Los Angeles (AFP) – Nominations for the 94th Oscars were unveiled Tuesday, and “The Power of the Dog” led the pack with a dozen nods.

Here are five key takeaways from the announcement, ahead of the Academy Awards gala on March 27: 

Couple of couples

Getting an Oscar nomination is always an honor for any actor, but being nominated in the same year as your life partner must be extra special.

This year’s nominations feature two couples: Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz scored nods in the best actor and actress categories, respectively, for “Being the Ricardos” and “Parallel Mothers.” It is the fourth nomination for each, and both have won once.

“I am very happy for my nomination, but mine would not have made sense without hers, because it would not have been a celebration, and the fact that both happened at the same time seems magical,” Bardem told reporters in Madrid.

Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons earned supporting nods, playing a couple in moody Western “The Power of the Dog.” It is the first nomination for both actors.

Other famous couples earning Academy Award nominations in the same year include Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt in 1932, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner in 1954, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in 1967, and Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach in 2020.

Directing history

Hollywood titan Steven Spielberg made Oscars history again Tuesday, with a best picture nod for “West Side Story” making him the first producer to earn a staggering 11 such nominations. 

He also bagged an eighth best director nod, placing him alongside the great Billy Wilder, and behind only William Wyler (12) and Martin Scorsese (nine).

Jane Campion became the first woman to receive two best director nominations, 28 years after “The Piano.” 

And multi-hyphenate Kenneth Branagh is the first person to be nominated in seven different categories, earning his first original screenplay and best picture nods.

The “Belfast” director has never won an Oscar.

The nominees for best original song are a who’s who of music, and each storyline is compelling. 

With his second Oscar nomination for the Spanish-language song “Dos Oruguitas” from Disney’s “Encanto,” Lin-Manuel Miranda has another shot at the coveted EGOT status — completing the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony cycle. 

But he faces stiff competition. 

Pop megastars Beyonce (“King Richard”) and Billie Eilish (“No Time to Die”) are also in the running with their first nominations, as is veteran rocker Van Morrison (“Belfast”).

And rounding out the category is hitmaker Diane Warren with the song “Somehow You Do” from the film “Four Good Days” — it is Warren’s 13th nomination, but she has never won. 

Denmark’s “Flee,” an award-winning film about a gay Afghan refugee undertaking the perilous journey to Europe, made Oscars history with an unprecedented trilogy of nominations.

In addition to best international feature, the hybrid film was recognized in the animation and documentary categories.

The movie uses simple cartoons and sketches, veering from the sinister to the playful, to tell the real-life story of Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s childhood friend — who wished to remain anonymous for fear of risking his asylum status or being seen as a victim.

“This way he can share his story, and still meet people on a clean slate — people wouldn’t know his innermost secrets, know his traumas,” Rasmussen told AFP.

Gaga ‘snub’

A major leading actress was always going to miss out on an Oscar nomination on Tuesday — but few omissions could have provoked the social media fury and wrath of Lady Gaga’s fans.

The pop star-turned-actress famously immersed herself in the “House of Gucci” role, in which she plays the wife of an heir to the Italian fashion house… who eventually hires a hitman to kill him.

“Gaga really wrote an 80 page biography about Patrizia, got haunted by a possessed swarm of flies, studied animals, hired a psychiatric nurse and spoke with an Italian accent for 9 months only to get snubbed by the Oscars,” complained one fan.

Others took a more sanguine view.

“Can’t believe gaga went through months of… deep psychological trauma of doing a vaguely European accent just to be snubbed,” joked another Twitter user.

Queen Elizabeth has been using Prince Philip’s walking stick.

The 95-year-old monarch gave a subtle tribute to the late Duke of Edinburgh – who died last April aged 99 – when she was invited to cut a cake marking her Platinum Jubilee at a reception for local community and volunteer groups at Sandringham House on Saturday (05.02.22).

Pictures showed the queen pressing a knife part of the way into the cake while clutching the mobility aid – which is taller than a usual walking stick and features a distinctive ornate curved handle carved from horn – in her other hand.

As she stood with the cake, the queen joked: “I think I might just put a knife in it, see if it works. Somebody else can do the rest of it.”

Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth was among those to spot the significance of the walking stick, which Philip used regularly when staying at Sandringham.

He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “I recognised the stick instantly as it was always kept in a pot by the front door. It was the Duke’s stick, and it is very touching that the Queen has started using it.”

Philip was last photographed using the stick when he visited the muddy nearby nature reserve Dersingham Bog shortly after undergoing abdominal surgery in 2013.

Last October, the queen used a walking stick in public for the first time since she needed a mobility aid to help her after knee surgery in 2004.

In November, the monarch suffered a back sprain and is believed to still be recovering from the injury.

She has been on light duties since then but it was recently revealed her diary is slowly “filling up”.

However, “lessons have been learned” since the queen undertook 19 engagements in as many days last October and her schedule will be more lower paced than before.

A source said: “There are no plans for her to withdraw from public life.

“The Queen’s diary is filling up again but it will be paced to what is appropriate.

“They don’t want to put extra strain on her and other royals will help her out where necessary.”

Hollywood (United States) (AFP) – Here are the nominees in key categories for the 94th Academy Awards, to be handed out in Los Angeles on March 27.

Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” an eerie psychological Western about a repressed 1920s cattle rancher in Montana, leads with 12, followed by sci-fi epic “Dune” at 10, and “Belfast” and “West Side Story” tied at seven.

Best picture

“Belfast”

“CODA”

“Don’t Look Up”

“Drive My Car”

“Dune”

“King Richard”

“Licorice Pizza”

“Nightmare Alley”

“The Power of the Dog”

“West Side Story”

Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast”

Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car”

Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”

Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”

Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”

Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”

Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”

Andrew Garfield, “tick, tick…BOOM!”

Will Smith, “King Richard”

Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

Best actress

Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”

Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”

Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers”

Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”

Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”

Ciaran Hinds, “Belfast”

Troy Kotsur, “CODA”

Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”

JK Simmons, “Being the Ricardos”

Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”

Best supporting actress

Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”

Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story”

Judi Dench, “Belfast”

Kirsten Dunst, “The Power of the Dog”

Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard”

“Drive My Car” (Japan)

“Flee” (Denmark)

“The Hand of God” (Italy)

“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” (Bhutan)

“The Worst Person in the World” (Norway)

“Encanto”

“Flee”

“Luca”

“The Mitchells vs the Machines”

“Raya and the Last Dragon”

Best documentary feature

“Ascension”

“Attica”

“Flee”

“Summer of Soul”

“Writing with Fire”

“Belfast” – Kenneth Branagh

“Don’t Look Up” – Adam McKay and David Sirota

“King Richard” – Zach Baylin

“Licorice Pizza” – Paul Thomas Anderson

“The Worst Person in the World” – Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier

“CODA” – Sian Heder

“Drive My Car” – Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe

“Dune” – Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth

“The Lost Daughter” – Maggie Gyllenhaal

“The Power of the Dog” – Jane Campion

“The Power of the Dog”: 12

“Dune”: 10

“Belfast”: 7

“West Side Story”: 7

“King Richard”: 6

Zendaya has insisted ‘Euphoria’ isn’t a “moral tale”.

The 25-year-old actress has spoken out to defend her show after anti-drug education group D.A.R.E. slammed the programme for “glorifying” substance abuse and “misguidedly and erroneously” depicting high school drug use.

Zendaya insisted the show has set out to reassure viewers they are not “alone” in their struggles, but it’s never encouraged the audience to live their lives in a particular way.

She told Entertainment Weekly: “Our show is in no way a moral tale to teach people how to live their life or what they should be doing. If anything, the feeling behind ‘Euphoria,’ or whatever we have always been trying to do with it, is to hopefully help people feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain.

“And maybe feel like they’re not the only one going through or dealing with what they’re dealing with.”

Season 2 of the HBO series culminates in an intervention for Zendaya’s character Rue, which the actress called the “light at the end of the tunnel” and she hopes her alter ego’s experiences allow viewers to gain “a little bit more understanding and [be] empathetic over the experience of addiction.”

She added: “My biggest hope is that people are able to connect to it and those who need to heal and grow with Rue hopefully, by the end of this season, feel that hope and feel that change in her.”

While working on the show, Zendaya has heard from a lot of viewers who see “parallels” from their own lives and she admitted their messages mean a lot to her.

She said: “I’ve had a lot of people reach out and find so many parallels from all ages, all walks of life. So many parallels with Rue and her story and Rue means a lot to them in a way that I can understand, but also maybe in a way that I could never understand, and that means the most to all of us.”

D.A.R.E. have accused the programme of normalising teen drug abuse.

They said in a statement last month: “Rather than further each parent’s desire to keep their children safe from the potentially horrific consequences of drug abuse and other high-risk behaviour, HBO’s television drama, ‘Euphoria,’ chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use, addiction, anonymous sex, violence, and other destructive behaviors as common and widespread in today’s world

“It is unfortunate that HBO, social media, television programme reviewers, and paid advertising have chosen to refer to the show as ‘groundbreaking,’ rather than recognising the potential negative consequences on school-age children who today face unparalleled risks and mental health challenges.”

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top U.S. Senate Republican Mitch McConnell’s goal to project an image of moderation for his party as it seeks to regain control of Congress this year has taken a hit with its fresh infighting over last year’s Capitol attack and censure of two lawmakers.

McConnell at an afternoon news conference is expected to address the Republican National Committee’s censure last week of Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the only two Republicans serving on the House of Representatives select committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, rampage, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The RNC took its action on Friday and called the Democratic-led committee’s inquiry an attack on “legitimate political discourse.” Supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in a failed attempt to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Republicans are hoping to regain majorities in the House and Senate in the Nov. 8 midterm elections.

McConnell, the Senate minority leader and one of his party’s most wily political tacticians, has been trying to paint Biden as a former moderate radicalized by the Democratic Party’s left wing. McConnell’s hopes of projecting an image of moderation for his own party could help Senate Republican candidates in key states.

Lawmakers close to McConnell found themselves on the defensive about the RNC censure resolution.

“They said, in the resolution, they wanted Republicans to be unified. That was not a unifying action,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas.

Other Senate Republican leaders were quick to acknowledge the trouble that party divisions might pose for Republican Senate candidates.

“If we want to win the elections in November, there are better things for us to be focused on,” said Senator John Thune, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican after McConnell.

“The focus right now needs to be forward, not backward. If we want to get majorities in the fall, then it’s better to turn our fire on Democrats and not on each other,” Thune added.

Democrats may be vulnerable, particularly considering Biden’s falling public approval numbers in opinion polls. The party of sitting presidents typically loses congressional seats in the first midterm elections after winning the White House.

McConnell has sought to cast Biden and his pricy “Build Back Better” social spending plan that is stalled in the Senate as creatures of the Democratic Party’s left wing. McConnell has accused Biden of ignoring troubles facing American families such as inflation including higher energy costs.

“If the president starts acting like a moderate, like he campaigned, we can do business,” McConnell told Fox News last month.

While McConnell is calling for bipartisanship, he often has been a partisan warrior himself. As majority leader, he refused to consider Democratic President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy and last year said he might block Biden’s nominees to the high court if Republicans gain Senate control. He also has used the Senate’s filibuster rule to thwart parts of Biden’s legislative agenda including voting rights.

McConnell did delivered critical Republican votes last year for two bipartisan priorities – a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a deal to avert a default on the federal government’s debt. Both prompted enraged statements from Trump, who has called for McConnell’s ouster from his Senate leadership post.

McConnell has also said he is open to a bipartisan effort to revamp an 1887 law that Trump tried to use to overturn Biden’s 2020 victory. The push to reform the law called the Electoral Count Act could succeed, after Democrats failed to pass their voting rights legislation amid unified Republican opposition.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s aides are looking for more White House records after the National Archives said it retrieved 15 boxes of official materials from the former president’s Florida resort, according to the agency.

“Former President Trump’s representatives have informed NARA that they are continuing to search for additional Presidential records that belong to the National Archives,” the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) said in a statement on Monday.

The hunt for additional documents and items raises questions about Trump’s compliance with federal law requiring the preservation of all communications regarding official presidential duties.

The archives confirmed officials retrieved the boxes from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property – one year after they should have been transferred to the agency when Democratic President Joe Biden took office.

“The Presidential Records Act is critical to our democracy, in which the government is held accountable by the people,” U.S. Archivist David Ferriero said.

The statement followed reports by the Washington Post on the boxes found in Florida and the Trump administration’s haphazard recordkeeping, including Trump’s habit of tearing up official documents.

Representatives for Trump, a Republican, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Former aides to Trump told the Post and the New York Times the materials handed over to the archives were packed up hastily during the former president’s exit.

Several presidential historians said the violations under Trump were unprecedented.

“It’s a pretty shocking disregard for the Presidential Records Act,” historian Lindsay Chervinsky told CNN on Tuesday.

“Presidential documents belong to all of us Americans, not some ex-President,” historian Michael Beschloss tweeted on Monday. “Crucial now for all Americans to know exactly how many and what Presidential documents were illegally taken, hidden or destroyed.”

Among the items retrieved in January were letters to Trump from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump’s predecessor, former Democratic president Barack Obama, according to the reports.

The U.S. House of Representatives is investigating Trump supporters’ Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump sought to block congressional investigators from obtaining his records but the U.S. Supreme Court last month rejected his request.

Experts said it was unclear what, if any, repercussions could follow regarding the materials’ improper handling.

“There has never been a prosecution under the Presidential Records Act because no president has ever flouted it to this extent,” Chervinsky said.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Howard Goller)

New York (AFP) – Neil Young is urging Spotify employees to quit their jobs at the company he’s accused of spreading disinformation, urging them to leave before “it eats up your soul.”

Young has been leading a boycott of the streaming giant for weeks after he demanded it choose between him and controversial podcaster Joe Rogan, who has faced criticism including for discouraging Covid-19 vaccination in young people.

In his latest missive published late Wednesday, Young, 76, told Spotify employees that the Swedish company’s CEO, Daniel Ek, “is your big problem — not Joe Rogan. Ek pulls the strings.”

“Get out of that place before it eats up your soul. The only goals stated by EK are about numbers — not art, not creativity,” wrote the “Heart of Gold” artist on his website.

Young also told musicians and creators to “find a better place than SPOTIFY to be the home of your art.”

So far, Joni Mitchell along with Young’s former bandmates David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash have followed Young’s suit and left Spotify. 

Singer India.Arie also pulled her music from the platform, citing Rogan’s “language around race.”

For its part, Spotify’s Ek has condemned Rogan’s use of a racial slur but insisted that “I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer.”

The company has a $100-million multi-year exclusive contract with the podcaster.

Spotify has also said it will add advisories to any podcast episodes that discuss Covid-19.

In his message this week, Young — a longtime environmental advocate — also asked his fellow baby boomers to remove their money from the major US banks Chase, Citi, Bank of America and Wells Fargo for their “continued fossil fuel damage even as the global temperature keeps climbing.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Tuesday asked victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church for forgiveness but rejected allegations that he was involved in any cover-up.

The retired pontiff was responding to an independent report, released on January 20, which chronicles decades of alleged abuse and misconduct in the archdiocese of Munich, which he led as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from 1977 and 1982.

“I have borne great responsibility in the Catholic Church. My pain is all the greater for the misdemeanours and errors that occurred during my terms of office and in the places concerned,” he said in a statement released by the Vatican.

In the letter, Benedict expressed his “deep shame” and “great pain,” as well as his “sincere request for apology to all victims of sexual abuse.”

Benedict has faced severe criticism after the report detailed accusations of misconduct against him in four cases. Experts from the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) believe that Ratzinger reassigned priests who had abused children to other areas during his time as archbishop of Munich and Freising.

These accusations were categorically denied by Ratzinger’s lawyers and advisers in a “fact check” also published on Tuesday.

“The expert report contains no evidence to support an allegation of misconduct or assistance in a cover-up,” it says. “As archbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger was not involved in any cover-up of acts of abuse.”

Benedict also commented himself on accusations that he had lied about his participation in a meeting concerning the transfer of a priest from Essen in North Rhine Westphalia to Bavaria. This priest is alleged to have abused several other children in two Upper Bavarian parishes.

The false statement – that he had not been present at the meeting in question – was based on a misunderstanding, Benedict said. This occurred while his statement on the expert report was being written up with the help of “a small group of friends.”

“In the enormous work of those days – the drafting of the statement – an oversight occurred concerning the question of my participation in the ordinariate meeting of January 15, 1980,” he wrote, adding that the mistake was “not intentional” – and “I hope, also excusable.”

“The fact that the oversight was exploited to cast doubt on my truthfulness, indeed to portray me as a liar, has affected me deeply,” the 94-year-old said.

Participation in the meeting does not prove that Benedict knew about earlier acts of abuse committed by the Essen priest, his lawyers stressed.

The files show “that it was not discussed at the meeting in question that the priest had committed sexual abuse,” they noted.

According to the WSW law firm’s report, at least 497 children and young people were sexually abused by priests, deacons or other church employees in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising between 1945 and 2019.

The experts counted at least 235 alleged perpetrators – including 173 priests and 9 deacons – while noting that a large number of cases would likely have gone unreported.

In his letter, Ratzinger asks the faithful to pray for him.

“More and more I understand the revulsion and fear that overtook Christ on the Mount of Olives when he saw all the terrible things that he was now to overcome from within,” he wrote. “That at the same time the disciples were able to sleep is, unfortunately, the situation that exists anew today and in which I too feel addressed.”

In a short statement, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the current archbishop of Munich, welcomed Benedict’s letter while stressing how seriously his diocese was taking the independent experts’ findings.

“I emphasize once again that the archdiocese and I as archbishop take very seriously the report, which particularly in terms of the management levels deals with personal and institutional responsibility,” Marx said, vowing to “take up the recommendations together with the victims’ advisory council and the Independent Reappraisal Commission.”

New York (AFP) – Several Democratic-run US states have announced plans to lift mask mandates in indoor places and schools as coronavirus infections decline in America.

The announcements signal a move towards a policy of accepting Covid-19 as part of everyday life.

Mask-wearing became a political battleground in the United States in the early days of the pandemic.

Many Democratic governors enforced strict mandates, while Republican-led states such as Texas and Florida banned the enforcement of face coverings.

California governor Gavin Newsom announced Monday evening that the state’s indoor mask mandate would end for vaccinated residents on February 15.

“CA’s case rate has decreased by 65 percent since our Omicron peak. Our hospitalizations have stabilized across the state,” tweeted Newsom.

“Unvaccinated people will still need to wear masks indoors. Get vaccinated. Get boosted,” he added.

Newsom’s announcement came after New Jersey governor Phil Murphy announced that children and staff would not need to wear masks in schools from March 7.

“This is not a declaration of victory as much as an acknowledgment that we can responsibly live with this thing,” he said, referring to the coronavirus.

In Connecticut, Governor Ned Lamont said he was recommending that school boards drop mandatory mask-wearing in schools after February 28.

Delaware governor John Carney announced that his state’s indoor mask mandate would expire on Friday, and that masks in schools will end by March 31.

“We’re in a much better place than we were several weeks ago,” he wrote on Twitter.

In Oregon, Governor Kate Brown tweeted that she “will lift mask requirements no later than March 31.”

New York, the early epicenter of America’s outbreak in spring 2020, has not yet announced any plans to lift its mask requirements, but Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to address the issue on Wednesday.

CDC recommendations

The varying measures highlight the disparate nature of mask rules, which can differ between local authorities in the heavily defederalized country.

The lifting of the mandates still allows individual school boards to require masks if they want to.

But the mandates’ revoking appears to be out of sync with guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which Joe Biden’s administration follows.

The CDC recommends that vaccinated people wear masks indoors if they are “in an area of substantial or high transmission.”

Wearing a mask that covers the nose and mouth is required on planes, buses, trains and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within or out of the United States.

The CDC also requires masks inside US transportation hubs such as airports and train stations.

The United States is currently recording about 73,000 new cases a day, down from a peak of about 800,000 a day in early January, according to the CDC.

More than 900,000 people have been killed by Covid-19 in the United States, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker.

Despite falling numbers of new cases linked to the Omicron variant, daily deaths are still averaging 2,300, according to government figures.

Boy George has announced plans for an NFT project called ‘CryptoQueenz’.

The protect – which has been created alongside Pixel Potent – aims to be the first LGBTQ+ NFT and will include 9,999 “totally unique” Non-Fungible Tokens featuring original artworks created by the Culture Club legend.

In a statement, he said: “As a creator and artist I’ve long been interested in the different mediums which can act as a canvas for self-expression.

“NFTs and digital art are a great example of this and help to democratise the stuffy artworld for everyone.

“I hope this project will help to bring a little colour and joy into everyone’s lives whilst helping to support the LGBTQ+ community which I’m very proud to be a part of.”

The ‘Karma Chameleon’ hitmaker will launch the NFTs from March 1, with the collection set to give collectors and fans the opportunity to own a very piece of artwork.

The pieces will feature the face of ‘Scarman’ – one of the singer’s most celebrated works – which have been combined with his hat collection to create 9,999 “totally unique algorithmically generated” NFTs.

Meanwhile, 2% of the proceeds from each sale will go to support the Elton John Aids Foundation and Shelter, while royalties will be given in perpetuity from the sale of each NFT “long into the future”.

Meanwhile, the star – whose real name is George O’Dowd – peviously hit out at contemporary pop stars for lacking “edge” and becoming too predictable.

He said: “Things that have got a bit of an edge to them. That’s what we’re looking for.

“We don’t want pop stars to just kind of dial it in and give us what we expect. I’m very objective about it. I’m a songwriter, that’s what I do.”

The NFTs will be available from www.cryptoqueenznft.com and on the secondary market at OpenSea.

By Bhargav Acharya and Shivani Tanna

(Reuters) – Spotify Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek said on Sunday he “strongly” condemns racial slurs and other comments made by popular U.S. podcaster Joe Rogan but will not be removing him from the platform.

Ek’s comments, sent in a letter to staff seen by Reuters, come on the heels of Rogan issuing an apology for the second time in a week, the latest for using racial slurs after a montage video surfaced showing him repeatedly using the N-word.

Ek said it was Rogan’s decision to remove a number of past episodes from “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, following discussions with the music streaming platform and his own reflections on some of the content in the show, including the usage of racially insensitive language.

“While I strongly condemn what Joe has said… I want to make one point very clear – I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer,” Ek said.

Ek reiterated his stand on Spotify’s content moderation policies and said that he believes the company should have clear boundaries around the content being published. The company should take actions when they are crossed, but he cautioned that canceling voices is a slippery slope.

The company will also commit $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music and audio content from historically marginalized groups, in a bid to elevate creators from a diversity of backgrounds, according to the letter, which was confirmed by a Spotify spokesperson.

In his apology, Rogan had said the montage showed him using the epithet in conversations on shows over the last 12 years, and included examples of him discussing its use by Black and white comedians and others.

A mixed martial arts commentator and a prominent vaccine skeptic, Rogan has courted controversy with his views on COVID-19 vaccines, the pandemic and government mandates to control the spread of the virus.

Prominent singer-songwriters including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell said that they were removing their music from Spotify in protest at coronavirus misinformation broadcast on the platform.

The backlash against COVID-19 misinformation on the streaming service wiped more than $2 billion off its market value last week. Spotify has said it would add a “content advisory” to any episode with discussion of COVID-19.

(Reporting by Shivani Tanna and Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)

Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai says she was the one who deleted the social media post last year that was seen as an allegation of sexual assualt against a top Chinese politician.

In an interview with the French sport newspaper L’Équipe published on Monday, the 36-year-old was asked why the post disappeared.

“I erased it,” she said. “Why? Because I wanted to.”

She also said the emails sent to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in her name were written by her.

The WTA has voiced concern that Peng was coerced to publicly retract the allegations, and suspended its tournaments in China citing concerns for her wellbeing.

Peng, a former world number one in doubles, largely disappeared from public view after posting an allegation of sexual assault against a leading Chinese politician on Weibo.

The post was deleted soon after and Peng denied making the allegations.

Athletes, politicians and human rights experts have expressed concern for Peng despite the IOC having video calls with her last year.

In the interview with L’Equipe, which was conducted in Chinese with an interpreter translating Peng’s answers into English, she again denied having made accusations of sexual assault.

“I never said anyone had sexually assaulted me in any way,” she said.

She also denied having disappeared. “I never disappeared. Everyone could see me,” Peng said.

Peng also said in the interview that she had met with Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, and had “a nice discussion and exchange.”

The IOC confirmed a meeting took place between Peng, former Chair of the Athletes’ Commission Kirsty Coventry and Bach in a Beijing hotel on Saturday.

Before the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the IOC had promised a meeting with the Chinese player would take place during the Games.

The IOC said Peng accepted an invitation to visit their headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, during the meeting.

By Julia Love and Helen Coster

(Reuters) – With just weeks to go before an expected launch, Donald Trump’s new media venture is trying to strike a delicate balance with its app: giving Trump’s base the freedom to express themselves, without running afoul of Apple and Google’s app store policies.

The launch of Truth Social comes a year after the former U.S. president was banned from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It will be a major test of whether Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and other tech companies that describe themselves as champions of free speech can scale alongside the Silicon Valley gatekeepers that conservatives have accused of squelching free expression.

TMTG has pledged to deliver an “engaging and censorship-free experience” on its Truth Social app, appealing to a base that feels its views around such hot-button topics in American life as vaccines and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election have been scrubbed from mainstream tech platforms.

Yet Trump’s tech team must erect guard rails to ensure Truth Social does not get kicked out of the app stores run by Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google – a fate that befell popular conservative app Parler in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riots in the U.S. Capitol. Without these stores, there is no easy way for most smartphone users to download the app.

The risk of such “de-platforming” is a top priority for TMTG Chief Executive Devin Nunes, a former Republican congressman, as his team builds the app, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Recognizing that the app will be a major target for hackers from day one, Nunes wants to have cyber talent at the “nation-state level,” one of the people said. Nunes has said publicly that the company’s goal is to launch its Truth Social app by the end of March.

A spokesperson for TMTG did not respond to a request for comment.

TMTG remains shrouded in secrecy and is regarded with skepticism by some in tech and media circles. Two conservative media executives pointed to the venture’s apparent failure to launch a beta service in November, as planned, and cited the lack of known involvement by high-profile media, tech or political players – other than Nunes – as evidence it may be more bluster than substance.

“No one has approached me or my team,” said one conservative media insider. “Trump has always been a bit of (his) own island.”

CONTENT MODERATION

TMTG’s mission of standing up to Big Tech is limited by its reliance on Google and Apple, which operate app stores that dominate the smartphone market. TMTG is working with Hive, a San Francisco-based company that does AI-based content moderation, to flag sexually explicit content, hate speech, bullying and violent content. That partnership is driven in part by TMTG’s desire for the Truth Social app to remain in the Apple App and Google Play stores, according to a person familiar with the venture.

Truth Social will need robust content moderation in the form of both automated detection and in-person teams, as well as a way for users to report offensive posts, said David Thiel, the big data architect and chief technology officer of the Stanford Internet Observatory.

“Where it is going to become difficult is if they get into a situation like with Parler, where they have such a degree of hate speech that the hosting service and potentially the App Store starts to take notice,” he said.

The Truth Social app will be subject to Apple’s App Store rules that require developers to offer a way for users to report offensive content and provide “timely responses.” The rules also bar content that “encourages violence” or “depictions that encourage illegal or reckless use of weapons and dangerous objects.”

As of Feb. 4, TMTG had 12 job openings listed on the company website, for technical roles such as a developer to be part of the Android team and an iOS engineer. Salaries range from $80,000 to $220,000, according to the postings, which beckon candidates to work for a “well-funded,” “remote-first” and “conservative-leaning” startup. A requirement for the iOS engineer role is “knowledge of Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and App Store Review Guidelines (which are more like rules).” One posting describes the ideal candidate as someone who “enjoy(s) companies that are scrappy and able to do more with less.”

Among other positions, the company is seeking to hire at least one developer with experience with Elixir, a back-end programming language, according to a job posting.

In a Jan. 13 interview with radio host Ray Appleton, Nunes said the Palm Beach, Florida-based company will be looking for a more “permanent” location – favoring states like Florida, Tennessee and Texas over Silicon Valley. In the company’s early months, some tech talent has been working in the Atlanta area, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

(Reporting by Julia Love in San Francisco and Helen Coster in New York; Editing by Kenneth Li and Matthew Lewis)

By Ross Kerber

(Reuters) – New York State’s top pension official has asked streaming music platform Spotify Technology SA for details about the effectiveness of its new content rules, citing complaints including that podcaster Joe Rogan has spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who oversees funds that hold Spotify shares, requested the report in a letter sent to Spotify Chief Executive Daniel Ek on Feb. 2, which was shown to Reuters.

The letter also urged Spotify to give users an easy mechanism to report content that could violate its rules, and to define how its board oversees content risks and enforcement.

DiNapoli cited reports of Spotify hosting content that has included COVID-19 misinformation, and racist and antisemitic material. Prominent rock musician Neil Young last month left the platform last month because he said Rogan has misled people about vaccines, followed by other stars.

“As we have seen with other technology and media companies who host or publish content, the failure to successfully moderate content on a company’s platforms can lead to various reputational, regulatory, legal, and financial risks,” DiNapoli wrote.

Spotify representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Rogan, former host of the TV reality show Fear Factor and mixed martial arts commentator who signed a $100 million deal giving Spotify exclusive rights to his podcast, has pledged more balance on his show. The company said it would add a content advisory to any episode with discussion of COVID to try to quell the controversy.

On Jan. 30 Spotify also announced “platform rules” against things like “content that incites violence or hatred towards a person or group of people based on race, religion, gender identity or expression,” and other areas.

Retirement funds overseen by DiNapoli held shares in Spotify worth $41 million as of Dec. 31, only the 73rd-largest stake in the company.

But DiNapoli has been among a group of influential activists that have successfully pushed for more content oversight at other social media companies.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by David Gregorio)

The nominations for the 2022 Razzie Awards have been revealed.

The ceremony that celebrates the worst movies of the year have created a special category for Bruce Willis alone this year – with his performances in ‘American Siege’, ‘Apex’, ‘Cosmic Sin’, ‘Deadlock’, ‘Fortress’, ‘Midnight in the Switchgrass’, ‘Out of Death’ and ‘Survive the Game’ all up for ‘Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie’.

The Razzie Awards will take place on March 26 in its traditional slot on the day before the Oscars.

Netflix’s ‘Diana: The Musical’ leads the field with nine nods including for Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Actor and Worst Actress. Both the Broadway show and the film were panned by critics and the stage production only lasted 33 performances before being closed.

Thrillers ‘Karen’ and ‘The Woman in the Window’ joined ‘Diana’ on the Worst Picture shortlist with ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ and ‘Infinite’ also making the list.

Bad acting nominations went to A-listers such as Amy Adams, LeBron James, Mark Wahlberg, Ben Affleck and Jared Leto.

The full list of nominees for the 2022 Razzie Awards are as follows:

Worst Picture:

‘Diana the Musical’ (Netflix version)

‘Infinite’

‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’

‘The Woman in the Window’

Worst Actor:

Scott Eastwood – ‘Dangerous’

Roe Hartrampf – ‘Diana the Musical’

LeBron James – ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’

Ben Platt – ‘Dear Evan Hansen’

Mark Wahlberg – ‘Infinite’

Worst Actress:

Amy Adams – ‘The Woman in the Window’

Jeanna de Waal – ‘Diana the Musical’

Megan Fox – ‘Midnight in the Switchgrass’

Taryn Manning – ‘Karen’

Ruby Rose – ‘Vanquish’

Worst Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams – ‘Dear Evan Hansen’

Sophie Cookson – ‘Infinite’

Erin Davie – ‘Diana the Musical’

Judy Kaye – ‘Diana the Musical’

Taryn Manning – ‘Every Last One of Them’

Worst Supporting Actor:

Ben Affleck – ‘The Last Duel’

Nick Cannon – ‘The Misfits’

Mel Gibson – ‘Dangerous’

Gareth Keegan – ‘Diana the Musical’

Jared Leto – ‘House of Gucci’

Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie:

Bruce Willis – ‘American Siege’

Bruce Willis – ‘Apex’

Bruce Willis – ‘Cosmic Sin’

Bruce Willis – ‘Deadlock’

Bruce Willis – ‘Fortress’

Bruce Willis – ‘Midnight in the Switchgrass’

Bruce Willis – ‘Out of Death’

Bruce Willis – ‘Survive the Game’

Worst Screen Couple:

Any Klutzy Cast Member and Any Lamely Lyricized (or Choreographed) Musical Number – ‘Diana the Musical’

LeBron James and Any Warner Cartoon Character (or Time-Warner Product) He Dribbles On – ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’

Jared Leto and Either His 17-Pound Latex Face, His Geeky Clothes or His Ridiculous Accent – ‘House of Gucci’

Ben Platt and Any Other Character Who Acts Like Platt Singing 24-7 is Normal – ‘Dear Evan Hansen’

Tom and Jerry – ‘Tom and Jerry the Movie’

Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel:

‘Karen’

‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’

‘Tom and Jerry the Movie’

‘Twist’

‘The Woman in the Window’

Worst Director:

Christopher Ashley – ‘Diana the Musical’

Stephen Chbosky – ‘Dear Evan Hansen’

‘Coke’ Daniels – ‘Karen’

Renny Harlin – ‘The Misfits’

Joe Wright – ‘The Woman in the Window’

Worst Screenplay:

‘Diana the Musical’

‘Karen’

‘The Misfits’

‘Twist’

‘The Woman in the Window’