EU says age-check app 'ready' in push to protect children online

The Center Square) - The Los Angeles Unified School District managed to avoid a strike this week after reaching 11th-hour agreements with three unions. Now the district is asking for the state's help to fund those agreements.

LAUSD's request comes as critics question how the district or the state can afford pay increases in an era of staggering deficits. One critic compared LAUSD's approach to gambling.

"Rolling the dice with big spending when you don't know where you're going to find the money is an appalling way to run the second-largest school district in America,” said Susan Shelley, vice president of communications at the Los Angeles-based Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

“It looks like LAUSD is intentionally creating a fiscal crisis that it can exploit to demand higher taxes," Shelley told The Center Square.

She said it was "appalling" that the LAUSD was seeking the state's help.

LAUSD told The Center Square in an email that it is taking a targeted approach to its budget to ensure every dollar is aligned to student needs and long-term sustainability.

“We are closely examining all areas of spending, including contracts and operational costs, to identify where reductions and efficiencies can be made while mitigating the impact on the classroom experience for students,” a school district spokesperson said. “At the same time, we will continue to advocate at the state level for additional, stable funding that reflects the real costs of educating students in large urban districts facing declining enrollment and rising expenses."

To avert a strike on Tuesday, LAUSD dealt with three unions: United Teachers Los Angeles, Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Teamsters Local 2010 and Service Employees International Union Local 99. The district secured tentative agreements with UTLA and AALA first, then reached one with SEIU overnight before the deadline to strike.

"It's estimated that the three agreements will cost about $1.17 billion annually," Aaron Smith, director of education reform at the Reason Foundation, told The Center Square Friday.

Further numbers on the costs to taxpayers, such as the amount being requested from the state, were not provided by various sources on Friday.

As reported this week by The Center Square, the tentative agreement with SEIU includes a 24% wage increase that the union said “will make a significant difference in workers’ livelihoods." Health care benefits will be expanded for teacher assistants, after-school workers and community representatives. Meanwhile, layoffs for hundreds of information technology employees are being rescinded, and LAUSD will have no subcontracting of work to outside vendors.

The tentative agreement reached with UTLA would increase its members’ salary scales by 11.65%. The tentative agreement would also increase the beginning salary for a teacher to $77,000 per year.

AALA’s tentative agreement called for increases to school administrators' salaries of 11.65% over two years.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the district's Acting Superintendent Andrés E. Chait and union members called the agreements a win for members and students.

Smith of the Reason Foundation does not see it that way. He considers the tentative agreements to be fiscally irresponsible.

“LAUSD has a structural deficit, meaning they spend more money than they take in each year,” Smith told The Center Square.

Even before this new spending, Smith said LAUSD was projecting a $1.5 billion budget deficit next year.  

“One reason is that they have too many staff on payroll,” said Smith. “Since the start of COVID-19, LAUSD has lost 75,000 students but has only reduced staff by just over 300 employees. That’s why the district’s board recently approved a plan to lay off up to 3,200 staff.”

Smith said LAUSD could now be looking at even more layoffs in the coming years, plus widespread school closures.

“LAUSD is hoping the state will bail them out with an influx of new funding, but the state is also on shaky financial footing, as California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office recently warned," Smith said.

As Smith explained, the state is spending more than it is taking in and is vulnerable to revenue shocks. A downturn in the stock market, for example, would wreak havoc on California’s budget and K-12 dollars, he noted.

“The agreements are bad for kids, teachers and taxpayers,” said Smith. “In the long run, they’ll make a bad fiscal situation even worse.”

Smith is not the only one sounding an alarm or casting doubt on the idea of state assistance to fund LAUSD’s agreements.

Lance Izumi, senior director for education studies at Pasadena-based Pacific Research Institute, said he does not know where LAUSD officials think they're going to get more money from the state. 

“In the press conference that Karen Bass and the superintendent held down there in L.A., they said they were saying that ‘Oh, well, Los Angeles has the most powerful delegation in the state Legislature.' And while that might be, they still can't wave a magic wand and produce money that's not there,” said Izumi.

“I don't care how powerful they are. And in fact, the word is that [Gov.] Gavin Newsom is going to be telling legislators come May when they when he releases his revised state budget, based upon newer revenue data, that things are things are pretty desperate and that there is no money, that there's going to be some very significant cuts that they're going to have to endure.”

As a result, Izumi said, “It is fantasy thinking on the part of LAUSD to believe that this money is going to somehow magically appear” from the state.

“I think that they wanted to kick the ball to Sacramento in the hopes that they would take care of their problem, but it's not going to work that easy," said Izumi.

Another person not surprised by LAUSD’s financial problems is Maria Luisa Palma, executive director of Oleada Inc., a nonprofit advocating for parents and holding LAUSD accountable for academic results.

Palma told The Center Square that “it was publicly documented since the Second Interim Budget presentation in March that more state funding would be needed” to cover expenses.

“The Board of Education March presentation showed that additional state funding would be needed just to meet the initial compensation offers already made to UTLA, SEIU Local 99, and AALA/Teamsters at that time,” said Palma. “Multi-Year Projections, which included Gov. Newsom’s January Proposed Budget revenues and those initial compensation offers, documented the 2027-28 school year would end with an unrestricted/unassigned General Fund balance of -$235 million and -$1.8 billion for 2028-29.”

Given the additional raises negotiated in the three new tentative labor agreements, Palma said those negative balances are sure to increase.

Meanwhile, Palma and Izumi do not see how this will help academics.

“People talk about getting a bang for your buck,” said Izumi. “There’s no bang here.”

The NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder say they can't afford to look too far ahead -- or back -- as they chase the league's first title repeat since 2018.

The Thunder, led by reigning NBA Most Valuable Player and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, are heavy favorites after powering to the top seed in the Western Conference and best record in the league at 64-18.

But the young squad that was touted as the league's next dynasty as soon as they hoisted their first Larry O'Brien trophy insist they aren't yet focused on pulling off the first back-to-back since the Golden State Warriors won in 2017 and 2018.

Gilgeous-Alexander said that's "not much" of a motivating factor as the Thunder waited for their first-round opponent to emerge from the final play-in clash between Golden State and Phoenix on Friday.

"It's cool, it's an opportunity," Gilgeous-Alexander said but added: "That's so far down the line. So many things are gonna happen before we get to the Finals clinching game.

"To have the opportunity to repeat means you won before, so it's cool. I'll keep it there."

The Thunder led the West all season, opening their campaign with a 24-1 start and closing it on a 19-3 run.

But they were challenged for the top seed by the San Antonio Spurs, who eventually settled for the number two spot but won four of five regular-season matchups to signal the threat they could pose in the playoffs.

The Thunder certainly have the advantage in experience, with all of their championship squad still on board.

Gilgeous-Alexander delivered another MVP-worthy campaign, finishing as the league's second-leading scorer behind Luka Doncic with 31.1 points per game and putting together a record-breaking streak of 140 straight games of 20 points or more from November through the end of the regular season.

Center Chet Holmgren earned his first All-Star nod, averaging a career-high 17.1 points per game even as he stepped up his already formidable defensive presence.

Holmgren, who averaged 1.9 blocks per game, keys a dominant Thunder defense that allowed the second-fewest points this season and held opponents to the worst shooting percentage on average.

OKC proved themselves master disruptors, averaging 9.7 steals per game.

Holmgren was still feeling the effects of a broken pelvis suffered months earlier when the playoffs started last year and says he's "extremely excited" to be entering the post-season feeling "really good."

Like Gilgeous-Alexander, he's keeping his focus on the moment.

"The goal is always to win the last game of the season," Holmgren said. "You have to try to carry over the experiences that you learned from, but you can't carry over the result ...

"If you're sitting here in the playoffs saying, 'Oh, you know, we won last year', that's not gonna win you a playoff series or a game or get a stop on a possession."

bb/rcw

(The Center Square) – Six months out from fiscal year 2027, U.S. lawmakers are making progress on the annual 12 appropriations bills that will fund the federal government.

The House Appropriations Committee advanced the first two bills – one funding general government services and the other funding military construction and Veterans Affairs – in a set of congressional hearings Friday.

With a topline of $25.4 billion, the Financial Services-General Government bill funds the departments of Treasury, Judiciary, and Executive, as well as the IRS, U.S. Postal Service, and the District of Columbia.

The bill reduces federal spending by roughly $1 billion via cuts to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Election Assistance Commission, and the Small Business Administration, though SBA does receive $143 million in new disaster funding.

“The bill eliminates wasteful spending, reins in bureaucratic overreach, and restores accountability across government,” committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said. “Americans expect us to be responsible stewards of their tax dollars. This is a smart, principled bill that delivers a government that works smarter, faster, and more efficiently."

Multiple Republican priorities are included, including shrinking the size of the federal workforce to pre-pandemic levels, banning D.C.’s needle exchange program, and reversing D.C.’s legalization of assisted suicide.

It also prohibits the Treasury from establishing a Central Bank Digital Currency or discontinuing paper currency, as well as codifies several of President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

Those include EOs ending cashless bail and addressing crime in D.C., combatting fraud within federal offices, and consolidating federal procurement under one government office.

Committee Democrats spoke out against the cuts, which they argued would weaken election infrastructure, enable further market consolidation by big corporations, and underfund federal agencies that combat scams and tax fraud.

Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., called the bill “a boon for the very rich and large corporations.”

“It does nothing to alleviate the strain on working families who are struggling just to get by as the cost-of-living crisis continues unabated,” she added. “In fact, it makes this problem even worse.”

Democrats generally supported the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bill, however, which allocates $19 billion for military construction and over $450 billion in Veterans Affairs spending, including veterans’ benefits and health care.

While the bill increases funding for Suicide Prevention and Treatment Programs and Rural Health and Substance Use Disorder Programs, it also cuts NATO’s infrastructure program.

“We have a moral responsibility to take care of our veterans and servicemembers. It is part of our job in Congress, and on this Committee, to make sure that their devotion to our country is matched by their country’s devotion to them,” DeLauro said. “This is only the first stage of this bill, and I look forward to continuing to work with our colleagues to address some of the issues that still remain.”

The annual appropriations process is generally undertaken in a spirit of bipartisanship, given the economically and politically expensive fallout of government shutdowns.

Yet the 119th Congress has already weathered two record-breaking shutdowns – the second of which is still ongoing – due to multiple dramatic breakdowns in funding negotiations.

(The Center Square) -- Seattle’s own version of Washington State's planned tax on millionaires is aimed at businesses with millionaire employees, but the goal of using the money to expand affordable housing is becoming elusive.

Officials of Seattle’s Social Housing Developer revealed Thursday night their first move with $133 million in city taxes from businesses received in January will be to acquire two existing occupied market rental buildings -- not creating any new housing units.

Seattle Social Housing Developer interim CEO Tiffani McCoy told the independent authority’s board Thursday night that she expected the closing of the developer’s first acquired building would occur in June. She said new housing will take longer.

“It's very exciting, but just remember, it takes a long time for new construction to come online, so we're hoping by the end of 2028, early 2029, but at least we are going to be starting pre-development this year on some sites,” McCoy said.

Social Housing Developer spokeswoman Lilly Fowler said in an interview with The Center Square that a second rental building is also expected to be acquired later this year.

The 5% Social Housing tax paid by employers on the amount of a workers salary above $1 million remains unpopular with the business community. It has fueled concern that a continuing job exodus from Seattle could accelerate.

Businesses hurt by tax

“Seattle is a business tax outlier in the region,” said downtown Seattle Association President and CEO Jon Scholes in a statement to The Center Square. “That fact has been damaging to our competitiveness, and we’ve been shedding jobs the last couple of years as a result. We don’t need more business taxes in Seattle; we need more businesses in Seattle paying taxes.”

The tax is in addition to the city’s JumpStart payroll tax which went into effect in 2023 and taxes companies whose employers make more than $150,000 a year. The city also has a Business and Occupation Tax.

But the Social Housing Developer’s strategy of focusing on acquiring apartment building instead of putting the sole focus on building new apartments is also raising questions,

Acquiring new apartments buildings is easier in Seattle than building new units because the permitting process for new construction can take a long time, said Shannon Affholter, the co-chair of the Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington in Seattle.

“When approvals stretch out for years, it discourages building altogether,” Affholter said. “Buying existing properties may be faster, but it doesn’t add the new housing units the city really needs."

He said the approval process needs to be made faster.

Fowler said that the Social Housing Developer acquiring existing rental buildings will still be helpful for tenants.

“It’s not creating new units,” she said. ”We still think we are doing good by acquiring buildings because we are able to stabilize rents."

She said rent reductions in the market-rental buildings, would be done on a case by case basis for tenants who qualify.

Fowler said existing tenants would not be evicted, regardless of income level, to make way for more affordable apartments.

Locations not yet public

Fowler won’t reveal the location of the buildings because the buildings have yet to become the property of The Social Developer.

She said bringing the apartment buildings under the owner of The Social Housing Deveeloper will be positive for tenants.

“Hoprfully, bring down some rents, have building be under public ownership and have the tenants have a say in the way the building is run," she said.

But even long-term, the Social Housing Developer plans on acquiring many more apartments than it will be building.

At a Seattle City Council committee meeting on Feb. 11, Social Housing officials projected that they would built 630 new units by 2031 but acquire apartment buildings with 1030 units by the same time.

McCoy said at that meeting that the Social Housing Developer would be updating the estimate because the new tax was originally expected to bring in only $50 million a year. 

The Social Housing Tax went into effect for the tax year 2025, but the first payments were submitted this January.

The Social Housing Developer has yet to release new figures. Fowler said McCoy was unavailable for an interview.

Only a fraction of needed housing

In any case, the Social Housing Developer will be able build only a fraction of needed affordable apartments. Seattle officials estimate the number of needed affordable units at more than 100,000 over the next 20 years

Under the social housing concept, a mix of tenants from various income levels are housed in a building with the richer tenants subsidizing the rents of lower-income tenants.

Seattle’s program is based on a concept pioneered in Vienna, Austria.

Seattle voters first approved the Social Housing Developer in 2023 in a referendum. McCoy was one of the prime organizers of the original measure.

But it took a second referendum in 2025 for voters to approve the tax on businesses as a funding mechanism.

The business community opposed the measure led by The Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce. Both Amazon and Microsoft each donated $100,000 to the opposition campaign.

Seattle’s new Mayor Katie Wilson, who was a community organizer in both the areas of housing and transportation, credited the Social Housing referendum in 2025 as the reason she joined the race for mayor.

Incumbent Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell was an opponent of the business tax. Wilson said the success of the ballot measure funding the tax Wilson said convinced her to run.

National model

Wilson has called Seattle's program, a national model that can be used in other U.S. cities to increase affordable housing.

At an event in February hosted by social housing advocates, Wilson lauded the program. 

“There is a lot of wealth in the city, and we continue to have one of the most regressive tax systems in the country, in the state,” Wilson said. “And it is very gratifying to know that we’re going to be able to use a little bit of that wealth and put it to work building housing.”

Back in January, the board of the Social Housing Developer fired CEO, Roberto Jimenez just after 18 months after he took the job.

The reason for the firing was not disclosed though some boards were upset that he had not moved to Seattle from Sacramento where he had headed a non-profit housing development corporation. Jimenez could not be reached for comment.

He was replaced by McCoy who had no housing development experience. McCoy was a member of Mayor Wilson’s transition team.

Donald Trump's war of words with Pope Leo has angered some American Catholics, a key voting bloc, who say the US president has gone too far in his criticism of the pontiff.

Trump has clashed with Leo on everything from Iran to immigration and recently dismissed the pontiff as "weak" in an unprecedented personal attack on a pope by a US leader. 

Leo, who was born in Chicago, has said he has a moral duty to speak out against war. 

"For an ignoramus like Trump to try to question the theological outlook of an ordained priest is totally ridiculous," Jim Supp, 88, told AFP outside a church in New York City on Friday. 

Supp was particularly angered by Trump's recent posting of an AI-generated image seemingly depicting himself as a figure like Jesus Christ, which was later deleted. 

"There are certain things in life not to joke about," said the retired classics professor.

For 68-year-old John O'Brian, a former advertising executive, sharing the image was akin to "blasphemy for Christians."

The pope, for his part, has warned of the dangers of AI abuse following Trump's post -- without directly referencing it.

- 'Don't mess with him' -

Traditionally, US presidents have been wary of upsetting American Catholics by speaking out too much against a pope.

But Trump has taken no such caution, despite winning the 2024 election with support from a majority of Catholic voters. 

The war in the Middle East has proved a pinch point, with Leo condemning the president's threat to attack Iranian civilization as "unacceptable."

Trump retaliated by calling the pontiff "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."

The public sparring marks a potential vulnerability for Republicans ahead of November's midterms -- even among more conservative Catholics. 

Anthony Clark, a policy fellow with an anti-abortion group, told AFP outside a Catholic basilica in Washington that he sees Trump as a "very good president" with good intentions. 

"But I think that intentions aren't everything, and I think he can be imprudent at times in what he says or in the way that he approaches especially controversial topics," the 20-year-old added.

Popes, too, typically do not interfere in politics. However, the pontiff's defiance has earned him respect from some. 

"I'm really glad that Pope Leo stood his ground when he said he's not afraid of the administration," Carolina Herrera, 22, said in Washington. 

"You should not mess with the pope, no matter what, don't mess with him."

- 'Very harsh' -

Trump himself is not known to be personally religious. The thrice-married realtor and former television celebrity was raised Presbyterian and rarely attended religious services. 

But since entering politics he has embraced the Christian right. 

Christian conservatives have hailed Trump for helping them achieve their priority -- the end of the nationwide right to abortion, thanks to justices Trump appointed to the Supreme Court.

At a church in Houston, in the Republican heartland state of Texas, some attending midday mass faulted both the president and the pope. 

"I don't think either of them are acting the way they should be acting," said Ann, a white woman in her 70s who did not want to share her last name. 

"I think [the pope] has been very harsh on America," she added. 

"Jesus had a personal message. He did not say presidents, dictators, premiers, kings, could not protect their people and their countries."

Manuel, a 67-year-old Latino, said he simply hopes Trump and the pope will reconcile their differences. 

"Because right now, this is mainly about peace. We need peace in the Middle East," he said. 

bjt/sla

The US Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of oil giant Chevron on Friday in a case that could impact environmental damage lawsuits.

The court, in an 8-0 ruling, said a lawsuit against Chevron over damage done to coastal wetlands in Louisiana through crude oil production during World War II can be moved from state court to federal court.

A state jury in Louisiana ordered Chevron last year to pay $745 million to help restore the wetlands.

Chevron appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the company was acting as a federal contractor to the US military at the time and the case should be heard in federal court and not state court.

The Supreme Court agreed.

"Congress has long authorized federal officers and their agents to remove suits brought against them in state court to federal court," Justice Clarence Thomas said. "This suit implicates acts by Chevron that are closely connected to the performance of its federal duties."

Federal courts have traditionally been less accommodating than state courts to lawsuits seeking to hold fossil fuel producers liable for environmental damage, including that caused by climate change.

In February, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought by oil and gas companies seeking to block climate change lawsuits.

Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy (USA) are appealing a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that a climate change lawsuit filed by the city and county of Boulder, Colorado should be allowed to proceed in state court.

The energy giants argue that such claims should be heard in federal -- not state -- court and that federal environmental laws should apply.

Many of the climate change lawsuits filed against oil and gas giants by state and local authorities are modeled on successful legal actions taken against the tobacco industry in the 1990s.

None have yet gone to trial.

cl/ksb

World Cup fans will have to pay $150 for the 36-mile (58-km) roundtrip train trip between New York and Meadowlands stadium when it hosts eight matches including the final, local officials said Friday. 

Just 40,000 train tickets will be available for each of the games to be played at the New Jersey sports complex, a return rail trip to which is typically just $12.90, officials said at a briefing.

"We are going to charge $150 for our roundtrip ticket on our system. So from New York to MetLife, MetLife back to New York," said Kris Kolluri, the president and CEO of NJ Transit, using another name for the stadium.

After reports first emerged in The Athletic of the plans to charge World Cup fans far in excess of normal fares, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill blamed FIFA for the price hikes.

She pointed to a $48 million bill the state faces to ensure the safety of fans going to the eight games at the MetLife stadium.

"I won't stick New Jersey commuters for that tab for years to come, that's not fair," Sherrill wrote on social media, adding that FIFA stood to make $11 billion at the World Cup.

"So here's the bottom line: Fifa should pay for the rides, but if they don't, I'm not going to let New Jersey commuters get taken for one."

- 'Quite surprised' -

That sentiment was echoed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who wrote on social media on Tuesday that FIFA should foot the bill for transport costs to World Cup venues.

FIFA, which is already facing severe criticism over the sky-high cost of many match ticket prices, issued a strongly-worded statement criticizing the transport price hike.

FIFA said that the original host city agreements "required free transportation for fans to all matches".

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, fans could use the Doha Metro for free with their matchday tickets.

A re-negotiation stipulated that transport would be offered "at cost" on match days, FIFA added.

"We are quite surprised by the NJ Governor's approach on fan transportation," FIFA said.

"The FIFA World Cup will bring millions of fans to North America along with the related economic impact."

It added: "FIFA is not aware of any other major event previously held at NYNJ Stadium, including other major sports, global concert tours, etc., where organizers were required to pay for fan transportation."

New York Governor Kathy Hochul was another to take aim at the reported price hike.

"Charging over $100 for a short train ride sounds awfully high to me," Hochul wrote on X. 

Some $100 million in US federal funding has been allocated to host cities for transit network costs, including $8.7 million for Boston and Massachusetts, and $10.4 million for the New York-New Jersey area, according to local media reports.

pel-gw/ksb

Hollywood's major studios brought their biggest movies to Las Vegas this week for CinemaCon, the annual industry summit that offers insiders a sneak peek at what's coming soon to theaters.

Tom Cruise, Michael B. Jordan, Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks, Zendaya and Timothee Chalamet led the parade of A-listers onto the stage at the Colosseum theater in Caesars Palace, along with directors Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan. 

Attendees caught a glimpse of new trailers, clips and teasers. Here are the highlights from the convention:

- 'The Odyssey' - 

Nolan debuted epic footage from "The Odyssey," his hotly anticipated take on Homer's epic tale -- and his first movie since his Oscar-winning "Oppenheimer."

The clips featured a look at Matt Damon as Odysseus and Charlize Theron as Calypso, as well as the scene when the iconic Trojan Horse is revealed -- which generated major buzz among industry observers.

"Why 'The Odyssey'? 'The Odyssey' is a story that has fascinated generation after generation for 3,000 years," Nolan told the audience at the Universal Pictures event.

"It's not A story. It's THE story," the filmmaker added, explaining that it was a long-time dream to make this adaptation.

Zendaya, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Robert Pattinson also star in the film, which is set for release on July 17.

- 'Disclosure Day' -

Spielberg presented an extended new look at "Disclosure Day," his return to sci-fi and extraterrestrials, a genre he first explored nearly 50 years ago.

Though the Oscar-winning director said he had never seen an unidentified flying object himself, he made "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977) because the phenomenon offered him "a really great story to tell."

"I made 'Disclosure Day' with a lot more certainty that there's more truth than fiction in the movie that you are going to see on June 12."

Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor and Colman Domingo star in a film that forces humanity to contend with evidence that aliens do exist.

Spielberg, who presented the Universal Pictures movie with Domingo, said he'd been extremely selective in what he wanted to reveal at the event.

"This movie is an experience, and all you need to get from the beginning to the end is a seatbelt," he said.

- 'Avengers: Doomsday' -

Disney's Marvel Studios unveiled the first trailer for "Avengers: Doomsday," which will hit US theaters on December 18.

The clip, which earned thunderous applause from the crowd, offered the first look at Robert Downey Jr. as villain Doctor Doom -- a new franchise character for the actor, whose Iron Man died in "Avengers: Endgame."

It also featured scenes with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), whose Captain America had chosen to remain in the past in "Endgame," passing on his shield. It's not clear yet how Cap has returned.

Downey and Evans were on hand to reveal the footage, along with director Joe and Anthony Russo.

"I said I would only come back if there was a real reason," Evans told the crowd.

"And in 'Doomsday', there is a very real reason that these heroes need Steve Rogers."

- 'Dune: Part Three' -

Warner Bros showed the opening minutes of Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Three," which is also set to open on December 18.

"DunesDay" could be the biggest day in movie theaters since "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" debuted simultaneously, creating the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon.

Villeneuve called the final chapter in his sci-fi trilogy -- which takes place 17 years after the end of the last film -- a "thriller -- action-packed, more intense and definitely more emotional."

Chalamet and Zendaya were on hand, along with Jason Momoa, for the presentation. 

Zendaya reflected on the changes that the characters had been through, saying it had been "an unkind few years, and I think there's so much left still to fight for."

- 'Digger' -

Cruise and Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu offered a first look at the comedy "Digger," with the actor virtually unrecognizable as a pot-bellied oil man who ruined the planet and now wants to repair it.

"The movie is wild, it's funny," said Cruise, who received a standing ovation from the packed room at the Warner Bros event.

Inarritu said the role "could possibly be the most challenging" for Cruise, who has been nominated for three Oscars for his acting performances.

"We know that he's fearless -- the stunts, the planes, the jumps -- but I have to say embodying this character, this is another kind of fearless," he said.

pr/sst/sla

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that his country was on the verge of a "new phase" of "permanent agreements", after the 10-day ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war went into force.

In a speech addressing the Lebanese people and hinting at the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group the day after US President Donald Trump announced the truce, Aoun said that his country was no longer "an arena for anyone's wars".

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East conflict on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel to avenge the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel responded by firing waves of strikes on Lebanon and launching a ground offensive, killing nearly 2,300 people and displacing more than a million.

"Now, we all stand before a new phase," Aoun said in his first speech to the nation since the truce.

"It is the phase of transition from working on a ceasefire to working on permanent agreements that preserve the rights of our people, the unity of our land, and the sovereignty of our nation."

He said the Lebanese government had "reclaimed Lebanon and Lebanon's decision-making power for the first time" in nearly half a century.

"Today, we negotiate for ourselves... we are no longer a pawn in anyone's game, nor an arena for anyone's wars, and we never will be again," he said.

Since Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam were sworn in last year, Beirut took several unprecedented decisions against Hezbollah, including a commitment to disarm the group in August after a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end its previous conflict with Israel.

It also banned the group's military acitivites after the start of the most recent war last month.

Hezbollah is the only group to have kept its weapons after the 1975-1990 civil war citing "resistance" against Israel, despite the latter's withdrawal from the country in 2000.

In a country mired by sectarian and political divisions, the Shia group's arms have repeatedly caused internal crises.

- 'Not a concession' -

The president thanked "all those who contributed to achieving the ceasefire", including Saudi Arabia and Trump, who announced the truce on Thursday.

Trump later said he expected Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House "over the next four or five days". 

The ceasefire came days after Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors to the US held a meeting in Washington, the first direct meeting between the two countries in decades, as they have technically been at war since 1948.

Negotiations with Israel is a divisive topic in Lebanon, with some seeing it as a way to end decades of recurring conflicts, while others including Hezbollah and its supporters reject it.

Direct talks with Israel were "not a sign of weakness nor a concession... negotiations do not mean, and will never mean, giving up any right, conceding any principle, or compromising the sovereignty of this nation," Aoun added in his speech.

On May 17, 1983, Lebanon and Israel signed an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon after four-and-a-half months of direct talks with US participation.

The deal was scrapped less than a year later, in March 1984, under pressure from Syria and its allies in Lebanon.

After the 2024 war, Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives met within the framework of a ceasefire monitoring committee.

The two sides also concluded an agreement in 2022 to demarcate their maritime border, brokered by Washington without direct communication.

"I hereby affirm... that there will be no agreement that infringes upon our national rights," Aoun said.

"Our goal is clear: to stop the Israeli aggression against our land and our people, to achieve Israeli withdrawal, to extend the authority of the state over all its territory by its own forces exclusively, and to ensure the return of the prisoners and the return of our people to their homes and villages."

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Detroit are tuning out the naysayers who tip the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks or even fourth-seeded Cleveland to beat the top-seeded Pistons to the NBA Eastern Conference crown.

"Everybody got a right to their own opinion," guard Ausar Thompson said this week as the Pistons prepped for their playoff opener on Sunday.

"We don't really worry about that. We all believe we could not only come out the East but win it all.

"We just focus on that, focus on ourselves and let everybody on the outside say what they've got to say."

The Pistons piled up 60 wins behind an MVP-caliber season from Cade Cunningham.

They topped the East from November on, weathering a string of injuries that included Cunningham's late-season absence with a collapsed lung to finish with the third-best record in the league.

They'll open the playoffs against either Charlotte or Orlando, aiming to improve on their first-round exit at the hands of the Knicks last year.

The Pistons' rise to the top of the East continues a remarkable turnaround from a dismal 14-win 2023-24 campaign.

Their 60 wins are a 16-win improvement on last season, but plenty of pundits believe they're vulnerable, especially with the unexpected late-season return of Jayson Tatum to the Celtics after his recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in last year's playoffs.

"Boston's obviously a good team but we're not concerned about Boston," said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who on Friday was named the NBA Coaches Association's Coach of the Year.

"Our biggest concern is making sure we’re doing what we need to do to go out and be as good as we possibly can.

"Our guys don't live and die by other people's expectations and comments," Bickerstaff added. "Our guys show up and live and die by playing Pistons basketball."

All season Bickerstaff has touted his team's camaraderie and intensity.

They boasted the second-ranked defense in the league and the 10th-ranked offense, but some question whether they can keep the offense firing as teams make defensive adjustments over the course of post-season series.

Big man Isaiah Stewart says the pessimistic prognostications from outside the team only fuel the Pistons.

"I feel like this is what we do," Stewart said. "We've always been underdogs, and we're still hunting. We like that."

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