Megan Thee Stallion ‘matters,’ says DA at Tory Lanez trial

LOS ANGELES – A California prosecutor told jurors Wednesday that hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion would never have subjected herself to the torrent of public abuse she’s received if she wasn’t telling the truth about rapper Tory Lanez shooting her in the feet and wounding her in the summer of 2020. Deputy District Attorney Alexander … Read more

Netflix plans $900M facility at former New Jersey Army base

Netflix said Wednesday it plans to build a state-of-the-art production facility at a former Army base at the Jersey Shore that will cost more than $900 million, and create thousands of jobs. The subscription video streaming company will pay $55 million for a 292-acre site on the former Fort Monmouth military base in Eatontown and … Read more

An Iranian masterwork opens with its director behind bars

NEW YORK – After being arrested for creating antigovernment propaganda in 2010, the Iranian director Jafar Panahi was banned from making films for 20 years. Since then, he’s made five widely acclaimed features. His latest, “No Bears,” opens soon in U.S. theaters while Panahi is in prison. In July, Panahi went to the Tehran prosecutor’s … Read more

Chance the Rapper to bring free concert, festival to Ghana

LOS ANGELES – When Chance the Rapper visited West Africa earlier this year, he initially thought his trip with fellow Chicago hip-hop artist Vic Mensa would be just another vacation getaway. Instead, the Grammy winner connected with Mensa’s father’s family in Ghana and other natives from the Motherland on a deeper level. He saw Ghana’s … Read more

Weinstein dodges sentencing enhancement, faces 18 years

LOS ANGELES – Harvey Weinstein faces a shorter prison sentence in California after a Los Angeles jury failed to reach a verdict on whether the disgraced mogul planned his attack on a woman he was convicted of raping. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench declared a mistrial on the issue Tuesday after the panel … Read more

Tennis ace Boris Becker recalls prison loneliness, friends

BERLIN – Tennis great Boris Becker tearfully recounted the moment the door of his single-occupancy cell at Britain’s notorious Wandsworth prison closed for the first time, speaking publicly after serving eight months for bankruptcy offenses. “It was the loneliest moment I’ve ever had in life,” Becker said in an interview with German broadcaster SAT.1 that … Read more