Florida House, Senate approve spending plans
Florida’s budget battle is set to begin after the House and Senate both approved their spending plans for the next fiscal year.
She is said to be the Queen’s favourite daughter-in-law, and now the monarch is set to turn to the Countess of Wessex to fill the gap left by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in carrying out royal duties. The 56-year-old Countess was one of the most prominent members of the Royal family in the days following the Duke of Edinburgh’s death. She made the first public comments about his passing, repeatedly visited Windsor Castle and provided a photograph of the Queen and the Duke at Balmoral that Her Majesty chose to share with the world as a tribute to her late husband.
Hollywood legend Robert De Niro is unable to turn down acting roles because he must pay for his estranged wife's expensive tastes, the actor's lawyer has claimed. Caroline Krauss told a Manhattan court that he is struggling financially because of the pandemic, a massive tax bill and the demands of Grace Hightower, who filed for divorce in 2018 after 21 years of marriage. The court has been asked to settle how much De Niro should pay Ms Hightower, 66, until the terms of the prenuptial agreement the couple negotiated in 2004 takes effect. “Mr De Niro is 77 years old, and while he loves his craft, he should not be forced to work at this prodigious pace because he has to,” Ms Krauss told the court. “When does that stop? When does he get the opportunity to not take every project that comes along and not work six-day weeks, 12-hour days so he can keep pace with Ms Hightower’s thirst for Stella McCartney?”
A high-profile conspiracy theorist from Norway, who shared false information about the pandemic online, has died from COVID-19, officials say.
Author of 'Woke Inc.' Vivek Ramaswamy argues critical race theory could have legal repercussions, and discusses the difference between education and indoctrination
The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge will hold a summit to decide the future of the monarchy over the next two generations following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. In consultation with the Queen, Britain’s next two kings will decide how many full-time working members the Royal family should have, who they should be, and what they should do. The death of Prince Philip has left the Royal family with the immediate question of how and whether to redistribute the hundreds of patronages he retained. Meanwhile the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to step back from royal duties, confirmed only last month after a one-year “review period”, has necessitated a rethink of who should support the sovereign in the most high-profile roles. Royal insiders say that the two matters cannot be decided in isolation, as the issues of patronage and personnel are inextricably linked. Because any decisions made now will have repercussions for decades to come, the Prince of Wales will take a leading role in the talks. He has made it clear that the Duke of Cambridge, his own heir, should be involved at every stage because any major decisions taken by 72-year-old Prince Charles will last into Prince William’s reign. The Earl and Countess of Wessex, who were more prominent than almost any other member of the Royal family in the days leading up to the Duke’s funeral, are expected to plug the gap left by the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by taking on more high-profile engagements. However, they already carry out a significant number of royal duties – 544 between them in the last full year before Covid struck – meaning they will not be able to absorb the full workload left by the absences of the Sussexes and the Duke of York, who remains in effective retirement as a result of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. In 2019 the Sussexes and the Duke completed 558 engagements between them. It leaves the Royal family needing to carry out a full-scale review of how their public duties are fulfilled. Not only do they have three fewer people to call on, they must also decide what to do with several hundred patronages and military titles held by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Sussexes and possibly the Duke of York, if his retirement is permanent. Royal sources said the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge would discuss over the coming weeks and months how the monarchy should evolve. The issue has been at the top of the Queen and the Prince of Wales’s respective in-trays since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s one-year review period of their royal future came to an end last month, but the ill health and subsequent death of Prince Philip forced them to put the matter on hold.
Prince Harry attended Prince Philip's funeral at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. He was married to Meghan Markle at the same church in 2018.
The car’s batteries kept reigniting, thwarting fire crews’ attempts to extinguish the blaze.
Hamid Ahmadi still can feel the cold of the February night when Serbian police left him and two dozen other refugees in a forest. Crammed into a police van, the refugees from Afghanistan thought they were headed to an asylum-seekers' camp in eastern Serbia. Instead, they were ordered out near the country's border with Bulgaria in the middle of that night four years ago.
The "Dallas Buyers Club" actor has not yet declared his candidacy for Texas governor but has said that running is a "true consideration."
Eight victims were pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting Thursday night after a gunman opened fire at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis.
Waters, a California Democrat, attended a Minnesota rally against police killings. She told demonstrators to remain in place and "demand justice."
Singer Lance Bass offered Colton Underwood some advice after the former "Bachelor" star came out as gay: "sit back, listen and learn."
A court ruled that Kobili Traoré, a drug dealer who smoked cannabis every day, will not go to trial for murdering Orthodox Jew Sarah Halimi in 2017.
Police questioned Andrea "Dre" Hollingsworth, and told her 11-year-old daughters to interpret commands to their mother while she was detained.
Pakistan's foreign minister has welcomed mediation efforts by the United Arab Emirates between his country and India but told UAE newspaper Khaleej Times that he was not planning to meet his Indian counterpart in the country. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar are visiting the Gulf state at the same time.
Incumbent Republican lawmakers received record donations in first quarter of 2021 as Trump yet to mobilise base for primary challengers
Georgia sheriff's office spokesperson Ashley Hulsey provides update on officers injured after car chase suspect fired AK-47
In the wake of his public comments about financial regulations, Jack Ma may potentially exit his Ant Group empire, Reuters reported.
Italy is set to declare war on ice cream sellers who pump compressed air into their mixtures to make them look fluffier, as the country seeks to defend the honour of its world-renowned gelato stands. Under proposals being considered by the Italian Senate, ice cream producers who fail to meet strict quality measures, such as limits on the amount of air added to the mixture, could be hit with a fine of up to 10,000 euro (£8,000). It is hoped that the reforms will have a chilling effect on cheapskate vendors posing as gelato artisans, who have been known to sell tubs which contain more air than ice cream. However, the plans have also whipped up resentment among some "gelato masters" who argue that pumping air into the mixture is not necessarily poor craftsmanship. The bill was proposed by six senators from the center-left Democratic and Italia Viva parties, who say it will better regulate the work of real ice cream artisans and protect consumer rights. The legislation also claims that inflating gelato with air goes against the basic rules of producing artisanal ice cream. “Italian gelato is one of the gastronomic symbols of our country, along with pasta and pizza,” said socialist senator Riccardo Nencini, one of the bill’s supporters. “But our laws do not preserve artisanal ice cream and producers who make it.” The draft bill, which has been assigned to the commerce and tourism commission in the Senate, also bans the use of certain cheap alternatives to fresh ingredients, such as artificial flavours, colouring and hydrogenated fats. According to sector rules, ice cream should contain no more than 30 per cent air, which artisanal producers achieve by mixing certain ingredients vigorously.
During the four-week period ending on April 11, 43% of homes sold over the listing price, according to Redfin.