RadioRob

Published by BANG Showbiz English Corey Feldman’s prosthetic ear from ‘Stand By Me’ is set to go under the hammer. The 50-year-old actor’s character in the 1986 coming-of-age drama, Teddy Duchamp, had his ear burned off when his father shoved his head into a flaming hot stove as a child. And the rubber ear and an NFT digital art are set to be auctioned off in honour of the 35th anniversary of the flick. Corey said: “I don’t know what you’re going to do with the ear. “Wear it for Halloween, throw darts at it, use it as a coaster! The possibilities are limitless.” Movie fans who wish to own the unique piece of memorabilia will need to make their bids between October 31 and November 3. A replica of the ear and an NFT are also being sold for $12. More information can be found via www.cfnftnme.com/corey-ear. Meanwhile, Corey recently dashed hopes of a sequel to ‘The Goonies’. The screen legend starred in Richard Donner’s iconic 1985 adventure comedy flick but has given up hope of playing Clark ‘Mouth’ Devereaux again after being “let down” by plans for another movie. He said: “Well, Sean Astin and Josh Brolin want a sequel but you know. It’s one of those powers that be things. Every time I thought, ‘OK, it’s really gonna happen’, I’ve been let down and had my heartbroken.” The ‘Lost Boys’ star explained that he got his hopes up during the pandemic when the cast and crew reunited virtually and even claimed that screenwriter Chris Columbus had pledged to begin working on a new script that would revisit the treasure-hunting characters. Corey said: “I think I probably believed it the most over the pandemic. Because I thought, ‘OK it’s (‘The Goonies’) 35th anniversary, we did two reunions in one year, we went back and read the script together. “And Chris Columbus even said on the call with all of us, and in subsequent emails, ‘Guys I’m so inspired, I’m actually writing again. Like I’m gonna do this. We’re gonna do this. We’re doing this.’ And then, nothing.” View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Eleven Picasso paintings and other works that helped turn Las Vegas into an unlikely destination for art were sold at auction on Saturday for more than $100 million. The Sotheby’s auction was held at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, where the works had been on display for years, and took place two days before the 140th birthday of the Spanish artist on Oct. 25. Five of the paintings had hung on the walls of the Bellagio’s fine dining restaurant, Picasso. The restaurant will continue to display 12 other Picasso works. The highest price was fetched by the 1938 painting “Femme au beret rouge-orange” of Picasso’s lover and muse Marie-Therese Walter, which sold for $40.5 million, some $10 million over the high pre-sale estimate. The large-scale portraits “Homme et Enfant” and “Buste d’homme” sold for $24.4 million and $9.5 million respectively, while smaller works on ceramic, like “Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe” which sold for $2.1 million, went for three or four times their pre-sale estimate. The buyers’ names were not disclosed. Saturday’s sale was part of a bid by casino and hotel group MGM Resorts to further diversify its vast collection to include more art from women, people of color and emerging nations as well as from LGBTQ artists and artists with disabilities. American museums and art galleries have been working to broaden their collections in the wake of the widespread cultural reckoning in 2020 over racism at all levels of U.S. society. A 2019 Public Library of Science study of 18 leading U.S. museums found that 85% of the artists on display are white and 87% are men. The MGM Resorts Fine Arts Collection boasts about 900 works by 200 artists, including modern pieces by Bob Dylan and David Hockney. It was started more than 20 years ago by Steve Wynn, former owner of the Bellagio and former chief executive of Wynn Resorts. (Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) View the full article

Published by DPA Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (C) chairs the weekly Cabinet meeting. Bennett said that the meeting with the Russina President Vladimir Putin was very good and in-depth. Haim Zach/GPO/dpa Ahead of the upcoming COP26 world climate conference, the Israeli government on Sunday approved a comprehensive climate protection plan. The aim is to boost climate-friendly innovation, the development of technologies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and preparation for climate change, the office of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said. Israel wants to support the international fight against climate change through research and technological development, it added, with a focus on technologies in areas such as climate, energy, food, agriculture and water. Israel is considered a global pioneer in the field of high-tech and water management in particular. The Israeli news website ynet reported on Sunday that the plan contains 100 steps to combat climate change, involving 14 ministries and amounting to an overall 4.8 billion dollars. Among other things, the money is to be invested in organic waste treatment plants, more energy efficiency and a reduction of CO2 emissions in industry and municipalities, a switch to electric mobility for public transport and more bicycle paths. “The climate crisis is rightly one of the central issues on the global agenda,” Bennett said, according to his office. “This affects all of our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren.” Environment Minister Tamar Sandberg said the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) was a “catalyst” for the endorsement of the plan. The global talks, postponed from last year, are due to start at the end of the month. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) – Meghan Picerno was back at work after 18 months of pandemic limbo, overjoyed to be singing and dancing again with her “Phantom of the Opera” castmates as they rehearsed for the return of Broadway’s longest-running show. As the musical’s late October reopening neared, sometimes all Picerno could think about was making it to the first curtain call unscathed by the breakthrough COVID-19 cases that had sidelined vaccinated actors at other shows. Outside long days in a chilly mirror-lined rehearsal studio near New York City’s Times Square, Picerno had put herself back on what she called lockdown. “I’m a full-on monk now,” she said during a rushed lunch break between back-to-back run throughs. She knew her job came with risks of exposure. Playing the show’s heroine Christine required Picerno to kiss two co-stars daily and to sing full-throated love songs with them unmasked and at close range. “Hopefully, none of us have it, because if one of us have it, we all have it,” she said. The crowded Broadway theaters, vital to the city’s tourism industry, were the first places closed by the New York government as the coronavirus began to ravage the state. Word of the abrupt shuttering came during a “Phantom” matinee at the Majestic Theatre on March 12, 2020, as some cast and crew themselves were falling sick. Now, after an unprecedented shutdown, the theaters are among the last workplaces to reopen. Their return this fall is viewed as a test of the city’s efforts to restore some new sense of normalcy. Reuters watched as the “Phantom” company prepared for its return. The pandemic left unmistakable marks. Within a few weeks of the show going dark, COVID-19 had claimed the life of a beloved dresser, Jennifer Arnold, who had been with the show for more than three decades. After protests filled U.S. streets last year in outrage at the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer, newly unemployed Broadway workers pushed the industry to make overdue changes to increase racial diversity in theater companies. In August, “Phantom” producers announced they had cast the first-ever Black actor to play Christine since the show opened on Broadway in 1988. The actor, Emilie Kouatchou, would make her Broadway debut as an alternate for Picerno. For the returning cast, there were tweaks to lyrics and staging to learn, making it more straightforward to cast non-white actors in principal roles. The entire company was required to be vaccinated and twice a week went to get their noses swabbed at a nearby theater lobby repurposed as a temporary coronavirus testing site. Picerno said she was happy to embrace whatever was needed to get back on stage. In the dark days of 2020, living back in North Carolina with her parents and claiming unemployment benefits, she said she “almost felt like a failure.” She sang her part every day to keep it fresh in her mind until the singing made her too sad and she stopped. Emotion again overcame her on the first day reunited with her castmates in late September. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber had swung by the studio to deliver a pep talk to the cast before they sang through the familiar score. Picerno’s singing dissolved in tears during the love duet “All I Ask of You.” “Sing along! Help her!” the conductor urged the masked chorus, whose voices carried Picerno until she regained her composure. ‘THINK OF ME’ A few days later, the cast practiced dance steps in a mix of street clothes and the bulkier parts of their 19th-century-style costumes. Picerno drew a scarf through her fingers as she danced and sang “Think of Me” in her bell-like soprano. Off in a corner of the studio, Kouatchou silently mirrored Picerno’s every move. Kouatchou, the daughter of immigrants from Cameroon, grew up in the Chicago suburbs. “Phantom” was the first Broadway show she ever saw, on a trip to New York with her high school. She remembers being transfixed by Christine. “I could sing that role in my sleep,” she recalled thinking. Still, she worried about stereotyping, that some would see a mismatch in her voice, an operatic soprano, and her appearance, which was not the sort of “petite white girl” who seemed to always get cast as a show’s ingénue or heroine. “I didn’t feel like I had a place in musical theater because I didn’t see anyone who looked like me who sung like me,” she said. COVID-19 had both upended live theater and made space for progress. “The pandemic was terrible,” Kouatchou said. “But we wouldn’t be able to have conversations like this and change things like this if it hadn’t been for the pandemic.” Now, as the Phantom begins making his terrifying presence known in Act One, a frightened ballet dancer turns to the heroine and sings: “Christine, are you alright?” Before the pandemic and Kouatchou’s casting, the lyric had always been: “Your face, Christine, it’s white!” The old, creepy Christine doll that stood in the Phantom’s lair, her features unmistakably white, also was out. A new doll, designed to be racially ambiguous, would debut on reopening night. Later that week, Kouatchou got her first glimpse of one of the new Christine wigs designed to match her hair texture. “It’s curlier and frizzier and I love it,” Kouatchou said. ‘THE POINT OF NO RETURN’ On the first full day of stage rehearsals at the Majestic Theatre, members of the company waited to show vaccination proof in an alleyway lined with trash cans leading to the stage door. Backstage, masked dressers who help actors quickly change costumes in the darkness of the wings were testing alternatives to the bitelights they had gripped in their teeth pre-pandemic. They experimented with little lamps strapped to their foreheads or on gloves, hoping they wouldn’t confuse audiences by shooting out beams of light across the stage mid-show. From the orchestra seats, John Riddle, who plays the show’s hero Raoul, marveled at one of the dazzling spotlights high up in the proscenium. Its beam used to illuminate a “constant cloud of dust,” he said. “The fact that it’s clear now means something to me,” he said. “They say it’s the cleanest a Broadway theater has ever been.” Even so, there was worrying news from shows nearby. The Disney musical “Aladdin” was forced to close for two weeks soon after its September reopening because too many actors tested positive for the coronavirus. Maree Johnson, who plays the black-clad ballet mistress Madame Giry, said she was resigned to the likelihood that “Phantom” also would record breakthrough coronavirus cases. “It’s going to happen sooner or later,” she said. Nine days later, on Friday afternoon, Picerno was in her dressing room when she opened the email with results of her final coronavirus test ahead of reopening night. Relief washed over her. It was negative. That night, audience members dressed in evening gowns, bow ties and the occasional “Phantom”-style costume crowded the theater doors, fishing out proofs of vaccination. “Welcome back to Broadway!” chirped the newly hired COVID safety monitors who waved large signs saying “MASKS UP” at the audience inside. Backstage at the top of a staircase, a few members of the company had placed a vase of flowers and a photograph of Arnold, the dresser lost to COVID-19. Some of the cast and crew paused by the memorial before resuming the final minutes’ rush in nearby dressing rooms. The house lights dimmed, and the familiar descending chromatic chords of the “Phantom” theme surged from the orchestra pit. Picerno danced across the stage as Kouatchou watched from the audience, sometimes mimicking her hand gestures. The new Christine doll lurked in the Phantom’s lair, her face now silver. At the final curtain call, the audience roared with delight. Picerno ran to the front of the stage to take her bow, her face crumpled and shining with tears. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Diane Craft) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Donald Trump is not wasting time and going at it with Meghan McCain, spewing petty hate in response to her claims regarding his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The former View host called the two “funeral crashes” after they both attended her well-known father John McCain‘s funeral uninvited. MEGA After Trump caught wind, the former president labeled McCain as a “low life” and “bully” before also attacking the other hosts on The View by calling them “Slobs and Radical Left maniacs.” “Isn’t it funny that Meghan McCain, who has always been a bully and basically a lowlife, is now complaining that it was she who was bullied by the Slobs and Radical Left maniacs of The View?” he said in a statement. Trump also took the opportunity to take a jab at Meghan’s dad, a former United States senator who he claimed he was never a “fan.” “At the request of many of her representatives, I made it possible for her father to have the world’s longest funeral, designed and orchestrated by him, even though I was never, to put it mildly, a fan,” he added. “In any event, Meghan should fight the Communists instead of explaining how they beat her, hurt her, and made her physically ill. She should fight back against the losers ofThe View the way she fights against very good and well-meaning Republicans, and she would do herself a world of good. MEGA McCain responded to Trump’s attack by thanking him “for encouraging everyone to buy my Audible book Bad Republican where they can hear my story in my words.” The retaliation from Trump comes after the Daily Mail columnist recalled seeing Ivanka and Jared during her father’s service in an interview on Watch What Happens Live. She claimed the situation “angers” her. “I remember seeing them and seeing her [Ivanka] specifically,” Meghan told the host Andy Cohen. “they had no God-damn business being there, and it’s something that still angers me, clearly.” During the interview, she claimed that she was bullied out of her job on the primetime show blaming her co-workers. “Only one person was bullied out of their job and doesn’t work there anymore, and I think that really says it all,” she explained. As Radar previously reported, McCain announced her departure from The View in July after being a permanent co-host for four seasons. She reportedly “had enough” with the job after constantly getting into arguments with her other co-hosts, especially with her role as the only conservative voice on the panel. She reportedly had two more years left on her contract at the time of her exit. MEGA View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Ryan Gosling is set to star as Ken in the ‘Barbie’ movie. The 40-year-old actor is in talks to co-star with Margot Robbie, 31, in the live-action movie about Mattel, Inc’s iconic doll, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach have written the script for the Warner Bros movie, with Gerwig attached to direct. Robbie will produce the movie via her LuckyChap production company alongside her husband, LuckyChap’s Tom Ackerley. Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner and Paddington’s David Heyman will also produce. Ryan was previously offered the role during the summer but turned it down due to a scheduling conflict. However, due to a delay in filming, he is now free to take on the part. Margot previously vowed to give audiences “something totally different” to what they would expect from the famous Mattel doll. Margot said last year: “Something like Barbie where the IP, the name itself, people immediately have an idea of, ‘Oh Margot is playing Barbie, I know what that is’, but our goal is to be like, ‘Whatever you’re thinking, we’re going to give you something totally different – the thing you didn’t know you wanted.'” Margot’s producing partner Josey McNamara added that the acclaimed duo will help change viewers’ expectations of the project. He explained: “As Margot said, you think you know what the movie is with Margot as Barbie, but Greta and Noah have subverted it, and we can’t wait to get into that one.” The film centres on Barbie being expelled from Barbie Land for failing to live up to the expectations of its residents and Robbie hopes that it will put some “positivity out in the world”. She previously said: “I think it’s a great opportunity to put some positivity out in the world and a change to be aspirational for younger kids.” View the full article

Published by AFP John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in 1962 Washington (AFP) – The White House said Friday it would delay the release of long-classified documents related to the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. President Joe Biden wrote in a statement that the remaining files “shall be withheld from full public disclosure” until December 15 next year — nearly 60 years after Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, Texas in 1963. In 2018, former president Donald Trump released several thousand secret files on the assassination, but withheld others on national security grounds. The White House said the national archivist needs more time for a review into that redaction, which was slowed by the pandemic. Biden also said the delay was “necessary to protect against identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign relations” and that this “outweighs the public interest in immediate disclosure.” The assassination of the 46-year-old president was a “profound national tragedy” that “continues to resonate in American history and in the memories of so many Americans who were alive on that terrible day,” the statement said. A 10-month investigation led by then-Supreme Court chief justice Earl Warren concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine who had lived in the Soviet Union, acted alone when he fired on Kennedy’s motorcade. But the Commission’s investigation was criticised for being incomplete, with a Congressional committee later concluding that Kennedy was “probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.” US law requires that all government records on the assassination be disclosed “to enable the public to become fully informed.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By David Morgan and Jarrett Renshaw WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democrats are closing in on a deal on President Joe Biden’s social and climate-change agenda by narrowing their differences over healthcare and other issues, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after a White House meeting on Friday. “We had a very positive meeting this morning. I’m very optimistic,” Pelosi told reporters on her return to the Capitol. Democrats in the House, Senate and White House hope an agreement on a framework of $2 trillion or less will allow the House to move forward next week on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and set the stage for passage of Biden’s larger “Build Back Better” social package. Pelosi said there were only a few outstanding issues on the legislation’s healthcare provisions and that decisions also remained on which revenue provisions to include. “There are many decisions that have to be made, but more than 90% of everything is agreed to and written,” Pelosi said. “We’re narrowing the differences.” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, meanwhile, floated a “billionaires income tax” proposal that congressional sources said would apply to around 700 taxpayers and would raise hundreds of billions of dollars in fresh revenues to help offset the cost of the Biden plan. “The Billionaires Income Tax is about fairness and showing the American people taxes aren’t mandatory for them and optional for the wealthiest people in the country,” Wyden said in a statement. A source familiar with the White House’s thinking on the billionaires tax said: “The president is favorably disposed towards this tax, as well as a series of other options that would ensure the wealthy pay their fair share and make the price tag.” The plan aims to clamp down on some billionaires who find loopholes to avoid or significantly lower their tax payments. The congressional sources said the tax would apply to taxpayers with more than $1 billion in assets or over $100 million in income for three consecutive years. Wyden’s proposal aims to lure moderate Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema into supporting the legislation after balking at raising tax rates on the wealthy and corporations. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal sounded less optimistic about getting an agreement soon, after Biden said the social spending and climate change legislation was unlikely to include a higher U.S. corporate tax rate. Omitting the tax hike would require alternative revenue sources to pay for the legislation. “One of the complicating factors here is that if you take up some of these new revenue measures, they’re going to have to be vetted,” Neal, whose panel oversees tax policy, told reporters. “Right now, it’s hard to go back and revisit all of that.” The “Build Back Better” and infrastructure bills are at the heart of Biden’s domestic agenda and could provide signature legislation to bolster both his presidency and Democratic hopes of retaining control of the House and Senate in the 2022 elections. Democrats hold razor-thin majorities in both chambers. Biden, who took office nine months ago, said at a CNN town hall event in Baltimore on Thursday that he was close to striking a deal to pass both bills, after weeks of bickering among his fellow Democrats. “I do think I’ll get a deal,” the president said. Disagreements over the scale of the larger package have held up Biden’s domestic agenda, with progressive Democrats in the House refusing to vote for the infrastructure bill, which has already been passed by the Senate, until a deal is reached on social programs and climate change. Moderate Democrats, most notably Sinema and Senator Joe Manchin, had objected to the original $3.5 trillion price tag and some provisions of the latter bill. Republicans oppose the measure, but 19 in the Senate voted in support of the infrastructure legislation. (Reporting by David Morgan, Richard Cowan, Jarrett Renshaw and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Gabriella Borter RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday joins a roster of high-profile Democrats campaigning for Virginia governor candidate Terry McAuliffe, just days ahead of a tight, closely-watched election. Opinion polls show McAuliffe, who served as Virginia’s governor from 2014 to 2018, and Republican Glenn Youngkin nearly tied in the countdown to the Nov. 2 contest. The race is seen as a barometer of the country’s political direction after Joe Biden, a Democrat, won the presidency over Republican Donald Trump a year ago. A poll this week by Monmouth University https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_VA_102021 showed Youngkin, 54, had closed McAuliffe’s 5-point lead since September by gaining ground with independent and women voters. Youngkin’s strength in the polls during the first weeks of early voting has worried Democrats, who anticipated a comfortable lead in a state that has trended blue in recent years. Democrats flipped the Virginia legislature in 2019 and Trump lost the state by 10 percentage points in November 2020, double his margin of defeat in 2016. Obama, who served as president from 2008 to 2016, was due to speak at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond on Saturday afternoon, aiming to boost McAuliffe, 64, in the final leg of the race. Biden is slated to campaign with McAuliffe next week. In a television ad broadcast on Wednesday, Obama backed McAuliffe’s stances on climate change, abortion rights and voting rights. “I watched Terry stand strong on the values we all care about; protecting every citizen’s right to vote, fighting climate change and defending a woman’s right to choose,” Obama said of the former governor. The serving governor, Ralph Northam, a Democrat, cannot seek re-election because the state bars governors from serving consecutive terms. McAuliffe can run because he left office in 2018. Both candidates for governor have dug into hotly contested cultural issues to stir up voter engagement in the off-year election, including abortion rights and how schools address the topics of race and racism with students. McAuliffe has sought to paint Youngkin as a far-right extremist and align him with Trump, who has endorsed the Republican candidate. In turn, Youngkin has suggested that McAuliffe is trying to advance a far-left agenda. A former private equity executive, Youngkin has focused in part on education – especially the right of parents to have a say in their children’s schooling – which has proven popular with suburban women, a key demographic. Youngkin was kicking off a bus tour on Saturday in Henrico, Virginia, touting his agenda to build momentum in the final days of campaigning. He has walked a fine line between welcoming Trump’s endorsement and distancing himself from the former president’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Last week, Youngkin dissociated himself from a rally held to support him, which was headlined by longtime Trump aide Steve Bannon and Trump himself, who spoke by phone. At the event, attendees pledged allegiance to a flag that event leaders said was present on Jan. 6, when Trump supporters led an assault on the U.S. Capitol. Youngkin issued a statement saying it was “weird and wrong” to pledge allegiance to a flag with Jan. 6 connections. (Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis) View the full article

Published by DPA A bearded man takes part in the Beard Olympics stand pose at the Music Hall of the Pullman City during the Beard Olympics and German Beard Championships. Nicolas Armer/dpa Some 100 men sporting beards and moustaches took part in a contest in Germany on Saturday to find out who had the best whiskers. The competitors came from the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Israel as well as Germany to compete in at the Beard Olympics and the German Beard Championships, held in Eging am See, Lower Bavaria. They were competing in a range of categories from Dali to Muscateer, well as “natural,” for entrants who did not use styling products. A jury of seven trained hairdressers and barbers chose the best. “Beard care is actually the most important thing,” said Christian Feicht, President of the East Bavarian Beard and Moustache Club, which is hosting the competition. He said jurors would assess the mass of the beards presented, in terms of both density and length. “The more ‘material’ you have, the more you have to style,” said Feicht. While the Beard Olympics was open to all, those vying for the German championship needed to be residents, or at least members of a club. Feicht described the bearded rivals as having a “certain ambition and seriousness,” but said on the whole, the contest was a friendly event. Participants of the Beard Olympics stand pose at the Music Hall of the Pullman City during the Beard Olympics and German Beard Championships. Nicolas Armer/dpa View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Alicia Silverstone has been “banned” from a dating app. The 45-year-old actress – who was married to music star Christopher Jarecki between 2005 and 2018 – turned to a dating app in a bid to find love, but she has already been kicked off the platform twice. She explained: “A few years ago I tried to get on one of the dating apps and I put a fake profile, because I wasn’t comfortable yet being me. And then I got kicked off, I got banned. “And then I tried again, I got the courage up because I heard that [Drew Barrymore was] on, and I heard that Sharon Stone was on, so I was like, ‘Well, if they can be on, I can be on’. So I went on as myself and it took a lot of courage to do it. “And then I did it and I had a date with someone planned and the day I went in to find out about the date where we were meeting or whatever, I had been banned. Poor guy. “I got kicked off as myself too.” Despite the setback, Alicia remains keen to find love. But the Hollywood star – who has a ten-year-old son called Bear with her ex-husband – knows that finding the perfect partner won’t be easy. Speaking about her approach, she told ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’: “I try to be open because I also know there are some people who are younger who are really deeply evolved and have done so much work on themselves and are present and connected and they’re way more mature than the 50-year-old.” Last year, Alicia revealed she was looking for “someone solid”. She said: “I think the main thing is wanting someone that’s really happy in their skin most of the time … someone solid.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Rich McKay (Reuters) – A Georgia court struggled this week to seat jurors in the trial of three white men accused of murdering Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, underscoring the challenge of finding people who have not formed firm opinions based on a viral video of the shooting. “I saw the news footage and I saw the video footage of the crime, and I’ve already formed a guilty opinion of the crime,” one woman told the court earlier this week. Arbery’s killing just outside the coastal city of Brunswick, Georgia, in February 2020 stoked national outrage and protests after the cellphone video taken by one of the three defendants went viral. Defense lawyers and prosecutors say they are not looking for jurors who have not seen the video or don’t know about the case. Rather, they are trying to determine whether potential jurors can set aside any opinions they have and make a decision based on evidence presented to the court. Former policeman Gregory McMichael, 65; his son Travis McMichael, 35; and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, face charges of murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment. If convicted on all charges, they could draw a maximum sentence of life in prison. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley told prosecutors and defense attorneys to speed things up. “I am not comfortable with this,” he said of the pace on the first day of jury selection on Monday. As of late Thursday night, out of 80 Glynn County residents interviewed, only 23 residents had been prequalified for a group of 64, from which the ultimate 12 jurors and four alternates will be selected to hear the case. Walsley said on Thursday that selection could take well into next week or possibly the week after. The court was not in session on Friday; jury selection is slated to resume on Monday. CITIZEN’S ARREST DEFENSE Defense attorneys have said in interviews that they plan to base their case largely on a now-defunct version of a “citizen’s arrest” law that allows people in the state to detain someone they suspect of a crime. The three defendants told police they thought Arbery was a burglar and the shooting was in self-defense after Arbery grappled with a shotgun leveled by Travis McMichael. Arbery, an avid runner and former high school football star, was shot three times and fell on the street in the suburban neighborhood. One potential juror was dismissed because he watched the video more than six times and told the court he thought the men were “guilty. They killed him. They did it as a team.” Another said, “The only time I’ve heard of citizen’s arrest is in ‘The Andy Griffith show’,” the 1960s TV comedy about a small-town sheriff. The man added that he would listen to both sides in the case. “Everyone deserves their day in court. It’s the foundation of our country, it’s the rule of law.” Of the 80 people brought to court through Thursday, a few said they had seen only clips from the video, and only two people told the court they hadn’t seen it. “I didn’t want to see somebody killed,” said one man in his 70s. Chris Slobogin, a Vanderbilt University law professor, said picking fair juries is harder in the days of cellphones and social media. “I mean, everyone’s seen this video,” he said. “I believe the judge will eventually find 12 jurors, but the work is to figure out if a person is being forthright when they say they can set aside what they saw.” A nurse told the court that she had thought hard about whether she could be a fair, impartial juror and “prayed about it.” “I feel firmly that I could do that,” she said. Another potential juror, a retired auto shop owner, said it would be hard to disregard the video. “Some things you just can’t unsee,” he said. (Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Andrew Chung (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a challenge by President Joe Biden’s administration and abortion providers to a restrictive Texas law that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, and set the date for arguments in the case for Nov. 1. The justices, however, deferred a decision on a request by the administration to block the law while the litigation continues, prompting a dissent from liberal Justice Sotomayor. The Texas measure, one of a series of restrictive Republican-backed abortion laws passed at the state level in recent years, bans the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy, a point when many women do not yet realize they are pregnant. It makes an exception for a documented medical emergency but not for cases of rape or incest. The Supreme Court already is set to consider another major abortion case on Dec. 1 in a dispute centering on Mississippi’s law banning abortions starting at 15 weeks of pregnancy. In that case, Mississippi has asked the justices to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. A ruling is due by the end of June 2022. The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, previously allowed the Texas law to be enforced in the challenge brought by abortion providers. In that 5-4 decision on Sept. 1, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts expressed skepticism about how the law is enforced and joined the three liberal justices in dissent. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Medha Singh and Sinéad Carew (Reuters) – Shares of the blank-check acquisition company that plans to publicly list former U.S. President Donald Trump’s new social media venture soared again on Friday, with trading halted multiple times due to volatility. Digital World Acquisition stock was last up 138.5% at $108.52 after earlier hitting a high of $175. The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Digital World had soared more than 300% on Thursday, giving it a market capitalization of almost $1.5 billion on news it would merge with Trump’s media company to create a social media app called TRUTH Social. Its recent trading was reminiscent of the meme stock frenzy earlier this year, when an army of retail investors coordinated on online forums to drive shares of GameStop Corp, AMC Entertainment Holdings and other stocks. “This feels like a meme stock. This looks like AMC and GameStop all over again,” said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey. Data from brokerage Fidelity showed Digital World was the most traded stock on its platform on Thursday. It was also the most discussed stock on trading-focused social media site Stocktwits, a platform commonly seen as a measure of interest from retail investors. Message volumes on Stocktwits related to the SPAC were up more than 9,000%. “No matter your politics this stock will rip … I’ll start my pick up at a meager 100 shares and then add to my position on dips,” a Reddit user wrote. Social media giants suspended Trump’s accounts after his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. In a press release announcing the deal, Trump said, “I’m excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech.” With almost 500 million shares changing hands on Thursday, Digital World topped GameStop trading volume of 197 million at the peak of the meme stock frenzy in January. The stock had already traded more than 77 million shares by noon on Friday, surpassing the free float of 22.8 million shares, based on Refinitiv data. “There’s a tremendous amount of Trump supporters in the country who are going to just clamor to get some exposure to Donald Trump in whatever way they can,” said Eric Diton, managing director of investment advisory firm The Wealth Alliance. The shares of at least one other company linked to the former president also saw eye-watering gains Phunware Inc, a software company hired by Trump’s 2020 Presidential reelection campaign to build a phone app, saw its share price rise as much as 1,471% on Friday. It last traded up around 616% at around $10.99. Hedge funds that invested in Digital World are set to make five times their investment, regulatory filings showed, while Patrick Orlando, who backs the SPAC, is likely to see a $420 million windfall from the surge in shares. But not all were buyers. Hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein said that he sold his firm Saba Capital Management’s holdings in Digital World Acquisition Corp. early Thursday as news emerged that it was merging with Trump’s new media venture. “I knew that for Saba the right thing was to sell our entire stake of unrestricted shares, which we have now done,” Weinstein said in a statement. “Many investors are grappling with hard questions about how to incorporate their values into their work. For us, this was not a close call,” the statement continued. (Reporting by Medha Singh, Sruthi Shankar and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Philippa Fletcher) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Jan Wolfe and Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. judge will consider on Nov. 4 former President Donald Trump’s claim of executive privilege in response to a document request from a congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. Trump on Monday sued the Jan. 6 Select Committee, alleging members made an illegal request for his White House records as part of their investigation. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Trump asserted that materials sought by the House of Representatives committee are covered by a legal doctrine known as executive privilege, which protects the confidentiality of some White House communications. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who was designated by random assignment to hear the lawsuit, on Friday signed off an agreement by Trump and the committee to expedite the case for a Nov. 4 oral argument. (Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Doina Chiacu; editing by Philippa Fletcher) View the full article

Adele thinks and talks and is more at ease than anyone doing these 73 questions Vogue thing. [This post contains video, click to play] Published by BANG Showbiz English Adele has quipped that she looks like a “bald eagle” when she’s not glammed up on stage. The ‘Easy On Me’ hitmaker – who has just returned with her first new music in six years in the form of the piano ballad from her upcoming LP, ’30’ – has admitted she’s never been a fan of being in the spotlight, but the LA-based singer insisted she is able to go largely unnoticed out and about because she dresses down in her day-to-day life. Taking part in Vogue’s 73 questions video series from her abode in La La Land, she said when asked about fame: “I don’t love it. “But ever since ’21’ came out, my hair gets bigger, my make-up gets thicker, my dresses get bigger so that I practically look like a bald eagle or something like that in day-to-day life.” The 33-year-old pop superstar also revealed the product she uses to get her signature winged eyeliner look is by Path McGrath Labs, while she opted for heels over sliders, and named Hollywood star Cate Blanchett, 52, as her fashion idol. Meanwhile, the ‘Hello’ singer recently revealed her son “doesn’t care” about her fame. Angelo, nine – who she has with ex-husband Simon Konecki – isn’t “really aware” of just how big a name she is across the world because he isn’t impressed that she doesn’t have as many followers on YouTube as his favourite gamers. She said: “He’s into like gamers, like he likes Flamingo and all them lot, like I mean yeah he ain’t bothered by me at all. “He does not care at all. He is like, ‘You’re so busy all the time now’, like blah-blah. But no he doesn’t care and he’s always comparing. “The other day he was telling me how many YouTube followers I have is nowhere near as many as the big gamers. I was like, ‘Okay cheers kid, thanks for that.’ Again no he’s not really aware of it yet.” Although the ‘When We Were Young’ hitmaker is planning to take Angelo to work with her, she still doesn’t think he’ll be impressed. She added: “He’s coming to a couple of, sort of work things that I have coming up and we’ll see, but I’m sure he’ll just be like, ‘Well I think Flamingo will have done it like this or like that.’ “Like, yeah but he’s great, he’s a lot of fun, he’s a very lovely, lovely little boy.” Adele Thinks on Towleroad Factbox-Five facts about Alec Baldwin: More Background On This Story More ‘Madonna’s Kids ‘Cringe’ Seeing Mom Dressing Provocatively At 63, Plan to Intervene to Protect ‘Her Legacy” True or Played by Madonna? More Donald Trump wanted to join Dynasty, says Dame Joan Collins More Sir Elton John: My 50s upbringing gave me self-esteem issues More U.S. CDC signs off on Moderna, J&J COVID-19 vaccine boosters, mix-and-match shots More Alec Baldwin shoots prop gun on movie set, killing cinematographer More Biden backs down on corporate tax hikes, open to altering filibuster More Netflix Protest Driven As Much By Chappelle Content As By CEO Fumbling Trans Efforts To Save Netflix From Itself More Trump Lies Introducing His New Social Platform ‘TRUTH’: Says He’s Your Favorite President; Will Compete With Amazon; And More More Madonna has ‘almost finished’ writing biopic screenplay More New York lawyers plead guilty in Molotov cocktail case More Load More View the full article

Published by Reuters (Reuters) – American actor, writer and film producer Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer and wounded a director when he discharged a prop gun on the sets of the movie “Rust” in New Mexico on Thursday, authorities said. Here are five facts about Baldwin: CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Alexander Rae Baldwin III, the eldest of four actor brothers, first came into prominence in the 1980s in CBS’ primetime soap “Knots Landing”. He has starred in numerous films and TV shows, gaining awards and recognition, including as Jack Donaghy in NBC sitcom “30 Rock” and salesman Blake in “Glengarry Glen Ross”, the screen adaptation of David Mamet’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning play. He won two Emmys for 30 Rock. HOW DID TRUMP HELP HIS CAREER? Now 63, Baldwin made a major push towards a career in comedy when he took over as Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live” ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. His impersonations of Trump on the NBC show earned him a big fan following, and also scorn from the former U.S. president. Baldwin has acknowledged that the show helped revive his “dead” comedy career. It also brought him his third Emmy. HOW WAS HE CONTROVERSIAL? Baldwin has at times been portrayed by some U.S. media as hot-headed and offensive. His late night talk show “Up Late with Alec Baldwin” was axed in 2013 after he apologised for comments that a gay rights group described as homophobic. The actor has had run-ins with the law too. He was charged in 2018 after a fight over a New York parking spot. And in 2014, he was given a summons for disorderly conduct after an argument with police who stopped him from riding his bike down a one-way street in New York. THE NIXON CONNECTION President Richard Nixon wrote a letter to Baldwin after he lost his bid to become George Washington University student body president. WHAT ABOUT HIS PERSONAL LIFE? Baldwin was married to actor Kim Basinger for nine years, and they were involved in a bitter and protracted court battle before divorcing in 2002. In 2012, Baldwin married yoga teacher Hilaria Thomas, who is 26 years his junior. He has seven children. (Compiled by Murali Anantharaman; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) View the full article

That’s according to OK! magazine. (below) Who knows? We have some confidence in her ability to read the crowd. But Madonna’s kids weren’t here for her heyday, but still, did anyone expect Madonna to stop dressing in ultra-risqué getups, dishing on her sex life and making boundary-pushing appearances just because she’s 63? Something of a rorshach test… — ed [This post contains video, click to play] Artists are here to disturb the peace. Published by OK Magazine Did anyone expect Madonna to stop dressing in ultra-risqué getups, dishing on her sex life and making boundary-pushing appearances just because she’s 63? Well, her kids did! A source tells OK! the eldest of the Queen of Pop’s six children, Lourdes Leon, 24, and Rocco Ritchie, 21, have become increasingly mortified by their mom’s recent antics. (Madonna is also Mom to David Banda, 15, as well as 8-year-old twins Stelle and Estere Ciccone.) MEGA “They can’t understand why [her behavior] needs to be so hyper and gratuitous,” dishes the source. MADONNA CELEBRATES 63RD BIRTHDAY WITH BEAU AHLAMALIK WILLIAMS, SHARES LOVED-UP SNAPS OF THE COUPLE FLAUNTING THEIR ROMANCE “She’s constantly looking for ways to push the envelope, and the kids worry among themselves about where it’s all going to end,” continues the source. At the peak of her fame in the ‘90s, Madonna was known for her provocative persona, from her controversially erotic Sex Book and Truth or Dare documentary to her aggressively awkward, expletive-ladden appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Three decades later, she’s still at it. In her new concert documentary, Madame X, the pop icon — who’s been dating backup dancer Ahlamalik Williams, 27, for the past three years — spills about sexual escapades and masturbation onstage and admits that her goal as an artist is to “disturb the peace.” MEGA She showed up to the film’s September premiere in an eyebrow-raising bustier look, topped by an F-bomb tiara, and made another jaw-dropping appearance on late-night TV, in which she crawled across host Jimmy Fallon’s desk and flashed her rear to the audience. THE ULTIMATE MATERIAL GIRL: WATCH HOW MADONNA ROSE TO STARDOM WITH PROVOCATIVE VIDEOS AND STUNNING STAMINA Madonna’s children love and respect her, “but it makes them cringe to see her writhing around naked and making a fool of herself,” says the source, explaining that Lourdes and Rocco have “struggled for years” with her attention-seeking behavior. “Madonna thinks she’s being hip and irreverent and still gets this huge kick out of shocking people, but it’s reaching a boiling point,” continues the source. MEGA “[The siblings] plan to sit their mom down and tell her she needs a reset before she winds up imploding and ruining her legacy,” concludes the insider. Madonna’s Kids on Towleroad Donald Trump wanted to join Dynasty, says Dame Joan Collins More Sir Elton John: My 50s upbringing gave me self-esteem issues More U.S. CDC signs off on Moderna, J&J COVID-19 vaccine boosters, mix-and-match shots More Alec Baldwin fires prop gun on movie set, killing cinematographer More Biden backs down on corporate tax hikes, open to altering filibuster More Netflix Protest Driven As Much By Chappelle Content As By CEO Fumbling Trans Efforts To Save Netflix From Itself More Trump Lies Introducing His New Social Platform ‘TRUTH’: Says He’s Your Favorite President; Will Compete With Amazon; And More More Madonna has ‘almost finished’ writing biopic screenplay More New York lawyers plead guilty in Molotov cocktail case More Jamie Lee Curtis Was Surprised, But Looking Back Now Sees Signs Her Daughter With Christopher Guest Was Trans More Tan France owns over 50 coats More Load More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Donald Trump was desperate to star in ‘Dynasty’, according to Dame Joan Collins. The 88-year-old actress starred as Alexis Colby in the hit TV series, and she’s revealed that the former US President did everything he could to join the cast. She told ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’: “He pretended to be [taken with me] – I don’t think he was. “I was a great friend of [his ex-wife] Ivana’s. Then he called up one of the producers from ‘Dynasty’ and said, ‘I want to be in ‘Dynasty’.’ He said, ‘I’m sorry we’re all cast.’ Trump said, ‘But, I am ‘Dynasty’!’ And he said, ‘No you’re not. We have all these other people.’ “Trump said, ‘Look, I’d be great to play one of Alexis’s lovers.’ He said, ‘I think those parts – there was a few! – have been cast.’ A few weeks later, [the producer] spread this story around Hollywood, he [Trump] denied it. Trump said, ‘I would not want to be Joan Collins’ lover on or off screen.’ Which I thought was rather rude!” Joan starred on the hit show between 1981 and 1989, and previously admitted to loving the role. The actress also confessed to knowing nothing about the soap before the idea was put to her. She shared: “First of all, I’d never heard of it. “My agent said, ‘They want you to be in ‘Dynasty’,’ and I said, ‘What is that, a Chinese restaurant?’ But I loved the role. “One of the only things that upset me about playing Alexis is that so many people thought that I was just like that. Even some of the cast would say, ‘Oh, my God – that sounds so real. Did you really mean it when you yelled at me like that?’ I said, ‘No, darling. It’s called acting.'” ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’ airs on Saturday (23.10.21) at 9.30pm on ITV and ITV Hub. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Sir Elton John had no self-esteem as an adult because of the way he was treated as a child in the 1950s. The 74-year-old pop legend – who was born in 1947 – has opened up about what it was like to grow up in England during that decade at a time when schools still used corporal punishment to discipline pupils. He said: “The self-loathing, not having any self-esteem, that all comes from when I was a kid. That’s the way it was in the 50s – you got slapped round the face, you got a good hiding. ‘It was bloody good for you’ – it wasn’t good for me. It left me walking on eggshells.” The ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ singer later struggled with addiction as he was topping the charts around the world with his music, but he has admitted he was too afraid to open up about his trauma and the reasons for his substance abuse until getting sober. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, he shared: “All my life, until I became sober, I was afraid of talking to anybody. They asked me when I went to treatment how I felt and I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t feel anything.’ I came to defrost, as it were, and discovered I did have feelings, and they went back a long time. And I think it stays with you for the whole of your life … I just have terrible feelings about myself; I feel bad about myself sometimes.” Elton later spoke of how he has used his life experiences to reach out and help fellow pop star Olly Alexander, who he performed ‘It’s a Sin’ with at the 2021 BRIT Awards. The ‘Starstruck’ singer – AKA Years & Years – was enduring a period of depression when Elton came to his aid. Elton said: “Olly [Alexander] was down in the dumps recently, and I just said, ‘Go out, have fun! Sit there alone, and that ball comes down like in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ – an avalanche of bad feeling.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Manas Mishra and Julie Steenhuysen (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday recommended the COVID-19 vaccine boosters for recipients of the Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson shots, and said Americans can choose a different shot from their original inoculation as a booster. CDC director Rochelle Walensky signed off on the recommendations late on Thursday, aligning the agency with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authorization on Wednesday for the additional boosters and “mix-and-match” dosing. Walensky said that vaccines authorized in the United States “are all highly effective in reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even in the midst of the widely circulating Delta variant” of the coronavirus. A panel of advisers to the CDC had unanimously backed COVID-19 vaccine boosters earlier on Thursday. Still, health officials and public health experts said the booster rollout could be confusing. The panel struggled with trying to make the language of its recommendations as clear as possible, and also offer flexibility for patients to get a vaccine of their choice. “A really important aspect of all of this is being clear and not dancing on the head of a pin, so that we don’t further confuse the American people,” said Dr. Beth Bell, a panel member and clinical professor in the department of global health at the University of Washington in Seattle. The recommendations also open the door for recipients of the one-shot J&J vaccine to get a dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines that have been shown to afford greater protection in a variety of studies. Although these vaccines have been highly effective in preventing serious illness and death, some government scientists have suggested that boosters are needed to keep immunity high, especially as the extremely contagious Delta variant can cause breakthrough infections among some who are fully vaccinated. ACIP voted to recommend booster doses for everyone 18 and older who received a first dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine at least two months earlier. For those who received their second dose of Moderna’s vaccine at least six months earlier, ACIP recommended a third shot for those age 65 and over, as well as some individuals at risk or severe illness and those at high risk of exposure to the virus through their jobs. Dr. Helen Talbot, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University and a panel member, said she voted for the recommendation, but cautioned, “Moderna has very good vaccine efficacy. There will be some confusion with the higher versus lower dose.” Booster doses of the Moderna vaccine will be 50 micrograms, half the strength of the original shots. “Those not at high risk should be really thoughtful about getting the higher dose. I do think we need to be very aware of potential complications.” Experts said communicating those risks could be an issue, especially given the flexibility of allowing people to choose a different vaccine from their original series. “At the end of the day, even that phrase ‘mix and match’ pretty much gives people the latitude to … do pretty much anything,” Glen Nowak, a risk communication professor at the University of Georgia and former communications director for CDC’s National Immunization Program said after the meeting. “I think that’s going to be an issue.” The FDA and CDC previously signed off on booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE for the same groups included in the Moderna recommendations. Pfizer released data on Thursday suggesting that a booster dose was highly protective for those age 16 and older compared with protection nearly a year after receiving the two-dose regimen due to waning efficacy over time. About 11.6 million people have so far received a booster dose, according to data from the CDC. The FDA and CDC have been under pressure to authorize the additional shots after the White House announced plans in August for a widespread booster campaign. Other countries such as Israel have begun offering boosters to a broad population, but it is not yet known whether the United States will follow suit. (Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Additional reporting by Ann Maria Shibu; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Grant McCool) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Bhargav Acharya and Alexandra Ulmer (Reuters) -Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer and wounded a director when he discharged a prop gun on a movie set in New Mexico on Thursday, authorities said. Baldwin shot Halyna Hutchins, the photography director of “Rust”, and Joel Souza, the film’s director, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, a production location south of Santa Fe, according to the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department. Hutchins was transported by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Souza was taken by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical center to undergo treatment for his injuries. The severity of his injuries could not immediately be determined. Actress Frances Fisher said on Twitter that “Souza texted me that he’s out of hospital.” Asked whether Souza had been discharged, medical center spokesperson Arturo Delgado said he was not allowed to release information about patients. The Sheriff’s office said that no charges have been filed and they are investigating the shooting and interviewing witnesses. “The investigation remains open and active,” the Sherrif’s office said in a statement. Entertainment news site Deadline https://deadline.com/2021/10/female-crewmember-dies-on-new-mexico-set-of-alec-baldwin-film-rust-1234860416 cited a source in the Sheriff’s office as saying that Baldwin was questioned by investigators and later released. Baldwin went to the sheriff’s office willingly and provided a statement to investigators, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported, citing spokesperson Juan Rios. Deputies were still trying to determine whether what happened was an accident, the newspaper added. Rios did not immediately respond to requests for information from Reuters. Baldwin’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Earlier on Thursday, news magazine People reported that a spokesperson for Baldwin had said there was an “accident” involving the “misfire of a prop gun with blanks.” Baldwin was seen “distraught and in tears” as he spoke on the phone outside the sheriff’s office headquarters on Thursday, the Santa Fe New Mexican wrote. Baldwin, 63, is a co-producer of “Rust”, a Western movie set in 1880s Kansas, and plays the eponymous character who is an outlaw grandfather of a 13-year-old boy convicted of an accidental killing. Production of the film had been halted for an “undetermined period,” several news outlets quoted the film’s production company, Rust Movie Productions LLC, as saying. An e-mail to an address for the film production, which was listed on a New Mexico government statement, went unanswered. The shooting evoked memories of an on-set accident in 1993 when U.S. actor Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, died aged 28 after being fatally wounded by a prop gun filming “The Crow”. “Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on ‘Rust’. No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period,” said a tweet https://bit.ly/3jsrSMV from Lee’s account, which is handled by his sister. UKRAINIAN ORIGINS Earlier on Thursday, Baldwin posted a picture of himself on Instagram sporting a grey beard and dressed in Western cowboy-style attire in front of trailers. He appeared to have a fake blood stain on his shirt and jacket. “Back to in person at the office. Blimey … it’s exhausting,” he wrote. The post was deleted late on Thursday night. Known for his impersonations of former U.S. President Donald Trump on NBC’s comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live,” Baldwin has a long history in film and television, including roles in “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “30 Rock.” Baldwin was charged in 2018 after a fight over a New York parking spot. He pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment and agreed to participate in an anger management program. In 2014, he was given a summons for disorderly conduct after an argument with police who stopped him from riding his bike down a one-way street in New York. And in 2011, he was thrown off a plane for refusing to stop playing the game “Words with Friends” before take-off. Hutchins, 42, who was originally from Ukraine and grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle, once worked as an investigative reporter in Europe, according to her website. She graduated from the American Film Institute in 2015 and was selected as one of American Cinematographer’s Rising Stars of 2019, according to her website biography http://www.halynahutchinsdp.com/bio. She described herself as a “Restless Dreamer” and an “Adrenaline junkie” on her Instagram page. Her last post, two days ago, shows her grinning under a wide-brimmed hat as she rides a horse. “One of the perks of shooting a western is you get to ride horses on your day off:)” she captioned the video. April Wright, a writer, director and producer, paid tribute to her on Facebook. “I’m in disbelief,” wrote Wright. “So young, vibrant, and talented. Such a wonderful soul. My heart goes out to her son and family.” Representatives for Hutchins did not immediately respond to a request for information about her death. Souza, 48, lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two children, according to the IMDB website. His LinkedIn page credits him as the “writer/director” of action film Crown Vic and comedy Christmas Trade. “This is still an active investigation and we do not yet have all the facts,” said SAG-AFTRA, which describes itself as the world’s biggest labor union representing performers and broadcasters. “We will continue to work with production, the other unions, and the authorities to investigate this incident and to understand how to prevent such a thing from happening again.” (Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru and Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco; Editing by Karishma Singh, Noeleen Walder, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Mike Collett-White) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose BALTIMORE (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday backed away from pledged tax increases to fund planned infrastructure and social spending, and also said he was open to reforming Senate voting rights by “fundamentally altering” its filibuster custom https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-us-senate-filibuster-why-is-everyone-talking-about-it-2021-10-06. In a wide-ranging CNN town hall in Baltimore, Biden said he was close to striking a deal to pass major spending measures after weeks of intraparty bickering among his fellow Democrats. However, he said that raising corporate tax rates, one of his most oft-cited promises, was unlikely to be part https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-tells-democrats-corporate-tax-hike-unlikely-congressional-source-2021-10-20 of the legislation. A separate minimum corporate tax proposal could fund the social programs that are at the heart of his domestic agenda, Biden said. When asked about voting rights, Biden expressed support for changing the Senate filibuster tradition, which requires 60 of 100 U.S. senators to agree on most legislation. That hurdle has left the Democratic party powerless on key social issues given their narrow majority. It “remains to be seen” whether he planned to do away with the filibuster altogether, Biden added. Taxes were a central issue in Biden’s social spending plan, which is the subject of pitched debate on Capitol Hill and in the White House as negotiators look for the sweet spot between progressives wanting an array of new programs and moderates worried about the cost. The tax compromise could help sell the plan to Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who has expressed concern about Biden’s plan to raise corporate taxes after the Trump administration slashed them from 35% to 21% in 2017. Sinema and Senator Joe Manchin, both moderate Democrats, have been pushing for a smaller package and have opposed some elements of the bill. Negotiations now center around four or five issues, Biden said. He later said a clean energy performance plan has not been dropped, adding that Sinema is “very supportive” of his environmental agenda. Biden struck a confident note on his $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal and a separate, social spending plan expected to cost under $2 trillion. When asked whether Democrats were close to a deal, Biden said: “I think so.” Later, he added: “If we can’t eventually unite this country, we’re in deep trouble. … I do think I’ll get a deal.” FILIBUSTER UNDER FIRE When asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper whether he would consider “fundamentally altering” the filibuster to ensure voting rights reform is passed, Biden said: “And maybe more.” Biden spent 36 years in the Senate and had previously said he opposed changes to the filibuster tradition but earlier this month said he was open to a one-time change when faced with the risk of the federal government defaulting on its debt. Some Senate Democrats this year have suggested changing the rule in the face of Republican opposition in the narrowly-divided chamber. “Their agenda right now is just stop Biden,” the president said. On the spending bill, Biden said he could use tax incentives instead of an electric grid proposal to reach climate goals. Manchin, Biden added, is open to such incentives. Biden said “it would be a reach” for his spending bill to include provisions that help with hearing aids, dental and vision benefits together. Pressed about the importance of education, Biden said he still expected free community college, which was scrapped https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-infrastructure-democrats-idUSKBN2HB23B from the spending package, in the next several years. Cooper asked the president how his wife, Jill Biden, a community college professor, had reacted to the measure being dropped from his social spending initiative. “Well, the White House has a lot of bedrooms,” Biden joked. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Nandita Bose and Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Chris Gallagher and Mohammed Zargham; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer;Editing by Peter Cooney, Sandra Maler, Noeleen Walder and Jane Wardell) View the full article

Netflix protestTeam Trans Takes On Netflix Protest A few hundred protested outside the Netflix Los Angeles Office Wednesday afternoon demanding the platform restrict, label or remove the most recent Dave Chappelle special “The Closer” that premiered October 5th; They demanded the company acknowledge the insult and injury, apologize, and meet demands to transform the creative review process at Netflix into a more transparent and more equitable one. The action, led by activist Ashlee Marie Preston, coincided with a virtual walkout by trans and allied Netflix employees. Dubbing themselves Team Trans, the gathered group called on Netflix, and Sarandos specifically, to listen to their list of “firm asks.” Those asks call on Netflix to revise its processes for reviewing potentially harmful content, create a fund for trans and nonbinary talent at all levels of the company, place disclaimers on programs that include transphobic content, increase the trans employee resource group’s role in discussing potentially harmful content, recruit trans and trans BIPOC individuals for executive-level roles and acknowledge Netflix’s role in the harm “The Closer” and other content has caused to the trans community, especially the Black trans and LGBTQ communities. The 4 Netflix Rationalizations of the Chappocalypse: “Creative Freedom”, “Dilution”, “Not For You”, and “Doesn’t Hurt” The protests were driven certainly by the content of the show, but more so by the basic errors by management of Netflix in responding to employee concerns and insights sent initially out of concern for the company’s reputation as well as on behalf of trans and LGBTQ employees and communities. While it was a few trans Netflix employees that initiated and were part of planning the protest, it’s not known how many of the 10,000 employees globally — 3,000 in Los Angeles — attended, shared concerns with management internally, or participated in other walk outs and stoppages. How did things come to this? it was as much the multiple fumbled attempts by senior Netflix management to tamp down and appease dissent over the past weeks that multiplied interest in and intensity of the protest. Internal memos leaked all week with the lead executive for content, Ted Sarandos, repeatedly maintaining the line that he couldn’t and wouldn’t touch or apologize for Chappelle’s casually violent and transphobic material. And then there was the unchallenged Chappelle support of the marginal TERF movement that does not recognize trans people as possible identities and say the experience is pathology. Until Yesterday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos consistently defended Netflix’s decision to keep the Chappelle special on its platform, citing the company’s commitment to “creative freedom” in multiple internal communications. He made the case that the range of positive queer content on Netflix somehow diluted and inoculated them against criticism; the case that the company serves so many diverse senses of humor in the world that anyone concerned about anything just needs to write it off as something that’s not for them on Netflix. Sarandos also stated that he believed the special “doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.” Netflix Protest: Previously on Towleroad Strong Netflix Protest Driven As Much By Chappelle Content As By Management Fumbling Trans Efforts To Save Netflix From Itself Brian Bell October 21, 2021 Read More Tom Hardy on ‘Venom’ As LGBTQ Icon; Takei Rips Dean Cain’s Super Bi-Panic: Co-CEO Repeats At Netflix Trans Lives Don’t Matter As Much As Ratings; Brian Bell October 16, 2021 Read More New Dave Chappelle Netflix Special ‘The Closer’ Causing Internal Rift at Company; Trans Employee Suspended After Public Criticism of Transphobic Content (Update) Brian Bell October 12, 2021 Read More Notorious Founders Of ‘Conversion Therapy’ Group Exodus Never Did ‘Pray Away’ the Gay; Come Out Again, Slam Similar Programs in Netflix Doc Brian Bell July 13, 2021 Read More Robin Wright Says She and Spacey Could ‘improvise and laugh our asses off, but I Didn’t Know The Man’; Scandal won’t Hurt ‘Cards’ Legacy Towleroad May 28, 2021 Read More Charlize Theron Says Idea For ‘Die Hard’ Reboot With Lesbian ‘on a rampage to save her wife’ is ‘brilliant’; Teams to Produce Surfer Equality Netflix Project Towleroad May 27, 2021 Read More Photo by Cameron Venti on Unsplash View the full article