Jennifer Coolidge went to the wedding of Billie Eilish’s parents.

The 61-year-old actress had been friends with Maggie Baird and Patrick O’Connell – who are the parents of pop star Billie, 21, and music producer FINNEAS, 25, – for ” for a really long time” when they tied the knot in 1995 and explained that she had the “most fun” at the “natural” ceremony.

She said: “I think the best wedding I’ve ever went to was… I got this invite when I was in this comedy group, The Groundlings, and all of us got it. It was sort of this potluck wedding where you brought a dish. It was the most fun I’ve ever had at a wedding. I’ve gone to all of these fancy weddings where people spend millions of dollars and things like that … it was just the most unique, natural wedding. This is the cool part of the story — it was two people that [have] known each other for a really long time that married. They knew each other for 12 years. They gave birth to two children after they got married … their daughter is Billie Eilish, and their son is Finneas.”

The ‘White Lotus’ star went on to add that she will “never forget” that day because it was the most “romantic thing” she had ever been to.

Speaking on ‘Hits Radio’, she added: “I’ll never forget that wedding. A family of deer showed up while they were doing the nuptials [and] stood in the background. It was the most romantic thing I’ve ever been to.”

Washington (AFP) – The shocking death of Tyre Nichols after a police beating has reopened anguished debate across the United States about police violence, fueling a sense that the huge, nationwide demonstrations of 2020 have done little to solve the problem.

Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, died in a hospital on January 10, three days after a brutal beating by five Black police officers in the southern city of Memphis, Tennessee. 

The five have since been charged with second-degree murder. 

Memphis police released body-cam footage of the incident — after starkly warning viewers of its brutality — late Friday.

“I’m just sad for where we are in America; we’re still here,” said Lora King, whose father Rodney King sustained a violent beating by police in Los Angeles in 1991, also caught on camera. The incident fueled lethal and destructive riots in that city and elsewhere. “I’m in disbelief.”

“We have to do better,” she told CNN. “This is unacceptable.”

Deaths at 10-year high

 

Nichols’ death left many Americans questioning how much real progress had been made since 2020.

The killing that year in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a Black man whose videotaped death under the knee of a white officer was viewed millions of times, reignited the historic Black Lives Matter movement across the US and abroad. 

In the wake of Floyd’s death, promises of police reform swept across the country. 

And yet two years later, the number of people who have died during interactions with police hit a 10-year high in 2022, at 1,186 deaths, according to the website Mapping Police Violence.

“They say it’s a new year, but same old, same old,” said Robert Jones, a 26-year-old salesman in Memphis.

African Americans accounted for 26 percent of those deaths, though Black people represent only 13 percent of the US population.

By way of comparison, fewer than 20 people die in France each year during police interventions.

A huge factor explaining the difference is the enormous number of privately owned firearms in the United States — there are more guns than there are people — which sharply increases the sense of vulnerability police feel during interactions with the public, making them much quicker to draw their own arms.

Last year, 66 police officers were killed by gunfire while on duty, according to a fund created to honor them. 

But attorney Ben Crump, who represented Floyd’s relatives and is now working with Nichols’ family, sees a deeper dynamic at work.

“We have to talk about this institutionalized police culture that has this unwritten law that you can engage in excessive use of force against Black and Brown people,” he said during a press conference Friday.

‘Unnecessary and aggressive’

The tumult of 2020 led, among other things, to efforts to curb the considerable legal immunity granted to American police, or to establish a register of officers who have been found to use excessive force.

Proposed federal legislation, initially supported by both political parties, ultimately failed in Congress at a time when homicides were rising sharply, with Republicans falling back on their traditional appeals for “law and order.” 

In the absence of progress on the federal level, the push for reform advanced primarily on the local level — modestly and unevenly, producing a patchwork of different approaches. 

Across the United States, there are nearly 18,000 autonomous policing entities — city police, county sheriffs, state highway patrols — each with its own rules for recruitment, training and on-the-job practices.

Some of them have reviewed and revised their rules, notably banning strangleholds, such as the one killed George Floyd, requiring greater use of body-cams and increasing the penalties for unjustified violence. 

The Memphis police were among those adopting reforms. Officers were barred from forcing their way into homes unannounced; were told they must step in to stop colleagues engaging in violence; and were given additional training in de-escalating dangerous confrontations.

Despite all that, the officers who stopped Nichols for a simple traffic violation were “riled up” from the beginning, and “the escalation was already at a high level,” said Cerelyn Davis, the Memphis police department’s first Black female chief.

For activists, the central problem is the extensive arrest powers American police have, even over minor infractions.

“We must stop relying on police to respond to issues related to poverty and disinvestment,” said Kathy Sinback, director for Tennessee of the American Civil Liberties Union. 

That approach, she said in a statement, “leads to more frequent, unnecessary and aggressive actions by law enforcement toward community members.”

US police have killed nearly 600 people during traffic stops since 2017, according to Human Rights Watch. 

Christina Ricci has slammed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ upcoming review of nominees as “backward”.

The 42-year-old actress responded to the news that the awards body – which is set to be conducting a review of the campaign procedures around this year’s nominees” following Andrea Riseborough’s surprise nomination in the Best Actress category for her role in ‘To Leslie’ – noting that the action taken following their “surprise nomination” following a campaign as a “hilarious” movie.

She wrote on Instagram: “Seems hilarious that the ‘surprise nomination’ (meaning tons of money wasn’t spent to position this actress) of a legitimately brilliant performance is being met with an investigation. So it’s only the films and actors that can afford the campaigns that deserve recognition? Feels elitist and exclusive and frankly very backward to me. And I’msure she had nothing to do with the campaigning. These things aren’t controlled or decided by the actors themselves and yet now her nomination will be tainted by this. And it’s taken away shame on them.

The comments come just a day after the Academy revealed it was attempting to “ensure that guidelines were violated” with the campaign that took place to get Andrea Riseborough her nomination.

In a statement, they said: “It is the Academy’s goal to ensure that the Awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner, and we are committed to ensuring an inclusive awards process,. We are conducting a review of the campaign procedures around this year’s nominees, to ensure that no guidelines were violated and to inform us whether changes to the guidelines may be needed in a new era of social media and digital communication.”

Pope Francis has clarified his earlier comments on homosexuality following confusion in recent days, saying: “I wanted to clarify that it is not a crime, in order to stress that criminalization is neither good nor just.”

The pope originally called homosexuality a sin but conceded later that his comments during an interview might have been misunderstood.

“When I said it was a sin, I had simply referred to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside marriage is a sin,” Francis wrote to Father James Martin who edits a Catholic publication.

“Of course, one must consider the circumstances, which may decrease or eliminate fault.”

Martin, a Jesuit priest in the US, published the pope’s letter in the Catholic magazine Outreach, which is for a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer readership.

The pope explained that the interview was an oral conversation and that it was “understandable” if certain nuances were lost in the transcript.

In his letter, written in Spanish, Francis underlined that for him, homosexuality is not a crime. “I would tell whoever wants to criminalize homosexuality that they are wrong,” he said.

Rick Astley says he “wasn’t born” to be a pop star.

The 56-year-old singer shot to fame in the late 1980s when he signed a deal with industry giants Stock Aitken Waterman – which saw him become labelmates with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, and Sonia – and sold more than 12 million records worldwide with hits such as ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ and ‘Together Forever’ but decided to quit the industry altogether in the 1990s because he “didn’t want to do any of it” anymore.

“He said: “I don’t think being a pop star is a very natural thing for anybody but some people, some people manage to do it and some people are born to do it perhaps. I don’t think I was really. I had developed a fear of flying, I didn’t want to go and promote records. I didn’t want to do any of it, really. “

The ‘Take Me To Your Heart’ singer – who went on to have daughter Emilie with then-partner Lene Bausager but eventually returned to showbusiness in the early 2000s and remains active in music today – went on to add that he was “super lucky” to have made a lot of money during his heyday which at the time enabled him to walk away after from the top.

Speaking on Channel 5 documentary ‘Stock Aitken Waterman: Legends of Pop Music’, he added: “I was super lucky that I had a massive amount of success in a very short period of time, somebody gave me a truckload of money for it and I could say ‘Okay, I’m done!'”

The Spice Girls are reportedly set to reunite for King Charles’ coronation.

The multi-million-selling girl group – which consists of Geri Halliwell, Mel B, Victoria Beckham, Melanie C, and Emma Bunton – met the then-Prince Charles several times during their heyday in the 1990s and while they have not performed as a five-piece since the closing ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012, royal organisers are said to be “super keen” to bag the whole band for a performance at the upcoming coronation celebrations in May.

A source told The Sun newspaper’s Fabulous magazine: “Royal organisers are super keen to secure Britain’s biggest girl band and the Spice Girls are seriously pondering a return to the stage as a five-piece for such a historical event. Certainly, the reality is that the Coronation is as special as The Olympics – a one-off celebration and unique performance.”

At the height of their careers, the ‘Wannabe’ hitmakers met the then-Prince Charles, and Mel B and Geri famously broke royal protocol by kissing him on the cheek and patting his bottom while also telling him he was “very sexy”.

Following her shock departure from the group in 1998, Geri – who was also known as Ginger Spice – performed ‘Happy Birthday To You’ to the then-heir to the throne at his 50th birthday party.

The insider went on to explain that there is a “sense” that the reunion could happen for an event this “significant” – which has not taken place in Britain since the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953 – and claimed that group members Melanie C and Mel B are the ones “trying to make it happen.”

The claims come just days after ‘I Want You Back’ hitmaker Mel teased that a new project was on the horizon for the band – who last reunited for a stadium tour in 2019 without Victoria – but was unable to say exactly what it was.

She said: “I can’t tell you exactly, but there’s going to be something that is going to be announced pretty soon. I am probably going to get told off. It is a project that we’re very excited about. It will be all five of us.”

(Reuters) – The U.S. health regulator on Friday proposed new blood donation guidelines for men who have sex with men that are based on individual risk rather than across-the-board requirements, a move it said is in line with other countries and will help ensure the U.S. blood supply.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the rules aim to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted HIV and are similar to those in the UK and Canada.

The proposed rule comes several years after the FDA reversed a 1980s guideline, which banned men who have sex with men from donating blood, but said they had to abstain from sex for at least a year before donating.

In 2020, the agency shortened the abstinence period to three months amid a pandemic-driven shortage of blood supply.

The removal of time-based deferrals also applies to women who have sex with the men who have sex with other men, the FDA said.

Under the new proposal, any prospective donor – regardless of gender or sexual orientation – other than those who report having a new sexual partner or multiple partners and having anal sex in the past three months, will be eligible to donate blood, provided all other eligibility criteria are met.

The regulator has also proposed new time limits for people taking pre-exposure prophylaxis or post-exposure prophylaxis treatments used for HIV prevention to reflect data showing that these medications may delay the detection of HIV and result in false negatives.

People taking oral medication would be deferred for three months after the most recent dose and those receiving injections by two years from the last dose.

The FDA will review public comments before finalizing the proposal.

(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Aditya Samal in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Washington (AFP) – American health authorities proposed a further easing on Friday of AIDS-era restrictions on blood donations by gay and bisexual men.

Under the current policy, gay and bisexual men, even those in monogamous relationships, must abstain from sex for three months to be eligible to donate blood.

The new proposed rules from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would do away with the 90-day requirement in favor of an individual risk assessment.

All blood donors are tested for HIV, but the virus may not always show up right away if someone is taking pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs.

At the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, the FDA imposed a lifetime ban on blood donations by gay men to prevent the spread of the HIV virus through blood products.

That was lifted in 2015, but gay and bisexual men were required to abstain from sexual relations for at least one year to be eligible to donate blood.

That period was reduced in April 2020 to the current three months because of blood shortages during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But it still prevented men in monogamous relationships from donating blood unless they abstained from sex for 90 days.

Under the new guidelines, all prospective blood donors would be asked in a questionnaire whether they had new or multiple sexual partners in the past three months.

Prospective blood donors will be eligible if they have not had anal sex with new or multiple sexual partners in the past three months. Those who have will be deferred for a donation.

The FDA said individuals who have tested positive for HIV or taken medication to treat an HIV infection would continue to be banned from donating blood.

‘Important step forward’

“Maintaining a safe and adequate supply of blood and blood products in the US is paramount for the FDA,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in a statement.

“This proposal for an individual risk assessment, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, will enable us to continue using the best science to do so,” Califf said in a statement.

The FDA said the new guidance is in line with similar rules in place in Canada and Britain.

Representative Mark Pocan, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, welcomed the revised FDA guidance.

“This is an important step forward towards ensuring our blood donation guidelines are grounded in science, not stigma against certain communities,” Pocan said.

“I look forward to taking a closer look at the proposed guidelines once they are published and working with the FDA to ensure that any unnecessary barriers are removed.”

The FDA guidance will be subject to public comment for 60 days after which it will be reviewed and finalized.

New York (AFP) – The heated debate over facial recognition technology has a new flashpoint: Manhattan’s celebrated Madison Square Garden, home to the New York Knicks basketball team and countless Billy Joel concerts.

The operator of the arena, where Joe Frazier defeated Muhammad Ali in 1971’s “Fight of the Century,” is under fire for using the software to identify and eject certain lawyers from events at the venue — because they are associated with ongoing litigation involving MSG.

Local lawmakers want to halt the crackdown, which rights campaigners say is a gross abuse of a technology that is already raising fears about privacy and control from America to China.

“When the rich and powerful are free to use facial recognition to track the public it puts everyone else at risk,” said Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of STOP, a non-profit that advocates for privacy.

“Here we see a chilling example of how petty the retaliation can be,” he told AFP.

Last October, Barbara Hart and her husband were approaching their seats at “The Garden” for a Brandi Carlile concert to celebrate their wedding anniversary when security guards stopped them.

She said the guards identified her without seeing her ID card, and despite the tickets being in her husband’s name, before removing the couple from the venue.

The attorney believes the guards used technology to match her face with an image of herself taken from her company’s website.

Hart said she was targeted because her firm is engaged in a lawsuit against the venue’s parent company, MSG Entertainment, even though she is not on the case.

“It was bewildering and upsetting. Bullying with fancy tools,” the 62-year-old told AFP.

Hart is among at least four lawyers removed recently from MSG Entertainment venues because their firms are locked in legal disputes with the company.

Kerry Conlon told local media she was refused entry to Radio City Music Hall in November while trying to see dancers the Rockettes with her 9-year-old daughter.

Two other attorneys said they were denied entry to MSG to watch the Knicks and NHL team the Rangers respectively.

Billionaire businessman James Dolan’s MSG Entertainment says it has a “straightforward policy that precludes attorneys from firms pursuing active litigation against the company from attending events at our venues until that litigation has been resolved.”

New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, warned him Tuesday that the policy “may violate” state civil rights legislation.

State senators this week proposed closing a loophole in the law, which prohibits the “wrongful refusal of admission” of patrons with a valid ticket to entertainment venues.

‘Orwellian’

For rights advocates, the proposed amendment, while welcomed, doesn’t deal with the crux of the issue — growing surveillance in the age of the algorithm.

Facial recognition technology is legal in New York. It is used by police and at airports.

In 2020, the state government temporarily banned its use in schools. Campaigners like Cahn support a total ban.

He says the Madison Square Garden example shows that private business can use facial recognition “to exclude anyone whose voice you want to silence.” 

MSG has deployed facial recognition technology since 2018. A New York Times report that year said the venue uses an algorithm to compare images taken by a camera to a stored database of photographs.

“The facial recognition technology system does not retain images of individuals, with the exception of those who were previously advised they are prohibited from entering our venues, or whose previous misconduct in our venues has identified them as a security risk,” an MSG Entertainment spokesperson told AFP.

The United States and the European Union are among those grappling with how to regulate the use of biometric data, facial recognition and artificial intelligence.

Supporters say facial recognition bolsters security, but critics say the imperfect technology is prone to false matches among ethnic minorities and discriminatory.

Detractors also highlight Chinese police’s use of it to track down and detain recent protesters.

MSG’s use “paints an Orwellian picture of the society we’re in right now,” Daniel Schwarz of the New York Civil Liberties Union told AFP.

Los Angeles (AFP) – Bruce Willis: you can stand down.

A truck-sized asteroid that suddenly loomed out of the darkness a few days ago — with the Earth in its sights — sailed harmlessly past us on Thursday, space scientists said.

Despite what we’ve seen in movies like “Armageddon,” no global mission to blow it up or knock it off course with nuclear weapons was required. 

Instead, Asteroid 2023 BU whizzed past without incident and back out into the blackness of space.

Phew.

The rock, which was spotted for the first time on Saturday by an amateur stargazer in Crimea, came closest to the southern tip of South America at around 0029 GMT Friday, according to scientists who were tracking it.

At its nearest point, the asteroid was just 2,200 miles (3,600 kilometers) from Earth’s surface — just a quarter of the height of many of the geostationary satellites that make our telephones and car navigation systems work.

Amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov, who had already spotted an interstellar comet in 2019, raised the alarm over the weekend, alerting fellow space-watchers to the previously unknown celestial body.

Scientists around the world raced to calculate where it was headed — and whether we needed to start making last-minute evacuation plans.

But experts using NASA’s Scout impact hazard assessment system rapidly determined the alien visitor was coming in peace.

“Scout quickly ruled out 2023 BU as an impactor, but despite the very few observations, it was nonetheless able to predict that the asteroid would make an extraordinarily close approach with Earth,” said NASA’s Davide Farnocchia, who helped develop Scout.

“In fact, this is one of the closest approaches by a known near-Earth object ever recorded.”

If the math had been off, however, humanity would still probably have been alright, scientists say.

At between just 3.5 to 8.5 meters (11 to 28 feet) across, Asteroid 2023 BU is a bit small to cause too much damage, and would have largely burned up as it hurtled through the atmosphere.

The few meteorites that did make it to the ground would have been small, not the city-destroying, tsunami-generating monsters of “Deep Impact.”

The close call will leave a more lasting impact on the asteroid itself, NASA’s number-crunchers said.

Earth’s gravity will affect the object’s orbit, lengthening the amount of time it takes for 2023 BU to go around the Sun, from 359 days to a more leisurely 425 days.

By Tim Reid

WEARE, New Hampshire (Reuters) – When Donald Trump trounced his Republican rivals in New Hampshire’s 2016 primary, the stunning win announced to other states the reality TV showman was a serious contender. Trump went on to capture the Republican nomination and then the White House.

But as the former president kicks off his bid to recapture the White House in 2024 with a speech in New Hampshire on Saturday – his first event in an early primary state – he will find the political landscape more treacherous than he did six years ago, according to party activists, members and strategists in the state.

In interviews with 10 New Hampshire Republican Party officials and members, some of whom worked on Trump’s 2016 primary campaign and all of whom have been staunch Trump supporters in the past, Reuters found only three who were sticking with him this time around – including the state chair, an influential Republican figure who is so enthusiastic about Trump he is stepping down on Saturday to help his campaign.

The rest cited exhaustion with Trump’s controversies, exasperation at the constant drama, and a desire to move on from Trump’s loss in 2020 with a fresh face who they thought would have a stronger chance of winning in 2024.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

The public souring on the former president is a troubling development for Trump. A defeat could complicate his chances of winning the party nomination for president, analysts say, because New Hampshire often gives a candidate momentum as they head to other primary states.

A lack of enthusiasm for the former president and his prospects for winning in 2024 could hurt Trump because party activists do vital groundwork for candidates, such as knocking on doors and making phone calls to raise money and boost turnout.

Most of the New Hampshire party members who had cooled on Trump said they would prefer Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the party’s standard bearer, although DeSantis has not yet said if he will launch a White House bid.

“Donald Trump right now is a distraction for the Republican Party in trying to go forward. Donald Trump has run his course,” said Brian Sullivan, 60, a Hillsborough County Republican Committee member who backed Trump in the 2016 primary.

“I would rather see someone else, like Ron DeSantis, in the race,” Sullivan said.

While he likes Trump’s policies and applauds his achievements in office, “he’s got so much baggage. I just don’t think he has what it takes to win the White House again,” Sullivan said.

The three Republicans still backing Trump said his voting base in New Hampshire remains enthusiastic, he has formidable name recognition, and that many Republican voters like his policy achievements while in office, giving him a strong record to run on, unlike other potential candidates.

The Trump campaign, in an email to supporters, touted a Jan. 24 poll from Emerson College Polling showing the former president leading DeSantis nationally among Republican voters, 55% to 29%.

Yet the willingness of Republican party members to criticize Trump in conversations with Reuters is striking. Some Republican party officials and members who have broken with Trump in the past have been subjected to blowback and online trolling from his supporters.

Lori Davis, 67, got into grassroots Republican politics because of Trump. Back in 2015 when he announced his candidacy, she was inspired. She worked on his New Hampshire primary campaign, knocked on doors for him, urged anybody she met to vote for him.

Not this time.

“I like Donald Trump. But he has gone too far polarizing. It’s going to be an uphill battle for him in this primary because of his divisiveness. People are tired of the drama,” Davis said at her home over a meal of burgers.

“I’m seeing that people want DeSantis. He has a lot of the Trump philosophy, but is not as bombastic, he’s not attacking people 24/7. People are tired of that. It gives them headaches,” Davis said.

`PEOPLE WANT A WINNER`

It is not just in New Hampshire where Trump faces potential headwinds. Some billionaire donors who helped fund his previous campaigns have not yet donated. They include hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah Mercer. She has already donated to DeSantis’s political committee.

New Hampshire has an outsize role in choosing presidential candidates because it is the second nominating contest after Iowa’s caucuses.

While the winner of New Hampshire’s Republican primary has not won the state in a general election since George W. Bush in 2000, it is still viewed as a critical test in the nominating process.

Chris Maidment, chairman of the Hillsborough County Republican Committee, described the mood among many members as “Trump fatigue,” adding: “I’m definitely open minded this time round. There’s a lot of exciting potential candidates out there.”

A majority of candidates Trump endorsed in competitive races in November’s congressional elections lost to Democrats. During Trump’s four years as president after his 2016 victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress, before he lost the 2020 election to his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.

“People want a winner and the elections are about the future. Republicans want someone who can win and who is not going to be a pushover for the Left. Trump represented that before but I’m not sure he represents that now,” said Neil Levesque, executive director at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.

In a poll conducted of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire by Levesque just before last November’s election, Trump trailed DeSantis by 38% to 47%. Overall, 50% of the state’s voters had a “strongly unfavorable” impression of Trump, with just 22% a “strongly favorable” one.

Another complicating factor for Trump this time round is that independents can vote in New Hampshire’s Republican and Democratic primaries. If Biden runs again, the Democratic primary will likely be uncontested, and many independents may choose to vote in the Republican primary where their vote will have a bigger impact.

“Independents go where the action is. A lot of independents will vote against Trump. And that’s not good news for him”, Tom Rath, a Republican strategist in New Hampshire, said.

Polls in New Hampshire and elsewhere show Trump is unpopular with a majority of independents.

Despite signs of weariness with Trump, he will still be a formidable candidate in the New Hampshire primary, some party strategists said.

“He still starts 2023 as the frontrunner. He’s got name ID, a strong base of supporters. His influence is still fairly significant,” said Jim Merrill, a veteran New Hampshire Republican strategist.

Trump is the only Republican to declare his candidacy so far, although it is likely the field of rivals will grow this year. Others expected to jump into the race include DeSantis, Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, and Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor.

STICKING WITH THE REAL DEAL

For Steve Stepanek, a former state representative who was the first elected official in New Hampshire to endorse Trump in 2015 and is chairman of New Hampshire’s Republican Party, those potential contenders would be pale imitations of the real thing.

He remains a staunch supporter of the former president and is about to step down as the party chair because he wants to be involved with Trump’s latest campaign, he told Reuters.

A replacement will be elected at a party meeting on Saturday, where Trump will be the keynote speaker. It is not yet clear if Stepanek’s departure will loosen Trump’s grip on the party machinery.

Stepanek accused the Republican Party naysayers of being Republican insiders, not the ordinary voters who decide primary elections.

“Are you going to believe a candidate who says I’ll continue the Trump policies – or the man who is the Trump policies?”

(Reporting by Tim Reid in Weare, New Hampshire; Editing by Ross Colvin and Suzanne Goldenberg)

Monica Bellucci felt “scared” about making her stage debut playing opera legend Maria Callas in a one-woman show.

The ‘ Spectre’ star portrays the soprano in the play ‘Letters and Memoirs’ in which she reads Callas’ previously unpublished writings to tell her life story in her own words – and Bellucci admits signing onto the project was incredibly daunting.

She told People.com: “I was scared, of course. First time on stage! I couldn’t say no because when I read the letters and the memoirs, everything was full of emotion and vulnerability, and it’s like if I could touch her soul.”

She added: “Theatre is a big risk … [But] beauty deserves risks. With this project, there was something so human, so poetic, that I said, ‘Oh my God, it’s going to be a big risk, but I think it’s beautiful to give this to people’. And even though I was scared, when I was scared, I said, ‘Okay, I give love, so nothing can happen to me’.”

The play debuted in Paris, France back in 2019 and was a huge success. Bellucci went on to perform around the world in cities such as London, Rome and Los Angeles before taking the show to New York on Friday (27.01.23) for a one-night only performance at the Beacon Theater.

Bellucci says bringing the show to the Big Apple feels special because it is the city where Callas was born 100 years ago. She added: “It’s such a sign that we came to New York because Callas was born in New York in 1923, and we finish the tour in 2023, 100 years later when she was born. So it is a beautiful sign for me.”

Callas died in 1977 at the age of 53.