Ellie Goulding has been appointed as a UN Environment Global Goodwill Ambassador.

“I’m delighted to announce that I have become a UN Environment Global Goodwill Ambassador. Thank you to @unep head @eriksolheim for making it official,” the singer said on Twitter alongside a photo of herself petting a giraffe at the Giraffe Manor in Kenya.

“All witnessed by Ed the giraffe (he’s pretty special. Only 800 of his species left). ­­­­­­Feel very honoured :),” Goulding continued. Goulding, in a statement, said that her new role will focus on “amplifying the activism of young people committed to creating a bright future. I want as many people as possible to become advocates for the planet.”

The 30-year-old, who recently received the Global Leadership Award from the UN, will also be helping with efforts to clean up the environment, fight climate change and protect endangered species.

Marvel’s first scripted podcast

The 10-episode series Wolverine: The Long Night is to debut in the spring, the Marvel website said. It will stream exclusively on Stitcher Premium until the fall, when it will become available on all podcast platforms.

Richard Armitage is to lend his voice to the iconic character of Logan in Marvel’s first scripted podcast.

“This is the project I’ve been secretly working on the past five months. Wolverine: The Long Night. The 1st podcast (radio play) series put out by @Marvel. I wrote ten, half-hour episodes, with @RCArmitage as the title character,” writer Benjamin Percy tweeted.

“Podcasting is an incredible, intimate medium that’s perfect for telling stories, and I can’t think of a better partner with whom to push the boundaries of scripted podcasts than Marvel,” Erik Diehn, chief executive officer of Midroll Media, Stitcher’s parent company, said in a statement to Mashable. The arrival of Wolverine and his many fans to podcasts and Stitcher is truly a signal that this medium is a major part of the American media landscape.

The Rock gets a star

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame recently. Johnson’s star is the 2,624th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the first 1,558 stars.

The wrestler-turned-actor spoke at the unveiling ceremony, emphasising the importance of working hard and being grateful for what you have. He thanked his friends, family and fans, for whom he said he was “grateful to the core of my bones.”

“At the end of the day, all this goes away if it weren’t for you,” he said, addressing his screaming fans.

The unveiling ceremony took place at the Hollywood & Highland complex, just one week before the release of Johnson’s latest film, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Johnson became a professional wrestler in 1996, following his father, Rocky Johnson, and grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia. He is an eight-time World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment champion.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 23rd, 2017