Leona Lewis is re-releasing her 2013 holiday album Christmas, with Love, with two new tracks.
Retitled Christmas, with Love Always, the album will be released on November 19. In addition to holiday favorites like “Silent Night,” “White Christmas” and its best-known track, “One More Sleep,” the re-release includes a cover of the 1977 single “If I Can’t Have You,” written and recorded by the Bee Gees and made into a hit by Yvonne Elliman. Leona has reimagined the disco classic as a ballad with strings and piano.
In addition, the “Bleeding Love” singer has recorded a new song called “Kiss Me It’s Christmas” as a duet with Ne-Yo. That song is out now. It was co-written by Biff Stannard, who co-wrote all of the Spice Girls‘ hits.
“I’m so happy to share an early Christmas present with you all,” Leona writes on Instagram. “I really felt after the difficult last couple of years that I wanted to share some new songs, get out on the road, spread love and see and feel you all!”
She adds, “I know it’s been tough time and music brings us all together and that’s what I hope I can bring with this special repackaged release of my 2013 studio album…I’m so so excited to make new memories with you this year and as always appreciate all the love and support.”
Here’s the full track listing for Christmas, with Love Always:
“One More Sleep”
“Winter Wonderland”
“White Christmas”
“Your Hallelujah”
“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
“Mr Right”
“O Holy Night”
“I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday”
“Ave Maria”
“Silent Night”
“Kiss Me It’s Christmas” (feat. Ne-Yo)
“If I Can’t Have You”
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Kristen Stewart announced Tuesday that she’s engaged to Dylan Meyer.
The Spencer actress revealed her good news on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, opening up about how the proposal went down.
“We’re marrying, we’re totally gonna do it,” Stewart, 31, said. “I wanted to be proposed to, so I think I very distinctly carved out what I wanted, and she nailed it. It was really cute, she did very well. We’re marrying, it’s happening.” The Twilight alum previously told host Howard Stern in November 2019 she wanted to pop the question to Meyer.
Stewart added that she wants to keep their big day “chill” and she doesn’t want to wear a traditional wedding dress. “I want to stay home. I want to be in L.A. so everyone can come. I want it to be pretty chill,” she said. “I don’t want anyone walking anyone down any aisles. We’re just gonna stand, do vows and f****** party after.”
Stewart said she plans to wear “the best pair of Levi’s ever” for the ceremony and “an old T-shirt that has a tuxedo printed on it,” which she hopes will make Meyer “laugh hysterically.”
While Stewart has no social media, Meyer has given fans a glimpse into their romance on her Instagram. Meyer first shared a snap of them kissing in October 2019 and shared birthday tributes for Stewart last year and this year.
Most recently, Meyer gushed over Stewart portraying Princess Diana on the big screen, writing, “awful proud of this hard-working princess.”
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak continue to tease us with music from their upcoming debut album as Silk Sonic.
The two have already dropped two singles — “Skate” and “Leave the Door Open” — and on Friday, we’re getting another one: “Smokin’ Out the Window.” On his Instagram, Bruno has posted a clip from what appears to be the song’s video, showing himself and Anderson driving in a car while eating pizza and, well, smokin’ out the window.
Unfortunately, there’s no audio on the clip, but we’re gonna go out on a limb and predict that the music heavily nods to the smooth sounds of ’70s soul.
The duo’s album An Evening with Silk Sonic arrives November 12.
Meanwhile, Anderson just announced his new record label, Apes***, a joint venture with Universal Music. In a hilarious video, he holds a fake press conference where he explains that he’s looking for people who can “play instruments and perform at the same time,” and ignores reporters who ask him where the food is, or if they can hold his Grammy.
Explaining the label name, .Paak notes that “APE” stands for “Anderson .Paak Empire.” As for the other word, he explains, “We on some other s***!”
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday that Democrats have reached a deal on a measure aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs as part of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” package.
This is one of the last major remaining hurdles for agreement on the reconciliation effort to pass the sweeping social and climate policy measure, and Schumer said that Arizona Democratic Sen. Sinema, a holdout on prescription drugs, supports this new plan.
The deal includes: Direct government negotiation on the price of insulin and a smaller universe of drugs that are no longer protected from competition; a cap on out of pocket prescription drug expenses for seniors at $2,000 annually; if the cost of a drug rises faster than inflation, that manufacturer would pay a rebate penalty to Medicare (this penalty would apply to all drugs both in Medicare and in commercial insurance.
“We’ve heard this from people across the country who have serious illnesses and can’t afford their medicine,” Schumer said. “What a painstaking position to be in, it’s horrible. Today we’ve taken a massive step forward in helping to alleviate that problem. “
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(GLASGOW, Scotland) — President Joe Biden’s spent his last hours on his overseas trip with a news conference to tout U.S. climate policies and close out what he called “significant progress” made at the COP26 summit — but he was also forced to respond to Democratic infighting over his climate change policies at home.
“Mister President, you’re touting on this visit the $1.7 trillion plan that includes climate but your party is still not united behind it,” a reporter said, raising progressives battling with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., over the social spending package Democrats seek to pass through reconciliation — which would need every Democratic Senate vote. “Today, he said he never signed off on the framework. So, do you have a specific commitment from Senator Manchin to support your Build Back Better bill — yes or no — and how do you respond to those criticisms?”
“Number one, I’m not going to talk about the specifics of my conversations,” Biden replied. “He will vote for — in this proposal what he has anticipated and that is looking at the fine print and the detail of what comes out of the house in terms of the actual legislative initiative. I believe that Joe will be there.”
Although there’s no definite sign a vote on the already Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill will pass the House soon, progressives say they trust Biden to deliver 51 Senate votes he promised on the larger social spending bill, and the president offered an optimistic outlook, despite Manchin’s new concerns that it would cost a lot more than claimed.
“Seventeen Nobel laureates and economists said it’s going to lower inflation and raise wages and increase competition and create two million jobs in a year, et cetera, and so I think that Joe is looking for the precise detail to make sure nothing got slipped in — in terms of how the legislation got written that is different than he acknowledged he would agree to, but I think we’ll get this done,” Biden said.
He took the same tone when asked about election day in Virginia — where the race for governor is being considered a litmus test for former President Donald Trump’s influence on voters while Democrats’ agenda is stalled.
Asked if a Democratic loss could signal real losses for the party in the midterms, Biden said, “We’re going to win.”
“The race is very close. It’s about who shows up, who turns out, and grant it, I did win by a large margin, but the point of the matter is that I think, this is going to be what we all knew from the beginning. This is going to be a tight race,” he said, acknowledging results may be slow because of the stiff competition. “I think we’re going to win New Jersey as well.”
“The off-year is always unpredictable, especially when we don’t have a general election going on at the same time,” he added. “But having said that, I don’t believe, and I’ve not seen any evidence that whether or not I am doing well or poorly, whether or not I’ve got my agenda passed or not is going to have any real impact on winning or losing. Even if we had passed my agenda, I wouldn’t claim we won because Biden’s agenda passed,” Biden said.
In brief remarks ahead of taking questions, Biden touted the U.S. as leading the way with initiatives such as reducing methane emissions and deforestation.
He said investing in a clean energy future will take a whole society effort and is both an economic and “moral imperative.”
Earlier in the day, the president emphasized innovation of new technologies, and the adoption of existing ones, to galvanize the fight against climate change. He talked about deforestation and how the U.S. will meet carbon emission goals after the White House announced a new plan for methane reduction which he said more than 100 countries have signed, too.
(NEW YORK) — Meta, the newly named parent company of Facebook, announced Tuesday that it was shutting down its use of a facial recognition system on its social media platform.
The announcement comes after mounting pressure from advocacy groups concerned about privacy issues, allegations of racial bias in algorithms and additional concerns related to how artificial intelligence technology identifies people’s faces in pictures. It also notably comes amid renewed scrutiny of the tech giant from lawmakers and beyond.
“We need to weigh the positive use cases for facial recognition against growing societal concerns, especially as regulators have yet to provide clear rules,” Jerome Pesenti, the vice president of artificial intelligence at Meta, said in a company blogpost Tuesday. “In the coming weeks, we will shut down the Face Recognition system on Facebook as part of a company-wide move to limit the use of facial recognition in our products.”
“As part of this change, people who have opted in to our Face Recognition setting will no longer be automatically recognized in photos and videos, and we will delete the facial recognition template used to identify them,” Pesenti added.
Pesenti said that more than a third of Facebook’s daily active users have opted in to use facial recognition, and its removal “will result in the deletion of more than a billion people’s individual facial recognition templates.”
Looking ahead, Pesenti said Meta still sees facial recognition technology as a tool that could be used for people needing to verify their identity or to prevent fraud or impersonation, and said the company will continue to work on these technologies while “engaging outside experts.”
“But the many specific instances where facial recognition can be helpful need to be weighed against growing concerns about the use of this technology as a whole,” Pesenti added. “There are many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society, and regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use. Amid this ongoing uncertainty, we believe that limiting the use of facial recognition to a narrow set of use cases is appropriate.”
Removing the Facebook’s facial recognition system will lead to a number of changes for users, Pesenti noted, including that the platform will no longer automatically recognize if people’s faces appear in photos or videos, and people will no longer be able to turn it on for suggestions on whom to tag in photos. The company also intends to delete the template used to identify users who have employed the setting.
The change will affect the automatic alt text feature, which creates image descriptions for blind and visually impaired people, Pesenti added, saying the descriptions will no longer include the names of people recognized in photos but will function normally otherwise.
The announcement comes amid mounting controversies for the tech giant. A company whistleblower, Frances Haugen, testified before lawmakers just weeks ago, alleging blatant disregard from Facebook executives when they learned their platform could have harmful effects on democracy and the mental health of young people.
Some digital rights advocacy groups welcomed Facebook’s recognition of the pitfalls of facial recognition technology, though still urged for an all-out ban.
“Facial recognition is one of the most dangerous and politically toxic technologies ever created. Even Facebook knows that,” Caitlin Seeley George, campaign director for the nonprofit advocacy group Fight for the Future, told ABC News in a statement shortly after the announcement was made.
“From misidentifying Black and Brown people (which has already led to wrongful arrests) to making it impossible to move through our lives without being constantly surveilled, we cannot trust governments, law enforcement, or private companies with this kind of invasive surveillance,” she added. “And even as algorithms improve, facial recognition will only be more dangerous.”
The tech could allow governments to target and crack down on religious minorities or political dissenters, create new tools for stalking or identity theft and more, Seeley George added, saying simply: “It should be banned.”
Verzuz is expanding with a special event this Wednesday featuring rappers gaming and a performance by Migos.
T-Pain is hosting “Call of Duty: Vanguard,” a multi-round gameplay tournament featuring Lil Jon and Lil Tecca against Big Boi and Big Sean.
In addition to the gameplay, the members of Migos — Offset, Quavo and Takeoff — will perform together.
In the previous Verzuz, Big Daddy Kane battled KRS-One on October 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event featured DJ Scratch backing Kane on the 1s and 2s, and KidCapri rocking the turntables for KRS, as well as guest appearances by Roxanne Shanté, Masta Ace and Craig G, Das EFX, Mad Lion, Buckshot and Kool DJRed Alert. There was also a dance battle between legendary breakers Crazy Legs and Pop Master.
“Call of Duty: Vanguard” will stream on Triller, Fite TV and Verzuz TV Instagram on Wednesday, November 3, at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT.
Ingrid Michaelson and actress/singer Zooey Deschanel have teamed up for a Christmas duet, and the video for the newly released track, “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year,” is definitely the cutest thing you’ll see all day.
The entire video is populated by stop-motion animated, fuzzy felted creatures, including the main characters, Bunny and Rabbit, who decorate their house for Christmas and bake cookies. Bunny heads off with a sled to chop down their Christmas tree in a nearby felt forest, but after he finds it at the bottom of a hill, he realizes he can’t get back up the hill.
No worries, though: A squirrel and a couple of mice are nearby and lend Bunny a hand, dragging him back up the hill and accompanying him back home, where everyone eats Christmas cookies and celebrates. The visual was created by director Andrea Love and author/illustrator Phoebe Wahl.
“Merry Christmas, Happy New Year” is on the new deluxe edition of Ingrid’s 2018 album, Songs for the Season, which is due out Friday. It features five new tracks, including this new one and “Christmas Valentine,” Ingrid’s 2019 collab with Jason Mraz.
Ingrid’s 15th Annual Holiday Hop concert takes place at New York’s Webster Hall on December 5; tickets are on sale now via BoweryPresents.com. If you can’t make it to New York City, you can join a virtual VIP After Party with Ingrid where she’ll answer questions, talk about the holidays and play a few acoustic songs. Get tickets for that via Mandolin.
(LAS VEGAS) — Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III has been charged with DUI resulting in death connected to a car crash Tuesday morning, according to police.
Ruggs, the team’s leading receiver, was driving a Chevrolet Corvette at about 3:30 a.m. on Rainbow Boulevard when his car hit the rear end of a Toyota Rav4, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said.
The Toyota burst into flames, and police said they recovered a dead body inside the SUV.
Police said Ruggs, 22, stayed on the scene, but “showed signs of impairment.”
The wide receiver was taken to University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The Raiders were on their bye this week, so they did not play on Sunday.
In a statement, the team said, “We are aware of an accident involving Henry Ruggs III that occurred this morning in Las Vegas. We are devastated by the loss of life and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim’s family. We are in the process of gathering information and will have no further comment at this time.”
Ruggs was a first-round pick of the Raiders in 2020, taken No. 12 overall. He was a star at Alabama, crossing 700 yards in his sophomore and junior seasons before entering the draft.
He has 24 catches for 469 yards in 2021. He also has two receiving touchdowns, which is tied for the team lead.
The speedy receiver had 452 receiving yards in his rookie season, with two touchdowns, but appeared to be breaking out in 2021 as the team’s top threat.
ABC News’ Jennifer Watts contributed to this report.
On November 2, 2001, Disney/Pixar released Monsters, Inc., one of Pixar’s most enduring franchises.
The toon starred the voice of Billy Crystal as one-eyed would-be funnyman Mike Wazowski and John Goodman as his fuzzy buddy, James P. “Sully” Sullivan.
The movie’s conceit is that their City of Monstropolis is powered by the energy generated by kids’ screams, so Monstropolis employs its citizens to spook children every night by emerging from their closets. Goodman’s Sully is the top scarer at their titular company — though Steve Buscemi‘s scaly chameleon-like Randall is close on his tail.
The two best friends encounter a problem, however, when a little girl named Boo accidentally tags along with Sully back to the company, forcing the pair to find a way to get her home.
Monsters Inc., directed by Pete Docter, went on to earn more than $574 million dollars worldwide, and won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. It also spawned the 2013 feature Monsters University, as well as shorts featuring the characters, and the new Disney+ series Monsters at Work.
Crystal and Goodman told ABC Audio they’re not surprised by the original movie’s longevity.
“No, I’m not,” Crystal says, “because, you know, it’s it was so meaningful to people and then it became generational. The kids who were six or seven…now those people are almost 30. And so now they’re sharing it with their kids.”
Goodman agreed. “This stands the test of time. People that I run into, that’s usually the first thing they say is, ‘There’s Sully!'” says Goodman. “I am proud of that, to be able to be a part of these artists worlds.”
