Venezuela holds two world records: the most international beauty crowns and the largest proven oil reserves in the world – two apparently unrelated titles that in fact are closely aligned. In the minds of Venezuelans, beauty and oil are tied to the idea of progress, modernity and our relationship with power, especially since the oil boom of the mid 20th century transformed us from a rural country to the richest nation in Latin America in the 1970s.
During this time Miss Venezuela epitomised the nation’s aspirations. Even in the midst of the hardest economic and political crisis in our history, the pageants continue.
Growing up in Caracas in the 90s, every year the country was essentially paralysed when Miss Venezuela occurred. As part of my ongoing project Reinas, there are times when I’ve been to five or six pageants in a week. Women of all ages, the queer community, are all involved.
This photograph was spontaneous. I was attending a pageant for young girls and they were rehearsing. I saw this little girl with her pink dress going up the stairs by herself, delicate and feminine, as if she’s walking towards a dream, but then you see the reality around it. They don’t match up.
I know how damaging pageants can be for Venezuelan women as they impose heteronormative beauty standards, yet participants tell me they feel the most liberated in this character they have created.
For Venezuelan women living through political and economic turmoil, beauty pageants are a platform for their personal progress anda possible way out of poverty. The majority of students I’ve met in the escuelas de reinas [queen schools), are from low-income families, despite the high costs involved. Winning smaller titles can open the way to bigger ones, and with them, public figure status. This can lead to jobs in modelling, the media or entertainment industry – even politics.
Irene Sáez, Miss Venezuela 1981 and Miss Universe, became the mayor of Chacao and later ran for the presidency in 1998 against Hugo Chavez. The connection of beauty with power isn’t just symbolic.
In 2002, a national strike took place. The whole country came to a standstill, schools were shut, everything was closed. I missed three months of school. Part of this strike was halting oil shipments. The largest oil tanker that had anchored in Lake Maracaibo refusing to move, was named after the beauty queen Pilín León. She became the face of this political fight.
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In Venezuela, the culture of pageants goes far beyond beauty. The archetype of the beauty queen is deeply political.
Avalon Penrose has just pulled off what is bound to go down in history as one of the messiest auditions ever seen on America’s Got Talent to date.
Appearing on the Tuesday (Aug. 5) episode, Penrose likely seemed an unsuspecting figure as she appeared before the judges, explaining how her musical journey had begun as a child opera singer before quitting at age 14 due to frequent panic attacks.
“Now after 14 years, I’ve kind of decided I want to try and find my voice again,” she explained. “Maybe [I can] be an inspiration to other kids who suffered through stage fright, who think that maybe they can’t do it. I want you to know that you can.”
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Beginning her rendition of Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman’s “Time to Say Goodbye,” impressed applause was replaced by confusion from the judges as a number of individuals brought myriad objects onto the stage.
As Penrose sung the chorus, a pair of assistants took on the task of splashing her with paint and confetti – all without skipping a beat. A pie to the face saw the performance come to a close, before an explosion of more confetti served as a strong finale.
Receiving a standing ovation from judge Simon Cowell as Sofia Vergara commented that Penrose “ruined something beautiful,” Mel B questioned if the performer before them really was an opera singer. Penrose explained that she was only able to adequately perform by employing such a theatrical take to it all.
“But you don’t need this with that voice,” Vergara offered. “This is what makes it special,” countered Howie Mandel. “This is why you’ll remember her.”
As Cowell requested another song, Penrose invited Cowell and Mandel to take part in the messy antics as she worked through a rendition of Georges Bizet’s “Habanera.”
Soon, the America’s Got Talent stage descended into pure chaos, with Cowell and Mandel showcasing their innate mischievousness before the latter turned his attention toward his fellow judges.
As Mandel takes a pie to the face, even host Terry Crews gets into the action, throwing water balloons at Cowell before Mel B takes up a paint-filled watergun for protection.
Almost forgetting they have to vote, the judges resume their positions to pass Penrose through with a clean sweep. “Well, we have to say goodnight, believe it or not,” Cowell soon quips to the mystified audience. “That’s kind of a strange way to end, isn’t it?”
America’s Got Talent airs on NBC at 8 p.m. Tuesdays and streams on Peacock the next day.
View Avalon Penrose’s chaotic performance of “Time to Say Goodbye” below.
KUALA LUMPUR, August 6 — Sunway Medical Centre (SMC) recently hosted its inaugural Life Moves Festival 2025, drawing participation from more than 2,000 individuals across all walks of life, who rallied to take charge of their health.
According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2023, 15.6 per cent of Malaysian adults live with diabetes, while over 50 per cent are overweight or obese.
Cardiovascular disease and cancer remain major contributors to premature mortality, with many cases detected only at advanced stages, making early intervention more vital than ever.
Held at the lobby of Tower C & D in SMC, the Life Moves Festival 2025 aimed to address this gap by bringing core health services into a communal open-door setting, offering free screenings and assessments, including blood glucose and cholesterol checks, body composition analysis and urine screenings.
The SMC medical professionals were on hand to provide wellness guidance, with many participants receiving consultation on their health.
“In many cases, early detection and effective management can improve patients’ outcomes and control the progression of NCDs,” said Dr Seow Vei Ken, Sunway Medical Centre Chief Executive Officer.
“Through this event, we encourage the community to take their health seriously, without fear or judgement. Sometimes, the first step is simply knowing where you stand, and early action and accountability strengthen our healthcare system and benefit the nation in the long run.”
One of the standout experiences was the “Jantungku” Walkthrough Exhibit, a multi-sensory journey through the cardiovascular system which captured the attention of attendees, both young and old.
The exhibit served as a powerful reminder of how everyday lifestyle choices directly impact long-term well-being.
Parents and children alike enjoyed the health-themed game stations and hands-on activities, while shoppers explored the Vibrant Health Marketplace.
Life Moves Festival 2025 underscores SMC’s continued efforts to make preventive healthcare more accessible to the public. The event’s success was underpinned by the collective efforts of SMC’s healthcare teams and key partners who contributed to the festival’s impact and reach.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has firmly denied speculation that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir is aiming to become the country’s head of state.
In an interview with The Economist, the chief military spokesperson termed such reports of the army chief becoming president as “nonsense”.
When asked how Pakistan would react to New Delhi’s any future military action, the military spokesperson said it would begin by striking deeper within India. “We’ll start from the east,” he says. “They [India] also need to understand that they can be hit everywhere.”
This reaffirmation comes after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in July strongly dismissed the rumours suggesting that President Asif Ali Zardari may be asked to step down or COAS has any ambition to assume the presidency.
Terming such claims as “mere speculation,” the premier assured that there was no truth to the reports circulating in certain sections of the media.
Speaking to The News on the matter, the prime minister categorically stated: “Field Marshal Asim Munir has never expressed any desire to become the president, nor is there any such plan in the offing.” He emphasised that the trio of President Zardari, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and he himself share a relationship built on mutual respect and a common goal — the progress and prosperity of Pakistan.
PM Shehbaz’s clarification came after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, in a statement shared on his official X handle, denounced what he called a “malicious campaign” targeting President Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Army Chief.
“We are fully aware of who is behind the malicious campaign,” said Naqvi, who is considered close to the top military leadership. “I have categorically stated that there has been no discussion, nor does any such idea exist, about the president being asked to resign or the COAS aspiring to assume the presidency,” he added.
Meanwhile, DG ISPR, while responding to a question about how Pakistan would react if India repeats any act of aggression, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that Pakistan would begin by striking deeper within India. “We’ll start from the east. “They [India] also need to understand that they can be hit everywhere,” he added.
Earlier in May, Pakistan and India engaged in the military confrontation triggered by an attack in April on tourists in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad, before agreeing to a ceasefire.
In response to the Indian aggression, Pakistan’s armed forces launched a large-scale retaliatory military action, named “Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos”, and targeted several Indian military targets across multiple regions.
Pakistan downed six Indian fighter jets, including three Rafales, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US.
The ceasefire was first announced by US President Donald Trump on social media after Washington held talks with both sides, but India has differed with Trump’s claims that it resulted from his intervention and threats to sever trade talks.
However, Pakistan has acknowledged Trump’s efforts and formally recommended him for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, citing his role in defusing tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi last month.
Actress Kelley Mack, known for her appearance in post-apocalyptic zombie drama “The Walking Dead,” has died. She was 33.
Mack, who was born Kelley Klebenow, “passed away peacefully” in her hometown of Cincinatti on Saturday after battling glioma of the central nervous system, according to a statement posted on the social networking site CaringBridge. A glioma is a type of tumor that affects the brain or spinal cord.
“It is with indelible sadness that we are announcing the passing of our dear Kelley. Such a bright, fervent light has transitioned to the beyond, where we all eventually must go,” read a post on Mack’s Instagram on Tuesday alongside a photo of the actress.
Condolences have poured in from colleagues, friends and fans remembering her as “talented” and a “sweet soul.”
“What an incredible human. So proud to have fought alongside her in our final episode together,” wrote Alanna Masterson, who also starred in “The Walking Dead.”
Mack held 35 actress and five producer credits during her career, according to the statement posted to CaringBridge. She was best known for playing Addy in season 9 of“The Walking Dead,” and Penelope Jacobs in season 8 of “Chicago Med” and on FOX’s “9-1-1.”
She also did commercial and voice-over work, appearing in commercials for Dr. Pepper, Ross stores, Dairy Queen and Chick-fil-A, among others. Her love for storytelling flourished after she received a mini video camera as a birthday gift at a young age. She began acting in commercials as a child.
“Kelley was known for her warmth, creativity and unwavering support for those around her,” the statement said. “Her infectious enthusiasm and dedication to her work inspired countless others in the industry and beyond.”
Mack graduated from Hinsdale Central High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in cinematography from Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in Orange, California.
The actress is survived by her parents, Kristen and Lindsay Klebenow; sister Kathryn and brother Parker; grandparents Lois and Larry Klebenow; and her boyfriend Logan Lanier.
“Kelley’s legacy will live on through her contributions to film and television, and in the hearts of those who loved her. She will be deeply missed by forever remembered for her talent, kindness and vibrant spirit,” according to the statement.
Arts, creative and media groups have demanded the government rule out allowing big tech companies to take Australian content to train their artificial intelligence models, with concerns such a shift would “sell out” Australian workers and lead to “rampant theft” of intellectual property.
The Albanese government has said it has no plans to change copyright law, but any changes must consider effects on artists and news media. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has demanded that copyrighted material must not be used without compensation.
“It is not appropriate for big tech to steal the work of Australian artists, musicians, creators, news media, journalism, and use it for their own ends without paying for it,” Ley said on Wednesday.
In an interim report on “harnessing data and digital technology”, the Productivity Commission set out proposals for how tech including AI could be regulated and treated in Australia, suggesting it could boost productivity by between 0.5% and 13% over the next decade, adding up to $116bn to Australia’s GDP.
The report said building AI models required large amounts of data, and several stakeholders in the field, including Creative Australia and the Copyright Agency, had “expressed concern about the unauthorised use of copyrighted materials to train AI models”.
The PC suggested several possible remedies, including expanding licensing schemes, or an exemption for “text and data mining” and expanding the existing fair dealing rules, which the commission said existed in other countries.
The latter suggestion prompted fierce pushback from arts, creative and media companies, which raised alarm their work could be left open for massively wealthy tech companies to use – without compensation or payment – to train AI models.
Such moves could undermine licensing deals currently being negotiated by publishers and creatives with big tech companies. It would also raise questions about the viability of the news media bargaining incentive, where news publishers strike commercial deals with major social media networks for the use of their journalism online.
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The Australian Council of Trade Unions accused the Productivity Commission of having “swallowed the arguments of large multinational tech companies hook, line and sinker”, warning its approach would do little to help working Australians.
“The report’s extensive canvassing of the possibility of a text and data mining exemption opens the door to legitimising the rampant theft of the creative output of Australia’s creative workers and of Indigenous cultural and intellectual property,” the ACTU said.
Joseph Mitchell, the ACTU assistant secretary, said such an exemption would create a situation where “tech bros get all the benefits of the new technology and productivity benefits are not fairly shared”.
Apra Amcos, Australasia’s music rights collecting agency, and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music Office said they were disappointed at the commission’s suggestions, raising concerns about such moves “potentially devastating Australia’s $9bn music industry”.
Apra’s chair, Jenny Morris, claimed the recommendations would “legitimise what they themselves acknowledge is already widespread theft”.
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, who has carriage over copyright law, said further adoption of AI must be done in a way to build trust and confidence.
“Any potential reform to Australia’s copyright laws must consider the impacts on Australia’s creative, content and news media sectors. I am committed to continuing to engage on these issues including through the Copyright and AI Reference Group that our government established last year,” she said.
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Ley, asked about the PC report, said she was concerned about a lack of “guardrails” from the government in responding to AI challenges.
“We have to protect content creators … that work is theirs and it can’t be taken without it being paid for,” she said.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said he believed AI could be “a force for good”, but acknowledged risks in the expanding technology.
“The only way to make our people and workers and industries beneficiaries is if we treat AI as an enabler, not an enemy of what we want to see in our economy,” he told a press conference in Parliament House.
He pointed out that copyright laws apply in Australia, which he said was in contrast to some other countries, and that the government was not seeking to change those laws.
The arts minister, Tony Burke, pointed to a submission to the review from Creative Australia, which he said “makes clear that with respect to copyright and labelling, there needs to be consent, transparency and remuneration”.
The Australian Publishers Association raised fears about authors, researchers and publishers having their work used without permission or compensation, which it said would undermine local publishing, as well as federal government cultural policy.
“We support responsible innovation, but this draft proposal rewards infringers over investors,” said Patrizia Di Biase-Dyson, APA’s CEO.
“We reject the notion that Australian stories and learning materials – that shape our culture and democracy – should be treated as free inputs for corporate AI systems.”
The Copyright Agency also opposed the text and data mining exemption, saying it would negatively affect creators’ earning capacity.
“The push to water down Australia’s copyright system comes from multinational tech companies, and is not in the national interest,” said CEO Josephine Johnston. “If we want high-quality Australian content to power the next phase of AI, we must ensure creators are paid for it.”
The World Health Organization classified the drug-resistant pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii as a critical priority for antibiotic development. One development strategy targets the production of acinetobactin, the A. baumannii siderophore, or iron chelator, that allows the pathogen to scavenge for the scarce iron nutrient inside the host. Scientists have previously determined that synthetic analogs of acinetobactin can curb bacterial growth by blocking iron uptake or inhibiting acinetobactin formation. To aid in analog production, Syed Fardin Ahmed and Andrew Gulick at the University at Buffalo wanted to leverage A. baumannii enzymes that biosynthesize acinetobactin. They published their recent work in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Janice Haney Carr via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Image Library
Scanning electron microscopy image of clusters of aerobic, Gram-negative, non-motile, Acinetobacter baumannii bacteria.
Acinetobactin biosynthesis involves an assembly line process performed by nonribosomal peptide synthetases. In these biosynthetic pathways, an adenylation domain plays a key role in substrate selectivity. The authors used available structures of the acinetobactin adenylation domain BasE to pinpoint residues to mutate in the substrate binding pocket to alter the size and allow for molecules larger than the natural substrate 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid. They performed enzyme activity assays and steady-state kinetic analysis to identify and characterize four BasE variants that functioned with larger substrates with efficiencies similar to the wild-type enzyme with the natural substrate.
Finally, the researchers solved the structures of three BasE variants with alternative substrates in the binding pockets. These structures confirmed visually that the mutations enlarged the binding pockets, highlighting which BasE residues contribute to accommodating specific portions of the substrate chemical structure.
Future steps will include completing a combined chemical and enzymatic synthesis of acinetobactin analogs and testing their activity for bacterial growth inhibition. The authors anticipate that their detailed investigation of BasE substrate selectivity will advance the discovery of siderophore-inspired antibiotics.
The solar system’s most distant planet sits 1.1° due north of Saturn, placing them together in a single telescopic field of view all night.
Saturn and Neptune undergo a conjunction Aug. 6. Neptune is only visible using a telescope or binoculars; both planets will appear together in a low-power telescope eyepiece. Credit: Astronomy: Roen Kelly
On a specified date, Saturn and Neptune exhibit a close conjunction, with Saturn positioned 1.1° south of Neptune, observable overnight.
Saturn, appearing brighter, is situated in Pisces and displays its rings and several moons (Titan, Tethys, Dione, and Rhea) visible through telescopic observation.
Neptune, at magnitude 7.7, is significantly fainter and smaller in apparent size due to its greater distance from Earth, approximately 3 billion km beyond Saturn.
Both planets’ slow apparent movement across the sky is attributed to their vast distances from Earth, maintaining proximity throughout the month.
Saturn passes 1.1° due south of Neptune at 6 A.M. EDT. The pair of planets is visible overnight, rising around 10 P.M. local daylight time and setting after sunrise. They stand highest in the sky around 4 A.M. local daylight time, when they are 50° above the southern horizon.
Saturn stands out in southwestern Pisces as the brightest point of light, sitting to the lower left of the Circlet if you’re facing south at 4 A.M. Zoom in with a telescope to spot the planet’s 19”-wide disk and 42”-wide rings, which now show off their southern sunlit face. The planet’s brightest moon, Titan, lies nearly 3’ west of Saturn’s center, while fainter moons cluster closer in. You may see the planet’s three 10th-magnitude moons: Tethys is just east of the eastern tip of the rings, while Dione is west of their western tip. Rhea is southwest of the planet, slowly moving toward the disk — it disappears into the planet’s dark shadow just minutes after 4 A.M. CDT, so you may or may not see it, depending on when you look.
And, of course, just 1.1° north of Saturn is Neptune. Glowing at magnitude 7.7, the distant world spans 2” on the sky — a testament to its distance, nearly 2 billion miles (3 billion km) beyond Saturn. Study that tiny disk, which may appear bluish-gray to the sharp-eyed observer.
The outer planets appear to move slowly relative to the background (and each other) because of their great distance. Saturn will now pull away from Neptune, moving southwest, but the planets still end the month less than 2° apart.
Sunrise: 6:03 A.M. Sunset: 8:08 P.M. Moonrise: 6:52 P.M. Moonset: 2:47 A.M. Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous (92%) *Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.
For a look ahead at more upcoming sky events, check out our full Sky This Week column.
