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Lebanon’s 'Capernaum' on Shortlist of Oscar Nominees for Best Foreign Film

Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki, her husband Lebanese producer Khaled Mouzanar and Syrian actor Zain Rafeea pose with the Jury Prize trophy at Cannes. (AFP)
Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki, her husband Lebanese producer Khaled Mouzanar and Syrian actor Zain Rafeea pose with the Jury Prize trophy at Cannes. (AFP)
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Lebanon’s 'Capernaum' on Shortlist of Oscar Nominees for Best Foreign Film

Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki, her husband Lebanese producer Khaled Mouzanar and Syrian actor Zain Rafeea pose with the Jury Prize trophy at Cannes. (AFP)
Lebanese director and actress Nadine Labaki, her husband Lebanese producer Khaled Mouzanar and Syrian actor Zain Rafeea pose with the Jury Prize trophy at Cannes. (AFP)

Lebanese director Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum” was shortlisted Monday for a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.

It joins eight other movies that will be vying to be nominated for Hollywood’s top honor.

Shortlists, decided on by executive committees in the film academy, help narrow the playing field in many of the categories before they are whittled down further to five final nominations in late January.

“Capernaum” was shortlisted along with Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma", Lee Chang-dong's thriller "Burning", Poland's "Cold War," Japan's "Shoplifters," Colombia's "Birds of Passage," Denmark's "The Guilty," Germany's "Never Look Away" and Kazakhstan's "Ayka."

Earlier this month, “Capernaum” was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes.

The critically acclaimed film, about a streetwise child who survives on the streets, has already won the prestigious Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

It stars 13-year-old Syrian refugee child turned actor Zain al-Rafeea.

The movie has garnered a string of wins and nominations on the festival circuit

Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on January 22, a one month before the Oscars on February 24

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Varieties

US Moves to Protect All Species of Pangolin, World’s Most Trafficked Mammal

A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)
A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)
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US Moves to Protect All Species of Pangolin, World’s Most Trafficked Mammal

A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)
A Malaysian pangolin walks past cages containing 45 others as a wildlife officer watches in Kuala Lumpur August 8, 2002. (Reuters)

The United States on Monday moved to extend federal protections to all species of pangolins -- a step that would tighten trade restrictions and highlight the urgent conservation plight of the world's only scaly mammals.

Found in the forests, woodlands, and savannas of Africa and Asia, pangolins are small, nocturnal creatures known for their distinctive appearance, slow and peaceful demeanor, and habit of curling into a ball when threatened.

Often likened to a walking pinecone, they use long, sticky tongues to feast on ants and termites, give birth to a single pup each year -- and are the most heavily trafficked mammals on Earth. Their keratin scales are coveted in traditional medicine, and their meat is also considered a delicacy in some regions.

Despite steep population declines driven by poaching, habitat loss, and inbreeding, only one species -- Temminck's pangolin of Africa -- is currently protected under the US Endangered Species Act. Monday's proposal by the US Fish and Wildlife Service would extend that status to all eight known species.

In a statement, the agency said it intends to list the four Asian species -- Chinese, Indian, Sunda, and Philippine -- as well as the three other African species: white-bellied, black-bellied, and giant pangolins.

"I'm delighted the United States is doing its part to save these adorably odd creatures," said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

"Pangolins are on the razor's edge of extinction, and we need to completely shut down any US market for their scales. There's no good reason for anybody to ingest any part of a pangolin."

Pangolins are currently protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits international trade for commercial purposes and allows it only under exceptional circumstances.

Still, the illegal trade persists.

In April, Nigerian authorities seized nearly four tons of trafficked pangolin scales, representing the slaughter of some 2,000 animals. In November 2024, Indonesian officials intercepted another 1.2 tons.

US demand remains a factor. Between 2016 and 2020, border officials intercepted 76 shipments of pangolin parts, including scales and products marketed for traditional medicine, according to public data.