
-
Miami's unbeaten MLS run ends after Dallas comeback
-
After 100 days in office, Trump voters still back US president
-
US anti-disinformation guardrails fall in Trump's first 100 days
-
Dick Barnett, two-time NBA champ with Knicks, dies at 88
-
PSG hope to have Dembele firing for Arsenal Champions League showdown
-
Arteta faces Champions League showdown with mentor Luis Enrique
-
Niemann wins LIV Mexico City to secure US Open berth
-
Slot plots more Liverpool glory after Premier League triumph
-
Novak and Griffin win PGA pairs event for first tour titles
-
Inter Miami unbeaten MLS run ends after Dallas comeback
-
T'Wolves rally late to beat Lakers, Knicks edge Pistons amid controversy
-
Japan's Saigo wins playoff for LPGA Chevron title and first major win
-
Trump tells Putin to 'stop shooting' and make a deal
-
US says it struck 800 targets in Yemen, killed 100s of Huthis since March 15
-
Conflicts spur 'unprecedented' rise in military spending
-
Gouiri hat-trick guides Marseille back to second in Ligue 1
-
Racing 92 thump Stade Francais to push rivals closer to relegation
-
Inter downed by Roma, McTominay fires Napoli to top of Serie A
-
Usyk's unification bout against Dubois confirmed for July 19
-
Knicks edge Pistons for 3-1 NBA playoff series lead
-
Slot praises Klopp after Liverpool seal Premier League title
-
FA Cup glory won't salvage Man City's troubled season: Guardiola
-
Bumrah, Krunal Pandya star as Mumbai and Bengaluru win in IPL
-
Amorim says 'everything can change' as Liverpool equal Man Utd title record
-
Iran's Khamenei orders probe into port blast that killed 40
-
Salah revels in Liverpool's 'way better' title party
-
Arsenal stun Lyon to reach Women's Champions League final
-
Slot 'incredibly proud' as Liverpool celebrate record-equalling title
-
Israel strikes south Beirut, prompting Lebanese appeal to ceasefire guarantors
-
Smart Slot reaps rewards of quiet revolution at Liverpool
-
Krunal Pandya leads Bengaluru to top of IPL table
-
Can Trump-Zelensky Vatican talks bring Ukraine peace?
-
Van Dijk hails Liverpool's 'special' title triumph
-
Five games that won Liverpool the Premier League
-
'Sinners' tops N.America box office for second week
-
Imperious Liverpool smash Tottenham to win Premier League title
-
Man City sink Forest to reach third successive FA Cup final
-
Toll from Iran port blast hits 40 as fire blazes
-
Canada car attack suspect had mental health issues, 11 dead
-
Crowds flock to tomb of Pope Francis, as eyes turn to conclave
-
Inter downed by Roma, AC Milan bounce back with victory in Venice
-
Religious hate has no place in France, says Macron after Muslim killed in mosque
-
Last day of Canada election campaign jolted by Vancouver attack
-
Barcelona crush Chelsea to reach women's Champions League final
-
Nine killed as driver plows into Filipino festival in Canada
-
Germany marks liberation of Bergen-Belsen Nazi camp
-
Hojlund strikes at the death to rescue Man Utd in Bournemouth draw
-
Zelensky says Ukraine not kicked out of Russia's Kursk
-
Zverev, Sabalenka battle through in Madrid Open, Rublev defence over
-
Ruthless Pogacar wins Liege-Bastogne-Liege for third time

Oscars begin as 'Anora,' 'Conclave' vie for top prize
Hollywood's glitziest night of the year got under way Sunday, with joint favorites "Anora" and "Conclave" seemingly poised for a showdown for the best picture prize at the Oscars.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo kicked off the show with soaring vocal performances honoring the land of Oz that brought the house down, including a rapturously received "Defying Gravity" from their best picture nominee "Wicked."
Then it was time for host Conan O'Brien, who emerged from Demi Moore's body in a riff on the body horror flick "The Substance" to begin his monologue.
"Welcome to the 97th Academy Awards," he said. "It's Hollywood's biggest night, that starts at four in the afternoon," he quipped.
He took early aim at the controversy that has surrounded "Emilia Perez," whose transgender star Karla Sofia Gascon sank the film's Oscar hopes when a series of offensive tweets were unearthed.
"Little fact for you: 'Anora' uses the F-word 479 times. That's three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascon's publicist," he said.
The first prize of the evening -- for best supporting actor -- was no surprise, with Kieran Culkin getting the honor for "A Real Pain."
The race for Hollywood's grandest prize is too close to call, with two wildly different films seen as frontrunners for best picture.
"There will be real tension," said Rotten Tomatoes awards editor Jacqueline Coley. "I would say if 'Conclave' doesn't win, it's definitely going to be 'Anora.'"
"Both sides are feeling more nervous than confident... that should be an indicator that this is really a nail-biter," The Hollywood Reporter's awards expert Scott Feinberg told AFP.
Sean Baker's "Anora" -- about a New York stripper and escort who weds a wealthy Russian playboy, only to learn that her dream marriage is a nightmare illusion -- won the Cannes festival's Palme d'Or last May.
But, Coley says, "it is a little bit polarizing because of the sex worker aspect."
"Conclave" -- a film about the secretive and cutthroat election of a new Catholic leader, lent an uncanny timeliness by the real-life Pope Francis's health woes -- appears to have won over many late voters.
Director Edward Berger told reporters on the red carpet that the intrigue was what gave the movie its power, not the setting.
"The movie could have taken place anywhere -- it could have taken place in a company where the CEO position is suddenly empty," he said.
The film starring Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini earned top honors from Britain's BAFTAs, and the Hollywood actors' SAG Award for best cast.
One Oscars voter told AFP they had voted for "Conclave" because "it's just more of a traditional, classic 'best picture' film."
- Oscar records -
The voter, anonymous because Academy members cannot reveal their picks, also expressed admiration for "The Brutalist," a potential dark horse about a Hungarian Jewish architect making a new life in the United States after World War II.
Adrien Brody, who plays the titular gifted architect and Holocaust survivor, has been the presumed favorite to win the best actor Oscar for months.
Brody has won the prize previously, for 2002's "The Pianist." If he prevails again, he'd join an elite club of double winners including Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson.
But Timothee Chalamet -- who earned wide admiration for his pitch-perfect performance as a sardonic young Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown" -- won the Screen Actors Guild Award over Brody, and could prove a spoiler.
At just 29, he arguably has the most star power of any of this year's nominees, and would beat Brody's record as the category's youngest-ever winner.
Brody is "still the safer pick," said Feinberg -- assuming enough Academy voters made it through his film's three-and-a-half-hour runtime.
- 'Comeback story' -
There could be an even younger winner on the actress side, if a groundswell of support for "Anora" carries its star Mikey Madison, 25, to the Oscars stage.
But she will have to get past Demi Moore, the 1990s megastar who has enjoyed a sparkling career renaissance thanks to gory body horror flick "The Substance."
If the vote is split, Brazil's Fernanda Torres could spring a surprise with "I'm Still Here," about a family ripped apart by her country's military dictatorship.
- 'Wicked' showstopper -
The ceremony itself is expected to be an emotional affair, honoring firefighters who battled blazes that killed 29 people and devastated Los Angeles in January.
As well as Grande and Erivo, producers have also enlisted Doja Cat and Lisa from the K-pop group Blackpink to perform.
For the first time, the gala will stream live on Hulu, as well as on US network ABC, and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
P.Martin--AMWN