Today is Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
It is the 98th day of the year.
267 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: More ominous news for the FYRE FESTIVAL.
The MENENDEZ BROTHERS remain optimistic and DAMON WAYANS is keeping things in the family. More in SHOWBIZ.
“The Minecraft Movie” is a box office hit and a famous board game gets a reality series order. Details in CASTING CALL.
Another hiccup in MEGHAN SUSSEX’s brand rollout in ROYALS.
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Despite the best efforts from BILLY MCFARLAND and FYRE FESTIVAL organizers to insist they’re methodically ensuring a spectacular event at the end of next month, a new report from TMZ suggests they’re all lying, again.
On Friday, McFarland posted to Instagram receipts showing they’ve secured the necessary paperwork and made the necessary payments to use public beach areas, and other facilities, at Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
NOW: TMZ has published screencaps of text messages from an unnamed event producer that accuses the local government in Mexico of lying. "They [the government] posted on X, Instagram etc giving their blessing and support and then yesterday they say we've never heard of them its hilarious," the producer wrote. He continued, “As of now we wont be hosting a festival in playa,” but added the event will still happen somewhere else.
IF TRUE: It would mark the third location change for the festival. It was originally to take place at Isla Mujeres, but in February their local government suggested they also had no idea Fyre organizers planned to host the festival there. [via TMZ]
WORTH ASKING: Did these municipal officials find out what a disaster the first festival was only after signing the documents? Perhaps they learned about the hundreds of workers who were stiffed after the first FYRE Festival, and backed out to save their skin.
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TARIFF TALK
– The European Union has announced slapping a 25% tariff on American products that would go into effect well over a month from now, obviously indicating their intention to negotiate new trade terms with PRESIDENT TRUMP.
– During an Oval Office meeting with Trump on Tuesday, Prime Minister of Israel BENJAMIN NETANYAHU said he intends to rapidly end any trade imbalance with the United States.
– Various administration officials have indicated that multiple major trade partners are working on meetings to renegotiate their trade terms, including Taiwan, India, and Vietnam, among some-fifty others.
SPEAKING OF INDIA: APPLE is reportedly looking to move iPhone production there to avoid Chinese tariffs.
SPEAKING OF CHINA: Trump threatened to add another 50% tariff on China if it does not de-escalate the new tariffs it imposed on the United States on Sunday. Obviously, this tariff scheme is about waging economic warfare with a superpower adversary, too.
– Here’s Democrat Senator CHUCK SCHUMER demanding 27.5% tariffs on China – in 2005. WATCH >
WORTH NOTING: A tranche of tariffs don’t technically go into place until tomorrow. Today will be another bonkers day.
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A study in the “New England Journal of Medicine” shows that a well-trained artificial intelligence bot can deliver chat-therapy at least as effective as sitting down with a trained professional, and in some cases delivers better results.
The study identified 200 people with diagnosable depression and anxiety, and paired half of them with A.I. therapy bots; the other half received no treatment. Those who worked with the bots showed significant improvement.
As an added benefit, the patients were able to consult with the chat bot on demand – for example, to clear their head while they battled with insomnia in the middle of the night – instead of waiting for a formal session. [via NPR]
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Five nurses working on the same floor of a maternity ward at a Boston hospital have all developed brain tumors, and no one knows why.
Fortunately, the affliction is benign. The investigation began after eleven hospital staff on the same floor reported various health concerns.
In a statement, the hospital said it could not identify any “environmental risks” that could have caused such tumors, and ruled out potential causes like the water supply, x-ray machines, and even chemo treatments conducted one floor below.
The union representing nurses at the hospital will continue to investigate. [via NBC News]
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An aggressive hawk that has been attacking the good people of Flamstead, England for months was finally captured last week.
The 50-or-so attacks sent dozens of people to the hospital, including many bald men, who started wearing helmets to protect their scalps while walking around town.
The hawk also stole some caps right off peoples’ heads, prompting one resident to create a chinstrap out of a shoelace after losing two beanies to the bird.
“It’s a relief for us and the whole village,” one person told the BBC after the capture was announced. [via BBC]
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