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NewsFix: Monday September 13, 2021

NewsFix: Monday September 13, 2021

Morning all,

Prince Andrew won’t be in a New York court room today, Graham Dwyer’s hopes of overturning a murder conviction rest with European judges, while the Taliban appear the same as always in the court of public opinion.

Until tomorrow,

Hilary


A STAR IS BORN

Emma Radacanu - the 18-year-old who stormed onto the scene this year - won the US Open on Saturday without ever dropping a set in the competition.

Raducanu is the first qualified to ever win a major, in what was only her second Grand Slam. As BBC Sport noted, she now moves from 150 to 23 in the world.

Meanwhile, Medvedev beat Djokovic in straight sets in the men’s final.


ON THE AGENDA

There is a lot going on today…

Prince Andrew: A pre-trial hearing is scheduled to take place in a New York court today on the sexual assault allegations against the prince.

Remember: Virginia Giuffre - who has repeatedly alleged she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew in the early 2000s - filed a civil suit against him in New York last month.

Worth noting: The Times reports the prince’s legal team will not be attending today’s hearing, because “doing so would amount to accepting US jurisdiction in the case”.

Graham Dwyer case: A European court will today hear “arguments on key legal issues” in Dwyer’s ongoing bid to have his murder conviction overturned.

Remember: Dwyer was a well-known Dublin architect who was found guilty of the murder of Elaine O’Hara in a case that shocked the country. The case was cracked by police who relied heavily on Dwyer’s phone records for evidence. The court are tasked with determining the “validity of the law” under which Dwyer’s phone data was seized. If the court rules in a favourable way to Dwyer, he is likely to use it in a separate bid to appeal the murder conviction.

*Here is a really helpful article on this.

The Met Gala - known as the biggest night of the year in fashion - takes place today. What is this year’s theme? “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.” You can monitor the red carpet via Vogue’s Twitter account.

Normally, the event occurs on the second Monday each May. It was delayed due to the pandemic.

Met Ball Met Gala GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

SOCIETAL SHIFTS

In Afghanistan, the Taliban has introduced a ban on women studying alongside men at university. It appears women will still be allowed to study, just in gender segregated classrooms.

They will also have to be taught by women, and it is unclear if the subjects available for them to study will be changed.

“Before the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on 15 August, universities across Afghanistan had been co-educational and women did not have to conform to any dress code. The number of female students in further education had reached record highs, and institutions such as Herat University and Ghalib University in Kabul had boasted more female students than male.” - Helpful context from The Guardian

MOST READ


PANDEMIC

In England, plans for vaccine passports to enter nightclubs and large events have been dropped, the country’s Health Secretary said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported an estimated 300,000 people arriving to England and Northern Ireland amid the Delta surge, are believed to have broken quarantine rules.

  • In Ireland, children accounted for 45% of tests last week. There are currently 59 people in ICU with coronavirus.

STARK STATS

A new report claims 227 environmental activists were murdered last year.

According to BBC News, a third of the murders were associated with “resource exploitation”. Indigenous peoples also accounted for a third of those murdered, despite making up less than 5% of the global population.

Worth noting: As The Guardian reported, “all but one of the deadly attacks took place outside North America, Europe and Oceania”.


A PAWSITIVE ENDING

Or should I say, purrfect outcome?

… sorry. This incident has gone completely viral.

skysports

A post shared by @skysports


LOVE AND MARRIAGE

Britney Spears and her partner Sam Asghari announced their engagement on Instagram, after roughly five years together and just days after her father filed to end his role as her co-conservator.

britneyspears

A post shared by @britneyspears

There was a lot of chatter online about the comment below from actor Octavia Spencer, and the subsequent response from Britney’s fianceé, Sam Asghari. On his profile, Sam also said “of course we’re getting iron clad prenup to protect my jeep and shoe collection in case she dumps me one day 😂😂”.

Also, the jewellers who made the ring - Forever Diamonds NY - have already advertised their new “Britney” ring on their website.

Source: Screenshot from Instagram

James Middleton - brother to the Duchess of Cambridge - privately married in France over the weekend.

jmidy

A post shared by @jmidy


CHATTER THAT MATTERS

A scathing article about the appearances of a number of female politicians in Ireland has been widely condemned online, even drawing reaction from the country’s taoiseach.

In the piece, writer Niamh Walsh asked is it “too much for Mary Butler to avoid looking like she’d been tango-ed,” adding “Norma Foley was her usual blah, blah black and boring”.

“Why the need for such a personal, nasty and unkind article? An article written in an attempt to demean women who take politics seriously, and work hard to make people’s lives better.” - Irish Taoiseach, Michéal Martin

#ConorMcGregor

Why? Because of an altercation with Machine Gun Kelly on the red carpet of the VMA’s on Sunday.


TODAY MARKS…

25 years since the death of rapper Tupac Shakur.

There is an interesting documentary about Tupac on BBC iPlayer - A Life in Ten Pictures

Rip Tupac GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

ON A LIGHTER NOTE…

It’s a dog’s world, we’re just living in it.