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Review: In Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon,’ the emperor has no clothes but plenty of ego

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:04 GMT

For such a famed historical figure, Napoleon has made only fleeting appearances in movies since Abel Gance’s 1927 silent film. Stanley Kubrick had grand designs for a Napoleon epic that went unmade. (Steven Spielberg is attempting to revive those plans as a series ). Napoleon and his bicorne hat — more icon of history than a real character — mostly only pops up in time-traveling odysseys like “Time Bandits” or “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”The party, though, is finally on in Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” starring Joaquin Phoenix. Scott doesn’t do anything small, not even famously diminutive French emperors. And his two-hour-38-minute big-screen biopic serves up a heaping historical spectacle complete with bloody European battles and massive military maneuvers.But don’t mistake “Napoleon” for your average historical epic. Our first sense that this may not be a grand glorification of a Great Man of history comes early in the film, when a 24-year-old Bonaparte leads the siege on th...

Durant scores 31, now 11th all time in points, Suns roll past Portland 120-107

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:04 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 31 points, passing Elvin Hayes for 11th place all time, and the Phoenix Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 120-107 in an In-Season Tournament game on Tuesday night.Durant, playing in his 1,000th NBA game, needed 14 points to pass Hayes, who had 27,313 in his career. He achieved that in the first quarter on 6-of-6 shooting, including a 3-pointer and a free throw. He finished 13 of 21 from the field, making both 3-point tries, in 37 minutes.“Being amongst the all-time greats, the guys who set the standard and made the NBA what it is today is an honor,” Durant said. “It’s pretty cool and I just gotta keep going.”Durant scored 39 points in 46 minutes in a double-overtime win at Utah on Sunday. He has 27,330 in his career.“Incredible,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “He’s one of the best to ever do it. And he’s not slowing down.”Devin Booker scored 28 points and was 10 for 10 from the free-throw line for the Suns, who won their fourth in...

Stock market today: Asian shares slip following a weak close on Wall Street

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:04 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares slipped in Asia on Wednesday, tracking a decline on Wall Street a day after stocks there hit their highest level since the start of August. Tokyo and Mumbai advanced while most other major markets declined. U.S. futures were little changed and oil prices edged lower.Trading is tapering off ahead of holidays in the U.S. and Japan on Thursday, with few data releases to drive activity. U.S. home sales fell more than 4% in October, while minutes from the latest policy setting meeting of the Federal Reserve showed the central bank in a holding pattern as it assesses the impact of its aggressive interest rate hikes on inflation and the economy overall. Wednesday will bring an update on durable goods orders and a consumer sentiment survey by the University of Michigan. Asia is also relatively quiet on the data front. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged 0.3% higher to 33,450.18 and the Kospi in Seoul slipped 0.1% to 2,508.55. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng shed 0.1% to 17,720....

LeBron scores 39,000th point, Lakers complete sweep of tourney group play with 131-99 win over Utah

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:04 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James scored his 39,000th point on the way to 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers completed an unbeaten run through group play in the NBA In-Season Tournament with a 131-99 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.Anthony Davis had 26 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who are likely to host a quarterfinal game early next month to begin the knockout stages of the league’s first in-season tournament. Los Angeles beat Phoenix, Memphis, Portland and Utah by a combined 74 points, capped by this blowout of the Jazz for the Lakers’ sixth victory in seven games overall.The 38-year-old James became the first player in league history to top 39,000 points early in the first quarter. The milestone was another stop in James’ steamrolling of the world’s previous standards for basketball longevity: He began the night averaging 26.4 points per game, by far the most production from any player in NBA history who ma...

Incumbent Salt Lake City mayor leads in bid for second term

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:04 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Incumbent Erin Mendenhall was leading Tuesday in her reelection bid to continue as mayor of Utah’s capital in a ranked-choice contest that includes a challenge by former Mayor Rocky Anderson.Mendenhall had a significant lead over Anderson, which led the former mayor to acknowledge that “it would take a lot of catching up to change the result,” the Salt Lake Tribune reported. But he hadn’t conceded as of Tuesday night. At Mendenhall’s election night party, she told her supporters she would “regroup for a second term” with new energy and urgency, the Tribune reported. “This election ends with voters saying loudly and clearly that they want Salt Lake City to keep moving forward together,” Mendenhall said. “Salt Lakers are not afraid of our incredible future. We’re excited by it. This election was a repudiation of cynicism, and it was a rejection of the politics of fear.”The third left-leaning choice for mayor was Michael Valentine, an activist an...

Chicago Cubs promote Jared Banner — who headed their minor-league system the last 2 years — to assistant GM

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:04 GMT

The Chicago Cubs have filled one of the top openings in their front office.The Cubs are promoting vice president of player development Jared Banner to assistant general manager, a source confirmed to the Tribune. Jeff Greenberg’s departure last year for the Chicago Blackhawks — before he took over as the Detroit Tigers general manager in September — and Craig Breslow’s hiring as the Boston Red Sox’s chief baseball officer last month had left the Cubs front office with one only assistant GM, Ehsan Bokhari, under president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and GM Carter Hawkins.Banner spent the last two years leading the Cubs farm system after joining the organization as vice president of special projects before the 2021 season. Before his time with the Cubs, Banner worked for the New York Mets in 2019-20 as their executive director of player development and for the Red Sox for 11 years, including a stint as vice president of player personnel in 2017-18.Th...

Locals demand answers from leaders after removal of benches at Swami's Beach

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:04 GMT

ENCINITAS, Calif. -- Residents in the North County tell FOX 5 they feel lied to after the city chose to remove benches at a popular beach. Several voiced their concerns Tuesday night at an Encinitas Parks and Recreation meeting. Swami's Beach and Park is arguably the known spot in Northern San Diego County to watch the sunset, play some tunes, catch a wave or even practice Tai Chi any night of the week. It's a known hub for all, but the problem present day? Well, there's no place to sit. One traveling troubadour who is also a Swami's Beach regular brought his own stool to strum the guitar while the sun set Tuesday night. For Connie Byer, it's more than a beach. It's a memorial for her late son Dan, where his ashes were spread in the 90s. "He loves swamis, that’s actually where we did a paddle out for Dan after he died,” Byer said.That memory was marked by a bench dedicated in honor of her son -- one that's no longer in its place.“It would be like someone going to a cemetery and movi...

Coldplay concert in Malaysia can be stopped by organizers if the band misbehaves, government says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:04 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Organizers of Wednesday’s Coldplay concert in Malaysia can stop the show if the British rock band misbehaves, a minister said as the government rejected Muslim conservatives’ calls to cancel the show. Led by the country’s opposition bloc, Muslim conservatives have protested the concert over Coldplay’s support for the LGBTQ+ community. Recently, they also pushed for the concert to be halted in solidarity with Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas war. Communication and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said he doesn’t foresee any problem with Coldplay’s first concert in Malaysia later in the night. Security has been beefed up for the show that is expected to draw some 75,000 people at a stadium outside Kuala Lumpur.“Yes, it’s one of the things we have discussed with the organizer,” Fahmi said when asked if a ‘kill switch” to cut off power supply will be used. “The prime minister has also said the band, you kn...

An American sexual offender convicted in Kenya 9 years ago is rearrested on new assault charges

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:04 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An American man convicted of sexual offences in Kenya nine years ago was denied bail on new charges of defilement, months after he was mysteriously released from prison where he was serving a 50-year sentence.Terry Ray Krieger, 68, was arraigned on Tuesday evening in court in Mavoko County on the outskirts of the capital Nairobi, accused of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old earlier this month. He was arrested on Nov. 10. He faces additional charges of being in Kenya illegally.Senior Principal Magistrate Barbra Ojoo denied Krieger bail after prosecutors argued successfully that he was a repeat offender and a flight risk. He will remain in custody until Nov 27, when the case will be heard again. He did not enter a plea yet. Krieger uses a wheelchair and requested bail because he said he needs additional care. The U.S. national was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2014 for sexually abusing Kenyan children and circulating their images online between December 2013 ...

Stock market today: Asian shares slip in cautious trading following a weak close on Wall Street

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:24:04 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares slipped in Asia on Wednesday, tracking a decline on Wall Street a day after stocks there hit their highest level since the start of August. Tokyo and Mumbai advanced while most other major markets declined. U.S. futures were little changed and oil prices edged lower.Trading is tapering off ahead of holidays in the U.S. and Japan on Thursday, with few data releases to drive activity. But news that ChatGPT-maker OpenAI’s ousted CEO, Sam Altman, was going to return to the company could spur some fresh movement in technology shares. Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and has rights to its technology, quickly moved to hire Altman, though its CEO Satya Nadella said the company was open to having him return to OpenAI. Altman said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that “with the new board and (with) Satya’s support, I’m looking forward to returning to OpenAI, and building on our strong partnership with (Microsoft).”San Francisco-based Ope...