Category: World

Congolese rebels say they have “taken” the key city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The leader of a rebel alliance that includes the M23 group reiterated on Sunday that government forces had until 3am to surrender their weapons.

It comes after 13 soldiers serving with peacekeeping forces in the DRC were killed in clashes with the rebels, United Nations officials said.

Congolese rebels and allied Rwandan forces entered the key eastern city of Goma on Sunday and the airport is no longer in use, according to the DRC’s top UN official.

“M23 and Rwandan forces penetrated Munigi quarter in the outskirts of Goma city, causing mass panic and flight amongst the population,” said the UN’s special representative in the DRC, Bintu Keita, to an emergency UN meeting on Sunday.

The strategic city of Goma has a population of about two million people and is a regional hub for security and humanitarian efforts.

The M23 is mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese army more than a decade ago.

It’s one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in the mineral-rich region, where a long-running conflict has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.

In recent weeks, it has made significant territorial gains.

The DRC has accused neighbouring Rwanda of fuelling the M23 rebellion and has now severed diplomatic ties with it.

Rwanda has denied the claims but last year admitted it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a build-up of Congolese forces near the border.

“Rwanda is trying to get in by all means, but we are holding firm,” a Congolese military source told the Reuters news agency on Sunday.

“It is war, there are losses everywhere… the population must remain calm, we are fighting,” they added.

The DRC has recalled its diplomats from Rwanda and asked Rwandan authorities to cease diplomatic and consular activities in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa.

A UN Security Council meeting to discuss the escalating violence was scheduled for Monday but was brought forward to Sunday.

During that meeting, France and the UK pressured Rwanda over its role in the conflict.

France called for Rwanda to withdraw its troops from Congo territory, while Britain called for an end to attacks on peacekeepers by M23 rebels receiving support from Rwanda.

It comes after a Congolese military governor was killed while on the frontline during a M23 offensive on Friday.

On Saturday, the Congolese army said it foiled an M23 offensive towards Goma with the help of its allied forces, including UN troops and soldiers from the Southern African Development Community Mission, also known as SAMIDRC.

The burning wreckage of a white armoured fighting vehicle carrying UN markings could be seen on a road between Goma and Sake.

South Africa said nine of its peacekeepers had been killed amid the surge in fighting during the last few days.

Three Malawians and a Uruguayan were also killed, the UN said.

Decades of conflicts in the eastern DRC between rival armed groups over land and resources, and attacks on civilians, have killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more than seven million.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/rebels-in-democratic-republic-of-congo-say-they-have-taken-key-city-13296971

Hamas will release another round of hostages on Thursday, including Arbel Yehoud, after agreeing with Israel that displaced Palestinians will be allowed back into northern Gaza from Monday.

As well as Ms Yehoud, who was expected to be released yesterday, two more hostages including soldier Agam Berger will be released, according to the office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Three additional hostages will also be released on Saturday under the new agreement.

Hamas also gave the government a list showing the status of all hostages due to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire.

In return, displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza will be allowed to travel back to northern areas.

Israel will also give Hamas a list of 400 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons who have been arrested since 7 October 2023, according to a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry.

Tens of thousands of people were blocked from returning to northern Gaza after Israel refused to open checkpoints because it said Hamas had breached the ceasefire agreement.

Israel had insisted that Ms Yehoud be released on Saturday because she is a woman, a civilian and alive, and therefore should have been in the top category of hostages freed, according to the agreement.

When she wasn’t, the checkpoints remained closed.

Although Ms Yehoud wasn’t released, four Israeli female soldiers were reunited with families and 200 freed Palestinian prisoners were greeted as heroes in the West Bank.

Palestinians waiting to return to northern Gaza were frustrated by the weekend’s delays.

“A sea of people is waiting for a signal to move back to Gaza City and the north,” said Tamer al Burai, a displaced person from Gaza City.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/new-round-of-hamas-hostage-releases-announced-as-israel-agrees-to-let-palestinians-return-to-northern-gaza-13297513

South Korean prosecutors on Sunday indicted impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of leading an insurrection by declaring martial law on December 3.

The decision came after anti-corruption investigators recommended last week that Yoon be formally charged.

“The prosecution has decided to indict Yoon Suk Yeol, who is facing charges of being a ringleader of insurrection,” Democratic Party spokesman Han Min-soo told a press conference.

“The punishment of the ringleader of insurrection now begins finally,” he added.

After declaring martial law, Yoon sent troops and police into the Assembly. However, enough lawmakers still managed to enter an Assembly chamber to unanimously vote down Yoon’s decree, forcing his cabinet to rescind it.

Political crisis in South Korea

Yoon was previously impeached and arrested over the martial law decree.

The Constitutional Court is separately considering whether to formally dismiss Yoon or reinstate him as president.

The crime of insurrection is one of the few criminal charges for which the president of South Korea does not enjoy immunity.

It is punishable by life imprisonment or death. However, South Korea has not executed anyone in decades.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/s-korean-prosecutors-indict-president-yoon-over-martial-law/a-71413175

Brazil strongly condemned the US on Saturday after dozens of deportees arrived to the country in handcuffs.

A plane carrying 88 Brazilian passengers, 16 US security agents, and eight crew members, was originally scheduled to arrive in Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais, but had to make an emergency landing in the city of Manaus due to a technical error, said a statement by the Brazilian government.

Brazilian federal police received the plane at the instructions of Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski and intervened, asking US agents to remove handcuffs from the deportees.

Lewandowski told left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva it was a “blatant disrespect” of their fundamental rights, according to a statement by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security.

“Upon learning of the situation, President Lula ordered that a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) aircraft be mobilized to transport the Brazilians to their final destination, in order to ensure that they could complete their journey with dignity and safety,” the ministry’s statement said.

Anti-immigration sentiment in the US

US President Donald Trump has taken a harsh anti-immigration stance since coming into office this week, and has vowed to remove undocumented migrants.

However, the deportation flight was a result of a 2017 bilateral agreement and did not stem from any of Trump’s orders on immigration, a government source told AFP news agency.

It was the second such flight carrying undocumented migrants from the US back to Brazil this year.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/brazil-condemns-us-after-deportees-arrive-handcuffed-in-plane/a-71411774

Elon Musk made a surprise appearance during Germany’s AfD (Alternative fuer Deutschland) election campaign event in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday, speaking publicly in support of the far right party for the second time in as many weeks.
Addressing a hall of 4,500 people alongside party leader Alice Weidel, Musk spoke live via video link about preserving German culture and protecting the German people.

“It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” Musk said.
Last week, the U.S. billionaire caused uproar after he made a gesture that drew online comparisons to a Nazi salute during U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities.
On Saturday, he said “children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents,” apparently referring to Germany’s Nazi past.

“There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that,” he said.
Musk, who spoke of suppression of speech under Germany’s government, has previously attacked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on X.
For his part, Scholz on Tuesday said he does not support freedom of speech when it is used for extreme-right views.
Musk spoke in favour of voting for the far right party, saying: “I’m very excited for the AfD, I think you’re really the best hope for Germany … fight for a great future for Germany,” he told onlookers.

Weidel thanked him, said the Republicans were making America great again, and called on her supporters to make Germany great again.
Earlier this month, Musk hosted Weidel in an interview on X, stirring concern about election meddling.
Despite winter weather, anti-far right campaigners were out in force on Saturday, with around 100,000 gathering around Berlin’s Brandenburg gate and up to 20,000 in Cologne, including people of all ages carrying colourful umbrellas.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/elon-musk-appears-video-german-far-right-campaign-event-2025-01-25/

President Donald Trump said on Saturday he may consider rejoining the World Health Organization, days after ordering a U.S. exit from the global health agency over what he described as a mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other international health crises.
“Maybe we would consider doing it again, I don’t know. Maybe we would. They would have to clean it up,” Trump said at a rally in Las Vegas.

The U.S. is scheduled to leave the WHO on Jan. 22, 2026. Trump announced the move on Monday after he was sworn in for a second term in the White House.
The U.S. is by far the biggest financial backer of the WHO, contributing around 18% of its overall funding. The WHO’s most recent two-year budget, for 2024-2025, was $6.8 billion.
Trump told the crowd in Las Vegas he was unhappy that the U.S. paid more into the WHO than China, which has a much bigger population.

He added that he will ask Saudi Arabia to make an investment of about $1 trillion in the U.S., up from the $600 billion the Saudis have pledged to invest.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-may-consider-rejoining-world-health-organization-2025-01-25/

North Korea said Sunday it tested a cruise missile system, its third known weapons display this year, and vowed “the toughest” response to what it called the escalation of U.S.-South Korean military drills that target the North.

The moves suggested North Korea will likely maintain its run of weapons tests and its confrontational stance against the U.S. for now, even though President Donald Trump said he intends to reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim observed the test of sea-to-surface strategic cruise guided weapons on Saturday.

The term “strategic” implies the missiles are nuclear-capable. KCNA said the missiles hit their targets after traveling 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) -long elliptical and figure-eight-shaped flight patterns, but that couldn’t be independently verified.

KCNA cited Kim as saying that North Korea’s war deterrence capabilities “are being perfected more thoroughly” and affirming that his country will make “strenuous efforts” to defend stability “on the basis of more powerfully developed military muscle.”

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea had launched “several” cruise missiles toward its western waters from an inland area at around 4 p.m. on Saturday. It said South Korean maintains a readiness to “overwhelmingly” repel any provocations by North Korea in conjunction with its military alliance with the U.S.

In a separate statement carried by KCNA on Sunday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry criticized the U.S. for committing “serious military provocations aiming at” North Korea with a series of military exercises with South Korea this month.

“The reality stresses that the DPRK should counter the U.S. with the toughest counteraction from A to Z as long as it refuses the sovereignty and security interests of the DPRK and this is the best option for dealing with the U.S,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the abbreviation of its formal name. The Foreign Ministry warning was in line with Kim’s vows to implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy during a year-end political meeting.

North Korea views U.S. military training with South Korea as invasion rehearsals though Washington and Seoul have repeatedly said their drills are defensive in nature. In recent years, the U.S. and South Korea have expanded their military exercises in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.

The start of Trump’s second term raises prospects for the revival of diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea, as Trump met Kim three times during his first term. The Trump-Kim diplomacy in 2018-19 fell apart due to wrangling over U.S.-led economic sanctions on North Korea.

During a Fox News interview broadcast Thursday, Trump called Kim “a smart guy” and “not a religious zealot.” Asked whether he will reach out to Kim again, Trump replied, “I will, yeah.”

Many experts say Kim likely thinks he has greater bargaining power than in his earlier round of diplomacy with Trump because of his country’s enlarged nuclear arsenal and deepening military ties with Russia.

In South Korea, many worry that Trump might scale back military drills with the Asian U.S. ally and abandon the goal of the complete denuclearization of North Korea and focus on eliminating its long-range missile program, which poses a direct threat to the U.S., while leaving its nuclear attack capabilities against South Korea intact.

Source :https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-missile-trump-kim-3b2178272613b8e623c5dcdb6834ae6e

Hermes illuminated a gloomy Paris afternoon with its fall men’s collection Saturday, as Veronique Nichanian turned to the racetrack for inspiration. Jockeys’ vibrant racing silks became her muse, a dynamic counterpoint to the French maison’s storied equestrian roots. “I wanted this collection to be strong and energetic,” Nichanian explained, her palette pivoting from deep browns and dark teals to flashes of tomato red and lemon yellow.

The collection radiated warmth, both in spirit and texture. Fuzzy mohair coats, velvet varsity jackets and plush sheepskin outerwear wrapped models in an embrace that seemed designed to counter winter’s chill. Layering was less pronounced this season, a deliberate move to retain sleek, streamlined silhouettes. Even gray pinstripe suits — pared back to essentials — eschewed bulk, echoing Nichanian’s vision of men unencumbered as they race through life.

Sweaters emerged as the collection’s unsung heroes. Their bold chevrons and geometric patterns were lifted directly from the vibrant stripes of racing silks, a playful nod to Palais d’Iéna’s soaring, angular architecture. A standout turtleneck, with its patchwork of triangles, rectangles, and squares in canary yellow, seemed to channel a nostalgic love for trigonometry. Elsewhere, a jacket with a shawl collar mirrored the same graphical bravado, rendered in cool tones of blue, black and white.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/france-paris-fashion-week-hermes-veronique-nichanian-b7e69aed95963d8de53c887890668aa7

President Donald Trump has said he believes the US will gain control of Greenland, after showing renewed interest in acquiring the autonomous Danish territory in recent weeks.

“I think we’re going to have it,” he told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday, adding that the island’s 57,000 residents “want to be with us”.

His comments come after reports that Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen insisted Greenland was not for sale in a fiery phone call with the president last week.

Trump floated the prospect of buying the vast Arctic territory during his first term in 2019, and has said US control of Greenland is an “absolute necessity” for international security.

“I think the people want to be with us,” Trump said when asked about the island in the press room on board the presidential plane.

“I don’t really know what claim Denmark has to it, but it would be a very unfriendly act if they didn’t allow that to happen because it’s for the protection of the free world,” he added.

“I think Greenland we’ll get because it has to do with freedom of the world,” Trump continued.

“It has nothing to do with the United States other than that we’re the one that can provide the freedom. They can’t.”

Despite Trump’s apparent confidence, the prime ministers of Greenland and Denmark have both previously said the island was not for sale.

Greenland’s PM Mute Egede said use of the territory’s land was “Greenland’s business”, though he did express a willingness to work more closely with the US on defence and mining.

Meanwhile, Danish premiere Frederiksen said earlier this month that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders”, and only the local population could determine its future.

Frederiksen reasserted her position in a heated 45-minute phone exchange with Trump last week, according to a report in the Financial Times.

The newspaper quoted an anonymous European official as saying the conversation was “horrendous”, and another saying Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland was is “serious, and potentially very dangerous”.

The Danish prime minister reportedly insisted the island was not for sale, but noted the US’s “big interest” in it.

Greenland lies on the shortest route from North America to Europe, making it strategically important for the US. It is also home to a large American space facility.

In recent years, there has been increased interest in Greenland’s natural resources, including mining for rare earth minerals, uranium and iron.

Though the island has wide-ranging autonomy, it remains part of the kingdom of Demark.

But there is a general consensus in Greenland that it will eventually become independent, which could pave the way for a new kind of relationship with the US.

President Trump’s claim that the people of Greenland “want to be with us” may come as a surprise to some of the island’s residents.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crkezj07rzro

It began with a short email from a stranger asking for help and it ended six years later with a violent fraudster and rapist being jailed for 12 years – thanks to an incredible group of women and their fight for justice.

It was 2017 and I was working as a newspaper reporter when I got the email from a woman who detailed how she had met a man named Christopher Harkins on Tinder and he had stolen £3,247 from her.

Lisa, who is using a pseudonym because she doesn’t want to be linked to this story forever, explained that Harkins had lovebombed her, suggested they go on holiday together and then, when she transferred the money, went quiet.

It quickly transpired the holiday wasn’t real and Harkins would not refund the cash.

Lisa was afraid Harkins would go on to scam someone else. It didn’t occur to Lisa – or to me – that it was a scam he had already honed with experience.

Lisa had gone to Police Scotland for help and been told the issue was a civil matter.

Frustrated, but determined, now she wanted to protect other people by exposing this man in the press.

We spoke on the phone and she laid out the situation, how he’d overwhelmed her with attention, had been the perfect gentleman. And how things had quickly changed when he decided to push her for money.

Lisa, a smart, impressive, professional woman in her 30s, provided screenshots of WhatsApp conversations and bank account details.

It was clear very quickly that this man was a master manipulator but it wasn’t until I spoke to him on the phone that I realised how skilled he was at the practice.

Tracking him down was the hard part.

Lisa had told Harkins that she had spoken to a journalist and he was, let’s say, unimpressed.

He promised repeatedly to give her the money back if she put a stop to the story – but didn’t actually make a move to return the cash.

When I called him – on the two numbers I had for him – he didn’t reply.

Lisa’s story was credible, and she had hard evidence, but we wanted to speak to Harkins to hear his side.

Suddenly, Lisa was in touch to say Harkins had agreed to return her money. She was to meet him at a chip shop on the south side of Glasgow.

I went with her, waiting outside with a photographer to try to speak to Harkins.

The money was there in an envelope. There was no sign of him though.

We decided to publish the story, having tried all we could to track him down. And then my phone rang. It was Harkins.

Speaking to him was a baffling experience. It was hard to keep him on track.

He would state one thing and then, when challenged, very quickly change his position.

He tried to persuade me that Lisa was threatening him and he was frightened of her.

Harkins had had his chance to have his say – and we published the story.

Within the hour of the article going online I had an email from another woman claiming to have been targeted by Harkins. And then another.

My phone started ringing. I could tell as soon as I picked it up that this would be another Harkins target – he clearly had a type: smart and articulate.

Lisa, who I was updating all the time, was appalled. Neither of us had any idea how prolific he might have been.

Some women wanted to tell their stories publicly while others just wanted an outlet to share what had happened to them.

I heard stories of fraud, of manipulation, of verbal abuse – and worse.

One caller was a man who had known Harkins in his early 20s and warned me to be careful.

He claimed to have known Harkins to be physically violent and wanted me to know what I was dealing with.

We ran a second story in the paper.

This was another woman who had been conned by the holiday scam – this time in England. Harkins, in turned out, had been operating across the country.

She lost £1,600 to the fake holiday con and had also been pressured to take out loans for him, which luckily she didn’t do.

More than 20 women had contacted me by now and I had interviewed several who wanted to go public, hearing dreadful stories of fraud but also physical and sexual violence.

Many had gone to the police only to be told – as Lisa had been – that this was a civil matter.

Then, Police Scotland contacted me. They said that they were going to investigate and could we please stop writing about Harkins so as not to tip him off to how much was known about him.

Not wanting to jeopardise any case, we agreed.

Women I had interviewed were contacted by Police Scotland and several decided to make formal complaints.

They knew it was going to be a long and gruelling process – but they wanted this man taken off the streets.

Months passed and the wait for the women was intensely stressful.

Finally, in December 2019, he was arrested. We all thought this was the beginning of the end and the women relaxed a little.

In early 2020 my phone rang. It was a woman in London.

This woman said that she had stayed with Harkins in a five star hotel in an upmarket part of the city.

A receptionist at the hotel had taken her aside and told her the man she was with was using a false name, was in fact called Christopher Harkins and she should Google him.

The woman told me she found my articles online and read them, with increasing horror.

I listened with my heart in my mouth as she told me she went back to their room, where Harkins was still asleep, and took his wallet from his bag.

His bank card said Christopher Harkins. She took her belongings and left.

Knowing, at that time, what I knew about Harkins’ other behaviour, which wasn’t in the public domain, I had such an overwhelming feeling of relief that he hadn’t woken up.

He scammed another woman in London, and she went to the Metropolitan Police, who acted quickly.

He was convicted and jailed, which was both a relief to the women in Scotland and a frustration.

The English proceedings meant the impending trial in Scotland would be delayed. Again.

Just before Harkins was imprisoned in England he called my editor to complain that I was orchestrating a campaign against him because I was obsessed with him. That took a bit of explaining.

The delays were intensely stressful to the women involved in the case but they were determined to see it through.

Their bravery and solidarity was incredible to witness.

When the case called at the High Court in Paisley last year I attended every day of court.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0qw8egydkjo

Four female Israeli soldiers were released by Hamas on Saturday in the second hostage release of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag were handed to the Red Cross in Gaza City.

In exchange 200 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel are set to be freed.

The four women were serving as observers at the Nahal Oz army base on the border with Gaza when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, 2023.

Their release is part of the second such exchange since the ceasefire came into effect last Sunday. Three hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners were released in the first swap.

In total, 33 hostages are set to be freed over six weeks in the first phase of the ceasefire, which came into effect on 19 January, 2025.

About 1,200 people were killed in the 7 October attack and 251 were taken back to Gaza as hostages.

More than 47,200 Palestinians, the majority civilians, have been killed in Israel’s offensive since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

One might argue that the slippery slide downhill for social media began in 2022, when the world’s richest man Elon Musk bought Twitter and renamed it X.

The head of electric vehicle maker Tesla quickly began using it to amass political influence, eventually clinching a role in the newly installed administration of President Donald Trump in Washington DC.

From the very first days, his takeover raised concerns about the impact of having an influential communications tool under the control of an already-powerful man.

In an online commentary at the time, Dr Nolan Higdon, a lecturer of history and media studies at California State University, East Bay, likened the emergence of Mr Musk and others like him to a second US Gilded Age.

The original Gilded Age, in the late 1900s, involved an economic boom characterised by wealthy industrialists, political corruption and a wide disparity in wealth across society.

Dr Higdon warned that this second Gilded Age is being marked by a new crop of rich and powerful business leaders, or oligarchs, using their vast wealth to purchase media and political influence.

It certainly did not help that shortly after the buyout, Mr Musk dissolved X’s trust and safety council, its advisory group of around 100 independent civil, human rights and other organisations. Twitter had formed the council in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform.

Mr Musk also slashed the number of the renamed X’s safety engineers by 80 per cent. Early last year, he made further cuts to the platform’s global trust and safety team.

In place of its content moderation system, Mr Musk’s X relied instead on initiatives such as “community notes”, which allows users to add context and corrections to others’ posts, including ones they believe to be potentially misleading or non-factual.

Dr Saifuddin Ahmed, an assistant professor at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), said that while such a system has the potential to democratise fact-checking by allowing more users to participate and hence increase transparency, these initiatives are limited in their ability to stop misinformation from spreading.

Misinformed users could undermine the quality control of this approach to fact-checking, Dr Ahmed said.

The system could also be exploited by malicious actors who may flood the platform with incorrect information, label accurate content as false or misleading, and thereby aim to manipulate public opinion, he added.

These fears materialised during the campaign ahead of last November’s US presidential election, as misinformation gained traction on the platform, sometimes led by posts or reposts by Mr Musk himself.

A 2024 report by non-profit group Center for Countering Digital Hate found that false or misleading claims by Mr Musk about the election had amassed two billion views on X.

Far from seeing this as a cautionary tale, it seems other big tech firms are taking a leaf out of Mr Musk’s playbook to get closer to the Trump administration.

Earlier this month, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would eliminate its third-party fact-checkers in the US, to be replaced with a community-based fact-checking system much like X’s.

Using language often used by Mr Trump and his followers, Mr Zuckerberg even accused the outgoing Biden administration of “censoring” social media posts by requiring fact-checking and content moderation.

Most recently, TikTok named Mr Trump as its saviour in the US when he agreed to restore the app’s services last Sunday (Jan 19). The platform had gone dark for a brief period in America, as a law banning the app on national security grounds came into effect.

In fact, it was Mr Trump himself, during his first term as president, who had led the effort to ban TikTok over concerns China was harvesting data from US citizens. But Mr Trump had then used TikTok during last year’s presidential campaign to appeal to younger voters, attracting over 15 million followers.

Commentators told CNA TODAY that these developments among the social media platforms are concerning not only due to allegations of pro-Trump bias, but also because of the broader implications for misinformation.

They added that these shifts could have ripple effects on governments and policymaking institutions, communication professionals and individual users alike.

Dr Ahmed said: “What we are witnessing with social media platforms globally highlights several key dynamics. Most importantly, the situation with TikTok highlights the vulnerability of these platforms to geopolitical tensions.”

For one thing, the decision to ban TikTok in the US, followed by its subsequent reinstatement under President Trump’s influence, demonstrates how political pressures can shape tech policy, said Dr Ahmed.

There has been speculation that Mr Musk may acquire TikTok, which, if true, would have an effect on global political discourse, he added.

“These developments also confirm that social media companies are no longer merely tech firms, and their platforms are no longer solely about social connections,” he said.

“The real risk lies in these platforms becoming major arenas for political maneuvering rather than spaces for political information and discussions.”

Dr Taberez Ahmed Neyazi, principal investigator at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Centre for Trusted Internet and Community, said that Meta’s decision to discontinue fact-checkers in the US was particularly worrying.

The move “reeks of dangerous opportunism, prioritising a ‘community-driven’ spin over accountability under the guise of freedom of speech”, he said.

Dr Taberez added: “By replacing professional fact-checkers with mechanisms like X’s community notes, Meta is gambling with truth in favour of populist appeal, a move that aligns ominously with the political zeitgeist.

“Community-driven moderation often falls short in rigour, impartiality and expertise to address complex and culturally nuanced falsehoods. Even more concerning, it creates opportunities for coordinated efforts by malicious groups to manipulate truth ratings.”

REGULATING SOCIAL MEDIA A LONG-TERM CHALLENGE

To be sure, challenges around regulating private tech giants are not new issues.

Even before the most recent spate of developments, governments around the world had been grappling with the challenge of regulating and holding social media platforms accountable for the spread of misinformation.

The State Department froze passport applications requesting gender identity changes or the nonbinary “X” sex marker after Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the move under an executive order signed on President Trump’s first day back in office.

“The policy of the United States is that an individual’s sex is not changeable,” Rubio said in an internal email to staff on Thursday, obtained by The Guardian. The directive explicitly states sex, not gender, is to be used in official documentation, including passports and consular birth records.

Per the new guidelines, staff must “suspend any application requesting an X sex marker” and halt processing for applicants seeking to change their sex marker under the executive order’s definition. The policy impacts both current and future passport applications​.

The order, titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” mandates all federal identification documents reflect “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.”

While existing passports with an “X” designation remain valid, renewal options are expected to face complications per NOTUS. Guidance on handling such cases will be provided through other channels, according to Rubio’s email​.

Source : https://www.ibtimes.com/secretary-state-marco-rubio-instructs-staff-freeze-passport-applications-x-gender-marker-says-3760896 

Spirit Airlines is shaking up its in-flight policies with a new dress code unveiled Wednesday that could leave some passengers grounded for wearing “revealing” clothing or displaying “offensive” tattoos.

Under the updated terms of Spirit’s Contract of Carriage, passengers are prohibited from wearing see-through outfits, exposing private parts, or displaying lewd, obscene, or offensive body art.

The budget carrier clarified that guests agree to these terms when booking their tickets, making adherence mandatory.

The policy comes after an October incident captured in a viral video, where two women accused Spirit Airlines of sexism after being removed from a flight for wearing crop tops.

Source : https://www.ibtimes.com/spirit-airlines-announces-new-dress-code-passengers-banning-revealing-clothing-offensive-3760663

Bill Gates admitted his split from Melinda Gates after 27 years of marriage will always be the thing he regrets most in his life.

“I’m more cheerful now,” he admitted in an interview with the Times of London, published Saturday, but added that the unravelling of his marriage is “the mistake I most regret.”

Though he might have other failures, the Microsoft co-founder, 69, said the divorce is “at the top of the list.”

“There are others but none that matter,” he said. “The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two years.”

The pair — who are both dating other people now — have maintained a friendly relationship following their split.

“Melinda and I still see each other — we have three kids and two grandchildren so there are family events. The kids are doing well. They have good values,” Bill said.

Elsewhere in the profile, the billionaire said the couple’s marriage kept him “grounded” as he created his trillion-dollar company.

Bill and Melinda married in 1994 and share kids Jennifer, 28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22. The couple confirmed their split in May 2021, though they’d been separated for a year before the announcement.

Melinda, 60, said that being separated during the Covid-19 pandemic helped give her clarity about the state of their marriage.

“It gave us the privacy to do what needed to be done in private,” she said in a June 2024 interview.

Though, the philanthropist has also admitted that while their split was the “healthier choice,” it was the “lowest moment” in her life.

During a 2022 interview with Savannah Guthrie, Bill admitted he “caused pain” when she confronted him about a report that he’d had an affair with a Microsoft employee.

“I certainly made mistakes, and I take responsibility,” he replied, adding, “I don’t think delving into the particulars at this point is constructive, but yes, I caused pain, and I feel terrible about that.”

Melinda, meanwhile, said another factor that led to the end of the marriage was Bill’s relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

“I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him,” she told Gayle King in 2022. “He was abhorrent. He was evil personified.”

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/01/25/celebrity-news/bill-gates-admits-divorcing-melinda-gates-is-the-mistake-he-most-regrets/

Storm Eowyn was “probably the strongest” to hit the UK in at least a decade, according to the Met Office – and in some areas was the most intense in “20 or 30 years”.

But don’t expect settled weather because Storm Eowyn has gone, Sky News meteorologist Dr Chris England warned.

“The Spanish-named Storm Herminia will bring heavy rain, gales and hill snow up from the South West tomorrow and on Monday,” he said.

“It won’t be as windy as Friday, but with trees and structures already damaged in places, there’s a greater risk than normal with a storm of this intensity.”

More than a million people in the UK were left without power, and there was significant travel disruption across the UK and Ireland.

On Friday, a 100mph gust was recorded at Drumalbin in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, and parts of Ireland had the highest windspeeds since records began, getting up to 114mph in Mace Head, County Galway.

As of around 5pm on Saturday, SP Energy Networks in Scotland said 28,000 customers were still cut off.

In Northern Ireland, 140,000 homes and businesses remained without power and across the Republic of Ireland, around 460,000 had no power.

A Cobra meeting was held on Saturday to discuss Storm Eowyn and the government will “stand ready to provide further support”, a spokesperson said.

Engineers have been dispatched to Northern Ireland and Scotland, they said.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has appealed for “patience” as work is carried out to restore power supplies and transport services in the storm’s aftermath.

On Friday, people all over Scotland were urged to stay indoors to avoid injury in hurricane-force winds, as a rare Met Office red weather warning was issued for much of the south of the country.

Among the buildings affected was a Co-op store in Scotland which collapsed on Friday after Storm Eowyn passed through Denny, Falkirk.

Man killed by falling tree

A man who died in County Donegal after a tree fell on his car during the storm has been named as 20-year-old Kacper Dudek. The incident happened around 5.30am on Friday at Feddyglass in Raphoe.

Police forensic collision investigators are carrying out a full examination of the scene.

Elon Musk made a surprise appearance at a far-right campaign event in Germany where he urged supporters to move beyond their “past guilt”.

Speaking via video link to a hall of around 4,500 Alternative for Germany (AfD) supporters in the central city of Halle, the world’s richest man said: “It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything.”

Mr Musk caused outrage last week after making a gesture at Donald Trump’s inauguration which many compared to a Nazi salute.

At the rally on Saturday he made an apparent reference to Germany’s Nazi past, saying “children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents”.

He added: “There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that.”

Speaking in favour of the far-right party, Mr Musk told the crowd: “I’m very excited for the AfD, I think you’re really the best hope for Germany. Fight for a great future for Germany.”

It was the second time in the last two weeks Mr Musk has publicly spoken in support of the anti-immigration, anti-Islamic party, which has been labelled right-wing-extremist by German security services.

He previously hosted AfD leader Alice Weidel in an interview on X, raising concerns of election meddling.

Tens of thousands protest against far-right

Meanwhile tens of thousands of anti-far right campaigners protested in Berlin and other German cities on Saturday.

A huge crowd at the capital city’s Brandenburg Gate sang anti-fascist songs and carried banners denouncing the AfD.

A US woman has become the world’s longest-living recipient of a pig organ transplant, after living healthily with her new kidney for 61 days.

Towana Looney, 53, received the experimental organ in November after spending nearly eight years on the organ transplant list with little hope of finding a match.

She donated a kidney to her mother in 1999 but developed kidney failure several years later after a complication during pregnancy.

But now, she said she feels like “superwoman” after the successful transplant, laughing about outpacing family members on long walks around New York City.

“It’s a new take on life,” she told the Associated Press news agency.

She left the hospital just 11 days after her operation and is staying in New York for another month to be observed by doctors before heading home to Alabama.

Only four other Americans have received transplants of gene-edited pig organs and none lived for more than two months.

“If you saw her on the street, you would have no idea that she’s the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside them that’s functioning,” said Dr Robert Montgomery from NYU Langone Health, who led Ms Looney’s transplant.

Dr Montgomery called Ms Looney’s kidney function “absolutely normal”.

Ms Looney’s success means her medical team are now in unchartered territory.

“The truth is we don’t really know what the next hurdles are because this is the first time we’ve gotten this far,” Dr Montgomery said.

“We’ll have to continue to really keep a close eye on her.”

Genetically altered pig organs could help solve a severe shortage of organs available for transplant.

There are around 7,500 people on the UK Transplant Waiting List, according to the NHS.

Last year more than 415 people died while waiting for a transplant.

In the US, more than 100,000 people are waiting for a transplant, most who need a kidney.

“It’s a blessing,” said Looney. “I feel like I’ve been given another chance at life. I cannot wait to be able to travel again and spend more quality time with my family and grandchildren.”

There have been no UK transplants like Ms Looney’s, but in the US a handful of hospitals are sharing information about what worked and what did not.

That’s in preparation for the world’s first formal studies of xenotransplantation, which is expected to begin some time this year.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/woman-becomes-worlds-longest-living-recipient-of-pig-organ-transplant-i-feel-like-superwoman-13296727

A wave of cancellations is sweeping through spas and children’s camps in Anapa, a Russian town on the Black Sea, as many Russians abandon their holiday plans in the southern Krasnodar region because of pollution from a huge December 2024 oil spill washing onto the beaches.

According to the Telegram channel Kub Mash, “parents don’t want to send their children to the hazardous coastline.” It also reported that companies that had issued travel vouchers to employees as bonuses were now demanding refunds.

Speaking to the Russian paper Parlamentskaya Gazeta, the head of Russia’s State Duma Committee on Family Affairs, Nina Ostanina, said that bookings at Anapa’s children’s recreation and health retreats had plummeted by more than 27% in January and 40% for the summer.

The oil spillbegan when a storm hit two aging Russian tankers traveling through the Kerch Strait, which separates Russia from the Crimea, a peninsula in Ukraine currently occupied by Russia. One ship sank and the other was damaged when it ran aground.

Ongoing environmental disaster

Fuel oil continues to leak into the sea from the sunken tanker with Russian authorities reporting that they couldn’t weld the damaged part of the ship closed because it was too close to the oil.

According to official reports, up to 5,000 of the 9,200 tons of mazut, a heavy, low-quality oil product, being transported by the tankers may have already leaked into the sea.

The mazut has been settling on the seabed and washing ashore, contaminating at least 50 kilometers (31 miles) of coastline, mostly around Anapa.

While Russia’s Emergencies Ministry claims that there is no effective method to clean up this type of oil, environmental experts have said that appropriate methods have been available since 2002, when the Prestige tanker carrying similar heavy fule oil sank off the Spanish coast, polluting some 2,000 kilometers of coastline.

Meanwhile, Russian officials are warning of further problems in the summer, when rising temperatures cause the oil to dissolve and wash ashore in greater amounts.

Severe consequences for wildlife and people

Eugene Simonov, of the environmental protection group Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Work Group, told DW it could take a decade for ecosystems to recover. “This oil spill could have disastrous consequences for some species,” he said.

The environmental organization Greenpeace reported the deaths of 32 dolphins and 1,355 birds as of early January. Anna Jerzak, an expert with the organization for Central and Eastern Europe, told DW that high concentrations of hydrocarbons had a toxic effect on fish, disrupting food chains and causing populations to decline.

“In the long term, oil products poison seaweeds, which destroys the habitats of a number of organisms,” she said.

Looking to the upcoming summer, Simonov said that the heavy fuel also posed health risks to swimmers. “People may experience a bad smell, for many, it will worsen existing respiratory issues, and all of this can have carcinogenic effects,” he said.

Greenpeace’s Jerzak also warned that toxic fumes, allergic reactions and skin inflammation were also likely.

Volunteers step in despite government inaction

Some 10,000 volunteers are helping with the clean up movement, which arose spontaneously, said ecologist Evgeny Vitishko.

Some 2,500 birds have been rescued so far, he said.

“That’s about half the birds affected by the oil spill, which is higher than the global average. Usually, only about 10-12% are rescued,” Vitishko said, adding that he was lobbying for a bird rehabilitation center where the rescued wildlife could be kept for three to six months.

“We’ve only got a month left before there are no more birds left to save,” he said.

One helper explained that the volunteer network had initially been funded by donations. In time, volunteers began asking donors to order the necessary supplies and gear online and have it shipped directly to the volunteer center.

All volunteers receive free lodging and provisions from local hotels, whose own survival depends on the upcoming summer season.

Authorities call for stricter monitoring

Initially, authorities had provided volunteers with protective suits from China, as DW learned, and the distribution of special gear was slow at best.

But even if these issues have since been resolved, many volunteers are under the impression that they, not the state, are the ones doing most of the clean-up. They complain that government representatives are only interfering with their work.

Apparently, in a ministerial meeting, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had called upon those in office to engage more actively in clean-up duties.

When employees of Russian Environment Ministry visited Anapa in early January, they caused a scandal when they released some 160 rescued birds without consulting local volunteers in advance.

“They did it as a PR stunt,” one helper told DW. The incident took a tragic turn, when nearly all the birds that had been released were found dead along the coast the following day. Experts explained that the oil had damaged the natural insulation lining in the birds’ feathers, which hadn’t had the chance to recover in such a short period.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/a-reputational-stain-the-oil-spill-in-the-black-sea/a-71376660

When you think of flowers, you probably think of gorgeous, delicate blossoms giving off the most soothing, pleasant scents. But nature gifted some with a decidedly more distinct aroma—like the corpse flower, which treats those near it to the smell of rotting flesh with each pungent bloom.

The corpse flower is an endangered plant, but two are kept safely in greenhouses on opposite sides of the world. There’s the ever-popular Putricia, affectionately named after its “putrid” smell, residing in the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden. And then there’s Smelliot, housed in New York City’s Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Both Putricia and Smelliot graced their many fans with a rare bloom this week, with the Aussie flower bursting with decaying goodness on Thursday and its American counterpart following suit on Friday.

These enormous flowers can grow up to 9 feet tall, but Putricia stands at a petite 5 feet 3 inches. Smelliot is a tad taller at just under 6 feet.

Who would voluntarily inhale the sweet, sweet aroma of rotting flesh? A lot of people, apparently. Putricia’s many admirers waited hours in the Australian heat to get a good whiff of the temporarily blooming plant. Meanwhile, New Yorkers called out of work Friday to experience Smelliot’s acrid odor.

It’s not every day you can catch the “briny, dead fish” smell of the corpse flower, even if you’re a resident of Sydney or NYC. Putricia was the only one to bloom in the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden in 15 years. Smelliot’s bloom represented a first for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Source : https://www.vice.com/en/article/two-corpse-flowers-just-bloomed-and-people-waited-hours-to-smell-them/

As a part of his ongoing effort to carry out mass-deportations throughout the country, President Donald Trump has employed the use of Department of Defense resources to return many migrants to their home countries.

Publicly available data suggests that using U.S. Military planes to fly migrants out of the country may be significantly more expensive than flights chartered by the Department of Homeland Security.

A US defense official told CNN that the military has not begun to calculate the costs of the flight since a national emergency was declared by Trump on Monday, and officials are moving as quickly as possible with little regard to cost, the official said.

The DOD reported on Wednesday that they would be providing two C-17s and two C-130E planes to help with what are known as “migrant repatriation flights.”

According to the DOD comptroller, as of fall 2022, the average hourly cost of operating a C-17 was about $21,000 and the average hourly cost of operating a C-130E was between $68,000 and $71,000. Based on these figures it can be estimated that the C-17 flight on Thursday that carried 80 migrants from El Paso, Texas to Guatemala City would have cost roughly $252,000. For the same 12-hour flight using the C-130E, it would cost between $816,000 and $852,000.

In comparison, a flight directly chartered by DHS’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement is $8,577, according to estimates posted by the agency.

Along with the military flights active duty troops have been deployed to the border to assist with the deportations and the Pentagon will likely move funds within its budget authorized by Congress for “unforeseen, high-priority missions,” retired Gen. Glen VanHerck, the former commander of US Northern Command, told CNN.

Troops have already arrived in various areas of the southern border, including 1,500 Marines from combat engineer battalions at Camp Pendleton, California.

ICE raids have already begun throughout the country, including one in New Jersey on Thursday, which saw several U.S. citizens, including, a U.S. military veteran detained by ICE. Newark Mayor Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement that ICE “raided a local establishment” According to Baraka the agents did not produce a warrant and did detain several undocumented immigrants in addition to the U.S. citizens.

Source : https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/trumps-first-deportation-flights-average-931578

The notion of the United States purchasing Greenland has been a topic of discussion for months, but recent developments suggest that President Trump’s administration is more serious about the proposition than initially thought.

A “fiery” phone call between President Donald Trump and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has reignited the debate over Greenland’s future, with the US leader’s intentions remaining unclear.

Trump’s unwavering stance on taking over Greenland, despite officials’ repeated assertions that it’s not for sale, has left many in Denmark and Greenland reeling.

At the heart of Trump’s interest in Greenland lies its strategic importance for national security. The island is rich in minerals crucial for technology and defense, including rare earth elements used in mobile phones, electric vehicles, and weapons. With China dominating the global rare earth market, Greenland’s reserves have become increasingly vital to the US.

Trump has been wanting to take over the island nation of 56,000 people since his first term.

Greenland’s location, straddling the shortest route between Europe and North America, makes it a critical spot for the US military and its ballistic missile early-warning system. As China and Russia expand their influence in the Arctic, the US seeks to maintain its dominance in the region.

Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, told Fox that Trump has made it clear “the safety and security of Greenland is important to the United States as China and Russia make significant investments throughout the Arctic region. The President is committed to not only protecting U.S. interests in the Arctic but also working with Greenland to ensure mutual prosperity for both nations”.

“He was very firm,” a source told the Financial Times, describing Trump’s tone during the phone call. “It was a cold shower. Before, it was hard to take it seriously. But I do think it is serious, and potentially very dangerous.”

The phone call was “fiery” with one official calling it “horrendous”, per the Financial Times.

The call “utterly freaked out” the Danes, one Danish official said. “The intent was very clear,” another official told the outlet. “They want it. The Danes are now in crisis mode.”

Trump’s aggressive pursuit of Greenland has been met with resistance from Denmark and Greenland. Frederiksen has emphasised that Greenland is not for sale, and its Prime Minister, Mute Edege, has reiterated that the island’s people do not want to be part of the US.

However, repeatedly, the US says that Greenland is important for its national security. Despite Frederiksen’s offer to increase the cooperation between Greenland and US on military bases and resources, Trump was aggressive and confrontational. Moreover he has not ruled out the possible use of military force in Greenland.

“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last month.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/donald-trumps-fiery-call-with-danish-pm-over-greenland-has-freaked-out-danes-7558260

The C.I.A. has said for years that it did not have enough information to conclude whether the Covid pandemic emerged naturally from a wet market in Wuhan, China, or from an accidental leak at a research lab there.

But the agency issued a new assessment this week, with analysts saying they now favor the lab theory.

That shift is based on “the available body of reporting,” although the other theory remains plausible, a spokeswoman for the agency said, adding that the agency will continue to evaluate any available credible new intelligence reporting.

Some American officials say the debate matters little: The Chinese government failed to either regulate its markets or oversee its labs. But others argue it is an important intelligence and scientific question.

John Ratcliffe, the new director of the C.I.A., has long favored the lab leak hypothesis. He has said it is a critical piece of intelligence that needs to be understood and that it has consequences for U.S.-Chinese relations.

The announcement of the shift came shortly after Mr. Ratcliffe told Breitbart News he no longer wanted the agency “on the sidelines” of the debate over the origins of the Covid pandemic. Mr. Ratcliffe has long said he believes that the virus most likely emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Officials said the agency was not bending its views to a new boss, and that the new assessment had been in the works for some time.

In the final weeks of the Biden administration, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, ordered a new classified review of the pandemic’s origin. As part of that review, the agency’s previous director, William J. Burns, told analysts that they needed to take a position on the origins of Covid, though he was agnostic on which theory they should embrace, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.

Another senior U.S. official said it was Mr. Ratcliffe’s decision to declassify and release the new analysis.

There is no new intelligence behind the agency’s shift. Rather it is based on the same evidence it has been chewing over for months.

The analysis, however, is based in part on a closer look at the conditions in the high security labs in Wuhan province before the pandemic outbreak, according to people familiar with the agency’s work.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, questions have swirled around whether the two labs handling coronaviruses in Wuhan had followed safety protocols strictly enough.

The agency made its new assessment with “low confidence,” which means the intelligence behind it is fragmentary and contradictory.

Even in the absence of hard intelligence, the lab leak hypothesis has been gaining ground inside spy agencies. But some analysts question the wisdom of shifting a position in absence of new information.

Former officials say they are not averse to a new examination of the Covid origins intelligence by the Trump administration. President Biden ordered a new review of the intelligence early in his administration after officials told the White House they had still-unexamined evidence.

Mr. Ratcliffe has raised questions about politicization in the intelligence agencies. Mr. Ratcliffe, who was the director of national intelligence in the first Trump administration, argued in an essay for Fox News in 2023 that the C.I.A. did not want to embrace the lab leak to avoid geopolitical problems for the Biden administration.

“The real problem is, the only assessment the agency could make — which is that a virus that killed over a million Americans originated in a C.C.P.-controlled lab whose research included work for the Chinese military — has enormous geopolitical implications that the Biden administration does not want to face head-on,” he said in the piece, which was written with Cliff Sims, a top aide. C.C.P. refers to China’s Communist Party.

Mr. Ratcliffe said on Thursday, when he was sworn in, that a look at the origins of Covid was a “Day 1” priority.

“I think our intelligence, our science and our common sense all really dictate that the origins of Covid was a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” he told Breitbart. “But the C.I.A. has not made that assessment or at least not made that assessment publicly. So I’m going to focus on that and look at the intelligence and make sure that the public is aware that the agency is going to get off the sidelines.”

Senior intelligence officials in the Biden administration defend their process and methodology. They have said that no intelligence was suppressed and insist that politics did not play into their analysis.

These officials say that there are powerful logical arguments for both the lab leak and the natural causes theories, but that there simply is no decisive piece of intelligence on either side of the issue.

To boost the natural origins theory, intelligence officers would like to find the animal that passed it to a human or find a bat carrying what was the likely ancestor of the coronavirus that causes Covid.

Similarly, to seal the lab leak, the intelligence community would like to find evidence that one of the labs in Wuhan was working on a progenitor virus that directly led to the epidemic.

Neither piece of evidence has been found.

But Mr. Ratcliffe has promised a more aggressive C.I.A., and it is possible that he will order more actions to penetrate the labs in Wuhan or the Chinese government in a search for information.

It will not be an easy secret to steal. The senior ranks of the Chinese government do not know, and do not want to know, American officials have said. So if there is intelligence, it is probably hidden in a place that is hard to get to.

Intelligence officials interviewed in recent weeks say it is possible that such a piece of evidence exists in a lab in China, at least in theory. But, they said, it is still more likely that the answers to questions surrounding the virus’s origins will come through a scientific breakthrough, not an intelligence revelation.

Source : https://dnyuz.com/2025/01/25/c-i-a-now-favors-lab-leak-theory-to-explain-covids-origins/

Reimagining Cinderella as a horror-comedy about the misery women endure to be attractive in the hopes of catching men’s eyes, The Ugly Stepsister—which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival—assumes an alternate POV and piles on the gore, but says merely muddled things about vanity and misogyny.

As a crude plastic surgeon’s sign overtly announces, beauty is pain in this fairy tale, and young Elvira (a captivating Lea Myren) is more than willing to stomach it so long as she has a shot at royalty. Alas, what she learns is a rather obvious and pedestrian lesson, if one that’s embellished with a few memorably macabre sights.

In a distant land, Elvira, her sister Alma (Flo Fagerli), and their mother Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp) arrive at the manor house of Otto (Ralph Carlsson), whom Rebekka is set to marry. Otto has a lovely blonde daughter named Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss) who doesn’t look too kindly upon her stepmother and stepsiblings, and her fortunes take a nosedive when Otto suddenly dies on his wedding night, leaving her at the mercy of her new relatives.

For Rebekka, however, the real tragedy isn’t the loss of her sugar daddy but the revelation that he was penniless. As a result, she eagerly humors Elvira’s fantasies of marrying local Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth), whose book of poetry she religiously reads when not clutching it to her bosom and indulging in fantasies about him sweeping her off her feet to transport her into a future of wealth, romance, and bliss.

Elvira’s problem is that she’s the title character of The Ugly Stepsister: Her complexion is blotchy, her hair is a mess, and her teeth are encased in unsightly metal braces. Thanks to her fondness for cakes, she also has a supposedly doughy figure, although the evidence on display in an early nude scene—in which she inspects her body, unflatteringly, in the mirror—seemingly contradicts this portrayal.

Nonetheless, Norwegian writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt’s point is clear, and it continues to be so as Elvira is put through the surgical makeover grinder. To combat her weight, a finishing school headmistress (Cecilia Forss) has her ingest a tapeworm. To deal with her smile, her braces are removed with giant metal pliers. And to correct her imperfect profile, her nose is broken with a hammer and pick, leaving her with a swollen and bloodied proboscis that she covers with a metal snout affixed to her face via head straps, making her look like an iron-masked monster.

After Agnes is caught screwing the stableboy in the barn (complete with close-ups of his erect member and its gooey ejaculate), she’s officially consigned to serve as the household’s domestic Cinderella. Elvira, meanwhile, suffers the slings and arrows of her dance instructor (Katarzyna Herman) and eats whatever she can find to satisfy her constantly gurgling stomach—the byproduct of the tapeworm’s insatiable appetite.

It’s all quite ghastly and Blichfeldt drenches it in a wispy haziness that complements the action’s sense of lavish decay. An early pan across a dinner table that’s decorated with flowers, feathers, and candles, and which ends with the sight of Otto’s dead face, sums up the film’s gone-to-seed aesthetics, as well as the underlying corruption of this voracious milieu.

In its Grand Guignol depiction of Elvira’s painful cosmetic ordeal, The Ugly Stepsister appears to think it’s being funny, yet there’s little actual humor to its tale, which more or less follows Cinderella’s narrative template.

The tweaks to that formula include Cinderella’s mother serving as her fairy godmother and her blue dress—torn to shreds by a mad-with-jealousy Elvira—being repaired by maggots instead of silkworms. A variety of other touches similarly contribute to its off-kilter squishiness. At the same time, Elvira’s early forest encounter with Prince Julian and his buddies indicates that he might not be the ideal hunk she imagined, what with him telling his pals that he has no preference when it comes to his women being virgins or whores—and that the castle is out of butter because he’s been busy using it as a sexual lubricant.

While Myren’s Elvira isn’t blind to the appalling nature of her circumstances, she’s so zealously consumed with fulfilling her dream that she’s prepared to go to any lengths to achieve it. This, along with the grisliness of her transformation (which additionally involves stitching fake lashes onto her eyelids), is Blichfeldt’s way of slamming the beauty industrial complex.

Frustratingly, though, the writer/director doesn’t grapple with the fact that women of this era and culture had scant opportunities for self-sufficiency and, thus, options other than to court marriage—a fact that gets in the way of the film’s censure of Elvira’s focus on her exterior. Moreover, it says nothing about the fact that Cinderella, per tradition, winds up with Prince Julian despite his well-dramatized loutishness.

The problem, it seems, is that there’s no way to fully transform Cinderella into a feminist critique if Cinderella still gets her customary happily-ever-after; so long as her beauty and goodness (which are equated) win the day, how wrong can Elvira and her compatriots be for thinking that using their physical attributes to woo (awful) men is the surest path to money, comfort, and love?

Source : https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/the-ugly-stepsister-sundance-review-shockingly-gory-feminist-cinderella/

The US State Department has ordered a freeze on new funding for almost all American foreign development assistance following an executive order issued by Donald Trump.

Hours after taking office on Monday, the US president ordered a 90-day pause in US-funded global projects pending a review of their efficiency and to check they are consistent with his foreign policy.

Secretary of state Marco Rubio’s directive excludes funding for emergency food programmes and military aid to Israel and Egypt. However, it remains to be seen whether it will affect the flow of vital US military assistance to Ukraine to help it fend off Russia’s invasion.

Joe Biden’s administration stepped up military aid to Ukraine before he left office due to doubts over whether Mr Trump would continue funding Kyiv.

Around $3.85bn (£3bn) in funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine – authorised by the US Congress – remains, but it is unclear whether Mr Trump will decide to spend it or not.

The US provides more foreign aid than any country around the world and budgeted around $60bn (£48bn), or 1% of the US budget, in 2023.

The waiver for emergency food programmes comes as humanitarian aid surges into the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and amid famine in war-torn Sudan.

But the order has been criticised by humanitarian officials because it did not exclude life-saving health programmes such as clinics and immunisation programmes.

Abby Maxman, head of Oxfam America, warned suspending funding “could have life or death consequences” for children and families around the world.

“By suspending foreign development assistance, the Trump administration is threatening the lives and futures of communities in crisis, and abandoning the United States’ long-held bipartisan approach to foreign assistance which supports people based on need, regardless of politics,” she added.

Conspiracy theorists will be eagerly waiting to pour over thousands of classified files on former US president John F Kennedy’s assassination after Donald Trump signed an executive order to release them.

“That’s a big one, huh? A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades,” Mr Trump said as he signed the order.

Some critics – including JFK’s grandson – have condemned the move, suggesting the president is using the notorious 1963 killing as a “political prop”.

Whatever his motives, the president is right; people have waited decades to learn more about the shooting of Kennedy.

Conspiracy theories have flourished in the decades since his death – ranging from the potentially plausible to the outlandish.

But what is the official explanation and what are some of the more well-known theories?

The official story: Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone

Thousands of critically endangered tortoises in Madagascar have been rescued after they were swept away from their sanctuary and left swimming for their lives in floods.

The 12,000 radiated and spider tortoises were housed at the Lavavolo Tortoise Centre after being rescued from wildlife traffickers.

But earlier this month, Cyclone Dikeledi hit the southern part of the Indian Ocean, causing flooding a metre high to engulf the sanctuary, carrying the tortoises away.

Sanctuary staff, members of the local community and police officers joined together in a rescue effort.

They waded through the floodwater with large containers, rescuing the tortoises.

Some rescuers converted damaged building structures into makeshift rafts for the tortoises to float on.

Hery Razafimamonjiraibe, the Madagascar director for the Turtle Survival Alliance, which runs the sanctuary, said they were hopeful they had rescued more than 10,000 of the tortoises – but they still had to do an official count.

Rescuers had recovered around 700 dead tortoises so far, which Mr Razafimamonjiraibe said had been trapped by rocks and debris in the floods.

“Fortunately, most of the tortoises were able to float. Tortoises are actually very good swimmers, you should see them,” he said.

The rescue centre was badly damaged by the floods, which swept away much of its infrastructure.

Most of the rescued tortoises are relatively young for the species, aged 25-50 years old. They can reach 100 years or more.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/thousands-of-endangered-tortoises-rescued-after-floods-13295571

The world’s largest iceberg is on a collision course with the British territory of South Georgia – potentially putting millions of penguins and seals in danger.

The trillion-tonne slab of ice, named A23a, broke free from its position last month and started drifting northwards.

The “megaberg” – which is twice the size of Greater London and 130 feet tall – is expected to approach the remote island off Antarctica in the next two to four weeks.

Experts fear for the island’s rich wildlife. If the iceberg gets wedged in the shallow waters close to the island, it could block vital pathways for penguins to get food for themselves and their chicks.

This would mean parent penguins would have to swim further, burning more energy and bringing back less to feed their offspring.

That could “dramatically increase mortality rates” among penguins, according to British Antarctic Survey physical oceanographer Andrew Meijer – something that has happened in the past.

He examined the “colossal ” iceberg up close in December 2023 when it drifted past the research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough.

“It’s a huge wall, a Game of Thrones-style wall of ice that towers above the ship,” he said.

“South Georgia is an amazingly ecologically rich island. It’s a breeding ground for a huge number of penguins, millions of penguins and seals,” Mr Meijers said.

“There’s lots of pups and chicks and they’re all still dependent on their parents.”

While the A23a represents a threat to the penguin colony on South Georgia, it doesn’t pose a greater risk to the overall penguin populations, University of Colorado ice scientist Ted Scambos said.

“The whole ecosystem in the Southern Ocean is very resilient to these events,” he wrote. “It has evolved with these icebergs being a factor for hundreds of thousands of years.”

The iceberg started moving for the first time in more than three decades in November 2023, scientists said.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/worlds-largest-iceberg-on-crash-course-with-island-putting-millions-of-penguins-in-danger-13295397

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the tech company will increase capital spending as much as $65 billion and build a data center that would occupy a large slice of Manhattan as it gears up for the future of artificial intelligence.

“This will be a defining year for AI,” Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook Friday.

He said Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, will build an AI engineer that will contribute code to the company’s R&D efforts.

“To power this, Meta is building a 2GW+ data center that is so large it would cover a significant part of Manhattan. We’ll bring online ~1GW of compute in ’25 and we’ll end the year with more than 1.3 million GPUs,” he said, referring to graphics processing units used to process graphics, video and other visual info.

He also said Meta would hike capital expenditures to between $60 billion and $65 billion from the $40 billion it spent last year.

Source: https://www.ibtimes.com/meta-data-center-half-size-manhattan-3760836

Hamas has named four hostages to be released on Saturday under the Gaza ceasefire deal.

It says they are soldiers Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag. They will be freed in exchange for 180 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

It will be the second such exchange since the ceasefire came into effect last Sunday.

Three hostages and 90 prisoners were released in the first swap.

The ceasefire halted the war which began when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages.

More than 47,200 Palestinians, the majority civilians, have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says.

It was originally thought that a female Israeli civilian, Arbel Yehud, would be included in the list of those to be released on Saturday.

It is unclear why her name is not on the list, though Israeli media reported that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a separate group, is holding her.

Hamas is expected to provide information about the remaining 26 hostages due to be released over the next five weeks.

This includes the Bibas family – two parents and two children, one of whom, Kfir, was 10 months old when taken captive and is the youngest hostage. It is unclear if this information will include the names or just the number of living or dead hostages.

The prisoners who will be released are of a more serious category than those freed in the first exchange. They will include those who have killed, some of whom are serving sentences of more than 15 years.

Israel has insisted that no-one who was involved in the 7 October attacks will be freed.

Ariev, Gilboa, Levy and Albag were seized at the Nahal Oz military base which was overrun by Hamas gunmen. Footage showed them among a group of women being tied up with their hands behind their backs. They were seen pleading for help while being taunted by their captors.

The women were part of a unit which surveilled the Israel-Gaza border.

Three weeks ago Hamas released a video of Albag, 19, calling for the Israeli government to reach a deal.

The ceasefire was concluded after months of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, led by the US, Qatar and Egypt.

It will be implemented in three stages, with the second stage due to begin six weeks into the truce. About 1,900 Palestinian prisoners will be released during the first stage in exchange for 33 hostages. Israeli forces will also begin withdrawing from positions in Gaza and hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians will be able to return to areas they had fled or been forced from.

The ceasefire is meant to lead to a permanent end to the war in Gaza.

Ninety-one hostages taken on 7 October 2023 are still held in Gaza. Fifty-seven of them are assumed by Israel to still be alive. Three others – two of whom are alive – have been held for a decade or more.

Three female Israeli hostages have already been released as part of the latest ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8xqv5rqpyjo

Jimmy Donaldson – aka MrBeast – was jubilant as he told his tens of millions of TikTok followers about his bid to buy the platform.

“I might become you guys’ new CEO! I’m super excited!” Donaldson said from a private jet. He then proceeded to promise $10,000 to five random new followers.

The internet creator’s post has been viewed more than 73 million times since Monday. Donaldson said he could not share details about his bid, but promised: “Just know, it’s gonna be crazy.”

Donaldson is one of multiple suitors who have expressed interest in purchasing TikTok, the wildly popular social media platform that’s become the subject of a fast-moving political drama in the United States.

Last year, then-President Joe Biden signed a law that gave TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance until 19 January to sell the platform or face a ban in the United States.

The legislation addressed concerns about TikTok’s links to the Chinese government and worries about the app being a national security risk.

President Donald Trump has floated the possibility of a joint venture.

“I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position,” he said in a Truth Social post on Sunday. “By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to [stay up].”

Trump has since signed an executive order that allows the app to stay operational for another 75 days.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that China was considering a TikTok sale to Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a close ally of President Trump, who already owns the social media platform X.

Musk himself wrote on X this week that while he has long been against a TikTok ban, “the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change”.

At a news conference Tuesday, Trump was asked by a reporter if he would be open to Musk buying the platform.

“I would be if he wanted to buy it, yes,” the president replied.

“I’d like Larry to buy it, too,” Trump added, referring to Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, a long-time Trump supporter who was on stage with him for a separate announcement.

Oracle is one of TikTok’s main server providers, managing many of the data centres where billions of the platform’s videos are stored.

Last year, Oracle warned that a TikTok ban could hurt its business. The cloud computing giant was also a leading contender to buy the social media platform in 2020, back when Trump was trying to ban it.

Billionaire investor Frank McCourt has also expressed interest in TikTok, and has been doing media interviews about the prospect for several months.

McCourt has said he wants TikTok to run on technology overseen by the Project Liberty Institute, which he founded. He has been critical of data collection practices of social media companies.

Project Liberty is bidding for TikTok without its proprietary algorithm. McCourt told CNBC this week that Project Liberty is “not interested in the algorithm or the Chinese technology” even as he acknowledged that the platform is “worth less” without it.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvge68ymej3o

Hundreds of “illegal immigrant criminals” in the United States were arrested Thursday and hundreds of others were flown out of the country on military aircraft as President Trump’s promised mass deportation operation got underway, the White House said.

In a post on X Thursday night, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The Trump Administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals including a suspected terrorist, four members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and several illegals convicted of sex crimes against minors.” Tren de Aragua is a violent gang that started in Venezuela and has now started to spread into the U.S. It became something of a flashpoint during the presidential campaign.

Those 538 arrests included 373 people with criminal records and 165 people without criminal records aside from immigration violations, according to documentation provided by a senior administration official. Another 1,041 people were removed or repatriated, according to those records.

Arrests included a 23-year-old Ecuadorian citizen convicted of rape. He was arrested in Buffalo. Another arrest in Buffalo was that of a man from the Dominican Republic who was previously convicted of continuous sexual conduct against a child. In San Francisco, ICE arrested a man convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child aged 14 or younger, and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Meanwhile, a defense official said there had been two flights overnight. Both went to Guatemala, according to two sources. A Guatemalan migration official said three flights have arrived: A flight from El Paso, with 80 people, arrived early Friday morning. Another flight from Tucson, which also carried 80 people, arrived at around 7 a.m., and a third flight from El Paso with around 105 people arrived Friday afternoon.

Leavitt stated, “The Trump Administration also deported hundreds of illegal immigrant criminals via military aircraft. The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway.”

President Trump was asked about the flights upon landing in Asheville, North Carolina, where he was surveying the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene late last year. He told reporters, “Deportation is going very well. We’re getting the bad, hard criminals out.” He added, “These are people that have been as bad as you get, as bad as anybody you’ve seen. We’re taking them out first.” The Trump administration has not released further criminal information about those who were on the deportation flights.

Three officials say the plan to use military aircraft for the deportation flights was approved under the Trump administration, not the Biden administration. The flights are part of the actions the acting secretary of defense announced on Wednesday following Mr. Trump’s executive action ordering the U.S. military to step up its presence on the border.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hundreds-illegal-immigrant-criminals-arrested-more-flown-from-us-military-white-house-says/

Donald Trump’s verbal threats towards Canada are paying off for one entrepreneur, after the new U.S. president’s belligerent approach gave him an idea.
Liam Mooney, founder of an Ottawa-based design firm, made a hat emblazoned with “Canada is Not for Sale” in response to Trump’s tariff threats and suggestions that Canada become the 51st U.S. state.
The hats gained attention after Ontario Premier Doug Ford wore one during a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other premiers in Ottawa last week to discuss Trump’s vow to impose tariffs on imports from Canada.

According to Mooney, tens of thousands of hats have been ordered online since then.
Mooney told Reuters he designed the hats as a creative rebuttal to President Trump’s rhetoric, aiming to cut through political discourse with a message of nationalism and unity.
“It’s an opportunity to bring people together from all of civil society, regardless of political persuasion,” Mooney said.

Tariffs would cripple Canada’s economy and also raise the price of oil and other goods in the United States.

Trump is threatening tariffs at a time of political turmoil in Canada, with Liberal leader Trudeau set to resign in March after nearly a decade in power and the opposition Conservatives leading in the polls ahead of a federal election later this year.
Mooney said that he and his business partner designed the hats after seeing one of Ford’s recent interviews on Fox News. The host urged the premier to consider annexation, suggesting it would be a “privilege” for Canada to merge with the U.S.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-is-not-sale-hat-goes-viral-after-trump-threats-2025-01-24/

Boebert was overheard on the House floor telling members that she had discovered Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride in the women’s bathroom

Lauren Boebert ‘stormed’ out of the women’s bathroom to complain that she had seen ‘a guy’ in there (REUTERS)MAGA firebrand Lauren Boebert “stormed” into a women’s restroom in the Capitol to get “a guy” removed by security on Thursday.

But the conservative Trump loyalist ended up apologizing after it turned out to be a case of “mistaken identity.”

Boebert was overheard on the House floor telling members that she had discovered Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride in the women’s bathroom, according to the Daily Beast.

McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, is not permitted to use the women’s bathrooms after Speaker Mike Johnson renewed a ban on transgender people using single-sex bathrooms.

Boebert told other members that when she thought she saw McBride walking into the bathroom, she said, “You shouldn’t be here,” an anonymous Republican lawmaker told the outlet.

But the Colorado congresswoman then realized the person in the bathroom was not McBride. “I overheard Boebert say she went to apologize,” the lawmaker added.

Bloomberg Congress reporter Billy House also witnessed the incident and described Boebert “bursting out” of the women’s bathroom “complaining to security personnel stationed in the nearby Speakers Lobby of “a guy” inside.”

House said he was “intrigued” and saw four other people leave the bathroom after Boebert. “All women,” he noted in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter).

“Within minutes, however, Boebert was storming back from the House floor into the restroom — reinforced by Rep. Nancy Mace in tow.”

“But alas, just seconds after this duo entered the bathroom, they come back out — and went back quietly to the floor,” House said.

Boebert admitted she “made an error regarding a mistaken identity” in a statement to the Daily Beast. “I apologized, learned a lesson, and it won’t happen again,” Boebert said.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/lauren-boebert-trump-transgender-policy-b2685813.html

President Donald Trump has revoked security protection for former top US health official Anthony Fauci, who has faced death threats since leading the country’s Covid-19 response.

“You can’t have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government,” Trump told reporters, when asked about the decision on Friday. “It’s very standard.”

This week, Trump also revoked security protections for his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, his former National Security Adviser John Bolton and former envoy Brian Hook, who all faced threats from Iran.

Dr Fauci has now hired his own private security team that he will pay for himself, US media report.

Asked whether he felt responsible for the officials’ safety, Trump said on Friday: “They all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security too.”

Dr Fauci was previously protected by federal marshals, and then a private security company, which was paid for by the government, according to the New York Times.

One of Dr Fauci’s most vocal Republican critics, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, had called for his security to be revoked.

He wrote in a post on X on Thursday that he had “sent supporting information to end the 24 hr a day limo and security detail for Fauci”.

“I wish him nothing but peace but he needs to pay for his own limos,” he said.

Trump has also revoked the security clearances of 51 intelligence officials who had claimed that Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

Under US protocol, former presidents and their spouses are granted security protection for life. But protection for other US officials is decided based on the threat assessment from the intelligence community.

As the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Fauci faced death threats during and after the coronavirus pandemic, as well as criticism from Republicans over mask mandates and other Covid restrictions.

He led the institute for 40 years, including during Trump’s first term. Trump had also awarded presidential commendations to Dr Fauci who served on the Operation Warp Speed task force during the pandemic.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg49jz7v8no

Trump teased ‘everything will be revealed’ as he signed an order to release the remaining JFK files

REPUBLICAN Congress members are calling on President Donald Trump to release evidence related to the case of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The effort by two GOP Tennessee representatives comes after Trump signed an executive order to declassify documents about the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Epstein died in August 2019 while awaiting trial for federal sex trafficking charges in New York.

The disgraced financier, 59, was found dead in his jail cell at the Manhattan Detention Complex.

A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn and Representative Tim Burchett, both of Tennessee, told the Daily Mail they have been fighting for years to unseal the documents related to Epstein’s case.

Blackburn told the outlet she has pushed for the release of unredacted versions of Epstein’s flight logs and the complete version of Ghislaine Maxwell’s “little black book.”

The explosive contact book contained a list of names and phone numbers of some of the world’s most powerful and wealthy individuals, according to court documents.

A few pages of the book were released in a redacted version during Maxwell’s 2021 child sex trafficking trial.

However, the full unredacted version has never been released to the public.

Maxwell, a British socialite who groomed and sex trafficked young girls for Epstein, is currently serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of child sex trafficking charges in December 2021.

“Jeffrey Epstein built a disgusting global sex trafficking network that caused irreparable damage to countless women,” Blackburn told the Daily Mail.

“Americans deserve to know exactly who was affiliated with this network.

“This is not about celebrities – this is about what happened to victims and survivors.”

Burchett repeated Blackburn’s sentiment, telling the outlet the time to release the Epstein files is now as Republicans control both the House and Senate.

‘I’D TAKE A LOOK AT IT’
In January 2024, hundreds of pages containing names of over 170 of Epstein’s associates were released to the public.

The documents contained the names of former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, late British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, and even President Trump himself.

However, the documents did not contain any incriminating evidence or Epstein’s supposed list of clients.

In an interview with podcast host Lex Fridman in September, Trump again distanced himself from the convicted pedophile, saying he was never involved with Epstein.

But, he said, if elected president, he would support the release of Epstein’s supposed list of clients.

“It’s just very strange for a lot of people that the list of clients that went to the island has not been made public,” Fridman told Trump.

“Yeah, it’s very interesting, isn’t it. I’d certainly take a look at it,” Trump replied.

Trump has not publicly commented on the Epstein files since he was inaugurated on Monday.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/13368426/gop-reps-trump-release-jeffrey-epstein-case-files/

Mexico denied a U.S. military plane access to land Thursday, at least temporarily frustrating the Trump administration’s plans to deport immigrants to the country, according to two U.S. defense officials and a third person familiar with the situation.

Two Guatemala-bound Air Force C-17s, carrying about 80 people apiece, flew deportees out of the U.S. Thursday night, the sources said. The third flight, slotted for Mexico, never took off.

It was not immediately clear why Mexico blocked the flight, but tensions between the U.S. and Mexico, neighbors and longtime allies, have risen since President Donald Trump won the November election. Trump has threatened to slap 25% across-the-board tariffs on Mexico in retaliation for migrants crossing the border the countries share. But he has not yet put them in effect.

A White House official said in a text message that “the flights thing was an administrative issue and was quickly rectified.”

After the publication of this article, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted, “Yesterday, Mexico accepted a record 4 deportation flights in 1 day!”

A White House official, however, did not clarify whether they were military, commercial or private flights.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government has said it opposes Trump taking “unilateral” action to implement restrictive immigration standards — including the reinstatement of a “remain in Mexico” policy that forces migrants to stay in that country while they await adjudication of asylum claims. Flying deportees into a foreign country requires the cooperation of that nation’s government.

In a statement, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not go into detail on why the U.S. plane was not allowed to land in the country.

“Mexico has a very good relationship with the United States government and we cooperate with respect for our sovereignty on a wide range of issues, including migration,” the statement read. “When it comes to repatriations, we will always welcome the arrival of Mexicans to our territory with open arms. Mexico embraces you.”

On Friday, Guatemala received three flights from the U.S. with Guatemalan nationals who had been sent back to their home country. A spokesperson for the Guatemalan Migration Institute told NBC News that two of Friday’s flights were on military aircraft and the other was on a non-military plane. The total number of Guatemalans who arrived in Guatemala City from the three flights was about 265.

Source : https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/mexico-refuses-accept-us-deportation-flight-rcna189182

The Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as the nation’s defense secretary late Friday in a dramatic tie-breaking vote, swatting back questions about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon amid allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women.

Rarely has a Cabinet nominee faced such wide-ranging concerns about his experience and behavior as Hegseth, particularly for such a high-profile role atop the U.S. military. But the Republican-led Senate was determined to confirm Hegseth, a former Fox News host and combat veteran who has vowed to bring a “warrior culture,” rounding out President Donald Trump’s top national security Cabinet officials.

Vice President JD Vance arrived to break the 50-50 tie, highly unusual for Cabinet nominees and particularly defense secretaries, who typically win wider bipartisan support. Hegseth himself was at the Capitol with his family.

“We have a great secretary of defense and we’re very happy,” Trump said as he boarded Air Force One after surveying fire devastation in California.

Trump said he didn’t care about the dissent from Sen. Mitch McConnell, the influential former Republican leader — who joined two other Republicans, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, in voting against Hegseth — because the “important thing is winning.”

The Senate’s ability to confirm Hegseth despite a grave series of allegations against him provides a measure of Trump’s political power and ability to get what he wants from the GOP-led Congress, and of the potency of the culture wars to fuel his agenda at the White House.

Only once before has the vice president had to break a tie on a Cabinet nominee — during Trump’s first term, when Vice President Mike Pence cast the vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as education secretary.

Next week senators will be facing Trump’s other outside Cabinet choices including particularly Kash Patel, a Trump ally who has published an enemies list, as the FBI director; Tulsi Gabbard as director of the office of national intelligence; and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine advocate, at Health and Human Services.

“Is Pete Hegseth truly the best we have to offer?” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urging his colleagues to think seriously about their vote. All Democrats opposed the nominee.

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Hegseth, as a veteran of the Army National Guard who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, “will bring a warrior’s perspective” to the top military job.

“Gone will be the days of woke distractions,” Thune said, referring to the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives being slashed across the federal government. “The Pentagon’s focus will be on war fighting.”

Hegseth himself was working the phones late Friday to shore up his support, his confirmation at stake.

“He’s a good man,” Trump said of Hegseth while departing the White House to visit disaster-hit North Carolina and Los Angeles. “I hope he makes it.”

The uncertainty sent tensions soaring late Friday at the Capitol. It takes a simple majority to confirm nominees, and Republicans, with a 53-47 majority in the Senate, could only lose one more objection after Murkowski and Collins already announced they would vote no.

McConnell had signaled skepticism in an earlier speech when he declared he would confirm nominees to senior national security roles “whose record and experience will make them immediate assets, not liabilities.”

One Republican, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, sent the Senate swirling as he raised fresh questions and was provided information and answers.

But Tillis ultimately voted to confirm Hegseth, who he said “has a unique perspective” and is passionate about modernizing the military. He said he spoke to Hegseth for “nearly two hours” about his concerns.

In contrast, McConnell said after the vote said Hegseth “did not reckon” with the reality of job, noting that the nominee’s “mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ is not enough.”

Democrats, as the minority party, have helped confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in bipartisan votes to Trump’s national security team.

But Democrats gravely opposed to Hegseth had little power to stop him, and instead resorted to dragging out the process. Hours before the vote, Democrats took to the Senate floor to object.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said there were few Trump nominees as “dangerously and woefully unqualified as Hegseth.”

Hegseth faced allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in California, though he has denied the claims and said the encounter was consensual. He later paid $50,000 to the woman.

More recently, Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said in an affidavit that he was abusive to his second wife to the point that she feared for her safety. Hegseth has denied the allegation, and in divorce proceedings, neither Hegseth nor the woman claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse.

During a fiery confirmation hearing, Hegseth dismissed allegations of wrongdoing one by one, and vowed to bring “warrior culture” to the top Pentagon post.

Hegseth has promised not to drink on the job if confirmed.

Republican senators facing an intensive pressure campaign by Trump allies to support Hegseth stood by his nomination, echoing his claims of a “smear” campaign against him.

A Princeton and Harvard graduate, Hegseth represents a newer generation of veterans who came of age in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He went on to a career at Fox News as the host of a weekend show, and was unknown to many on Capitol Hill until Trump tapped him for the top Defense job.

Hegseth’s comments that women should have no role in military combat drew particular concern, including from lawmakers who themselves served. He has since tempered those views as he met with senators during the confirmation process.

Murkowski said in a lengthy statement ahead of a test vote on Hegseth that his behaviors “starkly contrast” with what is expected of the military.

“I remain concerned about the message that confirming Mr. Hegseth sends to women currently serving and those aspiring to join,” Murkowski wrote on social media.

Collins said that after a lengthy discussion with Hegseth, “I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed.”

But one prominent Republican, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, herself a veteran and sexual assault survivor, came under harsh criticism for her skepticism toward Hegseth and eventually announced she would back him.

Hegseth would lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/pete-hegseth-defense-secretary-trump-cabinet-confirmation-12491935023692bce0a04d149663e784

The United States, the world’s biggest donor, froze virtually all foreign aid on Friday, making exceptions only for emergency food, and military funding for Israel and Egypt.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent an internal memo days after President Donald Trump took office vowing an “America First” policy of tightly restricting assistance overseas.

“No new funds shall be obligated for new awards or extensions of existing awards until each proposed new award or extension has been reviewed and approved,” said the memo to staff seen by AFP.

The sweeping order appears to affect everything from development assistance to military aid — including to Ukraine, which received billions of dollars in weapons under Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden as it tries to repel a Russian invasion.

The directive also means a pause of at least several months of US funding for PEPFAR, the anti-HIV/AIDS initiative that buys anti-retroviral drugs to treat the disease in developing countries, largely in Africa.

Launched under president George W. Bush in 2003, PEPFAR is credited with saving some 26 million lives and until recently enjoyed broad popular support along partisan lines in Washington.

But the memo explicitly made exceptions for military assistance to Israel — whose longstanding major arms packages from the United States have expanded further since the Gaza war — and Egypt, which has received generous US defense funding since it signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

Rubio also made an exception for US contributions to emergency food assistance, which the United States ahs been contributing following crises around the world including in Sudan and Syria.

Lawmakers from the rival Democratic Party said that more than 20 million people relied on medication through PEPFAR and 63 million people on US-funded anti-malaria efforts including nets.

“For years, Republicans in Congress have decried what they see as a lack of U.S. credibility vis-a-vis countries like China, Russia, and Iran,” said Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Relations Committee, and Representative Lois Frankel.

“Now our credibility is on the line, and it appears we will cut and run from American commitments to our partners around the world,” they wrote in a letter.

Washington has long leveraged aid as a tool of its foreign policy, saying it cares about development and drawing a contrast with China, which is primarily concerned about seeking natural resources.

Meeks and Frankel also noted that foreign assistance is appropriated by Congress and said they would seek its implementation.

– ‘Life or death consequences’ –

The memo allows the State Department to make other case-by-case exceptions and temporarily to fund salaries to staff and other administrative expenses.

The memo called for an internal review of all foreign assistance within 85 days.

In justifying the freeze, Rubio — who as a senator was a supporter of development assistance — wrote that it was impossible for the new administration to assess whether existing foreign aid commitments “are not duplicated, are effective and are consistent with President Trump’s foreign policy.”

The United States has long been the world’s top donor in dollar terms, although a number of European nations, especially in Scandinavia, give significantly more as a percent of their economies.

The United States gave more than $64 billion in overseas development assistance in 2023, the last year for which records were available, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which advises industrialized countries.

Trump had already on taking office Monday signed an executive order suspending foreign assistance for 90 days, but it was not immediately clear how it would be implemented.

Anti-poverty group Oxfam said that Trump was abandoning a longstanding consensus in the United States for foreign assistance.

Source : https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-freezes-almost-aid-except-225818820.html

A federal judge blocked Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday from implementing the Republican president’s executive order curtailing the right to automatic birthright citizenship in the United States, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.”
Seattle-based U.S. District Judge John Coughenour issued a temporary restraining order, at the urging of four Democratic-led states – Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon – preventing the administration from enforcing the order. Trump had signed the order on Monday, his first day back in office.

The judge, an appointee of Republican former President Ronald Reagan, dealt the first legal setback to the hardline policies on immigration that are a centerpiece of Trump’s second term as president.
“Obviously we’ll appeal,” Trump said of Coughenour’s ruling.
Trump’s executive order had directed U.S. agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States if neither their mother nor father is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

“I am having trouble understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that this order is constitutional,” the judge told a U.S. Justice Department lawyer defending Trump’s order. “It just boggles my mind.”
The states argued that Trump’s order violated the right enshrined in the citizenship clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment that provides that anyone born in the United States is a citizen.

“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” Coughenour said of Trump’s policy.
Coughenour’s order, announced following a short hearing in a packed courtroom with other judges watching, prevents Trump’s policy from being enforced nationwide for 14 days while the judge considers whether to issue a long-lasting preliminary injunction. He will hear arguments over whether to do so on Feb. 6.
Under Trump’s order, any children born in the United States after Feb. 19 whose mother and father are not American citizens or lawful permanent residents would be subject to deportation and would be prevented from obtaining Social Security numbers, various government benefits and the ability as they get older to work lawfully.
“Under this order, babies being born today don’t count as U.S. citizens,” Washington state Assistant Attorney General Lane Polozola, referring to Trump’s policy, told the judge during the hearing.

Justice Department lawyer Brett Shumate argued that Trump’s action was constitutional and called any judicial order blocking it “wildly inappropriate.” But before Shumate had even finished responding to Polozola’s argument, Coughenour said he had signed the temporary restraining order.

‘VIGOROUSLY DEFEND’

The Justice Department plans to file papers next week to urge the judge not to issue a longer injunction, Shumate said. A Justice Department spokesperson said it plans to continue to “vigorously defend” Trump’s order.
“We look forward to presenting a full merits argument to the court and to the American people, who are desperate to see our nation’s laws enforced,” the spokesperson said.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, a Democrat, said he sees no reason to expect that the Justice Department would succeed in overturning Coughenour’s ruling on appeal, even if the matter goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump.
“You are an American citizen if you were born on American soil – period,” Brown said. “Nothing that the president can do will change that.”
More than 150,000 newborn children would be denied citizenship annually if Trump’s order is allowed to stand, according to the Democratic-led states.
Since Trump signed the order, at least six lawsuits have been filed challenging it, most of them by civil rights groups and Democratic attorneys general from 22 states.
Democratic state attorneys general have said that the understanding of the Constitution’s citizenship clause was cemented 127 years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that children born in the United States to non-citizen parents are entitled to American citizenship.
The 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868 following the U.S. Civil War, overturned the Supreme Court’s notorious 1857 Dred Scott decision that had declared that the Constitution’s protections did not apply to enslaved Black people.
In a brief filed late on Wednesday, the Justice Department called the order an “integral part” of Trump’s efforts “to address this nation’s broken immigration system and the ongoing crisis at the southern border.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-hear-states-bid-block-trump-birthright-citizenship-order-2025-01-23/

Authorities in Indian Kashmir are geo-tagging thousands of ‘Chinar’ trees to create a comprehensive database for their management and help conserve them amid threats from rising urbanisation, road-widening projects and diseases.
The trees are a cultural and ecological symbol of the restive northern territory, which is claimed in full by India and Pakistan and ruled in part by both, but hundreds of them have been lost over the last few decades.

Under the geo-tagging process, QR codes are attached to each surveyed tree, recording information about 25 characteristics, including its geographical location, health, age, and growing patterns, enabling conservationists to track changes and address risk factors.
The public can also scan the code to access the details, Syed Tariq, the head of the project, told Reuters.
“We have geo-tagged nearly 29,000 trees, but we still have more small-sized trees that haven’t been tagged… These will be tagged in due course,” Tariq said.

The Chinar trees take around 150 years to reach their full size of up to 30 metres (100 ft) in height with a girth of 10 to 15 metres (30 to 50 ft) at ground level.
The oldest Chinar in the region lies on the outskirts of the city of Srinagar and is around 650 years old.
“We are using a USG-based (ultrasonography-based) gadget capable of determining risk levels without human intervention. The gadget will assess risk factors, eliminating the need for manual evaluation,” Tariq said.

The portion of Kashmir under India’s control was roiled by violence for decades as militants fought security forces, but the conflict has eased in recent years, leading to a gradual rise in development projects and tourism.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kashmir last week to inaugurate a tunnel and, during the event, said that numerous road and rail connectivity projects in the region would be completed in the coming days.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-turns-geo-tagging-conserve-kashmirs-iconic-chinar-trees-2025-01-22/

There is a buzzword at the annual meeting of the world’s elites in the Swiss luxury resort of Davos: tariffs, although artificial intelligence has been another big theme.

For the World Trade Organization chief, it’s time cooler heads prevailed as she warned against tit-for-tat tariffs.

That might be easier said than done for the countries that could be in line for US tariffs after US President Donald Trump indicated he could deliver on his many threats.

Here is what happened so far at the forum on Thursday:

WTO head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala appeared to have reached a point of exasperation amid the panic of what might happen if the United States unleashes painful duties.

“Please let’s not hyperventilate. I know we are here to discuss tariffs. I’ve been saying to everybody: could we chill, also. I just sense a lot of hyperventilation,” she told a panel called “debating tariffs”.

“Even if a tariff is levied, please keep calm, don’t wake up and without the necessary groundwork levy your own,” she said.

Her remarks come after expectations that if Trump slaps higher levies, countries will respond with tit-for-tat actions of their own.

One of this year’s stars at Davos has been Argentina’s libertarian President Javier Milei, who delivered another bombastic speech after his first at last year’s WEF.

This time, Milei defended tech billionaire Elon Musk after he caused a stir this week by making hand gestures at an inauguration event for US President Donald Trump.

Milei said his “dear friend Musk” has been “unfairly vilified by wokeism in recent hours for an innocent gesture that only means… his gratitude to the people”.

There may be a lot of hype about AI and what more it can do for businesses and people but Pope Francis had a warning: be vigilant, especially over the lies it tells.

The pope is familar with AI and its risks of deepfakes. In 2023, an AI-generated image of Pope Francis in a puffer jacket went viral.

Source : https://www.ibtimes.com/calls-calm-pope-ai-milei-musk-what-happened-davos-thursday-3760599

THE CEO of CNN has warned the network’s future is in jeopardy if it does not adapt to the changing landscape of legacy media.

Over 200 layoffs were announced on Thursday and one of the network’s mainstays, Jim Acosta, was booted from his time slot as bosses scramble to address issues in the business.

Acosta, who clashed with President Trump during his first term, lost his 10 am time slot to Wolf Blitzer’s political show, The Situation Room.

Blitzer, who previously occupied the early evening hours, will now host The Situation Room between 10 am and noon EST alongside fellow CNN star Pamela Brown.

The Situation Room has been on the network’s schedule for almost 20 years.

Acosta could get pushed down to a midnight time slot on the East Coast, per the Los Angeles Times.

This means his new show would air at 9pm on the West Coast, but Acosta has reportedly been told he does not have to relocate.

The network often airs repeat episodes after 11 pm EST.

However, sources told the Los Angeles Times that Acosta could leave the network.

A potential schedule shakeup had been in the works for days, according to Variety.

The network’s changes will see around 200 jobs in traditional TV cut.

The company said it was planning on hiring about 200 staffers to focus on its digital services, including data scientists and product engineers as part of the pivot.

The job cuts equate to around 6% of the workforce.

Bosses are rushing to meet the target of raising $1 billion in digital revenue by 2030.

Mark Thompson, who was named CEO in August 2023, warned that if the network doesn’t adapt, its future prospects could be plunged into jeopardy.

“This is a moment where the digital story feels like an existential question,” he told The New York Times.

“If we do not follow the audiences to the new platforms with real conviction and scale, our future prospects will not be good.”

Chiefs are already in the process of developing a new streaming platform, according to a company memo seen by The U.S. Sun.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday said it was “outrageous and shameful” that the Jewish community still faces discrimination.

The German leader made the comments as he attended a ceremony in Berlin almost 80 years to the day after the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

“Anyone who supports terrorism, anyone who incites antisemitism must expect to be prosecuted,” Scholz said at the event organized by the International Auschwitz Committee.

“We do not tolerate antisemitism,” he said.

Scholz said combating antisemitism is a task for all citizens, especially because of the “increasingly shameless attempts to normalize far-right positions.”

“On the contrary: let’s stand up and fight back,” he said.

Holocaust a ‘responsibility we all bear’ in Germany

Scholz called the Holocaust a “responsibility that each and every one of us bears in our country — regardless of family history, regardless of religion or the birthplace of our parents or grandparents.”

Approximately 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, according to the latest research described on the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial website.

Around 1 million Jews were murdered in the Auschwitz camp, which was liberated by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945. These were “more than a million unique people, individuals, wives and husbands, boys and girls, grandmothers and grandfathers. They were gassed, shot, they died of hunger, forced labour and medical experiments,” Scholz said.

He also honored other victims of the Holocaust, including Sinti and Roma, political opponents of the Nazi regime, homosexuals, the sick and people with disabilities.

“The uniqueness of the Shoah must be communicated again … to counteract the countless attempts to falsify and relatives history,” Scholz said.

“This fight for the inviolability of the dignity of each and every individual continues,” he added, citing attacks targeting people because of their beliefs, gender or skin color. “Our responsibility, 80 years on, is to resist this hatred.”

Germany has marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day since 1996.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-scholz-shameful-antisemitism-still-in-society/a-71390645

“Emilia Pérez,” a musical about a drug kingpin who undergoes gender affirming surgery, topped the 2025 Oscar nominations with 13 nods. It was followed closely behind by “The Brutalist,” a historical epic the examines the immigrant experience, and “Wicked,” the hit screen version of a long-running Broadway sensation, which both nabbed 10 nominations. “Conclave,” a thriller about the election of a new pope, and “A Complete Unknown,” a look at Bob Dylan’s early, freewheelin’ years, each had eight nominations. All five of those films are up for best picture, the ceremony’s top prize, alongside indies like “Anora,” “Nickel Boys,” and “I’m Still Here,” as well as the body horror film, “The Substance,” and “Dune: Part Two,” one of the rare studio blockbusters to garner Oscar attention.

The Academy Awards nominations were unveiled Thursday after voting had been extended twice because of the wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles, resulting in the deaths of at least 28 people and catastrophic property damage. This week, the Oscars announced that its March telecast will “acknowledge those who fought so bravely against the wildfires.”

Timothée Chalamet, who has proved his box office drawing power with “Dune” and “Wonka,” was nominated for best actor for his chameleonic performance as Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” He will face off against “The Brutalist” star Adrien Brody, who became the youngest best actor winner in history at 29 for 2003’s “The Pianist.” Other best actor nominees include Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”), Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”), and Sebastian Stan (“The Apprentice”). Stan’s recognition came after “The Apprentice,” a Donald Trump biopic in which he plays the real estate mogul, struggled to get distribution — companies were concerned about getting on the bad side of the 47th president. His co-star Jeremy Strong, who plays Trump mentor Roy Cohn, was also nominated for best supporting actor.

Demi Moore, who had been one of Hollywood’s brightest stars in the 1990s, continued her career comeback, capturing a best actress nomination for “The Substance,” a subversive horror film that examines the movie industry’s sexism and ageism. Her fellow best actress contender, “Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón, made history as the first openly transgender actor nominated for an Oscar. Mikey Madison (“Anora”), Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”) and Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”) rounded out the list of best actress nominees.

Strong’s “Succession” co-star Kieran Culkin was also nominated for best supporting actor for his work as a young man whose wisecracks mask his emotional turmoil in “A Real Pain.” He is widely considered to be the frontrunner after earning several critics prizes and a Golden Globe. Culkin and Strong will vie for the prize against Edward Norton (“A Complete Unknown”), Yura Borisov (“Anora”) and Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”).

Zoe Saldaña, best known for headlining blockbusters like “Avatar,” got to show her singing-and-dancing side as an idealistic lawyer in “Emilia Pérez.” She was rewarded with a best supporting actress nomination. Her competition includes Ariana Grande (“Wicked”), Felicity Jones (“The Brutalist”), Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown”) and Isabella Rossellini (“Conclave”). Rossellini’s mother, Ingrid Bergman, won the third of her Oscars in the best supporting actress category for 1974’s “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Brady Corbet, who struggled for nearly a decade to bring “The Brutalist” to the screen after financing for the project collapsed several times, was nominated for best director. His competition includes French auteurs Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”) and Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”), as well as arthouse maverick Sean Baker (“Anora”) and studio mainstay James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”). Every one of those filmmakers was nominated in multiple categories, having performed several different roles on the movies they made. Baker, for instance, is also nominated for editing, producing and penning the screenplay, while Audiard was recognized for writing a song his film, as well as co-writing its script.

Universal, which owns indie label Focus, dominated the nominations with 25 nods, the bulk of which came for “Wicked” and “Conclave.” Netflix, which released “Emilia Pérez,” scored 16 nominations, while A24, a plucky indie distributor known for embracing risky fare such as”The Brutalist,” a three-hour meditation on art and commerce, had 14 nominations.

There were several notable snubs and surprises. Denzel Washington, once seen as a lock for his villainous performance in “Gladiator II,” was overlooked, as was Margaret Qualley, who earned raves for playing Moore’s younger doppelgänger in “The Substance.” And Edward Berger, who gave “Conclave” its propulsive energy, and Jon M. Chu, who designed “Wicked’s” electrifying musical sequences, were shut out of the best director race, while “A Real Pain” failed to capture a best picture nomination despite earning some of the year’s best reviews.

The Oscars were first handed out nearly a century ago as a way to promote the movie business. In the ensuing 97 years, the film industry has undergone tectonic shifts — introducing sound and color (revolutions that changed the business forever), as well as 3D and Smell-O-Vision and 4DX (gambits that had less of an impact) — but few have been more significant than the rise of streaming platforms like Netflix.

These services have fundamentally altered the way movies are seen and experienced, and the theatrical part of the film business has often struggled to keep up. At the same time, COVID and a series of labor strikes in 2023 has left Hollywood with fewer movies to screen in cinemas. The impact of those disruptions can be tracked empirically, as the box office has failed to fully rebound from the pandemic. Domestic ticket sales in 2024 topped out at $8.7 billion, down more than 3.3% from 2023 (when revenues hit $9.04 billion) and down 23.5% from 2019 (when revenues reached $11.3 billion in the last pre-COVID period). And the stalled recovery has come as studios and streamers have enacted a series of cutbacks and shed jobs. Many of these companies — from Warner Bros. Discovery to Paramount Global — have sold themselves as the business has engaged in a period of frenzied consolidation that shows no signs of stopping.

The natural disasters that Los Angeles is still experiencing, as well as the corporate upheaval the business is stumbling through, means that the Academy Awards may feel less celebratory than usual. It will fall to Conan O’Brien, a former late night talk show staple turned podcasting mogul, to try to lift spirits as he embarks on his first stint as Oscars host. The show that O’Brien presides over will be held at the Dolby Theatre on March 2, with the Oscars airing, as it long has, on ABC. For the first time, it will also be available to stream live on Hulu, a concession to the shifting ways that audiences are watching movies and shows.

See the full list of nominees below as they’re announced.

Best Picture

“Anora,” (Neon) Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, Producers

“The Brutalist” (A24)

“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight) Fred Berger, James Mangold and Alex Heineman, Producers

The Academy unveiled its full line-up of Oscar nods Thursday morning, with “Emilia Pérez” leading the field with 13 nominations, followed by “The Brutalist” and “Wicked” with 10 each. While guild nominations and other preliminary awards bodies can help provide a comprehensive forecast for Oscar nominations, there are always a few curveballs mixed into the proceedings. Big names like Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington missed out on acting nominations this year — and there were many, many more surprises.

SNUB: Angelina Jolie Misses for ‘Maria’

The star earned some of the best reviews of her career out of the Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of the opera icon Maria Callas. Director Pablo Larrain previously delivered Oscar nominations to two of his stars playing historical figures — Natalie Portman for “Jackie” in 2017 and Kristen Stewart for “Spencer” in 2022. But Jolie didn’t land a nod, falling behind in a highly competitive best actress field.

SNUB: Nicole Kidman Blanks for ‘Babygirl’ in Best Actress

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Thursday the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, comments that came after President Donald Trump mused about returning to the kingdom as his first foreign trip.

The comments from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reported early Thursday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, came in a phone call with Trump.

“The crown prince affirmed the kingdom’s intention to broaden its investments and trade with the United States over the next four years, in the amount of $600 billion, and potentially beyond that,” the report said.

There was no immediate readout from the White House on the call. The crown prince, the de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, also spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio early Thursday.

On Monday after his inauguration, Trump talked about possibly heading to the kingdom again as his first foreign trip, like he did in 2017.

Source : https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/jan/23/saudi-arabia-invest-600-billion-u-mohammed-bin-sal/

More than 100 Reddit communities have banned users from posting links to X in protest at owner Elon Musk’s controversial arm gesture at a rally celebrating Donald Trump’s return to office.

The billionaire twice extended his arm out straight as he thanked the crowd for “making it happen.”

Critics, including some historians, said it was a Nazi salute – Mr Musk has dismissed that, saying comparisons with Hitler were “tired” and “dirty tricks.”

However many Reddit users have been unpersuaded by his response describing his actions as “hateful”, leading the moderators of scores of communities – or subreddits – to stop content being shared on X.

X has not commented but Reddit has stressed there is no sitewide ban on X links, telling the BBC in a statement it “has a longstanding commitment to freedom of speech and freedom of association”.

However the platform relies heavily on community moderation, where unpaid individuals known as Redditors decide what is – and isn’t – allowed to be published on their own corner of the website.

In many instances, those Redditors have reached a different conclusion, deciding Mr Musk’s actions were so offensive that they won’t link to content from their subreddits on X, potentially reducing traffic, engagement and – ultimately – revenue.

The biggest subreddits to have enforced the ban include basketball community r/NBA, which has 15 million members, female-focused community r/TwoXChromosomes, which has 14 million members, and American football community r/NFL, which has 12 million members.

It is worth remembering that subreddits are almost always run by fans – it does not mean that the NFL or NBA organisations are taking a stance against Musk.

The BBC has independently verified that at least 100 subreddits have banned X posts.

Of this number, more than 60 have at least 100,000 members.

But the actual number that have instituted the ban will likely be significantly higher by taking into account smaller subreddits with only a few thousand members.

And there are many more communities discussing a potential blacklisting.

Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana has been jailed for a minimum of 52 years – with the judge saying it’s “highly likely” he will never be released.

Warning: This article contains details of violence that some readers might find distressing.

The 18-year-old pleaded guilty to murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.

Rudakubana also admitted trying to murder eight other children, as well as instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes, on 29 July last year.

The judge, Mr Justice Goose, gave him 13 life sentences and said if Rudakubana had been 18 at the time of the attack he would have received a whole-life term – meaning no possibility of release.

He said the killings had caused “shock and revulsion” to the nation and Rudakubana would have killed all 26 children if he’d been able.

Alice, Bebe and Elsie were stabbed multiple times in a ferocious attack that lasted 15 minutes.

Prosecutors told the court that, while in custody, the 18-year-old said: “It’s a good thing those children are dead, I’m so glad, I’m so happy.”

Rudakubana’s attack on “innocent, happy young girls” was clearly premeditated and he had showed no remorse, the judge added.

He will be 70 before a parole board can consider releasing him, but the judge said it was “highly likely” he will never be freed.

The triple-killer was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court, but was not present for the judge’s remarks after telling his lawyer he would be “disruptive” during proceedings.

During sentencing earlier in the day he was twice ordered out of the dock after shouting that he “felt ill”.

Rudakubana told his lawyer he had chest pains, was too ill to continue and wanted to see a paramedic, but the judge said two paramedics had deemed him fit to continue.

‘How can I live knowing children died?’

Before sentencing, the court heard emotional statements from victims and families.

Alice’s family – who had been planning to surprise her with a trip to Disneyland – said she was “strong and confident” with “unlimited potential”. They said her death had “shattered our souls”.

Elsie’s mum said Rudakubana was a coward and “beyond contempt”.

“He took our daughter. There’s no greater loss and no greater pain. He has left us with a lifetime of grief,” she said.

Dance teacher Leanne Lucas, who was stabbed in the back, said she couldn’t give herself “compassion or accept praise, as how can I live knowing I survived when children died?”.

Killer pulled girl back inside

Rudakubana was 17 when he walked into the dance studio before silently, indiscriminately stabbing his victims with a kitchen knife – a 20cm blade he had bought on Amazon using encrypted software to hide his identity.

He stabbed some of his victims in the back as they tried to escape, pulling one girl back inside to attack her – she was knifed dozens of times but survived.

Police arrested Rudakubana inside the Hart Space venue as he stood over a body, still holding the knife.

Officers later found a plastic kitchen box containing the toxin ricin under his bed in the village of Banks, Lancashire, along with other weapons including a machete and arrows.

Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified files on the assassination of President John F Kennedy.

The 1963 killing in Dallas is the source of one of the most well-known conspiracy theories of modern times.

Lee Harvey Oswald was said to be the gunman, but was shot dead himself two days after JFK’s killing.

Theories that have persisted include that there was a second shooter and that it was plot connected to communist Cuba.

President Trump had promised during his election campaign to make public the last withheld records on the case.

He signed an executive order to that effect on Thursday, telling reporters “everything will be revealed”.

The order will also declassify remaining federal records on the assassinations of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr in 1968, and JFK’s brother, Robert F Kennedy, who was shot dead the same year while running for president.

Mr Trump had promised to uncover the documents during his first term but agreed with CIA and FBI pleas to keep some secret.

JFK’s nephew, Robert F Kennedy Jr, is the president’s pick for health secretary and has said he is not convinced just one man was behind his uncle’s murder.

After signing the order, Mr Trump ordered the pen should be given to RFK Jr.

However, JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg hit back at President Trump’s executive order, saying there was “nothing heroic” about it.

“The truth is alot sadder than the myth – a tragedy that didn’t need to happen. Not part of an inevitable grand scheme,” he wrote on X.

“Declassification is using JFK as a political prop, when he’s not here to punch back.”

The attorney general and head of national intelligence must now come up with a plan in the next 15 days to declassify the JFK files, and within 45 days for the other cases.

It is therefore unclear exactly when they will see the light of day – and experts on the case are not holding their breath for any major revelations.

Only a few thousand of the millions of records on the JFK case are still to be fully declassified.

“There’s always the possibility that something would slip through that would be the tiny tip of a much larger iceberg that would be revealing,” said Larry J Sabato, author of a book on Kennedy.

“That’s what researchers look for. Now, odds are you won’t find that but it is possible that it’s there.”

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/everything-will-be-revealed-trump-orders-jfk-files-to-be-made-public-13295254

Facebook owner Meta has denied claims from some users that they have been “forced” to follow social media accounts belonging to the Trump administration.

Users on Facebook and Instagram have claimed they found they were “automatically” following the official accounts of Donald Trump and JD Vance following their inauguration on Monday.

The claims come after Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta made a number of policy changes to its social media apps which better aligned them with the Trump administration.

But Meta has denied it forced anyone to follow the accounts, and highlighted that the president and vice president’s accounts are linked to the US offices rather than the individual, meaning supporters who followed those accounts for the previous president and vice president still do so despite Mr Trump and Mr Vance taking them over from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Some users had made further claims that they were being forced to follow the accounts, and had been unable to unfollow them when trying to do so.

Singer Gracie Abrams, in a post to her Instagram Stories, said she had to “unfollow @vp and @potus three separate times today because Meta kept automatically refollowing the accounts”.

She added: “How curious! Had to block them in order to make sure I am nowhere near that.”

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said: “People were not made to automatically follow any of the official Facebook or Instagram accounts for the president, vice president or first lady.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/meta-denies-forcing-people-to-follow-trump-on-social-media-13295000

US President Donald Trump has had a busy first few days in office. He has signed more than 100 executive orders, directives the president can give to federal agencies and departments without having to consult Congress. Several of them were related to LGBTQ+ rights.

During his inauguration speech, Trump announced that under his leadership the US government would only recognize two genders. This means that the government will not allow nonbinary and intersex people, who are neither male nor female, to have their identities reflected on their passports and other official documents.

“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” the executive order Trump signed on day one of his second term reads. “These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

The order, titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” also makes clear that the US government does not recognize transgender people’s identities any longer.

Trump: ‘False claim’

“Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women,” the presidential directive states. “This is wrong.”

It is a “false claim,” according to Trump’s executive order, that people born with a prostate could “identify as and thus become women and vice versa.”

There are about 1.6 million transgender people in the United States aged 13 and older, according to the Williams Institute School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. The American Medical Association (AMA) is in favor of facilitating gender-affirming health care, which is any medical care that helps people transition to the gender they identify with.

Receiving this care is important for transgender people; the AMA states that such care “has been linked to dramatically reduced rates of suicide attempts [and] decreased rates of depression and anxiety.”

No more diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives

Trump also signed an executive order to end all “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives in federal departments and agencies. According to supporters, DEI programs ensure that underrepresented groups — be that based on race, gender or other markers — get a fair chance and equal treatment in the workplace. Opponents call DEI initiatives “immoral discrimination programs” and “public waste,” as Trump’s directive states.

In addition to signing his own executive orders, the US president can also reverse those signed by his predecessor. Trump on the first day of his second term revoked a Joe Biden directive titled “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.”

It ordered all federal departments to review and, if necessary, revise their policies prohibiting sex discrimination to make sure that they also banned discrimination against members of LGBTQ+ communities. This is no longer valid.

What will the effects of Trump’s executive orders be?

Since 2022, US citizens were able to select X as a sex marker on their passports instead of M or F for “male” or “female.” It is unclear as of yet what will happen with passports that currently have the X mark. But since only two genders are recognized by the Trump administration, people who identify as nonbinary or intersex will not be able to receive new documents that reflect that identity any longer. This can also be an obstacle to having their identity recognized elsewhere, for example at school or at work.

Not recognizing transgender and nonbinary identities comes with a slew of consequences for the people affected. Trans people are now unable to change their sex on government documents to align their IDs with their gender identity. The order also puts a stop to the requirement at federal government workplaces that transgender employees be referred to by their preferred pronouns.

Since the government will only recognize a person as being the gender they were assigned at birth, transgender women will be sent to men’s prisons. And transgender employees at federal government departments and agencies will have to use the restrooms of the sex they were born with, not the one they identify as.

All DEI officers at federal agencies and departments are on paid leave starting Wednesday as their initiatives will be shut down.

The rescinding of Biden’s executive order means that there is no regulation for employers distinctly stating that they cannot discriminate against employees with LGBTQ+ identities. This could include a transgender person trying and failing to get their employer to refer to them by the pronouns that match their identity, or someone being excluded from networking events because they wanted to bring their same-sex spouse.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/trump-targets-trans-nonbinary-rights-orders/a-71376679

The Oscar 2025 nominees were announced on Thursday afternoon and fans have been shocked by some of the top selections.

Saturday Night Live and Wicked star Bowen Yang and Bodies Bodies Bodies actress Rachel Sennott announced the nods this morning, while Conan O’Brien will host the main show next month.

Among the Academy Award nominees, Demi Moore landed her first nomination for her efforts in the Substance, after smashing her awards season.

The 62-year-old was mentioned in the best actress list, alongside WIcked’s Cynthia Erivo, Anora star Mikey Madison, Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here and Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez.

Timothee Chalamet has been recognized for his efforts as Bob Dylan in the recent A Complete Unknown biopic, earning a best actor nod alongside a host of other huge stars.

The Brutalist star Adrien Brody also makes up the list, beside Ralph Fiennes for Conclave, Sing Sing’s Colman Domingo and The Apprentice actor Sebastian Stan.

Cynthia’s Wicked co-star Ariana Grande earned her first ever Oscar nod in the best supporting actress category, going up against Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown, Felicity Jones in the Brutalist, Conclave’s Isabella Rossellini and Zoe Saldana for Emilia Pérez.

Succession stars Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong will be battling it out against each other for supporting actor, thanks to their incredible efforts in A Real Pain and The Apprentice respectfully.

Anora star Yura Borisov, A Complete Unknown’s Edward Norton and The Brutalist actor Guy Pearce also make up the category.

In the running for best director, A Complete Unknown filmmaker James Mangold is up against Anora’s Sean Baker, Brady Corbet for the Brutalist, Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez and Coralie Fargeat for the Substance.

Best picture nominees include Anora, The Brutalist, Emilia Pérez, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys and The Substance.

Wicked, Dune: Part Two, Conclave and A Complete Unknown make up the rest of the list.

Who was snubbed in the Oscars 2025 nominations?

Although Emilia Pérez raked in 13 nominations in total, including nods for Zoe Saldana, director Jacques Audiard and Karla Sofía Gascón, there was a major snub for Selena Gomez, who was tipped to be mentioned in the acting categories.

The Only Murders actress played Jessi in the hit film, and had garnered attention during awards season so far – with Bafta and Golden Globes nods for the role.

Daniel Craig was also left off the best actor list, despite impressing critics and fans alike with his efforts in Queer.

The film was nowhere to be found in the nominations announcement on Thursday morning.

Angelina Jolie has also earned rave reviews for her efforts as opera icon Maria Callas, but was not recognized by the Academy for the film – which only picked up one nomination in total, for cinematography.

Another huge shock was the absence of Kneecap – Rich Peppiatt’s movie about the iconic Irish group.

The film was met with huge applause when it premiered at Sundance last year, and was tipped to take home a trophy in a few months.

Instead, I’m Still Here, The Girl With The Needle, Emilia Pérez, The Seed of the Sacred Fig and Flow were nominated in the international feature film category.

Film fans were left shocked when Challengers, starring Zendaya, snubbed from the shortlist.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ efforts on the soundtrack could not secure a mention in the best original score category.

In a huge change from previous years, the Academy announced that there would be no live performances of the best original song nominees – due to the ongoing LA wildfires.

Normally the festivities include live performances of all the nominees for the best original song category, Last year memorably included a larger-than-life I’m Just Ken rendition led by Ryan Gosling and a whole host of fellow Kens.

An internal letter, via Entertainment Weekly, said the show will ‘reflect on the recent events while highlighting the strength, creativity, and optimism that defines Los Angeles and our industry’ and include ‘powerful musical moments.

‘We will celebrate their artistry through personal reflections from the teams who bring these songs to life. All of this, and more, will uncover the stories and inspiration behind this year’s nominees.’

Instead, there is expected to be a spotlight on the songwriters behind the nominations.

The Substance nabbed five nominations, and all eyes will be on Demi to take home the best actress trophy next month.

The body horror flick, starring the Ghost legend and Margaret Qualley, has delighted and disgusted fans since it was released in September 2024.

She shared her delight at the nomination on Instagram, in a post on her story.

Sharing a post from the official Substance Instagram page, she simply wrote: ‘Thank you @theacademy. And congratulations @trythesubstance @coralie_fargeat.’

In a further statement to Us Weekly, she added: ‘Being nominated for an Oscar is an incredible honor and these last few months have been beyond my wildest dreams.

‘Truly there are no words to fully express my joy and overwhelming gratitude for this recognition. Not only for me but for what this film represents. I am deeply humbled.’

Demi made history at the Golden Globes recently, as she won the Best Actress award for the first time ever.

‘Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a popcorn actress and at that time, I made that mean that this wasn’t something that I was allowed to have, that I could do movies that were successful, that made a lot of money, but that I couldn’t be acknowledged,’ she said.

‘I bought in, and I believed that, and that corroded me over time, to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it, maybe I was complete. I’ve done what I was supposed to do.

‘And as I was at kind of a low point, I had this magical, bold, courageous, out-of-the-box, absolutely bonkers script come across my desk called The Substance, and the universe told me that you’re not done.’

The film has also received five Bafta nominations, plus six Critics Choice Award nominations.

The Brutalist scored 10 nods and has received high praise from critics – the nearly four-hour-long film from Brady Corbet has already won three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture Drama.

The Brutalist won nine Bafta nominations and another nine nominations at the Critics Choice Award.

The epic period drama film is the biopic of an imaginary Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor, László Tóth – played by Adrian Brody.

Wicked also got 10 nominations, including a best actress mention for Cynthia, and a best supporting actress tip for Ariana, marking her first Oscar nod.

Taking to Instagram after the announcement, the Glinda actress thanked the Academy in a lengthy post, sharing that she was ‘picking her head up between sobs’.

‘Picking my head up in between sobs to say thank you so much to @theacademy for this unfathomable recognition. I cannot stop crying, to no one’s surprise,’ she wrote.

‘I’m humbled and deeply honored to be in such brilliant company and sharing this with tiny Ari who sat and studied Judy Garland singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow just before the big, beautiful bubble entered. I’m so proud of you, tiny.

‘Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for this acknowledgement @theacademy. Thank you @jonmchu for taking this chance on me and for being the most unbelievably brilliant leader, human being, and most fierce friend.

‘I am so deeply proud of my beautiful Wicked family. I am so proud of my Elphie, my sister, my dear @cynthiaerivo. Your brilliance is never ending and you deserve every flower (tulip) in every garden. I love you unconditionally, always.

‘I don’t quite have all my words yet, I’m still trying to breathe. but thank you. Oh my goodness, thank you. Universal, Marc, my family, my heart. Lemons and melons and pears, oh my.’

Cynthia followed suit on her own page, writing: ‘Moments like this don’t come along very often, and when they do, it is sacrilege to let them pass by without a moment of gratitude.

‘I am grateful, grateful to @theacademy, grateful to be a part of something that makes people feel seen, grateful to be a cog in the wheel of a piece that makes us believe in magic, grateful to have experienced a dream come true, and deeply deeply grateful for this unbelievable recognition.

‘I often get asked what I would say to my younger self. Well today there’s nothing to be said. She is smiling, beaming, glowing from ear to ear. That speaks volumes.’

To my sister, @arianagrande, what a joy it is to be here with you watching as you ascend and amaze and become the actress you were meant to be,’ she continued. ‘Congratulations first time nominee, I’m so so proud of you!! There is no one in the world I would have wanted to do this with more than you.

‘Thank you @jonmchu, our fearless leader whose kindness provided us with the room to play, you are deserving of all good things and I’m lucky to call you my brother. Marc, Winnie, Stephen, Universal fam, Wicked fam!!! LETS GO!!!’

Zoe celebrated her best actress mention for Emilia Pérez on social media earlier today, posting a smiling selfie with her loved ones.

‘I am truly honored and grateful for the nomination,’ she captioned the post. ‘Thank you so much for considering me for this award. I am thrilled to be among such talented company. Emilia Pérez was made with love.

‘Thank you to @theacademy and its members for recognizing our work. Jacques!!!!! BINGO!’

While Ralph opened up about his nod in a message shared via PA, which read: ‘I’m thrilled to be nominated and to be celebrating the other nominations for Conclave.

‘Edward Berger brought an extraordinary cast and crew together – he is an inspirational director with rare insight and a unique vision which lies at the heart of this film.’

The awards season has already been filled with drama as shows have been boycotted and cancelled because of the fires.

Some celebrities – including Stephen King – have spoken about cancelling the Oscars and revealed that he wouldn’t be voting for any of the films in the lead-up to the show.

Despite winning four Golden Globes, five European Film Awards and being nominated for eleven Baftas, Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard’s musical about a Mexican drug lord, has been hit with major criticism for its depiction of Mexico.

Source : https://metro.co.uk/2025/01/23/demi-moore-62-earns-first-ever-oscar-nomination-career-defining-comeback-22420142/

A California woman was arrested Wednesday after 27 dead horses were found across her multiple properties, officials said.

Jan Johnson, of Clements, was booked in the San Joaquin County Jail on charges of cruelty to an animal, threatening a public official, criminal threats and possession of a short-barrel shotgun.

Sheriff’s deputies along with Animal Services officers executed a search warrant at properties in Clements, located about 40 miles southeast of Sacramento, as part of an ongoing animal neglect investigation.

“During the operation, several malnourished horses were discovered on the premises with limited access to any food or water and approximately 27 deceased horses were located,” the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

Animal Services officers and veterinarians immediately began to triage and evaluate the horses. Four horses and one bull had to be euthanized because of the neglect, the sheriff’s office said.

Source : https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-woman-arrested-27-dead-horses-found-search-warrant-rcna188910

A suspected cartel terrorist attacked and shot an American hiker multiple times near the San Diego-Mexico border, according to the US Customs and Border Protection.

Border patrol said a group of hikers were bombarded with gunfire, with the victim struck twice and robbed in El Centro Sector’s area in the Jacumba Wilderness.

“Cartels think they can bring their war here. Think again!” Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino posted to X Wednesday afternoon.

“Americans won’t be intimidated. Our agents & BORTAC will confront these threats HEAD ON!”

Bovino included a video in his social post of nearly a dozen agents carrying what appears to be the victim on a gurney into a helicopter.

A Canadian citizen was also shot at and later robbed during the callous attack, US Border Patrol El Centro Sector posted on Facebook. He was not wounded.

“He was here legally, visiting and out for a hike with his friends,” according to the post.

“He was shot at (uninjured) and later robbed after bravely staying at his wounded friend’s side.”

It remains unclear when the incident happened and if the attacker was taken into custody.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/01/23/us-news/american-hiker-shot-twice-by-suspected-cartel-terrorist-near-us-mexico-border/

Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017, according to answers he provided to a senator during his confirmation process that The Associated Press has obtained.

The written answers were provided to Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in response to additional questions she had for Hegseth as part of the vetting process.

His attorney, Timothy Parlatore, declined to comment Thursday on the dollar figure, which was previously unknown. In November, Parlatore confirmed that the settlement payment had been made, and Hegseth told senators during his confirmation hearing last week that he was “falsely accused” and completely cleared.

News of the payment came as the Senate advanced Hegseth’s nomination along party lines, with a final vote on his confirmation expected Friday. Democrats — and two Republicans — have raised concerns about Hegseth, who also has faced allegations of excessive drinking and abuse of his second wife, which he denies.

Two days after Hegseth was grilled by senators at this confirmation hearing, Trump’s transition team briefed the two leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee on an additional statement that Hegseth’s second wife, Samantha Hegseth, had provided to the FBI.

In the statement that the transition team read Jan. 16 to Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker and Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed, she said Pete Hegseth had and continues to have a problem with alcohol abuse, a person familiar with the FBI briefing and its findings told The Associated Press.

Reed has called Hegseth’s FBI background check substandard. He said in a statement Thursday that he and Wicker received multiple FBI briefings about the defense secretary nominee, something he had not seen in more than 25 years on the Armed Services Committee, and that “the recent reports about the contents of the background briefings on Mr. Hegseth are true and accurate.”

Parlatore, Hegseth’s attorney, said Thursday that “Reed is knowingly lying” because what Samantha Hegseth actually told the FBI is that Pete Hegseth drinks more often than not, but she also acknowledged that she had not spent time with him for about seven years.

Senators also received an affidavit Tuesday from a former sister-in-law of the Pentagon nominee alleging his repeated drunkenness and that he was abusive to Samantha Hegseth to the point where she feared for her safety. He and his ex-wife have denied that he was abusive, and Parlatore called the affidavit a “clear and admitted partisan attempt to derail Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation.”

Meanwhile, the $50,000 payment was made years after the woman told police that Hegseth sexually assaulted her in a California hotel room in 2017 after he took her phone, blocked the door and refused to let her leave, according to an investigative report released in November.

Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/hegseth-sex-assault-payment-trump-6674cc8cfee654c374725948e01ff666

Six years ago, as he and his American wife Meghan were seemingly enjoying a hugely successful royal tour to Africa, Prince Harry issued a surprise, stinging rebuke to the British press, accusing papers of waging a ruthless campaign against them.
“Put simply, it is bullying, which scares and silences people,” his statement said. “We all know this isn’t acceptable, at any level. We won’t and can’t believe in a world where there is no accountability for this.”

It marked the start of the prince’s mission to take on those in the media world he accuses of destroying people’s lives with impunity – one which led him to leave his royal role, become ostracised from his father King Charles and the rest of his family, and to face a barrage of criticism.
By obtaining a full apology from Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers along with an admission for the first time of unlawful behaviour by its Sun tabloid towards him and his late mother, Princess Diana, Harry basked on Wednesday in what he called a “monumental victory”.

“Today the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law,” he said in a statement with his joint claimant, former senior British lawmaker Tom Watson.
Unlike other claimants who accepted payouts from newspaper groups to avoid the risk of a multi-million-pound legal bill, Harry had refused to settle, forcing Murdoch’s group to make an apology, meaning there was no full trial.

Through a variety of court cases, both criminal and civil, British publishers have admitted that in the late 1990s and early 2000s, British tabloids unlawfully targeted thousands of victims, hacking their voicemails, and obtaining personal information by deception.
In 2023, Harry won a case against Mirror Group Newspapers, publisher of three British tabloids, with the judge ruling his phone had been hacked and that senior editors had known.

NOT A TOTAL VICTORY

Morocco aims to complete construction of a 115,000-seater stadium in Benslimane near Casablanca by 2027, three years before the World Cup it is co-hosting with Spain and Portugal, the country’s World Cup organising committee chairman said on Wednesday.
The stadium, one of the largest in the world, will cost up to 5 billion dirhams ($500 million) to build, the Moroccan government has said.
Morocco is aiming to complete the upgrade and expansion of stadiums in Rabat and Tangier within the next two months, Fouzi Lekjaa told members of the Moroccan employers federation (CGEM) in Casablanca.

After Morocco has hosted the Africa Cup of Nations starting in December, works will start on the stadiums in World Cup host cities Agadir Marrakech and Fez.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/moroccos-largest-world-cup-stadium-be-ready-by-2027-official-says-2025-01-22/

Five elderly African elephants at a Colorado zoo will stay there, after the state’s highest court said the animals have no legal right to demand their release because they are not human.
Tuesday’s 6-0 decision by Colorado’s Supreme Court means Jambo, Kimba, LouLou, Lucky and Missy will remain at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.
It followed a similar decision in 2022 by New York state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, that another aged elephant, Happy, had to remain at New York City’s Bronx Zoo.

An animal rights non-profit, Nonhuman Rights Project, brought both cases on the elephants’ behalf under a legal doctrine known as “habeas corpus,” saying the animals should live in sanctuaries.
Citing affidavits from seven animal biologists, the group told the Colorado court that elephants are highly social and mobile, share many cognitive abilities with humans including empathy and self-awareness, and when confined in zoos can experience boredom and stress that could lead to brain damage.

But the court said Colorado’s habeas statute applies to persons, not to nonhuman animals “no matter how cognitively, psychologically, or socially sophisticated” they might be.
It also said Nonhuman Rights Project’s concession during oral argument that it was seeking only different confinement, not complete freedom, for the elephants was another reason to treat them and humans differently.
The case “does not turn on our regard for these majestic animals generally or these five elephants specifically,” Justice Maria Berkenkotter wrote. “Because an elephant is not a person, the elephants here do not have standing to bring a habeas corpus claim.”

In a statement, Nonhuman Rights Project said the decision “perpetuates a clear injustice” that consigns the five elephants to “a lifetime of mental and physical suffering.” It has not determined its next legal steps.
The zoo welcomed the outcome in a separate statement, but expressed disappointment at having spent 19 months defending against a “frivolous” case that the animal rights group has pursued unsuccessfully against several other reputable zoos.

“We’ve wasted valuable time and money responding to them in courts and in the court of public opinion,” the zoo said.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/legal/elephants-cannot-sue-get-out-zoo-colorados-top-court-rules-2025-01-22/

Mexican authorities have begun constructing giant tent shelters in the city of Ciudad Juarez to prepare for a possible influx of Mexicans deported under U.S. President Donald Trump’s promised mass deportations.
The temporary shelters in Ciudad Juarez will have the capacity to house thousands of people and should be ready in a matter of days, said municipal official Enrique Licon.

“It’s unprecedented,” Licon said on Tuesday afternoon, as workers unloaded long metal bracings from tractor trailers parked in the large empty lot yards from the Rio Grande, which separates the city from El Paso, Texas.

The tents in Ciudad Juarez are part of the Mexican government’s plan to ready shelters and reception centers in nine cities across northern Mexico.
Authorities at the site will provide deported Mexicans with food, temporary housing, medical care, and assistance in obtaining identity documents, according to a government document outlining the strategy, called “Mexico embraces you.”
The government is also planning to have a fleet of buses ready to transport Mexicans from the reception centers back to their hometowns.

Trump has vowed to carry out the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, which would remove millions of immigrants. An operation of that scale, however, would likely take years and be hugely costly.
Nearly 5 million Mexicans are living in the United States without authorization, according to an analysis by Mexican think tank El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF) based on recent U.S. census data.

MEXICO COULD STRUGGLE

Elon Musk is clashing with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the Stargate artificial intelligence infrastructure project touted by President Donald Trump, the latest in a feud between the two tech billionaires that started on OpenAI’s board and is now testing Musk’s influence with the new president.

Trump on Tuesday had talked up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion through a new partnership formed by OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, alongside Oracle and SoftBank.

The new entity, Stargate, is already starting to build out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of fast-evolving AI technology.

Trump declared it “a resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential” under his new administration, with an initial private investment of $100 billion that could reach five times that sum.

But Musk, a close Trump adviser who helped bankroll his campaign and now leads a government cost-cutting initiative, questioned the value of the investment hours later.

“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk wrote on his social platform X. “SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”

Altman responded Wednesday to say Musk was “wrong, as you surely know” and inviting Musk to come visit the first site in Texas that is already under construction.

“(T)his is great for the country. i realize what is great for the country isn’t always what’s optimal for your companies, but in your new role i hope you’ll mostly put (America) first,” Altman wrote, using a U.S. flag emoji to represent America.

Behind the feud

The public clash over Stargate is part of a years-long dispute between Musk and Altman that began with a boardroom rivalry over who should run OpenAI, which both men helped found.

Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company last year alleging it had betrayed its founding aims as a nonprofit research lab benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits.

Musk has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully. A hearing is set for February in a California federal court.

The world’s richest man, whose companies include Tesla, SpaceX and X, last year started his own rival AI company, xAI, that is building its own big data center in Memphis, Tennessee. Musk says it faces unfair competition from OpenAI and its close business partner Microsoft, which has supplied the huge computing resources needed to build AI systems such as ChatGPT.

When did Stargate start?

Tech news outlet The Information first reported on an OpenAI data center project called Stargate in March 2024, indicating that it’s been in the works long before Trump announced it.

Another company — Crusoe Energy Systems — announced in July it was building a large and “specially designed AI data center” at the northwest edge of Abilene, Texas at a site run by energy technology company Lancium. Crusoe and Lancium said in a joint statement at the time that the project was “supported by a multibillion-dollar investment” but didn’t disclose its backers.

AI technology requires huge amounts of electricity to build and operate and both companies said the project would be powered with renewable sources such as nearby solar farms, in a way that Lancium CEO Michael McNamara said would “deliver the maximum amount of green energy at the lowest possible cost.” Crusoe said it would own and develop the facility.

It’s not clear how and when that project became the first phase of the Stargate investment revealed by Trump. Abilene Mayor Weldon Hurt said construction began about nine months ago but “we didn’t know it was going to be quite this big. We thought it was going to be about a third of this size.”

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison said Tuesday that the Abilene project is the first of about 10 data center buildings currently being built and that number could expand to 20.

Hurt told The Associated Press that the region surrounding Abilene, a city of about 130,000 people, benefits from a wealth of energy sources, including oil, gas, solar and some of the “largest wind farms in the world,” though Trump signaled opposition to wind power this week by temporarily halting approval of wind projects on federal lands.

“We have the capability to produce the energy for this market so it really means a lot for a town like Abilene,” Hurt said. “To have this opportunity here in west-central Texas, to have something like this to make Abilene substantial, we’re just excited about it.”

Where is Microsoft?

Missing from Trump’s press conference Tuesday was Microsoft, which has long supported OpenAI with billions of dollars in investments and enabling its data centers to be used to build the models behind ChatGPT and other generative AI tools.

Microsoft is also a technology partner in the Stargate project, along with chipmakers Nvidia and Arm, but put out a statement noting that its OpenAI partnership will “evolve” in a way that enables OpenAI “to build additional capacity, primarily for research and training of models.”

The Pentagon said Wednesday it has begun deploying 1,500 active duty troops to help secure the southern border, putting in motion plans President Donald Trump laid out in executive orders shortly after he took office to crack down on immigration.

Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said the troops will fly helicopters to assist Border Patrol agents and help in the construction of barriers. The Pentagon also will provide military aircraft for Department of Homeland Security deportation flights for more than 5,000 detained migrants.

The number of troops and their mission may soon change, Salesses said in a statement. “This is just the beginning,” he said.

“In short order, the department will develop and execute additional missions in cooperation with DHS, federal agencies, and state partners to address the full range of threats outlined by the President at our nation’s borders,” Salesses said.

Defense officials added that the department is prepared to provide many more troops if asked, including up to 2,000 more Marines.

Officials said there was no plan now for the troops to do law enforcement, which would put them in a dramatically different role for the first time in decades. Any decision on this would be made by the White House, they said.

The active duty forces will join the roughly 2,500 U.S. National Guard and Reserve forces already there. Until this deployment, there were no active duty troops working along the roughly 2,000-mile border.

A couple hundred troops started moving to the border earlier Wednesday, according to a senior military official. The military official and a defense official briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity to provide additional details on the deployment. The troops will include 500 Marines from Camp Pendleton in California, and the remainder will be Army.

The U.S. forces being used for the deportation flights are separate from the 1,500 deployed for the border mission. Those flights will involve four Air Force aircraft based in San Diego an El Paso, along with crews and maintenance personnel.

Troops have done similar duties in support of Border Patrol agents in the past, when both Trump and former President Joe Biden sent active duty troops to the border.

Troops are prohibited by law from doing law enforcement duties under the Posse Comitatus Act, but that may change. Trump has directed through executive order that the incoming secretary of defense and incoming homeland security chief report back within 90 days if they think an 1807 law called the Insurrection Act should be invoked. That would allow those troops to be used in civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil.

The last time the act was invoked was in 1992 during rioting in Los Angeles in protest of the acquittal of four police officers charged with beating Rodney King.

The widely expected deployment, coming in Trump’s first week in office, was an early step in his long-touted plan to expand the use of the military along the border. In one of his first orders on Monday, Trump directed the defense secretary to come up with a plan to “seal the borders” and repel “unlawful mass migration.”

“This is something President Trump campaigned on,” said Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary. “The American people have been waiting for such a time as this — for our Department of Defense to actually implement homeland security seriously. This is a No. 1 priority for the American people.”

On Tuesday, just as Trump fired the Coast Guard commandant, Adm. Linda Fagan, the service announced it was surging more cutter ships, aircraft and personnel to the “Gulf of America” — a nod to the president’s directive to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

Trump said during his inaugural address on Monday that “I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places in which they came.”

Military personnel have been sent to the border almost continuously since the 1990s to help address migration. drug trafficking and transnational crime.

In executive orders signed Monday, Trump suggested the military would help the Department of Homeland Security with “detention space, transportation (including aircraft), and other logistics services.”

There are about 20,000 Border Patrol agents, and while the southern border is where most are located, they’re also responsible for protecting the northern border with Canada. Usually agents are tasked with looking for drug smugglers or people trying to enter the country undetected.

More recently, however, they have had to deal with migrants actively seeking out Border Patrol in order to get refuge in America — taxing the agency’s staff.

In his first term, Trump ordered active duty troops to the border in response to a caravan of migrants slowly making its way through Mexico toward the United States in 2018. More than 7,000 active duty troops were sent to Texas, Arizona and California, including military police, an assault helicopter battalion, various communications, medical and headquarters units, combat engineers, planners and public affairs units.

At the time, the Pentagon was adamant that active duty troops would not do law enforcement. So they spent much of their time transporting Border Patrol agents to and along the border, helping them erect additional vehicle barriers and fencing along the border, assisting them with communications and providing some security for border agent camps.

The military also provided Border Patrol agents with medical care, pre-packaged meals and temporary housing.

It also was not yet clear if the Trump administration will eventually order the military to use bases to house detained migrants. The defense officials said such a request has not been made as of yet.

Bases previously have been used for that purpose, and after the 2021 fall of Kabul to the Taliban, they were used to host thousands of Afghan evacuees. The facilities struggled to support the influx.

In 2018, then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis ordered Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, to prepare to house as many as 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children, but the additional space ultimately wasn’t needed and Goodfellow was determined not to have the infrastructure necessary to support the surge.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/troops-border-deploy-active-duty-09324578d2b89db5c44e0ba08f42df47

Hundreds of LGBTQ+ couples in Thailand are expected to make their wedded status legal Thursday, the day a law took effect granting them the same rights as heterosexual couples.

The enactment of the Marriage Equality Act makes Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia and the third place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, after Taiwan and Nepal.

As many as 300 couples are expected to complete the formalities at a daylong gala celebration in an exhibition hall at a shopping mall in central Bangkok.

Hundreds more were predicted to register at district offices around the country. They included actors Apiwat “Porsch” Apiwatsayree and Sappanyoo ‘Arm’ Panatkool, who tied the knot at the Phra Nakorn district office in central Bangkok.

“We can love, we love equally, legally,” said Sappanyoo.

(asterisk)And we can build our family in our own way because I believe that every kind of love, every kind of family is beautiful as it is,” his partner Apiwat said.

They posed afterwards on a terrace at the office, smiling and waving while clutching a bouquet of flowers.

Activists said they hoped at least 1,448 same sex marriages would take place Thursday, in reference to Civil and Commercial Code’s Article 1448.

Thailand’s marriage equality bill, which sailed through both houses of parliament, amended Article 1448 to replace the words “man and woman” and “husband and wife” with “individuals” and “marriage partners.” It is intended to grant full legal, financial and medical rights to LGBTQ+ couples.

In Taiwan, which in 2019 was the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, 526 people registered on the first day, according to its government’s Department of Household Registration.

Partners will have equal rights and responsibilities in dealing with joint assets, tax obligations and deductions, inheritance rights and survivor benefits.

Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity, and thousands of people from around the world attend the annual Bangkok Pride parade. But rights advocates have struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law in a largely conservative society where members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday life, although they note that things have improved greatly in recent years.

Couples interviewed earlier this month by The Associated Press expressed happiness with the new law, even those already settled in contented long-term relationships.

Patherine Khunnares, 37, a web designer, said she and researcher Vivian Chullamon, 36, “have a supportive social circle, friends, and family who accept us for who we are and accept the person we love. Marriage, it seems, isn’t everything that fulfills us emotionally.

“However, ultimately, we believe that as two human beings, we should be granted the same basic legal rights as heterosexual couples. We are a complete family in spirit, but legal recognition would alleviate our future anxieties. In the end, we aren’t asking for anything special — we just want a simple, happy family life.”

Source : https://apnews.com/article/thailand-lgbtq-marriage-law-c2162f07cd103ea86631a137d6b6d193

A report out Thursday said a record 47% of the European Union’s electricity came from renewable sources in 2024, and experts called it a promising sign for the world’s ability to transition away from fossil fuels that are driving climate change.

Here’s a look at the world’s largest generators of electricity and the share of their electricity that comes from renewables. Data is from the climate energy think tank Ember and is for 2023.

Brazil, 88.9%

Canada, 66.5%

China, 30.6%

France, 26.5%

United States, 22.7%

Japan, 22%

India, 19.5%

Source : https://apnews.com/article/climate-renewable-energy-electricity-european-union-us-china-5a681606856e7b23f669a519fdc70ee2

Whitney Cummings poked fun at Lauren Sánchez’s polarizing inauguration look — and Jeff Bezos’ fiancée responded.

The comedian told her Instagram followers Tuesday that she is “not gonna hate on” the 55-year-old for wearing a white Alexander McQueen pantsuit and peekaboo lace bra at Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.

“She is a businesswoman, and her decisions have gotten her this far,” Cummings, 42, continued. “I respect this woman’s judgment, alright? We all wish we had it, let’s be honest.”

The actress admitted that the 55-year-old’s lingerie looked “cheap” on Monday but clarified, “I don’t blame her. I blame white lace. … This is probably $1,000, like, Dolce & Gabbana.

“But we’ve all done it,” she added. “We’ve all bought, like, a cute white lace bra and you take your shirt off and … it always looks like you’ve been trafficked.”

Cummings joked that “it looks cute in a mirror but then in a photo no bueno,” labeling it “‘Bachelor in Paradise’ meets ‘Love Is Blind’ energy.”

After sending her “thoughts and prayers,” the “2 Broke Girls” co-creator concluded, “She’s with the head of Amazon, and she looked like she got that top on Temu.”

Cummings noted in her caption that “this wouldn’t have been [her] outfit selection but” doubled down on her claim that “white lace is a scam.”

Sánchez commented on the social media upload with a heart emoji.

The former news anchor made headlines Tuesday for “liking” other supportive comments on her most recent Instagram posts.

One such comment read, “Girl you ate that inaugural look don’t pay attention to no haters. Only opinion that matters is your own and Jeff’s.”

Sánchez has yet to react to Megyn Kelly comparing her to a “hooker” and Christine Quinn blasting her “chesticles [being] hoisted” at the Washington, DC, event.

Source : https://pagesix.com/2025/01/22/style/lauren-sanchez-reacts-to-whitney-cummings-poking-fun-at-cheap-inauguration-look/

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Against the backdrop of devastating wildfires that ravaged southern California, the 97th Academy Awards are poised to announce their nominations. The fires, which have brought destruction and grief to Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, hit close to home for the entertainment industry, with roughly 60% of the Academy’s 10,000 eligible voting members residing in the City of Angels.

To accommodate those impacted, the Academy extended its voting deadline by five days, sparking speculation on how this extension might influence the final nominations. Did this extra window allow underdog films to gain last-minute momentum, or did the chaos of the fires dampen turnout among voters directly affected by the tragedy?

Despite these uncertainties, this year’s Oscar race is as competitive and unpredictable as ever. At the forefront of the conversation is Jacques Audiard’s genre-blending crime musical “Emilia Pérez,” projected to garner to be one of the leaders, ranging from 10-14 nominations. This potentially would set the record as the most-nominated non-English film in Oscar history (surpassing the 2000’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and 2018’s “Roma”).

At the heart of “Emilia Pérez” is Karla Sofía Gascón’s incredible performance, which could make history as the first openly transgender acting nominee. However, with such a competitive lead actress race and critical darlings like Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”) and Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”) surging in the final days of voting, this could be a year where a presumed “lock” is absent on nomination morning. Or something completely unexpected, a category switch with Zoe Saldaña’s performance cited in the lead, alongside her co-star, which would be the first co-leading duo recognized since Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon for “Thelma & Louise” (1991). Or perhaps Gascón’s work would mimic the year when “Judas and the Black Messiah” (2021) saw both Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya nominated in supporting, despite the former campaigning in the lead.

Projected nominee leaders (films): “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez” and “Wicked” (10); “The Brutalist” (8) and “A Complete Unknown” (7); “Anora” and “Dune: Part Two” (6); “Nosferatu,” “Sing Sing” and “The Substance” (4); “Gladiator II” and “A Real Pain” (3)

Projected nominee leaders (studios): Netflix (15); Focus Features (14); A24 (13); Searchlight Pictures and Universal Pictures (10); Warner Bros. (7); Neon (6); Janus Films and Sony Pictures Classics (5); Mubi and Paramount Pictures (4)

*** = PREDICTED WINNER

(All predicted nominees listed below are in alphabetical order)

A court in the Indian capital, Delhi, has ordered the seizure of two “offensive” paintings by MF Husain, one of India’s most famous artists.

The court on Monday granted permission for the police to seize the artworks after a complaint was filed alleging that the paintings, displayed at an art gallery and featuring two Hindu deities, “hurt religious sentiments”.

Husain, who died in 2011 aged 95, often faced backlash for the depictions of nude Hindu gods in his paintings.

The Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), which hosted the exhibition, denied any wrongdoing and stated that a “detailed” police investigation found no “cognisable offence” by the gallery.

The exhibition Husain: The Timeless Modernist at DAG showcased over 100 paintings from 26 October to 14 December.

The complainant, Amita Sachdeva, a lawyer, said on X that on 4 December, she photographed the “offensive paintings” displayed at the DAG and, after researching previous complaints against the late artist, filed a police complaint five days later.

On 10 December, Ms Sachdeva reported that she visited the gallery with the investigating officer, only to discover that the paintings had been removed. She claimed that the gallery officials asserted they had never exhibited the paintings.

The paintings that Ms Sachdeva shared online depicted Hindu gods Ganesha and Hanuman alongside nude female figures. She also alleged that the Delhi police had failed to file a report.

She later petitioned the court to preserve the CCTV footage from the gallery during the period when the paintings were reportedly on display, according to media reports.

On Monday, a judge at Delhi’s Patiala House Courts said that the police had accessed the footage and submitted their report. According to the inquiry, the exhibition was held in a private space and was intended solely to showcase the artist’s original work, the judge added.

The DAG said in a statement that it had been assisting police with their inquiries. It said the exhibition had attracted about 5,000 visitors and had received “positive reviews in the press as well as from the public”.

The complainant had been the only person to raise any objection to any of the artworks in the exhibition, the gallery said.

“The complainant has herself displayed and publicised the images of the drawings over social media and television news media deliberately intending them to be viewed by a larger audience, while contending that the same images hurt her personal religious sentiments.”

Maqbool Fida Husain was one of India’s biggest painters and was called “Picasso of India” but his art often stirred controversy in the country. His works have sold for millions of dollars.

His career was marked by controversy when he was accused of obscenity and denounced by hardline Hindus for a painting of a nude goddess.

In 2006, Husain publicly apologised for his painting, Mother India. It showed a nude woman kneeling on the ground creating the shape of the Indian map. He left the country the same year and lived in self-imposed exile in London until his death.

In 2008, India’s Supreme Court refused to launch criminal proceedings against Husain, saying that his paintings were not obscene and nudity was common in Indian iconography and history.

The court had then dismissed an appeal against a high court ruling that quashed criminal proceedings against Husain in the cities of Bhopal, Indore and Rajkot, condemning the rise of a “new puritanism” in India.

The court also rejected calls for Husain, then in exile, to be summoned and asked to explain his paintings, which were accused of outraging religious sentiments and disturbing national integrity.

“There are so many such subjects, photographs and publications. Will you file cases against all of them? What about temple structures? Husain’s work is art. If you don’t want to see it, don’t see it. There are so many such art forms in temple structures,” the top court said.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg45vk9gnw6o

A two-year-old boy and a man aged 41 have been killed in a stabbing in a German park.

Police confirmed that a 28-year-old man from Afghanistan was arrested following the attack in Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg.

Two others were taken to hospital with serious injuries and the public park was cordoned off by officers.

Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria’s interior minister, said the suspect was previously detained at least three times for violent behaviour, but was released after he had psychiatric treatment. He was due to return to Afghanistan after his claim for asylum was rejected.

It is the latest fatal knife attack in Germany in recent months, and comes weeks before a federal election on 23 February.

Police said their investigation into the stabbing was ongoing, but that the attack had taken place at about 11:45 (10:45 GMT) at Schöntal Park in Aschaffenburg, about 22 miles (36 kilometres) south-east of Frankfurt.

The attack involved a kindergarten group and other people were injured, including another child, Herrmann said in a statement near the park.

Markus Söder, the Bavarian state premier, called it a “cowardly and despicable act”. German reports suggested the suspect had a history of mental health issues.

He added that the boy was of Moroccan descent, and the man killed was a German passer-by “who happened to be at the scene of the crime”.

Mr Söder described the man as “a helper who paid for his civil courage with his own life”.

The suspect was arrested close to the scene. Officers said a second person was initially detained at the scene but was now being treated as a witness.

Officials said a search of his room had not revealed signs of the suspect being motivated by radical Islam.

Police said there was no danger to the public.

Söder said it was a terrible day and called for a pause: “We mourn the loss of a small, innocent child.”

Police said they were investigating a motive and the background to the attack remained unclear. The suspect was said to have been staying in accommodation for asylum seekers.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was on a visit to France, condemned an “unbelievable act of terror”. He posted on social media that he was tired of seeing “such acts of violence every few weeks” and urged authorities to find out why the suspect was still in Germany.

The German government has come under increasing pressure to take a harder line on immigration after a number of fatal attacks, and with federal elections due on 23 February, the anti-immigration, far-right AfD is second in the polls.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70k6x1x67ro

Donald Trump has signed sweeping executive orders on his return to the US presidency, vowing swift action on some of his top campaign issues.

Among the directives that have gained the most publicity are an immigration crackdown and rollbacks of some climate-friendly policies.

But even presidential powers have their limits – and in some cases, he faces hurdles before his plans can become reality.

Here are six of Trump’s eye-catching actions with analysis by BBC reporters, who give their verdict on whether each order could take effect.

A peer has claimed ADHD is a “fashionable disorder” and that many diagnosed with the condition are “not that ill or not ill at all”.

Baroness Claire Fox, who used to be a member of the Brexit Party, spoke about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a debate in the House of Lords.

She said there was an 18% rise in ADHD prescriptions between April 2023 and March 2024.

Many NHS trusts have stopped diagnosing ADHD and prescribing medication to adults, and there are long waiting lists for children to get appointments.

However, private clinics can offer diagnosis and medication on the NHS in some cases – although there have been questions raised about the robustness of their practices.

Baroness Fox said: “Isn’t it tragic that so many people want their children, or want themselves, to have these drugs in order to feel that they can cope? When they’re actually, really, not that ill, or not ill at all, but they’ve got the label.

Peers were debating the Mental Health Bill.

The peer claimed “therapeutic experts, councillors and psychological practitioners” are becoming “diagnostically trigger happy in labelling people as ill”.

She said this has lead to “clamouring” – especially with young people – for “pills to help them with the cope with the travails of life”.

Baroness Fox claimed to have witnessed a debate where young people became “quite aggressive”, with the peer saying they “demanded treatment”.

ADHD is the fashionable disorder of the day”, adding that “it’s often diagnosed promiscuously”.

The comments come after Ofqual released figures in November for the number of pupils given extra time to complete their exams – which can be due to youngsters being diagnosed with disorders like ADHD – showing that the number being given an extra 15 minutes rising by 42% between 2018/19 and 2022/23. The issue was more prevalent in independent schools (39% of pupils in 2022/23) than in non-selective state schools (24% in 2022/23).

Baroness Elaine Murphy, an independent peer and former psychiatrist, told the Lords: “There’s no doubt that there is massive overdiagnosis of things that are called mental disorder but are distress and need a different sort of approach.”

She added: “There are a lot of websites which are utter rubbish, and are encouraging people to pay money to see psychotherapy, psychotherapists and other counsellors to see what’s the matter with them, and pay money so other people can put money in their pockets for doing not much.”

Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, spoke to the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge about the growing number of people being signed off work with mental health issues.

The cabinet minister said there were “a lot of complicated things going on here” – before welcoming the reduction in stigma around mental health issues.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/not-ill-at-all-young-people-getting-diagnosed-with-fashionable-adhd-peer-claims-13294551

The Duke of Sussex has received a full apology and substantial damages from the publisher of The Sun for “serious intrusion” into his private life.

Harry and former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson brought legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN) over allegations of unlawful information gathering by journalists and private investigators between 1996 to 2011.

NGN, which also ran the now-defunct News Of The World, had denied any unlawful activity took place at The Sun.

However, in a statement it said there had been “serious intrusion” including “incidents of unlawful activities” which it acknowledged had inflicted “damage” to “relationships, friendships and family”.

An up to 10-week trial was set to begin at the High Court in London on Tuesday, but three requests for adjournments and a Court of Appeal bid meant the case remained unopened.

On Wednesday morning, Harry’s barrister David Sherborne said the parties had “reached an agreement” and that NGN had offered an apology to the 40-year-old and would pay “substantial damages”.

The settlement is worth more than £10m, mostly in legal fees, a source familiar with the deal told news agency Reuters.

Lord Watson was also taking legal action against the publisher, but also settled his claim.

He called for NGN’s owner Rupert Murdoch to make a “personal apology” to the Duke of Sussex and to the King.

NGN said its agreements with Harry and Lord Watson “draws a line under the past” and “brings an end to this litigation”.

Outside the court, Mr Sherborne said it was a “monumental victory” and accused newspaper executives of running a “criminal enterprise” – and praised Harry and Lord Watson for showing “sheer resilience”.

‘Serious intrusion by The Sun’

In a statement read out in court, NGN offered Harry a “full and unequivocal apology” for the “serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life”.

It said these included “incidents of unlawful activities” carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.

NGN also apologised for the “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators” at the News Of The World.

In a lengthy statement, NGN apologised for the impact on Harry of the “extensive coverage and serious intrusion” into the private life of his late mother Diana, “in particular during his younger years”.

“We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused to the duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages,” NGN added.

Apology for placing Lord Watson ‘under surveillance’

NGN also offered Lord Watson a “full and unequivocal apology” for the “unwarranted intrusion carried out into his private life during his time in government” by the News Of The World during the 2009-2011 period.

“This includes him being placed under surveillance in 2009 by journalists at the News Of The World and those instructed by them,” it added.

“NGN also acknowledges and apologises for the adverse impact this had on Lord Watson’s family and has agreed to pay him substantial damages.”

NGN said information received in 2011 that details were being “passed covertly to Lord Watson from within News International” was “false” and apologised.

‘They ran a criminal enterprise’

Mr Sherborne said Harry’s victory proves “no one stands above the law” and NGN had shown “blatant disregard for the law”.

He said more than 100 private investigators had been “engaged” by NGN over at least 16 years on more than 35,000 occasions to intrude into the prince’s private life.

This isn’t the end of this story

Prince Harry all along wanted to make sure this wasn’t simply about the stories written about him, but wanted them in court to admit there had been some kind of cover-up by senior executives who, he says, had known unlawful activities were being carried out by reporters and private investigators.

It won’t have been fully fulfilled because the News Group Newspapers apology did not admit to breaking the law on that front. That phrase, “without any admission of illegality”, is the really important one.

Because of that, Prince Harry’s lawyer has said he wants the rule of law to take its course and that a dossier will be handed to the police now court proceedings have concluded.

A victory for Prince Harry today – but you can see that all claimants involved do want this to go further.

Mr Sherborne said: “At her trial in 2014, Rebekah Brooks said ‘when I was editor of The Sun we ran a clean ship’.

“Now, 10 years later when she is CEO of the company, they now admit, when she was editor of The Sun, they ran a criminal enterprise.

“Far from being relics of a distant past, many of those behind these unlawful practices remain firmly entrenched in senior positions today, both within News UK and other media outlets across the world, wielding editorial power and perpetuating the toxic culture in which they continue to thrive.

“This represents a vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into settling, without being able to get to the truth of what was done to them.”

The lawyer said Harry and Lord Watson support calls for the police and MPs to investigate “not only the unlawful activity now finally admitted, but the perjury and cover-ups along the way”.

Who is Rebekah Brooks?

Rebekah Brooks was the editor of the News Of The World from 2000 to 2003, before holding the same role at The Sun from 2003 to 2009.

When phone hacking accusations were made public, Ms Brooks herself was thrust into the spotlight.

She stood trial alongside fellow ex-News Of The World editor Andy Coulson for conspiracy to hack phones in 2014 – but while Coulson was found guilty, Ms Brooks was cleared.

She returned to News UK in 2015 and has been its chief executive since.

‘There are strong controls at our titles today’

NGN said its agreements with Harry and Lord Watson “draws a line under the past” and “brings an end to this litigation” and it was “in the interests of all the parties to come to a settlement”.

A spokesperson added: “Today, our apology to the Duke of Sussex includes an apology for incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun, not by journalists, during the period 1996-2011.

“There are strong controls and processes in place at all our titles today to ensure this cannot happen now.

“There was no voicemail interception on The Sun.”

Experts called this a “huge victory” for Prince Harry and said the apology was “pretty sensational”.

Royal commentator Jennie Bond told Sky News: “When you read that apology, albeit without an admission of illegality, it is extraordinary.

“It allows him to move forward with his life now, which I think is where he’s going. He’s trying to not always look backwards.

“I think what was so precious to him was to have an apology for his late mother because he has spoken about her so much and how she was persecuted.”

Campaign group, Hacked Off, which calls for the reform of UK press self-regulation, said the result was “humiliating” for The Sun.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/duke-of-sussex-settles-court-case-with-the-suns-publisher-13294182

Investors in Klarna have been told to indicate their interest in selling their shares by early next month, in a further indication that the buy now pay later (BNPL) giant is about to kickstart a US listing valuing it at about $20bn.

Sky News has learnt that shareholders in one of Europe’s biggest fintechs have been handed a 5 February deadline to register to sell down their stock as part of its looming initial public offering (IPO).

Banking sources also said on Wednesday evening that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, two of the lead banks on the IPO, would publish equity research in the coming days – another sign that a listing is imminent.

Klarna, which is based in Sweden but now has 85 million customers globally, announced in November that it had filed paperwork with US regulators for a public listing of its shares.

Its valuation is expected to fall within a range of $15bn-$20bn, although a number of the company’s existing shareholders believe it could be priced substantially higher than that.

Klarna has established a UK-registered holding company as part of the journey towards a public listing, with more than a dozen banks now hired to work on it.

Last week, Klarna announced an expanded partnership with Stripe, the payments group, to offer its products to a larger population of consumers.

Klarna, which employs about 5,000 people, was founded by chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski, who last year also set up a new holding company in Britain.

Nevertheless, its listing in the US delivered a fresh disappointment to the London Stock Exchange, which had been pushing for it to float in the UK.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/klarna-gives-investors-sale-deadline-ahead-of-20bn-float-13294474

The most popular person in Russia right now is, of course, Elon Musk. Everyone loves him: officials, businessmen, and ordinary citizens alike. His unusual gesture during a speech before the inauguration surprised many, as it’s commonly believed in Russia to resemble a Nazi salute. However, this did nothing to tarnish the image of the owner of SpaceX and the social network X.

It’s rather surprising that in the month leading up to Donald Trump’s inauguration, most conversations in Russia revolved around Elon Musk. All hopes are pinned on him.

Eight years ago, when Trump was first elected President of the United States, he was considered “Russia’s guy” by many Moscow. Now, no one harbors such illusions. Instead, the title of “our man in America” has shifted to Elon Musk.

From Russia with X

The latest rumor circulating among Russian political elites is about the possible unblocking of the former Twitter. The X platform was banned in Russia in 2022, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. But much has changed since then, and many Russian officials now believe that X must be urgently unblocked to help normalize relations with America. One of the supposed supporters of this idea is Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. Allegedly, he argues that Musk is not an enemy of Russia, nor is his social network. After all, it was X that once spread Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin to a global audience. This fact greatly pleased the Kremlin.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the Russian government has any real levers of influence—rather, they seem to believe that the world’s richest man is deeply interested in Russia and enjoys his self-appointed role as an unofficial chief negotiator with Moscow.

Troubled Friendship

In the popular biography of Elon Musk, published in 2015, there’s a story about how the budding entrepreneur traveled to Moscow in 2001 to buy a ballistic missile. Initially, the negotiations were fruitless—one general reportedly even spat in Musk’s direction upon hearing his plans to colonize other planets. Ultimately, the deal fell apart over pricing: the Russians wanted $8 million for one missile, while Musk was willing to pay that amount for two.

Over time, Musk’s seriousness became apparent. In Russia, there was once an official who attempted to compete with him: Dmitry Rogozin, a well-known populist and even nationalist politician, whom Putin inexplicably appointed to head Roscosmos, Russia’s equivalent of NASA. Rogozin was keen to prove he was superior to Musk and frequently made absurd statements. For instance, he mockingly suggested that after the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, Americans would need to send their astronauts to the ISS using a trampoline. When Musk successfully launched the Crew Dragon to the ISS, he responded on Twitter with a triumphant “HA! The trampoline is working,” delivering a perfect retort to the Russian official’s empty bravado.

Dmitry Rogozin’s career, incidentally, ended ingloriously. He was dismissed at the very beginning of the war and later embarked on a propaganda tour to the Donbas, where he was injured while dining in a restaurant—sustaining damage to his buttocks. The incident sparked a wave of jokes, as practically no one missed the opportunity to mock it. As for Musk, jokes about him in Russia have long ceased. The closer he aligned politically with Trump, the more seriously the political elite began to regard him.

Many in Russia have their own stories of chance encounters with Musk. For instance, he holds great respect for Sergey Korolev, the founder of the Soviet space program, and maintained contact with Korolev’s family—a stark contrast to the Russian authorities’ indifference toward the legacy of the visionary engineer who sent the first human into space.

“А Man Who Cannot Be Stopped”

After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Musk provided access to his Starlink network to the Ukrainian armed forces. However, as reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by sources in Moscow, Musk also began regularly speaking with Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials, such as Sergey Kiriyenko, the Kremlin’s deputy chief of staff in charge of domestic policy. The longer these conversations continued, the more critical Musk became of Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky. In Moscow, they are convinced that Musk relishes this role, effectively acting as an unofficial secretary of state for relations with Russia.

From the perspective of the Russian elite, Musk is somewhat influenced by Putin. He is reportedly flattered by being a regular interlocutor of the Russian president and seems to trust many of Putin’s arguments. Putin, for his part, tries to reciprocate. A year ago, during an interview with Tucker Carlson, the Russian president called Musk “a man who cannot be stopped.”

Elon Musk has long been admired by many Russian oligarchs, who see him as embodying their dreams. A businessman wielding state-level power without holding any official position perfectly reflects the aspirations of Russian big business in the 1990s, when problems were solved through threats, bullying, and brute force. No one back then could have imagined that something similar would unfold in the West.

Musk as Berezovsky

Observing the initial steps of the Trump-Musk tandem through the lens of Russian political history, it’s hard to shake a sense of déjà vu. Something strikingly similar happened in Moscow exactly 25 years ago.

At the time, Vladimir Putin had just been elected President of Russia, with the all-powerful oligarch Boris Berezovsky standing behind him.

Berezovsky had played a pivotal role in securing Putin’s presidency. He believed the new Russian leader would remain indebted to him, preserving the loyalty and obedience that Berezovsky had come to expect. However, the oligarch overstepped his bounds far too quickly.

NBC broke the story of sworn testimony from the ex-sister-in-law of Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense. In an affidavit, which was released for senators to review ahead Hegseth’s confirmation hearing this week, Danielle Hegseth alleged that Hegseth’s former wife Samantha Hegseth had often feared for her safety. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) said in a press release that the affidavit alleged that Samantha Hegseth “had an ‘escape plan’ that involved texting a ‘safe word’ to friends and family to urgently request assistance without putting herself in more danger with Mr. Hegseth.”

Buried toward the end of Reed’s press release was another eye-opening detail: Pete Hegseth allegedly believed that “women should not vote or work and that Christians needed to have more children so they could overtake the Muslim population.”

Even as Hegseth has repeatedly called for an end to women serving in combat roles in the military, the extreme nature of those remarks might seem astonishing for a candidate slated to assume one of the highest leadership roles in the US government. But in the religious movement that Hegseth is connected to, beliefs about the subservient role of women are widely held.

As I noted at the time that Trump nominated Hegseth:

What Hegseth does have are connections to the TheoBros, a group of mostly millennial, ultra-conservative men, many of whom proudly call themselves Christian nationalists. Among the tenets of their branch of Protestant Christianity—known as Reformed or Reconstructionist—is the idea that the United States should be subject to biblical law.

Last year, the magazine Nashville Christian Family ran a profile of Hegseth, in which he mentioned being a member of a “Bible and book study” that focused on the book My Life for Yours by Doug Wilson, the 71-year-old unofficial patriarch of the TheoBros. Patriarch is the right word: When I interviewed Wilson a few months ago, he said that he, like many other TheoBros, believes women never should have been given the right to vote.

Hegseth attends a Tennessee church in the denomination founded by Wilson.

Leaders in Wilson’s movement believe that women are called by God to obey their husbands. “Elevate women to positions of civil authority or save the lives of babies,” Joel Webbon, a Texas-based pastor and leader in the TheoBros movement, wrote on X in September. “A nation cannot do both.” In a 2023 post, Wilson alluded to “something called the patriarchy—that which, according to our soi disant and lisping political theorists, must be smashed. Only they say something like thmasth.”

Source : https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/01/hegseths-former-sister-in-law-says-he-believed-women-shouldnt-vote/

President Trump announced Tuesday night that he had granted a “full and unconditional” pardon to Ross Ulbricht, founder of the notorious dark website Silk Road.

Trump, 78, announced his grant of clemency, first reported earlier Tuesday by The Post, on Truth Social.

“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright [sic] to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,” he wrote.

“The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”

A source close to the White House told The Post at midday Tuesday that executive action to turn Ulbricht loose was “incoming.”

“Ross Ulbricht and his family are deeply and eternally grateful to President Trump for his extraordinary act of grace in granting Ross a full and unconditional pardon. After enduring over a decade of incarceration, this decision offers Ross the opportunity to begin anew, to rebuild his life, and to contribute positively to society,” lawyer Brandon Sample told The Post via email.

“This moment marks the end of a long and challenging journey for Ross and his loved ones, and they are overwhelmed with gratitude for this life-changing gesture of mercy and justice.”

Trump had vowed in May to reduce Ulbricht’s life sentence on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering “down to time served” if he won the 2024 election.

Ulbricht was arrested in October 2013 in San Francisco and accused of running the notorious website — which sold drugs and other illegal products while accepting bitcoin as payment — under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts.”

Now 40, Ulbricht was convicted in February 2015 on charges including drug trafficking and conspiracies to commit money laundering and computer hacking. He was sentenced that May to two life terms in prison, plus 40 years.

Ulbricht had unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and sentence up to the Supreme Court, leaving him to serve out his time at a maximum-security prison in Arizona.

On Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) sent a letter to Trump asking him to show mercy.

“I write to urge you to follow through on your stated intention to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht. Mr. Ulbricht is serving two life sentences plus forty years without parole for nonviolent offenses related to the website he launched in early 2011,” Paul’s letter read.

Source : https://nypost.com/2025/01/21/us-news/trump-expected-to-pardon-silk-road-founder-ross-ulbricht-vacating-life-sentence/

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to hit the European Union with tariffs and said his administration was discussing a 10% punitive duty on Chinese imports because fentanyl is being sent from China to the U.S. via Mexico and Canada.
Trump voiced his latest tariff threats in remarks to reporters at the White House a day after taking office without immediately imposing tariffs as he had promised during his campaign.

Financial markets and trade groups exhaled briefly on Tuesday, but his latest comments underscored Trump’s longstanding desire for broader duties and a new Feb. 1 deadline for 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico, as well as duties on China and the EU.
Trump said the EU and other countries also had troubling trade surpluses with the United States.
“The European Union is very, very bad to us,” he said, repeating comments made Monday. “So they’re going to be in for tariffs. It’s the only way … you’re going to get fairness.”

Trump said on Monday that he was considering imposing the duties on Canada and Mexico unless they clamped down on the trafficking of illegal migrants and fentanyl, including precursor chemicals from China, across their U.S. borders.
Trump had previously threatened a 10% duty on Chinese imports because of the trade, but realigned that with the Feb. 1 deadline.
China said it was willing to maintain communication with the U.S. to “properly handle differences and expand mutually beneficial cooperation”. It sought to promote stable and sustainable ties with the U.S., the foreign ministry said.

“We always believe that there is no winner in a trade war or tariff war. China will always firmly safeguard its national interests,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters at a regular press briefing on Wednesday.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told CNBC early on Tuesday that Trump’s Canada and Mexico tariff threat was to pressure the two countries to stop illegal migrants and illicit drugs from entering the U.S.
“The reason why he’s considering 25, 25 and 10 (percent), or whatever it’s going to be, on Canada, Mexico and China, is because 300 Americans die every day” from fentanyl overdoses, Navarro said.

APRIL 1 REPORTS

Trump on Monday signed a broad trade memorandum ordering federal agencies to complete comprehensive reviews of a range of trade issues by April 1.

These include analyses of persistent U.S. trade deficits, unfair trade practices and currency manipulation among partner countries, including China. Trump’s memo asked for recommendations on remedies, including a “global supplemental tariff,” and changes to the $800 de minimis duty-free exemption for low-value shipments often blamed for illicit imports of fentanyl precursor chemicals.
The reviews ordered create some breathing room to resolve reported disagreements among Trump’s cabinet nominees over how to approach his promises of universal tariffs and duties on Chinese goods of up to 60%.
Trump’s more measured approach to tariffs fueled a rally in U.S. stocks that pushed the benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX), to its highest level in a month, though Trump’s new salvo on China and the European Union may deflate that momentum.
Trump likely “decided to go a little slower and also to make sure he has as firm a legal foundation as he can get for these kinds of actions,” said William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “He’s figuring out how to best use his leverage to get what he wants.”

SOFTER TONES

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed on Tuesday how to build ties with Donald Trump, prospects for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine and Moscow’s firm support for Beijing’s position on Taiwan.
Xi and Putin, who spoke for an hour and 35 minutes by video call after Trump was sworn in as U.S. president on Monday, proposed a further deepening of the strategic partnership between their countries which worries the West.

China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Putin has in recent months described China as an “ally”.
Putin, 72, speaking from his Novo-Ogarevo residency outside Moscow and Xi, 71, speaking from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, called each other “dear friends”, and Xi told Putin about a call with Trump on Friday on TikTok, trade and Taiwan.

Xi and Putin “have indicated a willingness to build relations with the United States on a mutually beneficial, mutually respectful basis, if the Trump team really shows interest in this,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow. “It was also noted from our side that we are ready for dialogue with the new U.S. administration on the Ukrainian conflict.”
Ushakov said Putin wanted long-term peace in Ukraine, not a short-term ceasefire, but any deal must take into account Russia’s interests. No specific proposals for a call with Trump have been received, he said.

Trump has said he will be tough on China and speak to Putin about ending the war in Ukraine. In remarks to reporters after his inauguration, Trump said Putin should make a deal to end the war because the conflict was destroying Russia.
Xi has called for talks to end the war in Ukraine and has accused the U.S. of stoking the war with weapons supplies to Kyiv, which says it is ready to seek a negotiated solution that respects its interests.

“The relationship between Xi’s China and Putin’s Russia is ‘the most significant undeclared alliance in the world’,” said Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard University, who wrote a 2023 paper of the same title.

“Xi will play a decisive role in the early end of the war in Ukraine that Trump has promised – and that I’m betting will happen.”

WORLD VIEW

A fire at a ski resort hotel in Turkey’s Bolu mountains killed 76 people and injured dozens on Tuesday, forcing panicked guests to jump out of windows in the middle of the night.
“It was like the apocalypse. The flames engulfed the hotel immediately, like in half an hour,” said Mevlut Ozer, who witnessed the incident at the Kartalkaya ski resort in northwest Turkey.

The fire began around 3:30 a.m. (0030 GMT) on the restaurant floor of the 12-storey Grand Kartal Hotel, authorities said.

Several fire engines and ambulances later surrounded the charred, wood-fronted building, where white bed sheets tied together dangled from at least three upper-floor windows, showing how people tried to flee.
President Tayyip Erdogan declared Wednesday a day of national mourning after the incident.
“People all started to jump with panic. One friend jumped from the 11th floor – may God have mercy on him,” said Omer Sakrak, another witness and employee of a neighbouring hotel.

“They tried to climb down using bedsheets. The bedsheets ripped as one friend tried … and he unfortunately fell on his head,” he told Reuters. “One father was yelling about his one year-old child: ‘I will throw my child or he will burn’.”
Hotel guests told TV broadcasters they fled through smoke-filled corridors and heard no alarms.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said there had been 238 guests staying at the hotel, situated at the base of several ski slopes, which smouldered until the afternoon.

“Our pain is impossible to describe,” he said, speaking from the resort and offering condolences. Yerlikaya said the fire was out and that search efforts at the hotel had finished.
Authorities are conducting DNA tests to identify some of the bodies recovered from the scene of the fire, he added.
An investigation was underway into the fire, which happened during school holidays when many families from nearby Istanbul and Ankara head to the Bolu mountains to ski.

Source :https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/six-dead-31-injured-ski-resort-hotel-fire-turkey-state-broadcaster-says-2025-01-21/

India’s government is prepared to work with Donald Trump’s administration to identify and take back all its citizens residing illegally in the US, an early signal from New Delhi that it’s willing to comply with the incoming American president and avoid a trade war.

The US has identified some 18,000 illegal Indian migrants to be sent back home, for which India will verify and start the process of deportation, according to people familiar with the matter. The figure could be much higher than that, though, given that it’s unclear how many illegal Indian migrants live in the US, the people added, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.

Source : https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-21/india-set-to-take-back-18-000-citizens-from-us-to-placate-trump

Justin Baldoni‘s legal team released a series of video takes from “It Ends With Us” on Tuesday as they continue to push back on Blake Lively‘s sexual harassment claims.

Lively sued Baldoni, the film’s director and co-star, earlier this month for harassment and retaliation, accusing him of a series of inappropriate and offensive interactions during production. Among them, she objected to his conduct during filming of a slow-dance sequence, when their characters are supposed to be falling in love.

In the suit, she alleged that Baldoni “leaned forward and slowly dragged his lips from her ear and down her neck as he said, ‘it smells so good.’”

Baldoni’s team released three takes from the slow-motion sequence, which they said was the entirety of the footage shot for that scene.

“Both actors are clearly behaving well within the scope of the scene and with mutual respect and professionalism,” a title card states.

Lively’s team sees it differently, arguing in a statement Tuesday afternoon that the footage fully corroborates her account, showing her leaning away while Baldoni tries to kiss her and caress her.

“Any woman who has been inappropriately touched in the workplace will recognize Ms. Lively’s discomfort,” Lively’s team said. “They will recognize her attempts at levity to try to deflect the unwanted touching. No woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent.”

The footage shows the two co-stars disagreeing about how to portray the intimacy of the scene. At one point in the footage, Baldoni goes in for a kiss and Lively hesitates. She then says, “I think we should be talking. I think it’s more romantic if we’re like dancing and talking.”

Baldoni then contrasts their respective relationships, saying that Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, “talk all the time,” but that he and his wife, Emily, will sometimes just stare at each other.

“I think you would find it terrifying,” he says. She responds: “I’d be like, ‘Oh no, I found a sociopath.’”

Baldoni filed his own suit against Lively last week. In it, he said that Lively was “unable to take direction,” and kept talking out of character during the slow-dance sequence.

The footage appears to show the interaction that Lively objected to, in which Baldoni made reference to her smelling good. In the take, Baldoni is seen nuzzling Lively’s neck, and asks, “Am I getting beard on you today?”

She laughs and says, “I’m probably getting spray-tan on you.”

“It smells good,” he responds.

Lively’s lawsuit alleges that “Mr. Baldoni was caressing Mr. Lively with his mouth in a way that had nothing to do with their roles.” According to the complaint, she later objected to his behavior, and his response was: “I’m not even attracted to you.”

Source : https://variety.com/2025/film/news/justin-baldoni-blake-lively-it-ends-with-us-sexual-harassment-1236280849/

Garth Hudson, whose fantastical approach to the organ and virtuosity on a panoply of other instruments lent a distinctive touch to the roots-rock of the Canadian-American group the Band, has died, representatives for the group have confirmed. Hudson “passed away peacefully in his sleep” Tuesday morning at a nursing home in the Band’s longtime home base of Woodstock, New York, the musician’s estate executor told the Toronto Star. He was 87.

Retiring and seldom interviewed, Hudson was the quiet man in the group that began life as the Hawks, Arkansas-born rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins’ backup band, who in 1966 graduated to supporting Bob Dylan on his tumultuous first tour as a rock ‘n’ roll performer.

After woodshedding with Dylan in West Saugerties, N.Y. — where Hudson served as recording engineer for Dylan and the group’s legendary “basement tapes” – the musicians stepped out as the Band on a stunning 1968 debut, “Music From Big Pink.” That album and the self-titled 1969 sequel established them as one of the day’s top rock acts.

In a typically self-effacing, and typically rare, interview with the Canadian magazine Maclean’s in 2003, Hudson – the only Band member who never contributed vocally on stage or on record — minimized his unique accomplishments.

“It was a job,” he said. “Play a stadium, play a theater. My job was to provide arrangements with pads underneath, pads and fills behind good poets. Same poems every night.”

Robbie Robertson, the Band’s guitarist and songwriter in the group’s years of stardom (who himself passed away in August of 2023), offered a far more effusive assessment of what Hudson brought to the table in his 2016 memoir “Testimony”

“He played brilliantly, in a more complex way than anybody we had ever jammed with,” he wrote. “Most of us had just picked up our instruments as kids and plowed ahead, but Garth was classically trained and could find musical avenues on the keyboard we didn’t know existed. It impressed us deeply.”

He made an unforgettable statement with a long, Bach-inspired introduction – later a stand-alone concert feature known as “The Genetic Method” – to “Chest Fever,” a cryptic “Big Pink” rocker.

Every album contained a song that demonstrated Hudson’s great gifts: “Up On Cripple Creek,” with its twanging, wah-wah-infused clavinet, on “The Band”; “Daniel and the Sacred Harp,” boasting an elegant church-organ intro, on “Stage Fright” (1970); the Dylan cover “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” highlighted by his accordion obbligato, on “Cahoots” (1971); the percolating “Third Man Theme,” the old Hawks break song, from the collection of covers “Moondog Matinee” (1973); and “It Makes No Difference,” a lush ballad featuring Hudson’s soprano saxophone work, from “Northern Lights-Southern Cross” (1975). Even a rock and roll classic like the group’s cover of Little Richard’s “Slippin’ and Slidin’” features a wild organ solo from Hudson that evokes a deranged calliope.

Following the Band’s celebrated, star-studded farewell show, “The Last Waltz,” in San Francisco on Thanksgiving 1976, the act called it quits in the studio with “Islands” (1977); the title instrumental proved to be Hudson’s lone co-writing credit.

After an abortive attempt at a reunion, a good deal of highly public acrimony between Robertson and the other members of the Band – especially drummer Levon Helm, who had served as the Hawks’ first musical director – and the 1986 suicide of pianist-vocalist Richard Manuel, the act regrouped in 1993 for the album “Jericho,” with Jim Weider replacing the guitarist. Two more albums followed in 1996 and 1998, but the group couldn’t recapture the commercial clout of its glory years.

Hudson, who regularly performed the music of the Band on tour in later years, released three solo albums on independent labels. In 2010, he curated “A Canadian Celebration of the Band,” a salute to the group featuring such countrymen as Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Cowboy Junkies and Blue Rodeo.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Band in 1994, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2008. The group became part of the Juno Awards’ Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1989.

He was born Eric Garth Hudson in Windsor, Ontario, on Aug. 2, 1937, and grew up in the northeastern city of London. His family was musical: His father played flute, drums, cornet and saxophone and performed in local dance bands, and his mother played accordion. He grew up listening to country and jazz. His first public experience in music was playing hymns in an uncle’s funeral parlor.

In Helm’s 1993 memoir “This Wheel’s On Fire,” he recalled, “My parents sent me to study piano at the Toronto Conservatory. I had a good teacher who used older methods and older pieces. That’s how I learned to play the Bach preludes and fugues, material like that. I loved Chopin, and Mozart amazed me. But I found I had problems memorizing classical annotated music…so I developed my own method of ear training and realized I could improvise.”

After a year studying music at the University of Western Ontario in London, he dropped out and began to play professionally. In the late ‘50s, he worked with the regional bands the Silhouettes and Paul London and the Kapers. His abilities caught the attention of Helm, who lobbied Hawkins to bring him into the Hawks.

“Garth was different,” Hawkins told Barney Hoskyns in “Across the Great Divide,” his 1993 book about the Band. “He heard all sorts of weird sounds in his head, and he played like the Phantom of the Opera. He wasn’t a rock ‘n’ roll person at all, but it fitted.”

Hudson – who was paid an additional $10 per week to teach his band mates music, to mollify his dubious parents – became the eldest member of a lineup that included Helm, Robertson, Manuel and bassist Rick Danko. As part of his deal, he ultimately was rewarded with a new Lowrey electronic organ; Hudson found it more versatile and easier to manipulate than the popular Hammond B-3. A gearhead and tinkerer by nature, he customized the instrument (perhaps most importantly with a pitch-shifting device), and it became the keystone of his sound.

After splitting in 1963 with Hawkins, whom they came to view as a parsimonious disciplinarian, the group recorded singles as the Canadian Squires and Levon & the Hawks. Hudson, Helm and Robertson backed blues singer John Hammond, Jr. (son of the Columbia Records A&R legend) on his album “So Many Roads.” A recommendation from Mary Martin, assistant to Bob Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman, led to a job as Dylan’s band on his 1965-66 world tour.

Depressed by the violent reaction of Dylan’s folk fans to his new electric music, Helm quit the group early in the trek and was replaced by Trini Lopez’s drummer Mickey Jones. The Hawks soldiered through a riotous series of dates in the U.S. and Europe. They parted ways at the tour’s conclusion, but Dylan, after recuperating from a serious motorcycle accident, summoned the Hawks to woodshed with him in West Saugerties, N.Y.

They recorded a breadth of old American music and new Dylan compositions at his home and in the basement of a pink ranch house, “Big Pink,” where most of the musicians lived communally; Hudson rolled the tapes at Dylan’s direction. As record label interest in the Hawks developed, Helm rejoined the unit and participated in some of the basement sessions. Several of the so-called “basement tapes” were ultimately culled by Hudson for use as music publishing demos; these songs ultimately made an illicit appearance on the first major rock bootleg album, the two-LP 1969 set “The Great White Wonder.”

Signed to Capitol Records in their own right, the Hawks assumed a new handle, the Band. The group recorded for the label for a decade, issuing seven studio albums and a widely praised two-LP live set, “Rock of Ages.” They also backed Dylan on the collaborative Asylum Records set “Planet Waves” (1974), which reached No. 1 in the U.S., and a joint headlining tour that year, which spawned the concert set “Before the Flood.”

At Capitol and on the Band’s three reunion albums, Hudson distinguished himself as a do-anything player; his instrumental arsenal included tenor, baritone, and soprano saxophones, piccolo, accordion, synthesizer, clavinet, slide trumpet and occasional piano.

Source : https://variety.com/2025/music/news/garth-hudson-last-member-the-band-dead-1236280162/

When Pte Oleksander Bezverkhny was evacuated to the Feofaniya Hospital in Kyiv, few believed he would live. The 27-year-old had a severe abdominal injury and shrapnel had ripped through his buttocks. Both his legs were amputated.

Then, doctors discovered that his infections were resistant to commonly-used antibiotics – and the already daunting task of saving his life became almost hopeless.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is when bacteria evolve and learn how to defend the

This would not be possible in Ukraine as the influx of patients has not been seen since the Second World War, according to Dr Dubyna, whose hospital in Dnipro neighbours front-line regions. Once his patients are stable enough, they are transferred to another clinic – if it has room – to free up capacity.

“In terms of microbiological control, it means they spread [bacteria] further. But if it’s not done, we’re not able to work. Then it’s a catastrophe.”

With so many wounded, Ukrainian hospitals simply cannot usually afford to isolate infected patients – meaning that multi-resistant and dangerous bacteria spread unchecked.

The problem is that infections they cause must be treated with special antibiotics from the “reserve” list. But the more often doctors prescribe these, the quicker bacteria adapt, making those antibiotics ineffective too.

“We have to balance our scales,” Dr Strokan explains. “On the one hand, we must save a patient. On the other – we mustn’t breed new microorganisms that will have antimicrobial resistance.”

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20k5wrgz13o

The sixth and last child of Mohammad Aslam from Budhal village of Rajouri in Jammu division has succumbed at GMC Jammu, taking the death toll in the ‘mysterious disease’ to 17.

An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that Yasmeena Jan, daughter of Mohammad Aslam was taken to GMC Rajouri last Sunday from where she was referred to GMC Jammu on Monday for advanced treatment however she died during treatment this evening.

Principal GMC Jammu, Dr Ashutosh Gupta confirmed her death and said that her condition was critical from day one.Buy vitamins and supplements

Yasmeen was the lone surviving child of Mohammad Aslam, who lost his all six children to this ‘mysterious illness’ now.

Aslam has lost four daughters, two sons and his maternal uncle and aunt in last one week.

Source : https://www.greaterkashmir.com/jammu/mysterious-illness-claims-one-more-life-in-budhal-rajouri-toll-reaches-17/

HEAVY snow has fallen in Florida, covering beaches in the south as a winter storm wreaks havoc across the United States.

Millions of Americans have been urged to stay indoors after a blizzard warning was issued for the first time ever in multiple southern states.

The blizzard warning is in effect across Florida, Central Louisiana, and Houston – where one of the largest ports in the world has been forced to close.

It comes as videos on social media showed snow falling in the Sunshine State – a rarity for the typically warm region.

The most snowfall ever recorded in Florida history was four inches, which fell in Milton in 1954.

Multiple inches of snow were expected in the state from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday.

Texas and Louisiana, meanwhile, saw 7 inches of snow and stunning photos showed it covering beaches in Galveston, Texas, and Mississippi.

New Orleans saw at least five inches of snow, while parts of Acadiana reported as much as 10 inches fallen by noon on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service in Lake Charles.

Forecasters in Louisiana said the rare whiteout has already exceeded some predictions for the maximum amount of snowfall.

St. Bernard Parish issued a curfew order due to the snowy conditions.

Law enforcement officials will enforce the curfew beginning at 6 pm on Tuesday until noon on Wednesday.

“This curfew is in place to ensure everyone’s safety and to allow emergency crews to work effectively,” the St. Bernard Parish Government said on X.

Officials urged drivers to stay off the road unless “absolutely necessary.”

The snow, sleet, and freezing rain in the southeast are part of a “generational winter storm event,” the National Weather Service warned on Monday.

The snowfall has brought chaos to areas like Tallahassee and parts of Alabama as the notoriously hot regions are unprepared for icy weather.

All roads and bridges in Mobile County, Alabama, were considered impassable, sparking a warning that it was safer to stay inside.

Meteorologists and city leaders also warned the snow could cause issues for days since many southern cities don’t have snow plows.

“I hope everyone is safe and warm at home with a big pot of gumbo,” Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said on X before urging drivers to stay off the roads.

The Houston Police Department also warned against traveling.

“The roadways are going to be completely impassable. Do not roll the dice, stay off the ice,” HPD’s Captain Reece Hardy said in a video.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire said officials are doing “everything we can to prepare for this winter storm.”

“We will be here to keep you safe and respond to emergencies, but we need your help,” he said, urging people to stay indoors.

“We don’t want you to risk your life or jeopardize the safety of our police officers and firefighters if they have to rescue you when you could have stayed home,” Whitmire said.

“Our first responders must remain focused on critical incidents as conditions worsen.”

Later on Tuesday, Port Houston announced its facilities would remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It came after vessel operations were halted and container terminal truck gates shuttered on Monday night.

Houston saw about three to four inches of snow fallen by Tuesday afternoon – the most in a generation.

TRAVEL CHAOS

The snowstorm hit nearly a dozen states in The Sun Belt area, halting travel from major hubs.

Houston’s airports George Bush Intercontinental and Hobby are closed in the face of the extreme weather.

Nearly 1,000 flights have been canceled at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Tuesday, according to FlightAware.

Pensacola International Airport closed entirely and Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport shuttered at noon.

SNOW SHOCK

Southerners shared their stunned reactions to the rare snowflakes falling in the Sunshine State.

“For the first time in history, we actually have a blizzard warning in Northwest Florida,” one Floridian said on X.

“It just started snowing in Pensacola.”

“It may be snowing in Florida but it’s definitely snowing on the gulf coast of Texas!” another user wrote on X.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13348804/florida-snow-blizzard-texas-alabama/

DONALD Trump’s new press secretary is the youngest person ever to hold the powerful position.

Karoline Leavitt, 27, has already made waves on her first full day as the White House press secretary. On Tuesday, she teased a “massive” announcement from the president.

The job hasn’t been held by anyone under 30 since 1969 under former President Richard Nixon’s administration.

In a statement announcing her appointment in November, Trump said, “Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator.”

“I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium and help deliver our message to the American people,” he added.

In response to a video of workers cleaning the White House briefing room, Leavitt shared her excitement about her new position on X.

On January 20, she wrote, “Thank you to the hardworking White House staff for preparing for our arrival. See you soon!”

Hours later, she posted a picture from the Capitol Rotunda.

“The Golden Age of America has begun,” she wrote.

Leavitt previously served as the national press secretary for Trump’s 2024 campaign.

She also served as Trump’s assistant press secretary during his last administration when she was just fresh out of college.

The New Hampshire native graduated from Saint Anselm College in 2019 with communications and political science degrees.

She started her career as an intern at Fox News during college.

Before Leavitt’s senior year of college, she also interned in the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence.

After graduating, she worked as Kayleigh McEnany’s assistant press secretary during Trump’s first presidency.

Her website stated that Leavitt helped prepare McEnany, another Fox News media personality, for “high-pressure briefings.”

A$300 million members-only luxury doomsday bunker complete with robotic medical suites, lavish swimming pool, and fine dining restaurants is set to revolutionize how the rich and powerful can shelter themselves in an apocalyptic disaster.

Due to open in the summer of 2026, the high-end underground fortress will provide a 5-star survivalist experience to those lucky few who are willing to fork out $20 million for a single membership, of which there are only 625 available.

The bunker, which has been named “Aerie,” will be part of a network of similar sanctuaries that cater to the 1%, providing them with a unique opportunity to safeguard their futures, no matter what disasters might lie ahead.

It is a far cry from the off-grid homesteads and stark nuclear shelters favored by traditional doomsday preppers—some of whom have earned viral stardom by showcasing the many ways in which they are readying themselves and their families to ride out a potential societal collapse.

But where the more stereotypical preppers have vegetable patches and remote cabins, Aerie offers “AI-powered” medical care, “wellness programs,” and the promise to “blend protection and luxury” in a way that has never been done before.

The bunker is the work of SAFE (Strategically Armored & Fortified Environments), a Virginia-based company that specializes in secure property designs. The company has previously earned acclaim for creating all manner of unique bunkers, including one outfitted with a Formula 1 track.

However, Aerie transcends anything the company has unveiled in the past, according to SAFE’s founder and president, Al Corbi, who says the underground hideaway will transform the high-end security space.

The bunker will cost the building business a whopping $300 million to complete, with Safe charging the upper class an eye-watering $20 million to even step foot inside the high-tech structure.

Al and SAFE’s director of medical preparedness, Naomi Corbi, exclusively reveals to Realtor.com® that they will be offering four tiers of memberships, noting that the cheapest can be afforded by a “moderately successful CEO,” while a secretive top tier known as the “Asylum Membership” will be by invite only, with the security moguls admitting that the “board” is still deciding who will be lucky enough to get the bid for the most lavish entrance to the protection center.

SAFE plans to build the luxe underground pads in each of the 5o U.S. states but has opted to build the first in Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC, where President-elect Donald Trump will take office for the second time on Jan. 20, 2025.

The decision to base the first Aerie bunker in Virginia was, according to Al, purely “strategic,” and was not in any way motivated by the changing political landscape, but rather a desire to offer those who are able to afford membership a convenient place in which to do so.

Speaking about the decision to put the very first Aerie in DC, Al insisted: “It’s coincidental, but it’s the wealthiest state per capita. It’s ground zero for the finest demographic for something like this in the world.”

Although the underground abode will be decked out with a number of lavish amenities such as wellness areas, gourmet dining, and a medical suite with robots for doctors, the bunker’s primary goal is to keep its residents safe from harm—even those who are wealthy enough to secure one of the protection center’s upper-level penthouse suites.

Far from being just place to hunker down during a global crisis, Al notes that the bunker can be used on a more temporary basis, explaining that members can hide away inside it whenever they feel their safety is threatened.

He explains that the setup was actually inspired by one of SAFE’s clients, who shelled out $103 million to install a custom security system at his home, only to then get caught up in a concert massacre. Far from his home, the client had nowhere to turn when the gunfire began.

“Imagine you are one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world and then something unimaginable happens and you’re a regular guy, you have no place to go in the moment,” Al says. “Going to a hotel isn’t the same as going to a sanctuary that is waiting for you.”

Naomi describes Aerie bunkers as a “home away from home” for their most “famous and infamous clients.”

They reveal that while the bunkers will take several years to open, the first experience center will be available to the rich in 2026 and will allow the wealthy to splash out cash to purchase a shelter.

The safety experts noted that Aerie is a “necessity” for the rich who already “love” the idea, adding that they have memberships capped at 625 and have already had “thousands” of requests from the elite to join.

Speaking about the types of disasters Aerie can offer protection from, Al tells Realtor.com that they envision the problem to be “civil unrest.”

He notes that SAFE’s bunkers could even protect people in case of wildfires such as the devastating California flames that have already killed 27 people, per Cal Fire.

“Wildfires could go over bunkers and everyone would be saved indefinitely,” Al reveals.

The protection pro confesses that although they have designed a slew of protection pads for many A-listers, they are not able to share their names publicly.

Meanwhile, Ron Hubbard, founder and CEO of Atlas Survival Shelters, who has built a slew of lavish bunkers for the wealthiest A-listers such as Kim Kardashian, the Tate brothers, Mr. Beast and more, echoes Al’s thoughts and notes that the lavish protection pads will come in handy when “civil war” occurs.

While speaking to Realtor.com, Hubbard also reveals that he believes below-the-dirt bunkers will be “standard” when building homes in the next two to three years.

While speaking to Forbes, Al and Naomi further detailed the perks that will await the residents inside.

“Aerie’s impenetrable residences include SCIF-compliant (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities) environments for ultimate privacy and security. Each facility features AI-powered medical suites, gourmet dining, and wellness programs, which will blend protection and luxury.”

Naomi explained that the bunker was made with wellness in mind as the rich have become more involved with unlocking the key to the fountain of youth.

“The wealthy are becoming more interested in wellness and longevity offerings as part of their fortified residences. Aerie will utilize advanced AI-integrated medical care, connecting members to specialists around the clock,” she said.

After forking over millions for their posh protection pads, Aerie members are given the opportunity to customize their bunkers with a number of amenities.

For safety purposes, every bunker is underground except for the members’ club and its rooftop penthouse; however, the security-conscious millionaires will still be able to enjoy the sights from below the dirt thanks to interactive walls, ceilings, and special lighting effects that offer residents panoramic views that create the illusion of being perched atop a cliff.

Al added: “The whole reason Aerie came to be is that after building multimillion-dollar sanctuaries for our clients on their estates and superyachts, they still traveled away from their protected homes to locations with a lower level of protection. When something terrible happens, they can use one of the bunkers and facilities in the city they find themselves in.

“Aerie is a multifaceted club where members can conduct business in complete privacy because of its SCIF, airgap, and hardwired environments. The Sentinel system protects its members’ privacy, security, and freedom underground.”

In addition to feeling secure, the bunkers give the rich an enormous amount of space to live in, with individual suites coming in at 2,000 square feet and penthouse pads offering up 20,000 square feet of space.

The penthouse areas are described as “the pinnacle of exclusivity, resilience, and luxury” and blast-resistant walls and ballistic glass.

SAFE builders clearly thought of everything when it comes to combining safety and luxury as residents can head to the grand medical suites when they feel under the weather.

The illness centers, known as MediShield, provide full intensive care, offering life-saving techniques to the elite thanks to its state-of-the-art AI technology, which sees robots doubling as doctors.

SAFE describes the medical areas, “The company’s team of highly specialized medical professionals will deliver the same standards of the White House Medical Unit straight to you. The cutting-edge robotic services provide top-tier medical care and emergency response, regardless of location.”

After getting grade-A treatment from the robots, guests can take a dive into the cold plunge centers, where they can improve their circulation and better their mental health.

Source : https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/doomsday-bunker-aerie-luxury-robots-rich-wealthy/

President Claudia Sheinbaum called for cool heads to prevail after Donald Trump’s vow to impose hefty tariffs sent the country’s currency tumbling on fears that Mexico will become a target of his administration.

On his first day in the White House, Trump renewed his pledge to slap 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, saying he may do so as soon as Feb. 1 if the countries don’t move to clamp down on migration and drugs. He also signed a raft of orders on immigration, declared an emergency on the southern border and pledged to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

Sheinbaum responded on Tuesday as the aggressive day-one moves from Washington caused the peso to weaken as much as 1.4%. It later trimmed losses to around 0.6%, still by far the worst performer in emerging markets.

She warned the Trump administration against interventions in her nation’s territory and pledged support for Mexican citizens who may face deportation. Sheinbaum avoided a direct rebuke of the proposed tariffs, saying only that the decree Trump signed includes preparation for the 2026 review of the North American free trade agreement known as the USMCA.

“It’s important to always keep a cool head and refer to the signed orders beyond the actual rhetoric,” she said at her daily morning news conference. “That’s what counts before the law, strictly speaking.”

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau struck a similar note, saying that Trump is trying to weaken the negotiating position of his trading partners by creating uncertainty. The Canadian dollar hit its weakest level in nearly five years following Trump’s remarks, falling as much as 1.4% in Asia trading before recovering most of the losses.

“We know that there is always going to be a certain amount of unpredictability and rhetoric coming out from this administration,” Trudeau told reporters, adding that Canada doesn’t want a tariff war but is ready to retaliate if necessary.

Investors have for months attempted to forecast how much of Trump’s campaign rhetoric would become policy, while trying to position themselves for the impact of tariffs. The peso, one of the most heavily-traded emerging-market currencies, lost 18.5% against the greenback last year, and now trades around the lowest level since mid-2022 at 20.6 per dollar.

Sheinbaum has sought to avoid tariffs on all Mexican goods, which could jeopardize nearly $800 billion in annual trade between Mexico and the US and call into question protections of the USMCA agreement, which Trump signed in 2020.

Her government has cracked down on cheap Chinese imports in a bid to appease the new US leader before he took office. But the revival of tariff threats sent a strong signal that Mexico remains particularly vulnerable to Trump, who held off on new China-specific trade levies on Monday.

“It’s a lot easier for the Trump administration to pick on Mexico than China,” said Jack McIntyre, a money manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management. “It’s part of Trump’s love for weaponizing uncertainty.”

Trump has also said previously that he is considering asking for a renegotiation of the USMCA. Still, there is deep uncertainty among analysts about whether he will follow through on pledges to impose the tariffs by the start of next month or other plans that could affect Mexico.

“Right now it’s a little speculative as to what is actually going to happen,” said Greg Lesko, a money manager with Deltec Asset Management in New York. “I would lean toward the view that there’s no serious damage here and that the weakness is short-lived as likely the 25% is a negotiating position.”

Sheinbaum, who has spoken with Trump twice by phone and pledged to seek strong relations with him, reiterated Tuesday that the Mexican government wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with the US. She added that she was waiting for Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to begin formal talks between the two nations.

Migration and Cartels

Sheinbaum downplayed Trump’s migration orders, saying the text of the decree is similar to the actions he took during his first term as president.

Mexico will act in a humanitarian manner but also seek to repatriate foreigners to their countries of origin if the US removes them, she said. “Remain in Mexico,” the program Trump’s government said it would reinstate, required migrants to wait for their US immigration court cases in Mexican territory.

Mexico also outlined its strategy for the deportation of its own citizens from the US, with Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez stating that it would provide hundreds of buses to transport them from the border to Mexican help centers and their states of origin. De la Fuente emphasized a series of options for those detained, including an app with a panic button and access to support at consulates in the US.

Source : https://www.yahoo.com/news/mexico-must-keep-cool-head-141019594.html

A meme coin known as “Elon Hitler” launched Monday after billionaire Elon Musk was accused of performing a Nazi salute during a rally after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The token, which is listed under the ticker symbol $EItler, was built on the Solana blockchain and is traded on the decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Raydium.

Since its launch, the meme coin, a term that refers to cryptocurrencies based off internet in-jokes and current events, surged in price by at least 450%.

Across social media, cryptocurrency traders are pushing the token as a way to make a quick buck, urging followers to get in on the meme coin as well.

“It’s definitely kinda crazy people are even entertaining this but hey why not make yourself some money off it,” one user said of the token.

But people probably aren’t going to be getting rich off of it.

$Eltler currently has a Rugcheck Score of 0, which signals the highest potential risk for investors. A rug pull in cryptocurrency is a type of scam where developers create a token, attract investors, and then abruptly withdraw all liquidity from the project. In turn, investors are left with worthless tokens while the developers run off with the funds others invested.

Did Elon Musk do a Nazi salute?

Although Musk has not overtly denied performing a Nazi salute, the tech CEO appeared to dismiss the accusation in a statement on X.

“Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired,” Musk said.

The Anti-Defamation League, meanwhile, which tracks and monitors antisemitism, came to Musk’s defense.

“It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge,” the group said on Monday.

But not everyone could dismiss it. Israeli newspaper Haaretz described Musk’s gesture as “a fascist salute most commonly associated with Nazi Germany.”

Source : https://www.dailydot.com/debug/elon-musk-hitler-meme-coin-nazi-salute/

Officers enforcing immigration laws will now be able to arrest migrants at sensitive locations like schools and churches after the Trump administration threw out policies limiting where those arrests could happen as the new president seeks to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations.

The move announced Tuesday reverses guidance that for over a decade has restricted two key federal immigration agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — from carrying out immigration enforcement in sensitive locations.

“This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murderers and rapists — who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Tuesday.

The department said Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued the directive Monday.

The ICE guidance dates back to 2011. Customs and Border Protection issued similar guidance in 2013.

Trump has made cracking down on immigration a top priority, just as he did during his first term in the White House from 2017 to 2021. On Monday he signed a slew of executive actions that included cutting off access to an app that facilitated the entry of hundreds of thousands of migrants; suspending the refugee system; and promoting greater cooperation between ICE and local and state governments.

He has often portrayed his efforts as unleashing the ability of ICE agents and others in immigration enforcement from Biden-era guidelines that he said restricted their efforts to find and remove people who no longer have the authority to remain in the country.

The announcement Tuesday had been expected as Trump works to deliver on his campaign promise to carry out mass deportations of anyone in the country illegally. But it was still jarring for advocates who have argued that raising the prospect of deportation at churches, schools or hospitals can prevent migrants from getting medical attention or allowing their children to attend school.

“This action could have devastating consequences for immigrant families and their children, including U.S. citizen children, deterring them from receiving medical attention, seeking out disaster relief, attending school, and carrying out everyday activities,” Olivia Golden, interim executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy, said in a statement.

“Should ICE presence near such locations become more common, the likelihood also increases that children could witness a parent’s detention, arrest, or other encounters with ICE agents,” Golden said.

Under the “sensitive locations” guidance, officers were generally required to get approval for any enforcement operations at those locations, although exceptions were allowed for things like national security.

Trump kept the guidance on sensitive locations in place during his first administration although he did remove similar guidance that restricted immigration enforcement at courthouses. That courthouse guidance was put in place once again during the Biden administration, which also issued its own update to the “sensitive locations” guidance limiting where ICE and CBP officers could carry out immigration enforcement.

Many schools around the country have been preparing for just this eventuality by reaching out to immigrant families and local law enforcement.

In California, officials have offered guidance to schools on state law limiting local participation in immigration enforcement.

“Our policy is clear and strong that immigration enforcement is not allowed on our campuses unless forced through a valid court order,” said Diana Diaz, spokeswoman for the Fresno Unified School District, one of the largest in California. “We’ve been in communication with local law enforcement who has assured us that they will not be supporting immigration enforcement across any of our schools.”

Source : https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-sensitive-locations-trump-ab0d2d2652e9df696f14410ebb52a1fc