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Billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent won Senate approval Monday to become US Treasury secretary, placing him at the forefront of implementing Donald Trump’s economic agenda -– which is already triggering global jitters.Bessent, a Wall Street veteran who was born and raised in South Carolina, has defended the Republican president’s tax cutting and tariff proposals while urging efforts to secure supply chains and the dollar’s global status.On Monday, he cleared a confirmation vote with a comfortable margin of 68-29, with bipartisan support.As Treasury chief, Bessent will have a hand in the administration’s tax policies and its budget, confronting the debt limit and steering plans that could lead to fresh tariffs. Mike Crapo, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said Monday that Bessent was “committed to restoring the prosperity and opportunity” seen under Trump’s leadership.But Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the committee, warned it was unclear that Bessent would serve as a check on Trump’s economic plans, which could weigh on consumers and small businesses.Bessent, 62, has said he would back tougher sanctions on Russian oil majors as a way to end the war in Ukraine, while signaling a hawkish approach on China.Trump returned to the White House this month vowing lower taxes to aid Americans squeezed by high costs of living, and tariffs to pressure other countries to align on US concerns.The president has warned of tariffs on allies and adversaries — including major trading partners Mexico and Canada on February 1.Now all eyes are on how his Treasury chief walks the line between supporting these efforts and avoiding tensions that may roil the world economy.At his hearing, Bessent disagreed that Trump’s proposed duties on imports would be paid for domestically, noting that levies can be used in negotiations, to remedy unfair trade practices or to boost revenues.He also took aim at government spending and high budget deficits.He will have to grapple with Trump’s promised tax cuts — alongside their consequences for the US economy — as he begins his role.The Treasury Department has oversight across areas from federal finances to bank supervision. It also oversees US sanctions.- Family friend -Bessent is the first Senate-confirmed openly gay cabinet official in a Republican administration.He has been based in Charleston, South Carolina, with his husband and their two children.Bessent has known the Trump family for three decades and was friends with the president’s late brother Robert, he previously said.”I was all-in for President Trump,” he said on Trump ally Roger Stone’s radio show.Bessent attended Yale University and served as chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, the macroeconomic investment firm of liberal billionaire George Soros.In 2015, he raised capital, including $2 billion from Soros, to start his own hedge fund.More recently, Bessent said he had not spoken to Soros in years.Bessent is chief executive at Key Square Group, but has committed to resigning from the position at the hedge fund and divesting his partnership share upon confirmation.- ‘Only-in-America’ -During his confirmation hearing, Bessent recounted taking an internship in finance — a job that came with an office pullout sofa, allowing him to live in New York rent-free.”I’ve been involved in the financial markets ever since,” he told lawmakers. “My life has been the only-in-America story that I am determined to preserve for future generations.”Urging for all tools to be used “to realign the economic system to better serve the interests of working Americans,” Bessent has criticized “unfair distortions” in global trade.He previously floated the idea of Trump nominating a “shadow Fed chair” to dilute the influence of Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell.But he has since dropped the idea and stated that he supports the central bank’s independence in policymaking.”President Trump is going to make his views known, as many senators did,” Bessent said in his hearing on January 16.He added that on monetary policy, the Fed’s rate-setting committee “should be independent.”

The US Justice Department fired a number of officials on Monday who were involved in the criminal prosecutions of President Donald Trump.”Acting attorney general James McHenry made this decision because he did not believe these officials could be trusted to faithfully implement the president’s agenda because of their significant role in prosecuting the president,” a Justice Department official said.The official did not specify now many people had their employment terminated, but US media outlets said it was more than a dozen and several were career prosecutors with the Justice Department.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 election 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.The firing of the Justice Department officials involved in prosecuting Trump was not unexpected.Trump had vowed before the election to fire Smith “on day one” and accused the Justice Department under Democratic president Joe Biden of conducting a “political witchhunt” against him.In his inauguration speech, Trump said he would end the “vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government.”In his final report, Smith said Trump would have been convicted for his “criminal efforts” to retain power after the 2020 election if the case had not been dropped.Trump was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding — the session of Congress held to certify Biden’s win that was violently attacked on January 6, 2021 by a mob of Trump supporters.Smith also prepared a report into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents but it is being withheld because charges are pending against two of his former co-defendants.Trump faces separate racketeering charges in Georgia over his efforts to subvert the election results in the southern state, but the case will likely be frozen while he is in office.Trump was convicted in New York in May of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star. The judge who presided over the case gave him an “unconditional discharge” which carries no jail time, fine or probation.

US chip-maker Nvidia led a rout in tech stocks Monday after the emergence of a low-cost Chinese generative AI model that could threaten American dominance in the fast-growing industry.The chatbot developed by DeepSeek, a startup based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, has apparently shown the ability to match the capacity of US AI pace-setters for a fraction of the investments made by American companies.Shares in Nvidia, whose semiconductors power the AI industry, fell nearly 17 percent on Wall Street, erasing nearly $600 billion of its market value.The tech-rich Nasdaq index finished down more than three percent.DeepSeek, whose chatbot became the top-rated free application on Apple’s US App Store, said it spent only $5.6 million developing its model — peanuts when compared with the billions US tech giants have poured into AI.US “tech dominance is being challenged by China,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB. “The focus is now on whether China can do it better, quicker and more cost effectively than the US, and if they could win the AI race,” she said.Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, described the market’s response Monday as “shoot first, ask questions later,” noting that some are skeptical of the Chinese company’s assertions.”Everyone is trying to figure out ‘Can it be believed?’ and ‘What does it mean,’” Hogan said.As DeepSeek rattled markets, the startup on Monday said it was limiting the registration of new users due to “large-scale malicious” cyberattacks on its services.AI players Meta and Microsoft are among the tech giants scheduled to report earnings this week, offering opportunity for comment on the emergence of the Chinese company.Shares in another US chip-maker, Broadcom, fell 17.4 percent while Dutch firm ASML, which makes the machines used to build semiconductors, saw its stock tumble 6.7 percent.Constellation Energy, which is planning to build significant energy capacity for AI, sank more than 20 percent.Wall Street’s broad-based S&P 500 index shed 1.5 percent while the Dow advanced 0.7 percent.In Europe, the Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges closed in the red while London finish flat. Asian stock markets mostly slid.Just last week following his inauguration, Trump announced a $500 billion venture to build infrastructure for AI in the United States led by Japanese giant SoftBank and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.SoftBank tumbled more than eight percent in Tokyo on Monday while Japanese semiconductor firm Advantest was also down more than eight percent and Tokyo Electron off almost five percent.- Interest rates in focus -Besides tech earnings, this week also sees interest-rate decisions from the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, ahead of American inflation data.Equities enjoyed a healthy run-up last week on the hope that Trump’s second administration would take a less hardball approach to global trade.However, his threat Sunday that he would hit Colombian goods with a 25 percent tariff — rising to 50 percent next week — and revoke the visas of government officials set off alarm bells.The move came after President Gustavo Petro blocked deportation flights from the United States. In response to Trump’s decision, Petro initially announced retaliatory levies of 25 percent on imports from the United States.But Bogota later backed down and agreed to accept the deported citizens, with Foreign Ministuis Gilberto Murillo saying they had “overcome the impasse.”- Key figures around 2120 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 44,713.58 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 1.5 percent at 6,012.28 (close)New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 3.1 percent at 19,341.83 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,503.71 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 7,906.58 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 21,282.18 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 39,565.80 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 20,197.77 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,250.60 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0492 from $1.0497 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2496 from $1.2484Dollar/yen: DOWN at 154.61 yen from 156.00 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.94 pence from 84.08 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.8 percent at $77.08 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.0 percent at $73.17 per barrel

A Nigerian man has been extradited to the United States to face charges in connection with the sextortion of a teenage boy who subsequently committed suicide.Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, 24, of Osun State, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of child exploitation resulting in death, distribution of child sexual abuse material, cyberstalking and other charges.Gavin Guffey, 17, the son of a state lawmaker from Rock Hill, South Carolina, killed himself in July 2022 after being victimized by Lawal, the US Justice Department said in a statement.”Lawal allegedly posed as a young woman on social media and coerced the teen into sending compromising photos,” it said. “He then extorted and sent harassing messages to the teen threatening to leak the photos and ruin his reputation unless the teen sent him money.”Lawal was indicted by a federal grand jury in South Carolina in October 2023 and flown to the United States on Friday, the Justice Department said.”We will not allow predators who target our children to hide behind a keyboard or across the ocean,” US Attorney Adair Ford Boroughs said. “Today we honor Gavin’s life and continue our fight against sextortion by holding this defendant accountable.”The South Carolina legislature passed a bill following Guffey’s death known as “Gavin’s Law” that makes sexual extortion a felony offense and an aggravated felony if the victim is a minor or suffers bodily injury or death directly related to the crime.

Fears of upheaval in the AI gold rush rocked Wall Street on Monday following the emergence of a popular ChatGPT-like model from China, triggering predictions of turmoil for Silicon Valley and accusations of cheating.Last week’s release of the latest DeepSeek model initially received limited attention, overshadowed by the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on the same day.However, over the weekend, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup’s chatbot surged to become the most downloaded free app on Apple’s US App Store, displacing OpenAI’s ChatGPT.What truly rattled the industry was DeepSeek’s claim that it developed its latest model, the R1, at a fraction of the cost that major companies are currently investing in AI development, primarily on expensive Nvidia chips and software.This development is particularly significant given that the AI boom, ignited by ChatGPT’s release in late 2022, has propelled Nvidia to become one of the world’s most valuable companies.The news sent shockwaves through the US tech sector, exposing a critical concern: should tech giants continue to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into AI investment when a Chinese company can apparently produce a comparable model so economically?DeepSeek was a poke in the eye to Washington and its priority of thwarting China by maintaining American technological dominance. The development also comes against a background of a US government push to ban Chinese-owned TikTok in the United States or force its sale.David Sacks, Trump’s AI advisor and prominent tech investor, said DeepSeek’s success justified the White House’s decision to reverse Biden-era executive orders that had established safety standards for AI development.These regulations “would have hamstrung American AI companies without any guarantee that China would follow suit” which they obviously wouldn’t, Sacks wrote on X.Adam Kovacevich, CEO of the tech industry trade group Chamber of Progress, echoed this sentiment: “Now the top AI concern has to be ensuring (the United States) wins.”Tech investor and Trump ally Marc Andreessen declared “Deepseek R1 is AI’s Sputnik moment,” referencing the 1957 launch of Earth’s first artificial satellite by the Soviet Union that stunned the Western world. The situation is particularly remarkable since, as a Chinese company, DeepSeek lacks access to Nvidia’s state-of-the-art chips used to train AI models powering chatbots like ChatGPT.Exports of Nvidia’s most powerful technology are blocked by order of the US government, given the strategic importance of developing AI.”If China is catching up quickly to the US in the AI race, then the economics of AI will be turned on its head,” warned Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, in a note to clients.Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took to social media hours before markets opened to dismiss concerns about cheaply-produced AI, saying less expensive AI was good for everyone.But last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Nadella warned: “We should take the developments out of China very, very seriously.”Microsoft, an eager adopter of generative AI, plans to invest $80 billion in AI this year, while Meta announced at least $60 billion in investments on Friday.- ‘Outplayed’ -Much of that investment goes into the coffers of Nvidia, whose shares plunged a staggering 17 percent on Monday. Adding to the turmoil, the esteemed Stratechery tech newsletter and others suggested that DeepSeek’s innovations stemmed from necessity, as lacking access to powerful Nvidia-designed chips forced them to develop novel methods.The export controls are “driving startups like DeepSeek to innovate in ways that prioritize efficiency, resource-pooling, and collaboration,” wrote the MIT Technology Review.Elon Musk, who has invested heavily in Nvidia chips for his company xAI, suspects DeepSeek of secretly accessing banned H100 chips –- an accusation also made by the CEO of ScaleAI, a prominent Silicon Valley startup backed by Amazon and Meta.But such accusations “sound like a rich kids team got outplayed by a poor kids team,” wrote Hong Kong-based investor Jen Zhu Scott on X.In a statement, Nvidia said DeepSeek’s technology was “fully export control compliant.” 

Colombia said Monday it had sent aircraft to repatriate migrants deported from the United States after apparently bowing to President Donald Trump’s threats of painful tariffs for defying his plans for mass expulsions.After a day-long showdown with Trump, which culminated with Washington and Bogota threatening each other with a full-blown trade war, the White House claimed Sunday evening that Colombia had backed down.Washington said that Bogota, which turned back two US military planeloads of migrants on Sunday, had agreed to “unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States.”But it was unclear whether Colombia’s left-wing President Gustavo Petro had relinquished all of his demands, with Bogota saying Monday it had sent its own planes to bring home deportees.Colombia’s ambassador to Washington, Daniel Garcia Pena, told Blu Radio that the planes were “on their way to pick up our compatriots in the United States” and would be “landing today, or at the latest early tomorrow.”Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo on Sunday night confirmed that the government had “overcome the impasse” with Washington but did not give details, saying only that Colombia would “continue to receive Colombians who return as deportees” in “dignified conditions.”Trump’s plan for mass deportations of migrants has put him on a potential collision course with governments in Latin America, the original home of most of the United States’ estimated 11 million undocumented migrants.Since he took office a week ago, thousands of migrants have been deported to Central and South America — but in most cases the deportations stemmed from agreements predating his return to power.Colombia, traditionally one of the United States’ closest allies in Latin America, was the only country to announce that it had turned back deportation flights.- Sent home in chains -The decision appeared linked to the treatment of dozens of Brazilian migrants who were sent home in chains on a US plane on Friday, in what Brazil called “flagrant disregard” for their basic rights.Colombia’s president had made clear however he would allow in civilian deportation flights, as long as the migrants were not treated “like criminals.”But Trump responded furiously nonetheless, announcing stiff tariffs on Colombian imports despite the two countries having a free-trade agreement and suspending the issuing of visas at the US embassy in Bogota among other measures.Petro initially sought to hit back and impose his own tariffs on US products, but later backed down following an outcry in Colombia over what many saw as his reckless handling of the dispute.Trump later said he would suspend implementation of the tariffs but that the visa measures would stay in place until the first planeload of deportees returned.While previous US administrations also routinely carried out deportations, the Trump administration has begun using military aircraft, with at least one landing in Guatemala this week.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that her country received around 4,000 deported migrants during Trump’s first week back in office, which was “not a substantial increase” on the usual rate.Just over 190,000 people were deported to Mexico from January to November 2024, according to government figures, that is about 17,200 per month.Sheinbaum is also trying to avert a trade war with Washington, after Trump renewed his threat to impose 25% tariffs on imports from both Mexico and Canada unless they halted the flow of migrants and drugs into the United States.The president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, has called for an urgent meeting of leaders from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to take place Thursday in Tegucigalpa to discuss migration following the latest US moves.

The US Senate is widely expected to confirm billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary Monday, putting him at the forefront of implementing Donald Trump’s economic agenda — which is already sparking global jitters.Bessent, a Wall Street veteran who was born and raised in South Carolina, has defended the Republican president’s tax cutting and tariff proposals while urging efforts to secure supply chains and the dollar’s global status.On Saturday, he cleared a procedural Senate vote by 67-23, winning support from a number of Democrats.If confirmed late Monday, Bessent, 62, has said he would back tougher sanctions on Russian oil majors as a way to end the war in Ukraine, while signaling a hawkish approach on China.During his confirmation hearing, Bessent stressed that Washington should ensure its lead in areas like chips and artificial intelligence, while adding he would push Beijing to boost US agriculture purchases.Trump returned to the White House this month on promises to help the world’s biggest economy avert “calamity,” vowing lower taxes to aid Americans squeezed by high costs of living and tariffs to pressure other countries to align on US concerns.As Trump warns of tariffs on allies and adversaries — including major trading partners Mexico and Canada on February 1 — all eyes are on how his Treasury chief walks the line between supporting these efforts and avoiding tensions that may roil the world economy.At his hearing, Bessent disagreed that Trump’s proposed duties on imports would be paid for domestically, and also took aim at government spending.The Treasury Department has oversight across areas from federal finances to bank supervision. It also oversees US sanctions.- Family friend -Bessent’s confirmation would make him one of the first openly gay cabinet officials.He has been based in Charleston, South Carolina, with his husband and their two children.Bessent has known the Trump family for three decades, and was friends with the president’s brother, he previously said on Trump ally Roger Stone’s radio show.”I was all-in for President Trump,” he told Stone.He added at the time that being in Trump’s cabinet means “your job is to do what Donald Trump wants you to do” and to find an effective way to implement his policies.Bessent attended Yale University and served as chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, the macroeconomic investment firm of billionaire George Soros.In 2015, he raised capital, including $2 billion from Soros, to start his own hedge fund.Bessent is chief executive at Key Square Group, but he has committed to resigning from the position at the hedge fund and divesting his partnership share upon confirmation.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday the military will keep assisting President Donald Trump’s “mass” migrant deportations, as he arrived for his first formal day of work at the Pentagon.Hegseth — confirmed by Republicans despite concerns over his inexperience, and alleged record of heavy drinking and domestic violence — is one of Trump’s most contested cabinet picks.After barely squeaking through his confirmation vote, the former Fox News host made clear that he will work to carry out the president’s hard-right agenda, including using the military in deportations.”Support of mass deportations in support of the president’s objective — that is something the Defense Department absolutely will continue to do,” Hegseth told reporters on the steps of the Pentagon.Colombia turned back two US military aircraft with its citizens aboard over the weekend, prompting Trump to threaten economic tariffs that ultimately pushed the US ally to back down and agree to accept the repatriation flights.Hegseth also said more executive orders are coming on removing diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the Pentagon and reinstating troops who were pushed out because they failed to comply with the since-rescinded Covid-19 vaccine mandate.”Our job is lethality and readiness and war fighting and (to) hold people accountable,” he said. “The lawful orders of the president of United States will be executed inside this Defense Department — swiftly and without excuse.”On Friday, three Republican senators voted against confirming Hegseth, resulting in a 50-50 tie that required Vice President JD Vance to cast the deciding ballot — only the second time in history a tie-breaker has been needed to save a cabinet nominee.In confirming Hegseth, Republicans brushed aside his lack of experience leading an organization anywhere near the size of the Defense Department — the country’s largest employer with some three million personnel.They also approved Hegseth despite allegations of financial mismanagement at veterans’ nonprofits where he previously worked, reports of excessive drinking, and allegations of spousal abuse and that he sexually assaulted a woman in California.The 44-year-old is a former Army National Guard officer who until recently worked as a co-host for Fox News — one of Trump’s favored television channels.Hegseth has a combative media personality, fierce loyalty and telegenic looks, all common hallmarks in Trump’s entourage.Supporters say Hegseth’s deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq give him the insight to run the Defense Department better than more experienced officials who would normally be considered for the job.Asked during his confirmation hearing last week about criticism he has faced, Hegseth said there was a “coordinated smear campaign” against him, and that he is “not a perfect person, but redemption is real.”

Donald Trump’s border czar on Sunday defended raiding churches and schools as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration, while six federal agencies launched a sweep aimed at “potentially dangerous criminal aliens” in Chicago. Trump began his second term last Monday with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling US immigration.His administration quickly moved to ramp up deportations, including by relaxing rules governing enforcement actions at “sensitive” locations such as schools, churches and workplaces.Asked about the rule change, Tom Homan, who was tapped to oversee Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda, said Sunday it sends a clear message.”There’s consequences of entering the country illegally. If we don’t show there’s consequences, you’re never going to fix the border problem,” Homan, who is also the former head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told ABC News’s “This Week” program.But Trump has been unhappy with the number of arrests so far and has directed federal immigration officials to meet higher detention quotas, the Washington Post reported Sunday.It said he was ordering ICE to raise the arrest numbers from a few hundred a day to at least 1,200 to 1,500, citing people with knowledge of internal briefings.ICE later reported making 956 arrests on Sunday, the largest single-day number since Trump’s inauguration. There were no details on where the arrests were made.It had reported 593 arrests on Friday and 286 on Saturday. It averaged around 310 per day in the 2024 federal fiscal year, according to agency data.- ‘Enhanced targeted operations’ -Homan was speaking from Chicago, a Democratic stronghold and a “sanctuary city” for migrants that Homan has viewed as “ground zero” of the deportation push.ICE announced Sunday on X that it had joined five other federal agencies in “enhanced targeted operations” in Chicago “to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities”.Joining ICE were the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Customs and Border Protection and the US Marshals Service.Fear of being swept up in the raids kept many Latinos in the region at home, the Chicago Tribune reported.Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, told CNN that state officials would assist federal law enforcement agencies in apprehending anyone accused or convicted of violent crimes but would defend “law-abiding” citizens. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, both Democrats representing Illinois, rebuked Trump’s deportation raids in a joint statement Sunday, saying the efforts “go far beyond” targeting “dangerous individuals” and risk indiscriminately detaining migrants.”We stand with the immigrant community in Chicago and across the country, and our offices and caseworkers are ready to help those who are improperly caught up in these raids,” the statement said.On Thursday, leaders of three Catholic organizations blasted the rule change that allows raids on churches and schools, saying in a joint statement that “turning places of care, healing and solace into places of fear and uncertainty… will not make our communities safer.”When pressed on the Catholic opposition, Homan stood firm.”We’re enforcing laws Congress enacted and the president signed. If they don’t like it, change the law.”Vice President JD Vance, who was also asked about the Catholic pushback in an interview broadcast Sunday, accused one group of being worried about losing funds in the immigration crackdown.”I think that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?” he told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”All eyes during Trump’s first week in office have been on immigration enforcement and deportations, though it was unclear to what extent actions have increased from predecessor Joe Biden.Homan called on Congress to pass additional funding for dealing with those arrested.”We’re gonna need more ICE beds, a minimum of 100,000,” he told ABC News.”We’re going to try to be efficient. But with more money we have, the more we can accomplish.”

Jennifer Lopez brought a heady blend of 1950s Hollywood musical and gritty prison drama to Sundance with her new film “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” which earned a standing ovation from the indie movie festival on Sunday.The musical film, about two mismatched cellmates who form an unlikely intimate bond during Argentina’s 1970s military dictatorship, was the hottest ticket at this year’s Sundance gathering, which typically focuses on smaller arthouse and documentary fare.”It’s about how love can cure any divide. These two people who couldn’t be more different in this cell together — doesn’t matter their sexuality, their political beliefs. None of it,” Lopez told AFP, on the red carpet.”It’s exactly the kind of story that we need to see right now,” she said.Based on the Broadway adaptation of Argentine author Manuel Puig’s novel, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” is directed by Bill Condon.Condon is best-known for blockbusters like “Dreamgirls,” “Chicago” and the final “Twilight” films, but earned his big break at Sundance with 1998’s Oscar-winning “Gods and Monsters.”He told AFP that Lopez’s involvement undoubtedly helped the film procure financing, but that he also “knew she was the only person who could play this part.””Because it’s a diva. We don’t have that many divas in our lives. I don’t know whether it’s gone out of fashion,” he said.Diego Luna plays Valentin, a tough and idealistic political prisoner who is experiencing horrific torture by the regime, but refuses to give up his revolutionary secrets.He finds himself forced to bunk up with Molina (Tonatiuh), an LGBTQ convict who has secretly been sent to coax information from him.Molina starts regaling Valentin with the plot of his favorite Hollywood musical — shown in extensive flashbacks, starring Lopez as the glamorous diva Ingrid Luna, which begin to interweave with the prison narrative.”When I read it, I thought to myself, ‘This role was made for me, this is the role I was born to, this is the one.’ And I had to wait, but it was worth it,” said Lopez.”It was challenging in the way that indie films are challenging… limited time, limited money.”Like most films at Sundance, the movie is up for sale, with producers hoping to spark a bidding war between Hollywood studios and streamers.- Wildfires -Elsewhere at Sundance, Josh O’Connor attended the premiere of “Rebuilding,” a drama about wildfire victims that has become tragically timely in the wake of the Los Angeles blazes.The British star of “The Crown” and “Challengers” plays a quiet, forlorn cowboy who loses his Colorado ranch and all his possessions in a wildfire.His character finds himself living in a trailer at a federal emergency camp, where he must discover a new purpose and build connections with his unfamiliar community.O’Connor told AFP that the recent Los Angeles, which killed more than two dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes, made the film more poignant — but that there were positive parallels to draw.”One of the things that I’ve heard a lot coming out of LA is this feeling of unity in the city,” he said.”I think that’s what this movie is about — community coming together to support each other, that we can’t do it alone, and that isolation isn’t good for us.”That’s what I think the relevance is.”Earlier at the Utah-based festival, Benedict Cumberbatch had unveiled “The Thing With Feathers,” a surreal meditation on grief and bereavement.The “Sherlock” and “Doctor Strange” actor stars as a widower struggling to raise his two young sons alone, in a movie based on Max Porter’s experimental and poetic novel.As hinted at by the title, Cumberbatch’s character is visited an eight-foot-tall crow — an unexpectedly literal manifestation of his unprocessed grief.Sundance runs until next Sunday.