Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years for shooting and injuring Megan Thee Stallion
Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for shooting and injuring Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020.
Lanez, 31, who was convicted on Dec. 23, 2022, for shooting and injuring the hip-hop star, whose legal name is Megan Pete, was initially set to be sentenced in January but the sentencing has been delayed several times after Lanez obtained new attorneys and filed a motion for a new trial. The request for a new trial was denied in May.
The defense called several witnesses, including members of his family, to testify on the rapper's behalf during the hearing, which began on Monday and was extended through Tuesday.
Meanwhile, prosecutors on Monday read an impact statement from Megan, who called for Lanez to "be forced to face the full consequences of his heinous actions and face justice.”
“He not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma. He tried to position himself as a victim and set out to destroy my character and my soul. He lied to anyone that would listen and paid bloggers to disseminate false information about the case on social media. He released music videos and songs to damage my character and continue his crusade," her statement said.
“Today, I beg this court to send a message to every victim of violence and fully hold the defendant accountable for his criminal conduct. This is a statement for all survivors that their lives matter and there is zero tolerance for the torture that accompanies violence," she added.
Lanez, legal name Daystar Peterson, was found guilty last December of three charges for shooting and injuring Megan in both of her feet in an incident in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, 2020. He faced up to 22 years and eight months in prison.
Source- ABC
Amazon sellers complain site is withholding money
Hundreds of Amazon sellers have complained that the online marketplace is withholding their money.
Amazon said it emailed sellers about a 'delivery date based reserve' which holds some money in case of refunds.
But some sellers have written to their MPs saying they cannot get the cash needed to run their businesses.
Vinyl and CD seller Mario told the BBC Amazon is holding £5,000 leaving him "shaken and panicked" and fearing he can no longer continue trading.
He has been selling music on Amazon for seven years, but said he can no longer afford to renew his stock or pay for postage to fulfill his current orders.
Mario, whose money was frozen on 3 August, said he is unable to withdraw any for maintaining daily operations.
"I'm losing my company," he said. "I've never had a problem with my payments before. How can I feed my family, and pay my bills?"
He told the BBC when he emailed Amazon Sellers' customer services, he received a "generic, stock" message that did not inform him about the specifics of his case.
He showed the BBC posts on the Amazon Sellers forum, where there are complaints from hundreds of other sellers who have had their money withheld since 3 August.
Daniel Moore, 48, has a business called Ink Jungle that sells ink cartridges. He has £170,000 in reserve - and it is increasing by £40,000 a day, he said.
"The value they will hold from us is disproportionately high versus the potential refunds processed by customer returns or non-delivery," he said.
Daniel uses Fulfilled By Amazon to ship some of his orders, and says he has a 0% defect rate on deliveries and just 0.13% for returns - but that his money is still being withheld.
Fulfilled By Amazon is a system where sellers use Amazon's warehouse to stock their goods, and Amazon then ships orders to customers on behalf of the sellers from that warehouse.
Daniel said the withheld funds meant he will be unable to pay his £191,000 VAT bill, which is due this week.
His company turns over about £16m on Amazon and employs more than 20 staff.
Daniel says the reserve has left him unable to buy stock and unable to pay bills.
He has contacted his local MP and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Michelle, 32, from Cheltenham has been selling pet products for more than 10 years on Amazon. She told the BBC it is holding £16,000 of her takings.
She took out a loan from Amazon Lending to help keep her business running during the time her money was held, but the loan money of £18,000 is also locked and is inaccessible - even though Amazon said in the loan confirmation email that the funds would be available straight away.
She was told by Amazon that she will not be able to access any of that money for at least two weeks.
"Obviously when we were used to disbursing payments into our bank account daily, those two weeks are very challenging indeed for the cash flow of the business.
"We employ 13 members of staff and this is crippling our business", she said.
Michelle made several attempts to contact Amazon but says she keeps being told to "wait".
"This whole delivery-based reserve is meant to hold funds relating to orders being delivered, then an additional seven days, but they are holding everything including our approved loan," Michelle added.
The BBC has seen several letters sent from sellers to MPs complaining about Amazon's reserve system.
Conservative MP for Bracknell James Sunderland's office confirmed that it was looking into Amazon's reserve system and that the issue has been raised to Ministers, and that the Treasury was aware.
Amazon said the policy was introduced to non-EU and non-UK countries in 2016, and implemented in the EU and UK on 3rd August.
The Small Business Commissioner's office said many sellers reported that they were being offered loans by Amazon with interest of around 14% to help them manage cash flow while they wait for funds to come through.
"They say they are being lent their own money at high interest, but for some the alternative is insolvency. We need big firms to understand that delaying small payments to small firms can have a massive negative impact and everyone loses," Commissioner Liz Barclay said.
She added that with bank processing times, many sellers are having to wait for around 14 days for their money and have a 2-week window in which, "as a result of this change, they have no income".
The news comes after Etsy began withholding 75% of sellers' funds for around 45 days. The company reduced the amount after hundreds of sellers complained of it affecting their business.
Many Amazon sellers said that the email from Amazon was not clear - and in many cases was automatically sent to the junk folder in their email.
Many sellers said the email implied that their ability to withdraw daily amounts would not be restricted - when in practice, it is.
An Amazon spokesperson said: "The policy to pay sellers seven days after the delivery date was introduced in August 2016 for new selling partners.
"This process will standardize this policy for European sellers to ensure they have sufficient funds to cover any financial obligations, like product returns or customer claims.
"This change does not impact the vast majority of selling partners.
"We recognize it may lead to a one-time cash flow disruption which is why we notified affected selling partners three months in advance to help them prepare for this change."
Source- BBC
Liverpool captain 'understands doubts' before new season
Virgil van Dijk says he can appreciate why there are "doubts" over Liverpool's prospects for the new season.
Six senior players departed Anfield this summer including Jordan Henderson, Van Dijk's predecessor as captain.
Pre-season results have been mixed, with a defensive midfielder yet to arrive after three failed bids for Southampton's Romeo Lavia.
"I can definitely understand it [fans' negativity] in some ways but I'm not a very negative person," Van Dijk said.
"But obviously when a lot of players are leaving, when your captain is leaving, your vice-captain is leaving, and at the moment there are only two incomings.
"And the way we have been playing, in possession really good but defensively when you concede goals it's not as good, I can understand some people having doubts."
Liverpool have signed midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, but they are the only two arrivals so far.
The departures of Henderson, Fabinho, Naby Keita, James Milner, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have not only left the Reds light on numbers but lacking in experience in the middle of the pitch.
The Netherlands defender Van Dijk, 32, said Liverpool's players would be determined to fight for trophies this season but acknowledged the size of the task.
He added: "It will be very tough if we look at the teams around us, but we want to be up there again, we want to be challenging again.
"We have to be confident, we should be confident and we should still be learning each and every day. There have been characters leaving, players who have played a big part in the success, but others have to step up.
"That's a nice challenge in my opinion. We should be excited. I'm very excited, so let's give it a go."
FSG has yet again let Liverpool down.
In a summer that was supposed to feature the biggest rebuild of their tenure, 17 Premier League clubs have bought more players than the Reds.
Jordan Henderson and Fabinho have left and no experienced defensive midfielders have arrived. The defense in pre-season has been shambolic, yet no defenders have signed either.
Jurgen Klopp has brilliant attackers, Alexis Mac Allister and Dom Szoboszlai are exciting buys, but it is nowhere near enough. Now, we're rushing to get overpriced players who will not get the benefit of the pre-season to acclimatize.
What's the plan? It increasingly feels like there is not one. We obviously took the £52m in total for Henderson and Fabinho without incomers lined up. That is poor, from a club who were once unbeatable in the transfer market.
Liverpool fans are angry, and rightly so.
Source- BBC
Facebook's spread not linked to psychological harm, study finds
There is no evidence the global spread of Facebook is linked to widespread psychological harm, an Oxford Internet Institute (OII) study suggests.
The research looked at how well-being changed in 72 countries as the use of the social media platform grew.
It counters the common belief that social media is psychologically harmful, the researchers argue.
Several countries, including the UK, are considering legislation to protect social media users from online harms.
Meta, which owns Facebook, has faced scrutiny following testimony from whistle-blowers and press reports based on leaks that suggested the company's own research pointed to negative impacts on some users.
This research only looked at Facebook and not Meta's other platforms, which include Instagram.
Prof Andrew Przybylski, of the OII, told the BBC the study tried to answer the question: "As countries become more saturated with social media, how does the wellbeing of their populations look?"
He said: "It's commonly thought that this is a bad thing for wellbeing. And the data that we put together, and the data that we analyzed didn't show that that was the case."
Previous OII work carried out by Prof Przybylski also found little association between teenagers' technology use and mental health problems.
But the report only looked at the overall impact of Facebook use at a national level. The broad-brush findings would not reveal the impact of Facebook use on groups of people with particular vulnerabilities.
It might, for example, miss negative impacts on small groups of users if they were offset by positive impacts on others, Prof Przybylski accepted.
It also did not drill down to examine the risks presented by certain types of content, such as material promoting self-harm.
For Prof Przybylski, the main policy lesson from the study was that researchers needed access to better data from tech firms to answer questions about the effect of social media:
"You know, we have a situation where a handful of people are crying wolf, about social media. But we don't actually have the data, we don't have the materials we need to build a wolf detector," he said.
The UK's Online Safety Bill (OSB) is in the final stages of its parliamentary journey towards becoming law. It is designed to protect people from online harms.
But Prof Sonia Livingstone, of the London School of Economics, cautioned that the study's relevance to the OSB was limited.
"The authors' broad critique - that screen-time anxieties are not much supported by robust evidence - is fair. However, the study reported here is so general as to be of little use to current regulatory or clinical debates," she told the BBC.
And while the OSB prioritizes protecting children - the research does not look at youngsters as a separate group and "by and large children are not using Facebook".
"This reminds me of a conference I went to that asked, 'What difference did half a century of television make?'. How can there be one answer?" she said.
But she supported the authors' call for more research based on access to data.
The peer-reviewed research by Prof Przybylski and co-author Matti Vuorre is based on a large amount of data provided by Facebook. Both researchers are independent of the company and the research was not funded by the tech giant.
Facebook gave the researchers data showing how the number of users in each country grew between 2008 and 2019 divided into two age brackets, 13-34 and over 35.
The OII team compared this data with some on well-being representing nearly a million people, recorded by the Gallup World Poll Survey.
Overall the researchers say they found no evidence that increasing social media adoption was linked to a negative effect on psychological well-being.
Prof Peter Etchells, professor of psychology and science communication at Bath Spa University, said the "broad strokes" study was fascinating.
But he said - as the authors make clear - it did not say anything about cause and effect. However, it showed the value of the technology companies opening their doors to researchers, he noted.
Source- BBC
WEATHER FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY
FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY
WEATHER: MOSTLY SUNNY, HOT, AND HUMID WITH THE CHANCE OF ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. BREEZY IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND TURKS AND CAICOS.
WINDS: SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS FALLING LIGHT AND VARIABLE AT TIMES IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND TURKS AND CAICOS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND 4 TO 6 FEET IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND TURKS AND CAICOS.
FORECAST FOR THURSDAY
WEATHER: MOSTLY SUNNY, HOT, AND HUMID WITH THE CHANCE OF ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. BREEZY IN THE TURKS AND CAICOS.
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS FALLING LIGHT AND VARIABLE AT TIMES IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS, EASTERLY AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS, AND 15 TO 20 KNOTS IN THE TURKS AND CAICOS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET IN THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND 4 TO 6 FEET IN THE TURKS AND CAICOS.
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK: TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS.
Donald Trump social media post flagged by prosecutors in court filing
Prosecutors in Donald Trump's upcoming trial have asked for limits on what the ex-president can publicly say about the case after he shared a threatening message online.
In a filing late on Friday night, the prosecutors said they feared Mr Trump might disclose confidential evidence.
They justified the move citing a post by Mr Trump shared on Friday, saying it targeted people involved in the case.
But Mr Trump's team insisted the post was directed at political opponents.
On the Truth social network Mr Trump wrote "IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!" on Friday afternoon, just a day after he pleaded not guilty to four charges in the alleged election fraud case.
The charges - which include conspiracy to defraud the US, tampering with a witness and conspiracy against the rights of citizens - stem from the former president's actions in the wake of the 2020 election, including around the 6 January Capitol riot.
In their filing, the office of Special Counsel Jack Smith said the post raised concerns that Mr Trump could publicly reveal secret material, including grand jury transcripts obtained from prosecutors.
Noting that Mr Trump has a history of attacking judges, attorneys and witnesses against him, Mr Smith's office warned that his behaviour could have "a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case".
The Republican has already hit out against the special counsel, telling a crowd of supporters in Alabama on Friday that Mr Smith was a "deranged human being" and "a bad guy".
The filing added that Friday's post "specifically or by implication" referred to those involved in the criminal case against him.
It added the order they are seeking - known as a protective order - would not be "overly restrictive", saying that it did not prevent Mr Trump and his team from discussing the case in the media and would allow him to access discovery materials for use in his defence.
"All the proposed order seeks to prevent is the improper dissemination or use of discovery materials, including to the public," the filing said.
Judge Tanya Chutkan gave Mr Trump's legal team until 17:00 local time on Monday to respond to the submission. Mr Trump's lawyers asked for three more days, but the judge denied their request.
In a statement shortly after the filing, a spokesperson for Mr Trump defended the social media post and insisted that he had been targeting political opponents.
"The Truth post cited is the definition of political speech," the statement said, adding that it was in response to "dishonest special interest groups" and political action committees attacking him.
Speaking later at a campaign rally in South Carolina, Mr Trump said he regards his indictment as a "great badge of honour".
He told the event that he was being indicted "because they're afraid of all of us", and wanted to silence him and his supporters - but America would be free again if he returned to the White House.
Judge Chutkan, a noted hardliner on cases against those accused of participation in the Capitol riots, is expected to call in attorneys from both sides on 28 August to discuss setting a trial date.
Prosecutors have already said that the case would benefit from a speedy trial.
But Mr Trump's defence attorney John Lauro has said his team will need more time to prepare. He said the prosecution's timeline was "somewhat absurd" given that the investigation itself had taken three years.
Mr Trump now faces five upcoming trials - three criminal trials which include the classified documents case, the hush money case, and these election charges; and two civil trials over business practices and alleged defamation of a woman who accused him of rape.
Source- BBC
Jamaica now prepared to send soldiers to Haiti
The government of Jamaica will be sending soldiers to Haiti as part of a multi-national peacekeeping force.
The announcement was made on Thursday by Prime Minister Andrew Holness during a media briefing.
According to Holness, his administration has always stated that it is ready to play its part in restoring peace and stability in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state.
“We said this when we spoke in Parliament, we have said it before and yes we are the first to say so….in fact, you could say that Jamaica’s statement would have started an interest in the situation there,” he said.
Meanwhile – earlier this week, the government of The Bahamas said it is committed to sending 150 persons to support a multi-national force in Haiti.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that The Bahamas would send the personnel to Haiti as part of the multi-national force “once authorized by the United Nations Security Council.”
The pledge made by Jamaica and The Bahamas follows reports that Kenya it is prepared to lead such a force to Haiti as escalating violence between armed gangs and police is fueling a humanitarian crisis that has displaced tens of thousands of people.
Kenya is prepared to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti.
Source- Loop Caribbean News
Police charge Twitch streamer after PS5 giveaway mayhem
US YouTuber Kai Cenat has been charged by police after a video games console giveaway event he organized sparked mayhem in New York.
Thousands of people rampaged through Union Square in anticipation of free PlayStation 5 devices, hurling bottles, stones, and tins of paint.
Mr. Cenat has been charged with at least two counts of inciting a riot and unlawful assembly, police confirmed to the BBC's partner CBS News.
Officers made more than 60 arrests.
Mr. Cenat has been given the notice to appear in court, CBS reported.
People first gathered at about 13:00 local time (17:00 GMT) after Mr. Cenat posted on social media - where he has more than 10 million followers and subscribers - that he would be handing out 300 PlayStations.
By 15:00, hundreds had piled onto streets surrounding one of New York's busiest train stops.
They climbed cars and the train station entrance's roof and threw bottles at responding police officers.
New York Police Department declared a "level four" mobilization, meaning roughly 1,000 officers were deployed to the scene.
During a live stream inside a vehicle near Union Square, as the disorder was unfolding, Mr. Cenat said: "They're throwing tear gas out there.
"We're not going to do anything until it's safe. Everybody for themselves, because it's a war out there man."
Mr. Cenat was taken into police custody at around 17:00. The crowd was finally dispersed about an hour later.
According to a CBS affiliate, Mr. Cenat did not have a permit for the event, which was reportedly a collaboration with Bronx YouTube star Fanum.
NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said: "We have encountered things like this before, but never to this level of dangerousness, where young people would not listen to our commands."
He added: "You had people walking around with shovels, axes, and other tools from the construction trade.
"In addition, individuals were also lighting fireworks. They were throwing them towards police and they were throwing them at each other."
Mr. Cenat made headlines in March after he broke the record for attracting the most Twitch subscribers by reaching 300,000.
Twitch is a livestreaming platform, where people typically play video games while chatting to viewers.
In the build-up to breaking the record, Mr Cenat launched a round-the-clock drive to boost his subscribers - chatting, gaming and interviewing guests, as well as sleeping, all on camera - for 30 days.
Source- BBC
Adidas generates millions from Yeezys after Kanye West split
Adidas generated millions from its first "drop" of Yeezy trainers after ending the collaboration with rapper and fashion designer Kanye West.
The sportswear giant reported sales of €400m (£344m) from the shoes between April and June this year.
Adidas cut ties with West, known as Ye, last November after he made a series of antisemitic comments on social media.
It has pledged to donate some of the proceeds of the sales to charities that work on combating hate.
The demand for Yeezy shoes has not faded though, with the trainers remaining wildly popular in the resale market.
Adidas boss Bjorn Gulden said the firm will "continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory" in its latest financial update.
He argued the sale was "much better than destroying and writing off the inventory", but acknowledged that it boosted the company's "general financial strength".
Strong demand for Yeezys helped the company narrow its projected loss for the year to €450m, down from the €700m previously expected.
Sales from the Yeezy line were similar to the level seen in the same period in 2022 before the high-profile fallout.
Adidas also set aside €110m for charitable donations to the likes of the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism and the Anti-Defamation League - a move it had announced previously in the wake of Kanye West's remarks online.
In May, Adidas said it had about €1.2bn worth of Yeezy shoes sitting in storage after the highly profitable partnership came to an end.
On Thursday, it said that if it decided not to sell the rest of the inventory it would take a hit of about €400m.
Its latest results did not account for the recent second release of the trainers, which is likely to give it a further financial boost.
JD Sports said it had started selling Yeezy products from the German sportswear giant's second release of the shoes on Wednesday.
But Alice Price, associate apparel analyst at research firm GlobalData, said that the sale of remaining Yeezy stock was a "short-term solution for a brand that has lost some of its identity and relevance in the market".
She suggested that Adidas was now trailing behind some of its competitors like Puma who offered more on-trend and innovative products.
Despite Mr. Gulden's efforts to turn the chaotic situation around, Adidas is being sued by investors who claim the firm knew about Kanye West's problematic behavior years before it ended their partnership.
Investors allege Adidas failed to limit financial losses and take precautionary measures to minimize their exposure.
Adidas has previously said it rejected "these unfounded claims", adding that it would take "all necessary measures to vigorously defend ourselves against them".
Source- BBC
Dillian Whyte out of Anthony Joshua fight after adverse test
Dillian Whyte has returned "an adverse finding" from a doping test, causing his heavyweight rematch against Anthony Joshua on 12 August to be canceled.
The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (Vada) informed promoters Matchroom and boxing authorities of the test result.
"In light of this news, the fight will be canceled and a full investigation will be conducted," said a Matchroom statement.
A "devastated" Whyte, 35, says he is "completely innocent".
Joshua, 33, could still fight at London's O2 Arena if a new opponent can be found.
"I am shocked and devastated to learn of a report by Vada of adverse findings relating to me," Whyte wrote in a statement released on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"I only learned of it this morning and am still reacting to it.
"I have also just seen that the fight is being canceled without having any chance to demonstrate my innocence before the decision was taken.
"I can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that I have not taken the reported substance, in this camp or at any point in my life.
"I am completely innocent and ask to be given the time to go through the process of proving this without anybody jumping to conclusions or a trial by media."
The fight between Joshua and Whyte, a rematch of their 2015 bout, was announced a month ago.
Joshua knocked out Whyte in the seventh round of their heated British title fight eight years ago, which also took place at the O2, as he avenged a loss to his rival on the amateur circuit.
Whyte, who lost his only world title challenge to Tyson Fury in 2022, beat Joshua by decision as an amateur in 2009 to start what became a bitter rivalry.
Olympic gold medallist Joshua went on to become a two-time world champion.
Joshua gained revenge when the pair met again as professionals in December 2015, being rocked in the second round but recovering to force a stoppage in the seventh.
Whyte had a doping violation charge dropped in 2019 after UK Anti-Doping said the levels of a banned steroid were "very low" and he was not at fault.
He served a two-year suspension from 2012 to 2014 for taking an illegal supplement.
A tribunal accepted Whyte's claim he did not knowingly take methylhexaneamine (MHA) but said he did not do enough to check the supplement's ingredients.
Source- BBC