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  • Nick Carter sexual assault charge dismissed

    Nick Carter Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Nick Carter’s assault charge has been dismissed

    Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter will not be charged for a sexual assault accusation from 2003.

    Melissa Schuman accused Carter of raping her and waved her anonymity by writing a blog in February.

    After being reviewed by prosecutors, the case was thrown out as the statute of limitations has passed.

    Carter’s lawyer Michael Holtz said he is “happy to put the matter behind him”.

    “Nick has denied these allegations ever since he first learned of them last year, and was confident the district attorney would conclude that there was no basis to pursue charges against him,” Holtz said in a statement.

    Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Carter recorded a duet with Schuman, pictured right in 2002.

    Schuman, 33, who was part of the teen girl band Dream, says she was 18 and a virgin at the time of the alleged attack, which she said took place after the pair recorded a duet.

    She decided to come forward after seeing an allegation against Carter from another woman last year.

    Carter, 38, feels vindicated that no charges will be brought against him, according to his lawyer.

    The statute of limitations refers to a set timeframe when legal action must be taken for proceedings to take place, but in this case that timeframe had expired in 2013.

    Prosecutors concluded that because of the amount of time that had passed, a proper analysis of strengths and weaknesses of evidence could not be achieved.

    Schuman told the Associated Press that more should be done to accommodate retroactive assault claims.

    She said she was “well aware of the likelihood that my case was not prosecutable”, but that it had provided her with “great solace” to know that prosecutors had looked into her case.

    “Speaking out was the best thing I could have ever done for myself,” she said.

    “I hope it inspires others to do the same if it feels right for them.”

    Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

  • Juncker makes keynote EU speech

    Live Juncker makes keynote EU speech

  • Trump: Puerto Rico hurricane response an ‘unsung success’

    Video Trump: An ‘unsung success’

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  • Trump’s claim of success in Puerto Rico hurricane response derided

    New York Democratic primary winner Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said: “Some of my [Puerto Rico] family just got power a few weeks ago. People are developing respiratory issues partly due to airborne fungal spores from lack of proper cleanup. The admin’s response to Puerto Rico has been a disaster.”

    Some Trump supporters on social media accepted there had been failures but said the president had done all he could and that it was Puerto Rican officials who were to blame.

    What happened in Hurricane Maria?

    Maria made landfall in mid-September last year having just been downgraded to a category four hurricane, with winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) and driving rain.

    It caused catastrophic damage to the north-eastern Caribbean and was the most intense cyclone worldwide in 2017.

    Six graphics that sum up Puerto Rico disaster

    Infrastructure was severely damaged in Puerto Rico and the territory struggled to make repairs to the power grid, only completing the work 11 months later.

    Maria was estimated to have caused $100bn (£77bn) in damage.

    For long the government there listed the death toll at only 64, although it acknowledged it was probably much higher.

    The island’s authorities finally accepted a revised toll of 2,975 after a government-commissioned report by experts from George Washington University.

    This counted those who died in the six months following the storm as a result of poor healthcare and a lack of electricity and clean water. Repeated power cuts also led to an increased number of deaths from diabetes and sepsis.

    The report said that those from poorer backgrounds in Puerto Rico were 45% more likely to have been killed in the aftermath of the hurricane.

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  • Brazil’s Lula still has power to influence politics

    Brazilian ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is lifted by supporters after attending a Catholic Mass in memory of his late wife Marisa Leticia, at the metalworkers' union building in Sao Bernardo do Campo, in metropolitan Sao Paulo, Brazil, 7 April 2018 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Lula is lifted by supporters at the steelworkers’ union building in Sao Paulo

    Brazil’s former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s surrender on Saturday capped a dramatic few days in Brazil. But the political spectacle is likely to continue as the country heads towards presidential elections in October.

    “We are going to return to the time where just a few people have a lot of money, and a lot of people have nothing,” Lula supporter Gisele Veloso says.

    She was on the verge of tears as she stood outside the steelworkers’ union in the early hours of Thursday morning. It was just after the Supreme Court ruled that Lula had to start serving his 12-year prison sentence for corruption and tensions were running high.

    Spectacular fall from grace

    For many, Lula still holds a special place. He was Brazil’s first working-class president and helped lift millions out of poverty. He promised change in a country known for its gaping inequalities.

    But it has been a stunning fall from grace for a man who was once the most popular leader in Brazilian history. Convicted and jailed for corruption and money laundering, he now has a less flattering claim to fame as the country’s most famous criminal.

    Media playback is unsupported on your device

    Media captionLula forced his way through crowds of his supporters to turn himself in

    For millions, including those who had voted for him in the past, he turned out to be just as corrupt as the politicians who came before him. There are now plenty of people who are eager to see him locked up.

    Messy months ahead

    Even so, it’s unlikely that this is the last we will hear of Lula. Leaders in the Workers’ Party (PT) have already said he remains their candidate for October’s elections.

    It is possible for Lula to campaign behind bars – for now. So the next few months will be messy and emotional.

    Parties have to put forward names of their preferred candidates by 15 August. The Electoral court then has until mid-September to analyse them.

    Lula: Only death will take me off streets A quick guide to Brazil’s scandals

    Because of what is known as the “Clean Sheet” law, which was introduced in 2010, anybody with a criminal conviction is banned from public office for eight years. At that point, Lula’s nomination is expected to be thrown out.

    But that means for several months, we could have a convicted criminal attempting to be the country’s next leader. This is Brazil and politics is nothing if not complicated – and at times unbelievable.

    An act of rejection

    For Thiago de Aragão, a partner at political consultancy Arko Advice, this is the end of an era – one that Lula’s Workers’ Party was warned about.

    “They knew that this would happen,” he says, adding that they have lined up possible candidates to replace him, including the former mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad.

    “From within the Workers’ Party, breaking with Lula is not an option,” he says, adding that Lula has in the past few years become bigger than the party he founded.

    “Because of that, a candidate from the party that is not fully endorsed or linked to Lula does not stand a chance,” he adds.

    They have a strategy and that, according to Mr de Aragão, is to keep pushing Lula as a candidate until the last moment. When the electoral court throws his candidacy out, that’s when they’ll put forward another candidate.

    “They will make this an act of rejection,” he says. “The energy from that moment will then be transmitted to the candidate that will be chosen to run on Lula’s behalf.”

    From far-left to far-right

    Brazilian politics is increasingly polarised. Trailing behind leftist Lula in the presidential polls is far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro. So could he become number one?

    Many experts doubt it.

    “The existence of a candidate like Bolsonaro is a product of the existence of Lula,” says Mr de Aragão.

    If that’s the case, then it throws the elections wide open. There is a great deal of uncertainty as to the political future of this country. Ask a Brazilian who to vote for and many just shrug their shoulders – they have no idea.

    One thing is certain though, Lula’s influence is here to stay.

    “He will still be able to do politics even through his silence,” says João Paulo Orsini Martinelli, a criminal lawyer in São Paulo. “His existence will still be there and he’s still a gravitational force within Brazilian politics. He’s a player.”

    Additional reporting by Anna Jean Kaiser

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  • NI Trade leaders call for comparable-sex marriage legislation

    A sign from a pro-gay marriage march in Belfast saying: Image copyright Getty Pictures Symbol caption Northern Ireland is the one part of the uk that doesn’t allow related-sex marriage

    Representatives of a couple of best multinationals have signed an open letter calling for the advent of comparable-sex marriage in NI.

    They include financial, criminal and IT companies with NI branch offices.

    The letter said: “Whilst many of the arguments for equivalent marriage are in line with rights and equality, there may be additionally an important economic argument.”

    The signatories mentioned they wanted to see their LGBT employees enjoy the same rights as the ones within the remainder of the united kingdom.

    ‘Outward looking’

    “a diverse, outward-looking and inclusive society is essential to create a vibrant and competitive economy and a prosperous long run for Northern Ireland,” the letter provides.

    Beverages manufacturers Coca Cola Eire, regulation companies Baker McKenzie and Pinsent Masons, consultants Deloitte and PwC, Liberty IT, Bank Of Ireland and Ulster Financial Institution all introduced their voice to the message.

    Andrea McIlroy-Rose, of Pinsent Masons stated the transfer would have an impact past person employees.

    “The trade case for marriage equality is compelling, each in phrases of retaining and attracting ability, and likewise to send out a message to global buyers that Northern Eire is a contemporary, outward looking economy, with a modern perspective on non-public freedoms and rights.”

    Sandra Wright of Ulster Bank said the trade noticed itself as “really inclusive and diverse”.

    “We Wish to do what we will be able to to make sure our shoppers, colleagues and the LGBTQ+ neighborhood in Northern Ireland have the same rights prolonged to them as the remaining of the uk and Ireland,” she added.

    UK regulation

    In light of the current loss of devolved executive at Stormont, John O’Doherty, director the Rainbow Project and member of the affection Equality consortium called on the uk executive to introduce law making an allowance for comparable-sex marriage.

    “The brain drain from Northern Ireland is a acknowledged fact and it’s vital that we replicate upon all of its causes, now not least of all the incontrovertible fact that Northern Eire continues to be the only part of these Islands not to realize equivalent marriage,” he said.

  • John Bolton: Bush-generation struggle hawk makes comeback

    John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Symbol copyright Getty Photographs

    President Donald Trump has appointed John Bolton, the previous US envoy to the UN, as his nationwide safety adviser, politically reanimating a strident Bush administration neo-conservative.

    The decision comes as a wonder, not least because Mr Trump was pronounced to have made up our minds towards naming Mr Bolton secretary of state final 12 months as he disliked his walrus moustache.

    Mr Bolton’s new position will turn out debatable given that he remains an unapologetic cheerleader of the 2003 Iraq war, which the u.s. president himself once lambasted as “a big mistake”.

    Known for that furry facial hair, curmudgeonly method and messed up appearance, Mr Bolton is praised through conservative admirers as a directly-talking foreign policy hawk.

    However the Republican was once additionally as soon as memorably branded via a cable television host as “a massive neocon on steroids”.

    Symbol copyright Getty Pictures Image caption Mr Bolton with President Bush within the Oval Place Of Business in December 2006

    On The age of 15 he took day off school to campaign for Barry Goldwater within the 1964 presidential marketing campaign.

    At Yale College, the place he studied law, he recalled in his memoir feeling like a “space alien” some of the campus anti-Vietnam struggle activists.

    Bill and Hillary Clinton had been amongst his classmates, however he said he “didn’t run in their circles”.

    Mr Bolton went on to serve within the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W Bush.

    He ruffled feathers in the 2d Bush administration the place he initially labored as US Division of State below-secretary for arms control.

    Mr Bolton was accused of looking to pressure out intelligence analysts who disagreed with him and of trying to undermine his boss, Colin Powell.

    He also helped construct the case that Saddam Hussein possessed guns of mass destruction, which became out to be incorrect.

    Image caption A 2003 satellite image, which the united states State Division claimed confirmed an Iraqi chemical ammunition depot

    However Mr Bolton used to be praised for his paintings establishing the Proliferation Security Initiative, an international agreement to ban fissile subject matter shipments.

    Nevertheless, President Bush dismayed diplomats when he named Mr Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations.

    More than ONE HUNDRED former US envoys signed a letter urging senators to reject the nomination.

    This was once, in spite of everything, the person who had once stated there was “no such thing” because the UN and known as the u.s. the world’s “best actual power”.

    Mr Bolton had also in the past declared that if the 38-storey UN building “misplaced 10 storeys today, it would not make slightly of distinction”.

    President Bush had to use a recess appointment to crowbar Mr Bolton into the job in 2005 after Senate Democrats, or even a couple of Republicans, blocked the move.

    Democrats in the end refused to make sure Mr Bolton and he needed to step down when his appointment expired in January 2007.

    Diplomats on the UN privately criticised his style as abrasive.

    Even the state department was once now not spared the ire of Mr Bolton, who is known for his scorn of dovish multilateral institutions.

    He as soon as derided careerists at the u.s. overseas ministry as having been “schooled in lodging and compromise with foreigners, instead of competitive advocacy folks interests”.

    Mr Bolton, a senior fellow at the American Endeavor Institute, does not seem to have modified his perspectives on the grounds that his final spell in government.

    As he in short weighed his own run for the u.s. presidency in 2016, he maintained the yankee-led invasion of Iraq were “correct”.

    He also called in a brand new York Times op-ed for Iran to be bombed, and pilloried President Obama’s nuclear handle the Islamic Republic as a “diplomatic Waterloo”.

    In his memoir, Give Up Isn’t an Option, Mr Bolton railed towards the “deadening Brussels bureaucracies” of the european Union.

    And in a contemporary op-ed for the Wall Boulevard Journal, he set out the case for a pre-emptive strike on North Korea.

    His new role at the commander-in-chief’s ear may perplex people who voted for Mr Trump as a result of his vow to circumvent US military adventures overseas.

  • ‘Climate modification transferring faster than we’re,’ says UN Secretary Normal

    wildfires Image copyright Maria Alejandra Cardona Symbol caption California saw extreme wildfires all through this summer time

    UN Secretary Common Antonio Guterres has stated that if the sector does not change route by way of 2020, we run the chance of runaway local weather change.

    Mr Guterres said he was alarmed through the paralysis of global leaders on what he referred to as the “defining factor” of our time.

    He needs heads of presidency to come to Big Apple for a special climate convention subsequent September.

    the decision comes amid rising issues over the sluggish tempo of UN negotiations.

    Mr Guterres painted a grim picture of the impacts of climate change that he says have been felt in every single place the world this 12 months, with heatwaves, wildfires, storms and floods leaving a path of destruction.

    Symbol copyright EuropaNewswire/Gado Symbol caption UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres

    The Arena has the tools, and the power. Renewables are cost-competitive with coal and oil, he mentioned. By Way Of 2030, wind and solar may just power greater than a third of Europe.

    but the lack of decisive political leadership used to be hampering the whole thing, he mentioned.

    Calling for global leaders to fulfill with him at a distinct summit in The Big Apple in September next year, Mr Guterres argued this will give the world the frenzy it wishes at a important moment.

    It comes prior to the nations that have signed the Paris agreement will evaluation and build up their commitments to chop carbon.

    Development on that road is lately stalled. UN negotiators met in Bangkok ultimate week to take a look at and push the method ahead. However arguments among wealthy and terrible nations over cash have seen tempers upward thrust and ambition decline.

    Delegates will meet again in Katowice in Poland in December to try to finalise the rule of thumb guide for the Paris pact, but the omens don’t seem to be good.

    In his speech Mr Guterres warned that “we won’t permit Katowice to remind us of Copenhagen,” referencing the notorious failed assembly within the Danish capital in 2009.

    Many observers consider that the affect people President Donald Trump’s resolution to withdraw from the Paris settlement and his general scepticism against climate amendment and multilateralism has soured the atmosphere in the UN talks.

    “the u.s. makes an attempt to decelerate this procedure must come as no surprise,” mentioned Jesse Bragg from the non-governmental agency, Company Duty.

    “It has a protracted historical past of watering down and undermining multilateral agreements. But, in prime the fee to dam virtually each discussion on finance for the Paris pointers, the us administration is threatening the longer term of the agreement and multilateralism itself.”

    Symbol copyright IISD/ENB – Kiara Worth Symbol caption Climate amendment protesters at a up to date UN meeting in Thailand

    Mr Guterres says he’s committing himself and the UN to the effort of remodeling the political landscape to tame the danger of climate amendment. He pointed to the coming near near file from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Amendment on the best way to stay the arena from warming by means of extra that 1.5 degrees C, which he says will be a sobering overview.

    “we are careering against the edge of the abyss,” Mr Guterres stated. “Our destiny is in our personal arms.”

  • Letter from Africa: Must Ghanaian women be restricted to a few babies?

    Women in Tamale in Ghana walking each with a baby on their back Symbol copyright Getty Photographs

    In our series of letters from African reporters, Elizabeth Ohene considers the controversial thought to limit girls to having three small children in Ghana.

    Among the Ga, the folk who’re indigenous to Ghana’s capital, Accra, a lady is entitled to a are living sheep on the supply of her tenth kid. The word for it’s “nyongmato”.

    I’M now not making this up even if it does sound like the roughly apocryphal story that is continuously made up.

    loads of very important people among the Fuel can testify to this. Unfortunately, I’ve now not met any girl who has actually were given a reside sheep for having given birth to 10 kids.

    Certainly, I’ve never met any woman who has had 10 kids.

    Image copyright Getty Pictures Image caption Ghana’s population has grown from 5 million in 1957 to almost 30 million today

    i used to be scandalised and that i spent all of the funeral going over those figures and moaning to myself how simple it was once to find the reasons for the poverty in Ghana.

    I Have been waging a lonely unpopular battle in regards to the fee of inhabitants enlargement in our us of a and against women having such a lot of young children, however to no avail.

    I roll out what I bear in mind to be a valid argument that i thought would win over all doubters.

    I cite Norway, which had a inhabitants of 3.5 million to Ghana’s five million on the time of our independence in 1957.

    Today, there are 5.3 million other folks residing in Norway whilst Ghana has a population of just about 30 million.

    ‘We do not depend children’

    I make the argument that although none of our rulers ever stole any public finances, we might still have economic problems at this rate of inhabitants growth.

    The remaining time I visited Lillehammer in Norway, I wrote in my column concerning the distinction in our eventualities. I mentioned it’s no marvel the whole lot is bursting at the seams and we are without end being worried about the lack of classrooms.

    Someway, these arguments do not lower any ice with people right here as a result of it’s thought to be in extremely bad style to whinge in regards to the selection of kids anyone has.

    As any person as soon as claimed to me: “In our custom we don’t rely kids.”

    Elizabeth Ohene:

    Symbol copyright Elizabeth Ohene

    “Dr Appiah is an incredibly brave lady. She has proposed that ladies need to be restricted to having three youngsters”

    the good news is that now i do not feel by myself in this combat.

    Into the fray has jumped the executive Director of the Nationwide Inhabitants Council, Dr Leticia Adelaide Appiah, and consider me, she is an extremely brave girl.

    She isn’t talking in parables, she is immediately to the point. She has proposed that ladies should be restricted to having 3 youngsters.

    and she says this have to be obligatory.

    If a woman is going beyond this sacred collection of 3, she would be punished by being denied get right of entry to to free government services.

    ‘Outrage from males’

    We have to communicate about the quality of life, Dr Appiah has been arguing.

    i don’t recall that any one in an legit position has been this specific in Ghana about circle of relatives planning ever sooner than.

    Image copyright Getty Images Symbol caption Ghana’s fertility charge is falling, but still, on average, a lady has four youngsters

    we have had a family planning policy considering that 1970 but regularly other folks only communicate concerning the spacing of births and then hope that the spacing will lead to the birth of fewer youngsters.

    This time around Dr Appiah is urging a cap at the collection of kids a girl must have.

    it is attention-grabbing to note that that the folk who declare to be outraged by way of the notion to restrict the selection of children had been largely males. I Am sorry none in their arguments stick in my mind long sufficient to repeat here.

    I Have now not yet heard any girl bitch that they don’t want the number of children they can need to be restricted.

    Ghana’s fertility rate, that may be the common collection of children per woman, lately stands at four, though that determine has fallen regularly over the final 30 years.

    Another attention-grabbing statistic worth noting is that there has now not been a single loss of life from measles in Ghana in view that 2002. Measles used to be one in every of the principle baby killers, and the primary justification for having many births.

    Symbol copyright Getty Images Symbol caption there is a rural-city divide in the birth fee in Ghana

    This prior week, I Have been doing an excessively unscientific survey.

    Each And Every pregnant lady I’ve seen, I Have asked which quantity it was once and I’ve now not but met a woman in her 3rd pregnancy. But I’M almost certainly having a look in the improper position by means of asking working girls in banks, in workplaces and stores; the top delivery rates can also be discovered most commonly in the rural spaces.

    There would possibly but be a few women who’re aspiring to get that live sheep.

    we would most likely have to find an equally horny present for every lady who makes a decision to forestall at 3 or underneath. the issue is i will not suppose what can most likely problem the “10-baby sheep”, nyongmato.

    Extra from Elizabeth Ohene:

    The quiz show taking Ghana by typhoon ‘Why I cherished Winnie Mandela, warts and all’ Why did Swaziland take 50 years to change its identify? Why Ghanaians are so gradual to bury their lifeless

    Apply us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

  • Outsourced workforce lose out on wages and rights, says TUC

    Catering worker Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Image caption Outsourced employees are are often low-paid staff, such as caterers and security guards

    The TUC says labour regulations want “beefing up” to protect the rights of workers hired by means of outsourcing firms.

    The union body says such staff can’t challenge the “parent” corporate over minimum wage or vacation pay abuses.

    The TUC has referred to as at the government to present subcontracted staff the appropriate to problem the top agency.

    The Department for Industry mentioned plans have been set out to make sure staff, including company employees, “benefit from superior rights and protections”.

    The TUC estimates that five million UNITED KINGDOM staff can not put in force their elementary rights with their “discern corporate”. Basic Secretary Frances O’Grady said labour enforcement laws “urgently need beefing up” to handle the issue.

    The TUC said its research had found 3.3 million workers have been employed via outsourced companies, 615,000 via franchise businesses and at 1,000,000 by way of recruitment businesses, umbrella corporations and private carrier corporations.

    The trades union umbrella body said in such circumstances the employer using the service had a “duty of care” to the employees of their provide chains.

    “that is a subject that affects hundreds of thousands, from rapid food employees to folks engaged on building web sites,” mentioned Ms O’Grady.

    “Joint liability need to be extended to determine employers. Without it they may be able to shrug their shoulders over minimum wage and holiday pay abuses.”

    The Dept for Business mentioned it had not too long ago set out plans to enhance the rights of workers in such scenarios.

    “Below the package of proposals, all 1.2 million company workers shall be able to request a extra strong agreement and obtain a transparent breakdown of their pay,” a division spokesperson mentioned.

    “we’re also taking into consideration repealing laws allowing companies to appoint workers on cheaper charges.”