industry, but Ed insists the most of his closest pals are actually from his childhood days. Ed – who lives in Suffolk in England – shared: “I get on with pretty much everyone but in terms of very close personal connections, like people I’d invite to my house for dinner or to hang out with my daughter, I can count them on my fingers. “I’m cool with everyone. I’ll have nights out with loads of people, but many of the other people in the industry I meet are the same – their closest friends are the people they’ve known for years, people they grew up with.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As abortion providers backed by President Joe Biden’s administration prepare for Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court arguments in their challenge to a near-total ban on the procedure in Texas, they have found an unlikely ally: a right-leaning gun rights group. A “friend of the court” brief filed in the case by the Firearms Policy Coalition against Republican-governed Texas illustrates how the law’s unique structure – enforcement by private individuals, not the state – has alarmed advocates for all kinds of constitutionally protected rights. Some conservatives are warning that similar laws could be crafted by liberals targeting issues important to the right. A law written like the one in Texas to impede courts from ruling on constitutionality before it takes effect could be used, for example, to take aim at constitutionally protected activities including gun rights, religious practice or free speech. Abortion is protected under the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which recognized a woman’s constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy, and subsequent decisions. “You can’t short-circuit the ordinary steps of judicial review for serious constitutional questions,” said Erik Jaffe, the attorney who filed the Firearms Policy Coalition’s brief. When laws are enacted that restrict constitutional rights, courts have a vital role to play before they take effect, Jaffe added. “This circumvents that debate. This says, ‘Too bad you don’t get to have that debate except … with my foot on your neck,'” Jaffe said. The Supreme Court will consider whether the Texas law’s structure prevents federal courts from intervening to block it and whether the U.S. government is even allowed to sue the state to try to block it. The measure, one of numerous restrictive Republican-backed state abortion laws passed in recent years, bans the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy, a point when many women do not yet realize they are pregnant. There is an exception for a documented medical emergency but not for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. MISSISSIPPI CASE The case reaches the nine justices as the future of abortion rights hangs in the balance. On Dec. 1, the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is due to hear another major abortion case in which Mississippi is seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/mississippi-asks-us-supreme-court-overturn-abortion-rights-landmark-2021-07-22. The Texas attorney general has signaled he also wants Roe v. Wade https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-urges-us-supreme-court-maintain-states-abortion-ban-2021-10-21 overturned. What is unique about the Texas law is that the state plays no enforcement role. Instead, anyone can sue abortion providers – regardless of whether that person has a personal stake – and potentially win at least $10,000 in damages, a process critics have compared to placing a bounty on abortion providers. At least three states already are considering legislation mirroring the Texas law’s language including one in Illinois targeting gun dealers, said David Noll, a professor at Rutgers Law School in New Jersey who filed a brief opposing Texas. The Texas citizen-enforcement provision does not mean such laws can always evade judicial review. But to challenge them someone would have to be sued under the law first and then take aim at the enforcement mechanism in the defense. In the meantime, the fact that the law is on the books may chill the conduct at issue. That is the case in Texas, with abortion clinics complying with the ban since the Supreme Court let it go into effect https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/texas-six-week-abortion-ban-takes-effect-2021-09-01 on Sept. 1. Lawyers opposing the law have found potential analogies on other issues involving Supreme Court precedents. Laws that would enable people to sue gun owners and seek to prohibit unlimited independent spending in political campaigns are examples cited by Biden’s administration in its challenge to the abortion law. In both instances, “those statutes, too, would violate the Constitution as interpreted by this court. But under Texas’s theory, they could be enforced without prior judicial review, chilling the protected activity – and the effect of any successful constitutional defense in an enforcement proceeding could be limited to that proceeding alone,” the administration wrote in court papers. Legislators have enacted other laws that let people bring individual claims on contentious issues including transgender rights. But those are more like earlier statutes that empowered people to sue over matters such as environmental or civil rights violations. In Tennessee, a law barring transgender students from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity includes a provision that lets individuals sue local school districts if they “encounter a member of the opposite sex” in a bathroom. Some conservative and religious groups that oppose abortion have signaled little concern about the Texas law’s structure, feeling that critics have exaggerated potential consequences. Walter Weber, a lawyer with the American Center for Law and Justice religious rights legal group that filed a brief backing Texas, said there is nothing to stop abortion providers from challenging the law after they are sued. “Abortion advocates crying wolf can raise a lot of money and give cover to legislative and executive measures to push further support for abortion,” Weber said. If the Texas law is so clearly unconstitutional, Weber asked, “Why are abortionists so terrified?” (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung; Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Brad Brooks MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – Angela Harrelson points toward a blue angel painted on the pavement, marking the spot where a Minneapolis police officer murdered her nephew George Floyd and ignited a national police reform movement. “If a mental health worker or a social worker had been with the police the day my nephew died right here, he might very well still be alive today,” Harrelson said. “I don’t want to abolish the police, but we need to do something different.” On Tuesday, Minneapolis voters get to decide just how different their city’s approach to policing should be. A ballot question asks residents whether they want to replace the police department with a new department of public safety, in the first big electoral test of reform efforts sparked by Floyd’s May 2020 killing. But even after the outrage over his death and the tense protests that followed, the progressive city is deeply divided over the future of its law enforcement. The split illustrates the tricky calculus around overhauling policing in major U.S. cities, as residents fear for their safety amid crime spikes and Democratic politicians worry https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democratic-cries-defund-police-fade-us-mayoral-races-crime-surges-2021-10-29 about Republicans weaponizing the issue in next year’s congressional elections. Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo opposes the measure. Mayor Jacob Frey, who is seeking reelection on Tuesday, is also against it. Neither responded to requests for comment from Reuters. Conversations with dozens of voters cutting across racial and socio-economic lines in Minneapolis in recent days revealed a range of views. Nearly all expressed confusion over what exactly would happen if the proposal is approved. That is in large part because the particulars of the new public safety department would only be hashed out by the mayor and city council in the months after the vote. Opponents say the measure would make good on the city council’s threat in the days after Floyd’s death to “defund the police.” They say Minneapolis, with a population of about 430,000 people, needs more officers, not fewer, as it grapples with a crime wave. Supporters insist police would remain on their jobs, though perhaps in smaller numbers. They say the change would mean approaching safety in a holistic manner, including addressing the root causes of crime before it takes place. If approved, the department of public safety would create a larger agency that would include police officers as well as mental health professionals, housing and addiction experts, and people trained in de-escalating conflict to respond to 911 calls where an armed officer may not always be needed. The new department would answer not just to the mayor but also the city’s 13 council members, which supporters say would give residents more influence in how policing is carried out. “What police have been doing for decades does not work,” said the Reverend JaNaé Bates, with the Yes4Minneapolis campaign that supports creating the new safety department. “We want the city to have the nimbleness to match its safety needs with the resources available.” ‘BIG EXPERIMENT’ Homicides in Minneapolis were up more than 17% through the end of September, compared to the same period in 2020. Robberies and aggravated assaults also have increased. More than 200 police officers have left the force since Floyd’s murder. Police who remain have in many ways stopped engaging with the community, for fear of being involved in another flashpoint case, a recent Reuters investigation found https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-policing-minneapolis. North Minneapolis, a poorer area where more Black residents live, has seen the brunt of the violence. Nearly half of all murders in the city have taken place in Precinct 4, where residents complain of nights filled with shootings, carjackings and out-of-control petty crime. “This entire thing is a white, progressive movement, man,” said Teto Wilson, a Black barber shop owner in north Minneapolis, referring to efforts to replace the police department. “They’re trying to turn us into some damn big experiment.” Like other residents on the north side who spoke with Reuters, Wilson said police reform is needed desperately – but within the current structure. He said those living with daily violence don’t have the luxury to try drastic new approaches. In the Folwell neighborhood north of Wilson’s barber shop, Anna Gerdeen, who is white and described herself as a progressive director of a community not-for-profit, said she might normally support more radical policing reforms. But not now, while she and her 11-year-old son feel under siege inside their own home. She will vote against the creation of a new department. “My neighbor’s house got hit with bullets a couple months ago. I can’t let my son play outside in the yard anymore,” Gerdeen said. “As a mother, I just can’t risk any more chaos.” ‘LIVING HELL’ Supporters of creating a new public safety department say such violence makes clear the need for a new strategy. They say advocates have tried for decades to get reforms passed to make policing more equitable and to bring more safety to poorer neighborhoods but have repeatedly failed. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a progressive Democrat, oversaw the prosecution of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who pinned Floyd’s neck to the ground for more than nine minutes with his knee. Ellison said now is the time for true change. “If we’re saying that George Floyd could be murdered on the streets of this town … and we’re not willing to take any institutional change to address that, to me that’s sad, and it’s a little scary,” said Ellison, who lives in Minneapolis. “My hope is that we actually respond to what’s happening here, in a way designed to prevent it from happening again.” Back on the street where Floyd was killed in south Minneapolis, Bridgette Stewart and other members of a community watch group had just returned from the scene of a drive-by shooting where three people were injured last Tuesday. The group, Agape Movement, was there to act as a bridge between family of the victims, community members and law enforcement, to ensure nothing escalated into more violence. That is the type of work Stewart said needs to happen on a citywide scale, and that she said could only happen if the new public safety department is approved. “This is our vision, that we can all work together for public safety,” she said. “Because if we all can’t get along and get this work done, we’re going to be stuck right where we’re at – in a living hell.” (Reporting by Brad Brooks in Minneapolis; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by AFP G20 nations emit nearly 80 percent of carbon emissions Rome (AFP) – The G20 major economies committed on Sunday to the key goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but disappointed leaders warned more was needed to make a success of UN climate talks beginning in Glasgow. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the host of the COP26 summit that opened on Sunday, said the pledge from world leaders after two days of talks in Rome was “not enough”, and warned of the dire consequences for the planet. “If Glasgow fails, the whole thing fails,” he told reporters, saying the G20 commitments were “drops in a rapidly warming ocean”. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also expressed disappointment at the outcome of the G20 summit, saying he left Rome “with my hopes unfulfilled — but at least they are not buried”. The G20 nations between them emit nearly 80 percent of carbon emissions, and a firm commitment on action was viewed as vital for the success of the UN’s COP26. In a final communique, the G20 reaffirmed its support for the goals in the landmark 2015 Paris climate accords, to keep “the global average temperature increase well below 2 degrees and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels”. They said this would require “meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries, taking into account different approaches”, while they also promised action on coal. But experts say meeting the 1.5 degree target means slashing global emissions nearly in half by 2030 and to “net-zero” by 2050 — and the G20 set no firm date, speaking only of reaching the goal of net zero “by or around mid century”. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who hosted the G20 talks, said he was “proud of these results, but we must remember that it’s only the start”. Eyes now turn to Glasgow, where more than 120 heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden, India’s Narendra Modi and Australia’s Scott Morrison, were heading from Rome. Lacking ambition The G20 leaders did agree to end funding for new unabated coal plants abroad — those whose emissions have not gone through any filtering process — by the end of 2021. But environmental campaign group Greenpeace slammed the final statement as “weak, lacking both ambition and vision”, saying G20 leaders “failed to meet the moment”. “If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, then world leaders fluffed their lines,” said Executive Director Jennifer Morgan. Friederike Roder, senior director at anti-poverty group Global Citizen, told AFP the summit had produced “half-measures rather than concrete actions”. European leaders pointed out that given the fundamental divisions among the world’s most advanced nations, a joint commitment to what was the most ambitious Paris goal was a step forward. “I hear all the very alarmed talk on these subjects. I’m myself worried and we are fully mobilised,” said French President Emmanuel Macron. “But I would like us to take a step back and look at the situation where we were four years ago”, when former US President Donald Trump announced he was pulling out of the treaty. Draghi said that the needle had moved markedly even in the past few days, including by China — by far the world’s biggest carbon polluter. Beijing plans to make its economy carbon neutral before 2060, but has resisted pressure to offer nearer-term goals. India, meanwhile, argues that if net-zero by 2050 is the global goal, then rich countries should be carbon neutral 10 years earlier to allow poorer, emerging nations a larger carbon allowance and more time to develop. ‘Dream big’ Earlier on Sunday, Draghi, Britain’s Prince Charles and Pope Francis had all called on G20 leaders — and by extension, the wider group of world leaders meeting in Glasgow — to think big. Calling climate change “the defining challenge of our times”, Draghi warned: “Either we act now… or we delay acting, pay a much higher price later, and risk failing.” Pope Francis, who is outspoken on the issue and received several G20 leaders at the Vatican this weekend, said: “This is a moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities… The time to act, and to act together, is now!” View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Actor and former White House staff member Kal Penn — full name Kalpen Suresh Modi — is ready to tell the world his love story. The House alum has been fairly private about his love life in the past, but in his new book You Can’t Be Serious the 44-year-old dishes the deets on his relationship with his fiancé, Josh, from their first date to plans for their upcoming wedding. Mega “I’ve always been very public with everybody I’ve personally interacted with. Whether it’s somebody that I meet at a bar, if Josh and I are out or we’re talking to friends,” Penn told PEOPLE, explaining his decision to write a book about his largely unknown relationship with his fiancé. AMBER PORTWOOD COMES OUT AS BISEXUAL, REVEALS SHE ThOUGHt SHE WOULD ‘GO TO THE GRAVE’ WITH THE SECRET “But Josh, my partner, my parents, and my brother, four people who I’m closest to in the family, are fairly quiet,” the Harold and Kumar actor admitted. “They don’t love attention and shy away from the limelight.” Mega Penn explained the trickiest part of writing the book figuring out how tell his story which revolves around “my work life, both in Hollywood and DC, it includes my love life with Josh and how we met, it includes my parents” while still respecting privacy and maintaining authenticity of himself and everyone else mentioned in the book. ’13 REASONS WHY’ STAR TOMMY DORFMAN COMES OUT AS A TRANSGENDER WOMAN, REVEALS SHE’S MEDICALLY TRANSITIONED The Clarice star also opened up about his journey to discovering his sexuality, which he added happened “relatively late in life compared to many other people. There’s no timeline on this stuff,” he went on. “People figure their s— out at different times in their lives, so I’m glad I did when I did.” Mega “I know this sounds jokey, but it’s true: When you’ve already told your Indian parents and the South Asian community that you intend to be an actor for a living, really any conversations that come after that are super easy,” he teased, referring to telling friends and family about his sexuality. “They’re just like, ‘Yeah, okay.’ I felt very supported by everyone.” Whether he is talking about his unexpected love for NASCAR, his parents, or his relationship with his fiancé, most of all, Penn wanted the book to feel like he’s “having a beer” with the reader as he tells a story that is deeply special to him. “I want to take you into my stories and I want you to experience them with the same joy that I’ve experienced them,” he told the outlet. “That was the way that my friends have met my parents and Josh.” View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – The FBI and other key law enforcement agencies failed to act on a host of tips and other information ahead of Jan. 6 that signaled a potentially violent event might unfold that day at the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. Among the information that came officials’ way in the weeks before what turned into a riot as lawmakers met to certify the results of November’s presidential election was a Dec. 20 tip to the FBI that supporters of then-President Donald Trump were discussing online how to sneak guns into Washington to “overrun” police and arrest members of Congress, according to internal bureau documents obtained by The Post. The tip included details showing those planning violence believed they had orders from the president, used code words such as “pickaxe” to describe guns, and posted the times and locations of four spots around the country for caravans to meet the day before the joint session. On one site, a poster specifically mentioned Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, as a target, the Post said. Romney was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump last February on one charge of inciting an insurrection, which was leveled by the House of Representatives during a second impeachment of the former president. An FBI official who assessed the tip noted that its criminal division had received a “significant number” of alerts about threats to Congress and other government officials. The FBI passed the information to law enforcement agencies in Washington but did not pursue the matter, the Post said. “The individual or group identified during the Assessment does not warrant further FBI investigation at this time,” the internal report concluded, according to the Post. That detail was among dozens included in the report, which the newspaper said was based on interviews with more than 230 people and thousands of pages of court documents and internal law enforcement reports, along with hundreds of videos, photographs and audio recordings. A special congressional panel is now investigating the events that day, which exploded into violence after a rally Trump held near the White House to rail against the results of the election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Four people died on Jan. 6, one shot to death by police and the others of natural causes. More than 100 police officers were injured, one dying the next day. Four officers have since taken their own lives. More than 600 people have been charged with taking part in the violence. (Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Ilze Filks GLASGOW (Reuters) -The United Nations COP26 summit that starts in Glasgow this week has been billed as a make-or-break chance to save the planet from the most calamitous effects of climate change. Delayed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, COP26 aims to keep alive a target of capping global warming at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/paris-glasgow-cutting-through-climate-jargon-2021-10-27 – the limit scientists say would avoid its most destructive consequences. “We need to come out of Glasgow saying with credibility that we have kept 1.5 alive,” Alok Sharma, COP26’s president, said on Sunday as delegates https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/cop26-glasgow-who-is-going-who-is-not-2021-10-15 began arriving in the Scottish city. “We’re already at global warming at 1.1 degrees above pre-industrial levels,” he told Sky News television. “At 1.5 there are countries in the world that will be underwater, and that’s why we need to get an agreement here on how we tackle climate change over the next decade.” Meeting the 1.5 C goal, agreed in Paris to much fanfare in 2015, will require a surge in political momentum and diplomatic heavy-lifting to make up for the insufficient action and empty pledges that have characterised much of global climate politics. The conference needs to secure more ambitious pledges https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/cop26-what-would-success-look-like-climate-summit-2021-10-31 to further cut emissions, lock in billions in climate finance, and finish the rules to implement the Paris Agreement with the unanimous consent of the nearly 200 countries that signed it. But there is huge work to be done. At a summit https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/g20-leaders-face-tough-climate-talks-second-day-summit-2021-10-30 in Rome, leaders of the Group of 20 major economies agreed on a final statement on Sunday that urges “meaningful and effective” action to limit global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius but offers few concrete commitments. The G20 bloc, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for an estimated 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions. A new pledge last week from China, the world’s biggest polluter, was labelled a missed opportunity that will cast a shadow over the two-week summit. Announcements from Russia and Saudi Arabia were also lacklustre. The return of the United States, the world’s biggest economy, to U.N. climate talks will be a boon to the conference, after a four-year absence under President Donald Trump. But like many world leaders, President Joe Biden will arrive at COP26 without firm legislation in place to deliver his own climate pledge as Congress wrangles over how to finance it and new uncertainty https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-hear-bid-curb-federal-power-limit-carbon-emissions-2021-10-29 about whether U.S. agencies can even regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Existing pledges to cut emissions would see the planet’s average temperature rise 2.7C this century, which the United Nations says would supercharge the destruction that climate change is already causing by intensifying storms, exposing more people to deadly heat and floods, killing coral reefs and destroying natural habitats. SHADOW OF COVID-19 Adding to the challenging geopolitical backdrop, a global energy crunch has prompted China to turn to highly polluting coal to avert power shortages, and left Europe seeking more gas, another fossil fuel. Ultimately, negotiations will boil down to questions of fairness and trust between rich countries whose greenhouse gas emissions caused climate change, and poor countries being asked to de-carbonise their economies with insufficient financial support. COVID-19 has exacerbated the divide between rich and poor. A lack of vaccines and travel curbs mean some representatives from the poorest countries cannot attend the meeting. Other obstacles – not least, sky-high hotel rates in Glasgow – have stoked concerns that civil society groups from the poorest nations which are also most at risk from global warming will be under-represented. COVID-19 will make this U.N. climate conference different from any other, as 25,000 delegates from governments, companies, civil society, indigenous peoples, and the media will fill Glasgow’s cavernous Scottish Event Campus. All must wear masks, socially distance and produce a negative COVID-19 test to enter each day – meaning the final-hour “huddles” of negotiatiors that clinched deals at past climate talks are off the table. World leaders will kick start COP26 on Monday with two days of speeches that could include some new emissions-cutting pledges, before technical negotiators lock horns over the Paris accord rules. Any deal is likely to be struck hours or even days after the event’s Nov. 12 finish date. Outside, tens of thousands of protesters are expected to take to the streets to demand urgent climate action. Assessing progress will be complex. Unlike past climate summits, the event won’t deliver a new treaty or a big “win” but seeks to secure smaller but vital victories on emission-cutting pledges, climate finance and investment. Ultimately success will be judged on whether those deals add up to enough progress to keep the 1.5C goal alive. Since the Paris accord, scientists have issued increasingly urgent warnings that the 1.5C goal is slipping out of reach. To meet it, global emissions must plummet 45% by 2030 from 2010 levels, and reach net zero by 2050 – requiring huge changes to countries’ systems of transport, energy production, manufacturing and farming. Countries’ current pledges would see global emissions soar by 16% by 2030. (Reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels, Valerie Volcovici in Washington and Mark John in LondonAdditional reporting by Nina Chestney and William Schomberg in LondonEditing by Giles Elgood and Frances Kerry) View the full article

Published by Al-Araby A group of LGBT+ Afghans has arrived in Britain for the first time since the Taliban’s return to power in August caused panic among gay and transgender Afghans, who feared persecution and even death under the Islamists’ rule. The evacuation of the 29 Afghans is “hoped to be the first of many” in the coming months, Britain’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday, hours after a Taliban spokesman told Reuters LGBT+ rights would not be respected. Thousands of Afghans including LGBT+ people, women and officials linked to the previous administration rushed to flee the country after the Ta… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Mark Hosenball and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. intelligence agencies said on Friday they may never be able to identify the origins of COVID-19, as they released a new, more detailed version of their review of whether the coronavirus came from animal-to-human transmission or leaked from a lab. The Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in a declassified report that a natural origin and a lab leak are both plausible hypotheses for how SARS-COV-2 first infected humans. But it said analysts disagree on which is more likely or whether any definitive assessment can be made at all. The report also dismissed suggestions that the coronavirus originated as a bioweapon, saying proponents of this theory “do not have direct access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology” and have been accused of spreading disinformation. The report issued on Friday is an update of a 90-day review that President Joe Biden’s administration released in August, amid intense political infighting over how much to blame China for the effects of the global pandemic rather than governments that may not have moved quickly enough to protect citizens. China responded on Friday by criticizing the report. “The US moves of relying on its intelligence apparatus instead of scientists to trace the origins of COVID-19 is a complete political farce,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in an emailed statement. “… It will only undermine science-based origins study and hinder the global effort of finding the source of the virus,” the statement said. Former Republican President Donald Trump – who lost his bid for re-election as the deadly pandemic ravaged the U.S. economy – and many of his supporters referred to COVID-19 as the “China virus.” Some U.S. spy agencies had strongly favored the explanation that the virus originated in nature. But there has been little corroboration and over recent months the virus has spread widely and naturally among wild animals. The ODNI report said four U.S. spy agencies and a multi-agency body have “low confidence” that COVID-19 originated with an infected animal or a related virus. But one agency said it had “moderate confidence” that the first human COVID-19 infection most likely was the result of a laboratory accident, probably involving experimentation or animal handling by the Wuhan Institute of Virology. U.S. spy agencies believe they will not be able to produce a more definitive explanation for the origin of COVID-19 without new information demonstrating that the virus took a specific pathway from animals to humans or that a Wuhan laboratory was handling the virus or a related virus before COVID-19 surfaced. The report said U.S. agencies and the global scientific community lacked “clinical samples or a complete understanding of epidemiological data from the earliest COVID-19 cases” and said it could revisit this inconclusive finding if more evidence surfaces. China has faced international criticism for failing to cooperate more fully in investigations of COVID’s origins. The embassy statement also dismissed that criticism. “We have been supporting science-based efforts on origins tracing, and will continue to stay actively engaged. That said, we firmly oppose attempts to politicize this issue,” it said. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball and Patricia Zengerle; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Writing by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sandra Maler and Sonya Hepinstall) View the full article

Published by DPA World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, arrives to attend the G20 World Leaders Summit at the Rome Convention Center (La Nuvola). Ettore Ferrari/Pool/ANSA via ZUMA Press/dpa The G20 nations have it in their power to prevent the deadly pandemic from raging further and to avoid future pandemics, according to the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “How many more will die, in this and future epidemics? The answer is in your hands?” Tedros said on Saturday at a talk about health during the G20 summit in Rome. He called on politicians to put a stop to the vaccination crisis by addressing the shortage of doses in poorer countries. So far, 7 billion vaccine doses have been administered so far, he said, but only 0.4 per cent of them in low-income countries, while G20 countries had benefited from 80 per cent of jabs. “We understand and support every government’s responsibility to protect its own people,” Tedros said. “But vaccine equity is not charity; it’s in every country’s best interests.” He called on the G20 to quickly supply the vaccine donations that have been pledged and to support vaccine production in Africa. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (L) welcomes World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as he arrives to attend the G20 World Leaders Summit at the Rome Convention Center (La Nuvola). Ettore Ferrari/Pool/ANSA via ZUMA Press/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters By Angelo Amante ROME (Reuters) – Thousands of people marched in Rome on Saturday during the summit of the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies, calling on them to act against climate change and ensure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines. Climate activists led the march, carrying colourful placards, playing drums and dancing as they demanded world leaders save the planet. “We are holding this protest for environmental and social issues and against the G20, which continues undaunted on a path that has almost led us to social and ecological failure,” said protester Edoardo Mentrasti. They marched alongside students and groups of workers in a city on high security alert, with up to 6,000 police and about 500 soldiers deployed to maintain order. Metro stations have been closed and bus routes diverted due to the G20 summit. Italian police are particularly anxious about unrest after recent protests over the country’s mandatory COVID health pass for workers turned violent when neo-fascist activists attacked the headquarters of the CGIL labour union in Rome. In Saturday’s march, a large banner saying “stop patents, vaccines are a global right” was held by demonstrators parading along the banks of the Tiber river. In the morning, the G20 leaders kicked off two days of talks where they were set to acknowledge the existential threat of climate change, but stop short of radical new commitments to tame global warming. “There is an alternative to a development model based on 20 of the world’s most important heads of state meeting in a room and deciding on the fate of the world,” demonstrator Luca Ianniello said. A separate, smaller protest against the Italian government, was in progress a few kilometres away. Demonstrators have been kept far from the summit centre, located in a suburb built by the 20th Century fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. (Reporting by Angelo Amante) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump is seeking to block Jan. 6 investigators from seeing hundreds of pages of White House documents that include his handwritten notes as well as phone call logs, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration told a court late on Friday. A congressional panel has asked the National Archives – the U.S. government’s official body for preserving government records and making them publicly available – to release nearly 1,600 pages of documents as part of their investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 assault by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol. Trump, however, has demanded that about 760 pages be withheld, the National Archives said in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The former president is arguing that normal rules for the secrecy of White House documents should apply and that the congressional panel, which includes Trump critics from the Democratic and Republican parties, is a “witch hunt.” But President Joe Biden has waived the secrecy rules, arguing it is in the nation’s interest to understand Trump’s role in the attempt by his supporters to overturn Biden’s victory over Trump in the November 2020 presidential election. Trump urged supporters to attend a Jan. 6 rally, telling them it “will be wild.” Then at the rally he urged them to march on the Capitol and “show strength,” making false claims that he lost the election because of fraud. Shortly afterward, supporters violently broke into the U.S. Capitol and tried to stop lawmakers from certifying Biden’s victory. Four people died on the day of the violence, one shot dead by police and the other three of natural causes. The Democrat-controlled House impeached Trump for inciting insurrection. He was later acquitted in the U.S. Senate. The records Trump wants kept from investigators include “daily presidential diaries, schedules, appointments showing White House visitors, activity logs [and] call logs,” according to the court filing by the National Archives. The records could shed light on “what was occurring at the White House immediately before, during and after the January 6 attack,” according to the filing. Trump is also seeking to block access to documents from binders kept by former Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. A Nov. 4 hearing has been scheduled to consider Trump’s claim of executive privilege. (Reporting by Jason Lange; editing by Diane Craft) View the full article

Chicago BlackhawksInvestigation Finds Team Covered Up Alleged Sexual Assault Against Employee Current and former officials with the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks are facing a reckoning this week after an independent investigation revealed that the team violated its own sexual harassment policy and covered up allegations of sexual assault against a team employee in 2010. According to a report from law firm Jenner and Block’s investigation, Blackhawks leadership showed “indifference” in responding to allegations that then-Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted reserve player Kyle Beach during the team’s 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs campaign. In interviews conducted by investigators, Beach, who until Wednesday had been referred to as John Doe, detailed his experience with Aldrich during the second week of May 2010. “Aldritch invited [Beach] to his apartment, provided him with dinner and drinks, told him he had the power to get John Doe onto the Blackhawks’ roster and turned on pornography,” the report states. “John Doe stated that Aldritch threatened John Doe by telling John Doe he needed to act like he enjoyed the sexual encounter or John Doe would never play in the NHL ‘or walk’ again, forcibly performed oral sex on JohnDoe, masturbated on John Doe’s back and then threatened John Doe again before John Doe was able to escape Aldritch’s apartment.” Aldritch told investigators that Beach consented to the sexual encounter. Investigators determined that incidents in Aldritch’s post-NHL coaching career indicated a pattern of sexual misconduct. They cited that Aldritch pled guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual assault involving a minor in 2013. Aldritch had been working at Houghton, MI’s Houghton High School when he was arrested for sexually assaulting a member of the school’s hockey team. Both Beach and the Houghton High School player filed separate lawsuits against the Blackhawks organization in May 2021. Afraid it Could ‘Disturb Team Chemistry’ Executives Said To Have Agreed To Say Nothing According to the report, Blackhawks executive Al MacIssac was made aware of Beach’s claims on May 23, 2010, the same night that the Blackhawks clinch a birth in the Stanley Cup finals. Team counselor Jim Gary spoke with Beach, at MacIssac’s request, and believed Beach’s account to be credible. That sparked an impromptu meeting prior to that night’s game between MacIssac, Gary, general manager Stan Bowman, assistant general manager Kevin Chevaldayoff, president and CEO John McDonough, executive vice president Jay Blunk and head coach Joel Quenneville. The report states that the meeting ended with the group deciding not to inform human resources of Beach’s accusations, with McDonough telling the team’s HR director that doing so could “disturb team chemistry” ahead of a championship series. The report points to Quenneville making similar statements after learning of the claims against Aldritch, saying that his eventual Stanley Cup champion team “could not handle this right now.” The team wouldn’t address the situation until June 16, 2010, shortly after the team won the Stanley Cup. Aldrich met with HR and the organization’s outside legal counsel and was given the choice of resigning or face an investigation. “It was like [Aldritch’s] life was the same as the day before. Same every day.” Kyle BeachAldrich chose to resign, receiving $20,622 in severance pay, a $15,000 playoff bonus and permission to be present at team Stanley Cup celebrations, including taking the historic trophy to Houghton, Aldrich’s hometown. At no point were the claims against Aldrich investigated. A former team intern who accompanied Aldrich during his trip to Houghton with the Cup told investigators that Aldrich grabbed his crotch after sharing a cab days before Aldrich’s resignation. Investigators highlighted the inaction on the part of Blackhawks brass as a violation of the team’s sexual harassment policy, which calls for investigations of reports to be done “promptly and thoroughly…The failure to promptly and thoroughly investigate the matter and the decision to take no action from May 23 to June 14 had consequences,” the report reads. Speaking with TSN Sportscentre, Beach said he was disappointed with the Blackhawks organization’s handling of Aldrich. “It was like [Aldrich’s] life was the same as the day before. Same every day. And then when they won, to see him paraded around lifting the Cup, at the parade, at the team pictures, at celebrations, it made me feel like nothing,” Beach said. Team Fined $2 Million. Top Executives Resigned This Week. Owner Promises To Clean House. The report’s release sent shockwaves through the Blackhawks organization that have now extended to the entire league. Both top executives Bowman and MacIssac resigned from their positions with the team this week. Blackhawks owner and chairman Rocky Wirtz announced that all members of the organization involved in the handling of Aldrich in 2010 would no longer be involved in anything related to the team going forward. The NHL fined the team $2 million for how it handled the situation and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met with now-Florida Panthers coach Quenneville to discuss his role in the matter. Quenneville resigned from his position with the Panthers on Thursday following his meeting with Bettman. He and Chevaldayoff, who is currently the Winnepeg Jets general manager, were the only people present for the May 23, 2010 meeting who have publicly denied being part of it or having knowledge of Beach’s claims at that time. The NHL announced Friday that Chevaldayoff will not be disciplined in relation to the controversy. In a statement, the league said Cheveldayoff “was not responsible for the improper decisions made by the Chicago Blackhawks related to the Brad Aldrich matter.” Beach is currently scheduled to meet with Bettman and NHLPA executive director Don Fehr on Saturday. The Blackhawks organization praised Beach’s courage and offered him its “deepest apologies” in a statement Wednesday. “As an organization, the Chicago Blackhawks reiterate our deepest apologies to [Beach] for what he has gone through and for the organization’s failure to promptly respond when he bravely brought this matter to light in 2010,” the Blackhawks said. “It was inexcusable for then-executives of the Blackhawks organization to delay taking action regarding the reported sexual misconduct. No playoff game or championship is more important than protecting our players and staff from predatory behavior.” The Blackhawks organization praised Beach’s courage and offered him its “deepest apologies” in a statement Wednesday. Chicago Blackhawks: Previously on Towleroad Chicago Blackhawks Covered Up Sexual Assault Reports Against Former Coach in 2010; NHL Disciplines Team; Blackhawks Executives and Florida Panthers Coach Resign In Wake Brian Bell October 29, 2021 Read More Texas House Votes to Ban Transgender Girls From Sports. No Sign of An Issue. Just More Red Meat For the Gaslit Base Towleroad October 15, 2021 Read More Biopic on Fallon Fox, trans MMA trailblazer, in development Brian Bell April 23, 2021 Read More Updated: North Dakota Governor vetoes anti-trans sports bill, veto sustained Brian Bell April 22, 2021 Read More Out gay pro wrestler Anthony Bowens: ‘Thank You, [All Elite Wrestling], for letting me be me’ Brian Bell April 21, 2021 Read More New poll shows both Republicans and Democrats oppose demoralizing trans sports bills Brian Bell April 20, 2021 Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Ice Cube has reportedly left his role in an upcoming Sony production after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccination. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ice Cube – whose actual name is O'Shea Jackson Sr. – refused to get the vaccine for COVID-19 after producers for the forthcoming Sony comedy film Oh Hell No requested that he do so. Ice Cube was set to star alongside Jack Black in the film. Black is also one of the movie’s producers, as is Matt Tolmach. MEGA According to the outlet, Ice Cube and Black signed up and partnered on the Sony project in June. They were planning to work alongside filmmaker and director Kitao Sakurai. They also allegedly planned to begin shooting the film this winter in Hawaii, although production will now be significantly delayed until a replacement can be found for Ice Cube’s role. Not to mention that production on Oh Hell No was already delayed due to Black allegedly getting hurt in June while filming a joke for the final episode of Conan. According to the outlet, Ice Cube walked away from a $9 million payday by refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccination. Although Ice Cube has not publicly announced himself to be an anti-vaxxer, his decision to walk away from the film rather than simply get the shot comes as a surprise. He often promoted wearing masks and keeping each other safe. MEGA First, in April of 2020, Ice Cube reportedly partnered with clothes manufacturer Black Out and released T-shirts that read “Check Yo Self Before You Wreck Yo Self” that featured the actor in a mask. The proceeds from the shirts they sold then were allegedly donated to benefit frontline health workers. Most recently, this past August, a college in Oklahoma reportedly thanked the rapper-turned-actor for donating 2,000 face masks for their students and faculty. Even though the 52-year-old was all for wearing masks for personal protection, it seems getting the vaccine is just not his thing. After all, the news of him walking away from Oh Hell No is not the first film he has reportedly departed from over the COVID-19 vaccine. He also recently walked away from Universal’s upcoming boxing drama titled Flint Strong. So far, nobody involved with the film has commented on Ice Cube’s exit from the project. MEGA View the full article