Disparaging reactions to Prince Harry’s relationship with actress Meghan Markle have highlighted the racism and class snobbery that persist in British society.
The American will become the first person who identifies as biracial to join the upper echelons of the U.K.’s royal family when she marries Harry in May.
But some black women said coverage of the Los Angeles native’s roots by some media outlets is indicative of the underlying racism that they experience daily.
“I feel like racism in the U.K. is pretty insidious,” said Paula Akpan, a co-founder of Black Girl Festival which celebrates black British women. She added racism tended to be “not as openly acknowledged” as in the U.S.
. Meghan Markle has described herself as a “strong, confident mixed-race woman.” George Pimentel / Getty Images Portrait file
After six months of work, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has indicted two advisers to President Trump and accepted guilty pleas from two others in exchange for their cooperation with his probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election — a sign of mounting legal peril for the White House.
With the guilty plea Friday by former national security adviser Michael Flynn — one of Trump’s closest and most valued aides — the investigation has swept up an array of figures with intimate knowledge of the campaign, the transition and the White House.
It appears to have swiftly expanded beyond Russia’s interference in the campaign to encompass a range of activities, including contacts with Russian officials during the transition and alleged money laundering that took place long before Trump ran for office.
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Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has swept up four former Trump aides in his investigation. Two pleaded guilty and are said to be cooperating with his probe. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Sergei Kislyak, the former Russian ambassador to the U.S. One of the alleged falsehoods that led to Flynn’s indictment appears to implicate Trump’s own son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
Court filings and multiple reports hint at an elaborate, multinational effort led by Flynn and Kushner to undermine then-President Barack Obama at the behest of then-President-elect Trump.
In December 2016, the United Nations Security Council was nearing a vote on a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The Obama administration, then in its last full month in office, had decided not to veto the resolution, a landmark shift in U.S. policy toward Israel.
Senate Republicans got what they so desperately needed early Saturday when an ugly process and a series of last-minute concessions put them within reach of a significant legislative victory in the form of major tax legislation.
But it remained to be seen whether the result — a convoluted measure that would cut corporate taxes and have mixed benefits for individual taxpayers — will spare Republicans from an emerging political backlash that was evident in Democratic election victories around the country last month.
Democrats said Republicans were sacrificing their core claim as the party of lower taxes for middle income Americans, while populist voters allied with President Trump may be unimpressed with deep cuts to the corporate tax rate, added protections for multimillion-dollar inheritances and other breaks for the rich.
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Protesters opposed to the Republican tax plan rallied outside the Capitol on Thursday.CreditZach Gibson for The New York Times
The homeless Mexican immigrant who was pilloried by then-candidate Donald Trump after he was accused of fatally shooting a woman on a San Francisco pier was found not guilty of murder on Thursday.
Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, 45, was acquitted in a case that galvanized anti-immigration forces and forced San Francisco officials to defend their “sanctuary city” policy.
Kathryn Steinle, 32, died in her father’s arms when she was shot on July 1, 2015, while they and a family friend were strolling along Pier 14 in the city’s tourist-friendly Embarcadero district.
“We’re just shocked — saddened and shocked … that’s about it,” Jim Steinle, Kate’s father, told the San Fracisco Chronicle. “There’s no other way you can coin it. Justice was rendered, but it was not served.”
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday in federal court to a charge of making false statements to the FBI about his communications with Russia.
Flynn had contacted the Russians at the urging of two top transition officials, according to a court document. Two people familiar with the matter say one of the officials referenced in the document is Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser.
In pleading guilty, Flynn became the first senior White House official to agree to cooperate with the special counsel’s investigation into Moscow’s meddling into the 2016 presidential election.
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Flynn pleads guilty to lying to FBI, enters plea deal with Mueller team
Music mogul Russell Simmons said in a statement Thursday that he was stepping down from the entertainment and clothing companies he founded after another sexual harassment allegation against him.
Writer Jenny Lumet said in a Hollywood Reporter column published Thursday that Simmons sexually violated her in 1991. In her detailed account, Lumet said Simmons offered her a ride home from a New York City restaurant, but took her to his apartment instead.
“Alone in the elevator, you pressed me into the corner with your body, your hands and your mouth,” she wrote.
Lumet said Simmons then had sex with her without her consent.
Two additional women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), including an Army veteran who says she was groped while deployed overseas and a former elected official who told a news outlet that he tried to kiss her.
The women’s accounts bring the number of accusers against the senator to six as of Thursday.
Army veteran Stephanie Kemplin, 41, of Maineville, Ohio, told CNN that in 2003 she was posing with the then-comedian for a photo in Kuwait, where he was visiting troops with the USO, when he cupped her breast.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Thursday that he will support the Senate tax reform bill.
“After careful thought and consideration, I have decided to support the Senate tax reform bill,” he said in a statement. “I believe this legislation, though far from perfect, would enhance American competitiveness, boost the economy, and provide long overdue tax relief for middle class families.”
The controversial bill would mostly cut taxes for corporations and wealthy Americans. A vote on its final passage could happen as early as Thursday.
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Alex Wong via Getty Images
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) speaking at an event in Arlington, Virginia, earlier this month.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that veteran Democratic Rep. John Conyers (Mich.) should resign in response to multiple sexual misconduct allegations from former female staffers.
“Congressman Conyers should resign,” she said during a news conference on Capitol Hill.
Calling the allegations “serious, disappointing and very credible,” Pelosi told reporters that “the brave women who came forward are owed justice.”
It was a reversal from earlier this week, when Pelosi defended Conyers, calling him “an icon” on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” She refused to say then whether he should resign or whether she believed the women who have come forward with the allegations. She later issued a revised statement affirming that she believed one of the accusers, Melanie Sloan, an attorney who worked for Conyers on the House Judiciary Committee.
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
Meghan Markle has described herself as a “strong, confident mixed-race woman.” George Pimentel / Getty Images Portrait file
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Alex Wong via Getty Images
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James' World 2 