EU approves $960 million in German aid for Infineon chips plant

Posted on by Coeco

BRUSSELS — The European Commission said Thursday it had approved 920 million-euro of German state aid, or $960 million, to Infineon Technologies for the construction of a new semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden.

The measure will allow Infineon to complete the MEGAFAB-DD project, which will be able to produce a wide range of different types of computer chips, the Commission said.

Chipmakers across the globe are pouring billions of dollars into new plants, as they take advantage of generous subsidies from the United States and the EU to keep the West ahead of China in developing cutting-edge semiconductor technology.

The European Commission has earmarked 15 billion euros for public and private semiconductor projects by 2030.

“This new manufacturing plant will bring flexible production capacity to the EU and thereby strengthen Europe’s security of supply, resilience and technological autonomy in semiconductor technologies, in line with the objectives set out in the European Chips Act,” the Commission said in a statement.

The Commission said the plant — which is slated to reach full capacity in 2031 — will be a front-end facility, covering wafer processing, testing and separation, adding that its chips will be used in industrial, automotive and consumer applications.

The aid will take the form of a direct grant of up to 920 million euros to Infineon to support its overall investment, amounting to 3.5 billion euros. Infineon, Germany’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, which was spun off from Siemens 25 years ago, has said the plant will be the largest single investment in its history.

Infineon has agreed with the EU to ensure the project will bring wider positive effects to the EU semiconductor value chain and invest in the research and development of the next generation of chips in Europe, the Commission said.

It will also contribute to crisis preparedness by committing to implement priority-rated orders in the case of a supply shortage, in line with the European Chips Act. 
…

your ads here!

First Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb discovered since King Tut’s

Posted on by Corts

Archaeologists in Egypt say they have unearthed the ancient tomb of King Thutmose II, the first discovery in 100 years of a tomb of an Egyptian royal.

The discovery near Luxor is the first of a pharaonic royal tomb since the treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb were found over a century ago in 1922, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said Tuesday.

Thutmose’s tomb was found west of the Valley of the Kings, one of the world’s most important archaeological sites and home to the burial sites of many ancient Egyptian royals and nobles, including Tutankhamun, also known as King Tut.

Thutmose, an ancestor of Tutankhamun, lived nearly 3,500 years ago. His wife, Queen Hatshepsut, was one of the few women known to have ruled Egypt. Her mortuary temple is on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, not far from where her husband’s tomb was found.

Thutmose was a king of ancient Egypt’s 18th dynasty. His tomb was the last undiscovered tomb of that group.

An archaeology team found the entrance to Thutmose’s tomb in October 2022, according to the online magazine Archaeology News, but they thought it was likely the burial site of a queen. As they dug deeper, they found inscriptions referring to Thutmose II as the “deceased king” and Hatshepsut.

The tomb flooded soon after the king’s burial, damaging most of its contents, but some funerary furniture was recovered. Egypt’s antiquities ministry said Tuesday the discovery of the tomb is “one of the most significant archaeological breakthroughs in recent years.”

Professor Mohamed Abdel-Badel, who heads Egypt’s Antiquities Sector, told Archaeology News that the team “recovered and restored fallen plaster fragments” that had blue inscriptions on them, including from the Book of the Amduat, which the website described as “a key funerary text used in royal burials.”

Thutmose’s tomb can now be listed among the wonders of ancient Egypt that draw hordes of tourists to the country. Last year, Egypt hosted 15.7 million tourists and aims to attract 18 million visitors in 2025, according to Agence France-Presse. Egypt may reach that goal with the long-awaited opening this year of the Grand Egyptian Museum at the foot of the legendary pyramids in Giza.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
…

your ads here!

VOA Mandarin: Chinese netizens prefer DeepSeek to Musk’s Grok 3

Posted on by Coeco

WASHINGTON — Chinese social media users are not impressed by the newly released AI model Grok 3 by Elon Musk’s xAI, retaining their preference and support for DeepSeek, the free China-made AI model that rivals leading Western competitors while costing significantly less to train.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
…

your ads here!

Does AI detect breast cancer better than doctors can?

Posted on by Coeco

A recent study found doctors were able to detect breast cancer more often when they used artificial intelligence to help read mammogram results. As VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports, AI helped boost the breast cancer detection rate by more than 17%.
…

your ads here!

Solar refrigerators in Kenya reduce food waste

Posted on by Coeco

NAIROBI, KENYA — Milk and egg vendor Caroline Mukundi has lost a lot of her stock in her years of selling fresh food at a Nairobi market.

Mukundi said she had no way to keep food fresh, and the cost of refrigerating was out of reach.

“The food would go bad,” she said, and she would have to throw it away. “It was a big challenge for me.”

Mukundi said her situation turned around when she acquired a solar-powered refrigerator.

The refrigerators, named Koolboks and manufactured in Kenya, are fitted with ice compartments that can chill food even without a source of power. The devices can keep food cool for up to four days without electricity, even with limited sunlight.

Customers can buy the refrigerators on a customized payment model, said Natalie Casey, chief business officer at the Koolboks startup company.

“They can be between 1,500 and 3,000 US dollars, because it includes not only the appliances but also the solar panels and battery storage to enable the continuous cooling,” she said. “We’ve decided what might be more accessible to them is to first pay a down payment between 20 and 35% of the total, and the customer can pay in installments of up to 24 months.”

Koolboks has sold about 7,000 solar-powered refrigerators.

Conventional refrigerators for businesses can cost anywhere from $11,000 to $100,000 or more, said Dorothy Otieno, program manager at the Center for Environmental Justice and Development.

“Some businesses, especially small businesses, are not able to afford it,” she said.

“We are looking at, for example, how businesses can be supported to get access to [the Koolboks refrigerators], especially for communities that are not able to afford,” she said.

The refrigerator was among dozens of innovations showcased at the recent Africa Tech Summit in Nairobi. The conference’s founder, Andrew Fassnidge, told VOA that such creations are crucial to solving local problems on the continent.

“What’s interesting with … Koolboks refrigeration is, if we look at the Covid vaccine, one of the biggest issues at the time was refrigeration, and it’s still an issue in most markets,” he said.

Koolboks markets a refrigerator specifically for vaccines.

The refrigerators could have an impact on climate change, too.

A 2024 survey by the U.N. Environmental Program showed Kenya has a high level of food waste, with annual waste ranging from 40 to 100 kilograms per person.

Environmentalists say high levels of organic waste worsen climate change, so preventing food waste can have an impact.
…

your ads here!

66 measles cases reported in US states of Texas, New Mexico

Posted on by Corts

Measles is making a comeback in the United States. 

Fifty-eight cases of the highly contagious disease were reported Tuesday by health officials in rural West Texas, while eight cases were confirmed in neighboring eastern New Mexico.  

Texas officials say the outbreak there, the largest in almost 30 years, is mainly confined to Gaines County, with 45 infections, but four other counties account for an additional 13 cases.   

The Texas measles cases, according to health officials, have occurred mainly among a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community. 

Authorities say at least three of the New Mexico cases are in counties that border Texas’ Gaines County. 

Earlier this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 14 measles cases across the country.  

Mayo Clinic describes measles as “a childhood infection caused by a virus. Once quite common, measles can now almost always be prevented with a vaccine … measles spreads easily and can be serious, and even fatal, for small children.” 

Measles is a respiratory virus that can survive in the air for two hours. As many as nine out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the CDC.  

However, in recent years, the necessity and safety of the vaccinations designed to prevent the disease have come under question, with some parents citing a now-discredited study that linked the measles vaccine to autism.  

Another unfortunate development in the fight against measles happened during the COVID-19 pandemic when many children missed their vaccinations. Los Angeles Cedars Sinai said in a statement in February 2024 that 61 million fewer doses of the measles vaccine were distributed nationwide from 2020 to 2022.  

Before the MMR vaccination, which addresses not only measles, but also mumps and rubella, was introduced in the U.S. in 1963, there were 3 million to 4 million measles cases every year.   

Now there are usually fewer than 200 cases per year, but pockets of measles persist in areas that still resist the vaccinations. The shots are first given to toddlers between 12 and 15 months and then again at 4 to 6 years of age.   
…

your ads here!

Trump signs order to study how to make IVF more accessible, affordable

Posted on by Corts

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to study how to expand access to in vitro fertilization and make it more affordable. 

The order calls for policy recommendations to “protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments,” according to the White House. On the campaign trail, Trump called for universal coverage of IVF treatment after his Supreme Court nominees helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, leading to a wave of restrictions in Republican-led states, including some that have threatened access to IVF by trying to define life as beginning at conception. 

Trump, who was at his Florida residence and club Mar-a-Lago, also signed another executive order and a presidential memorandum. The second executive order outlined the oversight functions of the Office of Management and Budget, while the presidential memorandum called for more transparency from the government, according to White House staff secretary Will Scharf, who Trump called to the podium to detail the orders. 

The order called for “radical transparency requirements” for the government, requiring it to detail the “waste, fraud and abuse” that’s found as the Department of Government Efficiency, overseen by Elon Musk, looks to cut government spending. 

DOGE has often fallen short of the administration’s promises of transparency. Musk has taken questions from journalists only once since becoming Trump’s most powerful adviser, and he’s claimed it’s illegal to name people who are working for him. Sometimes DOGE staff members have demanded access to sensitive government databases with little explanation. 

According to a fact sheet provided by the White House, Trump’s IVF order will focus on prioritizing whether there are any current policies “that exacerbate the cost of IVF treatments.” 

Last year, Trump declared public support for IVF after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. The decision, which some Republicans and conservatives cheered, touched off immediate backlash. 

Families ‘appreciative,’ says Trump

On the campaign trail, IVF quickly became a talking point for Trump, who said he strongly supports its availability. 

In vitro fertilization offers a possible solution when a woman has trouble getting pregnant. The procedure involves retrieving her eggs and combining them in a lab dish with a man’s sperm to create a fertilized embryo, which is then transferred into the woman’s uterus in an attempt to create a pregnancy. IVF is done in cycles, and more than one may be required. 

“I think the women and families, husbands, are very appreciative of it,” Trump said in brief remarks on the order, before he took questions on a variety of topics. 

Trump, who spent the morning at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, spoke to reporters hours before his first joint TV interview with adviser Elon Musk airs in prime time. 

Trump and Musk gave their first joint interview to Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel. The interview was taped on Friday at the White House and is set to air as Musk leads Trump’s effort to cut federal spending and slash the federal workforce. 

Musk has drawn criticism from Democrats in Congress and others for the methods he and his team at DOGE are using to cut spending, including foreign aid, and eliminate jobs across the bureaucracy. 

The Fox News interview also follows Musk’s appearance with Trump in the Oval Office last week, when both defended Musk’s approach to federal cost-cutting. 

In an excerpt from the interview that Fox News released on Sunday, Musk said he “used to be adored by the left” but “less so these days” because of the work he’s doing at Trump’s direction. 

“They call it Trump derangement syndrome. You don’t realize how real this is until you can’t reason with people,” Musk said, adding that normal conversations with Democrats about the president are difficult because “it’s like they’ve become completely irrational.” 

Event celebrates ‘American Exceptionalism’

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club is the setting Tuesday night for an awards program by America’s Future, a conservative group led by Mike Flynn, who briefly served as national security adviser in the Republican president’s first term. The program aims to preserve individual rights and promote American values and traditions, according to its website. The event, called Celebrate American Exceptionalism 2025, will honor one member from the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force and the Space Force. 

The event includes a poolside reception, musical performances and dinner in Mar-a-Lago’s Grand Ballroom, where other award presentations are expected from a lineup that includes such names as comedian Russell Brand, singer Ted Nugent and former pro boxer Mike Tyson. 

It’s unclear whether Trump will participate in the event. 
…

your ads here!

Pakistan set to host first major cricket event in three decades

Posted on by Corts

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan is ready to host the International Cricket Council Champions Trophy 2025 on Wednesday, with eight teams coming together for a major cricketing event in the country for the first time in three decades.

Pakistan last hosted a men’s Cricket World Cup in 1996 under the International Cricket Council.

The Champions Trophy will see players from Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand Pakistan, and South Africa compete over almost three weeks, with the final scheduled for March 9.

All the teams except India will play in three stadiums across Pakistan. All matches involving India will be staged in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, after the Indian cricket board refused to send the team to the archrival country, citing security concerns.

Afghanistan’s cricket team faced boycott calls from politicians in England and South Africa, who did not want their cricket boards to play the team because of the Afghan Taliban’s severe restrictions on women’s mobility, education and ability to work.

The cricket series begins in Pakistan’s biggest metropolis, Karachi, with the host team playing New Zealand.

Long wait for this opportunity

International cricket dried up in Pakistan after a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan national team in Lahore injured six players. Six Pakistani police officers and two passersby were killed. The incident deprived Pakistan of the chance to host the 2009 Champions Trophy and the 2011 Men’s Cricket World Cup.

International cricket returned with Zimbabwe’s visit in 2015. Since 2019, several major foreign teams have played in Pakistan.

For the nation of cricket lovers, attending a large event at home after more than a decade is nothing short of a dream come true.

“It’s the biggest event for us since 2009, so we are very excited,” said Mohsin Ali. Ali told VOA he paid just over $10 for a ticket to see Pakistan face Bangladesh on Feb. 27 in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad.

“Pakistani team would play overseas, and we would watch it on TV, which wasn’t much fun,” said Ubaid Hassan, who was a child when international teams shunned Pakistan. Hassan, a captain of the cricket team in his village, has tickets to two matches.

Tight security for the event

Pakistan is deploying almost 20,000 police officials and personnel across Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi for security on game days, with snipers deployed on buildings surrounding the stadiums.

The security situation remains poor in Pakistan with near daily deadly militant attacks in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces. However, the country’s eastern province of Punjab and the southern province of Sindh, where the matches will be played, remain largely calm.

Still, in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, paramilitary troops and the military will be on standby to respond to security emergencies during the event.

Players are receiving state guest-level security. That means a heavy police contingent at hotels where teams are staying, with their travel routes cleared of all traffic. Only personnel with security clearances are allowed to interact with them.

Muhammad Waqas, deputy inspector general of operations for the Punjab police, told VOA that since the 2009 attack, “sports security and security of international events has become very important for us.”

“Even the slightest administrative lapse will cause embarrassment at a very large level, and if we do a good job and manage things efficiently, the same positive impression will go to a billion odd people,” Waqas said. “That is why it’s extremely important and is being planned and monitored at the highest level.”

Fans coming to the stadium will go through several layers of security, including metal detectors and pat downs. Each ticket bears the name and national identity card number of the buyer.

Could be good for nation’s image

While it’s not clear how many visas have been issued to foreign fans, cricket experts in Pakistan say the event will help improve the country’s image, which has suffered partly because of a lack of international exposure.

“When you don’t have tourists, then people will not know how your country is and people will keep thinking poorly of Muslims and Pakistanis,” said Tauqir Zia, former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Although India’s absence from Pakistan’s grounds is a disappointment for many Pakistani cricket lovers who wanted to see the sport’s biggest rivalry play out at home, some say the arrival of other cricketing powers is a vote of confidence.

“Six countries coming to play here is a very big victory for Pakistan. If India doesn’t come, it’s not stopping cricket. The game is still happening,” said cricket journalist Umar Farooq.

The final will be played in Pakistan, unless India qualifies to play the last match, in which case the event will take place in Dubai.

Pakistan has spent millions of dollars in recent months to upgrade the stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

Former Pakistani cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed said he hopes the arrival of heavyweights will usher in a new era for international cricket in the country.

“It’s the first step,” said Ahmed, who is a spin bowling coach for Bangladesh. “I am very hopeful that this will open more doors.”

VOA Urdu’s Naveed Naseem contributed to this report.
…

your ads here!

Uganda discharges last Ebola patients; No new deaths from contagious virus reported 

Posted on by Corts

KAMPALA — Uganda discharged on Tuesday the last eight patients who recovered from Ebola, health authorities reported, and there were no other positive cases in the outbreak declared last month. 

World Health Organization described the recoveries as a milestone that “reflects the power of Uganda’s quick and coordinated response.” 

Most of the Ebola patients were treated at the main referral facility in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. 

The lone Ebola victim was a male nurse who died the day before the outbreak was declared in Kampala on Jan. 30. His relatives are among those later hospitalized with Ebola. 

Tracing contacts is key to stemming the spread of Ebola, which manifests as a viral hemorrhagic fever. Ugandan officials documented at least 265 contacts, and at least 90 of them have completed a period of quarantine during which they were monitored for signs of Ebola, Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng told reporters in Kampala. 

There are no approved vaccines for the Sudan strain of Ebola in Uganda’s outbreak. But authorities have launched a clinical study to further test the safety and efficacy of a trial vaccine as part of measures to stop the spread of Ebola. 

The last outbreak of Ebola in Uganda, which began in September 2022, killed at least 55 people by the time it was declared over four months later. 

Ebola is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding. 

Scientists suspect that the first person infected in an Ebola outbreak acquires the virus through contact with an infected animal or eating its raw meat. Ebola was discovered in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks in South Sudan and Congo, where it occurred in a village near the Ebola River, after which the disease is named.
…

your ads here!

Philippines reports intrusions targeting intelligence data

Posted on by Coeco

Manila, Philippines — The Philippines has detected foreign attempts to access intelligence data, but its cyber minister said on Tuesday no breaches have been recorded so far.

Attempts to steal data are wide-ranging, said minister for information and communications Ivan Uy. Advanced Persistent Threats or APTs have repeatedly attempted but failed to infiltrate government systems, suggesting the country’s cyber-defenses have held firm.

APTs are a general term for cyber actors or groups, often state-backed, that engage in malicious cyber activities.

“These have been present for quite some time, and threats come from many actors, but a big majority of them are foreign,” Uy told Reuters.

Some of these threats, which Uy referred to as “sleepers,” had been embedded in systems before being exposed by government’s cyber security efforts.

“Why are these things operating in those systems, without even anybody calling it out?,” he said.

So far, the government has not seen any cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, he said.

“Hopefully it’s because our cyber defenses and cyber security are strong enough,” he said.

Uy acknowledged the difficulty of attributing cyber intrusions to specific attackers, as they sometimes leave misleading digital traces.

However, the government is working through diplomatic channels and sharing intelligence with the military, including with other countries, to validate threats and strengthen defenses, he said.

Last year, the Philippine said it thwarted attempts by hackers operating in China to break into websites and e-mail systems of the Philippine president and government agencies, including one promoting maritime security.

Uy described the escalating cyber threats as part of a global arms race, where nations and criminal organizations exploit digital vulnerabilities for financial or strategic gain.

“World War III is happening and it is cyber,” Uy said. “These weapons are non-kinetic. They are cyber, digital, virtual, but it’s happening. The attacks and defenses are happening as we speak, without any physical manifestation.”

Beyond cyberattacks, Uy has also flagged a surge in deepfakes and what he referred to as “fake news media outlets” aiming to manipulate public opinion ahead of the Philippines’ mid-term elections in May, and the ministry has deployed tools to combat them.

“Misinformation and disinformation are riskier with respect to democracies like ours, because we rely on elections, and elections are based on personal opinion,” Uy said.
…

your ads here!

Saturday Night Live celebrates 50 years

Posted on by Corts

“Saturday Night Live” has been a staple of American television comedy for 50 years, launching stars and shaping culture. On Sunday night, fans and famous alumni gathered in New York City to celebrate this milestone. Aron Ranen reports from the Big Apple.
…

your ads here!

New downloads of DeepSeek suspended in South Korea, data protection agency says

Posted on by Coeco

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korea’s data protection authority on Monday said new downloads of the Chinese AI app DeepSeek had been suspended in the country after DeepSeek acknowledged failing to take into account some of the agency’s rules on protecting personal data.

The service of the app will be resumed once improvements are made in accordance with the country’s privacy law, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said in a media briefing.

The measure that came into force on Saturday aims to block new downloads of the app, the agency said, though DeepSeek’s web service remains accessible in the country.

The Chinese startup appointed legal representatives last week in South Korea and had acknowledged partially neglecting considerations of the country’s data protection law, the PIPC said.

Italy’s data protection authority, the Garante, said last month it had ordered DeepSeek to block its chatbot in the country after failing to address the regulator’s concerns over its privacy policy.

DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When asked about earlier moves by South Korean government departments to block DeepSeek, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told a briefing on February 6 that the Chinese government attached great importance to data privacy and security and protected it in accordance with the law.

The spokesperson also said Beijing would never ask any company or individual to collect or store data in breach of laws.
…

your ads here!

Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter open the ‘Saturday Night Live’ 50th anniversary celebration

Posted on by Corts

NEW YORK — Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter opened the 50th anniversary special celebrating “Saturday Night Live” with a duet of his song “Homeward Bound.”

The 83-year-old Simon has been a constant on “SNL” since its earliest episodes in 1975 and performed on the first show after the 9/11 attack. He was joined by the 25-year-old pop sensation of the moment, Carpenter.

“I sang this song with George Harrison on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1976,” Simon said.

“I was not born then,” Carpenter said, getting a laugh. “And neither were my parents,” she added, getting a bigger laugh.

Fifty seasons of “Saturday Night Live” sketches, songs and special guests are being celebrated for the special’s landmark anniversary in a Sunday night special.

The pop culture juggernaut has launched the careers of generations of comedians, from Bill Murray to Eddie Murphy and Tina Fey to Kristen Wiig.

Many of those stars were on hand for “SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration,” airing live from New York, of course.

“I grew up with the show, you know, and I was born in 1971, and it’s lived with me my whole life,” Amy Poehler, who was a cast member from 2001 to 2008,” said on Sunday ahead of the show’s start. “We have a show to do in just under two hours, and being back is an amazing privilege.”

The three-hour extravaganza comes after months of celebrations of “Saturday Night Live,” which premiered Oct. 11, 1975, with an original cast that included John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner.

“After the original cast, we were just going, Those guys just did it all for us,” Adam Sandler, a cast member from 1990-1995, said before the show. “They crushed it. We watched them at home. They made their movies. We worshiped their movies. And that’s all. What we wanted to do is just kind of continue that sort of stuff.”

It’s become appointment television over the years as the show has skewered presidents, politics and pop culture and been a platform for the biggest musical stars of the moment. As streaming has altered television viewing, “SNL” sketches, host monologues and short comedy films remain popular on social media and routinely rack up millions of views on YouTube.

While NBC has revealed some of the stars expected to appear, many of the special’s moments, cameos and music performances remain a surprise.

On Sunday, NBC announced more guest appearances including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Leslie Jones, Billy Crystal, Cher, Mike Myers and Alec Baldwin, who holds the title of the person who’s hosted “SNL” the most times.

 
…

your ads here!

Scientists race to discover depth of ocean damage from Los Angeles wildfires

Posted on by Corts

Los Angeles — On a recent Sunday, Tracy Quinn drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to assess damage wrought upon the coastline by the Palisades Fire.

The water line was darkened by ash. Burnt remnants of washing machines and dryers and metal appliances were strewn about the shoreline. Sludge carpeted the water’s edge. Waves during high tide lapped onto charred homes, pulling debris and potentially toxic ash into the ocean as they receded.

“It was just heartbreaking,” said Quinn, president and CEO of the environmental group Heal the Bay, whose team has reported ash and debris some 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the Palisades burn area west of Los Angeles.

As crews work to remove potentially hundreds of thousands of tons of hazardous materials from the Los Angeles wildfires, researchers and officials are trying to understand how the fires on land have impacted the sea. The Palisades and Eaton fires scorched thousands of homes, businesses, cars and electronics, turning everyday items into hazardous ash made of pesticides, asbestos, plastics, lead, heavy metals and more.

Since much of it could end up in the Pacific Ocean, there are concerns and many unknowns about how the fires could affect life under the sea.

“We haven’t seen a concentration of homes and buildings burned so close to the water,” Quinn said.

Fire debris and potentially toxic ash could make the water unsafe for surfers and swimmers, especially after rainfall that can transport chemicals, trash and other hazards into the sea. Longer term, scientists worry if and how charred urban contaminants will affect the food supply.

The atmospheric river and mudslides that pummeled the Los Angeles region last week exacerbated some of those fears.

When the fires broke out in January, one of Mara Dias’ first concerns was ocean water contamination. Strong winds were carrying smoke and ash far beyond the blazes before settling at sea, said the water quality manager for the Surfrider Foundation, an environmental nonprofit.

Scientists on board a research vessel during the fires detected ash and waste on the water as far as 100 miles (161 kilometers) offshore, said marine ecologist Julie Dinasquet with the University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Things like twigs and shard. They described the smell as electronics burning, she recalled, “not like a nice campfire.”

Runoff from rain also is a huge and immediate concern. Rainfall picks up contaminants and trash while flushing toward the sea through a network of drains and rivers. That runoff could contain “a lot of nutrients, nitrogen and phosphate that end up in the ash of the burn material that can get into the water,” said Dias, as well as “heavy metals, something called PAHs, which are given off when you burn different types of fuel.”

Mudslides and debris flows in the Palisades Fire burn zone also can dump more hazardous waste into the ocean. After fires, the soil in burn scars is less able to absorb rainfall and can develop a layer that repels water from the remains of seared organic material. When there is less organic material to hold the soil in place, the risks of mudslides and debris flows increase.

Los Angeles County officials, with help from other agencies, have set thousands of feet of concrete barriers, sandbags, silt socks and more to prevent debris from reaching beaches. The LA County Board of Supervisors also recently passed a motion seeking state and federal help to expand beach clean ups, prepare for storm runoff and test ocean water for potential toxins and chemicals, among other things.

Beyond the usual samples, state water officials and others are testing for total and dissolved metals such as arsenic, lead and aluminum and volatile organic compounds.

They also are sampling for microplastics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, that are harmful to human and aquatic life, and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a group of man-made chemicals shown to cause cancer in animals and other serious health effects. Now banned from being manufactured, they were used in products like pigments, paints and electrical equipment.

County public health officials said chemical tests of water samples last month did not raise health concerns, so they downgraded one beach closure to an ocean water advisory. Beachgoers were still advised to stay out of the water.

Dinasquet and colleagues are working to understand how far potentially toxic ash and debris dispersed across the ocean, how deep and how fast they sunk and, over time, where it ends up.

Forest fires can deposit important nutrients like iron and nitrogen into the ocean ecosystem, boosting the growth of phytoplankton, which can create a positive, cascading effect across the ecosystem. But the potentially toxic ash from urban coastal fires could have dire consequences, Dinasquet said.

“Reports are already showing that there was a lot of lead and asbestos in the ash,” she added. “This is really bad for people so it’s probably also very bad for the marine organisms.”
…

your ads here!

Colombian superstar Shakira cancels concert in Lima after being hospitalized

Posted on by Corts

Lima, Peru — Colombian superstar Shakira canceled her Sunday concert in Lima after being hospitalized with an abdominal condition, the singer said.

Shakira shared a statement on her Instagram and X accounts Sunday afternoon, saying she is currently hospitalized and that doctors informed her she was not in condition to perform.

“I am very sad that I will not be able to take the stage today. I have been deeply emotional and excited about reuniting with my beloved Peruvian audience,” she said.

The singer arrived in Peru Friday evening, where she was scheduled to perform Sunday and Monday. The country is the second stop on her Latin America tour, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, following two nights in Brazil last week.

Latin fans have given Shakira a warm welcome, with crowds gathering at airports to greet her. “Thank you for such an emotional welcome, Lima!” she posted Saturday on Instagram.

In her statement, Shakira said she hopes to recover soon. “My plan is to perform this show as soon as possible. My team and the promoter are already working on a new date,” she said.

The singer is touring in support of her latest album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, in which she channels her highly publicized divorce into music. The record includes the global hit “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” and won Best Latin Pop Album at the 2024 Grammy Awards earlier this month.

Shakira’s tour continues across Latin America before heading to Canada and the U.S. in May for a series of concerts through June.
…

your ads here!

‘Conclave’ leads the pack, ‘Emilia Perez’ faces test at Britain’s BAFTA film awards

Posted on by Corts

London — Stars including Cynthia Erivo, Hugh Grant, Ariana Grande, Lupita Nyong’o, Timothee Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan walked the red carpet at London’s Royal Festival Hall for the awards, known as BAFTAs.

The prizes are closely watched for clues about who will triumph at Hollywood’s Academy Awards on March 3, in an unusually hard-to-call awards season.

They also have a distinctly British accent. The ceremony kicked off with its kilt-wearing host, Scottish actor David Tennant, leading the audience in a rousing singalong of The Proclaimers’ anthem “I’m Gonna be (500 Miles).”

The best film contenders are “Conclave,” “Emilia Perez,” Brady Corbet’s 215-minute architecture epic ” The Brutalist,” the James Mangold-directed Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” and Sean Baker’s Brighton Beach tragicomedy “Anora.”

“Anora,” about an exotic dancer entangled with a Russian oligarch’s son, is emerging as a best picture favorite after winning the top prizes last week at the Producers Guild Awards and the Directors Guild Awards.

“The Brutalist” has nine BAFTA nominations, while “Anora,” the sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two” and musical “Wicked” have seven each. “A Complete Unknown” and Irish-language hip-hop drama “Kneecap” received six nominations apiece.

Nominees in the category of outstanding British film include Andrea Arnold’s “Bird,” Steve McQueen’s “Blitz,” Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” and animated adventure “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” which won the award for best family and children’s film.

The leading actor favorite is “The Brutalist” star Adrien Brody, who faces stiff competition from Fiennes and Chalamet, who plays the young Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.”

The other male actors nominated are Grant for his creepy role in the horror film “ Heretic,” Colman Domingo in real-life prison drama “ Sing Sing ” and Sebastian Stan for his portrayal of a young Donald Trump in “The Apprentice.”

Stan, who is also Oscar nominated, said it was “incredibly validating” to get recognition for the film, which initially struggled to find an American distributor. It’s an origins story that focuses on Trump’s relationship with ruthless power broker Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong.

“We were told this was going to be a thankless job that was never going to lead to anything,” Stan said, describing the movie as a “fair” depiction of the president.

Whoever takes the best actress award will be a first-time BAFTA winner.

Nominees are Gascon, Demi Moore for body-horror film “ The Substance,” Mikey Madison for “Anora,” Ronan for “The Outrun,” Erivo for “Wicked” and Marianne Jean-Baptiste for the Mike Leigh drama “Hard Truths.” Erivo or Jean-Baptiste would be the first non-white performer to win the leading actress BAFTA.

British stars on the red carpet had high praise for Jean-Baptiste’s blistering performance as a woman beset by depression, and for Moore, already a Golden Globe winner for “The Substance.”

“I’m very excited for Demi Moore tonight,” said “Game of Thrones” and “Severance” star Gwendoline Christie. She said Moore’s “visceral” performance “transcends so many different boundaries.”

What’s new and where to watch

Britain’s film academy introduced changes to increase the awards’ diversity in 2020, when no women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white.

Most winners are chosen by members of the 8,000-strong U.K. academy of industry professionals, with one — the Rising Star Award —- selected by public vote from a short list of nominees. This year’s contenders are performers Mikey Madison, Marisa Abela, Jharrel Jerome, David Jonsson and Nabhaan Rizwan.

“Willow” and “Return of the Jedi” actor Warwick Davis will receive the academy’s top honor, the BAFTA Fellowship, for his screen career and work to create a more inclusive film industry.

BAFTA chairwoman Sara Putt sent a message of strength to everyone hit by last month’s devastating Los Angeles wildfires. Jamie Lee Curtis, a supporting actress nominee for “The Last Showgirl,” was absent because the fires delayed filming on her current work. Co-star Pamela Anderson will accept the prize for Curtis if she wins.

The event was without a dash of royal glamour this year. Neither Prince William, who is honorary president of the British film academy, nor his wife Kate, is attending. The awards coincide with school holidays for their three children.

The show will include a performance by grown-up boyband Take That, whose 2008 hit “Greatest Day” features on the “Anora” soundtrack. “Wicked” wizard Jeff Goldblum will play piano during the ceremony’s tribute to people who have died in the past year.

The ceremony airs on BBC in the United Kingdom and BritBox in North America and started at 1900 GMT (2 p.m. EST).
…

your ads here!

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ soars toward $100 million holiday weekend

Posted on by Corts

“Captain America: Brave New World” infused some blockbuster cash into the North American box office, bringing in $88.5 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney Co. release is by far the biggest opener of 2025 and the company predicts it will hit $100 million domestically and $192.4 globally by the end of Monday’s Presidents’ Day holiday.

It’s Marvel’s first major release since “Deadpool & Wolverine” broke records last summer and re-energized a Marvel fanbase that some worried was weakening after the poor showing for “The Marvels.”

Playing in 4,105 locations in the U.S. and Canada, “Brave New World” is also a major transition for the “Captain America” brand: Anointing Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson as the new Cap, officially taking over from Chris Evans, who played the character for almost a decade. Harrison Ford co-stars as the U.S. president who transforms into the Red Hulk.

But “Brave New World,” directed by Julius Onah, had a bit of a handicap going into the weekend: Poor reviews, though superhero movies can soar without the stamp of approval from critics. The film is currently sitting at 51% “rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s not the worst in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — “Eternals” has a 47% rating and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” has a 46% — but the latest film is on the very low end of the spectrum.

In his review for The Associated Press, Mark Kennedy wrote that it is, “a highly processed, empty calorie, regret-later candy of a movie.”

Audiences were more generous in their opinions. The “verified audience score” from Rotten Tomatoes was 80% and its CinemaScore was a B-. Exit polls showed that men made up 63% of the opening weekend audience.

The bar for biggest opening of the year wasn’t terribly high: “Dog Man” held the title for two weeks with its $36 million launch.

And “Brave New World’s” showing is the middle range for an MCU film. Not accounting for inflation, it sits between “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Thor: The Dark World.”

It also cost significantly less than many of the big budget Marvel movies, with a reported production price tag of $180 million, excluding the millions spent on marketing and promotion.

After only one Marvel movie in 2024, “Brave New World” is the first of three major theatrical releases set for 2025. It is to be followed by “Thunderbolts(asterisk)” in May and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” in July.

“The superhero genre has taken a hit over the past few years, but audiences still have a huge interest in seeing them on the big screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.

Second place at this week’s box office went to “Paddington in Peru,” the third installment in the beloved franchise, which finally opened in North America this weekend. Released by Sony, it earned an estimated $13 million and should hit $16 million by Monday. The StudioCanal film opened in the United Kingdom in early November 2024 and went into the weekend with $104 million from its international run.

Dougal Wilson took over directing duties for Paul King for this film, which also recast Emily Mortimer as Mrs. Brown, originally played by Sally Hawkins. The other main cast, including Ben Whishaw as Paddinton’s voice, remained intact.

Sony and Screen Gems’ slasher “Heart Eyes” landed in third place with $10 million, up 20% from its opening last weekend. Fourth place went to “Dog Man” with $9.7 million.

The Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha 2″ rounded out the top five. It opened on 660 screens in North America and made $7.2 million. Overall, the box office is up 20% from last year.

This weekend also saw the release of a new “Bridget Jones” movie, subtitled “Mad About the Boy,” which went straight to Universal’s streaming service Peacock, forgoing theaters in the U.S. In the U.K. and Ireland, it made an estimated $14.9 million, outgrossing “Captain America: Brave New World.” Universal Pictures International reported $32.3 million in grosses from all 70 territories.

The final domestic figures will be released Tuesday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

  1. “Captain America: Brave New World,” $88.5 million.

  2. “Paddington in Peru,” $13 million.

  3. “Heart Eyes,” $10 million.

  4. “Dog Man,” $9.7 million.

  5. “Ne Zha 2,” $7.2 million.

  6. “Love Hurts,” $4.4 million.

  7. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” $4.2 million.

  8. “One of Them Days,” $3 million.

  9. “Companion,” $1.9 million.

  10. “Becoming Led Zeppelin,” $1.8 million.
    …

your ads here!

Iran’s early recordings revive forgotten sound heritage

Posted on by Corts

TEHRAN, IRAN — In a century-old building in Tehran, Saeed Anvarinejad turned the dial of a vintage radio to tune into some of Iran’s earliest recorded sounds, some serving as reminders of the seismic changes that shaped the country’s history.

Along with a team of fellow enthusiasts, he spent months tracking down the earliest recordings of Iranian music, speeches, interviews, theatrical plays, radio broadcasts and even the hum of daily life from more than a century ago up to the present day.

“Sound is a phenomenon we pay little attention to … although it’s very important,” said Anvarinejad, one of the organizers of the “SoundScape” exhibition.

And “the era of early sound recording in Iran is a very important time in the socio-political history of the country.”

He highlighted the emotional power of early voice recordings, saying they captured “in a very raw and pure way … the feeling that people have at that moment,” unlike written records.

According to Anvarinejad, the oldest surviving sound recordings from Iran date back to 1898 and 1899, during the reign of Mozaffar al-Din Shah of the Qajar dynasty, which reigned over the country from the late 18th to the early 20th century.

His rule saw the unfolding of the Constitutional Revolution, a pivotal moment in Iran’s political transformation that established a parliament and constitutional monarchy.

“It was a time when … a new order was taking shape in the Iranian mind and very important things were happening politically, socially and culturally,” he added.

“We thought it would be good to have a new approach to the sound (from that time) and engage audiences with it.”

Upon tuning the wooden-framed antique radio, a chilling broadcast announced the overthrow of prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953, who had pushed for the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry sparking a coup d’etat orchestrated by the United States and Britain.

“This is Tehran! Good news! Good news! People of the cities of Iran, be awake and alert, the traitor Mosaddegh has fled!” crackled the voice of a radio anchor.

‘Mysterious void’

Other audio included Iran’s first recorded call to prayer in either 1912 or 1913, and the 1959 report on the death of Qamar, the first woman singer to perform in public in the country.

One striking installation at the exhibition involved a mechanical device mounted on a concrete wall with gears, chains, wheels and a lever which played old recordings of the stringed tar instrument through retro telephone handsets.

Another, Mowj Negar, featured printed sound waves arranged in three rows on one wall, with a metal device which moved along the waves.

When moved, the device activates melodies from the Qajar and early Pahlavi (1925-79) eras that once echoed through Iran’s grand palaces and bustling city streets.

Nearby stood a wooden cabinet named “The Silent Closet,” displaying a series of photos from the World War I -— but without a single accompanying sound.

“There are no sound recordings from Iran during this period, not because technology was unavailable, but likely because the country was in such turmoil that recording sound was not a priority,” said Atabak Axon, another exhibition organizer.

“There was a 12-year silence that remains a mysterious void in Iran’s auditory history.”

For centuries, sound has played a central role in Persian culture, connecting belief with poetry and identity.

For 21-year-old Sarvin Faizian, visiting the exhibition with friends was a deeply moving experience “as if I was experiencing my parents’ past.”

Similarly, Fatemeh Sadeghi described feeling overwhelmed by nostalgia, while 63-year-old Kamran Asadi found the exhibition unexpectedly personal.

“It is a very good and intimate atmosphere for me,” he said, lingering on an old song playing in the background.

“It is good for the younger generation to learn where Iran’s heritage of music and art came from.” 
…

your ads here!

Fistfights, anthem boos in stormy US-Canada ice hockey clash

Posted on by Corts

MONTREAL — Three fights in the first nine seconds and a chorus of deafening boos for the US national anthem marked a stormy ice hockey clash between the United States and Canada in Montreal on Saturday.

An emotionally charged showdown between the star-studded lineups of the North American rivals — which comes against a backdrop of political tension between the two neighboring countries — erupted into violence from the opening puck drop at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

The U.S. squad clinched a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final Thursday at Boston with a 3-1 victory, but the result was almost a footnote to the mayhem that marked the start of a game played before a fiercely partisan Canadian crowd.

With Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the crowd, home fans booed The Star-Spangled Banner before the game, catcalls that have become a regular feature at NHL and NBA games in Canada since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian goods crossing U.S. borders.

Then came three fights in nine seconds.

“I just think it’s very indicative of what this means to the players,” U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said. “There’s two teams out there that are very competitive, that have a ton of pride for their respective teams and their countries.

“For me, when you have an investment in trying to win like the way that it occurred — I think that’s an indication of it. What an incredible hockey game.”

Canada coach Jon Cooper, the two-time Stanley Cup champion coach for Tampa Bay who will guide the Canadian 2026 Olympic team, said the melee in the first moments was not prearranged.

“It wasn’t planned,” Cooper said. “That wasn’t two coaches throwing guys over and saying ‘This is happening’ — none of that happened. That was as organic as it gets.”

At the opening puck drop, the gloves came off for real on the ice as Canada’s Brandon Hagel and Matthew Tkachuk of the United States began swinging punches as the crowd went wild and teammates skated back to give the brawlers a clear stage at center ice.

Referees restored order, sent the combatants to the penalty box and tried to restart the game, only for Canada’s Sam Bennett and Brady Tkachuk of the Americans to drop their gloves and trade punches until officials could break them apart, Tkachuk following his brother into the penalty box.

The game was restarted but only got to nine seconds before American J.T. Miller and Canada’s Colton Parayko began the third and final fight.

‘Jacked up’

Asked about U.S. players having agreed on the fight-filled start beforehand on a group chat, Sullivan said he was unaware of such a move.

“These guys care very much about winning,” he said. “Brady and Matthew, they play the game with so much emotion — and they’re leaders in so many ways.

“It’s just an indication of how much these guys care and how bad they want to win. I was not aware of it. Obviously, there’s a lot of energy around this game. I knew we were going to be jacked up to play.”

Top NHL players from the United States and Canada had not faced off against each other for their home nations since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the league’s best traditionally skipping the world championships and the NHL having chosen not to send its players to the 2018 PyeongChang or 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

“It was probably I guess 10 years of no international hockey exhaled in a minute and a half,” Cooper said.

The intense drama continued once the game began in earnest with Canada going ahead on Connor McDavid’s goal 5:31 into the first period.

But the Americans equalized on Jake Guentzel’s goal at 10:15 of the first period and the U.S. went ahead to stay on Dylan Larkin’s tally at 13:33 of the second period. The Americans sealed the triumph on Guentzel’s empty-net goal with 1:19 remaining in the third period. 
…

your ads here!

Chad officials seal schools as measles epidemic hits poor district

Posted on by Corts

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — Chad health officials have sealed several dozen schools, sent thousands of children and their teachers home, and restricted movements to and from the Bologo district — 400 kilometers south of the capital, N’djamena — to contain a measles epidemic. Officials blame vaccine hesitancy for the rapid measles spread within the past two weeks.

State TV reports that thousands of children in Chad’s Bologo district have been ordered to stay home for a week as their schools remain closed to prevent measles from spreading. Many churches and mosques in the district are closed too.

About 50 cases of measles were confirmed within the past two weeks, said Oumar Mahamat Traore, chief health official in Bologo, appointed by Chad’s central government in N’djamena.

He said the situation is very concerning because all seven of the hospitals in Bologo district have at least five children receiving treatment for measles. He said parents should make sure all children having high fever, runny nose, red and watery eyes and rashes on their faces and bodies accompanied by small white spots inside the mouth are immediately rushed to the nearest hospital, where they will receive free treatment.

Traore spoke to VOA on Saturday by telephone. He said it is difficult to know the number of children affected by the measles epidemic because more than 80% of civilians in Bologo prefer African traditional medicine and go to conventional hospitals only in critical circumstances.

Hospitals have not reported any deaths, but some affected children are in critical condition, according to government officials.

Chad’s government said health workers have been dispatched to Bologo and surrounding towns and villages to educate civilians against popular beliefs that the viral disease is divine punishment for wrongdoing and can be treated only by offering traditional sacrifices to the gods.

Health workers are raising awareness that measles can be treated with conventional medicine.

The United Nations reports that measles is one of the main causes of death among children in Chad. Outbreaks occur often because vaccination coverage remains low throughout the central African state.

Chad’s Health Ministry says vaccine hesitancy is to blame for millions of children not being inoculated against childhood diseases including measles.

In 2023, Doctors Without Borders reported that more than 1.3 million children between the ages of 6 months and 10 years old were inoculated against measles.

Chad said there were plans with its international partners to inoculate at least 4 million children in the country of close to 18 million people.

But armed conflicts and tensions triggered by elections to end a three-year transition that followed the death of President Idriss Deby Itno in 2021 made it impossible for humanitarian agencies to continue vaccination drives.

Officials hope that with peace returning and constitutional order reestablished — with the election of Mahamat Idriss Deby as president and the new parliament — more vaccine campaigns will be organized.

Measles is a highly contagious infection of the respiratory system that can lead to severe complications and death. The U.N. says it is one of the most contagious diseases in the world.

In the absence of specific treatment, vaccination is the most effective medical tool against measles, the World Health Organization said. The vaccine is safe, effective and inexpensive, according to the U.N.  
…

your ads here!

Stars galore celebrate ‘Saturday Night Live’ in concert

Posted on by Corts

NEW YORK — By the time Cher sang “If I Could Turn Back Time,” it seemed as if time had indeed been turned back and every single “Saturday Night Live” musical guest of 50 years had magically found their way to Radio City Music Hall.

Of course, it was only a smattering. But “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” boasted an epic lineup. It was an evening of memorable solo performances and often fascinating, one-time-only collaborations.

The concert, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, was only one element of what has become an enormous celebration of the show’s 50 years in existence, leading up to Sunday’s “SNL50: The Anniversary Special,” live from Studio 8H.

But Friday night was all about music.

 

Return of the 1990s

If a decade can win the night, let’s hear it for the 1990s. A classic performance from that decade was most likely to get the Radio City audience on its feet, singing along and pulling out their phones to record.

The Backstreet Boys proved irresistible when they broke into “I Want it That Way.” Snoop Dogg may have sung “Gin and Juice,” but he was trailed by enough smoke to give nearby audience members a contact high.

Wearing a gigantic coat befitting a winter night, Lauryn Hill commanded the stage with Wyclef Jean, and the crowd melted at the first notes of “Killing Me Softly.”

Some comics can do music

Naturally, some former “SNL” cast members reprised old characters, with varying levels of success.

The Culps, the stuffy music teachers played by Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer, hit harder and funnier than they ever did on the show. Their attempts at being current were hilarious and they even worked in a few verses of “Not Like Us,” with a plea for harmony between Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell’s “Lazy Sunday” was welcome, but too short. Lady Gaga was a good sport, replacing Justin Timberlake to sing about a Christmas gift whose title can’t be repeated here. But Bill Murray’s lounge singer “foursome” routine with Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph and Cecily Strong fell a bit flat.

 

They love Michaels

“SNL” creator Lorne Michaels didn’t perform, but he was referred to all night long.

“I love you, Lorne Michaels,” declared Miley Cyrus, dedicating her hit song “Flowers” to the show’s founder.

Raitt, finishing “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” thanked Michaels for having her on the show so many times.

“Let’s give it up for Lorne,” said former cast member Adam Sandler, introducing a collaboration between Post Malone and Nirvana. “We love you buddy.”

And Marcus Mumford, lead singer of the British folk band Mumford & Sons, said he was there to represent Michaels’ admirers from across the pond.

Creative collaborations

The night featured fascinating collaborations that brought together musicians of all kinds.

Cyrus teamed with Brittany Howard to sing Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”

Arcade Fire joined with David Byrne, St. Vincent and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to perform David Bowie’s “Heroes.” Byrne later also collaborated with Robyn, in matching khaki suits, for “Dancing on My Own” and “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody).”

And for Raitt’s second song, she sat down with Chris Martin, the Coldplay frontman becoming her pianist for “I Can’t Make You Love Me.”

In another collab of sorts, the B-52s were joined on “Love Shack” by former and current SNL cast members Fred Armisen, Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman, singing the “bang bang” lyrics.

Lady Gaga collaborated with herself, singing both parts of “Shallow” and bringing down the house.

 

Most valuable player

Questlove is more associated with the “Tonight” show, but he is proving to be the MVP of these “Saturday Night Live” anniversary festivities.

Not only did the drummer produce the splendid documentary on the “SNL” musical legacy, but he effortlessly kept the beat with The Roots, his legendary hip-hop group and “Tonight” show house band, as they covered every style imaginable, from Snoop to Eddie Vedder to Brandi Carlile. Byrne bowed in appreciation.

A second Nirvana reunion

For the second time in as many weeks, the surviving members of Nirvana reunited.

Rather than the quartet of women who fronted the band for the Fire Aid concert, Malone took Kurt Cobain’s place Friday.

Their version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was fierce, a reminder of why the song packed such a wallop when it was first heard.
…

your ads here!

No need for one country to control chip industry, Taiwan official says

Posted on by Coeco

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — There is no need for one country to control the semiconductor industry, which is complex and needs a division of labor, Taiwan’s top technology official said on Saturday after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the island’s chip dominance.

Trump repeated claims on Thursday that Taiwan had taken the industry and he wanted it back in the United States, saying he aimed to restore U.S. chip manufacturing.

Wu Cheng-wen, head of Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council, did not name Trump in a Facebook post but referred to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s comments on Friday that the island would be a reliable partner in the democratic supply chain of the global semiconductor industry.

Wu wrote that Taiwan has in recent years often been asked how its semiconductor industry had become an internationally acclaimed benchmark.

“How did we achieve this? Obviously, we did not gain this for no reason from other countries,” he said, recounting how the government developed the sector from the 1970s, including helping found TSMC, now the world’s largest contract chipmaker, in 1987.

“This shows that Taiwan has invested half a century of hard work to achieve today’s success, and it certainly wasn’t something taken easily from other countries.”

Each country has its own specialty for chips, from Japan making chemicals and equipment to the United States, which is “second to none” on the design and application of innovative systems, Wu said.

“The semiconductor industry is highly complex and requires precise specialization and division of labor. Given that each country has its own unique industrial strengths, there is no need for a single nation to fully control or monopolize all technologies globally.”

Taiwan is willing to be used as a base to assist “friendly democratic countries” in playing their appropriate roles in the semiconductor supply chain, Wu said.
…

your ads here!