- China says will issue special bonds to boost ailing economy
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Dodgers drop Padres 2-0 to advance in MLB playoffs
- Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
- Last-minute legal ruling allows betting on US election
- Despite hurricanes, Floridians refuse to leave 'paradise'
- Israel observes Yom Kippur amid firestorm over Lebanon strikes
- Trump demonizes migrants in dark, misleading speech
- X says 'alert' to manipulation efforts after pro-Russia bots report
- US, European markets rise before Boeing unveils sweeping job cuts
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Comoros shock Tunisia, Salah, Mbeumo strike in AFCON qualifiers
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Germany win in Nations League as 10-man Dutch rescue point
- Undav brace sends Germany to victory against Bosnia
- Israel says fired at 'threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- Ecuador's last mountain iceman dies at 80
- Milton leaves at least 16 dead, millions without power in Florida
- Senegal set to announce breakaway development agenda: PM
- UN says 2 peacekeepers wounded in south Lebanon explosions
- Injury-hit Australia thrash 'embarrassing' Pakistan at Women's T20 World Cup
- Internal TikTok documents show prioritization of traffic over well-being
- Israel says fired at 'immediate threat' near UN position in Lebanon
- New US coach Pochettino hails Pulisic but worries over workload
- Brazil orders closure of 2,000 betting sites
- UK govt urged to raise pro-democracy tycoon's case with China
- Sculptor Lalanne's animal creations sell for $59 mn
- From Tesla to Trump: Behind Musk's giant leap into politics
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- Supercharged hurricanes trigger 'perfect storm' for disinformation
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Djokovic proves staying power as he progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Sheffield Utd boss Wilder 'numb' after Baldock death
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- Fans immerse themselves in Marina Abramovic's first China exhibition
- Israel says conducting review after UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Djokovic 'overwhelmed' after 'greatest rival' Nadal's retirement
- Zelensky in Berlin says hopes war with Russia will end next year
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Djokovic proves staying power as progresses to Shanghai semi-finals
- Hurricane Milton leaves at least 16 dead as Florida cleans up
- Britain face 'ultimate challenge' in America's Cup duel with New Zealand
- Lebanon calls for 'immediate' ceasefire in Israel-Hezbollah war
- Nihon Hidankyo: Japan's A-bomb survivors awarded Nobel
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Boat captain rescued clinging to cooler in Gulf of Mexico after storm Milton
'Oppenheimer' starts strong in bid for Oscars glory
"Oppenheimer" got off to a blistering start on Sunday at the Oscars, Hollywood's biggest night of the year, with three awards including one for best supporting actor Robert Downey Jr. -- and more likely to come.
Christopher Nolan's masterful drama about the father of the atomic bomb, half of last summer's massive "Barbenheimer" phenomenon, is the firm favorite to sweep the movie industry's top awards, including best picture.
"I would like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order," Downey said after accepting the statuette.
Downey, who had been the butt of a joke by host Jimmy Kimmel about his well-documented drug problems, lavished thanks on his wife Susan for her support.
"She found me a snarling rescue pet and loved me back to life," he said.
The film also snapped up prizes for editing and cinematography.
The other huge smash of the year, Greta Gerwig's pop feminist blockbuster "Barbie," featured heavily throughout the gala in Los Angeles.
While the movie, which grossed $1.4 billion at the box office, was not expected to win many prizes, it proved a target that Kimmel could not pass up in his opening monologue, with a nod to stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
"Ryan and Margot, I want you to know that even if neither of you wins an Oscar tonight, you both already won something much more important: the genetic lottery," he said.
- 'This is the year' -
But all eyes were on Nolan's cerebral take on what he has called "the most important person who ever lived."
Beyond Downey's win, the film has a strong chance at best actor honors for Cillian Murphy, who is locked in a tight race with Paul Giamatti of "The Holdovers."
The film is still up for golden statuettes for best director, and technical prizes including score.
"It just had everything, the scale, the scope, the importance," said one Oscars voter, who asked to remain anonymous as Academy members are instructed not to discuss their ballots.
"This is the year for 'Oppenheimer,'" the voter told AFP.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph ("The Holdovers") won the first award of the night for best supporting actress for her performance in "The Holdovers."
Elsewhere, the competition for best actress promises to be a nail-biter.
Emma Stone, who previously won an Academy Award for "La La Land," gives a stunning, daring performance in the surreal, Frankenstein-esque "Poor Things."
But Lily Gladstone of "Killers of the Flower Moon" has not just the clout of her director Martin Scorsese, but the weight of history behind her.
She is seeking to become the first Native American to win an acting Oscar.
"Gladstone holds her own against Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, these towering actors" in Scorsese's historical crime epic, said the anonymous voter.
Should the two frontrunners cancel one another out, Sandra Hueller of "Anatomy of a Fall" could be "the underdog," the voter added.
The French courtroom thriller won for best original screenplay.
Co-writer Justine Triet revealed backstage that the 50 Cent song that features heavily in the film was originally going to be a Dolly Parton track.
"But they refused to give us the rights," she told reporters.
- Pink carpet -
"Barbie" won the happenstance battle for eyeballs with "Oppenheimer" -- both films were released on the same day -- and still has a chance for Oscars hardware.
Both Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" and the movie's showstopping "I'm Just Ken" are up for best original song.
Eilish delivered a heartfelt performance, and supporting actor nominee Ryan Gosling's first-ever live performance of his character's signature power ballad brought down the house.
Simu Liu, who plays one of the Kens in the movie, told reporters that making the film had been "so much pink."
"More pink that I've ever seen in my entire life," he said.
- Protests -
The United Kingdom also scored its first-ever best international film Oscar with Auschwitz drama "The Zone of Interest."
The best documentary win for "20 Days in Mariupol" might help redirect attention -- however momentarily -- to the war in Ukraine.
But it was the war in Gaza that remained in focus, with some on the red carpet, including supporting actor nominee Mark Ruffalo, wearing pins calling for a ceasefire, while demonstrators gathered around the edges of the security curtain.
In one protest witnessed by AFP, around 50 people took over an intersection on Hollywood Boulevard.
A driver who tried to pass had his windshield broken when one demonstrator hurled a traffic cone at his car.
C.Garcia--AMWN