Queen Latifah was “p***** off” to be told she is obese.

The 52-year-old actress started working with a new fitness trainer – who she described as “scientific” – and was “mad” when it was explained to her that her Body Mass Index value categorised her as obese.

“I hooked up with a trainer she broke down this whole thing. She has degrees. She’s scientific and mathematics. She was showing me different body types and she said ‘This is what your BMI is, this is what your weight is and you fall into this category of obesity I was mad at that. It really p***** me off!”

The ‘Hairspray’ star – whose real name is Dana Elaine Owens – went on to express her shock at the claims that her body weight was “30%” higher than what it should be according to the scale, which takes into the account the height and weight of a person and interprets the units into a number on a scale of 18.5 up to 40 in order to determine an “ideal” weight.

Speaking on ‘Red Table Talk’, she told hosts Jada Pinkett-Smith and Willow Smith: ” I was like, ‘What? Me?’ I mean, I’m just thick. She said ‘You are 30% over where you should be.’ And I’m like, ‘Obesity?'”

The ‘Girls Trip’ actress previously explained that when it comes to her weight, “health” is of most importance to her and would only change her body image for herself rather than for anything to do with her career.

She said: “Health is most important to me. It’s not about losing weight or gaining weight. When I want to lose weight, or gain weight, I know how to do it in a healthy way. So if I have to do something that is going to be completely unhealthy for me, then that’s not the job for me. Someone else should have that job that’s already there… It’s called No.”

The verdict is in. Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion, Radar has learned, following two days of jury deliberations.

Todd, 53, and Julie, 49, appeared “grim-faced” as the verdict was read on Tuesday, Law360 reported, marking an end to the reality TV couple’s three-week trial in Atlanta.

During the court battle, Assistant US Attorney Annalise Peters said the Chrisley Knows Best stars exaggerated their earnings to banks to borrow more than $30 million.

“They made up documents and they lie through their teeth to get whatever they want, whenever they want it,” Peters said in court, saying their funds were hidden from the IRS.

The couple’s accountant,Peter Tarantino, was charged with a single count of conspiracy to defraud the federal government and two counts of aiding in the filing of false tax returns, for which he was also found guilty.

This story is developing …

By Daina Beth Solomon, Ted Hesson and Matt Spetalnick

LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has pooled $3.2 billion in corporate pledges aimed at addressing some of the economic factors driving migration from Central America, her office said on Tuesday, lending impetus to measures to be discussed at the Summit of the Americas this week.

The new commitments from companies, including Visa Inc and the apparel company Gap Inc, exceed $1.9 billion, adding to $1.2 billion made in December. The latest round of corporate investments announced by Harris are intended to create jobs, expand access to the internet and bring more people into the formal banking system.

The pledges form a major part of President Joe Biden’s plan to address “root causes” of migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, a region known as the Northern Triangle. Curbing irregular migration is a top priority for Biden at a time when record numbers of people are trying to enter the United States at the Mexican border.

Biden, who travels to Los Angeles on Wednesday for the U.S.-hosted summit, will also promote a new economic plan for the Western Hemisphere building on existing trade agreements, U.S. officials said.

Even as he grapples with pressing concerns such as mass shootings, high inflation and the Ukraine war, the Democratic president wants to use the summit to repair Latin America relations damaged under his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, and to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

But the administration’s decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, which prompted Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to stay away, has threatened to overshadow Biden’s agenda.

However, U.S. efforts to stem migration from the Northern Triangle have been hampered by corruption, with projects likely worth millions shelved and some private sector engagement stalled.

Further complicating matters, the presidents of Guatemala and Honduras have signaled they will not attend the summit and will instead send other officials. It was unclear whether El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele would attend, but the White House’s official guest list shows his foreign minister as head of the delegation.

Several thousand migrants, many from Venezuela, set off from southern Mexico on Monday on a journey to the United States timed to coincide with the summit.

At least 6,000 people, according to Reuters witnesses, left the city of Tapachula, near Mexico’s border with Guatemala.

CORPORATE PLEDGES

The latest corporate pledges includes $270 million from Visa focused on bringing 6.5 million people into the formal banking system, and a $150 million pledge from Gap to increase materials sourced from the region.

The other firms span a variety of sectors, including auto-parts, agriculture, telecommunications and digital services.

A CEO summit running parallel to the leaders’ gathering could yield commitments for further investment in economically troubled Latin America, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and is struggling to recover.

Harris also announced an initiative with the private sector that aims to connect 1.4 million women to the financial system and train more than 500,000 women and girls in job skills.

Additionally, Harris unveiled a $50 million project called the Central American Service Corps designed to give young people in the Northern Triangle paid community service opportunities in areas such as education and violence prevention.

Despite friction over summit invitations, most leaders in the Americas plan to attend. White House officials insist the controversy will blow over and the event – the first hosted by the United States since the first such gathering in 1994 – will be a success.

But before heading to the summit, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, in a newspaper op-ed, accused the United States of being “inconsistent, if not contradictory” for refusing to invite Communist-ruled Cuba and leftist-led Venezuela and Nicaragua while engaging with non-democratic governments in other regions such as Southeast Asia.

(Reporting by Daina Solomon and Matt Spetalnick in Los Angeles and Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Dave Graham in Los Angeles and Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Editing by Grant McCool)

Kristen Stewart is looking for “gay ghost hunters” as part of a new TV show.

The 32-year-old actress is to team up with stylist CJ Romero and the team behind Netflix’s hit reality series ‘Queer Eye for the “most titillating queer ghost-hunting show” and took to social media to ask for participants.

In a video posted to Instagram, she said: ““I am scarily excited to announce that I’m teaming up with Scout, the producers of Q’ueer Eye’, ‘Legendary’, The Hype, on the most gayest, most funnest, most titillating queer ghost-hunting show ever.”

The ‘Twilight star’ – who herself identifies as bisexual and has previously dated the likes of former co-star Robert Pattinson as well as Victoria’s Secret model Stella Maxwell and singer St. Vincent – added that she needs the “most incredible LGBTQ+” paranormal enthusiasts to sign up to ‘Paranormal Experts’.

She added: “We need to find the most incredible LGBTQ+ ghost hunters, paranormal specialists, mediums, psychics, investigators.”

The ‘Spencer’ actress was joined in the video by long-time friend CJ Romero – who also urged fans to take part in the new TV venture especially if they were part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Without revealing any further details of the show, he said: “Are you a medium, historian, ghost hunting expert… and also a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?? Well if so, please go to the link in my bio and apply today!!!! Can’t wait to see what you ghouls bring us!”

However, while Kristen is on the lookout for LGBTQIA+ participants, the application noted that submissions “will be accepted for all applicants, regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation.”

https://ghost.castingcrane.com/

Pope Francis has appointed four high-profile investment bankers to a new investment committee set up to ensure the ethical nature of the church’s investments, the Vatican announced on Tuesday.

The committee was set up under a new constitution, called the Praedicate Evangelium (Proclaim the Gospel), that went into force on Sunday for church agencies. Under the Praedicate Evangelium, the committee will be made up of members appointed for five-year terms.

They are to ensure the ethical nature of the Vatican’s equity investments, “in accordance with the church’s social doctrine” while also observing criteria of profitability, suitability, and moderate risk.

The four members of the Committee are: Jean Pierre Casey of RegHedge, a British investor; Giovanni Christian Michael Gay of Germany’s Union Investment Privatfonds; David Harris of Norway’s Skagen Funds; and John J Zona, investment officer of Boston College in the US.

Francis has recently reformed the appointments process for church authorities, making it possible for women to sit in senior posts long reserved to men.

Following revelations of a huge loss on luxury London property between 2014 and 2018, the pope has moved to reorganize Vatican investment policy.

Andy Cohen doesn’t think ‘Queer Eye’ would have been a “hit” on Bravo.

The ‘Watch What Happens Live’ host thinks the cable network made the “right move” in passing on the opportunity to reboot the makeover show – which was originally titled ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’ and ran from 2003 to 2007 on Bravo – because it was so expensive to make and he thinks it found the right home with streaming service Netflix.

Speaking on SiriusXM’s ‘Jeff Lewis Live’, Andy said: “I don’t think it would have been a huge show on Bravo. I don’t … I don’t think people are watching linear television in the way they are watching Netflix.

“And I think it premiered on Netflix and people loved it.

“It was going to be super expensive; ‘Queer Eye’ was a super expensive show to make. And I think Bravo probably made the right move not doing that show.

“I don’t think it would have been a hit.”

Andy serves as executive producer on the ‘Real Housewives’ franchise, and while he doesn’t “regret” cancelling the Miami series – which is now being rebooted – at the time, he wishes ‘The Real Housewives of DC’ had been kept on after it was axed after just one season amid controversy surrounding Michaele Schon and her then-husband Tareq Salahi, who notoriously breached security to attend a White House state dinner.

He said: “I think shows get cancelled for a reason, like the ‘Real Housewives of Miami’.

“The new version is really good — and the next season we’re shooting now is really great. But I don’t regret cancelling it at the time.

“The ratings went down that whole season, the ratings went down for that reunion.

You know what show I regretted they cancelled? And I was a fierce proponent for keeping it on — ‘The Real Housewives of DC’.

“If you look at that cast, that was an integrated cast, it was racially diverse at a time when our shows weren’t enough, and I really liked that show.

“I thought there was a lot that could have come [of it]. But I think the Salahis kind of tanked it.”

By Julie Steenhuysen

(Reuters) -The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Monday it had instructed monkeypox vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic to deliver an additional 36,000 doses this week as part of a drawdown from a U.S. vaccine stockpile.

In a statement, HHS said the doses will be added to the existing 36,000 in the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile.

Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine, called Jynneos, is approved to treat both monkeypox and smallpox.

The Danish company, which developed the vaccine with the support of HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, still has more than 1 million government-owned doses of the vaccine on hand. Another 16.4 million doses of vaccine could be finished if needed, HHS said.

During a news briefing last week, HHS official Dawn O’Connell said Bavarian Nordic can store the vaccine at a lower temperature than is possible once in the stockpile, extending the vaccine’s shelf life by about two years.

In addition to the Bavarian Nordic vaccine, the United States has more than 100 million doses of ACAM2000, a smallpox vaccine from Emergent BioSolutions Inc, that is also effective against monkeypox.

As of June 3, the government has delivered about 1,200 vaccines and 100 courses of treatment within the United States.

The United States has so far 25 confirmed cases of monkeypox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency on Friday urged U.S. doctors to test for monkeypox if they suspect cases, saying there may be community-level spread but that the overall public health risk remained low.

Around 30 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, with more than 911 confirmed or suspected cases mostly in Europe, according to the World Health Organization, Reuters reporting and local data.

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago and Susan Heavy and Rami Ayyub in Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

New York (AFP) – New York’s governor raised the age for buying a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21 Monday as she tightened gun laws following the racist massacre at a supermarket in Buffalo.

Kathy Hochul approved a package of gun reform laws that had been passed by the state senate in the wake of last month’s shooting that killed 10 Black people.

The measures come amid a spate of mass killings in the United States that have sparked renewed calls for greater gun control laws.

Payton Gendron, 18, is accused of gunning down the shoppers at Tops Friendly Market using a an AR-15 assault rifle that he had bought legally.

As well as being at least 21 years old, buyers of semiautomatic rifles will now also have to obtain a permit, meaning undergoing a background check.

Democratic New York already has some of the strongest gun laws in America.

The new laws also ban most civilians from purchasing body armor, such as bullet-proof vests.

Gendron, a white supremacist, was wearing heavy body armor during his alleged attack on May 14.

Hochul also agreed to expand the state’s “red flag” laws, which allow courts to take away guns from people deemed a risk to themselves and others.

Ten days after the Buffalo shooting, a teenaged gunman shot dead 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

US President Joe Biden has called for new gun-control legislation, including a ban on assault weapons. 

At a minimum, Biden has said lawmakers should raise the age at which assault weapons can be purchased from 18 to 21.

But gun regulation faces deep resistance in the United States, from most Republicans and some rural-state Democrats.

US gun violence has killed more than 18,000 people so far in 2022, including nearly 10,300 suicides, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Washington (AFP) – A leader of the Proud Boys and four other members of the far-right group were indicted on sedition charges on Monday in connection with the January 6 assault on the US Capitol.

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, 38, is already facing other charges related to the failed attempt by supporters of former president Donald Trump to block Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.

A superseding indictment unveiled on Monday added the more serious charge of seditious conspiracy to the charges against Tarrio, the former “national chairman” of the Proud Boys, and the four other members.

Tarrio was arrested in Miami in March and is also charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of law enforcement, destruction of government property and other offenses.

More than 800 people have been arrested in connection with the storming of Congress by Trump supporters, according to the Justice Department, but only a handful face the charge of seditious conspiracy, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Stewart Rhodes, 56, founder of another far-right organization, the Oath Keepers, has been charged with seditious conspiracy along with 10 other members of the group.

Three members of the Oath Keepers have pleaded guilty.

According to the superseding indictment, Tarrio was not in Washington on January 6 but he met with Rhodes on January 5 in an underground parking garage in Washington and was in contact with members of the Proud Boys who breached the Capitol.  

Along with Tarrio, four other members of the Proud Boys — Dominic Pezzola, 44, Joseph Biggs, 38, Ethan Nordean, 31, and Zachary Rehl, 36 — were charged with seditious conspiracy in addition to their previous charges.

The indictment comes three days ahead of a public hearing by the House select committee investigating the storming of the US Capitol.

The committee is trying to see if Trump or members of his circle had a role in planning or encouraging the violent attack, and has subpoenaed advisors and aides to the former president.

The assault on the Capitol left at least five people dead and 140 police officers injured and followed a fiery speech by Trump to thousands of his supporters near the White House.

Trump was impeached for a historic second time by the House after the Capitol riot — he was charged with inciting an insurrection — but was acquitted by the Senate, where only seven members of his own Republican party voted against him.

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The former leader of the right-wing group the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, and four associates were charged with seditious conspiracy on Monday for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters.

Federal prosecutors accused the five men of plotting the attack in advance and encouraging other Trump supporters to prevent Congress from certifying his 2020 election defeat by Democrat Joe Biden.

Thousands of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol that day after a fiery speech in which he repeated his false claims that his loss was result of widespread fraud, an allegation repeatedly rejected by multiple courts, state election officials and members of Trump’s own administration.

Eleven members of another right-wing group, the Oath Keepers, were charged in January with seditious conspiracy for allegedly playing a similar leadership role in the deadly attack.

Federal prosecutors rarely use the seditious conspiracy charge, defined as attempting “to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States.” It carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Federal prosecutors investigating the attack filed the new charges against Tarrio, Dominic Pezzola, Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs and Zachary Rehl, according to court papers. All five have pleaded not guilty to other criminal charges related to the attack.

The new indictment accuses them of encouraging other Proud Boys to come to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021; raising money to buy bulletproof vests and other tactical gear; and directing crowd members into the Capitol and assaulting police once the attack was underway.

It said Tarrio received a document titled “1776 returns” that laid out plans to occupy buildings in the Capitol complex three days before the attack.

Members of the group sought to erase those messages when Tarrio was arrested on Jan. 4 for burning a church’s “Black Lives Matter” banner the prior month, prosecutors said.

Tarrio was ordered to stay out of Washington as a condition of his release, but prosecutors say he still played a leading role in the attack.

The indictment says he returned to the city on Jan. 5 and met with Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes in an underground parking garage.

Rhodes and other Oath Keepers have pleaded not guilty to the seditious conspiracy charges and are due to stand trial later this year. Three other members of the group have pleaded guilty.

About 800 people have been charged with taking part in the Capitol riot, with about 250 guilty pleas so far.

The new charges come days before the U.S. House of Representatives plans to hold its first prime-time hearing that will attempt to reverse Republican efforts to downplay or deny the violence of the day. There are five months until Nov. 8 midterm elections that will determine which party controls Congress for the next two years. [L1N2XT157]

The Justice Department has previously obtained seditious conspiracy convictions against Puerto Rican nationalists and alleged Islamist militants including Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the radical Islamic clergyman known as the “Blind Sheikh.”

Seditious conspiracy charges featured prominently in a case federal authorities brought in 1987 against leaders and members of a neo-Nazi group known as The Order. Fourteen alleged members or supporters were indicted, with 10 facing seditious conspiracy counts.

After a two-month trial, a jury acquitted all defendants.

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Timothy Ahmann; Editing by Scott Malone, Leslie Adler, Alistair Bell and David Gregorio)

Jennifer Lopez broke down in tears as she was honoured with the Generation Award at the MTV Movie and TV Awards.

The ‘Marry Me’ star – whose soundtrack to the rom-com, ‘On My Way’, also nabbed Best Song – got emotional collecting the special award at Sunday night’s (05.06.22) ceremony at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar.

At the Vanessa Hudgens-hosted bash, the 52-year-old singer-and-actress thanked both those who were huge supporters and skeptical of her talents.

The ‘On The Floor’ hitmaker also thanked her fiance Ben Affleck, 49, and her 14-year-old twins Emme and Max – whom she has with ex-husband Marc Anthony.

She began: “I want to thank the people who gave me joy and the ones who broke my heart.

The ones who were true and the ones who lied to me. I want to thank true love and I want to thank the way I lied to myself—because that’s how I knew I could grow.

“I want to thank disappointment and failure for teaching me to be strong and my children for teaching me to love.”

She continued: “I want to thank all the people who told me, to my face or when I wasn’t in the room, that I couldn’t do this. I really don’t think I could have done it without you.”

Jennifer added: “It is an honour to be able to connect with audiences and you guys, and because of you I will continue to do justice to that honour as long as I am around.”

The ‘Second Act’ star quipped: “Thank you so much. And to Ben and everyone at home, waiting for me to have dinner. I will be home by 7!”

The Generation Award is given to “beloved actors whose diverse contributions to both film and television have turned them into household names.”

Los Angeles (AFP) – Zendaya dominated the MTV Movie and TV Awards on Sunday as her teen drama “Euphoria” and big-screen superhero blockbuster “Spider-Man: No Way Home” were voted best show and best movie respectively.

The light-hearted awards, taking place at the start of the summer blockbuster season, are voted for online by the public, and underscored the huge popularity of the 25-year-old former Disney child star.

Zendaya won best performance in a show for “Euphoria,” HBO’s often bleak and hard-hitting look at modern teen life, which also won offbeat awards for “best fight” and a new award for the best on-screen “hookup.”

The MTV awards have long bestowed tongue-in-cheek “golden popcorn” statuettes for categories ranging from “best kiss” to “most frightened performance.”

With obsessive fans encouraged to vote multiple times for their favorites, the awards tend to recognize mainstream and commercial hits with large and devoted social media followings.

It was little surprise therefore that “Spider-Man: No Way Home” — by far the biggest box office hit since the pandemic — won best movie.

The film has earned almost $1.9 billion worldwide, and is the third-biggest hit for domestic theaters ever.

It also won best performance in a movie for Zendaya’s on-screen and real-life boyfriend Tom Holland, who plays the latest incarnation of the web slinging superhero — although neither attended the ceremony in Santa Monica, near Los Angeles, in person.

Lending some A-list stardust to the room, Jennifer Lopez was presented a non-competitive “Generation Award.”

She thanked “true love” before telling her fiance Ben Affleck “and everybody at home” that she was on her way back for dinner.

Lopez also won best song, for “On My Way (Marry Me),” while 19-year-old multiple Grammy winner Olivia Rodrigo won best music documentary “Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u.”

Jack Black was also honored by MTV for his career on Sunday. The 52-year-old attempted an energetic entrance, somersaulting on stage to youthful cheers from the audience, before breathlessly calling for “a little blast of oxygen.”

Daniel Radcliffe, who won best villain for adventure comedy “The Lost City,” joked that his British accent had made his evil turn a breeze.

“This is a universally recognized accent of pure evil,” he said.

“This is a voice that would kick a puppy or not give Oliver Twist more food. 

“I really should thank my parents most for just having the foresight, all those years ago, to have me be British, so that I could grow up sounding naturally evil enough to one day win this award.”

Chris Rock is ignoring Jada Pinkett Smith’s plea for him to reconcile with Will Smith.

The ‘Top 5’ star was slapped by the ‘King Richard’ actor on stage at the 2022 Oscars after he made a joke about the ‘Red Table Talk’ host’s shaved head, and though the ‘Girls Trip’ actress recently made a public call for them to put their differences behind them, Chris is reportedly “not concerned” about the drama with the couple at the moment and is focused on his own career.

A source told ‘Entertainment Tonight’ that Chris is the “most genuine person ever” and he is “not caught up in the Hollywood scene”.

They added: “He’s not concerned with the Smiths at the moment. He’s touring and he’s preparing for a comedy special.”

Last week, Jada admitted she hoped Will and Chris would “talk out” the situation and ultimately “reconcile”.

During the latest episode of ‘Red Table Talk’, she said: “Now, about Oscar night, my deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out, and reconcile.

“The state of the world today, we need them both, and we all actually need one another more than ever.

“Until then, Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years, and that’s keep figuring out this thing called life together.”

Jada suffers from alopecia – a condition that causes hair loss – and the actress revealed that “thousands” of people have contacted her since the Oscars ceremony, when Chris made a joke about her appearance.

She said: “Considering what I’ve been through with my own health and what happened at the Oscars, thousands have reached out to me with their stories.”

Will – who has been married to Jada since 1997 – previously described his behaviour at the Oscars as “shocking, painful, and inexcusable”.

As a result of his actions, the ‘Men in Black’ actor resigned from the Academy after issuing an apology.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also announced the actor would be banned from attending any of their events, both virtually and in person, for 10 years.

New York (AFP) – Elon Musk threatened Monday to withdraw his bid to buy Twitter, accusing it of failing to provide data on fake accounts, in the latest twist in the Tesla billionaire’s push to acquire the social network.

Twitter has committed “a clear material breach” of its “obligations under the merger agreement and Mr. Musk reserves … his right not to consummate the transaction,” according to a document filed with securities regulators.

The filing marks an escalation of Musk’s prior statements that have highlighted fake accounts as a threat to his proposed $44 billion deal to take over Twitter.

Musk has said that the real number of bots may be four times higher than Twitter estimates.

Bots can be used on social media to spread false news or create a distorted impression of how widely information is being consumed and shared.

Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal has said that fewer than five percent of accounts active on any given day at Twitter are bots, but that analysis cannot be replicated externally due to the need to keep user data private.

Musk has been dismissive of Twitter’s responses and reiterated that stance in Monday’s filing.

To execute the deal, Musk “must have a complete and accurate understanding of the very core of Twitter’s business model — its active user base,” said the filing. 

“Mr. Musk believes Twitter is transparently refusing to comply with its obligations under the merger agreement, which is causing further suspicion that the company is withholding the requested data due to concern for what Mr. Musk’s own analysis of that data will uncover.”

Shares of Twitter fell 3.6 percent to $38.70 in early trading.