RIGHT AFTER THE NATIONAL ANTHEM ON SUNDAY, THE AIR FORCE AND NAVY TOGETHER WILL FLY OVER LEVI STADIUM FOR THE BIG GAME. IT’S THE FIRST TIME THEY’VE EVER DONE THIS. A JOINT SUPER BOWL FLYOVER AND AN OAKDALE NATIVE IS ONE OF THE PILOTS. HIS NAME IS LIEUTENANT DALTON STEWART. HE IS A NAVY PILOT AND FLIES AN F, A 18 SUPER HORNET. HE’S BASED OUT OF THE NAVAL AIR STATION IN LEMOORE THAT’S JUST SOUTH OF FRESNO. AND HE SAYS A FLYOVER LIKE THIS, IT TAKES A LOT OF PREPARATION AND HAS A BIG FOOTBALL FAN. HE IS LOOKING FORWARD TO SUNDAY CALLING IT A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE, EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO REPRESENT THE NAVY AND REPRESENT MY HOMETOWN AND WHERE I’M FROM, WHERE I GREW UP, WHAT MADE ME INTO WHAT I AM TODAY TO ON A WORLD STAGE, REALLY. ALL RIGHT, SO HE DIDN’T WANT TO SPOIL
Oakdale native to pilot in historic Super Bowl LX flyover
The Air Force and Navy will perform their first-ever joint Super Bowl flyover at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, with Oakdale native Lieutenant Dalton Stewart among the pilots.Stewart, a Navy pilot who flies an F/A-18 Super Hornet, is based at the Naval Air Station in Lemoore, south of Fresno. He noted that a flyover like this requires significant preparation. As a big football fan, he is looking forward to Sunday, calling it a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”I’m excited to be able to represent the Navy and represent my hometown and where I’m from, where I grew up, what made me into what I am today on a world stage, really,” Stewart said.He did not want to spoil what’s planned for the flyover but said it should be cool.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SANTA CLARA, Calif. —
The Air Force and Navy will perform their first-ever joint Super Bowl flyover at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, with Oakdale native Lieutenant Dalton Stewart among the pilots.
Stewart, a Navy pilot who flies an F/A-18 Super Hornet, is based at the Naval Air Station in Lemoore, south of Fresno. He noted that a flyover like this requires significant preparation.
As a big football fan, he is looking forward to Sunday, calling it a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“I’m excited to be able to represent the Navy and represent my hometown and where I’m from, where I grew up, what made me into what I am today on a world stage, really,” Stewart said.
He did not want to spoil what’s planned for the flyover but said it should be cool.
While a groundhog in Pennsylvania has predicted six more weeks of winter and cold-stunned iguanas fall from trees in Florida, Southern California is working up a sweat.
A midwinter heat wave has descended on much of the state and is expected to spike temperatures as much as 20 degrees above normal in the coming week.
The summer-like heat is thanks to a ridge of high pressure lingering high in the atmosphere that extends through the San Francisco Bay Area and into the Pacific Northwest. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service expect it to last through the end of the week and potentially through Super Bowl Sunday.
After a cooler Monday for the L.A. area, another push of warm weather may bring near-record temperatures by Wednesday — potentially reaching 90 degrees across the inland coast and valley areas of L.A. and Ventura counties, according to the weather service.
The thermometer is expected to tip above 85 degrees in much of Southern California on Wednesday, according to forecasters.
(National Weather Service)
The high-pressure ridge this week is expected to go “all the way up through Canada into southern Alaska,” said Carol Ciliberti, a meteorologist with the weather service. “It’s pretty impressive.”
Moderate Santa Ana winds, which may bring gusts up to 50 mph in the mountains, could add some additional heat to the region.
While downtown Los Angeles and Los Angeles International Airport tied daily record-high temperatures Friday, other parts of the United States set new daily record lows.
Nearly half of Americans were under cold weather advisories and extreme cold warnings Sunday. Frigid Arctic air, winter storms and a “bomb cyclone” dumped heavy snow on New England, triggered flight cancellations in North Carolina and tested the limits of power systems in the South.
Bomb cyclones typically occur when Arctic air creeps south and clashes with warm air, creating a storm that rapidly intensifies as its pressure suddenly drops — or “bombs out.”
It’s a common occurrence for the Northeastern U.S. This one is unique in how far south it reached.
Along the West Coast, air from the high-pressure shelf gets hotter as it sinks toward the ground. A similar phenomenon heats up Santa Ana winds as air from high above the Great Basin descends and races out to sea.
In the coming week, it’ll result in temperatures reaching roughly 15 degrees higher than normal in the Bay Area, and around 20 degrees higher than normal in Southern California. The trend in the Bay Area is expected to hold through Super Bowl Sunday, which will be held in Santa Clara.
“We’re going to see that high pressure really sticking around,” said Rachel Kennedy, a meteorologist with the weather service.
On game day, temperatures are still expected to be in the mid- to upper 60s for the Bay Area, but residents (and fans) might see some fog that morning, Kennedy said.
Despite the hot and windy weather in Southern California, vegetation is still holding enough moisture from the last rain that there is little risk of a major wildfire, said David Gomberg, a weather service meteorologist.
“You can still get small fires,” Gomberg said. “But the chances of it spreading into a major fire are minimal because of that moisture. It doesn’t spread easily.”
The weather service coordinates with fire agencies to rate fire risk, Gomberg said. The fire agencies take measurements of vegetation moisture in the field and forward the results to the weather service every two to four weeks.
The weather service’s models indicate that some light rain is in store for the region next week, with temperatures dropping to a more reasonable 5 to 10 degrees above average — although Ciliberti noted that without a crystal ball it was tough to say exactly when the moisture and cooler temperatures might arrive.
A Mississippi synagogue famous for its role in the civil rights movement was significantly damaged Saturday in a fire that officials say was intentionally set. The Beth Israel Congregation, which is the state’s largest synagogue and the only Jewish place of worship in Mississippi’s state capitol, was burned some time before 3 a.m. Saturday, in a fire that destroyed its library and administrative offices. A suspect was arrested for the blaze later that day, but has yet to be publicly identified.
According to local broadcast station WJTV, firefighters were called to Beth Israel Congregation in the early hours on January 10. When they arrived, they discovered flames coming from the windows of the structure, which was locked down for the evening, Jackson Fire Department’s division fire chief, Charles Felton, says. Arson investigators with the department determined that the blaze had been intentionally set, he says.
Local police and fire investigators were soon joined by agents with the FBI and the ATF, as is standard when a fire is reported at a house of worship. According to Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bailey Martin Holloway, who spoke with Mississippi Today, the state Homeland Security Office is also assisting in the investigation.
Jackson mayor John Horhn tells the Alton Telegraph that the person suspected of setting the fire, which also damaged or destroyed several Torahs and other religious objects inside the building. As of publication time, officials have declined to speculate on a possible motive for the fire, and have yet to officially designate it as a hate crime. They have also declined to name the suspect, but confirmed that they remain in custody as of Sunday morning. (Vanity Fair has reached out to local and federal officials, but has not received comment.)
Congregation president Zach Shemper says via statement that the synagogue has already received support from local Christian groups. “We have already had outreach from other houses of worship in the Jackson area and greatly appreciate their support in this very difficult time,” he says.
This is not the first fire members of the Beth Israel Congregation have faced. In 1967, the house of worship was bombed by members the Ku Klux Klan, which took issue with then-rabbi Perry Nussbaum’s support of the civil rights movement. As with Saturday’s fire, the synagogue’s office and library were target. In that case, as well as Saturday’s blaze, no injuries were reported. The temple has been the focus of intimidation efforts multiple times in the years since, including a bomb threats emailed in 2023 that then-rabbi Joseph Rosen linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Horhn believes this weekend’s fire shares roots with these past incidents, saying Sunday that “Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship … Jackson stands with Beth Israel and the Jewish community, and we’ll do everything we can to support them and hold accountable anyone who tries to spread fear and hate here.”
In one version of U.S. history, California is a place where slavery was prohibited from the founding, in the 1849 state constitution, and where that ban was reaffirmed by the state’s ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865. In another telling, it was a place that had ended the practice some 30 years earlier — when it was part of Mexico.
Despite being on the periphery of the Spanish empire and Mexico before becoming part of the United States, California had an important place in the larger struggle by enslaved people for their freedom. California connects Mexican and U.S. history while also serving as a reminder that there are few corners of the Western Hemisphere that are untouched by the legacy of slavery.
The story of the rise and fall of African enslavement is often presented as a national story in the United States — and a mostly Southern one — rather than as the hemispheric phenomenon that it was. Enslaved Africans could be found as far south as Chile and Argentina all the way up to Canada. Likewise, the end of slavery was not solely brought about by the Civil War in the U.S., but also by centuries of resistance through rebellions, wars, sabotage and self-emancipation, across the entire Americas. This, too, was part of California’s story.
After the Spanish toppled the Mexica empire in 1521, they wasted little time bringing captive Africans to the place they called New Spain — a vast territory that would later expand to the north to include New Mexico and California. By the 1530s there were reports of conspiracies to revolt, as well as the establishment of colonies by escapees from slavery. The leader of one such community, Gaspar Yanga, forced Spanish authorities to recognize its autonomy, after troops failed to vanquish him in 1608. This land outside of Veracruz became the first free Black town in Mexico, today known as Yanga. It was a significant victory at a time when an estimated 130,000 Africans were brought to New Spain, resulting in one of the highest African slave populations in the 17th century Americas.
However, by the 18th century the center of enslavement had shifted farther north, toward the sugar plantations of the Caribbean, and the numbers dropped in Mexico. In addition, there was still Indigenous labor in Mexico, which was often exploited. This was also the case in the lands that would become California, as well as New Mexico, where indentured and often “detribalized” Indigenous people, known as genízaros, were often forced into a servitude that often bore more than a passing resemblance to slavery.
In 1829, president of a now-independent Mexico, Vicente Guerrero, who was of partial African descent, abolished slavery. This triggered an immediate outcry in the Texas territory, which was largely populated by slave-owning immigrants from the U.S. By 1836 Texas was independent, and slavery in Mexico was officially finished the following year. Now Mexico became a land of possible refuge for people fleeing enslavement in Texas or nearby places such as Louisiana. It was far closer than the Underground Railroad leading to the northern states or Canada. Historian Alice Baumgartner has estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 enslaved people escaped to Mexico from the U.S.
However, this potential zone of freedom was significantly reduced by the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. In the aftermath of that conflict, 51% of Mexico was ceded to the United States. This included New Mexico, which had been part of Spain’s empire since the early 1600s, and California, which was colonized in 1769. Ultimately, the entire territory would form the states of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
People in the lands ceded from Mexico were forced to confront the issue of slavery anew as part of the U.S. Gold miners were racing to California, and some were from the South, bringing enslaved people to work on their claims. By the time of statehood in 1850, according to one estimate, there had been around 500 to 1,500 enslaved people brought to California, their status obscured even after the state constitution was enacted. Although the shadow of Southern slavery stalked California, some people managed to find freedom in those early years. However, in 1852, California enacted a Fugitive Slave Law, which applied to people who were brought before statehood and led to many being sent back to the plantations of the South. The Utah and New Mexico territories — which would not become states until 1896 and 1912 — passed slave codes, which permitted slavery and were meant to regulate the treatment of people in servitude or bondage, both Black and Native Americans.
Farther south, however, most of the new republics of Spanish America had ended their involvement with the slave trade and implemented gradual emancipation measures as early as 1811, and with final abolition in place by the mid-1850s. Had California remained part of Mexico, it would have been in this larger, earlier wave of abolition, rather than seeing the continuation or return of enslavement.
Slavery shaped the Americas for four centuries, blighting the entire hemisphere. The long struggle to dismantle it did not happen only in the U.S. or only in the South; in fact, in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Brazil it continued for decades after the U.S. Civil War. Simple narratives such as “California banned slavery at its founding” and “slavery ended in 1865” obscure much of its connection to this larger story. What happened to California illuminates the unevenness of abolition and the many false promises of freedom. It also serves as a reminder of the need for a wider lens when thinking about enslavement and freedom throughout the Americas today.
Carrie Gibson is the author of the forthcoming “The Great Resistance: The 400-Year Fight to End Slavery in the Americas” and of “El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America.”
The track record for California Democrats and the presidency is not a good one. In the nearly 250 years of these United States, not one Left Coast Democrat has ever been elected president. Kamala Harris is just the latest to fail. (Twice.)
Faithful readers of this column — both of you — certainly know how I feel.
Garry South disagrees.
The veteran Democratic campaign strategist, who has been described as possessing “a pile-driving personality and blast furnace of a mouth” — by me, actually — has never lacked for strong and colorful opinions. Here, in an email exchange, we hash out our differences.
Barabak: You once worked for Newsom, did you not?
South: Indeed I did. I was a senior strategist in his first campaign for governor. It lasted 15 months in 2008 and 2009. He exited the race when we couldn’t figure out how to beat Jerry Brown in a closed Democratic primary.
I happen to be the one who wrote the catchy punch line for Newsom’s speech to the state Democratic convention in 2009, that the race was a choice between “a stroll down memory lane vs. a sprint into the future.”
We ended up on memory lane.
Barabak: Do you still advise Newsom, or members of his political team?
South: No, though he and I are in regular contact and have been since his days as lieutenant governor. I know many of his staff and consultants, but don’t work with them in any paid capacity. Also, the governor’s sister and I are friends.
Barabak: You observed Newsom up close in that 2010 race. What are his strengths as a campaigner?
South: Newsom is a masterful communicator, has great stage presence, cuts a commanding figure and can hold an audience in the palm of his hand when he’s really on. He has a mind like a steel trap and never forgets anything he is told or reads.
I’ve always attributed his amazing recall to the struggle he has reading, due to his lifelong struggle with severe dyslexia. Because it’s such an arduous effort for Newsom to read, what he does read is emblazoned on his mind in seeming perpetuity.
Barabak: Demerits, or weaknesses?
South: Given his remarkable command of facts and data and mastery of the English language, he can sometimes run on too long. During that first gubernatorial campaign, when he was still mayor of San Francisco, he once gave a seven-hour State of the City address.
South: It wasn’t as bad as sounds: It was broken into 10 “Webisodes” on his YouTube channel. But still …
Barabak: So let’s get to it. I think Newsom’s chances of being elected president are somewhere between slim and none — and slim was last seen alongside I-5, in San Ysidro, thumbing a ride to Mexico.
You don’t agree.
South: I don’t agree at all. I think you’re underestimating the Trumpian changes wrought (rot?) upon our political system over the past 10 years.
The election of Trump, a convicted felon, not once but twice, has really blown to hell the conventional paradigms we’ve had for decades in terms of how we assess the viability of presidential candidates — what state they’re from, their age, if they have glitches in their personal or professional life.
Not to mention, oh, their criminal record, if they have one.
The American people actually elected for a second term a guy who fomented a rebellion against his own country when he was president the first time, including an armed assault on our own national capitol in which a woman was killed and for which he was rightly impeached. It’s foolish not to conclude that the old rules, the old conventional wisdom about what voters will accept and what they will not, are out the window for good.
It also doesn’t surprise me that you pooh-pooh Newsom’s prospects. It’s typical of the home-state reporting corps to guffaw when their own governor is touted as a presidential candidate.
One, familiarity breeds contempt. Two, a prophet is without honor in his own country.
I also remember those old Clairol hair-color ads: “The closer he gets … the better you look!” (Google it, kids). It’s precisely the opposite when it comes to presidential hopefuls and the reporters who cover them day-in, day-out.
And you’re certainly correct, the nature of what constitutes scandal, or disqualifies a presidential candidate, has drastically changed in the Trump era.
All of that said, certain fundamentals remain the same. Harking back to that 1992 Clinton campaign, it’s still the economy, stupid. Or, put another way, it’s about folks’ lived experience, their economic security, or lack thereof, and personal well-being.
Newsom is, for the moment, a favorite among the chattering political class and online activists because a) those are the folks who are already engaged in the 2028 race and b) many of them thrill to his Trumpian takedowns of the president on social media.
When the focus turns to matters affecting voters’ ability to pay for housing, healthcare, groceries, utility bills and to just get by, Newsom’s opponents will have a heyday trashing him and California’s steep prices, homelessness and shrinking middle class.
Kamala Harris twice bid unsuccessfully for the White House. Her losses kept alive an unbroken string of losses by Left Coast Democrats.
(Kent Nishimura / Getty Images)
South: It’s not just the chattering class.
Newsom’s now the leading candidate among rank-and-file Democrats. They had been pleading — begging — for years that some Democratic leader step out of the box, step up to the plate, and fight back, giving Trump a dose of his own medicine. Newsom has been meeting that demand with wit, skill and doggedness — not just on social media, but through passage of Proposition 50, the Democratic gerrymandering measure.
And Democrats recognize and appreciate it
Barabak: Hmmm. Perhaps I’m somewhat lacking in imagination, but I just can’t picture a world where Democrats say, “Hey, the solution to our soul-crushing defeat in 2024 is to nominate another well-coiffed, left-leaning product of that bastion of homespun Americana, San Francisco.”
South: Uh, Americans twice now have elected a president not just from New York City, but who lived in an ivory tower in Manhattan, in a penthouse with a 24-carat-gold front door (and, allegedly, gold-plated toilet seats). You think Manhattan is a soupçon more representative of middle America than San Francisco?
Like I said, state of origin is less important now after the Trump precedent.
Barabak: Trump was a larger-than-life — or at least larger-than-Manhattan — celebrity. Geography wasn’t an impediment because he had — and has — a remarkable ability, far beyond my reckoning, to present himself as a tribune of the working class, the downtrodden and economically struggling Americans, even as he spreads gold leaf around himself like a kid with a can of Silly String.
Speaking of Kamala Harris, she hasn’t ruled out a third try at the White House in 2028. Where would you place your money in a Newsom-Harris throwdown for the Democratic nomination? How about Harris in the general election, against whomever Republicans choose?
South: Harris running again in 2028 would be like Michael Dukakis making a second try for president in 1992. My God, she not only lost every swing state, and the electoral college by nearly 100 votes, Harris also lost the popular vote — the first Democrat to do so in 20 years.
If she doesn’t want to embarrass herself, she should listen to her home-state voters, who in the latest CBS News/YouGov poll said she shouldn’t run again — by a margin of 69-31. (Even 52% of Democrats said no). She’s yesterday’s news.
Barabak: Seems as though you feel one walk down memory lane was quite enough. We’ll see if Harris — and, more pertinently, Democratic primary voters — agree.
BEIRUT — When Pope Leo XIV visits the Middle East this week, he comes to a conflict-weary region struggling to find peace even as the specter of war stalks it once again.
In his first international trip since assuming the papacy in May, the Chicago-born pope will travel Thursday to Turkey, where he will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, where the Nicene Creed — a foundational declaration of Christian belief and unity — was written in AD 325.
But perhaps the real test of Leo’s international debut lies in Lebanon. His coming fulfills a promise to visit the country made by his boldly charismatic predecessor Pope Francis, who raised the papacy’s international profile with dozens visits abroad and a propensity for frankness in his commentary that endeared him to the faithful, especially in the Middle East.
But Christians — estimated to be about 30% of Lebanon’s population — are not the only ones looking forward to Leo’s arrival.
A view of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, which Pope Leo XIV will see during his visit to Turkey, which begins Nov. 27, 2025.
(Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu / Getty Images)
Many here hope his visit will be a portent for peace, bringing attention to this tiny Mediterranean nation as it contends with a Job-like succession of crises: First the economy, which crashed in 2019, tanking the banking system and the currency with it; then the port explosion in 2020; and the war between the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Israel, which flared in 2023 before intensifying late last year and left thousands dead and wide swaths of Lebanon’s south and east pulverized.
Despite a ceasefire brokered last November, Israel has launched near-daily attacks on its northern neighbor, justifying its strikes as a bid to stop Hezbollah from reconstituting itself, even as the United Nations tallied more than 10,000 air and ground violations in Lebanese territory and 127 civilians killed in the year since the ceasefire took effect.
Israel’s attacks have also paralyzed reconstruction efforts, meaning most residents of Lebanese border towns — whether dominated by Christians, Muslims or Druze — have been unable to piece back their prewar lives. The U.N.’s human rights office says around 64,000 Lebanese remain displaced.
The Israeli army launched more than 10 airstrikes on the town of al-Musaylih in southern Lebanon, causing extensive damage, on Oct. 11.
(Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Safety concerns for the pope have been paramount in people’s minds for months. In October, in what appeared to be a hot mic moment, Jordan’s Queen Rania asked the pope during a photo-op at the Vatican whether it was safe to go to Lebanon. “Well, we’re going,” Leo gruffly replied.
Alarms were raised again over the weekend when Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs, barely two miles away from where the pope would be landing on Sunday. The attack, the first one in months near the capital, killed Hezbollah’s most senior military commander and coincided with a general uptick in Israeli strikes and drone activity in recent weeks — all indicators, observers say, of an impending all-out assault.
Nevertheless, the trip is still on, Lebanese officials say.
For Oumayma Farah, development director of the Order of Malta Lebanon, which aids communities of all religions and nationalities through humanitarian projects, that’s a “sign of courage and resilience to the Lebanese population and Christians in the region as a whole.”
“Whatever happens, the pope will come,” Farah said.
“The Church teaches us to not be afraid, so he’s the first example.”
A woman walks her dog past a billboard in Beirut touting Pope Leo’s upcoming visit to Lebanon.
(Anwar Amro / AFP/Getty Images)
Like most of the countries where Christianity first took hold, wars and economic lethargy — not to mention a relatively easier path to emigration — have dwindled Lebanon’s Christian population over the decades.
Across the Middle East, the number of Christians has gone from 20% of the population to a mere 5%; Lebanon remains the Arab country with the highest proportion, with Christians making up about 30% of the population, according to estimates from various research groups and the U.S. State Department.
The pope’s insistence on coming to Lebanon, Farah said, was “re-centering the importance of this country” and a “wake-up call” for its politicians. After spending three days in Turkey, the pope will arrive in Lebanon on Sunday and depart Tuesday.
In the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and other areas on the pope’s itinerary, signs abound of furious logistical activity and preparations: Police and security personnel have intensified their presence. A two-day holiday was announced to allow participation in public prayer events, even as parishes and schools across the country have been involved in bringing the faithful to attend Mass near the site of the Beirut port blast, which was deemed an accident caused by negligence, and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, roadworks and maintenance, all but abrogated in recent years due to the government’s financial woes, have been in full swing. The joke around town is that people want another papal visit if only so the government finishes repaving all the country’s pothole-stricken streets. A bitter corollary is another joke that the refurbished roads will last only till the pope leaves — because they’ll be destroyed in a new Israeli campaign.
Along with visiting the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Pope Leo will travel to the Turkish city of Iznik, ancient Nicaea, to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.
(Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu / Getty Images)
The gallows humor reflects the uncertainty of the moment, with the U.S. and Israel pushing the Lebanese army to fully disarm Hezbollah, even as the group insists it will disarm only in the country’s south.
Lebanon’s government, in turn, says that it cannot persuade Hezbollah to give up its arms so long as Israel keeps occupying Lebanese territory, and that doing so by force would lead to civil war.
The hope is that the pontiff can help break the logjam. But though few expect change to come so quickly, the visit is still important, said a Maronite parish priest, Father Tony Elias, from Rmeish, a village located just across the border from Israel.
“When the pope visits a country that has been in pain for so long, this is truly enough to lift that pain,” Elias said.
Rmeish, which maintained a resolutely neutral stance during the war, is relatively unscathed, an exception in the wasteland that has become Lebanon’s border area after years of Israeli bombardment.
Elias said he would have wanted the pope to visit the south, but he wasn’t disappointed, as he and about 200 others from the village would travel to Beirut and join the pontiff.
“If he can’t come to the south, we can come to him,” Elias said.
The Supreme Court is deliberating a case today that could reshape congressional redistricting nationwide, focusing on racial gerrymandering in Louisiana.States are allowed to redistrict based on party lines, but this case in the Supreme Court deals with gerrymandering along racial lines and could change who you’re voting for. If the Supreme Court justices get rid of Section Two, the last remaining part of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in redistricting, it could upend electoral maps nationwide.At issue is Louisiana’s congressional map, which has two majority Black districts. The state drew a new map in 2022, but civil rights advocates argued in federal court that it violated part of the Voting Rights Act because it only included one majority Black district. They won, and the state redrew the map, but a group claimed it was racist against them. A court agreed, leading to the current Supreme Court case.A ruling in favor of Louisiana could open the door for states with large minority populations, mostly red states in the South, to redraw congressional districts, essentially eliminating majority Black and Latino seats that tend to favor Democrats.”If the court, as I think some people expect, says you can’t use race ever anymore, or if the Voting Rights Act allows you to use race, then that violates the Constitution under the 14th and 15th amendments, then we are basically done with the Voting Rights Act,” American University Washington College of Law Professor Stephen Wermiel said.Once the Supreme Court hears arguments today, a decision will most likely be released in the late spring or early summer.Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:
WASHINGTON —
The Supreme Court is deliberating a case today that could reshape congressional redistricting nationwide, focusing on racial gerrymandering in Louisiana.
States are allowed to redistrict based on party lines, but this case in the Supreme Court deals with gerrymandering along racial lines and could change who you’re voting for.
If the Supreme Court justices get rid of Section Two, the last remaining part of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in redistricting, it could upend electoral maps nationwide.
At issue is Louisiana’s congressional map, which has two majority Black districts. The state drew a new map in 2022, but civil rights advocates argued in federal court that it violated part of the Voting Rights Act because it only included one majority Black district. They won, and the state redrew the map, but a group claimed it was racist against them. A court agreed, leading to the current Supreme Court case.
A ruling in favor of Louisiana could open the door for states with large minority populations, mostly red states in the South, to redraw congressional districts, essentially eliminating majority Black and Latino seats that tend to favor Democrats.
“If the court, as I think some people expect, says you can’t use race ever anymore, or if the Voting Rights Act allows you to use race, then that violates the Constitution under the 14th and 15th amendments, then we are basically done with the Voting Rights Act,” American University Washington College of Law Professor Stephen Wermiel said.
Once the Supreme Court hears arguments today, a decision will most likely be released in the late spring or early summer.
Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:
And it doesn’t much matter who they have got to get by to do it.
‘Game of two halves’
Irish Times
It was the proverbial game of two halves as South Africa had 81% of the possession in the opening period and kept the ball at close quarters, neutralising New Zealand’s dangerous backs.
But three tries in the opening seven minutes of the second period killed the contest as New Zealand spread the ball through the hands and moved the South African defence across the park, executing with precision.
‘Proper contenders to retain the World Cup’
BBC, Alastair Telfer
When on song, New Zealand are lethal and proper contenders to retain the World Cup.
But consistent scrum penalties and a slow start will be particularly pleasing for likely semifinalists Canada, who have some of the best forwards in the tournament.
However, the six-time winners will be pleased with how they overcame some early problems, which should stand them in good stead for harder tests to come.
‘Teen sensation’
Alex Spink, Planet Rugby
With a place in the last four at stake, the tournament’s top scorer [Braxton Sorensen-McGee], both of tries and overall points, did not need any added motivation to beat a nation New Zealand have never lost to in women’s rugby.
Black Ferns winger Katelyn Vaha’akolo celebrates victory over South Africa. Photo / SmartFrame
But she got it just the same from the way the Men in Black were demolished by Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks in the Kiwi capital hours before.
The teen sensation’s response was to score two tries and nail a touchline conversion in a 46-17 victory, which sent her team into the semifinals of a tournament they have won six times.
But that tells only half the story, as those scores came with her all-conquering side on the back foot and facing the mother of all challenges from Swys de Bruin’s never-say-die Boks.
‘You have to have more than a singular thing’
Brian Moore, BBC2
I don’t think it is possible to shut New Zealand out for a whole game. If you are to beat them, you have to have more than a singular thing about you.
‘Back three remained lethal’
Philip Bendon, RugbyPass
Despite enjoying less than 20% possession in the first half, the Black Ferns’ back three remained lethal. Sorensen-McGee finished one of New Zealand’s two first-half tries, Holmes struck immediately after the break and Vaha’akolo closed the game late.
Their pace and efficiency highlighted why the Black Ferns entered this match as heavy favourites and their three second-half tries underlined the gulf in cutting edge between a coming force in South Africa and the most successful side in Women’s Rugby World Cup history.
‘Showcased their depth’
Talking Rugby Union
New Zealand’s eight-try haul showcased their depth and attacking variety. While South Africa impressed in patches, especially in the first half, they were undone by poor goalkicking and the relentless pace of the Black Ferns after halftime. The result sends New Zealand into the last four with momentum, while South Africa depart with pride after a spirited campaign.
Professor Kevin Waite had just finished a seminar on the run-up to the American Civil War on Friday morning when a student cautiously raised her hand.
“Can I ask about the Charlie Kirk situation?” she said in Waite’s classroom at the University of Texas at Dallas.
The student, he said, wondered whether recent events carried any echoes of the past. Hyperbolic comparisons between modern political conflict and the horrific bloodshed of past centuries have previously been the stuff of doomsday prepper threads on Reddit, but this week’s shooting made it a mainstream topic of conversation.
While cautioning that the country is nowhere near as fractured as it was when the Civil War erupted, Waite and other scholars of the period say they do increasingly see parallels.
“Our current political moment is really resonating with the 1850s,” the historian said.
He and other scholars note similarities between the deployment of troops to American cities, widespread disillusionment with the Supreme Court, and spasms of political violence — especially from disaffected young men.
“What we call polarization, they called sectionalism, and in the 1850s there was a growing sense that the sections of the country were pulling apart,” said Matthew Pinsker of Dickinson University.
Even before Kirk’s alleged assassin was publicly identified as a 22-year-old who left antifascist messages, President Trump blamed the shooting on “radical left political violence.”
Conservative influencers amplified the rhetoric, with Trump ally Laura Loomer posting on X, “More people will be murdered if the Left isn’t crushed with the power of the state.”
Violence was far more organized and widespread in the late 1850s, historians caution. Congressmen regularly pulled knives and pistols on one another. Mobs brawled in the streets over the Fugitive Slave Law. Radical abolitionist John Brown and his sons hacked five men to death with swords.
But some aspects of modern politics are worryingly similar, scholars said.
“What almost scares me more than the violence itself is the reaction to it,” Waite said. “It was paranoia, the perception that this violence was unstoppable, that really sent the nation spiraling toward Civil War in 1860 and ’61.”
Top of mind for Waite was the paramilitary political movement known as the Wide Awakes, hundreds of thousands of of torch-toting, black-capped abolitionist youths who took to the street out of frustration with their Republican representatives.
“There was this perception that antislavery Republicans hadn’t been sufficiently aggressive,” Waite said. Wide Awakes, he said, believed “that it was the slaveholders that were really pushing their agenda much more forcefully, much more violently, and antislavery [politicians] couldn’t just sit down and take it anymore.”
Most Democratic politicians of the era were fighting to expand slavery to the Western territories, extend federal power to claw back people who’d escaped it, and enshrine slaveholders rights to travel freely with those they held in bondage.
The Wide Awakes struck terror in their hearts.
“For their political opponents, it was a really scary spectacle,” Waite said. “Any time a cotton gin burned down in the South, they pointed to the Wide Awakes and other more radical antislavery Northerners and said, ‘This is arson.’”
For Waite, the Wide Awakes can be compared to an antebellum antifa, while the paramilitaries of the South were more like modern Proud Boys.
“The South was highly militarized,” he said. “Every adult white man was part of a local militia. It was like a social club, so it was easy to take these local militias and turn them into anti-abolitionist defense units.”
Still, incursions by abolitionists into the South were rare. Incursions by slave powers into the North were common, and routinely enforced by armed soldiers.
Legal scholars have already noted striking similarities between Trump’s use of the military to aid his mass deportation effort. The Trump administration has leaned on constitutional maneuvers used to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act — a divisive law that empowered slave catchers from the South to make arrests in Northern states — in legal arguments to justify the use of troops in immigration enforcement.
“I argue it was the fugitive crisis, more than the territorial crisis, that drove the coming of the Civil War,” Pinsker said. “The resistance in the North essentially made the Fugitive Slave Law dead-letter. They broke the enforcement of that law through legal, political and sometimes protest resistance.”
Many Northern states had passed “personal liberty laws” to prevent Black people from being snatched off the streets and returned to slavery in the South — a move Waite and others compare to sanctuary laws across the country today.
“The attempt to uphold these personal liberty laws and simultaneously the government’s attempts to take these Black fugitives led to violence, and to perceptions that the so-called slave-power was the aggressor,” Waite said.
By the late 1850s, Northerners were equally fed up with the Supreme Court, which under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney was seen as a rubber stamp for slaveholders’ goals.
“The Supreme Court in the 1850s was dominated by Southerners, mostly Southern Democrats, and they were pro-slavery,” said Michael J. Birkner of Gettysburg University. “I think the Dred Scott case and the court being on one side is absolutely a parallel with today.”
The Dred Scott decision, which ruled Black people ineligible for American citizenship, is widely taught in schools.
But far fewer Americans know about the Lemmon case, a New York legal battle that could have effectively legalized slavery in all 50 states had the Taney court heard it before the war broke out in 1861.
“Slaveholders were eager to get that case before Taney, because that would have nationalized slavery,” Waite said.
Despite the similarities, scholars say that there is nothing inevitable about armed conflict, and that the imperative now is to bring the political temperature down.
“Donald Trump has not been offering that message with the clarity it needs,” Pinsker said. “He says he’s a big fan of Lincoln, but now is the moment for him to remember what Lincoln stood for.”
When it comes to parallels with America’s deadliest conflict, “there’s only one lesson,” the historian said.
“We do not want another civil war,” Pinsker said. “That’s the only message that matters.”
Two years ago, Entree introduced itself to Chicago, taking over the South Loop space where the city’s only Michelin-starred restaurant south of Roosevelt stood. Entree delivered meal kits, searching for a sweet spot for folks fed up with fees and mistakes from third-party couriers and restaurant customers who missed eating out during the pandemic. As the business grew, its owners knew they had an asset in their dining room. They threw pop-ups and opened the bar area earlier this year while unveiling a new name for on-premise dining, Oliver’s.
In late August the time finally arrived as Oliver’s dining room finally debuted. The added real estate will give Oliver’s chef Alex Carnovale more room to play. He’s already established a menu of favorites including roast chicken, a burger, and diver scallops. The French Laundry alum has shown his ambitions while developing the menus for Entree’s delivery side. With Oliver’s, Carnovale no longer has to worry about whether his food will survive a car ride.
The space is warmer, with a supper club feeling that presents a departure from the modern vibe of the previous tenant. Specifically, Oliver’s was going for a 1930s speakeasy feel. It’s a comfy place to enjoy truffle gnocchi or tomato risotto. As the bar opened first, the drink program had time to mature under the leadership of Luke DeYoung who worked a Sepia and Scofflaw. A gin martini is garnished with caviar-stuffed olive. There are non-alcoholic options, and a deep wine list, too. Happy hour specials have already launched, and bar snacks include Italian beef popcorn, cheddar fries, and beef-fat griddled sourdough from Publican Quality Bread. The latter is served with whipped parmesan and steak sauce.
Walk through the space below. Oliver’s dining room is now open.
Oliver’s, 1930 S. Wabash Avenue, open 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, reservations via Tock.
The former Blockbuster Video space along Clark and Wrightwood wasn’t made to house two 100-foot Lang barbecue smokers. Brandon and Katherine Rushing had to significantly alter the ventilation to accommodate their new restaurant, Briny Swine Smokehouse and Oyster Bar.
The same space was home to HopCat, the Michigan beer bar. During the fall, it was also a frequent popup space for Spirit Halloween. Briny Swine’s crews kept the bar in the same space, and the Rushings hope their South Carolina barbecue and find a Chicago niche with folks who like bourbon, beer, and barbecue. They’ll even stay open until 2 a.m. giving the stretch of Clark Street, which has recently seen the closures of Frank’s and Field House, a charge. Even as the Wiener Circle taunts the new restaurant from across the street.
This was a former Blockbuster.
South Carolina barbecue specializes in pork, but Briny Swine also serves seafood, chicken, and turkey.
This is the Rushings’ third restaurant. They run a Briny Swine in Edisto Beach, South Carolina; and Ella & Ollies, which opened in 2016. Those restaurants will continue as the Rushings move to Chicago with their daughter. Barbecue joints have a certain aesthetic with metal trays and red and white checkered tablecloths. Brandon Rushing says they’ve incorporated some of those standards, but tailored them to Chicago’s big-city tendencies. Rushing also says to look for live music on most nights.
“It’s not your trays and your plastic ramekins kind of thing,” he says. “You know, it’s a little bit more elevated than that — I think that kind of brings out more of the seafood side and the oyster side of things as well.”
Briny Swine features South Carolina-style barbecue, which focuses on pork, or whole hog cooking. Brandon Rushing smokes his meat with oak and they’ll have mustard and vinegar sauces on hand. Look for pulled pork and St. Louis spare ribs. Rushing is also proud of his brisket, so beef fans are in luck.
The St. Louis ribs are smoked over oak.
Chicago borrows much from Memphis’ barbecue traditions with its sweet and smoky barbecue sauce. South Carolina focuses on dry rub, but Swiny Brine will offer five sauces: Alabama White (mayo, vinegar, water, mustard, horseradish, black pepper), Carolina Gold (mustard-based, vinegar, sugar, ketchup), pepper vinegar (pepper, vinegar, pepper flakes, sugar), red (ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar), and a spicy red variant with chipotle.
Being part of Lowcountry cuisine, there’s also a variety of seafood options including blackened grouper sandwiches and shrimp rolls. Rushing says it was a task to properly source oysters. The oysters (from Chesapeake, Virginia are salty. He serves them with jalapeño and country ham and fried. For the colder months, he wants to bring a southern tradition to Chicago, the oyster roast.
Chicago may be a sausage town, just ask it, but Briny Swine is offering it something unique: onion sausage. The late Phil Bardin, a prominent Lowcountry chef, is one of Rushing’s mentors. And he inspired the sausage which is made with pork (instead of the traditional venison) and tons of onions.
Live music is a daily feature.
The boiled peanut martini is salty.
There’s a special food menu at the bar, including a pulled pork sandwich and blue crab hush puppies, that will be available until 2 a.m. Brown liquor fans will have plenty of whisky flights (and some Scotch) to swig. The drink menu also features a boiled peanut martini made with Wheatley Craft Kentucky Vodka and peanut brine. Rushing says the drink was his wife’s idea: “It’s kind of like, a salty briny martini — it actually turned out really fantastic.”
Walk through the space below as the restaurant officially opens on Saturday, June 1. Walk through the space below.
A South Side icon is taking up residence a few doors west from a shuttered Foxtrot in Wicker Park. The Original Rainbow Cone, the parlor known for sliced — not scooped — ice cream is opening a North Side location.
The opening date is Tuesday, May 21 at 1750 W. Division Street. Rainbow Cone displaced Wicker Park’s coffee shop Caffe Streets, which had been in operation for 13 years. The interiors have been painted over pink and the sidewalk patio has been revamped. With Kurimu and VinnyD’s (the latter could reopen in June), there are plenty of options for frosty treats in the area.
The South Side’s iconic Rainbow Cone is opening in Wicker Park.Ashok Selvam/Eater Chicago
The thought of the South Side staple, one that’s been around for 98 years, opening on the North Side was unthinkable until 2019 when Rainbow Cone partnered with Buona, the famous Chicago street food chain that specializes in Italian beef. The goal was to expand throughout Chicago and the country. The company opened a few locations in the suburbs after teasing customers by having an ice cream truck parked and ready to serve outside selected Buona locations. Long lines formed and ownership saw there was a demand.
A second location opened in 2016 at Navy Pier. In March, the partnership announced plans to open 10 locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. There are also plans for Michigan, Florida, and California.
The Rainbow is not only extending throughout the country, but it’s adding new flavors. For the first time in the parlor’s nearly 100 years, ownership is added to the menu. Look for four new options, according to a news release: Chocolate Obsession, Cosmic Birthday, Minty City, and Orange Dream. These flavors join the core orange sherbet, pistachio, Palmer House, strawberry, and chocolate. Together, like the glow from the Care Bear Stare or the rings from Captain Planet’s Planeteers, these five flavors form a rainbow.
When a series of atmospheric rivers flowed into California last January, the Big Sur coastline was quickly swamped, and Highway 1, a lone life raft connecting San Simeon in the south and the Monterey Peninsula to the north, was overcome.
Long vulnerable to the whims of nature, the iconic serpentine is especially susceptible to landslides, debris flows and terrain ever bowing to the weight of water, no more so than a lonely and lovely stretch of road just south of the New Camaldoli Hermitage and the nearly forgotten outpost, Lucia, and just north of redwood-forested Limekiln State Park and the Ragged Point headlands.
Here at Paul’s Slide, fencing and K-rails were no match for last winter’s deluge that piled stones, mud and debris over the pavement, forcing Caltrans to stop traffic and once again create two of the most picturesque cul-de-sacs in California, if not the country.
Ten months later — even with crews working seven days a week throughout most of the year — the road is still closed, and holiday travelers, hoping to take in the broad vistas of sea and sky en route to destinations north or south, will be frustrated, having to settle for Highway 101 or even Interstate 5.
The effect of last week’s rain on the construction site is not known, but with an El Niño-fueled winter ahead, no one is making any predictions.
“Highway 1 is a dynamic location due to the geography and nature,” said Jim Shivers, public information officer for Caltrans’ District 5. “It is always in a state of movement. In recent weeks we have been able to make good progress … but the exact opening is unknown.”
Famously troublesome, Paul’s Slide has long been scrutinized by geologists ever mindful of the large movements of land along this edge of the continent. Unlike Mud Creek 13 miles to the south — where one Saturday morning in May 2017, a hillside collapsed, sloughing an estimated 1.5 million tons of rock and mud over the highway and into the Pacific — Paul’s Slide is less dramatic.
But, said Shivers, “each incident on the Big Sur coast is different; no two situations are the same. When you talk about Mud Creek, an entire mountain came down and took out the highway and spilled into the ocean. That was a major landslide.”
Paul’s Slide, however, is a different geological phenomena. It moves slowly yet persistently, raining the highway with debris and topsoil and ever gradually shifting underneath to the weight of water and gravity. One-lane closures are not uncommon.
Earlier this year, as designers for Caltrans completed one set of blueprints for rerouting Highway 1 in the aftermath of last winter’s storms — and as contractors began to line up their skip loaders and dump trucks — Paul’s Slide shifted a second time, according to Shivers, requiring a new design and causing new delays.
“We had a plan,” said Shivers, “and then things kept moving.”
The new and improved road will eventually take travelers further inland and slightly higher, according to Shivers.
Until then, the two scenic dead ends invite travelers to linger without traffic, without rushing, without a destination in mind — before turning around and going back the way they came.
A proposal to reduce the speed limit in the Hāwera CBD to 30km/h is part of the South Taranaki District Council’s Speed Management Plan. Photo / Bevan Conley
Reducing the speed limit in the Hāwera CBD to 30km/h and reducing 70km/h roads to 60km/h are among the key proposals in South Taranaki District Council’s 2024-2034 Speed Management Plan.
South Taranaki Mayor Phil Nixon said Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency required councils to develop 10-year speed management plans every three years.
“Over the last 12 months, we reduced speed limits outside our schools,” Nixon said.
“Over the next three years, we’d like to focus on delivering safe and appropriate speed limits around marae, the Hāwera CBD, beach communities and on some of our 70km/h roads.”
The key proposals for the next three years were to reduce the speed limit in the Hāwera CBD and in beach communities such as Ōhawe and Waiinu, reduce 70km/h roads to 60km/h and introduce a 60km/h speed limit outside all marae.
Nixon said speed management was about achieving safe and appropriate speeds to reflect the road’s function, design, safety and use.
“As a road controlling authority, we want everyone to be able to get home safely every time and to feel comfortable choosing from a range of travel options, be it driving, walking, biking or scootering.”
The council encouraged residents and road users to have their say on the speed on rural roads and in townships.
JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looked relaxed and shared a joke with journalists as he made a brief appearance Sunday at a meeting of the African National Congress party’s national working committee, which is discussing his political fate.
Ramaphosa’s future hangs in the balance as he faces calls from within the ANC and from opposition parties to step down from his position amid a scandal involving the president’s animal farm.
Ramaphosa was recused from Sunday’s meeting of the ruling ANC, which came days after an independent parliamentary panel issued a report that suggested he may have broken anti-corruption laws.
The report follows a criminal complaint laid by the country’s former head of intelligence, Arthur Fraser, who has accused Ramaphosa of money laundering related to the theft of a large sum of cash from his farm in 2020.
The president has denied any wrongdoing in the matter. Addressing journalists briefly on Sunday, he noted it was ANC tradition that someone should be recused from a meeting that deals with issues that affect them personally.
However, Ramaphosa confirmed he planned to attend a Monday meeting of ANC’s national executive committee, its highest decision-making body within conferences. The executive committee is tasked with making a final decision on Ramaphosa’s future in the party.
“Tomorrow I will attend the national executive committee meeting as well, that is how everything will flow. After that it is up to the NEC, to which I am accountable, to make a decision,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa’s spokesman, Vincent Magwenya did not respond to questions Sunday regarding reports that Ramaphosa had no intention of resigning from his position and planned to challenge the findings of the report.
South African lawmakers are expected to debate the independent report on Tuesday and then vote on whether further action should be taken against the president, including whether to proceed with impeachment proceedings.
The report questioned his explanation that the money was from the sale of buffaloes to a Sudanese businessman, asking why the animals remained at the farm more than two years later.
It also said Ramaphosa put himself into a situation of conflict of interest, saying the evidence presented to it “establishes that the president may be guilty of a serious violation of certain sections of the constitution.”
———
Follow AP’s coverage of Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency: https://apnews.com/hub/cyril-ramaphosa
JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa looked relaxed and shared a joke with journalists as he made a brief appearance Sunday at a meeting of the African National Congress party’s national working committee, which is discussing his political fate.
Ramaphosa’s future hangs in the balance as he faces calls from within the ANC and from opposition parties to step down from his position amid a scandal involving the president’s animal farm.
Ramaphosa was recused from Sunday’s meeting of the ruling ANC, which came days after an independent parliamentary panel issued a report that suggested he may have broken anti-corruption laws.
The report follows a criminal complaint laid by the country’s former head of intelligence, Arthur Fraser, who has accused Ramaphosa of money laundering related to the theft of a large sum of cash from his farm in 2020.
The president has denied any wrongdoing in the matter. Addressing journalists briefly on Sunday, he noted it was ANC tradition that someone should be recused from a meeting that deals with issues that affect them personally.
However, Ramaphosa confirmed he planned to attend a Monday meeting of ANC’s national executive committee, its highest decision-making body within conferences. The executive committee is tasked with making a final decision on Ramaphosa’s future in the party.
“Tomorrow I will attend the national executive committee meeting as well, that is how everything will flow. After that it is up to the NEC, to which I am accountable, to make a decision,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa’s spokesman, Vincent Magwenya did not respond to questions Sunday regarding reports that Ramaphosa had no intention of resigning from his position and planned to challenge the findings of the report.
South African lawmakers are expected to debate the independent report on Tuesday and then vote on whether further action should be taken against the president, including whether to proceed with impeachment proceedings.
The report questioned his explanation that the money was from the sale of buffaloes to a Sudanese businessman, asking why the animals remained at the farm more than two years later.
It also said Ramaphosa put himself into a situation of conflict of interest, saying the evidence presented to it “establishes that the president may be guilty of a serious violation of certain sections of the constitution.”
———
Follow AP’s coverage of Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency: https://apnews.com/hub/cyril-ramaphosa
Director Mani Ratnam‘s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan 1 has once again proved that content is the new king in the Indian film industry and the new mantra of success. The movie, which features Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha Krishnan, Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi among other stalwarts, has come closer to Rs 475 crore mark worldwide. While Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and other superstars have wished to work in south films and already done some, Katrina Kaif has now joined the bandwagon to feature in south Indian films.
Katrina is currently awaiting the release of her upcoming horror-comedy movie Phone Bhoot. During her recent media interaction, the actress expressed her wish to work in south films if someone comes up with a good script with a strong character to play on the screen. “If ever there’s a script which is compelling enough and has a strong character, language won’t be a barrier for me. We have some phenomenal directors working in south India,” she told IANS.
She then showered praises on the Mani Ratnam directorial Ponniyin Selvan. “The best and the most recent example is Mani Ratnam sir’s Ponniyin Selvan: 1. Such an amazing film, na? Such grandeur, beautiful frames and music. To make a film on such a big scale at this stage in his life, that proves the mettle of an iconic director,” she said.
Many might not know that Katrina has worked in a few south films such as the 2004 Telugu release Malliswari and Allari Pidugu in 2005, followed by the Malayalam film Balram vs. Tharadas.
On the work front, Katrina will be next seen in her upcoming film Phone Bhoot, which also stars Ishaan Khatter and Siddhant Chaturvedi. She is playing a ghost in the film, which has been directed by Mirzapur fame director Gurmeet Singh. She also has Tiger 3 with Salman Khan and Jee Le Zaara alongside Alia Bhatt and Priyanka Chopra.
A South Omaha woman who was carjacked this week at gunpoint tells KETV she is five months pregnant. Omaha police arrested four teenagers on Thursday and say they carried out the crime. Officers booked the teens on robbery and use of a weapon charges. They are all 13 to 17 years old. Police say the group carjacked the 27-year-old pregnant woman in a cul-de-sac at Spring Lake Park Wednesday afternoon. They say one of the teens shot a man in a separate vehicle as they were driving away. The soon-to-be mother, Perla, says she thought it was a joke at first because the carjackers were so young. Perla was just taking her dog out for a walk when a young man approached her and opened her passenger-side door pointing a gun. She did not want her face on camera, still recovering from the ordeal. “They told me ‘give me your money. I know you have money, give me your money.’ And like you said, they’re just kids so I was like is this a joke, is this, what?” Perla said.But it was no joke. Perla says the four carjackers took her keys and made a getaway. Police say they shot at another vehicle, striking the 32-year-old driver.”I started crying. I was at the park with my dog, I just took him out because he wasn’t feeling well. I just wanted to go on a walk with him,” Perla said.Omaha police eventually recovered Perla’s car in North Omaha along with another vehicle the suspects used in the carjacking. They say people commit this crime for a myriad of reasons: maybe it is on a dare, a challenge or for a joyride. It is much harder to sell a stolen vehicle or tear it down for scrap. Police say to lessen the chance of a carjacking, you have to be aware of your surroundings. “We always try to encourage people to look up while they’re walking to and from either a vehicle or into a business,” said Officer Chris Gordon, an Omaha police spokesperson. If someone aggressively approaches you to take your car, your well-being should come first. Use good judgement and be smart. Do not try to fight back if the robber is armed with something dangerous. It is also important to think like a witness: look for distinguishing features on the suspect and report the carjacking immediately to police. “If you walk out with your head up, looking around, making contact at people, making eye contact, that tends to minimize you as a perceived victim,” Gordon said.For Perla, the incident has left her shaken, but OK. She is looking forward to putting this behind her and being a mom. “She’s my first baby so I just don’t want anything to happen to her,” Perla said.Police also say it is best to park in well-seen areas, try to go in pairs to your car when possible and have your vehicle keys in hand ready to lock and unlock the doors quickly. The 32-year-old driver who was shot, Jorge Garcia, was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries, but authorities say those injuries are non-life-threatening.
Omaha police arrested four teenagers on Thursday and say they carried out the crime. Officers booked the teens on robbery and use of a weapon charges. They are all 13 to 17 years old.
Police say the group carjacked the 27-year-old pregnant woman in a cul-de-sac at Spring Lake Park Wednesday afternoon. They say one of the teens shot a man in a separate vehicle as they were driving away.
The soon-to-be mother, Perla, says she thought it was a joke at first because the carjackers were so young.
Perla was just taking her dog out for a walk when a young man approached her and opened her passenger-side door pointing a gun. She did not want her face on camera, still recovering from the ordeal.
“They told me ‘give me your money. I know you have money, give me your money.’ And like you said, they’re just kids so I was like is this a joke, is this, what?” Perla said.
But it was no joke. Perla says the four carjackers took her keys and made a getaway. Police say they shot at another vehicle, striking the 32-year-old driver.
“I started crying. I was at the park with my dog, I just took him out because he wasn’t feeling well. I just wanted to go on a walk with him,” Perla said.
Omaha police eventually recovered Perla’s car in North Omaha along with another vehicle the suspects used in the carjacking. They say people commit this crime for a myriad of reasons: maybe it is on a dare, a challenge or for a joyride. It is much harder to sell a stolen vehicle or tear it down for scrap.
Police say to lessen the chance of a carjacking, you have to be aware of your surroundings.
“We always try to encourage people to look up while they’re walking to and from either a vehicle or into a business,” said Officer Chris Gordon, an Omaha police spokesperson.
If someone aggressively approaches you to take your car, your well-being should come first. Use good judgement and be smart. Do not try to fight back if the robber is armed with something dangerous.
It is also important to think like a witness: look for distinguishing features on the suspect and report the carjacking immediately to police.
“If you walk out with your head up, looking around, making contact at people, making eye contact, that tends to minimize you as a perceived victim,” Gordon said.
For Perla, the incident has left her shaken, but OK. She is looking forward to putting this behind her and being a mom.
“She’s my first baby so I just don’t want anything to happen to her,” Perla said.
Police also say it is best to park in well-seen areas, try to go in pairs to your car when possible and have your vehicle keys in hand ready to lock and unlock the doors quickly.
The 32-year-old driver who was shot, Jorge Garcia, was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries, but authorities say those injuries are non-life-threatening.
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