Reuters / Andrea De Silva
R. Kelly has deleted the announcement of a new tour after Australian lawmakers expressed “serious concern” about him coming to the country. The R&B singer—who's facing multiple allegations of sexual abuse—announced a tour of Australia, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand with posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but all the posts have been since removed. “See y’all soon” the posts said, accompanied by a picture of Kelly and the tagline “The King of R&B.” In a statement, Australia’s shadow immigration minister Shayne Neumann said: “Labor strongly supports the refusal or cancellation of visas of non-citizens on character or criminal grounds… Labor would be seriously concerned if immigration minister David Coleman would allow an individual such as R. Kelly into Australia.” Kelly is scheduled to perform two shows in Germany in April but a petition calling for the gigs to be canceled has been signed by more than 22,000 people.
Donald Trump lapped up the applause during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night—but the reception outside has been much frostier. Ann Coulter, who was once the president’s biggest cheerleader in the conservative media, tore the speech to shreds after Trump’s unconvincing attempts to play nice and act like a unifying president. “This was the lamest, sappiest, most intentionally tear-jerking SOTU ever. Please fire your speechwriter, @RealDonaldTrump,” wrote Coulter on Twitter. She went on the call the address “lame, Oprah, sappy stuff” and said she was “too tired to watch his whole speech.” Coulter appeared to be irritated that Trump didn’t dedicate enough time to the border wall, saying: “45 minutes in, we got 30 seconds on the wall. He better be breaking ground tomorrow.” Coulter turned on Trump after he caved on his demand for border-wall funding and ended his shutdown, calling him “the biggest wimp.”
Donald Trump is due to visit London again in December after NATO announced its next summit will take place in the English capital. During his last visit to Britain, Trump was faced with tens of thousands of protesters on the streets of London—and, most memorably, a blimp shaped like the president in a diaper was flown outside the Palace of Westminster. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement that the Allies have agreed to meet in London in December in order discuss security challenges and how NATO can adapt to keep people safe, the BBC reports. British Prime Minister Theresa May said: “The U.K. is one of the founding members of NATO and I am very pleased that the secretary general has asked us to host a meeting of NATO leaders this year to mark its 70th anniversary.” Trump’s last U.K. trip saw him meet the queen at Windsor Castle, visit May at her country retreat, and play golf at one of his resorts in Scotland.
A retired physician who was photographed in blackface in the same 1980s yearbook featuring the racist photo threatening Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s career has said he regrets the incident. Michael Breiner, now an associate professor at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg, Virginia, owned up to the photo in the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook in which he’s dressed as Diana Ross and has dark makeup on his face. The photo caption reads: “‘Baby Love,’ who ever thought Diana Ross would make it to Medical School!” Breiner said: “I had a lot of great African-American friends, I still do, and they gave me their blessing that this would not offend them.... If I had any inkling that this would upset them, I would not have done it.” He added: “Do I regret it now? Yeah, because it’s a different time. This was 35 years ago.” Northam is fighting for his political career after being accused of appearing in a different photo in the same yearbook that features one person wearing blackface and another dressed in Ku Klux Klan robe.
After Donald Trump Jr. slammed Democrats for being anti-capitalist in an interview with Fox & Friends Wednesday, co-host Brian Kilmeade claimed that the president’s son would have “a great political future should he ever run.” Trump Jr. used his time on Fox & Friends to laud his father’s State of the Union speech and attack congressional Democrats, according to a recap from Talking Points Memo. “They need Americans to have to look to government for everything. That is what they’re pushing. That is what they want,” Trump Jr. said. “That is why they can’t fathom the notion of capitalism being the greatest system ever established. It has worked for this country. It put people on the moon!” After Don Jr.’s segment ended, Kilmeade was clearly impressed. “Clearly, he’d have a great political future should he ever run,” the host said. “He might not want to do it,” co-host Ainsley Earhardt noted. “Is it worth it?”
We know how he felt. Joshua Trump—the kid invited to the president’s State of the Union address after he was allegedly bullied at school because of his famous last name—has won fans after falling asleep during the speech. Joshua, a sixth-grader from Wilmington, Delaware, was one of a dozen guests announced by the White House ahead of Tuesday night’s speech. The 11-year-old has been hailed as a secret hero of the anti-Trump movement, with a photo of him sleeping being shared with captions such as “the only good Trump,” “welcome to the resistance,” and “everybody needs a little executive time.” Joshua’s parents said his classmates had called him an “idiot” and “stupid” for sharing the president’s last name—but after his nap in the spotlight, he may be one of the most popular kids in the country.
O.J. Simpson slammed former Trump adviser Roger Stone in an interview with TMZ Tuesday, telling the now-indicted political consultant to “man up, stop crying” about the recent FBI raid on his home. After declining to say much about President Trump, Simpson noted that he understood what it was like to be raided by the FBI. “You know, I got raided by the FBI in Miami,” he said. “Thirty-s0mething FBI agents 5 o’clock in Miami. I had more than dogs, I had kids there. They were a little traumatized.” But, he added, he had no sympathy for Stone comparing his Jan. 25 arrest, in which the FBI raided his Fort Lauderdale home and served him with a seven-count indictment, to the experiences of Osama bin Laden and notorious drug kingpin El Chapo. “To try to compare it to El Chapo, Bin Laden? Hell, Bin Laden was carried out in a bag, not walked out in handcuffs,” Simpson said. “So, you know, man up, stop crying.” Stone now faces charges including obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and making false statements. Simpson, a former football star, was acquitted in 1995 of charges that he murdered his ex-wife and her friend.
The body of a young woman has been discovered in a suitcase—bound at the hands and feet—on the side of a road in Greenwich, Connecticut. “This remains an active homicide investigation,” said Greenwich Police Capt. Robert Berry at a news conference Tuesday. “It’s always sensitive to us that every time we have a tragedy such as this, there’s a family connected to it.” The woman has yet to be identified, but cops said she appears to be between the ages of 18 and 30. Police have received several tips on the woman’s identity, said Berry, and added: “We are following up on each and every one of them.” Investigators aren’t yet sure how or when she was killed, Berry said, but said she died before being placed at the roadside.
Iran has furiously hit back at Donald Trump following his State of the Union address, saying that the U.S. president supports “dictators, butchers, and extremists” in the Middle East. Trump took aim at Iran during Tuesday night’s speech, calling the country “the world’s leading state sponsor of terror” and accusing its leaders of doing “bad, bad things.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded in an angry Twitter post Wednesday apparently highlighting Trump’s support of the Saudi regime. “U.S. hostility has led it to support dictators, butchers & extremists who’ve only brought ruin to our region,” he wrote. Trump also accused Iran of persecuting Jews in the country, saying in his address: “We will not avert our eyes from a regime that chants ‘Death to America’ and threatens genocide against the Jewish people.” But Zarif disputed his statement, saying: “Iranians—including our Jewish compatriots—are commemorating 40 yrs of progress despite U.S. pressure, just as @realDonaldTrump again makes accusations against us @ #SOTU2019.”