World
Jon Batiste's 'Beethoven Blues' transforms classical works into unique blues and gospel renditions
NEW YORK (AP) — When Grammy-award winner Jon Batiste was a kid, say, 9 or 10 years old, he moved between musical worlds — participating in local, classical piano competitions by day, then “gigging in night haunts in the heart of New Orleans.”
Free from the rigidity of genre, but also a dedicated student of it, his tastes wove into one another. He’d find himself transforming canonized classical works into blues or gospel songs, injecting them with the style-agnostic soulfulness he’s become known for. On Nov. 15, Batiste will release his first ever album of solo piano work, a collection of similar compositions.
Titled “Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1),” across 11 tracks, Batiste collaborates, in a way, with Beethoven, reimagining the German pianist’s instantly recognizable works into something fluid, extending across musical histories. Kicking off with the lead single “Für Elise-Batiste,” with its simple intro known the world over as one of the first pieces of music beginners learn on piano, he morphs the song into ebullient blues.
“My private practice has always been kind of in reverence to, of course, but also to demystify the mythology around these composers,” he told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of Wednesday’s album release announcement.
The album was written through a process called “spontaneous composition,” which he views as a lost art in classical music. It’s extemporization; Batiste sits at the piano and interpolates Beethoven’s masterpieces to make them his own.
“The approach is to think about, if I were both in conversation with Beethoven, but also if Beethoven himself were here today, and he was sitting at the piano, what would the approach be?” he explained. “And blending both, you know, my approach to artistry and creativity and what my imagined approach of how a contemporary Beethoven would approach these works.”
There is a division, he said, in a popular understanding of music where “pristine and preserved and European” genres are viewed as more valuable than “something that’s Black and sweaty and improvisational.” This album, like most of his work, disrupts the assumption.
Contrary to what many might think, Batiste said that Beethoven’s rhythms are African. “On a basic technical level, he’s doing the thing that African music ingenuity brought to the world, which is he’s playing in both a two meter and a three meter at once, almost all the time. He’s playing in two different time signatures at once, almost exclusively,” he said.
Batiste performs during the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival this year. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
“When you hear a drum circle, you know, the African diasporic tradition of playing in time together, you’re hearing multiple different meters happening at once,” he continued. “In general, he’s layering all of the practice of classical music and symphonic music with this deeply African rhythmic practice, so it’s sophisticated.”
“Beethoven Blues” honors that complexity. “I’m deeply repelled by the classism and the culture system that we’ve set up that degrades some and elevates others. And ultimately the main thing that I’m drawn in by is how excellence transcends race,” he said.
When these songs are performed live, given their spontaneous nature, they will never sound exactly like they do on record, and no two sets will be the same. “If you were to come and see me perform these works 10 times in a row, you’d hear not only a new version of Beethoven, but you would also get a completely new concert of Beethoven,” he said.
“Beethoven Blues” is the first in a piano series — just how many will there be, and over what time frame, and what they will look like? Well, he’s keeping his options open.
“The themes of the piano series are going to be based on, you know, whatever is timely for me in that moment of my development, whatever I’m exploring in terms of my artistry. It could be another series based on a composer,” he said.
“Or it could be something completely different.”
World
Kianna Underwood, former Nickelodeon star, killed in hit-and-run
NEW YORK (AP) — Law enforcement officials say Kianna Underwood, a former Nickelodeon child star, was killed Friday in a hit-and-run in New York. She was 33.
According to the New York Police Department, Underwood was crossing an intersection in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn when a black Ford Explorer SUV hit her in the morning.
While lying in the street, she was then “subsequently struck by a black and gray sedan,” NYPD said in a statement. Underwood was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police say both drivers left the scene and have not been identified. The investigation remains ongoing.
Underwood starred in Nickelodeon’s popular children’s sketch comedy show, “All That,” over seven episodes in 2005. Between 1999 and 2004, Underwood voiced the character Fuschia Glover in the Nick Jr. show, “Little Bill.”
She also spent a year on the first national tour of “Hairspray” as Little Inez.
“All That” was Underwood’s last credited role. The program helped launch multiple careers over its decade-long run, ranging from Nick Cannon, Kenan Thompson and Amanda Bynes.
World
Lindsey Graham speaks against pending execution of 26-year-old Iranian protester: ‘This regime must fall’
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is calling for the end of the Iranian regime amid ongoing protests and as the country holds its breath to see if a 26-year-old protester will be executed, something President Donald Trump has said could trigger U.S. intervention.
“I read with great sadness and heartache about the pending execution of Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old shopkeeper. He is facing death at the hands of the ayatollah simply for protesting in the street for a better life. His family is calling on the world to come to their son’s aid,” Graham wrote in a post on X along with an article about Soltani.
“I hope and pray that the execution does not go forward and this young man does not forfeit his life because he wants to live in freedom without fear,” the senator added. “This regime must fall, and the Iranian people must have a better life.”
Graham said that he believes if the regime falls and the “murderous ayatollah running Iran” is gone, the impact on the region “would be incredibly positive.” He also warned, however, that if Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were to remain in power, it would be “a giant step backward into the darkness.”
LINDSEY GRAHAM CALLS FOR US TO USE ‘ANY MEANS NECESSARY’ TO STOP THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE KILLING OF IRANIANS
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., spoke out against the pending execution of 26-year-old Iranian protester Efran Soltani. (Erfan Soltani via Facebook/via Reuters; Anonymous/Getty Images)
Soltani’s story has spread in recent days as the unrest in Iran continues. The 26-year-old was arrested in Fardis and was sentenced to death after an expedited trial, according to ABC News, which cited Soltani’s second cousin, Somayeh.
“As someone who is an activist myself and who has fought this regime for many years, I felt it was my right — and my duty — to be Erfan’s voice outside the country, despite all the pressure and sanctions that fall on families,” Somayeh, who is based in Germany, told ABC News.
Iranians began protesting in late December amid worsening economic conditions. Earlier this month, the regime instituted a nationwide internet blackout, blocking demonstrators from contacting each other or the outside world amid international fears that protesters would be met with violence and death.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
TOP IRAN PRAYER LEADER WHO DUBBED PROTESTERS ‘TRUMP’S SOLDIERS’ CALLS FOR EXECUTIONS AMID ONGOING UNREST
On Jan. 2, just days after the protests erupted, Trump said the U.S. was “locked and loaded” and ready to take action if the regime used violence against demonstrators. One day after the threat was made, the U.S. captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, adding weight to Trump’s words, though no known action has been taken yet.
Trump claimed on Wednesday the administration was told “on good authority” that the killing in Iran had stopped.
“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, and it’s stopped and stopping, and there’s no plan for executions or an execution,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “So, I’ve been told that on good authority. We’ll find out about it.”
Protesters burn images of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally held in Solidarity with Iran’s uprising on Whitehall in central London on Jan. 11, 2026. (Carlos Jasso/AFP via Getty Images)
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On Friday, he seemed to double down on the idea that the regime had stopped using violence when he issued a Truth Social post saying that Iran had cancelled over 800 scheduled hangings.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The fate of Soltani remains unclear, as does the prospect of U.S. intervention in Iran.
World
Thousands take part in ‘Hands off Greenland’ protests in Denmark
By Euronews with AFP
Published on
Thousands of people took to the streets of Denmark’s capital on Saturday to protest at US President Donald Trump’s push to take over Greenland.
The protest followed Trump’s warning on Friday that he “may put a tariff” on countries that oppose his plans to take over mineral-rich Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
They also coincided with a visit to Copenhagen by a bipartisan delegation from the US Congress that has made clear the opposition of many Americans to the Trump administration’s sabre-rattling.
Waving the flags of Denmark and Greenland, the protesters formed a sea of red and white outside Copenhagen city hall, chanting “Kalaallit Nunaat!” — the vast Arctic island’s name in Greenlandic.
Thousands of people had said on social media they would to take part in marches and rallies organised by Greenlandic associations in Copenhagen, and in Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense and the Greenlandic capital Nuuk.
“The aim is to send a clear and unified message of respect for Greenland’s democracy and fundamental human rights,” Uagut, an association of Greenlanders in Denmark, said on its website.
A sister demonstration was scheduled to happen in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, to protest the US’ “illegal plans to take control of Greenland”, organisers said.
Demonstrators would march to the US consulate carrying Greenlandic flags.
The Copenhagen rally made a stop outside the US embassy in the Danish capital.
Demand respect
“Recent events have put Greenland and Greenlanders in both Greenland and Denmark under pressure,” Uagut chairwoman Julie Rademacher said in a statement to AFP, calling for “unity”.
“When tensions rise and people go into a state of alarm, we risk creating more problems than solutions for ourselves and for each other. We appeal to Greenlanders in both Greenland and Denmark to stand together,” she said.
The demonstration in Greenland was “to show that we are taking action, that we stand together and that we support our politicians, diplomats and partners,” Kristian Johansen, one of the organisers, said in a statement.
“We demand respect for our country’s right to self-determination and for us as a people,” added Avijaja Rosing-Olsen, another organiser.
“We demand respect for international law and international legal principles. This is not only our struggle, it is a struggle that concerns the entire world.”
According to the latest poll published in January 2025, 85 percent of Greenlanders oppose the territory joining the United States. Only six percent were in favour.
No security threat
Speaking in Copenhagen, where the Congressional delegation met top Danish and Greenlandic politicians and business leaders, US Democratic Senator Chris Coons insisted there was no security threat to Greenland to justify the Trump administration’s stance.
He was responding after Trump advisor Stephen Miller claimed on Fox News that Denmark was too small to defend its sovereign Arctic territory.
“There are no pressing security threats to Greenland, but we share real concern about Arctic security going forward, as the climate changes, as the sea ice retreats, as shipping routes change,” Coons told the press.
“There are legitimate reasons for us to explore ways to invest better in Arctic security broadly, both in the American Arctic and in our NATO partners and allies,” said Coons, who is leading the US delegation. Trump has repeatedly criticised Denmark — a NATO ally — for, in his view, not doing enough to ensure Greenland’s security.
The US president has pursued that argument, despite strategically located Greenland — as part of Denmark — being covered by NATO’s security umbrella.
European NATO members are deploying troops in Greenland for a military exercise designed to show the world, including the United States, that they will “defend (their) sovereignty”,
French armed forces minister Alice Rufo said this week.
Britain, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have announced they are sending small numbers of military personnel to prepare for future exercises in the Arctic.
The United States has been invited to participate in the exercise, Denmark said on Friday.
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