9 Feb 2026

Review: Bad Bunny brought Puerto Rico’s history and culture to a revolutionary Super Bowl show

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By MARIA SHERMAN

The sun hung low when Bad Bunny emerged in Puerto Rico’s sugar cane fields during his half time show, surrounded by jibaros in pavas (rural farmers in traditional straw hats), viejitos playing dominos (an affectionate term for older men) and a piragua stand (shaved ice) — undeniable symbols of Puerto Rico.

From a small Caribbean island with a complicated colonial history, to the world: The artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio brought Puerto Rican culture to the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, for his 2026 Super Bowl halftime show in what was always going to be a landmark moment for Latinos.

He started with his huge reggaeton hits, “Tití Me Preguntó” moving into “Yo Perreo Sola,” as he remerged on top of the casita (“little house”) from his Puerto Rican residency — Cardi B was a guest at his pari de marquesina, a house party.

Then he crashed through the roof — Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina” played for a moment, clearly a celebration of the Puerto Rican artists who laid the path for his Latin trap to go global.

“Mi nombre Antonio Martínez Ocasio,” he introduced himself to the crowd in Spanish. “Y si hoy estoy aquí en el Super Bowl 60, es porque nunca, nunca dejé de creer en mí y tú también deberías de creer en ti, vales más de lo que piensas.”

In English: “My name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and if I’m here today at Super Bowl 60 it’s because I never, ever stopped believing in myself and you should also believe in yourself, you’re worth more than you think.”

The strings of his song “Monaco” played — then, a surprise Lady Gaga emerged at a wedding, singing her portion of “Die with a Smile,” her collaboration with Bruno Mars, joined by a salsa band.

It gave Benito time for a fashion change — rocking a white suit like a classic salsero — for “Baile Inolvidable” and “NuevaYol,” with a block party set where he took a shot with Tonita, owner of one of the last Puerto Rican social clubs in New York City, Brooklyn’s Caribbean Social Club.

Ricky Martin performed “Lo Que Pasó a Hawaii,” (“What Happened to Hawaii”), a rallying cry for Puerto Rico’s autonomy.

Behind him, jibaros in pavas climbed power poles that exploded, symbolic of Puerto Rico’s frequent blackouts and failing power grid. It queued up a moving performance of 2022’s “El Apagón” (“The Blackout”), in reference to Hurricane Maria, its aftermath and the continued anger and frustration over persistent, chronic power outages.

For around 13 minutes during the halftime show sponsored by Apple Music and Roc Nation, all eyes on the field — and around the world — were on Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio.

Bad Bunny performed entirely in Spanish — as all of his music is recorded in the language, though he has collaborated with English-language artists. The only English singing came from Gaga. That changed at the end of the set, when he said, “God Bless America,” and then named countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America. “And my mother land, Puerto Rico.”

He ended with “DtMF” as he walked out of the stadium.

For years, Bad Bunny has been one of the most-streamed artists on the planet. And on Sunday, he made it clear that his global popularity translates seamlessly to the biggest stage in the U.S. (Though he is no stranger to it. He previously appeared during the halftime show at Super Bowl LIV in 2020 alongside Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. He sang in Spanish alongside two artists whose bilingual hits helped usher in a crossover era for Latin music in the ’00s.)

Consider Bad Bunny’s 2026 halftime performance the cherry on top of a huge moment for the 31-year-old global superstar, who just 10 years ago was working at an Econo supermarket in Puerto Rico.

Last week, he took home album of the year at the 2026 Grammys for his “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” an album that marries folkloric tradition in local Borinquen genres like bomba, plena, salsa and música jíbara with contemporary styles like reggaeton, trap and pop. It marked the first time an all-Spanish language album won the top prize.

Like most headliners, Bad Bunny kept details of his halftime performance under wraps ahead of time, though many theorized there would be some kind of political performance. He’s been critical of President Donald Trump in the past and at the Grammys last Sunday, said “ICE out” while accepting a televised award. Bad Bunny’s latest tour skipped the continental U.S.; in an interview he said it was at least partially inspired by concerns that his fans could be targeted by immigration agents.

At a press conference on Thursday, Bad Bunny told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and Ebro Darden viewers could expect a huge party — and joked that while viewers didn’t need to learn Spanish to enjoy his set; they should learn to dance.

“I want to bring to the stage, of course, a lot of my culture,” he said at the time. “I don’t want to give any spoilers. It’s going to be fun.”

Of course, he delivered on just that.

___

For more on the Super Bowl, visit https://apnews.com/hub/super-bowl

 

9 Feb 2026

What happens if Super Bowl LX goes into overtime? Here’s how the NFL’s rules work.

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By Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times

The final quarter of the AFC divisional round playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 23, 2022, could not have been more exciting.

Three lead changes.

Five scoring drives.

A 36-36 tie at the end of regulation.

The overtime period, however, could not have been more disappointing.

One coin toss.

One touchdown drive.

Game over.

One of the most exciting playoff games in recent memory — a quarterback duel between Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes — ended abruptly in a 42-36 Chiefs win when Mahomes connected with Travis Kelce on an eight-yard touchdown pass.

Unlike the thrilling fourth quarter, Allen didn’t get a chance to respond because of the overtime rule the NFL had in place at the time.

Because of an adjustment to the rules, however, such a scenario will not take place when the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots play in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

The previous system was basically a modified sudden death system that gave each team at least one chance to score — with one big exception.

If the team that first possessed the ball in overtime scored a touchdown on that drive, that team won. The game was over, with the other offense never getting a chance to take the field in overtime.

If the first team kicked a field goal, the other team got a possession to either win the game with a touchdown or tie it with a field goal. In the latter case, the game continued until someone scored.

Months after the 2022 Chiefs-Bills game, that rule was changed for the playoffs (and went into effect for the regular season in 2025). Now it’s basically a modified modified sudden-death system that gives both teams a chance to score.

If the first team scores a touchdown, the other team gets a possession to tie (and, therefore, extend) the game with a touchdown of its own. Everything else remains the same from the previous format.

A safety in overtime also ends the game.

©2026 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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9 Feb 2026

Venezuela Frees Key Opposition Figures as Government Courts U.S. Support

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Venezuela on Sunday freed a group of prominent opposition leaders, including Juan Pablo Guanipa and Perkins Rocha, according to statements from the country’s press union, the political opposition party, and relatives of the freed prisoners.

“After more than eight months of unjust imprisonment and more than a year and a half of being separated, our entire family will soon be able to embrace each other again,” Ramón Guanipa Linares, Guanipa’s son, wrote on social media.

Authorities released at least 35 political prisoners Sunday, according to the rights group Foro Penal, which last week said that more than 650 were detained.

The government made no official statement about the releases, but Venezuela’s de facto leader, Delcy Rodríguez, has said in recent days she would close El Helicoide, an infamous prison that rights groups have described as a torture center, and has announced plans for a mass amnesty law.

The highly anticipated release of prisoners has strengthened tentative hopes that Venezuela’s interim government may be moving away from the most repressive practices of its deposed president, Nicolás Maduro.

Since the United States captured Maduro last month, his former vice president, Rodríguez, has moved quickly to realign Venezuela with Washington.

Rodríguez has worked closely with the Trump administration, redirecting oil exports toward the United States and consolidating power domestically by dismissing officials seen as loyal to Maduro.

The prisoner release comes just days after Venezuelan security agents questioned two prominent businesspeople, Raúl Gorrín and Alex Saab, both of whom have ties to Maduro and have faced money laundering charges in the United States. Their overnight detention in the capital, Caracas, was seen as sign of a deepening cooperation between the two countries.

But it is still uncertain if Sunday’s prisoner release signals a broader opening of political freedom, and there is some skepticism about whether Rodríguez can be the person who dismantles the same authoritarian system that she benefited from.

Analysts say the true test will be whether former prisoners and exiled opponents are allowed to protest, organize politically and criticize the government without facing retaliation. The long-term goal is credible elections.

“It almost looks like they want to open up just enough to score points with Washington, but not enough to risk their grip on power,” said Geoff Ramsey, who studies Colombia and Venezuela at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based research institute.

But others see the releases as a genuine shift by the interim government, after years in which members of the opposition endured being arrested, disappeared and tortured, or were forced to flee into exile.

“There is a clear political will on the part of the Rodríguez government to move away from an intransigent and intolerant stance toward the opposition,” said Colette Capriles, a political analyst at Simón Bolívar University in Caracas.

In an interview weeks before his detention in August 2024, Rocha expressed anguish for his colleagues who were detained. He said he was in a highly secure location but fully aware that authorities could be trying to locate him.

“Our last tool — the only one we have left at this moment — is to cling to our principles and convictions,” he said. “Never before have we realized so fully that this civic struggle truly goes all the way to the end.”

He expressed openness to a dialogue and agreement between the opposition and the Maduro government. Without it, he said, Venezuela would enter “a downward spiral — a spiral of illegitimate institutions — and the conflict will not end.”

On social media, María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s de facto opposition leader who remains in exile, welcomed the release of her “comrades in struggle” and the end to their “many months of captivity and injustice.”

They longed, Machado said, “to work side by side for the Venezuela we have dreamed of for years — and that we are now very close to building.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

9 Feb 2026

Theater review: Latte Da shifts to classic drama for an involving ‘Glass Menagerie’

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There are niches galore in the Twin Cities’ vibrant theater scene. For example, Children’s Theatre Company is designed for the youngest among us, while History Theatre focuses upon stories from the state’s past. And, if you’re in the mood for a musical, head out to Chanhassen Dinner Theatres if you want a conventional interpretation or to Theater Latte Da if you want something more inventive and imaginative.

But Latte Da is playing against type this month by presenting a classic American drama, Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.” Yes, the company’s artistic director, Justin Lucero, incorporates music into his staging, but Katharine Horowitz’s score consists mostly of atmospheric tones, some of it produced by fingers running around the rims of glassware.

Amy Eckberg (Laura) and Brandon Brooks (Jim) in Theater Latte Da’s production of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie,” a departure from the company’s custom of producing almost exclusively musicals. The show runs through March 1, 2026 at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. (Dan Norman / Theater Latte Da)

Yet the artistic decision that sets this version of Williams’ oft-produced play apart is a design that incorporates video cameras into the action and casts large-scale projections of the actors in closeup across the wall behind them. While it can be jarring to be addressed by an expansive disembodied mouth or peered at by an enormous set of eyes, it makes for a far more intimate experience. And that proves valuable in a play about vulnerability, establishing connections and severing them.

“The Glass Menagerie” is the play that put Tennessee Williams on the map, catapulting him to fame upon its Broadway premiere in 1945. It takes us to a St. Louis apartment shared by aging southern belle Amanda and her young adult children, Laura and Tom, the latter holding a warehouse job that makes him the household’s chief breadwinner. Laura is a painfully shy recluse who finds comfort in her collection of glass animals, but the extroverted Amanda is determined to marry her off.

It stands as one of American theater’s great character studies, as Williams crafted four memorable individuals and set them off into clashes and connecting conversations. It’s a talky script, but one that allows its actors to show off their skills in producing layered portrayals.

And Latte Da’s staging features four exceptionally well-rendered performances. The video elements serve Dustin Bronson well. As Tom, he acts as our narrator and the chief force of fury as he seeks to burst free from his family bonds. And the closeups allow for some wistfulness and conflicted feelings to more clearly emerge. Yet no camera is needed when his eruptions occur, for his rage and desperation can be felt all the way to the back of the cozy Ritz Theater.

Meanwhile, Norah Long is simply magnificent as his mother and chief antagonist. Long brilliantly captures Amanda’s unique blend of charm, eccentricity and anxious inner tumult, most memorably during a fire escape exchange with Tom in which she seems to transform into the playful romantic of her youth. Like most of Williams’ heroines, Amanda enthusiastically embraces her delusions, and Long makes her a fascinating woman to watch.

Dustin Bronson (Tom), Amy Eckberg (Laura) and Norah Long (Amanda) in Theater Latte Da’s production of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie,” a departure from the company’s custom of producing almost exclusively musicals. The show runs through March 1, 2026 at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. (Dan Norman / Theater Latte Da)

The video projections also bring audiences into closer contact with Amy Eckberg’s Laura, helping us see glimpses of the butterfly that struggles to emerge from its cocoon. And Brandon Brooks ably inhabits the “gentleman caller” who comes to dinner, in addition to creating the soundscape that gives this strong staging its eerie, haunted mood.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

Theater Latte Da’s ‘The Glass Menagerie’

When: Through March 1

Where: Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. NE, Mpls.

Tickets: $75.75-$21.75, available at 612-339-3003 or latteda.org

Capsule: Video enhances the intimacy of a classic drama.

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