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- INSIDER
Attorney blames football-induced head trauma after former NFL player was sentenced for rapes and other sex crimes
Former NFL tight end Kellen Winslow II was sentenced to 14 years in prison for multiple sexual assault charges. His Attorney blamed football induced head trauma for his client's actions.
- Reuters
EU, Italy block AstraZeneca shipment to Australia: sources
The European Commission and Italy have blocked a shipment of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine destined for Australia after the drug manufacturer failed to meet its EU contract commitments, two sources said on Thursday. The sources said AstraZeneca had requested permission from the Italian government to export some 250,000 doses from its Anagni plant, near Rome.
- The Independent
Trump considering ditching Pence for 2024 run and picking someone Black or female as running mate, report says
South Dakota governor Kristi Noem and South Carolina senator Tim Scott rumoured for position
- The Independent
Georgia governor says he would ‘absolutely’ back Trump as 2024 nominee despite former president’s calls for his resignation
Brian Kemp says ‘the president deserves a lot of credit and he’s not going away’
- The Telegraph
Asteroid holds water and organic matter essential for life, first ever sample shows
Water and organic matter found on the surface of an asteroid could explain how life formed on Earth, the first ever sample reveals. Researchers from Royal Holloway, University of London, analysed a single “grain” from the asteroid, known as ‘Itokawa’, and discovered it had evolved chemically over time. Their findings, published today in the journal Scientific Reports, reveal “complex details” of the asteroid’s history and could help explain the evolution pathway of Earth, they said. Samples taken from the asteroid were returned from the inner Solar System by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's first Hayabusa mission in 2010. A team of international researchers then analysed a single grain of the sample, nicknamed ‘Amazon’, and discovered both unheated and heated organic matter. “The organic matter that has been heated indicates that the asteroid had been heated to over 600°C in the past,” said Dr Queenie Chan from the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway. “The presence of unheated organic matter very close to it, means that the infall of primitive organics arrived on the surface of Itokawa after the asteroid had cooled down.” Itokawa has been constantly evolving over billions of years, the findings suggest, by taking in water and organic materials from foreign extra-terrestrial material - similar to Earth. The asteroid would have undergone extreme heating, dehydration and “shattering” due to a catastrophic impact, the researchers said. That impact is likely to have taken place “rather recently”, 1.3 to 1.4billion years ago, they added.
- The Daily Beast
Ex-Fox News Women Slam Jesse Watters for Victim-Blaming Cuomo Harassment Accusers
John Lamparski/GettyFox News’ resident macho man Jesse Watters—who built his professional reputation, such as it is, by stalking liberals on camera, many of them women, on behalf of his predatory boss Bill O’Reilly—received a rhetorical slap in the face Thursday for his recommendation that women solve the problem of workplace sexual harassment simply by slapping their male harassers.“I would suggest that women—and I’ve gotten in trouble for saying this before—you slap the man in the face. And you do it immediately,” Watters opined on Wednesday’s episode of The Five during a discussion of the sexual harassment and unwanted touching allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “Because if you wait too long, the politician feels like he can keep doing this, and it doesn’t matter if it comes out a year or three years later. Do it immediately. When he’s fresh.”Several former Fox News women, who received monetary settlements and left the company after being targeted by harassers at the Donald Trump-friendly channel, reacted to Watters’ prescription with withering disgust.“Women all across America are very pleased to have Jesse Watters mansplain to them,” former Fox News political analyst Julie Roginsky told The Daily Beast, “but Jesse Watters might have observed while working for two harassers [late Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes and O’Reilly] that women are already facing the risk of professional retaliation by not going along with the harasser’s wishes.”Roginsky—who left Fox News in 2017 after settling a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against the company, Ailes and his deputy Bill Shine—added: “If the women got violent with the harasser their career would be over. Many are bound by forced arbitrations and NDAs at the start of their jobs. They couldn’t tell their stories. The better suggestion from Jesse is to put the onus on his fellow men to not harass women.”Ed Henry’s Accusers Say His Behavior Was an Open Secret at Fox NewsFormer Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, whose July 2016 sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes resulted in his being ousted in disgrace, agreed.“Suggesting that women should slap their perpetrator is re-victimizing the victim in the sense they should fix the problem they have nothing to do with,” Carlson told The Daily Beast. “The responsibility to stop harassment, primarily a man’s issue, should not fall on a woman to fix it. It’s similar to other excuses that women should leave their jobs or move to another department rather than looking at the real problem. It’s another cover-your-ass reaction rather than working to fix the problem.”In a tweet, she added: “Not to mention how idiotic it is to assume slapping a predator would somehow change them. And that it should be up to the woman to slap instead of predatory to just not harass.”In an emailed response to The Daily Beast, Watters said he had been misunderstood: “This kind of predatory behavior needs to stop immediately and it’s 100% the harasser’s responsibility to stop it. My intention was to defend victims and hold inappropriate politicians accountable—any suggestion otherwise is a misinterpretation of what I said.”Other women who spoke to The Daily Beast about Watters’s remark—several of whom signed non-disclosure agreements as part of cash settlements of lawsuits—asked to remain anonymous in order to avoid potential retaliation by Fox News Media or its parent company Fox Corp.“It is simple to say ‘just slap him in the face,’ and while that might garner the woman short-term cheers, it would almost inevitably condemn her professional career, especially in broadcasting,” said one former Fox on-air personality. “If every man at Fox who made inappropriate comments was slapped at that moment, you would have a lot of red-faced men walking around the network. And, sadly, the women would never be allowed past security again to see.”This woman added: “It is odd to see Fox take such an aggressive position regarding Gov. Cuomo, rallying for him to resign. This, as Fox continues to put multiple hosts and contributors on air who have been proven to do the same if not worse than the accusations against Cuomo.”A second woman cited the 42-year-old Watters’ reported history of divorcing his then-wife Noelle in March 2019 after engaging in an extramarital affair with his 26-year-old associate producer, now-wife Emma DiGiovine. The officiant at their December 2019 wedding was then-Fox News anchor Ed Henry, who was fired last year as a Fox Business producer filed a graphic lawsuit accusing Henry of sexual abuse.“A man [Jesse Watters] who had an affair with a much younger woman at work really has no place to tell women how they should react professionally when abused at work,” this person said. “Violence is not an answer. It's usually the one thing women fear the most when their abusers are much larger, heavier and stronger than they are.”Fox News Airs Openly Racist Segment on Asian PeopleAttorney Douglas Wigdor, who has represented several Fox News accusers, told The Daily Beast: “It’s a classic rape myth that women should somehow use their physical power to ward off men who attack them, when the reality is that most women panic and freeze when sexually assaulted.”Wednesday evening was not the first time Watters has drawn widespread criticism for piggish comments about women. In April 2017, the Fox host delivered some not-so-subtle sexual innuendo about Ivanka Trump, remarking upon video of her speaking at a women’s rights conference, “I really liked how she was speaking into that microphone,” while gesturing towards his mouth and smirking. The next day, Watters denied the sexual undertones before announcing an abrupt “family vacation.”Meanwhile, a former Fox News staffer said: “I’d buy tickets to watch Jesse Watters slap his former boss Bill O’Reilly. What say you anchorman? Are you hiding under your desk? Bill used to always say ‘what say you?’ and ‘are you hiding under your desk’ when guests wouldn’t come on after his on-air challenge to duke it out with him. Jesse Watters has lacked the moral fortitude to stand with any of the courageous women of Fox News, all who lost their jobs after being sexually harassed where he is currently employed.”This woman added: “Now, in an incredible twist, he fancies himself the arbiter of sexual harassment. Only at Fox News could it get this perverse. But what else can we expect when the founder of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, diminished decades-long sexual harassment coverup as nothing more than a 'little bit of flirting.’”—Diana Falzone was an on-camera and digital reporter for FoxNews.com from 2012 to 2018. In May 2017, she filed a gender discrimination and disability lawsuit against the network and settled, and left the company in March 2018. Along with Roginsky and Carlson, she co-founded Lift Our Voices, a nonprofit seeking to eradicate NDAs in the workplace used to conceal toxic workplace behavior.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
- Reuters
Northern Irish loyalist paramilitaries withdraw support for 1998 peace deal
Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary groups have told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson they are temporarily withdrawing support for the 1998 peace agreement due to concerns over the Brexit deal. While the groups pledged "peaceful and democratic" opposition to the deal, such a stark warning increases the pressure on Johnson, his Irish counterpart Micheál Martin and the European Union over Brexit. Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace deal, known as the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement, ended three decades of violence between mostly Catholic nationalists fighting for a united Ireland and mostly Protestant unionists, or loyalists, who want Northern Ireland to stay part of the United Kingdom.
- INSIDER
Alicia Vikander ate 1,900 calories a day on the keto diet to lose weight for 'Tomb Raider'
Alicia Vikander followed the keto diet because she was traveling so was unable to track her meals, and ate 1,900 calories a day to lose fat.
- Reuters
Kremlin urges France and Germany to stop Ukraine conflict crossing 'dangerous line'
The Kremlin on Thursday urged France and Germany to use their influence with the Ukrainian government to make sure that events in the part of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed rebels did not "cross a dangerous line". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow was seriously concerned by a rise in violence on the contact line between the rebels and Ukrainian government forces.
- Reuters
EU to extend COVID vaccine export controls as AstraZeneca shipment blocked: sources
The European Union is planning to extend its export authorisation scheme for COVID-19 vaccines to the end of June, two EU sources told Reuters on Thursday, as a shipment of AstraZeneca shots from the EU to Australia was blocked. Extending controls could reignite tensions with countries who rely on shots made in the EU. The mechanism was set up at the end of January as a reaction to vaccine makers' announcements of delays in the deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to the EU.
- INSIDER
It is hard to overstate just how unusual Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's media war with Buckingham Palace is
A series of extraordinary confrontations have seen the Queen's household accused of a smear capaign and Markle accused of bullying.
- Reuters
Ireland says UK not behaving like a 'respectable country'
Britain's decision to make unilateral changes to Northern Irish Brexit arrangements is "not the appropriate behaviour of a respectable country" and will erode trust with the European Union, senior Irish ministers said on Thursday. The EU promised legal action on Wednesday after the British government unilaterally extended a grace period for checks on food imports to Northern Ireland, a move Brussels said violated terms of Britain's divorce deal.
- Business Insider
The Trumps are trying to sell a Florida home for $49 million after buying it from the former president's sister for $18 million in 2018
Eric Trump tweeted a listing for a home that the family is trying to sell through a limited liability company for more than twice its 2018 value.
- Reuters Videos
Wanted: moon mission crew, no experience needed
It will be the first private mission to go beyond Earth orbit and out to the moon. And you can go, maybe. Japanese billionaire Yusaka Maezawa is recruiting for an eight-person crew. The fashion entrepreneur has paid for the trip on a rocket being developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Maezawa originally said the crew would be composed of artists. Now he's opened it up to all: "I began to think that maybe every single person who is doing something creative could be called an artist. That was the conclusion that I came to. And that is why I wanted to reach out to a wider, more diverse audience, to give more people across the world the opportunity to join this journey. If you see yourself as an artist, then you're an artist."The weeklong mission is set for 2023, and Maezawa says it's on schedule. It will take the amateur astronauts on a trip around the moon. Elon Musk says that will put the voyagers into the history books: "We're going to go past the Moon, so it will actually end up being further... this mission we expect people will go further than any human has ever gone from planet Earth."But it will not be without risk. Two of Musk's Starship rockets have blown up in testing. If that doesn't put you off, the deadline for the first-stage of selection is March 14. Applicants will need to pass a medical and, eventually, an interview with Maezawa.The billionaire says he isn't doing any training yet, but is watching his alcohol intake and thinking deeply about the mission.
- Business Insider
Biden cuts 16 million people off from stimulus checks after striking deal with moderate Senate Democrats, study says
Biden approved phasing out direct payments entirely for individuals making above $80,000 a year and married couples earning more than $160,000.
- Business Insider
McDonald's workers in Denmark are paid $22 per hour so $15 is a 'compromise', AOC says
McDonald's is one of many major retailers that has stopped publicly fighting against a federal $15 minimum.
- Raleigh News and Observer
NC Republicans censured Richard Burr. But they are silent on Madison Cawthorn.
Rep. Cawthorn addressed accusations against him this week — when a Newsmax anchor asked him if the media was just attacking him to distract from Gov. Cuomo’s scandal.
- The Daily Beast
QAnon Shaman Begs for Leniency: I Stopped Muffin Theft During Capitol Riot
CBS NewsThe notorious “QAnon Shaman” has insisted his actions during the Capitol riot were not an attack on the United States—and that he can prove it because he stopped other rioters from stealing muffins.Jacob Chansley, who became arguably the most infamous Capitol rioter due to his furry and be-horned costume, has given a bizarre interview to CBS News in his latest attempt to beg for mercy. The first glimpse of the 60 Minutes interview was broadcast Thursday morning.Speaking from jail, Chansley became clearly short-tempered when CBS News reporter Laurie Segall asked him if he considered his actions during the storming of the Capitol to be an attack on the nation.The "QAnon Shaman" of the January 6th attack on the Capitol tells his story for the first time from jail, as he faces up to 20 years behind bars.Jacob Chansley spoke with @60minutes+'s @LaurieSegall pic.twitter.com/uhUuFNHRvf— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 4, 2021 When he was then asked to describe his actions in his own words, he explained: “I sang a song, and that’s a part of shamanism, it’s about creating positive vibrations in a sacred chamber. I also stopped people from stealing and vandalizing that sacred space, the Senate. I actually stopped people from stealing muffins out of the break room.”While preventing muffin theft is all well and good, the accusations against Chansley are very serious. On top of storming into the Capitol building, Chansley is also accused of leaving an ominous note for Vice President Mike Pence at his desk in the Senate chamber that read: “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.” That day, he was also carrying a spear attached to a flagpole, which prosecutors considered to be a weapon.Chansley is facing as many as 20 years in prison, but can’t seem to see what he did wrong. In the interview, he went on: “I also said a prayer in that sacred chamber because it was my intention to bring divinity and to bring God back into the Senate.” When reminded that it was illegal for him to even enter the chamber, he described that as a “very serious regret.”His mother, Martha Chansley, also insisted he did nothing wrong, telling Segall that her son simply “walked through open doors.” “He was escorted into the Senate. So, I don’t know what’s wrong with that,” she said. “I know that he is sorry but again it all comes back to he walked through open doors.” Prosecutors haven’t said how Chansley got into the building but there’s no evidence that police guided rioters into the Senate chamber. She justified her son’s decision to protest the election result by repeating the lie that the election was stolen. “I don’t think it’s right that [the election] was won fraudulently. I don’t believe it was won fairly at all,” she said. "He walked through open doors." - Martha Chansley, defends the actions of her son -- aka the QAnon Shaman -- during the Capitol siege. This exchange was one of the most telling from the piece. Would watch the full clip. pic.twitter.com/Ie1YJ0YXPf— Laurie Segall (@LaurieSegall) March 4, 2021 On former President Donald Trump, whom Chansley has repeatedly criticized via his attorney because he was not offered a pardon before Trump left office, it appears he still holds a soft spot for him.“I developed a lot of sympathy for Donald Trump because it seemed like the media was picking on him,” said Chansley. “I have been a victim of that all my life, whether it be at school or at home, so in many ways I identified with a lot of the negative things he was going through.”Chansley went on to admit that he was “wounded” by not being offered a pardon, but does not regret his loyalty to Trump. “I [only] regret entering that building, with every fiber of my being,” he said.While Chansley’s strange jailhouse appearance on national television might be viewed as detrimental to his legal battle, his defense attorney believes it was totally logical and justified. “[Chansley] is the most visible face of this riot. So for the first time in my career, it is not a trepidation to have my client speak out—it’s fully abated,” defense attorney Albert Watkins told The Daily Beast on Thursday.“If anything, it’s necessary to shift the message and dialogue that I have been pushing for since Jacob Chansley has been taking into custody: The riots were more than a lynch mob, but the result of years of manipulation [from Trump].”“He believed the president. He believed the words and reacted on those words. So when you have millions of Americans who were embracing over four years of propaganda and lies and misrepresentations daily—we have to have compassion for that. We have to have patience,” Watkins added.The lawyer added that the more people get exposed to his client, they’ll realize the “gentleman that he is” and remember that the thousands who stormed the Capitol “are our brothers and sisters and neighbors.”CBS reporter Segall said Chansley ended his interview by shouting “SEE ME! SEE ME!” and insisting that he’s not a violent man. A judge will hear arguments Friday on whether he should be released before his trial.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
- Business Insider
Rudy Giuliani, who helped lead Trump's bogus election-fraud conspiracy theory, is being mocked after warning of the dangers of misinformation
After spending months pushing Trump's election fraud conspiracy theory, Giuliani unexpectedly warned of the dangers of misinformation.
- Reuters
Scottish leader fights back in row with ex-mentor that threatens independence drive
Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon on Wednesday defended her handling of sexual harassment complaints against her predecessor Alex Salmond in high-stakes testimony on an issue that threatens to scupper her dream of leading Scotland to independence. Describing the feud with Salmond as "one of the most invidious political and personal situations" she had ever faced, Sturgeon denied Salmond's accusations that she had plotted against him and misled the Scottish parliament. The feud between the pair, once close friends and powerful allies in the cause of Scottish independence, has reached fever pitch in recent weeks, threatening the electoral prospects of the Scottish National Party (SNP) at a crucial time.