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Biden expanding summer food program for 34M schoolchildren

The Biden administration is expanding a program to feed up to 34 million schoolchildren during the summer months. The expanded program uses funds from the coronavirus relief package approved in March. The Agriculture Department is announcing Monday it will continue through the summer a payments program that replaced school meals because the pandemic left many children with virtual classes. Families of eligible children would receive $6.82 per child for each weekday. That adds up to $375 per child over the summer months. The program reflects the Biden administration’s attempts to nearly stamp out child poverty. Conservative critics say the spending, if made permanent, could undermine the willingness of poorer Americans to work.

Analysis: A reckoning on racism? Not for many leaders of GOP

If the nation is in the midst of a historic racial reckoning, the Republican Party is not a willing participant. As African Americans celebrated last week’s murder conviction of the police officer who killed George Floyd, Republicans in Washington focused most of their energy on condemning the longest-serving Black woman in Congress. In the days since, former President Donald Trump attacked what he called the “racist rants” of Black basketball icon Lebron James. And Republican state lawmakers across the nation pushed forward with new voting restrictions that disproportionately affect people of color and resisted legislation designed to prevent police brutality.

Leaked recording of Iran's top diplomat offers blunt talk

A recording of Iran’s foreign minister offering a blunt appraisal of diplomacy and the limits of power within the Islamic Republic has leaked out publicly. It's providing a rare look inside the country’s theocracy. The release of the comments by the minister set off a firestorm within the Islamic Republic. In Iran, officials carefully mind their words amid a cut-throat political environment that includes the powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that's ultimately overseen by the country’s supreme leader. The foreign minister has been suggested as a possible candidate for Iran’s June 18 presidential election as well. The leak also comes amid talks in Vienna about Iran's tattered nuclear deal. 

China mutes reaction to Zhao's Oscars as S. Korea lauds Youn

Chloé Zhao’s history-making Oscars sweep, winning best director and best picture, is being met with a muted response in her country of birth, and even censorship. Zhao’s “Nomadland” is the second film directed by a woman to win a best picture Oscar. She is the first woman of color and second woman ever to win the Oscars for best director. Yet, in China, where Zhao was born, her history-making success has not been trumpeted. State media in China remained silent with only old mentions of the Oscars themselves. In contrast, South Korea’s Youn Yuh-jung was being celebrated for her best supporting actress win.

Curry sets NBA record for 3-pointers in a month with 85

Stephen Curry scored 37 points and set an NBA record for 3-pointers in a month at 85, leading the Golden State Warriors past the Sacramento Kings 117-113. Kelly Oubre Jr.’s jumper with 1:42 left put Golden State ahead 112-111 before Richaun Holmes missed two free throws at the 1:25 mark, then Draymond Green scored moments later. Curry shot 11 of 21 with seven more 3-pointers after the two-time MVP rolled his right ankle during Friday’s win against Denver but didn’t consider it serious or seem hobbled. His April total surpassed James Harden’s NBA record of 82 in November 2019. 

Oscar moments: History, glamour ... and what a weird ending

It may have been the most abrupt ending since that cut-to-black final shot of “The Sopranos.” TV audiences expecting an emotional finale crowning the late Chadwick Boseman as best actor were left to ponder a huge upset, an absent winner, and a quick “see ya” from the Oscars. It was one more unusual moment in the most unusual of  Oscar telecasts. Some of it was good: red-carpet glamour was back. And though some nominees weren’t able to attend in person, it was truly heartening to see those who were. The nominees represented a huge advance in diversity, but one oft-predicted outcome was not meant to be: a sweep of the acting categories by actors of color.

Bay Area Buzzsaws: Athletics, Giants off to fine starts

Bay Area baseball is off to some start this season. The Oakland Athletics reeled off 13 straight wins and lead the AL West, even after their run was snapped by Baltimore on Sunday. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants have quietly played pretty well themselves. Although the Dodgers and Padres have received more attention in the NL West, the Giants are second in that division at 14-8 — the same record as the A’s.

Youn Yuh-jung wins best supporting actress Academy Award

Youn Yuh-jung, the feisty grandmother in “Minari,” has won the best supporting actress award at the Oscars. She’s the second Asian actress to win in the category, more than six decades after Japanese-born Miyoshi Umeki earned the trophy for 1957’s “Sayonara.” The first Korean woman to be nominated for an Oscar, Youn’s victory comes one year after academy voters snubbed the South Korean cast of best picture winner “Parasite.” Youn plays Soon-ja, a card-playing grandmom with a knack for swearing, who’s moved from Korea to join her daughter and son-in-law in his seemingly quixotic quest to trade dispiriting work in California for farming in Arkansas. 

ICU nurse finds inspiration in Curry's motivational verse

Shelby Delaney, an ICU nurse, has depended on Stephen Curry’s “I Can Do All Things” go-to motivational verse so many times over the years. It is written inside the No. 30 jersey of Curry’s that she has worn beneath her scrubs day after day to get through each daunting moment of the pandemic.  Last spring, Curry made a FaceTime call to Delaney and her colleagues at Oakland’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. Delaney had it on again as she and husband Robert Crowley sat on the floor for Golden State’s game against Sacramento. A season ticket holder who couldn’t attend gifted them the seats.

'Another Round' wins best international film at the Oscars

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After his film “Another Round” won the best international feature Oscar, director Thomas Vinterberg wiped away tears while dedicating part of his acceptance speech to his late daughter who died a couple years ago. “We ended…

Daniel Kaluuya wins supporting actor, his 1st Oscar

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Daniel Kaluuya used a lead role to win a best supporting actor Oscar. He’ll take it. Kaluuya won his first Academy Award on Sunday night for playing one of the two title roles in “Judas and…

LEADING OFF: Braves try to do better with bats, Burnes tough

Limited to a total of one hit in an entire doubleheader, Freddie Freeman and the Braves try to do better with the bats when they begin a set against the Cubs. Freeman got Atlanta’s only hit in Sunday’s pair of seven-inning shutouts by Arizona. He singled in the sixth off Zac Gallen in the opener, then Madison Bumgarner pitched a no-hitter in the second game. Bumgarner’s gem won’t go into the official list of Major League Baseball no-hitters — MLB’s eight-man committee on statistical accuracy decided in 1991 that a no-hitter was a game of nine or more innings that ended with no hits.

Review: Not quite a movie, but the Oscars were a love letter

The 93rd Oscars had an impossible checklist: Revitalize the format, celebrate the movies, bring back awards show glamour, avoid a ratings disaster, get audiences excited about going back to the movies and put on a pandemic-safe show in person and without Zoom. It’s a big haul, not to mention the non-pandemic fact that the only thing that had gotten more predictable than the Oscars was people criticizing the Oscars. Associated Press Film Writer Lindsey Bahr writes that it was a show made for people who love learning about movies. And while it may have been the most successful pandemic awards show, Bahr hopes it's also the last.

Regina King reacts to Chauvin verdict in Oscars opening

Actor and director Regina King opened the 2021 Oscars with frank talk about racial injustice, setting a tone for several others after a year of mourning and protest. King talked about the guilty verdict at Derek Chauvin's trial, saying if the police officer hadn't been convicted of killing George Floyd, she may have traded her “heels for marching boots.” Tyler Perry used his speech accepting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to speak out against racial hatred. And best live action short co-director Travon Free wore a jacket lined with the names of Black people killed by police. 

Padres rally from late 6-run deficit, beat Dodgers 8-7 in 11

Fernando Tatís Jr. scored on Eric Hosmer’s sacrifice fly in the 11th inning and the San Diego Padres rallied from a late six-run deficit for an 8-7 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Manny Machado delivered the tying RBI single in the ninth inning for the Padres, who claimed their third win in this dramatic four-game series between Southern California rivals in appropriately theatrical fashion. San Diego trailed 7-1 entering the seventh, but scored two runs in each of the next three innings. Chris Taylor hit a three-run homer and pinch-hitter Sheldon Neuse also homered during a five-run sixth inning by the Dodgers.

Keselowski claims 6th win at Talladega with overtime pass

Brad Keselowski did it exactly right this time and finally got that last-lap victory, winning in overtime Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Keselowski is the ninth driver to win through 10 NASCAR Cup races this season and avenged the embarrassing Team Penske gaffe in the season-opening Daytona 500 when he and teammate Joey Logano triggered a last-lap crash as Keselowski tried to pass Logano for the victory.  Keselowski led just one lap, the last one. 

Frances McDormand a double Oscar winner for 'Nomadland'

Frances McDormand has two more Oscars. She may hang on to them a little more tightly. McDormand won the Academy Award for best actress for her performance in “Nomadland.” The movie also won best picture and McDormand collected a trophy as a producer. She won best actress honors in 2018 for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” That Oscar was stolen at the post-show Governors Ball, though it was quickly recovered. McDormand's first best actress win came in 1996 for “Fargo.”  McDormand won over front-runner Carey Mulligan of “Promising Young Woman” and Viola Davis of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Andra Day of “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” and Vanessa Kirby of “Pieces of a Woman” were first-time nominees.

Chloé Zhao makes history with best director Oscar win

Chloé Zhao has made history at the Academy Awards. Zhao won the Oscar for best director for “Nomadland,” becoming just the second woman and the first woman of color to win the award. This was the only year in Oscar history with two female nominees, Zhao and “Promising Young Woman” director Emerald Fennell. Only seven women have ever been nominated. Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win, for “The Hurt Locker,” in 2009. It was the first Oscar for the 39-year-old Zhao, who was born in Beijing and went to college and film school in the United States. “Nomadland” was her third feature.    

Glenn Close knows all about 'Da Butt' in Oscars' game

The premise was simple at the Oscars. Questlove plays a song and a chosen celebrity had to guess if the tune was ever nominated for or won an Oscar. The trivia game was run by “Judas and the Black Messiah” actor Lil Rel Howery towards the end of the live show. When Howery called on Close, E.U.’s “Da Butt” played for a few seconds. Howery expressed doubt that Close would know the song, but she proved him wrong. In what was surely a scripted moment, Close knew the song’s name, who wrote it, what movie it was in, the backstory on why it wasn’t nominated — and then thrilled viewers by performing the dance on live television.

Asian shares advance after gains on Wall Street

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares opened higher in Asia on Monday after a strong finish last week on Wall Street. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai all started out with modest gains and U.S. futures also edged higher. Oil prices slipped.…

A complete list of all the winners at the 2021 Oscars

Daniel Kaluuya, Chloé Zhao, Emerald Fennell and the film “Another Round” were among the winners at Sunday's Academy Awards. Kaluuya won the trophy for best supporting actor for his work in “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Zhao won for directing “Nomadland.” Fennell won for writing the screenplay for “Promising Young Woman.” “Another Round” from Denmark won best international film. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” won for both costume design and makeup and hairstyling. The sound award went to “Sound of Metal,” while the best animated short film went to “If Anything Happens I Love You.”

'My Octopus Teacher' wins the Oscar for best documentary

“My Octopus Teacher,” the tale of an eight-limbed creature and her human companion, has won the Oscar for best documentary. Ten years in the making, “My Octopus Teacher” began as a personal video project by South African filmmaker Craig Foster to rekindle his connection with nature by observing an inquisitive female mollusk while free-diving near Cape Town. The film became a sleeper hit, earning a Directors Guild of America nomination, then an Oscar nod, a BAFTA award and was named top documentary at the  Producers Guild of America Awards. For the Oscar, “My Octopus Teacher” beat out “Collective,” “Crip Camp,” “The Mole Agent” and “Time.” 

Bumgarner pitches 7-inning no-hitter, Arizona sweeps Braves

Madison Bumgarner threw a seven-inning no-hitter, an achievement that won’t count in the Major League Baseball record book but completed a dominant day of Arizona Diamondbacks pitching for a 7-0 win over the Atlanta Braves and a doubleheader sweep. After Zac Gallen threw a one-hitter to win the opener 5-0, Bumgarner did even better. Bumgarner casually shook hands with catcher Carson Kelly after the final out. Then the rest of the Diamondbacks joined in with the tall left-hander and the celebration livened up around the mound. Officially, Bumgarner’s gem won’t count in the list of no-hitters. MLB’s eight-man committee on statistical accuracy decided in 1991 that a no-hitter was a game of nine or more innings that ended with no hits.

Aussies Leishman and Smith win Zurich Classic in a playoff

Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman outlasted Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel to win the Zurich Classic in a playoff that capped a tight and tense final round Sunday. Smith and Leishman won with a par on their second trip up the par-5 18th after Oosthuizen pushed his tee shot into the water and narrowly missed an 11-foot putt for par. The Australians forced the playoff by shooting a 2-under 70 in alternate-shot play at the PGA Tour’s lone regular-season team event. Oosthuizen and Schwartzel began the round with a one-stroke lead, but shot a 71 with three pars and two bogeys.