Kanye West tapped runner Sha’Carri Richardson to help tease the release of his new album during Tuesday night’s NBA finals game.
The record-breaking sprinter starred in the latest Beats by Dre advertisement, which includes a short clip of West’s new song, “No Child Left Behind,” featuring singer Vory.
In the clip, Vory sings over gentle organ music, “Back again/ I use my back against the wall/ Never caught on y’all/ Never count on y’all/ Always count on God, before Kanye joins in singing, “He’s done miracles on me.”
The track is part of West’s long-awaited 10th studio album, Donda, named after his late mother, Donda West. The studio effort was first teased in March 2020 and was originally slated to come out that July. However, Kanye cancelled the release and announced he was further tweaking the album.
Now, fans have a new release date to look forward to — this Friday, July 23. To further feed the hype, Ye will hold a Donda listening event the night before on Apple Music, starting at 8 p.m. ET. It was also announced the album will feature Lil Baby, Travis Scott and Pusha T.
The commercial starring Richardson, who is one of the fastest women in the world, embodies the ad’s message, “Live your truth.” It features the athlete walking onto an empty track and looking up at the sky before placing her feet on the starting blocks to begin running.
Richardson, 21, sparked a nationwide debate about cannabis rules in sports after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency handed her a 30-day suspension for testing positive for THC, the intoxicating compound found in marijuana. The suspension forced her to miss the women’s 100-meter relay she previously qualified for and, ultimately, she wasn’t offered a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
(NEW YORK) — New York City health workers will be required to get vaccinated for COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced during a Wednesday news conference.
“The delta variant continues to make more and more trouble, and we’ve got to fight back,” de Blasio said. “We need a strong, clear approach — that every single one of our workers gets vaccinated or tested weekly.”
Beginning in August, all @NYCHealthSystem staff and @NYCHealthy clinical workers must show proof of a #COVID19 vaccine or a weekly negative COVID test. Join us at City Hall for more.
The new rules, which will go into effect on Aug. 2, will apply to all employees at city-run hospitals and clinical workers for the health department. The city plans to extend the new rules to additional health department staff in coming weeks. Those employees will be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test result.
The mayor stressed that the new rules are an additional step to keep the city safe and won’t take away from grassroots efforts, such as mobile sites and at-home vaccinations, to raise vaccination rates in the general population. The new rule isn’t technically a vaccine mandate, since employees have the option to get tested each week.
“Every single one of those employees has a choice,” added de Blasio, noting that a vaccination was the better of the two options. “This is about keeping people safe and stopping the delta variant.”
Vaccination rates in New York City’s general population are slightly above the national average. As of Tuesday, 58% of New York City residents had received at least one dose and 54% were fully vaccinated, compared with 56% of all Americans who’ve gotten at least one shot and 49% who are fully vaccinated, according to data from the city health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hospital workers tend to be vaccinated at a higher rate than the general population, although the percentage of fully vaccinated New York City hospital workers (70%) is slightly lower than the statewide average (74%), according to the state health department.
(WASHINGTON) — With more than 161 million people now fully vaccinated in the U.S., experts say we are bound to see reports of breakthrough infections, meaning people will test positive for COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated.
These breakthrough COVID-19 cases aren’t proof the vaccines aren’t working, experts said, but are normal and expected. All evidence suggests that even in the face of the new, highly-transmissible delta variant, COVID vaccines are still working as they should to dramatically decrease the risk of hospitalization and death.
“When you hear about a breakthrough infection, that doesn’t necessarily mean the vaccine is failing,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said before Congress on Tuesday.
COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective, but they do not block the virus 100% of the time, meaning that some breakthrough infections occur after vaccination.
“I think people need to appreciate when you talk about breakthrough infections that the original data from the clinical trial — the efficacy data was based on preventing clinically apparent disease, not preventing infection, such as a symptomatic infection,” Fauci said.
Despite many high-profile cases of breakthrough infections with mild or no symptoms, including among Olympic athletes and some politicians, the overall number is very low compared to the number of people vaccinated.
And the number of people who have been hospitalized or died after being fully vaccinated is even lower, according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments. This demonstrates that vaccinated people are far less likely to die of COVID-19 compared to unvaccinated people.
That doesn’t mean severe illness as the result of an infection isn’t possible, but this tends to happen in people who are elderly or otherwise immune-compromised, experts said.
“Out of 157 million fully vaccinated in the US, there were 4,909 hospitalizations and 988 deaths,” Dr. Carlos del Rio, infectious disease physician and professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, said during a press briefing on Monday.
“Of course we will see some breakthrough infections that lead to severe illness, more in vulnerable populations with underlying chronic conditions who couldn’t mount a response to vaccines because they couldn’t,” Dr. John Brownstein, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Boston’s Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, told ABC News.
Although studies on this aren’t completed, Fauci said last week that the risk of a vaccinated person spreading COVID to someone else is assuredly far less than an unvaccinated person spreading COVID.
“You could make a reasonable assumption that the rate of transmissibility from the asymptomatic vaccinated person to an uninfected person would be less likely than if the person was unvaccinated,” Fauci said at a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing last week.
The overall number of breakthrough infections is rising, but that could be because more people overall are getting vaccinated, resulting in more breakthrough cases, Dr. Shobha Swaminathan, an associate professor and infectious disease expert at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, told ABC News.
“As the number of infections in the U.S. increases, there may be a slight increase in the number of ‘breakthrough’ infections,” Swaminathan said. “However, the majority of infections continue to be reported among those who have not been vaccinated.”
Experts said the delta variant could be contributing to these cases, but for now, research is ongoing.
“If it causes an increased rate of breakthrough infections, that’s unknown,” adds Brownstein.
But experts feel reassured by what they do know, that even with the highly-transmissible delta variant sweeping the country, more than 99% of COVID-19 deaths are among people who are unvaccinated.
Alexis E. Carrington, M.D. is an ABC News Medical Unit Associate Producer and a rising dermatology resident at George Washington University. Sony Salzman is a Coordinating Producer for ABC News Medical Unit.
(WASHINGTON) — With more than 161 million people now fully vaccinated in the U.S., experts say we are bound to see reports of breakthrough infections, meaning people test positive for COVID-19 while fully vaccinated.
These breakthrough COVID-19 cases aren’t proof the vaccines aren’t working, experts said, but are normal and expected. All evidence suggests that even in the face of the new, highly-transmissible delta variant, COVID vaccines are still working as they should to dramatically decrease the risk of hospitalization and death.
“When you hear about a breakthrough infection, that doesn’t necessarily mean the vaccine is failing,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said before Congress on Tuesday.
COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective, but they do not block the virus 100% of the time, meaning that some breakthrough infections occur after vaccination.
“I think people need to appreciate when you talk about breakthrough infections that the original data from the clinical trial — the efficacy data was based on preventing clinically apparent disease, not preventing infection, such as a symptomatic infection,” Fauci said.
Despite many high-profile cases of breakthrough infections with mild or no symptoms, including among Olympic athletes and some politicians, the overall number is very low compared to the number of people vaccinated.
And the number of people who have been hospitalized or died after being fully vaccinated is even lower, according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments. This demonstrates that vaccinated people are far less likely to die of COVID-19 compared to unvaccinated people.
That doesn’t mean severe illness as the result of an infection isn’t possible, but this tends to happen in people who are elderly or otherwise immune-compromised, experts said.
“Out of 157 million fully vaccinated in the US, there were 4,909 hospitalizations and 988 deaths,” Dr. Carlos del Rio, infectious disease physician and professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine, said during a press briefing on Monday.
“Of course we will see some breakthrough infections that lead to severe illness, more in vulnerable populations with underlying chronic conditions who couldn’t mount a response to vaccines because they couldn’t,” Dr. John Brownstein, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Boston’s Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, told ABC News.
Although studies on this aren’t completed, Fauci said last week that the risk of a vaccinated person spreading COVID to someone else is assuredly far less than an unvaccinated person spreading COVID.
“You could make a reasonable assumption that the rate of transmissibility from the asymptomatic vaccinated person to an uninfected person would be less likely than if the person was unvaccinated,” Fauci said at a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing last week.
The overall number of breakthrough infections is rising, but that could be because more people overall are getting vaccinated, resulting in more breakthrough cases, Dr. Shobha Swaminathan, an associate professor and infectious disease expert at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, told ABC News.
“As the number of infections in the U.S. increases, there may be a slight increase in the number of ‘breakthrough’ infections,” Swaminathan said. “However, the majority of infections continue to be reported among those who have not been vaccinated.”
Experts said the delta variant could be contributing to these cases, but for now, research is ongoing.
“If it causes an increased rate of breakthrough infections, that’s unknown,” adds Brownstein.
But experts feel reassured by what they do know, that even with the highly-transmissible delta variant sweeping the country, more than 99% of COVID-19 deaths are among people who are unvaccinated.
Alexis E. Carrington, M.D. is an ABC News Medical Unit Associate Producer and a rising dermatology resident at George Washington University. Sony Salzman is a Coordinating Producer for ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) — The city of Liverpool, England was stripped of its World Heritage status on Wednesday, after a U.N. committee determined that the recent construction has been detrimental to its value.
Liverpool was inscribed on the United Nations’ Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage List in 2004 for its value as a Maritime Mercantile City. The committee listed it as “in danger” in 2012, over concerns about development within the city.
— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳😷 (@UNESCO) July 21, 2021
UNESCO says Liverpool’s “historic centre and docklands were inscribed for bearing witness to the development of one of the world’s major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries.” They also cited major developments in dock technology, transportation, and port management that were made in Liverpool.
But UNESCO says the Liverpool Waters development project at the city’s north docks, as well as a new soccer stadium being built for the club team Everton F.C., have contributed to an “irreversible loss of attributes.”
— Liverpool City Council (@lpoolcouncil) July 21, 2021
Liverpool is just the third property to lose World Heritage status, according to the U.N. The prior sites to lose that status are the Elbe Valley in Dresden, Germany and the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman.
(NEW YORK) — With many students heading back to school soon, researchers are gathering information that can help schools set COVID protocols.
Some devices being studied are portable air purification units, which could add a layer of protection and slow the spread of aerosols and droplets in a classroom setting. In fact, New York City plans to have such devices in its classrooms.
Good Morning America got an exclusive look at testing by the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota at the Well Living Lab to examine these devices.
“I think it just provides another layer of security for people,” Dr. Bruce Johnson of the Mayo Clinic told GMA.
In its study, a team of more than 20 researchers built an experimental “classroom.” They rigged up a mannequin in the center to spray out a neon-colored solution to mimic how a sick student might spread particles as they breathe.
Then, researchers measured what was collected on 70 surfaces all over the room, such as desks, chairs and iPad, to see how the droplets spread with and without air purification.
“We’re able to say at each point in the room — how quickly are particulars depositing on different surfaces,” researcher Dr. Zachary Pope said.
Researchers also found that using portable air purifiers to supplement a classroom HVAC system, it may result in up to five times lower particle concentration in the air, improving air quality throughout the room, not just near the unit.
The study from the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota drew similar results to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted earlier this month.
The agency now recommends schools should “filter and/or clean the air in the school by improving the level of filtration as much as possible.”
“I think they [parents] should be put at ease in the sense that we have solutions available,” Hogan said. “There’s a lot of information that is — now available to school administrators and they should be comfortable with the fact that they’re looking into it. And hopefully will be able to implement these solutions.”
For teachers or parents looking to invest in an air filter system, researchers said that any portable air filtration system will do the job. But a quick skim through the product specifications will show how many square feet the product will cover to ensure that it covers enough units of the entire room.
If an air filtration system is beyond your budget, another option would be to update your HVAC system or open a window to add that layer of protection.
Alessia Cara opened up about her childhood in a new interview, revealing how her family’s love of music paved the way to her becoming a global superstar.
Speaking with Billboard, the “Sweet Dreams” singer, born Alessia Caracciolo, reminisced about growing up in a traditional Italian household in Ontario, Canada. Her parents were on the stricter side, banning sleepovers and stressing the importance of school.
However, Alessia recalls a childhood filled with music.
“Italians love our music and we love to dance and we love to be loud. So that was always kind of around my life,” the singer grinned. “My mom would play the tambourine when we were kids, and we would dance around.”
Alessia was given her first guitar when she turned 10 and the rest was history.
“I feel like I learned manifestation before I knew what manifestation was, because I really would just pretend that I was already successful. I would do fake interviews in my shower and in my room and talk to no one, fake acceptance speeches — the whole thing,” she confessed. “All of the fake acceptance speeches I had done in my room as a kid had just totally come full circle.”
Alessia won the 2017 Grammy for Best New Artist, and took home trophies at the Juno Awards, the VMAs and more.
However, the biggest award came in 2015: It was her dad’s reaction after she performed on TV for the first time, singing “Here” on The Tonight Show.
She tells Billboard, “I remember going backstage after it was done, and he had tears in his eyes… He didn’t want to say it, but I know he cried a little bit. It was really sweet.”
Founding Romantics guitarist Mike Skill has released a new version of his band’s classic 1979 tune “What I Like About You” in advance of his debut self-titled solo EP, which is due out on September 10.
The updated rendition of “What I Like About You” is available now on all streaming services, including Spotify, SoundCloud and Bandcamp. The track features Skill on lead and backing vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar and bass, as well as current Romantics member Brad Elvis on drums and Patrick Harwood on harmonica.
Skill co-wrote “What I Like About You” with Romantics frontman Wally Palmar and the band’s founding drummer, Jimmy Marinos, who sang the original version of the tune.
Recalling how the song was born one day before a Romantics rehearsal, Skill says, “I offered that I had this new idea…I opened with the simple chords, and [Marinos] jumped in with his signature animal groove…and [he] instantly dropped in singing, scatting, jamming in free form, sketching a lyric, throwing words against the wall to see what would stick, as I scatted with backups…’Uh huh, Hey! Uh huh!'”
The song appeared on The Romantics’ 1980 self-titled debut album, and peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #49, although the tune’s popularity continued to grow in the ensuing years.
Skill’s forthcoming EP also will be released on vinyl later in 2021.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson admits he was “in panic mode” when he decided to put out his directorial debut Summer of Soul, a documentary-film which chronicles the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival.
“I called Ava [DuVernay] up a lot,” Thompson reveals to ABC Audio. “Just to get names.. and know, “[Who] should I look for — a writing director, cinematographer?’ That sort of thing.'”
While the Roots drummer shares that he “called up” other directors like Ernest Dickerson and SpikeLee to get advice, he says he felt comfort in knowing that he “also had the right team.”
“I.. was fully transparent with them,” Questlove says. “Like, ‘Look, this is my first time driving this thing. If there’s anything you see that could put us in hot water or that you feel could be better, I’m wide open to it.”
Thompson says those helping him along the way included his “awesome team of producers” and editor, who he says understood the importance of capturing the essence of the music-centered film.
“So even… the rhythm that we used for this film was important,” Questlove notes. “We assembled the perfect team to help deliver this message to the people.”
Lionsgate, the studio behind the hit John Wick and Hunger Games movie franchises, has just inked a deal with legendary quarterback Tom Brady‘s Autograph platform to create non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, of those and other entertainment properties.
Autograph announced a “new era of collecting” by also revealing NFT arrangements with the Super Bowl champ’s fellow sports icons, including Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Derek Jeter, Naomi Osaka and Tony Hawk, who sit on the company’s advisory board.
Autograph’s just-announced partnering with digital sports entertainment company DraftKings Inc. will let fans “seamlessly buy, sell and trade digital collectibles across sports, entertainment and culture using their existing DraftKings account.”
The first wave of content developed by Autograph and Lionsgate will focus on franchises including John Wick, The Hunger Games and The Twilight Saga, as well as Mad Men and Dirty Dancing.
Just don’t put your NFT of Baby in a corner. Nobody does that.
