Even huge TV hits come to an end.

“The Big Bang Theory,” a long-running top-rated comedy, will end its run in May 2019 at the conclusion of the upcoming season, its twelfth. The critically acclaimed CBS comedy, which focuses on a group of scientists and their friends, will finish with 279 episodes. 

CBS, Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions issued a joint statement that accompanied Wednesday’s announcement: 

“We are forever grateful to our fans for their support of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ during the past twelve seasons. We, along with the cast, writers and crew, are extremely appreciative of the show’s success and aim to deliver a final season, and series finale, that will bring ‘The Big Bang Theory’ to an epic creative close,” the statement said.

The announcement marks a shift from just a couple of weeks ago, when CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl discussed the potential for a series renewal at the Television Critics Association summer press tour. 

According to the statement, the 279 episodes will make “Big Bang” the longest-running multi-camera comedy, the kind filmed before a studio audience, in history. It also spawned a successful prequel spinoff, “Young Sheldon,” which begins its second season on CBS in September.

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When “Big Bang” premiered in 2007, the initial focus was on two socially awkward physicists, Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and the aspiring actress, Penny (Kaley Cuoco), who lived across the hall. It also featured the physicists’ scientist friends, Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar).

Over the years, the series did an excellent job expanding its ensemble, with the additions of fellow scientists Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) and Amy (Mayim Bialik). Bernadette married Wolowitz and the couple now has two children. Amy married Sheldon in the Season 11 finale.  

Bill Prady, who created the show with Lorre, praised the show’s family atmosphere in a tweet.

“There are many ways to look at the dozen years of Big Bang Theory as we draw to a close, but for me it will be the family that gathered each week to create a true labor of love. I will treasure my Big Bang family to the end of my days,” he tweeted.

Kahl added his praise, too.

“‘The Big Bang Theory’ has been the defining comedy of its generation. All of us at the network take exceptional pride in this series that uniquely combines creative genius, commercial ratings success, cultural influence and characters who became so popular, they are easily known by just one name,” he said in a statement.

During an Aug. 5 TCA panel, Kahl said he didn’t think the coming season would be the final one for the comedy, adding that the network was in preliminary discussions with producing studio Warner Bros. about a renewal, at least for one more season.

Warner Bros. TV president Peter Roth later told USA TODAY that talks had not begun with cast or producers.

“Big Bang” has received 52 Emmy nominations and has taken home 10 Emmys, including four for Parsons for lead actor in a comedy and a guest-acting award for legendary comedian Bob Newhart.

The final season will premiere Sept. 24 (8 EDT/PDT), before the show moves to its regular Thursday time slot on Sept. 27(8 EDT/PDT).

 

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The largest fabric and craft retailer in the U.S. is caught in the crossfire of the Trump administration’s escalating trade war, and it says that could have a topsy-turvy effect: Prodding customers to buy finished products from China.

JOANN Stores, with 900 shops in 49 states, would be socked by the administration’s next round of $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports, About two-thirds of the popular chain’s items are made in China and about 500 would be affected by a 25 percent tariff, though the biggest impact would be on fleece, yarn and cotton fabric, says company spokeswoman Amanda Hayes.

JOANN sells those materials, along with tools such as sewing kits and paper-cutting machines, to consumers and businesses who then make products such as clothing, blankets, pillows and upholstery covers.

Small businesses, which typically sell the finished goods online, make up about 20 percent of the retailer’s customer base.

JOANN CEO Jill Soltau is set to request an exemption from the tariffs Thursday at a public hearing before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington. Hundreds of other companies are also making their cases this week. JOANN  already has filed a written plea for exemption.

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The first two rounds of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods totaling $50 billion a year in imports were largely aimed at industrial and technical products and attempted to spare American consumers of most of the higher costs. But the $200 billion third round, which could take effect as early as next month, would hit a wide variety of consumer goods, including refrigerators, burglar alarms, vegetables, handbags and burglar alarms.

Ironically, though, the duty on fleece, yarn and fabric would discourage American manufacturing, Hayes says.

“We think we’re definitely an unintended consequence,” Hayes says. The company, she says, has to buy the raw materials from China because the infrastructure to make them in large volumes no longer exists in the U.S.

Meanwhile, she says, the company would likely have to pass along the 25 percent tax to customers. That would “drive people to buy finished goods that are made elsewhere.” She notes that Chinese-made alternatives to the clothing and other products JOANN’s customers cobble together are not subject to the proposed tariffs.

“The goal of the latest round of tariffs is laudable, but including specific codes such as fleece and yarn would unintentionally create a made in America tax that would threaten jobs, restrict creative learning and hurt our customer’s ability to make and support those in need,” the company said in a statement.

Many of the finished products are donated to charities.

 

 

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India need less than three overs of the fifth morning to take the wicket of James Anderson and wrap up a massive win over England in the third Test at Trent Bridge.

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More than 700,000,000 Rohingya fled a military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state last year to refugee camps in Bangladesh.

But very few have returned, and those that have, have not been welcomed back.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says some have been tortured and thrown in jail.

There are reports of interrogations at gunpoint, and of burns and electric shock treatment designed to force confessions that they were affiliated to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a group set up, in its words, to defend Rohingya against persecution by the Myanmar government and military, who have been accused of ethnic cleansing.

HRW has stressed the need for international protection before the mainly Muslim Rohingya will be able to return to Myanmar safely.

So, will the repatriation take place? Will the governments be able to guarantee the Rohingya’s safety? And what is at stake? 

 

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Tun Khin – president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation in the UK

Phil Robertson – deputy director for the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch

Robert Templer – director of the Barcelona-based Higher Education Alliance for Refugees 

Source: Al Jazeera News

John Schnatter, the disgraced founder and former CEO of Papa John’s, is asking for help.

After resigning as chairman of the board in July and being ousted from the company following reports that he used a racial slur during a May conference call, Schnatter is trying very, very hard to salvage his reputation, business, and personal brand.

It seems the former face of the pizza place has created a website called SavePapaJohns.com, which he’s now using to bypass the board and directly communicate with Papa John’s employees.

No, this is not a joke.

Upon visiting SavePapaJohns.com, you’ll see Schnatter proudly declare that he is Papa John. He then goes on to explain that he created the website because Papa John’s board wants to silence him.

“This is my website, and my way to talk to you,” he wrote, addressing employees.

Image: screengrab/savepapajohns.com

The website, which is actually pretty OK design-wise, goes on to include an About Me section that lists Schnatter’s awards and accomplishments, related press releases and news coverage, letters he’s written, and, um, his own personal legal documents?

Image: screengrab/savepapajohns.com

After watching Schnatter’s reputation go up in flames over the past few years with the reports of his racist conference call comment and other controversial moments, like the time he blamed NFL protests for a decrease in sales, many people were perplexed by the website. And it wasn’t long before they called Schnatter out.

In a recent letter to Papa John’s employees, Schnatter wrote the following:

“The Board will not let me talk to you and that has been very difficult. I can only imagine how difficult this entire situation is on you, and I’m very sorry you all have to go through this…

Recently it has come to my attention that you have been told that I want items with my image or likeness removed from the building and other Papa John’s assets. That is not the case at all. As you all know, Papa John’s is our life’s work and we will all get through this together somehow, some way.”

It was recently reported that Schnatter would be removed from all marketing materials for the company, including pizza boxes. Additionally, the University of Louisville decided to rename its Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

It seems the pizza place is still keeping the name Papa John’s for now, but we’ll see if Schnatter’s new website will change that.

After all, he claims he IS Papa John.

Larry Nassar’s appeal of his 60-year federal sentence on child pornography charges has been denied. 

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling Wednesday, affirming U.S. District Judge Janet Neff’s decision to sentence Nassar to three 20-year prison terms to be served one after another. 

Nassar, a former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor, received three lengthy prison sentences over an eight-week stretch starting in December, first in Neff’s federal courtroom and then in two separate Michigan county courtrooms. He had pleaded guilty to federal child pornography and state sexual assault charges. 

He appealed all three sentences, with the appeals of the state sentences still pending.

Nassar’s federal court-appointed appellate attorney filed an appeal in April, arguing that Neff erred when she used his 10 sexual assault convictions in state court, for which he had not been sentenced at the time, in calculating the sentence guideline range. Nassar’s attorney also argued that it was “procedurally unreasonable” for the federal judge to order Nassar’s state sentences to be served after the federal sentence. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in response, argued that Neff acted within her discretion.

“In deciding to impose consecutive sentences, the district court relied on the duration, enormity, and gravity of Nassar’s criminal conduct; the serious harm that Nassar inflicted on his victims; and the serious safety threat that Nassar presents to the public,” the appeals judges wrote in their opinion. 

“… The district court agreed with the government’s observation that at least some of Nassar’s activities occurred outside of the State of Michigan, and thus at least implicitly recognized that Nassar’s state sentences for first-degree criminal sexual conduct would not account for all of his criminal behavior.”

Related: Inside the investigation and prosecution of Larry Nassar

Related: Larry Nassar and a career filled with ‘silenced’ voices

Related: How Larry Nassar abused hundreds of gymnasts and eluded justice for decades

Nassar, 55, formerly of Holt, pleaded guilty in July 2017 in federal court to three charges: obtaining and possessing child pornography and destroying computer files to hamper the investigation.

Nassar had at least 37,000 videos and images of child pornography, which the MSU Police Department found in September 2016 while executing a search of his Holt home. 

Before he was fired from MSU, he had his work laptop wiped clean. That action was the basis for the federal charge related to destroying files.

Four months after pleading guilty to the federal charges, Nassar pleaded guilty to 10 sexual assault charges split between Ingham and Eaton counties.

In January, his two sentencing hearings on those 10 charges began, first in Ingham County then in Eaton County. 

The Ingham sentencing lasted seven days and included victim-impact statements from 156 women and girls who spoke about how Nassar sexually assaulted them. The hearing drew international attention and pushed Nassar, his crimes and his victims into a spotlight not seen during the 16 months prior. 

The hearing ended with Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina telling Nassar she was signing his “death warrant” and sentencing him to 40 to 175 years in prison.

His three day sentencing hearing in Eaton County started the following week and after dozens more victim-impact statements, Judge Janice Cunningham sentenced Nassar to 40 to 125 years in prison.

Nassar has filed motions in state courts seeking new sentences. A hearing on the issue is set for Monday in Ingham County and in September in Eaton County.

Nassar sexually abused hundreds of women and girls over more than 20 years, many of them at his MSU office. In May, MSU agreed to settle lawsuits filed by hundreds of those victims for $500 million.

Nassar is currently housed at a federal transfer center in Oklahoma City, according to online records. He had been at a federal prison in Arizona, but his attorneys said in a recent court filing that he had been attacked shortly after being released into the general population. 

More:

Judge Aquilina ‘uniquely situated’ to keep Larry Nassar case, chief judge rules

Larry Nassar files for new sentencing on Eaton County sexual assault charges

Contact Matt Mencarini at (517) 267-1347 or mmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMencarini.

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Saudi Arabia‘s public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty for five human rights activists who are currently being tried by the country’s terrorism tribunal, according to rights groups.

Among the detainees is Israa al-Ghomgham, who Saudi activists say is the first woman to face capital punishment for human rights-related work. 

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Tuesday the charges against the activists “do not resemble recogniseable crimes” and include “incitement to protest”, “chanting slogans hostile to the regime” and “providing moral support to rioters”. 

Authorities have held the five activists, along with another not facing the death penalty, in pretrial detention without legal representation for more than two years. 

They are due to appear in court again on October 28, according to HRW.

“Any execution is appalling, but seeking the death penalty for activists like Israa al-Ghomgham, who are not even accused of violent behaviour, is monstrous,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW. 

ALQST, a UK-based group advocating for human rights in Saudi Arabia, previously reported the public prosecutor’s decision on Twitter on Sunday. 

The rights group also denied social media reports that the detainees had already been executed, saying the case was “still under review.”

URGENT NEWS:#Saudi_Arabia‘s Public Prosecutor is calling for the death penalty for #Israa_al_Ghamgham for her involvement in peaceful rights activism. The case is still under review. ALQST is calling for the charges to be dropped and for Israa to be released.

— القسط ALQST (@ALQST_ORG) August 19, 2018

A prominent activist, al-Ghomgham documented mass demonstrations in the kingdom’s Eastern Province from 2011, before being arrested along with her husband in 2015. 

Ghomgham and the other activists are being tried by Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court (SCC), which was set up in 2008 to try terrorism cases and has since been used to prosecute peaceful dissidents, according to HRW.

Social reform

A deeply conservative absolute monarchy where public protests and political parties are banned, Saudi Arabia has enacted some high-profile social and economic reforms since Mohammed bin Salman became crown prince in June 2017.

Bin Salman has courted Western partners to support his economic reform plan, offering billions of dollars of arms sales and promising to modernise the kingdom.

In September 2017, King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud signed a royal degree lifting the ban on women driving and greater participation in the public sphere was opened up to women.

This has coincided with ongoing arrests of prominent Saudi women’s rights activists who had publicly advocated for gender equality, the right for women to drive and an end to the country’s male guardianship system, which threaten Bin Salman’s image as a reformer.

At least 13 women have been arrested since May. While a number have been released, nine remain held without charge.

“Every day, the Saudi monarchy’s unrestrained despotism makes it harder for its public relations teams to spin the fairy tale of ‘reform’ to allies and international business,” said Whitson.

“If the Crown Prince is truly serious about reform, he should immediately step in to ensure no activist is unjustly detained for his or her human-rights work”.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

After years of exclusion, people with non-traditional work histories are finding new job opportunities thanks to businesses that are embracing more inclusive hiring practices. That approach means that applicants who have experienced homelessness, incarceration, addiction, as well as refugees and those with a pending immigration status, can have a much better shot at meaningful employment.

The trend arguably began decades ago with Open Hiring, a business model pioneered by Greyston Bakery. The commercial bakery, located in Yonkers, New York, produces those chewy chunks you look for in Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream, along with other delicious brownie treats. It also hires people without asking for a resume, interview, or background check.

The inclusive business model has been so successful that the bakery recently launched the Open Hiring Center, a collaborative learning space that “elaborates, improves, and defines” Open Hiring, and aids other companies as they seek to eliminate barriers to employment.

“Our recruitment process is based on the principle of non-judgment and radical inclusion,” Mike Brady, president and CEO of Greyston Bakery, said. “We believe every single person coming through the door of Greyston Bakery has the potential to be successful on the job, so we want to offer everyone an opportunity.”

“Our recruitment process is based on the principle of non-judgment and radical inclusion.”

Typical recruitment practices tend to sift out people from marginalized communities, especially those who were formerly incarcerated. A 2017 ACLU report showed that of the 70 million Americans with a criminal record, nearly 75 percent remain unemployed a year after release. When these people are repeatedly excluded from employment opportunities, it can lead to stubborn cycles of poverty. 

Greyston is one of several businesses advocating for an inclusive employment approach. Ovenly, a New York City bakery, and Hot Chicken Takeover, a restaurant chain in Columbus, Ohio, rely on what they call . That term refers to a business practice whereby applicants without traditional resumes, interviews, and reference letters are given equal consideration as their peers with such credentials.

This isn’t a trend exclusive to small businesses either. Companies as large as Starbucks, Target, and Walmart don’t conduct a background check until the end of the hiring process, at which point the job applicant is given time to advocate for themselves and explain what might have caused a long gap in employment. 

This approach can make a big difference for applicants. Research suggests they’re more likely to apply for a job when they aren’t immediately asked to check a conviction history box. Meanwhile, giving an applicant time to advocate for themselves is an example of the kind of personal contact shown to counteract an employer’s initial stereotypes. 

At Greyston Bakery, potential applicants are encouraged to walk into the factory and write their name down on a list for employment. They are judged not on their employment history but on their ability to work. 

“When we have a job available, we take the next person off the list and give them a chance to work — no questions asked, no background check, no reference check, no interviews,” Brady said. 

New employees go through a 6-10 month paid apprenticeship, which includes lessons on machinery, teamwork, and language classes.

Dilara Casey, head of marketing at Hot Chicken Takeover, said the company considers work history but includes other questions that could help people with alternative resumes have a competing chance.

“In addition to work history and general information, the application process also determines their work readiness and culture fit through a series of questions,” Casey said.

Not only do Greyston Bakery, Ovenly, and Hot Chicken Takeover want to make it easier for people with complicated histories to get a job, but the businesses also offer new employees a number of services to help them thrive. At Hot Chicken Takeover, employees are given assistance via work benefits, including interest-free cash advances, flexible scheduling, and counseling. Ovenly offers its employees regular professional development trainings, transit benefits, and free meals. 

“Having a clean record doesn’t necessarily indicate that an employee is honest or trustworthy.”

Skeptics of fair-chance hiring might worry about employees with a criminal record or a non-traditional work history. Some research, however, suggests that there may be a link between criminal history and increased workplace performance. A study published in 2018 showed that members of the military with incarceration histories were promoted more quickly — and to higher ranks than those with no conviction record.

“I get that question a lot,” said Casey, referring to whether her employees with criminal histories were more likely to steal or cheat. “Having a clean record doesn’t necessarily indicate that an employee is honest or trustworthy. And on the flip side, a tarnished record doesn’t necessarily indicate that an employee isn’t honest or trustworthy.”

In the restaurant and food industry, where the average turnover rate was 73 percent in 2017, practicing fair-chance employment seems to help a business attract and keep loyal talent.

“Seventy percent of our employees have what we call an alternative resume,” Casey said. “Our turnover rate is 39 percent — that’s almost half of the industry average.” 

In addition to addressing stereotypes around incarceration, fair-chance hiring has the potential to combat racial bias. An experiment conducted in 2004 by Harvard sociologists showed that white men with criminal records received a call back 22 percent of the time while their black counterparts were called only 10 percent of the time. 

“We don’t like to use the word second chance because many of these people never got a first chance,” said Agatha Kulaga, co-founder of Ovenly. “They are consistently my hardest working and most reliable employees.”

While by no means a panacea for bias in employment, open hiring and fair-chance hiring are ways businesses can effect positive change in their communities. When companies consider a candidate based on their relevant skill set and not their histories, they can expect to build a loyal, dedicated workforce.