Magical week arrives for fans of Disney
Starting this week, Walt Disney World Resort will hold its 50th anniversary celebration, dubbed “The World’s Most Magical Celebration.” Festivities will run for 18 months, from Friday to April 1, 2023.
Plans include the debut of nighttime spectaculars at Magic Kingdom and Epcot, a new daytime show at Animal Kingdom and 50 golden character statues. Disney World will stream both of its nighttime spectaculars live, USA Today reported, citing Disney Parks.
On Wednesday, the resort will stream Epcot’s new “Harmonious” show live at 9 p.m. ET on the Disney Parks blog. Disney describes the show as a “medley of classic Disney music and visuals reinterpreted by a culturally diverse group of 240 artists from all around the world.”
On Thursday, Magic Kingdom’s new “Disney Enchantment” will stream live at 10:15 p.m. ET on the blog. Disney says the show features music, enhanced lighting, fireworks and immersive projection effects that extend from Cinderella Castle down Main Street, U.S.A.
Both shows officially debut Friday. Disneyland, the original theme park located in Anaheim, California, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2005.
Hundreds of young climate activists from around the world gather in Milan for a three-day Youth for Climate summit, being held just before the main conference to prepare for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP26.
The youth summit starts Tuesday. Organizers say it will provide young delegates an unprecedented opportunity to put forward proposals on some of the most pressing issues on the climate agenda.
It could get rowdy. “Symbolism of in-person interaction, and the return of voices to the streets, is particularly important in the lead-up to COP,” said Darrick Evensen, a lecturer in environmental politics at the University of Edinburgh.
COP26 itself is set for early November in Glasgow, Scotland.
President Joe Biden’s focus will be on working with congressional leaders to strike a deal to keep the federal government open before funding expires Thursday night. Biden has vowed to avoid a shutdown, but negotiations have become entangled with debates over raising the nation’s debt ceiling and advancing a multi-trillion-dollar economic agenda.
The House plans to vote on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure proposal that the Senate approved with bipartisan support last month. If the House passes the bill, it will go to Biden for his signature.
Congressional leaders also are inching toward considering a broader tax-and-spending package that currently stands at $3.5 trillion. But disputes between Democratic moderates and liberals have so far stymied efforts to write a final version of the legislation.
Biden is also scheduled to travel to Chicago on Friday to tout the importance of coronavirus vaccine mandates.
A hearing begins Monday in federal court in Washington to discuss whether the man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan should be freed from restrictions.
John Hinckley was 25 when he shot Reagan outside a Washington hotel in 1981. The shooting also paralyzed press secretary James Brady, who died in 2014, and injured two others. At the time, Hinckley suffered from acute psychosis and was obsessed with actress Jodie Foster. Jurors said he needed treatment, not confinement.
A July 2016 court order granted Hinckley permission to live with his mother full-time, and he left the hospital permanently in September 2016.
His mother died this summer.