Category: Новини

President Joe Biden spoke about the COVID-19 vaccination being safe, Prince Harry urged for the vaccine distribution everywhere and Jennifer Lopez embraced her fully-vaccinated mother on stage during one of the largest concert gatherings in Southern California since the pandemic rocked the world more than a year ago.
Celebrities and political leaders gathered Sunday night to talk about the importance of vaccine equity at Global Citizen’s “Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World” at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The taped fundraising event will air May 8 on ABC, ABC News Live, CBS, YouTube and iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations.
The concert included performances by Lopez, Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, J Balvin and H.E.R.
Ben Affleck, Chrissy Teigen, Jimmy Kimmel, Sean Penn and David Letterman appeared as special guest speakers.
Everyone in the audience was fully vaccinated. Media and production staff needed to show a negative COVID test before entering the stadium.
“The vaccines are safe. I promise you. They work,” said Biden, who was accompanied in a video message with first lady Jill Biden. Both appeared as part of the “We Can Do This” initiative to increase confidence in COVID-19 vaccines.
“We’re working with leaders around the world to share more vaccines and boost production to make sure every country has the vaccines they need,” the president continued. “If we get this done, we won’t have to miss another moment.”
The event was part of a growing chorus seeking wider, more equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
Global Citizen said $53.8 million in philanthropic and corporate commitments helped procure nearly 10.3 million doses, exceeding the goal for the Vax Live campaign.
Prince Harry said providing vaccines across the globe is imperative, particularly those in the poorest countries. He said that he is standing solidarity with India, who is experiencing a “devastating” second wave of the virus.
“The vaccine must be distributed to everyone everywhere,” the Duke of Sussex said. He along with his wife Meghan are leading an effort to raise money for the vaccine-sharing program COVAX, which hopes to produce $19 billion to pay for the vaccines for medical workers.
“We cannot rest or truly recover until there is fair distribution to every corner of the world,” he said. “The virus does not respect borders and access to the vaccine cannot be determined by geography.”
The event also highlighted first responders and health care workers efforts during the pandemic. Selena Gomez, the show’s host, called essential and frontline workers “reliable” and “brave.”
“Many of us had to stay home, but you all didn’t have a choice,” the singer said. “You set an example for all of us, both in how you stayed on the job and that we need to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
Each musical performance made things seem almost like normal with attendees standing at their seats side-by-side while others danced with their masks on. Some hugged each other with enthusiasm.
H.E.R. performed on a small stage outside the stadium with a group of people playing their guitars.
Before Lopez’s performance, she told the audience that she was unable to spend Christmas with her mother. The singer went on to invite her fully-vaccinated mom on stage, then the two sang their rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
“When I was thinking about what song to sing tonight, I remembered the song she used to sing to me as a baby,” said Lopez, who later performed her 2016 hit single “Ain’t Your Mama.”
Eddie Vedder said the concert was the first “taste of the life we’ve all been missing” for more than a year.
“This is a feeling we have not had in some time,” he said. “There’s a microphone, a crowd. It feels good.”
Foo Fighters rocked on with AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson during a performance of the rock anthem “Back In Black.”
“We ain’t out the woods yet. But let me tell you, I’m a firm believer and idea that music should be shared with people,” Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl said. “Let’s work as hard as we can to make sure we can do this every night.”
Hugh Evans, founder and CEO of Global Citizen, said he wants to keep the momentum going.
“What were trying to highlight is the obvious that we should be fighting for equity,” he said. “It’s something that shouldn’t require any arithmetic. It is absolutely bleeding obvious.”
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An inquiry into Australian gymnastics has found evidence of widespread abuse, sexism, racism and authoritarian coaching practices, according to a damning report published Monday.   Amid a “global reckoning” for the sport, the Australian Human Rights Commission said it found a culture that tolerated emotional, verbal, physical and sexual abuse, as well as medical negligence and body-shaming directed at young athletes over decades.    The commission recommended an independent investigation into specific abuse allegations and a formal apology from gymnastics authorities, as well as stricter screening and a national register of coaches, who often have an outsized influence over vulnerable young women.   Gymnastics Australia called the findings “confronting” and said it “unreservedly apologizes to all athletes and family members who have experienced any form of abuse”. It promised to adopt all 12 recommendations.    The world of gymnastics has been rocked by a series of scandals in recent times. In the United States, former team doctor Larry Nassar was found guilty of sexually assaulting at least 265 identified victims over two decades, including star Simone Biles.   In Britain, accusations of abuse have made headlines while in Greece former gymnasts complained of having suffered decades of abuse “akin to torture” at the hands of one of their coaches.    The Australian inquiry was launched after local athletes took to social media to comment on the documentary “Athlete A” which concerned the allegations about Nassar. Among the Australians sharing their own negative experiences was Yasmin Collier, who spoke of having to strip naked in front of a male adult masseuse.  The Australian commission received hundreds of submissions before delivering its final report.   “While many athletes have had positive experiences and relationships with their coaches, there was a persistent use of ‘authoritarian’ or highly disciplinary coaching styles,” their report said.   “A focus on ‘winning-at-all-costs’ and an acceptance of negative and abusive coaching behaviors has resulted in the silencing of the athlete voice and an increased risk of abuse and harm with significant short- and long-term impacts to gymnasts,” it stated. 
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Cuba’s government put an end Sunday to a weeklong hunger strike staged by a leading dissident, the head of a group that has protested state censorship of artistic works. He was reported by authorities to be in stable condition.
 
A note published by the Havana Department of Public Health said Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara was “referred” to a local hospital early Sunday for “self-imposed food deprivation” and arrived by ambulance “and walking without difficulty.” He had spent seven days without food or fluids.
 
The San Isidro Movement led by Otero Alcantara, a performance artist, is a dissident group that includes a few dozen artists, writers and activists.
 
The health department said the hospital had found no sign of malnutrition or other chemical imbalances but said Otero Alcantara had been admitted, was in stable condition and was being attended to by physicians.
 
Members of the San Isidro movement said state security had forced Otero Alcantara from his home and that he was in custody, presumably at the hospital. They questioned the report and demanded more information.
 
“How is it possible he has no signs of malnutrition or dehydration after being on a hunger and thirst strike for more than 7 days?” the group asked in a post on Twitter.
Otero Alcantara’s home had been surrounded by police for days with no one allowed in or out during his hunger strike.
 
The U.S. State Department, in a post on Twitter Saturday, had expressed concern over Otero Alcantara’s health and urged “the Cuban government to take immediate steps to protect his life and health.”
 
Members of the San Isidro Movement in November had staged a hunger strike against censorship and harassment of independent creators and activists by the communist government. Police ended the hunger strike, prompting a rare protest by about 300 people in front of the Culture Ministry in Havana.
 
Authorities since then have vilified members of the group as outside agitators working with the United States. Its members repeatedly have been temporarily detained and often told they cannot leave their homes, with communications cut.
 
Otero Alcantara was arrested a few weeks ago as he protested a Communist Party congress by sitting in a garrote. Authorities seized or destroyed some of his art.
 
In his hunger strike, Otero Alcantara was demanding a return of his art, compensation, freedom of expression and an end to police harassment. The dissident group has been appealing for support since his hunger strike began, gaining little traction in Cuba but some notice abroad including from human rights organizations and the U.S. government.
 
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Millions of Orthodox Christians are celebrating Easter Sunday, but many have been urged to observe the commemoration of Christ’s resurrection from their homes instead of their usual places of worship amid efforts to bring the COVID pandemic under control.There are more than 260 million Orthodox Christians according to U.S.-based An Orthodox priest blesses traditional Easter cakes and painted eggs prepared for Easter celebration at a church in Grozny, Russia, May 2, 2021.Orthodox pilgrims in Ethiopia attended Easter eve celebrations in one of the churches in Lalibela, located in the northern part of the country, on Saturday, where Reuters correspondents attended.Reuters posted a video taken at the rock-hewn St. Mary church on Sunday showing people observing an Easter service. Most worshipers in the video were not wearing masks. The country has reported 258,062 cases of infection and 3,709 deaths so far, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.The churches in Lalibela are a major tourist attraction and have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978.Christians in western churches celebrated Easter last month on April 4.The orthodox and western churches have different dates for the observances because they use different calendars.Orthodox churches still use the Julian calendar, while western churches use the Gregorian calendar.
  
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Olympia Dukakis, the veteran stage and screen actress whose flair for maternal roles helped her win an Oscar as Cher’s mother in the romantic comedy “Moonstruck,” has died. She was 89.Allison Levy, her agent at Innovative Artists, said Saturday that Dukakis died Saturday morning in her home in New York City. A cause of death was not immediately released.Dukakis won her Oscar through a surprising chain of circumstances, beginning with author Nora Ephron’s recommendation that she play Meryl Streep’s mother in the film version of Ephron’s book “Heartburn.” Dukakis got the role, but her scenes were cut from the film. To make it up to her, director Mike Nichols cast her in his hit play “Social Security.” Director Norman Jewison saw her in that role and cast her in “Moonstruck.”Dukakis won the Oscar for best supporting actress and Cher took home the trophy for best actress.She referred to her 1988 win as “the year of the Dukakii” because it was also the year Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, her cousin, was the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. At the ceremony, she held her Oscar high over her head and called out: “OK, Michael, let’s go!”Studied physical therapyDukakis had yearned to be an actress from an early age and had hoped to study drama in college. Her Greek immigrant parents insisted she pursue a more practical education, so she studied physical therapy at Boston University on a scholarship from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.After earning her bachelor’s degree, she worked at an understaffed hospital in Marmet, West Virginia, and at the Hospital for Contagious Diseases in Boston.But the lure of the theater eventually led her to study drama at Boston University.It was a shocking change, she told an interviewer in 1988, noting that she had gone from the calm world of science to one where students routinely screamed at the teachers.”I thought they were all nuts,” she said. “It was wonderful.”Her first graduate school performance was a disaster, however, as she sat wordless on the stage.After a teacher helped cure her stage fright, she began working in summer stock theaters. In 1960, she made her off-Broadway debut and two years later had a small part in “The Aspen Papers” on Broadway.After three years with a Boston regional theater, Dukakis moved to New York and married actor Louis Zorich.During their first years of marriage, acting jobs were scarce, and Dukakis worked as a bartender, waitress and other jobs.She and Zorich had three children — Christina, Peter and Stefan. They decided it was too hard to raise children in New York with limited income, so they moved the family to a century-old house in Montclair, a New Jersey suburb of New York.Motherly rolesHer Oscar victory kept the motherly film roles coming. She was Kirstie Alley’s mom in “Look Who’s Talking” and its sequel “Look Who’s Talking Too,” the sardonic widow in “Steel Magnolias” and the overbearing wife of Jack Lemmon (and mother of Ted Danson) in “Dad.”But the stage had been her first love.”My ambition wasn’t to win the Oscar,” she said after her “Moonstruck” win. “It was to play the great parts.”She accomplished that in such New York productions as Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children,” Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” and Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo.”For two decades she ran the Whole Theater Company in Montclair, specializing in classic dramas.While her passion lay in stage, a line from her Oscar-winning performance as Rose nonetheless seemed fitting: “I just want you to know no matter what you do, you’re gonna die, just like everybody else.”
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Medina Spirit stormed to victory Saturday in the Kentucky Derby to deliver trainer Bob Baffert a record seventh win in the Run for the Roses.Jockey John Velazquez and Medina Spirit jumped to an early lead and fended off challenges from Mandaloun, Hot Rod Charlie and Essential Quality down the stretch to cross the line first in front of 51,838 fans in the largest U.S. sporting event since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.Mandaloun finished second, with Hot Rod Charlie third.The win was Hall of Fame jockey Velazquez’s fourth in the Triple Crown race, which returned to its usual first-Saturday-in-May spot on the sport’s calendar after being pushed to September last year because of the pandemic.The Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, will be run May 15 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
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Orthodox Christians flocked to Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday to celebrate the Holy Fire ceremony, gathering in far greater numbers than last year because coronavirus restrictions have eased.This season’s religious holidays in the Holy Land, home to religious sites sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, have been overshadowed by tragedy, as Israel mourns the death of 45 Jewish worshippers killed in a stampede overnight between Thursday and Friday at a religious festival in the north of the country. Children were among the casualties. read more”I listened to the radio, when the parents were talking, I was crying because I have a small son. I cried for the kids,” said Zaira Didmanidze, 40, one of the 2,500 people who attended the Holy Fire ceremony.The ceremony, symbolizing Jesus’s resurrection, is one of the most colorful spectacles of the Orthodox Easter season, usually attended by many pilgrims.With Jerusalem under lockdown last year’s Holy Fire ceremony was held in the near-empty church that is revered by Christians as the site of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection.”Last year it was a sad year,” said Rosaline Manees, a pilgrim from Jaffa. “This year is better, though not like other years as pilgrims from all over the world are not visiting the country. Today it is only us who live in the country. But, sure, better than last year.”Israel’s swift vaccination drive has largely beaten back the pandemic in the past few months, allowing for restrictions on gatherings to be greatly eased as officials plan a resumption of international tourism in the coming months.The Holy Fire ceremony typically draws tens of thousands of worshippers to an imposing grey edicule in the Holy Sepulchre that is believed to contain the tomb where Jesus lay 2,000 years ago.Sunbeams that pierce through a skylight in the church’s dome are believed by worshippers to ignite a flame deep inside the crypt, a mysterious act considered a Holy Saturday miracle each year before Orthodox Easter Sunday.Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Patriarch then emerges from the crypt where Christians believe Jesus was buried, lights a candle with the Holy Fire and disperses it to the faithful.
 
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Gathered in a practice room, five generously proportioned young men in baggy black sweaters are patting their bellies and waggling their arms. Bearded with double chins, they shout “Hoo-Ha!” in time to upbeat African drums.The choreography is for the new song Good Belly, by Produce Pandas. DING, Cass, Husky, Otter and Mr. 17 weigh an average of 100 kilograms and proudly call themselves “the first plus-sized boy band in China.”That is a radical departure from the industry standard seen in South Korean super groups such as BTS, whose lanky young members are sometimes referred to in China as “little fresh meat.”Yet, it seems to be working for Produce Pandas, who rose to fame after making it about halfway through Youth with You, an idol talent competition hosted by iQiyi, one of the largest video platforms in China.On the show, mentors and audience voters pick nine finalists, either individuals or group members, to come together to form a new band.“The five of us may not have the standard look and shape of a boy band but we hope to use the term ‘plus-sized band’ to break the aesthetic stereotypes,” Cass said in an interview.The five, two of whom formerly sang in bars, are also unusual for their relatively advanced ages in an industry that worships youth and stamina. Most of their fellow contestants on Youth with You began South Korean-style training while in their teens.While Produce Pandas excited audiences and sparked discussion about how a pop idol should look, some taunting also appeared online.Users of China’s Weibo microblog seized on the Chinese word for panda, a homonym of which appears in the Chinese name for the Japanese horror movie Ring, suggesting that watching them dance was similarly frightening.Mr. 17, the band’s main dancer, was the oldest contestant in the competition at age 31. He had been discovered on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, where he posted clips of himself dancing in pajamas or while holding a bowl of rice.Otter, a member of the Chinese music group Produce Pandas, sings during rehearsals in Beijing, April 15, 2021.He nicknamed himself “17” after his favorite age. The former petroleum company worker said he does not feel old, but admits that after rehearsals, “I felt my energy was emptied.”The five were solicited from more than 300 hopefuls by Beijing-based DMDF Entertainment, which wanted to build a band that would be rotund and approachable as well as inspiring.Husky, who worked in information technology, thought he would fit in perfectly because he has been chubby since primary school and has failed repeatedly to lose weight.“I often work out one day then take a rest for the next three days, so the result is clear that I gained some weight instead,” he said. The point is “stay in shape (and) not to lose weight, but to lose fat.”Echoing Husky, Cass said the upside to being on such a team is that they do not need to abstain when it comes to food.“We don’t mind eating like a horse. I feel sorry for the ‘little fresh meat’ bands whose members must follow a diet to stay slim. I feel great whenever they look on enviously as we dig in!”Team leader DING quit plus-sized modeling when he heard about auditioning for an “XXL” boy band, saying, “I feel this is probably the closest I can get to being on a magazine cover.”The five are now working on a new album, with songs including Pursue Your Dreams.“Saddle up on the horse and pursue your dreams. Don’t idle your time away,” the lyrics go.Vocalist Otter, who has idolized the South Korean boy band Super Junior since he was 7, never thought he could be in a band that lives and performs together, and more importantly, encourages ordinary folk.“I hope people will feel encouraged when watching our performance,” he said. They can think, “If Produce Pandas can make a breakthrough and perform on a bigger stage, then why can’t I?”
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A medical board appointed to investigate the death of Diego Maradona has concluded that the soccer star’s medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner,” according to a copy of the report shared with Reuters on Friday.Maradona’s death in November last year rocked the South American nation where he was revered, prompting a period of mourning and angry finger-pointing about who was to blame after the icon’s yearslong battle with addiction and ill health.Argentine prosecutors launched investigations shortly after Maradona’s death at age 60 from heart failure at a house near Buenos Aires, including ordering searches of properties of his personal doctor and probing others involved in his care.Maradona, nicknamed “D10S,” a play on the Spanish word for god, and “Pelusa” for his prominent mane of hair, had battled alcohol and drug addiction for many years and had undergone brain surgery in November.In March this year, a medical board appointed by the Justice Ministry met to analyze allegations that members of the health team who attended Maradona did not treat him adequately.”The action of the health team in charge of treating DAM [Diego Armando Maradona] was inadequate, deficient and reckless,” said the medical board report dated Friday and shared with Reuters by a source close to the investigation.The report said Maradona had become seriously unwell and was dying for around 12 hours before his death at around midday on November 25.”He presented unequivocal signs of a prolonged agonizing period, so we conclude that the patient was not properly monitored from 00:30 on 11/25/2020,” the report added.Reuters could not reach prosecutors and lawyers involved in the case for comment on Friday.Maradona, a champion with Argentina in the 1986 World Cup, played for Barcelona, Napoli, Seville, Boca Juniors and Argentinos Juniors, and is widely heralded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time.
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The woman who returned Lady Gaga’s stolen French bulldogs was among five people arrested in connection with the theft and shooting of the music superstar’s dog walker, Los Angeles police said Thursday.
Detectives do not believe that the thieves initially knew the dogs belonged to the pop star, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. The motive for the Feb. 24 robbery, investigators believe, was the value of the French bulldogs — which can run into the thousands of dollars.
The dog walker, Ryan Fischer, is recovering from a gunshot wound and has called the violence “a very close call with death” in social media posts. He was walking Lady Gaga’s three dogs — named Asia, Koji and Gustav — in Hollywood just off the famed Sunset Boulevard when he was attacked.
Video from the doorbell camera of a nearby home shows a white sedan pulling up and two men jumping out. They struggled with Fischer and one pulled a gun and fired a single shot before fleeing with two of the dogs, Koji and Gustav.  
The video captured Fischer’s screams of, “Oh, my God! I’ve been shot!” and “Help me!” and “I’m bleeding out from my chest!”  
Lady Gaga offered a $500,000 reward — “no questions asked” — to be reunited with the dogs. The singer had been in Rome filming a movie at the time.
The dogs were returned two days later to an LAPD station by a woman who originally appeared to be “uninvolved and unassociated” with the crime, police initially said. The woman, identified Thursday as 50-year-old Jennifer McBride, had reported that she’d found the dogs and responded to an email address associated with the reward, police said.  
McBride turned out to be in a relationship with the father of one of the suspects, the LAPD said Thursday. It was not immediately clear if she had received the reward.
Police arrested James Jackson, 18, Jaylin White, 19, and Lafayette Whaley, 27, in connection with the violence. They are charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and second-degree robbery, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Jackson, who authorities say was the shooter, also faces charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and a felon carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle. White faces one count of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.
White’s father, 40-year-old Harold White, and McBride were arrested and accused of being accessories to the attack. The elder White also was charged with one count of possession of a firearm and McBride faces a charge of receiving stolen property.
Jackson, Whaley and the Whites are all documented gang members, according to the LAPD.
The five suspects were scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, according to the  Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. It was not immediately clear if they had attorneys who could speak on their behalf.
All five were being held on $1 million bail each, online jail records show.
Lady Gaga did not immediately address the arrests on her social media accounts Thursday afternoon. Fischer and Lady Gaga’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
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