NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

‘The Hobbit’ tops box office for 3rd weekend

NEW YORK

Hollywood kicked off the New Year on a positive note, with three films vying closely for the weekend box-office title that nevertheless remained with “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” for the third-straight week.

Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth finale took in $21.9 million for Warner Bros. in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, narrowly edging out the Disney musical “Into the Woods” ($19.1 million) and Angelina Jolie’s World War II tale “Unbroken” ($18.4 million) from Universal.

The weekend’s lone new wide-release, the Relativity Media horror sequel “The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death,” landed in fourth place with $15.1 million.

Rounding out the top five was “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb,” with $14.5 million.

Pic of Palin’s son on dog draws reaction

A photo of Sarah Palin’s young son standing on a dog to reach the kitchen sink is drawing sharp reaction.

The image of 6-year-old Trig, presumably preparing to wash dishes, and the reclining and seemingly relaxed black Lab-type animal is posted on the former Alaska governor’s Facebook page.

“May 2015 see every stumbling block turned into a stepping stone on the path forward. Trig just reminded me. He, determined to help wash dishes with an oblivious mama not acknowledging his signs for “up!”, found me and a lazy dog blocking his way. He made his stepping stone,” she wrote. Trig was born with Down syndrome.

The online response to the one-time Republican vice presidential nominee’s New Year’s Day post was fast and at times furious.

There were nearly 70,000 responses liking the photo along with a wide variety of comments.

Some blamed Palin, her politics, or called it animal mistreatment. Others offered her support and said the dog would have moved if it had been hurt.

The president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals commented Saturday, the Oregonian reported.

“PETA simply believes that people shouldn’t step on dogs, and judging by the reaction that we’ve seen to Sarah Palin’s Instagram photo, we’re far from alone in that belief,” Ingrid Newkirk said.

Palin responded: “Dear PETA, Chill. At least Trig didn’t eat the dog.”

Palace: Sex claims against prince are false

LONDON

Buckingham Palace on Sunday stepped up efforts to defend Prince Andrew after the British royal was embroiled in claims of sexual impropriety with an underage woman.

In a second statement since the claims surfaced, officials “emphatically denied” allegations by an unidentified woman who said she was forced to have sex with the royal when she was under the age of 18.

The woman named 54-year-old Prince Andrew, known as the Duke of York, in papers filed with a Florida court last week. The filing was submitted as part of a lengthy lawsuit against American financier Jeffrey Epstein, who the woman claims forced her to have sex with prominent people, including Prince Andrew. The woman was only identified as “Jane Doe Number 3” in the papers.

Associated Press