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At the Oscars a year later, The Slap stays in the picture

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:05:12 GMT

The Academy Awards are Sunday, but did last year’s Oscars ever really end?When Hollywood reconvenes at the Dolby Theatre for the 95th Academy Awards, the ceremony will signal many things. The probable triumph of “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” A potentially historic night for Asians and Asian Americans in the film industry. Possibly a record number of jokes about “Cocaine Bear.”But for many, nothing will register more than returning to the site of The Slap. In a way, we’re all still living in that frozen-in-time moment. Chris Rock’s face twisted to the side. Will Smith’s arm dramatically extended. A deathly hush over the Dolby Theatre. A new low for the Oscars but a high point of public fascination, The Slap was immediately etched into collective memory, and its shock has kept reverberating. Rock, in a live stand-up special on Sunday, only just offered his fiery rebuttal, adding a fresh new volley in the still ongoing discourse around the incident.For the first time, two sequel...

In fraud case, embattled Ozy Media is a no show

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:05:12 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Ozy Media billed itself as “the New and the Next” as its charismatic cofounder, former MSNBC and CNN host Carlos Watson, attracted millions of dollars from investors on a promise to attract young, sophisticated audiences.But on Wednesday, the once-buzzy company didn’t even have representation in court as it was arraigned on securities fraud and wire fraud charges.There was confusion when representatives for the company were a no-show at its arraignment at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn. A judge had to enter a plea of “not guilty” on its behalf.Outside the courtroom, a public defender who had been hurriedly assigned to represent the company at the hearing quickly tried to make sense of the case. She asked a journalist what Ozy did and what the case was about.Later, she was excused from what is expected to be a complex and sprawling case involving hundreds of thousands of documents and allegations that the company’s executives misrepresented its financial...

Allen Fieldhouse at Kansas to get extensive renovations

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:05:12 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Allen Fieldhouse is about to get a facelift.The historic home of defending national champion Kansas will soon undergo a significant renovation to upgrade its fan amenities, hospitality spaces and premium seating options while retaining the feel of the original building.Jayhawks athletic director Travis Goff said the multimillion dollar project, which will be funded by private donations, will include state-of-the-art videoboards, a new sound system and lighting, reimagined concourses on all three levels, along with changes to the adjacent Wagnon Student Athletic Center.“We only see it when it’s full on game night, and then it’s perfect,” said coach Bill Self, whose third-ranked Jayhawks open the Big 12 Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinal round Thursday. “But you know, we don’t see what the fans go through or deal with, and you know, the amenities and concessions and all these things.“I think it puts us in a position that fo...

Minnesota governor protects rights to gender affirming care

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:05:12 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order Wednesday protecting the rights of LGBTQ people from Minnesota and other states to receive gender affirming health care, as he slammed the tide of other states rolling back transgender rights.“We want every Minnesotan to grow up feeling safe, valued, protected, celebrated, and free to exist as their authentic versions of themselves,” Walz said. “Protecting and supporting access to gender affirming health care is essential to being a welcoming and supportive state.”Advocates for LGBTQ rights say Republican-led states across the country are trying to erase the legal existence of people who are trans and to restrict the expression of those who are nonbinary, gender-fluid or who perform in drag. According to the Human Rights Campaign, more than 150 bills targeting trans rights have been introduced in other states. Walz singled out neighboring South Dakota, where Gov. Kristi Noem signed a ban on gender affirming care for mino...

Closing arguments in Winnipeg trial of retired priest charged with indecent assault

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:05:12 GMT

WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg judge is left to decide whether a young girl was assaulted in the bathroom of a residential school more than 50 years ago based on the memories of the now-adult woman and the 93-year-old retired priest accused of committing the act. The two-day judge-alone trial wrapped up Wednesday for Arthur Masse who is charged with one count of indecent assault against Victoria McIntosh from when she attended the Fort Alexander Residential School north of Winnipeg sometime between 1968 and 1970.McIntosh and Masse were the only witnesses called to testify. The question of memory accuracy came up when Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond heard closing arguments from the Crown and George Green, Masse’s lawyer. Green argued the burden of proof falls heavily on McIntosh’s testimony, “that is hard to discharge on the word of one person.”He added that given the nature of the allegations, passage of time and inconsistencies in McInto...

Wall Street steadies itself a day after its steep tumble

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:05:12 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks steadied on Wall Street Wednesday and closed with a mixed finish, a day after worries about interest rates sent them to one of their worst tumbles of the year. The S&P 500 rose 5.64 points, or 0.1%, to 3,992.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58.06, or 0.2%, to 32,798.40, while the Nasdaq composite added 45.67, or 0.4%, to 11,576.00.They were coming off a sharp drop the prior day after the head of the Federal Reserve warned it could speed up its hikes to interest rates if pressure on inflation stays high. Such hikes can ease inflation by slowing the economy, but they also hit prices for stocks and other investments and raise the risk of a recession in the future.The Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, said again Wednesday that pressure on inflation appears to be running higher than earlier expected. But he also stressed much more strenuously than he did on Tuesday that the Fed hasn’t made a decision yet on the size of its future hikes. He said policy ...

US judge: California can’t ban alligator imports, sales

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:05:12 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — California cannot ban the importation and sale of crocodile and alligator products, a federal judge has ruled, in a victory for the state of Louisiana, which challenged the ban along with businesses in multiple states. Federal law controls trade in those products and preempts California from barring trade in them, Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller in Sacramento, California, wrote in a ruling dated Tuesday. Mueller had already blocked enforcement of the law while lawsuits challenging it played out in her court. Plaintiffs included businesses based in California, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Montana and Wyoming.The California ban had covered products made from alligators and two species of crocodile — Nile and Saltwater. All can be sold legally under international treaty and U.S. federal law. Mueller rejected arguments that California was only seeking to regulate activity within the state. “California is not regulating crocodile takings with its borders,” she...

Mayor: Community grieving after Mexico kidnappings

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:05:12 GMT

(NewsNation) — Four Americans who were kidnapped in Mexico over the weekend were natives of South Carolina's Lake City, the mayor has confirmed. Lake City Mayor Yamekia Robinson, in a news conference Tuesday, offered condolences to the family of the two people who were killed after they were caught in the crossfire of rival cartel groups in Matamoros, Mexico."It's been a very tough few days," Robinson said Tuesday during an appearance on "NewsNation: Rush Hour." "We have been trying to keep the family, the community close with prayer." Kidnapped Americans: Sen. Graham proposes military action The other two Americans who survived the kidnapping are back in the United States receiving medical care, the Justice Department said Tuesday.The FBI had reported Sunday it was searching with Mexican authorities for the missing Americans, who had been kidnapped Friday. A relative of one of them said Monday they had traveled together from South Carolina so one of them could get a tu...

'Shrimp scampi' doesn't mean what you think it means

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:05:12 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — What do you think of when you think of shrimp scampi? Depending who you ask, that term can mean many different things — or even sound like complete gibberish.While the dish is seemingly a staple of Italian-American cuisine, you're unlikely to see "shrimp scampi" listed on dinner menus in Italy. And one of the main reasons is because of its name.It's widely believed the "scampi" refers to the style of cooking the shrimp — and this usage is typically accepted — though it's not totally technically accurate. The word "scampi" is Italian for a type of small crustacean akin to a mini lobster. They're similar to shrimp, but scampi — also known as Dublin Bay Prawn, langoustines, or Norway Lobster — aren't typically found in oceans near the U.S. There’s a hidden image on Toblerone chocolate bars: Can you spot it? "If you consider the name 'shrimp scampi' literally, it doesn’t make much sense; it’s like saying “shrimp lobster," Faye Levy wrote in the Los Angeles Times back in 19...

What it's like to live — and even thrive — with stiff-person syndrome

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:05:12 GMT

(WGN-TV) You probably hadn’t heard of stiff-person syndrome until superstar singer Celine Dion announced her battle with the rare and often misdiagnosed ailment in December.The disease “is characterized by fluctuating muscle rigidity in the trunk and limbs and a heightened sensitivity to stimuli such as noise, touch, and emotional distress, which can set off muscle spasms,” according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).In a message to her fans, Dion gave voice to the 1-in-1-million people struggling with the same disorder she had been battling offstage."I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through,” the Canadian singer said before revealing her diagnosis. “We now know this is what’s been causing all of the spasms that I’ve been having.”“My mind was, ‘Oh my goodness, I feel so bad for her,’” said Moira...