A version of this piece originally ran on DexDigi, Dexter Thomass newsletter, and a video version ran on his YouTube. Please consider subscribing to both.The Hollywood sign was on fire; or at least, it was online. Those images and videos were fake and AI-generated. Maybe you already knew this. But people made money off of them, anyway.At the beginning of January, the Instagram account FutureRiderUS was posting AI videos of a motorcycle riding through futuristic landscapes hence the name. Those videos usually would get anywhere from 20k to 30k views. But then, the fires started.The next day, FutureRiderUS posted its own flaming Hollywood sign video. That one got a million views.Next, they posted another AI video, this one focusing on firefighters rescuing baby animals.23 million views on that one. 78,000 comments, 2.5 million likes.How much money did they make? It's hard to say exactly, but we can estimate.Instagram pays people through programs where creators earn money based on how many views their Reels receive. The more viral a video, the longer users stay on the app, which allows Instagram to show more ads. Instagram then passes on some of the profit to the creator. How much? Meta doesnt publish those numbers, and it varies depending on the audience that is looking at them. But I asked a few influencers, and the recent rate seems to be around $100~$120 per million views. Jasons reporting shows that Facebook was paid out a few hundred dollars for single viral AI generated images, and Meta has paid out more than $2 billion through programs like Ads on Reels.Just look at FutureRiderUSs most popular posts from a roughly 24 hour stretch starting Jan 10:1m + 24m + 6m + 6m + 45m + 4m + 8m 94 million views.Thats 94 million views, from typing in some prompts. Conservatively, this is likely worth thousands of dollars. Not a bad days work.After that initial hit, FutureRiderUS started experimenting with different combinations of LA fire-themed AI slop, refining as they go. At first, their focus was on the firefighters holding baby animals. When the views on these started slowing down, the account shifted to videos showing animals running from fire; no firefighters needed. One features a swan bleeding out onto a freeway, with no visible fire at all.Its obvious what is going on here: FutureRiderUS realized that animals are a reliable attention-getter, but theyre experimenting to see which combination is the most profitable. Theyre A/B testing the AI slop to see what sticks.When I say slop, by the way, I partially mean that in a literal sense. In the most popular video, a man is inexplicably exuding smoke from under his jacket as he cradles an owl. Another firefighter, instead of saving a raccoon, instead appears to nudge it back into the flames. Its sloppy.Still, a lot of people seem to be genuinely unaware that these images are fake. Some people can tell, and have commented angrily or jokingly about it. (A third group: people who are initially fooled, but when another commenter tells them its fake, they get annoyed, saying that they appreciate seeing images of heroic firefighters or vulnerable animals, even if those specific ones are not real.)FutureRiderUS has addressed this, sort of.In the comments section of their most viral post (45 million views) featuring a firefighter carrying two baby bears to safety, they posted a response to angry commenters. Three days after the initial post, they commented, admitting that the post is AI-generated. They said, in part: (emphasis mine):In this video, I aimed to shed light on the reality of what is happening. These problems are very realanimals are dying, homes are being destroyed, and firefighters are risking their lives to save others. They dont have the time to produce visually stunning and powerful footage to raise awareness about these issues. Thats why I took the initiative to create something that could help people see and truly think about these tragedies. []Through art, even when created by AI, we can evoke emotions, raise awareness, and inspire change.The logic of their argument seems to be this (my paraphrase):If I don't post these provocative images, nobody will care about the brave firefighters or the people who lost their homes.This sort of defensive, it-doesnt-matter-if-its-fake stance is something that we are starting to notice more, as its used to justify the posting (and monetization) of everything from Palestinians to flood victims. But we shouldnt lose track of the context: the main purpose of this account is to make money. It says so right on the page.On January 18th, as the fires were still burning, FutureRiderUS posted a Reel advertising their $19.99 course on how to create viral content online by posting AI videos: Earn $5000 a Month with Viral Videos - Zero Experience Needed - Start Today and Watch Your Life Change.To be clear, the man in the video above isnt FutureRiderUS - the voice and video are AI-generated.The post also goes on to brag about how FutureRiderUS got 285 million views in one month. The post (as well as another earlier one) points viewers to the link in their bio, which takes you to the course that promises to teach you to replicate FutureRiderUS success. The landing page contains screenshots of the viral fire videos as proof of their virality.From their ad copy:This proves that anything is possible when you know how to create content that grabs attention.Again this is about creating content that grabs attention.Not raising awareness. And for the account owner to suggest that they are motivated by something other than money seems disingenuous. There are no donation links, no mention of local organizations. Instead, the only call to action is to click the link to buy their viral video course.I usually wouldnt do this, but for journalisms sake, I bought the course. The course contains two files. The first is a ten-page, wide-spaced PDF that is clearly ChatGPT-generated. If youre curious, heres a summary of the main points:Look online for what is already trending at the momenttype that into Sora.ai to generate a similar videoadd music, then post the video onlinerepeat multiple times a dayNothing you couldnt find online for free or perhaps guess yourself.Really the only unique parts of the guide are two rules it suggests: first, that you should clearly label the post as AI-generated. FutureRiderUS doesnt seem to follow this rule, but more on that in a moment.And then, it tells you to not spend too much time on any one video. Just 30 minutes are enough to move from concept to final upload, it advises. And to drive home this point, theres the second file: an .mp4 that is just a screen recording of an iPhone going from prompt to upload in seven minutes.Youre probably curious about who is behind the account. I was, too. So I asked them some questions via Instagram DM.Heres a summary of what they told me: Theyre Russian, and they only started doing this in December. OpenAIs Sora had been released that month, and they got an account and started posting AI videos. Success came pretty immediately. They proudly told me about their high follower count across multiple social media platforms, and how well their guide was selling. As they put it, the results speak for themselves.When I started asking about their LA fire videos, they started to get annoyed. I pointed out that most commenters clearly didnt understand it was AI. The ones who did seemed angry. FutureRiderUS said that they didnt see the problem, because they had added an AI label to their videos.Heres the thing: FutureRiderUS is right.On all of the fake fire videos FutureRiderUS has uploaded, there is an AI Info label. Not on the video itself, but in the Instagram interface. The trouble is that the label doesnt show up when youre watching the video normally. You can only see it if you tap the See More tag, and even then, space is prioritized for the song title, so sometimes the tag is pushed off of the screen.2Ive actually already shown an example in this article. Scroll back up and look at the screenshots of the fake burning Hollywood sign that went viral. That tiny A in the bottom right. Did you notice it?(I made a video that explains this interface part a bit more visually. Jump to 12:00).Below is the best-case scenario. The left image is what the 43-million view post looks like from the main grid; the center is what it looks like when youre scrolling this is where people spend most of their time. The right is what it looks like if you take the trouble to open the text description.It says AI Info in small text on the bottom right. Not AI Warning, not AI Caution. Just AI Info.Why would you click this?Meta has a page that makes a big deal about this tag. They primarily show what it looks like in the grid view. The issue is that its even more imperceptible there. Have a look at that Los Angeles, California tag in the leftmost image above. Up in the top left, under the username. When you first look at the post in the grid, thats what you see the location tag. And then, the music title scrolls into view for a few moments. Only after that, the text AI Info appears. By that time, youre watching the video, not looking at tiny text scrolls in the upper corner of your screen.You have to either wait for 5.5 seconds (I timed it) for the AI info to appear, or you have to search at the bottom of the screen.3In our conversation, FutureRiderUS said that it isnt the posters fault if people didnt notice the interface AI tag: it was Instagrams responsibility to make the tags bigger or more noticeable.FutureRiderUS insisted that they are following the rules as written. As I spoke to them, I realized that they were probably correct. But just to make sure, I sent an email to Metas press department, asking if simply adding the AI Info tag is enough.I never got a response, but Meta has indicated to 404 Media and to the general public more broadly that it has no problem with this type of content and that it expects to see more AI-generated content on its platforms moving forward.This all said, there are easy ways to make it clear that your post is not real. Some creators will do this by putting an #AI tag prominently at the beginning of the post, and then writing their caption below.FutureRiderUS, in their own guide they sell to customers, suggests going further and actually writing it in the post itself. I sent them a quote from their own guide:"Important: State that this content (or parts of it) is AI-generated (e.g., 'Created with AI' or 'AI-Generated Content')."(The bolded Important is in the original.)This really seemed to annoy FutureRiderUS, and they accused me of harassment:"Why should anyone pressure me or force me to do something beyond the established rules? I am following the platforms guidelines, and anything beyond that crosses a line. This kind of behavior can be considered harassment, as it unfairly targets and imposes additional expectations on me that are not required by the platform."If its not already obvious, everything FutureRiderUS wrote to me, as well as their captions and comments, is being copied and pasted from ChatGPT.To be clear, I am not really interested in criticizing any one individual here. In the absence of stronger rules on Instagram, this just comes down to a question of ethics. I am free to believe that what FutureRiderUS is doing is not ethical; they are free to disagree, or at least pretend to.But neither of our opinions matter, because of two facts: fake AI slop is profitable, and there are countless users doing the same thing. Theres absolutely nothing to stop them.That is: the Instagram platform doesnt just enable this behavior, it rewards it. So do other platforms. On Instagram and TikTok, FutureRiderUSs top hits are from fake LA fires; on YouTube, its three-hour long Christmas music compilations with slop visuals of families shopping. None are clearly labeled. Disaster porn is just another kind of #content.It doesnt really matter what that content is: as long as it is content that grabs attention, both sides can make money.For the slop creator and the platform, this is a clear win-win, at least in the short term. The only loser here is the audience, who is unable to recognize slop when they see it.Theres this thing that AI proponents like to say every time something new comes out: this is the worst it'll ever be. So far, they've been right, and they may well continue to be right. Its hard to predict what happens next with AI, but I have one prediction I feel fairly comfortable making: unaided, most of us will always struggle to reliably recognize AI when we see it.But its hard to blame us when two sides are conspiring against us: Instagrams interface makes it almost impossible to tell, and creators are incentivized to lie by omission.A few days after their viral successes, the viewcounts on FutureRiderUS fire content started to dwindle. The fires themselves were still burning in Los Angeles, but FutureRiderUS shifted focus. On January 14, as talks of a Gaza ceasefire started to circulate, the account anticipated interest in the trend, and made a post as their viral video guide suggests.This post is an AI slop collage of a Palestinian flag atop a spire, a woman crying as bodies and rubble lay in the street, children, bloody arms, doctors walking sideways. The caption is a vaguely worded, inoffensive block of text that says, in part, This is not about taking sides, its about humanity.This move is completely obvious to anyone who follows FutureRiderUS viral video guide or honestly, any of the tons of books, articles, LinkedIn posts or videos by content creators who teach you how to make content and grow your account.Again, its all about content. Content that grabs attention. Of course somebody was going to use those tools and strategies for something like this. As long as the platforms allow it and keep making money off of it there's no reason for it to stop.FutureRiderUS had decided that the algorithmic juice had been squeezed out of Los Angeles. Moving on to Palestine content is just a business decision.graph of Google Trends searches for la firesThe Palestine post got a few comments, which are of the usual sort: heart emojis, crying emojis, someone musing about a world war. One of the commenters seems completely uninterested in Palestine, humanity, or a ceasefire. Instead, they ask the real question:if i join your courses, what ill get from the courses?But after nearly a day, the Palestine video hadnt even broken 10k views. It was a flop.A few hours later, FutureRiderUS posted a video of a bear eating honey.

Since June 1, 2022, GLAADs ALERT Desk has tracked 150+ anti-LGBTQ incidents targeting affirming faith-based communities in the US. These include 54 cases of vandalism, 38 cases of threats and harassment, 37 protests, 7 attempted arsons, 3 assaults, and 2 bomb threats. For the access to the full dataset, please contact press@glaad.org. This is an [...]The post 150+ Anti-LGBTQ Incidents Targeted Religious Communities in the US, According to Newly Released Data from GLAADs ALERT Desk first appeared on GLAAD.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01128-6A powerful and unbiased way to identify links between genetic variants and biological traits has changed scientists understanding of complex diseases and how to treat them.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00918-2A 250,000-year-old footprint preserved in ash, and the effect of a polluted atmosphere on health and the economy, in our weekly dip into Natures archive.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi wants to play at the 2026 World Cup, according to his Inter Miami teammate and friend Luis Suarez.

Fueled by fast-paced play and unique scorelines, NBA scorigami has carved out a niche corner of basketball fandom.

Peeps marshmallow treats move through the manufacturing process at the Just Born factory in Bethlehem, Pa., Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)2025-04-15T05:01:05Z BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) Love them or hate them, those marshmallow Peeps that come in blindingly bright colors and an array of flavors are inescapable around the Easter holiday. Millions are made daily in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, by Just Born Quality Confections, a family-owned candy manufacturer that also churns out Hot Tamales, Mike and Ike fruit chews and Goldenbergs Peanut Chews.Peeps is Just Borns most recognizable brand and one of a handful of candies that evoke strong reactions good and bad. Some say an Easter basket isnt complete without Peeps while others deride them as being indestructible. Some use them in recipes or even artwork. Even if youre not usually one to gravitate to eating the Peeps, theres always so many other fun ways to include them in your celebrations, said Caitlin Servian, brand manager for Peeps. How many Peeps are made each year?On average, about 5.5 million are made each day.That adds up to 2 billion a year or roughly 6 Peeps for every man, woman and child across the U.S. How many different varieties and colors are there?First hatched in yellow, the sugary chicks and bunnies come in nine colors for this Easter season, including pink, blue and lavender. And there are even more flavors 14 for Easter from cookies and cream, to fruit punch and sour watermelon. The varieties and colors vary throughout the year with different holiday seasons. How long does it take to make a Peep?Before the early 1950s, making the candies by hand took 27 hours. Bob Born, who became known as the Father of Peeps, came up with a way to speed up the process. He and a company engineer designed a machine to make them in less than six minutes. The same process is used today. How are they made?The main ingredients sugar, corn syrup and gelatin are cooked and combined to create marshmallows, which are then shaped and sent through a sugar shower.A whopping 400 pounds (181 kilograms) of sugar is used per batch for Peeps colored sugars. Freshly made Peeps each chick weighs one-third of an ounce then move along a conveyor so that they can cool before being packaged. ___Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. TASSANEE VEJPONGSA Vejpongsa is a video journalist for The Associated Press in Philadelphia. She was previously based in Taipei and Bangkok. twitter JOHN SEEWER Seewer covers state and national news for The Associated Press and is based in Toledo, Ohio. twitter mailto

None of the frontier AI research labs have presented any evidence that they are on the brink of achieving artificial general intelligence, no matter how they define that goal, but Google is already planning for a Post-AGI world by hiring a scientist for its DeepMind AI lab to research the profound impact that technology will have on society.Spearhead research projects exploring the influence of AGI on domains such as economics, law, health/wellbeing, AGI to ASI [artificial superintelligence], machine consciousness, and education, Google says in the first item on a list of key responsibilities for the job. Artificial superintelligence refers to a hypothetical form of AI that is smarter than the smartest human in all domains. This is self explanatory, but just to be clear, when Google refers to machine consciousness its referring to the science fiction idea of a sentient machine.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Elon Musk, and other major and minor players in the AI industry are all working on AGI and have previously talked about the likelihood of humanity achieving AGI, when that might happen, and what the consequences might be, but the Google job listing shows that companies are now taking concrete steps for what comes after, or are at least are continuing to signal that they believe it can be achieved.Part of the problem is that AGI is a loosely defined term and goal. According to The Information, a 2023 document from OpenAI and Microsoft defined AGI as an AI system that can generate up to $100 billion in profit, which seems entirely removed from any scientific benchmark. Earlier this year, Altman wrote that OpenAI is confident it knows how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it and that the company believes that in 2025 well see the first AI agents join the workforce. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella later downplayed this type of AGI definition, saying Us self-claiming some AGI milestone, thats just nonsensical benchmark hacking to me.As other critics have previously pointed out, AGI and the massive impact it could theoretically have on society is also a useful marketing strategy for AI companies, allowing them to hype up their value based on something that may or may not happen in the future, while distracting from the actual problems and harm their AI system are actively causing as they exist.Googles job listing appears to prepare the company for the most ambitious, science fiction-y interpretation of AGI. Other key responsibilities for the job include research projects exploring the influence of AGI on domains such as economics, law, health/wellbeing, AGI to ASI, machine consciousness, and education, conducting in-depth studies to analyze AGI's societal impacts across key domains, and building infrastructure and evaluation frameworks for a systematic evaluation of AI's societal effects.The job listing comes shortly after Deepmind published a report in early April about taking a responsible path to AGI. The report, which states that AI thats at least as capable as humans at most cognitive tasks, could be here within the coming years, details how Google is taking a systematic and comprehensive approach to AGI safety, exploring four main risk areas: misuse, misalignment, accidents, and structural risks, with a deeper focus on misuse and misalignment.Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01177-xTo combat long-overlooked fungal pathogens, researchers and regulators must embrace innovative science and policy.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01202-zScientists must regain trust

Nico Iamaleava is a seminal figure, somehow representing both ends of the pendulum swing of player empowerment.

Andr Onana believes that time away from the Manchester United team has done him good, a source close to the goalkeeper has told ESPN.

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court for his retrial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)2025-04-15T04:04:49Z NEW YORK (AP) The last time a New York City jury sat in judgment of Harvey Weinstein, the ex-movie studio boss was convicted of rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison.Five years later, that landmark #MeToo verdict is gone wiped away on appeal and Weinstein is set to go on trial again, beginning Tuesday with jury selection.New Yorks highest court, the Court of Appeals, overturned Weinsteins conviction and ordered a new trial, finding that improper rulings and prejudicial testimony tainted his original one in 2020.That ruling gave Weinstein a second chance to fight the charges and do so in a different atmosphere than his first trial, which was held in the middle of a global reckoning over sexual misconduct.Weinstein, 73, who has pleaded not guilty and denies that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone, is older and more frail, in and out of the hospital regularly for a variety of health problems. Hes now far removed from when he was among the most powerful men in the movie business. Even if he is acquitted, he will not walk free.Weinstein is also appealing a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles. His 16-year prison sentence in that case still stands, though his lawyers said he needs to be resentenced because the since-vacated New York conviction factored into how his punishment was calculated. Weinstein is being retried on two charges from his original trial. He is accused of raping an aspiring actor in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performing a criminal sex act by forcing oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant in 2006. He is also charged with one count of criminal sex act based on an allegation from a woman who was not a part of the original trial. That woman, who has asked that she not be named publicly, alleges that Weinstein forced oral sex on her at a Manhattan hotel.Speaking outside the courthouse on Tuesday, that accusers lawyer, Lindsay Goldbrum, said one thing would become crystal clear from her clients upcoming testimony at the trial: This was not consensual. This was sexual assault with force. I am confident that there will be justice in this case, Goldbrum told reporters, adding that her client was resolved to testify. It is important for women everywhere and for people who are victims of sexual assault everywhere that others pave the way and show their dedication in this fight against sexual assault.Judge Curtis Farber has set aside at least four days for jury selection and expects opening statements and the start of testimony next week.The judge, prosecution and defense will work to whittle a massive pool of potential jurors down to the 18 people 12 jurors and six alternates needed for the trial by asking questions and seeking to eliminate anyone they feel cant judge the case fairly.Selecting a jury will involve bringing in around 80 potential jurors at a time for two basic screening questions. The first group was brought in late Tuesday morning after defense lawyers and prosecutors ironed out some last-minute loose ends. The judge will ask for a show of hands from anyone who has work, family or other obligations that will prevent them from serving. Hell then ask for a show of hands from anyone who feels they cant be impartial based on the nature of the charges or news coverage.Anyone who raises a hand will be sent home, Farber has said.Those who remain will be seated in or near the jury box, 24 at a time, and asked additional questions about things like their education, work, and whether anyone they know is in law enforcement or has been a victim of a crime.Prosecutors and Weinsteins lawyers will each have 40 minutes to question each subset of 24 potential jurors. Often, lawyers will use that time to follow up on things raised in earlier questioning or zero in on concerns about potential biases.Either side can ask the judge to dismiss a potential juror. If too many jurors are dismissed, another group will be brought in and the process will repeat until the full jury is seated. MICHAEL R. SISAK Sisak is an Associated Press reporter covering law enforcement and courts in New York City, including former President Donald Trumps criminal and civil cases and problems plaguing the federal prison system. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is using various artificial intelligence tools, including ones that can quickly identify people of interest by pulling data from social media, according to documents published by the agency last week and marketing material from the contractors.The documents follow others that 404 Media has previously obtained and published through the Freedom of Information Act and are more up to date.Fivecast ONYX supports the collection of publicly available, internet-based content in near real-time, quickly organizing the content to facilitate analysis and the surfacing of risks and threats against the homeland to enhance CBP tactical targeting, analysis and vetting capabilities while at the same time supporting CBPs strategic counter-network analysis, one of the documents says, referring to the Australian intelligence company Fivecast. CBP also published documents about Dataminr, another social media monitoring company.Do you work at Fivecast, Dataminr, or DHS? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.CBP published the latest documents to its website which lists AI programs or tools related to the agency on April 7. Previous documents published in the last year include ones discussing an underwater inspection system, anomaly detection algorithms, and its use of autonomous surveillance towers.The release of these documents happened the same week that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it will Begin Screening Aliens Social Media Activity for Antisemitism. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a different branch of DHS, is conducting the antisemitism social media searches, according to the announcement. CBP told 404 Media in an email that Neither tool is used for vetting or travel application processing, referring to Dataminr and Onyx, but did not elaborate beyond that.The release of information about these tools comes in a climate of high-profile detainment of students who have criticized Israels indiscriminate bombing campaign in Gaza. Hundreds of students have had their visas revoked, many for protesting against Israel, and people who have criticized Israel have been detained on the street or at official appointments with DHS.A video on Fivecasts website says Onyx combines advanced data collection and AI-enabled analytics to rapidly identify people of interest. Some of those AI capabilities include object and concept recognition from images and videos; natural language processing that looks for risky keywords and phrases; a tool that looks for similar phrases across investigations; and user-trainable logo detector, according to the video.As 404 Media previously reported, Onyx also includes sentiment and emotion detection over time.Although published recently, the Fivecast documents date from May 2023. One of them, a statement of work, says CBP is proactively collecting, harnessing and applying the power of data, intelligence, and advanced analytics. This statement of work is similar to some 404 Media obtained from CBP through FOIA requests discussing the agencys bulk pilot of Fivecast in March 2021 and another from 2022. Journalist Todd Feathers also obtained what appears to be the May 2023 statement of work.The recently added documents to the AI section of CBPs website also includes Dataminr, a social media monitoring company that also claims to use AI, although the company has been around for years. In recent years, Dataminr has integrated Generative AI for real-time event description and launched ReGenAI (Regenerative AI), a breakthrough form of Generative AI that automatically regenerates in real time as events unfold. Dataminrs AI platform is powered by more than 50 proprietary LLMs and multi-modal foundation models, trained on Dataminrs 12+ year proprietary event archive, its website reads.That statement of work from September 2023 says OSINT Team analysts, working alongside CBPs tactical targeting/analytical units, intelligence support cells, and enforcement units, use a commercially available tools and analytical tradecraft methodologies to exploit asymmetric data sources to inform targeting, vetting, and network development and analysis workflows.The document adds DataMinr enables advanced search, collection, and analysis of publicly available information through a single user interface, facilitating the collection of information regarding people, places, and things across social media platforms, as well as general information held on the surface, deep, and dark web to inform situational awareness and to support CBP law enforcement and national security operations.I previously obtained a document which said CBP used another AI-powered monitoring tool called Babel X to screen travelers, including U.S. citizens.Neither Fivecast nor Dataminr responded to a request for comment.

2025 is the year of queer country! Country music star Sam Williams is back with an all-new single and accompanying music video. No Problem is the second track to drop from Williams upcoming project Act II: COUNTRYSTAR. The single is a melodic country song about the beauty of young, queer love. Williams tells his partner [...]The post Sam Williams Talks Melodic and Unapologetically Queer New Song No Problem, Teases Upcoming Project, and Reveals His Dream Collaborators first appeared on GLAAD.

Foodies rejoice! Bostons first-of-its-kind Big Queer Food Fest is right around the corner, andas an official non-profit partner,we have all the details you need to know. This weeklong celebration of the LGBTQIA+ and culinary communities comes to Boston and runs from April 28th May 4th, hosting events across the city. Co-presented by Meet Boston, [...]The post Everything You Need to Know About Bostons Big Queer Food Fest! first appeared on GLAAD.

Manila is one of the world's most densely populated cities, busy day and night, with a majority working from paycheck to paycheck. Rey Ravago, 64, is one of them who takes on many forms to survive. Some days, he is a massage therapist, a part-time street sweeper, and a hairstylist. He has performed as a drag queen for the past 40 years. Ravago is a staunch advocate for the heavily contested Anti-Discrimination Bill. It was first presented in 2000 to the Philippine Congress to protect people of all ages from gender-based violence, discrimination, and freedom of expression. The law has not come to pass and is considered one of the slowest pieces of legislation in the countrys history. The predominantly Catholic nation is one of only two countries in the world without divorce, and same-sex marriage is met with strong opposition from Christian groups and conservative politicians.The nations lack of programs to secure the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, combined with the poor healthcare system for the elderly, makes it tougher for people who are older and gay, as they face stigma, isolation, and unequal treatment. LGBTQ elders are more inclined to be single, childless, and estranged from their families and rely on families of choice, counting on the kindness of friends and support from their immediate community.The project follows Ravagos journey as he struggles with daily life but still manages to find joy in the most difficult situations. He enriches the lives of others by volunteering his time to champion LGBTQ issues and strives to change how others see the aging gay community in the Philippines. The project title, This Is My Life, is taken from a song popularized by legendary singer and gay icon Shirley Bassey, whom Ravago takes inspiration from, channeling Basseys persona, exuding strength, glamour, and confidence. The power ballad has been part of his drag performance repertoire since the 1980s.Ravagos story is a universal narrative of resilience, identity, and the enduring human spirit. Ultimately reminding us to stand strong in the face of adversity.Rey Ravago has been a drag queen for the past 40 years. He takes on many forms to survive. Some days he is a massage therapist or hair stylist. "I value my independence and do not want to be a burden to others even in my old age". Ravago says. November 28, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines.Rey Ravago's apartment compound in Pasay. He lives alone and cares for the stray cats in the neighborhood. December 13, 2024. Metro Manila,Rey Ravago lights a candle in Baclaran Church, Paraaque to celebrate his 64th birthday. The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic nation. Christian groups and conservative politicians strongly oppose divorce and same-sex marriage. November 22, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines.An array of gowns on sale behind Baclaran Church. It is one of the city's biggest markets for ready-to-wear garments. November 22, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines.When my brothers found out I was gay, they would beat me up, so I left home at the age of 15, Ravago recalls as he puts on make-up inside his apartment in Pasay. But when the rest of my family saw my independence and how my talent brought me overseas, they stopped giving me a hard time. November 28, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines.A photo of Rey Ravago speaking at a Gender Rights event in Makati. He is often invited to discuss the issues faced by senior members of the LGBTQ community. He is a staunch advocate for the heavily contested Anti-Discrimination Bill. It was first presented in 2000 to the Philippine Congress to protect people of all ages from gender-based violence, discrimination, and freedom of expression. The law has not come to pass and is considered one of the slowest pieces of legislation in the countrys history. November 28, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines.Rey Ravago rests in his home in Pasay during the afternoon. He waits for clients to call him for massage or hair styling services. The nations lack of livelihood programs for the elderly, combined with the poor healthcare system, makes it tougher for people who are older and gay, as they face stigma, isolation, and unequal treatment. "Gay people often experience solitude. We tend to do things on our own, even when facing problems." Ravago says. December 4, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines.Rey Ravago dyes the hair of his neighbor outside of his apartment. Like Ravago, the people in his community work long hours, often from paycheck to paycheck. He accommodates clients in the evenings after they are free from work. "Those of us who are aging, are starting to feel a lot of pain. We need maintenance medicines for our illnesses, but the problem is not everyone has work, so there is no money to buy medicines. Ravago says. December 4, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines.Rey Ravago looks at younger photographs of himself performing in Japan in the 1980s. December 13, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines."I will continue to perform for as long as I can. " Ravago smiles. He puts on a show for the Pasay Gay Community. December 14, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines.Ohbet, Rey, and Henry stand outside their friend's home in Laloma just like old times. They are all members of the LGBTQ community and have been close friends for the past 50 years. They worked together in Japan as drag queens in the 1980s. LGBTQ elders are more inclined to be single, childless, and estranged from their families and rely on families of choice, counting on the kindness of friends and support from their immediate community. December 7, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines.Rey Ravago rides a jeepney home after performing at an LGBTQ party. While I am still strong, I will continue to help others. I hope the laws meant for us, will come to pass. We deserve LGBTQ-friendly work for older persons. We are human beings like everyone else and still serve a purpose in society. December 14, 2024. Metro Manila, Philippines.Connection: I lived for many years close to Reys neighborhood. It is a privilege to follow him closely and call him a friend. His trust was key in creating an intimate visual narrative of his life. I hope the story can bring the issues of the elderly gay community in the Philippines to the forefront and harness change.Shirin Bhandari is an independent writer, photographer, and documentary filmmaker based in Metro Manila who graduated from the University of the Philippines, College of Fine Arts. Her work, focusing on war and conflict, displacement, malnutrition, HIV, LGBTQ/gender-based issues, and climate change, has appeared in the Pulitzer Center, SCMP, Women's Media Center, Slate, CNN, Roads and Kingdoms, Anthony Bourdains Parts Unknown, and VICE. A Logan Nonfiction Fellow, VII Academy alum, and member of Women Photograph, she has produced documentaries for the UN, USAID, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger, EUAID, and CARE. Her project The Show Goes On was showcased in Heidelberg, Germany in 2024, while her feature film People of the Lake is set for completion in 2025. Bhandaris newest film, The Fishermen Snared in the Scarborough Shoal Dispute, supported by the Pulitzer Center, SCMP, and Roads and Kingdoms, was screened at the DC Environmental Film Festival in March 2024.Arranged for Pride.com by Nikki Aye, Digital Photo EditorVoices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ and Allied community. Visit pride.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. We welcome your thoughts and feedback on any of our stories. Email us at voices@equalpride.com. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists and editors, and do not directly represent the views of PRIDE.com or our parent company, equalpride.

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01130-yFatal blood clots can arise in people who have cancer. The discovery of a cue that underlies these clots offers a therapeutic target and a way to assess clot risk.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said they will look to hold a playoff between Los Angeles FC and Club Amrica for a place at the Club World Cup.

Lyon midfielder Lindsey Heaps has said it is "special" to see her USWNT teammates Emily Fox and Jenna Nighswonger make the move over to play in Europe

The notorious imageboard 4chan is down following what appears to be a major hack of its backend. The hackers claim to have exposed code for the site, the emails of moderators, and a list of mod communications. This happened, it seems, as part of a five year long, inter-image board beef between users of 4chan and Soyjak, another image board that splintered off of 4chan.Its still unclear what the fallout of the hack will be, but the notorious image board remains down and a huge amount of data appears to have been leaked.Users struggled to load 4chan on the evening of April 14, 2025, according to posts on other imageboards and forums. A few hours before that, the banned board /qa/ reappeared on the site and someone using the hiroyuki account, named after 4chans owner Hiroyuki Nishimura, posted FUCKING LMAO and U GOT HACKED XD.Do you know anything else about this story? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at +1 347 762-9212 or send me an email at matthew@404media.co.The hiroyuki account was flagged in bold red as an admin, suggesting the person posting the messages had control over a real admin account. /qa/ was a questions and answer imageboard on 4chan. Pitched as a place to discuss concerns that affected the whole of 4chan, /qa/ was in practice a board where various factions fought.Soyjak is a popular meme youve probably seen before. Its a balding man with glasses and shaggy beard, his mouth agape in docile joy. He is now the name of a rival imageboard.At about the same time 4chan struggled to load, someone on the soyjak.st posted a thread that claimed to explain what happened. Tonight has been a very special night for many of us at the soyjak party, the thread said. Today, April 14, 2025, a hacker who has been in 4cucks system for over a year, executed the true operation soyclipse, reopening /qa/, exposing personal information of various 4cuck staff, and leaking code from the site.The thread shared images of the resurrected and defaced /qa/ board as well as what appear to be screenshots from 4chans internal moderation tools. The screenshots included discussion about why users had been banned from 4chan, pieces of its backend in phpMyAdmin (the infrastructure that runs 4chan and other forums and imageboards), and traffic stats for specific boards.Elsewhere on the internet, someone leaked an alleged list of moderator email addresses and a portion of what they described as the source code for the site. 404 Media reached out to an email in the leaked list that appeared to be for Nishimura but did not hear back.It appears that 4chan was susceptible to a hack because it was running very out of date code that contained various vulnerabilities, according to 404 Medias look at the code and people sorting through the hack online.So 4chan very likely got hacked because they were running on an extremely out of date version of PHP that has a lot of vulnerabilities and exploits and are using deprecated function to interact with there MySQL database.Web security 101: Keep your code and software up to date. pic.twitter.com/JFDOsbr5rt Yushe (@_yushe) April 15, 2025That starts to answer the question of how this happened. But why did it happen? This all has roots in a five year old meme fight.Soyjak.party, the site where a user began posting about the 4chan hack, was an offshoot of 4chan created as a joke about five years ago. Besides being a general cesspool,4chan has long been a place that incubates memes. lolcats, the NavySeal copypasta, and Pepe the Frog grew and spread on 4chans imageboards. From time to time a meme is overplayed or spammed and mods on the site get tired of it.Five years ago, users spammed the /qa/ board with soyjaks. Unable to quash the tide of soyfaced jpegs, 4chan shut down the entire /qa/ board. The soyajk loving exiles of 4chan started a new site called soyjak.party where they could craft open mouthed soyboy memes to their hearts content. When 4chan was hacked on the night of April 14, the /qa/ board briefly returned. /QA/ RETURNS SOYJAK.PARTY WON read a banner image at the top of the board.As of this writing, 4chan is still down. When you attempt to access a specific board, the connection times out. The initial connection between Cloudflare's network and the origin web server timed out. As a result, the web page can not be displayed, the error page says.

In a turn that would have seemed unlikely just a few year ago, Sedona Prince, once a star player in college basketball, failed to be drafted by any team in the WNBA on Monday night.Prince made a splash throughout her college career, both on and off the court. Her time at both the University of Texas and the University of Oregon were marred by injury. She wrapped up her time playing at the college level at Texas Christian University, where she helped her team reach its highest ranking. She also made a name for herself during those years by being active on TikTok and calling out gender inequality in the NCAA.But that might be the end of Princes impact on the sport.Despite previous projections by analysts that she would be picked in the first or second round of the WNBA draft, every single team skipped over her. Now, Princes only option is to play as a free agent, although its unclear how her future with the WNBA will shake out.According to ESPN, the reasoning behind this surprise turn of events likely involves the allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault that have been brought against Prince by multiple women in recent years. (@) "Our reporting confirms though that this is something that teams were looking at along with her age and her injury history," reporter Ryan Ruocco noted on air.One of the basketball players exes made a series of TikTok videos last year detailing their breakup while making allegations of physical and verbal abuse. At least three other women have also come forward, with one lawsuit filed (and withdrawn) and at least one police report filed.Prince has denied all the accusations against her and has never been formally charged with any crime."She has been convicted on social media by people who have attempted to use their relationship with Sedona to attract followers and to build their influencer careers and settle grudges," Princes attorney, A. Boone Almanza, told ESPN over the weekend. (@) Whatever the truth may be, it appears as if the WNBA teams that once may have welcomed Prince with open arms now consider her too much of a liability. And fans of womens basketball dont seem to torn up about it. (@) "SEDONA PRINCE DIDN'T GET DRAFTED GOD IS GOOD" (@) "SEDONA PRINCE UNDRAFTED" (@) "Her ex posted this with the caption 'day is made" (@) "Everybody refreshing ESPN to make sure Sedona Prince hasnt been drafted" (@) "now hold male athletes to that standard too."

Nature, Published online: 15 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01231-8The fossil expert found love at first sight with trilobites.

Bucks star Damian Lillard will miss the start of the NBA playoffs because of a blood clot in his right calf, sources told ESPN.

Naismith Hall of Famer Joe Dumars is finalizing a deal to become the new president of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans, sources told ESPN.

Vehicles for export are parked at a port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)2025-04-15T17:21:59Z DETROIT (AP) President Donald Trump hinted that he might temporarily relieve the auto industry from permanent tariffs he previously imposed on the business. The president didnt specify how long the potential pause would be or what it would entail, but the auto sector is awaiting how rules might change on 25% tariffs based on U.S. parts, if duties remain on assembled vehicles.Experts have said short pauses arent likely to give carmakers enough of an opportunity to adjust their vast global supply chains, though parts exemptions would certainly bolster the industry amid Trumps trade war whiplash. Trump told reporters Monday that automakers need a little bit of time because theyre going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time. So Im talking about things like that, referring to relocating production from Canada, Mexico and elsewhere. The news drove global auto stocks up Tuesday. Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents domestic auto companies Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, said in a statement: There is increasing awareness that broad tariffs on parts could undermine our shared goal of building a thriving and growing American auto industry, and that many of these supply chain transitions will take time. Trump first announced 25% automotive tariffs late March; the tariffs for completed vehicles took effect on April 3, while the parts tariffs were set to start 30 days later. The one-month delay is intended to give the U.S. government time to work out rules to exempt the value of automotive parts that contains U.S.-made materials, which will not be subject to the tariffs, according to insights from law firm Foley & Lardner, noting a carveout for parts certified under regional trade pact, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The Department of Commerce is expected to determine a system to calculate non-U.S. content by May 3. At the same time, automakers are navigating steel and aluminum imports levies of at least 25%; 25% duties on all goods from Canada and Mexico; 10% global tariffs and reciprocal tariffs around the world paused for 90 days, and both of which automotive is exempt from; and tariffs on China at 145%.The United Auto Workers labor union, and Autos Drive America, which represents foreign automakers, did not respond to requests for comment.The on-again, off-again tariffs have already wrought havoc for any number of global sectors but especially the auto industry, which relies on a complex network of parts from around the world. The American and European car industries are severely affected by tariffs. On top of the 25% tariff imposed on vehicles, we are impacted by layer upon layer of additional compounding tariffs including those on aluminum, steel, and parts, Stellantis Chairman John Elkann said in the companys annual general meeting Tuesday, noting at the same time, the Chinese auto markets potential for growth this year.But its not too late if the U.S. and Europe take the necessary urgent actions to promote an orderly transition, Elkann added. We are encouraged by what President Trump indicated yesterday on tariffs for the car industry. Though Trump says his tariffs are intended to bolster U.S. auto manufacturing, automakers arent able to reconfigure their sourcing in short periods of time, experts say. Because of the nature of the business and the length of time it takes to design product and get manufacturing up and running, it could take years to reevaluate sources of supply and establish new assembly operations. Flipping upside down a global supply chain that has been in place for decades cannot happen overnight for the auto industry, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a research note, and we strongly believe the clear right move would be to focus on finished cars made in the U.S. versus auto parts.The tariffs as they currently stand are sure to cost automakers billions of dollars, impact new and used vehicle supply and raise prices for car buyers at dealerships by thousands of dollars. Already, some auto manufacturers have paused operations in Canada and Mexico and temporarily laid off workers in the U.S.Some have also attempted to get ahead of the impact of tariffs through appeals to customers. In rare moves, Ford, Hyundai, Genesis and Jeep-maker Stellantis began offering employee pricing programs for a limited time to reach buyers before what will most likely be steep price hikes.Car buyers might be better positioned for an extra few weeks, depending on the latest policy change.___Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at [emailprotected]. ALEXA ST. JOHN St. John is a climate solutions reporter for The Associated Press, based in Detroit. She covers the ways people and communities create viable and scalable solutions to the planets warming. twitter mailto

Law enforcement officials talk outside the home of actor Gene Hackman on Feb. 27, 2025 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (AP Photo/Roberto Rosales, file)2025-04-15T17:42:06Z ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) Authorities on Tuesday released a lengthy investigation report detailing some of the last emails and internet searches done by Gene Hackmans wife in the days before her death, indicating that she was scouring the internet for information on flu-like symptoms and breathing techniques. Betsy Arakawa died in February of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome a rare, rodent-borne disease that can led to a range of symptoms that include flu-like illness, headaches, dizziness and severe respiratory distress, investigators have said. Gene Hackman is believed to have died about a week later of heart disease with complications from Alzheimers disease.The partially mummified remains of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found in their Santa Fe home on Feb. 26, when maintenance and security workers showed up at the home and alerted police. According to the report released Tuesday, a review of the open bookmarks on Arakawas computer Feb. 8 and the morning of Feb. 12 indicated she was actively researching medical conditions related to COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms. The searches included questions about whether COVID could cause dizziness or nosebleeds. She also had mentioned in an email to her masseuse that Hackman had woken up Feb. 11 with flu or cold-like symptoms but that a COVID test was negative and she would have to reschedule her appointment for the next day out of an abundance of caution. Arakawas last search was the morning of Feb. 12 for a health care provider in Santa Fe.Investigators also reviewed a call history to the Hackmans home phone along with voicemails and security footage from stores that Arakawa had visited on Feb. 11.Authorities also are expected to release more redacted police body camera footage from inside the home as sheriffs deputies and investigators tried to piece together what had happened to the couple. The written report describes them going through rooms of the home and finding nothing out of the ordinary and no signs of forced entry. The materials were being released as the result of a recent court order that mandated any depictions of the deceased couple would have to be blocked from view. All photos, video and documents from the investigation had been restricted from release by an earlier, temporary court order.The Hackman estate and family members had sought to keep the records sealed to protect the familys constitutional right to privacy.A report obtained from the New Mexico Department of Health showed an environmental assessment of the Hackman property found rodent feces in several outbuildings but not inside the living quarters. A live rodent, dead rodent and a rodent nest were found in three detached garages.Nestled among the pion and juniper hills overlooking Santa Fe, the Hackman home is not unlike others in area as mice are common within the surrounding landscape.One of the couples three dogs also was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa, while two other dogs were found alive. A state veterinary lab tied the dogs death to dehydration and starvation. An attorney for the estate, Kurt Sommer, argued during a hearing last month that the couple had taken great pains to stay out of the public light during their lifetimes and that the right to control the use of their names and likenesses should extend to their estate in death. Estate representative Julia Peters also emphasized the possibly shocking nature of photographs and video in the investigation and the potential for their dissemination by media. The Associated Press, CBS News and CBS Studios intervened in the matter, saying in court filings that they would not disseminate images of the couples bodies and would blur images to obscure them from other records.

Hacks,which is currently in its fourth season, recently won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series after winning Outstanding New TV Series in 2022. The critically acclaimed HBO comedy continues to deliver the funny and queerness with its characters, narratives and dialogue. In a recent episode ofHacks,beloved frenemies Deborah (Jean Smart) and Ava [...]The post WATCH: Hacks Episode Gives a Shout Out To GLAAD Media Awards While Deborah Correctly Uses the Term QPOC first appeared on GLAAD.

The first weekend of Coachella made all of our sapphic dreams come true, with queer women taking over the iconic music festival.After last year when Rene Rapp was introduced by the cast of The L Word and performed with her girlfriend Towa Bird in front of a giant pair of scissors, we didnt think Coachella could get any more lesbian coded, but then we saw Weekend Ones performances.Billie Eilish was a surprise guest star during Charlie XCXs set, Lady Gaga gagged everyone with her performance and epic costume changes, plus Maren Morris, Clairo, Hope Tala, South African DJ Desiree, Underscores, Beabadobee, Amyl & The Sniffers, and Coco & Breezy all performed too. But there were a few moments from this past weekend that were so queer they deserved a standing ovation.Megan the Stallion andVictoria MontFirst up is the moment that is breaking sapphic online, everywhere. Megan thee Stallion and Victoria Monts hopped on stage together for the hottest performance of the festival and the year and maybe even the decade.Megan the Stallion andVictoria MontThe two performed a wicked hot rendition of their hit song Spin .... Megan the Stallion andVictoria MontAnd then brought the house down with the anthem On My Mama. Yes, mama! We may never recover. @gaytimesMegan Thee Stallion and Victoria Mont said this one's for the wuhluhwuhs #wlwtiktok #megantheestallion #coachella #coachellaoutfit #victoriamonet #wuhluhwuh #hottiesHold on, going to need a moment to catch my breath. Arca and TokischaDuring nonbinary Venezuelan musician Arcas bold performance, bisexual Dominican rapper Tokishcha joined her on stage and the two looked into each others eye like theyre in love.Arca and TokischaAre you seeing this hand placement?! Arca and TokischaWe cant get enough of their longing glances at each other throughout the set.Arca andTokischa@tomasmierArca brought out Tokischa for Chama at Coachella 2025 #arca #tokischa #coachella2025 #coachella #arcachamaWe can't get enough of their on-stage chemistry!The BeachesBoth lead singer Leandra Earl and guitarist Jordan Miller for The Beaches are queer, but its Earls hot masc energy on stage that turned our heads.The BeachesThe combo of leather pants, Doc Martens, slicked back hair, and visible tattoos are doing something for us. Plus, she clearly knows how to stroke those chordsThe BeachesIf you werent already in love with this butch singer, peep her in a black bikini top, abs for days, and boxers peeking out above the low-slung baggy shorts. Were fans!The Beaches@coachella@The Beaches came to Gobi. Watch the Coachella livestream on @YouTube all weekend.You might not have made it to Coachella but you can still watch The Beaches rock the Gobi stage.G-FlipAs if that wasn't enough sapphic domination, they were joined on stage by nonbinary singer G-Flip for "Last Girls at the Party."@thebeachesbandLast Girls At @coachella !!!! @G FLIP #coachella #ontour #newmusic #bandThis is how we like to party! Japanese BreakfastAfter last years years scissoring reference, it was hard to picture what stage prop could rival that level of sapphic-ness, but bisexual Japanese Breakfast front woman Michelle Zauner dancing inside of a giant clam is just about the most lesbian thing ever.Japanese BreakfastZauner also looked effortless cool in her exaggerated white button down, beaded crown, and sexy black boots. Japanese BreakfastWe stan a bisexual queen who lead a band and play an guitar like that!See on InstagramTrust us when we say you need to see this clam jam with your own eyes!

When 14-year-old first-time filmmaker Jacob Franklin came calling, Sir Ian McKellen answered.McKellen is set to appear in Franklin's debut film, Dragged Through Time, which explores 1000 years of LGBTQ+ history and how it has led to today's world.According to PinkNews, McKellen is playing a character named Great Uncle Peter, inspired by LGBTQ+ people from the 70s and 80s. His character is one who "everybody thinks is gay, but it's just rumors circulating, nothing confirmed."Sign up for the PRIDE.com Newsletter to get a candid take on whats fresh and fun in LGBTQ+ culture this week!McKellen joined the project after Franklin contacted him through Eton College's director of drama, Scott Handy."We weren't really expecting a reply but then he texts us back and says in his words, not mine, that he's 'really inspired by this and would love to come and do this'. And I'm like, yes, absolutely," Franklin said to PinkNews.He added that working with McKellen was just as easy as working with any other actor, saying: "It didn't feel like a professional actor was sitting in the room with me."Franklin also spoke about the scale of the film.Were bringing a lot of skills together. Were making our own music, were mostly making our own costumes and designing it all. My best friends working on the music, and Nic, whos on the Pride committee, is our dress-maker," he said to PinkNews. "It's been empowering but also shocking experience, quite overwhelming."In a video shared on Facebook, McKellen spoke about why he joined the project."I often look back to myself at his age and regret," McKellen said. "I wasn't close enough to my parents to talk to them about what I knew of myself, that I was gay. The idea that at 14, I could have plucked up the courage to have a conversation with them about something so personal So I never told either of my parents that their only son was gay. So to see him and this situation makes me think, 'Oh perhaps I could have done this if I'd been a bit braver or the world had been a bit different.'"McKellen is one of the most popular actors ever, earning two Oscar nominations for his performances in Gods and Monsters and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, where he played the wizard Gandalf. He also starred as Magneto in several X-Men movies.The project is produced by Notice Productions, a youth-led drama collective from Windsor, UK, that is "committed to making films that deal with the important stuff," according to the group's website.Dragged Through Time will premiere at the first Windsor and Eton Pride this July. It will be screened at Alexandra Gardens, in Windsor, on July 26.

Arsenal beat Madrid 3-0 in the quarterfinal first leg, but history shows Los Blancos can never be counted out.

It once looked like the ship to Barcelona had sailed for Iigo Martnez. Now he's Bara's defensive leader, vital to their hopes of winning the treble.

A person walks through the Georgia Tech campus with the downtown skyline in the background, March 11, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)2025-04-15T17:56:55Z WASHINGTON (AP) At first, the bar association for immigration attorneys began receiving inquiries from a couple students a day. These were foreigners studying in the U.S., and theyd discovered in early April their legal status had been terminated with little notice. To their knowledge, none of the students had committed a deportable offense. In recent days, the calls have begun flooding in. Hundreds of students have been calling to say they have lost legal status, seeking advice on what to do next.We thought it was going to be something that was unusual, said Matthew Maiona, a Boston-based immigration attorney who is getting about six calls a day from panicked international students. But it seems now like its coming pretty fast and furious. _ The speed and scope of the federal governments efforts to terminate the legal status of international students have stunned colleges across the country. Few corners of higher education have been untouched, as schools ranging from prestigious private universities, large public research institutions and tiny liberal arts colleges discover status terminations one after another among their students. At least 600 students at more than 90 colleges and universities have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated in recent weeks, according to an Associated Press review of university statements and correspondence with school officials. Advocacy groups collecting reports from colleges say hundreds more students could be caught up in the crackdown. Students apparently targeted over minor infractionsAround 1.1 million international students were in the United States last year a source of essential revenue for tuition-driven colleges. International students are not eligible for federal financial aid, and their ability to pay tuition often factors into whether they will be admitted to American schools. Often, they pay full price. Many of the students losing their legal status are from India and China, which together account for more than half the international students at American colleges. But the terminations have not been limited to those from any one part of the world, lawyers said.Four students from two Michigan universities are suing Trump administration officials after their F-1 student status was terminated last week. Their attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, Ramis Wadood, said the students never received a clear reason why.We dont know, and thats the scary part, he said.The students were informed of the terminations by their universities via email, which came as a shock, Wadood said. The reason given was that there was a criminal records check and/or that their visa was revoked, Wadood said, but none of them were charged or convicted of crimes. Some had either speeding or parking tickets, but one didnt have any, he said. Only one of the students had known their entry visa was revoked, Wadood said.Students have filed similar lawsuits in several other states, arguing they were denied due process. In New Hampshire, a federal judge last week granted a temporary restraining order to restore the status of a Ph.D. student at Dartmouth College, Xiaotian Liu, while he challenges the revocation of his visa. In a break from past, feds cancel students status directly At many colleges, officials learned the legal immigration status of some international students had been terminated when staff checked a database managed by the Department of Homeland Security. In the past, college officials say, legal statuses typically were updated after colleges told the government the students were no longer studying at the school.The system to track enrollment and movements of international students came under the control of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after 9/11, said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, an association of international educators. She said recent developments have left students fearful of how quickly they can be on the wrong side of enforcement.You dont need more than a small number to create fear, Aw said. Theres no clarity of what are the reasons and how far the reach of this is. Her group says as many as 1,300 students have lost visas or had their status terminated, based on reports from colleges.The Department of Homeland Security and State Department did not respond to messages seeking comment. Foreigners who are subject to removal proceedings are usually sent a notice to appear in immigration court on a certain date, but lawyers say affected students have not received any notices, leaving them unsure of next steps to take. Some schools have told students to leave the country to avoid the risk of being detained or deported. But some students have appealed the terminations and stayed in the United States while those are processed. Still others caught in legal limbo arent students at all. They had remained in the U.S. post-graduation on optional practical training, a one-year period or up to three for science and technology graduates that allows employment in the U.S. after completing an academic degree. During that time, a graduate works in their field and waits to receive their H-1B or other employment visas if they wish to keep working in the U.S. Around 242,000 foreigners in the U.S. are employed through this optional practical training. About 500,000 are pursuing graduate degrees, and another 342,000 are undergraduate students. Among the students who have filed lawsuits is a Georgia Tech Ph.D. student who is supposed to graduate on May 5, with a job offer to join the faculty. His attorney Charles Kuck said the student was likely targeted for termination because of an unpaid traffic fine from when the student lent his car to a friend. Ultimately, the violation was dismissed. We have case after case after case exactly like that, where there is no underlying crime, said Kuck, who is representing 17 students in the federal lawsuit. He said his law firm has heard from hundreds of students.These are kids who now, under the Trump administration, realize their position is fragile, he said. Theyve preyed on a very vulnerable population. These kids arent hiding. Theyre in school.Some international students have been adapting their daily routines.A Ph.D. student from China at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said she has begun carrying around her passport and immigration paperwork at the advice of the universitys international student office. The student, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by authorities, said she has been distressed to see the terminations even for students like her without criminal records.That is the most scary part because you dont know whether youre going to be the next person, she said. ___Seminera reported from Raleigh, N.C., and Keller reported from Albuquerque, N.M.___The Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. ANNIE MA Ma is an Associated Press national writer who covers K-12 education. twitter mailto MAKIYA SEMINERA Seminera is a state government reporter for The Associated Press. She is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. twitter mailto CHRISTOPHER L. KELLER Keller works with reporters and editors to find stories in data and documents and contributes context to spot and breaking news stories for The Associated Press. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A sign stands at an entrance to the main campus of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)2025-04-15T18:38:55Z ATLANTA (AP) An estimated 1 in 31 U.S. children have autism, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday, marking another jump in a long string of increases. The CDCs data was from 14 states and Puerto Rico in 2022. The previous estimate from 2020 was 1 in 36. Boys continue to be diagnosed more than girls, and the highest rates are among children who are Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native and Black. To estimate how common autism is, the CDC checked health and school records for 8-year-olds, because most cases are diagnosed by that age. Other researchers have their own estimates, but experts say the CDCs estimate is the most rigorous and the gold standard.Heres what you need to know about the new numbers, as well as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s plan to do a massive testing and research effort around autism. What is autism?Autism is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. There are many possible symptoms, many of which overlap with other diagnoses. They can include delays in language and learning, social and emotional withdrawal and an unusual need for routine.For decades, the diagnosis was rare, given only to kids with severe problems communicating or socializing and those with unusual, repetitive behaviors. As late as the early 1990s, only 1 in 10,000 children were diagnosed with autism. Around that time, the term became a shorthand for a group of milder, related conditions known as autism spectrum disorders, and the number of kids labeled as having some form of autism began to balloon. In the first decade of this century, the estimate rose to 1 in 150. In 2018, it was 1 in 44. In 2020, it was up to 1 in 36. Why are autism numbers rising?Health officials largely attribute growing autism numbers to better recognition of cases through wide screening and better diagnosis. There are no blood or biologic tests for autism. Its diagnosed by making judgments about a childs behavior, and theres been an explosion in autism-related treatment and services for children.Roughly two decades ago, studies by the CDC and others ruled out childhood vaccines as a cause of autism. Since then, a lot of research has looked at variety of other possible explanations, including genetics, the age of the father, the weight of the mother and whether she had diabetes and exposure to certain chemicals. Some researchers have theorized it may be a series of things perhaps a biological predisposition set off by some sort of toxic exposure. Vaccines and autismKennedy and anti-vaccine advocates have remained fixated on childhood vaccines, pointing at a preservative called thimerosal that is no longer in most childhood vaccines or theorizing that autism may be the cumulative effect of multiple vaccinations. A number of studies, including some with CDC authors, have not found such links.Last week, Kennedy said HHS was launching a massive testing and research effort thats going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world and identify what causes autism in less than six months. He also promised well be able to eliminate those exposures. Kennedy and President Donald Trump both referred to the 1-in-31 estimate that CDC released Tuesday during last weeks White House meeting, and Kennedy also repeated the statistic at a meeting with FDA officials on Friday, Kennedys statement followed reports that he had hired David Geier, a man who has repeatedly claimed a link between vaccines and autism, to lead the autism research effort. The hiring of Geier, whom Maryland found was practicing medicine on a child without a doctors license, was first reported by The Washington Post.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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Kylian Mbapp received with a one-game suspension after being shown a red card for a violent tackle against Alaves on Sunday, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced Tuesday.

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASA's Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)2025-04-15T18:36:55Z A federal judge in Maryland is expected to question the Trump administration Tuesday about its continued refusal to retrieve Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison, even after the Supreme Court ordered his return to the U.S. The 4 p.m. hearing in a U.S. District Court comes a day after White House advisers repeated the claim that they lack the authority to bring back the Salvadoran national from his native country. The president of El Salvador also said Monday that he would not return Abrego Garcia, likening it to smuggling a terrorist into the United States. This undated photo provided by CASA, an immigrant advocacy organization, in April 2025, shows Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (CASA via AP) This undated photo provided by CASA, an immigrant advocacy organization, in April 2025, shows Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (CASA via AP) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Abrego Garcia, 29, lived in the U.S. for roughly 14 years, during which he worked construction, got married and was raising three children with disabilities, according to court records. A U.S. immigration judge had shielded Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador in 2019, ruling that he would likely face persecution there by local gangs that had terrorized his family. He also was given a federal permit to work in the United States, according to Abrego Garcias lawyers. But the Trump administration expelled Abrego Garcia to El Salvador last month anyway. Administration officials later described the mistake as an administrative error but insisted that Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 in the U.S. Abrego Garcia was never charged with a crime and has denied the allegations, according to court records. The accusation stems from 2019, when Maryland police arrested Abrego Garcia while he was looking for work as a day laborer outside a Home Depot. The allegation was based on Abergo Garcia wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie and the word of a criminal informant who worked with police in Marylands Prince Georges County, court records state. Abergo Garcias attorneys have pointed out the criminal informant alleged he was a member of MS-13 in Long Island, New York, where Abrego Garcia has never lived. This undated photo provided by Murray Osorio PLLC shows Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (Murray Osorio PLLC via AP) This undated photo provided by Murray Osorio PLLC shows Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (Murray Osorio PLLC via AP) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More In this undated photo provided by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in April 2025, a man identified by Jennifer Vasquez Sura as her husband, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is forced to sit with other prisoners by guards in the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador. (U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland via AP) In this undated photo provided by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in April 2025, a man identified by Jennifer Vasquez Sura as her husband, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is forced to sit with other prisoners by guards in the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador. (U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland via AP) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The allegation was enough for a U.S. immigration judge to keep Abrego Garcia in jail as his immigration case proceeded in 2019, court records state. And a board of appeals backed that judges decision. But the U.S. immigration court ultimately released Abrego Garcia from custody once he was granted protected status from being deported back to El Salvador, according to court records. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis had ordered the Trump administration in early April to bring Abrego Garcia back. And the U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Thursday that the U.S. government must facilitate Abrego Garcias release. But the White House has balked at trying to broker his return, arguing the courts cant intrude on the presidents diplomacy powers.Tuesdays hearing could include strong words from Xinis. She had lambasted a lawyer for the Trump administration at a court hearing on Friday when the attorney couldnt explain what, if anything, the administration has done to arrange Abrego Garcias return. Xinis ordered the U.S. on Friday to provide daily status updates on plans to return Abrego Garcia. The Trump administration responded Saturday that he was alive in the notorious El Salvador prison. But it has only doubled down on its decision not to tell a federal court whether it has any plans to repatriate Abrego Garcia. In its filing to the judge on Monday, the Trump administration repeated the statement made by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course Im not going to do it. The question is preposterous, Bukele said. In a filing with the U.S. District Court on Tuesday, Abrego Garcias lawyers cited Thursdays order from the Supreme Court to facilitate his return. To give any meaning to the Supreme Courts order, the Government should at least be required to request the release of Abrego Garcia, the attorneys wrote. To date, the Government has not done so.The attorneys also rejected the idea that the U.S. lacks the authority to retrieve him. They noted that the U.S. is paying El Salvador to hold prisoners, including Abrego Garcia, and can exercise those same contractual rights to request their release.Bukele struck a deal under which the U.S. will pay about $6 million for El Salvador to imprison Venezuelan immigrants for a year. Trump has said openly that he would also favor El Salvador taking custody of American citizens who have committed violent crimes, which is likely illegal. Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASAs Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASAs Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More

Elon Musk speaks during an event with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)2025-04-15T19:12:29Z NEW YORK (AP) The latest government waste touted by billionaire Elon Musks cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency is hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment claims it purportedly uncovered. One problem: Federal investigators already found what appears to be the same fraud, years earlier and on a far greater scale.In a post last week on X, the social media site Musk owns, DOGE announced an initial survey of unemployment insurance claims since 2020 found 24,500 people over the age of 115 had claimed $59 million in benefits; 28,000 people between the ages of 1 and 5 collected $254 million; and 9,700 people with birthdates more than 15 years in the future garnered $69 million from the government.The tweet drew a predictable party-line reaction of either skepticism or cheers, including from Musk himself, who said what his team found was so crazy he re-read it several times before it sank in. Another incredible discovery, marveled Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who repeated DOGEs findings to President Donald Trump in a Cabinet meeting last week.Chavez-DeRemers recounting of the alleged fraud, including claims of benefits filed by unborn children, drew laughter in the Cabinet room and a reaction from Trump himself. Those numbers are really bad, he said.But Chavez-DeRemer neednt look further than her own departments Office of the Inspector General to find such fraud had already been reported by the type of federal workers DOGE has demonized. Theyre trying to spin this narrative of, Oh, government is inefficient and government is stupid and theyre catching these things that the government didnt catch, says Michele Evermore, who worked on unemployment issues at the U.S. Department of Labor during the administration of former President Joe Biden. Theyre finding fraud that was marked as fraud and saying they found out it was fraud. The Social Security Act of 1935 enshrined unemployment benefits in federal law but left it to individual states to set up systems to collect unemployment taxes, process applications and mete out support.Though states have almost complete control over their own unemployment systems, special relief programs most notably widely expanded benefits enacted by the first Trump administration at the outset of the COVID pandemic inject more direct federal involvement and a flood of new beneficiaries into the system.In regular times, state unemployment systems perform very well, not so well and terribly, according to Stephen Wandner, an economist at the National Academy of Social Insurance who authored the book Unemployment Insurance Reform: Fixing a Broken System. With COVID slamming the economy and creating a flood of new claims that states couldnt handle, Wandner says many more were quite terrible.Trump signed the COVID unemployment relief into law on March 27, 2020, and from the very start it became a magnet for fraud. In a memo to state officials about two weeks later, the Department of Labor warned that the expanded benefits had made unemployment programs a target for fraud with significant numbers of imposter claims being filed with stolen or synthetic identities. That same memo offered an option for states trying to protect a person whose identity was stolen to fraudulently collect unemployment benefits. To preserve a record of the fraud but keep innocent people from being linked to it, states could create a pseudo claim, the memo advises. Those pseudo claims led to records of toddlers and centenarians getting checks. The Labor Departments inspector general tallied some 4,895 unemployment claims from people over the age of 100 between March 2020 and April 2022, but another departmental memo explained that the filings stemmed from states changing dates of birth to protect people whose identities were used.Many of the claims identified ... were not payments to individuals over 100 years of age, but rather pseudo records of previously identified fraudulent claims, the 2023 memo says. A Labor Department spokeswoman did not respond to questions about Musks findings and DOGE gave no details on how it came to find the supposed fraud or whether it duplicates what was already found. Though DOGE ostensibly looked at longer timeframe than federal investigators previously had, it tallied just $382 million in fake unemployment claims, a tiny fraction of what investigators were already aware. In 2022, the Labor Department said suspected COVID-era unemployment fraud totaled more than $45 billion. The Government Accountability Office later said it was far worse, likely $100 billion to $135 billion.I dont think its news to anyone, says Amy Traub, an expert on unemployment at the National Employment Law Project. Its been widely reported. Thereve been multiple congressional hearings. If DOGEs newest allegations have an air of familiarity, its because they echo its prior findings of about Social Security payments to the dead and the unbelievably old. Those were false claims.That makes DOGE an imperfect messenger even when fraud has occurred, as with unemployment claims.Jessica Reidl, a senior fellow at the conservative think tank The Manhattan Institute, is a fiscal conservative who so champions rooting out federal waste she has written 600 articles on the subject. Though she believes unemployment insurance fraud is rife, she has trouble accepting any findings from DOGE, which she says has acted ineffectively and possibly illegally.When DOGE says impossibly old dead people are collecting unemployment in huge numbers, I become skeptical, Reidl says. DOGE does not have a good track record in that area.Traub said the burst of pandemic-era unemployment fraud led states to implement new security measures. She questioned why Musks team was trumpeting old fraud as if its new.Business leaders and economists are warning about a natural recession, so its natural to think about unemployment, says Traub. Its an attack on the image of a critically important program and perhaps an attempt to undermine public support on unemployment insurance when it couldnt be more important.___Matt Sedensky can be reached at [emailprotected] and https://x.com/sedensky. MATT SEDENSKY Sedensky is a national writer for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Cult of Love is a bookend to Leslye Headlands series of plays based on the seven deadly sins. Headlands deadly sins series started with her lust play Cinephilia.From there, she createdBachelorettewhich explored gluttony and would adapted into Headlands feature film debut. Rounding out the cycle of plays were Assistance(greed),Surfer Girl(sloth),Reverb(wrath), and, of course,Cult of Love. [...]The post Leslye Headland and Rebecca Henderson Talk Cult of Love and Impact of LGBTQ Stories: Speaking From Personal Experience is Powerful first appeared on GLAAD.

While were normally focused on their performance on the court and occasionally their love lives during this years WNBA Draft we followed all of the breaking news but also kept our eyes glued to the fab fits the ladies were pulling off on the red carpet.The Dallas Wings had the first pick last night and went with Paige Bueckers, who took home the Natty this year, but star players Dominique Malonga, Kiki Iriafen, Sonia Citron, Aneesah Morrow, and Shyanne Sellers were all picked early too.And while they may be stuck wearing uniforms most of the time, these WNBA rookies know how to put a look together. Boring business-causal draft ensembles are a thing of the past, now these top-of-their-game athletes are rocking fashion that would be a hit on any red carpet.Last year Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Daisha Fair, and Rickea Jackson slayed at the WNBA Draft 24, but not to be outdone, the rookie class of 2025 was serving looks.We know who dominates on the court, but who wowed us with their fashion sense last night?Kiki IriafenFirst-round pick, Kiki Iriafen, a power forward from USC, joined the Washington Mystics in the draft. Hailey Van LithHailey Van Lith, a point guard from TCU, was selected to join the Chicago Sky with the 11th overall pick. They were acquired from Minnesota.Georgia AmooreAtlanta player Georgia Amoore, a point guard from Kentucky, was the 6th overall pick, when she was selected by the Washington Mystics.Saniya RiversSaniya Rivers, a shooting guard from NC State, is making the movie to the Connecticut Sun. She was the 8th overall pick.Aneesah MorrowAneesah Morrow, a power forward from LSU, will be joining the Connecticut Sun after she became the 7th overall pick.Aziaha JamesAziaha James, a shooting guard from NC State, is set to team up with the Dallas Wings with the 12th overall pick.Saniya RiversSaniya Rivers, a shooting guard from NC State, was selected by the Connecticut Sun with the 8th overall pick,Sonia CitronNotre Dame shooting guard Sonia Citron was selected by the Washington Mystics as the 3rd overall pick.Paige BueckersPaige Bueckers, a point guard from UConn, scored the number one, round-one draft pick when she was picked up by the Dallas Wings.Madison ScottOle Miss small forward Madison Scott, joins the Paige Bueckers on the Dallas Wings with the 14th overall pick in the second round.Shyanne SellersShyanne Sellers, a shooting guard from Maryland, is headed to the Golden State Valkyries with the 17th overall pick in the second round.

One thing Joel Kim Booster will do? Serve up a sexy photo.The hot comedian is no stranger to showing plenty of skin on social media and on screen in impressive projects like Loot, Industry, Fire Island, and more.Just in time for Coachella, Booster shared a series of cheeky new pics to Instagram (click the link for a peek) that show off all of his best assets. A few notable queer celebs even commented on the IG Carousel, with Drag Race's Bruno Alcantara saying, "Yessss. Love the swimsuit," while Biqtch Puddin kept it simple by putting "Goals."If you're looking for more steamy pics from Booster, just give him a follow on Instagram. Here's a little tease below! See on Instagram

Laith Ashley is continuing to make waves in Hollywoodnot just as a model and actor, but as one of the most prominent transgender voices in the entertainment industry. Known for standout roles in Pose, Strut, and Wicked City, Ashley recently reached a massive global audience playing the dreamy love interest opposite Taylor Swift in the music video for her hit single Lavender Haze. NowSource

Transgender singer-songwriter Sasha Allen has officially released his debut solo EP, Jawbreaker, a project years in the making and filled with personal lyrics, biting wit, and heartfelt moments. The Voice alumwho captured national attention in 2021 as part of the father-son duo Jim and Sasha Allenemerges in full solo force on this release, with an equally powerful muse by his side: hisSource

Former Manchester United football director John Murtough has joined Atalanta as director of global development, the Serie A club confirmed on Tuesday.

Jude Bellingham has said Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Arsenal is "a night made for Real Madrid."

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr speaks during a Make Indiana Healthy Again initiative event in Indianapolis, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)2025-04-15T17:20:13Z PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) When the nations top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., endorsed the measles vaccine this month after an outbreak in Texas claimed the life of a second child, his comments made waves because he has spent 20 years making false claims that vaccines are unsafe.Many of Kennedys anti-vaccine allies stood by him anyway, trying to tamp down concerns from others who accused Kennedy of abandoning their movement. Thats because, according to doctors, public health experts and propaganda researchers who know Kennedys history well, the health and human services secretary is threading the needle between his agencys role as a neutral arbiter of science and the rhetoric of anti-vaccine activists. They say his word choices reflect that he is working from the anti-vaccine playbook he has used for much of his career in public life. Below, The Associated Press examines his comments about the measles outbreak that has infected more than 700 people nationwide and killed three, how his allies have interpreted them, and the facts according to scientists. A Kennedy spokesperson said the health secretary is not anti-vaccine and had responded to the measles outbreak with clear guidance that vaccines are the most effective way to prevent measles. He did not respond to questions about how Kennedys comments were being interpreted by his allies in the anti-vaccine movement. Endorsing vaccines, but then sowing doubtWHAT KENNEDY SAID: The federal governments position, my position, is people should get the measles vaccine, but the government should not be mandating those, Kennedy told CBS this month after an unvaccinated child in Texas died of measles. Later, in the same interview, Kennedy raised safety concerns about the measles vaccine, saying testing was inadequate. He also raised safety concerns about the vaccine for pertussis.WHAT HIS ALLIES HEARD: Charlene Bollinger, who runs a business selling anti-vaccine videos and other products, highlighted in a Substack post how Kennedy had raised safety concerns. In posts on X, she urged critics of his comments to Trust him. Trust me. Hes not walked through fire for years to abandon us now, then added, Read what he said carefully and with a critical spirit ... pay attention to the things he didnt say. There are clues.The group American Values, which was set up to support Kennedys presidential run, posted a thread on X that amplified Kennedys comments questioning vaccine safety.THE FACTS, ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS: The measles vaccine is safe and effective, and protecting people from outbreaks requires nearly everyone to be vaccinated. Public schools in the United States generally require children to be vaccinated against measles to attend, though a growing number of parents have been avoiding those mandates for their children, in some cases by getting exemptions. That has fueled low vaccination rates in communities around the U.S., which has left them vulnerable to measles and other infectious diseases. Just 92.7% of kindergartners got their required shots in 2023, below the 95% threshold for preventing outbreaks. READING BETWEEN THE LINES: If Kennedy had truly changed his mind about the benefits of vaccines, he would have explained what he got wrong in the past, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. He didnt do that and instead immediately questioned how vaccines are safety tested.If someone like RFK Jr. with his record were going to make an about-face on his position on the measles vaccine, you would expect an essay, an articulation of what he got wrong in the past. Youre not seeing that, Adalja said. The fact that he undercuts it almost immediately speaks to that. Saying people who died of measles were already sickWHAT KENNEDY SAID: Health authorities have said the two children who died were both unvaccinated, that they died as a result of measles and that neither had any reported underlying conditions. But Kennedy suggested those who died during the outbreak were people who were already sick. He said the second child who died had various other health problems and asserted that the thing that killed her was not the measles, but it was a bacteriological infection.Her death was caused by pneumonia, Kennedy told Fox News. So, you know, her parents said that she was over measles two weeks before.Kennedys spokesperson did not respond to questions asking where he got his information about the childs medical history and to clarify why what he said conflicted with statements from health officials.WHAT HIS ALLIES HEARD: The anti-vaccine group Kennedy led for years, Childrens Health Defense, promoted his comments, posting a clip online and saying it shows that Kennedy confirms the so-called measles deaths are NOT actually measles deaths.American Values wrote that his comments constituted a bombshell because the child did not pass away from measles, despite what the media claimed. THE FACTS, ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS: Pneumonia is a complication of measles, and is the most common cause of death from measles in young children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a subsidiary of HHS. READING BETWEEN THE LINES: Kennedys comments suggesting measles didnt kill the child reflect longstanding tactics used to create doubt about vaccines, said Renee DiResta, a professor at Georgetown University who researches propaganda and has studied the anti-vaccine movement. She said Kennedy and Childrens Health Defense have spent years telling people that measles is a routine and harmless childhood illness to justify the argument that a safe vaccine is somehow more risky than the disease.Reframing these deaths as something other than what they are deaths from measles, which is not harmless at all is necessary to prop up the dual pillars of anti-vaccine propaganda in play here, she said.It reflects a similar narrative that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people who wanted to minimize its seriousness suggested people were dying with COVID rather than from COVID, said Richard Carpiano, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Riverside, who has closely followed Kennedys anti-vaccine work. Its a way of minimizing the deadly nature of measles.Standing with the unvaccinated and personal choiceWHAT KENNEDY SAID: Kennedy attended the funeral of the 8-year-old girl who died, then posted online about meeting with her family and the family of a 6-year-old girl who died in February. In one post about the trip, he wrote that The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine. He also posted photos of himself with the families.WHAT HIS ALLIES HEARD: Kennedys positive comments about the measles vaccine prompted some criticism from his old group Childrens Health Defense. CEO Mary Holland said in a video that Kennedy no longer speaks for the group, and said he had put out what she called very partial information. She claimed that a vaccination for measles had caused her sons autism. But she went on to praise Kennedys actions.People should not get lost in Bobby Kennedy saying that the vaccine can prevent measles, Holland said, adding, Bobby went to stand with the unvaccinated. And he has said its a personal choice.Childrens Health Defense and Bollinger have sued a number of news organizations, among them the AP, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines. THE FACTS, ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS: Scientists have ruled out any link between vaccines and autism. Vaccines have saved an estimated 154 million lives in the past 50 years, according to the World Health Organization, which says immunization has been the greatest contribution to ensuring babies live until their first birthday.READING BETWEEN THE LINES: Carpiano said Kennedy helped the anti-vaccine movement pivot to the idea that it is about personal rights, personal freedoms and medical freedom. While there is a libertarian bent to it, that framing leaves out an important piece.Its the freedom to do whatever you want. A libertarian would say, provided it doesnt hurt other people, he said. But when it comes to Kennedy and the anti-vaccine movement, the part about not hurting other people gets left out, Carpiano said. And so basically becomes a tyranny of the minority, Carpiano said. Its something that he helps to keep promoting and legitimating. MICHELLE R. SMITH Smith reports for APs global investigations team. She is based in Providence, Rhode Island. instagram mailto

Hundreds of demonstrators gather on Cambridge Common during a rally at the historic park in Cambridge, Mass., Saturday, April 12, 2025, calling on Harvard University to resist what organizers described as attempts by President Trump to influence the institution. (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via AP, File)2025-04-15T17:01:09Z On one side is Harvard, the nations oldest and wealthiest university, with a brand so powerful that its name is synonymous with prestige. On the other side is the Trump administration, determined to go farther than any other White House to reshape American higher education.Both sides are digging in for a clash that could test the limits of the governments power and the independence that has made U.S. universities a destination for scholars around the world.On Monday, Harvard become the first university to openly defy the Trump administration as it demands sweeping changes to limit activism on campus. The university frames the governments demands as a threat not only to the Ivy League school but to the autonomy that the Supreme Court has long granted American universities.The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights, the universitys lawyers wrote Monday to the government. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. The federal government says its freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard. The hold on funding marks the seventh time the Trump administration has taken such a step at one of the nations most elite colleges, in an attempt to force compliance with Trumps political agenda. Six of the seven schools are in the Ivy League. No university is better positioned to put up a fight than Harvard, whose $53 billion endowment is the largest in the nation. But like other major universities, Harvard also depends on the federal funding that fuels its scientific and medical research. Its unclear how long Harvard could continue without the frozen money. Already, Harvards refusal appears to be emboldening other institutions.After initially agreeing to several demands from the Trump administration, Columbia Universitys acting president took a more defiant tone in a campus message Monday, saying some of the demands are not subject to negotiation. In her statement, Claire Shipman said she read of Harvards rejection with great interest.Harvard is obviously a particularly powerful institution. And its decision has potential to galvanize other universities into some kind of collective pushback, said David Pozen, a Columbia law professor who argued that the governments demands are unlawful.Ultimately, the conflict could be settled in federal court. A faculty group has already brought a legal challenge against the demands, and many in academia expect Harvard to bring its own lawsuit.In its refusal letter, Harvard said the governments demands violate the schools First Amendment rights and other civil rights laws.For the Trump administration, Harvard presents the first major hurdle in its attempt to force change at universities that Republicans say have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism. COLLIN BINKLEY Binkley covers the U.S. Education Department and federal education policy for The Associated Press, along with a wide range of issues from K-12 through higher education. twitter mailto

Sam Star is ready to take the crown back to Alabama!It's hard to believe that RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 comes to an end this Friday, but Star is ready to pull out all the stops on the main stage.Besides preparing for the finale, the Southern queen has also been posting some handsome photos online that have fans going feral."That was so random! I was at the airport and I was like, 'This is a good boy picture of me!' I posted it and I'm glad that y'all appreciate it. It's really good for my ego, so thank y'all. I really love you," Star tells PRIDE. See on Instagram Even crowned queen Angeria Paris VanMichaels has flirted with Star online more than once thanks to her gorgeous looks, but Star isn't looking for any longterm relationships at the moment."Honey, I've been too busy for love right now, but I'm a hopeless romantic. I like to fall in love quickly! So, if Angeria and I are ever booked together or something, who knows? We might date for a night."The apple certainly doesn't fall far from the tree in the Star family. During the makeover challenge, Star put her mother in drag and Sassy Star had no problem showing off all her assets on the runway."I love her. She's my everything! She said, 'I want my ass out!' She is 61 years old, which is fierce. If you're 61, put on some panties, okay? It's not too late."RuPaul's Drag Race airs Friday nights on MTV. To see the full interview with Sam Star, check out the video at the top of the page.

Rintaro Sasaki chose to play for Stanford over going pro in Japan, so what exactly brought him to college baseball?

If an NFL team told Travis Hunter he had to focus on wide receiver or cornerback and not play both, it would be game over for him, he told CBS Sports.