Michael B. Jordan to Change Rum Name After Criticism From Nicki Minaj & More

As the conversation around the brand’s name picked up steam online, some social media users from the Caribbean community and diaspora pointed out the lack of connection between its public-facing figures and Caribbean culture, raising questions about Jordan’s use of the term and whether it was culturally appropriative. At one point, Trinidadian artist Nicki Minaj…

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Britney Spears Wants Her Conservatorship to End: Here’s What Happens Next

Since facing mental health issues in 2008, Spears has been under a conservatorship primarily overseen by her father, Jamie Spears. The conservatorship covers both her person and her estate, which Forbes estimates to be around $60 million. At Wednesday’s hearing, Spears claimed her father revels in his control over her and that she has been overworked, over-medicated and abused by the people she…

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‘I Regret It’: Snooki Just Apologized To Angelina For That Jersey Shore Wedding Speech

There’s nothing like a few dirty martinis to help “clear the air”. Case in point: Snooki and Angelina finally burying the hatchet over the infamous wedding toast. First, it was Deena and JWOWW, and now tonight’s Jersey Shore: Family Vacation saw the original meatball herself inviting Angelina to lunch for a series of heartfelt apologies and…

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Essence Fest 2021 Virtual Lineup Includes DJ Khaled, Tank, Jazmine Sullivan & More Performing

Weekend-long, fun-filled virtual programming will include daytime interactive sessions and evening concerts. Jazmine Sullivan, DJ Khaled & Friends, Ne-Yo, Amerie, Tank, Kirk Franklin, Davido, Lucky Daye, Carl Thomas, D-Nice and more have been announced as part of the lineup of fan-favorite acts slated to perform. The list of artists to appear during interactive sessions includes: Mary J. Blige, Angela Yee, Michelle…

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Supreme Court Rules Cheerleader’s ‘F*ck School’ Snapchat Post Was Protected Speech

Photo: Lynne Sladky (AP)The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a Pennsylvania high school violated the First Amendment rights of a former cheerleader by punishing her for saying “fuck school” on Snapchat. The decision potentially restricts schools’ ability to regulate students’ off-campus speech.In an 8-1 decision upholding a lower court’s ruling, the Supreme Court…

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Aliens From 1,715 Stars Could’ve Seen Earth Over the Past 5,000 Years, Study Suggests

A rendering of Earth and the Sun, viewed from thousands of miles above our planet.Image: OpenSpace/American Museum of Natural HistoryAstronomers on Earth have spotted thousands of exoplanets since the 1990s, so it’s not unreasonable to assume that aliens, should they exist, would be capable of the same feat. Working under this assumption, astronomers have identified…

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Africa: Red Cross Evacuates Wounded From Village Hit by Air Strike

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) helped facilitate medical evacuation of wounded people by the Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) from Togoga village, in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. The operation was conducted in coordination with all relevant parties. The wounded were transported in ERCS ambulances and are now receiving medical treatment in Ayder Referral…

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Miley Cyrus Brings Out Drag-Queen Chorus to Cover Cher’s ‘Believe’ at Pride Special

Miley Cyrus dances her way through Pride (with the help of some drag queen friends) for a special rendition of Cher’s 1998 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Believe.” The performance, which was released Wednesday (June 23), comes ahead of Cyrus’ new Pride special, Miley Cyrus Presents Stand by You, which will exclusively stream on Peacock starting June 25. Filmed…

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TWICE’s ‘Taste of Love’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now MRC Data. Pure album sales were the measurement solely utilized by the Billboard…

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Inside Look: How the ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ Soundtrack Honors the Spirit of the Best-Selling Original

“We knew there would be a lot of excitement, a lot of expectation, and a lot of pressure,” says music supervisor Kier Lehman (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, HBO’s Insecure), who, along with co-supervisor Morgan Rhodes, worked closely with director Malcolm D. Lee, label partners at Republic Records, producer Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media and James’ production company…

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Twitter trends ‘squirrels’ after TN minister blamed them for causing power outages

Netizens are having a field day, thanks to Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji’s comments on squirrels running on overhead power lines and causing disruptions in service. Clips of the comments made by the DMK’s Karur MLA and Electrictiy Minister have been going viral on social media and instant messaging platforms. The Tamil equivalent of “Squirrels…

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Researchers discover Nipah virus antibodies in bats from Maharashtra’s Mahabaleshwar cave

The Journal of Infection and Public Health in its study “Detection of possible Nipah virus infection in Rousettus leschenaultii and Pipistrellus Pipistrellus bats in Maharashtra, India” has found the presence of antibodies against the Nipah virus (NiV) in bat species in a cave in Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra. The World Health Organization (WHO) had listed the Nipah…

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Susan Collins Calls Out Biden ATF Nominee David Chipman, Will Vote Against Confirmation

On Monday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) pointed to President Joe Biden’s ATF nominee David Chipman’s criticism of the gun industry and his comments about law-abiding gun owners when announcing she will oppose his nomination. Fox News reported Collins saying: After meeting with Mr. Chipman, listening to Mainers, and reviewing his record, I have decided to…

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CNN: Whitehouse’s Beach Club Is ‘Very Evasive’ and Hung Up on Us -White Members

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” CNN National Correspondent Sunlen Serfaty reported that Bailey’s Beach Club, the club that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has received criticism for being a member of has evaded questions on the racial makeup of the club’s membership and that while Whitehouse’s office has claimed the club has non-white members, they…

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What We Do in the Shadows Spin-Off Wellington Paranormal Is Already Our Favorite Comedy of the Summer

Minogue, Sergeant Maaka, and O’Leary in the Wellington Paranormal office.Image: Stan Alley/The CWIf The X-Files tossed aside all the government-conspiracy stuff and just concentrated on wacky monsters—and injected everything with the driest, most deadpan humor imaginable, and a bit more bumbling—that’s kind of exactly what Wellington Paranormal looks like. The New Zealand series, a spin-off…

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Hayley Kiyoko Explains Why It’s So Exciting to See Queer Artists ‘Winning’ in 2021

For her “next chapter” in music, as Kiyoko calls it, the 30-year-old singer says that she wanted to help refresh her fanbase, especially after the year and half they’ve spent in quarantine. Part of that includes a return to live performances, which Kiyoko kicked off during Pride Month with her performances at iHeartRadio’s “Can’t Cancel…

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Cordae Announces His New Record Label Hi Level: ‘I Know What It Takes to Make Artists Legendary’

“Hi Level [will house] artists, production, and management, where everyone elevates together, by way of working together,” says Cordae’s manager, Ace Christian. The label will offer in-house marketing and PR services, in addition to artist development. While Cordae has yet to sign any artists, he says that there are a few he has his eye…

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The 10 Greatest Queer Anthems Of The 21st Century

Steve Granitz/WireImage. Mackenzie Sweetnam/Getty Images. James Devaney/GC Images. Earl Gibson III/WireImage What makes a queer anthem? That’s the question MTV News recently posed to four musicians: rapper and activist Mykki Blanco; Mxmtoon, the ukulele-playing bedroom-pop artist; Southern-born singer-songwriter Katie Pruitt; and gospel-influenced pop star Vincint. The quartet met on a recent Zoom call to talk…

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Sources: City prepping $139M offer to sign Kane

playCould a Kane-Sterling swap make sense for Man City, Tottenham? (1:22)Julien Laurens analyzes the possibility of Manchester City offering up Raheem Sterling in a swap for Harry Kane. (1:22)11:37 AM ETJames OlleyCloseSenior Writer, ESPN FCRob DawsonManchester City are readying a £100 million ($139 million) offer for Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, sources have told ESPN.Kane,…

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Judge Dismisses Claims That the Trump Admin Cleared Lafayette Square for a Photo-Op

Then-President Donald Trump walks between lines of riot police in Lafayette Park at the White House in Washington, D.C., June 1, 2020. (Tom Brenner/Reuters) A federal judge dismissed lawsuits by Black Lives Matter and the Washington, D.C., chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union claiming that the Trump administration authorized an attack on demonstrators at…

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Sticky stuff 101: Everything you need to know as MLB’s foreign-substance crackdown begins

7:00 AM ETAlden GonzalezCloseESPN Staff WriterJoined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Los Angeles Rams Previously covered the Angels for MLB.comJesse RogersCloseESPN Staff WriterJesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.Beginning with Monday’s games, pitchers will be ejected and suspended for using illegal foreign substances to doctor baseballs as Major League…

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California Launches Website to Help Residents Get Digital Vaccine Record, Insists It’s Not a Passport

Stickers for the clergy to wear after they receive the vaccine sit on a table at Hartford HealthCare St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut on February 26, 2021. Photo: Joseph Prezioso/AFP (Getty Images)A new website in California will give the public a way to access their digital covid-19 vaccine record and share their proof…

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On Racial Diversity Test, BMAC Says Industry Is Barely Passing: ‘Average Isn’t Good Enough’

However, BMAC co-president Binta N. Brown tells Billboard there’s major concern “that many of the changes appear to be surface. They appear to be just enough as opposed to manifesting a deep, internal churning and transformational change leading toward true equity. And so many of the grades are merely passing. When it comes to justice,…

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Seventeen Self-Quarantining After Close-Contact COVID Exposure, Postpone Promotional Tour

K-pop group Seventeen have entered self-quarantine after they were identified as close contacts of COVID-19 cases, resulting in the postponement of promotional events. “We would like to announce that SEVENTEEN’s promotional activities for their 8th mini-album have been postponed,” read the translation of a statement from the group’s PLEDIS Entertainment management company. “A media production…

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Attorney General James Recovers Over $90,000 in Restitution for Albany Nurses Subjected to Illegal Fines by Employer

Albany Med Health System Agrees to Repay Employees Who Were Forced to Pay Unlawful Fees Following Resignation or Termination NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced an agreement with health care company Albany Med Health System (Albany Med) for unlawfully including a “repayment fee” provision in their employment contracts for nurses…

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Attorney General James Sues Lear Capital and Founder for Defrauding New Yorkers Out of $10 Million in Precious Metal Investment Scam

Lear Defrauded New Yorkers Out of a Third of Investments NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today  filed a lawsuit against Lear Capital (Lear) and its founder, Kevin DeMeritt, for cheating nearly 1,000 New Yorkers out of approximately $10 million . In the petition, Attorney General James alleges that Lear persuaded investors…

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Sources: Teams to ask for checks on sticky stuff

11:47 AM ETBuster OlneyESPN Senior Writer CloseSenior writer ESPN Magazine/ESPN.com Analyst/reporter ESPN television Author of “The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty”Baseball’s rule against the use of foreign substances has been buried for decades underneath a gentlemen’s agreement held among managers, who almost uniformly refused to ask umpires to check opposing pitchers because they knew…

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Mobile specimen collection stations continue to provide COVID-19 testing service to public

Mobile specimen collection stations continue to provide COVID-19 testing service to public ******************************************************************************************      The Government will set up a mobile specimen collection station at Sai Ying Pun Community Complex tomorrow (June 21) to provide free testing service for persons subject to compulsory testing.      Community testing centres (CTCs) provide testing services for the public,…

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Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected ketamine and suspected crack cocaine (with photo)

Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected ketamine and suspected crack cocaine (with photo) ************************************************************************************      ​Hong Kong Customs yesterday (June 19) seized about 1.2 kilograms of suspected ketamine and about 140 grams of suspected crack cocaine with an estimated market value of about $920,000 in Sheung Shui.       During an anti-narcotics operation conducted in Sheung Shui yesterday evening,…

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Macy Gray Calls for Update of American Flag: ‘One That Represents All States and All of Us’

Addressing President Biden, vp Kamala Harris, and members of Congress, Gray wrote that the American flag “has been hijacked as code for a specific belief. God bless those believers, they can have it.” She added that, like the Confederate, the flag is “tattered, dated, divisive, and incorrect” and no longer represents all people. “It’s not…

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Issues With Face Recognition Software Used to Verify Unemployment Recipients Is Costing People Benefits

The facial recognition program used by 22 U.S. states to reduce unemployment fraud has been failing to correctly identify recipients, causing dozens of people to be denied benefits or have their applications put on hold, Motherboard reports. Unemployment recipients have been sharing complaints online for months about the identity verification software ID.me, but the outrage…

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These are all health care

This is properly mental. My wife just went for hearing tests and found out she needs hearing aids.Part of that interaction with our health service was her literally being given 2 hearing aids.The biggest issue here being that she was freaking out about how they would make her look.Luckily she’s a human being and looks…

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DaBaby, H.E.R., Tyler, The Creator, Leon Bridges & More: What’s Your Favorite New Music Release? Vote!

Music lovers had some great new releases to dive into this week, including standouts from DaBaby, H.E.R., Tyler, The Creator, and more. Billboard wants to know which one tops your list! This week, Charlotte superstar DaBaby dropped “Ball If I Want To,” his second solo single of 2021 after “Masterpiece.” Clocking in just under two…

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See the Best Fan Responses to Taylor Swift’s Surprise ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ News

Swifties are a pretty savvy bunch, deciphering clues and Easter eggs that Taylor Swift drops like breadcrumbs across her social media profiles and public appearances. Even so, fans — who were convinced that the next re-recorded release following this year’s No. 1 album Fearless (Taylor’s Version) would be a reworked 1989 — were thrown off on Friday (June 18)…

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Ringside Seat: Naoya Inoue, Mikaela Mayer, Jermall Charlo to defend titles; Anderson Silva tries boxing … again

Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, left, and WBO junior lightweight champion Mikaela Mayer, defend their respective titles on Saturday. Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty ImagesWhen Naoya Inoue first started boxing as a first grader in Japan, he had no aspiration of fighting professionally, let alone making beating people up a career or becoming a world champion.…

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Bukit Merah View COVID-19 cluster: Virus could have spread via long queues, surfaces in toilets, says MOH

SINGAPORE: COVID-19 transmission at the Bukit Merah View cluster could have taken place through long queues and surfaces in toilets, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Friday (Jun 18).”There could have been also an element of fomite transmission through the use of common facilities, including the toilets,” said MOH’s director of medical services Kenneth Mak. Fomite transmission…

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So That’s What Loki’s Powers Are

Loki holding one of the TVA’s instances of the Tesseract.Screenshot: Disney+/MarvelIn each of Marvel’s films that Loki’s appeared in, the Asgardian trickster god’s gotten into all sorts of chaotic mischief using his intellect and an array of ill-defined mystical powers that allow him to conjure illusions. Though Loki’s copies have typically been convincing enough to…

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BAS happy after cattle auction

The cattle auction at the Bathurst Showgrounds on Wednesday, June 16 was another great success, according to BAS president, Danny Wepener. In a record cattle sale, 340 animals were sold. “Bathurst Agricultural Society wishes to thank all the buyers and sellers, that included a number of local farmers. Once again we congratulate all the gentleman…

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Signs With WME, Starts Development Program for Underrepresented Students

The virtual development program aims to diversify the entertainment, marketing, music and fashion industries. Sean “Diddy” Combs and Endeavor are teaming up to diversify the music industry. On the heels of Combs signing with WME for representation in all areas, the two will partner for the The Excellence Program, which aims to be one of the largest virtual development programs and résumé…

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