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Hollywood plunges into all-out war on the heels of pandemic and a streaming revolution

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — To get a sense of just how much animosity is flying around Hollywood these days, watch how Ron Perlman responded to a report that the studios aimed to prolong a strike long enough for writers to lose their homes.Perlman, the hulking, gravel-voiced actor of “Hellboy,” leaned into the camera in a since-deleted Instagram live video to vent his anger. “Listen to me, mother-(expletive),” Perlman said. “There’s a lot of ways to lose your house.”Three years after the pandemic brought Hollywood to a standstill, the film and TV industry has again ground to a halt. This time, though, the industry is engaged in a bitter battle over the how streaming — after advancing rapidly during the pandemic — has upended the economics of entertainment.Having weathered plague, Hollywood is now fully at war in its own “Apocalypse Now” double feature. When tens of thousands Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artist hit the picket lines last week, joining 11,000 WGA...

Key Russian bridge to Crimea is struck again, with Moscow blaming Kyiv for attack that killed 2

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:00 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia — An attack before dawn Monday damaged part of a bridge linking Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea that is a key supply route for Kremlin forces in the war with Ukraine, forcing the span’s temporary closure for a second time in less than a year. Two people were killed and their daughter was injured. Vehicle traffic on the Kerch Bridge came to a standstill, while rail traffic across the 19-kilometer (12-mile) span also was halted for about six hours.The strike was carried out by two Ukrainian maritime drones, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said.Ukrainian officials were coy about taking responsibility, as they have been in past strikes. But in what appeared to be a tacit acknowledgment, Ukrainian Security Service spokesman Artem Degtyarenko said in a statement that his agency would reveal details of how the “bang” was organized after Kyiv has won the war.The bridge previously was attacked in October, when a truck bomb blew up two of its sections and required ...

1 dead and 50 injured in a bus crash on a major highway in southeastern Czech Republic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:00 GMT

Two buses collided on a Czech highway in the southeast of the country, killing at least one person and injuring about 50, officials said on Monday.One of the bus drivers was killed, police said, according to preliminary information from the site.The regional rescue service said the accident took place near the second-largest Czech city of Brno, on the D2 highway.Some of the seriously injured people were transported by helicopters to nearby hospitals, it said.Police said the highway that links Czechia with the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, had to be closed in both directions. Long lines of traffic formed on the highway, causing delays.An investigation into the cause of the crash is now underway. Prague, The Associated Press

Boy thrown from carnival ride at Illinois community festival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:00 GMT

ANTIOCH, Ill. (AP) — Carnival rides were shut down at an Illinois community festival after a 10-year-old boy was thrown from his seat and seriously injured, authorities said.The boy was riding Moby Dick, which locks people in at the shoulders and then goes up and down as speed increases. The boy was thrown Sunday as the ride was moving at Antioch’s Taste of Summer, 60 miles (96.5 kilometers) northwest of Chicago, near the Wisconsin border.“The carnival was packed, and so a lot of people experienced seeing it,” said Charles Smith, operations commander at the Antioch police department. “It’s a traumatic event for our community.”The boy was in critical condition when taken to a hospital, WLS-TV reported, though his condition Monday wasn’t immediately known.Mayor Scott Gartner shut down rides at Taste of Antioch after the boy was injured.There have been other incidents on summer rides this year. On July 2, eight people were trapped upside down on a roller coaster at a festiv...

York police helicopter, K-9 units track down multiple suspects in Vaughan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:00 GMT

York Regional Police made multiple arrests following separate collisions in Vaughan after two men fled the scene of the crash, and helicopter footage showed one of them hiding from police by climbing a tree.Police said it happened near Rutherford Road and Canada’s Wonderland Drive just after 10 a.m. on July 12, when witnesses reported two men in a cube van crashed with an SUV.Investigators allege the suspects took off on bikes retrieved from the van’s cargo compartment and fled into a swampy area near Major Mackenzie Drive.One suspect was immediately arrested, and the other was tracked down by a Canine Unit and York police helicopter spotted hiding in a tree from officers. With assistance from a police service dog, the suspect was taken into custody without incident, police said.Authorities said the cube van was reported stolen from a rental service on July 7 in London, Ont.A 29-year-old man of no fixed address is charged with possessing property obtained by crime exceed...

'Smokeageddon' was unprecedented. We can expect more of the same.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:00 GMT

(The Hill) - Meteorologists struggled to explain "Smokeageddon," the acrid campfire haze that settled over the East Coast and Midwest last month, and with good reason: It was unprecedented. Before this summer, code purple and code maroon air quality alerts, the two most dire categories, were almost unknown in the eastern United States. The American Lung Association, which collects air data, recorded exactly 10 code purple air days in the East or Midwest between 2000 and 2021, each reported by a single county. In those 21 years, no Eastern county reported a code maroon day. Over three weeks in June, dozens of cities logged purple and maroon alerts, triggered by wildfire smoke that drifted south from Canada. Wildfire smoke has menaced the West in recent years, an era of rising temperatures and erratic rainfall, fed by global warming. Yet, until this summer, the smoke had mostly spared the East. Jenna Krall, an assistant professor and air quality expert at George Mason U...

Why is a single senator blocking military promotions? And what does it mean for the Pentagon?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is waging an unprecedented campaign to try to change Pentagon abortion policy by holding up hundreds of military nominations and promotions, forcing less experienced leaders into top jobs and raising concerns at the Pentagon about military readiness.Senators in both parties — including Republican Leader Mitch McConnell — have pushed back on Tuberville’s blockade, but Tuberville is dug in. He says he won’t drop the holds unless majority Democrats allow a vote on the policy.For now, the fight is at a stalemate. Democrats say a vote on every nominee could tie up the Senate floor for months. And they don’t want to give in to Tuberville’s demands and encourage similar blockades of nominees in the future.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said that holding up the promotion of military leaders, most of whom have dedicated their lives to protecting the country, “is one of the most abominable and outrageous things I have ever seen in this...

These notable movies, TV shows are on hold because of the actors strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – When actors joined screenwriters in authorizing a strike last week, it became the first dual strike between the two major unions in about 60 years. As long as the strike lasts, union rules say actors are not to do any part of their jobs. They are not allowed to promote their work on podcasts or at premieres. They are barred from doing any production work including auditions, readings, rehearsals, voiceovers or wardrobe fittings. And of course, they're also not allowed to shoot new content. Naturally, that has many major productions on hold for the time being. While "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning" aired in theaters around the country over the weekend, production on its sequel ("Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two") was delayed by the strike, NBC News confirmed. Filming was supposed to resume after Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, and the film's other actors finished promotion of the "Part One" release, according to NBC. Hollywood actors join screenwrite...

Ben Crump retained by group of Northwestern athletes amidst hazing scandal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:00 GMT

EVANSTON, Ill. — A group of athletes from Northwestern University have retained a prominent civil rights and personal injury attorney in the midst of the hazing scandal within the football program.On Monday morning, Ben Crump along with co-counsel Steven M. Levin of Chicago-based Levin & Perconti announced that they've been retained by eight former student-athletes at the school.In a news release, the lawyers say they were subject to the hazing and are also in conversations with others as well. Crump and Levin say that the players were forced to participate in "humiliating acts and racial bias to punishments that inflicted severe physical discomfort and psychological trauma." WGN's coverage of hazing scandal at Northwestern & Fitzgerald firing “Whether the coaches at Northwestern approved or participated in the harassment of these players or not, they are responsible for allowing and enabling a toxic, disgusting, and damaging culture in their programs," said Crump in a sta...

Florida deputies wrangle alligator found camped out under resident's car

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:38:00 GMT

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Deputies in Florida wrangled a young alligator after a resident heard an "odd noise" coming from underneath their car last week. According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, two deputies, identified only as Doherty and Smith, helped the resident, who found the alligator under the car. Officials said in a Facebook post on Saturday that the resident "took one look and noped right out of there." VIDEO: Country star Jason Aldean exits concert early after suffering heat stroke mid-performance PCSO said the deputies were able to get the gator's snout taped shut and relocated the reptile to a safe location. "Alligators are everywhere in Florida and it’s not uncommon to find one in your yard, pool, or driveway as they travel from one lake to another. If this happens to you, don’t try to catch, harass, or shoo the gator away. Even a gator minding its own business can bite if you bother it. Most of the time the gator will leave on its own. But if there’s...