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las vegas circus soleil When the sing-along screenings of “ Wicked ” go down beginning Christmas Day, I’ll be there — but not because I have any intention of personally raising my voice in song. (Or maybe I’ll join in just with Dr. Dillamond, the goat professor, whose glottal peculiarities probably come closest to the sounds I could produce.) I do have a natural curiosity about what luck a full house of fans will have in singing along with musical-theater songs this sophisticated... this full of stops and starts and sudden shifts from major to minor chords. There’ll surely be some trained singers and actors filling the AMC seats who can keep up with these tunes. For the rest of us, there may come a realization: I’m not that girl , and probably neither are you. So what other reason is there to look forward to the official multiplex sing-alongs, if not, like, singing along? That’s easy: the subtitles. Which is to say: The songs in “Wicked” are so good — some of the best that musical theater has ever produced, to my mind — that there’s a benefit in enjoying a setting that allows you to focus in on the songcraft without having your attention waylaid by all the visual distractions the film is very understandably providing. As a 20-year aficionado of “Wicked” as a show, my only problem with “Wicked” as a movie is how director John Chu and editor Myron Kerstein are sometimes redirecting our attention to something else charming or dazzling that’s happening on screen, when what I most want is two-and-a-half hours of nonstop closeups of Ariana Grande or Cynthia Erivo delivering classic lyrics. This isn’t a serious complaint, on my part; I get that it’s a movie musical. But I’ll be pleased to see every one of lyrics popping up on the bottom of cinema screens, come Dec. 25. Because for a select subset of “Wicked” fans, the star isn’t really Erivo or Grande, grand as they both are — it’s Stephen Schwartz . Of course, there is a way to have the crux of the experience I’m anticipating without waiting for Christmas. It’s to stream or buy “ Wicked: The Soundtrack ” while settling in at Genius.com or some other lyric site to follow the bouncing ball, as it were. Even if you feel like you’ve gotten the basic grist of the lyrics through the theatrical presentation, there’s a lot of richness and nuance that’s easy to miss amid the cross-cutting, CGI, razzle-dazzle and diva-ness of it all. The album puts a further exclamation point on Schwartz’s rare brilliance as both melodist and lyricist, a la Sondheim. It’s not heresy to say that Schwartz feels like a populist Sondheim with what he did with “Wicked.” The whole score is dark, convoluted, unwieldy and subversive ... and if it sometimes comes out as something that feels to people like bubblegum, that’s just further testifies to the massiveness of the accomplishment. The first and most basic thing to say about the soundtrack is that they didn’t blow it. You don’t have to use too much of your imagination to think about how a score like this could have been egregiously updated. (Raise your hand if you imagined for a second that the Ozdust Ball could have adopted an EDM beat for a few bars. It does not.) With Schwartz himself co-producing the album with Greg Wells (“Greatest Showman”) and original music-director/arranger Stephen Oremus, it simply sounds like what the legit version would if it had something like double the pit size. And for a young audience of budding theater kids, it’s going to open them up for good (no pun intended) to the sound as well as form of traditional Broadway, even with content that might feel to them as fresh as a combination of Taylor Swift and today’s headlines. There’s not much that Grande and Erivo do that doesn’t squarely follow the template established by Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel two decades ago. But their vocal performances still manage to sound surprising in small and important ways. The epic opening number, “No One Mourns the Wicked,” allows Grande to run a hell of a gamut — foretelling the moments of both dumb-blonde comedy and operatic tragedy she’ll get to hit thoughout the duration of the score. I knew she could go high-and-nasal in the pursuit of mirth (hey, I saw “Sam & Cat”), but hearing her repeat the completely ironic line “Good news” at full Sarah Brightman sopranic strength is an immediate tip-off she’ll be nailing the full range of stuff to come, too. Erivo takes longer to fully prove herself, by design. Actually, she holds back enough that it’s not till halfway through “Defying Gravity” that it feels like she’s giving it her full belt. Even though the movie has already given her “The Wizard and I” as a showstopper a whole lot earlier than that, Erivo seems to be holding just a little of her full power in reserve, for the moment when she’s fully awakened. The brilliance of those songs as first-act twins is that “The Wizard and I” is a classic “I want” song, whereas “Gravity” has to go above and beyond it as — literally — an I don’t want song. Erivo and those working with her on the vocals have been wise here: You’ve got to hold a little back, even if it’s just 5%, when you have probably the greatest middle-finger number in Broadway history on the horizon. While we all wait for that, what pleasures Erivo provides in some of the build-up numbers, by having lots of low-ley, conversational and even naïve-sounding vocal moments that establish her as a lovable innocent before she’s a righteously pissed goddess. Having just reaffirmed the case for “Defying Gravity” as an all-time corker, which Erivo delivers flawlessly, is it weird to say that I reserve an even slightly greater fondness for her tender rendition of “I’m Not That Girl”? Even if it is, here’s making the case for “I’m Not That Girl” as “Wicked’s” sleeper song, the one that’s never going to be as uber-popular as... well, you know, but will knock you down flat if you hear it at the right, forlorn time in your life. Its mid-first-act stage placement, or mid-movie here, marks it as a time-passer for some people, close to completely un-integral when it comes to advancing the plot. By Schwartz’s standards, it’s simple and un-ambitious, being the only song in the entire score without a single key change, let alone multiples. It’s also the only one that doesn’t include the slightest bit of narrative information, interpolations of other themes, or any other complicating factors keeping it from being a stand-alone. And standing alone is what it’s about, all right. You don’t even have to be a Swiftie to bask in the emo grief of lines like “Don’t wish, don’t start / Wishing only wounds the heart.” Playing this ballad for all the gentle fatalism it’s worth, Erivo is 100% That Girl. Other songs bear singling out. Jonathan Bailey does a fine job of sliding down the surface of things with “Dancing Through Life,” which — in one of “Wicked’s” many usurpings of expectations — seems to be setting Fiyero up to be a Gaston- or Prince Hans-style hunk-villain. Before that rug gets pulled to give him his humanity, he gives callow a good name. And “Life’s more painless for the brainless” (and the follow-up “thoughtless/fraughtless” coupling) would be a good line even if Schwartz weren’t foreshadowing his fate in the next act/movie. The revolving library sets during this sequence are a marvel of production design, but another example of how badly you need to hear the soundtrack on its own to catch every bit of the lyrics’ amusing nihilism. “What Is This Feeling?” delivers two things everyone wants: it’s a patter song, or as close to one as “Wicked” gets — and, more important, it’s the first chance to see how well Grande and Erivo harmonize as frenemies, before the much heavier vocal pas de deux they do in debating the merits of “Defying Gravity.” (Spoiler alert ahead.) Then, the originators of that song, Menzel and Chenoweth, show up in new verses Schwartz has penned to afford them a celebrated cameo in “One Short Day.” Schwartz’s all-new additional compositions won’t come till Part 2, but the interstitial bit he added here offers a good omen for bigger musical surprises in a year. “Popular” has that overt Ronald Reagan allusion that everybody picked up on when the show first opened, but that few newcomers to the song probably would now, 20 years later — the reference to “Great Communicators,” who come up for mention by Galinda as being more powerful than bright. It’s just a passing bit of political subtext, embedded almost unnoticeably in the frothiest number, a joke that already had a little dust on it when it first appeared, while everyone’s focused on Ariana Grande being pretty — and pretty spectacular — in pink. But the opening and closing numbers of Part 1 of “Wicked”? This is music that’s so inherently political, these bookends practically count as protest songs. “Defying Gravity” is a paean to activism, as Glinda and Elphaba debate and then sorrowfully settle their differences across the complacency/risk divide. Here, it’s as deeply moving and stirring as ever — a song for anyone who ever had to make the conscious decision in life to take the red pill and deal with the consequences, or admired someone else who did. Yet the song that always gets me the most is the one that’s almost innocuously hidden in plain sight right at the outset: “No One Mourns the Wicked.” On first listen, it feels like a standard, fairly innocuous musical scene-setter, even if, watching the film, that Wicker Woman being set up for burning does look ominious. On second or third listen, and beyond, it can feel devastating. Schwartz and his collaborators are framing the story with an Oz that is populated by an angry, self-righteous, deluded and even bloodthirsty mob... led by a woman who is going along with the great lie, in hopes of eventually rebuilding a land that fell into genocide and fascism under corrupt leadership. Light-hearted holiday fare to let us forget all about America’s problems, right? It’s in “No One Mourns the Wicked” that we get the score at its most haunting, with a cast of seeming thousands calling for retribution while Grande rolls through piercing high notes, pretending to put her approving stamp on the national travesty before her. If this doesn’t give you a chill, you’re not really listening. But who is, at the beginning of a film, as coats and popcorn are still being shuffled and a movie has barely begun to reveal its cards? That’s one more way in which “Wicked: The Soundtrack” becomes an essential post-movie listen, to really take in all the groundwork Schwartz and company have laid in foreshadowing what is actually at least as much a sociopolitical tragedy as a fantasy musical-comedy. It’s the ability to encompass all these elements, so masterfully, that makes “Wicked” not just the greatest song score of our time (or at least tied with “Hamilton” for that) but one of the greats of all time. And listen, if you just want to forego the darker, societally allegorical stuff and just spin “Popular” over and over and over again until you’ve worn the grooves off the stream, that’s OK, too. We’ve all been there. And thanks to how well Erivo and Grande deliver this material, we’ll stay in that female-friendship-trumps- everything mode a lot longer. See you at the sing-along.The Liberal candidate in a federal byelection in British Columbia says she is applying for Métis membership after a local group questioned her claims of Indigenous identity. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * The Liberal candidate in a federal byelection in British Columbia says she is applying for Métis membership after a local group questioned her claims of Indigenous identity. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? The Liberal candidate in a federal byelection in British Columbia says she is applying for Métis membership after a local group questioned her claims of Indigenous identity. Madison Fleischer says in a written statement that she self-identifies as Métis based on what she knows about her great-grandmother’s heritage and is “collecting the necessary documentation to go through the application process” for citizenship with B.C.’s Métis Nation. In the meantime, Fleischer, who is the candidate in the Dec. 16 byelection in Cloverdale-Langley City, says she has removed “Métis” from her social media profile descriptions to ensure there is “no confusion” about her Indigenous status. Her response comes after the Waceya Métis Society — which describes itself as a chartered community representing Métis people in the Langley and White Rock regions of B.C.’s Lower Mainland — said in a release that it “wishes to distance itself from Madison’s claims of Métis identity.” The society says it met with Fleischer over the weekend to discuss her claims of Métis identity but was “disappointed that she could not provide any evidence to support her Métis heritage.” The attention on Fleischer comes after Edmonton Centre Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault left cabinet last week amid questions about his shifting claims of Indigenous heritage and his business dealings. In her statement, Fleischer says she has “always been vocal about not yet holding Métis Nation British Columbia citizenship.” The Waceya Métis Society says it has asked Fleischer to “properly research and verify her Indigenous heritage before making any further public assertions.” Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. “In this meeting, Madison was unable to substantiate her claims with any documentation or historical connections to Métis communities,” the society says about their Nov. 23 meeting with Fleischer. “The integrity of Métis identity is not to be taken lightly, especially in public office, where the representation of our community must be accurate, respectful, and legitimate.” Cloverdale-Langley City was previously held by Liberal John Aldag, who resigned to run for MLA with the B.C. New Democrats. Aldag was defeated by B.C. Conservative candidate Harman Bhangu in the Langley-Abbotsford seat in the Oct. 19 provincial election. Fleischer, whose Liberal party biography calls her a small-business owner who operates a public relations firm in Langley, is going up against candidates including federal Conservative Tamara Jansen, who held the seat from 2019 to 2021 before losing a close race to Aldag. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2024. Advertisement AdvertisementPutri Rafidah stresses that every prized piece manufactured by Mariwasa is a symbol of an individual’s contributions and services to the nation and the community, and awarded only to those deemed worthy. — Bernama photo PUTRI Rafidah Megat Noh beams with pride and satisfaction each time she looks at the gleaming honorary medals proudly adorned by recipients during an investiture ceremony. She has every reason to feel that way as the decorations are produced by her company Mariwasa Kraftangan Sdn Bhd, designed and crafted by her team of dedicated artisans. Their skilled workmanship is evident in the smallest detail etched into each medal right up to the perfectly finished product. This is why Putri Rafidah feels frustrated whenever she comes across reports of individuals receiving fake titles or awards through improper channels. “The honorary medals (conferred during investiture ceremonies) are not easy to produce and are not meant for just any person. “They are symbols of individuals’ contributions and services to the nation and their communities, and awarded only to those deemed worthy,” said the Mariwasa chief executive officer (CEO) during an interview with Bernama at its factory in Kuala Kangsar recently. Two factories Putri Rafidah said Mariwasa was set up in 1975 and was taken over by Megat Mohamad Abdul Wahab Megat Abu Bakar – the current owner of the company – 10 years later when the company ran into financial problems. Megat Mohamad Abdul Wahab managed to turn the company around after receiving orders for honorary medals and decorations from the federal and state governments. Mariwasa, now a leading manufacturer of awards and decorations for the federal government and nearly all state governments in Malaysia, also became a subcontractor for a prominent brand in England, producing decorations for the governments of Oman and Kuwait. It also supplies decorations to the Maldives government. Photo shows the sculpting process of an elaborately-designed piece. — Bernama photo From its humble beginnings when it operated out of a shop lot, Mariwasa now has two well-equipped factories, both located in Kuala Kangsar. “Over the years, the company has also diversified its offerings to include uniform accessories, handicrafts, silverware, jewellery and various metal-based products including souvenirs and specially-commissioned gift items made from costly metals such as gold and silver. “We are also collaborating with companies from England, Germany, Austria and Italy to supply premium banqueting items and interior decorations (produced by Mariwasa), catering to clients such as royal palaces and dignitaries,” said Putri Rafidah. She added that Mariwasa had also designed and produced uniforms and accessories such as badges, collar badges and buttons for several government departments and agencies. “We have also been entrusted with managing various royal ceremonies at palaces, ranging from engagement and wedding events to birthdays and even funerals,” she said, adding Mariwasa had 110 employees, all Malaysians, whom she described as the ‘lifeblood of our company’. Photo shows several pin badges manufactured by Mariwasa, including one that depicts the ‘Coat of Arms of Malaysia’. — Bernama photo She said most of their employees started with zero skills, but had become skilled workers through the training provided to them. “We encourage our employees to continue working even after reaching retirement age, as long as they are capable of contributing to the company. “Some of them are 75 years old and are still able to contribute their energy and skills,” she added. Putri Rafidah says most of Mariwasa employees started with zero skills, but now, they have become skilled workers through the training provided to them. — Bernama photo Production process According to Putri Rafidah, every item produced by the company is bespoke – specially-crafted to suit the tastes and needs of its clients. The company also provides after-sales services to ensure customer satisfaction. Every item produced by the company is bespoke – specially-crafted to suit the tastes and needs of its clients. — Bernama photo “For example, for medals and decorations (for investiture ceremonies), we take the measurements of the sash for each recipient on rehearsal day. “We do this because each award recipient has a different measurement... and we take pride and satisfaction in ensuring that the medal fits perfectly on the wearer.” She said the company staff also provided assistance on the day of the award ceremony, adding: “I believe this service is only offered by our company.” The production process for the medals begins with the preparation of the moulds for various designs, as well as 3D drawings in software and 3D metal modelling, followed by medal stamping, laser-cutting, polishing and finally, packaging the finished products. While the medals are hand-crafted and hand-finished, the more complex part of the production work is carried out with the help of high-technology tooling and cutting techniques, with the machines imported from Germany at a cost of RM1.4 million. The medals undergo the final process of manufacturing, which is drying. — Bernama photo Putri Rafidah also said that the medal designs and decorations were based on the specifications and identity of the state concerned, as well as special requests from clients. “For example, a recent Pahang honorary medal that we crafted was inspired by Her Royal Highness Tengku Ampuan Pahang Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah, who requested the inclusion of elements like the coffee flower and symbols of the state’s previous sultans. “For Kedah, the honorary medal features the ‘bunga padi’ symbol, while for Perak, the medal has nine points to represent the nine districts of the state when the medal was first introduced,” she said. Putri Rafidah also said the metal or type of precious stone used to produce and embellish the medals would depend on clients’ requests. Usually, gold or diamonds would be requested for the highest-ranking medals, and copper or rhodium for lower-ranking medals. “A new order takes at least three months to complete. However, if there is a request to speed up the process, we accept the challenge. “For example, for a recent investiture ceremony in Pahang, we had only 30 days to complete the design and production from scratch. But, with the commitment of our staff, we were able to finish it on time.” A Mariwasa artisan shows the latest gold- and silver-coated medals made at its factory in Kuala Kangsar. — Bernama photo As for the company’s future plans, Putri Rafidah said they planned to transform Mariwasa into an innovative company, utilising advanced technology while preserving traditional craftsmanship values and safeguarding the nation’s heritage. “And, as skilled artisans are becoming increasingly rare, we plan to establish training centres to help them hone their skills, and (open) job opportunities to ensure they have a good future,” she added. — Bernama

Warren Buffett's Stock Market Advice: Ignore Neighbor's Whispers On Stock Tips, Focus On Long-Term ValueFILE – Author Percival Everett attends the 75th National Book Awards ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File) FILE – Taylor Swift performs during “The Eras Tour” on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File) FILE – Riley Keough, left, and her mother Lisa Marie Presley arrive at the 24th annual ELLE Women in Hollywood Awards on Oct. 16, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) FILE – First lady Melania Trump stands next to the 2020 Official White House Christmas tree as it is presented on the North Portico of the White House, Monday, Nov. 23, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) FILE – This cover image released by FSG shows “Intermezzo” by Sally Rooney. (FSG via AP, File) FILE – This cover image released by Random House shows “From Here to the Great Unknown” by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough. (Random House via AP, File) FILE – This cover image released by Simon & Schuster shows “War” by Bob Woodward. (Simon & Schuster via AP, File) FILE – This cover image released by Dey Street Books shows “Cher: The Memoir, Part One,” releasing on Nov. 19. (Dey Street Books via AP, File) FILE – This cover image released by Random House shows “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder” by Salman Rushdie. The book, about the attempt on his life that left him blind in his right eye, will be published April 16, 2024. Rushdie’s first book since the 2022 stabbing he thought might end his life is both explicit in the violence Rushdie sustains and heroic in the will to live that Rushdie retains. (Random House via AP, File) FILE – Author Percival Everett attends the 75th National Book Awards ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File) By HILLEL ITALIE NEW YORK (AP) — Even through a year of nonstop news about elections, climate change, protests and the price of eggs, there was still time to read books. Related Articles Books | Percival Everett, 2024 National Book Award winner, rereads one book often Books | Gift books for 2024: What to give, and what to receive, for all kinds of readers Books | Our critic’s picks: Best mystery fiction books of 2024 Books | 10 best books of 2024: The surprising reads that stuck Books | ‘We are time’s subjects’: Author Clock keeps track of the hours, one literary quotation at a time U.S. sales held steady according to Circana, which tracks around 85% of the print market, with many choosing the relief of romance, fantasy and romantasy. Some picked up Taylor Swift’s tie-in book to her blockbuster tour, while others sought out literary fiction, celebrity memoirs, political exposes and a close and painful look at a generation hooked on smartphones. Here are 10 notable books published in 2024, in no particular order. Asking about the year’s hottest reads would basically yield a list of the biggest hits in romantasy, the blend of fantasy and romance that has proved so irresistible fans were snapping up expensive “special editions” with decorative covers and sprayed edges. Of the 25 top sellers of 2024, as compiled by Circana, six were by romantasy favorite Sarah J. Maas, including “House of Flame and Shadow,” the third of her “Crescent City” series. Millions read her latest installment about Bryce Quinlan and Hunter Athalar and traced the ever-growing ties of “Maasverse,” the overlapping worlds of “Crescent City” and her other series, “Throne of Glass” and “A Court of Thorns and Roses.” If romantasy is for escape, other books demand we confront. In the bestselling “The Anxious Generation,” social psychologist Jonathan Haidt looks into studies finding that the mental health of young people began to deteriorate in the 2010s, after decades of progress. According to Haidt, the main culprit is right before us: digital screens that have drawn kids away from “play-based” to “phone-based” childhoods. Although some critics challenged his findings, “The Anxious Generation” became a talking point and a catchphrase. Admirers ranged from Oprah Winfrey to Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee, who in a letter to state legislators advocated such “commonsense recommendations” from the book as banning phones in schools and keeping kids off social media until age 16. Bob Woodward books have been an election tradition for decades. “War,” the latest of his highly sourced Washington insider accounts, made news with its allegations that Donald Trump had been in frequent contact with Russian leader Vladimir Putin even while out of office and, while president, had sent Putin sophisticated COVID-19 test machines. Among Woodward’s other scoops: Putin seriously considered using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, and President Joe Biden blamed former President Barack Obama, under whom he served as vice president, for some of the problems with Russia. “Barack never took Putin seriously,” Woodward quoted Biden as saying. Former (and future) first lady Melania Trump, who gives few interviews and rarely discusses her private life, unexpectedly announced she was publishing a memoir: “Melania.” The publisher was unlikely for a former first lady — not one of the major New York houses, but Skyhorse, where authors include such controversial public figures as Woody Allen and Trump cabinet nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And its success was at least a minor surprise. Melania Trump did little publicity for the book, and offered few revelations beyond posting a video expressing support for abortion rights — a break from one of the cornerstones of GOP policy. But “Melania” still sold hundreds of thousands of copies, many in the days following her husband’s election. Taylor Swift was more than a music story in 2024. Like “Melania,” the news about Taylor Swift’s self-published tie-in to her global tour isn’t so much the book itself, but that it exists. And how well it sold. As she did with the “Eras” concert film, Swift bypassed the established industry and worked directly with a distributor: Target offered “The Eras Tour Book” exclusively. According to Circana, the “Eras” book sold more than 800,000 copies just in its opening week, an astonishing number for a publication unavailable through Amazon.com and other traditional retailers. No new book in 2024 had a better debut. Midnight book parties are supposed to be for “Harry Potter” and other fantasy series, but this fall, more than 100 stores stayed open late to welcome one of the year’s literary events: Sally Rooney’s “Intermezzo.” The Irish author’s fourth novel centers on two brothers, their grief over the death of their father, their very different career paths and their very unsettled love lives. “Intermezzo” was also a book about chess: “You have to read a lot of opening theory — that’s the beginning of a game, the first moves,” one of the brothers explains. “And you’re learning all this for what? Just to get an okay position in the middle game and try to play some decent chess. Which most of the time I can’t do anyway.” Lisa Marie Presley had been working on a memoir at the time of her death , in 2023, and daughter Riley Keough had agreed to help her complete it. “From Here to the Great Unknown” is Lisa Marie’s account of her father, Elvis Presley, and the sagas of of her adult life, notably her marriage to Michael Jackson and the death of son Benjamin Keough. To the end, she was haunted by the loss of Elvis, just 42 when he collapsed and died at his Graceland home while young Lisa Marie was asleep. “She would listen to his music alone, if she was drunk, and cry,” Keough, during an interview with Winfrey, said of her mother. Meanwhile, Cher released the first of two planned memoirs titled “Cher” — no further introduction required. Covering her life from birth to the end of the 1970s, she focuses on her ill-fated marriage to Sonny Bono, remembering him as a gifted entertainer and businessman who helped her believe in herself while turning out to be unfaithful, erratic, controlling and so greedy that he kept all the couple’s earnings for himself. Unsure of whether to leave or stay, she consulted a very famous divorcee, Lucille Ball, who reportedly encouraged her: “F— him, you’re the one with the talent.” A trend in recent years is to take famous novels from the past, and remove words or passages that might offend modern readers; an edition of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” cuts the racist language from Mark Twain’s original text. In the most celebrated literary work of 2024, Percival Everett found a different way to take on Twain’s classic — write it from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. “James,” winner of the National Book Award, is a recasting in many ways. Everett suggests to us that the real Jim was nothing like the deferential figure known to millions of readers, but a savvy and learned man who concealed his intelligence from the whites around him, and even from Twain himself. Salman Rushdie’s first National Book Award nomination was for a memoir he wished he had no reason to write. In “Knife,” he recounts in full detail the horrifying attempt on his life in 2022, when an attendee rushed the stage during a literary event in western New York and stabbed him repeatedly, leaving with him a blinded eye and lasting nerve damage, but with a spirit surprisingly intact. “If you had told me that this was going to happen and how would I deal with it, I would not have been very optimistic about my chances,” he told The Associated Press last spring. “I’m still myself, you know, and I don’t feel other than myself. But there’s a little iron in the soul, I think.”

Ange Postecoglou has castigated Timo Werner ’s first-half performance for Tottenham Hotspur against Rangers as “not acceptable” after taking him off at half-time. Werner started at Ibrox but made no impact on the game, lost the ball repeatedly, and was withdrawn for Dejan Kulusevski at the interval. Kulusevski went on to score the second-half equaliser. Advertisement Postecoglou was brutally honest about Werner’s performance in his post-match press conference, saying that was not “anywhere near” the expected level. Postecoglou revealed he told Werner what he thought of his performance, and that he was especially disappointed given Spurs’ reliance on teenagers Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall . “He wasn’t playing anywhere near the level he should,” Postecoglou said, when asked why he had withdrawn Werner at the break. When asked whether he needed more from the Germany international, Postecoglou agreed. “When you’ve got 18-year-olds, it’s not acceptable to me,” he said. “I said that to Timo. He’s a senior international, he’s a Germany international. In the moment we’re in right now, it’s not like we’ve got many options. I need everyone to at least be going out there trying to give the best of themselves. His performance in the first half wasn’t acceptable.” Spurs currently have Richarlison and Wilson Odobert out with hamstring injuries and Mikey Moore out with illness, leaving them short on attacking options. Werner has only scored once this season and has not made an impact in recent weeks. “It’s not really of great concern,” Postecoglou said when asked to explain Werner’s poor performance. “We need everybody including him to be contributing. Because we don’t have the depth to leave people out if they’re performing poorly. We need them to play their part. Especially the senior guys. When I’m asking younger guys to do massive jobs. I expect a level of performance from some of the senior guys. And today wasn’t that.” Postecoglou has traditionally defended his players in public even after poor performances. This criticism of Werner was most critical Postecoglou has ever been of one of his Spurs players. Postecoglou’s side are now five games without a win and the point leaves them ninth in the Europa League table, just outside the top eight who qualify for the last 16 without needing to go through a playoff round. Tottenham are next in action against Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday. They are 11th in the table, three points behind 10th-placed Fulham . GO DEEPER The really bad news for Tottenham: Things will get worse before they get better (Top photo: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

CHICAGO — Tyrese Haliburton had 23 points and eight assists, and the Indiana Pacers stopped a four-game slide with a 132-123 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night. Pascal Siakam scored 21 points for Indiana, and Bennedict Mathurin finished with 19. The Pacers shot 56.5% from the field and had six players score in double figures. Indiana led by 13 at halftime, but Chicago closed to 112-109 on Josh Giddey's layup with 6:53 remaining. Haliburton responded with a 3-pointer, sparking an 8-0 run for the Pacers. Haliburton made five 3s as Indiana went 18 for 29 from long range. Zach LaVine scored 32 points for Chicago, which had won two in a row. Coby White had 19 points and nine assists, and Ayo Dosunmu added 15 points. Takeaways Pacers: Siakam and Myles Turner each went 3 for 5 from beyond the arc. The Pacers shot a season-high 62.1% from 3. Bulls: Led by LaVine, Chicago also had a solid night from long range. It just wasn’t as efficient as Indiana. The Bulls shot 21 for 50 from 3. Indiana Pacers' Pascal Siakam signals his three-point basket as Chicago Bulls' Ayo Dosunmu watches during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, in Chicago. Credit: AP/Charles Rex Arbogast Key moment The Pacers shot a blistering 11 of 13 from the field to begin the second quarter, turning a five-point deficit into a 12-point advantage. The 24-9 run by Indiana flipped the game in a quarter that the Pacers eventually won by 17. Key stat Indiana outscored Chicago 56-42 in points in the paint. Up next The Pacers host the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday. The Bulls continue their three-game homestand when they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.

ATLANTA , Dec. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cousins Properties Incorporated (the "Company" or "Cousins") CUZ announced today that its operating partnership, Cousins Properties LP (the "Operating Partnership"), has priced an offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of 5.375% senior unsecured notes due 2032 at 99.463% of the principal amount. The offering is expected to close on December 17, 2024 , subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Cousins intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund a portion of the purchase price of 601 West 2nd Street, also known as Sail Tower, an 804,000 square foot trophy lifestyle office property in Austin (the "Sail Tower Acquisition"), and the remainder to repay borrowings under its credit facility and for general corporate purposes. In the event the Sail Tower Acquisition is not completed, Cousins will use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition and development of office properties, other opportunistic investments and the repayment of debt. The notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the Company. J.P. Morgan, Truist Securities, US Bancorp, BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley, PNC Capital Markets LLC, TD Securities and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as joint book-running managers. A shelf registration statement relating to these securities is effective with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering may be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York , 10179, Attention: Investment Grade Syndicate Desk, 3rd Floor, telephone collect at 1-212-834-4533; Truist Securities, Inc., Attention: Prospectus Department, 303 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308, telephone: 800-685-4786, or e-mail: TruistSecurities.prospectus@Truist.com ; or U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc., Attention: High Grade Syndicate, 214 North Tryon Street, 26th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202, or by telephone at: (877) 558-2607. Electronic copies of these documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov . This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell the notes, nor shall it constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. About Cousins Properties Cousins Properties is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT"). The Company, based in Atlanta, GA and acting through the Operating Partnership, primarily invests in Class A office buildings located in high growth Sun Belt markets. Founded in 1958, Cousins creates shareholder value through its extensive expertise in the development, acquisition, leasing, and management of high-quality real estate assets. The Company has a comprehensive strategy in place based on a simple platform, trophy assets, and opportunistic investments. Forward-Looking Statements Certain matters contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws and are subject to uncertainties and risks, as itemized in Item 1A included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended June 30, 2024 and September 30, 2024 . These forward-looking statements include information about the Company's possible or assumed future results of the business and the Company's financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans, and objectives. They also include, among other things, statements regarding subjects that are forward-looking by their nature, such as: guidance and underlying assumptions; business and financial strategy; future debt financings; future acquisitions and dispositions of operating assets or joint venture interests; future acquisitions and dispositions of land, including ground leases; future acquisitions of investments in real estate debt; future development and redevelopment opportunities; future issuances and repurchases of common stock, limited partnership units, or preferred stock; future distributions; projected capital expenditures; market and industry trends; future occupancy or volume and velocity of leasing activity; entry into new markets, changes in existing market concentrations, or exits from existing markets; future changes in interest rates and liquidity of capital markets; and all statements that address operating performance, events, investments, or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future — including statements relating to creating value for stockholders. Any forward-looking statements are based upon management's beliefs, assumptions, and expectations of our future performance, taking into account information that is currently available. These beliefs, assumptions, and expectations may change as a result of possible events or factors, not all of which are known. If a change occurs, our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary from forward-looking statements due to, but not limited to, the following: the availability and terms of capital and our ability to obtain and maintain financing arrangements on terms favorable to us or at all; the ability to refinance or repay indebtedness as it matures; any changes to our credit rating; the failure of purchase, sale, or other contracts to ultimately close; the failure to achieve anticipated benefits from acquisitions, developments, investments, or dispositions; the effect of common stock or operating partnership unit issuances, including those undertaken on a forward basis, which may negatively affect the market price of our common stock; the availability of buyers and pricing with respect to the disposition of assets; changes in national and local economic conditions, the real estate industry, and the commercial real estate markets in which we operate (including supply and demand changes), particularly in Atlanta , Austin , Tampa , Charlotte , Phoenix , Dallas , and Nashville , including the impact of high unemployment, volatility in the public equity and debt markets, and international economic and other conditions; threatened terrorist attacks or sociopolitical unrest such as political instability, civil unrest, armed hostilities, or political activism, which may result in a disruption of day-to-day building operations; changes to our strategy in regard to our real estate assets may require impairment to be recognized; leasing risks, including the ability to obtain new tenants or renew expiring tenants, the ability to lease newly-developed and/or recently acquired space, the failure of a tenant to commence or complete tenant improvements on schedule or to occupy leased space, and the risk of declining leasing rates; changes in the preferences of our tenants brought about by the desire for co-working arrangements, trends toward utilizing less office space per employee, and the effect of employees working remotely; any adverse change in the financial condition or liquidity of one or more of our tenants or borrowers under our real estate debt investments; volatility in interest rates (including the impact upon the effectiveness of forward interest rate contract arrangements) and insurance rates; inflation; competition from other developers or investors; the risks associated with real estate developments (such as zoning approval, receipt of required permits, construction delays, cost overruns, and leasing risk); supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and increased construction costs; risks associated with security breaches through cyberattacks, cyber intrusions or otherwise, as well as other significant disruptions of our information technology networks and related systems, which support our operations and our buildings; changes in senior management, changes in the Company's board of directors, and the loss of key personnel; the potential liability for uninsured losses, condemnation, or environmental issues; the potential liability for a failure to meet regulatory requirements, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar laws or the impact of any investigation regarding the same; the financial condition and liquidity of, or disputes with, joint venture partners; any failure to comply with debt covenants under debt instruments and credit agreements; any failure to continue to qualify for taxation as a real estate investment trust or meet regulatory requirements; potential changes to state, local, or federal regulations applicable to our business; material changes in dividend rates on common shares or other securities or the ability to pay those dividends; potential changes to the tax laws impacting real estate investment trusts and real estate in general; risks associated with climate change and severe weather events, as well as the regulatory efforts intended to reduce the effects of climate changes and investor and public perception of our efforts to respond to the same; the impact of newly adopted accounting principles on our accounting policies and on period-to-period comparisons of financial results; risks associated with possible federal, state, local, or property tax audits; and those additional risks and environmental or other factors discussed in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the Company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company cannot guarantee the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and the Company does not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Contacts Roni Imbeaux Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations 404-407-1104 rimbeaux@cousins.com View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cousins-properties-announces-pricing-of-senior-notes-offering-302330787.html SOURCE Cousins Properties © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Wealth? Love? A new career? Check out your 2025 horoscope

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