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Piers Morgan Cleared for Criticizing Meghan After Oprah Interview

Piers Morgan Cleared for Criticizing Meghan After Oprah Interview

LONDON – British television personality Piers Morgan was acquitted on Wednesday by the UK regulator of criticizing Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, following her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Mr Morgan has been investigated by Ofcom, which received a record number of complaints in March after criticizing Meghan.

In a 97-page judgment setting out the decision, Ofcom said that “Mr. Morgan had the right to say that he did not believe the claims of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and held and expressed strong views that rigorously challenged their portrayals.

In an interview aired in March, Meghan – a biracial former actress from the United States, famous for her role in the legal drama “Suits” and her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018 – told Ms. Winfrey this when she was with her first child was pregnant, an unnamed member of the royal household voiced concerns about how dark the baby’s skin would be. Meghan also said palace officials turned down her requests for mental health treatment when she said she was suicidal.

In response to ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” on Meghan’s claims, Mr. Morgan, who previously hosted the daytime show, said he did not believe the Duchess. More than 50,000 complaints about his criticism have been filed with the UK media regulator, including one from Meghan herself.

Mr. Morgan stormed off the set of the show and later resigned after his co-host Alex Beresford admonished him for his persistent criticism of Meghan. Ofcom announced the next day that it had opened an investigation into Mr. Morgan’s comments under its “Damage and Libel Rules”.

On Wednesday, Mr Morgan expressed his delight on Twitter at the decision to acquit him, saying it was a “resounding victory for freedom of expression and a resounding defeat for Princess Pinocchios”.

In an opinion piece he wrote in response to Ofcom’s decision to work for The Daily Mail, Mr Morgan wrote: “Make no mistake, this is a turning point in the fight for freedom of expression. If Ofcom had decided against me, it would have signaled the end of any British television journalist’s right to air any honest opinion lest it anger Meghan Markle.

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World News

Shashi Tharoor Is Cleared in India in Loss of life of Sunanda Pushkar

Shashi Tharoor Is Cleared in India in Death of Sunanda Pushkar

NEW DELHI – An Indian court on Wednesday acquitted an influential politician of all charges related to his wife’s death in a case long criticized as politically motivated by the country’s largest opposition party.

Shashi Tharoor, a member of parliament for India’s opposition National Congress, was charged with cruelty and assisted suicide in 2018, four years after his wife, Sunanda Pushkar, was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

The charges were dismissed by a Delhi court, effectively releasing Mr Tharoor in a case that preoccupied India’s political and media circles for years and which highlighted the details of his personal life.

A lawyer for Mr Tharoor argued that the cause of Ms. Pushkar’s death was still not clearly established, undermining the incitement to suicide.

In a statement on Twitter, Mr. Tharoor thanked the court and called the charges against him “absurd”.

“This brings a meaningful conclusion to the long nightmare that enveloped me after the tragic death of my late wife, Sunanda,” he said.

Mr. Tharoor, 65, a former diplomat and cabinet minister who represents a parliamentary constituency in the southern state of Kerala, married Ms. Pushkar in 2010, the third marriage for each of them. The couple, who often posed for photos and shared them online, were regulars in India’s party circles, and none of them shied away from sharing their thoughts on Twitter.

In early 2014, Ms. Pushkar shocked her social media followers by accusing her husband of having a “maddening affair” with a Pakistani journalist, which both Mr. Tharoor and the journalist denied. The public argument with his wife became an embarrassment for Mr. Tharoor, who had served at a high level with the United Nations in New York, as discussion about her personal life intensified on social media platforms and in the news media.

Credit…Manoj Verma / Hindustan Times, via Getty Images

When tweets were posted from his account, apparently aimed at the Pakistani journalist, Mr Tharoor said his Twitter account had been hacked. Ms. Pushkar, in turn, told reporters that she was planning to get a divorce.

But within a day, the couple made a statement on Facebook stating that they were “happily married.”

A day later, on January 17th, Mr. Tharoor said he found Ms. Pushkar dead in the deluxe hotel in Delhi where they were staying. She was 52.

Mr Tharoor was faced with a barrage of allegations, rumors and suspicions. In 2015, New Delhi police announced they had filed a preliminary murder case without naming a suspect. Three years later, they said they had “medico-legal and forensic evidence” linking Mr. Tharoor to his wife’s death.

Among those who pressured the police to bring charges against Mr. Tharoor was Subramanian Swamy, a member of parliament for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who insisted that Ms. Pushkar had been poisoned. Mr. Swamy has also tried to take legal action against other members of the Congress Party.

Supporters of Mr Tharoor, widely viewed as material for the prime minister, said he threatened the BJP and was trying to ruin his reputation.

In 2018, Mr. Swamy offered to assist the court in indicting Mr. Tharoor. His application was rejected.

Mr Swamy expressed his dissatisfaction with the court ruling on Wednesday and said in an interview that he would offer his help again if appealed.

“It’s all there and I don’t know how the Delhi police argued the matter,” he said.

Mr Tharoor said the court ruling would allow his family to finally mourn Ms. Pushkar in peace.

“I have patiently endured dozens of unsubstantiated allegations and defamations in the media, borne by my belief in Indian justice, which is confirmed today,” he said. “In our judiciary, the process is all too often a punishment.”

If you have thoughts of suicide, call the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). In India, contact 91-9820466726 or visit the Aasra.info website for more resources.

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Health

With First Dibs on Vaccines, Wealthy International locations Have ‘Cleared the Cabinets’

With First Dibs on Vaccines, Rich Countries Have ‘Cleared the Shelves’

And while Pfizer’s vaccines are already flowing to the UK, Canada and the US, it is unclear when they will arrive in other countries. According to an announcement, Mexico could get its first vaccines anytime for the next 12 months.

Clemens Auer, chief negotiator for the European Union, said in an email that his contract with Pfizer for 200 million cans included a “fixed delivery schedule” but that he would withhold the details from the public. “Details don’t really matter,” he said, given the volume of promising vaccines the EU had received.

In Canada, the government has been questioned about its contract with Moderna. The country reached an agreement for 20 million doses in August, with an option for an additional 36 million. The United States announced a deal for up to 500 million cans soon after, and the UK and European Union announced their own deals last month.

When Moderna recently said that its first 20 million would go to the US, Canadian politicians were accused of making their country lose its place. It was not widely known that Moderna had promised the Americans their first doses as a condition of US financial support.

In the Canadian parliament, Erin O’Toole, the Conservative leader, has tabled a motion asking the government to publish deadlines for its orders. Citizens “deserve to know when to expect each type of vaccine”.

Even if other promising candidates like Johnson & Johnson’s get approval soon and put pressure on Pfizer and Moderna, there is no guarantee that the companies can meet their commitments over the next year.

“People think just because we have shown in phase 3 clinical trials that we have safe and effective vaccines that the cones will soon be fully turned on,” said Dr. Richard Hatchett, Head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparation of the global nonprofits leading the Covax program with WHO, “The challenges in scaling production are significant and fraught with problems.”