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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joaquin Phoenix has won the best actor Academy Award Sunday for his role as a wanna-be comedian destined to become a supervillain in “Joker.” It is Phoenix’s first Oscar and comes on his fourth nomination. Widely praised for performances in films ranging from “Gladiator” to the Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line,” a best actor win had proved elusive for Phoenix. He becomes the second actor to win an Oscar for playing the notorious DC Comics villain. Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for playing the Joker in “The Dark Knight” in 2008.
BEIJING (AP) — Mainland China has reported another rise in cases of the new virus after a sharp decline the previous day, while the number of deaths grow by 97 to 908, with at least two more outside the country. On Monday, China's health ministry said another 3,062 cases had been reported over the previous 24 hours, raising the Chinese mainland's total to 40,171. Earlier, France closed two schools after five British visitors contracted the virus at a ski resort. Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam reported one new case each. Meanwhile, the mother of a physician who died last week in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan said she wants an explanation from authorities who reprimanded her son for warning about the virus.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets have declined amid warnings China's virus outbreak is still a threat and investor optimism that it is ending might be premature. Market benchmarks in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai retreated. The number of new virus cases reported daily by Chinese authorities had declined for a few days, which investors took as a sign disease control measures were working and the economic impact would pass. But health experts and economists warn the disease is still a threat and its impact will weigh on industries including retailing, tourism, electronics and shipping. China's central bank promised additional lending to cushion companies against the blow of intensive controls that have closed shops, factories and other businesses.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is preparing a $4.8 trillion budget plan that rehashes previously rejected spending cuts while leaving Social Security and Medicare benefits untouched. Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget plan, to be released Monday, seeks to wrestle trillion-dollar-plus deficits into balance after 15 years. It isn't likely to generate a serious Washington dialogue about what to do, if anything this election year, about entrenched fiscal problems that have deficits surging despite a healthy economy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that “once again the president is showing just how little he values the good health, financial security and well-being of hard-working American families.”
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A far-right conspiracy theory forged in a dark corner of the internet is creeping into the mainstream political arena. It's called QAnon, and it centers on the baseless belief that President Donald Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the “deep state.” Trump has retweeted QAnon-promoting accounts. Followers have flocked to his rallies wearing apparel with QAnon symbols and slogans. And at least 23 current or former congressional candidates in the 2020 election cycle have endorsed or promoted QAnon. Meanwhile, an FBI bulletin last year warned that conspiracy theory-driven extremists have become a domestic terrorism threat.
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