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‘Nyad,’ starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, brings inspiring true story of long-distance swimmer to the screen

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:10 GMT

For most people, going for a swim means doing a few laps in the pool. Diana Nyad is not most people.Annette Bening stars as the marathon swimmer in “Nyad.” Jodie Foster plays her best friend and trainer who helps her fulfill a lifelong dream.Jodie Foster (as Bonnie Stoll): “No, no, no. That’s insane, Diana. You tried that when you were 28, and you did not make it when you were 28. You’re 60.”Annette Bening (as Diana Nyad): “I don’t believe in imposed limitations. The only one who gets to decide if I’m through is me.”“Nyad” tells the story of long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, who attempts to swim from Cuba to South Florida at age 60 after four failed attempts.Annette Bening (as Diana Nyad): “OK, it’s just a little swim.”Annette Bening plays the champion athlete who’s determined to show the world what she can do.Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi: “It’s a vehicle for understanding what t...

Woman drives car into trash compactor in Southboro

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:10 GMT

Emergency crews responded in Southboro Thursday after a vehicle drove into a trash compactor at the town’s department of public works facility. Southboro police shared photos on Thursday afternoon showing the car stuck in the pit.Workers later told 7NEWS the crash happened around 1:40 p.m., with a woman driving her car through a chain and over the edge of the pit. Workers said they didn’t hesitate to jump down and help the driver whose airbags went off.The driver was not hurt, according to police, and a towing company was ultimately called in to help remove the vehicle. Normally busy during the week, the trash pit at the DPW facility is one many Southboro residents use.Reacting to the crash, community members said they were thankful to hear the woman was OK. “That’s the most important part,” said Southboro resident Jeff Chan.“There’s no municipal town pickup of trash, so a lot of people do come here to drop off their trash,” Chan separately said.The Southboro Police D...

Crews respond to fire in Boston high-rise

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:10 GMT

Emergency crews responded to Congress Street in Boston Thursday after a fire broke out in a high-rise building in the area, the Boston Fire Department said. The fire department, in a post on X, said companies were on scene at 280 Congress Street as of around 8 p.m. battling flames on the building’s 30th floor. Companies were later clearing out of the building as of around 8:35 p.m., according to a later post. While some elevators remained shut down due to flooded elevator shafts, officials said elevators between the first and 15th floors were operating. The fire department said the building was “all commercial” and unoccupied.Boston fire officials shared photos from the response Thursday night, showing multiple ladders in use. No further information was immediately available.

France bestows further honor on former United Nations ambassador and Atlanta mayor Andrew Young

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:10 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — France wants the world to know it has not forgotten about Andrew Young.The former mayor of Atlanta, ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter and onetime confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. was further honored by France on Thursday, with Young being promoted to the rank of officer in the country’s Legion of Honor.Laurent Bili, the French ambassador to the United States, on Thursday bestowed the 91-year-old Young with the new rank, crediting his work to end racial segregation “and paving the way for a fairer America.” Bili also noted Young’s advocacy for human rights and efforts to settle a war in what is now Zimbabwe, ending white minority rule there.President Emmanuel Macron promoted Young in recognition of his outstanding contributions to human rights and equality. “Ambassador Young, you are a living legend,” Bili said Thursday. “Your name is forever inscribed into the history of the American Civil Rights Movement. For dec...

A main suspect in the killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse has been arrested after 2 years

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:10 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A former justice official considered one of the main suspects in the killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 was arrested Thursday in Haiti’s capital after being on the run for more than two years, police said.Joseph Badio once worked for Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and at the government’s anti-corruption unit until he was fired for alleged ethics violations weeks before the assassination.Badio was arrested in the neighborhood of Petion Vile in Port-au-Prince, National Police spokesman Garry Desrosiers said. Moïse was shot 12 times at his private home in July 7, 2021, sending Haiti into a political crisis. Several people had been arrested after Moïse assassination, including 11 men now in U.S. custody. Prosecutors in the U.S. have alleged that there was a broad plot among conspirators in both Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to remove Moïse and benefit from contracts from a successor administration.Last week, former Haitian senator John J...

Texas releases another audit of elections in Harris County, where GOP still challenging losses

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:10 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A second Texas audit in as many years of elections in Harris County, the third-most populous county in the U.S., called for improvements but does not suggest that race outcomes in 2022 were impacted by issues that Republicans have used to contest losses and take more control over voting in the Democratic stronghold. The preliminary report by Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, a Republican, was released days before Houston residents begin early voting for a new mayor. It also follows Republicans increasingly targeting elections in the county of nearly 5 million people, a size that makes Harris politically significant as Democrats try to end decades of GOP dominance in the state. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law this year that removed Harris County’s elections administrator and transferred the responsibility to other local officials. One is County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, who in response to the audit said her office is working to make sure “past i...

Movie Review: Netflix’s ‘Old Dads’ is a recycling of PC grievances and a Bill Burr career nadir

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:10 GMT

The new Netflix movie “Old Dads” has a title problem. It really should be called “Old Dads Yelling at Clouds” or “Old Dads Raging at QR Codes.” It’s designed for people who find it hard to navigate the Netflix scroll and so blame millennials for being woke.Bill Burr, who directs from a script by him and Ben Tishler, leads a meandering, unfunny assault on PC culture that would seem perfectly in place in the 1990s alongside “Illiberal Education” by Dinesh D’Souza and the rantings of Pat Buchanan. It’s so dated there’s even a mention of Halliburton.The whiff of deep, old school morass about modern life comes from the moment the movie begins with the Miramax logo and a rock guitar solo, two clear signals we’re going back in time when making fun of Starbucks cup sizes was funny. Burr, who plays a 51-year-old dad with a young son and another child on the way, is immediately ranting about the lack of parking spots, mechanical scooters, pre-school etiquette, Twitter, emoti...

Biden says support for Israel and Ukraine is 'vital' for US security, will ask Congress for billions

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden declared it is “vital for America's national security” for Israel and Ukraine to succeed in their wars, making the case Thursday night for deepening U.S. involvement in a rare Oval Office address as he prepared to ask for billions of dollars in military assistance for both countries.If international aggression is allowed to continue, Biden said, “conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world.”“Hamas and Putin represent different threats," Biden said. "But they share this in common. They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.” For more coverage of the Israel and Hamas Conflict, click here He said he would send an urgent funding request to Congress, which is expected to be roughly $100 billion over the next year. The proposal, which will be unveiled on Friday, includes money for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, humanitarian aid and border management.“It’s a smart investment that’s going to pay dividends for American se...

Alderman: Shots fired near Mather High School in Chicago

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:10 GMT

CHICAGO — Shots were fired near Mather High School on Thursday afternoon, 40th Ward. Ald. Andre Vasquez said.In a public safety notice, Vasquez said after-school activities were happening when the shots were fired. Chicago delegation tours migrant situation at Texas border No injuries were reported.According to Vasquez, several cars in the parking lot were damaged.Vasquez said his office continues to monitor the situation and school officials are working to review the incident.

Biden warns Hamas against blocking aid deliveries to Palestinian civilians

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:10 GMT

(The Hill) — President Biden on Thursday warned Hamas against diverting humanitarian shipments to the Gaza Strip, saying its sustained delivery was dependent on goods reaching Palestinian civilians.“If Hamas does not divert or steal these shipments, we're going to provide an opening for sustained delivery of lifesaving humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians,” the president said in a rare prime-time address. Biden, who returned Thursday from a one-day trip to Israel, said an agreement to begin shipments of humanitarian supplies into besieged Gaza was secured following talks he held with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and after a phone call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Biden draws parallels between Putin, Hamas in Oval Office address Biden had earlier committed $100 million in humanitarian support for Palestinians and spoke to civilian casualties amid the outbreak of war, including an explosion at a hospital in Gaza that was...