- CelebrityUSA TODAY Entertainment
Cameron Diaz reveals to Gwyneth Paltrow why she left Hollywood: 'I got a peace in my soul'
In a conversation with Gwyneth Paltrow, which streamed live on YouTube Wednesday, Cameron Diaz discussed why she stepped back from her acting career.
- EntertainmentPeople
Alyssa Milano Tests Positive for COVID-19 Antibodies After 3 Negative Results: 'I Thought I Was Dying'
The actress said she tested negative for coronavirus twice at the end of March and had initially received a negative result in her COVID-19 antibody test after she was "feeling a bit better"
- PoliticsBloomberg
Stimulus Talks Quicken With Lawmakers, White House Feeling the Heat
(Bloomberg) -- White House and Democratic negotiators driving toward a deal on a final massive virus relief package by the end of the week still must overcome a raw mix of election-year pressures, internal GOP splits and a profound lack of trust between the parties.President Donald Trump’s sinking poll ratings amid the virus’s resurgence have Democrats sensing they have leverage with 90 days to go before the November election and Republicans bickering over additional aid spending on top of the almost $3 trillion Congress previously approved.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer have been playing hardball, dismissing out of hand smaller-scale proposals floated last week by Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, as well as a $1 trillion plan cobbled together by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.Both sides declared they were making progress Tuesday as they started to exchange detailed offers and agreed on a goal of reaching a deal by the end of the week, teeing up possible votes next week. They are set to meet again Wednesday after Pelosi and Schumer meet with the postmaster general. Aid for the Postal Service and state governments to conduct vote-by-mail operations given the pandemic is a top Democratic priority that is opposed by Trump, who has blasted mail-in ballots for weeks.Some lawmakers are skeptical that legislation can be produced and voted on by next week given the differences that remain. But there may be added urgency to get something done with signs indicating the economy is being weighed down by the pandemic. ADP Research Institute data released Wednesday showed payroll gains at U.S. companies slowed sharply in July, suggesting the pickup in coronavirus cases is putting brakes on the job market.The talks got off to a late start. Democrats set out their $3.5 trillion proposal in May, but the White House and Senate Republicans delayed acting for months in hopes the economy would have reopened and the virus faded by now. McConnell released their plan as millions of Americans were about to receive their final $600 federal pandemic unemployment bonus checks.Republicans are riven by resistance to another big stimulus as some senators express alarm about federal debt. Among them are Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida, two potential presidential candidates in 2024. Unlike earlier this year, when financial markets and the economy were in free-fall, some of the GOP lawmakers want to focus on encouraging businesses and schools to reopen instead of delivering another expensive rescue.Other GOP lawmakers, facing re-election fights in November, are eager for a deal amid signs that the economy is faltering.That’s left McConnell, the party’s most accomplished and experienced negotiator, with a weak hand to play and outside the negotiating room looking in. The majority leader, who is up for re-election himself in Kentucky, acknowledged that the unanimity that marked passage of the $2.2 trillion rescue plan in March won’t be present this time around.“If you’re looking for a total consensus among Republicans, you’re not going to find it,” McConnell told reporters.Better DealWith Senate Republicans divided, Democrats apparently think they’ll get a better deal talking directly with the White House.“We have to have an agreement, and we will have an agreement,” Pelosi told PBS Tuesday. “But we’re not going to do it at the expense of American working families, on the basis that it is going to add to the national debt.”Instead of McConnell or Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has previously cut several deals with Democrats, Trump’s lead negotiator for this round is Meadows, the former House Freedom Caucus chairman who has had more experience in government shutdown confrontations than in cutting major bipartisan deals.Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby praised Meadows for being engaged with lawmakers but noted his inexperience in such talks.“This is his first deal,” Shelby said.Stripped DownMeadows initially proposed a stripped-down plan tying unemployment and school aid while negotiations continued, but Democrats are insisting on a bigger plan that they say meets the moment. In turn, he has floated potential executive actions Trump could take on his own if the talks break down.Among the sticking points are the size and length of unemployment payments, state and local aid, McConnell’s push for sweeping liability protections and the price tag, with Democrats’ opening offer the $3.5 trillion Heroes Act.Senator Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican and former White House budget director, said most Republicans want a deal and he has been working Democrats behind the scenes to try to find compromises on unemployment benefits and other issues.“I don’t think they are showing the kind of flexibility they have to show,” he told reporters. Portman said Democrats’ demands, which include continuing the $600-per-week unemployment benefit, are impossible for Republicans to support, and that Democrats have continued to ratchet up demands for school funding.Mnuchin, meanwhile, continues to play a major role but faces skepticism from conservative Senate Republicans who say he gave Democrats too much in past virus relief packages. Trump himself has said he wants a deal but some of his ideas, like a payroll tax cut, have little support on either side of the aisle and he’s yet to propose a complete, public plan of his own.One pessimistic GOP aide warned the talks could go on for weeks, and maybe end up including other issues as well, like a stopgap spending bill that will be needed to keep the government open past Sept. 30.(Updates with ADP data in fifth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- BusinessBusiness Insider
Buying TikTok's US operations could reportedly cost Microsoft anywhere from $10 billion to $30 billion
Microsoft has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire TikTok's US operations as ByteDance struggles to ensure the app isn't banned in the US.
- U.S.The Guardian
Husband of LA district attorney charged after pointing gun at Black Lives Matter protesters
David Lacey, whose wife Jackie Lacey is running for re-election, has been charged with multiple firearm assaults The husband of the Los Angeles district attorney has been charged with multiple firearm assaults after he pointed a gun at Black Lives Matter activists and said, “I will shoot you.”David Lacey, whose wife Jackie Lacey is the elected prosecutor currently running for re-election, is facing three misdemeanor charges for pointing his firearm at three organizers who were protesting outside their house on 2 March, the day before the primary election. The charges come from the state attorney general’s office.The incident was captured on video and showed David Lacey opening his door and threatening the demonstrators, saying, “Get off of my porch. I will shoot you … I don’t care who you are … We’re calling the police right now.” He appeared to have his finger on the trigger.Close to the door was Melina Abdullah, a Black Lives Matter Los Angeles leader, who said on the video: “He pulled a gun and pointed it at my chest.”Abdullah, who has been protesting against Jackie Lacey for years over her refusal to prosecute officers who kill civilians, told the Guardian on Tuesday that she was surprised to learn of the charges from the media, and said she had not had any contact with the attorney general or the district attorney.She also pointed out that the charges were misdemeanors and that prosecutors typically file more serious felony charges for firearm threats like the one clearly captured on footage against her.“Had it been anyone else who pointed a gun at someone’s chest, at three people in fact, and said the words, ‘I will shoot you’, we know they’d be getting more than misdemeanors,” said Abdullah, who is also a professor of Pan-African studies at Cal State LA. “The system is there to protect themselves.”Samuel Tyre, an attorney for David Lacey, said in an email that his client was “disappointed that the attorney general’s office felt that the conduct at issue amounted to criminal behavior”, adding, “We disagree entirely with their assessment, but we have the utmost faith in the justice system, and we are confident that the correct result will be reached.”Tyre declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but added, “my client’s human instinct is forever and always to protect his wife and his family and to keep them safe from physical harm”.Lacey had promised last fall to meet with Black Lives Matter activists who have long called for her to address police violence, but the meeting never happened, organizers said at the time. Using a tactic that has become common in recent protests, a group of about 30 protesters showed up to Lacey’s Granada Hills home in the early morning. They brought chairs with them saying they were going to hold the community meeting that they had been promised. There were no threats of violence from the demonstrators.Abdullah said it seemed the charges were meant to “placate the community”, adding, “It’s trying to give us the illusion that there is justice.”She also said it had taken time for her to process what happened, though she has continued to be a vocal presence at the demonstrations against police violence in recent months. The incident affected her whole family, she said, noting that her children had to leave their classrooms when it happened: “It’s not only weighed on me.”Hours after the original incident, Jackie Lacey offered a tearful apology to reporters, saying she and her husband were frightened.The DA’s office declined to comment on Tuesday and Lacey’s campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry. Lacey is facing a tough re-election fight in November and has long faced criticism for her handling of killings by police, her aggressive pursuit of the death penalty and other tough-on-crime strategies.
- CelebrityPolitico
Falwell apologizes for unzipped pants photo: ‘I’m gonna try to be a good boy’
The Liberty University president said he regrets his Instagram post, but said the party was harmless summer fun.
- CelebrityINSIDER
The story behind the widely-shared photo of a bikini-clad doctor who helped a patient on the brink of death
Dr. Candice Myhre shared a photo of herself saving someone's life while wearing a bikini to highlight "disgraceful" sexism in medicine.
