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  • As 1,500 Disneyland collectibles go up for auction, that Dumbo car — or trash bin — can be yours

    As 1,500 Disneyland collectibles go up for auction, that Dumbo car — or trash bin — can be yours

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    BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Fans who agree Disneyland is indeed the happiest place on Earth will soon be able to take home more than a souvenir.

    A passionate collector has brought Disney magic to a sprawling 30,000-square-foot (2,800-square-meter) building in Burbank, California, where fans can hear birds chirping in the Enchanted Tiki Room section or giggle at the animated ghosts from the Haunted Mansion ride as they preview more than 1,500 items up for auction later this month.

    Joel Magee has been building his collection of more than 6,000 items — including costumes, rare posters, and life-size vehicles from rides like Dumbo and Peter Pan — for 30 years, and he’s finally ready to share some of it with the public.

    Torrential rain has been pounding southwestern Japan, triggering floods and mudslides and leaving at least six people missing.

    Monsignor Victor Manuel Fernandez, archbishop of La Plata, smiles after a Mass at the Cathedral in La Plata, Argentina, Sunday, July 9, 2023. Fernandez was appointed by Pope Francis to head the Holy See's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

    An Argentine archbishop chosen by Pope Francis to head the Vatican office that ensures doctrinal orthodoxy concedes he made mistakes in handling a 2019 case of a priest accused of sexual abuse of minors.

    Allisen Corpuz poses with the winner's trophy after the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Pebble Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

    Allisen Corpuz picked the right time and the right place for her first big win. She won the first U.S.

    FILE - PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks during a news conference before the Travelers Championship golf tournament at TPC River Highlands, June 22, 2022, in Cromwell, Conn. Monahan is returning to work just over a month after he stepped away for a “medical situation” during a tumultuous time of working out a surprise commercial agreement with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

    The Washington Post is reporting former AT&T Chairman Randall Stephenson has resigned from the PGA Tour policy board.

    “I’m one of those guys — go big or go home. And if you don’t have the biggest, then it ain’t the best,” Magee told The Associated Press in a recent interview, as fans milled about the exhibit. Magee’s is the largest individually owned Disneyland/Disney Park collection in the world.

    “It’s really kind of exciting. This is the first time that all of my things have been in the same room at the same time,” he said.

    Magee is known in the collectible industry as “the toy scout,” and has amassed a huge collection of toys and Disney items. He says he watched “The Wonderful World of Disney” on TV every week as a kid but had never been to the park and never thought about collecting until he was at a toy show where he met a man selling Disneyland artifacts and got hooked.

    “At the time, I couldn’t afford too much. I bought a couple of pieces, but that’s where it all began,” Magee said. “In my travels as ‘the toy scout,’ I meet people all over the country and for the last 25 years, they’ve just been bringing me all their stuff and here it is today.”

    The items for sale are as small as a trading card and as large as a 1917 Model T moving van from Disneyland’s original Main Street that Magee says Walt Disney created himself.

    Mike Van Eaton is the co-owner of Van Eaton Galleries, which is running the auction. He says among the most sought-after items are those from the Haunted Mansion attraction, including original stretch paintings from the elevator in the iconic ride, and a “doom buggy” — the vehicle guests ride on.

    “Joel also has one of the most amazing Disney attraction poster collections in the world. He has every attraction poster ever in the park. And those are also going to do very well,” Van Eaton said.

    There are items for every price point, with some starting as low as $50 — but most go way up from there.

    “Some of these items, such as the Dumbo ride vehicle, may go for $200,000 to $300,000. We have trash cans from the park that may go for $5,000 or $6,000, and posters that could reach $50,000 to $60,000,” Van Eaton said.

    Magee says it’s hard to choose his favorites in such a large collection but he is partial to the static props he’s brought to life.

    “The Tiki birds, oh my gosh, they were piles of junk when we got them! They were worn out, pieces were missing,” Magee said. “Some good friends of mine that do a lot of work … in that field brought them all back to life better than you could ever imagine. And … people look at that and you can just see the magic in their eyes when they see them.”

    The exhibition is at the Burbank Town Center Mall and runs through July 16. The auction will be held July 17 through 19.

    ___

    Lefferts reported from New York.

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  • National Geographic will end newsstand sales of magazine next year, focus on subscriptions, digital

    National Geographic will end newsstand sales of magazine next year, focus on subscriptions, digital

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The familiar yellow-bordered cover of the monthly National Geographic will no longer be for sale on newsstands starting next year, part of cutbacks affecting the venerable magazine.

    The company’s focus is turning to its digital product and it will offer special editions on newsstands, a spokesman said on Thursday. Subscribers will still get a printed copy each month.

    Newsstand sales account for a small percentage of the magazine’s monthly circulation of just below 1.8 million copies, the magazine said.

    Even a magazine that started publishing in 1888 isn’t immune to financial headwinds affecting the media. Known best for its colorful photography from around the world, the magazine was started more than a century ago by the National Geographic Society, which supports science and exploration.

    Control of National Geographic has changed twice in the past decade, first in a sale to 20th Century Fox before being acquired by the Walt Disney Corp. in 2019. It has been hit by a series of layoffs.

    Craig Welch posted on Twitter on Wednesday that his new issue of the magazine just arrived, featuring his 16th and last feature as a senior writer for the magazine.

    “NatGeo is laying off all of its staff writers,” he wrote.

    The magazine said while it’s accurate it no longer has anyone with the title of “writer” anymore, it has people who both write and edit. Instead, it will turn to non-staffers to author stories. The changes occurred as the result of a reorganization in April.

    The company would not discuss how many people lost their jobs.

    “National Geographic will continue to publish a monthly magazine that is dedicated to exceptional multi-platform storytelling with cultural impact,” spokesman Chris Albert said. “Staffing changes will not change our ability to do this work, but rather give us more flexibility to tell different stories and meet our audiences where they are across our many platforms.”

    “Any insinuation that the recent changes will negatively impact the magazine, or the quality of our storytelling, is simply incorrect,” he said.

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  • From human ashes to cellphones, what’s going on with concert fans lately?

    From human ashes to cellphones, what’s going on with concert fans lately?

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    NEW YORK (AP) — From flinging bras to tossing flowers, concertgoers have long been a bit extra in showing adoration for their beloved artists — but a recent spate of artists being hit by weightier projectiles raises concerns about extreme fan culture and security.

    Country singer Kelsea Ballerini was the latest artist to be struck by a flying object, Wednesday evening at a Boise concert. In the moment caught on video, Ballerini is playing her guitar onstage when a bracelet hits her face and she takes a step back.

    Ballerini, clearly caught off guard, takes a moment before a brief intermission is called.

    “Hi, i’m fine,” she later said on Instagram. “Someone threw a bracelet, it hit me in the eye and it more so just scared me than hurt me.”

    Ashley Highfill, 30, was at the Idaho Botanical Garden show and said Ballerini seemed visibly upset. Highfill, who often attends concerts with her friends, said it’s become a normal occurrence to see fans throwing items onstage at concerts.

    “Stuff like that can be very dangerous,” she said. “It’s disheartening to see even though there is no bad intention, people are not thinking of the consequences that these people are putting on a show.”

    That same day, rapper Sexyy Red cut short her own show when fans refused to stop throwing water bottles at the stage.

    Morgan Milardo, managing director of the Berklee Popular Music Institute in Boston, said some venues will have signs that say “no mosh pits” or “no crowd surfing” — but perhaps signs that explicitly say “no throwing items at the stage” now need to be added to protect artists.

    “Everyone in attendance at a concert is responsible for keeping one another safe,” she said. “Concerts are supposed to offer a community where folks can come together to share in the magic of live music, not have to worry about a chicken nugget hitting them in the eyeball.”

    Long gone are the days of in-person fan clubs, but social media users can join in with the Swifties or the Beyhive at any moment online or get daily updates from accounts run by or dedicated to celebrities. Social media has created a deeper sense of connection and emotional closeness for fans, said Laurel Williams, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Baylor College of Medicine.

    That sense of closeness played out at a recent concert where one fan tossed their mother’s ashes onto the stage as Pink was performing.

    “Is this your mom?” Pink asked the fan. “I don’t know how to feel about this.”

    David Schmid, a pop culture expert at the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, said the idea of tossing items on stage historically goes back to the etymology of the word “fan.” Short for fanatic, it was a term originally associated with religious devotion. And many tend to see celebrities “as if they are gods or at least semi-divine beings,” he said.

    “From that perspective you can read the stage as a kind of altar and the objects that are thrown onto the stage as devotional objects,” Schmid said.

    The role of social media has also changed the nature of the items being thrown onstage. Rather than toss a note, some are hurling heavy cellphones onstage, hoping the performer will grab it and record a moment for them. In some cases, it ends up being a dangerous grab for attention.

    A man was arrested after throwing a cellphone that struck pop star Bebe Rexha in the face on June 18. According to a court criminal complaint, the man later told a third party that he hit the artist because he thought “it would be funny.” After the New York concert, Rexha shared a photo of her black eye and bandaged face to Instagram, with a thumbs up.

    “Im good,” she said in the post.

    “Although the show ended in an unfortunate way it was still an amazing show in my hometown,” she wrote in a subsequent post.

    While female artists have been the targets this month — including singer Ava Max, who was slapped at her Los Angeles show — even male performers like Harry Styles have faced projectiles heftier than underwear. At a November 2022 concert, Styles could be seen tossing his head back in pain after he was hit in the eye by a projectile.

    Mid-concert provocations from fans aren’t necessarily new: Rock legend Ozzy Osbourne notoriously bit the head off a live bat after a fan tossed it to him onstage. Some punk fans might remember the days when concertgoers would spit at artists to show appreciation.

    But with such behavior seemingly becoming more mainstream, venues, promoters and artists might look to reinforce security.

    Paul Wertheimer, founder of Crowd Management Strategies/Crowdsafe, said artists often have security contracts with the promoter that lists out what kind of security the artist will pay for or wants at the show. Venues can also decide to limit what can be brought inside or sold at the event space.

    “You need to have proper security to protect the artist,” Wertheimer said.

    After the deadly 2021 Astroworld crowd surge, protocols around safety at concerts have been called into question. With recent advancements in surveillance technology, like facial recognition and crowd monitoring with artificial intelligence, fans may no longer be able to fade into the crowd after hurling a personal item at their adored artist — even if done in jest.

    “The stage is an immensely powerful place on one level but it also a place where you are extremely vulnerable,” Schmid said.

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  • What to know about Fourth of July holiday origins and traditions

    What to know about Fourth of July holiday origins and traditions

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    ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Fourth of July is Americana at its core: parades and cookouts and cold beer and, of course, fireworks.

    Those pyrotechnics also make it an especially dangerous holiday, typically resulting in more than 10,000 trips to the emergency room. Yet fireworks remain at the center of Independence Day, a holiday 247 years in the making.

    Here are five things to know about July Fourth, including the origin of the holiday and how fireworks became part of the tradition.

    The American flag will be flown throughout the country on July 4, but it wasn’t always a revered and debated symbol.

    Police on the scene of a shooting Monday, July 3, 2023 in Philadelphia. Police say a gunman in a bulletproof vest has opened fire on the streets of Philadelphia, killing several people and wounding two boys before he surrendered to responding officers. (Steven M. Falk/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

    A 40-year-old man with a rifle, a pistol, a bulletproof vest, extra magazines and a police scanner fatally shot four men on the streets of a Philadelphia neighborhood and chased and killed a fifth man inside a home, police say.

    Moms for Liberty founders Tiffany Justice, right, and Tina Descovich speak at the Moms for Liberty meeting in Philadelphia, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

    The “parental rights” group Moms for Liberty is looking to expand its efforts to elect school board candidates in 2024 and beyond, as well as get involved in other education races.

    FILE - President Barack Obama poses for a photo during a visit with service members at the White House Independence Day celebration July 4, 2012, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)

    Through history, the Fourth of July has been a day for some presidents to declare their independence from the public.

    WHAT’S THE ORIGIN OF INDEPENDENCE DAY?

    The holiday celebrates the Second Continental Congress’ unanimous adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, a document announcing the colonies’ separation from Great Britain.

    One year later, according to the Library of Congress, a spontaneous celebration in Philadelphia marked the anniversary of American independence.

    But across the burgeoning nation, observations didn’t become commonplace until after the War of 1812. It quickly took off: The Library of Congress notes that major historic events in the 19th century, such as groundbreaking ceremonies for the Erie Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, were scheduled to coincide with Fourth of July festivities.

    HOW DID FIREWORKS BECAME A JULY FOURTH TRADITION?

    The display of pyrotechnics has been a big part of Independence Day from the outset. Founding Father John Adams saw it coming.

    Commemoration of America’s independence “ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more,” Adams wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail, dated July 3, 1776.

    Fireworks were around centuries before America became a nation. The American Pyrotechnics Association says many historians believe fireworks were first developed in the second century B.C. in ancient China by throwing bamboo stalks into fires, causing explosions as the hollow air pockets overheated.

    By the 15th century, fireworks were widely used for religious festivals and public entertainment in Europe and early U.S. settlers carried on those traditions, the association said.

    HAS A PRESIDENT EVER REFUSED TO CELEBRATE?

    Presidents from George Washington to Joe Biden have celebrated the nation’s birth on the Fourth of July, with one exception: Adams.

    His letter to his wife aside, Adams refused to celebrate the holiday on July 4 because he felt July 2 was the real Independence Day. Why? It was on July 2, 1776, that the Continental Congress voted in favor of the resolution for independence, though the Declaration of Independence wasn’t formally adopted until two days later.

    Adams was so adamant that he turned down invitations to festivals and other events, even while serving as the nation’s second president. Ironically, Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, both died on the 50th anniversary of the document’s formal adoption, July 4, 1826.

    HOW POPULAR ARE FIREWORKS?

    Consumer sales of fireworks have grown rapidly over the past two decades.

    Statistics from the American Pyrotechnics Association show that in 2000, American consumers spent $407 million on fireworks. By 2022, that figure rose to $2.3 billion. The biggest jump came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when public fireworks displays were shut down. Consumer sales jumped from $1 billion in 2019 to $1.9 billion in 2020.

    “People went to the fireworks store beginning Memorial Day weekend and they just didn’t stop,” said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association. “They were firing off fireworks all of 2020. It shocked the industry, to be quite honest with you.”

    Sales are expected to rise another $100 million this year, the association said. It helps that the Fourth of July is on a Tuesday, creating essentially a four-day weekend.

    ARE FIREWORKS DANGEROUS?

    Despite widespread education efforts, thousands of Americans are badly injured by fireworks each year, and this year is no exception.

    Late Saturday night, firefighters and medics were called to Lexington Township, a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas, for reports of a shed on fire and arrived to find fireworks actively exploding from the burning shed and several people lying injured on the ground. Firefighters, medics and local police dragged the victims from the area to safety, and four people were taken to hospitals — two with serious injuries, Northwest Consolidated Fire District Chief Todd Maxton said in a statement.

    The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that in 2022, 10,200 people were treated at emergency rooms and 11 deaths were blamed on fireworks. About three-quarters of injuries happened in the period around the Fourth of July.

    About one-third of the injuries were to the head, face, ears or eyes. Finger, hand and leg injuries are common, too.

    “I have seen people who have blown off fingers,” said Dr. Tiffany Osborn, an emergency room physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. “I’ve seen people who have lost eyes. I’ve seen people who have significant facial injuries.”

    Children under 15 make up nearly one-third of those injured by fireworks. Sparklers often are blamed for burns to children under age 5. Osborn suggested giving small children glow sticks or colorful streamers instead.

    For those planning to shoot off fireworks, Heckman urged finding a flat, hard, level surface away from structures and other things that could catch fire. The person responsible for the fireworks should avoid alcohol. Children should never ignite them.

    Osborn encouraged having a bucket or hose nearby in case of fire or explosion. Shoot off one at a time and walk away quickly after igniting, she said, and never relight or handle a malfunctioned firework. When done, shovel up the remains and soak them before disposing.

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  • Q&A: Violinist and singer Sudan Archives brings ‘fiddle soft punk’ to Glastonbury debut

    Q&A: Violinist and singer Sudan Archives brings ‘fiddle soft punk’ to Glastonbury debut

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    PILTON, England (AP) — Brittney Denise Parks, better known as Sudan Archives, is an avant-garde violinist and singer-songwriter who describes her style as “fiddle soft punk.”

    Late last month, she made her debut at the Glastonbury Festival in the U.K. After a shaky start, the packed crowd danced around in the afternoon sun as she rapped and played the violin in a corset of red leather belts and buckles, cowboy boots, violin bow strapped to her back like Robin Hood.

    “At first my mic wasn’t working, so the crowd was like, We can’t hear you. and I was like, Really? They’re like, No! So then once we figured that out, then it was amazing!” she told The Associated Press backstage.

    Now based in Los Angeles, Sudan Archives taught herself the violin as a child in Ohio. She’s been making waves with her exploration of non-Western string traditions, unconventional pop and R&B melodies as well as rap inspired by her collaborator and boyfriend, Nocando.

    Her second breakthrough album “Natural Brown Prom Queen,” recorded in the couple’s home studio during the pandemic, was released in 2022. The track “Home Maker” subsequently made Barack Obama’s favorite music of 2022 playlist.

    The following interview has been condensed for brevity and clarity.

    AP: What was your starting point with the violin?

    Sudan Archives: I didn’t start classical, but I just was really into fiddle music. So I started just trying to learn fiddle music. And there was an after-school program called Fiddle Club, so we learned a lot of Irish music and stuff, but when I moved to a different school, there wasn’t an orchestra or any after-school program. So I just taught myself more in church how to play by ear.

    And then since I didn’t really have any training, I didn’t really have the training and skills to pursue college and go to school like that. But I basically started to incorporate electronic music with the violin. And I remember when they first started making electric violins, I had bought my first electric violin and plugged in to guitar pedals. And I started making strange sounds and making music.

    AP: The violin does have a particular image, was that something you were conscious of?

    Sudan Archives: Yeah, I was. I think, all over, there’s a very Western view of the violin. But there’s so many other cultures that play violin. But for some reason, when you think of violin, you think of maybe classical orchestra. But I was just in Istanbul, and I just bought one of the first traditional violins from Turkey. And when I was in Ghana, I bought a Hausa violin. So basically I feel like my goal is to show the Black roots of the violin.

    AP: What made you want to mix the violin with rap?

    Sudan Archives: I think it works because it hasn’t been done a lot and I really want to be unique. So I started dating my boyfriend and he’s a really good rapper. So I feel like when you’re around rappers, something clicked and I was like, “Wait a minute, maybe I should play violin and rap too.”

    AP: And what have people from the rap scene made of that and made of you?

    Sudan Archives: I think they like it. I feel like I consider myself soft punk. Like it’s not punk. It’s not, like, crazy. I’m not going to smash my violin, but I might scream and rap. It’s like, a fiddle soft punk.

    AP: You have dates in Japan and Australia coming up. Do you like the travel?

    Sudan Archives: I kind of like it. I don’t know why because sometimes I get bored and I just feel when you travel a lot, you just never get bored.

    AP: Especially if you get to spend time in a place?

    Sudan Archives: Yeah. I make sure that I have off days in really cool places. So I had three days off in Istanbul and I really wanted to stay there because they have a lot of string instruments. So when I have an off day in Japan, I’m going to go get a string instrument there.

    AP: How many violins have you bought altogether?

    Sudan Archives: I probably have like six.

    AP: And do you use them all when you perform?

    Sudan Archives: I don’t have enough money to be like “I have a violin tech. They carry all my violins” and I can only bring one or maybe two if a friend is coming and then I make them take it on the plane.

    AP: But one day, one day you’ll have the entourage.

    Sudan Archives: One day, I’ll have five violins on stage with different effects.

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  • This Ohio museum shows that TV is older than you might think

    This Ohio museum shows that TV is older than you might think

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    The history of television began long before millions of people gathered in front of their black-and-white sets and fiddled with the antenna and horizontal hold to watch Lucy, Uncle Miltie and Howdy Doodie.

    “Everybody thinks TV started in the ‘50s or the late ’40s. Almost nobody knows it existed before World War II and even goes back to the ‘20s,” said Steve McVoy, 80, the founder and president of the Early Television Museum in Hilliard, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus.

    The museum holds a large collection of televisions from the 1920s and 1930s, and scores of the much-improved, post-World War II, black-and-white sets that changed the entertainment landscape. There are also several of the first-generation color sets developed in the early 1950s.

    When Justina Machado returns home to her native Chicago, she barely recognizes it. Machado grew up in Chicago’s inner city, in the neighborhoods Lincoln Park, Humboldt Park and Logan Square — all of which she says have been gentrified.

    This combination of images shows "Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)" by Taylor Swift, left, and “I Inside the Old Year Dying” by PJ Harvey. (Republic Records, left, and Partisan Records via AP)

    This week’s new entertainment releases include Taylor Swift’s rerecording of her “Speak Now,” a documentary on Wham!

    FILE - Geraldo Rivera attends The Hollywood Reporter's annual Most Powerful People in Media issue celebration on May 17, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

    Fox News brought cake, balloons and fake mustaches to the set of “Fox & ”Friends” to pay tribute to Geraldo Rivera on Friday.

    FILE - Alan Arkin poses for a portrait in the Fender Music Lodge during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Jan. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Victoria Will, file)

    Oscar winner Alan Arkin has died at age 89. The popular character actor was nominated three times for Academy Awards and finally won in 2007 as the foul-mouthed grandfather in the surprise hit “Little Miss Sunshine.”

    “The original idea for the museum was to deal with the earliest television technology,” McVoy said. “The sets got pretty boring after 1960, just these big things in plastic cabinets.”

    The collection is one of the world’s largest, rivaled in North America only by the MZTV Museum of Toronto. About 180 television sets are on exhibit, arranged in chronological order, with another 50 in storage.

    “So many of the sets were incredible to see in their original form,” said Doron Galili, a research fellow in media studies at Stockholm University and author of “Seeing by Electricity: The Emergence of Television, 1878 – 1939” (Duke University Press).

    He visited in 2016, and said the museum gives visitors “a better sense not only of the technological aspects of television history but also of its place within popular culture, and modern design and material culture.”

    THE BACKSTORY

    McVoy’s personal history with television also goes back many years. When he was 10 and living in Gainesville, Florida, he was fascinated by his family’s first set. “I tinkered with it, much to my parent’s dismay,” he said.

    He pulled a little red wagon around the neighborhood with a sign that advertised free television repairs.

    “Nobody accepted my offer,” McVoy said, adding it was unlikely he could have repaired a set if anyone had asked.

    A few years later, he began working in a television repair shop and learned those skills. He opened his own shop, Freedom TV, in the mid-1960s, repairing sets and installing antennas atop apartment buildings and motels. Soon after, he formed his first cable-television business, Micanopy Cable TV, followed by Coaxial Communications and Telecinema. McVoy sold his cable holdings in 1999 and, looking for something to do, decided to start collecting old television sets.

    “I never collected anything before,” he said.

    The first set he bought, on eBay, was an RCA TRK 12, which was introduced at the 1939 World’s Fair and retailed at $600, a princely sum at the time.

    “I think I paid about a thousand bucks for it,” McVoy said, adding that it was in disrepair and missing several parts. “A complete one would have cost five or six thousand; the pre-war sets are very valuable.”

    He refurbished the TRK 12, and began collecting more old sets and visiting other collectors who shared his growing passion.

    “All their collections were in their basements and attics,” McVoy said. This, plus his wife’s annoyance at all the old sets cluttering up their living room, hatched the idea to start a museum.

    The Early Television Museum opened in 2002 as a non-profit foundation. It’s housed in a large former warehouse. Each room features an audio guide, narrated by McVoy. Press another button on some of the sets and and a few old shows appear.

    Until a few years ago, McVoy helped restore many of the museum’s televisions himself. “My eyesight and the stability of my hands makes it difficult now,” he said.

    HOW TV BEGAN

    The idea for transmitting pictures goes back to the 1880s. “The problem of television … has not yet been solved,” The New York Times reported on Nov. 24, 1907.

    The first crude mechanical televisions were developed in the mid 1920s by John Logie Baird in England and Charles Jenkins in the United States, and relied on rotating discs to transmit pictures. According to the museum, by 1930, “television was being broadcast from over a dozen stations in the U.S., not only in the major cities such as New York and Boston, but also from Iowa and Kansas. Several manufacturers were selling sets and kits.”

    The screens were small and the picture quality extremely poor, with lots of “fading and ghosting.” Programming was limited.

    Television made what McVoy calls its “formal debut” on April 30, 1939, at that World’s Fair in New York. President Roosevelt’s speech to open the fair was broadcast live, as an NBC mobile unit sent signals to a transmitter atop the Empire State Building. From there, the signals “went out to visual receivers within a fifty-mile radius in the metropolitan area,” reported the New York Daily News.

    RCA and General Electric introduced television models at the World’s Fair. A total of about 7,000 sets were made in the United States in 1939 and 1940, and only about 350 still exist, according to the museum.

    World War II halted the production of TV sets in the United States. Engineers who learned about radar and aircraft communications then applied that knowledge to TV technology after the war, when a boom in sales and programming began.

    There were about 200,000 sets in the U.S. in 1947, and 18 million by the end of 1953, according to McVoy’s research. Audiences loved “I Love Lucy” (which began airing in 1951) and “The Honeymooners” (began 1955).

    The color revolution came in 1954. Sales were initially slow, due in part to cost. It wasn’t until the early 1970s that color sets outsold black-and-white ones.

    “We have (an example of) virtually every set that is available,” McVoy said.

    SEEKING PHILO FARNSWORTH

    At the top of his wish list? A set made by electronic-television pioneer Philo Farnsworth in the late 1920s or early 1930s.

    “Only three still survive as far as we know and they’re all already in other museums,” McVoy said. “If a fourth ever shows up, we’d go to our donors and would be able to get it.”

    —-

    For more AP Travel stories, go to https://apnews.com/lifestyle.

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  • Karen Allen on one last hurrah as Marion Ravenwood in ‘Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny’

    Karen Allen on one last hurrah as Marion Ravenwood in ‘Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny’

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Indiana Jones. Karen Allen always knew he’d come walking back through her door.

    Since 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Allen has been only a sporadic presence in the subsequent sequels. But the glow of the freckled, big-eyed actor who so memorably played Marion Ravenwood has only grown stronger over time.

    Indiana Jones may be one of the movies’ most iconic characters, but he’s always needed a good foil. It was Kate Capshaw and Ke Huy Quan in “Temple of Doom” and Sean Connery in “The Last Crusade.” Yet none could top, or out drink, Allen’s Marion, a wisecracking, naturalistic beauty and swashbuckling heir to screwball legends like Katharine Hepburn and Irene Dunne.

    Allen’s place in the latest and last “Indiana Jones,” the just-released “Dial of Destiny,” has long been a mystery. Now that the movie is in theaters — spoiler alert — we can finally let the cat out of the bag. Allen returns. And while her role isn’t large — tragedy has driven Marion and Indiana apart — it’s extremely poignant in how she figures into Harrison Ford’s swan song as Indiana Jones.

    “Secrets,” Allen chuckled in a recent interview, “are not my specialty.”

    Allen, 71, was a magnetic presence in some memorable 1970s and ‘80s films, including 1978’s “Animal House” (the performance that caught Steven Spielberg’s eye), 1984’s “Starman” and 1988’s “Scrooged.” But while she’s steadily worked ever since, the era’s male-dominated Hollywood often seemed to squander her talent. Allen has lived for decades in the Berkshires, where she opened a textiles and clothing boutique and has frequently performed at Tanglewood.

    Allen also returned to Marion in 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” But as much as “Dial of Destiny” signifies the end of Ford’s run as Indy, it’s also Allen’s goodbye to her most beloved character. This time, Indiana’s sidekick went to Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the “Fleabag” creator and star. Allen, praising Waller-Bridge as a strong woman, approves.

    “If it wasn’t going to be me,” said Allen, “I’m glad it was her.”

    ___

    AP: Did Spielberg or “Dial of Destiny” director James Mangold reach out to you about returning as Marion?

    ALLEN: There was a period of time when Steven was going to direct the film. It was my understanding — although I never read any of those scripts — that it was being developed very much as a still-ongoing Marion-and-Indy story. When Steven decided to step down and James took over and brought in new writers, I knew it was going into a different direction. Having not even known what it was before, it was even more mysterious after they took it over. So I really didn’t know anything for a long period of time until they had a script. And I have to confess, I was a bit disappointed that she wasn’t more woven throughout the story and didn’t have more of an ongoing trajectory. However, the way in which she does come back into the story was very satisfying. I just thought, “OK, I’m just going to embrace this.” I certainly would have been wildly disappointed had Marion just sort of vanished into the ether.

    AP: Did you always think Marion and Indiana were destined for each other? You don’t exactly get a sense of permanence between them in “Raiders.”

    ALLEN: It’s funny. When I first started working on it, I just decided that Indy was the love of her life. I just decided to make a deep commitment to that and to play through “Raiders of the Lost Ark” with the feeling they’re soulmates. When we end up married in “Crystal Skull,” I wept when I read that script.

    AP: “Indiana Jones” could be a boys world but you were such a spirited force of nature.

    ALLEN: Well, Steven and George had this experience as young boys with these Saturday afternoon matinee serial films. They were just a little bit older than I am, so I kind of missed that. I don’t have a reference point for that. So I don’t think that I necessarily understood the genre of film we were making. I thought we were making “Casablanca.” I really, truly did. So I sort of defined my character in that sort of genre — which I think weirdly enough works quite well for the film. I never imagined Marion as a damsel in distress in any sort of way. I was always pushing back against that, and in the end, Steven was supportive of that.

    AP: Do you ever wish you had gotten the chance to star in more Hollywood films?

    ALLEN: I make movies all the time, although I have tended in the last 10 or 15 years to focus more on indie films. In truth, the kinds of roles I’m really hungry to play, particularly for someone my age, they’re written more in the indie world. People kind of think, “Where have you been?” There were times I was raising my son but I often do at least two films a year. They’re very satisfying, probably more satisfying than the sort of roles I would be offered. A lot of times I turned down things. There’s a lot of thankless roles for women in bigger budget films.

    AP: What has Marion meant to you?

    ALLEN: She’s sort of at the core of my growth as an actor and certainly my relationship to the world. As I move through the world, I’ve become very identified with that character. There was maybe a brief period of time where I found it annoying. But that passed and now it’s just this character that I love. I can’t imagine anything more satisfying to have had the chance in life to create a character that has some meaning for people.

    AP: What was it like to shoot your scenes with Ford in “Dial of Destiny”?

    ALLEN: It was fantastic. We shot it all in one day or maybe two days. To just imagine these two people that have been wrenched apart through grief and loss and then she’s coming back with this hope that they can move forward. When we played the scene, that was very, very affecting. We were both very affected by it and a little teary. And the crew was a little teary.

    AP: How has it been keeping your role in the film secret?

    ALLEN: It’s been excruciating. (Laughs) I never have to do anything like this again. People have come up to me and they’ve been so upset because they didn’t see my name on IMDb. People would be so mad I’d have to stand there and just be like, “What do I say? Do I say, ‘Yeah, isn’t that a drag?’ or ‘You never never know — wink, wink.’” I’ve had to say I just can’t answer any questions about “Indiana Jones” — which I feel like is sort of saying that I’m in the film. It’s a lose-lose situation. (Laughs)

    AP: Does playing Marion one last time cap anything for you?

    ALLEN: More so for Harrison than for me. He’s such a fully developed character and has done all five of these. With Marion, I’ve kind of come and gone. But she will always be a character that moves through life with me. I don’t know if I really have a sense of it being over. There always was a sense that one more would be done, even if it took 20 years. Now, they’ve been very clear that this is the last one. So it is a letting go.

    ___ Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

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  • Summer movie season is in full swing. Here’s what’s coming through Labor Day

    Summer movie season is in full swing. Here’s what’s coming through Labor Day

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    The summer movie season goes into high-gear in July, with the arrival of the seventh “Mission: Impossible” movie followed by the “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” showdown on July 21.

    Not that you have to choose one or the other — as Tom Cruise said on Twitter, “I love a double feature, and it doesn’t get more explosive (or more pink) than the one with Oppenheimer and Barbie.”

    August also promises a new take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and introduces a new DC superhero, Blue Beetle.

    Moviegoers were only moderately interested in going to the theater to say goodbye to Harrison Ford’s archaeologist character in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

    FILE - Karen Allen arrives at the premiere of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," in Los Angeles on June 14, 2023. Allen portrayed Marion Ravenwood in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark." (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

    Indiana Jones. Karen Allen always knew he’d come walking back through her door. Since 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Allen’s Marion Ravenwood has been only a sporadic presence in the subsequent sequels.

    Actor and musician Russell Crowe arrives to the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. (Slavomir Kubes/CTK via AP)

    An international film festival in the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary has kicked off its 57th edition with an award planned for Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe.

    Actor Kevin Spacey arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Friday, June 30, 2023. Spacey is going on trial on charges he sexually assaulted four men as long as two decades ago. The double-Oscar winner faces a dozen charges at Southwark Crown Court. Spacey pleads not guilty to all charges. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

    A London prosecutor says Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey is a “sexual bully” who assaults other men and doesn’t respect personal boundaries.

    Here’s a month-by-month guide of this summer’s new movies. Keep scrolling for more info and review links for May and June’s releases.

    July 7

    ” Insidious: The Red Door ” (Sony, theaters): Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are back to scare everyone in the fifth edition.

    “ Joy Ride ” (Lionsgate, theaters): Adele Lim directs this raucous comedy about a friends trip to China to find someone’s birth mother, starring Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu.

    “ The Lesson ” (Bleecker Street, theaters): A young novelist helps an acclaimed author in this thriller with Richard E. Grant.

    “ Biosphere ” (IFC, theaters and VOD): Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown are the last two men on Earth.

    “ Earth Mama ” (A24, theaters): This acclaimed debut from Savannah Leaf focuses on a woman, single and pregnant with two kids in foster care, trying to reclaim her family in the Bay Area.

    July 14

    “ Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part I” (Paramount, theaters, on July 12): Tom Cruise? Death-defying stunts in Venice? The return of Kittridge? What more do you need?

    “ Theater Camp ”(Searchlight, theaters): Musical theater nerds (and comedy fans) will delight in this loving satire of a childhood institution, with Ben Platt and Molly Gordon.

    “ The Miracle Club ” (Sony Pictures Classics, theaters): Lifetime friends (Kathy Bates, Maggie Smith, Agnes O’Casey) in a small Dublin community in 1967 dream of a trip to Lourdes, a town in France where miracles are supposed to happen. Laura Linney co-stars.

    “ 20 Days in Mariupol ” (in theaters in New York): AP’s Mstyslav Chernov directs this documentary, a joint project between The Associated Press and PBS “Frontline,” about the first weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which Chernov, photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, and field producer Vasilisa Stepanenko, became the only international journalists operating in the city. Their coverage won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

    “ Afire ” (Janus Films, theaters): This drama from German director Christian Petzold is set at a vacation home by the Baltic Sea where tensions rise between a writer, a photographer and a mysterious guest (Paula Beer) as a wildfire looms.

    “ They Cloned Tyrone ” (Netflix): John Boyega, Teyonah Parris and Jamie Foxx lead this mystery caper.

    July 21

    “ Oppenheimer ” (Universal, theaters): Christopher Nolan takes audiences into the mind of the “father of the atomic bomb,” J. Robert Oppenheimer ( Cillian Murphy ) as he and his peers build up to the trinity test at Los Alamos.

    “ Barbie ” (Warner Bros., theaters): Margot Robbie plays the world’s most famous doll (as do many others) opposite Ryan Gosling’s Ken in Greta Gerwig’s comedic look at their perfect world.

    “ Stephen Curry: Underrated ” (Apple TV+): Peter Nicks directs a documentary about the four-time NBA champion.

    “ The Beanie Bubble ” (in select theaters; on Apple TV+ on July 28): Zach Galifianakis stars as the man behind Beanie Babies in this comedic drama, co-starring Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook and Geraldine Viswanathan.

    July 28

    “ Haunted Mansion ” (Disney, theaters): A Disney ride comes to life in with the help of Rosario Dawson, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson and Danny DeVito.

    “ Talk to Me ” (A24, theaters): A group of friends conjure spirits in this horror starring Sophie Wilde and Joe Bird.

    “ Happiness for Beginners ” (Netflix, on July 27): Ellie Kemper is a newly divorced woman looking to shake things up.

    “ Sympathy for the Devil ” (RLJE Films): Joel Kinnaman is forced to drive a mysterious gunman (Nicolas Cage) in this thriller.

    “ Kokomo City ” (Magnolia): A documentary following four Black transgender sex workers. One of the subjects, Koko Da Doll, was shot and killed in April.

    August 4

    “ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem ” (Paramount, theaters): This animated movie puts the teenage back in the equation with a very funny voice cast including Seth Rogen and John Cena as Bebop and Rocksteady.

    “ Shortcomings ” (Sony Pictures Classics, theaters): Randall Park directs this adaptation of Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel about Asian American friends in the Bay Area starring Sherry Cola as Alice, Ally Maki as Miko and Justin H. Min as Ben.

    “ Meg 2: The Trench ” (Warner Bros., theaters): Jason Statham is back fighting sharks.

    “ Passages ” (Mubi): The relationship of a longtime couple (Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw) is thrown when one begins an affair with a woman (Adèle Exarchopoulos).

    “ A Compassionate Spy ” (Magnolia): Steve James’ documentary about the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project who fed information to the Soviets.

    “Dreamin’ Wild” (Roadside Attractions): Casey Affleck stars in this film about musical duo Donnie and Joe Emerson.

    “ Problemista ” (A24, theaters): Julio Torres plays an aspiring toy designer in this surreal comedy co-starring Tilda Swinton that he also wrote, directed and produced.

    August 11

    “ Gran Turismo ” (Sony, theaters): A gamer gets a chance to drive a professional course in this video game adaptation starring David Harbour and Orlando Bloom.

    “ The Last Voyage of the Demeter ” (Universal, theaters): This supernatural horror film draws from a chapter of “Dracula.”

    “ Heart of Stone ” (Netflix): Gal Gadot played an intelligence operative in this action thriller, with Jamie Dornan.

    “The Eternal Memory” (MTV Documentary Films): This documentary explores a marriage and Alzheimer’s disease.

    “The Pod Generation” (Vertical, theaters): Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in this sci-fi comedy about a new path to parenthood.

    “Jules” (Bleecker Street, theaters): Ben Kingsley stars in this film about a UFO that crashes in his backyard in rural Pennsylvania.

    August 18

    “ Blue Beetle ” (Warner Bros., theaters): Xolo Maridueña plays the DC superhero Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle in this origin story.

    “ Strays ” (Universal, theaters): Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx voice dogs in this not-animated, R-rated comedy.

    “birth/rebirth” (IFC, theaters): A woman and a morgue technician bring a little girl back to life in this horror.

    “ White Bird ” (Lionsgate, theaters): Helen Mirren tells her grandson, expelled from school for bullying, a story about herself in Nazi-occupied France.

    “Landscape with Invisible Hand” (MGM, theaters): Teens come up with a unique moneymaking scheme in a world taken over by aliens.

    “The Hill” (Briarcliff Entertainment): This baseball drama starring Dennis Quaid is based on the true story of Rickey Hill.

    August 25

    “They Listen” (Sony, theaters): John Cho and Katherine Waterston lead this secretive Blumhouse horror.

    “Golda” (Bleecker Street): Helen Mirren stars in this drama about Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel during the Yom Kippur War.

    “ Bottoms ” (MGM, theaters): Two unpopular teenage girls (Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri) start a fight club to impress the cheerleaders they want to lose their virginity to in this parody of the teen sex comedy.

    “The Dive” (RLJE Films): In this suspense pic about two sisters out for a dive, one gets hurt and is trapped underwater.

    “Scrapper” (Kino Lorber, theaters): A 12-year-old girl (Lola Campbell) is living alone in a London flat until her estranged father (Harris Dickinson) shows up.

    “Fremont” (Music Box Films, theaters): A former army translator in Afghanistan (Anaita Wali Zada) relocates to Fremont, California and gets a job at a fortune cookie factory. “The Bear’s” Jeremy Allen White co-stars.

    September 1

    “ The Equalizer 3 ” (Sony, theaters): Denzel Washington is back as Robert McCall, who is supposed to be retired from the assassin business but things get complicated in Southern Italy.

    ALREADY IN THEATERS AND STREAMING

    “ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ” (Disney/Marvel): Nine years after the non-comic obsessed world was introduced to Peter Quill, Rocket, Groot and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, the misfits are closing out the trilogy and saying goodbye to director James Gunn, who is now leading rival DC. ( AP’s review.)

    “ What’s Love Got to Do with It? ” (Shout! Studios): Lily James plays a documentary filmmaker whose next project follows her neighbor (Shazad Latif) on his road to an arranged marriage in this charming romantic comedy.

    “ Book Club: The Next Chapter ” (Focus Features): Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen travel to Italy to celebrate an engagement.

    “ The Mother,” ( Netflix ): Jennifer Lopez is an assassin and a mother in this action pic timed to Mother’s Day. (AP’s review here.)

    “ Love Again ” (Sony): Priyanka Chopra Jonas plays a woman mourning the death of her boyfriend who texts his old number not knowing it belongs to someone new (Sam Heughan). Celine Dion (and her music) co-star in this romantic drama.

    “ STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie ” ( AppleTV+ ): Davis Guggenheim helps Michael J. Fox tell his story, from his rise in Hollywood to his Parkinson’s diagnosis and beyond.

    “ Monica ” (IFC): A transgender woman, estranged from her family, goes home to visit her dying mother in this film starring Tracee Lysette and Patricia Clarkson.

    “ The Starling Girl ” (Bleecker Street): Eliza Scanlen plays a 17-year-old girl living in a fundamentalist Christian community in Kentucky whose life changes with the arrival of Lewis Pullman’s charismatic youth pastor.

    “ Fool’s Paradise ” (Roadside Attractions): Charlie Day writes, directs and plays dual roles in this comedic Hollywood satire.

    “ Hypnotic ” (Ketchup Entertainment): Ben Affleck plays a detective whose daughter goes missing in this Robert Rodriguez movie.

    “ It Ain’t Over ” (Sony Pictures Classics): A documentary about Lawrence Peter ‘Yogi’ Berra.

    “Blackberry” (IFC): Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton star in this movie about the rise of the Blackberry. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Fast X ” (Universal): In the tenth installment of the Fast franchise, Jason Momoa joins as the vengeful son of a slain drug lord intent to take out Vin Diesel’s Dom. ( AP’s review.)

    “ White Men Can’t Jump ” (20th Century Studios, streaming on Hulu): Sinqua Walls and Jack Harlow co-star in this remake of the 1992 film, co-written by Kenya Barris and featuring the late Lance Reddick. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Master Gardener ” (Magnolia): Joel Edgerton is a horticulturist in this Paul Schrader drama, co-starring Sigourney Weaver as a wealthy dowager. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Sanctuary ” (Neon): A dark comedy about a dominatrix (Margaret Qualley) and her wealth client (Christopher Abbott).

    “ The Little Mermaid ” (Disney): Halle Bailey plays Ariel in this technically ambitious live-action remake of a recent Disney classic directed by Rob Marshall (“Chicago”) and co-starring Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. ( AP’s review.)

    “ You Hurt My Feelings ” (A24): Nicole Holofcener takes a nuanced and funny look at a white lie that unsettles the marriage between a New York City writer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and a therapist (Tobias Menzies). ( AP’s review.)

    “ About My Father ” (Lionsgate): Stand-up comic Sebastian Maniscalco co-wrote this culture clash movie in which he takes his Italian-American father (Robert De Niro) on a vacation with his wife’s WASPy family. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Victim/Suspect ” ( Netflix ): This documentary explores how law enforcement sometimes indicts victims of sexual assault instead of helping.

    “ The Machine,” (Sony): Stand-up comedian Bert Kreischer brings Mark Hamill into the fray for this action-comedy.

    “ Kandahar ” (Open Road Films): Gerard Butler plays an undercover CIA operative in hostile territory in Afghanistan.

    “ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ” (Sony): Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is back, but with things not going so well in Brooklyn, he opts to visit the multiverse with his old pal Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), where he encounters the Spider-Society. ( AP’s review.)

    “ The Boogeyman ” (20th Century Studios): “It’s the thing that comes for your kids when you’re not paying attention,” David Dastmalchian explains to Chris Messina in this Stephen King adaptation.

    “ Past Lives ” (A24): Already being hailed as one of the best of the year after its Sundance debut, Celine Song’s directorial debut is a decades and continent-spanning romance about two friends separated in childhood who meet 20 years later in New York. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Transformers: Rise of the Beasts ” (Paramount): Steven Caple Jr directs the seventh Transformers movie, starring Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback. ( AP’s review.)

    “Flamin’ Hot” ( Hulu, Disney+): Eva Longoria directs this story about Richard Montañez, a janitor at Frito-Lay who came up with the idea for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Blue Jean ” (Magnolia): It’s 1988 in England and hostilities are mounting towards the LGBTQ community in Georgia Oakley’s BAFTA-nominated directorial debut about a gym teacher (Rosy McEwan) and the arrival of a new student. ( AP’s review.)

    “Daliland” (Magnolia): Mary Harron directs Ben Kingsley as Salvador Dalí.

    “ The Flash ” (Warner Bros.): Batmans past Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton assemble for this standalone Flash movie directed by Andy Muschietti and starring Ezra Miller as the titular superhero. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Elemental ” (Pixar): In Element City, residents include Air, Earth, Water and Fire in the new Pixar original, featuring the voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie and Catherine O’Hara. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Extraction 2 ” ( Netflix ): Chris Hemsworth’s mercenary Tyler Rake is back for another dangerous mission. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Asteroid City ” (Focus Features): Wes Anderson assembles Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman and Jeffrey Wright for a stargazer convention in the mid-century American desert. ( AP’s review.)

    “ The Blackening ” (Lionsgate): This scary movie satire sends a group of Black friends including Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg and X Mayo to a cabin in the woods.

    “ No Hard Feelings ” (Sony): Jennifer Lawrence leads a raunchy comedy about a woman hired by a shy teen’s parents to help him get out of his shell before Princeton. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ” (Lucasfilm): Harrison Ford puts his iconic fedora back on for a fifth outing as Indy in this new adventure directed by James Mangold and co-starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Every Body ” (Focus Features): Oscar-nominated documentarian Julie Cohen turns her lens on three intersex individuals in her latest film. ( AP’s review.)

    “ Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken ” (Universal): Lana Condor (“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”) lends her voice to this animated action-comedy about a shy teenager trying to survive high school as a part-Kraken. (AP’s review.)

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  • Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is writing a book on leadership

    Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is writing a book on leadership

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    WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Friday she is writing a book, with the focus more on leadership than on politics.

    In an Instagram post, Ardern said she is often asked whether she will write about her five years as New Zealand’s leader.

    “At first, my answer was no. I didn’t want to write a book that hauled over the internal politics of the last five years, and then someone convinced me that I didn’t have to,” Ardern wrote.

    New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has discussed his country’s interest in boosting economic ties with China during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

    FILE - Prime Minister of New Zealand Chris Hipkins speaks to the media after meeting Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in Downing Street, London, on May, 5, 2023. The United States has Air Force One, a plane that can refuel in midair and act as a presidential command center. New Zealand has Betty, an aging Boeing 757 that officials on Monday, June 26, acknowledged was so prone to breakdowns they had sent a backup to ensure Prime Minister Chris Hipkins didn’t get stranded in China, where he is leading a trade delegation. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

    The United States has Air Force One. New Zealand has Betty. The aging Boeing 757 plane is so prone to breakdowns that New Zealand government officials acknowledged on Monday that they had sent a backup to ensure Prime Minister Chris Hipkins didn’t get stranded in China where he is leading a trade de

    Accor Stadium in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. The Sydney Olympic Stadium will host FIFA Women's World Cup matches later in 2023 with the opening game in Australia on July 17 and the final on August 20. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

    A look at the 10 venues and nine cities hosting games at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

    Police tape cordons off a restaurant in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, after an axe attack late Monday. Multiple people were hospitalized after a man armed with an axe began attacking diners at random at three neighboring Chinese restaurants, according to police and witnesses. (Hayden Woodward/New Zealand Herald via AP)

    Police and witnesses say a man with an axe attacked random diners at three neighboring Chinese restaurants in New Zealand.

    “That maybe it might be worth expanding on some of things I talked about in my valedictory instead — like the idea you can be your own kind of leader and still make a difference. And so that’s what I’m planning to do.”

    Ardern said she had no date for when the book will be published.

    “But I hope when it’s done, it’s the kind of book that would have made a difference to my 14-year-old self,” Ardern wrote.

    Just 37 when she became prime minister in 2017, Ardern was seen as a global icon of the left. She shocked New Zealanders in January when she said she was stepping down because she no longer had “enough in the tank” to do the job justice in an election year.

    Since then, Ardern has announced she will temporarily join Harvard University this year after being appointed to dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has also taken on an unpaid role combating online extremism.

    This month, Ardern received one of New Zealand’s highest honors for her service leading the country through a mass shooting and pandemic. She was made a Dame Grand Companion, meaning people will now call her Dame Jacinda.

    Ardern said she was working with a team of publishers — Penguin in New Zealand and Australia, Macmillan in Britain and Crown in the United States. The publishers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    ___

    Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

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  • Pop star Kesha and producer Dr. Luke settle longstanding legal battle over rape, defamation claims

    Pop star Kesha and producer Dr. Luke settle longstanding legal battle over rape, defamation claims

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Pop star Kesha and producer Dr. Luke have settled nearly a decade of suits and countersuits over her accusation that he drugged and raped her and his claim that she made it up and defamed him, they announced Thursday, with the singer saying that “only God knows what happened that night.”

    Dr. Luke, meanwhile, said he was “absolutely certain that nothing happened. I never drugged or assaulted her.”

    Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed, as both she and he revealed on Instagram that they had agreed to “a resolution” of the case and to a statement from each of them. Messages seeking comment were sent to their attorneys.

    A man who was part of a group of teenagers wrongly accused and imprisoned for the rape of a woman in Central Park has taken a commanding lead in a Democratic primary for a New York City Council seat.

    FILE - Donald Trump, right, sits with his children, from left, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Trump International Hotel on July 23, 2014, in Washington. A New York appeals court dismissed Ivanka Trump on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, from a wide-ranging fraud lawsuit brought against her father and his company last year by the state's attorney general. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

    A New York appeals court dismissed Ivanka Trump on Tuesday from a wide-ranging fraud lawsuit brought against her father and his company last year by the state’s attorney general.

    Jet Blue agents help a traveler, right, in the departures area of Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport, Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in New York. Travelers waited out widespread delays at U.S. airports on Tuesday, an ominous sign heading into the long July 4 holiday weekend, which is shaping up as the biggest test yet for airlines that are struggling to keep up with surging numbers of passengers. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

    Air travelers have been putting up with widespread delays all month, and it’s continuing again, as bad weather rakes the Northeast.

    FILE - Music mogul and entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 15, 2022. Spirits giant Diageo says it’s cutting ties with Combs following his move to sue the company over allegations of racism in the handling of his liquor brands, according to a Tuesday, June 27, 2023 court filing. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

    Spirits giant Diageo says it’s cutting ties with Sean “Diddy” Combs after the rapper and entrepreneur sued the company over allegations of racism in the handling of his liquor brands, according to a Tuesday court filing.

    “I cannot recount everything that happened,” Kesha wrote, adding that she wishes “nothing but peace to all parties involved.”

    Dr. Luke, in turn, said he wished her well and wanted “to put this difficult matter behind me” after years of fighting to clear his name.

    The deal averts a trial that had been scheduled for this summer over allegations that became a #MeToo cause for Kesha’s supporters and came to involve a lineup of music industry luminaries. Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Pink, Avril Lavigne, Adam Levine and Taio Cruz are among those who gave testimony or sworn statements related to the case.

    At the same time, the case raised important legal questions about fame and defamation. The stakes were seen as high enough that media outlets weighed in about pretrial rulings that they worried could help powerful people suppress unflattering reporting.

    The court clash between the multiplatinum-selling singer and the Grammy-nominated producer has been playing out since 2014 and looming over both of their careers.

    The Associated Press does not generally name people who report being sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Kesha has done.

    The singer made her name — originally styled Ke$ha — with a series of swaggering, just-try-to-stop-me party anthems, beginning with 2009’s “TiK ToK.” Those early hits were produced by Dr. Luke, who founded the record label that signed a Nashville unknown named Kesha Rose Sebert at age 18.

    Born Lukasz Gottwald, he has produced chart-toppers for Perry, Lavigne, Flo Rida and more. Besides notching multiple Grammy nominations, Dr. Luke has repeatedly won pop songwriter of the year awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

    Kesha sued him in 2014, alleging he drugged and raped her nine years earlier and psychologically tormented her throughout their working relationship. She said he harangued her about her weight, denigrated her voice and lorded his power over her career.

    “The abuse I suffered from Luke was a decade long, every day, every moment of every day,” she said during sworn questioning in 2017. According to Kesha, the ordeal sparked a flare-up of an eating disorder that led to her spending two months in a rehabilitation clinic in 2014.

    Dr. Luke, who has not been charged with any crimes, responded by suing Kesha. He has asserted that she made “completely untrue and deeply hurtful” claims to tarnish him and get out of her record contract.

    “Any reasonable person will not believe her,” he said when questioned under oath in 2017.

    His attorneys have noted that Kesha herself said he “never made sexual advances at me” during sworn questioning in a separate lawsuit in 2011. She has since said she was “not entirely transparent” in those 2011 statements because she was terrified of Dr. Luke and felt compelled to protect him.

    Kesha went five years without releasing an album during the standoff, saying she could not work with a “monster” but couldn’t get away from him because she was under contract with his label. His lawyers and the label’s attorneys maintained that she did not have to work with him personally.

    She eventually returned with 2017’s “Rainbow” and two subsequent albums, all with other producers. Her most recent album, “Gag Order,” came out in May.

    Dr. Luke’s career also took a hit after she went public with her allegations. He has said various artists, particularly female ones, eschewed “working with someone who’s called a rapist.”

    But under the name Tyson Trax, he made it back to the top of the charts in 2020 with Doja Cat’s “Say So,” garnering his first Grammy nomination since 2014. By this year, he was ASCAP’s pop songwriter of the year once again.

    Along the way, Kesha’s sexual abuse-related claims were dismissed because of time limits and other legal issues, without any findings about the merits of the allegations themselves. But she countersued Dr. Luke under a New York law against bringing frivolous suits to try to intimidate critics into silence; New York’s highest court recently ruled that she could pursue those claims.

    The top court, which New York calls the Court of Appeals, also declared that Dr. Luke is a “public figure” in the eyes of the law. That’s significant because the legal requirements for proving defamation are tougher for public figures than for everyday people.

    Lower courts had said the producer wasn’t a public figure. Over a dozen media outlets and organizations got involved in the case to argue that those earlier rulings could end up helping famous people squash free speech and reporting on sexual abuse allegations.

    Earlier in the case, Kesha was ordered to pay Dr. Luke more than $373,000 in interest on royalties she paid him years late.

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  • Masked detective prevents YNW Melly from facing accuser in murder trial, defense attorneys say

    Masked detective prevents YNW Melly from facing accuser in murder trial, defense attorneys say

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    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Defense attorneys argued Thursday that rapper YNW Melly was being denied the right to face his accuser when a masked witness took the stand to testify about alleged gang connections during the performer’s double murder trial in South Florida.

    Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy permitted Broward Sheriff’s Office Detective Danny Polo to testify with his face covered because he has received death threats from people unrelated to the case against YNW Melly. Defense attorney Jason Roger Williams said jurors are supposed to consider the demeanor of a witness to determine his credibility, and they can’t do that if they can’t see his face, the Sun Sentinel reported.

    “The state could have chosen any expert in gangs,” Williams said. “They elected to choose one who has threats against his life that don’t concern this case, and who is undercover. They have precipitated this problem.”

    Lawyers for the family of a Virginia man who died of asphyxiation after he was pinned to the floor for about 11 minutes while being admitted to a psychiatric hospital have asked the U.S.

    FILE - Death row inmate Rodney Reed waves to his family in the Bastrop County District Court in Bastrop, Texas, Oct. 13, 2017. An appeals court on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, denied a request for a new trial for longtime Texas death row inmate Reed, whose supporters say evidence has long raised doubts about his guilt. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)

    An appeals court has denied a new trial request from a longtime Texas death row inmate whose supporters say there is evidence to back his claims of innocence.

    FILE - Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three who authorities say fatally poisoned her husband, Eric Richins, then wrote a children's book about grieving, looks on during a bail hearing, June 12, 2023, in Park City, Utah. The estate of Kouri Richins’ late husband filed a lawsuit against her on Tuesday, June 27, seeking over $13 million in damages. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool, File)

    A lawsuit against a Utah woman who wrote a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death and now stands charged with his murder is seeking over $13 million in damages.

    FILE - Officers escort Richard Matthew Allen out of the Carroll County courthouse following a hearing, Nov. 22, 2022, in Delphi, Ind. Allen confessed multiple times to the murders of two teenage girls — Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14 — he is charged with killing in a phone call to his wife while in prison, according to court documents released Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

    An Indiana man charged with killing two teenage girls confessed multiple times to the murders in a phone call to his wife while in prison.

    Polo was eventually allowed to testify, tying YNW Melly, whose legal name is Jamell Demons, to membership in G-Shine, an offshoot of the Bloods. Polo said there are hundreds of photos of Demons with other Bloods.

    Demons, 24, is facing a possible death sentence for the October 2018 fatal shooting of his childhood friends, Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr.

    Williams and Thomas were both part of the YNW collective, known respectively as YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy.

    Demons, Williams and Thomas were riding in a Jeep driven by Cortland Henry, known as YNW Bortlen, after a recording session in Fort Lauderdale when Demons fatally shot Williams and Thomas, prosecutors said. Henry is charged as an accomplice in the case but will be tried separately.

    After killing Williams and Thomas, prosecutors said, Demons and Henry drove the bodies to an area near the Everglades, where they shot at the back and passenger sides of Henry’s Jeep from the outside to make it look like Williams and Thomas were the victims of a drive-by shooting.

    Prosecutors say the shooting was part of a gang action, while defense attorneys say the motive lacks credibility because Demons and the victims were close friends.

    The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered.

    On Wednesday, prosecutors and defense lawyers argued over whether a cell phone that appeared to be in Demons’ possession at one point on the day of the killings actually belonged to Demons. Witnesses testified that the phone was in the Jeep where the victims were killed, but defense lawyers say the state hasn’t proved Demons held the phone while the crime was being committed.

    Demons gained attention with his breakout song “Murder on My Mind” in 2017. He later worked with Kanye West on “Mixed Personalities,” which was released in January 2019, a month before Demons was arrested on the murder charges.

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  • Theater Review: ‘Once Upon a One More Time’ with Britney Spears songs will drive you crazy

    Theater Review: ‘Once Upon a One More Time’ with Britney Spears songs will drive you crazy

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    NEW YORK (AP) — You’re handed an LED wristband as you enter “Once Upon a One More Time,” a musical on Broadway stuffed with Britney Spears songs. But the gift is strangely inert for the whole show, only coming to life and gleaming at the curtain call. It’s not a wristband — it’s a metaphor. It glows in the end because you are free. Free of this bombastic, patronizing, clumsy, lazy show.

    “Once Upon a One More Time,” which opened Thursday at the Marquis Theatre, is pure summer dumb — it’s got smoke machines working overtime, weird dance breaks, tons of glitter and every song ends with a manufactured IMAX-level sonic boom. One of the main characters actually swings on a chandelier.

    Everything about it seems recycled: A fractured fairy tale that is a tired concept by now — no less a giant than Andrew Lloyd Webber failed with it with “Bad Cinderella” this spring. It’s also a safe feminist story about women writing their own story led by a creative team led mostly by men, an enduring problem on Broadway but very awkward for a story about princesses seizing their narrative.

    The musical has a story written by Jon Hartmere about classic fairy tale princesses — Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and the Little Mermaid, among them, (gathered just as they were in the movie “Ralph Breaks the Internet”) — who are transformed after reading “The Feminine Mystique,” a landmark feminist text. Betty Friedan’s book helped launch the women’s movement by depicting women as prisoners of a culture that made a fetish out of motherhood and housework.

    Why Friedan has been brought low here is unclear, or even why a post-conservatorship Spears authorized this unsubtle musical, which includes many of her hits like “Oops!… I Did It Again,” “Lucky,” “Stronger” and “Toxic.” The creators have hollowed out the original song’s lyrics to shoehorn a narrative they are not suited for. They’ve then added them to a script that mixes a threesome joke, drunk princesses and references to Howard Stern with lines like “You’re not pulling my slipper?”

    Adam Godley is delightful as the droll, fussy Narrator, who is like the backstage ringmaster of fairy tales, ordering about the princesses — “Ready the wedding scene!” — and standing in the way of change or growth. “Real quick, though, this is happy ever after — right?” asks Cinderella. “Of course,” he answers. It’s not.

    The musical is directed and choreographed by husband-and-wife pair Keone and Mari Madrid, who have gone viral on YouTube for their dance videos, but here seem fascinated by weird, jerky arm movements that suggest the performer is having a seizure. For “One More Time,” they go overboard on index fingers pointing.

    That’s not to take anything from the two leads — Briga Heelan as Cinderella and former “American Idol” contestant Justin Guarini as Prince Charming — who use their pipes, physical comedy skills and tenderness to sell a script many levels below their capabilities. They are truly fairy tale heroic.

    It is a story that veers in tone from glib satire to sugary sentimentality, trying to establish a sisterhood it hasn’t earned and adding a gay-rights story that seems tacked on and distracting. There’s a remarkable shift in Act 2 that remakes the Narrator into a horrific Marvel Cinematic Universe-level villain who murders all who disobey him. A desperate attempt to make a coherent happy ending fails.

    It certainly is Spears’ moment on Broadway, since many of her hits are also in “& Juliet” — a jukebox musical now on Broadway that celebrates one of her writing partners and producers, Max Martin — including her “… Baby One More Time” and “Stronger.” That show is in every way better than “Once Upon a One More Time,” which is clearly designed to be a pre-teen magnet and sell T-shirts. Only one Spears show on Broadway is truly “Toxic.”

    ___

    Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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  • ‘Rust’ weapons supervisor charged with dumping drugs on day of Alec Baldwin shooting

    ‘Rust’ weapons supervisor charged with dumping drugs on day of Alec Baldwin shooting

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    The weapons supervisor charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a cinematographer on the New Mexico set of the Alec Baldwin film “Rust” was charged Thursday with evidence tampering for allegedly passing drugs to someone else on the day of the shooting.

    Hannah Gutierrez-Reed “did transfer narcotics to another person with the intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of herself.” the special prosecutors appointed in the case said in a Santa Fe County court filing. They gave no further details.

    Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney Jason Bowles called the move “retaliatory and vindictive.”

    Prosecutors have yet to offer any evidence that would solve the biggest mystery in the deadly shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on a film set in 2021: How did live rounds get on the set?

    FILE - This aerial photo shows the movie set of "Rust," at Bonanza Creek Ranch, Oct. 23, 2021, in Santa Fe, N.M. Prosecutors are accusing the weapons supervisor on the film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer of drinking and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the filming of “Rust,” saying she was likely hung over when she loaded a live bullet into the revolver that was used by the actor. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

    Prosecutors are accusing the weapons supervisor on the film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer of drinking and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the filming of “Rust.”

    “It is shocking that after 20 months of investigation, the special prosecutor now throws in a completely new charge against Ms. Gutierrez Reed, with no prior notice or any witness statements, lab reports, or evidence to support it,” Bowles said in a statement.

    Gutierrez-Reed is the sole remaining defendant in the case after prosecutors in April dropped an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin, who was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killed her and injured director Joel Souza on Oct. 21, 2021. Prosecutors can still refile charges against Baldwin.

    The new charge comes a week after prosecutors alleged in a court filing that Gutierrez-Reed was drinking and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the filming of “Rust” and was likely hungover on the day a live bullet was placed into the gun Baldwin used.

    Bowles called that allegation “character assassination” from prosecutors with a weak case that the defense has asked a judge to dismiss.

    In his own filing Thursday, Bowles revealed that he had been accidentally included on an email to District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies from her lead investigator in the case, who slammed the law enforcement response to the shooting.

    “The conduct of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office during and after their initial investigation is reprehensible and unprofessional to a degree I still have no words for,” Robert Schilling wrote in the email, in which he said he will be stepping down so special prosecutors can use their own investigator. “Not I or 200 more proficient investigators than I can/could clean up the mess delivered to your office.”

    Bowles said in his filing that the email demonstrates the weakness of the case against his client. He said it suggests that the prosecution has been withholding evidence from the defense.

    Emails seeking comment from the Sheriff’s Office and the special prosecutors were not immediately returned.

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  • Japan, US hold joint arms drills amid China, N Korea worry

    Japan, US hold joint arms drills amid China, N Korea worry

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    TOKYO — Japan and the United States began a major joint military exercise Thursday in southern Japan as the allies aim to step up readiness in the face of China’s increasing assertiveness and North Korea’s intensifying missile launches.

    The biennial “Keen Sword” drills kicked off at a Japanese air base in southern Japan and were also held at multiple other locations in and around Japan. They will run through Nov. 19.

    About 26,000 Japanese and 10,000 American troops, as well as 30 vessels and 370 aircraft from both sides, are to participate in the drills, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry. Australia, Britain and Canada will also join parts of the drills, it said.

    Joint field trainings that include amphibious landing exercises are planned on southwestern Japanese remote islands, including Tokunoshima, Amami and Tsutarajima, as Japan has been bolstering its defense capability in the region amid growing tensions over China.

    China has reinforced its claims to virtually the entire South China Sea by constructing artificial islands equipped with military installations and airfields. Beijing also claims a string of islands that are controlled by Japan in the East China Sea, and has stepped up military harassment of self-ruled Taiwan, which it says is part of China to be annexed by force if necessary.

    The joint exercise also comes on the heels of intensifying missile firings by North Korea, which has launched more than 30 of them this year, including one on Wednesday that fell in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Last month, an intercontinental ballistic missile flew over northern Japan.

    Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, citing worsening security in the region, has pledged to substantially increase Japanese military capability and possibly allow pre-emptive strike capability to attack enemy missile launch sites from afar. The plans are expected to be included in a revised national security strategy and mid- to long-term defense guidelines later this year.

    A move to develop strike capability is a major shift for Japan’s self-defense-only principle, though the country has rapidly expanded its military’s role and capability in the past decade to work more closely with the United States and other partners in the region and Europe.

    Exercises like Keen Sword provide Japanese and U.S. forces “opportunities to train together across a variety of mission areas in realistic scenarios to enhance readiness, interoperability, and build credible deterrence,” U.S. Forces Japan said in a statement Thursday.

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  • North Korea warns US of ‘powerful’ response to allied drills

    North Korea warns US of ‘powerful’ response to allied drills

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    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s Foreign Ministry criticized the United States for expanding joint military exercises with South Korea that it claims are practice for a potential invasion, and it warned Tuesday of “more powerful follow-up measures” in response.

    The statement from the ministry came as the U.S. and South Korea conduct aerial drills involving more than 200 warplanes, including their advanced F-35 fighter jets, as they step up their defense posture in the face of North Korea’s increased weapons testing and growing nuclear threat.

    North Korea has ramped up its weapons demonstrations to a record pace this year, launching more than 40 ballistic missiles, including developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles and an intermediate-range missile fired over Japan. The North has punctuated those tests with an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes preemptive nuclear attacks in loosely defined crisis situations.

    The U.S. and South Korea have resumed large-scale military drills this year after downsizing or suspending them in past years as part of efforts to create diplomatic space with Pyongyang and because of the pandemic.

    The United States and South Korea’s “Vigilant Storm” air force drills, which are to continue through Friday, came after South Korea completed its annual 12-day “Hoguk” field exercises that officials say also involved an unspecified number of American troops.

    North Korea’s latest statement came just days after the country fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, extending a barrage of launches since late September. Some of those launches have been described by the North as simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean and U.S. targets.

    North Korea has said its testing activities are meant as a warning amid the joint military drills. But some experts say Pyongyang has also used the drills as a chance to test new weapons systems, boost its nuclear capability and increase its leverage in future dealings with Washington and Seoul.

    In comments attributed to an unidentified spokesperson, the North Korean Foreign Ministry statement said the military drills exposed the United States as the “chief culprit in destroying peace and security.” It said the North was ready to take “all necessary measures” to defend against outside military threats.

    “If the U.S. continuously persists in the grave military provocations, the DPRK will take into account more powerful follow-up measures,” the spokesperson said, using North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The statement did not specify what those measures could be.

    South Korean officials have said North Korea could up the ante in coming weeks by detonating its first nuclear test device since September 2017, which could possibly take the country a step closer to its goals of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal capable of threatening regional U.S. allies and the American mainland.

    In recent weeks, North Korea has also fired hundreds of shells in inter-Korean maritime buffer zones that the two Koreas established in 2018 to reduce frontline military tensions. North Korea has said that firing was in reaction to South Korean live-fire exercises at land border areas. The rival Koreas exchanged warning shots Oct. 24 along their disputed western sea boundary, a scene of past bloodshed and naval battles, as they accused each other of violating the boundary.

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  • New this week: Scary movies, Lainey Wilson, ‘Call of Duty’

    New this week: Scary movies, Lainey Wilson, ‘Call of Duty’

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    Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week.

    MOVIES

    — In the new Netflix film “The Good Nurse,” Jessica Chastain plays an overworked ICU nurse and single mother who, after a patient’s death, starts to suspect things about about her new colleague Charlie, played by Eddie Redmayne. Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm directed the thriller, streaming on Wednesday, off of a script “1917” and “Last Night in Soho” screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns. For something more family friendly, Netflix also the stop-motion animation pic “Wendell & Wild,” featuring the voices of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele as demon brothers. It’s an original idea from director Henry Selick, who also directed the spooky but kid-friendly classics “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline.” “Wendell & Wild” starts streaming on Oct. 28.

    — For some fresh Halloween scares, several well-reviewed thrillers are hitting video on demand on Tuesday First up is “Pearl,” Ti West’s technicolor horror prequel starring Mia Goth as a farmgirl in a pandemic plagued Texas town in 1918 whose dreams of movie stardom drive her a bit mad. There are references to everything from “Singin’ in the Rain” to “The Wizard of Oz,” but with a sinister, murderous edge. Before the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival earlier this fall, West said, “I just had this interest in making, for lack of a better term, a children’s movie that has a more demented adult story to it.” Goth helped write the script too, which involves an epic monologue at the end done in almost a single take.

    — Also coming to VOD on Tuesday is “Barbarian,” the low-budget indie horror starring Justin Long that became a sleeper hit at the box office. “Barbarian” stars Georgina Campbell as a woman who is inadvertently double booked with a stranger (“It’s” Bill Skarsgård) in a creepy Detroit-area Airbnb run by Long’s character, a TV actor facing sexual misconduct allegations. Writer-director Zach Cregger said he pitched the movie, which has an unconventional structure that essentially resets itself midway through, to every studio that’s made a horror in the last 15 years and everyone said no. To date, it’s made over $40 million against a $4 million production budget.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    MUSIC

    — Breakout country artist of the year Lainey Wilson’s new studio album comes out Friday, featuring 14 tracks, all of which she co-wrote except one cover. Singles from “Bell Bottom Country” include the sweet first-love ditty “Watermelon Moonshine” and “Heart Like a Truck,” with the lyrics: “I got a heart like a truck/It’s been drug through the mud/Runs on dreams and gasoline.” Wilson is the winner of the Academy of Country Music’s New Female Artist of the Year Award in 2021 and won their coveted Song of the Year Award last year for her smash hit single, “Things a Man Oughta Know.”

    — It’s time to celebrate Garbage. A new compilation called “Anthology” will be available on double transparent yellow vinyl and two CD editions, as well as through major online streaming platforms starting Friday. It’ll contain the hits “Stupid Girl,” “I Think I’m Paranoid,” “Why Do You Love Me” and “Only Happy When It Rains.” Among the 35 tracks is a rare recording called “Witness to Your Love.” Lead singer Shirley Manson teased the compilation, saying it is “testimony to almost three decades of creative work together, our collective tenacity and our terrifying ability as a group to withstand ritual humiliation on a regular basis.”

    — It might be a tad early, but it’s always time for a Louis Armstrong Christmas album. While Satchmo’s holiday tunes are standard yuletide fare, he never released a Christmas album during his lifetime. Now, for the first time, “Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule” is being released digitally on Friday, followed by CD, red vinyl and a limited edition vinyl picture on Nov. 11 — marking his first-ever official Christmas album. The 11 tracks include “Cool Yule,” “Christmas Night in Harlem” and the swinging “’Zat You Santa Claus?” Fans of Armstrong can also check out the Apple TV + film “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues,” also dropping Friday, Oct. 28.

    — “Till,” director Chinonye Chukwu’s fact-based account of Emmett Till’s mother’s quest for justice, was a powerful film, made that much more stirring by its score. The work by Abel Korzeniowski, who composed, orchestrated and conducted, is out Friday, and has stirring strings, dark pulses and thrilling sequences. Listen to “This Is My Boy” and try not to be moved. Korzeniowski says: “It is a tribute to those, who against all odds, and despite the world’s indifference to their plight, continue to preserve their humanity.”

    — AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

    TELEVISION

    — Get in the Halloween mood with Netflix’s “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities,” an anthology produced by the Oscar-winning filmmaker with the aim of challenging “traditional” expectations of horror. The eight stories include “The Autopsy,” based on a Michael Shea short story and starring F. Murray Abraham, Glynn Turman and Luke Roberts; the H.P. Lovecraft-based “Dreams in the Witch House,” with Rupert Grint and Ismael Cruz Cordova, and “Lot 36,” one of two episodes based on an original story by del Toro and starring Tim Blake Nelson and Elpidia Carrillo. Episodes will be released daily in pairs from Tuesday to Friday.

    — “Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes,” debuting Tuesday, on PBS’ “Frontline” (check local listings), details the toll of Russia’s war on Ukraine and the challenges of holding Russia to account for its actions. The documentary is part of a collaboration between “Frontline” and The Associated Press that includes gathering, verifying and cataloging potential war crimes and co-publishing stories and videos from AP and “Frontline” war reporting. The joint initiative, which includes the War Crimes Watch Ukraine interactive experience, has documented more than 500 incidents involving potential war crimes since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February.

    — A gunman’s deadly attack on a house of worship, its causes and the aftermath are examined in HBO’s “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting,” debuting 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday. The film, directed by Trish Adlesic, delves into the 11 lives that were lost in the October 2018 tragedy and the effect on family members, survivors and the community at large. The attack also is viewed in the context of rising hate speech and actions. Michael Keaton, Billy Porter and Mark Cuban, the film’s prominent executive producers, are natives of the Pittsburgh area. An original song, “A Tree of Life,” is performed by Broadway and film star Idina Menzel.

    — AP Television Writer Lynn Elber

    VIDEO GAMES

    — The venerable “Call of Duty” series returns Friday for its annual round of gun-happy chaos. This year’s chapter, “Modern Warfare II,” comes from Activision’s Infinity Ward studio, generally regarded as the publisher’s premier storyteller for rock-solid single-player campaigns. Special ops Task Force 141 is back on the prowl, this time fighting a terrorist network and a drug cartel that have teamed up on a scheme to launch stolen missiles at the United States. As usual, there are plenty of options for multiplayer mayhem, from competitive battles royale to cooperative raids. The game is available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox X/S, Xbox One and PC.

    — “Bayonetta 3” brings Platinum Games’ flamboyant, demon-hunting witch — imagine a cross between Kim Kardashian and Tina Fey in full dominatrix gear — back to the Nintendo Switch on Friday. Longtime admirers might miss the original voice actress behind Bayonetta, who skipped this sequel due to a pay dispute and has called on her fans to boycott it. Still, devotees of Platinum’s brand of campy, high-octane hack-and-slash action won’t be able to resist the siren’s call, especially since this installment promises “a virtual coven of Bayonettas, each more fabulous than the last.”

    — Lou Kesten

    ———

    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.

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  • Allies blast Scholz over Chinese investment in German port

    Allies blast Scholz over Chinese investment in German port

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    BERLIN — Lawmakers from two of Germany’s governing parties on Thursday slammed plans for Chinese shipping company Cosco to take a major stake in the operator of the country’s biggest container terminal, warning that they pose a national security risk.

    Public broadcaster NDR reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz has asked officials to find a compromise that would allow the investment to happen, after several ministries initially rejected it on the grounds that Cosco, already the port’s biggest customer, could get too much leverage.

    Neither the ministries nor Scholz’s office immediately responded to requests for comment. But lawmakers from the Green party and the Free Democrats, which formed a coalition last year with Scholz’ Social Democrats, criticized the plan.

    “Our critical infrastructure must not become a plaything for the geopolitical interests of others,” Green party lawmaker Marcel Emmerich said. Citing a past government decision by one of Scholz’s fellow Social Democrats to let Russia buy German natural gas storage facilities, he accused the chancellor of wanting to “flog off parts of the port of Hamburg to China, whatever it takes.”

    The pro-business Free Democrats likewise expressed opposition to the deal.

    “The Chinese Communist Party must not have access to our country’s critical infrastructure,” the party’s general secretary, Bijan Djir-Sarai, told German news agency dpa. “That would be a mistake and a risk.”

    “China is an importing trading partner but also a systemic rival,” he was quoted as saying. “We should act accordingly.”

    Another Free Democrat lawmaker, Reinhard Houben, told news portal t-online that the chancellery should respect the decision by six ministries opposing the sale.

    The government dispute over Germany’s stance toward Chinese investments comes days after Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin must avoid repeating with China the mistakes it made with Russia over recent years, leading to a dependence on Russian energy imports.

    German intelligence agencies also warned this week of China’s rising might and how it could become a risk for Germany, particularly because of the strong economic and scientific ties between the two countries.

    In a hearing with lawmakers, the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, Thomas Haldenwang, made a comparison with the current geopolitical turmoil over the war in Ukraine, saying that “Russia is the storm, China is climate change.”

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