Author: Press Room

In emotional testimony on Thursday, Robbie Parker, the parent of a Sandy Hook shooting victim, recounted the violent threats and harassment he and his family have suffered in the years since conspiracy theorist Alex Jones called him a crisis actor. The day after their six-year-old daughter, Emilie, was murdered in the 2012 shooting, Parker gave a statement to the press. Hours later, Jones was on his InfoWars show describing him as a crisis actor to his audience of millions. (Jones acknowledged that he spoke about Parker by name when he testified earlier during the trial, which is to determine how…

CNN  —  Boris Epshteyn, an attorney and adviser to former President Donald Trump, testified before a Georgia grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with the matter. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sought Epshteyn’s testimony as part of her probe into efforts by Trump and his allies to subvert the election results in the Peach State. She was interested in learning more about Epshteyn’s alleged role in helping to organize pro-Trump slates of electors in battleground states that President Joe Biden actually won in the last presidential election. Epshteyn appeared on Thursday…

Two former eBay Inc security executives were sentenced to prison on Thursday for carrying out a campaign to harass and intimidate a Massachusetts couple through threats and disturbing home deliveries after their online newsletter drew the ire of the company’s then-CEO. Jim Baugh and David Harville were sentenced to 57 and 24 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in an extensive harassment campaign that involved sending the couple cockroaches, a funeral wreath and a bloody Halloween pig mask. U.S. District Judge Patti Saris, who imposed the sentenced during hearings in Boston, called it a “hard-to-imagine” scheme fueled by a…

A graduate who calls himself “April Vendetta” protests student debt in New York’s Washington Square Park on May 19, 2021, after New York University’s virtual commencement ceremony.Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty ImagesFederal student loan borrowers whose loans are not held by the U.S. Department of Education will no longer be able to consolidate in order to qualify for President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, according new guidance from the department.The update on the Education Department’s guidance for the one-time student loan debt relief is an about-face from previous guidelines, which said those borrowers could consolidate their debts…

At-risk people who received a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine in U.S. efforts against the virus appeared to be significantly less likely to get sick, public health officials announced Wednesday, even as they urged a second dose for full protection.It was the first look public health officials have offered into how the Jynneos vaccine is affecting monkeypox, a virus that is primarily spread among men who have sex with infected men.“These new data provide us with a level of cautious optimism that the vaccine is working as intended,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday.Roughly…

California is attempting to stymie abortion prosecutions in other states by making it illegal for Silicon Valley giants and other businesses based in the Golden State to hand over the personal information of abortion-seekers to out-of-state authorities. A new law signed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom forbids California-based businesses from giving up geolocation data, search histories and other personal information in response to out-of-state search warrants, unless those warrants are accompanied by a statement that the evidence sought isn’t connected to an abortion investigation. The prohibition also bars companies in the state from complying with out-of-state law enforcement requests related…

Google plans to shut down its cloud gaming service Stadia in January, a little more than three years after it launched, citing lackluster demand from customers. Phil Harrison, the vice president and general manager of Stadia, said in a blog post Thursday that the consumer gaming service “hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected.” Google plans to refund customers for “all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store,” according to Harrison. Google launched Stadia in 2019, making it one of several tech giants to invest…

Germany’s government says it will spend up to €200 billion to help consumers and businesses cope with rising energy prices.Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Thursday that the government is reactivating an economic stabilising fund and “will do everything it can” to bring prices down.Prices for natural gas — used to heat homes, generate electricity, and power factories — have surged across Europe amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Germany previously used the so-called “defensive shield” to support the country during the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund will cap the price German customers pay for gas and relieve them from inflation.A previously…

Kelly Osbourne is in her third trimester of pregnancy and was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes, she told People magazine.Gestational diabetes refers to diabetes that a patient develops for the first time during pregnancy. The condition impacts how cells use sugar and can lead to high blood sugar, which can affect the baby’s health, according to Mayo Clinic. It usually appears during the middle of pregnancy, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and typically subsides after the baby is delivered. However, gestational diabetes does increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes later in life, according to Mayo Clinic.Osbourne,…

Klaus Vedfelt | Getty ImagesAs President Joe Biden, at a White House event on Tuesday, touted new legislation that will reduce Medicare drug pricing, he also vowed to protect both Medicare and Social Security in the face of what he called Republican attacks on the programs.”I’ll protect those programs; I’ll make them stronger,” Biden said. “And I’ll lower your cost to be able to keep them.”The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act gives Medicare the ability to negotiate prescription drug prices. It also caps the maximum beneficiaries will pay for prescription drugs under the program to $2,000 per year. The cost…