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☆ Elon Musk quietly ordered the removal of Twitter's #ThereIsHelp suicide prevention feature, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk quietly ordered the removal of a Twitter suicide prevention feature, sources told Reuters. But Twitter's head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, said a replacement should go live next week. The news agency reported the #ThereIsHelp feature, which appeared when users viewed certain content, had disappeared from Twitter this week. It sought to give users credible information related to topics including HIV, mental health and suicide prevention, vaccines, and gender-based violence. But Eirliani A Rahman, who recently left Twitter's trust and safety council, told Reuters the move was "extremely disconcerting and profoundly disturbing."

The defamation case brought by actor Johnny Depp against his ex-wife Amber Heard came to an end on Wednesday after a seven-person jury unanimously ruled in favor of Depp. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages in his defamation suit. Depp also claims she is not the victim of domestic violence but instead the perpetrator. 2022On April 11, the weekslong defamation trial kicks off, with Heard and Depp appearing in court in Fairfax County, Virginia. The jury unanimously finds that Heard defamed Depp, awarding him $5 million in punitive damages and $10 million in compensatory damages.

☆ A woman who mistakenly visited an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center said she was met with pushback for seeking an abortion: 'I just was not ready, and words can't make you ready for that'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Hannah Getahun | Isabella Zavarise | Katie Nixdorf | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics in the US. When she got to The Keim Center in Virginia Beach, it didn't look or smell like a medical clinic — it was too nice, too inviting. Unbeknownst to her, Estefanía had walked into one of the 2,000 crisis pregnancy centers, or CPCs, in the US. "Most of the folks that work in crisis pregnancy centers are people that are on a mission to end abortion." Researchers from Middlebury College have estimated that the extinction of national abortion rights means the number of people living closer to CPCs than abortion clinics will double, and CPCs will outnumber abortion clinics 1-to-5.

☆ New Mexico judge and her pets shot dead by her husband in suspected murder-suicide, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A judge in New Mexico and several of her pets were shot dead in what police believe was a murder-suicide carried out by the woman's husband. The killings marked the third fatal incident of domestic violence in the Albuquerque area on Thanksgiving weekend, the Albuquerque Journal reported. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for help at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or go to www.thehotline.org for anonymous, confidential online chats, available in English and Spanish. Individual states often have their own domestic violence hotlines as well. Advocates at the National Domestic Violence Hotline field calls from both survivors of domestic violence as well as individuals who are concerned that they may be abusive toward their partners.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. the person said, adding that the calls would connect but Chinese officials wouldn't pick up. Based on a long-standing practice, faxes continue to be exchanged between two semi-official organisations that handle routine affairs: Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. The council told Reuters that while Chinese officials do not reply directly, they have handled Taiwanese requests when needed or responded through public statements. China this year labeled Tsai's administration "evil" while Taiwan called China "incredibly absurd".

☆ She told a 911 operator her marriage was over. Her ex fatally shot her while she was on the phone, police said.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Tim Stelloh | Tim Stelloh Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A man fatally shot his former partner Thursday while she was on the phone with a 911 operator, telling authorities the couple's marriage had recently ended, police in Texas said. Lewisville police investigate what they described as a domestic violence murder-suicide that took place before dawn Thursday. "A short time later, while the female was on the phone with 911, multiple gunshots could be heard, and the call went silent," the department said. Witnesses who dialed 911 reported that the man shot a woman multiple times before he died by suicide, the department said. If you or someone you know is facing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence hotline for help at (800) 799-SAFE (7233), or go to www.thehotline.org for more.

☆ Election Day is Nov. 8, but the legal challenges have already begun
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The suits, largely by Republicans, target rules over mail-in voting, early voting, voter access, voting machines, voting registration, the counting of mismarked absentee ballots and access for partisan poll watchers. But their legal effort ahead of the election focuses on making voting easier and helping those denied a chance to vote, through legal hotlines and volunteers. But the bulk of this litigation generally occurs after the votes have been cast, not before Election Day. Trump’s own leadership found the election was fair, and state election officials nationwide saw no widespread evidence of fraud. There’s growing concern among election officials and law enforcement about overly aggressive poll watchers or people pretending to be poll watchers intimidating voters.

The North said South Korea had resumed using propaganda loudspeakers at the border in violation of the agreement. For now, South Korea says it is not calling the CMA off, but is urging North Korea to abide by its measures. North Korea has also not officially abrogated the deal, and the South's ministry of defence told Reuters that inter-Korean military hotlines are operating. This year South Korea and its U.S. allies have responded to a record number of North Korean missile tests with stepped up military drills. Those have been met with more tests and drills from North Korea, including rare warplane sorties near the border.

Instead, data and child welfare experts suggest the changes may have done the opposite. State child welfare officials say more vigilance in documenting severe cases of abuse likely contributed to the increase. Child welfare experts say these findings cast doubt on the effectiveness of the primary tool that states rely on to protect children: mandatory child abuse reporting. These policies, the bedrock of America’s child welfare system, were first implemented more than half a century ago in response to growing national awareness of child maltreatment. “We are continuing to tell mandated reporters, ‘Report, report, report,’ and nobody can handle it,” Berger said in an interview.

A top Democratic super PAC is launching a multi-million dollar campaign in seven battleground states to fight back against policies the group says disenfranchise Black and brown voters. The group, Priorities USA, will spend $5 million on digital ads that seek to directly reach minority voters in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada and help those voters navigate complicated or cumbersome election laws. Priorities USA is also spending $10 million on voter protection litigation in existing cases the group says will help defend voting rights in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan and New Hampshire. One ad directs voters to a hotline that can help them understand whether and how they can vote by mail in their state. Meanwhile, Priorities USA said the litigation it would spend money on includes cases in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Georgia, Nevada and Michigan.

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