Features

By Zenab Ishtay
Aromatherapist and Cosmetologist

What are Muscles?

- Muscles are soft tissues made up of stretchy fibres

- Muscular tissue is 75% water, 20% solid, 5% minerals, fat and glycogen

- The muscular system comprises over 600 specialised muscles, many primarily concerned with movement and body coordination (skeletal) These muscles are attached to the bones via tendons; they contribute to the movement of the body

Muscle Pain

Bodily muscle pain is a signal in our nervous system that something is wrong with our body and muscles. It is an unpleasant feeling, which can manifest itself as a burning sensation, tingling ache, prick, sting, sharp, dull, constant or can go and come; as well, it can be cramping, stiffness or spasm.

Who can get muscle pain? Any person from any age group or gender can get muscle pain.

Aromatherapy and essential oils

Aromatherapy and its essential oils can help reduce muscle pain, aches, spasms, cramps and strain. They also can help to alleviate more severe muscle pain such as fibromyalgia, dystrophy, inflammation and the like.

When I treat a patient with severe muscle pain, I record the full medical history, taking into consideration all the medication and chronic diseases this person complains of. It is always important to focus on the emotional aspects of a patient’s life because many times the person can feel the pain more acutely when there is any emotional state of mind; once the patient is released of the emotions, the muscle pain lessens or sometimes disappears.

However, if the pain is purely physical, then an aromatherapist will use the anti-inflammatory essential oils to reduce inflammation. We can also use relaxing oils to relax the muscles and calm the mind. 

Aromatherapy is a holistic approach, taking into consideration all the facts, history and details of the person who complains of muscular pain.

There are different essential oils which we can use, specific to each case. There are anti-inflammatory oils, analgesic, tonic, stimulating and calming, relaxing, pectoral, nervine and laxative.

Special essential oils address emotions, like sadness, grief, insecurity, anger, feeling drained, feeling down, fear, pain and more.

Aromatherapy massages unite two very important senses: Touch and smell. The beneficial and restorative effect of the massage is combined with the unmistakable aromas of the essential oil mixtures, which reach the mind and influence mood and feelings. The smell of the essential oils may seem strange, but the reality is that aromas greatly influence the mind, mood and feelings.

My special blend for muscle pain and calm

Ingredients

• 3 drops cinnamon, essential oil (EO)
• 4 drops cloves, EO
• 5 drops cardamom
• 10ml jojoba oil, sunflower oil or base cream

Directions

Blend the essential oils together Then pour them on the carrier oil such as your base cream.

As to why many of us complain of muscular pain, it could be for many different reasons including

• Trauma.

• Soreness from exercise.

• Chronic diseases (diabetes, Parkinson’s, rheumatism, arthritis, stress, multiple sclerosis). 

• Influenza, COVID-19, fever

• Injuries

• Infections

• Muscle cramps

• Muscle spasms

• Neuromuscular disorders

• Auto-immune system diseases

• Some medications

• Cough

• Nausea, the act of vomiting itself

• Abdominal strain

• Fibromyalgia

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

PARIS — Shapeshifting Colombian superstar Shakira is in comeback mode after a torrid, highly publicised split from her footballer ex, Gerard Pique.

But the trials of the woman dubbed the queen of Latin music since her 2005 smash hit “Hips Don’t Lie” are far from over, with all eyes on Barcelona, where she will take the stand on November 20 on tax fraud charges.

Prosecutors are seeking a jail sentence of eight years and two months and a fine of nearly 24 million euros ($26 million) for the pint-sized 46-year-old diva, who previously lived in Barcelona with Pique.

They accuse her of defrauding the state of 14.5 million euros on income earned between 2012 and 2014, charges denied by the singer who says she only moved to Spain full time in 2015.

In September, she was hit with a second investigation into alleged tax fraud, this time amounting to a suspected 6.6 million euros.

Shakira now lives in Miami, with her two sons, Milan and Sasha.

Dark times 

Both an icon of Latina girl power and a sex symbol, the “Whenever, Wherever” songstress and “Waka Waka” performer at the 2010 South Africa World Cup has sold some 80 million albums worldwide and won three Grammy awards.

But the last few years have not been easy for Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll.

And in June 2022 she announced her split from Spanish football hero Gerard Pique, with whom she has two children, ending what had been one of the world’s most famous celebrity couples.

Around the same time, her elderly father suffered a bad fall and sinister stalker-like messages were spraypainted outside her Barcelona home.

“Everything happened at once. My home was falling apart,” she told People Magazine in 2023.

“I was finding out through the press that I had been betrayed while my dad was in ICU [intensive care].

“I thought I wasn’t going to survive so much.”

Picking herself up through her music, Shakira released a searing revenge song with Argentine DJ Bizarrap that has been viewed 645 million times on YouTube.

Slamming Pique and his new love interest, she sings: “You swapped a Ferrari for a Twingo/You swapped a Rolex for a Casio.”

‘Like a goat’ 

Her phenomenally successful career is a story of serial reinvention, from teen crooner to Colombian rock chick to Latina bombshell.

She grew up in a family of Arab descent in the Colombian port city of Barranquilla and began performing at the age of four, when she hopped up onto a table in a Middle Eastern restaurant and had the room clapping and cheering as she bellydanced.

“I fell in love with the sensation of being on stage,” she told Britain’s Guardian newspaper in a 2002 interview.

Her friends were less complimentary about her voice, declaring she sang “like a goat”, but Shakira was undeterred, recording her first single “Magia” as a denim-clad 14-year-old pining for her first love.

Her breakthrough came in 1996 with her third album “Pies Descalzos”, featuring a young rocker with jet black hair and a guitar slung across her shoulder.

‘Innocent sensuality’ 

By 22, she had become Latin America’s biggest pop star, with fans including Colombian Nobel literature prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who declared she had “invented her own brand of innocent sensuality”.

To help her break out of Latin America, US-Cuban diva Gloria Estefan encouraged her to sing in English and in 2002 she went on a world tour with her first bilingual album, “Laundry Service”.

She had become blonde by this point, mixed salsa and merengue with RnB, electro and hip-hop on chart-topping tracks like “Whenever, Wherever”, and infused her routine with the head-spinning hip gyrations that would become her trademark.

By the time she got to the World Cup South Africa, where she met Pique and headlined the closing ceremony, she was a superstar.

In 2017, she temporarily lost her voice after suffering a haemorrhage on her right vocal cord and was forced to call off a world tour for seven months.

But she recovered and enjoyed a new career high in 2020 when she shared a half-time show with Jennifer Lopez during the Super Bowl.

This year she collaborated with one of her new rivals on the Colombian music scene, Karol G, on the reggaeton hit “TQG” (acronymn for “Too Big for You” in Spanish).

It included further jabs at Pique and hit the top spot on Spotify.

NEW YORK — For the first time in nearly a century, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City will stage a performance in Spanish on Thursday, as the company works to expand its appeal to wider audiences.

“Florencia en el Amazonas” is a magical realist telling of an opera diva’s journey to South America to find her long lost lover, a butterfly hunter who disappeared in the jungle.

The protagonist Florencia Grimaldi — played by soprano Aylin Perez, the daughter of Mexican immigrants — boards a steamboat in the early 20th century en route to Manaus, home of the legendary opera in the heart of Brazil’s Amazon.

“It’s wonderful to have a new work that people don’t know as well,” said director Mary Zimmerman of the opera that premiered in 1996 in Houston.

In an interview with AFP, Zimmerman said that opera-goers tend to prioritise the classics: “Opera loves its traditions.”

But even if “people like that to visit the old friend”, she said, “they should make new friends too.”

The opera composed by Mexico’s Daniel Catan, his third, was commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera.

Its libretto is by Marcela Fuentes-Berain, who also is Mexican, and studied with the beloved pioneer of magical realism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The opera is relatively new but has elements of romanticism, Zimmerman said.

“It’s melodic, it’s lush, it sounds like Puccini,” she said.

The opera also centers on the eternal dilemma of career versus love, with three types of women setting sail on the “El Dorado” ship, amid a set of abundant vegetation and rich fauna.

Along with the diva who has achieved fame but sacrificed love, there is Rosalba, a journalist writing a biography of the opera star and who does not want love to divert her path, and a woman embroiled in a spat with her lover.

But a violent storm upends the ship — and with it the once staunch principles of its passengers.

‘Dream come true’ 

Latinos are well represented among the cast: Along with the star Perez, Gabriella Reyes, the daughter of Nicaraguan immigrants, plays Rosalba.

Spanish mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera and Guatemalan tenor Mario Chang also have roles, while Riccardo Hernandez, who was born in Cuba and raised in Buenos Aires, designed the sets.

“Everyone feels the warmth of Latin America,” says Reyes, who as a student chose an aria from “Florencia” for her graduation exam.

“The orchestra had to order the scores because they didn’t already have them,” she says with amusement.

“But it’s thanks to this aria, and this piece, that I have my career,” she told AFP.

Reyes says it’s the second time she’s played Rosalba, but it’s still “a dream come true”.

“Singing with Latinos in Spanish comes from my soul in a different way than when I sing in Italian,” she says.

‘Urgent and profound’ 

“Florencia” is the third opera in Spanish that the Met has produced over its long and storied history.

In 1926, the Met staged “La vida breve” by Manuel de Falla, 10 years after it produced “Goyescas”, from the Spanish composer Enrique Granados.

Catan’s opera is one of several new features at the Met, which for several years has been aiming to reach younger, more diverse audiences.

It kicked off its season with “Dead Man Walking”, an operatic adaptation of the acclaimed book by the nun Helen Prejean about her relationship with a death row inmate whose execution she witnessed.

And earlier this month was the Met premiere of “The Life and Times of Malcolm X”, a mesmerising musical biography of the civil rights leader, who was assassinated in 1965.

These operas “deserve to stand alongside the masterpieces of centuries past”, said the Met’s director, Peter Gelb.

“They have urgent and profound things to say to us about the world we live in today.”

HAVANA — In a formerly posh neighbourhood of Cuba’s capital, stained glass windows still sparkle in what used to be the opulent family homes of the rich.

The houses, which date mostly from Havana’s 20th century heyday, are today in various states of conservation — some magnificent, others crumbling.

But bit by bit, when money and resources allow, the windows they boast are being meticulously restored by a dedicated team, subsidised by the state.

“We want to keep this art alive, it would be wonderful not to lose it,” said Mirell Vazquez, who teaches stained glass restoration at the state-run Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos school in Havana, and oversees a team of five restoration professionals, all trained by her.

Vazquez has identified about 500 stained glass windows in the Vedado neighbourhood that once housed the Cuban capital’s most luxurious homes — many built with money from the then-flourishing sugar industry.

Most of the grand old houses no longer serve a residential purpose, having been nationalised and turned into offices or embassies.

There are a wide variety of windows on display in Havana — including some of the first colonial-style examples, in the shape of coloured fans with wooden frames, which became a symbol of historic Old Havana, founded in the 16th century.

Then from the 20th century onward, the homes of the wealthy in Vedado were adorned in styles from Europe — with stained glass windows first imported from workshops in France and Spain, then made locally.

‘Aggressive’ climate 

As the country’s economic fortunes have declined — combined with a humid, tropical climate that is “very aggressive for stained glass windows”, many of the colourful marvels have fallen into disrepair, said Vazquez.

Cracks, missing parts and deformed lead are the most frequent fixes her team needs to make.

And despite having government backing for their labour, they sometimes have to battle to obtain the materials they need as the country faces its worst economic crisis in decades.

Linda Viamontes de la Torre, 32, has worked as a restorer under Vazquez for two years, after an initial career in health care, and has collaborated on repairing the windows of two Havana churches.

“It is very satisfying” when a window is able to “regain its original appearance”, she told AFP as she worked on a panel from a neo-Gothic church.

Havana’s windows — some of the best examples of stained glass in the Caribbean — and its pool of recognised restorers, prompted the UNESCO cultural heritage body and European Union to launch a project to bring young people from elsewhere in the region to Cuba for training in the field.

Chloe Cadet, a 26-year-old design student from Trinidad and Tobago and one of the beneficiaries, said she was surprised by the city’s “historical architecture and the way that it’s preserved so well”.

Fellow student Franklin Alberto Sanchez, a 32-year-old from the Dominican Republic, told AFP he had learned about everything from glass manufacturing to safe cutting techniques.

“In my country, there is no training in stained glass restoration and conservation,” he said, with plans of applying what he learned back home.

“This was the best place for this course.”

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Wednesday unveiled the theme for the Costume Institute’s 2024 exhibition and gala, the fashion world’s party of the year — “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”.

Every year, the Met Gala draws a who’s who of A-listers from the worlds of fashion, film, politics and sports — a list tightly curated by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

Next year, the party will take place in Manhattan on May 6 to celebrate the opening of the exhibition, which the public can view from May 10 through September 2. Both are cosponsored by popular video sharing app TikTok.

The sweeping and immersive exhibition will feature about 250 garments and accessories spanning four centuries, from the Costume Institute’s vast archives of 33,000 pieces — from a 17th century embroidered jacket to an Alexander McQueen gown from spring-summer 2001 made of shells.

“Using the natural world as a uniting visual metaphor for the transience of fashion, the show will explore cyclical themes of rebirth and renewal, breathing new life into these storied objects,” the Met said.

Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton explained that when items enter the museum’s collection, “It can’t be worn, obviously. So you don’t see the movement. You can’t smell it, you can’t hear it, you can’t touch it.”

With the exhibition, he said he hopes to “reawaken the sort of sensorial capacities within fashions in the Costume Institute, through various technologies”.

Fanned out on a large table in a room resembling a laboratory was a full silk satin House of Worth ball gown from the late 19th century, its embroidery, beads and sequins still resplendent despite the years.

The 1887 dress is now too fragile and damaged to be placed on a mannequin. So it will be displayed flat, but also restored to its original magnificence thanks to computer imaging and the use of a hologram — a nod to immersive exhibitions that are all the rage today.

Bolton said the museum approached Chinese-owned TikTok to cosponsor the event because of the platform’s “accessibility”.

“We really wanted to have the biggest, broadest sort of platform possible in terms of how the show is actually disseminated more globally,” he said.

The Met Gala is the primary source of funding for the Costume Institute. Wintour took over the charity gala in the 1990s and transformed it into one of the world’s buzziest fetes.

Awaited with some apprehension ahead of its 2018 launch, the concept of a high-luxury SUV was still novel, with the Rolls Royce Cullinan then only preceded by the Bentley Bentayga. But given the popularity and sales potential of the SUV segment, it was inevitable that the most illustrious of British luxury carmakers would throw its hat in the proverbial ring. In fact, Rolls Royce vehicles serving in inhospitable terrain and demanding conditions is not unprecedented, and famously included nine lightly modified examples used by T.E. Lawrence during the Great Arab Revolt.

Described as a “high-bodied all-terrain car” in Rolls Royce-speak, the Cullinan is no successor to Lawrence’s improvised fleet, but is rather a modern and ultra-luxuriously appointed and off-road capable SUV with all the comforts expected from its manufacturer. Rolls Royce’s first five-door wagon body and off-road oriented vehicle, the Cullinan design combines tough off-roader themes in an elegantly conservative package. Under the skin, it shares much with the second generation Phantom flagship saloon, including architectural elements, aluminium construction, electronics, gearbox and its silky smooth and richly ample large displacement engine.

Brisk brute

If not as enormous as images suggest, the Cullinan’s haughty brutalist demeanour, lines and vertical orientation, nevertheless, make it an imposing sight, best appreciated up close. Squared-off and statuesque with a high waistline and long bonnet, Rolls Royce’s design themes, vast proportions and huge, upright neo-classical style chrome grille in fact translate naturally for a five-door SUV wagon body format, and contrast well with more subtle surfacing and elegant signature details like its retractable “Spirit of Ecstasy” statuette. Optional tailgate-mounted electrically-operated pop-up viewing seats are meanwhile a practical, indulgent and new feature.

Powered by a vast low pressure twin-turbocharged 6.75-litre V12 producing 627lb/ft torque at just 1,600rpm, the Cullinan enjoys virtually lag-free progression from standstill, and effortlessly muscular on-the-move versatility. Progressive and eager through to redline, the Cullinan is however is in its element through a comparatively low rev range, with its full 563BHP achieved at just 5,000rpm. Propelling its bulky 2,660kg mass from standstill with near-immediate response, the Cullinan’s hurtles briskly through -100km/h in just 5.2-seconds. Power build-up is meanwhile underwritten by a brutally abundant, yet, ever-present and seemingly indefatigable avalanche-like torrent of torque.

Stealthily swift

Almost silent and stealthily near-silent in operation, the Cullinan’s sweet soaring V12 soundtrack, however, becomes more evident at revs rise to redline. Swift but unhurried in character, Rolls Royce’s first four-wheel-drive is capable of an electronically-limited 250km/h top speed. Its thirsty 15l/100km combined fuel consumption is meanwhile considered modest for its weight, size and shape. Channeling power through a smooth shifting 8-speed automatic gearbox, the Cullinan can allocate power between front and rear wheels as necessary through a permanent four-wheel-drive system, and incorporates strengthened off-road capable driveline components.

Comfortable and compliant, but reassuringly stable at speed, the Cullinan glides with a trademark “wafting” ride quality. Smoothing out imperfections with supple grace — despite vast low profile 255/45R22 tyres — the Cullinan’s front double wishbone and rear multi-link adaptive air suspension “reads” the road ahead through a stereo camera and makes constant adjustments in response. Leaning into corners with progressive tautness, its adaptive air suspension automatically adjusts for firmer body control or more forgiving ride comfort, as needed. It also allows for longer off-road wheel travel and increased ride height for 540mm water fording

Composure and comfort

Comfortable as expected, the huge Cullinan also proved more nimble than anticipated. With light but accurate steering, commandingly high driving position, plenty of road-holding and numerous driver assistance and safety systems working in the background, the Cullinan also features electro-mechanically actuated anti-roll bars that tauten for improved cornering body control and composure. Meanwhile, variable four-wheel-steering effectively shortens its wheelbase by turning rear wheels opposite to front at low speed for enhanced agility and turn-in, and in the same direction at speed to simulate a longer wheelbase for improved stability and lane change response.

Extravagantly appointed, the Cullinan’s thoroughly refined cabin is decked with rich leathers, woods, metals and generously padded soft textures crafted for an elegant and luxuriously enveloped ambiance. Spacious in front and rear, it features a comfortable upright driving position with good front visibility. Offered with a standard and practical folding rear bench, it can be optioned with individual rear seats with a luggage compartment glass partition. Signature Rolls Royce touches meanwhile include rear-swinging rear “coach” doors, thin steering column-mounted gear selector stalk and power dial in place of a rev counter.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Engine: 6.75-litre, twin-turbo, in-line V12-cylinders
• Bore x stroke: 92 x 84.6mm
• Valve-train: 48-valve, DOHC, direct injection
• Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 563 (571) [420] @5,000rpm
• Specific power: 83.4BHP/litre
• Power -to-weight ratio: 211.6BHP/tonne (unladen)
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 627 (850) @1,600rpm
• Specific torque: 125.9Nm/litre
• Torque-to-weight ratio: 319.5Nm/tonne (unladen)
• 0-100km/h: 5.2-seconds
• Top speed: 255km/h (electronically governed)
• Fuel economy, combined: 15-litres/100km
• CO2 emissions, combined: 341g/km
• Length: 5,341mm
• Width: 2,000mm
• Height: 1,835mm
• Wheelbase: 3,295mm
• Water fording: 540mm
• Boot capacity, min/max: 560-/1,930-litres
• Unladen / kerb weight: 2,660kg / 2,753kg
• Suspension, F/R: Double wishbones / five-link, adaptive air suspension, 48V active anti-roll bars
• Steering: Electric-assisted variable ratio four-wheel-steering
• Brakes: Ventilated discs
• Tyres: 255/45R22

By Sarah Saman,
Beauty Consultant

Empowering Breast Cancer Warriors

Breast cancer patients often face a unique set of challenges on so many levels, physical, mental and emotional. The battle with cancer and the subsequent treatment scan lead to hair loss, including the eyebrows. For many women, maintaining or regaining their normal look helps in boosting their self-confidence and a sense of normalcy, which is essential for their healing process.

Powder brows unveiled

Powder brows are the latest in brow shaping and tinting techniques and the most natural looking; this technique offers a path to regaining confidence and reclaiming control over one’s appearance especially for breast cancer warriors whose brows disappear with medical treatments.

The powder brows technique is a semi-permanent makeup procedure that aims to create a soft, powdered appearance on the eyebrows. Unliketraditional eyebrow tattooing, which can result in harsh and unnatural lines, powder brows mimic the look of softly applied eyebrow powder or pencil.

This technique involves the application of tiny dots of pigment to the skin’s surface, in different densities to gradually build up colour, with a minimal down time and healing process. The final result is subtle and soft brows that compliment eyes and facial features.

Advantages of the powder brows:

1.Natural Look: Powder brows give a morenatural appearance compared to other eyebrow permanent makeup methods. The technique’s ability to mimic the look of soft brows makes ita more popular choice among women seeking anatural and realistic enhancement

2. Longevity: Powdered brows are consideredsemi-permanent makeup unlike traditional tattoo swhich last longer. They can last anywhere from one to three years

3. Versatility: This technique suits a wide range of eyebrow shapes and can be customised, allowing for adjustments in colour, shape and density. This adaptability ensures that the final result alignswith each individual’s facial structure and preferences

4. Minimal Discomfort: The procedure involves minimal discomfort and downtime. Topical an esthetics are often applied to numb the area, making the experience relatively painless suitable for persons with various skin types, including oily, dry or sensitive skin

5. Minimally Invasive: Powdered brows areconsidered to be the least invasive method of permanent makeup, as the technique deposits adiffused layer of pigmentation on a super ficial layer of the skin

6. Universal: It is suitable for persons with various skin types, including oily, dry or sensitive skin

Redefining self-image

Powder brows also have an impact on mental health, and are convenient and effective. The procedure offers a bridge to self-assuredness and empowerment for all women, particularly breast cancer warriors. During or in the aftermath of a challenging treatment, this technique will help her reclaim her sense of self and beauty. Here’s how:

Confidence restoration: Brows play a large role in how well put-together a face can look; the loss of the brows canhave a significant negative impact on self-confidence. Powderbrows are an opportunity to restore confidence and embracea normal appearance

Convenience: In just a couple of hours, a woman canhave normal brows, without having to stress and waste time on drawing her brows, worry about the colour fading, or getruined while doing daily activities

A customised solution: Powder brows are customisable to each person’s unique facial structure and preferences, to ensure that the end result aligns with the desired look, allowing a woman to feel comfortable and beautiful

A reminder of strength: Powder brows aren’t just about appearance; they serve as a visible reminder of a breast cancer survivor’s strength and resilience. Choosing to live and live better is an available option, now made easier to achieve withthis solution.

Healing, Self-love and abrighter tomorrow

The natural appearance, longevity and versatility of powder brows make them a powerful solution. In there alm of beauty, it’s not merely about aesthetics; it’s about fostering innerstrength and celebrating individuality. Powder brows stand as a symbol of embracing change, finding beauty inimperfections and emerging stronger than ever before. For breast cancerwarriors, this technique can be  powerful step toward healing, self-love and a brighter tomorrow.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James shook off an early injury scare to score 32 points and key the Los Angeles Lakers’ 122-119 comeback win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday in his first taste of the NBA’s new in-season tournament.

After a knock to his lower left leg had him hobbing briefly in the first quarter, the 38-year-old superstar settled in and produced another age-defying performance, helping the Lakers snap a three-game losing streak.

He connected on 11 of 17 shots from the field, including three of four from three-point range. He added 11 rebounds and six assists.

James was delighted not only with a first road win of the young season but with a victory in the Lakers’ first game in the new in-season tournament — a Cup-style competition that commissioner Adam Silver hopes will fire players’ competitive instincts and give added interest to early season games with the promise of a trophy and prize money.

“It feels great because it’s an in-season tournament win and we’ll take that,” James told broadcaster ESPN after the game. “We’ll take that for sure. Y’all heard there’s 500,000 (dollars) on the line, so we’re going for that. We’re going for that.”

Kevin Durant scored 38 points to lead the Suns, who led by as many as 14 on the way to a 63-55 halftime lead.

Austin Reaves’ layup with 9:45 left to play gave the Lakers their first lead since the first quarter.

It was part of a 14-0 Lakers run, and Los Angeles were able to make the lead stand up.

“I think we just finally got sick of being out-rebounded,” James said of the Lakers’ improvement on the boards late in the contest. “We kept bodies in front of bodies.

“We finally started hitting our three pointers and that definitely helped us get back into game,” added James, whose Lakers made 12 three-pointers — nine of them in the second half.

While James wasn’t shy about targeting the in-season tournament, Boston star Jayson Tatum was more pleased to see the Celtics end a two-game skid with a 121-107 victory over Brooklyn.

Jaylen Brown scored 28 points and Tatum added 23 in a relatively comfortable victory.

Stung by back-to-back defeats, the Celtics came out strong and led by as many as 17 in a first half in which they made 12 three-pointers.

“Yeah, it would be nice to win [the in-season tournament], but more importantly it was just good to get back in the winning column.

“We lost two in a row, so it was important to come back home and get a win.”

Eight teams will advance from group play to knockout rounds, all culminating with a title match on December 9 in Las Vegas.

All the games in the tournament, except for the final, count in the regular-season standings.

Doncic dominates 

The Dallas Mavericks improved to 1-1 in tournament play, and 7-2 for the season, with a 144-126 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, fueled by 44 points from Luka Doncic and 27 from Kyrie Irving.

The Mavericks exploded for 47 points in the second quarter to take control on the way to a 144-126 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Doncic — who now has five 40-point games against the Clippers — was devastatingly efficient, connecting on 17-of-21 shots from the field.

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 26 points. James Harden scored all 14 of his points in the first quarter and the Clippers lost their fourth straight — their third with Harden in the lineup after his trade from Philadelphia.

In other games, sensational San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points with nine rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots but came up short in a duel of French big men as his Spurs fell to Rudy Gobert’s Minnesota Timberwolves 117-110.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 29 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for Minnesota, who won their fifth straight. Anthony Edwards added 28 points and Gobert had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid scored 33 points and Tyrese Maxey added 29 to lead the Philadelphia 76ers back from a 16-point deficit to a 114-106 victory over the Pistons in Detroit.

Embiid added 16 rebounds for the Sixers, who shook off a slow start to win their seventh straight game — and hand the Pistons a seventh straight defeat.

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood celebrated on Thursday after actors ended a crippling months-long strike, kicking off a race to get the cameras rolling and salvage next year’s movies and television shows.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) called off its 118-day strike after reaching a tentative agreement with studios for a new contract including higher pay and protections against the use of artificial intelligence.

While the deal needs to be ratified, and details of the contract have not yet been released, actors can return to making — and promoting — films right away.

“Effective immediately, all SAG-AFTRA members should fulfill their contractual obligations and return to work,” the union said in a message to members on Thursday.

The deal comes just in time for studios to finish movies still penciled in for next summer’s blockbuster season, and some television shows can even be completed in time for spring.

“WE DID IT!!!” wrote actor Noah Schnapp, posting on Instagram an image of a screenplay for the final season of hit Netflix show “Stranger Things”, which had to delay filming earlier this year.

“Oh, We’re very back,” wrote Quinta Brunson, star of “Abbott Elementary”, on Instagram.

While some movies, including Tom Cruise’s next “Mission Impossible”, had already abandoned release dates next summer, the timing of the deal will raise hopes that other big titles can be delivered on schedule.

Filming on Ryan Reynolds’ and Hugh Jackman’s eagerly awaited superhero sequel “Deadpool 3”, which was forced to pause for four months, will resume before Thanksgiving (November 23), Variety reported.

“There will be a summer movie season next year — which was in great peril if this deal hadn’t gotten done before the holidays,” said entertainment lawyer Jonathan Handel.

“We would have seen a complete exodus.”

And the timing of the agreement will also reinvigorate Hollywood’s imminent awards season.

The Oscars are set to be held in March, and nominations for precursor events such as the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards will be announced as soon as next month.

Already by Thursday morning, invitations to star-studded Los Angeles premieres were being dispatched to awards group voters, including a gala featuring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore for Netflix movie “May December” at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Upcoming world premieres for eagerly awaited movies such as “Wonka” starring TimotheeChalamet, and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”, starring Jason Momoa, will be able to wheel out their A-list talent, to boost publicity.

‘Relief and happiness’ 

“We can really celebrate with this contract,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher told CNN on Thursday, adding that the new contract “broke so much ground”.

“How I feel is great relief and happiness that we stood firm, we held our ground, and we got a historic and seminal contract at a point in history where it was necessary,” she said.

In addition to pay rises, and bonuses for starring in hit shows, the contract ensures for the first time that studios need to “ask for permission for everything” when using artificial intelligence to digitally insert famous actors into movies, said Drescher.

Details of the new contract will be shared following a SAG-AFTRA board meeting on Friday.

The deal was hailed by politicians including US President Joe Biden, who said in a statement: “Collective bargaining works”.

“There is power in a union. Congratulations @sagaftra!” wrote Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a prominent progressive Democrat.

Outside Los Angeles studios, the picket lines that have become a daily feature since May were gone, although a small group of SAG-AFTRA members gathered outside Warner Bros. to celebrate.

“I feel relieved... we had been tensing up, not knowing how long this fight was gonna go, and now we can release that tension,” actor D.W. McCann told AFP.

“Hopefully the contract is what we need it to be. And it can just be behind us and we can get back to work.”

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood is no stranger to sequels. But few recent films have come saddled with as much backstory — on and off the screen — as “The Marvels”.

The first all-female ensemble movie in Disney’s sprawling superhero franchise, out Friday, not only takes place after the events of the 32 previous Marvel films, but also picks up the plot of two television series.

Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, first seen in the film “Captain Marvel”, is joined by Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan, two sidekicks who were introduced to audiences in Disney+ TV spin-offs “WandaVision” and “Ms Marvel”.

The three women are forced to team up after a glitch results in them involuntarily swapping bodies every time they use their superpowers.

Such complexities are not exactly new to the Marvel movies, but feed into growing fears of audience “superhero fatigue”, with one Variety critic describing the challenge of keeping up with the franchise these days as “homework”.

Director Nia DaCosta said the challenge of the movie came in striking a balance between exploring the women’s backstories, and moving forward to their new, wacky, outer space-hopping adventures.

“We tried to focus on honoring their stories,” she said. “Like, what do we need to see in this next stage for all the characters, and how do we balance it out?”

But off the screen too, “The Marvels” faced an uphill climb.

The movie underwent four weeks of reshoots, and its release was delayed multiple times.

This led to claims that Marvel studio boss Kevin Feige had taken over the reins, with one Variety report even claiming DaCosta had left the film during post-production.

DaCosta has denied those reports, and told AFP that “we” figured out how to balance the film’s many story elements while “developing the film” and “going through the process” in post-production.

“Just like any other movie, that perhaps doesn’t have TV shows and films that come before it, at the core of the story, it’s about three characters coming together and meeting and reconnecting for the first time,” said producer Mary Livanos.

“So I think people will be able to follow along and enjoy the experience of the story.”

‘Sisterhood’

Meanwhile, the long Hollywood actors’ strike — which finally appeared to have been resolved Wednesday — had prevented stars like Larson and Samuel L. Jackson from promoting the film.

And while Larson’s 2019 film “Captain Marvel” grossed more than $1 billion, it suffered from sexist trolling and “review-bombing” online — patterns that have sadly been repeated and amplified with “The Marvels” and its three female leads.

Analysts predict it will make around $60 million at the US box office on its opening weekend, which would be low for a Marvel film.

Still, Livanos pointed out that female-led movies have confounded expectations by dominating the box office this year.

“It’s really exciting and feels very serendipitous to be coming out after this incredible summer with ‘Barbie’, and Taylor Swift this fall in theaters as well,” she said.

Livanos hopes “that this movie can further the momentum that this moment in culture is having”.

For DaCosta, the youngest-ever Marvel director — hired at 30 with a single, acclaimed indie film to her name — that message rings true.

Her debut “Little Woods” followed two sisters struggling to escape poverty, a criminal past and an unwanted pregnancy, who must reconnect to support each other.

“That’s sort of how I saw these three characters... three sisters who have to find themselves — and find each other,” she said.

“In the universe of Marvel, that means becoming a great superhero team.”