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Published by BANG Showbiz English Harry Styles helped a fan come out at his concert in Connecticut at the weekend. The One Direction star – who has a strong LGBTQ+ following – was performing a solo gig at the Mohegan Sun Arena inside the casino in Uncasville on Saturday (23.10.21) night when he assisted a gig-goer in their request to publicly declare their sexuality. After he spotted a girl holding a sign with “Help me come out” emblazoned across it in the packed-out crowd, the 27-year-old pop star threw up a rainbow pride flag and said: “Anyone particular you’d like to come out to? “Is it for yourself? When I raise this flag you’re officially out, heard that’s how it works! She’s oooout!” The ‘Watermelon Sugar’ singer has made a thing of taking requests from fans via signs at his shows. Last month, Harry did a gender reveal for a pregnant fan midway through his show. The ‘Golden’ hitmaker was performing at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville when he spotted the woman in the audience urging him to help her. The fan held a sign which played on the lyrics to Harry’s song ‘Kiwi’ and read: “I’m having a baby. Please make it your business…” Another poster urged him to “open the results”, which he agreed to do. After being given the piece of paper containing the results, Harry – who was on the phone with the woman’s partner, Mike – laughed and said: “I revel in these moments because I know everything… and you don’t.” And he then joked he planned to keep the couple in suspense as he said: “Okay we’re going to do another song! “Oh you’re still there Mike!” He then organised the audience into a countdown before dropping to his knees and declaring: “It’s a little baby girl.” He quipped: “That’s what I wanted – is that what you wanted?” The music star then pretended to cry with joy as the arena erupted in cheers at the news. And the week before, Harry – who is dating Olivia Wilde – offered some dating advice to one woman in the audience after she used a placard to ask him a question. At the show in Minnesota, the fan was holding up a sign which read, “Should I text him?”, and the ‘Adore You’ singer addressed the question on stage. He said: “In my opinion, if you should, then this isn’t even a question. “If we’re playing games … If you’re wondering, ‘Should I text him? Can’t text him too soon … And now I’m thinking about double texting and that’s whole other risky business …’ “My personal opinion is that if there’s any sort of games: Trash, trash, trash, not for you.” View the full article

Published by DPA A meme a day keeps the therapist away. This could be the lesson of fresh research into the impact of humorous content from social media during the pandemic. Fabian Sommer/dpa A few funny memes every day can be enough to help people better cope with the everyday stresses of life during the pandemic, according to a US study on the effect of the humorous online content, published in the Psychology of Popular Media journal. Such comical photos shared on social media can also increase people’s confidence in their ability to deal with the pandemic – but only if they are not too cutesy, according to the researchers. The idea that memes, of all things, could be a key weapon in the mental health battle during the pandemic is not as far-fetched as it might sound at first. Last year a study published in the journal Scientific Reports had reported that memes about depression can help lift the mood of those with mental health problems. “As the pandemic kept dragging on, it became more and more interesting to me how people were using social media and memes in particular, as a way to think about the pandemic,” says Jessica Myrick, lead author of the new study. For the Penn State University professor, it is not the first time she has dealt with a pop-cultural internet phenomenon. One of her previous studies had looked at the effects of cat videos on happiness. For her new study, Myrick and her team surveyed 748 people online last December to find out whether viewing different memes influences emotions, anxiety, information processing and generally coping during the pandemic. To do this, the researchers collected hundreds of popular memes on relevant platforms and divided them into different categories, such as whether the caption referred to Covid-19 or not. For the study, those memes were selected that were rated as equally funny and cute by a group of participants. For some memes, the researchers wrote new Covid- or non-Covid-related captions. For example, one meme featured a picture of an angry cat with the caption, “New study confirms: Cats can’t spread Covid-19 but would if given option.” The non-Covid-related version of the meme had the caption: “New study confirms: Cats can’t sabotage your car but would if given option.” The next step was to randomly assign subjects to see different memes or, as a control, different types of imageless text. The researchers then examined how cute and funny the study participants found the media they saw, what emotions they reported and how equipped to deal with the pandemic they felt. They found that people who viewed memes showed higher levels of humour and more positive emotions than others, which was indirectly associated with a reduction in stress related to the pandemic. Subjects who viewed memes with captions about Covid-19 were even more likely to feel less stress about the pandemic than those who viewed memes without coronavirus-related captions. At the same time, those who viewed Covid-related memes thought more intensely about the content and felt more confident about coping with the pandemic. However cute memes had a different effect, and participants who saw particularly cute memes featuring human or animal babies were less likely to think about the pandemic and its impact on their own lives – even if the captions referred to the coronavirus. “Cuteness responses, generally, were associated with decreased coping efficacy,” the authors write in the study. The study comes in contrast to much previous research on the psychological impact of social media platforms such as Instagram, where the emphasis on beauty and success have been shown to have negative mental health impacts. At the same time, a recent study showed that “doomscrolling” through pandemic news headlines can also sour a person’s mood. However lead author Myrick stresses that things are different for memes. “While the World Health Organization recommended that people avoid too much Covid-related media for the benefit of their mental health, our research reveals that memes about Covid-19 could help people feel more confident in their ability to deal with the pandemic.” Officials could use such memes as a cheap and accessible way to communicate with the public about stressful situations. Myrick concludes: “The positive emotions associated with this type of content may make people feel psychologically safer and therefore better able to pay attention to the underlying messages related to health threats.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Paul Sandle and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) – Facebook will fuel more violent unrest around the world because of the way its algorithms are designed to promote divisive content, whistleblower Frances Haugen told the British parliament on Monday. Haugen, a former product manager on Facebook’s civic misinformation team who has turned whistleblower, appeared before a parliamentary select committee in Britain that is examining plans to regulate social media companies. She said the social network saw safety as a cost centre, lionised a start-up culture where cutting corners was good, and said it was “unquestionably” making hate worse. “The events we’re seeing around the world, things like Myanmar and Ethiopia, those are the opening chapters because engagement-based ranking does two things: one, it prioritises and amplifies divisive and polarising extreme content and two it concentrates it,” she said. Facebook declined to provide any immediate comment in response to Haugen’s appearance at the parliamentary committee. Haugen in October told a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing that Facebook had devised ways to keep users scrolling even if it was detrimental to their wellbeing, putting profit before people. She also said she provided the documents used in a Wall Street Journal investigation and a Senate hearing on Instagram’s harm to teenage girls. She compared the platform to addictive substances such as tobacco and opioids. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hit back against Haugen’s accusations, saying earlier this month: “The argument that we deliberately push content that makes people angry for profit is deeply illogical.” BRITISH INTERIOR MINISTER SEEKS TOUGHER LAWS Before Monday’s hearing, Haugen met the country’s interior minister, Priti Patel, who advocates tougher legislation for tech platforms that fail to keep users safe. Haugen is scheduled to speak at a major tech conference, the Web Summit, next week and in Brussels to European policymakers. “Facebook has been unwilling to accept even little slivers of profit being sacrificed for safety, and that’s not acceptable,” she said on Monday, singling out Instagram’s impact on the mental health of some young users. Britain is bringing forward laws that could fine social media companies up to 10% of their turnover if they fail to remove or limit the spread of illegal content, such as child sexual abuse. Platforms such as Facebook will also need to do more to protect children from exposure to grooming, bullying and pornography, the government has said. Reuters, along with other news organisations, viewed documents released to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Congress by Haugen. They showed Facebook had known that it hadn’t hired enough workers who possessed both the language skills and knowledge of local events needed to identify objectionable posts from users in a number of developing countries. (Editing by Keith Weir and Barbara Lewis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jody Godoy and Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Lev Parnas, a onetime associate of Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was found guilty on Friday of violating U.S. campaign finance laws during the 2018 elections. Parnas, a Ukraine-born American businessman, and his former associate Igor Fruman had been accused of soliciting funds from Russian businessman Andrey Muraviev to donate to candidates in states where the group was seeking licenses to operate cannabis businesses in 2018. Parnas also concealed that he and Fruman, who pleaded guilty in September, were the true source of a donation to a group supporting Republican then-President Trump, prosecutors said. Giuliani’s attorney has said the Parnas case is separate from a probe into whether violated lobbying laws while representing Trump. Giuliani, a U.S. prosecutor in the 1980s before he was elected New York’s mayor in 1994, has not been charged with any crimes and denies wrongdoing. Parnas was found guilty on all six counts of federal election law violations that he faced, which included illegally helping a foreigner contribute to a U.S. election campaign, making contributions in the names of others, and lying to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Andrey Kukushkin, a Muraviev associate and California resident who was tried alongside Parnas, was found guilty on Friday of two counts of campaign finance violations. Kukushkin is also a Ukraine native. The trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan has drawn attention because of the role Parnas and Belarus-born U.S. citizen Fruman played in helping Giuliani, who was Trump’s personal attorney while he held office, to investigate Democrat Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign. Biden won the election, denying Trump a second term. Parnas, dressed in a blue suit, stared straight at the jury as the verdict was read. Kukushkin, wearing a grey sweater, shook his head after he was pronounced guilty on the second count. “I’ve never hid from nobody,” Parnas said as he left court wearing a black “Combat COVID” mask. “I’ve always stood and tried to tell the truth.” His attorney Joseph Bondy said they would be filing a motion to vacate the verdict “in the interest of justice.” “It’s obviously a very difficult time for Mr. Parnas and his wife and his children,” Bondy said. U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken denied a request from prosecutors to detain Parnas and Kukushkin. “The defendants have sufficiently established that they’re not a risk of flight,” Oetken said after the jury left. Oetken set a sentencing date of Feb. 16 for Kukushkin. He did not set a sentencing date for Parnas, who faces another possible trial on separate fraud charges. ‘IN WELL OVER HIS HEAD’ The case provided a glimpse into the inner workings of political fundraising in the United States. “You saw the wires from Muraviev,” Assistant U.S Attorney Hagan Scotten told the jury during closing arguments on Thursday. “You saw how that money came out on the other side, finding its way into American elections, where the defendants thought they had bought influence to further their business.” Parnas’ defense lawyers countered that Muraviev’s funds went toward business investments, not campaign contributions, and that the donation to the pro-Trump group was from a company founded by Parnas and broke no laws. In his closing statement Parnas attorney Bondy characterized his client as a passionate proponent of marijuana legalization who was “in well over his head.” He argued that Muraviev’s money funded business operations, not campaign contributions. Deliberations in the trial began on Friday morning and lasted about five hours. Fruman, who lives in Florida, pleaded guilty to one count of soliciting campaign contributions from a foreign national. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 21. Parnas and Kukushkin had faced two counts of conspiring to make donations from a foreign national, and making the donations. Parnas had also been charged with four other counts, including making false statements to the Federal Elections Commission. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Franklin Paul, Grant McCool and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Alec Baldwin‘s prop gun – believed to be a vintage Colt pistol – that robbed the life of cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, this week was reportedly also used recreationally offset by crew members. The gun was one of many weapons on set and operated in a previous scene without causing any incident. MEGA An insider from the movie’s production revealed crew members had allegedly used the Colt pistol for “target practice” with real bullets outside of filming. This could add up to the story of how the gun reportedly contained a “live round” during the fatal shooting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Presumably, to get to the bottom of investigations, the cops would want to find out who had used the firearm for said purpose and who was responsible for returning it, among other weapons used for the filming. As Radar previously reported, Alec pulled the trigger of a gun handed to him while being on the set of his upcoming new movie and accidentally shot Halyna and the film director Joel Souza. Authorities were called out to the scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch on Thursday afternoon and confirmed the incident. MEGA According to officials, “two individuals were shot” by a prop firearm “discharged by Alec Baldwin.” Hutchin was transported via helicopter to the University of New Mexico, where she was “pronounced dead by medical personnel.” Meanwhile, Souza was taken via ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical center to treat his injuries. Following the tragedy, the production was halted immediately, and police started to launch an investigation, including issuing search warrants for the ranch. Souza’s representatives later announced he was released from the hospital Friday morning. The head armorer Hannah Reed admitted during a podcast interview last month claiming she was “nervous” to take the job for the movie and doubted her capabilities. “I was really nervous about it at first, and I almost didn’t take the job because I wasn’t sure if I was ready,” she confessed. “But doing it, it went really smoothly.” Baldwin expressed his “sadness” and revealed he was “heartbroken” for Hutchins’ family following the deadly incident. He also issued astatement via Twitter saying he is “cooperating with the police investigation” and “in touch with her [Hutchins] husband, offering my support to him and his family.” MEGA Officials said they’re “trying to determine right now how and what type of projectile was used in the firearm” therefore, the case remains “open and active” for investigation. View the full article

Published by AFP Former U.S. President Barack Obama urged Virginia residents to vote for the democratic candidate in the gubernatorial race Richmond (United States) (AFP) – Former US president Barack Obama urged voters Saturday to back the Democrat in a neck-and-neck state election touted as a test of the party’s prospects in next year’s midterm elections — casting the Republican as a threat to democracy. Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who is vying for a second term as Virginia’s governor, has seen his lead extinguished in recent polls and is in a dead heat with Republican Glenn Youngkin ahead of the November 2 vote. Obama told a cheering crowd of several hundred rapt supporters at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond that Youngkin would cut teaching jobs, restrict abortion access and back Donald Trump’s fraudulent campaign to convince Americans that the last election was stolen from him by President Joe Biden. “As far as I can tell, the big message of Terry’s opponent is that he’s a regular guy because he wears a fleece. And he’s accusing schools of brainwashing our kids,” Obama said, “He’s also said he wanted to audit the voting machines used in the last presidential election again. Really? Encouraging the lies and conspiracy theories that we’ve had to live through all this time? And yeah, we’re supposed to believe he’s going to stand up for our democracy?” The McAuliffe camp fears turnout among supporters in an off-year election may be low and has brought in some of the party’s heavy hitters in the final stretch, including First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden won Virginia by 10 points in 2020 and the last time Republicans won a statewide race there was 2009. But the McAuliffe-Youngkin battle has been tightening, with a survey released this week by Monmouth University showing the Democrat’s earlier lead evaporating. A McAuliffe win would boost Washington Democrats’ push for twin infrastructure and social welfare mega-bills that are the cornerstone of Biden’s vision for remaking the economy. But a loss could spook moderates already nervous over the high price tag, which they are trying to chisel down from a combined total of almost $5 trillion to around $3 trillion. Harbinger Party chiefs hope Obama, still the most popular Democrat on the national stage five years after leaving office, will galvanize Black voters, a key constituency in Virginia. “I’m here today because I believe Virginia will make the right choice. I believe America, ultimately, will make the right choice,” Obama told the crowd of a few hundred cheering supporters. “I believe you right here in Virginia are going to show the rest of the country, and the world, that we’re not going to indulge in our worst instincts. We’re not going to go back to the past that did so much damage, we’re going to move forward with people like Terry leading the way.” The first genuinely competitive election since Biden took office is expected to be a harbinger of the national political landscape ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Wedged between the Washington suburbs in northern Virginia, a Democratic stronghold, and the state’s conservative south and southwest, Richmond could go either way. McAuliffe, 64, has tried to make the race a referendum on twice-impeached Trump. Youngkin, 10 years his junior, has focused on the fight over schools, with Republicans railing against mask mandates and running ads showing McAuliffe saying he doesn’t want parents involved in education. ‘Resurgence of Trumpism’ In a delicate high-wire act, Youngkin has been trying to conjure the spirit of Trump while not specifically endorsing his false election fraud claims that are backed by the majority of Republicans. The former president has not visited, although he called in to a pro-Youngkin “Take Back Virginia Rally” on October 13 featuring former White House advisor Steve Bannon and other prominent promoters of Trump’s election fraud lies. McAuliffe, who took the stage before Obama, pledged to work with “Reasonable Republicans” to improve the lives of Virginians. “I’ll work with you, but let me make one thing perfectly clear today. Glenn Youngkin is not a reasonable Republican. I call him Donald Trump in khakis,” he told the crowd of a few hundred. “Do we want a lapdog for Donald Trump to be our governor here in the Commonwealth? No we don’t.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Boosie has gone too far and soon will have to be sorry for making such vile homophobic comments against rapperLil Nas X as well as suggesting him to commit suicide in their latest feud. The verbal attack started after Lil Nas was joking about making a new song with Boosie. MEGA On Saturday, Boosie went on a homophobic tirade after finding out the Grammy winner trolled his fans with a harmless claim, saying he’s been working on a song with “Lil Boosie” via Instagram Live. The older but lesser-known rapper then shocked the internet, spewing such horrendous remarks against Lil Nas, calling him the F-gay slur. “STOP TROLLING ME FA—T LOL!! U A WHOLE BITCH PLAYING WITH A GANGSTA SMH U CAN KEEP SUCKING D— N GETTING F—ED N YOUR A– N PEACE N #uhateyourself I WOULD TOO IF I WAS YOU LOL,” he tweeted. As if the disgusting comments weren’t enough, Boosie continued his insensitive rant with an alarming suggestion, callously asking for Lil Nas to kill himself. “NASx IF YOU #commitsuicide YOU WOULD DO THIS WORLD A HUGE FAVOR NOBODY WANTS U HERE,” he wrote. His unhinged words have made the internet go wild, with users pointing out the hate speech contains unacceptable and dangerous elements to society. Actress Tyla Harris wrote on Instagram, saying, “It will always and forever be disgusting to use suicide as an insult. Add insult to injury, suicide is one of the top three causes of death in African American children 10-19. Going this hard for what?” MEGA Another user suggested that Boosie seems to be projecting a “deeper” issue he’s experiencing within himself. “This response is evidence that his issue is waaaay deeper than Lil Nas X,” she shared. However, Boosie’s response shouldn’t come as a surprise. Radar previously reported he once had defended his disgraced rapper friend DaBabywho had made such disparaging comments against the LGBTQ community. This is also not the first time Boosie had attacked Lil Nas via social media. In July, the 38-year-old rapper told his fans on Instagram, “Everybody not with they nephew sucking d–k. Everybody not with that s–t. You just can’t put that s–t on everybody and expect to be cool.” “Now, as X say, he gon’ perform naked on stage for charity,” he continued. “You don’t f–k with him like you f–k with DaBaby! Be even sided, man. Be even-sided. You don’t feel that’s disrespect gon’ dance naked? You don’t think that’s disrespect in front of boys who’re tryna be straight? It’s totally disrespect. Totally disrespect.” Boosie took a slight pause from his rant before once again going a little too far, making a violent threat towards Lil Nas, saying, “If I’m at an awards [show] and he go up there naked, I’mma drag his as- offstage and beat his as-.” MEGA Lil Nas has been making headlines recently for his controversial yet bold performances as a young queer artist. In an interview, he once opened up, claiming he’s feared for his safety to address homophobic issues in the rap industry. “The honest truth is, I don’t want to speak on a lot of the homophobia within rap because I feel like this is a very dangerous playing field,” he explained. ” It’s more for my own safety rather than anything else.” View the full article

Published by AFP This still image from video released by the DC Cat Count/Humane Rescue Alliance shows a cat photographed by a wildlife camera in Washington Washington (AFP) – A striped feline leaps from a rock under the shade of a tree on a late October morning. As its front paws touch the ground, the whiskered creature looks up, eyes darting left. A wildlife camera clicks and captures the scene. It’s a cat — and the location isn’t a remote rainforest, but the capital of the United States. The photo is part of the DC Cat Count, a first of its kind, three-year effort by animal welfare advocates, conservationists and scientists to enumerate every Felis catus in Washington. The team behind the study says it provides an accurate estimate of the size of the city’s indoor, outdoor and shelter population. It found there are about 200,000 cats in the District of Columbia, with about half of them living indoors only, said Tyler Flockhart, a conservation biologist and science lead on the DC Cat Count. The other half is a group that includes owned cats with limited or unlimited access outdoors, stray cats, and roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feral cats who avoid interactions with humans, Flockhart said. “I don’t think that you can find another wild mammal — another wild carnivore — that occurs at that density anywhere in the world,” he said, of cats and urban environments. “I think that this is really sort of an interesting idea that we can have so many cats in such a small location.” Consensus for a cat census The study brought together groups that are often at odds over the impact that outdoor cats have on wildlife and landscape. While conservationists worry that outdoor cats can decimate bird populations, animal advocates seek to ensure the welfare and safety of cats seeking to survive outside. “What was really groundbreaking with the DC Cat Count was these organizations coming together,” said Stephanie Shain, the chief operating officer of the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA), which took part in the study. They were driven by a common purpose “to really focus not on who is right or who has been right, but really focus on getting it right — finding out the information, analyzing the data,” she added. Shain said HRA recommends that cat owners keep their feline friends indoors only in order to keep them safe and avoid damaging wildlife. “I was pleased to see how many people actually follow that advice,” she said. To count all the cats who call the seat of American power home, researchers surveyed more than 2,600 residents, analyzed animal shelter records, walked along specific routes in search of cats and set up wildlife cameras in more than 1,500 spots. “This is probably the most thorough analysis of cats of any city in the world,” Flockhart said. He and other researchers continue to analyze the data collected since 2018 and the research has already led to several peer-reviewed scientific papers. The DC Cat Count team also made an extensive toolkit available online with protocols and guidelines for organizations wishing to carry out their own cat census. Besides cats, the camera traps also snapped pictures of numerous animals including squirrels, raccoons, foxes, deer — and even a bobcat. “There’s a huge diversity of wildlife in our cities,” Flockhart said. “We tend to think of it as humans-only, and it could be anything but the case. There are all types of wildlife, from rodents all the way up to large predators.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Corey Feldman’s prosthetic ear from ‘Stand By Me’ is set to go under the hammer. The 50-year-old actor’s character in the 1986 coming-of-age drama, Teddy Duchamp, had his ear burned off when his father shoved his head into a flaming hot stove as a child. And the rubber ear and an NFT digital art are set to be auctioned off in honour of the 35th anniversary of the flick. Corey said: “I don’t know what you’re going to do with the ear. “Wear it for Halloween, throw darts at it, use it as a coaster! The possibilities are limitless.” Movie fans who wish to own the unique piece of memorabilia will need to make their bids between October 31 and November 3. A replica of the ear and an NFT are also being sold for $12. More information can be found via www.cfnftnme.com/corey-ear. Meanwhile, Corey recently dashed hopes of a sequel to ‘The Goonies’. The screen legend starred in Richard Donner’s iconic 1985 adventure comedy flick but has given up hope of playing Clark ‘Mouth’ Devereaux again after being “let down” by plans for another movie. He said: “Well, Sean Astin and Josh Brolin want a sequel but you know. It’s one of those powers that be things. Every time I thought, ‘OK, it’s really gonna happen’, I’ve been let down and had my heartbroken.” The ‘Lost Boys’ star explained that he got his hopes up during the pandemic when the cast and crew reunited virtually and even claimed that screenwriter Chris Columbus had pledged to begin working on a new script that would revisit the treasure-hunting characters. Corey said: “I think I probably believed it the most over the pandemic. Because I thought, ‘OK it’s (‘The Goonies’) 35th anniversary, we did two reunions in one year, we went back and read the script together. “And Chris Columbus even said on the call with all of us, and in subsequent emails, ‘Guys I’m so inspired, I’m actually writing again. Like I’m gonna do this. We’re gonna do this. We’re doing this.’ And then, nothing.” View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Eleven Picasso paintings and other works that helped turn Las Vegas into an unlikely destination for art were sold at auction on Saturday for more than $100 million. The Sotheby’s auction was held at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, where the works had been on display for years, and took place two days before the 140th birthday of the Spanish artist on Oct. 25. Five of the paintings had hung on the walls of the Bellagio’s fine dining restaurant, Picasso. The restaurant will continue to display 12 other Picasso works. The highest price was fetched by the 1938 painting “Femme au beret rouge-orange” of Picasso’s lover and muse Marie-Therese Walter, which sold for $40.5 million, some $10 million over the high pre-sale estimate. The large-scale portraits “Homme et Enfant” and “Buste d’homme” sold for $24.4 million and $9.5 million respectively, while smaller works on ceramic, like “Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe” which sold for $2.1 million, went for three or four times their pre-sale estimate. The buyers’ names were not disclosed. Saturday’s sale was part of a bid by casino and hotel group MGM Resorts to further diversify its vast collection to include more art from women, people of color and emerging nations as well as from LGBTQ artists and artists with disabilities. American museums and art galleries have been working to broaden their collections in the wake of the widespread cultural reckoning in 2020 over racism at all levels of U.S. society. A 2019 Public Library of Science study of 18 leading U.S. museums found that 85% of the artists on display are white and 87% are men. The MGM Resorts Fine Arts Collection boasts about 900 works by 200 artists, including modern pieces by Bob Dylan and David Hockney. It was started more than 20 years ago by Steve Wynn, former owner of the Bellagio and former chief executive of Wynn Resorts. (Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) View the full article

Published by DPA Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (C) chairs the weekly Cabinet meeting. Bennett said that the meeting with the Russina President Vladimir Putin was very good and in-depth. Haim Zach/GPO/dpa Ahead of the upcoming COP26 world climate conference, the Israeli government on Sunday approved a comprehensive climate protection plan. The aim is to boost climate-friendly innovation, the development of technologies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and preparation for climate change, the office of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said. Israel wants to support the international fight against climate change through research and technological development, it added, with a focus on technologies in areas such as climate, energy, food, agriculture and water. Israel is considered a global pioneer in the field of high-tech and water management in particular. The Israeli news website ynet reported on Sunday that the plan contains 100 steps to combat climate change, involving 14 ministries and amounting to an overall 4.8 billion dollars. Among other things, the money is to be invested in organic waste treatment plants, more energy efficiency and a reduction of CO2 emissions in industry and municipalities, a switch to electric mobility for public transport and more bicycle paths. “The climate crisis is rightly one of the central issues on the global agenda,” Bennett said, according to his office. “This affects all of our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren.” Environment Minister Tamar Sandberg said the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) was a “catalyst” for the endorsement of the plan. The global talks, postponed from last year, are due to start at the end of the month. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) – Meghan Picerno was back at work after 18 months of pandemic limbo, overjoyed to be singing and dancing again with her “Phantom of the Opera” castmates as they rehearsed for the return of Broadway’s longest-running show. As the musical’s late October reopening neared, sometimes all Picerno could think about was making it to the first curtain call unscathed by the breakthrough COVID-19 cases that had sidelined vaccinated actors at other shows. Outside long days in a chilly mirror-lined rehearsal studio near New York City’s Times Square, Picerno had put herself back on what she called lockdown. “I’m a full-on monk now,” she said during a rushed lunch break between back-to-back run throughs. She knew her job came with risks of exposure. Playing the show’s heroine Christine required Picerno to kiss two co-stars daily and to sing full-throated love songs with them unmasked and at close range. “Hopefully, none of us have it, because if one of us have it, we all have it,” she said. The crowded Broadway theaters, vital to the city’s tourism industry, were the first places closed by the New York government as the coronavirus began to ravage the state. Word of the abrupt shuttering came during a “Phantom” matinee at the Majestic Theatre on March 12, 2020, as some cast and crew themselves were falling sick. Now, after an unprecedented shutdown, the theaters are among the last workplaces to reopen. Their return this fall is viewed as a test of the city’s efforts to restore some new sense of normalcy. Reuters watched as the “Phantom” company prepared for its return. The pandemic left unmistakable marks. Within a few weeks of the show going dark, COVID-19 had claimed the life of a beloved dresser, Jennifer Arnold, who had been with the show for more than three decades. After protests filled U.S. streets last year in outrage at the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer, newly unemployed Broadway workers pushed the industry to make overdue changes to increase racial diversity in theater companies. In August, “Phantom” producers announced they had cast the first-ever Black actor to play Christine since the show opened on Broadway in 1988. The actor, Emilie Kouatchou, would make her Broadway debut as an alternate for Picerno. For the returning cast, there were tweaks to lyrics and staging to learn, making it more straightforward to cast non-white actors in principal roles. The entire company was required to be vaccinated and twice a week went to get their noses swabbed at a nearby theater lobby repurposed as a temporary coronavirus testing site. Picerno said she was happy to embrace whatever was needed to get back on stage. In the dark days of 2020, living back in North Carolina with her parents and claiming unemployment benefits, she said she “almost felt like a failure.” She sang her part every day to keep it fresh in her mind until the singing made her too sad and she stopped. Emotion again overcame her on the first day reunited with her castmates in late September. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber had swung by the studio to deliver a pep talk to the cast before they sang through the familiar score. Picerno’s singing dissolved in tears during the love duet “All I Ask of You.” “Sing along! Help her!” the conductor urged the masked chorus, whose voices carried Picerno until she regained her composure. ‘THINK OF ME’ A few days later, the cast practiced dance steps in a mix of street clothes and the bulkier parts of their 19th-century-style costumes. Picerno drew a scarf through her fingers as she danced and sang “Think of Me” in her bell-like soprano. Off in a corner of the studio, Kouatchou silently mirrored Picerno’s every move. Kouatchou, the daughter of immigrants from Cameroon, grew up in the Chicago suburbs. “Phantom” was the first Broadway show she ever saw, on a trip to New York with her high school. She remembers being transfixed by Christine. “I could sing that role in my sleep,” she recalled thinking. Still, she worried about stereotyping, that some would see a mismatch in her voice, an operatic soprano, and her appearance, which was not the sort of “petite white girl” who seemed to always get cast as a show’s ingénue or heroine. “I didn’t feel like I had a place in musical theater because I didn’t see anyone who looked like me who sung like me,” she said. COVID-19 had both upended live theater and made space for progress. “The pandemic was terrible,” Kouatchou said. “But we wouldn’t be able to have conversations like this and change things like this if it hadn’t been for the pandemic.” Now, as the Phantom begins making his terrifying presence known in Act One, a frightened ballet dancer turns to the heroine and sings: “Christine, are you alright?” Before the pandemic and Kouatchou’s casting, the lyric had always been: “Your face, Christine, it’s white!” The old, creepy Christine doll that stood in the Phantom’s lair, her features unmistakably white, also was out. A new doll, designed to be racially ambiguous, would debut on reopening night. Later that week, Kouatchou got her first glimpse of one of the new Christine wigs designed to match her hair texture. “It’s curlier and frizzier and I love it,” Kouatchou said. ‘THE POINT OF NO RETURN’ On the first full day of stage rehearsals at the Majestic Theatre, members of the company waited to show vaccination proof in an alleyway lined with trash cans leading to the stage door. Backstage, masked dressers who help actors quickly change costumes in the darkness of the wings were testing alternatives to the bitelights they had gripped in their teeth pre-pandemic. They experimented with little lamps strapped to their foreheads or on gloves, hoping they wouldn’t confuse audiences by shooting out beams of light across the stage mid-show. From the orchestra seats, John Riddle, who plays the show’s hero Raoul, marveled at one of the dazzling spotlights high up in the proscenium. Its beam used to illuminate a “constant cloud of dust,” he said. “The fact that it’s clear now means something to me,” he said. “They say it’s the cleanest a Broadway theater has ever been.” Even so, there was worrying news from shows nearby. The Disney musical “Aladdin” was forced to close for two weeks soon after its September reopening because too many actors tested positive for the coronavirus. Maree Johnson, who plays the black-clad ballet mistress Madame Giry, said she was resigned to the likelihood that “Phantom” also would record breakthrough coronavirus cases. “It’s going to happen sooner or later,” she said. Nine days later, on Friday afternoon, Picerno was in her dressing room when she opened the email with results of her final coronavirus test ahead of reopening night. Relief washed over her. It was negative. That night, audience members dressed in evening gowns, bow ties and the occasional “Phantom”-style costume crowded the theater doors, fishing out proofs of vaccination. “Welcome back to Broadway!” chirped the newly hired COVID safety monitors who waved large signs saying “MASKS UP” at the audience inside. Backstage at the top of a staircase, a few members of the company had placed a vase of flowers and a photograph of Arnold, the dresser lost to COVID-19. Some of the cast and crew paused by the memorial before resuming the final minutes’ rush in nearby dressing rooms. The house lights dimmed, and the familiar descending chromatic chords of the “Phantom” theme surged from the orchestra pit. Picerno danced across the stage as Kouatchou watched from the audience, sometimes mimicking her hand gestures. The new Christine doll lurked in the Phantom’s lair, her face now silver. At the final curtain call, the audience roared with delight. Picerno ran to the front of the stage to take her bow, her face crumpled and shining with tears. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Diane Craft) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Donald Trump is not wasting time and going at it with Meghan McCain, spewing petty hate in response to her claims regarding his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The former View host called the two “funeral crashes” after they both attended her well-known father John McCain‘s funeral uninvited. MEGA After Trump caught wind, the former president labeled McCain as a “low life” and “bully” before also attacking the other hosts on The View by calling them “Slobs and Radical Left maniacs.” “Isn’t it funny that Meghan McCain, who has always been a bully and basically a lowlife, is now complaining that it was she who was bullied by the Slobs and Radical Left maniacs of The View?” he said in a statement. Trump also took the opportunity to take a jab at Meghan’s dad, a former United States senator who he claimed he was never a “fan.” “At the request of many of her representatives, I made it possible for her father to have the world’s longest funeral, designed and orchestrated by him, even though I was never, to put it mildly, a fan,” he added. “In any event, Meghan should fight the Communists instead of explaining how they beat her, hurt her, and made her physically ill. She should fight back against the losers ofThe View the way she fights against very good and well-meaning Republicans, and she would do herself a world of good. MEGA McCain responded to Trump’s attack by thanking him “for encouraging everyone to buy my Audible book Bad Republican where they can hear my story in my words.” The retaliation from Trump comes after the Daily Mail columnist recalled seeing Ivanka and Jared during her father’s service in an interview on Watch What Happens Live. She claimed the situation “angers” her. “I remember seeing them and seeing her [Ivanka] specifically,” Meghan told the host Andy Cohen. “they had no God-damn business being there, and it’s something that still angers me, clearly.” During the interview, she claimed that she was bullied out of her job on the primetime show blaming her co-workers. “Only one person was bullied out of their job and doesn’t work there anymore, and I think that really says it all,” she explained. As Radar previously reported, McCain announced her departure from The View in July after being a permanent co-host for four seasons. She reportedly “had enough” with the job after constantly getting into arguments with her other co-hosts, especially with her role as the only conservative voice on the panel. She reportedly had two more years left on her contract at the time of her exit. MEGA View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Ryan Gosling is set to star as Ken in the ‘Barbie’ movie. The 40-year-old actor is in talks to co-star with Margot Robbie, 31, in the live-action movie about Mattel, Inc’s iconic doll, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach have written the script for the Warner Bros movie, with Gerwig attached to direct. Robbie will produce the movie via her LuckyChap production company alongside her husband, LuckyChap’s Tom Ackerley. Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner and Paddington’s David Heyman will also produce. Ryan was previously offered the role during the summer but turned it down due to a scheduling conflict. However, due to a delay in filming, he is now free to take on the part. Margot previously vowed to give audiences “something totally different” to what they would expect from the famous Mattel doll. Margot said last year: “Something like Barbie where the IP, the name itself, people immediately have an idea of, ‘Oh Margot is playing Barbie, I know what that is’, but our goal is to be like, ‘Whatever you’re thinking, we’re going to give you something totally different – the thing you didn’t know you wanted.'” Margot’s producing partner Josey McNamara added that the acclaimed duo will help change viewers’ expectations of the project. He explained: “As Margot said, you think you know what the movie is with Margot as Barbie, but Greta and Noah have subverted it, and we can’t wait to get into that one.” The film centres on Barbie being expelled from Barbie Land for failing to live up to the expectations of its residents and Robbie hopes that it will put some “positivity out in the world”. She previously said: “I think it’s a great opportunity to put some positivity out in the world and a change to be aspirational for younger kids.” View the full article

Published by AFP John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in 1962 Washington (AFP) – The White House said Friday it would delay the release of long-classified documents related to the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. President Joe Biden wrote in a statement that the remaining files “shall be withheld from full public disclosure” until December 15 next year — nearly 60 years after Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, Texas in 1963. In 2018, former president Donald Trump released several thousand secret files on the assassination, but withheld others on national security grounds. The White House said the national archivist needs more time for a review into that redaction, which was slowed by the pandemic. Biden also said the delay was “necessary to protect against identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign relations” and that this “outweighs the public interest in immediate disclosure.” The assassination of the 46-year-old president was a “profound national tragedy” that “continues to resonate in American history and in the memories of so many Americans who were alive on that terrible day,” the statement said. A 10-month investigation led by then-Supreme Court chief justice Earl Warren concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine who had lived in the Soviet Union, acted alone when he fired on Kennedy’s motorcade. But the Commission’s investigation was criticised for being incomplete, with a Congressional committee later concluding that Kennedy was “probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.” US law requires that all government records on the assassination be disclosed “to enable the public to become fully informed.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By David Morgan and Jarrett Renshaw WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democrats are closing in on a deal on President Joe Biden’s social and climate-change agenda by narrowing their differences over healthcare and other issues, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after a White House meeting on Friday. “We had a very positive meeting this morning. I’m very optimistic,” Pelosi told reporters on her return to the Capitol. Democrats in the House, Senate and White House hope an agreement on a framework of $2 trillion or less will allow the House to move forward next week on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and set the stage for passage of Biden’s larger “Build Back Better” social package. Pelosi said there were only a few outstanding issues on the legislation’s healthcare provisions and that decisions also remained on which revenue provisions to include. “There are many decisions that have to be made, but more than 90% of everything is agreed to and written,” Pelosi said. “We’re narrowing the differences.” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, meanwhile, floated a “billionaires income tax” proposal that congressional sources said would apply to around 700 taxpayers and would raise hundreds of billions of dollars in fresh revenues to help offset the cost of the Biden plan. “The Billionaires Income Tax is about fairness and showing the American people taxes aren’t mandatory for them and optional for the wealthiest people in the country,” Wyden said in a statement. A source familiar with the White House’s thinking on the billionaires tax said: “The president is favorably disposed towards this tax, as well as a series of other options that would ensure the wealthy pay their fair share and make the price tag.” The plan aims to clamp down on some billionaires who find loopholes to avoid or significantly lower their tax payments. The congressional sources said the tax would apply to taxpayers with more than $1 billion in assets or over $100 million in income for three consecutive years. Wyden’s proposal aims to lure moderate Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema into supporting the legislation after balking at raising tax rates on the wealthy and corporations. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal sounded less optimistic about getting an agreement soon, after Biden said the social spending and climate change legislation was unlikely to include a higher U.S. corporate tax rate. Omitting the tax hike would require alternative revenue sources to pay for the legislation. “One of the complicating factors here is that if you take up some of these new revenue measures, they’re going to have to be vetted,” Neal, whose panel oversees tax policy, told reporters. “Right now, it’s hard to go back and revisit all of that.” The “Build Back Better” and infrastructure bills are at the heart of Biden’s domestic agenda and could provide signature legislation to bolster both his presidency and Democratic hopes of retaining control of the House and Senate in the 2022 elections. Democrats hold razor-thin majorities in both chambers. Biden, who took office nine months ago, said at a CNN town hall event in Baltimore on Thursday that he was close to striking a deal to pass both bills, after weeks of bickering among his fellow Democrats. “I do think I’ll get a deal,” the president said. Disagreements over the scale of the larger package have held up Biden’s domestic agenda, with progressive Democrats in the House refusing to vote for the infrastructure bill, which has already been passed by the Senate, until a deal is reached on social programs and climate change. Moderate Democrats, most notably Sinema and Senator Joe Manchin, had objected to the original $3.5 trillion price tag and some provisions of the latter bill. Republicans oppose the measure, but 19 in the Senate voted in support of the infrastructure legislation. (Reporting by David Morgan, Richard Cowan, Jarrett Renshaw and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Gabriella Borter RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday joins a roster of high-profile Democrats campaigning for Virginia governor candidate Terry McAuliffe, just days ahead of a tight, closely-watched election. Opinion polls show McAuliffe, who served as Virginia’s governor from 2014 to 2018, and Republican Glenn Youngkin nearly tied in the countdown to the Nov. 2 contest. The race is seen as a barometer of the country’s political direction after Joe Biden, a Democrat, won the presidency over Republican Donald Trump a year ago. A poll this week by Monmouth University https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_VA_102021 showed Youngkin, 54, had closed McAuliffe’s 5-point lead since September by gaining ground with independent and women voters. Youngkin’s strength in the polls during the first weeks of early voting has worried Democrats, who anticipated a comfortable lead in a state that has trended blue in recent years. Democrats flipped the Virginia legislature in 2019 and Trump lost the state by 10 percentage points in November 2020, double his margin of defeat in 2016. Obama, who served as president from 2008 to 2016, was due to speak at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond on Saturday afternoon, aiming to boost McAuliffe, 64, in the final leg of the race. Biden is slated to campaign with McAuliffe next week. In a television ad broadcast on Wednesday, Obama backed McAuliffe’s stances on climate change, abortion rights and voting rights. “I watched Terry stand strong on the values we all care about; protecting every citizen’s right to vote, fighting climate change and defending a woman’s right to choose,” Obama said of the former governor. The serving governor, Ralph Northam, a Democrat, cannot seek re-election because the state bars governors from serving consecutive terms. McAuliffe can run because he left office in 2018. Both candidates for governor have dug into hotly contested cultural issues to stir up voter engagement in the off-year election, including abortion rights and how schools address the topics of race and racism with students. McAuliffe has sought to paint Youngkin as a far-right extremist and align him with Trump, who has endorsed the Republican candidate. In turn, Youngkin has suggested that McAuliffe is trying to advance a far-left agenda. A former private equity executive, Youngkin has focused in part on education – especially the right of parents to have a say in their children’s schooling – which has proven popular with suburban women, a key demographic. Youngkin was kicking off a bus tour on Saturday in Henrico, Virginia, touting his agenda to build momentum in the final days of campaigning. He has walked a fine line between welcoming Trump’s endorsement and distancing himself from the former president’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Last week, Youngkin dissociated himself from a rally held to support him, which was headlined by longtime Trump aide Steve Bannon and Trump himself, who spoke by phone. At the event, attendees pledged allegiance to a flag that event leaders said was present on Jan. 6, when Trump supporters led an assault on the U.S. Capitol. Youngkin issued a statement saying it was “weird and wrong” to pledge allegiance to a flag with Jan. 6 connections. (Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by DPA A bearded man takes part in the Beard Olympics stand pose at the Music Hall of the Pullman City during the Beard Olympics and German Beard Championships. Nicolas Armer/dpa Some 100 men sporting beards and moustaches took part in a contest in Germany on Saturday to find out who had the best whiskers. The competitors came from the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Israel as well as Germany to compete in at the Beard Olympics and the German Beard Championships, held in Eging am See, Lower Bavaria. They were competing in a range of categories from Dali to Muscateer, well as “natural,” for entrants who did not use styling products. A jury of seven trained hairdressers and barbers chose the best. “Beard care is actually the most important thing,” said Christian Feicht, President of the East Bavarian Beard and Moustache Club, which is hosting the competition. He said jurors would assess the mass of the beards presented, in terms of both density and length. “The more ‘material’ you have, the more you have to style,” said Feicht. While the Beard Olympics was open to all, those vying for the German championship needed to be residents, or at least members of a club. Feicht described the bearded rivals as having a “certain ambition and seriousness,” but said on the whole, the contest was a friendly event. Participants of the Beard Olympics stand pose at the Music Hall of the Pullman City during the Beard Olympics and German Beard Championships. Nicolas Armer/dpa View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Alicia Silverstone has been “banned” from a dating app. The 45-year-old actress – who was married to music star Christopher Jarecki between 2005 and 2018 – turned to a dating app in a bid to find love, but she has already been kicked off the platform twice. She explained: “A few years ago I tried to get on one of the dating apps and I put a fake profile, because I wasn’t comfortable yet being me. And then I got kicked off, I got banned. “And then I tried again, I got the courage up because I heard that [Drew Barrymore was] on, and I heard that Sharon Stone was on, so I was like, ‘Well, if they can be on, I can be on’. So I went on as myself and it took a lot of courage to do it. “And then I did it and I had a date with someone planned and the day I went in to find out about the date where we were meeting or whatever, I had been banned. Poor guy. “I got kicked off as myself too.” Despite the setback, Alicia remains keen to find love. But the Hollywood star – who has a ten-year-old son called Bear with her ex-husband – knows that finding the perfect partner won’t be easy. Speaking about her approach, she told ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’: “I try to be open because I also know there are some people who are younger who are really deeply evolved and have done so much work on themselves and are present and connected and they’re way more mature than the 50-year-old.” Last year, Alicia revealed she was looking for “someone solid”. She said: “I think the main thing is wanting someone that’s really happy in their skin most of the time … someone solid.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Rich McKay (Reuters) – A Georgia court struggled this week to seat jurors in the trial of three white men accused of murdering Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, underscoring the challenge of finding people who have not formed firm opinions based on a viral video of the shooting. “I saw the news footage and I saw the video footage of the crime, and I’ve already formed a guilty opinion of the crime,” one woman told the court earlier this week. Arbery’s killing just outside the coastal city of Brunswick, Georgia, in February 2020 stoked national outrage and protests after the cellphone video taken by one of the three defendants went viral. Defense lawyers and prosecutors say they are not looking for jurors who have not seen the video or don’t know about the case. Rather, they are trying to determine whether potential jurors can set aside any opinions they have and make a decision based on evidence presented to the court. Former policeman Gregory McMichael, 65; his son Travis McMichael, 35; and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, face charges of murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment. If convicted on all charges, they could draw a maximum sentence of life in prison. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley told prosecutors and defense attorneys to speed things up. “I am not comfortable with this,” he said of the pace on the first day of jury selection on Monday. As of late Thursday night, out of 80 Glynn County residents interviewed, only 23 residents had been prequalified for a group of 64, from which the ultimate 12 jurors and four alternates will be selected to hear the case. Walsley said on Thursday that selection could take well into next week or possibly the week after. The court was not in session on Friday; jury selection is slated to resume on Monday. CITIZEN’S ARREST DEFENSE Defense attorneys have said in interviews that they plan to base their case largely on a now-defunct version of a “citizen’s arrest” law that allows people in the state to detain someone they suspect of a crime. The three defendants told police they thought Arbery was a burglar and the shooting was in self-defense after Arbery grappled with a shotgun leveled by Travis McMichael. Arbery, an avid runner and former high school football star, was shot three times and fell on the street in the suburban neighborhood. One potential juror was dismissed because he watched the video more than six times and told the court he thought the men were “guilty. They killed him. They did it as a team.” Another said, “The only time I’ve heard of citizen’s arrest is in ‘The Andy Griffith show’,” the 1960s TV comedy about a small-town sheriff. The man added that he would listen to both sides in the case. “Everyone deserves their day in court. It’s the foundation of our country, it’s the rule of law.” Of the 80 people brought to court through Thursday, a few said they had seen only clips from the video, and only two people told the court they hadn’t seen it. “I didn’t want to see somebody killed,” said one man in his 70s. Chris Slobogin, a Vanderbilt University law professor, said picking fair juries is harder in the days of cellphones and social media. “I mean, everyone’s seen this video,” he said. “I believe the judge will eventually find 12 jurors, but the work is to figure out if a person is being forthright when they say they can set aside what they saw.” A nurse told the court that she had thought hard about whether she could be a fair, impartial juror and “prayed about it.” “I feel firmly that I could do that,” she said. Another potential juror, a retired auto shop owner, said it would be hard to disregard the video. “Some things you just can’t unsee,” he said. (Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Andrew Chung (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a challenge by President Joe Biden’s administration and abortion providers to a restrictive Texas law that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, and set the date for arguments in the case for Nov. 1. The justices, however, deferred a decision on a request by the administration to block the law while the litigation continues, prompting a dissent from liberal Justice Sotomayor. The Texas measure, one of a series of restrictive Republican-backed abortion laws passed at the state level in recent years, bans the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy, a point when many women do not yet realize they are pregnant. It makes an exception for a documented medical emergency but not for cases of rape or incest. The Supreme Court already is set to consider another major abortion case on Dec. 1 in a dispute centering on Mississippi’s law banning abortions starting at 15 weeks of pregnancy. In that case, Mississippi has asked the justices to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. A ruling is due by the end of June 2022. The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, previously allowed the Texas law to be enforced in the challenge brought by abortion providers. In that 5-4 decision on Sept. 1, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts expressed skepticism about how the law is enforced and joined the three liberal justices in dissent. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article