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Published by OK Magazine MEGA A new documentary has revealed shocking details about Ghislaine Maxwell's mysterious relationship with Prince Andrew. The new ITV investigative film, Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile, examined the 61-year-old royal's alleged connection to Ghislaine and the Jeffrey Epstein sexual abuse scandal. According to The Sun, the bombshell documentary — which aired Tuesday, January 18 — revealed Ghislaine, 60, was a frequent visitor of Buckingham Palace. Former Palace protection officer Paul Page explained in an interview for the film that he speculated about a possible relationship between the two. MEGA “From the way she was allowed to enter and exit the palace at will, we realized…suspected, that she may have had an intimate relationship with Prince Andrew,” he reportedly told the cameras, adding that another staffer, “remembered her coming in four times in one day, from the morning until the evening.” PRINCE CHARLES & PRINCE WILLIAM WILL BE 'INCREDIBLY ANGRY' AT PRINCE ANDREW IF SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE GOES TO COURT, THE DUKE OF YORK 'CAN'T WIN IN ANY WAY REALLY,' ROYAL COMMENTOR SAYS Euan Rellie, an investment banker who attended the University of Oxford with Ghislaine, also described Andrew as, “[Ghislaine's] friend, not Jeffrey's,” it was reported. MEGA “I got the sense that Prince Andrew and Ghislaine had probably been girlfriend and boyfriend in the past,” Rellie confessed, per the outlet. “They had an easy warmth around each other.” Ghislaine's own brother Ian also spoke in an interview for the doc, spilling that his sister was “good friends” with Andrew because “prince, pauper — it made no difference to her,” he insisted, referring to Mark Twain's novel The Prince and the Pauper about two identical boys born the same day, with one being extremely wealthy and the other being very poor. “She took no s***” from anyone,” Ian reportedly added of his sister. “I think Andrew would have found that rather refreshing.” PRINCE ANDREW'S EX-GIRLFRIEND LADY VICTORIA HERVEY REPORTEDLY BELIEVES GHISLAINE MAXWELL WAS A 'VICTIM' OF JEFFREY EPSTEIN He also shared his opinion on his sister's recent conviction, reportedly calling the decision “just wrong.” Ian went on to back Ghislaine, maintaining: “We believe her, we love her and we hope she will get the justice she definitely deserves.” MEGA As OK! previously reported, Ghislaine was found guilty on five out of six sex trafficking-related charges last month, for which she could face up to 65 years in prison. Meanwhile, the Duke of York was recently stripped of his royal and military titles by The Queen following his sexual assault case filed by one of Jeffrey's former victims, Virginia Giuffre. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Stempel and Shivam Patel NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York state’s attorney general has accused Donald Trump’s family business of repeatedly misrepresenting the value of its assets to obtain financial benefits, citing what it said was significant new evidence of possible fraud. The accusations by Attorney General Letitia James mark a substantial escalation of her civil probe into the Republican former U.S. president’s business, the Trump Organization, and the roles of his adult children. They are part of her effort to force Donald Trump and his children Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump to comply with her subpoenas to testify under oath, which the family has asked a judge to block. Neither Trump nor his children have been accused of criminal wrongdoing. While James cannot file criminal charges because her probe is civil, she can sue the Trumps and the company. James is examining whether the Trumps violated a New York law targeting “persistent fraud or illegality,” allowing her to seek damages or a court-ordered halt to any wrongdoing. Trump has called the nearly three-year probe by James, a Democrat, a political “witch hunt.” In filings late Tuesday with a New York state court in Manhattan, James described what she called misleading statements about the values of six Trump properties, as well as the “Trump Brand.” The properties are golf clubs in Aberdeen, Scotland, and suburban Westchester County near New York City, the Seven Springs Estate in Westchester, buildings on Wall Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan, and Trump’s penthouse in Trump Tower. James has been investigating whether real estate values were inflated to obtain bank loans and reduced to lower tax bills, and her filing described evidence of misstatements to lenders, insurers and the Internal Revenue Service. The attorney general wants a judge to order the Trumps to testify within 21 days. “We have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit,” James said in a statement. ‘UNFOUNDED ATTACKS’ Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, in a statement called James’ accusations “merely the latest in a long line of unfounded attacks against my client and an obvious attempt to distract the public from her own inappropriate conduct. Letitia, you are not above the law.” The Trump Organization in a statement said it will defend against James’ “baseless” accusations, accusing her of twisting the facts and misleading the public because she faces “the stark reality that she has no case.” James’ probe also partially overlaps a criminal probe by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, which James joined in May, into the Trump Organization’s practices. The attorney general said the Trump Organization has “not made anything approaching a complete production of documents for Mr. Trump,” including from cabinets holding his files. Lawyers for the Trump family have argued that James’ subpoenas are an improper means to gather evidence in the civil probe that could then be used in the criminal probe. Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump, in a statement said James’ filings did not address her “repeated threats to target the Trump family” and ignore their constitutional rights by conducting overlapping probes. In July, the Trump Organization and its longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg pleaded not guilty in the criminal probe to charges they awarded “off-the-books” benefits to company executives in a 15-year tax fraud. FINANCIAL CONDITION Many of James’ accusations center on Donald Trump’s annual “statements of financial condition,” which give lenders and other counterparties the values and liabilities associated with various assets. James said she found evidence that Trump was “personally involved” in approving the statements, and used them “in numerous commercial transactions for his own financial benefit.” She said one statement in June 2015 valued Trump’s building at 40 Wall Street at $735.4 million, tacking on nearly $200 million to its appraised value, a mere eight months after one lender valued the same building at $257 million. James said Trump inflated the values of the Scotland golf club and Seven Springs in part based on assumptions that residential housing could be built there. She also said Trump in his 2015 and 2016 statements overstated the value of his penthouse apartment, putting it at $327 million by claiming it contained 30,000 square feet and not the 10,996 square feet described in various documents he signed. Under questioning by her office, Weisselberg conceded that “this amounted to an overstatement of ‘give or take’ $200 million,” James said in a filing. Last month, Donald Trump sued James in a federal court in Albany, the state capital, to halt her civil probe, calling it a means to harass and intimidate a political opponent. (Reporting by Luc Cohen, Karen Freifeld and Jonathan Stempel in New York; and Shivam Patel and Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Gerry Doyle, Noeleen Walder and Mark Porter) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Prince Andrew‘s ex-girlfriend is spilling the tea on just how close Jeffrey Epstein allegedly was to Bill Clinton. According to Lady Victoria Hervey, the late convicted sex offender and the former president “were like brothers,” despite the latter claiming he did not have a close relationship with Epstein. Sitting down for a bombshell interview for ITV’s documentary, Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile, the 44-year-old beauty also claimed Epstein and Clinton “loved” hanging around Prince Andrew. Bill Clinton Gets Shout-Out For Riding Jeffrey Epstein’s Alleged Pedophile ‘Lolita Express’ During Ghislaine Maxwell’s Sex Trafficking Trial “Clinton was definitely very close to Jeffrey,” Lady Victoria said. “I don’t know if you saw the paintings that were in Jeffrey Epstein’s house? One of them being a portrait of Bill Clinton wearing the dress that Monica Lewinsky wore when they had the affair.” “So yeah, he was super close to Jeffrey Epstein. They were like brothers, you know, and he was close to Ghislaine as well,” she added. Clinton has always denied he was close with Epstein, despite being photographed with the businessman-turned-sex predator multiple times and even reportedly flying on his private jet. The ex-president also allegedly visited Epstein’s private island in the Virgin Island known as “Pedophile Island.” Epstein’s convicted partner-in-crime Ghislaine Maxwell — who was found guilty of recruiting and grooming underage girls for him to sexually abuse — was also a guest at Chelsea Clinton‘s wedding. Mega But Clinton wasn’t just close with Epstein. Lady Victoria also discussed the former politician’s relationship with her ex. Prince Andrew is currently enthralled in a damning lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre. She claims she was forced to have sex with the royal when she was 17 years old. He is set to face Giuffre in trial later this year. Virginia Giuffre’s Lawyer Plans To Grill Prince Andrew’s Ex-Wife Sarah Ferguson Amid Sexual Assault Battle “Prince Andrew was the son of the queen of England. Americans love that. Jeffery loved that. Bill Clinton loved that,” Lady Victoria responded when the ITV presenter, Ranvir Singh, asked about the threesome’s friendship. Switching gears off Clinton and back to Maxwell, Andrew’s former lover called Epstein and his madam “Batman and Robin.” Mega “Jeffrey was really the frontman and Ghislaine was the accomplice. You know, it was kind of like a Batman and Robin and they were a double act. I don’t think Jeffrey could have done any of it without Ghislaine,” Lady Victoria said. ‘I think he just kind of sat back and sort of waited for her to sort of go fishing and go find however many girls were needed, you know, to entertain his friends. I think I was pretty much used as bait,” she added. “You know, looking back at, you know I was really young and naive, and she’s entertaining these, you know, big businessmen. So I didn’t realize it of course at the time, but looking back…” Maxwell was found guilty on five of 6 counts in connection to recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse. She faces up to 65 years in prison — meaning she could spend the rest of her life behind bars. Her sentencing will come at a later date. View the full article

Published by AFP Water vegetation is seen at the Everglades National Park, Florida on September 30, 2021 Miami (AFP) – The plan to restore the Florida Everglades, the largest wetlands in the United States, will receive a federal investment of $1.1 billion to protect the region against the effects of climate change, the White House said Wednesday. “The Administration is making the largest single investment in the Everglades in US history,” the White House said in a statement. The money, which comes from already approved funds in President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure package passed by Congress in November, will be spent by the US Army Corps of Engineers. “The iconic American landscape provides drinking water supply for over 8 million Floridians, supports the state’s $90 billion tourism economy, and is home to dozens of endangered or threatened species,” the White House said. The Everglades, a subtropical ecosystem of more than 607,000 hectares (1.5 million acres), is the scene of one of the biggest ecological rehabilitation projects in the world. The area is especially vulnerable to sea level rise, a consequence of climbing temperatures due to climate change, as an influx of saltwater could disrupt groundwater reserves and throw off the balance between the region’s plants and animals. The restoration efforts will try to revive the flow of water across the wetland, which has been interrupted by decades of human development. Scientists envision a complex system of canals, dams and water pumps. Congress in 2000 approved a $7.8 billion federally and state-funded plan to protect the Everglades, a national park, which, despite some advances, faced delay after delay. The money from Wednesday’s announcement could accelerate the project, according to Florida’s Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Shultz. “This is enormous news, and allows us to set a course for quicker completion of the world’s largest ecosystem restoration project,” she said in a statement. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Julie Steenhuysen and Manas Mishra (Reuters) – People who had previously been infected with COVID-19 were better protected against the Delta variant than those who were vaccinated alone, suggesting that natural immunity was a more potent shield than vaccines against that variant, California and New York health officials reported on Wednesday. Protection against Delta was highest, however, among people who were both vaccinated and had survived a previous COVID infection, and lowest among those who had never been infected or vaccinated, the study found. Nevertheless, vaccination remains the safest strategy against COVID-19, according to the report published in U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The results do not apply to the Omicron variant of the virus, which now accounts for 99.5% of COVID-19 cases in the United States. “The evidence in this report does not change our vaccination recommendations,” Dr. Ben Silk of the CDC and one of the study’s authors told a media briefing. “We know that vaccination is still the safest way to protect yourself against COVID-19,” he said. For the study, health officials in California and New York gathered data from May through November, which included the period when the Delta variant was dominant. It showed that people who survived a previous infection had lower rates of COVID-19 than people who were vaccinated alone. That represented a change from the period when the Alpha variant was dominant, Silk told the briefing. “Before the Delta variant, COVID-19 vaccination resulted in better protection against a subsequent infection than surviving a previous infection,” he said. In the summer and fall of 2021, however, when Delta became the predominant circulating iteration of the virus in the United States, “surviving a previous infection now provided greater protection against the subsequent infection than vaccination,” he said. But acquiring immunity through natural infection carries significant risks. According to the study, by November 30, 2021, roughly 130,781 residents of California and New York had died from COVID-19. The analysis did not include information on the severity of initial infection, nor does it account for the full range of illness caused by prior infection. One important limitation to the study was that it ended before administration of vaccine booster doses was widespread. Dr. Erica Pan, state epidemiologist for the California Department of Public Health, said in an email that the study “clearly shows” that vaccines provide the safest protection against COVID-19 and they offer added protection for those with prior infections. “Outside of this study, recent data on the highly contagious Omicron variant shows that getting a booster provides significant additional protection against infection, hospitalization and death,” Pan said. Silk said the CDC is studying the impact of vaccination, boosters and prior infection during the Omicron surge and expects to issue further reports when that data becomes available. (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Richard Cowan, David Morgan and Moira Warburton WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Conservative Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin on Wednesday said he opposed changing the chamber’s rules to ease passage of a voting-rights bill, all but dooming the measure’s passage in a high-stakes vote later in the day. Manchin took to the Senate floor to reiterate his opposition to changing the filibuster rule on Wednesday, as Republicans prepared to use the 60-vote threshold to block an election reform bill https://news.trust.org/item/20220113182721-f9syv Democrats insist is necessary to preserve the right to vote in the United States. He spoke as President Joe Biden, who has called the bill critical to preserving democracy, was giving his first news conference in months. “Let this change happen in this way the Senate will be a body without rules,” Manchin said. “We don’t have to change the rules to make our case to the American people for voting rights.” Biden told reporters on Wednesday that he had not given up hope of passing the voting-rights bill. “We’ve not run out of options yet,” Biden said. Manchin joined fellow conservative Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in announcing their opposition to the rules change in Senate floor speeches. The Senate was scheduled to hold a procedural vote at about 6:30 p.m. EST (2330 GMT), which will require supermajority support to advance the voting rights legislation toward final passage. If that vote fails, as is widely expected, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he will move to alter the filibuster https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-senate-democrats-mull-ending-filibuster-pass-voting-rights-reform-2022-01-11 rule by vote. It was unclear when that vote would occur. With the Senate split 50-50, Democrats would need support from all of their caucus members plus a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris to change the chamber’s rules. “If Republicans block … the legislation before us, I will put forward a proposal to change the Senate rules to allow for a talking filibuster,” Schumer said in a floor speech earlier on Wednesday. “There are some in our caucus who believe (the filibuster) helps bring us together. I don’t see that evidence,” Schumer added. Democrats say the bill is crucial to protecting the American political system as Republican-led states pass a wave of new voting restrictions, driven by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of widespread election fraud. Republicans dismiss the bill as a partisan power grab. As Republican after Republican accused Democrats of trying to usurp states’ rights to administer elections, Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock said their arguments “have sounded uncannily familiar” to segregationists’ opposition to civil rights legislation of the 1960s, which ultimately succeeded. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s top Republican, warned of a legislative “nuclear winter” if Democrats succeed in upending the 60-vote threshold. But he predicted that a slim majority of lawmakers would preserve the filibuster and turn back what he called a partisan Democratic frenzy. “The fear is false, the rage is misplaced and today factional fevers will not carry the day,” said McConnell, contending that Democrats would pay a political price even for a failed attempt to overturn Senate rules. “For both groups of senators, this group will echo for generations. Before we part ways tonight, all 100 of us will have marked our legacies in permanent ink,” he said. If the week ends in failure for Biden and his fellow Democrats in Congress, attention is expected to turn to a possible bipartisan effort by a small group of moderate senators to fashion narrower election rule changes. Such an effort could include new federal funding to help protect non-partisan state election workers from threats against their safety, which have been mounting since the 2020 presidential election. Also under discussion are ways to tighten the way Congress certifies presidential elections every four years. The battle over voting procedures and campaign finance reform comes against the backdrop of several Republican-controlled state legislatures stripping away some of the get-out-the-vote practices allowed in 2020 while piling on new restrictions. Their efforts have been embraced and encouraged by Trump. More than a year after his November 2020 loss to Democrat Biden, Trump has continually and falsely insisted that the election was stolen from him by widespread voter fraud. That claim has been debunked by multiple court decisions, Trump’s own Justice Department and Republican-instigated investigations. Among the practices Democrats want to turn into minimum federal voting standards are the opportunity for any registered voter to request a mail-in ballot, at least two weeks of early voting and ballot drop boxes that make voting more convenient in many areas. The Democrats’ legislation also would attempt to remove partisanship from the way congressional districts are redrawn every decade. Currently, “gerrymandering” regularly tilts the field to whichever party is in power in the various states. (Reporting by Richard Cowan and David Morgan, additional reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Scott Malone, Leslie Adler, Mark Porter and Aurora Ellis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Alexandra Alper and Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he had underestimated the extent of Republican opposition to his programs and acknowledged Americans’ frustration at the slow pace of COVID-19 testing, but said the United States was on track to meet considerable challenges from the pandemic and inflation. Marking the near one-year anniversary of his presidency, Biden, a Democrat, faced a flurry questions on the country’s bumpy COVID-19 response, relations with Russia and the future of American democracy during a rare formal news conference. Promising to confront what he called the unexpectedly “stalwart” opposition of Republicans, Biden promised to take his case for action directly to voters as Democrats seek to defend their congressional majorities in a Nov. 8 election. “Our work’s not done,” said Biden, whose approval ratings have sagged in recent months with COVID-19 hospitalizations at a record https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/USA-TRENDS/dgkvlgkrkpb/index.html. “Should we have done more testing earlier? Yes,” Biden said. Asked whether he had promised more than he could deliver, Biden was adamant: “I didn’t over-promise.” But he acknowledged that his signature economic and social spending legislation, Build Back Better, was all but dead in its old form. Instead, the president said, he expected that he could get “big chunks” of that bill passed, if not the full package. With much of his domestic agenda stalled, Biden also faced questions on rising tensions with Russia over a military build-up in and around Ukraine. Biden vowed unprecedented sanctions if Russia invades its European neighbor. “Russia will be held accountable if it invades,” Biden said. “They’ll pay a stiff price.” His aides said they envisioned the news conference as an opportunity to frame the president’s approach to his second year and to sell the American people on the accomplishments of the first. A more expansive message will follow when Biden delivers his State of the Union address to Congress on March 1. Four-fifths of qualified Americans have received at least one vaccine shot even as the virus continues to kill https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/united-states nearly 2,000 people per day in the United States, and the unemployment rate has dropped amid record job creation. Biden’s fellow Democrats are fighting to retain their control of Congress https://www.reuters.com/world/us/first-months-2022-crucial-biden-agenda-november-midterms-loom-2022-01-10 in the coming elections https://www.reuters.com/world/us/another-midterm-worry-biden-white-house-probes-impeachment-attempts-2022-01-17 amid a flood of Republican-backed state laws that civil rights advocates say could suppress Black and other minority votes. Biden has held nine total news conferences in his first year in office, including six solo, a slower pace than his most recent predecessors, according to the American Presidency Project at University of California, Santa Barbara. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons and Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by AFP Andre Leon Talley, the first Black creative director of Vogue, has died in New York at the age of 73 New York (AFP) – Influential fashion journalist Andre Leon Talley, the first Black creative director of Vogue, died Tuesday in New York at the age of 73, with figures from fashion and entertainment paying tribute. “It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Andre Leon Talley,” a statement posted on his official Instagram account said, without specifying the cause of death. “Mr Talley was the larger-than-life, longtime creative director at Vogue during its rise to dominance as the world’s fashion bible. “Over the past five decades as an international icon (he) was a close confidant of Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Paloma Picasso, Diane von Furstenberg and he had a penchant for discovering, nurturing and celebrating young designers.” Born in Washington in 1948, Talley was largely raised by his grandmother in Durham, North Carolina and was interested in fashion from an early age. “Every Sunday I would walk across the railroad tracks into the affluent part of Durham and buy Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and go back to my grandmother’s house, read my magazines. “I was allowed to retreat from the bullying and the sexual abuse into a beautiful world,” he told The Guardian in a May 2020 interview. Talley studied French at university, going on to earn a master’s at prestigious Brown University and then entered the world of fashion journalism. After stints with Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, W, and a brief spell at The New York Times, Talley joined Vogue as fashion news director in 1983, the same year as its now editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. It was the start of a three-decade association with the fashion bible, serving as creative director, contributing editor and later editor-at-large until his departure in 2013. “I scorched the Earth with my talent and I let my light shine,” he told The Guardian in his 2020 interview. ‘A beacon of grace’ A flamboyant and towering figure in fashion, Talley nurtured Black designers and lobbied for more diversity on the runway. Besides his fashion journalism, Talley served as a judge on “America’s Next Top Model” and also appeared in episodes of “Sex and The City” and “Empire.” He wrote three books, including his 2020 best-selling memoir “The Chiffon Trenches” in which he detailed his famous falling out with powerful Vogue chief Wintour. “Like many decades-long relationships, there were complicated moments,” Wintour said in a statement. “But all I want to remember today, all I care about, is the brilliant and compassionate man who was a generous and loving friend.” Other top figures from the worlds of fashion and entertainment also paid tribute. “Goodbye darling Andre… no one saw the world in a more elegant and glamorous way than you did,” veteran designer von Furstenberg said on Instagram. “No one was more soulful and grander than you were. The world will be less joyful. I have loved you and laughed with you for 45 years. I miss your loud screams… I love you soooo much,” she said. Oscar-winner Viola Davis posted a photograph of herself and Talley on Twitter, saying: “RIP Andre Leon Talley. Rest well King.” “Slave Play” playwright Jeremy O. Harris was also among those paying tribute. “For a little black gay boy who reached for the stars from the south there were few people I could look up to up there amongst the stars who looked like me just more fab except for you Andre,” Harris tweeted. “For a generation of boys Andre Leon Talley was a beacon of grace and aspiration. RIP.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Anthony Deutsch and Stephanie van den Berg AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -A six-year cold case investigation into the betrayal of Anne Frank has identified a surprising suspect in the mystery of how the Nazis found the hiding place of the famous diarist in 1944. Anne and seven other Jews were discovered by the Nazis on Aug. 4 of that year, after they had hid for nearly two years in a secret annex above a canal-side warehouse in Amsterdam. All were deported and Anne died in the Bergen Belsen camp at age 15. A team that included retired U.S. FBI agent Vincent Pankoke and around 20 historians, criminologists and data specialists identified a relatively unknown figure, Jewish notary Arnold van den Bergh, as a leading suspect in revealing the hideout. Some other experts emphasised that the evidence against him was not conclusive. Investigating team member Pieter van Twisk said the crucial piece of new evidence was an unsigned note to Anne’s father Otto found in an old post-war investigation dossier, specifically naming Van den Bergh and alleging he passed on the information. The note said Van den Bergh had access to addresses where Jews were hiding as a member of Amsterdam’s wartime Jewish Council and had passed lists of such addresses to the Nazis to save his own family. Twisk said only four out of initial 32 names remained following the research, with Van den Bergh the lead suspect. Investigators confirmed that Otto, the only member of the family to survive the war, was aware of the note but chose never to speak of it publicly. Van Twisk speculated that Frank’s reasons to remain silent about the allegation were likely that he could not be sure it was true, that he would not want information to become public that could feed further anti-Semitism, and that he would not want Van den Bergh’s three daughters to be blamed for something their father might have done. Otto “had been in Auschwitz,” Van Twisk said. “He knew that people in difficult situations sometimes do things that cannot be morally justified.” While other members of the Jewish Council were deported in 1943, Van den Bergh was able to remain in the Netherlands. He died in 1950. Historian Erik Somers of the Dutch NIOD institute for war, holocaust and genocide studies praised the extensive investigation, but was sceptical of its conclusion. He questioned the centrality of the anonymous note in the arguments for Van den Bergh’s responsibility and said the team made assumptions about wartime Amsterdam Jewish institutions that are not supported by other historical research. According to Somers there are many possible reasons Van den Bergh was never deported as “he was a very influential man”. Miep Gies, one of the family’s helpers, kept Anne’s diary safe until Otto returned and first published it in 1947. It has since been translated into 60 languages and captured the imagination of millions of readers worldwide. The Anne Frank House Foundation was not involved in the cold case investigation but shared information from its archives to assist. Director Ronald Leopold said the research had “generated important new information and a fascinating hypothesis that merits further research”. Using modern research techniques, a master database was compiled with lists of Dutch collaborators, informants, historic documents, police records and prior research to uncover new leads. Dozens of scenarios and locations of suspects were visualised on a map to identify a betrayer, based on knowledge of the hiding place, motive and opportunity. The findings of the new research will be published in a book by Canadian author Rosemary Sullivan, “The Betrayal of Anne Frank”, which will be released on Tuesday. The director of Dutch Jewish organisation CIDI which combats anti-Semitism told Reuters she hoped the book would provide insight into the war-time circumstances of Amsterdam’s Jewish population. “If this turns into ‘the Jews did it’ that would be unfortunate. The Nazis were ultimately responsible,” Hanna Luden of CIDI said. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch, Stephanie van den Berg, Toby Sterling; editing by Tomasz Janowski and Philippa Fletcher) View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega By the sounds of a forthcoming documentary titled Secrets of Playboy, Hugh Hefner was a vile human being. Scores of ex-girlfriends and former employees of the late Playboy founder were interviewed for the 10-part series, many citing feeling comfortable enough to speak their truth now that he’s unable to allegedly threaten or silence them. According to The Daily Mail, the docuseries paints the picture of a sick, twisted, controlling, demanding, drug-fueled, sex-addicted “vampire” who manipulated hundreds of young women by allegedly grooming them, drugging them, and forcing them to partake in degrading sex acts – all while keeping an overwhelming amount of blackmail on them. The show is set to lift the lid on the “dark underbelly” of Playboy and its culture, which was allegedly marked by sexual abuse that sometimes even crossed the line into bestiality. Hefner’s ex-girlfriend, Sondra Theodore, as well as former “Bunny Mother” PJ Masten were among those who detailed their alleged experiences with the Playboy founder. mega The claims they make are shocking and disturbing, but one particular anecdote involving a porn star and a dog is downright unspeakable. Linda Lovelace –who shot to fame in the 1970s with the hardcore film, Deep Throat – was once allegedly forced to perform oral sex on a German Shepherd while Hefner and his friends watched. She had apparently been driven to the Mansion for an orgy, but things took a turn. “All the guys were laughing when she got out of the limousine. She was drunk and drugged,” said Masten of the alleged horrifying incident. “All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a German Shepherd shows up. They got her so messed up, they made her give the German Shepherd oral sex. You want to talk about depravity? This is despicable!” Theodore recalled an alleged similar situation, saying she once walked in on Hefner arousing one of his male dogs with his hand. “I walked in once, and he was [gestures with hand] to our dog,” she said. “I said, ‘What are you doing?’ He said, ‘Dogs have needs.’ I said, ‘Stop that!’ I never let him be alone with our dog again.” Radar recently spoke with two of Hefner’s ex-girlfriends, twin sisters Kristina Shannon and Karissa Shannon, who also interviewed for the project. Known as “The Shannon Twins,” they told us about the post-traumatic stress disorder and “manic depression” they continue to suffer as a result of their time at the Mansion. “Over the years, we have ended up in the hospital from drinking and taking pills to numb the pain,” they explained, adding that they even once contemplated “committing suicide together, holding hands and taking pills to overdose.” Secrets of Playboy debuts Jan. 24 on A&E. mega View the full article

Jim ObergefellObergefell Announces Candidacy Jim Obergefell, the man who became the face of the fight for same-sex marriage legalization nationwide in 2015, announced Tuesday that he will make a bid for an Ohio House of Representatives seat. “We should all be able to participate fully in society and the economy, living in strong communities with great public schools, access to quality healthcare and with well-paying jobs that allow us to stay in the community we love, with the family we care about,” Obergefell said in a statement announcing his candidacy. In a call with reporters Tuesday, Obergefell shared that he didn’t envision himself running for political office until late summer or early fall of 2021. “Did I want to put myself in this type of public arena? I knew I wanted to do something to make things better.” He also made a note to highlight his focus on protecting the district’s Great Lakes. “We need to invest in our Great Lake, protect our Great Lake and make the nation envious that Ohio has smartly invested in one of the greatest freshwater assets in the world,” he said. “Not only do we need freshwater to live, but Lake Erie is vital to the economies of Ottawa and Erie counties. We must wisely and respectfully put this great resource to work to drive our economic engine and recovery along the Lake Erie shore.” Jim Obergefell: Previously on Towleroad Jim Obergefell, Plaintiff In The Supreme Court Case That Won National Marriage Equality, is Running For Ohio State House Brian Bell January 19, 2022 Read More BYU Bans Protests In Response to Rainbow School Logo; Clay Aiken Running For Congress Again; France Ends Gay Blood Ban: NEWS ROUNDUP Brian Bell January 15, 2022 Read More Andrea Jenkins Wins Unanimous Support To Lead Minneapolis City Council As President; At Divided Tense Time, Becomes First Trans Woman To Lead Council Brian Bell January 14, 2022 Read More Canada Conversion Therapy Ban Goes Into Effect; European Court Declines Gay Marriage Cake Case; New Study on Blood Donations By Gay Men Underway: NEWS Brian Bell January 10, 2022 Read More Man Still Has To Register As A Sex Offender For Consensual Gay Sex in 2001. ACLU Sues South Carolina. Brian Bell January 5, 2022 Read More Monica Lewinsky Now Relates To Britney; Says Only 1 Of Us ‘Made a Mistake’; Overall ‘Happy People Are Making Amends For Their Treatment Of Women’ Towleroad September 3, 2021 Read More Photo courtesy of Obergefell For Ohio View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Prince Andrew’s Twitter account has been deleted. It was announced last week that Queen Elizabeth’s second son would no longer use ‘His Royal Highness’ in an official capacity and his patronages and military titles would be given to other members of the royal family ahead of his civil case in the US, and now the @DukeofYork page on the micro-blogging site has been removed. Visitors to Andrew’s page are now greeted with the message: “This account doesn’t exist.” In addition, the 61-year-old prince’s Instagram account, which has the handle @HRHDukeofYork, has been set to private. On the royal family’s official website, Andrew’s profile page has been updated with last week’s statement about the returning of his patronages and titles and further content detailing his past work has been removed. The news Andrew will be facing his legal battle as a “private citizen” was announced last week. Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “With the Queen’s approval and agreement, the Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to the Queen. “The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.” The move came after it was confirmed Andrew will face a civil case in the US over allegations he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre when she was 17. Giuffre has accused convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – who died by suicide in August 2019 – and his one-time girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell of arranging and forcing her into having sex with the prince in 2001. In December, Maxwell was convicted by a jury in US federal court on five sex trafficking-related counts, which carry a potential custodial sentence of up to 65 years’ imprisonment. Andrew has repeatedly denied Giuffre’s allegations and his legal team recently argued to get her lawsuit dismissed, citing a 2009 deal and $500,000 settlement she agreed with Epstein. However, a federal judge in New York recently ruled that the case could continue. View the full article

Superman: Son of Kal-El #5Superman Writer Knows How To Deal With Hate The reveal of a bisexual Superman brought both praise and ridicule, including death threats, from comic book audiences since the November release of “Superman: Son of Kal-El #5”. But the story’s writer, Tom Taylor, found the perfect way to respond to readers expressing hate toward the Man of Steel’s sexuality. According to PinkNews, Taylor has made a habit of making donations to Australian LGBTQ Youth advocacy group Minus18 in the name of those that have sent him death threats over the new Superman book. The Melbourne-based writer shared one such instance on Twitter last week, including the donation receipt in the name of “Miroslav from Facebook.” “Women do not exist to be nice on the eyes for you. Morgan Webb, Olivia Munn, did not exist to be nice on the eyes for you,” Black continued. The former League of Legends broadcaster joined the network when it relaunched in Nov. 2021, and stated that she won’t stand for the harassment that plagued women during G4’s previous iteration to continue in the network’s new form. Her fellow G4 hosts praised her comments and the official G4 Twitter account posted the video saying “we stand with Froskurinn and the women in the space.” Bisexual Superman: Previously on Towleroad Wonder Woman’s 1st Trans Amazon; ‘Battlefield’s 1st Non-Binary Specialist; ‘Superman’ Colorist Quits Offended By New Motto. Brian Bell October 26, 2021 Read More Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane? No, It’s The First Bisexual Superman Towleroad October 11, 2021 Read More World of Batman Now Even More Queer; Longtime Robin Comes Out as Questioning in DC Comics Anthology Series Brian Bell August 11, 2021 Read More Pride Month Gay Comics Roundup: DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Many Others Celebrate Their LGBTQ Characters, Creators Brian Bell June 16, 2021 Read More Brazil’s Largest Newspaper Publishes Massive ‘Avengers’ Gay Kiss in Defiance of Rio Mayor Andy Towle September 9, 2019 Read More Rio De Janeiro Authorities Ban ‘Avengers’ Comic Book Series Over Gay Kiss Andy Towle September 7, 2019 Read More Image courtesy of DC Comics View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega Kevin Spacey is set to fly out to New York for a medical procedure that he desperately needs to make — according to court documents obtained by Radar. Last week, Spacey’s lawyers were fighting the actor’s sexual harassment accuser Anthony Rapp over his deposition. The House of Cards star was set to be deposed on Friday, January 14. Two days before the depo, Rapp’s lawyer asked the court to postpone the depo claiming he was experiencing health issues. “Unfortunately, over the last weekend, I developed a cough and cold symptoms. I was seen by an otolaryngologist on Monday, who suspected a Covid diagnosis and performed a PCR test. I received a negative result today, but my cough has continued to worsen,” he explained. Kevin Spacey Sexual Assault Lawsuit: Man Testifies Actor Made Advance On Him When He Was Only 16 However, Spacey’s lawyers rushed to court objecting to the postponement. The actor’s team claimed Rapp had already canceled two previous depositions. They argued any delay would be cause their client harm. mega In their objection, Spacey claimed he traveled to Los Angeles for the second depo only to have it postponed. He recently flew home early from a project in Croatia to appear for the third depo. His team said Spacey was unable to be deposed in the near future due to a medical procedure. “Unfortunately, Mr. [Spacey] will return to the East Coast next week for a medical procedure and will be unavailable for a deposition for an uncertain period thereafter,” his attorney wrote in a letter to the judge last week. Kevin Spacey Refusing To Spill About His Past Romantic Partners In Sexual Assault Battle With Anthony Rapp Spacey also argued Rapp had other lawyers who could handle the depo. The judge ended up ordering the deposition to take place yesterday. mega As Radar previously reported, Rapp is suing Spacey of making a sexual advance on him in 1986 when he was 14 years old. Spacey denies all allegations of wrongdoing. He hired an expert who claims Rapp created the allegations because he wanted to be a part of the #MeToo movement. mega View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jan Wolfe WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The congressional committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol issued subpoenas on Tuesday to three lawyers who joined former President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful attempt to overturn his election defeat: Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis. The House of Representatives committee demanded the pro-Trump lawyers hand over documents and sit for depositions on Feb. 8. Representative Bennie Thompson, the committee’s chairman, said in a statement that the panel expects the lawyers to join the nearly 400 witnesses who have spoken with the Select Committee as part of its investigation into the causes of the deadly attack by Trump supporters. The committee also subpoenaed Boris Epshteyn, a Trump political adviser. Robert Costello, a lawyer for Giuliani, said in an interview that the subpoena was “political theater” and that his client was constrained by the legal doctrines of attorney-client privilege and executive privilege. “I don’t think there’s anything here he can testify about,” Costello said. Powell, Epshteyn, and Ellis did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “The four individuals we’ve subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former president about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” Thompson said in the statement. Powell, Giuliani, and Ellis jointly spoke at a Trump campaign news conference on Nov. 19, 2020, where they vowed to overturn President Joe Biden’s election victory. Powell promised to “release the Kraken,” likening their effort to a mythological sea monster. The Trump campaign distanced itself from Powell after she claimed without evidence at the news conference that electronic voting systems had switched millions of ballots from Trump to Biden. Giuliani’s New York law license was suspended in June, after a state appeals court found he made “demonstrably false and misleading” statements that widespread voter fraud undermined the election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. The committee is aiming to release an interim report in the summer and a final report in the fall, a source familiar with the investigation said last month. CNN reported on Tuesday that the committee has subpoenaed and obtained records of phone numbers associated with one of Trump’s children, Eric Trump, as well as Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr. The Select Committee’s members have said they will consider passing along evidence of criminal conduct by Trump to the U.S. Justice Department. Such a move, known as a criminal referral, would be largely symbolic but would increase the political pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland to charge the former president. (Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Scott Malone, Bill Berkrot and Bernard Orr) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) – People with mild COVID-19 who do not suffer any other traditional “long COVID” symptoms can still exhibit deteriorated attention and memory six to nine months after infection, a study by Britain’s Oxford University has found. Cognitive issues impacting concentration levels, along with forgetfulness and fatigue, are features of long COVID – a condition that afflicts some after an initial bout of infection – but it has not been established how widespread issues with attention span might be following COVID-19 infection. In the study, participants who had tested positive for COVID-19 previously but did not report other traditional long COVID symptoms were asked to complete exercises to test their memory and cognitive ability. The researchers found that participants were significantly worse at recalling personal experiences, known as episodic memory, up to six months after infection. They also had a bigger decline in their ability to sustain attention over time than uninfected individuals up to nine months after infection. “What is surprising is that although our COVID-19 survivors did not feel any more symptomatic at the time of testing, they showed degraded attention and memory,” said Dr Sijia Zhao of the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford. “Our findings reveal that people can experience some chronic cognitive consequences for months.” The researchers said that individuals over time demonstrated episodic memory and attention span largely returned to normal after six and nine months, respectively. Participants also performed well in tests of other cognitive abilities, including working memory and planning, in the analysis of 136 participants. Stephen Burgess of the MRC Biostatistics Unit at the University of Cambridge highlighted the small number of people involved in the study, adding that it was not randomised. “However, despite this, differences between the COVID and non-COVID groups in terms of several specific measures of cognitive ability looked at in this study were striking,” he said. “Despite the limitations of non-randomised research, it seems unlikely that these results can be explained by systematic differences between the groups unrelated to COVID infection.” (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) View the full article