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Oscar ratings fall 9% in Conan O’Brien’s second year hosting

(AP) — The Oscars draw fewer TV viewers this year, even as the show stays a major live event. On Tuesday, Disney said 17.9 million people watched Sunday’s ceremony which was broadcast live on ABC and streamed on Hulu. That is a 9% drop from last year’s 19.7 million. The show featured a faceoff between two Warner Bros. films, “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners.”

Musk: Who’s afraid of a trillionaire?

Early this year, we learned that Elon Musk may become the first trillionaire in world history. My friends on the left of the political spectrum have been fuming about this story as the ultimate example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting crumbs. When I appeared on “Real Time with Bill Maher” not long ago, Bill questioned me about the prospect of Musk becoming a trillionaire. “Isn’t that excessive?” he asked. Similar questions about the super wealthy have been asked throughout American history. The first multimillionaire, John Jacob Astor, amassed his fortune ...

‘Evil meat’ activists

Do you eat steak? You’re killing the planet! So say climate activists. Silly media agree: Vox warns that beef is the “worst thing we eat when it comes to global warming.” The World Economic Forum, which says it’s “committed to improving the state of the world,” released a video promoting a future where “you’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy. You’ll eat much less meat.” How does meat threaten the climate? Cows give off methane — a greenhouse gas. “Cow flatulence,” says Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on MSNBC, “it actually is an ...

Luigi Mangione’s lawyers seek to delay his state and federal trials

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione’s lawyers asked a judge on Wednesday to postpone his federal trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson until early next year and said they will seek to have his state murder trial delayed until September. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett, Mangione’s lawyers said that the current schedule — the state trial in June and the federal trial in September — would put him “in the position of needing to prepare for two complicated and serious trials at the same time.” They asked Garnett to delay the federal trial ...

Official says Iran’s regime still intact but refuses to discuss talks with Trump about war

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government’s top intelligence official told lawmakers Wednesday that Iran’s regime “appears to be intact but largely degraded” yet repeatedly dodged questions about whether President Donald Trump had been warned about the fallout from the weeks-old war, including Iran’s attacks on Gulf nations and its effective closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, also stated in prepared remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee that U.S. attacks on Iran last year had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear ...

Mullin makes his case as a steady hand for DHS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Markwayne Mullin, the White House pick for homeland security secretary, made a case to fellow senators Wednesday that he would be a steady hand for a department roiled by controversy under Kristi Noem, but signaled he would follow President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration priorities and pushed back on concerns over his temperament for the Cabinet post. The Oklahoma Republican faced questions from members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about his vision for a department tasked with carrying out the Republican ...