NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

UK broadcaster shuts down for hour, asks viewers to exercise

LONDON

One of Britain’s leading broadcasters has blacked out its programs for an hour in hopes of spurring viewers to get some exercise.

ITV shut down broadcasts on several of its channels Saturday morning as part of its effort to entice UK citizens to sports clubs, which are being opened for free this weekend as part of a national event called “I Am Team GB.”

Many viewers lauded ITV’s challenge to couch potatoes, describing on social media the activities they’d been inspired to do.

ITV is sponsoring the weekend’s sports-promotion activities alongside the National Lottery.

Poet who chronicled cancer battle dies

LOS ANGELES

Max Ritvo, a poet who chronicled his long battle with cancer in works that were both humorous and searing, has died. He was 25.

Ritvo died Tuesday morning at his home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, his mother, Ariella Ritvo-Slifka, said Friday.

Ritvo was diagnosed at 16 with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare cancer that affects bones and soft tissue in children and young adults.

Treatment brought about a remission that permitted Ritvo to finish high school and attend Yale University, where he performed in an improv comedy group.

Ritvo’s first book of poetry, “Four Reincarnations,” is scheduled to be published this fall.

Associated Press