The nominees for the 98th annual Academy Awards are being announced Thursday morning, with “One Battle After Another,” “Sinners,” “Marty Supreme,” “Frankenstein” and “Hamnet” each expected to potentially earn double-digit Oscar nominations. 

Pundits are keeping eyes on whether “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners,” in particular — which have dominated precursor awards this season — can tie or even potentially break the record for the most overall nominations for a single film.

Currently the record stands at 14 nominations, which “Titanic,” “All About Eve” and “La La Land” all received. However, this year the Academy is also launching a new category for best casting, which should make exeeding the existing record one step easier.

When are the 2026 Oscar nominations announced?

The live Oscar nominations announcement will begin at 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time, or 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

As the AMPAS has done before, some of the categories will be revealed at 5:30 a.m. straight-up, and the remaining ones will be announced after a short break.

Who is announcing the 2026 Oscar nominations?

Actors Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman will host the live announcement.

Brooks was nominated for best supporting actress two years ago for the musical “The Color Purple.” Pullman, who is the son of actor Bill Pullman, previously starred in the best picture nominee “Top Gun: Maverick.”

What else could be nominated?

While the final nominations remain up in the air until the official announcement, in December, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued its finalist shortlists for a dozen categories, including best documentary feature and best international feature. The latter category is expected to include a number of titles that prognosticators believe will factor into a number of top races, following the Academy’s active recruitment of international industry representatives to diversify ranks.

Many of the international movies some believe will fill out the best picture category are largely the same titles picked up by distributor Neon at last year’s Cannes Film Festival: the Palme d’Or-winning “It Was Just an Accident,” the Golden Globe-winning “The Secret Agent,” the Norwegian drama “Sentimental Value” (which many expect to also earn multiple acting nominations), and possibly also Park Chan-wook’s South Korean hit “No Other Choice” or Oliver Laxe’s “Sirāt,” the latter of which was shortlisted an eyebrow-raising five times last month.

When is the Oscar awards ceremony?

The Oscars are scheduled to be handed out on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Conan O’Brien is on deck to return as the show’s host after assuming the role for the first time ever during last year’s ceremony, at which “Anora” took home top honors, winning best picture, best director (Sean Baker), best actress (Mikey Madison), best screenplay and best editing.

Prue Leith announced she is leaving the hit series The Great British Bake Off after nine seasons.

The beloved judge who brought warmth, wit and culinary expertise joined the show in 2017.

She stepped in alongside Paul Hollywood after the program moved from the BBC to Channel 4.

Over the years, she became a fan favorite known for her sharp critiques delivered with kindness and her signature colorful style.

In her statement shared on Instagram Wednesday, Leith expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be part of the Bake Off family.

“After nine series and judging more than 400 challenges, I have decided to step down as a judge on The Great British Bake Off,” Leith began her post.

“Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for the last nine years, I have genuinely loved it, and I’m sure I’ll miss working with my fellow judge Paul, Alison, and Noel, and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4.”

The 86-year-old shared ‘she now feels like the right time to step back’

“There’s so much I’d like to do, not least spend summers enjoying my garden,” she added. “Whoever joins the team, I’m sure they’ll love it as much as I have. I feel very lucky to have been part of it.”

Fans have already taken to social media to share heartfelt tributes, praising Leith’s warmth and humor and expressing sadness at her exit.

For many her presence was integral to the show’s charm which made her departure a bittersweet moment in Bake Off history.

Fans as well as past contestants poured messages of love.

The 2018’s winner Rahul Mandal commented, “We will miss you so much. It was a joy and privilege to be in the tent with you. You are kind, funny, passionate, and always inspired us.”

Jasmine Mitchell, Bake Off’s winner in 2025, wrote, “Prue, you’re amazing and we will miss you so very much.”

Apple, the iPhone maker, is working on its own AI wearable, reportedly a pin that users can attach to their clothing, equipped with two cameras and three microphones.

The information about Apple’s upcoming AI gadget was brought to light in a report by The Information on Wednesday.

As the rumour is spreading in the vast AI wearable market, it is expected to intensify the competition in the sector.

The development was originally disclosed by OpenAI’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane, who stated at a Davos event that the company is going to announce its highly anticipated first AI hardware device in the second half of 2026.

It’s also being speculated that it may be a pair of earbuds, TechCrunch reported.

Apple’s upcoming AI device is described as a “thin, flat, circular disc with an aluminium-and-glass shell,” designed to be roughly the size of an AirTag, but slightly thicker.

The device is tipped to bring two cameras—one with a standard lens and another with a wide-angle lens—for capturing pictures and videos.

It might as well include a physical button, a speaker, and a Fitbit-like charging strip on its back.

There’s a fair degree of chance that the tech giant is expediting the development of this product, given that OpenAI, too, is working on its own AI gadget. The device is likely to debut in 2027, with an initial launch of 20 million units.

Despite all that’s been said, time will confirm how well this type of AI device will be received by consumers.

It reminds us of a similar AI pin, Humane AI, launched last year by two former Apple employees, but it struggled to gather acclaim and consumer interest and eventually shut down.