World News
Bruno Mars owns 2018 Grammy Awards
The 2018 Grammy Awards came off Sunday night, live from New York’s Madison Square Garden with Bruno Mars bagging the top honors of the night. He won Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album and swept the R&B categories as well. Other multiple winners included Kendrick Lemar who swept the rap/hiphop categories, and Ed Sheeran who also owned most of the Pop category. Full winners list from the 2018 Grammy Awards below…
Record of the Year: “24K Magic” — Bruno Mars
Album of the Year: “24K Magic” — Bruno Mars
Song of the Year: “That’s What I Like” — Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus and Jonathan Yip, songwriters (Bruno Mars)
Best New Artist: Alessia Cara
Best Pop Solo Performance: “Shape of You” — Ed Sheeran
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: “Feel It Still” — Portugal. The Man
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90” — Various Artists; Dae Bennett, producer
Best Pop Vocal Album: “÷” — Ed Sheeran
Best Dance Recording: “Tonite” — LCD Soundsystem
Best Dance/Electronic Album: “3-D The Catalogue” — Kraftwerk
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: “Prototype” — Jeff Lorber Fusion
Best Rock Performance: “You Want It Darker” — Leonard Cohen
Best Metal Performance: “Sultan’s Curse” — Mastodon
Best Rock Song: “Run” — Foo Fighters, songwriters
Best Rock Album: “A Deeper Understanding” — The War on Drugs
Best Alternative Music Album: “Sleep Well Beast” — The National
Best R&B Performance: “That’s What I Like” — Bruno Mars
Best Traditional R&B Performance: “Redbone” — Childish Gambino
Best R&B Song: “That’s What I Like” — Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus and Jonathan Yip, songwriters (Bruno Mars)
Best Urban Contemporary Album: “Starboy” — The Weeknd
Best R&B Album: “24K Magic” — Bruno Mars
Best Rap Performance: “HUMBLE.” — Kendrick Lamar
Best Rap/Sung Performance: “LOYALTY.” — Kendrick Lamar featuring Rihanna
Best Rap Song: “HUMBLE.” — K. Duckworth, Asheton Hogan and M. Williams II, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar)
Best Rap Album: “DAMN.” — Kendrick Lamar
Best Country Solo Performance: “Either Way” — Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance: “Better Man” — Little Big Town
Best Country Song: “Broken Halos” — Mike Henderson and Chris Stapleton, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)
Best Country Album: “From a Room: Volume 1” — Chris Stapleton
Best New Age Album: “Dancing on Water” — Peter Kater
Best Improvised Jazz Solo: “Miles Beyond” — John McLaughlin, soloist
Best Jazz Vocal Album: “Dreams and Daggers” — Cécile McLorin Salvant
Best Jazz Instrumental Album: “Rebirth” — Billy Childs
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: “Bringin’ It” — Christian McBride Big Band
Best Latin Jazz Album: “Jazz Tango” — Pablo Ziegler Trio
Best Gospel Performance/Song: “Never Have to Be Alone” — CeCe Winans; Dwan Hill & Alvin Love III, songwriters
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song: “What a Beautiful Name” — Hillsong Worship; Ben Fielding & Brooke Ligertwood, songwriters
Best Gospel Album: “Let Them Fall in Love” — CeCe Winans
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album: “Chain Breaker” — Zach Williams
Best Roots Gospel Album: “Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope” — Reba McEntire
Best Latin Pop Album: “El Dorado” — Shakira
Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album: “Residente” — Residente
Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano): “Arriero Somos Versiones Acústicas” — Aida Cuevas
Best Tropical Latin Album: “Salsa Big Band” — Rubén Blades con Roberto Delgado y Orquesta
Best American Roots Performance: “Killer Diller Blues” — Alabama Shakes
Best American Roots Song: “If We Were Vampires” — Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit)
Best Americana Album: “The Nashville Sound” — Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Best Bluegrass Album: tie, “Laws of Gravity” — The Infamous Stringdusters and “All the Rage — In Concert Volume One” — Rhonda Vincent and the Rage
Best Traditional Blues Album: “Blue & Lonesome” — The Rolling Stones
Best Contemporary Blues Album: “TajMo” — Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’
Best Folk Album: “Mental Illness” — Aimee Mann
Best Regional Roots Music Album: “Kalenda” — Lost Bayou Ramblers
Best Reggae Album: “Stony Hill” — Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley
Best World Music Album: “Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration” — Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Best Children’s Album: “Feel What U Feel” — Lisa Loeb
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books and Storytelling): “The Princess Diarist” — Carrie Fisher
Best Comedy Album: “The Age of Spin/Deep in the Heart of Texas” — Dave Chappelle
Best Musical Theater Album: “Dear Evan Hansen” — Ben Platt, principal soloist; Alex Lacamoire, Stacey Mindich, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, producers; Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, composers/lyricists (original Broadway cast recording)
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media: “La La Land” — Various Artists
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media: “La La Land” — Justin Hurwitz, composer
Best Song Written for Visual Media: “How Far I’ll Go” — Lin-Manuel Miranda, songwriter (Auli’i Cravalho)
Best Instrumental Composition: “Three Revolutions” — Arturo O’Farrill, composer (Arturo O’Farrill and Chucho Valdés)
Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella: “Escapades for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra From ‘Catch Me If You Can’” — John Williams, arranger (John Williams)
Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals: “Putin” — Randy Newman, arranger (Randy Newman)
Best Recording Package: tie, “Pure Comedy (Deluxe Edition)” — Sasha Barr, Ed Steed and Josh Tillman, art directors (Father John Misty) and “El Orisha de la Rosa” — Claudio Roncoli and Cactus Taller, art directors (Magín Díaz)
Best Boxed or Special Limited-Edition Package: “The Voyager Golden Record: 40th Anniversary Edition” — Lawrence Azerrad, Timothy Daly and David Pescovitz, art directors (Various Artists)
Best Album Notes: “Live at the Whisky A Go Go: The Complete Recordings” — Lynell George, writer (Otis Redding)
Best Historical Album: “Leonard Bernstein — The Composer” — Robert Russ, compilation producer; Martin Kistner and Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Leonard Bernstein)
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical: “24K Magic” — Serban Ghenea, John Hanes and Charles Moniz, engineers; Tom Coyne, mastering engineer (Bruno Mars)
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Greg Kurstin
Best Remixed Recording: “You Move (Latroit Remix)” — Dennis White, remixer (Depeche Mode)
Best Surround Sound Album: “Early Americans” — Jim Anderson, surround mix engineer; Darcy Proper, surround mastering engineer; Jim Anderson and Jane Ira Bloom, surround producers (Jane Ira Bloom)
Best Engineered Album, Classical: “Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio” — Mark Donahue, engineer (Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Producer of the Year, Classical: David Frost
Best Orchestral Performance: “Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Barber: Adagio” — Manfred Honeck, conductor (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Best Opera Recording: “Berg: Wozzeck” — Hans Graf, conductor; Anne Schwanewilms and Roman Trekel; Hans Graf and Brad Sayles, producers (Houston Symphony; Chorus of Students and Alumni, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University and Houston Grand Opera Children’s Chorus)
Best Choral Performance: “Bryars: The Fifth Century” — Donald Nally, conductor (PRISM Quartet and The Crossing)
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: “Death & the Maiden” — Patricia Kopatchinskaja and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Best Classical Instrumental Solo: “Transcendental” — Daniil Trifonov
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: “Crazy Girl Crazy” — Barbara Hannigan (Ludwig Orchestra)
Best Classical Compendium: “Higdon: All Things Majestic, Viola Concerto & Oboe Concerto” — Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
Best Contemporary Classical Composition: “Viola Concerto” — Jennifer Higdon, composer (Roberto Díaz, Giancarlo Guerrero and Nashville Symphony)
Best Music Video: “HUMBLE.” — Kendrick Lamar
Best Music Film: “The Defiant Ones” — Various Artists
World News
Meryl Streep Guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the 77th Festival de Cannes
Meryl Streep will be the guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the 77th Festival de Cannes which will take place on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière on Tuesday, May 14. A celebrated figure in American cinema, the American actress will kick-off the upcoming edition which will draw to a close on Saturday, May 25th with the awards’ list given by the President of the Jury, Greta Gerwig.
After Jeanne Moreau, Marco Bellocchio, Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Jane Fonda, Agnès Varda, Forest Whitaker or Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep will receive the Festival’s Honorary Palme d’or. 35 years after winning the Best Actress award for Evil Angels, her only appearance in Cannes to date, Meryl Streep will be making her long-awaited return to the Croisette.
“I am immeasurably honored to receive the news of this prestigious award. To win a prize at Cannes, for the international community of artists, has always represented the highest achievement in the art of filmmaking. To stand in the shadow of those who have previously been honored is humbling and thrilling in equal part. I so look forward to coming to France to thank everyone in person this May!” Meryl Streep stated.
“We all have something in us of Meryl Streep!” Iris Knobloch and Thierry Frémaux said. “We all have something in us of Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, Out of Africa, The Bridges of Madison County, The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia! Because she has spanned almost 50 years of cinema and embodied countless masterpieces, Meryl Streep is part of our collective imagination, our shared love of cinema.”
After her drama studies and initial success on New York City stages, Meryl Streep’s career took off on the big screen in 1978 with The Deer Hunter, starring Robert De Niro. In Michael Cimino’s film, Meryl Streep wrote all her lines to give her character nuance and depth. This marked both her first Oscar nomination — now reaching a record 21 — and her demand to play strong, ambivalent women. For example, when she starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer, she refused to let the film revolve around the male lead and rewrote a crucial monologue. She went on to win her first Oscar, and quickly gained recognition from the audiences and the industry alike.
Meryl Streep uses her intuition and hard work to reinvent herself with every appearance. Even on the scale of a film: in Karel Reisz’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman, she played two roles. In Alan J. Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice, her acting addresses a mother’s inconceivable moral dilemma. For this character, she studied German and Polish to take on the accent — impeccable according to Andrzej Wajda — and won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Sidney Pollack’s unforgettable historical, romantic epic Out of Africa (1985) marked a new turning point, in which she and Robert Redford formed one of cinema’s most legendary couples. Far from confining herself to the register of passionate love, Meryl Streep also ventured into darker characters. In Fred Schepisi’s 1988 Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark), she played a mother accused of infanticide. Her performance earned her the Best Actress Award at the 1989 Festival de Cannes.
In the 1990s, she tried her hand at gritty comedy: she challenged female stereotypes in Mike Nichols’ Postcards from the Edge and Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her. In The Bridges of Madison County, she captured the screen alongside Clint Eastwood in a love story as impossible as it is timeless, that went down in cinema history.
Throughout her career, Meryl Streep has never shied away from publicly denouncing the precarious position of women in the film industry. Aware of the issues surrounding the representation of women in Hollywood movies, and keen to embody all their facets in all their complexity and fragility, Meryl Streep plays a wide variety of roles and genres. After Stephen Daldry’s The Hours and Robert Altman’s The Last Show, it was in two roles as funny as unexpected that she once again made her mark: as the cantankerous editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine in The Devil Wears Prada and Donna, a hippie who marries off her daughter in the musical Mamma Mia! She went on to star in biopics (The Iron Lady, Florence Foster Jenkins, Julie & Julia), political satyres (Lions for Lambs, Pentagon Papers, Don’t Look Up) and family films such as Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig, who serves as President of the Jury at this year’s Festival de Cannes.
Two women, two generations, two aspirations, and the same passion for the Seventh Art, brought together on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière.
World News
Former US Army Servicemember, Sanda G. Frimpong Sentenced to Prison in Money Laundering Romance Scam
Sanda G. Frimpong, 33, was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison and ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution to victims for laundering the illicit proceeds of an elaborate series of romance scams. Frimpong pled guilty to three counts of money laundering on September 14, 2023.
“Romance scammers exploit our most vulnerable citizens, even our seniors and military veterans, sometimes leaving them financially and emotionally devastated,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “The fact that an Army servicemember was involved in romance scams while serving as a soldier is appalling. We are partnering with the Department of Defense to drum out fraudsters and money launderers like Frimpong from our military ranks and put them in prison where they belong.”
“Integrity is a core tenet of the armed forces and when servicemembers choose to compromise their integrity for greed, it tarnishes the reputation of all others serving in uniform,” stated Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Mid-Atlantic Field Office. “DCIS and its law enforcement partners will continue to work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to hold those accountable who cheat government programs and use online scams to prey on the most vulnerable.”
Frimpong and other conspirators, engaged in elaborate scams, impersonating romantic love interests, diplomats, customs personnel, military personnel, and other fictitious personas for the purpose of ensnaring their victims by earning their confidence, including promises of romance, sharing of an inheritance or other riches, or other scenarios intended to fraudulently induce the victims to provide money or property to the conspirators. Frimpong then laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds of these frauds through his various bank accounts across state lines and through his contacts in Ghana. Frimpong was also an active-duty Army servicemember stationed at Fort Bragg during the commission of the offenses up until shortly after his arrest in 2023.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III announced the sentence. Defense Criminal Investigative Service led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Beraka prosecuted the case.
Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:23-CR-0035-D.
World News
US Army Major Kojo Owusu Dartey Found Guilty After He Smuggled Guns to Ghana in Blue Barrels of Rice and Home Goods
US Army Major Kojo Owusu Dartey, 42, was convicted for smuggling firearms to Ghana in blue barrels disguised as containing rice and household goods.
The incident, which took place in April 2024, has sparked widespread discussion on social media platforms. Dartey, involved in a marriage fraud scheme, faces a maximum sentence of 240 months and is scheduled for sentencing on July 23, 2024. The case has raised questions about the motives behind the smuggling and the potential implications for national security.
A US Army Major, Kojo Owusu Dartey, known for his role in the US special forces, has been found guilty of smuggling firearms to Ghana hidden in blue barrels of rice and household goods.
The 42-year-old is facing a maximum sentence of 240 months and awaits sentencing on July 23,… pic.twitter.com/o28I3wZOKd
— EDHUB🌍ℹ (@eddie_wrt) April 30, 2024
A federal jury convicted a United States Army Major, currently assigned to Fort Liberty, on charges of dealing in firearms without a license, delivering firearms without notice to the carrier, smuggling goods from the United States, illegally exporting firearms without a license, making false statements made to an agency of the United States, making false declarations before the court, and conspiracy. Kojo Owusu Dartey, age 42, faces a maximum penalty of 240 months when sentenced on July 23, 2024.
Read Also: Abena Korkor says she’s found love in a bipolar American army officer
“We are partnering with law enforcement agencies across the globe to expose international criminals – from money launderers to rogue international arms traffickers capable of fueling violence abroad,” said U.S Attorney Michael Easley. “Through a partnership with Ghanaian officials, this rogue Army Major was convicted at trial after smuggling guns to Ghana in blue barrels of rice and household goods. I want to thank the Ghana Revenue Authority and the International Cooperation Unit Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana for their assistance in the investigation. I also commend the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attachés to U.S. Embassy Accra and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs of the Department’s Criminal Division for their significant assistance to this prosecution.”
“Far from being a victimless crime, firearms trafficking threatens public safety across our nation and beyond,” said Toni M. Crosby, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Baltimore Field Division. “The Baltimore Field Division is proud to partner with the Ghana Revenue Authority and ATF’s Charlotte and Louisville Field Divisions for this investigation, which has kept firearms off the streets — preventing them from being used in any number of killings and other crimes — and ended this international firearm trafficking scheme.”
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, between June 28 and July 2, 2021, Dartey purchased seven firearms in the Fort Liberty area and tasked a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to purchase three firearms there and send them to Dartey in North Carolina. Dartey then hid all the firearms, including multiple handguns, an AR15, 50-round magazines, suppressors, and a combat shotgun inside blue barrels underneath rice and household goods and smuggled the barrels out of the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, on a container ship to the Port of Tema in Ghana. The Ghana Revenue Authority recovered the firearms and reported the seizure to the DEA attaché in Ghana and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division. At the same time, Dartey was a witness in the trial of U.S. v. Agyapong. A case that involved a 16-defendant marriage fraud scheme between soldiers on Fort Liberty and foreign nationals from Ghana that Dartey had tipped off officials to. In preparation for the trial, Dartey lied to federal law enforcement about his sexual relationship with a defense witness and lied on the stand and under oath about the relationship.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted the verdict. The ATF, Army Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Diaz prosecuted it with technical assistance from David Ryan, DOJ Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
World News
Ex-UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou announces death of his 15-month-old son
Former UFC champion Francis Ngannou announced the death of his 15-month-old son Kobe on Monday. (more…)
World News
Iraqi TikTok star Om Fahad shot dead outside Baghdad home
Iraqi social media influencer Om Fahad has been shot dead outside her home in Baghdad, according to local media reports. (more…)
World News
Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi sentenced to death for protesting
Iranian Dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi has been given a death sentence for his involvement in the widespread protests that swept Iran in 2022, according to his lawyer. (more…)
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