At Friday’s premiere of “Christy,” a gritty biopic of US female boxing pioneer Christy Martin, the film’s star Sydney Sweeney declined to address her recent jeans ad controversy that caused a firestorm online.But she was prepared to talk about her waistline, namely how she gained weight to transform her appearance for a role that could make her an Academy Award contender.”A lot of Chick-fil-A, a lot of Smucker’s, a lot of milkshakes, a lot of protein shakes,” Sweeney told an adoring crowd following the world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.”I trained three times a day, every day.”The film recounts a life that director David Michod described as “incredible.””Particularly incredible that I’d never heard it before” until working on the film, he said after the premiere. Christy Martin, 57, was born Christine Salter in the US state of West Virginia, the daughter of a coal miner.In the late 1980s she started boxing, gradually becoming the sport’s first true female star, backed at times by iconic boxing promoter Don King.The film addresses her efforts to suppress her sexuality as a young woman and the abuse she suffered from her trainer and eventual husband Jim Martin, played by Ben Foster.Martin stabbed and shot his then-wife and remains in prison over her attempted murder.Foster said he was “curious” about meeting Jim Martin when preparing for the role, but ultimately decided that would be “disrespectful,” instead shaping his performance around the issues of “coercive control and domestic violence.””Her story deserves to be told,” Sweeney said of the fighter, who has resumed using her maiden name, Salter.”It was incredible being able to completely embody such a powerful woman,” Sweeney said. Ahead of the premiere, the Emmy-nominated actress — best known for roles in the series “The White Lotus” and “Euphoria” — dodged questions about the internet meltdown triggered by her ad campaign for the clothing brand American Eagle.Some social media users were outraged, saying the wordplay of the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” coupled with the actor’s blue eyes and blonde hair, has racial undertones.”Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My genes are blue,” Sweeney, wearing denim on denim, says in one video.The ad’s defenders have included President Donald Trump.”Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST ad out there,” he posted last month on his Truth Social platform. Salter, in Toronto for the premiere, praised Sweeney’s transformative performance.”She wasn’t the beautiful, sexy Sydney. She was the tough, rugged Christy in this movie and I think it’s awesome,” said Salter, who is now married to one of her former boxing rivals, Lisa Holewyne. Foster also offered effusive praise for his 27-year-old co-star.”Sydney is a smokehouse. She’s the real deal,” he said. “She puts in the work. I think you all will be mind-blown by what she does in this film.” 

US President Donald Trump signed an order Friday rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War, saying it sent a “message of victory” to the rest of the world.Flanked by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth at a signing ceremony at the White House, the Republican president said the current name that had been in place for more than 70 years was too “wokey.””I think it sends a message of victory,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about the rebranding. “It’s a much more appropriate name in light of where the world is right now.” The name harks back to the War Department, the title used for more than 150 years from 1789, just after independence from Britain, to 1947, shortly after World War II.Trump cannot formally change the name of the Pentagon without the approval of Congress — but the 79-year-old’s order authorizes the use of the new label as a “secondary title.”Former Fox News host Hegseth swiftly embraced the change, posting a video of a new nameplate saying “Secretary of War” being stuck to his door at the Pentagon.The combat veteran, named by Trump to lead a major overhaul of the sprawling department, said the change was “not just about renaming, it’s about restoring the warrior ethos.””Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We’re going to raise up warriors, not just defenders,” said Hegseth. Trump meanwhile even appeared to blame America’s military misadventures since its victories in World Wars I and II on the decision to call it the Department of Defense, which was made in 1949.”We could have won every war, but we really chose to be very politically correct or wokey,” said Trump, who was signing the 200th executive order of his second term.- Too ‘defensive’ -The rebranding forms part of a wider bid by Trump to project power and potency at home and abroad in his second term, as part of his “Make America Great Again” policy. Trump has in particular ordered a US military build-up in the Caribbean to counter what he calls drug cartels led by Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro. US forces killed 11 people in a strike on what Washington said was a drug-carrying boat earlier this week.Trump also ordered a US military strike on Iranian nuclear sites in June.Domestically he has deployed the US National Guard in the capital Washington and Los Angeles in recent months in what he has called a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration.Trump’s “Department of War” move could also be seen to be at odds with his campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize for what he says is his role in ending a number of conflicts — he has variously said six and seven. Democrats have called the move a costly political stunt by the billionaire.The White House is yet to say how much a rebrand would cost, but US media expect a billion-dollar price tag for the overhaul of hundreds of agencies, emblems, email addresses and uniforms.A Pentagon official told AFP the “cost estimate will fluctuate as we carry out President Trump’s directive to establish the Department of War’s name. We will have a clearer estimate to report at a later time.”Trump had trailed the announcement for several weeks. He complained that the name Department of Defense was too “defensive” and made America look weak.Hegseth meanwhile has lambasted prior administrations for policies he and Trump have derided as “woke.”Notably, he has sought to expel transgender troops from the military and change the names of bases that honored Confederate troops back to their original titles, after they were renamed under former president Joe Biden.The War Department was established in August 1789 to oversee the US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, according to an official Pentagon history web page. The Navy and Marines split off a decade later.

US President Donald Trump said Friday he would host the 2026 G20 summit at his own golf resort in Miami — despite abandoning a similar move in his first term after accusations of corruption.Billionaire Trump said his Trump National Doral resort and spa was the ideal choice for the gathering in December next year because it is “beautiful” and the Florida weather is nice.”It’s going to be at Doral,” the 79-year-old told reporters in the Oval Office after announcing that Miami would be the venue for next year’s summit.”Everybody wants it there because it’s right next to the airport, it’s the best location, it’s beautiful, a beautiful everything.”But Trump, who has faced repeated accusations that he and his family have enriched themselves during his two presidencies, insisted he would not profit from the event.”We will not make any money on it. We’re doing a deal where it’s not going to be money, there’s no money in it. I just want it to go well,” Trump said.Another reason for holding the event at Doral, Trump said, was that most hotel rooms in Miami are normally fully booked in December.”Each country will have its own building. I think it will be really a beautiful thing.”Trump was born in New York but has made Florida his home for years, with his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach and the Doral resort nearer the sprawling metropolis of Miami.He had made similar plans to host the 2020 G7 summit at the Doral resort during his first presidency.But it caused a firestorm among Trump’s Democratic opponents, who called it “among the most brazen examples yet of the president’s corruption.”He later ditched the plan with a swipe at “media and Democrat crazed and irrational hostility” — and the summit eventually never took place because of the Covid pandemic.Trump at the time also abandoned a plan to invite Russia despite its suspension from the G7 because of its annexation of Crimea.But this time Trump said he would be open to Russian President Vladimir Putin attending the G20 despite Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine — adding that he would also welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping.”I would love them to, if they want to,” Trump said.He added however that they would be “observers, and I’m not sure if they’d want to come as observers” — despite the fact that both Russia and China are G20 members.Trump meanwhile confirmed that he would skip this year’s G20 in South Africa and send Vice President JD Vance instead.The US president had previously said he was unlikely to go, citing debunked claims of white citizens being systematically persecuted and killed in the country.”I won’t be going, JD will be going. Great vice president, and he looks forward to it,” Trump said.