Month: December 2020

Categories
News Daypop

President Trump Grants 20 Pardons Including George Papadopoulos And Other Congressmen

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On Tuesday, President Donald Trump issued 20 pardons and commutations as his term in the White House comes to an end.

George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, was pardoned after pleading guilty to making false statements to federal officials as part of the Mueller investigation. Trump also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who pleaded guilty to the same charge in 2018.

Former California Rep. Duncan Hunter received a pardon after he and his wife, Margaret Hunter, pleaded guilty last year to misusing more than $250,000 of his campaign re-election funds for personal expenses between 2009 and 2016. Former New York Rep. Chris Collins was pardoned after pleading guilty in October 2019 to insider trading.

Also pardoned were Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slaten, four former employees of the military contracting firm Blackwater Worldwide who were sentenced for their roles in a massacre in Iraq in 2007 that resulted in the deaths of 14 unarmed Iraqis.

Trump pardons former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, ex-GOP congressmen, and others

Via www.nbcnews.com
Trump also pardoned four ex-Blackwater contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians.
 

Editorial credit: Michael Candelori / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

S&P 500, Dow drop amid growig COVID-19 concerns

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 slid on Tuesday amid growing COVID-19 concerns. The Dow ended the day down 200.94 points, or 0.67%, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.21% as Tesla stock dropped 1.46% in its second day on the index, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.51% with Apple stock rising 2.85%.

Travel-related stocks struggled as the United States surpassed 18 million cases, and news of a new strain of the virus having already arrived in the country. American Airlines dropped 3.85% and United Airlines slid 2.46%, while Norwegian Cruise Line fell 6.86%, Carnival declined 5.94% and Royal Caribbean dipped 2.83%.

Tuesday’s losses came despite Congress passing a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill including direct stimulus payments of $600 to individuals.

S&P 500, Nasdaq open higher on Apple boost, stimulus optimism

Via www.reuters.com
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq opened higher on Tuesday, propped up by Apple on an exclusive…
 

Editorial credit: Pavel Ignatov / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Sports Daypop

Barcelona star Lionel Messi breaks Pele’s all-time record for club goals

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Barcelona star Lionel Messi scored his 644th career goal for the La Liga squad Tuesday, surpassing Brazilian legend Pele’s all-time record for most goals with a single club. Messi’s record-breaking score came in the second half of Barcelona’s 3-0 win at Valladolid. 

Messi’s goals at Barcelona have been spread out over 16 years. He scored his first professional goal in 2005 against Albacete as a 17-year-old. Pele recorded 643 competitive goals for Santos during his 18-year stint with the Brazilian club. He departed for the New York Cosmos in 1975, with the record standing until Messi’s goal Tuesday.

Messi forward has scored more than 50 goals in a single season six times, including 58 scores in the 2014-15 campaign 

Barcelona star Lionel Messi breaks Pele’s all-time record for club goals

Via www.upi.com
FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi scored his 644th career goal for the La Liga squad Tuesday,…
 

Editorial credit: Jose Breton- Pics Action / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Sports Daypop

Florida’s Keyontae Johnson leaves hospital 10 days after on-court collapse

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10 days after he collapsed in the middle of a Gators game, Florida men’s basketball star Keyontae Johnson, 21, was released Tuesday from a Gainesville, Fla. hospital. 

Johnson’s family said in a statement released by the school, “We continue to be amazed at the pace of his recovery and look forward to spending Christmas together as a family. Along with so many well wishes and prayers, we’ve understandably gotten questions about the cause and extent of Keyontae’s illness. As much as everyone involved wants firm answers, the process to draw definitive conclusions continues, and we ask for patience as the medical professionals continue their work.” Johnson also posted a video of himself while outside of the hospital to his Instagram story.

Johnson’s family said it will continue to issue updates on his condition.  Johnson collapsed during a timeout in the first half of the Gators’ game against Florida State on Dec. 12 in Tallahassee. Johnson had been listed in critical but stable condition initially. He was transported to a local hospital, and then flown by helicopter to UF Health in Gainesville, where he remained until Tuesday afternoon. 

Florida basketball star Keyontae Johnson to be released from hospital: ‘Today is a great day’

Via rssfeeds.usatoday.com
Florida men’s basketball forward Keyontae Johnson is being released from Shands hospital,…
 
Categories
Country Daypop

Take a Listen To “Christmas Will Be Different This Year” by Gary LeVox

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Gary LeVox, the lead singer of Rascal Flatts, shared a video greeting and a clip of his new song “Christmas Will Be Different This Year” during a coronavirus update earlier this week from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.

LeVox, who was born in Powell, Ohio and formed Rascal Flatts in Columbus, said in the video: “We wrote this song about all of the things going on in 2020, and just how crazy this year has been. Christmas will be different for a lot of people this year. Not just with COVID, but with kids doing online school and everything else. The only thing we can do as Buckeyes is stay safe, wear a mask, try to put the other people first.”

LeVox and the other members of Rascal Flatts announced this year that the country group would perform a farewell tour and disband in 2020 (the tour was later canceled due to COVID-19.)

Take a listen to “Christmas Will Be Different This Year” – here.

Gary LeVox Sees Hope Ahead in “Christmas Will Be Different This Year”

Via www.cmt.com
Listen to “Christmas Will Be Different This Year,” a new holiday single by Gary LeVox and…
 

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Country Daypop

Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen Top Billboard’s Top Country Artists of 2020

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Luke Combs is Billboard’s 2020 Top Country Artist of the year, as well as finishing first in the male-artist category. Combs repeats as the top artist in both categories from his wins in 2019.

Morgan Wallen ranked first on the Country Streaming Songs chart, with Combs second. Additionally, Wallen leaps from 7-2 in the overall top country artist category from 2019 to 2020.

Maren Morris is Billboard’s No. 1 female country artist of 2020, as well as the No. 4 overall country artist.

Dan + Shay remained the Top Duo/Group of 2020.  The duo, comprised of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, finished the year as the No. 10 overall country act.

Billboard Reveals the Top Country Artists of 2020

Via www.cmt.com
Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen on Year-End List
 

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Entertainment Daypop

Support on social media for Comedian John Mulaney after he checks into rehab for substance abuse

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Friends and celebrities are showing support for John Mulaney after reports he has checked into rehab for alcohol and cocaine addiction. 

The former “Saturday Night Live” writer has spoken about alcohol in past stand-up routines and interviews. In a 2019 profile by Esquire, Mulaney called alcohol “addictive,” saying he began drinking at 13 years old. He said that he stopped doing cocaine August 2005 and one month later gave up alcohol. In the interview, Mulaney said that he did not go to a recovery program but had been sober ever since.

After the news about Mulaney checking into rehab, several fellow comedians and actors began tweeting about their friend.  Mulaney currently stars in Netflix’s animated comedy “Big Mouth,” created by frequent collaborator Nick Kroll.

Support pours in for John Mulaney after reports the comedian has checked into rehab

Via www.msn.com
SNL” writer John Mulaney has reportedly checked in rehab after more than a decade of…
 

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Entertainment Daypop

“The Book Of Boba Fett” Officially Announced as Spinoff Of “The Mandalorian”

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Disney is confirming that The Book of Boba Fett will be a full new series debuting in December of 2021.  The new spin-off series will take place in the same general timeframe as The Mandalorian, so crossover between these shows.

The tweet from Disney+ also confirms that the show will be executive produced by Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau along with Dave Filoni (executive producer of Star Wars Rebels) and writer / director Robert Rodriguez (who recently directed episode 14 of The Mandalorian). 

Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen will their roles as Boba Fett and Fennec Shand, which they played in recent episodes of The Mandalorian. 

‘The Book of Boba Fett’ adds to ‘The Mandalorian’s’ growing galaxy

Via rss.cnn.com
It’s official: Disney+ will be offering two series featuring armored stars, and neither one of…
 

Editorial credit: AFM Visuals / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Twenty One Pilots ‘Level of Concern’ Sets Guinness Record for World’s Longest Video

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According to a release from the group’s label, Twenty One Pilots just earned the Guinness World Record for the longest music video ever.

The “Never-Ending” clip for the duo’s pandemic hit “Level of Concern” has live-streamed for 177 straight days thanks to fan-populated imagery that has kept the visual fresh for half the year.

The clip — conceived by the group with interactive director Jason Nickel and director Jason Zada — has cycled in more than 162,000 Skeleton Clique submissions, in real time, live on YouTube. The project launched on June 12 with a global treasure hunt that involved unlocking 20 codes, which in turn each unlocked virtual USB drives through which fans could download a zip file containing images, videos and symbols from the band’s personal phones, leading to more codes needed to solve the ARG game.

The video refreshed every 3:42 with new content from fans, creating more than 400 new versions every day. “Level of Concern” smashed the previous record holder, Pharrell Williams’ 24-hour long “Happy” video, with a total run time of 4,264 hours, 10 mins and 25 seconds before coming to an end on Dec. 16. 

Watch the video for “Level of Concern” – here.

Twenty One Pilots break Guinness world record for ‘longest music video ever’

Via www.nme.com
Twenty One Pilots‘ ‘never-ending’ video for ‘Level Of Concern’ has…
 

Editorial credit: Melanie Lemahieu / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Rock Daypop

Twenty One Pilots ‘Level of Concern’ Sets Guinness Record for World’s Longest Video

tmp67dfbcf3-888d-4a30-a858-c5c2d3e1afe5-jpg

According to a release from the group’s label, Twenty One Pilots just earned the Guinness World Record for the longest music video ever.

The “Never-Ending” clip for the duo’s pandemic hit “Level of Concern” has live-streamed for 177 straight days thanks to fan-populated imagery that has kept the visual fresh for half the year.

The clip — conceived by the group with interactive director Jason Nickel and director Jason Zada — has cycled in more than 162,000 Skeleton Clique submissions, in real time, live on YouTube. The project launched on June 12 with a global treasure hunt that involved unlocking 20 codes, which in turn each unlocked virtual USB drives through which fans could download a zip file containing images, videos and symbols from the band’s personal phones, leading to more codes needed to solve the ARG game.

The video refreshed every 3:42 with new content from fans, creating more than 400 new versions every day. “Level of Concern” smashed the previous record holder, Pharrell Williams’ 24-hour long “Happy” video, with a total run time of 4,264 hours, 10 mins and 25 seconds before coming to an end on Dec. 16. 

Watch the video for “Level of Concern” – here.

Twenty One Pilots break Guinness world record for ‘longest music video ever’

Via www.nme.com
Twenty One Pilots‘ ‘never-ending’ video for ‘Level Of Concern’ has…
 

Editorial credit: Melanie Lemahieu / Shutterstock.com