New Mutant “XE” Omicron Variant May Be The Most Transmissible Version Of Covid Yet, According To WHO

Lucky Daye has shared a new video for his Candydrip track "NWA," featuring Lil Durk. The rubberband-directed video is meant to pull viewers into the New Orleans singer's highly-curated Candydrip world as it flips through magazine pages filled with mock ads and photoshoots.

Three US organisations that campaign for women’s rights and gender equality have filed an amicus brief in support of Kesha as part of her ongoing defamation battle with producer Dr Luke. They argue that recent changes to free speech laws in New York state should be applied to the Dr Luke v Kesha litigation, even though it pre-dates the passing of those new rules.Luke’s defamation claim against Kesha is all that remains of a wider legal battle between the two former collaborators, which began when Kesha accused Luke of rape.

Lorde covered Rosalía‘s track ‘HENTAI’ during her gig in New York City last night (April 18) – you can watch fan-shot footage of the performance below.The New Zealand artist is currently on the North American leg of her ‘Solar Power’ world tour, which is running in support of her 2021-released third studio album of the same name.During her show at Radio City Music Hall in New York last night, Lorde performed a rendition of Rosalía’s ‘HENTAI’, which features on the latter’s new record ‘Motomami’.Responding to the cover, Rosalía shared footage of Lorde’s ‘HENTAI’ performance on her Instagram Stories this afternoon (April 19) and wrote: “Lorde que bonita” [how beautiful].You can watch fan-shot footage of Lorde’s cover of the track below:Fuckin hell @lorde covering @rosalia I can die now pic.twitter.com/vANjLYG7nM— Austin Rieders (@RiedersDigest) April 19, 2022Writing to fans in her newsletter last month, Lorde revealed that she had been listening to ‘Motomami’ on repeat since its March release.“I’ve listened to the Rosalía album every day since it came out, fuck, it’s so good,” she wrote. “I gagged when I heard that interpolation of ‘Archangel’, ‘Hentai’ is genius, ‘Sakura’…“Projects like this remind me why I live for pop music — at its best, there’s nothing better.” Lorde’s ‘Solar Power’ tour will visit the UK and Ireland in May and June, and tickets can be found here.

Happy, happy news!! Darren Criss and his wife Mia Swier have welcomed their first child!

He had fans hooked in his portrayal of the violent Brummy gangster Tommy Shelby in six seasons of BBC’s cult show Peaky Blinders, and after the show’s ending, actor Cillian Murphy shows no sign of slowing down.The Irish actor, 45, has been snapped on the set of his new movie, Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, alongside American actor, Robert Downey Jr. Cillian will play J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics, who developed the world's first atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project, in the new movie.

New York's Grand Central Station was brought to a standstill by a Scots theatre group who flash mobbed the crowd.

Multiple people have been shot in a New York subway after a gunman wearing a gas mask detonated smoke bombs and fired into crowds of terrified commuters.

Health leaders have warned that the NHS is facing the same pressure this spring as it would during a “bad winter”. Very high rates of coronavirus infections are having a “major impact” and leading to both more patients and staff absences.

Maggie Rogers has shared new track ‘That’s Where I Am’ – listen below.The song is the lead single from her upcoming new album ‘Surrender’, which she shared details of last month.In ‘That’s Where I Am’, the singer-songwriter speaks of a love interest who started out as a friend. As she declares her commitment to this love, the buoyant track builds in its backdrop, with handclapped rhythms and deep synths.Rogers sings in the chorus : “It all works out in the end / Wherever you go / That’s where I am / Boulders turn into sand / Wherever you go / That’s where I am.”The video for the track, which is due to be released later today (April 8), was filmed in New York and includes some cameos from famous faces.The 12-track album ‘Surrender’, meanwhile, will arrive on July 29 via Polydor and fans can pre-order the album here.The record, which was co-produced by Kid Harpoon and Rogers, is the follow-up to, ‘Heard It In A Past Life‘, which was released in 2019.

Lux Æterna has landed.The film, which is set to open next month, centres on characters trying to make a movie about witches. In the trailer, disorienting flashing lights make for a disconcerting first-look at the movie that was delayed several times during the COVID pandemic.Per Collider, the film’s description provides a little more insight into the plot: “Béatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg are on a film set telling stories about witches.

New Order have launched a new official t-shirt in aid of the British Red Cross’ Ukraine Crisis Appeal.Available through the band’s official merch store, the shirt’s design was inspired by the VHS label of their Taras Shevchenko concert film, which was designed by the Peter Saville Associates agency.The gig in question was filmed in late 1981 at the Ukrainian National Home in New York City. The film was named after Taras Shevchenko, the 19th century writer, poet and painter whose works championed the formation of an independent Ukraine.You can purchase the white t-shirt for £25, with a minimum of £10 from each sale being donated to the Red Cross.Last November, New Order marked the 40th anniversary of their debut album ‘Movement’ by sharing the aforementioned NYC show on YouTube in its entirety.

The rapid growth of the more transmissible BA.2 variant of Covid-19 is continuing in Los Angeles County. As of March 12, the latest date for which data is available, 32% of local positive Covid tests that underwent laboratory sequencing turned out to be the result of BA.2.

EXCLUSIVE: Time Studios has entered a shopping agreement with Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper, fourth-generation members of the Russ family who now own its iconic New York culinary brand Russ & Daughters, to develop a scripted series examining its history and the family behind it.

The more transmissible strain of Omicron, BA.2, is now the dominant Covid variant in the United States. In just the last week, it has risen from 35% of all new cases genetically sequenced to 55%, per CDC data. That’s a remarkable 80% jump in just seven days.

EXCLUSIVE: HBO has come on board to co-produce BBC’s Rain Dogs from new writer Cash Carraway. This Country’s Daisy May Cooper plays the lead in the project, which has started filming in Bristol, UK.

Los Angeles County Public Health officials announced today that the county of 10 million people had finally begun to experience a trend that has already hit many parts of the United States: a rapid rise in the number of Covid cases attributed to the more transmissible Omicron BA.2 variant.