Global Citizen Live, a 24-hour live broadcast on Saturday, September 25, will feature performances from music’s top stars, including Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, The Weeknd, BTS, Billie Eilish, Adam Lambert and Coldplay.
The broadcast will be filmed across six continents, with a goal of uniting the world in order to defeat poverty and defend the planet. It’ll air on ABC, ABC News Live, FX, Hulu, YouTube, Twitter and more. The musical performances will take place at “iconic locations” in New York, Paris, London, Seoul, LA, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro.
Other artists on the bill include Alessia Cara, Andrea Bocelli, Demi Lovato, Duran Duran, H.E.R., Lizzo, Lorde, Ricky Martin, Usher and Doja Cat.
The broadcast is part of Global Citizen’s Recovery Plan for the World in the wake of the pandemic. It calls on governments, the private sector and philanthropists to donate one billion COVID-19 vaccine, contribute $6 billion to famine relief efforts, donate $400 million to education, give $250 million to support COVID-19 response efforts for marginalized communities, and get the world’s biggest companies to commit to reaching net zero emissions to fight climate change.
“It is very important to me to be a part of this historic event to spread awareness and encourage action toward helping the people of Ethiopia during this devastating humanitarian crisis they are faced with,” says The Weeknd, whose parents are from Ethiopia. “It’ll be an honor to perform and help bring support to these citizens who are suffering so severely.”
(NEW YORK) — It is finally time to light the Olympic torch. After being delayed a year due to the coronavirus, the Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to begin next Friday, July 23, and will run through Aug. 8.
Since spectators won’t be allowed to travel to Tokyo, all eyes will instead be watching Team USA on TV as they take on the world. And what better way to support Team USA than by sporting some patriotic gear and accessories?
In support of the Olympic Games, Macy’s has launched an Olympic store that will run until Aug. 8. You can check out the items here.
Kyle Massey, known for playing Cory Baxter in Disney Channel shows That’s So Raven and Cory in the House, has been hit with an arrest warrant stemming from a case where he stands accused of sending pornographic material to an underage girl.
TMZ reports that Massey, 29, failed to appear at his scheduled court date in King County, WA, on Monday. Because the actor missed his court date and allegedly did not respond to the summons, a judge signed a $100,000 warrant for his arrest.
This is the second arraignment Massey missed, as he also was absent from the first court appearance set for late June.
Massey’s lawyer, Lee Hutton, spoke with TMZ and said that the actor’s team tried to communicate with the court, but did not hear back. The claim was denied by a member of the King’s County, Washington, District Attorney’s Office.
The representative said, not only did Massey fail to communicate with the court, “Mr. Massey, nor any representatives of him, have filed anything in the Court docket.”
The D.A.’s rep added, “It is possible that Mr. Massey’s attorney is calling the wrong office. It’s also worth noting that Mr. Massey previously acknowledged the filing of the case in past media articles since the first arraignment date, which also included today’s new arraignment date. There’s no misrepresentation here. Quite simply, Mr. Massey did not appear in court.”
Massey, who maintains his innocence, faces 1 charge of communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
The alleged victim said she was 13 when she reached out to the former Disney star in November 2018 after learning of a potential Cory in the House reboot and wanted to audition. She claims he texted her explicit material in the form of images, videos and written communications.
20 years ago today, the beloved comedy Legally Blonde hit theaters, with Reese Witherspoon winning over audiences as Elle Woods, a sorority girl seeking to overcome stereotypes while earning a law degree. In honor of the film’s big 2-0, here are five fascinating facts about the film:
The film is based on a true story.
Before Legally Blonde the movie, there was Legally Blonde the book, written by Amanda Brown, who drew from her real-life experiences at Stanford Law School.
Reese Witherspoon almost didn’t get the lead role of Elle. Christina Applegate was also in the running but she turned it down, stating that she didn’t want to play another stereotypical blonde character. “What a stupid move that was, right?” she told ET before adding that Reese did a “much better job than I ever could.”
The iconic “bend and snap” moment was created during a drunken night out.
While at a bar in Los Angeles trying to come up with a scene for Jennifer Coolidge’s character, Paulette, lead writer Karen McCullahasked co-writer Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith, “What if Elle shows [Paulette] a move so she can get the UPS guy?” Smith then spontaneously came up with what we know now as the “bend and snap.”
Legally Blonde made its way to the theatre.
There were Broadway and West End musicals based on the film. Its London West end production won several awards, including the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical.
The movie almost had a very different ending.
The current version ends with Elle delivering a speech at her Harvard Law School graduation, but the first cut actually ended at the courthouse. After winning her case, she shares a kiss with Emmett (Luke Wilson) and then it cuts to Elle and a blonde Vivian Kensington (Selma Blair) opening their own blonde legal defense club in law school. It was changed because of test audiences.
As Legally Blonde celebrates turning 20, a third installment is currently in the works and slated for a May 2022 release — plenty of time for fans to give the original movie another view.
Brad Barket/Getty Images for PEOPLE En Espanol, Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Spotify, Mike Coppola/FilmMagic
Celebrities with ties to Cuba, such as Gloria Estefan and Camila Cabello, are raising awareness about the ongoing crisis impacting the country.
Thousands of Cubans are actively protesting the government over rising prices and shortages of food and medicine amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as blackouts plaguing the island. The turnout is among the largest anti-government demonstrations in Cuba’s recent history. Amid the already growing tensions, Cuba’s government denounced the protests and deployed armed forces, further provoking an already volatile situation.
Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Cabello informed her millions of followers about what’s happening in Cuba and pleaded for their assistance.
“Hey guys, there is a major crisis right now in Cuba and we need your help to spread awareness. Deaths from COVID are rising rapidly and because of the lack of medicine, resources, basic necessities and even, food many people are dying,” she explained, urging her fans to use the #SOSCuba hashtag on social media.
In a follow up, the “Havana” singer continued, “There are simultaneous protests in more than 5 cities in Cuba. Our brave people took the streets to protest for this humanitarian crisis & they need our help.”
Gloria Estefan also rallied her followers on Sunday by sharing footage of a recent protest taking place in the country.
“The Cuban people are reaching their breaking point! I stand with them as I always have!,” she wrote, while also sharing the message in Spanish. In other social media posts, she called for the country’s freedom.
Other celebrities rallying for the country includeJ Balvinand Becky G.
Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in decades. In tandem with the economic crisis, the country is grappling with a new and deadly surge of COVID-19.
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — A Taco Bell employee was arrested on Monday in Nashville, Tennessee after she and her coworkers allegedly set off fireworks inside the restaurant, causing the building to catch fire as they watched from afar and accidentally locked themselves out.
The incident occurred on July 5, at one of the fast-food chain’s locations in Tennessee’s capital city. But the investigation into how the blaze began took a turn on July 8, when the restaurant’s management called local fire investigators to report that surveillance cameras had captured their employees playing with fireworks inside of the establishment, according to a statement released Monday by the Nashville Fire Department.
“According to the surveillance footage, the employees can be seen locking the doors to the dining room to keep customers from entering the business,” the fire department said in the statement. “The video then shows the employees running around the inside of the store with fireworks in their hands.”
At one point in the video, the employees can be seen going into the men’s bathroom, where they are out of sight of the camera for a short period of time, before returning to the lobby and placing an item into a trash can near the door, according to the Nashville Fire Department.
“Employees are seen using their cell phone cameras to record the trash can from the outside of the restaurant,” the fire department said. “Employees then realized they locked themselves out of the restaurant. The employees tried unsuccessfully to get back into the store. When the employees saw the trash can start to smoke, they called 911 for help.”
The footage has not been released.
Firefighters arrived on scene a short time later and were able to force their way into the restaurant to extinguish the flames.
The Nashville Fire Department estimated that the fire caused more than $30,000 worth of damage to the inside of the restaurant. Investigators also found damage inside of the men’s bathroom where it appeared fireworks were ignited inside of the trash can.
The restaurant’s shift leader, 25-year-old Courtney Mayes, was taken into custody on Monday and charged with felony aggravated arson. She is being held on a $5,000 bond at the Davidson County Jail in Nashville.
“Arson is one of the costliest human-made disasters,” the Nashville Fire Department said in the statement. “Arson indirectly contributes to increased insurance premiums, higher medical costs, lost jobs, lost income, and the increased costs of fire services.”
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, and the Nashville Fire Department said it expects additional arrests “in the coming days.”
(DENVER) — New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso has once again been crowned the winner of the Home Run Derby.
The 26-year-old defended his title in Denver’s Coors Field Monday night, beating Baltimore Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini in the final round of the derby to win the competition for the second year in a row.
In three rounds, Alonso knocked 74 pitches out of the park, topping Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez, Washington Nationals left fielder Juan Soto and Mancini along the way.
After the Home Run Derby, Alonso told reporters he’s a power hitter and that he considers himself “the best power hitter on the planet.”
“Being able to showcase that, and really put on a fun display for fans, I just think it’s truly a dream come true for me because when I was younger, my parents actually let me stay up past my bedtime to watch this,” he said. “That was one of the few nights of the year where I actually got to stay up past my bedtime and just watch absolutely incredible feats that you don’t see in a regular baseball game.”
“To be able to participate — it’s a dream come true. To be able to do it back-to-back — this is really special for me. And really cool,” Alonso added.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — California issued a new rule on Monday banning unmasked students from school campuses but then rescinded it just hours later.
The California Department of Health published its COVID-19 public health guidance for K-12 schools in the Golden State for the 2021-2022 school year, including a new mandate that said students “are required” to wear face masks indoors, unless they are exempt due to a medical condition, and “schools must exclude students from campus” if they refuse to do so. The guidance, which was initially published on Monday afternoon and took immediate effect, noted that schools “should offer alternative educational opportunities for students who are excluded from campus because they will not wear a face covering.”
But later, officials backtracked on that rule. The California Department of Health took to Twitter on Monday evening to signal a change of direction, saying, “California’s school guidance will be clarified regarding masking enforcement, recognizing local schools’ experience in keeping students and educators safe while ensuring schools fully reopen for in-person instruction.”
The guidance was ultimately revised, dropping the language about excluding unmasked students from classrooms statewide and instead allowing schools to decide how to deal with the issue.
“Consistent with guidance from the 2020-21 school year, schools must develop and implement local protocols to enforce the mask requirements,” the guidance now states. “Additionally, schools should offer alternative educational opportunities for students who are excluded from campus because they will not wear a face covering.”
The California Department of Health says the guidelines are “effective immediately and will be reviewed regularly.” The department further noted that it is operating within the updated recommendations released Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which continues to advise schools to promote COVID-19 vaccination and implement indoor mask requirements and physical distancing for those who are not fully vaccinated. But the CDC’s guidelines also state that schools “should not exclude students from in-person learning to keep a minimum distance requirement.”
“Students benefit from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction in the fall 2021 is a priority,” the CDC says.
Nevertheless, California’s COVID-19 measures are among the strictest of any U.S. state. Education and health officials alike are concerned about the so-called delta variant, a highly contagious version of the novel coronavirus, with infections on the rise as the new academic year draws closer.
As of July 7, there were 1,085 confirmed cases of the delta variant in California — a 71% rise from the previous week. Meanwhile, among the COVID-19 tests statewide that are genomically sequenced, the delta variant accounted for 43% on June 21 compared with just 5.8% on May 21, according to data from the California Department of Health.
Overall, California has reported more than 3.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 63,000 deaths from the disease. More than 42.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across to the state, which is home to some 39.5 million people, according to data from the California Department of Health.
(NEW YORK) — While all adults in the United States are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, parents with young children find themselves in an uncomfortable limbo state. Fully vaccinated parents are protected against the virus, but their kids under 12 aren’t even eligible for a shot.
While children are less likely to have serious infection than in adults, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noting that “most children with COVID-19 have mild symptoms or have no symptoms at all,” in rare instances, children have developed severe COVID-19 cases that led to hospitalization or death.
As of early June, 4,000 children nationwide had developed multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a rare but serious condition associated with COVID-19. There’s also an element of uncertainty associated with any COVID-19 infection, since the long-term health consequences of having COVID-19 are not yet known.
Navigating kids and COVID is complicated. Come fall, vaccines are likely to be approved for children younger than 12, but until then, some parents are wondering how to keep their kids safe as guidelines about masks and social distancing loosen.
ABC News spoke with Dr. Judith Flores, a pediatrician and former chief of ambulatory care at NYC Health + Hospitals, who has been in practice for more than 30 years, about how parents can lower their kids’ COVID risk.
Q: My kid is going back to school in person this year. What do I need to know?
You should start planning and ask questions, Flores says.
“I would also inquire who is vaccinated at school and keep an eye on what their environmental controls are,” Flores said.
According to the CDC’s guidelines for K-12 schools, “consistent and correct use of face masks reduces the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and, with some exceptions, is recommended for use indoors among people aged 2 and older who are not fully vaccinated.” The CDC also recommends handwashing, improving ventilation, staying home if sick, social distancing and testing in schools to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks.
Depending on school guidance and your risk tolerance as a parent, send your child to school with a mask. Flores noted that if she had a small child, she would have them wear a mask at school, especially in the beginning, while you determine whether or not the school is doing a good job of keeping the environment safe.
But ultimately, it’s important to keep in mind that schools have been reasonably safe settings so far.
“It’s been well documented that kids get sicker when they’re home with family,” Flores said.
Despite that reality, some parents are rightfully nervous. Flores works with families that were hit hard by COVID-19’s initial wave in New York City. Some parents and children are anxious about returning in person, she explained, adding that behavioral and mental health support are critical, especially for kids who lost family members during the pandemic.
“It’s not just, ‘let’s make sure we have your supply list for the teacher this year,'” she said. “You really have to prepare your children mentally — and yourself,” she said.
Q: Is there anything I can do to lower my child’s COVID risk until they’re eligible for a vaccine?
“The best way to take care of your child is for you, your family and your community to be vaccinated,” Flores stressed. “Your kid’s risk goes up depending on the community you live in or go to school in. If your community has a low vaccination rate and high infection rate, there’s a greater risk your child will get sick.”
“If I were in Mississippi, I’d be very concerned, because the vaccination rate is low. So there, I’d keep a mask on my child and keep social distancing. If I lived in Massachusetts, I might breathe a little easier,” she said.
Mississippi’s vaccination rate trails the national average. As of Monday, 37% of residents had received at least one dose, and 33% were fully vaccinated, according to the CDC, compared with 71% of people in Massachusetts who’ve gotten at least one shot and 63% who are fully vaccinated.
Your child doesn’t need to wear a mask in most outdoor settings because the risk of transmission is low, Flores noted, but it’s a good idea to have them wear one in indoor public spaces, especially if ventilation is poor or if the space is crowded.
The same fundamental practices the CDC recommends for schools, like handwashing and social distancing, are useful for reducing kids’ risk in non-school settings. You can also model wearing a mask for your child, even if you’re vaccinated and don’t technically need one yourself. If you’re not going to wear a mask around your child, having a conversation as a family explaining why masks are important is key, Flores suggested.
“This is an added protection for you. Just like I would put a seatbelt on you, I would put a mask on you for this time,” she said. “Kids understand seatbelts.”
(NEW YORK) — Amanda Hunt, a Florida native, said she grew up spending summer days at the beach as a child and using tanning beds as a young adult.
Now 39 years old, Hunt, of Titusville, Florida, is battling stage 4 metastatic melanoma and is speaking out about her experience in hopes of saving other lives.
“I want people to know the things that I didn’t know,” Hunt told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “I can say for myself that having to fight for your life due to something so superficial as being tan, that’s a really tough pill to swallow at the end of the day.”
Hunt’s life changed last June when she discovered a lump in her breast. A biopsy of the lump came back as malignant melanoma. Hunt then learned the cancer had spread throughout her body, including her lungs.
“One day you wake up and your life is one way and the next day you wake up and your life is totally different,” she said. “I remember being shocked and confused and I got angry and thought, ‘How did my body fail me?'”
Hunt said she was even more shocked by her diagnosis because she had been going to annual skin checks since 2011, when she was successfully treated for basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer.
After undergoing treatment for her first skin cancer diagnosis, Hunt said she stopped using tanning beds but did not change her daily sun protection routine dramatically, knowing that she was being checked annually by her dermatologist.
“I got my annual skin checks so that was always in the back of my mind like a crutch,” she said. “But I learned in all of this that there is an occurrence where you do not have melanoma appear on the skin. I never knew that was even possible.”
Hunt’s diagnosis made her one of the approximately 3% of cases where the melanoma has already spread to a subcutaneous site when it is discovered, according to her doctor, Zeynep Eroglu, a medical oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.
Because the spread of melanoma was already underway in Hunt’s body, she began treatment less than one month after being diagnosed. Since July 2020, Hunt has made the four-hour roundtrip drive from Titusville to Tampa to undergo immunotherapy treatments at Moffitt.
The treatments have been working but Hunt has suffered severe side effects from the immunotherapy, including being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes this March.
“It happens to less than 1% of [immunotherapy] patients,” she said of the diabetes diagnosis. “Everything in my case is rare and the exception.”
Hunt, an attorney, lost her job due to layoffs during the pandemic just two days before her diagnosis. Not long after, she said she started a blog, Love and Sunblock, about her battle with melanoma to educate and provide hope to others.
“When I was first diagnosed, I started searching the internet for information and all I could find were just grave statistics,” said Hunt, whose family and friends started a GoFundMe to help cover her medical expenses. “I started blogging about my journey because I wanted to be that person for someone else in the future, that person that I was desperately trying to find.”
Hunt said her diagnosis has made her reflect on the time she spent in the sun as a child, spending hours at the beach without reapplying sunscreen and spending hours in tanning beds to try to overcome her naturally pale skin.
“I even remember missing school because of sunburns,” she said. “I was on my way to becoming a melanoma statistic and had no idea.”
Now, Hunt said she covers herself from head to toe to even walk to the mailbox and is making sure her 14-year-old daughter learns important lessons about incorporating sun protection into her daily skin care routine.
“It’s almost always preventable,” Hunt said of skin cancer. “Sun protection has got to become a habit and it’s got to start with your kids.”
What to know about melanoma and sun protection
Melanoma is a rare form of skin cancer in which cancer cells form in melanocytes, the cells that color the skin, according to the National Cancer Institute.
It can occur anywhere on the body, but in women is found most often on the arms and legs, according to NCI.
The main risk factors for melanoma include exposure to ultraviolet rays, which are found in tanning beds and sun lamps, a family history of melanoma, a personal history of melanoma or other skin cancers, a weakened immune system, moles and a complexion of fair skin, freckling and light hair, according to the American Cancer Society .
In the United States, the risk for melanoma varies by age. Before age 50, the risk for melanoma is higher for women; after age 50 the risk is higher in men, according to ACS.
In order to prevent the occurrence of melanoma, Hunt’s doctor, Eroglu, shared four tips:
1. Go to the dermatologist early and often: “With melanoma, every millimeter matters,” said Eroglu. “Time is really of the essence. If there is any concern, go and have it checked out.”
Eroglu also stressed persistence in seeking testing and a diagnosis if something on your skin continues to look abnormal to you.
2. Always wear sunscreen and reapply it often: Eroglu recommends using a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher and reapplying it often, especially when exposed to water.
A broad-spectrum sunscreen that protects you from UVA rays, which can prematurely age your skin, and UVB rays, which can burn your skin, is also recommended.
It matters less what type of sunscreen you use — spray or lotion or cream — and more that you choose a type of sunscreen you will use consistently and frequently, according to Eroglu.
“Even one bad sunburn from when you were a child can years later, decades later, develop into skin cancer,” she said.
3. Avoid the sun when it is at its strongest: The sun’s rays are at their peak from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. so it is best to avoid being exposed to the sun at that time, according to Eroglu.
People should also be extra vigilant with sun protection when near water, sand and snow because the sun’s rays are strengthened by the reflection off those surfaces.
People should also avoid using tanning beds, according to Eroglu, because of the intensity of their ultraviolet radiation.
4. Do regular skin checks on yourself: People should regularly lookout for new spots or a spot that is changing in size, shape or color on their skin, according to Eroglu.
The ABCDE rule is a guide people can follow to see if any spots have features that need to be flagged to a doctor.
Here is the rule, as described by the American Cancer Society.
A is for Asymmetry: One half of a mole or birthmark does not match the other. B is for Border: The edges are irregular, ragged, notched, or blurred. C is for Color: The color is not the same all over and may include different shades of brown or black, or sometimes with patches of pink, red, white, or blue. D is for Diameter: The spot is larger than 6 millimeters across (about 1/4 inch — the size of a pencil eraser), although melanomas can sometimes be smaller than this. E is for Evolving: The mole is changing in size, shape, or color.
