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Business (almost) as usual at Venice Film Festival

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:23 GMT

For it’s 80th edition Wednesday, the Venice Film Festival, the world’s oldest, has surmounted the complication of Hollywood’s ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes to have what looks remarkably like business as (almost) usual.In its 10-day run, Venice boasts an enviable first look line-up of the awards’ season’s most high-profile premieres. The buzz hopefully translates into awards bait as the calendar year ends and Oscars loom.Once it became apparent the strikes would not end before Venice began, the festival lost only one entry – “Challengers,” a tennis comedy with Zendaya, was pulled from its opening night slot and postponed until April 2024.That means this 80th edition is embarking on uncharted territory, for never has Venice been starless on its red carpet.However, because the Directors Guild of America settled a new contract last spring, boldface filmmakers can – and will — be here when the actors cannot.That means Sofia Coppola can offer “Priscilla,” her biopic of the te...

Dear Abby: Hubby’s wandering eye an open secret

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:23 GMT

Dear Abby: My husband and I have been married for 18 years. It’s a second marriage for both of us. He cheated on his ex with me. Soon after we were married, he told me that, given the chance, he would cheat on me, but that I shouldn’t worry because no really pretty woman would ever want him.Six years into our marriage, I needed to find something on his phone and saw he had signed up on a dating website for married people looking to cheat. We went to counseling. He said he wasn’t planning on following through; he just wanted to see what was out there.Not long afterward, I noticed he had checked a website for dating foreign women, but he needed a credit card, so he gave up. Off to counseling again. I told him that was strike two.Last month, I went on vacation with my daughter. Last week, he accidentally deleted something on his phone and asked me to find it. What I also found were emails from women offering their services, all of them sent while I was away. (“S...

Idalia predicted to hit Florida as Category 4 hurricane with ‘catastrophic’ storm surge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:23 GMT

CEDAR KEY, Fla. (AP) — Florida residents living in vulnerable coastal areas were ordered to pack up and leave as Hurricane Idalia gained steam in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and authorities warned of a “catastrophic storm surge and destructive winds” when the storm moves ashore Wednesday morning.Idalia grew into a Category 2 system on Tuesday afternoon, with sustained winds of 110 mph (177 kph) by Tuesday night. It was projected to make landfall early Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with winds of at least 130 mph (209 kph) in the lightly populated Big Bend region, where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula. The result could be a big blow to a state still dealing with lingering damage from last year’s Hurricane Ian.The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia “an unprecedented event” since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay abutting the Big Bend.On the island of Cedar Key, Commissioner Sue Colson joined other city officia...

Stock market today: Asian shares boosted by Wall Street rise on consumer confidence and jobs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:23 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares rose Wednesday, boosted by a Wall Street rally that came on positive reports on consumer confidence and job openings. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.9% in morning trading to 32,529.72. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 2,567.44. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.4% to 18,563.39, while the Shanghai Composite inched up less than 0.1% to 3,137.72. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.4% to 7,310.60, after the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the monthly Consumer Price Index indicator rose 4.9% in the 12 months to July. That was lower than the expected 5.2%, marking the first time since February 2022 that the indicator fell below 5%. “But given that it is still a distance away from the RBA’s 2% to 3% target, the central bank may continue to maintain its hawkish-pause stance for some policy flexibility, although we are likely seeing the end of its tightening process,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at IG. On Wall Street, the...

Typhoon Saola strengthens as it passes Taiwan on its way to China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:23 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Typhoon Saola strengthened overnight as it continued its path across the Pacific early Wednesday and headed for China’s southern coast. The typhoon was moving northwest with sustained winds of 191 kph (118 mph) and gusts of up to 234 kph (145 mph), according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau and is now considered a strong typhoon. The typhoon’s eye won’t hit Taiwan’s mainland, but will hit the island’s southern cities with its outer bands.The weather bureau also warned of heavy rain and strong winds in Taiwan’s southern cities, and especially southern Pingtung county. The typhoon is currently traveling directly south of Taiwan, in the Bashi Channel, the band of ocean that separates Taiwan and the Philippines. So far the storm has not caused major damage as it passed by the Philippines earlier this week, though thousands were displaced when it brought heavy rains and flooded low-lying areas in northern Philippines. The typhoon is expected to hit sou...

2 killed in Kyiv as Russia accuses Ukraine of biggest drone attack on its soil since fighting began

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:23 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian attack on Kyiv killed two people early Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said, while Russia accused Ukraine of launching what appeared to be the biggest drone attack on Russian soil since Moscow sent troops there 18 months ago. Drones hit an airport in Russia’s western Pskov region near the border with Estonia and Latvia, and started a massive fire, the governor and local media reported. More drones were shot down over Oryol, Bryansk, Ryazan, Kaluga and the Moscow region surrounding the Russian capital, according to the Defense Ministry.Pskov regional Gov. Mikhail Vedernikov ordered all flights to and from the airport in the region’s namesake capital canceled Wednesday so the damage could be assessed during daylight.The airport strike, which was first reported minutes before midnight, damaged four Il-76 transport aircraft, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.Footage and images posted on social media showed smoke billowing over th...

As Trump and Republicans target Georgia’s Fani Willis for retribution, the state’s governor opts out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:23 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Some Republicans in Washington and Georgia began attacking Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis immediately after she announced the Aug. 14 indictment of former President Donald Trump for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. But others, including Gov. Brian Kemp, have been conspicuous in their unwillingness to pile on.Kemp, who had previously survived scathing attacks from Trump over his refusal to endorse the former president’s false claims about the election, declined to comment on the indictment of Trump and 18 others at a conservative political conference hosted by radio host and Kemp ally Erick Erickson. Noting that he had been called before a special grand jury to testify during the investigation, Kemp stated forcefully that Democratic President Joe Biden was the rightful winner of Georgia’s 16 electoral votes and said swinging the spotlight to Trump’s legal troubles would be a mistake.“Democrats want us to be focused on th...

Ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio to be sentenced for seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:23 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio is set to be sentenced on Wednesday for a failed plot to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 presidential election, capping one of the most significant prosecutions in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.Prosecutors are seeking 33 years behind bars for Tarrio, who had already been arrested and ordered to leave Washington, D.C. by the time Proud Boys members joined thousands of Trump supporters in storming the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. But prosecutors say he organized and led the group’s assault from afar, inspiring followers with his charisma and penchant for propaganda.Tarrio was a top target in one of the most important Capitol riot cases prosecuted by the Justice Department. He and three lieutenants were convicted in May of charges including seditious conspiracy — a rarely brought Civil War-era offense that the Ju...

Autumn-like feel Wednesday with powerhouse NNE winds creating Beach Hazards

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:23 GMT

WINDY, COOLER—almost autumn-like cool air is to sweep into Chicago on "NNE" winds which arrive after a long, wave-generating trek southward the length of Lake Michigan Tuesday night and Wednesday.The time such winds spend over Lake Michigan equips them uniquely to develop waves and rip currents—and these features are behind the BEACH HAZARDS STATEMENT which is in effect on our Chicago area beaches into Wednesday night. White-capped waves will populate the lake surface later tonight and Wednesday and swimmers will find water treacherous for swimming Wednesday.WATCH AS WAVES BUILD in this series of WAVE HEIGHT FORECAST PANELS from 6 pm CDT Tuesday through 9 pm Wednesday:The cool temps riding into the area will be a bit jarring after Tuesday's mid 80s—BUT THEY WILL NOT LAST LONG.We have only 2 days left in August and the 3 month meteorological summer season, which spans June, July and August. Seven of the past 8 months have posted TEMP SURPLUSES IN CHICAGO—and though the temp surpluses...

Concert review: Brandi Carlile blazed through a career-best performance at the Grandstand

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:23 GMT

During Wynonna Judd’s opening set Tuesday at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand, headliner Brandi Carlile joined Judd for a pair of songs from the Judds, the mother/daughter duo that made her famous: “Cry Myself to Sleep” and “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days).”Carlile did so with grace, adding her vocals here and there, but never overpowering Judd and definitely never stepping into her spotlight. It was a tender, touching moment for Judd, whose mother Naomi died by suicide last year. During her set, Carlile told the sold-out crowd of 13,414 about her love for the Judds and fairs, and then said her first, second and third concerts as a kid were the Judds at the Washington State Fair. (Garth Brooks was the opener for the third one!) Later, she brought Judd back for a tear through the Judds classics “Girls Night Out” and “Love Is Alive.” Judd returned again during the encore for a rousing cover of Cher’s “Turn Back Time.”That all speaks volumes a...