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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

Published by Reuters By Peter Szekely NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York City officials on Friday were preparing for shortages of firefighters, police officers and other first responders as a showdown looms between the city and its unvaccinated uniformed workforce, who face a 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) deadline to be immunized. Leaders of unions representing firefighters and police officers have said more than one-third of their members could be sent home on unpaid leave when enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate takes effect on Monday. “If you’re going to take a third of the ambulances off-line, if you’re going to take a third of the engine companies off-line, you’ll without question increase response times and increase the rate of death,” Uniformed Firefighters Association Andrew Ansbro told NY1 TV on Friday. But Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, who announced the mandate nine days ago, said officials were prepared to manage any staffing gaps with overtime and schedule changes and by enlisting private ambulance companies to cover for the city’s paramedics. Discussing those moves with reporters on Thursday, the mayor pointed out that the city also faced staffing shortages last year when many first responders were infected with the coronavirus. The dispute in the United States’ most populous city was the latest chapter in a series of clashes across the country over public and private vaccination mandates. New York City uniformed workers, including sanitation workers, have staged several protests this week, including one on Thursday at the mayor’s official residence. Many have said consideration should be given for the so-called natural immunity of those who have had COVID, which the firefighters’ union says includes 70% of its members. City health officials have said that while research has yet to determine the degree of immunity that previous COVID infections yield, it is widely agreed that vaccines increase protection – even for those who have been infected. De Blasio said only 76% of the uniformed workers facing the mandate deadline have gotten at least one dose of a vaccine, as compared with 86% of city workers overall. Within that group, he said the lowest rate was among Fire Department employees at 64%, while nearly three-quarters of police employees have complied. He stressed, however, that he expects those rates to rise significantly by Monday. The mayor pointed to earlier mandate deadlines for other New York state and city workers that prompted a rush for last-minute vaccinations by healthcare and education workers as the reality set in that their paychecks were about to stop coming. “And then suddenly it becomes really clear what they have to do,” de Blasio told reporters on Thursday. By the time a vaccination requirement for state healthcare workers kicked in on Sept. 27, Governor Kathy Hochul reported that 92% of hospital employees had gotten at least one dose and 85% were fully vaccinated, up from 77% a month earlier. Thousands of city teachers and other school employees also waited until the final days before an Oct. 1 deadline, de Blasio said, with 96% of the them currently vaccinated. Police and fire unions have filed lawsuits against the mandate. The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, which represents 24,000 police officers, lost a bid earlier this week for a court order to halt the deadline, but has taken its request to a state appeals court where it is still pending. The courts have generally not been sympathetic to efforts to block vaccine mandates. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor rejected https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-courts-sotomayor-lets-new-york-school-vaccine-mandate-remain-2021-10-01 a request by four teachers and teaching assistants to block the city’s Oct. 1 mandate for school workers. And Justice Amy Coney Barrett in August denied a bid by Indiana University students to block that school’s vaccine mandate. In Chicago, a federal judge was expected to rule on Friday on a request by a group of firefighters and other city workers for a court order to halt vaccine mandates ordered by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, both Democrats. (Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by AFP Prince Andrew has vehemently denied claims he had sex with Virginia Giuffre, and said he has no recollection of meeting her New York (AFP) – Britain’s Prince Andrew on Friday filed a motion requesting a New York court dismiss a sexual harassment lawsuit against him, a court document showed. Attorneys for the Duke of York said in the filing that Andrew “respectfully moves to dismiss plaintiff Virginia Giuffre’s complaint.” Giuffre sued Andrew in August, claiming he sexually assaulted her more than 20 years ago when she was 17 and a minor under US state law. Andrew, 61, has been not been criminally charged and has repeatedly and strenuously denied the allegations. Last month, Queen Elizabeth II’s second son accepted that he had been served legal papers in the case and was instructed to respond to the lawsuit by October 29. His lawyers asked a Manhattan district court that the case be dismissed “for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Alternatively, they asked that Giuffre, 38, “provide a more definitive statement of her allegations.” “Prince Andrew respectfully requests the court hold oral argument on his motion,” said the short statement. Giuffre alleges that Andrew sexually abused her at the London home of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. She also said he assaulted her at the New York home of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, as well as at Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands. Guiffre alleges Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges in 2019, lent her out for sex with his wealthy and powerful associates. Andrew has rarely been seen in public since he was forced to quit the royal frontline in 2019 for failing to distance himself from Epstein. Maxwell is due to go on trial in New York on November 29 on charges that she recruited underage girls for Epstein to abuse. She has pleaded not guilty. View the full article

Island House in Key West is the perfect place for letting it all hang out. Photo courtesy Island House. I Missed Being Around Gay People After 18 months of canceled Pride celebrations, postponed weddings and more sourdough starters than sunshine, my travel bug had grown to Dune sandworm-sized proportions. Without so much as a weekly Drag Race viewing at the local bar, I didn’t just miss the world outside my sofa; I missed being around gay people. I didn’t need to merely go somewhere gay-friendly, I needed to go somewhere gay-saturated. And there’s no destination gleefully gayer than the renowned, all-male, clothing optional resort, Island House. (It doesn’t hurt that it happens to be located in the idyllic island paradise of Key West.) A short, direct flight from NYC got me into town early one Monday morning. The island’s tiny airport is the first indicator to visitors they’ve left the drudgery of their origins behind for something different. Walking across the tarmac (there are no jetways), you see a replica of the southernmost point landmark and large figurines that look right out of Squid Game under the words “Welcome to the Conch Republic.” It’s a cheeky nod to the island’s brief (mostly performative) cessation from the nation, but it’s also an enduring reminder of Key West’s proud independent spirit and uncompromising weirdness. The island embraces uniqueness with its more-than-a-marketing-tagline “Close to perfect, far from normal” ethos. ISLAND HOUSE IN KEY WESTThe island embraces uniqueness with its more-than-a-marketing-tagline “Close to perfect, far from normal” ethos. It’s on display with the drag queens down Duval, at the annual Fantasy Fest and even in City Hall, where they proudly installed Florida’s first openly-lesbian mayor, Teri Johnston. The local queer community is woven into the DNA of the island, from politics to business leaders and artists, but the central hub for gay life in Key West is Island House. Nestled in Old Town, the resort feels comfortably isolated once inside the grounds, but is just a quick walk to most areas of interest on the island. However, if you’re not up to much exploration, Island House is the perfect one-stop spot for the best, gayest vacation you can get. Early Arrival I arrived before check-in and planned to stash my bag and hit the pool right away. The always cheery front-desk clerk told me the room was ready early, but I decided to delay settling in just yet. Even though this was my third visit to the Island House, I always opt for a quick refresher tour when I arrive. The friendly staff at Island House is one of its greatest assets, and this is a great way to get to know the faces you’ll see as you traipse around the grounds in a towel or less. (Plus, when they’re not on the frontlines of the resort’s COVID response, they’re great sources of gossip as you get the lay of the land.) He led me to my room beside the heated pool, the epicenter of Island House activity. That’s where they host the lively Sunday and Wednesday pool parties, and it’s right beside the resort’s delicious, 24-hour bar and café. Room 106 would be my Island House base of operations (and subject of poolside gossip). Photo courtesy Island House. My initial concern about late-night noise keeping me awake proved unfounded (though the luxe, feather-topped bed probably helped). Plus, the convenience of dinner, coffee or a party just a step outside my door felt like an additional layer of luxury. The only downside, I’d come to learn, is everyone enjoying the social scene by the pool witnessing all the comings and goings from your room. Despite feeling like an Island House veteran, I immediately made a rookie mistake. An earlier than expected check-in and the rush of excitement of my arrival inspired a very early start to the cocktails. I forgot how generous the pours are at Island House, but before long, it hardly mattered. The pool filled up with newly arriving travelers for the week, and the gaggle of gays I’d been craving descended on the pool like a flock of waterfowl. Traveling solo can certainly be lonely, and not having a wingman with you at a party full of gay men, naked, could understandably sound like a nightmare. However, there’s not a gay bar I’ve entered on Earth (and, trust me, I’ve been to many), that comes close to the level of friendliness and congeniality at Island House. Friendly faces at Island House in Key West. When Some Are Naked, Everyone Sheds Layers of Awkwardness I’m sure the fact some people are naked helps everyone shed some layers of social awkwardness. While it may be the first thing people seem to focus on, nudity at Island House feels much less dramatic in practice. It’s not always sexual (unless you want it to be), and, at least on all of my visits, the various body types and age ranges keep it from feeling exclusionary. There are solo travelers, like myself, couples, friends, even co-workers, so anyone worrying if it’s too sexual/not sexual enough just needs to know it’s exactly what they make of it. And, unlike many a reality-TV competitor, I was, in fact, there to make friends. I immediately glommed onto a couple of bears from Boston. They were returning to Island House to celebrate one of their birthdays, and they spent most of their trip in the pool ordering rounds of mudslides (which I insisted on calling Fribbles between sips of vodka). ..not having a wingman with you at a party full of gay men, naked, could understandably sound like a nightmare. However, there’s not a gay bar I’ve entered on Earth (and, trust me, I’ve been to many), that comes close to the level of friendliness and congeniality at Island House. I did at one point remember to eat something from the café between drinks. The food at Island House is famously better than it needs to be. I love the tuna tataki, a generous portion of seared, sesame-crusted, sashimi-grade tuna atop a bed of seaweed salad. Besides the convenience and quality of the food, the poolside seating is a perfect way to enjoy the tropical climate (and great for those avoiding indoor dining). If I wanted to seriously soak up some of these cocktails, though, I’d need something a little heavier. My favorite dish — and a nightly post-drinking staple — is the crispy, fried conch fritters. I lost track of the Boston bears and the Fribbles after sundown, but soon the compound effects of that early start replaced the surge of excitement I felt when I first arrived. I woke up the next morning feeling distinctly not great. Opening my door to the bright sun shining over the poolside lounge chairs and café, I was greeted by an older guest. “Glad to see you’re OK this morning. You looked like you had a lot of fun last night.” I had, and I appreciated his friendly check-in. That’s community for you. I wasn’t as interested in the subsequent commentary on whomever may or may not have entered and exited my room and when, but I guess that’s what friends are for, too. The author soaking up those Key West rays on the Island House sundeck. A quick, fresh breakfast and hangover-quenching coconut water from the café later, and I was en route to my ride on the BluQ for a male-only, clothing-optional snorkeling and sailing adventure. My friends at the front desk gave me the tip to snatch a towel from the locker room, fill a water bottle and bring plenty of sunscreen. I was the only guy aboard staying at Island House, but later that evening, everyone from the boat was there, including the sexy captain. For gay travelers, it’s impossible to resist. The term “Happy Hour” doesn’t do justice to the nightly complimentary top-shelf cocktails for guests. Uninhibited visitors blissed out on vacay vibes mingle with a mix of curious travelers staying nearby and gracious locals enjoying the never-ending fresh supply of men. Since residents are able to buy memberships, Island House feels like a neighborhood watering hole in addition to a world-class resort. Even I, having only spent less than a full month total on the island in my lifetime, ran into a guy I met on a previous trip and made plans for later in the week. Everyone at Island House feels like an old friend, even the new ones. Of Happy Hours, Handsome Locals, and A Hunk from Houston During Wednesday’s happy hour, as I chatted trunkless with my handsome local friend, we spotted a fellow solo traveler across the pool. I swam over and hit him with the standard, three-question Island House intro: What’s your name? Where are you from? Where are you staying? He was a hairdresser from Houston with beautiful tattoos, and soon we bonded over Tex-Mex and body art. By the end of the happy hour, we were doing shots and sharing RuPaul’s Drag Race takes like best Judys. Raise a glass to community. Photo courtesy Island House You could easily visit Key West and never see anything besides the pool at Island House and the airport, but where’s the fun in that? Key West boasts tons of natural splendor, funky art and a unique gay nightlife. Though, Island House has a way of staying with you, even when you’re off-property. I spotted my Houston buddy across the backyard bar at Bourbon Street Pub the next day. When I managed to score a ticket to one of Randy Roberts‘ legendary drag performances, I found myself seated with the Island House bartender responsible for all those strong pours and the sexy captain of the BluQ (the image of whose naked body had not yet dissipated from my mind). Sometimes I’d just catch someone with one of the resort’s black, spiral keychains still dangling from their wrist and know I’d be seeing them later for happy hour. It really makes the difference between traveling solo and traveling alone. As I waited for my Uber, I thought about the last year, being cut off from community and how nice it was to see Island House still there, gay as ever. At some point, I did have to tear myself away and head home. I bid farewell to the concerned older man from the bar, the hairdresser from Houston, the bears and their Fribbles. I zipped up my suitcase full of swimsuits never worn, and I gave my last goodbyes to the guys at the front desk. As I waited for my Uber, I thought about the last year, being cut off from community and how nice it was to see Island House still there, gay as ever. I took one last look around and ordered a round of conch fritters for the road. Discover more about Island House and Key West with our previous coverage. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Paddy McGuinness shared a topless kiss with Prince Harry on a drunken night out. The ‘Top Gear’ host had a rowdy night out with the Duke of Sussex – who now has two children, Archie, two, and Lili, four months, with wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex – at a 2016 party for the charity sporting tournament Soccer Aid which saw the 37-year-old royal take off the presenter’s shirt before they shared a smooch. Paddy wrote in his new autobiography ‘My Lifey’, in an extract shared in The Sun newspaper: “To say we were dancing close was an understatement — our chests were touching. He asked me again if I could send him to Fernando’s. “He then proceeded to take my shirt off. So now I’m topless, a bottle of beer in each hand, dancing with Prince Harry.” Harry then “disappeared” after the dance off, only to return with strong Jagerbomb drinks and beginning their battle again – with a surprising ending. Paddy recalled: “We finished dancing and while everyone was cheering, we embraced and he gave me a smacker on the lips.” Immediately after the smooch, Harry left Jak’s nightclub in Chelsea, west London – where he’d been invited by his friend Jack Whitehall – leaving Soccer Aid players including One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan and footballers Jamie Carragher, Ronaldinho and Cafu stunned. But they all agreed the prince was an “absolute legend”. And the following day, Harry texted the ‘Jungle Cruise’ actor to thank the stars for a great night, and to enquire after Paddy’s hangover. Harry recently spoke of how he turned to partying to “mask” the pain he felt in his late 20s, even when he wasn’t enjoying himself any more. He said: “I was willing to drink, I was willing to take drugs, I was willing to try and do the things that made me feel less like I was feeling. “But I slowly became aware that, okay, I wasn’t drinking Monday to Friday, but I would probably drink a week’s worth in one day on a Friday or a Saturday night. And I would find myself drinking, not because I was enjoying it but because I was trying to mask something.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Joseph Ax (Reuters) – Felicia Moore, Atlanta’s city council president, vows to hire 250 police officers to help combat her city’s rising crime rate if she is elected mayor next week. Her most prominent Democratic rival, former Mayor Kasim Reed, wants to go even further, putting 750 more officers on the streets. Public safety is at the forefront in dozens of major U.S. cities poised to elect mayors on Tuesday. However, a year after “defund the police” became a rallying cry at protests against racism and police brutality, Democratic candidates from Atlanta to Minneapolis are eschewing proposals to reduce police funding even as they emphasize the need for reform. With most urban areas deeply Democratic, the campaigns provide a preview of how Democrats may seek to bridge the gaps between liberals who support policing overhauls and moderates who worry Republicans will weaponize the issue in next year’s congressional elections. Republicans effectively labeled some Democrats as police “defunders” during the 2020 elections, even though most mainstream candidates – including President Joe Biden – never embraced the movement pushed by party progressives. Democrats want to avoid similar pitfalls in 2021 as crime continues to surge. Last month, the FBI reported murders rose nearly 30% in 2020, while violent crime overall went up for the first time in four years. That trend has not abated in cities like Atlanta, where homicides have risen more than 60% since 2019. A Pew Research Center poll released this week found 47% of Americans want to see police spending increase, up from 31% in June 2020. Only 15% said funding should be reduced, down from 25% last year. Polls show Black voters – who are more likely to be victims of crime and live in neighborhoods with high crime rates – are particularly opposed to cutting funding. “Communities that tend to be Black and brown, that tend to be less affluent, actually want police,” said Tammy Greer, a political science professor at Clark Atlanta University. “The pendulum was always going to shift back.” An early signal came in New York, where former police officer Eric Adams won the Democratic mayoral nomination in June over several progressive rivals after positioning himself as a moderate who favored more aggressive policing. Even candidates who still support redirecting funds from policing to other priorities, such as public housing and social work, have curbed their language to avoid alienating residents fearful for their safety. In Buffalo, New York, India Walton joined protesters last year as they chanted anti-police slogans after a city officer was videotaped shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground. But as a mayoral candidate, Walton has eschewed “defund” language and vowed not to lay off a single officer, even as she calls for cutting $7.5 million from the police budget as well as reforms such as relying on civilian personnel to handle mental health calls. “In her capacity as an activist, during the uprisings last summer, she was really speaking from a place of resistance to injustice,” campaign spokesperson Jesse Myerson said. “Obviously, that’s a very different posture than the sort of cooler-headed, more intellectually studied posture of a candidate for office.” This summer, Walton, a democratic socialist, pulled off a shocking upset in the Democratic primary, beating four-term incumbent Byron Brown. Brown, who has since mounted a write-in campaign, has in ads accused Walton of wanting to “defund” the police. BACKLASH TO ‘DEFUND’ MOVEMENT In Boston, Annissa Essaibi George, a city council member running for mayor, has similarly attacked the race’s leading candidate, Michelle Wu, as planning to “defund” the police. Wu rejects the charge as false. Wu was among several council members who called for a 10% cut to the police budget last year. Her mayoral campaign, however, has not promoted a specific figure, instead pushing changes such as using civilians to respond to emergency calls for mentally disturbed or homeless people. “Michelle has always said that we need to invest more in the intersection of public health and public safety,” said campaign spokesperson Sarah Anders. “Michelle thinks that it’s less about pinpointing any one number and more about the reforms that we need.” In Seattle, one of the country’s most liberal cities, mayoral candidate and city council President Lorena Gonzalez supported calls last year to halve the police budget and invest the money in social programs. Polls show her trailing Bruce Harrell, a former council president and fellow Democrat who has advocated hiring more officers alongside a number of police reforms. “If this is a year ago, in the face of a dramatic few months in mid-2020, I think this would be a very different story,” said Zachary Wood, a public affairs professor at Seattle University. In Minneapolis, where George Floyd’s murder by a white police officer prompted last year’s widespread demonstrations, voters will decide whether to approve a ballot measure replacing the police department with a new public safety agency. Mayor Jacob Frey, who is seeking reelection, opposes the proposal. He says the city needs to hire more police to replenish an under-staffed department. “I have never supported defunding or abolishing the police,” he said at a debate this week. All of the leading candidates in Atlanta’s mayoral race support more officers to combat crime, while also calling for reforms to ensure racial equity. Moore, who like Reed is a Democrat in the nonpartisan race, backs the creation of civilian first responders to handle non-violent emergency calls, among other reforms. But the city also needs enough officers to keep neighborhoods safe, she said. “Defunding the police doesn’t get us anywhere,” she said. The race has disappointed left-wing activists like Kelsea Bond, co-chair of the Atlanta chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. “There really was this glimmer of hope last year,” Bond said. “The city has only expanded policing and incarceration since last year, and a lot of it has been backlash to the ‘defund the police’ movement.” (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Joseph Tanfani (Reuters) – Former U.S. president Donald Trump’s slashing rhetorical style and divisive politics allowed him to essentially take over the Republican Party. His supporters are so devoted that most believe his false claim that he lost the 2020 election because of voter fraud. But the same tactics that have inspired fierce political loyalty have undermined Trump’s business, built around real-estate development and branding deals that have allowed him to make millions by licensing his name. Trump’s business brand was once synonymous with wealth and success, an image that now clashes sharply with a political brand rooted in the anger of his largely rural and working-class voter base. His presidency is now associated in the minds of many with its violent end, as supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Those searing images, along with years of bitter rhetoric, are costing Trump money. Revenues from some of his high-end properties have declined, vacancies in office buildings have increased and his lenders are warning that the company’s revenues may not be sufficient to cover his debt payments, according to Trump’s financial disclosures as president, Trump Organization records filed with government agencies, and reports from companies that track real-estate company finances. Prospective tenants in New York are shunning his buildings, one real-estate broker said, to avoid being associated with Trump. Organizers of golf tournaments have pulled events from his courses. Trump’s focus on the political brand has increasingly overtaken his identity as a real-estate mogul, says one hospitality industry veteran. “Prior to his political career, the Trump brand was about luxury – the casinos, the golf resorts,” said Scott Smith, a former hotel executive and hospitality professor at the University of South Carolina. “When he entered into politics, he took the Trump brand in an entirely different direction.” Trump’s business also remains under the cloud of a joint criminal fraud investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and the New York Attorney General. The company and its longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, have been charged with a scheme to evade payroll taxes, and investigators continue to probe whether Trump or his representatives committed fraud by misrepresenting financials in loan applications and tax returns. Weisselberg and the company deny wrongdoing and are contesting the charges. As his development business struggles, Trump has announced his first major deal since leaving office — and it has nothing to do with real-estate. On Oct. 20, he said he will build a new social media platform aimed in part at giving him a political forum after being banned by Facebook and Twitter, who said after the U.S. Capitol riots that Trump used their platforms to incite violence. That deal could prove lucrative for Trump regardless of whether the platform succeeds. Investors rushed to buy shares in Digital World Acquisition Corp, the publicly traded blank-check acquisition company that plans to merge with the newly announced Trump Media and Technology Group. Digital World shares surged and are now worth about $2 billion. Trump’s new media company will have at least a 69% stake in the combined company, but Trump has not disclosed his level of ownership in Trump Media. Trump has also been raising money for his political operation, which reported having $100 million on June 30, as he hints at a 2024 presidential run. Eric Trump, the former president’s middle son and a Trump Organization executive, said in an interview that the company is now in “a phenomenal spot.” He cited a refinancing of a loan on San Francisco office buildings that gave the Trump business about $162 million in cash, according to loan documents and a release by Vornado Realty Trust, the venture’s majority owner. “We’re sitting on a tremendous amount of cash,” Eric Trump told Reuters. In an email, a spokesperson for Donald Trump denied that the business has slumped since he entered politics. “The real estate company is doing extremely well, and this is evident in Florida and elsewhere,” Liz Harrington said in an emailed statement. “Considering the coronavirus pandemic, in which the hotel industry was hit particularly hard, Mr. Trump’s company is doing phenomenally well.” Financial records show Trump’s real-estate business has declined. Income from the family’s holdings, heavy on golf courses and hotels, took a beating during 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Revenues at his Las Vegas hotel, for instance, fell from $22.9 million in 2017 to $9.2 million during 2020 and the first 20 days of 2021, according to Trump’s financial disclosures. Trump is now making a second attempt to sell his lease on one high-profile property, the Trump International Hotel, housed in a former federal building in Washington, D.C., after failing to secure a buyer at the original asking price of $500 million. Meanwhile, the business is paying the federal government $3 million annually in lease payments, according to documents released earlier this month by the House Oversight Committee of the U.S. Congress. Those records show Trump’s Washington hotel lost more than $73 million since 2016. The damage to Trump’s business image started early in his presidency. One consultant for Trump, arguing in a 2017 public hearing for a lower tax bill at his Doral golf resort, said Trump’s politics had damaged his business model. “It’s actually not about the property, it is about the brand,” said consultant Jessica Vachiratevanurak, at a December 2017 hearing of the Miami-Dade Value Adjustment Board, in a video recording reviewed by Reuters. She cited a meeting she attended where top Trump Organization executives had described “severe ramifications” to his golf business from, for instance, tournaments and charity events being canceled by organizations wanting to avoid associating with Trump. The resort saw revenues fall from $92 million in 2015 to $75 million in 2017, she said at another hearing the following year. Trump’s presidential financial disclosure listed Doral revenues at $44 million last year. Vachiratevanurak declined a Reuters request for comment. “This is obviously false as Doral is doing very well,” Trump spokesperson Harrington said. In Trump’s home base of New York, the Trump name has become increasingly toxic. One high-profile property, the Trump SoHo hotel in lower Manhattan, was rebranded the Dominick in 2017. New York City in January canceled his leases on a golf course, two Central Park skating rinks and a carousel; Trump has sued the city for wrongful termination of the golf course lease. At 40 Wall Street, the 72-story skyscraper that was among Trump’s proudest acquisitions, problems that started before the pandemic have gotten worse, according to reports from firms that track real-estate performance. After the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots, some of Trump’s large tenants, including the Girl Scouts and a nonprofit called TB Alliance, said they were exploring whether they could get out of their leases. One commercial real-estate broker says many prospective tenants won’t consider the building because Trump’s name is on it. The Girl Scouts did not respond to comment requests, and TB Alliance said it was “exploring all options” for leaving the Trump building. “Most New York tenants want nothing to do with it, and that’s been the case for five years now,” said Ruth Colp-Haber, who said she has placed seven clients in the building over the years, but can’t interest anyone now. “It’s the biggest bargain going, but they won’t look at it.” Occupancy was 84% in March 2021, well below the average of about 89% for that downtown New York office market, according to Mike Brotschol, managing director of KBRA Analytics LLC. The rents Trump has been able to charge are lower, too – between $38 and $42 per square foot in a market where the average runs closer to $50, he said. The property’s financials have tumbled into risky territory, the reports say. Trump took out a $160 million loan in 2015 to refinance 40 Wall Street – personally guaranteeing $26 million. Last year, the building was placed on an industry watchlist for commercial mortgage-backed securities at risk of defaulting, according to reports by KBRA and Trepp, which also monitors real-estate loans. In the first quarter of the year, according to the KBRA report, the debt-service coverage ratio, a statistic monitored by banks, dipped to a number indicating that the building’s cash flow can’t cover its debt payments. In the statement for Trump, Harrington blamed “the disastrous policies of Bill de Blasio,” New York’s mayor, for the downturn in the city’s office market. “Despite all these serious headwinds, Mr. Trump has very little debt relative to value and the company is doing very well,” she said. The Doral resort and Washington hotel, along with a hotel in Chicago, are secured by about $340 million in loans from Deutsche Bank AG, Trump’s biggest lender. But the bank has no appetite for more business with Trump and has no plans to extend the loans after they come due in 2023 and 2024, a senior Deutsche Bank source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Asked about the bank’s unwillingness to work with Trump, his spokeswoman said: “So what?” Experts say the prospect of any new Trump-branded development faces long odds. One hotel industry executive said hotel developers – worried about cutting themselves off from the millions of customers turned off by Trump – will likely think twice before signing any branding deals to put the Trump name on their properties. “People have choices. You can go to the Ritz Carlton, you can go to the Four Seasons, and not bring the politics into it one way or the other,” said Vicki Richman, chief operating officer of HVS Asset Management, a hospitality industry consultancy and property manager. The Trump Organization tried to take its premium luxury hotel brand downmarket with two new brands: Scion, a mid-priced offering, and American Idea for budget travelers. The company scrapped plans for both in 2019, citing difficulties doing business in a contentious political environment. Harrington said nothing is off the table for Trump’s business. “We have many, many things under consideration,” she said. “But we also have politics under consideration.” (Reporting by Joseph Tanfani; additional reporting by Peter Eisler, Greg Roumeliotis and Matt Scuffham; editing by Jason Szep and Brian Thevenot) View the full article

Published by Reuters ROME (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday that Pope Francis told him he should keep receiving Communion, after holding an unusually long meeting with him at the Vatican. Asked if abortion came up in the talks, Biden said the Pope told him he was happy he was a good Catholic. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, writing by Angelo Amante) View the full article