Month: April 2023

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer The quiet perceptions, everyday troubles and intermittent moments of transcendence that make up Kelly Reichardt’s films have always had a rhythm apart from most American movies. Reichardt’s latest, “Showing Up” is no exception. But it’s also more directly about the compulsions and pains of making modest, hand-crafted art. Michelle

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mary J Blige and Clifford “Method Man” Smith are two of the most prominent names in hip-hop. Now, the music icons have transitioned their careers into acting and are current mainstays on the Starz hit series “Power Book II: Ghost,” which airs Fridays. Blige

NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say 20 people were injured in a fire set by an inmate at New York City’s troubled Rikers Island jail complex. The city Correction Department says 15 staff members and five inmates were injured in the fire that started about 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The New York Fire Department extinguished the

By The Associated Press LONDON (AP) — For “Star Wars” lovers, new entertainment is a little less far, far away — Lucasfilm announced three new live-action films in the franchise Friday. The news, which includes the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey in one of the films, was revealed at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A religious freedom activist says more than 60 asylum-seeking members of a Chinese Christian church who were detained last week in Thailand are en route to the United States. The 63 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church, who have been in Thailand since last September, were

By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Abortion opponents pushed a bill through the Kansas Legislature early Friday to require providers to tell patients that a medication abortion can be “reversed” once it’s started — a measure that could face a state court challenge if its supporters can overcome the governor’s expected

By SUZAN FRASER and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat says Moscow may pull out of a wartime deal that allows the export of Ukrainian grain to global markets if the West fails to remove obstacles to Russian agricultural exports. The deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey

By R.J. RICO Associated Press Over the past few months, many streaming companies have started eliminating some of their own shows from their library. It helps save the companies money but brings criticism that they are sidelining marginalized voices, shortchanging creatives out of already slimmer residual paychecks and offering fewer options to customers. These issues

By R.J. RICO Associated Press Actor Diana-Maria Riva is all too familiar with one of her shows being canceled. For a performer, it’s a painful, unfortunate part of show business. But this was different. In December, Riva was floored when she found out that “Gordita Chronicles,” her recently canceled family comedy, would be removed from

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — A group of fish farmers wants to be the first to bring offshore aquaculture to the waters off New England by growing salmon and trout miles from land. The vast majority of aquaculture in the U.S. takes place in coastal waters or on land, in tanks

By KATE ASHFORD of NerdWallet More than half of older taxpayers (57%) are worried they’ll have to pay more taxes this year because of the 5.9% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment in 2022, according to a January survey by The Senior Citizens League. Taxes for the over-65 set can feel more complicated for a variety of

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A retired senior prosecutor in Greece has been named as the new leader of a far-right party as it seeks to sidestep a ban on its participation in an upcoming general election. Participation of the Greeks Party could potentially change the outcome of the May 21

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer Smashing Pumpkins singer and guitarist Billy Corgan is back this weekend trying to raise funds for victims of last year’s Highland Park shooting. Corgan has lived in the suburban Chicago suburb for 20 years. He held a livestreamed benefit show last year that raised $250,00. Corgan also owns the

By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas have approved a proposal to end gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Their action early Friday capped three days of intensifying efforts to follow other states with GOP-controlled legislatures by rolling back LGBTQ rights. The Kansas House voted 70-52 to pass a

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese court has sentenced a man to nine years in prison for abusing and unlawfully detaining a woman who was shown chained in a viral video that sparked an outcry in China last year. The abuse of the woman, “Xiaohuamei,” or Little Plum Blossom, raised widespread concerns in China in February

LONDON (AP) — British police have charged a 12-year-old boy with murder after a car plowed into a woman on a city street in northern England. The woman was found dead Wednesday night at the scene of the crash in Sheffield, South Yorkshire police said. Relatives identified her as Marcia Grant, who was 60. The

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Months after hundreds of French troops left Burkina Faso, ousted by the ruling military junta, speculation is mounting that the war-torn nation will fill the void with fighters from Russia’s shadowy mercenary outfit, the Wagner Group. In January, Burkina Faso ordered some 400 French special

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military has arrested a high-value target in an operation against Baluch insurgent group in the country’s southwest. A military statement Friday said Gulzar Imam, also known by the name Shambay, is the militant founder and leader of the Baluch Nationalist Army, which has been banned. The army said BNA had been

By KRYSTA FAURIA Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Throughout her career, Ellie Goulding has been candid about the drawbacks of fame. Although she remembers being a self-conscious teenager, Goulding said her struggles with panic attacks, anxiety and insecurity about how she looks were exacerbated in the early stages of her stardom. But as Goulding

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press Thousands of Catholics are making the trek to a historic adobe church in the hills of northern New Mexico as part of a Holy Week tradition that spans generations. El Santuario de Chimayó just north of Santa Fe is one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage centers in the

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press The family of a Native American woman who went missing from her home on the Navajo Nation pleaded with the man accused of assaulting her and taking her pickup truck, asking during a court hearing Friday that he tell them where he left Ella Mae Begay so they could

By GABE STERN Associated Press/Report for America CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada Democrats and gun control advocates have rallied around a trio of bills amplifying calls for gun regulation while recalling the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting. The recent rise in U.S. mass shootings was cited in debates Thursday in the Nevada Legislature. One

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel unleashed rare airstrikes on Lebanon and bombarded the Gaza Strip on Friday, an escalation that sparked fears of a broader conflict after days of violence over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. Later in the day, there were signs that both sides were trying to keep the

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A women-run radio station in northeastern Afghanistan has resumed its broadcasts, after officials shut it down for a week for playing music during the holy month of Ramadan. A Taliban official and the head of the station announced the resumption of broadcasts on Friday. Sadai Banowan, which means “women’s voice” in Dari,

JERUSALEM (AP) — It’s become something of a grim, springtime tradition in the Holy Land. Israeli police fire tear gas and rubber bullets at Palestinians stockpiling rocks and fireworks inside one of the most bitterly disputed holy sites on Earth. The violence ripples across Israel and the occupied West Bank, and militants from as far