Sean Combs Was Just an Escort Client Like Eliot Spitzer, Lawyer Argues
For example: Eliot Spitzer. The former New York governor was 'a regular client of the Emperor's Club"—the escort ring Spitzer patronized—"and they didn't prosecute Spitzer at all, who was arguably in the exact same position as Combs,' Combs lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in an interview Tuesday. 'So it makes the point with a tangible example that they don't typically prosecute these kinds of cases.'
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15 minutes ago
A year after a bloody uprising, Bangladesh is far from political stability
DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Abdur Rahman Tarif was talking to his sister Meherunnesa over the phone when the voice on the other end of the call suddenly fell silent. In that moment, Tarif knew something bad had happened. He rushed home, dodging the exchange of fire between security forces and protesters on the streets of Dhaka. When he finally arrived, he discovered his parents tending to his bleeding sister. A stray bullet had hit Meherunnesa's chest while she was standing beside the window of her room, Tarif said. She was taken to a hospital where doctors declared her dead. Meherunnesa, 23, was killed on Aug. 5 last year, the same day Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country in a massive student-led uprising, which ended her 15-year rule. For much of Bangladesh, Hasina's ouster was a moment of joy. Three days later, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over the country as head of an interim government, promising to restore order and hold a new election after necessary reforms. A year on, Bangladesh is still reeling from that violence, and Hasina now faces trial for crimes against humanity, in absentia as she is in exile in India. But despite the bloodshed and lives lost, many say the prospect for a better Bangladesh with a liberal democracy, political tolerance and religious and communal harmony has remained a challenge. 'The hope of the thousands who braved lethal violence a year ago when they opposed Sheikh Hasina's abusive rule to build a rights-respecting democracy remains unfulfilled,' said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights group. Bangladesh's anti-government movement exacted a heavy price. Hundreds of people, mostly students, were killed in violent protests. Angry demonstrators torched police stations and government buildings. Political opponents often clashed with each other, sometimes leading to gruesome killings. Like many Bangladeshis, Tarif and his sister took part in the uprising, hoping for a broader political change, particularly after when one of their cousins was shot and killed by security forces. "We could not stay home and wanted Sheikh Hasina to go,' 20-year-old Tarif said. 'Ultimately we wanted a country without any discrimination and injustice.' Today, his hopes lie shattered. 'We wanted a change, but I am frustrated now,' he said. After taking the reins, the Yunus-led administration formed 11 reform commissions, including a national consensus commission that is working with major political parties for future governments and the electoral process. Bickering political parties have failed to reach a consensus on a timetable and process for elections. Mob violence, political attacks on rival parties and groups, and hostility to women's rights and vulnerable minority groups by religious hardliners have all surged. Some of the fear and repression that marked Hasina's rule, and abuses such as widespread enforced disappearances, appear to have ended, rights groups say. However, they accuse the new government of using arbitrary detention to target perceived political opponents, especially Hasina's supporters, many of whom have been forced to go into hiding. Hasina's Awami League party, which remains banned, says more than two dozen of its supporters have died in custody over the last one year. Human Rights Watch in a statement on July 30 said the interim government 'is falling short in implementing its challenging human rights agenda.' It said violations against ethnic and other minority groups in some parts of Bangladesh have continued. 'The interim government appears stuck, juggling an unreformed security sector, sometimes violent religious hardliners, and political groups that seem more focused on extracting vengeance on Hasina's supporters than protecting Bangladeshis' rights,' said Ganguly. Yunus' office routinely rejects these allegations. Bangladesh also faces political uncertainty over a return to democratically held elections. Yunus has been at loggerheads with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, now the main contender for power. The party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has demanded elections either in December or February next year. Yunus has said they could be held in April. The interim government has also cleared the way for the Islamists, who were under severe pressure during Hasina's regime, to rise, while the student leaders who spearheaded the uprising have formed a new political party. The students' party demands that the constitution be rewritten, if needed entirely, and says it won't allow the election without major reforms. Meanwhile, many hardline Islamists have either fled prison or have been released, and the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party, which has a controversial past, is now aspiring to a role in government. It often bitterly criticizes the BNP, equating it with Hasina's Awami League, and recently held a massive rally in Dhaka as a show of power. Critics fear that greater influence of the Islamist forces could fragment Bangladesh's political landscape further. 'Any rise of Islamists demonstrates a future Bangladesh where radicalization could get a shape where so-called disciplined Islamist forces could work as a catalyst against liberal and moderate forces,' political analyst Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah said. Worries also remain over whether the government is ultimately capable of enacting reforms. 'People's expectation was (that) Yunus government will be focused and solely geared towards reforming the electoral process. But now it's a missed opportunity for them,' Kalimullah said. For some, not much has changed in the last year. Meherunnesa's father, Mosharraf Hossain, said the uprising was not for a mere change in government, but symbolized deeper frustrations. 'We want a new Bangladesh … It's been 54 years since independence, yet freedom was not achieved,' he said. Tarif echoed his father's remarks, adding that he was not happy with the current state of the country. 'I want to see the new Bangladesh as a place where I feel secure, where the law enforcement agencies will perform their duties properly, and no government will resort to enforced disappearances or killings like before. I want to have the right to speak freely,' he said.
Forbes
15 minutes ago
- Forbes
Texas Democrats Flee State To Halt GOP Redistricting Bid—Abbott Threatens Their Removal
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott late on Sunday warned the state's Democratic lawmakers—who fled the state to prevent a vote on a GOP-led redistricting effort—that they will be removed from office unless they return to Austin by Monday afternoon. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Texas Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D) listen as Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu speaks to reporters during a press conference at the DuPage County Democratic Party headquarters in Carol Stream, Illinois. Getty Images More than 50 Democratic state lawmakers left the state on Sunday afternoon and flew to Chicago to deny the quorum needed to pass the Republicans' proposed new congressional maps, which could help the GOP gain up to five additional seats in the midterms. The 150-member Texas House needs at least 100 lawmakers to be present to conduct its business and pass legislation. In a statement on X, the Texas House Democratic Caucus accused the GOP and Abbott of using a special House session called to deal with last month's flooding in Central Texas 'as political cover' to pass their redrawn maps. Late on Sunday evening, Illinois' Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker joined a few of the Texas Democrats for a press conference in a Chicago-area suburb and said: 'Donald Trump is trying to cheat the system in Texas, but these Democratic legislators refuse to let it happen without a fight.' Pritzker said his administration is 'going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them,' amid Abbott's demand for their extradition. 'Governor Abbott has turned the victims of a tragedy into political hostages in his submission to Donald Trump. We will not allow disaster relief to be held hostage to a Trump gerrymander. As of today, this corrupt special session is over,' the Texas House Democratic Caucus said in its statement. What Has Gov. Greg Abbott Said? In a statement issued on Sunday night, Abbott bashed the Democratic lawmakers, saying: 'Real Texans do not run from a fight. But that's exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did.' He said being present for the special session was their 'duty' and not 'optional,' adding: 'The absconded Democrat House members were elected to meet and vote on legislation—not to prevent votes that may not go their way.' He then added: 'This truancy ends now,' warning that the Democrats must return to the state and be in attendance, 'when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025.' Abbott warned that if they don't return, he will move to 'remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House.' The governor said he will use a non-binding August 2021 opinion issued by the state's Attorney General, Ken Paxton, to initiate the removal. Paxton opined in 2021 that any lawmaker who attempts to break quorum intentionally could be removed from office due to 'abandonment' of their duties. The Texas House Democrats responded to Abbott's threats to remove their membership from the state House with a single sentence: 'Come and take it.'
Forbes
15 minutes ago
- Forbes
No Friends In The Pipeline: Why 300,000 Black Women Were Pushed Out Of The Workforce
A recently published MSNBC article made headlines for a shocking stat: nearly 300,000 Black women have exited the American labor force in the last three months. The article attributes the mass exodus to reasons like federal job cuts and the dismantling of DEI programs, with issues like inflation, student loan debt, automation, and underrepresentation in growing tech sectors creating a compounded economic risk for Black women. This phenomenon not only hurts Black women but has a ripple effect for the entire U.S. economy, resulting in a loss in the country's gross domestic product (GDP). A less-discussed issue that must be considered is how what is happening is also the cause of a widening network gap faced by Black women. A 2019 article from LinkedIn's Vice President of Social Impact, Meg Garlinghouse, explored the network gap: the unequal access a person has to opportunities based on who they know. Garlinghouse's article cited research that indicates that 70% of professionals get hired at jobs where they know someone who works there. A 2020 study by Chika O. Okafor indicated that non-white job candidates get fewer jobs through referrals because their social network is smaller. With the anti-DEI legislation and a wave of corporate DEI rollbacks, many companies have deprioritized DEI, dismantling programs and initiatives like employee resource groups (ERGs), which provide key opportunities to boost one's professional network. According to Catalyst, ERGs can be thought of as 'voluntary, employee-led groups that foster inclusive work environments aligned with business values, goals, and objectives.' Often ERGs focus on a shared identity (race, religion, being a parent, LGBTQIA+ status, etc.). ERGs provide employees with pathways to network, connect across departments, find mentors, and build relationships but many organizations are quietly shuttering their ERGs amid growing anti-DEI sentiments. Having less opportunities to be in community with employees at different levels in an organization can exacerbate the network gap that Black women face. Mentorship and sponsorship programs, which are often perceived to be DEI or DEI-adjacent, may be halted in the current climate, even though these programs can play an instrumental role in employees' careers, and Black women's career advancement. A wealth of research indicates that Black women leading Fortune 500 companies, as well as those in education, medicine, and tech, routinely report feelings of both hypervisibility and invisibility. Organizational psychologist Dr. Kecia M. Thomas has highlighted the pet to threat concept in her research: the phenomenon in Black women's career trajectories where they go from being the 'pet,' where they are well-liked and celebrated but exploited, to being the 'threat,' where they are seen as posing a risk to the status quo. A 2023 report from Exhale indicated that 36% of Black women have exited a job because they felt unsafe. Black women face a slew of inequities in the workplace and must deal with issues of gendered racism and the angry Black woman stereotype. A 2024 Harvard study also found evidence that when Black women have a higher percentage of white team members, they are more likely to leave their job and less likely to be promoted, revealing the systemic inequities that are entrenched in the workplace. The rise of AI may be making the problem worse. Many of the AI tools that companies lean on to help with hiring decisions may exacerbate existing biases, contributing to hiring gaps when it comes to Black women. Black women are overrepresented in jobs roles that are vulnerable to AI and automation, explained executive leadership coach Margaret Spence in a LinkedIn article. These factors in conjunction with the dismantling of corporate DEI programs makes building and sustaining professional networks for Black women more challenging. What can organizations do to address this issue? First off, workplaces should be intentional about providing employees with opportunities to network with each other. Do you have active mentorship and sponsorship programs in place? If not, how can you get them started? Ensure that equity is foundational in your workplace; frequently audit company policies and practices to ensure fairness and disaggregate employee feedback from anonymous channels, focus groups, and surveys to better understand Black women's experiences. What are Black women saying when they leave your organization? Assess exit interview data to see if patterns are emerging from the Black women who have left. The current anti-DEI legislation was implemented to sow fear and confusion in the workplace. Be aware of the ever-changing laws and stay up to date on local legislation. Consult with legal counsel to better understand what DEI practices are legal. Despite popular misconceptions, there are still many ways to drive fairness and equity while complying with state and federal laws. For Black women, there are some ways to address the network gap. Building community intentionally is vital. Consider joining different community groups, whether in-person or virtually, that align with your goals. This could be an online community for Black women in law, for example, or a meetup group for Black women in cybersecurity. If the community you are seeking doesn't exist, think about ways to create it. Also consider intentional networking on LinkedIn. Many see the platform as a place to go only when job searching but it can also be a great place to build networks, find your people and directly engage with community members. Black women's mass exodus from the U.S. labor market is caused by several different factors. While some reasons, like the DEI rollbacks and federal job cuts, are more obvious, there are issues that are more insidious at play. It's important that we understand what the antecedents are and put measures in place to ensure that Black women are given the support that is needed to thrive. When Black women are given the tools to succeed, everyone across the board will benefit.
