Category: Новини

Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves posted a dominating 7-0 victory over the host Houston Astros to clinch the best-of-seven 2021 World Series by a 3 games to 2 margin. 

Atlanta pitcher Max Fried pitched six strong innings, giving up only four hits while striking out six Houston batters, with ace relievers Tyler Matzek and Will Smith holding the Astros to just two hits over the last three innings to complete the shutout for the National League champions. 

Atlanta’s sluggers had another huge night at the plate, highlighted by Jorge Soler’s mammoth 135-meter home run in the third inning that gave the Braves a 3-0 lead. Dansby Swanson followed with a home run in the fifth inning that drove in two runs, while Freddy Freeman capped the scoring by driving in a run in the same inning and a solo home run in the seventh inning.    

Soler hit three home runs during the Series’ and was named the Series’ most valuable player. 

This is the Braves’ fourth World Series championship in their 150-year MLB history. They won in 1914 when they were based in Boston and in 1957 as the Milwaukee Braves on a team that featured future Hall-of-Famer sluggers Eddie Matthews and Henry “Hank” Aaron, who would go on to break Babe Ruth’s iconic record of 714 career home runs. Their first win in Atlanta came in 1995.   

This was the third World Series appearance in four years for the Astros, who represent the American League, winning it in 2017. But that title has been marred by a scandal involving coaches using technology to steal hand signs from opposing teams during that championship season. The team was fined $5 million and some of its former coaches and executives were suspended for the violation.   

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.  
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Local media in Miami reported that rock star Jon Bon Jovi was forced to cancel a concert Saturday minutes before taking the stage after testing positive for COVID-19.

A Miami television station said a spokesman for the fully vaccinated singer told the audience Saturday evening that Bon Jovi had tested positive after he and members of his band took rapid response tests. The spokesman said the rock star “feels great” but would not be performing and was headed to bed. 

The band is reported to have stayed and played for the crowd without the lead singer. 

There was no word about whether the concert would be rescheduled.

Bon Jovi participated in public service campaigns last year encouraging people to mask up and practice social distancing. 

Earlier Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the more than 5 million COVID-19 deaths was “a global shame” and a reminder that much of the world is being “failed” by vaccine inequities. 

FILE – A health worker administers a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at the Bundung Maternal and Child Health Hospital, in Serrekunda, outskirts of Banjul, Gambia, Sept. 23, 2021.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday that the global death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic reached its total just four months after the 4 million death milestone. 

In a statement, Guterres said these deaths are “not just numbers on a page. They are mothers and fathers. Brothers and sisters. Daughters and sons. Family, friends and colleagues. Lives cut short by a merciless virus that respects no borders.” COVID-19 is caused by the coronavirus.

Guterres said the devastating milestone is a reminder that while wealthy countries are rolling out third “booster” doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, only about 5% of people in Africa are fully vaccinated. 

The U.N chief urged world leaders to fully support the Global Vaccination Strategy he launched last month with the World Health Organization, and through funding and vaccine donations, help meet the goal of inoculating 40% of people in all countries by the end of 2021 and 70% by mid-2022. 

“The best way to honor those 5 million people lost … is to make vaccine equity a reality by accelerating our efforts and ensuring maximum vigilance to defeat this virus,” Guterres said. 

Meanwhile, Monday marks the easing of travel restrictions in Australia for its citizens and permanent residents who will no longer be subjected to a two-week quarantine when reentering the country. Australians will also be able to leave the country without getting special permission.

People reunite at Sydney Airport in the wake of COVID-19 border restrictions easing, with fully vaccinated Australians being allowed into Sydney from overseas without quarantine for the first time since March 2020, in Sydney, Australia, November 1, 2021.

Thailand began allowing fully vaccinated tourists into the country Monday. Thailand’s economy has been pummeled by the tourist restrictions prompted by the pandemic. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that although she is fully vaccinated, she has contracted COVID-19, adding that she is exhibiting only mild symptoms and is in quarantine. Members of her household have also tested positive, she said in a Twitter post Sunday.

Psaki did not travel to Europe with U.S. President Joe Biden, who attended the recent G-20 summit of world leaders in Rome and then flew to Glasgow, Scotland, for a conference on climate change.

British health care workers began their plan Monday to visit more than 800 schools to inoculate students ages 12 to 15 with COVID-19 vaccines. 

Vaccines minister Maggie Throup said, “Thanks to the dedication of NHS (National Health Service) vaccine teams, we are making it as simple as possible for parents or guardians to book COVID-19 vaccines for their children.” 

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said Monday that nearly 7 billion vaccines have been administered worldwide. 
 
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A wooden canoe used by the ancient Maya and believed to be more than 1,000 years old has turned up in southern Mexico, officials said on Friday, part of archeological work accompanying the construction of a major new tourist train.

The extremely rare canoe was found almost completely intact, submerged in a freshwater pool known as a cenote, thousands of which dot Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, near the ruins of Chichen Itza, once a major Maya city featuring elaborately carved temples and towering pyramids.

Measuring a little over 1.6 meters in length and 80 centimeters wide, the canoe was possibly used to transport water from the cenote or deposit ritual offerings, according to a statement from Mexican antiquities institute INAH.

The institute described the extraordinary find as “the first complete canoe like this in the Maya area,” adding that experts from Paris’ Sorbonne University will help with an analysis of the well-preserved wood to pinpoint its age and type.

A three-dimensional model of the canoe will also be commissioned, the statement added, to facilitate further study and allow for replicas to be made.

The canoe is tentatively dated to between 830-950 AD, near the end of the Maya civilization’s classical zenith, when dozens of cities across present-day southern Mexico and Central America thrived amid major human achievements in math, writing and art.

It was found while workers building a tourist rail project championed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador were inspecting the area surrounding the cenote which is near a section of the project that will connect with Cancun, Mexico’s top beach resort.

Lopez Obrador has pitched the so-called Maya Train as tourist-friendly infrastructure that will help alleviate poverty in Mexico’s poorer southern states, while critics argue it risks damaging the region’s delicate ecosystems. 

 
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Among the once-taboo professions emerging from Somalia’s decades of conflict and Islamic extremism is the world of arts, and a 21-year-old female painter has faced more opposition than most.

A rare woman artist in the highly conservative Horn of Africa nation, Sana Ashraf Sharif Muhsin lives and works amid the rubble of her uncle’s building that was partially destroyed in Mogadishu’s years of war.

Despite the challenges that include the belief by some Muslims that Islam bars all representations of people, and the search for brushes and other materials for her work, she is optimistic.

“I love my work and believe that I can contribute to the rebuilding and pacifying of my country,” she said.

Sana stands out for breaking the gender barrier to enter a male-dominated profession, according to Abdi Mohamed Shu’ayb, a professor of arts at Somali National University. She is just one of two female artists he knows of in Somalia, with the other in the breakaway region of Somaliland.

And yet Sana is unique “because her artworks capture contemporary life in a positive way and seek to build reconciliation,” he said, calling her a national hero.

Sana, a civil engineering student, began drawing at the age of 8, following in the footsteps of her maternal uncle, Abdikarim Osman Addow, a well-known artist.

“I would use charcoal on all the walls of the house, drawing my vision of the world,” Sana said, laughing. More formal instruction followed, and she eventually assembled a book from her sketches of household items like a shoe or a jug of water.

But as her work brought her more public attention over the years, some tensions followed.

“I fear for myself sometimes,” she said, and recalled a confrontation during a recent exhibition at the City University of Mogadishu. A male student began shouting “This is wrong!” and professors tried to calm him, explaining that art is an important part of the world.

Many people in Somalia don’t understand the arts, Sana said, and some even criticize them as disgusting. At exhibitions, she tries to make people understand that art is useful and “a weapon that can be used for many things.”

A teacher once challenged her skills by asking questions and requiring answers in the form of a drawing, she said.

“Everything that’s made is first drawn, and what we’re making is not the dress but something that changes your internal emotions,” Sana said. “Our paintings talk to the people.”

Her work at times explores the social issues roiling Somalia, including a painting of a soldier looking at the ruins of the country’s first parliament building. It reflects the current political clash between the federal government and opposition, she said, as national elections are delayed.

Another painting reflects abuses against vulnerable young women “which they cannot even express.” A third shows a woman in the bare-shouldered dress popular in Somalia decades ago before a stricter interpretation of Islam took hold and scholars urged women to wear the hijab.

But Sana also strives for beauty in her work, aware that “we have passed through 30 years of destruction, and the people only see bad things, having in their mind blood and destruction and explosions. … If you Google Somalia, we don’t have beautiful pictures there, but ugly ones, so I’d like to change all that using my paintings.”

Sana said she hopes to gain further confidence in her work by exhibiting it more widely, beyond events in Somalia and neighboring Kenya.

But finding role models at home for her profession doesn’t come easily.

Sana named several Somali artists whose work she admires, but she knows of no other female ones like herself.
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Jay-Z added another title to a resume that includes rapper, songwriter, Grammy winner, billionaire business mogul, and global icon — Hall of Famer.

The self-proclaimed “greatest rapper alive” was inducted Saturday night as part of an eclectic 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class that included Foo Fighters, Carole King, Tina Turner, The Go-Gos and Todd Rundgren.

Once a drug dealer on the tough streets of Brooklyn, New York, Jay-Z rose through the rap world with hard, straightforward songs that often portrayed the struggles of Black people in America.

His catalogue includes songs like Hard Knock Life, 99 Problems and Empire State of Mind, as well as 14 No. 1 albums.

Following a video introduction that included President Barack Obama, LeBron James and David Letterman, Jay-Z was inducted by comedian Dave Chappelle, who praised him for being an inspiration.

“He rhymed a recipe for survival,” Chappelle said. “He embodies what the potential of our lives can be and what success can be.”

Paul McCartney welcomed Foo Fighters, who have carried the mantle as one of rock’s top arena acts. Initially, the band was little more than a side project for front man Dave Grohl, who was previously inducted as Nirvana’s drummer.

McCartney described the parallels between himself and Grohl as both were part of massively popular bands that broke up.

“Do you think this guy is stalking me?” McCartney joked.

Foo Fighters and McCartney closed the show with the Beatles’ Get Back.

Rapper LL Cool J was enshrined for musical excellence along with keyboardist Billy Preston and guitarist Randy Rhoads.

 

Electronic pioneers Kraftwerk, singer-poet Gil Scott-Heron and Delta blues legend Charley Patton were inducted as early influencers, and Sussex Records founder Clarence Avant received the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

Cool J recruited some of his heavyweight musical friends to usher him into rock immortality. He was joined on stage by Eminem and Jennifer Lopez for a powerful career-spanning performance.

With New York street style and swagger, Cool J remains a relevant artist more than 40 years after he first spit lyrics.

“What does LL really stand for?” asked rapper/producer Dr. Dre in his induction speech. “Ladies love? Living large? Licking lips? I’m here because I think it stands for living legend.”

Cool J then did a medley of his hits, including Rock The Bells accompanied by a bearded Eminem before he was joined by J-Lo for All I Have. Cool J wrapped up his blistering set with one of his biggest hits, Mama Said Knock You Out.

Superstar Taylor Swift opened the show with one of King’s best-known songs, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, which appeared on Tapestry her seminal 1971 album — a soundtrack for a generation.

Swift gave a heartfelt induction speech for one of her musical idols.

“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know Carole King’s music,” Swift said, saying her parents taught her several important lessons as a child with one of the most important being “that Carole King is the greatest songwriter of all time.”

King thanked Swift “for carrying the torch forward.” She noted other female singers and songwriters have said they stand on her shoulders.

“Let it not be forgotten,” King said. “They also stand on the shoulders of the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. May she rest in power, Miss Aretha Franklin.”

King then introduced Jennifer Hudson, who performed a stunning, rafter-shaking performance of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman before King sang You Got A Friend.

The 81-year-old Turner, who found her greatest success when she left abusive husband Ike Turner, lives in Switzerland and did not attend the ceremony.

“If they’re still giving me awards at 81,” Turner said in a video message. “I must have done something right.”

Keith Urban and H.E.R. performed It’s Only Love, a duet Turner did with Bryan Adams, before Mickey Guyton took on her most iconic song, What’s Love Got To Do With It. Then Christina Aguilera belted out River Deep, Mountain High.

 

Considered the greatest female group in rock history, The Go-Go’s emerged from Los Angeles’ punk scene in the 1980s. The quintet broke rules and smashed gender ceilings in a male-dominated industry with hits like We Got The Beat, My Lips Are Sealed and Head Over Heels.

“They’ve been in my personal Hall of Fame since I was 6 years old,” said actress Drew Barrymore, who mimicked the cover of the band’s debut album, Beauty and the Beat, during her induction speech by wrapping her body and hair in bath towels and applying face cream.

“Now,” she said. “My childhood fantasy is fulfilled.”

Best known for soft ballads like Hello It’s Me and Love Is The Answer, Rundgren also had a long path to induction. He’s been outspoken about the hall’s selection process and skipped the ceremony in protest.

“Ever defiant,” Patti Smith said in a video presenting Rundgren.

This year’s ceremony was held for the first time at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the 20,000-seat home of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and a venue familiar to Jay-Z and Foo Fighters, who have played shows in the arena before.

It was a return to normalcy for the event, which was forced to go virtual in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Artists are not eligible for induction until 25 years after release of their first recording.

There are lively debates every year over omissions, and as Public Enemy’s Chuck D noted during a plaque induction ceremony on Friday at the hall, patience is sometimes another requirement for entrance.

“It ain’t no overnight thing,” he said. “You can’t stumble into this place.”

That was certainly the case for King, who had been eligible for enshrinement as a solo artist since 1986. She went in previously as a songwriter with Gerry Goffin, her late husband, in 1990.

The ceremony will be shown on HBO on Nov. 20. 

 
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Candyman, the latest film by Jordan Peele and director Nia da Costa, is a remake of the 1992 original of the same title, by Bernard Rose. The reimagined Candyman addresses the racial divide, gentrification, and police brutality in Chicago. VOA’s Penelope Poulou has more.
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