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‘Equalizer 3’ cleans up, while ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ score new records

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

The third installment in the Denzel Washington-led “Equalizer” franchise topped the domestic box office this weekend with $34.5 million according to studio estimates Sunday. By the end of the Monday holiday, Sony expects that total will rise to $42 million.Labor Day signals the end of Hollywood’s summer movie season, which will likely surpass $4 billion in ticket sales for the first time since the pandemic thanks in no small part to “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” which are still netting records even after seven weeks in theaters. This weekend, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” officially became the biggest movie of 2023 with over $1.36 billion globally, surpassing “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” while Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” sailed past $850 million globally to become the No. 3 movie of the year and Nolan’s third highest grossing.“The Equalizer 3” arrived at a fraught time for Hollywood, with actors seven weeks into a strike for fair contracts with major entertainment companies and movi...

Guatemala’s electoral authority blocks the suspension of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s party

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s top electoral authority said Sunday it blocked the suspension of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s Seed Movement, at least temporarily giving the party back its legal status and cutting off an attempt by opposing political forces to weaken Arévalo.The decision by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal came days after the electoral registry suspended the party on a judge’s order. The Attorney General’s office is investigating whether there was wrongdoing in the gathering of required signatures for the party’s formation years earlier.The tribunal said the suspension could not stand because it did not come from an electoral body. Its decision holds until the official end of the electoral period Oct. 31, because Guatemala’s electoral law does not allow the suspension of a party during the electoral period.The Seed Movement had also appealed the suspension through the normal court system, but so far without result. It is expected that come Nov. 1, the party cou...

Madrid prepares for heavy rain, cancels trains and soccer game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Forecasts of heavy rain in central Spain on Sunday led authorities to shut down train lines, cancel a Spanish league soccer game and order citizens to stay indoors.Spain’s weather service issued warnings for intense rainstorms in Madrid and surrounding areas.Spain’s state rail authority said that train service between Madrid and the eastern coastal area of Valencia and other lines had been suspended.Pedro Ruiz of Madrid’s emergency services said the city activated protocols to prepare for flooding. The agency said it sent text messages to Madrid residents with instructions to stay at home and to avoid using cars.Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida called for people to remain off the streets to help emergency crews move with greater speed during what he said was expected to be “an exceptional and truly rare situation in terms of precipitation.”Almeida said the record for rainfall in Madrid from 1972 of 87 liters per square meter would most likely be broken with a fo...

Why Wisconsin Republicans are talking about impeaching a new state Supreme Court justice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Legislature is talking about impeaching a newly elected liberal state Supreme Court justice even before she has heard a case.The unprecedented attempt to impeach and remove Justice Janet Protasiewicz from office comes as the court is being asked to throw out legislative electoral maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2011 that cemented the party’s majorities, which now stand at 65-34 in the Assembly and a 22-11 supermajority in the Senate.Here is a closer look at where things stand:HOW DID THE STATE GET HERE?Protasiewicz won election in April to a 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court beginning Aug. 1. Her 11-point victory gave liberals a 4-3 majority, ending a 15-year run with conservatives in control.During her first week in office, two lawsuits were filed by Democratic-friendly groups and law firms seeking to overturn Republican-drawn legislative maps. WHY IS THERE TALK OF IMPEACHMENT?Republ...

A building marked by fire and death shows the decay of South Africa’s ‘city of gold’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — One of the few things that survived the fire and smoke that caused at least 76 horrific deaths in a rundown apartment block in Johannesburg is a circular plaque hanging on the brown brick exterior. It has a five-sentence inscription outlining the building’s history.No. 80 Albert Street – the scene of one of South Africa’s worst inner-city tragedies – was a central pass office during the apartheid era of racial segregation, a checkpoint for enforcing a despised law that controlled the movement of Black people nearly everywhere in the country.Without a pass from the apartheid government to work there, people were “denied a place” in Johannesburg, the inscription reads.What it doesn’t say is that the building still saw people excluded up until last Thursday, nearly 30 years after apartheid ended, when a fire swept through it and killed dozens of South Africans and poor foreign migrants clinging on at the fringes of society i...

Corgis parade outside Buckingham Palace to remember Queen Elizabeth II a year since her death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Royal fans and their pet corgis gathered outside Buckingham Palace on Sunday to remember Queen Elizabeth II, a year since her death. Around 20 corgi enthusiasts dressed up their pets in crowns, tiaras and royal outfits and paraded them outside the palace in central London to pay tribute to Elizabeth, a well-known lover of the dog breed. Corgis were the late queen’s constant companions since she was a child, and Elizabeth owned around 30 throughout her life. Generations of the dogs descended from Susan, a corgi that was given to the queen on her 18th birthday.Agatha Crerer-Gilbert, who organized Sunday’s event, said she would like the corgi march to take place every year in Elizabeth’s memory.“I can’t see a better way to remember her than through her corgis, through the breed that she loved and cherished through her life,” she said. “You know, I can’t still get used to the fact that she’s not physically around us, but she’s looking at us. Look, the sun...

3 dead after head-on motorcycle crash in Big Rock: Police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

BIG ROCK TOWNSHIP, Ill. -- Three people are dead after a car crash in Big Rock Saturday night.According to police, a Honda Civic was travelling westbound on route 30 from Davis Road when it passed a vehicle in front of him in the eastbound lane in a no passing zone and struck a motorcycle head on. The Kane County Sheriff's Office identified the driver of the Honda as 55-year-old Jaime Bibiano. The motorcyclist was identified as 56-year-old Scott Luczynski and a passenger on the motorcycle, 58-year-old Kathleen Luczynski. 3 men shot, 1 critical in South Austin Bibiano was pronounced dead on the scene. The passenger of the motorcycle was pronounced dead on the scene and a few minutes later, the motorcyclist was pronounced dead at Mercy Hospital in Aurora. Sheriffs are unaware if drugs or alcohol were involved, and no roadways are closed as a result of the crash.

Cause of death revealed for ‘Margaritaville’ singer Jimmy Buffett

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Jimmy Buffett's cause of death has been revealed, just days after the singer-songwriter passed away. A statement posted to the "Margaritaville" singer's website said Buffett, who was 76, "passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs."An obituary posted to that same website said Buffett had been fighting Merkel cell skin cancer for four years, and had been continuing to perform during treatment. It progressed into lymphoma, sources told TMZ, and Buffett had reportedly been receiving hospice care.Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare type of skin cancer, according to Mayo Clinic. It typically appears as flesh-colored or bluish-red nodules on your face, head, or neck. Merkel cell carcinoma can grow fast and spread quickly, and is often seen in older people with a weakened immune system or after long-term sun exposure. Remembering Jimmy Buffett: Norbert Putnam looks back on producing Margaritaville Buffett announced in M...

Burning Man flooding strands tens of thousands at Nevada site; authorities are investigating 1 death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Tens of thousands of people gathered for the Burning Man festival remained stranded in the Nevada desert on Sunday after storms that swept through the area, as authorities investigated a possible death and worked to open exit paths by the end of the Labor Day weekend.Organizers closed vehicular access to the counterculture festival and attendees trudged through mud, many barefoot or wearing plastic bags on their feet. The revelers were urged to shelter in place and conserve food, water and other supplies. The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said a death happened during the event but offered few details as the investigation continued, including the identity of the deceased person or the suspected cause of death, KNSD-TV reported.On their website, organizers encouraged participants to remain calm and suggest that the festival is built to endure conditions like the flooding. They said cellphone trailers were being dropped in several locations Saturday night and that ...

Fonda Fair presented with $18,000 check from Sticker Mule

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:25 GMT

FONDA, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Fonda Fair was presented with a check for $18,000 from Sticker Mule, a prominent custom print company based in Amsterdam. The presentation took place on September 2, preceding the fair's Demolition Derby. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! The Fonda Fair, which is celebrating its 182nd year, opened on August 30 and runs through September 4. In honor of their partnership, Sticker Mule, along with Mule Fitness and Mule Sauce, have been represented throughout the fairgrounds every day with giveaways and activities. “Sticker Mule loves the Fonda Fair,” said Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino. “We are always saying Upstate NY doesn’t just need jobs, it also needs fun and the Fonda Fair is one of the most fun events in the area. We couldn’t be happier to support it.”