Strip club Cinderella story 'Anora' wins best picture at 97th Academy Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Anora,” a strip club Cinderella story without the fairy tale ending, was crowned best picture at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, handing Sean Baker’s gritty, Brooklyn-set screwball farce Hollywood’s top prize.

In a stubbornly fluctuating Oscar season, “Anora,” the Palme d’Or-winner at the Cannes Film Festival, emerged as the unlikely frontrunner. Baker’s tale of an erotic dancer who elopes with the son of a Russian oligarch – unusually explicit for a best-picture winner – was made for just $6 million.

But Oscar voters, eschewing blockbuster contenders like “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two,” instead added “Anora” to a string of recent indie best picture winners, including “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “CODA” and “Nomadland.”

For a film industry that’s been transformed by streaming and humbled by economic turmoil, Baker and “Anora” epitomized a kind of cinematic purity. On the campaign trail, Baker called for the return to the 90-day exclusive theatrical release.

“Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater,” Baker said Sunday. “Filmmakers, keep making films for the big screen.”

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The Latest: 'Anora' wins best picture at the 97th Academy Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean Baker made Oscar history Sunday at the 97th Academy Awards. "Anora” won best picture, his fourth win of the night and tying Walt Disney for the most in a single year in Academy Award history. “Anora” was the night’s big winner with five statuettes overall, two more than “The Brutalist.” But Baker’s historic run is the story of the night.

Here's the Latest:

Anora,” a strip club Cinderalla story without the fairy tale ending, was crowned best picture at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, handing Sean Baker’s gritty, Brooklyn-set screwball farce Hollywood’s top prize.

In a stubbornly fluctuating Oscar season, “Anora,” the Palme d’Or-winner at the Cannes Film Festival, emerged as the unlikely frontrunner. Baker’s tale of an erotic dancer who elopes with the son of a Russian oligarch – unusually explicit for a best-picture winner – was made for just $6 million.

Mikey Madison won the best actress Oscar on Sunday for “Anora,” a role that catapulted the 25-year-old into a burgeoning film career after achieving initial success on television.

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UK's Starmer says Europe is at ‘crossroads in history’ as leaders agree to steps to Ukraine peace

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer rallied his European counterparts Sunday to shore up their borders and throw their full weight behind Ukraine as he announced outlines of a plan to end Russia’s war.

“Every nation must contribute to that in the best way that it can, bringing different capabilities and support to the table, but all taking responsibility to act, all stepping up their own share of the burden," he said.

Starmer’s exhortation to 18 fellow leaders that they need to do the heavy lifting for their own security comes two days after U.S. backing of Ukraine appeared in jeopardy when President Donald Trump lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he wasn’t grateful enough for America’s support.

The meeting had been overshadowed by the extraordinary scolding that took place on live television at the White House. Starmer used the opportunity as part of his broader effort to bridge the gap between Europe and the U.S. and also salvage what had seemed like the start of a peace process before Friday's spat.

Starmer said he had worked with France and Ukraine on a plan to end the war and that the group of leaders — mostly from Europe — had agreed on four things.

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Israel is criticized after it bars Gaza aid to pressure Hamas to accept a new ceasefire proposal

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel faced sharp criticism as it stopped the entry of all food and other supplies into Gaza on Sunday and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if a fragile ceasefire isn't extended.

Mediators Egypt and Qatar accused Israel of violating humanitarian law by using starvation as a weapon.

The ceasefire's first phase saw a surge in humanitarian aid after months of growing hunger. Hamas accused Israel of trying to derail the next phase Sunday hours after its first phase had ended and called Israel's decision to cut off aid “a war crime and a blatant attack” on a truce that took a year of negotiations before taking hold in January.

In the second phase, Hamas could release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an Israeli pullout from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire. Negotiations on the second phase were meant to start a month ago but haven't begun.

Israel said Sunday that a new U.S. proposal calls for extending the ceasefire's first phase through Ramadan — the Muslim holy month that began over the weekend — and the Jewish Passover holiday, which ends April 20.

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Israel has cut off all supplies to Gaza. Here's what that means

Israel has cut off the entry of all food and other goods into Gaza in an echo of the siege it imposed in the earliest days of its war with Hamas. The United Nations and other humanitarian aid providers are sharply criticizing the decision and calling it a violation of international law.

“A tool of extortion,” Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said. “A reckless act of collective punishment,” Oxfam said. Key mediator Egypt accused Israel of using “starvation as a weapon.”

Hunger has been an issue throughout the war for Gaza’s over 2 million people, and some aid experts had warned of possible famine. Now there is concern about losing the progress that experts reported under the past six weeks of a ceasefire.

Israel is trying to pressure the Hamas militant group to agree to what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government describes as a U.S. proposal to extend the ceasefire’s first phase instead of beginning negotiations on the far more difficult second phase. In phase two, Hamas would release the remaining living hostages in return for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire.

Here’s a look at what Israel’s decision means and the reactions.

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Trudeau to bring up Trump's threat to annex Canada in meeting with King Charles

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with King Charles III, the country's head of state, on Monday where he will discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make Canada the 51st state.

The king has come under criticism in Canada for being silent about Trump’s threats to annex Canada.

Trudeau said in London on Sunday he will discuss matters of importance to Canadians with Charles and said "nothing seems more important to Canadians right now than standing up for our sovereignty and our independence as a nation.”

Charles is the head of state in Canada, which is a member of the British Commonwealth of former colonies.

Overall, the antiroyal movement in Canada is small, but the silence of the monarch on Trump’s threats have spurred talk in recent days.

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Francis off mechanical ventilation entirely, signaling he's overcome risks from respiratory crisis

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis remained in stable condition and didn’t need any mechanical ventilation Sunday, the Vatican said. It was a sign that he had overcome the possible complications from a respiratory crisis Friday and that his breathing function overall was improving as he recovers from pneumonia.

The 88-year-old pope did continue to receive high flow supplemental oxygen after Friday’s coughing episode, which sparked fears of a new lung infection. Doctors in their late Sunday update said Francis remained stable but again referred to the complexity of his overall condition and kept his prognosis at guarded, meaning he wasn’t out of danger.

Francis, who has been in the hospital since Feb. 14, rested, prayed in his private chapel and participated in Mass after a morning visit from the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and his chief of staff, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra. The content of their talks wasn't known, but even when at the Vatican, Francis meets at least weekly with them.

He again skipped his weekly noon blessing to avoid even a brief public appearance from the hospital. Instead, the Vatican distributed a message written by the pope from Gemelli Hospital in which he thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers, and prayed again for peace in Ukraine and elsewhere.

“From here, war appears even more absurd,” Francis said in the message, which he drafted in recent days. Francis said he was living his hospitalization as an experience of profound solidarity with people who are sick and suffering everywhere.

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Crews battle wildfires in North and South Carolina amid dry conditions and gusty winds

Crews battled wildfires in North and South Carolina on Sunday amid dry conditions and gusty winds as residents were forced to evacuate in some areas.

The National Weather Service warned of increased fire danger in the region due to a combination of critically dry fuels and very low relative humidity.

In South Carolina, where more than 175 fires burned 6.6 square miles (17 square kilometers), Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency on Sunday to support the wildfire response effort, and a statewide burning ban remained in effect.

Crews made progress containing a fire in the Carolina Forest area west of the coastal resort city of Myrtle Beach, where residents had been ordered to evacuate several neighborhoods, according to Horry County Fire Rescue. Video showed some people running down the street as smoke filled the sky. But by late Sunday afternoon, the fire department announced that Carolina Forest evacuees could return home.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission estimated Sunday evening that the blaze had burned 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers) with 30 percent of it contained. No structures had succumbed to the blaze and no injuries had been reported as of Sunday morning, officials said.

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Trump's next first speech to Congress is bound to have little resemblance to his last first one

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation will hear a new president sing a far different tune in his prime-time address before Congress on Tuesday night. Some Americans will lustily sing along. Others will plug their ears.

The old tune is out — the one where a president declares “we strongly support NATO,” “I believe strongly in free trade” and Washington must do more to promote clean air, clean water, women’s health and civil rights.

That was Donald Trump in 2017.

That was back when gestures of bipartisanship and appeals to national unity were still in the mix on the night the president comes before Congress to hold forth on the state of the union. Trump, then new at the job, was just getting his footing in the halls of power and not ready to stomp on everything.

It would be three more years before Americans would see Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, then the House speaker and his State of the Union host in the chamber, performatively rip up a copy of Trump’s speech in disgust over its contents.

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Private lunar lander Blue Ghost aces moon touchdown with a special delivery for NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A private lunar lander carrying a drill, vacuum and other experiments for NASA touched down on the moon Sunday, the latest in a string of companies looking to kickstart business on Earth's celestial neighbor ahead of astronaut missions.

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander descended from lunar orbit on autopilot, aiming for the slopes of an ancient volcanic dome in an impact basin on the moon’s northeastern edge of the near side.

Confirmation of successful touchdown came from the company's Mission Control outside Austin, Texas, following the action some 225,000 miles (360,000 kilometers) away.

“You all stuck the landing. We’re on the moon,” Firefly’s Will Coogan, chief engineer for the lander, reported.

An upright and stable landing makes Firefly — a startup founded a decade ago — the first private outfit to put a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or falling over. Even countries have faltered, with only five claiming success: Russia, the U.S., China, India and Japan.

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