People took pictures amid waist-high blossoms in every imaginable hue of orange, pink, yellow and purple at California’s famous Flower Fields in Carlsbad as it opened to the public.

The attraction was closed for most of 2020, due to pandemic-related restrictions, but plummeting coronavirus cases and California’s move to the orange tier of lockdown restrictions means the fields can once again welcome a limited number of visitors.

“I am so happy we’re open again,” said general manager Fred Clarke. “Last year we were nine months in and we had to mow the crop down.”

The fields, 34 miles (55 km) north of San Diego, showcase more than 70 million flowers, creating an annual spectacle when they bloom.

“It does feel like things are easing a little bit. It’s just great to see the beauty and just get out and enjoy a day with my wife,” said Artie Creighton, 53, from Corona, California.

“This is one of the first times that we’ve been out in a long time.”

The Flower Fields, which are open to the public until May 9, are also a working farm that sells flowers, which end up at florists and supermarkets, Clarke said, explaining how they breed their own variety of ranunculus.

“We’re hybridizing ranunculus and every year trying to improve the quality, the size of the flower, the brightness of the color, the uniformity of the crop,” he added.

“So every year we believe it’s getting better and better.”

Actress Thandie Newton has said she is reverting to the original Zimbabwean spelling of her first name, Thandiwe.

The actress has hitherto been known as Thandie, an anglicised version of her name with the “w” absent.

All of Newton’s films will be credited with the name Thandiwe (pronounced “tan-DEE-way”) Newton in future.

“That’s my name. It’s always been my name. I’m taking back what’s mine,” Newton told British Vogue.

The actress, whose full name is Melanie Thandiwe Newton, said her name was misspelled in the credits to her first film in 1991, Flirting, which co-starred Nicole Kidman and Noah Taylor.

As a result, Thandie Newton became the widely-used spelling of her name and has stuck with the actress for three decades.

Newton also told Vogue she welcomed how much representation of ethnic minority groups has improved in the entertainment landscape.

“The thing I’m most grateful for in our business right now is being in the company of others who truly see me. And to not be complicit in the objectification of black people as ‘others’, which is what happens when you’re the only one,” she said.

Newton was born in London to a white British father, Nick, and a Zimbabwean mother, Nyasha.

Her family settled in Penzance, Cornwall, when Newton was three years old.

Newton’s role in the sci-fi series Westworld earned her an Emmy Award in 2018 for best supporting actress in a drama series.

In 2006, she won a Bafta Film Award for best supporting actress for her role in Crash, which went on to win best picture at the Oscars.

Her other film credits include Half of a Yellow Sun, Mission: Impossible 2, The Pursuit of Happyness, and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Newton was due to star in the 2000 remake of Charlie’s Angels, but revealed last year she dropped out of the role after being asked to play up to racial stereotypes, adding that she also felt “objectified”.

History was made at the 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. For the first time since the awards show started in 1995, people of color won the four main film acting categories—Daniel Kaluuya, the late Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, and Yuh-Jung Youn swept the film portion of the pre-taped show, thus setting a new standard for award show diversity.

Jason Sudeikis took home Best Male Actor in a Comedy Series for his starring role in Ted Lasso, while Catherine O’Hara won Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her turn as the flamboyant Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek, which also won this year’s Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

Meanwhile, Anya Taylor-Joy was named Best Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for The Queen’s Gambit, and Mark Ruffalo won Best Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for I Know This Much Is True.

Over in the drama department, Gillian Anderson received Best Female Actor in a Drama Series for her work on The Crown, which also won Best Ensemble in a Drama Series, and Jason Bateman took home Best Male Actor for his role on Ozark.

As for the evening’s film awards, Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 took home Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture, while Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman won Outstanding Female Actor and Outstanding Male Actor, respectively, for their work in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Minari’s Youn Yuh-Jung and Judas and the Black Messiah’s Daniel Kaluuya received this year’s Best Supporting Actor awards, making 2021 the first year performers of color won all four film acting categories.

Nigerian celebrity couple Banky W and Adesua Etomi have both recounted their experience after they lost their twins to miscarriage.

The music star and his award-winning actress wife made this known during an episode of The Waterbrook series.

“So we got pregnant and we got pregnant with twins. And we had gone for the scans, we had seen the heartbeats. At this point very few people knew what happened,” Adesua said.

“Every report that you have heard was a lie because nobody knew what happened. So during a routine checkup, we went back to the hospital to have a scan and I just saw the doctor’s face…you know when something is wrong, sometimes you can tell.”

“She was scanning and scanning and I was like what’s wrong and she said ‘oh nothing’ and I looked at the nurse’s face and asked what’s wrong and she said ‘Adesua’ I’m looking for the heartbeats and I said ‘for the two of them?’.”

The movie star recounted how she collapsed immediately after she got home from the hospital.

“So I went home and I remember Banky not being at that time and I remember collapsing on the floor wailing. Wailing is different from crying, it’s like a deep groin in your chest. I’m sharing because many women go through this and nobody talks about it because it is almost like a thing of shame for whatever reason and I don’t know why,” she added.

“So we said we were going to pray over the weekend and go back for the scan on Tuesday or Monday can’t remember now, hoping that God would do something.”

Banky W goes on to narrate how the heartbeats of their twins not only stopped but started shrinking and how they lost the babies.

“Monday or Tuesday came and we went for the scan, not only did we not see heartbeats but the embryos were shrinking, they were decaying. When we found out we were losing them and we needed to do an evacuation, it was a very emotional time for her,” he said.

The couple talked about how they planned on adopting or even surrogacy at some point.

Etomi revealed how their family pastor told them to give it six months. This was followed by several dreams and visions of them carrying their baby.

Months after prayers, Adesua revealed that she found out that she was pregnant and all she said as she looked at the positive pregnancy stick was ”Olubankole God has done it.”

The couple welcomed their first child in early 2021.