CBS News Veteran Al Ortiz to Retire, Opening Top Role at ‘Evening News’

Glimpse, an interactive animated film from Swan Song writer-director Benjamin Cleary and Michael O’Connor and featuring the voices of Taron Egerton and Lucy Boynton, and a VR project following Alex Hannold, the subject of the Oscar-winning climbing documentary Free Solo, have won the prizes of the Cannes XR program that is part of Cannes’ Marché du Film.

EastEnders star Rita Simons has shared a sweet photo of herself with her daughter Maiya Silveston as the duo enjoyed a lovely day out. Rita, 45, who is notoriously known for playing Roxy Mitchell in the BBC soap, was snapped beside her 16-year-old lookalike daughter as they enjoyed some drinks together.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorGreta Van Susteren says she just couldn’t stay away from the immediacy of cable news.For the past few years, Van Susteren, one of the few anchors who can say they have been employed by  CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel, has been working as a political analyst for Gray Television and doing a show for Voice of America. Now, she’s about to get back on the grid as an anchor leading the 6 p.m. hour for conservative news outlet Newsmax.“Gray has been really fun, but here’s the big difference — there really is nothing like live news,” Van Susteren tells Variety.

There’s Always the Hudson (★★★★☆) follows partners-in-crime Lola and T all over New York City in one turbulent night that could end anywhere in the five boroughs.Although, for Woolly Mammoth’s terrific world-premiere production, director Jess McLeod and scenic designer Misha Kachman have boldly suspended over the action a haunting clue of exactly where Lola and T’s odyssey might lead, foreshadowing a final destination from which one or both might not return.Whether apprehended or not, that hint won’t spoil a thing, but rather adds a tinge of pathos to the powerful undercurrent of danger bubbling beneath the pair’s audacious mission. Lola and T, played by Lázaro and Justin Weaks, are sexual assault survivors who met and became friends in a support group.

Vladimir Putin will soon unleash a bloody barrel bomb campaign in Ukraine after he brought in troops linked to the brutal Syrian army.The under-pressure Russian president has taken on 50 lethal weapons specialists to work alongside his own officials as they prepare to begin a new stage in the conflict, according to European intelligence officers speaking to the Guardian.Barrel bombs, containers packed with explosives and projectiles that are dropped from helicopters, killed more than 11,000 civilians in Syria after the outbreak of civil war in 2012 — including 1,821 children.Human rights groups have since accused airborne forces from Bashar al-Assad's government of using the weapon indiscriminately to unleash fear and terror upon entire populations.Now it is being claimed that the Russian army is planning to bring in men from its Middle Eastern allies to revive the flailing war effort in Ukraine, though some experts believe significant differences between the two conflicts may doom them to failure.Asserting that the western-backed and air-equipped Ukrainian army would be a much more difficult foe than the rebel groups in Syria, one European official told The Guardian: “This is probably why we haven’t seen them cross the border”“We know the capacity is there, but if they use it, they lose; we will know who’s done it, and they will likely be killed anyway.”Intelligence sources claim around 800 and 1,000 Syrian troops have volunteered to fight for the Russian army.Those wishing to travel to Europe to serve are said to have been promised salaries of $1,500 - $4,000 (£1200 - £3200) when they join the frontline, which is around ten times more than they would earn in their own country amid a prolonged economic crisis.Back on

After the success of Marvel’s latest theater release, “Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness” (2022), fans of the MCU are looking forward to the studio’s next big outing, “Thor: Love and Thunder.” Directed by Taika Waititi, who’s been thought to have brought Thor back to greatness with his previous movie, “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017). Waititi is known for films such as “Jojo Rabbit” (2018), “What We Do In The Shadows” (2010), and “Our Flag Means Death” (2022).

Jason Momoa wanted Amber Heard to reprise her role as Mera in “Aquaman 2”, according to new testimony in the defamation trial brought against Heard by her ex-husband Johnny Depp.

J Balvin visited The Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about his success in music and why he moved from Colombia to a small town in Oklahoma. During the appearance, the global sensation told Ellen DeGeneres that he was an exchange student before becoming a worldwide-known superstar.According to Balvin, he moved to Atoka County to improve his English skills.

In the years since Kourtney Kardashian founded her lifestyle brand, there has been much criticism about how much Poosh was modeled after Goop, so it was to no one’s surprise when the rumors were finally brought to the inbox of Gwyneth Paltrow herself.

Crystal Kung Minkoff is sharing more information about the ways that it’s been difficult for her to be thrust into the public eye via reality TV fame.

Selome Hailu SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you have watched “Tarrare,” the Season 3 finale of “Atlanta.” The Season 3 finale of “Atlanta” is styled after the quirky and comforting French rom-com “Amélie,” though this version is weirder and grosser.The episode is titled “Tarrare” after the 1700s French solider who was famous for a medical condition that made him constantly hungry — he was able to eat his own body weight in meat, and was also rumored to engage in cannibalism. In “Atlanta,” that hunger belongs to Van (Zazie Beetz), who becomes so unsure of who she is that she has a nervous breakdown, engulfing herself in a French alter ego complete with an accent, a boyfriend, an apartment and a job in a butcher shop that serves human hands.

Ashley Hume Nile Rodgers & Chic had the crowd grooving well into the night at the 29th Annual Race to Erase MS Gala, which returned to the Fairmont Century Plaza hotel in Century City after being held as a drive-in event for the past two years.Held on Friday night, the star-studded gala raised over $1.4 million for research to treat and ultimately find a cure for multiple sclerosis.Race to Erase MS founder Nancy Davis told Variety that she was thrilled to have the benefit back at its longtime home in the Fairmont ballroom.‘It’s nothing short of a miracle,’ she said. ‘I’m so glad that we are here.

Premiere Digital has acquired global distribution rights, including the U.S., for “The Girl on the Bridge,” a mental health documentary directed by New Zealand filmmaker Leanne Pooley.“The Girl on the Bridge” tells the story of 22-year old Jazz Thornton, who survived multiple suicide attempts and now works as a filmmaker and activist for young people’s mental health. The film sees her juggle the personal cost and pressures of advocacy work as she leads her own charity.Previously only seen in New Zealand and Australia, “The Girl on the Bridge” is now available on digital platforms.

Emily Ratajkowski stuns in a full lace dress while arriving at the premiere of Crimes Of The Future premiere during the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on Monday night (May 23) in Cannes, France.

Loving the single life! Khloé Kardashian is happy rolling solo — no matter what other people think about it.

Director Léa Mysius expertly crafts a queer, witchy movie in her Directors’ Fortnite debut film, The Five Devils, which received a five-minute standing ovation at the screening I attended. Mysius takes concepts like identity, sexuality, and mysticism and creates an intricate genre film that’s part time travel, part drama, and all heart. 

Because the Kremlin apparently has no other pressing issues at the moment, more than 960 Americans have been “permanently banned”  from entering Russia. The list includes such seeming no-brainers as Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, but there’s no shortage of eyebrow-raising names as well.

JUST last month Liam Gallagher admitted he was on a “downwards slide” and in such bad shape he needed a double hip replacement. But in a new warts-and-all film about his life, he insists his hellraising days are not behind him, and he’ll be boozing until he’s 80. During Sky documentary Liam Gallagher: 48 Hours At Rockfield, he says: “I am not into yoga and I don’t eat tofu.

DENISE Van Outen has a new Celebrity Gogglebox co-star - after she gave husband Eddie Boxshall the boot. The pair were famous for teasing each other in their home on the Channel 4 sofa but an old pal is now stepping in.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWhen United Talent Agency revives its annual party this evening around the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., expected guests will hail from the worlds of journalism, politics, entertainment and sports. The tableau might just contain members of the next big set of TV anchors, too.UTA has in recent months been working to convince some of the nation’s biggest TV-news outlets to consider correspondents and contributors to whom they might not have given a serious look in the past.

Al Ortiz, a CBS News veteran who has been serving as interim executive producer of CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell, announced that he will retire later this summer.