Tag: iab-personal celebrations & life events

Holocaust survivor visiting Israel safely escapes as war breaks out | CNN

Los Angeles
CNN
—

“It went from wonderful to horrible in an instant,” Charlotte Hauptman said of that fateful Saturday morning. “Not only did we hear the bombs, but we also found out there was an invasion of Hamas coming into the country. And we didn’t know where or what or who they were.”

Her instinct was to run. She’s an elfin 84-year-old with bright, engaging eyes. She wears her hair tied back and speaks with a similar no-nonsense style. “In those hours, it was just constant panic,” she told CNN after leaving Jerusalem and landing safely back home in Southern California. “I’m not afraid of death, but of what can come before.”

Hauptman is a Holocaust survivor. So, this was the second time she’d fled a group targeting Jews. She fled Hamas in Israel in 2023 by plane as an old lady. She fled the Nazis in Italy in 1944 on foot as a small child.

“It definitely shapes one’s essence,” she says of the Holocaust. “You’re familiar with the possibility of horror.” Hauptman still remembers the final fearful moments of her escape.

“Two Nazi officers were walking towards us,” she recalls. The family was just a few miles from safety, from the chunk of Italy occupied by the Allies. “They said, ‘Heil Hitler!’ and we raised our hands. They kept walking, and we kept walking. Just a few feet past, there was a Madonna. We dropped to the ground and prayed in case they would turn around and take a look.”

The Holocaust was the largest loss of Jewish life in their long history of persecution and pogroms. October 7, 2023, is now the deadliest day for Jews since then.

“Let’s get any airline that goes anywhere!” was the conversation Hauptman had with her own daughter that morning. “And when we got on that plane it already felt like, ‘All right let’s go!’ And then they started selling seats, upgrades! And we thought, ‘Just go, just go!’”

Charlotte Hauptman was in Israel this fall on a side-trip. The main event of her travels was a wedding in Italy. The bride, Myriam Lanternari, is the great-granddaughter of an Italian couple, Virgilio and Daria Virgili, who Hauptman credits with saving her life and the lives of her parents more than 80 years ago, sheltering them from the Nazis in a little village called Secchiano.

“He took us into his home. They gave us food. They gave us shelter,” Hauptman said. “I knew not to talk to any German. And they came in the village.” The Nazis had a garrison nearby.

“I remember leaflets being dropped from airplanes, German airplanes, warning the people if you help Jews or Partisans that’s the end of you,” Hauptman said. “No one ever outed us. They stayed protecting us.”

The villagers concocted a story just in case any Germans started asking questions, Hauptman recalls. Her parents, Wolf and Esther, would be deaf mutes working in the field. And Charlotte would just lose herself in the clique of kids playing in the street.

“I knew that our lives were in danger,” she says. “But then when things lightened up, I was able to be a child. And the Italian people were helpful in letting me have that. I always felt loved. My parents. The villagers. It was always a very warm feeling.”

There was another Jewish family living in nearby Cagli, close to a German garrison. The two families would meet up from time to time.

“I know that at some point we couldn’t visit them anymore,” says Hauptman. “Because they were taken and killed.”

After allied British troops landed in Italy, the Germans became even more skittish and suspicious.

“The village became more dangerous, if that’s even possible,” says Hauptman. “Virgilio Virgili decided to take us to the occupied zone where the Allies already were.”

Virgilio and his young daughter Mercedes walked Charlotte and her family to safety. The Italian father and daughter were with the fleeing Jewish family when they all fell to their knees in front of that Madonna, just miles from safety, pretending to be nothing more than a gaggle of good Italian Catholics. It worked.

But when Virgilio and Mercedes returned to the village, he was arrested. “Virgilio was nabbed by the Nazis, held for days, and tortured,” Hauptman said. And Mercedes was with her father when the Nazis arrived. “They came and grabbed him and threw him in a Jeep and she was crying and holding on as the Jeep was leaving and they kept hitting her on her hands to let go.” He never confessed and was eventually released.

Charlotte Hauptman and Mercedes Virgili remained lifelong friends. Their children are friends. Their grandchildren are friends.

“I was born November 25, 1938, right in the middle of it,” says Hauptman, matter-of-factly.

The future looked so bleak that her mother, Esther Fullenbaum, thought she should abort her baby. She didn’t. And would soon credit Charlotte with saving her life. By making her faint at just the right time.

The story became part of family lore. The Gestapo, Nazi Germany’s secret police, were rounding up Jews in Hanover where the family lived. Esther, heavily pregnant, was at her sister’s apartment when officers knocked at the door. Esther fainted, so the Gestapo left her behind. But she would never see her sister or brother-in-law again. They were murdered in the camps.

Esther fled to Milan, where her husband Wolf was working at the time. “I was born 10 days after she arrived,” adds Hauptman.

The family lived there until Italy’s Jews were rounded up and taken to concentration camps. The Fullenbaums were taken to one in Calabria, in southern Italy. When that camp became too crowded, they were sent to live with a family near Venice.

They had to check in with the police once a week. They were under curfew. And fear rose in Charlotte. “I remember being under the table one night crying,” she says. “My mother asked why I was crying, and I said, ‘Because you will both die and I will be alone.’”

Italian police officers soon came with a warning. “They said tomorrow you’re due to be picked up and sent to Auschwitz. So, you better leave now, before curfew and disappear.”

Years later, the family found the telegram, sent the next day by the Italian police to their German overlords, which ends: “THEY WERE NOT THERE. DESTINATION UNKNOWN.”

From that point on, Charlotte – little more than a toddler – was on the run with her parents, protected by the Partisans, who eventually took her family to Secchiano and the Virgilis.

“This story is not just my story, it’s their story,” says Hauptman. Her parents spent what little money they had buying food, usually from the village miller’s wife. Until they ran out of money. But the miller’s wife had a solution. In exchange for the wedding band on Esther’s finger, the family could have all the food they would ever need. “She was saving my mother’s honor,” says Hauptman. “So, she could feel comfortable getting the food.”

Years later, while living in Los Angeles, Hauptman got a call from an Italian American couple from San Francisco. They had just spent their honeymoon in Secchiano and had met the miller’s son. He’d given them the ring and asked them to find its rightful owner in America. Hauptman wore the ring as she spoke to CNN.

“I don’t know how they found us in LA, but they did… that’s the Italians!”

After the Virgili family wedding in Italy, Hauptman and her daughter, Michele Goldman, flew straight to Israel.

“She and I had talked about it years ago. We should do this mother and daughter trip,” Hauptman said. “We thought it would be a good bonding experience.” And it was, until the terror began, and she once again had to flee for her life.

Hamas terrorists crossed the border from Gaza into Israel, where they slaughtered 1,400 Israelis and took between 100 and 200 people back to Gaza as hostages. The IDF is now hitting Hamas hard in Gaza, and more than 4,000 Palestinians have now also been killed.

“We were sitting having breakfast in the hotel. We had made reservations for a tour to Bethlehem and Jerusalem,” said Hauptman. “Suddenly the alarms went off and I just looked at the faces of the locals and I read their faces. Panic.”

Her daughter, Hauptman would later find out, was panicking on the inside. “She lost her husband five years ago when her boys were still young and she told me later that all she kept thinking was, ‘Please don’t let my boys lose another parent.’”

Even now, and even here, in tranquil Southern California, Hauptman says she never feels totally safe. “Antisemitism is always there. It goes undercover for a while and then the opportunity arises. It’s a cyclical thing,” she says. “Don’t fool yourself. We’re sitting here now. In an hour, it can be different.”

“Never Again,” is a slogan about the Holocaust that Hauptman says gets a lot of lip service. “It’s just a dream,” says Hauptman. And she is not hopeful of an imminent peace in the Middle East. “As long as there are people who want Israel annihilated and the Jews to disappear,” she says. “I can’t imagine it.”

Hauptman also can’t imagine returning to Israel. Not yet. “But I do want to get over this enough,” she says. “Enough to go back.”

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October 22, 2023
Chris Evans says he’s ‘enjoying life’ as a newlywed after marrying Alba Baptista | CNN

CNN
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Chris Evans has traded in his Captain America shield for a more sentimental accessory.

The Marvel actor was sporting a wedding band on Saturday during an appearance at New York Comic-Con (NYCC), where he publicly confirmed for the first time that he recently wed actress Alba Baptista.

“I got married,” the Marvel star told the audience, adding that his recent nuptials were “really, really great.”

He shared that he and Baptista had two ceremonies – one in Portugal, where Baptista is from, and another ceremony on the East Coast, which reportedly took place last month in Cape Cod.

“They were wonderful and beautiful,” he said of the dual ceremonies, later adding that since then, he and Baptista have “been relaxing and enjoying life and reflecting” as newlyweds.

Evan admitted that he felt the weight of planning a wedding, joking, “It’s a lot.”

“For those of you who are married, it takes a lot out of you but now that we’re through that, we’ve kind of just been enjoying life,” he said.

Evans and Baptista have been romantically linked since 2021.

The actor’s appearance at NYCC comes just days after contract negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the major studios and streamers were suspended amid the ongoing strike. The union supporting actors and performers has been on strike since July.

Hollywood writers in the Writers Guild of America, who had been on strike since May, agreed upon a new contract with the studios and streamers in September. The new contract was ratified last week, putting thousands of people back to work.

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October 15, 2023
Extreme heat might have been the ‘nail in the coffin’ for these critical Florida coral | CNN

CNN
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This summer’s record-breaking marine heat wave may have been the “nail in the coffin” for an iconic species of coral that serves as a building block of marine life around Florida. Still, scientists see other “signs of hope” in the state’s reefs.

Elkhorn coral populations – which had already been teetering on the brink of local extinction in Florida – have been “decimated” by the extreme ocean heat, according to Liv Williamson, a coral expert and assistant scientist from the University of Miami.

“This heat wave was the nail in the coffin for these populations,” Williamson said. “There were already so few elkhorn coral individuals on Florida’s reefs that various genetic rescue plans were underway, but now almost all the corals we would have used for such efforts have died.”

Elkhorn and staghorn coral are some of the only so-called branching corals found in the Carribean. They were also the first coral species to gain protected status under the Endangered Species Act, Jennifer Moore, a threatened coral expert for NOAA told CNN.

The branching part of these corals is key; their tree-like appendages grow faster than other coral and spread out like a rainforest canopy, providing protection for fish and other vertebrates, which helps the overall ecosystem thrive.

Both coral species are slightly more heat-tolerant than other corals to begin with, Moore told CNN, but more likely to die once they bleach – a process in which they turn white as they expel their algal food source in response to heat stress.

This summer’s die-off happened to both wild elkhorn and to corals bred to be more heat-tolerant. Coral conservationists have been trying for years to use those varieties to restore the disease-ravaged population.

Some of the planted corals were bred to withstand ocean temperature up to 2 degrees Celsius above normal. But the water around Florida and the Caribbean this summer was up to 3 degrees Celsius above normal, causing mass bleaching and the die-off, Williamson said.

As the world continues to warm because of human-caused climate change, marine heat waves are becoming more common and extreme, scientists say.

“This summer has just illuminated how extreme things can get so quickly and I just don’t think we are prepared for that,” Williamson told CNN.

Back in the 1960’s and 70’s elkhorn and staghorn corals “were so common it was like blades of grass,” Moore told CNN, but have become so rare “you cry in your mask when you see a live one on the reef.”

A 2020 study of the elkhorn coral population in the upper Florida Keys found it was “functionally extinct,” or unable to reproduce effectively on its own and contribute to the ecosystem, and may face local extinction over the next 6 to 12 years. The researchers said the trends likely applied to all of Florida’s elkhorn.

“There are simply too few, too far away from each other,” Williamson said.

“Although there are a small number of individuals still alive, the species has dwindled so much that they no longer play an effective role in the ecosystem in the way that they once did, and they no longer have a viable population,” Williamson said.

Any deaths would have a “dramatic impact” at restoration sites just starting to see enough coral density to make an ecological impact, Moore said.

Staghorn coral may have faired slightly better than elkhorn this summer, Williamson said, but still faces similar long term challenges.

The grim news comes despite other signs of hope at the region’s reefs. Florida reefs are only just able to start recovering now that ocean temperatures have dropped from bathtub-like 90s to levels the heat-sensitive corals can better tolerate.

Scientists have known since the summer that a mass bleaching event and die-off was happening, but they still don’t know the full extent of it or how bad it will be in the long run. Bleached coral may still be alive and recover now that water temperatures are cooler. Conversely, more coral could die because of vulnerability to disease in the months that follow bleaching, coral experts said.

“We are definitely looking at a major mortality event, we just won’t know the extent of it for a couple more months,” Moore told CNN.

For now, some coral scientists like Moore are hanging their hats on “shockingly fast” signs of recovery at reefs recently surveyed and on the prospects of using science learned from this event to give the species a better chance to survive the next heat wave.

“To see corals that were 100% bleached two or three weeks ago regaining their algae and regaining their color also shows there’s resilience in the system,” Moore said. “That gives me a lot of hope. I don’t really know where it’s all going to land, so I can’t really tell you if it’s worse or better than I feared in July, but I am cautiously optimistic because of these little glimmers of hope. We just need to figure out how to maximize it so that we can help this system recover.”

Others are still struggling to cope with the loss and the prospect of what feels like a Sisyphean effort to save such a vital species, especially in the face of climate change. Scientists like Williamson are left feeling “heartbroken” after witnessing their life’s work obliterated in a matter of weeks.

“It’s hard to express the loss that my fellow coral conservationists and I feel, watching the pillars of this vital reef ecosystem collapse and the fruits of our labors destroyed,” Williamson wrote on Instagram.

“Even if we do plant these nursery fragments back onto the reefs, what’s to say they will survive next summer, or the one after that?” Williamson told CNN.

The prospects for coral recovery lie in a herculean rescue effort this summer. Coral conservationists moved corals to deeper water, cooler nurseries and harvested diverse genetic specimens and then put them in a “living gene bank” on land. Scientists like Moore plan to use the specimens to plant corals yet again.

“Emotional fatigue was across everyone, because in some cases these were corals that they grew from babies and put out on the reef,” Moore said. “To see them bleach and potentially die is really, really emotionally draining. Yet, because we didn’t just sit there and watch them die – that’s what give me hope.”

“I think we have lots of tools to prevent extinction and I’m not going to quit,” Moore told CNN.

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October 8, 2023
Ariana Grande files for divorce from Dalton Gomez after two years of marriage | CNN

CNN
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Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez are going their separate ways.

Grande filed a petition for divorce on Monday in Los Angeles. The singer cited “irreconcilable differences” as grounds for dissolution, a source with knowledge of the matter told CNN.

CNN has reached out to a representative for Grande for comment. Family law attorney Laura Wasser is representing Grande in the divorce. CNN has not yet determined who is representing Gomez.

The “Thank U, Next” singer and Gomez wed in 2021.

“It was tiny and intimate – less than 20 people. The room was so happy and full of love,” Grande’s representative told People of the wedding ceremony at the time. “The couple and both families couldn’t be happier.”

Grande later shared photos of their nuptials, which took place at their home in Montecito, to her Instagram page, captioning it, “5.15.21.”

The post has since been removed, but the photos previously showcased Grande wearing a Vera Wang wedding gown and kissing Gomez, who wore a Tom Ford suit.

Their 2021 nuptials came two years after Grande’s engagement to comedian Pete Davidson.

Grande and Gomez, a real estate agent, first went public with their relationship with the release of her 2020 song “Stuck with U,” a song she collaborated on with Justin Bieber. Gomez was featured in the music video for the song.

They announced their engagement that same year.

Speculation that the pair were no longer together began in July when the “Sweetener” singer was spotted without her wedding band while attending Wimbledon.

Grande last posted a photo with Gomez on her social media in November, but the former couple kept their relationship mostly out of the spotlight.

The Grammy winner had been busy filming the cinematic adaptation of “Wicked” in London alongside Bailey, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh and Bowen Yang prior to SAG-AFTRA going on strike in July.

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September 18, 2023
Protests erupt in Iran, one year after Mahsa Amini’s death | CNN

CNN
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Protests erupted throughout Iran on Saturday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old women who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly.

Video obtained by CNN showed demonstrations throughout multiple cities in Iran, including capital city Tehran, Mashad, Ahvaz, Lahijan, Arak, and the Kurdish city of Senandaj.

Many of the protesters chanted, “Women, Life, Freedom” – a popular rallying cry used after nationwide protests erupted following Amini’s death last year.

Some protesters also chanted death slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Authorities deployed armed guards in many cities as a show of force and police officers were seen chasing protesters in the northern city of Lahijan.

Rallies commemorating Amini’s death were held in other cities around the world like Paris, Brussels and Berlin.

Many said they felt the need to raise their voices when so many in Iran could not.

Hundreds gathered in London on Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary. “We just wanted to let everyone know that this is not going to finish,” a female protester told CNN.

“Our battle has started and we are not going to stop until freedom for Iran, until a revolution, until we kick the mullahs out of the power.”

Protest organizer Ellie Borhan was also seen in videos cutting her hair on stage in front of the crowd.

‘Detention and persecution’ of family members

The news comes after Iranian journalists and rights groups said Amini’s father Amjad had been detained by authorities on Saturday.

Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari, also the founder of the IranWire activist outlet, told CNN that Amjad Amini had been regularly summoned by security officers in the months following his daughter’s death.

He was detained “for a few hours” on Saturday, Bahari said.

The family had visited her grave in the western Kurdish city of Saqqez on Friday, the eve of the one-year anniversary, IranWire reported on Saturday.

Helicopters were seen hovering over the Aichi cemetery with numerous military personnel and police officers also stationed throughout the area, IranWire added.

Amjad was detained by authorities the following day for three to four hours, along with his son – who was warned that he would be banished to a remote village if he encouraged people to attend ceremonies marking the anniversary of Amini’s death, Bahari told CNN.

Amini’s uncle Safa Aeli, who lives in the city of Saqqez, was also arrested by authorities earlier this week, according to a family member and reports by the Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Responding to claims by Iranian journalists and rights groups, authorities strongly denied reports of Amjad Amini’s detention, claiming instead they had prevented “an assassination attempt” – reported the IRNA state media news outlet.

The Political, Security, and Social Vice Governor of Kurdistan arrested several members of “a terrorist group” who wanted to assassinate Amini, IRNA said in a post on Telegram, describing the claims by Iranian journalists and rights groups as “false”.

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September 16, 2023
‘Good Morning America’ anchor Robin Roberts marries Amber Laign in ‘intimate’ backyard ceremony | CNN

CNN
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Robin Roberts and Amber Laign are officially married.

“An intimate, magical wedding ceremony in our backyard followed by a joyous reception…ohhhh the dancing!!” Roberts wrote on Instagram on Sunday, next to a photo of herself and Laign holding hands in their wedding gowns.

“We are immensely grateful to all for making it a day and a night to remember. Honeymoon here we come!”, Roberts added.

The pair, who’ve been together since 2005, wed on Friday.

The “Good Morning America” veteran anchor also shared footage of her siblings walking out to make a toast while dancing to Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It,” a moment from the reception that Roberts described as “one of many highlights.”

Roberts and Laign both wore custom Badgley Mischka wedding gowns and were married by Roberts’ childhood pastor, according to “GMA” on Sunday.

In January, Roberts revealed that she planned to marry Laign this year during conversation with author and motivational speaker Gabby Bernstein.

“It was something we had talked about, but we had put it off. She became ill,” Roberts told Bernstein.

Laign and Roberts have both overcome serious health obstacles throughout the course of their relationship.

Roberts shared that Laign was diagnosed with breast cancer in a video posted to her verified Twitter account in February 2022. She updated her followers in July of that year that Laign had completed a portion of her treatment.

In 2007, Roberts announced that she was battling breast cancer. She also revealed in 2012 that she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome and underwent a lifesaving bone marrow transplant.

With those health obstacles behind them, the newlyweds appear to have found the perfect time to celebrate their love.

“Many people go into marriage hoping for and looking for what Amber and I already know we have, and so ours is a celebration,” Roberts said on “GMA” in August. “We’ve been living our happily ever after through all the ups and downs, so it’s a celebration.”

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September 10, 2023
Penn Badgley says filming ‘Gossip Girl’ wedding scene with ex Blake Lively wasn’t ‘awkward for anybody’ | CNN

CNN
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Hey, Upper East Siders. “Gossip Girl” here.

Penn Badgley was spotted discussing a certain iconic wedding scene featured in the original CW “Gossip Girl” series finale during his “Popcrushed” podcast on Wednesday, and the subject of his real-life ex-girlfriend Blake Lively of course came up.

Badgley played Dan Humphrey in the series, and his cohosts wanted to know if the scene was awkward to film, as the pair had broken up by then off camera.

“I sure don’t think it was awkward for anybody,” Badgley said of filming that scene, adding, “from my memory, I’m pretty sure we were exes for nearly half of the entire run of the series.”

The wedding scene was featured in the 2012 series finale episode, wherein Lively’s Serena Van Der Woodsen married Humphrey – who was endearingly known as “lonely boy” throughout the series, and revealed to be Gossip Girl in the finale.

“We always were very professional,” Badgley said in the podcast. “We had to do all kinds of nutso stuff” – including having a fake marriage. “In my memory, there was not one bit of strangeness, it wasn’t even a thing.”

According to Badgley, his real-life relationship with Lively ran its course over a two-year period while they starred in the show. Lively is now married to actor Ryan Reynolds, and Badgely is wed to singer and actress Domino Kirke.

“Gossip Girl” first debuted in 2007 and ran for six seasons until 2012. It was based on the book series of the same name by author Cecily von Ziegesar, and followed the privileged lives of teens on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

“Everything in that show was about relationships of some form, so I feel like all of us had been in every configuration imaginable,” Badgley said on Wednesday, adding that “the finale in a lot of ways felt a little bit to me, after such a long time, it felt like it was almost an afterthought.”

Well, lonely boy, it’s still on our minds. XOXO.

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September 6, 2023
Iran rounds up activists and relatives of killed protesters ahead of Mahsa Amini anniversary | CNN

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.

CNN
—

Iran is moving to head off a possible repeat of unrest ahead of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, arresting women’s rights activists and family members of people killed during last year’s nationwide protests, local and international human rights groups said Wednesday.

Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, died last September after being detained by the regime’s infamous morality police and taken to a “re-education center,” allegedly for not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code.

Protests sparked by Amini’s death, the largest Iran has witnessed in years, were met with a brutal crackdown by Iran’s security forces.

More than 300 people were killed in the protests, including more than 40 children, the UN said in November last year. US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) in January placed the number at more than 500, including 70 children.

Thousands were arrested during months of protests across the country, the UN said in a report in June, citing research released last year by their Human Rights Committee.

Iran executed seven protesters for their involvement in the unrest, according to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

A group of volunteer lawyers who defend rights activists alleged in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that Iran arrested the father of one of the executed protesters and the family’s legal counsel on Tuesday.

CNN has reached out to the Iranian Foreign Ministry for comment.

In a separate case, Shermin Habibi, the wife of Fereydoon Mahmoodi, a protester killed by security forces during the demonstrations, was arrested and transported to an undisclosed location on Tuesday, according to a report from HRANA.

Across 10 provinces, families of 33 people killed during the protests have been subjected to “human rights violations” in recent months, and the families of two people executed in connection with the protests were harassed and intimidated, Amnesty International said in a report this week.

Meanwhile, Bidarzani, an independent women’s rights group, alleges in social media posts that 11 women’s rights activists and one man were arrested in Gilan province over the last week.

State-affiliated media said 12 people were arrested for “preparing unrest and insecurity” in the province, which is northwest of Tehran on the Caspian Sea. Prosecutors in Gilan refused to provide details on which security entity was behind the arrests, according to Bidarzani.

“Iranian authorities are using their go-to playbook of putting maximum pressure on peaceful dissidents ahead of the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death,” a senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, Tara Sepehri Far said in a press release.

“The arbitrary arrests of a dozen activists are aimed at suppressing popular discontent with ongoing impunity and rights violations.”

It is unclear if more protests are planned to coincide with the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by Iran’s morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly.

Ten months after her death, Iran’s morality police resumed headscarf patrols and now Iranian authorities are considering a draconian new bill on hijab-wearing that experts say would enshrine unprecedentedly harsh punitive measures into law.

The 70-article draft law sets out a range of proposals, including much longer prison terms for women who refuse to wear the veil, stiff new penalties for celebrities and businesses who flout the rules, and the use of artificial intelligence to identify women in breach of the dress code.

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August 23, 2023
Woman who was previously discovered to be alive in her coffin during her wake has died | CNN

CNN
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A woman in Ecuador who was previously discovered to be alive in a coffin at her own wake has now actually passed away.

Bella Montoya, 76, died Friday afternoon after spending a week hospitalized in critical care in the coastal city of Babahoyo, according to Gilbert Barberán, the woman’s son.

Montoya was quickly transported to the Martin Icaza General Hospital when she was found alive after banging on her own coffin at the wake in Babahoyo.

“During her hospital stay, she received comprehensive medical care and periodic evaluation by hospital specialists. Likewise, the respective medical audit was carried out for this case,” Ecuador’s Ministry of Public Health said in a statement.

Montoya initially entered the hospital for a stroke and was reported dead once before.

Barberán told CNN that he has to register his mother’s death on the civil registry for a second time.

Montoya’s daughter, Zeneida Leal, said her mother’s condition had been worsening.

“The doctor said that my mom was sick, that she was very delicate, that she was suffering from kidney failure, that she couldn’t be saved because everything was getting complicated and she went into respiratory arrest,” Leal told CNN.

The Ministry of Public Health has said an investigation is underway into the events leading up to her presumed death.

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June 18, 2023
Kourtney Kardashian says she’s ‘overwhelmed with gratitude’ following epic pregnancy announcement | CNN

CNN
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Kourtney Kardashian and Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker have a lot to be grateful for.

The reality star and Poosh founder revealed she was pregnant in a video on Instagram Saturday in which she’s seen in the audience at a Blink 182 concert holding a sign that read, “Travis I’m pregnant.”

Kardashian posted more behind-the-scenes photos from the concert on Sunday, showcasing her growing baby bump.

“Overwhelmed with gratitude and joy for God’s blessing and plan,” she captioned the post, which features a photo of Barker playfully holding his drumsticks over Kardashian’s belly.

Kardashian and Barker got engaged in October 2021 and wed last year in multiple ceremonies.

Following a not-technically-legal walk down the aisle in Las Vegas after the Grammy Awards in April 2022, the pair exchanged vows at the Santa Barbara Courthouse in May and wrapped up the wedding festivities with a lavish Italian ceremony at Dolce & Gabbana designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s private villa.

This will be Kardashian and Barker’s first child together, but they each have children from previous relationships.

Kardashian shares three children – Mason, Penelope and Reign – with her former longtime partner Scott Disick. Barker is father to Landon, daughter Alabama and stepdaughter Atiana, whom he shares with ex-wife Shanna Moakler.

The two have shared a bit about their fertility journey on Hulu’s reality series, “The Kardashians.”

Kardashian told The Wall Street Journal in September 2022 she had paused in vitro fertilization treatments leading up to getting married because it was “a lot” and she wanted to focus on planning her wedding ceremony.

On Sunday, Barker added to the chorus in the joyous comment section of Kardashian’s post with his own message of gratitude, saying, “God is great.”

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June 18, 2023
Woman presumed dead found alive in coffin at her wake in Ecuador | CNN

CNN
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A 76-year-old woman who was declared dead at a hospital in Ecuador was found to be alive and knocking on her coffin during her own wake in the city of Babahoyo.

“I lifted up the coffin, and her heart was pounding, and her left hand was hitting the coffin… We called 911 to bring her here to the hospital,” her son Gilberto Barbera said in a video posted on social media.

In the video, people could be seen waiting and supporting Montoya as emergency services arrived at the scene, taking the 76-year-old woman back to the hospital.

A state investigation is now underway, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

It says the woman had been admitted Friday to the hospital with a possible stroke and cardiopulmonary arrest, and after she didn’t respond to resuscitation protocol, a doctor on duty declared her dead.

The video also goes on to show her hospital tags and then her son, who is shown pleading for an ambulance to arrive.

The woman’s full name is widely reported to be Bella Yolanda Montoya Castro, corresponding to the initials “B.Y.M.C” used in Ecuador’s Health Ministry statement issued on Sunday.

It said Montoya was in intensive care at the Martín Icaza Hospital in Babahoyo – the same facility that initially declared her dead. Her current condition is unknown.

CNN’s calls to the hospital for comment have not been returned.

The man recording the video later asked the name of the woman, to which someone in the room replied: “Bella Yolanda.”

The ministry went on to say that, in coordination with the Health Services Quality Assurance Agency, a national technical committee was formed “to initiate a medical audit to establish responsibilities for the alleged confirmation of death.”

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June 13, 2023
The average wedding just hit $29,000 | CNN Business

New York
CNN
—

Weddings are back, in full force. That’s the good news. But engaged couples will pay a tad more to get hitched in 2023.

The average cost of a wedding, nationally, this year is $29,000, up $1,000 from 2022, according to online wedding planning site Zola. And in some big US cities, the cost is $35,000 and above.

The price tag for a happily-ever-after day is higher year-over-year for two reasons, said Zola – inflation and demand exceeding supply of wedding related goods and services. “Wedding industry vendors have had to raise their rates because they’re also paying more for goods and services like food, flowers and labor,” Emily Forrest, Zola’s director of communications, told CNN.

Weddings started roaring back from a pandemic-triggered halt to all kinds of celebrations in 2022, and, ever since, the industry has seen a surge in demands for venues, photographers, wedding planners, florists and wedding cakes. Add to that a Gen-Z era desire for very customized weddings (hint: don your scuba suit), and prices are rising.

The Zola report was based on a survey of 4,000 engaged couples getting married in 2023.

The report ranked New York City at the top of the list among the most expensive cities in the US to have a wedding this year. A wedding in the Big Apple is expected to cost about $43,536, followed by San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose ($37,284), Boston ($35,902), Philadelphia ($34,111), Miami-Ft. Lauderdale ($33,622), Washington, DC ($33,199), Chicago ($32,281) and Los Angeles ($30,712).

The average guest list, according to the report, is expected to include between 130 to 150 invitees.

But Esther Lee, deputy editor at The Knot, a wedding planning and vendor marketplace company, said the guest list for some weddings might be getting tighter.

“In 2022, we saw an average of 117 wedding guests, but in 2023, we discovered 39% of couples are trimming their guest list. It’s no surprise that people may be prioritizing more intimate ceremonies this year,” she said.

Less traditional can sometimes mean less expensive, experts said. David’s Bridal, a leading wedding-dress retailer, said its business has been dented by the number of brides wearing casual or vintage dresses. But unique can also inflate costs.

“Unique weddings are having a moment with the onset of hyper-personalization, meaning couples are drawing out influences most meaningful to them and infusing these touches into their wedding day details,” said The Knot’s Lee.

“For example, history buffs are interested, as of late, in an antiquities-themed wedding or honeymoon that may involve an ancient book reading or coin motifs from the Byzantine or Roman Empires.”

Pinterest said it has an indication of another trend. It said searches for alternative weddings – especially underwater weddings – have jumped 305% on its platform. “Underwater weddings are a great example of the unconventional wedding searches we see happening on the platform right now,” said Jenna Landi, director of brand research at Pinterest.

“Though slightly challenging logistically, it should be interesting to see the data for underwater weddings in 2023,” she said. “It may be of sudden interest due to the live-action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. “

Wedding photographer Kimber Greenwood, who specializes in underwater wedding photography, is booked to photograph 20 of them this year. “There’s been a huge jump in interest,” she said.

Greenwood, a trained scuba diver based in Gainesville, Florida provides a package through her adventure photography business, Water Bear Photography, that includes an officiant, gown to wear for the event (but not to keep), flowers and photography for $3,000.

“I have never had a couple say they’ve regretted the experience,” she said.

When asked about who is footing the bill for weddings, the Zola report showed 33% of couples said they are contributing to their wedding budgets in some way, but another 16% said they are paying for the wedding completely on their own.

The wedding industry should enjoy the recovery, because it may not last. Jewelers report that, because many fewer would-be brides or grooms met their partners during the Covid-19 quarantine era, the rate of recent engagements is way off.

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May 31, 2023
Husband recovering after losing new wife in alleged drunken driving accident | CNN

CNN
—

Less than two weeks after a car hit a newly married couple leaving their South Carolina wedding, killing the bride, her groom is leaving the hospital to recover from his injuries and mourn his wife.

Aric Hutchinson and his new wife, Samantha, were hit by a drunken driver as they left their wedding reception in Folly Beach, South Carolina, according to police. Samantha was killed.

Aric “is physically recovering at home while trying to come to terms with the loss of his beautiful wife,” the groom’s mother, Annette Hutchinson, posted in an update to their GoFundMe post verified by CNN.

“We are missing Sam more than anything, she instantly fit into our family from the first day Aric and Sam met, she was everything to my son and changed him for the better,” she added.

“Aric received multiple injuries including two broken legs, one which had to be surgically repaired. Broken bones in his face which also had to be surgically repaired. Broken vertebrates in his back, brain bleeds, and numerous cuts with stitches,” the post said.

“While our hearts are broken along with the Millers, we never could have imagined how sharing our story would result in the tremendous outpouring of love, support, and overwhelming generosity we have received,” the mother added.

Samantha’s obituary described her as fearless and compassionate with an ability to light up a room.

“She had no nerves nor hesitation. Aric was her person. They shared a kind of love that most people will never know,” her obituary said.

The obituary continues, Aric “is doing the unimaginable of planning Sam’s funeral along with her family.”

The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, mourners make donations to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, according to an obituary posted online.

The suspect in Samantha’s death, Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, was charged with one count of reckless homicide and three counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily harm, online court records show. Her vehicle was traveling 65 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to Chief Andrew Gilreath, the public safety director for Folly Beach.

Komoroski refused a field sobriety test, according to an affidavit. A warrant was issued for blood to be taken from Komoroski for testing, the document noted.

“We cannot fathom what the families are going through and offer our deepest sympathies. We simply ask that there not be a rush to judgment. Our court system is founded upon principles of justice and mercy and that is where all facts will come to light,” one of her attorneys, Christopher J. Gramiccioni, told CNN via email.

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May 9, 2023
Bride had her wedding dress held ‘hostage’ in a billing dispute between Bed Bath & Beyond and preservation company | CNN Business

New York
CNN
—

It’s what every bride has nightmares about: A wedding dress disappeared, stained, or — in New Hampshire resident Jesse Moltenbrey’s case — held “hostage.”

A billing dispute between now-bankrupt Bed Bath & Beyond and Houston-based Memories Gown Preservation led the preservation company to hold customers’ gowns until it received payment from the troubled retailer.

Last week, Bed Bath & Beyond

(BBBY) announced it was planning to liquidate its inventory and go out of business. Founded in 1971, it will now close its remaining 360 stores and 120 buybuy BABY locations. The company is looking for a buyer and will halt its closings if one appears.

But as the mammoth retailer ties up its loose ends, one group has been caught in the middle: the customers themselves.

“This is a bride’s worst nightmare,” Moltenbrey initially said in a Facebook post. Her floor length gown — black with white floral design — was trapped somewhere in an unknown facility.

In early March, Moltenbrey said she decided to send her wedding gown to be preserved. After reading good reviews about Houston-based Memories Gown Preservation, she decided to order the $120 kit through Bed Bath & Beyond.

Moltenbrey received the kit on March 16, and said she was charged an additional $25 for insurance once MemoriesGP received the gown on April 3.

“Why, then, on April 24th do I receive this email stating they are holding my dress ransom because of a company that is going BANKRUPT,” Moltenbrey wrote on Facebook.

In the email that Moltenbrey shared on Facebook, MemoriesGP said it began holding all wedding gowns received from Bed Bath & Beyond purchased kits as of March 11, before Moltenbrey said she shipped her dress to them.

“I felt sick to my stomach because of the helplessness,” Moltenbrey said in an interview with CNN.

Her black dress was so unique that the local store didn’t even have a sample, she said, and she’ll never forget the look on her guests’ faces when she walked down the aisle in 2018.

“I knew I wouldn’t look good in a white wedding dress,” she said.

The small business claimed in the email sent to Moltenbrey that Bed Bath & Beyond owed them $42,563.73 and that it hasn’t been paid for kits ordered in the entire past year. MemoriesGP told Moltenbrey that it contacted the houseware giant five separate times over the past year but hasn’t received its payment yet.

MemoriesGP asked Moltenbrey to call Bed Bath & Beyond’s customer service to request release of payment to the company.

“Once payment has been received to MemoriesGP we will promptly clean, preserve & ship your gown out to you,” the email said. That left Moltenbrey to contact the retail giant for the overdue payment.

“I’m just one person and this is a whole company going bankrupt,” Moltenbrey said.

On Wednesday, Moltenbrey posted MemoriesGP is returning her unpreserved dress after she sent an email to its vice president.

The company asked Moltenbrey pay for the shipping back to her. The $25 she paid for insurance will go toward the cost of shipping.

CNN has not received comment after multiple requests sent to Memories Gown Preservation.

However, in an email to Moltenbrey — which she posted to Facebook — Kyle Nesbit, who is listed on LinkedIn as the company’s former vice president, told her that the company “receives 100+ gowns per day.”

“We have no way of knowing which package has a Bed Bath gown in it before the package is opened in our facility,” he told her.

“The intent of our generic email was to get brides over to Bed Bath as that is who their financial transaction was with (we just provide the service),” Nesbit wrote to Moltenbrey.

In a statement, Bed Bath & Beyond said it’s become a legal matter. The preservation kit is currently unavailable on the website. The MemoriesGP website still advertises Bed Bath & Beyond as an authorized dealer and as a registry option.

“We take concerns raised by our customers very seriously,” Bed Bath & Beyond said. “This is a legal matter that we are working to resolve with a third party. As is our practice, we do not comment on legal matters.”

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April 29, 2023
The ‘Engagement Gap’: Ring sales stall as the pandemic put love in limbo | CNN Business

New York
CNN
—

It seems to be a turbulent time for retailers who cater to couples in love.

On the heels of David’s Bridal, the largest seller of wedding dresses declaring bankruptcy last week, another big seller of symbols of enduring love, like rings, disclosed that their business has not yet recovered from Covid-19.

According to Signet Jewelers, the largest jewelry company in the United States, the pandemic dented sales of engagement rings as relationships faltered or never even blossomed in the first place due to the lockdowns.

Signet Jewelers

(SIG), with brands including Zales, Jared, Kay Jewelers and Diamonds Direct under its corporate umbrella, said a lot of early relationships in particular faded as lockdowns began in the winter and spring of 2020, only to be followed by a dramatic decline in dating.

This created, it said, an “engagement gap.”

“We’re still seeing it today,” Jamie Singleton, Signet Jewelers’ president and chief consumer officer, said during the company’s investor day last week.

Citing company research, Singleton said couples, on average, get engaged about 3.25 years after they begin dating.

“So what’s happened over the past couple of years is what we anticipated and what we planned for,” she said. “Engagement jewelry sales were lackluster in fiscal 2023, and we expect them to remain so for the balance of fiscal 2024.”

The category will need to grow approximately 25% by calendar year 2026 just to return to prior engagement levels, she said.

But there’s some evidence of a turnaround, said Singleton. And it’s vital for Signet’s business, because 50% of the company’s merchandise sales come from the bridal segment.

“As people begin getting back out after the lockdowns, we monitored the return of dating…. Dating, in fact, is up 8% to pre-Covid.”

It doesn’t mean engagements will suddenly rebound overnight, but that the potential is promising for a coming pickup in engagements. “We’re confident in the turn that’s coming,” she said.

Signet Jewelers CEO Virginia C. Drosos told investors that the company is striving to reach a $9 billion to $10 billion revenue target annually in the next three to five years “as engagements return to normal levels.” Signet, she said, currently has 30% share of the bridal jewelry market.

“We’ve been anticipating this coming tailwind,” she said. “We expect this to drive significant upside in our business over the coming years.

Meanwhile, the pandemic also walloped sales of wedding dresses as social gatherings of all kinds came to a standstill, and couples postponed their weddings.

As dates were re-booked coming out of the pandemic, brides-to-be have had to contend with inflation and economic uncertainty bearing down on expenses.

David’s Bridal said these macro trends, as well as competition from more affordable online and secondhand retailers, hurt its business.

“An increasing number of brides are opting for less traditional wedding attire, including thrift wedding dresses. These shifting consumer preferences have significantly exacerbated the company’s financial crunch,” David’s Bridal said in a bankruptcy filing.

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April 25, 2023
Netflix is winding down its DVD business after 25 years | CNN Business

New York
CNN
—

Netflix is officially winding down the business that helped make it a household name.

This fall, the streaming giant will officially say goodbye to its DVD rental service and all of the red envelopes that made it possible.

“On September 29th, 2023, we will send out the last red envelope,” the company tweeted Tuesday. “It has been a true pleasure and honor to deliver movie nights to our wonderful members for 25 years.”

“Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members, but as the DVD business continues to shrink, that’s going to become increasingly difficult,” co-CEO Ted Sarandos wrote in a blog post Tuesday. “Making 2023 our Final Season allows us to maintain our quality of service through the last day and go out on a high note.”

The company reported a miss for its second-quarter earnings after market close on Tuesday. Shares fell by around 6%.

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April 18, 2023
David’s Bridal laying off over 9,000 workers | CNN Business

New York
CNN
—

David’s Bridal, one of largest sellers of wedding gowns in the United States, is laying off thousands of workers nationwide, according to a notice filed to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor.

The notice said the retailer is eliminating 9,236 positions across the United States. In Pennsylvania, the layoffs are set to begin on April 14 and end on August 11 and will affect 15 stores in nine counties in the state. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications did not specify when the layoffs would begin or how many stores would be affected in other states.

The Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based retailer employs more than 11,000 workers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

David’s Bridal told CNN Business that the company is “evaluating our strategic options and a sale process is underway.” It also said all of its stores currently remain open.

“The scale of these layoffs suggest that David’s Bridal is in crisis mode,” said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail. “It indicates there is massive restructuring going on behind these scenes with a view to conserve cash as the company prepares for either bankruptcy or a sale.”

Saunders said he expects the company to close stores as part of its plan.

“The business in its current form isn’t working and the hope will be that a smaller entity will be more financially viable,” he said.

The layoffs come as problems grow for David’s Bridal, which is reportedly filing for bankruptcy for the second time in five years, according to The New York Times, which cited people familiar with the matter. The Times said the retailer could be exploring a sale as part its restructuring plan.

David’s Bridal filed for bankruptcy in 2018 after being laden with growing debt and declining sales of wedding dresses. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2019 as it continued to try to fix the business.

But a global pandemic in 2020 badly walloped weddings as social gatherings came to an abrupt standstill. The following year, David’s Bridal, which operates more than 300 stores, said it had anticipated weddings to return with a vengeance because of pent-up demand.

But the layoffs at David’s Bridal come amid ongoing job losses across retail, tech and other industries. Walmart last week said it is laying off more than 2,000 workers at five US warehouses and Best Buy

(BBY) is reportedly cutting hundreds of store-level jobs, according to a Wall Street Journal report Friday.

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April 14, 2023
At Irvo Otieno’s funeral, calls for reform on treating those with mental illness | CNN

CNN
—

Irvo Otieno had a million-dollar smile, respected others and stood up for what he believed was right, family and friends said Wednesday at the funeral for the man who died after he was pinned to the floor by security officers at a Virginia mental health hospital.

Now it’s time for society to stand for what is right – by implementing law enforcement and mental health care reforms, speakers told mourners during Otieno’s service at First Baptist Church of South Richmond.

Seven sheriff’s deputies and three hospital employees are accused of second-degree murder in the March 6 death of the aspiring musician, 28, who prosecutors say was smothered during what the family said was a mental health crisis.

“What kind of sickness would make men pile on a man that’s already handcuffed and shackled?” Rev. Al Sharpton said during the eulogy.

“He had an illness. He should have been doctored to, not treated with brutality,” Sharpton said.

The minister and family attorney Ben Crump said police need to be better equipped to deal with those with mental illness.

They also encouraged Virginia officials to make reforms.

“We can develop mental health courts where they will be treated like they have illness and not like they are criminals and degenerates not worthy of dignity and respect,” Crump told mourners. “Irvo deserved dignity and respect.”

On March 3, Henrico Police responded to a report of a possible burglary and encountered Otieno. Police officers – along with the county’s crisis intervention team – put Otieno under an emergency custody order due to their interactions with and observations of him, police said.

According to Virginia law, a person can be placed under an emergency custody order when there is reason to believe they could hurt themselves or others as a result of mental illness.

The officers transported Otieno to a hospital where authorities say he assaulted three officers. Police took him to county jail and he was booked. At around 4 p.m. on March 6, Otieno was taken to Central State Hospital, a state-run mental health facility south of Richmond, by the Henrico County Sheriff’s Office, according to the commonwealth attorney’s office. It’s not clear why deputies transferred Otieno.

State police investigators were later told Otieno became “combative” and was “physically restrained” during the intake process, the commonwealth attorney’s office said on March 14.

Surveillance video recently released by a prosecutor shows Otieno being pinned to the floor.

Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill’s office released 911 calls about the incident in which a caller described Otieno as “very aggressive” and repeatedly asked for an ambulance, saying he was not breathing.

The video begins as Otieno, bound by his hands and feet, is forcibly taken into a room and dragged into an upright seated position on the floor with his back against a chair. Ten minutes later, after Otieno has turned onto his side with three people holding him, his body jerks, and five more deputies and workers move to pin Otieno to the floor.

A clear view of Otieno is blocked in much of the video, but one deputy appears to be lying across Otieno for most of the incident as he is forced onto his stomach. Eventually, Otieno is rolled onto his back, where several deputies appear to be restraining him with their knees. One deputy holds Otieno’s head still by grabbing his braided hair.

After 12 minutes of Otieno being pinned to the ground, one deputy can be seen shaking Otieno’s hair and attempting to take a neck pulse, but Otieno is unresponsive. Three more minutes pass before CPR begins, with Otieno’s limbs still shackled.

Medical workers from the hospital are seen converging on the room as CPR continues for nearly an hour. After he is pronounced dead, Otieno is covered in a white sheet, still lying on the floor, his body briefly left alone in the room.

An attorney for one of the deputies charged in the case told CNN he’s “disappointed” the prosecutor released the video because he thinks it could influence the jury pool.

Seven Henrico County deputies, who turned themselves in to state police earlier this month, are on administrative leave as investigations by their agency and state police continue, Henrico County Sheriff Alisa Gregory said in a statement.

CNN has sought comment from the deputies. Caleb Kershner, deputy Randy Joseph Boyer’s attorney, told CNN recently that they had yet to see video but claimed “nothing was outside of the ordinary” in the lead-up to Otieno’s death.

“They delivered him as fast as they could because obviously this was a man in tremendous need of some sort of medical attention,” Kershner said. He added that his client said they had dealt with Otieno “for a long time and he had a significant amount of violent noncompliance.”

Prosecutor describes VA death in custody

Three Central State Hospital workers who were arrested were placed on leave “pending the results of the legal proceedings,” the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and Central State Hospital said in a statement. Officials said they will ensure the family receives information about “the tragic events at the hospital.”

The Henrico Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4, the local law enforcement officers’ union, “stands behind” the deputies, it said in a statement on Facebook.

CNN has reached out to attorneys, the hospital and jail for additional comment.

Crump has said Otieno was not being aggressive or resisting during the incident. “He was trying to breathe,” he told reporters. “If you were down there, restrained and all of these people on top of you, you would be trying to breathe. You would try to move, too, to let your lungs expand.”

The attorney told those attending Wednesday’s funeral that the situation should have been treated differently.

“When Black people in America have mental health issues, we cannot treat them like criminal issues,” Crump said.

Sharpton said Otieno was a man of talent whose life was unnecessarily cut short.

“If he’d been cared for, rather than cared-less law enforcement, he could have been a shining example of how people, despite their challenges, can be productive anyway.”

The musician’s mother spoke near the end of the service, saying her son had character and will be missed.

“May your spirit lead us in this pursuit of truth and justice. I will miss your infectious smile and your big hugs,” said Caroline Ouko. “We will get to the bottom of what happened to you.”

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March 29, 2023
K-pop star Se7en and actress Lee Da-hae are getting married | CNN

CNN
—

South Korean celebrity couple Se7en and Lee Da-hae are getting married in May.

The K-pop singer and his actress fiancée shared the news of their upcoming nuptials in separate posts on Instagram.

Se7en, whose real name is Choi Dong-wook, told his 551,000 followers that he had “happy news” to share.

“I have vowed to marry my girlfriend Lee Da-hae, who always embraced me with love, and shared joy and sorrow together for the past eight years,” he said, revealing that the wedding would take place on May 6.

Pledging his commitment to his bride-to-be, the 38-year-old singer wrote: “From now on, I will live with more responsibility as a head of a family and a husband.”

Lee’s post on her Instagram page was accompanied by a series of wedding pictures. In South Korea, couples commonly have their wedding pictures taken ahead of the ceremony and then often use the images for digital invitations and social media.

The post features four pictures of the happy couple in different settings and different outfits. In one, she is pictured in a sleeveless floor-length lace gown, while Se7en wears a tailored gray suit with black bow tie. Another sees the couple outside a pink hotel, with Se7en in a pink blazer and shorts, with his wife to be in a lacy mini wedding dress.

One shot features a close-up of the bride, while the final image shows the pair in profile by the sea at sunset.

Lee told her 207,000 followers: “It may not be a big surprising as we have been dating for eight years, but I am still shy. I pondered a lot about how I should share the news.

“We have vowed to become a husband and wife from a long-term couple this coming May. Although I’m still used to calling him a ‘boyfriend,’ I will become more considerate and a bigger supporter of ‘him,’ who gave me big happiness by staying by my side and now will be my forever companion.

“It will be a huge happiness for us if we can get married in your love and blessings.”

Se7en released his debut album “Just Listen” in 2003. His career has also extended to acting. In 2007, he played the lead role in TV drama “Goong S” (Palace S.) He has also starred in four musicals and numerous commercials, including for Coca-Cola.

Lee has featured in many popular TV dramas, including “Good Witch” in 2018 and “Chuno” (“Slave Hunters”) in 2010, and the 2013 spy movie “IRIS 2.”

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March 20, 2023
Biden says he intends to visit Northern Ireland | CNN Politics

CNN
—

President Joe Biden said Monday he intends to visit Northern Ireland to mark the upcoming anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which the US helped broker a quarter-century ago to bring an end to decades of sectarian violence.

The president was responding to an invitation from Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was visiting California to announce a new agreement with Australia and the United States to cooperate on building nuclear-powered submarines.

“I know that’s something very special and personal to you and we would love to have you over,” Sunak told Biden, extending the invitation to visit Northern Ireland in person.

“It’s my intention to go to Northern Ireland and the Republic,” Biden said afterward.

A presidential visit to Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the landmark Good Friday accord has long been the subject of speculation. The last US president to visit Belfast was Barack Obama in 2013.

For Biden, a visit to Ireland will mark a symbolic return for a president who often makes reference to his Irish roots, sometimes quoting lines of verse from William Butler Yeats or Seamus Heaney in his speeches.

It’s also a moment to celebrate one of the defining diplomatic achievements of the late 20th century, one that came with significant American involvement that Biden watched unfold as a senator. Former US Sen. George Mitchell helped deliver the agreement that helped end decades of sectarian violence known as The Troubles.

“Twenty-five years? It seems like yesterday,” Biden told Sunak on Monday.

Officials said it was likely that former President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton would also take part in events surrounding the anniversary next month.

As the anniversary approached, it remained unclear whether Biden would ultimately decide to travel to Northern Ireland, particularly as the fragile peace was tested by a dispute over post-Brexit trade rules on the island.

Biden had taken a keen interest in the discussions, and had pressed Sunak to come to an agreement by the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Last month, Britain announced it had reached an agreement with the European Union, ending the long-simmering disagreements.

The new rules could go far in improving ties between Biden and Sunak. Biden made a personal appeal both to Sunak and his two predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, to resolve the dispute over the trade rules.

US officials have said previously that a presidential visit to mark the anniversary would hinge in part on resolving the trade dispute. Biden has also pushed for a restoration of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government, which collapsed in part due to disagreements over the trade rules.

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March 13, 2023