Beyonce is planning a “thrilling abundance” of new music.

The 40-year-old pop megastar – who teased an upcoming project called ‘Renaissance’ on Thursday (16.06.22) alongside a July 29 release date – is said to have used the pandemic to put a lot of thought into her next move, with plenty of material on the way.

The ‘Love on Top’ hitmaker met British Vogue’s Editor in Chief Edward Enninful for the magazine’s July issue, and he has given an insight into her plans.

Writing about their meeting, Enninful said: “New music is coming – a thrilling abundance of it…

“The creation has been a long process, she explains, with the pandemic giving her far longer to spend thinking and re-thinking every decision. Just the way she likes it.”

Enninful noted that Beyonce was hands-on with her cover shoot, which turned into a family affair when her husband Jay Z and their children – Blue Ivy, nine, and five-year-old twins Rumi and Sir – visited for the day.

He added: “Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, a writer of excellent and lengthy texts, had taken to messaging me as we brainstormed the direction of her Vogue shoot together.

“A fashion fantasia spun from the tropes of club life during the last century’s final quarter…

“[On set] it was a magical mood and soon B was walking around feeling easy and free to be herself. Her husband and kids came to surprise her on set. It was a family day out – albeit a slightly surreal one.”

Last year, Sony label bosses suggested a new Beyoncé record will be released in 2022.

The eagerly-awaited LP will be Beyoncé’s seventh solo album and follows 2016’s ‘Lemonade’.

Her last big solo tour was ‘The Formation World Tour’ in 2016, while she hit the road again in 2018 to perform with her husband Jay Z on his ‘On The Run II Tour’.

See the full feature in the July issue of British Vogue available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 21st June.

See more at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/beyonce-vogue-cover-new-music

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will inaugurate a task force on Thursday to curb online harassment, fulfilling one of the Biden campaign’s promises in the wake of a mass shooting that highlights a link between online abuse and violence.

The group will be tasked with producing within six months a blueprint detailing actions to address the problem, including more support for victims, prevention and greater accountability for aggressors and platforms hosting them.

The task force will be co-chaired by the White House Gender Policy Council and National Security Council, according to senior administration officials who previewed the announcement in a call on Wednesday evening.

The creation of the task force comes in the wake of a mass shootings in Texas, where the gunman allegedly posted violent online content before carrying out the bloody rampage.

According to reports from CNN, the Washington Post and others, Salvador Ramos, who shot and killed 19 children and two adults in an elementary school in Uvalde, threatened to rape girls and shoot up schools on social media app Yubo before the attack.

“It’s imperative that we commit to better understanding and addressing the nexus between online misogyny and radicalization to violence,” a senior administration official said.

One in three women under the age of 35 and over half of LGBT people in the United States report experiencing sexual harassment and stalking online, according to the White House.

Harris will be joined on Thursday by Attorney General Merrick Garland, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and tennis star Sloane Stephens, who publicized a torrent of angry messages she received on social media, including racist and sexist abuse, following her loss at the U.S. Open.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by William Mallard)

Julia Garner has been offered the role of Madonna in a new biopic.

The life story of the Queen of Pop is set to be turned into a movie by Universal Pictures and 28-year-old actress Julia – who is known for playing scheming heiress Anna Delvey in Netflix hit ‘Inventing Anna’ – has reportedly been tapped to play the leading role, although the offer is yet to be formally accepted.

A source told Variety: “Julia’s team is still considering and expected to accept the offer.”

If she accepts the role of the ‘Material Girl’ hitmaker, former ‘Ozark’ actress Julia will have sought off competition from the likes of Florence Pugh, Bebe Rexha, Sky Ferreira, Emma Laird, as well as ‘Euphoria’ stars Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie, and Barbie Ferreira – all of whom were rumoured to have been in the running for the mammoth role.

The movie has been in the works since 2020 and upon the initial announcement, Madonna – who is the best-selling female artist in history with sales of more than 300 million – claimed that it was “essential” that she shre the “roller coaster ride” of her life on screen.

She said: “I want to convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer — a human being, trying to make her way in this world. The focus of this film will always be music. Music has kept me going and art has kept me alive. There are so many untold and inspiring stories and who better to tell it than me. It’s essential to share the roller coaster ride of my life with my voice and vision.!

Washington (AFP) – US President Joe Biden hosts a major White House reception Wednesday in honor of LGBTQ rights, striking a counter blow in the heating culture wars ahead of November midterm elections.

Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and several cabinet members — including openly gay Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg — were to join hundreds of representatives from the LGBTQ community in the White House East Room to celebrate Pride Month.

Just ahead of the bash, Biden signed an executive order aimed at providing federal support on a variety of rights in the LGBTQ community that the White House sees as under attack from Republican state-level leaders — especially in Florida, where potential presidential candidate Governor Ron DeSantis has put combating “woke” culture at the heart of his agenda.

The executive order addresses “discriminatory legislative attacks against LGBTQI+ children and families, directing key agencies to protect families and children.”

It seeks to prevent so-called “conversion therapy,” boost health care programs against youth suicide, support LGBTQ foster families and protect against homelessness in the community.

The high profile intervention by Biden aims to counter an “onslaught of hateful… legislation that we’re seeing in the states,” a senior official told reporters.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been more than 300 laws introduced at state level this year alone that infringe on LGBTQ people and their parents.

Among those invited to the White House were “kids and families from across the country who have been personally impacted by these discriminatory bills,” the official said. These included 18-year-old Javier Gomez, who gained renown as an activist while still at school in Florida.

“We’ve had to stand up to their governors and state lawmakers as they advance discriminatory legislation,” the official said.

“These attendees represent the best of America. They are diverse, passionate advocates who are fighting to ensure that the promise of freedom and equality is made real for all you can expect the president today to celebrate the historic progress of his administration.”

Biden is targeting an important layer of the Democratic voter base ahead of midterm elections where Republicans are widely seen as on track to win back control of Congress.

For Republicans, the issue is equally potent, with activists accusing Democrats of moving too far to the left, especially on transgender rights.

The standard bearer on the right is DeSantis, seen by many as a natural heir to former president Donald Trump’s populist brand in the 2024 presidential election.

In March, he signed a controversial law banning lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida elementary schools, a step some Republicans say protects young children from what they term indoctrination. Biden and other critics say it will hurt the LGBTQ community and stoke bullying.

Debate over what opponents dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law quickly went national, even drawing in entertainment giant Disney, which criticized the measure and found itself in open conflict with DeSantis.

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday aimed at curbing discrimination against transgender youth and drying up federal funding for the controversial practice of ‘conversion therapy.’

Biden’s executive order asks the federal health and education departments to expand access to gender-affirming medical treatments and find new ways to counter a flurry of bills passed by conservative lawmakers this year that ban these treatments for transgender youth.

The order asks federal agencies to ensure that federally funded programs do not offer conversion therapy, and the Federal Trade Commission to consider policing such practices that seek to change a patient’s sexual orientation or gender identity as deceptive businesses.

Biden will sign the new policies as he marks Pride Month and hosts a LGBT reception at the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

The measures also include new steps to encourage the placement of LGBT children in foster homes that support their sexual orientation and also create a new working group on LGBT homelessness. They come after the Department of Justice has challenged some of those conservative state laws as unconstitutional.

The White House said more than 300 “anti-LGBTQI+” laws were introduced in state legislatures over the past year, a reference to bills barring classroom discussion of gender identity, blocking access to healthcare to help young people transition, and restricting participation in sports.

The White House’s steps fall short of an outright federal ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in public spaces and federal programs. That would require congressional approval for the Equality Act.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons, William Maclean)

Denise Richards “supports” her daughter Sami’s decision to join OnlyFans.

The 51-year-old model – who has Sami, 18, and Lola, 17-with ex-husband Charlie Sheen, and is also mom to adopted 11-year-old daughter Eloise – took to social media to inform fans that she will always be there for her eldest after she announced that she had signed up to sell racy photos on the adults-only subscription service.

Alongside a snap of herself in a bikini top, Sami wrote on Instagram: “Click the link in my bio if u wanna see more [kiss emoji] and Denise commented: “Sami I will always support you and always have your back. I love you [heart emoji](sic)”

It comes after former ‘Two and a Half Men’ star Charlie – who split from Denise back in 2005 after four years of marriage when she was pregnant with their second child – blasted the notion that his daughter had joined OnlyFans and noted it would “not have happened” if she was still living with him.

He told PageSix: “She is 18 years old now and living with her mother. This did not occur under my roof. I do not condone this, but since I’m unable to prevent it, I urged her to keep it classy, and creative, and not sacrifice her integrity.”

Back in 2021, Sami alleged that she had moved back in with her father over a year ago and accused Denise – who is married to Aaron Phypers – of running an “abusive household.”

In a TikTok post, she said: “1 year ago today: trapped in an abusive household, hated myself, would go days without eating or sleeping, insanely depressed, hated school, etc…”

However, a source claimed a few weeks ago that she had moved back in with her mother “within the last month.”

Jennifer Hudson is “still processing” her new EGOT status.

The 40-year-old actress-and-singer won her first Tony Award for ‘A Strange Loop’, which scooped Best Musical at Sunday night’s (12.06.22) ceremony at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, adding to her Emmy, Grammy and Oscar.

And the ‘Respect’ star, who became the 17th star in history to win all four awards, has admitted she has been left “overwhelmed” by the “outpouring of love”.

Making a toast with a glass of fizz in a clip posted on Instagram, Jennifer said: “As I said when I won the Oscar [for Dreamgirls], look what God can do. Well, he did it again.”

She added in the caption: “Wow !!! I am overwhelmed by all the outpouring of love and support that I am Still receiving and I’m still processing this whole new ground.

“What an honor! Thank u all for being with me on this journey. I could not live this life without u.

“Like I said when I won my Oscar, look what God can do. Well He did it again! (sic)”

Jennifer won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Effie White in 2007’s ‘Dreamgirls’.

She went on to win two Grammys, first for her self-titled album in 2008, and in 2017 ‘The Color Purple’ was named Best Musical Theater Album.

The former ‘American Idol’ contestant earned her first Daytime Emmy last year for ‘Baby Yaga’, in which she voices Forest and also co-produced.

Jennifer named her dogs after two of the awards, Oscar and Grammy, and she previously quipped that she’ll have to get two more dogs and name them Tony and Emmy when she earns her EGOT status.

She said: “I should get two more dogs.

“I got a dog and named it Oscar, and then I won my Oscar. And then I got a dog and named it Grammy, and then I won my Grammy. “So I think I should get some dogs and name them Emmy and Tony — and it’ll give me good luck, and I’ll win. [They’re] like my good luck charms.”

Jennifer is among a handful of stars who have achieved EGOT status, including John Legend, Rita Moreno, Audrey Hepburn and Mel Brooks.

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday filed federal hate crime charges against an 18-year-old white supremacist accused of killing 10 people at a supermarket in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York last month.

Payton Gendron is facing 26 counts of hate crimes and a firearms offense, according to news reporters traveling with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday to the site of the shooting in western New York state. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Earlier this month, Gendron pleaded not guilty to a 25-count indictment handed down by a New York state grand jury charging him with crimes including first- and second-degree murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate.

The state’s domestic terrorism hate crime charge alone carries a penalty of life imprisonment without parole on conviction.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Oatis)

By Andrew Chung

-The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a bid by Republican state officials to take over the legal defense of a hardline immigration rule imposed under former President Donald Trump barring permanent residency for immigrants deemed likely to need government benefits.

The unsigned one-sentence ruling “dismissed as improvidently granted” an appeal by 13 Republican state attorneys general led by Arizona’s Mark Brnovich seeking to defend the rule in court after Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration refused to do so and rescinded it. The rule widened the scope of immigrants deemed likely to become a “public charge” mainly dependent on the government for subsistence.

The state attorneys general had hoped to ask lower courts to throw out decisions that sided with various challengers to the rule, including a number of Democratic-led states.

Biden’s administration in February proposed a new public charge rule that it called more “fair and humane.” It would avoid penalizing people for seeking medical attention and other services.

Trump’s rule was in effect from February 2020 until Biden’s administration rescinded it in March 2021, acting on a decision in a separate legal case in Illinois that vacated the rule nationwide. Republican state officials also sought to intervene in that case in their uphill battle to revive Trump’s rule.

U.S. guidelines in place for the past two decades had said immigrants likely to become primarily dependent on direct cash assistance or long-term institutionalization, in a nursing home for example, at public expense would be barred from legal permanent residency, known as a “green card.”

Trump’s policy expanded this to anyone deemed likely to receive a wider range of even non-cash federal benefits such as the Medicaid healthcare program, housing and food assistance for more than an aggregate of 12 months over any 36-month period.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal decided in 2020 that Trump’s policy impermissibly expanded the definition of who counts as a “public charge” in violation of a federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act. Other courts made similar rulings.

Brnovich sought to intervene in a challenge to Trump’s immigration rule involving three lawsuits, including two filed in California and Washington state by 18 mostly Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia. Brnovich was joined by officials from Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.

The Republican officials said the public charge rule would save states more than $1 billion annually by limiting the immigration of individuals who are not self-sufficient.

During the time the policy was enforced, the government issued only five adverse decisions under it, according to court filings, all of which have since been reversed.

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 3 ruled that Kentucky’s Republican attorney general could seek to restore a restrictive abortion law after the state’s Democratic governor dropped defense of the statute when lower courts struck it down.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)

Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Joey King are to star in a romantic comedy for Netflix.

Richard LaGravenese will direct the movie for the streamer and is also writing the script after polishing the latest draft of the screenplay from Carrie Solomon – the rising scriptwriter who is working on the Margot Robbie ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ prequel set up at Warner Bros.

Plot details for the movie are vague, but the project sees a surprising romance cause comic consequences for a young woman, her mother and her movie star boss as they face the complications of love, sex and identity.

Joe Roth, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Alyssa Altman are producing via their Roth/Kirschenbaum Films banner. The company are behind Adam Sandler’s latest Netflix movie ‘Hustle’ and are also working on the big-budget flick ‘The Gray Man’ for the streaming service.

Film chiefs are hoping to begin production in Atlanta later on this summer.

Nicole has pledged to star in more movies from female filmmakers after a conversation with Meryl Streep made her realise the lack of opportunities for women in the industry.

The 54-year-old star said: “Directors, writers, crew-members – the figures were astounding.

“There was a lot of talk about how things were changing. But then I was like, ‘We’ve actually got to do something.’

“It was my way of going, ‘Hold me accountable.’

“My commitment to this industry is that I will give a platform for new voices to come forward and they can piggyback on me… That’s part of the ‘paying it forward’.”

The ‘Big Little Lies’ actress continued: “I could rest. Or I could actually do what I’d promised I’d do. Sure, I’m tired. But at the same time, I feel this strong sense that I need to stop talking about it, and actually… do it.”

Washington (AFP) – US President Joe Biden on Wednesday chastised the oil industry over soaring fuel prices at the heart of 40-year high inflation, warning of unspecified emergency measures.

The letter, sent to seven major oil corporations, was Biden’s most direct salvo yet in a campaign to blame the industry for stoking price increases. 

Average fuel prices are now $5 a gallon for drivers in the United States, up from $3 a year ago, and the spike is reverberating through the entire economy, helping to sink Biden’s approval ratings to below 40 percent.

“Refinery profit margins well above normal being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable,” Biden wrote in the letter to executives from Shell, Marathon Petroleum Corp, Valero Energy Corp, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Chevron and BP.

Biden said the economy is in “a time of war,” referring to the global fallout from President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions against energy exporter Russia.

“My administration is prepared to use all reasonable and appropriate federal government tools and emergency authorities to increase refinery capacity and output in the near term, and to ensure that every region of this country is appropriately supplied,” Biden said, without detailing what kind of actions he could take.

Biden has regularly lambasted the oil industry for what he says is a failure to tap into already approved wells and increase output. 

However, the letter, accompanied by a graph depicting rising producer profits, marked an escalation in the war of words.

In the letter he asked for “explanation of any reduction in your refining capacity since 2020 and any concrete ideas that would address the immediate inventory, price, and refining capacity issues in the coming months — including transportation measures to get refined product to market.”

“The crunch that families are facing deserves immediate action. Your companies need to work with my Administration to bring forward concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis,” he wrote.

Biden’s Democratic Party risks a heavy defeat, losing control of Congress, in November elections and polls show that fears over the economy dominate.

In a fiery speech Tuesday, Biden blamed Republican obstruction in Congress and Russia’s war in Ukraine for price increases that he said are “sapping the strength of a lot of families.”

The Federal Reserve was due Wednesday to raise interest rates again in an aggressive effort to tamp down inflation, amid fears that the unintended result will be recession.

Tom Hanks wouldn’t accept his starring role in ‘Philadelphia’ in the present day because he thinks it should be played by a gay actor.

The Hollywood veteran won an Oscar for his portrayal of lawyer Andrew Beckett who takes action against his employers when he’s sacked after being struck down with AIDS – and Tom is adamant he would no longer be right for the part.

He told The New York Times: “Let’s address ‘could a straight man do what I did in ‘Philadelphia’ now?’ No, and rightly so.”

Tom continued: “The whole point of Philadelphia was don’t be afraid. One of the reasons people weren’t afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man. We’re beyond that now, and I don’t think people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy.”

He added: “It’s not a crime, it’s not boohoo that someone would say we are going to demand more of a movie in the modern realm of authenticity.”

As well as winning a Best Actor Oscar for Tom, the film also scored an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Bruce Springsteen’s track ‘Streets of Philadelphia’.

Tom is not the only actor who has weighed in on the issue of straight stars playing gay roles in Hollywood – Neil Patrick Harris has insisted he doesn’t have a problem with it and actually finds it “sexy”.

He told The Times: “I think there’s something sexy about casting a straight actor to play a gay role – if they’re willing to invest a lot into it. In our world that we live in you can’t really as a director demand that (an actor be a given sexual orientation). Who’s to determine how gay someone is?”

The openly gay actor played a straight part in sitcom ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and insists his sexuality shouldn’t determine which roles he’s offered.

Neil added: “I played a character for nine years who was nothing like me. I would definitely want to hire the best actor.”

Los Angeles (AFP) – A US writer who penned a tract entitled “How to Murder Your Husband” was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for fatally shooting her spouse.

Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, will be eligible to apply for parole in 25 years, a judge in the northwestern state of Oregon told her.

Crampton Brophy’s month-long murder trial heard how the author had used a gun barrel bought on eBay to kill her husband in the hope of collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in life insurance.

The weapon, which she claimed had been acquired as research for a new novel, has never been found.

Chef Daniel Brophy was found on the floor of a classroom in a now-defunct culinary institute where he worked, in June 2018. He had been shot twice.

CCTV footage showed his wife driving in the area at the time.

The author, whose “Wrong Never Felt So Right” series of novels include “The Wrong Husband” and “The Wrong Lover,” claimed she had no memory of being there, but surmised that she would have been in the neighborhood trying to get inspiration for a new work of fiction.

Crampton Brophy, whose lawyers said last month they would appeal the verdict, denied the murder, insisting that years of financial struggle were behind the couple and that she had no reason to kill her husband.

“Where is the motivation? I would ask you,” Crampton Brophy said as she sparred with the prosecutor during her trial.

“An editor would laugh and say, ‘I think you need to work harder on this story, you have a big hole in it.'”

Her blog post “How to kill your husband,” which is still readily available online, discusses methods and motivations for dispatching an unwanted spouse.

These include financial gain and the use of a firearm, although it notes guns are “loud, messy, require some skill.”

“But the thing I know about murder is that every one of us have it in him/her when pushed far enough,” the essay says.

Washington (AFP) – The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a drug called baricitinib as the first oral tablet for  treating severe alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder affecting more than 300,000 people in the United States every year.

Alopecia causes either temporary or permanent patchy hair loss that can affect any hair-bearing site of the body, leading to emotional distress. The condition has come to the fore recently through high-profile cases including Hollywood actress Jada Pinkett Smith and congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.

“Access to safe and effective treatment options is crucial for the significant number of Americans affected by severe alopecia,” said FDA official Kendall Marcus in a statement. 

“Today’s approval will help fulfill a significant unmet need for patients with severe alopecia areata.”

Baricitinib, which is made by US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and known by the trade name Olumiant, belongs to a class of drugs called Janus kinase inhibitors. It works by interfering with the cellular pathway that leads to inflammation.

Its approval for use against alopecia was based on the results of two randomized, controlled clinical trials involving a total 1,200 adults with severe alopecia.

Each trial split participants into three groups: a placebo group, a group that received a two-milligram dose every day, and a group that received a four-milligram dose every day.

After 36 weeks, almost 40 percent of those on the higher dose grew back 80 percent of their scalp hair, compared to around 23 percent of the lower dose group, and five percent of the placebo group.

Around 45 percent of people in the higher dose group also saw significant eyebrow and eyelash regrowth.

The most common side effects included upper respiratory tract infections, headaches, acne, high cholesterol, and increase of an enzyme called creatine phosphokinase.

Prior treatments for alopecia included topical or oral drugs, but these have been considered experimental and none was approved.

Baricitinib was previously approved for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and during the Covid pandemic its license was extended to the treatment of hospitalized Covid patients.