Germany’s Cheap Transit Ticket Is Boosting Train Trips, DPA Says
Germany’s affordable public transit offer has successfully nudged consumers to ditch their cars for trains, according to news
2023-07-23 18:24
Marco Silva updates on his and Aleksandar Mitrovic's Fulham futures
Marco Silva gives update on his situation and that of striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.
2023-07-23 18:17
Assimi Goïta: President gets sweeping powers in new Mali constitution
Opponents call it a "plot on democracy" and say the referendum result should be annulled.
2023-07-23 18:15
Rishi Sunak went to see Oppenheimer and everyone made the same point
Rishi Sunak has attempted to show that he is down with the kids by trying his hand at the 'Barbenheimer' double bill trend and everyone made the same point. Despite being one of the youngest prime ministers ever, Sunak has shown that he's still got a long way to go to get some street cred but you can't say he hasn't tried. The 43-year-old leader of the Conservative Party jumped on the Barbenheimer bandwagon this weekend by taking his family to go and see both Barbie and Oppenheimer at his local cineplex. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Posing with his wife, Akshata Murthy and two young daughters, Sunak wrote: "The family vote was only ever going one way…Barbie first it is." Sunak has yet to confirm whether he did get to see Oppenheimer second or whether they'll return to the cinema for a second outing for a far more serious and devastating film. While this is mostly wholesome fun for the family, people couldn't help but wonder how Oppenheimer would hit for a person that actually has access to nuclear weapons. Bizarrely, Andrew Tate of all people weighed into things and told Sunak to "fix the country" which isn't really in the spirit of things. Still, we won't begrudge a man going to the cinema with his family but we'll have to wait and see what he thought of both movies. Hopefully, it'll get brought up at the next PMQs session. 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.
2023-07-23 17:49
The Jason Aldean 'Try That In A Small Town' controversy explained
Country music singer Jason Aldeon is facing an intense wave of backlash after his song, “Try That In A Small Town”, went viral online, prompting many people to accuse him of dog-whistle racism. The song sets footage of Black Lives Matter protests alongside lyrics like: “Try that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road / Around here, we take care of our own.” The song continues: “Cuss out a cop, spit in his face / Stomp on the flag and light it up / Yeah, ya think you’re tough.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The BLM protests were a direct reaction to the murder of African-American man George Floyd by a white police officer. The clips in the music video, which also include an attempted convenience store robbery and other apparent crimes, alternate with shots of Aldean and his band performing in the public square of Columbia, Tennessee. To make things worse, the video is shot in front of the Maury County Courthouse, which at times appears to be on fire with images of burning US flags projected onto it. It’s the same building where a mob hanged 18-year-old African-American Henry Choate from the balcony in 1927. Columbia is also the site of an infamous 1946 race riot that nearly resulted in the lynching of future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. Another lyric goes: “Got a gun that my granddad gave me / They say one day they’re gonna round up / Well that s--- might fly in the city / Good luck.” Country Music Television (CMT) confirmed Tuesday that it had pulled the video from rotation. Social media has been ablaze with the controversy for much of the last week. Democrat state representative for Tenessee, Justin Jones, called the song "heinous", and a "shameful vision of gun extremism and vigilantism". One user said that if Lil Durk, a black American rapper, made a response to Aldean's video called "Try That On The South Side of Chicago", it would likely be denounced as violent. Others shared videos explaining exactly why people are interpreting the song as dog-whistle racism. Aldean has stood by the song, saying: “There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it – and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage – and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music – this one goes too far.” Needless to say, the people defending him are all the ones you might expect. Top Republicans have jumped to Aldean’s aid, including former president Donald Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis. “Jason Aldean is a fantastic guy who just came out with a great new song. Support Jason all the way. MAGA!!!” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. The conservative influencer Ben Shapiro posted a video to his YouTube channel titled “Jason Aldean REFUSES To Get Cancelled”, in which he discusses the controversy and takes Aldean’s side. Most recently, Aldean has been filmed at a concert over the weekend defending the song further. He said: “What I am is a proud American.” “I love our country. I want to see it restored to what it once was before all this bulls*** started happening to us.” “I love my country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that. I can tell you that.” 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.
2023-07-23 17:45
Man Utd confirm outcast defender's move to Al Nassr
Alex Telles has left Manchester United to jojn Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo's club in the Saudi Pro League.
2023-07-23 16:58
Elon Musk says Twitter logo to change, birds to be gradually abandoned
Elon Musk tweeted on his official account on Sunday that Twitter would be changing its logo to an "X" and that all the birds will be disappearing from the platform.
2023-07-23 15:18
Elon Musk says Twitter to change logo, adieu to 'all the birds'
(Corrects paragraph 2 to owner, not CEO) Elon Musk said he was looking to change Twitter's logo, tweeting:
2023-07-23 13:19
Democrats eye Wisconsin high court's new liberal majority to win abortion and redistricting rulings
Wisconsin's Supreme Court will flip from majority conservative to liberal control in August and Democrats have high hopes the change will lead to the state's abortion ban being overturned and its maps redrawn to weaken GOP control of the Legislature and congressional districts. Democrats in the perennial battleground state focused on abortion to elect a liberal majority to the court for the first time in 15 years. The Democratic Party spent $8 million to tilt the court’s 4-3 conservative majority by one seat with the election of Janet Protasiewicz, who spoke in favor of abortion rights and against the Republican-drawn map in a campaign. Her April victory broke national spending records for a state Supreme Court race. Still, there are no guarantees. Republicans were angered when a conservative candidate they backed in 2019 turned out to sometimes side with liberal justices. While the court is widely expected to weigh in on abortion and redistricting, liberals also are talking about bringing new challenges to school choice, voter ID, the 12-year-old law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers and other laws backed by Republicans. “When you don’t know the extent of the battle you may have to fight, it’s concerning,” said attorney Rick Esenberg, president of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. "It’s very concerning.” Some issues could take years to reach the court, said liberal attorney Pester Pines, who like Esenberg has argued numerous times before the state Supreme Court. Unlike under the conservative majority, Pines said the new liberal court will be unlikely to rule on cases before lower courts have heard them. “They're not going to do it," Pines said. There is already a pending case challenging Wisconsin's pre-Civil War era abortion ban, and a circuit court judge ruled earlier this month that it can proceed, while also calling into question whether the law actually bans abortions. The case is expected to reach the Supreme Court within months. Protasiewicz all but promised to overturn the ban by repeatedly speaking out for abortion rights, winning support from Planned Parenthood and others. “When you’re a politician and you’re perceived by the voters as making a promise, and you don’t keep it, they get angry,” Esenberg said. There is no current redistricting lawsuit, but Democrats or their allies are expected to file a new challenge this summer seeking new districts before the 2024 election. The state Supreme Court upheld Republican-drawn maps in 2022. Those maps, widely regarded as among the most gerrymandered in the country, have helped Republicans increase their hold on the Legislature to near supermajority levels, even as Democrats have won statewide elections, including Tony Evers as governor in 2018 and 2022 and Joe Biden in 2020. Protasizewicz declared those maps to be “rigged” and said during the campaign they should be given another look. Democrats also hope for new congressional maps improving their chances in the state’s two most competitive House districts, held by Republicans. “What we want to see is maps that are fair and that represent the will of the people and the actual make up of their state," Democratic strategist Melissa Baldauff said. Four of the past six presidential elections in Wisconsin have been decided by less than a percentage point. The outgoing conservative court came within one vote of overturning Biden's win in 2020. The new court will be in control to hear any challenges leading up to the election and in the months after. That includes voting rules. Courts have repeatedly upheld Wisconsin's voter ID requirement, in place since 2011, but some Democrats see a chance to challenge it again, particularly over what IDs can legally be shown. There is also a looming fight over the state's top elections administrator. “It seems to me that the most consequential topics that could come before the new court would have to do with elections," said Alan Ball, a Marquette University Law School history professor who runs a statistical analysis blog of the court and tendencies of justices. Considering comments Protasiewicz made during the campaign, “it’s really hard for me to imagine she would not side with the liberals on those issues,” Ball said. A national Democratic law firm filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to undo a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling last year banning absentee ballot drop boxes. The case could make its way to the state high court before the 2024 presidential election. Other sticky issues that have garnered bipartisan criticism, including powers of the governor, also could come before the new court. Evers surprised many with a veto this year putting in place a school spending increase for 400 years. Republicans said a challenge was likely. In 2021, the court struck down three of Evers' previous partial vetoes but failed to give clear guidance on what is allowed. A Wisconsin governor's veto power is expansive and used by Republicans and Democrats, but the new court could weigh in on whether it should be scaled back. Esenberg, who brought the previous case challenging Evers' veto powers, said he expected another legal challenge in light of the 400-year veto. 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2023-07-23 12:49
Spain faces stark left-right divide in hot summer vote
Resurgent nationalists in Spain aim to roll back the left-wing coalition's reforms.
2023-07-23 11:54
'RHONY' star Bethenny Frankel lashes out at TJ Maxx for selling her fake $869 Manolo Blahnik shoes
'RHONY' star Bethenny Frankel calls out TJ Maxx for selling her 'tons of s**t'
2023-07-23 09:25
Texas A&M University president resigns following controversy over failed plans to hire journalism professor
Texas A&M University president M. Katherine Banks resigned Thursday amid controversy over the school's failed attempt to hire a new professor to lead its journalism program.
2023-07-23 08:57
