National Lifestyle

NEW YORK — By page two of the pilot script for NBC's “ Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist,” Skylar Astin knew he wanted the role of Max Richman.

NEW YORK — Philip J. Smith, who rose from box office treasurer at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway to chairman and co-CEO of the theatrical giant Shubert Organization, has died from complications from COVID-19, according to his daughters. He was 89.

Since the pandemic’s descent, they have generally been viewed as among those at higher risk — older Americans, some of them medically vulnerable, figuring out how to navigate life in a COVID-saturated, increasingly isolated world.

OTTAWA — Emergency spending to deal with the COVID-19 crisis must not outlast the pain it's meant to salve, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has instructed Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in a newly released mandate letter.

LONDON — The European Union's drug regulator said Friday that COVID-19 vaccine documents stolen from its servers by hackers have been not only leaked to the web, but “manipulated.

FREDERICTON — New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says he will appoint two commissioners to undertake a review of the province's Official Languages Act.

Doug Liman's “Locked Down,” one of the first and most ambitious films to be conceived and shot during the pandemic, is, like our own quarantine experiences, erratic, a little absurd and sporadically delightful.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — New NASCAR team Trackhouse Racing has brought entertainer Pitbull on as an ownership partner for an organization making its debut next month at the Daytona 500.

NEW YORK — At age 22, poet Amanda Gorman, chosen to read at the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, already has a history of writing for official occasions. "I have kind of stumbled upon this genre.

MONTREAL — The Crown says it won't appeal the acquittals in the cases of Quebec media stars Gilbert Rozon and Eric Salvail.