(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump must sit for a videotaped deposition next week as part of a lawsuit involving his anti-immigrant rhetoric, a judge in the Bronx ordered.
A group of Mexican protesters said they were assaulted during a rally outside Trump Tower in September 2015 over the then-candidate’s comments that Mexican immigrants were criminals and rapists.
The lawsuit named Trump, his campaign, his former head of security Keith Schiller, and others.
“Donald J. Trump shall appear for a deposition October 18, 2021 at 10 a.m. … or, in the event of illness or emergency, on another mutually agreed to date on or before October 31, 2021,” Judge Doris Gonzalez’s order said.
Trump faces the prospect of another deposition by the end of the year as part of a defamation lawsuit filed by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos, who alleges that Trump sexually assaulted her at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007, which Trump denies. Zervos claims that Trump defamed her during his campaign when he said she lied about the alleged assault.
Trump has also denied the allegations by former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll, who is suing him for defamation after he accused her of lying about an alleged 1990s rape in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman.
Trump’s tax filings and business practices are also under criminal investigation by the district attorneys in Manhattan and New York State.
(BEIRUT) — Casualties have been reported after hours of gun battles in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, following calls led by Hezbollah and their allies to remove the judge leading the investigation into last year’s massive port blast.
At least six people have been killed and 30 wounded in ongoing clashes in the district of Tanouyeh after protesters gathered outside Beirut’s Justice Palace, according to the Lebanese Red Cross, who have dispatched six teams to assist the wounded and transport them to local hospitals.
Videos circulating on social media have shown armed men clashing in the streets with assault rifles, crowds fleeing and children taking shelter in the city’s schools. According to the Shiite group Hezbollah, peaceful protesters were targeted by sniper fire before the clashes broke out. The Lebanese Army has not responded to those claims.
The Lebanese Army warned citizens to go home, saying that anyone armed on the streets would be shot. The caretaker government has instructed citizens to take to basement shelters for the first time since the 1975-90 civil war.
“The deployed army units will shoot at any gunman on the roads and at anyone who shoots from anywhere else, and ask civilians to leave the streets,” the army posted on its official Twitter account.
Over 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which had been stockpiled in the port of Beirut since 2013, detonated on Aug. 4, 2020, killing at least 200 people, wounding thousands of others and causing widespread damage across the city.
Earlier this week, a legal complaint brought against Judge Tarek Bitar was dismissed, allowing him to resume his work as the head of the investigation into the Beirut blast, which survivors and activists have criticized for a lack of movement. Hezbollah and its allies have claimed that the probe has been politically biased against Shiite ministers, and the politically contentious issue has threatened to derail the current caretaker government.
The investigation had been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the complaint against Bitar.
An August report by Human Rights Watch alleged that some government officials “foresaw the death that the ammonium nitrate’s presence in the port could result in and tacitly accepted the risk of the deaths occurring.”
The caretaker government refuted the findings.
Lebanon is in the midst of one of the worst economic crises of the modern era, according to the World Bank. Fuel shortages, hyperinflation and a creaking health system have left at least 1.5 million people in need of financial aid.
Over the weekend, the country suffered a national power outage after the two main power stations ran out of fuel, before the army stepped in with an emergency shipment of gas. As a result, most families and businesses struggle with an allocation of four hours a day of electricity, with many neighborhoods relying instead on expensive backup generators, officials said.
The outbreak of violence is the worst seen in the city since 2008, according to observers, threatening to plunge the stricken country into further turmoil.
ABC News’ Leena Saidi and Nasser Atta contributed to this report.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2021 will be welcomed into the hallowed institution at a ceremony held on October 30 in Cleveland. To celebrate the new inductees, a special exhibit will open at the Rock Hall museum in the city on Sunday, October 24.
The display will feature items from all of this year’s inductees, which include Foo Fighters, Todd Rundgren, The Go-Go’s, Tina Turner, Carole King and JAY-Z in the main Performers category; Early Influence honorees Kraftwerk, Charley Patton and Gil Scott-Heron; and, in recognition of Musical Excellence, Randy Rhoads, Billy Preston and LL Cool J.
The exhibit’s opening will take place on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Celebration Day event, which offers free admission to the museum for Ohio residents.
Among the exhibit’s many highlights will be costumes and/or instruments contributed by all five members of The Go-Go’s.
A red lace dress that Turner wore in the music video for her hit “Private Dancer” also will be part of the exhibit, as will an Acrosonic piano and bench used by King.
Rundgren has contributed an embroidered purple suit that he wore in concert in 1978, and while he was recording his live album Back to the Bars.
The late Preston will be represented by a Casio Voice Arranger VA-10 keyboard he used to play.
In addition, the exhibit will feature a video presentations and playlists for the various honorees.
For more details about the exhibition, visit RockHall.com.
The 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. An HBO special focusing on the event will premiere at a later date.
(NEW YORK) — When a Wyoming coroner announced Tuesday that Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old travel blogger whose remains were recovered in September in a national park, died by strangulation, experts who study intimate partner violence said they saw a recognizable thread.
“Strangulation is not talked about as much, but it is a major risk factor for intimate partner homicide,” Kellie Lynch, an associate professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told Good Morning America. “And we often see it occur alongside more severe abuse.”
“When you’re talking about strangulation, that is very typically the cause of death in domestic violence cases,” Dan Abrams, ABC News chief legal analyst, said in an interview Wednesday on GMA. “It is angry. It is violent. It takes time. That is precisely what many believe happened here.”
Petito’s death was ruled a homicide and the cause is officially listed as “manual strangulation/throttling,” according to the coroner.
Petito’s boyfriend and cross-country traveling companion, Brian Laundrie, has been named by investigators as a person of interest in her death and is the subject of a massive nationwide search being directed by the FBI.
While the search continues for Laundrie, he’s also wanted on charges of bank fraud for allegedly using Petito’s credit card. Experts said the case has shined a spotlight on intimate partner violence and the many forms it can take.
Strangulation is one of the most lethal forms of domestic violence, one that can cause death within minutes, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, a 24/7, free and confidential resource.
It is also a predictor for future deadly violence, experts said. A non-fatal strangling in the past by a partner makes the victim 10 times more likely to be killed by them later on, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
“I think people are now starting to appreciate the seriousness of strangulation, both that it’s more frequent than we realize and also that it can be more lethal than we realize,” Kiersten Stewart, director of public policy and advocacy of Futures Without Violence, a nonprofit organization focused on ending violence against women and children, told GMA. “When we train health care providers, strangulation is one of the very specific issues that we talk about to help them recognize it.”
Symptoms of strangulation can range from a sore throat and difficulty swallowing to bruising, memory loss, difficulty breathing and changes in sleep, mood and personality, among others, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Strangulation in cases of intimate partner violence is often about control, and in non-fatal cases, it may not leave as evident of a mark as other forms of physical abuse, experts said.
Stewart and other experts note that when cases like Petito’s are in the news, though extremely tragic, they can raise awareness about intimate partner violence and the many different forms it may take.
“Domestic violence is still a very serious issue,” said Stewart, noting young people between the ages of 18 and 24 experience the highest rates of domestic violence. “As a country, we have made great progress in the last 25 years, but we haven’t actually reduced homicides nearly as dramatically, and that still needs to be a real focus.”
In his eulogy at his daughter’s funeral last month, Joseph Petito referenced the issue, telling mourners, “If there is a relationship that you’re in that might not be the best thing for you, leave it now. Take care of yourself first.”
Intimate partner violence, which falls under the broader umbrella term of domestic violence, affects more than 12 million people every year, and disproportionately impacts Black and Indigenous women, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. It has historically been seen by many as something that happens with older, married couples, or something that involves only physical abuse, like a black eye, the organization said.
In reality, it is something that cuts across all social and demographic lines and can also occur through control and manipulation that is not as easily visible to the outside world, according to Lynch.
“We have these myths or stereotypes in our head of a typical domestic violence abuser and victim, who they are and what they act like, but everybody is at risk,” she said. “People would be very surprised to find out just how prevalent it is and how many people they know who’ve experienced it at some point.”
While acknowledging that not all details of the incident are known, both Lynch and Stewart pointed to body camera footage of Petito and Laundrie being pulled over in Arches National Park in Utah in August after a report of an alleged domestic problem.
The footage showed Petito, who appeared to be crying, at one point sitting in the back of a police vehicle, and Laundrie, at other points, talking to police officers.
Petito told police she suffers from severe anxiety and other medical conditions and that the couple’s argument had been building for days. Police labeled the incident as a “mental/emotional break” rather than a domestic assault, according to the police report.
“I don’t know how much we’re going to know about the relationship and the dynamic between the two of them, but in the video, she seemed frightened and scared,” Lynch said of Petito. “I think across all of these cases [of intimate partner violence], that’s what you’re going to see, someone is intimidated.”
Stewart said she sees in the video fear from Petito, which she calls a red flag.
“You can’t always tell the first time you meet somebody what’s going on,” she said. “But once you’ve started to have a conversation, if you see somebody who’s very much afraid, like, ‘If I were to not do what he wants, what happens?’ that’s often a red flag.”
Abuse in relationships, which data shows is more often, but not always, perpetrated by men, comes down to “power and control,” according to Rosemary Estrada-Rade, director of quality assurance and innovation at the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
“It’s about that pattern of behaviors that are used within relationships to maintain that control over the other partner,” she said. “So it could be physical violence, but a lot of times it’s intimidation, manipulation, emotional abuse, financial abuse and financial control, and that can look different in different relationships.”
Signs that someone may be suffering from intimate partner violence include isolation from family and friends, appearing withdrawn or not like themselves, frequent calls or texts from their partner about where they are and who they’re with and other controlling behaviors, like withholding money or restricting a person’s ability to work, according to Estrada-Rade.
When a case like Petito’s is in the headlines, it can help draw awareness to the issue of intimate partner violence and increase education, experts said.
In Sarasota, Florida, around 30 miles from the town where police say Laundrie was last seen, calls to a local domestic violence shelter have increased 15% over the past month, compared to the same time last year. The shelter’s CEO attributes the increase to both the pandemic and headlines around the Petito case.
“Domestic violence is something that people shy away from, they don’t want to talk about it,” Jessica Hays, president and CEO of Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center in Sarasota, told “GMA.” “I think that anytime that we have an opportunity to talk about how common domestic violence is, and the warning signs and just shine a light on the fact that this is something that affects many, many people and is not the fault of the victim and that there is help and support out there, that’s a really important conversation.”
The National Domestic Violence Hotline has experienced a 46% increase in contacts in the past five years, according to a spokeswoman, who also attributed the yearslong increase in calls to a combination of factors.
“While we can’t say definitively that seeing or hearing about reports of abuse or domestic violence in the media causes an increase in contacts, we do know that news reports and even depictions of tactics of power and control in other media can help survivors recognize that they might be experiencing abuse and that they can reach out to us,” the spokeswoman said.
Experts said that is the most important takeaway, the recognition that there is help out there for everyone touched by intimate partner violence, from those experiencing it to those committing it to those trying to help.
“During this Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we really are encouraging those who feel that they may be in an abusive or controlling relationship to get help, to talk to somebody,” said Stewart. “And also, we really encourage people who may be using violence in their relationships to also reach out for help because that’s really the behavior we need to change.”
If you need help or need help supporting someone else, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
(LONDON) — As Prince William prepares to deliver his Earthshot Prize to people saving the planet, he aimed some criticism at billionaires sending people to space.
“We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live,” William, 39, said in a new BBC interview, referring to the current race for space tourism led by billionaires Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson. “I think that ultimately is what sold it for me — that really is quite crucial to be focusing on this [planet] rather than giving up and heading out into space to try and think of solutions for the future.”
William’s comments came just one day after actor William Shatner took a successful 10-minute trip to space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard.
“Everybody in the world needs to do this,” Shatner told Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos after he touched down in Texas Wednesday.
William said he has “absolutely no interest” in going to space and questioned the carbon cost of flights to space, according to the BBC.
On Sunday, William and his wife, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, will attend the first Earthshot Awards, where five winners working to repair the planet will receive $1 million in funding.
William launched the Earthshot Prize, modeled after former U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s famous moonshot challenge, last October.
Five winners will each receive $1 million each year until 2030. The goal is to create “at least 50 solutions to the world’s greatest environmental problems by 2030,” Kensington Palace said about William’s $50 million initiative.
William and Kate are the parents of three children, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte.
William spoke to the BBC about how his kids motivate his work on the environment.
“I want the things that I’ve enjoyed — the outdoor life, nature, the environment — I want that to be there for my children, and not just my children but everyone else’s children,” he said. “If we’re not careful we’re robbing from our children’s future through what we do now.”
William also described his fear that Prince George, 8, the third in line to the throne, may still be talking about climate change 30 years from now, when it “will be too late.”
“It shouldn’t be that there’s a third generation now coming along having to ramp it up even more,” said William, whose father, Prince Charles, has made addressing climate change a priority of his work. “And you know, for me, it would be an absolute disaster if George is sat here talking to you or your successor, Adam [Fleming, of the BBC], you know in like 30 years’ time, whatever, still saying the same thing, because by then we will be too late.”
(WASHINGTON) — An independent FDA advisory panel on Thursday and Friday is set to discuss and vote on whether to authorize Moderna and Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine boosters for those 18 and older.
The outside experts will also consider new data from the National Institutes of Health on the potential benefits of mixing and matching vaccines for booster shots.
Early results from the highly anticipated NIH study finds that boosting with a shot different from what people got the first time appears to be safe and effective.
The non-peer reviewed study evaluated all three vaccines — Pfizer, Moderna and J&J — finding that no matter the booster, all study participants saw a “substantial” uptick in antibody levels after a booster shot.
Though promising, more research is likely needed on mixing and matching. For now, the FDA and CDC are slated to weigh in on whether to authorize additional booster doses of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots for those who received the same original vaccine.
This week’s meetings are the first step in a long process: The FDA itself and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would both need to sign off on the panel’s recommendations about who should get boosters and when — and the earliest that could happen is the following Friday, Oct. 22.
On Thursday, the panel will discuss and vote on a potential Moderna booster, and hear presentations from both the company and FDA representatives; Israel’s director of public health health will give a presentation about the results of Pfizer booster shots in that country.
The FDA panel will ask questions and debate the benefits versus risks of a Moderna booster and an initial, non-binding vote on the Moderna booster has been scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
On Friday, the panel will discuss and vote on a Johnson & Johnson booster, in addition to hearing NIH’s presentation on mix and match booster data.
Johnson & Johnson’s posted a summary of its research Wednesday, making the argument for a second shot, same dose, roughly six months after the single-shot vaccine.
An initial, non-binding vote on the Johnson & Johnson booster has been scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Once the FDA advisory panel votes on recommendations for each booster, the FDA itself needs to formally amend the current emergency authorization. FDA career scientists are expected to authorize boosters for Johnson & Johnson and Moderna within days of the independent panel’s non-binding vote.
Then, the question goes to CDC’s independent advisory panel of experts. That panel has scheduled a meeting for next Wednesday Oct. 20 and Thursday Oct. 21 to discuss boosters for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. Those outside experts will weigh in with their recommendations, which are also non-binding.
Once that happens, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky must sign off, which typically happens within 24 hours of the panel’s recommendations.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)Julianna Margulies plays a lesbian on season two of Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, and she’s not at all worried about possible blowback from gay actors.
“Who’s to say I haven’t had my own gay experiences?” Margulies said on the Just for Variety podcast. “We’re making assumptions.”
Margulies plays an out TV news reporter who ends up dating Bradley, played by Reese Witherspoon. Julianna thinks it makes for a surprising but welcome twist to the show’s storyline, which is what drew her to the role.
“You’ve got Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon playing these two very strong characters, and in the second season instead of bringing a man in to upset that balance they brought in a woman,” Margulies explains. “Hats off to that, because the truth is women are more afraid of women. They dress for women. We don’t dress for men. We dress for each other. We want to impress each other much more… It made so much sense, and I thought, ‘Ah, a show that gets women. This is great.’”
The Good Wife alum admits there was some talk of her casting drawing fire from the LBGTQ community.
“I know there was some trepidation of ‘will lesbian actresses be angry?’ and I can tell you I would never, ever be angry if a lesbian played a straight woman,” notes Margulies.
Season two of The Morning Show is currently available to stream on Apple TV+.
Rob Lowe‘s podcast Literally! With Rob Lowerecently hostedJennifer Aniston, and the star of The Morning Show got real about the real tears she shed during Friends: The Reunion Special.
Lowe told Entertainment Tonight he was the “perfect” person for the star to unpack that experience with.
During their chat, Aniston admitted it was “kind of hard to time travel,” for the much-hyped HBO Max special, and the experience took her and her fellow former cast members “down way harder than we anticipated.”
She expressed, “Going back there, it’s nostalgic in a way that’s kind of also a little melancholy ’cause a lot has changed. We have all gone down different roads, some easy and some not so easy, for each of us. It was brutal. And you also can’t turn it off… There are cameras everywhere, and I can’t stop crying.”
Lowe told ET the revelations were the “perfect example” why he makes a good sounding board for his celebrity…friends.
“Jen Aniston gives a lot of interviews… so do all of the people I talk to, but I feel like there are questions I want to ask them that I don’t think other people are gonna ask them.”
“I had done a Parks and Rec reunion,” Lowe explained. “I had done a West Wing reunion, so when I talked to Jen about her Friends reunion, just the fact that it was something both of us have done I think enabled her to open up and talk about [it]…in a way that she never had before, that was how melancholy it was for her.”
“I totally got it,” Lowe said, adding of those kinds of get-togethers, “It’s very bittersweet.”
Kenya Moore is thankful she survived another week of Dancing with the Stars after Bachelor alum Matt James was sent home by the judges.
“I thought I broke my ribs,” the Real Housewives ofAtlanta star revealed to Entertainment Tonight, explaining that the injury happened during Monday night’s performance. She consulted a doctor the following morning because she was unable to make it to urgent care or an emergency room after the show.
“I was OK, but I just didn’t want to stop dancing. It meant everything for me to be here,” said Kenya, who didn’t elaborate on the extent of or what caused her injury. “I danced through all of that pain.”
Kenya also revealed that her injury placed additional pressure upon her pro dance partner, Brandon Armstrong, who would continually ask her if she was okay “every time he would touch me.”
“[Kenya] told me she is not 50, but she is not 22,” Brandon joked to ET.
Still, the two put on their brave faces and their hard work paid off, with Kenya adding she’s “just shocked” she survived a double elimination. However, she suffered an emotional blow after being voted into the bottom two.
“I’m dancing injured. I had this emotional low last night after we performed, and it was just overwhelming to fight so much and do a great dance and then end up in the bottom again,” she recalled. “A lot of emotional things going on in my life right now. It was just overwhelming for me… I just cried myself to sleep last night.”
See how Kenya and Brandon salute Grease when Dancing with the Stars returns next Monday at 8 pm. ET on ABC.
Players will lead Maiden’s iconic mascot Eddie alongside an avatar of Ghost’s Papa Emeritus IV character through a dungeon called the Mascarade Diaboliquet. The visuals for the level take inspiration from the cover of Maiden’s 2003 album Dance of Death and Ghost’s 2018 Prequelle single, “Dance Macabre.”
You can play the Mascarade Diaboliquet level now through October 20.
Ghost previously opened for Iron Maiden on the latter’s 2017 U.S. Book of Souls tour.
Meanwhile, both Ghost and Maiden recently released new music. Last month, Ghost premiered the single “Hunter’s Moon” for the new Halloween Kills movie, while Maiden dropped their Senjutsu album.
