Daniel Craig says his final act as James Bond was planned since he joined the franchise.

The 53-year-old actor told producers when he took on the role in 2005 that he “would like to be killed off when I am finished” and the final twist of ‘No Time To Die’ was kept a closely guarded secret.

Speaking to the authors of Taschen’s ‘James Bond Archives: No Time To Die’, Daniel explained: “When I started as Bond on Casino Royale, one of the early discussions I had with Barbara [Broccolli] and Michael [G. Wilson] was that I would like to be killed off when I am finished.”

And ‘No Time To Die’s ending was only kept a secret by handing out fake copies of the script to the crew, which showed Bond emerging from the rubble and receiving a knighthood.

Gregg Wilson, the associate producer of the film, explained: “This is the first time we have had to keep elements of the story a secret.”

Producers Barbara Broccolli and Michael G Wilson, also admitted that they had discussed the idea of Bond having a daughter in 2015’s ‘Spectre’, but decided against it as he was “too old to have some repartee”.

Meanwhile, Daniel recently insisted that, unlike Bond, he is a homebody who prefers to be at his house with his wife Rachel Weisz and their daughter.

He said: “I would just rather keep myself to myself and my home, with my wife and family. I don’t venture out a great deal and I will choose places that I want to go to carefully. It’s not that I don’t like fans or appreciate how passionate they are about the films and the industry; they are entirely the ones who keep this industry moving; it’s just that I choose not to be the person who courts publicity or has loads of celebrity friends and is always out for the paparazzi to shoot me in particular hot spots.

“I prefer to keep the close friends that I have and have had for some time. We all have jobs and mine just happens to be one where people know where I am, and I have a very public image.”

Washington (AFP) – US President Joe Biden said Saturday he supported compensation for families of immigrants separated from their children at the Mexican border under the “zero tolerance” policy of Donald Trump.

“If, in fact, because of the outrageous behavior of the last administration you, coming across the border, whether it was legal or illegal, and you lost your child — you lost your child, it’s gone! — you deserve some kind of compensation, no matter what the circumstance. 

“What that will be, I have no idea,” he said. 

Biden was speaking at the White House while taking questions after remarks about the passage Friday of his big infrastructure plan.

The US departments of Justice and Homeland Security have been negotiating with affected families who have sued the government, the Wall Street Journal reported in late October. It said payments could run as high as $450,000.

Asked about that report on Wednesday, Biden said it was “garbage” — adding, of the $450,000 figure, “That’s not going to happen.”

A White House spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, later clarified that while Biden was “perfectly comfortable” with the idea of compensation, “the reported figures are higher than anywhere that a settlement can land.”

During his run for president, Biden promised more “humane” immigration policies following Trump’s repeated efforts to crack down on undocumented migrants.

Under a “zero tolerance” policy announced in 2018, the Trump administration vowed to step up criminal prosecution of people caught entering the country illegally. 

But reports soon emerged that immigrant parents were being prosecuted and separated from their children. 

In all, close to 4,000 migrant children were separated from their families. As of June 2021, more than 2,000 had yet to be reunited with their families.

dax/bbk/dw

 

By Steve Holland and Heather Timmons

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A giddy President Joe Biden on Saturday hailed congressional passage of a long-delayed $1 trillion infrastructure bill as a “once in a generation” investment and predicted a broader social safety net plan will be approved despite tense negotiations.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in the White House State Dining Room about 12 hours after moderate and progressive Democrats in the House of Representative overcame internal bickering and delivered the president his biggest legislative win thus far.

“Finally, infrastructure week,” Biden said with a chuckle. “I’m so happy to say that – infrastructure week!”

The president’s comment referred to a running joke in recent years after Biden’s Republican predecessor Donald Trump declared https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-week/confluence-of-crises-crashes-trumps-infrastructure-week-idUSKCN1G02M6 “Infrastructure week” in 2018 but was unable to pass a bill after multiple tries during his presidency.

The bipartisan bill’s passage gives Biden a jolt of good news https://www.reuters.com/world/us/with-infrastructure-vote-congress-gives-biden-long-needed-jolt-good-news-2021-11-06 after sobering election losses for his Democratic party this week and a drop in his approval ratings. Referring to the losses, Biden said they showed American people “want us to deliver.”

“I think the one message that came across was – ‘get something done. It’s time to get something done – stop talking,'” said Biden.

The United Steelworkers union welcomed the bill’s passage.

“The House has passed the #InfrastructureBill, which would provide roughly $1 trillion for upgrading the nation’s critical infrastructure. This is a big freakin’ deal for us because Steelworkers supply America in so many ways!” the union tweeted.

The bill had been caught up for months in bitter fighting between Democrats and the impasse had raised questions about Biden’s effectiveness.

With Biden making multiple phone calls to lawmakers urging a compromise, an agreement was worked out late on Friday for the House to vote by Nov. 15 on Biden’s proposed $1.75 trillion Build Back Better social safety net plan.

This allowed lawmakers to go forward on the infrastructure bill and it passed with backing from 215 Democrats, and in a move that annoyed the conservative right, 13 Republicans helped provide the margin of victory. A half dozen progressive Democrats voted no.

Biden said that in his last-gasp negotiations with Democrats to try to get the bill passed, he urged them, “Let’s be reasonable.”

“Last night we proved we can, on one big item, we delivered,” he said of the bill, which includes https://www.reuters.com/world/us/roads-bridges-airports-details-bidens-1-trillion-infrastructure-bill-2021-11-05 tens of billions in investments in road, rail, public transport and broadband.

Biden was in an upbeat mood in taking questions from reporters, at one point playfully putting his hands over his eyes to pick out a journalist to call on.

He said he will sign the bipartisan bill “soon” in a formal signing ceremony that highlights all the people who worked on it, Democrats and Republicans alike.

He plans to visit some ports next week to promote the bill and Americans should see the impacts in coming months, he said, offering Democrats something to campaign on as they try to head off losses in next year’s congressional elections.

The infrastructure bill will create “blue collar” jobs modernizing roads and bridges, and transform the transportation system, Biden said. The “vast majority” of the jobs created will not require a college degree, he said.

Americans “will see the effects of this bill probably starting within the next two to three months,” he said.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Heather Timmons; editing by Diane Craft and Grant McCool)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. federal appeals court issued a stay Saturday freezing the Biden administration’s efforts to require workers at U.S. companies with at least 100 employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested weekly, citing “grave statutory and constitutional” issues with the rule.

The ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit comes after numerous Republican-led states filed legal challenges against the new rule, which is set to take effect on Jan 4.

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella, writing by Pete Schroeder)

Los Angeles (AFP) – One of the first openly gay politicians in the United States, who was assassinated four decades ago, will have a ship named after him this weekend, as the US military looks to keep step with modern-day social attitudes.

The USNS Harvey Milk honours a former navy diver who served at a time there was a ban on homosexuality in the armed forces, and who was later shot dead in San Francisco, months after winning public office.

The naming ceremony for the 227-metre (744-foot) refuelling vessel in San Diego on Saturday will be attended by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.

“Leaders like Harvey Milk taught us that diversity of backgrounds and experiences help contribute to the strength and resolve of our nation,” Del Toro said, according to a Navy press release.

“There is no doubt that the future sailors aboard this ship will be inspired by Milk’s life and legacy.”

Milk, who was frank about his sexuality after his time in the military, was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, where he was instrumental in passing laws banning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Just months later, in 1978, Milk was shot dead along with mayor George Moscone, by a disgruntled former city supervisor.

His killer, Dan White, pleaded diminished responsibility, saying he was suffering from depression and had eaten a lot of sugary foods, in what was dubbed the “Twinkie defense”.

White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to five years in jail, a verdict that sparked outrage, particularly in San Francisco’s gay community.

Milk’s murder helped to fix his reputation as a civil rights icon, and he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Navy announced five years ago that it would name a ship after Milk, along with vessels for civil rights leaders including abolitionist Sojourner Truth and suffragist Lucy Stone.

This is not the first official tribute to Milk by the United States: in 2014, the US Post Office issued a stamp with his image, where he appeared smiling next to a rainbow flag. 

Sean Penn won a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of the activist in the 2008 film “Milk”.

Andy Cohen thinks Lindsay Lohan featuring on ‘The Real Housewives of Dubai’ would be a “good idea”.

Bravo announced earlier this week their beloved reality franchise is expanding to the United Arab Emirates and the series’ executive producer would love it if the ‘Freaky Friday’ star – who has lived in the UAE for several years – joined the cast.

In an appearance on ‘The Talk’, co-host Jerry O’Connell suggested to his guest: “Lindsay Lohan lives in Dubai, a Real Housewife potential, maybe Andy?”

‘The Watch What Happens Live’ star replied: “Let me tell you something. It’s a good idea, Jerry.”

However, earlier this week sources insisted Lindsay hadn’t even been considered for the series.

Andy teased there will be an “outstanding group of friends” leading the cast of the new show.

He said earlier this week: “Everything’s bigger in Dubai, and I couldn’t be more excited to launch Bravo’s first international ‘Housewives’ series in a city I’ve been fascinated by for years, with an outstanding group of friends as our guides.

“This is going to blow the lid off of the entire franchise”.

Bravo have promised the series will showcase the best the “billionaire’s playground” of Dubai has to offer, as well as focusing on the lives of the ‘Housewives’.

A synopsis for the show read: ‘‘A group of women navigating their relationships, careers and supremely lavish and ultra-wealthy lifestyles in the United Arab Emirates.

“With the desert paradise of Dubai as the backdrop, this billionaire’s playground is known for its over-the-top opulence, jaw-dropping modern architecture and wild nightlife scene.”

The ‘Mean Girls’ actress moved to Dubai in 2014 to get out of the public eye.

She previously said: “Moving here was a fresh start. I don’t have to be publicly seen all the time, or discuss what I’m doing.”

JoJo Siwa is proud to be a gay icon.

The YouTuber – who is currently taking part in ‘Dancing With the Stars’ – is thrilled to have received the same status as some of her pop idols because of her LGBTQ+ status.

JoJo said: “It’s wild to me, I think because I look at people who are called gay icons—you, Lady Gaga, Freddie Mercury, my favourite people—and to be in that category at 18 is just insane. And just because of who I am, it feels amazing.”

The social media star went on to gush about making history as part of the first all-female pairing on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ with professional partner Jenna Johnson.

Speaking on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’, JoJo said: “Being partnered with another female on the show, it just shows all the little kids watching, ‘Okay, cool, boy-girl, wait, a girl-girl. That’s cool, too. It just makes it more normal, and not so stereotypical.”

The 18-year-old Nickelodeon star – who identifies as pansexual – also went on to open up about her own coming out, nothing that she was so “happy” with the way things turned out and how she has become a role model for young people.

She said: “I am so happy with the outcome of me coming out. The world has taken it so positively, and it’s impacted so many young kids in such a way that hearing adults say, ‘I wish I had someone like you when I was little.’ That makes me know the kids that are little have someone like me, too.”

Washington (AFP) – In the 1998 Hollywood blockbuster “Armageddon,” Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck race to save the Earth from being pulverized by an asteroid.

While the Earth faces no such immediate danger, NASA plans to crash a spacecraft traveling at a speed of 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 kph) into an asteroid next year in a test of “planetary defense.”

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is to determine whether this is an effective way to deflect the course of an asteroid should one threaten the Earth in the future.

NASA provided details of the DART mission, which carries a price tag of $330 million, in a briefing for reporters on Thursday.

“Although there isn’t a currently known asteroid that’s on an impact course with the Earth, we do know that there is a large population of near-Earth asteroids out there,” said Lindley Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer.

“The key to planetary defence is finding them well before they are an impact threat,” Johnson said. “We don’t want to be in a situation where an asteroid is headed towards Earth and then have to test this capability.”

The DART spacecraft is scheduled to be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 10:20 pm Pacific time on November 23 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

If the launch takes place at or around that time, impact with the asteroid some 6.8 million miles from Earth would occur between September 26 and October 1 of next year.

The target asteroid, Dimorphos, which means “two forms” in Greek, is about 525 feet in diameter and orbits around a larger asteroid named Didymos, “twin” in Greek.

Johnson said that while neither asteroid poses a threat to Earth they are ideal candidates for the test because of the ability to observe them with ground-based telescopes.

Images will also be collected by a miniature camera-equipped satellite contributed by the Italian Space Agency that will be ejected by the DART spacecraft 10 days before impact.

‘A small nudge’

Nancy Chabot of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which built the DART spacecraft, said Dimorphos completes an orbit around Didymos every 11 hours and 55 minutes “just like clockwork.” 

The DART spacecraft, which will weigh 1,210 pounds at the time of impact, will not “destroy” the asteroid, Chabot said.

“It’s just going to give it a small nudge,” she said. “It’s going to deflect its path around the larger asteroid.”

“It’s only going to be a change of about one percent in that orbital period,” Chabot said, “so what was 11 hours and 55 minutes before might be like 11 hours and 45 minutes.”

The test is designed to help scientists understand how much momentum is needed to deflect an asteroid in the event one is headed towards Earth one day.

“We are targeting to be as nearly head on as possible to cause the biggest deflection,” Chabot said.

The amount of deflection will depend to a certain extent on the composition of Dimorphos and scientists are not entirely certain how porous the asteroid is.

Dimorphos is the most common type of asteroid in space and is some 4.5 billion years old, Chabot said.

“It’s like ordinary chondrite meteorites,” she said. “It’s a fine grain mixture of rock and metal together.”

Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer, said more than 27,000 near-Earth asteroids have been catalogued but none currently pose a danger to the planet.

An asteroid discovered in 1999 known as Bennu that is 1,650 feet wide will pass within half the distance of the Earth to the Moon in the year 2135 but the probability of an impact is considered very slight.

By Karen Freifeld

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Manhattan district attorney has convened another grand jury to weigh possible new charges in a case involving the Trump Organization, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

The second grand jury was expected to examine how former President Donald Trump’s company valued its assets, the Washington Post reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The legal woes could complicate the company’s relationships with banks, and could pose a challenge to Trump’s political future as he considers running for another term in 2024. Trump has called the charges politically motivated.

The criminal case stems from a probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance in collaboration with New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

An indictment unsealed in July charged the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, with tax fraud arising from a probe into Trump’s business and its practices.

That indictment said the company provided perks and benefits such as rent-free apartments and leased cars to Weisselberg and other officials without proper reporting on tax returns.

Both Weisselberg and the company pleaded not guilty. A Republican, Trump himself has not been charged.

The new grand jury was seated after the first grand jury’s term expired, said the person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A spokesman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office declined to comment.

A lawyer for the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mary Mulligan, a lawyer for Weisselberg, declined to comment.

Trump’s company operates hotels, golf courses, and resorts around the world. Before entering the White House in January 2017, Trump put it into a trust overseen by his adult sons Donald Jr. and Eric, as well as Weisselberg. The current status of the trust was not immediately clear.

Besides Weisselberg, another Trump Organization executive who has come under a glare is chief operating officer Matthew Calamari.

Calamari’s lawyer Nicholas Gravante has not yet been informed whether his client will be charged or subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury, another person familiar with the probe told Reuters on Thursday.

Calamari’s son, Matthew Calamari Jr., testified before a grand jury in September in connection with the case and has immunity from possible prosecution, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

SEVEN SPRINGS

James’ probe was initially civil in nature, but in May her office said it was also investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity and had joined forces with Vance.

While it was not immediately clear what the second grand jury was focusing on, James’ civil probe has been examining how the Trump organization assessed the value of Seven Springs, a 212-acre estate in New York City’s northern suburbs, and in particular a 2015 agreement not to develop a portion of the property.

The attorney general’s office said in a court filing for the probe that an appraiser hired by Trump before the agreement set the property’s value at $56.6 million and the easement’s value at $21.1 million – the amount Trump claimed as an income tax deduction.

James has said she is also investigating a Los Angeles golf club owned by the Trump Organization, which gave the company a tax deduction for a conservation easement in 2014, as well as buildings the company owns on Wall Street and in Chicago.

She said she opened that investigation after Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, said that Trump’s financial statements were manipulated to obtain better loans or reduce real estate taxes.

Vance, a Democrat, will step down at the end of the year. James, also a Democrat, has said she will run for governor of New York in 2022.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Alistair Bell and Aurora Ellis)

By Stefica Nicol Bikes

SYDNEY (Reuters) – A study released on Friday by an Australian university looking at multiple catastrophes hitting the Great Barrier Reef has found for the first time that only 2% of its area has escaped bleaching since 1998, then the world’s hottest year on record.

If global warming is kept to 1.5 degrees, the maximum rise in average global temperature that was the focus of the COP26 United Nations climate conference, the mix of corals on the Barrier Reef will change but it could still thrive, said the study’s lead author Professor Terry Hughes, of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

“If we can hold global warming to 1.5 degrees global average warming then I think we’ll still have a vibrant Great Barrier Reef,” he said.

Bleaching is a stress response by overheated corals during heat waves, where they lose their colour and many struggle to survive. Eighty percent of the World Heritage-listed wonder has been bleached severely at least once since 2016, the study by James Cook University in Australia’s Queensland state found.

“Even the most remote, most pristine parts of the Great Barrier Reef have now bleached severely at least once,” Hughes said.

The study found the corals adapted to have a higher heat threshold if they had survived a previous bleaching event, but the gap between bleaching events has shrunk, giving the reefs less time to recover between each episode.

Australia, which last week said it would not back a pledge led by the United States and the European Union to cut methane emissions, needs to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Hughes said.

“The government is still issuing permits for new coal mines and for new methane gas deals and it’s simply irresponsible in terms of Australia’s responsibilities to the Great Barrier Reef,” he said.

The Great Barrier Reef is comprised of more than 3,000 individual reefs stretching for 2,300km (1,429 miles). The ecosystem supports 65,000 jobs in reef tourism. Globally, hundreds of millions of people depend on the survival of coral reefs for their livelihoods and food security.

“If we go to 3, 4 degrees of global average warming which is tragically the trajectory we are currently on, then there won’t be much left of the Great Barrier Reef or any other coral reefs throughout the tropics,” Hughes told Reuters.

(Reporting by Stefica Nicol Bikes in Sydney, Writing by Melanie Burton in Melbourne,; Editing by Karishma Singh)

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have been cast in the big-screen adaptation of Broadway classic ‘Wicked’.

Director Jon M. Chu surprised the ‘Thank U, Next’ hitmaker and the 34-year-old actress-and-singer on FaceTime with the news that they will portray Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, respectively, in the upcoming flick.

The 28-year-old pop superstar and the Tony Award-winner sent each other flowers to celebrate the casting news.

Ariana posted a screenshot of her reaction to the filmmaker’s announcement and a snap of the bouquet Cynthia sent with a note that read: “‘Pink goes good with green.’ Congratulations Miss A, the part was made for you. I look forward to sharing this musical journey with you.”

The ‘Widows’ star shared a similar carousel on her page on the social media app and Ariana had written in her note: “Dear Cynthia, Honored doesn’t even begin to cover it. I cannot wait to hug you. See you in Oz. All my love, Ari (sic).”

The director wrote: “These two witches!! The emotional moment I got to tell @cynthiaerivo and @arianagrande that they were our Elphaba and Galinda in the @WickedMovie for @unistudios wait until you see what they bring!! It is other worldly. Ahhhhh!!! (sic)”

And Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba, has led congratulations to the pair.

She wrote in the comments: “Congrats to two amazing women. May it change your lives for the better forever and ever as it has for us. So much love.”

Original director Stephen Daldry stepped away from the project last fall.

Universal had previously removed ‘Wicked’ from its release calendar as part of the COVID-19 pandemic after originally being slated for release on December 22 this year.

Marc Platt is producing, while original Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz and musical book writer Winnie Holzman wrote the screenplay.

‘Wicked’ is based on Gregory Maguire’s unauthorized 1995 prequel novel to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and follows the unlikely friendship between Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, who would become the Wicked Witch of the West.

The musical first debuted in San Francisco and Broadway in 2003 and has since become one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history, surpassing over $1 billion in total Broadway revenue.

The show was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, including for stars Kristin Chenoweth and Idina, and is well known for iconic anthems like ‘Defying Gravity’.

For Jon, the directorial role comes after he received critical acclaim for his 2018 movie ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, and ‘In the Heights’, a musical drama.

Cardi B has offered to officiate Kal Penn’s wedding.

The ‘Designated Survivor’ actor – who recently came out and confirmed he is engaged to long-term partner Josh – spotted the ‘WAP’ hitmaker on a flight to Los Angeles and although they didn’t speak on the plane, after he took to Twitter and explained the dream his sighting had sparked, the 29-year-old rapper quickly suggested she oversee his upcoming nuptials.

Kal tweeted: “Cardi B was on my flight to LA. I fell asleep and had a dream that she officiated our wedding on the plane and the three of us walked out of LAX holding hands.”

Cardi replied: “First, why didn’t you say hi! Second, I’m licensed to do that sooo……..let me know.(sic)”

The 44-year-old comic explained he didn’t want to be “disrespectful” and disturb his fellow passenger, but excitedly agreed to her wedding offer.

He wrote: “You’re the best. Was gonna say hi but didn’t want to be disrespectful (your do not disturb light was on). But holy s*** let’s do it! We’re down if you’re down!(sic)”

Cardi simply replied: “I’m down I’ll get my suit (sic)”

The ‘Harold & Kumar’ star detailed his 11-year relationship with Josh in his new memoir, ‘You Can’t Be Serious’, but insisted he never made a conscious effort to conceal his sexuality, he was just aware that the important people in his life value their privacy.

He said: “I’ve always been very public with everybody I’ve personally interacted with. Whether it’s somebody that I meet at a bar, if Josh and I are out or we’re talking to friends.

“I’m really excited to share our relationship with readers. But Josh, my partner, my parents, and my brother, four people who I’m closest to in the family, are fairly quiet.

“They don’t love attention and shy away from the limelight.”

And while Kal is only coming out to the world now, he’d already told his Indian parents and close friends and insisted it was “super easy” telling his loved ones, having already dropped the acting career bombshell on them.

He said: “I shared things with my parents and close friends first.

“I know this sounds jokey, but it’s true: When you’ve already told your Indian parents and the South Asian community that you intend to be an actor for a living, really any conversations that come after that are super easy.

“They’re just like, ‘Yeah, okay.’ I felt very supported by everyone. That’s a wonderful thing. I know everybody has different experiences with that and so I definitely feel very fortunate.”

Tom Ford misses the time when celebrities didn’t have stylists because they took “bigger risks”.

The 60-year-old fashion designer has admitted many A-listers these days have agents and stylists dictating what they should wear on the red carpet, and Ford admitted it’s all become “a little bit homogenised”.

Speaking to GQ, he said: “Oh my god, my taste in celebrities? Well, I like celebrities in general because they’re unafraid of fashion. They need fashion. They need, when they walk down a red carpet, to get attention, so they’re not afraid. They’ll take much bigger risks. It’s great to see a celebrity wearing your clothes. Did you write down a question about stylists?

To which the journalist replied: “Oh yes. The celebrity stylist is one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, at this point. I’m curious what you think about that phenomenon.”

And the former Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent creative director responded: “I wish they were a little less powerful, I have to say. There was a time in the seventies, for example, if you look at old Oscar pictures, before celebrities had stylists, and my God, people took even more risks. There were great things going down the red carpet then. I think sometimes there becomes a little bit of homogenisation, because it isn’t even the stylist. Before these men and women hit a red carpet, their agents weigh in on what they’re doing, there’s a stylist who weighs in, and things can become a little bit homogenised. I guess, when you asked my favourite celebrity to dress—it’s the ones who really know themselves. And if they’re working with a stylist, they assert themselves, or the stylist is kind of running around finding things that they asked them to find. There are those celebrities who have their own sense of style.”

Ford has dressed the biggest names in Hollywood from Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Anne Hathaway to Daniel Craig, Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, and Ryan Gosling.

By Deena Beasley

(Reuters) -A trial of Pfizer Inc’s experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 was stopped early after the drug was shown to cut by 89% the chances of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease, the company said on Friday.

The results appear to surpass those seen with Merck & Co Inc’s pill, molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the likelihood of dying or being hospitalized for COVID-19 patients also at high risk of serious illness.

Full trial data is not yet available from either company.

Pfizer shares surged 11% to $48.55, while those of Merck fell 8.5% to $82.80. Shares of vaccine makers also took a hit, with Moderna Inc, Pfizer’s German partner BioNTech SE and Novavax all down nearly 7%.

Pfizer said it plans to submit interim trial results for its pill, which is given in combination with an older antiviral called ritonavir, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of the emergency use application it opened in October.

That filing is expected to be submitted before Thanksgiving, Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said in an interview with CNBC.

The combination treatment, which will have the brand name Paxlovid, consists of three pills given twice daily.

The planned analysis of 1,219 patients in Pfizer’s study looked at hospitalizations or deaths among people diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 with at least one risk factor for developing severe disease, such as obesity or older age.

It found that 0.8% of those given Pfizer’s drug within three days of symptom onset were hospitalized and none had died by 28 days after treatment. That compared with a hospitalization rate of 7% for placebo patients. There were also seven deaths in the placebo group.

Rates were similar for patients treated within five days of symptoms – 1% of the treatment group was hospitalized, compared with 6.7% for the placebo group, which included 10 deaths. Bourla said that works out to being 85% effective.

The data compared favorably to Merck’s oral antiviral in a similar patient population, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen said in a note.

With the virus still circulating widely and current therapeutic options requiring access to a healthcare facility, antiviral treatments that can be taken at home to keep people with COVID-19 out of the hospital are critically needed, Chen said.

Antivirals need to be given as early as possible, before an infection takes hold, in order to be most effective. Merck tested its drug within five days of symptom onset.

“We saw that we did have high efficacy, even if it was five days after a patient has been treated … people might wait a couple of days before getting a test or something, and this means that we have time to treat people and really provide a benefit from a public health perspective,” Annaliesa Anderson, head of the Pfizer program, told Reuters.

The company did not detail side effects of the treatment, but said adverse events happened in about 20% of both treatment and placebo patients. Ritonavir’s possible side effects include nausea and diarrhea.

“These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalizations,” Bourla said in a statement.

Pfizer said it was currently expecting to produce more than 180,000 packs by the end of 2021 and at least 50 million packs by the end of 2022, of which 21 million would be produced in the first half.

Infectious disease experts stress that preventing COVID-19 through wide use of vaccines remains the best way to control the pandemic, but only 58% of Americans are fully vaccinated and access in many parts of the world is limited.

Pfizer’s drug, part of a class known as protease inhibitors, is designed to block an enzyme the coronavirus needs in order to multiply.

Merck’s molnupiravir has a different mechanism of action designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus. Merck has already sold millions of courses of the treatment, which was approved this week by U.K. regulators, to the United States, the U.K. and others.

Britain said earlier this month it had secured 250,000 courses of Pfizer’s antiviral.

Pfizer is also studying whether its pill could be used by people without risk factors for serious COVID-19 as well as to prevent coronavirus infection in people exposed to the virus.

(Reporting By Deena Beasley, additional reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool and Anil D’Silva)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives was expected to vote Friday on a sweeping, $1.75 trillion social-policy and climate package that accounts for much of Democratic President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda.

The package has been scaled back and modified extensively during months of negotiations, and is likely to be modified further in the Senate.

Here is what the latest version contains, according to the White House:

FAMILY BENEFITS

– Free preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds

– Support for child care costs: Families that earn less than $300,000 per year would pay no more than 7% of their income on child care

– Tax credits worth up to $300 per child per month

– Bolsters coverage of home-care costs for the elderly and disabled through the Medicaid health program

– Expands free school meals and provides $65 per month in grocery money during summer months for 29 million low-income children who are eligible for free lunches at school

CLIMATE

– Rebates and credits to cut the cost of rooftop solar systems by 30% and American-made, union-made electric vehicles by $12,500

– Incentives to encourage U.S. manufacturing of clean energy technology and shift other industries to reduce carbon emissions

– Creates 300,000-strong Civilian Climate Corps to work on environmental and climate projects

– Creates a Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator to invest in climate-related projects, with at least 40% serving disadvantaged communities

– New spending on coastal restoration, forest management and soil conservation

HEALTHCARE

– Enables the Medicare health plan for seniors to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs that have been on the market for at least nine years

– Penalizes drug companies that increase prices faster than inflation

– Caps out-of-pocket prescription drug prices at $2,000 per year and lowers insulin prices to $35 per month

– Expands Medicare to cover hearing aids

– Reduces Affordable Care Act premiums by an average of $600 per person per year

– Expands Medicaid coverage to low-income people in the 12 states that have opted not to expand the program on their own

HOUSING

– Expands affordable housing, public housing and rental assistance programs

– Broadens down-payment assistance to bolster home ownership

– Expands lead-paint removal efforts

– Supports community-led redevelopment in low-income neighborhoods

– Encourages local governments to ease zoning restrictions that limit housing density

EDUCATION

– Increases Pell Grants for college costs

– More aid for historically Black colleges and other minority-serving schools

– Boosts the Labor Department’s job-training programs by 50%

IMMIGRATION

– $100 billion in “immigration reform,” which is additional funding beyond the $1.75 trillion

– Efforts to reduce backlogs, expand legal services and improve border processing and asylum programs

OTHER PROGRAMS

– Expands a tax credit for low-income workers to cover those who do not have children

– More money for rural projects

– Supports community violence intervention

TAXES

– 15% minimum tax on corporate profits for companies with more than $1 billion in profits

– 1% surcharge on stock buybacks

– 15% minimum tax on foreign profits of U.S. corporations

– 5% surtax on personal income above $10 million

– additional 3% surtax on income above $25 million

– close loophole to prevent wealthy from avoiding 3.8% Medicare tax

– bolster the Internal Revenue Service to improve customer service and focus enforcement on wealthy tax evaders

– expands a deduction for state and local taxes that primarily benefits upper-income households in high-tax states. Republicans had reduced that benefit in their 2017 tax-cut package

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)

The #MeToo movement has been “distorted” by Hollywood, according to its founder Tarana Burke.

The activist explained how the movement had been founded in 2006 to empower women from black communities who had endured sexual assault before developing into a hashtag used in response to accusations of abuse in Hollywood and the rest of the world.

Burke regrets that people have failed to understand the true purpose of the movement.

Speaking to ‘Small Axe’ director Sir Steve McQueen at a Guardian Live event, Tarana said: “I’ve seen what Hollywood does, I’ve seen what white people do quite frankly, when they get a hold of black work or work by people of colour.”

Tarana, 48, sympathised with the Hollywood stars who came forward but was annoyed that the victims had been forgotten.

She said: “I don’t think the woman that came forward necessarily had … malicious intent.

“It’s really about survivors and surviving.”

Burke was unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight after actress Alyssa Milano encouraged social media followers to tweet #MeToo to signal past sexual harassment or assault when the sexual abuse allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein came to light in 2017 and admits that she could never imagine the movement going global.

She said: “I could never envision when this all began that a global movement would happen.

“That people would take to the streets. I didn’t think people cared enough.”

Tarana – who was a victim of sexual assault as a child – admits that it is vital that the “narrative” of the movement does not change.

She said: “It’s important that we don’t let other people affect the narrative, or co-opt the movement.”

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. law enforcement and security agencies believe domestic extremists, notably white supremacists, pose a violent threat in the United States similar to that of Islamic State militants, top U.S. security officials told Congress on Wednesday.

Concern about racially motivated domestic extremists had prompted the FBI to elevate the threat to a level equal with that posed by the Islamist militants, said Timothy Langan, the assistant director who heads the counterintelligence division.

Langan told a House Intelligence subcommittee the Federal Bureau of Investigation had detected a significant increase in the threat of violence from domestic extremists over the last 18 months.

He said the bureau was conducting around 2,700 investigations related to domestic violent extremism, and there had been 18 lethal attacks targeting U.S. religious institutions in which 70 people had died in recent years.

The FBI has engaged with tech companies regarding their role in fueling extremism, has successfully disrupted planned acts of violence and will continue to “try to close the gap” on its inability to legally decode encryptions on mobile phones.

John Cohen, acting undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis in the Department of Homeland Security, told the subcommittee that racial superiority and “hatred of immigrants” were major threat concerns.

He said his department believes the biggest domestic threat is posed by lone offenders and small groups indoctrinated in extremist ideology. The threat is fueled by a blend of extremist beliefs and personal grievances, he said.

Cohen noted that domestic extremists conduct so much discussion openly on social media that covert collection of intelligence on the threats they pose may often not be necessary to spot the threats.

Some Republican members of the House subcommittee suggested U.S. spy agencies should not be collecting information on U.S. political activity unless there is a connection to foreign actors.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by Howard Goller)

By Jan Wolfe and Helen Coster

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) -Voting technology company Smartmatic on Wednesday sued right-wing U.S. television networks One America News and Newsmax, saying they must be held accountable for spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

In separate lawsuits, Smartmatic accused OAN and Newsmax of knowingly spreading false claims that the voting technology company rigged the election against then-President Donald Trump.

Smartmatic says the networks doubled down on the false claims as part of an effort to win over Trump supporters dissatisfied with Fox News Network’s election coverage.

The privately owned company sued San Diego-based OAN in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The case against Newsmax, which is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, was filed in state court in Delaware.

A Newsmax spokesperson said in a statement: “While Newsmax has yet to receive or review the Smartmatic filing, Newsmax reported accurately on allegations made by well-known public figures, including the President, his advisors and members of Congress, as well as reporting on Smartmatic’s claims in its defense. Smartmatic’s action against Newsmax today is a clear attempt to squelch the rights of a free press.”

An OAN representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Smartmatic did not say how much money it is demanding from Newsmax and OAN, but said election conspiracy theories have erased $2 billion in value from the company. Damages owed by each of the defendants will be determined at trial, it said.

Smartmatic, whose U.S. headquarters is in Boca Raton, Florida, in February sued New York-based Fox News, its parent Fox Corp and several Fox hosts in a New York state court, alleging they falsely accused the company of helping rig the U.S. presidential election in favor of Democrat Joe Biden.

In that case, Smartmatic also sued two lawyers aligned with Trump’s Republican re-election campaign, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who pushed the election-rigging conspiracy theory.

Smartmatic’s lawsuit in that case stated the defendants should pay a combined $2.7 billion in monetary damages.

Fox News and its co-defendants have asked a judge to dismiss the case, arguing their commentary on Smartmatic was free speech protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Fox News, OAN, Newsmax, Powell and Giuliani also face defamation claims https://www.reuters.com/world/us/dominion-sues-newsmax-one-america-news-network-others-over-election-claims-wsj-2021-08-10 brought by Dominion Voting Systems, another privately owned voting technology company that found itself at the center of false conspiracy theories in the weeks after the November 2020 election.

Like Smartmatic, Denver-based Dominion is seeking billions of dollars in damages. Dominion has sued other individuals as well, including My Pillow Inc founder Mike Lindell https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-dominion/voting-machine-company-sues-my-pillow-and-its-pro-trump-chief-over-election-claims-idUSKBN2AM1LT.

Dominion scored an early victory in August when a judge allowed its defamation claims against Powell, Giuliani, and Lindell to advance toward trial.

Fox News has asked a judge to dismiss Dominion’s claims, arguing Dominion’s lawsuit “threatens to stifle the media’s free-speech right to inform the public about newsworthy allegations of paramount public concern.”

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe in Washington and Helen Coster in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Stephen Coates)

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -A lawyer for the armorer who oversaw weapons used on the “Rust” movie set suggested on Wednesday that someone deliberately put a live round into the gun used by Alec Baldwin when he accidentally shot dead a cinematographer.

Jason Bowles said his client, Hannah Gutierrez, had pulled ammunition from a box that she believed contained only dummy rounds that were incapable of firing. He said he thought it was possible that someone purposely placed real bullets, which look similar to dummies, in the box.

“We’re afraid that could have been what happened here, that somebody intended to sabotage this set with a live round intentionally placed in a box of dummies,” Bowles said on ABC television’s “Good Morning America.”

“We’re not saying anybody had any intent there was going to be a tragedy of homicide,” he added, “but they wanted to do something to cause a safety incident on set. That’s what we believe happened.”

A spokeswoman for producers Rust Movie Productions had no comment on Bowles’ remarks. The company has said it is investigating the incident and had received no official complaints about safety on the set in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Authorities are investigating the matter and no charges have been filed against anyone involved.

“Never in a million years did Hannah think that live rounds could have been in the ‘dummy’ round box,” Bowles said in a statement later on Wednesday.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on Oct. 21 when a gun Baldwin was holding released a live bullet, police said. Baldwin had been told by assistant director Dave Halls that the gun was “cold”, an industry term meaning it is safe to use.

Bowles said Gutierrez had checked the gun before giving it to Halls. She spun the cylinder and showed Halls each of the rounds, which she believed were six dummy rounds, he said. Halls then took the gun into the church where Baldwin was rehearsing a scene.

He said that Gutierrez took her job seriously, had given Baldwin and other actors on the film firearms training, and “did everything in her power to ensure a safe set.”

Before the shooting, camera operators had quit the film to protest against what they said were long hours and other objectionable working conditions, authorities in Santa Fe have said.

Asked who would intentionally place live ammunition with dummy rounds, Bowles said on NBC’s “Today” show that he believed it could be a person who wanted “to prove a point, to say that they’re disgruntled, they’re unhappy”.

“And we know that people had already walked off the set the day before,” he said.

Baldwin, who was also a producer on the film, has said he is heartbroken and is cooperating with authorities https://www.reuters.com/world/us/alec-baldwin-calls-movie-shooting-death-one-trillion-episode-2021-10-30. On Tuesday, he shared a message on social media https://www.reuters.com/article/us-film-rust-shooting/alec-baldwin-posts-crew-member-comments-disputing-chaotic-movie-set-idUSKBN2HO01F from a crew member who disputed reports of chaos and a lax attitude toward safety on the set.

An attorney for Halls did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Lisa RichwineEditing by Mark Heinrich, Robert Birsel)