A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft scrubbed prior to liftoff for a mission to the International Space Station from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)2025-03-12T23:10:16Z CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) A launch pad problem prompted SpaceX to delay a flight to the International Space Station on Wednesday to replace NASAs two stuck astronauts.The new crew needs to get to the International Space Station before Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can head home after nine months in orbit.Concerns over a critical hydraulic system arose less than four hours before the Falcon rockets planned evening liftoff from NASAs Kennedy Space Center. As the countdown clocks ticked down, engineers evaluated the hydraulics used to release one of the two arms clamping the rocket to its support structure. This structure needs to tilt back right before liftoff.Already strapped into their capsule, the four astronauts awaited a final decision, which came down with less than an hour remaining in the countdown. SpaceX canceled for the day. The company did not immediately announce a new launch date, but noted the next try could be as early as Thursday night. Once at the space station, the U.S., Japanese and Russian crew will replace Wilmore and Williams, who have been up there since June. The two test pilots had to move into the space station for an extended stay after Boeings new Starliner capsule encountered major breakdowns in transit. Starliners debut crew flight was supposed to last just a week, but NASA ordered the capsule to return empty and transferred Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX for the return leg. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.an astronaut launch for NASA on Wednesday night.

In a powerful call to action, GLAAD board members Frankie Grande and Peppermint have joined forces with several high-profile figures from the LGBTQ+ community to urge casting directors, producers, and creatives behind reality TV to take a bold step toward authentic inclusivity. Their message calls for fair, accurate, and diverse representation of LGBTQ+ people on reality televisionSource

Ill be honestI walked into The Electric State screening with some hesitation. It wasnt just the dystopian setting or the adventure-filled chaos that had me nervous. It was the robots (especially underwater ones, but thats a whole other story). Jokes aside, the film is a wild ride that had me feeling all the emotionsthanks to a few surprisingly nostalgic robots. But did it live up to the hype?Source

Survival, trauma, and cannibalism may fuel Yellowjackets, but lets be realso does its LGBTQ+ representation. From the shows deeply queer-coded friendships to its openly LGBTQ+ characters, Yellowjackets has become a staple for sapphics, horror lovers, and anyone who enjoys a little (or a lot of) chaos. But the queerness doesnt stop on-screen. Many of the actors themselves are part of the LGBTQ+Source

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio disembarks from a military airplane upon arrival at Quebec City Jean Lesage International Airport in Quebec, Canada, March 12, 2025, as he travels to a G7 Foreign Ministers meeting. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)2025-03-13T04:01:39Z LA MALBAIE, Canada (AP) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio may be walking into unusually unfriendly territory this week when he meets his counterparts from the Group of 7 industrialized democracies strong American allies stunned by President Donald Trumps actions against them.Just hours after Trumps steel and aluminum tariffs kicked in prompting responses from the European Union and Canada and threatening to ignite full-scale trade wars with close U.S. partners Rubio arrived at the scenic Quebec town of La Malbaie on the St. Lawrence River for two days of talks with the top diplomats of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. All of them have been angered by the new American presidents policies.Rubio will likely be hearing a litany of complaints about Trumps decisions from once-friendly, like-minded countries in the G7 notably host Canada, to which Trump has arguably been most antagonistic with persistent talk of it becoming the 51st U.S. state, additional tariffs and repeated insults against its leadership. Canadian Foreign Minister Mlanie Joly, the official host who will see each participant separately, said that in every single meeting, I will raise the issue of tariffs to coordinate a response with the Europeans and to put pressure on the Americans. The only constant in this unjustifiable trade war seems to be President Trumps talk of annexing our country through economic coercion, Joly said Wednesday. Yesterday, he called our border a fictional line and repeated his disrespectful 51st state rhetoric. Rubio downplayed Trumps 51st state comments, saying Wednesday that the president was only expressing what he thought would be a good idea.The G7 grouping is not a meeting about how were going to take over Canada, Rubio said, noting that they would focus on Ukraine issues and other common topics. Facing allies as tariffs take holdOn tariffs, Rubio said G7 partners should understand that these are a policy decision by Trump to protect American competitiveness.I think it is quite possible that we could do these things and at the same time deal in a constructive way with our allies and friends and partners on all the other issues that we work together on, Rubio told reporters on a refueling stop in Ireland as he headed to Canada from talks with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia. And thats what I expect out of the G7 and Canada.Asked if he expected a difficult reception from his counterparts, Rubio brushed the question aside: I dont know, should I be? I mean, theyve invited us to come. We intend to go. The alternative is to not go. I think that would actually make things worse, not better.Rubio notably skipped a meeting of G20 foreign ministers a bigger but less powerful group that includes developing nations last month in South Africa because of his concerns that the agenda, which included climate change and diversity, did not align with Trump administration policies.The agenda for the G7 meeting includes discussions on China and the Indo-Pacific; Ukraine and Europe; stability in the Americas; the Middle East; maritime security; Africa; and China, North Korea, Iran and Russia. Discussing peace in UkraineRubio and Trumps national security adviser, Mike Waltz, had been in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, earlier in the week securing a potentially huge win for the administration a possible ceasefire to end the Russia-Ukraine war, an issue that galvanized the G7 since even before the conflict began. Armed with Ukraines acceptance of the proposal for a 30-day ceasefire but still awaiting a Russian response, Rubio can expect cautiously optimistic responses from his fellow diplomats.Yet, Trumps apparent desire to draw Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the fold including saying he would like to see Russia rejoin the group to restore it to the G8 continues to alarm G7 members. They united behind Ukraine, with large amounts of military assistance and punishing economic sanctions against Moscow, after the invasion began in February 2022. Russia was thrown out of the G8 after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Among international groupings, the G7 whose members, with the exception of Japan, are all NATO allies had been the toughest on Russia. At the last G7 foreign ministers meeting before the 2022 invasion, members warned Russia in a joint statement in December 2021 of massive consequences should it attack Ukraine. Three months later, they coordinated to impose sweeping financial, travel and other sanctions on Moscow. Since Trumps election, that appears to be changing, at least from the U.S. side.Rubio said his goal was not to antagonize Russia as it considers the ceasefire proposal by issuing statements that are abrasive in any way. He noted that all of the sanctions against Russia remain in place but that new threats of action could be counterproductive to getting Putin on board with the U.S. peace plan. That throws into question hopes that the G7 can unify around a common statement condemning Russia. Britain, along with France, has been spearheading efforts to set up a coalition of the willing to help safeguard a future ceasefire in Ukraine, including with troops on the ground. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer who has said the plan will only work with U.S. security guarantees to back it up plans to host a virtual meeting of about two dozen countries Saturday to discuss progress.Rubio and other Trump administration officials have so far refused to endorse European peacekeepers. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said G7 unity has been critical in ensuring that Putin to this day hasnt achieved his war aims in Ukraine. The way to peace goes via strength and unity a language that Putin understands, she said in a statement before the meeting.___Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto, Jill Lawless in London, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley volunteer Veronica Yoo loads boxes of donations on to a cart at a storage facility in McAllen, Texas on June 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes, File)2025-03-13T04:07:49Z McALLEN, Texas (AP) The Trump administration has launched a review of organizations that provide temporary housing and other aid to migrants, suggesting they may have violated a law used to prosecute smugglers.The Department of Homeland Security has significant concerns that federal grants used to address a surge of migration under former President Joe Biden were used for illegal activities, wrote Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.His letter, dated Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press, asks recipients of grants from FEMAs Shelter and Services Program to provide names and contact information for migrants served and a detailed and descriptive list of specific services provided within 30 days. The letter says funding will be withheld during the review. While it doesnt explicitly threaten criminal prosecution, it raises concerns that recipients may have violated U.S. Criminal Code Section 1324, a felony offense against bringing people across the border illegally or transporting them within the United States. It also says executive officers must sign sworn statements that they have no knowledge or suspicions of anyone in their organizations violating the smuggling law. FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday. The demand appears to be a new salvo against organizations that provide food, housing and travel aid to people who cross the border. Migrants often arrive exhausted, low on money and unsure how to navigate on their own through bus stations and airports. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who was at odds with the Biden administration over immigration and is closely aligned with the Trump White House, took a similar tack against migrant aid groups but was blocked in court.FEMAs Shelter and Services Program awarded $641 million to dozens of state and local governments and organizations across the country in the 2024 fiscal year to help them deal with large numbers of migrants who crossed the border from Mexico. They include the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Denver, as well as the United Way of Miami, the San Antonio Food Bank and several branches of Catholic Charities.It was unclear if any any governments received the letters, but the Trump administration has fiercely criticized states, counties and cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Last month, it sued Chicago over laws that it said thwarted federal law enforcement.

Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, looks on during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)2025-03-13T05:06:25Z BEIRUT (AP) After Syrias longtime autocratic ruler was toppled late last year, the man who led rebel groups to victory immediately faced a new challenge: unifying the country after more than a decade of civil war.The peril and promise of Syria under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa the former leader of an Islamist insurgent group were on dramatic display over the past week. After days of deadly sectarian violence, a diplomatic triumph united a powerful force in the countrys northeast with the new national army.By Tuesday, it seemed as if Syria had made major steps toward quelling the tensions that erupted over the weekend. But analysts say the country still has a long way to go, and that the risks of sliding back into civil war, or partitioning the country along ethnic and sectarian lines, remain. The path to rebuilding trust will require Syrias new leaders to do more to protect lives and foster a sense of unity among all communities, said Ammar Kahf, executive director of Omran Center for Strategic Studies in Istanbul.Building a stable, pluralistic society is also key to convincing Western countries to lift crushing economic sanctions that were placed on Syria during the brutal rule of former President Bashar Assad. A week of political whiplashBeginning last Thursday, clashes between government security forces and armed groups loyal to Assad spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks that killed hundreds of civilians, most of them Alawites, a minority sect to which Assad belongs.Government reinforcements eventually restored order, and calm appeared to hold by late Monday. That same day, al-Sharaa had signed a landmark pact under which Kurdish-led forces in the countrys northeast would be merged with the new national army. The deal marked a major step toward unifying the disparate factions that had carved up Syria into de facto mini-states during its civil war. The civil war began in 2011 after the Assad governments brutal crackdown on massive anti-government protests. Not a professional armyMost of the armed factions that fought to unseat Assad announced in January that they would join the national army. In practice, though, they have maintained their own leadership.This is not a professional army, said Issam al-Reis, a military adviser with Etana, a Syrian research group. In theory, there are plans to join the factions into an army and merge everybody together under the Ministry of Defense. But so far, in reality, on the ground, everybody is still under his own umbrella.On the other side, there are thousands of former soldiers from the disbanded Assad-era army who are now unemployed and very easy targets for local or international actors interested in upsetting Syrias fragile stability, al-Reis said.The sectarian violence over the weekend was difficult to contain, analysts say, because the government had to turn to a patchwork of undisciplined factions including armed civilians -- to combat pro-Assad militants who attacked security forces along the coast. Members of some of those factions launched bloody revenge attacks on Alawite civilians. The violence only reinforced the significant challenge to the Syrian (governments) efforts to consolidate power, said Kahf, of the Omran Center for Strategic Studies. A landmark dealUnexpectedly, the violence appears to have expedited the deal to bring the Kurdish-led armed group controlling most of northeastern Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, under the umbrella of the national army.The agreement came about when it did because al-Sharaa needed to achieve a diplomatic victory after the weekend violence damaged his image, said Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher. At the same time, the SDF calculated it could achieve greater gains if it gave Sharaa this gift at this time, he said. Under the agreement, border crossings, airports and oil fields in the northeast will also be brought under the central governments control by the end of the year. Many details still need to be ironed out including who will manage prisons holding Islamic State fighters captured by SDF but the agreement gives al-Sharaa a much-needed political boost.He appears to have eliminated the two most significant threats of division in the country within days, Aba Zeid said. International players pushing for unificationThe agreement between the SDF and the Syrian government came about with the blessing of two important international players: the United States, which has supported the SDF as a key ally in the fight against the Islamic State militant group; and Turkey, which backs Syrias new leaders.This would not have happened if the Turks werent willing to let it happen, according to a senior U.S. defense official who said Washington encouraged SDF to reach an agreement with Syrias leaders. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.Although not written into the agreement, the official said Ankara had demanded assurances that the SDF would remove foreign fighters linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist group that had waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey before recently announcing a ceasefire.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech Tuesday, The full implementation of the agreement reached yesterday will serve the security and peace of Syria.Still, the new Syrian government faces an array of challenges.Since the fall of Assad, Israel has seized pockets of territory in southern Syria, saying that it is moving to protect its borders.With sanctions by the U.S. and its allies still in place, the country will struggle to make significant investments in its economy and rebuild areas destroyed during the civil war.Alawites and other minorities that were already skeptical of the Islamist-led authorities in Damascus are more frightened and hostile than they were a week ago, despite promises by the countrys new leaders that those who attacked civilians will be held accountable.Al-Reis said that reassuring them will require the government to take very strong measures against the perpetrators. ABBY SEWELL Sewell is the Associated Press news director for Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. She joined the AP in 2022 but has been based in the region since 2016, reporting and guiding coverage on some of its most significant news stories. twitter mailto

The sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building is seen. May 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)2025-03-13T04:08:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) Mia Francis, a 22-year-old barista from Boston, filed her taxes on her own this year for the first time, using a free government tax filing program that made it easy because it did most of the work for her.Francis said it took 45 minutes to finish her taxes with the IRS Direct File program, an electronic tax return filing system that the IRS made permanent last year and that has rolled out to 25 states.Francis is expecting a $530 refund. And because she saved cash by not using a commercial tax preparation company to file her taxes, that money will go a long way, she said. She plans to use it for a trip to Amsterdam this year.Despite its popularity with Francis and other members of the American public, the IRS Direct Files fate remains unclear as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency cleave their way through the federal bureaucracy. So far, the program is still available for use ahead of the April 15 tax filing deadline, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent committed during his January confirmation hearing to maintaining it, at least for this tax season. Representatives from the Internal Revenue Service and DOGE did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on their plans for Direct File. But one Republican tax expert says the IRS never got congressional authorization to create Direct File. And Republican lawmakers and commercial tax preparation firms complain the program is a waste of money because free filing programs already exist, although they are hard to use. Direct File was rolled out as a pilot program in 2024 after the IRS was tasked with looking into how to create a direct file system as part of the money it received from the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. Last May, the agency announced that the program would be made permanent. The IRS accepted 140,803 returns filed by taxpayers using Direct File in the 12 states where it was available last tax season. Its been expanded to include half the country this year. It is unclear how many taxpayers have used Direct File this year. Merici Vinton, an original architect of Direct File from the U.S. Digital Service, noted the ease and accessibility of the program and called it a great example of how people should interact with the government in the 21st century.We effectively launched a startup in the IRS, she said. It was built by an in-house product team, in an iterative manner, and we ship updates to the software to improve user experience in real time based on feedback. If we continue to invest in it, both taxpayers and the IRS can benefit.Musk posted last month on his social media site that he had deleted 18F, a government agency that worked on technology projects such as the IRS Direct File program. This led to some confusion about whether Direct File is still available to taxpayers. However, conversations inside the IRS indicate that no decision has been made on whether to cut the program, two people familiar with these conversations tell the AP. Former IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, who oversaw the rollout of the program, said Treasury officials considering the future of the program should take into account the voice of the taxpayers. My reflection is that taxpayers are in very different situations and have very different preferences for how they want to file, he said. Those whose preference is to file electronically direct with the IRS for free, its a good option to have on the menu. But it should not replace other options.Derrick Plummer, a spokesperson for Intuit, one of the countrys largest commercial tax preparation firms, said free tax preparation had been available for years before Direct File came along.IRS Direct File is a solution in search of a problem, a waste of taxpayer dollars and a drain on critical IRS resources, he said. A June 2024 Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report estimates that the annual costs of Direct File may range from $64 million to $249 million. The IRS should focus on its core mission including data privacy and customer service while policymakers in Washington focus on simplifying the tax code, Plummer said. However, other taxpayers, like 31 year-old Aquiel Warner in Austin, Texas, say they want to avoid using commercial tax preparation software.Warner filed her taxes with Direct File in 10 minutes using her phone and a chatbot that the IRS provides. She likes the programs convenience, that it prepopulated her tax forms and that it allowed for free filing. Although she has some concerns about data privacy in the government DOGE is reported to have access to some of the IRS internal systems she feels more secure going through the IRS than commercial tax preparation services.I dont want to be a product. I dont want my information sold when I file my taxes, she said. I have to file my taxes, and I dont want to be put in a situation where, in order to file my taxes, I have to pay to get the help I need because Im not a professional tax preparer. Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said the IRS never got explicit permission from Congress to create the Direct File system.It really doesnt matter if its a good idea. It was done illegally, he said, calling on Congress and the Justice Department to look into what he says is unauthorized spending that went into the creation of Direct File. Democratic lawmakers in January asked Bessent and IRS commissioner nominee Billy Long to preserve the program. They wrote in a letter that ending Direct File would hurt everyday Americans. Long has not yet received a nomination hearing.In the meantime, Musk and his cadre of computer programmers could decide to wield their tech skills to boost the program or use the very same digital savvy to delete it.For his part, Werfel hopes that the agency will keep the program. Its a big country with a lot of taxpayers with a lot of different preferences, he said.Francis, the Boston barista, hopes so, too.There are a lot of young people like me who are working and figuring out how to file their taxes this just makes it faster and easier, she said. FATIMA HUSSEIN Hussein reports on the U.S. Treasury Department for The Associated Press. She covers tax policy, sanctions and any issue that relates to money. twitter mailto

Visitors enjoy their sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)2025-03-13T04:08:37Z LONDON (AP) It may be winter and there may be a biting chill in the air, but the dozen men and women who have packed this small sauna room in east London are happily sweating away in their swimwear. Its more than 90 degrees Celcius (194 Fahrenheit) in here and its about to get even hotter.As ice blocks infused with lavender oil melt over sizzling hot stones, releasing fragrant steam, sauna master Oliver Beryl turns on some ambient music and starts to vigorously wave a towel in a circular motion above his head to spread overpowering waves of dry heat around the room. Callum Heinrich, left, and Ella Price, second left, enjoy their sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Callum Heinrich, left, and Ella Price, second left, enjoy their sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Now try finding someone and sit back to back with them, Beryl suggests. Or, if you want, maintain eye contact with the person sitting next to you. A brief hesitation, but most gamely oblige for a few minutes.Sauna-bathing has taken London and the rest of the U.K. by storm, particularly among trendy 20- and 30-somethings interested in trying a new pastime thats healthier than nights out in pubs and bars.Sweating it out in communal spaces for relaxation, physical or mental therapy and socializing has long been a staple of many cultures around the world, from Scandinavias saunas and Native American sweat lodges to Japans onsens and Turkish baths. Callum Heinrich, right, and Ella Pricetake shower during their sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Callum Heinrich, right, and Ella Pricetake shower during their sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More But the most popular saunas now are those that emphasize community and connectedness, or offer something novel alongside sitting in a heated box. Think sauna club nights featuring DJs, saunas combined with a poetry workshop, or aufguss (meaning infusion in German) rituals like the one hosted by Beryl an intense session blending heat therapy, music and scent.Many sites also offer open-air ice baths next to the saunas so people can cycle between hot and cold. Its exhilaratingI loved the feeling of losing yourself. Its a 15-minute detachment from normal life, said Jess Carmichael as she emerged from her first aufguss at Community Sauna Baths in Stratford, east London.She likened the exhilaration she felt to the experience of running into the freezing sea with hundreds of others on New Years Day. I think people need this right now this warmth coming from the outside and feeling that youre sharing an experience with others, she added. Callum Heinrich enjoys his sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Callum Heinrich enjoys his sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Charlie Duckworth, a co-founder of Community Sauna Baths, said it all started in 2022 when he and fellow sauna nutters installed two small saunas including one in a horse box in a disused parking lot in the trendy neighborhood of Hackney.The not-for-profit social enterprise proved so popular that it has since expanded to four sites across the capital, with two more opening soon. A large part of the appeal for many fans is that saunas serve as a place of communion, much like a pub or a church, Duckworth said. Callum Heinrich, left, and Ella Price, second left, enjoy their sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Callum Heinrich, left, and Ella Price, second left, enjoy their sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Sauna lowers inhibitions and also gives you a feeling of mild euphoria, not unlike the effects of social drinking, he said. I think its an excellent place to socialize.Around the U.K., the number of public sauna sites has jumped from 45 in 2023 to 147 so far this year, according to the British Sauna Society.Have a bit more fun with it Visitors enjoy their sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Visitors enjoy their sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Compared to countries where the practice is steeped in tradition, one benefit of the U.K.'s sauna culture being so new is that providers can have a bit more fun with it and be more creative, Duckworth said. At Peckham Sauna Social in south London, weekends feature relaxed ambient sauna nights with resident DJs and a non-alcoholic cocktail bar. One of its most popular monthly sessions is the creative writing sauna": a short poetry reading followed by a chai tea and writing workshop afterward in the lounge.Reading in the sauna was something Id never done before just being hot and sweaty and dripping onto the page was challenging at first, said Caroline Druitt, a writer who leads the workshops. Something about sharing a chat with other semi-clothed strangers in the sauna seemed to encourage participants to be more open about sharing their ideas and writings, Druitt said. Besides, I know that many of my best ideas have come out of the bath, she added.Reported health benefits David Saville sits by a camp fire during his sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) David Saville sits by a camp fire during his sauna session at the Hackney Wick Community Sauna Baths, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Besides reducing stress and getting ideas flowing, some swear by saunas and cold plunges for soothing joint inflammation and improving heart health and sleep. Some studies go further, with one suggesting a link between going to the sauna at least four times a week and a reduction in the risk of psychosis among middle-aged Finnish men. Authentic sauna done well should be as regular as the gym, and doing it regularly is what offers the reported health benefits, said Gabrielle Reason, secretary at the British Sauna Society.While those health benefits arent yet well established and those with high blood pressure or heart conditions should check with their doctors before going to a sauna and ice bath many converts return regularly for the mood boost.It just resets your brain in a really lovely way, said Callum Heinrich, submerged in a barrel of frigid water, his skin still steaming from the sauna. He says he attends twice a week when he can. For your mental health, it is the best thing in the world. SYLVIA HUI Hui, based in London, reports on UK news for The Associated Press with particular interest in foreign and social affairs and human rights. twitter mailto

Haile Tsege, 76, sits on a rock in the Sebacare internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp, on the outskirts of Mekele, Tigray region, Ethiopia, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Mamo)2025-03-13T05:26:18Z MEKELE, Ethiopia (AP) As a displaced person in Ethiopias northern Tigray region, 76-year-old Haile Tsege is no stranger to hunger.During its war with Tigray fighters that devastated the region in 2020-2022, Ethiopian government restrictions on the rebellious region reduced aid flows to a trickle. Then in 2023, U.S. and U.N. aid distributions of grain were halted for months over a corruption scandal.Now the Trump administrations dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has again halted food deliveries to a sprawling camp of over 20,000 people outside Tigrays regional capital, Mekele.We will just die in silence, said Tsege, one of the 2.4 million people in Tigray who depend on humanitarian grain, most of it provided by the U.S. Haile Tsege, 76, sits on a rock in the Sebacare internally displaced persons camp. (AP Photo/Alexander Mamo) Haile Tsege, 76, sits on a rock in the Sebacare internally displaced persons camp. (AP Photo/Alexander Mamo) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Ethiopia with its over 125 million people had been the biggest beneficiary of U.S. aid in sub-Saharan Africa, receiving $1.8 billion in the 2023 financial year. In addition to life-saving food, the funds were spent on HIV medications, vaccines, literacy programs and jobs creation, as well as services for 1 million refugees hosted by Ethiopia.Most of these programs have been stopped. The USAID staffers who oversaw them have been placed on administrative leave and told not to work, as they face the threat of termination. The U.S. Embassy didnt respond to questions. Emergency food was exempted from President Donald Trumps executive order, signed on his first day in office, suspending foreign aid during a 90-day review amid the administrations allegations of waste. Aid agencies in Ethiopia had to apply to USAID for waivers to continue handing out U.S. grain. These have been secured, but USAIDs payments system is still not functioning.As a result, a consortium of aid agencies in Tigray has had to stop distributions to the over 1 million people it has been responsible for feeding with U.S.-provided grain. It has no money to pay for fuel, trucks and drivers to distribute existing food stockpiles. That includes 5,000 metric tons of sorghum enough to feed 300,000 people for a month stuck in a storage facility in Mekele that could rot before it reaches those in need.This is just one warehouse. There are several others across the region, said Teklewoini Assefa, head of the Relief Society of Tigray, part of the consortium. This will create malnutrition, disease. If this situation continues, what follows? Death.He added: Everything boils down to the payment system. A sign reading USAID stands at the entrance of the Sebacare internally displaced persons camp. (AP Photo/Alexander Mamo) A sign reading USAID stands at the entrance of the Sebacare internally displaced persons camp. (AP Photo/Alexander Mamo) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The effects of the aid cuts are widespread, with many USAID contracts terminated. Already, Ethiopia has been forced to lay off 5,000 local healthcare workers who were working on its HIV response.Tigray relied heavily on U.S. funds. More than two years after the war killed hundreds of thousands, full-scale recovery efforts are yet to start. The regions health system is in ruins and hundreds of schools remain closed.In 2024, child malnutrition stood at 21% in some areas, according to a survey reviewed by The Associated Press far above the World Health Organizations threshold of 15% at which a situation is classified as an emergency.Now, aid workers say many programs to improve nutrition have halted. Projects to deliver medicines and vaccines have stopped. Dozens of camps for displaced people have had water sources cut off.The impact has been huge, said Ashenafi Asmelash, executive director of Mums for Mums, which has had two USAID- funded programs terminated. One helped build long-term resilience among farmers. The other helped improve the nutrition of children and new mothers. A man walks through the Sebacare IDP camp, on the outskirts of Mekele, Tigray region, Ethiopia, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Mamo) A man walks through the Sebacare IDP camp, on the outskirts of Mekele, Tigray region, Ethiopia, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Mamo) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Management Sciences for Health, another Tigray organization, has halted a project to combat tuberculosis and told its staff to expect mass layoffs in March, according to a senior executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.Efforts to assist thousands of women who were raped during the war have been derailed, said Rigat Bishaw at Ayder Hospital, Tigrays biggest healthcare facility.This includes counseling and physiotherapy sessions for survivors run by the U.S.-based Center for Victims of Torture, which received a stop-work order from the Trump administration in February and furloughed its staff. An internally displace woman stands outside her makeshift home in the Sebacare camp. (AP Photo/Alexander Mamo) An internally displace woman stands outside her makeshift home in the Sebacare camp. (AP Photo/Alexander Mamo) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More CVT also halted a program to train health workers to recognize sexual abuse cases and refer survivors to appropriate health services.This sudden disruption is having a huge impact on the healing of traumatized people, said Yohannes Fisseha, a CVT manager.Major projects to support people living with HIV, improve access to life-saving nutrition services and improve relations between war-affected communities have also been cut off, said Yirga Gebregziabher, the Tigray branch manager of an Ethiopian organization called OSSHD, which helped implement the projects.The organization has been forced to fire dozens of expert staff.Our picture of America was as a protector of rights, a positive force in the world, Yigra said. That image has now been broken. If there was a process, maybe the shock would have been less. But there was no consultation, no engagement. ___The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

Passengers rescued by security forces from a passenger train attacked by insurgents arrive at a railway station in Much, Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, Thursday March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)2025-03-13T08:05:46Z QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) Pakistans prime minister traveled to restive southwestern Balochistan province Thursday to meet survivors of a train attack and the commandos who rescued over 300 passengers from the insurgents who killed 21 civilians and four troops.The Baloch Liberation Army, an outlawed group behind multiple deadly attacks in recent months, claimed responsibility for the attack that began Tuesday and ended Wednesday when troops killed all 33 insurgents in an operation that the military said resulted in no further passenger deaths. The train was heading from the Balochistan capital, Quetta, to the northern city of Peshawar when insurgents blew up the track, forcing nine coaches and the engine of the Jafer Express train to stop partially inside a tunnel.The BLA regularly targets Pakistani security forces and has attacked trains, but had never been able to hijack any train in the past. They have also attacked outsiders such as Chinese workers, thousands of whom are involved in multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects in Balochistan. Oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistans largest and least populated province. Members of the ethnic Baloch minority say they face discrimination and exploitation by the central government. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was to visit Quetta on Thursday. Authorities said arrangements were made to transport the bodies of victims to their hometowns and people who were wounded were receiving medical treatment. In an overnight statement, the military said it had confirmed intelligence indicating that the assault was orchestrated and directed by terrorist ring leaders operating from Afghanistan, who were in direct communication with the terrorists throughout the incident.Pakistan often accuse Kabul of sheltering Pakistani Taliban and BLA, a charge the Afghan government denies.However, the military in the statement urged the Afghan Taliban government to uphold its responsibilities and deny the use of its soil for terrorist activities against Pakistan. According to a military statement, the terrorists, after blowing up the railway track, took control of the train and held the passengers hostage including women, children and elderly, using them as human shields.Most of the survivors said the assailants opened fire on the windows of the train, entered the cars and killed or wounded people before taking them hostage. Three soldiers who had been guarding the railroad track were also killed, according to military spokesman, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif.

Fans of Los Angeles Dodgers wait for the team arrival as a staff installs partitions to block fans from the arrival route of the Dodgers team members at Tokyo International Airport Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Tokyo, as Dodgers to play their MLB opening games against and Chicago Cubs in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)2025-03-13T08:38:35Z TOKYO (AP) Hundreds of fans at Tokyos Haneda airport, who lined up 10 deep and hoped to catch a glimpse of Shohei Ohtani as he arrived on Thursday, saw nothing of the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar.What they saw was a 40-meter-long (130 feet) temporary white wall to shield the players in case they came through the arrival area. The Chicago Cubs exited this way when they arrived late Wednesday night.The Dodgers were seen on the tarmac disembarking from their charter from Phoenix, and Ohtani was one of the first off. But the players didnt make it to the arrival area, apparently taking an escape route.The next chance to see Ohtani and the Dodgers will be Friday when the teams open practice at the Tokyo Dome. The two-game series to open the MLB season is Tuesday and Wednesday, early evening starts in Tokyo. Games will go live in the early morning the same day in North America. Japan is 13 hours ahead of the American east coast. Fans waited for hours inside the terminal, hoping Ohtani would might show up. Many carried signs of welcome. One was a bright yellow board that read: I love LA. Others wore Dodgers caps and shirts and other garb. Several times excited fans reached high with smart phones, thinking Ohtani had arrived. It was always a false alarm with mere passengers from other flights coming into view.Patient and polite, fans eventually departed the reception area when it was clear that Japans most famous citizen would not appear. Most fans were hopeful, but realistic.I just came hoping for any chance I might see him. But I knew, probably not. said Satoshi Yoshii, a local accountant.Misaki Ueta came with her husband Reishi and a friend, Ryusei Takahashi. The two men wore Ohtanis No. 17 Dodgers jersey.We just came to be able to breathe the same air, Misaki said. The Ohtani air.Others came for the event like a rock concert. I dont care if I cant see him because Im not really a fan of Othani, said Kotomi Miyakoda. Standing alongside was her friend, also Kotomi Kotomi Nakatsu.Im not a fan but I want to see him, the person, Nakatsu said.This is billed as the Japan Series by MLB. It could be billed as the marketing-Ohtani-in Japan series. Othani is probably the countrys most famous citizen and MLBs most marketable asset.This is the second straight season that MLB has opened its season in Asia. Last year it was South Korea with the Dodgers and San Diego Padres where the gambling scandal broke around Ohtanis interpreter.Cubs vs. DodgersThe two teams come to Tokyo with five Japanese players. The Dodgers have Othani and pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. The Cubs come with DH Seiya Suzuki and pitcher Shota Imanaga.Imanaga and Yamamoto are expected to oppose each other on Tuesday in the first game.The American clubs will face the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers in two exhitition games on Saturday and Sunday. Marketing the Dodgers in JapanChris Marinak, MLBs chief operations officer, talked with The Associated Press in an interview about advatanges of having a player like Ohtani. It helps to have a generational talent like Ohtani essentially the best player in the game to be from a different market, Marinak said. It changes how you can communicate about the game in different markets.Its not difficult. Japan has adopted the Dodgers as its national team. There has always been a strong connection, but now its rock soild since Ohtani won the World Series with the Dodgers.The Dodgers have set up an exhibition in central Tokyo called Dodgers Experience at MLB Tokyo Series. Fans can see the World Series trophy and a few World Series championship rings.Theres also a chance to view the Dodgers rich history, dating to Brooklyn before the team moved to Los Angeles to start the 1958 season. There are also interactive experiences where fans can try to hit an Ohtani pitch.Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has also designed artwork around the series. His work will also be on display during the series.Not a cheap ticketTickets on resale sites have been listed at as much a $20,000 for a single game. Many tickets for resale are more in the $2,000 to $8,000 range.Reselling tickets for above the face value it technically illegal in Japan. The government approved the rule before the 2020 Olympics, which were delayed by the pandemic until 2021.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb STEPHEN WADE Wade has written about sports and the politics of sports around the globe for The Associated Press. He has covered nine Olympics and five soccer World Cups and has been based for AP in Madrid, London, Beijing, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro, before moving to Tokyo. twitter mailto

Subscribe nowLast week, my boyfriend Sean and I visited my mom (an official Canadian snowbird) in South Florida. We had the best time playing tennis, swimming, walking the beach and enjoying oceanside dinners. The state really is a winter wonderland.But beyond the ocean lies a deep red state that creates an unnerving feeling for LGBTQ people. As I hit forehands on the ball machine, I thought about how Sean and I could never comfortably raise a kid in Florida. After all, the Dont Say Gay law makes it illegal for teachers to read students books that feature two dads, andup until eighth gradeits illegal to discuss anything gay-related in the classroom.Does that mean my kids teacher could not talk about whether its Sean or me picking them up after school? Genuinely not sure but legitimately concerned.Another thought that crossed my mind is whether wed get fair medical care. Floridas Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed SB 1580, a so-called License to Discriminate in Healthcare bill that allows providers and insurers to deny a patient care based on religious, moral, or ethical beliefs. In other words, if my doctor or nurse is the kind of religious person who believes homosexuality is a sin, she can legally turn me away if Im bleeding out of my head because being gay is against her Biblical beliefs. After tennis, we drove to my friend's house for lunch. On the way, we crossed many bridges. It made me think about how DeSantis banned rainbow lights during last years Pride Month. Instead, he coined it Freedom Summer, where bridges could only light up in red, white and blue. While this move doesnt explicitly hurt anyone, the veiled homophobia isnt helping the 41% of LGBTQ youth who seriously considered suicide in 2023.Once we arrived at our friend's house and finished a fantastic barbeque, we got into our bathing suits for a swim. I thought about how effing weird, not to mention dehumanizing, it must be for my frienda trans womanto live in this state where she is legally forced to use the same bathroom or locker room as me in an airport, college campus or any other federal building. Many people make it seem like these laws have minimal impact. But make no mistakethey penetrate everyday life for queer people. Its a horrible feeling to implicitly understand that youre a second-class citizen in a state like Florida.LGBTQ tourism put Florida on the map, and our community contributes billions of dollars a year to the states economy. But as sunny and gorgeous as the state may be, at what point do we as a community need to press pause on hitting the beaches that are widely known for their homo/transphobic undercurrent?Republican Refers to Transgender Member as a Man, Cutting Short a House Hearing (The New York Times)LGBTQ Groups Call On Democrats To 'Do More' To Protect Their Rights (The Hill)Newsom Becomes Most Prominent Democrat to Buck the Party and Echo Majority Public Opinion on Trans Athletes (CNN)Dylan Mulvaney Is Ready to Move On (Glamour)Two years after the Bud Light controversy she calls Beergate, the actor, comedian, and TikTok star is ready for her next chapter.Supreme Court Takes Up Challenge to Colorado Conversion Therapy Ban (NBC News) Two weeks ago, Uncloseted Media was the first publication to interview Jaxon Seeger, the good friend of Sam Nordquist, the trans man who was tragically murdered in upstate New York. In our live interview, Seeger explained why they had started a Change.org petition demanding that the perpetrators of their friends murder have their charges elevated from second to first-degree murder. Second-degree murder is not even close to what they deserve, Seeger told me.Last week, we were informed that prosecutors have officially upgraded the charges against Nordquists accused killers to first-degree murder. Seeger reacted to the news: "This is an important step toward justice for Sam. No one should have to fight this hard for the system to recognize the full horror of what happened to him. While this wont bring Sam back, it sends a message that his life mattered and that crimes like this must be met with the strongest possible consequences."Our story in partnership with Fierce Healthcare, Unraveling the Urgent, Unspoken Struggle for Accessible HIV Prevention, was announced earlier this week as a regional Azbee award finalist. The Azbee Awards recognize outstanding work by business, trade, association and professional publications. The Azbees highlight editorial, online, and design excellence within print media, email newsletters, and digital publishing. What an honor! As political battles over gender-affirming care intensify, Illinois has emerged as a key refuge in the Midwest. In ourfirst storyin partnership with Chicago Sun-Times, we spoke with trans folks who are seeking refuge in Illinois. The story graced the front page of the Sun-Times Wednesday print edition!This weekend, be on the lookout for new Uncloseted reporting: Tensions between Canada and the U.S. are at an all-time high. In a matter of weeks, there could be a new Prime Minister, as Liberal candidate Mark Carney and Conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre get set to compete to lead our northern neighbor at a time when tensions could not be more fraught. But what are Carney and Poillievres track records on LGBTQ rights? Emma Paidra and Sophie Holland are co-reporting an analysis.Thanks for reading! Feel free to email me with questions, complaints and story ideas! Spencer Macnaughton, Editor-In-Chief spencer@unclosetedmedia.comIf objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

Displaced Palestinians lives in a school run by UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, west of Gaza City, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-03-13T09:58:16Z United Nations-backed experts have accused Israel of the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.Israels mission to the U.N. in Geneva rejected the accusations and accused the commission, which was created by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, of relying on second-hand, single, uncorroborated sources.The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory is led by former U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay. Its findings can be used as evidence for the International Criminal Court or other bodies that seek to prosecute war crimes.Israel has refused to cooperate with the commission, accusing it and the council of being biased against it.In its report released Thursday, the commission examined the widespread destruction of Gaza, the use of heavy explosives in civilian areas and Israeli attacks on hospitals and health facilities. It said all three led to disproportionate violence against women and children. Israel says it took extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians in the 15-month war, which has been paused by a fragile ceasefire. It blames civilian deaths and destruction on Hamas because the militants operate in residential areas. The commission also accused Israeli security forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. Israel denies any systematic abuse of prisoners and says it takes action when there are violations. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. A U.N. envoy last year said there were reasonable grounds to believe Hamas committed rape and sexual violence in the attack.Israels retaliatory offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants.

In this image made from video released by the Russian Presidential Press Service, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Russian Chief of General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov as he visits military headquarters in the Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)2025-03-13T09:20:34Z Russian forces have driven the Ukrainian army out of the biggest town in Russias Kursk border region, officials claimed Thursday, as U.S. officials sought the Kremlins response to a proposed 30-day ceasefire in the three-year war that Ukraine has endorsed.The Russian Defense Ministrys claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, hours after President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders in Kursk and wore military fatigues, could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.The renewed Russian military push and Putins high-profile visit to his troops came as U.S. President Donald Trump presses for a diplomatic end to the war. The U.S. on Tuesday lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv after senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials made progress on how to stop the fighting in talks held in Saudi Arabia. Trump said Wednesday its up to Russia now as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that U.S. negotiators were on their way to Russia, but he wouldnt comment on Moscows view on the ceasefire proposal. Before the talks start, and they havent started yet, it would be wrong to talk about it in public, he told reporters.Senior U.S. officials say they hope to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that national security adviser Mike Waltz spoke Wednesday with his Russian counterpart. She also confirmed that Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will head to Moscow for talks with Russian officials, possibly including Putin. By signaling its openness to a ceasefire, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a difficult challenge at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington. The Ukrainian armys seven-month foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from a renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraines daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since World War II and embarrassed the Kremlin.Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly glum news from the front line, as well as draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks.But the incursion didnt significantly change the dynamic of the war.

Corey O'Brien is the kind of man who refuses to be put in a box. And if you try, he'll dance his way right out of it, probably with a well-times joke and a defiant twirl.The comedian, dancer, and unabashedly loud-and-proud gay comedian is embarking on The Red Tour, taking his very liberal, very queer brand humor straight into the heart of America's red states. "I wanted to go into these red states because I feel like if there are people that are willing to buy a ticket and come and see me, then they're willing to listen to something," he tells me, his voice laced with equal parts of determination and joy.The tour is equally about creating a safe space, especially for queer people in these conservative communities who might feel trapped, isolated, or unseen. "There are queer people that live in these states as well that can't leave, don't want to leave," he muses. "And I'm doing it for them."A Journey of Unapologetic ExpressionBefore he took the stage with a mic, Corey's first love was dance. Growing up in a small conservative town in Pennsylvania, he navigated embracing his authentic self amid the heckling from classmates. "The bullying was relentless because I was nothing like my beers," he shares. But dance was his salvation. "It was a way of expressing myself without words because I didn't know how to express how I was feeling."But the pressure of being different in an unforgiving environment led him down a different path. Corey turned to drugs and alcohol to mask his pain. "It convinced me I loved myself for a little bituntil all that hate came back."At 21, he got sober. With 12 years of sobriety behind him, he channels his experiences into his comedy, both the highs and the rock-bottom moments. "Everything that has once brought me a lot of pain and sadness is something that I'm able to flip around and laugh at on stage," he says. Corey's comedy is therapeutic as it is entertaining, a way of healing for himself and those who see themselves in his story.Corey's dance background still plays a role in his comedy in expected and unexpected ways. "I know the way I command a stageI owe a lot of it to dance," he explains. He instinctively understands how to captivate an audience, whether it's physical comedy, using movement to tell a story or an actual dance break in his set.Transforming Hurt into HumorBut his real talent lies in taking the weapons used against queer people, from stereotypes to slurs and ignorance, and flipping them into comedy gold. "I love calling out ignorant and hateful people and just letting them know my comedy is also spreading a message. It's a way of resistance."And resist he does. His humor isn't just about making people laugh but reclaiming power. "I find a lot of peace and a lot of healing in laughter," he reflects. "If I can take the things that are being thrown at me or my community and flip it around to make fun of it, then I feel like I did my job."Corey has built a digital sanctuary for queer people looking for representation, humor, and a reminder they're not alone. "Social media has been a great game changer in letting us know that there are so many people out there just like us," he smiles.His approach? Be unapologetically himself, whether online or in person. "If I had Marjorie Taylor Greene walking past me, I'll still say some shit to her," he declares. But for all the viral moments and fiery clapbacks, the most meaningful interactions don't end up with thousands of likes. Instead, they're the quiet messages from parents. "When I've had parents reach out to me and say their children are a part of the LGBTQ+ community and that something I said helped them understand their kid betterthat means the world to me."Building Community and ConnectionCorey's Red Tour is just starting, but he's already thinking ahead. "I would love to add more dates and just keep going into these red states and just be gay as hell," he laughs. But a Blue Tour may also be on the horizon. "I feel like it's just going to be us talking about how amazing we are for the whole entire run, which I'm totally fine with."For now, Corey is focused on what he does best: making people laugh, making people think, and making sure no one ever feels as alone as he once did. "I just want to continue to spread a message of love, acceptance, and also that we aren't going anywhere."You can find Corey on tour at coreyobrienonline.com or follow him on social at @corey_obrien. And if you're in a red state feeling a little too blue, Corey's got just the show for you.

A couple kiss in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)2025-03-13T08:13:42Z ROME (AP) Pope Francis marked the 12th anniversary of his papacy Thursday with increasingly positive medical updates four weeks into his hospitalization for double pneumonia.The pope spent another tranquil night, the Vatican said in its brief morning statement. A chest X-ray confirmed improvements, the Vatican said on Wednesday, just two days after days after doctors declared hes no longer in imminent danger of death. The latest medical bulletin said that the 88-year-old popes condition remained stable, but indicated a complex picture considering his overall fragility.The Holy See hasnt said how the anniversary of his election as the 266th pope might be commemorated. It is a public holiday at the Vatican and Masses are planned in his honor at churches in Rome. No medical bulletins will be issued. Francis on Wednesday remotely followed a Lenten spiritual retreat that has been a mainstay of his papacy. He continues to receive high flows of oxygen through nasal tubes during the day and a non-invasive mechanical mask to aid his rest at night. The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected on the fifth ballot of the 2013 conclave, which was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned.While Francis has praised Benedicts humility in stepping down and said he might follow in his footsteps, more recently he has said the papacy is a job for life.Another milestone comes Friday, when Francis marks four weeks of hospitalization. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

On March 7th, 2025, the world was introduced to T4T (Time for Truth), a groundbreaking collaboration between Neverending Nina and 2AM Ricky. This powerful single, now available everywhere, is more than just a songits a movement, a moment of history, and an anthem for unity and visibility within the Black Trans community and beyond. If [...]The post T4T (Time for Truth): A Groundbreaking Anthem by Neverending Nina & 2AM Ricky first appeared on GLAAD.

Newark, New Jersey LGBTQ activists are organizing to heal their city from redlining the systematic denial of services, like mortgages, insurance, and other financial services, often based on race or ethnicity and environmental discrimination to build a healthy, clean, and affordable place where bodily autonomy is never in question. These local leaders understand [...]The post For Newark LGBTQ Leaders, Linking Environmental Justice and Queer Liberation Movements is the Key to Healthy Communities Heres Why first appeared on GLAAD.

People wait in line to visit the European Parliament during Europe Day celebrations in Brussels on May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)2025-03-13T11:18:24Z BRUSSELS (AP) Belgian federal prosecutors said Thursday they have arrested several individuals as part of a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament amid reports in local media that Chinese company Huawei bribed EU lawmakers.Some 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels as well as in Flanders, Wallonia and Portugal, the federal prosecutors office said.The suspects were arrested for questioning in connection with their alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries, prosecutors said. The offences were allegedly committed by a criminal organization.According to an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media, lobbyists working for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei are suspected of bribing current or former MEPs to promote the companys commercial policy in Europe. Huawei public relations representatives in London did not respond to an emailed request for comment and could not be reached by phone.A European Parliament spokesperson said only that the assembly takes note of the information. When requested, it always cooperates fully with the judicial authorities. The federal prosecutors office, which did not name Huawei, said that corruption is believed to have been practiced regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day, and taking various forms, such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches. Prosecutors believe that payments might have been disguised as business expenses and in some cases may have been directed to third parties. From this point of view, the investigation also aims to detect any evidence of money laundering, they said.Police seized several documents and objects during the searches. Staff at Huaweis offices in Brussels declined to speak to an AP reporter. They turned the lights off inside when he started taking pictures through the window.This is the second corruption case targeting the EU Parliament in less than three years. In December 2022, the legislature was left reeling after a corruption scandal in which Qatari officials accused of bribing EU officials to play down labor rights concerns ahead of the soccer World Cup.The scandal scarred the reputation of the EUs only institution comprised of officials elected directly in the 27 member countries. It undermined the assemblys claim to the moral high ground in its own investigations, such as into allegations of corruption in member country Hungary.The impact of the scandal is still being felt, with the parliament due to rule soon on whether to lift the immunity of two more lawmakers who were implicatedAccording to Follow The Money, an investigative journalism platform, one of the main suspects in the latest probe is 41-year-old Valerio Ottati, a Belgian-Italian lobbyist who joined Huawei in 2019. Before becoming Huaweis EU Public Affairs Director, Ottati was an assistant to two Italian MEPs who were both members of a European Parliament group dealing with China policy, Follow the Money reported.___Lorne Cook in Brussels and Kelvin Chan in London contributed. Petrequin reported from Paris. SAMUEL PETREQUIN Petrequin has been covering sports and general news for The Associated Press for more than two decades. twitter mailto

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte checks the scope of a Chinese-made CS/LR4A sniper rifle during the presentation of thousands of rifles and ammunition by China to the Philippines at Clark Airbase in northern Philippines on June 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)2025-03-13T12:01:52Z MANILA, Philippines (AP) Ex-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened a police general with lawsuits, refused to be fingerprinted and told law enforcers you have to kill me to bring me to The Hague in a tense confrontation after his arrest in Manila that was ordered by the International Criminal Court, a Philippine police general said Thursday.Police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre provided details for the first time of Tuesdays 12-hour standoff at a Philippine air base before he and other police officers managed to bring the 79-year-old former leader onto a government-chartered jet that took him to The Hague, Netherlands, where he was detained by the global court on charges of crimes against humanity. Dutertes reversal of fortuneDuterte was once feared for his brutal anti-crime crackdowns and reviled for his irreverence while in office he called Pope Francis a son of a bitch at one time and said that U.S. President Barack Obama could go to hell. Dutertes stunning reversal of fortune was celebrated by human rights groups as a historic triumph against state impunity everywhere.Duterte was arrested Tuesday after he arrived at Manilas Ninoy Aquino International Airport with his common-law wife, daughter and friends from Hong Kong. He was later taken under heavy police guard to a nearby presidential lounge at the Villamor Air Base to undergo booking for arrested criminal suspects, including fingerprinting, before being taken to a plane for the long flight to The Hague to be turned over to the ICC, Torre said.But Duterte, his family, lawyers and friends resisted and prevented the former leader from being brought to a Gulfstream G550 executive jet, according to Torre. A tense half-day impasseThe standoff lasted for about 12 hours, Torre said.It was very tense, Torre told The Associated Press. One of my officers sustained a head injury after being hit hard with a cellphone by Dutertes common-law wife and his daughter was cursing me with expletives, but I kept my cool.The ex-president, who used to be a government prosecutor and congressman, refused to undergo the police booking procedure after his arrest, Torre said.We wanted to have him fingerprinted, but he resisted, Torre said. In a separate interview, he said that he arrested and handcuffed the former presidents executive secretary for blocking Dutertes transfer to the plane.Torre confirmed to the AP the authenticity of a video that has gone viral on social media showing Duterte surrounded by his family, lawyers and friends and asking Torre, who led the arresting officers, Are you going to bring me straight to the airplane?You have to kill me to bring me to The Hague, Torre quoted Duterte as saying.Thats not our intention sir, Torre said as his men dragged away one of several men surrounding Duterte. Dutertes legal team challenges his arrestDutertes lawyers said that Philippine authorities didnt show any copy of the ICC warrant and violated his constitutional rights. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s administration allowed the global court to take custody of Duterte, although the Philippines was no longer a party to the ICC, the legal team said.Our own government has surrendered a Filipino citizen even a former president at that to foreign powers, Vice President Sara Duterte, the ex-presidents daughter, said Tuesday before her father was flown out of Manila.This is a blatant affront to our sovereignty and an insult to every Filipino who believes in our nations independence, she said. This is not justice this is oppression and persecution, she said.Marcos appeared on nationwide television around midnight shortly after Duterte was flown out and denied the allegations of the vice president, who has had a bitter falling out with him after their whirlwind political alliance as running mates in the 2022 elections crumbled. Duterte predicts his fateIn Hong Kong, Duterte told a gathering of flag-waving followers Sunday before he flew back to Manila that he was aware that an ICC warrant for his arrest has been issued and added he was ready to be locked up. If this is my fate in life, its OK, Ill accept it. I cant do anything if I get arrested and jailed, he said in an expletives-laced speech.Duterte carved a political name decades ago with his violent approach to criminality and his profanities, which became a trademark of his political persona especially when threatening to kill drugs dealers as part of his war on illegal drugs that left thousands dead in his long years in power.While president, Duterte got incensed when Obama criticized his bloody campaign against illegal drugs and told him in one speech to go to hell.In 2015, he shocked the dominant Roman Catholic Church when he fired off an expletive while expressing his disgust over a monstrous traffic jam that trapped him while Francis was visiting Manila.I wanted to call. Pope, you son of a bitch, go home. Dont visit here anymore, he told a mob of supporters, some of whom laughed.He later apologized after Filipino bishops expressed shock and outrage.___Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila contributed to this report. JIM GOMEZ Gomez is The AP Chief Correspondent in the Philippines. twitter mailto

Former Congressman Dr. David Weldon speaks in The Villages, Fla., on May 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Brendan Farrington, File)2025-03-13T13:38:16Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his new administration. WASHINGTON (AP) The White House has withdrawn the nomination of Dr. David Weldon, a former Florida congressman, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Senate health committee announced Thursday morning that it was canceling a planned hearing on Weldons nomination because of the withdrawal. A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the White House pulled the nomination because it became clear Weldon did not have the votes for confirmation.Weldon was considered to be closely aligned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. health secretary who for years has been one of the nations leading anti-vaccine activists.A former Florida congressman, Weldon also has been a prominent critic of vaccines and the CDC, which promotes vaccines and monitors their safety.Weldon becomes the third Trump administration nominee who didnt make it to a confirmation hearing. Previously, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general and Chad Chronister for the Drug Enforcement Administration. ___Stobbe reported from New York.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ZEKE MILLER Miller leads coverage of the president and the presidency for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A sign outside the New York Stock Exchange marks the intersection of Wall and Broad Streets, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)2025-03-13T04:45:39Z NEW YORK (AP) The U.S. stock market is drifting lower Thursday, even after getting a double-shot of encouraging news on the economy. President Donald Trump keeps upping the stakes in his trade war, with his most recent threat to tax European wines and spirits. The S&P 500 was 0.2% lower in early trading, coming off a dizzying stretch where it set a record and then briefly tumbled as much as 10% from the mark within just a few weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 39 points, or 0.1%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower. Stocks have been turbulent because of questions about how much pain Trump will let the economy endure through tariffs and other policies in order to reshape the country and world as he wants. Hes said he wants manufacturing jobs back in the United States, along with a smaller U.S. government workforce and other fundamental changes. U.S. households and businesses have already reported drops in confidence because of all the uncertainty about which tariffs will stick from Trumps barrage of on -again, off -again announcements. Thats raised fears that they could pull back on their spending and sap energy from the economy. Some U.S. businesses say theyve already begun seeing a change in behavior among their customers. A particularly feared scenario for the overall economy is one where its growth stagnates but inflation stays high because of tariffs. Few tools are available in Washington to fix such stagflation. But good news came on both economic fronts Thursday. One report showed inflation at the wholesale level last month was milder than economists expected. It followed a similarly encouraging report from the prior day on the inflation that U.S. consumers are feeling. A separate report, meanwhile, said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. Its the latest signal that the job market remains relatively solid overall. If it can continue, that can allow U.S. consumers to keep spending, and thats the main engine of the economy. On Wall Steet, Intel jumped 16.7% for one of the markets bigger gains after naming former board member and semiconductor industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as its CEO. Tan, 65, will take over the daunting job next week, more than three months after Intels previous CEO, Pat Gelsinger, abruptly retired amid a deepening downturn at the once-dominant chipmaker.In the bond market, Treasury yields edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.34% from 4.32%. In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia, but the moves were relatively modest. ___AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Women look at a phone while sitting on the pedestal of statue on International Women's Day in downtown Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)2025-03-13T13:52:57Z LONDON (AP) If youve got a smartphone, you probably spend too much time on it checking Instagram, watching silly TikTok videos, messaging on WhatsApp or doomscrolling on X. It can be hard to curb excessive use of smartphones and social media, which are addictive by design. Reducing your screen time is often more than just a matter of willpower, especially for younger people whose brains and impulse control are still developing. If youre a phone addict who wants to cut down on the hours a day spent looking at your device, here are some techniques you can try to free up more IRL time: Delete appsAn easy first step is getting rid of any apps youve been wasting time on. Over the past year, Ive deleted Facebook, Instagram and Twitter from my phone because I wanted to use them less. Now and then Ill have to go the app store and reinstall one because I need to do something like post a photo I took on my phone. (Sometimes Ill transfer the photo to my laptop and then post it to the web from there, but usually, its too much hassle.)The danger with this approach is that if you do reinstall the app, you wont bother deleting it again. Use built-in controlsBoth iPhones and Android devices have onboard controls to help regulate screen time. They can also be used by parents to regulate childrens phone usage. Apples Screen Time controls are found in the iPhones settings menu. Users can set overall Downtime, which shuts off all phone activity during a set period. If you want a phone-free evening, then you could set it to kick in from, say, 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. The controls also let users put a blanket restriction on certain categories of apps, such as social, games or entertainment or zero in on a specific app, by limiting the time that can be spent on it. Too distracted by Instagram? Then set it so that you can only use it for a daily total of 20 minutes. The downside is that the limits arent hard to get around. Its more of a nudge than a red line that you cant cross. If you try to open an app with a limit, youll get a screen menu offering one more minute, a reminder after 15 minutes, or to completely ignore it. Android users can use turn to their Digital Wellbeing settings, which include widgets to remind users how much screen time theyve had. Theres also the option to create separate work and personal profiles, so you can hide your social media apps and their notifications when youre at the office. Dont be distractedThere are other little tricks to make your phone less distracting. I use the Focus mode on my iPhone to silence notifications. For example, If Im in a meeting somewhere, I mute it until I leave that location. Android also has a Focus mode to pause distracting apps. Change your phone display to grayscale from color so that it doesnt look so exciting. On iPhones, adjust the color filter in your settings. For Android, turn on Bedtime Mode, or tweak the color correction setting. Android phones can also nag users not to look at their phones while walking, by activating the Heads Up feature in Digital Wellbeing. Block those appsIf the built-in controls arent enough, there are many third-party apps, like Jomo, Opal, Forest, Roots and LockMeOut that are designed to cut down screen time. Many of these apps have both free and premium versions with more features, and strongly push you toward signing up for a subscription by minimizing the option to skip for now on the payment screen. I tested out a few on my iPhone for this story.To try out Opal, I reinstalled Facebook so I could block it. Whenever I tapped the Facebook icon, Opal intervened to give me various inspirational messages, like Gain Wisdom, Lose Facebook, and tallied how many times I tried to open it. To get around the block, I had to open Opal and wait through a six-second timeout before requesting up to 15 minutes to look at Facebook. Theres an option to up the difficulty by increasing the delay before you can look again. Jomo, which I used to restrict my phones Reddit app, worked in a similar way: tap the Unlock button, which took me to the Jomo app, where I had to wait 20 seconds before I could tap the button to unlock Reddit for up to 10 minutes. The OneSec app takes a different approach by reminding users to first take a pause. The installation, which involves setting up an automation on the iPhones Shortcuts, can be confusing. When I eventually installed it for my Bluesky app, it gave me a prompt to run a shortcut that wiped my screen with a soothing purple-blue and reminded me to take a deep breath before letting me choose to open the app but in practice it was too easy to just skip the prompt. The Android-only LockMeOut can freeze you out of designated apps based on criteria like your location, how many times youve opened an app, or how long youve used it. The obvious way to defeat these apps is simply to delete them, although some advise users to follow the proper uninstall procedure or else apps could remain blocked. Use external hardwareDigital blockers might not be for everyone. Some startups, figuring that people might prefer a tangible barrier, offer hardware solutions that introduce physical friction between you and an app. Unpluq is a yellow tag that you have to hold up to your phone in order to access blocked apps. Brick and Blok are two different products that work along the same lines theyre squarish pieces of plastic that you have to tap or scan with your phone to unlock an app. The makers of these devices say that software solutions are too easy to bypass, but a physical object that you can put somewhere out of reach or leave behind if youre going somewhere is a more effective way to get rid of distractions. What about stashing the phone away entirely? There are various phone lockboxes and cases available, some of them designed so parents can lock up their teenagers phones when theyre supposed to be sleeping. Yondr, which makes portable phone locking pouches used at concerts or in schools, also sells a home phone box. See a therapist Perhaps there are deeper reasons for your smartphone compulsion. Maybe its a symptom of underlying problems like anxiety, stress, loneliness, depression or low self-esteem. If you think thats the case, it could be worth exploring therapy that is becoming more widely available. One London hospital treats technology addiction with a plan that includes dealing with discomfort in face-to-face time with other people, and exploring your relationship with technology.Another clinic boasts that its social media addiction treatment also includes working on a patients technology management skills, such as setting boundaries for device usage, finding alternative activities to fill the void of reduced online interaction, and learning how to engage more with the physical world. Downgrade your phone Why not trade your smartphone for a more basic one? Its an extreme option but theres a thriving subculture of cellphones with only basic features, catering to both retro enthusiasts and people, including parents, worried about screen time. They range from cheap old-school brick-and-flip phones by faded brands like Nokia to stylish but pricier devices from boutique manufacturers like Punkt.The tradeoff, of course, is that youll also have to do without essential apps like Google Maps or your bank. ___Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at [emailprotected] with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip. KELVIN CHAN Chan covers technology and innovation in Europe and beyond for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

A mallard duck rests on the edge of a path around the Tidal Basin as the sun rises in Washington, Sunday, March 5, 2023, with the Washington Monument in the background. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)2025-03-13T14:09:22Z WASHINGTON (AP) At least 112 North American bird species have lost more than half their populations in the past 50 years, according to a new report published Thursday.Among the birds showing the steepest declines are Allens hummingbirds, Florida scrub jays, golden-cheeked warblers, tricolored blackbirds and yellow-billed magpies.These are the very real consequences if we are unable to conserve and protect the crucial habitats that birds need, said study co-author Mike Brasher, a senior scientist at the nonprofit Ducks Unlimited.For several decades, waterfowl stood out as a conservation bright spot with duck populations growing nationwide even as many other groups of birds declined in the U.S. But that trend has reversed, the new data shows.The total number of dabbling and diving ducks is down about 30% from 2017, said Brasher. Loss of grasslands habitat and a prolonged drought affecting the wetlands of the Great Plains prairie pothole region have taken a toll. Among all waterfowl, numbers are down 20% since 2014, the report found. The latest report is a collaboration between several groups including Cornell University, Ducks Unlimited, American Bird Conservancy, National Audubon Society and the American Ornithological Society. The work draws on survey data from the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and citizen projects such as Cornells eBird. There are some 2,000 bird species in North America. A third of the species examined are rated as high or moderate concern for conservation due to declining numbers, habitat loss or other threats. These birds need urgent conservation attention, said Amanda Rodewald, a study co-author from Cornell, adding that bird survey trends also reveal the health of their habitats. The report focuses on birds that must breed and feed in specific habitats such as forests, grasslands and coastal regions. Grassland birds including the Bobolink are most at risk. For each species that were in danger of losing, its like pulling an individual thread out of the complex tapestry of life, said Georgetown University biologist Peter Marra, who was not involved in the new report.Marra pointed to key past conservation successes in the U.S. such as the comebacks of bald eagles, egrets and osprey. We know that we can bend the curve back with targeted conservation plans. But we cant just close our eyes and hope, he said. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. CHRISTINA LARSON Larson is a science writer on The Associated Press Global Health & Science team. She has reported on the environment from five continents. mailto

Last week, Aix Marseille University, Frances largest university, invited American scientists who believe their work is at risk of being censored by Donald Trump administrations anti-science policies to continue their research in France. Today, the university announced that it is already seeing great interest from scientists at NASA, Yale, Stanford, and other American schools and government agencies, and that it wants to expand the program to other schools and European countries to absorb all the researchers who want to leave the United States.We are witnessing a new brain drain, ric Berton, Aix Marseille Universitys president, said in a press release. We will do everything in our power to help as many scientists as possible continue their research. However, we cannot meet all demands on our own. The Ministry of Education and Research is fully supporting and assisting us in this effort, which is intended to expand at both national and European levels.Has your research been impacted by the Trump administration? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at emanuel.404. Otherwise, send me an email at emanuel@404media.co.The press release from the university claims that researchers from Stanford, Yale, NASA, the National Institute of Health, George Washington University, and about 15 other prestigious institutions," are now considering scientific exile. More than 40 American scientists have expressed interest in the program, it said. Their key research areas are health (LGBT+ medicine, epidemiology, infectious diseases, inequalities, immunology, etc.), environment and climate change (natural disaster management, greenhouse gases, social impact, artificial intelligence), humanities and social sciences (communication, psychology, history, cultural heritage), astrophysics.The current Executive Orders have led to a termination of one of my research grants. While it was not a lot of money, it was a high profile, large national study, one researcher who has reached out to Aix Marseille University in order to take advantage of the program told me. 404 Media granted the researcher anonymity because speaking about the program might jeopardize their current position at a leading American university. While I have not had to lay off staff as a result of that particular cancellation, I will have to lay off staff if additional projects are terminated. Everything I focus on is now a banned word.The program, called Safe Place for Science, initially will fund 15 researchers with 15 million Euros.Aix Marseille University says that it is already working closely with the regional government and Frances Chamber of Commerce and Industry to facilitate the arrival of these scientists and their families in the region, offering support with employment, housing, school access, transportation, and visas.We are doing what is necessary to provide them with the best living environment. We are ready to welcome them and will make them true children of the country! Renaud Muselier, President of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur, said in a statement in support of the program.The Trump administration and Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency in particular have already frozen federal grants and loans for the National Institutes of Health, the US National Science Foundation, fired NASAs chief scientist, and fired thousands of workers across the federal government, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, critical for weather forecasting for natural disasters. The language of many of his executive orders is also so broad that researchers at public universities and other research institutions worry theyll lose funding for their work if they even mention climate, gender, race, or equity, terms that the Trump administration has been trying to wipe off any federal site and program.It is surreal that people are so scared and silent, because scientists and administrators are worried about losing ALL of their funding or MOST of their funding if they appeal or speak out against terminated grants, the researcher at the leading American university told me. I have been shocked that many in academic leadership seem to not see how similar these actions are to other totalitarian regimeswhich have taught us that we have to push back hard on EVERYTHING that is unethical and inhumane, not just the thing that affects us personally the most.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives to speak with reporters as Republicans work to pass an interim spending bill that would avoid a partial government shutdown and keep federal agencies funded through September, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)2025-03-13T15:21:50Z WASHINGTON (AP) A day before a shutdown deadline, Senate Democrats are mounting a last-ditch protest over a Republican-led government funding bill that already passed the House but failed to slap any limits on President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musks efforts to gut federal operations.Senate Democrats are under intense pressure to do whatever they can to stop the Trump administrations Department of Government Efficiency, which is taking a wrecking ball to long-established government agencies by purging thousands of federal workers from jobs.Democrats are pushing a stopgap 30-day funding bill as an alternative. But its prospects are dim in the Congress controlled by Republicans. And its unlikely the Democrats would allow a government shutdown, worried about the further chaos they say Trump and Musk could cause.As the Senate opened Thursday, with one day to go before Fridays midnight deadline, the Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said: Its time to fish or cut bait. Debates over funding the federal government routinely erupt in deadline moments but this year its showing the political leverage of Republicans, newly in majority control of the White House and Congress, and the shortcomings of Democrats who are finding themselves unable to stop the Trump administrations march across federal operations. In a rare turn of events, House Republicans stuck together to pass their bill, many conservatives cheering the DOGE cuts, leaving Democrats sidelined as they stood opposed. They House then left town, sending it to the Senate for final action. Options for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer are limited, especially as the party is wary of fully withholding their votes and being blamed for a full shutdown of services. Schumer announced that Democrats were unified in pressing for a 30-day stopgap measure as an alternative to the House passed bill, which would instead fund operations through the end of the budget year in September. With his party united, Schumer said the Republicans, who hold a 53-47 majority, lack the support needed to reach the 60-vote threshold, which is required to overcome a filibuster.But Senate Republicans have shown little interest in Schumers offer.What is more likely is that senators will have a chance to vote on the Democrats stopgap measure, but if it fails as expected, the Senate would then turn to the broader bill for passage, hours before Fridays midnight deadline.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sought to shift attention from Trumps tariff tit-for-tat tariff war to a looming federal government shutdown.I can tell you whats not good for the economy is this government shutdown, Bessent said outside the White House. I dont know what Democrats are thinking here. Theyre going to own it.But Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has called Trump and Musk two billionaires to dont know the first thing about what American families need.In an highly unusual turn, the House package also required the District of Columbia, which already approved its own balanced budget, to revert back to 2024 levels, drawing outcry from the mayor and city leaders who are pushing the Congress to revert course. They warn of steep reductions to city services.Both choices that we are being offered are full of despair, said Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.__Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.

Damon LaSalle (19) blocks against University of Mount Saint Vincent's Olatomiwa Ibitayo (4) during a men's NCAA Division III college volleyball game, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at New Jersey City University in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-03-13T15:25:00Z Damon LaSalle keeps the athletic trainers busy at New Jersey City University.As he gets out of bed, his hamstrings, knees and back give him daily reminders that playing college volleyball can take a toll on the body. He has standing appointments with a chiropractor and acupuncturist in addition to the frequent visits to the training room.I have like a professional team taping me and sewing me together, he said, laughing.Those aches and pains are magnified for LaSalle.He is, after all, 40 years old.LaSalle plays middle blocker for the Knights, and most of his teammates werent born 20 years ago when he was one of the biggest stars in Division III. His first go in college ended because he was ruled academically ineligible before what would have been his senior season. With his wifes encouragement, the stay-at-home dad went back to school so he could honor his late mothers wish that he earn a degree and to set an example for his three children. He also wanted to put a proper bow on his volleyball career. The academic part has been no problem. LaSalle is a fire science major who is on the deans list with a 3.8 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, and he is on track to graduate this spring.The volleyball part has been an adventure. He has been limited to 10 of the Knights first 18 matches because of his assortment of injuries. Not all were volleyball-related. He missed two matches with a classic dad injury he tweaked his hamstring shoveling snow and the pain migrated to his back. 40 going on 20LaSalle doesnt jump as high or move as quickly as he once did. The way he describes it, he once could dunk a basketball and now can grab the rim with both hands. The guy can still play a little volleyball, though.Knights coach Carlo Edra, who played with LaSalle at NJCU from 2004-06, said hes shown two opposing coaches a photo array of the team and asked them to identify the 40-year-old. Both pointed to someone other than LaSalle.LaSalle can keep up with his younger teammates, but hes not the intimidating middle he once was. In 2006, he was national player of the week once and division player of the year in the old North East Collegiate Volleyball Association, which was Division IIIs top league. He is NJCUs career leader in block assists, and in wrapping his fourth season he is on the cusp of becoming the programs all-time leader in total blocks.His resume was right on hall of fame level at this college, said Ira Thor, the schools former sports information director.A sudden endingLaSalles first stint at NJCU ended suddenly. He was in preseason training during the fall of 2006 when an assistant athletic director pulled him out of practice and told him he was ineligible. His grade-point average was 1.4, the equivalent of a D-plus.I was more of an athlete-student instead of a student-athlete, he said. That happens to a lot of kids, and I let it get too far. I got to a point where when the athlete part wasnt available to me, it wasnt as interesting to be a student.So he quit school and, needing a job, asked Edra for help. Edra had graduated the year before and worked at a kitchen cabinet company. Edra recommended LaSalle, and he spent six or seven years there and became warehouse manager. LaSalle ended up marrying the woman who interviewed him for the job, and when Christina and he began a family, he was able to stay home. The LaSalles live about a 35-minute drive from NJCUs Jersey City campus and have daughters ages 4 and 6 and a son whos 8.When he asked Christina if she would be OK with him going to school and playing volleyball again, she told him it would make her proud if he did.That gave me goosebumps, he said. It made me feel like I could really do this. His biggest regretLaSalle said his biggest regret was dropping out of school, and his desire to go back grew stronger several years ago when he came across his wifes diploma from Rutgers.I looked at it and I was, I want one of these, he said. Carlo and I had a conversation, What if my kids ask me why I dont have one, what would my answer be to them about why I didnt finish?LaSalle, Edra and their former teammates have remained close over the years, and during their get-togethers or in their group texts somebody occasionally would suggest LaSalle finish what he started academically and athletically. In Division III, an athlete gets 10 semesters as a full-time student to play four seasons. There is no running eligibility clock as in Division I, so an athlete could leave school and return in, say, 20 years and pick up where he left off.In LaSalles case, he had played three seasons over seven semesters. To get his grades up and preserve his one remaining season of eligibility, LaSalle could only enroll as a part-time student and take a couple classes per semester. The slog to eligibility ended last summer. He became a full-time student in the fall and joined the team. Coming off the scrap heapThe only volleyball LaSalle had played since 2006 was with Edra in a summer sand volleyball league at a bar. Im not coming off the club court or anything, LaSalle said. I was coming off the scrap heap, as they say, off the couch.Actually, LaSalle had stayed fit over the years and that picked up once he decided to pursue college volleyball again. LaSalle knew he would have to earn his playing time and that Edra wouldnt give him special treatment because of their two-decade friendship.So if one of your kids is throwing a temper tantrum and youre late to practice, Ive got to make you run, dude, Edra said he told LaSalle.Sure enough, LaSalle stopped for coffee on his way to practice one day, had trouble finding a parking spot on campus and showed up late. He had to run laps, do 100 squat lifts, 30 pushups, a three-minute wall sit (a grueling quadriceps exercise) and a three-minute plank.Theres been plenty of days when I get home from these practices and Ill tell my wife, Should I be doing this? Am I going to be OK tomorrow? LaSalle said. Every day I wake up and here I am.Embraced by teammatesHis teammates have embraced him, first calling him Unc, as in uncle. The nickname morphed to Big 40 and stuck. Alex Casais, the team captain, said he treated LaSalle like any other teammate when practice started.I was not giving him the props, he said. I couldnt. I had to make sure to he was earning it on the court. He hit one ball and I knew it was over. I knew we were good.LaSalle said his approach was to blend in with his new teammates. That meant being quiet and doing what everybody else was doing. He said he never expected his teammates to know what he had accomplished 20 years ago, calling it immaterial. He came in with a sense of dignity, Casais said. He stepped on the court, and his head was down and he was going to work. I felt like a lot of the younger guys looked up to him, and thats where Big 40 came from. He was someone working as hard as everyone else, if not harder.Savoring every momentLaSalle said the game has become faster, players jump higher, systems are more sophisticated and the disparity between the top and bottom teams is smaller.But if anyone thought LaSalle would embarrass himself, he proved them wrong.It was kind of a surprise to everybody that once we all got in the gym in the fall season that he started to compete for the starting spot, Edra said. The fact hes keeping up with guys that are 21 years old and 20, 18 its kind of crazy.For LaSalle, its crazy fun. He said he savors every moment because he realizes he got an almost unimaginable second chance. Recalling 2006, he said, I played my last game, and I didnt know it was my last game.And now?Every practice we finish, its one less practice that I have before its over, he said. So I dont take that for granted. I dont take any day for granted at all.___AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports ERIC OLSON Olson is an Associated Press sports writer based in Omaha, Nebraska. He covers Nebraska, Creighton, the Big Ten and national college sports issues. twitter mailto

Something very strange is happening inside Super Nintendo (SNES) consoles as they age: a component youve probably never heard of is running ever so slightly faster as we get further and further away from the time the consoles first hit the market in the early 90s.The discovery started a mild panic in the speedrunning community in late February since one theoretical consequence of a faster-running console is that it could impact how fast games are running and therefore how long they take to complete. This could potentially wreak havoc on decades of speedrunning leaderboards and make tracking the fastest times in the speedrunning scene much more difficult, but that outcome now seems very unlikely. However, the obscure discovery does highlight the fact that old consoles performance is not frozen at the time of their release date, and that they are made of sensitive components that can age and degrade, or even upgrade, over time.The idea that SNESs are running faster in a way that could impact speedrunning started with a Bluesky post from Alan Cecil, known online as dwangoAC and the administrator of TASbot (short for tool-assisted speedrun robot), a robot thats programmed to play games faster and better than a human ever could. If youre a fan of the Games Done Quick events you might have seen Cecil and TASbot speedrun games there before, and if you want to get caught up on how and why Cecil does this you should read this Art Technica profile from 2016.SNES consoles seem to be getting faster as they age, Cecil said on Bluesky on February 26, and shared a link to an online form and instructions where people could share how fast their own SNESs were running in order to collect more data and test if the theory is correct. Cecil told me that while he wants to collect more data before before coming to any final conclusions, for now two things appear to be true: First, both from investigating existing information on SNESs that has been posted online over the years and from data people shared via the form, SNESs do appear to be running faster as they age. Second, the changes are very small, and after Cecil spoke to other people in the speedrunning and SNES emulation communities, it doesnt appear that these changes are significant enough to impact speedrunning.So whats going on here? The SNES has an audio processing unit (APU) called the SPC700, a coprocessor made by Sony for Nintendo. Documentation given to game developers at the time the SNES was released says that the SPC700 should have a digital signal processing (DSP) rate of 32,000hz, which is set by a ceramic resonator that runs 24.576Mhz on that coprocessor. Were getting pretty technical here as you can see, but basically the composition of this ceramic component and how it resonates when connected to an electronic circuit generates the frequency for the audio processing unit, or how much data it processes in a second.Its well documented that these types of ceramic resonators are sensitive and can run at higher frequencies when subject to heat and other external conditions. For example, the chart below, taken from an application manual for Murata ceramic resonators, shows changes in the resonators oscillation under different physical conditions.As Cecil told me, as early as 2007 people making SNES emulators noticed that, despite documentation by Nintendo that the SPC700 should run at 32,000Hz, some SNESs ran faster. Emulators generally now emulate at the slightly higher frequency of 32,040Hz in order to emulate games more faithfully. Digging through forum posts in the SNES homebrew and emulation communities, Cecil started to put a pattern together: the SPC700 ran faster whenever it was measured further away from the SNESs release.Data Cecil collected since his Bluesky post, which now includes more than 140 responses, also shows that the SPC700 is running faster. There is still a lot of variation, in theory depending on how much an SNES was used, but overall the trend is clear: SNESs are running faster as they age, and the fastest SPC700 ran at 32,182Hz. More research shared by another user in the TASbot Discord has even more detailed technical analysis which appears to support those findings.A chart showing the distribution of how fast the SPC700 is running from data collected by Cecil. Provided by Cecil to 404 Media.The data also showed that SPC700s speed changes depending on temperature. To test this Cecil even put his SNES in the freezer overnight, then tested it, showing a difference.In theory, if the SPC700 is running faster, it would deliver audio data to the CPU faster, and this could impact how a game runs. Lets say youre playing Super Metroid and you hit one of those many room-to-room transitions where you shoot to open a door, go through the door, and then the entire screen fades to black and pans over to the next room. Part of what is happening there is that the SNES is loading the data for that next room, including audio data. If the SPC700 is running faster, that data would load every so slightly faster, meaning overall the game would take less time to complete because youre spending less time on those transitions.After talking to speedrunners, however, Cecil believes even SNESs running on the faster end of the scale would not gain enough frames over the length of an entire speedrun to add up to even one whole second.We don't yet know how much of an impact it will have on a long speedrun, he told me. We only know it has at least some impact on how quickly data can be transferred between the CPU and the APU.While its unlikely these very small differences will matter to human speedrunners, they could matter a lot to TASbots tool-assisted speedruns, where inputs need to be precise down to the frame, or "deterministic," as Cecil explained. More importantly, Cecil is continuing to collect more data on SNESs as theyre aging and changing, which could teach us how to continue to use and emulate them in the future.

President Donald Trump listens as Ireland's Prime Minister Michel Martin speaks during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-03-13T12:39:19Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his new administration. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey.The European import tax, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration, is expected to go into effect on April 1, just ahead of separate reciprocal tariffs that Trump plans to place on the EU.But Trump, in a morning social media post, vowed a new escalation in his trade war if the EU goes forward with the planned 50% tax on American whiskey.If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES, Trump wrote. This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday that the EU trade commissioner would be having a phone call Friday with his U.S. counterpart.We dont like tariffs because we think tariffs are taxes and they are bad for business and they are bad for consumers, she said. We have always said at the same time that we will defend our interests. Weve said it, and weve shown it, but at the same time I also want to emphasize that we are open for negotiations. The U.S. president has defined his opening weeks in the White House with near daily drama regarding tariffs, saying that taxing imports might cause some economic pain but would eventually lead to more domestic manufacturing and greater respect for America. But with the EU and Trump now tussling over alcohol tariffs, the impact of a trade war could surface for consumers. Its unclear how the import taxes would be absorbed among vintners, distillers, brewers, distributors, retailers and consumers. Because of Trumps threat, a previously untariffed $15 bottle of Italian Prosecco could possibly increase in price to $45. Similarly, Europes response to Trumps steel and aluminum tariffs means that the cost of a 30-euro bottle of bourbon in Paris could increase to 45 euros. Holly Seidewand, owner of First Fill Spirits, a shop in Saratoga Springs, New York, said before Trump threatened the tariffs on European alcohol, the spirits industry was already reeling from layoff announcements in the Kentucky Bourbon sector and the tariffs planned by the EU on American spirits.This ongoing tariff war doesnt just harm importers it weakens domestic brands, disrupts distributors, and squeezes retailers who rely on global selections, she said. In the end, consumers will bear the brunt of it all.Gabriel Picard, who heads the French Federation of Exporters of Wines and Spirits, said 200% tariffs would be a hammer blow for the sector. He said the U.S. market is worth 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) annually for French exporters of wines and spirits.Not a single bottle will continue to be expedited if 200% tariffs are applied to our products. All exports to the United States will come to a total, total, halt, Picard said in an interview with The Associated Press. With 200% duties, there is no more market. As of now, Europe seems unwilling to back down.Trump is escalating the trade war he has chosen, Laurent Saint-Martin, the French delegate minister for foreign trade, said on X. France, together with the European Commission and our partners, is determined to fight back. We will not give in to threats and will always protect our industries.Trumps latest tariff threats suggested that even companies that have publicly stood by him could be collateral damage, raising questions about whether the wider business community would be willing to openly challenge a series of trade wars that have hurt the stock market and scared consumers who worry about inflation worsening.Bernard Arnault, the CEO of French luxury goods company LVMH, attended Trumps inauguration in January. His companys wine and spirits brands, which include Mot & Chandon, Krug, Veuve Clicquot and Hennessy, could be subject to the retaliatory tariffs the U.S. president is seeking. The Italian company Campari could also be hurt, after the White House highlighted it at Tuesdays press briefing for possibly opening a U.S. factory. The Republican president on Wednesday had signaled that he intended to take the tariffs action.Of course I will respond, Trump told reporters during an Oval Office exchange with reporters.Trump, in announcing the new steel and aluminum tariffs on Wednesday, openly challenged U.S. allies and vowed to take back wealth stolen by other countries, and he drew quick retaliation.He has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging reciprocal rates starting on April 2. The EU announced its own countermeasures. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that as the United States was applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros, or about $28 billion. Those measures cover not just steel and aluminum products but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods.European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said Thursday shortly before Trumps announcement that the EU was prepared for whatever might come, and we have been preparing for over a year.We call on the U.S. to immediately revoke the tariffs imposed yesterday, and we want to negotiate to avoid tariffs in the future, Gill added. They bring nothing but lose-lose outcomes, and we want to focus on win-win outcomes.U.S. whiskey makers, meanwhile, encouraged Trump to broker a deal.We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which will create U.S. jobs and increase manufacturing and exports for the American hospitality sector, Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council, said in a statement.When Europe responded to Trumps 2018 tariffs with a 25% tax on U.S. whiskey, exports to the EU fell by 20% through 2021, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Trumps separate 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico could put 31,000 jobs at risk in the sector.___AP writers Lorne Cook in Brussels, Samuel Petrequin and John Leicester in Paris, Mae Anderson, Dee-Ann Durbin and Mike Warren contributed reporting. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto

The sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building is seen. May 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)2025-03-13T16:11:37Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Internal Revenue Services acting chief counsel, William Paul, has been removed from his role at the agency and replaced by Andrew De Mello, an attorney in the chief counsels office who is deemed supportive of Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency, according to two people familiar with the plans who were not authorized to speak publicly.The people said Paul was demoted from his position because he clashed with the DOGEs alleged push to share tax information with multiple agencies. The news also comes as the IRS plans to institute massive cuts to its workforce. The IRS is drafting plans to cut its workforce by as much as half through a mix of layoffs, attrition and incentivized buyouts as part of the President Donald Trumps efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce. The administration is closing agencies, laying off nearly all probationary employees who have not yet gained civil service protection and offering buyouts to almost all federal employees through a deferred resignation program to quickly reduce the government workforce. Already, roughly 7,000 probationary IRS employees with roughly one year or less of service were laid off from the organization in February. Paul was named acting chief counsel to the IRS in January, replacing Marjorie A. Rollinson, and has served in various roles at the IRS since the late 1980s. Paul is not the first government official to be demoted after voicing concern about access to sensitive systems and taxpayer data.Government officials across the Treasury Department, the Social Security Administration and other agencies have seen a wave of retirements, resignations and demotions for voicing concern about DOGE access to sensitive systems and taxpayer data. After 30 years of service, Michelle King, the SSAs acting commissioner, stepped down from her role in February after refusing to provide DOGE access Social Security recipient information, according to two people familiar with the officials departure who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The series of IRS officials who have put the law above their personal job security join a line of public servants, stretching back to Treasury and IRS leaders during the Nixon era, who have resisted unlawful attempts by elected officials to weaponize taxpayer data and systems, Chye-Ching Huang, executive director of the Tax Law Center at New York University School of Law, said in a statement. FATIMA HUSSEIN Hussein reports on the U.S. Treasury Department for The Associated Press. She covers tax policy, sanctions and any issue that relates to money. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

While dramas about male same-sex romance (known as boys love, or BL) have been popular in Asia since 2010, girls love (GL) dramas are only now seeing a meteoric rise in popularity and they are coming out of Thailand.On January 23 2025, Thailand became the first country in south-east Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. Although the country is often imagined as a gay paradise, Thai society remains largely conservative and homophobia is still commonplace. Against this social backdrop, the rise of LGBTQ+ storytelling is intriguing perhaps revealing the emergence of more tolerant and progressive attitudes.In Thailand, these BL and GL dramas are known as series Y, an industry estimated to be worth 3 billion baht (approximately 72 million) in 2024. Thailands GL dramas now reshaping sapphic storytelling and bringing it to the mainstream.Besides the central romance plotline, GL stories often explore pertinent issues such as family expectations and societal pressure, coming-out struggles, and age and class differences. Adding depth to the narrative, these issues chime with young queer audiences seeking more realistic, relatable experiences.A hub for BL series since the mid-2010s, Thailand only produced its first full-length GL series in 2022. Despite investor doubts, the producer of a then-small production house financed a pioneering series called Gap, telling the story of an office romance between a royal-descendant CEO and a junior member of staff.Airing on domestic TV and later uncut on YouTube with multilingual subtitles, Gap amassed over 850 million views by January 2025, proving a global appetite for queer women-oriented stories. By February 2025, more than 20 GL series had aired, with at least 30 more in production. Trailer of Gap (2022), Thailands first full-length GL series.Series like Blank, 23.5, The Secret of Us, Affair, and The Loyal Pin illustrate the genres growing popularity, with uncut versions available on platforms like YouTube and Netflix, complete with subtitles in various languages such as English, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish.Thailands GL dramas have adopted successful practices from their BL counterparts: adapting novels, scouting and training actors, incorporating product placement, hosting fan events and appearing on variety shows. One notable practice is the making of khu-jin (imagined couple), where celebrities perform same-sex intimate moments on stage or social media to serve fans fantasies.Shipping culture the practice of imagining or supporting a romantic relationship between fictional or real individuals is pivotal to GLs success. The two Gap leads, Freen Sarocha and Becky Armstrong have created the FreenBecky ship, and each have more than four million Instagram followers. Actresses of other ships such as LingOrm, EngLot, and FayeYoko, command similarly devoted followings. Their fan meetings across Asia regularly draw tens of thousands, blending fiction and reality to create an immersive fan ecosystem.Celebrating Girls LoveAs we discussed in our recent research, Thai GL series also emphasises joy and resilience, unlike the tragic endings often seen in western LGBTQ+ narratives. US-produced content has been criticised for the bury your gays trope, where LGBTQ+ characters are frequently killed off in tragic or unnecessary ways.Another objection is dead lesbian syndrome, where lesbian and bisexual characters are even more likely to be killed on screen. Notorious examples include Killing Eve and The 100.In contrast, Thai GL stories celebrate love and acceptance, despite the challenges experienced by protagonists. Series like Gap, The Secret of Us, and Mate feature grand wedding finales with the blessing of parents and friends, portraying queer love overcoming obstacles and thriving.GL series also speak directly to the queer womens community. Many actresses, such as Engfa Waraha in Show Me Love and Petrichor, and Faye Malisorn in Blank, are openly queer or vocal queer allies.Although many GL series have male directors, love scenes are respectful, focusing on sensuality and desire rather than being graphic and exploitative. This contrasts with films such as Blue is the Warmest Colour, in which love scenes were criticised as being exploitative, and where actresses have reported problematic practices during filming.Opportunities and challengesFrom their inception, Thai GL dramas have aired locally but have quickly been made available on streaming platforms with multilingual subtitles for a global audience. Social media platforms amplify their reach, with production houses curating trends and fostering interactive fan experiences.Recognising the potential for cultural export, the Thai government has partnered with BL and GL production companies to promote Thai culture and products. It is unusual for governments to embrace queer culture as a vehicle for soft power, which highlights the growing cultural and economic significance of these series. Though this development has sparked concerns over the intentions behind such support, it signals a future where queer narratives hold global, cultural and political relevance.Despite its success, GL entertainment faces challenges. Many series are still adaptations of novels, limiting thematic diversity. While themes like schoolyard dramas and sweet romances such as Love Senior, Unlock Your Love, and Us prevail, some series are pushing boundaries with themes like disability (Pluto), supernatural power (Reverse 4 You), and crime (Petrichor).GL romances provide a vital space for queer womens stories, connecting audiences across borders through global visibility and fan culture. Most remarkably, this shift isnt coming from Hollywood.As the genre evolves, it holds the potential to continue redefining representation and amplifying underrepresented voices. Its not just reshaping how queer womens stories are told and viewed globally, its proving to be commercially viable and culturally transformative.In the face of rising global reactionary politics and growing hatred against the LGBTQ+ community following Trumps re-election, Thai GL series offers not only a safe escape and fantasy, but also a sense of solidarity through their worldwide fandom.Eva Cheuk-Yin Li, Lecturer in Sociology (Media & Cultural Studies Team), Lancaster University and Ka-Wei Pang, Lecturer in Cultural Studies, Chinese University of Hong KongThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.The post How Thailands TV lesbian romances captured a globalaudience appeared first on News Is Out.

Still not over that spicy Traitors reunion? We dont blame you, Bob the Drag Queen facing off with Dorinda Medley and Chanel Ayan in the reunion was exactly the kind of drama that show promised to deliver. But where do Bob and Dorinda stand now? From the sounds of things, not much has changed.During a red carpet interview at the Queerties (which was hosted by Bob) Gayety asked if Bob had plans to watch Medleys upcoming spin-off rumored to focus around her Berkshires home Blue Stone Manor. When asked if she would give it a chance and give it a watch and try to get to know her a little bit better, Bob did not mince words. The truth is I don't really watch reality TV shows that don't have competition in them, so if it's like Real Housewives I usually watch the shows where they're competing for a prize. So I probably won't watch it, to be honest, said Bob. There's no point in lying, she continued. I probably won't. I've never watched Housewives. Do you want me to start with a spin-off? Best of luck to Dorinda, best of luck. As for if the two have spoken since the reunion, Bob confirmed they have not, nor that she was aching or dying to talk to her. However she did say, should Medley call her she would answer the phone. Is it too soon to begin petitioning that these two join the cast of season four, for a rematch? We would love to see it. Watch the red carpet moment below. See on Instagram

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives before Ireland's Prime Minister Michel Martin and President Donald Trump speak during an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-03-13T17:30:23Z WASHINGTON (AP) There sat Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nations top health official, at a Steak n Shake with Fox News host Sean Hannity, raving about the fries.Steak n Shake has been great, were very grateful for them, Kennedy said, in between nibbles of fries that the Midwestern franchise recently announced would be cooked in beef tallow instead of common cooking oils that Kennedy says are bad for Americans diet.Its the kind of endorsement that doctors have implored him to make about the childhood vaccines used to prevent deadly diseases, like measles as outbreaks worsened in Texas and New Mexico during his first month in office.The secretary of Health and Human Services has, instead, raised doubts about vaccines, most recently saying in his interview with Hannity that the shots cause deaths every year, although he later added that vaccinations should be encouraged.In his first month in office, Kennedy, who vowed to Make America Healthy Again, has delivered an inconsistent message that has the nations top infectious diseases specialists worried that his tepid recommendations of vaccines will undermine access to long-proven remedies. Public health agencies cancel vaccine meetings, research under Kennedys watchDuring his first address to thousands of workers at the federal public health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Food and Drug Administration, Kennedy promised to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule. Days later, the CDC cancelled a public meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Panel, a group of doctors and scientists who make recommendations on vaccines. That meeting has not been rescheduled. In another case, a cancelled public meeting of vaccine advisers who make recommendations on the flu vaccine every year for the FDA also has not been given a new date. This week, the National Institutes for Health, also under Kennedys purview, began cancelling funding for some research on vaccines. The CDC also is preparing to research autism and vaccines, planning to leave no stone unturned in its mission to figure out what exactly is happening, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement. Agency officials did not comment further for this article.Numerous studies have concluded that there is no link between the two, a fact the agency states on its website. What he is trying to do is scare about the safety of vaccines, Dr. Paul Offit, an FDA vaccine adviser and infectious disease doctor at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, said of Kennedys first month in office. It shouldnt surprise anybody. His agenda has always been to get vaccines off the market, or to make them less available. Offit worries that the cancellation of the FDAs flu vaccine meeting, held every March for at least 30 years, is just the beginning. The committees June meeting to recommend the COVID-19 vaccines formulation has also not been scheduled, he said.Democrats and Republicans pushed back when Dr. Marty Makary, the FDA nominee, wouldnt commit to rescheduling the committees flu meeting .What is lost is the transparency, said Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who chairs the Senate health committee who is also a physician. Kennedy rejects anti-vaccine label but still echoes the movementDuring his senate confirmation hearings earlier this year, Kennedy repeatedly rejected any notion that he would undermine vaccines. I support vaccines. I support the childhood schedule, he said. He promised Cassidy, who was unsettled about Kennedys anti-vaccine advocacy work, that he would not change existing vaccine recommendations. But Kennedys skeptical views of vaccines have emerged during interviews and public statements since his confirmation. Hes sent mixed messages on vaccine safety, even though the U.S. has the most elaborate vaccine adverse event surveillance system in the world, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. Serious problems, including death, are very rare and the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks, he said.A simple way to describe this to the average person is the serious adverse events generally occur at a rate of 1 to a few cases per million doses of vaccine, he said. Thats a needle in a haystack. In an opinion piece on FoxNews.com earlier this month, Kennedy said the measles outbreak in West Texas that left a six-year old child dead was a call to action but stopped short of recommending that people receive the vaccine that prevents 97% of cases. Despite the U.S. registering its first measles death in a decade, Kennedy has repeatedly downplayed this years outbreaks, noting that when he was a child everybody got measles. This years cases reported at 250 are on track to far outpace last years reports of 286 measles infections. Pediatricians are fielding more questions from confused parents in their exam rooms, said Dr. Susan Kressly. Worried about reports of cancelled vaccine meetings, theyre wondering about their access to next years flu vaccines. Others are asking if they should get doses of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine earlier. Kressly said theres a clear message the government can send to help stop the rising case count. The only way to stop an outbreak is increased coordinated positive messaging around vaccinating, Kressly said. The CDC has assisted with vaccination efforts in West Texas. But Kennedy himself has publicly advocated for an alternative treatment for measles: Vitamin A. Under his watch, the CDCs guidance was updated to say that Vitamin A should be given to children with severe measles and prescribed in doses under a doctors supervision.Vitamin A supplementation has been recommended for decades to reduce pneumonia and death in malnourished children in developing countries, but the benefits in well-nourished children in countries like the U.S. are less clear.We need to use Vitamin A for those kids who are unlucky enough to get measles, said Dr. Andy Pavia, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the University of Utah. But it cant prevent measles and it can only provide some help in reducing the severity.When administered correctly, using Vitamin A in kids with severe measles will do no harm, Pavia said. But if improperly done, high doses of Vitamin A can be toxic and deadly.Kennedys supporters celebrate success on the food front during first monthAbrupt staffing changes have also dominated Kennedys first weeks in office, with CDC pick Dave Weldon withdrawing from the nomination mere minutes before his hearing, Kennedys top HHS spokesman quitting two weeks into the job and the Food and Drug Administrations newly minted chief counsel departing 48 hours into the position. Trump and Kennedys supporters, however, have dismissed concerns about the rocky start. His newfound platform as health secretary and talk of healthier foods is already affecting change in the American diet, advisers close to Kennedy and Trump have claimed on social media. They credit Kennedy with prompting Republican legislators to introduce bills in Utah and Texas that would ban soda in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, for example. And then theres Steak n Shakes new fries. RFK Jr. just ate Steak n Shake on live TV, the fast food joint thats bravely frying everything in beef tallow, conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk said this week in a tweet. This is the way. On Wednesday, after a meeting with a handful of executives from the nations largest food manufactures, Kennedy released a slickly-produced video that promised more change would be on the way, saying companies were taking his MAHA movement seriously. They understand they have a new sheriff in town, Kennedy said. He did not share any details about what was discussed at the meeting. Associated Press writers Matthew Perrone and Mike Stobbe contributed. AMANDA SEITZ Seitz is an Associated Press reporter covering federal health care policy. She is based in Washington, D.C. twitter mailto JONEL ALECCIA Aleccia covers food and nutrition at The Associated Press. She is based in Southern California. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Ireland's Prime Minister Michel Martin in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-03-13T16:47:26Z Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his new administration. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies.U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Thursday found the firings didnt follow federal law and required immediate offers of reinstatement be sent.The agencies include the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, the Interior and the Treasury.The order from the San Francisco-based judge came in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions and organizations as the Republican administration moves to dramatically downsize the federal workforce. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Albert Whitehead spends time with Star, his pet reindeer, in Whitehead's backyard in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)2025-03-13T16:43:26Z ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) An iconic reindeer so beloved that he has been in parades, featured on reality TV shows and visited by schoolchildren on field trips in Alaskas largest city is fighting for his life after mysteriously falling ill after someone tampered with his pen.Ever since, 8-year-old Star has had pneumonia, digestion issues and rapid weight loss. Stars owner, Albert Whitehead, has taken him to a veterinarian every other day to receive care and in hopes of finding a cause for the issues.I think weve done everything possible for him, Whitehead said. Veterinarian Sabrieta Holland said she the reindeers prognosis is guarded.Star lives in a fenced-in pen attached to Whiteheads house at the edge of downtown Anchorage. Its been over 20 years since someone last tried to tamper with the enclosure where reindeer named Star have been kept for the last seven decades. Star is the seventh in a line of reindeer to carry that name. In early January, someone cut a huge hole in the fencing to gain entrance, spending about five minutes inside with Star before taking off. What the person did in the pen is unknown, but Star began having stomach issues and dropping weight shortly after. Then, on Feb. 20, Anchorage police found the friendly and trusting reindeer wandering around downtown and returned him home.When Whitehead reviewed his security cameras, he found someone had used bolt cutters to remove padlocks off Stars pen and an alley gate. Star followed the man out into the neighborhood, and the reindeer wound up alone downtown, familiar streets because thats where Whitehead walks him. The next night, the situation turned more serious.Whitehead was watching the video feed when a man wearing a scarf over his face sprayed something from two different cans into Stars pen and twice hit the reindeer in the face with an unknown substance. Whitehead rushed outside to confront the man.I yelled at him to stop, What the hell are you doing? What are you spraying on the animal? Dont do that, quit that! Whitehead said. The man replied: Im trying to help Star.I have no idea what he meant by that, said Whitehead, who suspects based on the smells that the sprays could have been a disinfectant and deodorizer.Whitehead and police believe it was the same man from the prior night. Its not known if the January tampering involved the same person. I dont think the individual wanted to harm Star, but by his actions, he did, Whitehead said. Anchorage police posted the surveillance video on social media in hopes it would lead to the suspects identity. So far, no viable tips have come in, spokesperson Christopher Barraza said in an email.Stars pneumonia worsened, and a cough leads Whitehead to believe Star ate something harmful, perhaps while loose.The pneumonia is likely due to him accidentally inhaling the chronic reflux or regurgitation of the contents in the largest of the reindeers four stomachs, Holland said. The sprays possibly also contributed.Its possible theres a blockage, but the largest stomach of a reindeer is quite big and not easily obstructed, Holland said. However, ingested plastic bags causing chronic weight loss and indigestion problems are the most common foreign objects shes seen in reindeer. The next option would be surgery to look at the reindeers abdomen and possibly remove any blockage, but its generally a poor outcome, even in healthy deer, she said.The bond between Whitehead and Star is quite significant and precious, Holland said. Alberts daily life and reason for getting out for walks and such all are because of Star. And Star is really fond of Albert, too, Holland said in a text. It will be quite devastating for him if he loses Star.Anchorage pioneers Oro and Ivan Stewart started the reindeer tradition, bringing the deer they received from an Alaska Native herder to Anchorage in the 1950s. Whitehead took over as caretaker from his friends in 2002.The average lifespan of a reindeer is about 15 years, but some Stars had long lives, like the first who lived to 23. Others didnt live as long, including the second Star, who was stolen, beaten to death and then butchered by a known Fairbanks meat thief. The third Star died after eating a plastic bag. MARK THIESSEN Thiessen is an Associated Press all-formats reporter based in Anchorage, Alaska. He covers Alaska Native issues and other general assignments. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The roof of the Tropicana Field is damaged the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the region, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson, File)2025-03-13T16:35:48Z ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) The Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday withdrew from a $1.3 billion ballpark project, citing hurricanes and delays that likely will drive up the proposals cost.The team issued a statement by principal owner Stuart Sternberg saying that a series of events in October, which included severe damage to the existing Tropicana Field and financing delays, led to what he called this difficult decision.After careful deliberation, we have concluded we cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment, Sternberg said.Displaced from the Trop in St. Petersburg, the Rays are set to play this seasons home games across Tampa Bay at the New York Yankees spring training home, 11,000-seat Steinbrenner Field. Meanwhile, repairs are envisioned to the Trop, including replacing its roof shredded by Hurricane Milton, that would have it ready for the 2026 season. Under their current contract with the city of St. Petersburg, the Rays would play three more seasons at their existing ballpark after it is repaired. Beyond that, the teams future in the Tampa Bay area is uncertain. MLB and the Rays could evaluate attendance and fan interest during the teams season in Tampa at Steinbrenner Field as they consider alternate sites. The City of St. Petersburg is currently advancing plans to restore Tropicana Field for the 2026 season, Sternberg said. We are thankful for their efforts and are excited to return to our home field next spring. The proposed 30,000-seat stadium is a signature piece of a broader $6.5 billion revitalization project known as the Historic Gas Plant District, which refers to a predominantly Black neighborhood that was forced out by construction of the Trop and an interstate highway spur.Supporters say the development would transform an 86-acre (34-hectare) tract in the citys downtown, with plans for a Black history museum, affordable housing, entertainment venues, plus office and retail space and the promise of thousands of jobs.That broader project, counting on the Rays ballpark to be an anchor, is also in limbo with this decision.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Mahmoud Khalil, the green card holding legal permanent resident arrested by ICE on Saturday, and a group of other students are suing Columbia University, the universitys trustees, and a number of other officials, according to newly filed court records.The move is the latest episode in one of the most high profile immigration cases in the country, which could set a precedent for under what grounds the U.S. can deport legal residents who have not been charged with a crime. Authorities have previously said that Khalil was arrested because he led activities aligned to Hamas, without providing evidence for how Khalil was aligned with the terrorist organization, and he has not been charged with a crime.Specifically, the group is suing to stop Columbia University and Barnard College from producing all student or student-worker disciplinary records to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce. The committee had demanded records relating to eleven incidents. This information likely involves the records of hundreds of students, and to enjoin the University from producing the requested documents or any other student records prior to a finding by this Court, the court records read.The Committees Letter is clearly intended to chill the protected speech of Universitys students through two primary means: (1) by exposing the students to negative publicity and investigation, pervasive and persistent harassment, doxing, and threats to their safety and lives, and (2) by compelling the University to discipline and punish students, including the four Plaintiffs, as well as to turn over those students (as well as faculty and staffs) private disciplinary records, it adds.The committees February letter includes sections such as Columbia Let Students Arrested in Hamilton Hall Off the Hook After Promising to Expel Them, and Numerous Antisemitic Incidents Have Taken Place at Columbia Since the Fall 2024 Semester Began. It then demands all the disciplinary records for the incidents, including the April 2024 takeover of Hamilton Hall and the obstruction of Columbias entrance and harassment of Jewish students in September 2024.The court record argues that Ultimately, the Committees Letter demands that the University violate its own contractual obligations to its students, as well as its obligations to protect student privacy under FERPA, and, in effect coerces the University to ignore the law by making oblique threats to the billions in federal funding the Universities receive.Columbia University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has now featured three prominent anti-trans voices in the launch of his podcast, and not a single trans person. It bears repeating, and repeating: include transgender voices in stories and conversations about transgender people. Context is needed too, especially when oppositional voices are prioritized and have large platforms. GLAAD research shows [...]The post Trans Voices and Context Belong in the Conversation: Podcasts, Coverage of Podcasts, and Everywhere first appeared on GLAAD.

2025-03-13T19:35:22Z More than 100 million people in the U.S. will be in the path of an intense March storm starting Friday as the sprawling multi-day system threatens fires, blizzards, tornadoes, and flooding as it tracks eastward across the Great Plains. Scientists said the storms strength and potential for far-reaching impacts is notable, but its timing isnt particularly unusual. Extreme weather can pop up in spring because storms feed on big temperature differences between the warmth thats starting to show up and the lingering chill of winter. If theres a time of the year where a storm like this can deliver these coast-to-coast impacts, we are in it, said Benjamin Reppert, meteorologist at Penn State University. The National Weather Service forecast strong winds stretching Friday from the Canadian border to the Rio Grande, with gusts up to 80 mph (130 kph), which creates a significant fire risk in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, a winter blast was expected farther north in parts of the Rockies and Northern Plains, with possible blizzard conditions in the Dakotas and Minnesota. The central region from the Gulf Coast to Wisconsin is at risk of severe thunderstorms that could spawn tornadoes and hail. On Saturday, severe storms are forecast to move toward Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and then into Florida. Potential flooding was a concern from the Central Gulf Coast through the upper Ohio Valley. The turbulent weather is expected to arrive on the East Coast Sunday with strong winds and a flash flooding risk in localized areas. Heavy rain was forecast along the Interstate 95 corridor south to Jacksonville, Florida. Reppert noted that temperatures in the upper atmosphere in much of the central and eastern U.S. are close to record levels for this time of year, while a cool air mass behind the storm in the western states is one of the coolest on record for that region and this time of year. He said that combination could be behind part of this storms expected strength. Russ Schumacher, a climatologist at Colorado State University, said the storm could become a bomb cyclone Friday afternoon or evening a designation given when a storm intensifies so rapidly that atmospheric pressure drops a certain amount in a 24-hour period. That would mean higher winds and more intense rainfall.In addition to fuel from big temperature swings, the storm will be shaped by the jet stream. In a fairly typical position for this time of year, its diving south across the U.S. and will help lift air and moisture into the atmosphere to fall back as rain.The storm also will tap into heat and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, also referred to as the Gulf of America as declared by President Donald Trump, which is 2 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 to 2.2 degrees Celsius) warmer than historic averages.You kind of have this Goldilocks situation, said Ryan Torn, professor of atmospheric and environmental sciences at the University at Albany, referring to the mix of ingredients in the atmosphere that will add to the storms strength.___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, right, appears in U.S. District Court in Boston, Friday, April 14, 2023. (Margaret Small via AP)2025-03-13T16:03:02Z BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) Jack Teixeira, the former Massachusetts Air National Guard member who caused an international uproar when he leaked highly classified documents about the war in Ukraine, pleaded guilty to military charges of obstructing justice at his court-martial Thursday. The plea agreement calls for dishonorable discharge and no confinement. The judge approved the plea agreement, but its not clear whether she will accept the plea agreement. His sentencing was expected to occur later Thursday afternoon.Teixeira was already sentenced last year to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act, following his arrest in the most consequential national security breach in years.Military prosecutors said before the court-martial at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts that charges of disobeying orders and obstructing justice were appropriate given that obeying orders is the absolute core of the military. Teixeiras lawyer, Lt. Col. Bradley Poronsky, argued Monday that the obstructing justice charge should either be dismissed or go unpunished, saying it amounts to double jeopardy because it already factored into Teixeiras November sentencing. A plea agreement was accepted by both sides that drops the disobeying orders charge. Teixeira pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge. The leaks exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russias war in Ukraine, including information about troop movements in Ukraine, and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops. The leaked documents also revealed assessments of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and internal arguments in Britain, Egypt, Israel, South Korea and Japan. Teixeira also admitted posting information about a U.S. adversarys plans to harm U.S. forces serving overseas.Teixeira worked as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks. His lawyers described Teixeira as an autistic, isolated individual who spent most of his time online, especially with his Discord community, and never meant to harm the United States. MICHAEL CASEY Casey writes about the environment, housing and inequality for The Associated Press. He lives in Boston. twitter mailto

The third season of the Prime Video fantasy series The Wheel of Timepremieres on March 13 and things are about to change for fan favorite Maksim, played by actor Taylor Napier. The Rafe Judkins series, based on the books by Robert Jordan, follows the growing divisiveness in the Westlands. Season three is based primarily on [...]The post The Wheel of Time Star Taylor Napier Talks Whats in Store for Maksim in Season 3 and Need For More Bisexual Stories first appeared on GLAAD.

Foxs Extracted is the latest in reality survival shows and features 12 untrained competitors attempting to survive extremely grueling and wildly dangerous conditions (including predators!) in the Canadian wilderness. All the while, their family members are locked down at a secluded headquarters watching them via a 24/7 live feed. At any point in the game, [...]The post Extracted Contestant Rose Hyak Talks Competing on Survival Show and How LGBTQ Representation is Necessary in Reality TV first appeared on GLAAD.

Trying to figure out if the cute woman at the farmers market is a lesbian? Checking her belt loop is one way to find out!Much like Doc Martins and thumb rings, carabiners the metal D-shaped ring that was popularized by mountain climbers and frequently used as a key ring arent just a useful tool but a way to communicate your sexuality to other queer women. Some lesbian stereotypes are actually true! We're looking at you, Subaru. Carabiners are nearly ubiquitous in the lesbian community, but how did the tool become Sapphic coded?How did carabiners become a lesbian staple?The handy clip became a sartorial symbol of lesbian culture when women were thrust into the workforce during WWII. While many women ended up in secretarial jobs, butch women were attracted to blue-collar jobs and adopted the masculine aesthetics the work demanded. Without strict dress codes, women who worked as custodians, postal workers, and mechanics could stretch the boundaries of accepted gender presentations. They also needed easily accessible keys, Slate reported.Is Alison Bechdel responsible for making carabiners popular?The connection between lesbians and the belt-loop accessory continued through the 1960s and 70s and was cemented into the collective lesbian imagination in 2006 when Alison Bechdel author of Dykes to Watch Out For and creator of the Bechdel test published a memoir that detailed her experience as a young kid of seeing a masculine delivery woman with a short haircut, butch energy, and a key ring on her belt loop who sparked an awakening.The graphic novel memoir Fun Home was even turned into a musical featuring the popular song Ring of Keys about Bechdel identifying with the butch woman wearing a carabiner on her belt loop. Your swagger and your bearing/ And the just right clothes you're wearing/ Your short hair and your dungarees/ And your lace up boots/ And your keys, oh/ Your ring of keys, the actress playing a young Bechdel sings in the musical adaptation.What do carabiners signal to other lesbians?At the intersection of fashion and function is the trusty carabiner, which has been doing double duty as a lesbian flagging device ever since. Gay men have the hanky code, and lesbians have carabiners. And much like the hanky code, which hip you wear your carabiner on can indicate your sexual preference. Right hip if youre a bottom, left hip if youre a top, according to the documentary The History of the Carabiner.What do lesbians think about the accessory?Pride asked lesbian Redditors on the r/actuallesbians subreddit to explain "why lesbians are obsessed with carabiners," and the responses were both informative and hilarious!"Dates back to the butchfemme culture years ago. Butches were often always working class, and carabiners are just a useful tool to use for holding keys and similar things. The practice just carried on to the modern day, and were and still are used by some for flagging. Even before I was out I used them LOL. I saw my dad who is working class use them, and I thought it was super useful so I've always had my house and car keys hooked to my belt loop on a carabiner." straw_bees"They were a way to subtly signal you were a lesbian back in the day, especially by butches. plus they're cool and easily customizable, on top of being useful, so they stuck around." tunatunabox"90% of the time I don't use a purse. A carabiner makes it 1000% easier to wear keys during work and being out and about. I don't even care about the 'lesbian' stereotype over them. I just love how useful it is for me. Did I absolutely go out of my way to find one that was teal to match my car? Yes. Do I get happy thoughts knowing that others might immediately clock me with the short hair, more masc style and wearing it? Absolutely." nonbinari-star"it's like hanky code for sapphic people, stemming from butches often working manual labour jobs, in which it's obviously practical to have a carabiner." sapphoschicken"GenX butch dyke here... how else am I supposed to attach my yeti bottle to my back pack!? Or carry my ridiculously large amount of keys?" KissMyAlien"Carabineers reduce the friction compared to rope on rope so it's much easier to lift when suspending your girlfriend." JROppenheimer_From a blue-collar work accessory to inspiring a Broadway song to a popular way to tell the WLW world that you're a lesbian, the carabiner is here to stay!

We all could use a taste of Antoni Porowski.The Emmy-winning host of Queer Eye is living his best life as Out Magazine's latest digital cover star.Not only does Porowski spill the tea on his brand new National Geographic show No Taste Like Home, but the sizzling photos also include some of the model's favorite hobbies that showcase who he really is at his core."I would describe my personal style as comfort first. I always try to incorporate like at least one or two vintage pieces. Anything that's like nostalgic of like '90s campaigns. An old vintage T shirt is like my security blanket, I would say," Porowski tells Out. See on Instagram Porowski also dished on his past relationships and why he's such an old-school romantic at heart."Im a relationship guy through and through. I love meeting the family, the friends, getting to know each other, learning the conflict points, and how to meld, and not to, and all the nuances of it. Im a f***ing hopeless romantic. The best relationships that Ive had have really been, and this might sound trite, but they really happened when I wasnt looking for them. And so Im trying to do just that."Fans can check out BTS from the Out Magazine photoshoot in the video above and enjoy the gorgeous spread here.

Pete Buttigieg, former U.S. transportation secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, has made the strategic decision not to pursue Michigans open U.S. Senate seat in 2026, a move that may hint at his ambitions for a larger political future, including a possible run for the White House in 2028. Buttigieg, the first openly gay person confirmed to a cabinet position by the U.S. SenateSource

Singer-songwriter Mike Maimone released On My Way, the lead single from his upcoming album Guess What? I Love You, on March 7. The feel-good track holds deep personal meaning for Maimone, as it was originally written as a voicemail to his late husband, celebrated public relations expert Howard Bragman, during their long-distance relationship. Maimones latest album Guess What? I Love You.Source

Gus Kenworthy, the former Olympic athlete and outspoken LGBTQ+ advocate, has been enjoying a relationship with Andrew Rigby, and the couples sweet moments have captured the hearts of fans. Though they keep much of their personal lives private, Gus has shared glimpses of their relationship through social media posts, particularly during special occasions. In a now removed from InstagramSource

2025-03-13T21:25:31Z NEW YORK (AP) Columbia University says it has expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during pro-Palestinian protests last spring, and had temporarily revoked the diplomas of some students who have since graduated.In a campus-wide email sent Thursday, the university said its judicial board had issued its sanctions against dozens of students who occupied Hamilton Hall based on its evaluation of the severity of behaviors.The university did not provide a breakdown of how many students were expelled, suspended or had their degree revoked.The culmination of the monthslong investigative process comes as the universitys activist community is reeling from the arrest of a well-known campus activist, Mahmoud Khalil, by federal immigration authorities this past Saturday the first of many such arrests, according to President Donald Trump. At the same time, the Trump administration has stripped the university of more than $400 million in federal funds over what it describes as the colleges inaction against widespread campus antisemitism.The takeover of Hamilton Hall came on April 30, 2024, an escalation led by a smaller group of students of the tent encampment that had sprung up on Columbias campus against the war in Gaza. Students and their allies barricaded themselves inside the hall with furniture and padlocks in a major escalation of campus protests. At the request of university leaders, hundreds of officers with the New York Police Department stormed onto campus the following night. Officers carrying zip ties and riot shields poured in to the occupied building through a window and arrested dozens of people.At a court hearing in June, the Manhattan district attorneys office said it would not pursue criminal charges for 31 of the 46 people initially arrested on trespassing charges inside the administration building but all of the students still faced disciplinary hearings and possible expulsion from the university. The district attorneys office said at the time that they were dismissing charges against most of those arrested inside the building due in part to a lack of evidence tying them to specific acts of property damage and the fact that none of the students had criminal histories.More than a dozen of those arrested were offered deals that would have eventually led to the dismissal of their charges, but they refused them, protest organizers said, in a show of solidarity with those facing the most extreme repression. Most in that group were alumni, but two were current students, prosecutors said. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

The U.S. Supreme Court is seen near sunset in Washington, Oct. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)2025-03-13T19:01:52Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow restrictions on birthright citizenship to partly take effect while legal fights play out.In emergency applications filed at the high court on Thursday, the administration asked the justices to narrow court orders entered by district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington that blocked the order President Donald Trump signed shortly after beginning his second term.The order currently is blocked nationwide. Three federal appeals courts have rejected the administrations pleas, including one in Massachusetts on Tuesday. The order would deny citizenship to those born after Feb. 19 whose parents are in the country illegally. It also forbids U.S. agencies from issuing any document or accepting any state document recognizing citizenship for such children. Roughly two dozen states, as well as several individuals and groups, have sued over the executive order, which they say violates the Constitutions 14th Amendment promise of citizenship to anyone born inside the United States. The Justice Department argues that individual judges lack the power to give nationwide effect to their rulings. The administration instead wants the justices to allow the Trumps plan to go into effect for everyone except the handful of people and group that sued, arguing that the states lack the legal right, or standing, to challenge the executive order. As a fallback, the administration asked at a minimum to be allowed to make public announcements about how they plan to carry out the policy if it eventually is allowed to take effect.Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris contends in her filing that Trumps order is constitutional because the 14th amendments citizenship clause, properly read, does not extend citizenship universally to everyone born in the United States. But the emergency appeal is not directly focused on the validity of the order. Instead, it raises an issue that has previously drawn criticism from some members of the court, the broad reach of orders issued by individual federal judges.In all, five conservative justices, a majority of the court, have raised concerns in the past about nationwide, or universal, injunctions.But the court has never ruled on the matter.The administration made a similar argument in Trumps first term, including in the Supreme Court fight over his ban on travel to the U.S. from several Muslim majority countries.The court eventually upheld Trumps policy, but did not take up the issue of nationwide injunctions.The problem has only gotten worse, Harris told the court on Thursday. Courts issued 15 orders blocking administration actions nationwide in February alone, compared to 14 such orders in the first three years of President Joe Bidens term, she wrote.The heightened pace of activity also reflects how quickly Trump has moved, less than two months in office, to fire thousands of federal workers, upend tens of billions of dollars in foreign and domestic aid, roll back the rights of transgender people and restrict birthright citizenship. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court, legal affairs and criminal justice for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Past stops include Salt Lake City, New Mexico and Indiana. twitter mailto