The history of cinema has always involved technological innovation – from the first talkie films of the ’20s to the color revolution of the ’30s and all the way to 3D and CGI of the modern era. These advancements have allowed filmmakers’ imaginations to come to life in more vivid detail, and 2019’s “The Lion King” marked another transitory period in the technological advancement of film. The photo-realistic rendering of the animated animals conveyed a visual fidelity that had never been achieved in a movie before. Now, nearly five years later, a prequel titled “Mufasa: The Lion King” has been released that utilizes the same technology and photo-realistic textures. Directed by Barry Jenkins – the Best Picture-winning director of “Moonlight” – with a screenplay from writer Jeff Nathanson, “Mufasa: The Lion King” is both a sequel and a prequel simultaneously as we follow Simba’s daughter, Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), as she hears the story of her paternal grandfather from Rafiki (John Kani) while Timon and Pumbaa (Billy Eichner and Seth Rogan, respectively) provide comedic commentary in between story segments. The framing for this plot structure is quite clever as it connects “Mufasa” to the broader themes of the Circle of Life and acts as a bridge between the past and the future. In the flashback portions, we discover that Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) was orphaned at a young age after he was swept away in a flash flood. Mufasa is rescued by a lion from another pride named Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and reluctantly accepted as a member of the tribe. However, this peace is disrupted when a group of white lions invade from the north and seek to dominate Taka’s pride. To preserve the bloodline, both Taka and Mufasa are ordered to run and leave their lands behind as they venture into the great unknown to find their destiny. If “The Lion King” – both the 1994 animated film and the 2019 CGI film – draws heavily upon Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” then “Mufasa” seems to draw upon themes from the story of Exodus, or even the Roman foundational myth of Romulus and Remus. The prequel portion suffers from the issues that all prequels do – predictability – but what “Mufasa” does well is establish a genuinely dramatic tension between the brothers that plays out as an epic saga of biblical proportions. Like Moses and Rameses in the story of Exodus, “Mufasa” explores the themes of a displaced heir, royal resentment and the path toward destiny. Technically, “Mufasa” is a major improvement over the 2019 remake because the rendering of the animals is far more vivid, lifelike and fluid. The facial expressions are actually expressive this time, which was a chief complaint of that remake. The soundtrack utilizes many of the same tracks from the originals, but there are also a number of new musical set-pieces that give the film its own identity. There’s also a touching memorial to James Earl Jones at the beginning, which reminds us of the late actor’s immense influence on so many genres. Overall, “Mufasa: The Lion King” is a worthy successor to the legendary legacy that defines the original.
OTTAWA — Canada has again breached its years-long policy and voted in support of a United Nations motion critical of Israel, based on concerns about the viability of a two-state solution. "The dynamics in the broader region show very clearly that conflict management, as opposed to genuine conflict resolution, is not in fact a sustainable path to peace, security and prosperity," Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, told a UN plenary Tuesday. For years, Canada backed Israel in votes at the international body, but the federal Liberals changed that policy a year ago, citing concerns over policies that undermine Ottawa's decades-long policy of advocating for an eventual Palestinian country that would exist in peace alongside Israel. That change also came amid widespread concern from humanitarian groups and legal experts about Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law in its campaign in the Gaza Strip. UN member states passed a motion 157 to 8, with seven abstentions, reaffirming the illegality of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories and condemning the use of force against Palestinian civilians. The motion passed Tuesday also calls for a peace conference, and is similar to motions brought before the UN multiple times. It called out "terror against civilians on all sides" but did not name Hamas or any Palestinian militant group, drawing criticism from Israel advocates. Rae said the motion should have been more balanced, but Ottawa wanted to signal its concern about the viability of a Palestinian state. "We voted in favour of this resolution, like many, many others (did) to signal our firm commitment to the two-state solution," he said. Rae reiterated condemnation of the October 2023 attack by Hamas against Israel, and called for the return of all hostages including the body of Canadian citizen Judih Weinstein Haggai. "All Palestinians deserve to be led by a legitimate and representative government without the participation of a terrorist organization such as Hamas," Rae told the UN plenary. Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong decried today's vote as singling out Israel, writing on the platform X that supporting the motion would "reverse Canada's long-standing position on Israel." He said that a Conservative government would be "ensuring alignment with our closest democratic allies." Tuesday's vote was supported by the U.K., Japan and most European Union states. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs says the Liberals had voted against similar motions for almost a decade. "Today's reversal to vote yes instead represents an abandonment of Canada's long-standing, principled foreign policy," the group wrote on X. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024. Dylan Robertson, The Canadian PressChad Chronister, Donald Trump’s pick to run the DEA, withdraws name from consideration
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President-elect Donald Trump said Friday the Republican Party would try to eliminate Daylight Saving Time , calling it “inconvenient” and “costly.” “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” Trump posted on Truth Social . Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, whom the president-elect has tapped to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency , have also recently said they support eliminating the biannual ritual of falling back and springing forward, which would require congressional approval. While other objectives floated by Musk and Ramaswamy for their department have been criticized as unwieldy or not possible, the semi-annual clock change is a tradition that has lost its appeal to many voters, polls have shown. And the change, if enacted, would be sweepingly impactful, affecting how hundreds of millions of people start and end their days. It’s also an idea that some key members of Trump’s incoming administration and the Republican Senate caucus have vocally supported for years. Most US states change their clocks forward in March and back in November, attempting to balance the amount of sunlight people receive on a given day. Some advocates for change support a permanent standard time, keeping the clocks as they are from November to March year-round. This would lead to parts of the country experiencing earlier sunrises and sunsets than they usually do during those five months – leaving more light in the morning and less in the evening. This approach is supported by medical groups and professionals who say it most closely aligns with the body’s natural circadian rhythm. Others advocate for a permanent Daylight Saving Time. The sun would rise and set later, giving people less daylight in the morning and more in the evening. This approach is often supported by retail, business and restaurant groups and organizations that want people to have enough daylight left after work or school to be out and about and participating in the economy, and by those who say more daylight in the evening could reduce crime. The reasons for supporting any side in this debate are as disparate as each individual’s own personal life experiences; some parents may prefer that their children not wait for the bus during a dark morning, while other parents may prefer there be some daylight while they watch their kids practice sports after school. Trump has previously voiced support for ending the clock changes, tweeting in 2019: “Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!” Previous attempts to do so have faltered. Daylight Saving Time was first introduced during World War I to assist with the nation’s industrial productivity during the Great War – not, as popular rumors frequently suggest, to give farmers more day time during harvest. Daylight Saving Time was kept permanent during most of World War II, also for reasons to do with industry and energy. During the gas crisis in the 1970s, the country once again tried making Daylight Saving Time permanent, only for public approval to plummet after complaints of children being hit by cars while waiting for the bus at night. States aren’t required to change their clocks; Hawaii, most of Arizona and some US territories in the Pacific and Caribbean do not observe Daylight Saving Time. In 2022, the US Senate passed legislation making Daylight Saving Time permanent, but the House failed to vote on it. And last year, a bipartisan group of senators reintroduced legislation that would make a switch to Daylight Saving Permanent. Now, with the possible support of the president-elect, the country may prepare to make another change – one way or the other. This story has been updated with additional reporting. CNN’s Michael Williams contributed to this report.WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump's supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump's Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. The debate touched off this week when Laura Loomer , a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his coming administration. Krishnan favors the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the U.S. Loomer declared the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves. Much of the debate played out on the social media network X, which Musk owns. Loomer's comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks , whom Trump has tapped to be the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar." Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with finding ways to cut the federal government , weighed in, defending the tech industry's need to bring in foreign workers. It bloomed into a larger debate with more figures from the hard-right weighing in about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech on the internet, the newfound influence tech figures have in Trump's world and what his political movement stands for. Trump has not yet weighed in on the rift. His presidential transition team did not respond to questions about positions on visas for highly skilled workers or the debate between his supporters online. Instead, his team instead sent a link to a post on X by longtime adviser and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller that was a transcript of a speech Trump gave in 2020 at Mount Rushmore in which he praised figures and moments from American history. Musk, the world's richest man who has grown remarkably close to the president-elect , was a central figure in the debate, not only for his stature in Trump's movement but his stance on the tech industry's hiring of foreign workers. Technology companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an a H-1B visa himself and defended the industry's need to bring in foreign workers. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent," he said in a post. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.” Trump's own positions over the years have reflected the divide in his movement. His tough immigration policies, including his pledge for a mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who come into the U.S. illegally but he has also sought curbs on legal immigration , including family-based visas. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After he became president, Trump in 2017 issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order , which directed Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants to protect American workers. Trump's businesses, however, have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club , and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the the H-1B program for highly skilled workers. During his 2024 campaign for president, as he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country" and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. But in a sharp departure from his usual alarmist message around immigration generally, Trump told a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges. “I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country," he told the “All-In" podcast with people from the venture capital and technology world. Those comments came on the cusp of Trump's budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail any plans to pursue such changes.Acentra Health Campaign Raises $31,000 to Help Southeastern U.S. Communities Recover from Hurricane Devastation
Exploring the link: HIV and dermatologyBy raising awareness on skin conditions, we can foster a more understanding and supportive environment for those living with HIV. - UNSPLASH
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — TCU leading scorer Frankie Collins will miss the rest of the season because of a broken bone in his left foot, the school said Friday. The 6-foot-2 senior guard, in his first season at TCU after spending the past two at Arizona State, is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday in Dallas. Collins leads the Horned Frogs (5-4) with 11.2 points and 4.4 assists per game. He also averages 4.4 rebounds per game. TCU said Collins broke his foot in the first half of its 83-74 loss to Vanderbilt last Sunday. He still played 35 minutes, finishing with six points and seven assists. Collins played 31 games as a freshman for Michigan's NCAA Sweet 16 team in 2021-22 before transferring to Arizona State. He started all 32 games last season for the Sun Devils, averaging 13.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. He could potentially get another college season through a medical redshirt. Arizona State is in its first Big 12 season. It will host TCU on Feb. 15. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll