Actors union arbiter oozes confidence despite strike enters 100th…
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland assures the SAG-AFTRA strike will soon reach to its conclusion
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland assures the SAG-AFTRA strike will soon reach to its conclusion
Dead man was reportedly victim of road accident that dismembered him beyond recongition
News outlets will not be allowed to broadcast former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on Tuesday in a New York state court, a judge said Monday night, but he will allow some photographers to take pictures in the courtroom before the proceedings formally begin.
Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan rejected the request by several media organizations, including CNN, for permission to broadcast the historic proceedings. Trump’s arraignment — like most arraignments in the Manhattan courthouse — is a public proceeding, but news cameras are not usually allowed to broadcast from inside the courtroom.
However, the judge is allowing five pool photographers to take still photos at the beginning of the proceedings “until such time as they are directed to vacate the jury box by court personnel.”
Earlier on Monday, Trump’s lawyers urged the judge to reject the media’s request for live cameras in the courtroom. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office told the judge they didn’t have a position.
The media outlets that tried to get cameras into the courtroom argued that “the gravity of this proceeding … and, consequently, the need for the broadest possible public access, cannot be overstated.”
Trump is now in Manhattan ahead of the arraignment. A grand jury indicted the former president last week.
The arraignment is also expected to bring the unsealing of the criminal charges against Trump, which have not yet been seen by his lawyers or the public.
The indictment stems from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into hush-money payments, made during the 2016 presidential campaign, to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies.
Trump denies all wrongdoing and his lawyers said last week that they’ll fight to get the charges dropped.
More than a third of people who have accessed TSB’s “flee fund” to help domestic abuse survivors have at least one child, according to figures from the bank.
TSB said that 136 people have accessed its fund in 10 months since launch, with 48 of them, or roughly 35%, having one or more children.
The fund offers existing TSB customers up to £500 to escape an abusive situation, with £356 being provided on average so far. The fund assists people with the cost of essentials such as travel, clothing and toiletries.
TSB introduced the scheme in December 2022, with TSB branch staff also receiving specialist training to spot signs of domestic abuse and to help survivors.
To prevent abuse reaching bank customers, the bank also blocks abusive and threatening terms from being sent to payees. Since introducing blocks in March, TSB has blocked over 8,000 abusive references from reaching their targets.
TSB is also extending the scheme to staff affected by domestic abuse. TSB’s Colleague Flee Fund provides financial support to assist individuals with the cost of essentials that may be barriers to leaving an abusive relationship: such as accommodation, travel, clothing and toiletries.
To access the fund, staff can speak in confidence to their manager or HR, as well as by visiting a TSB branch.
Katie Osiadacz, head of responsible business at TSB, said: “We have seen first-hand the impact our Emergency Flee Fund plays in helping survivors of domestic abuse take urgent action to escape their abusive and dangerous situation.”
Women’s Aid chief executive Farah Nazeer said: “Emergency funds are desperately needed by those seeking to leave their abusers, especially now, given the additional challenges presented by the cost-of-living crisis.
“Through our work with survivors, we constantly hear about the economic barriers preventing them from fleeing their abusers. Women and their children are often faced with insecurity – they either face homelessness or must rely on the circumstances of family and friends to be able to put them up for short periods of time.”
Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs, founder and CEO of Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) said: “We know via our partnership with Money Advice Plus that increasing numbers of victim-survivors are unable to access £100 by the end of each month.
“Accessing the funds needed to leave could be the difference between a survivor being able to safely move on and rebuild their life or remaining trapped with an abuser and facing more harm as a result.
“The impact of TSB’s initiative on the lives of victim-survivors cannot be underestimated and SEA is proud to work alongside them.”
A recent study left scientists baffled as they endeavour to answer why more young and middle-aged women are contracting lung cancer than men — responsible for killing females more than breast and ovarian cancers.
According to radiation oncologist Dr Andrea McKee, the number one killer of women is not breast cancer but lung cancer and urged education about the disease.
Estimates revealed that this cancer kills around 164 women daily in the US.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted: “As smoking is seen as a primary cause of lung cancer, the rates of women using cigarettes declined significantly over the past couple of decades.”
“However, the number of women with cancer was rising, especially in those who never smoked.”
The research published in the journal JAMA Oncology found that lung cancer diagnoses have risen 84% in women over the past 43 years while dropping 36% in men.
It was revealed that those who never smoked are twice as likely to get cancer than male non-smokers.
Scientists have tried to explain but could not find any concrete reason why it is attacking one gender.
Legislators intend to establish a specific centre aimed at increasing funding and official collaborators to ascertain the condition of preventive services being provided to women alongside awareness campaigns.
Studies indicated that only 15% of the budget of the National Institutes of Health is directed toward female-focused research, and lung cancer remains the top women killer.
American Cancer Society noted that other risk factors include family history, exposure to secondhand smoke, radon, asbestos, pollution and arsenic in drinking water.
Usually, lung cancer is diagnosed late therefore proving detrimental. It also remains very hard to treat.
Researchers hope that studies showing gender disparities in lung cancer will make healthcare providers aware of how this disease affects women so they can know to watch for it.
It is recommended to consult a doctor if a cough lasts more than six weeks, blood showing up while coughing, shortness of breath or hoarse for a few weeks, or unexplained weight loss.
An unusual incident was reported by local firefighters and rescuers in Tennessee as they were busy saving a dog that went inside a cave and could not come out.
After responding to the reports, the rescue mission started to save the dog — Charlie — but was found that there was another companion 200-pound bear 40 feet deep inside the narrow shaft.
The dog stayed there for three days as it was trapped in the cave on English Mountain in eastern Tennessee.
Facebook post from the Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department noted that a team of rescuers consisting of “rope rescue technicians” from several fire departments set off on the mission to free Charlie.
The team started their mission and went into the cave but encountered a “bear sleeping five feet below and the trapped hunting dog farther in the cave system,” the Facebook post stated.
The dog’s companion was a 200-pound bear.
The team left the cave and set up trail cameras to track when the bear left the cave. Afterwards, it was noticed that the bear “had left the cave and not returned.”
Three firefighters descended into the cave.
An official in the rescue team told WVLT: “At first, we actually thought the dog had slipped further into the cave where we couldn’t access. It was kinda sad because we felt like we were gonna have to leave the dog there.”
“As we’re about to head back out, I looked back one more time and I saw his antenna from his tracker collar,” another firefighter told WVLT.
Charlie was dehydrated and hungry, but in otherwise good condition,” said the Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department.
Later on “Charlie was quickly reunited with his happy owner.”
English Mountain is near Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park, described by the National Park Service as “one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States where black bears can live in wild, natural surroundings.” An estimated 1,900 bears live in the park.
Ford Motor has recalled about 238,000 Explorers because of a defect that poses a risk of the sport utility vehicles rolling away if the parking brake is not engaged.
The affected models, from 2020 through 2022, have been discontinued.
“The rear axle horizontal mounting bolt may fracture and cause the drive shaft to disconnect,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a letter to Ford on Thursday.
If the shaft, a rod that transfers power to the wheels and makes the vehicle move, disconnects, it could result in a loss of drive power or a vehicle rollaway if the parking brake is not applied, the letter said.
“Either of these scenarios can increase the risk of a crash,” Alex Ansley, the chief of the recall management division for National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, wrote.
A Ford spokeswoman said in a statement that the “risk of rollaway park was addressed with a software update in previous recalls.”
The difference with the latest recall is the remedy — now Ford is required to inspect all 230,000-plus vehicles. Previously, it was only inspecting a vehicle if it experienced failure and then replacing the parts free.
In a previous related recall, Ford was aware of 396 reports of rear axle bolt failures, less than 5 percent of which resulted in a roll-in-park or loss of power condition, the statement said.
Letters notifying owners of the recent recall are expected to be mailed Nov. 6. Drivers can also see if their vehicle has been recalled by entering their Vehicle Identification Number or the year and model of the car on Ford’s website.
Ford said it was not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the defect, according to agency documents.
Vehicle recalls have become more common in the United States over the last two decades or so, according to a 2019 report by McKinsey & Company.
In 2016, the U.S. auto industry reached more than 1,000 vehicle recalls for the first time. In 2017, an average of about three vehicles were recalled for every vehicle sold, according to the report.
In 2022, Ford recalled 2.9 million vehicles, including 1.7 million Ford Escape S.U.V.s, because of a potential defect that could let them move even with the gear shift seemingly in the park position.
In September, regulators flagged 52 million airbag inflaters used by dozens of carmakers as being susceptible to rupture.
Since 2015, recalls typically have been related to airbags, according to the McKinsey report. However, as vehicles are made with more complex features, there has been an increase in recalls for software and electronic problems.
Taylor-made: A Swiftie’s guide to the best ‘Eras’ movie experience
Swift has been a compelling screen presence from as far back as 2009, when she quietly stole the show from Miley Cyrus in the feature film spinoff of “Hannah Montana.” Today, with a net worth just shy of $800 million, a seemingly limitless creative output and just enough chips on her shoulder to keep things interesting, it’s Swift’s movie and we’re just living in it.
When it comes to “The Eras Tour,” that parallel world isn’t such a bad place to be. Filmed with multiple cameras during Swift’s engagement at SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles, this impressively immersive chronicle has every technological gizmo at its disposal but wisely keeps things simple. After a brief drone shot of the immense arena, director Sam Wrench zooms down to the stage, where dancers appear waving giant, parachute-like wings — a dazzling, lyrical segue into Swift’s triumphant arrival in a crystal-encrusted body suit and matching Louboutin boots.
How much did Taylor Swift actually make from the Eras Tour?
The conceit for “Eras” is a concert that will cover every Swift album, here organized in gratifyingly non-chronological order. Fans who have seen the shows know the set list; those who want to be surprised will be subjected to no spoilers here, other than the news that, yes, she plays the hits. The stage show, during which Swift struts and play-acts with a troupe of dancers (who happen to be very good actors), toggles between straightforward performance and stylized set pieces, casting Swift as the star of her own film in an office whose multiple levels recall “Jailhouse Rock,” or a wrenching kitchen-sink marital drama that unfolds over a dining room table.
That segment — set to a ballad from Swift’s 2020 album “Evermore” — is one of the most effective moments of “The Eras Tour,” during which the singer-songwriter shape-shifts into different personae through extravagant costume changes. (The values on this production are set to Maximum.) Swift isn’t the most instinctive or graceful dancer — her moves are limited mostly to posing and pointing, strutting and smizing — and, after three hours, the uninitiated might be struck by the repetitiveness of her music. But the cumulative effect is nothing short of astonishing. In the 2020 documentary “Miss Americana,” Swift was on the ascent but still coming into her power as a performer and aspiring political thought leader; the viewer sensed she was still in formation. In “The Eras Tour,” she has taken full command as a dominant chieftain in the experience economy, often stopping on the stage to give knowing nods to her adoring audience, basking in the ability to get 70,000 crying fans on her vibe. (You might even say she’s a mastermind.)
Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ movie premiere lights up Hollywood
Morphing from pop vixen to ethereal wood nymph to just-a-girl-with-a-guitar, Swift builds the show to a gratifying, even cathartic climax, backloading it with her most triumphant albums, including “Red,” “1989,” “Folklore” and the recent “Midnights.” With its elaborate sets, special effects, smoke and props, the concert unfolds in chapters, some more convincing than others: The edgy, sexualized contours of “Reputation” feels a tad forced and monotonous. But by the time Swift strips things down to sing “All Too Well” — just a girl and her guitar — the song grows from a familiar heartbreak ballad to something profoundly moving and, ultimately, monumental.
Of course, that’s if you can hear the song through all the squealing, shouting (“Yes, Taylor!”) and singing along. One of the delights of “The Eras Tour” is that it makes moviegoing a contact, call-and-response sport, with audiences literally dancing in the aisles and waving at the screen as if their idol can see them. (Considering Swift’s proven superpowers, it wouldn’t be surprising.) “The Eras Tour,” like the show it captures, is so carefully calculated and precision-machined that it can begin to feel airless, even ersatz. But criticism is superfluous. Cynicism’s no good here. You can put the snark away. After years of dabbling, lyrically and literally, Taylor Swift has come for American cinema, and we can only wait for her next move. For now, it’s heart hands. Like, times a thousand.
Unrated. At area theaters. Song lyrics contain brief strong language. 168 minutes.
The main party leaders facing off in Poland’s upcoming parliamentary election called on voters to give their respective parties winning support as they held final campaign rallies Friday. Opinion polls suggested a close race.
The election Sunday will decide whether the ruling conservative, Euro-skeptic Law and Justice party will win a third straight term or whether the liberal, pro-European Civic Coalition and its partners will take power. The Civic Coalition aims to improve Poland’s democratic standards and international standing that have suffered under eight years of a conservative government.
Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Poland’s de-facto ruler, met voters in southeastern Poland, where his party has a small edge over the opposition. His closing rally was held in the central market of the picturesque town of Sandomierz, the location of popular TV series “The Reverend Mateusz,” about an investigative priest. A majority of Law and Justice voters are practicing Catholics.
POLAND’S FOREIGN MINISTER ACCUSES GERMANY OF INTERFERENCE OVER VISA ALLEGATIONS
“We are the only political formation that guarantees that your voices will be heard,” Kaczynski told the crowd. He used the usual party slogans in his speech to draw chants of “YES” for his party’s policies and “NO” for the opposition.
At the end he told voters that “Poland’s prosperity and good opportunities for all … depend on you, on Poland’s citizens,” while every vote for the opposition is wrong.
Though his hometown is Warsaw, Kaczynski is running from the southern city of Kielce, where he can count on much larger backing than in the capital, where his archrival, Civic Coalition leader Donald Tusk, a former prime minister and former European Council president, is running. Voters in large cities have backed Tusk’s party in recent votes and have shown support for him in two massive marches in Warsaw this year.
His final campaign rally was held indoors in Pruszkow, near Warsaw.
Tusk said that during its eight years in office, Kaczynski’s party has “desecrated” Poland’s values of solidarity, freedom and equality and that, together with his followers, he will “clear their mess” when the opposition wins power.
“Nobody who is dreaming about our free and happy country should vote for Law and Justice,” he said to chants of “We Will Win” and “Donald Tusk.”
He repeatedly said that “victory is within our reach” and drew huge applause when he described post-election Poland without Kaczynski’s party’s rule.
POLAND FILES LEGAL CHALLENGES IN EFFORT TO ANNUL 3 EU CLIMATE CHANGE POLICIES
Other parties were also closing their campaigns with events across the country.
Saturday at midnight electoral silence begins, meaning no campaigning and no publishing of opinion polls are allowed, in order to give the voters time to weigh their decision before polling stations open Sunday.
Polls suggest Law and Justice will win the most votes but will lose its current narrow parliament majority and with it the possibility to rule singlehandedly.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
With some 8% of eligible voters still undecided, statements from the leaders at the rallies on Friday could decide the nation’s immediate future.
Nearly a week after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, setting off a war as Israel retaliated with airstrikes over the Gaza Strip, the death toll continues to rise above 1,000. Of the victims, 27 have been identified as U.S. citizens.
Among the U.S. citizens slain was a mother protecting her son, an American Israeli soldier, an idealist daughter and a young man who had recently moved to Salt Lake City, where he was active in the Jewish community.
The White House on Thursday confirmed the number of American deaths.
Deborah Martias, who was born in Missouri, was described by her father as an idealist who wanted to help improve relations between Arabs and Jews. He said she died protecting her son.
Ilan Troen, Martias’ father and a professor at Brandeis University in Israel, said that when they spoke on the phone for the last time, she told him she heard glass breaking, people speaking in Arabic and gunshots.
“That’s the last words we heard from her,” Troen told MSNBC’s Jose Diaz Balart in an interview this week.
Troen said his daughter’s last act was defending her son, who was also shot during the encounter but survived. Troen did not give the son’s age.
Troen said Martias was an idealist who sent her kids to a school where they learned Arabic and Hebrew in the hope that Jews and Arabs would come to understand each other, accommodate and change the course of history.
The 31-year-old would have celebrated his 32nd birthday this week but was killed near the border of Gaza after militants forced their way into his home, according to family.
Hannah Wacholder Katsman, the mother of Hayim Katsman, told NBC affiliate WLWT5 in Cincinnati, her hometown, that her son was hiding in a closet with a neighbor woman when they were attacked.
“When they came to his house, they found them, and the woman survived,” Wacholder Katsman told the station. “The woman, they released, and Hayim, they shot immediately.”
She said Hayim was kind and smart but “had a tough core.”
“He was very tough and very industrious,” Wacholder Katsman told the station.
She said that after high school, Hayim joined the U.S. Army, where he served in field intelligence. He studied political science at The Open University before earning a master’s degree in political science from Ben Gurion University in Be’er-Sheva, Israel.
Hayim received his doctorate degree from the University of Washington.
A longtime nurse and mother of four, Adrienne Neta, 66, grew up in California before moving to Israel decades ago, her son told MSNBC.
The daughter of an Air Force engineer, Neta relocated to Israel in 1981, devoting her life to helping and caring for others as a nurse in the Regional Hospital in the Negev desert, her son Nahar Neta said.
Nahar Neta thought his mother would find a way to stay alive through the war.
“She’s a tough lady,” he said. “She’s been through a lot in her life. You know, coming from being a young California hippie and coming to the Negev in the early ’80s was not an easy, not an easy move.”
His family has since confirmed her death.
Nahar Neta said the last time he talked to his mother was on a group phone call with her and his siblings. He said he tried to calm her down when she heard gunfire.
“I heard my sister screaming and crying on the phone,” Nahar Neta said, adding his brother told him Hamas terrorists barged into the shelter inside his mother’s home.
The phone disconnected and that was the last contact he had with her.
A member of the Young Jewish Professional community in Utah, Lotan Abir, 24, was killed during an attack at The Tribe of Nova music festival, Rabbi Avremi Zippel of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah announced on X.
Abir moved to Utah last year after completing military service in Israel, Zippel said. It was unclear why he was in Israel at the time of the attack.
“News of the loss of one of our own from Utah further tears at our collective heart,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, wrote on X. “I offer my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Lotan Abir — may he rest in peace.”
Family members said they will always remember Daniel Ben-Senior as someone who loved giving back through her work.
The 34-year-old nurse was heading to the Tribe of Nova music festival when she was killed, according to her cousin, Ran Ben-Senior, who lives in New York.
“She had a big heart and a big smile and always tried to help,” he said, adding he will always think back on his cousin as a caring nurse in Israel. “It’s really tough for us.”