Munich — Franz Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup both as player and coach and became one of Germany’s most beloved personalities with his easygoing charm, has died, news agency dpa reported Monday. He was 78. “It is with deep sadness that we announce that my husband and our father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday, Sunday, surrounded by his family,” the family said in a statement to dpa, the German news agency. “We ask that we be allowed to grieve in peace and be spared any questions.” The statement did not provide a cause of death. The former Bayern Munich great had struggled with health problems in recent years. Beckenbauer was one of German soccer’s central figures. As a player, he reimagined the defender’s role in soccer and captained West Germany to the World Cup title in 1974 after it had lost to England in the 1966 final. He was the coach when West Germany won the tournament again in 1990, a symbolic moment for a country in the midst of reunification, months after the Berlin Wall fell. Beckenbauer was also instrumental in bringing the highly successful 2006 World Cup to Germany, though his legacy was later …

BEVERLY HILLS, California — “Oppenheimer has dominated the Golden Globe Awards, taking home the night’s top honor. Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” has won best comedy or musical at the 81st Golden Globes, an upset victory over the category favorite, “Barbie.”  Emma Stone also won for her performance in “Poor Things.” On the television side, “Succession” and “The Bear” are took multiple honors. Christopher Nolan’s epic American drama “Oppenheimer” picked up five big awards including best drama film, best director for Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. and for Ludwig Göransson’s score. Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph both won for their performances in “The Holdovers.” Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic “Oppenheimer” dominated the 81st Golden Globes, winning five awards including best drama, while Yorgos Lanthimos’ Frankenstein riff “Poor Things” pulled off an upset victor over “Barbie” to triumph in the best comedy or musical category. If awards season has been building toward a second match-up of Barbenheimer, this round went to “Oppenheimer.” The film also won best director for Nolan, best drama actor for Cillian Murphy, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. and for Ludwig Göransson’s score. “I don’t think it was a no-brainer …

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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — BEST MOVIE DRAMA: “Oppenheimer” BEST MOVIE MUSICAL OR COMEDY: “Poor Things” TELEVISION COMEDY SERIES: “The Bear” TELEVISION DRAMA SERIES: “Succession” LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: “Beef” CINEMATIC AND BOX OFFICE ACHIEVEMENT: “Barbie” MALE ACTOR IN A MOVIE MUSICAL OR COMEDY: Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers” FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOVIE MUSICAL OR COMEDY: Emma Stone, “Poor Things” ACTOR IN A MOVIE DRAMA: Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer” FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOVIE DRAMA: Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon” FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING MOVIE ROLE: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers” MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING MOVIE ROLE: Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer” FEMALE ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES, OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Ali Wong, “Beef” ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES, ANTHOLOGY SERIES, OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Steven Yeun, “Beef” SUPPORTING FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES: Elizabeth Debicki, “The Crown” SUPPORTING MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES: Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession” BEST SCREENPLAY: “Anatomy of a Fall,” Justine Triet and Arthur Harari FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA: Sarah Snook, “Succession” MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION COMEDY: Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear” STAND-UP COMEDY TELEVISION SPECIAL: Ricky …

LOS ANGELES — Timothee Chalamet and “Wonka” topped the box office charts for the third time in its four weekends in theaters. Warner Bros.’ family-oriented musical added $14.4 million in ticket sales according to studio estimates Sunday, bringing its total domestic grosses to $164.7 million.  “‘Wonka’ is following in the tradition of a film like ‘The Greatest Showman,’” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. That Hugh Jackman musical opened under $9 million in December 2017 and went on to gross $435 million globally.  “‘Wonka’ is a perfect crowd pleaser released at the perfect time and it’s going to ride that wave into January,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s an opportune time for it to be in the marketplace.”  After finishing 2023 on a high note, 2024 is getting off to a slower start than last year, down around 16%, with the Universal/Blumhouse horror “Night Swim” as the only major new offering in theaters. The movie stars Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon as a couple with a sinister, supernatural swimming pool.  “Night Swim” drew in an estimated $12 million in its first weekend in 3,250 theaters in North America against a reported $15 million production budget. Including international showings in 36 …

BEVERLY HILLS, California — Margot Robbie, Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio will mingle with other top stars on Sunday at the Golden Globe awards, Hollywood’s first big celebration since twin strikes shut down most of show business last year.  The red carpet, champagne-fueled awards ceremony will honor the best of film and television selected by a new group of 300 entertainment journalists from around the world, part of reforms made after a diversity and ethics scandal among voters.   “Barbie,” the summer blockbuster starring Robbie as the iconic doll, leads all nominees with nine nominations. Historical drama “Oppenheimer,” about the making of the atomic bomb, follows with eight nods.  The Globes kick off Hollywood’s annual awards season, which culminates with the Oscars on March 10, and will bring top stars together after six months of strikes by actors and writers in 2023. The ceremony will give celebrities the chance to shine a spotlight on their films and TV shows after months when promotion was prohibited.   “I’m a little biased, but this is the best awards show and we’re going to have fun,” said comedian Jo Koy, who will host his first major awards show starting at 8 p.m. ET (0100 …

Customized cars that ride low and slow have been part of Mexican American culture since the 1940s. But in California, cruising in these modified vehicles was mostly illegal — until the new year. Genia Dulot has our story from Los Angeles. …

FRESNO, Calif. — David Rasavong’s cultural pride is evident all throughout his restaurant. It’s on the wall of family portraits and where a stunning mural depicts his family’s journey from Laos to California. It’s on the menu filled with Lao and Thai dishes like the crispy coconut rice salad of Nam Khao and the stir-fried rice noodles of Pad See Ew. And it’s in the fact that Love & Thai in Fresno, California, restaurant is open at all. A baseless accusation grounded in a racist stereotype about Asian food using dog meat brought a six-month barrage of harassment so heated that Rasavong, 41, closed down its previous location over fears for his family’s safety. His earlier restaurant had itself only been open for seven months when a so-called animal welfare crusader in May implied on social media that a pitbull tied up at an unconnected home next door was going to be served on the menu. A day after the initial commentary, vitriolic statements, voicemails and calls rained down. Rasavong’s body still tenses up when recounting, in particular, a call from an elderly woman. “She was so disgusted by me and yelling and screaming, and the only thing I can remember …

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VATICAN CITY — Amid resistance to some Vatican policy by more conservative factions of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis on Saturday cautioned the faithful against fracturing into groups “based on our own ideas.” He issued the call to abandon “ecclesiastical ideologies” in his homily in St. Peter’s Basilica during Epiphany Day Mass, the last major Christmas season holiday. Francis also warned against “basking in some elegant religious theory” instead of finding God in the faces of the poor. Last month, Francis gave permission for priests to bless couples outside of marriage, including same-sex relationships, if the blessing was pastoral and not liturgical or part of some religious rite. Some bishops who view Francis as a dangerous progressive immediately rejected such blessings. That prompted the Vatican earlier this week to issue a statement stressing that the blessings don’t constitute heresy and there were no doctrinal grounds to reject the practice. Francis in his Epiphany homily didn’t cite the pushback against his same-sex blessings policy. But he deviated from the written text of the homily to cite the “need to abandon ecclesiastical ideologies.” Francis said the church needed to ensure that “our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious devotions …

NEW YORK — Glynis Johns, a Tony Award-winning stage and screen star who played the mother opposite Julie Andrews in the classic movie Mary Poppins and introduced the world to the bittersweet standard-to-be Send in the Clowns by Stephen Sondheim, has died. She was 100. Mitch Clem, her manager, said she died Thursday at an assisted living home in Los Angeles of natural causes. “Today’s a sad day for Hollywood,” Clem said. “She is the last of the last of old Hollywood.” Johns was known to be a perfectionist about her profession — precise, analytical and opinionated. The roles she took had to be multifaceted. Anything less was giving less than her all. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m not interested in playing the role on only one level,” she told The Associated Press in 1990. “The whole point of first-class acting is to make a reality of it.  To be real. And I have to make sense of it in my own mind in order to be real.” Johns’ greatest triumph was playing Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, for which she won a Tony in 1973. Sondheim wrote the show’s hit song Send in the Clowns to suit …

PRETORIA, South Africa — Officials say South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison on parole and is now at home. The Department of Corrections gave no more details of Pistorius’ release. The announcement came at around 8:30 a.m., indicating officials released the world-famous double-amputee Olympic runner in the early hours. Pistorius has served nearly nine years for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. He’d been sentenced to 13 years and five months. He was approved for parole in November. Serious offenders in South Africa are eligible for parole after serving at least half their sentence. Steenkamp’s mother, June Steenkamp, said in a statement that she had accepted Pistorius’ parole as part of South African law. “Has there been justice for Reeva? Has Oscar served enough time? There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back,” June Steenkamp said. “We who remain behind are the ones serving a life sentence.” “With the release of Oscar Pistorius on parole, my only desire is that I will be allowed to live my last years in peace with my focus remaining on the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp …

NEW YORK — It’s small in stature, big on activity and known for a “smile,” and it’s ready to compete with 200 other dog breeds. Say hello to the Lancashire heeler, the latest breed recognized by the American Kennel Club. The organization announced Wednesday that the rare herding breed is now eligible for thousands of U.S. dog shows, including the prominent Westminster Kennel Club show. With long bodies and short coats that are often black and tan, the solidly built dogs are shaped a bit like a downsized corgi, standing around 30 centimeters at the shoulder and weighing up to about 7.7 kilograms. Historically, they were farm helpers that could both drive cattle and rout rats, and today they participate in an array of canine sports and pursuits. “They’re gritty little dogs, and they’re very intelligent little dogs,” says Patricia Blankenship of Flora, Mississippi, who has bred them for over a decade. “It’s an enjoyable little breed to be around.” Their official description — or breed standard, in dog-world parlance — calls for them to be “courageous, happy, affectionate to owner,” and owners say contented heelers sometimes pull back their lips in a “smile.” They’re “extremely versatile,” participating in everything from …

Armenian Americans in Southern California celebrated their culture with a flowered float in the annual Rose Parade, moving on from a turbulent year that included Armenians’ exodus from their former enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan’s borders. Genia Dulot has our story from Pasadena. …

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Montreal — Women’s ice hockey kicked off 2024 with the launch of a new professional league that debuted Monday with a match between the Toronto and New York teams. The Professional Women’s Hockey League “rings in the New Year with the very first regular season game in league history,” the PWHL said in a press release. Toronto earned the first victory in the new league, beating New York 4-0 in Toronto. The regular season includes more than 20 games and runs until May, and will be followed by playoffs. The league has six teams: Boston, Minnesota and New York on the American side, and Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto on the Canadian side. Ice hockey is Canada’s national winter sport but remains largely dominated by men. The National Hockey League (NHL), the men’s equivalent, was founded in 1917 in Montreal and has 32 teams spread across the two countries. …

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