Jess Owyoung co-founded the volunteer group Compassion in Oakland, where people can sign up to chaperone elderly individuals of Asian descent. In Brooklyn, Peter Kerre founded SafeWalks NYC.
Queen Elizabeth has served her country as the ruling monarch for nearly 70 years, but she is now doing it for the first time without her husband, Prince Philip, by her side. The queen will be joined by her closest family members Saturday for the funeral of Philip, who died April 9 at the age of 99. It will be the first time Queen Elizabeth has been seen publicly since the death of her husband of 73 years.
A federal appeals court should deny the Justice Department's attempt to substitute for former President Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit brought by former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll, her attorneys said in a new court filing Friday night. Instead, Carroll urged the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm "Trump did not act within the scope of his employment as President of the United States when he repeatedly, willfully defamed a private citizen to punish and retaliate against her after she revealed that he had sexually assaulted her decades before he took office." Carroll sued the former president for defamation after he accused her of playing politics and lying about an alleged 1990s rape in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman.
Former President Donald Trump's legacy continues to loom over the GOP, as both those backed by the pugnacious would-be kingmaker and those who have made their name by siding against him are boasting strong fundraising numbers as they head toward the 2022 election cycle. In the first signs of Trump's influence over the 2022 midterm race, significant fundraising sums are being reported by strong Trump allies, Republicans who have fundraised with him, and candidates on both sides of races in which Trump has taken sides. The 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him and whose seats are considered either safe or competitive -- including Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. -- all posted strong first-quarter sums, with many of them enjoying their best quarter of fundraising in years.
Liberty University has filed a $10 million lawsuit against former president Jerry Falwell Jr., citing claims that he withheld damaging information from the university's board of trustees, including concerns over his alleged excessive drinking, which Falwell's wife is alleged to have privately discussed with select members of the university's board of trustees. The lawsuit also alleges that Falwell negotiated a new contract for himself, with an increased severance provision, without disclosing to the board that he was the recipient of alleged extortion threats over the public exposure of his wife's admitted affair, according to court documents. Falwell, who resigned last August in the aftermath of a sex scandal involving his wife Becki and a former Miami pool attendant, called the suit "another attempt to defame me and discredit my record" in a statement to ABC News.
President Joe Biden welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to the White House on Friday, making it the first in-person foreign leader to visit during his presidency. "I greatly appreciate the chance to spend time with you in person and to make our exchange of ideas face to face," Biden said during a formal press conference in the Rose Garden. "Last night and into the morning in Indianapolis, yet again families had to wait to hear word about the fate of their loved ones," Biden said in a statement.
The Justice Department has sued former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone and his wife, Nydia, for $2 million dollars in unpaid taxes. The suit alleges that the Stones owe the money through Drake Ventures, an LLC set up by the Stones. The DOJ says they did not pay taxes through this LLC from 2007 to 2011 and in 2018.
Russian authorities have moved to designate the organizations of opposition leader Alexey Navalny as "extremist groups" in a step that effectively would outlaw his political movement. The move is the most serious attack so far by authorities on Navalny's movement as the Kremlin seeks to break the opposition fomented by its fiercest critic, who was sent to in a prison camp for 2 1/2 years in February. Russia's decision comes as doctors supporting Navalny have warned the state of his health is becoming dangerous in prison, where he's been on a hunger strike for more than two weeks and has accused authorities of denying him medical care.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan violated the federal government's ethics rules by requesting staff carry out personal favors, according to the State Department inspector general's office. The report, obtained by ABC News, documented over 100 instances of Mike or Susan Pompeo assigning that aide and other staffers personal errands, including booking dinner reservations or salon appointments, mailing personal Christmas cards, and purchasing things such as flowers or a t-shirt -- some details that ABC News first reported in September. Federal ethics standards and the State Department's own rules prohibit asking subordinates to conduct personal favors or use government resources for private gain, although the Pompeos don't appear to have violated any laws.
Eight people were shot dead and several others were injured in a mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis Thursday night, according to authorities. The suspect, 19-year-old Brandon Hole -- who FedEx says was a former employee -- was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Craig McCartt, deputy chief of Criminal Investigations at Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said at a Friday news conference. When officers arrived at the FedEx facility near the Indianapolis airport just after 11 p.m., they found a "chaotic and active crime scene," McCartt said.
Simon & Schuster said it will not distribute a forthcoming book from publishing house Post Hill Press written by one of the police officers who opened fire during the deadly raid of Breonna Taylor's home. John Mattingly, who is set to author the book, was one of the three plainclothes police officers who barged into the home of Taylor on a no-knock warrant in March 2020. The officers unleashed a hail of gunfire during the botched drug raid and Taylor, who was asleep as they entered, died at the scene.
President Joe Biden, faced with yet another mass shooting on his watch, said Friday that the news of at least eight Americans killed in Indianapolis on Thursday night has "become too normal." "Too many Americans are dying every single day from gun violence," Biden said Friday morning in a written statement. Biden said that he had been briefed on the shooting at the FedEx facility in Indianapolis, and ordered the flags lowered to half-staff in honor of those who died "just two weeks after I gave the last such order."
A Florida mom is speaking out about her pain and fear of raising a Black son in the United States, amid a police killings of mostly Black men and racial unrest. Danielle Bayard Jackson, 33, of Tampa, said she was with her 2-year-old son Elijah at a local restaurant and outdoor play area over the weekend when she witnessed how a white family interacted with her son. According to Jackson, when Elijah began playing with the family's young daughter, the girl went over to her parents and pointed a finger at Elijah and told them he was following her.
Congress could soon get answers as to how financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in Bureau of Prisons custody in August 2019, according to testimony given by BOP Director Michael Carvajal at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday. Epstein died while being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, and almost two years after his death, the BOP has not yet provided the customary report about the circumstances surrounding his death. Two Metropolitan Correctional Center officers were charged in November 2019 with destroying evidence in connection with the Epstein suicide.
Two transgender women were found shot to death in hotel rooms just 11 days apart in Charlotte, North Carolina, prompting police to issue a warning that a suspect, or suspects, may be targeting other members of the LGBTQ community. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said at a press conference on Thursday that it's unclear if the cases are connected, but both killings are similar. "Both of those victims ... were transgender women, both of them were sex workers, both of them shot to death in hotels," Charlotte-Mecklenburg police spokesman Rob Tufano said.
Underneath that, in slightly smaller letters, it adds: "And that one part in the 'Montero' music video by Lil Nas X when he gets nasty with the Devil because it was a cool form of self-expression and art." Another T-shirt design says, "I watched the 'Montero' video by Lil Nas X and all I got was this lousy shirt and now I'm also gay and love Satan." Prior to the T-shirt launch, Nas released "Satan shoes," claiming the sneakers contained a drop of human blood.
John Corbett said he will reprise his role as Carrie Bradshaw's ex-fiancé, Aidan Shaw, in HBO Max's "Sex and the City" revival, "And Just Like That..." The 59-year-old actor broke the news during a recent interview, telling the New York Post, "I'm going to do the show." Corbett, who can currently be seen on "Rebel" which airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC, didn't get into specifics on the extent of his involvement in the revival other than he might be in "quite a few" episodes.
HATCH, known as Meghan Markle’s favorite maternity brand, just launched a three-piece shoe collection made for mom. HATCH is known for their stylish and comfortable maternity wear but this is their first footwear collection. Markle was often spotted during her first pregnancy wearing HATCH's maternity dresses and outerwear.
Katy Perry did not mince words when recently expressing her feelings about social media. Posting from her Twitter account on Thursday, which has almost 110 million followers, the 36-year-old singer launched into a rant about online culture. "Social media is trash," she tweeted, providing no further context.
Jeannie Mai and Jeezy recently tied the knot, but on Thursday, the "Dancing with the Stars" alum shared the adorable way her husband got down on one knee and proposed to her last year. Appearing on the new episode of "Overserved with Lisa Vanderpump," Mai, 42, disclosed a few details about her engagement to the rapper. "He was going to propose to me in Vietnam and because of the pandemic, he ended up recreating a kind of Vietnamese experience," the 42-year-old stylist shared, saying he whisked her away on a date night in April 2020 and asked her to wait outside his home.
A former Democratic state lawmaker who changed his party affiliation after endorsing Donald Trump's reelection announced a bid to challenge Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, one of Trump's top Republican targets in the 2022 election cycle. "The governor's office has failed to fight for you and for me," Jones said in Atlanta on Friday. "I am planting my flag on the hallowed ground of the Georgia State Capitol," he continued.
