From East to West to southern trap, 50 years of hip-hop
Five decades after a Bronx block party ushered in hip-hop's 'Big Bang' moment, the culture-shifting genre is celebrating...
2023-08-12 01:27
Baltimore Archdiocese files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy ahead of anticipated lawsuits over child sexual abuse
The Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a move a lawyer representing dozens of child sexual abuse survivors says is an attempt "to evade accountability."
2023-10-01 21:19
Kim Kardashian slammed for modeling Balenciaga summer collection year after brand's huge child ad debacle
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China upgrades diplomatic ties with close US ally Colombia
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2023-10-25 18:53
Legendary Mozambican ruby sells for record price
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2023-06-09 20:26
Who is Tom Cruise’s first wife? Mimi Rogers introduced star to Scientology
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2023-06-09 23:55
Asylum-seekers flown to California say they were 'deceived' by people promising them jobs and housing
Asylum-seekers transported from Texas to California's capital city of Sacramento two weeks ago say they were misled by people who convinced them to travel with promises of work and shelter.
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Booker Prize: What are the secrets to Ireland's success?
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Bowen: US sets clearer red lines for Israel as ceasefire ends
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2023-12-02 09:23
Alex Murdaugh accuses ‘fame seeking’ court clerk of jury tampering at his murder trial
Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh has accused a South Carolina court clerk of tampering with the jury at his high-profile double murder trial – because she was driven by fame and a desire to secure a book deal. The disgraced legal scion and double murderer filed a motion on Tuesday requesting a new trial on the basis that Walterboro Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill allegedly pressured jurors on the case. In the motion, Murdaugh’s attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin claim that Ms Hill “tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaugh’s testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense”. Specifically, they claim that the clerk instructed jurors not to be “misled” by evidence presented by the defence and told jurors not to be “fooled by” his testimony. The motion also claims that Ms Hill had frequent private conversations with the jury foreperson – with the pair often disappearing to private rooms for five to 10 minutes at a time. “During the trial, Ms Hill asked jurors for their opinions about Mr. Murdaugh’s guilt or innocence,” the motion reads. “Ms Hill invented a story about a Facebook post to remove a juror she believed might not vote guilty. “Ms Hill pressured the jurors to reach a quick verdict, telling them from the outset of their deliberations that it ‘shouldn’t take them long.’” Murdaugh’s attorneys claim that she “betrayed her oath of office for money and fame” and, off the back of her work on the case, secured a deal for a book titled “Behind the Doors of Justice”. “She did these things to secure for herself a book deal and media appearances that would not happen in the event of a mistrial,” the motion claims. Just hours after they returned a guilty verdict, his attorneys allege Ms Hill flew with jurors to New York as some of the panellists waived their anonymity to appear on NBC’s Today show. In conclusion, they claim that the court clerk’s actions violated “Murdaugh’s constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury”. Further details are expected to be shared by Murdaugh’s attorneys at a press conference on the grounds of the South Carolina State House in Columbia at 2.30pm local time on Tuesday afternoon. The duo – who are longtime friends of the killer and represented him at his high-profile murder trial – had announced on Monday that new evidence had come to light since his March conviction over the brutal 7 June 2021 slayings. Murdaugh is currently behind bars at the McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina where he is serving two life sentences for his wife and son’s murders. Last week, it emerged that Murdaugh had lost some of his prison privileges after he fed information to a Fox Nation documentary without permission. South Carolina Corrections Department officials said on Wednesday that, during a jailhouse phone call on 10 June, Mr Griffin had recorded him reading aloud entries from the journal he had kept during his double murder trial. Mr Griffin had then handed over the recordings to producers working on the new Fox Nation documentary about his high-profile case titled “The Fall of the House of Murdaugh”. Prison policy prohibits inmates from talking to the media without permission because the agency “believes that victims of crime should not have to see or hear the person who victimized them or their family member on the news,” state prisons spokesperson Chrysti Shain said in a statement. The media interview violation, along with another violation for using a different inmate’s password to make a telephone call, are prison discipline issues and not a crime, Ms Shain said. As a result, the disgraced legal scion has had his phone privileges revoked and his prison tablet computer confiscated. Murdaugh also lost his ability to buy items in the prison canteen for a month. He will now have to get permission from prison officials to get another tablet, which can be used to make monitored phone calls, watch approved entertainment, read books or take video classes, the prison spokesperson said. Mr Griffin was also issued a warning from prison officials that if he knowingly or unknowingly helps Murdaugh violate rules again, he could lose his ability to talk to his client. Phone calls between lawyers and prisoners are not recorded or reviewed because their conversations are considered confidential. But prison officials said they began investigating Murdaugh after a warden reviewing other phone calls heard Murdaugh’s voice on a call made in a different inmate’s account. Murdaugh claimed that his phone password had not been working. He also told the prison investigators about the recorded journal entries, according to prison records. Murdaugh’s use of a jailhouse tablet previously hit headlines when selfie images he took on the device were obtained in a Freedom of Information request by FITS News. In many of the images, the convicted family killer appeared topless. South Carolina prison officials later clarified that the photos are automatically taken as an inmate uses their tablet that is individually assigned to them – as part of inmate monitoring. Now, Murdaugh has lost the use of his tablet indefinitely due to his unauthorised communication with the documentarymakers – which marks his first media interview of sorts since his conviction. His eldest – and now only surviving – son Buster Murdaugh also broke his silence speaking out in his first TV interview as part of the three-part series. In the interview, Buster insisted that he still believes his father is innocent of the murders of his mother and brother – but admitted that he may be a psychopath. Maggie and Paul were found shot dead on the family’s 1,700-acre Moselle estate back on 7 June 2021. Alex Murdaugh had called 911 claiming to have found their bodies. During his high-profile murder trial, jurors heard how Paul was shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun while he stood in the feed room of the dog kennels on the affluent family’s 1,700-acre Moselle estate. The second shot to his head blew his brain almost entirely out of his skull. After killing Paul, prosecutors said Murdaugh then grabbed a .300 Blackout semiautomatic rifle and opened fire on Maggie as she tried to flee from her husband. During the dramatic six-week trial, Murdaugh confessed to lying about his alibi on the night of the murders but continued to claim his innocence of the killings. The jury didn’t agree and the disgraced legal scion was convicted in March of the brutal murders. Beyond the murder charges, Murdaugh, 55, is also facing a slew of financial fraud charges for stealing millions of dollars from his law firm clients and his dead housekeeper’s family. He is expected to plead guilty on 21 September to federal charges – marking the first time he has pleaded guilty to a crime in court. Murdaugh is also facing around 100 financial charges in state court as well as charges over a botched hitman plot where he claims he paid an accomplice to shoot him dead. Murdaugh’s high-profile conviction also shone a spotlight on some other mystery deaths tied to the South Carolina legal dynasty. Following Maggie and Paul’s murders, investigations were reopened into the 2018 death of the Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper Gloria Satterfield and the 2015 homicide of gay teenager Stephen Smith. Meanwhile, at the time of his murder, Paul was also awaiting trial for the 2019 boat crash death of Mallory Beach. Read More Alex Murdaugh’s attorneys to unveil ‘mystery evidence’ as he demands new murder trial – live updates Buster Murdaugh breaks silence on Stephen Smith killing – and calls father Alex a ‘psychopath’ Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh loses prison privileges over recorded phone call for documentary
2023-09-05 23:49
‘Get back in the kitchen’: Lioness Fara Williams on the aggressive sexist and homophobic abuse she gets online
Former England footballer Fara Williams has spoken out about the sexist and homophobic abuse she has suffered online, saying she’s been told to “get back in the kitchen”. In an exclusive interview with The Independent, the ex-midfielder turned football pundit said trolls question her knowledge of the sport, telling her she knows “nothing about the game”. The 39-year-old, who is England’s most capped player, said the online abuse is “definitely sexist” and gets worse and is “more aggressive” when she is reporting on men’s football rather than the women’s game. “When I’m doing punditry in a women’s game, the percentages in terms of the abuse you get is really, really minimal compared to when as a female, I talk on the men’s game as a pundit,” Williams said. “The abuse heightens and it’s more aggressive, more direct. Definitely more abusive.” The football commentator said she thought “jealousy” was “probably one of the main things” which drives people to perpetrate online abuse. She said many people think trolls are people who you are “really close to”, adding: “You get trolled by people that you think are your friends and they are the ones that know the most about you.” The former Lioness said she is able to cope with the online hate because she has a “thick skin”, but her ability to handle abuse could potentially change if the harassment were to ramp up. The “daily” abuse suffered by footballers she used to play with who are now prominent in the media is “not acceptable”, she stated. Ms Williams added: “I’ve seen a change in them as people because of social media – close friends that have really been affected by some of the awful abuse that they get online.” She said: “If you are bombarded with abuse daily, at some point it will affect your mental health, whether you think you are strong headed or not.” Ms Williams said: “As I said, I’m quite strong headed now, but there is nothing to say that if I was to be absolutely bombarded with abuse on a daily basis, that couldn’t change how I start to think and see myself.” Her friends are targeted with “horrific abuse” for simply “having an opinion in a workplace that they are supposed to have an opinion in”, she added. Discussing homophobic online abuse, she said: “I’m sure they’re aware that there are a lot of gay people within the women’s game, and it’s easy for them to drop a comment in.” Ms Williams, a member of Hope United, a team of footballers committed to tackling online sexist hate, reflected on whether the abuse she endures would worsen if her punditry for men’s football ramps up. "They could talk about the way I talk, the way I look, the way I sound,” she added. “Who I think I am.” Ms Williams said she hoped abuse on social media would improve when the online safety bill is rolled out as a change in the law would make people “accountable” for their comments. The legislation, which aims to tackle hate speech, cyberbullying, and disinformation, is in its final stages in parliament and would see social media companies also held accountable for abuse published on their sites. The ex-footballer attended a roundtable meeting at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday to demonstrate her backing for proposed changes to the online safety bill, which would boost the online protection of women and girls. “For me, social media has become a fantasy world where you can do whatever you want and get away with it without any consequences,” Ms Williams said. Turning her attention to the World Cup kiss saga, she said it was “disappointing” that it “took so long” to be dealt with. Her comments come after the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales has come under sustained criticism for kissing player Jenni Hermoso on the lips after Spain secured their 1-0 win over England last month. Rubiales, who was also condemned for grabbing his crotch after Spain won the women’s world title for the first time in history, refused to step down over his behaviour but was suspended by Fifa. He eventually resigned as president on Sunday, after weeks of pressure, after Hermoso filed a legal complaint. Jorge Vilda, head coach of Spain’s women’s team, was fired last week after he was among those who praised Rubiales’ refusal to step down. “It’s the only thing that’s been spoken about when Spain were phenomenal in the World Cup and these women should be celebrated,” she added. “For me, it’s a celebration of their success and I think that’s been forgotten and the girls probably haven’t been able to celebrate.” Discussing Rubiales, she said: “I think the right thing has been done now. He stepped away from it. He still hasn’t apologised.” Read More Fara Williams: England’s most-capped footballer announces retirement England winning Euro 2022 ‘a real proud moment’ for ex-midfielder Fara Williams Jill Scott says World Cup kiss saga ‘overshadowed’ Spanish women’s team playing ‘great football’ Lioness Demi Stokes says misogynistic abuse online ‘really affected’ England players’ game ‘History in the making’: Lionesses’ Euros success sparks booming interest in women’s football Women’s sport is bigger and better than ever in 2023 – rundown of the best in the calendar
2023-09-13 22:58
Three officials have left a pro-DeSantis super PAC in the group's latest shake-up, AP sources say
Three senior members of a super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have left the group
2023-12-03 12:19
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