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Originally appeared on E! Online Together, Cynthia Erivo and Lena Waithe are unlimited. The " Wicked " actress has received sweet support from her longtime partner throughout the film’s multiple premieres, including her attendance at the Los Angeles and London events, but Waithe’s backing has extended to social media, too. As the film hit theaters Nov. 22, Waithe — whose relationship with the Tony Award winner went public in June 2022 — shared videos and photos from other accounts to her Instagram Story praising both the movie’s production team and Erivo’s performance, including one review calling "Wicked" “film-making that is firing on all cylinders.” Waithe, 40, also shared a post from Erivo, 37, detailing her magical experience filming the adaptation of the Broadway show. “This journey has been long, and paved with bright, yellow brick,” Erivo wrote on the Nov. 21 Instagram post alongside behind-the-scenes pictures. “We have laughed and cried, held hands and walked side by side, our lives intertwined, and because of that, we were irrevocably changed for good.” Proving her support for Erivo extends beyond "Wicked," Waithe also shared a heartwarming video from a side stage view of her partner performing a Christmas song at an event while Waithe cheered her on. Though the pair has kept their relationship mostly out of the spotlight, Waithe — who wed longtime partner Alana Mayo in 2019, but separated a few months later — previously shared that meeting Erivo in 2018 was a very memorable moment. “The first time I met her was at the Met Gala, which is where all the cool kids go to meet each other,” she told Variety in 2020. “I had seen her in 'The Color Purple' twice, I remember seeing her on TV when Oprah talked about doing it and her being on the screen, I remember [thinking], ‘Who is this tiny person with a British accent?’” And since their meeting at one of fashion’s biggest nights, the "Master of None" alum added, “We’ve just been vibing ever since.” The pair became close in the following years, with Erivo sharing her feelings for Waithe in a birthday post in May 2022. “Today is when we celebrate a woman whose heart is bigger than the body that houses it,” Erivo wrote on Instagram alongside pictures of "The Chi" creator. “Happy birthday @lenawaithe I ....... You know the rest!” The duo confirmed their relationship the following month, stepping out at the Alvin Ailey Spirit Gala in New York City together while holding hands.

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — When Lilly Goyah struggled with mental health, she found comfort in Christian music. Now, as a 22-year-old senior at the College of St. Benedict, Goyah is pursuing an individualized major that blends music and business. She’s part of the university’s Entrepreneur Scholars program, a selective course designed to help students launch business ventures. For Goyah, the program became a launchpad for her idea: ANP Streaming, a Christian-based music platform tailored to users’ emotional needs. Her vision stems from her personal experiences. Born to Liberian immigrants, Goyah’s childhood was marked by frequent moves between shelters, government and transitional housing on the East Coast and, later, in Minnesota. She had a brief hope of housing stability when she was in eighth grade, when she and her brother moved to live with her father in Champlin, a northwest suburb in the Twin Cities. That hope shattered when the family returned one day to find the locks changed and their belongings gone. “We had been through a lot of instability, obviously and homelessness before that. But I had a lot of hope once we were able to move into that house,” Goyah said. “When we were put back in that shelter, I had this feeling of we were never going to get past that part of life.” The upheaval, combined with school struggles and a falling out with her father, plunged Goyah into depression and suicidal thoughts. By the end of her freshman year at Anoka High School, Goyah had made the decision to end her life. “For me, that was one of the worst moments ever. Because while I was also struggling with mental health, I didn’t relate to or feel a genuine feeling when it came to religion, Christianity, or God ... I had this disconnection from religion as a whole,” she said. Before she could act, her mother sent Goyah on a life-changing youth retreat in Olney, Maryland. On the first night, Goyah watched a skit depicting a child grappling with depression and suicidal thoughts. “That kind of changed my mind and my thoughts toward Christianity,” she said. Her views on Christian music, the only genre she was allowed to listen to growing up, also changed on the trip. At one point, she viewed the genre as “corny” and “not a real representation of life.” Those views quickly shifted during the retreat after she heard the song “My World Needs You” by Kirk Franklin for the first time. He quickly became her favorite artist, and still is to this day. The retreat sparked a new hope for Goya, who graduated from Anoka High School in 2020. “Music was really pivotal in helping me get through those moments and have a healthy coping mechanism,” said Goyah, who was also part of her high school choir. After graduation, Goyah followed her friends to Augsburg University in Minneapolis. However, she quickly found herself isolated and again struggling with her mental health. She realized a need for change and, on the advice of her high school counselor, transferred to the College of St. Benedict in the fall of 2021. When she hit campus, Goyah took up her individualized major and discovered the Entrepreneur Scholars program. That program is a cohort of about a dozen students, according to academic director Paul Marsnik. He noted the program’s selectivity, which usually sees about 30 to 35 applicants a year. “We’re looking for students with what we call an entrepreneurial mindset, young people who see opportunities and get things done,” Marsnik said. The program launched 20 years ago. One day, Goyah appeared in his office, eager to learn more about the program, which includes trips to Silicon Valley and Vietnam. Those trips allow cohort students to talk and network with companies. “I could see her face light up; she was like, ‘Oh, this is exactly what I’m looking for,” Marsnik said. Despite a full cohort, there was a last-minute opening that allowed Goyah to join. Marsnik said the program has featured many talented students, but he thinks Goyah is one of the best. “She’s an inspiration to a lot of people and could be to a lot more, I think,” Marsnik said. Goyah's original idea was a record label, but she pivoted toward ANP Streaming, a platform that she said would fill a unique need in Christian music. ANP — which stands for "A New Psalm — Streaming will offer Christian music tailored to emotional needs, filling a gap in the market, Goyah said. “I’m really excited to put this in the space for people,” said Goyah. “If you’re not talking niche, then obviously it would be like Spotify or YouTube Music or Apple Music." She envisions ANP as a way for users to connect with faith and find solace through music, just as she did. “The No. 1 mission with the application, of course, with it being Christian-based, is kind of helping people to discover individual relationships with God, which can be fostered through music,” Goyah said. During her time in Vietnam, she secured a partnership with Saigon Technology to develop the app for an estimated $50,000. Goyah has opened a crowdfunding campaign to support development costs. She is securing licensing and catalog agreements to make the platform a reality. ANP Streaming will launch a “freemium” model, Goyah said. That will include a free version with advertisements and a premium version with no ads and additional features. The application will be available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Development for the application is underway and will launch in middle to late 2025. As music remains vital to Goyah, she has also recently started to write original songs, including "Freedom," which she performed last year on the Johnnie Bennie Media YouTube channel. While unsure if she’ll remain in the area or head somewhere like Nashville, Goyah is eager to see where her vision can have the most significant impact as the app is developed. “I’ve just been so overwhelmed with how amazing this community is and how resourceful it is,” Goyah said. “So part of me really wants to stay, but I think wherever this journey takes me and where I can have the most impact is really, ultimately, where I’m looking to go.” Lilly Goyah has launched a campaign on Indiegogo to help fund her Christian music mobile app, ANP Streaming. To donate to the campaign, visit tinyurl.com/ANPStreaming-donate. For more about ANP Streaming, visit anpstreaminginfo.com.WASHINGTON — The House passed a $895 billion measure Wednesday that authorizes a 1% increase in defense spending this fiscal year and would give a double-digit pay raise to about half of the enlisted service members in the military. The bill is traditionally strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers opposed the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization. The bill passed by a vote of 281-140 and next moves to the Senate, where lawmakers sought a bigger boost in defense spending than the current measure allows. Lawmakers are touting the bill's 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others as key to improving the quality of life for those serving in the U.S. military. Those serving as junior enlisted personnel are in pay grades that generally track with their first enlistment term. Lawmakers said service member pay failed to remain competitive with the private sector, forcing many military families to rely on food banks and government assistance programs to put food on the table. The bill also provides significant new resources for child care and housing. "No service member should have to live in squalid conditions and no military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children, but that's exactly what many of our service members are experiencing, especially the junior enlisted," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. "This bill goes a long way to fixing that." The bill sets key Pentagon policy that lawmakers will attempt to fund through a follow-up appropriations bill. The overall spending tracks the numbers established in a 2023 agreement that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reached with President Joe Biden to increase the nation's borrowing authority and avoid a federal default in exchange for spending restraints. Many senators wanted to increase defense spending about $25 billion above what was called for in that agreement, but those efforts failed. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is expected to serve as the next chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the overall spending level was a "tremendous loss for our national defense," though he agreed with many provisions in the bill. "We need to make a generational investment to deter the Axis of Aggressors. I will not cease work with my congressional colleagues, the Trump administration, and others until we achieve it," Wicker said. House Republicans don't want to go above the McCarthy-Biden agreement for defense spending and are looking to go way below it for many nondefense programs. They are also focused on cultural issues. The bill prohibits funding for teaching critical race theory in the military and prohibits TRICARE health plans from covering gender dysphoria treatment for children under 18 if that treatment could result in sterilization. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, said minors dealing with gender dysphoria is a "very real problem." He said the treatments available, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, proved effective at helping young people dealing with suicidal thoughts, anxiety and depression. "These treatments changed their lives and in many cases saved their lives," Smith said. "And in this bill, we decided we're going to bar service members' children from having access to that." Smith said the number of minors in service member families receiving transgender medical care extends into the thousands. He could have supported a study asking medical experts to determine whether such treatments are too often used, but a ban on health insurance coverage went too far. He said Speaker Mike Johnson's office insisted on the ban and said the provision "taints an otherwise excellent piece of legislation." Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the ban a step in the right direction, saying, "I think these questions need to be pulled out of the debate of defense, so we can get back to the business of defending the United States of America without having to deal with social engineering debates." Smith said he agrees with Roy that lawmakers should be focused on the military and not on cultural conflicts, "and yet, here it is in this bill." Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said his team did not tell Democrats how to vote on the bill. "There's a lot of positive things in the National Defense Authorization Act that were negotiated in a bipartisan way, and there are some troubling provisions in a few areas as well," Jeffries said. The defense policy bill also looks to strengthen deterrence against China. It calls for investing $15.6 billion to build military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The Biden administration requested about $10 billion. On Israel, the bill, among other things, includes an expansion of U.S. joint military exercises with Israel and a prohibition on the Pentagon citing casualty data from Hamas. The defense policy bill is one of the final measures that lawmakers view as a must-pass before making way for a new Congress in January.

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9 Last-Minute Deals on WIRED-Approved Gifts That Will Arrive In TimeThe move could usher in an end to a protracted political crisis in the European Union country following the annulment of a presidential election by a top court. Parliament approved the new administration in a 240-143 vote in Romania’s 466-seat legislature. The new coalition is made up of the leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD) the centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL), the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party and national minorities. It caps a month-long period of turmoil in which far-right nationalists made significant gains in a parliamentary election on December 1 a week after a first-round presidential race saw the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu emerge as the front-runner. “It will not be an easy mandate for the future government,” Mr Ciolacu, whose PSD party topped the polls in the parliamentary election, said in a statement. “We are aware that we are in the midst of a deep political crisis,” he said. “It is also a crisis of trust, and this coalition aims to regain the trust of citizens, the trust of the people.” Romania’s 16 ministerial positions will be shared among the parties, which will hold a slim majority in the legislature. It is widely seen as a tactical partnership to shut out far-right nationalists whose voices found fertile ground amid high living costs and a sluggish economy. Mr Ciolacu, who came third in the first-round presidential ballot despite polls indicating he would win the most votes, has served as prime minister since June 2023. After parliament’s approval, President Klaus Iohannis swore in the new government and warned the new Cabinet that it is entering a “difficult new period” in which “for many Romanians, there are major concerns”. Romania was plunged into turmoil after Mr Georgescu’s surprise success in the presidential race, after allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference emerged. Days before the December 8 run-off, the Constitutional Court made the unprecedented move to annul the presidential race. “We go through complicated times, but I think we all learned from mistakes of the past,” Mr Ciolacu said. “I hope that together with my colleagues in the coalition, we’ll find the best solutions to get past the challenges we have in front of us.” Mr Ciolacu said that the new government would aim to quickly organise the rerun of the presidential election in which the new coalition has agreed to put forward an agreed common pro-European candidate. Cristian Andrei, a political consultant based in Bucharest, said that the new government made up of the same political parties will likely embrace “soft populist” rhetoric such as economic patriotism, anti-austerity, and a peace solution in neighbouring Ukraine to counter the rise of far-right populism. “This will be a way to answer the concerns of many Romanians who voted for populists... but will not solve the fundamental problem of trust,” he said. “The only decisive factor now will be who and how convincing the pro-European candidates will be against this popular revolt.” George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, which came second in the parliamentary election, said that all politicians from his party on Monday would vote against the Ciolacu government. In 2021, the PSD and the PNL also formed an unlikely but increasingly strained coalition together with UDMR, which exited the Cabinet last year after a power-sharing dispute.

Lucknow, Dec 23 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that at a time when many countries are at war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is binding the world in the thread of peace, harmony and unity through the message of Lord Buddha. Welcoming a delegation led by Governor of Japan's Yamanashi Province Kotaro Nagasaki at his official residence here, Adityanath described UP as a state of "Unlimited Potential". An MoU was signed between the Uttar Pradesh government and Yamanashi Prefecture (Japan) for industrial cooperation, tourism and vocational education in the presence. "The roots of strategic, cultural and global cooperation have been connected between the two countries for more than a millennium. Today, when many countries of the world are at war, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is binding the world in the thread of peace, harmony and unity through the message of Lord Buddha," Adityanath said. "The strong relations between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Prime Minister of Japan, late Shinzo Abe, have also taken the political, economic and business relations of India-Japan to new heights," he said. "The state government is keen to cooperate with Japanese companies. Japan also provided great support as a partner country for the Global Investors Summit-2023," Adityanath said. On behalf of the state government, Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and Director General of the Governor's Policy Planning Bureau of Yamanashi Province Junichi Ishidera exchanged the MoU, the UP government said in a statement. Adityanath said the MoU is a result of the prime minister's commitment to work together with the Quad countries for humanity on the basis of shared democratic values. Currently, more than 1,400 Japanese companies are operating in India, including seven major firms -- Mitsui Technologies, Honda Motors, Yamaha Motors, Denso, Toyodrunk, Nissin ABC Logistics, Sekisui DLJM Molding -- operating in Uttar Pradesh. Economic co-operation between India and Japan is very rich, he said, and added that bilateral trade between the two countries has been USD 22.854 billion in the financial year 2023-24. During this period, USD 17.69 billion was exported from Japan to India and USD 5.15 billion was imported. Adityanath told the Japanese delegation that Uttar Pradesh is getting a new identity as an 'expressway state'. After the construction of the Ganga Expressway, Uttar Pradesh will have 55 per cent share in the total expressways of the country. At present, five expressways of a total length of 1,130 km are operational, he said. The UP CM said that in the electronics and IT/ITES sector, Uttar Pradesh has the distinction of contributing about 45 per cent of India's total mobile manufacturing. About 55 per cent of India's mobile components are manufactured here. About 26 per cent of India's mobile manufacturers are active in Uttar Pradesh and more than 200 ESDM companies are located in the state. The state government is developing clusters for semi-conductor manufacturing and fab-units. Apart from this, Uttar Pradesh is rapidly emerging as the main hub of data centers in India, he said. On this occasion, Governor Yamanashi Prefecture of Japan, Kotaro Nagasaki said there have been spiritual and historical relations between Yamanashi Prefecture and Uttar Pradesh. Expressing happiness over the MoU, he said that Japan will provide mutual cooperation in labour skilled development, renewable energy, hydro power, exchange of knowledge and technology. He told the chief minister that "Japan is your second home", the statement said, adding Adityanath also spoke a few lines in Japanese. Later, in a post on X, Adityanath said, "Had a productive meeting and fruitful discussion with Mr. Kotaro Nagasaki, Hon. Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, and his delegation at my official residence in Lucknow today." "An MoU was signed between Uttar Pradesh and Yamanashi to promote collaboration in industrial cooperation, tourism, and the vocational education sector. Looking forward to exploring new opportunities for economic and cultural exchange together," he said. (This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)NoneSam’s Club Doorbuster Sale: The Best Toy and Holiday Decor Deals to Shop This Weekend

BEND, OREGON (AP) — Eliza Wilson is a little nervous as she draws the microphone close, but she is determined to share her life story. “My father was a disabled veteran,” she says. “I first experienced homelessness when I was 5 years old.” Wilson, who’s 36, leads programs focused on unhoused youth. On a recent Saturday, she is addressing a citizen assembly, a grassroots gathering seeking solutions to tough local challenges. Her audience consists of 30 ordinary Oregonians. They are acupuncturists and elk hunters; house cleaners and retired riverboat pilots. None are public policy experts. All the same, these participants have been asked to recommend new strategies for combating youth homelessness — a major problem in this affluent Oregon city and the surrounding rural areas of Deschutes County. This unusual experiment in small-D democracy is underwritten by more than $250,000 in grants from backers such as the Rockefeller Foundation and Omidyar Network. As a key early presenter, Wilson wins rapt attention, clicking through data-rich slides and sharing her story of crisis and recovery. That’s how citizen assemblies should work, says Kevin O’Neil, an innovation specialist at the Rockefeller Foundation. His research shows Americans are frustrated with what they perceive as aloofness and gridlock within civic institutions. “People want to be directly involved in decision-making,” O’Neil says. “They recognize the value of expertise, but they don’t want to delegate decision-making to experts.” Assemblies can help “overcome polarization and strengthen societal cohesion,” says Claudia Chwalisz, founder of DemocracyNext . Her nonprofit, launched in Paris in 2022, champions such assemblies worldwide, hoping they can “create the democratic spaces for everyday people to grapple with the complexity of policy issues, listen to one another, and find common ground.” At least, that’s the theory. To succeed, citizen assemblies can’t settle for a few days of harmonious dialogue among well-intentioned strangers. They need to inspire policy changes or new programs from government and other civic institutions. In Europe, such wins abound. In the United States, results are spottier. The most fruitful U.S. effort to date was a 2021 people’s assembly in Washington State that produced 148 ideas — including more solar canopies and food composting — to combat climate change. More often, progress is challenging. An assembly in 2022 in Petaluma, California, spun up ideas to repurpose a long-time county fairground site. Two years later, the fair still operates under short-term leases; its long-term destiny remains in limbo. In Colorado’s Montrose County , enacting an assembly’s bold ideas for improving rural day care has been “more of a marathon than a sprint,” says organizer Morgan Lasher. Can central Oregon do better? It may take years to know, but evidence so far shows both the assembly system’s opportunities and the challenges. Bend’s local economy is strong, with a jobless rate of just 4.2% and median household income of more than $80,000. As housing costs have skyrocketed, though, the spectacle of people living in tent and trailer encampments has become more common. A January count found more than 1,800 people were homeless in Deschutes County, up from 913 in 2020. In 2023, DemocracyNext and Healthy Democracy , a Portland, Oregon, nonprofit, connected with Bend officials interested in bringing the assembly idea to central Oregon. Josh Burgess, an Air Force veteran, who moved to Bend and became the proverbial “advance man” for DemocracyNext. Operating in a county evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, Burgess built rapport with both liberal and conservative members on the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners. “It took four or five meetings to get there,” Burgess recalls. Organizers decided to focus on homelessness among ages 14 to 24, where opportunities for progress seemed greatest. To pick citizens for the assembly, organizers contacted 12,000 county residents before selecting just 30. Everything was balanced by age, race, gender, and geography – a slow, costly requirement. Even so, advocates such as Michelle Barsa of Omidyar Network says assemblies’ big edge comes from using “an actual representative sample of the community, not just the people who always show up at town-hall meetings and yell into a microphone for three minutes.” At the northern edge of Oregon State’s Bend campus, a few hundred yards from the Deschutes River, is the McGrath Family atrium, a sunlight-drenched space with panoramic woodland views. It feels almost like a spa. As the Bend assembly gets started, black tablecloths at a huge, U-shaped table convey gravity. Name tags identify attendees as “Noelle,” “Dave,” “Alex.” The first few hours go slowly, but everything perks up after lunch. Eliza Wilson takes command, introducing herself as director of runaway and homeless youth services at J Bar J , a social-services organization. Her voice is unfailingly steady, but emotions race fast across her face: hope, frustration, empathy, resolve, and more. “Teens get really good at hiding their homelessness,” Wilson explains. “We don’t share family business outside of the family. I was really fortunate that a high-school counselor pointed me, at age 15, to the first youth shelter that had just opened in Bend. I stayed there for three years, until I graduated from high school. I finally got on my feet at age 21.” As Wilson finishes, questions stream in. “Are there any programs advocating for children to get back to their parents?” one woman wants to know. “Is there open communication between you guys and the school district?” a man asks. Wilson and other presenters respond with a road map of what exists today. They point out how homeless youth are in a precarious but not hopeless situation, counting on allies for a couch to sleep on. Less than 20 percent live outside in encampments. Practically everyone in the audience takes notes. The next day, assembly members strike up conversations with young adults who were once homeless. Chronic problems — and glimmers of ideas about how to address them — tumble forth. Flaws in the foster parent system. The risk of sexual abuse. The unique challenges that LGBTQ youth face. Attendees — who shared their thoughts with the Chronicle on the condition they be identified only by their first name — regarded those conversations as eye-opening breakthroughs in their hunt for policy recommendations. “I’m coming away with a whole different point of view,” Ken told me. He had arrived believing that poor parenting and drug abuse led to homelessness, and that affected families should personally address such challenges. Now, he said, he was interested in broader solutions. Several local officials stopped by to watch the assembly proceedings. Phil Chang, a Deschutes County commissioner, said the broad-based assembly creates “social license for us to do things that the community wants.” Conservative county commissioner Tony DeBone worries that Oregon’s rollback of drug-offense laws has worsened social problems; he also believes that an economic upturn would do the most good. Still, he says, he’s willing to see what the assembly can offer. Ultimately, the assembly’s effectiveness will depend on whether its recommendations can overcome bureaucratic inertia, says Tammy Baney, executive director of the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council . Proposed changes in police interactions with homeless youth could be acted on within a month or two if local law enforcement is receptive, she says. Improving Oregon’s gridlocked foster-care system might be much harder. “It all depends on how much political will there is,” Baney says. George Anders is editor-at-large at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where you can read the full article . This article was provided to The Associated Press by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as part of a partnership to cover philanthropy and nonprofits supported by the Lilly Endowment. The Chronicle is solely responsible for the content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy .