Sunday, April 12

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Samantha: Playing a female spy sounds cool, but I`d like an even playing ground
Entertainment, Movies

Samantha: Playing a female spy sounds cool, but I`d like an even playing ground

The trailer of Varun Dhawan and Samantha starrer Citadel: Honey Bunny was launched on Tuesday. Samantha plays a struggling actress Honey, who is recruited by stuntman Bunny (Varun Dhawan) for a side gig. They are hurled into a high-stakes world of action, espionage, and betrayal. The trailer is full of action-packed sequences, giving both the stars ample opportunity to dabble in this genre. Women-led spy projects are rare. At the trailer launch, Samantha spoke about the opportunity to portray such a role, "I know it sounds cool to be playing a ‘female’ spy, but I would like for it to be equal, like an even playing ground, where intelligence, talent, strength decide your fate, irrespective of gender. That would be an amazing place to be at. I am also very happy to be part of this world whe...
American consumers are increasingly underwater on their car loans
Business

American consumers are increasingly underwater on their car loans

Cars sit in a Chevrolet dealership's lot in Chicago on June 20, 2024.Scott Olson | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesDETROIT — A growing number of Americans with auto loans owe more than their vehicles are worth, according to a report Tuesday from Edmunds.com.The auto data and consumer research company reports the average amount owed on so-called upside-down loans climbed to an all-time high of $6,458 during the third quarter. That compares to $6,255 in the prior quarter and $5,808 a year earlier.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsUpside-down car loans are not necessarily dire on their own, but a growing number of consumers being underwater is another indication of pressure on American consumers.A sign of that strain came last month, when the Federal Reserve reported delinquency rates on au...
Australian surfer Tyler Wright’s wife criticises WSL for adding event in UAE
World News

Australian surfer Tyler Wright’s wife criticises WSL for adding event in UAE

By Jon Healy, ABC News Tyler Wright celebrates after winning the world title in 2016. Photo: AFP - Gaizka Iroz The wife of Australian two-time world champion Tyler Wright has blasted the World Surf League's (WSL) decision to add Abu Dhabi to its calendar for 2025 as homosexuality is illegal in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi was listed as the second stop on the WSL Championship Tour schedule for 2025 when it was released last week. Events will be held at Hudayriyat Island in the UAE capital, in an artificial wave pool created with the Kelly Slater Wave Company. The WSL recently held a Longboard Classic event at the site, which boasts the largest man-made wave in the world. But the addition of a stop in Abu Dhabi to the more high-profile tour for next year raised eyebrows and conc...
Harris mocks Trump over town hall music, health records
Business

Harris mocks Trump over town hall music, health records

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump listens during a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center and Fairgrounds in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on October 14, 2024. Jim Watson | Afp | Getty ImagesKamala Harris mocked Donald Trump's behavior at an unusual campaign event, where the GOP presidential nominee cut short a question-and-answer session to listen to music with the crowd for nearly 40 minutes."Hope he's okay," Harris, the Democratic nominee, wrote on X early Tuesday morning.The vice president's tweet was replying to her campaign X account's post saying, "Trump appears lost, confused, and frozen on stage as multiple songs play for 30+ minutes and the crowd pours out of the venue early."It was one of many posts by social media users that raised eyebrows...
K-pop star NewJeans’ Hanni tells South Korea lawmakers of workplace bullying
World News

K-pop star NewJeans’ Hanni tells South Korea lawmakers of workplace bullying

By Kang Jin-kyu, AFP New Jeans' Hanni (centre) arrives to testify at the National Assembly in Seoul on 15 October, 2024. Photo: AFP / Kim Min-Hee A member of chart-topping K-pop group NewJeans has tearfully testified to South Korean lawmakers as part of an enquiry into workplace harassment, amid a boardroom drama over her super producer. In recent years, South Korea's K-pop industry has become a global juggernaut powered by the success of groups like BTS, but domestically it is known for imposing strict standards and controls on fledgling stars. Rising K-pop idols are expected to adhere to their powerful agency's behaviour and appearance guidelines, with many stars describing receiving extreme backlash from fans over perceived mistakes in their personal lives, for example dating. Han...
Trump Media shares halted after sudden stock plunge
Business

Trump Media shares halted after sudden stock plunge

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump's social media platform Truth Social is shown on a cell phone in Chicago on March 25, 2024.Scott Olson | Getty ImagesTrump Media shares closed down nearly 10% Tuesday, after a wild trading session that was briefly halted due to volatility when the Truth Social owner's stock suddenly plunged in price.DJT shares, which had been up more than 13% earlier Tuesday afternoon, abruptly turned more than 6% lower on the day at the time the halt occurred. Trump Media continued to fall after the five-minute trading halt lifted at 2:47 p.m. ET.Trump Media settled at $27.06 per share.The stock price whipsawed during an extremely volatile trading session in which more than 97 million shares traded hands — multiple times the company's 30-...
US Election: Record number of early votes cast in battleground state Georgia
World News

US Election: Record number of early votes cast in battleground state Georgia

By Jason Morris, Nick Valencia, Devan Cole and Sara Murray, CNN Donald Trump, left, and Kamala Harris, right, during their presidential debate in September. Photo: AFP / SAUL LOEB A record number of early votes have been cast in Georgia as residents head to the polls in a critical battleground state that is grappling with the fallout from Hurricane Helene and controversial election administration changes that spurred a flurry of lawsuits. Roughly 252,000 ballots have been cast Tuesday (local time), Gabe Sterling of the Georgia secretary of state's office said on X. "Spectacular turnout. We are running out of adjectives for this." The previous first day record was 136,000 in 2020, Sterling said. The swing state is one of the most closely watched this election, with former president Do...
Trump’s coin sale misses early targets as crypto website crashes
Business

Trump’s coin sale misses early targets as crypto website crashes

Former U.S. President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 19, 2020.Kevin Dietsch | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesDonald Trump's new crypto project is off to a rough start.World Liberty Financial, which aspires to be a sort of crypto bank, launched its token sale on Tuesday, a day after project co-founder Zachary Folkman said "well over 100,000 people" are on the whitelist to invest.But WLF's website suffered regular and lengthy outages for much of the morning and early afternoon, contributing to a limited number of sales. Only about 4,300 unique walled addresses hold the token as of Tuesday afternoon, according to blockchain data tracked by Etherscan, representing roughly 4% of the total number of people who registered.The platform says it has sold more t...
Rio Tinto class action begins over Bougainville mining disaster
World News

Rio Tinto class action begins over Bougainville mining disaster

By Harry Pearl, BenarNews Satellite photo of the abandoned former Rio Tinto Panguna mine (center) in Bougainville, with the regional capital Arawa (top left) and tailings waste spilling downstream (bottom right), pictured 26 September 2017. Photo: Trevor Hammond / Planet Labs via Reuters An initial hearing of a class action against mining giant Rio Tinto over the toxic legacy of the Panguna copper mine on the autonomous island of Bougainville has been held in Papua New Guinea. The lawsuit against Rio Tinto and its subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) is seeking compensation, expected to be in the billions of dollars, for what plaintiffs allege is historic mismanagement of the massive open copper-and-gold mine between 1972 and 1989. More than 5000 claimants backed by anonymous...
Justin Trudeau’s office intervened to keep Han Dong off Canada-China committee – National
Politics

Justin Trudeau’s office intervened to keep Han Dong off Canada-China committee – National

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office intervened in 2019 to keep Han Dong off a House of Commons committee probing Canada’s relations with China, according to testimony from Trudeau’s most senior staff. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) briefed security-cleared Liberal officials during the 2019 election about “irregularities” related to Dong’s nomination as the party’s candidate in Don Valley North.Those irregularities included CSIS intelligence suggesting Chinese diplomatic officials leaned on international students to support Dong’s nomination, as well as the busing of people to the nomination meeting coerced into supporting the now-independent MP.Documents previously published by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s foreign interference inquiry suggest that CSIS was aware of tho...