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Biden's Armenian pledge, missing submarine, the Oscars: 5 things to know this weekend

Editors
USA TODAY

Biden expected to use term 'genocide' to describe atrocities done to Armenians

President Joe Biden is preparing to acknowledge the killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks more than a century ago by using the term "genocide" in a presidential proclamation, U.S. officials said. Lawmakers and activists have been lobbying the president to announce the move on or before Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on Saturday. If Biden follows through, he'd likely face pushback from Turkey, which has pressured previous administrations to skirt the issue. Biden spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Friday in anticipation of his plan. The U.S. and Turkish governments, in separate statements after Friday's call, however, made no mention of the American plan to recognize the genocide. U.S. presidents for decades have acknowledged Remembrance Day to mark the events of 1915 to 1923 but have avoided using the term "genocide" to sidestep alienating Turkey.

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The Oscars make their long-awaited return Sunday

It has been a longer-than-usual road due to Hollywood navigating the global pandemic, but the Academy Awards will return like never before on Sunday (ABC, 8 ET/5 PT). Chloé Zhao's "Nomadland" leads a wide-ranging field of best picture candidates, a diverse crop of acting contenders is a positive shift away from the #OscarsSoWhite scandal of the past, and the late Chadwick Boseman appears poised to secure a posthumous win for his role in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." One category many eyes will be on is the unpredictable best actress race as Viola Davis, Carey Mulligan, Frances McDormand, Andra Day and Vanessa Kirby vie for the award. The hostless ceremony will primarily be held at Los Angeles' historic Union Station, with additional events at the show's traditional home, the Dolby Theatre, and international locations via satellite. And yes, there will be a red carpet.

Items found indicate lost Indonesia submarine sank

Indonesia's navy on Saturday said items were found from a missing submarine, indicating the vessel with 53 crew members sank and there was no hope of finding survivors. Navy Chief Yudo Margono said rescuers found several items from the KRI Nanggala 402, which disappeared after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island of Bali, including parts of a torpedo straightener, a grease bottle believed to be used to oil the periscope and prayer rugs. An American reconnaissance plane, a P-8 Poseidon, landed early Saturday and was set to join the search, along with 20 Indonesian ships, a sonar-equipped Australian warship and four Indonesian aircraft. The cause of the disappearance is still uncertain. The navy has said an electrical failure could have left the submarine unable to execute emergency procedures to resurface. 

South braces for severe weather

Severe storms with large, destructive hail, damaging winds, tornadoes and heavy rain that could cause flash flooding is forecast to develop across the Southern Plains to the Deep South over the next couple of days. Storms were expected to fire up Friday, and on Saturday, storms will pick up again and stretch to western South Carolina and the Florida Panhandle. Tornadoes will also be possible across eastern Louisiana into the coastal Carolinas Saturday. Cities such as Atlanta and Birmingham, Alabama, could see storms Saturday as well. These storms are forecast to produce a widespread, 2 to 4 inches of rainfall across the South, potentially leading to floods. The most vulnerable places for flooding will be urban areas, roads and small streams. 

Legendary rapper DMX to be memorialized

A memorial service to honor the life and legacy of DMX will take place Saturday in New York City.  Though the service will only be open to close friends and family, it will be streamed live on DMX's official YouTube page for the public at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. On Sunday, BET will air a homegoing celebration, "BET Remembers DMX," (2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT) to commemorate the rapper's life. Following the program, the network will air movies and documentaries featuring DMX to honor him.DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was rushed to a hospital in White Plains, New York, on April 2 and died almost a week later, according to a statement from his family. DMX first made a splash in rap music in 1998 with his first studio album "It's Dark and Hell is Hot," which debuted No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The rapper went on to have four other chart-topping albums.  

Contributing: The Associated Press

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