ROME – Soprano Angel Blue says she won’t perform in an opera in Italy this month because blackface was used in the staging of a different work this summer on the same stage. The U.S. singer posted a note on her angeljoyblue Instagram page saying she will be bowing out of “La Traviata” at Verona’s Arena this month because the theater recently mounted another Giuseppe Verdi opera, “Aida,” that had performers in blackface. She blasted such use of “archaic” theatrical practices as “offensive, humiliating, and outright racist.” Angel Blue, however,Read more

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have obtained a marriage license in Nevada, according to court records posted Sunday. Clark County Court records in Nevada showed the pair obtained a marriage license that was processed Saturday. A marriage license is not proof of marriage. Representatives for Lopez and Affleck did not immediately respond to messages. In April, Lopez made their engagement public in a video posted to her fans showing off a green engagement ring. The court filing showed that Lopez plans to take the name Jennifer Affleck. RELATED STORIES JenniferRead more

With concerts and music festivals in full swing once against, Rage Against the Machine is using the stage to highlight injustices against Indigenous people in Canada. While performing at this year’s Bluesfest last Friday in Ottawa, the U.S. rap-rock band displayed statistics on the violence experienced by Indigenous community members across the country. “An Indigenous person in Canada is over 10 times more likely to be shot and killed by a police officer than a white person is,” read a screen behind the band during the show, citing an analysis conductedRead more

Caro Quintero was convicted of murder, torture of U.S. anti-narcotics agent in 1985 Mexico’s navy on Friday captured drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, convicted of murdering a U.S. anti-narcotics agent in 1985, in a law enforcement coup that also saw the crash of a helicopter used in the mission, leaving 14 military personnel dead. Marines flushed out Caro Quintero with a bloodhound in a far-flung corner of the northwestern state of Sinaloa, one of Mexico’s drug-trafficking heartlands, before the Black Hawk chopper came down as it was about to landRead more

Watchdog accused SS of deleting ‘many’ messages after asked for records, agency disputes claim The U.S. congressional panel probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol in Washington said it had subpoenaed the Secret Service as it investigates accusations by a watchdog that the agency erased text messages sought as evidence. “The Select Committee seeks the relevant text messages, as well as any after action reports that have been issued in any and all divisions of the USSS pertaining or relating in any way to the events of JanuaryRead more

Vkusno & tochka says attempts to increase domestic processing will be difficult The head of the company now running the former McDonald’s chain of restaurants in Russia told a business television channel that producers of french fries are refusing to supply to the country and warned that attempts to increase domestic processing are fraught with difficulties. McDonald’s quit Russia after a Western backlash against Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, which included a barrage of economic sanctions, and sold all the restaurants it owned to a local licensee in May. RestaurantsRead more

Store clerk, bystander killed in separate early morning shootings on Monday Two men were arrested Friday in connection with a series of robberies at Southern California 7-Eleven stores that left two people dead and three wounded. Police said the men are suspected in another killing and other crimes in the region. A half-dozen 7-Elevens and a doughnut shop were robbed within five hours early Monday in San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside counties, setting off an intensive manhunt that resulted in the arrests of the two men in Los Angeles. OneRead more

Nearly 10,000 hectares of land on fire in Gironde region on Saturday Wildfires raged in southwestern France and Spain on Saturday, forcing thousands of people from their homes as blistering summer temperatures put authorities on alert in parts of Europe. More than 12,200 people had been evacuated from France’s Gironde region by Saturday morning as more than 1,000 firefighters tried to bring the flames under control, regional authorities said in a statement. Wildfires have torn through France in recent weeks, as well as in other European countries including Portugal and Spain. NearlyRead more

Vehicle waited for Malik outside family business before he was shot, IHIT says Police have identified a vehicle linked to the targeted killing of Ripudaman Singh Malik, a man who was acquitted in the Air India bombings and shot dead on Thursday. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) released footage on Friday of a white Honda CRV believed to have been used by the person, or people, responsible for the killing. Police said the SUV waited for Malik on Thursday outside his family business, Papillon Eastern Imports, located at 8236 128 Street. IHIT said the vehicle parked around 7 a.m. PT and waited thereRead more

The Black Romance Book Club will be hosted at the Art Gallery of Hamilton A new book club launching in Hamilton is on a quest to get more Black Canadians writing romance novels. Founder, Tanya Lee — a book club aficionado and a certified life skills coach — says the idea for the club grew out of the frustration she experienced because of the near non-existence of romance novels written by Black Canadian authors. “I’m starting the Black Romance Book Club … and what I’m promoting is Black romance writers,” Lee told CBC Hamilton.Read more