All posts tagged: hopefuls

Leno saves Fulham in goalless West London derby at European hopefuls Brentford

Leno saves Fulham in goalless West London derby at European hopefuls Brentford

Published by Sam Flores

April 18 : Goalkeeper Bernd Leno kept alive Fulham’s faint European hopes with a standout 90th-minute save in a goalless Premier League clash at high-flying rivals Brentford on Saturday. A West London derby that could have turbo-charged either side’s hopes of a place in European competition ultimately fell flat at the Gtech Community Stadium. Brentford, now on five successive league draws for the first time since 1957, missed a chance to leapfrog Chelsea for sixth place while Fulham stayed 12th pending later fixtures after a game they really needed to win. Only six points separate Chelsea (48) and Newcastle United (42) in 14th place, with Brentford and Fulham (45) having five matches remaining and most of their rivals still with a game in hand and everything to play for. Brentford, now level on points with Chelsea but with an inferior goal difference, could have nicked the three points but for Leno’s brilliant effort in keeping out Dango Ouattara as the clock ticked into stoppage time. Leno had not had much to keep him busy until …

Diane von Furstenberg’s Annual Female Nominees Academy Award Lunch Brings Together Oscars Hopefuls and Bonafide Movie Stars

Diane von Furstenberg’s Annual Female Nominees Academy Award Lunch Brings Together Oscars Hopefuls and Bonafide Movie Stars

Published by Sam Flores

There is a certain assumption made about ladies who lunch—being, well, that they have the idle time for a languorous activity like a multi-course meal middle-of-the-day. (Often with wine.) And at Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg’s Trousdale Estates home in Beverly Hills, there were, yes, women enjoying a fantastic lunch—salmon, chicken salad, chickpeas and beets, and these delicious little pastry things made with Meyer lemon—with fantastic wine (never turn down a white Burgundy.) Yet aimless guests they were not: in fact, dozens of them will be up for an Academy Award on Sunday. The Belgian designer has thrown a picnic lunch honoring the female Oscar nominees for the past eleven years. It’s become somewhat of a staple on the see-and-be-seen awards-season circuit. But while many events focus on getting the buzzy, cloutiest names on their guest list, von Furstenberg’s guest list is curated by accomplishment. You’ll see bonafide movie stars there, sure. But you’ll also meet the directors of critically acclaimed short films, or producers of a social justice documentary. And the most impressive …

Why there are so many French presidential hopefuls

Why there are so many French presidential hopefuls

Published by Sam Flores

The question dominating French politics in 2026 will be: Who can defeat the far-right Rassemblement National (RN)? And there are two follow-up questions for parties within the so-called “republican arc,” the many parties in between the two extremes. How can they prevent a face-off between the RN and the La France Insoumise (LFI) in the second round of the 2027 presidential election, knowing that the leftist party fell just 421,308 votes short of reaching the run-off in 2022? And how will they decide between their many candidates? Several figures have already announced their candidacies: former prime minister Edouard Philippe (in office 2017-2020), leader of the Greens Marine Tondelier, and Cannes Mayor David Lisnard, formerly of the conservative Les Républicains (LR) party. Others from President Emmanuel Macron’s camp are preparing themselves: The head of the centrist Renaissance party, Gabriel Attal, Assemblée Nationale President Yaël Braun-Pivet, former prime minister (2022-2024) Elisabeth Borne, and ministers Gérald Darmanin and Aurore Bergé. Some of Macron’s associates also speculate that former prime minister (2020-2022) Jean Castex and the current holder of …

French PM blames partisanship and presidential hopefuls for budget deadlock – POLITICO

French PM blames partisanship and presidential hopefuls for budget deadlock – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Though a full government shutdown is unlikely — the French government can fall back on a stopgap mechanism that temporarily rolls over the current year’s budget until a new one is adopted — the discord is concerning given Lecornu’s promise to allow lawmakers to debate, amend and vote on a budget as they see fit. In the wake of the Friday vote, Lecornu said he will host party leaders and representatives of labor and trade organizations for talks on key national priorities, among them agriculture, energy, defense spending and deficit reduction. He also restated next year’s final budget with a projected deficit of under 5 percent of GDP. The outcome of these talks could lead to “ad hoc” votes in parliament, Lecornu said, to show that a majority of lawmakers can still find common ground in France’s hung parliament. The first of these votes is expected this week and will concern defense spending. Lecornu is hoping for the budgetary deadlock to be broken with the bill now under review in France’s upper house, the Senate. …