Icetruck

Louis CK's film release scrapped amid sex allegations

The release of US comedian Louis CK's new movie has been scrapped after five women levelled sexual misconduct allegations against him.

I Love You Daddy was due to have been released in the US on 17 November.

But it was dropped after four accusers told the New York Times he masturbated during interactions with them and a fifth said he had asked to do so.

Distributors The Orchard said: "The Orchard will not be moving forward with the release of I Love You, Daddy."

The Emmy-winning comic has not commented.

He wrote, directed and acted in I Love You Daddy, a comedy about an ageing film director, played by John Malkovich, who has a reputation for getting embroiled with young women.

Louis CK appears as a successful TV writer whose 17-year-old daughter, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, begins a relationship with the director.

On Thursday, its premiere was cancelled hours before the screening.

Meanwhile, Netflix has cancelled plans for a second stand-up special with the comedian.

In a statement to US media, Netflix said: "The allegations made by several women in The New York Times about Louis CK's behaviour are disturbing.

"Louis's unprofessional and inappropriate behaviour with female colleagues has led us to decide not to produce a second stand-up special, as had been planned."

In Thursday's New York Times report, four comediennes – Dana Min Goodman, Julia Wolov, Rebecca Corry and Abby Schachner – and a fifth woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, made allegations about the entertainer.

Goodman and Wolov said Louis CK stripped naked and masturbated after inviting them to his hotel room during the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, in 2002.

Schachner said she called Louis CK in 2003 to invite him to one of her shows and was dumbfounded to realise during their phone conversation that he was masturbating. "I felt very ashamed," she told the New York Times.

A fifth woman, who did not want to be named, told the newspaper of alleged incidents involving the comic in the late 1990s, while she was working in production on The Chris Rock Show.

Louis CK, who was a writer and producer on the show, repeatedly asked her to watch him perform a sex act, she said. "He abused his power," she said.

Louis CK's planned appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was cancelled and HBO announced it would purge Louis CK's past projects from its On Demand service.

The cable TV network also said the comic would no longer participate in a charity comedy special, Night of Too Many Stars, later this month.

On Thursday, a Los Angeles County district attorney Jackie Lacey announced a task force of veteran sex crimes prosecutors to address "the widespread allegations of sexual abuse in entertainment industry".

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Source – bbc.com

Firm founded by KGB spy to guard US Moscow embassy

The US State Department has employed a private firm set up by a veteran Soviet-era spy to provide security for its Moscow embassy and diplomatic missions in Russia.

The move comes after Moscow ordered the US to more than halve its staff in Russia earlier this year.

The US has now signed a contract with Elite Security Holdings, founded by the ex-KGB General Viktor Budanov.

General Budanov was a close friend of British spy and defector Kim Philby.

A notice on the US State Department website shows the contract with Elite Security Holdings is worth more than $2.8m (£2.1m).

A document posted online outlining "justification and approval" for the contract says guards at the Moscow embassy and other US missions were among the staff included in the expulsion order, adding: "The only option available, to ensure security services continue, is via a commercial contract."

It said the US government had contacted more than three US private security firms but had not found one "with the requisite licensing or desire to operate in-country".

"Due to the urgency of this requirement, the Department of State sought a firm with the requisite licensing and capacity to quickly stand up guard operations at all four US Mission Russia posts," it says.

"The number of firms that met this requirement limited the number of sources considered to one – Elite Security Services Holding Co."

The Russian daily Kommersant says Elite Security Holdings, founded in 1997, is now run by Gen Budanov's son, Dmitry Budanov.

On its website, the security company says it operates across Russia, Europe and countries formerly in the Soviet Union.

In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin said staff numbers at US diplomatic missions in Russia would have to be slashed by 755, in retaliation for new US sanctions against Moscow.

• Should we worry about US-Russia diplomatic spat?
• Russia: The 'cloud' over the White House
• Why are so many US diplomats in Russia?

The sanctions were intended as punishment for the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and alleged Russian interference in the US election.

Last December, then President Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, along with the closure of two compounds, in response to allegations of election meddling.

President Donald Trump has since been dogged by claims that Russia tried to sway the election in his favour, allegations that both he and the Kremlin strongly deny.

Several investigations are under way to determine whether anyone from the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow.

General Budanov became one of the KGB's most illustrious agents.

He befriended Kim Philby after the British double-agent's defection to the Soviet Union in 1963.

In a 2007 interview, Gen Budanov said that in the late 1980s he had served in the KGB mission in East Germany and worked alongside Mr Putin.

Source – bbc.com

Booing of Zimbabwe's Grace Mugabe lands four in court

Four people accused of booing First Lady Grace Mugabe are facing charges of undermining the president's authority.

They were arrested after a rally in Bulawayo where Mrs Mugabe spoke last Saturday, the state-owned Herald newspaper reports.

They have now been released on bail and have not yet commented on the charges.

The booing came amid a bitter battle between rival factions of the governing Zanu-PF party to succeed President Robert Mugabe, aged 93.

Mrs Mugabe leads one faction, while former Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa leads the other. He was sacked two days after the heckling and has since fled to neighbouring South Africa.

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• Zimbabwe's sacked vice-president flees
• The rise of Grace Mugabe
• More about Zimbabwe

The four accused are said to be supporters of Mr Mnangagwa.

Meanwhile, an American satirist arrested last week for allegedly referring to President Mugabe as "a goblin" has been freed on bail due to what the judge called "an absence of facts".

The three men and one woman have been freed on bail of $50 (£38) each and banned from attending a forthcoming presidential rally in the capital Harare.

Prosecutor Jerry Mutsindikwa told a magistrate court that "the quartet, with others, allegedly sang the song 'into oyenzayo siyayizonda'" – the lyrics of which say "we hate what you are doing" in Ndebele – while Mrs Mugabe addressed the rally, the Herald reports.

Mrs Mugabe had been pushing for the removal of Mr Mnangagwa, referring to him as a snake that "must be hit on the head."

He has been a close ally of the president for 40 years, dating back to the 1970s war of independence in which Mr Mugabe rose to prominence and his removal makes Mrs Mugabe the favourite to succeed her husband.

She is now expected to be appointed vice-president at a special Zanu-PF congress next month.

Who is Grace Mugabe?

• Began affair with Robert Mugabe, 41 years her senior, whilst working as a typist in state house
• Mr Mugabe later said his first wife Sally, who was terminally ill at the time, knew and approved of the relationship
• Married Mr Mugabe, her second husband, in 1996 in an extravagant ceremony. They have three children
• Nicknamed "Gucci Grace" by her critics who accuse her of lavish spending
• Along with her husband, is subject to EU and US sanctions, including travel bans
• Controversially received a PhD in September 2014 after just two months
• Appointed head of Zanu-PF women's wing in 2014
• Accused by a South African model of assault in August 2017

Source – bbc.com

Students hurt in French car 'attack' near Toulouse

A driver has ploughed into a group of students near the south-western French city of Toulouse, injuring three.

Two of the injured are said to be in a serious condition. All three are thought to be of Chinese origin.

The incident occurred outside a college in the suburb of Blagnac.

French media quoted police as saying the incident was deliberate but the driver was not on a security watch list.

Source – bbc.com

Catalan crisis: Carles Puigdemont 'worsened situation' for ministers

A lawyer whose firm represents two imprisoned former Catalan ministers says their situation was made worse by the self-imposed exile of deposed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont.

Pau Molins told the BBC he believes Mr Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium, should have stayed in Spain to fight his case.

He says it meant the justice system was able to justify jailing the ministers.

Eight sacked members of the Catalan government are being detained over an illegal declaration of independence.

They, alongside Mr Puigdemont, are being investigated for alleged rebellion and sedition following a banned independence referendum on 1 October, in defiance of the central authorities in Madrid.

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Mr Molins told the BBC on Friday that legally, Mr Puigdemont's situation will be worse the longer he stays in Belgium and continues to avoid the allegations against him.

Last week, a Spanish judge issued an EU arrest warrant for him and four of his allies. Mr Puigdemont later handed himself in to Belgian police. He has been released on bail until a judge decides whether to execute the warrant or not.

Mr Molins, one of Spain's most senior criminal lawyers, is representing the sacked Catalan government spokesman, Jordi Turull, and ex-Sustainability Minister Josep Rull.

He described their situation as "the same of any prisoner facing criminal charges, with family access reduced to a few hours once a week". But he says the men were "humiliated" by the police as they drove them to prison from court.

His comments come the same day the former speaker of Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadell, was released on bail, following a night in prison in Madrid where she faces similar charges.

Carme Forcadell's supporters paid the €150,000 (£132,000) bail for her release, while four other Catalan lawmakers were granted bail of €25,000.

It was exactly two weeks ago when separatist ministers voted for independence in the Catalan parliament, and subsequently illegally declared the region, a new state.

The Spanish government has since taken control of the region's government, dissolved parliament and called a snap election for 21 December.

Catalan crisis: Timeline of key events

• 1 October: Catalan government goes ahead with an independence referendum, despite it being suspended by Spain's constitutional court. Violence breaks out as police try to stop the vote. Catalan authorities say 90% backed independence while turnout was 43%
• 10 October: Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and other regional leaders sign a declaration of independence but say they are suspending its implementation. Madrid immediately dismisses the move
• 16 October: Spain detains the leaders of two powerful pro-independence groups, Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sanchez, pending an investigation
• 21 October: Spain PM Rajoy outlines plans to take control of the separatist region under Article 155 of the constitution as pleas for Mr Puigdemont to abandon the breakaway bid are ignored
• 27 October: Catalan MPs approve a motion by 70 votes to 10 to declare an independent republic
• 28 October: Spanish PM dissolves the Catalan parliament, calls snap regional elections for 21 December and sacks Catalan leaders
• 30 October: Spain's chief prosecutor seeks charges of rebellion sedition and misuse of public funds against Mr Puigdemont and 13 other sacked Catalan politicians. Mr Puigdemont and some of his ministers travel to Belgium
• 2 November: Nine sacked ministers attend the high court in Madrid and eight are remanded in custody
• 3 November: Spain judge issues EU arrest warrant for Mr Puigdemont and four allies. Mr Puigdemont later hands himself in to Belgian police but is released on bail while a judge decides whether to execute the warrant

Source – bbc.com

Outcry in China as nursery abuse footage goes viral

Videos showing toddlers being mistreated at a Shanghai day-care centre have sparked an outcry in China after being circulated widely online.

The first video, viewed tens of millions of times, shows a woman wrenching a backpack from a small girl's back and then pushing her into a table, where she hits her head.

The footage was released by police after parents said they had found injuries on their children and demanded to see what the centre's surveillance cameras had recorded.

Two other videos have since emerged – more surveillance footage showing a woman force-feeding a child and making her cry and another video in which a child tells her parents that she had "something spicy" rubbed on her face, which is thought to have been wasabi.

The children in the videos were aged between 18 months and two years old.

It is understood that about 25 children attended classes at the centre, which was set up in February this year and used by employees of the online travel company Ctrip.

One mother said her 18-month-old daughter had kept crying after attending nursery, the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported.

"My daughter had peed six times in an hour and the teacher beat her with a quilt. She did not change her nappy in time and when she did change the nappy, she pulled up one of the baby's legs while having her stand in a corner of the room, rather than letting her lie down," she said.

A parent surnamed Wang said that after they complained to Ctrip the company chose a day's footage at random and they were shocked by the results.

Three teachers and a cleaner have been detained and the nursery has suspended all its classes pending a police investigation.

The company Modern Family, which runs the centre, says it accepts liability and will cooperate with the authorities.

Ctrip told news website The Paper that it would arrange medical checks and psychological support for the children and their parents.

'Sad and angry'

Jane Sun, the CEO of Ctrip has told Chinese media: "By inviting a third-party agency to run the nursery, our original intention was to have a professional and qualified team look after the kids of Ctrip.

"We are sad and angry to see a thing that we had never expected has happened. On behalf of the company, I extend my sincere apologies to the involved families and children."

Tens of thousands of social media users have taken the popular Sina Weibo microblogging site, expressing anger and concern about the incident.

"This is shocking, I am a preschool teacher and a mother," says one user. "I watched this video, and I felt sick, anger and fear all at the same time," she said, receiving 4,000 likes.

Another user added: "There are frequently cases of child abuse coming out into the open. Is the government going to improve its education and assessment of nursery school teachers?" The comment has been liked over 9,000 times.

Similar incidents

There have been many similar stories in recent years that have ignited fears among new parents over how safe the nurseries are that they send their children to.

In January, the hashtag #TeacherBeatsDeafChild went viral after video footage emerged showing a nursery teacher hitting a deaf child.

A one-minute video showed her slapping a child's ears and then shaking him, before violently throwing him on the ground.

Social media users demanded that staff be given preliminary screening for working with children who have special conditions.

In February 2016, hundreds of thousands of Weibo users reacted angrily to the extreme case of "Lucy", a five-year-old child who had been sent to an out-of-town boarding school by her father.

She had been sent home with "necrotic ulcers and infections", contusions, haemorrhages and was malnourished, Sina News reported at the time.

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitterand Facebook.

Source – bbc.com

Saudi Lebanon: Hezbollah lashes out over Saad al-Hariri

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah has lashed out at Saudi Arabia, days after Lebanese PM Saad al-Hariri announced his resignation in the Saudi capital.

Hassan Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia had declared war on Lebanon, and was holding Mr Hariri against his will.

He also accused the Saudis of inciting Israel against Lebanon.

The powerful Hezbollah Shia movement is an ally of Iran, which has been trading accusations with the Saudis of fuelling tension in Lebanon and the region.

Mr Hariri said in a TV broadcast from Riyadh on Saturday he was stepping down because of an unspecified threat to his life. He also attacked Hezbollah and Iran.

However, Lebanese President Michel Aoun and other senior politicians have demanded his return, amid suspicions that he is being held by the Saudis under house arrest and forced to do their bidding.

Mr Aoun has not accepted Mr Hariri's resignation.

Mr Hariri has still not spoken publicly since his announcement.

• Iran and Saudi Arabia: Who's siding with whom
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What did the Hezbollah leader say?

Mr Nasrallah said at the weekend that Mr Hariri had been forced to resign by the Saudis, but he repeated the allegations on Friday, saying that this was now "beyond any doubt".

Saudi Arabia was attempting to remove Mr Hariri as prime minister and impose a new leadership on his political movement, he said.

"We condemn the blunt, bare-faced Saudi intervention in our domestic affairs," Mr Nasrallah said.

"Any offence to the Lebanese prime minister is an offence to all Lebanese, even when he is our adversary."

Mr Hariri's Future Movement is seen as opposed to Hezbollah politically, even though they both sit in government.

Mr Nasrallah also accused Saudi Arabia of being prepared to pay "billions" to Israel for a military strike against Lebanon, describing this as the "most dangerous thing".

How has the international community reacted?

There are fears Lebanon could become embroiled in a wider regional confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Tensions between the three countries have soared since Mr Hariri announced his resignation.

But US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned against Lebanon being used for a proxy conflict, adding that the US strongly backed Lebanon's independence.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that a new conflict in the region would have "devastating consequences".

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron paid an unscheduled visit to Saudi Arabia, to emphasise to Saudi leaders the importance of stability in Lebanon.

France has historical ties with Lebanon, as its former colonial power before it gained independence during World War Two.

Earlier on Thursday, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies told their citizens in Lebanon to leave the country immediately.

The move came after Riyadh accused Iran of "direct military aggression", saying it supplied a missile which it says was fired by Hezbollah at Riyadh from Yemen on Saturday.

Iran has dismissed the Saudi allegations as "false and dangerous".

Source – bbc.com

Tensions as Paris suburb tries to stop Muslim street prayers

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Tensions erupted Friday as French officials and residents of a Paris suburb tried to block Muslims from praying in the street — a dispute that reflects nationwide problems with mosque shortages.

No one was hurt in the skirmishes in Clichy-la-Garenne, but both sides appeared to be digging in their heels in the dispute over prayer space in the town.

Carrying a large banner reading "Stop Illegal Street Prayers," Mayor Remi Muzeau led more than 100 demonstrators Friday in a show of force to dissuade Muslims from praying on the town's market square. Worshippers have been praying there every Friday for months to protest the closure of a prayer room.

A few dozen worshippers tried to pray anyway but sought to avoid confrontation with the protesters and retreated to a less visible spot. But the demonstrators squeezed them toward a wooden wall.

As worshippers chanted "Allahu akbar," or "God is great" in Arabic, the larger group of demonstrators loudly sang the French national anthem. Some held French flags and a crucifix aloft.

Amid pushing and shoving, a banner the worshippers were carrying reading "United for a Grand Mosque of Clichy" was torn down.

Police with shields then formed a human barricade between the groups and Muslims eventually unrolled their rugs on the pavement, took off their shoes and held their prayers.

When the incident was over, the worshippers clapped, and the mayor pledged to come back again next week — as did the Muslim worshippers.

"We'll do it every Friday if necessary," said Muzeau.

"I must assure the tranquility and freedom of the people in my city," he said. "We must not allow this to happen in our country. Our country, the French Republic is tarnished."

Hamid Kazed, president of the Union of Muslim Associations of Clichy, who led the prayers, said, "We are going to continue until there's a dialogue for a definitive venue."

"That's what they want. To divide the citizens," he said. "We are not fundamentalists. We are for Islam of France."

The demonstrators were joined by the president of the Paris region, Valerie Pecresse, and officials and residents of other Paris suburbs

While Islam has long been France's No. 2 religion, the country has a chronic shortage of mosques for its estimated 5 million Muslims. Muslims in several towns have resorted to praying in the streets, fueling the anti-immigrant sentiment of far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen.

Clichy Muslims had been renting a prayer hall from City Hall. But the town's mayor decided to turn that space into a library for the town's 60,000 residents, and the prayer hall was shut down in March following a court battle.

City Hall says Muslims can worship at a new Islamic cultural and prayer center, already used by hundreds, that the town inaugurated last year. However some Muslims say the new facility is too small, remote and doesn't meet safety standards.

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West Point Glee Club stages Veterans Day flash mob at Chicago airport

WATCH West Point Glee Club cadets stage flash mob performance at Chicago's O'Hare

Cadets in the West Point Glee Club staged a flash mob at O'Hare International Airport ahead of Veterans Day.

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The USO of Illinois organized the performance on Thursday to honor our country's veterans.

The airport posted a video of the full performance on social media that has been watched 45,000 times since it was published Thursday.

The performance began with a lone cadet singing in the rotunda of terminal 3. More young men and women began to filter in around him, joining in on the fun.

The world-renowned singers eventually moved onto a dual staircase where they finished the performance with "God Bless America."

Constance Chase, the director of the glee club, told ABC News that getting on the road with the cadets and doing something outside their normal structure quickly became one of her favorite memories to date since she joined the group in 1999.

“It’s very rare that the cadets have an opportunity to be spontaneous, so that makes it really fun,” Chase said.

They didn’t rehearse in the airport beforehand so they scouted the area in small groups prior to the performance.

“We were all looking at our watches and when they heard the music start all of the cadets found a time to sneak in,” Chase explained. “It’s just fun to do something so off the cuff.”

The group will perform throughout the city of Chicago at various locations leading up to the city’s Veterans Day event at Soldier Field on Saturday.

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Source – abcnews.go.com

Supreme Court takes a technological step forward

Surely but slowly, the Supreme Court is entering the 21st century. The court is making new legal filings available online starting Monday, years behind the rest of the federal court system.

Can livestreamed audio of arguments and even televised sessions be far behind? Yes, they can.

But advocates of court openness will take what they can get for now, especially because the Supreme Court will not charge for documents. The federal courts' PACER system does charge fees.

"Though the Supreme Court has moved glacially to join the rest of the judiciary in permitting online filing, that's better than not at all, and the institution should be commended for creating an e-filing system that, unlike PACER, will be free and easily accessible to the public," said Gabe Roth, executive director of Fix the Court.

Over the years, the justices have at times shown a glancing familiarity with technology. Some carry computer tablets with high court briefs loaded on them. But notes between justices are routinely sent on paper, definitely not by email.

Chief Justice John Roberts himself noted a few years back that the court stuck with pneumatic tubes to transmit newly released opinions from the courtroom to reporters waiting one floor below until 1971, long after their heyday.

Roberts said that it's appropriate for courts "to be late to the harvest of American ingenuity" because their primary role is to resolve disputes fairly.

Many Supreme Court legal briefs already are available online and for free from several sources. Scotusblog.com obtains and posts many of them, along with opinions. The Justice Department has an easily accessible archive of its extensive high court filings on its website, and the American Bar Association posts briefs in the 70 to 80 cases the court agrees to hear each term.

But the public may not know to look elsewhere. When the justices issued their highly anticipated decision upholding President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in 2012, the court's website was overwhelmed.

It, too, has recently been overhauled to make it friendlier to the public.

The Supreme Court updates come amid criticism of the PACER system as outmoded and unfair. "The PACER system used by the lower federal courts is hopelessly outdated and cumbersome. And, to add insult to injury, the PACER system charges people fees to access court records that should be made freely available," said Deepak Gupta, the lead attorney in a class-action lawsuit challenging PACER fees.

The judiciary says the fees provide the only money to pay for the system.

The cost to users was just one among several reasons the court opted not to join the PACER system, court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said.

"The court elected to design its system in-house so that it would have the capability to customize and continuously update to meet the distinctive needs of the court and counsel," Arberg said.

Until now, lawyers have not been required to submit their filings to the court electronically. Beginning Monday, those documents should appear quickly on the court's website. People who can't afford to pay court costs will be allowed to file paper copies, which Supreme Court employees will scan and post online.

Not everything is changing. Lawyers still will be required to submit up to 40 paper copies of every brief, and the court's color-coding system to distinguish types of briefs also will remain.

There's no timetable for electronic filings to supplant paper as the official court record.

And there's also no expectation that the justices will drop their prohibition on cameras in the courtroom anytime soon.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who once sounded open to cameras, recently told a New York audience that cameras might detract from the robust exchanges during arguments.

The Supreme Court also refuses to livestream audio of its arguments, even as the federal appeals court just down Capitol Hill recently has allowed live audio access to its hearings. The high court posts transcripts within hours of arguments, but doesn't release the audio for days.

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