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Danny Masterson appeals 2023 rape convictions, aims for ‘complete exoneration’ – National

20Dec

By Aditi PawarNo Comments

Entertainment, Movies

Danny Masterson appeals 2023 rape convictions, aims for ‘complete exoneration’ – National

Former That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson, through his lawyers, has appealed his 2023 rape convictions. In September of 2023, Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women, both former members of the Church of Scientology (Masterson is still a member of the church). The actor, 47, was found guilty of two of three counts of forcible rape during his retrial in May 2023.He had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. The retrial was called after 2022’s original trial on the same three counts ended in a mistrial when a jury deadlocked, failing to reach unanimous verdicts.Now, in a 242-page appellant’s opening brief filed on Dec. 18, Masterson’s lawyers allege that key witness testimonies morphed over time and “erroneous judicial rulings” skewed the jury’s v...

Malaysia agrees to resume search for wreckage of missing flight MH370

20Dec

By No Comments

World News

Malaysia agrees to resume search for wreckage of missing flight MH370

By Ashley Tang, Reuters Photo: AFP Last search for Malaysia Airlines plane ended in 2018 Malaysia to pay $70 million if substantive wreckage found Exploration firm confident of credibility of new data Malaysia has said wreckage vital to uncover what happened Malaysia has agreed to resume the search for the wreckage of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, its transport minister says, more than 10 years after it disappeared in one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries. Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March 2014. "Our responsibility and obligation and commitment is to the next of kin," Transport Minister Anthony Loke told a press conference on Friday (local time). "We hope this time will be ...

One in every 127 people globally had autism in 2021, study estimates

20Dec

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Health

One in every 127 people globally had autism in 2021, study estimates

A study has estimated that one in every 127 people globally, or 6.18 crore individuals, had autism in 2021, with the neurodevelopmental condition featuring among the top 10 causes of non-fatal health burden in youth aged under 20 years. The disorder is associated with repetitive behaviour and affected social skills. Signs, which can begin to show as early as 12 months of age, include poor non-verbal communication, such as avoiding eye contact and not responding to their name. Published in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, the results showed that globally, autism cases among men were over twice of those in women -- 1,065 cases for every one lakh men and 508 for every one lakh women. The estimates come from the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) Study, the largest and most comprehensive ones to...

‘They’re struggling’: The 3300 Ni-Vanuatu in New Zealand

20Dec

By No Comments

World News

‘They’re struggling’: The 3300 Ni-Vanuatu in New Zealand

Vanuatu seasonal workers check into a hotel in Nadi to await the resumption of commercial airline services to Port Vila. Photo: RNZ Pacific/Koroi Hawkins While search and rescue crews including a specialist New Zealand team continue to scour rubble in the Vanuatu capital Port Vila, back in Aotearoa, a number of Ni-Vanuatu are working in horticulture or viticulture seasonal jobs. There are 57 at Cromwell vineyard Grape Vision, and owner James Dicey told Checkpoint they had been struggling. "They're putting a bright face on things, but they're struggling," Dicey said. "We've just had our Christmas do and got sung some lovely Christmas carols by them. But when you talk to them one-on-one, soon the reality of the situation, and not being home, and dealing with or helping dealing with the s...

Ukraine collects vast war data trove to train AI models

20Dec

By No Comments

World News

Ukraine collects vast war data trove to train AI models

By Max Hunder, Reuters Servicemen from an artillery unit of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, training to use a drone during in December 2023. Photo: Dmytro Smolienko / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP As the future of warfare pivots towards artificial intelligence, Ukraine is sitting on a valuable resource: millions of hours of footage from drones which can be used to train AI models to make decisions on the battlefield. AI has been deployed by both sides on the battlefield during Russia's invasion of Ukraine to identify targets, scanning images far quicker than a human can. Founder of OCHI, a non-profit Ukrainian digital system which centralises and analyses video feeds from over 15,000 drone crews working on the frontlines, Oleksandr Dmitriev told Reute...

Olympic breaker Raygun says legal dispute over comedy musical has been resolved

20Dec

By No Comments

World News

Olympic breaker Raygun says legal dispute over comedy musical has been resolved

By Georgie Hewson, ABC Photo: AFP/Screenshot Breakdancer Rachael "Raygun" Gunn says she has resolved a dispute with a comedian after her lawyers shut down a parody musical based on her Olympic journey. Sydney comedian Steph Broadbridge cancelled her Raygun-inspired musical two weeks ago after receiving letters from the breakdancer's lawyers. Raygun's lawyers claimed her name and the silhouette of her iconic kangaroo pose from Paris 2024 were protected intellectual property. Hoping to put the online saga to rest, Gunn posted a video statement on Instagram on Thursday night. She said her legal team and Broadbridge's had come to an agreement. "Hi everyone, it's been a big couple of weeks," Gunn said in a video posted to Instagram. "I'm not going to lie, it's been a wild ride but I'm re...

Hold the Botox! Keira Knightley can actually emote in Black Doves

20Dec

By No Comments

Life Style

Hold the Botox! Keira Knightley can actually emote in Black Doves

Everyone looks incredible, and no one can emote properly. So it was a revelation to see Keira Knightley in Black Doves with a normal amount of lines on her 39-year-old skin and the ability to make complex expressions as she kicks arse across London. Yes, the posters on the Tube et al have been air brushed to high heaven, presumably to spare commuters the horror of what a woman who is almost 40 looks like. But on camera, rest assured, Knightley looks like a normal, if terribly beautiful, woman. Source link

Australian cartoonist and poet Michael Leunig dies aged 79

20Dec

By No Comments

World News

Australian cartoonist and poet Michael Leunig dies aged 79

Michael Leunig. Photo: ABC News / Jeremy Story Carter Australian cartoonist, poet and writer Michael Leunig has died aged 79. Leunig's death was announced in a statement on social media on Thursday evening. "The pen has run dry, its ink no longer flowing - yet Curly and his ducks will remain etched in our hearts, cherished and eternal," it said. "Michael Leunig passed away peacefully today, in the early hours of 19 December, 2024. "During his final days, he was surrounded by his children, loved ones, and sunflowers - accompanied as ever, by his dear old friends, Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven." Cartoonist for The Australian newspaper John Spooner told ABC Radio Melbourne the loss of Leunig felt "pretty huge". He said working alongside Leunig at The Age in the mid 80s was...

US government shutdown: What closes, what stays open?

20Dec

By No Comments

World News

US government shutdown: What closes, what stays open?

By Andy Sullivan for Reuters US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Republican from Louisiana, speaks to the media during a vote on a revised continuing resolution bill at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on 19 December 2024. Photo: ALLISON ROBBERT / AFP US government services will be disrupted and hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be told not to work if Congress fails to extend funding past Friday US time. Workers deemed essential would remain on the job. All federal employees' pay could be disrupted during a shutdown, though they would receive retroactive pay once government operations resume. Here is a guide to what would stay open and what would shut down, according to agency shutdown plans outlined last year: When and why would the government shut down? Congress writes ...

Rebecca Ferguson`s `Silo` to end after 4 years

20Dec

By No Comments

Entertainment, Movies

Rebecca Ferguson`s `Silo` to end after 4 years

Apple TV+ on Monday announced that Rebecca Ferguson`s `Silo` has been renewed for another two seasons. The streamer also shared that the fourth season will be the last chapter, as per Deadline. The two additional seasons will allow Executive Producer and Showrunner Graham Yost to tell the complete story of Hugh Howey`s New York Times bestselling trilogy of dystopian novels. Silo Season 2 is currently streaming globally with new episodes every Friday through January 17. The show tells the "story of the last ten thousand people on Earth, their mile-deep home protecting them from the toxic and deadly world outside. However, no one knows when or why the silo was built and any who try to find out face fatal consequences." Speaking about the upcoming seasons, Yost in a statement said, "It has...