Oscars 2019 countdown

By the time the curtain goes up at the opening ceremony of this year’s Venice Film Festival, distributors and awards strategists will have just about picked their jaws off the floor after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled what must rank as one of its most radical rule changes in recent memory. The announcement in early August that the 91st Oscars telecast on February 24, 2019 will include an award for outstanding achievement in popular film came as a bolt out of the blue, taking even seasoned campaigners and studio executives by surprise.

Ostensibly a move by the Academy to make the ailing Oscars telecast seem more relevant to younger viewers, observers say the new category could damage the show’s reputation for championing smaller, independent films (which is not always the case — studio films get recognition too). Of greater concern is the possibility that whenever a studio tentpole transcends its genre roots and appears worthy of a shot at the senior Oscar categories, it will be exiled to a populist ghetto.

Eligibility requirements and further details on who will vote for the new Academy Award were not forthcoming at time of writing, but clearly Black Panther is the film that looks likely to be most affected. Marvel Studios/Disney executives are proud of their $1.3bn global smash, and it is understood they have been planning an awards push that encompasses not just crafts and major categories, but best picture and director for Ryan Coogler.

The industry consensus so far is that the Academy is being fuzzy-headed in its good intentions. It took notice when the #Oscarsowhite furore blew up a couple of years ago, and in the past 18 months has made overtures to the world outside, inviting a new intake of younger, more diverse, international entertainment professionals that would account for roughly one-fifth of global membership.

'Crazy Rich Asians' stays top in US

Crazy Rich Asians delivered one of the best second-weekend percentage drops for a wide-release film on 6.4% after Warner Bros expanded the theatre count by 142 to 3,526. The film also performed well internationally, buoyed by a string of impressive debuts in Southeast Asia.

STX’s R-rated human-puppet buddy movie The Happytime Murders starring Melissa McCarthy earned generally unfavourable reviews and disappointed on its debut, arriving at number three on $9.5m from 3,256 sites. The film reportedly cost $40m to produce excluding marketing.

Meanwhile the family adventure A.X.L. – which also failed to impress the critics – from the beleaguered Global Road just about broke into the top 10, arriving at number 10 on $2.8m from 1,710 venues. No production budget was available at time of writing.

Last week Screen broke the story that the theatrical production and distribution division of Global Road Entertainment, established by Donald Tang’s Tang Media Partners, is now in the hands of the banks as the company’s financial status declines and it faces bankruptcy.

The Meg held firm in second place and added $12.8m for $105.1m via Warner Bros, dropping 39.4% in its third weekend. Mission: Impossible – Fallout is closing in on $200m for Paramount and Skydance Media and held firm at number four after a 24.9% drop in its fifth weekend, adding $8.1m for $193.9m. In its fourth session Disney’s Christopher Robin fell 29.3% and held on to sixth place on $6.3m for $77.8m.

Eddie Murphy Expecting 10th Child With Paige Butcher

The couple are already parents to two-year-old Izzy.
Eddie Murphy is about to welcome a new member to his family. The actor is expecting a 10th child with partner and Australian actress Paige Butcher, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The couple are already parents to 2-year-old Izzy. Murphy has eight other children from previous relationships.

The news was first reported in several publications after Butcher was photographed with a visible baby bump.

Murphy's other children include 29-year-old Eric with Paulette McNeely; 28-year-old Bria, 25-year-old Miles Mitchell, 23-year-old Shayne Audra, 18-year-old Zola Ivy and 16-year-old Bella Zahra with ex-wife Nicole Mitchell Murphy; 27-year-old Christian with Tamara Hood; and 11-year-old Angel Iris with Mel B.

Murphy, who was last seen in the 2016 film Mr. Church, will soon play blaxploitation star Rudy Ray Moore in a movie for Netflix.

FBI Opens Investigation Into Hollywood's Notorious "Con Queen

The FBI and NYPD have opened investigations into the prolific scam artist impersonating Amy Pascal, Kathleen Kennedy and other top female execs — including one male suspect with a talent for female voice work.
FBI officials and the NYPD have opened investigations into the identity of a con artist who impersonates powerful female entertainment industry executives in order to scam industry workers, sources with knowledge of both operations tell The Hollywood Reporter.

The moves come after tips began pouring in following the publication of “Hunting the Con Queen of Hollywood” in THR on July 11, which detailed a privately funded investigation of the global scam and included two voice recordings of the alleged imposter in action.

The “Con Queen” has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars by impersonating female industry executives, including former Sony Pictures chair Amy Pascal, Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy and Homeland director Lesli Linka Glatter.

According to sources, there is some evidence to suggest that the “Queen” may in fact be a man.

At least one of the tips that investigators are actively pursuing involves a male con artist who appears able to disguise his voice to mimic the powerful women. Though investigators will not divulge details of the ongoing case, one person who has been briefed confirms to THR that a special unit within the NYPD is “working to confirm the identity of the scammer.” At the same time, the FBI has opened up a parallel investigation that spans the U.S., Europe and Asia. The NYPD and the FBI both declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the con appears to be continuing unabated. Two more high-profile women have been impersonated recently by the scammer, and more victims continue to emerge. One of the newly impersonated individuals is a successful Hollywood executive. The other is a high-net-worth public figure. Sources declined to reveal the identities of the women.

Last month’s THR investigation detailed the efforts of corporate security firm K2 Intelligence, a company hired by several of the impersonated executives.
The “Con Queen” ruse is centered around a cunning imposter who, perhaps with the help of a team of collaborators based in Indonesia and, possibly, the U.K., uses the personae of these powerful executives to persuade people in the industry — stylists, stuntmen, photographers and others — to travel to Indonesia with promises of work.

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Chicago pharmacy techs charged with stealing, selling hydrocodone

Two technicians at a Humboldt Park neighborhood pharmacy on the West Side have been indicted for stealing and selling more than 56,000 hydrocodone pills over two years.

Elizabeth Cruz, 33, and 27-year-old Jacqueline Green conspired to steal 56,108 pills between September 2015 and December 2017 when they worked at Allcare Discount Pharmacy, 2750 W. North Ave., according to an indictment returned last week in U.S. District Court.

Cruz, who lives in Stone Park, and Green, who lives in Chicago, allegedly falsified the pharmacy’s inventory to make it look like the pills had either been dispensed to patients or had never been received from the distributor, according to prosecutors. They then sold them outside of the pharmacy for a profit of about $10,800.

The indictment charges them each with conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to deliver, prosecutors said. They were arrested Aug. 9 and were expected to appear in court for detention hearings on Monday.

“Diversion of opioids contributes to addiction and illegal drug sales in our communities,” U.S. Attorney for the Norther District of Illinois John R. Lausch said in a statement. “Pharmacy employees who divert prescription drugs for their own profit will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

The charge against Cruz and Green carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.

17-year-old girl cuts off boyfriend’s manhood in Jigawa state Nigeria

Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence, NSCDC has arrested a 17-year-old girl, Ramatu Tafida, who cut off her 25-year-old boyfriend's penis in Babura Local Government Area of Jigawa State.
AC Adamu Shehu, the corps Spokesman in the state, who confirmed the incident to newsmen in Dutse on Saturday, identified the victim as Abdullahi Sabo, a resident of Kofar Gabas and a teacher at Government Girls Secondary School Babura engaged under N-Power.

“The incident occurred on Thursday in Babura when the attention of our officers was drawn by a good Samaritan who informed them that some youths were about to lynch a girl in Kofar Arewa, the residence of the suspect, to revenge for their friend," said Shehu.
“Immediately the officers swung into action and went to the scene and whisked the girl away to the office for safety, but they still followed her.
“It was upon reaching the office that we realised what led to the whole matter.

Europe's tallest skyscraper

The tallest building in Europe is nearly complete. Rising above a new waterfront complex in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Lakhta Center's tower stands at 462 meters (1,516 feet) tall, making it the city's first "supertall" building (one measuring 300 meters or above).
The structure is now the northernmost skyscraper in the world, according to its developers.
The 87-story tower twists a full 90 degrees from its foundation to its top, like a winding needle. This makes it one of the world's tallest examples of a "twisted" skyscraper design.
Its soaring height is offset by a lower mixed-use building with a 260-meter-long (853-foot-long) facade. Residential and commercial space will be installed up to a height of 360 meters (1,181 feet), above which an observation deck and restaurant will offer breathtaking views over the Gulf of Finland.

The Lakhta Center takes the title of Europe's tallest building from Moscow's Federation Tower, completed in 2017, which stands at 374 meters (1,227 feet). Moscow is also home to five of the next six entries in the list, interrupted only by London's Shard, which was briefly the continent's tallest in 2012, at 310 meters (1,016 feet) tall.

NASA blasts off historic spaceship to Sun

NASA on Sunday blasted off a $1.5 billion spacecraft toward the Sun on a historic mission to protect the Earth by unveiling the mysteries of dangerous solar storms.

“Three, two, one, and liftoff!” said a NASA commentator as the Parker Solar Probe lit up the dark night sky aboard a Delta IV-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 3:31 am (0731 GMT).

The unmanned spacecraft aims to get closer than any human-made object in history to the center of our solar system.

The probe is designed to plunge into the Sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona, during a seven-year mission.

It is protected by an ultra-powerful heat shield that can endure unprecedented levels of heat, and radiation 500 times that experienced on Earth.

– Strange veil –

NASA has billed the mission as the first spacecraft to “touch the Sun.”

Angry soldiers ground Maiduguri airport, threaten to shoot superiors

There is currently tension at the Maiduguri international airport in Borno state as angry soldiers are shooting indiscriminately to protest their deployment from the state capital to another local government.

The aggrieved soldiers reportedly arrived at the airport at 6pm ahead of their posting to Marte local government area.

But trouble started when they regrouped and refused to board the aircraft which ought to convey them there.

The soldiers who are of the special forces said after spending over four years in Maiduguri, they ought to be sent back to their families and not to be posted to face death.

Vermont exec would be nation's first transgender governor

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A former energy company executive from Vermont has a shot at becoming the nation's first transgender governor — but she says that's not the main reason she's running.

Christine Hallquist says that in the run-up to Tuesday's primary, people are finally beginning to pay attention to the race, but her status as a transgender woman isn't what's on their minds. Rather, she says, voters want to know what she can do to help them get higher-paying jobs, provide health care for their families and better educate their children.

So she's appealing to Vermonters with a progressive message that includes a livable wage, Medicare for all, free public college education and high-speed broadband access — even to those who live on remote back roads.

"That's how I want to be known in Vermont," Hallquist, 62, told The Associated Press in an interview at her Burlington offices. "Nationally, I want to be known as the first trans candidate."

It's working. The Victory Fund, a political action committee that backs LGBTQ candidates across the country, calls Hallquist a "game changer." If elected in November, Hallquist would become the first openly transgender governor in the country.

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Sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Steven Seagal and Anthony Anderson handed over to the LA district attorney's office

The sexual assault investigations involving shamed movie producer Harvey Weinstein, action movie star Steven Seagal and 'Black-ish' actor Anthony Anderson have been handed over to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office.

The DA's office confirmed on Thursday that it was reviewing the three cases.

Mail Online reported that the Los Angeles Police turned over the sex assault cases regarding Seagal and Anderson on Wednesday. A spokesman for the DA's office said both were still under review.

The Beverly Hills Police Department presented a third sex assault case involving Weinstein back in June. The case involving Weinstein brings the number under review by Los Angeles prosecutors to six.

But the DA's office didn't reveal more details of the allegations or when the alleged assaults took place.

Meanwhile, Weinstein has been charged in New York with three cases of sexual assault after more than 70 women accused him of sexual misconduct but he denied ever having non-consensual sex with anyone.

Federal judge blasts U.S., orders plane carrying deported mother and daughter to turn around

An angry federal judge ordered a plane carrying a mother and her daughter to turn around and head back to United States, hours after being whisked away by U.S. authorities before a court hearing on their deportation status could be finished.

“This is pretty outrageous,” U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said, according to the Washington Post. "That someone seeking justice in U.S. court is spirited away while her attorneys are arguing for justice for her? . . . I’m not happy about this at all. This is not acceptable.”

A Department of Homeland Security official said the agency was complying with the court’s order, according to NBC News. By Thursday evening, the mother and her daughter had landed in El Salvador. But they did not disembark and the plane immediately headed back to Texas, the DHS official said.

The mother in the case, identified in court papers only as "Carmen," is at the center of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenges a decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to exclude domestic and gang violence as reasons for immigrants to be granted asylum.

Sullivan, who sits on the U.S. court in the District of Columbia, threatened to hold Sessions in contempt of court.

The lawsuit seeks a stay of removal for immigrants who, the ACLU argues, could face "grave danger of being raped, beaten, or killed" in their home countries if they are forced to return to them.

"We are thrilled the stay of removal was issued but sickened that the government deported two of our clients — a mom and her little girl — in the early morning hours," said the ACLU's lead attorney on the case, Jennifer Chang Newell. "We will not rest until our clients are returned to safety."

The ACLU's lawsuit says Carmen and her daughter left their native El Salvador because they feared for their lives amid extortion attempts by gang members. Some of Carmen's friends and co-workers have already been murdered, the ACLU claims.

Under the fast-track removal system, created in 1996, asylum seekers are interviewed to determine whether they have a “credible fear” of returning home. Those who pass get a full hearing in immigration court.

Named in the ACLU's lawsuit are Sessions, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Lee Cissna and Executive Office for Immigration Review Director James McHenry.

Homeland Security's "credible fear" policy instructs authorities to deny asylum to immigrants fleeing domestic abuse and gang violence. Critics have blasted the new policy as an affront to human rights and a systemic attack on immigrant women.

A “credible fear” interview is a threshold screening that determines whether there is a “significant possibility” that an immigrant could show they are eligible for asylum in a full hearing with evidence, witnesses, and appeals. If so, they get that chance; if not, they are quickly removed from the United States, according to the ACLU.