Stars arrive at Oscars, where ‘La La Land’ could shine
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will the 89th Academy Awards be a parade of political speeches or landslide for “La La Land”? Probably both.
Sunday night’s Oscars are shaping up to be one of the most turbulent and politically charged ceremonies in recent memory. The three-hour-plus telecast, which begins at 8:30 p.m. on ABC, is expected to resemble one very glitzy protest against President Donald Trump, whom award-winners — like Meryl Streep at the Golden Globes — have railed against throughout Hollywood’s awards season.
An unusually tense atmosphere has coalesced before the Dolby Theatre ceremony, with protests, rallies and boycotts swirling around this year’s Oscars. Even the normally sunny California weather has been stormy, and light rain fell Sunday as stars arrived on the covered red carpet.
“It’s crazy to be at the prom,” said Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Broadway star who is to perform his nominated song from “Moana.” He brought his mother, Luz, as his date.
Yet most expect another day of sun for Damien Chazelle’s celebrated musical “La La Land,” up for a record-tying 14 nominations. A best picture upset, while unlikely, isn’t out the question, though. Barry Jenkins’ eight-time nominated “Moonlight” on Saturday took best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, where “La La Land” wasn’t eligible.
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Trump toasts nation’s governors ahead of health care talks
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump toasted the nation’s governors Sunday night, welcoming state leaders to a black-tie ball at the White House ahead of discussions about his plans to repeal and replace the so-called Obamacare law.
Trump welcomed 46 governors and their spouses to the annual Governors’ Ball at the White House, the first major social event of his administration. The president congratulated first lady Melania Trump on the elegant candle-lit event in the State Dining Room, telling the audience, “The room, they say, has never looked better, but who knows.”
During his toast, the president noted his Monday meeting with the governors at the White House, saying, “Perhaps health care will come up,” a nod to the effort in Congress to repeal and replace the sweeping health care law installed under President Barack Obama.
Trump saluted the nation’s governors, joking that “it’s such an easy job you have.” Despite some of the turmoil at the start of his administration and legal challenges to his executive order temporarily banning travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Trump told the governors he had already made strides.
“I can say that after four weeks — it’s been a lot of fun — but we’ve accomplished almost everything we’ve started out to accomplish. The borders are stricter, tighter,” Trump said, praising the work of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. He added: “We’re very happy with the way things are working but, again, we’ve made a lot of promises over the last two years and many of those promises already are kept so we’re very honored by that.”
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Trump’s choice to be Navy secretary withdraws
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s choice to be secretary of the Navy, businessman Philip Bilden, said Sunday he was withdrawing from consideration for the post, citing concerns about privacy and separating himself from his business interests.
Bilden’s withdrawal raises similar issues to that of Vincent Viola, Trump’s nominee for Army secretary who stepped aside earlier this month. Just last week, the Pentagon sought to tamp down reports that Bilden might pull out.
Bilden was an intelligence officer in the Army Reserve from 1986-1996. He relocated to Hong Kong to set up an Asian presence for HarbourVest Partners LLC, a global private equity management firm. Bilden recently retired from HarbourVest Partners after 25 years.
In a statement released Sunday by the Pentagon, Bilden said he determined that he would not be able to satisfy the Office of Government Ethics requirements without what he called “undue disruption and materially adverse divestment of my family’s private financial interests.”
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement that he would make a recommendation to Trump for a nominee in the coming days.
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Mardi Gras crash suspect’s alcohol level 3 times legal limit
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The man who allegedly plowed into a crowd enjoying a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit, police said Sunday.
The New Orleans Police Department issued a statement identifying the man as 25-year-old Neilson Rizzuto. He’s being held at the city’s jail on charges of first-degree negligent vehicular injuring, hit-and-run driving causing serious injury and reckless operation of a vehicle.
The accident happened Saturday during one of the busiest nights of Mardi Gras when thousands of people throng the streets of Mid-City to watch the elaborate floats and clamor to catch beads and trinkets tossed from riders.
Police said Sunday that 28 people were hurt in the accident that sent 21 people to the hospital; an additional seven people at the scene declined medical help. At least three victims remained hospitalized overnight with moderate to serious injuries, police said Sunday. There were no fatalities.
Ages of the victims ranged from 1 year old to patients in their 50s, police said Sunday, updating initial figures from Saturday night that put the age range of the victims from a youngest of 3-4 years old to adults in their 30s and 40s.
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Casualties mount as Iraqi troops advance in IS-held Mosul
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — “We have wounded!” the men shouted from the roadside. Two soldiers, bleeding, were being bandaged beside their smoking vehicle on the side of a dusty dirt road.
Iraqi special forces Maj. Saif Ali yelled to his driver to stop and leaped out. “Put one inside and the other on top!” he called to his men. One was put in Ali’s seat, the other laid on the vehicle’s hood. “Go!” he shouted, crouching on the hood next to the wounded man. His driver blared the horn and the gunner shot into the air trying to clear a way through a sea of fleeing civilians and livestock.
As Iraqi forces push deeper into western Mosul, the assault is bringing a surge of casualties — at least 30 Iraqi security forces and more than 200 civilians killed or wounded in the last three days. Iraq’s military does not release official casualty reports, but medics at front-line clinics provided figures on condition of anonymity.
The sudden spike in casualty numbers mirrors what played out in Mosul’s east as the fight moved from rural villages to dense urban areas. Front-line medic stations that stood empty for the first days of the assault on Mosul’s west announced last week, are now overflowing. At one clinic Sunday, the dead had to be moved to the ground to free up beds as more injured arrived.
The soldiers that Maj. Ali picked up had been wounded when a mortar — fired from districts held by the Islamic State group — hit them along a route used by the thousands of civilians fleeing Mosul on foot in the days after Iraqi forces first punched into Mamun neighborhood on Friday.
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Egypt’s Christians flee terror in north Sinai security void
ISMAILIA, Egypt (AP) — After Islamic militants barged into his uncle’s house, shot him and his son dead, then looted the place and set it on fire, Said Sameh Adel Fawzy knew it was time to leave.
The 35-year-old Christian, who owns a plumbing supply business in Egypt’s troubled northern Sinai town of el-Arish, packed up a few belongings and brought his family to the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, joining hundreds of Christians fleeing a spate of sectarian killings last week.
“My cousin went to open the door after he heard knocking,” Fawzy said, speaking from a youth hostel where authorities were putting up dozens of families who fled the town. “Masked extremists, terrorists with a pistol, took him inside and shot him in the head,” then dragged his screaming mother out to the street half-dressed and killed her husband. The woman, still in shock after the Tuesday night slayings, sat nearby.
“They’re thirsty for the blood of any Christian,” said Wafaa Fawzy, the sister-in-law of Saad Hana, the man who was killed along with his son. “They were pretty clear when they said they won’t leave any Christian in peace. They want an Islamic state.”
The killings, two of seven brutal slayings in recent weeks, come after a devastating IS suicide bombing at a Cairo church in December that killed nearly 30 people. The violence poses a fresh challenge to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s government to put down an IS-led insurgency in northern Sinai and prevent spillover that at times has reached the mainland.
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Joseph Wapner, star of ‘The People’s Court,’ dead at 97
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joseph Wapner, the retired Los Angeles judge who presided over “The People’s Court” with steady force during the heyday of the reality courtroom show, died Sunday at age 97.
Son David Wapner told The Associated Press that his father died at home in his sleep. Joseph Wapner was hospitalized a week ago with breathing problems and had been under home hospice care.
“The People’s Court,” on which Wapner decided real small-claims from 1981 to 1993, was one of the granddaddies of the syndicated reality shows of today. His affable, no-nonsense approach attracted many fans, putting “The People’s Court” in the top five in syndication at its peak.
Before auditioning for the show, Wapner had spent more than 20 years on the bench in Los Angeles, first in Municipal Court and then in Superior Court. At one time he was presiding judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, the largest court in the United States. He retired as judge in November 1979, the day after his 60th birthday.
“Everything on the show is real,” Wapner told the AP in a 1986 interview. “There’s no script, no rehearsal, no retakes. Everything from beginning to end is like a real courtroom, and I personally consider each case as a trial.”
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Storm chasers honor “Twister” star with GPS tribute
Nearly 200 storm chasers paid tribute Sunday to the late actor Bill Paxton by spelling out his initials using GPS coordinates on a map depicting the heart of Tornado Alley.
The effort coordinated by Spotter Network spelled out “BP” to honor the leading man in the disaster movie “Twister,” which inspired a generation of storm chasers.
Storm chasers and storm spotters have spelled out the initials of fellow chasers in the tight-knit community four or five times before, but never for someone who hasn’t directly “made a significant contribution to the field,” said John Wetter, president of the nonprofit that tracks the positions of tornado chasers and works with the National Weather Service to update weather forecasts.
“This is the first time we’ve gone way outside of that. There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of meteorologists today — myself included — who were impacted by the movie ‘Twister’ and the role Bill played in that,” Wetter told The Associated Press in a phone interview. ” ‘Twister’ was kind of the first time in a mass media marketplace the meteorologist became cool, if only for a little while.”
The storm chasers spelled the initials on a map that was centered around Wakita, Oklahoma, a real town in the heart of Tornado Alley that served as the set for almost all of the movie, Wetter said.
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Kurt Busch steals monster victory by winning Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Decked in Monster gear and chugging a tall boy of the energy drink as he was flanked by scantily clad models and one of pro sports’ top partiers, Kurt Busch celebrated the biggest win of his racing career.
It was Monster Madness!
Busch used a last-lap pass to win the crash-filled Daytona 500 on Sunday in the opening race of Monster Energy’s new role as title sponsor of NASCAR’s top series. Busch, it just so happens, is also sponsored by Monster, and the company has strongly stood by him through his rocky career.
So this was a victory of redemption for Busch, who was suspended by NASCAR two days before the 2015 Daytona 500 for his off-track behavior, and for Monster, which has promised to pump new life into NASCAR’s sagging sport.
“I’ve had a lot of people that have believed in me through the years, a lot of people that have supported me,” Busch said.