Tom Cruise is back on the flight line for a sequel to the 1986 film “Top Gun.”
The actor on Thursday tweeted a photo of himself as Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in a flight suit, looking at a fighter jet. The photo includes the phrase “feel the need.” In the original movie, Cruise’s character talks about how he feels the need for speed.
Cruise writes #Day 1 of production of “Top Gun: Maverick.”
The movie is scheduled for release in July 2019.
U.S. President Donald Trump again asked the ABC TV network Thursday for an apology for reasons that were not entirely clear. The request came a day after the network canceled Roseanne Barr’s television show following racist remarks she posted about Valerie Jarrett, an African American who served as a White House adviser to President Barack Obama.
Trump’s request comes after he suggested Wednesday he should get an apology from Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC.
On Thursday, though, Trump was more direct when he tweeted: “Iger, where is my call of apology? You and ABC have offended millions of people, and they demand a response. How is Brian Ross doing? He tanked the market with an ABC lie, yet no apology. Double Standard!”
Trump did not elaborate on how the network offended people. ABC correspondent Brian Ross, however, was suspended for four weeks last year after erroneously reporting that Trump asked former national security adviser Michael Flynn to make contact with Russian officials before the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Although ABC has not apologized directly to Trump for Ross’ error, the network issued a statement shortly after recanting the story that said, “We deeply regret and apologize for the serious error we made yesterday.”
Trump has not denounced Barr, who is white, for posting a tweet Tuesday that was later deleted saying Jarrett is a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and the “Planet of the Apes.” She later tweeted she was sorry “for making a bad joke” about Jarrett.
But White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee-Sanders said Wednesday Barr’s remarks were “inappropriate” and complained about the hiring of Trump critic Keith Olberman by ESPN, which is also owned by Disney. “This is a double standard that the president is speaking about.”
Barr’s offensive remarks triggered intense backlash, including ABC’s cancellation of her show which had been renewed for a second season.
“Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” said ABC entertainment President Channing Dungey.
Trump’s Twitter response Wednesday was somewhat surprising after Huckabee-Sanders said in response to a question about Barr Tuesday that he is focusing on trade, North Korea and other issues and “not responding to other things.”
After saying Tuesday she would stop tweeting, Barr resumed posting, blaming the effects of the sleep medication Ambien for her racist remarks in one of her more than 100 subsequent postings.
“guys I did something unforgivable so do not defend me. it was 2 in the morning and I was ambien tweeting — it was memorial day too — i went 2 far & do not want it defended — it was egregious indefensible. I made a mistake I wish I hadn’t but…don’t defend it please.”
The maker of Ambien, Sanofi S.A., responded to Barr’s claim saying, “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.”
Iger, who once considered challenging Trump for the presidency in 2020, indeed called Jarrett to inform her about the show’s cancellation.
“He wanted me to know before he made it public that he was canceling the show,” Jarrett said.
Jarrett has not commented on Trump’s response nor has Iger replied to Trump’s suggestion he was treated differently by the network.
Barr’s TV show was a new version of her 1988-97 sitcom “Roseanne.” It returned this year with Barr playing a character who is supportive of President Trump.
Barr in real life is an avid supporter of Trump. He hailed the new show two months ago for its strong ratings.
“Look at her ratings! Look at her ratings,” he said at a speech in Richfield, Ohio. “Over 18 million people,” Trump said, “and it was about us.” They haven’t figured it out yet; the fake news hasn’t quite figured it out yet. They have not figured it out. So that was great.”
Trump’s response to the Barr controversy was not his only controversial remark in recent days. On Memorial Day, a solemn U.S. holiday to honor military personnel who died in the line of duty, Trump tweeted: “Happy Memorial Day! Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud at how well our country is doing today. Best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for Blacks and Hispanics EVER (& women in 18years), rebuilding our Military and so much more. Nice!”
The tweet drew criticism from some, including retired Admiral John Kirby, a State Department spokesman during the Obama administration.
“This is one of the most inappropriate, ignorant and tone-deaf things our Commander-in-Chief could have said on a day like today,” Kirby wrote on Twitter.
Українська тенісистка Леся Цуренко зіграє 31 травня в другому колі відкритого чемпіонату Франції. Її суперницею є американка Коко Вандевеґе, сіяна на Roland Garros під 15-м номером.
Також у четвер проведе свій поєдинок другого кола Сергій Стаховський. Український представник, який у першому раунді переграв сіяного під 28-м номером іспанця Феліціано Лопеса (6:2, 6:4, 6:2), зустрінеться з німцем Мішею Зверєвим.
30 травня перша ракетка України Еліна Світоліна вийшла до третього раунду, а авторка гучної стартової сенсації Катерина Козлова зачохлила ракетку, програвши у важкому матчі чешці Катерині Синяковій.
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Health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are racing against time to contain an outbreak of Ebola. So far, the World Health Organization reports at least 25 people have died out of the 58 people who have gotten the virus. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports that efforts to vaccinate people exposed to Ebola started more than 10 days ago.
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In an attempt to bridge the gap of understanding between different Indian communities, a house in the Indian capital of New Delhi is trying to foster the message of tolerance and peaceful coexistence in a unique manner. The house gives people from different religions and communities the chance to live together as a family for up to six months as a way to promote understanding. VOA’s Ritul Joshi reports from New Delhi.
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President Donald Trump is overstating progress against the opioid epidemic, claiming “the numbers are way down” despite an increase of opioid-related deaths and overdoses in his first year in office.
A look at his comments during a political rally in Nashville on Tuesday night:
TRUMP: “We got $6 billion for opioid and getting rid of that scourge that’s taking over our country. And the numbers are way down. We’re getting the word out — bad. Bad stuff. You go to the hospital, you have a broken arm, you come out, you’re a drug addict with this crap. It’s way down. We’re doing a good job with it. But we got $6 billion to help us with opioid.”
THE FACTS: Opioid prescriptions are down; deaths and other indicators of the epidemic are up, according to the latest statistics, from 2017. And those developments have nothing to do with the $6 billion approved by Congress because that money is for this year and next.
Trump didn’t specify what numbers he was talking about. But according to data released in April, prescriptions for opioid painkillers filled in the U.S. fell almost 9 percent last year, the largest drop in 25 years. The total dosage of opioid prescriptions filled in 2017 declined by 12 percent because more prescriptions were for a shorter duration, fewer new patients started on them and high-dose prescriptions dropped. The numbers are from health data firm IQVIA’s Institute for Human Data Science.
But legal prescriptions are only one front of the epidemic.
Drug overdose deaths involving opioids rose to about 46,000 for the 12-month period ended October 2017, up about 15 percent from October 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The numbers are preliminary because of continuing cause-of-death investigations later in the reporting period. They could go higher.
Other measures from the CDC also point to increasing severity of the problem last year.
For example, emergency department visits for overdoses of opioids — prescription pain medications, heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl — rose 30 percent in the U.S. from July 2016 to September 2017. Overdoses shot up 70 percent in the Midwest in that time while increasing by 54 percent in large cities in 16 states.
“Getting rid of that scourge” is the intent, but the numbers don’t show it fading.
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The American Cancer Society is recommending people start testing for colon and rectal cancer at age 45, rather than 50 as currently prescribed.
It also recommends people who are in good health and with a life expectancy of more than 10 years continue regular colorectal cancer screening through the age of 75.
The group said the initial test does not have to be a colonoscopy, but instead could be one of several non-invasive tests, such as a home stool test available by prescription.
“All of these tests are good tests, and the choice should be offered to patients,” said the cancer society’s Dr. Rich Wender. “The best test is the test that gets done.”
The change in procedure is based on new information about a marked increase in the incidences of colorectal cancer, particularly rectal cancer, among younger individuals. Experts aren’t sure why there has been a 50 percent increase in cases since 1994.
Most colon cancer occurs in adults 55 and older, and the good news is that rates of cases and deaths have been falling for decades. Colon cancer, combined with rectal cancer, is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.
This year, more than 140,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with it, and about 50,000 will die from it.
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Film producer Harvey Weinstein was indicted Wednesday on first- and third-degree rape and criminal sex act charges, furthering the first criminal case to arise from a slate of sexual misconduct allegations against the former movie mogul.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said the indictment brought Weinstein “another step closer to accountability.”
The announcement came hours after Weinstein’s lawyers said he’d decline to testify before the grand jury because there wasn’t enough time to prepare him and “political pressure” made an indictment unavoidable.
A statement issued through a Weinstein spokesman said the 66-year-old film producer, who has denied the allegations, learned of the specific charges and the accusers’ identities only after turning himself in Friday. With a deadline set for Wednesday afternoon to testify or not, his request for more time was denied, the statement said.
“Finally, Mr. Weinstein’s attorneys noted that regardless of how compelling Mr. Weinstein’s personal testimony might be, an indictment was inevitable due to the unfair political pressure being placed on Cy Vance to secure a conviction of Mr. Weinstein,” the statement said, referring to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.
Vance said in a statement that the Weinstein camp’s “recent assault on the integrity of the survivors and the legal process is predictable.”
“We are confident that when the jury hears the evidence, it will reject these attacks out of hand,” Vance said.
Weinstein was charged Friday with rape and criminal sex act charges involving two women in New York, as a grand jury continued hearing evidence in the case; the panel has been at work for weeks. Defendants have the right to testify in a grand jury’s secret proceedings but often don’t, for various reasons.
Dozens of accusers
Dozens more women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to assault in various locales. He has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex, and his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said Tuesday that Weinstein was “confident he’s going to clear his name” in the New York prosecution.
Brafman called the rape allegation “absurd,” saying that the accuser and Weinstein had a decade-long, consensual sexual relationship that continued after the alleged 2013 attack.
The woman, who hasn’t been identified publicly, told investigators Weinstein confined her in a hotel room and raped her.
The other accuser in the case, former actress Lucia Evans, has gone public with her account of Weinstein forcing her to perform oral sex at his office in 2004. The Associated Press does not identify alleged victims of sexual assaults unless they come forward publicly.
Vance, a Democrat, came under public pressure from women’s groups to prosecute Weinstein after declining to do so in 2015, when an Italian model went to police to say Weinstein had groped her during a meeting.
Police set up a sting in which the woman recorded herself confronting Weinstein and him apologizing for his conduct. But Vance decided there wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges.
Governor Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, ordered the state attorney general to investigate how Vance handled that matter.
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В Одесі активісти збирали підписи за знесення Національного театру опери і балету і перетворення його на торговельний центр. В акції, що пройшла поблизу самого театру, взяли участь кілька десятків людей.
Вони тримали плакати із надписами «Зносіть місто одразу, щоб не було боляче», «Ах Одеса! Немає живого місця», «Плювати на закон – заливаємо бетон», «Найважливішим мистецтвом для нас є «шопінг», «Співати можна і в торговельному центрі».
За словами одного з організаторів акції, екскурсовода Олександра Бабіча, ця акція – крик відчаю, сміх крізь сльози.
«Оскільки Одеса знищується все більш швидкими темпами і зробити з цим все одно нічого не виходить, залишається лиши максимально пришвидшити цей процес», – жартує він.
В акції також взяло участь кілька відомих жителів Одеси, в тому числі художник і директор Мистецького музею Олександр Ройтбурд.
Учасники акції зачитали «звернення» до одеської міської ради, в якому попросили пришвидшити знесення історичного центру, оскільки чиновники все одно не намагаються його зберегти. Деякі учасники запропонували встановити торговельні кіоски вздовж хвилелому.
Акція завершилася збором підписів під жартівливим зверненням за перебудову театру в торговельний центр. Ескізи цієї фантастичної будівлі з’явилися в соціальних мережах напередодні.
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Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West is heading to the White House on Wednesday to make a star-powered case for prison reform and advocate on behalf of a great-grandmother serving a life sentence.
Kardashian West has urged the president to pardon Alice Marie Johnson, 63, who is serving a life sentence without parole for a non-violent drug offense.
In an interview with Mic, Kardashian West said she’d been moved by Johnson’s story after seeing a video by the news outlet.
“I think that she really deserves a second chance at life,” Kardashian told Mic. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get her out.”
She said in the interview she’d been in touch with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, over the case.
“I’ve been in communication with the White House and trying to bring her case to the president’s desk and figure out how we can get her out,” she said of Johnson, who has spent over two decades behind bars.
Kushner oversees the administration’s push to overhaul the nation’s prison system and help former inmates gain skills and more effectively make the transition back into society.
It’s unclear whether Kardashian West will meet with Trump during the visit, though the president often invites visitors to the White House complex into the Oval Office for informal meetings and photo-ops.
She told Mic if she had the chance to meet the president, she’d tell him: “I really do believe that she’s going to really thrive outside of prison, and I would just urge him to please pardon her.”
Trump last week granted a rare posthumous pardon to boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, clearing Jack Johnson’s name more than 100 years after what many saw as his racially-charged conviction.
The boxer’s pardon had been championed by actor Sylvester Stallone, who brought the story to Trump’s attention in a spring phone call.
Trump has issued just a handful of other pardons, including one for former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a staunch campaign supporter, one for Scooter Libby, who served as chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney, and one for a U.S. Navy sailor convicted for taking photos of classified portions of a submarine.
Kardashian West supported Trump’s rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, during the 2016 election. But her husband, rapper Kanye West, recently offered his support for Trump in a series of tweets, saying they both share “dragon energy.”
West also paid a visit to the then-president elect in New York before his inauguration. Trump said they’d talked about “life” as they posed for photos in the lobby of Trump Tower. West has said he didn’t vote for president, but if he had, he would have cast a ballot for Trump.
The White House declined to comment on the visit. Trump has talked about the need to get tougher on drug dealers, including suggesting some should receive the death penalty. Kardashian West appeared to preview the visit on her Twitter feed, writing: “Happy Birthday Alice Marie Johnson. Today is for you.”
Johnson was convicted in 1996 on eight criminal counts related to a multi-year Memphis-based cocaine trafficking operation involving more than a dozen people. The 1994 indictment describes dozens of deliveries and drug transactions, many involving Johnson.
She was sentenced to life in prison in 1997, and appellate judges and the U.S. Supreme Court have rejected her appeals. Court records show she has a motion pending for a reduction in sentence, but federal prosecutors are opposed to a sentence reduction, saying in a court filing that the sentence is in accord with federal guidelines, based on the large quantity of drugs involved. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Memphis did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
A criminal justice advocacy site, CAN-DO, and one of Johnson’s attorneys say a request for clemency was rejected by former President Barack Obama. The reasons are unclear.
Memphis attorney Michael Scholl, who filed the latest court documents in her request for a sentence reduction, said she was not a leader in the cocaine operation.
“What is the purpose of putting a lady with no prior criminal record, on a non-violent drug offense, in jail for her entire life?” he said in a telephone interview. “She’s a model inmate.”
Scholl added that Johnson has admitted her wrongdoing, which is borne out in letters she has written to U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays, who now oversees her case.
“Judge Mays I’m writing to you to express my deep remorse for the crime that I committed over 20 years ago. I made some bad choices which have not only affected my life, but have impacted my entire family,” she said in a February 2017 letter in the court record.
In a hand-scrawled letter last June she wrote: “I’m a broken woman. More time in prison cannot accomplish more justice.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump signed legislation Wednesday to give patients with deadly diseases the “right to try” experimental drugs that might extend their lives.
At a White House signing ceremony, Trump called the measure a “fundamental freedom” for people with life-threatening conditions to use medications that have shown promise in initial testing but not been approved by U.S. regulators for sale to the public.
The bill cleared Congress last week after a spirited debate in which Republicans said it could give hope to thousands of people looking to save their lives, while many Democrats opposed to it said it would give patients false hope.
Trump had voiced support for the legislation at his State of the Union address in January, saying that the terminally ill should not have to leave the U.S. in search of an experimental drug in another country.
Patients will be able to take advantage of the provision only if they have exhausted their treatment options using drugs already approved by U.S. regulators. They then will be able to use drugs the Food and Drug Administration has yet to declare as safe.
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A judge in Philadelphia has denied Meek Mill’s request for the removal of another judge from the rapper’s case.
President Judge Leon Tucker told Mill in a Wednesday hearing that he doesn’t have jurisdiction over the matter. He says only the state Supreme Court can decide that.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered Mill’s release from prison last month where he was serving a two- to four-year sentence on a probation violation related to a decade-old gun and drug conviction.
Mill’s lawyers want Judge Genece Brinkley removed from his case. They allege she’s been waging a vendetta against the rapper, including sending him to prison for the probation violations.
She has strongly defended her impartiality.
Prosecutors say they believe Mill should get a new trial because of questions raised about the credibility of his arresting officer.
Йдеться про книжку «Червоний голод: війна Сталіна проти України»
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Щорічний «Книжковий арсенал» у Києві розпочався з презентації книги американсько-британської журналістки та історика Енн Епплбаум «Червоний голод: війна Сталіна проти України».
«Я переконана, що розуміння проблеми Голодомору дуже важливе для відносин між Україною і Росією сьогодні. Дуже важливо донести росіянам, що це був штучний голод», – заявила Епплбаум.
За словами журналістки, спершу вона планувала писати передовсім про голод 1932-1933 років, але згодом зрозуміла, що Україна почала бентежити Йосипа Сталіна ще у 1917-1918 роках, тому почала свою книгу з цього періоду.
Доктор історичних наук, професор Станіслав Кульчицький вважає, що своєю книгою Епплбаум вже нажила багато ворогів.
Інтерв’ю Радіо Свобода: Більшовики бачили в Україні ідеологічну загрозу – Енн Епплбаум про «Війну Сталіна проти України»
«Іноді рецензії дуже злі, тому що вона увійшла у центр протистояння між Україною і Росією», – наголосив Кульчицький.
За його словами, 10 років тому Україна програла інформаційне протистояння з Росією щодо оцінки Голодомору на міжнародній арені, але тепер за допомогою книги Епплбаум світ краще зрозуміє цю трагедію.
Книга «Червоний голод: війна Сталіна проти України» вийшла восени 2017 року у Британії та США. У 2018 році видавництво Українського науково-дослідного та освітнього центру вивчення Голодомору видало книгу в перекладі українською.
У березні цю книгу відзначило журі щорічної премії Лайонела Ґелбера.
Енн Епплбаум є лауреатом Пулітцерівської премії, автором книг «Історія ГУЛАГу» та «Залізна завіса: руйнування Східної Європи. 1944–1956 роки».
Вона живе в Польщі разом із чоловіком, політиком Радославом Сікорським, та трьома дітьми.
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Кабінет міністрів України пропонує частково компенсувати з держбюджету оплату послуг няні для батьків, які працюють.
Урядові ініціативи, покликані збільшити народжуваність, на засіданні Кабміну 30 травня озвучив прем’єр Володимир Гройcман.
Одна з таких ініціатив – «муніципальна няня». «Ми хочемо допомогти працюючій мамі і трохи полегшити їй життя. З 1 січня 2019 року кожна родина зможе отримати часткову компенсацію зарплати няні, яка доглядає за дитиною до 3-ох років. Єдина умова – няня має бути працевлаштована офіційно. Компенсація дорівнюватиме прожитковому мінімуму. Зараз це приблизно 1500 гривень. Кожного року ця сума збільшуватиметься», – повідомив Гройсман.
Інша ініціатива – «пакунок малюка». «З 1 вересня 2018 року кожна мама немовляти отримає пакунок-подарунок зі всім необхідним на перших порах життя дитинки. Тут будуть підгузки, пелюшки, ковдри й інше, загалом на суму приблизно 5000 гривень», – додав голова уряду.
За його словами, є ще низка ініціатив, які мають створити більш дружнє середовище для дитини.
За даними Міністерства соціальної політики України, від 1 липня 2014 року допомога при народженні дитини призначається в єдиному розмірі – 41280 гривень незалежно від того, яка дитина за черговістю (перша, друга, третя чи кожна наступна).
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Упродовж минулого тижня на кір захворіли 1 334 людини, повідомив Центр громадського здоров’я МОЗ України.
У відомстві зазначили, що захворіли 552 дорослих та 812 дітей.
«Зупинити спалах може тільки посилена імунізація. Міністерство охорони здоров’я наголошує на необхідності проведення щеплення усім, хто не отримав вчасно дві дози вакцини КПК (від кору паротиту та краснухи – ред.), та закликає органи місцевого самоврядування посилити заходи з вакцинації», – заявили у відомстві.
За даними МОЗ, з початку року на кір захворіли 18 144 людей – 7 378 дорослих і 10 766 дітей. За цей час від ускладнень кору померло дев’ятеро людей: шестеро дітей і троє дорослих.
Найбільше людей захворіли на кір на Львівщині (2399 людей, з них – 759 дорослих і 1640 дітей), Закарпатті (2377 людей: 447 дорослих і 1930 дітей), Івано-Франківщині (2280 людей: 670 дорослих і 1610 дітей), Одещині (1720 людей: 847 дорослих і 873 дитини), у Києві (1250 людей: 778 дорослих і 472 дитини) та Чернівецькій області (всього 1137 людей: 373 дорослих і 764 дитини).
23 квітня у МОЗ заявлили, що вакцина проти кору є у наявності в усіх регіонах.
Кір легко передається від людини до людини, поширюється при кашлі, тісних особистих контактах. Вірус залишається активним і живе в повітрі або на інфікованих поверхнях протягом двох годин. Спочатку хворий відчуває ознаки звичайної застуди: нежить, температуру, кашель, приблизно через тиждень з’являється висип (спочатку на голові, далі – на верхній та нижній частинах тулуба). Серед ускладнень, які викликає кір, – ураження нервової системи (енцефаліт), пневмонія, отит, втрата зору.
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The California public health system will start delivering healthy meals to 1,000 patients with congestive heart failure or type 2 diabetes… and little purchasing power. The patients, who are part of a pioneering three-year pilot program, will receive a personalized diet and nutritional education to determine the impact of good nutrition on their ailment, and whether a healthier menu can lower their medical costs.
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The U.S. said it is hosting a senior-level Chinese delegation to witness its drug prevention and treatment efforts, even as the United States continues to battle opioid abuse that is killing more than 60,000 people annually.
The State Department said Tuesday the Chinese will visit drug abuse prevention programs in Washington and New York and highlight the role that U.S. agencies, private treatment centers and non-government community coalitions play in fighting drug abuse in the U.S.
An average of more than 160 people are dying every day in the U.S. from opioid abuse. But the State Department said the U.S.-Chinese effort to reduce the demand for illicit drugs adds to the two countries’ “recent productive cooperation” by imposing restrictive controls on synthetic opioids.
The State Department said it is aiming to cut drug abuse, “as addiction knows no national borders, and illicit drug use anywhere enriches transnational criminal drug traffickers.”
Last October, U.S. President Donald Trump declared opioid abuse a “national public health emergency.”
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The lawyer defending movie mogul Harvey Weinstein against rape charges said Tuesday he was concerned that publicity surrounding the case and “inappropriate pressure” on prosecutors could be unfair to his client.
The lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, spoke to reporters after a closed-door proceeding before New York Supreme Court Justice James Burke in Manhattan, which he said he had requested to raise his concerns about the case. Brafman said he expected Weinstein would be exonerated of the charges, which he called “absurd.”
Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 70 women, in some instances dating back decades, has denied having nonconsensual sex with anyone.
Brafman said he could not discuss the substance of the proceeding in detail and did not say exactly what action, if any, he had asked the judge to take. Weinstein did not appear at the proceeding.
“One of my concerns is that by virtue of some of the publicity that has occurred over the weekend, that the ability for people to keep an open mind is of concern to me,” Brafman told reporters outside the courthouse. “I also think that the pressure that is being brought to bear on the [Manhattan] District Attorney’s office demanding that an indictment or prosecution of Mr. Weinstein proceed is inappropriate pressure.”
Brafman did not elaborate on the source of the “pressure.” “I’m not certain whether there is any remedy but I wanted to make it clear that I was not happy with those issues,” he said.
The District Attorney’s office declined to comment.
Weinstein has been charged with two counts of rape and one count of a criminal sexual act following a months-long investigation by the New York Police Department. Authorities did not identify the two women, but said the crimes took place in 2004 and 2013. If convicted on the most serious charges, Weinstein could face between five and 25 years in prison.
Brafman said Tuesday that Weinstein was accused of raping one woman, and that he had a 10-year consensual affair with her both before and after the alleged rape.
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The American Broadcasting Co. canceled Rosanne Barr’s new television show Tuesday after she posted racist remarks about Valerie Jarrett, an African-American who served as a White House adviser to President Barack Obama.
Barr, who is white, tweeted earlier in the day that Jarrett was a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Planet of the Apes.
Barr later tweeted she was sorry “for making a bad joke” about Jarrett.
Before it was deleted, Barr’s tweet read: “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby = vj.”
Her offensive remarks triggered an intense backlash, resulting in ABC’s cancellation of her show, which had been renewed for a second season.
“Rosanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” said ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey.
Her TV show was a new version of her 1988-97 show Rosanne. It returned this year with Barr playing a character who is supportive of President Donald Trump.
Barr is an avid supporter of Trump, who hailed the new show two months ago for its strong ratings.
“Look at her ratings! Look at her ratings!” he said at a speech two months ago in Richfield, Ohio. “Over 18 million people, and it was about us. They haven’t figured it out yet; the fake news hasn’t quite figured it out yet. They have not figured it out. So that was great.”
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