News Round-Up: July 18, 2019

Rugby legend and LGBTQ ally Ben Cohen

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunks: LGBTQ ally Ben Cohen is inviting supporters of his anti-bullying foundation to come out and join him for cross-training. I'll go, but only if I can follow Ben :)

• New York Times: A federal judge on Thursday denied bail for Jeffrey Epstein, the financier facing sex-trafficking charges in Manhattan, rejecting his request to await trial under home detention at his Upper East Side mansion.

• NPR: Some of Puerto Rico’s biggest stars rallied a crowd of many thousands in San Juan on Wednesday, calling on the island’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló, to resign. It was the fifth day in a row of protests in the U.S. territory, following a leak of hundreds of pages of misogynistic and homophobic texts between the governor and his main advisers.

• Washington Post: The House passed a bill by a vote of 231-199 that would raise the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade. However, don't expect the legislation to be taken up in the Republican-controlled Senate.

• AFP News: Donald Trump asked Nobel laureate Nadia Murad how she won the Nobel Peace Prize after she explained how she won the Nobel Prize. Murad survived in the aftermath of her mother and six brothers being killed by ISIS and that 3,000 Yazidis remained missing. Trump asked, “And you had the Nobel Prize? That’s incredible. They gave it to you for what reason?” Murad paused, then repeated her story.

• The Lion King: Check out Beyoncé's musical contribution to the upcoming live-action remake of Disney's The Lion King.

Titled "Spirit," I find the video gorgeous. I'm on the fence about the melody. Let me know what you think.