Ed Sheeran and Adele ruled the charts in their home country in 2021.
The Sun reports that Adele’s 30 was the best-selling album of the year in the U.K. — even though it only came out six weeks before the end of 2021 — while Ed’s single, “Bad Habits,” was the best-selling single.
Ed’s album Equals was the second best-selling album of the year, followed by Voyage, the first album in 40 years by Swedish pop icons ABBA. Olivia Rodrigo‘s SOUR, Queen‘s Greatest Hits and Dua Lipa‘s Future Nostalgia round out the top five.
On the singles side of things, Olivia took the second and third spots with, respectively, “good 4 u” and “drivers license,” while The Weeknd‘s “Save Your Tears” was number four. Lil Nas X‘s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” was the fifth best-selling single of the year in the U.K.
The final number one of 2021 in the U.K. was Ed Sheeran and Elton John‘s festive hit, “Merry Christmas.”
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Adele’s album 30 is number one for a sixth week on the Billboard album chart.
Halle Berry and Van Hunt in October, 2021; Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Halle Berry has been married three times, and on New Year’s Day, she had people all around the world convinced she had tied the knot for a fourth time.
The Oscar and Emmy winner shared a pair of pictures of with her boyfriend, Van Hunt, captioning the images, “well…IT’S OFFICIAL!” The first snapshot featured the couple sharing a kiss at an altar overlooking the water below.
They received thousands of congratulations, including messages from Naomi Campbell, Megan Good, Tamar Braxton, Octavia Spencer, Kim Fields, Tia Mowry, Tamera Mowry, Ava DuVernay, LeToya Luckett, and Niecy Nash. Dwayne Johnson commented, “Congrats you two!!! Beautiful!”
On Sunday, the Bruised star admitted it was a joke.
“We were just having some New Year’s Day fun!,” Berry wrote. “Thank you for the well wishes, tho’, it really touched our hearts.” Halle was previously married to baseball star David Justice, singer Eric Benet and actor Olivier Martinez. Berry announced on Instagram in September 2020 that she was in a relationship with Hunt.
In other news, People are speculating that Lori Harvey may be pregnant, based on her New Year’s Eve Instagram post about her boyfriend, Michael B. Jordan. The model shared a boomerang of herself and Michael in a now expired Instagram story, with the comment “Babydaddy.” She also posted a series of photos of them hugging and kissing. The couple celebrated their one-year anniversary in November.
Finally, congratulations to Ice-T and his wife Coco, who celebrated their 21st anniversary together on New Year’s Eve.
“Cheers to a lifetime with you! I love you my boo boo,” Coco captioned a photo of herself sitting in her husband’s lap. The couple married in January 2002 and have a five-year-old daughter, Chanel.
(NEW YORK) — The Manhattan District Attorney’s office will not file criminal charges in connection with the handling of coronavirus deaths in New York nursing homes during the tenure of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his representative said Monday.
“I was contacted today by the head of the Elder Care Unit from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office who informed me they have closed its investigation involving the Executive Chamber and nursing homes,” said Elkan Abromowitz, an attorney who represented the governor’s office. “I was told that after a thorough investigation – as we have said all along – there was no evidence to suggest that any laws were broken.”
The DA’s office had no comment.
Cuomo had come under fire for a policy early in the pandemic that returned nursing home residents to their facilities upon discharge from the hospital, even if they hadn’t tested negative.
He came under additional scrutiny when the New York attorney general found his office undercounted nursing home deaths.
Cuomo said last February that nearly all nursing homes that accepted recovering patients already had COVID cases.
And he said at that time that his handling of the fatality data created a “void” filled by misinformation and conspiracies.
“The void we created by not providing information was filled with skepticism and cynicism and conspiracy theories which fueled the confusion,” Cuomo said then. “The void we created disinformation and that caused more anxiety for loved ones.”
The state assembly considered whether it could be grounds for Cuomo’s impeachment before deciding to take no action.
For 2022, Omarion wants to stop being blamed for the COVID-19 omicron surge.
The former B2K lead singer has been the brunt of social media jokes and memes for the past few weeks because his name is similar to omicron. After hearing about the “Omarion variant,” the 37-year-old artist has had enough.
“We gone start this thang off right #2022,” Omarion writes in the caption of an Instagram post featuring a video of himself. “Been getting a lot of disrespectful DMs from folks I never did nothing to. [It’s] time to address this.”
In the video, the “Post to Be” singer says, “I know that there has been a lot of confusion online recently, so my lawyers asked me to read this. I Omarion, am a musician and an entertainer — you knew that — not a variant. OK. The last time I had to do this was in 2000 when everyone confused Y2K with B2K. That ain’t how it’s supposed to be.”
He closes the message saying, “But seriously, I want to wish you all a happy and safe New Year’s. Peace.”
When it comes to buying real estate in Los Angeles, Adele’s got the “Eye of the Tiger”: She’s reportedly shelled out $58 million for a mansion previously owned by Rocky star Sylvester Stallone.
According to TMZ, Stallone put the house on the market a year ago for $110 million, and reduced the price to $85 million in May and then down to $80 million in October. The fact that Adele scooped up the eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom property for $58 million is considered “an outright steal,” sources tell TMZ.
Architectural Digest reports that the property, in the exclusive gated Beverly Park community, sits on 3.5 acres and features a screening room, cigar room, gym, sauna, steam room, putting green, an infinity pool and a two-story guest house.
Architectural Digest further reports that if the deal, which is now in escrow, goes through, it’ll be Adele’s fourth property in the Beverly Hills area. Her most recent purchase was her pal Nicole Richie‘s former home, which she bought in June of 2021. If Adele actually ends up living in the mansion, her new neighbors in Beverly Park will include Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington.
(NEW YORK) — In a hodgepodge of in-person, remote and delayed reopenings, millions of students across the country are set to head back to school after several weeks on winter break.
School districts in every state are using a variety of approaches and precautions to determine the best way to keep children and staffers safe amid the nation’s latest, and most significant, COVID-19 surge on record.
The return to school comes as the hospital admission rate among children has hit its highest point of the pandemic. Pediatric case rates are also approaching record highs.
During an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci told George Stephanopoulos that even with the surge, he is still in support of keeping kids in school as much as possible.
“I plead with parents to please seriously consider vaccinating your children, wearing masks in the school setting, doing test-to-stay approaches when children get infected,” Fauci said. “I think all those things put together, it’s safe enough to get those kids back to school, balanced against the deleterious effects of keeping them out.”
Many districts in major cities across the country are forging ahead with reopening plans, with some requiring face masks or testing of students and staff ahead of the return as an additional precaution. However, dozens of other districts — including in Ohio, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — are beginning the spring term remotely.
Atlanta
Citing a rapid surge in infections locally, Atlanta Public Schools will open virtually Tuesday for all students and all staff. The city plans to reopen in-person instruction on Jan. 10, according to the school district’s public guidance.
All staff are required to report to work on Monday, Jan. 3 for mandatory COVID-19 surveillance testing.
Boston
Students in Boston will return to the classroom Tuesday as the district rolls out its share of the state-supplied rapid COVID-19 tests.
Over the weekend, members of the Massachusetts National Guard began delivering 227,000 rapid COVID-19 tests to school districts across the state, to be used for teachers and staff.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius announced Monday that so far, 155 teachers and school staffers have reported positive COVID-19 tests.
Chicago
In Chicago, students returned to class Monday, according to the school district’s public guidance.
Testing is only mandatory for unvaccinated students who traveled to an “orange” state, per the city’s travel guidance, which now includes every state except Montana.
Unvaccinated students who are close contacts of a known COVID-19 case must stay home and quarantine for 10 days. Vaccinated students who are close contacts can attend school as long as they are not experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms.
The district also distributed 150,000 take-home test kits to schools to support the return.
Cleveland
Citing a “significant rise in COVID-19 cases in the community,” the Cleveland Metropolitan School District will move to remote learning for the week of Jan. 3.
Following a professional day for staff, students will log on and follow their class schedules Tuesday through Friday.
Detroit
The spring semester in Detroit will not begin until later this week at the earliest.
Employees will be required to take a COVID-19 test on Monday and Tuesday through the district, according to the school district’s public guidance. All students are also encouraged to take a test through the district this week.
The district said it cannot begin the semester online, due to the fact that not all of its students have laptops.
School officials said they expect to announce plans for Thursday and Friday on Wednesday afternoon or evening.
Los Angeles
Staff in all Los Angeles County schools are required to wear upgraded masks — surgical mask or higher-level PPE, according to the district’s latest guidance. Students are “strongly recommended” to wear well-fitted masks.
The district is also strongly recommending that all eligible staff and students receive a booster shot.
COVID-19 testing is required for all close contacts who are permitted to remain in school immediately after exposure, regardless of vaccination or booster status.
Miami
All staff will be required to wear face masks inside any Miami-Dade County Public School facility. Students are not required to wear face coverings, but masks are “highly encouraged”.
Protocols for the enhanced sanitization and cleaning of classrooms and common areas, which were implemented at the beginning of the pandemic, will continue, according to the district.
New York City
Beginning Monday, schools in New York City will distribute take-home COVID-19 tests to any student or staff who exhibits COVID-19 symptoms or has been potentially exposed in a classroom where a positive case has been identified.
“The numbers of transmissions are low; your children is in a safe space to learn and continue to thrive. We’ve lost almost two years of education … we can’t do it again,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams told Stephanopoulos on “This Week.”
Unvaccinated or not yet fully vaccinated students in kindergarten through grade 12 who were in close contact to a positive COVID-19 case will no longer have to quarantine, as long as they do not have symptoms and do not have a positive COVID-19 test.
Following an exposure, all students and adults will receive a take-home rapid test kit and take two tests over the course of five days. For students in 3-K and pre-K, the quarantine policy will remain the same, meaning students who were in close proximity to a positive case will still have to quarantine for 10 days.
Newark
Newark Public Schools began the semester Monday with remote instruction to continue through Jan. 14. The school anticipates a return to in-person instruction on Jan. 18.
Seattle
In-person school in Seattle is set to resume on Tuesday. COVID-19 testing is available Monday for students and staff.
Washington, D.C.
Last month, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that D.C. public schools would require all students and staff to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result before returning to school on Thursday.
Schools were closed on Monday due to inclement weather faced by the district.
The district will make free rapid antigen tests available on Tuesday and Wednesday. DCPS families will need to upload their child’s negative test results.
(NEW YORK) — After over 45 hours of deliberation, the jury in the trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes said in a note on Monday they “are unable to come to a unanimous verdict on three of the counts.”
Judge Edward. J. Davila read the jury a deadlock instruction, reiterated Holmes’ presumption of innocence, and sent the 12 back to the deliberation room to continue weighing the three counts of fraud on which they could not agree.
The jurors are tasked with weighing 11 fraud charges leveled against Holmes following weeks of witness testimony from insiders who worked at the blood-testing startup, and patients and investors who prosecutors say were defrauded by the Theranos founder once lauded as the next Steve Jobs.
Holmes, 37, is charged with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She could face decades in prison if convicted.
If the jury cannot come to a unanimous verdict on the three counts, a mistrial will be declared on those charges, according to Santa Clara Law professor Ellen Kreitzberg. If they can, however, all agree on the other eight counts, the judge can take those verdicts.
The jury began deliberating on Dec. 20. In the two weeks since, which included some time off for holidays, they have been largely quiet. In seven days of deliberations before the note Monday, they sent only two notes and have been publicly quiet since Dec. 23.
Of the three notes, this is the first substantive indication of where the jury stands. The first two notes included requests to take the jury instructions home and to listen to a recording of a pitch call Holmes had with investors.
(NEW YORK) — A winter storm passing through the Mid-Atlantic on Monday has covered cities like Washington, D.C., in more than half a foot of snow.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning affecting portions of southern New Jersey, eastern Maryland, northeast Virginia and all of Delaware until 4 p.m.
The winter storm is producing strong gusty winds which could contribute to power outages in the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and the Appalachians.
Areas from Asheville, North Carolina, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, also reported snow on Monday.
The storm has already caused major power outages in Virginia and North Carolina. More than 760,072 customers were left without power overnight in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Maryland.
Videos on social media showed roads shut down in parts of Alexandria, Virginia, with cars stuck on hills due to heavy snowfall.
Total storm snowfall accumulations on the East Coast could be near a foot.
Early afternoon reports from D.C. showed blizzard-like conditions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport with sightings of downed trees after the airport had already proactively canceled several flights.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared and extended a snow emergency beginning midnight on Monday to 7 a.m. local time Tuesday, deploying the district’s Snow Team and prohibiting vehicular parking along snow emergency routes to make way for snowplows.
A number of school districts in the Washington metropolitan area were closed because of the weather.
D.C. public schools, however, were already scheduled to be closed Monday and Tuesday following last week’s announcement about schools requiring negative COVID-19 test results upon returning from winter break.
Federal offices in D.C. were also closed on Monday with emergency employees told to follow their agency’s policies and some non-emergency employees offered weather and safety leave, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced.
Residents of the district were discouraged from leaving their houses for non-essential travel by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which is running on a “severe snow service plan” with service limited only to major roads.
D.C. Police Department also took to Twitter to advise against non-essential trips.
Images of snow-covered Washington were shared on social media.
A livestream from The National Zoo, which is closed due to the inclement weather, captured the giant pandas outside their grottos enjoying the winter weather and playing in the snow.
Byrne will be interviewed during the show. In addition, Brazilian drummer/percussionist Gustavo Di Dalva, who is a member of David’s backing group for his David Byrne’s American Utopia Broadway show, will be sitting in with Late Night‘s house band, The 8G Band, this week through Thursday, January 6.
Di Dalva, who has recorded with many acclaimed Brazilian musicians over the years, also is featured in the award-winning Spike Lee-directed 2020 film presentation of David Byrne’s American Utopia.
American Utopia currently is scheduled to run through April 3 at New York City’s at the St. James Theatre. The next performance takes place this Wednesday, January 5. Tickets are available now at AmericanUtopiaBroadway.com.
On Monday’s installment of ABC’s The View, co-host Joy Beharannounced that Whoopi Goldberg wouldn’t be appearing on the show for a spell, after testing positive for COVID-19 over the holiday break.
“Since she’s vaxxed and boosted, her symptoms have been very, very mild,” Behar assured the audience, adding that the EGOT-winner would return, “probably next week.”
Incidentally, with coronavirus cases surging in New York City, the entire show was filmed remotely from the homes of Behar and her colleagues Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines and Ana Navarro.
“They say, ‘There’s no place like home for the holidays,’ and that’s where we are,” Behar snarked. “This omicron thing is all over the place.”
Navarro explained that her mother passed away on December 14 after a long illness, and the co-host shared that shortly thereafter, her father tested positive for COVID-19. However, she explained that he’s recovered, and was able to spend New Year’s Day with his family.
Additionally, Behar, who is also vaccinated, admitted that she canceled her holiday party plans over fears of the omicron surge. Hostin — who lost both of her in-laws to COVID-19 last year — explained that she was forced to remotely celebrate the holidays with her family via FaceTime, as she was isolated after having tested positive herself before Christmas.
Hostin insisted “these vaccines work,” explaining that she only suffered “cold-like symptoms” from her bout with the virus.
