Thrills and adventure lead the nominations for the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Thirteen nominations went to "Port of Call," a thriller about a detective looking into a heinous crime that tore apart two families and is loosely based on a real event. It's up for best film, best actor for Hong Kong superstar Aaron Kwok and best director for Philip Yung, for whom "Port of Call" was his third feature.
The 3D action adventure film "The Taking of Tiger Mountain" has 11 nominations, including best film and best director for the veteran Tsui Hark.
The third "Ip Man" film was popular with fans as well as critics. Its eight nominations include best film, best director and best action choreography.
The other best film nominees are "Little Big Master" and perhaps the biggest surprise, "Ten Years." The low-budget, independent film contains five stories postulating about Hong Kong's future. The film portrays the city in 10 years' time when the local language is no longer spoken and freedom of speech is lost, echoing apprehensions of many people in Hong Kong now. Though it was nominated for the top award, it was shut out in the other categories.
Actor Sean Lau Ching Wan and actress Ivana Wong announced the nominees Friday.
The best actor category has some of Hong Kong's most beloved past winners, with Kwok, Andy Lau, Nick Cheung, Tony Leung and Jacky Cheung nominated. Nominees for best actress, coming from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, are Tang Wei, Miriam Yeung, Sylvia Chang, Karena Lam and Jessi Li.
The awards will be handed out April 3.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More