Madonna to Fund Youth Art Project to Celebrate her 66th Birthday

Madonna performs during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, February 5, 2023. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/FILE PHOTO
Madonna performs during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, February 5, 2023. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/FILE PHOTO
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Madonna to Fund Youth Art Project to Celebrate her 66th Birthday

Madonna performs during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, February 5, 2023. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/FILE PHOTO
Madonna performs during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, February 5, 2023. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/FILE PHOTO

Madonna will fund an artistic project involving youths, she announced during her 66th birthday celebrations in Pompeii.
While touring the Pompeii archeological park Friday with its director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the American pop star met a group of teenagers involved in “Sogno di Volare,” or “Dream of Flying."
As part of the project now in its fourth year, hundreds of young artists perform re-adapted comedies by Aristophanes, starting from Pompeii’s amphitheater, Teatro Grande, and then touring other Italian theaters. Madonna announced she would fund “Dream of Flying" for one year — about 250,000 euros ($275,000), The Associated Press reported.
“This project generously supported by Madonna is strategic for Pompeii, because it is directed to the people who live in this marvelous and complex territory, in particular youths,” said Zuchtriegel. He noted that many of the kids involved live in poor southern towns where rates of school dropout and unemployment are higher.

Zuchtriegel announced that the show financed by Madonna’s foundation will be on stage at Pompeii’s Teatro Grande in May 2025.



Rarely Seen Deep Sea Fish Found in California, Scientists Want to Know Why 

This image provided by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography shows a team of researchers and science-minded snorkelers working together to recover a dead oarfish from La Jolla Cove, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Michael Wang/The Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP)
This image provided by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography shows a team of researchers and science-minded snorkelers working together to recover a dead oarfish from La Jolla Cove, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Michael Wang/The Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP)
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Rarely Seen Deep Sea Fish Found in California, Scientists Want to Know Why 

This image provided by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography shows a team of researchers and science-minded snorkelers working together to recover a dead oarfish from La Jolla Cove, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Michael Wang/The Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP)
This image provided by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography shows a team of researchers and science-minded snorkelers working together to recover a dead oarfish from La Jolla Cove, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Michael Wang/The Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP)

A rarely seen deep sea fish resembling a serpent was found floating dead on the ocean surface off the San Diego coast and was brought ashore for study, marine experts said.

The silvery, 12-foot-long (3.6-meter) oarfish was found last weekend by a group of snorkelers and kayakers in La Jolla Cove, north of downtown San Diego, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said in a statement.

It's only the 20th time an oarfish is known to have washed up in California since 1901, according to institution fish expert Ben Frable.

Scripps noted that oarfish have a mythical reputation as predictors of natural disasters or earthquakes, although no correlation has been proven.

Oarfish can grow longer than 20 feet (6 meters) and normally live in a deep part of the ocean called the mesopelagic zone, where light cannot reach, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Swimmers brought the La Jolla Cove oarfish to shore atop a paddleboard. It was then transferred to the bed of a pickup truck.

Scientists from NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Scripps planned a necropsy on Friday to try to determine the cause of death.