What is Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law and why is it controversial?

The tobacco company Philip Morris International has been accused of “manipulating science for profit” through funding research and advocacy work with scientists.

Campaigners say that leaked documents from PMI and its Japanese affiliate also reveal plans to target politicians, doctors and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as part of the multinational’s marketing strategy to attract non-smokers to its heated tobacco product, IQOS.

How is the loneliness epidemic affecting society?

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

Gen Z faces severe loneliness, worsened by social media and the pandemic. What are solutions to this growing crisis?

Michael Jackson was more than $500m in debt when he died in 2009

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

Court filing details how the King of Pop was in financial straits as he was preparing to embark on his This Is It tour

Michael Jackson had accumulated more than half a billion dollars of debt when he died in 2009, new court documents reveal.

A 21 June court filing by the executors of his estate provided some of the most complete details yet about the strained finances with which the 13-time Grammy winner was grappling at the time of his death.

Moscow Potentially Building New Shadow Fleet for LNG Exports – Kyiv Post

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

French court rules Boléro was Ravel’s work alone

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

Claimants, backed by composer’s estate, lose claim of co-authorship, described as ‘historical fiction’

A French court has ruled that Boléro, one of the best-known works of classical music in the world, was written by Maurice Ravel alone, in a verdict on a case with big financial stakes that could have taken the work out of the public domain.

Ravel first performed Boléro at the Paris Opera in 1928 and it was an immediate sensation. He died 10 years later and his heirs were paid millions of dollars until the copyright ran out in 2016.

‘It’s going to be tight’: Macron’s centrists struggle to deter voters from backing far right

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

With the first round of France’s snap election on Sunday, the president’s allies are desperate to shore up support

Standing in a courtyard framed by the white walls of one of Marseille’s Armenian churches, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, France’s secretary of state tasked with citizenship, took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully as she addressed a voter who had admitted she was considering switching allegiances to the far right.

Agresti-Roubache, born to a family with Algerian roots, led with the heart, describing how concerns over the snap parliamentary election results had left her elderly mother “in tears” daily. When the tactic proved futile, she changed tack. “When you don’t have power, you can say whatever people want to hear,” said Agresti-Roubache.

Key moments from the US presidential debate

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

US President Joe Biden stumbled over his words while the Republican Donald Trump repeated numerous falsehoods.

Iran votes in a snap poll for a new president. Here’s what’s at stake – The Associated Press

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

Iran votes in a snap poll for a new president. Here's what's at stake The Associated Press
Iran Holds Vote to Pick a President The New York Times
Iran Presidential Election: Voters Choose the Late Raisi's Replacement Foreign Policy
Iranians vote for new president to replace Ebrahim Raisi The Washington Post
Voting underway in Iran's presidential election following leader's death in helicopter crash Fox News

Mass search to be held on Saturday for missing Briton Jay Slater in Tenerife

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

Police had called for volunteers to help in search of rocky wildness close to where teenager went missing

A “mass search” for the missing teenager Jay Slater is due to begin in Tenerife on Saturday after police called for more volunteers to take part.

Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, was last heard from on the morning of Monday 17 June when he texted a friend to say he had no water and only 1% battery left on his phone.

Beware the criminalisation of environmental protest in Australia

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

Australia's new wave of anti-protest laws should worry all who care about the environment and freedom of expression.

Two U.S. airmen charged with separate sexual assaults in Japan – NBC News

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

Two U.S. airmen charged with separate sexual assaults in Japan NBC News
US soldier charged in Okinawa for rape of minor BBC.com
Japan condemns 'intolerable' US army after soldier charged with rape of teenager Yahoo! Voices
Japan protests sex assault cases involving US military on Okinawa and their delayed disclosure The Hill
U.S. Marine in Okinawa arrested over female injured in attempted rape Kyodo News Plus

Biden struggles against Trump’s lies in first debate | First Thing

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Admin

Joe Biden’s disastrous performance in the first presidential debate has Democrats scrambling. Plus: the 82-year-old ‘Sword Granny’ of India

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Good morning.

Joe Biden’s lackluster performance in the first presidential debate of the fight for the White House sent senior Democratic advisers and operatives into panic mode. Donald Trump repeatedly made false claims about January 6, the national debt and the economy while Biden mumbled and struggled to rebut Trump’s lies, which will only have reinforced a perception among many voters that he is too old for the job.

Some are raising questions over whether there could be a contested Democratic convention and how Biden might be replaced as the Democratic candidate for the election. The only option would be for Biden to agree to step aside and allow the delegates he won in the primaries to choose someone else – with some big names already being floated as possible options.

“Trump did not win the debate but Biden certainly lost it.” David Smith writes that Biden lived down to expectations that were at rock bottom and somehow made Trump sound almost coherent.

What were some of Trump’s lies? Moderators for CNN’s debate took a hands-off approach, letting lies and half-truths remain unchallenged. Trump spouted lies on abortion, the environment, the border, tax cuts and January 6.

Who won the meme wars? Both contenders delivered soundbites, with Trump declaring that during his presidency “everything was rockin’ good”, and Biden hitting back at Trump’s felony convictions, saying the former president “has the morals of an alleycat”.