Mes: agosto 2019

(CBS/AP) For everyone out there who wants their MTV with a little more positivity, there’s a new award at the VMAs that rewards the best video with a message. When Chicago-based rock act Rise Against began writing a song about suicide among gay teens, the band’s lead singer tried to block out the event that inspired the tune — the death of a gay friend. “His loss was something big to me,” said Tim McIlrath. Pictures: 2010 VMAs HighlightsPictures: MTV VMAs Red Carpet 2010 But the band members wanted to get out the message, so they made a gripping video for “Make It Stop (September’s Children)” featuring three teens bullied and at the brink of suicide. Now the video is competing in a new category at the MTV Video Music Awards: the aforementioned best video with a message award. It highlights music videos sending messages of positivity and self-empowerment and raising awareness about social issues that affect today’s youth. “I hope that category sticks around and I hope it gives artists something to aim for,” said McIlrath, who teamed with the It Gets Better Project for the music video. MTV President Stephen Friedman says the new category is proving popular among voters this year. “I have to tell you in the voting, this category catapulted. It was among the top three or four categories — millions and millions of...

(AP) BEIJING – A series of earthquakes collapsed houses and triggered landslides Friday in a remote mountainous part of southwestern China where damage was preventing rescues and communications were disrupted. At least 64 deaths have been reported. The quakes started with a 5.6-magnitude shock before 11:30 a.m. along the borders of Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, and another equally big quake struck shortly after noon followed by more than 60 aftershocks, Chinese and U.S. government seismologists said. Though of moderate strength, the quakes were shallow, which often causes more damage. Hardest hit was Yiliang County, where all but one of the deaths occurred, according to the Yunnan provincial government’s official website. Another 715 people in the county were injured, the sites said. Yiliang county’s high population density, weak building construction, and propensity for landslides were blamed for the relatively high death toll. China Central Television showed roads littered with rocks and boulders, and pillars of dust rising over hillcrests — signs of landslides. Footage showed a couple hundred people crowding into what looked like a school athletic field in Yiliang’s county seat, a sizeable city spread along a river in a valley bottom. With some roads impassable, rescuers had yet to reach some outlying villages and towns, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Though quakes in the area occur frequently, buildings in rural areas and China’s fast-growing smaller cities and...

(CBS/AP) AMMAN, Jordan – Syria’s defected prime minister said Tuesday that Bashar Assad’s regime was near collapse and urged other political and military leaders to tip the scales and join the rebel side. “The regime is on the verge of collapse morally and economically,” Riad Hijab told a news conference in his first public comments since leaving his post and fleeing to Jordan with his family last week. Hijab is the highest-ranking political figure to defect from Assad’s regime. Aide: Hijab planned defection for months According to the Reuters news agency, Hijab asserted that Assad’s regime “no longer controls more than 30 percent of Syrian territory.” He said he felt “pain in his soul” over the regime’s shelling and other attacks on rebel strongholds as the government stepped up its military offensive. Activists say more than 20,000 people been killed in the struggle since March 2011. Rebels claim to shoot down Syrian warplaneSyrian opposition leader calls for no-fly-zonePanetta: Syria no-fly-zone “not on the front burner” “I was powerless to stop the injustice,” he said, speaking in front of the rebel flag. He called on “honorable leaders” in Syria to defect. “Syria is full of honorable officials and military leaders who are waiting for the chance to join the revolution,” he said. “I urge the army to follow the example of Egypt’s and Tunisia’s armies — take the side of...