TV News LIES

A  little more than seven years ago, Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder told USA TODAY Sports that the franchise would "never" change its team name — a moniker that many Native Americans considered a racial slur.

"NEVER," Snyder said at the time. "You can use caps."

Now, it appears "NEVER" has arrived.

In a monumental and long-awaited move, Washington's NFL franchise announced Monday it will drop its polarizing team name and logo at the conclusion of an ongoing review. The franchise did not immediately announce a new name for its team, or when it will finalize its new branding.

"Dan Snyder and Coach (Ron) Rivera are working closely to develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud, tradition rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans and community for the next 100 years," the team said in a statement.

More...

If you believe in curses then you've got to be wondering if there's a hex on the beloved TV musical series "Glee," staggered over the years by untimely deaths of its cast and crew. Now comes the latest tragedy: the presumed drowning of Naya Rivera.

Investigators continued their search and recovery efforts for Rivera, 33, best known as the snarky Santana Lopez on the show, Thursday at a reservoir 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles in the Los Padres National Forest by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

Rivera disappeared in the waters of Lake Piru on Wednesday after she and her 4-year-old son, Josey Dorsey, rented a pontoon boat at the popular recreational destination, said Capt. Eric Buschow, a spokesman for the sheriff's office. Authorities also said Rivera had been to the lake in the past.

More...

 

2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the Pride March, but the coronavirus pandemic forced people to celebrate from inside their own homes due to social distancing guidelines.

The show featured performers including Janelle Monáe, Deborah Cox and Billy Porter, and appearances from a number of other celebrities.

With the city's massive Pride parade canceled, Sunday's performances were virtual, the flags flew in emptier than normal spaces and the protesters wore masks.

"It's a great thing to see because the original Pride started with the civil rights movement," Matthew Fischer said as he passed out hand sanitizer Sunday at Foley Square. "So we're really going back to the roots of that and making sure we encompass everything that empowers people to be who they are."

More...

Mississippi is on the verge of changing its state flag to erase a Confederate battle emblem condemned as racist.

The flag’s supporters have resisted efforts to change it for decades, but rapid developments in recent weeks have changed dynamics on this issue in the state, which has a long history of systemic racism and saw more lynchings of African Americans than any other state in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

As protests against racial injustice recently spread across the US, including Mississippi, leaders from business, religion, education and sports have spoken forcefully against the state flag. They have urged legislators to ditch the 126-year-old banner for one that better reflects the diversity of a state with a 38% Black population.

More...

Up to three planets - potentially rocky like Earth - have been spotted around a star located relatively near our solar system - a planetary system offering astronomers intriguing possibilities in the search for signs of extraterrestrial life.

The planets orbit Gliese 887, a so-called red dwarf star half the sun’s mass located 11 light years from Earth - right in our backyard in cosmic terms, researchers said on Friday. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).

Only 12 other stars are closer to our solar system.

A federal judge on Friday ordered the release of children held with their parents in U.S. immigration jails and denounced the Trump administration’s prolonged detention of families during the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee’s order applies to children held for more than 20 days at three family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some have been detained since last year.

Citing the recent spread of the virus in two of the three facilities, Gee set a deadline of July 17 for children to either be released with their parents or sent to family sponsors.

The family detention centers “are ‘on fire’ and there is no more time for half measures,” she wrote.

More...

US intelligence officials assessed that Russia's military intelligence agency paid bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill NATO troops in Afghanistan — which include American forces, according to a New York Times report on Friday.

US officials discovered information about the bounties earlier this year. Some of the bounty money was collected by either Islamist militants or those associated with them, The Times reported.

In 2019, 17 US troops were killed in combat in Afghanistan, according to the Defense Department.

Interrogations of Afghan militants and criminals yielded the information indicating that Taliban-linked militants were offered bounties from Russian forces, The Times reported. The intelligence officials believe the bounties involve Unit 29155, a branch of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency.

More...