Share on PinterestHealthgrades’ Patient Safety Excellence Awards recognize hospitals in the top 10% in the nation for patient safety. andresr/Getty Images
Healthgrades recently announced the recipients of the 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Awards.
The awards recognize hospitals that provide the highest quality care and excel at preventing serious safety events.
The 2026 recipients include 438 hospitals from 40 states and represent the top 10% of hospitals nationwide for patient safety.
Healthgrades has announced the recipients of the 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Awards, which “recognize hospitals that excel at providing top-quality care while preventing serious safety events during hospital stays.”
This year’s recipients represent the top 10% of hospitals nationwide for patient safety and include 438 hospitals from 40 states.
Healthgrades’ annual analysis found that more than 100,000 patient safety events could have been avoided between 2022 and 2024 if all hospitals had performed at the same level as those that received a 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Award.
Patients treated at award-winning hospitals were also significantly less likely to experience the four most common patient safety indicators (PSIs)—serious but preventable complications that account for about 78% of all safety events. Those include:
In-hospital falls that result in fractures (52.4% less likely)
Collapsed lungs related to procedures or surgery around the chest (57.5% less likely)
Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired in the hospital (67.8% less likely)
Pressure sores or bed sores developed during a hospital stay (71.9% less likely)
“The data behind this year’s Patient Safety Excellence Award highlights how measurable improvements in safety can prevent thousands of complications,” Alana Biggers, MPH, medical advisor at Healthgrades, said in a press release.
“Hospitals that prioritize evidence-based safety practices not only achieve better clinical outcomes, but also cultivate a culture where patients come first. These insights give individuals and families the information they need to make confident and better informed healthcare decisions.”
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Hospitals recognized with the 2026 Patient Safety Excellence Award were identified through an analysis by Healthgrades examining how well facilities prevent serious safety complications during hospital stays.
To determine the recipients, Healthgrades analyzed hospital performance using inpatient MedPAR data and evaluated facilities across 13 patient safety indicators (PSIs).
These indicators track serious complications that can occur during hospital care, such as respiratory failure after surgery, surgical infections, and excessive bleeding following procedures.
The analysis compares hospital performance nationwide using risk-adjusted data to account for differences in patient populations.
Results across the 13 indicators are combined into an overall patient safety score for each hospital, enabling facilities to be ranked by how effectively they prevent these complications.
Hospitals that rank among the top 10% nationally for patient safety earn the Patient Safety Excellence Award.
To qualify, facilities must also meet several eligibility requirements, including meeting clinical quality thresholds, reporting data on at least 7 of 8 core patient safety indicators, and having no documented cases of foreign objects left in patients during a procedure.
Hospital rankings and safety awards can provide useful guidance for patients comparing facilities, particularly when they highlight measurable differences in outcomes, such as complication rates and preventable safety events.
“Rankings like those offered by Healthgrades should be able to assist healthcare consumers in making better decisions for themselves and their loved ones,” Robert Bonar, Dr.H.A., the Gordon A. Friesen Professor of Healthcare Administration at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, previously told Healthline.
Still, experts say these ratings are best used as one tool among many when choosing where to receive care. Factors such as a patient’s specific medical needs, individual physicians’ experience, and recommendations from trusted healthcare providers can also play an important role in making the best decision.
Bonar also previously noted that when patients are evaluating health information, they should prioritize sources that “work hard to base their recommendations on statistically sound outcomes, measurable data, complication rates — including surgical infection rates — and morbidity and mortality data.”
Looking at multiple sources of information — including hospital safety ratings, patient reviews, and conversations with healthcare professionals — can help patients get a more complete picture when evaluating their options.
The full Patient Safety Excellence Award recipient list and methodology are available on the Healthgrades website.
*Healthgrades and Healthline are part of the RVO Health portfolio of brands.
Healthgrades is owned by RVO Health. By clicking on this link, we may receive a commission. Learn more.
A coalition of Big Tech companies is working on a more comprehensive solution to combat online scams. As first reported by Axios, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, Adobe and Match Group announced the signing of the Online Services Accord Against Scams. The new agreement is meant to put up a united industry-wide front against online fraud and scams, particularly those from sophisticated criminal networks that use multiple platforms.
According to the Axios report, the measures will include adding fraud detection tools, introducing new user security features, and requiring more robust verification for financial transactions. The agreement will also set up best practices for scam detection, prevention and reporting, while encouraging the sharing of information between companies and law enforcement. On the policy side, the coalition will call on the governments to “declare scam prevention a national priority,” according to Axios. While these measures are extensive, the report noted that they’re all voluntary since the accord doesn’t mention any penalties if the companies don’t follow through.
Many of the companies involved in the new accord already have experience in dealing with scams found on their own platforms. Earlier this month, Meta announced several new features across Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp that would alert users about suspicious friend requests or accounts. Last year, LinkedIn introduced a new verification requirement for company recruiters or executives to address scams targeting job seekers on its platform.
Subscriptions are out of control. I can remember a time when the monthly payouts were few: just Netflix, a couple of magazines and a mobile plan. Now we have subscriptions for music, security cameras, cloud gaming, AI chatbots, meal kits, LinkedIn, DoorDash, Uber, Photoshop — the list is long. Basically, if there’s an app for something, there’s likely an associated subscription available, too. This guide was put together to help you locate and cancel the subscriptions that are no longer serving you. That way, you won’t end up paying for something you don’t use. Every time I go through this process, I’m always amazed at what random stuff I’ve signed up for — and cancelling always feels good.
It’s true that signing up for something is far easier than canceling — that’s by design. The FTC tried to pass a rule requiring companies to make cancelling a subscription as easy as it was to sign up for it. But that solution died before it ever went into effect.
That means it will still take some effort to get rid of the services you don’t use, but there are a couple of tactics that might make your efforts more effective. Here’s our advice on finding and cancelling your unneeded subscriptions.
First things first: Find out what subscriptions you have
Before putting this post together, I had no idea how many subscriptions I was paying for. Surprises included a coding game for my kid (that he no longer plays) and a British streaming app I’d gotten for one show (that I finished nearly a year ago). You, too, may not know what subscriptions are stealthily subtracting dollars from your accounts. One of the most comprehensive ways to see what you’re paying for is to look at your bank and credit card transactions, generating a search that includes every transaction in the previous full month. It may be a lot to scroll through, but each monthly subscription will appear at least once in that time frame.
Annual subscriptions can be tricker to track down. I was able to find most by searching for introductory emails, since most services send out an initial message confirming a new subscription. You can use the advanced search with the words “welcome” or “thank you” in the subject field, plus variations on the words “annual” “subscribing” and “membership” in the general or keyword search fields. You should get a decent idea of the things you’ve signed up for, but may have to wade through lots of promotional emails before you find the services you actually subscribed to. It could save you some time over searching through a year of bank statements.
Sometimes it’s helpful to simply see a list of common subscriptions people pay for (and often forget about). Here are a few:
For the most part, the way you sign up for a subscription is the way you’ll cancel it. If you signed up for Strava or Minecraft Realms from your iOS device, you’ll need to cancel it through your Apple account. If you signed up for Netflix through its website, you’ll cancel there. Sometimes even the device you use matters. For example, if you signed up for Paramount Plus via your Fire TV Stick, you’ll go through your TV to cancel instead of through the Amazon mobile app.
Once you’ve determined where to go, the cancellation processes will nearly always involve logging in to your account and navigating to your profile, then your account settings so you can view and end your subscription.
Here are steps to cancel a few of the most popular subs.
From the Apple App Store or Google Play Store
When you pay for a subscription through an app store, the transaction will likely be listed as a payment to either Apple or Google, so it’s harder to see what you’re paying for using the banking suggestion above. Here’s how to see what you’ve subscribed to using the two major app marketplaces, plus how to cancel.
How to cancel subscriptions through Apple’s App Store 1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. 2. Tap your profile box at the top. 3. Tap on Subscriptions. Here, you’ll see your active and inactive subscriptions listed. 4. Tap the one you want to cancel and follow the prompts.
How to cancel subscriptions through Google’s Play Store 1. Open the Google Play app. 2. Tap your profile circle in the upper right. 3. Tap on Payments & Subscriptions. 4. Tap on Subscriptions. 4. You’ll see your active subscriptions and can decide which ones you no longer want.
How to cancel Amazon Prime
Amazon
Amazon most recently raised the price of a Prime membership in 2022, bringing it to $15 per month or $139 per year. A membership gets you things like free shipping and access to Prime Video — though as of 2024, you’ll pay an additional $3 per month if you want to stream ad-free. If Prime isn’t worth it for you any longer, here’s how to cancel.
Through the Amazon app: 1. Tap the person icon at the bottom of the screen. 2. Tap on the Your Account button at the top of the screen. 3. Scroll down to and tap Memberships and Subscriptions. 4. You’ll be taken to a Prime page; tap Manage Membership in the drop-down menu at the top. 5. Select the Update, Cancel and More option, and tap End Membership. Here, you can also opt for a reminder to be sent three days before your next renewal if you don’t want to cancel right away.
Via a web browser: 1. Sign in to Amazon. 2. Hover over Accounts & Lists to the right of the search bar up top. 3. Click on Memberships & Subscriptions under Your Account. 4. Click the Cancel Subscription button.
How to cancel Paramount Plus
Paramount Plus is one of the cheaper video streaming subscriptions out there, going for $9 per month for the ad-supported version or $14 monthly for the ad-free version with Showtime. But if you finished Starfleet Academyand want to cancel, here’s how. Remember, if you signed up for Paramount Plus through Prime Video or through the App Store, you’ll need to cancel through the same platform.
1. Log in to your Paramount Plus account on a web browser. 2. Select the username in the upper right corner. 3. Click on Account and scroll down to Cancel Subscription. 4. Click on Cancel Subscription.
How to cancel Apple TV
Apple
Probably the best thing about Apple TV is how lean it is. Sure, you may not want to watch everything on there, but the ratio of really good stuff to so-so fluff is far better than on most other services. But once you’ve gotten through Severance and Pluribus you may decide to save yourself the $13 per month.
Apple TV + requires an Apple ID to sign up, so the easiest way to cancel is through the Settings app on your Apple device. If you didn’t sign up through a Mac, iPad or iPhone or don’t have an Apple TV box, follow the PC instructions.
On an iPhone or iPad: 1. Open the Settings app. 2. Tap your profile box at the top. 3. Tap on Subscriptions. 4. Tap either Apple TV+ or Apple One membership, depending on how you first signed up. 5. Select the subscription you want to cancel, then click the Cancel Subscription button.
On a Mac: 1. Open the App Store app. 2. Click on your name and profile image at the bottom left. 3. Click on Account Settings at the top of the screen. 4. In the pop-up window, scroll down to the Manage section and click the Manage link to the right of the word Subscriptions. 5. Select the Edit link next to the subscription you want to cancel, then click the Cancel Subscription button.
On an Apple TV box: 1. Open the Settings app from the home page. 2. Click on Users & Accounts. 3. Click on Subscriptions. 4. Find the subscription you want to cancel and follow the prompts.
On a PC: 1. Go to tv.apple.com and sign in. 2. Click on the account icon at the top of the page. 3. Click on Settings and scroll down to Subscriptions, then click Manage 4. Choose Cancel Subscription.
How to cancel an Audible membership
If you downloaded Audible as part of a free trial or grabbed it for a 12-hour road trip but haven’t used it much since, here’s how to stop paying $15 per month. If you didn’t sign up via Amazon or Audible and instead went through Apple’s App Store or Google Play, follow the instructions for how to cancel subscriptions through Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play store above.
Through Amazon: 1. Sign in to your Amazon account. 2. Hover over Accounts & Lists to the right of the search bar. 3. Click on Memberships & Subscriptions under YourAccount. 4. You’ll see your Audible membership listed; click the Audible Settings button. 5. Scroll down to Membership Options & Help and click on Cancel Membership.
Through Audible (on a browser): 1. Sign in to your Audible account. 2. Hover over the link that says Hi [your name] and select Account Details from the menu. 3. You’ll see a box with your membership details; click on Cancel Membership. 4. Answer the “reason for canceling” question and follow the prompts.
How to cancel Spotify Premium
Spotify
Spotify only gets more expensive. If you just want to go back to the free version, here’s how. You can change which tier you pay for through the app. But to cancel, you’ll need to go through a web browser. You can technically cancel through the app, but that involves deleting your account and all its data. If you want to preserve your playlists and just switch to the free version, do so with a mobile or desktop browser.
1. Head to Spotify on a web browser and log in. 2. If you haven’t logged in via the web before, you’ll see a button for Web Player or Account Overview; select Account Overview. 3. If you’re already in the Web Player, click either the gear icon (mobile browser) or your profile image (desktop browser) in the upper right corner and select Account. 4. Your subscription will appear in a box labeled Your Plan; click that box or scroll down to Manage Your Plan and click. 5. You’ll see your plan details, click the Cancel subscription button.
How to cancel YouTube TV
Pretty much every live TV streaming service has raised its prices over the past couple years. YouTube TV is no different. After starting at $35 per month at launch, it went up nearly every year to finally land at $83 with the latest price hike in December of 2024. If that’s edging too close to cable pricing, you can always cancel (after all, not requiring a contract is still one of streaming’s major advantages). And YouTube TV actually lets you cancel through the app.
On an Android device: 1. Open the YouTube TV app. 2. Tap your profile circle at the top right. 3. Tap on Settings, then tap on Membership. 4. Under your membership details, tap Manage. 5. Click on Cancel Membership and follow the prompts.
Via a web browser: 1. Head to YouTubeTV. 2. Log in and click your profile circle in the top right. 3. Tap on Settings, then tap on Membership. 4. Under your membership details, tap on Manage next to Base Plan. 5. Click on Cancel Membership and follow the prompts.
Apps that can help
Some finance apps will track and manage your subscriptions for you. We looked into the bigger ones to see how they can help. One of our previous recommendations, Mint, shut down, but ones from Experian and Monarch Money have cropped up to take its pace. We tried out Rocket Money to see how the process works and detailed it below.
Just note that these apps cost money to handle subscription cancellation on your behalf — and adding another paid service to your life can feel absurd when you’re trying to do the opposite. You’ll also need to give the apps your banking information and your data may, in turn, be sold or shared with third parties for marketing.
A couple of other apps we tried don’t ask for your banking info. Instead you manually enter your subscription details. That’s certainly more private, but might not be saving you much effort in the long run.
Rocket Money
Owned by the same company as Rocket Mortgages, Rocket Money is a finance app that connects with your bank account and offers to help you budget and track your overall spending, in addition to managing your subscriptions. You’ll pay for the app using a sliding scale from $3 to $14 per month for the premium version, which includes automated cancellation and other features. To access the free version at sign-up, move the slider to the left until you reach $0.
Once you’ve linked your account, navigating to the Recurring tab gives you an overview of your subscriptions. I liked that you can access this using either the mobile or desktop app. After linking my accounts, it reminded me of an upcoming renewal for a magazine I don’t read and hosting fees for a website I no longer need. Canceling both of those would save me nearly $200 in a year. Unfortunately, my monthly Apple One payment and the Max access that I pay for through my Samsung TV didn’t show up as recurring subscriptions. That could be due to how my bank lists the transaction, but I’d like to have seen those on the list, too.
Next to each transaction is a three dot menu, which includes an option to “cancel this for me” for Premium subscribers. Click and you’ll see contact methods to handle it yourself or a button to have Rocket Money do it. After you provide your username and password for the service, you’ll get an email confirmation that tells you the process could take up to ten days to complete. When I had Rocket Money cancel Paramount Plus for me, I got an email later that night saying the cancellation was complete.
While it’s not a magic program that zaps your subscriptions away, Rocket Money could save you a few steps. Seeing (most of) your recurring charges together is also helpful for staying on top of things. It’s up to you whether the Premium charge (and taking on another subscription) is worth the cancellation service.
Reminder apps
There are other apps, like Bobby (iOS) and Tilla (Android), that don’t connect with your bank account. Instead, you enter the details of the subscriptions you already have and add new ones as you go. The apps will remind you about upcoming renewals and let you quickly see what you’re paying for, all in one place. Both are free to use but limit the number of subscriptions you can track until you upgrade, which costs a flat $4 for Bobby and $2 for Tilla. I feel like if you possess the diligence to keep apps like these up to date, you could just as easily use a spreadsheet or native apps like Apple or Google’s Reminders, though these are more colorful.
ShapeShift founder and Bitcoin pioneer Erik Voorhees is continuing his Ethereum buying spree after restarting purchases following a year-long break.
According to on-chain data tracked by Lookonchain, Voorhees on Sunday spent around $49 million acquiring 23,393 $ETH. He still holds over 35 million $USDT and is expected to buy more $ETH.
Erik Voorhees(@ErikVoorhees), an early #Bitcoin supporter and founder of ShapeShift, is buying $ETH like crazy after a one-year break!
He spent 49.08M $USDT to buy 23,393 $ETH at $2,098 through 2 wallets.
He still holds 35.25M $USDT and may buy more $ETH.… pic.twitter.com/18ifLc8Ghe
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 16, 2026
The prominent entrepreneur, who also founded Venice AI, reportedly resumed his $ETH purchases earlier this year after selling 12,886 $ETH at over $3,300 each.
Erik Voorhees(@ErikVoorhees), an early #Bitcoin supporter and founder of ShapeShift, is buying back $ETH after a one-year break.
One year ago, he sold 12,886 $ETH($42.83M) at $3,324.
In the past 5 days, he has spent 17.75M $USDT to buy back 8,576 $ETH at $2,069.
He still holds… pic.twitter.com/zTD1DdU6WU
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 15, 2026
The activity was linked to wallets believed to be controlled by Erik Voorhees and labeled as such by Arkham Intelligence. He has not confirmed that he controls them.
The latest transfers came as $ETH surpassed $2,200, representing a 7% increase in the last 24 hours, CoinMarketCap data shows.
The crypto market rallied over the weekend, pushing total market capitalization up about 3% to $2.5 trillion. Bitcoin advanced 2.5% to retake $73,500.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed investment firm pursuing a Bitcoin-focused treasury strategy, has raised approximately $255 million from global institutional investors as it advances its long-term Bitcoin accumulation goal.
According to CEO Simon Gerovich, the company may receive up to $276 million more if certain warrants are exercised, giving total potential funding of around $531 million to support its plan to accumulate 210,000 $BTC.
Metaplanet has raised ~$255m from global institutional investors via a placement of new shares priced at a 2% premium, paired with fixed-strike warrants at a 10% premium that monetize our equity volatility for up to ~$276m in additional capital upon exercise. Up to ~$531m in… pic.twitter.com/0tg62TopGR
— Simon Gerovich (@gerovich) March 16, 2026
Metaplanet currently holds 35,102 $BTC, valued at approximately $2.6 billion at current market prices. This positions the company as the third-largest Bitcoin treasury globally, trailing only Strategy and MARA Holdings, which together hold 792,553 $BTC.
Strategy, the largest crypto treasury firm, is expected to announce a new Bitcoin acquisition today, following hints from Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and last week’s preferred share sale that raised additional funds.
Metaplanet targets holdings of 100,000 $BTC by the end of 2026 and 210,000 $BTC by the end of 2027.
As part of its expansion plans, the firm intends to establish a US subsidiary, Metaplanet Asset Management, to support venture investments and develop digital asset financial services linked to Bitcoin capital markets.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Korean-Canadian filmmaker Kang, in an emotional acceptance speech, touted her win as a step forward for diversity. “For those of you who look like me, I’m sorry it took so long to see us in a movie like this, but it is here. And that means that the next generations don’t have to go longing,” Kang said while on stage alongside Chris Appelhaus, with whom she wrote and co-directed the hit Netflix animated movie, and producer Michelle Wong.
And it was second-time lucky for Montreal filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski as they earned the best animated short for their stop motion fable The Girl Who Cried Pearls from The National Film Board of Canada. “People think it takes patience to take five years to make a puppet film. It actually takes patience to live with someone who takes five years to make a puppet film,” Lavis said on stage at the awards show when thanking his wife Maya, and daughter Tully.
The Montreal duo earlier earned a 2008 Oscar nomination for their short film, Madame Tutli-Putli, which established a long relationship with the NFB, Canada’s public filmmaker that over the decades has with its productions and co-productions picked up 78 Academy Award nominations and 11 Oscars.
On stage to accept his own trophy, Szczerbowski thanked his family, the duo’s creative collaborators, including in their native Montreal. “We just really want to thank our amazing neighborhood and the amazingly talented community of artists that we had the superb luck to work with. Thank you fantastic city of Montreal. Thank you, Canada,” he added as both artists triumphantly raised their trophies into the air.
The Oscar-winning animation behind The Girl Who Cried Pearls follows a poor boy falling in love with a girl overwhelmed by sorrow to the point her tears turn into pearls. The boy collects and sells the pearls for gain to a ruthless pawnbroker, even as he must choose between love or fortune.
“At a time when our country’s spirit is winning accolades around the world, Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski have given Canadians another reason to be proud. Congratulations to the filmmakers, our producers and our talented creative team on The Girl Who Cried Pearls, a stop-motion marvel produced and set in Montreal. We’re honored to be the home of visionary storytellers like Chris and Maciek, and to continue to champion great Canadian stories and talents to audiences here and across the globe.” Suzanne Guèvremont, Government Film Commissioner and NFB chairperson, said in a statement.
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney on social media congratulated Kang, Lavis and Szcerbowski and other Oscar triumphs on Sunday night for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankestein, which was produced in Toronto. “From KPop Demon Hunters, to The Girl Who Cried Pearls, to Frankenstein, and more — the masterpieces we celebrate tonight are a testament to the fact that Canada is a nation of diverse and talented storytellers,” Carney said on his X account.
Frankenstein won three Oscars, for best costume design, best makeup and hairstyling and best production. Director del Toro’s gothic epic was built on Toronto soundstages, icy ship sets on Lake Ontario and a decades-long creative bond with Toronto’s production community.
World number one’s triumph against Elena Rybakina avenges her loss to the Kazakh in the 2026 Australian Open final.
Published On 16 Mar 202616 Mar 2026
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World number one Aryna Sabalenka finally conquered her Indian Wells demons on Sunday, defeating Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) in a breathless final to claim the desert title for the first time and secure her 23rd career crown.
The victory was sweet redemption for the Belarusian, who had lost her previous two Indian Wells finals, including to Rybakina herself in 2023, and had begun the year with a defeat to the Kazakh 26-year-old in the Australian Open final in January.
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A two-time Grand Slam champion, Rybakina dominated the opening exchanges of the first set, breaking Sabalenka to surge into a 4-2 lead and exploiting the Belarusian’s backhand to close it out. It was the first time Sabalenka had dropped a set in the tournament.
The second set began no more comfortably, with Sabalenka letting out an audible yell as Rybakina broke her in the opening game. But the four-time Belarusian Grand Slam champion dug deep, responding with a love hold to level at 1-1, and gradually turned the tide.
A second break in the fourth game gave Sabalenka a commanding 4-1 lead, and although Rybakina pressed, the Belarusian’s intensity proved too much as she took the set with four aces and conceded nine unforced errors to Rybakina’s 13.
Sabalenka fought back from a set down to outlast Rybakina in three sets at the Indian Wells [Clive Brunskill/Getty Images via AFP]
The decider was a match in itself. Sabalenka broke early to lead 3-1, only for Rybakina to claw back, level at 5-5 and take the lead for the first time in the set. Sabalenka responded immediately to force a tiebreak, where the score reached 6-6, before she pulled clear to seal it at 8-6.
With that final point, Sabalenka dropped to her knees – the relief of a champion who had waited three years and endured three finals to finally get her hands on the trophy.
“I want to congratulate Elena. I know we’ll face each other many more times,” Sabalenka said before receiving the trophy. “Thanks to everyone who made this tournament possible. It is truly a tennis paradise. I’m always happy to come here every year and thank God I got this trophy.”
The win caps an extraordinary week for the 27-year-old, who arrived in the Coachella Valley having recently got engaged to her Brazilian fiancée, Georgios Frangulis.
“This is a dream come true. I want to thank my team for always being there, and my fiancée – what a week! Getting a puppy, getting engaged, and winning a title. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life,” she added.
With their rivalry set to define the women’s game for years to come, Sabalenka now has the edge with a 9-7 head-to-head lead. Both players are separated by one ranking place – Rybakina’s run to the final will lift her to number two in next week’s rankings.
Sabalenka, left, was a two-time runner-up at Indian Wells (2023, 2025) before Sunday’s maiden victory against Rybakina [Robert Prange/Getty Images]
As anticipated, it ended up being One Battle After Another’s night at the 98th annual Academy Awards, with the political thriller carting away six Oscars out of a total of 13 nominations.
But while Paul Thomas Anderson’s magnum opus continued its march towards awards-season domination, there were moments of genuine surprise and subversion in Sunday’s ceremony.
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Some of those moments had to do with the current political climate in the United States.
Host Conan O’Brien and his fellow presenters deftly avoided mentioning President Donald Trump by name, but their barbs took direct aim at his policies since returning to office.
Other surprises came from within the filmmaking community itself. For only the seventh time in Oscar history, a tie was announced: two films had gotten an equal number of votes for Best Live Action Short.
As a result, both the surrealist thriller Two People Exchanging Saliva and the moody bar-room drama The Singers shared the Academy Award.
Here are six key takeaways from the night.
Actor Michael B Jordan, left, holds the Oscar for Best Actor next to director Ryan Coogler, who earned an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay [Valerie Macon/AFP]
A two-horse race between Sinners and One Battle
The vampire film Sinners came into Sunday night’s ceremony with a record 16 Oscar nominations. But the big question of the night was: how many nods could it actually convert into wins?
Its biggest competition was, of course, Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which had the second-highest tally of nominations.
Sinners director Ryan Coogler and Anderson were in direct competition in several top categories, including Best Picture and Best Director.
In both cases, Anderson came out ahead, though he acknowledged how fickle such awards can be.
“ I just want to say that, in 1975, the Oscar nominees for Best Picture were Dog Day Afternoon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jaws, Nashville and Barry Lyndon,” the four-time Best Director nominee said, listing films now considered to be Hollywood classics.
“There is no best among them. There is just what the mood might be that day.”
In the categories for Best Supporting Actor and Best Film Editing, One Battle After Another also triumphed, as well as for the inaugural award for Best Casting.
But in a sign of how well matched their two films were, both Coogler and Anderson emerged from the night with writing Oscars.
Anderson picked up the Best Adapted Screenplay award for his use of the Thomas Pynchon novel Vineland, while Coogler made off with the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Sinners, a work inspired by his uncle’s love of the blues.
US cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw poses with her Oscar for Best Cinematography [Valerie Macon/AFP]
Jordan dunks on Chalamet in Best Actor race
Sinners, which won four Academy Awards overall, earned some of the most emotional, nail-biting victories of the night.
In the Best Cinematography category, for instance, Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman to top the field.
It was her first nomination and first win, with Arkapaw besting veteran cinematographers like Marty Supreme’s Darius Khondji and Frankenstein’s Dan Laustsen, both multiple nominees.
Another big win for Sinners came in the form of Michael B Jordan, the actor whom Coogler has cast in every film since his directorial breakout in 2013’s Fruitvale Station.
Jordan, 39, was in a tight race for Best Actor with another young performer, 30-year-old Timothee Chalamet of the ping-pong drama Marty Supreme.
But Chalamet’s aggressive campaigning may have ultimately sabotaged his prospects. Multiple cracks were taken throughout the night at Chalamet’s recent comments disparaging opera and ballet.
“Nobody cares any more” about either art form, Chalamet said in an interview last month.
“We can change society through art, through creativity, through theatre and ballet and also cinema,” director Alexandre Singh said pointedly during his acceptance speech for Best Live Action Short.
O’Brien, meanwhile, acknowledged the backlash with a joke about heightened security at the night’s Oscar ceremony.
“I’m told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities,” O’Brien said, before turning to Chalamet. “They’re just mad you left out jazz.”
Irish actress Jessie Buckley celebrates her win during the 98th Annual Academy Awards [AFP]
A conga line of snubs
Given the dominant performances from Sinners and One Battle After Another, plenty of critically acclaimed films left empty-handed, or nearly so.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, as expected, earned three wins in technical categories, including Best Production Design, Best Costumes and Best Hairstyling and Makeup.
Netflix’s smash hit KPop Demon Hunters, meanwhile, also fulfilled expectations that it would dominate in its categories, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song.
But then there were former frontrunners like Hamnet that failed to generate much traction, including for director Chloe Zhao, a past Oscar winner. Out of eight nominations total, it came away with only one win: a Best Actress trophy for Irish performer Jessie Buckley.
Marty Supreme and the Brazilian film The Secret Agent fared worse, however. Despite having nine nominations and being considered an early shoo-in for Best Actor, Marty Supreme scored no wins.
The Secret Agent, which swept the Best Actor and Best Director categories at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, also earned nothing at this year’s Oscars.
The same was true for the quirky kidnapping drama Bugonia, from Oscar darling Yorgos Lanthimos.
South Korean-US singer Ejae poses with the Oscar for Best Original Song for the film KPop Demon Hunters [Angela Weiss/AFP]
Fears about artificial intelligence
The ceremony, however, did occasionally veer away from the competition to discuss issues facing the film industry and the country as a whole.
Among those concerns was the creeping growth of artificial intelligence (AI) in the creative sector.
In the weeks leading up to the 98th Oscars, an AI-generated video clip went viral, appearing to show Hollywood icons Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in a rooftop brawl worthy of a James Bond movie.
The clip was generated through AI software developed by the Chinese firm ByteDance, and Hollywood leaders quickly denounced it as a threat to their livelihoods, not to mention a copyright infringement.
Those concerns reverberated on the Oscar stage on Sunday, with O’Brien and others addressing the growing use of AI.
“Tonight we are celebrating people, not AI, because animation – it’s more than a prompt,” actor Will Arnett said emphatically as he introduced the animation awards.
O’Brien, meanwhile, joked that, by next year, his hosting gig would be taken by “a Waymo in a tux”.
Host Conan O’Brien performs onstage during the 98th Annual Academy Awards [Patrick T Fallon/AFP]
Trump skewered for threatening free speech
Another concern looming over the night’s Oscar ceremony came in the form of President Donald Trump, who has courted controversy by launching deadly military attacks in Venezuela and Iran, as well as leading a violent immigration crackdown in the US.
At no point was Trump mentioned by name. But his leadership was alluded to throughout the night.
O’Brien, the host, set the tone early on with his oblique jabs at the Republican president in his opening monologue.
“When I hosted last year, Los Angeles was on fire,” the two-time Oscar emcee said in remarks dripping with sarcasm. “But this year, everything’s going great.”
Fellow comedian Jimmy Kimmel was even more direct. Last September, his show was briefly suspended after Trump criticised the comedian.
The head of the Federal Communications Commission, a Trump appointee, subsequently threatened the broadcasting licence of the TV channel on which Kimmel performs.
“There are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS,” Kimmel quipped, referring to another channel that cancelled a fellow late-night comedy show.
Several filmmakers honoured at the Oscars likewise waded into the controversies surrounding Trump.
Best Documentary winner David Borenstein, for instance, implied a parallel between his film — an exploration of authoritarianism in Russia — and what is currently happening in the US.
“Mr Nobody against Putin is about how you lose your country,” Borenstein explained.
“What we saw when working with this footage is that you lose it through countless small, little acts of complicity: when we act complicit, when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities, when we don’t say anything, when oligarchs take over the media.”
Indian actress Priyanka Chopra and Spanish actor Javier Bardem present the award for Best International Feature Film [Patrick T Fallon/AFP]
Political speeches avoid mention of Iran war
The Oscars come roughly seven months before the pivotal midterm elections in the US, which could see Trump’s Republican Party lose its majorities in Congress.
But while several filmmakers did hint at their anti-Trump stances, few explicitly denounced his policies.
For example, Norway’s Joachim Trier, the winner of the Best International Feature category, veiled his criticism in a James Baldwin quote about the duty to protect children.
“Let’s not vote for politicians who don’t take this seriously into account,” Trier said.
No artist specifically referenced the US and Israeli war against Iran either, though its effects were felt among the participants of this year’s Oscar crop.
Writer-director Jafar Panahi, whose work was up for two Oscars on Sunday, has already said he plans to return to his native Iran after the awards season concludes.
Meanwhile, Iranian politician Sara Shahverdi — the subject of a nominee in the Best Documentary Short category — was prevented from attending the Oscars at all due to Trump’s ban on visas for 39 countries.
Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees, star of the Oscar-nominated The Voice of Hind Rajab, likewise told media outlets he could not be present due to the travel ban.
Most acknowledgements of the US-led and US-backed conflicts in the world were brief.
When Spanish actor Javier Bardem took the Oscar stage to present an award, he offered up six words, “No to war, and free Palestine!”
Russian filmmaker and former school teacher Pavel Talankin made a similar appeal to the audience. “In the name of our future, in the name of all of our children, stop all of these wars now,” he said.
But by and large, the Oscar winners and presenters kept their remarks vague, emphasising global unity over political criticism.
“If I can be serious for just a moment, everyone watching right now around the world is all too aware that these are very chaotic, frightening times,” O’Brien told the audience at the outset of the night.
“It is at moments like these that I believe that the Oscars are particularly resonant. Check it out. Thirty-one countries across six continents are represented this evening, and every film we salute is the product of thousands of people speaking different languages.”
Cinema, he and others argued, transcends borders. The talent on stage was not the US’s alone.
There’s only one hole in “The Fox,” a shrewdly conceived and meticulously plotted black comedy in which a magical ditch exists where people can deposit their lovers and have them come out the other side far more malleable in terms of the partners they’d want them to be. The issue becomes throwing in a little too much, both for the characters and for writer-director Dario Russo, who may have a few too many good story ideas to fully flesh out. Yet, he delivers a promising and imaginative feature debut.
Hailing from Causeway Films, the Australian production outfit behind “The Babadook” and “Talk To Me,” the film portrays a different kind of terror running through the outback. “The Fox” follows two deeply discontented couples in a small town where both friends and potential love interests are in short supply, leading to some marriages of convenience. There may be fewer scenes in the Causeway oeuvre more chilling than a wordless opening when Kori (Emily Browning) gives a contemptuous once-over to the pile of greasy food in front of her at a pub while her boyfriend Nick (Jai Courtney) is fetching some pints. As she is wondering if this is her future, he slides an engagement ring next to French fries upon his return. The son of the wealthiest landowner in town, Nick promises security, but not much else. In fact, Kori’s already been cheating on him with her animal control bureau co-worker Derek (Damon Herriman), though she doesn’t have much affection for him either, and worries about the affair being discovered by his wife Diana (Claudia Doumit) when the two go jogging together in the mornings.
But it’s not any of the townspeople who risk spilling the beans. Rather, it’s the surrounding wildlife who see and hear everything. They’re terribly gossipy, most specifically a fox voiced by Olivia Colman and a magpie given a gruff timbre by Sam Neill. The filmmaker shows a strong handle over the film’s fanciful tone and fitfully filthy sense of humor, and he’s credited with composing the film’s score full of squawking brass instruments and skittish strings in addition to writing, directing and editing. He also has the good sense to not overdo the conceit, since clearly the animals are not hyperreal CG creations but well-crafted animatronics that make it even funnier when they start to talk to the anxiety-ridden humans, with the fox informing Nick about the hole where he really might make an honest woman out of Kori.
The result has the potential to tear Nick apart in every way imaginable, and surely will send a few viewers running to the exits. The notion of Kori as a feral creature to be tamed is also sure to rub some the wrong way. But it’s really sold by a fully committed Browning and Courtney, who continues to show a different set of muscles than the ones he’s known for when poking fun at wounded masculinity as he did in “Dangerous Animals.”
However, there are some ways in which “The Fox” doesn’t seem to go far enough, beginning with some introductory narration from Colman about how peculiar humans look to animals with their unique ability to be miserable all the time. While Russo continually bends the narrative in surprising directions when it transpires that the hole has a deeper history than the central quartet could know, the film can feel as if it’s occasionally losing the plot when it only sporadically returns to that original idea. It does yield one great scene of a post-hole Kori wondering why Nick’s father is so dour with nothing but open pastures around him and seemingly too few of the talking animals who can be counted on for an unexpected observation and a laugh. Still, when Russo looks to find human nature in another species, he seems to get the best of both worlds as he puts a finger on how that abstract feeling of being all alone in a relationship can lead the mind to wander to funny places. In “The Fox,” those places are even funnier than usual.
