Tag: Announces

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Entertainment

Cuomo Declares Pop-Up Performances Throughout New York

Cuomo Announces Pop-Up Performances Across New York

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, who has made it clear that he sees the return of arts and culture as key elements in the state’s economic revitalization, announced Monday that a series of more than 300 free pop-up performances will be held “NY PopsUp” would begin February 20th and run through Labor Day.

Mayor Bill de Blasio meanwhile announced details of the city’s Open Culture program, which will allow outdoor performances on designated streets of the city in the spring.

The state’s pop-up events are part of a public-private partnership, New York Arts Revival, and will feature more than 150 artists, including Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, Mandy Patinkin, Renée Fleming and Hugh Jackman.

Because the state does not want to attract large crowds to the pandemic, many of the events are not announced in advance.

“We’re trying to thread the needle,” said Mr. Cuomo. “We want the performances. We don’t want mass gatherings, we don’t want large crowds. “

The events, according to the state, will take place in parks, museums and parking lots, as well as on subway platforms and in transit stations. People can follow a new Twitter and Instagram account, @NYPopsUp, for details on upcoming gigs. Many are shown online.

The series is co-directed by producers Scott Rudin and Jane Rosenthal with the New York State Council for Art and Empire State Development. It’s part of an arts revival plan that the governor announced during a January address when he said the state would organize the pop-up performances from February 4th.

The series begins on February 20 at the Javits Center in New York City with a free performance for health care workers starring Jon Batiste, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Cecile McLorin Salvant, and Ayodele Casel. Performers will travel across town in all five boroughs, performing in parks and street corners, as well as on the trail of Elmhurst Hospital and St. Barnabas Hospital.

Mr Cuomo said some of the events would use flexible venues with no fixed seating and could therefore be reconfigured to allow social distancing, including the Shed, Apollo Theater, Harlem Stage, La MaMa and the Alice Busch Opera Glimmerglass Festival Theater.

In June, the opening of Little Island, the park-like pier built by Barry Diller on the downtown Hudson River, and the 20th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival will add to the city’s growing arts program.

Little Island plans to have its own festival from August 11th to September 5th, coinciding with the final weeks of programming “NY PopsUp”.

Mr de Blasio announced on Monday that the city would start a new program to help some of the city’s cultural institutions apply for federal grants. The city’s effort, called Curtains Up NYC, will provide webinars and advice to businesses and nonprofits that are in some way related to live performances.

“We have to make sure that New York’s cultural institutions get the help they need,” said de Blasio at a press conference.

When asked if Broadway theaters could reopen while his plans to revive the arts continue, Mr Cuomo expressed hope.

“I think this is where we are going, right?” he said. “The overall effort is directed towards reopening with testing.”

He announced last week that the state intends to issue guidelines to allow wedding ceremonies for up to 150 guests if the participants are tested beforehand.

“Would I see a play and sit in a playhouse with 150 people?” he said. “If the 150 people were tested and they were all negative, I would do that. And the social distancing and ventilation system are right? Yes i would. “

Commercial producers have repeatedly said that Broadway’s economy precludes reopening at less than full capacity.

New York reported at least 177 new coronavirus deaths and 9,923 new cases on Sunday. While the number of new cases has fallen from a high after last month’s vacation, the average number of new daily cases and deaths is still well above the summer and fall levels.

Mr Cuomo said the government must take an active role in helping the city and state recover from the economic troubles of the pandemic. “It won’t be a situation where the economy will just return,” he said. “We have to make sure it comes back.”

“New York leads,” he added. “And we will bring the arts back.”

Michael Gold contributed to the coverage.

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Entertainment

Baryshnikov Arts Pronounces Digital Season

Baryshnikov Arts Announces Digital Season

The upcoming digital season at the Baryshnikov Arts Center will premiere seven video works commissioned by the organization in September from artists including Kyle Marshall, Bijayini Satpathy and Justin Hicks. Debuts begin on February 1st with the release of Satpathy’s “Vibhanga”, a piece based on Indian classical dance forms, and end in late June with Marshall’s “STELLAR”, a choreographed result of improvisational sessions he will perform at Zoom This Spring. Each video can be streamed on demand for free for two weeks on bacnyc.org.

“It’s a huge experiment for us, but why not?” Mikhail Baryshnikov, the center’s founder and artistic director, said in an email. “When has there ever been a better time to get creative and rethink our work?”

Baryshnikov said he was intrigued by the dynamics of art exchange over the internet. “The work presented on a digital platform is kind of a massive blind date,” he said. “With such a global reach, the possibilities that someone can make a real connection with what they see are limitless.”

Dance-based work makes up most of the slate: Mariana Valencia’s solo brownout will be available March 1-15, and Stefanie Batten Bland’s collaboration with installation artist Conrad Quesen, “Colonial”, will follow in May.

However, several other interdisciplinary projects are also offered. Hicks’ “Use Your Head for More” combines found sound and spoken text to create a series of portraits (February 15 through March 1). Holland Andrews’ “Museum of Calm” includes vocal music, meditation and performance art (March 15-29); and Tei Blow’s digital installation “The Sprezzaturameron” uses video game technology to tell the story of artists in an apocalyptic near future (May 17-31).

Baryshnikov Arts will continue to share performances from its archive throughout the spring. Planned highlights are the New York premiere of Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s dance duet “Verklierter Nacht” from 2019 (April 8-15) and a concert performance by the Tesla Quartet and soprano Alexandra Smither (April 15-22) in 2018.

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Health

EU broadcasts 300 million extra doses of Pfizer-BioNTech covid vaccine

EU announces 300 million more doses of Pfizer-BioNTech covid vaccine

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen holds a press conference in Brussels, Belgium on December 13, 2020 after speaking to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the phone.

Olivier Hoslet | Reuters

LONDON – The European Union doubles its inventory of Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccines as concerns about adoption mount across 27 member states.

The vaccine developed with German biotechnology was the first to be approved by European regulatory authorities. It has been administered across the region since December 27th. However, the rollout was inconsistent and the European Commission was criticized for not buying more vaccine.

The Commission has argued that, at the request of Member States, it has a diversified portfolio of vaccination contracts, totaling up to 2.3 billion doses of “the most promising candidates”.

“As you know, we currently have access to 300 million doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine. Now the good news is: we have now agreed with BioNTech-Pfizer to renew this contract. With the new agreement, we could buy more in total another 300 million cans, “said the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at a press conference on Friday.

This would mean the EU is on track to receive 600 million doses of this vaccine. Speaking to CNBC in December, Pfizer’s CEO pledged to produce a total of 1.3 billion cans in 2021, which would mean Europe would get almost half of its annual output.

75 million cans of the new order will be available in the second quarter of 2021. The rest will be delivered in the third and fourth quarters.

The Netherlands only started vaccinating its citizens this week and the bureaucracy has reportedly made France one of the biggest stragglers in distributing the shock.

According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, more than 15 million cases of coronavirus have been reported in the region to date.

European regulators approved a second coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday. Moderna’s candidate is expected to be available to European citizens in the coming days.

“Europe will have more than enough vaccines within a reliable timeframe, and this shows that the path that we have taken in the European Union is the right one,” said von der Leyen on Friday, rejecting the criticism.

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Politics

In Reversal, Pentagon Publicizes Plane Service Nimitz Will Stay in Center East

In Reversal, Pentagon Announces Aircraft Carrier Nimitz Will Remain in Middle East

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon said Sunday it had ordered the aircraft carrier Nimitz to remain in the Middle East over Iranian threats against President Trump and other American officials, just three days after the warship was sent home to ease mounting tensions Tehran.

Acting Secretary of Defense, Christopher C. Miller, abruptly overturned his previous order to reinstate the Nimitz, which he had done against the objections of his top military advisers. The military had been preoccupied with a muscle-building strategy for weeks to prevent Iran from attacking American personnel in the Persian Gulf.

“Due to the recent threats by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other US government officials, I have ordered the USS Nimitz to cease its routine redeployment,” Miller said in a statement on Sunday evening.

United States intelligence agencies have noted for months that Iran is attempting to target senior American military officers and civilian leaders in order to assassinate the death in an American of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, commander of Iran’s elite quds force in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps avenge drone attack a year ago.

However, it was unclear what the new urgency of these threats led Mr. Miller to cancel his previous order to send the Nimitz home. In the past few days, Iranian officials have been stepping up their fiery news against the United States. The head of Iran’s judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, said that anyone involved in the assassination of General Suleimani would not be able to “escape from law and justice” even if they were an American president.

It was unclear last week whether Mr. Trump was aware of Mr. Miller’s order to send the Nimitz to its homeport in Bremerton, Washington, after a longer than usual 10 month deployment.

Some Trump administration officials suggested on Sunday that with a controversial political week – the Georgia Senate runoff on Tuesday and the House and Senate meeting on Wednesday to win President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. confirm – the look of the aircraft carriers steaming from the Middle East did not match the White House.

Whatever the reason, the mixed news surrounding the aviation company’s movements is raising new questions about coordination and communication between an inexperienced Pentagon leadership and the White House in the dwindling days of the Trump administration.

Some current and former Pentagon officials have criticized the decision-making process at the Pentagon since Mr. Trump sacked Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper and several of his top advisors in November and replaced them with Mr. Miller, a former counter-terrorism adviser to the White House. and several Trump loyalists.

Officials said Friday that Mr Miller ordered the redeployment of the Nimitz in part as a “de-escalation” signal to Tehran to avoid falling into a crisis at the end of Mr Trump’s administration that would land in Mr Biden’s lap in office.

In the past few weeks, Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran on Twitter, and in November senior national security aides advised the president against launching a pre-emptive strike against an Iranian nuclear facility.

The Central Command of the Pentagon had published several violent demonstrations for weeks to warn Tehran of the consequences of an attack on American troops or diplomats.

The Nimitz and other warships arrived to protect American forces withdrawing from Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. The Air Force dispatched B-52 bombers three times to fly within 60 miles of the Iranian coast. And the Navy announced for the first time in nearly a decade that it had commanded a cruise missile submarine into the Persian Gulf.

American intelligence reports indicated that Iran and its deputies may have been preparing a strike last weekend to avenge the deaths of General Suleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, head of the Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah, who was last seen Killed in the same United States drone strike in Baghdad on January 1st.

American intelligence analysts have discovered Iranian air defenses, naval forces and other security units on high alert in the past few days. They also noted that Iran brought more short-range missiles and drones into Iraq.

But senior Defense Department officials admit they cannot say whether Iran or its Shiite proxies in Iraq are ready to beat American troops or prepare defensive measures if Mr Trump orders a pre-emptive attack against them.

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Entertainment

Ariana Grande Proclaims Engagement to Dalton Gomez

Ariana Grande Announces Engagement to Dalton Gomez

Pop star Ariana Grande is engaged to luxury real estate agent Dalton Gomez, she announced on Instagram on Sunday.

She shared photos of herself with Mr. Gomez (and a diamond and pearl ring) and wrote her post: “Forever and more.”

Ms Grande had pointed out her relationship with Mr Gomez last year and put photos with him in piles of pictures that were shared on Instagram.

A music video for their collaboration with Justin Bieber on “Stuck With U,” a nod to the quarantine, was the couple’s public debut this spring with a clip of Ms. Grande and Mr. Gomez dancing.

Along with his “unapologetic and sometimes humorous libidinal lyrics,” Ms. Grande’s most recent album, “Positions,” which was released in the fall, has “occasional slip-ups of vulnerability that reveal the vertigo and fear of new love,” The New York Times wrote in his review.

Mr. Gomez, a Los Angeles estate agent with Aaron Kirman Group, was born and raised in Southern California according to his profile on the agency’s website. He has worked in luxury real estate for five years overseeing sales of homes such as Pierre Koenig’s Los Angeles case study # 21, which served as the set for Charmed.

Shortly after the release of Ms. Grande’s 2018 album, Sweetener, her ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, died of an accidental overdose.

He worked with Ms. Grande on her hit “The Way” in 2013.

“I’ve adored you from the day I met you when I was nineteen, and I always will,” she said of Mr. Miller in a post on Instagram following his death.

At the time of Mr. Miller’s death, she was only a few months engaged to comedian Pete Davidson. Ms. Grande announced her engagement shortly thereafter.

Mr. Davidson attributed their separation to the death of Mr. Miller and told radio host Charlamagne Tha God in an interview: “I knew pretty well that it was over after that.”

In December 2018, Mr Davidson shared a disturbing post on Instagram: “I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore,” he wrote.

A police officer checked him out at the Manhattan studios of “Saturday Night Live,” where he is an actor, and NBC contacted the police department to say he was fine, police said at the time.

In the deleted post he said, “I’m doing my best to stay here for you, but I don’t really know how much longer I can hold out. I was just trying to help people. Remember, I told you. “

Ms. Grande, 27, was known as Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon show “Victorious,” which aired from 2010-13, but it was her music career that earned her international renown. Her song “Positions” reached number 1 on the Billboard Global 200.

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World News

Covax, a world well being group, broadcasts vaccine offers to assist much less rich international locations.

Covax, an international health group, announces vaccine deals to help less wealthy countries.

Leaders of an international body promoting global access to coronavirus vaccines, known as Covax, announced on Friday that additional efforts were being made with manufacturers that would provide access to nearly two billion doses of vaccine candidates, more than that Half were intended to be shipped to low and middle income countries.

The aim of the effort is to ensure vaccination of a fifth of the population of the 190 participating countries and economies before the end of next year.

The new contracts cover vaccines that are still under study for efficacy and safety, one from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and one from Johnson & Johnson. As of the ongoing discussions, no agreements have been made to source the FDA-cleared BioNTech Pfizer vaccine, which is already being used in countries such as the US and the UK.

The international effort was led by the Gavi public-private health partnership, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organization.

Friday’s announcement contained the news that a mechanism had been developed for countries with overdoses to share it.

Many high-income nations have agreements with multiple manufacturers that could result in significantly more doses than are required to vaccinate their entire population. Officials from Canada and France announced that they intend to contribute their additional doses via Covax, although they have not given a schedule or say whether they would vaccinate their entire population first.

France will “start exchanging vaccines as early as possible,” said Stephanie Seydoux, the country’s ambassador for global health, at a press conference.

  • In other developments around the world:

  • in the South AfricaScientists and health officials on Friday announced the discovery of a new line of coronavirus that is rapidly dominating virus samples tested in the country. The variant, named 501.V2, has also been associated with faster spread and higher viral load in swabs in a preliminary analysis. Scientists are studying it closely because the variant contains several changes in the part of the virus that allows it to attach to human cells, which is an important target for antibody therapies and vaccines.

  • in the Europe, In the run-up to Christmas there is a patchwork of guidelines across the continent as 500,000 people die. . Germany has put a strict lockdown on Christmas week, and the Netherlands and Italy will take stricter measures during the holidays. France and Spain have some restrictions but have opposed new national bans. In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticized for lifting restrictions on Christmas gatherings despite the rise in new infections. The Regional Director of the World Health Organization, Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge said in a statement on Friday that it is not now time for Europeans to ease restrictions.

  • As coronavirus cases and hospital stays in Sweden continue to rise, the government issued several new recommendations on Friday, including the use of face masks. “We have to do more now because the medical system is tense,” said Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. The new recommendations include a limit of four people per table in restaurants, cafes and bars, as well as a ban on selling alcohol after 8 p.m. Stores, shopping centers and gyms are asked to limit the number of customers further.

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Business

MacKenzie Scott Proclaims $4.2 Billion Extra in Charitable Giving

MacKenzie Scott Announces $4.2 Billion More in Charitable Giving

In her brief career as one of the world’s foremost philanthropists, MacKenzie Scott has made a name for herself for the sheer volume and speed of her donations, donating nearly $ 6 billion in her fortune this year alone.

Ms. Scott, a writer who was once married to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, announced in a Medium post Tuesday that she’d given nearly $ 4.2 billion to 384 organizations over the past four months have. Many of the groups are focused on basic needs for millions of people during a difficult year, including food banks and meals on wheels.

“This pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans who have already struggled,” Ms. Scott wrote. “Economic losses and health consequences were worse for women, people of color and people living in poverty alike. Meanwhile, it has significantly increased the wealth of the billionaires. “

Mainstays like NAACP, Easterseals, Goodwill and United Way were on the list. This also applies to more than 100 separate YMCA and YWCA organizations across the country which, like many nonprofits, have lost tremendous revenue even though the demand for their services has increased.

And smaller organizations like a nonprofit affordable home lender in Minnesota and a group helping people pay off medical debts also received funding.

Ms. Scott’s post did not include the amounts paid to each organization, but it did say that the full amount pledged is prepaid and unrestricted or “no commitment” as she put it.

Morgan State University, a historically black university in Baltimore, announced it had received $ 40 million, the largest private gift in the institution’s history. Ms. Scott said the money went to groups in all 50 states, Washington and Puerto Rico.

Chuck Collins, director of the Charity Reform Initiative at the Institute for Policy Studies, said he couldn’t think of anyone who gave away more this year, at least in terms of publicly announced grants. “She’s responding to the current moment with urgency,” said Mr. Collins.

“They think of all of these tech achievements, they are the big disruptors, but it disrupts the norms surrounding billionaire philanthropy by moving fast and not creating a private foundation for their great-grandchildren to give away the money,” added Collins.

The Institute for Political Studies has pushed for legislation that will double the amount of money foundations will have to pay from 5 percent a year to 10 percent for the next three years to meet the yawning needs caused by the pandemic.

For context, the Gates Foundation, in many ways the largest and most influential nonprofit in the world, raised $ 5.1 billion in direct grants with the fortunes of both Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren E. Buffett. Dollars awarded in 2019. However, the Gates Foundation has decades of experience and more than 1,600 employees, while Ms. Scott only referred to a team of advisors to help her find good causes.

While the Gates Foundation may donate more than $ 5.9 billion through its Covid-19 response, the number shows how quickly Ms. Scott has risen to become the number one donor worldwide.

In July, Ms. Scott announced that she had donated $ 1.7 billion to historically black colleges and universities, as well as groups promoting women’s rights, LGBTQ equality and the fight against climate change, among others. Howard University said at the time it had received $ 40 million, a donation it described as “transformative”.

When Ms. Scott and Mr. Bezos were divorced last year, Ms. Scott received 4 percent of Amazon’s outstanding shares, or 19.7 million shares. They were valued at around $ 38.3 billion at the time. Those stocks would be valued at approximately $ 62 billion today after a pandemic-triggered surge in Amazon stocks. It’s not clear how many stocks she sold.