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Published by Reuters By Rich McKay BRUNSWICK, Ga. (Reuters) -The three white men convicted of chasing down and murdering a young Black man, Ahmaud Arbery, as he was out jogging in their suburban Georgia community, were found guilty on Tuesday of committing federal hate crimes and other offenses in the 2020 killing. A predominantly white jury deliberated for about four hours over two days before returning the verdict against Travis McMichael, 36, his father, former police officer Gregory McMichael, 66, and a neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, in U.S. District Court in Brunswick, Georgia. “Ahmaud will continue to rest in peace but he will now begin to rest in power,” Wanda Cooper-Jones, Ahmaud’s mother, said outside the courthouse after the verdict was read. All three men were found guilty of violating Arbery’s civil rights by attacking him because of his race, and of attempted kidnapping, capping the latest high-profile trial to probe issues of vigilantism and racial violence in America. The McMichaels were additionally convicted of a federal firearms charge. Bryan was not charged with a weapons offense. The hate-crimes felony, the most serious of the charges the defendants faced, carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. The three men were convicted last year of murder and other crimes in state court and sentenced to life terms for the shotgun slaying of Arbery, 25, a onetime high school football star who worked for a truck-washing company and his father’s landscaping business. Prosecutors in the state trial avoided characterizing the killing as racist, seeking only to prove that the McMichaels and Bryan were responsible for his death. Cooper-Jones on Tuesday railed against the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors, who had originally reached a plea deal with the defendants to avoid a trial. In a rare move, the judge last month rejected the plea deal https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-prosecutors-reach-hate-crime-plea-deals-ahmaud-arbery-murder-court-filings-2022-01-31 after Ahmaud’s family implored her not to accept it. “What we got today, we wouldn’t have gotten today if it wasn’t for the fight that the family put up,” Cooper-Jones said. “What the DOJ did today, they was made to do today. It wasn’t because it’s what they wanted to do.” LAG TIME ON CHARGES Arbery was shot to death on Feb. 23, 2020, by the younger McMichael after all three defendants had chased him down in pickup trucks as the victim was out for an afternoon jog through the community of Satilla Shores, near the southeastern coastal town of Brunswick. The McMichaels insisted they did not act out of racial animus but out of self-defense and a belief that Arbery appeared suspicious when they saw him running through the streets after a series of neighborhood break-ins. But trial testimony revealed there had been no burglaries, but thefts from unlocked cars. And federal prosecutors presented testimony from 20 witnesses and other evidence they said showed that the three men had long histories of using slurs and making racist statements. The defense rested its case after calling just one witness. There was never any dispute that the younger McMichael fired his shotgun three times at Arbery at close range. The killing was captured in a graphic cellphone video recorded by Bryan, stoking public outrage when it surfaced on social media more than two months later with no arrests yet made, even though Travis McMichael had admitted to police at the scene that he gunned down Arbery. Civil rights activists pointed to the lag time in arrests of the three men as the latest example of law enforcement allowing white perpetrators to go unpunished in the unjustified killing of Black people. Arbery’s name became entwined with a host of others invoked in a summer of protests against racial injustice across the United States after another unarmed Black man, George Floyd, was killed by a white police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck until he could no longer breathe in May 2020. The federal prosecution of Arbery’s killers is the first in which those who committed such a high-profile murder are facing a jury in a hate-crime trial. The two McMichaels had agreed last month to plead guilty to the federal hate-crimes offense, and the son acknowledged at a federal court hearing that he singled out Arbery because of his “race and color.” But Judge Lisa Wood rejected the plea bargain because it bound her to a 30-year sentence that prosecutors had agreed would be served in a federal lockup before the men were returned to the Georgia prison system, widely perceived as a tougher environment for inmates compared with federal penitentiaries. The plea deals were then withdrawn, and all three defendants proceeded to trial. (Reporting by Rich McKay in Brunswick, Ga.; Additional reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Donna Bryson and Alistair Bell) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Kyle Rittenhouse is gearing up to sue Whoopi Goldberg, in addition to a whole “list” of other celebrities and politicians, over comments they made regarding him being a “murderer” before he was ultimately found not guilty of the charges and cleared of all wrongdoing. According to the 19-year-old’s appearance on Monday’s episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Rittenhouse revealed his plans to sue Goldberg and a slew of others when he told the Fox News host: “We’re gonna be holding them accountable, Tucker.” Mega “I want to hold them accountable for what they did to me ’cause I don’t want to see anybody have to go through what I did,” Rittenhouse continued before revealing he allegedly has a “list” of names made up of famous celebrities, politicians, and even athletes who falsely accused him. Besides Goldberg, the teenager then named Cenk Uygur, the founder of the left-wing news and commentary program The Young Turks, as another person he plans on suing for reportedly “lying” about him in the past. “We’re going to hold everybody who lied about me accountable, such as everybody who lied and called me a white supremacist,” he said. “They’re all going to be held accountable. And we’re going to handle them in a courtroom.” Mega As Radar previously reported, Rittenhouse faced five different charges in connection to his fatally shooting of two men and the injuring of a third during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 25, 2020 when he was 17-years-old. Although the Illinois native was ultimately cleared of all charges – one of which being first-degree intentional homicide – he made headlines throughout the country and was the subject of much debate regarding whether or not he acted in self-defense. On November 19, 2021, the teenager was acquitted of all charges. Now, he is vowing to exact his revenge on all those who allegedly called him a “murderer” and “white-supremacist” before he was given his right to a fair trial. Mega Rittenhouse has also since launched what he and his team are calling the Media Accountability Project, which will reportedly act as a plan to raise money and “hold the media accountable” when they lie on their news networks. The money raised will then be used to bring legal action to the news organizations Rittenhouse and his team see fit. View the full article

Published by AFP The US Supreme Court rejected a bid by former president Donald Trump to block the release of documents to a congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol Washington (AFP) – The US Supreme Court on Tuesday formally ended former president Donald Trump’s bid to block the release to congressional investigators of White House records related to last year’s attack on the Capitol. The court’s decision, issued in an unsigned order that made no comment, followed its rejection last month of Trump’s emergency request to shield the documents held by the National Archives. Trump, who has been accused of fomenting the deadly January 6 assault by a mob of his supporters, had asked the nation’s highest court to stay a ruling by a federal appeals court rejecting the petition. But it refused in a decision issued on January 19, and Tuesday’s announcement marks the definitive end of the line for Trump’s legal fight. “We expected this to happen after the Court voted 8-1 to deny Trump’s request to block documents while they considered his petition for review,” the public accountability watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said in a statement. “But even though it was expected, it’s still good to see it happen.” The House select committee is scrutinizing the attempt by hundreds of Trump supporters to block congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s November 2020 election victory by storming the Capitol. The development will be seen as a victory for investigators looking into how the riot took place, and whether Trump and members of his circle had any part in encouraging it. The ex-president had sought to exercise his privilege as a former president to keep under wraps White House records and communications that might relate to the attack. In a filing with the Supreme Court, Trump’s lawyers had argued that “a former president has the right to assert executive privilege, even after his term of office.” Biden waived executive privilege on the Trump records so they could be handed over to the committee and the appeals court decided that “the right of a former president certainly enjoys no greater weight than that of the incumbent.” The appeals court said the public interest was greater than Trump’s own in relation to the records. View the full article

Published by AFP The US women's soccer team first launched a lawsuit in 2019 demanding equal pay Washington (AFP) – The US national women’s team has won a $24 million payout and a promise of equal pay in a landmark settlement with US Soccer, the two sides announced Tuesday in a joint statement. “US Soccer has committed to providing an equal rate of pay going forward for the Women’s and Men’s National Teams in all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup,” the terms of the deal, sent to AFP, said. The question of World Cup prize money had formed a prominent part of the lawsuit filed by the US women’s soccer team in 2019, which accused the federation of “stubbornly refusing” to pay its men and women’s players equally. “I think we’re going look back on this day and say this is the moment that, you know, US Soccer changed for the better,” women’s star Megan Rapinoe said in an interview with ABC after the deal was announced. “Obviously we can’t go back and undo the injustices that we faced but … we know that something like this is never gonna happen again,” she continued, adding she hopes that they can now “move forward” with “setting up the next generation so much better than we ever had it. So it’s a great day.” Her teammate Alex Morgan, also speaking on ABC, called the deal “a monumental step forward in feeling valued, feeling respected and just mending our relationship with US Soccer.” The agreement stipulates that $22 million will be distributed to the players, while $2 million will go into an account to benefit them “in their post-career goals and charitable efforts related to women’s and girls’ soccer.” The settlement is contingent on a new collective bargaining agreement, which needs to be ratified before the deal can be finally approved by a court. A federal judge had rejected the claim of pay discrimination, but the US women then launched an appeal. The 2019 lawsuit cited the discrepancy in World Cup prize money payments paid to the two teams in 2014 and 2015. The US men received $5.375 million for reaching the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup, while the women received $1.725 million for winning the 2015 tournament. ‘Not easy’ The US Soccer Federation had argued that its hands were tied because the prize money is set by FIFA, which awarded $38 million to France for winning the 2018 men’s World Cup in Russia, but only $4 million to the American women for winning the 2019 Women’s World Cup. “Getting to this day has not been easy,” both sides admitted in a statement announcing the deal. “The US Women’s National Team players have achieved unprecedented success while working to achieve equal pay for themselves and future athletes… We look forward to continuing to work together to grow women’s soccer.” In September last year USSF president Cindy Parlow Cone said the body hoped to equalize the World Cup prize money for its players. “Until FIFA equalizes the prize money that it awards to the Men’s and Women’s World Cup participants, it is incumbent upon us to collectively find a solution,” she wrote in an open letter addressed to fans. She said the gulf in prize money paid out by FIFA was “by far the most challenging issue” facing US Soccer in pay negotiations with men’s and women’s teams. View the full article

Published by Reuters By John Chalmers, Sabine Siebold and Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union agreed new sanctions on Russia that will blacklist more politicians, lawmakers and officials, ban EU investors from trading in Russian state bonds, and target imports and exports with separatist entities. However, EU foreign ministers chose not to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said following a meeting in Paris on Tuesday. Russia’s formal recognition of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine was an unacceptable breach of Ukraine’s sovereignty, Borrell said. “This package of sanctions that has been approved by unanimity by the member states will hurt Russia, and it will hurt a lot,” Borrell told a news conference alongside France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian at a meeting in Paris. Separately, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told Reuters that further Russian aggression in Ukraine would result in more sanctions, in coordination with the United States. The package of sanctions includes all members of the lower house of the Russian parliament who voted in favour of the recognition of the breakaway regions, freezing any assets they have in the EU and banning them from travelling to the bloc. It was not immediately clear when the sanctions would take effect, but diplomats expect them in the coming hours or days, when names and details will be made public. Borrell also said: “We are going to target 27 individuals and entities who are playing a role in undermining or threatening Ukrainian territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.” Borrell said those individuals and entities were in Russia’s defence, banking and financial sector. “We target the ability of the Russian state and government to access our capital and financial markets and services,” Borrell said. Banks involved in financing separatist activities in eastern Ukraine would also be targeted. The two regions could also be removed from a free-trade deal between the EU and Ukraine, “to ensure that those responsible clearly feel the economic consequences of their illegal and aggressive actions,” an EU statement said. PRAISE FOR GERMANY Borrell congratulated Germany’s decision to put the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project on ice, arguably the most far-reaching reaction to Moscow’s move late on Monday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also praised Berlin. Taking steps to limit or ban Russia’s access to the Belgium-based SWIFT global interbank payments system used for Russian money flows was not immediately part of the EU sanctions. The EU had repeatedly said it was ready to impose “massive consequences” on Russia’s economy if Moscow invaded Ukraine but has also noted that, given the EU’s close energy and trade ties to Russia, it wanted to move in stages. Not all of the bloc’s 27 member states have the same relation to Russia or dependency on its gas, which could eventually complicate the adoption of further sanctions. EU officials and diplomats have said some EU countries, including Austria, Hungary and Italy, Russia’s closest allies in the bloc, would prefer more limited sanctions in response to Putin’s move on eastern Ukraine. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, whose country relies on Russia for much of its gas, told a news conference in Rome that any sanctions should not include energy imports. (Reporting by John Chalmers, Robin Emmott, Sabine Siebold, Francesco Guarascio, Ingrid Melander, Marine Strauss, Bart Meijer, Padraic Halpin and Crispian Balmer, Andrius Sytas, writing by Ingrid MelanderEditing by Tomasz Janowski) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Allen ST. PAUL, Minn. (Reuters) -A federal prosecutor told a jury in closing arguments on Tuesday that three former Minneapolis police officers ignored their training and basic human decency by failing to intervene when their colleague knelt on George Floyd’s neck leading to his death. Tou Thao, 36; J. Alexander Kueng, 28; and Thomas Lane, 38, have all pleaded not guilty to charges they willfully denied Floyd’s right to receive medical aid in police custody during the May 2020 arrest even as they had what a prosecutor called “front-row seats” to Floyd’s murder beside a police car parked in a Minneapolis intersection. Thao and Kueng are also charged with willfully breaching the handcuffed 46-year-old Black man’s rights by not intervening while their colleague Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as horrified onlookers begged the officers to check Floyd’s pulse. Chauvin, 45, was sentenced to 22-1/2 years in prison after being convicted of Floyd’s murder at a separate state trial last year. The federal trial in the U.S. District Court in St. Paul hinges on when an officer has a duty to intervene in a colleague’s misconduct and has shone a light on a deeply hierarchical culture at police departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda M. Sertich said Thao was captured on video choosing to “argue and mock” with the people on the sidewalk begging him to help Floyd rather than trying to get Chauvin off Floyd’s neck. Kueng, she said, could be seen smiling at a shared joke with Chauvin as Floyd died beneath them, and picking gravel out of a police car’s tire. Lane could be heard worrying that they should turn Floyd on his side but did not get up from pinning down Floyd’s legs. She said the defendants did not do what “human decency and common sense required them to do: to stop the slow-motion killing unfolding right in front of them.” All three defendants testified in their own defense, saying they deferred to Chauvin’s many years of experience as the most senior officer on the scene. Lane and Kueng, who pinned down Floyd’s buttocks and legs as Thao stood nearby keeping onlookers on the sidewalk, have emphasized that they were rookies only a few days out of training. Sertich said that even the rookies could and should have asked Chauvin to get off Floyd or to check his neck for a pulse. “They want you to accept that it is too much to ask of them to say those things even though it was not too much for those regular people who were walking by,” Sertich said. “They made the choice not to upset their colleague rather than do their duty, even though that choice resulted in the death of a human.” The men said they did not grasp that Floyd was dying beneath Chauvin’s knee, and assumed that, with 18 years on the force, the officer knew what he was doing. Sertich argued that they could easily tell Floyd had passed out from a neck restraint, which they should have known from training, was dangerous. Prosecutors have repeatedly drawn attention to the horrified bystanders on the sidewalk, most of whom had no medical training but correctly observed that Floyd had fallen unresponsive and screamed at officers to check Floyd’s pulse. Some appeared on the stand during the near three weeks of testimony. Kueng can be heard in body-worn camera videos telling his colleagues twice that he cannot find a pulse. He told the jury he did not take from this that Floyd’s heart had stopped, but decided instead that the handcuffs were preventing him from checking the pulse successfully. The defendants’ lawyers will deliver their own closing arguments before the jury begins deliberating. All three men face years in prison if convicted, and are also due to stand trial in a Minnesota court in June on state charges of aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Mark Porter) View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams tapped ex-City Councilman Fernando Cabrera late Monday to serve as a faith adviser in his administration after the controversial Bronx politician apologized for his history of anti-gay views and remarks. Cabrera, a Christian pastor who was initially under consideration to become the city’s top mental health official, will act as a senior adviser in the newly formed Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, Adams said in a statement. “I hope New Yorkers will give Fernando the opportunity to show his commitment to bringing together all New Yorkers, regardless … Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a web designer’s free speech claim that she cannot be forced under a Colorado anti-discrimination law to produce websites for same-sex marriages, a practice she opposes on religious grounds. The justices took up evangelical Christian Denver-area business owner Lorie Smith’s appeal of a lower court ruling rejecting her bid for an exemption from a Colorado law barring discrimination based upon sexual orientation and certain other factors. The case follows the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in favor of a Christian Denver-area baker who refused on religious grounds to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Smith’s case gives the justices an opportunity to answer a question that has been raised in other disputes including the baker case but never definitively resolved: can people refuse service to customers in violation of public accommodation laws based on the idea that fulfilling a creative act such as designing a website or baking a cake is a form of free speech under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. The justices are set to hear oral arguments and decide the case in the Supreme Court’s next term, which begins in October and ends in June 2023. The court declined to take up a separate question concerning whether Smith has a religious rights claim, also under the First Amendment. Smith had asked the court to overturn its important 1990 ruling that limited the ability of people to cite their religious beliefs in seeking exemptions from laws that apply to everyone. Smith runs a web design business called 303 Creative that she wants to operate in accordance with her Christian faith. She believes that marriage should be limited to opposite-sex couples, a view shared by many conservative Christians. Before adding wedding websites to the services she offered customers, Smith sued the state’s civil rights commission and other officials in 2016 because of her concern she would be punished under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. The law bars anyone from refusing “goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations” to anyone based among other things on sexual orientation, age, race, gender and religion. About 20 other states have similar laws. Smith’s lawyers at the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom have said that any state action punishing her for refusing to design websites for gay weddings violates her right to religious expression and her free speech rights. Colorado officials have said they never investigated Smith’s company and saw no evidence that anyone ever actually asked her to design a website for a same-sex wedding. Lower courts backed the state, including the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a July 2021 ruling. The Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has become increasingly supportive of religious rights and related free speech claims in recent years even as it has backed LGBT rights in other cases. The court legalized gay marriage nationwide in 2015 and in 2020 expanded protections for LGBT workers under federal law. The Supreme Court has struggled to resolve cases in which conservative religious opposition to LGBT rights has clashed with situations in which LGBT people are seeking to exercise their own rights. The justices in 2021 issued an important decision in a religious rights case involving a Catholic Church-affiliated organization that sued after the city of Philadelphia refused to place children for foster care with the agency because it barred same-sex couples from applying to be foster parents. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-supreme-court-rules-catholic-group-lgbt-rights-dispute-2021-06-17 in favor of Catholic Social Services but left some legal questions unresolved. The Colorado website case is a similar dispute to the one that prompted the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling on narrow legal grounds siding with a baker named Jack Phillips. The court said in that case that the state civil rights commission that imposed sanctions on Phillips was motivated by anti-religious bias but did not make any broader pronouncements. Similar legal fights have been waged in other states involving other small business owners including a wedding photographer and a calligrapher. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Real Housewives of Miami star Alexia Echevarria never ceases to drop word bombs in the most matter-of-fact ways. Viewers of the rebooted reality show – which debuted late last year on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock – were shocked when the 54-year-old OG spoke openly about the rumors that had long plagued her 12-year marriage to her late ex-husband, Herman Echevarria. The “Cuban Barbie” and well-known businessman decided to go their separate ways in 2015. Their divorce was finalized in 2016. Herman died later that year, in a sense freeing Alexia to explore this idea that the man who had worshiped the ground she walked on and helped raise her two sons could have possibly lived his life as a closeted gay man. Mega In fact, it was during the currently airing season of RHOM that Alexia decided to seek out Herman’s alleged “lover,” who she was told even attended his funeral. Though the man refused to appear on camera, Alexia told her co-stars that the two spoke for hours over the phone. It was a conversation, she said, that gave her closure but also made her sad. Later on – at a Pride event honoring Alexia for her work in the LGBTQIA+ community – she dedicated her award to both Herman and her late father, who she revealed she had learned later on in life was also a closeted man. However, during a recent interview, the reality star said she wanted to clarify that she believes both men were bisexual, not gay. “I want to say that they were bisexual,” she said on the Behind The Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast. “Yeah, I mean, that’s what their history shows, that they were bisexual. And I do believe in bisexuality, so yeah.” Yontef asked Echevarria why she felt she had the authority to out two people who were not alive to tell their own stories. It’s a question previously posed by RHOM alum Lea Black, who flat-out trashed the move. “There has to be more awareness and openness. If people would be more open with their hearts and with their minds then we wouldn’t live in this world that we do,” she explained. “Obviously, everybody’s going to have an opinion, but it is my story because all these things affected me. So it is my story.” Mega On the show, Alexia told her co-stars that Herman’s alleged boyfriend told her that the late businessman had no intention of ever being honest with her or anyone about his sexual orientation. “I had to say my story because A.) there was always rumors. The girls brought it up in Season 3. It didn’t really happen like that, but it was rumored,” explained Alexia. “And B.) after he passed away, when the person’s no longer here, everybody starts talking.” “But in my community, in the Cuban-American community here in Miami, a lot of people knew,” she revealed. “And it’s still a taboo [topic]. People want to act like, ‘oh it’s so cool’ or ‘we’re so open,’ and they’re all a bunch of liars.” “But my heart has always been that I’ve always wanted to be an advocate,” she added, “and I’ve always wanted to help in any way.” Echevarria also explained why she chose to open up about her late father, who – prior to Season 4 – was rarely mentioned. “When I was being honored at Wynwood Pride, it made me think of my dad,” she said. “So it’s like, this is reality TV. You don’t know what you’re going to say. How are you going to act? So it is my story, you know? And I feel like people should be more open and more sensitive and compassionate … because I feel like it was very therapeutic and healing for me.” She recalled feeling instant relief that was soon followed by immense pride. “I grew up being ashamed, or you know, having my family protect me from knowing that my father was bisexual because they thought it was a bad thing,” she said. “Because if they thought it was a good thing, why didn’t they tell me? Why didn’t they tell me?” Mega Alexia said she knew the rumors about Herman would come up again when the show got a second wind, and she wanted to make sure it wasn’t done in an “ugly” or nasty” way. “You know how these shows are – if you don’t say your story and your narrative, somebody else will,” she told David, pointing to an outburst made by her co-star, Adriana de Moura, who announced at a cast dinner that she’d heard a rumor that Herman died while having sex with his alleged lover. “Look what Adriana said in the middle of the sushi dinner, what she had heard at the funeral,” said Alexia. “I can control what comes out of my mouth, but I can’t control what’s going to come out of yours. So I’m happy that I got to share it the way that it really is, the way that I really feel it, the way that I really wanted it, because it wasn’t to badmouth him or to make fun of this or anything like that. It came from love, and it came from a good place. … I needed to speak about this, and it’s something that was important to me. So that’s why I shared it.” Mega The only thing Alexia regrets is not being given the opportunity to tell Herman she loved him for exactly who he was. “We were separated, but you know, I wanted him to trust, like I wanted him to know that it was OK. Like, ‘I still admire and respect and love you. This is never going to change our relationship,'” she told David. “And I never had the moment to do that. You know what I mean? I wish I would’ve had that moment because I know he thinks he was all alone, like with nobody’s support. So I’m just unhappy about that. But I got to have that moment with this boyfriend.” As for why she thinks Herman’s alleged lover felt comfortable discussing the topic with her, she remarked, “I think it might be a cultural thing, or like, you know, he’s a young guy. Herman was older.” View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega Take Two? An insider says not so fast! While Sarah Jessica Parkerand her castmates are eager for a second season of And Just Like That, it may not happen due to a mess behind the scenes. Though talks are underway to renew the Sex and the City sequel, which reunites Parker, Cynthia Nixonand Kristin Davis, “there are a ton of issues to resolve first,” the insider dishes. The biggest, of course, is whether Kim Cattrall, 65 — who sat out the reboot due to her nasty public feud with Parker, 56 — will finally bury the hatchet and reprise her role as Samantha this time around. MEGA; CRAIG BLANKENHORN / HBO MAX Parker recently dashed hopes of Cattrall’s return when she bluntly told an interviewer that she does not want her back, “but privately, she admits that the fans miss her,” spills the insider. KIM CATTRALL HAS ZERO INTEREST IN WATCHING ‘SEX AND THE CITY’ REBOOT ‘AND JUST LIKE THAT…’, ACTRESS FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE, NOT THE PAST “And plot-wise, the show’s clearly left the door open for Samantha to come back.” But cutting a deal with Cattrall and the cast is going to be tough, warns the insider: “Everybody will be pushing for a raise for a season 2. Sarah has closed complicated deals in the past, but this is a big mountain to climb.” mega As OK! reported, Parker refused to address Cattrall directly by name during her appearance on Watch What Happens Live on Monday, February 14. When asked about her former castmate’s absence, Parker replied: “The actress that played the role is no longer playing that role.” ‘SEX AND THE CITY’ STAR CHRIS NOTH ‘FEELS LIKE HIS LIFE IS OVER’ AMID MULTIPLE HORRIFYING SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS Cattrall’s choice to not reprise her role was rumored to have been due to the actresses’ estranged relationship, although the How I Met Your Mother star has also not directly addressed her reason for sitting out of the reboot. The 65-year-old is “still bitter about the way Sarah treated her,” and is “convinced it was all due to jealousy,” an insider squealed. The Sex and the City reboot has been a hot topic for more than one reason, as Chris Noth (a.k.a. Mr. Big) was slammed with multiple sexual assault accusations after the reboot aired. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Early 2000s internet sensation SouljaBoy took to Instagram to put Kanye West on blast. The rapper mocked West for crying over Pete Davidson being with his wife asking “what are you gonna do?” Mega “Kanye WAKE UP, Skete got your b—- n—-” SouljaBoy said in a live stream on his Instagram before taking a puff from a joint. The Crank That rapper asked West on stream “what are you gonna do? Is you gonna keep postin memes of Marvel vs Capcom?” He broke out into a fit of laughter proud of that one. “That’s what you get,” SouljaBoy brings up previous beef with Ye telling the rapper directly “n—- tried to play me, do you know what the f— I am? I’m big Drako. Now you’re running around Hollywood crying like a b—-.” Soulja continues to mock Kanye fake crying in the stream. “‘whaaah whaaah help me!’ F— YOU KANYE!” Mega SouljaBoy asked a question of Ye many have been wondering. “Are you gonna lay the smackdown? What are you talkin about?” West has been on the war path in the news recently throwing out several threats to the SNL comedian. The Yeezus rapper even went as far as to include one of his threats in his most recent songs City of God. In it West yells that “a hundred goons” were gonna pull up to Saturday Night Live. West’s beef with Davidson started after the comedian was seen constantly with the rapper’s estranged wife Kim Kardashian. The socialite filed for divorce from the rapper hoping to move on with her life, but West wasn’t having any of that. Since then, West has relentlessly posted memes and rants on all of his social medias. He also brought Kardashian look-a-likes to parties to get his ex’s attention. The rapper even went as far as to cut Kid Cudi from his next album Donda 2 after learning of his friendship with Davidson. Mega West was subsequently banned from the weekend variety show after appearing on the show seven times. His most recent girlfriend Julia Fox split from the rapper after constant public pleas to reunite with his wife. West doesn’t seem to care what bridges he burns to get what he believes is rightfully his. Many have spoken out worried about the rapper’s mental health. SouljaBoy doesn’t appear to be part of that group. The fellow rapper appears to just be stirring the pot waiting to see what happens. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Just days after Jeffrey Epstein‘s alleged pimp was found hanging in his prison cell — similar to Epstein’s own mysterious death — Ghislaine Maxwell‘s brother, Ian Maxwell, has voiced his concerns over his sister’s wellbeing in prison. Mega Ghislaine’s brother says he fears for his sister’s safety after hearing of 75-year-old Jean-Luc Brunel‘s sudden death. Brunel was found in his prison cell in La Sante, Paris hanging by the neck in an alleged suicide while guards were not around. This was very similar to the way Epstein was found dead — which was also immediately rules a suicide. “It’s really shocking,” Ian told the New York Post. “Another death by hanging in a high-security prison. My reaction is one of total shock and bewilderment.” Ian has spoken out about his sister’s treatment being incarcerated saying, “Despite the psychiatrist advising to the contrary, she was deemed a suicide risk and they are continuing to wake her up every 15 minutes in the night. It’s a complete violation of prisoner rights and human rights.” Mega The brother of the sex trafficker finds it “ironic” that Ghislaine was subjected to suicide watch as soon as she was arrested but Epstein and Brunel were not. Before his death, Epstein specifically told his prison’s therapist that he was not suicidal and was worried he was going to be assassinated. The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn is not allowing what happened to Epstein or Brunel to happen to Ghislaine. Brunel’s hanging came just days after Prince Andrew agreed to settle Virginia Roberts Giuffre‘s lawsuit which included Brunel by name. Roberts had accused the prince of sex abuse after meeting her through Epstein, Brunel and Maxwell. The death caused a resurgence of conspiracy theories revolving around the case with some believing that Epstein and Brunel were killed because they were going to spill the beans on social and political elites around the world. Mega Epstein and Ghislaine had been known to be friends with high ups in power from the Clintons, the Trumps and even the royal family through Prince Andrew. Ghislaine was found guilty of sex trafficking minors back in December of last year. She is now serving 65 years in federal prison. View the full article

HIV attacks human cell Notes and Quotes from Interview with Carlos Del Rio of Emory University in Atlanta. He’s the co-director, the Emory Center for AIDS Research. –Excited by the pure research. –What’s unique in this case is the the specific mutation in the transplant where the virus attaches that makes those with it resistant to HIV. The mutation is found in just 1 in 100 people of northern European descent, rare. Not seen in African Americans nor Hispanics. –This woman is described as ‘mixed race’, with the implication being that a cure based on mutation would not just work for one race and 40% of Americans living with HIV are of color. –With effective, antiretroviral therapy, you can get somebody with HIV to live essentially a normal life. People with HIV who receive antiretroviral therapy and have the viral suppressed, don’t transmit to others. –“The goal is to decrease the number of new infections globally to under 500,000. We’re not there and we could certainly be there.” — To get to 500,000: “identify the people who are at high risk of developing HIV of acquiring HIV, and getting them on, pre-exposable access” — “…diagnose people shortly after they’re infected linking them to care, getting them in therapy and keeping them, on antiretroviral therapy and suppress for the rest of their lives. So when they age it is healthy aging and they die with HIV, but not of HIV.” Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Jeffrey Epstein‘s late alleged pimp, Jean-Luc Brunel, had apparently tried numerous times to take his own life. As Radar reported, the dead body of the 76-year-old business partner of the late accused pedophile – who was believed to have trafficked and sexually abused over 1,000 underage girls and young women – was found hanging in the early hours of Saturday morning in a prison in La Santé in Paris, France. The circumstances surrounding Brunel’s death are eerily similar to those of Epstein’s; both men were found hanging in their jail cells while awaiting their respective trials, and both men were said to have attempted suicide earlier. Mega Arrested and jailed in late 2020, Brunel tried to kill himself on numerous occasions during his 14-month stay behind bars, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke to The Miami Herald on condition of anonymity. One of Brunel’s attorneys, Mathias Chichportich, confirmed the claim, telling the newspaper that his client had a history of “several suicide attempts.” And yet, he was not under active suicide watch, known in France as “emergency protection,” at the time of his death. Typically, inmates who are at risk of killing themselves are placed in special cells with rounded corners. They are often given paper clothes to wear and tearable bedsheets to sleep on. Instead, Brunel was housed in the prison’s “vulnerable people area,” nicknamed the “VIP quarters,” for inmates who are considered vulnerable to violence. In these areas, guards generally check on prisoners four to six times per night. Mega “I can confirm that Mr. Brunel was discovered at 1:30 a.m. last night dead in his cell. He was alone in the cell. According to the first findings, it is a suicide by hanging. An investigation in search of the causes of death is however opened,” said a spokesperson for the Paris public prosecutor’s office, according to The New York Post. Like with Epstein’s death, it’s been reported that no cameras captured Brunel’s alleged suicide at the otherwise high-security facility, which is also one of the toughest in France. Epstein’s August 2019 death in New York, which was also mysteriously not recorded, was ruled a prison suicide by hanging. “It almost seems like the entire ring of people who were doing this that their conscience is getting the better of them now that they are being held accountable for their actions,” said an attorney who represented several of Epstein’s victims. “Of course, the alternative conspiracy theory is that it’s like someone is trying to clean up shop.” Mega Brunel and Epstein once collaborated in forming a modeling agency in Miami, Florida, that many models have said was a pretext for luring unsuspecting victims into Epstein’s orbit. Brunel’s death comes days after Prince Andrew settled a sexual assault lawsuit with his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, and two months after Epstein’s madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted. Brunel was under investigation for sex trafficking and rape at the time of his death. Just like Epstein’s victims, Brunel’s feel robbed of justice. View the full article

=George Floyd Original Booking Press Release Feels like a good time to re-read the George Floyd press release before the video… Police put lies out to the media including: –“He was ordered to sept from his car. After he got out he physically resisted officers.” –“Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance where he died a short time later.” — “At no time were weapons of any type used by anyone involved in this incident” Standard operating procedure for police covering abuse and excessive force as described 2 months ago in excellent Pro Publica piece about “covering charges” –editor Original release from Police on day of George Floyd murder. Has been removed from their site, but available at the Internet Archive Published by Reuters By Jonathan Allen ST. PAUL, Minn. (Reuters) -Pinning George Floyd face down on a Minneapolis road in a May 2020 arrest seemed reasonable in the moment, Thomas Lane, one of three former Minneapolis police officers on trial for violating the handcuffed Black man’s civil rights, testified on Monday. Lane was the third of the three defendants to take the stand in his own defense at the federal trial in the U.S. District Court in St. Paul, charged with denying Floyd’s right to receive medical aid once in police custody. Answering questions from his lawyer Earl Gray, Lane told the jury how he had called over the radio for an ambulance to come after seeing Floyd’s mouth was bleeding after he struggled against Lane and another officer trying to get him in the back of a police car. He became emotional as he recalled helping Floyd onto a stretcher and saw Floyd’s face several minutes after he fallen unresponsive beneath Lane and two other officers. “He didn’t look good,” Lane said, his voice beginning to waver. His co-defendants Tou Thao, 36, and J. Alexander Kueng, 28, took the stand last week to say they deferred to the authority of Derek Chauvin, the most senior officer at the scene. Lane, who was on Floyd’s ankles, and Kueng, who was on Floyd’s thighs, were rookies only a few days out of training. Cellphone video of Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes while Floyd begged for his life triggered huge protests against racism and police brutality. Chauvin was convicted in a separate state trial last year of murdering Floyd and sentenced to 22-1/2 years in prison, and in December he pleaded guilty to the federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights. Prosecutors have said the officers have a duty of care to anyone in their custody, and the three men breached their training and common sense in not doing more to help Floyd. Lane, 38, can be heard on body-worn camera videos asking his colleagues if they should roll the prone Floyd onto his side, something officers are trained to do to avoid positional asphyxia. Chauvin, 45, rebuffs the suggestion, and continues to kneel on Floyd’s neck as Floyd falls motionless while bystanders scream at the officers to check his pulse. “OK, I suppose so,” Lane recalled responding. “It just seemed reasonable at the time. This guy is out of control.” He said he believed the ambulance would be “here any minute.” He said he was unable to see Floyd’s face for the entire nine-minute restrain. Lane got in the back of the ambulance and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Floyd under a parademic’s isntruction. Prosecutors have previously called medical experts who said Floyd would almost certainly had lived if rolled on his side once he had been restrained. Thao and Kueng face an additional count of violating Floyd’s rights in their role of police officers by failing to intervene to stop Chauvin’s use of excessive force. Both have said they assumed Chauvin knew what was he was doing from his nearly two decades on the force and did not realize the force was excessive. Minneapolis Police Department fired all four officers. “I found out I was terminated the next day in a Subway parking lot,” Lane said, referring to the chain of sandwich stores. “I read a news article. That’s how I found out I got fired.” (Reporting by Jonathan AllenEditing by Alistair Bell) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Aidan Lewis CAIRO (Reuters) – Tackling climate change is a security threat that requires accelerated action even as international attention is focussed on Russia and Ukraine, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said on Monday during a visit to Cairo. Egypt will host the COP27 climate conference in November and Kerry said the task for this year was to bring more countries, including Russia and China, on board to set ambitious climate goals, as well as implementing pledges made at COP26 in Glasgow. Kerry, a former secretary of state, said the crisis between Russia and Ukraine made him concerned over issues such as the principles of international law and respect for borders. “But I am concerned in terms of the climate efforts that a war is the last thing you need with respect to a united effort to try to deal with the climate challenge,” Kerry told Reuters. “Obviously we hope that we can compartmentalise, but it’s just made that much more difficult without any question.” After meeting Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who will chair COP27, Kerry told reporters that climate change was a “national, international security threat to all of us.” Egypt and the United States have created a working group to set priorities for COP27 and to support Egypt’s energy transition, Shoukry and Kerry said. Egypt has set a goal of generating 42% of its power from renewables by 2030, though experts have suggested the target could be more ambitious. The government is preparing a new strategy for 2050. Kerry cited work to help provide finance and technology to Indonesia, and to support China in accelerating its reduction of coal consumption, as examples of a push to secure new commitments ahead of COP27. But he also said the energy transition had not reached the speed required. “We’re not moving fast enough, not enough is happening.” Asked about the risk that companies “greenwash” their activities with net-zero announcements, Kerry said rules agreed in Glasgow to ensure transparency would help, as would satellites tracking carbon and methane emissions. “We have accountability that we’ve really never had before, and we have to make sure we’re applying it,” he said. (Additional reporting by Sherif Fahmy; Editing by Janet Lawrence) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Jane Lynch thinks it’s “harder to work your way up as a woman” in comedy. The 61-year-old actress – who stars in the hit TV series ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ – believes that female comedians need to be “exceptional” in order to make a meaningful impression. Speaking about the series – which is set in the 1950s and 60s, and follows a housewife who becomes a stand-up star – Jane explained: “In order to break through, you had to have material that spoke to men because the club owners were men, the TV producers, the late-night hosts.” Jane acknowledges that the landscape has massively improved for female comics. But she thinks they still face big challenges, compared to their male counterparts. The actress – who previously played Sue Sylvester in ‘Glee’ – told the Guardian newspaper: “Any time you look at a comedy club, the headliners are guys. Every once in a while, they might throw a woman in there. “It’s harder to work your way up as a woman and, like anything else where you’re trying to break a mould, you have to be exceptional.” Many of Jane’s past roles were originally written for men. But the actress actually relishes playing so many stern, authoritarian figures. She said: “I’m obsessed with that random exercise of power, power for power’s sake.” Jane used to think she was a “depressed child”. But after watching some home movies of herself, she now has completely different impression. She explained: “Always dancing to the camera; air guitar. I was a real free spirit and I loved to perform. And then, of course, high school happens, and maybe even before that when you start to realise: ‘Oh my God, I may be gay but I don’t even have a word for it.’” View the full article

Published by Al-Araby In another attack against artistic freedom, a lawyer filed this week an official complaint in Egypt, calling on the government to strip a director of his Egyptian citizenship for making a Germany-produced film) that portrays a gay couple. “The Egyptian people will not accept this type of films,” lawyer Ayman Mahfouz told Egyptian ETC satellite TV channel, accusing filmmaker Mohamad Shawky Hassan of “promoting homosexuality”. Directed and written by Hassan, ‘Bashtaalak Sa’at (I, sometimes, miss you)’ was screened during the Forum of the 72nd round of the Berlin International Film Festival. It i… Read More View the full article

Published by OK Magazine MEGA Britney Spears is continuing to speak out after her 13-year conservatorship was terminated in November 2021. Britney took to Instagram on Wednesday, February 16, to reveal she received a letter from U.S. lawmakers, Democrats Charlie Crist of Florida and Eric Swalwell of California, inviting her to meet with them at Congress and share her story. The Princess of Pop admitted she was flattered when she first got the letter a few months ago, but she was not “nearly at the healing stage I’m in now” at the time. MEGA STRONGER THAN YESTERDAY! A DEFINITIVE TIMELINE OF EVENTS THAT LED TO BRITNEY SPEARS’ CONTROVERSIAL CONSERVATORSHIP: PHOTOS “I’m grateful that my story was even ACKNOWLEDGED!!!” she went on. “Because of the letter, I felt heard and like I mattered for the first time in my life !!!” “In a world where your own family goes against you, it’s actually hard to find people that get it and show empathy !!!!” she added. “Again, I’m not here to be a victim although I’m the first to admit I’m pretty messed up by it all.” MEGA Britney said she wants to help other people who are vulnerable to be brave. “I wish I would have been … I was so scared and nothing is worse than your own family doing what they did to me,” she admitted. “I’m lucky to have a small circle of adorable friends who I can count on … In the mean time thank you to Congress for inviting me to the White House,” she concluded. ‘I JUST WANT TO HELP’: CHRISTIAN SIRIANO, SARAH JESSICA PARKER, BETTE MIDLER REACT TO BRITNEY SPEARS’ CONSERVATORSHIP AFTER DOCUMENTARY MAKES WAVES MEGA In the letter, the Congressmen applauded the singer and her attorney Mathew Rosengart for their “historic victories.” They said they were “elated” when her father, Jamie Spears, was suspended from the conservatorship in September before it was terminated two months later. “There is no doubt that your story will empower countless others outside the millions that are already inspired by your and your art,” the letter read. “Please know that you have absolutely no obligation to do anything more but fight for yourself, but if you are willing, we would appreciate learning more about the emotional and financial turmoil you faced within the conservatorship system.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Jeffrey Epstein‘s alleged pimp Jean-Luc Brunel was reportedly found hung in his prison cell in La Sante, Paris. Prison guards found Brunel’s body during a nighttime check-in of inmates. This comes three years after Epstein died in prison under similar circumstances. Mega The French modelling agent, who reportedly procured more than a thousand women and girls for Epstein, died today in what is currently ruled as prison suicide. His death comes days after Prince Andrew settled Virginia Robert’s lawsuit accusing him of sex abuse after they allegedly met through Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Brunel was arrested by French authorities after Roberts accused the 76-year-old of procuring more than a thousand women and girls for Epstein to sleep with. The alleged pimp was also awaiting trial for several charges for sexually abusing minors himself. Conspiracy theories swirled around Epstein’s death under similar circumstances. Both sides of the political aisles thought the billionaire’s death was suspicious as prison therapy records showed that Epstein was allegedly NOT suicidal. The conspiracies were also fueled by the fact that prison video cameras at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Correction Center – where Epstein was being held – were not running at the time of his death. Prince Andrew’s Ex-Lover Lady Victoria Hervey Says Jeffrey Epstein & Bill Clinton ‘Were Like Brothers,’ Despite Former President’s Claim He Wasn’t Close With Convicted Sex Offender Mega Homayra Sellier, the founder and president of the France based Innocence in Danger which has led the charge in uncovering the Epstein scandal released a statement claiming, “I never heard someone being hung in a prison in France especially since he was in a VIP cell. I think Brunel was going to talk because we were expecting the courts to announce a date for the trial. Things here were accelerating now because of the deal cut by Prince Andrew (with Virginia).” “I don’t believe Brunel hung himself – and if he did – he was helped just like Epstein was helped!” Sellier explained. “We could hope for a thorough investigation for both deaths – but I don’t think that will ever happen.” Brunel was indicted in December of 2020 after two days of nonstop interviews by French special police from an anti-pedophilia unit. He was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport where Brunel was trying to board a plane to Dakar, Senegal. The accused sexual predator told detectives he was “going on holiday” — but police worried Brunel was trying to reach refuge in another country to avoid his charges. Mega Several other parties in relation to Epstein’s alleged sex empire are still awaiting trial. Most notability Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Maxwell, who also allegedly dated Prince Andrew, is hoping for a judge to approve for a retrial for her conviction of grooming and trafficking underage girls. Ghislaine Maxwell: Prosecutors Offer To Drop Perjury Charges If Sex Trafficking Conviction Is Denied A Retrial View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Kanye West could face some serious battery charges now that police have the evidence they need. The rapper allegedly attacked a fan outside of his hotel in Los Angeles Thursday, January 13. Now the police have finished their initial investigation and charges are about to fly. Mega Sources say “cops have nearly completed their investigation into the case and will soon ship their findings off to the L.A. City Attorney’s Office, who will decide on whether to file any criminal charges against Kanye.” Officers arrived on the scene at 3 a.m. near Soho Warehouse, a members-only club and hotel. Police initially reported it as misdemeanor battery clarifying that there were no serious injuries. The artist now known as Ye allegedly got into an argument with a man who asked for an autograph outside the club. West allegedly pushed and hit the man who fell to the ground after the rapper’s supposed attack. Mega A video from TMZ shows the man laid out on the street as Kanye yelled at his guards and security. It was also reported that the man broke his nose as a result of the confrontation. Now that the initial investigation is done, Los Angeles City Attorney must now decide whether or not to file charges against the rapper, call involved parties in for an informal hearing to go over their findings, or just reject the case all together. If the parties were to meet up with authorities they could come to an agreement with certain conditions to make this whole situation go away. West’s camp have yet to speak out about the potential charges against the Heartless rapper. Mega If charges are made against the Grammy winner, this wouldn’t be the only time in recent days he’s have to stand before a judge. Ye rushed to court earlier this week to object to his wife, Kim Kardashian, wanting to become legally single for the rest of the duration of their divorce. With news about the investigation concluding, West might have more pressing matters to deal with than his split from the socialite. Kanye West & Kim Kardashian’s Prenup Keeps Property Separate, Rapper’s Objection To Divorce Plans BS (radaronline.com) View the full article