Now I can actually find what Im looking for!READ MORE...

A Brown University student walks past a church on the Providence, RI, campus, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/ Mark Stockwell)2025-12-18T20:07:34Z PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) Authorities are investigating a connection between the shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.Two of the people said Thursday that investigators had identified a person of interest in the shootings and were actively seeking that individual.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below.PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) Its been nearly a week since someone killed two students and wounded nine others inside a Brown University classroom before fleeing, yet investigators on Thursday appeared to still not know the attackers name.There have been other high-profile attacks in which it took days or longer to make an arrest or find those responsible, including in the brazen New York City sidewalk killing of UnitedHealthcares CEO last year, which took five days. But frustration is mounting in Providence that the person behind Saturdays attack, which killed two students and wounded nine others, managed to get away and that a clear image of their face has yet to emerge.Theres no discouragement among people who understand that not every case can be solved quickly, the state attorney general, Peter Neronha, said at a news conference Wednesday. How is the investigation going?Authorities have scoured the area for evidence and pleaded with the public to check any phone or security footage they might have from the week before the attack, believing the shooter might have cased the scene ahead of time. But they have given no sense that theyre close to catching the shooter.Investigators have released several videos from the hours and minutes before and after the shooting that show a person who, according to police, matches witnesses description of the shooter. In the clips, the person is standing, walking and even running along streets just off campus, but always with a mask on or their head turned. Although Brown officials say there are 1,200 cameras on campus, the attack happened in an older part of the engineering building that has few, if any cameras. And investigators believe the shooter entered and left through a door that faces a residential street bordering campus, which might explain why the cameras Brown does have didnt capture footage of the person.Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said Wednesday that the city is doing everything possible to keep residents safe. However, he acknowledged that it is a scary time in the city and that families likely were having tough conversations about whether to stay in town over the holidays.We are doing everything we can to reassure folks, to provide comfort, and that is the best answer I can give to that difficult question, Smiley said when asked if the city was safe.Although its not unheard of for someone to disappear after carrying out such a high-profile shooting, it is rare. What can be learned from past investigations?In such targeted and highly public attacks, the shooters typically kill themselves or are killed or arrested by police, said Katherine Schweit, a retired FBI agent and expert on mass shootings. When they do get away, searches can take time.The best they can do is what they do now, which is continue to press together all of the facts they have as fast as they can, Schweit said. And, really, the best hope for solutions is going to come from the public.In the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, it took investigators four days to catch up to the two brothers who carried it out. In a 2023 case, Army reservist Robert Card was found dead of an apparent suicide two days after he killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in Lewiston, Maine.The man accused of killing conservative political figure Charlie Kirk in September turned himself in about a day and a half after the attack on Utah Valley Universitys campus. And Luigi Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan last year, was arrested five days later at a McDonalds in Pennsylvania. Felipe Rodriguez, a retired New York police detective sergeant and adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said its clear that shooters are learning from others who were caught.Most of the time an active shooter is going to go in, and hes going to try to commit what we call maximum carnage, maximum damage, Rodriguez said. And at this point, theyre actually trying to get away. And theyre actually evading police with an effective methodology, which I havent seen before.Investigators have described the person they are seeking as about 5 feet, 8 inches (173 centimeters) tall and stocky. The attackers motives remain a mystery, but authorities said Wednesday that none of the evidence suggests a specific person was being targeted. Meanwhile, Boston-area police are investigating the shooting death of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor earlier this week. Nuno F.G. Loureiro was attacked at his home Monday, and no one has been arrested or named as a suspect. The FBI said it had no reason to think his killing was linked to the Brown attack.___Associated Press reporters Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Hallie Golden in Seattle, contributed.

Director Rob Reiner promotes his latest film "The Story of Us," a romantic comedy about marriage on the rocks in San Francisco, Oct. 1, 1999, in San Francisco. (Fred Larson/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)2025-12-18T20:11:23Z JERUSALEM (AP) In a video message recorded weeks before he was killed, Hollywood icon Rob Reiner urged Holocaust survivors participating in a Hanukkah ceremony on Thursday to be resilient during difficult times.Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found stabbed to death Sunday at their home in Los Angeles, law enforcement officials said. Their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is being held without bail.Reiner, who was Jewish, recorded the message for the Hanukkah event in the beginning of October. He noted that his wifes extended family was killed at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, giving the ceremony special meaning for him.Were living in a time where whats happening in our country is scary and reminiscent of what weve seen happen in the past, and we just hope that we can all survive this and that we can hold on to our democracy, Reiner, who was an outspoken advocate for liberal causes, said in his message. The video was broadcast as part of a virtual candle lighting ceremony honoring Holocaust survivors internationally on the fifth night of Hanukkah. The event is an initiative of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, an organization that advocates for Holocaust survivors. Around 100 Holocaust survivors gathered at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon for a candle-lighting ceremony. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means dedication, and the holiday marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C., after a small group of Jewish fighters liberated it from occupying foreign forces.Jews celebrate the eight-day holiday, which this year began on Sunday, by lighting a nightly candle in honor of the tiny supply of ritually pure oil that they found in the Temple that lasted for eight nights, instead of just one.Many Jewish communities are reeling from the attack on a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia, where 15 people were killed. Even in these difficult days, when antisemitism is rising and Jewish communities around the world are under attack this very week on the first night of Hanukkah in Sydney, Australia we draw strength and inspiration from you, the survivors, from your personal and collective resilience, Greg Schneider, the executive vice president of the Claims Conference, told the group of survivors in Jerusalem.In addition to Reiner, Barbra Streisand, Billy Crystal, Jason Alexander, Julianna Margulies, Debra Messing, Adam Arkin and Jamie Lee Curtis were among those who made prerecorded videos for the event. Journalists Wolf Blitzer and Dana Bash also recorded messages.If ever we needed to be resilient, its now, Reiner said in his message. Lets be resilient.Reiner was a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, calling him in a 2017 interview with Variety mentally unfit to be president and the single-most unqualified human being to ever assume the presidency of the United States. In a shocking post after Reiners death, Trump suggested that Rob Reiners outspoken opposition was partially responsible for his murder. MELANIE LIDMAN Lidman is an Associated Press reporter based in Tel Aviv, Israel. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Wiz Khalifa, a cast member in "Spinning Gold," arrives at the premiere of the film, Wednesday, March 29, 2023, at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)2025-12-18T18:56:18Z BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) American rapper Wiz Khalifa was sentenced by a court in Romania on Thursday to nine months in jail for drug possession, more than a year after he took part in a music festival in the Eastern European country.Khalifa was stopped by Romanian police in July 2024 after allegedly smoking cannabis on stage at the Beach, Please! Festival in Costinesti, a coastal resort in Constanta County. Prosecutors said the rapper, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz, was found in possession of more than 18 grams of cannabis, and that he consumed some on stage.The Constanta Court of Appeal handed down the sentence after Khalifa was convicted of possession of dangerous drugs, without right, for personal consumption, according to Romanias national news agency, Agerpres. The decision is final.The decision came after a lower court in Constanta County in April issued Khalifa a criminal fine of 3,600 lei ($830) for illegal possession of dangerous drugs, but prosecutors appealed the courts decision and sought a higher sentence. Romania has some of the harsher drugs laws in Europe. Possession of cannabis for personal use is criminalized and can result in a prison sentence of between three months and two years, or a fine.It isnt clear whether Romanian authorities will seek to file an extradition request, since Khalifa is a U.S. citizen and doesnt reside in Romania.The 38-year-old Pittsburgh rapper rose to prominence with his breakout mixtape Kush + Orange Juice. On stage in Romania last summer, the popular rapper smoked a large, hand-rolled cigarette while singing his hit Young, Wild & Free.

FILE.- Jelly Roll arrives at the 60th annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas, on May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)2025-12-18T20:06:55Z NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Tennessees governor pardoned country star Jelly Roll on Thursday for his criminal past in the state, acknowledging the Nashville natives long road back from drugs and prison through soul-searching, songwriting and advocacy for second chances.The rapper-turned-singer whose legal name is Jason Deford has spoken for years about his redemption arc before diverse audiences, from people serving time in correctional centers to concert crowds and even in testimony before Congress. Republican Gov. Bill Lee issued his pardon after friends and civic leaders of the Grammy-nominated musician joined in an outpouring of support. Jelly Rolls convictions include robbery and drug felonies. He has said a pardon would make it easier for him to travel internationally for concert tours and to perform Christian missionary work without requiring burdensome paperwork. He was one of 33 people to receive pardons Thursday from Lee, who for years has issued clemency decisions around the Christmas season. Lee said Jelly Rolls application underwent the same monthslong thorough review as other applicants. The state parole board gave a nonbinding, unanimous recommendation for Jelly Rolls pardon in April. His story is remarkable, and its a redemptive, powerful story, which is what you look for and what you hope for, Lee told reporters, adding he hopes to meet Jelly Roll for the first time soon. Unlike recent high-profile federal pardons, which let people off the hook for prison, a pardon in Tennessee serves as a statement of forgiveness for someone who has already completed a prison sentence and been released. Pardons offer a path to get certain civil rights restored, such as the right to vote, although there are some limitations under state law, and the governor can specify the terms.Jelly Roll broke into country music with the 2023 album Whitsitt Chapel and crossover songs like Need a Favor. He has won multiple CMT Awards, a CMA Award and also picked up seven career Grammy nominations, three of them recently. Much of his work has become associated with overcoming adversity, like the song Winning Streak that tells the story of someones first day sober. Or the direct-and-to-the-point, I Am Not Okay.When I first started doing this, I was just telling my story of my broken self, he told The Associated Press in a recent interview. By the time I got through it, I realized that my story was the story of many. So now Im not telling my story anymore. Im getting to pull it right from the crevices of the people whose storys never been told.In making his case to the parole board, Jelly Roll said he first fell in love with songwriting while in custody, stating it began as a therapeutic passion project that would end up changing my life in ways that I never dreamed imaginable.Beyond his sold-out shows, hes brought his witness to the U.S. Senate, where he testified about the dangers of fentanyl, describing his drug-dealing younger self as the uneducated man in the kitchen playing chemist with drugs I knew absolutely nothing about. I was a part of the problem, he told lawmakers at the time. I am here now standing as a man that wants to be a part of the solution.Jelly Rolls most serious convictions include a robbery at age 17 and drug charges at 23. In the first case, a female acquaintance helped Jelly Roll and two armed accomplices steal $350 from people in a home in 2002. Because the victims knew the female acquaintance, she and Jelly Roll were arrested right away. Jelly Roll was unarmed, and was sentenced to one year in prison plus probation. In another run-in 2008, police found marijuana and crack cocaine in his car, leading to eight years of court-ordered supervision. Friends and civic leaders backed the pardon application, citing Jelly Rolls transformation.Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, who runs Nashvilles jail, wrote that Jelly Roll had an awakening in one of the jails he managed. Live Nation Entertainment CEO and President Michael Rapino cited Jelly Rolls donations from his performances to charities for at-risk youth. The parole board began considering Jelly Rolls pardon application in October 2024, which marks the states five-year timeline for eligibility after his sentence expired. Prominent Nashville attorney David Raybin represents Jelly Roll in the pardon case.Lees office said no one was pardoned Thursday who had a homicide or a sex-related conviction, or for any crime committed as an adult against a minor.

Thursday afternoon House Democrats publicly released a new trove of photographs theyve obtained from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein via Dropbox. They left the comments on so anyone who is signed into Dropbox and browsing the material can leave behind their thoughts.Given that the investigation into Epstein is one of the most closely followed cases in the world and a subject of endless conspiracy theories, and that the committee released the trove of photographs with no context, its not surprising that people immediately began commenting on the photographs.Really punchable face, BedeScarletwhose avatar is Cloud from Final Fantasy VIIsaid above a picture of New York Times columnist David Brooks. Brooks, who wrote a column about his boredom with the Epstein case in November, attended a dinner with Epstein in 2011 and appears in two photographs in this new document dump.Noam Chomsky, Alya Colours (a frequent Epstein dropbox commenter) said below a photograph of the linguist talking to Epstein on a plane. Below this there is a little prompt from Dropbox asking me to join the conversation next to a smiley face.In another picture, director Woody Allen is bundled up to his eyes in a heavy coat while Epstein side hugs him. Yep, Id know that face anywhere, Susan Brown commented.Among the pictures is a closeup of a prescription bottle labeled Phenazopyridine. This is a medication used to treat pain from urinary tract infections, Rebecca Stinton added, helpfully, in the comments.The fuck were they doing all that math for? BedeScarlet said next to a picture of Epstein in front of a whiteboard covered in equations.Shit probably tastes like ass, he added to a picture of Epstein cooking something in a kitchen.There are darker and weird photographs in this collection of images that, as of this writing, do not yet have comments. Theres a pair of box springs in an unfinished room lit by the sun. There is a map of Little St James indicating where Epstein wants various buildings constructed. Bill Gates is shown in two photos standing next to women with their faces blocked out.And then there are the Lolita pictures. A womans foot sits in the foreground, a worn annotated copy of Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita in the background. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet teen in one sock, is written on the foot, a quote from the novel.These photos are followed by a series of pictures of passports with the information redacted. Some are from Ukraine. Theres one from South Africa and another from the Czech Republic.The House Democrats allowing the public to comment on these photos is funny and its unclear if intentional or a mistake. Its also a continuation of the just-get-out-there approach when they have published other material, with it sometimes being in unsorted caches that readers then have to dig through. The only grand revelation in the new material is that Brooks was present at a dinner with Epstein in 2011.As a journalist, David Brooks regularly attends events to speak with noted and important business leaders to inform his columns, which is exactly what happened at this 2011 event. Mr. Brooks had no contact with him before or after this single attendance at a widely-attended dinner, a Times spokesperson told Semafors Max Tani.House Oversight Democrats did not immediately return 404 Medias request for comment.

The holiday season is a time for magic, wonder, and joy. And perhaps no film this year delivers on those feels better than Bryan Fullers debut feature film, Dust Bunny, a brilliant and lush kaleidoscope of color, bizarrely wonderful characters, and one giant killer bunny. Its films like this for which the theatrical experience was created.To paraphrase a famed meme, Dust Bunny is absolute cinema.Fullers television career has spanned genres. He was the mastermind behind beloved shows like Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies, Heroes, and Hannibal, and has finally made the leap to the silver screen with a genre-blending R-rated fantasy-horror-fairytale about a girl who hires a hitman to kill the monster under her bed, whos eaten her parents. The hitman in question reunites Fuller with his Hannibal star, Mads Mikkelsen, and he rounds out the cast with newcomer Sophie Sloan as his would-be client, Aurora, and a stable of beloved icons and character actors, including Sigourney Weaver (Alien), David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad), Rebecca Ferguson (The Acolyte), and Sheila Atim (The Woman King).The concept blends both a childs worldview and adult themes, and that juxtaposition is part of what makes the film so special and so easily enjoyed across generations. Pair that with Fullers visual artistry, gobsmacking sets, and inventive action setpieces, and you have the makings of something we havent seen on screen in decades: a horror-fantasy film for children and adults alike, harkening back to their heyday in the 1980s when the likes of Gremlins, Return to Oz, and Ghostbusters thrived.Its Amlie meets The Professional, with a bit of Poltergeist thrown into the mix. The nostalgia is massive, agrees Dastmalchian, who stars as a rival (and scene-stealing) hitman in the film. It reminds you...of being transported to the worlds of the Lucases and the Spielbergs. But [its also] his own thing. You can't really quantify Bryan Fuller. You can't put him in a box, you can't say, oh, he's the next this, or he's the heir apparent to that, because he's carved his own place, and he's done it diligently, consistently over many years, and now bringing it to the movies, he tells PRIDE.I would love for Dust Bunny to be a lot of young people's first horror movie, Fuller tells PRIDE. We set out to make a children's movie. We wanted it to be a children's movie. We got an R rating, so you probably shouldn't let me choose what your kids watch, because I'll be more tolerant than the MPAA, he jokes. But there's something about those movies growing up, whether it's Gremlins or The Goonies...that had kids at the forefront of these adventures as protagonists and heroes in their own story, in a way that allows us to armor ourselves against the real world.The film came from a very personal place for Fuller, who channeled his own challenges growing up into the character of Aurora, who may be unintentionally complicit in the fate that has befallen her parentsand with good reason. I hope that people who might have had a tricky experience growing up will see themselves in Aurora in a way that they may not be able to articulate, Fuller explains. Instead, she turns to help from a stranger who goes on to become her found family; again, something that Fuller pulled from his own lived experience.I don't know anybody who has a Norman Rockwell kind of life with their family, [it] seems totally alien to me, he says. There's something about, particularly as a queer man, growing up when you're not accepted by your family...and society backs that up with their treatment of just anybody who is outside of the norm. Fuller hopes that this film, like the ones he grew up with, might prove to be comforting. So much of my love of horror, science fiction, and fantasy growing up wasnt shared by anybody in my family. Nobody loved movies the way I loved movies, and we don't often talk enough about the medicinal qualities of what movies give to us as audience members, to make us feel seen. Even though its kind of a one-way street, its a symbiotic relationship that we share with the story that exists just as much in our hearts as it does on screen.What screen, then, should you experience Dust Bunny on? I write this in the strongest of terms: the biggest one possible. The visual flair is an absolute feast for the eyes, but it isnt style over substance; the film invites you to fall into its unique rabbit hole and discover a whole new worldone you won't want to leave.Dastmalchian couldnt agree more. I really want to encourage people, if you're somebody who loves to go to the movies, and you've maybe forgotten why you love going to the movies, and you've kind of stopped going out to the cinema, take a chance with this film. Get your tub of popcorn, get your soda, get your candy, sit there in that holy place we call the theater, and let Bryan Fuller show you what we love about going to the movies.Dust Bunny is in theaters now. Watch the trailer below.

Sexual identity and desire are shedding rigid labels faster than ever, according to Feeld Raw 2025, the dating apps annual snapshot of how people explored intimacy over the past year. The report points to a cultural moment where curiosity isnt whispered about, its logged, shared, and increasingly embraced.Among the most striking findings: heteroflexible is now the fastest-growing sexuality on Feeld, rising 193% year over year. At the same time, interest in pegging among cis men jumped 200%, reflecting a broader shift toward pleasure-forward conversations that challenge traditional ideas of masculinity and sexual norms.Rather than isolated trends, Feelds data suggests these shifts are part of a wider rethinking of how people define themselves and connect with others.Sexual Identity Is Getting Looser By DesignThe report shows that users are moving fluidly between identity labels, especially between straight and heteroflexible. Millennials currently lead this movement, though Gen Z is closing the gap at a rapid pace.New York City recorded a 161% rise in bisexual identification, reinforcing a growing rejection of singular labels in favor of descriptions that evolve with experience.Dr. Luke Brunning, a lecturer in applied ethics at the University of Leeds, says the numbers reflect something deeply human.Sexuality isnt static, Brunning said. It would be far stranger if people never questioned attraction or curiosity across their lives.Pleasure Goes PublicInterest in sexual exploration is no longer confined to the margins. Feeld reports that toys ranked among the platforms top three fastest-growing desires overall, climbing 400%. Peggings sharp rise among cis men stood out as a signal that pleasure is being reframed as mutual, rather than gendered.Brunning notes that this shift reflects a growing understanding of intimacy as collaborative rather than performative.Toys are increasingly seen as tools for connection, he said, not as competition.What the World Is Into, City by CityFeelds global data adds geographic flavor to the findings, revealing patterns that are playful but telling:So Paulo leads four Brazilian cities topping the vanilla listBerlin ranks highest for heteroflexible users and open relationshipsMiami claims the pegging crownBoston tops edgingSan Francisco leads role playMumbai earns the title of cuddling capitalPortland and Seattle dominate sub/dom identity explorationGen Z Brings the SweatWhile intimacy evolves, Gen Z is pairing connection with movement. Sports-related interests accounted for eight of the cohorts ten fastest-growing categories, including tennis, basketball, soccer, and fitness, with growth ranging from 300% to 600%.The data suggests younger users are blending physical activity with social bonding, reframing dating as something that happens on courts and in gyms as often as on screens.A Year That Redefined ConnectionDina Mohammad-Laity, Feelds vice president of data, says the platforms insights reflect a year shaped by visibility and curiosity.From pop culture moments to viral conversations, people felt permission to explore, she said. Were seeing connection become more honest, more playful, and less confined by old rules.As Feeld Raw 2025 makes clear, curiosity isnt a phase. Its becoming the baseline.Source

Kevin Spacey is set to return to television for the first time since his 2017 dismissal from Netflixs House of Cards, marking a notable and controversial, chapter in the actors ongoing attempt to rebuild his career. Spacey will star in Minimarket, a low-budget Italian comedy series produced for Italys public broadcaster RAI.The 10-episode series is scheduled to debut Dec. 26 on RAIs RaiPlay streaming platform. It represents Spaceys first small-screen role in nearly a decade and his most prominent television project since allegations of sexual misconduct led to his abrupt exit from House of Cards.In Minimarket, the two-time Academy Award winner plays a fictionalized version of himself. According to the shows synopsis, Spacey appears as the imaginary mentor and artistic conscience of Manlio Vigan, a young man working at a Rome convenience store who dreams of becoming a television star. The aspiring performer is played by Italian actor Filippo Lagan.Promotional footage shows Spacey and Lagan singing Randy Newmans Youve Got a Friend in Me and Frank Sinatras Ive Got You Under My Skin, underscoring the shows self-aware, comedic tone. The relationship between the two characters is described as being driven by bickering, misunderstandings and playful teasing, contrasting the experience of a global movie star with the recklessness of someone who fails to realize he is being guided by an Oscar winner.Spaceys return to television comes amid continued legal and personal challenges. In 2023, he was acquitted in a U.K. criminal trial involving sexual assault charges brought by four men. However, he is still facing three additional sexual assault claims in a London civil court, which are expected to be heard next year. According to BBC News, Spacey has formally denied two of the civil claims and has yet to file a defense in the third.In recent interviews, Spacey has spoken candidly about the toll the allegations and subsequent career fallout have taken on his life. Last month, he told The Telegraph that he is effectively homeless, moving between hotels and short-term rentals as he follows work opportunities abroad. He described the financial strain of the past seven years as astronomical, saying his expenses have far outweighed his income.Italy has played a key role in Spaceys gradual reentry into acting. In 2021, he appeared in Franco Neros independent drama The Man Who Drew God, marking his first acting role after years away from the screen. He later portrayed a character known as The Devil in Italian director Massimo Paoluccis psychological thriller The Contract.More recently, Spacey returned briefly to U.S. theaters with the indie thriller Peter Five Eight, which largely flew under the radar. He has also appeared in the unreleased British action-thriller The Awakening and directed the supernatural action film Holiguards, which he promoted earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival.RAI has not publicly addressed the controversy surrounding Spaceys casting, but Minimarket positions itself as a light, self-referential comedy rather than a prestige drama. Whether audiences will embrace Spaceys television comeback remains uncertain, particularly as legal proceedings continue. Source

Hawks star Trae Young, who has missed 22 straight games with a sprained right MCL, will make his return Thursday night against the Hornets, sources told ESPN.

A business jet registered to a company run by retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle crashed Thursday with six people onboard, authorities said.

The WNBPA announced Thursday that its members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize calling a strike "when necessary" during the ongoing negotiations between the players association and the WNBA on a new collective bargaining agreement.

FIFA's sky-high ticket prices for next summer's World Cup could come at the cost of the soul of the game: the fans who make it such a special event.

The top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, Representative Robert Garcia has brought aggressive tactics and reality-show flair to investigating Trump.

Investigators are also examining the possibility that the case is connected to the killing of an M.I.T. professor in his home in Massachusetts.

Carmakers have known for decades that battery recycling was poisoning people abroad. Nigerias crackdown is an effort to catalog the damage.

Years after his Titanic tantrums, the Avatar director has mellowed, says Sigourney Weaver. He calls it marinating.

These picks include outdoor seating!READ MORE...

It's a showstopper!READ MORE...

The Trump administration announced Thursday a further crackdown on gender-affirming care for trans youth, which would make it almost impossible for hospitals to provide the care to those patients. It also issued a warning for makers of breast binders. The Department of Health and Human Services announced two proposed measures, including:Barring any hospital from providing gender-affirming health care to trans youth from participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Such care would include puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgical operations (which are exceptionally rare for trans youth under 18). Prohibiting Medicaid funds from covering gender-affirming care for trans youth under the age of 18 and Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funds from covering such care for trans minors under the age of 19.The public will have 60 days to comment on these proposed rules starting tomorrow. If the rules are finalized, hospitals that did not comply with the orders would effectively be forced to shut down. Also, the FDA will send warning letters to several manufacturers and retailers who make and sell breast binders. The agency said that marketing breast binders violates federal law.The Human Rights Campaign's president Kelley Robinson condemned the proposals. The Trump administration is relentless in denying health care to this country, and especially the transgender community. Families deserve the freedom to go to the doctor and get the care that they need and to have agency over the health and well-being of their children, Robinson in a press release. But these proposed actions would put Donald Trump and RFK Jr. in those doctors offices, ripping health care decisions from the hands of families and putting it in the grips of the anti-LGBTQ+ fringe. Make no mistake: these rules aim to completely cut off medically necessary care from children no matter where in this country they live. Its the Trump Administration dictating who gets their prescription filled and who has their next appointment canceled altogether."Robinson also noted that the announcements were not law. "Let's be clear, these rules are proposals, not binding law. Community members, healthcare providers, administrators, and our allies should be vocal in pushing back by sharing the ways these proposals would be devastating to their families and the healthcare community at large, she said.This is a developing story. Check back here for updates.

Netflix's Boots was officially canceled this week, crushing every hope and dream that the cast, crew, and fans of the series had been holding onto. In fact, producer Brent Miller revealed that the overall Boots season 2 storyline had already been outlined and planned for."I do feel so grateful that we were able to make the show," Miller told Variety after acknowledging his disappointment that the series was canceled. "I couldn't be more proud of the show we made."Yet, Miller doubled down on theories that Boots creator/showrunner Andy Parker "had always intended to take the boys to war in a season 2" shutting down theories on social media that the series had no story to explore beyond season 1. Can Boots season 2 get picked up by another streaming service or network? Max Parker as Sgt. Sullivan on Boots.NetflixYes, in theory, particularly given that the Boots TV show wasn't confined to just being a Netflix original. Sony Pictures Television and a few other production companies were attached to Boots, so it is assumed that season 2 could be taken elsewhere.The transferring of original content to a new streamer or network include 2017's One Day at a Time, which was canceled by Netflix after three seasons and revived for a fourth season on Pop. Notably, One Day at a Time also had Norman Lear attached as a producer, and was also a production by Sony Pictures Television, if that sounds familiar in any way. Another noteworthy example is Uncoupled, starring Neil Patrick Harris, which was canceled by Netflix and picked up for a second season by Showtime (despite being subsequently canceled by Showtime during lockdown). Jack Cameron Kay as Joshua Jones on Boots.Netflix While noting that the late Norman Lear a producer on Netflix's Boots would've felt both "disappointment" (for Boots being canceled) and "gratitude" (for Boots to have been made at all), Miller shared an interesting tidbit about Boots season 2 potentially getting picked up by another streaming service or network.Miller explained (via Variety), "Although he [Miller] was aware that cancelations happen all of the time for various business decisions, he would empower myself, our fellow EPs and Sony to do everything humanly possible for our actors, writers and producers to try and find ourselves a new home."Fans could get involved, too, according to Miller. Lear "would have encouraged the fans to make their voices be heard in the loudest ways possible to ensure a season 2 wherever, whenever," the producer remarked. Why was Boots canceled by Netflix? Miles Heizer as Cameron Cope on Boots.Netflix There isn't an official answer to address why Boots was canceled by Netflix. However, given that the Pentagon called Boots "woke garbage," some fans have theorized that the TV series was canceled by Netflix to please the Trump administration.For context, Netflix recently announced that it will purchase Warner Bros Discovery a giant merger that will need approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ).Actor Nicholas Logan, who played Howitt on Boots, also shared a video commenting that the cancelation of Boots "smells like A Donald Trump butt queef." Nicholas Logan as Sgt. Howitt on Boots.NetflixCertain fans and critics took to social media to argue that Boots season 1 had already told a pretty complete story based on Greg Cope White's memoir The Pink Marine. As mentioned previously, producers have already shut down the idea that there was nowhere for Boots season 2 to go.It's also worth noting that the first season of Netflix's Orange Is the New Black told the full story of Piper Kerman's memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison a TV series that went on for seven seasons.Boots is streaming on Netflix.

On a miserably rainy day in New York City, the W Hotel in Union Square was the perfect reprieve from the dreariness and gray skies. In here, one of the ballrooms was transformed into a winter wonderland just in time for the Christmas season. Once you step off the elevators onto the second floor, your eyes are treated to a visual feast: immaculately dressed Christmas trees with presents stuffed beneath them, and gigantic candy-red ornaments at least five feet tall around the room. When I walked in, Antoni Porowski one of the stars of Netflix's Queer Eye and author of the New York Times-bestselling cookbooks Antoni in the Kitchen and Let's Do Dinner was seated on one of the luxurious couches, next to one of the many festive decorations.Porowski is here to offer holiday gifting and hosting advice because over the last few years, he's become the go-to expert for throwing a lavish get-together or finding the right gift for that special someone in your life. Audiences have become accustomed to his fine-tuned taste on Queer Eye, which just announced that its 10th season would be its last, where he has served as the food and wine expert. Now, he's partnered with the company Snapdragon, the chip that powers many tech devices including the ASUS Zenbook A14 (one of Oprah's Favorite Things), Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen), Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, and Oakley Meta Vanguard Glasses to talk about how to prepare for the holidays. See on Instagram Out: How did you fall in love with cooking and hosting?Antoni Porowski: For me, it all boils down to human connection and figuring out I'm a people person through and through. I like my time on my own, but I definitely steer more towards connecting with others. I lived in a pretty chaotic household, where communication wasn't necessarily one of our forts. Parents were doing the best they could with the tools they were given by the generation before; a tale as old as time, but food was always what brought us together. My mother prepared everything for us when we were growing up.When I moved out and went to college, whether it was study groups or dates, making food for someone was the easiest way to connect and show my love, and it continues to be. Tell me about an event or dinner that you hosted that you felt you learned a significant lesson from.Literally this past weekend, I had a friendsgiving there were eight of us guys, some of us in relationships, so some of their significant others were with their families, so it was very much a friendsgiving sort of vibe. We were all together, and typically, I let someone else fully take over, or I take care of every single element. And I thought to myself, 'Why do we need to be an extremist in the kitchen?' So I decided to start asking for help. I made the gravy a day ahead and put it in the thermos, which is a massive game-changer because I only had to put it in a pot. It was already reduced, and then I added the pan juices and a tiny bit of flour beforehand, so it was all like semi-homemade, Sandra Lee style, minus the angel food cake.Friends of mine started asking what they could bring, and I told them, 'No, I got it covered,' but my friends insisted on bringing something and wanted to help. They were like, 'Stop being annoying.' So I had my friend Enrique grate the gruyere on the small holes of the box grater for the honey nut squash gratin. I taught my friend Tucker how to remove the little leaves from the thyme, going against how it's grown, because that's the easiest way, and you never have the stem in your food. Not only did that make my life so much easier, but I was also less stressed trying to calculate all of these different dishes being made at the exact same time. But when we sat down to eat, everyone was bragging about what they made and teaching the other person. Let people be part of the process because it makes your life easier, and it also educates them with their own takeaway.What are your plans this year, and how do you plan to make them special?I'm going to spend half of it in Traverse City, Michigan, which is my new favorite place in the U.S., because they have beautiful, clear, blue glacier lakes that are so bright, apparently because they're old glacier water. But it's a gorgeous area where my partner's family is from, and then we're gonna go over to Montreal, which I typically do in the middle of the woods. There's barely any cell reception at my step-mom's log cabin country house with the fireplace and that whole situation. But [another way to make the holiday season special] is making sure that I get gifts for my family well ahead of time.Why did you decide to partner with Snapdragon this holiday season?I use tech just as much as the next person, if not more, but I am the least tech-savvy person in the world. So when [Snapdragon] reached out, I was like 'Why?' but they sent me a list of all the different products that they're in, and some of them I've been using for years, and then others I had no idea that they were basically behind the machine. Bose headphones. My dad's a massive Bose fan. Since we were kids, we always had the dream machine that was like a big gift when I graduated from college, because I still got to play my CDs in it. The headphones are something I've been using tried, tested, and true. I can go on an eight-hour flight, and they're not going to hurt my ears because they're so nice and cushy, they're so soft. I saw Black Coffee perform with James Blake under the Kosciuszko Bridge over the summer, and my friend Leo was wearing the Oakley AI Meta glasses. She wore them during the concert and recorded the entire thing. Never had to look at her phone, not once during the show... Also, I want to gift one of my nephews who is going away to college next year one of these [Zenbook] laptops. Antoni Porowski with the ASUS Zenbook A14Courtesy of SnapdragonAny dos and don'ts when it comes to buying presents?I'm someone who's an anti-gatekeeper. Like if I have something that I try that I love, whether it's like a new salt that I'm obsessed with, or, like a really good olive oil or a pan, even, I want everyone to know about it. But what I'm learning later in life is that it's not always a good idea to assume everyone's going to like what you like; instead, it's an opportunity to figure out what their interests are. And social media is an excellent tool for finding out what their interests are and leaning into that. I think the don'ts are, don't make assumptions about what people need in their lives. I'm trying to be more mindful of, like, just because I travel with the Bose noise-canceling headphones, doesn't mean my friend, who travels like once a year, necessarily needs them too. You can pivot to something else that they might actually need. It's an opportunity to get to know the person more.Last question: Obviously, I have to ask about Queer Eye ending. What are you going to miss most about the show? We were reflecting on this at our wrap party, which was immensely emotional, and our showrunner, Jen Lane, gave a really beautiful speech. She's not much of a crier, but I know she's a bleeding heart. But watching the [production assistants] who are now producers 10 seasons in and and local people that we hire in every single city, this sort of like, living, breathing, chaotic family of like, loving and fighting and everything in between, all for the goal of like meeting these new people with where they're at and doing that time and again, I'm really gonna miss that.I'm so excited about the other projects I'm working on and the things I've done since, but that one was so personal. It was a pretty incredible thing to be part of the lives of people who have never really had an aspiration to be on TV, who met five complete strangers, and to then, by the end of the week, this really short amount of time, to be able to see the changes in themselves and how they treat their families and how they view LGBTQIA+ people.

There is a moment that exists just before privacy disappears, when desire lingers in the air and the body gives itself away. Photographer Ahmad Naser builds his work inside that charged space, capturing men as if the camera arrived uninvited. The result is a series of images that feel less staged than stumbled upon, offering a rare look at queer intimacy without performance or polish.Nasers photographs dont announce themselves as erotic declarations. Instead, they lean into suggestion. A hand pauses at a throat. Fabric slips away from skin. A mouth lingers near fingers marked by teeth. These images thrive on implication, allowing the viewer to fill in the rest. Nothing feels rushed, and nothing feels hidden.The framing is deliberate yet loose, as if the lens is following instinct rather than instruction. Bodies overlap, twist, and claim space in ways that feel lived in. Faces are often half-seen or turned away, pulling focus toward touch and posture rather than identity. Its intimacy without spectacle, rooted in the act of being present with another person.What sets Nasers work apart is how it treats kink as texture rather than headline. Harnesses, restraints, and toys appear naturally within the frame, never demanding attention but never disguised either. The images resist shock value, opting instead for familiarity. These are not fantasies built for distance. They are moments that feel close enough to interrupt./Theres a tenderness running through the tension. Even when power dynamics surface, the photographs maintain balance. Consent is implied through body language, relaxed hands, open stances, mutual engagement. The men in these images are not performing for the viewer. They are absorbed in each other, unaware of being observed.That sense of being caught is the through line of the series. The camera acts like a witness rather than a participant, documenting exchanges that feel personal rather than posed. It recalls the quiet thrill of being seen when you werent expecting it, a glance held too long, a kiss deepened without warning.In a visual culture that often flattens queer sex into extremes, Nasers work sits comfortably in the in-between. It doesnt sanitize desire, nor does it exaggerate it. The photos allow intimacy to exist as something ordinary, messy, and deeply human.For queer audiences, that approach matters. Representation is not just about visibility, but about accuracy. These images reflect how intimacy actually unfolds: slowly, unevenly, and with trust built in real time. Theres no narrative imposed, no lesson spelled out. The work simply lets desire breathe.As an collection, Nasers photography stands as a reminder that eroticism doesnt require excess. Sometimes it lives in a gesture, a shared pause, or the moment before clothing hits the floor. Being caught in the act, after all, is less about exposure and more about honesty.Source

The Washington Commanders linebacker received his MBA from the historically Black university while being a fully active player.

Will Muschamp is returning to Texas as defensive coordinator after coach Steve Sarkisian fired DC Pete Kwiatkowski and defensive passing game coordinator Duane Akina.

The remains of a woman and her child were found near Gilgo Beach on Long Island. Prosecutors accused Andrew Dykes, the father of the child, who had worked in Army clinics, in the womans murder.

It was unrecognizable afterwards.READ MORE...

Power poles along U.S. Highway 93 near Golden, Colo., snapped in half during a strong wind storm on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via AP)2025-12-18T20:32:08Z FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) Crews were mopping up Thursday but still bracing for more after hurricane-force wind downed power lines and fanned wildfires along the Colorado Front Range and onto the Great Plains.Wind that in places topped 100 mph (160 kph) late Wednesday arrived after Xcel Energy protectively cut off power through much of its eastern Colorado service areas. The goal was to prevent downed lines from starting fires and power lines were indeed blown down in several areas.By Thursday afternoon, power was about 60% restored to the almost 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) of power lines the utility de-energized. Some 37,000 Xcel customers on the Front Range and into the Rocky Mountains were still without power.Another round of outages was expected Friday, however, with a forecast for even stronger winds over a longer period. While crews worked to restore power to customers already affected, even longer outages were likely Friday, the head of Xcel Energy-Colorado cautioned in a news conference.The power will not come back on the moment the wind event ends because we have to inspect the lines, said the utilitys president, Robert Kenney. In central Denver, the power was out overnight, furniture was blown off apartment balconies, at least one apartment window was blown out and the ground was littered with blown-down branches Thursday. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Winds on Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday fanned wildfires of still-undetermined cause in eastern Colorado, burning at least 14,000 acres (5,700 hectares) in Yuma County, local emergency management officials said in a Facebook post. A grass fire on the south side of Cheyenne, Wyoming, prompted a neighborhoods evacuation for several hours Wednesday evening. No structures burned, however.Powerful gusts Thursday prompted closures of Interstates 25 and 80 in southeastern Wyoming to lightweight, high-profile vehicles though not other traffic. Unladen tractor-trailers whose drivers ignore such warnings are often seen blown over on the windy states highways, prompting jokes that the trucks are just taking a rest. If your commercial hauler is in need of a good nights sleep we would highly recommend the windblown plains of I-80, I-25, or I-90, the Wyoming Highway Patrol joked on Facebook, adding: For the low, low cost of a Driving on Closed Roads Citation ($1,000+). High winds and red flag fire warnings were in effect, meanwhile, across much of Kansas on Thursday. Blowing dust reduced visibility so much that a stretch of Interstate 70 near the states western line with Colorado closed, the Kansas Department of Transportation said in a news release. The release urged motorists to consider delaying non-essential travel.In the Pacific Northwest, heavy rain continued falling along with snow in the mountains. Rivers in Washington had fallen since recent flooding inundated communities, damaged roads and prompted more than 600 rescues.Parts of southern Oregon and northern California including the San Francisco Bay area were expected to see several inches (centimeters) of rain and strong winds Friday and into the weekend. Then on Christmas Eve, a Pineapple Express, a stronger atmospheric river that originates in the tropics near Hawaii, could arrive in northern California. The forecast brought hope to ski resort operators that much anticipated precipitation will extend into the Sierra Nevada, where very little snow has fallen this season.Elsewhere, a blizzard was bringing as much as 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow to northern North Dakota and Minnesota before it heads into Wisconsin and other areas eastward over the next couple days.___Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Gene Johnson in Seattle; Jack Dura in Bismarck, N.D.; and David Zalubowski in Denver contributed.

The White House announced on Thursday that its has renamed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. as The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.The centers Trump-appointed board members unanimously voted for the renaming (after electing Trump as the centers chairman earlier this year). However, the federal law establishing the buildings name requires that any that official name change be passed through the U.S. Congress legislative process. Related Trump promised NO MORE DRAG SHOWS at Kennedy Center. Their new season is full of drag. In a statement, Roma Daravi, the centers vice president of public relations, wrote, The unanimous vote recognizes that the current Chairman saved the institution from financial ruin and physical destruction. The new Trump Kennedy Center reflects the unequivocal bipartisan support for Americas cultural center for generations to come.However, Maria Shriver, Kennedys neice, criticized the renaming, writing, Next thing perhaps he will want to rename JFK Airport, rename the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump-Lincoln Memorial. The Trump Jefferson Memorial. The Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Can we not see what is happening here? Cmon, my fellow Americans! Wake up! she added. This is not dignified. This is not funny. Just when you think [someone] cant stoop any lower, down they go The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says. https://t.co/VpZhNvx7So Joe Kennedy III (@joekennedy) December 18, 2025 Tim Shriver, Kennedys first cousin, said, Perhaps the board isnt aware that the Kennedy Center is THE memorial to the president of the United States, John F. Kennedy.Tim Shriver called the renaming a short-sighted insult to a great president and said that center is and will remain the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, no matter what the board voted for.Empty seats and plummeting sales have plagued the Kennedy Center since Trumps takeover. The centers interim President Ric Grenell is under Senate investigation for corrupt dealings at the center.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

When transphobic lawyers filed court briefs opposing a school districts transgender-inclusive policies, the lawyers didnt expect the judge to reject their filing over a series of factual errors that seemed to result from artificial intelligence (AI) hallucinations.Judge Matthew Wolf of Pennsylvanias Commonwealth Court on Wednesday asked attorneys Thomas W. King and Thomas E. Breth whether their law firm had improperly used AI to prepare its brief in the case of the South Side Area School District et. al v. Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, WESA reported. Related Trump administration is forcing hospitals to end gender-affirming care for trans minors The suit involved two Republican state House members and parents who argue that the state commission illegally instituted LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination protections for queer students in 2023. The lawyers 50-page brief, submitted in October, cited prior cases that allegedly proved the plaintiffs arguments.However, Judge Wolf noted that the brief contained citations and quotes that had either been miscontextualized, were later overruled, or just didnt exist. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today You quote the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from the Bayada case for a quote that does not exist in that case, Wolf told the lawyers. You cite the Popowsky case for a proposition and a quote that does not exist, and that case is not even on point to this case.Im unhappy, the judge continued. I feel as though youve put the court at a disadvantage. King apologized for any AI that might be contained in the brief, adding, We pride ourselves in being aware of this issue and not including such things in our briefs. And so I apologize to the court to the extent that any of thats included.King told WESA that, after speaking to employees in his law firm, No one used AI to compile this brief. He jokingly added that he and Breth are so technologically inept that, [Were] lucky we can even use a phone. He also noted that his firm allows AI use and also uses software to verify the accuracy of citations contained in briefs.King told the judge that his law firm would happily correct and refile the brief, but its unclear whether the court will accept a new filing. I spent a lot of time on this, and I had a lot of people double-check what I thought so that I would not come in here and say things that were not true, King told the judge.The American Bar Association, which sets licensing and accrediting standards to law schools and individual lawyers, has warned its members that AI can often produce nonexistent opinions, inaccurate analysis of authority, and use of misleading arguments.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

In a vindictive move tied to vocal opposition to his anti-science agenda at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cut millions of dollars in funding for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on Wednesday.Although administration officials cited a range of reasons for the grant funding cuts including the AAPs use of identity-based languageand references to racial disparities and pregnant people the move follows intense criticism by the group of Kennedys changes to federal vaccine policy. Related Nine former CDC directors warn RFK Jr. is destroying public health & urge swift action to stop him AAP joined a chorus of condemnation over Kennedys decision to stop recommending the Covid vaccine for children, and his firing of the Centers for Disease Controls panel of independent vaccine advisors and their replacement with a hand-picked panel of vaccine skeptics.The majority of what weve seen from the secretary has been a pretty clearly orchestrated strategy to sow distrust in vaccines, Sean OLeary, a physician who heads the AAPs infectious-diseases committee, told The Washington Post. We make our recommendations based on whats in the best interest of the health of children.In response, Kennedy blasted the groups financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, demanding the organization disclose its corporate entanglements and conflicts of interest so that Americans may ask whether the AAPs recommendations reflect public health interest, or are, perhaps, just a pay-to-play scheme to promote commercial ambitions of AAPs Big Pharma benefactors. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Kennedy terminated seven grants for AAP, including for initiatives on reducing sudden infant deaths, improving adolescent health, preventing fetal alcoholsyndrome, and identifying autism early, according to documents obtained by thePost.AAP received $18.4 million in federal grants from HHS for 2025, according to a federal grants database.An HHS spokesman said the grants cut Wednesday no longer align with the Departments mission or priorities. The sudden withdrawal of these funds will directly impact and potentially harm infants, children, youth, and their families in communities across the United States, said Mark Del Monte, AAPs chief executive and executive vice president. The group is considering legal action, he said.Along with Kennedy, another anti-science, MAGA loyalist, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), targeted AAP, as she successfully promoted her bill to criminalize gender-affirming care for minors across the country. The measure passed the House on Wednesday, but will likely stall in the Senate barring Democrats support.On Monday, Greene dragged the AAP to whip outrage and votes for her bill, with a tweet casting the groups support for gender-affirming care as fighting for the gender mutilation of children.Its unimaginable that the American Academy of Pediatrics would support the genital mutilation of children let alone fight for it. Shame on them. We must pass my Protect Childrens Innocence Act! https://t.co/0QGEVBLham Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) December 15, 2022 Kennedys announcement pulling the AAP grants on Wednesday preceded another on Thursday for new HHS rules denying Medicare and Medicaid funding to all hospitals that provide gender-affirming care for minors. Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician and outspoken critic of Kennedy whos running to unseat Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) in South Carolina, described the challenge to childrens health that Kennedy represents as existential.Children are not inherently politically powerful. Theyre minors, they cant vote, they dont have money to donate to politicians. I think for a long time, people thought, well, in good faith, most leaders will legislate in a way that doesnt harm children. That is not at all the case, Andrews said. The Trump administration is punishing the American Academy of Pediatrics. I have enough thoughts about this for an entire feature length documentary but here are two minutes of them. (Spoiler alert: you cant fight bad politics by staying apolitical.) pic.twitter.com/KZ6ffct3Py Dr. Annie Andrews (@AnnieAndrewsMD) December 18, 2025Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Spencer Hedges, better known to his millions of followers as Painted by Spencer, is redefining what it means to be a beauty creator in the digital age. A self-made Cuban American makeup artist and proud member of the LGBTQ community, Spencer has built a global platform rooted in self-expression, confidence and visibility. What began as a leap of faith, leaving Florida for Los Angeles at just 16, has grown into a career that now reaches millions across social media, where his cinematic transformations have become instantly recognizable.With more than 2.7 million followers across Instagram and TikTok and over 86 million views on YouTube, Spencers work goes far beyond traditional makeup tutorials. His signature before-and-after reveals celebrate individuality and resonating deeply with LGBTQ audiences and allies alike. That connection has translated into sold-out masterclasses around the world, from Paris and London to Dubai and Australia, where fans line up not just to learn technique, but to witness artistry grounded in authenticity.Now, Spencer is entering a new chapter, one that positions him as both a creative visionary and an emerging business leader. From hosting a successful Los Angeles pop-up with Korean vegan skincare brand DAlba to expanding his influence beyond social platforms.Q: Moving to LA at 16 is no small decision. In what ways did that early leap of faith shape your evolution as both an artist and entrepreneur?Spencer: Moving to LA at 16 forced me to grow up fast. I did not have a safety net, so every choice felt real. I was working, taking clients, figuring out how to pay bills and at the same time trying to learn who I was as a person. It taught me that no one is coming to rescue you. If you want something, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable and sometimes hear no ten times before you get a yes. As an artist, that made me fearless. As an entrepreneur, it taught me to think long term. I learned how to turn being good at makeup into an actual business, then into a brand.Q: Your before-and-after transformations have become iconic. What do these transformations represent for you beyond the artistry?Spencer: For me, the transformation is not really about fixing anyone. It is about revealing something they already have but maybe stopped seeing. The before and after is just a visual way of showing that they were worthy in the before and they are powerful in the after. The makeup becomes a way of saying, You are allowed to take up space and be seen. That is what I care about way more than a sharp liner or a snatched jawline.Q: Many LGBTQ viewers say your videos make them feel seen. When did you first realize your work was having an impact on queer self-expression?Spencer: I think it hit me when I started getting long DMs from people in small towns. They would say things like, I watch your videos and they make me feel like there is a world where I am not weird for loving makeup. The moment I realized it was bigger than makeup was when people started telling me they finally felt brave enough to buy their first concealer or walk into Sephora without apologizing for being there. That is when it stopped being just content and started feeling like responsibility, a sense of community.Q: Youve built a massive audience across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Whats something people still misunderstand about the work that goes into this level of digital artistry?Spencer: People may see a 60 second video and think I filmed it in an hour and posted it. In reality, there is pre production, product testing, lighting setup, refilming takes, audio dubbing, editing, captions, thumbnails, brand approvals, and all the back and forth that no one ever sees. On top of that, my team and I are running a business in the background. Negotiating contracts, traveling, answering emails, running payroll, managing deadlines. Its creative, but its also extremely technical and mentally demanding. Its a full time career, honestly sometimes it feels like two or three, but Im grateful I get to show my daughter, Celine, that its possible to build a life around work you genuinely love.Q: Cuban American identity plays a role in who you are. How has your heritage influenced your approach to beauty and visibility?Spencer: Growing up Cuban American, beauty was loud and unapologetic. My family taught me that presentation matters and you always put your best face forward, even if no ones watching. I think that stuck with me. That energy definitely lives in the way I approach glam.Q: Your masterclasses in Dubai, Paris, and Australia have sold out worldwide. What has traveling and teaching globally taught you about the universality of beauty and identity?Spencer: Traveling to teach has been one of the most humbling experiences of my career. I realized very quickly that beauty standards shift from country to country, but the feeling people are chasing is the same. Everyone wants to feel confident, desired, and beautiful. In Dubai, I saw a love for full glam. In Paris, there is this effortless chic energy. In Australia, people leaned into fresh skin and practicality. Different aesthetics, but same emotional foundation. No matter the language, there is always that moment when someone looks in the mirror after makeup and you can see their posture change. That expression is universal.Q: Youve evolved from a makeup artist into what your team calls a global brand architect. What does that evolution look like behind the scenes?Spencer: At some point I realized this wasnt just about doing a great blend on camera anymore. Becoming a brand architect meant building a whole world people can step into, whether they find me on TikTok, come to a masterclass, or eventually pick up something Ive created. Behind the scenes, Im trying to build something that can live even when Im not in the room, and a certain tiny person in my life with the perfect mix of sweetness and chaos has definitely slipped into that vision. People might notice that a bit more next year.Q: You recently partnered with Korean vegan skincare brand DAlba for a pop up in Los Angeles. What drew you to that collaboration, and how does skincare play into your larger creative vision?Spencer: Im very picky with skincare partnerships, because if the skin isnt right, the makeup wont be either. So teaming up with dAlba just made sense for me, especially with the textures I love for that glassy, radiant look. Their First Spray Serum has lived in my makeup kit for years. And the LA pop up was great because I got to connect with my community in real life, not just through a screen. It was truly one of the highlights of 2025 for me!Q: The beauty industry has changed dramatically over the past few years, especially around gender and inclusivity. Where do you feel the industry is moving next?Spencer: I think we are moving toward a world where products are less about this is for women, this is for men and more about this is for dry skin, this is for texture, this is for whoever wants to feel good. The younger generation does not care about the old rules in the same way. I also see a shift toward storytelling and niche identity. People are drawn to brands that feel like fully built universes, not just trends in a bottle. They want transparency, ethics, and uniqueness. Inclusivity is no longer just putting a few more shades in a range. It is about who is in the room making decisions and who feels invited into the conversation.Q: Many young queer people dream of moving to LA to pursue creativity. What advice would you give your 16 year old self stepping off the plane for the first time?Spencer: I would tell my 16 year old self to breathe. You do not have to prove everything in the first year. LA can be magical, but it can also be very isolating if you are young and trying to figure yourself out. Find at least one or two people who really see you and hold onto them. Say yes to opportunities, but also learn how to say no when something does not feel aligned, even if it looks glamorous. Take care of your mental health. Do not confuse followers with friends or virality with value. And remember, the parts of you that feel too much right now are probably the exact things that will make you stand out later.Source

Longtime NFLPA lawyer Heather McPhee claims top union officials of punished her for speaking up about alleged corruption.

The clemency decision by Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee could make it easier for the country star to travel internationally.

Catherine Almonte Da Costa resigned from her just-announced post as Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdanis director of appointments after the Anti-Defamation League resurfaced the comments.

As Zohran Mamdani prepares to take over as mayor of New York, his team and allies have been pushing back against proposals that could make it more difficult to build new homes in the city.

Several prominent conservative figures have announced that they are engaged this week, news often celebrated by President Trump.

Sometimes the slowest design decisions end up being the smartest ones.READ MORE...

President Donald Trump listens before he signs an executive order reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-12-18T23:40:11Z WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trumps blockade of sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuelas coast is raising new questions about the legality of his military campaign in Latin America, while fueling concerns that the U.S. could be edging closer to war. A blockade is illegal outside of warfare and would be considered an act of aggression. But even if civilians arent targeted, experts warn that seizing sanctioned oil tied to leader Nicols Maduro could provoke a military response from Venezuela, engaging American forces in a way that goes well beyond their attacks on alleged drug boats.My biggest fear is this is exactly how wars start and how conflicts escalate out of control, said Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. And there are no adults in the room with this administration, nor is there consultation with Congress. So Im very worried. Claire Finkelstein, a professor of national security law at the University of Pennsylvania, said the use of such an aggressive tactic without congressional authority stretches the bounds of international law and increasingly looks like a veiled attempt to trigger a Venezuelan response. The concern is that we are bootstrapping our way into armed conflict, Finkelstein said. Were upping the ante in order to try to get them to engage in an act of aggression that would then justify an act of self-defense on our part. Republicans largely are OK with the campaignTrump has used the word blockade to describe his latest tactic in an escalating pressure campaign against Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the U.S. and now has been accused of using oil profits to fund drug trafficking. While Trump said it only applies to vessels facing U.S. economic penalties, the move has sparked outrage among Democrats and mostly shrugs, if not cheers, from Republicans. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Trump going after sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela is no different from targeting Iranian oil.Just like with the Iranian shadow tankers, I have no problem with that, McCaul said. Theyre circumventing sanctions.The president has declared the U.S. is in armed conflict with drug cartels in an effort to reduce the flow of drugs to American communities. U.S. forces have attacked 26 alleged drug-smuggling boats and killed least 99 people since early September. Trump has repeatedly promised that land strikes are next, while linking Maduro to the cartels. The campaign has drawn scrutiny in Congress, particularly after it was revealed that U.S. forces killed two survivors of a boat attack with a follow-up strike. But Republicans so far have repeatedly declined to require congressional authorization for further military action in the region, blocking Democrats war powers resolutions. Sen. Roger Wicker, Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, has essentially ended his panels investigation into the Sept. 2 strike, saying Thursday that the entire campaign is being conducted on sound legal advice. Venezuela pushes backTrump announced the blockade Tuesday, about a week after U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off Venezuelas coast. The South American country has the worlds largest proven oil reserves and relies heavily on the revenue to support its economy. The U.S. has been imposing sanctions on Venezuela since 2005 over concerns about corruption as well as criminal and anti-democratic activities. The first Trump administration expanded the penalties to oil, prompting Maduros government to rely on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. The state-owned oil company Petrleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA, has been largely locked out of global oil markets by U.S. sanctions. It sells most of its exports at a steep discount on the black market in China.Nicols Maduro Guerra, Maduros son and a lawmaker, on Thursday decried Trumps latest tactic and vowed to work with the private sector to limit any impact on the countrys oil-dependent economy. He acknowledged that it wont be an easy task.We value peace and dialogue, but the reality right now is that we are being threatened by the most powerful army in the world, and thats not something to be taken lightly, Maduro Guerra said. Pentagon prefers the term quarantine It wasnt immediately clear how the U.S. planned to enact Trumps order. But the Navy has 11 ships in the region and a wide complement of aircraft that can monitor marine traffic coming in and out of Venezuela.Trump may be using the term blockade, but the Pentagon says officials prefer quarantine.A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to outline internal reasoning about the policy, said a blockade, under international law, constitutes an act of war requiring formal declaration and enforcement against all incoming and outgoing traffic. A quarantine, however, is a selective, preventive security measure that targets specific, illegal activity. Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he was unsure of the legality of Trumps blockade. Theyre blockading apparently the oil industry, not the entire country, said Smith, who represents parts of western Washington state. How does that change things? I got to talk to some lawyers, but in general, a blockade is an act of war. The U.S. has a long history of leveraging naval sieges to pressure lesser powers, especially in the 19th century era of gunboat diplomacy, sometimes provoking them into taking action that triggers an even greater American response.But in recent decades, as the architecture of international law has developed, successive U.S. administrations have been careful not to use such maritime shows of force because they are seen as punishing civilians an illegal act of aggression outside of wartime.During the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, President John F. Kennedy famously called his naval cordon to counter a real threat weapons shipments from the Soviet Union a quarantine not a blockade.Mark Nevitt, an Emory University law professor and former Navy judge advocate general, said there is a legal basis for the U.S. to board and seize an already-sanctioned ship that is deemed to be stateless or is claiming two states.But a blockade, he said, is a wartime naval operation and maneuver designed to block the access of vessels and aircraft of an enemy state.I think the blockade is predicated on a false legal pretense that we are at war with narco-terrorists, he said.Nevitt added: This seems to be almost like a junior varsity blockade, where theyre trying to assert a wartime legal tool, a blockade, but only doing it selectively.Geoffrey Corn, a Texas Tech law professor who previously served as the Armys senior adviser for law-of-war issues and has been critical of the Trump administrations boat strikes, said he was not convinced the blockade was intended to ratchet up the conflict with Venezuela. Instead, he suggested it could be aimed at escalating the pressure on Maduro to give up power or encouraging his supporters to back away from him.You can look at it through the lens of, is this an administration trying to create a pretext for a broader conflict? Corn said. Or you can look at it as part of an overall campaign of pressuring the Maduro regime to step aside.___Goodman reported from Miami. Associated Press reporters Stephen Groves and Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report. ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department. twitter mailto JOSHUA GOODMAN Goodman is a Miami-based investigative reporter who writes about the intersection of crime, corruption, drug trafficking and politics in Latin America. He previously spent two decades reporting from South America. twitter mailto

In this July 21, 2020 file photo, a man opens social media app 'TikTok' on his cell phone, in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed, File)2025-12-18T22:51:33Z SAN FRANCISCO (AP) TikTok has signed a deal to sell its U.S. business to three American investors Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States.The deal is expected to close on Jan. 22, according to an internal memo seen by The Associated Press. CEO Shou Zi Chew told employees in the memo that ByteDance and TikTok have signed binding agreements with the three investors.Half of the new TikTok U.S. joint venture will be owned by a consortium of investors among them Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX will each hold a 15% share. Another 30.1% will be held by affiliates of existing ByteDance investors and 19.9% will be retained by the China-based ByteDance, according to the memo.The U.S. venture will have a new, seven-member majority-American board of directors, the memo said. It will also be subject to terms that protect Americans data and U.S. national security. U.S. user data will be stored locally in a system run by Oracle. TikToks algorithm the secret sauce that powers its addictive video feed will be retrained on U.S. user data to ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation, the memo said. The U.S. venture will also oversee content moderation and policies within the country. The deal marks the end of years of uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the United States. After wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it did not find a new owner in the place of Chinas ByteDance, the platform was set to go dark on the laws January 2025 deadline. For a several hours, it did. But on his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration tries to reach an agreement for the sale of the company. Three more executive orders followed, as Trump, without a clear legal basis, continued to extend the deadline for a TikTok deal. The second was in April, when White House officials believed they were nearing a deal to spin off TikTok into a new company with U.S. ownership that fell apart after China backed out following Trumps tariff announcement. The third came in June, then another in September, which Trump said would allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States in a way that meets national security concerns. BARBARA ORTUTAY Ortutay writes about social media and the internet for The Associated Press. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that former state education head Ryan Walters attempt to force Christian Nationalist propaganda into public school social studies curriculum violated the states Open Meeting Act. Walters, who quit before the end of his term to work for a right-wing group that opposes woke teachers unions, called the courts decision an incredibly aggressive attack on Christianity, the bible, [and] on President Trump. Related An insult: Trump illegally renames Kennedy Center after himself In June 2024, Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education (OSBE) issued a guidance saying that K-12 lessons should focus on the Bibles influence on history, literature, music, and other arts and culture. Walters guidance mandated that every classroom contain a physical copy of the Bible, as well as copies of the Ten Commandments, the U.S. Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence.Walters had also required that future social studies texts include statements that inaccurately proclaim the Bibles and Christianitys influence on the countrys founding, disproven conspiracy theories about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and a theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a Chinese laboratory. The new textbooks would cost state taxpayers $33 million.However, while the OSBE and its new head of education Lindel Fields announced in October the states plans to drop these changes, the 33 Oklahoma parents, children, public school teachers, and faith leaders who filed a lawsuit against the changes asked the state Supreme Court to rule on whether Walters violated state rule-making laws. The laws require the OSBE to provide proper public notice before voting on implementing any new curriculum standards. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The court found that Walters didnt provide proper notice to OSBE members or the public about his changes, and that the curriculum standards ultimately submitted by Walters and OSBE were substantially different from the version released publicly, KOKH-TV reported.As such, court invalidated Walters new standards and reinstated the 2019 version of the standards which existed before Walters changes.In separate statements, Americans United and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, which represented the plaintiffs, celebrated the ruling. Todays decision will ensure that Oklahoma families not politicians get to decide how and when their children engage with religion, said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. These new social studies standards violated students and families religious freedom by promoting one version of Christianity and advancing Christian Nationalist disinformation. Not on our watch. Public schools are not Sunday schools.In response to the ruling, Walters said, Today the [Oklahoma] Supreme Court launched an incredibly aggressive attack on Christianity, the bible, on President Trump. The Oklahoma Supreme Court, striking down the history standards that so many Oklahomans demanded.Its unclear which Oklahomans demanded the new standards seeing as he refused to publicly release them as required by law.They struck down the history standards, spitting in the face of so many Oklahomans and frankly, common sense. This is outrageous to see this kind of left-wing judicial activism in the state where every county voted for President Trump, Walters continued. These justices should be ashamed of themselves. They should resign immediately. Former OK schools chief Ryan Walters is melting down after the OK Supreme Court struck down the history curriculum he mandated, which included Bible study and materials arguing that the 2020 election was stolen. pic.twitter.com/iRRyujjQce Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 18, 2025 Walters had a notoriously scandal-ridden tenureOklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) replaced Waters with retired school superintendent Lindel Fields. Soon after, the OSDE reversed one of Walters first actions by restoring the OSDEs Hall of Fame, which honors the states past award recipients for Teacher of the Year. The OSDE also quickly revamped its website, removing numerous links that promoted Christian Nationalist misinformation, includingWalters unconstitutional orderfor schools to display The Ten Commandments.Additionally, State Attorney General Gentner Drummond has ordered the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspectors Office toinvestigate the Education Departments finances over the entirety of Walters tenure in charge. Drummond said, [Walters had a] well-established history of mishandling tax dollars.During his tenure, Walters withheld$150 million in public school fundsto ostensibly make security enhancementsagainst school shootings, in defiance of legislation directing the funds to poorer rural schools. Waltershid information about his offices travel budgetandrefused to spend moneythat he was legally obligated to spend onasthma inhalers for students,The Friendly Atheistadded. Walters sought toban LGBTQ+ books but teach the Bible in public school history classes, andpushed the transphobic lie about schools providing litterboxes to studentswho identify as cats. He alsoreferred to teachers unions as terrorist organizationsandillegally tried to make rulesbanning LGBTQ+ books and transgender bathroom access in schools.He has appeared at events hosted by Moms for Liberty, a right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ parents rights group that has been calledan extremist hate groupby the Southern Poverty Law Center. He also appointed Chaya Raichik, an anti-LGBTQ+ activist who goes by Libs of TikTok online,as a Library Media Advisor for the state(even though she has no educational experience, doesnt reside in Oklahoma, and has made posts that have led to bomb threats against students).He also unveiled an ideological purity test to seek and remove woke teachers. (The test wascriticized as performative bulls**tand as an advertisement masquerading as an assessment.) The day before his resignation, he pledged toforce all schools statewideto host student groups for Turning Point USA, the young conservatives group started byrecently murderedanti-LGBTQ+ MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk.Oklahomaranks among the worst statesfor education and isfacing a teacher shortage.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Before "Thursday Night Football" kicked off, players made sure to put their most fashionable foot forward.

The Jaguars are finalizing a three-year, $60 million extension with wide receiver Jakobi Meyers that ties him to Jacksonville through the 2028 season, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Chinese-owned video app formalized commitments from the software giant Oracle and two investment firms as part of a deal to keep TikTok operating in the United States.

Also, authorities search for a person of interest in the Brown shooting. Heres the latest at the end of Thursday.

The backsplash was a first-time DIY and makes such a difference.READ MORE...

In the second half of our conversation with photographer Chris Teel, we turn toward the deeper questions shaping his work today: body standards in nude photography, whether size really matters, and how erotic art can challenge rather than reinforce narrow ideas of masculinity.Related | Meet the Photographer Shaping Modern Male ArtIn Part One, From Boardrooms to Boys Next Door, Chris spoke about walking away from corporate stability, discovering photography through early exposure to Playgirl, and witnessing the slow cultural shift toward acceptance of male nudity since he began publishing in 2008.Now, with more than two decades of experience behind the camera, Chris reflects on what intimacy, trust, and artistic growth really look like both for himself and for the men he photographs.Creating Safety in VulnerabilityShooting nude work requires more than technical skill it demands emotional intelligence. For Chris, establishing comfort begins long before the camera comes out. Before every shoot, I take the time to outline my vision and ensure were aligned, he explains. Even though many of my models today are experienced adult content creators, I never assume their comfort level.Rather than relying on vague assurances, Chris takes a straightforward, professional approach. Boundaries are discussed openly, expectations are set early, and nothing is left unspoken. There are no surprises, he says. Everything is discussed upfront.If a model begins to move beyond what they originally agreed to, Chris pauses the shoot to check in ensuring that consent remains active, informed, and enthusiastic. My priority is that no one leaves a shoot with regrets. That reputation has followed him throughout his career. Many of his collaborators now come through referrals a quiet but powerful testament to trust built over time.When Body Standards Get in the WayOne of the most common concerns Chris hears from prospective models has nothing to do with lighting or posing. Its comparison. I often asked questions to better understand men who hesitated to model due to concerns about their physiques not measuring up to the standards they saw in my portfolio, he says. Earlier in his career, Chris tried to reassure hesitant models by telling them he wouldnt have reached out if he didnt believe in their suitability. Over time, he realized that reassurance isnt always what people need.Related | Men in the Ruins: 10 Striking Shots by Ahmad NaserIve since learned that its not my role to change someones mind or persuade them to model if theyre not ready. Now, his response is grounded in respect and patience. If someone isnt ready, thats okay. I simply let them know that I understand and respect their feelings. I also make it clear that the door is always open if they change their mind in the future.For Chris, confidence cant be rushed and true comfort happens on each persons timeline.What Art Has Taught Him About MenChris describes his career not as a finished body of work, but as an ongoing evolution. Theres no endpoint where Ill feel like Ive achieved everything Ive set out to do, he says. Each project brings new challenges and insights, which keeps it exciting and fulfilling. Whats surprised him most isnt just how his photography has changed but how much its taught him about people. Being a photographer often means being a psychologist. Through years of intimate portraiture, Chris has seen firsthand how even outwardly confident men carry insecurities around their bodies, masculinity, and self-worth. Hes also learned something essential as an artist: there is an audience for tenderness between men. People recognize and connect with the sensuality between men, he says. That connection has been deeply validating for me as an artist.Navigating Censorship in the Digital AgeDespite cultural progress, sharing nude art online remains precarious. Chris has experienced firsthand the unpredictability of platform moderation including the sudden deletion of an account without explanation. After a year of rebuilding a new account, theyve removed relatively tame images, he recalls. Photos you could easily find elsewhere on their platform.Images of clothed bodies, subtle gestures, or even two men embracing are frequently flagged, often by automated systems with little transparency. While Chris continues to appeal removals when possible, hes also adapted by directing audiences toward platforms where his work can exist without compromise. Icontinue to post various images across platforms, working within the limits while encouraging people to explore my links to see the fuller scope of my work.For now, he navigates both worlds: posting selectively on social media while preserving the integrity of his work elsewhere.A Photograph That Still MattersAmong thousands of images, one photograph holds particular meaning. It features Corey Kirk, the first model Chris ever photographed multiple times, and the only image hanging in his home.During the shoot, a stylist draped a metallic, floral fabric around Coreys neck, transforming the moment unexpectedly. In that instant, I grabbed a striking profile portrait, Chris recalls. Corey was shirtless, and the image felt both fashion-forward and sophisticated while still maintaining a sexy edge.The image captures everything Chris values: collaboration, spontaneity, and intimacy without spectacle.Advice for Photographers Entering PortraitureFor photographers drawn to intimate work, Chris emphasizes intention above all else. Understand your motivation, he says. What is your goal? Are you creating art, pursuing a career, or chasing fame? Rejection is inevitable, especially early on, but Knowing your why will help guide your decision and shape your work, he continues.Rather than burning bridges, Chris advises staying professional, open to feedback, and willing to invest in skill-building. No response is still a response. Rather than burning bridges, Chris advises staying professional, open to feedback, and willing to invest in skill-building.But technical ability isnt enough. Be a decent person, he says plainly. Your reputation travels fast. In an industry built on trust, respect matters just as much as talent.Want to see the good stuff?Weve published more of Teels work including the shots too spicy for this site over on our Substack.CLICK HERE FOR MOREWhat Comes NextChriss archive and insight couldnt be contained in a single feature. Together, Part One and Part Two paint a portrait of an artist whose work challenges norms not by shouting, but by revealing.Follow Chris onInstagramandX and support his work by subscribing to hisOForJ4F.Source

Texas A&M's sweep puts the Aggies in the national championship match for the first time in program history.

Greg Biffle died in a plane crash Thursday in North Carolina, where he'll be remembered not only as a NASCAR star, but as a humanitarian, too.

null