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November 26, 2021

New omicron variant stokes world fears, triggers travel bans

by Raf Casert

The discovery of a new coronavirus variant sent a chill through much of the world Friday as nations raced to halt air travel, markets fell sharply and scientists held emergency meetings to weigh the exact risks, which were largely unknown.

A World Health Organization panel named the variant "omicron" and classified it as a highly transmissible virus of concern, the same category that includes the delta variant, the world's most prevalent. The panel said early evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection.

In response, the United States joined the European Union and several other countries in instituting travel restrictions on visitors from southern Africa.

The White House said the U.S. will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region beginning Monday. It did not give details except to say the restrictions will not apply to returning U.S. citizens or permanent residents, who will continue to be required to test negative before their travel.

Medical experts, including the WHO, warned against any overreaction before the variant that originated in southern Africa was better understood. But a jittery world feared the worst nearly two years after COVID-19 emerged and triggered a pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people around the globe.

"We must move quickly and at the earliest possible moment," British Health Secretary Sajid Javid told lawmakers.

There was no immediate indication whether the variant causes more severe disease. As with other variants, some infected people display no symptoms, South African experts said. The WHO panel drew from the Greek alphabet in naming the variant omicron, as it has done with earlier, major variants of the virus.

Even though some of the genetic changes appear worrisome, it was unclear if the new variant would pose a significant public health threat. Some previous variants, like the beta variant, initially concerned scientists but did not spread very far.

The 27-nation European Union imposed a temporary ban on air travel from southern Africa, and stocks tumbled in Asia, Europe and the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 1,000 points. The S&P 500 index was down 2.3%, on pace for its worst day since February. The price of oil plunged nearly 12%.

"The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems," German Health Minister Jens Spahn said. The member nations of the EU have experienced a massive spike in cases recently.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said flights will have to "be suspended until we have a clear understanding about the danger posed by this new variant, and travelers returning from this region should respect strict quarantine rules."

She insisted on extreme caution, warning that "mutations could lead to the emergence and spread of even more concerning variants of the virus that could spread worldwide within a few months."

Belgium became the first European Union country to announce a case of the variant.

"It's a suspicious variant," Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said. "We don't know if it's a very dangerous variant."

It has yet to be detected in the United States, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious disease expert. Abroad, the variant "seems to be spreading at a reasonably rapid rate," he told CNN. And although it may be more transmissible and resistant to vaccines than other variants, "we don't know that for sure right now."

Showing how complicated the spread of a variant can be, the Belgian case involved a traveler who returned to Belgium from Egypt on Nov. 11 but did not became sick with mild symptoms until Monday, according to professor Marc Van Ranst, who works for the scientific group overseeing the Belgian government's COVID-19 response.

Israel, one of the world's most vaccinated countries, announced Friday that it also detected its first case of the new variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. The traveler and two other suspected cases were placed in isolation. Israel said all three were vaccinated, but officials were looking into the travelers' exact vaccination status.

After a 10-hour overnight trip, passengers aboard KLM Flight 598 from Capetown, South Africa, to Amsterdam were held on the edge of the runway Friday morning at Schiphol airport for four hours pending special testing. Passengers aboard a flight from Johannesburg were also being isolated and tested.

"It's ridiculous. If we didn't catch the dreaded bugger before, we're catching it now," said passenger Francesca de' Medici, a Rome-based art consultant who was on the flight.

Some experts said the variant's emergence illustrated how rich countries' hoarding of vaccines threatens to prolong the pandemic.

Fewer than 6% of people in Africa have been fully immunized against COVID-19, and millions of health workers and vulnerable populations have yet to receive a single dose. Those conditions can speed up spread of the virus, offering more opportunities for it to evolve into a dangerous variant.

"This is one of the consequences of the inequity in vaccine rollouts and why the grabbing of surplus vaccines by richer countries will inevitably rebound on us all at some point," said Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at Britain's University of Southampton. He urged Group of 20 leaders "to go beyond vague promises and actually deliver on their commitments to share doses."

The new variant added to investor anxiety that months of progress containing COVID-19 could be reversed.

"Investors are likely to shoot first and ask questions later until more is known," said Jeffrey Halley of foreign exchange broker Oanda.

In a sign of how concerned Wall Street has become, the market's so-called fear gauge known as the VIX jumped 48% to a reading of 26.91. That's the highest reading for the volatility index since January, before vaccines were widely distributed.

Speaking before the EU announcement, Dr. Michael Ryan, head of emergencies at the WHO, warned against "knee-jerk responses."

"We've seen in the past, the minute there's any kind of mention of any kind of variation and everyone is closing borders and restricting travel," Ryan said. "It's really important that we remain open and stay focused."

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agreed and strongly discouraged any travel bans on countries that reported the new variant. It said past experience shows that such travel bans have "not yielded a meaningful outcome."

Yet the U.S. announced restrictions on visitors from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi, hours after governments took similar steps.

The U.K. banned flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries at noon on Friday and announced that anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronavirus test.

The Japanese government announced that Japanese nationals traveling from Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Lesotho will have to quarantine at government-dedicated accommodations for 10 days and take COVID-19 tests on the third, sixth and tenth days. Japan has not yet opened up to foreign nationals.

Fauci said U.S. public health officials were talking Friday with South African colleagues. "We want to find out scientist to scientist exactly what is going on."

The WHO's technical working group says coronavirus infections jumped 11% in the past week in Europe, the only region in the world where COVID-19 continues to rise.

The WHO's Europe director, Dr. Hans Kluge, warned that without urgent measures, the continent could see an additional 700,000 deaths by the spring.

© 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Moscow Metro

The Moscow Metro Tour is included in most guided tours’ itineraries. Opened in 1935, under Stalin’s regime, the metro was not only meant to solve transport problems, but also was hailed as “a people’s palace”. Every station you will see during your Moscow metro tour looks like a palace room. There are bright paintings, mosaics, stained glass, bronze statues… Our Moscow metro tour includes the most impressive stations best architects and designers worked at - Ploshchad Revolutsii, Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya, Kievskaya, Novoslobodskaya and some others.

What is the kremlin in russia?

The guide will not only help you navigate the metro, but will also provide you with fascinating background tales for the images you see and a history of each station.

And there some stories to be told during the Moscow metro tour! The deepest station - Park Pobedy - is 84 metres under the ground with the world longest escalator of 140 meters. Parts of the so-called Metro-2, a secret strategic system of underground tunnels, was used for its construction.

During the Second World War the metro itself became a strategic asset: it was turned into the city's biggest bomb-shelter and one of the stations even became a library. 217 children were born here in 1941-1942! The metro is the most effective means of transport in the capital.

There are almost 200 stations 196 at the moment and trains run every 90 seconds! The guide of your Moscow metro tour can explain to you how to buy tickets and find your way if you plan to get around by yourself.

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The trains and stations of the Moscow Metro

2 Comments · Posted by Alex Smirnov in Cities , Travel , Video

The Moscow Metro is the third most intensive subway system in the world after Tokyo and Seoul subways. The first line was opened on May 15, 1935. Since 1955, the metro has the name of V.I. Lenin.

The system consists of 12 lines with a total length of 305.7 km. Forty four stations are recognized cultural heritage. The largest passenger traffic is in rush hours from 8:00 to 9:00 and from 18:00 to 19:00.

Cellular communication is available on most of the stations of the Moscow Metro. In March 2012, a free Wi-Fi appeared in the Circle Line train. The Moscow Metro is open to passengers from 5:20 to 01:00. The average interval between trains is 2.5 minutes.

The fare is paid by using contactless tickets and contactless smart cards, the passes to the stations are controlled by automatic turnstiles. Ticket offices and ticket vending machines can be found in station vestibules.

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Tomás · August 27, 2012 at 11:34 pm

The Moscow metro stations are the best That I know, cars do not.

Alberto Calvo · September 25, 2016 at 8:57 pm

Great videos! Moscow Metro is just spectacular. I actually visited Moscow myself quite recently and wrote a post about my top 7 stations, please check it out and let me know what you think! :)

http://www.arwtravels.com/blog/moscow-metro-top-7-stations-you-cant-miss

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Rejection of hanged woman's pardon to be reviewed

A panel has been told to re-examine the case of a woman hanged for the murder of her husband, two months after it rejected a bid for her to be pardoned.

Edith Thompson, 29, was found guilty of murdering Percy Thompson after he was fatally stabbed by her lover Frederick Bywaters in east London in 1922.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) had ruled the case did not meet the requirements for a royal pardon .

It has been told to return to the case after legal proceedings were launched.

• Hanged woman's case denied pardon bid
• U-turn over rejection of hanged woman’s pardon
• The wife who was executed for her lover's crime

Edith and Percy Thompson, 32, were returning to their home in Ilford after a night at the theatre on 3 October 1922 when he was stabbed to death by her lover, 20-year-old Bywaters.

During their investigation, police discovered letters revealing an affair between Edith and her husband's killer. The murder became a huge public sensation.

Despite there being little evidence against her, and the insistence of Bywaters that she played no part in her husband's death, both were found guilty of murder and executed at separate London prisons on 9 January 1923.

The case was referred to the CCRC by then-justice secretary Dominic Raab in 2023 following an application for a posthumous pardon by a firm of solicitors on behalf of Prof René Weis, Edith's heir and executor.

After a year, the panel found that while her trial may not now be considered fair, there was no new evidence available to meet the requirements for a pardon.

Earlier this month Prof Weis's solicitors started action for a judicial review over the decision against the CCRC and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk.

In their letter of claim, they said they were challenging the commission's decision "on the basis it is founded on an incorrect understanding and application of the law".

Among the arguments set out, they accused the CCRC of failing to address properly points such as the "biased summing-up of the trial judge", claimed new evidence had been provided and said the panel had failed "to recognise the wide scope" of pardons that had previously been issued.

In its response, seen by the BBC, the Ministry for Justice said Mr Chalk had instructed the CCRC to look at the case again, while also taking into consideration the arguments made in the challenge.

Reacting to the decision, Prof Weis said it "has to be a step in the right direction" as "it is a lasting stain on our justice system that Edith Thompson's innocence has not been officially acknowledged".

He added that her case had been one of the main reasons why the death penalty was abolished in the UK in the 1960s, having been brought up in debates about the issue at the time.

"That too is one of the reasons why she matters so much," he said.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "After careful consideration, the Lord Chancellor has referred this case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission to again investigate any potential miscarriage of justice."

• Find out more about the case on the BBC podcast Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley, which you can listen to on BBC Sounds

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The Moscow Metro Museum of Art: 10 Must-See Stations

There are few times one can claim having been on the subway all afternoon and loving it, but the Moscow Metro provides just that opportunity.  While many cities boast famous public transport systems—New York’s subway, London’s underground, San Salvador’s chicken buses—few warrant hours of exploration.  Moscow is different: Take one ride on the Metro, and you’ll find out that this network of railways can be so much more than point A to B drudgery.

The Metro began operating in 1935 with just thirteen stations, covering less than seven miles, but it has since grown into the world’s third busiest transit system ( Tokyo is first ), spanning about 200 miles and offering over 180 stops along the way.  The construction of the Metro began under Joseph Stalin’s command, and being one of the USSR’s most ambitious building projects, the iron-fisted leader instructed designers to create a place full of svet (radiance) and svetloe budushchee (a radiant future), a palace for the people and a tribute to the Mother nation.

Consequently, the Metro is among the most memorable attractions in Moscow.  The stations provide a unique collection of public art, comparable to anything the city’s galleries have to offer and providing a sense of the Soviet era, which is absent from the State National History Museum.  Even better, touring the Metro delivers palpable, experiential moments, which many of us don’t get standing in front of painting or a case of coins.

Though tours are available , discovering the Moscow Metro on your own provides a much more comprehensive, truer experience, something much less sterile than following a guide.  What better place is there to see the “real” Moscow than on mass transit: A few hours will expose you to characters and caricatures you’ll be hard-pressed to find dining near the Bolshoi Theater.  You become part of the attraction, hear it in the screech of the train, feel it as hurried commuters brush by: The Metro sucks you beneath the city and churns you into the mix.

With the recommendations of our born-and-bred Muscovite students, my wife Emma and I have just taken a self-guided tour of what some locals consider the top ten stations of the Moscow Metro. What most satisfied me about our Metro tour was the sense of adventure .  I loved following our route on the maps of the wagon walls as we circled the city, plotting out the course to the subsequent stops; having the weird sensation of being underground for nearly four hours; and discovering the next cavern of treasures, playing Indiana Jones for the afternoon, piecing together fragments of Russia’s mysterious history.  It’s the ultimate interactive museum.

Top Ten Stations (In order of appearance)

Kievskaya station.

Kievskaya Station went public in March of 1937, the rails between it and Park Kultury Station being the first to cross the Moscow River.  Kievskaya is full of mosaics depicting aristocratic scenes of Russian life, with great cameo appearances by Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin.  Each work has a Cyrillic title/explanation etched in the marble beneath it; however, if your Russian is rusty, you can just appreciate seeing familiar revolutionary dates like 1905 ( the Russian Revolution ) and 1917 ( the October Revolution ).

Mayakovskaya Station

Mayakovskaya Station ranks in my top three most notable Metro stations. Mayakovskaya just feels right, done Art Deco but no sense of gaudiness or pretention.  The arches are adorned with rounded chrome piping and create feeling of being in a jukebox, but the roof’s expansive mosaics of the sky are the real showstopper.  Subjects cleverly range from looking up at a high jumper, workers atop a building, spires of Orthodox cathedrals, to nimble aircraft humming by, a fleet of prop planes spelling out CCCP in the bluest of skies.

Novoslobodskaya Station

Novoslobodskaya is the Metro’s unique stained glass station.  Each column has its own distinctive panels of colorful glass, most of them with a floral theme, some of them capturing the odd sailor, musician, artist, gardener, or stenographer in action.  The glass is framed in Art Deco metalwork, and there is the lovely aspect of discovering panels in the less frequented haunches of the hall (on the trackside, between the incoming staircases).  Novosblod is, I’ve been told, the favorite amongst out-of-town visitors.

Komsomolskaya Station

Komsomolskaya Station is one of palatial grandeur.  It seems both magnificent and obligatory, like the presidential palace of a colonial city.  The yellow ceiling has leafy, white concrete garland and a series of golden military mosaics accenting the tile mosaics of glorified Russian life.  Switching lines here, the hallway has an Alice-in-Wonderland feel, impossibly long with decorative tile walls, culminating in a very old station left in a remarkable state of disrepair, offering a really tangible glimpse behind the palace walls.

Dostoevskaya Station

Dostoevskaya is a tribute to the late, great hero of Russian literature .  The station at first glance seems bare and unimpressive, a stark marble platform without a whiff of reassembled chips of tile.  However, two columns have eerie stone inlay collages of scenes from Dostoevsky’s work, including The Idiot , The Brothers Karamazov , and Crime and Punishment.   Then, standing at the center of the platform, the marble creates a kaleidoscope of reflections.  At the entrance, there is a large, inlay portrait of the author.

Chkalovskaya Station

Chkalovskaya does space Art Deco style (yet again).  Chrome borders all.  Passageways with curvy overhangs create the illusion of walking through the belly of a chic, new-age spacecraft.  There are two (kos)mosaics, one at each end, with planetary subjects.  Transferring here brings you above ground, where some rather elaborate metalwork is on display.  By name similarity only, I’d expected Komsolskaya Station to deliver some kosmonaut décor; instead, it was Chkalovskaya that took us up to the space station.

Elektrozavodskaya Station

Elektrozavodskaya is full of marble reliefs of workers, men and women, laboring through the different stages of industry.  The superhuman figures are round with muscles, Hollywood fit, and seemingly undeterred by each Herculean task they respectively perform.  The station is chocked with brass, from hammer and sickle light fixtures to beautiful, angular framework up the innards of the columns.  The station’s art pieces are less clever or extravagant than others, but identifying the different stages of industry is entertaining.

Baumanskaya Statio

Baumanskaya Station is the only stop that wasn’t suggested by the students.  Pulling in, the network of statues was just too enticing: Out of half-circle depressions in the platform’s columns, the USSR’s proud and powerful labor force again flaunts its success.  Pilots, blacksmiths, politicians, and artists have all congregated, posing amongst more Art Deco framing.  At the far end, a massive Soviet flag dons the face of Lenin and banners for ’05, ’17, and ‘45.  Standing in front of the flag, you can play with the echoing roof.

Ploshchad Revolutsii Station

Novokuznetskaya Station

Novokuznetskaya Station finishes off this tour, more or less, where it started: beautiful mosaics.  This station recalls the skyward-facing pieces from Mayakovskaya (Station #2), only with a little larger pictures in a more cramped, very trafficked area.  Due to a line of street lamps in the center of the platform, it has the atmosphere of a bustling market.  The more inventive sky scenes include a man on a ladder, women picking fruit, and a tank-dozer being craned in.  The station’s also has a handsome black-and-white stone mural.

Here is a map and a brief description of our route:

Start at (1)Kievskaya on the “ring line” (look for the squares at the bottom of the platform signs to help you navigate—the ring line is #5, brown line) and go north to Belorusskaya, make a quick switch to the Dark Green/#2 line, and go south one stop to (2)Mayakovskaya.  Backtrack to the ring line—Brown/#5—and continue north, getting off at (3)Novosblodskaya and (4)Komsolskaya.  At Komsolskaya Station, transfer to the Red/#1 line, go south for two stops to Chistye Prudy, and get on the Light Green/#10 line going north.  Take a look at (5)Dostoevskaya Station on the northern segment of Light Green/#10 line then change directions and head south to (6)Chkalovskaya, which offers a transfer to the Dark Blue/#3 line, going west, away from the city center.  Have a look (7)Elektroskaya Station before backtracking into the center of Moscow, stopping off at (8)Baumskaya, getting off the Dark Blue/#3 line at (9)Ploschad Revolyutsii.  Change to the Dark Green/#2 line and go south one stop to see (10)Novokuznetskaya Station.

Check out our new Moscow Indie Travel Guide , book a flight to Moscow and read 10 Bars with Views Worth Blowing the Budget For

Jonathon Engels, formerly a patron saint of misadventure, has been stumbling his way across cultural borders since 2005 and is currently volunteering in the mountains outside of Antigua, Guatemala.  For more of his work, visit his website and blog .

Photo credits:   SergeyRod , all others courtesy of the author and may not be used without permission

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2024 Nike EYBL season begins for top college basketball recruits. Here are the names to know.

Mark Pope is currently focused on putting his first Kentucky basketball team together for the 2024-25 season. But as UK’s new head coach begins to establish a framework for his program culture in Lexington, it won’t be long until that focus includes the Wildcats’ long-term future.

And several players who could be part of that future will be starting their travel basketball seasons this weekend.

The Nike EYBL circuit — which under former UK coach John Calipari was a showcase of the top prospects that UK recruited — begins its 2024 season this weekend with a three-day event in Memphis. This is the first of five Nike EYBL sessions that will take place this spring and summer, culminating in the prestigious Peach Jam event in mid-July in North Augusta, South Carolina.

Pope, who was announced as the Kentucky basketball coach April 12, has yet to issue a Kentucky scholarship offer to a current high school player. Pope’s roster-building efforts have focused on the NCAA transfer portal and trying to secure recruiting visits and commitments from current college players.

But soon enough, Pope’s high school basketball recruiting strategy at Kentucky will become apparent.

Here’s a look at the top players who are running on the Nike EYBL circuit this year, including several who held Kentucky scholarship offers from Calipari’s time as head coach.

College coaches will have the opportunity to be in person, in the gym for two Nike EYBL events this season: The regular season event in Indianapolis that runs from May 17 -19 and the season-ending Peach Jam event in mid-July.

Top 2025 players begin final grassroots season

A glance at the top of the college basketball recruiting rankings for 2025 includes several players who are about to embark on their final Nike EYBL seasons.

This elite group includes guard Darius Acuff Jr. (The Family), former Woodford County High School guard Jasper Johnson (Team Thad), top-ranked prospect small forward AJ Dybantsa (Oakland Soldiers), power forward Cameron Boozer (Nightrydas Elite) and power forward Caleb Wilson (Georgia Stars).

Under Calipari, Kentucky had scholarship offers out to and was actively recruiting all of these players as well as Cameron Boozer’s twin brother, Cayden, who is a top guard prospect.

Both of the Boozer twins play together on the Nightrydas Elite team.

Earlier this week, Dybantsa’s father, Ace, told ESPN that he expects Kentucky to re-offer a scholarship to his son.

“We’re expecting BYU and Kentucky to offer soon,” Ace Dybantsa said. “Arkansas, Auburn, Alabama, Baylor, Cincinnati, Providence, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Kansas, North Carolina, and others have offered. I expect more after the first live period on May 17-19. We will cut the list down to five schools in early June and take five visits in the fall.”

This week, Kentucky basketball’s new coaching staff — including Pope and newly hired assistant coach Jason Hart — reached out to Johnson, a former Central Kentucky high school star and a top backcourt prospect in the 2025 recruiting class.

Johnson’s father is Dennis Johnson, the former Harrodsburg, UK and NFL football player who serves as the head football coach and athletics director at Woodford County.

“Pope is a good dude. He’s energetic just like he was at his press conference (in Rupp Arena),” Dennis Johnson told Vaughts Views this week. “He wants guys to play for the name on the front of the jersey and not the name on the back.”

As is commonplace, almost all of the top class of 2025 prospects remain uncommitted and have yet to pledge to attend a school for their college career.

One of the few elite players that has already committed will be in action in Memphis, though: Four-star point guard Jeremiah Fears, a verbal commit to Illinois, will be playing with Indy Heat.

Louisville native Tyran Stokes competes for top spot in 2026 class

Kentucky fans became familiar with power forward Tyran Stokes last year, when he claimed an early spot at the top of the 2026 recruiting rankings.

Originally from Louisville, Stokes was the only class of 2026 player to be extended a scholarship offer by Calipari before the former UK head coach stepped down from that post in early April to become the new head coach at Arkansas.

Stokes, who is teammates with Dybantsa at California’s Prolific Prep, will also be teammates with Dybantsa this season on the Nike EYBL circuit. Both players moved from their former EYBL programs to play together on the Oakland Soldiers squad.

Dybantsa previously played with Expressions Elite and Stokes previously played with Vegas Elite, a team that reached the championship game of last year’s Peach Jam.

Relatives of NBA players again among top recruits

Plenty of players with family ties to former NBA stars will again be gracing the Nike EYBL circuit this spring and summer.

This group includes class of 2025 four-star small forward Jermaine O’Neal Jr. (Drive Nation), class of 2025 four-star guard Kiyan Anthony (Team Melo) and class of 2026 five-star small forward Tajh Ariza (WhyNot), in addition to the Boozer twins.

Class of 2026 prospects still can’t be directly contacted

While a lot of the focus during the grassroots season is on class of 2025 prospects as their recruitments kick into high gear, a key date is coming up for class of 2026 prospects.

College coaches are not allowed to directly contact recruits in the 2026 recruiting group until June 15.

Once that date arrives, college coaches from around the country will begin working the phones to try and establish relationships with players and their families in the hope of securing a commitment down the road.

2024 Nike EYBL schedule

▪ Session 1: Memphis (April 26-28)

▪ Session 2: Atlanta (May 3-5)

▪ Session 3: Indianapolis (May 17-19)

▪ Session 4: Kansas City (May 24-27)

▪ Peach Jam: North Augusta, South Carolina (July 13-21)

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Chase Stokes Raves About 'Funny, Genuine' Girlfriend Kelsea Ballerini: 'She Has Time for Everybody' (Exclusive)

The 'Outer Banks' star also admits he could never be a country star like Ballerini because of his "social anxiety"

Chase Stokes is opening up about what he loves most about Kelsea Ballerini .

The Outer Banks star, 31, appeared on the April 18 edition of PEOPLE in 10 and spoke candidly about how much love he has for his girlfriend. In addition to raving about how "genuine" the country music star, 30, is, he revealed the one, special trait of hers that he finds particularly "admirable" because of how hard it can be to come by in others.

"She is just the most genuine human being you will meet," Stokes said lovingly of his girlfriend of over one year . "She has time for everybody, which is such an admirable trait."

Hubert Vestil/Getty

Stokes explained that he thinks it stands out just how much Ballerini makes an effort to be present with others.

"She's incredibly present," the Netflix star continued. "When you are with that human, you know you are getting her."

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

"I just don't think — especially with the way today's society works and how quick everything moves — that presence is something that is looked at in the ways that it once was," he noted. "To sit down and know you're with somebody who wants to be with you and to love on you, it's something that you don't realize is as special as it is until you don't have it."

Vivien Killilea/Getty

While the actor is thrilled he's found a special connection with the singer-songwriter, he admitted on PEOPLE in 10 that he's confident that he wouldn't be able to trade places with her.

When asked if he could become a country hitmaker like Ballerini, he said, "I would fail so fast."

"The fact that she can go out in front of thousands of people and pour her heart out night after night after night, I would never in a million years want to switch roles with her," Stokes shared, explaining that he feels as though he has too much "social anxiety" to get up on stage.

He added, "She's so damn good at what she does and it's super fun to watch."

On the other hand, the star of the upcoming film Marked Men said he's certain his girlfriend's sense of humor would lend well if she were to ever become an actor like him. "She's so funny. I think the world gets glimpses of it, but I would absolutely love to see her on screen," said Stokes.

Taylor Hill/WireImage

Ballerini and Stokes have been among the hottest couples in Hollywood ever since the "Penthouse" singer slid into the actor's DMs in late 2023 and they began dating shortly after.

Since the two have been an item, they've stepped out at a handful of major events , shared adorable insights into their relationship on social media and opened up about the love they have for one another in interviews .

In a Flaunt cover story published in March, Ballerini spoke about how she considers her beau a support system .

She shared, "When it comes to my relationship there’s a beautiful level of him showing up on tour, or at my respective award shows, and me getting to go to set and showing up to his events, where we just get to [be] each other’s support system in person."

"That to me feels really safe," the hitmaker added.

Stokes has shown his support at a number of events — including the 2024 CMT Awards , which Ballerini recently hosted — but last fall, he had a "magical" experience watching her headline a show in her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee.

He told PEOPLE in a November interview, "For her to go back to her hometown and to sell out an arena, like that stage — it was the coolest thing. I cried the whole time."

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Caribbean or bust: England have T20 World Cup title defence on their mind

England’s white-ball coach, Matthew Mott, needs a strong campaign and availability for Pakistan series could hinder him once more

A s Dukes balls whistle around the shires and white Kookaburras are carted to all parts in the Indian Premier League, England’s thoughts turn to the Caribbean and a T20 World Cup title defence that can ill-afford to go the way of its 50-over equivalent last year.

T20 is probably too capricious a format to dub it a case of silverware or bust but it is clear Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott need a strong campaign – semi-finals minimum, perhaps – after the grisly one-day international abdication in India . England stumbled out of the traps there, with six defeats in their first seven games. “I feel this actually should be the making of those two as a partnership,” said Rob Key, the team director, at the time, before adding: “If it isn’t, it isn’t, and you move on.”

Mott appears to be feeling the pinch, going by an interview given to the Times this past week. The Australian pointed to the T20 World Cup win in 2022, understandably, and the schedule that along with Key’s prioritisation of Test cricket means he “hardly sees” his best players between tournaments. “You do feel sometimes you have one hand tied behind your back,” he said.

In this context, it will be interesting to see whether Mott has everyone around for the four-match T20 series against Pakistan in late May. It serves as England’s only warm-up cricket before their World Cup group starts against Scotland in Barbados on 4 June, followed by games with Australia, Oman and Namibia. But it also clashes with the playoff phase of the IPL. Key is due to name a squad on Tuesday, along with a preliminary 15-man party for the World Cup.

the final deadline for changes on 25 May – the same day as England’s second T20 at Edgbaston – it equally makes sense to get everything in place early. Communication to the players will be important here: just ask Jason Roy, supposedly told he was on the plane to India a year ago only for Harry Brook to take his seat in business class.

Ben Stokes ruling himself out to focus on Test cricket makes the batting picks appear straightforward. The openers Buttler and Phil Salt are in a rich form at the IPL, Will Jacks is the likely No 3 and Brook – assuming he is ready to hit the road again – is too talented to not be a certainty. Any questions over Jonny Bairstow at the end of an epic but relatively unsuccessful winter in India were dispelled on Friday when he monstered 108 from 48 balls to help Punjab Kings vaporise a record chase of 262 in Kolkata. It was some episode of Bluey, all right.

Whatever the configuration, with Bairstow having been No 4 previously, it looks a powerful top five, albeit exclusively right-handed. Assuming Dawid Malan remains on the outer – he believes he is – a lefty such as Ben Duckett could serve as back-up or a tactical deployment should slow pitches call for his sweeps. Thereafter come the all-rounders in Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran, all of whom are getting game time in the IPL. Livingstone is a curious one, the second half of his winter one of scant returns, but England seem to like him.

Bowling-wise, so much will be pinned on Jofra Archer’s possible return: fingers positively crossed into pretzels that his near two-year injury ordeal is over. It would certainly boost England’s death-bowling, for so long their achilles heel. Curran did a stellar job during the win in Australia 18 months ago – earning an MBE, no less – but there are concerns his left-arm medium has regressed.

The strength of the seam stable is not easy to discern overall. Mark Wood endured a tough winter but offers pace; Reece Topley has recently been dropped by Royal Challengers Bangalore but is an England mainstay when fit; Chris Woakes, though dependable, is yet to get off the bench in the IPL. Jamie Overton, an uncapped bolter who hits a long ball, is waiting to discover the severity of a back injury , while Gus Atkinson, Tymal Mills and George Garton are all possibles.

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It may also be that spin plays a greater role in the Caribbean (England do not travel to the USA, regardless of how far they go) and not least with plenty of daytime starts in hot sunshine for the television audience in India. Adil Rashid is clearly a lock, despite no cricket since February, and Jacks, Moeen and Livingstone provide Buttler with options. The chief decision in this department appears to be between a second leg-spinner in Rehan Ahmed or Tom Hartley, uncapped in T20 but, crucially, a slow left-armer.

Possible England T20 World Cup squad

Jos Buttler (c), Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Reece Topley, Adil Rashid, Tom Hartley, Ben Duckett

Key has been a selector informed by what the hosts are doing and that Akeal Hosein, the West Indies left-armer, has risen to third in the T20i rankings may tip the balance in favour of Hartley. Hosein’s fellow Trinidadian Kieron Pollard may well have an input here, too, having been hired as a local consultant coach: one of two additions to the backroom staff along with Andrew Flintoff.

Flintoff was recently tipped by Key as a future England head coach, an endorsement that may not have escaped the incumbent. How near or far in the future this vacancy arises could depend on how this shot at redemption goes.

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Democrats fear chaos of 1968 convention as they prepare to renominate Joe Biden in Chicago

CHICAGO – Anti-war protests. A divided Democratic Party. An unpopular candidate hobbled by a foreign military conflict.

In many ways, 2024 feels like 1968 all over again.

Flashbacks of bloody clashes between police and anti- Vietnam War demonstrators outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago during that chaotic summer are weighing heavily on the minds of Democrats as they prepare to return to the Windy City in August to formally nominate President Joe Biden for a second term.

Thousands of Americans angry over Biden’s staunch support of Israel in its war with Hamas are planning to protest outside the sports arena where he is to accept the nomination.

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Protest organizers already are locked in a court battle with Chicago over their plans to stage marches within blocks of the United Center, where most of the convention activity will take place. Chicago has refused to give them the necessary permits, citing security concerns and arguing the city doesn’t have enough resources to police the protests. The city has offered the groups an alternative protest site four miles away, which would place them in a completely different part of town out of sight from convention-goers. Organizers say that is unacceptable and have sued in federal court.

“We are going to be marching outside the United Center, or within sight of the United Center, regardless of whether we get a permit or not,” said Kobi Guillory, co-chairman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Visions of Americans marching through Chicago streets denouncing the government are raising concerns of confrontations with police and complicating Democrats’ plans for a carefully choregraphed stage show aiming to project the kind of party unity that energized many young voters during the Barack Obama era. The spectacle will notably unfold in Obama’s backyard.

“Scenes of chaos could undercut the president on one of the core themes of his successful 2020 run – a return to normalcy and end of chaos – while instead projecting a sense of disorder and ineffectiveness on the world stage,” said Melissa DeRosa, a Democratic strategist and author from New York.

“It’s bad on many levels,” she said.

There’s good reason for Democrats to be concerned. The turbulence and in-fighting of 1968 severely wounded the party’s nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who limped out of the convention and narrowly later lost to Republican Richard Nixon.

"Chicago was a catastrophe," Humphrey said later. "... I felt just like we had been in a shipwreck.”

The office of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker − who sits on a national advisory board for Biden's campaign − and convention organizers referred questions about possible locations for the protests to city officials, who are in charge of the permitting process.

The city said in a statement that it has received applications from seven groups, and all seven have been denied following reviews by multiple city departments to identify potential conflicts and safety issues and to assess the availability of resources.

Asked about the permitting difficulties for protesters at an unrelated news conference, Pritzker said he supports "the idea people should express their First Amendment rights and protest if they would like to."

The governor also said convention-goers should be able to attend their various functions without being harassed. “Having said that, First Amendment rights are immutable, and we ought to be protecting those wherever we can,” he said.

A Secret Service spokesman told USA TODAY that in previous conventions and other occasions classified as National Special Security Events, "it’s not unusual” for local governments to deny all permits until the federal agency has established its security perimeter, where only credentialed people, residents and others with business in the area would be allowed to go. 

“The Secret Service is charged with guaranteeing the security of the American government, and this is a major part of the democratic process,” spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said of the convention. “Our core focus is the safety and protection of the president, the people attending the events, so they can get where they start and end their day safely.”

It remains unclear how far away the perimeter would extend from Chicago's convention sites, Guglielmi said. But a map shared with USA TODAY of the perimeter used for a 2023 event in San Francisco showed it extended about a quarter of a mile around the event space. Any permits given beyond the perimeter would be up to the local government, he said.

Meanwhile, Republicans, who will hold their convention in Milwaukee in July, are urging the Secret Service to move protesters further away from their convention venues.

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'They need to hear us'

Groups planning to protest at the Democratic convention feel it's important for them to be able to make their case within earshot of the United Center, Guillory said, because “we’re not talking to the walls – we’re talking to politicians who have the power to address our demands.”

“They need to hear us, they need to see us to understand just how bitter people are about having their tax dollars go to funding a genocide,” he said.

Chicago officials, hoping to avoid a repeat of 1968, are taking no chances. The city recently passed an ordinance granting the Secret Service and the Chicago Police Department, one of the three largest in the nation, sweeping powers to establish a “security footprint” around convention locations and to buy an $11 million helicopter to help manage crowds.

Free-speech advocates have sounded alarms about the city’s convention strategy.

The ACLU of Illinois is “worried and concerned” about how the city will make room for “vigorous first amendment activity,” said Ed Yonkah, the organization’s director of public policy. Yonkah noted concerns about a Chicago Police Department “mass arrest policy” and the trouble would-be protestors have had getting permits to demonstrate within “sight and sound” of the convention.

“That reaction invites a certain kind of response from people, causes hard feelings and then leaves people determined to go where they’re being blocked from,” he said.

A city spokesperson said Mayor Brandon Johnson “deeply understands the need for both safety and de-escalation when it comes to dealing with protests.” The mayor’s office is working closely with law enforcement to “communicate with those who wish to protest and ensure that the city will be fully prepared to provide safety and security for everyone coming to our great city in August,” the spokesperson said.

Democrats returned to Chicago to nominate Bill Clinton for a second term in 1996, an era when young Americans were fascinated by grunge music, a new novelty called the Internet and when the country was notably not at war. It's the success of that convention that the city is hoping to replicate in August, said Brian Hopkins, an alderman who chairs the city’s Public Safety Committee.

“That convention,” Hopkins said, “exorcised demons.”

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'It's going to be messy'

The violence of the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago has haunted the party for more than a half-century – especially in the weeks leading up to this summer’s convention amid a foreign war that has spawned thousands of aggressive protesters.

Back then, groups like the Youth International Party – the "yippies" – spent months planning ways to disrupt the Democratic convention with street theatre and mind games.

The latter included threats to contaminate the Chicago water system with LSD and to circulate "sexy" protesters to seduce the wives and/or girlfriends of delegates.

In reality, more than 10,000 protesters camped in city parks and staged marches and demonstrations through downtown streets during convention week.

Chicago police, egged on by Mayor Richard Daley, played a major role in the violence. Some officers wielded nightsticks to force demonstrators out of the parks. Some of the demonstrators responded by spitting on officers or throwing rocks, stones and bottles.

At one point, as Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes formally nominated Humphrey for president, television cameras switched to blue-helmeted police officers marching down Michigan Avenue, plowing into young demonstrators with clubs swinging.

Protestors chanted a dirge that echoed for decades: "The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching!"

The Democratic Party had already been traumatized politically in 1968. President Lyndon Johnson, burdened by Vietnam, withdrew from the race in March. Then came the assassinations of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr . and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy .

Then came Chicago.

“The elements are there” for another “perfect storm” of disruption at this year’s convention, said Luke Nichter, author of "The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968."

Chicago in '68 is remembered in part because of the television coverage, Nichter said. There were only three networks at the time, and their coverage "ultimately glamorized the mob – and voters were horrified,” Nichter said.

This summer, “I think it's going to be messy," he said. "The question is, what does the media do?”

Parallels to 1968

This time around, most of the momentum for protest comes again from students and young people, particularly Arab Americans who are supportive of the Palestinians.  

Historian James Traub, a biographer of Humphrey, said there are several "parallels" between the run-up to the 1968 convention and the planning for this year's event in August.

"Biden and the party clearly have to fear that some version of what happened in 1968 might happen in 2024," Traub said.

Politically, Biden could face the same basic challenge that Humphrey did 56 years ago: Addressing the issues of the war protestors on his political left while not alienating more conservative voters who abhor the demonstrations and, in this case, support Israel.

"The question is, how do you thread that needle," said Traub, author of "True Believer: Hubert Humphrey's Quest for a More Just America."

Traub pointed out that polls back in 1968 reflected solid support for Mayor Daley and the Chicago police.

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Osama Siblani – publisher of The Arab American News, the largest and most widely circulated Arab American publication in the United States – noted that Chicago already has a large Palestinian community and they have staged many demonstrations in recent weeks. More than 3% of the city's population is also Jewish.

The convention protests are likely to be the biggest yet against the war in Gaza, although Siblani also said he expects them to be peaceful. "The intent here isn't to disrupt the convention," he said. "It's just to deliver a message to Joe Biden."

He also noted that messengers are not just Palestinian and Arab, but people from all walks of life. While the war in Gaza is the overarching concern of protesters, groups also plan demonstrations around issues including immigration, abortion and LGBTQ rights.

"It's all people who are disenchanted with the Biden administration," Siblani said. "There will be a lot of people there at the convention."

'Bone-deep sense of betrayal': Some Arab Americans want Joe Biden defeated in 2024

Past conventions and protests

Some Democrats downplay the possibility of a repeat of 1968.

The anti-war protests that rocked the convention that year were fueled to some extent by the fact that Americans were being drafted into the military and that U.S. soldiers were dying in Vietnam. There is no military draft today, and no U.S. troops are fighting in Gaza. And while the war in Gaza has touched off demonstrations that have shut down college campuses across the country, those protests don’t have the scale or the intensity of the anti-Vietnam War movement.

Former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Donna Brazile , who has attended each of her party’s conventions since 1984, said Democrats have held successful past conventions amid protests, pointing to unrest over the Iraq War in 2004 as one example.

“The Democrats chose Chicago because it's a great city with a great story to tell, and I do believe that, hopefully, the focus should be on the nominations of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ,” Brazile said.

“Security – just like logistics, just like housing, just like what activities will take place in and around the convention hall – all of those are concerns and all of those are topics that I'm sure the convention planners are working on,” she said. 

Democrats insist their convention, which is expected to draw 50,000 people, will provide an opportunity to draw a contrast between Biden’s agenda and that of Republicans, who are also divided over their likely nominee, Donald Trump , and his MAGA policies.

“There is overwhelming energy and excitement among party leaders from all 57 states and territories who are gearing up to renominate President Biden this August,” said Matt Hill, senior director of communications for the convention committee. “Our unity stands in stark contrast to the chaos and division stewing among extreme MAGA Republicans in the GOP."

The proximity of the Republican National Convention − scheduled for July in Milwaukee, about 100 miles north of Chicago − will draw further attention to the contrasting goals of the two parties, said Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

“What we're going to see in the Republican convention in July in Wisconsin and in this Democratic convention here in Chicago is a tale of two parties, a tale of two conventions and a tale of two visions for this country,” Wikler said.

That is the image Democrats hope to leave Americans with – not flashbacks of 1968.

Contributing: Joey Garrison

Election 2024: Biden wants to win back blue-collar voters. These Trump-won districts may offer a path.

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