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Published by DPA In this Moscow cafe, Sabrina can sit in peace as a non-binary person – but Russia is imposing ever tougher laws repressing people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more. Hannah Wagner/-/dpa Sitting in a Moscow cafe, Sabrina ties a bright pink scarf around her shaved head. She also brought along face rhinestones but she doesn’t stick them on as she’s heading to university later. Sabrina, 21, is non-binary, but that is something she only mentions to a small number of people, along with her first name. Usually, for safety reasons, she lives as the young man she appears to be. She and others like her are facing more and more repression and violence in Russia and a new law is set to make things far worse. Russian lawmakers recently passed legislation on what is termed LGBT propaganda, which significantly tightens an earlier regulation. So far, anyone deemed to have “advertised” homosexuality and transsexuality to minors was liable to prosecution, in a regulation that triggered outrage around the world. But the latest legislation imposes steep fines for any positive portrayal of these issues, in a law that targets media, literary and film content, advertising and personal posts on social media, alarming rights activists, artists and publishers alike. Sabrina is no stranger to hiding. In themselves, homosexuality and transsexuality are not punishable in Russia, but in this legal situation, attacks and assaults are widespread. “They insult us, they rape us, they kill us,” says Sabrina. She does not want to share the male name that appears in her passport for this article, even though when she is at university, all the lecturers use that name. Even her mother still sees her as her son. “Sometimes I feel a kind of lostness, hopelessness,” Sabrina says. She feels better when she can go to queer pubs and clubs, where she is free to wear high heels, a skirt and make-up. It is unclear, though, whether these establishments will survive under the latest legislation. “We thought, sorry, but: how crap,” Sabrina says of the day the State Duma voted in favour of the stricter regulation. After that day, fear prompted some people she knows to immediately flee the country. The latest law is formulated so broadly that it can be applied to a whole range of activities, says Vladimir Komov, a lawyer for the Delo-LGBT+ group. It spans gay and lesbian love stories in films shown in cinemas, as well as photos shared in social networks. Large numbers of individuals are likely to be prosecuted under the law, especially at the start as officials seek to set an example, says Komov. “Everybody is panicking right now, so that’s an initial success for the authorities,” says Ekaterina Selezneva, his colleague. She says in future, films and books that feature queer people are not likely to be published or released, while clubs will be forced to go underground. Few will know about them, and they will only have “cash registers like on the black market.” Selezneva and Komov are sitting in a small office room located in a back courtyard, where they work representing members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, in short LGBTQ. On the lawyers’ wall is a rainbow poster, a symbol that vanished from public space in Russia long ago. People who come to them for support have often been blackmailed, robbed or beaten up. Komov and Selezneva say the increasing repression can be tied to Russia’s war on Ukraine, launched in February by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “An image of the enemy is created and then you can say: Look, we have defeated this enemy, and that means we can also defeat other enemies,” Selezneva says. Putin himself never misses an opportunity to mock homosexuality and transsexuality as signs of what he describes as “liberal Western depravity.” His attacks on minorities are often lauded by traditional, conservative Russians. The new law is just one aspect of the state’s broader expansion of censorship, Komov says, adding that he expects worse is ahead. “This step paves the way for the introduction of state censorship in other areas as well.” Konstantin, a gay filmmaker, also doubts that the Kremlin will stop with the latest law. Aged 39, he fled to Montenegro two months ago when hundreds of thousands of reservists were drafted for Russia’s war effort. He dares not return to his homeland, also due to the latest legal developments. “Stigmatizing a single section of society will inevitably lead to the ever-widening exclusion of those who don’t love as is expected, don’t talk as is expected, don’t think as is expected,” Konstantin says. “I think we can expect things that will be even more inhuman.” Few see hope ahead. “All this hatred will only stop when we have a new president,” says Sabrina. Once she graduates, she wants to emigrate next year – ideally to Germany. Lawyer Vladimir Komov in his Moscow office, where he fights for the dwindling rights of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more. Hannah Wagner/-/dpa Almost unnoticed abroad as the world focuses on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin is also cracking down on queer communities at home. Hannah Wagner/-/dpa Vladimir Komov (l) and his colleague Ekaterina Selezneva in their Moscow office where the two lawyers fight for Russia’s LGBTQI+ community, which faces growing repression due to new, ever tougher laws. Hannah Wagner/-/dpa Lawyers and activists say the situation for queer people in Russia, including Sabrina, a non-binary person, is likely to get worse amid tougher laws governing all portrayals of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more. Hannah Wagner/-/dpa View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Rian Johnson admitted it was a “very special privilege” to direct Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim in their final on-screen roles. The late stars – who died in October 2022 aged 96 and November 2021 aged 91 respectively – have a cameo in ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ and though the director admitted the pair only feature in a small scene, it meant a lot to him to work with the Hollywood greats. He said: “I don’t want to blow it up too much, it’s just one little fun moment that they have. “But what it meant for me, besides just how special it is to have both of them in the movie, it meant that I just got to spend 10 minutes with each of them to film this little moment. “Getting to meet them, getting to tell Angela Lansbury what her work meant to me, telling her about watching the filmed version of ‘Sweeney Todd’ that was on cable when I was a kid and how that really kind of started me loving musical theater… It felt like a very special privilege to get to do that.” The film isn’t a direct sequel to ‘Knives Out’ as Daniel Craig’s character, Detective Benoit Blanc, is investigating a new mystery with a different set of characters and Rian admitted he and his lead had such a great time making the first movie, they vowed at the time to keep making new installments. He told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “Coming off of the first one, Daniel and I, even when we were making it, we were having so much fun, we were like, ‘It’d be fun to keep doing these.’ “The idea was always to kind of take inspiration from what Agatha Christie did with her books, where it wasn’t a continuation of the last one, it wasn’t kind of just turning the crank on the same sort of thing. Christie really took huge different swings with every single book that she did in terms of not just the mechanics of the murder mystery, but also the setting, also the characters, and the themes, so that was kind of the starting point is just, let’s write a whole new movie that is the whole reason for being all it’s own.” But the filmmaker admitted the hardest part of crafting the sequel was “figuring out what’s your story.” He explained: “By that, I don’t mean the murder or the mystery or anything. “I mean, what is the thing that the audience is going to care about? The thing that’s going to actually keep their butts from getting numb, that’s going to keep them engaged and leaning forward — you want them leaning forward as opposed to leaning back and, like, stroking their chin.” View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – A congressional panel investigating Donald Trump and his supporters’ role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress issued its final report this week, urging federal prosecutors to charge the former president with four crimes, including obstruction and insurrection. Additionally, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee this week said some of Trump’s tax records showed his income and tax liability fluctuated dramatically in recent years, raising questions about the legitimacy of some of his deductions and about the Internal Revenue Services’ presidential audit program. The moves add to the host of legal threats facing Trump, who last month announced he will seek the White House again in 2024. Below are some of the ongoing investigations and lawsuits: U.S. CAPITOL ATTACK A special House of Representatives committee investigating the deadly 2021 assault by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol called on the Department of Justice to charge Trump with corruption of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and inciting or aiding an insurrection. Its request, which is non-binding, came as it also released its final 845-page report on Thursday concluding its nearly 18-month-long probe into the actions taken to try to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat, including when rioters sought to block Congress from certifying Trump’s loss. Trump has called the panel’s investigation a politically motivated sham. He also faces separate civil lawsuits over the riot. Only the Justice Department can decide whether to chargeTrump with federal crimes but the lawmakers’ referral may increase pressure on prosecutors to bring a criminal case against Trump and some of his allies. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland last month appointed former war crimes prosecutor Jack Smith to oversee the department’s investigation. MISSING GOVERNMENT RECORDS Smith has also been tasked with overseeing the Justice Department’s criminal investigation of Trump for retaining government records, including some marked as classified, after leaving office in January 2021. The FBI seized 11,000 documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lagoestate in Florida in a court-approved Aug. 8 search. About 100documents were marked as classified, and some were designatedtop secret, the highest level of classification. Trump, a Republican, has accused the Justice Department ofengaging in a partisan witch hunt. An independent arbiter had been tapped to review the seized documents to determine whether any are protected by executive privilege, as Trump has claimed, but a federal appeals court reversed the appointment in a Dec. 1 ruling backing the Justice Department’s challenge to the so-called special master. Executive privilege is a legal doctrine under which apresident can keep certain documents or information secret, but the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision restored federal authorities’ access to unclassified materialstaken in the search. Trump did not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL CIVIL LAWSUIT New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a civillawsuit filed in September that her office uncovered more than200 examples of misleading asset valuations by Trump and theTrump Organization between 2011 and 2021. James, a Democrat, accused Trump of inflating his net worthby billions of dollars to obtain lower interest rates on loansand get better insurance coverage. A New York judge ordered that an independent monitor beappointed to oversee the Trump Organization before the case goesto trial in October 2023. James is seeking to permanently bar Trump and his childrenDonald Jr., Eric and Ivanka Trump from running companies in NewYork state, and to prevent them and his company from buying newproperties and taking out new loans in the state for five years. James also wants the defendants to hand over about $250million that she says was obtained through fraud. Trump has called the attorney general’s lawsuit a witchhunt. A lawyer for Trump has called James’ claims meritless. James said her probe also uncovered evidence of criminalwrongdoing, which she referred to federal prosecutors and theInternal Revenue Service for investigation. DEFAMATION CASE E. Jean Carroll, a former Elle magazine writer, sued Trumpfor defamation in 2019 after he denied her allegation that heraped her in the 1990s in a New York City department store.Trump accused her of lying to drum up sales for a book. Trump appeared for a deposition in the case on Oct. 19,according to his and Carroll’s lawyers, with the trial scheduled to start April 10, 2023. Trump has argued that he is shielded from Carroll’s lawsuitby a federal law that immunizes government employees fromdefamation claims. The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals inSeptember said Trump was a federal employee when he calledCarroll a liar, but left open the question of whether he wasacting as president when he made the statement. A Washington appeals court will separately consider that question in oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10, 2023. Carroll in November also sued Trump for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress under New York state law. That case would continue even if the defamation lawsuit is dismissed, although Carroll has requested one trial combining the lawsuits. Trump is also seeking to have the battery case tossed out of court. GEORGIA ELECTION TAMPERING PROBE A special grand jury was empanelled in May for a Georgiaprosecutor’s inquiry into Trump’s alleged efforts to influencethat state’s 2020 election results. The investigation focuses in part on a phone call Trump madeto Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican,on Jan. 2, 2021. Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enoughvotes needed to overturn Trump’s election loss in Georgia. Legal experts said Trump may have violated at least threeGeorgia criminal election laws: conspiracy to commit electionfraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud andintentional interference with performance of election duties. Trump could argue that his discussions were constitutionallyprotected free speech. In a separate lawsuit, a California federal judge said onOct. 19 that Trump knowingly made false voter fraud claims in aGeorgia election lawsuit, citing emails the judge reviewed. NEW YORK CRIMINAL PROBE While Trump was not charged with wrongdoing, his real estate company was found guilty of tax fraud in New York state and now faces up to $1.6 million in fines. In a Dec. 6 decision, jurors convicted the Trump Organization, which operates hotels, golf courses and other real estate around the world, on three tax fraud charges and six other counts in the criminal case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. A Trump Organization lawyer has said it would appeal the decision, while Trump has defended his company’s operations. Allen Weisselberg, the company’s former chief financialofficer, pleaded guilty and was required to testify againstthe Trump Organization as part of his plea agreement. He is alsoa defendant in James’ civil lawsuit. Bragg also announced in December that he has hired a former senior Justice Department official who has investigated Trump to now investigate financial crimes for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which has been conducting a criminal probe into whether the Trump Organization inflated its assets. (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Jacqueline Thomsen and Susan Heavey in Washington; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) – An Arizona judge on Saturday rejected defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s effort to overturn the results of her election loss in the state’s governor race. The order by Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson was filed on Saturday. Lake was one of the most high-profile Republican candidates in the midterm elections to embrace former Republican President Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in 2020. Earlier this month, Lake sued Arizona elections officials to challenge the counting and certification of the November electoral contest and ask to be declared the winner despite a lack of evidence of voter fraud. Her lawsuit targeted Lake’s Democratic opponent, Governor-elect Katie Hobbs, currently Arizona’s secretary of state, along with top officials in Maricopa County. In November, Trump-backed Lake lost the governor’s race to Hobbs but refused to concede and continued making unconfirmed claims about election improprieties on her Twitter feed. The order on Saturday confirmed the election of Hobbs and said it did not find any “clear and convincing” evidence of misconduct that impacted the outcome of the election. Lake tweeted on Saturday that she would appeal the ruling. The findings in the order were in line with judgments against Abe Hamadeh and Mark Finchem, the unsuccessful Republican candidates for attorney general and secretary of state, respectively, who also challenged their losses. In her lawsuit, Lake had called on the state court to declare her the winner of the governor’s race, or alternatively throw out the results and require Maricopa County to conduct a new election. The suit claimed “hundreds of thousands of illegal ballots infected the election” in Maricopa, the state’s most populous county. Lake, a former television news anchor, was one of a string of Trump-aligned Republican candidates who lost battleground state races in the midterm elections. During her campaign, Lake vowed to ban the state’s mail-in voting, which conspiracy theorists falsely claimed was vulnerable to fraud, sowing distrust about the safety of a voting method used by hundreds of thousands of Americans. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Diane Craft) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega Almost one year after Whoopi Goldberg was suspended from her hosting gig on The View, she once again repeated her opinion that the Holocaust was not about race, but was an issue of “white on white violence.” The embattled television personality doubled down on the stance after being told that even Nazis agreed the genocide was about race. mega “Yes, but that’s the killer, isn’t it? The oppressor is telling you what you are. Why are you believing them? They’re Nazis,” she argued in an interview published on Saturday, December 24. “Why believe what they’re saying?” THE VIEW’S JOY BEHAR THROWS SHADE AT WHOOPI GOLDBERG FOR MINDLESS BEHAVIOR & ‘CHECKING OUT’ DURING PANEL DISCUSSION “Remember who they were killing first. They were not killing racial; they were killing physical,” Goldberg continued. “They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision.” mega The Ghost actress attempted to back up her controversial comments by insisting that Jewish people are not identifiable by skin color the way that Black people can be. THE VIEW’S WHOOPI GOLDBERG & JOY BEHAR GO HEAD-TO-HEAD IN HEATED ON-AIR MOMENT ABOUT JOE BIDEN “You could find me. You couldn’t find them,” she added. “That was the point I was making [on The View]. But you would have thought that I’d taken a big old stinky dump on the table, butt naked.” mega As OK! previously reported, Goldberg first voiced her hotly debated opinion on the Monday, January 31, episode of The View, and repeated her thoughts that night on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. “When you talk about being a racist, you can’t call this racism,” she said at the time. “This was evil. This wasn’t based on skin. You couldn’t tell who was Jewish. You had to delve deeply and figure it out. My point is: they had to do the work.” Despite her attempts at a social media apology, Goldberg was subsequently suspended from The View for two weeks. Following her return, the Star Trek actress promised fans that the panel would continue to discuss difficult topics on the show. “I listened to everything everybody had to say and I was very grateful and I hope it keeps all the important conversations happening because we’re going to keep having tough conversations,” she stated. “It’s not always pretty as I said and it’s not always what other people would like to hear, but it’s an honor to sit at the table and be able to have these conversations because they’re important.” Goldberg rehashed her beliefs about the Holocaust with The Sunday Times in a recent interview. View the full article

Published by Reuters KABUL (Reuters) -Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration on Saturday ordered all local and foreign NGOs to stop female employees from working, in a move the United Nations said would hit humanitarian operations just as winter grips a country already in economic crisis. A letter from the economy ministry, confirmed by spokesperson Abdulrahman Habib, said female employees of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were not allowed to work until further notice because some had not adhered to the administration’s interpretation of Islamic dresscode for women. It comes days after the administration ordered universities to close to women, prompting global condemnation and sparking some protests and heavy criticism inside Afghanistan. Both decisions are the latest restrictions on women that are likely to undermine the Taliban-run administration’s efforts to gain international recognition and clear sanctions that are severely hampering the economy. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter he was “deeply concerned” the move “will disrupt vital and life-saving assistance to millions,” adding: “Women are central to humanitarian operations around the world. This decision could be devastating for the Afghan people.” Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. deputy special representative for Afghanistan and humanitarian coordinator, told Reuters that although the U.N. had not received the order, contracted NGOs carried out most of its activities and would be heavily impacted. “Many of our programmes will be affected,” he said, because they need female staff to assess humanitarian need and identify beneficiaries, otherwise they will not be able to implement aid programs. International aid agency AfghanAid said it was immediately suspending operations while it consulted with other organisations, and that other NGOs were taking similar actions. The potential endangerment of aid programmes that millions of Afghans access comes when more than half the population relies on humanitarian aid, according to aid agencies, and during the mountainous nation’s coldest season. “There’s never a right time for anything like this … but this particular time is very unfortunate because during winter time people are most in need and Afghan winters are very harsh,” said Alakbarov. He said his office would consult with NGOs and U.N. agencies on Sunday and seek to meet with Taliban authorities for an explanation. Aid workers say female workers are essential in a country where rules and cultural customs largely prevent male workers from delivering aid to female beneficiaries. “An important principle of delivery of humanitarian aid is the ability of women to participate independently and in an unimpeded way in its distribution so if we can’t do it in a principled way then no donors will be funding any programs like that,” Alakbarov said. When asked whether the rules directly included U.N. agencies, Habib said the letter applied to organisations under Afghanistan’s coordinating body for humanitarian organisations, known as ACBAR. That body does not include the U.N., but includes over 180 local and international NGOs. Their licences would be suspended if they did not comply, the letter said. Afghanistan’s struggling economy has tipped into crisis since the Taliban took over in 2021, with the country facing sanctions, cuts in development aid and a freeze in central bank assets. A record 28 million Afghans are estimated to need humanitarian aid next year, according to AfghanAid. (Reporting by Kabul newsroom; additional reporting by Susan Heavey in WashingtonEditing by Mark Potter and Josie Kao) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Talk about a dirty job! Convicted fraudster Todd Chrisley might bedown in the dumps come the new year, with RadarOnline.com discovering the Chrisley Knows Best star could make as little as 12 cents per hour if he’s on toilet duty in prison. Federal Bureau of Prisons told RadarOnline.com that inmates’ hourly rates are broken up into “four different pay grade levels — $0.12, $0.17, $0.29, and $0.40,” with bathroom duty being the low man on the totem pole. Incarceration will already be hard for Chrisley — who was convicted of defrauding banks out of $30 million and committing tax fraud alongside his wife, Julie Chrisley, in June — but can he stomach scrubbing his prison pals’ feces off porcelain thrones? Mega He might not have a choice when he turns himself in at FPC Pensacola to start his 12-year sentence on January 17. We’re told Chrisley’s first tasks as a newbie at the Florida prison will likely be to clean bathrooms or wash dishes. He’ll only earn between 12 to 40 cents per hour for the grueling task. “Sentenced inmates who are physically and mentally able to work are required to participate in the work program,” the Inmate Work and Performance Pay rules read. RadarOnline.com has learned that Chrisley’s work schedule will consist of a minimum of 7 hours. He “is expected to report to the place of assignment at the required time” and he “may not leave an assignment without permission.” If the faith-based father refuses to work, “disciplinary action may be taken.” Mega Todd and Julie are gearing up to celebrate their last Christmas before becoming inmates, with the married couple leaning on their family, religion, and therapy in the final weeks leading up to prison. The duo could be up to three hours away from each other once they report to separate facilities next month, but they will still be able to communicate. Mega This outlet told you first — Todd and Julie will be able to write letters, send emails, and possibly mail each other packages behind bars, with their wardens’ approvals. While the Chrisley patriarch might have to hold his breath due to stinky toilets, prison might be a breeze for Julie — if she gets her way. View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA Singer Ricky Martin has cut off his family to protect himself from any more unwelcome surprises after a nephew blindsided the Grammy winner with abuse and incest accusations, RadarOnline.com has learned. As RadarOnline.com previously reported, earlier this year, the 21-year-old nephew Dennis Yadiel Sanchez accused Martin of a 7-month romantic relationship. MEGA He claimed Martin had become obsessed with him and began stalking him after the relationship ended. The entertainer denied the accusations and said the relative made up the allegations. The nephew eventually dismissed his court case against Martin. At the time, the star’s lawyers said, “The request came from the accuser asking to dismiss the case. This was never anything more than a troubled individual making false allegations with absolutely nothing to substantiate them. We are glad that our client saw justice done and can now move forward with his life and his career.” In September, Martin filed a $20 million lawsuit against Sanchez accusing his alleged lies of costing him multi-million deals. Sources said that while he continues his fight in court, he isn’t taking any chances with the possibility relatives could use lawsuits to make a desperate money grab. MEGA “Everyone talks about what happens to someone when they become famous,” dished a source. “No one talks about what happens to a famous person’s family, when suddenly one person is a multimillionaire with great power.” “Ricky was always very generous with his family. He was the cash cow and made sure everyone benefited from his success,” the source spilled. “However, after the ugly accusations made by his half-sister’s son, Ricky has put up walls.” “It’s awful, but now Ricky can’t trust anyone anymore, not even his family!” the source added. As RadarOnline.com previously reported, following his nephew’s case being filed, Martin released a lengthy statement via his attorney Marty Singer. MEGA “Ricky Martin has, of course, never been — and would never be — involved in any kind of sexual or romantic relationship with his nephew,” he said. “The idea is not only untrue, it is disgusting. We all hope that this man gets the help he so urgently needs. But, most of all, we look forward to this awful case being dismissed as soon as a judge gets to look at the facts.” View the full article

Published by DPA King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands visits the Humboldt Forum. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands on Sunday welcomed the apology for slavery made by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the beginning of the week. Fabian Sommer/dpa King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands on Sunday welcomed the apology for slavery made by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the beginning of the week. No one alive in the Netherlands could be blamed for the inhumanity perpetrated on men, women and children in the former colonies of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander said during his Christmas Day address to the nation. “But by viewing our joint history in an honest way and by acknowledging the crime against humanity that slavery was, we are however laying the foundations for a joint future,” the king said. In his government address on Monday, Rutte expressed apologies on behalf of the country for the crimes around 150 years after slavery was abolished in Dutch colonies. Its effects remain visible up to the present, he said. The Dutch government plans to confront the country’s slavery history, with 2023 declared as a year of commemoration. Willem-Alexander said the royal house would participate actively in this. The aim was to oppose all forms of discrimination, exploitation and injustice, he said. The Netherlands is believed to have enslaved an estimated 600,000 people before abolishing slavery officially on July 1, 1863, as one of the last European nations to do so. View the full article

Published by Reuters By David Ljunggren (Reuters) – Ukrainians will create their own miracle this Christmas by showing they remain unbowed despite Russian attacks that have plunged millions into darkness, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a defiant message on Saturday. Speaking 10 months to the day since Russian launched a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions more, Zelenskiy said that while freedom came at a high price, slavery would cost even more. “We endured at the beginning of the war – we withstood attacks, threats, nuclear blackmail, terror, missile strikes. We will endure this winter because we know what we are fighting for,” he said. Relentless Russian missile and drone attacks since October have caused massive damage to the power-generating system, regularly leaving major cities without water and heat. Zelenskiy made his remarks in a video address to Ukrainians who celebrate Christmas in December. Most Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians and mark the occasion in early January. “Even in complete darkness, we will find each other to hug each other tightly. And if there is no heat, we will embrace each other for a long time to warm one another,” he said. “We will smile and be happy, as always. There is one difference – we will not wait for a miracle, since we are creating it ourselves.” The clip, which lasted just under nine minutes, was filmed outside at night with just a few white lights and a Christmas tree in the background. Zelenskiy noted Ukrainian troops were fighting battles in the eastern Donbas region while others were in exile both home and abroad, having fled the Russians. “We have been fighting them for more than 300 days and eight years. Will we allow them to achieve what they want?” he said, referring to Russia’s 2014 occupation of Crimea. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler) View the full article

Published by Reuters KABUL (Reuters) -Four international aid agencies including Save the Children said on Sunday they were suspending their humanitarian programmes in Afghanistan in response to the Taliban-run administration’s order to stop female employees from working. The administration on Saturday ordered all local and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) not to let female staff work until further notice. It said the move, which was condemned globally, was justified because some women had not adhered to the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic dress code for women. Three NGOs – Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International – said in a joint statement that they were suspending their programmes as they awaited clarity on the administration’s order. “We cannot effectively reach children, women and men in desperate need in Afghanistan without our female staff,” the statement said, adding that, without women driving the effort, they would not have reached millions of Afghans in need since August last year. Separately, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in a statement that it was suspending its services in the country, citing similar reasons. IRC said it employs more than 8,000 people in Afghanistan, over 3,000 of whom are women. The suspension of some aid programmes that millions of Afghans access comes at a time when more than half the population relies on humanitarian aid, according to aid agencies, and during the mountainous nation’s coldest season. Save the Children, Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International also highlighted the effect of the ban on female staff on thousands more jobs in the midst of an economic crisis. Earlier, international aid agency AfghanAid said it was immediately suspending operations while it consulted with other organisations, and that other NGOs were taking similar actions. The International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan also on Sunday expressed concern at the move and an earlier bar on women from attending university, warning of “catastrophic humanitarian consequences in the short to long term”. ‘OBLIGED TO COMPLY’ A spokesman for the Taliban administration, Zabihullah Mujahid, hit back at the criticism, saying all institutions wanting to operate in Afghanistan are obliged to comply with the rules of the country. “We do not allow anyone to talk rubbish or make threats regarding the decisions of our leaders under the title of humanitarian aid,” Mujahid said in a post on Twitter, referring to a statement by the head of U.S. Mission to Afghanistan. Chargé d’Affaires Karen Decker had taken to Twitter to question how the Taliban planned to prevent hunger among women and children following the ban. She pointed out that the United States was the largest humanitarian aid donor to the country. (Reporting by Kabul Newsroom; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Hugh Lawson) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Busloads of migrants were dropped over Christmas weekend near Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington amid freezing temperatures, having traveled from the southwest border in Texas, immigrant aid groups said on Sunday. Approximately 110-130 of the migrants seeking asylum in the United States, many of them families with children, were placed on buses by Texas officials, said Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, a relief agency working with the city of Washington, D.C. She said by phone that aid groups had been informed of their journey and awaited their arrival late on Saturday to hand out blankets and then transport them to a church in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Aides to Texas Governor Greg Abbott were not available to comment on whether the state coordinated their transportation. The Republican governor, a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s immigration policies, and some other Republican governors have been transporting migrants to Democratic-controlled cities in the northern United States. Texas has bused thousands of migrants to Washington, New York City and Chicago, in what some critics have labeled a stunt amid a national debate over the high levels of immigrant arrivals along the U.S. southern border. Laborde said that in the past week, nine busloads of migrants have been dropped off in Washington. “Lately, what we’ve been seeing is an increase in people from Ecuador and Colombia,” Laborde said. Previously, many Venezuelans had been arriving by bus, she added. Many of the most recent arrivals, Laborde said, are now attempting to go to New York or New Jersey where they have relatives or other community support. (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) -Thousands of residents were without power near Tacoma, Washington, after three electrical substations were vandalized, local authorities said on Sunday, adding that it was not yet clear if the Christmas Day incidents were linked. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said robberies were reported at two substations belonging to Tacoma Public Utilities and another belonging to Puget Sound Energy. Deputies cited forced entry into the fenced-in area, with equipment vandalized but nothing taken from the sites, it said. More than 14,000 customers were affected. “At this time deputies are conducting the initial investigation. We do not have any suspects in custody. It is unknown if there are any motives or if this was a coordinated attack on the power systems,” the department said in a statement on its website. Earlier this month, a utility in North Carolina reported outages from what local authorities said were orchestrated shootings now being investigated by federal law enforcement. The FBI has also been investigating shots fired near a power facility in South Carolina days later, and whether those two incidents could be related, NBC News and other local media have reported. Utilities nationwide have been strained by a severe cold weather system that swept across the country this week, leaving more than 300,000 without power from the winter storm. In east Piece County, about 2,700 people serviced by Tacoma Public Utilities remained affected midday on Sunday after an initial 7,300 residents lost power in the area, about 45 miles (72 km) south of Seattle, Tacoma Public Utilities said in a post on Twitter. “We are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power,” it said, noting that its substations “were attacked” earlier on Sunday morning and that the incidents were reported to police. Representatives for Puget Sound Energy could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Leslie Adler) View the full article

Published by The Street By Michael Tedder Transportation Secretary is monitoring how the airline industry handles severe weather during the holiday travel season. As soon as Pete Buttigieg was appointed Transportation Secretary, the one-time Presidential candidate made it clear he had no intention whatsoever of coddling the airline industry. The man once known as Mayor Pete has been especially gloves off this year, sending a letter to the airlines that the recent spat of cancellations and delays were unacceptable. These aren’t just numbers,” Buttigieg said in the letter. “These are missed birthday, parties, graduatio… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Miley Cyrus will be joined by ‘Saturday Night Live’ stars Chloe Fineman and Sarah Sherman on her New Year’s Eve special. The ‘Wrecking Ball’ hitmaker’s end-of-year NBC extravaganza, ‘Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party’, will also feature performances from the band Liily and singer Fletcher, it has been announced. In addition, ‘Please Don’t Destroy’ comedy trio Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy will also be joining in the fun. The stars join previously-revealed performers Sia, Latto and Rae Sremmurd in appearing on the show, which Miley will co-host with her godmother Dolly Parton this year. The 2021 special – the ‘We Can’t Stop’ singer’s first – was co-hosted with Pete Davidson, but he will not be involved this year. Miley previously teased the guest list for the programme was “very me”. She added: “It is curated in a way that makes no sense, but makes total sense.” Meanwhile, Dolly recently spoke of her excitement at joining her goddaughter for the show. She said: “We’re going to be doing some skits. I know that anything can happen live with the two of us. “I’m sure we’ll be wearing some bizarre costumes and we’ll be singing some serious songs, some fun songs [and] we’ll be bringing in the new year in fun fashion, I’m sure. “I’m looking forward to that and being in Miami at that time of year. When she first asked me, when she talked about doing the New Year’s show I thought it might be from New York and I wasn’t gonna do it ’cause I didn’t want to get that cold, you know. “She said, ‘No, that’s why I don’t do it in New York. That’s why I’m going to Miami.’ So, we’re gonna do it there, so that should be a lot of fun. I’ve never spent much time in Miami.” Miley and ‘Saturday Night Live’ showrunner Lorne Michaels will executive produce the special, which will be recorded live from Florida. View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA Singer Cher’s relationship with her new boyfriend Alexander “AE” Edwards has gotten so serious she’s talking marriage, RadarOnline.com has learned. Sources reveal that Cher, 76, is planning to march her new 36-year-old boytoy down the aisle in a star-studded ceremony before it’s too late to turn back time. Although the pop icon has only been dating music exec AE for a few months, insiders say she’s raring up to wed him ASAP — even though his ex, 39-year-old Amber Rose, previously claimed that he was a serial cheater and Cher’s friends fear the Dark Lady is making a big mistake. “Cher is head over heels in love,” spilled a source. “She knows she doesn’t have much time left anymore to find ‘the one’ and after two failed marriages and countless disastrous boyfriends, this could be her LAST chance and she isn’t going to let it pass her by.” MEGA “Of course, her friends are worried. Whenever there is a 40-year-old and $400 million gap between two people, you have concerns!” At least there will be an iron-clad prenuptial agreement in place, sources dished. “She isn’t stupid,” said a source. Cher and her new guy first met at Paris Fashion Week in September and have been inseparable ever since. “On paper, it’s kind of ridiculous,” Cher admitted. “But in real life, we get along great.” As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Cher’s friends have grown extremely concerned about the romance in the past couple of weeks. Friends have reportedly been urging her to dump AE and move on. “Cher has a lot of people worried for her right now,” said a source. “She’s saying it’s her business who she dates and she’ll make her own decisions, but the warning signs are there for everyone to see.” MEGA Insiders said Cher has been “blindsided” by love and many are concerned that she’s fallen too fast. “Cher’s in way over her head as far as the vast majority of her friends are concerned,” said one insider. “They want her to see this for what it is, a fun winter fling. They don’t want her to get carried away. View the full article

Published by OK Magazine @markwahlberg/instagram There are no days off for Mark Wahlberg! The Ted actor, 51, gave his fans an early Christmas present on Thursday, December 22, showing off his wildly fit physique and flexing his huge muscles for all of Instagram to drool over. @markwahlberg/instagram “Getting ready for the Christmas holiday,” Wahlberg explained in the clip as he stared at his chiseled body in the mirror. “We gotta put in that work.” MARK WAHLBERG POSTS DROOL WORTHY PHOTO OF HIS CHISELED BODY People in the comment section could not believe how in shape the Boston native is, with one user writing, “Wowzuh the man’s shreds got shreds.” “It’s like every muscle has a mind of its own….truly dope,” another noted of his bod, while an additional user penned, “I’ve been eating oatmeal like everyday and I still don’t have these kinds of muscles .” @markwahlberg/instagram The Max Payne star seemed to be keeping up his intense workout routine despite recently packing up his family, which includes his wife of 13 years, Rhea Durham, and their children, Ella, 18, Michael, 16, Brendan, 13, and Grace, 12, and ditching Hollywood for a much quieter life in Nevada. “I want to be able to work from home,” Wahlberg, who sold his sprawling California estate for $90 million, said during a Tuesday October 11, appearance on CBS’s The Talk. “I moved to California many years ago to pursue acting, and I’ve only made a couple of movies in the entire time that I was there.” JAMES CORDEN STRUGGLES THROUGH MARK WAHLBERG’S INSANE 4AM WORKOUT @markwahlberg/instagram “So, to be able to give my kids a better life and follow and pursue their dreams whether it be my daughter as an equestrian, my son as a basketball player, my younger son as a golfer, this made a lot more sense for us,” he explained of maintaining a better work/life balance. “We came here to just kind of give ourselves a new look, a fresh start for the kids, and there’s a lot of opportunity here,” the hunk said of their new life in Summerlin, Nev. “I’m really excited about the future.” The family left behind a stunning 12 bedroom, 20 bathroom residence — which also includes a wine cellar, a five-hole golf course, a tennis court, a skate park and even a private guest house. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Rich McKay and Gabriella Borter (Reuters) -Arctic cold extended its grip over much of the United States on Friday, combining with snow, ice and howling winds from a deadly winter storm roaring out of the Midwest to disrupt energy supplies and thwart travel for millions of Americans ahead of the holiday weekend. The extreme winter weather, which prompted city authorities across the country to open warming centers in libraries and police stations while scrambling to expand temporary shelter for the homeless, was blamed for at least five deaths on Friday. A 50-vehicle pileup on the Ohio Turnpike in a blizzard near Toledo killed two motorists, injured numerous others and shut down both lanes of the highway, state police reported. Stranded motorists were evacuated by bus to keep them from freezing in their cars in sub-zero temperatures, according to the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department. Three weather-related fatalities were confirmed in neighboring Kentucky – two from car accidents and one a homeless person who died of exposure. “Please stay home and stay safe,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on Twitter, announcing the deaths. With the deep freeze stretching from Montana to Texas as it crept eastward, some 240 million people – more than two-thirds of the U.S. population – were under winter weather warnings and advisories on Friday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. The map of existing or impending wintry hazards “depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever,” the NWS said. ‘I GUESS IT’S COLD OUT’ The nation’s coldest spot on Friday was the remote northern Montana town of Havre near the Canadian border, where the mercury had risen from a low of 38 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 39 C) to minus 20 just before noon, the NWS reported. “It’s been colder, but yeah, I guess it’s cold out,” Tyler Schaub, the manager of Rod’s Drive Inn, acknowledged as he was flipping burgers on the grill. “We’re used to it, but even then it’s best not to stay outside too long.” Numbing cold intensified by high winds extended through the Deep South to the U.S.-Mexico border, plunging wind chill factors to single digits Fahrenheit (minus 18 to minus 13 Celsius) in the border city of El Paso, Texas. Exposure to such conditions can cause frostbite within minutes. Hard-freeze warnings were posted in southern Georgia and across much of all four Gulf Coast states – Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. Farther north, the storm system produced blinding snow from the northern Plains and Great Lakes region to the upper Mississippi Valley, the Ohio Valley, western New York state and mountains of the northern and central Appalachians. The storm front pushed into New England, where wind-driven surf caused coastal flooding. SHELTER, ENERGY, FLIGHTS The extreme weather added to a humanitarian crisis in numerous cities facing an influx of migrants who have crossed the U.S. southern border by the thousands in recent weeks and lack permanent shelter. Their plight has added to local agencies scrambling to get people off the streets as the arctic blast arrived. The household routines and holiday plans of ordinary Americans were likewise disrupted just days before Christmas. With the nation’s energy systems strained by rising demand for heat and by storm-related damage to transmission lines, as many as 1.5 million U.S. homes and businesses were left without power on Friday, according to tracking site Poweroutage.us. Heating and energy prices spiked as inclement weather forced energy production cuts and bone-chilling cold drove demand higher. Severe winds, ice and snow upended commercial air traffic during one of the busiest travel periods of the year. More than 5,200 U.S. flights were canceled on Friday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Nearly 700 flights into or out of Seattle’s major airport were axed as a separate storm system brought ice and freezing rain to the Pacific Northwest. The American Automobile Association (AAA) had estimated that 112.7 million people planned to travel 50 miles (80 km) or more from home between Friday and Jan. 2. That number was likely to drop due to treacherous weather complicating air and road travel going into the weekend. The city of Buffalo and its surrounding county on the edge of Lake Erie in western New York imposed a driving ban, and all three Buffalo-area border crossing bridges were closed to inbound traffic from Canada due to the weather. “If there’s any good news, it’s that the storm has moved quickly over some areas,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told MSNBC on Friday. Last-minute holiday gift purchases may also have slim chances of reaching their destinations by Christmas. FedEx, United Parcel Service, the U.S. Postal Service and Amazon.com all alerted customers that severe weather was disrupting key operations in Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, the Dakotas and other areas hard-hit by bitter cold and blizzards. Weather forecasters said the massive storm over the Midwest had materialized into a “bomb cyclone” – a phenomenon caused by a drastic, rapid drop in atmospheric pressure that forms a kind of cold-weather hurricane. While some areas downwind from the Great Lakes received a foot or more of snow on Friday, “the big story wasn’t so much the falling snow but the blowing snow,” weather service meteorologist Brian Hurley said. (Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Gabriella Borter in New York; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Tim Reid, Lisa Baertlein, Erwin Seba, Susan Heavey, Laila Kearney, Alyson McClaren and Scott DiSavino; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Aleksandra Michalska, Aurora Ellis and William Mallard) View the full article

Published by The Street By Veronika Bondarenko New York City is opening its first legal marijuana dispensary this month. Even after legalization, it takes a while for marijuana in a given state to be sold in stores like any other age-restricted item — while Colorado has over 1,000 retail and medical marijuana stores across the state, New York has not had a single official store despite legalizing medical cannabis in 2016 and recreational in the spring of 2021. This is, in large part, due to time it takes to work out the licensing rules and other red tape around taking something that was very recently still illegal o… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Kenneth Li, Paresh Dave and Sheila Dang NEW YORK (Reuters) -Twitter Inc has restored a feature that promotes suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources to users looking up certain content, after coming under pressure from some users and consumer safety groups over its removal. Reuters reported on Friday that the feature was taken down a few days ago, citing two people familiar with the matter, who said the removal was ordered by the social media platform’s new owner Elon Musk. After publication of the story, Twitter head of trust and safety Ella Irwin confirmed the removal and called it temporary. Twitter was “fixing relevance, optimizing the size of the message prompts and correcting outdated prompts,” Irwin said in an email to Reuters. “We know they are useful and our intent was not to have them down permanently.” About 15 hours after the initial report, Musk, who did not initially respond to requests for comment, tweeted “False, it is still there.” In response to criticism by Twitter users, he also tweeted “Twitter doesn’t prevent suicide.” The feature, known as #ThereIsHelp, places a banner at the top of search results for certain topics. It has listed contacts for support organizations in many countries related to mental health, HIV, vaccines, child sexual exploitation, COVID-19, gender-based violence, natural disasters and freedom of expression. By Saturday, the banner returned to searches about suicide and domestic violence in multiple countries under terms like “shtwt,” shorthand for “self-harm Twitter.” Whether the feature had been restored for other categories was not clear. The feature was not appearing for some search queries that Twitter has previously said triggered it, such as “#HIV.” Irwin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. Twitter bans users from encouraging self-harm, though consumer safety groups have criticized the company for allowing posts that they say violate the policy. On Saturday, tweets showing graphic imagery of people cutting their arms appeared beneath banners on searches for self-harm. The disappearance of #ThereIsHelp had led some consumer safety groups and Twitter users to express concerns about the well-being of vulnerable users of the platform. In part due to pressure from such groups, internet services including Twitter, Alphabet’s Google and Meta’s Facebook have for years tried to direct users to well-known resource providers for safety issues. In her email on Friday, Twitter’s Irwin said, “Google does really well with these in their search results and (we) are actually mirroring some of their approach with the changes we are making.” She added, “Google provides highly relevant message prompts based on search terms, they are always current and are optimized appropriately for both mobile and web.” Eirliani Abdul Rahman, who had been on a recently dissolved Twitter content advisory group, said the disappearance of #ThereIsHelp was “extremely disconcerting” and that completely removing a feature to revamp it was unusual. (Reporting by Kenneth Li in New York, Sheila Dang in Dallas, Paresh Dave in Oakland, and Fanny Potkin in Singapore; Editing by Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine Gary C. Caskey/UPI Photos/Newscom/MEGA; David Zalubowski/AP/Shutterstock For 22 years, the murder of JonBenét Ramsey has gripped the world. That she was just six years old is tragic enough, but the circumstances surrounding her death are even more horrifying. For the past several weeks, the hit podcast The Killing of JonBenét: The Final Suspects has been following a brand-new investigation into one of America’s most heinous unsolved murders – in an attempt to finally secure justice for JonBenét. As OK! readers know, the child beauty queen was found in the basement of her family home in Boulder, Colorado, on December 26, 1996, eight hours after she was reported missing. Her skull had been smashed and a garrote placed around her neck. It’s unclear which proved fatal – strangulation or the blow to her head, but what remains is the fact is that over two decades after her death the little girl’s killer is still at large. While the initial investigation was flawed, with police and prosecutorial misconduct, as well as widespread evidence tampering, the current investigation remains mired in doubt and misinformation. Someone had to find out the truth. John Dickerson/UPI Photos/Newscom/MEGA Now, for the first time, one of the most thorough investigations into the murder ever conducted is being shared with podcast listeners. A team of internationally renowned criminal investigators and journalists, experts and lawyers worked under the direction of JonBenét’s own father John Ramsey, his family and closest friends. Together, the team sifted through scores of new tips and leads, pored over never-before-seen crime scene evidence, searched through hundreds of pages of evidence, and conducted many exclusive new interviews. And it’s not too late to join the thrilling investigation. Catch up with the first half of the series in this OK! gallery. And listen to new episodes of The Killing of JonBenét: The Final Suspects every Monday through March 16 wherever you get your podcasts. Episode 1: Christmas Tragedy Christmas evening 1996 was a festive night in Boulder, Colorado. But by the early hours of the next morning, Dec. 26, The Ramsey’s posh home would become an unimaginable house of horrors. Shortly before 6 a.m., Mom Patsy discovered a two-and-a-half-page ransom note on the back hallway stairs demanding $118,000 for the return her adorable daughter. In a state of shock and disbelief, she searched the child’s empty bedroom and called 911. Within minutes, police, family and friends swarmed the house, contaminating the crime scene. David Zalubowski/AP/Shutterstock John Ramsey prepared to pay the ransom, then at 1 p.m. made another desperate search to see if anything was “amiss.” He went to the basement and opened the door, making a grisly discovery: the lifeless, sexually abused body of his beauty pageant princess. Two theories emerged: a possible intruder or a family member. Police suspicions immediately focused on the family, primarily mom Patsy. But why would a good Christian woman want to harm her beautiful child?’ Episode 2: The Case Against the Ramseys All of the evidence against John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey is investigated in great detail. Could one — or perhaps all of them — be responsible for JonBenét’s death? Ric Feld/AP/Shutterstock The podcast features arguments from those convinced of their guilt, as well as detailed evidence from investigators who believe they are victims of police harassment, cover-ups, and a 23-year smear campaign. Episode 3: A Father’s Anguish In an exclusive interview, John Ramsey tells all about the worst morning of his life, as well as new details about the family life he, Patsy, JonBenét and son Burke enjoyed, and the decades of suspicion he has endured as prime suspect for the killing of his daughter. He addresses the inconsistencies in his own accounts of that Christmas night and Boxing Day, and outlines his own efforts to find JonBenét’s killer. Episode 4: Narrowing Down Suspects While the Boulder Police Department suspected a family killer, the District Attorney’s office leaned toward the intruder theory. Early suspects included a kindly older man who played Santa Claus for the Ramsey’s two years in a row, the housekeeper who continued to work for the family, and a local who died soon after the little girl’s murder as a questionable “suicide.” Dozens of DNA tests were performed. But still police had no leads. That was until ten years later when a 41-year old former elementary school teacher claimed he murdered JonBenét. Rungroj Yongrit/EPA/Shutterstock Arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, he confessed he drugged, sexually assaulted and accidentally killed the little princess. Many of the details in his statement were publicly known facts. On other points he was just wrong. He said he hung her up by her wrists but there was no evidence of that. Police also doubted his story because no drugs were found in her body. The podcast discusses these famous suspects and explains why those names are easy to rule out. The search for a killer continues, and the list of possible suspects has grown. Episode 5: New Leads Over the more than two decades since her tragic murder, leads have been followed to dead ends, rumors have circulated, and the internet has exploded with suspicions. But does one particular JonBenét expert really hold the key to solving this mystery once and for all? Episode 6: Alleged Business Grudges One of the suspects discussed in the podcast is a man from Boulder who may have had a motive to kill JonBenét, related to an alleged grudge with JonBenét’s father John Ramsey. His dark past is uncovered, along with his whereabouts the night JonBenét died. Paul Aikens/UPI Photos/Newscom/MEGA Also explored is the strange world of child beauty pageants that Patsy and JonBenét were such a big part of. Are they a pedophile’s playground? How aware of the dangers were the Ramseys? Episode 7: A Bone to Pick More names of possible killers are investigated, while a startling discovery could change everything. In the remaining episodes, more suspects are investigated, as well as a deep look into perhaps the most well-known and notorious aspect of the whole JonBenét mystery: her participation in child beauty pageants. Did those pageants put her at risk from potential abusers? And is her murderer to be found in that community? Thibault Camus/AP/Shutterstock New episodes of The Killing of JonBenét: The Final Suspects are released every Monday through March 16, wherever you get your podcasts. Episode 1: Christmas Tragedy David Zalubowski/AP/Shutterstock Christmas evening 1996 was a festive night in Boulder, Colorado. But by the early hours of the next morning, Dec. 26, The Ramsey’s posh home would become an unimaginable house of horrors. Shortly before 6 am, mom Patsy discovered a two-and-a-half-page ransom note on the back hallway stairs demanding $118,000 for the return her adorable daughter. In a state of shock and disbelief, she searched the child’s empty bedroom and called 911. Within minutes, police, family and friends swarmed the house, contaminating the crime scene. John Ramsey prepared to pay the ransom then at 1 pm made another desperate search to see if anything was “amiss.”. He went to the basement and opened the door, making a grisly discovery: the lifeless, sexually abused body of his beauty pageant princess. Two theories emerged: a possible intruder or a family member. Police suspicions immediately focused on the family, primarily mom Patsy. But why would a good Christian woman want to harm her beautiful child? Episode 2: The Case Against The Ramsey’s Ric Feld/AP/Shutterstock All of the evidence against John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey is investigated in great detail. Could one – or perhaps all of them – be responsible for JonBenét’s death? We hear arguments from those convinced of their guilt… as well as detailed evidence from investigators who believe they are victims of police harassment, cover-ups, and a 23-year smear campaign. Episode 3: A Father’s Anguish David Zalubowski/AP/Shutterstock In an exclusive interview, John Ramsey tells all about the worst morning of his life, as well as new details about the family life he, Patsy, JonBenét and son Burke enjoyed… and the decades of suspicion he has endured as prime suspect for the killing of his daughter. He addresses the inconsistencies in his own accounts of that Christmas night and Boxing Day, and outlines his own efforts to find JonBenét’s killer. Episode 4: Narrowing Down Suspects Rungroj Yongrit/EPA/Shutterstock While the Boulder Police Department suspected a family killer, the District Attorney’s office leaned toward the intruder theory. Early suspects included a kindly older man who played Santa Claus for the Ramsey’s two years in a row, the housekeeper who continued to work for the family, and a local who died soon after the little girl’s murder as a questionable “suicide.” Dozens of DNA tests were performed. But still police had no leads. That was until ten years later when a 41-year old former elementary school teacher claimed he murdered JonBenét. Arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, he confessed he drugged, sexually assaulted and accidently killed the little princess. Many of the details in his statement were publicly known facts. On other points he was just wrong. He said he hung her up by her wrists but there was no evidence of that. Police also doubted his story because no drugs were found in her body. We quickly discuss these most famous suspects and why those names are easy to rule out. The search for a killer continued. And the list of possible suspects grew. Episode 5: New Leads John Dickerson/UPI Photos/Newscom/MEGA Over the more than two decades since her tragic murder, leads have been followed to dead ends, rumors have circulated, and the internet has exploded with suspicions. But does one particular JonBenét expert really hold the key to solving this mystery once and for all? Episode 6: Alleged Business Grudges Thibault Camus/AP/Shutterstock One of the suspects discussed in the podcast is a man from Boulder who may have had a motive to kill JonBenét, related to an alleged grudge with JonBenét’s father John Ramsey. His dark past is uncovered, along with his whereabouts the night JonBenét died. Also explored is the strange world of child beauty pageants that Patsy and JonBenét were such a big part of. Are they a pedophile’s playground? How aware of the dangers were the Ramseys? Episode 7: A Bone To Pick Paul Aikens/UPI Photos/Newscom/MEGA More names of possible killers are investigated, while a startling discovery could change everything. Future Episodes Thibault Camus/AP/Shutterstock In the remaining episodes, more suspects are investigated, as well as a deep look into perhaps the most well-known – and notorious – aspect of the whole JonBenét mystery – her participation in child beauty pageants. Did those pageants put her at risk from potential abusers? And is her murderer to be found in that community? New episodes of The Killing of JonBenét: The Final Suspects are released every Monday through March 16 wherever you get your podcasts. View the full article

Published by Raw Story WASHINGTON — It wasn’t just Trump. The Republican National Committee assisted the former president’s campaign in spreading lies as it shook down millions of party donors for cash using “violent,” “threatening,” and “inflammatory” language in the wake of knowingly losing the 2020 election, according to the Jan. 6 committee. The ruthless tactics employed were too much for a whistleblower and even some in Trump world. But, after losing the election, “the Trump Campaign and the RNC had three of their largest fundraising days of the 2020 election cycle” which netted them more than $100 million. Sal… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story A Trump-loving lawmaker on Friday reportedly got testy with Capitol police after they stopped an aide from filming a video of him. According to CNN’s Manu Raju, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) “lashed out” at the police after they told his aide that he was filming in a prohibited area. “It’s disgraceful!” he yelled at the officers who stopped the aide from filming the video. Raju asked Rosendale why he was berating the Capitol police officers, and he simply walked away and said, “I got better things to do.” READ MORE: Nevada’s GOP secretary of state blew off Trump’s call when he tried to give her t… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story When 27-year-old Don Abram was in middle school, he dreaded going to his single mom’s Chicago South Side church where he was often the only male in a sea of females overflowing the pews. Other Black teens in his neighborhood taunted him as “fruity” with “sugar in his tank.” Abram dreamed of being a pastor but he had a secret that would be an obstacle; he was gay. kept from everyone, even his mom. He dreamed of being a pastor. He comforted himself with the idea that he could at least be an usher, greeting newcomers, and distributing cardboard church fans and Kleenex. But at 14, he debuted as a … Read More View the full article

Published by Al-Araby Designated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare rebuke of his new coalition allies on Sunday for saying they would advance laws allowing discrimination against LGBTQ people, pledging there would be no harm to their rights by his upcoming government. Netanyahu is set to form the most ultranationalist and religious government in Israel’s history between his Likud movement and several openly anti-LGBTQ parties. This has raised fears among Israel’s LGBTQ community that the new government, expected to take office in the coming week, will roll back gains made for LGBTQ rights in I… Read More View the full article