The lawsuit accuses Ackerman McQueen — with whom the NRA had an acrimonious split earlier this year, culminating in two Virginia state court lawsuits and the termination of the NRA’s flagship program, NRATV — of improperly showcasing its previous work with the gun-rights group and falsifying billing records. The NRA’s complaint alleges that Ackerman’s portfolio references to the NRA online “falsely suggest to the public that the NRA remains an [Ackerman] client and endorses the services provided by [Ackerman]....

Newsweek spoke with several NSO Group external human rights advisors who have worked on the company’s new human rights framework, introduced in recent years amid concerns about the privacy implications of Pegasus. NSO and its advisors told Newsweek that the recent reports suggest its human rights and customer vetting processes may need reviewing or strengthening, but dismissed any suggestion of a moratorium on Pegasus use and sales. Pegasus is malware that can infect a smartphone and transform it into a surveillance device, accessing and activating its microphones and cameras without a user knowing....

Russia achieved nuclear parity with the U.S. during the Cold War, something they didn’t have during World War II. The leaders of the countries with the two biggest nuclear forces, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden have agreed that nuclear war must not be fought because it can’t be won, but recent disagreements about a warship near Crimea sparked concerns about an armed conflict. Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told TASS, a Russian news agency, on Thursday that he didn’t want to talk about war because it is “impossible....

The Texans defensive tackle, who spent the first 11 seasons of his career in New England before signing with Houston last year, now is using his literal exposure to mess with a former Patriots teammate who also is no stranger to modeling. You know the teammate. Wilfork wants Tom Brady — or “Tommy Boi” — to know the lineman is ready for the modeling world. MORE: NFL’s all-stars of flexing...

The new polling, released Wednesday by CNBC/Change Research, showed that just 42 percent of likely voters said they will probably or definitely get the vaccine when it is first made available. That’s down from 58 percent—a drop of 16 percentage points—from when the same question was asked by CNBC/Change Research in July. The survey polled 1,430 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points....

Before the fantasy football crowd jumps all over me, I'm not talking about you. Not at all. In fact, fantasy football has been a huge reason for the growth of the NFL in recent years. Television ratings and fan interest are up, even in non-marquee games, and fantasy football is a gigantic portion of that growth. I know where my bread's buttered. Keep playing your hearts out! The stats I'm referring to are the ones that players and more often the coaches of losing teams bring up when discussing losses....

On Tuesday, James’ office announced an independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo found he “sexually harassed multiple women, and in doing so violated federal and state law.” “Specifically, the investigation found that Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed current and former New York State employees by engaging in unwelcome and non-consensual touching and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive sexual nature, that created a hostile work environment for women,” James said during a press conference announcing the investigation’s findings....

Martin Carrier, a spokesperson for the Sherbrooke Police Department, told CBC that the man made the accusation and hit the nurse several times in the face at a Brunet pharmacy location. She was treated for her injuries and a possible concussion at a hospital and is recovering. Police are looking for the man responsible for allegedly confronting and hitting the nurse, and said he has short dark hair, dark eyes, thick eyebrows and a tattoo that looked like a cross on his hand....

The regulation could take place as soon as September and it will target more than 15,000 skilled nursing facilities that rely on federal funding. Experts say the mandate is a positive step in fighting the pandemic as nursing homes have been hard hit with COVID-19 cases and deaths, but it may push workers to leave their job instead of getting vaccinated. Mark Lawerence, a skilled nursing home administrator and owner of Oakmont Assisted Living Home in Scottsdale, Arizona, says he worries that the requirement is not broad enough....

Baird did not deserve to maintain her position. It had become abundantly clear following a detailed report from The Athletic of alleged sexual coercion and emotional abuse by former NWSL head coach Paul Riley and Baird’s lack of an adequate response, that she had lost the confidence of the league’s owners and players. Baird left her post a day after Riley was sacked from his position as head coach of the North Carolina Courage....

On Twitter Wednesday morning, Giambra mentioned a whole host of issues for his decision to exit the GOP, including the party’s attitudes toward the National Rifle Association, former President Donald Trump and “extreme thinkers who are unwilling to accept different points of view.” “I cannot stand with party leaders who double down in their support of the NRA after yet another mass shooting; who applaud the decision to take away a woman’s right to choose & who encourage the elimination of LGBTQ rights; & who still believe that Donald Trump is their president,” he posted on Twitter....

“We’re entering a time of uncertainty and we could either plateau here or our cases could get out of control,” Hochul said at a press conference on Friday. She told reporters that the mandate was implemented after increasing infection and hospitalization rates. The mandate will be in effect from December 13 to January 15 and could be reimplemented after evaluation. Hochul took the time to also acknowledge previous warnings she gave regarding COVID-19 and prevention protocols....

Officers have faced criticism for being overly aggressive during demonstrations, and legislators at the state and local levels are eyeing reforms to the NYPD. Shea acknowledged that there were “bad incidents” and work still needs to be done, but he defended “New York’s finest” for being a police force the world admires. “I think we did the best we can,” Shea said Thursday in a live video message on Periscope....

The Oakland coach announced Monday he will team up with nine of the best coaches in college basketball to raise money for cancer research after two of his players lost parents to the disease in the last year. MORE: Why not stay with Calipari, UK stars? | Still learning from Skip | Petco Park set for hoops clash “The best thing I have going for me is the people I know,” Kampe said, according to Yahoo!...

Borrowing a few lines from the Seahawks safety, who was in attendance at the dinner, he rattled off a speech that sounded pretty familiar.

Obama appeared in an ad Newsom’s campaign released this week to encourage Californians to vote against the recall effort. First shared on social media by Newsom and his Stop the Republican Recall campaign on Wednesday, the ad was set to officially launch on Thursday. Obama also encouraged California voters to reject the recall effort in a Wednesday afternoon tweet. Obama began the Newsom ad by telling California voters they have “a big choice to make” by September 14, the date of the recall election....