Lights! Crickets. Birds. Bats. Action!  The ancient theater of Epidaurus, renowned for its acoustics, has reopened for a limited number of open-air performances, with organizers planning a live-streamed event Saturday for the first time in the Greek monument’s 2,300-year history.Live concerts and events have been mostly canceled in Greece this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the Culture Ministry allowed the Epidaurus Theater in southern Greece and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens to host performances under strict safety guidelines.  “Only 45% of the seats are occupied, the refreshments areas are closed, there is no intermission, and tickets are only issued electronically,” said Maria Panagiotopoulou, spokeswoman for the cultural organization which organized the events.  “We normally have 80 performances in the summer. This year, it’s just 17. … We kept changing the plans. We planned for a September start, and then we were concerned that all events might be canceled. We ended up with something in the middle. It would have been the first summer without a performance in 65 years.”  Acts from abroad were off-limits due to the pandemic, and the scheduled artists were instructed not to give encores. Stewards wearing surgical gloves and plastic visors keep spectators apart as they clamber up the steep stone amphitheater steps to find their seats.  Just 4,500 of the usual 10,000 seats are being made available at Epidaurus Theatre, a honeycomb-colored stone venue with a shallow, half-funnel shape that allows music and voices from the stage to be clearly heard all 55 rows up.  Surrounded by pine-covered mountains of the southern Peloponnese region, audiences also can clearly hear the sounds of birds and crickets along with the protests of people who were locked out of the theater for arriving too late. Christina Koutra, a musicologist from Athens, said she was happy to make the winding three-hour trip to Epidaurus to watch the season’s first event, a solo performance of Bach by acclaimed Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos. “There is a feeling of harmony here. It’s a sacred place,” Koutra said from behind a face mask as she left the theater with her parents.“Culture cannot stand still. We have to take part and keep it going,” she said.The National Theatre of Greece will be performing “The Persians” by ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus for Saturday’s live-streamed show. 
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Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prayed with hundreds of worshippers Friday inside the Hagia Sophia, the first prayers since the sixth-century Byzantine landmark was redesignated a mosque two weeks ago.The president was joined by other officials, including his son-in-law and finance minister. Only 500 people were allowed inside the mosque because of coronavirus restrictions, while thousands more prayed outside in Sultanahmet Square.Initially an Orthodox Christian cathedral, the mosque’s mosaics depicting Christian figures were covered during the Friday prayers.Erdogan read verses from the Quran, while wearing a white prayer cap. Ali Erbas, head of Turkey’s religious authority, addressed worshippers afterward.“The longing of our nation, which has turned into a heartbreak, is coming to an end today,” Erbas said from the pulpit.“Hagia Sophia will continue to serve all believers as a mosque and will remain a place of cultural heritage for all humanity,” the Turkish president said.Erdogan’s enthusiasm was matched by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, who spoke with Erdogan over the phone.President @RTErdogan spoke by phone with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan. pic.twitter.com/uzusJahlyh
— Turkish Presidency (@trpresidency) July 24, 2020 Mirziyoyev expressed his “pleasure” over the mosque’s reopening and “wished for the historic development to have auspicious results for the Turkish nation and the Islamic world.”Not all have voiced similar sentiments over the Hagia Sophia’s renewed status as a mosque.The 1,500-year-old UNESCO-listed site was initially an Orthodox Christian cathedral that became a mosque following the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul in 1453. In 1934, modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, converted it to a museum — a status Erdogan overturned July 10.Christian church leaders and officials from the United States, Russia and Greece have voiced their consternation, and UNESCO has questioned Erdogan’s decision.“Hagia Sophia is an architectural masterpiece and a unique testimony to interactions between Europe and Asia over the centuries,” said Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO.“This decision … raises the issue of the impact of this change of status on the property’s universal value,” the organization said in a statement July 10.
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Surprise! Taylor Swift’s got an album out.“Folklore” premiered overnight, less than a year after Swift released her “Lover” album. Swift writes on Instagram she wrote and recorded the album in isolation. It features Bon Iver, Aaron Dessner of The National and Jack Antonoff.Swift says before this year, she would have waited to release it at the perfect time, but the current times remind her “nothing is guaranteed.”
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Flamenco, the plaintive music of Spain, faces the worst crisis since the Civil War. The thundering stomp of the dancers – called zapateando – has been silenced across the nation, another casualty of the pandemic. Although Spain has been open for tourists since June, only a trickle of foreign visitors have arrived during what is normally the busiest season.  Their absence is a death knell for flamenco halls – called tablaos – which depend on holidaymakers who provide 90% of their income. The tablaos, which take their name from the raised wooden floor on which dancers stamp their feet, remain closed. FILE – A street artist wearing a flamenco dress performs in front of the Royal Palace in Madrid, Sept. 8, 2017.Calls for help The owners of flamenco halls across Spain have begged the government for money but are still waiting. “Since March 13, we have not had any income at all and every day it is tougher to pay bills that we have with the tablaos,” Federico Escudero, president of the national association of flamenco halls, told VOA.  “We have received some financial help to pay the rent from local councils in Madrid, Andalusia and there is a possibility of this in Barcelona. But the central government has not given us anything,” he said.  Escudero added: “If they do not support us, the flamenco tablaos will disappear. It seems they have forgotten what flamenco means for Spain. It is not just an art form but part of our national identity.” Even a plea from Rosalía, the singer who has become an international star, appears to have fallen on deaf ears. “The tablaos are sacred places which help flamenco to stay alive. I give all my support to all the artists and support to the people who want flamenco to remain alive,” she said in a post on Facebook. Rosalía, who took flamenco and fused it with reggae, became a huge star who has toured the world. Until the COVID-19 epidemic, the spectacle of flamenco dancing, singing and guitar playing, which developed over centuries and was popularized by the gypsies of the southern region of Andalusia, was staged at more than 100 halls across Spain. FILE – Martin Guerrero, general director of tavern-restaurant and flamenco tablao Casa Patas, climbs a ladder to change a light bulb at Casa Patas, which is closed due to the coronavirus lockdown, in Madrid, Spain, June 2, 2020.Death of an art The first to close was Casa Patas in Madrid, which for over 40 years had hosted star performers including Diego el Cigala, Sara Baras and Tomatito. Martin Guerrero, the owner, said: “We have no international clients and without that and with earnings amounting to between 10 and 20 percent of normal levels, it makes it impossible to open.” He said he had been forced to lay off his 25 workers, some of whom had been employed at the hall for more than two decades. As Spain emerged from one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe last month, there has been a surge in the number of coronavirus cases. The number of outbreaks tripled in the past three weeks as young people partying in discos or drinking in groups were linked to over 200 outbreaks.  More than 2,000 COVID-19 cases were diagnosed on Thursday, as Spain once again struggled to contain the spread of the coronavirus. These figures have done nothing to encourage tourists to return. The halls, which usually pack tables and chairs close together near the artists, will struggle to open under restrictions that demand 1.5 meters between guests. The sector is asking for the extension of furloughs and subsidies. The pandemic has also affected performers. El Yiyo, a flamenco dancer from Barcelona whose real name is Miguel Fernández Ribas, has worked around the world for the past seven years. “I am going to appear in Italy on television this month and it is the first time that I have worked since the coronavirus epidemic started,” he told VOA in an interview. “All the other artists that I know have been affected in the same way. It is desperate. Without the tourists all is lost.” UNESCO declared flamenco a world treasure by adding it to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. Since the epidemic, it has been declared an item of national heritage in Spain, which means it is entitled to special government grants. Nevertheless, for Escudero, this is not enough. He said that if the government does not help the tablaos, which employ 90% of the country’s 3,500 professional performers, the entire tradition of flamenco may be in danger. “We have no income,” he said. “If we disappear, part of flamenco will die with us.” FILE – Mariana Collado, dancer at tavern-restaurant and flamenco tablao Casa Patas, performs at Casa Patas, which is closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Madrid, Spain, June 2, 2020.Government’s role  “Of course we want to help flamenco,” said a spokeswoman for the Spanish culture ministry, who asked not to be named as per the ministry’s policy.  She said the ministry plans to hold a meeting of leading artists; however, the official said the central government’s ability to help is limited. “Financial aid for the sector is mainly the responsibility of local councils,” she said, adding that many of the tablao employees technically count as tourism sector workers.  The Spanish government is considering extending temporary unemployment assistance for many workers in the tourism industry until later in the year. 
 
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A visual artist in Nigeria’s conservative northern region is on a mission to challenge some stereotypes about women. These include the notion that certain trades are for men only and that women who venture into them are bound to fail. The 25-year-old artist, Maryam Umar Maigida, told VOA Hausa she also uses her paintings to demand justice for victims of sexual violence. Haruna Shehu reports.
Videographer: Auwal Salihu
 
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Global tourism revenues are expected to fall by up to $3.3 trillion due to COVID-19 restrictions, according to a U.N. study published on July 1st. When the coronavirus outbreak hit Japan, a tourism start-up built by an Indonesian man in Tokyo, was also hit hard. David John lost his main income in the blink of an eye. But as VOA’s Vina Mubtadi reports, he was able to get up… with a little bit of magic
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Amber Heard alleged in a British court on Wednesday that her ex-husband Johnny Depp threw “30 or so bottles” at her as if they were “grenades or bombs” while they were in Australia in March 2015 and that he accidentally severed part of his finger during the assault.Taking to the witness box for a third day at the High Court in London during Depp’s libel case against a British tabloid, the actress refuted his allegation that it was she who lost her temper and that she had injured him.Heard has described her stay in Australia with Depp as akin to a “three-day hostage situation,” during which Depp was “completely out of his mind and out of control.” She has said that she feared for her life while at the rented property on Australia’s Gold Coast.The incident is central to The Sun’s labeling of Depp in an April 2018 article as a “wife beater.” The Sun’s defense relies on 14 allegations made by Heard of violence by Depp between 2013 and 2016, in settings including the rented house in Australia, his private island in the Bahamas, and a private jet.He denies the charges and claims Heard was the aggressor during their relationship. He was present once again to hear Heard’s testimony. Depp, 57, is suing The Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over the article.Depp’s lawyer, Eleanor Laws, said Heard had worked herself “into a rage” during her stay in Australia, where Depp was filming the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie.Heard, 34, said she got “angry at times but not into a rage that would cause me to throw anything at him.”She did concede that she did break one bottle in their second evening together in Australia as they argued about the scale of his drinking.”I regret I did that,” said Heard, who also claimed that Depp would often credit her for saving him by trying to get him clean and sober.After she smashed the bottle, Heard alleges that Depp, fueled by drink and drugs, started throwing bottles, full enough that they broke a window behind her.”He threw all the bottles that were in reach, all except for one which was a celebratory magnum-sized bottle of wine,” she said.Heard also denied severing the tip of Depp’s finger during the bottle-throwing frenzy and that she put out a cigarette on his cheek during the incident. She said it was something that Depp used to do to himself.”Johnny did it right in front of me, he often did things like that,” she said.In the first nine days of testimony at the High Court, judge Andrew Nicol heard from Depp and from several current or former employees who backed his version of events. In his testimony, Depp said he was the one being abused by Heard and that she had a history of being violent against him.In written testimony released to the court, Heard said that at various times during their relationship she endured “punching, slapping, kicking, head-butting and choking.” She said some incidents were “so severe” she was “afraid he was going to kill me, either intentionally or just by losing control and going too far.” She said he blamed his actions on “a self-created third party” that he referred to as “the monster.”Depp and Heard met on the set of the comedy “The Rum Diary,” released in 2011. They married in Los Angeles in February 2015. Heard filed for divorce the following year, and it was finalized in 2017.Heard’s testimony is expected to last for four days, through Thursday. 
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There’s an old saying in theater that the show must go on.  But when a global pandemic hits and the playbook on large gatherings is re-written, shows like the circus cannot go on.  As VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, performers in Brazil took a page from drive-in movie theaters to save their circus.Produced by: Arash Arabasadi
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There’s an old saying in theater that the show must go on.  But when a global pandemic hits and the playbook on large gatherings is re-written, shows like the circus cannot go on.  As VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, performers in Brazil took a page from drive-in movie theaters to save their circus.Produced by: Arash Arabasadi
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Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which had hoped to herald Hollywood’s return to big theatrical releases, has yet again postponed its release due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Warner Bros. said Monday that “Tenet” will not make its August 12 release date. Unlike previous delays, the studio this time didn’t announce a new target for the release of Nolan’s much-anticipated $200 million thriller.
“Tenet” had already shifted from July 17, then July 31 and then Aug. 12. Nolan, a staunch advocate for the big-screen experience, has strenuously hoped that “Tenet” could lead the resumption of nationwide and global moviegoing.  
But the surge of the virus across much of the U.S. has upended the industry’s aims for even a late-August return. Last week, California ordered its cinemas closed.  
Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich said the studio will soon share a new “2020 release date” for “Tenet.” It may be a much different rollout, with the film opening in staggered international release.
“We are not treating ‘Tenet’ like a traditional global day-and-date release, and our upcoming marketing and distribution plans will reflect that,” said Emmerich.
Emmerich said the pandemic’s spread has forced the studio to reevaluate its plans. Warner Bros. also shifted the horror sequel “The Conjuring 3” from Sept. 11 to June 4, 2021.  
“Our goals throughout this process have been to ensure the highest odds of success for our films while also being ready to support our theater partners with new content as soon as they could safely reopen,” said Emmerich. “We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from exhibitors and remain steadfast in our commitment to the theatrical experience around the world.”
Other films have planned their releases partially around the launch of “Tenet.” Walt Disney Co.’s “Mulan” remains scheduled for theatrical release on Aug. 21.
Movie theaters remain in a precarious limbo. Without new releases, U.S. indoor theaters and drive-ins that are open have played mostly older films and a smattering of smaller new releases.  
Before the recent spike in the coronavirus crisis, theater chains have sought to assure moviegoers with protocols like limiting theaters to 25-50% capacity and cleaning seats in between showings.  
But months of closed theaters and no new product has put enormous pressure on an already stressed business. AMC Theaters, the world’s largest chain, recently reached a debt deal to help itself remain solvent.  
AMC has been aiming to reopen most locations July 30. Cineworld, which owns Regal Cinemas, had set July 31 for its reopening.
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After a four-month delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, Major League Baseball kicks off its regular season Thursday with a 60-game schedule set to be played solely in U.S. stadiums. While many fans are anticipating the return of the game nicknamed the national pastime, there are widespread concerns about the safety of resuming a major sports league at a time when the United States is in the midst of a surge in coronavirus infections with several of the hotspots home to multiple teams. Among the top ten states with the highest per-capita increases in new cases in the past week are Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Texas and California, which together host 11 of the 30 MLB teams. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is set to throw out the ceremonial first pitch in Washington as the defending World Series champion Nationals host the New York Yankees in the league’s opening game.  Fauci has been seen often in recent weeks wearing a Nationals mask. “Dr. Fauci has been a true champion for our country during the COVID-19 pandemic and throughout his distinguished career, so it is only fitting that we honor him as we kick off the 2020 season and defend our World Series Championship title,” the Nationals said in a statement. The Nationals had to get a waiver from the District of Columbia in order to be allowed to host games because local coronavirus restrictions would otherwise not allow such an event to take place. There will be no fans in the stands, something that will be a common sight throughout the league.Washington Nationals’ Trea Turner tries to steal second base against the Baltimore Orioles during an exhibition baseball game, July 20, 2020, in Baltimore. Turner was caught stealing by catcher Bryan Holaday.Major League Baseball’s sole Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays, is not being allowed to play its games at home, forcing it to search for a U.S. stadium for those games instead. Canadian Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino cited the frequent cross-border travel that would be involved with the neighboring United States. “We understand professional sports are important to the economy and to Canadians,” he said Saturday.  “At the same time, our government will continue to take decisions at the border on the basis of the advice of our health experts in order to protect the health and safety of all Canadians.” The Pittsburgh Pirates said Monday they were in talks with the Blue Jays about Toronto playing its home games in Pittsburgh this season.  Blue Jays General Manager Ross Atkins has said if the team is unable to secure another Major League park for its games, the most likely backup would be playing at its minor league affiliate stadium in Buffalo, New York. Unlike the National Basketball Association, which is housing all of its teams in Orlando, Florida for the rest of its season with strict rules about outside contacts, MLB teams will still travel to other cities to play and players are only being cautioned to practice social distancing and avoid situations that may increase their risk of coronavirus exposure. Players will be administered coronavirus tests every other day and temperature checks twice a day.  On the field, they are banned from spitting, celebrating with high-fives or similar contact, and any players who are unlikely to take part in that day’s game will have to sit in the stands spaced at least six feet apart instead of hanging out in the dugout. The 60-game schedule does feature mostly games within a team’s division, with the rest scheduled to take place in its geographic region in order to reduce overall travel.  For example, Washington will play all of its road games in eastern cities Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Tampa Bay and wherever Toronto ends up. Several high-profile players have chosen to use the opt-out rights in the agreement on return to play reached between team owners and the union that represents players. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher David Price, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jordan Hicks, Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis and Colorado Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond are among those who will not be playing.  The agreement also institutes a few changes to the games themselves.  Teams in the National League that typically have pitchers also participate on offense will instead utilize the designated hitter position that is already standard for American League teams. Also, when any regular season games go into extra innings, each team will begin its turn on offense with a player already on second base. The regular concludes September 27, followed by the league’s usual playoff format. 
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Pakistani authorities said Monday that archeologists have begun searching for the remains of a third-century, life-size Buddha statue that was found and destroyed by a group of religiously conservative laborers in the northwestern town of Mardan.The destruction of the rare idol occurred in a village near Takht-i-Bahi (Throne of Origins), which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for being an icon of the ancient Buddhist civilization.Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the site is located arrested four men Saturday after a video showing them vandalizing a Buddha statue with a hammer went viral on social media.“This design or art of sculpting the Buddha dates back to the second or third century A.D., so, it is around 1,700 years old,” Bakht Muhammad, a research officer at the provincial Directorate of Archeology and Museums, told VOA.  Muhammad said the provincial government has directed a team of archeological experts to also conduct a comprehensive survey starting Tuesday into whether more antiquities are in and around the village. He stressed that the area previously has not been listed as a conserved site.It will take about a month before the team is able to share the findings, Muhammad added.“It is not a big deal for us, provided our team is able to recover all parts of the destroyed Buddha. The pieces taken into possession are not enough, and that’s why our team of experts has been tasked to locate the remaining parts,” he said when asked if his department would be able to restore the rare statue. He noted that prosecutors are working to institute a court case against the four men under an antiquities law, saying they could each be sentenced to a five-year jail term, along with a financial penalty of about $12,000 if found guilty.Legal experts note, however, that court cases of this nature usually can take years before a final verdict is issued.Muhammad said the statue was discovered during the construction of a water drain in a privately owned mango orchard, about 12 kilometers from Takht-i-Bahi.“These are illiterate local people who went for the destruction of the Buddha, believing that they would be rewarded by Allah. Their contractor did not even bother to inform the owner of the orchard about the discovery and instead participated in the illegal action,” Muhammad said.Heart breaking.
A life sized statue of Buddha was discovered in a construction site in Takhtbhai, Mardan recently.
However, before the Archaeology dept was informed about it, the contractor had already broken it into pieces as the local molvi warned him that he would lose.. pic.twitter.com/nWHHzkOxe7
— Ahsan Hamid Durrani (@Ahsan_H_Durrani) July 18, 2020The accused could be heard in the video discussing the size of the statue, with one of them saying, “It’s a standing doll. It’s a female. … Look, she is wearing earrings.”“Her name is carved here. This is the shirt,” said an old man sitting on the statue and removing the dirt from its belly.“Is this a Hindu or Westerner (statue)?” another man asked.“Hindu. This is Gautam Buddha,” replied his partner before all of them congratulated each other.Foreign tourists, particularly from Japan, Korea and Sri Lanka, routinely visit Takht-i-Bahi and other Buddhist sites to pay homage.Founded in early first century, the Buddhist monastic complex of Takht-i-Bahi is exceptionally well-preserved and is located on high hills, typical of Buddhist sites, according to UNESCO. 
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Nicki Minaj has a new release coming soon: her first child.
The rapper took to Instagram on Monday to announce she is pregnant, posting photos of herself with a baby bump. One caption simply read: “#Preggers.”
She also wrote on another post, “Love. Marriage. Baby carriage. Overflowing with excitement & gratitude. Thank you all for the well wishes.”
Minaj married Kenneth Petty last year. They first dated as teenagers and reunited in 2018.
Musically, Minaj has also had a winning year, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart twice. Her remix of Doja Cat’s “Say So” helped Minaj achieve her first-ever No. 1 on the Hot 100, despite releasing multiple hits throughout her career. She also reached the top spot with “Trollz,” her collaboration with 6ix9ine.
 
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Amber Heard began giving testimony at Britain’s High Court on Monday against ex-husband Johnny Depp, who she has accused of abusing her both physically and verbally during their tempestuous relationship.
Depp, 57, is suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of the Sun, and the paper’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, at the court in London over an April 2018 article that called him a “wife-beater.” The Hollywood star strongly denies abusing Heard. He was at the court to hear Heard’s evidence.
In the first session of her testimony that is expected to last for three days, Heard denied accusations that she was a heavy drug-taker and drinker as well as being controlling and abusive herself.  
She also described an incident in January 2015 in a hotel room in Tokyo over a prenuptial agreement between herself and Depp, and suggested there was an argument about it.
“There was an argument in a hotel room in Tokyo that resulted in Johnny kneeling on my back and hitting me on the back of the head,” she said.
In written testimony released as she took to the witness box, Heard said she worried Depp would kill her at various times during their relationship that saw her enduring “punching, slapping, kicking, head-butting and choking.” She also said “some incidents were so severe that I was afraid he was going to kill me, either intentionally or just by losing control and going too far.”  
According to the 34-year-old Heard, Depp “explicitly threatened to kill me many times, especially later in our relationship” and that he blamed his actions on “a self-created third party” that he referred to as “the monster.”  
Heard has been present throughout the trial, watching the proceedings as her ex-husband gave evidence over five days.  
She is facing questioning over 14 allegations of domestic violence that The Sun’s publisher News Group Newspapers is relying on in its defense of the April 2018 article.
Depp and Heard met in 2009 on the set of the film “The Rum Diary,” which was released two years later. They married in Los Angeles in February 2015. Heard filed for divorce the following year, and the divorce was finalized in 2017.
The Sun’s defense relies on the 14 allegations made by Heard of violence by Depp between 2013 and 2016, in settings including his private island in the Bahamas, a rented house in Australia and the couple’s downtown Los Angeles penthouse.
Depp claims Heard was the aggressor during their volatile relationship, which he has likened to “a crime scene waiting to happen.”
In nine days of testimony at the High Court, judge Andrew Nicol has heard from Depp and from several current or former employees who have backed his version of events.
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Rapper Kanye West, in his first event since declaring himself a presidential candidate, ranted against historical figure Harriet Tubman on Sunday, saying the Underground Railroad conductor “never actually freed the slaves, she just had them work for other white people,” comments that drew shouts of opposition from some in the crowd.West delivered a lengthy monologue, touching on topics from abortion and religion to international trade and licensing deals, before a crowd in North Charleston, South Carolina. Whether he is actually seeking the nation’s highest office remains a question.Tubman is one of the most respected figures of 19th century America. An African American who escaped slavery, she helped enslaved Black men and women travel north to freedom and fought for the Union during the Civil War. She later became a supporter of women’s suffrage.  On abortion, West said that while he believes it should be legal, financial incentives to help struggling mothers could be a way to discourage the practice.”Everybody that has a baby gets a million dollars,” he said as an example.Wearing a protective vest and with “2020” shaved into his head, the entertainer appeared on a livestream of the event. Several hundred people gathered in a venue, where gospel music played before West’s appearance.The event was reportedly for registered guests only, although a campaign website had no registration or RSVP information.Speaking without a microphone, West became tearful at one point while talking about his mother, who died following plastic surgery complications in 2007.West missed the deadline to qualify for the ballot in several states, and it was unclear if he was willing or able to collect enough signatures required to qualify in others. Last week, he qualified to appear on Oklahoma’s presidential ballot, the first state where he met the requirements before the filing deadline.West needed to collect 10,000 signatures by noon Monday to appear on the South Carolina ballot, according to state law. The entertainer tweeted out a list of locations around the Charleston area where petitions could be signed. Email to an address purportedly associated with the campaign was not returned Sunday afternoon.West, who is married to reality television star Kim Kardashian West, initially announced his candidacy on July 4. 
 
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A new report by Human Rights Watch has outlined physical, verbal and even sexual abuses allegedly suffered by child athletes in Japan. Investigators say they uncovered numerous incidents of young athletes being punched, kicked, slapped, choked or struck with various objects and deprived of food and water, along with sexual abuse and harassment. They say the abuses led to victims suffering from depression, physical disabilities, lifelong trauma, and in a handful of cases, suicides.   There was no comment from Japan’s Olympic Committee. The report, titled, “I Was Hit So Many Times I Can’t Count,” says one instance of suicide involved a 17-year-old high school basketball player in Osaka who suffered repeated physical abuse at the hands of his coach.   The report from HRW comes seven years after Japanese sports authorities vowed to end the practice of corporal punishment in youth sports known as “taibatsu,” after allegations surfaced amid Tokyo’s successful bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics.   The report was based on interviews with 50 athletes from across several sports, as well as more than 700 athletes who participated in an online survey, including Olympians and Paralympians. The report was released the day the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — which have been postponed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic — were due to begin.  “As Japan prepares to host the Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo in July 2021,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, “the global spotlight brings a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change laws and policies in Japan and around the world to protect millions of child athletes.”   
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The Tokyo Olympics next year will use the same venues and follow an almost identical competition schedule as the one originally planned for this year before the event was postponed because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, organizers said Friday.However, organizers told an IOC session held by videoconference that it was too early to give details on coronavirus prevention measures during the games or on whether events would be in full or partly full stadiums, or behind closed doors.The International Olympic Committee and Japanese government decided in March to postpone the games until 2021 and organizers have been working to rearrange an event almost a decade in the making.The Olympics had been set to begin on July 24 this year.FILE – Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee CEO Toshiro Muto attends a news conference after a Tokyo 2020 executive board meeting in Tokyo, March 30, 2020.”Today, we are able to report that we have confirmed both the competition schedule and the use of all venues originally planned for this year, including the venue for the athletes village and the main press center,” said Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto.The new schedule means women’s softball will get competition underway at 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) in Fukushima on July 21, two days before the games officially open, with all events taking place a day earlier than the 2020 schedule.There have also been some minor changes to session times.Biggest everThe games are set to be the biggest ever in terms of events, with a record 339 medals available before the closing ceremony on August 8, although organizers say they will be simplified.Muto said all of the 42 venues have been secured, overcoming one of the biggest hurdles for organizers as many had already been booked for 2021.This means the marathon and race walking events will remain in the northern city of Sapporo after being controversially moved out of Tokyo because of anticipated scorching summer heat.One of the biggest questions concerns how many people will be able to travel to the games and watch the events.”This is of course one of the scenarios we have to look into, because this has to do with travel restrictions and quarantine, and it’s too early to tell,” said IOC President Thomas Bach, speaking from the organization’s headquarters in Lausanne.”We would like to see stadiums full of enthusiastic fans to give them all the opportunity to live the Olympic experience, support the athletes, and this is what we are working for,” added Bach, who earlier said he was prepared to stand for reelection next year.”We cannot address the details yet. … There cannot be a solution today. This is asking too much,” he said.Massive taskJohn Coates, the head of the IOC’s coordination commission, said that securing the venues had been a “massive task.””We are talking about venues in different ownership,” he told the session.”We are talking also of securing the Olympic village, which has been constructed by a consortium of 11 different companies, who have agreed to put back the date when they will be able to hand over the apartments to the public.”The next challenge for Tokyo organizers is developing measures to help prevent a COVID-19 outbreak during the games and how much the delay will cost Japanese taxpayers.Muto said decisions would be made on these issues in the autumn. “We will be having a full-fledged discussion over COVID-19 countermeasures,” he said.”But, as an example, the topics and themes we may discuss are immigration control, enhanced testing structures and the establishment of treatment systems and measures against COVID-19 in the areas of accommodation and transport.”
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Nigeria’s aspiring young filmmakers have been gaining international attention while the Nigeria’s film industry, known as Nollywood, has been coping with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Adjusting the world’s second most productive film business to social distancing has been costly but it’s also sparking more creativity.  Ifiok Ettang reports from Jos, Nigeria.
Camera: Ifiok Ettang
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Nigerian comedy siblings the Ikorudu Boiz went viral in June for their online parody the Hollywood action thriller “Extraction,” using household items and toys as props and their environment in Ikorodu, Lagos for sets.  The video has so far been viewed more than 11 million times on Twitter. Nigeria’s own film industry — Nollywood — has also had to get creative with staying productive and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.    Actor Bashir Datti rehearses his lines as 10 others, including a camera crew,  set up a scene in an open field on the outskirts of Jos, Nigeria.  Datti said the coronavirus has cost him a lot of work.   “This is my first set since this corona of a thing started and what I experienced today is that it is not an easy task,” Datti said. “We’ll just learn to live with the virus, life goes on, we need to adjust ourselves and keep on going, because if you say that because of the fear of the virus, you will not come on set, you have nothing to do apart from film making.”  Movie audiences sit in their parked cars as they watch “Living in Bondage” at a drive-in cinema, following the relaxation of lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Abuja, Nigeria, May 20, 2020.Nollywood produces the second largest number of films in the world each year, after India’s Bollywood, and employs over one million people.    But the coronavirus shut down cinemas globally and forced many filmmakers to delay productions. Award winning Nollywood filmmaker, Kenneth Gyang says the pandemic is creating new challenges.  “Recently there has been this whole conversation about what is going to happen.  What are filmmakers supposed to do?” Gyang said.  “And we have been having the conversation that right now before you get on set, you have to test your cast and crew, you have to isolate them in a particular place, for maybe 14 days, before you get on set.  So, there has been a lot of spike in the budget that filmmakers will normally spend.”  The added costs have forced some Nollywood directors to cut back on the quantity of films.  But aspiring filmmaker William Chidube said he sees it as an opportunity to work smarter.  “We can always all multitask,“ Chidube said. “You know we can do a lot of things!  Especially now you don’t have the luxury to deal with a large crew, you can begin to do more than one thing, that you know you are strong in and are good at. You are good at editing and good at shooting, so you do the both of them.”  Creatively scripting scenes for social distancing is key to coping with the realities of COVID-19, says writer-director Umar Turaki.     “So, what is it to stop a group of young people writing a story maybe around a particular piece of scenery, around a particular hill, around a particular tree and producing that,” Turaki said. “But really I feel like the most important thing is to be able to challenge ourselves in terms of the writing and conceptualization in a way that allow us to produce work that doesn’t expose us to the dangers of COVID-19.”   While Nollywood has taken a hit from the pandemic, Nigerian filmmakers are confident that if they use their creative energies, the industry will recover and thrive. 
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Nick Cannon apologized to the Jewish community late Wednesday for his “hurtful and divisive” words, a day after ViacomCBS severed ties with him for the remarks made on a podcast.  The Anti-Defamation league and some Jewish leaders had condemned what they called anti-Semitic theories expressed by Cannon and demanded the apology.”First and foremost I extend my deepest and most sincere apologies to my Jewish sisters and brothers for the hurtful and divisive words that came out of my mouth during my interview with Richard Griffin,” Cannon said on his Twitter account.”They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from. The video of this interview has since been removed.”ViacomCBS cut ties with the TV host and producer Tuesday in response to his comments on a podcast where he discussed racial bias.  Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s associate dean, told The Associated Press that Cannon reached out to him Wednesday and during a 30-minute telephone conversation he apologized to the Jewish community and Cooper asked him to post it on social media.  “He started out the right way, he said the right things. Half an hour is a long time, and we’ll probably meet tomorrow in the LA area,” Cooper said.  “He understood that the words and references that he thought were based on fact, turned out to be hateful propaganda and stereotypical rhetoric.”The TV host and producer wrote earlier a lengthy Facebook post defending himself and criticizing his firing for what the company deemed “bigotry” and “anti-Semitism,” prominent members of the U.S. Jewish community said the post fell well short and demanded an apology.  “It’s not enough to say, ‘I’m not a racist, I’m not a bigot,'” Cooper had told the AP earlier. “The statements he made are hurtful, and they’re false.”  Cooper said Cannon should read and heed the words of Martin Luther King Jr., who “dedicated his life for civil rights for all and a color-blind America.” Cooper also had advised him to seek out the guidance of basketball Hall of Famer-turned-writer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has condemned several sports and entertainment celebrities for anti-Semitic posts.In the hour-plus episode of “Cannon’s Class” released last month that prompted his firing, Cannon and Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin, formerly of the rap group Public Enemy, contended that Black people are the true Hebrews and Jews have usurped that identity.  Cannon then argued that lighter-skinned people — “Jewish people, white people, Europeans” — “are a little less” and have a “deficiency” that historically caused them to act out of fear and commit acts of violence to survive.”They had to be savages,” he said.  “When I first heard about the comments Mr. Cannon made, it was very, very disappointing,” said Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. “We’re in a time where hatred of all kinds is very much apparent. It’s in the news every day.”  “Anti-Semitism in particular over the past several years has been something that we’ve seen in increase , as well as racism and other issues,” Segal added. “So when you hear an individual who has a public profile, who has influence over people, make statements that are highly offensive to the Jewish community, the first reaction is disappointment.”Anti-Semitic violent attacks rose worldwide by 18% in 2019 compared with the previous year, according to a report published in April by Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary Jewry.  Segal said some members of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement see themselves as the true “chosen people,” and believe that Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans are the true descendants of the 12 Tribes of Israel. He noted that not all spew hateful rhetoric, although many adhere to an extreme set of anti-Semitic beliefs.  Bruce D. Haynes, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Davis, who has been studying Black Jews for more than two decades, agreed that the remarks echo the ideas of extreme Black Hebrew Israelites and of Minister Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who last year referenced “Satanic Jews” in a speech denying allegations of anti-Semitism. But Haynes took a more nuanced view.  “The danger is that those groups get confused with other self-identified Israelites like (Rabbi) Capers Funnye, who has a congregation in Chicago, and who is very much involved with the Ashkenazim Jewish community. So I want to make clear that the term ‘Israelites’ is a tricky term,” he said.  “Is it anti-Semitic to say Black people are the real Israelites or the real Jews? I’m not sure I’d call it anti-Semitism,” Haynes said. “It’s not a good reading of history, but I wouldn’t call it anti-Semitism. On the other hand, some of those groups that call Jews impostors certainly cross the line.”  Until his firing, Cannon produced “Wild ‘n Out,” a comedy improv series for VH1, the ViacomCBS-owned cable channel.  In an earlier Facebook post, he had said that he welcomes being held accountable and takes responsibility for his words, while also accusing the company of trying to silence an “outspoken black man” and demanding full ownership of the “Wild ‘n Out” brand.  “I do not condone hate speech nor the spread of hateful rhetoric. … The Black and Jewish communities have both faced enormous hatred, oppression persecution and prejudice for thousands of years and in many ways have and will continue to work together to overcome these obstacles,” he wrote.Cooper had said that Cannon should reject Farrakhan’s hate speech and “reduce the long statement to two sentences” — a simple apology, which he did after their conversation.”I just had the blessed opportunity to converse with Rabbi Abraham Cooper director of global social action @SimonWiesenthal. My first words to my brother was, I apologize for the hurt I caused the Jewish Community” Cannon tweeted.”On my podcast I used words & referenced literature I assumed to be factual to uplift my community instead turned out to be hateful propaganda and stereotypical rhetoric that pained another community For this I am deeply sorry but now together we can write a new chapter of healing.”
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Last year saw record representation of LGBTQ characters in the 118 films released by major studios, according to a new study by GLAAD. But for the third straight year, the racial diversity of LGBTQ characters has waned and transgender characters again went unseen.
GLAAD called the decrease in non-white LGBTQ characters “concerning.” In 2019, 34% of LGBTQ characters were people of color. That’s down from 42% in 2018 and 57% in 2017.
“GLAAD is calling on the studios to ensure that within two years at least half of their LGBTQ characters are people of color,” said the advocacy group that tracks representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the media.
For the third year in a row, transgender characters were also absent from major studio releases.
But overall, GLAAD found higher rates of inclusion than it has in the eight years its been tracking studio films. Of the 118 films studied, 22 (18.6%) included lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer characters. That’s a slight increase from 18.2% in 2018.
But none of the studios studied — the Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, STX Films and United Artists Releasing — received a “good” or higher grade for LGBTQ representation. Sony and Disney received “poor” grades. STX Films, which released “Hustlers,” “21 Bridges” and “Uglydolls” last year, failed GLAAD’s test since their 2019 movies featured zero LGBTQ representation.
GLAAD has sought that studios reach inclusion of LGBTQ characters in 20% of their films by 2021 and 50% by 2024. Paramount, Lionsgate, Disney and United Artists reached the 20% level last year.
Screen time is also an issue. In many of Hollywood’s biggest films, LGBTQ characters — when included — came and went. Only nine of the 22 films with an LGBTQ character featured one with more than 10 minutes of screen time.  
“Despite seeing a record high percentage of LGBTQ-inclusive films this year, the industry still has a long way to go in terms of fairly and accurately representing the LGBTQ community,” said GLAAD President and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis. “If film studios want to stay relevant to today’s audiences and compete in an industry that is emphasizing diversity and inclusion, then they must urgently reverse course on the diminishing representation of LGBTQ women and people of color, as well as the complete absence of trans characters.” 
 
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From New York to Alabama to Oregon, many tangible displays of African American culture and heritage are in deep disrepair. Due to a lack of recognition and funding, these spaces are slowly being lost before their full story can be told. But a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation will help maintain 27 historic sites that showcase African American perseverance, activism and contributions to the nation. 
 
The trust’s This Jan. 29, 2019, photo shows homes in Africatown in Mobile, Alabama, established by the last boatload of Africans abducted into slavery and shipped to the United States.“These 27 sites represent examples of Black resilience, activism and excellence. And as a collection, they begin to elevate the historic landscapes and buildings that tell an underrecognized and unappreciated story about the United States,” says Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.   Over the past two years, 65 historic African American sites received more than $4.3 million to help preserve and restore places that exemplify Black life and cultural heritage.Grant recipient “While We Are Still Here” seeks to preserve Harlem history, including buildings that housed a cross section of Black America. (Courtesy While We Are Still Here)Educator Booker T. Washington and Sears Roebuck president Julius Rosenwald built schools like grant recipient May’s Lick in Maysville, Kentucky, in the early 1900s for Black students in the South. (Mays Lick Community Development Board)The recent Black Lives Matter protests have helped shine a light on the need to restore historic Black spaces. Leggs says the Action Fund has received more online donations, and he is hopeful that current talks with corporations and others will result in large gifts to help extend the Action Fund’s reach and impact. “To be able to preserve these kinds of places help our nation learn more about the complexity and breadth of its own history,” Leggs says. “There’s power in truth, and preservation begins to reveal more of the truth.” 
 
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Rap superstar Kanye West has qualified to appear on Oklahoma’s presidential ballot, the first state where he met the requirements before the filing deadline. But confusion remains over whether he’s actually running.  A representative for West filed the necessary paperwork and paid the $35,000 filing Wednesday afternoon, which was the deadline for a spot on the state’s Nov. 3 presidential ballot, said Oklahoma Board of Elections spokeswoman Misha Mohr. He was one of three independent presidential candidates to pay the filing fee prior to the deadline, she added. The others were concert pianist Jade Simmons and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce. The filing came a day after New York Magazine’s  “Intelligencer” quoted West adviser Steve Kramer saying “he’s out” and noting that the staff he had hired were disappointed. However, TMZ reported that the West campaign had filed a “Statement of Organization” Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, stating that a Kanye 2020 committee would serve as principal campaign committee for a West candidacy. West has already missed the deadline to qualify for the ballot in several states, and it’s unclear if he is willing or able to collect enough signatures required to qualify in others. FILE – Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)West, who is married to reality television star Kim Kardashian West, initially announced his candidacy on July 4. Days later, he told Forbes magazine that he, who once praised President Donald Trump and said the two share “dragon energy,” was “taking the red hat off” — a reference to Trump’s trademark red “Make America Great Again” cap. West, who said that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, told the magazine that he planned to model his White House on the fictional land in “Black Panther” if he won the presidency, adding “Let’s get back to Wakanda.” 
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) remains fully committed to staging the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 and is considering multiple scenarios for them to take place safely, IOC President Thomas Bach said Wednesday. Japan and the IOC postponed the Tokyo Games until 2021 in March because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers have since spoken of trying to simplify the event — which had been due to start on July 24 — to reduce costs and ensure athletes’ safety. Bach said the IOC’s coordination commission had reported “very good work in progress” and that more details would be given to a full IOC session which will take place by video conference on Friday. Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, attends a meeting of IOC’s executive board in Lausanne, Switzerland, July 15, 2020.”We remain fully committed to celebrating Tokyo 2020 next year in July and August,” Bach told reporters in a conference call. “The entire IOC is following the principle we established before the postponement (in March) that the first priority is about the safety of all participants.” “We continue to be guided by the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO) and based on this advice we are preparing multiple scenarios,” he added. “We don’t know the health situation one year from now.” He said that holding events without spectators was clearly something the IOC did not want. “We are working for a solution which on the one hand is safeguarding the health of all participants and on the other hand is also reflecting the Olympic spirit,” Bach added. Bach also said the IOC had agreed with host nation Senegal to postpone the 2022 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar until 2026. “This allows the IOC and national Olympic committees to better plan activities which have been strongly affected by the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games and subsequent postponement of other major sports events,” he said. The decision will have to be ratified by the full IOC session on Friday. 
 
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In the digital age, you can take acting lessons from Samuel L. Jackson or enjoy basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar personally wishing you a happy birthday. Online firms like Cameo and MasterClass are democratizing access to celebrities by turning the famous into gig economy workers. Tina Trinh reports
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New York Philharmonic’s first and only African-American principal player took a stand of his own for the Black Lives Matter movement. In a black-and-white video posted on social media platforms, clarinetist Anthony McGill called on musicians to #taketwoknees for Black lives. Elena Wolf has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.VIDEOGRAPHER: Dmitrii Vershinin, Elena Matusovsky 
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“Glee” star Naya Rivera ‘s 4-year-old son told investigators that his mother, whose body was found in a Southern California lake Monday, boosted him back on to the deck of their rented boat before he looked back and saw her disappearing under the water, authorities said.  “She must have mustered enough energy to get her son back on the boat, but not enough to save herself,” Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said at a news conference.  The boy, Josey Hollis Dorsey, was found asleep and alone in a life vest on the drifting pontoon boat about three hours after they launched on Lake Piru northwest of Los Angeles, setting off a five-day search that ended with the discovery of the body of the 33-year-old floating near the surface early Monday, authorities said.  The mother and son had gone swimming, which was permitted in that part of the lake, Ayub said. She was not wearing a life vest.  Authorities believe that Rivera drowned accidentally, and that her body was most likely trapped in the vegetation under the lake for several days before floating to the top, Ayub said.  Divers had already thoroughly searched the area where she was eventually found, but shrubbery that had grown wildly in the area, which was recently dry, must have kept her hidden in the murky water.  Family members chatted with Rivera via FaceTime when she was on the boat, and search crews watched those videos for clues to where she might have gone down, Ayub said.  “It has been an extremely difficult time for her family throughout this ordeal,” Ayub said “We share in their grief.”  FILE – Actress Naya Rivera participates in the “Step Up: High Water” panel during the YouTube Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, California, Jan. 13, 2018.Rivera played singing cheerleader Santana Lopez for six seasons from 2009 to 2015 on the Fox musical-comedy “Glee.” She is the third major cast member from the show to die in their 30s.  The announcement of her death comes seven years to the day after co-star Cory Monteith died at 31 from a toxic mix of alcohol and heroin, with the series losing one of its leads while it was still on the air.  Another co-star, Mark Salling, who Rivera dated at one point, killed himself in 2018 at age 35 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.  Rivera’s body was flown by helicopter 40 miles (64 kilometers) to the coroner’s office in Ventura, where an autopsy would be conducted and an official identification made, authorities said. Ayub said the circumstances from the location of the body to the fact that no one else has been reported missing in the lake makes the department “confident that the body we found is Naya Rivera.”  Rivera had experience boating on the lake in Los Padres National Forest an hour’s drive from Los Angeles.  It was closed down and searched by dozens of divers with help from sonar and robotic devices combing the bottom and helicopters and drones searching above.  Surveillance video showed the mother and son parking and renting the boat at about 1 p.m. on July 8.  The vendor who rented it to them went looking for them when they failed to return on time, and found the boat drifting in the northern end of the lake with the boy aboard.  The boy, Rivera’s son from her marriage to actor Ryan Dorsey, was safe and healthy and quickly reunited with family members after he was found, authorities said.  His parents divorced in 2018 after nearly four years of marriage.  The day before her death, Rivera tweeted a photo of herself and Josey that read, “just the two of us.”  
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A New York state judge lifted a stay on Monday that had temporarily blocked Donald Trump’s niece from publishing a book offering an unflattering look at the U.S. president and his family. Justice Hal Greenwald of the state Supreme Court in Poughkeepsie, New York, denied the request to stop publication and canceled the temporary restraining order he issued on June 30 against Mary Trump and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, at the request of Robert Trump, the brother of the president. Simon & Schuster was due to release the book on Tuesday. Robert Trump said previously that the release of “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” would violate a confidentiality agreement tied to the estate of his father, Fred Trump Sr., who died in 1999. Mary Trump, a trained psychologist, is Fred Trump’s granddaughter. “Notwithstanding that the Book has been published and distributed in great quantities, to enjoin Mary L. Trump at this juncture would be incorrect and serve no purpose,” Greenwald said in his decision. “It would be moot. … To quote United States v. Bolton, 2020, ‘By the looks of it the horse is not just out of the barn, it is out of the country,'” he wrote. Mary Trump’s attorney, Theodore Boutrous, said in a statement: “The court got it right in rejecting the Trump family’s effort to squelch Mary Trump’s core political speech on important issues of public concern.” Lawyers for Robert Trump could not immediately be reached for comment. The book’s publication comes as the Republican president seeks a second term in the Nov. 3 election. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has described it as a “book of falsehoods.” Mary Trump applies her training in psychology to conclude in the book that the president likely suffers from narcissism and other clinical disorders – and was boosted to success by a father who fueled those traits. She writes of a “malignantly dysfunctional family” dominated by a patriarch, Fred Trump, who showed little interest in his five children other than grooming an heir for his real-estate business. Ultimately, he settled on Donald, she wrote, deciding that his second son’s “arrogance and bullying” would come in handy at the office, and encouraged it. 
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