Blog

By Céline Bruneau, AFP Photo: AMMAR ABD RABBO/AFP A Paris court postponed the trial of French actor Gerard Depardieu on sexual assault charges until March after his lawyer said the star was too ill to appear in court. Depardieu is the highest-profile figure to face accusations in French cinema's version of the #MeToo movement, triggered in 2017 by allegations against US producer Harvey Weinstein. The judge ordered a medical to be held in early March to see if Depardieu would be fit to stand trial towards the end of that month. His lawyer, Jeremie Assous, had said earlier that the 75-year-old actor was "extremely affected" by ill health, and that he had asked for proceedings to be delayed until he could attend in person. "Unfortunately his doctors have forbidden him from appearing he...

By Nicole Chavez, CNN Police responded to a call about a fire in a ballot box in Portland, Oregon. Photo: Portland Police Bureau via CNN Newsource US authorities are investigating after at least two ballot boxes were set on fire. Police responded to a call about a fire in Portland about 3.30am Monday (11.30pm Monday NZT), the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement. An "incendiary device" was placed inside the box and security personnel extinguished the fire, officials said. CNN has reached out to Multnomah County Elections office for comment. A second ballot box was set on fire early Monday morning at a bus station in nearby Vancouver, Washington, CNN affiliate KPTV reported. The Clark County Elections Office said hundreds of ballots were damaged at the box in the C-TRAN Park and...

By Lauren Kent, CNN British far-right activist Tommy Robinson (pictured in 2021) has been sentenced to 18 months. Photo: Peter Summers/Getty Images via CNN Newsource British far-right political activist Tommy Robinson has been jailed for 18 months after he admitted to being in contempt of court by repeating false accusations about a Syrian refugee, according to court documents. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, admitted to breaching UK court rules 10 times. Robinson, the founder of the now-defunct anti-immigration English Defence League (EDL), was accused of repeating false allegations that caused him to lose a libel suit in 2021. The initial libel case related to Robinson making false accusations against a Syrian schoolboy who was attacked in an incident shared wid...

People receive humanitarian aid packages provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from a warehouse in central Gaza City on 27 August 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. Photo: AFP / OMAR AL-QATTAA Israel has passed a law the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA from operating in the country, legislation that could impact its work in war-torn Gaza. The lawmakers who drafted the law cited the involvement of some UNRWA staffers in the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel and for staffers having membership in Hamas and other armed groups. The legislation has alarmed the United Nations and some of Israel's Western allies who fear it would further worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in...

By Jonathan Stempel, Reuters Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives for the 2018 Met Gala on May 7, 2018, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Photo: AFP / Angela Weiss Sean "Diddy" Combs has been accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in 2005, according to a new lawsuit that joins more than two dozen others accusing the music mogul of sexual misconduct. The civil lawsuit was one of two filed on Monday in a New York state court in Manhattan by Tony Buzbee, a lawyer who says he represents more than 150 victims of Combs' abuse, and has filed at least 17 lawsuits. In Monday's second lawsuit, another male accuser said he was a 17-year-old auditioning for the reality TV show Making the Band when Combs and a bodyguard sexually assaulted him in 2008. "The lawyer behind this lawsuit ...

By Velvet Winter, ABC Entertainment Fran Kranz, Chris Hemsworth, and Anna Hutchison, starring in The Cabin in the Woods (2011). Photo: Lionsgate Inc It's October, which means it's spooky season. But for some, October means avoiding film trailers and turning down movie night invites for fear of something too monstrous on screen. I see you, and I understand. Although the genre once petrified me, I can now watch films like Longlegs and Alien: Romulus in cinemas and I only cover my eyes a little bit (during the gory parts). So if you've always wanted to dive into horror without getting the wits scared out of you, let me introduce you to the films that helped me ease into the genre. These movies might give you a jolt, but they won't keep you up at night. There are slight SPOILERS for all ...

Rachel Reeves. Photo: PAUL ELLIS / AFP Britain's finance minister Rachel Reeves will announce billions of pounds in funding for the National Health Service (NHS) in Wednesday's (local time) budget that will go towards buying new equipment for hospitals and increasing the number of operations. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said tax rises will be necessary to rebuild Britain's public services, pledging no return to austerity despite a difficult fiscal inheritance after Labour won a July election. "I am putting an end to the neglect and under investment (the NHS) has seen for over a decade now," Reeves said on Monday. "We will be known as the government that took the NHS from its worst crisis in its history, got it back on its feet again and made it fit for the bright future ahead of it....