Ghislaine Maxwell has reportedly become best friends with a convicted double murderer being imprisoned in the same Florida prison as the convicted sex offender, Radar has learned.

Maxwell and Narcy Novak – an infamous double killer who murdered her millionaire ex-husband, Ben Novack Jr., and his mother, Bernice Novack, in 2009 – have reportedly developed a close friendship in FCI Tallahassee.

According to an FCI Tallahassee source who recently dished on the pair’s friendship, Maxwell “gravitated” towards Novak in July and the two “spend hours talking, laughing and joking.”

“Once inside, Ghislaine gravitated towards Narcy,” the source told The Mirror on Monday. “Because of her length of time inside and the brutality of her crime, she is treated like a female don.”

“Ghislaine will have a modicum of protection through her friendship, but given their ages and millionaire backgrounds, they were always destined to get on well,” the source added. “Together, they spend hours talking, laughing and joking.”

Novak was jailed in FCI Tallahassee in 2012, shortly after being convicted of her ex-husband and former mother-in-law’s July 2009 murders.

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Maxwell was convicted on December 29 for five out of six charges connected to recruiting, grooming and trafficking underage girls over a ten-year period between 1994 and 2004.

Maxwell was moved to the Federal Correctional Institute on July 25, nearly one month after she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for recruiting and grooming the underage girls for the late billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Ms. Maxwell worked with Epstein to select young victims who were vulnerable and played a pivotal role in facilitating sexual abuse,” Judge Alison Nathan said during the sentencing trial in June. “The damage done to these young girls was incalculable.”

But despite Maxwell and Novak’s long prison sentences, sources have compared FCI Tallahassee to a “holiday camp” because the inmates can partake in a series of activities, including: exercise sessions, work periods, softball, flag football, and frisbee.

Maxwell is reportedly expected to teach her fellow inmates both yoga and English, although she will also be offered the opportunity to take part in apprenticeships focused on electricity, plumbing, horticulture, and baking.

Novak is currently serving a life-sentence at FCI Tallahassee for her crimes, while Maxwell is expected to complete her sentence around 2042. She will be 80-years-old when released.

OnlyFans star Eric Dodds passionately defended his boyfriend, Johntae Kavon Collier, and proclaimed his innocence in a final TikTok post before his own arrest and murder charges linked to the same killing, Radar can confirm.

Collier and Dodds, both 23, were arrested days apart on August 10 and August 16, in connection to the shooting death of 29-year-old Dakota Bradshaw inside of his Rossville, Georgia, residence on August 1.

After his boyfriend was brought into custody, Dodds took to their joint TikTok account with an emotional message, revealing that he was fighting back tears over the ordeal.

“So, for the past couple of days, in the media I’ve been seeing a lot of things about John and y’all are concerned about [him],” the social media personality told their 800k followers on the platform, assuring listeners that Collier was being falsely blamed.

“No, he has not done anything to no one,” Dodds continued. “Y’all know John. John would not harm a soul. He’s the most free-spirited, caring person that I know to myself. He loves me even more than I even love myself you guys.”

Dodds said he believed Collier would soon be released as he concluded the video.

“I just wanted to get on here and update you that John is OK. I am OK, you guys,” the Alabama local shared. “Everything is good. My baby will be home soon … I just wanted to clear the air.”

Dodds and Collier rose to fame on the platform for their pro-LGBTQ+ videos and have garnered nearly 6 million likes on their content.

The former, who was ultimately named as a second suspect in the murder of Bradshaw, had even created a GoFundMe page in an effort to prove his boyfriend’s innocence.

RadarOnline.com previously confirmed that Walker County Sheriff’s deputies and Rossville Police Department officers responded to a shots fired call at 1:17 PM that day.

Bradshaw was found shot inside his home and quickly rushed to Erlanger Hospital where he was officially pronounced dead.

Witnesses reported seeing a red truck, which the shooter allegedly got into, and a blue Dodge Challenger leaving the home.

The United States Marshals Task Force worked together with special agents with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Huntsville Police Department SWAT team to execute the search warrant and took Collier into custody after raiding his home.

RadarOnline.com can confirm Collier is now in the Walker County Jail while Dodds was initially taken to Alabama’s Limestone County Jail.

A press release revealed he was going to be moved to Walker County.

The Moab Police Department came under fire last year after failing to save Gabby Petito‘s life. The cops refused to arrest her then-fiancé, Brian Laundrie, after a worried 911 caller told authorities they had seen the 23-year-old hit her during an argument. Weeks later, the budding social media influencer died at Laundrie’s hands. Her body was discovered near Grand Teton National Park on Friday, September 19.

One year later, the tragic situation has far from impressed Moab locals, several of which admitted to not trusting the small town’s police force.

“I’ve had bad experiences in the past,” a shop owner by the name of Barbara Lawley said in a recent interview. “I think it’s been a good old boys situation, and it’s still a good old boys situation.”

Added Lawley, “The Moab [PD], everyone in town thinks they’re jerks. If I had a problem, I would want to call the Grand County Sheriff’s Department.”

Jared Sanford, a tour guide for the Moab area had similar concerns, explaining they are very “old school police officers” who run a “good boys’ group” amongst themselves.

50-year-old Moab local Lesley Parker shared that the town’s police are known to cause disturbances at restaurants after their shifts end.

“They’ll just sit at the bar and be loud and obnoxious. They put out a bad vibe,” Parker said. “It’s like, ‘I’m bigger. I’m better. I’m untouchable.’ So the locals, we don’t trust them, we don’t like them.”

Addressing the bungled traffic stop that left Petito in tears, Parker thought it was clear the cops were “buddy-buddying with Brian,” noting how they had fist-bumped him in the footage and commiserated over their own relationship troubles.

“I felt sorry for her [Gabby], especially [with] the tears, you could see the emotion coming through her,” she continued. “I wish the police would’ve contacted the parents knowing that they were so young. I know they were over 18 [but] they weren’t that old.”

As Radar previously reported, a separate eyewitness to Petito and Laundrie’s argument claimed he had seen the man hit her in the head with a closed fist.

“I was just driving by in my truck. I saw them at the back of their vehicle,” the witness recalled. “They were kind of yelling and then Brian swung at her, I believe it was his left hand … She fell a little bit into the side of the van. She definitely felt it.”

The city later launched an investigation into how the police officers on the scene handled the traffic stop situation. Despite finding the cops made several mistakes, including failing to get a statement from the original 911 caller, one of the officers was later promoted.

The Moab residents exclusively spoke to The Sun.

Volley Hayhurst had just finished donning a disposable lab coat when he glanced at his mobile phone and let out an enthusiastic “Yes!”

“My phone is blowing up. The results just came back,” said Hayhurst, vice president of operations at Columbia Care’s new 270,000-square-foot cannabis growing and packaging facility in Vineland, New Jersey. “We have something fun and new for the market.”

It’s THC-infused salt water taffy, a Shore favorite that the company will launch soon in Delaware, likely to follow eventually in New Jersey.

Demand has proved so strong for recreational weed in New Jersey since sales began in April 2021 that there are still lines each day outsidemost of the 17 stores that sell it. Adults are allowed to buy up to one ounce of cannabis in a visit. They can buy dried flower, concentrated oils, resin, vape formulas, tinctures, topicals, syringes, lozenges and soft chews. But perishable edibles like brownies are not allowed. Another nine stores sell marijuana only for medical use.

By state law, all marijuana sold in New Jersey must be grown in state by licensed growers; homeowners can’t cultivate their own.

For Columbia Care, plants get their start at the publicly traded company’s two facilities in Vineland, Cumberland County: Its original 50,000-square-foot plant and the one that opened in June that’s the equivalent of just under five football fields.

Most commercial pot is grown indoors where security, cleanliness, temperature, humidity, light and water flow can all be controlled with precision.

Columbia Care, a publicly traded company based in New York, describes itself as one of the largest and most experienced cultivators and manufacturers in the industry, operating in both the U.S. and Europe. It is currently being bought by Chicago-based Cresco Labs, which has cannabis operations in 10 states.

Columbia Care sells through its Cannabist stores in Deptford and Vineland, with plans to open a third in Mays Landing.

Other marijuana companies operating in New Jersey include the Apothecarium, founded in San Francisco, which operates three stores. Curaleaf operates two stores, and Miami-based Ayr Wellness operates three stores under the Garden State Dispensary Brand.

Hayhurst, along with Cori Griffith, operations manager, and Alex Anthony, cultivation manager, gave The Inquirer a tour of the Columbia Care plant at the end of July to explain the growing process. The Inquirer agreed to not shoot pictures or video of certain proprietary methods or machinery.

The first literal step inside the Columbia Care includes a shoe bath.

All workers and visitors must wear lab coats, hair nets, and shoe protectors to keep out contamination. And each steps into a sterilizing bath before entering any of the cavernous rooms. The inside of the facility resembles a clean computer chip plant, or even a hospital with long, wide, white corridors and secure doors.

Anthony, who studied agriculture at Iowa State University, said fungi, viruses and other contaminants can sneak into the building. And once they’re in, he said, they are difficult to remove.

If someone, for example, stepped on a cigarette butt outside, Anthony said, “it could be a vector for the tobacco mosaic virus.”

That virus is known to attack and stunt the growth of plants and is often spread by agricultural workers. Once a plant is infected, there is no chemical cure.

And there’s a lot of ground for shoes to cover: The former shipping and logistics warehouse on West Park Avenue has been renovated specifically for weed operations and employs 35 people full-time. About 50,000 square feet is currently being used, with about 20,000 square feet now devoted to plants as the company ramps up its production.

All the weed-related products start as a combination of two cannabis species: sativa, known for a stimulating high, or indica, known for a more mellow experience.

Growers experiment with a number of seeds to find the right mix of sativa or indica. They look for the desired level of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in weed (33% would be very high), and terpenes, chemical compounds that produce unique combinations of flavor, aroma, and color. For example, 10 seeds might yield one plant that has the genetic qualities a grower wants or customers demand.

That seed grows into a mother plant — a mature marijuana plant that can become part of a grower’s proprietary strain and can yield hundreds of clones.

At Columbia Care’s facility, workers examine rows and rows of mother plants, stored on movable, white, steel framed, multitiered racks, resembling something used inside a library archive. Workers take small cuttings off the plants and place them in a nutrient solution as clones.

Eventually, the cuttings are transplanted to soil in plastic terrariums and labeled by strain, or genotypes known to produce traits unique to a brand. Anthony said using cuttings from a mother plant ensures customers get the same experience for a particular strain each time. The company grows up to 12 strains but mostly relies on four to eight.

Mother plants typically grow about 3 feet tall in the facility, Anthony said.

Workers are careful not to take too many cuttings from the same tree, but eventually, the genetic properties of a mother plant degrades, and the cycle starts over with a new mother plant.

Griffith said that in larger states with well established markets, a single mother plant can be worth millions because of all the cuttings it yields and are sold to other companies. Licensed cultivators in New Jersey can transport seeds across state lines because they do not contain TCH, but any plant or cutting must remain within state borders.

Consider that a 3.5 gram jar (1/8 ounce) of Runtz Muffin flower, used to roll joints, was selling last week at the Columbia Care’s Cannabist store in Vineland for about $47. It’s part of the company’s Triple 7 line, which includes other hybrids such as Hot Rod, and, the newest, Watermelon Sorbet.

Cuttings from the mother tree are moved to a room equipped with powerful grow lights that shine eight to 14 hours a day.

“This is where the light cycle starts to change everything,” Anthony said.

The light is calibrated to ensure the proper amount of photosynthesis for the plants to flower. Workers part racks by turning cranks, allowing them to reach upper tiers. It can take eight to 12 weeks for a flower to achieve the size and color needed for harvesting.

The flowers are taken to a high-tech sorting and packaging machine where they are dropped in a silver steel hopper that resembles a futuristic disco chandelier. The hopper contains 14 scales that sorts flowers by size and weight down to the gram.

During the tour, they were being manually sorted and packaged as the machine was being reset.

The flowers drop into jars, which are capped, sealed and labeled.

The machine “was originally made for other food packaging,” Griffith said. “It’s been sort of tweaked a little bit to do cannabis as well. These do flower, and they can do gummies and tablets. … This is usually running all day every day.”

As he spoke, a line at least 10-deep had formed outside the company’s store on Delsea Drive in Vineland to buy the finished product.

By Balazs Koranyi and Howard Schneider

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (Reuters) -The message from the world’s top finance chiefs is loud and clear: rampant inflation is here to stay and taming it will take an extraordinary effort, most likely a recession with job losses and shockwaves through emerging markets.

That price is still worth paying, however. Central banks spent decades building their credibility on inflation fighting skills and losing this battle could shake the foundations of modern monetary policy.

“Regaining and preserving trust requires us to bring inflation back to target quickly,” European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel said. “The longer inflation stays high, the greater the risk that the public will lose confidence in our determination and ability to preserve purchasing power.”

Banks should also keep going even if growth suffers and people start to lose their jobs.

“Even if we enter a recession, we have basically little choice but to continue our policy path,” Schnabel said. “If there were a deanchoring of inflation expectations, the effect on the economy would be even worse.”

Inflation is near double-digit territory in many of the world’s biggest economies, a level not seen in close to a half century. With the notable exception of the United States, a peak is still months away.

The complication is that central banks for the most part appear to have only limited control.

For one, high energy prices, a function of Russia’s war in Ukraine, is creating a supply shock on which monetary policy has little effect.

Copious spending by governments, also outside central bank control, exacerbates the problem. One study presented at Jackson Hole argues that half of U.S. inflation is fiscally driven and the Fed will fail to control prices without government cooperation.

Lastly, a new inflation regime may be setting in that will keep upward pressure on prices for an extended period.

Deglobalisation, the realignment of alliances due to Russia’s war, demographic changes and more expensive production in emerging markets could all make supply constraints more permanent.

“The global economy seems to be on the cusp of a historic change as many of the aggregate supply tailwinds that have kept a lid on inflation look set to turn into headwinds,” Agustín Carstens, the head of the Bank of International Settlements, said.

“If so, the recent pickup in inflationary pressures may prove to be more persistent,” said Carstens, who heads a group often called the central bank of the world’s central banks.

All this points to rapid interest rates hikes, led by the Fed with the ECB now trying to catch up, and elevated rates for years to come.

EMERGING MARKETS

The pain of high U.S. rates will reverberate well beyond the nation’s economy and hit emerging markets hard, especially if high rates prove as lasting as Powell now signals.

“For the Fed right now – it is crunch time,” said Peter Blair Henry, a professor and dean emeritus of the New York University Stern School of Business.

“The credibility of the last 40 years is on the line, so they are going to bring inflation down no matter what, including if that means collateral damage in the emerging world.”

Many emerging market countries borrow in dollars and higher Fed rates hit them on multiple fronts.

It pushes up borrowing costs and raises debt sustainability issues. It also channels liquidity to the U.S. markets, pushing up emerging market risk premiums, making borrowing even more difficult.

Lastly, the dollar will keep firming against most currencies, pushing up imported inflation in emerging markets.

Bigger countries like China and India appear to be well isolated but a host of smaller countries from Turkey to Argentina are clearly suffering.

“We have a number of especially frontier economies, and low income countries that have seen their spreads increased to what we call distress or near distress levels, so 700 basis points to 1000 basis points,” IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said.

“There is a large number of countries, it’s about 60% of the low income countries, we have about 20 emerging and frontier economies that are in a situation,” he said. “They still have market access, but certainly the borrowing conditions have worsened a lot.”

A monitor by S&P Global now considers the funding risk of lenders in South Africa, Argentina and Turkey high or very high. It also sees the credit risk of financial firms high or extremely high in a host of countries, including China, India, and Indonesia.

“There are a few frontier economies like Sri Lanka, Turkey and so on that are going to get hammered if the Fed hikes rates and rates stay high,” said Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell University.

“A two to three year horizon will start making things difficult…If it becomes clear the Fed is going to keep rates high for a long time, the pressures could hit home right away,” Prasad added.

(Additional reporting by Ann Saphir;Editing by Dan Burns and Chizu Nomiyama)

By Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway

(Reuters) -Taylor Swift won the top honor at MTV’s annual Video Music Awards on Sunday for a 10-minute version of her 2012 breakup song “All Too Well” and made a surprise announcement of a new album coming in October.

The singer thanked fans from the stage at the Prudential Center in New Jersey as she accepted the honor, the 14th VMA of her career. “All Too Well” is one of the past hits Swift re-recorded after a dispute with her former record label.

“We wouldn’t have been able to make this short film if it weren’t for you, the fans,” Swift said, before revealing that she will release her next album on Oct. 21.

Called “Midnights,” the album will tell the stories of “13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life,” the singer said in a Twitter post after her win.

Also at the VMAs, Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny was named artist of the year and was handed his Moon Person statue at New York’s Yankee Stadium, where he was playing a concert to a sold-out crowd.

Former Disney Channel star Dove Cameron, singer of hits “Breakfast” and “Boyfriend,” was named best new artist. “This year has been so wild,” she said, and dedicated her award “to all the queer kids out there.”

Other winners included Harry Styles, who received the album of the year trophy for “Harry’s House” and accepted via video from nearby Madison Square Garden, where he was about to perform.

Actor Johnny Depp, who had been shunned by the entertainment business during a defamation fight with ex-wife Amber Heard, appeared briefly throughout the show, his face digitally inserted inside the helmet of a floating astronaut.

“I need the work,” joked the actor. [L1N30501H]

Nicki Minaj was celebrated with the Video Vanguard award for her career of hits. The singer performed a medley of “Anaconda,” “Super Bass” and other songs before paying tribute to artists who inspired her.

“I wish that Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson were here,” Minaj said. “I wish that people understood what they meant, what they were going through (and) took mental health seriously.”

Snoop Dogg and Eminem rapped “From the D 2 the LBC” as animated images inside “Otherside,” an upcoming metaverse platform from NFT and cryptocurrency company Yuga Labs.

Other performers included K-pop band Blackpink and global icon honoree the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who were introduced by comedians Cheech and Chong.

Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow won best collaboration for “Industry Baby.”

The show opened with Harlow singing “First Class”, dressed as a flight attendant on a plane, before entering the arena to join former Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie to perform “Glamorous.”

Lizzo, dressed in a Barbie-pink outfit and combat boots, followed with “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready).” The plus-sized singer later won an award for “About Damn Time” and told the crowd she would not use the stage to “clap back” at critics.

“Because I’m winning!” she exclaimed.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Stephen Coates)

Lizzo defended herself from comedian Aries Spears‘ recent attack on her body while onstage at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, Radar has learned.

The 34-year-old singer addressed Spears’ remarks while accepting the Video for Good award for her song About Damn Time.

Lizzo said, “And now to the b—– that got something to say about me in the press. You know what I’m not going to say nothing.”

She continued, “They be like ‘why don’t you clap back? why don’t you clap back?’”

“Because I’m winning h-. Big b—– winning h-.”

Lizzo was clearly making a dig at Aries after his interview with the podcast Art of Dialogue. On the show, Spears was for his opinion on Lizzo.

“I can’t get past the fact that she looks like the s–- emoji,” a sweaty Spears said.

“She’s got a very pretty face, but she keeps showing her body off like, come on, man. Come on, yo,” he continued. “I’m sorry. Listen, I ain’t the most in-shape n—- in the world but I still, when you funny and you got swagger and confidence and you decent looking – I think I’m at least handsome – you get p—-. But a woman that’s built like a plate of mashed potatoes is in trouble.”

Spears continued, “F— diabetes, f— heart problems, f— heart disease, cholesterol. Y’all claim womanhood and about sisterhood and support for your sister, you know, when it comes to that ridiculous s—. But if you really gave a f—, why wouldn’t you go, ‘Black girl, we love your confidence, boo boo, but this ain’t it. This ain’t it’’.

“That’s the real love!” Spears said. “Y’all jump on me for making jokes, but y’all won’t be f—ing real and go, ‘Sister, put the eclair down. This ain’t it. It’s treadmill time.’”

The internet has been dragging Spears ever since the interview dropped. One fan said, “I just know Aries Spears smells like a bus station toilet. I just know it.”

Writer Roxane Gay said, “I know Aries Spears isn’t opening his mouth to talk about Lizzo’s looks. That would be way too bold.”

“The way the world hates fat women is astounding,” pointed out another.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Thousands of religious and right-wing opponents of a European gay Pride event to be hosted by Belgrade protested through the Serbian capital on Sunday, even though the government has said it would scrap or delay the Pride event.

Belgrade is due to host the EuroPride march on Sept. 17, an event staged in a different European city each year. But President Aleksandar Vucic said on Saturday it would be cancelled or postponed, citing reasons such as threats from right-wing activists.

Sunday’s protest against the EuroPride event, held during a procession to mark a religious holiday, was led by clergy from the Serbian Orthodox Church, some of whose bishops say the Pride event threatens traditional family values and should be banned.

“Save our children and family,” read one of the banners held up by protesters on Sunday, some of whom also carried crosses.

Others who joined Sunday’s march chanted slogans in support of far-right or nationalist causes.

Some waved Russian flags, a show of support for Moscow, Serbia’s traditional ally, as the Belgrade government tries to balance its ambition to join the European Union with its longstanding ties with Russia and China.

The president said on Saturday EuroPride would be scrapped or held later for safety reasons. Alongside threats from what he said were right-wing “hooligans”, he cited issues such as an ongoing dispute with Kosovo and the energy crisis.

“It will happen but in some other and happier time,” he said of the EuroPride event.

A U.N. representative in Serbia criticised Belgrade’s ban on EuroPride. “It would go against Serbia’s international human rights commitments,” Francoise Jacob, the U.N. resident coordinator in Serbia, said in a statement.

Previous Serbian governments have banned Pride parades in the past, drawing criticism from human rights groups and others. Some Pride marches in the early 2000s also met with fierce opposition and were marred by violence.

But recent Pride marches in Serbia have passed off peacefully, a change cited by EuroPride organisers as one reason why Belgrade was chosen as the 2022 host. Copenhagen was the host in 2021.

Serbia is a candidate to join the EU. But to become a member, it must first meet demands to improve the rule of law and its human and minority rights record, and must root out organised crime and corruption and mend ties with Kosovo.

(Reporting by Fedja Grulovic; Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Edmund Blair)