TV News LIES

A Georgia judge has refused to dismiss charges of misconduct against a former prosecutor who is accused of hampering the investigation into the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

In a one-page ruling, Senior Judge John R. Turner announced his decision after former District Attorney Jackie Johnson filed a motion arguing the case against her lacks evidence and should be dismissed, according to The Associated Press.

The case against Johnson stems from Feb. 23, 2020, when three white men in pickup trucks chased and killed Arbery, a Black man.

Several families are suing to stop Iowa’s new law that bans books from school libraries, forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues and forces educators in some cases to out the gender identity of students to their parents.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Lambda announced the federal lawsuit on Tuesday, saying the law passed earlier this year by the Republican-led legislature and enacted this fall “seeks to silence LGBTQ+ students, erase any recognition of LGBTQ+ people from public schools, and bans books with sexual or LGBTQ+ content”.

Under the law, educators are forbidden from raising gender identity and sexual orientation issues with students through grade six, and school administrators are required to notify parents if students ask to change their pronouns or names. The law’s section that bans books depicting sex acts from school libraries includes an exception for religious texts, like the Christian Bible.

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An estimated 50,000 demonstrators against antisemitism marched in London on Sunday to protest against a rise in hate crimes against Jews since the attack by Hamas militants on Israel in October and Israel's subsequent bombardment of Gaza.

Protestors carried placards bearing the messages "Shoulder to shoulder with British Jews" and "Zero tolerance for antisemites." Others showed the faces of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Some people sang in Hebrew while others chanted "Bring them home" in reference to the hostages.

Five years ago, while working on a high-profile case, the trial lawyer Don L Scott Jr received a call from a reporter. “Hey, is it true that you had gone to prison?” Scott remembers them asking. “I said, ‘It is, and if you want the entire story, before you print it, I hope that you will sit down and talk to me.’”

On 10 January 2024, Scott will be sworn in as Virginia’s first Black speaker of the house in the commonwealth’s 400-year-plus history. His rise to the position started in 2018, when that reporter called him. Scott said that although he hadn’t hidden his past before, “it’s not something you put on your résumé either”. That call was a pivotal moment for him, empowering him to share his story widely, and helping him realize that he had the potential to be a politician.

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A former Obama administration adviser has been arrested after videos shared on social media showed him using Islamophobic language against a New York City food cart worker.

Stuart Seldowitz, 64, was arrested Wednesday on preliminary charges of hate crime, stalking, second-degree aggravated harassment, stalking causing fear and stalking at employment.

Seldowitz is a former State Department employee and national security adviser. He confirmed to CNN before his arrest that it was him in the videos.

More artists are facing consequences for their comments about Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon has been dropped by her talent agency and actor Melissa Barrera has been fired from the movie Scream 7.

At a rally in New York, Sarandon told attendees, "There are a lot of people that are afraid, afraid of being Jewish at this time and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country so often subjected to violence."

A spokesperson for United Talent Agency (UTA) confirms they no longer represent Sarandon.

Melissa Barrera, who starred in two of the Scream movies, has been calling for an end to the violence on social media. According to Variety, in a now-expired Instagram story, she wrote that, "Western media only shows" the Israeli side, and, as The Hollywood Reporter noted, that Gaza is "currently being treated like a concentration camp."

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