Sting’s songs have appeared on so many movie soundtracks that he’s released several compilations of them. But it turns out one particular song by Sting ended up inspiring one of the biggest movies of all time: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which marks its 30th anniversary on Saturday.
T2, released in 1991, features future human resistance leader John Connor as a teen, played by Edward Furlong, teaming up with Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s Model T-800 Terminator, who’s no longer the bad guy but has been sent back in time to save John from a more advanced T-1000 model. That machine has been sent to kill Connor before he becomes the leader he’s destined to be, and who will avert a nuclear holocaust in 1997 — aka Judgment Day.
So what the heck does this have to do with Sting? In a new article on The Ringer about the making of the film, director James Cameron reveals that he got the idea for a major plot point while tripping and listening to a Sting song.
“I remember sitting there once, high on [Ecstasy], writing notes for Terminator, and I was struck by Sting’s song, that ‘I hope the Russians love their children too,’” Cameron says, referring to Sting’s 1985 single, Russians. “And I thought, ‘You know what? The idea of a nuclear war is just so antithetical to life itself.’ That’s where the kid came from.”
“Russians,” from Sting’s first solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles, was about the rising tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the ’80s, and the growing threat of nuclear war.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a massive critical and commercial success, grossing $520 million worldwide and winning several Oscars.
On July 3, 1991, James Cameron‘s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the sequel to his low-budget 1984 sci-fi classic The Terminator, blasted into theaters.
The original had a human resistance fighter traveling back in time to save a young woman named Sarah Connor from an unstoppable killing machine from the future, so that she one day could give birth to a son who would turn the tide in a future war against the machines.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day reunited Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, with Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s T-800 cyborg — but this time he was sent back to protect her 10-year-old son, John, played by Edward Furlong, after the Skynet artificial intelligence that controls the machines sends back an advanced terminator model, a shape-shifting liquid metal prototype known as the T-1000, played by Robert Patrick, to kill John. But first, the T-800 and John have to break Sarah Conner out of a psychiatric facility.
Then most expensive film ever made and boasting then-bleeding edge visual effects, Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a smash hit, and remains one of few sequels to surpass the original in the eyes of many fans. It grossed more than $520 million worldwide and earned Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Makeup for late legend Stan Winston, and Best Visual Effects for the team at George Lucas‘ Industrial Light and Magic, which used nascent computer technology to bring the liquid metal killing machine to life.
There have been four Terminator films since Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the most recent being 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate. But none have reached T2‘s critical and box office heights.
The month of July is off to a smooth start with unexpected music releases from IDK and Young Thug,Lil Yatchy and more. Here’s a roundup of new tracks to enjoy over the holiday weekend.
After dropping “Peloton” last month, Maryland rapper IDK returns with his new single, “Pradada Bang,” featuring Young Thug.
Thugger opens the track boasting about his money, expensive jewelry, and making “half a mil for a show.” Meanwhile, IDK’s brash bars are directly aimed at clout-chasing women who only want him for his money.
“How you want Birkins and [ish] when you ain’t even got a house / We get in one argument you gon’ live in that purse when I’m kicking you out,” he raps.
“Prada Bang” will be featured on IDK’s upcoming album, USEE4YOURSELF, arriving July 9th.
Rapper Lil Yachty takes a different direction with his alternative-hip hop single, “Love Music.” The melodic track finds the Quality Control artist reminiscing about all the “good things” he hears about a woman he loves.
Meanwhile, Toosii takes a more cold-hearted approach to women on his new single, “heart cold.”
“It’s safe to say the world getting ugly / And I could say that my heart cold, my heart cold, yeah / But that’s ’cause you put someone else above me,” Toosii raps.
And finally, G Herbo has unleashed his new album, 25, featuring appearances from Polo G, Lil Tjay,Gunna, Rowdy Rebel, 21 Savage and more. The Chicago rapper also released a music video for the song “I Don’t Wanna Die,” in which he rides the top of a school bus through his city while delivering a raw take on the violence and pain that comes with being on the streets.
(SURFSIDE, Fla.) — At least 20 people, including three children, have been confirmed dead and 128 others remain unaccounted for since a 12-story residential building partially collapsed in South Florida’s Miami-Dade County last week.
The partial collapse occurred around 1:15 a.m. on June 24 at the Champlain Towers South condominium in the small, beachside town of Surfside, about 6 miles north of Miami Beach. Approximately 55 of the oceanfront complex’s 136 units were destroyed, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Raide Jadallah. Since then, hundreds of first responders have been carefully combing through the debris in hopes of finding survivors.
Two more bodies were pulled from the rubble on Thursday night, including that of a 7-year-old girl who was the daughter of a Miami firefighter, according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. The firefighter was not part of the crew that discovered the girl’s body but he was notified, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky.
“It goes without saying that every night since this last Wednesday has been immensely difficult,” Levine Cava said during a press briefing in Surfside on Friday morning. “But last night was uniquely different. It was truly different and more difficult for our first responders.”
Meanwhile, 188 people who were living or staying in the condominium at the time of the disaster have been accounted for and are safe, according to Levine Cava, who has stressed that the figures are “very fluid” and “continue to change.” The number of those accounted for has gone up as detectives continue to audit the list of people reported missing, a development that Levine Cava called “very good news.”
However, no survivors have been discovered in the rubble of the building since the morning it partially collapsed, and the hope that more people would be found alive appeared to be fading Friday.
Cominsky said rescue workers are “emotional” after the discovery of a first responder’s own daughter, which “takes a toll.” But he said that won’t stop them from continuing to search for those who are still missing.
“I just was hoping that we would have some survivors,” Cominsky said at the press briefing on Friday morning.
City of Miami Department of Fire Rescue Chief Joseph Zahralban later confirmed in a statement that a member of the team lost his 7-year-old daughter in the disaster.
The massive search and rescue operation, now in its ninth day, was temporarily halted for much of Thursday due to safety concerns regarding the structural integrity of the still-standing section of the building. Movement in the pile of rubble as well as in the remaining structure prompted the hourslong pause, according to Scott Nacheman, a structure specialist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Urban Search and Rescue support team.
Structural engineers, who have been on site monitoring the situation, are currently planning for the likely demolition of the rest of the condominium amid the ongoing search and rescue mission, according to Levine Cava. Nacheman, who is helping develop those contingency plans, told reporters it would be “weeks” before a “definitive timeline” is available.
The structure was cleared by crews last week, and all search and rescue resources have since been shifted to focusing on the pile of rubble. But the two sites are side-by-side and the remaining building has posed challenges for the rescuers trying to locate any survivors or human remains in the wreckage.
“Given our ongoing safety concerns about the integrity of the building, we’re continuing to restrict access to the collapse zone,” Levine Cava said during a press briefing in Surfside on Thursday evening.
Shortly after search and rescue efforts resumed Thursday evening, the Miami-Dade County mayor noted that the crews “looked really, really excited to get back out there.”
Levine Cava told reporters on Friday morning that structural engineers are working to expand the search area as quickly as possible when it is safe to do so.
“Here we are, day nine,” she said. “Our first responders have been hard at work, as they have been this entire time, continuing to search through the pile that is accessible to them.”
Heat, humidity, heavy rain, strong winds and lightning storms have also made the conditions difficult for rescuers, periodically forcing them to pause their round-the-clock efforts in recent days. Officials are monitoring weather systems in the region as the Atlantic hurricane season ramps up.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his office is beginning to prepare a potential state of emergency declaration due to Hurricane Elsa, the first of the Atlantic season, which could possibly hit Surfside. The storm’s track is not yet clear, but DeSantis said tropical force winds could arrive in South Florida as early as Sunday night. So officials are making the necessary preparations to ensure that both the search area and the remaining structure in Surfside is protected.
“This is just what we do but we are adding the special emphasis on this site because we understand the sensitivities involved,” DeSantis said during the press briefing on Friday morning.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden traveled to Surfside on Thursday to meet with officials, first responders, search and rescue teams, as well as families of the victims. Recalling the 1972 car accident that killed his first wife and 1-year-old daughter as well as badly injuring his two sons, the president told reporters: “It’s bad enough to lose somebody but the hard part, the really hard part, is to not know whether they’ll survive or not.”
The cause of the partial collapse to a building that has withstood decades of hurricanes remains unknown and is under investigation.
Built in the 1980s, the Champlain Towers South was up for its 40-year recertification and had been undergoing roof work — with more renovations planned — when it partially collapsed, according to officials.
A structural field survey report from October 2018, which was among hundreds of pages of public documents released by the town of Surfside late Sunday, said the waterproofing below the condominium’s pool deck and entrance drive was failing and causing “major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas.”
A slew of lawsuits against the Champlain Towers South Condo Association have already been filed on behalf of survivors and victims, alleging the partial collapse could have been avoided and that the association knew or should have known about the structural damage. A spokesperson for the association told ABC News they cannot comment on pending litigation but that their “focus remains on caring for our friends and neighbors during this difficult time.”
The association’s board released a statement Friday saying its surviving members “have concluded that, in the best interest of all concerned parties, an independent Receiver should be appointed to oversee the legal and claims process.”
“We know that answers will take time as part of a comprehensive investigation,” the statement continued, “and we will continue to work with city, state, local, and federal officials in their rescue efforts, and to understand the causes of this tragedy.”
Iggy dropped the track and corresponding video on Friday that features her and a team of dancers turning the back of a semi truck into a makeshift strip club. The rig cruises down the highway at night as she dances and raps, “Don’t want your love/Don’t want your problems/Just need all of the dollars/I do the lap dance/I ride the pole up/I am the strip club.”
Iggy also embeds Easter eggs for her loyal fans by bringing back the outfit from her “Work” video as she walks down the highway. Iggy wrote the treatment for the video and co-directed it with Thom Kerr.
“I Am the Strip Club” is featured on the Australia native’s upcoming album, End of an Era.It follows her previous single, “Brazil,” and her Tyga collaboration, “Sip It.”
Additionally, Iggy posted a statement on Thursday in support of Britney Spears, with whom she collaborated on “Pretty Girls” in 2015. The statement’s in response to Britney’s testimony last week in an LA court during which she detailed the alleged abuse she’s experienced while in a conservatorship under her father, Jamie Spears.
Parker McCollum is officially off the market! The “Pretty Heart” star announced on social media this week that he’s engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Hallie Ray Light.
“She said yes!” Parker simply wrote in the caption of his post, along with a snapshot of the happy couple. In the photo, Hallie’s holding up her hand to show off her brand-new diamond ring.
In her Instagram stories, Hallie also shared a few slides of the memorable night, including images of the newly-engaged couple celebrating with their friends and family members.
Parker’s new fiancée has often been a source of musical inspiration to him; his 2020 Hollywood Gold EP features a track titled “Hallie Ray Light.”
Earlier this month, the singer announced his debut full-length album, Gold Chain Cowboy, which is coming out July 30. After that, he’ll hit the road with Dierks Bentley as one of the opening acts on the “Gone” star’s 2021 Beers on me Tour.
(NEW YORK) — As Americans flock back to air travel, airlines are scrambling to retrain crew and staff airport operations positions — the job hasn’t been easy with flight cancellations piling up.
Southwest canceled 2,687 flights in June according to flight tracking site Flightaware.com. In that same period, United canceled 189, Delta 106, and American canceled 2,423.
Southwest has blamed weather and a temporary IT outage in mid-June, but documents obtained by ABC News and conversations with flight crews detail more than just weather problems.
“Southwest is facing labor shortages, from the ramp to customer service agents to our flight attendants, pilots, and a lot of those are, they’re having trouble filling,” Southwest captain and president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, Casey Murray told ABC News.
American has explained its recent problems citing staffing shortages, telling customers to expect up to 80 cancellations a day through July 15.
Besides cancellations, Southwest also saw 34,250 delayed flights in June, significantly higher than United which saw just 8,440 delayed flights during the same period. Delta delayed 11,057 flights in June, while American Airlines delayed 20,418, according to FlightAware.
Southwest flight attendant and union president Lyn Montgomery has been flying for Southwest for 29 years, and says this is the worst she’s ever seen.
“It’s the lowest morale we’ve ever seen. We are normally a pretty happy workforce who work for Southwest Airlines and have always taken pride in that, but right now morale is at the lowest it’s ever been,” Montgomery told ABC News.
As Americans began to travel for Father’s Day weekend, more than 20% of Southwest flight attendants called in sick, according to internal documents obtained by ABC News. Many of those sick calls were due to fatigue, according to Montgomery.
The airline is now offering flight crews up to double pay to pick up open shifts through July 7, the airline acknowledged.
On Thursday, Southwest had scheduled 3,445 flights scheduled but canceled 212 of them.
In a statement to ABC News Southwest said: “Our People are expert problem solvers persevering with fewer options available to them right now as we deal with a combination of disruptive weather, very full flights, and a flight schedule built for nonstop, point-to-point travel. We’re aware of the frustration this disruption is having on our Employees and Customers. We apologize and we are dedicated to doing better.”
Captain Murray said as more pilots come out of training, cancellations should subside. Southwest does have new flight attendants in training as well, but airline training programs take weeks to months before new hires work their first shifts.
(WASHINGTON) — The government took the first steps to end surprise medical billing on Thursday, getting the ball rolling on a law that was passed under former President Donald Trump’s administration and takes effect this January.
The law bans health care providers from issuing surprising bills that are shockingly high because patients unknowingly got out-of-network procedures even though they were at doctors’ offices or hospitals that take their insurance. One example of the practice is a patient getting surgery at a hospital that’s in-network but then being billed thousands of dollars because the anesthesiologist who put them under was out-of-network.
Starting in January, instead of being charged a high out-of-network rate without advanced notice, the new rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday mandates that hospitals and doctors’ offices notify patients when they’re receiving out-of-network care and charge people an in-network price for it. It also creates a complaint system to report surprise billing.
“It bans high out-of-network charges that come without advanced notice,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said at a press conference on Thursday.
The enactment of this law is a big deal on both sides of the aisle. Becerra called it bipartisan hallmark legislation “only second to the Affordable Care Act” in the “major difference” it will make in Americans’ lives and healthcare. The bill, pushed by the Trump administration and written with Republican and Democrat input in Congress, was signed last year.
About one of every five trips to the emergency room and one of every six inpatient hospital stays result in care from an out-of-network provider and subsequent surprise medical bills, according to one 2020 study.
Thursday’s rule is the first of major regulatory interpretation of the new law and, along with future rules to come, will set the guidelines for how to eliminate surprise medical billing, both for patients and for health care providers.
“We’re striving to make everything as simple, straightforward and clear as we can so that everyone can assert their rights and know what they should and shouldn’t do,” Becerra said.
“But it’s all critical because it prevents people from being blindsided with some of these charges.”
Here’s what the first rule does:
It forces health care providers to give notice of out-of-network care and get consent for it. In emergency situations, patients would be billed in-network rates for care, regardless of whether it’s in-network under their health insurance plan. “Health care providers and facilities must provide patients with a plain-language consumer notice explaining that patient consent is required to receive care on an out-of-network basis before that provider can bill at the higher out-of-network rate,” HHS said in a statement.
It sets up an arbitration process for patients to report hospitals and doctors who issue surprise medical bills. The health care providers can then be billed thousands of dollars in fines if they continue to issue those surprise bills.
It sets up how much hospitals and doctors should be charging for out-of-network care in unexpected settings. It will be a standard, in-network rate, and while patients will still be responsible for paying it, rates aren’t expected to be as astronomically high. “Patient cost-sharing, such as co-insurance or a deductible, cannot be higher than if such services were provided by an in-network doctor, and any coinsurance or deductible must be based on in-network provider rates,” HHS said in the statement.
The rule also doesn’t address ambulance rides, which experts say remains a hole in surprise medical billing. Over half of all emergency ambulance rides were charged out-of-network rates in 2018, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of the data. Cynthia Cox, vice president of KFF, also pointed out on Thursday that patients might unknowingly give “consent” to hospitals for out-of-network charges by signing forms that are put in front of them.
“Still making my way through the rule, but there is some good and bad news for patients in here,” Cox tweeted. “The good includes that emergencies are defined broadly & retroactive ER coverage denial is no longer allowed. The bad is that some patients might inadvertently sign away their rights.”
Senior HHS officials described it as primarily focused on patients and their financial liabilities after surprise medical billing, acknowledging that many questions still need to be answered on how it will work for insurance companies and doctors offices or hospitals — clarity that is expected in future rules.
“We want to make sure that we put enough meat on this bone so that no one is surprised about how it needs to be implemented, not just the patients but also the providers and insurers. And so we certainly have to work on this whole issue of arbitration, and the cost, there will be a need to make further clarifications on definitions,” Becerra said.
It appears that The Weeknd and Angelina Jolie have struck up a friendship.
Tabloid magazine The Suncaptured photos of the Academy Award-winning actress and superstar singer as they headed to dinner at Giorgio Baldi in Los Angeles.
Although the nature of the meeting isn’t know, the pair share a common interest in Ethiopia: Both of The Weeknd’s parents are from the African nation, and Jolie and ex-husband Brad Pitt adopted their second child, daughter Zahara Marley,from Ethiopia in 2005.
In April, the “Blinding Lights” singer donated $1 million to the United Nations World Food Programme to provide two million meals to the country, where a conflict between the Ethiopian government and region of Tigray broke out in early 2021, leading to a humanitarian crisis that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions of citizens.
“My heart breaks for my people of Ethiopia as innocent civilians ranging from small children to the elderly are being senselessly murdered and entire villages are being displaced out of fear and destruction,” The Weeknd wrote in a post announcing his donation.
Idris Elba admits he was not the best boyfriend when he started dating now-wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba. The Luther star said he struggled with his temper, which led to angry outbursts and “tantrums.”
“Sabrina and I, very early in our relationship, I was very stressed so I had these massive anger tantrums that were like explosion,” Elba recently revealed during their Coupledompodcast, according to The Daily Mail.
The British actor admits his outbursts would cause Sabrina to ask “Who are you?,” which sometimes caused Elba to give an ultimatum to his then-girlfriend.
“I was always the first to say, ‘Hey, if you’re not happy, leave. Move,'” the Emmy nominee recalled. “It was kind of like a male instinct.”
Elba wasn’t proud of his past behavior and admits he’s “been getting better” at working toward more peaceful resolutions.
“Sabrina and I both have strong personalities and typically it’s Sabrina who says, ‘Look, I don’t want to fight,'” he explained. “I’ve been getting better at it recently but when I do it, I get nothing back. When she does it, I go, ‘Thank you.'”
The star of the forthcoming The Suicide Squad said working through his anger has helped him forge a stronger bond with his wife, whom he wed in 2019. He adds the two have been “literally inseparable since we met” in 2017.
“I’d say we’re in a good place,” Elba assessed. “It was a challenging year, but ultimately, when you look to the side and you’ve got someone that’s been there, ride or die, that’s really comforting.”
Sabrina added, “We’re newly business partners, but we’re also newlyweds. Idris is my best friend. I want to be around this guy every day of my life, so it’s really great to be able to see what that morphs into.”
