AFP USA

It’s a baffling irony that the culture-shifting Beyonce has won more Grammys than anyone, ever, but has yet to attain the holy grail that is winning for Album of the Year.At Sunday’s 67th edition of music’s top awards ceremony, the megastar has yet another chance to take home the prize — but in a packed field of no-skips albums, who will ultimately win the night’s top trophies is anyone’s guess.Here’s a guide to Sunday’s gala in Los Angeles:- Is it finally Beyonce’s year? – The Grammys have long faced criticism that they’re too white and too male.In recent years, the Recording Academy, which organizes the show, has made efforts to improve on that shortcoming, including by diversifying its voting membership.Those efforts seem to have yielded some progress: the past few galas have proven historic for women in the major, all-genre categories as well as in fields where they were routinely sidelined, like rock.But a stark truth remains: a Black woman has not won Album of the Year in this century.The last to do so was Lauryn Hill, in 1999. Before her, Whitney Houston won in 1994, and Natalie Cole in 1992.With her sprawling, ambitious “Cowboy Carter” that underscored the rich history of Black artists in country music, Beyonce is all but daring Grammy voters to snub her once again.One thing is for sure: Win or lose, Beyonce will dominate the headlines.- Wildfire relief for LA -This year’s Grammys ceremony takes place just weeks after deadly wildfires engulfed entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles, shattering the lives of thousands of residents including many in the music industry.But the Recording Academy decided the show must go on, although it will likely be a more muted affair than usual, with an extra emphasis on raising money for fire relief efforts.The fires have lent prominence to the Academy’s philanthropic arm MusiCares, which says it has already distributed several million dollars in emergency aid, and which will hold its annual fundraising pre-Grammy gala on Friday — sans red carpet.- Pop’s breakouts and heavyweights -It’s a pop star’s world and we’re just living in it: Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX have all enjoyed massive years that place them among Sunday’s top contenders.Roan and Carpenter in particular are among the favorites to take the prizes for best record and best song, which celebrates songwriting, as well as the coveted prize for best new artist.And perennial winner Billie Eilish is also a major name to beat in the top categories — the Grammys darling is just 23 but could win a record third Song of the Year trophy.Despite all of her accolades, Swift — who could win a fifth Album of the Year prize, which would break her own record — has somehow never won Song of the Year, despite receiving persistent praise for her songwriting skills.She’s lost seven times — and has the chance to finally end that streak.- A Beatles win? -The Grammys never disappoint with the head-scratchers: this year, the most puzzling nomination went to The Beatles — yes, those Beatles, the group that broke up more than 50 years ago.The Record of the Year nomination for “Now and Then” spotlighted the Recording Academy’s ongoing debate on how to handle artificial intelligence.An AI tool allowed for isolating John Lennon’s vocals from a poor quality demo tape, which were then added to contributions from living Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, along with 1995 guitar recordings from the late George Harrison.The track is eligible for a Grammy because the AI was not generative, and the nomination could be a nod from the Academy to the future of production and recording.If The Beatles win — Grammy voters do love a legacy act — it would be their first time ever scoring that prize, after four failed attempts in their heyday.- Quincy Jones tribute -Sunday’s concert gala will include a salute to the singular Quincy Jones, who after Beyonce (32) and the conductor Georg Solti (31) is among the most awarded artists, with 28 career Grammys.The 91-year-old died in November after ruling the American music industry with a magic touch for well over half-a-century, working with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson.A jazz musician, composer and tastemaker, Jones’s studio chops and arranging prowess made him a star in his own right — and the Recording Academy is set to honor him as such.

Are the mainstream media “out of touch with Americans?”The opening question at a White House briefing Friday went to a political podcaster, the first outlet to occupy the coveted “new media” seat — and he took a potshot at the established press institutions long reviled by Donald Trump.The White House has been flooded with more than 10,000 applications for the seat, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, after unveiling a new policy that allows podcasters, TikTokers and other content creators to apply for press credentials on a rotation basis.”We might have to make this room a little bit bigger,” Leavitt said at the briefing, granting the first question to Ruthless Podcast, which she described as one of the most influential podcasts in the United States.Ruthless Podcast host John Ashbrook — who occupied a seat at the front of the cramped briefing room — wasted no time, accusing traditional media of going after the Trump administration for deporting illegal immigrants.”Do you think they are out of touch with Americans demanding action on our border crisis?” Ashbrook asked in a deadpan tone. Leavitt was quick to reply: “The media certainly is out of touch.”This marks a new normal for press briefings at the White House, long the preserve of mainstream outlets that have grappled in recent years with declining public trust while podcasters gain a huge following.Trump has repeatedly criticized traditional media as the “enemy of the people.”During the election campaign last year, Trump sidestepped some major television networks, opting instead to speak to right-wing podcasters and internet personalities who appeared to promote his “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) political slogan.- ‘Sycophants’ -Leavitt, who at 27 is the youngest White House press secretary, has vowed to hold reporters accountable for what she said were “lies” about Trump.She said applications for the seat poured in from across the country, without saying how they will be selected or who its next occupant will be.In recent days, prominent MAGA supporters, including many accused of peddling conspiracy theories, have expressed interest online in applying for White House press credentials.In a rapidly evolving information ecosystem, Americans continue to register “record-low trust” in the mass media, a Gallup poll said last October.Media pundits say Americans, especially young people, have turned from traditional newspapers and television networks to consume their news from social media, podcasts and blogs.About one in five Americans -– many of them under 30 — say they regularly get news from influencers on social media, according to a study last November by the Pew Research Center.In the face of this changing dynamic, no one should object to opening up the White House briefing room to nontraditional outlets, media writer Tom Jones wrote for the nonprofit media institute Poynter.”The caveat, however is if the White House new spots are given to those who are merely Trump and MAGA sycophants who call themselves media just because they carry a microphone or a laptop,” Jones wrote.”If that’s the case, the idea of a ‘new media’ seat is counterproductive. In the end, these are press conferences, not pep rallies.”

A small private airplane crashed in northeast Philadelphia Friday, a top official said, with media showing images of a fireball that sparked blazes on the ground in the built-up neighborhood.The aircraft, which the Federal Aviation Administration said was a Learjet 55 executive aircraft with two people aboard, crashed around 2330 GMT into a densely-populated district of the city with homes, shops and busy roads. It was bound for Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, and had taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, the FAA said in a statement confirming that it would investigate along with the National Transportation Safety Board.US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy meanwhile said there were “reportedly” six people aboard the plane.There was no immediate confirmation of casualties.”We are offering all resources as (emergency services) respond to the small private plane crash in Northeast Philly,” Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro wrote on X. “We’ll continue to provide updates as more information is available.”The crash in the east coast US city came just two days after a passenger jet and military helicopter collided off Washington’s Reagan National Airport, killing 67 people in the deadliest US air disaster in almost a quarter century.- ‘Major incident’ -The Learjet that crashed was an aircraft used to transport medical patients, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management wrote on X that there was a “major incident” underway and that roads in the vicinity were closed, calling on the public to avoid the area.Dozens of first responders were on the scene outside Roosevelt Mall, a strip mall with retailers and food outlets.The police and fire department did not respond to calls for comment.”Major incident near Cottman and Bustelton Avenues in Northeast Philadelphia across from Roosevelt Mall. Roads closed in area including parts of Roosevelt Boulevard. Avoid area,” the city’s emergency management office wrote on X.

President Donald Trump will implement tariffs Saturday on the three largest US trading partners — Canada, Mexico and China — saying there was nothing they could do to forestall him while vowing further levies on various industries.Trump has reiterated his plans for 25 percent tariffs on imports from neighboring Canada and Mexico, saying they have failed to crack down on illegal migrants crossing the US border and on the flow of fentanyl.He also threatened a 10 percent duty for Chinese goods on the same day, similarly over the drug.White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt affirmed Friday the February 1 imposition of these tariffs.”Both Canada and Mexico have allowed an unprecedented invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens, and also immigrants into our country,” she told reporters.She did not commit to exemptions on sectors, and rejected warnings that this would spark a trade war.Beyond the three countries, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday that tariffs on oil and gas could arrive around February 18.”Eventually we’re going to put tariffs on chips, we’re going to put tariffs on oil and gas,” he said, without specifying which countries he would target.He also vowed to impose higher duties on steel and aluminum, and eventually copper imports.Washington was “absolutely” going to impose tariffs on the European Union in the future as well, Trump said, adding that the bloc “has treated us so terribly.”Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed Friday an “immediate response” if Trump acted, while Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government was in close contact with Trump’s administration.Trump has not specified tools he would use, though analysts suggest he could tap emergency economic powers, which allow the president to regulate imports during a national emergency.Beijing has rebuffed claims of its complicity in the deadly fentanyl trade. Close US ally Canada has countered that below one percent of undocumented migrants and fentanyl entering the United States comes through its northern border.Some analysts believe tariff threats are a bargaining chip to accelerate the renegotiation of the existing trade deal, known as USMCA, between the United States, Mexico and Canada.But tariff hikes on the trading partners would likely prove a major shock, shaking up supply chains.- Oil in focus -Asked if Saturday’s tariffs would include Canadian crude oil, Trump told reporters: “I’m probably going to reduce the tariff a little bit on that.””We think we’re going to bring it down to 10 percent,” he added, noting that upcoming tariffs would come on top of existing rates.Nearly 60 percent of US crude oil imports are from Canada, noted the Congressional Research Service.Canadian heavy oil is refined in the United States and regions dependent on it may lack a ready substitute.Canadian producers would bear the brunt of tariffs but US refiners would also be hit with higher costs, said Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service. This could bring gasoline price increases.- Recession risks -Erica York of the Tax Foundation said the Canada, Mexico and China tariffs would shrink economic output by 0.4 percent and amount to “an average tax increase of more than $830 per US household in 2025.”Oxford Economics analysts warned that blanket tariffs and pushback could tip Canada and Mexico into recessions, adding that the United States also risks a shallow downturn.US merchandise imports from both countries largely enter duty free or with very low rates on average, said the Peterson Institute for International Economics.A tariff hike would likely shock industrial buyers and consumers.Trump is also mulling more tariffs on Chinese goods.Beijing has vowed to defend its “national interests,” and a foreign ministry spokeswoman previously warned that “there are no winners in a trade war.”During election campaigning, Trump raised the idea of levies of 60 percent or higher on Chinese imports.Isaac Boltansky of financial services firm BTIG expects “incremental tariff increases” on Chinese goods.”Our sense is that Trump will vacillate between carrots and sticks with China, with the ultimate goal being some sort of grand bargain before the end of his term,” he said in a note.

US prosecutors announced Friday that they have charged a former Federal Reserve advisor with spying on behalf of China while posing as a part-time lecturer at a local university. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said it had charged John Harold Rogers, a 63-year-old US national, with spying for Beijing while employed as a senior advisor at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (FRB) Division of International Finance between 2010 and 2021.The indictment, unsealed Friday, said Rogers had leaked secret information from the Fed’s board and its powerful rate-setting committee.”The confidential information that Rogers allegedly shared with his Chinese co-conspirators, who worked for the intelligence and security apparatus of China and who posed as graduate students at a PRC university, is economically valuable when secret,” the DOJ said in a statement.The DOJ said that, since 2018, Rogers had “allegedly exploited his employment with the FRB by soliciting trade-secret information regarding proprietary economic data sets,” including deliberations on tariffs against China. “He passed that information electronically to his personal email account, in violation of FRB policy, or printed it prior to traveling to China, in preparation for meetings with his co-conspirators,” they added. When in China, Rogers then shared the information during secret meetings held in hotel rooms, while he pretended to teach classes at the University of Shandong.He was paid approximately $450,000 for part-time work as a professor at “a Chinese university,” the indictment alleges.Alongside this remuneration, the DOJ alleges co-conspirators of Rogers also provided him with gifts, paid for his airfare to China and his lodging and dining while he was there, and even offered “to arrange and pay for a beach vacation.” When confronted by FRB inspectors in 2020, “Rogers lied about his accessing and passage of sensitive information and his associations with his co-conspirators,” the DOJ said. The charges of conspiracy to commit economic espionage and making false statements carry maximum penalties of 15 years in prison and a $5 million fine, and five years in prison respectively, the DOJ said. “The Chinese Communist Party has expanded its economic espionage campaign to target U.S. government financial policies and trade secrets in an effort to undermine the U.S. and become the sole superpower,” FBI assistant director in charge David Sundberg said in a statement. “Today’s indictment represents the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protect U.S. national security interests and U.S. jobs and to bring to justice those who are willing to betray their country for personal gain,” he added.The DOJ said the data Rogers shared could allow China to manipulate US markets.”Gaining advance knowledge of U.S. economic policy, including advance knowledge of changes to the federal funds rate, could provide China with an advantage when selling or buying U.S. bonds or securities,” it said.

FBI agents who participated in the investigations that led to now-abandoned criminal charges against President Donald Trump are expected to be fired, US media reported Friday.Dozens of FBI agents involved in the probe of Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and some supervisors are also “being evaluated for possible removal as soon as the end of Friday,” CNN said, quoting people briefed on the matter.NBC News said the purge includes more than 20 heads of Federal Bureau of Investigation field offices including those in Miami and Washington.According to CNN, at least six senior FBI leaders have been ordered to “retire, resign or be fired by Monday.”The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the plan, said “officials are working to identify potentially hundreds (of FBI agents) for possible termination.” The newspaper added that the FBI’s acting director, Brian Driscoll, a veteran FBI agent who was appointed by Trump to run the bureau until his nominee as director is confirmed by the Senate, had refused to approve the mass firings.The Justice Department fired a number of officials on Monday who were involved in the prosecutions of Trump.A Justice Department official said the officials were being terminated because the acting attorney general did not believe they “could be trusted to faithfully implement the president’s agenda.”Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought two federal cases against Trump, resigned earlier this month.Smith charged Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden and mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.Neither case came to trial and Smith — in line with a long-standing Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president — dropped them both after the Republican won November’s presidential election.Trump, on his first day in the White House last week, pardoned more than 1,500 of his supporters who stormed the Capitol in a bid to block congressional certification of Biden’s victory.FBI director Christopher Wray resigned following Trump’s reelection and the president has named Kash Patel, his former advisor and staunch loyalist, to head the top US law enforcement agency.Patel, at his confirmation hearing before a Senate committee on Thursday, was asked if he was aware of any plans to punish FBI agents who were involved in the investigations of Trump.”I am not aware of that,” he said.Patel also told the Senate Judiciary Committee that “all FBI employees will be protected against political retribution.”

Meta is considering whether to move its incorporation to Texas, a US state seen as amenable to companies run by big shareholders like Mark Zuckerberg, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.The social media giant has been incorporated in Delaware since 2004, when the company was known as Facebook.A shift to Texas by Meta would follow in the footsteps of Elon Musk, who switched incorporation of Tesla and some other companies he runs to the state after a Delaware judge voided his huge compensation package.In a ruling, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick sided with a shareholder who claimed the Tesla CEO was overpaid, approving the annulment of Musk’s 2018 compensation agreement worth as much as $55.8 billion.Suits filed by shareholders are typically heard in courts where companies are incorporated, and Texas portrays itself as a friendly venue for companies run by shareholders with controlling interests.Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told AFP he could not confirm the Journal report and that the company had no plans to move its headquarters from California’s Silicon Valley.Texas has a history of supporting conservative political candidates, Trump among them.Trump has recently courted tech titans including Zuckerberg and X owner Musk, both of whom attended the president’s inauguration in Washington.Meta has pulled back on fact checking and diversity initiatives as Zuckerberg embraces Trump.Zuckerberg has tweaked Meta’s policies to lift restrictions on some content within the company’s apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp.Meta would be “restoring free expression on our platforms,” Zuckerberg, who reportedly dined with Trump at his Florida estate in November, said in announcing a recent rollback of fact-checking operations.Meta this week said it agreed to pay Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit he filed claiming he was wrongfully censored by Facebook and Instagram after the US Capitol riot.

Divers scoured for the remaining bodies from the Washington plane crash Friday as President Donald Trump posted his own politicized verdict on the deadliest US air disaster in almost a quarter century, with the investigation barely underway.Forty-one victims have been pulled from the icy depths of the Potomac River, and rescuers voiced confidence that the other 26 would be retrieved in the massive operation to recover the passenger jet that collided in midair with a Black Hawk military helicopter Wednesday night.”Our dive teams are working in targeted areas and additional Coast Guard assets will arrive this afternoon. The salvage crews… are assessing the work that’s going to be needed to recover the aircraft from the water,” Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly told a news conference at Reagan National Airport, outside the US capital.”We expect those operations to begin no later than tomorrow afternoon.”He told reporters that lifting the aircraft’s fuselage out of the river would likely reveal the remaining bodies, adding: “If it doesn’t, we will continue the search.”Authorities are also looking for the helicopter’s black box after retrieving the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Bombardier jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary. As the Federal Aviation Administration restricted helicopter flights to reduce the risk of another collision, the gruesome physical search ran parallel with a complex technical analysis of what went wrong.The airliner was coming in to land at Reagan National Airport — just a few miles from the White House — when it collided with a US Army helicopter on a training mission.The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to compile a preliminary report within 30 days, although a full investigation could take a year.- ‘Disgusted’ -But the lack of clarity over the accident’s cause has not deterred Trump’s politicized commentary since the first moments after the plane — on a routine flight from Wichita, Kansas with 64 people aboard — struck the Black Hawk, carrying three.Trump was at it again Friday, posting on his Truth Social platform: “The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200 foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???”This followed a torrent of posts and a news conference Thursday where the Republican pinned the blame for the crash on his Democratic predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama, claiming without evidence they had hired the wrong people due to anti-racism and other non-discrimination initiatives known as DEI.”They actually came out with a directive: ‘too white.’ And we want the people that are competent,” Trump said.Chesley Sullenberger, who famously landed a stricken plane on the Hudson River in New York in 2009, told network MSNBC he was “disgusted” but “not surprised” by Trump’s rhetoric.The hero pilot, known as Sully, noted that it took 16 months for the final report when his own flight crash-landed.Aviation experts, meanwhile, homed in on whether the helicopter crew could see through military night-vision goggles and whether the Reagan National control tower was understaffed.- ‘Speculation’ -According to The New York Times, one controller, rather than the usual two, was handling both plane and helicopter traffic at the time.Just 24 hours earlier, another plane had to make a second approach to the airport after a helicopter neared its flight path, The Washington Post and CNN reported, citing an audio recording from air traffic control.NTSB member Todd Inman told CNN the investigation would resist political pressure to reach a conclusion about the crash ahead of the investigation playing out.”There’s a lot of people that have speculation and want to be heard in that regard,” he said. “We understand that, but our job is to find, ultimately, what caused this and prevent it in the future.”The collision was the first major crash in the United States since 2009, and the deadliest since the American Airlines jet crash in Belle Harbor, New York in 2001 that killed 260.Among those on Wednesday’s doomed airliner were several US skaters and coaches, and Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 world pairs title.Two Chinese citizens and a Filipino were also among the victims, according to official sources in the countries.Terry Liercke, vice president and manager of Reagan National Airport, said the hub was operating at reduced capacity, with two of three runways closed and 100 flights canceled Friday.

Karla Sofia Gascon, the transgender actress and history-making Oscar nominee for musical film “Emilia Perez,” has apologized after old social media posts resurfaced in which she denigrated Islam and George Floyd.The controversy, which erupted days after Gascon became the first openly trans acting nominee in Academy Awards history, threatens to overshadow Netflix’s campaign for a movie that procured a leading 13 Oscar nominations.Gascon said she was “deeply sorry to those I have caused pain,” in a statement sent to AFP via a Netflix spokeswoman on Friday.Many of the social media posts, which date back to at least 2016, specifically criticize Islam and Muslims. Gascon described Islam as “an infection” and “a deeply disgusting type of humanity.” Another post referred to Floyd — the Black man murdered by US police, whose death in 2020 sparked mass anti-racism protests — as a “drug addict and a scammer.” Spanish star Gascon, 52, was launched to global fame at the Cannes film festival last May, where “Emilia Perez” — in which she plays a Mexican narco boss who becomes a woman — won multiple prizes.It was bought by streaming giant Netflix, and earlier this month “Emilia Perez” shattered the record for the most Academy Award nominations for a non-English-language film, with 13 nods.That success came despite criticisms leveled at the film from certain quarters, for its depictions of Mexico and its drug war, its representation of trans issues, and its use of artificial intelligence to increase Gascon’s voice range in musical scenes. As the film’s release and award campaign has ramped up, Gascon has spoken of her sadness and exhaustion at becoming a target for vicious online transphobic attacks.Gascon also became embroiled in a row this week after accusing “many people working around” her best actress rival nominee, Brazil’s Fernanda Torres, of talking “badly about me, and Emilia Perez.”But at least until now Gascon has been considered a front-runner for best actress, and the film is viewed by pundits as a strong contender to win best picture.The social media tweets resurfaced Thursday after being shared online by journalist Sarah Hagi. Gascon also joked that a “Chinese vaccine” for Covid-19 would come with “two spring rolls” and “a cat that moves its hand,” and said a recent Oscars ceremony looked like “an Afro-Korean festival” or “a Black Lives Matter demonstration.”Gascon’s account on X, formerly Twitter, has since been deactivated.”I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt,” said Gascon’s statement.”As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain.”All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”

Scientists have cast doubt on the reliability of America’s most celebrated rodent forecaster — whose apparent knack of predicting how long winter will last forms a hallowed tradition in the United States.Punxsutawney Phil, made famous by the 1993 film “Groundhog Day,” attracts thousands of onlookers every February 2 to the Pennsylvania town that he takes his name from.The US state’s tradition of using a large rodent to predict the seasons dates back to the Pennsylvania Dutch belief that if a groundhog left its burrow and saw its shadow, it would scurry back inside and winter would go on for six more weeks.But professional forecasters have warned ahead of Phil’s appearance this Sunday that his prediction is likely to be way off the mark.The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has concluded that only 35 percent of Phil’s forecasts have proved to be accurate — placing him at a lowly 17th compared to other rodent forecasters.Staten Island Chuck, a New York-based groundhog, tops the rankings with an impressive 85 percent accuracy rate on his forecasts.Phil and his predecessors, also called Phil, have been forecasting since 1887.