On Thursday night, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos published a letter accusing the parent company of the National Enquirer of blackmail. Here are 6 takeaways.
(Advisory: Note language in paragraph 11) By Andrew Hay (Reuters) - The painful history of blackface in America was highlighted this week as two top Virginia Democrats came under fire after admitting to having blackened their faces to resemble African-Americans while in college in the 1980s. While the practice is less common than it was decades ago, African-American scholars say it persists in some corners as evidence of racism. Apologies by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring followed blackface appearances by celebrities such as actor Billy Crystal and late-night talk show host Jimmy Fallon in recent years.
In a 5–4 decision, Justice John Roberts sided with the court’s progressive wing to grant an emergency stay blocking enforcement of Louisiana’s admitting-privileges law. The Louisiana law appeared to violate a recent Supreme Court precedent called Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which struck down a nearly identical Texas law. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, however, surprisingly upheld the Louisiana law, holding that there were enough factual differences between Louisiana and Texas to render the Louisiana law less burdensome on abortion rights.
A woman intervened in an apparent fight between two dogs, only to discover one of the combatants was in fact a mountain lion. “As she pulled the two animals apart, she realised that in one hand she held a juvenile male mountain lion, about 35 pounds, and not another dog as she expected,” said the Idaho department of fish and game in a statement. “Her husband responded and quickly dispatched the mountain lion as she held on to it,” added the IDFG.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has published evidence of American Media Inc.’s (AMI) attempt to blackmail him into halting his investigation into their publication of private text messages he allegedly exchanged with his mistress. In a blog post published on Thursday night, Bezos revealed that AMI, which owns the National Enquirer, threatened to print a number of revealing, personal photos that depict Bezos and his mistress in various states of undress, unless he agreed to stop his investigation into how the Enquirer obtained his private text messages.
The Harley-Davidson-themed Ford F-150, a concept model that went on display last August at the motorcycle brand's 115th Anniversary event, turned out to be so popular and highly-requested that -- at long last -- the motorcycle-styled pickup truck that was in production for over a decade in the early 2000s will be put back on the market. Naturally with a special edition truck comes a hearty, custom lift-kit and new set of high performance shock absorbers.
American Media has launched an investigation into extortion claims made by Jeff Bezos after the billionaire entrepreneur published exchanges between his team and the media company in a revealing Medium post. In a statement responding to the allegations, American Media said it “believes fervently that it acted lawfully in the reporting of the story of Mr Bezos” but “nonetheless, in light of the nature of the allegations published by Mr Bezos, the board has convened and determined that it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims”. “Upon completion of that investigation, the board will take whatever appropriate action is necessary,” the statement continued.
Twitter Inc forecast that revenue in the first quarter would be weaker than expected while full-year operating costs would rise, sending shares down more than 10 percent in midday trading on Thursday. Investors' concerns over the weak forecast overshadowed strong fourth-quarter results for the social media company that included a 24 percent jump in total revenue, helped by growth in its video advertising business. Monthly active users on the social media platform fell to its lowest in two years and for a third consecutive quarter.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Koreans, always deeply divided over how best to deal with their often-belligerent northern neighbor, are reacting with both hope and wariness to President Donald Trump's announcement that he will hold a second nuclear disarmament summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.