Divided opinion
The indictment of the former president, Donald Trump, has invited backlash from Conservatives. The Republican senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, called the indictment “a catastrophic escalation in the weaponization of the justice system.” The Fox News anchor, Sean Hannity, said on his show: “This is a disgusting political hit job the likes of which we have never seen in this country...”
However, it was slightly different with Fox’s other major host, Tucker Carlson, who was known to be an avid Trump supporter. A series of Carlson’s private messages were recently released revealing a different story. “I hate him passionately,” he wrote in a message from January 2021. “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.” However, after the indictment, Carlson defended Trump against what he called an act of political persecution. The anti-Trump sentiments of the Fox founder, Rupert Murdoch, were also revealed in another private email. He said Trump did “a huge disservice to the country” by convincing supporters that the 2020 election was stolen.
Trump continues to deny any wrongdoing, attacking the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, and the Democrats. “This witch-hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden,” Trump said in a statement last week. After being indicted, the defendant usually makes the first appearance in a public setting. They learn about their rights, travel restrictions and release conditions. Trump appeared at the New York county criminal court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges before the judge.
Bring out the bling
Crystal-studded, body-hugging dresses are all the rage this season, stealing the spotlight at runways across the world with celebrities wearing them as well. Sequins have been a fashion trend for a while now, but lately, crystal embellishments have been seen on mesh, skirts, makeup and dresses alike.
The actress, Jodie Turner-Smith, showed up at the recently-held BAFTA awards with crystal freckles on her cheekbones and nose. She paired this with a crystal-encrusted purple dress which had feather trimmings. Lashana Lynch from The Woman King also used crystal gems along her lash lines to take the smoky-eyes-look up a notch. Kylie Jenner showed up for an ad promotion with a crystal-embedded skimpy, meshed piece in a nude colour.
Another fashion trend that is gaining traction is the ‘clowncore’ fashion. According to Elle, clown fashion has been part of every designer fashion week in Paris. Harry Styles was seen at the Grammys in a rainbow-coloured low-cut, glittering jumpsuit. #Clowncore has garnered almost half a billion views on TikTok. The pre-fall 2023 collection of the designer, Christopher John Rogers, showed models in elegant clothes and clown-like red noses and top hats.
Money matters
Ever since the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank and the Signature Bank, the banking system has been trying to re-configure itself. It must be noted that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation maintains a $128 billion deposit insurance fund, through fees that it collects from insured banks, to protect depositors. However, given the widespread fallout of the twin collapses, it will have to impose a separate charge on banks to recover these charges.
On the other side, the country’s largest banks, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup and so on, benefitted from this episode as customers moved billions of dollars to them from SVB and Signature. Another upheaval happened when the Swiss lender, Credit Suisse, was recently bought by rival UBS Group in a forced merger. Such crises hurt smaller banks. In the week ending March, 15 smaller banks lost $120 billion in deposits while the largest gained $66 billion.
Celebrating women
Women’s History Month, observed during March, celebrates the contributions of women. The celebration has its roots in International Women’s Day. The 2023 theme for Women’s History Month is ‘Celebrating Women Who Tell Stories,’ which recognises “women, past and present, who have been active in all forms of media...” according to the National Women’s History Alliance website.
In light of this, Northwest Missouri State University faced backlash on social media by referring to WHM as “Womynx History Month.” It was clearly a misguided attempt by the University to be inclusive. In Washington, the vice-president, Kamala Harris, hosted an exclusive champagne brunch to celebrate the occasion and promote paid family leave.