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Published by Radar Online mega Beyonce tried her best to hide from the paparazzi at the Van Nuys Airport on January 26, when she and her husband Jay-Z returned to the United States following her controversial performance in Dubai, RadarOnline.com has learned. As this outlet reported, the Break My Soul singer was criticized over her decision to perform at the grand opening of the Atlantis The Royal Grand Hotel in Dubai due to the UAE’s anti-LGBTQ policies. Many felt Beyonce’s acceptance of $24 million for the gig placed profits before her loyal fanbase. mega Wearing a casual travel chic outfit, Beyonce was seen exiting the private plane in a matching black sweatsuit. The former Destiny’s Child singer wore a mask and had her sweatshirt hoodie pulled over her head as she attempted to discretely leave the aircraft. The 41-year-old was accompanied by her husband, who also donned a black sweatsuit for their journey home. The billionaire couple also had their 5-year-old fraternal twins with them, daughter Rumi and son Sir, and Blue Ivy, 11. While a Beyonce sighting typically includes swarms of doting fans, the singer’s return to California was met with backlash. mega According to the Daily Mail, Bev Johnson, the co-founder of the British advocacy group LGB Alliance, shared why so many were outraged at Beyonce’s overseas performance and what the concert represented to her supporters who are members of the LGBTQ+ community. Johnson claimed that Beyonce’s performance in Dubai “casts a shadow over her support for lesbians and gay people.” The activist shared more about why the Beyhive was deeply hurt by the singer’s actions. mega “Beyoncé is a huge icon for many gay people,” Johnson told The Telegraph. “LGB Alliance is deeply therefore disappointed that Beyoncé has agreed to give a lucrative concert in Dubai, where same-sex sex acts are a criminal offense, potentially punishable by death.” The issue of human rights and Dubai has been debated before, even as recently as the 2022 World Cup when players and fans were allegedly not allowed to wear clothing items that featured gay pride slogans or rainbow artwork. During the 2022 World Cup, Nicki Minaj faced criticism for teasing the release of her new song at the event. The performance was supposed to be an exclusive event that prohibited guests from recording; however, as is often the case on social media, video clips were leaked. mega Beyonce looked every bit the part of someone who had cashed in on a $24 million payout. The legendary singer was dressed to the nines for the incredible performance, which even featured a special on-stage moment with her oldest daughter. The mother-daughter duo performed the song Brown Skinned Girl for the crowd. The exclusive concert was Beyonce’s first public performance in four years and was said to have lasted one hour. View the full article

Published by Raw Story The anti-LGBT sentiment from religious conservatives has reached a new high with a Jacksonville, Florida Baptist Church making members sign an oath of confirmation in anti-LGBT relationships as part of church membership. First Baptist Church in Jacksonville’s Senior Pastor Heath Lambert has been an outspoken proponent of ‘traditional’ family values and now the church has given members until March 19 to sign the ‘Biblical Sexuality Agreement’ oath or to immediately resign their membership. Lambert says he doesn’t care what members do, and that real Christians do not have a problem with it. Acco… Read More View the full article

Published by NJ.com EDITOR’S NOTE: NJ Cannabis Insider, NJ.com’s B2B cannabis industry trade journal and events vertical, is hosting a business conference March 8. Tickets are limited. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, who played a major role in unsuccessful efforts to pass significant cannabis legislation in the last Congress, says he will try again this year, but admits the chances of success had dropped significantly. “It is my intention to try to drive it as far as we can go but the dynamics have shifted pretty dramatically,” Booker told NJ Advance Media. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators worked until the end of the 1… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP The US Food and Drug Administration is further easing AIDS-era restrictions on blood donations by gay and bisexual men 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. View the full article

Getty images Imagine it is 2030. Doctors in a regional hospital in country X note an expanding cluster of individuals with severe respiratory disease. Rapid whole-genome sequencing identifies the disease-causing agent as a novel coronavirus. Epidemiological investigations suggest the virus is highly infectious, with most initial cases requiring hospitalisation. The episode bears a striking resemblance to the COVID outbreak first detected in December 2019. Regional and national health authorities are notified quickly. The national contact point for the International Health Regulations 2024 (a major revision to the current IHR 2005) sends a description to the World Health Organization (WHO). After an intense exchange of information and risk assessment, it declares a public health emergency of international concern. The outbreak is assigned a response strategy of “elimination”. This designation initiates a well-rehearsed procedure, including mobilising expertise and resource stockpiles. The elimination response results in localised quarantine measures at the epicentre and its surrounds and a travel freeze across a wide radius within country X and at its borders. It also prompts intensified local and international surveillance. Case numbers rise rapidly but plateau after three weeks, and then fall until no new cases are detected in the community. After eight weeks of intensive efforts the outbreak is over – similar to the experience of New Zealand, which terminated its initial COVID outbreak in eight weeks using an elimination strategy. The outbreak had spread regionally within country X, but not internationally. This is how we propose, in The Lancet, the world should respond to future pandemic threats. An upgraded pandemic response to eliminate at source The process by which the WHO currently decides whether to declare a public health emergency of international concern (under the International Health Regulations 2005) has drawn criticism for being too slow. The upgraded response framework we propose would enhance the existing risk assessment by routinely requiring WHO to assign a high-level response strategy for managing this risk. For potential pandemics, we consider this strategy should be elimination rather than suppression or mitigation, which have been the usual default options in the past. In simple terms, “if in doubt, stamp it out”. The idea of eliminating novel emerging infectious diseases at the earliest possible stage is intuitively appealing and not new. It has been proposed for eliminating novel pandemic influenza outbreaks. This approach successfully eliminated and then eradicated the SARS pandemic in 2003 (caused by SARS-CoV). It also proved successful in China during early containment of COVID in Wuhan. We have described this concept previously. Whether this approach could have eliminated and ultimately eradicated COVID, if pursued early and in a co-ordinated way globally, remains a topic of speculation. An elimination strategy also slows the spread of infection There is a second broad reason for the WHO assigning an explicit strategic goal of elimination to pandemic diseases with sufficient severity. It can also slow or interrupt the global spread of a new infectious disease. This action buys time for interventions to be developed, building on rapidly accumulating scientific knowledge. Some countries in the Asia-Pacific region adopted elimination and strong suppression strategies. This approach largely prevented widespread COVID circulation for the first one to two years of the pandemic, keeping mortality rates low. It allowed time for vaccine development and roll-out and for jurisdictions to prepare their health systems for managing large numbers of infected people. Notable examples are New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. They have been able to keep their cumulative mortality low by international standards. New Zealand, Australia and Singapore have lower cumulative numbers of deaths than other countries. Our World in Data, CC BY-NDIf elimination is ultimately not successful or justifiable, an organised transition to another strategy (suppression or mitigation) should be considered. Processes for managing these transitions can draw on experience from the current pandemic. Elimination makes sense for other potential pandemics The most recently declared public health emergency of international concern is mpox (formerly known as monkeypox). Under our proposed change to the International Health Regulations, the WHO would have been required to assign a response strategy to this disease. Elimination again makes sense as a default approach. That is what countries around the world have effectively been doing. And this approach appears to be working. The other current public health emergency of international concern is poliomyelitis. Unlike COVID and mpox, this disease is already subject to a global eradication goal. A further benefit of the elimination strategy is that it supports strengthening of health system infrastructure in low and middle-income countries. This capacity building has contributed to the elimination of periodic Ebola outbreaks in Africa, which have been designated as public health emergencies of international concern in 2014-16 and 2019-20. It could also support elimination of mpox, an increasing threat in Africa. Upgraded International Health Regulations could stimulate a huge global investment in infrastructure to stop epidemics at source and improve surveillance capacity. These capacities are critical given the range of future pandemic scenarios, including the threat from bioweapons with advances in synthetic biology. Let us hope that when the world is next confronted by the spark of a new emerging infectious disease with pandemic potential, the WHO rapidly declares a public health emergency of international concern and assigns an elimination strategy. And the international community reacts vigorously to extinguish the spark before it becomes an inferno. Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago; David Durrheim, Professor of Public Health Medicine, University of Newcastle; Li Yang HSU, Vice Dean of Global Health, National University of Singapore, and Nick Wilson, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Ryan Reynoldsand Jake Gyllenhaal used to be besties but sources revealed the two barely speak, RadarOnline.comhas learned. “It’s a scratcher for their mutual friends,” an insider revealed about the bizarre fallout. The pair met on the 2017 sci-fi thriller Life and immediately hit it off. “It’s rare in our industry to meet someone, a contemporary and there’s no competition,” Ryan once gushed about his friendship with Jake. “There are just some friends you meet at a certain time in your life.” Mega But that may have been part of the problem. “Ryan was something of a mentor to Jake back then,” continued the source. “Friends think it was Jake who stepped away to be is own man.” Mega Not to mention how their personal lives diverged. Family man Ryan, 46, is expecting his fourth child with wife Blake Lively, while 42-year-old Jake, who’s dated everyone in Hollywood from Kirsten Dunst to Reese Witherspoon, is still dragging his feet in popping the question to his model girlfriend Jeanne Cadieu. “Jake and Ryan have gone their separate ways,” added the insider. “It’s sad because they used to be so close.” Ryan and Jake’s bromance isn’t the only one to end in Hollywood. Mega As RadarOnline.com reported, Jennifer Lopez put a kibosh on her new husband Ben Affleck‘s budding friendship with divorcée Tom Brady after his split from supermodel Gisele Bundchen. “Jennifer’s insecurity is off the charts right now,” a separate source spilled in December, just months after Bennifer’s wedding. “She’s never been needier, and if Ben thinks he’s going to have her approval to party with Tom, he can forget it!” However, if the boys want to talk about making money, J Lo allegedly won’t interfere. Mega “She won’t stand in the way if they want to do business projects together — with her input — but as far as boys’ time in Florida or New York, which is what Ben’s proposing, it’s a nightmare scenario for Jennifer and she’s not going to sand for it,” they said. While pals can’t figure out why Ryan and Jake’s bromance went south, insiders say it’s J Lo who forced the spark to burn out in Affleck’s friendship with Brady. View the full article

Published by AFP Madison Square Garden is home to the New York Knicks and New York Rangers 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. View the full article

Published by OK Magazine @mirandalambert/instagram Miranda Lambert is letting the world have a piece of her hunky husband! The country crooner took to Instagram on Thursday, January 26, to treat fans to a sultry snap of a shirtless Brendan McLoughlin to celebrate their four year anniversary @mirandalambert/instagram “Celebrating 4 years married today with my main squeeze @brendanjmcloughlin ,” Lambert gushed in the snap where the bare chested ex-police officer wrapped her in a huge hug. “Happy anniversary babe! You are the best. (Y’all are welcome for the last two pics) .” BRENDAN MCLOUGHLIN GUSHES OVER WIFE MIRANDA LAMBERT ON HER BIRTHDAY: ‘YOU HAVE THE BIGGEST HEART’ “Congratulations! And Thanks for the last 2 pictures!” one social media user wrote expressing her gratitude for being able to see McLoughlin’s chiseled chest. “Yes thank you for the last two ,” another fan wrote beneath the photographs. The CMA winner and her spouse have an interesting love story as they only dated for two months before tying the knot in 2019. The couple first met while Lambert was performing on Good Morning America and McLoughlin was on patrol with the NYPD in November 2018. @mirandalambert/instagram With four years of wedded bliss under their belts, the pair have been eager to expand their family. “Not much has changed in terms of them wanting to have a baby, they’re still trying. They would love to have a baby together in the near future,” an insider explained. LOVE IS IN THE AIRSTREAM: MIRANDA LAMBERT SHARES SWEET SNAP WITH BRENDAN MCLOUGHLIN @mirandalambert/instagram “Miranda has always had that caring and nurturing side to her — especially after taking care of so many animals — so she’s ready for that next step,” the source continued. However it has not always been smooth sailing for the gorgeous duo, as McLoughlin retired from the police force in Manhattan in order to follow Lambert as she continues to thrive in her successful career. “I want to be open about how happy we are. I just don’t give two sh**s about people’s opinion of me, my marriage, my music or anything else. I just care that I’m being me,” the vocalist said in a 2021 interview. “He jumped right into this lifestyle — there’s a learning curve taking a New Yorker straight to the woods — but it was a big laugh.” Despite every obstacle, the couple have managed to weather the storm. “Miranda and Brendan are still going strong” despite small hiccups over the former police officer and award-winning singer’s conflicting jobs. “He’s super supportive of her career and is with her every step of the way.” View the full article

Published by AFP Small asteroid to pass close by Earth 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. View the full article

Published by Reuters 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) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English 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. View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega Kimberly Guilfoyle tried to crack a joke, but it didn’t go over well with some of her followers. On Thursday, January 26, the TV personality, 53, uploaded a photo of two kids in play cards with the caption, “THE FBI PREPARING TO RAID THE BIDEN RESIDENCE.” mega Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr., was seemingly poking fun at how poor of a job the FBI is doing after they raided the home of President Joe Biden, where they found several classified documents. But people were quick to call out the brunette beauty. One person wrote, “Listen genius When you voluntarily turn over documents and open your door to law enforcement, law enforcement doesn’t need to raid,” while another added, “Why didn’t Donny just turn over the documents he had when he was first asked to? A year later the FBI came a got them. Sounds right to me!” “You’re an embarrassment to your family?” a third fumed. However, some thought the meme was too funny. One person said, “Absolutely hysterical,” while another said, “That’s about right.” A third person added, “Good one. .” As OK! previously reported, this is hardly the first time Guilfoyle has called out Biden for allegedly keeping documents in his Delaware home. “Probably closer to the truth than we know! #JoeGottaGo ,” she wrote alongside a photo of a cartoon of Barack Obama sweeping Biden, 80, away with VP Kamala Harris by his side. mega PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN & VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS RALLY TOGETHER FOR UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY’S U.S. VISIT Later on, Guilfoyle compared the situation to when Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago home was raided in 2022 when he also had classified documents too. “Trump: Has declassification authority Biden: ZERO declassification authority Trump: One SECURE location Biden: Multiple UNSECURE locations Trump: National Archives was aware Biden: National Archives wasn’t aware Yes, there’s a difference,” she wrote on Twitter. Some pointed out that Guilfoyle was wrong. One person said, “you forgot Trump: not cooperating Biden: is cooperating. that makes a difference,” while another said, “I trust you as much as I trust your current bone structure.” A third person added, “Take a tip from an old friend. Run…run as fast as you can away from that family!” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Alyssa Pointer and Steve Gorman MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Reuters) -The city of Memphis is bracing for public outrage when it releases later on Friday police video of a violent confrontation between a Black motorist and five police officers charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols earlier this month. The five officers, all Black, were each charged with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression on Thursday in the death of Nichols, who was also Black. Nichols succumbed to injuries he sustained from his encounter with police and died while hospitalized on Jan. 10, three days after he was pulled over while driving. His death marked the latest in a spate of high-profile cases of police officers accused of using excessive force in the deaths of Black people and other minorities in recent years, sparking public outcries against systematic racism in the U.S. criminal justice system. Protests against racial injustice erupted globally following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. Police have been highly opaque about the circumstances of Nichols’ arrest. Even Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, who sought the indictment, described the incident in vague terms when announcing the charges. After Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving, “an altercation” ensued in which officers doused him with pepper spray, and Nichols tried to flee on foot, Mulroy said. “There was another altercation at a nearby location at which the serious injuries were experienced by Mr. Nichols.” The video to be released on Friday evening on the police department’s YouTube channel is expected to include footage captured by police-worn cameras, cameras mounted on dashboards of police vehicles and security cameras on utility poles in the vicinity. The few individuals who viewed the video before its release and have spoken about it publicly have not characterized it in detail but say it is deeply disturbing. “You are going to see acts that defy humanity. You’re going to see a disregard for life, duty of care that we are all sworn to,” Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis told CNN on Friday. Davis said her department has not yet been able determine whether there was probable cause for the officers to initially pull Nichols over for reckless driving – a police stop that quickly escalated into violence. “We’ve taken a pretty extensive look to determine what that probable cause was, and we have not been able to substantiate that. It doesn’t mean something didn’t happen, but there is no proof,” she said. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, speaking to reporters at a news conference in Washington on Friday, said his agency has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the incident. NICHOLS CALLED FOR HIS MOTHER Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, representing Nichols’ family, compared it the 1991 videotaped beating of Black motorist Rodney King by four police officers whose acquittal of criminal charges the following year sparked several days of riots in Los Angeles. “This young man lost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop,” Crump and colleague Antonio Romanucci said in a statement. The last words heard on the video were Nichols calling out for his mother three times, Crump said. On Friday, Tyre Nichols’ mother RowVaughn Wells said her son’s face was battered and his nose in an S-shape when she saw him in his hospital bed. “When my husband and I got to the hospital and I saw my son, he was already … gone. They had beat him to a pulp,” she said in a tearful interview broadcast on CNN. An official autopsy in the case has yet to be completed. All five officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith – were fired from the police force on Jan. 21 after an internal investigation found they breached multiple departmental policies, including use of excessive force. Four of the officers have posted bail and have been released from jail, a local CBS affiliate reported early on Friday. Haley remained in jail on a $350,000 bond. Two members of the Memphis Fire Department involved in the response have been relieved of their duties pending a separate inquiry. PUBLIC OUTRAGE EXPECTED Police departments in some major cities – including New York, Atlanta and Washington – said they were preparing for possible protests following the video’s release. In Memphis, schools were scheduled to close early and Saturday morning events were canceled. Davis said she anticipated those seeing the footage “to feel outrage” but appealed for calm. President Joe Biden on Thursday joined the family in calling for peaceful protests in Memphis, a city of 628,000 where nearly 65% of residents are Black. Blake Ballin, a lawyer for Mills, said on Thursday his client was “devastated to find himself charged with a crime.” Ballin also said it might be another two weeks before the defendants make their initial court appearances. (Reporting by Alyssa Pointer in Memphis; Additional reporting by Tyler Clifford, Jonathan Allen, Brendan O’Brien, Dan Whitcomb and Eric Beech; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Paul Thomasch, Lisa Shumaker and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Ultimate Classic Rock Stevie Nicks has announced tour dates for 2023. The singer’s first solo show of the year is scheduled to take place on March 15 in Seattle. She’ll then perform in several major U.S. cities, including San Francisco, New Orleans, Atlanta and Chicago, plus a Canadian stop in Toronto. Before that March 15 date, Nicks will perform her first joint concert with Billy Joel on March 10 in Inglewood, Calif. The two artists are slated to perform nine shows together throughout 2023. (Nicks’ new tour will run alongside these dates.) You can see a complete list of show dates below. Tickets for all Nicks’ so… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lady Gaga says Taylor Swift was “really brave” to reveal her eating disorder. The ‘Born This Way’ singer, 36, praised her fellow performer, 33, after a clip resurfaced from Taylor’s 2020 documentary ‘Miss Americana’ that showed her talking for the first time about her past condition early in her career and previous body image issues. Footage from the film shared by Taylor fans on TikTok showed the singer saying: “I don’t care as much if somebody points out that I have gained weight, it’s just something that makes my life better. “The fact that I’m a size six instead of a size 00 – that wasn’t how my body was supposed to be. “I just didn’t really understand that at the time. I would have defended it to anybody who said, ‘I’m concerned about you.’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about? Of course I eat, it’s perfectly normal, I just exercise a lot.’ And I did exercise a lot, but I wasn’t eating. “I don’t think you know you’re doing that when you’re doing it gradually. “There’s always some standard of beauty that you’re not meeting, because if you’re thin enough, then you don’t have that a** that everybody wants. But if you have enough weight on you to have an a**, then your stomach isn’t flat enough. It’s all just f****** impossible.” Gaga – who has previously detailed her eating disorder battle – took to the comments section of an account that posted the video and said: “That’s really brave everything you said, wow,” adding a black heart emoji to her message, The video was shared by Taylor Swift fan account @angclswift and was captioned: “This scene always breaks my heart.” Gaga revealed in 2013 her fight with “anorexia and bulimia”, saying on ‘Little Monsters’ social media site she had struggled with an eating disorder from the age of 15. View the full article

Published by Reuters LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced nominations on Tuesday for the 95th Academy Awards. Winners will be revealed in Hollywood on March 12 in Los Angeles. The following is a list of nominees in leading categories. BEST PICTURE “All Quiet on the Western Front” “Avatar: The Way of Water” “The Banshees of Inisherin” “Elvis” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” “The Fabelmans” “Tár” “Top Gun: Maverick” “Triangle of Sadness” “Women Talking” BEST ACTOR Austin Butler – “Elvis” Colin Farrell – “The Banshees of Inisherin” Brendan Fraser – “The Whale” Paul Mescal – “Aftersun” Bill Nighy – “Living” BEST ACTRESS Cate Blanchett – “Tár” Ana de Armas – “Blonde” Andrea Riseborough – “To Leslie” Michelle Williams – “The Fabelmans” Michelle Yeoh – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” BEST DIRECTOR Martin McDonagh – “The Banshees of Inisherin” Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Steven Spielberg – “The Fabelmans” Todd Field – “Tár” Ruben Östlund – “Triangle of Sadness” BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Brendan Gleeson – “The Banshees of Inisherin” Brian Tyree Henry – “Causeway” Judd Hirsch – “The Fabelmans” Barry Keoghan – “The Banshees of Inisherin” Ke Huy Quan – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Angela Bassett – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Hong Chau – “The Whale” Kerry Condon – “The Banshees of Inisherin” Jamie Lee Curtis – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Stephanie Hsu – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY “The Banshees of Inisherin,” written by Martin McDonagh “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” written by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert “The Fabelmans,” written by Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner “Tár,” written by Todd Field “Triangle of Sadness,” written by Ruben Östlund BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY “All Quiet on the Western Front,” screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” written by Rian Johnson “Living”, written by Kazuo Ishiguro “Top Gun: Maverick,” screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks “Women Talking,” screenplay by Sarah Polley BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” “The Sea Beast” “Turning Red” BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM “All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov “Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman “A House Made of Splinters,” Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström “Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Germany “Argentina, 1985,” Argentina “Close,” Belgium “EO,” Poland “The Quiet Girl,” Ireland BEST ORIGINAL SCORE “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann “Babylon,” Justin Hurwitz “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Carter Burwell “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux “The Fabelmans,” John Williams BEST ORIGINAL SONG “Applause,” from “Tell It like a Woman,” music and lyrics by Diane Warren “Hold My Hand,” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” music and lyrics by Lady Gaga and BloodPop “Lift Me Up,” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson, lyrics by Tems and Ryan Coogler “Naatu Naatu,” from “RRR,” music by M.M. Keeravaani; lyrics by Chandrabose “This Is A Life,” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; lyrics by Ryan Lott and David Byrne (Reporting by Danielle Broadway; Editing by Mary Milliken and Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by AFP The Oscars will take place on March 12, 2023 Los Angeles (AFP) – The nominations for the Academy Awards were unveiled Tuesday, with “Everything Everywhere All at Once” leading the way with 11 nods. But as usual, the announcement stoked plenty of controversy, from the absence of female directors to the surprise inclusion of an actress from a film almost nobody has seen. Here are five key takeaways: #OscarsSoMale No women received best director nominations this year — an absence that quickly prompted anger and claims of sexism on social media. It has been a regular source of criticism for the Oscars over the years. Until 2021, Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) was the only female to ever win Hollywood’s top directing prize. But the Oscar has gone to women for the past two years, with Chloe Zhao (“Nomadland”) and Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”) appearing to finally end decades of male domination. This year, however, strong candidates including Sarah Polley (“Women Talking”) and Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Woman King”) were overlooked by voters, with trade magazine Variety proposing the perhaps inevitable hashtag #OscarsSoMale. The nominees are Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”), Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Todd Field (“Tar”), Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”). ‘To Leslie’ One of the more startling nominations went to Andrea Riseborough for “To Leslie” — a tiny independent film about a Texas single mother struggling with alcoholism who won the lottery but quickly squandered her wealth. While her performance had been widely praised, very few people have seen the movie — it has netted a paltry $27,322 in total, according to BoxOfficeMojo. However, Riseborough benefited from an intense, last-minute social media campaign mounted on her behalf by celebrity friends including Edward Norton, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Sarah Paulson. ‘Fabelmans’ surprise Few doubted that Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical drama “The Fabelmans” would land a best supporting actor nomination, with Paul Dano receiving widespread acclaim for his portrayal of the director’s father. But instead Academy voters cast ballots for 87-year-old Judd Hirsch, who appears in the film for less than 10 minutes. Hirsch plays a cantankerous and highly eccentric great-uncle who shows up unexpectedly to offer a young Spielberg advice about pursuing his filmmaking dreams. The Academy has previous form in rewarding brief cameos with golden statuettes, including Judi Dench “for Shakespeare in Love” and Beatrice Straight for barely five minutes in “Network.” ‘RRR’ Despite not being submitted as India’s official Oscars pick, the unapologetically over-the-top action film “RRR” has built grassroots support to become a hugely popular favorite in Hollywood in recent months. Fans include “Avatar” director James Cameron, who was seen praising its director S.S. Rajamouli in a recent video that went viral on social media, prompting hopes the film could land a best picture Oscar nomination. While that did not happen, its catchy musical number “Naatu Naatu” was nominated for best original song. The film that India instead submitted for best international feature, “Last Film Show,” failed to land a nomination. “No shade to the movie they did choose, which is actually very good, but ‘RRR’ was a slam dunk,” Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis told AFP. Rihanna v Gaga With award show television ratings plummeting in recent years, Oscars producers will be keen to ensure some of showbiz’s biggest names attend the ceremony in March. No category is more star-studded than best original song, which features Lady Gaga, Rihanna and David Byrne. Gaga sang “Hold My Hand” in “Top Gun: Maverick,” Rihanna performed “Lift Me Up” in superhero sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and Talking Heads frontman Byrne penned “This Is A Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The category is rounded out by M.M. Keeravaani’s “Naatu Naatu” and “Applause” by Diane Warren. Warren has now been nominated an astonishing 14 times without winning best original song — although she did receive an honorary Academy Award last year for a song-writing career including Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Madonna’s biopic has been axed after the pop star announced her world tour. The 64-year-old singer was set to direct the much-anticipated biopic – which had Julia Garner as its lead – but the project has been put on hold after Madonna announced her ‘Celebration’ tour. The fate of the film was thrown into doubt after Madonna confirmed that she was hitting the road, according to Variety. Despite this, the chart-topping star – whose previous film credits include ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’ and ‘Evita’ – is keen to revive the project at a later date. Madonna previously admitted that writing the script for the biopic had been a “challenging experience”. She said: “Writing my script is the most draining, challenging experience I’ve ever had. “It’s kind of like psychotherapy in a way, because I have to remember every detail from my childhood till now. “Remembering all the things that made me decide to be who I am, my journey as an artist, my decision to leave Michigan to go to New York, all the things that happened to me when I was young and naive, my relationships with my family and friends, watching many of my friends die.” Madonna also found the writing process to be a very emotional experience. The ‘Like a Prayer’ hitmaker shared: “Sometimes, I have writing sessions where I go to bed and I just want to cry. “The thing is, I realise I forgot a lot of things, and reliving, digging deep, trying to recall emotions that I felt in certain moments, both joyful and traumatic experiences. I realise I’ve lived a crazy life … But I would find myself at night, lying there in bed, thinking, ‘My God, did that really happen to me? Did I really know that person?'” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Dave Chappelle doesn’t care if people “take issue” with his jokes, but he warned cancel culture is in danger of “taking the nuance out of speech”. The 49-year-old comedian has been targeted by protestors who have accused him of making transphobic jokes and he insisted those out to campaign again are not speaking from a place of “love” but because they want to be “feared”. He said: “There’s a thing they do where they deliberately obscure what I think they believe is the intent of my work to make a moment of it that I don’t know that the work necessarily merits. You know what I mean? “I’m not even mad that they take issue with my work. Good, fine. Who cares? What I take issue with is the idea that because they don’t like it, I’m not allowed to say it. “‘Art is a nuanced endeavour. I have a belief that they are trying to take the nuance out of speech in American culture, that they’re making people speak as if they’re either on the right or the left. “Everything seems absolute, and any opinion I respect is way more nuanced than these binary choices they keep putting in front of us. I don’t see the world in red or blue. “Trying to silence a person like me, I don’t think it has anything to do with being loved. They want to be feared. ‘If you say this, then we will punish you.’ “ Last July, Dave was forced to move his Minneapolis show from the First Avenue club to the Varsity Theater, and though he was greeted by a standing ovation, the evening was marred by protests outside the new venue, and he’s now hit out at the hypocritical conduct of those gathered outside. Speaking on his ‘Midnight Miracle’ podcast, he said: “They threw eggs at the [fans] who were lined up to see the show… “When I walked on stage, it was a huge ovation because suddenly going to see a comedy show was this huge act of defiance. “I don’t think anyone had any malicious intent. In fact, one of the things that these people, the trans and their surrogates, always say is that my jokes are somehow gonna be the root cause of some impending violence that they feel like is inevitable for my jokes. “But I gotta tell you, as abrasive as they were, the way they were protesting, throwing eggs at people, throwing barricades, cussing and screaming, [none of my fans] beat ’em up. In fact, the people in the crowd would just say, ‘We love you. Like what are you talking about?’ “ And the Netflix star also hit out at the original venue after they apologised for booking Dave and pledged to keep the club a “safe space”. He said: “I guess apparently they had made a pledge to the public at large that they would make their club a safe space for all people, and that they would ban anything they deemed transphobic. “This is a wild stance for an artistic venue to take, especially one that’s historically a punk rock venue.” View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) “Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia”, an exhibition being held at the Kling & Bang gallery in Reykjavík, Iceland, is the first ever retrospective of the Russian feminist protest art collective. The exhibition, which has been on display in Iceland since 24 November 2022, incorporates photos, archive footage and original artwork to trace the group’s work over the past decade and their rise to fame. It was curated by Maria (Mösha) Alyokhina, a key member of Pussy Riot, and offers a look at documentation of the activists’ performances, from the beginning of the movement in 2011 to the present d… Read More View the full article

Published by PopCrush For Madonna fans, there is good news and bad news. The good news is the iconic pop star is about to embark on a major world tour. The bad news is with her attention on the tour, she will not be directing a much-discussed biopic about her own life. News of Madonna’s Madonna biopic, which would have starred Julia Garner in the lead role, first broke in September 2020. At the time, here was what Madonna herself had to say about the film she wanted to make: I want to convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer – a human being, trying to make her way i… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News New research on LGBTQ parents in Florida found that a majority of those surveyed considered leaving the state over its controversial law restricting classroom instruction on LGBTQ issues before the fourth grade. Nearly six out of 10 parents surveyed by the Williams Institute said that the enacting of the legislation commonly known as “Don’t Say Gay” led them to consider moving to a different state — while 17% have already taken steps to do so. The research — released Tuesday by The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, a think tank that focuses on LGBTQ law and policy — also found that 11%… Read More View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega Anne Heche‘s posthumous memoir, Call Me Anne, reveals the late actress’ most prized possessions — one of which included her ex-girlfriend Ellen DeGeneres. The only other thing that made the Six Days, Seven Nights star — who devastatingly died at the age of 53 after a car crash in August 2022 — prouder than the time spent with her longtime lover was, “of course,” her two children, Homer Laffoon, 20, and Atlas Tupper, 13. mega In the memoir, which was released Tuesday, January 24, Heche opened up about her relationship with the famed talk show host, 64, whom she dated from 1997-2000. THE MOST SHOCKING CELEBRITY DEATHS OF 2022: QUEEN ELIZABETH II, ANNE HECHE, KIRSTIE ALLEY & MORE The Psycho actress recalled the unforgettable time she was introduced as “the first ‘sexually fluid’ person to go public” during a podcast interview shortly after her same-sex relationship began to make headlines nationwide. mega Heche reflected on how much has changed since she and DeGeneres first went public with their romantic relationship — most importantly the 2015 legalization of same-sex marriage across all 50 states in America. “It evolved my understanding of the moment I had participated in with a woman named Ellen DeGeneres, with her leadership, that planted the seed that has now blossomed from thought into law,” the late star recalled in her eye-opening memoir. “There is nothing in my life I am prouder to have participated in — other than childbirth, of course!” Heche admitted of her contribution to the LGBTQ+ community. “This was a moment when I realized that I wanted to participate in demanding equality regardless of gender and making it law.” ‘HE’S BEEN THROUGH A LOT’: ANNE HECHE’S EX COLEMAN LAFFOON GIVES UPDATE ON 20-YEAR-OLD SON HOMER The Spread actress additionally discussed the time she was advised not to bring DeGeneres as her date to the 1997 premiere of her film Volcano. Heche claimed she was confronted by four “suits” who provided judgmental instructions in an effort to proudly stand by her love for the famed comedian. mega “There’s not one moment that has defined my life more than that one,” Heche confessed of her relationship, which she believed played a huge part in her career as a whole. “I had no idea how much that one decision would impact my life and what I gave up for that decision.” “I also had no idea that it gave so many people the green light to come out of the closet. I am often asked if I regret that moment,” she wrote, before noting, “I do not.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Beyonce’s father, Mathew Knowles, has defended his daughter’s Dubai concert following a backlash from the LGBTQ+ community. The ‘Cuff It’ singer made her grand return to the stage after five years at the invite-only launch of the luxurious new Atlantis The Royal hotel in Dubai at the weekend – which allegedly saw the superstar earn $280,000 per minute. The UAE has strict laws against homosexuality but the record executive insists the 41-year-old Grammy winner has “always stood for inclusiveness” and would “never do something to deliberately hurt someone.” The businessman told TMZ the ‘Crazy in Love’ hitmaker “united a really diverse crowd with her incredible performance overseas, bringing people closer, as she does best.” He added that Beyonce “gave respect and got respect back from the country.” Mathew also told the outlet the singer is planning a ‘Renaissance’ world tour. The ‘Love On Top’ hitmaker didn’t feature any songs from her latest album in the setlist, but she did perform hits including ‘Beautiful Liar’, ‘Halo’, ‘Crazy In Love’ and ‘Drunk In Love’. During the show, Beyonce treated the select audience to a special moment as she brought her 11-year-old daughter Blue Ivy out on stage to sing a duet with her. The pair teamed up to perform ‘Brown Skin Girl’, with Beyonce telling the audience: “Where are all my brown skin girls? Give it up for my baby, my brown skin girl, Miss Blue Ivy Carter.” The youngster wore a sparkly red suit with trainers and her mum affectionately touched her face as they sang together, with the singer telling the crowd: “Love to all the brown skin girls. If you love brown skin women, help me sing.” Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z and their three children – also including five-year-old twins Rumi and Sir – as well as her parents Tina Knowles-Lawson and Mathew were all in the audience for the exclusive event while famous faces who landed an invite included Kendall Jenner, Rebel Wilson, Ellen Pompeo, Liam Payne and Bar Refaeli. View the full article

Published by Kyodo News Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday struck a cautious tone about legally recognizing same-sex marriage in line with other Group of Seven countries that have already adopted the practice. “We need to be extremely careful in considering the matter as it could affect the structure of family life in Japan,” Kishida said at a parliamentary session, although several lawsuits have been filed across the nation by same-sex couples. Japan has not acknowledged same-sex marriage, as many members of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, led by Kishida, have opposed the concept, emphasizi… Read More View the full article