Woman fatally struck by train after falling onto New York City subway tracks

     

 

A 20-year-old woman was fatally struck by a Manhattan subway train after accidentally falling onto the tracks on Tuesday night, June 28.

 

The woman tumbled onto the roadbed at the Grand Central subway station as a southbound 7 train was approaching at about 10:40 p.m., according to the NYPD.

 

The train’s operator tried to break in time, but ended up striking the woman, cops said.

 

 

Efforts to save the woman proved abortive and she was pronounced dead about an hour later, authorities said.

 

 

 

Update: Director Paul Haggis to go on trial in October for allegedly raping publicist in 2013

     

 

Oscar-winning film director, Paul Haggis has been given a trial date for his rape lawsuit in New York City after being accused of attacking a publicist.

 

Haggis will stand trial from October 11 before Judge Sabrina Kraus, Variety reports. He was accused of rape by Haleigh Breest, a film publicist, in 2017. She alleges she was raped by Haggis at his apartment in 2013 following a film premiere.

 

But Haggis has since denied the accusation, saying the encounter was consensual, and calling the allegations an attempt at extortion.

 

Following Breest's lawsuit in 2017, three more women accused Haggis of sexual misconduct in January 2018, including one who alleges she was raped by him.

 

Haggis attempted to expedite the trial, citing mounting legal bills and an inability to work until his name is cleared, but his request was denied.

 

The director, who co-wrote the 2006 Oscar-winning film 'Crash', is currently under detention after being arrested in southern Italy.

 

Haggis has denied wrongdoing, and an Italian judge has ordered him to remain at the hotel while police investigate the claims. 

 

Prosecutors have said he is under investigation for alleged aggravated sexual violence and aggravated personal injuries.

 

After conducting a hearing that lasted several hours in the Brindisi courthouse, Judge Vilma Gilli issued the ruling that extends his detention at the farmhouse residence in the countryside of Ostuni, a tourist town where he was supposed to participate in an arts festival this week, Corriere della Sera daily reported.

 

Haggis' lawyer, Michele Laforgia, said his client had reiterated his total innocence and is in 'hopeful expectation' that he will be ultimately vindicated.

 

A British woman has also claimed that he raped her in a two-day ordeal earlier this month. 

 

Prosecutors have described the woman as young and foreign. State TV and other Italian media said she is a 30-year-old Englishwoman who had known Haggis before he came to Ostuni.

 

Asked by a reporter what kind of relationship Haggis and the woman had, Laforgia replied that it had been a 'relationship of acquaintance.'

 

The lawyer said the defense disputes a hospital report indicating that the woman had suffered physical injuries.

 

'Paul Haggis answered all questions and explained what happened,' Laforgia told reporters outside the courthouse. 'He declared himself, as he had already done right after the detention, completely innocent, in the sense that the relations he had with this woman were totally consensual.'

 

California land taken from Black couple in 1920's returned to heirs

     

 

On Tuesday June 28, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to return ownership of prime California beachfront property to descendants of a Black couple who built a resort for African Americans but were stripped of the land in the 1920s.

 

Willa and Charles Bruce bought the land in 1912, and they built the first West Coast resort for Black people at a time when many beaches were segregated.

 

 

The couple however suffered racist harassment from white neighbors and in the 1920s the Manhattan Beach City Council took the land through eminent domain. The city did nothing with the property and it was transferred to the state of California in 1948.

 

In 1995, the state transferred it to the county, with restrictions on further transfers.

 

Supervisor Janice Hahn launched the complex process of returning the property to heirs of the Bruces in April 2021. A key hurdle was overcome when the state Legislature passed a bill removing the restriction on transfer of the property.

 

On Tuesday, the board voted 5-0 on a motion to complete the transfer of parcels in an area once known as Bruce’s Beach in the fashionable city of Manhattan Beach that is now the site of the county’s lifeguard training headquarters and its parking lot.

 

Board chair Holly J. Mitchell, co-author of the motion, immediately signed the documents which allow the county to lease back the property with an option to purchase it for millions of dollars.

 

 

This came after the county completed the process of confirming that Marcus and Derrick Bruce, great-grandsons of Willa and Charles Bruce, are the legal heirs.

 

“We can't change the past and we will never be able to make up for the injustice that was done to Willa and Charles Bruce a century ago, but this is a start,” an emotional Hahn said before the vote.

 

Hahn said returning the property will allow the heirs "the opportunity to start rebuilding the generational wealth that was denied them for decades.”

 

Anthony Bruce, a family spokesman, said in a statement that the return means the world to them but it is also bittersweet.

 

“My great-great-grandparents, Willa and Charles Bruce sacrificed to open a business that gave Black people a place to gather and socialize, and Manhattan Beach took it from them because of the color of their skin,” he said. “It destroyed them financially. It destroyed their chance at the American Dream.”

 

The transfer includes an agreement for the property to be leased back to the county for 24 months, with an annual rent of $413,000 plus all operation and maintenance costs, and the county’s right to purchase the land for up to $20 million.

 

“This may be the first land return of its kind, but it cannot be the last,” Hahn said.

 

"I had the best three years of my life in prison" - Mike Tyson

     

 

Boxing legend, Mike Tyson has revealed he spent the best three years of his life while in prison.

In 1992 he went to jail when he was accused by Desiree Washington, a Miss Black America contestant, of rape, Tyson denied the accusations, even so, he was imprisoned in the Indiana Youth Center. His sentence was 10 years, 6 in prison and 4 on probation, but because of his good behavior he was in prison for only 3 years. He was released in 1995.

 

Many thought the three years he spent in prison would have been very difficult because he was at the top of his career but he apparently had a better time than expected.

 

 

Tyson revealed that he earned the inmates' respect after rapper Tupac Shakur visited him in jail.

 

"They respected [Tupac], soon as he came in the room, they started applauding," Tyson told NORE and DJ EFN.

In a new interview with "The Pivot Podcast" where he looked relaxed, while smoking a marijuana cigarette, Tyson said;

 

"I had the best three years of my life in prison," said Tyson. "I had peace. That money doesn't mean anything if you don't have your peace, your stability and your balance. You need your sanity to dictate any part of life."

 

"I had good food, everybody was nice to me, they treated me well."

"I would run around the yard 8 or 9 miles and in the evenings I would jump for four hours, in my cell. Everybody treated me good in jail, they were afraid of me, but I was always a good person.

 

101 year old Nazi camp guard, given five years imprisonment for aiding murder of Jews

     

 

A former Nazi concentration camp  has been given a five-year jail term for assisting in the murder of thousands of prisoners at Sachsenhausen near Berlin during the Hitler led Nazi regime.

The guard identified as Josef S, due to Germany's privacy laws, is the oldest Nazi criminal ever to stand trial in a German court.

 

He had always denied being an SS guard at the camp.

Tens of thousands of people died at Sachsenhausen during World War Two from starvation, forced labour, medical experiments and murder by the SS. More than 200,000 people were imprisoned there, including political prisoners as well as Jews, Roma and Sinti (Gypsies).

 

The court on Tuesday, June 28 found him guilty of aiding and abetting the murders of 3,518 people saying he was complicit in the shooting of Soviet prisoners of war and the murder of others with Zyklon B gas.

 

His lawyers had called for his acquittal and is set to appeal against the prison sentence.

 

"I don't know why I'm sitting here in the sin bin. I really had nothing to do with it," Josef S said in his closing statement on the eve of the verdict in Brandenburg an der Havel.

 

Judge Udo Lechtermann told him that the court had found that he had worked at the concentration camp for around three years from 1942. "You willingly supported this mass extermination through your occupation," he said.

 

 Trial of Nazi camp guards became possible in 2011, when ex-SS guard John Demjanjuk was found guilty. Yhe verdict prompted a search for Nazi individuals who were still alive.

Four years later, the so-called "bookkeeper of Auschwitz", Oskar Gröning, was given a jail term. And a 97-year-old former concentration camp secretary is currently on trial in northern Germany.

Josef S is not fully identified in Germany because of privacy conventions. Although his name and birth details were given on the documents of an SS guard, he claimed he had not been at the camp and worked instead as a farm labourer.

 

Ludacris' manager, Chaka Zulu, and 2 others shot in Atlanta

     

 

Chaka Zulu,  music executive and longtime manager of rapper Ludacris, was wounded in a triple shooting in Atlanta on Monday morning, June 27, which left one man dead and another man injured. 

 

According to authorities, Zulu, who was rushed to the hospital, is listed in stable condition and recovering from his injuries. One man, 23-year-old Artez Benton of Scottdale, was also taken to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The identity and condition of the third victim in the shooting have yet to be released. No arrests have been made in the connection to the shooting.

 

Police Lt. Germain Dearlove said the shooting, which occurred on the 2200 block of Peachtree Road, was sparked by a verbal dispute in a parking lot shared by several local businesses. 

 

Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed issued a statement, saying, “We are fortunate to report that Chaka Zulu is in stable condition and recovering. The family thanks everyone for their well wishes and prayers, and asks for their privacy at this time.”

 

Chaka Zulu, one of the founders of Disturbing Tha Peace Records played a huge role in introducing Ludacris to the public as the rapper’s manager and helped broker Luda’s deal with Def Jam South, where the rapper reached multi-platinum success.

 

Former US President Ronald Reagan's 'would-be assassin' John Hinckley Jr. apologizes for the 1981 shooting

     

 

John Hinckley Jr., the man who tried to assassinate former US President Ronald Reagan in 1981, has apologized for his actions but said that he doesn't remember the emotions he was feeling when he fired the shots because it was 'another lifetime ago.' 

 

Hinckley Jr, who is looking to launch a music career after being granted a full unconditional release from prison earlier this month, gave a rare interview to CBS News that aired on Tuesday, June 28,  on CBS Mornings.

 

 

In the interview, he apologized to the victims of his assassination attempt, which wounded Reagan, Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy, police officer Thomas Delahanty, and paralyzed White House press secretary James Brady (he died decades later from his injuries) as they were leaving the Washington Hilton.

 

'I feel badly for all of them. I have true remorse for what I did,' Hinckley told CBS Mornings in his first televised interview since his release. 'I know that they probably can't forgive me now, but I just want them to know that I am sorry for what I did.'

 

When asked about what feelings that led him to commit the act, Hinckley said he can't remember those emotions and doesn't want to.

 

 

'It's such another lifetime ago. I can't tell you now the emotion I had right as [Reagan] came walking out. I can't tell you that,' he said, later adding: 'It's something I don't want to remember.'

 

Hinckley was 25 and suffering from acute psychosis when he fired a .22 long rifle bullet that ricocheted off the presidential limousine and struck Reagan in the torso, puncturing a lung and causing serious internal bleeding outside a Washington hotel. 

 

The assassination attempt also paralyzed then-Press Secretary James Brady, who died in 2014, and wounded a police officer and a Secret Service agent.

 

Hinckley was desperate to impress actress Jodie Foster after seeing her in the 1976 movie Taxi Driver. 

 

Jurors found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity and he spent more than 30 years at a mental hospital in Washington. 

 

He told CBS Mornings he truly believes he had 'serious mental illness that prevented me from knowing right from wrong then.' 

 

'I was not just a cold, calculating criminal in 1981,' he said on the show and wants the public's view of him to 'soften.' 

 

The would-be assassin said he has been the 'most scrutinized person in the entire mental health system for 41 years.' 

 

He began making visits to his parent's home in Williamsburg, Virginia, in the early 2000s. A 2016 court order granted him permission to live with his mother full time, albeit under various restrictions, after experts said his mental illness had been in remission for decades.

 

He signed a lease on a one-bedroom apartment in the area last year and has been living alone there with his cat Theo, according to court documents. His mother died in July.

 

Hinckley had previously been under restrictions that barred him from owning a gun, using drugs or alcohol or contacting members of the victims' families. But a federal judge in Washington said months ago that he would free Hinckley from those restrictions if he remained mentally stable. Those restrictions were lifted on June 15.

 

He now says he is 'glad (he) did not succeed' in killing the then-President. He also said he was 'sorry' for traumatizing the entire nation as the news spread. 

 

'I'm sure the whole country was traumatized, and I'm very sorry for that,' he told CBS Mornings' Major Garrett. 'I did not have a good heart. I was doing things a good person doesn't do. It's hard for me to relate at all to that person back then.' 

 

Hinckley,  who plays guitar and sings, is now hoping to move on to music in the next portion of his free life. 

 

Mother reunites with her daughter 50 years after her partner secretly took her to Morocco when she was 18 months old

     

 

A mother has finally reunited with her daughter 50 years after her partner secretly took the child to Morocco to be raised by his strict sister who couldn't have children.

 

Birmingham-based Hazel Chick, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, was left "crying every night" for months when her 18-month-old daughter Sanae was taken away from her by her partner.

 

Her ex-husband claimed he was taking their child to Morocco to meet his relatives, however four weeks later her returned without Sanae.

 

He told Hazel that he had given their daughter to his sister to care for, because she couldn't have children of her own.

 

 

Sanae grew up thinking her aunt and uncle were her biological parents. She had an unhappy childhood; she was forced to leave school at eleven years old and worked at home until she had an arranged marriage aged nineteen with a "controlling" husband.

 

After 30 years, she was eventually told the truth about her parents by a distant family member and she moved to England with her four children in search of her mother.

 

Sanae, who is now happily married to someone else and has a fifth child, contacted Long Lost Family for help, and in emotional scenes which aired last night, June 27, she was finally reunited with her mother Hazel.

 

Sanae recalled of her childhood: "I had a hard life in Morocco. My parents were very strict, especially my father. 

 

"If you do something wrong, he's going to beat you. I had to stay at home, doing the cleaning, the washing or sewing clothes."

 

 

The situation only grew worse when she was 19 and was married off to a man over 20 years her senior.

 

She said: "It was an arranged marriage. He's very, very in control. He liked to think I was his slave."

 

Sanae had four children and was almost thirty when a distant family member, from England, revealed a devastating secret - that she was not who she thought she was.

 

She recalled: "I found out the truth: my father and my mum, it’s not my real family… All my life is fake.

 

"I feel like my heart is broken. You feel all your life is a lie. I want to know my real mother. I hope she loved me. Like I love her."

 

After finding out that she was born in England and her mother is there, Sanae went to the British Embassy in Rabat and traced her British birth certificate. 

 

Then, as a British citizen, Sanae move to the UK with her children. She is now happily remarried and surrounded by family. 

 

But without knowing her birth mother, she felt she could not feel truly complete. She's spent 20 years living in Britain and searching for her mother.

 

She said: "From my heart I wish to meet her one time in my life. See her, hug her because it’s so hard you know because it’s my mum."

 

Her wish finally became reality.

 

The Long Lost Family team found Hazel still living in Birmingham, and when told about her discovered daughter, she said: "I am over the moon. I’m overjoyed. […] to actually see my daughter before I pass on."

 

 

"Since her dad took her away, I've never, never stopped thinking about her," the mother added.

 

After fifty years apart, mother and daughter were finally reunited in emotional scenes on yesterday's programme.

 

 

"Today has meant everything to me. She is my life not in my life, she is my life. I love her, I always have, I always will... I'm glad she's back in my life," said Hazel.

 

"Today is the best day, an amazing day," added Sanae.

 

Russia puts Jill Biden and daughter Ashley on their 'stop list' as they expand sanctions to include 25 more prominent Americans

     

 

Russia has added U.S. President Joe Biden's wife, Jill, and daughter, Ashley, to its list of Americans under sanctions in retaliation for Washington's moves against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

 

In a statement issued on Tuesday, June 28, the country's Foreign Ministry in Moscow said that 23 other academics and U.S. officials, including Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, and Senators Charles Grassley, Kirsten Gillebrand, Susan Collins, Ben Sass, and Martin Heinrich, were also added to the list.
 

"As a response to the ever-expanding U.S. sanctions against Russian political and public figures, 25 American citizens are included in the 'stop list' from among the senators responsible for the formation of a Russophobic narrative, participants in the so-called McFaul-Yermak group, which develops recommendations on anti-Russian restrictions, as well as members of the family of President Joe Biden," the statement said.
 

They are banned from entering Russian territory.

 

Biden and his family joined a host of US senators on the list, including Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Ben Sasse of Nebraska - all of whom are seen as 'responsible for the formation of the U.S' Russophonbic course'.

 

The blacklist also included several university professors and researchers and former US government officials.

 

The step was taken 'as a response to the ever-expanding U.S. sanctions against Russian political and public figures,' the ministry said in a statement.

 

The United States has led international efforts to impose far-reaching sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, launched on February 24.
 

It comes just one day after the U.S. announced a raft of yet more sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian war effort by limiting Russia's access to technology, global markets, and trade while freezing the assets of elites involved in Vladimir Putin's regime.

 

Washington and the European Union have imposed sanctions against individuals, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, his daughters, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and members of his family, and several oligarchs linked to Putin.

 

The U.S. already has sanctions in place against more than 1,000 Russian elites and businesses seen as complicit in the atrocities being carried out by Putin's troops in Ukraine.

 

Russia detain US basketball star Brittney Griner for 6 months on alleged drug crimes

     

 

American basketball star Brittney Griner is scheduled to stand trial in Russia on Friday July 1st on charges of illegal cannabis possession.

 

The 31-year-old, a three-time WNBA league champion and seven-time All-Star who plays for Phoenix Mercury could face 10 years in prison if convicted.

 

The trial date was decided at a brief hearing she on Monday during which her detention was also extended for six months.

 

Griner was detained on 17 February at a Moscow-area airport after cannabis oil was allegedly found in her luggage.

The maximum prison sentence applies to "large-scale transportation of drugs."

 

However, even if acquitted at the trial, the Russian government can still overturn any decision and still send Griner to prison.

Griner, a member of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), is considered one of the most dominant players in her sport's history.

She travelled to Russia to play for EuroLeague team UMMC Ekaterinburg, where she had worked since 2014 during the US off-season. Roughly half of WNBA players compete overseas in the off-season as WNBA players are paid roughly five times more in Russia than they do in the United States.

A week ago the Kremlin responded to criticism of Griner's detention by asserting that "she is not a hostage of Russian justice". There has also been talk of swaps with Russian prisoners, such as Viktor Bout, nicknamed "The Merchant of Death", who is serving a 25-year sentence in the US for conspiracy to assassinate US citizens. There was also talk of Paul Whelan, former director of marines and security, who is serving a 16-year sentence for espionage.

Speaking on Sunday, June 26, Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, said in a televised interview: 

"I have got no higher priority than making sure that Americans who are being illegally detained in one way or another around the world come home.

He added: "I can't comment in any detail on what we're doing, except to say this is an absolute priority."

 

 

Mother reunites with her daughter 50 years after her partner secretly took her to Morocco when she was 18 months old

     

 

A mother has finally reunited with her daughter 50 years after her partner secretly took the child to Morocco to be raised by his strict sister who couldn't have children.

 

Birmingham-based Hazel Chick, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, was left "crying every night" for months when her 18-month-old daughter Sanae was taken away from her by her partner.

 

Her ex-husband claimed he was taking their child to Morocco to meet his relatives, however four weeks later her returned without Sanae.

 

He told Hazel that he had given their daughter to his sister to care for, because she couldn't have children of her own.

 

 

Sanae grew up thinking her aunt and uncle were her biological parents. She had an unhappy childhood; she was forced to leave school at eleven years old and worked at home until she had an arranged marriage aged nineteen with a "controlling" husband.

 

After 30 years, she was eventually told the truth about her parents by a distant family member and she moved to England with her four children in search of her mother.

 

Sanae, who is now happily married to someone else and has a fifth child, contacted Long Lost Family for help, and in emotional scenes which aired last night, June 27, she was finally reunited with her mother Hazel.

 

Sanae recalled of her childhood: "I had a hard life in Morocco. My parents were very strict, especially my father. 

 

"If you do something wrong, he's going to beat you. I had to stay at home, doing the cleaning, the washing or sewing clothes."

 

 

The situation only grew worse when she was 19 and was married off to a man over 20 years her senior.

 

She said: "It was an arranged marriage. He's very, very in control. He liked to think I was his slave."

 

Sanae had four children and was almost thirty when a distant family member, from England, revealed a devastating secret - that she was not who she thought she was.

 

She recalled: "I found out the truth: my father and my mum, it’s not my real family… All my life is fake.

 

"I feel like my heart is broken. You feel all your life is a lie. I want to know my real mother. I hope she loved me. Like I love her."

 

After finding out that she was born in England and her mother is there, Sanae went to the British Embassy in Rabat and traced her British birth certificate. 

 

Then, as a British citizen, Sanae move to the UK with her children. She is now happily remarried and surrounded by family. 

 

But without knowing her birth mother, she felt she could not feel truly complete. She's spent 20 years living in Britain and searching for her mother.

 

She said: "From my heart I wish to meet her one time in my life. See her, hug her because it’s so hard you know because it’s my mum."

 

Her wish finally became reality.

 

The Long Lost Family team found Hazel still living in Birmingham, and when told about her discovered daughter, she said: "I am over the moon. I’m overjoyed. […] to actually see my daughter before I pass on."

 

 

"Since her dad took her away, I've never, never stopped thinking about her," the mother added.

 

After fifty years apart, mother and daughter were finally reunited in emotional scenes on yesterday's programme.

 

 

"Today has meant everything to me. She is my life not in my life, she is my life. I love her, I always have, I always will... I'm glad she's back in my life," said Hazel.

 

"Today is the best day, an amazing day," added Sanae.

 

Police charge R. Kelly superfan after he threatened federal prosecutors and witnesses

     

 

A superfan of R.Kelly has been charged with threatening the federal prosecutors who secured the disgraced R&B singer’s Brooklyn conviction and also witnesses in the case.

Christopher “DeBoSki Gunn” Gunn told his YouTube followers on Oct. 4. “That’s where they at. That’s where they work at.”

 

In the video, Gunn held up a photo of the U.S. Attorney’s office by Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn, where a jury convicted Kelly on Sept. 27.

 

“We’re going to storm they office. We’re gonna storm they office,” Gunn said, also allegedly threatening three victims who testified at Kelly’s trial. “[I]f you ain’t got the stomach for the sh-t we bout to do, I’m asking that you just bail out.”

 

“You see this building right here? That building is located right outside of the courthouse where R. Kelly was being prosecuted at. It’s the first building on the corner. That is the United States federal prosecution office,” 

 

In his online rant, Gunn included a clip from the 1991 hit movie “Boyz N The Hood” depicting the moments before a character is fatally shot.

He was charged on Monday, June 27.
Prosecutors seek to keep him behind bars until he’s taken to Brooklyn Federal Court.

 

Gunn, 39, who attended at least one day of Kelly’s Brooklyn racketeering trial, was ordered held without bail until a Wednesday hearing in Chicago.

 

In November 2019, he and another superfan filed a lawsuit against one of the rapper’s accusers and the Lifetime TV network for airing the “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary, according to the Herald-News in Joliet, Ill.

 

The charges against Gunn come ahead of the disgraced singer’s sentencing Wednesday. R. Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, faces life behind bars for a decades-long sexual abuse scheme in which he preyed upon dozens of women and girls who he raped, beat, sexually abused, and mentally manipulated. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of more than 25 years.

Gunn faces up to five years in prison if convicted of making threats involving bodily harm and death.

 

Chadwick Boseman's $2.3 million estate will be evenly split between his widow Taylor Simone Ledward and his parents Leroy and Carolyn

     

 

Chadwick Boseman's estate is set to be evenly split between his widow and his parents.

 

The Black Panther star died on August 28, 2020, at the age of 43 after battling colon cancer which was diagnosed in 2016

 

He left behind a $2.3 million fortune, after taxes, funeral, legal, and lawyer fees were subtracted.

 

The total value of Boseman’s estate was estimated to be about $3,881,758 prior to the various fees. 

 

His widow Taylor Simone Ledward, 31, has reportedly asked for her husband’s estate to be split between herself and her in-laws, Leroy and Carolyn, according to Black Enterprise.

 

Simone Ledward - who was in charge of settling the estate - is set to receive $1.15 million from the estate, with an equal number going to her late husband's parents.

 

The actor reportedly did not have a will at the time of his passing, which means that the amount of legal fees the family had to pay out was much higher than if he had one. 

 

Chadwick and Simone got married in secret, close to a year prior to his death. The couple had been together since 2016, but it wasn’t until the actor's passing that the family confirmed to the public that he was married. 

 

Filmmaker Bam Margera found after second rehab escape, taken to new facility

     

 

42-year-old “Jackass” star, Bam Margera has been found after his second escape from rehab in two weeks.

 

TMZ reported that the reality show star was found on Monday June 27, at a hotel in Deerfield Beach, Florida,after last being seen Saturday evening near LifeSkills South Florida residential facility.

 

It was reported that police officers were joined by a crisis intervention team, which included Margera’s mother and father, who held an intervention on the spot.

 

Other family members called in to speak with him, but it’s unclear if the stunt performer’s wife, Nicole Boyd, was involved. 

 

Margera is now being taken to a new center, thanks to the intervention. The outlet also reported that he insisted on seeing his 4-year-old son, Phoenix Wolf, but was told he needed to get himself back in treatment first.  The reality star’s camp noted that Margera “voluntarily agreed” to check in to a new facility.

 

 

This is the second time the MTV alum has fled rehab without permission in recent weeks.

 

The father of one was first reported missing after leaving a facility in Delray Beach on June 13 without authorization.

 

He allegedly told the center’s manager of his plans to exit the premises so he could check into a different rehab, but cops could not locate him.

 

Margera was found safe on June 15 while hiding out in a Florida hotel room.

 

Justin Bieber seen for the first time in public since Ramsay Hunt syndrome diagnosis

     

 

Canadian music star, Justin Bieber has been spotted in public for the first time since his Ramsay Hunt syndrome diagnosis.

 

Bieber who seemed to be in good spirits and also recovering, was spotted with his wife, Hailey Bieber.

 

 

TMZ reported that they were calm and collected as they got off their jet in Los Angeles, after spending the last 2 weeks on a private island in the Bahamas.

 

The couple took the time off so the singer could rest up and recover from the rare neurological disorder.

 

Bieber kept a pretty low profile, wearing shades and a hoodie but, Justin and Hailey did stop by Sushi Park in WeHo for a quick bite to eat before heading home.

 

Male tourist 'raped by two men' while on holiday in Spain

     

 

An Irish tourist has reportedly told Spanish authorities that he was raped by two men while on holiday in Spain. 

The 28-year-old man reportedly told detectives he was attacked on the last night of his holiday in Valencia, after he agreed to go on a walk with two men he met in the vibrant city neighbourhood, El Carmen.

They persuaded him to leave a venue where he was partying with a friend. 

The two men 'of Arabic origin with a French accent' then tore the tourist's clothes off and sexually assaulted him on an old riverbed, local reports state.

The report said the holidaymaker had told officers his clothes were torn from him before he was forced to have sex during the stroll.

The same report said a doctor who examined him at Valencia’s La Fe Hospital found injuries consistent with a rape during an examination.

Police are hunting two men “of Arabic origin with a French accent” who spoke only a few words of English.

 

North Korea accuses US of setting up Asian NATO

     

 

North Korea has accused the United States of setting up a military alliance like NATO in Asia..

 

According to North Korea's government, it has been forced to develop stronger defences because of the U.S' aim to oust Kim Jong Un from power.

 

The North Korean criticism comes amid concern it could be preparing its first nuclear test in five years and after a recent agreement between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden to deploy more U.S. weapons if deemed necessary to deter the North.

 

"While blatantly holding joint military exercises with Japan and South Korea, the United States is making a full-fledged move to establish an Asia-style NATO," North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement on its website on Sunday, June 26.

 

North Korea was referring to recent military exercises conducted by U.S., South Korean and Japanese forces in Asian.

The exercises also involved a U.S. aircraft carrier, the first time one was used in more than four years.

 

North Korea, which has been conducting regular missile tests this year, repeated its assertion that such drills were preparation for war aimed at overthrowing it.

The United States is insisting that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons and has repeatedly offered to meet North Korean officials "at any time without preconditions" to discuss the issue. North Korea has rebuffed the offers.

The North Korean criticism came a day before South Korea's president left to attend a NATO summit in Spain, the first South Korean leader to do so.

 

"This proves the hypocrisy of the U.S. rhetoric of 'diplomatic engagement' and 'dialogue without preconditions', while at the same time revealing again that there is no change in the U.S. ambition to overthrow our system by force," the North Korean ministry said.

 

"The reality ... makes us feel the need to make all-out efforts to develop even stronger power to be able to subdue all kinds of hostile acts by the United States," it said.

 

 

Women cannot be born with a penis - Boris Johnson says as he backs decision to ban transgender women from competing in women’s swimming

     

 

British Prime minister,  Boris Johnson has welcomed the decision to ban transgender women from competing in women’s swimming, saying women cannot be born with a penis.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed that he supports FINA's bar on transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty from competing in women's events. 

The international swimming federation announced that it was changing its policies so that transgender women can only compete in the organisation's female races if they have completed their transition by the age of 12.

Instead, an 'open category' will be set up for transgender athletes to compete against one another at events, including the World Aquatics Championships, World Swimming Championships, and the Swimming World Cup.

 

Asked about FINA's ban, Mr. Johnson said: 'I haven't studied it in detail but I see no reason to dissent.'

After having the policy summarised to him, he added: 'That follows from what I've previously said.'

Mr. Johnson was also asked if a woman can be born with a penis, amid a debate in some quarters about anatomy and gender.

'Not without being a man, that's my view about that,' the Prime Minister replied.

Speaking to reporters travelling with him during his visit to Rwanda, he was asked if he thinks there is a difference between being a woman and a trans woman.

 

After pausing to think he said: 'Yes.'

 

He added: 'Look it's very, very important that as a society we should be as understanding of everybody else as possible. I've always stood for that.

 

'When you start to move from issues of sexuality to issues of gender you start to raise particular problems.

 

'I think I've spoken of three concerns I've had in the past. They are to do with the age at which you can (become) Gillick competent to transition, the question of safe spaces for women, and the difficulties you have in sporting competitions.

'These are all very difficult problems and you have to be very, very sensitive.'

 

LGBT charity Stonewall criticised the line of questioning, suggesting the Prime Minister would welcome it as a 'distraction' from the political turmoil.

 

Campaigns associate director Sasha Misra said: 'The real question that should be on the nation's lips is this: at a time when we are living through multiple national crises, why are journalists squandering valuable interview time by asking the Prime Minister leading questions about a tiny, vulnerable minority?

 

'We know that the majority of the public feel supportive and compassionate towards trans people, who are their family, friends and neighbours.

'All that is achieved by this kind of media coverage is that trans people feel less safe in their day to day lives, and the public has less opportunity to hear from the government on the pressing political matters of the day.

'The Prime Minister might welcome the distraction, but he should not be fooled into thinking that anti-trans talking points will win votes.'

 

2022 BET Awards: See how celebs arrived on the red carpet (photos)

     

 

The  BET Awards, which celebrates Black excellence in music, culture, and sports took place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night, June 26.

 

Holywood actress, Taraji P. Henson hosted the event. 

A-list stars slayed the red carpet with their stunning looks as they attended the event in several designer outfits. 

See some photos below...