(BEIJING) — The 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off in China’s capital this week with the opening ceremony on Friday, marking the official start of the Games.
While preliminary competitions have already begun in curling, ice hockey, luge and various skiing events, the opening ceremony is a chance for the host country to make a statement to the world with an unforgettable display and performance. The much-awaited spectacle is taking place at the National Stadium in Beijing starting at 8 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) and is being broadcast live on NBC.
The United States has imposed a diplomatic boycott of this year’s Beijing Olympics. While American athletes will still participate, President Joe Biden’s administration will not send an official delegation to the Games due to China’s “ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity” in the northwestern Xinjiang region, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last December. The move was swiftly followed by Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Here are key moments from the opening ceremony. All times Eastern:
Feb 04, 7:04 am
Opening ceremony kicks off
The opening ceremony for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing has begun.
The event is taking place at the National Stadium in Beijing. The 80,000-seat stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, will also hold the closing ceremony on Feb. 20. It was the same venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics, which was the last time China hosted the Games.
Chinese authorities tightened travel restrictions for Beijing ahead of the Games, requiring all travelers to the city to take a nucleic acid test within 72 hours of entry as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Moreover, the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee announced that no public tickets to the Games will be sold due to the “grave and complicated situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the safety of all participants and spectators.” Instead, groups of spectators will be invited to the Games, and “the organizers expect that these spectators will strictly abide by the COVID-19 countermeasures before, during and after each event,” the committee said.
(LONDON) — Queen Elizabeth will set yet another milestone on Feb. 6, when she becomes the first British monarch to reach a Platinum Jubilee — 70 years on the throne.
The 95-year-old queen ascended to the throne 70 years ago following the death of her father, King George VI, on Feb. 6, 1952.
Queen Elizabeth will spend the anniversary of her father’s death at her Norfolk estate, Sandringham, where King George died in his sleep.
While there, the queen will be staying at Wood Farm, where her late husband, Prince Philip, who died last April, spent much of his time after retirement.
Queen Elizabeth, who marks Feb. 6 as a day of remembrance for her father, will celebrate her Platinum Jubilee in June with a series of public celebrations.
Here is a look back at seven of the queen’s most memorable moments from 70 years on the throne.
1. A history-making coronation
Queen Elizabeth’s coronation on June 2, 1953, was the first to be televised.
The nearly three-hour service in Westminster Abbey was watched on TV by 27 million people in the United Kingdom alone, according to the royal family.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s oldest child, Prince Charles, attended the coronation, becoming the first child to witness his mother’s coronation.
Following the service, the queen and Prince Philip joined a 16,000-person strong procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.
Among the thousands of journalists covering the queen’s coronation was Jacqueline Bouvier, who at the time worked for the Washington Times-Herald and would go on to become first lady of the United States alongside her husband, President John F. Kennedy, according to the royal family.
2. The first royal ‘walkabout’ to greet fans
While royal watchers are used to seeing royals including Prince William and Duchess Kate greet fans at each stop they make, a practice called the “walkabout,” that was not the case before Queen Elizabeth.
The queen upended royal tradition while on a tour of Australia and New Zealand with Prince Philip in 1970. Instead of waving to crowds from a protected distance, Queen Elizabeth walked out and greeted people in-person, the first royal “walkabout.”
3. Meeting 13 sitting U.S. presidents
Queen Elizabeth has met with every U.S. president during her 70 years on the throne, except for Lyndon B. Johnson.
She met with President Joe Biden last June at Windsor Castle, marking her 13th meeting with a sitting U.S. president.
Queen Elizabeth has hosted just three presidents for an official state visit — Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
4. Celebrating jubilees in a history-making reign as queen
In 1977, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Silver Jubilee, 25 years on the throne, with a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, where she repeated her pledge to a life of service.
More than two decades later, in 2002 — the same year both her mother and sister passed away — Queen Elizabeth celebrated 50 years on the throne, her Golden Jubilee.
The queen was escorted through the streets of London in a four-ton golden coach, previously used only when she was crowned and at her Silver Jubilee. In a ceremony that dates back almost 800 years, she touched a sword handed to her by the Lord Mayor of London, symbolizing the supreme power of the monarch.
In June 2012, Queen Elizabeth celebrated 60 years on the throne, her Diamond Jubilee, with a parade down the Thames and a concert outside Buckingham Palace.
Three years later, in 2015, Queen Elizabeth made history, becoming Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, at 63 years.
5. ‘Parachuting’ into the London Olympics with James Bond
The same year as her Diamond Jubilee, in 2012, Queen Elizabeth memorably starred alongside actor Daniel Craig in a clip that aired during the opening ceremony for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
The queen portrayed herself in the clip, which featured Craig, as James Bond, picking her up at Buckingham Palace. Stunt actors then portrayed the two helicoptering across London and parachuting into the Olympics venue, while Queen Elizabeth herself arrived at her seat, accompanied by Prince Philip.
6. Serving as matriarch of a growing royal family
Queen Elizabeth has been an omnipresent force not just on the world stage, but also within her own family.
The queen, a mother of four, is the matriarch of an ever-growing family, which now includes eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
She has been present for weddings, as well as divorces that made headlines.
She has also guided her family through scandal and discord, most recently amid a lawsuit against her son Prince Andrew, as well as the exit of her grandson Prince Harry and his wife, Duchess Meghan, from their senior royal roles.
7. Saying goodbye to her husband of 73 years
Queen Elizabeth faced a deeply personal and sad moment in her reign last April when she said goodbye to her husband , Prince Philip, following his death at age 99.
Due to restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic, the queen sat alone during the April 17, 2021, funeral service for Philip, her husband of 73 years.
Known as one of the hardest-working members of the royal family, Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was also a stalwart supporter of his wife.
“He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments, but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years,” Queen Elizabeth said in 1997, paying tribute to her husband on their golden wedding anniversary. “And I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Aviation Administration is sounding the alarm over a staggering increase in laser strikes against aircraft in the United States.
Laser strikes occur when people on the ground shine lasers toward aircraft in order to distract them. This can cause temporary blindness for pilots.
“It could dazzle a pilot’s eyes,” Ganyard told ABC News. “It’s essentially a single piloted airplane until the person whose eyes were dazzled comes back to normal and there’s always the chance that it can be caused permanent damage.”
Laser strikes on planes reached record numbers in 2021, according to new data from the FAA.
The agency received 9,723 reports of laser strikes last year — the highest number ever recorded.
“It’s distracting, and usually it happens when planes are close to the ground. That’s the last time you really want anybody flying a plane to be distracted,” Col. Steve Ganyard, an ABC News contributor, said.
Laser strikes have been on the rise in recent years — the FAA reported 6,852 incidents in 2020, 6,136 incidents in 2019 and 5,663 incidents in 2018.
“Many types of high-powered lasers can completely incapacitate pilots, many of whom are flying planes with hundreds of passengers,” the agency said.
Last year, there were 47 injuries related to the laser strikes, the FAA said.
Lasers used can be easily purchased in stores or online by civilians.
Intentionally aiming lasers at aircraft violates federal law. Individuals may face up to $11,000 in civil penalties per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple incidents. Violators can also face criminal penalties from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
“The FAA continues to educate the public about the hazards of laser strikes because they pose such a serious threat to the safety of the pilot, the passengers and everyone in the vicinity of the aircraft,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a release.
The agency issued $120,000 in fines for laser strikes last year.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Miami 112, San Antonio 95
Minnesota 128, Detroit 117
Atlanta 124, Phoenix 115
Toronto 127, Chicago 120 (OT)
LA Clippers 111, LA Lakers 110
Golden State 126, Sacramento 114
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Gonzaga 92, San Diego 62
Arizona 76, UCLA 66
Southern Cal 58, Arizona St. 53
Iowa at Ohio St. (Postponed)
Demi Lovato has teamed up with Winnetka Bowling League — the band fronted by singer/songwriter/producer Matthew Koma — for a duet called “fiimy,“ which stands for “f**k it, i miss you.” It’s on their new EP pulp, which is out today. And even though he and Demi had worked together before, Matthew says he’s still surprised that the collab happened.
Demi recorded one of Matthew’s songs, “Easy,” for their 2021 album Dancing with the Devil…The Art of Starting Over. After that, Matthew tells ABC Audio, “We just remained friends, kind of separate from music.”
But after Matthew posted a TikTok video of himself working on “fiimy,” he says, “They reached out to me and were like, ‘I love this song…can I have a copy of it just to listen to it?'”
Instead, Matthew says he asked Demi if they’d like to finish writing it with him, and sing on it as well.
“Luckily, they were into that, which was awesome,” he notes. “The fact that Demi is on the song and brought what they brought to it in such a big way just allows us such a bigger audience than we typically have.”
“fiimy” is about the mixed emotions you feel when you run into an ex. In a statement, Demi says the song speaks to the “power of human connection and missing someone.”
Last month, Demi wrote on Instagram that she was holding “a funeral for my pop music.” So is “fiimy” a first step into a non-pop era?
“I don’t know!” says Matthew. “I mean [it] may be a head-scratcher for a lot of people, and for me included. I’m, like, ‘I can’t believe Demi wanted to be on our little indie band’s tune!’ so I have no idea. I’m just glad they wanted to be on it!”
After turning 41 years old last week, Alicia Keys is still facing the challenge of being a mother, a wife and a superstar, while finding time to relax. She celebrated her birthday by announcing a new health and wellness partnership with the Athleta company, and has found a new focus for her life.
“Everything with me is about wellness,” the 15-time Grammy winner tells People. “That’s what all of this is about, taking the everyday and turning it into a small bit of a ritual so that you can have a moment for yourself.”
Alicia says keeping a book of notes helps keep her balanced.
“I found that like for me as a writer, I really needed to get back into my journaling because I was getting all backed up in my head, and I was feeling all these things but I wasn’t really able to express them,” the “Karma” singer explains. “Getting back into my journaling really opened a space for me, and it made me become more creative too because I was kind of stuffing that down.”
The former coach for The Voice adds that skiing with husband Swizz Beatz. and sons Egypt, 11, and Genesis, 7, is one of her favorite ways to relax.
“It’s also such a beautiful way to be with your family because so many times everybody’s doing everything in different directions, so it’s really nice to have something that you do together,” she explains.
Tumblr announced on Thursday that Alicia is featured in the first installment of its new Artist of the Month series, in which she’s seen presenting exclusive new content. In the first clip, Alicia talks about how one of her favorite artists, Sade, blessed a song on her new album, Keys.
The concept for Thomas Rhett‘s latest single, “Slow Down Summer,” came from a place of honesty.
Thomas and his team of co-writers, including dad Rhett Akins, were on a retreat in Montana in October, splitting their time between fly-fishing and writing, when they noticed that the leaves were changing as summer faded to fall.
“Someone said, ‘I wish summer would slow down.’ As a songwriter, you hear words like that and you’re like, ‘Maybe we should try to write that,'” Thomas recollects. “We related it to an emotion that I think a lot of us have been through, of getting out of high school or college dating somebody when you got three months to maybe solidify this relationship or it’s not gonna work.”
It’s a story that Thomas has truly lived, referencing a time when he and a former girlfriend parted ways at the end of summer as they both went off to different colleges. The country superstar compares the track to his previous heartbreaking hit, “Marry Me,” wherein the lead character watches the love of his life marry someone else.
“I hadn’t put a song like that out in a long time that had that tension of love in it, really since ‘Marry Me’ a couple of records ago,” he notes. “I just love the sentiment of the song, I love the arrangement, the production, and I feel like the music video really helped describe what that emotion was. I thought it was a really neat first single to this next record, and it’s been really cool seeing the reaction of it as well.”
“Slow Down Summer” is the lead single off Thomas’ new album, Where We Started, set for release on April 1.
While Bastille‘s last album, 2019’s Doom Days, told the story of an apocalypse unfolding over a single night of partying, the “Pompeii” outfit’s newest effort feels like a tale of an apocalypse in slow motion.
Give Me the Future, the fourth studio effort from Dan Smith and company, is essentially a sci-fi film in album form, pondering the dangers that technology and virtual reality might have on real life.
In beginning to write the album, Smith tells ABC Audio he and his band mates “looked at escapism through the lens of the future through the lens of technology, and our relationship with technology and what that then says for our relationships with ourselves and other people.”
“I guess as lockdowns and the pandemic progressed, the idea of making this science fiction album emerged with these songs,” he says.
In looking for a sound to match those themes, Bastille decided to “heavily lean into the retro-futuristic,” turning Give Me the Future into the most electronically-driven album of their career, as heard in the opening track, “Distorted Light Beam.”
But in between those electronics, you’ll hear more organic instrumentation in songs including “Thelma + Louise,” “Shut Off the Lights” and “Club 57,” which Smith says represent important moments on the album.
“We wanted to use the sonics of the album, and the arc of the album, to draw you in and pull you out of it,” Smith says. “It opens with ‘Distorted Light Beam,’ which is very direct, very electronic…Then it goes off and we time travel to early ’90s America for ‘Thelma + Louise.'”
He adds, “I guess the whole album is drawing you back-and-forward, in-and-out of your head, in-and-out of the future.”
It’s been a couple of years since Dua Lipa last appeared on CBS’ The Late Show, so on Thursday, she and host Stephen Colbert caught up on some of her latest projects, including her Future Nostalgia tour and her new concierge service, called Service 95.
Like most artists, the “Levitating” singer had to put her Future Nostalgia tour on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but oddly enough, the delay worked to her advantage.
“I feel like I know which songs people like, and the future nostalgia tour really is the future nostalgia tour because it predominantly is the songs from the album, where I think before it would have been bits here and there…now it’s like the first combination, the very best of,” she explains.
One of those hits is “Bold Heart,” her duet with Elton John, which he pitched to her in a Facetime chat — a pinch me moment for Lipa.
“Immediately I was like, ‘you’re joking.’ and said, ‘Of course, I’d love to,'” she recalls. “No, no, you listen to it first and decide,” Elton insisted. “Listen to it and let us know afterwards if you want to do the song.”
“I knew I was. Absolutely,” she continues. It’s a remix of “Rocketman” and “Sacrifice,” she says.
Dua also officially launched Service95, a “global style, culture, and society concierge service created to help the reader make sense of the world,” and she told Colbert the newsletter and website which features articles and features curated by Dua herself, grew out of her obsession for lists.
“I also thought, you know, we can have lots of different thoughts, perspectives, stories, articles that are really interesting that maybe you wouldn’t find as easy,” explains. “I wanted to make activism accessible to people who wanted to get involved.”
The Guns N’ Roses frontman was born on February 6, 1962, 60 years ago Sunday. He moved to Los Angeles in the early ’80s, and in 1985, Guns N’ Roses was formed with Rose on vocals, guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler, now referred to as the band’s classic lineup.
Two years later, GN’R released their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, which spawned hit singles in “Welcome to Jungle,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City,” and went on to become one of the best-selling records of all time.
GN’R followed Appetite with 1988’s GN’R Lies, and then 1991’s Use Your Illusion I and II. By then, drummer Adler had been fired from the group because of his drug use, and the band had earned a bad reputation due to destructive behavior on the road. Stradlin soon left, too.
Guns would release one more album, a covers compilation called “The Spaghetti Incident?”, in 1993, before Slash and McKagan eventually departed the group in 1996 and 1997, respectively.
Rose, the only remaining original member, continued to work on new GN’R music for a new album called Chinese Democracy, which would become one of the most notorious records in history while sitting in development hell for a decade before finally being released in 2008.
As Rose kept touring GN’R without his old band mates, fans wondered whether a reunion was ever possible. Finally, in 2016, Slash and McKagan rejoined for the Not in This Lifetime tour, a reference to Rose’s previous comments regarding a reunion. The run became the third highest-grossing tour of all time.
In between, Rose fronted AC/DC in 2016 in place of Brian Johnson, who was sidelined due to hearing issues.
