omnipop-mag-blog

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275557/israel-wins-eurovision-contest/

(TEL AVIV) — Thousands of Israelis took to the streets early Sunday to celebrate their country’s victory in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Fans flooded Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square in front of City Hall, with some euphorically jumping into a public fountain, after Netta Barzilai was announced the winner in Portugal with her techno dance tune “Toy.” The City Hall building was lit up to spell “Toy” and electronic signs throughout the city congratulated her.

The 25-year-old Barzilai, popularly known by her first name, has become a sensation in Israel thanks to her oozing confidence, charisma and spastic performances, which include a clucking sound like a chicken and barely decipherable words, as well as the use of a looping machine and synthesizer.

The win — Israel’s first since 1998 and fourth overall — means it will host next year’s contest.

Here’s a look at what the win in the hugely popular song contest means for Israel:

NATIONAL PRIDE

In a country with a perpetual sense of siege, Israel tends to go gaga over any international success that reinforces its image of itself as a normal country.

Even minor sporting and cultural achievements are disproportionately celebrated, and the Eurovision is regarded as the crown jewel of them all. Many Israelis see it as proof that the Jewish state can overcome those seeking to boycott it over its treatment of the Palestinians.

“Hallelujah” became the country’s unofficial national song after it won the contest for Israel when it hosted the event in the late 1970s, and Dana International became a national hero and global transgender icon when she won with “Diva” in 1998.

This year’s contest smashed overnight TV ratings records, and Netta fielded congratulatory phone calls from the nation’s leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called her Israel’s “greatest ambassador.”

“It’s a moment of joy that makes everybody together, it’s a consensus,” said Izhar Cohen, who won Israel’s first Eurovision crown 40 years ago. “Because we are separated with so many views and political sides and all that, this contest made us one country, one people and I’m so happy for that.”

___

NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM

The prospect of Israel hosting next year’s contest in Jerusalem shines a spotlight on the contested city just as Israel marks the annual Jerusalem Day, the anniversary of what it refers to as the city’s “unification” following the 1967 war, and a day before the United States is set to officially open its embassy in the city.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. It later annexed the eastern sector in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, a position with wide international backing.

When the Eurovision hosts turned to each country to hear their votes, Jerusalem was the only capital city not mentioned by name. As she picked up her award, Netta shouted to the audience “I love my country. Next time in Jerusalem!” There will be no escaping the issue next year unless the competition’s rabid fans in coastal Tel Aviv get their way and manage to host it instead.

___

GOOD TIMES IN ISRAEL

The Eurovision win comes as Israel is enjoying an unparalleled grace period. It just concluded a successful hosting of the start of the Giro d’Italia cycling race, the first Grand Tour event ever held outside Europe. The government is also relishing in Trump’s warm embrace, his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his nullifying of the nuclear deal with Israel’s arch-enemy Iran.

Netanyahu chose to open his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday by noting Netta’s win. “These days Jerusalem is being blessed with many gifts. We received another one last night with Netta’s thrilling and suspenseful victory,” he said. “The gift is that the Eurovision will come to Jerusalem next year.”

___

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

The winning song’s main chorus is “I’m not your toy, You stupid boy, I’ll take you down.” Netta has referred to it as a song about women’s empowerment, and the message seems to have resonated with fans — the song racked up more than 20 million views on Eurovision’s YouTube channel even before Saturday night’s event.

Netta’s physical appearance has upended traditional notions of what it takes to be a female pop star, and she has become a model for plus-size women. She has been unapologetic about her weight, the loud colors she wears and the funky chicken moves that have become her trademark.

On Saturday night, she won out over a sultry, hip-shaking pop star from Cyprus who wore a glittering outfit that bared her navel and flat stomach.

“Thank you so much for choosing different. Thank you so much for accepting the differences between us. Thank you for celebrating diversity,” Netta said in her victory speech.

The post New world news from Time: Israel Went Wild After Winning the Eurovision Song Contest appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275557/israel-wins-eurovision-contest/

(TEL AVIV) — Thousands of Israelis took to the streets early Sunday to celebrate their country’s victory in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Fans flooded Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square in front of City Hall, with some euphorically jumping into a public fountain, after Netta Barzilai was announced the winner in Portugal with her techno dance tune “Toy.” The City Hall building was lit up to spell “Toy” and electronic signs throughout the city congratulated her.

The 25-year-old Barzilai, popularly known by her first name, has become a sensation in Israel thanks to her oozing confidence, charisma and spastic performances, which include a clucking sound like a chicken and barely decipherable words, as well as the use of a looping machine and synthesizer.

The win — Israel’s first since 1998 and fourth overall — means it will host next year’s contest.

Here’s a look at what the win in the hugely popular song contest means for Israel:

NATIONAL PRIDE

In a country with a perpetual sense of siege, Israel tends to go gaga over any international success that reinforces its image of itself as a normal country.

Even minor sporting and cultural achievements are disproportionately celebrated, and the Eurovision is regarded as the crown jewel of them all. Many Israelis see it as proof that the Jewish state can overcome those seeking to boycott it over its treatment of the Palestinians.

“Hallelujah” became the country’s unofficial national song after it won the contest for Israel when it hosted the event in the late 1970s, and Dana International became a national hero and global transgender icon when she won with “Diva” in 1998.

This year’s contest smashed overnight TV ratings records, and Netta fielded congratulatory phone calls from the nation’s leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called her Israel’s “greatest ambassador.”

“It’s a moment of joy that makes everybody together, it’s a consensus,” said Izhar Cohen, who won Israel’s first Eurovision crown 40 years ago. “Because we are separated with so many views and political sides and all that, this contest made us one country, one people and I’m so happy for that.”

___

NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM

The prospect of Israel hosting next year’s contest in Jerusalem shines a spotlight on the contested city just as Israel marks the annual Jerusalem Day, the anniversary of what it refers to as the city’s “unification” following the 1967 war, and a day before the United States is set to officially open its embassy in the city.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. It later annexed the eastern sector in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, a position with wide international backing.

When the Eurovision hosts turned to each country to hear their votes, Jerusalem was the only capital city not mentioned by name. As she picked up her award, Netta shouted to the audience “I love my country. Next time in Jerusalem!” There will be no escaping the issue next year unless the competition’s rabid fans in coastal Tel Aviv get their way and manage to host it instead.

___

GOOD TIMES IN ISRAEL

The Eurovision win comes as Israel is enjoying an unparalleled grace period. It just concluded a successful hosting of the start of the Giro d’Italia cycling race, the first Grand Tour event ever held outside Europe. The government is also relishing in Trump’s warm embrace, his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his nullifying of the nuclear deal with Israel’s arch-enemy Iran.

Netanyahu chose to open his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday by noting Netta’s win. “These days Jerusalem is being blessed with many gifts. We received another one last night with Netta’s thrilling and suspenseful victory,” he said. “The gift is that the Eurovision will come to Jerusalem next year.”

___

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

The winning song’s main chorus is “I’m not your toy, You stupid boy, I’ll take you down.” Netta has referred to it as a song about women’s empowerment, and the message seems to have resonated with fans — the song racked up more than 20 million views on Eurovision’s YouTube channel even before Saturday night’s event.

Netta’s physical appearance has upended traditional notions of what it takes to be a female pop star, and she has become a model for plus-size women. She has been unapologetic about her weight, the loud colors she wears and the funky chicken moves that have become her trademark.

On Saturday night, she won out over a sultry, hip-shaking pop star from Cyprus who wore a glittering outfit that bared her navel and flat stomach.

“Thank you so much for choosing different. Thank you so much for accepting the differences between us. Thank you for celebrating diversity,” Netta said in her victory speech.

The post New story in Entertainment from Time: Israel Went Wild After Winning the Eurovision Song Contest appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275528/sam-nzima-south-african-photographer-dies/

(JOHANNESBURG) — Tributes are being paid following the death of Sam Nzima, the South African photographer who took the iconic image of a black high school student carrying a fatally wounded fellow pupil away from the gunfire of apartheid police in 1976.

Nzima, 83, died Saturday night in a hospital in the northwestern city of Nelspruit, said his son, Thulani Nzima. The photographer had collapsed two days earlier but did not recover in the hospital, he said.

Nzima’s photograph of the Soweto student uprising galvanized international public opinion against apartheid, South Africa’s system of racial discrimination that ended in 1994. The compelling photo shows 16-year-old Mbuyisa Makhubu carrying the crumpled body of 13-year-old Hector Pieterson, as Pieterson’s sister reacts in horror.

“Sam Nzima was one of a kind,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a statement Sunday. “His camera captured the full brutality of apartheid oppression on the nation’s psyche and history.”

Nzima’s photo of the dying Pieterson “caused the world to come to terms with the … evil of the apartheid system,” said South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, in a statement. “This came at a price to Nzima who was subjected to countless acts of intimidation.”

Harassed by the apartheid regime, Nzima resigned from The World newspaper and left Johannesburg for his hometown Lilydale, where he was placed under house arrest for 19 months.

Nzima said that for many years he regretted taking the photo because it destroyed his career in journalism. But he became proud when he saw the lasting influence of his photo and its contribution to ending apartheid, he said.

In 1998 Nzima won the copyright for the much reproduced photo. In his later years he taught photography to young students in rural Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga Province.

Nzima’s photo is the centerpiece of the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum which shows history of the Soweto students’ uprising on June 16, 1976. The museum was opened in Soweto in 2002 and is one of South Africa’s most visited sites. Pieterson’s sister, Antoinette, whose grief is captured in the photo, has for many years been a guide at the museum.

In 2011 Nzima was awarded South Africa’s Order of Ikhamanga, which honors South Africans who excel in the arts, culture and journalism.

Nzima’s photo was named one of the 100 most influential photographs in history by Time Magazine in 2016.

“Suddenly the world could no longer ignore apartheid,” wrote Time. “The seeds of international opposition that would eventually topple the racist system had been planted by a photograph.”

The post New world news from Time: Sam Nzima, Iconic South African Photographer, Dies at 83 appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275496/snl-handmaids-tale-sex-and-the-city/

Amy Schumer hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend, starring in a pointed mashup skit of the dystopian Hulu drama The Handmaid’s Tale and HBO’s famous Sex and the City, appropriately called “Handmaids in the City.”

Pretending to be a combination of the two most famous women from each show, Schumer portrays a Carrie Bradshaw-as-Offred character, sitting at a lunch table with the other handmaids in the typical Gilead garb of red robes and off-white bonnets.

The skit’s voiceover opens in standard Sex and the City fashion, saying “Let’s face it, ladies. In 2018, The Handmaid’s Tale is basically our Sex and the City,” a nod to the current state of politics and cultural clashes surrounding women’s issues. “You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll say, ‘Oh this so could be me and my friends — you know, with the way things are going.”

Coming up this season on Handmaids in the City… #SNL pic.twitter.com/dTqlMEQ7yp

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) May 13, 2018

Schumer imitates Carrie Bradshaw’s well-known inner monologues, thinking: “As I waited for the girls in downtown Gilead, I was feeling like an uptown gal-ead, and I couldn’t help but wonder, are women allowed to do anything anymore?”

Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon play the other handmaids, with Bryant joining the other women for lunch with the standard handmaid’s greeting, “Under his eye.”

“Under his eye,” Schumer replies, “Under his eye? What about under my eye? Look at these bags,” as all four of the “handmaids in the city” crack up.

“This is what I get for reading a newspaper,” laments McKinnon pointing at her eye as she impersonates Ofwarren, a handmaid whose eye is removed after she is disobedient to her commander.

The skit’s promo jokes that show critics are calling Handmaids in the City “more uplifting than the news.”

SNL‘s musical guest was country singer Kacey Musgraves. You can watch the full skit below:

The post New story in Entertainment from Time: Saturday Night Live Spoofs The Handmaid’s Tale And Sex and the City in Mashup Skit appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275521/indonesia-suicide-bombing-attack-churches/

(SURABAYA, Indonesia) — A coordinated suicide bomb attack carried out by members of the same family struck three churches in Indonesia’s second-largest city on Sunday, police said, as the world’s most populous Muslim nation recoiled in horror at one of the worst attacks on its Christian minority.

At least seven people plus the six family members died in the attacks in Surabaya, according to police. At least 41 people were injured in the attacks, which Indonesia’s president condemned as “barbaric.”

The bombings were the worst to target churches in Indonesia since a series of attacks on Christmas Eve in 2000 killed 15 people and wounded nearly 100. Religious minorities in Indonesia, especially Christians, have been repeatedly targeted by militants.

National police chief Tito Karnavian said that the father exploded a car bomb, two sons aged 18 and 16 used a motorcycle for their attack, and the mother was with daughters aged 12 and 9 for her attack.

Karnavian said the family had returned to Indonesia from Syria, where until recently the Islamic State group controlled significant territory.

The extremist group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attacks in a statement carried by its Aamaq news agency. It didn’t mention anything about families or children taking part in the attack, and said there were only three attackers.

The first attack struck the Santa Maria Roman Catholic Church in Surabaya, police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera told reporters at the scene. That blast was followed by a second explosion minutes later at the Christian Church of Diponegoro and a third at the city’s Pantekosta Church, Mangera said.

A witness described the woman’s attack at the Diponegoro church, saying she was carrying two bags when she arrived.

“At first officers blocked them in front of the churchyard, but the woman ignored them and forced her way inside. Suddenly she hugged a civilian then (the bomb) exploded,” said the witness, a security guard who identified himself as Antonius.

Mangera said three unexploded homemade bombs, two at the Pantekosta church and one at the Diponegoro church, were detonated by a bomb squad.

Shattered glass and chunks of concrete littered the entrance of the Santa Maria Church, which was sealed off by armed police. Rescue personnel treated victims at a nearby field while officers inspected wrecked motorcycles in the parking lot that had been burned in the explosion.

A street merchant outside the church said she was blown several meters (yards) by the blast.

“I saw two men riding a motorbike force their way into the churchyard. One was wearing black pants and one with a backpack,” said the merchant, Samsia, who uses a single name. “Soon after that the explosion happened.”

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo visited the scenes of the attacks and described them as “cowardly actions” that were “very barbaric and beyond the limit of humanity.”

In Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, the Indonesian Church Association condemned the attacks.

“We are angry,” said Gormar Gultom, an official with the association, but urged people to let the police investigation take its course.

Indonesia’s two largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, also condemned the attacks.

Separately, national police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said police fatally shot four suspected militants and arrested two others early Sunday in West Java towns. It wasn’t clear whether the shootings were connected to the church attacks.

“They have trained in order to attack police,” Wasisto said, identifying the militants as members of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, an Islamic State group-affiliated network of about two dozen extremist groups that has been implicated in a number of attacks in Indonesia over the past year.

Jakarta police placed the capital and surrounding areas on high alert, while the transportation ministry warned airports to be on guard.

The church attacks came days after police ended a hostage-taking ordeal by imprisoned Islamic militants at a detention center near Jakarta in which six officers and three inmates died. IS claimed responsibility.

Indonesia has carried out a sustained crackdown on militants since bombings by al-Qaida-affiliated radicals in Bali in 2002 killed 202 people. In recent years, the country has faced a new threat as the rise of IS in the Middle East invigorated local militant networks.

Christians, many of whom are from the ethnic Chinese minority, make up about 9 percent of Indonesia’s 260 million people.

The post New world news from Time: Family in Indonesia Carries Out Suicide Bombing Attack on 3 Churches appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275439/1-person-killed-suspect-dead-in-paris-attack/

French authorities say a knife-wielding assailant killed one person and injured four in the center of Paris before being killed by police.

Paris police tweeted that the attack occurred Saturday evening in the 2nd arrondissement or district of the French capital. Police said the person armed with the knife targeted five people, killing one and seriously injuring two and lightly injuring the other two.

Paris police said the attacker died. Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the alleged attacker was “neutralized” by police and praised officers for their actions.

The identity of the attack suspect and reason for the attack are unclear.

Paris has been under higher security in recent years after a string of deadly Islamic extremist attacks.

The post New world news from Time: 1 Person Killed, Suspect Dead in Paris Attack appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275391/israel-closes-cargo-crossing-gaza/

(JERUSALEM) — The Israeli military said Saturday it was shutting down its main cargo crossing into Gaza after Palestinian protesters caused extensive damage to it, and that it had also destroyed an attack tunnel militants dug near its main pedestrian crossing.

The twin developments come ahead of a potentially charged week along the Israel-Gaza border as weekly protests being staged there are expected to culminate with a potential breach of the border and a surge in casualties.

Once again, thousands of Palestinians protested Friday in various locations along the frontier. Later, a group of Palestinians burned a fuel complex and conveyor belt on their side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, causing more than $9 million in damages and disrupting the import of diesel fuel and building materials, the military said. It said the attack rendered the main fuel and gas lines unusable and caused further damage to electrical infrastructure and other vital equipment.

The military said the Kerem Shalom crossing will be closed until further notice and not before the damage is repaired.

A lengthy closing of the crossing would deliver further devastation to Gaza’s already dire humanitarian crisis. The fuel installation is the only way to bring diesel fuel into Gaza for operating generators for hospitals and other key facilities. The military distributed a video showing Palestinians cheering as a fire was set. It was the second such attack on the facility in a week, it said. “Hamas continues to lead the residents of Gaza to destroy the only assistance they receive,” the army said.

Late Saturday, the military carried out several airstrikes in the northern Gaza strip, near the Erez border crossing, to destroy a Hamas tunnel that was being built there. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the tunnel was being tracked for weeks and had been destroyed just a few meters (feet) inside Gaza. It’s the sixth such Hamas tunnel Israel has destroyed in as many months thanks to the military’s new technological means to detect and destroy them.

Hamas called the airstrikes a “failed attempt” to prevent it protests.

“Our people’s response will come on Monday by marching” to the fence, it said in a statement.

Conricus said both incidents proved Israel’s long-standing claim that Hamas, and other militant groups, were merely using the popular mass protests as cover for attacks against Israel. He said the military was doubling its troops along the border in advance of this week’s protests and that Israel would not allow the area to become an active combat zone.

“This really shows the cynicism of the Hamas terror organization toward the citizens they are supposed to care for,” Conricus told reporters. “Hamas is killing Gaza with its terrorist activities against civilian facilities.”

An extended closing of the cargo crossing could be particularly painful. Cooking gas and fuel, which are delivered to Gaza through Kerem Shalom on a daily basis, are the first and most essential items likely to be affected. A fear of shortage had already engulfed Gaza late Saturday, as more cars were lining up at gas station to stock on diesel and gasoline.

The Hamas-run petrol authority in Gaza ordered that cooking gas not be provided to people with canisters on Sunday. “This is to measure how much we have and to see how much this can serve the citizens,” said Khalil Shaqfa of the petrol authority.

Palestinians in Gaza have been staging weekly protests at the border fence against a decade-old blockade of the territory. The demonstrations have been organized by Gaza’s Hamas rulers, but are fueled by despair among the territory’s 2 million residents. The vast majority are barred from travel and trade, while the blockade has gutted the economy.

A Palestinian was killed and 175 were wounded by Israeli army fire on Friday. The Palestinian health ministry said a teenage boy died Saturday after he was shot in the head by Israeli fire on the Gaza-Israel border.

The death raises to 42 the number of Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces since weekly protests began on March 30. More than 1,800 have been wounded. The coming week could see a further uptick in violence, as Palestinians are planning much larger protests to coincide with the United States relocating its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem on Monday and the 70th anniversary of their “nakba,” or catastrophe — referring to their mass uprooting during the Mideast war over Israel’s 1948 creation — on Tuesday.

Israel says it has a right to defend its border and has accused Hamas of using the protests as a cover for attacking the border. Rights groups say the use of potentially lethal force against unarmed protesters is unlawful.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. During the most recent conflict in 2014, Israel destroyed 32 tunnels and it has placed a high priority on halting the tunnel threat since Hamas infiltrated Israel during the war. Although they did not manage to reach civilian areas, the infiltrations caught Israel off guard, with one attack killing five soldiers, and terrified the local population.

Israel is building a subterranean barrier to detect and prevent attack tunnels. Israel says the barrier, as well as new technological innovations, have rendered the Hamas tunnel project futile.

The post New world news from Time: Israel Bombs Gaza Tunnel, Closes Key Crossing After Attack appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/money/5274066/eurovision-2018-how-much-winner-gets/

The lucky musical act that wins the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest this Saturday in Lisbon, Portugal, can look forward to fame, glory and a glass trophy in the shape of a microphone. But the victors won’t receive any prize money.

Despite being in a league with shows like America’s Got Talent, Britain’s Got Talent and Deutschland sucht den Superstar, all of which give their winners big payouts, Eurovision doesn’t provide an actual cash prize. Instead, winners of the international competition, known for its gibberish songs and crazy costumes, walk away with the rights to host next year’s event — and an invaluable platform from which they can launch their careers.

The best example of this is ABBA, the Swedish band that won Eurovision in 1974. The victory catapulted the band onto the music scene, where it’d go on to sell more than 400 million albums. The members also quickly diversified their offerings, setting up an empire that raked in profits from art galleries, fragrances, jigsaw puzzles and more. And the band is still popular 44 years later: ABBA announced last month that it was not only releasing a new song but also going on tour (as holograms, naturally).

Another Eurovision success story is Celine Dion’s, whose website describes her 1988 win as “the beginning of her global conquest.” Two years after her victory she released her first English-label album, and the rest is history — her net worth is an estimated $400 million.

However, not all Eurovision champions are satisfied with being paid in opportunities. Shay Healy, who wrote the song that won Ireland the contest in 1980, recently posted on Facebook that “the Eurovision trophy was a disappointment, as there was no cash prize to go with the award.”

Hosting can be tough financially, as well. Eurovision’s location rotates every year, and costs fluctuate. Baku, Azerbaijan, spent £48 million (about $65 million) to put on Eurovision in 2012; Vienna, Austria, paid £28 million (about $38 million) in 2015.

“So — is it worth it? It’s hard to be conclusive,” NatWest economist Stephen Boyle wrote for RBS in 2016. “The longer-term benefits are harder to estimate, but with over 180 million viewers worldwide, the international, positive exposure that comes as part of hosting is likely to dramatically increase tourism related revenue. Plus, there’s the kudos of winning, and in some eyes, that’s just as important.”

But if you’re a starving artist looking for more than kudos, check out the song contest’s spinoffs. Eurovision Choir of the Year, Eurovision Young Dancers and Eurovision Young Musicians all award prize money to their victors, according to Eurovoix.

The post New story in Entertainment from Time: Here’s How Much Prize Money the Eurovision 2018 Winner Gets appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/money/5274066/eurovision-2018-how-much-winner-gets/

The lucky musical act that wins the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest this Saturday in Lisbon, Portugal, can look forward to fame, glory and a glass trophy in the shape of a microphone. But the victors won’t receive any prize money.

Despite being in a league with shows like America’s Got Talent, Britain’s Got Talent and Deutschland sucht den Superstar, all of which give their winners big payouts, Eurovision doesn’t provide an actual cash prize. Instead, winners of the international competition, known for its gibberish songs and crazy costumes, walk away with the rights to host next year’s event — and an invaluable platform from which they can launch their careers.

The best example of this is ABBA, the Swedish band that won Eurovision in 1974. The victory catapulted the band onto the music scene, where it’d go on to sell more than 400 million albums. The members also quickly diversified their offerings, setting up an empire that raked in profits from art galleries, fragrances, jigsaw puzzles and more. And the band is still popular 44 years later: ABBA announced last month that it was not only releasing a new song but also going on tour (as holograms, naturally).

Another Eurovision success story is Celine Dion’s, whose website describes her 1988 win as “the beginning of her global conquest.” Two years after her victory she released her first English-label album, and the rest is history — her net worth is an estimated $400 million.

However, not all Eurovision champions are satisfied with being paid in opportunities. Shay Healy, who wrote the song that won Ireland the contest in 1980, recently posted on Facebook that “the Eurovision trophy was a disappointment, as there was no cash prize to go with the award.”

Hosting can be tough financially, as well. Eurovision’s location rotates every year, and costs fluctuate. Baku, Azerbaijan, spent £48 million (about $65 million) to put on Eurovision in 2012; Vienna, Austria, paid £28 million (about $38 million) in 2015.

“So — is it worth it? It’s hard to be conclusive,” NatWest economist Stephen Boyle wrote for RBS in 2016. “The longer-term benefits are harder to estimate, but with over 180 million viewers worldwide, the international, positive exposure that comes as part of hosting is likely to dramatically increase tourism related revenue. Plus, there’s the kudos of winning, and in some eyes, that’s just as important.”

But if you’re a starving artist looking for more than kudos, check out the song contest’s spinoffs. Eurovision Choir of the Year, Eurovision Young Dancers and Eurovision Young Musicians all award prize money to their victors, according to Eurovoix.

The post New world news from Time: Here’s How Much Prize Money the Eurovision 2018 Winner Gets appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275241/north-korea-dismantle-test-site/

(SEOUL) — North Korea said Saturday that it will dismantle its nuclear test site between May 23 and 25, in a dramatic event that would set up leader Kim Jong Un’s summit with President Donald Trump next month.

In a statement carried by state media, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said that all of the tunnels at the country’s northeastern testing ground will be destroyed by explosion, and that observation and research facilities and ground-based guard units will also be removed.

Kim had already revealed plans to shut down the test site by the end of May during his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month. Analysts say that while the closure of the site is important, it doesn’t represent a material step toward full denuclearization.

The North plans to invite journalists from the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and Britain to witness the dismantling process, the Foreign Ministry’s statement said.

“A ceremony for dismantling the nuclear test ground is now scheduled between May 23 and 25,” depending on weather conditions, it said.

The journalists from the five selected countries will be provided with a charter flight from Beijing to the North Korean coastal city of Wonsan, from where they will travel by train to the test site, the statement said.

The ministry said the North will continue to “promote close contacts and dialogue with the neighboring countries and the international society so as to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and over the globe.”

Following the Moon-Kim summit, Moon’s office said Kim was willing to disclose the process to international experts, but the North’s statement Saturday didn’t include any mention about allowing experts on the site.

South Korea had no immediate response to the statement.

The North’s announcement comes days after Washington announced that the historic summit between Kim and Trump will be held June 12 in Singapore.

Seoul, which shuttled between Washington and Pyongyang to set up the Trump-Kim meeting, has said Kim has genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons in return for economic benefits. However, there are lingering doubts about whether Kim would ever agree to fully relinquish the weapons he likely views as his only guarantee of survival.

During their summit at a border truce village, Moon and Kim vaguely promised to work toward the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, but made no references to verification or timetables.

North Korea for decades has been pushing a concept of “denuclearization” that bears no resemblance to the American definition. The North has been vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its 28,500 troops from South Korea and the nuclear umbrella defending South Korea and Japan.

Some experts believe Kim may try to drag out the process to wait out the Trump administration or seek a deal in which he gives away his intercontinental ballistic missiles but retains some of his shorter-range arsenal in return for a reduced U.S. military presence in the South. This could satisfy Trump but undermine the alliance between Washington and Seoul.

Kim declared his nuclear force as complete in December, following North Korea’s most powerful nuclear test to date in September and three flight tests of ICBMs designed to reach the U.S. mainland.

North Korea announced at a ruling party meeting last month that it was suspending all tests of nuclear devices and ICBMs, as well as the plan to close the nuclear testing ground.

Kim said during the meeting that the nuclear test site’s mission had come “to an end” because the North had completed the process of developing nuclear-capable intermediate-range missiles, ICBMs and other strike means.

The North also said for the first time at the meeting that it had been conducting “subcritical” nuclear tests. These refer to experiments involving a subcritical mass of nuclear materials that allow scientists to examine the performance and safety of weapons without triggering a nuclear chain reaction and explosion.

North Korea’s reference to such activity is designed to communicate that even without underground testing, the country intends to maintain its nuclear arsenal and be a “responsible” steward of those weapons at the same time, said Andrea Berger, a senior analyst at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

Still, the closure of the underground testing site could be a useful precedent for Washington and Seoul as they proceed with the nuclear negotiations with Pyongyang, analysts say.

“Now that North Korea has accepted in principle that agreements should be verified, U.S. negotiators should hold them to this standard for any subsequent agreement,” said Adam Mount, a senior defense analyst at the Federation of American Scientists. “It will make it more difficult for Kim Jong Un to deny inspections now that he has placed them on the table.”

North Korea has invited the outside world to witness the dismantling of its nuclear facilities before. In June 2008, international broadcasters were allowed to air the demolishing of a cooling tower at the Nyongbyon reactor site, a year after the North reached an agreement with the U.S. and four other nations to disable its nuclear facilities in return for an aid package worth about $400 million.

But in September 2008, the North declared that it would resume reprocessing plutonium, complaining that Washington wasn’t fulfilling its promise to remove the country from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The administration of George W. Bush removed North Korea from the list in October 2008 after the country agreed to continue disabling its nuclear plant. However, a final attempt by Bush to complete an agreement to fully dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons program collapsed that December when the North refused to accept U.S.-proposed verification methods.

The North went on to conduct its second nuclear test in May 2009.

The post New world news from Time: North Korea Says It Will Dismantle Its Nuclear Test Site Ahead of Summit With Trump appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/money/5273257/eurovision-2018-finals-stream/

Want to spend your weekend following juicy intracontinental drama, watching insane musical performances and marveling at out-of-this-world costumes?

If your answer was “uh, obviously,” you’re in luck — Saturday is the grand final of the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest.

The live singing competition will get under way at 21:00 CEST, or 3 p.m. EDT, as 26 national musical acts battle in Lisbon, Portugal, for fan votes and bragging rights. But you don’t have to be in Europe to follow along. Even Americans can take part in Eurovision via live stream.

No matter where you are, you’ll want to make sure you’ve tuned in by the time Cyprus, Israel and France perform — they’re the countries oddsmakers are predicting will win the whole thing. You should also try to catch Estonia’s song, because singer Elina Nechayeva wears a ridiculously cool projection dress (think 2015 Jennifer Lopez), as well as Ireland’s, which features two male dancers acting out a same-sex relationship and has become hugely controversial because of it.

How to Stream Eurovision 2018 Online for Free

If you’re not in the United States, check out the official broadcast of the grand final on Eurovision’s YouTube channel here (unfortunately, it’s not available stateside or in Canada, as well as in some parts of South and Central America).

If you are in the U.S., you still have options. You can catch the song contest on LogoTV’s feed here, where the show will be hosted by drag queen Shangela and TV personality Ross Matthews.

If you’d like to kick it old school, you can listen to live audio from the event on WJFD 97.3 FM, a Massachusetts-based Portuguese radio station, here.

Running Order for the 2018 Grand Final

The all-important lineup is as follows:

Ukraine

Spain

Slovenia

Lithuania

Austria

Estonia

Norway

Portugal

United Kingdom

Serbia

Germany

Albania

France

Czech Republic

Denmark

Australia

Finland

Bulgaria

Moldova

Sweden

Hungary

Israel

The Netherlands

Ireland

Cyprus

Italy

Once all the performances are finished, the audience participation part starts. People in the 43 contestant countries can vote for their favorites via phone, app or text. One caveat: You can’t vote for your own country.

After those votes are tallied, they’ll be combined with results from the Eurovision jury, which is made up of 215 jurors with music industry experience, live on air (like we said: drama!). Then, in keeping with Eurovision’s weird atmosphere, the winning country will be awarded a glass statue of a microphone.

Happy streaming!

The post New world news from Time: How to Watch the Eurovision 2018 Finals Online for Free appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275214/oral-antibiotics-kidney-stones/

Taking certain oral antibiotics may come with an unpleasant side effect, according to new research.

A study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology found that taking any of five types of oral antibiotics was associated with a significantly higher risk of developing kidney stones — mineral and salt deposits that form in the kidneys and must be passed through the urinary tract.

Kidney stones have grown much more common over the past few decades without a clear explanation as to why. The condition is, however, associated with bacterial changes in the intestines and urinary tract, leading investigators to study the relationship between antibiotics and kidney stones.

Researchers examined the electronic health records of more than 13 million people who sought care in the United Kingdom between 1994 and 2015. They narrowed the sample to nearly 26,000 patients diagnosed with kidney stones, and a control group of almost 260,000 people without kidney stones.

After adjusting for mitigating factors such as other medication use and being diagnosed with a urinary tract infection, diabetes or gout, they found that sulfas, cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, nitrofurantoin/methenamine and broad-spectrum penicillins were all associated with a heightened risk of kidney stones, when taken three to 12 months before diagnosis.

Sulfas, which are often used to treat urinary tract infections and burns, were associated with the greatest uptick in risk: a 2.3-fold increase, compared to people who had not taken the medication. Risk did seem to decrease as time passed after taking these antibiotics, the researchers write, but it remained elevated for up to five years. Young people also seemed to be most susceptible to developing kidney stones after taking these medications, they add.

With evidence mounting that excessive antibiotic use can lead to drug-resistance and changes in the microbiome, the study provides another reason to be cautious of over-prescribing.

The post New story in Health from Time: Here’s Another Reason to Avoid Taking Unnecessary Antibiotics appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275173/nbc-fox-brooklyn-nine-nine-cancel/

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been picked up by NBC for a sixth season just one day after Fox canceled the show.

Fan outcry over the cancellation of the beloved show led to NBC speedily picking up the cop comedy starring Andy Samberg for 13 more episodes.

“We got your SIX! #Brooklyn99 is officially coming to NBC!” the network said in a tweet.

The show’s cast and creators also took to Twitter to share their joy. Writer Mike Schur said Brooklyn Nine-Nine came back thanks to the show’s strong fanbase.

This happened because the fans of the show went berzerk. We can't thank you — or @NBC — enough. #Brooklyn99

— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) May 12, 2018

SQUAD YOU DID IT #BROOKLYN99 WILL BE ON NBC FOR OUR 6th SEASON!

— Stephanie Beatriz (@iamstephbeatz) May 12, 2018

Hey everyone, just wanted to say no big deal but…. NBC JUST PICKED #BROOKLYN99 UP FOR SEASON 6!!! Thanks in no small part to you, the best fans in the history of the world!

Nine-nine!!!!!!!!!

— Dan Goor (@djgoor) May 12, 2018

NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said in a statement that he regretted letting the show “get away” after selling it to Fox, the New York Times reports.

“It’s high time it came back to its rightful home,” he said. “Mike Schur, Dan Goor and Andy Samberg grew up on NBC, and we’re all thrilled that one of the smartest, funniest, and best-cast comedies in a long time will take its place in our comedy lineup. I speak for everyone at NBC, here’s to the Nine-Nine!”

  The post New story in Entertainment from Time: NBC Picks Up Brooklyn Nine-Nine After Fox Cancels Fan-Favorite Show appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275182/burundi-terrorist-attack/

(BUJUMBURA, Burundi) — Twenty-six people were killed and seven others wounded in an attack in a rural area of Burundi, the country’s security minister said Saturday, calling it the work of a “terrorist group” he did not identify.

Speaking at the scene, Alain Guillaume Bunyoni told reporters that 24 people were killed in their homes Friday night and two others died of their wounds at a local hospital.

He gave no further details about the attack in the Ruhagarika community of the rural northwestern province of Cibitoke.

The attack came shortly before Burundians vote May 17 in a controversial referendum that could extend the president’s term. It was not immediately clear if the attack was related.

One survivor told The Associated Press the attackers came around 10 p.m. local time and “attacked households and set fire on houses.” Some victims were hacked with machetes and others were shot or burned alive, she said.

Her husband and two children were killed, she said. She spoke on condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns.

This East African country has seen deadly political violence since early 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza successfully pursued a disputed third term. An estimated 1,200 people died.

Now Burundians are being asked to vote on a proposal to extend the president’s term from five years to seven, which would allow Nkurunziza to rule for another 14 years when his current term expires in 2020.

Campaigns ahead of the referendum have been marred by hate speech, with one ruling party official sent to prison after he called for those who oppose the referendum to be drowned.

The United States earlier this month denounced “violence, intimidation, and harassment” against those thought to oppose the referendum and expressed concern about the “non-transparent process” of changing the constitution.

Human Rights Watch has noted “widespread impunity” for authorities and their allies, including the ruling party’s youth wing, as they try to swing the vote in the president’s favor.

Many in Burundi, a poor country that still relies heavily on foreign aid, worry that a new round of bloodshed will follow the referendum no matter its results.

Already more than 400,000 people have fled the country since the political unrest began in April 2015, according to the United Nations.

Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader, rose to power in 2005 following the end of Burundi’s civil war that killed about 300,000 people. He was re-elected unopposed in 2010 after the opposition boycotted. He said he was eligible for a third term in 2015 because lawmakers, not the general population, chose him for his first term.

  The post New world news from Time: 26 People Killed in Burundi by ‘Terrorist Group’, Official Says appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5275161/fox-last-man-standing-return/

Fox is picking up Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing after canceling fan-favorite comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, along with The Last Man on Earth and The Mick.

Last Man Standing is coming to Fox after its original network ABC canceled it following its sixth season, the Los Angeles Times reports. The show stars Allen as a politically conservative man trying to keep up his manliness as he raises three girls.

Allen has blamed the cancellation at ABC on political reasons, although the network has denied the accusations. In a statement on Fox picking the show up, Allen said, “Hell yes, I’m excited!”

“Team Last Man Standing was in the sixth inning, ahead by four runs, stands were packed and then for no reason, they call off the game,” Allen said. “It leaves you sitting in the dugout, holding a bat and puzzled.”

The show drew an average of 8 million viewers in its last season on ABC.

The post New story in Entertainment from Time: Fox Is Bringing Back Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing This Fall appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5269722/collar-bomb-netflix-evil-genius/

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist on Netflix.

New charges could be filed in the notorious “collar bomb” crime after a Netflix documentary revealed a confession from an alleged conspirator who may have implicated herself nearly 15 years later, according to the film’s creators and the federal investigators who led the case.

In the final minutes of Evil Genius, a four-part docuseries that examines what it calls “America’s most diabolical bank heist,” a woman who knew Brian Wells — the pizza delivery driver who died in 2003 after robbing a bank in Erie, Pa. while a bomb was fastened around his neck — admits to setting Wells up in exchange for money and drugs from the conspirators.

“It hurts me that I could do this to somebody who I cared about,” says Jessica Hoopsick, who was Wells’ prostitute and friend. “I want people to know he was innocent.”

MORE: Why We Are Drawn to True Crime Shows

In the documentary, Hoopsick says a conspirator approached her to find a “gopher” who could be scared into robbing a bank. After being offered $5,000, Hoopsick suggests Wells and gives up his work schedule at the pizzeria. “I have a lot of remorse for a lot of the stuff I did and a lot of shame and guilt,” she says. “I definitely want justice for Brian’s memory. He wasn’t out to hurt nobody. He had no parts in the planning. He had no idea what was going to happen to him.”

Investigators said Hoopsick was uncooperative after the deadly heist in 2003. They had long suspected her involvement but didn’t have enough evidence to build a case against her.

“We always believed that Jessica knew more,” retired ATF Special Agent Jason Wick told TIME in a recent interview about the documentary. “Getting her to tell us at the time was a whole other issue. We just couldn’t get enough from her. We were in a tough spot. She just wouldn’t cooperate.”

NetflixA still from “Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist” on Netflix

Now, Wick and his partner Jerry Clark, who was the lead FBI investigator on the collar bomb case, believe Hoopsick may have said too much for her own good. “I think that if anyone implicated themselves, it was her, as being a conspirator, in bringing him to the table,” Wick said.

Wick said the new information “should certainly be passed along” to any state or federal law enforcement agency for review, since he said there’s no statute of limitations for murder. But Wick and Clark are not convinced Hoopsick is a credible enough witness. “There is evidence that directly conflicts with what she’s saying,” Clark said. “There’s always some underlying reason for her cooperation. The fact that she’s saying it, you got to wonder why.”

Barbara Schroeder and Trey Borzillieri, the creators of Evil Genius, told TIME they believe Hoopsick was moved to finally speak out because she couldn’t hold in her secret any longer. “This was eating her up inside,” said Borzillieri, the documentary’s co-director and executive producer, who added that Hoopsick was not offered anything in return for her interview.

It’s unclear whether authorities and prosecutors will decide to pursue charges against Hoopsick or any others after Hoopsick’s new confession. The FBI did not return requests for comment, and the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania declined to discuss the documentary’s findings. Hoopsick could not be reached by TIME, despite multiple efforts. Relatives said she had fallen out of touch with her family, and several phone numbers provided by two of her recent attorneys were either disconnected or belonged to other people.

Schroeder, who wrote and directed Evil Genius, said the team had discussed the confession with current and former investigators at the state and federal level. “Technically, she could be charged,” Schroeder said, “but every agency we spoke to said there was no interest.”

Two conspirators — Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes — were ultimately convicted of conspiracy and armed bank robbery charges in connection with the collar bomb case. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said Diehl-Armstrong died of natural causes at a Texas prison on April 4, 2017. Barnes is expected to be released in 2027, according to FCI Coleman Low, the federal correctional facility where he’s currently incarcerated in Florida.

The creators of Evil Genius say they hope their documentary helps bring some closure to Wells’ family and ramp up enough public interest in the case to gain access to sealed grand jury documents that provide more answers on the collar bomb case.

“We feel this is a second chance at justice,” Borzillieri said. “What we hope we’re achieving is new truths and new depths within the truths.”

The “big twist at the end,” Schroeder said, “is just another piece to the puzzle.”

“There is more to the story that meets the eye,” she added.

The post New story in Entertainment from Time: Netflix’s Evil Genius Ends With a Stunning Confession. Here’s What Could Happen Next in the Collar Bomb Case appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.

[omnipop-mag-blog]

http://time.com/5274300/amber-tamblyn-motherhood-me-too/

Motherhood makes you dangerous.

When I had my daughter, it was the first time that I truly understood the depths of my own power and the width of my own potency. It can be hard for women to value the complexities of such dimensions, especially in a society that systematically tells us that our bodies are wrong, the way we breastfeed is wrong, the way we raise our children is wrong — that nothing is right about our wrongness. After I became a mother, something changed in me; my intuition’s frequency, my fire’s luminosity. My sorcery.

The very act of giving birth is an alchemical spell. It’s an experience that binds you to your two most polar opposites: a feeling of extreme strength and extreme fragility, all at once. I’ve described it as becoming a superhero overnight. I once described it to my friend Laura as becoming The Incredible Hulk; Within hours after the experience of giving birth, your hormones stampede, your breasts swell, your mind grows a thousand daggers it would use in a second to protect your new offspring. It’s a lot. I told her that it could make you feel crazy. That it’s okay to cry whenever she wanted to. That not every woman is a gorgeous lactating goddess and not every experience of motherhood is a happy one. Not every woman slips easily back into her body, her old life, her living, after becoming a mother. That we need support. That while women nurture, we too need nurturing. Once at 3.a.m., I was in complete despair about the low milk supply I was able to produce for my daughter and my friend Amy Poehler called me to talk me through it. What she said to me will stay between us forever, but this much I can share: She told me I was not doing everything wrong. In fact, I was doing everything right. We women have so much wisdom to share with each other, the same wisdom we must share with the world.

Courtesy of Amber Tamblyn. Amberlyn Tamblyn on her way to the Women’s March while 8 months pregnant.

That wisdom, when shared, does not always come easy to accept or take in, especially for most men. The #MeToo movement was a revolution that fueled me, as it fueled so many others. I knew I had to jump in and do the hardest work of my life, not just for our culture’s sake, but also for my daughter’s future. In the months since #MeToo, we’ve already taken the most important steps, which is changing the conversation and creating action-oriented organizations such as Time’s Up, which works to make sure no woman has to ever say “Me Too” again. There’s also been a change in how we react to the ways people talk to women and young girls. Just the other day, I read a story from a mother I know whose 5-year-old daughter was going through the TSA security scan when the agent playfully put his hand down and said, “You can’t come through until I get a smile.” This kind of aggressive behavior is something we wouldn’t have made a big deal about a year ago. But the world has changed since Donald Trump became our president and the indoctrination of our young girls as fledgling objects has never been more striking than under his presidency.

Now more than ever, mothers and fathers of young girls should teach them that they do not owe any man a smile. That our young sons do not have to be the de facto students of masculinity and strength. We need to teach our young girls that our physical selves are not to be commanded or communed. That we owe no onus to anyone. As mothers and fathers, it is our evolutionary obligation to end the painful narratives of oppression that are handed down to our girls and fellow women like precious keepsakes. We must hold space for the most intimate truths of motherhood — from the gruesome, ugly details of childbirth to the difficulties of breastfeeding and far beyond. We must be honest. And we must demand honesty. Because the act of becoming a mother makes you find out quickly what you will and will not tolerate. It makes us dangerous.

It’s not that I don’t have concerns when it comes to my daughter and her potential power, too. I look at the Parkland survivors who instill a sense of great pride and hope in me — but they also bring me pause. For they are still children. And they are fighting the feats that should be led by us, their parents, their adults. Yes, they’re owning their power. But I can’t help but wonder: What is it like to be Emma Gonzalez’s mother? No one wants their child to be dragged all over the Internet or attacked by the NRA or lobbyists. How do you protect her while also letting her be the activist she is? There is no easy answer just as there is no easy action.

At just over a year old, my own daughter already intuits so much. Her brow furrows in the exact same deep way mine does when she’s thinking. I want her to know it’s okay to be imperfect. To be flawed. To be a beautiful, glorious mess. To be soft. To be quiet and introspective. To not have all the answers, just like me. But I want her to know that it’s also okay to fight hard. To be loud. To put her heart out on the line. To demand change. To be dangerous.

The post New story in Entertainment from Time: Motherhood Makes You Dangerous—And That’s Powerful in the #MeToo Era appeared first on OMNI POP MAG.