Mariah Carey’s domination of the holiday season continues: Now she’s bringing you a new way to stay festive while keeping those hunger pangs at bay.
The Queen of Christmas has teamed up with McDonald’s to create The Mariah Menu. Starting December 13, you can get a different free item every day with a one-dollar minimum purchase on the McDonald’s app. Among the items is Mariah’s own personal favorite, a cheeseburger.
The promotion, which runs through December 24, also includes items like a Big Mac, Sausage McMuffin, cookies, apple pie and Chicken McNuggets.
“Some of my favorite memories with my kids are our family trips to McDonald’s, and of course, each of us has our go-to order,” says Mariah in a statement. “Mine is the cheeseburger, and I get it with extra pickles.”
All the Mariah Menu items will come in festive packaging “inspired by Mariah’s love for the holidays and chic style.”
Slash, Yusuf/Cat Stevens and The Grateful Dead‘s Mickey Hart are among the many artists performing during Peace Through Music, an upcoming streaming concert focused on raising funds and awareness for environmental issues.
The virtual event, produced by the Playing for Change organization and the United Nations Population Fund, is set to premiere December 15 at 9 p.m. ET. You can tune in to watch via the Playing for Change YouTube channel.
Other musicians taking part in the event include No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal, Taj Mahal, Rosanne Cash, Jack Johnson, Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins, Ben Harper, Sara Bareilles, The Lumineers and Keb’ Mo’. Additionally, The Band‘s Robbie Robertson will be making a “special appearance” during the stream.
Peace Through Music previously raised $1 million for social justice charities with its 2020 stream, which featured artists including Ringo Starr, Gary Clark Jr., and Carlos and Cindy Blackman Santana.
Kelsea Ballerini and Kenny Chesney are early CMA winners…times two! Ahead of tonight’s CMA Awards show, the two stars claimed a pair of trophies for their duet, “Half of My Hometown.”
Those awards are for CMA Musical Event of the Year and CMA Music Video of the Year. It’s the first time that Kelsea has ever won a CMA trophy, while Kenny is a nine-time winner. Their newest wins were announced on ABC’s Good Morning America this morning.
“Half of My Hometown” is the fourth single to come off of Kelsea’s latest album, Kelsea. The song is inspired by the singer’s hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee — a hometown she and Kenny share.
In the Musical Event of the Year category, Kelsea and Kenny were up against an impressive list of contenders, including Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd, Kane Brown and Chris Young, Miranda Lambert and Elle King, and Luke Bryan and Jordan Davis.
To win Music Video of the Year, they beat out Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Kane and Chris, and Maren and Ryan.
More winners will be announced tonight at the 2021 CMA Awards, which broadcasts live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
On Wednesday, Elton John, who is already a British knight, received yet another prestigious honor during a ceremony at Windsor Castle. Prince Charles presented him with the Order of the Companions of Honour, which was first established in 1917 to reward for “outstanding achievement.”
As The Evening Standard reports, Elton attended the ceremony walking with the aid of a cane, following the hip surgery that forced him to postpone his European tour. He received his award not just for his 50-year music career, but also for his work with his Elton John AIDS Foundation.
“I was quite taken aback when I got the letter to say that I’d received it because I know…very few people get it,’ he told the press. “I felt very proud to be British. I felt very blessed and very lucky. I’ve had an amazing life. Music has been my life and I got this for music and for work for charity.”
“I may not look as if I’m 100 percent fit…I’m not quite, but I’m still raring to go,” Elton continued. “And I’ve got a lot more work to do as far as my life goes, so this is just a reminder I think that there’s more to do: more work to do for music, more work to do for charity, and life is great. I’m so lucky.”
To that end, Sky News reports that Elton said he feels that ending AIDS by 2030 is “doable,” adding, “We have the medicines, we have the wherewithal…we need to stop the stigma, and so when I stop touring in 2023, I will hopefully be able to devote more time to this than I can at the moment.”
He added, “This is something that I desperately want to finish off.”
Paul McCartney, Judi Dench, Ian McKellan and J.K. Rowling are other celebrities who’ve been honored with the Order.
It’s the most Canadian partnership ever! Justin Bieber is teaming up with Tim Hortons — pretty much the Canadian equivalent of Dunkin Donuts, if you’re not familiar — for a line of new signature merchandise and menu items.
Just as Dunkin has its Munchkins, Tim Hortons has its “Timbits” — and thanks to Justin, we’re getting three new flavors, which of course have been renamed “Timbiebs.” Chocolate White Fudge, Sour Cream Chocolate Chip and Birthday Cake Waffle will launch at participating restaurants in the U.S. and Canada on November 29.
A new line of “Timbiebs” merch will also be available at participating restaurants that same day. A “fun” commercial will be part of the launch as well.
“Doing a Tim Hortons collab has always been a dream of mine,” Justin says in a statement. “I grew up on Tim Hortons and it’s always been something close to my heart.”
Hope Bagozzi, the Chief Marketing Offer for Tim Hortons, says, “What’s amazing about working with Justin is he has an authentic, lifelong relationship with Tims and he was so invested in working on Timbiebs and our future plans together.”
“He knows exactly what our guests already love about the Tims brand and he’s helping us deliver new menu innovations that we know they’re going to love,” she adds. “We’re really looking forward to what’s next.”
Tim Hortons was co-founded in 1964 by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton, who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres. He died in a car crash in 1974.
(NEW YORK) — Consumer prices continued to climb at an alarmingly rapid pace last month, according to data from the Labor Department on Wednesday, as inflation woes have cast a shadow over the post-pandemic economic recovery.
The Consumer Price Index, often used as an inflation barometer as it measures the prices consumers pay for everyday goods and services, jumped by a higher-than-expected 0.9% last month. It surged 6.2% since last October, the largest 12-month increase since November 1990, the government said.
The so-called “core index,” or measure for all items except the more volatile food and energy indices, rose 4.6% over the last 12 months. This represents the largest one-year increase since August 1991, the Labor Department said. In October alone, the core index climbed 0.6% after a 0.2% increase in September.
The energy index climbed by some 4.8% last month alone and the gasoline index gained 6.1%. This marks the fifth consecutive monthly increase in gasoline prices.
Increases in consumer prices were seen broadly across many of the indices, the DOL said, with sharp spikes in prices for energy, shelter, food, used cars and trucks. New vehicles were among the largest contributors to the overall price hikes.
The indices for airline fares and alcoholic beverages saw a decline last month, the DOL said.
The price increases have been linked to rebounding consumer demand for goods and services as the pandemic wanes, economists have said. Meanwhile, lingering supply chain issues and an apparent shortage of workers accepting low-wage jobs have exacerbated the mounting inflation fears among policymakers.
While some had hopes the inflation data seen in recent months reflected a temporary blip, the fresh data released Wednesday likely fuels further concerns about inflation’s grip on the economy going forward. Many are now looking at how the Federal Reserve will respond to the latest indicators as it plans to start rolling back on pandemic measures meant to buoy the economy during the health crisis.
President Joe Biden reacted to the new economic data in a statement Wednesday morning, saying that addressing inflation was a “top priority” for his administration and touting his Build Back Better plan as a way to ameliorate the economic pain it causes.
“Inflation hurts Americans pocketbooks, and reversing this trend is a top priority for me,” the president said, noting the largest share of the increase in prices in the report is due to rising energy costs. The president said he has directed his National Economic Council “to pursue means to try to further reduce these costs, and have asked the Federal Trade Commission to strike back at any market manipulation or price gouging in this sector.”
“Other price increases reflect the ongoing struggle to restore smooth operations in the economy in the restart: I am travelling to Baltimore today to highlight how my Infrastructure Bill will bring down these costs, reduce these bottlenecks, and make goods more available and less costly,” Biden added. “And I want to reemphasize my commitment to the independence of the federal reserve to monitor inflation, and take steps necessary to combat it.”
Biden said that more than a dozen Nobel Prize-winning economists “have said that my plan will ‘ease inflationary pressures,” adding that it does this “without raising taxes on those making less than $400,000 or adding to the federal debt, by requiring the wealthiest and big corporations to start to pay their fair share in taxes.”
“We are making progress on our recovery. Jobs are up, wages are up, home values are up, personal debt is down, and unemployment is down,” the president said. “We have more work to do, but there is no question that the economy continues to recover and is in much better shape today than it was a year ago.”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 756,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 68.4% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 10, 8:55 am
Over 900,000 kids 5-11 will have 1st shot by end of day, White House estimates
The White House estimates that by the end of Wednesday over 900,000 children ages 5 to 11 will have received their first vaccine shot.
That’s 3% of the 28 million newly eligible kids in this category.
Another 700,000 kids in that age range have appointments booked at pharmacies to get their first jab, according to the White House.
Nov 09, 10:36 pm
Mask mandate ending in Florida’s largest school district
Masks will be optional for students in Miami-Dade County, Florida’s largest school district, beginning on Friday, the district announced Tuesday.
This change is “based on significantly improved COVID-19 conditions in the community and within our schools,” school officials said in a statement.
Fully vaccinated employees also have the choice to not wear a mask.
Nov 09, 4:41 pm
Boosters required for people 65+ to retain health pass in France
French residents over the age of 65 must get a booster in order to keep their health pass, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.
The health pass, which indicates a person is vaccinated, is mandatory for restaurants, theaters, museums and similar institutions throughout the country.
Nov 09, 3:41 pm
10 states see increase in hospital admissions
Ten states — Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Utah and Vermont — have seen an increase in hospital admissions in the last two weeks, according to federal data.
The daily case average in the U.S. has jumped by 12.6% over the last two weeks, according to federal data.
Twenty-one states have seen daily cases go up by at least 10% over the last two weeks: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin.
The big announcement came Tuesday night via The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Before confirming Rudd’s status, though, Colbert put him through a rigorous — and hilarious — sexy evaluation. The test included an interview in which Rudd was asked a series of questions, including when he first realized he was sexy.
“When I was a baby,” Rudd answered. “I was a baby. I didn’t know what sexy was. I just felt different. I wore a thong diaper and I knew the other kids didn’t.”
The Ant-Man star was also tested on his ability to successfully conduct a sexy photoshoot. At the end of it all, Colbert shared that Rudd’s test results came back “negative” for sexy. However, after Rudd humbly accepted that fate, it was revealed that “humility” was the final test, and he passed — thus crowning him as People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” for 2021.
Rudd succeeds Michael B. Jordan, who held the coveted title for 2020. Others who have been named People‘s “Sexiest Man Alive” include John Legend, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, David Beckham, and Chris Hemsworth.
The full People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issue hits newsstands this Friday.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden plans to visit Baltimore on Wednesday to tout his infrastructure bill and highlight his administration’s work to ease port delays as the United States approaches the holiday season with rising inflation and delivery slowdowns on the horizon.
Biden’s visit comes five days after Congress passed his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that, among myriad investments in the nations’ physical infrastructure, will provide $17 billion to revitalize coastal, inland and land ports, as well as strengthen them against the effects of climate change.
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced short- and long-term steps to strengthen U.S. ports as part of an effort to tackle supply chain issues, including using money from the infrastructure bill.
As the U.S. continues to slowly emerge from the pandemic, Biden has been grappling with a crisis up and down the supply chain defined by worker shortages and bottlenecks.
On Tuesday, the president spoke with the CEOs of four major retailers and shipping companies — Walmart, UPS, FedEx and Target — “to discuss steps that the administration and private sector can take to further strengthen our supply chains and build on steps we’ve already taken to speed up deliveries and lower prices,” a White House official said.
Even though the president does not plan to sign the infrastructure bill until next week — he has said he wants to bring Democrats and Republicans together to the White House for a ceremony marking the bipartisan bill’s passage — a senior administration official said Tuesday that work was already underway to get port-related programs started.
White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment Tuesday about why Biden chose Baltimore in particular — and not a larger port like Los Angeles or Long Beach in California — but indicated that Biden would have more to say Wednesday.
“Outdated infrastructure has a real cost for families, as we all know, for our economy and for competitiveness,” Jean-Pierre said. “We’re seeing that right now, even as we move record goods through our ports, with supply chain bottlenecks forming that lead to higher prices and lower deliveries for American families.”
To provide immediate relief. the administration will now allow port authorities to redirect project cost savings toward immediate projects to address supply chain challenges, senior administration officials said Tuesday. One official said doing so was a way to “creatively” redirect grant money.
For example, the officials told reporters, the nation’s third-busiest port, in Savannah, Georgia, came under budget on a previous grant and could now use the leftover dollars to build a pop-up yard to store shipping containers; port authorities believe the site could be operational in 30 to 45 days, the officials said.
“It’s a great way to add capacity and efficiency at the port,” an official said. “We expect that that kind of flexibility will help other projects as well.”
The administration also plans to launch a $240 million grant program within the next 45 days to invest in port infrastructure — using money from the infrastructure bill.
Within the next two months, it will identify projects with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for construction work at coastal ports, inland waterways and other facilities, officials said.
In the next three months, they said, the administration will begin competition for the first round of port infrastructure grants funded by the infrastructure bill. The federal government will also identify ports of entry at the nation’s southern and northern borders that need modernization and expansion.
While the White House wouldn’t say why Biden had chosen to visit the port of Baltimore, an administration official emphasized that the port was a public-private partnership and noted the port was making major investments in adding container cranes and a second deep, 50-foot berth.
The official also highlighted how the administration is helping fund the expansion of a 126 year-old tunnel near the port to accommodate trains carrying containers stacked on top of each other.
“It’s an example of the kind of investments that are needed from both the private and public sector side,” the official said. “It’s also an illustration that the co-funding in the bipartisan infrastructure plan incentivizes the private sector to make these kinds of long-term investments as well.”
Britney Spears is wasting no time planning her wedding to Sam Asghari.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the pop star, 39, revealed that her wedding dress is in the process of being made by none other than luxury fashion house Versace.
“No … this is not my wedding dress bahahah,” Britney teased alongside an array of photos and videos of herself wearing a light-pink gown.
She then revealed, “Donatella Versace is making my dress as we speak” before wishing her 35 million followers “good night.”
The wedding update comes just two months after Britney shared that Asghari, 27, popped the question.
“I can’t f****** believe it,” she gushed at the time, while sharing a video of the sparkler on her left ring finger.
Britney and Sam first met while filming Britney’s 2016 music video, “Slumber Party.” As for the couple’s wedding date, that is still under wraps.
