SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 21, 2023--

By Carolina Mandl and Chris Prentice NEW YORK The U.S. securities regulator on Wednesday was set to finalize

The Las Vegas Aces defeated the New York Liberty 70-69 in Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals to win the franchise's second consecutive title on Wednesday.

Swede Alex Noren held a two stroke lead after shooting a second round 66 at the US PGA Tour's...

TOKYO Japan's factory activity shrank for a sixth straight month in November, while modest growth in the service

Actor Danny Masterson remained unmoved as his two rape victims gave powerful impact statements to a judge before the That ‘70s Show star was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the attacks. “When you raped me, you stole from me,” said one woman who Masterson, 47, was convicted of raping in 2003. “That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit.” “You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent,” she added. “The world is better off with you in prison.” The other victim told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo that the actor “has not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused.” “I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with. I am so sorry, and I’m so upset. I wish I’d reported him sooner to the police,” she told the court. Masterson, who has been in custody since May, showed no visible reaction to the statements as he sat in court, reported The Associated Press. Masterson was found guilty by a jury of two counts of rape on 31 May after seven days of deliberations. The court was told that both attacks took place at Masterson’s home in the Hollywood area of the city in 2003 when he was a member of the cast of the hit Fox sitcom. Masterson did not testify, and his defence team called no witnesses, arguing that the acts were consensual. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a third count, an allegation that Masterson had raped a longtime girlfriend. A mistrial was declared in Masterson’s first trial in December 2022 after a jury failed to reach verdicts on three counts of forcible rape. “Mr Masterson, I know that you’re sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence, and thus no doubt feeling victimized by a justice system that has failed you,” Judge Olmedo told Masterson before handing down the sentence. “But Mr Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person’s voice, and choice. One way or another you will have to come to terms with your prior actions, and their consequences.” The Associated Press contributed to this report. Read More ‘That ’70s Show’ actor Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for rapes Danny Masterson sentencing - live: ‘That 70s Show’ actor given 30 years to life in prison for raping two women Danny Masterson’s wife breaks down at rape sentencing: Who is Bijou Phillips?

BEIJING Economic and trade development in the Asia-Pacific still faces many disturbances and challenges, China's commerce minister Wang

Whale hunting is set to return in Iceland despite hopes the temporary ban would remain. Iceland‘s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, announced on Thursday that this summer’s temporary ban on whaling would be lifted in a move international marine conservation organisation OceanCare has described as ‘disappointing’, A suspension on whaling was put in place by the Icelandic government in June, set to expire in August 2023, due to animal welfare concerns. It came after monitoring by Iceland’s Food and Veterinary Authority on the fin whale hunt found that the killing of the animals took too long based on the main objectives of the Animal Welfare Act. An investigation found that around 40% of hunted whales did not die instantly, with an average time to death of 11.5 minutes. Iceland’s Food and Veterinary Authority found that two whales had to be shot four times. One of the whales took almost an hour to die, while the other took almost two hours. In anticipation of the ban being lifted, two Icelandic whaling vessels left port yesterday to resume whale hunting, OceanCare said. The organisation said they are “gravely disappointed” that the ban has been lifted, and claimed the decision could mean that there will now “be a race to kill as many whales as possible in the remaining weeks of reasonable hunting weather” before whale hunting season ends in mid-September. “It is deplorable that this cruel practice has been allowed to resume,” said Nicolas Entrup, OceanCare’s director of International Relations. “We are bitterly disappointed by the decision which entirely goes against the clear facts that are available to the government and people of Iceland. We can almost be certain that the Icelandic whalers will not meet the imposed requirements. “This cruel, unnecessary and outdated practice needs to stop,” he said. Meanwhile, animal protection charity Humane Society International called Svavarsdóttir’s decision “devastating” and “inexplicable”. Ruud Tombrock, HSI’s executive director for Europe, said: “It is inexplicable that minister Svavarsdóttir has dismissed the unequivocal scientific evidence that she herself commissioned, demonstrating the brutality and cruelty of commercial whale killing. “There is simply no way to make harpooning whales at sea anything other than cruel and bloody, and no amount of modifications will change that. Whales already face myriad threats in the oceans from pollution, climate change, entanglement in fish nets and ship strikes, and fin whale victims of Iceland’s whaling fleet are considered globally vulnerable to extinction. “With the need for whale protection so critical. this is a devastating rejection of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to end the slaughter at sea. “There is a new shameful entry in the conservation history books―Iceland had a chance to do the right thing and it chose not to.” Iceland’s whaling season runs from mid-June to mid-September. Annual quotas authorise the killing of 209 fin whales, but none were killed between 2019-2021 due to a dwindling market for whale meat. Some 148 fin whales were killed in 2022 during whaling season. Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only countries in the world that have continued whale hunting in the face of fierce criticism from environmentalists and animal rights’ defenders. OceanCare said the lifting of the ban calls into question the announced phase-out of whaling over the next few years. A decision about Iceland’s self-allocated whaling quota for the next several years is expected towards the end of this year. In 2009, several countries including the UK, the US, Germany, France, Portugal and Spain condemned Iceland’s whaling policy. Japan, which is the biggest market for whale meat, resumed commercial whaling in 2019 after a three-decade hiatus. Read More Iceland suspends annual whale hunt due to ‘animal welfare concerns’ – and may never bring it back Humpback whale spotted off Cornwall coast in rare sighting Humpback whale found on beach died after entanglement in creel lines, tests show Italy's Meloni visits Naples suburb where 2 girls were allegedly raped by youths, pledges crackdown Putin’s forces pushed back by Ukraine counteroffensive after ‘largest’ drone strike Zelensky makes long-range weapon claim after strike deep inside Russia

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is set to crown a champion, with 11 finalists gathering in a convention center ballroom outside Washington to demonstrate their mastery of Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged dictionary

A Taylor Swift fan who messaged the pop star's official Instagram account got the shock of her life when she received a response. The Swiftie named Amina shared her frustration with Swift at the ticket information not being updated in Australia. Frontier Touring was providing updates on ticket availability for The Era Tour, but Amina wrote to Swift saying that updates were not being added to the official website. "Hey Taylor, Australia tickets are on sale at the moment," Amina wrote. "And I don't know if you're aware but there has been promotions on Twitter getting a message out to let people know there is actually limited spaces available in Sydney and only tickets available on the Sunday night." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "But on the actual Ticketek website, it is saying general public is on sale for Sydney, on the website it doesn't say that. "Many of us are missing out on tickets due to this. Just letting you know about this inconvenience," she added and then expressed her excitement to see the singer in Australia. Amina then couldn't believe her eyes as she noticed her message to Swift's Instagram had been opened, and a reply was being typed. She then shared what message she received. "Hey Amina, I can get my team to look into it," the reply began. "I'd like to give every one of my fans an opportunity to see me live - I can see why this would be an issue. "Sorry so-so-so much. Love you, hope to see you in Sydney," the message concluded. @amnxa_18 I made this way to dramatic #taylorswift #taylorswiftedit #taylorswifttok #taylorswifterastour #taylorswiftaustralia2024 #taylorswiftsydney #erastour #fyp #fypシ Since then, the video has gone viral with and 5.1m views 691,000 likes, One person wrote: "I’m sorry but if i ever received a message from mother herself I would go FERAL." "SHE SAID “LOVE U” AND SENT U A HEART YOU WON AT LIFE GIRL," another person said. "This was on IG? Not me checking and she hasn’t read mine from 2013," one added. "NO FREAKING WAY," another wrote. Meanwhile, others weren't so convinced and believe it was edited by the fan. One person said: "There is no way." "This is very much edited," another person added. Someone else wrote: "It’s probably her team who replies." In a follow-up video, she addressed those who accused him of being "fake," by sharing her screen to show that it was Swift's account. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Kaitlyn Siragusa aka Amouranth, a notable female streamer on Twitch with over 6.4 million followers, has also joined the platform ‘Kick’ to stream

By Jonathan Saul HERZLIYA, Israel Every morning Amir sets up a protest stand to warn passersby that Israeli