• Broadway World: The pro-shot of the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along (above) will be released in movie theaters worldwide December 5, 2025.
Reynard Sinaga (mugshot via Greater Manchester Police) Reynard Sinaga, 36, has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of raping 48 men in Manchester, England. The Guardianreports Sinaga may have sexually assaulted at least 190 men during a two-and-a-half-year period. According to police reports, Sinaga would target young men in the early hours of the morning outside nightclubs in Manchester. Pretending to be a ‘Good Samaritan,’ he would offer them more alcohol or a place to charge a phone, wait for a taxi or sleep off their buzz at his home. Once there, he would drug them (police believe he used GHB) and then record himself raping the men as they slept. Most of his victims were white, heterosexual men whose average age was 21. His crimes included 136 counts of rape, eight counts of attempted rape, 134 counts of sexual assaults, and two counts of assault by penetration. Sinaga’s crime spree only became known to the authorities when one of his victims woke up during the assault in June 2017. The young man fought Sinaga off then reported the incident to the police. Authorities say they found video and photographic evidence of at least 136 rapes on two cell phones. From the video recordings, police were able to identify most of the victims. Once contacted, many had no idea they had been violated while under the effects of the drug. Police also found Sinaga would often keep ‘trophies’ from his attacks including watches, IDs and cell phones. Sinaga was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 30 years. But there’s more. Today’s news ends a two-year media blackout during which Sinaga had already been convicted of similar charges in two earlier trials relating to 25 other victims. For those crimes, he is already serving 88 concurrent life sentences with no chance of parole for 20 years. Britain’s laws require strict media blackouts in such cases while the trials are ongoing. During his trials, Sinaga claimed all of the assaults were consensual and his victims were ‘acting out a sexual fantasy.’ But prosecutors called the defense “ludicrous.” The Guardian reports many of the men could be heard snoring in the video recordings of their assault shown throughout the trial.
Many of his victims came forward to explain the deep psychological consequences they suffered due to the attacks. The effects ranged from anger and anxiety to thoughts of suicide. “I have never been in such a bad place in my life and I don’t know how to get out of it,” said one victim. “I was diagnosed with severe depression and put on anti-depressants. I also started counseling.” Said another: “The perpetrator has taken a part of me that I will never get back, and deserves the largest sentence possible.” “It changed my life forever,” a third told the court. Juries were shown text messages Sinaga had sent to friends during the crime spree often boasting about his conquests. He wrote of one victim: “He was straight in 2014. 2015 is his breakthrough to the gay world hahaha.” Sinaga was found guilty on every charge brought against him. As Judge Suzanne Goddard QC described him as a “dangerous, deeply disturbed and perverted individual with no sense of reality” during sentencing, Sinaga reportedly yawned and played with his hair. After sentencing, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Ian Rushton called Sinaga “the most prolific rapist in British legal history.” Sinaga arrived in Britain in 2007 from his native Indonesia on a student visa. He received two degrees from the University of Manchester and was studying for a Ph.D. at the University of Leeds when police finally arrested him. (source: The Guardian)
Britain has voted to leave the European Union, a historic decision sure to reshape the nation’s place in the world, rattle the Continent and rock political establishments throughout the West.
With 309 of 382 of the country’s cities and towns reporting early on Friday, the Leave campaign held a 52 percent to 48 percent lead. The BBC called the race for the Leave campaign shortly before 4:45 a.m., with 13.1 million votes having been counted in favor of leaving and 12.2 million in favor of remaining.
The value of the British pound dropped to a 31 year low as financial markets absorbed the news.
World stock markets fell dramatically, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average which fell 500 points upon opening today.
Prime Minister David Cameron has resigned over the news saying Britain needs “fresh leadership.”
Scotland is now looking at a new referendum on independence from Britain in light of the decision to leave the EU. Scotland, as a whole, voted 62% – 38% to stay in the EU.
Britain’s same-sex marriage bill has cleared its last major hurdle, passing through the House of Lords and prompting celebrations from campaigners outside Parliament.
Supporters of the bill in Parliament’s upper house wore pink carnations Monday as the Lords agreed to send it back to the House of Commons, where lawmakers will review government amendments before it becomes law.
That is expected to go without a hitch, as the House of Commons earlier passed the bill 390 to 148.
According to the Sunday Times in London, “A proposal to end the ban on same sex marriage will be announced by the Liberal Democrat equality minister Lynne Featherstone at the same time as the government announces the time table for civil partnerships to be held in religious buildings.”
Civil partnerships have existed in Britain since 2005 which extend many but not all of the same rights and privileges as marriage. The partnerships also are not recognized abroad.
Should full gay marriage be introduced, the only other significant legal discrimination against gay men will be the ban on donating blood, although the government have signaled in the past that they will look to end this practice.
From the video recordings, police were able to identify most of the victims. Once contacted, many had no idea they had been violated while under the effects of the drug. Police also found Sinaga would often keep ‘trophies’ from his attacks including watches, IDs and cell phones. Sinaga was sentenced on Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 30 years. But there’s more. Today’s news ends a two-year media blackout during which Sinaga had 
