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Los Angeles, Sep 16 (IANS) Actress Amber Heard is hit with yet another accusation in the aftermath of the much-publicised defamation trial against Johnny Depp. She is now accused of blackmailing Hollywood men to nab parts, including 'Aquaman' director James Wan.

According to a source close to production producers, the rumours about Heard had been swirling even "before the divorce drama started, it's just a different tune now."

The source went on detailing, "Anybody who is anybody in Hollywood has heard of Amber's wild orgies and sadly that means Depp knew too. He knew and it was slowly killing him."

"He didn't want to confront Heard, he just ran away, went on benders to try and kill his emotions and thoughts with drugs and alcohol."

As "most big studios began distancing themselves from Amber Heard after the messy divorce simply because they didn't want to upset Johnny Depp by hiring her," the source wonders how Heard managed to secure her role in 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' following her loss in the defamation case, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"A lot of us were actually pretty shocked when we found out that Amber Heard had been cast as Mera in the 'Aquaman' movies - not because of the Johnny Depp situation but because she's not a great actress. I would hesitate to even call her b-list," the source further told Australian gossip site Pop Topic.

"Also, being one of the leads in the film and only banking approximately USD$2 million for the part, that just doesn't seem right," the source added, hence the allegations that she's blackmailed Wan.

"A lot of us are starting to wonder whether she slept with James Wan and that's how she secured this role, especially after seeing in an intimate setting with him and Elon Musk. We know what kind of wild things the two of them got up to."

"The studio has wanted her gone since before the trial. She's a terrible actress. They tried to execute a clause in a contract which would have gotten her fired, but James Wan fought to keep her in."

"So, the executives decided to just limit her role in the entire film by cutting her screen time to just 10 minutes," according to the source, who claimed that "again, James Wan fought to restore her scenes. Something about his artistic direction and what-not."

"I am almost positive she slept with him, but I'm even more certain that 'Aquaman 2' will be the last Hollywood movie you'll ever see Amber Heard in, Hollywood has blacklisted her," the source additionally noted.

Following the verdict in the defamation case, Heard denied rumours that her role could be completely cut from the 'Aquaman' sequel.

A spokesperson for the 36-year-old told Entertainment Tonight in June, "The rumor mill continues as it has from day one - inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane."

During the trial, Heard also said that she "fought really hard" to save her role in the upcoming movie, though her part was reduced significantly.

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Budapest, Sep 16 (IANS) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's right-wing Fidesz party slammed the European Parliament (EP) for "being occupied with attacking Hungary even in the midst of the current crises".

"While the people of Europe are suffering from an energy crisis due to the failed Brussels sanctions, the most important thing for the leftist European Parliament, even in this crisis situation, is to attack Hungary," Fidesz said in a statement on Thursday, reacting to a rule-of-law vote in EP against his government earlier in the day.

The EP adopted a report by French MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield on the "Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded".

The vote was 433 in favour, 123 against and 28 abstentions.

The EP resolution, which is a non-binding political statement, stipulates that Hungary can no longer be considered "a full democracy".

The current report does not result in a new procedure, but the EP firmly condemned both the European Commission and the Council, arguing that it was also their responsibility that full democracy in a member state could have been abolished.

It called on both bodies not to transfer money to Hungary's government until the situation improves.

The Commission must decide by September 22 what to do with the conditionality mechanism it launched in April against the government of Hungary.

Based on this mechanism, the transfer of tens of billions of euros in European funds could be denied to Budapest because of rule of law problems.

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Brussels, Sep 16 (IANS) The European Commission has presented a proposal for Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), a new European Union (EU) law aiming at guaranteeing cyber security in connected devices and software sold on the single market.

"The Cyber Resilience Act will ensure the connected objects and software we buy comply with strong cybersecurity safeguards," Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of the European Commission for a Europe fit for the digital age, said on Thursday.

"Computers, phones, household appliances, virtual assistance devices, cars, toys, each and every one of these hundreds of millions of connected products is a potential entry point for a cyberattack. And yet, today most of the hardware and software products are not subject to any cyber security obligations," European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton explained.

Based on the principle of "security by design", the new law will address three areas of action to ensure the safety of users: cyber security will become mandatory; the manufacturer will remain responsible for their product's cyber security throughout its life cycle; and consumers will be better informed about these parameters while choosing a product with digital elements, reports Xinhua news agency.

Producers will be able to self-assess 90 per cent of their products. These include photo editing, word processing, smart speakers, hard drives and games.

The remaining 10 per cent -- critical products such as password managers, firewalls, operating systems, microcontrollers and industrial firewalls --will be assessed by a third party.

The CRA will be enforced through a progressive set of measures, according to Breton.

The Commission will first ask the producer to comply with the CRA, then the product will either be recalled or permanently withdrawn, and finally a fine equivalent to 2 to 5 per cent of the company's global turnover will be applied.

The Commission's proposal for the CRA will now be examined by the European Parliament and the Council.

If adopted, EU member states and companies will have two years to transpose the regulation into national law.

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Los Angeles, Sep 16 (IANS) More than 14.6 million children in the US have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.

More than 340,000 of these cases have been added in the past four weeks. Nearly 6.7 million reported cases have been added in 2022, according to the report.

For the week ending September 8, nearly 83,300 child Covid-19 cases were reported, but the reported cases are likely a "substantial undercount" of Covid-19 cases, according to the report.

There is an urgent need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, said the AAP as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

"It is important to recognise there are immediate effects of the pandemic on children's health, but importantly we need to identify and address the long-lasting impact on the physical, mental, and social well-being of this generation of children and youth," the AAP added.

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Guatemala City, Sep 16 (IANS) At least nine people were killed and nearly 20 were injured after a stampede at the end of a concert celebrating Guatemalan Independence Day in the western city of Quetzaltenango, the local Red Cross confirmed.

The incidengt took place on early Thursday morning, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to its reports on social media, the Guatemalan Red Cross and volunteer firefighters "stabilised more than 20 injured people and nine died at the scene."

The stampede occurred at one of the exits of the fairgrounds at the end of the outdoor concert, and Guatemalan authorities are investigating the causes.

September 15 marks the 201st anniversary of the independence from Spain of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

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Jerusalem, Sep 16 (IANS) Israel closed the registration for political parties intending to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The Central Elections Committee said on Thursday in a statement that the submission of candidate lists has been concluded after being opened to individual candidates and parties for two days, resulting in 40 lists running for the elections scheduled on November 1.

Less than an hour before the deadline, the Arab party of Balad announced it will run solo, splitting from the Joint List, a large alliance of Arab parties in the parliament, effectively breaking apart the alliance that has already lost the Ra'am Party which quitted over political differences in early 2021, Xinhua news agency reported.

TV polls predict that Balad might not pass the electoral threshold needed to get it into parliament. Commentators on the state-owned Kan TV news said the move might mean former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc will get an extra seat to a total of 61 seats, according to polls.

Recent polls predict that only about 12 parties would pass the electoral threshold, with prospects suggesting yet another political deadlock between a bloc of supporters of Netanyahu and a bloc calling to replace him, led by current caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid, also a leader of the centrist Yesh Atid Party, and Benny Gantz, Defence Minister and leader of the National Unity Party.

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United Nations, Sep 16 (IANS) The UN Security Council adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of a UN investigative team for crimes committed by the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq.

Resolution 2651, which won the unanimous support of the 15-member council, on Thursday decides to extend the mandate of the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/Islamic State (UNITAD) for a year, till September 17, 2023.

Any further extension of UNITAD's mandate will be decided at the request of the Iraqi government or any other government that has requested the team to collect evidence of acts that may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide, committed by the IS in its territory, says the resolution.

The resolution requests the special adviser, who heads UNITAD, to continue to submit and present reports to the Security Council on the team's activities every 180 days, Xinhua news agency reported.

UNITAD was authorised by the Security Council in September 2017 to support Iraq's efforts in holding the IS accountable for the crimes the terrorist group committed in Iraq. The team became fully operational in November 2019.

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Islamabad, Sep 16 (IANS) Pakistan has received a total of 100 international flights carrying relief items for flood victims since August 28, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said.

The humanitarian relief goods include food items, tents, blankets, medical supplies, survival and hygiene equipment, and high-capacity water pumps, according to the spokesperson on Thursday.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that devastating floods have caused immense damage with the communication system, crops, houses and roads completely destroyed in parts of Pakistan, Xinhua news agency reported.

The federal government has allocated 70 billion rupees (nearly $295.5 million) for the victims, while 24 billion rupees have already been distributed to the flood victims, the Prime Minister added on Wednesday.

According to the latest figures released by the National Disaster Management Authority, the floods in the country have killed 1,508 people, injured more than 12,000 others and left thousands homeless since mid-June.

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Samarkand, Sep 15 (IANS) Economic cooperation between Russia and China will continue to strengthen, reaching new heights in the near future, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit while meeting with China's leader, Xi Jinping, RT reported.

"Multifaceted ties between our countries are actively developing. Last year, the trade turnover increased by 35 per cent and exceeded $140 billion," Putin said, adding that in the first seven months of this year, the volume of mutual trade grew by another 25 per cent.

"I am convinced that by the end of the year, we will reach new record levels, and in the near future, as agreed, we will increase the annual trade turnover to $200 billion or more," he added, RT reported.

Last month, Beijing's ambassador to Moscow expressed hope that Russia-China trade could reach the targeted milestone of $200 billion this year.

He pointed out that economic cooperation between the two nations shows excellent results and sustainable development, despite the challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, the global economic downturn, and difficult international and regional situations.

Vladimir Putin has thanked President Xi Jinping for China's "balanced position" on Ukraine, in their first face-to-face talks since Russia invaded the country, BBC reported.

The Russian leader met his counterpart at a summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where he condemned "attempts to create a unipolar world".

Xi said China was willing to work together with Russia as "great powers", BBC reported.

China hasn't endorsed Russia's invasion but has steadily grown trade and other ties with Moscow since it was launched.

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New York, Sep 15 (IANS) Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep announced on Thursday she will miss the rest of the season after undergoing nose surgery.

Halep said that she was unclear how long recovery would take, but won't participate in any more events in 2022.

"My 2022 season is over. 2022, you have been an interesting year full of everything! See you on court, 2023. I feel I still have a lot to do on a tennis court and still have the same goals," she wrote on social media.

In the same post, Halep, 30, also conceded she was "very close" to calling it a career back in February. Two months later, she announced Patrick Mouratoglou as her full time head coach after spending some time in his academy.

"Thanks to Patrick, I slowly started to believe that I still can play a good level of tennis. … I gave myself one year to get back into the Top 10."

In August, Halep won the National Bank Open, a WTA 1000-level event in Toronto, and returned to the Top 10 for the first time in more than a year, thus achieving that goal in only two months.

However, a first-round loss at the US Open to qualifier Daria Snigur followed, and Halep realized she needed a break.

"When I lost at the US Open, I realized that I'm completely exhausted mentally. Having problems with the breathing for many years already and becoming worse with the time, I decided to follow the advice of my doctors and do the needed surgery."

Halep has won two titles this season, taking her career total to 24.

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