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Published by Reuters By Mrinalika Roy (Reuters) -The more infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears to produce less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, but should not be categorised as “mild”, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Thursday. Janet Diaz, WHO lead on clinical management, said early studies showed there was a reduced risk of hospitalisation from the variant first identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November compared with Delta. There appears also to be a reduced risk of severity in both younger and older people, she told a media briefing from WHO headquarters in Geneva. She did not give further details about the studies or the ages of the cases analysed, but the impact on the elderly is one of the big unanswered questions about the new variant as most of the cases studied so far have been in younger people. Speaking at the same briefing in Geneva, director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the variant should not be considered “mild” as global infections soar to records, healthcare systems are overwhelmed and governments struggle to tame the virus, which has killed more than 5.8 million people. He repeated his call for greater equity globally in the distribution of and access to vaccines. Based on the current rate of vaccine rollout, 109 countries will miss the WHO’s target for 70% of the world’s population to be fully vaccinated by July, Tedros added. That aim is seen as helping end the acute phase of the pandemic. WHO adviser Bruce Aylward said 36 nations had not even reached 10 percent vaccination cover. Among severe patients worldwide, 80% were unvaccinated, he added. Another variant – labelled as IHU and first registered in September 2021 – is among those being monitored by the WHO but is not circulating widely, said the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, Maria van Kerkhove. There are two other categories of greater significance the WHO uses to track variants https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants: “variant of concern”, which includes Delta and Omicron, and “variant of interest”. (Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bangaluru; Writing by Josephine Mason;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) View the full article

LGBTQ Health, gutted by trump, is on the way back. Originally published by The 19th Health insurance plans offered through the Affordable Care Act that exclude coverage of gender-affirming treatment for transgender people are discriminatory, the Department of Health and Human Services said in an annual policy report scheduled for release this week. That argument is included in the agency’s proposal to restore Obama-era nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people accessing ACA health care plans for 2023. In recognizing gender-affirming care like hormone therapy, the proposal goes a step beyond previous protections under the Obama administration. “I’m pleasantly surprised that they went there and made these protections even clearer,” said Katie Keith, a health law expert at Georgetown University and founder of Out2Enroll, which reviews ACA plans for LGBTQ+ inclusion and advocates for LGBTQ+ people to sign up for plans. The proposed protections — which would reinstate sexual orientation and gender identity as protected antidiscrimination categories — come amid the Biden administration’s pledge to restore protections for LGBTQ+ Americans that were revoked under former President Donald Trump. “I think this is an important step forward, an important piece of the puzzle,” said Harper Jean Tobin, a leader in transgender policymaking who runs a consulting firm working with LGBTQ+ organizations. “They’re fixing a hole that was ripped in these regulations by the Trump administration.” LGBTQ+ Americans’ access to health care coverage has improved over the years, but that progress often hasn’t reached people with the most serious health care needs, Tobin said. Although fewer health care plans set blanket exclusions against covering trans people now than in previous years, some plans still discriminate in how they apply the terms of their plans, and some LGBTQ+ families are mistreated when enrolling or seeking benefits, she said. Most 2022 plans reviewed by Out2Enroll did not use trans-specific exclusions for gender-affirming care, but 6 percent of insurers offering silver plans, the most popular category in the ACA marketplace with moderate costs compared to higher-tier plans, did explicitly exclude coverage for trans people — an increase from previous years. This matters because of another systemic inequity: The deep economic disparities experienced by LGBTQ+ Americans — especially transgender people, who make less than cisgender people in the United States — mean they are less likely to have health insurance through an employer plan. These new protections — proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), part of HHS — are made under a separate authority than the primary nondiscrimination clause outlined under the ACA: Section 1557. The Trump administration revised the far-reaching civil rights protection clause to exclude “gender identity” as a protected category. Although nondiscrimination protections under CMS were also affected by the Trump administration’s changes, these new rules are more narrowly defined and, health experts and advocates hope, could preempt discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. More from The 19th In Western Massachusetts, a clinic by and for transgender people seeks to revolutionize health care ‘We don’t have other options’: Children’s hospital disbands gender-affirming care program CMS’s proposal to apply nondiscrimination protections to gender-affirming care could help prevent transgender patients, specifically, from experiencing discrimination in the first place, policy experts told The 19th, and help circumvent the usual loop of discrimination going unnoticed until it’s experienced and then reported or litigated. States would be the primary enforcers for these protections, CMS noted. “Nipping it at the bud is certainly a cleaner, more straightforward path to equity,” said Lindsey Dawson, associate director at the Kaiser Family Foundation. The proposed protections, which will be published Wednesday and enter a 30-day comment period before being weighed by agency officials, are focused on coverage plans provided within the ACA marketplace. Section 1557, a broader rule, applies to any health care insurer or provider that gets federal funding. Section 1557 is also mired in a slew of ongoing litigation and has been since it was finalized in 2016. The Biden administration said in a court filing last November that the HHS expects to issue its revised Section 1557 Rule in April. With the CMS proposal, although the agency does not explicitly say so, “it seems clear that they’re looking to find authority outside of 1557,” Dawson said. HHS declined to comment on the record. Enforcement of nondiscrimination protections for transgender people under Section 1557 is also still spotty, per Out2Enroll’s latest analysis of silver marketplace plans, or the most commonly chosen category of ACA plan. In states like Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Wyoming — where federal officials enforce Section 1557 — more oversight for enforcement is needed, the organization argues. LGBTQ Health ACA on Towleroad Biden to call out Trump’s ‘singular responsibility’ for Jan. 6 attacks More Online sleuths track down US Capitol attackers More Ghislaine Maxwell to seek new trial after juror’s sexual abuse claim -lawyer More Australian government cancels Djokovic’s visa, appeal being lodged More Chris Noth’s final And Just Like That… scene axed More Kelvin Harrison Jr. to play artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in Samo Lives More Biden urges U.S. to reject Trump lies on anniversary of Capitol attack More Saweetie and Cher team up for MAC campaign More Man Still Has To Register As A Sex Offender For Consensual Gay Sex in 2001. ACLU Sues South Carolina. More Load More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden will tell Americans that his predecessor, Donald Trump, carries “singular responsibility” for the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol when he marks the first anniversary of the assault on Thursday, the White House said. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, both Democrats, will speak on Thursday morning at the U.S. Capitol, one year after a mob loyal to Trump raided the complex https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democracy-under-siege-an-hour-by-hour-look-assault-us-capitol-2022-01-04 in a failed attempt to stop the certification of Electoral College votes that officially delivered Biden’s election victory. Biden and his top aides have been reluctant to talk directly about Trump since the former senator took office last January, even as the Republican former president continued to spread lies about his election loss, and Democrats, historians and civil rights activists have grown increasingly concerned about the future of the nearly 250-year-old representative democracy. Thursday’s speech comes after Biden spent months encouraging Americans to unite against the COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild together after weather disasters. On Thursday, Biden will “lay out the significance of what happened in the Capitol and the singular responsibility President Trump has for the chaos and carnage that we saw and he will forcibly push back on the lies spread by the former president in an attempt to mislead the American people and his own supporters as well as distract from his role in what happened,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. Trump canceled a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that had been scheduled for Thursday evening, blaming what he called the “bias and dishonesty” of the House of Representatives probe of the attacks and the news media, a favorite target. Taylor Budowich, a Trump spokesperson, said it was “unsurprising” that Biden would spend Jan. 6th “trying to further divide our nation, adding “division is the only thing Democrats know how to do.” Four people died on the day of the riot, and one Capitol police officer died the day after defending Congress. Dozens of police were injured during the multi-hour onslaught by Trump supporters, and four officers have since taken their own lives https://www.reuters.com/world/us/officer-who-responded-us-capitol-attack-is-third-die-by-suicide-2021-08-02. The White House said Biden would push back against Trump’s false claims, adopted by many of his followers, that his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud, and attempts to downplay the worst assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812. Biden has been “clear eyed about the threat the former president represents to our democracy,” Psaki said, “and how the former president constantly works to constantly undermine basic American values and rule of law.” She added that the president sees the deadly attacks as a “tragic culmination of what those four years under President Trump did to our country.” Harris will use her remarks to “outline that the American experiment is being tested, and that we must work to secure voting rights, ensure free and fair elections and safeguard our democracy for generations to come,” an administration official said. (Reporting By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw; Additional reporting by Alexander Ulmer, Nandita Bose and Jeff Mason; Editing by Heather Timmons, Alistair Bell and Cynthia Osterman) View the full article

Published by AFP Trump supporters outside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 Washington (AFP) – The FBI is still searching for people who stormed the US Capitol on January 6. So is Kay. The 34-year-old from Washington state is one of a number of online sleuths tracking down participants in the attack on Congress. “We’re somewhere between journalists and law enforcement,” said Kay, who declined to use her last name for security reasons. “We’re dedicated to finding everyone.” More than 725 people have been arrested so far for the attack on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump who were seeking to block congressional certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. “January 6 broke my heart and I have never really gotten over it,” Kay told AFP, her voice breaking with emotion. “It seemed, like, sacrilegious. “To me, the Capitol is — even though I’ve never been there — a symbol of our democracy,” she said. “And that really matters to me, that we have a healthy, thriving democracy. “To see the Capitol assaulted like that, and the people inside, was terrifying, just heartbreaking.” Kay has spent months at her computer keyboard, trawling the internet in a hunt for people involved in the assault on Congress. Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a speech on Wednesday, thanked members of the public for their assistance in bringing participants to justice. “We have received over 300,000 tips from ordinary citizens, who have been our indispensable partners in this effort,” Garland said. Kay, who has a background in video production, has sifted through thousands of photographs and hundreds of hours of video of the attack available online, much of it on social media. “I found that people were proudly posting what they had done on January 6,” she said. “They were proud to be there, and it was just perfectly logical to brag about it online. “So you find their social media networks, you know their username and find them across all the platforms that they’re on.” ‘Very satisfying’ Kay is one of a number of online detectives working with groups going by names such as Sedition Hunters, Capitol Hunters and Deep State Dogs. Kay mainly works with Sedition Hunters, which has a core of about 20 members and the support of hundreds of others. They use geolocation and facial recognition software such as PimEyes, and appeal for information through Twitter. The group does not publicly identify suspects by name, only by nicknames, and rigorously verifies photos before publishing them online or passing them on to the FBI. The FBI, like the attorney general, said the public has been a tremendous help in the investigation. “The FBI encourages the public to continue to send tips,” an FBI spokeswoman told AFP. “As we have seen with dozens of cases so far, the tips matter. “The FBI is working diligently behind the scenes to follow all investigative leads to verify tips from the public and bring these criminals to justice,” she said.  Devorah Margolin, a senior research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, said social media has played an “outsized role” in the events of January 6. “Most people who participated in these events didn’t think that they were doing anything wrong,” Margolin said. “They were posting online. A criminal offense took place and they documented it.” Margolin said information obtained online, mostly from social media, featured in 77 percent of 704 January 6 criminal cases researched by the program. “What we don’t know is how much of that information came from citizen detectives or tip lines, and how much was found by the FBI or DOJ themselves,” she said. Aiden Bilyard, 19, was arrested in late November and charged with assault, destruction of government property and entering a restricted building. In its arrest report, the FBI noted that Bilyard had been identified in open source reporting as #Harvardsweats because of a gray Harvard sweatshirt he was wearing on January 6. Ronald Loehrke, 30, was arrested in Georgia in early December based in part on photographs published by Sedition Hunters. Loehrke is charged with assault, obstruction of law enforcement and unlawful entry. Kay said the work is “very satisfying,” particularly when it leads to an arrest. “Many of these people are very violent people,” she said. “That does mean a lot to me, knowing that I’ve helped get these people off the streets.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted last week of aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuses, deserves a new trial, her lawyer said on Wednesday after a juror told media including Reuters that he had been a victim of sexual abuse. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan, who presided over Maxwell’s trial, the lawyer, Christian Everdell, said there were “incontrovertible grounds” for Maxwell to get a new trial, to serve the interest of justice. He called the matter “an issue of pressing importance,” saying disclosures by the juror “influenced the deliberations and convinced other members of the jury to convict Ms. Maxwell.” Everdell filed the letter shortly after asking Nathan to open an inquiry into the juror’s statements. Nathan’s decision on whether a new trial is warranted could hinge on how the juror responded to questions during jury selection about his experiences with sexual abuse, which legal experts said was a key question that defense lawyers were looking at to weed out potentially biased jurors. The office of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, which prosecuted Maxwell, declined to comment. Maxwell, 60, was convicted https://www.reuters.com/world/us/maxwell-jury-resume-deliberations-after-judge-warns-omicron-risk-2021-12-29 on Dec. 29 of sex trafficking and other charges for recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004. Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-ghislaine-maxwells-defense-failed-distance-her-epstein-2021-12-30, killed himself in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting his own sex trafficking trial. The juror, who asked to be identified by his first and middle names, Scotty David, told Reuters on Tuesday https://www.reuters.com/world/us/some-ghislaine-maxwell-jurors-initially-doubted-accusers-juror-says-2022-01-05 evening that during deliberations, after some jurors expressed skepticism about the accounts of two of Maxwell’s accusers, he shared his experience of having been sexually abused as a child. “When I shared that, they were able to sort of come around on, they were able to come around on the memory aspect of the sexual abuse,” Scotty David, a 35-year-old Manhattan resident, said, referring to other jurors. Scotty David did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Wednesday. JUROR QUESTIONNAIRES Following the request for a new trial, attorney Todd Spodek made an appearance in the case and said in a court filing that he was representing Juror No. 50. Spodek did not give the juror’s name and did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Juror No. 50 was one of the 18 jurors selected on Nov. 29 to serve as a juror or an alternate. Hundreds of prospective jurors filled out questionnaires that asked them, among other things, if they or their family members had experienced sexual abuse or assault. During follow-up questioning, Nathan asked those who answered “yes” if they would still be able to be fair and impartial. Scotty David told Reuters he did not recall a question about personal experiences with sexual abuse on the questionnaire, but that he would have answered honestly. He said he “flew through” the questionnaire. He said Nathan did not ask about his personal experience with sexual abuse during follow-up questioning. During follow-up questioning on Nov. 16, Juror No. 50 told Nathan that he had read a news article and seen a CNN broadcast about Epstein’s death. The juror said he heard that Epstein had a girlfriend, but that he otherwise knew nothing about Maxwell. When Nathan asked Juror No. 50 if he could put aside anything he read or heard to reach an impartial verdict, he replied, “Yes, absolutely.” Prosecutors said the juror’s statements to the media “merit attention” by the court and asked for a hearing to be scheduled in about a month. Media cited by prosecutors include Reuters, the Daily Mail and The Independent. Later on Tuesday, The New York Times reported that a second juror described having been sexually abused as a child during deliberations. That juror, who requested anonymity to speak to the Times, said this revelation appeared to help shape the jury’s discussion. MISTAKE OR OMISSION Moira Penza, a partner at the Wilkinson Stekloff law firm and a former federal prosecutor, said any inquiry into Scotty David would likely focus on whether the juror made a mistake or omission in answering questions on an initial screening questionnaire for prospective jurors or follow-up questions from the judge. “Defense lawyers will argue that this question was so part and parcel to figuring out that juror’s bias or any juror’s bias,” she said. Penza said there have been instances where courts granted new trials based on “purposeful lies or omissions” during the process of screening jurors, known as voir dire, which she said “is not what we’re hearing so far.” Maxwell faces up to 65 years in prison for her conviction. Nathan gave Maxwell’s lawyers until Jan. 19 to formally request a new trial and explain whether an inquiry is needed, with a response from prosecutors due by Feb. 2. Maxwell separately faces trial on two perjury counts for allegedly lying about her knowledge of Epstein’s behavior during a deposition for a civil case. The date of the perjury trial has not yet been set. (Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Lisa Shumaker and Rosalba O’Brien) View the full article

Published by DPA Supporters of Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic protest outside of the Park hotel quarantine facility where it is believed Djokovic is being detained. World No.1 tennis star Novak Djokovic is fighting his visa cancellation and pending deportation in a Federal Court challenge. James Ross/AAP/dpa The Australian government has cancelled the visa of tennis star Novak Djokovic, authorities confirmed on Thursday, but the world number one remains in Melbourne as his lawyers fight his deportation. The controversy comes with the Australian Open, the first tennis grand slam tournament of the year, beginning in Melbourne on January 17. Defending champion Djokovic was detained at a Melbourne airport following his arrival in Australia on Wednesday after the Australian Border Force (ABF) raised concerns over his entry visa. The Serbian had received a Covid-19 vaccination exemption from tournament organizers, allowing him to compete in the event, but that was not enough for airport officials. “The ABF can confirm that Mr Djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to Australia, and his visa has been subsequently cancelled,” the ABF said in a statement. “Non-citizens who do not hold a valid visa on entry or who have had their visa cancelled will be detained and removed from Australia.” Djokovic, who has consistently declined to reveal his vaccination status, was told he would have to leave Australia on Thursday. But his lawyers sought an appeal and a judge said a decision would not come before Friday, news agency AAP reported, meaning Djokovic was set to stay the night in a special hotel in Melbourne. Media reports said the case could even last until Monday. “I need to know a little more than I presently do about the conditions of the applicant,” Judge Anthony Kelly said, according to AAP, confessing to knowing little about tennis and asking details about the Australian Open dates. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for the court to ask, as an open question, whether the particular hotel in which the applicant is staying or may be able to stay might have available to him tennis practising facilities.” The furore seems to revolve around confusion between the state Victorian government, which issued his vaccination exemption, and the federal authorities as well as the specific documents Djokovic brought. “Mr Djokovic’s visa has been cancelled,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a tweet earlier on Thursday. “Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our borders. No one is above these rules. Our strong border policies have been critical to Australia having one of the lowest death rates in the world from COVID, we are continuing to be vigilant.” Earlier this week, the tournament organizers had ended weeks of uncertainty by saying the nine-times champion would take part thanks to an exemption. “Djokovic applied for a medical exemption which was granted following a rigorous review process involving two separate independent panels of medical experts,” a statement said. “One of those was the Independent Medical Exemption Review Panel appointed by the Victorian Department of Health. They assessed all applications to see if they met the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) guidelines.” News of the exemption to strict vaccination rules has sparked a huge backlash in Australia. Djokovic’s exemption had caused “anger and confusion,” broadcaster ABC said while the Herald Sun newspaper said citizens felt the ruling was a “slap in the face to everyone in Australia.” Tournament director Craig Tiley has defended the decision and their has been an angry response in Serbia to Djokovic’s treatment. The player’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, told the Internet portal B92 that his son had earlier been held in a guarded room and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Instagram he had spoken to Djokovic and that “the whole of Serbia” supported their hero. Djokovic said last year he was opposed to forced vaccination. A general view of the Park Hotel, believed to be holding the Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic. The Australian government has cancelled the visa of tennis star Novak Djokovic, authorities confirmed on Thursday. Joel Carrett/AAP/dpa View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Chris Noth’s final scenes have reportedly been cut from ‘And Just Like That…’. The 67-year-old actor’s alter ego John James ‘Mr Big’ Preston was killed off in the first episode of the ‘Sex and the City’ spin-off but he had reportedly also filmed scenes with on-screen wife Sarah Jessica Parker in Paris, France, to feature in the season finale. However, after the actor was accused of sexual assault by multiple women, insiders told TV Line the cameo footage “will not make it to air” now. Noth was first accused by a woman who claimed he had “raped her from behind” in 2004 when she was just 22, while the second woman claimed she was 25 and had had a dinner date with the actor in New York before he allegedly assaulted her. The ‘Sex and the City’ actor was then accused of “acting inappropriately” toward actress Zoe Lister-Jones when they both worked on ‘Law & Order’. And Noth’s most recent accuser, singer Lisa Gentile, alleged the actor had “sexually victimised” her in 2002 by kissing her and touching her breasts against her will. In Noth’s original statement about the first two allegations, he said the claims were “categorically false” and insisted he “did not assault these women”. He said: “The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false. “These stories could’ve been from 30 years ago or 30 days ago — no always means no — that is a line I did not cross. It’s difficult not to question the timing of these stories coming out. I don’t know for certain why they are surfacing now, but I do know this: I did not assault these women.” He later insisted he wouldn’t be making a fresh statement. He told paparazzi while walking in his neighbourhood in Massachusetts: “You have my statement, right? My statement is out, I rest by my statement. I’ll now let the chips fall where they may. My statement is my statement, that’s all I can give.” The actor has been fired from his role in ‘The Equalizer’ and dropped by his talent agency in the wake of the allegations. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Kelvin Harrison Jr. will play artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in the biopic ‘Samo Lives’. The 27-year-old actor has boarded the cast of the movie that will celebrate the life, career and impact of the New York-born, Haitian-Puerto Rican American artist whose seminal painting and street art defined the Neo-expressionism arts movement during the 1980s. The film is being directed by Julius Omah, who previously collaborated with Kelvin on the critically acclaimed drama ‘Luce’, and is being financed and developed by Endeavor Content. Basquiat became the youngest artist at the Whitney Biennial in New York at the age of just 22. He sadly passed away aged 27 in 1988 but his work continues to make an impact on the art world – the painting ‘Untitled’ sold at Sotheby’s for $110.5 million in 2017. Julius is also producing the project and will co-write the script with Peter Glanz. In a lengthy statement, the director explained: “Jean-Michel Basquiat redefined the idea of who ascends to the highest altitudes of the fine art world. But the complexity and richness of his experience as an artist and child of the African diaspora has yet to be dramatised in the manner it delivers. “It’s an honour to work with Kelvin and my collaborators, and with Endeavor Content, to celebrate the legacy of an artist who has invited audiences everywhere to be inspired by the transformative power of art.” Omah explained how he first discovered Basquiat as a teenager and realised that his story would be perfect for the big screen as he learned more about the artist. He said: “It was a gateway for a kid desperate to find artists he could see himself in. But the older I got and the more I learned about Jean-Michel, the more I began to feel his story hadn’t been fully told in cinema. “Never have we seen the full spectrum of Basquiat’s incredible life as a black artist and a child of the immigrant African diaspora. And the richness and nuance of his journey is a story worthy of celebration.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden will urge Americans to reject lies and live by the “light of truth” in remarks on Thursday to commemorate the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Biden, a Democrat, defeated Republican Trump in the 2020 election, but the former president has falsely claimed the vote was marred by fraud, and his speech two weeks before Biden’s inauguration urging supporters to fight fueled a deadly riot at the Capitol, a symbol of U.S. democracy. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are slated to speak at the Capitol on Thursday and the White House said Biden would assign “singular responsibility” https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-president-biden-lay-out-trumps-singular-responsibility-jan-6-attacks-2022-01-05 to Trump for the violence a year ago. Four people died on the day of the riot, and one Capitol police officer died the day after. “And so at this moment we must decide what kind of nation we are going to be. Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm? Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people?” Biden will say, according to excerpts of his remarks released by the White House. “Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies? We cannot allow ourselves to be that kind of nation. The way forward is to recognize the truth and to live by it,” he will say. Biden and his advisers have shied away from talking directly about Trump during the Democrat’s first year in office, preferring to move forward with their own agenda. But the former president has continued to spread falsehoods about his loss and may decide to run for president again in the 2024 election. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Mary Milliken) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Saweetie and Cher have teamed up to star in MAC campaign ‘Challenge Accepted’. The 28-year-old rapper and the ‘Believe’ singer,75, have joined the cosmetics company’s latest campaign which encourages the stars to “challenge the status quo”. Saweetie explained: “Challenge Accepted’ means challenging a status quo, and I try to do that every day with my business, with my music, with the message I give out to the world. Because I went to college, something that was said to me was: ‘Why would you be a rapper when you have a degree?’ But I challenge that. I’m going to do what I’m passionate about. So Challenge Accepted from MAC’s side, from my side, I feel like we continue to challenge the doubters.” The ‘Best Friend’ singer – who joined MAC as an ambassador back in September 2021 – then went on to gush about getting to work with iconic pop singer Cher, describing the experience as “magical.” Speaking to WWD, she added: “Cher is so magical. Every time someone asks for me to describe her, I feel like there’s no one word to put it, but she’s magical. he’s fun. She’s so full of knowledge and she was such a pleasure to work with. If I can, I would do it again.” Her feelings were echoed by Drew Elliott, senior vice president and global creative director at MAC Cosmetics, who said that seeing the stars collaborate on set for the campaign video was a “dream., noting that Cher’s fashion wisdom was “endless.” He said: “When they were filming together, Cher gave endless advice and ‘wisdom’ about the industry, fashion and style. It was such a moment — a moment only MAC could make. These two artists are powerhouses on their own, but together they are unstoppable.” View the full article

=Buck SlipThe ineffective, draconian sex offender registry is being used prop up unconstitutional ‘buggery’ laws that a few states refuse to take off the books.Yes, criminalizing consensual gay sex was not found unconstitutional until 2003 and there are people today in South Carolina who are on the onerous sex offender registry for convictions that have been pardoned and that happened in the 2000s. Below post are case documents as well as the conditions sex offenders agree to for life in South Carolina. Add this to the urgent list of reforming every part of criminal justice. Also add to the list of concerns about the supermajority conservative activists on the Supreme Court. Attached are the legal complaint and supporting document at the end of the post –Editor Charleston Pride. State is one of three still using sex offender registry on convictions of consensual gay sex.Challenging “Buggery” A lawsuit filed by a South Carolina man last month is putting the state’s anti-sodomy laws and their use in criminalizing LGBTQ individuals as well as the lifetime-without-review rules for sex offenders in South Carolina back under the spotlight. The man, identified in the filing as “John Doe,” is challenging in order to have his sex offender status changed after being convicted under South Carolina’s anti-sodomy statutes, often referred to as the “buggery” law, over 20 years ago. According to the filing, Doe was convicted for having consensual sex with a man in 2001 under the South Carolina statute. He was later pardoned of the charge in 2006, three years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down similar laws in Texas and deemed them unconstitutional nationwide. Despite the pardon, Doe has remained a registered sex offender in South Carolina. The ACLU of South Carolina and Los Angeles lawyer Matthew Strugar filed the suit on behalf of Doe in U.S. District Court on December 22, aiming to have Doe removed from the state’s sex offender registry and prevent others convicted under the state’s anti-sodomy laws from having to register as sex offenders. Menges won his case, with U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen stating that “Montana has no rational basis for forcing Menges to register as a sexual offender.”Strugar sees the parallels between the cases of Menges and Doe. “This kind of overt, state-sanctioned homophobia would have been surprising 30 years ago. Today it is shocking. And it is unconstitutional,” Strugar said in a statement. The Montana Attorney General’s Office is appealing the ruling. Menges and another man also have a similar lawsuit currently pending in Idaho challenging its reciprocity laws. Doe’s complaint names South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel as defendants. Doe’s filing highlights Menges’ case as an example of successful challenges to anti-sodomy and reciprocity laws in other states that effectively criminalizes LGBTQ sexual activity. “This practice needlessly subjects law abiding citizens to the horrors of the sex offender registry and demonstrates a deeply troubling animosity by the state towards the gay community,” said Allen Chaney, ACLU of South Carolina legal director. The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office declined to comment citing the office doesn’t comment on pending litigation. Sex Offenders in South Carolina, for Life With the ACLU case documents below is the form signed by sex offenders in South Carolina. Once someone has been identified for. thelist it is for a lifetime, as is frequently a requirement for electronic surveillance. In South Carolina there is no process, no scheduled check in to analyze if the person needs to remain on the list, and no way to petition for removal, no matter what offense has been committed. This was recently found unconstitutional but still no changes haver been made. Among the requirements many are particularly onerous and make finding living space and work next to impossible in some places. This is not incidental to require of someone who was convicted of a crime that is not a crime, and in fact is onerous and unnecessary according to clear research across the country for. the vast majority of people forced to register. Sex offenders have to register twice a year, in person, with the sheriff. Their names , offenses and addresses are on local and national lists and maps anyone can consult via the internet. If they move, through state reciprocity, they are forced to still register in other states. Many are victimized lacking safety and via the details on the internet. In South Carolina, sex offenders give up rights to question tests to determine if they are drunk and waive all requirements for warrants to search homes, cars, phones, computers etc at any time as well as waiving rights to confidential treatment and therapy. They have to report where they are living, and they have to sleep there every night. And this place has. to be the slivers and outskirts of towns that are 1000 feet from any place young people might frequent AND any places that sell goods or services related to sex activity. This includes all schools, day care centers, playgrounds, arcades, public pools and beaches, shopping malls and theaters as well as adult book stores, strip clubs, massage parlors etc. (In many cities this reduces the areas in which it’s possible to live to such an extent that many are made homeless. Homelessness and having no work, i.e. isolations have been shown to be among the few factors that actually increase recidivism among sex offenders. The rate of recidivism for these crimes is around 8% already though, compared to 67% for all other offenses. have been shown to be among t Sex offenders can have no contact with anyone under 18 outside the immediate family. In fact there are three myths about sex offenders that have been studies significantly with results conclusively showing that: A. Stranger Danger is not a thing. Ironic in that 80% of sexual assault victims know their assaulters, 93% if just the child victims.. The last numbers from 2011 are that across a country of 74 million children there were 105 kidnappings by strangers, and some of those involved sexual assault.. B. Not true that sex offenders have very high sexual re-offense rates. Recidivism is not high at all. The vast majority of sex offenders are first time offenders. Recidivism rates have been found to be 5-8%, 10-14% in another (compared to 67% for all other convictions.). 1994 federal study followed 10,000 released offenders, about 2/3 of the total, with almost half of those who assaulted children found found a 5.3 recidivism rate. C. Also Not true that all sex offenders are not treatable. multiple studies have found statistically significant impacts. It is also a myth that those on the sex offender list have assaulted someone sexually, many have not assaulted anyone, and in fact many have had contact with anyone. In South Carolina this can include soliciting someone under 18 for sex, peeping toms, stalkers, other crimes with intent, indecent exposure and anything else if part of a judge’s conviction. And while all of these are serious and are crimes, they do not all fall to. the same level of offense or threat as say repeated sexual assault It is hardly a surprise that the impacts of sex offender lists and the huge attendant stigma impact people of color more significantly South Carolina Sex Offender Registry : Previously on Towleroad ACLU Sues South Carolina: Man Kept On Sex Offender List For 2001 Consensual Gay Sex Conviction; Was Pardoned in 2006; Sodomy Laws Tossed, 2003 Brian Bell January 5, 2022 Read More Omicron Result Of COVID HIV Connect, Mutated in Immune-Suppressed Untreated Person With HIV; ‘Most Plausible Origin Story’; ‘Pretty Good Bet’; Top Scientists Agree. Get Tested, Treated. Michael Goff December 7, 2021 Read More Two Firsts Among Nonbinary Election Wins; Texas Religious Businesses Step Closer to Legal Discrimination; Michigan Effort Fails To Extend LGBTQ Rights Brian Bell November 3, 2021 Read More Raiders Coach Resigns Over Homophobic Emails; NC Lt. Gov. Calls LGBTQ People ‘Filth;’ Dean Cain Bummed at Bi Superman: Homophobia Newsletter Brian Bell October 13, 2021 Read More Spanish Hospital Draws Gay Health Advocates’ Ire After Listing ‘Homosexuality’ As An Illness On Gay Patient’s Medical Report Brian Bell October 7, 2021 Read More OKCupid’s Full, Inclusive ‘Every Single Person’ Campaign Is Literally Attacked. Dating App: ‘If We’re Pissing Off People … You Can Go Elsewhere’ Brian Bell September 30, 2021 Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By Anna Mehler Paperny and Ismail Shakil TORONTO (Reuters) -Canada announced on Tuesday two agreements totalling C$40 billion ($31.5 billion) to compensate First Nations children who were taken from their families and put into the child welfare system and to reform the system that removed them and deprived them of services they needed. The agreements include C$20 billion for potentially hundreds of thousands of First Nations children who were removed from their families, who did not get services or who experienced delays in receiving services. Another C$20 billion is to reform the system over the next five years. The agreements come almost 15 years after the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society brought forward a human rights complaint. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal repeatedly found child and family services discriminated against First Nations children, in part by under-funding services on reserves so children were removed from their homes and taken off-reserve to get those services. Canada admitted its systems were discriminatory but repeatedly fought orders to pay compensation and fund reforms, including an appeal it filed last year https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-appeal-decision-compensate-indigenous-children-harmed-by-discrimination-2021-10-29. Canada is also fighting a class-action lawsuit on behalf of First Nations children that the compensation agreement seeks to resolve. Justice Minister David Lametti said Tuesday the government will drop its appeals once the agreements are finalized in the months ahead. The reform deal includes C$2,500 in preventive care per child and provisions for children in foster care to receive support beyond age 18. Funding aimed at reform and preventive services should start flowing in April but may not address deep-rooted problems, said Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. “I see it as words on paper,” she told Reuters. “I judge victory when I can walk into a community and a child is able to say to me, ‘My life is better than it was yesterday.’ Nothing in these words actually changes children’s lives until it’s implemented.” Lawyer David Sterns, representing harmed First Nations children and families, said during a press conference that this would be the largest class-action settlement in Canada’s history. “The enormity of this settlement is due to one reason, and one reason only. And that is the sheer scope of the harm inflicted on class members,” he said. At the press conference Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu vowed to end discrimination against First Nations children, who are over-represented in foster care across Canada. “Canada’s decision and actions harmed First Nations children, families and communities,” she said. “Discrimination caused intergenerational harm and losses. Those losses are not reversible. But I believe healing is possible.” ($1 = 1.2696 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; Editing by Denny Thomas and Lisa Shumaker) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers are discussing another possible round of COVID-19 stimulus spending for businesses, seeking to blunt the impact of the fast-spreading Omicron variant, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Early efforts by Democratic and Republican lawmakers have focused primarily on authorizing billions of dollars to help businesses including restaurants, performance venues, gyms and minor league sports teams, the report said, citing four people familiar with the matter. The White House declined to comment to the Washington Post, as did two lawmakers cited as behind the talks. Such a measure, if passed by Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden, would be the latest federal relief package as the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic enters its third year, this time as the Omicron variant sweeps the country. Biden, a Democrat, approved the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” in March 2021. Former Republican U.S. President Donald Trump approved nearly $900 billion in coronvirus-related funding into law in December 2020 as part of a larger $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package. Before that, Congress had passed bills allocating $3 trillion to combat the pandemic that shut down much of the United States in March 2020. (Writing by Susan Heavey in Washington; additional reporting by Shivam Patel in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Chizu Nomiyama) View the full article

Published by OK Magazine MEGA Sorry not sorry! Andy Cohen has no regrets about his recent hosting gig during CNN’s New Year’s Eve special over the weekend. After the TV personality had a little too much to drink while ringing in the new year with Anderson Cooper on CNN’s broadcast Friday night — where began slinging insults at numerous celebs — he refused to apologize for simply having a good time. MEGA Cohen appeared on Sirius XM’s The Howard Stern Show earlier this week, where he defended himself for going on a drunken rant during the broadcast, telling the radio show host he was just trying to have a fun night. VICKI GUNVALSON’S FORMER ‘RHOC’ CASTMATE & ANDY COHEN REACT TO HER EX STEVE LODGE GETTING ENGAGED TO NEW GIRLFRIEND “I will not be shamed for having fun on New Year’s Eve. That’s why I’m there.” he explained on Tuesday, January 4. “It’s a four-and-a-half-hour show. The booze started kicking in around 11:30…I kicked into high gear with 45 minutes left.” Cohen became unhinged during his drunken rant while yelling about Mayor Bill de Blasio for doing the “crappiest job” as the mayor of New York. The Bravo host even slammed ABC’s Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, calling the performers a “group of losers.” MEGA “I had a blast. Anderson had a blast,” Cohen continued on Tuesday. “We left, we were in the car [heading] home, and were like, ‘That was New Year’s Eve.'” Cohen explained CNN president Jeff Zucker instructs him every year to “have fun” while hosting the special. “That is my job,” he pointed out to Stern. He also claimed he was trying to cheer up the world in the midst of Betty White‘s death and the skyrocketing COVID-19 numbers by lightening things up during the New Year’s Eve celebration, which took place just hours after news broke that the iconic Golden Girls actress had passed away. KELLY RIPA IS UPSET PAL ANDY COHEN ATTACKED COHOST RYAN SEACREST ON TELEVISION: HE IS HER ‘WORK HUSBAND & FAMILY,’ SOURCE SAYS Cohen then took the opportunity to reiterate his only regret from the night, which was bashing fellow TV host Seacrest. MEGA “That is my only regret from the night,” he explained. “Because I really like Ryan Seacrest and he’s a really nice guy. I was — as they say — in my cups, and I was kind of enjoying the rant. I was like, ‘Wow, it’s really fun being on CNN just ranting like a nutty guy,'” he remembered, before revealing he, “texted Ryan the next morning.” As reported by OK!, Cohen addressed his comments directed toward the American Idol host on his Andy Cohen Live radio show on Monday, January 3, insisting he “really regret” his unnecessary remarks. “I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday is set to discuss the Justice Department’s investigation into the deadly Capitol attack by former President Donald Trump’s supporters a day before the one-year anniversary of the violence https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democracy-under-siege-an-hour-by-hour-look-assault-us-capitol-2022-01-04. The department, headed by Garland, has charged https://tmsnrt.rs/3HyfyEg more than 725 people with crimes arising from the riot ranging from disorderly conduct to assaulting police to conspiracy. Of those people, about 165 have pleaded guilty and at least 70 have been sentenced. Garland, the top U.S. law enforcement official, is not expected to speak in detail about specific charges or identify new suspects during his speech, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET (1930 GMT). “The attorney general will also reaffirm the department’s unwavering commitment to defend Americans and American democracy from violence and threats of violence,” a department official said on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity. A mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a failed bid to derail the formal congressional https://www.reuters.com/world/us/riot-shields-metal-detectors-are-reminder-deadly-us-capitol-assault-2022-01-05 certification of his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. High-profile criminal cases brought so far include several against members or associates of far-right groups such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters. A Democratic-led House of Representatives select committee separately is investigating the attack. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former White House chief strategist, has been charged https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-justice-department-indicts-bannon-not-complying-with-jan-6-subpoena-2021-11-12 with contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for a deposition and refusing to produce documents sought by the House committee. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Maria Chutchian (Reuters) – The Boy Scouts of America fell short of winning the support it sought from sex-abuse victims for a nearly $2.7 billion settlement that could bring the organization out of bankruptcy, according to court papers. The proposed settlement of more than 82,000 claims of childhood sexual abuse earned the support of just over 73% of those who cast votes, below the 75% the Boy Scouts sought. Nearly 54,000 survivors cast ballots, according to preliminary results released in a Tuesday court filing. The current tally is not final and marks the first of several steps along a possible path out of bankruptcy for the Boy Scouts. The nonprofit organization said in a statement on Wednesday that it is still negotiating with key parties to garner more support for the deal. “We are encouraged by these preliminary results,” the Boy Scouts said. The 111-year-old youth group based in Irving, Texas, filed https://reut.rs/3JID2bO for bankruptcy in February 2020, after being hit by a flood of sexual abuse lawsuits when several U.S. states passed laws allowing accusers to sue over allegations dating back several decades. Those claimants are now designated creditors of the organization, so they must sign off on any plans to restructure and exit bankruptcy. Representatives of some of the victims have pushed for larger settlements. “We hope the BSA and the lawyers who supported this plan will take this result as sending a message that the plan they proposed was fundamentally unacceptable to a large bloc of survivors,” Irwin Zalkin of Zalkin Law Firm, who represents more than 150 victims, said in a statement. John Humphrey, the co-chair of the committee representing abuse claimants in the bankruptcy, called the settlement “historically low” from the perspective of individual victims. The Boy Scouts https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/boy-scouts-bankruptcy-judge-rule-850-million-sex-abuse-deal-2021-08-19 has apologized and says the organization is committed to fulfilling their “social and moral responsibility to equitably compensate survivors.” As negotiations over a deal have dragged on, the Boy Scouts’ lawyers had warned it would have to begin selling off assets, which would otherwise be used to compensate abuse claimants, to pay legal fees. (Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu in Bengaluru and Maria Chutchian in New York; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Frank Jack Daniel, Alexia Garamfalvi and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Alistair Smout and Maayan Lubell LONDON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Britain and Israel are overhauling their COVID-19 testing policies as governments seek to reduce the burden on laboratories and struggle with tight supplies of kits amid soaring infection rates fuelled by the Omicron variant. This time last year, vaccines offered hope that the pandemic could be over by now. But Omicron has brought new challenges, including overloading public health systems, even if – as many scientists say – it leads to less severe illness than the earlier Delta variant. Demand for testing kits has squeezed supply. Last week, queues formed outside pharmacies in Spain’s capital Madrid in what has become a common scene since Omicron began driving up infections. Madrid, whose conservative government has put supporting the hospitality sector at the top of its agenda, is opting for increased testing and no restrictions on socialising. A surge in demand for tests has led to issues in Italy and Britain. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that 100,000 more PCR booking slots per day had been made available since mid-December and that capacity had been doubled to 900,000 PCR and LFD test kits a day. People in England https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/england-suspend-pcr-confirmation-positive-rapid-covid-test-results-2022-01-05 who test positive for COVID-19 on rapid lateral flow device (LFD) tests will not need to confirm their results with a follow-up PCR test if they are not showing symptoms, the UKHSA said on Wednesday. A record-high one in 15 people had COVID-19 in England in the week ending Dec. 31, estimates published by the Office for National Statistics showed on Wednesday. “While cases of COVID continue to rise, this tried-and-tested approach means that LFDs can be used confidently to indicate COVID-19 infection without the need for PCR confirmation,” said agency Chief Executive Dr Jenny Harries. PCR tests are processed in a lab and can be used to determine which variant a person has, while a LFD can be used at home and gives an indication of infectivity within half an hour. Virologists and experts said the move was logical given the incredibly high infection rates as long as LFD supplies were sufficient as they identify the majority of people who are at their most infectious and need to isolate. “There is really no need to confirm (a positive LFD test) with a PCR, a step that not only wastes time but costs a lot of money and uses up laboratory resources that could be better used elsewhere,” said John Edmunds, a professor of mathematical modelling of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. But the authorities will have less data about the spread of different variants as PCR swabs are used for genotyping and sequencing. ‘SUPERSONIC’ RISE IN INFECTIONS Israel changed its quarantine and testing policy as part of efforts to save resources and ensure continued protection for vulnerable people. PCR tests will be earmarked for people aged 60 and over or with weak immune systems, while those at lower risk will be checked with rapid antigen tests, the health ministry said. “This is a significant change intended to identify risk populations sooner, intervene and prevent severe disease,” ministry director-general Nachman Ash told a news conference. Until now, those exposed to confirmed COVID-19 carriers have been required to take official tests. If found to be positive, they must submit to police-enforced quarantine rules. The United States reported nearly a million new coronavirus infections on Monday, the highest daily tally of any country in the world and nearly double the previous U.S. peak set a week earlier. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday backed its week-old guidance for people seeking to end their COVID-19 isolation at five days, adding they could take a rapid antigen test if they want to and can access one, but it is not a requirement. The agency had been pressured by health experts to institute a test requirement after it cut in half its guidance last week for people to isolate after a COVID-19 infection to five days from 10. Spain, Portugal and Britain have also slashed the mandatory isolation period for people who test positive for COVID-19 amid fears that lengthy quarantines could paralyse economies. Ireland will drop its requirement for vaccinated arrivals to have proof of a negative COVID-19 test and return to seeking proof of vaccination or recent infection upon entry, Prime Minister Micheál Martin said. Nearly 294 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and more than 5.8 million have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in central China in December 2019. A “supersonic” rise https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/supersonic-rise-french-covid-cases-continue-coming-days-government-2022-01-05 in French COVID-19 infections is set to continue in the coming days and there are no signs of the trend reversing, a government spokesman said on Wednesday. Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/2FThSv7 in an external browser. Eikon users can click https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1063154666 for a case tracker. (Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Josephine Mason and Nick Macfie; Editing by Catherine Evans and Alexandra Hudson) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega A juror in Ghislaine Maxwell’s federal sex trafficking trial has spoken out and is insisting the former British socialite’s guilty conviction was the right verdict because the evidence presented proved she was a “predator.” Scotty David, one of the 12 jurors who convicted Maxwell on five out of six counts of sex trafficking in a Manhattan federal court last week, spoke to The Daily Mail regarding the 60-year-old’s guilty verdict. “After all I’ve learned, she’s just as guilty as Epstein. I don’t want to call her a monster, but a predator is the right word,” Scotty told the outlet after emphasizing how he initially believed Maxwell to be innocent until proven guilty before he heard all the damning evidence against her. Mega “She knew what was happening. She knew what Epstein was doing and she allowed it to happen. She participated in getting these girls comfortable so that he could have his way with them.” “And, to me, them returning repeatedly for the money has nothing to do with anything because these girls were minors, and it doesn’t matter what incentivized them,” he continued. “It matters what happened to them.” Scotty also revealed how Maxwell and her team’s decision to have her not testify, even though she reportedly wanted to, may have played a part in why the jury viewed her as a predator. “It would have shown maybe that she was a little more human,” he said, speculating a scenario in which Maxwell actually did testify on the stand. “Maybe if she gave her version of the story, who knows, maybe if she gave us a story of how she was manipulated. I don’t know,” Scotty continued. “But then that would have been an admission I feel like of guilt.” Mega As Radar previously reported, Scotty David – who is using only his first and middle name – also spoke out recently to reveal that he was a victim of sexual abuse as a minor. But while some are arguing this revelation could be grounds for a mistrial, others are arguing that this information would already be known prior to Scotty’s selection for the jury because of a 50-question survey taken asking whether a potential juror was a victim of sexual abuse. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sheila Dang (Reuters) -Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the storming of the U.S. Capitol, Twitter Inc created a new team to review the social networking site for harmful content associated with the event, the company told Reuters on Tuesday. Social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook were accused of enabling extremists to organize the siege on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of Republican then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol to block Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. Twitter said it “convened a cross-functional working group” comprised of members across its site integrity and trust and safety teams, which is specific to the anniversary of the attack on the Capitol and will watch for risks such as tweets and accounts that incite violence. The company did not say how many people were on the monitoring team. The company said the effort expands upon its work to monitor the platform around major global events, and added it will continue to monitor trending topics and search results for harmful content. A spokesperson for Meta Platforms Inc, the company previously known as Facebook, said in a statement on Wednesday: “We’re continuing to actively monitor threats on our platform and will respond accordingly.” A spokesperson for YouTube, which is owned by Google, said Wednesday the online video platform had removed tens of thousands of videos for violating its U.S. elections-related policies over the past year, and said it continued to closely monitor for election misinformation on the site. In March, the chief executives of Twitter, Google and Facebook, testified in a hearing before Congress and were asked https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-tech/yes-or-no-u-s-lawmakers-fume-over-big-techs-answers-on-misinformation-idUSKBN2BH1B0 by U.S. lawmakers whether their platforms bore some responsibility for the riot. Then-Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey was the only executive who answered “yes,” but said the “broader ecosystem” had to be taken into account. Days after the Capitol riot, Twitter announced a permanent suspension https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-twitter/twitter-permanently-suspends-trumps-account-cites-incitement-of-violence-risk-idUSKBN29D355 of Trump’s account, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.” “Our approach both before and after January 6 has been to take strong enforcement action against accounts and Tweets that incite violence or have the potential to lead to offline harm,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. (Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; editing by Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — Owen Keehnen remembers when the AIDS epidemic, which disproportionately affected the LGBTQ community, was at its height in the late 1980s. The gay community in the United States was still largely in the shadows, said Keehnen, a writer and historian of LGBTQ history in Chicago. Gay bars and gathering spaces had blackened or tinted windows so passersby couldn’t see in. But, Keehnen said, there was a place in Chicago were the LGBTQ community could feel safe while in the open, and that was the Belmont Rocks. A stretch of stone and grass on the lakefront from Belmont to Diversey harbors,… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Democrats’ efforts to pass voting rights legislation in Congress appeared in jeopardy on Tuesday, as a centrist Democratic senator said he had little interest in a strategy that would allow the party to bypass Republican opposition. Senator Joe Manchin told reporters that it was his “preference” to line up Republican support for a rule change that would allow Democrats to pass a voting rights bill on a party-line vote. That could spell doom for the legislation, which Republicans oppose. “For us to go it alone, no matter what side does it, it just ends up coming back at you pretty hard,” Manchin told reporters. His remarks came a day after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate would vote to change chamber’s rule known as the filibuster by Jan. 17 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-vote-changing-rules-if-republicans-obstruct-voting-rights-law-schumer-2022-01-03, the federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, in order to enact voting rights legislation. Without Manchin’s support, Senate Democrats would not be able to muster the votes necessary to alter the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote majority to pass most bills. The 100-seat Senate is split 50-50, with Democrats in charge only because Vice President Kamala Harris casts a tie-breaking vote. Manchin’s objections have also complicated Democratic efforts to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion climate and social policy legislation. Democrats would need 10 Republicans to support voting rights legislation if Senate rules went unchanged. But Republicans have repeatedly used the filibuster to block the measures. Manchin and another centrist holdout, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, were due to meet later on Tuesday with fellow Democrats, according to Schumer. Most Democrats want the filibuster changed to accommodate voting rights legislation after a wave of Republican-led states last year passed new restrictions on voting. The state laws were inspired by Republican former President Donald Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election that he lost to Biden by a substantial margin. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and David Morgan;Editing by Andy Sullivan, Tomasz Janowski and Cynthia Osterman) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Cher thinks women in the music industry need to “push the envelope”. The 75-year-old singer is one of the best-selling artists of all time, and she’s now encouraged up-and-coming female stars to keep fighting in what is still a male-dominated industry. She said: “Through history, we’ve had to fight for everything that we have gotten and it never came easy. There were no women executives in music. You were supposed to sing and then someone patted you on the head and then you went and sat down.” Cher believes women in the music industry are held to a different standard compared to their male counterparts. But the ‘Believe’ hitmaker has also urged female artists to stand their ground. She told E! News: “You have to push the envelope and that’s so cliche, but you have to. When men are forceful or know what they want, they’re respected and viewed as ‘tough.’ When women are not even pushing it, but just say ‘I can’t do this. I’m not comfortable with that,’ then they’re thought of as a ‘b****,’ when that isn’t the case.” Cher also explained that she’s taken inspiration from her mother, and she wants younger female artists to follow suit. The singer explained: “Women went through that before I did and just passed it on. We have to just keep going because we’re making strides. When my mom was young, my mom was tough. “My mom is still tough, but there were these silly laws and rules she and her friends were expected to follow, like this notion that you have to cut your hair when you became a certain age. And, I kept thinking, when will the age come that I will have to cut my hair? I finally thought this is such ‘bull****. I’m not gonna do any of these things.'” View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega Andy Cohen revealed that he “really” regrets slamming Ryan Seacrest and his viewers on ABC, however, the damage is done and now Kelly Ripa, ABC’s biggest star is caught between her two friends. “Kelly likes Andy, but she adores Ryan. Andy is her friend, but Ryan is her work husband, he is family. When you attack Ryan you also attack Kelly, that is how close they are,” sources tell Radar. “What makes matters worse is that Kelly works for ABC. She is very loyal. She is a class act. Calling ABC viewers “losers” (as Cohen did while co-hosting CNN’s New year’s countdown) isn’t cool. One thing is for sure, it’s going to be very to ever ask Andy to fill in on ABC next to Kelly the next time Ryan is off.” Andy Cohen ‘Deeply Regrets’ Trashing Ryan Seacrest During Drunken New Year’s Eve Rant After It’s Revealed He Won’t Be Asked Back Next Year Friends add that Anderson Cooper is also in a difficult position as he is also very close to Kelly. “Anderson did nothing when Andy went on his rant. He should have stuck up for Kelly and ABC. This circle of friends is so incestuous. It makes everything really awkward. Andy Cohen Won’t Be Invited Back To CNN New Year’s Special Next Year CNN Cohen revealed on SiriusXM’sAndy Cohen Live show on Monday, Jan. 3, that he really likes Seacrest and what he said was “just stupid and drunk and feeling it.” Sources tell Radar that Andy also reached out to Ryan privately to apologize. “It all comes from a place of jealousy. Andy desperately wanted the job on ABC sitting next to Kelly. He is pee-green that Ryan has a super successful radio show and hosts “American Idol.” At the end of the day, Andy created Real Housewives. Yes, his Bravo late-night show is successful, but usually the only time anyone watches is when he has The Housewives’ on,” adds an insider. “Ryan’s name triggers Andy, but without the alcohol, he can pretend it doesn’t.” mega As Radar first reported, CNN sources tell us senior staffers are “embarrassed” following Cohen’s drunken appearance. “We claim to be the most trusted network in news and yet CNN hires Andy Cohen to make a fool out of all of us with his New Year’s performance?” a source dished to Radar. “Andy doesn’t even work for CNN and yet he has been the face of our network for the past 48 hours. It is embarrassing and real CNN staffers are very angry.” mega;cnn View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Andy Cohen “really regrets” criticising Ryan Seacrest’s New Year’s Eve show on live TV. The 53-year-old star caused a stir with his drunken comments while co-hosting CNN’s ‘New Year’s Eve Live’ special on Friday (31.12.21) with his friend Anderson Cooper and although it was his rant against New York City’s outgoing mayor, Bill de Blasio, that attracted the most attention, the ‘Watch What Happens Live’ star admitted the only thing he wishes he hadn’t done was launch a barrage of negative remarks about ABC’s rival programme ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ and its host. He said on his SiriusXM show ‘Andy Cohen Live’: “The only thing that I regret saying, the only thing is that I slammed the ABC broadcast and I really like Ryan Seacrest and he’s a great guy. And I really regret saying that, and I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it.” During the broadcast, Andy criticised the “group of losers” performing on ABC’s show, including Journey, Ashanti and Ja Rule. He said: “There’s lots of smoke coming from Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers that are performing behind us. I mean, with all due [respect] if you’ve been watching ABC tonight, you’ve seen nothing. I’m sorry. It’s true. “I just got doused in confetti from the fake Journey appearing on ABC. If it’s not Steve Perry, it doesn’t count! You get it? It’s not Journey! It’s propaganda! It’s propaganda! It’s not Journey! It’s not Journey! No, that was not Journey. Steve Perry is Journey. No!” And on reflection, the Bravo star admitted he got carried away. He said on his radio programme: “I was continuing the Journey rant and I just kept talking and I shouldn’t have. I felt bad about that. So that is the only thing. It’s the only thing… That is what I really regret. I really do.” Andy’s co-host, John Hill, noted the “headline was what sucked” in the subsequent coverage of his pal’s rant because it appeared he was taking aim at Ryan himself. He noted: “I thought in the moment you understood the context.” Andy agreed: “Exactly, that’s the problem. Yeah. The headlines about Ryan Seacrest are all like I trash Ryan Seacrest. I hope he hears the clip.” Throughout the New Year’s Eve broadcast, Andy and Anderson sank tequila shots and he joked afterwards he had been “over-served”, even though he was helping himself. He wrote on Instagram on Saturday (01.01.22): “I was a hair over-served last night, but man, did I have fun! I hope you did too. Happy New Year everybody.” Meanwhile, a CNN spokesperson has dismissed speculation Andy won’t be covering the occasion for them next year following his performance. The representative said: “I can confirm that Andy Cohen will be back to co-host NYE on CNN next year.” View the full article