Politics

Anne del Castillo has been reappointed as the commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday. Del Castillo was first appointed as commissioner of media and entertainment in 2019, shortly before the pandemic, by former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. In her role, del

Los Angeles County will drop its indoor mask mandate on Friday for indoor venues where patrons are required to show proof of vaccination to enter, including theaters and restaurants. The state of California dropped its indoor mask mandate last Wednesday, but some counties have kept their mandates in place due to local transmission rates. Barbara

The Los Angeles Pride Parade will take place on Jun. 12 in Hollywood, nonprofit organizers Christopher Street West announced on Tuesday. With the return of an in-person parade this year, LA Pride will be making a move from West Hollywood, which has hosted the event for the majority of its decades-run, to Hollywood, the site

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed the U.K. is set to drop the last few COVID restrictions, including the requirement to self-isolate following a positive COVID-19 test. The restrictions will end on Thursday, Feb. 24. Johnson made the announcement in the House of Commons on Monday. The changes mean that people who test positive for

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has tested positive for COVID-19, Buckingham Palace said on Sunday. Her symptoms are mild, and she will resume her official duties at Windsor Castle, where she is staying, in the next week. “The queen has today tested positive for COVID,” the Palace said. “Her Majesty is experiencing mild cold like symptoms but

Los Angeles County is expected to lift its outdoor mask mandate Wednesday following a decrease in the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19. The indoor mask requirement could be lifted by the end of March if case rates continue to decline. With guidelines imposed earlier this month, L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said

Prince Andrew has reached an out of court settlement in respect of his sex assault case. The case was brought against the prince, who is also known in the U.K. as the Duke of York, by Virginia Guiffre. She claimed the prince had sexually assaulted her three times when she was 17. Prince Andrew has

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso said Monday that if elected mayor of Los Angeles, he would take power over homelessness policy away from the City Council and concentrate it in his office. Caruso announced his candidacy late on Friday, just ahead of the filing deadline, and is beginning to outline his plans. In an interview with

Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times will be dismissed, a federal judge announced on Monday, saying the former Alaska governor’s team failed to meet the court’s high standards for public figures to make their case. Palin’s team was unable to prove that the newspaper acted with actual malice when it published a

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso filed to run for mayor of Los Angeles on Friday afternoon, ending months of speculation and shaking up the crowded race to succeed Eric Garcetti. A onetime Republican, Caruso is best known as the builder of the Grove and the Americana at Brand shopping centers, among others. He is also a

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom, has tested positive for COVID-19. This is the second time he has tested positive, after a bout with the virus in 2020. “This morning The Prince of Wales has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now self-isolating,” tweeted the

The race for mayor of Los Angeles has hardly begun, but Karen Bass has already taken a commanding lead among Hollywood donors. Candidates filed their contribution reports on Monday, when showed that Bass has spent much of the last few months winning over the creative community. Donors to her campaign include stars like Jennifer Aniston,

U.K. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries opened the virtual Creative Coalition Festival on Tuesday with a rallying speech about the creative industries, but stayed quiet on all matters relating to the future of broadcasters Channel 4 and the BBC. In what appeared to be a pre-recorded segment, Dorries talked up the music sector as examples of

President Joe Biden was heard calling Fox News reporter Peter Doocy a “stupid son of a bitch” on Monday during a White House event. The incident occurred as Biden finished a White House Competition Council meeting on lowering prices on a variety of products for American families, as CNN reported. According to C-SPAN footage posted

The Republican National Committee is threatening to prohibit its future nominees from participating in presidential debates if the organization behind them does not agree to certain reforms. In a letter addressed to the Commission on Presidential Debates on Thursday, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel outlined concerns as to “whether the CPD credibly can provide a fair

UPDATE: Queen Elizabeth II has removed all of Prince Andrew’s military titles and royal patronages days after it emerged that her son, who is also known as the Duke of York, will face a civil trial in New York after his motion to dismiss Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault case was thrown out by a judge.

Prince Andrew is set to face a civil trial in New York as his motion to dismiss Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault case was thrown out by a judge on Wednesday. The British royal’s legal team sought to have the case dismissed on the basis it was “legally insufficient,” largely due to a settlement she signed

Donald Trump gave his first interview to NPR in six years, but the conversation was abruptly ended after the former president hung up on reporter Steve Inskeep after being challenged over his election fraud lies. Trump was asked about Republican candidates being forced to back his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Republican congressman Matt Gaetz wants to stop the music this weekend in Florida, when it comes to the 30A Songwriters Festival, an annual gathering that he contends is acting as a scofflaw when it comes to COVID restrictions — by having any at all. Gaetz has written an open letter to Florida governor Ron De

A judge has sentenced the three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery to life in prison. Travis McMichael and his father Gregory McMichael were sentenced to life plus 20 years without the possibility of parole. Their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. In Georgia, life in prison is

Citizen News, an independent Hong Kong news publication, announced on Sunday evening that it will disband by Tuesday. It is the third publication in city that was not aligned with the pro-Beijing camp to close in the space of seven months. “We announced with a heavy heart that CitizenNews will cease operation starting from January

Twitter permanently suspended the personal account of far-right politician Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for repeated violations of the social network’s policy prohibiting COVID misinformation. Greene’s @mtgreenee account on Twitter has been permanently suspended; she still has access her official congressional account, @RepMTG. Before Twitter banned the @mtgreenee account, it had 465,000 followers. The account’s

National Security Police in Hong Kong have arrested six people associated with Chinese-language online media company Stand News. They include pop star-turned-pro-democracy activist Denise Ho. “Police National Security Department conducted a search against an online media company in Kwun Tong with a warrant issued under Schedule 1 of the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that his administration is ramping up testing and hospital resources to combat the omicron variant, but promised that the country will not return to lockdowns that were seen in March 2020. Biden also again urged people to get vaccinated and get booster shots, saying it is a “patriotic duty.” He

Elizabeth Warren has tested positive for COVID-19. The Mass. Senator announced her diagnosis on Sunday. “I regularly test for COVID and while I tested negative earlier this week, today I tested positive with a breakthrough case,” Warren stated through her official Twitter. “Thankfully, I am only experiencing mild symptoms and am grateful for the protection

Here we go again. Europe has marked its strictest lockdown yet over the Omicron variant, with the Netherlands announcing a Christmas lockdown that will run through to at least mid-January. Non-essential shops, schools, bars, restaurants and other public venues, including cinemas, will be closed under the new rules. The Dutch restrictions come into effect on

Country stars mostly shied away from being forthright with their political beliefs known in the 2010s, but the pendulum seems to have swung in the other direction in the last couple of years, with stars like Jason Aldean coming out as explicitly anti-Biden. The shift has really become apparent, though, with the unveiling of the

California will enact a statewide indoor mask mandate, regardless of vaccination status, starting Wednesday until Jan. 15. The new requirement comes amid concerns about the Omicron variant, which has contributed to a 47 percent increase in daily COVID-19 cases since Thanksgiving, according to California Health and Human Services. People attending events with 1,000 people or

The U.S. government has won the latest round in its bid to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from the U.K. In January, a London court turned down a request for Assange to be extradited to the U.S. to face espionage charges, over mental health concerns. Assange’s clinical depression could be compounded and he might commit

Hillary Clinton is sharing her personal insights and strategies about perseverance and resilience in an all-new internet course. Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, senator and first lady, was famously defeated in the 2016 presidential election by Donald Trump. In her new class, launched on the MasterClass e-learning platform, Clinton will host lessons covering practical