Latest news with #ClintonGlobalInitiative
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Who is Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend who is in federal spotlight again?
Ghislaine Maxwell, at the centre of national attention again despite being sentenced to 20 years in jail, represents much more than the image of a fallen socialite. Once a fixture of elite parties in New York and London, she was convicted three years ago for aiding Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of underage girls. This week, Todd Blanche, the US Deputy Attorney General, met with her for several hours over two days. What emerged from those conversations is unknown, but Blanche later wrote on social media that the Justice Department 'will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.' His visit comes amid renewed political pressure over the federal government's handling of the Epstein case — a pressure intensified by President Donald Trump's refusal to answer questions about the disgraced financier. Maxwell's attorney, David Oscar Markus, said there were no discussions with the government about a presidential pardon, but added: 'The President this morning said he had the power to do so. We hope he exercises that power in the right and just way.' Maxwell, 63, was born into British privilege as the youngest daughter of Robert Maxwell, the Czech-born media tycoon whose empire included The Daily Mirror and publisher Macmillan. After her father died in 1991 under mysterious circumstances, falling from his yacht, Ghislaine relocated to New York City. In the US, Maxwell entered elite social circles and was seen at major public events. She attended Chelsea Clinton's wedding and was photographed in 2000 with Donald Trump, Melania Trump, and Epstein. According to CNN, she was also seen at the Clinton Global Initiative summit, though Chelsea Clinton's spokesperson, Bari Lurie, said Maxwell was invited because she was dating a friend of Clinton's. She was photographed at a memorial service soon after, seated beside a man who would come to define her public legacy: Jeffrey Epstein. Their relationship was at times romantic, though she later worked for him in various roles, managing his household staff and personal affairs. As investigators would later allege, her proximity to Epstein extended far beyond domestic management. According to federal prosecutors, between 1994 and 2004, Maxwell helped Epstein groom and traffic girls as young as 14. Court documents and trial testimony portrayed her as a recruiter, someone who could set victims at ease by offering the reassurance of an approving adult woman. The abuse, prosecutors said, occurred in a well-oiled system: Maxwell would invite girls on shopping trips, pay for travel, and promise educational assistance. She would undress in front of the girls, discuss sexual topics, and normalize the idea of giving Epstein massages that turned sexual. She sometimes participated. In exchange, the victims were paid in cash and, in some cases, pressured to bring in more girls. Maxwell's attorneys claimed that her accusers' memories had been shaped and distorted by lawyers pursuing civil suits. But in December 2021, a jury convicted her on multiple federal charges, including sex trafficking and conspiracy. She was sentenced in 2022. Maxwell has long insisted she had no knowledge that Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial, was sexually abusing minors. Virginia Giuffre, one of the most vocal Epstein survivors, said she was recruited by Maxwell as a teenager while working at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. Giuffre later sued Maxwell for defamation after Maxwell dismissed her claims as 'obvious lies.' The case was settled in Giuffre's favor. Giuffre also filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew of Britain, alleging he had sexually abused her at Epstein's homes. He denied the charges, but settled the suit in 2022. Maxwell is currently appealing her conviction to the US Supreme Court, arguing that a 2008 non-prosecution deal Epstein struck with Florida prosecutors should have shielded her from federal charges. The Justice Department has urged the Court to reject that claim. Despite her incarceration, Maxwell remains a person of interest to federal investigators and to members of Congress. The House Oversight Committee voted this week to subpoena her for a deposition. Blanche, in a statement posted to social media, left open the possibility that Maxwell could assist in identifying others who may have committed crimes against Epstein's victims. 'If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims,' he said, 'the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.' Her attorney, Markus, said only that Maxwell would 'always testify truthfully.' Maxwell did not take the stand during her own trial, but she has given two long depositions in previous civil cases. In them, she dismissed the idea that Epstein's homes were filled with minors. 'As far as I'm concerned, everyone who came to his house was an adult professional person,' she said at the time. The testimony of four women proved damning, and Maxwell was ultimately convicted on five of six charges. (With input from New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, AP)
The South African
21-07-2025
- Health
- The South African
Cervical and Cervical Cancer in Focus: A Cross-Continental Fight Led by Movement Health Foundation
In the Lambayeque region of northern Peru, stories of delay and loss echo quietly through generations. They are not captured in photographs or archived in official records, but live in the memories of families who have waited too long for care that never came soon enough. In distant towns and rural communities, the journey to a clinic can take hours, and even then, the tools needed for screening are often out of reach. In South Africa, across the ocean but bound by the same fate, women in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal wait—not for doctors, but for answers. The nearest hospital is 60 kilometres away. Transport costs nearly a third of their monthly income. And so, they wait—not just for diagnoses, but for the right to be heard. In these places, cancer is not simply a medical condition. It is the result of geography, of poverty, of a history written without their names. More often than not, it is an inheritance. The fight against it—especially breast and cervical cancer—demands more than science. It demands justice. The cost of delay is not just time. It's lives. Globally, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women. Cervical cancer is the most preventable. And yet, they continue to take the lives of women in low- and middle-income countries at staggering rates. In South Africa, cervical cancer is responsible for more cancer-related deaths among women than any other type. In Peru, more than 4,000 women were diagnosed with the disease last year—many of them poor, and a disproportionate number Indigenous or Afroperuvian. Too many were diagnosed late, reflecting persistent gaps in early screening and access to timely care. To delay care is to decide who is worthy of survival. In both countries, early screening remains rare, while advanced-stage diagnoses are the norm. In Peru, screening levels for cervical cancer plummeted by 76% during the pandemic. In South Africa, 75% of cervical cancer cases are detected only after the disease has progressed beyond early intervention. And in the townships and rural provinces, where HIV prevalence is high and stigma travels faster than treatment, those odds worsen by the day. The Movement Health Foundation operates outside the spotlight. Instead, it works through local institutions, public clinics, and digital infrastructure, where change is measured not in headlines but in wait times shortened and referrals completed. With the Clinton Global Initiative as its commitment partner, the Foundation is now leading cancer interventions in Peru and South Africa that are designed not just to treat, but to reimagine the system itself. In South Africa, a Progressive Web App developed with Nelson Mandela University is helping women navigate cervical cancer screening—from understanding symptoms, to locating clinics, to preparing for appointments in their home language. The app includes voice input, offline features, and maps for rural areas. In Peru, the model is different, but the need is the same. A workflow coordination tool—originally piloted for maternal health in Cusco—is being adapted to help local clinics track screenings and patient referrals for breast and cervical cancer. The new program, under development in Lambayeque and Arequipa, targets 170,000 women and is built to scale to additional regions by 2026. The legacy of inequality cannot be fixed by apps alone. The question is whether these digital tools are surface patches or the beginning of deeper structural reform. Under new executive director Bogi Eliasen, the Foundation is positioning itself as a bridge between the technological and the political. 'We are not interested in pilots that fade,' Eliasen has said. 'We are building infrastructure that learns, adapts, and becomes public.' It's a bold vision in an industry littered with failed interventions and pilots that collapsed under the weight of poor implementation or vanished when donor funding dried up. But the Movement Health Foundation insists that local partnership, government integration, and community buy-in are non-negotiable. The work in Peru, for example, is embedded within national health policy timelines and budget cycles. In South Africa, the Foundation's collaboration with local institutions is explicit, not adjacent. This is how institutions gain roots—not through speed, but through alignment. The numbers should make us uncomfortable. In 2021, South Africa recorded 356.86 DALYs per 100,000 women for breast cancer—a steep increase from 196.28 in 1990. DALYs measure years of life lost not just from death, but from living with disease. These are years spent in waiting rooms, in silence, in systems that never called your name. Peru fares no better. In rural areas, Indigenous and Afroperuvian women often learn about cancer from other patients, not their doctors. The clinics are centralised, the health literacy campaigns are underfunded, and the result is predictable: women show up too late, and leave too soon. We are not talking about rare conditions. We are talking about preventable diseases with known interventions. The delay is not technical. It is the result of fragile policies and outdated processes, systems that have failed to evolve with the needs of those they serve. A woman in rural South Africa still needs to travel hours to reach care. A woman in northern Peru still needs three separate visits to complete a screening, colposcopy, and treatment. If she misses one, the clock resets. This is not a coincidence. It is a reflection of design—of systems built to be good enough for some, but not for all. And yet, that design is not immutable. It can be rewritten. The Movement Health Foundation is trying to write a different script. One where prevention is not a privilege, where follow-up is not optional, and where a diagnosis is not the beginning of the end. If global health is to mean anything, it must begin with the least protected. Not just in rhetoric, but in protocol. Not just in fundraising, but in follow-through. And so the question remains, not for them, but for us: what does it say about our global priorities when a woman needs to survive a system before she can survive a disease? 'This is not about awareness,' Bogi Eliasen has said. 'This is about consequence.' He's right. The numbers are not just statistics. They are verdicts. And verdicts, if left unchallenged, become legacies. Let's not allow that. By: Lena Whitmere
Forbes
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
How Iceland's Former First Lady Eliza Reid Champions Women Voices
Eliza Jean Reid speaks onstage during the Clinton Global Initiative September 2023 Meeting at New ... More York Hilton Midtown on September 18, 2023 in New York City. (Photo byfor Clinton Global Initiative) Gabriele Hartshorne-Mehl contributed to this story. 'Að ganga með bók í maganum,' – 'to walk with a book in your belly' – is a favorite expression among Icelanders. It suggests that everyone carries a story inside them, waiting to be told. Former First Lady and bestselling author Eliza Reid has taken this phrase to heart. For her, storytelling is both personal and political. Throughout her career, both as a skilled writer and wielder of soft power politics, Reid has adopted this philosophy. Whether addressing international audiences, elevating women's voices, or crafting fictional murder mysteries, she uses narrative not only to express herself but also to normalize ideas which might challenge the status quo. Originally from Canada, Reid was raised on her parents' hobby farm just outside of Ottawa. However, she is fluent in Icelandic and has immersed herself in the country's culture since moving there with her husband, former President Guðni Jóhannesson, in 2003. The couple met at Oxford when she won a date with him in a raffle. With characteristic wit and candour, Reid admits she contributed to her luck by adding her name to the cup several times: 'It was giving fate a little bit of a push. And who knew the long-term repercussions of that one moment of spontaneity!' From Ottawa to Iceland's Presidential Residence The couple lived in England for five years, completing their postgraduate studies – Reid in Modern History, and Jóhannesson in Icelandic political history. In 2003, they moved to Iceland, and Reid began the process of immersing herself into Icelandic culture: mastering the complex language structures, learning the stories of the people, and engaging with and honouring local traditions. These experiences would later form the foundation of her bestselling book, Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland's Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World, which explores how Iceland's progress on gender equality is rooted in cultural and historical influences. Reid's public profile changed dramatically when her husband was elected President of Iceland following a political scandal tied to the Panama Papers in 2016. The country greatly appreciated Jóhannesson's grasp of the context and his insightful and entertaining commentary. He ended up winning the election on a platform defined by integrity, transparency, and impartiality – a fresh alternative to Iceland's political elite. The Storytelling Instinct There is no official role for the spouse of the President in Iceland. However, despite any formal definition, the inherent nature of the position carries some gendered social expectations. 'It is almost an anti-feminist role in a sense, even though we have some men serving as spouses of heads of state,' she says, because it traditionally assumes a passive, supportive figure. Rather than accept that framework, Reid redefined it. It was an opportunity to use her unique voice, stand up for what she believed in, and 'shift the expectations that first ladies are some sort of well-dressed muse for their husband's genius.' Early on, Reid learned that the media paid more attention to what she wore than to the attire of her husband. Rather than conforming to the one-dimensional decorative aspects associated with First Ladies, she decided to use her wardrobe as a tool for cultural and political advocacy. Dressing for Advocacy She strategically selected outfits that spotlight local designers and support values she believed in, such as sustainability. 'I bought something at the Red Cross charity shop once. I wore it to an Icelandic awards show, and it ended up being on the BBC that the First Lady had worn a $15 used jacket,' says Reid. She also wore secondhand clothing during her husband's re-election and several other high-profile events to continue to challenge the expectations set for her on what she might wear. 'It's supporting a good cause. So I did that quite often for bigger events,' she recalls. Reid proudly identifies as a feminist, using her platform to normalize the term in public discourse and deter misconceptions surrounding gender equality. The Language of Power 'Women tend to be socialized not to take up space,' she says. 'We are taught that we are physically too big for everything, we are too loud, too bossy, too ambitious.' Women also minimize themselves through language – 'I just wanted to say, I only wanted to contribute this, sorry to interrupt you,' she mimics. These phrases diminish the power of the contributor's initial statement. As an author, Reid is mindful of the harm these rhetorical and linguistic choices cause, weakening the message's delivery and reflecting deeper conditions around who feels most entitled to speak. She also understands the value and importance of using one's unique voice. 'It is very empowering to point out to people that you don't have to have climbed Everest or founded a company or have been the first to do something to be able to tell your story and to use details from your life to inspire other people,' Reid says. 'We are all role models, we all have an influence, and we all have something important to say,' she continues. From Nonfiction to Nordic Noir Reid's writing reflects this ethos. Her latest project, a murder mystery novel titled Death on the Island, blends her love of British-style crime fiction with her deep appreciation for Icelandic culture. In many ways, the pivot to fiction-writing is another extension of her enduring guiding principle: telling stories which are grounded and expansive, personal and political. The Importance of Owning Your Voice Whether through fashion, fiction, or feminist advocacy, Reid remains committed to reshaping narratives — her own and others'. She reminds us that we all carry a story inside us. The only question is whether we choose to tell it.
Fast Company
10-06-2025
- Health
- Fast Company
This pediatrician developed cafeteria dishware that won't leach hormone-disrupters into schoolkids
In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement warning that plastic foodware could potentially leach hormone-disrupting chemicals into children's food. Seven years later, millions of children across the U.S. are still eating hot cafeteria lunches off plastic dishware. Manasa Mantravadi and her startup, Ahimsa, are working to change that. A board-certified pediatrician and mother of three, Mantravadi was spurred by the AAP's findings to launch Ahimsa in 2019 to make steel dishware for children. Having gained traction with direct-to-consumer sales to thousands of families, Ahimsa is now aiming to get into schools across the U.S. Through a partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative, the company launched a national pilot in 2024 called the Conscious Cafeteria Project, which saw 15 elementary schools (in California, Minnesota, Indiana, and New York) swap their plastic trays and utensils for reusable stainless steel over the course of a school year. The nonprofit Upstream claims that permanently eliminating plastics from these cafeterias can reduce their average annual CO2 emissions by 83%. The project displaced more than 1 million single-use items in total and decreased water usage by 78% (the difference between water used during production for single-use plastic and production for reusable steel). And, by making the swap, each school saved nearly $4,000 per year. One major challenge Mantravadi continues to face is that many school administrators are unaware of plastic dishware's risks. She shares educational content and research on Ahimsa's Instagram account, and the company's website includes additional resources. 'Children can't advocate for themselves—they don't have voting power, they don't make purchasing decisions,' Mantravadi says. 'It's my job as a pediatrician, it's parents' jobs, it's legislators' jobs, it's teachers' jobs. We're the adults in the room, and we've got to make better choices to invest in the health of our children.'
New York Post
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Ashley Judd reveals heartbreaking final conversation with mom Naomi as she lay dying
Ashley Judd is sharing new insight into her mom Naomi Judd's tragic suicide. In the new docuseries 'The Judd Family: Truth Be Told' that aired this weekend on Lifetime, Ashley, 57, opened up about the last conversation she had with Naomi as the country singer died by suicide at age 76 in April 2022. Ashley recalled that on the morning of her mother's passing, Naomi sent her a text that said, 'Please help.' Advertisement 8 Naomi and Ashley Judd attend the 2014 Nashville Film Festival. Getty Images 'When I got there, Mom was very uncomfortable in her body, pacing around the kitchen and expressing that she didn't want to be here anymore,' the 'Missing' actress explained. 'I put my hand on her leg and she patted me and she slowly softened and came back to herself and calmed down and shared a couple of things that I would say are private, between us, about why she chose to continue to live,' Ashley shared. Advertisement 8 Naomi Judd visits Hallmark's 'Home and Family' at Universal Studios Hollywood in March 2018. Getty Images 8 Ashley Judd attends Daughters For Earth, Vital Voices and International Center For Research on Women Campaign Launch in New York in 2023. Getty Images for Daughters For Earth Naomi went upstairs, Ashley said, but when the 'Divergent' star checked on her, she discovered that Naomi 'had harmed herself.' 'And then I spent the next whatever it was — half hour — just holding my mother and talking to her, and the first thing I said to her was, 'It's OK, I've seen how much you've been suffering,'' Ashley said. Advertisement 8 Ashley Judd and Naomi Judd arrive at the premiere of 'Twisted' in Feb. 2004. Getty Images 'And we just breathed together,' Ashley added, 'and I talked to her and told her how much I loved her, and it's okay to go.' Ashley said that once her mom passed of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, 'my most earnest wish was to make sure that she was relieved and absolved of her guilt and her shame.' 'I was holding her hand. I was kissing her,' Ashley recalled. 'She was so soft. She smelled so pretty.' Advertisement 8 Naomi, Ashley and Wynonna Judd at the ACM Awards in the 1990s. Getty Images 8 Ashley Judd speaks onstage at the Clinton Global Initiative September 2023 Meeting. Getty Images for Clinton Global Initiative She added of Naomi's final moments, 'It was like this final consummation of the love in the relationship that we had transformed. What an honor, to be born into this human life, to be chosen by her. I got to hold space, I got to bookend. And I'm just so glad I was there.' 8 Naomi Judd and Ashley Judd at 'Dancing with the Stars' in 2013. ABC Naomi struggled with mental illness for years before her death. The 'Have Mercy' singer allegedly wrote a suicide note that read, 'Do not let Wy come to my funeral. She's mentally ill,' in reference to her other daughter and singing partner, Wynonna, 60. Despite her mom's alleged wishes, Wynonna did go to Naomi's funeral. 8 Naomi Judd with her two daughters at the annual YouthAIDS Benefit Gala in Sept. 2005. Getty Images Advertisement Last year, Ashley appeared on Anderson Cooper's CNN podcast and called Naomi's death 'traumatic and unexpected.' Ashley added that Naomi told her while dying, 'Let it all go, be free, all is forgiven long ago. All is forgiven long ago. Leave it all here, take nothing with you just be free.' If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
