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George Stevens Jr. pens autobiography about founding American Film Institute, Kennedy Center Honors

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:18:06 GMT

Hear our full conversation on my podcast “Beyond the Fame.” toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley chats with George Stevens Jr. (Part 1) $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); George Stevens Jr. helped his Oscar-winning father create some of Hollywood’s greatest movies before moving to Washington to influence presidents, invent the American Film Institute and create the annual Kennedy Center Honors.Now, at 91 years old, he p...

Mets seek to continue win streak, play the Dodgers

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:18:06 GMT

New York Mets (10-6, second in the NL East) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (8-8, second in the NL West)Los Angeles; Tuesday, 10:10 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Tylor Megill (3-0, 2.25 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 13 strikeouts); Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw (2-1, 3.50 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 17 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Dodgers -165, Mets +141; over/under is 8 runsBOTTOM LINE: The New York Mets are looking to build upon a five-game win streak with a victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.Los Angeles has an 8-8 record overall and a 5-5 record in home games. The Dodgers have the sixth-ranked team on-base percentage in the NL at .339.New York is 10-6 overall and 7-4 on the road. The Mets are 7-0 in games when they out-hit their opponents.Tuesday’s game is the second time these teams square off this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Freddie Freeman has four doubles and three home runs while hitting .343 for the Dodgers. Max Muncy is 8-for-30 with five home runs over the past 10 games.Pete Alonso leads New ...

Brisbane Olympics leader marks 1 year in long run up to 2032

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:18:06 GMT

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — In the 12 months since his appointment as the inaugural president of the organizing committee for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, Andrew Liveris has refined his vision of what the Summer Games will look like in nine years.He foresees a bit of Barcelona, a little dose of London and lot more of what makes Australia and the Oceania region tick.As well as helping establish a board containing 22 people, including stakeholders from three tiers of government, and recruiting CEO Cindy Hook, Liveris has been asking plenty of questions and “benchmarking” previous Olympic hosts to get a sense of where Brisbane will be similar and where it’ll be very different from other Summer Games.“A year in, I see we’ll use the best of Barcelona and the best of London, but we are developing something which actually is going to be very unique and hopefully seen as very much us,” Liveris said in an interview with The Associated Press. Liveris, a former chairman of the Dow Ch...

Scottish National Party treasurer arrested amid party finances probe

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:18:06 GMT

LONDON — Colin Beattie, the Scottish National Party’s treasurer, has been arrested as the fallout continues from the police probe into the party’s finances.In a statement released Tuesday morning, Police Scotland said a 71-year-old man was arrested “as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.” The man is Beattie, who has responsibility for the party’s accounts and represents Midlothian North and Musselburgh as a Scottish parliament lawmaker for the pro-independence SNP.The force added: “The man is in custody and is being questioned by Police Scotland detectives.”Beattie is the second person to be arrested in connection with the finances probe, which has been ongoing for almost two years. The former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell was taken into custody earlier in April, after officers turned up at the house he shares with his wife, the former SNP leader, Nicola Stu...

Police: Suspect in custody following Quincy home invasion that left multiple people injured

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:18:06 GMT

A suspect is in custody and expected to face charges after three people were injured in a home invasion in Quincy Sunday night, according to police.7NEWS later spoke with a victim who asked that his name and face not be shown and who described the moment he said a gunman barged into the house. “We don’t know who he was,” the man said. “This was completely random. It’s terrifying.”Officers responded to 400 Block of Granite Street just after 8:30 p.m. after receiving reports that gunshots were fired and multiple people were stabbed.Upon arrival, police said officers located four people, three of whom were suffering from non-life-threatening stab wounds. The three victims were taken to the hospital for treatment and were later released.The victim said he and his roommates had been getting ready for dinner when they heard a knock at their door. What they thought was their food delivery, the man said, soon took a terrifying turn.“He asked for someone’s name that didn’t live her...

NFL Draft 2023: Christian Gonzalez and 8 potential Patriots CB picks to watch

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:18:06 GMT

Welcome to Potential Patriots!Each day leading up to the NFL Draft on April 27, the Herald will introduce prospects the Patriots are likely targeting position by position. The Pats have 11 picks this year, starting at 14th overall, their highest selection in more than a decade. As for their other picks, the Patriots could pad their depth at virtually any position.Below is a breakdown of the Patriots’ best prospect fits at cornerback:Day 1Christian Gonzalez, OregonHt/Wt: 6-1, 192Projected round: 1stScouting report: He is one of the best quarterbacks in a deep draft for the position. And with Jalen Mills making the transition back to safety following Devin McCourty’s retirement, the Patriots need a corner who can step in right away and make an impact.Gonzalez, who rates as the top corner by many draft pundits, fits the bill. He’s an explosive athlete who has the tools to be a No. 1 corner and defend the bigger wide receivers. Man coverage is his forte, but he should play well in...

PSAC says strike will begin Wednesday if no deal reached with federal government

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:18:06 GMT

The country’s largest federal public service union says if a deal isn’t reached with the federal government by 9 p.m. eastern time on Tuesday, it will strike this Wednesday.The Public Service Alliance of Canada says some 155,000 employees are prepared to walk off the job, including 35,000 workers from the Canada Revenue Agency.Mediated contract negotiations between the union and the Treasury Board continued over the weekend in what the union described as the government’s final chance to reach a deal.The biggest sticking point in the talks appears to be pay increases, as the union is calling for raises to keep up with the rising cost of living and historic inflation.The government offered a roughly two per cent average wage increase each year over a five-year period, while the union has pushed for annual raises of 4.5 per cent.The union also wants to put greater limits on contract work, more anti-racism training and provisions for remote work on the table.

Clinton optimistic Northern Ireland govt will be revived

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:18:06 GMT

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Tuesday he was optimistic that one of Northern Ireland’s main political parties would soon end a boycott that has kept the regional government on ice for more than a year. Clinton said he had met with Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson on Monday, and “I left that meeting more optimistic than I entered it.”Clinton is in Belfast this week to mark 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement ended decades of sectarian bloodshed. The deal established a Northern Ireland government with power shared between British unionist and Irish nationalist parties.The DUP walked out more than a year ago to protest post-Brexit trade rules that imposed a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. It has refused to return, despite a deal reached by the U.K. and the EU in February to remove many of the border checks.Clinton said the deal, known as the Windsor Framework, had gone a long way to resol...

Scottish National Party treasurer arrested in finance probe

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:18:06 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The treasurer of the Scottish National Party was arrested Tuesday, police said, in a party finance probe that previously saw its executive director — the husband of former Scottish first minister and party leader Nicola Sturgeon — taken into custody.Colin Beattie, 71, was arrested two weeks after the SNP’s former former longtime executive, Peter Murrell, was questioned for nearly 11 hours before being released without charges.Police at the time said the investigation would continue and officers returned to Murrell and Sturgeon’s house in Glasgow the following day to continue their search for evidence.Scottish police have been investigating how 600,000 pounds ($745,000) designated for a Scottish independence campaign was spent. The arrests followed Strurgeon’s abrupt resignation earlier this year after eight years as party leader and first minister of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government. She said that it was the right time for her, her party and her ...

Syria, Tunisia reestablish diplomatic relations

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 15:18:06 GMT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Syria’s chief diplomat is on a three-day official visit to Tunisia meant to restore diplomatic relations that have been cut off since 2012 during the civil war that followed President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on mass protests against his rule. Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad had a meeting with Tunisian counterpart Nabil Ammar shortly after his arrival on Monday evening. No details were disclosed about the talks and Mikdad’s schedule for Tuesday or Wednesday.The visit is meant to help restore bilateral relations, the Tunisian Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.The move is a glaring example of how things have changed in the region over the past decade: Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy movements that spread as far as Syria in 2011, and was long among Assad’s strongest critics. But today, Tunisia’s leadership is swinging back toward authoritarianism, and is allying anew with Assad’s Syria.Earlier this month, Tu...