RadioRob

Published by BANG Showbiz English Tilda Swinton believes identity is “entirely flexible”. The 61-year-old actress – who has 23-year-old twins Honor and Xavier with former partner John Byrne and is in a relationship with Sandro Kopp – doesn’t want to be confined to a “box” and enjoys changing who she is on any given day. She told Total Film magazine: “For myself, I feel most relaxed when I think that identity is something entirely flexible, that we can choose at any moment, and that it’s nobody’s business, what we choose on any given day, but ours. “It seems a bit of a waste to just put oneself in a box and cut off all one’s limbs. “For me, it’s never been more interesting than to stay as flexible as possible and to just play.” 61 In her upcoming movie ‘Memoria’, Tilda plays Jessica, who wakes one day disturbed by a sound in her head and the actress was able to channel her grief for her father, who passed away in October 2018, into the character because of how “alien” she felt. She told the new issue of Total Film magazine: “I think a lot of people who suffer bereavement experience this sense of disconnection and limbo. “That limbo is quite a run-of-the-mill – not exotic – experience for human beings. “But it does make us feel alien when we’re in that scenario. “Hang on, society is going out there and I’m just not connecting, my battery is not plugged in. So we did talk about that. “We talked about what it is to have that access to feeling alien and how humane it is.” The ‘Doctor Strange’ star revealed last year she identifies as queer and has found family in her professional collaborators. She said: “’I’m very clear that queer is actually, for me anyway, to do with sensibility. “I always felt I was queer – I was just looking for my queer circus, and I found it. And having found it, it’s my world. “Now I have a family with Wes Anderson, I have a family with Bong Joon-ho, I have a family with Jim Jarmusch, I have a family with Luca Guadagnino, with Lynne Ramsay, with Joanna Hogg.” Tilda Swinton Queer Sense on Towleroad Demi Lovato Returns Home From Utah Rehab Facility After Rejecting Their Past ‘California Sober’ Lifestyle More Oprah Winfrey producing documentary about Sidney Poitier More Aaron Sorkin still hopes to make The Social Network sequel More Russia strikes tough, pessimistic line on chances for talks with U.S More Kardashian GBF Simon Huck Hangs Out With Pete Davidson While Kim Works; If Kardashian Davidson Was A Show, The TV Trope Would Be… ? (MULT CHOICE) More Resolutions For Queers 2022; LGBTQ To Do List; Gay Agenda 2022 — WEB STORY More Jillian Michaels ‘Used To Spit On People,’ Hateful Ex-Girlfriend Jackie Warner Tells All More Paris Jackson, Out and Unlabeled, Eyes Superhero or Supervillain Role More Mystery Solved? FBI Arrests Man Accused of Manuscript Stealing in Long-Running Crime Series Confounding Publishing Industry as to Motive More Load More View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega Staying on track! Demi Lovato has returned home after quietly checking in to a Utah rehab facility 3 years after their nearly fatal drug overdose. The “Sorry Not Sorry” singer — who uses they/them pronouns — reportedly checked in to the treatment facility in order to maintain both their sobriety and their mental health. DEMI LOVATO GETS A ‘STANDING OVATION’ FROM AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL ENTITY IN NEW SERIES: WATCH “Demi is committed to their well-being, and throughout their life, they plan to do regular check-ins to make sure they are putting themselves first,” an insider told People. mega The former Disney star first went to rehab in 2010 to confront her addiction issues, and entered a sober living facility in 2012. Six years later, the “Skyscraper” artist candidly admitted they had “crossed a line” they had never crossed before and suffered an almost fatal overdose. “Any time that you suppress a part of yourself, it’s gonna overflow,” Lovato explained in their docuseries Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil. “I had three strokes. I had a heart attack. My doctors said that I had 5-10 more minutes [to live].” DEMI LOVATO STUNS ALONGSIDE ACTRESS ALLIE MARIE EVANS IN EDGY PHOTOSHOOT SHOT BY FAMED PHOTOGRAPHER TYLER SHIELDS Despite their near death experience, the Grammy winner decided to continue to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana in moderation once they left the in-treatment facility. “I called [my recovery case manager, Charles Cook] and was like, ‘Something’s not right. I’m living one side of my life completely legalizing and this other side following a program that’s telling me if I slip up, I’m going to die,'” they told Glamour magazine. “Everything had to happen in order for me to learn the lessons that I learned,” Lovato told People in 2020. “It was a painful journey, and I look back and sometimes I get sad when I think of the pain that I had to endure to overcome what I have, but I don’t regret anything.” In December, OK! reported Lovato has recently chosen to reject their old “California sober” choices and strives to live a completely sober life going forward in their sobriety journey. “I no longer support my ‘California sober’ ways,” the 29-year-old wrote in a post on Instagram in early December. “Sober sober is the only way to be.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Oprah Winfrey is producing a documentary about Sidney Poitier. The 67-year-old media mogul is executive producing the project about the late actor – which she has been working on for over a year – for Apple and Reginald Hudlin is directing, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Poitier’s family are involved with the documentary, which is a collaboration with Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and Network Entertainment. Meanwhile, Oprah mourned the loss of “the greatest of the Great Trees” following Poitier’s death last week. The ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ actor – who was the first Black winner of the Best Actor Oscar for his work on ‘Lilies of the Field’ – passed away aged 94, and Oprah, who considered Sidney a friend and mentor, paid tribute to him on Instagram. Oprah wrote: “For me, the greatest of the ‘Great Trees’ has fallen: Sidney Poitier. My honor to have loved him as a mentor. Friend. Brother. Confidant. Wisdom teacher. The utmost, highest regard and praise for his most magnificent, gracious, eloquent life. I treasured him. I adored him. He had an enormous soul I will forever cherish. Blessings to Joanna and his world of beautiful daughters (sic)” The ‘Butler’ actress spoke about Sidney’s legacy during last year’s Black History Month, and detailed how he had laid the groundwork for her and many others within the industry. She said at the time: “When I tell you profoundly, I could start weeping right now, I was profoundly, deeply, sincerely moved by that moment. We were being called coloured people at the time. [And] I had never seen a coloured man look like that or present like that. And I just thought if he could do that, I wonder what I could do. “And because he did that, I was able to do what I have been able to do in the world, and every single other Black person who followed. It only happened because he was able not just to do that, but to be that. It’s what he represented: his dignity, integrity, presence, grace, choice of characters only doing, and choosing roles that were going to reflect the best of what a Black person could be in the world.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Aaron Sorkin hopes to revisit ‘The Social Network’. The 60-year-old screenwriter and director penned the script for the 2010 film – which tells the story of the formation of Facebook – and says that he wants to team up with filmmaker David Fincher to make a sequel. Speaking to Collider, Aaron said: “Well, it’s something I’ve thought about a lot, and I’ve mentioned it to David. I think I’ll leave it there. I don’t want to make any news with regard to a ‘Social Network’ follow up except to agree with you that there’s more story.” Asked if he would want to tell it with David, Aaron replied: “I’d love nothing more.” Aaron has also directed the film ‘Being the Ricardos’, which stars Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as ‘I Love Lucy’ co-stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and credits the crew for helping him not feel any pressure to make the movie despite only having 38 days to so. Quizzed on whether he had doubts during filming, Aaron said: “There wasn’t. I would say before the shoot, I was thinking, ’38 days, how can we possibly do this in 38 days?’ But another person who’s been with me is Stuart Besser, our line producer. He’s the one responsible for the schedule. “Not only didn’t I ever feel pressured, time pressure, during that time, I felt other kinds of pressure. Not only didn’t I feel time pressure, but there were some days that almost felt luxurious. Like, ‘Wow, we can take our time here. We can rehearse longer. Maybe I can send the crew home an hour early.’ I credit Stuart and a great crew.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Tom Balmforth and Mark Trevelyan MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Sunday it would not make any concessions under U.S. pressure at talks this week on the Ukraine crisis and its demands for Western security guarantees, and that there was a risk they might end quickly. The hard line from Moscow underscored the fragile prospects for negotiations that Washington hopes will avert the danger of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the tensest point in U.S.-Russia relations since the Cold War ended three decades ago. Talks are due in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna but the state-owned RIA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying it was entirely possible that diplomacy could end abruptly after a single meeting. “I can’t rule out anything, this is an entirely possible scenario and the Americans… should have no illusions about this,” he was quoted as saying. “Naturally, we will not make any concessions under pressure and in the course of threats that are constantly being formed by the Western participants of the upcoming talks.” Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov, who will lead the Russian delegation in Geneva, as saying Moscow was not optimistic going into the negotiations. The comments from Ryabkov, who has compared the situation to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war, were consistent with the uncompromising line that Russia has been signalling for weeks. Tens of thousands of Russian troops are gathered within reach of the border with Ukraine in preparation for what Washington and Kyiv say could be an invasion, eight years after Russia seized the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine. Russia denies invasion plans and says it is responding to what it calls aggressive and provocative behaviour from the NATO military alliance and Ukraine, its former Soviet neighbour which has tilted towards the West and aspires to join NATO. Last month Russia presented a sweeping set of demands including for a bar on further NATO expansion and an end to the alliance’s activity in central and eastern European countries that joined it after 1997. The United States and NATO have said large parts of the Russian proposals are a non-starter. RED LINES A senior Biden administration official on Saturday said the United States was not willing to discuss limits on U.S. troop deployments or the U.S. force posture in NATO countries in the region. It was ready, however, to talk about the possibility of each side restricting military exercises and missile deployments in the region. To accept that limited agenda and abandon its other demands would be a major climbdown that Russia seems unlikely to make, especially after weeks of troop movements near Ukraine and a series of tough statements from President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin leader has said that after successive waves of NATO expansion it is time for Russia to enforce its “red lines” and ensure the alliance does not admit Ukraine or station weapons systems there that would target Russia. Ukraine won a NATO promise back in 2008 that it would be allowed to join one day, but diplomats say there is no question of that happening any time soon. NATO says it is a defensive alliance and Moscow has nothing to fear from it. That is far from Putin’s world view, which sees Russia as under threat from hostile western powers he says have repeatedly broken promises given as the Cold War ended not to expand towards its borders. The United States and its allies dispute such pledges were given. In two conversations with Putin over the past five weeks, U.S. President Joe Biden warned him that Russia would face unprecedented economic sanctions in the event of further aggression against Ukraine. The Group of Seven nations and European Union have joined in threatening “massive consequences”. Putin responded that this would be a colossal mistake that would lead to a complete rupture of relations. Russia’s foreign ministry said the team led by Ryabkov had arrived in Geneva, where the formal talks are due on Monday. Russia is also due to hold negotiations with NATO in Brussels on Wednesday and at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna on Thursday. (Reporting by Tom Balmforth in Moscow and Mark Trevelyan in London; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel) View the full article

=Good at tests. A) KIM trusts PETE with friend. Levels Up. B) Gay C) Swingers D) Kim needs to get work done. * E) KIM gives GBF SIMON room to ‘bro’ with love interest, PETE. In almost no time, PETE appeals to their ‘bro’ bond and shows his true self, good or bad. *** D) Those selfies don’t take themselves? Kind of do actually. ** E) The next scene in fanfic “Bro”ing of Pete Davidson has the SNL comedian saying, “Dude, I really like her. What do I do?” or “Dude, got to tell someone, Guess who i’m —–ing”. Potential love interest, PETE, blinded by his love for KIM will forget that gay guys never signed nor ratified the “Bro Rules” when proposed 20 years ago. SIMON will report to KIM with appropriate sympathy or excitement, fulfilling the defining mutual-security role that defines Gay Best Friend. The less world-shattering the news, the more appropriate it is to offer some history and context for the youth.–Editor Published by Radar Online MEGA You know you’ve made it when you’re hanging solo with your girlfriend’s gay best friend. Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson took their unexpected romance to the next level earlier this week when they jetted off to the Bahamas via a private plane, but even more telling of their relationship status is that the 28-year-old comedian was photographed hanging out with the 41-year-old beauty mogul’s bestie – sans the beauty mogul. On Wednesday, the Saturday Night Live star was spotted sipping a cold beer and tossing around a football as he relaxed outside a beachfront terrace on one of the picturesque Caribbean islands. Though the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star was nowhere in sight, Pete was far from alone! Lounging in a nearby beach chair was 38-year-old Simon Huck, who has appeared in countless episodes of the E! reality series as a close pal of both Kim and Kourtney Kardashian. Pete sported a gray T-shirt, red shorts, and a backward hat, while Simon opted for a similar vibe. According to Daily Mail, the latter was in charge of the tunes. The new friends kicked back and relaxed alongside a few others, while Kim was elsewhere taking sizzling selfies for the ‘gram. “Sweet sweet fantasy baby,” the SKIMS founder captioned a close-up photo showing off her curves, which were barely held inside her teeny-tiny brown string bikini. Kardashian’s almost once brother-in-law, Scott Disick, was among the thousands who dropped comments on the star’s hot shot. @kimkardashian/Instagram “Damn! Where’s the tripod!” asked Kourtney’s ex-boyfriend and baby daddy, leaving many fans to wonder whether he was making a dirty joke about Pete and his rumored “BDE.” According to Merriam-Webster, a tripod is “a three-legged stand (as for a camera),” but according to Urban Dictionary, it can also be defined as “a man with a penis so big, it is interpreted as a third leg.” Kardashian and Davidson have been inseparable since sharing their first kiss during an October episode of SNL. Since then, the two have made a cross-country relationship work, going on several dates in both New York and Los Angeles. They’ve even met each other’s families. Insiders say the couple is “getting very serious,” which seems to be getting under her estranged husband’s skin. One of Kanye West‘s pals told Radar that the rapper’s new fling with Kim-lookalike Julia Fox is rooted in jealousy. “A Broadway show and dinner at a restaurant where photographers are always waiting outside! Come on, someone wanted to be noticed by Kim,” laughed the friend. “It is obvious that Kanye is trying to make Kim jealous. The only surprising thing is that Kanye didn’t go to see a show and dinner with a lady from Saturday Night Live.” “Kanye is pee-green over Kim’s relationship with Pete Davidson. He saw all the pictures of them together and wants to give her a taste of her own medicine,” added our insider. “Please, next Kanye will be heading over to Staten Island with Julia! It would be funny if it wasn’t all so tragic.” So far, Ye’s tactic doesn’t seem to be working. MEGA GBF gay best friend Kardashian Davidson on Towleroad Resolutions For Queers 2022; LGBTQ To Do List; Gay Agenda 2022 — WEB STORY More Jillian Michaels ‘Used To Spit On People,’ Hateful Ex-Girlfriend Jackie Warner Tells All More Paris Jackson, Out and Unlabeled, Eyes Superhero or Supervillain Role More Mystery Solved? FBI Arrests Man Accused of Manuscript Stealing in Long-Running Crime Series Confounding Publishing Industry as to Motive More Lady Gaga and Michael Polansky are ‘very much in love’ More Work(out) from home: Pandemic fuels online exercise boom More Flooding hits western U.S., winter storm in the east More Djokovic challenged officials on visa cancellation – court filing More Manchin’s $1.8 trillion spending offer no longer on table -Washington Post More Load More View the full article

Seems fitting to have our annual resolutions by Leo Herrera be first up in experimenting with a new format for us. You can click and swipe them as. you’d expect.. Follow the link below or swipe up at the end if you’d like a pdf version of your own. — Editor LGBTQ To Do List and Resolutions. Part of your 2022 Gay Agenda Download Free PDF of 2022 Queer Resolutions Add Your Resolutions and LGBTQ To Dos in comments below. What would you add to the 2022 Resolutions? Let us know in the comments below. Your additions need not apply to all. But, we’re lookking for your deeper thoughts and consideration of your year and place in the world and will more powerfully will come from something you are determined to consider or change yourself. (i.e. NOT starting a festival of “You know what’s wrong with you….?)) View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA Jillian Michaels‘ ex-girlfriend, Jackie Warner, is spilling major tea about the Biggest Loser alum‘s alleged disturbing behavior that left the latter kicking her butt to the curb. Warner spoke out, claiming Michaels’ used to “spit” on people and would often get “thrown out” of restaurants for her crude ways. It allegedly got so bad that Warner “couldn’t stand” to even hear the celebrity trainer breathe. “We’d get thrown out of nice restaurants because she was screaming loud, cursing, and I couldn’t take it,” Warner, 53, said on the “Hot Takes & Deep Dives with Jess Rothschild” podcast earlier this week. “I just was not the same. I mean, she used to spit on people,” she insisted. Warner claims she hated Michaels so much that she had to end their romance. “I couldn’t live with her. I couldn’t stand to hear her breathe in bed,” Warner recalled. “I mean, it got so bad when she got on my nerves so much that I could not do day-to-day with her.” She claimed their 6-year age gap didn’t help. Michaels is younger and about to turn 48. “The age difference and her making really bad decisions and quite frankly, her just not being a good girl, she just wasn’t a good girl,” Warner claimed. “And I did bad things, but I’ve always been a good girl.” MEGA While Warner’s dislike for Michaels still seems evident, one person doesn’t agree — the fitness instructor’s new fiancée! Michaels’ popped the question to DeShanna Marie Minuto in November 2021 after three years together. “1153 days… here’s to thousands more. She said ‘yes,'” Michaels wrote, making the engagement announcement on Instagram. It wasn’t just any engagement either. Michaels asked Minuto to marry her with a 7-carat emerald-cut diamond. According to the television personality, her fiancée ticks off all her boxes. “DeShanna is ‘all the things’ — beautiful, smart, funny, creative, quirky, passionate … I could run down the list of adjectives,” she told PEOPLE following the news. “Those characteristics obviously attract you to someone. But it’s the quality of their character that makes you think, ‘Thank God for this person laying next to me’ every night when you fall asleep,” she added. This isn’t the first time Michaels has been set to walk down the aisle. She was previously set to marry Heidi Rhoades before they called it quits in 2018. They share two children together — daughter Lukensia, 12, and son Phoenix, 9 MEGA View the full article

Interesting casting either way. More interesting to have an unlabeled hero outside of the heroic work that is coming out about it: Paris Jackson, Michael’s Daughter, is Out and Unlabeled; Has Dated Men, Women, Non-Binary; Feels Excluded By Religious Extended Family. — Editor Published by BANG Showbiz English Paris Jackson wants to be cast as a “superhero or a supervillain”. The 23-year-old actress-and-musician – who is the daughter of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe – has revealed her aspiration to star in a Marvel or DC blockbuster. She said: “I want to be a superhero or a supervillain. “I grew up reading the comics with my brothers. Every time a new Marvel film comes out, we go as a family to watch it … they haven’t let anyone down since 2009.” The ‘American Horror Stories’ star “grew up on Marvel”, but would be happy to join The DC Multiverse. She added to Variety: “I don’t think it’s either one or the other. “I just think that they’re different. I don’t think one is like necessarily better than the other. Marvel is what I grew up on. It’s like comparing The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. They’re very different.” Meanwhile, Paris recently revealed her godfather, Macaulay Culkin, helped her with her ‘American Horror Stories’ audition. The actress stars in the FX series, which is a spin-off of the main ‘American Horror Story’ universe, and called on her godfather and acting icon for help for her audition. Macaulay joined the FX universe for the 10th season of the main series, and so Paris knew she could confide in him to give her advice. She said: “They were very, very uptight about the NDAs and things like that. But I did figure, he signed an NDA, he’s in the ‘AHS’ family. I feel like if I could tell anyone, it would be him.” Paris plays mean girl Maya in the first two episodes of ‘American Horror Stories’, and her character comes face-to-face with the franchise’s iconic Murder House. And before landing her role, she learned from Macaulay to “overdo” parts of her audition to make them more “theatrical”. She added: “He said overdo it at certain points. Kind of like, overact and kind of make it theatrical.” Paris also said she and her godfather exchanged behind-the-scenes photos with each other from their respective ‘AHS’ sets. She said: “I sent him a picture of my face covered in blood and then he sent me a picture of blood in his hair. It was cute.” The ‘Home Alone’ star has been a longtime friend to Paris, and said back in 2018 he was “protective” of the actress. Macaulay – who is also godfather to Paris’ brothers, Prince and Blanket – said: “I am close with Paris. I’m going to warn you now I am very protective of her so just lookout. I am a very open book when it comes to things but like with her, she is beloved by me.” Paris Jackson Super on Towleroad Jillian Michaels ‘Used To Spit On People,’ Hateful Ex-Girlfriend Jackie Warner Tells All More Mystery Solved? FBI Arrests Man Accused of Manuscript Stealing in Long-Running Crime Series Confounding Publishing Industry as to Motive More Lady Gaga and Michael Polansky are ‘very much in love’ More Work(out) from home: Pandemic fuels online exercise boom More Flooding hits western U.S., winter storm in the east More Djokovic challenged officials on visa cancellation – court filing More Manchin’s $1.8 trillion spending offer no longer on table -Washington Post More Sinead O’Connor’s Teenage Son Dies By Suicide Almost 5 Years After Singer Attempted To Take Her Own Life More ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 14 Premiere Comes Down to Two Sloppy Bottoms More Load More View the full article

Is this mystery solved? Arrest made in hard-to-understand series of scams/crimes against writers. Published by AFP Margaret Atwood, pictured in 2019, was reportedly a target of an alleged scam to steal unpublished manuscripts New York (AFP) – A mystery that has shaken the literary world for years — the theft of hundreds of unpublished manuscripts — may finally be about to be solved. The FBI arrested Filippo Bernardini, a 29-year-old Italian employee of major publisher Simon & Schuster, in New York this week. He is accused of impersonating literary agents and publishers over email to steal unpublished works from major authors. The alleged scam had been known in literary circles for around five years with Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan and Sally Rooney among writers reportedly targeted. Bernardini was arraigned in court in Manhattan on Wednesday after being arrested by agents at JFK airport the day before. He has been charged with wire fraud and identity theft, crimes punishable by 22 years in prison. “Filippo Bernardini allegedly impersonated publishing industry individuals in order to have authors, including a Pulitzer prize winner, send him prepublication manuscripts for his own benefit,” said US prosecutor Damian Williams. “This real-life storyline now reads as a cautionary tale, with the plot twist of Bernardini facing federal criminal charges for his misdeeds,” he added in a statement. Bernardini worked in London for Simon and Schuster, which said in a statement it was “shocked and horrified to learn of the allegations.” “The employee has been suspended pending further information on the case,” the publisher said in a statement. “The safekeeping of our authors’ intellectual property is of primary importance to Simon & Schuster, and for all in the publishing industry, and we are grateful to the FBI for investigating these incidents and bringing charges against the alleged perpetrator,” it added. Bernardini was released under “home detention” with a $300,000 bond secured on his home, a spokesperson for the Southern District of New York told AFP. In 2019, Atwood’s agent revealed that the manuscript for “The Testaments” had been targeted. A New York Times investigation at the end of 2020 found that “Normal People” author Rooney, “Atonement” author McEwan, and actor Ethan Hawke had also been targeted. One element of the story prosecutors hope to find out is what the accused’s motivations might have been. None of the stolen manuscripts seemed to appear online and the indictment does not mention whether he made any financial profit from the alleged theft. Mystery Solved Towleroad Lady Gaga and Michael Polansky are ‘very much in love’ More Work(out) from home: Pandemic fuels online exercise boom More Flooding hits western U.S., winter storm in the east More Djokovic challenged officials on visa cancellation – court filing More Manchin’s $1.8 trillion spending offer no longer on table -Washington Post More Sinead O’Connor’s Teenage Son Dies By Suicide Almost 5 Years After Singer Attempted To Take Her Own Life More ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 14 Premiere Comes Down to Two Sloppy Bottoms More U.S. VP Harris was in building when pipe bomb was discovered last Jan 6, official says More Real-Life Ricardos: Domineering Desi Kept Lucy Under His Thumb More Load More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lady Gaga is “very much in love” with Michael Polansky. The chart-topping pop star has been dating Michael, 44, for more than two years, and she’s “serious” about their romance. A source shared: “Lady Gaga and Michael are still together and enjoying their relationship.” Gaga, 35, and Michael made their romance Instagram official in February 2020, when she shared a photo of them on a yacht in Miami, Florida. The loved-up couple are as happy now as they ever have been. The insider told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “Gaga and Michael are serious and are very much in love.” Gaga – whose real name is Stefani Germanotta – is said to see her boyfriend as being a pillar of strength in her life. A source previously explained: “He is such a grounding and guiding presence for her.” Last year, meanwhile, Gaga played the part of Patrizia Reggiani in ‘House of Gucci’. The singer-turned-actress – whose on-screen character was convicted of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband – revealed that she drew on her own “real” trauma for the role. The ‘Bad Romance’ hitmaker said: “I think I’m just like everybody else really. I’m imagining, sure. I’m creative, sure. But I think that being imaginative comes from a real place, it’s just how you choose to synthesise who you are. “When I think about my real-life experiences, there was a lot of things that I’ve been through in my life, traumatic experiences, that I drew upon to play Patrizia, and it’s not necessarily imaginative in that way. “I mean I’m calling upon myself. Now, it might be imaginative to you, you might see it and say ‘oh that looks like it possesses imagination’, but for me it’s not imaginative, it’s real.” View the full article

Published by AFP Aquil Abdullah, an employee of the Hydrow rowing fitness company, demonstrates a rowing machine at the CES technology show in Las Vegas on January 7, 2022 Las Vegas (AFP) – Interactive comment sections and virtual reality headsets: internet-connected fitness gear and services have boomed during the pandemic as at-home athletes seek a proxy for gym life. While home workouts long predate the coronavirus, they have taken on a social aspect that looks set to become the standard in a world reshaped by the pandemic. “A big part of going to the gym together is sort of suffering together… you build a camaraderie around that,” Jeremy Needham, who does customer education for US boxing fitness company Liteboxer, told AFP at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. “And now that we don’t share that space, at least in real time, we have to do it virtually,” he added. Like other companies that sell internet-connected fitness gear, Liteboxer offers customers access to workouts, competitions and other features for a monthly charge — on top of the roughly $1,200 wall-mounted machine. The market for fitness tech has been growing for years, but the industry has gotten a boost in the last couple of years, similarly to how the pandemic accelerated e-commerce and remote working trends. “Connected equipment exploded onto the scene in a big way as consumers had to shift the way to work out during the pandemic,” CES organizer Consumer Technology Association (CTA) noted in an industry forecast. Internet-connected exercise equipment was a nearly $3.8 billion market in 2021, and double-digit percentage growth is expected this year, CTA’s forecast said. “(Customers) want connectivity,” said Richard Kowalski, an analyst with CTA. “They want to engage with other people online.” Need for pandemic release Connected rowing machine maker Hydrow allows customers to comment and like others’ workouts, and users have developed their own social media groups. “You start talking to each other and then all of a sudden, you have a group of maybe six guys, you know, from all over the world,” Aquil Abdullah, who leads workouts on the system, told AFP. “A guy is in London, a guy is out in California, a guy is down in Florida, and you have this community.” The machines, which sell for $2,295, have the usual rowing bar and seat, but also a screen that allows clients to exercise along with instructors on the water, in locales from Miami to London. “We do these workouts, and so that’s part of building community and building those connections,” said Abdullah, who rowed for the US at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. But the connected fitness industry has shown some sensitivity to the changing conditions of the pandemic and the way it affects equipment users’ lives. Fitness firm Peloton’s shares have been under pressure since early November, when the company cut its forecast as more consumers returned to reopening gyms. Credit Suisse downgraded the firm in December, saying the market shifts have forced Peloton to increase advertising and discounting. However, as cases of Covid’s Omicron variant break records around the world, many are again hunkering down at home. That shift could work in favor of home fitness tech companies. CTA took a bullish perspective, saying “the growth trajectory suggests that health-conscious consumers are finding practicality and convenience in exercising at home, even as gyms and workout classes reopen.” And exercise of any kind has offered some people a relief from the pandemic’s impacts — as work, school and travel disruptions and simmering health worries offer plenty to stress about. “The pandemic locked us inside… we couldn’t do the things that we loved,” said Needham. “But the human body still needs cardiovascular activity, it’s quite simple. You just need a really engaging way… to release that energy that builds up in you.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Susan Heavey and Brendan O’Brien WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Floods hit parts of the Northwestern United States on Friday after heavy rains, while a winter storm brought more than a half a foot (15 cm) in snow in the eastern parts of the country, closing schools, offices and busy roads. Flood and gale warnings are in place across many coastal areas in the Pacific Northwest, whilst winter storm warnings remained for eastern parts of Maine, according to the National Weather Service. “One final storm system will move across the Northwest today with heavy coastal rain and heavy mountain snow,” it said. Several alerts were affecting a number of major roads in Washington state, with “hazardous water conditions” closing a number of sections, the Washington State Department of Transportation said. Some properties, roads and fields were seen deep in water in images and videos posted on social media and by local news outlets. Around 2,600 flights to, from and within the United States were canceled on Friday, according to Flightaware.com, with COVID-19 also affecting airlines. More than 50,000 customers along the west Coast are currently without power whilst Virginia is the worst-hit state in east, data from poweroutage.us showed. Earlier, a storm in the east left some parts of Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland under 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) of snow with coastal New England hardest hit as some towns saw more than a foot (30 cm) of snow on Thursday and into Friday. Federal government offices in Washington were closed, and dozens of school districts across the eastern half of the country canceled classes due to the snow and bitter cold. The storm was the second this week to slam into the eastern United States. On Monday, the region was blanketed by up to a foot (30 cm) of snow, stranding thousands of people for up to 27 hours when nearly 50-mile (80-km) stretch of Interstate 95 in northern Virginia became impassable. (Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington, Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Additional reporting by Tyler Clifford in New York; writing by Costas Pitas; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Cynthia Osterman and Sandra Maler) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Courtney Walsh SYDNEY (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic’s legal challenge to the Australian government’s decision to cancel his visa on arrival this week says a certified COVID-19 infection in December meant he qualified for a medical exemption to the county’s vaccination requirements.A 35-page document lodged in the Federal Circuit and Family Court by his legal team on Saturday outlines the Serbian’s case for challenging the visa cancellation which would prevent him from playing in the Australian Open. The challenge will be heard in court on Monday morning. The tennis world number one has been held in immigration detention in a hotel in Melbourne since Thursday morning after border officials rejected his claim for a medical exemption. The filing shows Djokovic said he had received a letter from Tennis Australia’s Chief Medical Officer on Dec. 30 stating he had a medical exemption from vaccination on the basis that he had recently recovered from a COVID infection. The documents show he had tested positive to COVID on Dec. 16, and by Dec. 30 had been free of symptoms or fever in the previous 72 hours. The application said he had a valid visa to travel and also received an assessment from the Department of Home Affairs stating “responses indicate(d) that (he met) the requirements for a quarantine-free arrival into Australia where permitted by the jurisdiction of your arrival”, with Victoria the nominated jurisdiction. The legal documents state that early on Thursday morning, after being informed at Melbourne Airport his visa would be rescinded, a confused Djokovic pleaded to be given time to be able to contact Tennis Australia and his agent. But he said he was “pressured” by authorities to agree to an interview shortly after 6 a.m., despite accepting an earlier offer than he could rest until 8:30 a.m. and saying he “wanted some help and legal support and advice from [his] representatives”, who were still sleeping at the early hour. CHALLENGED CANCELLATION The application says Djokovic challenged an official at the airport when told a recent COVID-19 infection was not considered a substitute for a vaccination in Australia. “That’s not true, and I told him what the Independent State Government medical panel had said and I explained why. I then referred to the two medical panels and the Travel Declaration,” the legal filing quotes the Serbian as saying. “I explained that I had been recently infected with COVID in December 2021 and, on this basis, I was entitled to a medical exemption in accordance with Australian Government rules and guidance.” He said he had provided his medical evidence to Tennis Australia for its two-stage independent assessment process, had made his travel declarations correctly and satisfied all requirements to legally enter Australia on his approved visa. Among the arguments lawyers for the Serbian superstar raised was a section from the Australian Immunisation Register which states a person can apply for a temporary vaccine exemption due to a recent “acute major medical illness”. Djokovic’s legal team said that, among a series of what it says are jurisdictional errors, a delegate for the minister for home affairs did not have “a skerrick of evidence”, using an Australian term for a tiny amount to suggest the 20-time major champion’s recent infection did not constitute a contraindication. Tennis Australia’s chief medical officer, Dr Carolyn Broderick, was one of three medical practitioners on a panel that approved an exemption consistent with guidelines outlined by Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, the filing says.The document says the first decision was then assessed by a second independent medical panel set up by the Victorian state government, consistent with the process that has been outlined publicly by Tennis Australia. The case is Djokovic V Minister for Home Affairs. Djokovic is represented by legal firm Hall & Willcox, and the government is represented by the Australian Government Solicitor. (Reporting by Courtney Walsh; Additional reporting by John Mair; Editing by William Mallard) View the full article

Published by Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s $1.8 trillion spending offer he proposed to the White House in late 2021 appears to be no longer on the table following a breakdown between the Democratic lawmaker from West Virginia and the White House, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. Manchin told reporters this week that he is no longer involved in discussions with the White House and has signaled privately that he is not interested in approving any legislation like President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Package, the newspaper said, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. Manchin’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The legislation is one of Biden’s signature domestic priorities. Manchin’s vote is critical in the evenly divided Senate. His opposition torpedoed Build Back Better in December, drawing ire from Democratic progressives and sending the political party scrambling to find a way to resurrect the package. The plan includes funding for high-priority issues for many Americans, including free preschool, support for soaring childcare costs, coverage of home-care costs for the elderly and expansion of free school meals. Manchin has spoken with a raft of officials and others seeking to garner his support for the legislation, including senior White House aide Steve Ricchetti, Larry Kudlow, former economic adviser to ex-president Donald Trump, and Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, according to the Washington Post. (Reporting by Chris Prentice in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis) View the full article

Published by Radar Online MEGA Sinead O’ Connorhas lost her 17-year-old son, Shane, who reportedly died by suicide two days after he went missing. The incident occurred almost five years after the singer herself tried to take her own life in 2017. MEGA Police confirmed the heartbreaking news, issuing a statement, saying, “Following the recovery of a body in the Bray area of Wicklow on Friday 7 January 2022, a missing person appeal in respect of Shane O’Connor, 17 years, has been stood down.” According toreports, the teenager was put on suicide watch at a hospital in Ireland prior to his death, but he managed to escape, prompting the authorities to launch a search. “Like, how has a seventeen year old traumatised young person WHO WAS ON SUICIDE WATCH in Tallaght Hosputal’s Lynn Ward been able to go missing???” Sinead tweeted on Thursday. “Hospital of course so far refusing to take any responsibility. Anything happens to my son on their watch? Lawsuits.” MEGA After learning about her son’s disappearance, The Nothing Compares 2 U singer later pleaded for her son to return via Twitter. “This is a message for my son, Shane,” she wrote. “Shane, it’s not funny any more all this going missing. You are scaring the crap out of me. Could you please do the right thing and present yourself at a Gardai station. If you are with Shane please call the Gardai for his safety.” The 55-year-old singer continued, “My world would collapse without you. You are my heart. Please don’t stop it from beating. Please don’t harm yourself. Go to the Gardai and let’s get you to hospital.” However, on Friday, she announced her son had passed. “My beautiful son, Nevi’im Nesta Ali Shane O’Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God,” she explained. “May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace.” In 2017, Sinead made headlines after posting a video alluding to suicide. The 12-minute footage she filmed from a motel room in New Jersey included her rant suggesting she had suicidal thoughts. “There’s absolutely nobody in my life except my doctor, my psychiatrist – the sweetest man on earth, who says I’m his hero – and that’s about the only things keeping me alive at the moment…And that’s kind of pathetic.” She added an alarming statement claiming, “this is no way for people to be living.” The singer was found safe later after friends helped her. MEGA Sinead has three other children, Jake Reynolds, Roisin Waters, and Yeshua Francis Neil Bonadio. She shared custody of her late son Shane with her ex, an Irish folk singer, Donal Lunny. View the full article

Kornbread came to slay on RuPaul’s Drag Race. The return of RuPaul’s Drag Race is typically cause for celebration, but thanks to the steady drip of All Stars, Secret Celebrity and several many international iterations, it feels like Drag Race never really ends. There’s something to be said for the familiar — especially in the throes of Omicron chaos. The first installment of the fourteenth season was a showcase of some of the show’s familiar premiere episode elements — an opening talent show, quippy queens not here to make friends, RuPaul lazily step-touching while lip-syncing her latest single. That doesn’t mean there’s no gimmicks; we’re getting a two-part premiere with one queen sashaying away from each starting group. It’s my preferred way to start a season, and it makes it much easier to get to know the queens quickly. There’s plenty to savor with this cast, who have already proven to be a talented, twisted bunch. We’ll get into the individual workroom lewks in our rankings below, but suffice to say, it’s clear these queens came to play. (Even Willow Pill in her lil’ platform sandals.) There are a lot of strong presentations, and the jokes are already flying fast and furious. This week’s mini-challenge is another standard: the photoshoot with a twist. We’ve seen pillow fights, flying leaps, giant tanks of water, powerful wind machines and now they’re strapped to a spinning wheel. RuPaul picks Texas-native Kerri Colby as the mini-challenge winner, but, I don’t know, all these photos always look roughly the same to me? Luckily, the talent show maxi challenge is a much more meaningful measure. RuPaul’s Drag Race season 14 queens size up the competition. First up is June Jambalaya, performing an African dance number in traditional dress. She gives a passionate performance, but a slipping headband and unflattering undergarment sort of kill the illusion. Next up, Bosco, a Seattle weirdo that knows how to balance sexy, spooky and chic. For her talent, she performs a burlesque striptease that picks the petals off her floral dress until she’s down to nothing but a few well-placed sparkles. It’s not ground breaking, but it’s executed with precision and a little wink at the end (a rose seemingly blooming out of her rosebud). Puerto Rican pageant queen Alyssa Hunter rocks the stage with an edgy, rock ‘n’ roll lip sync. It’s a genre we don’t dip into nearly enough on the show, but the lip sync leaves plenty to be desired. At one point she uses a prop guitar but doesn’t really play it, and the whole thing just looks sort of silly. Things pick up with Kerri Colby. It begins as another lip sync (this time to Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda”), but her true talent is in jump rope. This ain’t yo mama’s Double Dutch. Kerri is a former competitive jump roper, so there are enough kicks, tricks and splits to delight the judges. Then there’s Michigan’s first RuPaul’s Drag Race queen, Orion Story, and, well, alright, they all can’t be winners. Orion is doing a trailer park yoga instructor character that’s part Drop Dead Gorgeous, part Jerri Blank. There’s a funny idea here, but, as the judges would later point out, the whole act needs to be workshopped a bit more before it’s ready for primetime. There’s hardly a laugh to be found, and the bit never finds a rhythm. Thankfully, Kornbread follows up with a banger. Yes, it’s a lip sync, and, yes, it’s to an “original track” (two things that usually tank a talent performance for me), but the song slaps, the lyrics are sharp and Kornbread is bursting with star power. It’s easily the most entertaining performance of the night. Willow Pill gets weird on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Finally, we’ve got to talk about Willow Pill. The young queen gets a lot of spotlight during the premiere. The gals can’t stop dunking on her choice of arrival footwear (the aforementioned platform sandals). She reveals some of her backstory to Ru, including a lifelong battle with illness. Then, the ladies struggle to understand what talent she’s presenting, and, honestly, even after watching it, I do, too. But, as it is my job, let me try. I guess you would call it “performance art,” and I don’t mean that to be an insult. As Enya plays, Willow prepares a bubble bath, then dumps red wine in, then a plate of spaghetti, then a toaster. It’s strange and funny and has a point of view. Ru goes absolutely gaga for it. If nothing else, Willow has our attention. After a solid Signature Show-stopping Drag runway, the judges give the win, rightfully, to Kornbread. Guest judge Lizzo makes a strong case to give Kornbread the win, even if some of the lyrics went over Michelle’s head. The win feels justified and earned. So, too, are our bottom two. Nothing against June Jambalaya nor Orion Story, but they were clearly this week’s weakest performers. June had that unfortunate headband issue during her dance, and, again, Michelle could see her undergarments through her runway. Orion’s character was more cringe than a Ché Diaz comedy concert. There’s been a lot of questionable judging across the greater RuPaul’s Drag Race Cinematic Universe lately, so to see a bottom two make clear sense in itself was comforting. They lip sync to Lizzo’s “Water Me,” and Orion does the absolute worst thing a drag queen can do to a Lizzo song, which is dance like a white guy. It just feels like awkward, middle school moves. Chet Haze vibes. It’s … not good. June takes a straightforward, passionate approach and easily performs circles around Orion. No surprises here, June gets the save, and Orion sashays away. We’ve still got seven queens to meet next week. Let’s see where the first batch stands in our rankings below. Leave your rankings in the comments! I’m all in on Kornbread. She’s giving me excellent talking head interview quips. She’s firing off one-liners in the workroom. She looks polished and beautiful. She’s got a sense of humor and a point of view. She came PREPAPRED (including a fully-produced new single). I can see Michelle’s point about wanting more height on her show-stopping runway, but it’s really a small quibble. All in all, a great intro.Kerri Colby‘s jump rope skills will only take her so far, so it’s a good thing she’s also gorgeous with a great sense of style. We got a tiny taste of her backstory while chatting with Ru, so we know there’s more to this queen than just a pretty face and banging bod. (Though that bod was definitely banging in that barely-there runway.)Bosco is bringing camp, fashion and a little spook to the competition. So far, she’s stayed in the Dita Von Teese/Bettie Page lane, but she’s doing it with a lot more polish than we’re used to from the alternative queens. The trick will be not to fall into the trap of being too one-note.Yes, Willow Pill‘s entrance look was very bad. Yes, she wore the precise, specific shade of green that makes Michelle Visage violently ill. No, the green latex did not even fit properly. And yet? None of it was bad enough to overpower her charming weirdness. I get what she was trying to do when she arrived, including the misspelled “angel”/”angle” and the full early-aughts Paris Hilton fantasy. But it was still basically a walking Forever 21 bargain bin. Ru clearly has a fondness for her, though, and that will take her far.I feel like there’s a lot more to June Jambalaya than we saw in this first episode. Hopefully she finds her footing (and some more subtle undergarments) for next week.I don’t want Alyssa Hunter to go home soon (if for no other reason than to look at that pretty face out of drag), but I have some concerns. She looked beautiful in both the talent show and the runway, but they both just felt like pretty clothes and not a performance. I want her to loosen up.It’s not that I think Orion Story’s signature show-stopping drag shouldn’t be a mushroom-themed ensemble with three prosthetic breasts — by all means — but if you’re going to do that you better make sure all three boobs are securely in place! Is that so much to ask? I could see the ends popping up on the left-most, and it was very distracting on the runway. It’s a point so small, it’s not even mentioned as one of this week’s deciding factors. She’s positioning herself as a comedian, but she ain’t funny. Her entrance catchphrase was another bomb. Although it may not be the end of her tale, this is the conclusion of this chapter of Orion’s RuPaul’s Drag Race story.What did you think of the premiere? Catch up on our RuPaul’s Drag Race coverage. View the full article