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☆ Disney’s Earnings Hurt by Costs at Disney+
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Robbie Whelan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Disney’s theme parks division has raised prices but also introduced new technology to reduce crowd sizes and coax guests to return. Walt Disney Co. reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday as losses continued to widen in the streaming business, offsetting the strong performance of the company’s theme parks. In the three months ended Oct. 1, the company’s flagship streaming service Disney+ added 12.1 million net new accounts, bringing its global total to 164.2 million subscribers. Analysts were expecting 8.86 million additions, according to FactSet.

☆ Brittney Griner met with US officials in Russia for the first time since her appeal was denied
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

US officials were able to meet with Brittney Griner in person Thursday for the first time in weeks. "[US Russian embassy officials] visited Brittney Griner today," Price tweeted. Griner was in Russia to play with the Russian Premier League during the WNBA off-season. "We continue to press for the immediate release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan and fair treatment for every detained American," Price tweeted after the Thursday meeting. Cherelle Griner told co-hosts of "The View" on Tuesday.

Summary Griner faces penal colony after losing drugs appealIn Russian system, inmates made to work long hours for scant payThreat of harsh punishment for breaking trivial rulesLanguage barrier makes ordeal even harder for foreignersLONDON, Nov 3, (Reuters) - Tedious manual work, poor hygiene and lack of access to medical care - such are the conditions awaiting U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner in a Russian penal colony after she lost her appeal last week against a nine-year drug sentence. The first thing to understand, Alyokhina said in an interview, is that a penal colony is no ordinary prison. The quite cynical thing about this work is that prisoners usually sew police uniforms and uniforms for the Russian army, almost without salary." A more recent penal colony detainee, Yelena, described a similar regime to that experienced by Alyokhina a decade ago. LANGUAGE BARRIERFor a foreigner with little or no Russian, it's harder to navigate the system and deal with the isolation.

☆ Disney to Offer Toy and Merchandise Deals via Disney+ App
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Robbie Whelan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Disney is under pressure from investors to add subscribers and increase revenue. Walt Disney Co. is launching a pilot program to test how streaming subscribers respond to deals to buy exclusive toys and apparel related to some of its most popular shows, movies and characters—all offered through the Disney+ app. Starting Tuesday, subscribers can visit the ShopDisney.com website or scan a QR code found on the menu screen of Disney+ streaming titles and purchase limited-edition merchandise. Items featured in the test include replicas of Marvel superhero Dr. Strange’s cloak, a Black Panther mask, or a Darksaber toy weapon from “The Mandalorian.”

☆ Disney CEO Bob Chapek Wants to Customize Fan Experiences
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Robbie Whelan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Walt Disney is focused on telling stories in “a more customized, more personalized way” and “bringing together the physicality plus the media element of Disney,” chief executive Bob Chapek said Wednesday. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference, Mr. Chapek said the entertainment company is working on ways to unite its two main business lines—its parks, experiences and products division and its media, content and streaming division—using the Disney+ app. The idea, he said, is to steer content to customers based on what theme park rides a visitor prefers, for example, rather than trying to predict what a customer will like based on past viewing or personal information.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery Names Two Superhero Veterans to Lead DC Studios
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Robbie Whelan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Writer-director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran have been named co-chairmen and co-chief executives of DC Studios. Discovery has tapped the veteran director-producer team of James Gunn and Peter Safran to lead DC Studios, the movie franchise that includes a stable of valuable superhero properties including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman. Mr. Gunn and Mr. Safran will serve as co-chairmen and co-chief executives of the studio and will report directly to David Zaslav , chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery, the company said. Mr. Zaslav has said he wants to put in place a 10-year-plan to rebuild DC and make it better compete with Walt Disney Marvel Studios.

☆ Beeple Creates Digital-Art Museum in Charleston, S.C.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Kelly Crow | Robbie Whelan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Digital artist Mike Winkelmann , who goes by Beeple , rarely visited art museums before he sold a digital collage at Christie’s for nearly $70 million last year. Now, he is building a museum of his own. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference, Mr. Winkelmann said he is constructing a 50,000-square-foot exhibition space in Charleston, S.C., to display digital art, including his own.

A Russian appeals court is due on Tuesday to hear the case of WNBA star Brittney Griner, sentenced to nine years in prison in what the United States has called a wrongful detention. Griner, 32, “is quite pessimistic about the outcome” of the appeal, one of her attorneys, Maria Blagovolina, said Monday on MSNBC. Medical cannabis is illegal in Russia, but it is legal in most of the U.S.United States officials say Griner is being wrongfully detained. “It is our goal to see them home as soon as we can.”Griner's wife, Cherelle Griner, has said that Brittney Griner is being held hostage. When she was detained, Griner had been in Russia to play for a Russian Premier League women’s team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, which she had since 2014.

☆ U.S. basketball star Griner's Russian appeal hearing adjourned until 1000 GMT
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner appears on a creen via video link from the detention centre before a court hearing to consider an appeal against her prison sentence, in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, Russia October 25, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaKRASNOGORSK, Russia, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A Russian court on Tuesday began hearing an appeal by U.S. WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner against her conviction and nine-year jail sentence for possession and smuggling of drugs, but promptly adjourned for two hours at her lawyers' request. They had previously said they expected a decision on Griner's appeal to be issued later on Tuesday, shortly after the hearing. Elizabeth Rood, the U.S. chargee d’affaires in Moscow, was present at Tuesday's appeal hearing. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Filipp Lebedev and Olesya Astakhova; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Mark TrevelyanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

CNN —Brittney Griner is appealing her verdict in Russian court Tuesday, nearly three months after the US basketball star was convicted of smuggling drugs into the country and sentenced to nine years in prison. Griner’s appeal will be considered in the Moscow Regional Court in a hearing at which her attorneys are expected to argue the verdict was unfair and unjustified under Russian law, they told CNN. The court hearing the appeal can choose to leave Griner’s verdict in place, overrule it and send it back to the lower court, or reduce Griner’s prison term, they said. “Brittney is very strong person and has a champion’s character,” Blagovolina and Boykov told CNN in a written statement ahead of Griner’s appeal. “However, she of course has her highs and lows as she is severely stressed being separated from her loved ones for over eight months.”“She is very nervous waiting for the appeal hearing,” they added.

☆ U.S. working to bring Griner home after 'sham' Russian hearing, Sullivan says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The United States will continue to engage with Russia to bring home jailed U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, after a Russian court on Tuesday upheld her nine-year drug sentence. "We are aware of the news out of Russia that Brittney Griner will continue to be wrongfully detained under intolerable circumstances after having to undergo another sham judicial proceeding today," Sullivan said in a statement. The Biden administration "has continued to engage with Russia through every available channel and make every effort to bring home Brittney as well as to support and advocate for other Americans detained in Russia, including fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan," Sullivan added. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Doina Chiacu Editing by Rami AyyubOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Superhero Film ‘Black Adam’ Revives Weekend Box Office
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Robbie Whelan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

‘Black Adam’ represents the best opening weekend gross ever for a movie with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in a solo leading role, according to Warner Bros.“Black Adam,” the latest superhero movie from Warner Bros. Discovery DC Films studio, opened up to $67 million in domestic ticket sales, the studio said, leading the North American total box office take to its first over-$100 million weekend since July. The movie also represents the best opening weekend gross ever for a movie with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a solo leading role, Warner Bros. said Sunday, surpassing past performances in the Jumanji films and “San Andreas.”

REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool/File PhotoMOSCOW, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner "does not expect miracles" at her appeal hearing on Tuesday against a nine-year Russian jail term for having cannabis oil in her luggage, her lawyers said in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"She is very nervous waiting for the appeal hearing. Brittney does not expect any miracles to happen but hopes that the appeal court will hear the arguments of the defense and reduce the term," they said. Griner pleaded guilty at her trial but said she had made an "honest mistake" and not meant to break the law. Washington says Griner was wrongfully detained and has offered to exchange her for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States.

☆ The Great Netflix Debate: Do Its Movies Belong in Theaters?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Robbie Whelan | Sarah Krouse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Inside Netflix movie studio, top executives lobbied Ted Sarandos , the company’s co-chief executive, for much of this year to experiment with releasing more Netflix original movies broadly in theaters. They outlined their case in a memo shared in June on the company network. Some argued that Netflix is leaving hundreds of millions in box-office receipts on the table with its current strategy of showing only select movies in a few hundred theaters for at most a few weeks before streaming them, according to people familiar with the matter. Other executives thought showing movies in more theaters would create valuable buzz for the streaming service.

☆ Steph Curry offers support for Griner as WNBA star thanks fans on her birthday
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Stephen Curry offered fellow basketball star Brittney Griner a high-profile show of support Tuesday, as the WNBA player marked her 32nd birthday behind bars in Russia. Hours after Griner released a message thanking those fighting to get her home, Curry spoke out in the middle of the Golden State Warriors' championship ring ceremony Tuesday. The WNBA star was arrested at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17 after authorities said they found cannabis-infused vape cartridges in her luggage. Griner issued her own statement on her birthday, thanking her supporters for continuing to fight for release. “Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home," Griner said in a statement made through her attorneys, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, who spent time with the WNBA star on her birthday and relayed birthday messages to her.

☆ U.S. says it's raised concerns with Saudis over detention of U.S. citizen
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department confirmed that a Saudi-American citizen has been detained in Saudi Arabia, and said that Washington has repeatedly raised its concerns. Saudi Arabia in early October handed a 16-year prison sentence to Saudi-American Saad Ibrahim Almadi, the Washington Post reported late on Monday, over his tweets critical of the Saudi government. Almadi was charged with "harboring a terrorist ideology, trying to destabilise the Kingdom, as well as supporting and funding terrorism," the Post reported. The news come at a time when the Biden administration is looking to reevaluate its relationship with Saudi Arabia, after OPEC+ oil producers announced oil production cuts over U.S. objections. Washington had not previously disclosed Almadi's detention, even though the Post reported that he was first detained last November when he was visiting Riyadh.

☆ Putin aide says Russia is not prioritizing the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A close aide to Vladimir Putin said that Brittney Griner's release is not Russia's "main issue." The aide also said that he didn't believe US President Joe Biden is prioritizing her release. Griner has been wrongfully detained in Russia on drug smuggling charges for the last eight months. Biden has spoken about Griner's release in public on multiple occasions and met with her family in September, after writing the basketball star a letter in July. "But, for example, if he came to me at the G20 and said, 'I want to talk about the release of Griner,' I would meet with him."

☆ U.S. consular official spoke with detained Americans Griner and Whelan -State Dept
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. consular official spoke on Tuesday with Britney Griner and Paul Whelan, Americans detained in Russia, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said. "There was a substantial proposal on the table earlier this summer to facilitate their release. Our governments have communicated repeatedly and directly on that proposal, and the Russians should take that deal," he said at a news briefing. A consular officer spoke briefly on the phone with both detainees on Tuesday, he said without elaborating. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

MOSCOW, Oct 18 (Reuters) - American WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner, whose appeal against a Russian jail term is due to be heard next week, sent her supporters a message of thanks on Tuesday, her 32nd birthday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterGriner pleaded guilty at her trial but said she had made an "honest mistake" and not meant to break the law. "Today is of course a difficult day for Brittney," said Blagovolina, who is representing Griner in court. Washington says Griner was wrongfully detained and has offered to exchange her for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Filipp Lebedev; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Production Company Behind ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Raises Capital
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Robbie Whelan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fresh off the success of “Top Gun: Maverick,” David Ellison , one of Hollywood’s wealthiest heirs, has raised a new round of capital to expand deeper into animation, videogames and sports-related programming. Skydance Media, the production company founded by Mr. Ellison, who is the son of billionaire Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison , has raised $400 million in new capital, valuing Skydance at more than $4 billion, the company said Thursday.

☆ Russian envoy to U.S. says he visited convicted arms dealer Bout in prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks during a news briefing on the situation in Syria, at the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim ZmeyevOct 13 (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said early on Thursday he had visited Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer jailed in the United States and linked to a possible swap for two U.S. citizens imprisoned by Moscow. On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said the United States had consular access to Griner since early August. He said that he even began to forget some Russian words a bit, because there is no one to talk to," RIA cited Antonov as saying. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brittney Griner's wife says she doesn't know if the WNBA star 'has anything left in her tank'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Cherelle Griner said her wife, WNBA star Brittney Griner, is being held "hostage" in her first interview since a Russian court sentenced the basketball player to nine years in prison for drug possession in August. "On its face it just seems like my wife is a hostage," Cherelle Griner told "CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King. On that call, Cherelle said, she didn't know if Brittney "has anything left in her tank to continue to wake up every day and be in a place where she has no one." Ahead of her Oct. 25 hearing, Cherelle said Brittney is "at her absolute weakest moment in life now." Brittney Griner, who came to my country for seven, eight years, and helped my country be recognized through sport, paid taxes in my country, helped my country.

☆ U.S. women skip jersey number 15 at World Cup to honour Griner
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Basketball - Women - Gold medal match - United States v Japan - Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan - August 8, 2021. Griner, who wore the number 15 in international competition, helped the United States collect two of their 10 gold medals in the quadrennial tournament, which takes place in Sydney this year. "USA Basketball continues to keep BG in our thoughts as we take the court in Sydney. U.S. President Joe Biden met with the WNBA star's wife, Cherelle Griner, last week and has called the judgment against Griner "unacceptable". The United States said in July it put forth a "substantial offer" for the release of Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

☆ U.S. adults should get routine anxiety screening, panel says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

U.S. doctors should regularly screen all adults under 65 for anxiety, an influential health guidelines group proposed Tuesday. It’s the first time the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended anxiety screening in primary care for adults without symptoms. “The most important thing to recognize is that a screening test alone is not sufficient to diagnose anxiety,” Pbert said. The group continues to recommend depression screening for adults and children, but said there isn’t enough evidence to evaluate potential benefits and harms of suicide screening in adults who show no worrisome symptoms. In 2020, a group affiliated with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended routine primary care anxiety screening for women and girls starting at age 13.

Biden sat down in the Oval Office with Cherelle Griner, wife of women's basketball star Brittney Griner, and Elizabeth Whelan, sister of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. Biden conducted the separate meetings to assure the families that the detainees "are at front of mind," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The United States in late July said it has put forward a "substantial offer" to secure the release of the two Americans. Last month, Russia's foreign ministry said it was engaged in "quiet diplomacy" with the United States about a potential prisoner swap that could include Griner and Whelan. Washington has offered to exchange Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout for Griner and Whelan, sources familiar with the situation have told Reuters.

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