American actor James Caan, known best for his role as the hot-headed Sonny Corleone in the classic 1972 film, “The Godfather,” has died at the age of 82. A message posted to the actor’s Twitter account on Thursday read “It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6. The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time. End of tweet.” “End of tweet” became a signature phrase for the actor as he became more active on the social media platform in recent years.   The Associated Press reports Caan’s manager, Matt DelPiano, confirmed that Caan died at his home in Los Angeles late Wednesday. No cause was given. Caan was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in “The Godfather,” playing the oldest sibling in the Corleone crime family. He told an interviewer earlier this year — the 50th anniversary of the film’s release — that he knew the film would be something special when he made it, largely because of the rapport he had with fellow cast members. Caan was born in the New …

An American basketball player held in Russia since February for possession of cannabis oil pleaded guilty in a Russian court Thursday.   “I’d like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law,” Brittney Griner, 31, said, speaking English, which was then translated into Russian for the court.   “I’d like to give my testimony later. I need time to prepare,” she added.   The WNBA star, who also played in Russia, could face 10 years in prison.   She is due back in court on July 14.   The trial began Friday, July 1, and resumed Thursday.   On Monday, Griner sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden asking him to “do all you can” for her and other Americans detained or held hostage in Russia.   White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that Biden has read the letter.   Griner’s representatives shared parts of the letter Monday.   “As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” Griner wrote.   The White House …

The Canadian government said Monday it had signed a $15.5 billion agreement to compensate First Nations children and families harmed by chronic underfunding of child welfare.  The Assembly of First Nations and plaintiffs in two class action lawsuits agreed to the deal.  Indigenous Services Canada, a government agency, said the settlement is the largest in Canadian history.  “The parties have agreed on a plan for settling compensation claims to recognize the families and people who have suffered tremendously through discriminatory and systemically racist child-welfare practices,” said Patty Hajdu, the Indigenous services minister.  The settlement accounts for half of an overall $31.1 billion deal that aims to reform Canada’s child welfare system, including five-year funding for the First Nations Child and Family Services program.  The settlement must still be approved by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and the Federal Court.  Cindy Woodhouse, the Manitoba regional chief at the Assembly of First Nations, praised the deal.  “And after three decades of advocacy and months of negotiations, I’m proud to say on behalf the AFN that we have reached another historic milestone for our children and their families,” she said in a statement.  The First Nations Children and Family Caring Society and the …

Peter Brook, one of the world’s most innovative theater directors who perfected the art of staging powerful drama in bizarre venues, has died aged 97, his publisher said Sunday. The British director used the world as his stage mounting productions ranging from challenging versions of Shakespeare through international opera to Hindu epic poems. Brook put on plays in gymnasiums, deserted factories, quarries, schools and old gas works in towns around the world. His 1970 Stratford production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” played all in white and with a huge, garlanded swing, secured his place in the annals of theater history. According to Le Monde, Brook – who had been based in France since 1974 – died in Paris Saturday. A statement from his publisher confirmed his death Sunday. Although Brook was regarded with awe in theatrical circles, he was less well known among the wider public because of his refusal to bow to commercial taste. He left Britain to work in Paris in 1970. He often shunned traditional theatrical buildings for the “empty space” which could be transformed by light, words, improvisation and the sheer power of acting and suggestion. “I can take any empty space and call it …

London Saturday celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first Pride parade, marking half a century of progress in the fight for equality and tolerance but with warnings that more still needs to be done.  Several hundred people took part in the first march July 1, 1972, just five years after homosexuality was decriminalized in the U.K.  Fifty years on, more than 600 LGBTQ+ groups danced, sang and rode floats along a similar route to the original protest, in the first Pride since the coronavirus pandemic, watched by huge cheering crowds.  London Mayor Sadiq Khan told reporters the event, which organizers said was the “biggest and most inclusive” in its history, was a celebration of community, unity and progress.  But he said it was also a reminder of the need to “campaign and never be complacent” and the need for “an open, inclusive, accepting world.”  “We saw this time last week an attack in Oslo just hours before that parade, where two people lost their lives and more than 20 were injured,” he said.  “So, we’ve got to be conscious of the fact that there’s still a danger to this community of discrimination, bias and violence.”  Khan’s predecessor as mayor, Prime …

Canadian rock legend Randy Bachman’s long search came to an end Friday when he was reunited in Tokyo with a cherished guitar 45 years after it was stolen from a Toronto hotel. “My girlfriend is right there,” said Bachman, 78, a former member of The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, as the Gretsch guitar on which he wrote “American Woman” and other hits was handed to him by a Japanese musician who had bought it at a Tokyo store in 2014 without knowing its history. He said all guitars are special, but the orange 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins he bought as a teenager was exceptional. He worked at multiple jobs to save money to buy the $400 guitar, his first purchase of an expensive instrument, he said. “It made my whole life. It was my hammer and a tool to write songs, make music and make money,” Bachman told The Associated Press before the handover at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. When it was stolen from the Toronto hotel in 1977, “I cried for three days. It was part of me,” he said. “It was very, very upsetting.” He ended up buying about 300 guitars in unsuccessful attempts to …