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Andrea Pavan: Lift shaft fall golfer optimistic about return

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Andrea Pavan: Lift shaft fall golfer optimistic about return


Italian Andrea Pavan said he is “optimistic” about a return to playing after he fell down an open lift shaft in February.

The incident occurred before the South African Open at Pavan’s private accommodation near Stellenbosch Golf Club when the lift doors opened but there was no lift car in the shaft, causing him to drop three storeys down.

The 36-year-old was taken to a local hospital with severe shoulder damage and fractures to several vertebrae in his back, and had major surgery.

“It’s hard to say a precise goal, there’s more like steps,” said Pavan.

“Around three months we’ll see how well the bone has healed. Around six months it’s about where complete bone healing happens and we’ll see how the joint is moving by then.

“It depends on if there are other tissues that were damaged if I need a second surgery. And there’s the possibility of necrosis when the blood flow is not sufficient for the bones. There is that risk, but so far it seems like things are positive enough.

“The shoulder is a very demanding joint. Hopefully it’s a little less than a year that I can play with a full swing but it’s just so new and such a big injury there are just a lot of unknowns. But I’m hopeful and the only thing I can do is to try and improve and take it day by day.”

On the day of the incident, Pavan had been preparing to drive to the Stellenbosch course for breakfast and an afternoon pro-am tee, when he returned to his apartment to retrieve a locker key that had been left there.

Speaking to the Naga Munchetty programme on BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: “I walked back towards the elevator, I opened the door – one of those doors that get into the apartment straight away – and by the time I realised the lift wasn’t there I’d already taken a step.

“The next thing I know I’m just at the bottom of the elevator, luckily not unconscious but in a lot of pain and screaming for help.

“Somebody heard and I was somehow able to get my phone out and call my caddie, who was in the car. From then on it was just trying to survive the pain and waiting for the ambulance and all the firefighters who got me out.”

The two-time DP World Tour winner spent seven days in hospital in South Africa, having surgery on a complete fracture of his shoulder, and has now returned to his home in Texas.

Pavan paid tribute to the “amazing” support from the golfing world during his time in hospital.

“The amount of people who came to the hospital to visit me when the tournament was happening was truly overwhelming,” he said.

“There were a lot of players – friends of mine – who actually stayed up to 2am and waited for me to get out of surgery and they were playing in the tournament the next day, Matteo Manassero, Manuel Oliveira and others.

“I was just truly surprised and it was comforting and overwhelming to feel you were not alone going through this.”



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New Mexico seeks child safety restrictions on Meta apps and algorithms in trial’s 2nd phase

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New Mexico seeks child safety restrictions on Meta apps and algorithms in trial’s 2nd phase


SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico state prosecutors are seeking fundamental changes to Meta’s social media apps and algorithms to safeguard children in the second phase of a landmark trial on allegations that platforms such as Instagram have created a public safety hazard.

Opening statements are scheduled Monday in the three-week bench trial to decide whether the platforms of Meta, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp, pose a public nuisance under state law.

In the first phase, jurors ordered $375 million in civil penalties against Meta, determining that it knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

Prosecutors are now asking a judge to impose fundamental changes aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.

Meta has vowed to appeal the jury verdict and warned that it could eliminate Instagram and Facebook service in New Mexico if forced to comply with impractical mandates.

“The fact that we’re having a trial on nuisance is itself a remarkable outcome,” said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law in California. “That theory is not well accepted as applied to the internet, and that theory doesn’t really fit the internet.”

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the jury verdict punctured the aura of invincibility protecting tech companies from liability for material on their platforms under Section 230, a 30-year-old provision of the U.S. Communications Decency Act.

A Los Angeles jury separately found both Meta and YouTube liable for harms to children, validating long-standing concerns about dangers of social media.

New Mexico prosecutors are demanding that Meta help remedy a mental health crisis among children through a series of safeguards and changes, including a redesign of algorithms that make content recommendations so they no longer prioritize constant engagement.

Prosecutors are also targeting other features linked to compulsive use such as “infinite scroll,” which continuously loads content; push notifications; and default settings that show tallies for “likes” and sharing. Their lawsuit also seeks improvements to age verification and other steps aimed at curbing child sexual exploitation.

And New Mexico wants child accounts on Meta platforms to have an associated parent or guardian, as well as a court-supervised child safety monitor to track improvements over time.

Executives have said the company continuously improves child safety and addresses compulsive use and that many demands from prosecutors are redundant.

Meta plans to call an array of technical experts as witnesses in arguing that the demands are impractical if not impossible and would force it to “disregard the realities of the internet.”

The company also argues that its platforms are being singled out among hundreds of apps that teens use, leaving children vulnerable on platforms with less robust protections.

The company is invoking free speech protections that have shielded social media for decades.

“The state’s proposed mandates infringe on parental rights and stifle free expression for all New Mexicans,” Meta said last week in a statement.

The case is the first to reach trial among lawsuits filed by more than 40 state attorneys general on allegations that Meta contributes to a youth mental health crisis. Most are pursuing remedies in U.S. federal court.

Torrez, the state attorney general, said that puts the case in a unique position not only “to try and change the paradigm of how this company does business, but also how Big Tech generally is expected to do business going forward.”

Goldman said prosecutors may be venturing into uncertain legal waters just in seeking age verification mandates.

“In practice a court order saying that Facebook had to impose age authentication would have no Supreme Court textual support,” he said. “The Supreme Court might bless it. We don’t know.”

The first phase of the trial saw six weeks of testimony from witnesses including teachers, psychiatric experts, state investigators, top Meta officials and whistleblowers who left the company.



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What to Stream: ‘The Drama,’ MUNA, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens and ‘The Other Bennet Sister’

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What to Stream: ‘The Drama,’ MUNA, Rachel McAdams, Dan Stevens and ‘The Other Bennet Sister’


“The Drama,” a rom-com that goes bad starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, and the synth-pop group MUNA releasing their fourth studio album, “Dancing on the Wall,” are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Sam Raimi’s movie “Send Help” starring Rachel McAdams, a TV series based on the unassuming, oft-forgotten Jane Austen sister Mary leads “The Other Bennet Sister” and country star Ashley McBryde heading into the “Wild” on her latest album.

“The Drama,” starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, arrives Tuesday on premium on demand after a much-talked-about run in theaters. The film, written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, recently became the fifth A24 release to clear $100 million at the box office. Pattinson and Zendaya play a couple whose wedding engagement is derailed after a disquieting revelation. In his review, AP’s Mark Kennedy wrote that the film “wastes two of the planet’s most gorgeous people and will surely get everyone involved in trouble for using a current American tragedy as a plot point.”

— In Sam Raimi’s “Send Help,” a woman (Rachel McAdams) and her overbearing boss (Dylan O’Brien) are stranded on an deserted island after a plane crash. Raimi’s comic survivalist thriller grows increasingly unhinged as their roles reverse. After a theatrical run earlier this year, it debuts Thursday on Hulu.

— The Netflix adaptation “Remarkably Bright Creatures” (streaming Friday, May 8) turns Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling novel into a film starring Sally Field as a widow working at an aquarium. There, she develops a healing bond with a giant Pacific octopus. Lewis Pullman co-stars.

AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

— The synth-pop group MUNA will release their fourth studio album on Friday, May 8. “Dancing on the Wall” arrives just in time for the approaching warmth — and hedonistic decision-making — of summer. It’s tank top party-pop for the once-heartbroken, now-victorious crowd (like what is found on “So What” and the familiar sounds of the title track) and whoever is the object of affection on the too-fun “Wannabeher.”

— Also on Friday: Country star Ashley McBryde heads into the “Wild” on her latest album. It is her most personal and most rock ‘n’ roll collection yet, embodying McBryde’s fiery spirit found on “Lines in the Carpet,” a cutting treatise on domesticity, the heartfelt mission statement of the title track and everywhere in-between. The record opens with four barnburners fans will recognize as staples of her live show — “Rattlesnake Preacher,” “Arkansas Mud,” “Water in the River” and “Creosote” — and diversifies from there. Expect big feelings and a playful, wizened heart.

AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

— If you’re a Jane Austen devotee who loved “Pride and Prejudice,” you’ll recall that Elizabeth and Jane aren’t the only two daughters in the Bennet family. A new series called “The Other Bennet Sister” follows the introspective and awkward but adorable Mary, played by Ella Bruccoleri. Mary steps out of the shadows of her other siblings and finds romance and independence. The show is already a hit in the UK and on social media. Mary gets her time to shine beginning Wednesday on BritBox.

— From the backwoods lakes of the Ozarks to the turquoise waters of the Florida Keys, Bill Dubuque, a co-creator of “Ozark,” has created a new series set against the drug world called “M.I.A.” In this crime drama, a daughter who wants nothing more than to separate herself from her family’s drug-running business is pulled into a quest for vengeance after it’s destroyed. All nine episodes drop Thursday on Peacock.

— Dan Stevens is wrongfully committed to a mental hospital where he must battle both supernatural and psychological demons in “The Terror: Devil in Silver.” This “Terror” is the third season of a horror anthology. Besides Stevens, the series features an impressive cast including CCH Pounder, Judith Light and John Benjamin Hickey. It premieres Thursday on both Shudder and AMC+.

— Another classic gets reimagined in the new “Amadeus” limited-series starring Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany. Sharpe plays superstar composer Amadeus Mozart and Bettany is Antonio Salieri, also a successful composer of the time whom history has cast as the lesser talent. Salieri becomes increasingly obsessed with achieving the respect and acclaim that Mozart enjoys. It premieres on Starz on Friday, May 8.

Alicia Rancilio

— Annapurna Interactive’s Mixtape includes tunes by Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Roxy Music and Devo — the kind of alt-rock you might expect in a movie like “Sixteen Candles” or “Dazed and Confused.” So, yes, we’re back in the 1990s, with three teenagers seeking adventure on their last night of high school. That means skateboarding, sneaking beers, making out, looking for trouble, running from trouble and, to judge from the trailer, floating through space. You can press play Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch 2 or PC.

— The soundtrack to Wax Heads is more diverse, but all the bands are completely made up. You’ve landed a job at a gnarly store called Repeater Records, and you get to deal with an assortment of eccentric customers who may or may not know what they want. The result is a kind of puzzle game in which you have to sort through their suggestions to track down the perfect vinyl. Patattie Games, the two-person U.K. studio behind Wax Heads, calls it “cozy-punk.” Drop the needle Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch or PC.

Lou Kesten





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Iran live updates: UKMTO reports attacks on 2 ships in Strait of Hormuz

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Iran live updates: UKMTO reports attacks on 2 ships in Strait of Hormuz


U.S. Central Command posted a statement to X on Sunday confirming that its forces will begin supporting “Project Freedom” in the Strait of Hormuz at the direction of President Donald Trump, beginning on Monday.

“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in the statement.

The mission is intended “to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said.

The U.S. military role will be to extend a U.S. defensive umbrella over ships seeking to leave or enter the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official told ABC News. Project Freedom is not about providing escorts to ships, the official said.

“U.S. military support to Project Freedom will include guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms and 15,000 service members,” CENTCOM said in its statement.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began setting conditions for clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, April 11, as two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers conducted operations. (U.S. Central Command Photo)

Sgt. 1st Class Michael Hunnisett/U.S. Central Command Public Affairs

-ABC News’ Lauren Minore and Luis Martinez



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Calls for Reformer Pilates regulation amid boom

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Calls for Reformer Pilates regulation amid boom


Nathan Benjamin-Smith, owner of Reformer Pilates Bicester in Oxfordshire, said: “From my perspective, it’s less about a shortage of instructors, and more about the rapid growth of the industry outpacing the availability of highly experienced, well-trained professionals.



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‘I had to pay £14,000 in vets fees after my cat was run over’

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‘I had to pay £14,000 in vets fees after my cat was run over’



People with and without pet insurance are facing large bills when their animals get sick or injured.



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Anti-ICE demonstrators detained after protesting arrest of illegal immigrant facing assault, drug charges

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Anti-ICE demonstrators detained after protesting arrest of illegal immigrant facing assault, drug charges


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Nearly 10 people were detained in New York over the weekend as anti-ICE demonstrators were protesting against the arrest of an illegal immigrant accused of assault and drug possession, according to officials.

The protests erupted in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood after ICE arrested Chidozie Wilson Okeke, an illegal immigrant from Nigeria with previous arrests for assault and drug possession, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Okeke entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2023 and overstayed his visa that required him to leave the country by Feb. 26, 2024, DHS said.

During an immigration enforcement operation on Saturday, Okeke refused to comply with ICE agents’ commands to exit his car and attempted to hit them with the vehicle, according to the agency. He is then accused of being “physically combative” and attempting to punch and elbow ICE agents.

DOMINICAN MIGRANT WITH DEPORTATION ORDER, WANTED FOR MURDER IN HOME COUNTRY FREED BY BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE

The protests erupted in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood after ICE arrested Chidozie Wilson Okeke. (FNTV)

“Our officers followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to make the arrest,” DHS said in a statement.

After his arrest, Okeke was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center for a medical evaluation. Okeke “remained non-compliant during the medical evaluation, throwing himself to the floor and screaming,” DHS said, adding that he was eventually cleared by medical staff.

Video shows ICE agents dragging Okeke out of the hospital following his medical evaluation.

During the medical evaluation, a crowd of anti-ICE protesters gathered outside the hospital. DHS says the group damaged several ICE vehicles and assaulted agents, causing minor injuries.

HAITIAN MAN CHARGED IN NC TRIPLE MURDER FLEW INTO US UNDER BIDEN MIGRANT FLIGHTS PROGRAM: ICE

ICE pulling a migrant in New York

Video shows ICE agents dragging Chidozie Wilson Okeke out of the hospital following his medical evaluation. (FNTV)

The NYPD said officers responded to reports of disorderly protesters outside the hospital between Stanhope and Stockholm streets on Saturday at around 10:25 p.m. Officers reported observing several people acting disorderly, obstructing vehicle traffic and blocking emergency entrances and exits to the hospital.

Officers issued repeated verbal warnings for the protesters to disperse and return to the sidewalks, according to the department.

Nine people were then taken into custody, including eight who were arrested and charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, the NYPD said. One person was issued a summons and released.

NYPD at a protest

Nine protesters were then taken into custody, including eight who were arrested and charged. (FNTV)

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The NYPD said it does not participate in civil immigration enforcement and had no prior awareness of the ICE operation.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told a Gothamist reporter after the incident on Saturday that ICE raids are “cruel and inhumane” and “they do nothing to serve in the interest of public safety, and I’ve said that even directly to the president.” 



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Zendaya and Meryl Streep to skip Met Gala on Jeff Bezos’s first year as sponsor

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Zendaya and Meryl Streep to skip Met Gala on Jeff Bezos’s first year as sponsor


Zendaya and Meryl Streep are reportedly among the A-listers to skip this year’s Met Gala set to take place Monday (May 4).

The news comes amid calls for celebrities to boycott the event over the involvement of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez. The couple — who married last year in a multimillion-dollar, star-studded ceremony in Venice — have been named lead donors and honorary co-chairs of this year’s Met Gala.

Elle reported Friday that Zendaya will miss the New York City ceremony to take a break from the spotlight after doing two near-simultaneous press tours for The Drama and Euphoria season three.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reported this week that Meryl Streep was rumored to have turned down a co-chair role at the Met Gala because of Bezos and Sanchez’s involvement.

Streep can currently be seen playing Miranda Priestly — a character inspired by longtime Met Gala chair and Vogue editor Anna Wintour — in The Devil Wears Prada 2, and appears on the May 2026 Vogue cover.

Zendaya (left) and Meryl Streep (right) are among the A-listers to miss this year’s Met Gala, which is sponsored for the first time by Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos (Getty/PA)
Zendaya is reportedly taking a break from the spotlight after promoting ‘The Drama’ and ‘Euphoria’ season three back-to-back
Zendaya is reportedly taking a break from the spotlight after promoting ‘The Drama’ and ‘Euphoria’ season three back-to-back (Reuters)

Her representative told The Independent: “Meryl has been invited to the Met Gala for many years but has never attended. While she appreciates Vogue, Anna, and her incredible imagination and stamina, it has never quite been her scene.”

Nevertheless, Streep’s daughters, Grace and Mamie Gummer, are attending, as are her Devil Wears Prada 2 co-stars Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci, according to Page Six Hollywood sources.

The Independent has contacted representatives for Zendaya and Streep for comment.

Zendaya has quickly become one of the belles of the Met Gala, attending seven times since her 2015 debut, co-chairing in 2024, and stealing the show last year in an all-white Louis Vuitton suit.

The sponsorship by Bezos — who recently spent millions on a movie by First Lady Melania Trump via his Amazon MGM film studios — sparked backlash from critics who accused him of buying influence at the prestigious fashion ball.

At various locations near the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, posters have popped up with the words: “Bezos Met Gala: Brought to you by the firm that powers ICE” and “Boycott the Bezos Met Gala.”

The flyer campaign was organized by the British political activist group Everyone Hates Elon, which describes itself as anti-billionaire. The group’s name is inspired by the Tesla tech mogul Elon Musk.

Wintour has attempted to quell the backlash over the couple’s involvement, telling CNN in November: “I think Lauren is going to be a wonderful asset to the museum and to the event. I’m very grateful for her incredible generosity, and she’s a great lover of costume and obviously of fashion, so we’re thrilled she’s part of the night.”

Bezos and Sánchez were named as lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs of the Met Gala in November last year
Bezos and Sánchez were named as lead sponsors and honorary co-chairs of the Met Gala in November last year (AFP/Getty)
A flyer campaign in New York City was organized by the British political activist group Everyone Hates Elon to protest Bezos’s sponsorship
A flyer campaign in New York City was organized by the British political activist group Everyone Hates Elon to protest Bezos’s sponsorship (Reuters)

The couple’s sponsorship of the Met Gala breaks precedent by having a legacy fashion house as the primary sponsor.

The dress code for the 4 May event is “Costume Art,” which explores the “centrality of the dressed body” through depictions and interpretations of the human form in the Met’s extensive collection.

The dress code is said to encourage guests to think about how they can use their bodies as a blank canvas.

“What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body,” Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge of the Costume Institute, said in a statement.

“It’s the common thread throughout the whole museum, which is really what the initial idea for the exhibition was.”

This year’s co-chairs, who act as honorary hosts for the fundraiser, are Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams. Members of the Gala Host Committee — co-chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz — include singer Sabrina Carpenter, musician Doja Cat, ballerina Misty Copeland, Girls creator Lena Dunham, singer Sam Smith and One Battle After Another actor Teyana Taylor, among others.



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What an empty car park says about one of the UK’s poorest areas

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What an empty car park says about one of the UK’s poorest areas



The BBC has been speaking to people living in one of England’s poorest communities.



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Samsung family pays off record $8bn inheritance tax bill

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Samsung family pays off record bn inheritance tax bill



The bill is tied to the estate left by the firm’s late chairman Lee Kun-hee, who died in October 2020.



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