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Published by Reuters By Medha Singh and Sinéad Carew (Reuters) – Shares of the blank-check acquisition company that plans to publicly list former U.S. President Donald Trump’s new social media venture soared again on Friday, with trading halted multiple times due to volatility. Digital World Acquisition stock was last up 138.5% at $108.52 after earlier hitting a high of $175. The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Digital World had soared more than 300% on Thursday, giving it a market capitalization of almost $1.5 billion on news it would merge with Trump’s media company to create a social media app called TRUTH Social. Its recent trading was reminiscent of the meme stock frenzy earlier this year, when an army of retail investors coordinated on online forums to drive shares of GameStop Corp, AMC Entertainment Holdings and other stocks. “This feels like a meme stock. This looks like AMC and GameStop all over again,” said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey. Data from brokerage Fidelity showed Digital World was the most traded stock on its platform on Thursday. It was also the most discussed stock on trading-focused social media site Stocktwits, a platform commonly seen as a measure of interest from retail investors. Message volumes on Stocktwits related to the SPAC were up more than 9,000%. “No matter your politics this stock will rip … I’ll start my pick up at a meager 100 shares and then add to my position on dips,” a Reddit user wrote. Social media giants suspended Trump’s accounts after his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. In a press release announcing the deal, Trump said, “I’m excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech.” With almost 500 million shares changing hands on Thursday, Digital World topped GameStop trading volume of 197 million at the peak of the meme stock frenzy in January. The stock had already traded more than 77 million shares by noon on Friday, surpassing the free float of 22.8 million shares, based on Refinitiv data. “There’s a tremendous amount of Trump supporters in the country who are going to just clamor to get some exposure to Donald Trump in whatever way they can,” said Eric Diton, managing director of investment advisory firm The Wealth Alliance. The shares of at least one other company linked to the former president also saw eye-watering gains Phunware Inc, a software company hired by Trump’s 2020 Presidential reelection campaign to build a phone app, saw its share price rise as much as 1,471% on Friday. It last traded up around 616% at around $10.99. Hedge funds that invested in Digital World are set to make five times their investment, regulatory filings showed, while Patrick Orlando, who backs the SPAC, is likely to see a $420 million windfall from the surge in shares. But not all were buyers. Hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein said that he sold his firm Saba Capital Management’s holdings in Digital World Acquisition Corp. early Thursday as news emerged that it was merging with Trump’s new media venture. “I knew that for Saba the right thing was to sell our entire stake of unrestricted shares, which we have now done,” Weinstein said in a statement. “Many investors are grappling with hard questions about how to incorporate their values into their work. For us, this was not a close call,” the statement continued. (Reporting by Medha Singh, Sruthi Shankar and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Philippa Fletcher) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jan Wolfe and Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. judge will consider on Nov. 4 former President Donald Trump’s claim of executive privilege in response to a document request from a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. Trump on Monday sued the Jan. 6 Select Committee, alleging members made an illegal request for his White House records as part of their investigation. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Trump asserted that materials sought by the House of Representatives committee are covered by a legal doctrine known as executive privilege, which protects the confidentiality of some White House communications. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was designated by random assignment to hear the lawsuit, on Friday signed off an agreement by Trump and the committee to expedite the case for a Nov. 4 oral argument. (Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Doina Chiacu; editing by Philippa Fletcher) View the full article

Adele thinks and talks and is more at ease than anyone doing these 73 questions Vogue thing. [This post contains video, click to play] Published by BANG Showbiz English Adele has quipped that she looks like a “bald eagle” when she’s not glammed up on stage. The ‘Easy On Me’ hitmaker – who has just returned with her first new music in six years in the form of the piano ballad from her upcoming LP, ’30’ – has admitted she’s never been a fan of being in the spotlight, but the LA-based singer insisted she is able to go largely unnoticed out and about because she dresses down in her day-to-day life. Taking part in Vogue’s 73 questions video series from her abode in La La Land, she said when asked about fame: “I don’t love it. “But ever since ’21’ came out, my hair gets bigger, my make-up gets thicker, my dresses get bigger so that I practically look like a bald eagle or something like that in day-to-day life.” The 33-year-old pop superstar also revealed the product she uses to get her signature winged eyeliner look is by Path McGrath Labs, while she opted for heels over sliders, and named Hollywood star Cate Blanchett, 52, as her fashion idol. Meanwhile, the ‘Hello’ singer recently revealed her son “doesn’t care” about her fame. Angelo, nine – who she has with ex-husband Simon Konecki – isn’t “really aware” of just how big a name she is across the world because he isn’t impressed that she doesn’t have as many followers on YouTube as his favourite gamers. She said: “He’s into like gamers, like he likes Flamingo and all them lot, like I mean yeah he ain’t bothered by me at all. “He does not care at all. He is like, ‘You’re so busy all the time now’, like blah-blah. But no he doesn’t care and he’s always comparing. “The other day he was telling me how many YouTube followers I have is nowhere near as many as the big gamers. I was like, ‘Okay cheers kid, thanks for that.’ Again no he’s not really aware of it yet.” Although the ‘When We Were Young’ hitmaker is planning to take Angelo to work with her, she still doesn’t think he’ll be impressed. She added: “He’s coming to a couple of, sort of work things that I have coming up and we’ll see, but I’m sure he’ll just be like, ‘Well I think Flamingo will have done it like this or like that.’ “Like, yeah but he’s great, he’s a lot of fun, he’s a very lovely, lovely little boy.” Adele Thinks on Towleroad Factbox-Five facts about Alec Baldwin: More Background On This Story More ‘Madonna’s Kids ‘Cringe’ Seeing Mom Dressing Provocatively At 63, Plan to Intervene to Protect ‘Her Legacy” True or Played by Madonna? More Donald Trump wanted to join Dynasty, says Dame Joan Collins More Sir Elton John: My 50s upbringing gave me self-esteem issues More U.S. CDC signs off on Moderna, J&J COVID-19 vaccine boosters, mix-and-match shots More Alec Baldwin shoots prop gun on movie set, killing cinematographer More Biden backs down on corporate tax hikes, open to altering filibuster More Netflix Protest Driven As Much By Chappelle Content As By CEO Fumbling Trans Efforts To Save Netflix From Itself More Trump Lies Introducing His New Social Platform ‘TRUTH’: Says He’s Your Favorite President; Will Compete With Amazon; And More More Madonna has ‘almost finished’ writing biopic screenplay More New York lawyers plead guilty in Molotov cocktail case More Load More View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – American actor, writer and film producer Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer and wounded a director when he discharged a prop gun on the sets of the movie “Rust” in New Mexico on Thursday, authorities said. Here are five facts about Baldwin: CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Alexander Rae Baldwin III, the eldest of four actor brothers, first came into prominence in the 1980s in CBS’ primetime soap “Knots Landing”. He has starred in numerous films and TV shows, gaining awards and recognition, including as Jack Donaghy in NBC sitcom “30 Rock” and salesman Blake in “Glengarry Glen Ross”, the screen adaptation of David Mamet’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning play. He won two Emmys for 30 Rock. HOW DID TRUMP HELP HIS CAREER? Now 63, Baldwin made a major push towards a career in comedy when he took over as Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live” ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. His impersonations of Trump on the NBC show earned him a big fan following, and also scorn from the former U.S. president. Baldwin has acknowledged that the show helped revive his “dead” comedy career. It also brought him his third Emmy. HOW WAS HE CONTROVERSIAL? Baldwin has at times been portrayed by some U.S. media as hot-headed and offensive. His late night talk show “Up Late with Alec Baldwin” was axed in 2013 after he apologised for comments that a gay rights group described as homophobic. The actor has had run-ins with the law too. He was charged in 2018 after a fight over a New York parking spot. And in 2014, he was given a summons for disorderly conduct after an argument with police who stopped him from riding his bike down a one-way street in New York. THE NIXON CONNECTION President Richard Nixon wrote a letter to Baldwin after he lost his bid to become George Washington University student body president. WHAT ABOUT HIS PERSONAL LIFE? Baldwin was married to actor Kim Basinger for nine years, and they were involved in a bitter and protracted court battle before divorcing in 2002. In 2012, Baldwin married yoga teacher Hilaria Thomas, who is 26 years his junior. He has seven children. (Compiled by Murali Anantharaman; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) View the full article

That’s according to OK! magazine. (below) Who knows? We have some confidence in her ability to read the crowd. But Madonna’s kids weren’t here for her heyday, but still, did anyone expect Madonna to stop dressing in ultra-risqué getups, dishing on her sex life and making boundary-pushing appearances just because she’s 63? Something of a rorshach test… — ed [This post contains video, click to play] Artists are here to disturb the peace. Published by OK Magazine Did anyone expect Madonna to stop dressing in ultra-risqué getups, dishing on her sex life and making boundary-pushing appearances just because she’s 63? Well, her kids did! A source tells OK! the eldest of the Queen of Pop’s six children, Lourdes Leon, 24, and Rocco Ritchie, 21, have become increasingly mortified by their mom’s recent antics. (Madonna is also Mom to David Banda, 15, as well as 8-year-old twins Stelle and Estere Ciccone.) MEGA “They can’t understand why [her behavior] needs to be so hyper and gratuitous,” dishes the source. MADONNA CELEBRATES 63RD BIRTHDAY WITH BEAU AHLAMALIK WILLIAMS, SHARES LOVED-UP SNAPS OF THE COUPLE FLAUNTING THEIR ROMANCE “She’s constantly looking for ways to push the envelope, and the kids worry among themselves about where it’s all going to end,” continues the source. At the peak of her fame in the ‘90s, Madonna was known for her provocative persona, from her controversially erotic Sex Book and Truth or Dare documentary to her aggressively awkward, expletive-ladden appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Three decades later, she’s still at it. In her new concert documentary, Madame X, the pop icon — who’s been dating backup dancer Ahlamalik Williams, 27, for the past three years — spills about sexual escapades and masturbation onstage and admits that her goal as an artist is to “disturb the peace.” MEGA She showed up to the film’s September premiere in an eyebrow-raising bustier look, topped by an F-bomb tiara, and made another jaw-dropping appearance on late-night TV, in which she crawled across host Jimmy Fallon’s desk and flashed her rear to the audience. THE ULTIMATE MATERIAL GIRL: WATCH HOW MADONNA ROSE TO STARDOM WITH PROVOCATIVE VIDEOS AND STUNNING STAMINA Madonna’s children love and respect her, “but it makes them cringe to see her writhing around naked and making a fool of herself,” says the source, explaining that Lourdes and Rocco have “struggled for years” with her attention-seeking behavior. “Madonna thinks she’s being hip and irreverent and still gets this huge kick out of shocking people, but it’s reaching a boiling point,” continues the source. MEGA “[The siblings] plan to sit their mom down and tell her she needs a reset before she winds up imploding and ruining her legacy,” concludes the insider. Madonna’s Kids on Towleroad Donald Trump wanted to join Dynasty, says Dame Joan Collins More Sir Elton John: My 50s upbringing gave me self-esteem issues More U.S. CDC signs off on Moderna, J&J COVID-19 vaccine boosters, mix-and-match shots More Alec Baldwin fires prop gun on movie set, killing cinematographer More Biden backs down on corporate tax hikes, open to altering filibuster More Netflix Protest Driven As Much By Chappelle Content As By CEO Fumbling Trans Efforts To Save Netflix From Itself More Trump Lies Introducing His New Social Platform ‘TRUTH’: Says He’s Your Favorite President; Will Compete With Amazon; And More More Madonna has ‘almost finished’ writing biopic screenplay More New York lawyers plead guilty in Molotov cocktail case More Jamie Lee Curtis Was Surprised, But Looking Back Now Sees Signs Her Daughter With Christopher Guest Was Trans More Tan France owns over 50 coats More Load More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Donald Trump was desperate to star in ‘Dynasty’, according to Dame Joan Collins. The 88-year-old actress starred as Alexis Colby in the hit TV series, and she’s revealed that the former US President did everything he could to join the cast. She told ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’: “He pretended to be [taken with me] – I don’t think he was. “I was a great friend of [his ex-wife] Ivana’s. Then he called up one of the producers from ‘Dynasty’ and said, ‘I want to be in ‘Dynasty’.’ He said, ‘I’m sorry we’re all cast.’ Trump said, ‘But, I am ‘Dynasty’!’ And he said, ‘No you’re not. We have all these other people.’ “Trump said, ‘Look, I’d be great to play one of Alexis’s lovers.’ He said, ‘I think those parts – there was a few! – have been cast.’ A few weeks later, [the producer] spread this story around Hollywood, he [Trump] denied it. Trump said, ‘I would not want to be Joan Collins’ lover on or off screen.’ Which I thought was rather rude!” Joan starred on the hit show between 1981 and 1989, and previously admitted to loving the role. The actress also confessed to knowing nothing about the soap before the idea was put to her. She shared: “First of all, I’d never heard of it. “My agent said, ‘They want you to be in ‘Dynasty’,’ and I said, ‘What is that, a Chinese restaurant?’ But I loved the role. “One of the only things that upset me about playing Alexis is that so many people thought that I was just like that. Even some of the cast would say, ‘Oh, my God – that sounds so real. Did you really mean it when you yelled at me like that?’ I said, ‘No, darling. It’s called acting.'” ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’ airs on Saturday (23.10.21) at 9.30pm on ITV and ITV Hub. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Sir Elton John had no self-esteem as an adult because of the way he was treated as a child in the 1950s. The 74-year-old pop legend – who was born in 1947 – has opened up about what it was like to grow up in England during that decade at a time when schools still used corporal punishment to discipline pupils. He said: “The self-loathing, not having any self-esteem, that all comes from when I was a kid. That’s the way it was in the 50s – you got slapped round the face, you got a good hiding. ‘It was bloody good for you’ – it wasn’t good for me. It left me walking on eggshells.” The ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ singer later struggled with addiction as he was topping the charts around the world with his music, but he has admitted he was too afraid to open up about his trauma and the reasons for his substance abuse until getting sober. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, he shared: “All my life, until I became sober, I was afraid of talking to anybody. They asked me when I went to treatment how I felt and I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t feel anything.’ I came to defrost, as it were, and discovered I did have feelings, and they went back a long time. And I think it stays with you for the whole of your life … I just have terrible feelings about myself; I feel bad about myself sometimes.” Elton later spoke of how he has used his life experiences to reach out and help fellow pop star Olly Alexander, who he performed ‘It’s a Sin’ with at the 2021 BRIT Awards. The ‘Starstruck’ singer – AKA Years & Years – was enduring a period of depression when Elton came to his aid. Elton said: “Olly [Alexander] was down in the dumps recently, and I just said, ‘Go out, have fun! Sit there alone, and that ball comes down like in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ – an avalanche of bad feeling.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Manas Mishra and Julie Steenhuysen (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday recommended the COVID-19 vaccine boosters for recipients of the Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson shots, and said Americans can choose a different shot from their original inoculation as a booster. CDC director Rochelle Walensky signed off on the recommendations late on Thursday, aligning the agency with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authorization on Wednesday for the additional boosters and “mix-and-match” dosing. Walensky said that vaccines authorized in the United States “are all highly effective in reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even in the midst of the widely circulating Delta variant” of the coronavirus. A panel of advisers to the CDC had unanimously backed COVID-19 vaccine boosters earlier on Thursday. Still, health officials and public health experts said the booster rollout could be confusing. The panel struggled with trying to make the language of its recommendations as clear as possible, and also offer flexibility for patients to get a vaccine of their choice. “A really important aspect of all of this is being clear and not dancing on the head of a pin, so that we don’t further confuse the American people,” said Dr. Beth Bell, a panel member and clinical professor in the department of global health at the University of Washington in Seattle. The recommendations also open the door for recipients of the one-shot J&J vaccine to get a dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines that have been shown to afford greater protection in a variety of studies. Although these vaccines have been highly effective in preventing serious illness and death, some government scientists have suggested that boosters are needed to keep immunity high, especially as the extremely contagious Delta variant can cause breakthrough infections among some who are fully vaccinated. ACIP voted to recommend booster doses for everyone 18 and older who received a first dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine at least two months earlier. For those who received their second dose of Moderna’s vaccine at least six months earlier, ACIP recommended a third shot for those age 65 and over, as well as some individuals at risk or severe illness and those at high risk of exposure to the virus through their jobs. Dr. Helen Talbot, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University and a panel member, said she voted for the recommendation, but cautioned, “Moderna has very good vaccine efficacy. There will be some confusion with the higher versus lower dose.” Booster doses of the Moderna vaccine will be 50 micrograms, half the strength of the original shots. “Those not at high risk should be really thoughtful about getting the higher dose. I do think we need to be very aware of potential complications.” Experts said communicating those risks could be an issue, especially given the flexibility of allowing people to choose a different vaccine from their original series. “At the end of the day, even that phrase ‘mix and match’ pretty much gives people the latitude to … do pretty much anything,” Glen Nowak, a risk communication professor at the University of Georgia and former communications director for CDC’s National Immunization Program said after the meeting. “I think that’s going to be an issue.” The FDA and CDC previously signed off on booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE for the same groups included in the Moderna recommendations. Pfizer released data on Thursday suggesting that a booster dose was highly protective for those age 16 and older compared with protection nearly a year after receiving the two-dose regimen due to waning efficacy over time. About 11.6 million people have so far received a booster dose, according to data from the CDC. The FDA and CDC have been under pressure to authorize the additional shots after the White House announced plans in August for a widespread booster campaign. Other countries such as Israel have begun offering boosters to a broad population, but it is not yet known whether the United States will follow suit. (Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Additional reporting by Ann Maria Shibu; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Grant McCool) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Bhargav Acharya and Alexandra Ulmer (Reuters) -Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer and wounded a director when he discharged a prop gun on a movie set in New Mexico on Thursday, authorities said. Baldwin shot Halyna Hutchins, the photography director of “Rust”, and Joel Souza, the film’s director, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, a production location south of Santa Fe, according to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department. Hutchins was transported by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Souza was taken by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical center to undergo treatment for his injuries. The severity of his injuries could not immediately be determined. Actress Frances Fisher said on Twitter that “Souza texted me that he’s out of hospital.” Asked whether Souza had been discharged, medical center spokesperson Arturo Delgado said he was not allowed to release information about patients. The Sheriff’s office said that no charges have been filed and they are investigating the shooting and interviewing witnesses. “The investigation remains open and active,” the Sherrif’s office said in a statement. Entertainment news site Deadline https://deadline.com/2021/10/female-crewmember-dies-on-new-mexico-set-of-alec-baldwin-film-rust-1234860416 cited a source in the Sheriff’s office as saying that Baldwin was questioned by investigators and later released. Baldwin went to the sheriff’s office willingly and provided a statement to investigators, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported, citing spokesperson Juan Rios. Deputies were still trying to determine whether what happened was an accident, the newspaper added. Rios did not immediately respond to requests for information from Reuters. Baldwin’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Earlier on Thursday, news magazine People reported that a spokesperson for Baldwin had said there was an “accident” involving the “misfire of a prop gun with blanks.” Baldwin was seen “distraught and in tears” as he spoke on the phone outside the sheriff’s office headquarters on Thursday, the Santa Fe New Mexican wrote. Baldwin, 63, is a co-producer of “Rust”, a Western movie set in 1880s Kansas, and plays the eponymous character who is an outlaw grandfather of a 13-year-old boy convicted of an accidental killing. Production of the film had been halted for an “undetermined period,” several news outlets quoted the film’s production company, Rust Movie Productions LLC, as saying. An e-mail to an address for the film production, which was listed on a New Mexico government statement, went unanswered. The shooting evoked memories of an on-set accident in 1993 when U.S. actor Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, died aged 28 after being fatally wounded by a prop gun filming “The Crow”. “Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on ‘Rust’. No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period,” said a tweet https://bit.ly/3jsrSMV from Lee’s account, which is handled by his sister. UKRAINIAN ORIGINS Earlier on Thursday, Baldwin posted a picture of himself on Instagram sporting a grey beard and dressed in Western cowboy-style attire in front of trailers. He appeared to have a fake blood stain on his shirt and jacket. “Back to in person at the office. Blimey … it’s exhausting,” he wrote. The post was deleted late on Thursday night. Known for his impersonations of former U.S. President Donald Trump on NBC’s comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live,” Baldwin has a long history in film and television, including roles in “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “30 Rock.” Baldwin was charged in 2018 after a fight over a New York parking spot. He pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment and agreed to participate in an anger management program. In 2014, he was given a summons for disorderly conduct after an argument with police who stopped him from riding his bike down a one-way street in New York. And in 2011, he was thrown off a plane for refusing to stop playing the game “Words with Friends” before take-off. Hutchins, 42, who was originally from Ukraine and grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle, once worked as an investigative reporter in Europe, according to her website. She graduated from the American Film Institute in 2015 and was selected as one of American Cinematographer’s Rising Stars of 2019, according to her website biography http://www.halynahutchinsdp.com/bio. She described herself as a “Restless Dreamer” and an “Adrenaline junkie” on her Instagram page. Her last post, two days ago, shows her grinning under a wide-brimmed hat as she rides a horse. “One of the perks of shooting a western is you get to ride horses on your day off:)” she captioned the video. April Wright, a writer, director and producer, paid tribute to her on Facebook. “I’m in disbelief,” wrote Wright. “So young, vibrant, and talented. Such a wonderful soul. My heart goes out to her son and family.” Representatives for Hutchins did not immediately respond to a request for information about her death. Souza, 48, lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two children, according to the IMDB website. His LinkedIn page credits him as the “writer/director” of action film Crown Vic and comedy Christmas Trade. “This is still an active investigation and we do not yet have all the facts,” said SAG-AFTRA, which describes itself as the world’s biggest labor union representing performers and broadcasters. “We will continue to work with production, the other unions, and the authorities to investigate this incident and to understand how to prevent such a thing from happening again.” (Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru and Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco; Editing by Karishma Singh, Noeleen Walder, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Mike Collett-White) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose BALTIMORE (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday backed away from pledged tax increases to fund planned infrastructure and social spending, and also said he was open to reforming Senate voting rights by “fundamentally altering” its filibuster custom https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-us-senate-filibuster-why-is-everyone-talking-about-it-2021-10-06. In a wide-ranging CNN town hall in Baltimore, Biden said he was close to striking a deal to pass major spending measures after weeks of intraparty bickering among his fellow Democrats. However, he said that raising corporate tax rates, one of his most oft-cited promises, was unlikely to be part https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-tells-democrats-corporate-tax-hike-unlikely-congressional-source-2021-10-20 of the legislation. A separate minimum corporate tax proposal could fund the social programs that are at the heart of his domestic agenda, Biden said. When asked about voting rights, Biden expressed support for changing the Senate filibuster tradition, which requires 60 of 100 U.S. senators to agree on most legislation. That hurdle has left the Democratic party powerless on key social issues given their narrow majority. It “remains to be seen” whether he planned to do away with the filibuster altogether, Biden added. Taxes were a central issue in Biden’s social spending plan, which is the subject of pitched debate on Capitol Hill and in the White House as negotiators look for the sweet spot between progressives wanting an array of new programs and moderates worried about the cost. The tax compromise could help sell the plan to Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who has expressed concern about Biden’s plan to raise corporate taxes after the Trump administration slashed them from 35% to 21% in 2017. Sinema and Senator Joe Manchin, both moderate Democrats, have been pushing for a smaller package and have opposed some elements of the bill. Negotiations now center around four or five issues, Biden said. He later said a clean energy performance plan has not been dropped, adding that Sinema is “very supportive” of his environmental agenda. Biden struck a confident note on his $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal and a separate, social spending plan expected to cost under $2 trillion. When asked whether Democrats were close to a deal, Biden said: “I think so.” Later, he added: “If we can’t eventually unite this country, we’re in deep trouble. … I do think I’ll get a deal.” FILIBUSTER UNDER FIRE When asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper whether he would consider “fundamentally altering” the filibuster to ensure voting rights reform is passed, Biden said: “And maybe more.” Biden spent 36 years in the Senate and had previously said he opposed changes to the filibuster tradition but earlier this month said he was open to a one-time change when faced with the risk of the federal government defaulting on its debt. Some Senate Democrats this year have suggested changing the rule in the face of Republican opposition in the narrowly-divided chamber. “Their agenda right now is just stop Biden,” the president said. On the spending bill, Biden said he could use tax incentives instead of an electric grid proposal to reach climate goals. Manchin, Biden added, is open to such incentives. Biden said “it would be a reach” for his spending bill to include provisions that help with hearing aids, dental and vision benefits together. Pressed about the importance of education, Biden said he still expected free community college, which was scrapped https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-infrastructure-democrats-idUSKBN2HB23B from the spending package, in the next several years. Cooper asked the president how his wife, Jill Biden, a community college professor, had reacted to the measure being dropped from his social spending initiative. “Well, the White House has a lot of bedrooms,” Biden joked. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Nandita Bose and Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Chris Gallagher and Mohammed Zargham; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer;Editing by Peter Cooney, Sandra Maler, Noeleen Walder and Jane Wardell) View the full article

Netflix protestTeam Trans Takes On Netflix Protest A few hundred protested outside the Netflix Los Angeles Office Wednesday afternoon demanding the platform restrict, label or remove the most recent Dave Chappelle special “The Closer” that premiered October 5th; They demanded the company acknowledge the insult and injury, apologize, and meet demands to transform the creative review process at Netflix into a more transparent and more equitable one. The action, led by activist Ashlee Marie Preston, coincided with a virtual walkout by trans and allied Netflix employees. Dubbing themselves Team Trans, the gathered group called on Netflix, and Sarandos specifically, to listen to their list of “firm asks.” Those asks call on Netflix to revise its processes for reviewing potentially harmful content, create a fund for trans and nonbinary talent at all levels of the company, place disclaimers on programs that include transphobic content, increase the trans employee resource group’s role in discussing potentially harmful content, recruit trans and trans BIPOC individuals for executive-level roles and acknowledge Netflix’s role in the harm “The Closer” and other content has caused to the trans community, especially the Black trans and LGBTQ communities. The 4 Netflix Rationalizations of the Chappocalypse: “Creative Freedom”, “Dilution”, “Not For You”, and “Doesn’t Hurt” The protests were driven certainly by the content of the show, but more so by the basic errors by management of Netflix in responding to employee concerns and insights sent initially out of concern for the company’s reputation as well as on behalf of trans and LGBTQ employees and communities. While it was a few trans Netflix employees that initiated and were part of planning the protest, it’s not known how many of the 10,000 employees globally — 3,000 in Los Angeles — attended, shared concerns with management internally, or participated in other walk outs and stoppages. How did things come to this? it was as much the multiple fumbled attempts by senior Netflix management to tamp down and appease dissent over the past weeks that multiplied interest in and intensity of the protest. Internal memos leaked all week with the lead executive for content, Ted Sarandos, repeatedly maintaining the line that he couldn’t and wouldn’t touch or apologize for Chappelle’s casually violent and transphobic material. And then there was the unchallenged Chappelle support of the marginal TERF movement that does not recognize trans people as possible identities and say the experience is pathology. Until Yesterday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos consistently defended Netflix’s decision to keep the Chappelle special on its platform, citing the company’s commitment to “creative freedom” in multiple internal communications. He made the case that the range of positive queer content on Netflix somehow diluted and inoculated them against criticism; the case that the company serves so many diverse senses of humor in the world that anyone concerned about anything just needs to write it off as something that’s not for them on Netflix. Sarandos also stated that he believed the special “doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.” Netflix Protest: Previously on Towleroad Strong Netflix Protest Driven As Much By Chappelle Content As By Management Fumbling Trans Efforts To Save Netflix From Itself Brian Bell October 21, 2021 Read More Tom Hardy on ‘Venom’ As LGBTQ Icon; Takei Rips Dean Cain’s Super Bi-Panic: Co-CEO Repeats At Netflix Trans Lives Don’t Matter As Much As Ratings; Brian Bell October 16, 2021 Read More New Dave Chappelle Netflix Special ‘The Closer’ Causing Internal Rift at Company; Trans Employee Suspended After Public Criticism of Transphobic Content (Update) Brian Bell October 12, 2021 Read More Notorious Founders Of ‘Conversion Therapy’ Group Exodus Never Did ‘Pray Away’ the Gay; Come Out Again, Slam Similar Programs in Netflix Doc Brian Bell July 13, 2021 Read More Robin Wright Says She and Spacey Could ‘improvise and laugh our asses off, but I Didn’t Know The Man’; Scandal won’t Hurt ‘Cards’ Legacy Towleroad May 28, 2021 Read More Charlize Theron Says Idea For ‘Die Hard’ Reboot With Lesbian ‘on a rampage to save her wife’ is ‘brilliant’; Teams to Produce Surfer Equality Netflix Project Towleroad May 27, 2021 Read More Photo by Cameron Venti on Unsplash View the full article

Truth? Trump lies. Does anything come even close to confirming your dystopian current reality than Donald Trump’s Truth network launched to balance the ills of social media? Published by Reuters By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump will launch his own social media app, TRUTH Social, that he said would “stand up to Big Tech” companies such as Twitter and Facebook that have barred him from their platforms. TRUTH Social will be created through a new company formed by a merger of the Trump Media and Technology Group and a special acquisition company (SPAC), according to a press release https://www.tmtgcorp.com/press-releases/announcement-10-20-2021 distributed by both organizations. “We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable,” Trump said in a written statement included in the release. “I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon. TMTG was founded with a mission to give a voice to all. I’m excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech,” he said. The social network, set for a beta launch next month and full rollout in the first quarter of 2022, is the first of three stages in the company’s plans, followed by a subscription video-on-demand service called TMTG+ that will feature entertainment, news and podcasts, according to the news release. In a slide deck on its website, the company envisions eventually competing against Amazon.com’s AWS cloud service and Google Cloud. A Trump representative who declined to be named confirmed the contents of the TMTG news release to Reuters. Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington also tweeted a copy. “For so long, Big Tech has suppressed conservative voices,” the former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., told Fox News in an interview. “Tonight my father signed a definitive merger agreement to form what will ultimately be the Trump Media and Technology Group and TRUTH Social – a platform for everyone to express their feelings.” Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms banned Trump from their services after hundreds of his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. That protest came after a speech by Trump in which he falsely claimed that his November election loss was due to widespread fraud, an assertion rejected by multiple courts and state election officials. The deal will list Trump Media & Technology Group on Nasdaq through a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp, a blank-check acquisition firm led by former investment banker Patrick Orlando. Trump Media & Technology Group will receive $293 million in cash that Digital World Acquisition Corp had in trust, assuming no shareholder of the acquisition firm chooses to redeem their shares, according to the statement. Orlando, who has worked at Deutsche Bank and BT Capital Markets, has launched at least four SPACs and has plans for two more, according to his firm’s website and regulatory filings. But none of the SPACs have completed a deal yet. A China-based SPAC that Orlando led failed last month to complete a merger with Giga Energy Inc that would have valued the transportation solutions provider at $7.3 billion, because it could not deliver the cash required, according to regulatory filings. Shareholder redemptions reduce the amount of cash that Digital World Acquisition Corp will have available to give to Trump Media & Technology Group at the closing of the deal. The companies said in the statement that the completion of the merger is subject to redemptions not exceeding an agreed minimum cash requirement. The statement did not disclose what the requirement is, though that detail is typically contained in a regulatory filing that should follow on Thursday. The deal values Trump Media & Technology Group at $875 million, including debt, according to the news release. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Steve Holland and Mohammad Zargham in Washington and Greg Roumeliotis in New YorkEditing by Gerry Doyle) Trump Lies. TRUTH on Towleroad Madonna has ‘almost finished’ writing biopic screenplay More New York lawyers plead guilty in Molotov cocktail case More Jamie Lee Curtis Was Surprised, But Looking Back Now Sees Signs Her Daughter With Christopher Guest Was Trans More Tan France owns over 50 coats More Angelina Jolie on Eternals diversity: ‘This is how it always should have been’ More Tom Daley Bum Flashing On Camera Is Unavoidable, Diver Insists. Hazards of the Job. More You ingest about five lipsticks a year. Want to know what’s in them? More Oversight panel rebukes Facebook, will review VIP system More Facebook’s oversight board seeks more transparency on high-profile users More Ed Sheeran stunned after spending the day with ‘naked’ pop star More Taliban Praise Suicide Bombers, Offer Families Clothing, Cash, and Land. This is Not What Well-Intentioned Reform Looks Like More Load More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Madonna has “almost finished” writing the screenplay of her life story. The ‘Material Girl’ shared the update with a series of selfies posted to social media to her 16.7 million followers, and one picture showed her reading a draft of her script for her upcoming biopic. She wrote alongside the Instagram post: “Grateful for the success of Madame X, that my script is almost finished, and for the support of my beautiful children!” ‘Madame X’ is her recently concert documentary, which was directed by Ricardo Gomes and showcased the pop star’s tour. In addition, the ‘Like A Virgin’ singer referenced screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson – who wrote ‘Secretary’ – in the hashtags, and Erin featured in one of the photos included in the post. Last week, Madonna said that the writing process had proven “challenging” and “like psychotherapy”. She said: “Writing my script is the most draining, challenging experience I’ve ever had. “It’s kind of like psychotherapy in a way, because I have to remember every detail from my childhood till now. “Remembering all the things that made me decide to be who I am, my journey as an artist, my decision to leave Michigan to go to New York, all the things that happened to me when I was young and naïve, my relationships with my family and friends, watching many of my friends die — sometimes, I have writing sessions where I go to bed and I just want to cry. You know what I mean? “The thing is, I realise I forgot a lot of things, and reliving, digging deep, trying to recall emotions that I felt in certain moments, both joyful and traumatic experiences . . . I realise I’ve lived a crazy life.” It was announced that she will be co-writing the script with Diablo Cody, who won an Academy Award for the 2007 movie ‘Juno’. Casting has not yet begun but Madonna has been listed as a co-screenwriter, producer and director. View the full article

Published by Reuters By David Thomas (Reuters) – Two New York lawyers pleaded guilty on Wednesday for their roles in a Molotov cocktail attack during May 2020 protests sparked by George Floyd’s death. Prosecutors said one of the lawyers, Urooj Rahman, threw a gasoline-filled bottle into an empty police vehicle, attempted to distribute Molotov cocktails to others, and then fled in a minivan driven by Colinford Mattis. The incident came during Brooklyn protests after Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, sparking widespread protests against racism and police violence. Rahman, 32, and Mattis, 34, each pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to a single count of possessing or making a destructive device. “I deeply regret my conduct and wish I had made better choices on that night,” Mattis said. Rahman also expressed regret, and both acknowledged that they would likely be disbarred as a result of their guilty pleas. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan set their sentencing for Feb. 8. They face up to 10 years in prison under a terrorism-related sentencing provision. “The terrorism enhancement is going to be a big issue. I have no idea where I’m going to come out on that,” Cogan said. Rahman’s lawyer, Paul Shechtman, said the pair “do not deserve a prison sentence for conduct that occurred in the heat of the moment on one of the most heated nights in modern American history.” Mattis, an associate at Pryor Cashman, was furloughed in April 2020 in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and then suspended following his arrest. Rahman represented tenants in the Bronx as a public interest lawyer. (Reporting by David Thomas in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Matthew Lewis and Peter Cooney) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jamie Lee Curtis didn’t have an “inkling” that her youngest child was trans. The ‘Halloween Kills’ star and husband Christopher Guest were surprised when their daughter Ruby came out last year but the 63-year-old star admitted she can now look back on the 25-year-old video editor’s life and recognise some signs. She said:”I knew Ruby had had a boyfriend. I knew that Ruby had used the word bi. But gender identity and sexual orientation — those are two separate things. And I knew that Ruby played female avatars in video games. “But when you ask, ‘Did you have an inkling that Ruby was trans?’ I would say no. But when I replayed Ruby’s life, I went, ‘Hmm, that, that, those, hmm.’ “ Ruby found it “intimidating” to come out to her parents, but they were very supportive, although she couldn’t bring herself to do it in person after summoning them together. She recalled to People magazine: “It was scary — just the sheer fact of telling them something about me they didn’t know. “It was intimidating — but I wasn’t worried. They had been so accepting of me my entire life.” Ruby left the room and texted her mother. The ‘Knives Out’ star continued: “I called her immediately. Needless to say there were some tears involved.” Ruby admitted she may have come out as trans much sooner if she hadn’t had a “”negative experience” with a therapist after years of thinking she was “different”. She said: “When I was about 16, a friend of mine who is trans asked me what my gender was. I told them, “Well, I’m male.” After, I’d dwell on the thought. I knew I was — maybe not Ruby per se, but I knew I was different. “But I had a negative experience in therapy, so I didn’t come out [as trans] immediately when I probably should have. Then, seven years later, still being Tom at the time, I told the person who is now my fiancé that I am probably trans. And they said, ‘I love you for who you are.’ “ View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Tan France owns more than 50 coats. The ‘Queer Eye’ star loves buying new outerwear but just adds the pieces to the others in his wardrobe, rather than replacing out old garments. He told Page Six Style: “Coats are the thing I buy more than anything else, other than footwear. “I’d say I have at least 50-70 pieces of outerwear, but over 20-30 of those I’ve had for over five years and still wear each fall and winter.” Tan’s shopping struggle to find the perfect coat has inspired his new seven-piece genderless outerwear collection Was Him. He explained: “If I wanted chic, well-fitting longer coats, I always had to pop across to women’s departments of the store, as I could rarely find what I was looking for in the boring men’s departments. “Being British, I’ve always loved structured tailoring, especially when it comes to outerwear. I’m now a dual citizen, and married to a Wyoming rancher, so I wanted to bring that duality to this debut collection. “You’ll see details like the ombré green patch pockets and the [colour-blocking on the] navy coat, which represent the changing of the shades of grass to hay on my in-laws’ ranch.” Meanwhile, although the style expert insisted becoming a father to three-month-old Ismail – his first child with husband Rob France – hasn’t changed his sense of fashion, he admitted he now carries a change of shirt everywhere with him. He said: “Honestly, the only thing [fatherhood’s] done is encouraged me to keep a second shirt with me when I’m out and about, because my son Ismail spits up every now and then. Other than that, I haven’t really toned down my style. “I want my son to look at me as he grows, and to see that making an effort with your style can really help your self-esteem, so I don’t plan on changing my ways any time soon.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Angelina Jolie says the diversity in the ‘Eternals’ cast is “how it always should have been”. The 46-year-old actress – who plays Thena in the upcoming Marvel blockbuster – appears as part of a superhero ensemble featuring queer characters, people of colour and deaf actress Lauren Ridloff. She told Variety: “What’s really quite stunning is that when we walked out all of us together, it didn’t feel like, ‘This is so new and cool,’ it felt like, ‘This is how it always should have been’. “Why did it take so long? It felt so right.” Jolie was asked why she feels it takes so long, and while she has “many things” to say on the subject, she focused on the idea that people should watch the film without actually focusing on its “diversity”. She added: “I could say many things, and I could go on for a while, but I think… it is so good to just bust a hole right in that… “What I hope is that when people watch this film, they’re not seeing it and saying, ‘Oh, this is a film about diversity. This is a film that shows this person can be a superhero.’ “They’ll just say, ‘Well of course that person’s a superhero, and of course that person also is. Of course.’ “And more shame on us for every questioning that they couldn’t be because, ‘Of course.’ “ ‘Eternals’ – which is set to hit the big screen next month – is written and directed by ‘Nomadland’ filmmaker Chloe Zhao. As well as Jolie and Ridloff (Makkari), the cast of heroes also features Gemma Chan (Sersi), Richard Madden (Ikaris), Kumail Nanjiani (Kingo), Lia McHugh (Sprite), Brian Tyree Henry (Phastos), Barry Keoghan (Druig), Don Lee (Giglamesh) and Salma Hayek (Ajak). Meanwhile, Kit Harington will feature as Dane Whitman, also known as the Black Knight. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Tom Daley insists flashing his bum while diving is just “one of those things”. The Olympic gold medal winner blames his tiny trunks for his bum often falling out in full view of the TV cameras. Tom, 27 – who made his Olympic debut in Beijing in 2008 – explained on the ‘Table Manners’ podcast: “Basically the trunks just need to have a drawstring so they don’t fall off first of all. At 35mph they’ll come off, and if you don’t tie them up, they’re off, down by your ankles. “At a competition, yeah, my bum’s been on the big screen. But it’s like one of those things that happens and they don’t show it on the replay, but still.” Tom – who made his Olympics debut when he was just 14 – previously explained how the skimpy outfits for his sport impacted his body image. The sportsman admitted to having a “strange relationship” with food during the London Olympics in 2012 – when he became one of the so-called faces of the Games for the host country – and admitted that he used to make himself vomit. Speaking about his eating habits, Tom – who is married to TV producer Dustin Lance Black – said earlier this month: “You have these body issues as an athlete. Lots of people would look at athletes and be like: ‘What are you talking about? You’re an athlete, you’re in shape, you have nothing to worry about’. “But especially as a diver, you’re up on the diving board and you’re so naked, so visible, so it’s quite hard to be content with your body, because you always want to be better.” View the full article

Published by DPA What goes on your lips goes into your mouth. Having examined various lipsticks available on the market, product testers are now warning about potential health risks. Christin Klose/dpa Nobody wants to eat lipstick. And yet those of us who wear it end up consuming an average of about five lipsticks every year, according to estimates from EU researchers. Product testers at the German consumer protection organization Stiftung Warentest say people who wear lipstick daily ingest 57 milligrams of lipstick per day on average, citing EU figures. Given this estimate, the organization’s testers took a closer look at some of the ingredients in lipstick and found that the whitening colour pigment titanium dioxide was in all of the 17 lipsticks they tested, in both cheap and expensive as well as in “natural cosmetics.” If this substance is regularly ingested, it can cause hereditary genetic damage, leading to problems in the genetic material of cells and possibly even cancer. Titanium dioxide, which was for a long time considered safe, is no longer deemed safe for use in food by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) since May 2021. Consumers can tell if titanium dioxide is contained in lipstick by looking for the ingredient code CI 77891, sometimes supplemented by “titanium dioxide.” Currently, it is still added to many lipsticks on the market, says Thomas Koppmann, project manager of the test. But with the EFSA’s reassessment, this will change quickly, he estimates. Lipsticks are not only supposed to create the right shade, but also provide some care for your lips and the right level of shine – which is why manufacturers add mineral oil components. The testers at Stiftung Warentest are critical of these, too, because these components can accumulate in organs and tissue. Although the health consequences are still unclear, EFSA considers the quantity which people already ingest through food to be “potentially worrying.” These substances and similar synthetic hydrocarbons are generally prohibited in certified natural cosmetics. After all: coverage and care usually good Mineral oil ingredients, also known as MOSH ingredients (Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons), are listed on the product packaging as petrolatum, ozokerite, cera microcristallina or paraffin, for example. For the above reasons, none of the examined lipsticks were rated as “good.” Two lipsticks were rated “poor” by the testers due to the increased amount of MOSH. The rest received a “satisfactory”. “From the point of view of precautionary consumer protection, we do not unreservedly recommend any lipstick in the test,” reads the test verdict. From a cosmetic and lip care perspective, however, the testers could find few faults with the visual results and with the impact on lips. View the full article

Published by AFP Facebook has been hit with fresh criticism for its handling of a key program Washington (AFP) – Facebook’s oversight panel announced Thursday a probe of the company’s system to reportedly exempt high-profile users from its own rules, accusing the embattled social media giant of a lack of transparency. A series of damning Wall Street Journal stories driven by a whistleblower’s leaks have drawn outrage and fresh lawmaker scrutiny of Facebook’s impact on mental health but also how it treats celebrities. The so-called “cross-check” or “XCheck” system shields millions of elite users from rules that Facebook claims to apply equally at the social media giant, according to Journal reports citing internal documents. The network’s semi-independent oversight board said in a blog post that it “has accepted a request from Facebook… to review the company’s cross-check system and make recommendations on how it can be changed.” Facebook has faced a storm of criticism over the past month after former employee Frances Haugen leaked internal studies showing the company knew of potential harm stoked by its sites, prompting US lawmakers’ to renew a push for regulation. The Facebook-funded oversight board, composed of experts with the final say on what is removed or allowed to stay on the platform, also criticized the company for failing to be “fully forthcoming”. “On some occasions, Facebook failed to provide relevant information to the Board, while in other instances, the information it did provide was incomplete,” the panel said, referring to queries about the cross-check system. Specifically it cited the platform’s ban on former US president Donald Trump, which it reviewed and ultimately upheld but with sometimes incomplete information from Facebook. ‘Paper over and deflect’ Facebook subsequently set Trump’s ban at two years, saying he deserved the maximum punishment for violating platform rules over a deadly attack by his supporters on the US Capitol. At the end of Trump’s two-year ban, Facebook will enlist experts to assess whether his activity at the social network still threatens public safety. “The credibility of the oversight board, our working relationship with Facebook, and our ability to render sound judgments on cases all depend on being able to trust that information provided to us by Facebook is accurate, comprehensive, and paints a full picture of the topic at hand,” the board wrote. Facebook, in a statement, pledged to be clearer in its replies to the panel’s queries. “We believe the board’s work has been impactful, which is why we asked the board for input into our cross-check system, and we will strive to be clearer in our explanations to them going forward,” the statement said. Facebook has pushed back fiercely against the criticism, saying journalists have selectively chosen parts of its internal research in order to cast the company’s work in a negative light. A double-standard regarding content moderation would defy assurances that Facebook gave to the board. The Journal cited examples of posts from high-profile people, including one from soccer star Neymar showing nude images of a woman who accused him of rape and that Facebook subsequently removed. High-profile users’ posts are drivers of engagement on the platform, so keeping celebrities on Facebook is important for a company interested in continuous growth. An activist group calling itself The Real Facebook Oversight Board attacked the panel’s work and even its reason for existing. “The Oversight Board always was a PR stunt by Facebook to paper over and deflect from the company’s own failure to keep hate, racism and disinformation off its platforms,” it said in a statement. View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s independent oversight board demanded more transparency from the social media giant on Thursday, saying the company was not “fully forthcoming” on how it deals with certain high-profile user accounts. The comments follow a Wall Street Journal report last month that said millions of Facebook accounts belonging to celebrities, politicians and other high-profile users were exempted from some internal checks. The board said that Facebook has not been transparent with the company’s ‘cross-check’ system, an internal program the social media network says is used to double-check enforcement actions against certain users. “Facebook needs to commit to greater transparency and to treat users fairly,” the board said in a tweet. In relation to its May decision to uphold the indefinite suspension of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s account after the Jan 6. riot, the board said when Facebook referred the case, it did not mention the cross-check system until it was asked. “Given that the referral included a specific policy question about account-level enforcement for political leaders, many of whom the Board believes were covered by cross-check, this omission is not acceptable,” it said. Facebook, in the form of a policy advisory opinion, has asked the board to review its cross-check system and make recommendations on how it can be changed. A company spokesperson said the board’s work had been “impactful,” which is why it asked for input into the cross-check system. Facebook created the board mainly to address criticism over how it handles problematic content and is responsible for independent verdicts on a number of thorny decisions related content moderation. Going forward, the board will publish quarterly and annual transparency reports to provide assessment on whether its recommendations were implemented. In its first quarterly report, the board said over half a million Facebook and Instagram users submitted appeals between October 2020 and the end of June 2021, of which more than a third were related to content concerning Facebook’s rules on hate speech. (Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Arun Koyyur) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Ed Sheeran was freaked out by spending the day with a “naked” pop star. The ‘Shape of You’ hitmaker – who won’t reveal the mystery man’s identity – couldn’t believe what he was seeing as the fellow celebrity stripped off at a club and “walked around” in the nude. As quoted by the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column, he said: “We were just in a club with a shower in it and I turned around and he was naked. “I remember looking at his entourage and everyone was on their phone. “He is naked and walking around doing stuff, gets in the shower and the hot tub naked, he gets out of the hot tub and I was like, ‘Does nobody think this is weird?’ “And he puts his clothes on and then the night resumed. That was quite a strange situation.” Meanwhile, the ‘Bad Habits’ star has previously revealed is plans to give fellow singer Sam Smith a 6ft-tall marble penis after they saw the unusual decorative piece in the flame-haired hunk’s pub at his home in Suffolk, England, recently. Ed, 30, said: “I’m having a life-size one made for Sam Smith as well because Sam saw one of them in my pub at home and said, ‘Oh my God, I’d love one of them’. So I’m having one the size of them.” This won’t be the first time he’s gifted a marble penis to a friend, as he also gave Sir Elton John one for his birthday in March. Elton, 74, said previously: “For my birthday this year, he [Ed] gave me a giant marble penis. “I don’t know if that’s because I’ve always been a p***k or what. It’s really big, it’s beautifully made.” When it comes to raunchy gifts, Ed has a history after Courteney Cox previously revealed he’d sent her a “leather gimp mask”. Ed – who is close friends with the 57-year-old actress – revealed how he thought up an X-rated prank when she told him she could buy anything she wanted from her Alexa device. He explained: “So, she walks out the room, and I go, ‘Alexa, order me a leather gimp mask’. “Unbeknownst to me, Courteney’s assistant opened the post, and she finds this mask and instantly goes, ‘Oh, I don’t think I was meant to see that,’ and leaves it on Courteney’s bed.” View the full article

Published by Reuters KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban praised suicide bombers who died during the war against the former government and its Western allies and offered their families sums of cash and promises of land, the movement’s interior ministry said in a statement. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting interior ministry who has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head as a “specially designated global terrorist”, met the families at a ceremony at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, which was itself targeted by suicide bombers in 2018. Official photographs of the meeting on Tuesday obscured his face. “In his speech, the minister praised the Jihad and sacrifices of the martyrs and Mujahidin and called them heroes of Islam and the country,” the ministry said in a statement on Twitter. Families of the suicide bombers were given clothing, 10,000 afghani ($111) and promised plots of land, spokesman Qari Sayeed Khosti said. Haqqani took over from his father Jalaluddin Haqqani as head of the Haqqani network, a militant group affiliated with the Taliban that was blamed by Western intelligence services for some of the bloodiest suicide attacks of the war. He is wanted for questioning by the FBI in connection with an attack on another hotel in Kabul in 2008 in which six people including an American citizen were killed. Following the Taliban’s victory over the Western-backed government which collapsed in August, Islamic State militants have carried out a series of suicide bombings against mosques and other targets, killing hundreds of civilians. ($1 = 89.5700 afghanis) (Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Lincoln Feast.) Suicide Bombers Taliban on Towleroad TWIST: Judge Says 45 Kevin Spacey Emails With His Team in ‘Crisis Mode’ During Initial Must Be Shared with Accuser Anthony Rapp More Seriously, It Is 2021, And You Are About To Enjoy New Duran Duran Music From The ‘Already Acclaimed’ Album ‘Future Past’ Out Friday: WATCH More Over 20 ‘exit’ gaming giant in Activision Blizzard Management Shake-Up After Harassment Accusations, Sued By State of California More U.S. Senate Republicans Voting Rights Position is Clear. Filibuster. Poised to stop Democrats’ bill More Sara Gilbert And Linda Perry’s Divorce Is Negotiated and Finished; Share Custody; Neither To Pay Support More It’s Always A Dancer… JoJo Siwa Splits With ‘Best Girlfriend in The World’ Just 9 Months After She ‘Changed My Life Forever’. Why? Her ‘DWTS’ Partner. More Iowa Democratic Party leader says he was target of racist threats, some Explicitly violent More Court Rejects Trump-Affiliated Lawyer’s Appeal of Decision That It Was Legal For Pasadena Venue To Cancel Event Based On Anti-LGBTQ Positions More Romantic Partners Who Watch Porn Together Have Higher Relationship Quality; Contradicting Claims It Causes Them to Fall Apart, Study Finds More ‘Mayor Pete’ Trailer; Papa Pete Pwns Tucker; 4-Stars for Dr. Rachel Levine; JoJo Siwa’s Perfect 10s; Lynda Carter’s 8 Wonder-full Words: GOOD NEWS More Trump attacks Colin Powell, A Day After His Death, No Doubt For Saying Trump Should Resign After Instigating An Insurrection More Load More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Kevin Spacey will have to cough up nearly four dozen personal emails sent between him and his team after a judge sided with the actor’s sexual assault accuser Anthony Rapp. According to legal order obtained by Radar, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has ordered the Baby Driver actor to produce 45 emails sent in 2017. The correspondence took place between Spacey, his manager, PR people, media consultants, and his lawyers when they were in crisis mode after being notified that Buzzfeed was publishing Rapp’s allegations. Judge Kaplan ruled the emails do not fall under attorney-client privilege. “None is a communication between the defendant [Spacey] and his lawyers without one of more of the manager and the PR people at least copied on the email,” the documents read. “Such communications are not lawyer-client communications made in confidence and/or generated for litigation.” mega The email chain allegedly began on October 29, 2017, when “a reporter emailed one of the defendant’s PR people and one of his lawyers to the effect that Buzzfeed, an Internet site, was about to run a story reporting Rapp’s assertion that the defendant made a sexual advance on him in 1986 when Rapp was 14 years old.” In the documents, the judge observed that Buzzfeed’s email “triggered” a firestorm between “the defendant, his manager, his two lawyers, and the two PR people concerning whether to respond and, if so, what to say.” The judge pointed out it appeared Spacey and his team were more concerned about the PR nightmare and saving his image than having the actor’s lawyers take the reigns. Spacey, his manager, and PR consultants were “seeking and providing the business and reputational advice that those experts long had provided to the defendant with respect to his career,” Judge Kaplan states. “The lawyers were involved principally to raise the alarm if the lay advisers or the defendant proposed going down a path that might expose the defendant to, or increase already existing legal exposure.” mega He concluded his legal order by stating the emails “were not generated primarily for litigation but instead reflect a discussion of public relations strategy,” adding, “Their communications therefore are not protected by attorney-client privilege.” Rapp sued Spacey for sexual assault in September 2020 after claiming the actor made a sexual advance on him in 1986 when he was just 14 years old. mega Kevin Spacey Emails on Towleroad Seriously, It Is 2021, And You Are About To Enjoy New Duran Duran Music From The ‘Already Acclaimed’ Album ‘Future Past’ Out Friday: WATCH More Over 20 ‘exit’ gaming giant in Activision Blizzard Management Shake-Up After Harassment Accusations, Sued By State of California More U.S. Senate Republicans Voting Rights Position is Clear. Filibuster. Poised to stop Democrats’ bill More Sara Gilbert And Linda Perry’s Divorce Is Negotiated and Finished; Share Custody; Neither To Pay Support More It’s Always A Dancer… JoJo Siwa Splits With ‘Best Girlfriend in The World’ Just 9 Months After She ‘Changed My Life Forever’. Why? Her ‘DWTS’ Partner. More Iowa Democratic Party leader says he was target of racist threats, some Explicitly violent More Court Rejects Trump-Affiliated Lawyer’s Appeal of Decision That It Was Legal For Pasadena Venue To Cancel Event Based On Anti-LGBTQ Positions More Romantic Partners Who Watch Porn Together Have Higher Relationship Quality; Contradicting Claims It Causes Them to Fall Apart, Study Finds More ‘Mayor Pete’ Trailer; Papa Pete Pwns Tucker; 4-Stars for Dr. Rachel Levine; JoJo Siwa’s Perfect 10s; Lynda Carter’s 8 Wonder-full Words: GOOD NEWS More Trump attacks Colin Powell, A Day After His Death, No Doubt For Saying Trump Should Resign After Instigating An Insurrection More Lovers While Filming 1983’s ‘The Hunger’, The Sarandon Bowie Connection Before He Died Let Them Say, ‘What Needed To be Said’ More Load More View the full article