Category: Worldwide

It’s been a big year for Ted Cruz, even considering that he’s Ted Cruz. It began with him almost destroying democracy. Then he was dunked on for days on end after he cravenly abandoned his disaster-plagued constituents so he could go on family vacation in Cancun. He got into multiple failed feuds with Patton Oswalt and learned that the star of his favorite movie hates his guts. And yet he’s been the very model of resilience in the face of adversity, which is to say in the face of everyone thinking he blows. Indeed, he’s ending the year by announcing that he, perhaps the most unliked person on social media or even the planet, could clinch the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

As per Politico, the Texas senator started to wind down a hellish year by sitting down with Brilyn Hollyhand, a 15-year-old who runs the conservative rag The Truth Gazette. Hollyhand, the latest in an endless line of precocious, suited young Republican who almost certainly brings a briefcase to high school. Hollyhand asked him if he planned to run for commander-in-chief again, having gotten crushed by Donald J. Trump in 2016.

“Absolutely. In a heartbeat,” Cruz replied. He then hatched a patently weak theory for why he could nab a nomination hotly pursued by the likes of twice-impeached one-termer Trump and pandemic mishandler Ron DeSantis.

“You know, I ran in 2016. It was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” he said of a time when he was relentlessly mocked by the winner, who called his wife ugly and accused his dad of killing JFK. “We had a very crowded field. We had 17 candidates in the race — a very strong field. And I ended up placing second.”

That last part, Cruz argued, is why he could be running against Biden, Kamala Harris, or whoever the Democrats put up in a couple years. “There’s a reason historically that the runner-up is almost always the next nominee,” Cruz told the teen conservative. “And that’s been true going back to Nixon or Reagan or McCain or Romney that has played out repeatedly. You come in with just an enormous base of support.”

On top of Cruz’s many other accomplishments in 2021 is playing a part in the deadly Capitol siege, in which violent Trump supporters tried to overturn the election they favorite president handily lost, and even hang his vice president. Senate Democrats weighed expelling he and Josh Hawley, who also played a part and who then voted against certifying the election anyway, despite the fact that a number of their colleagues and White House staff were nearly killed. In other words, 2024 may finally be his year.

(Via Politico)

Holy moly, Camila Cabello single-handedly evokes the holiday spirit with her rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

Cabello was part of a truly star-studded lineup for PBS’s “In Performance at The White House: Spirit of the Season,” joining legends like Norah Jones, Pentatonix, Billy Porter, three Bocellis … it seems the only thing missing from this show was a partridge in a pear tree.

The singer tweeted, “Such an incredible honor to perform again at the white house. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday with your loved ones.”

Watching it (for the fourth time now), it’s hard to not think of Cabello’s performance of the 1940s tune as the epitome of “classic with a twist.”

I mean, the all-red jumpsuit (those gloves especially), the flowing siren hair, the jazzy, chanteuse-y vocals—those alone feel iconic.

Then cue the mariachi band. And it has all the romance of a Spanish ballad. Just … wow. When music becomes a creative vehicle that transports you somewhere else. That’s simply magic.

The song received an overwhelming amount of praise, both from tried-and-true Cabello fans and never-before-listeners:

She was really damn good!
Hadn’t even heard of her. That was really impressive. A beautiful arrangement by the mariachi band too.

— herschel stratego (@straTWEETgo) December 22, 2021

Excellent performance and glad our culture is being brought to the white house. Class all the way❤️👏

— iimasociates (@iimasociates) December 22, 2021

She never disappoints when it comes to live performance. Periodt 👏

— Phanna Duong (Pauna) (@phanna_duong) December 21, 2021

She sounds AMAZING , she looks FLAWLESS , her vocals are ON POINT , her outfit is GORGEOUS 👼❤❤😭 I’m so proud of you Camila , your voice always is like PURE MAGIC ❄🌌💕

— 🌟🇪🇬 (@lovepeace_8) December 21, 2021

I love that she incorporated the mariachi band into this song. Elevates the performance so much. #RepresentationMatters

— Amy (@Amy_inWonder) December 21, 2021

This version is absolutely beautiful and brilliant, couldn’t take my eyes from the gorgeous Camila

— Boleynanne2nd 🦄 & C’s oh na na na 💃 (@boleynanne2nd) December 22, 2021

This was everything!! Camila sounded amazing and the mariachi band accompanying her took this performance to the next level!!

— Milisa (@mili_hearts) December 21, 2021

Cabello had recently performed her mariachi cover as part of “Michael Bublé’s Christmas in the City” for NBC. On Instagram she wrote, “I wanted to pay tribute to my Mexican heritage with this Christmas cover…I wanted to bring it to an audience that normally doesn’t get to hear the beauty of Mariachi music.”

See on Instagram

I’d say she succeeded, because that cover is truly beautiful. Music is an amazing gift, whether giving or receiving it.

The number of average weekly COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has more than doubled since November 28 due to the spread of the new omicron variant. The increase has many worried that it’ll be another deadly winter in the U.S., especially for the unvaccinated.

President Biden had a dire warning for the unvaccinated this week saying they face a winter of “severe illness and death.”

As our exhausted populace prepares to fight through another tough winter, there is good news on the horizon, courtesy of the U.S. Army. Recently published preclinical study results show that a new vaccine, known as the Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle (SpFN) COVID-19 developed by researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, provides “a potent immune response” and “broad protection” against COVID-19 variants and other coronaviruses.

The vaccine was developed as part of a strategy to address the current variants as well as those that could emerge in the future.

“The accelerating emergence of human coronaviruses throughout the past two decades and the rise of SARS-CoV-2 variants, including most recently Omicron, underscore the continued need for next-generation preemptive vaccines that confer broad protection against coronavirus diseases,” Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, Director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch at WRAIR and co-inventor of the vaccine, told the U.S. Army. “Our strategy has been to develop a ‘pan-coronavirus’ vaccine technology that could potentially offer safe, effective and durable protection against multiple coronavirus strains and species.”

If the vaccine is approved by the FDA, it could act as a one-size-fits-all shot against current and future variants.

The new vaccine will have to undergo Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials before it is approved for public use. The next step for researchers is to see how the new pan-coronavirus vaccine works on those who haven’t been vaccinated nor previously infected with COVID-19.

“We need to evaluate it in the real-world setting and try to understand how does the vaccine perform in much larger numbers of individuals who have already been vaccinated with something else initially…or already been sick,” Modjarrad said.

“It’s very exciting to get to this point for our entire team and I think for the entire Army as well,” Modjarrad told Defense One.

The U.S. has authorized the first pill against COVID-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans can take at home to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death. The announcement comes as the U.S. braces for a wave of new infections from the omicron variant.http://apne.ws/HaWNR5e

— The Associated Press (@The Associated Press)
1640194429

News of the Army’s new vaccine comes as the FDA announced on Wednesday that it has approved a new anti-COVID pill by Pfizer. In clinical trials the Paxlovid treatment “reduced risk of hospitalization or death by 89% (within three days of symptom onset) and 88% (within five days of symptom onset) compared to placebo; no deaths compared to placebo in non-hospitalized, high-risk adults with COVID-19.”

The Biden administration has paid Pfizer $5 billion for 10 million courses of the Paxlovid treatment and 65,000 courses of the treatment are expected to be delivered next week. According to The New York Times, Pfizer will be able to supply 200,000 courses of the treatment in January and 150,000 more in February.

Even if this Christmas won’t feel quite so merry with [gestures at everything], it’s nice to have reminders of what the season’s supposed to be about: Togetherness, community, and peace on Earth. In the words of Stevie Wonder, someday at Christmas, maybe we’ll actually have all those things. ‘Til then, there’s Lizzo in her palette-swapped Grinch suit spreading some holiday cheer.

When it comes to getting into the spirit of the holidays, no one does it quite like Lizzo. The “Rumors” singer has no problem going all-out whenever there’s a chance to take some themed photos, as shown by her commitment to the dancehall theme of Cardi B’s birthday party or her wild Baby Yoda Halloween costume. Naturally, that commitment carried over to her flicks celebrating the Christmas season, complete with green hair peeking out of a Christmas tree bonnet topped with a bow, candy cane-colored nails, and tree ornament earrings complementing a red, ruffled bodysuit.

Lizzo isn’t the only big-name star getting into the spirit of the season. Ed Sheeran and Elton John recently released their “Merry Christmas” video, Atlanta trap rap pioneer Gucci Mane dropped an entire holiday-themed mixtape called So Icy Season, and rising Memphis rapper Jucee Froot also ran with a “sexy Grinch” theme in her “Christmas List” video (that’s the second time I’ve had to write that phrase and it’s still off-putting). Even NBA star Shaq dressed up like an elf (specifically, Will Ferrell’s character buddy from the holiday film Elf) to recreate some iconic scenes.

2021 has been all about hurrying up to slow down. Racing to the end of the year to finally enjoy that cup of nog on the couch, running to your cycle class to unwind for the day, going hard in the gym so you can go even harder on your Saturday Netflix session. We’ve learned that life is all about balance, so for as long as you stand on one foot in hot yoga, you deserve to sit on the couch with your feet up on the coffee table.

It’s no surprise that this is the year that the trajectories of loungewear and activewear finally converged. And since sportswear has always been heavily influenced by Black culture, it’s important to support Black voices in the space. So whether you’re looking for a little motivation to get back in the gym (nothing motivates you quite like the perfect workout fit) or need to hit the refresh button on your couch-wear, these Black-owned loungewear and workout brands will have you dripping (sweat) or dropping down (onto the couch) in style.

Lovello Elizabeth

We love a unisex clothing company. Nothing says ‘couple goals’ like matching sweats for that late-night grocery store run and coordinating joggers in the gym. Lovello Elizabeth hits the perfect balance for all genders with an array of clothes that check both the activewear and loungewear categories.

Why We Love Them:

Lovello Elizabeth serves LOOKS. Muted, earth-tone workout and loungewear sets, a cute twist on base layer basics (check out their one-shoulder tanks), and best of all — jumpsuits.

Sorella

Sorella is more than just a throwback brand. Although they recently teamed up with nostalgic 90s brand FUBU, they are bringing a great mix of the old and new to the activewear scene. As an online boutique, they specialize in trending styles and fitted looks.

Why We Love Them:

Sorella’s vibrant color scheme, form-fitting styles, and endless activewear options make them an amazing online boutique.

Tier NYC

Founded on the principle that “art never dies,” Tier NYC is a brand that tells a story. They aim to influence individual style in the context of the whole person. If you’re looking for activewear that has an authentic, intentional, modern feel, this is your brand.

Why We Love Them:

Tier NYC is a reprieve from the ‘fast fashion’ feel of other activewear brands. Their clothing is long-lasting with an emphasis on versatility and function.

Reona

Reona is the loungey-ist of loungewear. Their sets, tops, and knitwear exude minimalist comfort. They take ‘leisure-wear’ to the next level, creating pieces that you could definitely get away with wearing during a zoom meeting without sacrificing any comfort. Not only does Reona have loungewear, but they also carry outerwear and accessories to take you from your home, through your commute to the grocery store, to the gym, and home again.

Why We Love Them:

Easy to match neutral color palettes, function meets fashion designs and a wide selection of ‘work attire’.

Just Lift

Just Lift, founded by fitness influencer Simeon Panda, is more than just an apparel line. It’s a lifestyle. Just Lift not only features activewear for the serious athlete but also offers training tools and workshops for beginners.

Why We Love Them:

Training tools that accompany stylish workout gear give you the full gym experience before you even leave your home. Simeon is well known in the weight lifting industry, so his brand and image have become synonymous with quality.

Damihow

The mission of Damihow is clear: “to encourage everyone to feel great through fitness without having to compromise style…”. And their clothes are made to go beyond the gym, seamlessly flowing into everyday life. Damihow is the picture-perfect athleisure brand. They create styles for all genders to sport from the gym to home and everywhere in between.

Why We Love Them:

Their aesthetic logo and sleek, stylish gym fits will set you apart from the bigger brand athletic wear options.

Impano

Impano is an African-made sportswear brand for the outdoorsy athlete. Created by a group of sports professionals, they create clothing for the everyday athlete. Because their clothing is imported directly front the continent of Africa, they stand out amongst other Black-owned brands with clothes that have a more global style, sporting refined color palettes and versatile materials.

Why We Love Them:

Their tagline: “we do this for the culture” says it all. Their brand is a true representation of everything it means to be Black and active. Their “Eco Pano” line is made from recycled plastic bottles, making it a great option for the planet and the people.

Beach Hours

Beach Hours is a double/double threat — both Black and women-owned, they specialize in athletic wear fir for land and sea. Their brand is centered on empowerment, crafting a shopping platform for honoring strong women.

Why We Love Them:

Black-owned swimsuits and yoga wear with a focus on women’s empowerment! Their style exudes southern California beach meets just-got-back-from-Soul-Cycle energy.

Hard to believe it’s been over 3 ½ years since last we saw the crew from Atlanta, Donald Glover’s acclaimed FX show where every installment is a bottle episode. What started out as an endlessly inventive comedy-drama, which made names out of Zazie Beetz and Brian Tyree Henry and helped elevate the stardom of Lakeith Stanfield, wound up taking am epic, Curb Your Enthusiasm-style break after Season 2. Last month, a teaser finally emerged. Now we know how long we must wait for more adventures of Earn, Paper Boi, Darius, and Vanessa.

The answer? Not long at all. As per The Hollywood Reporter, the next batch of Atlanta episodes will start their run on March 24 of next year, just over four years since Season 2 premiered. It’ll bow both on FX and, for the first ever, Hulu. So huzzah for cable cutters, who won’t have to wait as they have in the past.

Over the show’s 21 episodes thus far, Atlanta helped greatly expand our idea of what creator/star Glover can do. Since its premiere, Glover has had a #1 Billboard single, played a pansexual Lando Calrissian, made a short film with Rihanna, and voiced the title role in the “live action” (but actually heavily CGI) Lion King redo. As for his co-stars, Henry has done the first gay kiss in a Marvel movie, Beetz has done a Deadpool sequel and Joker (with Henry), and Stanfield has been Oscar-nominated for Judas and the Black Messiah. It’ll be good to have them all back together.

Atlanta’s third season premieres on March 24 on FX and Hulu.

(Via THR)

Chris Martin came up to meet BBC Radio 2’s Jo Whiley for an interview this week. He had to find Whitley, and tell her he’s sorry, but that Coldplay will be done making new music in 2025.

This comes on the heels of last week’s news that the band was canceling two of their December appearance at Jingle Bell Ball in London and on the Voice of Germany TV show because of COVID-19 concerns. They famously didn’t tour 2019’s Everyday Life album because of the negative environmental impact it would have and all of this definitely raises the stakes for their “as sustainable as possible” Music Of The Spheres World Tour in 2022 and really, every tour from then until that fateful day in 2025.

To promote Martin’s interview, which airs on December 23rd, Whiley went on BBC Radio 2’s The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show to preview some of the content and played an audio clip of Martin breaking the news: “Well I know I can tell you: our last proper record will come out in 2025 and after that, I think we will only tour,” he said. “Maybe we’ll do some collaborative things but the Coldplay catalog, as it were, finishes then.”

Whiley didn’t seem so certain if Martin was being 100% serious, but he has ambitiously promised multiple albums in the coming years in other interviews. He’s commented on how difficult it is to write so much new music in the past, but it’ll just be a shame for Coldplay to part with their fans in 2025, and here’s hoping that they can go back to the start of new tours.

Tune in to Jo Whiley’s BBC Radio 2 Show on 12/23/2021 here to listen to the Martin interview in full.

Coldplay is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Matrix Resurrections (HBO Max film) — Keanu Reeves can still do kung fu as Neo, and Carrie-Anne Moss can still kick ass, and much mystery still swirls about the actual plot of this franchise revival. Lana Wachowski wrote and directed, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II channels Morpheus, and Neo (for whatever reason) has a rubber duck in his head during a bath. Here’s who is joining these forces of cinematic nature: Jessica Henwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Oh, and Jonathan Groff portrays an apparent upgrade on Agent Smith, all while things stay as trippy and action packed as always. Whoa to the max.

Emily In Paris: Season 2 (Netflix series) — God help us all, this show will once again be binged into oblivion. Lily Collins returns as the stereotypically clueless and culturally offensive American who’s taking Par-ee by storm, one Instagram post at a time. The twist here is that Emily actually attempts to learn French this season, but of course, expect a ton of other drama because she slept with that hot chef and is still very good friends with the hot chef’s girlfriend. Please let the gross, unwashed skillet make a comeback and have some terrible karaoke tunes to accompany the Carrie Bradshaw of today, courtesy of primetime TV king Darren Star.

Grumpy Christmas (Netflix film) — Grumpy Grandpa/Don Servando (Héctor Bonilla) of The Patriarch joins up with extended family and a commune of hippies. That sounds dubious already, but they decide to spend Christmas at the beach, where Don meets his ultimate nemesis. Soon, we’ve got a war of wills, and hopefully, this won’t dampen everyone’s holiday spirit.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX, 10:00 & 10:30pm) — The Gang’s in Dublin with Mac heading to a seminary to see what it would be like to become a priest, all while Dennis and Frank hatch a plan at the castle. Then the Gang tries to climb a mountain to aid Charlie in fulfilling a mysterious Irish tradition, and nothing goes as planned.

In case you missed these streaming picks from last Wednesday:

The Hand Of God (Netflix film) — Academy Award winner Paulo Sorrentino (The Young Pope) returns to HBO with this story of tragedy and unexpected joys, along with how fates intertwine. Sorrentino’s telling this story from his own hometown (Naples), so expect a deeply personal (and of course, beautiful) story, even though ultimately, it’s a story about young Fabietto Schisa and the arrival of a football legend on the scene.

Foodtastic: Season 1 (Disney+ series) — This reality cooking show will blow (at least) a few minds with contestants concocting enormous food sculptures in an effort to push their creative limits for all the foodies out there.

For the last two years, film fans have had to get used to movie musical chairs, with release dates being relentlessly rejiggered due to this pesky little pandemic that keeps refusing to quit us. Here’s yet another sign that we’re not out of the woods yet: that John Wick fourquel that was once a mere five months away? Well, you’re going to have to wait nearly another year on top of that.

Wednesday brought good Keanu Reeves news and bad Keanu Reeves news. The good: The Matrix Resurrections has dropped in theaters and on HBO Max. The bad: As per Deadline, John Wick: Chapter 4 has been bumped from May 27, 2022 to March 24, 2023. Yes, that’s an extra 10 months to wait for yet another romp with everyone’s favorite un-retired assassin and dog lover who can kill people using books.

If you’re looking for someone to blame, then set your sights on Tom Cruise — or him and Paramount Pictures. They’ve been bumping their belated sequel Tom Gun: Maverick since before there was even a pandemic. Originally it was supposed to hit theaters in summer of 2019. Then it moved to summer 2020. Then winter 2020. Then summer 2021. And now — barring some other catastrophe — it’s set to open on the date once taken by John Wick: Chapter 4, over three years after it wrapped filming. And that’s why you have to wait another year and change to see Keanu kill even more people than he kills in Matrix 4.

(Via Deadline)

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino received an open letter this morning from Congress asking to talk and provide documents about the Astroworld tragedy. In the letter from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Representatives said that “We are deeply saddened by the deaths that occurred at Astroworld Festival and are committed to investigating what went wrong to inform possible reforms that could prevent future tragedies.”

It’s the next wrinkle in the aftermath of the devastating Astroworld crowd control incident on November 5th that led to 10 attendees losing their lives. Live Nation was the promoter of the event along with Travis Scott and they’ve already raised eyebrows this week for news that they reportedly tried to get part-time staff at the festival to sign liability waivers after the fact. Here are the questions that Congress is seeking to get answers from Rapino and LiveNation about the event:

1. Please provide a narrative detailing the roles and responsibilities for Astroworld
Festival, including, but not limited to, venue security, crowd control,mass
casualty incident planning, emergency communications, and medical care,
between Live Nation Entertainment, its subsidiaries, partners, and subcontractors;

2. Describe any pre-show security assessments, planning, and briefings conducted
by Live Nation Entertainment or its partners, subsidiaries, or subcontractors,
including any details regarding any safety concerns raised prior to the
performance;

3. Please provide details regarding Live Nation Entertainment’s actions in response
to same-day reports of fans breaking through security barriers;

4. What precise time was Live Nation Entertainment first made aware of casualties
on the evening of November 5, and what steps were taken in response to that
information;

5. What precise time was Live Nation Entertainment first made aware that law
enforcement had declared the event a “mass casualty event,” and what actions did
Live Nation Entertainment take between that report and the performance’s
termination at approximately 10:10 p.m.;

6. Please share your assessment of the cause of the stampede and whether it could
have been prevented;

7. Please address reports that Live Nation has withheld pay from Astroworld
employees until they have signed revised employment contracts that release Live
Nation from liability; and

8. What steps does Live Nation plan to take to prevent another injury or death at a
promoted or held event.

What happened at Astroworld was an inexcusable, colossal fail that someone has to be liable for. It looks as though Congress not only wants to address that liability, but they also want to outline steps so that something of this nature never happens again.

You can read Congress’ open letter in full here via TMZ.