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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

Published by Mongabay By Mactilda Mbenywe A family of viruses that can cause fatal Ebola-like symptoms that is also a critical threat to macaque populations is now “poised for spillover” to humans, a new report reveals. The study01194-1?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867422011941%3Fshowall%3Dtrue), published in September in the journal *Cell*, reveals that the animal virus has found ways to access human cells, multiply and evade parts of the immune system that defend people against sickness. Scientists note that this is “pretty rare.” The research team behind the study is… Read More View the full article

Published by Taste of Country Dolly Parton been delighting audiences in country music for more than 55 years, and she’s done it all with her husband Carl Dean by her side. The two have been married as long as she’s been in the business. They met in Nashville on her very first day in town and they wed on May 30, 1966. Their union has stayed strong through the years, and Dolly Parton attributes their lasting marriage to one thing, in particular: laughter. “We love each other, we respect each other, we both have a warped sense of humor,” she tells ET Canada‘s Morgan Hoffman in a recent interview. “I think humor, honestly, I t… Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet Powerful Democratic consultants have dropped Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) since she disaffiliated from the Democratic Party to register as an Independent. Their departure will make it more difficult for her to win re-election in her home state if she runs again in 2024. “NGP VAN, which manages Democratic voter data, is set to cut off Sinema’s access at the end of January, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation,” The Huffington Post reported. “The ad makers who worked with her in 2018, Dixon/Davis Media Group, have split with her campaign. Two other Democratic sources sai… Read More View the full article

Published by PopCrush The side of TikTok nicknamed “Leztopia” is once again in shambles after JoJo Siwa‘s breakup with her ex-girlfriend Avery Cyrus, a social media influencer. The two dated for a few months before allegedly calling it quits while aboard a recent cruise. Now, on Dec. 20, Siwa posted a shady video to her TikTok account alluding to a mysterious “unplanned hookup” and insinuating that Cyrus used her for the attention. “But I love you why are you breaking up with me??!!” the captions in the video read, seemingly implying the line was meant to represent Cyrus, while Siwa lip-synced to an audio. “There’s… Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet George Santos, the Republican congressman-elect for a House seat based in Long Island and Queens, New York, was seemingly exposed as a fraudster by The New York Times on Monday, but even more questions are now arising after he appears to have filed paperwork on Tuesday stating his place of residence is in Florida. That’s according to two investigative articles from Talking Points Memo. On Tuesday evening TPM reported that in May of 2021 Santos registered his company, Devolder Organization LLC, which has no website and it’s unclear what the operation actually does, in Florida. “On his congressi… Read More View the full article