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Malaysian ex-PM Muhyiddin hit with seventh graft charge

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:10:00 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin pleaded innocent Monday to a seventh corruption charge, this one alleging he received illegal proceeds of 5 million ringgit ($1.1 million) that was banked into his political party.Muhyiddin is Malaysia’s second leader to be indicted after leaving office and has denied wrongdoing. He slammed the case as “organized political persecution” to embarrass him and crush his Islamic-dominated opposition ahead of state elections. He denied abusing his power to award contracts to selected ethnic Malay contractors in return for bribes, and to approve an appeal by a business tycoon on the cancellation of his tax exemption.Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim rejected accusations that the charges were politically motivated. The anti-graft agency and the attorney-general’s chambers, whose chiefs were previously appointed by Muhyiddin, have denied there was political interference in the investigation and prosecution proces...

Brendan Fraser wins best-actor Oscar in career comeback

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:10:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brendan Fraser has won the best-actor Oscar for “The Whale,” a transformative role in which he revived a career that was once so bright.“I started in this business 30 years ago and things didn’t come easily to me,” said Fraser, breathing heavily. “I just want to say thank you for this acknowledgement.”Fraser was one of five first-time nominees in the category, the first time that had happened since 1935. Fraser beat out Austin Butler of “Elvis,” Colin Farrell of “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Paul Mescal of “Aftersun,” and Bill Nighy of “Living.”Fraser figures the role of Charlie, a 600-pound reclusive gay English teacher who tries to restore his relationship with his teenage daughter, found him at the perfect time.Any earlier in his career and Fraser has said he wouldn’t have had the life experience or heartache to authentically play a character who lives with sadness, pain and life-threatening obesity.Fraser’s portrayal earned him standing ovations at ...

Best director Oscar to ‘Everything Everywhere’ Daniels duo

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:10:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Daniels doubled down on everything. It’s paid off in one of the most unlikely best director Oscar wins in history. The directing duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert took the elite filmmaking prize Sunday night for their multiversal dramedy “ Everything Everywhere All at Once,” topping a talented field that included Hollywood royalty Steven Spielberg. “There is greatness in every single person,” Kwan said from the stage. “It doesn’t matter who we are, there is genius in every single person, you just have to find it. Thank you to the people who unlocked my genius.”The Daniels came into the night the favorites for the Oscar, and their film, the top nominee with 11, had immense awards season momentum, making the victory no surprise.Scheinert dedicated the award to “all the mommies in the world,” and to his own parents. “Thank you for not squashing my creativity when I was making really disturbing horror films or really perverted comedy films or dre...

AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:10:00 GMT

US government moves to stop potential banking crisisNEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government took extraordinary steps Sunday to stop a potential banking crisis after the historic failure of Silicon Valley Bank, assuring all depositors at the failed institution that they could access all their money quickly, even as another major bank was shut down.The announcement came amid fears that the factors that caused the Santa Clara, California-based bank to fail could spread. Regulators had worked all weekend to try to find a buyer for the bank, which was the second-largest bank failure in history. Those efforts appeared to have failed Sunday. In a sign of how fast the financial bleeding was occurring, regulators announced that New York-based Signature Bank had also failed and was being seized on Sunday. At more than $110 billion in assets, Signature Bank is the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history.The near-financial crisis that U.S. regulators had to intervene to prevent left Asian market...

Ruth E. Carter becomes 1st Black woman to win two Oscars

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:10:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ruth E. Carter made history: The costume designer behind the “Black Panther” films became the first Black woman to win two Oscars.Carter took home best costume design Sunday night at the 95th Academy Awards for the Marvel sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Carter also won in 2018 for “Black Panther,” which made her the first African American to win in the category. In her acceptance speech, Carter thanked the film’s director Ryan Coogler and asked if “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman could look after her mother, Mabel Carter, who she said died “this past week.” Boseman died in 2020 of cancer at 43.“This is for my mother. She was 101,” Carter said. “This film prepared me for this moment. Chadwick, please take care of mom.”Carter then paid tribute to her mother backstage. “I had a great relationship with her in her final years. The same relationship I always had with her. I was her ride-or-die. I was her road dog. I was her sidekick,” she...

‘Naatu Naatu’ wins Oscar, brings musical spotlight to India

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:10:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — M.M. Keeravaani has brought the spotlight back to India after an Oscar musical win.Keeravaani won best original song for his joyously energetic anthem “Naatu Naatu” from the film “RRR.” The music was written by Keeravaani and lyrics by Chandrabose.Keeravaani delighted the Oscar audience by saying he grew up listening to The Carpenters and then began singing the band’s “Top of the World” with new lyrics, including “’RRR’ has to win/Pride of every Indian.”“Naatu Naatu” is one of the most memorable sequences from the the Telegu-language action epic “RRR” with its catchy tune and accompanying dance by actors Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr.“Naatu Naatu” has become a viral sensation outside of the film, racking up more than 122 million views on YouTube and inspiring a TikTok challenge where users attempt to recreate the acrobatic dance-off. South Korean Ambassador Chang Jae-bok’s rendition went viral.In a recent interview, Keeravaani said he felt comp...

Deepika Padukone introduces ‘Naatu Naatu’ at Oscars

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:10:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bollywood star Deepika Padukone was on hand at the Oscars on Sunday to introduce the performance of best original song nominee (and later winner) “Naatu Naatu,” from “RRR.”In presenting the song, she noted its anti-colonialist themes — but it’s also “a total banger,” she said.The “Naatu Naatu” performance featured playback singers Kaala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj flanking a squadron of high-energy dancers. The film’s lead actors, N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan, did not perform.While Padukone is best known for her Hindi-language films, she got her start in South Indian cinema — her first movie was the Kannada-language “Aishwarya.” Already a global celebrity, the 37-year-old has had a major year outside of India. She also served on the jury at the 75th Cannes Film Festival last May and walked out the World Cup trophy alongside former Spain keeper Iker Casillas at the final in Qatar.She most recently starred opposite Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the hit “Pa...

Sunday rain and snow showers pepper Chicagoland area

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:10:00 GMT

Sunday: Overcast with snow/rain showers. Getting a bit breezy in the afternoon. SSE/SSW 10-20 mph. High: 37 Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Sunday night is looking cloudy with a few snow showers & breezy. 1" or less accumulation. W 10-20 mph with a low of 29. We are expecting snow showers Monday and colder weather. WNW 15-25, G30 mph with high of 32.Full forecast details at the WGN Weather CenterWe might have seen some snow but the current ice on the Great Lakes even less this week with only 8.8% surface coverage. Hardly any in Lake MI at all, none on the #Chicago shore where water temps are at 39 degrees.Extended outlook calls for some sunnier days for Tuesday and Wednesday with highs getting on Tuesday into the mid to upper 30s-- and Wednesday into the upper 40s with increasing clouds late in the day. Rain returns on Thursday with some mild temps in the mid to low 50s. Temps crash on Friday with rain/snow showers and temps falling into the 30s in the afternoo...

Political rallies draw mayoral candidates with runoff election just weeks away

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:10:00 GMT

CHICAGO — A pair of rallies involving mayoral candidates Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas took place across Chicago Sunday.Community members from various organizations, including the Chicago Home Coalition, held an event Sunday afternoon in Logan Square to talk about community-led solutions to address housing and people facing homelessness in the city.“We are going to bring Chicago home and make sure that there’s affordable housing, public housing, a pathway to home ownership, and we’re gonna do it together," Johnson said at the event.Alderman Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th), who was also in attendance Sunday in Logan Square, echoed Johnson's sentiments and called attention to helping the City's homeless population."It's a place we call home," Ramirez Rosa said. "For 65,611 Chicagoans, they do not have that sacred place. They do not have that hope."On the South Side, a rally took place Sunday evening at the Midwest Coalition for Stop the Violence in Englewood, the center of discussion bei...

'Everything' wins best picture, is everywhere at Oscars

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:10:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The metaphysical multiverse comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once” wrapped its hot dog fingers around Hollywood’s top prize Sunday, winning best picture at the 95th Academy Awards, along with awards for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis.Though worlds away from Oscar bait, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s anarchic ballet of everything bagels, googly-eyed rocks and one messy tax audit emerged as an improbable Academy Awards heavyweight. The indie hit, A24’s second best-picture winner following “Moonlight,” won seven Oscars in all.Fifty years after “The Godfather” won at the Oscars, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” triumphed with a much different immigrant experience. Its eccentric tale about a Chinese immigrant family – just the second feature by the Daniels, as the filmmaking duo is known – blended science fiction and alternate realities in the story of an ordinary woman and laundromat owner.“Everything Everywhere,” released all the way back ...