by Sydney Carruth | Nov 9, 2026 | News
British actor Russell Brand was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison on Monday after a London jury convicted him last week of raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others.
After a trial that reignited scrutiny over how Hollywood handles sexual assault accusations against its biggest stars, Brand, 51, was found guilty on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault committed between 2004 and 2009. He was acquitted of two other rape charges and an attempted indecent assault.
A judge sentenced Brand to 10 years and 6 months in prison.
The once sought-after comedian was accused by six women of assault that took place between 1999 and 2009. He pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. In denying the allegations, Brand said he had never engaged in any non-consensual sexual encounters.
Over the course of a four-week trial that included graphic descriptions of assault and tearful testimony from Brand’s accusers, British prosecutors described Brand as a “sexual predator” who was “ruthless” in his pursuit of women. They said he had an “indiscriminate and voracious” desire for sex and that women, to him, “were simply a means to an end.”
Each of the women spoke on the witness stand detailing interactions with Brand as he watched inside the courtroom. The women’s identities remained confidential in accordance with U.K. law, which bars victims of sexual misconduct from being publicly identified.
“The evidence showed Brand to be a calculated sexual predator using his growing fame and power to create situations in which he could pursue women sexually, regardless of what they wanted,”
by Austin Sarat | Nov 9, 2026 | Civil Rights, elections, Opinion
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement on Nov. 5 of a universal clemency for the 548 people awaiting execution in his state marks an important turning point in American politics. It signals the end of law-and-order politics as a determining factor in the calculations of likely presidential contenders.
Newsom, an ambitious politician who is almost certain to run for president in 2028, reportedly weighed the impact that commuting hundreds of death sentences — including those of some notorious killers — would have on his political prospects.
That Newsom went ahead with the mass clemency tells us a lot about the salience of tough-on-crime positions in the present political moment. Opposition to capital punishment is no longer the death knell for people aspiring to be president.
This is not to say that Newsom won’t face backlash, either in California or elsewhere in the country, for his clemency decision. As the New York Times notes, “Those against Mr. Newsom’s move are expected to file a challenge arguing that he violated the law with a blanket commutation and that each case must be considered on individual merits.”
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The Times reports that “Marc Klaas, the father of Polly Klaas, whose kidnapping and murder prompted an era of tough-on-crime policies in California, is livid at the idea of Mr. Newsom granting mercy to his daughter’s killer, or anyone else sentenced to death.” Klaas told the Times that he was aghast at Newsom “putting his energy” into commuting the death sentences of “serial killers, spree killers, cop killers, baby killers. We’re talking about absolutely the worst people
by Priya Sridhar | Nov 9, 2026 | News, White House
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth short-circuited a merit-based process for promoting senior officers and instead relied on newly invented criteria that disproportionately removed from advancement women and people of color who had already been approved for promotion, according to three military officials.
MS NOW spoke exclusively to a senior official with in-depth knowledge of flag and general officer selection and assignment who described in detail for the first time how, he says, the results of internet searches were used by Hegseth’s office to withhold promotions from women and people of color. He was granted anonymity for fear of retaliation.
The senior official also described how Hegseth intentionally scuttled the promotions of senior officers who perceived to support DEI initiatives, played a role in implementing the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, were involved in the evacuation from Afghanistan, or had a connection to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark A. Milley, who served as President Trump’s senior military officer but after retirement publicly criticized Trump’s leadership.
“I was like ‘you gotta be kidding me’, but of course we need people to get confirmed. We need nominations to go through. We need decisions made,” the senior official said.
The senior official’s account of the application of new criteria was confirmed by two of the officers who were selected for promotion by a rigorous merit-based process to a flag or general officer rank, but then withheld by Hegseth’s office. Those officers were told by Pentagon officials over the phone their promotions were being withheld, but were not given a chance to respond, they said. For most, not getting promoted will end their military careers. If these
by Jack Fitzpatrick | Nov 9, 2026 | News
It’s no secret that Democrats intend to force President Donald Trump to end his war with Iran once they take control of the House and Senate next year. But Democrats also believe they may not have to wait that long.
With lawmakers needing to address government funding and a major defense policy bill before the new year — as well as the prospect of an impeachment vote on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — Democrats believe they may have some unexpected leverage to end the eight-month war in the coming weeks.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told MS NOW that Democrats should take an all-of-the-above approach, though he said a Dec. 11 government funding deadline is likely their most powerful point of leverage.
“I think we deal with the funding and we use that to end the war,” Gallego said Thursday. “I think that’s the strongest thing we could do.”
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Whatever they do, Democrats can’t afford to wait very long, Gallego added.
“What I saw personally in war is that, as soon as a certain amount of men die, then we can’t get out because we’ve got to go avenge them, right?” Gallego said. “And that’s why the longer this war goes on, the more dangerous it becomes for it to spin out and actually become a real dangerous conflict.”
Other key Democrats agreed that defunding the war was a top priority.
Just a day after the midterm elections, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters that Democrats would find a way to force an end.
“This war must end,” Schumer said.
by The Associated Press | Nov 9, 2026 | Business, News, World
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nvidia is opening an investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang was the “target of a foreign intelligence effort,” the company’s board of directors said Sunday.
The announcement came after Huang acknowledged to the board that he had been intimate with a business executive whom U.S. intelligence determined was gathering information for Beijing, The New York Times reported.
Huang apologized in a message to the company, according to the Times. “I was unfaithful to my wife,” he said. “My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
Nvidia’s board said in a statement it has “no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised,” but that its inquiry would examine all available information. Huang “fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it,” the board said.
Huang, 63, will remain CEO during the investigation.
The Times reported last month that U.S. intelligence agencies had discovered that Huang had developed a close relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen and chip buyer, and determined that she was feeding information directly to Beijing. The two are not related, according to the Times.
Alice Huang was previously a television reporter in China before becoming a top executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed, which has become one of Nvidia’s biggest customers in Southeast Asia. Megaspeed bought more than $4.8 billion worth of Nvidia chips over the past two years, according to the Times.
The post Nvidia investigating reports that CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by Chinese intelligence appeared first on MS NOW.
