1.5 million signature petition to ban fur imports delivered to PM
Newport West and Islwyn MP, Ruth Jones, delivered the document with support from animal protection groups and celebrities Will Young and Pete Wicks.
The petition, which gained backing from Humane World for Animals UK, RSPCA, PETA, FOUR PAWS UK and Open Cages, supports Ms Jones's bill set for its second reading on June 13, aiming to halt fur imports into the UK.
Ms Jones said: "If passed into law, my bill would end the UK's complicity in the cruelty of the global fur trade.
"I am delighted today to join #FurFreeBritain campaigners to deliver more than 1.5 million petition signatures to show the Prime Minister how much support there is for this legislation."
Fur farming was banned in the UK over 20 years ago, yet fur worth £30-£40 million is still imported annually.
The bill proposes extending bans on trade from cats, dogs, and seals to include foxes, raccoon dogs, mink, chinchilla, and coyotes.
The bill has substantial public backing, with 77 per cent supporting a fur import ban.
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USA Today
3 days ago
- USA Today
She's inmate No. 02879-509 in Florida. But once again, Ghislaine Maxwell is holding court
"The tofu has no seasoning, there's no seasoning allowed. No salt or pepper or anything. So, it's beyond tasteless.' While Ghislaine Maxwell awaited trial for sex trafficking in a Brooklyn jail, PETA lobbied to ensure that she had vegan meals. It's unclear when the heiress had given up meat. She was spotted scarfing down a burger, fries and shake at a Los Angeles In-N-Out Burger in 2019. When the British socialite's family lost its fortune and she moved to New York in the 1990s, she found a friend to lend her a luxury apartment overlooking Central Park to start a new life. Now, as inmate No. 02879-509 — serving 20 years for her role in conspiring to recruit, groom and sexually abuse underage girls — she wants her freedom. And the country waits to see if President Donald Trump, whose reputation hangs on what she says, will give her a pardon. In many ways, Maxwell has always been in charge – becoming a confidante of financier Jeffrey Epstein and connecting the rich and famous to turning the tables on lawyers during a deposition. She does so with a hint of entitlement that comes from her privileged background, and a lot of moxie. 'I know where you are headed with this and it's nowhere appropriate and it's really unattractive,' she once told a lawyer during a deposition. Maxwell met with the Department of Justice last week. She spent two days answering questions from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about Epstein and about 100 others possibly involved in the notorious sex-trafficking operation. While they didn't share what was asked or if Trump – a longtime friend of Epstein – was the focus of any questions, David Markus, an attorney representing Maxwell, said she answered all questions. "She didn't hold anything back,' he said. The Wall Street Journal and CNN reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump in May that he was named multiple times in the government's files on Epstein. Maxwell, 63, now spends her days teaching yoga and etiquette classes at a federal corrections institute in Florida, waiting to see if she will get what she wants again. 'She was interested in power' Maxwell wasn't used to being told no. She grew up in a 51-room Italianate mansion in the United Kingdom. She was born on Christmas Day, the ninth child of Elisabeth and Robert Maxwell in 1961. Two days later, the couple's oldest child Michael was injured in a car wreck on his way home from a dance and left in a coma. Elisabeth spent every morning of that next year at the hospital, talking to her son in hopes of bringing him back to consciousness. The family fell apart, Maxwell's mother would write in her 1994 memoir, 'A Mind of My Own: My Life with Robert Maxwell.' 'The two little ones were seemingly unaware of the tragedy, but Ghislaine, who should have been the center of our love and attention, was hardly given a glance and became anorexic whilst still a toddler,' Elisabeth Maxwell wrote. 'She planted herself in front of me and said simply 'Mummy, I exist.' I was devastated,' she wrote. 'And we all made a great effort with her, fussing over her so much that she became spoiled.' Michael spent seven years in a coma before he died. Maxwell went to boarding school at 8 and later to the University of Oxford. "It was very clear to me even as an undergraduate that she was interested in power and money," Anna Pasternak, a writer who knew Maxwell from Oxford, told the BBC in 2022. "She was one of those people at parties who always looked over your shoulder to see if there was somebody more powerful or more interesting while she was air-kissing you." Maxwell's father died in 1991. It is unknown whether he fell or jumped from his yacht, he named after his daughter, Lady Ghislaine. Shortly after, it was revealed that he had stolen $824 million from pension funds. A relationship with mutual benefits Maxwell and Epstein were inseparable for almost a decade. She met Epstein, then a hedge fund manager, through a mutual friend when she moved to New York City in 1991. She was 30; he was 38. The friendship made sense. She knew wealthy and connected people. She has been photographed with Prince Andrew, Naomi Campbell, Mick Jagger, Michael Bloomberg. Epstein needed them. She needed to maintain the lifestyle provided by her late father, who had owned the Mirror Group and the New York Daily News. Maxwell and Epstein dated for a while, then they were friends. She began working for him, taking care of his homes, hiring staff, architects and contractors in 1992 and did so on and off through 2009. Photos of them from society pages and those shown at her trial often look as if they come from a Ralph Lauren ad, moneyed plaid with a perfect looking golden retriever in a grassy area, tuxedos and gowns in dark wood paneled rooms. She wears the uniform of old money: button ups, crewneck sweaters, minimal makeup and simple jewelry like diamond or pearl stud earrings. They embrace in front of an ocean, on a yacht, in a helicopter or on a private jet. He often looks straight ahead; she looks at him. There are celebrities in some: Trump. Harvey Weinstein, Michael Bolton. Paris Hilton. 'We were very friendly,' she would say. In 1995, Epstein named one of his companies the Ghislaine Corporation. More than 1,000 victims Maxwell had another job for Epstein. At her 2021 trial, prosecutors portrayed her as a sophisticated predator who befriended young girls and lured them into sex with Epstein. She bought them gifts including cowboy boots and Prada purses, flattered them and promised to help support them through school. 'Years of sexual abuse, multiple victims, devastating psychological harm. None of this could have happened without Maxwell,' the prosecutors said of the more than 1,000 victims. Four women shared stories at her trial, including one woman who was 17 when she met Maxwell in Paris. 'She seemed to be everything that I wanted to be. And she seemed to like me,' said the woman who was referred to as Kate. 'I left that feeling exhilarated, like somebody wanted me, like somebody wanted to be my friend.' Later Maxwell would invite her to massage Epstein, who initiated sexual contact. This happened several times over the following years in London, New York, Palm Beach and Epstein's private island. After the massages, Kate testified, Maxwell always complimented her: 'You're such a good girl. And I'm so happy you were able to come. This is really great. And he obviously likes you a lot.' Annie Farmer testified with her real name at the trial. She had met Maxwell when she was a high school student in Arizona and her older sister worked for Epstein. She said Maxwell told her that Epstein wanted to help her pay for college. She also said that Maxwell sexually abused her when she visited Epstein's New Mexico ranch. 'She pulled the sheet down and exposed my breasts and started rubbing on my chest and on my upper breasts,' Farmer said. 'I was surprised. I wanted so badly to get off of the table.' During her trial, Maxwell remained 'expressing no frailty and certainly no regret,' The New Yorker reported. Maxwell tried to reverse the roles in court. While a courtroom sketch artist drew her, Maxwell began to sketch the artist back. Maxwell has maintained she didn't know about Epstein's abuse. She said in a 2016 deposition that she learned about the allegations against him 'like everybody else, like the rest of the world, when it was announced in the papers.' And she says she never hired anyone under 18. 'I hired assistants, architects, decorators, cooks, cleaners, gardeners, pool people, pilots. I hired all sorts of people," Maxwell said during a deposition for a civil suit in April 2016. 'A very small part of my job was to find adult professional massage therapists for Jeffrey. As far as I'm concerned, everyone who came to his house was an adult professional person.' Perhaps you are not really familiar with what massage is 'Was it Jeffrey's preference to start a massage with sex?' a lawyer asked Maxwell during a 2016 deposition. 'Perhaps you are not really familiar with what massage is. Massage is for health benefits,' Maxwell replied, adding that Epstein received one massage each day. A few years before Maxwell was arrested, a woman named Virginia Giuffre had alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell to Prince Andrew when she was a teenager. Maxwell denied it, and Giuffre filed a civil suit against her. During Maxwell's deposition, she calls Giuffre a liar 36 times, argues with attorneys and slaps the table in disgust. When Giuffre says that Maxwell and Epstein bought her gifts, she doesn't just say no when shown a photo of Giuffre in a Burberry dress. 'I would never. The outfit doesn't work at all.' Prince Andrew never acknowledged the abuse. He settled a civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre. She killed herself in April of this year. Loyalty, with a price When Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in 2008, he spent less than 13 months in a minimum-security jail and was allowed to leave for 12 hours a day for work. He settled several civil lawsuits against him and paid restitution to victims. Maxwell continued to work for him. When asked why during the 2016 deposition, she said: 'I'm a very loyal person and Jeffrey was very good to me when my father passed away and I believe that you need to be a good friend in people's hour of need and I felt that it was a very thoughtful, nice thing for me to do to help in very limited fashion which was helping if he had any issue with his homes in terms of the staffing issues. It was very very minor, but I felt it was thoughtful in somebody's hour of need.' Bank records shown at her trial reveal that Epstein paid Maxwell more than $30 million during the years they were together. The waiting game In prison, Maxwell is also allowed to spend up to $360 each month in the commissary, shopping once a week for vegetarian items such as $4.95 Fruity Dyno Bites or $2.55 vegan bags of Boom Chicka popcorn. 'You're supposed to have either hummus or cottage cheese or tofu, but most of the time, it's tofu if it's anything or beans. And then the tofu has no seasoning, there's no seasoning allowed. No salt or pepper or anything. So, it's beyond tasteless,' she told a British TV host in 2023 of the food served. As Maxwell serves her time in Florida as one of the most powerful prisoners in American history, she is reportedly in an 'honors dorm,' which would likely offer her a private room, however prison officials won't confirm her accommodations. Maxwell was in a detention center in Brooklyn before she was transferred to Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee in 2022. Some of her crimes took place in Florida. While at the Brooklyn center, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' president sent a letter on her behalf to get her access to more nonmeat meals. It is believed that Maxwell is receiving vegan meals in Florida. The prison wouldn't comment, but a PETA spokeswoman confirmed, saying the group advocated for non-meat meals 'not only for vegans but for people who are convicted of violent crime as we believe they should not be permitted to engage in more violent acts by eating animals.' On July 24 and 25, she was able to leave the prison for the first time to meet with Department of Justice lawyers at the federal courthouse in Tallahassee. Maxwell has sought to overturn her conviction and has filed a petition with the Supreme Court, which the Justice Department has opposed. When asked on Monday if he would consider pardoning Maxwell, Trump said he is 'allowed' to, but it would be 'inappropriate' to discuss it. After her 2020 arrest, when asked if Maxwell might cut a deal with prosecutors, Trump said: "I just wish her well." The one thing Maxwell could never have Was Epstein the one thing Maxwell wanted but could never have? She was asked in a deposition if she was Epstein's girlfriend in 2004. 'Define what you mean by girlfriend,' Maxwell said. 'Were you in a relationship with him where you would consider yourself his girlfriend? Did you ever consider yourself his girlfriend?' the lawyer asked. 'That's a tricky question,' Maxwell says. 'There were times when I would have liked to think of myself as his girlfriend,' she says. When asked about their relationship again, she says: 'I don't know if I would have ever characterized myself as his girlfriend, but at that time (redacted) was with him as much if more than I was.' Her job, 'was to take care of Jeffrey's needs,' Kate testified at trial. With Epstein dead, Maxwell awaits for the second-best thing: her freedom. Laura Trujillo is a national columnist focusing on health and wellness. She is the author of "Stepping Back from the Ledge: A Daughter's Search for Truth and Renewal," and can be reached at ltrujillo@
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Republican State Rep. enters race for James Malone's Lancaster County State Senate seat
(WHTM) – Pennsylvania State Representative Tom Jones (R-Lancaster/Lebanon) has entered the race for Democrat James Malone's 36th State Senate District seat. Malone won the 36th District seat in a March special election, upsetting Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons in a race that drew national attention. The seat had become vacant when Republican Ryan Aument resigned to join Senator Dave McCormick's office. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Jones currently represents the 98th State House District and previously served as an East Donegal Township supervisor. 'It has been an honor to serve my community as State Representative in the Pennsylvania General Assembly,' said Jones on Tuesday. 'I believe the people of Lancaster deserve strong representation in the 36th Senate District, and I look forward to earning their support.' The 36th District includes Manheim Township, Lititz, Elizabethtown and Mount Joy Township, among others, in Lancaster County. The area was represented by a Republican for nearly 140 years before Malone's election. Republicans currently control the State Senate with a 27-23 majority. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Fox News
5 days ago
- Fox News
University runs damage control amid concerns it hides illegals, upholds reverse discrimination
FIRST ON FOX: After Belmont University in Tennessee was accused of attempting to rebrand its DEI initiatives in an effort to skirt President Donald Trump's demands to get rid of them, the university denied the allegations, telling Fox News Digital that the school was "in compliance with federal laws." But, according to an email sent to faculty and staff last week, from Belmont's Office of the President, the school has decided to tap an "external partner" to ensure its compliance with President Donald Trump's executive orders demanding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives be terminated across all institutions of higher education. The review also aims to ensure the university is abiding by all state and federal immigration laws, after evidence was also uncovered that the school was allegedly admitting illegal immigrants and hiding such information from outside entities. "I am reaching out to update you about next steps in response to the concerns raised by elected officials regarding Belmont's compliance with state and federal immigration laws, as well as executive orders addressing DEI in higher education," the letter, penned by Belmont University President Greg Jones, stated. "While we make every effort to ensure compliance and continue to maintain our belief that Belmont complies with all applicable laws, we take these concerns seriously. With this in mind, we are bringing in an external partner to initiate an independent compliance review." The effort to hold Belmont accountable for allegedly maintaining its DEI policies in light of federal directives to terminate them has been spearheaded by Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles, who has been receiving information from whistle-blowers at the school. Ogles sounded the alarm earlier this month, after obtaining undercover recordings showing a student services faculty member in Belmont's "Division of Student Success and Flourishing" admitting the school has maintained its DEI initiatives but "just change[d] on how we talk about it." "The HUB is hope, unity and belonging. That's DEI. Let's be real," Jozef Lukey, Belmont's assistant director of student success and flourishing, says in the recording. "We always try to just adapt to what's happening around us. But that doesn't mean, like, what we're focusing on completely stops. We just changed the terminology and the language that we keep moving forward." In the same recording, Lukey can also be heard admitting that Belmont enrolls illegal immigrants and hides that information from external entities, which Ogles suggested could violate state law against knowingly harboring illegal aliens for profit. "I want to be clear — I think the world of Belmont. My daughter applied to Belmont. She was accepted at Belmont," Ogles said in a recorded video updating folks on the ongoing situation at the Christian university based in Nashville. "Nashville is unique — we have Vanderbilt, we have Belmont, we have David Lipscomb, we have Meharry [Medical College], we have TSU — we have all these amazing institutions, to include Belmont, which now has a new medical school, so I want to sing their praises, but I also have to hold them accountable, and this wokeness is in violation of President Trump's executive order." Ogles also likened Belmont to Harvard in the video, adding that the school will be "held accountable if they don't correct course." Besides the undercover recordings, Ogles has received other whistle-blower documents and information about Belmont's continuance of its DEI initiatives under Trump. For example, Ogles has cited official documents from Belmont he received, which show that professors must fill out a mandatory form if they wish to revise or propose a new course, which requires a "Diversity Impact Statement" outlining how the course supports "historically underrepresented populations." Another source, according to Ogles' office, shared screenshots of an email chain showing Belmont intends to keep its faculty DEI committee for the next academic year. Ogles also received a document outlining Belmont's faculty hiring procedures for deans, which compels the completion of multiple DEI "assessment[s]" when engaging in "pre-search activities." The hiring document adds that search committees tasked with seeking out new potential hires must be "diverse across race and gender and preferably include faculty of color." A litany of other DEI requirements, such as required discussions among search committees about "ways to advertise and attract candidates from a diverse population" and "paying special attention to recruiting minority candidates," are required as well. The document also instructs search committees to engage in a post-mortem for any positions for which a "diverse candidate" does not apply to "revisit how to best advertise the position to attract qualified, diverse applicants." The amount of whistle-blower tips that Ogles office has been getting has prompted the congressman to launch a new web page on his congressional website that will provide an easy avenue for people to continue providing his office with inside information about the DEI efforts at Belmont. The website has not launched yet, but is expected to be live soon. When reached for comment, officials at Belmont pointed Fox News Digital to its July 22 email sent to faculty and staff, indicating the expected compliance review.
