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‘Blue Beetle’ director Ángel Manuel Soto says the DC film is a ‘love letter to our ancestors’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:12:23 GMT

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.. (AP) — Director Ángel Manuel Soto didn’t think too much about the “Latino side of things” when visually crafting DC’s “Blue Beetle” alongside Mexican screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.The film — starring “Cobra Kai’s” Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes, aka Blue Beetle and DC’s first Latino superhero — oozes with Mexican references and elements of other Latin American cultures through almost every scene. Still, the Puerto Rican director says that all of this came naturally due to his and Dunnet-Alcocer’s backgrounds.“We never were like, ‘Okay, so how are we going to make this Latino?’ We cannot hide who we are. If we have the opportunity to tell our collective experiences because we are Latino, they’re going to come out Latino.”In “Blue Beetle,” Reyes finds himself in possession of an ancient scarab named Khaji Da made of alien biotechnology that chooses Reyes as its symbiotic host. In a hilarious scene, the scarab attaches itself to Reyes, transforming the hesit...

Farrell left out by England after World Rugby appeals against the overturning of his red card

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:12:23 GMT

DUBLIN (AP) — England captain Owen Farrell was left out of the squad to play Ireland on Saturday in a Rugby World Cup warmup game, hours after World Rugby announced it will appeal against the decision to overturn the red card he received against Wales last weekend.Farrell’s availability for the start of the World Cup, which begins on Sept. 8, has been thrown into doubt after Thursday’s intervention by the game’s global governing body, which came after widespread surprise and dismay at the decision of a disciplinary panel to not hand him a ban that could last as long as six weeks.Farrell was initially yellow-carded for the high, dangerous tackle on Wales flanker Taine Basham in England’s 19-17 win in the World Cup warmup game at Twickenham on Saturday. It was later upgraded to a red card after video review but an independent judicial committee said that decision was wrong, citing a “sudden and significant change in direction from the ball carrier” before Farre...

Warren Buffett gives $27 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock to an unnamed charity

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:12:23 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Investor Warren Buffett has donated Berkshire Hathaway stock worth $27 million to an unnamed charity.Buffett disclosed the gift of 50 Class A shares of Berkshire stock in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Wednesday. This donation is in addition to Buffett’s annual gifts to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four smaller foundations run by his family that he has been making since 2006. Buffett has said that more than 99% of his nearly $118 billion fortune will eventually go to charity, and he has gradually been giving it away over time. He has given those five foundations stock worth roughly $50 billion over the years.Buffett didn’t identify the charity that received his latest donation this week.Even after this latest donation, Buffett still holds 218,237 Class A shares of Berkshire stock, which are the most expensive shares on the market. Thursday morning, the shares were up $2.183 to sell for $539,680 apiece.Berkshire...

Review: ‘Blue Beetle’ is a little more than a bug in the superhero system

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:12:23 GMT

Franz Kafka never realized how close he came to kickstarting a superhero franchise. Ever since Gregor Samsa awoke in his bed to find himself transformed into a monstrous dung beetle in “The Metamorphosis,” we’ve had spider-men, wasps, ant-men, crime-fighting ticks and mighty mantises — such a super swarm of insectoids that you might be tempted to reach for a fly swatter. We’re now back to the beetle with the new DC Comics film “Blue Beetle,” which opens in theaters Thursday. But what distinguishes “Blue Beetle” isn’t its place in the bug brigade but the person doing the metamorphosizing.Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) is the first Latino superhero in a leading role in a DC film. It’s not just token casting, either. “Blue Beetle,” directed by Ángel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, is firmly rooted in the experience of the Reyes clan, a close-knit Mexican-American family scraping by in the shadow of the gleaming Miami-like ...

China’s yuan falls against dollar, raising questions about weaker currency to boost exports

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:12:23 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s yuan dipped briefly to a 16-year low against the dollar Thursday, raising questions about whether Beijing might weaken its currency to help struggling exporters and reverse a deepening economic slump.The yuan slid to 7.32 to the dollar before recovering to 7.26 following what financial analysts said appeared to be buying by Chinese banks to support the currency. That made one yuan worth about 13.8 cents.A weaker yuan helps exporters by making their goods cheaper abroad, but Beijing has promised to avoid “competitive devaluation.” Complaints that China gets an unfair trade advantage by keeping its yuan weak is an irritant in relations with Washington and other governments.“Will we just continue to see a sort of gradual weakening of the currency?” said Thomas Mathews of Capital Economics. “That might be one of the key channels through which they could actually support the economy.”However, letting the yuan slide too far might cause companies and investors to que...

Investment scams are everywhere on social media. Here’s how to spot one

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:12:23 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Social media is full of scammers promising guaranteed returns on investment, and consumers lost billions of dollars to them last year. Troy Gochenour, 50, of Columbus, Ohio, was conned out of $25,800, including $15,800 in borrowed money, in a crypto-mining scam that began with a WhatsApp message from a beautiful stranger.“I had just moved home to restart my life, after trying to make it in show business in New York, and I was lonely,” Gochenour said. “So I started online dating. Then I got a WhatsApp message that began, ‘Sorry to bother you.’”Financial scams, including cryptocurrency schemes, cost consumers $3.8 billion last year just in the U.S., according to the Federal Trade Commission, twice as much as in 2021. Such scams are also a problem globally.Those who work in the space, including the FTC and Better Business Bureau, say the speed and convenience of the internet, the rise of online payment platforms and apps, and the spread of financial misinformation have ...

Stock market today: Wall Street is holding steadier, but higher bond yields keep biting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:12:23 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is holding a bit steadier Thursday, and stocks are mixed following their sharp two-day slide.The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 47 points, or 0.1%, at 34,813, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.Cisco Systems helped lead the way and rose 4.1%. It reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.Walmart did as well, while also raising its forecast for full-year results. But its stock swung from an early gain to a loss of 1.4%. Stocks broadly have been retreating in August following a torrid first seven months of the year. That’s in part because a swift rise in bond yields is forcing a reassessment of how much to pay for stocks.The 10-year Treasury, which is the centerpiece of the bond market, is now yielding 4.30% after touching its highest level since October earlier in the morning. If it reaches 4.34%, it will be at a level un...

Cómo y dónde voto en las elecciones presidenciales de Ecuador 2023: documentos, horarios y más

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:12:23 GMT

(CNN Español) — En medio de un clima de inseguridad e incertidumbre política y social, Ecuador llega finalmente a sus elecciones 2023.Los comicios se llevarán a cabo este domingo 20 de agosto, y serán elecciones presidenciales y legislativas anticipadas (además de que los ciudadanos votarán en consultas populares).Se trata de elecciones anticipadas debido a que, en mayo pasado, el presidente de Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, disolvió la Asamblea Nacional al firmar la llamada “muerte cruzada” luego de que el Congreso aprobara llevarlo a enjuiciamiento político.¿Cuándo podría aprobar la autoridad electoral de Ecuador la candidatura de Christian Zurita en reemplazo de Fernando Villavicencio?Este movimiento, amparado por la Constitución, permite que los poderes Ejecutivo y Legislativo tengan la potestad de disolverse por una sola vez en los primeros tres años de gestión presidencial, y por tanto se tiene que llamar a elecciones anticipadas.Ahora que se acercan las votacione...

Pro-military party says it will join populist Pheu Thai party to form Thailand’s next government

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:12:23 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — A pro-military party affiliated with outgoing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Thursday it has agreed to join a coalition led by the populist Pheu Thai party in an attempt to form Thailand’s next government after a three-month stalemate.Founded in 2021, Ruam Thai Sang Chart, or the United Thai Nation Party, was seen as a vehicle for Prayuth’s pursuit of another term in office after an apparent fallout between him and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, the leader of the Palang Pracharath Party which helped Prayuth take office after a 2019 general election.Prayuth first seized power as army chief in a 2014 military coup and then became prime minister in a military government. He did not run in the 2019 election but was the prime ministerial candidate of Palang Pracharath. The party was able to put together a post-election coalition that named him prime minister.Prayuth officially joined United Thai Nation just months before May’s election. After the party’s di...

Colorado's summer heat will likely continue into fall

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:12:23 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Sick of the summer heat? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has got some bad news for you. The agency released its 90-day forecast Thursday, predicting the broad weather conditions we expect to see around the country between September and November. For the vast majority of the country, it's looking like a hot summer will transition into a warm fall. Denver has been dealing with continuous 90-degree days for most of August, and according to NOAA, that trend may continue into the fall.The Northeast and Southwest have the highest chances of seeing above-average temperatures this fall, according to NOAA. Odds of a ‘strong’ El Niño grow again: Will you feel it locally? No states are expecting a colder-than-average fall season, but a swath of the Midwest and Plains states have equal chances of warm or cool weather. According to NOAA, Colorado is leaning toward above average when it comes to temperatures this fall. East of Denver has a probability of being 3...