Director Asghar Farhadi, left, and actress Lily-Rose Depp pose for photographers upon arrival at the opening ceremony and the screening of the film Ismael's Ghosts at the 70th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
CANNES, France (AP) --
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has finally received his Oscar for best foreign language film, nearly three months after boycotting the Academy Awards ceremony.
Farhadi received the statuette during the opening ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival in France on Wednesday.
Farhadi boycotted the ceremony in February over President Donald Trump's proposed travel ban on people from several majority-Muslim countries, including Iran.
In his acceptance speech Wednesday, Farhadi praised Cannes as a "place where cultures speak to one another."
Farhadi won for "The Salesman," a drama centered around the story of a married couple who performed Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman" on stage.
Pepsi soft drinks in plastic bottles are on sale at a grocery store in New York on Weds., Nov. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
PepsiCo confirmed Friday that it's ending some of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, even as rival Coca-Cola voiced support for its own inclusion efforts.
In a memo sent to employees, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said the company will no longer set goals for minority representation in its managerial roles or supplier base. The company will also align its sponsorships to events and groups that promote business growth, he said.
Laguarta wrote that inclusion remains important to PepsiCo, whose brands include Gatorade, Lay's potato chips, Doritos, Mountain Dew as well as Pepsi. The Purchase, New York-based company's chief diversity officer will transition to a broader role focused on employee engagement, leadership development and ensuring an inclusive culture, he said.
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last month, U.S. government agencies, companies and schools have rushed to reevaluate policies and programs they adopted with the goal of reducing discrimination against members of minority groups, women and LGBTQ+ people.
Trump ended DEI programs within the federal government and has warned schools to end DEI programs or risk losing federal money.
PepsiCo's rollback came as Coca-Cola reaffirmed support for its DEI efforts.
In its annual report, Atlanta-based Coke warned that its business could be negatively affected if it is unable to attract employees that reflect its broad range of customers.
"Failure to maintain a corporate culture that fosters innovation, collaboration and inclusion … could disrupt our operations and adversely affect our business and our future success," the company said.
Coca-Cola has set a goal of having women in 50% of its senior leadership roles by... Read More
