No one was secure from Nikki Glaser's wrath on the 2025 Golden Globes on the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 5, 2025.

The 40-year-old comedian roasted among the most famous people within the room, leading to several epic reactions from the star-studded audience.

By PAOLO SANTALUCIA, Associated Press

ROME – The ancient Roman Colosseum will host gladiator fights – albeit staged – for the primary time in two millennia as a part of a $1.5 million sponsorship take care of Airbnb geared toward promoting “more conscious tourism.”

But some visitors to the monument Thursday, in addition to housing activists, expressed skepticism concerning the value of the agreement, citing ongoing controversy in lots of cities over the role of short-term rental platforms in promoting overtourism and restricting reasonably priced housing for residents and students.

RELATED: The 25 Worst Behaved Tourists of 2023

Under the agreement announced Wednesday by Airbnb and the Colosseum, the short-term rental giant's sponsorship includes renewing an academic program in the traditional Roman amphitheater that explores the structure's history and gladiators.

Eight users of the platform and their relatives will have the option to participate in fake gladiator fights on May seventh and eighth after the closure of the Colosseum on May seventh and eighth, using the identical underground path that gladiators used to get to the world in ancient Rome. You can apply for the experience freed from charge on November twenty seventh and the “Gladiators” will probably be chosen by lottery.

Colosseum Archaeological Park director Alfonsina Russo told The Associated Press that the deal was related to the discharge of Ridley Scott's latest film “Gladiators II” which opened in Italy on Thursday.

Russo described the sponsorship agreement as certainly one of many such offers to assist fund projects within the park.

The Italian fashion brand Tod's, for instance, has financed a multi-million dollar renovation of the Roman monument, including cleansing, replacing the arches' locking system with latest gates and renewing the underground areas.

Alberto Campailla, the coordinator of the nonprofit Nonna Roma, which focuses on housing and food for the poor, called the Airbnb campaign “a disgrace” and a type of “touristification.”

Airbnb and other platforms that provide short-term rentals are “literally driving people out not only of the city center but also of the outskirts and suburban neighborhoods,” Campailla said.

Tourists from other European cities combating overtourism also expressed criticism of the deal.

“It seems to me that the purpose of the Colosseum today is to be a tourist attraction, but not to create an amusement park,” said Jaime Montero, a tourist from Madrid. “In the end, tourism eats away at the essence of the cities, here in Rome, as in other capitals.”

Salvatore Di Matteo, visiting from Naples, viewed the deal as “another takeover of the territory” by big corporations.

“When they start touching sacred monuments like the Colosseum here in Rome, that is of course something that should make us think and is definitely a little worrying,” he said.

The Colosseum is crucial and largest amphitheater built by the traditional Romans. Built within the 1st century, it was the middle of popular entertainment until the sixth century, hosting hunts and gladiatorial games.

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Originally published: November 14, 2024 at 11:32 am PST

In the run-up to the controversy between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in End of June 2024 has brought memories concerning the first televised presidential debate – and the way Vice President Richard Nixon's sweaty, worn-out appearance on that autumn evening in 1960 paved the best way for the tanned and telegenic Senator John F. Kennedy to enter the White House.

At least, that is the common opinion concerning the Kennedy-Nixon debate of September 26, 1960: Image won, Kennedy was rewarded and Nixon was punished.

“Kennedy won the election by a narrow margin, although most people believe he would never have had a chance without that first debate,” Time magazine said. declared in 2016when he lists the most important missteps in political debates. “It seems that Nixon's fatal mistake was that he failed to recognize the power of the visual image.”

Or as Max Frankel, then editor-in-chief of the New York Times, wrote sarcastically several months After Nixon's death in 1994, “Nixon lost a televised debate and the presidency to John F. Kennedy in 1960 because he didn't follow the rules.”

Nixon could have been sweating under the new studio lights, but few pundits and analysts focused their comments on the vice chairman's appearance on the time. In a telling example of the fickleness of judgments within the moment, many pundits and analysts thought each candidates appeared nervous and unsure. Some of them said Nixon, still recovering from the consequences of a infected knee who had admitted him to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center at the tip of August 1960, had the upper hand within the confrontation.

At the time, the prevailing opinion was that this debate had not made any decision concerning the 1960 presidential election campaign.

The debate as a draw

What is commonly told to the general public today about this primary debate of its kindwhich took place without an audience in a Chicago television studio, doesn’t quite match the reactions and perceptions circulating on the time. As the aftermath of the controversy made clear, initial assessments could be fleeting and result in dramatic revisions.

I actually have examined quite a few newspaper articles, editorials and commentaries written immediately after the controversy to organize a chapter for “Doing it wrong”, my 2017 book about Media-driven myths. I discovered that there was no consensus amongst newspaper columnists and editorial writers about Nixon's performance. Not everyone thought Nixon's performance was terrible or necessarily liked Kennedy.

Two days after the controversy, the Washington Post stated in an editorial: “Of the two performances, Mr. Nixon's was probably the smoother. He is an accomplished debater with professional elegance, and he managed to convey the slightly condescending impression of a master teaching his pupil.”

The moderator of the controversy, Howard K. Smith of ABC News, was later quoted as saying that he thought Nixon was “slightly better” than Kennedy.

Saul Petta well known columnist for the Associated Press, praised Nixon's radiant warmth. “In terms of popular approval, both before and during the debate,” Pett wrote in an article published the following day, “my scorecard showed Nixon slightly ahead, at least 8 to 1. … He smiled more often and more broadly, especially at the beginning and end of remarks. Kennedy only occasionally allowed himself the luxury of a quarter smile.”

Walter Lippmann, a number one newspaper commentator of the time, mentioned Nixon's behavior at length in his column the day after the controversy, saying the tv cameras “were very hard on Mr. Nixon. … They made him look sick, which he is not, and they made him look older and more worn out than he is.”

This effect, Lippmann wrote, “was a misrepresentation and we need to ensure for the future that the cameras are indeed impartial.”

Doubts concerning the impact of television

However, one other columnist, William S. White, questioned the powerful impact of television on politics, writing: “There is, after all, no magic formula for getting to the presidency on electronic waves: no gold mine of easily won votes in television heaven.” Television was nothing recent in 1960. About 87% of American households Back then, everyone owned not less than one television set. But the role of television in American politics was still changing.

Of greater importance, not less than to some analysts, was Nixon's tactics throughout the debate. For example, he seemed inclined to debate things the best way Kennedy had presented them. In his opening statement, Kennedy said: expressed dissatisfaction with the direction of the country Amid the uncertainties of the Cold War, he said, “This is a great country, but I think it could be an even greater country; and this is a powerful country, but I think it could be an even more powerful country.” He concluded his opening remarks by stating, “I think it's time for America to get moving again.”

Nixon, speaking after Kennedy, denied that the country had “stood still” throughout the Eisenhower years, but said, “I fully agree with the spirit that Senator Kennedy expressed tonight, the spirit that the United States should move forward.”

He concluded his opening speech with the words: “I do know that Senator Kennedy feels these issues just as deeply [facing the country] like me, but our disagreement will not be concerning the goals for America, only concerning the means to attain those goals.”

Whether Nixon was attempting to curb his combative tendencies or appeal to wavering Democrats, his remarks seemed strangely defensive and respectful.

“Nixon was so insistent that he shared all of Senator Kennedy's worthy goals that one could expect Nixon to support the Democratic program at any moment,” columnist Joseph Alsop wrote sarcastically just a few days after the controversy.

So what modified the consensus on the primary debate from a tie to Nixon's on-air destroy? The answer undoubtedly lies within the seek for a post-election explanation for Kennedy's victory. He won the referendum by 0.2 percentage points or around 118,000 votes.

Historian of Campaign 1960 have identified that numerous variables could have influenced the end result in such an in depth race. But political journalist Theodore H. White writes in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book “The Making of the President, 1960”, argued that the televised broadcast of the primary debate was crucial.

“Until the cameras were on the Senator and the Vice President,” White wrote in his 1961 book, “Kennedy was the boy the Vice President had attacked and harassed as immature, young and inexperienced. Now he was obviously the Vice President's equal in flesh and blood and in behavior.”

Whether television was so enlightening and conclusive is debatable. Less controversial, nonetheless, is the sensation today that television made a difference. As historian David Greenberg wrote about this primary televised debate, “the perception The influence of television changed American politics and shaped the behavior of politicians and candidates for decades.”

One could easily add to this remark: the perception of the influence of television similarly modified the overall opinion concerning the very first presidential debate.

politics

Six months later a deadly mass shooting By an Army reservist, Maine lawmakers passed a sweeping package of recent gun restrictions this week.

Three months after a fatal school shootingIn Iowa, lawmakers this week passed a law allowing trained teachers and staff to hold guns on school grounds.

Two states. Two tragedies. Two different approaches to improving public safety.

“We essentially live in two different Americas,” said Daniel Webster, a professor of health policy on the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.

“We are experiencing terrible gun violence; Of course no one wants them,” Webster said. “But we see it through different lenses.”

Lawmakers in about 20 states have already passed measures to expand gun rights or restrict access to firearms this 12 months. Dozens of other proposals are still pending. The gap continues a trend seen last 12 months, when greater than half of states passed a gun lawwith Democrats generally favoring more limits and Republicans more freedoms for gun owners.

Gun Restrictions in Maine

Maine has a convention of hunting and gun ownership. But after a military reservist 18 people killed and wounded 13 others in Lewiston, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills called for a series of recent laws The aim is to forestall dangerous people from owning weapons and to strengthen psychiatric care.

Before the 2024 session adjourns early Thursday, The legislature has selected measures Imposing a 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases, expanding background checks on private gun sales, and criminalizing sales to certain prohibited individuals. They also passed a ban on devices that convert semi-automatic firearms into rapid-fire weapons like machine guns and improved an existing law that enables judges to temporarily take away guns from people during a mental health crisis.

A gun safety coalition hailed it as a major step forward in response to voter concerns following the Lewiston shooting. But Republican Sen. Lisa Keim criticized her colleagues for “using the tragedy to advance legislation” that previously didn’t pass.

Guns in Iowa schools

In Perry, Iowa, a headmaster and a sixth grade student died and a number of other others were injured A 17-year-old student opened fire in January.

A 2021 state law already allowed schools to permit individuals to hold firearms, although some districts haven’t done so attributable to concerns about insurance coverage.

The bill, which received final approval Monday from the Republican-led Legislature, builds on previous laws and allows teachers and staff who complete gun safety training to acquire skilled licenses to hold guns in schools. If they accomplish that, they might be protected against criminal or civil liability for the usage of reasonable force.

The laws also requires large school districts to station a police officer or private security guard at every highschool unless the college board votes against it. Most of those school districts have already got security guards in place.

Different state laws

Republican-led legislatures in Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah also passed measures this 12 months that will make it harder for some people to bring guns into schools. A Bill passed in Wyoming Provides $480,000 to reimburse schools for the associated fee of coaching their employees to hold weapons on school grounds.

Louisiana And South CarolinaLed by Republican lawmakers and governors, each passed laws allowing people to hold concealed weapons without permits. The National Rifle Association, which supported the measures, said similar laws now exist in 29 states.

In contrast, the Democratic-led Delaware Legislature passed laws People who need to buy a handgun must first be fingerprinted, complete training and acquire government approval.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, signed two latest laws impose restrictions. It imposes a seven-day waiting period for firearm purchases – greater than double the three-day period the federal government requires for a background check.

Another latest law in New Mexico bans carrying firearms inside 100 feet (30 meters) of polling places, with an exception for concealed carry permit holders. According to the Giffords Gun Violence Prevention Group, a few third of states and Washington, D.C. now have polling place restrictions on guns.

Despite party trends

Not all latest gun guidelines divide along party lines.

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin this 12 months vetoed 30 bills related to guns The resolution passed by the Democratic-led General Assembly would have trampled on constitutional rights, he said. But Youngkin also signed some gun restrictions: One of them bans devices that convert semi-automatic handguns into automatic weapons. In one other case, parents could also be charged with crimes for allowing a baby access to a firearm after being told that the kid posed a risk of violence.

While he signed several gun rights measures, Republican Gov. Mark Gordon of Wyoming also signed Veto laws This would have allowed people to hold concealed weapons in public schools and government meetings. Gordon cited concerns the bill could have gone beyond the separation of powers provision within the state structure.

And in some cases, high-profile shootings have led lawmakers to not take motion on proposals they may otherwise have considered.

The Republican-led Missouri House of Representatives was poised to debate bills that will exempt guns and ammunition from sales taxes and permit individuals with concealed-carry permits to hold guns on public transportation. But after the fatal Shooting on the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl celebrationHouse Majority Leader Jon Patterson said those bills wouldn’t be brought up this 12 months.