'Pelicot 2.0': UK husband pleads guilty to drugging and raping his wife

Metro writes “husband ‘breaks down in tears’ as he pleads guilty to drugging and raping his wife”. This happened in Stockport, Manchester, over the period of more than two decades. He is also accused of having invited other men to rape his wife Between 2018 and 2025. French magazine Charlie Hebdo says that the English have perhaps found their Dominique Pelicot. Apart from the husband, who is in his sixties, 13 other men are accused of participating in the rape. They are between the ages of 28 and 73. It happened in a small town with a population of 100,000. Worse, it seems like it’s not the only “Pelicot” out there. People Magazine writes about a 39-year-old Austrian woman who died after “alleged sex abuse by her husband”. He is claiming it was an accident during sex. The 51-year-old man is being investigated for drugging and raping her and inviting other men to sexually abuse her. This happened in Wels, a city with a population of around 65,000 people.

Next: A ProPublica investigation shows that Trump Junior’s wedding was sponsored by a Russian oligarch close to Putin. ProPublica reviewed records and spoke to three people familiar with the event. It found that Umar Kremlev paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in wedding expenses – he paid to rent out one of the private islands in the Bahamas where the reception was held and where the guests slept. Kremlev is the head of the infamous International Boxing Association (IBA), which has been financed by the Russian state-owned Gazprom. The wedding payments came from an IBA-affiliated entity in Dubai, ProPublica reveals. Kremlev also paid for the fireworks show and helped plan the event that was framed as a very “intimate” celebration for the Trump Jr family. There were only 50 people invited – among them was Kremlev, who speaks limited English, and a “large group” of Russians who surprised the other guests. But why pay for the wedding? According to experts, oligarchs like Kremlev often act “in coordination” with the Kremlin. They say that Trump Jr now owes Kremlev something.  

Also: Variety reports that the rapper Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour after he said, “Free Palestine”, and told the audience that he wanted the people of Gaza and the West Bank to know that they haven’t been forgotten. 

Finally, Deadline reports that Sydney Sweeney’s latest ad has infuriated female athletes. She posed for a sports betting company Novig, “wearing just sports” – meaning naked, with her body covered in sports equipment. An Olympic gold medallist said that the ad was “a kick in the face to every woman” who has dedicated her life to sports. An opinion piece in The Guardian says that the ad is indeed cynical and unhealthy, but it will be good for the prediction markets that hope to lure in young men. 

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