NEW YORK (AP) — As they unsuccessfully fought to maintain Sean “Diddy” Combs out of jail after his intercourse trafficking arrest, the music mogul’s attorneys highlighted a litany of horrors on the Brooklyn federal lockup the place he was headed: horrific circumstances, rampant violence and a number of deaths.

Combs, 54, was despatched to the Metropolitan Detention Middle in Brooklyn on Tuesday — a spot that’s been described as “hell on earth” and an “ongoing tragedy” — after pleading not responsible in a case that accuses him of bodily and sexually abusing ladies for greater than a decade.

WATCH: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs held with out bail after arrest on intercourse trafficking indictment

The power, the one federal jail in New York Metropolis, has been stricken by issues because it opened within the Nineties. In recent times, its circumstances have been so stark that some judges have refused to ship folks there. It has additionally been dwelling to quite a few high-profile inmates, together with R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell and cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.

In an announcement, the federal Bureau of Prisons stated: “We additionally take severely addressing the staffing and different challenges at MDC Brooklyn.” An company group is working to repair issues, together with by including everlasting correctional and medical employees, remedying greater than 700 backlogged upkeep requests and answering judges’ issues.

A choose on Wednesday denied a request by Combs’ attorneys to let him await trial below home arrest at his $48 million mansion on an island in Miami Seashore, Florida.

Listed below are some necessary issues to know concerning the jail:

What’s the Metropolitan Detention Middle?

The Bureau of Prisons opened the ability, referred to as MDC Brooklyn, as a jail within the early Nineties.

It’s used primarily for post-arrest detention for folks awaiting trial in federal courts in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Different inmates are there to serve brief sentences following convictions.

The power, in an industrial space on the Brooklyn waterfront, has about 1,200 detainees, down from greater than 1,600 in January. It has out of doors recreation services, a medical unit with examination rooms and a dental suite. It has a separate wing for academic applications and the jail’s library.

The Bureau of Prisons closed its crumbling Metropolitan Correctional Middle in Manhattan in 2021, leaving MDC Brooklyn as its solely facility within the nation’s largest metropolis.

READ MORE: U.S. closing troubled NYC jail the place Epstein died by suicide

What are some issues with MDC Brooklyn?

Detainees have lengthy complained about rampant violence, dreadful circumstances, extreme staffing shortages and the widespread smuggling of medicine and different contraband, a few of it facilitated by workers. On the identical time, they are saying they’ve been topic to frequent lockdowns and have been barred from leaving their cells for visits, calls, showers or train.

In June, Uriel Whyte, 37, was stabbed to dying on the jail. A month later, Edwin Cordero, 36, died after he was harm in a brawl. At the least 4 folks detained on the jail have died by suicide within the final three years.

Cordero’s lawyer, Andrew Dalack, instructed The New York Occasions his consumer was simply the sufferer of “an overcrowded, understaffed and uncared for federal jail that’s hell on earth.”

At the least six MDC Brooklyn employees members have been charged with crimes within the final 5 years. Some have been accused of accepting bribes or offering contraband similar to medication, cigarettes, and cellphones, in line with an Related Press evaluation of agency-related arrests.

MDC Brooklyn has additionally come below fireplace for its response to debilitating infrastructure breakdowns and the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, a week-long energy failure sparked unrest amongst shivering inmates and drew issues from federal watchdogs. In March 2020, the jail had the primary federal inmate to check constructive for COVID-19.

As of final November, in line with courtroom filings, MDC Brooklyn was working at about 55 % of full staffing, which was taxing to workers and added to its safety woes.

What’s being executed about these issues?

Judges and advocates have taken discover, excoriating the Bureau of Prisons for “harmful, barbaric circumstances” and urgent the company to make enhancements. Some judges have moved away from sending defendants to MDC Brooklyn or have given diminished sentences due to the circumstances there.

In January, U.S. District Choose Furman took the uncommon step of permitting Gustavo Chavez, 70, to stay free on bail after his conviction for drug crimes fairly than locking him up on the Brooklyn jail to await sentencing.

“Prosecutors not even put up a battle, not to mention dispute that the state of affairs is unacceptable,” Furman wrote.

In August, U.S. District Choose Gary Brown stated he would vacate a 75-year-old defendant’s nine-month sentence for tax fraud and place him on dwelling confinement if the Bureau of Prisons despatched him to MDC Brooklyn.

In response, the Bureau of Prisons stated it had “quickly paused” sending any defendants convicted of crimes to the jail to serve their sentences. In an announcement Tuesday, the company stated 43 folks have been presently serving sentences in a minimum-security unit on the jail.

What different notable folks have been detained at MDC Brooklyn?

Combs is simply the most recent celeb inmate to be locked up at MDC Brooklyn, becoming a member of an inventory that features Maxwell, Kelly, Bankman-Fried and the rapper Fetty Wap.

Different high-profile detainees have included Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli, NXIVM intercourse cult founder Keith Raniere, former Mexican authorities official Genaro Garcia Luna and ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado.

What occurred to New York Metropolis’s different federal jail?

The Metropolitan Correctional Middle in Manhattan closed in 2021 after a slew of issues that got here to gentle after Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide there two years earlier.

The jail — subsequent to the courthouse the place Combs was arraigned — was stricken by lax safety, extreme staffing shortages and squalid, unsafe circumstances together with falling concrete, freezing temperatures and busted cells.

Folks detained on the facility have been relocated to MDC Brooklyn or a medium-security jail in Otisville, New York.

What have Combs’ attorneys and prosecutors stated?

Combs’ attorneys argued in paperwork searching for his launch that the Metropolitan Detention Middle isn’t match for pretrial detention. They cited current detainee deaths, and the issues shared by judges that the jail isn’t any place for anybody to be held.

Requested about holding a high-profile inmate like Combs locked up, notably in gentle of Epstein’s 2019 dying, Manhattan-based U.S. Lawyer Damian Williams stated: “We’re involved with anybody’s security each time they’re detained previous to trial.”

“I don’t draw any kind of connection between Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide and what might or might not occur to every other defendant whereas they’re detained pretrial,” he added.

Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, stated Wednesday that the rapper is being held in MDC Brooklyn’s particular housing unit, which gives an additional layer of safety however could make trial preparation extra onerous. He requested that Combs be moved to a New Jersey jail, however a choose stated it’s as much as the Bureau of Prisons to resolve.

Is it simply MDC Brooklyn, or do all federal prisons have points?

An ongoing Related Press investigation has uncovered deep, beforehand unreported flaws throughout the Bureau of Prisons, an company with greater than 30,000 workers, 158,000 inmates, 122 services and an annual price range of about $8 billion.

AP reporting has revealed dozens of escapes, persistent violence, deaths and extreme staffing shortages which have hampered responses to emergencies, together with inmate assaults and suicides.

In April, the Bureau of Prisons stated it was closing its ladies’s jail in Dublin, California, referred to as the “rape membership,” giving up on makes an attempt to reform the ability after an AP investigation uncovered staff-on-inmate sexual abuse.

In July, President Joe Biden signed a legislation strengthening oversight of the Bureau of Prisons after the AP’s reporting shined a highlight on the company’s many flaws.

Falcons broad receiver Drake London was penalized after catching a landing go within the remaining minute of Atlanta’s 22-21 victory in Philadelphia on Monday night time for pretending to shoot within the air, a violation of a longstanding NFL rule that prohibits violent gestures.

London instantly apologized on the sideline, in keeping with Falcons coach Raheem Morris, and did it publicly on Wednesday.

“There’s loads of stuff going round on this planet with gun violence that I don’t assume I ought to have displayed there,” London instructed reporters. “So, I’m not too proud of it, and (you) in all probability gained’t see that once more from me.”

The NFL has strict guidelines for celebrations and gamers are reminded yearly that violations will lead to unsportsmanlike penalties.

London’s 7-yard TD catch on a go from Kirk Cousins tied the rating at 21-21. His penalty pushed the additional level again 15 yards however Younghoe Koo made it from 48 yards out to offer Atlanta a lead and Jessie Bates intercepted Jalen Hurts’ go on the following drive to seal the victory.

“We strategy participant celebrations as expressions of exuberance which can be a part of the thrill of the sport. Guidelines have been modified in 2017 that permitted group celebrations, together with choregraphed demonstrations. Offensive demonstrations, celebrations which can be extended and delay the sport, and people directed at an opponent are nonetheless penalized,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy mentioned in a press release. “Gamers are reminded yearly and it’s a part of the participant handbook that demonstrations that represent taunting or unsportsmanlike conduct, or delays the sport, will lead to a foul towards his workforce.

“Additionally prohibited acts that happen anyplace on the sector or sideline embrace longtime prohibitions towards throat slash; machine gun salute; sexually suggestive gestures; or stomping or demonstrations on a workforce brand.”

London’s celebration got here 12 days after 4 individuals have been killed in a capturing at Apalachee Excessive College close to Winder, Georgia. The Falcons hosted the college’s soccer workforce at their follow facility final week.

___

AP NFL:

Former Dangerous Boy rapper Moses “Shyne” Barrow has spoken out following Diddy’s arrest earlier this week on racketeering and sex-trafficking expenses.

Shyne, who serves because the Chief of the Opposition within the Belize Home of Representatives, shared his ideas relating to his former boss’s authorized troubles with the media on Wednesday (Sept. 18).

“After I was an 18-year-old child simply eager to do nothing aside from make my mom proud and make Belize proud and be acknowledged for my expertise and take over the world,” he stated. ‘I used to be defending him, and he rotated and referred to as witnesses to testify towards me. He contributed … he just about despatched me to jail. That’s the context by which you need to at all times describe that [relationship]. I forgave. I moved on. However allow us to not faux as if I used to be in Miami for Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Shyne is referencing the case surrounding a December 1999 NYC nightclub capturing at he, Diddy and Jennifer Lopez (the mogul’s girlfriend on the time) had been all current throughout; Shyne ended up being charged with assault and sentenced to 10 years behind bars in June 2001. He was in the end launched in 2009 and deported to Belize.

He continued: “So, allow us to not lose sight of what the chilly, laborious info are. This isn’t somebody who I vacationed with and who he and I loved this nice, intimate relationship of brotherhood. That is somebody who destroyed my life and who I forgave and who I moved on and for the higher curiosity of Belize, as a result of he was able at the moment to present scholarships and to possibly make investments, I’d not deny making an attempt to convey the funding to Belize and contribution to schooling to Belize.”

“Don’t distort it as if he and I had been increase bally. That is somebody that destroyed my life,” he continued. “However do I take any pleasure with what he’s going via? Completely not. I’m totally different than different folks — nobody must fail for me to succeed.”

Whereas Shyne has forgiven Diddy for his or her previous, earlier this 12 months, he admitted that the 1999 capturing case that despatched him to jail nonetheless “opens wounds” when introduced up.

Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested earlier this week on federal intercourse trafficking and racketeering expenses in New York Metropolis. He was as soon as once more denied bail on Wednesday (Sept. 18) after a federal decide cited considerations that the embattled music government would pose a flight threat and may intimidate witnesses if he was launched.

Diddy’s authorized workforce drew up a $50 million bond bundle that includes strict necessities, however the decide was not moved. The rapper will stay in a Brooklyn federal jail till trial.

NEW YORK (AP) — Almost 138,000 platform beds offered at main retailers together with Amazon and Walmart are being recalled throughout the U.S. and Canada as a result of they will collapse, posing fall and harm dangers.

Utah-based importer CVB Inc. is recalling the Lucid-branded platform beds with upholstered sq. tufted headboards. In line with Thursday notices from the U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee and Well being Canada, the beds can sag, break or collapse throughout use.

Thus far, there have been 245 incidents of this occurring within the U.S., leading to 18 associated accidents similar to contusions and bruises, the CPSC stated. A further 11 reviews of “mattress failures” have been reported in Canada, with no additional accidents.

In line with Lucid, the recall covers a discontinued model of its platform beds, which the corporate says had been manufactured between 2019 and 2021.

Whereas manufacturing ended a number of years in the past, the now-recalled beds continued to be offered at main retailers via April 2024, the CPSC stated. Along with Amazon, Walmart and Lucid’s web site, shoppers might have additionally bought the beds at Mattress Tub & Past, eBay, House Depot, Macys, Goal.com, Wayfair and different retailers.

About 137,000 of the recalled beds had been offered within the U.S. and 890 in Canada, the CPSC stated.

The beds — which had been made in Malaysia and are available twin, full, queen, king and cal-king sizes — might be recognized with a white legislation label discovered on the again of the headboard. “Made For: CVB INC, 1525 W 2960 S, LOGAN, UT 84321” ought to be printed on it.

Individuals who have the recalled beds are urged to cease utilizing them instantly and get in touch with Lucid for a free alternative body.

Shoppers must write the phrase “recalled” on the mattress’s assist rails with a everlasting marker and ship photographs to Lucid. Extra details about getting a alternative might be discovered on Lucid’s recall web page.

RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. —

After days of testimony that included safety and police physique digital camera video, the trial for a Rankin County teenager accused of fatally capturing her mom is winding down.

Carly Gregg, 15, is charged as an grownup within the March 19 capturing that killed her mom, Ashley Smylie. Gregg can be accused of capturing her stepfather, Heath Smylie, who survived with a graze wound to his shoulder.

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Gregg might testify in her protection. Earlier this week, she advised Rankin County Circuit Court docket Choose Dewey Arthur that she wished to listen to the protection testimony earlier than deciding whether or not she would take the stand.

The prosecution referred to as nurse practitioner Olivia Leber on Thursday as a rebuttal witnesses. Leber stated she first met with Gregg in January 2024, at which period, Gregg stuffed out a kind and checked “No,” to a query that requested if she was listening to voices.

Leber stated Gregg was identified with main depressive dysfunction and adjustment dysfunction. Gregg had complained of being depressed, which Leber famous wasn’t persistent. In any other case, Gregg appeared to have regular responses throughout their appointment.

“She denied hallucinations or delusions,” Leber stated.

In a follow-up appointment on March 12, Leber stated Gregg complained of feeling “like a zombie.” Leber advised Gregg to taper off the Zoloft she was taking, whereas beginning a brand new treatment, Lexapro. Leber stated Gregg by no means reported listening to voices or lapses in reminiscence.

Leber stated she met with Gregg 3 times between January and March. Gregg’s mom was within the room throughout every appointment.

Rebecca Kirk, a licensed skilled counselor, met with Gregg in January. Gregg and Ashley Smylie reported that Gregg was having intrusive, disruptive ideas, was simply angered and was having hassle sleeping. Gregg denied listening to voices.

Kirk stated she met with Gregg 9 instances. She stated Gregg gave the impression to be good and loved faculty. They talked about “Crime and Punishment,” a novel by Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky, a couple of former pupil who’s alienated from society as a result of he feels superior. The character murders a lady after which is wracked with guilt.

Kirk famous of their last session that Gregg wasn’t experiencing any suicidal or homicidal tendencies, nor did she report experiencing any unwanted side effects from her treatment.

Dr. Amanda Gugliano, the director of Forensic Analysis Providers on the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, spent a number of hours evaluating Gregg after she was arrested. Gregg’s legal professional was there through the session.

Gregg advised Gugliano that when she thought of “the alleged offenses,” she felt queasy. Gugliano had a dialogue with Gregg about listening to voices.

“She stated she had been listening to one voice, a male voice, since she was younger — possibly round 5 or 6 years previous — which is uncommon,” Gugliano stated. “She stated she heard the voice every single day, nevertheless it was at all times within the background and she or he was capable of tune it out.”

Gugliano stated it is very uncommon for a younger baby to listen to voices.

“It might be their inside ideas, inside dialogue, they usually do not perceive what that’s,” Gugliano stated.

Gregg advised Gugliano that the voices by no means advised her to do something; they normally made snide feedback about different folks. They did not say something about Gregg’s mom or stepfather, Gugliano stated, which is opposite to what psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Clark stated throughout his testimony on Wednesday.

Clark stated Gregg was experiencing a psychological well being disaster on the time of the capturing and testified that she would not bear in mind capturing her mom.

Carly Gregg was 14 years previous when the capturing passed off on the household’s dwelling in Brandon. Safety video exhibits Gregg and her mom coming back from Northwest Rankin Excessive College, the place Ashley Smylie was a trainer and Gregg was a pupil.

The video exhibits Gregg strolling previous the kitchen after which the sound of a scream and three gunshots. Gregg then walks again into the kitchen and appeared to calmly decide up and take a look at her cellphone.

Clark believes {that a} new treatment for despair launched Gregg right into a spiral within the days earlier than the capturing. Clark stated Gregg’s lows had been decrease and her highs had been larger and the voices, which she hadn’t advised anybody about, had been getting worse within the days earlier than the capturing.

If convicted, Gregg faces 20 years to life in jail.

Carly Gregg Case

LOS ANGELES — The one that broke a lot NBA information that his scoops earned a pithy nickname introduced on X on Tuesday that he’s leaving ESPN and retiring from sports activities journalism to grow to be normal supervisor of the boys’s basketball program at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure College.

Adrian Wojnarowski, recognized merely as Woj, littered the hoops panorama with “Woj bombs,” breaking information that he reported first, precisely and with context.

Wojnarowski, 55, was employed by ESPN in 2017 after rising as a must-read information hound and columnist at Yahoo Sports activities in 2007. He beforehand labored on the Document of Bergen County, N.J.

In keeping with the Athletic, Wojnarowski makes about $7 million a 12 months at ESPN and has three years left on his contract, which means he’s leaving about $20 million on the desk. The common wage for a normal supervisor at a Division 1 college is between $130,020 and $172,958, in accordance with Salaries.com.

A successor to Wojnarowski has not been named, though Shams Charania and Chris Haynes are the obvious selections.

Charania, 30, broke into the enterprise at Yahoo Sports activities below Wojnarowski, and his contracts with the Athletic, Stadium and FanDuel expire quickly. Haynes, 42, has left TNT, whose dad or mum firm Warner Bros. Discovery is in litigation with the NBA. ESPN stalwart Pat McAfee mentioned on the air Wednesday that Charania must be the front-runner.

Wojnarowski’s final Woj bomb was about himself.

“I’m thrilled and humbled to return to St. Bonaventure with a chance to serve the college, Coach Mark Schmidt and our elite Atlantic 10 males’s basketball program,” Wojnarowski mentioned in a information launch from the varsity. “In these altering instances of faculty sports activities, I’m keen to hitch a championship program that mixes high-level basketball, nationwide tv publicity, professional preparation and NIL alternatives with an intimate, supportive academic surroundings.”

The position of a normal supervisor at college athletics applications has grow to be more and more vital within the period of identify, picture and likeness alternatives. Along with fundraising and aiding with alumni relations, Wojnarowski will work with NIL collectives and assist handle the switch portal.

Wojnarowski is a St. Bonaventure alumnus (class of 1991) and has maintained a powerful relationship with the basketball program and Jandoli College of Communication. He and his spouse, Amy, met as St. Bonaventure undergraduates.

“I’m hopeful to share with members of our neighborhood some finest practices discovered from essentially the most profitable franchises and minds within the NBA and dedicated to opening doorways globally for our gamers each on and off the courtroom,” Wojnarowski mentioned.

Bob Beretta, St. Bonaventure vice chairman and director of Intercollegiate Athletics, welcomed Wojnarowski with open arms.

“At a time of super turbulence inside the intercollegiate athletics enterprise, we’re making a powerful assertion that St. Bonaventure continues to be on the forefront of change,” Beretta mentioned in an announcement. “This can be a daring transfer that aligns with our institutional targets to proceed to develop and flourish.”

St. Bonaventure has certified for the NCAA Match thrice since 2012 and final season went 20-13.

Wojnarowski labored at Yahoo Sports activities from 2007 to 2015, starting as an NBA columnist till ultimately serving to launch Yahoo’s standalone NBA web site, the Vertical, and serving as its editor.

“Woj is the right particular person to fill this new position, combining his intimate information of St. Bonaventure and our Franciscan values with a deep community of relationships he has constructed throughout the worlds {of professional} and intercollegiate basketball,” Beretta mentioned. “The truth that the preeminent journalist in his subject is keen to stroll away from a profitable media profession to serve his alma mater in a assist position is a testomony to his love and fervour for Bona’s.”

Jimmy Pitaro, chairman at ESPN, mentioned on X that Wojnarowski’s “work ethic is second to none. He’s terribly proficient and fearless. He has led the trade at ESPN, and his dedication to the craft and to followers is known.

“Whereas we are going to miss his every day output, we fully perceive his choice to make a life-style change and decelerate a bit. We all know he’ll proceed to thrive on this subsequent chapter, and he has our collective gratitude and assist.”

The NBA issued an announcement that ended with a playful nod to Wojnarowski’s multitude of sources inside the league.

“The NBA household congratulates Woj on a well-earned subsequent chapter,” the NBA mentioned on X. “He’s been an integral a part of our league for many years and we want him all the perfect in his new enterprise.

“Sources near the scenario say that his future is vibrant.”

Senator John Kennedy has sparked a backlash after he informed an Arab American activist to “disguise [her] head in a bag” throughout a listening to about hate crimes.

Maya Berry, the founding father of the Arab American Institute, appeared earlier than a Senate Judiciary listening to to debate hate crimes within the nation on Tuesday.

Advocacy teams say there was a surge in hate crimes focusing on Muslims, Palestinians and Jews since Hamas’ assault on Israel on October 7, which triggered Israel’s ongoing battle in Gaza that has killed greater than 40,000 Palestinians.

Throughout his questioning, Kennedy repeatedly urged that Berry supported Hamas, the group that has dominated the Gaza Strip since 2007, regardless of her repeated denials. Berry referred to as his line of questioning “terribly disappointing.”

On social media, civil rights teams and others condemned Kennedy’s remedy of Berry and a few referred to as for him to face censure.

See more

.@SenJohnKennedy: You help Hamas, do you not?@AAIUSA‘s Maya Berry: Hamas is a international terrorist group that I don’t help…You asking the chief director of the Arab American Institute that query very a lot places the give attention to the difficulty of hate in our nation? pic.twitter.com/h7WU3ePLOu

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 17, 2024

Newsweek has contacted Kennedy’s workplace for remark through e mail. Berry has been contacted for remark through an e mail to the Arab American Institute.

“You help Hamas, do you not?” Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, asked Berry.

“Senator, oddly sufficient, I will say thanks for that query, as a result of it demonstrates the aim of our listening to at present in a really efficient approach,” she replied, earlier than Kennedy minimize her off and requested to reply with a sure or no.

She stated: “Hamas is a international terrorist group that I don’t help, however you asking the chief director of the Arab American Institute that query very a lot places the give attention to the difficulty of hate in our nation.”

“I bought your reply and I recognize it[…]You help Hezbollah, too, do not you?” Kennedy then requested, referring to the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.

“Once more, I discover this line of questioning terribly disappointing,” Berry stated, earlier than Kennedy minimize her off once more, noting that his time was restricted and urgent her for a sure or no.

“The reply is I do not help violence, whether or not it is Hezbollah or Hamas or every other entity that invokes it, so no, sir,” she stated.

Kennedy went on: “You simply cannot deliver your self to say no, are you able to? Do you help or oppose Iran and their hatred of Jews?”

Kennedy then talked over Berry as she tried to reply. She then stated: “As a Muslim lady, sir, I will let you know I don’t help Iran.”

Kennedy then famous Berry’s previous criticism of Congress for slicing funding to The United Nations Aid and Works Company (UNWRA), which supplies companies to Palestinian refugees amid allegations that a few of its employees had been concerned within the October 7 assault. Berry defended her help for the UNRWA’s aid work.

“Let me ask another time, you help Hamas, do not you? You help UNWRA and Hamas, do not you?” Kennedy requested.

Berry stated: “I feel it is exceptionally disappointing that you are looking at an Arab American witness earlier than you and saying, ‘You help Hamas.’ I don’t help Hamas.”

Kennedy interrupted her once more, and stated: “You realize what’s disappointing to me? You’ll be able to’t deliver your self to say you do not help UNWRA, you do not help Hamas, you do not help Hezbollah and you do not help Iran. You must disguise your head in a bag.”

Kennedy’s remark drew gasps from the viewers.

After the trade, Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin requested Berry if she had something to say.

“It is regrettable that I, as I sit right here, have skilled the very concern that we’re making an attempt to take care of at present,” she stated.

“The introduction of international coverage will not be how we hold Arab People or Jewish People or Muslim People or Black individuals or Asian People, anyone, secure. This has been regrettably an actual disappointment, however very a lot a sign of the hazard to our democratic establishments.”

Durbin, a Democrat, was amongst those that criticized Kennedy for his remarks on social media.

“Political leaders should not fire up hatred and division,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Jewish, Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian People *all* need to be secure.”

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Political leaders should not fire up hatred and division. Jewish, Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian People *all* need to be secure. https://t.co/MLTF8l31YE

— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) September 17, 2024

The Judiciary Committee endorsed Berry’s response by sharing it on X, writing: “A Senate Republican informed an Arab American civil rights chief that ‘you need to disguise your head in a bag.’ We won’t amplify that horrible clip. However we WILL amplify the witness’s highly effective response calling it out.”

Kennedy’s remarks had been closely criticized by rights and advocacy teams.

The Council on American-Relations (CAIR) issued a press release condemning the remedy of Berry by Kennedy and others.

“Maya Berry went earlier than the committee to debate hate crimes. Each Ms. Berry and the subject ought to have been handled with the respect and seriousness they deserve,” CAIR’s authorities affairs director Robert McCaw stated. “As an alternative, Senator Kennedy and others selected to be an instance of the bigotry Arabs, Palestinians and Muslims have confronted in latest months and years.”

Sheila Katz, the CEO of the Nationwide Council of Jewish Girls, referred to as the remedy of Berry “heartbreaking.”

The “solely Muslim witness confronted biased questions on supporting Hamas & Hezbollah regardless of her clear condemnations,” Katz wrote on X. “This listening to ought to fight hate, not perpetuate it. The Senate should do higher.”

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Heartbreaking scene at a Senate listening to on antisemitism, anti-Arab & anti-Muslim hate: the one Muslim witness confronted biased questions on supporting Hamas & Hezbollah regardless of her clear condemnations. This listening to ought to fight hate, not perpetuate it. The Senate should do higher.

— Sheila Katz (@SheilaKatz1) September 17, 2024

Anthony Romero, the chief director of the American Civil Liberties Union, stated the group condemned the “discriminatory and vitriolic assault” on Berry.

“To make use of a listening to concerning the disturbing rise in anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and antisemitic hate crimes to launch private and discriminatory assaults on an skilled witness they’ve invited to testify is each outrageous and inappropriate,” he stated. “This sort of racist rhetoric ought to be extensively condemned. It has no place in Congress, or in politics.”

Some referred to as for Kennedy to face censure.

“Arab, Muslim, Jewish and civil rights teams throughout the board have condemned @SenJohnKennedy’s flagrantly racist and defamatory assault on a listening to witness yesterday,” Dylan Williams, vice chairman of presidency affairs on the Heart for Worldwide Coverage, wrote on X.

“If he doesn’t apologize at present, he ought to face speedy censure by his colleagues for his disgraceful habits.”

Medea Benjamin, an activist and co-founder of human rights group Code Pink, wrote that the listening to was “a shame. As an alternative of addressing anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestine hate, senators like John Kennedy used it to spew hate. He bullied witness Maya Berry and informed her to place her head ‘in a bag.’ We demand accountability! The Senate should censure Senator Kennedy for this blatant show of Islamophobia!”

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Arab, Muslim, Jewish and civil rights teams throughout the board have condemned @SenJohnKennedy‘s flagrantly racist and defamatory assault on a listening to witness yesterday.

If he doesn’t apologize at present, he ought to face speedy censure by his colleagues for his disgraceful habits. https://t.co/shtYaKhO1w

— Dylan Williams (@dylanotes) September 18, 2024

Journalist Mehdi Hasan urged there can be an even bigger outcry if a Democratic senator had made comparable remarks to a Jewish chief.

“Think about, simply think about, if a left-wing Dem senator had requested a Jewish chief testifying about antisemitism in the event that they supported genocide, & then informed them to place their head in a bag,” he wrote. “It will be an enormous scandal. However it was a Republican & the particular person was Muslim.”

Nintendo and its accomplice The Pokémon Firm have filed a authorized case in opposition to the maker of the hit survival journey recreation Palworld over alleged patent infringement.

Palworld shortly earned the nickname “Pokémon with weapons” when its first trailer was unveiled in 2021.

Simply days after the sport’s launch in January this 12 months, The Pokémon Firm stated it might examine the copycat claims.

Palworld’s developer, Pocketpair Inc, acknowledged the lawsuit in an announcement on Thursday and apologised to followers for “any fear or discomfort” brought on.

Pocketpair’s boss beforehand stated the sport had handed authorized checks.

However Nintendo is understood for fiercely defending its mental property and model.

Pokémon stated in statements posted on their web sites that Palworld “infringes a number of patent rights”.

“This lawsuit seeks an injunction in opposition to infringement and compensation for damages”.

Palworld has change into a significant hit, with greater than 25 million gamers inside a month of its launch.

Like the favored franchise of Pokémon video video games, it additionally centres round amassing unfamiliar beings with totally different powers.

Pocketpair’s web site describes the sport as seamlessly integrating “components of battle, monster-capturing, coaching, and base constructing.”

Gamers, often called “pal-tamers”, journey round a big map battling human foes and creatures often called “buddies” which will be captured and recruited.

The monsters can both struggle alongside the participant in battles, or be put to work at a base, crafting provides and objects to be used within the subject.

In January, The Pokémon Firm stated it deliberate to examine claims that Palworld had copied its video games, after followers identified similarities.

The Pokémon Firm stated on the time it might take “acceptable motion” if it discovered its copyright had been breached.

Pocketpair stated in response to the lawsuit on Thursday it might start taking motion on and investigating The Pokémon Firm’s claims.

But it surely added that it was “unaware” of the particular patents that it had been accused of infringing.

“We’ve got not been notified of such particulars,” it stated.

A Nintendo spokesperson instructed the BBC it might “chorus from commenting on subjects that relate to the content material of the lawsuit”.

The corporate “has a observe report of suing organisations and people which it feels has infringed upon its IP,” stated gaming trade analyst Piers Harding Rolls.

He instructed the BBC its newest lawsuit “continues this development” – and displays the significance of the Pokémon franchise to the gaming large.

“Nintendo is an element proprietor of The Pokémon Firm and the Pokémon franchise, and the sequence of video games are inextricably linked to Nintendo’s console enterprise,” he stated.

Earlier this week, Pokémon reportedly received a $15m authorized struggle in opposition to a number of Chinese language recreation builders it accused of infringing its copyright.

Pocketpair, in the meantime, stated it was “really unlucky” that, as a smaller, unbiased recreation developer, it might now must allocate time and assets to the lawsuit, moderately than to Palworld.

“Nonetheless, we’ll do our utmost for our followers, and to make sure that indie recreation builders aren’t hindered or discouraged from pursuing their artistic concepts,” it added.

ROME (AP) — Canadian and Italian dignitaries on Thursday marked the profitable restoration of a photograph portrait of Winston Churchill often called “The Roaring Lion,” stolen in Canada and recovered in Italy after a two-year search by police.

At a ceremony on the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italian carabinieri police handed over the portrait to the Canadian ambassador to Italy, Elissa Goldberg, who praised the cooperation between Italian and Canadian investigators that led to the restoration.

The 1941 portrait of the British chief taken by Ottawa photographer Yousuf Karsh is now prepared for the final step of its journey residence to the Fairmont Château Laurier, the lodge in Ottawa the place it was stolen and can as soon as once more be displayed as a notable historic portrait.

Canadian police mentioned the portrait was stolen from the lodge someday between Christmas 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022, and changed with a forgery. The swap was solely uncovered months later, in August, when a lodge employee seen the body was not hung correctly and seemed totally different than the others.

Nicola Cassinelli, a lawyer in Genoa, Italy, bought the portrait in Might 2022 at an internet Sotheby’s public sale for five,292 British kilos. He says he obtained a cellphone name from the public sale home that October advising him to not promote or in any other case switch the portrait on account of an investigation into the Ottawa theft.

Cassinelli, who attended Thursday’s ceremony, mentioned he thought he was shopping for a daily print and shortly agreed to ship the enduring Churchill {photograph} residence when he discovered its true story.

“I instantly determined to return it to the Chateau Laurier, as a result of I believe that if Karsh donated it to the lodge, it means he actually wished it to remain there, for the actual significance this lodge had for him, and for his spouse too,” Cassinelli instructed The Related Press.

The well-known picture was taken by Karsh throughout Churchill’s wartime go to to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941. It helped launch Karsh’s profession, who photographed a number of the twentieth century’s most famed icons, together with Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth.

Karsh and his spouse Estrellita gifted an unique signed print to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in 1998. The couple had lived and operated a studio contained in the lodge for almost twenty years.

Geneviève Dumas, basic supervisor of the Fairmont Château Laurier, mentioned on Thursday she felt immensely grateful.

“I want to prolong my deepest gratitude to all people concerned in fixing this case, and making certain the protected return of this priceless piece of historical past.”

Police arrested a 43-year-old man from Powassan, Ontario, in April and have charged him with stealing and trafficking the portrait. The person, whose title is protected by a publication ban, faces fees that embody forgery, theft over $5,000 and trafficking in property obtained by crime exceeding $5,000.

“Palworld,” a survival-strategy sport identified colloquially as “Pokémon With Weapons,” is the goal of a patent-infringement lawsuit filed by Nintendo and the Pokémon Co.

Nintendo mentioned the lawsuit towards Pocketpair, the corporate behind “Palworld,” was filed Sept. 18 in Tokyo District Courtroom. The lawsuit seeks an injunction towards the alleged infringement and compensation for damages “on the grounds that ‘Palworld,’ a sport developed and launched by the Defendant, infringes a number of patent rights,” in keeping with Nintendo.

“Nintendo will proceed to take obligatory actions towards any infringement of its mental property rights together with the Nintendo model itself, to guard the mental properties it has labored laborious to ascertain through the years,” the corporate mentioned in a press release Thursday.

“Palworld” was launched in January 2024 and shortly turned a success. On its web site, Tokyo-based Pocketpair says, “Palworld is dwelling to over 100 distinctive Friends, every outfitted with a various set of abilities to reinforce the participant’s journey. Alongside your journey, additionally, you will encounter formidable boss Friends that pose a problem even for probably the most seasoned Pal tamers. Naturally, these boss Friends are additionally capturable.”

Responding to the Nintendo/Pokémon Co. lawsuit, Pocketpair mentioned that it has “acquired discover of this lawsuit and can start the suitable authorized proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement.”

“At this second, we’re unaware of the precise patents we’re accused of infringing upon, and now we have not been notified of such particulars,” Pocketpair mentioned in its assertion. “Our objective as an organization has all the time been to create enjoyable video games. We’ll proceed to pursue this objective as a result of we all know that our video games deliver pleasure to thousands and thousands of avid gamers around the globe.”

Pocketpair continued, “It’s actually unlucky that we’ll be compelled to allocate vital time to issues unrelated to sport improvement as a result of this lawsuit. Nonetheless, we are going to do our utmost for our followers, and to make sure that indie sport builders will not be hindered or discouraged from pursuing their inventive concepts.”

In July, Sony Music Leisure (Japan) and anime subsidiary Aniplex inked a take care of Pocketpair to ascertain a brand new three way partnership, Palworld Leisure, to “promote the home and worldwide licensing enterprise” of “Palworld” and “additional increase the IP.”