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Published by AFP White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows failed twice to appear for a deposition Washington (AFP) – Lawmakers investigating the assault on the US Capitol prepared Monday to vote on recommending criminal contempt charges against Donald Trump’s former chief of staff for refusing to testify. Mark Meadows has made clear he has no intention of complying with a subpoena to appear before the cross-party January 6 congressional select committee and missed a scheduled deposition for the second time last week. Members are investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election through a campaign that led to the deadly Capitol riot — and the help he got from Meadows. Trump’s fourth and final White House chief told the panel he would withhold testimony until courts resolve his former boss’s claim of “executive privilege,” which allows presidents to keep certain conversations private. Investigators maintain Meadows has undermined any right to refuse testimony, as the ultra-conservative former congressman is promoting a new memoir that includes detailed accounts of January 6 and his conversations with Trump. Many of the questions they want to ask him concern 6,600 pages of records taken from personal email accounts and about 2,000 text messages that he turned over before he stopped cooperating. ‘Uniquely situated’ “There’s no way to sustain the argument that ‘I can’t come in and testify because that would be privileged but here are all these documents on this very subject, which I admit are not privileged. I can’t come in and testify before Congress, but I can write about it in my book,'” panel member Adam Schiff told MSNBC. “You can’t have it both ways. And so we will proceed and, I believe, hold him in criminal contempt.” An appeals court last week rejected Trump’s effort to stop the committee accessing documents and testimony from former White House aides, agreeing with a lower court that the defeated ex-president had provided no reason for secrecy. He was given two weeks to appeal. Meadows was Trump’s most senior aide at the time of the riot and was reportedly with the then-president in the White House as the rioters breached the Capitol. The committee says he is “uniquely situated to provide key information, having straddled an official role in the White House and unofficial role related to Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign.” The probe released a 51-page document Sunday describing some of Meadows’ communications, including a January 5 email in which he told an unidentified person the National Guard was on standby to “protect pro-Trump people.” ‘Unwise, unjust and unfair’ The committee will green-light the contempt citation Monday evening and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday to refer Meadows to the Justice Department. A timetable for a charging decision has yet to be revealed. If convicted, Meadows could face a six-month prison term for each contempt charge, but more likely would be fined. Accusing the select committee of abusing its powers, Meadows sued its nine members and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week, asking a federal court to block enforcement of the subpoenas issued to him and to Verizon for his phone records. His lawyer George Terwilliger wrote to the panel on Monday to denounce the proposed prosecution as “manifestly unwise, unjust and unfair.” Thousands of Trump supporters, many associated with ultra-nationalist and white supremacist groups, stormed the Capitol 11 months ago in an effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s election victory. In a fiery speech earlier that day, Trump repeated false claims of election fraud that he had been making for months and called on supporters to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell.” The House voted to recommend charges against ex-White House strategist Steve Bannon in October. He faces trial in July on two counts of contempt. View the full article

Cancun Shooting: Active Shooters in the HotelTowleroad Exclusive: Brian Bell in an emotional conversation with Mike Sington who was sending out the only news for for the hours 700 LGBTQ Travelers hid from 15 gunmen who landed by sea at the host hotel.Editor’s Note: Mike Sington, a former TV executive has played journalist on his last two Cancun vacations. Last year he tweeted from the eye of a hurricane. This year 15 men with guns showed up. (Where we going next year?). He makes some sense of it in his first interview when he got home a few weeks ago. It is even more relevant with holidays approaching and a similar beach landing of gunmen went down two days ago, this time on jet-skis, again cartel related. Sington’s tweets and video were the only source of news for hours that day and he quickly went viral as he pieced it all together. We watched, relieved to learn they were not only safe, but the LGBTQ group was not targeted, according to police reports. Still, none on that trip went home untouched though only a few were physically injured. Mike’s account and perspective are compelling, for LGBTQ travelers as well as anyone frustrated with gun violence here that we can’t seem to figure out. So thankful to Mike and Brian too for their honesty and vulnerability in this interview. It’s so much more than you’d get elsewhere and it’s why we do this. Thank you both. I’m proud of what we ended up with editing this unique interview. Mikes take on the different way LGBTQ folks travel has similar resonance. You’re going to love following Mike on Twitter at @mikesington. If you really can’t watch all, then come back or at least watch the 3rd one, “The Day After…”. — Editor Inside Mike Sington’s Room Cancun Shooting 15 Gunmen Land On Beach At Cancun Resort Hosting 700 Gay Tourists Over Halloween1/8 Cancun Shooting: 15 Gunmen Land at Mexico Beach Resort Host to 700 Gay Tourists The Nov. 4 Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun shooting in Puerto Morelos, Mexico caught hundreds of LGBTQ tourists by surprise, leaving two alleged Mexican drug dealers dead, one tourist wounded and an entire resort’s worth of people shaken. As vacationers and resort workers alike sought refuge from the suspected warring drug dealers, former NBCUniversal executive Mike Sington provided a real-time window into the events through his Twitter account. [This post contains video, click to play] His videos, images and updates kept the world abreast of the tense situation as details emerged from the retreat organized by LGBTQ travel group Vacaya and many of the 700-plus in hiding tried to make sense of what was going on mere feet from them. Sington was two buildings away from the beach where a group of armed men landed on the beach and exchanged gunfire, but soon discovered just what was unfolding. 2/8 Mike Sington Gets Details Of Beach Landing, Active Shooters. Note: Violent Clip Included Briefly. [This post contains video, click to play] “I thought I would just go downstairs to the lobby and get a bite to eat,” Sington told Towleroad. When he found the lobby “completely deserted,” Sington knew something was amiss. “I saw two staff members hiding behind concrete columns on the far side of the lobby motioning me to get down … I crawled across the open lobby. which is open to the pools and the ocean.” Sington was whisked away by resort staff to one of a collection of hidden rooms in the hotel where a collection of his fellow vacationers were stowed away. “I could glimpse inside and I saw my fellow travelers, most of them in wet swimsuits and beach towels, hiding,” he recalled. Sington remained in one of those dark rooms for roughly an hour without any knowledge of what exactly was happening. He heard accounts from other tourists who were present when everything sparked. 3/8 It Gets Emotional. Cancun LGBTQ Tourist Group Processes, Bonds in Aftermath [This post contains video, click to play] Sington began documenting the experience, sharing accounts of tourists fleeing the beach and pool area as gunfire rang out, while worrying if the LGBTQ tourists were being targeted specifically. “It was brewing with all of us,” Sington said. “That’s one of the first top-of-mind thoughts that we all had. It turned out it wasn’t, thank goodness, but it was a feeling of fear in the rooms.” Though the Puerto Morelos shooting didn’t specifically target LGBTQ people, the increased threat of violence against LGBTQ individuals empowered by cultural attacks and legal erosion of civil rights speak to why Sington and others quickly centered their identities as a potential motivation. The Human Rights Campaign recently confirmed 2021 as the deadliest year for trans and gender-diverse people since it began keeping records in 2015. 4/8 What Were The Visitors Thinking In Hiding, Waiting For Hours After The Cancun Shooting [This post contains video, click to play] 75% of trans and gender-diverse murders in 2020 came via firearms and, though concrete data on anti-LGBTQ gun violence is limited, a Fenway Health study found that anti-LGBT hate crimes were “more likely” to involve the use of a gun or other deadly weapon than any other underrepresented class. Couple that with the threat of gun violence from Mexican drug cartels facing both Mexican citizens and foreign tourists alike, and the climate of apprehension, doubt and fear Sington expressed can be easily enhanced for LGBTQ people. Foreign tourists getting caught in the crossfire of warring criminal organizations on the Yucatan Penisula was in the news as recently as last month when an two tourists were killed by crossfire in Tulum, roughly 90 miles south of Puerto Morelos. Sington hadn’t been aware of the deaths in Tulum prior to traveling to Cancun for the Vacaya Halloween/Dia de los Muertos getaway. 5/8 15 Active Shooters on Hotel Beach? What’s going on in Mexico? [This post contains video, click to play] Sington and others were eventually led back into the lobby and given the all-clear from Vacaya representatives that the gunmen had been apprehended, leading to some breaking into tears and hugging one another. Resort guests were then told to barricade in their rooms. Despite being told at 7pm that things had calmed, Sington remained barricaded in his room until the next day. Planned events resumed, though they were more low key than originally planned, but Sington tearfully identified the most heartwarming memory of the day after as when the injured tourist returned from the hospital. “The one gentleman in the group that got shot was returning from the hospital and everybody got together in the lobby and cheered as he came back.” 6/8 Aways The Lobby. Singtons Images Become Iconic Representation Of The Magnitude And Fear [This post contains video, click to play] The guests left Puerto Morelos on Nov. 6, but, as Sington put it, the experience returned home with them. For Sington, living through the shooting gave him a new understanding of the trauma experienced by so many people involved in mass shootings, including the 49 people who lost their lives and countless others who survived the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016. “I just got home a couple of nights ago and when I opened my front door I broke out crying because it was just so upsetting,” Sington expressed. “It’s heartbreaking, the shootings that happen here, and they happen so frequently. I thought about the kids and adults at the Pulse nightclub and what they went through, not to mention all the many school kids in those shootings.” 7/8 What Perspective Did You Bring Back? [This post contains video, click to play] “But the thought also went through my mind that it can happen anywhere. It’s not just this country. It’s not just Mexico. You could be on vacation, you could be going to work, and an active shooter could show up,” he continued. “It’s just so sad and pathetic and something’s got to be done about it. We’re all so tired of ‘thoughts and prayers.’ We need action … It’s so frustrating. I mean, if the gun battle between the cartels had spilled up ten feet into the pool area from the beach, there could have been dozens or hundreds of travelers in our group killed easily.” Sington still hasn’t been able to bring himself to look at the images he tweeted from the event – the same ones that informed so many of what was happening – because they bring him to tears. He still worries about those that he bonded with during the experience and hopes they’re coping and finding healthy ways to work through their trauma. But he also found solace in watching the LGBTQ community come together to help and support one another through it all. 8/8 What About the Authorities? Cancun Shooting Killed No Tourists, Police Assure Community [This post contains video, click to play] “There are 700 stories. I think a lot of people went through more terror than I did,” Sington said. “You know how the LGBT community is – they bond anyway. Before the shooting, there was a lot of bonding going on, and then we bonded even more having all survived the shooting. So, I think about all those people now who are in different parts of the country … I hope they’re coping.” Vacaya celebrated the strength of those that endured the event, saying “We love you to the moon and back” in a statement via Facebook. “Thank you to the staff at the HYATT Ziva Riviera Cancun! Together we are strong and resilient,” the statement continued. The company announced plans to return to Mexico next year for its Halloween/Dia de los Muertos getaway package ten days after the shooting, but it will be housed at the Hilton Vallarta Riviera resort in Pacific coast city Puerto Vallarta. [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] Cancun Shooting: Previously on Towleroad Chris Noth makes Peloton commercial Read More New York remembers an African-American village erased to make a park Read More Hong Kong activists get up to 14 months in prison for banned Tiananmen vigil Read More Megan Thee Stallion dedicates Humanitarian Award to her grandmother Read More James Bond could be non-binary Read More California governor pushes for gun laws modeled on Texas abortion ban Read More Photo courtesy of Mike Sington View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Chris Noth has filmed a commercial for Peloton. The 67-year-old actor’s most favour alter ego, Mr. Big, passed away in the opening episode of ‘Sex and the City’ spin-off ‘And Just Like That…’ after suffering a heart attack following his 1,000th session on one of the company’s exercise bikes, and he’s poked fun at his shock exit in a festive advert for the interactive fitness provider. In the commercial – which is narrated by Ryan Reynolds – Chris sat in front of a Christmas tree and festive-themed fireplace, behind a pair of Peloton bikes as he celebrated “new beginnings” with real-life Peloton instructor Jess King, who was also Big’s coach on ‘And Just Like That…’. She told him: “You look great.” He then replied: “Oh, I feel great. Shall we take another ride? Life’s too short not to.” The company shared the ad on Instagram along with the caption: “And just like that…he’s alive.” On the new show, it was explained Big – whose lifeless body was found by his wife Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) – had heart issues but his cardiologist had approved for him to work out on his Peloton bike, something which the company claimed afterwards had “maybe even helped delay” his untimely death. Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a preventative cardiologist who sits on Peloton’s health and wellness advisory council said: “I’m sure ‘SATC’ fans, like me, are saddened by the news that Mr. Big dies of a heart attack. Mr. Big lived what many would call an extravagant lifestyle — including cocktails, cigars, and big steaks — and was at serious risk as he had a previous cardiac event in Season 6. “These lifestyle choices and perhaps even his family history, which often is a significant factor, were the likely cause of his death. Riding his Peloton Bike may have even helped delay his cardiac event…It’s always important to talk to your doctor, get tested, and have a healthy prevention strategy. The good news is Peloton helps you track heart rate while you ride, so you can do it safely.” View the full article

Published by DPA A sign points to the former Seneca Village in Central Park, the first New York settlement of liberated African-Americans. Christina Horsten/dpa Children are playing football on a lawn, people are out walking, holding their faces up to the sun, dogs are sniffing trees, and a musician plays guitar on a bench. In the (often) harmonious everyday life of New York’s Central Park, a few brown signs on the mid-west side of the grounds rarely stand out. “Discover Seneca Village” is written on them in white letters. Central Park, which has served as a setting for countless Hollywood film scenes, is one of the most popular attractions in this city visited by more than 40 million people a year. Largely shaped by the landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1876, the 3.5-square-kilometre park is an integral part of the cityscape today. But Seneca Village, the first settlement of freed African-Americans in New York, had to make way for its creation. Displaced and then forgotten In 1825, owners John and Elizabeth Whitehead had divided their land – located roughly between 82nd and 89th Streets on the west side of what is now the park – into 200 lots and sold them. Andrew Williams, a 25-year-old African-American shoeshiner, bought the first three lots for 125 dollars. Saleswoman Epiphany Davis later bought 12 plots for 578 dollars. Over the years, a small settlement developed – consisting mainly of African-Americans who were freeborn or freed from slavery, as well as some Irish and German immigrants. By 1850, the settlement already consisted of about 50 houses, three churches, graveyards and a school. Seneca Village was one of the few African-American settlements at the time and allowed residents to live away from the heavily developed parts of southern Manhattan and away from the unhealthy conditions and racism that confronted them there, according to Central Park operators. In 1857, however, the New York City Council decided to demolish Seneca Village and have Central Park built. After that, the settlement was forgotten for a long time. A few years ago, the park administration began to draw attention to the village’s former existence with signs – and now Seneca Village’s history is being revisited, directly opposite its former location, on the other side of Central Park in the renowned Metropolitan Museum. “What might have been, had Seneca Village been allowed to thrive into the present and beyond?” ask curators at the Met with their exhibition “Before Yesterday We Could Fly.” A one-room show in the Met The show consists of only one room, but it is permanent – and plays with an established exhibition concept of the Metropolitan Museum, the so-called Period Rooms. These are special rooms in the permanent exhibitions that are supposed to show visitors life in different times and places like 18th century France and ancient Rome with furniture, wallpaper and art. These rooms have a “special magic,” as Vogue recently wrote – but until now they have dealt almost exclusively with the lives and works of white historical figures. Now, for the first time, the Met has an “Afrofuturistic Period Room”, designed by production designer Hannah Beachler, who was involved in Beyonce’s music film project “Lemonade” and won an Oscar for her work on the film “Black Panther.” “This project is important to me because it is a necessary conversation with time, loss, community and hope,” Beachler says. The room offers an “important opportunity to start new dialogues and illuminate stories that are yet to be told within our walls,” Austrian museum director Max Hollein also said. In this colourfully wallpapered space, a small house is suggested, filled with artworks and objects such as bowls and combs – inspired by objects from the real Seneca Village found in 2011 during excavations at Columbia University. A video installation runs alongside. New York Times critic Salamishah Tillet lauded the Metropolitan Museum exhibition as “one of its most thoughtful reparations projects yet” – high praise for a museum often criticised for having a largely white, male perspective on the history of art. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jessie Pang and Edmond Ng HONG KONG (Reuters) – Eight Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were sentenced to up to 14 months in prison on Monday for organising, taking part in and inciting participation in a banned vigil last year for victims of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. The former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise of wide-ranging freedoms, traditionally holds the largest June 4 vigil in the world, but police have rejected applications for the last two vigils, citing coronavirus restrictions. Critics said authorities used the pandemic restrictions as an excuse to block the commemoration. The city government rejected that. The sentencing is the latest blow to the city’s democracy movement, which has seen dozens of activists arrested, jailed or flee the Chinese-ruled territory since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law last year. Judge Amanda Woodcock said the defendants “ignored and belittled a genuine public health crisis” and “wrongly and arrogantly believed” in commemorating June 4 rather than protecting the health of the community. Media tycoon Jimmy Lai, 74, who is already in jail, barrister Chow Hang Tung, 36, and activist Gwyneth Ho, 31, received sentences of 13, 12 and 6 months, respectively. They were found guilty by the court last Thursday. The three, the highest profile of the eight, had pleaded not guilty to all charges. “If commemorate (sic) those who died because of injustice is a crime, then inflict on me that crime and let me suffer the punishment of this crime, so I may share the burden and glory of those young men and women who shed their blood on June 4th to proclaim truth, justice and goodness,” Lai said in a mitigation letter, handwritten in prison, ahead of sentencing. Chow, in her mitigation said: “If those in power had wished to kill the movement with prosecution and imprisonment, they shall be sorely disappointed. Indeed what they have done is breathe new life into the movement, rallying a new generation to this long struggle for truth, justice and democracy.” Five others who had pleaded guilty, including Lee Cheuk-yan, leader of the now-disbanded vigil organiser Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, were sentenced to between just over 4 months and 14 months. “If there was a provocateur, it is the regime that fired at its own people,” an emotional Lee, who received the highest sentence of 14 months, told the court on Nov. 17. “If I must go to jail to affirm my will, then so be it.” All sentences will be served concurrently with any the defendants are already facing in other cases. Sixteen other activists are already serving sentences of 4-10 months related to the 2020 vigil. Two democracy campaigners facing similar charges over the vigil, Nathan Law and Sunny Cheung, have fled Hong Kong. After mass pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019, the global financial hub has taken a swift authoritarian turn with Beijing’s imposition of a sweeping national security law last year impacting many aspects of life in the city. China has never provided a full account of the 1989 crackdown on protest there that centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The death toll given by officials days later was about 300, most of them soldiers, but rights groups and witnesses say thousands of protesters may have been killed. (Reporting by Jessie Pang and Edmond Ng; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Robert Birsel) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Megan Thee Stallion dedicated her 18th Congressional District Humanitarian Award to her late grandmother. The ‘WAP’ hitmaker was “honoured” to receieve the prize in her hometown of Houston – where she was raised after being born in San Antonio – on Sunday (12.12.21) in recognition of her local philanthropic efforts. The 26-year-old hip-hop artist said: “I’m so honoured. It’s my responsibility to take care of the city that took care of me. My grandma always taught me to be kind and giving. I learned that from her.” The ‘Body’ rapper – whose real name is Megan Pete – also acknowledged how her mother and grandmother – who both passed away in 2019 – had inspired her to complete her health administration degree after she recently graduated from Texas Southern University. She said: “I was raised by very giving women so I want to dedicate this award to my grandma because she taught me to be the woman I am today.” Megan later admitted to being grateful for the “recognition” but that she was “just happy” to help out the city that raised her. She wrote on Instagram:”Today I was given thee 18th Congressional District of Texas Hero Award by congresswoman @sheilajacksonlee In my hometown HOUSTON TX [three rock on emojis] although I appreciate the recognition I’m just happy that I am able to give back to and put smiles on the faces of the people in my city [strong arm emoji] (sic)” According to Congresswoman Sheila Lee – who handed out the accolade to the ‘Hot Girl’ rapper – the prestigious award is “not given out often” and has a “special promise and special history”. The Democratic lawmaker said: “This award has not been given out often, or to many. When this award is given, it has that special promise and special history.” In November 2020, the five-time Grammy Award winner shared about how “hard” going to college – especially juggling a thriving career and during the COVID-19 pandemic – had been. She said: “School is so hard and online classes are really hard too, but I was already doing online classes before quarantine started. I I had to because I couldn’t go on campus anymore. I mean, my focus was definitely better because I didn’t have a lot of distractions.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English A future James Bond could be non-binary. Daniel Craig has stepped away from portraying the suave spy and although producer Barbara Broccoli dismissed suggestions a future version of the character would be played by a woman, she admitted it is possible the role could go to someone who doesn’t identify with either gender and uses neutral They/Them pronouns. Appearing on the ‘Girls On Film’ podcast, host Anna Smith asked if Barbara thought 007 would always be male and she replied: “I do, because I don’t think that we should be making films where women are playing men. “I think we should be making more films about women. I think Bond will be a man.” But when Anna suggested “Non-binary, perhaps, maybe one day?”, she replied: “Who knows? I mean, I think it’s open. We just have to find the right actor.” And the producer confirmed the next Bond may not necessarily be white. She said: “We want the actor to be British… and British, as we know, can be many things.” Henry Cavill recently put himself forward as a potential Bond. Asked about the prospect of playing Bond, Henry – who is best known for playing Superman – shared: “Look … I hate it when people start a sentence with, ‘Look …’ – it sounds like they’re lying about something. I think it would be very exciting to have a conversation with the producers. … In an ideal world, I’d never have to turn anything down. “Nothing is off the table. It’s an honour to even be part of that conversation.” And Henry Golding previously revealed that he was “honoured” to be linked with the iconic part and claimed that it was the right time for a non-white Bond. He said: “It does seem to be a question that always comes up. It was definitely from ‘Crazy Rich,’ maybe [the scene with] the white suit coming out the park. “I’m Asian and everybody’s fighting for a diverse Bond – sorry, white guys. “Isn’t it great that we’re having that conversation? Isn’t it great that people are like, ‘Ok, now it’s time, why the hell can’t we have a black Bond, an Asian Bond, a mixed-race Bond, a non-distinct Bond?’ “I don’t know … It’s an honour to even be in the conversation. It’s one of the greatest film roles ever, you’d be stupid to be like, ‘I don’t want to do that s***.’ F*** no, it would be the wildest ride.” Other names in the frame have included Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Rege-Jean Page, and Paul Mescal. View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – California Governor Gavin Newsom said he plans to use a controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling on strict abortion curbs in Texas to design a law that would allow private citizens to sue some gun manufacturers, distributors and sellers. The Supreme Court on Friday left in effect the Texas law that enables private citizens to sue anyone who performs or assists a woman in getting an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. The Texas law was designed by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to avoid normal means of legal challenge, because rather than making state officials responsible for enforcement, it instead gave private individuals anywhere the right to sue doctors who provide abortion services in Texas and anyone else who “aids or abets” the process. While allowing the Texas law to remain in effect, the court ruled legal challenges may proceed against the measure, which critics say amounts to vigilante justice. Newsom, a Democrat, said on Saturday his team will work with state Attorney General Rob Bonta and the legislature to draft a proposal in line with the Texas law that would let citizens sue manufacturers, sellers or distributors of assault weapons or ghost gun kits for at least $10,000 per violation. “I am outraged by yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing Texas’s ban on most abortion services to remain in place,” Newsom said in a statement https://bit.ly/31U6PN6. “If states can now shield their laws from review by the federal courts that compare assault weapons to Swiss Army knives, then California will use that authority to protect people’s lives, where Texas used it to put women in harm’s way.” Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent to Friday’s decision, blasted the court’s majority for failing to “put an end to this madness” and warned that other states could try to copy the Texas enforcement mechanism. President Joe Biden said he was “very concerned” by the decision to leave in place the abortion ban but said it was “encouraging” that the court allowed part of the abortion providers’ lawsuit to continue. (Reporting by Ann Maria Shibu in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Luc Cohen (Reuters) – Two weeks of emotional, explicit testimony at Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex abuse trial from four women who said the British socialite groomed them as teenagers for deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein could largely undercut the defense’s argument that prosecutors are using Maxwell as a scapegoat, legal experts said. The women – who say they met Maxwell at different times in places as far flung as Florida, New Mexico and London – all portrayed her as central to the sexual encounters they had with Epstein. Maxwell’s attorneys did rattle three of the four accusers during tough cross-examination and scored two favorable rulings from U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, who said that two of the four women prosecutors called victims were old enough to consent at the time of the alleged encounters. But as the defense prepares to mount its case, persuading jurors that Maxwell was not involved will be difficult, some experts said. “The government has done a good job of keeping the jury focused on Maxwell,” said Sarah Krissoff, a partner at law firm Day Pitney and former federal prosecutor. “The government will argue that the fact that each victim has a different story – and didn’t exaggerate Maxwell’s role in that story – demonstrates the credibility of those accounts.” Prosecutors, who say Maxwell recruited and groomed four teenage girls for Epstein from 1994 to 2004, rested their case on Friday in Manhattan federal court. Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of sex trafficking and other charges. Her attorneys did not reply to a request for comment for this story. Her attorneys have argued that she is a “convenient stand in” for Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges. The remarkably similar accounts of the accusers could help undermine that argument, experts said. For example, a woman testifying under the pseudonym Kate said that Maxwell encouraged her to rub Epstein’s feet when Kate was 17 in London in 1994. Weeks later, at Maxwell’s request, Kate said she gave Epstein a full-body massage that escalated into a sexual encounter. Annie Farmer, now 44, said she and Maxwell gave Epstein a foot massage at the financier’s New Mexico ranch in 1996, when Farmer was 16. “I watched what she was doing and she instructed me,” Farmer said. Massages, and Maxwell’s central role in them, came up repeatedly during the women’s testimony. Jane, who said she was 14 in 1994 when Epstein first abused her, testified that Maxwell would sometimes participate when massages later escalated into sexual encounters. Prosecutors said the women’s testimony provided them with details which are crucial to prove charges that Maxwell enticed the girls to travel across state lines and in some cases paid them for sexual activity. Jane said Maxwell assisted her with arrangements when she traveled to Epstein’s home in New York. And Carolyn, a woman who says Epstein abused her starting when she was 14, said she was paid $300 after she massaged Epstein. Once or twice, it was Maxwell who handed her the cash, Carolyn testified. ‘ROOM FULL OF STRANGERS’ Maxwell’s lawyers argued that the women’s memories were corrupted in the decades since the alleged abuse, and that they were motivated by money. Three of the four women frequently became agitated when the defense challenged their credibility by pointing to apparent inconsistencies between their testimonies and prior statements made to law enforcement. Maxwell attorney Laura Menninger grilled Jane about why she initially told the FBI that she did not recall being in a room alone with Epstein and Maxwell or Maxwell ever touching her. Jane called the notes “incorrect,” but on further questioning by prosecutors cried as she explained why she did not share certain details initially. “I was sitting in a room full of strangers and telling them the most shameful, deepest secrets that I’d been carrying around with me my whole life,” Jane said. Later in the trial, Maxwell attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca pressed Carolyn about $3.25 million she received from a compensation fund set up for Epstein victims. “Why is that being mentioned more than once?” said Carolyn, who later sobbed on the stand. Jeffrey Cohen, an associate professor at Boston College Law School and former federal prosecutor, said the defense may argue that the accusers’ reactions under cross-examination could indicate “they are simply out for vengeance and clouded by passion.” But in this case, he said, the jury would likely be “forgiving of the victims’ outrage.” In a victory for the defense, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan ruled that Kate and Farmer were old enough to consent at the time of their alleged encounters, meaning any physical contact they had with Epstein was not “illegal sexual activity” as prosecutors alleged in their 2021 indictment. But the damage to the prosecution’s case from that decision may be limited, experts said. Neither Kate nor Farmer are the sole alleged victims underlying any of the charges Maxwell faces, meaning that jurors can use Kate and Farmer’s testimony to back up the accounts of the other accusers. Kate and Farmer “described strikingly similar patterns of behavior on Maxwell’s part,” bolstering Jane’s and Carolyn’s testimony, said Deborah Tuerkheimer, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law. “In important ways, the testimony of the women who were over the age of consent during the sexual interactions strongly corroborates the testimony of the two alleged victims,” Tuerkheimer said. (Reporting by Luc Cohen; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Lisa Shumaker and Andrea Januta (Reuters) – Extreme weather events in 2021 shattered records around the globe. Hundreds died in storms and heatwaves. Farmers struggled with drought, and in some cases with locust plagues. Wildfires set new records for carbon emissions, while swallowing forests, towns and homes. Many of these events were exacerbated by climate change. Scientists say there are more to come – and worse – as the Earth’s atmosphere continues to warm through the next decade and beyond. Here are some of the events Reuters witnessed over the past year: February — A blistering cold spell hit normally warm Texas, killing 125 people in the state and leaving millions without power in freezing temperatures. Scientists have not reached a conclusion on whether climate change caused the extreme weather, but the warming of the Arctic is causing more unpredictable weather around the globe. February — Kenya and other parts of East Africa battled some of the worst locust plagues in decades, with the insects destroying crops and grazing grounds. Scientists say that unusual weather patterns exacerbated by climate change created ideal conditions for insects to thrive. March — Beijing’s sky turned orange and flights were grounded during the Chinese capital’s worst sandstorm in a decade. Busloads of volunteers arrive in the desert each year to plant trees, which can stabilize the soil and serve as a wind buffer. Scientists predict climate change will worsen desertification, as hotter summers and drier winters reduce moisture levels. June — Nearly all of the western United States was gripped by a drought that emerged in early 2020. Farmers abandoned crops, officials announced emergency measures, and the Hoover Dam reservoir hit an all-time low. By September, the U.S. government confirmed that over the prior 20 months, the Southwest experienced the lowest precipitation in over a century, and it linked the drought to climate change. June — Hundreds died during a record-smashing heatwave in the U.S. and Canadian Pacific Northwest, which scientists concluded would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change. Over several days, power lines melted and roads buckled. Cities, struggling to cope with the heat, opened cooling centers to protect their residents. During the heatwave, Portland, Oregon, hit an all-time record high of 116 Fahrenheit (46.7 Celsius). July — Catastrophic flooding killed more than 300 people in central China’s Henan province when a year’s worth of rain fell in just three days. Meanwhile in Europe, nearly 200 people died as torrential rains soaked Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Scientists concluded that climate change had made the floods 20% more likely to occur. July — A record heatwave and drought in the U.S. West gave rise to two massive wildfires that tore through California and Oregon and were among the largest in the history of both states. Scientists say both the growing frequency and the intensity of wildfires are largely attributable to prolonged drought and increasing bouts of excessive heat from climate change. July — Large parts of South America are suffering from a prolonged drought. While Chile is enduring a decade-long megadrought linked to global warming, this year Brazil saw one of its driest years in a century. In Argentina, the Parana, South America’s second-longest river, fell to its lowest level since 1944. Around the globe, heatwaves are becoming both more frequent and more severe. August — In the Mediterranean, a hot and dry summer fanned intense blazes that forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes in Algeria, Greece and Turkey. The fires, which killed two people in Greece and at least 65 in Algeria, struck amid an intense heatwave, with some places in Greece recording temperatures of over 46 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit). Late August — Nearly all the world’s mountain glaciers are retreating due to global warming. In the Alps, Swiss resort employees laid protective blankets over one of Mount Titlis’s glaciers during the summer months to preserve what ice is left. Switzerland already has lost 500 of its glaciers, and could lose 90% of the 1,500 that remain by the end of the century if global emissions continue to rise, the government said. August/September — Hurricane Ida, which hit Louisiana as a Category 4 storm, killed nearly 100 people in the United States and caused an estimated $64 billion in damage, according to the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. As the remnants of Ida moved inland, the heavy rains created flash flooding across the densely populated Northeast, vastly increasing the storm’s death toll. Climate change is strengthening hurricanes, while also causing them to linger longer over land – dumping more rain on an area before moving on. Studies also suggest these storms are becoming more frequent in the North Atlantic. September — Infrastructure and homes in Russia are increasingly in peril as underground permafrost melts and deforms the land underneath them. Permafrost was once a stable construction base, in some regions staying frozen as far back as the last Ice Age. But rising global temperatures threaten the layer of ice, soil, rocks, sand and organic matter. November — The worst floods in 60 years in South Sudan have affected about 780,000 people, or one in every 14 residents, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Every year the county goes through a rainy season, but flooding has set records for three years in a row. The destruction will likely increase as temperatures rise, scientists say. November — A massive storm dumped a month’s worth of rain over two days in the Canadian province of British Columbia, unleashing floods and mudslides that destroyed roads, railroads and bridges. It is likely the most expensive natural disaster in Canada’s history, although officials are still assessing the damage. Meteorologists said the rain had come from an atmospheric river, or a stream of water vapor stretching hundreds of miles long from the tropics. Atmospheric rivers are expected to become larger — and possibly more destructive — with climate change, scientists say. (Reporting by Andrea Januta in New York and Lisa Shumaker in Chicago; Editing by Katy Daigle and Rosalba O’Brien) View the full article

Published by DPA Opel’s new hydrogen van can be fully refuelled in just three minutes, which gives the model a clear advantage over the all-electric version which needs almost five hours. Opel/dpa Opel has delivered its first hydrogen-powered van to a customer in Germany, saying the Vivaro model will pave the way for a whole family of new zero-emission light commercial vehicles that refuel far faster than their electric counterparts can recharge. The Vivaro-e Hydrogen was delivered to domestic appliance manufacturer Miele in the central Rhine-Main region. It promises a range of 400 kilometres compared to 329 km for the pure electric version. The hydrogen tanks of the Vivaro e-hydrogen can be refuelled in just 3 minutes, which gives the model a clear advantage over the all-electric Vivaro which needs to sip electrons for four hours and 45 minutes once the batteries are depleted. The hydrogen van is aimed at business customers initially and will be sold alongside the existing battery-electric and combustion-engined versions. A Vauxhall variant will debut later in some markets. “With the new Opel Vivaro-e Hydrogen we are opening the next chapter in our sustainable mobility offensive,” said Opel CEO Uwe Hochgeschurtz. He said the van was ideal for transporting loads without losing time while charging the batteries. The Vivaro hydrogen-driven van is the forerunner of a joint version for all the companies within the Stellantis concern which groups Fiat, Chrysler and PSA with Opel. Hydrogen versions of the Citroen e-Jumpy and Peugeot e-Expert vans are said to be in the pipeline. The hydrogen load-hauler is based on the battery electric Opel Vivaro-e but driven by a 45kW fuel cell which uses a chemical reaction to produce electricity. A 10.5kWh lithium-ion battery provides dynamic peak power when required, for example, when the van starts up and under acceleration. Opel said the battery also enables regenerative braking, while the plug-in capability offers the opportunity to recharge the battery externally if necessary. Opel’s new hydrogen van can be fully refuelled in just three minutes, which gives the model a clear advantage over the all-electric version which needs almost five hours. Opel/dpa View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk was named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2021, a year that saw his electric car company become the most valuable carmaker in the world and his rocket company soar to the edge of space with an all-civilian crew. Musk is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX, and leads brain-chip startup Neuralink and infrastructure firm The Boring Company. Tesla’s market value soared to more than $1 trillion this year, making it more valuable than Ford Motor and General Motors combined. Tesla produces hundreds of thousand of cars every year and has managed to avert supply chain issues better than many of its rivals, while pushing many young consumers to switch to electric cars and legacy automakers to shift focus to EV vehicles. “For creating solutions to an existential crisis, for embodying the possibilities and the perils of the age of tech titans, for driving society’s most daring and disruptive transformations, Elon Musk is TIME’s 2021 Person of the Year,” the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal, said. “Even Elon Musk’s spacefaring adventures are a direct line from the very first Person of the Year, Charles Lindbergh, whom the editors selected in 1927 to commemorate his historic first solo transatlantic airplane flight over the Atlantic.” From hosting Saturday Night Live to dropping tweets on cryptocurrencies and meme stocks that have triggered massive movements in their value, Musk has dominated the headlines and amassed over 66 million followers on Twitter. Some of his tweets have also attracted regulatory scrutiny in the past. According to the magazine, “The Person of the Year” signifies somebody “who affected the news or our lives the most, for better, or worse.” Time magazine named the teenage pop singer Olivia Rodrigo as its “Entertainer of the Year”, American gymnast Simone Biles “Athlete of the Year” and vaccine scientists were named “Heroes of the Year”. Last year, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were jointly given the “Person of the Year” title. Time began this tradition in 1927. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos have also received the title in the past. (Reporting by Nivedita Balu and Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Brooke Shields thought George Michael was “extremely respectful” of her virginity. The 56-year-old actress dated the late ‘Careless Whisper’ singer in the years before he came out as gay and before she learned about his sexuality, she thought the fact things developed so slowly between them was because he had so much love and respect for her. She said: “I thought it must be love… I just thought he was being extraordinarily respectful of my virginity.” The ‘A Castle for Christmas’ actress – who has daughters Rowan, 18, and Grier, 15, with husband Chris Henchy – also dated the likes of Liam Neeson and John Travolta but didn’t lose her virginity until she was 22 and dating Dean Cain while studying at Princeton. However, Brooke didn’t “celebrate” her relationship with the ‘ Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman’ actor enough at the time. She reflected to The Times magazine: “I wish I had celebrated us more, but I was just so laden with fear and guilt that I didn’t have a wild time. “I want my girls to explore and experience and not feel guilt and not feel shame. My daughter talks to me about everything and I’m kind of like, ‘I didn’t bargain for this much information, but I’m going to listen.’ I look at her as an 18 year old and just think, ‘Wow, she is so much more in her body and she owns her sexuality.’ ” Before meeting Chris when she was 25, Brooke was wed to tennis star Andre Agassi for two years but she insisted she didn’t enjoy much of a sexual awakening with him. She said: “That was not a part of my first marriage.” However, everything changed when she met Chris. She said: “I would always walk backwards out of rooms and he’s like, ‘No, I want to grab onto you.’ I’d always felt like I could arm-wrestle every guy I’d ever dated – and win – but then this big hunky guy was like, ‘Come here, woman,’ and it felt really good. It’s not like, oh, I needed a man. But in a way, I did need a man. I needed a man to celebrate me, so that I could see that I was a woman.” But the ‘Pretty Baby’ actress predicted their marriage would only last two years. She laughed: “I was like, ‘Don’t count your chickens.’ I would always want a foot out of the door.” Things weren’t plain sailing for the couple as Brooke struggled to get pregnant. She recalled: “It was two years and seven rounds of IVF just to get Rowan. She was from the first batch. She was frozen for two years. I was like, ‘You’re stubborn.’ But it feels like the biggest failure. Women are getting pregnant all around you and you want this and it’s all you’ve wanted in your life. And then you think, ‘I don’t deserve it. I’ve had too much in my life.’ “Thank God I had a great doctor. And that she spoke to me in a way that took away the guilt. And the perseverance. She was not going not to get me pregnant.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Manas Mishra (Reuters) – More than half a billion people globally were pushed into extreme poverty last year as they paid for health costs out of their own pockets during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization and the World Bank said on Sunday. The pandemic disrupted health services globally and triggered the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, making it even more difficult for people to pay for healthcare, according to a joint statement from both the organizations. “All governments must immediately resume and accelerate efforts to ensure every one of their citizens can access health services without fear of the financial consequences,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Tedros urged governments to increase their focus on health care systems and stay on course towards universal health coverage, which the WHO defines as everyone getting access to health services they need without financial hardship. Healthcare is a major political issue in the United States, one of the few industrialised countries that does not have universal cover for its citizens. Globally, the pandemic made things worse and immunisation coverage dropped for the first time in ten years, with deaths from tuberculosis and malaria increasing. “Within a constrained fiscal space, governments will have to make tough choices to protect and increase health budgets,” Juan Pablo Uribe, global director for health, nutrition and population at World Bank, said. (Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta) View the full article

Anne Rice fans mourn LGBTQ ally in human, undead worlds. Published by AFP Anne Rice sold more than 150 million books worldwide Washington (AFP) – Anne Rice, the gothic novelist best known for writing “Interview with the Vampire,” died Saturday aged 80, her family said. “In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage,” her son Christopher Rice said in a post on her Facebook page. He said she died of complications from a stroke. “Interview with the Vampire,” published in 1976, was made into a movie starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in 1994. She wrote dozens of books, many of them in the “Vampire” series, selling more than 150 million worldwide. Another of her works, “The Queen of the Damned,” was adapted into a film in 2002. “The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated. As my mother, her support for me was unconditional — she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt,” her son wrote. “As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions.” She will be interred at a private ceremony in New Orleans, the statement said. A public celebration will be held next year in the city, with “friends, readers and fans” invited, her son added. Gay Anne Rice Fans – LGBTQ Ally on Towleroad Billie Eilish was told to avoid acting by her mother More Chris Wallace leaving Fox News for CNN+ streaming service More Explainer-Why tornadoes are so difficult to predict More Out Lesbian CEO/Editor Wins Peace Prize –First Philippine Nobel — with Russian Editor Who Exposed Chechnya’s Anti-Gay Crackdown; More Gay Rom Com, The Matrix |And Cackles with Clarkson | Miley and Pete Talk About New Years Eve | Coldplay with BTS, My Favorites Sing. (Julie Andrews Version) More U.S. House Capitol Jan. 6 probe subpoenas more Trump aides More ‘It’s going to be so hard to beat It’s A Sin: Olly Alexander keen to do more acting More Carrie Anne-Moss glad Trinity wasn’t ‘overly sexualised’ in The Matrix More Kanye West publicist pressed Georgia election worker to confess to bogus fraud charges More Tibetan students lock themselves to Olympic rings to protest Beijing games More California man charged in Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot flees to Belarus More Load More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Billie Eilish was told by her mother to avoid acting. The 19-year-old popstar was hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ and in her opening monologue detailed how her mother Maggie Baird, 62, had told her to give up her dreams of becoming an actress.. She said: “I spent a lot of years pretending to be somebody that I’m not. Basically acting. And somebody wise once told me: ‘Billie, you should never, ever act…that person was my mom!” The ‘Happier than Ever’ hitmaker then went on to reveal an amusing anecdote which saw her overlooked by her mother for a role in a film in favour of her brother FINNEAS, 24. Speaking on SNL, she said: “It is so great to be back here at SNL. I was a musical guest a couple of years ago but I never thought I would host, ever. In fact I used to say that I hated acting but the truth is when I was little, I loved it. My parents were both actors and so was my brother. It was my dream to be in a movie, and I remember when that dream died. “I was nine. My mom wrote a film inspired by her life – this is true – she cast my brother Finneas as her son. She played the mom. And in the movie she had no daughter! So yeah, I got the hint! But my mom is my best friend.” The Grammy Award winner then welcomed her mother to the stage, who was wearing a sweater emblazoned with the slogan ‘Finneas’ mom’ to continue the joke before noting that “[the film story] is true. It literally happened!” View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) -Veteran television journalist Chris Wallace announced on Sunday that he is leaving Fox News after about 18 years and he is set to join rival CNN’s upcoming streaming service as an anchor. Wallace, 74, hosted the program “Fox News Sunday,” and announced his departure on the show. He was one of the most prominent journalists at Fox News, including moderating a presidential debate last year between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden. “I want to try something new, to go beyond politics to all the things I’m interested in. I’m ready for a new adventure,” Wallace said. CNN said Wallace will join the company as an anchor for its streaming service CNN+, which will debut early next year. “I am thrilled to join CNN+. After decades in broadcast and cable news, I am excited to explore the world of streaming,” Wallace said in a CNN statement, adding that he also looks forward to the “new freedom and flexibility streaming affords.” In a statement, Fox News said other journalists from the network will host “Fox News Sunday” until a replacement is named. During last year’s presidential debate, Wallace sought to stop Trump’s interruptions, asking the then-president at one point: “Why don’t you observe what your campaign agreed to as a ground rule. Okay, sir?” Trump at another point objected to a Wallace question on healthcare policy, saying, “I guess I’m debating you not him (Biden). But that’s okay. I’m not surprised.” Wallace is the son of the late broadcast journalist Mike Wallace. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – After a string of powerful tornados struck the U.S. Midwest https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/devastated-kentucky-tornado-survivors-pick-through-debris-shelter-with-relatives-2021-12-12 and killed more than 100 people this weekend, attention has turned to the warning systems in place and why the movements of the fast-moving storms are so difficult to predict. A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. About 1,200 tornadoes hit the United States yearly. Unlike hurricanes https://www.noaa.gov/explainers/hurricane-forecasting which can be seen gathering strength days in advance, a tornado watch https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/tornadoes/forecasting lasts for four to six hours over a certain area when favorable conditions develop for tornadoes. Hurricanes usually have diameters measured in hundreds of miles and can last for days or weeks. Scientists can usually predict a hurricane’s path three to five days in advance. Tornadoes usually form in a span of a few minutes, are normally a few hundred feet wide, and last for a few minutes. Tornado watches https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/tornadoes, which are not the same as tornado warnings, are typically issued hours in advance by meteorologists watching the weather 24/7 across the United States and cover parts of a state or several states. They indicate that weather conditions are ideal for a tornado to form, but do not necessarily result in a tornado. Meteorologists in local offices of the National Weather Service issue a tornado warning when a tornado is either reported by spotters or indicated by radar https://www.weather.gov/safety/tornado-ww and there is a serious threat to lives and properties in its path. The average lead time for tornado warnings is eight to 18 minutes https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/2021-04-05-tornado-warning-nws-accuracy, according to Weather.com. Many towns use public warning sirens https://www.weather.gov/unr/Warning_Systems to warn of tornadoes, but rural areas and smaller towns do not have them. Most local radio and television stations broadcast the warnings, as do many smart phone apps and the Wireless Emergency Alerts provided by FEMA that come from cell towers in the vicinity of tornadoes and flash floods. The genesis of the tornado outbreak over the weekend was a series of overnight thunderstorms, including a super cell storm that formed in northeast Arkansas. That storm moved from Arkansas and Missouri and into Tennessee and Kentucky. This time was deadlier because the tornados hit at night. “People rely on a visual confirmation to go into shelter. But at night, you know, you don’t have that,” said Jeff Masters, a meteorologist for Yale Climate Connections. Masters added that the mile-wide size of the biggest cell was another factor for the widespread destruction. “That means there’s really no place to hide. It’s so large and so powerful that even if you’re in shelter, you’re at danger of losing your life.” (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein and Chris Sanders in Washington; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) View the full article

Nobel Peace Prize winners Dmitry Muratov and Maria Ressa Are the first journalists chosen for the recognition since 1935. [This post contains video, click to play] Published by Reuters By Nerijus Adomaitis and Gwladys Fouche OSLO (Reuters) -People in positions of power in Russia are actively promoting the idea of war, and conflict with Ukraine is now distinctly possible, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov said on Friday. Receiving his award at Oslo City Hall, Muratov said it was common in Russia to think that politicians who avoided bloodshed were weak, while threatening war was “the duty of true patriots”. Muratov, editor-in-chief of Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, won the 2021 award jointly with Maria Ressa of the Philippines, co-founder of news site Rappler, in recognition of their fight for freedom of expression. “The powerful actively promote the idea of war,” he said. “Moreover, in (the) heads of some crazy geopoliticians, a war between Russia and Ukraine is not something impossible any longer.” U.S. officials have said Russia could soon invade Ukraine following a build-up of troops near the Ukrainian border. Moscow has denied it is planning an invasion. Muratov also said journalism in Russia was going “through a dark valley”, with over a hundred journalists, media outlets, human rights defenders and non-governmental organisations having been branded as foreign agents. “In Russia, this means ‘enemies of the people’,” Muratov said, dedicating his prize to all investigative journalists, and to colleagues at Novaya Gazeta killed because of their work. Muratov’s co-laureate Ressa reiterated her call for reform of social media platforms. “Our greatest need today is to transform that hate and violence, the toxic sludge that’s coursing through our information ecosystem, prioritised by American internet companies that make more money by spreading that hate and triggering the worst in us,” she said. “For the US, reform or revoke section 230, the law that treats social media platforms like utilities.” Ressa and Muratov are the first journalists to receive the Nobel prize since Germany’s Carl von Ossietzky won the 1935 award for revealing the Nazis’ secret rearmament programme. Ressa noted in her speech that Von Ossietzky was never able to collect his award as he was held in a concentration camp and died in custody. “By giving this to journalists today, the Nobel committee is signalling a similar historical moment, another existential point for democracy,” she said. For a graphic listing all Nobel laureates, click on https://graphics.reuters.com/NOBEL-PRIZE/010050ZC27H/index.html (Additional reporting by Simon Johnson and Johan Ahlander in Stockholm; editing by John Stonestreet) Nobel Peace Prize Sheared Nobel Peach Prize on Towleroad Gay Rom Com, The Matrix |And Cackles with Clarkson | Miley and Pete Talk About New Years Eve | Coldplay with BTS, My Favorites Sing. (Julie Andrews Version) More U.S. House Capitol Jan. 6 probe subpoenas more Trump aides More ‘It’s going to be so hard to beat It’s A Sin: Olly Alexander keen to do more acting More Carrie Anne-Moss glad Trinity wasn’t ‘overly sexualised’ in The Matrix More Kanye West publicist pressed Georgia election worker to confess to bogus fraud charges More Tibetan students lock themselves to Olympic rings to protest Beijing games More California man charged in Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot flees to Belarus More Life at 50: ‘Sex and the City’ women back for new chapter More New York City Council passes bill to let non-citizens vote in municipal elections More Don Lemon Attacks Jussie Smollett On-Air, Calls Actor A ‘Liar’ After Being Dragged Into Criminal Case More U.S. And Major Allies Start To Look Like Human Rights, Democracy Defenders Again With Sanctions on China, Myanmar, N Korea More Load More View the full article

Holidays, Hold the Mariah . Elton and Ed Sheeran Duet finally; Adam Lambert and Darren Criss too. Gwen and Blake; Kelly and Arianna; George and Andrew; Sia and Sia; Miley to Pete; Ru and Big; Blondie, Ellla Fitz and Alicia Keyes. Enjoy. Also throw back to Amazing Grace with Jeff Beck, The Waitresses. And Kelly Clarkson is in new territory with a breakup Xmas song. Defiant. Powerful. Jesus. [This post contains video, click to play] Holidays, Hold the Mariah. [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] View the full article

Published by Reuters By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) – (This December 10 story was refiled to fix repetition of paragraph 9) The U.S. House of Representatives committee probing the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot said on Friday it had issued six more subpoenas demanding information from witnesses, including some top aides from former President Donald Trump’s White House. The House of Representatives Select Committee issued subpoenas to Brian Jack, who was Trump’s White House political director; Max Miller, a former special assistant to Trump now running for a House seat in Ohio with Trump’s endorsement; and Bobby Peede, former director of the White House advance staff, which prepared events for Trump’s arrival. The committee said Peede and Miller met with Trump in a private dining room at the White House to discuss Trump’s rally on Jan. 6 – the day his supporters marched on the Capitol – and that Jack reportedly reached out to several members of Congress on Trump’s behalf to invite them to speak at the rally. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy later hired Jack to lead his congressional political operation. “Some of the witnesses we subpoenaed today apparently worked to stage the rallies on Jan. 5th and 6th, and some appeared to have had direct communication with the former President regarding the rally at the Ellipse directly preceding the attack on the U.S. Capitol,” Representative Bennie Thompson, the committee’s chairman, said in a statement. The committee also issued subpoenas to Bryan Lewis, a former executive at Fox News who the committee said obtained a permit for a rally outside the Capitol; Ed Martin, whom the committee described as an organizer of Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement falsely claiming Trump did not lose the election, and Kim Fletcher, who runs a pro-Trump organization called Moms for America that organized a rally near the Capitol on Jan. 5. The individuals sent the subpoenas could not be reached for comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment. CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS The committee has issued more than 50 subpoenas and heard from more than 275 witnesses in its investigation of the attack by supporters of the Republican ex-president as Congress met to formally certify his November 2020 presidential election defeat by Democrat Joe Biden. Four people died the day of the riot, and one Capitol police officer died the next day of injuries sustained while defending Congress. Hundreds of police were injured during the multi-hour onslaught, and four officers have since taken their own lives. The panel has begun contempt of Congress https://www.reuters.com/world/us/whats-stake-trump-allies-facing-contempt-congress-2021-10-14 proceedings against three Trump supporters for failure to comply with its subpoenas – former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, and Jeffrey Clark, a former Trump Justice Department official. Trump has urged associates not to cooperate, calling the Democratic-led investigation politically motivated and arguing that his communications are protected by executive privilege https://www.reuters.com/world/us/can-trump-use-executive-privilege-block-jan-6-attack-probe-2021-09-09. Multiple courts have rejected that argument, with the federal appeals court in Washington on Thursday saying Trump had provided “no basis https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-appeals-court-rejects-trumps-bid-withhold-records-panel-probing-jan-6-attack-2021-12-09” for his claim. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Scott Malone, Chris Reese and Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Olly Alexander admits it will be difficult to “beat” ‘It’s A Sin’ if he lands another acting gig. The Years & Years frontman starred as Ritchie Tozer in the hit Channel 4 drama about the 1980s AIDS crisis, and while he’d love to do more acting, the ‘Starstruck’ singer has nothing planned as of yet. Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz on the red carpet at Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball with Barclaycard at London’s The O2 arena on Saturday (11.12.21), Olly said: “I don’t have any plans yet. “‘It’s A Sin’ was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I would love to do some more acting, but I feel like it’s gonna be so hard to beat ‘It’s A Sin’. “I don’t know. We will have to wait and see. I don’t have any plans yet.” Asked what part he’d like to play the most, he replied: “My dream role would be a sexy gay witch. Have you ever seen ‘Xenia: Warrior Princess’? “Maybe that vibe – but gay – and I could have magic powers, like beat people up in like an ‘I’m saving the world’ type way and become a hero, something like that.” The 31-year-old star was speaking before taking to the stage at the annual festive extravaganza, which takes place between December 11 and 12. Meanwhile, Olly recently shot down rumours he’s set to be the next Doctor Who. ‘It’s A Sin’ creator Russel T Davies is returning as the screenwriter for the BBC sci-fi series after 12 years away. And Olly was touted to take over control of the TARDIS from Jodie Whittaker when she exits her role as the Thirteenth Doctor in 2022, and although he insists he has had no talks about the legendary role he is honoured that his name is even in the frame. He said: “I was so flattered and inspired by that but I’m definitely not the next Doctor Who. It’s an amazing show and I was quite flattered that people thought I might be able to do it.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Carrie Anne-Moss is grateful her ‘The Matrix’ character wasn’t “overly sexualised”. The 54-year-old actress has reprised her role as computer programmer and hacker Trinity in the upcoming fourth instalment in the blockbuster sci-fi franchise, ‘The Matrix Resurrections’. And Carrie-Anne has admitted she appreciative of the fact directors The Wachowskis sisters – Lana and Lilly Wachowski – never took her alter ego in “that direction”, as she admitted she was naive to Hollywood when she shot to fame in the first film in the cult series in 1999. She said: “I don’t know. When I did the first film, I was super-young; I didn’t really understand all the different things that were happening, it was just such a whirlwind. “When I saw the movie I was overwhelmed by it. “I’d never seen myself in that way on a big screen. “One of the things that I love about Trinity has to do with the gaze of the filmmakers. “It’s Lana, and how she shoots. “She loves Trinity so much. “I can really appreciate it, in hindsight. I didn’t feel that she was overly sexualised, and I don’t think they would have picked me anyway if they were looking for that. I am grateful, in Hollywood terms, that it wasn’t taken in that direction.” The ‘Love Hurts’ star also recalled how she was unable to complete a scene in the originnal flick while she was wearing stilettos, and so they had to give her a boot with a “solid heel” to steady her. She told The Guardian newspaper: “In the first one, there was one scene where they had me in a kind of a stiletto, and I couldn’t do the scene. “I had auditioned with that scene, and then suddenly there we are on the day shooting it, and I was unsteady. “It was the whole thing in the nightclub, where I’m whispering in the guy’s ear, and I’m supposed to be really grounded and strong, and yet I could barely stand straight. And so they took those off and gave me a boot with a nice solid heel.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jason Szep and Linda So ATLANTA (Reuters) -Weeks after the 2020 election, a Chicago publicist for hip-hop artist Kanye West traveled to the suburban home of Ruby Freeman, a frightened Georgia election worker who was facing death threats after being falsely accused by former President Donald Trump of manipulating votes. The publicist knocked on the door and offered to help. The visitor, Trevian Kutti, gave her name but didn’t say she worked for West, a longtime billionaire friend of Trump. She said she was sent by a “high-profile individual,” whom she didn’t identify, to give Freeman an urgent message: confess to Trump’s voter-fraud allegations, or people would come to her home in 48 hours, and she’d go to jail. Freeman refused. This story of how an associate of a music mogul pressured a 62-year-old temporary election worker at the center of a Trump conspiracy theory is based on previously unreported police recordings and reports, legal filings, and Freeman’s first media interview since she was dragged into Trump’s attempt to reverse his election loss. Kutti did not respond to requests for comment. Her biography for her work at the Women’s Global Initiative, a business networking group, identifies her as a member of “the Young Black Leadership Council under President Donald Trump.” It notes that in September 2018, she “was secured as publicist to Kanye West” and “now serves as West’s Director of Operations.” When Kutti knocked on Freeman’s door on Jan. 4, Freeman called 911. By then, Freeman said, she was wary of strangers. Starting on Dec. 3, Trump and his campaign repeatedly accused Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, of illegally counting phony mail-in ballots after pulling them from mysterious suitcases while working on Election Day at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. In fact, the “suitcases” were standard ballot containers, and the votes were properly counted, county and state officials quickly confirmed, refuting the fraud claims. But Trump and his allies continued to accuse Freeman and Moss of election-rigging. The allegations inspired hundreds of threats and harassing messages against them and their family members. By the time Kutti arrived, Freeman needed help but was cautious and wouldn’t open the door because of the threats, according to Freeman and a police report. So Freeman asked a neighbor to come over and talk with Kutti, who was with an unidentified male. Like Freeman, Kutti and the other visitor were Black. Kutti told the neighbor that Freeman was in danger and that she’d been sent to provide assistance. Freeman said she was open to meeting them. She asked Cobb County Police to send an officer to keep watch so she could step outside, according to a recording of her 911 call. “They’re saying that I need help,” Freeman told the dispatcher, referring to the people at her door, “that it’s just a matter of time that they are going to come out for me and my family.” An officer arrived and spoke with Kutti, who described herself as a “crisis manager,” according to the police incident report. Kutti repeated that Freeman “was in danger” and had “48 hours” before “unknown subjects” turned up at her home, the report said. At the officer’s suggestion, the women agreed to meet at a police station. The officer’s report did not identify the man accompanying Kutti. ‘YOU’RE A LOOSE END’ Inside the station, Kutti and Freeman met in a corner, according to footage from a body camera worn by an officer present at the meeting. Reuters obtained the video through a public-records request. “I cannot say what specifically will take place,” Kutti is heard telling Freeman in the recording. “I just know that it will disrupt your freedom,” she said, “and the freedom of one or more of your family members.” “You are a loose end for a party that needs to tidy up,” Kutti continued. She added that “federal people” were involved, without offering specifics. According to Freeman, Kutti told her that she was going to put a man named “Harrison Ford” on speakerphone. (Freeman said the man on the phone wasn’t the actor by the same name.) Kutti said the man had “authoritative powers to get you protection,” the bodycam footage shows. At that point, Kutti can be heard asking the officer to give them privacy. The body camera did not capture a clear recording of the conversation that followed after the officer moved away from the two women. Kutti and the man on the speakerphone, over the next hour, tried to get Freeman to implicate herself in committing voter fraud on Election Day. Kutti offered legal assistance in exchange, Freeman said. “If you don’t tell everything,” Freeman recalled Kutti saying, “you’re going to jail.” Growing suspicious, Freeman said she jumped up from her chair and told Kutti: “The devil is a liar,” before calling for an officer. Later at home, Freeman said, she Googled Kutti’s name and discovered she was a Trump supporter. Police say they did not investigate the incident further. West, who changed his name in October to “Ye,” did not respond to requests for comment sent through another publicist who represents him. Reuters could not independently confirm whether Kutti still works for West, or in what capacity. Media reports have cited her association with the rapper since 2018, when she ceased working with R. Kelly, an R&B singer who was convicted in September of racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. Kutti’s biography says she is the founder of Trevian Worldwide, a media and entertainment advisory firm with offices in four cities. Among her clients, she says, are boxer Terence Crawford and Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan. The meeting took place two months after West ended a failed bid for the White House that drew media attention when several publications revealed that allies and supporters of Trump were working on the ground to advance West’s campaign. Some Democrats said they regarded West’s presidential bid as a ruse to siphon off Black votes from Democrat Joe Biden. Groups assisting the rapper’s campaign denied that charge. On Jan. 5, the day after Freeman’s meeting with Kutti, an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation called Freeman and urged her to leave her home of 20 years because it wasn’t safe, Freeman said. The following day, Jan. 6, Kutti’s prediction that people would descend on Freeman’s home in 48 hours proved correct, according to a defamation lawsuit Freeman and Moss filed last week against a far-right news site. Freeman, the lawsuit said, left hours before a mob of angry Trump supporters surrounded her home, shouting through bullhorns. (Reporting by Jason Szep and Linda So; editing by Brian Thevenot) View the full article

Published by Reuters LAUSANNE (Reuters) -Two Tibetan students chained themselves to the Olympic rings outside the Swiss headquarters of the International Olympic Committee on Saturday to call for an international boycott of next year’s winter games. The pair were part of the latest protest against the 2022 Olympic Games over Beijing’s abuse of human rights and its treatment of minorities. The United States will not send government officials to the 2022 Winter Olympics due to China’s human rights “atrocities,” it said earlier this month. Members of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe (TYAE) and Students for a Free Tibet held a sit-in at the IOC building in Lausanne as officials gathered for a meeting. The activists demanded countries withdraw from the event they have called the “Genocide Games”, which they say are being used to burnish China’s reputation. China seized control of Tibet after its troops entered the region in 1950 in what it calls a “peaceful liberation”. Tibet has since become one of the most restricted areas in the country. Critics, led by exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, say Beijing’s rule amounts to “cultural genocide”. Two activists unfurled a banner over the entry to the building reading, “No Beijing 2022,” while five students got inside the building and held a sit-in protest. “Despite mounting international criticism of the IOC and China, the Chinese regime’s human rights abuses in Tibet, East Turkestan, and Hong Kong continue unabated,” said Tenzing Dhokhar, Campaigns Director of TYAE, one of the protesters. “By collaborating with China, the IOC is making itself an accomplice of the Chinese Communist Party’s crimes, which will be sports-washed by the Beijing Olympics.” Police started removing the campaigners after three hours of protests. Organisers and a Reuters eyewitness described the protest as peaceful, but the IOC said one of its security guards was injured. “The IOC always listens to all concerns that are directly related to the Olympic Games. We have engaged multiple times with peaceful protesters and explained our position, but we will not engage with violent protesters who used force to enter the IOC building and injured a security guard by doing so,” the IOC said in a statement. The organisation has previously said it is a force for good and cannot have any influence over sovereign states. Chinese authorities have been accused of facilitating forced labour by detaining around a million Uyghurs and other primarily Muslim minorities in camps since 2016. China denies wrongdoing, saying it has set up vocational training centres to combat extremism. (Reporting by Denis Balibouse, writing by John Revill, editing by Ros Russell) View the full article