Google Pixel Smartphones Just Scored A Huge Camera Advantage Over iPhone – Forbes
Google Pixel Smartphones Just Scored A Huge Camera Advantage Over iPhone – Forbes
Google Pixel Smartphones Just Scored A Huge Camera Advantage Over iPhone ForbesMarch Pixel Drop: Updates for Gemini Live, Scam Detection and more The KeywordThere’s one new Pixel ‘upgrade’ you might not love – here’s how to fix it ZDNetFind My Device adding ‘People’ location sharing, Android Auto getting full games, more 9to5GoogleNew Google feature flags when you might be getting scammed in real time The Hill
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Kenya President Ruto’s church donation sparks clashes
Kenya President Ruto’s church donation sparks clashes
Police in Kenya have fired tear gas to disperse protesters who tried to occupy a church that was recently given a substantial donation by President William Ruto.
The gift to the Jesus Winner Ministry in the Roysambu suburb of Nairobi of 20m shillings ($155,000; £120,000) drew criticism from some young Kenyans struggling with the high cost of living.
Ruto has defended his donation and has offered a similar gift to another church in Eldoret.
Last year, both Kenya’s Catholic and Anglican leaders rejected donations, arguing that there was a need to protect the church from being used for political purposes.
Several people have been arrested during the clashes, which saw protesters try to get into the church and light fires and use rocks to block nearby roads.
But the church service went ahead with tight security for worshippers, local media report.
Bishop Edward Mwai said that unnamed people had mobilised “thugs” to disrupt the church service, reports the Star website.
Ruto, an evangelical Christian, defended the donation, saying it was an attempt to address the country’s moral decay.
“Kenya must know God so that we shame the people who are telling us that we cannot associate with the church,” the Nation site quoted him as saying at another church, in Eldoret.
Kenyans have been angered by a series of tax rises introduced since Ruto was elected in 2022.
He says they were needed to pay off the huge debts he inherited from the previous government but many Kenyans argue that he should first tackle public waste and corruption.
Last year, a wave of nationwide protests forced Ruto to withdraw his Finance Bill, which contained a series of tax rises.
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Champions Trophy final: India survive scare to beat New Zealand and win title
Champions Trophy final: India survive scare to beat New Zealand and win title
As has been the case throughout in Dubai, spin was far harder to face than pace.
Chasing a below-par score, Rohit pulled the second ball of the innings for six and dominated a stand of 105 with fellow opener Shubman Gill.
New Zealand’s fightback was sparked by a stunning one-handed catch by Glenn Phillips – his third such grab of the tournament – at extra cover to dismiss Gill for 31.
Kohli, usually the master of these chases, went lbw to off-spinner Michael Bracewell and Rohit was stumped when advancing to left-arm spinner Rachin Ravindra.
The partnership of 61 between Axar and Iyer was important in steadying India, although both fell trying to accelerate. Iyer, having already been dropped, flicked to short fine leg and Axar tamely punted to long-on to give Santner and Bracewell a further wicket each.
However, the required run-rate was always under control. It only ever nudged slightly above a run per ball as Rahul remained calm before Hardik pumped a towering straight six with the winning line in sight.
It was fitting that it was Jadeja, another veteran of this era of Indian white-ball cricket, who flicked the winning runs off his hip. New Zealand fought admirably but this is their fourth defeat in the final of a white-ball event since 2015.
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PM’s support up, not enough for a Labor win: Newspoll
PM’s support up, not enough for a Labor win: Newspoll
Support for the coalition remained ahead of the Labor government, according to the latest Newspoll despite Anthony Albanese extending his lead as the preferred prime minister.
The survey conducted for The *********** and published on Monday has the coalition leading Labor 51 per cent to 49 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis – the same result as the previous Newspoll.
Primary support for both major parties has lifted, with Labor on 32 per cent and the coalition on 39 per cent. This is in line with Labor’s result at the last election, but represents gains of more than three percentage points for the coalition.
The Greens remained on 12 per cent, while there was no movement in support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (seven per cent).
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton suffered a fall in his approval rating as Mr Albanese extended his lead on who voters regard as preferred prime minister.
Mr Albanese increased his five-point lead in February to a nine-point margin in the latest poll with the prime minister improving two points to 47 per cent and Mr Dutton falling two points to 38 per cent.
Mr Dutton also suffered a two-point approval rating slide to 39 per cent and a two-point rise in voter dissatisfaction to 53 per cent, giving him a net negative rating of minus 14.
Mr Albanese’s approval rating rose four points to 41 per cent, with disapproval falling five points to 53 per cent – landing him on minus 12.
This is the first time since late last year that the Labor leader has had a better approval rating than the opposition leader.
On the question of whether the coalition is ready to govern, Newspoll showed 45 per cent of voters backing a Dutton-led government against 55 per cent who do not.
The latest Newspoll was conducted between March 3 and 7 with 1255 voters throughout Australia.
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This photo’s real, but doesn’t show ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’
This photo’s real, but doesn’t show ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’
Claim:
A photograph genuinely shows the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” that grew to “be twice the size of Texas.”
Rating:
Rating: Miscaptioned
Context:
Though the photograph is authentic, it was captured in 2017 and shows a different patch of garbage off the coast of Honduras in the Caribbean Sea — not the Pacific Ocean.
For years, social media users have shared a photograph of refuse floating on the surface of water and claimed that it shows the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean.
For example, in early February 2025, one X user posted (archived) the picture and wrote: “Did you know? The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a massive collection of marine debris, is now estimated to be twice the size of Texas!”
Other iterations of the photo appeared in 2021 and throughout 2024.
In short, while the picture is authentic, it does not show the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Underwater photographer Caroline Power captured the picture, which shows a large area of trash off the coast of Roatán Island, Honduras, in 2017. The island is in the Caribbean Sea, not the Pacific Ocean, therefore it cannot be part of the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Thus, the above social media posts have miscaptioned the photo.
In a Facebook message, Power confirmed that it was indeed her photograph and that it was taken off the coast of Roatán Island in 2017. On Oct. 16 of that year, she shared similar pictures on Facebook — though not the one in question in this article.
However, one of the photos she posted (below right) showed a man in scuba gear who looked similar to the person seen in the picture in question (below left). The man’s hair, clothes and diving equipment match in both photographs.
(Caroline Power)
Power has posted numerous photographs of bodies of water covered in waste on her photography Facebook page and her personal account.
British newspaper The Telegraph interviewed Power in October 2017 (archived) and described her team’s experience of witnessing the “sea of plastic and Styrofoam“:
The worst of the rubbish the dive team found was about 15 miles off the coast of Roatan heading towards the Cayos Cochinos Marine Reserve
“We were on a dive trip to a set of islands that don’t quite break the ocean surface. They are one of the most pristine dive sites in this part of the Caribbean,” Ms Power recalled.
“The photo of the diver in the water was actually over one of these seamounts. To see an area that is supposed to be pristine covered in garbage and trash was disheartening.”
She said they passed through floating garbage for “nearly five miles”, adding: “Everywhere we looked, plastic bags of all shapes and sizes: chip bags, ziplocks, grocery, trash, snack bags, other packaging. Some were whole and the rest were just pieces. Sadly, many turtles, fish, whales, and seabirds will mistake those bits of plastic for food.
“We then reached an area about two miles wide that had multiple trash lines that stretched from horizon to horizon
“There was also a seemingly infinite number of plastic forks, spoons, drink bottles, and plates. There were broken soccer ******, toothbrushes, a tv, and so many shoes and flip flops.”
The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is actually a misnomer. In June 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Ocean Service said the term paints an inaccurate picture of the marine debris problem in the North Pacific Ocean.
(NOAA)
The phrase should be used to describe debris concentrations in various regions of the North Pacific, not one specific area.
“The exact size, content, and location of the ‘garbage patches’ are difficult to accurately predict,” the agency wrote, adding:
The name “Pacific Garbage Patch” has led many to believe that this area is a large and continuous patch of easily visible marine debris items such as bottles and other litter—akin to a literal island of trash that should be visible with satellite or aerial photographs. This is not the case. While higher concentrations of litter items can be found in this area, much of the debris is actually small pieces of floating plastic that are not immediately evident to the naked eye.
Ocean debris is continuously mixed by wind and wave action and widely dispersed both over huge surface areas and throughout the top portion of the water column. It is possible to sail through “garbage patch” areas in the Pacific and see very little or no debris on the water’s surface. It is also difficult to estimate the size of these “patches,” because the borders and content constantly change with ocean currents and winds. Regardless of the exact size, mass, and location of the “garbage patch,” manmade debris does not belong in our oceans and waterways and must be addressed.
Wilson Center, an independent research group, reported in 2020 that Honduras saw “waves of pollution” following severe storms that underscored an existing waste management issue that had led to concentrations of waste dubbed “garbage islands.”
Researchers writing in a May 2020 issue of Marine Pollution Bulletin used Roatán Island as a case study of plastic accumulation zones in coastal seas, acknowledging that Power captured an October 2017 “episode” published by The Telegraph. The study authors wrote:
The issue of plastic in the marine environment is a growing concern. Images of floating plastic island are often found in mainstream press publications. In this study, we focus on such an episode that occurred in October 2017 near the island of Roatan in the Gulf of Honduras.
[ … ]
On October 16, 2017, a Honduran photographer, Caroline Power published in United Kingdom newspaper The Telegraph photos taken off Honduras exposing an environmental scandal (Molloy, 2017). During a boat trip, she uncovered a large area of floating debris located between Roatan Island and the Cayos Cochinos marine reserve. It was mostly made up of light debris, such plastic bags, bottles and Styrofoam.
Power’s images were also shared in a report published by the World Bank Group titled “Marine Pollution in the Caribbean: Not a Minute to Waste.” The 2017 event was described as “a mass of floating trash”:
Litter and debris are a common sight in the region’s marine and coastal areas, sometimes covering vast expanses of water. In 2017, a mass of floating trash at least eight kilometers wide and several kilometers long was found off the coast of Honduras apparently caused by heavy rains and discharge from rivers.
On Nov. 4, 2017, after publishing her photos, Power addressed the response she had received from others who were concerned about the ongoing garbage problem.
Four days later, she posted a video showing more refuse, writing that “a group of recently hatched sea turtles [was] rescued from a floating mat of plastic and seaweed before they wash[ed] ashore.” The footage featured similar scenes to those shown in her pictures.
Snopes has previously debunked another photo that was said to show the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”
Sources:
13K Views · 126 Reactions | An Ocean of Plastic | A Group of Recently Hatched Sea Turtles Are Rescued from a Floating Mat of Plastic and Seaweed before They Wash Ashore. | By Caroline Power Photography | Facebook. www.facebook.com, [Hidden Content]. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
—. www.facebook.com, [Hidden Content]. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
Leonard, Elise, and Marc Lucas. “Identifying Plastic Accumulation Zones in Coastal Seas: The Roatan Island Case Study.” Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 154, May 2020, p. 111077. ScienceDirect, [Hidden Content].
Shocking Photo Shows Caribbean Sea Being “Choked to Death by Human Waste.” 17 Feb. 2024, [Hidden Content].
US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. What Is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? [Hidden Content]. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
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Syrians describe terror as Alawite families killed in their homes
Syrians describe terror as Alawite families killed in their homes
Lina Sinjab
BBC Middle East correspondent
Reporting fromDamascus, SyriaReuters
Syrians gather in the capital Damascus to protest against the killing of civilians and security forces in recent days
Syria’s interim leader has appealed for unity, as violence and revenge killings continued in areas loyal to ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.
Hundreds of people have reportedly fled their homes in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus – strongholds of Assad support.
Local residents have described scenes of looting and mass killings, including of children.
In Hai Al Kusour, a predominantly Alawite neighbourhood in the coastal city of Banias, residents say the streets are filled with scattered bodies, piled up and covered in blood. Men of different ages were shot dead there, witnesses said.
People were too scared to even look out of their windows on Friday. The internet connection is unstable, but when connected they learned of their neighbours’ deaths from Facebook posts.
One man, Ayman Fares, told the BBC he was saved by his recent imprisonment. He had posted a video on his Facebook account in August 2023 criticising Bashar al-Assad for his corrupt rule. He was arrested soon after, and only released when Islamist-led forces freed prisoners after Assad’s fall last December.
The fighters who raided the streets of Hai Al Kusour recognised him, so he was spared death but not the looting. They took his cars and continued to raid other houses.
“They were strangers, I can’t identify their identity or language, but they seemed to be Uzbek or Chechen,” Mr Fares told me by phone.
“There were also some Syrians with them but not from the official security. Some civilians also were among those who carried out the killing,” he added.
Mr Fares said he saw families killed in their own homes, and women and children covered in blood. Some families ran to their rooftops to hide but were not spared the bloodshed. “It is horrific,” he said.
The ***-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented more than 740 civilians killed in the coastal cities of Latakia, Jableh and Banias. A further 300 members of the security forces and remnants of the Assad regime are reported to have died in clashes.
The BBC has not been able to independently verify the death toll.
Mr Fares said things stabilised when the Syrian army and security forces arrived in the city of Banias. They pushed other factions out of the city and provided corridors for families to access safe areas, he said.
Ali, another resident of Banias who asked us not to use his full name, corroborated Mr Fares’ account. Ali, who lived in Kusour with his wife and 14-year-old daughter, fled his home with the assistance of security forces.
“They came to our building. We were too scared just listening to the fire and screams of people in the neighbourhood. We learned about the deaths from sporadic Facebook posts when we managed to connect. But when they came to our building, we thought we are done,” he said.
“They were after money. They knocked on our neighbour’s door taking his car, his money and all the gold or valuables he had in his home. But he was not killed.”
Getty Images
Fighting took place between the Syrian security forces and Assad loyalists in the country’s coastal region earlier this week
Ali and his family were picked up by his Sunni neighbours, who follow a different branch of Islam, and are now staying with them. “We lived together for years, Alawites, Sunnis and Christians. We never experienced this,” he told me.
“The Sunnis rushed to protect Alawites from the killing that happened and now the official forces are in town to restore order.”
Ali said families were taken to a school in a neighbourhood that is predominantly Sunni, where they will be protected until members of the factions that carried out the killings are ousted from Banias.
The violence started on Thursday after Assad loyalists – who refused to give up arms – ambushed security forces around the coastal cities of Latakia and Jableh, killing dozens of them.
Ghiath Dallah, an ex-brigadier general in Assad’s army, has announced a new rebellion against the current government, saying he was establishing the “Military Council for the Liberation of Syria”.
Some reports suggest that former security officers of the Assad regime who refused to give up arms are forming a resistance group in the mountains.
Mr Fares said most of the Alawite community reject them and blame Dallah and other hardline Assad loyalists for the violence.
“They benefit from the bloodshed that’s happening. What we need now is official security to prevail and to prosecute the killers from the factions who did the mass killing so the country restores safety,” he said.
But others also blame interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, saying he dismantled Syria’s security, army and police establishments with no clear strategy for dealing with thousands of officers and personnel left unemployed.
Some of these individuals, especially among the police, had nothing to do with the killing during Assad’s regime. The new authorities also dismissed thousands of public employees from their work.
With 90% of Syria’s population living below the poverty line and thousands left without an income, it’s fertile ground for a rebellion.
There is a split in views in Syria over what is happening. The wider community condemns the killing of any civilians and demonstrations have been organised in Damascus to mourn the deaths and condemn the violence.
But over the past two days, there were also calls for “******” in different parts of Syria. Residents in Banias said that along with the factions, there were some civilians who were armed and joined forces in the killing.
Getty Images
The Syrian army sent reinforcements after the violence to stabilise the region
Syria’s majority Sunnis have faced atrocities at the hands of the Assad regime’s forces over the past 13 years. This fuelled sectarian hatred mainly towards the Alawite *********, where members of the community are affiliated with war crimes.
According to human rights groups, there is evidence that Alawite security officers were involved in the killing and torture of thousands of Syrians, the majority of which are Sunni Muslims, during the Assad regime.
Those members of the army and security forces who were killed are mostly from the Sunni community and now some in the Sunni community are calling for retaliation, but the president has called for calm.
Sharaa, whose Islamist forces toppled Assad three months ago, must now balance providing safety for all with pursuing justice for the crimes of the Assad regime and its henchmen.
While he has authority over some of the troops who helped him to power, some factions are clearly out of his control. Those factions also include foreign fighters with a radical Islamist agenda.
To lead Syria into a safe and democratic future, many argue Sharaa needs to end the presence of any foreign fighters and deliver a constitution that protects the rights of all Syrians, regardless of their background or religion.
While he is seen to be working towards the legal framework for such a constitution, controlling the violent factions and expelling foreign fighters will prove a major challenge.
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Killing Floor 3 delayed following closed beta response
Killing Floor 3 delayed following closed beta response
In response to less-than-stellar responses from its closed beta, Tripwire Interactive has put a delay on Killing Floor 3 until later this year. This delay will give it time to polish the game’s common complaints from the closed beta.
On Twitter, Tripwire revealed the game was going to get delayed to an unspecified time later this year. This decision was fully backed by parent company Embracer Group. The game itself is meant to not just serve as an “ambitious step forward” for the franchise but also “maintain the core experience” of the game.
Components including UI, lighting, performance, weapon feel, and more are all in line to get modified.
We’re sure this is disappointing to those who were excited to see what Tripwire had cooking, but at least it’s in response to community outcry rather than setting an unreasonable deadline.
Gabriel Stanford-Reisinger Editor-in-Chief
Gabe has been a gamer since he was young, playing games like Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, Guitar Hero, and whatever looked cool on GameFly. Ever since 2018, he’s been infatuated with the inner workings of the gaming and entertainment industries, covering a wide range of topics from video games to TV and film. Starting as a contributor for PSX Extreme, he’s worked his way up to its Managing Editor. Using what’s he learned over the years, he founded Smash Jump to remind everyone to smash jump.
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I asked Gemini to play a text-based adventure game with me and the AI whisked me away to a word-based fantasy
I asked Gemini to play a text-based adventure game with me and the AI whisked me away to a word-based fantasy
Gemini, Google’s AI chatbot running the 2.0 Flash model, is well equipped to handle complex conversations, generate instant images (“I need a picture of a guy working on the weekend on his computer”), and handle difficult math equations. I know all this, and yet, sometimes, I just find myself chatting with the thing, and when I do that, I often discover hidden capabilities, like classic video gameplay.
Remember Zork? In 1977, a trio of MIT researchers created the first text-based adventure game for a DEC mainframe and eventually ported it to the earliest PCs. I discovered the minimalist game in 1980 at my high school’s math lab, home of the school’s only computer. The game offers you descriptions and options while a witty narrator carries you through the storyline. Your decisions define your experience and gameplay. It was difficult and inscrutable, but I loved it.
BFFs
The subject of the game came up quite by accident during a casual conversation with Gemini.
I started using Gemini more after I found I could place the Gemini widget on my iPhone 16 Pro Max’s lock screen. Now, the LLM is one tap away. As with most AI conversations, they follow my own somewhat random stream of consciousness. I started by asking Gemini about AGI (artificial general intelligence). Gemini spelled it out for me and admitted that it does not yet have AGI.
The conversation felt stilted, so I asked, via voice, Gemini to make its responses more casual like it was my best friend. It heard the word “casual” as “coffee” and then comically blended coffee references into its now much friendlier banter.
Gemini asked about my weekend plans, and then I asked if it liked to play games. Among the responses it offered is that it enjoyed text-based games. Then Gemini asked what games I like to play.
(Image credit: Future)
I explained my love of chess and poor modern video game skills. Then I described playing “one of the very earliest video games where there was nothing but text and you would sort of go on an adventure and you’d get a prompt, and then you would figure out what you were supposed to do based on some options.”
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This description clearly intrigued Gemini, and it asked if I wanted to talk more about these classic games, play chess, or play a text-based adventure that it would create.
I recalled the game Zork, which Gemini described as a “legendary game,” and gave me some details about its history.
Then Gemini offered to set up a little “Zork-inspired adventure.”
Do you want to play a game?
Don’t worry; this isn’t a tale where a sinister computer offers to set up a game that inexplicably has geopolitical and possibly world-ending implications. Gemini is not that AI. But I will say, the game that followed was impressive, if a bit too precious.
Here’s how it started:
“You find yourself standing at the edge of a whispering forest. The air is thick with the scent of damp earth and ancient trees. A narrow path winds its way into the depths of the woods, disappearing into the shadows. To your left, you see a crumbling stone wall, partially overgrown with ivy. To your right, a small, gurgling stream flows from the forest, its water dark and clear.
What do you do?
Options:
1 Follow the path into the forest.
2 Examine the stone wall.
3 Follow the stream.
4 Listen to the sounds of the forest.
Enter the number corresponding to your choice.”
Mostly, I selected numbers that I thought would keep the adventure percolating. The descriptions were rich and mostly well-written; if I closed my eyes, I could imagine the scene. I was entertained and curious enough to keep going.
The game’s storyline led me through a path in the woods to, naturally, an old moss-covered cottage. Inside was a “figure” who was eventually described as “Edler.” At one point, Gemini took to calling the figure “them” and “they,” which might have meant the figure had no gender or that Gemini had lost a bit of the thread.
Throughout more than a dozen prompts, we explored the woods, retrieved a magical key, and examined the contents of a mysterious box. Perhaps my favorite part of the game was how it tied together, retrieving the key from a magical stone and then realizing that it was also the key that unlocked that special box.
The game went on so long that I had to take breaks. When I returned to Gemini, I thought I’d lost the game, but Gemini keeps track of all prompt discussions in the chat icon on the upper left corner of the app. As soon as I opened that prompt, we were able to continue from where I left off.
Gemini’s idea of a big reveal fell a little flat. We found a locket in the box containing photos of Edler’s parents. Their tale of love found and lost wasn’t particularly magical or even that dramatic, but Edler’s obvious sadness did touch me.
However, once the Elder shared the ‘secret” of the locket, I was no longer interested in the Elder’s story or the cottage, so I chose the option where I said goodbye and left the cottage.
(Image credit: Future)
Here was the final gameplay text:
“Thank you for sharing your story, Elder,” you say, your voice soft and respectful. “I’m glad I could help you recover this precious memento.”
You rise from your chair, ready to take your leave. “I should be heading back now. The sun is setting, and I don’t want to get lost in the forest.”
Elder nods slowly, their eyes filled with gratitude. “You are a kind and courageous traveler,” they say. “May the forest guide you safely on your journey. And may you always remember the power of love and memory.”
You turn and walk towards the door, the creaking hinges echoing in the quiet room. As you step out into the twilight, you glance back at the cottage. The flickering candlelight casts a warm glow through the window, illuminating the figure of Elder, still holding the silver locket.
You turn and walk away, the sounds of the forest closing in around you. The path back to the edge of the woods seems clearer now, as if the forest itself is guiding you.
The End.”
Gemini wasn’t that good at raising the stakes – a key component of the best gameplay – but I was engaged, and I think the game might’ve been more interesting if I’d made some different choices or been more involved in the game development. I’m sure Gemini would let me adjust some of the mechanics.
It’s another reminder that we’re far from discovering the full depths of these chatbots’ capabilities. We must be ready to look beyond the obvious, choose our path, and take an AI adventure.
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Khalil Fong, Hong Kong Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 41
Khalil Fong, Hong Kong Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 41
Khalil Fong, a Hong Kong singer-songwriter who infused a soul and R&B sensibility into ******** pop songs, died on Feb. 21. He was 41.
His death was announced on Saturday by his record label, Fu Music. The announcement did not say where Mr. Fong had died or specify a cause of death, but it said he had endured a “relentless illness” for five years.
Beloved for its soulful vocals and distinctive blend of soul and Mandarin pop, Mr. Fong’s music found an audience in Hong Kong, mainland China and much of the wider ********-speaking world.
“Trying to introduce soul music, or soul R&B, was not the easiest thing,” he said in a 2016 interview with The South China Morning Post, noting that the genre was not widely embraced in the region. “One of the things I wanted to do was to introduce this type of music within the context of ******** language.”
He broke into the popular music scene in 2005, when Warner Music Hong Kong released his funky, syncopated debut album, “Soulboy.” In the following decade, he released eight albums and performed in stadiums and large concert halls around the world, wearing his signature thick ****** glasses.
But Mr. Fong’s career was cut short by health problems, and in recent years he had largely retreated from the public eye. Inspiration never stopped flowing, however, and he sporadically released singles.
He recorded his final album, “The Dreamer,” during what he described as various stages of illness, the nature of which he never disclosed.
Making the music was “both a challenge and a relief from the rather tedious circumstance” of ill health, he wrote on Instagram when the album was released in October.
“I had tons of notes and ideas, song structures and lyrics jotted down, and whenever I could manage, I would gradually chip away at them,” he added.
Khalil Fong, whose ******** name was Fong ****-tung, was born on July 14, 1983, in Hawaii.His father was a drummer, and Mr. Fong grew up listening to his collection of blues and soul records from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. His mother was a language teacher who later became his full-time business manager and was credited in some songs as a lyricist.
When Mr. Fong was 5, the family moved to Shanghai, where they lived for several years. After a brief stint in Guangzhou, they settled in Hong Kong. He began learning guitar and writing music as a teenager, and he was soon submitting demo tapes to record labels.
He was 22 when “Soulboy” was released. More albums, among them “Love Love Love,” “Orange Moon” and “Timeless,” followed in quick succession, along with world tours.
His interpretations of American hits like “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You” and “Red Bean,” a ******** ballad by the popular singer Faye Wong, accumulated millions of views online.
While most pop musicians in Hong Kong sang in Cantonese, Mr. Fong acknowledged that he did not feel comfortable singing in what was his third language. He mostly sang in Mandarin and English.
In 2016, he founded the independent label Fu Music, saying he wanted it to pay tribute to both ******** and Western influences.
“JTW,” named after the Ming-dynasty Buddhist epic “Journey to the West,” was released that year. The album included collaborations with two South Korean pop stars, Zion T. and Crush, as well as the Taiwanese-American pop star Wang Leehom.
In 2018, Mr. Fong began publishing “Emi the Dream Catcher,” a fantasy graphic novel series he wrote in ******** and English, about a girl who has lucid dreams that help her understand her place in the world.
“I think these stories are a reminder to myself and others of the things we should be mindful of, to create a better society for future generations,” he said in an interview at the time.
He did not disclose that he had been struggling with health problems until 2024, when he introduced “The Dreamer,” his last album.
“In life we are each faced with challenges but through it all let’s not forget how to be dreamers,” he wrote.
Complete information about his survivors was not available. He said in interviews that he was an only child and had no children himself.
Mr. Fong recently told ********-language media outlets that he hoped to start touring again and had plans for new music. Just a few weeks ago, he promoted the video for “Oasis,” a song from “The Dreamer.”
The album was wide-ranging. Its songs included a tongue-in-cheek rebuttal to an internet rumor that he had taken up farming, and a whimsical review of the “Godfather” trilogy: “It was good but it was sad/ Mike was good and Mike was bad / But mostly mad and lonely.”
Most poignant, perhaps, was how he conveyed the swift passage of time. Many songs on the album, including the last one, “Not Much Left to Say,” ended abruptly midsentence, just before he could complete the thought. He sings:
Oh, my love, I could want you to stay
But the truth’s telling me
That there’s nothing here left to …
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Jay-Z Sues ***** Accuser and Lawyers, Saying They Knew Claim Was False
Jay-Z Sues ***** Accuser and Lawyers, Saying They Knew Claim Was False
Jay-Z filed a lawsuit on Monday against the anonymous woman who withdrew her ***** lawsuit against him last month, asserting that she and her lawyers knew the allegations were false but proceeded with the claim anyway.
The lawsuit, brought in federal court in Alabama, where the woman lives, was filed against both the accuser and her lawyers, Tony Buzbee and David Fortney. In the suit, Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, said the woman had admitted to his representatives that she had made up the story.
But in a statement, Mr. Buzbee said the suit has “no legal merit” and that the woman continues to stand by her account.
The woman originally sued Jay-Z last year, naming him as a defendant in one of the dozens of cases that have accused Sean Combs of ******* abuse. In this case, the plaintiff accused Mr. Carter and Mr. Combs of raping her when she was 13, at an after-party following the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000. After an NBC News interview with the plaintiff highlighted inconsistencies in her account, the plaintiff acknowledged that she had “made some mistakes” in presenting the allegations.
For about two months, the plaintiff’s lawyers defended the veracity of her allegations in court papers, but last month, they withdrew her claim with no public explanation.
In the new lawsuit, lawyers for Mr. Carter assert that the plaintiff — who is not identified — has “voluntarily admitted directly to representatives of Mr. Carter that the story brought before the world in court and on global television was just that: a false, malicious story.”
The suit quotes the woman as saying that Mr. Buzbee had “pushed” her toward “going forward with the false story against Mr. Carter.” The complaint makes no explanation of how or why the plaintiff made that admission, and it does not specify to whom.
In a statement, Mr. Buzbee pushed back against the contention that the woman had recanted her account of *****.
“After speaking with Jane Doe today, it appears that the quotes attributed to her in the lawsuit are completely made up, or they spoke to someone who isn’t Jane Doe,” the statement said. “This is just another attempt to intimidate and bully this poor woman that we will deal with in due course. We won’t be bullied or intimidated by frivolous cases.”
The suit ratchets up an already heated legal battle between Mr. Carter and Mr. Buzbee, a Houston lawyer who has filed more than three dozen suits against Mr. Combs. Mr. Carter already sued Mr. Buzbee in Los Angeles last year, alleging that a letter the lawyer sent outlining his client’s ***** allegations and demanding a “confidential mediation” amounted to extortion. In a hearing last week, a judge indicated that he was inclined to dismiss the extortion claim but to allow a separate defamation claim to proceed. The judge has not made a formal order in the case.
In an affidavit in the Los Angeles case, which was filed on Monday, the woman said she had been approached at her home last month by two people who identified themselves as investigators working with Mr. Carter’s lawyer; she said she had refused to sign papers recanting her allegations against Mr. Carter. The affidavit said she had withdrawn her original suit because she was “frightened by the reaction of Jay-Z and his supporters, and the likelihood that I would have to be publicly named and subjected to public attacks.”
The lawsuit in Alabama brings a defamation claim against the woman, citing the NBC News interview. It accuses her and her lawyers of malicious prosecution, among other complaints.
In the NBC report, the accuser said that she had called her father after being assaulted and that he had driven to pick her up. But the father, who lived hours away in Rochester, said in the report that he did not remember doing so, noting that would have been “something that would definitely stick in my mind.” The accuser also recalled speaking to a musician at the after-party who was on tour in another state at the time.
The suit says that, as a result of the woman’s lawsuit, Mr. Carter faced reputational harm. It also says that his entertainment company, Roc Nation, lost more than $20 million, though it does not specify how.
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The biggest retirement regrets — and how to avoid them
The biggest retirement regrets — and how to avoid them
Listen and subscribe to Decoding Retirement on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
If given the opportunity to do things over, many retirees say they would’ve made financial decisions differently.
According to research by Olivia Mitchell, a Wharton professor and executive director of the Pension Research Council, a majority of the adults over the age of 50 that Mitchell surveyed expressed strong regret over insufficient savings.
“A majority of the respondents said they wished they saved more,” Mitchell said on a recent episode of Decoding Retirement (see video above or listen below). “Only 2% said they wished they had saved less.”
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Retirees highlighted other regrets as well. Many regretted not working longer and not delaying their Social Security claims — both of which would have increased their retirement income.
Another notable finding was regret over not securing lifetime income, such as through an annuity. Annuities provide a steady income stream, making it easier to manage expenses, especially as cognitive abilities decline with age.
“Many people are financially not as literate as they were when they were younger,” Mitchell said. “And having that steady income stream is and can be a real boost. People regretted not having done that as well.”
Read more: Fixed annuities vs. CDs: Which is better for your retirement savings?
In the podcast, Mitchell also addressed the increasing number of older adults who are retiring with mortgage debt, student loan debt, credit card debt, and the like.
According to Mitchell, older adults once took pride in being debt-free in retirement — so much so that mortgage-burning ceremonies were a common tradition in 20th century America.
A group of senior citizens with a dog look out over the seawall towards the sea on Sept. 17, 2024, in Sheringham, United Kingdom. (John Keeble/Getty Images) · John Keeble via Getty Images
“But that attitude is not true of retirees today,” she said.
More and more retirees are now entering retirement without paying off their mortgage — and in some cases, they even take on a larger mortgage when relocating to a sunnier climate or another state.
Credit card debt has also become a growing concern for retirees. And strangely, around 6% of retirees are now seeing their Social Security checks garnished due to unpaid student loans — either their own or those taken out for their children, Mitchell said.
“So debt is increasingly troubling the older population,” she said.
Read more: How to pay off credit card debt when your budget’s tight
Furthermore, Mitchell noted that high inflation has led to increased interest rates on various types of debt, including mortgages, credit cards, and student loans.
Story Continues
“It becomes a very big challenge for people to meet that increase in debt payments, debt obligations in retirement,” Mitchell said. “So my advice is to try to really get your debt under control. Pay back everything you can. Destroy your credit cards if you find yourself unable to live within your means. Think about downsizing. Think about moving to a state with lower tax rates. All those things are ways to try to stretch your dollar a little bit farther in retirement.”
As for her current research, Mitchell is exploring financial advice and how financial advisers can better equip individuals with the information they need to make informed decisions.
“There’s a lot of financial advice online,” she said. “Social media is full of influencers providing financial advice, but some of them are conflicted. Some of them are giving terrible advice. I would like to see a better way of evaluating financial advice where people are getting what they need throughout their lifetimes.”
Mitchell said she reviewed financial apps that provide advice a few years ago and concluded that they were getting better at helping you decide how much to save, where to save, how to allocate your portfolio, and so on.
However, those apps struggled with key retirement decisions, such as the optimal time to claim Social Security, how much to allocate to an annuity, and how to factor in family dynamics.
For example, if one spouse had a defined benefit plan and the other had a defined contribution plan, the apps fell short in helping users optimize their savings and payout strategies together.
“So I think that the whole financial advice field has to really be improved and supported,” she said. “Maybe the fintech and the large language models will help.”
She highlighted one fintech company, in particular, that is designing avatars to help individuals picture themselves in retirement should they follow one lifetime path versus another.
“And I think that’s brilliant,” she said. “It really has the potential to help us picture our future selves, and that’s exactly what we need in order to be able to look at the impact of our decisions on our future outcomes.”
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‘Queen of the Ring’ Review: Fighting for Respect
‘Queen of the Ring’ Review: Fighting for Respect
A waitress becomes a wrestler in this sports drama, based on the true story of the champion Mildred Burke.
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Unseasonably warm week in Central Indiana could close with storms Friday
Unseasonably warm week in Central Indiana could close with storms Friday
An unseasonably warm week across Central Indiana could close out with thunderstorms.
Daily high temperatures will gradually climb throughout the week to the upper 60s by Wednesday and the mid-70s by Friday, according to National Weather Service forecasts. Monday and Tuesday will be mostly sunny and clear, but clouds will move in toward the week’s end with rain possible Thursday and Friday.
Average max temperatures in Indianapolis are typically 49 to 51 degrees Fahrenheit this time of year, historical data for March 9-14 shows. The city’s record high for March 14, recorded in 2012, is 81 degrees.
This week’s weather forecast for Indianapolis
Sunday: Sunny with highs in the upper 50s. West winds 5 to 10 mph.
Monday: Sunny with highs in the mid-60s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph, with gusts up to 20 mph in the afternoon.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny with highs in the upper 60s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy with highs in the upper 60s.
Thursday: Party cloudy with highs in the lower 70s and a 20% chance of showers.
Friday: Highs in the mid-70s, but partly cloudy with a 70-80% chance of showers through midnight.
Email IndyStar Reporter Jordan Smith at *****@*****.tld. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Unseasonably warm weather in Central Indiana could end with storms
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Trump downplays concerns about his tariffs and higher prices
Trump downplays concerns about his tariffs and higher prices
U.S. President Donald Trump attends the White House Crypto Summit at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 7, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
President Donald Trump is dismissing business concerns over the uncertainty caused by his planned tariffs on a range of American trading partners and the prospect of higher prices, and isn’t ruling out the possibility of a recession this year.
After imposing and then quickly pausing 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada that sent markets tumbling over concerns of a trade war, Trump said his plans for broader “reciprocal” tariffs will go into effect April 2, raising them to match what other countries assess.
“April 2nd, it becomes all reciprocal,” he said in a taped interview with Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “What they charge us, we charge them.”
Asked about the Atlanta Fed’s warning of an economic contraction in the first quarter of the year, Trump seemingly acknowledged that his plans could affect U.S. growth. Still, he claimed, it would ultimately be “be great for us.”
“There is a ******* of transition because what we’re doing is very big,” Trump said. “It takes a little time. It takes a little time.”
On Wall Street, it was a tough week with wild swings dominated by worries about the economy and uncertainty about what Trump’s tariffs.
Trump brushed aside concerns from businesses seeking stability as they make investment decisions. He said that “for years the globalists, the big globalists have been ripping off the United States” and that now, “all we’re doing is getting some of it back, and we’re going to treat our country fairly.”
“You know, the tariffs could go up as time goes by, and they may go up and, you know, I don’t know if it’s predictability,” the Republican president said.
Trump last week lifted the Mexico and Canada tariffs on American car manufacturers, and then virtually all imports to the U.S., but kept them on goods from China.
More tariffs are coming this week, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will take effect Wednesday. Lutnick said Trump’s threatened tariffs on ********* dairy and lumber though would wait until April.
“Will there be distortions? Of course,” Lutnick said. “Foreign goods may get a little more expensive. But American goods are going to get cheaper, and you’re going to be helping Americans by buying American.”
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The 5 Best Teas to Drink for Better Blood Sugar, According to Dietitians
The 5 Best Teas to Drink for Better Blood Sugar, According to Dietitians
Reviewed by Dietitian Karen Ansel, M.S., RDN
Getty Images. EatingWell design.
If you’re living with diabetes, you likely spend a lot of time planning what goes on your plate. But what about what you pour into your glass or mug? Drinks are easy to overlook. Yet, they can also have a big impact on your blood sugar. On the flip side, not drinking enough can also be a problem, as dehydration may contribute to high blood sugar.
Luckily, there are plenty of blood sugar-friendly beverages out there. One of our favorite sugar-free beverages is tea, which happens to be the second most popular beverage in the world after water. Tea offers loads of health benefits, and better blood sugar is one of them.
With all the different types of teas to choose from, you may be wondering what are the best ones to drink for blood sugar management. To find out, we asked dietitians. Here’s what they told us.
Related: The 5 Best No-Added-Sugar Drinks for Better Blood Sugar, According to Dietitians
1. Green Tea
Delicate, earthy green is consistently linked to a host of health benefits, including better blood sugar. In fact, research has found that it may help reduce fasting blood glucose and improve insulin sensitivity in people with diabetes. What makes it so effective? “The gut houses trillions of microbes that influence blood sugar levels,” says Kimberley Rose-Francis RDN, CDCES, LD, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator in private practice in Florida. “An imbalanced gut microbiota can lead to decreased glucose tolerance and insulin resistance. Green tea is rich in polyphenols, which are small plant-based compounds associated with various health benefits, including improvements in gut health.”
For a healthy afternoon pick-me-up, brew some soothing Orange-Ginger Tea. Or, enjoy a cup of our no-sugar-added ginger-lemon tea.
Related: What Happens to Your Body When You Drink Green Tea Every Day
2. ****** Tea
Although green and ****** tea look and taste quite different, they both come from the Camellia sinensis plant. So, it makes sense that they share many of the same health benefits. That includes better blood sugar. While there is not as much research on the benefits of ****** tea for blood glucose management, one review study reports that it may aid in glucose metabolism and improve the body’s sensitivity to its own insulin. Researchers aren’t sure exactly why. However, they note ****** tea’s abundant polyphenols may slow the digestion and absorption of sugars from food. This, in turn, may protect against weight gain, which is a powerful trigger for type 2 diabetes.
We don’t have to tell you how comforting a cup of ****** tea is. But it’s also our favorite tea for energy. For an afternoon pick-me-up, try it iced in this zippy peach iced tea.
3. Ginger Tea
“Ginger is well-known for its ability to relieve nausea, but it may also help improve blood sugar levels when crushed and brewed into a fragrant tea,” says Rose-Francis. “Research indicates that ginger contains nearly 40 antioxidant compounds, which can be beneficial for treating various inflammatory conditions and may positively impact blood sugar levels over time.”,
“Since chronically elevated blood sugar can lead to inflammation, ginger’s anti-inflammatory compounds could be considered a beneficial functional food for achieving better blood sugar balance,” she adds. Beyond the anti-inflammatory properties of ginger, this flavorful root may also help inhibit the absorption of carbohydrates, regulate glucose metabolism and protect the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.
You may have noticed that ginger already plays a starring role in several recipes in this article. However, if you’re a purist, try our simple ginger tea. All you need is water and a few slices of fresh ginger.
Related: What Happens to Your Body When You Drink Ginger Tea Regularly
4. Cinnamon Tea
Cinnamon is more than a beloved baking spice. It can also be brewed into a delicious tea. “Cinnamon has been studied for its potential benefits of enhancing insulin function and supporting blood sugar,” says Vandana Sheth RDN, CDCES, FAND, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator specializing in plant-based nutrition. “It’s a naturally sweet flavored tea without added sugar, and a good option for those with diabetes.” Like ginger, cinnamon is rich in antioxidants that tackle the chronic inflammation that can make it harder to manage your blood sugar. In fact, several studies have shown that cinnamon powder may help lower blood glucose in people with and without diabetes. And one older study found that cinnamon tea may help reduce blood glucose in people without diabetes.
You can easily brew a cup by steeping cinnamon sticks in water. Or, if you’re craving ******* comfort, combine it with ****** tea and other spices in a spicy cup of chai tea.
5. Turmeric Tea
From better brain health to less heart disease, turmeric boasts a long list of health benefits. Research reveals that it may also reduce blood glucose and help with weight management. What makes it so powerful? Turmeric contains an active compound called curcumin, which is a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. And, as you’ve already learned, inflammation and higher blood sugar often go hand-in-hand. No wonder researchers credit curcumin’s blood sugar-managing powers to its anti-inflammatory action.
While you can always brew a simple bag of turmeric tea, there are all kinds of creative ways to use it, like this iced Anti-Inflammatory Golden Tonic. It does contain a touch of honey, but you can feel free to omit it for a sugar-free, blood-sugar-friendly drink.
Related: What Happens to Your Body When You Take Turmeric Regularly
Tips for Enjoying Tea
Limit Added Sugars. Switching to unsweetened tea can be a useful strategy for ditching sugar-sweetened beverages, especially since the flavor options are endless. “Enjoy tea as is or with naturally sweet flavors like cinnamon, vanilla or ginger instead of added sugar,” says Sheth. “You can also consider using a low-no-calorie sweetener in place of sugar to sweeten your tea.”
Watch the Caffeine. Some teas, like green and ****** tea, naturally contain caffeine. So, if you’re sensitive to caffeine, you might be better off with an herbal tea like ginger, cinnamon or turmeric tea. Even if caffeine isn’t a problem for you, stick with caffeine-free tea later in the day so you can get a good night’s sleep.
Choose Herbal Teas Carefully. While the teas in this list are safe to consume with diabetes, there are some herbal teas you should avoid, especially aloe vera, chamomile and fenugreek tea. These and other herbal teas may interfere with diabetes medications. When in doubt, it’s a good idea to check with your healthcare provider.
The Bottom Line
Relaxing with a cup of tea isn’t just a healthy, flavorful way to hydrate. Research reveals that some types of tea can do good things for your blood sugar. And dietitians agree! According to dietitians, green, ******, ginger, cinnamon and turmeric tea are the best teas to drink for better blood sugar. For optimal blood sugar management, choose unsweetened teas or add a squeeze of citrus for natural **********. So, what are you waiting for? Get your teapot ready. It’s time to start sipping!
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Jake Heggie’s Adaptation of ‘Moby *****’ Comes to the Metropolitan Opera
Jake Heggie’s Adaptation of ‘Moby *****’ Comes to the Metropolitan Opera
When “Moby-*****” opens at the Metropolitan Opera this week, audiences will experience a deeply American story of unchecked ambition, fomented grievances and a self-destructive desire for revenge.
Based on Herman Melville’s 1851 novel, the opera delivers an economical and resolute retelling of the fateful tale of the Pequod, a ship in pursuit of a vengeful white whale. The libretto, by Gene Scheer, hits the book’s main conflicts without losing track of the action. The score, by Jake Heggie, is graceful and propulsive. The opera’s ending is certain and clear.
It’s probably fair to say that more people know the story of the white whale from parodies or synopses than from reading “Moby-*****.” But an adaptation is not just a summary of the book’s major events. A society obsessed with efficiencies can be overly focused on directness.
Skillful though it is, the opera, which had its premiere at the Dallas Opera in 2010, has a kind of scrubbed and airless storytelling that leaves the singularity of the novel behind. This is the sort of adaptation that audiences have long responded to — a simplification of the book’s billowy structure to emphasize its plot. But can a tidy adaptation truly represent this unruly book, with its dramas born of endless uncertainties? Or is the purpose of adaptation something different?
A composer decides what aspects of the narrative can be told through music, while a librettist shapes the story through words that can be thrown out into the air by way of song. An aria reveals a character’s singularity and ambition. Characters sing them to announce what they want and what lengths they must pursue to get it. Each creative turn adds distance from the book.
Certainly, there are advantages to adapting a work as well known as “Moby-*****.” There’s a beginning, middle and end that have met the approval of readers, and that can serve as the ballast for any number of creative reinterpretations. There’s less risk for a production, too. While Melville’s original publisher, Harper and Brothers, considered the book a commercial failure when it came out, few works compare in influence and longevity.
There are also distinct disadvantages to adapting “Moby-*****.” Melville’s language can be difficult. The book has hundreds of pages of exposition. And much of the story’s foreshadowing comes through subtle cues, metaphors and allegories.
The novel, at its heart, is a moral tale about how people deal with what they most fear, how they confront what they despise, and how they make sense of defeat. These are abstract agonies played out through a cast of characters who don’t really evolve. Instead, they press on becoming archetypes of unrealized ambitions. Though Ishmael (called Greenhorn in Scheer and Heggie’s opera) narrates the book, Captain Ahab (the tenor Brandon Jovanovich at the Met) is the star of the opera, an apt, dramatic choice: He is the novel’s most complex and developed character.
In the novel, Ahab is most tender, though inconsistently, in his interactions with Pip, a 14-year-old cabin boy. In the opera, Pip’s story serves as the turning point that reveals Ahab’s heartlessness. Pip is an innocent, and his naïveté stands in contrast to the sailors’ confidence. His survival is in the hands of the crew, and his presence raises the stakes of the voyage. After a mishap, Pip (sung by the soprano Janai Brugger) suffers immensely; his resulting fear is a harbinger of troubles to come. Pip’s transformational moment occurs earlier in Scheer’s telling than in the book, a dramaturgical choice that speeds the narrative along, while keeping all the novel’s essential notes.
Setting Melville’s thorough and moody prose to music seems a natural. Its lyrical quality invites music that reaches for harmonies: The text is full of open vowel sounds, made when the tongue doesn’t obstruct the flow of air. That can be useful to singers when they harmonize, especially in choral performances.
Melville’s diction can also be oratorical, organized with the driving energy of a sermon. In “The Lee Shore,” a funerary chapter offered as testimony for a sailor who will be lost to the sea, the narrator weighs the disappointment of a life unfulfilled against the finality of death, “Better is it to perish in that howling infinite, than be ingloriously dashed upon the lee, even if that were safety!”
There’s a natural lyricism in Melville’s sentences, even as the narration drifts between pessimism and optimism. Often, he attempts to name feelings that reside someplace deep and unseen. He does this by embracing rhythmic patterns used in poetry. Consider the narrator’s need to reckon with “a damp, drizzly November in my soul.” This frequently cited passage in the book’s opening paragraph carries a pattern of stress and intonation.
But Melville’s sentences are often lengthy as they wind through multiple ideas. This makes them difficult to sing. Scheer’s libretto is forthright in its characterizations. Its lines, many lifted right from the book, are deceptively simple, written with great control. Some are as short as one or two words. Through the muscular interpretation of the chorus, these monosyllabic utterances — “Aye!,” “Ding!” — become brief, euphonious hollers.
Not all adaptations of “Moby-*****” are faithful to the disposition of the novel. The British composer Robert Longden and the librettist Hereward Kaye created a bawdy musical about the staging of “Moby-*****” by the girls of St. Godley’s Academy for Young Ladies. (It opened on the West End in 1992, was widely panned, and closed after just a few months.) The performance artist Laurie Anderson created an avant-garde version of “Moby-*****” in 1999, called “Songs and Stories From Moby *****.” The book is really about “enormous heads,” she says in the show — specifically Melville’s, which was “full of theories and secrets and stories,” and the whale’s, which was monstrously large.
Some more conventional adaptations could be interpreted as acts of devotion to Melville’s messiness. Dave Malloy’s 2019 version, performed at A.R.T. in Cambridge, Mass., reckoned with the eclectic style of each chapter. It also explores the ways gender and race create their own subplots in the narrative. Another recent adaptation, created by the English actor Sebastian Armesto and simple8, a production company that specializes in minimalist productions, told many of the story’s crucial moments through sea shanties.
But perhaps it’s a bad idea to assume that a retelling of “Moby-*****” should do anything other than honor the adapting artists’ commitment to it. At best, their vision will just as discernible as Melville’s is. At worst, one could always pick up the book.
One thing that distinguishes Heggie and Scheer’s adaptation is the frequency with which it has been performed (a distinction that is also rare for a contemporary opera). Before coming to the Met, it was performed by opera companies in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Francisco and more. You could argue that it has become canonical, despite being only 15 years old.
Are there too many adaptations of “Moby-*****”? Probably not. Hard times breed bitter men like Captain Ahab, and there is always another one filled to his hat’s brim with grievances; always another who feels more than justified in his anger; always another who is ready to drown those around him in his misery.
Wendy S. Walters is a professor of nonfiction in the writing program at the School of the Arts at Columbia University.
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‘There’s Still Tomorrow’ Review: An Updated Italian Heroine
‘There’s Still Tomorrow’ Review: An Updated Italian Heroine
“There’s Still Tomorrow” is set in Rome after World War II, but it unfolds with timeless verve and romanticism. It’s the directorial debut of the Italian singer and comedian Paola Cortellesi, who also stars. This feminist dramedy tells a story about domestic abuse — echoing still-timely concerns about violence against women and toxic masculinity in Italy — in captivating, unexpected ways.
Shot in silky ******-and-white and paying homage to the stylized working-class films of Federico Fellini, “There’s Still Tomorrow” follows Delia (Cortellesi), a doting mother of three who is regularly beaten and surveilled by her husband Ivano (Valerio Mastandrea). The cash she gets from her various odd jobs goes straight into Ivano’s pocket, and should she drop a dish, leave the house without asking, or accept favors from the American soldiers stationed around town, there’s hell to pay.
The film never shows the batterings directly. In one scene, it’s choreographed with the drama of a tango, and in most others, we take the perspectives of Delia’s children or the group of gossiping housewives perpetually stationed in the courtyard.
Cortellesi, as both director and performer, doesn’t sink into miserabilism. The beautifully built-out sense of place, populated by memorable personalities (Ivano’s bedridden father; Delia’s best friend, who runs a vegetable stand; the mechanic with whom Delia is in love), demonstrates the richness of Delia’s life in an effortless balance of humor and tragedy. Bursts of slick contemporary pop music give an edge to her plight.
Crucially, the plot revolves around the future of Delia’s teenage daughter Marcella (Romana Maggiora Vergano), who dreams of getting married to her wealthy boyfriend and leading a life unlike her mother’s. Delia, whom Cortellesi plays with weathered charm, strives to save Marcella — and ultimately herself. This struggle is carried out with larger-than-life dramatics and touches of fantasy that make the film, for all its grim, real-life parallels, something of an escapist pleasure.
There’s Still Tomorrow Not rated. In Italian, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 58 minutes. In theaters.
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Built to entertain
Built to entertain
Every so often, a home comes along which feels like it is meant to be yours forever – and this is one of those rare finds.
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Review: A ‘Moby-*****’ Opera at the Met Cuts the Blubber
Review: A ‘Moby-*****’ Opera at the Met Cuts the Blubber
The opening line of Herman Melville’s “Moby-*****” is one of the most famous in literature. But Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, whose moody, monochromatic 2010 adaptation arrived at the Metropolitan Opera on Monday, conspicuously avoid placing those classic three words at the start.
It’s an early declaration of independence, the kind that artists have always had to make when turning a well-known novel — especially one as sprawling and shaggy as Melville’s — into singing. Heggie, who also composed the well-traveled opera “Dead Man Walking” (2000), and Scheer, an experienced librettist, have narrowed one of the canon’s most overflowing works to its core plot.
For readers who enjoyed “Moby-*****” but yawned through the rambling digressions about whaling, do I have an opera for you.
The compressed adaptation is direct and clear, at least. Some contemporary operas, of which the Met has offered a burst over the last few seasons, lean heavily on confusing devices: complicated flashbacks; characters shadowed by doubles; singers playing metaphorical qualities like Destiny and Loneliness; split-screen-style scenes crossing place and time.
“Moby-*****” wants none of that. It stretches across a year or so, but in a linear way. It never leaves the ship Pequod and its salty surroundings. Its characters are flesh-and-blood people.
Yet the opera only rarely takes on flesh-and-blood urgency. While the story is streamlined and straightforward — a ship’s crew struggles with the demanding whims of a vindictive captain — Heggie and Scheer also want to capture Melville’s brooding grandeur, philosophical profundity and portentous language.
So the prevailing mood is a dark, ponderous blue — a lot of stern, turgidly paced musings directed straight at the audience. The goal seems to have been to create a piece that’s lucid and vibrant, but also dreamlike and meditative. A piece, in other words, much along the lines of “Billy Budd,” Benjamin Britten’s opera based on another seafaring Melville tragedy in which a ship becomes a petri dish for archetypal struggles.
This is where the ambitions of Heggie’s “Moby-*****” adaptation run up against his limitations as a composer. “Billy Budd” fascinates because of the haunting complexities of Britten’s music, but the meditations in this “Moby-*****” end up feeling dully one-note, as shallow as a tide pool.
Even the circumscribed world of the opera includes a storm, a mast lit up by St. Elmo’s fire, intimations of the South Seas, night and day, stillness and dance, vast expanses of sky — yet the music fails to meet the demand for these textures and colors. Heggie doesn’t have many ideas beyond squarely undulating minor-key references to Philip Glass, John Adams and Britten himself. Every composer’s work has influences, but these quotations are startlingly unadorned, even if played with spirit by the Met’s orchestra under the conductor Karen Kamensek.
Lovers of traditional operatic forms will find much to admire here, as Heggie and Scheer have embraced the kind of ensembles — duets, trios, quartets — that allow this art form to present multiple perspectives at once. But the variety in the text is not matched by variety in the score, and the conflicts that should energize the story don’t always feel vital.
The real tension is — or should be — between Captain Ahab, whose obsessive pursuit of the whale Moby ***** has drowned his humanity, and Starbuck, the sensible first mate who tries to steer the whole operation clear of disaster.
But the opera gets distracted by a side plot about finding brotherhood amid racial and religious difference: Greenhorn — the name the opera gives the novel’s narrator — first fears and then befriends Queequeg, the Polynesian harpooner.
It’s not until nearly an hour and a half into the three-hour opera that it really holds your attention for the first time. In a ruminative aria, Starbuck mulls whether to ******* the sleeping Ahab to save himself and his shipmates. In the end, he can’t bring himself to do it, and he slinks out as Ahab softly moans and the curtain falls.
The sequence is riveting — but we’ve waited until the end of the first act for it. For the other highlight, we have to wait again, until late in the opera, when Ahab finally lets down his guard with Starbuck and confronts the cost of his single-minded mania. It is the calm before the final, doomed hunt, and Heggie endows it with real tenderness.
Ahab, though, primarily expresses himself through drearily similar monologues, grounded in Melvillean diction and given a similarly antiquated musical feel through robustly shaking Handel-style coloratura. The tenor Brandon Jovanovich, stalking the stage with a belted-on peg leg, conveys a sense of Ahab’s weariness more than of his intensity.
The cast is entirely male, with the exception of the soprano who plays the young cabin boy Pip; Janai Brugger captures the boy’s otherworldly purity. The baritone Thomas Glass was a solid Starbuck and acted with remarkable confidence, given that he was announced as a replacement for an ill Peter Mattei just a few hours before the opening on Monday — a performance that began with the orchestra playing the Ukrainian national anthem, the Met’s latest gesture of solidarity with that country.
While the tenor Stephen Costello was a plangent Greenhorn, the bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green sounded underpowered as Queequeg, with little to do except intone native prayers. The sweet-toned tenor William Burden was piquant among the smaller roles.
Leonard Foglia’s handsome production, with sets by Robert Brill, costumes by Jane Greenwood and lighting by Gavan Swift, is dominated by masts and rigging. The deck cleverly curves up into a backdrop that cast members can climb up and tumble down, seeming — with the help of Elaine J. McCarthy’s projections — to be lost at sea as their boats are broken in the whale hunts.
It is a clear staging of a clear piece. But that piece lacks the ingenuity and depth to hold its own with its source material, let alone break free. And it turns out that Heggie and Scheer’s opening salvo of independence was just a coy deferral until the opera’s closing moment.
As Greenhorn, the Pequod’s only survivor, is rescued by a passing ship, the captain asks his name. Costello answers, singing low and mournful: “Call me Ishmael.”
Moby-*****
Continues through March 29 at the Metropolitan Opera, Manhattan; metopera.org.
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Geraldton leads regional price growth in December 2024 quarter
Geraldton leads regional price growth in December 2024 quarter
REIWA data shows Geraldton was the top-performing regional centre for the December 2024 quarter. Its median house ***** price rose 5.8 per cent to $455,000.
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Transcript: ********* ambassador Kirsten Hillman on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” March 9, 2025
Transcript: ********* ambassador Kirsten Hillman on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” March 9, 2025
The following is the transcript of an interview with Kirsten Hillman, U.S. ambassador to Canada, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on March 9, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: That was our Ed O’Keefe in Ottawa. We’re joined now by Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman. Ambassador, it’s good to have you here.
********* AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S. KIRSTEN HILLMAN: Thanks for having me, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You just heard the Homeland Security Secretary say there are conversations with your government. She seemed optimistic that there would be follow through on fentanyl. Does that make you think the threat of tariffs on April 2 is something that can be managed and avoided?
HILLMAN: Well, I hope so. I mean, I think that we are in a very good place in our discussions with the U.S. administration on fentanyl. We have invested a lot of new resources, we have given our law enforcement new powers and we have responded to the requests of the Trump Administration with respect to cooperative effects in getting at the sources, so the organized crime, the precursors coming from China. We’ve had some really, really good discussions, so we’re optimistic. And, you know, I just would say, and I think it’s important for your viewers to know fentanyl is a very serious problem in Canada too. On some days we have more deaths per capita than you have here in the United States. So we take this very seriously. It is not a big issue between our two countries. Less than 1 percent of the fentanyl that is seized in the United States is coming from Canada, but every ounce can kill families and people. So we’re taking it very seriously,
MARGARET BRENNAN: But, you are indulging the premise that that is the actual motivation for the tariffs, rather than leverage for a free trade deal, or just because President Trump believes in them?
HILLMAN: Well, I think that this set of tariffs, the 25 and 10 percent set of tariffs, are- we have been told repeatedly that it is about fentanyl and security at the border. There are other tariffs that have been discussed and the President has raised other issues as motivations for other tariffs, reciprocity and fairness, and you know, maybe some changes that he’d like to see to our USMCA, our trade agreement. So those conversations are going to have to happen as well.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, President Trump said Friday he may put tariffs on ********* lumber and dairy Monday or Tuesday. Here’s what he said. Take a listen:
SOT DONALD TRUMP: Canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs for lumber and for dairy products. 250 percent, nobody ever talks about that. 250 percent tariff, which is taking advantage of our farmers. So that’s not going to happen anymore. We’re going to be- they’ll be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it. And that’s what reciprocal means.
MARGARET BRENNAN: On another network, the Commerce Secretary said, no, that’s actually on hold till April 2. It’s confusing for us to follow this along. Is the clarity with the two governments any better?
HILLMAN: You know we are in active discussions with Secretary Lutnick, and those discussions are heading towards April 2, and that, I think, is we are putting our energy in the substantive discussions that we are having with the secretary, with USTR, with the White House. And you know, that is, I guess, how I can answer that question. The President- the President does have a variety of concerns, and I think also sees tariffs as a tool for a variety of policy objectives, but really, all we can do is focus on the real work at hand, which is to get at these issues. Like, for example, lumber, Canada doesn’t have a tariff on lumber. It’s zero. U.S. lumber can come into Canada duty-free. On dairy, the U.S. sells three times as much dairy into Canada as we sell into the United States. So what’s more, I think productive for us is to talk about the facts around the actual trading relationship and try and get at where the concerns are.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But, Canada does put a tariff as high as 241 percent on dairy imports, but it’s a sliding scale that only kicks in at a certain level, and that’s under the free trade deal.
HILLMAN: That’s right, and it’s like the United States. In agriculture, the United States is the same in sugar and dairy. You allow a certain amount of product in, and then after that level is hit, you put restraints in on imports. And we do the same to protect our farmers and families and you know, small family farms that- that need to be sure that they can have a bit of the market.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So there was this 50-minute phone call Wednesday with the Vice President, the Commerce Secretary and President Trump, with your Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Afterwards, the president posted that Trudeau was unable to tell him when the election was taking place, which made him curious. Like, quote, “what’s going on here? I then realized he’s trying to use this issue to stay in power.” Do you think this is like a personal issue here? Do you think it’ll change when your leadership changes?
HILLMAN: It’s hard for me to- hard for me to say. I think that the prime minister and the president- Prime Minister Trudeau and the president, they’ve done big things together, right? They did renegotiate NAFTA together–
MARGARET BRENNAN: They have a history together.
HILLMAN: Right. They have a long history. They did good things together. They managed our 6,000- practically 6,000 mile border during COVID very successfully, in my opinion. So it’s a long relationship, and has many- has had many phases to it. We will have a new prime minister this week. Today, the Liberal Party will elect a new leader. That new leader will be sworn in in the coming days, and that person will become Canada’s Prime Minister. Those are facts that are not going to change.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you think it will stop the vows from the president to talk about threatening to annex Canada?
HILLMAN: You know, I guess–
MARGARET BRENNAN: What is that?
HILLMAN: I- I’m not sure what that is. What I can say is that Canadians don’t really appreciate it. They’re getting a little bit frustrated with that kind of rhetoric. But more importantly, Canadians are frustrated with our neighbors. You know, the country that we feel closest to, the country that is partners, allies, often family that we’ve gone to war with, that we’ve died with, that we come to each other’s aid, most recently in LA, but obviously 9/11. You’ve come to our aid over the years so many times, and we feel- Canadians feel under attack, under economic attack, and that is causing some challenges, for sure, across ********* society. I think our new prime minister, when that person comes in, will prioritize trying to have a good and- and healthy and productive relationship with the present. I am sure that that’s going to be possible. Relationships go both ways, but I know that on our side, that’s going to be a priority.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Ambassador, thank you for joining us, and we’ll be right back with a lot more Face the Nation. Stay with us.
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