Former University of Michigan hockey players say they were sexually hazed decades ago

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More than a dozen ex-players are suing the University of Michigan, alleging coach and staff were aware of abuse

More than a dozen former hockey players are suing the University of Michigan, alleging their coach and other staff were aware of sexual hazing that included the forced shaving of their genitals and other abuse by teammates decades ago.

“The abuse was ritualized, meticulously planned and sadistic … Enduring sexual abuse was required to be a member of the Michigan men’s ice hockey team,” attorney Michael Pitt said in a sex discrimination lawsuit filed on Wednesday in federal court in Detroit.

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Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer asks judge to find her not guilty after mistrial

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Kevin Reddington says prosecution did not offer evidence that client’s killing of her children constituted murder

Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer on Thursday asked the judge who oversaw the Massachusetts woman’s murder trial to declare her not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, saying prosecutors had failed to ⁠prove that, despite being mentally ill, ⁠she knew killing her ​three young children would be wrong.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington made the request to Judge William Sullivan six days after the trial ended in a deadlock, and as a fourth member of ⁠the 12-member jury went public to describe how a single juror had prevented the panel from reaching a unanimous verdict.

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Canada offers air defense support for Ukraine as Zelenskyy visits

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Canadian PM Mark Carney hosts president in Calgary, where he grew up alongside large Ukrainian community

Canada offered support on Thursday to boost Ukraine’s air defenses and help replenish its drone stocks, as the countries pledged to deepen their alliance during a visit by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Mark Carney hosted the president of Ukraine in Calgary in the western province of Alberta, where the Canadian prime minister grew up among a large community of people with Ukrainian heritage.

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US appeals court rejects Trump’s bid to restrict mail-in voting before midterms

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Court declined to ⁠put on hold ⁠injunction preventing the USPS from tightening rules around postal voting

A US appeals court has rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to impose sweeping restrictions on mail-in voting before November’s high-stakes midterm elections, dealing a fresh blow to the president’s attempted crackdown.

The Boston-based first US circuit court of appeals declined on Thursday to ⁠put on hold an ⁠injunction issued by a ​lower court judge last week, preventing the US Postal Service (USPS) from tightening rules around postal voting.

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Esther Rantzen now ‘too physically fragile’ to end her life in Switzerland

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Broadcaster, 86, had intended to end her life in Swiss clinic after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023

Esther Rantzen has said she is no longer able to travel to Switzerland to end her life because she has become “too physically fragile”.

Rantzen, who presented the TV current affairs programme That’s Life! for 21 years and founded the youth support charity Childline, had intended to end her life in a Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2023.

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Former PE teacher faces lengthy jail term for sexually abusing pupils

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Bronwen James, 30, admitted offences against two girls at schools in Wiltshire and Hampshire, and found guilty of charges involving boy

A former PE teacher is facing a lengthy jail sentence for grooming and sexually abusing three pupils at two schools.

Bronwen James, 30, admitted offences against two girls at schools in Hampshire and Wiltshire and was found guilty by a jury of charges involving a boy.

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Sacha Baron Cohen lined up for Quentin Tarantino’s West End playwriting debut

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The Ali G and Borat creator is reported to be taking the lead in The Popinjay Cavalier, a swashbuckling comedy Tarantino is developing for early 2027

He will soon be seen resuming his old Staines rudeboy persona in the film
Ali G: Who Iz I?, but Sacha Baron Cohen may also be eyeing a new departure – on stage.

The actor will reportedly star in Quentin Tarantino’s first play, The Popinjay Cavalier, which is billed as a “rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise” and a “sweeping celebration of theatre and its heightened romance”, set in 1830s Europe. According to Deadline, Baron Cohen will play the swashbuckling title character in the play, which Tarantino will also direct.

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An Israeli strike in Gaza kills at least 4, including children, and other Mideast developments – AP News

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  1. An Israeli strike in Gaza kills at least 4, including children, and other Mideast developments  AP News
  2. Israeli strike kills parents and two children in Gaza, medics say  Reuters
  3. Live updates • UN nuclear watchdog reports activity at Iran's Pickaxe Mountain  Haaretz
  4. Israel strikes Gaza refugee camp  The Telegraph
  5. Israeli Airstrike Flattens Home in Gaza, Killing Family of Four, Including Two Children  Democracy Now!
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Orthodox church sends medieval prince’s remains to Russian troops in Ukraine

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Part of Dmitry Donskoy’s right hand sent to ‘spiritually strengthen’ soldiers

The Russian Orthodox church has sent a fragment of a medieval warrior prince’s remains to troops fighting in Ukraine, saying the relic would “spiritually strengthen” soldiers and help them achieve victory.

A reliquary containing part of the right hand of Dmitry Donskoy, the 14th-century prince revered in Russia for his victory over the Mongolian Golden Horde in 1380, has been taken to Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine and is now being transported along the frontline.

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Houthis seize key Yemeni port of Mocha in drive to take control of Red Sea coast – The Guardian

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  1. Houthis seize key Yemeni port of Mocha in drive to take control of Red Sea coast  The Guardian
  2. Yemen’s Houthis Seize Strategic Red Sea Port, Officials Say  The New York Times
  3. Exclusive: This small island off Yemen is now a strategic prize in the widening Iran war  CNN
  4. Houthis advance along Yemeni coast, threaten Saudi oil exports in the Red Sea  Reuters
  5. Yemen's Houthis reportedly seize strategic Red Sea port of Mokha  bbc.com
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‘I don’t want to be here’: Andrew Hastie was a reluctant but ‘straightforward’ witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case

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The Liberal MP and former SAS soldier is under attack from One Nation after complying with a subpoena to give evidence in the failed 2022 civil case

“I don’t dislike Mr Roberts-Smith at all. I pity Mr Roberts-Smith. I pity this whole process. I don’t want to be here.”

Andrew Hastie was a reluctant witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case. Hastie appeared only under force of subpoena in 2022: compelled to attend court, obliged to swear an oath, and to tell “the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.

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Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition Opens at British Museum – The New York Times

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  1. Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition Opens at British Museum  The New York Times
  2. 'It blew me away': First visitors see Bayeux Tapestry as London exhibition opens  bbc.com
  3. ‘Once-in-a-millennium moment’: Medieval masterpiece Bayeux Tapestry finally goes on show in London  NBC News
  4. I watched with pride as the Bayeux Tapestry brought out the best in the British public  The Telegraph
  5. The Bayeux tapestry: why more women should be stitched into the fabric of history | Letters  The Guardian
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Russia Strikes Moldova Border as Ukraine Hits Black Sea Port – Crude Oil Prices Today | OilPrice.com

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  1. Russia Strikes Moldova Border as Ukraine Hits Black Sea Port  Crude Oil Prices Today | OilPrice.com
  2. Russia and Ukraine exchange strikes as two killed at Moldova border  bbc.com
  3. Russian drones kill two at Ukraine-Moldova border crossing, one dead in Kyiv attacks  Reuters
  4. Moldova rejects Russia's justification for strike on checkpoint on border with Ukraine  Українська правда
  5. Border crossing with Moldova suspended after Russian drone attack, people killed and injured  Ukrinform
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Much of Europe already levies a tourist tax – a nice little earner for Italian hotspots

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While England makes its first foray into unfamiliar territory, it’s proved a boon for Italy’s cash-strapped municipalities

A nightly tourist tax may be unfamiliar territory in the UK, but countries in continental Europe have been cashing in on these kinds of levies for decades.

Tourists usually need to pay the tax on the day they check out of a hotel or holiday let, and are often surprised by an extra fee on top of their accommodation costs.

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A fire on a passenger ferry in the Philippines leaves at least 5 dead and dozens missing – AP News

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  1. A fire on a passenger ferry in the Philippines leaves at least 5 dead and dozens missing  AP News
  2. Five dead and 86 missing as 'heartbreaking' fire breaks out on Philippines ferry  bbc.com
  3. Five dead and more than 80 missing in Philippine ferry fire  CNN
  4. Philippines deploys vessels as rescuers seek access to burned ferry  Reuters
  5. At Least 5 Dead and More Than 80 Missing After Passenger Ferry Catches Fire Near Popular Tourist Area  Yahoo
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