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‘The Boys in the Boat’ gives the Hollywood treatment to rowing during an Olympic year

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:05 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The journey from nowhere to an Olympic gold medal is a tale as old as time.Just as well-worn, but far less explored, are the stories about great athletes who realize they can’t make it anywhere unless they have a way to bankroll the trip.“The Boys in the Boat” is Hollywood and director George Clooney’s way of stringing those plot lines together. That it opens Christmas Day, a mere seven months before the start of the Paris Olympics, is good fortune for the people who oversee rowing in the U.S. and know the general public mostly either a) doesn’t think about that sport or b) sees it as the exclusive playground for East Coast and Ivy League elites.USRowing worked with producers of the movie to sponsor dozens of screenings across the country with two purposes: raising funds for an organization that received about $3.5 million of its $15 million budget in 2023 from charitable donations, and building awareness across racial and socioeconom...

Club World Cup let visitors see how Saudi Arabia wants to change ahead of 2034 World Cup

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:05 GMT

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — In Saudi Arabia this week to work at the Club World Cup, seeing a woman driving a car on the busy roads of Jeddah was proving elusive.The kingdom’s ban on women drivers was lifted in 2018 — a key modernizing reform in a long-time ultraconservative society — yet first-hand evidence was missing for nearly four full days at a soccer event that was an early milestone on the road to the men’s World Cup in 2034.Spending one hour each day in taxis is easily done in a city with almost no public transport for more than five million people. A ride was requested on Thursday evening on a Middle East booking app to pick up at the five-star hotel where FIFA stayed.The driver of the economy grade sedan that arrived was a woman in her 20s, wearing western clothes and her head uncovered. Her avatar on the Jeeny app was not a photograph but a purple and white image of a hijab head covering.The skeptical bubble of a western visitor was popped and the frequent claims by Saud...

Bad Bunny entrega regalos de Navidad a miles de niños en Puerto Rico

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:05 GMT

SAN JUAN.- El artista puertorriqueño Bad Bunny entregó este sábado por cuarta ocasión, junto a su Fundación Good Bunny, artículos e instrumentos de música, deporte y pintura a miles de niños y jóvenes de Puerto Rico, como parte de las festividades navideñas.El Centro de Convenciones de Puerto Rico en San Juan fue el lugar del evento ‘Bonita Tradición’, donde Benito Antonio Martínez -Bad Bunny- repartió instrumentos musicales como teclados, guitarras y timbales, equipo deportivo como guantes de boxeo, pelotas y bates, y material de arte como libretas de dibujo, lienzos y pinceles.Hasta allí, miles de personas de todas partes de la isla esperaron pacientemente, incluso, desde la noche del viernes, a que uno de los artistas más aclamados, seguidos y escuchados en el mundo les entregara alguno de los tantos detalles.Así, Bad Bunny, ataviado de un abrigo negro, vaqueros y tenis, saludó primero a los niños con discapacidades especiales con abrazos, incluyendo uno que el propio...

Tributes flow for Luton captain Tom Lockyer in team’s first game since his on-field cardiac arrest

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:05 GMT

LUTON, England (AP) — Tributes flowed for Luton captain Tom Lockyer on Saturday in the team’s first game since he collapsed on the field after suffering cardiac arrest.When Andros Townsend gave Luton the lead in the 25th minute against Newcastle in the Premier League at Kenilworth Road, he ran to the touchline and was handed a jersey with “Lockyer No. 4” on the back. Townsend raised it into the air.Fans had earlier applauded en masse in the fourth minute — marking Lockyer’s number — while Newcastle’s supporters rolled out a banner in the visiting end with the message “Get Well Soon Tom. NUFC.”Lockyer is at home recovering after collapsing during the second half of the match at Bournemouth last Saturday. That game was abandoned and will be replayed.He underwent a procedure on Tuesday that saw him fitted with a defibrillator.It was the second time Lockyer collapsed during a match. The other time was in May during the second-tier Championship playoff final and that wa...

El presidente de Brasil otorga indultos navideños a presos

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:05 GMT

(CNN Español) — El presidente de Brasil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, indultó a un grupo de presos que cumplían ciertas condiciones, por ejemplo, a aquellos con condenas menores a ocho años y que ya hubiesen cumplido una cuarta parte de su pena, y para aquellos que eran reincidentes, el requisito fue haber cumplido un tercio de la condena.Según se publicó en el diario oficial este viernes, el mandatario otorgó el perdón presidencial colectivo también a aquellos reos que tenían más de 60 años de edad y que hubiesen cumplido un tercio de su pena, así como a mujeres privadas de su libertad con hijos menores o con enfermedades crónicas. El factor común entre todos estos indultados fue no haber cometido delitos con violencia.Como cada vez que se otorga este indulto, se incluyen excepciones. Este año el decreto excluyó a presos que fueron condenados por realizar crímenes contra el Estado democrático, específicamente dirigido a un grupo de 30 reclusos que participaron en el intento de ...

Czech Republic marks a day of mourning for the victims of its worst mass killing

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:05 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic came to a standstill at noon Saturday as people across the country observed a minute of silence for the victims of its worst mass killing that left 14 dead and questions about the shooter’s motive.National flags on public buildings flew at half-staff and bells tolled at noon. President Petr Pavel and speakers of both houses of Parliament attended a Mass for the victims at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, the country’s biggest, which was packed. “We’re all still in a shock in our own ways,” Prague Archbishop Jan Graubner said. “We need to clearly condemn what happened but we also need to look into the future.”“Nobody should be left alone in these tough moments,” Charles University rector Milena Kralickova said in her remarks toward the end of the Mass. The shooting occurred inside the university’s Faculty of Arts on Thursday. Twenty-five other people were wounded before the gunman killed himself. Police and prosecuto...

“No ayuda tratar a aquellos que vienen a nuestras fronteras como si fueran un ejército invasor”, dice el obispo de El Paso a CNN

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:05 GMT

(CNN) — El obispo de la Diócesis Católica de El Paso, Mark J. Seitz, dijo a Amara Walker de CNN este sábado por la mañana que la legislación firmada recientemente por el gobernador de Texas, Greg Abbott, puede obstaculizar los esfuerzos para abordar adecuadamente el aumento de inmigrantes en la frontera del estado con México, y agregó que “no es útil tratar a aquellos que vienen a nuestras fronteras como si fueran un ejército invasor”.Cuando se le preguntó si Abbott firmó la medida, el Proyecto de Ley Senatorial 4, que otorga a las autoridades locales el poder de arrestar a inmigrantes y otorga a los jueces la capacidad de emitir órdenes para expulsarlos a México, en un estado donde los latinos representan el 40% de la población, dijo: “Ciertamente, existe una gran preocupación por leyes como ésta”.Y añadió: “No ayuda que los Estados peleen con el Gobierno, el Gobierno federal, en este papel de recibir inmigrantes”.La nueva ley de inmigració...

Polish president vows to veto spending bill in massive clash with new government

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:05 GMT

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Saturday he would veto the government’s amended 2024 spending bill and propose his own, in a challenge to new Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.In a post on the social media platform X, Duda cited the bill’s funding of public media, and said blocking it was appropriate “in view of the flagrant violation of the constitution.”On Wednesday, Poland’s new government moved to seize control of the country’s publicly owned television, radio and news agency from loyalists to the Law and Justice (PiS) party, which lost power following the October 15 parliamentary election. Duda was a PiS member and is still loyal to the party.Poland’s Culture Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz fired the heads of TVP public television, Polish Radio, and the Polish Press Agency (PAP).“At the same time,” Duda wrote in a second post on X. “I would like to inform you that after Christmas, I will immediately submit my own project to the parliament, regarding, among other thi...

Wrestling preview, wrestlers to watch: MVC stacked once again

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:05 GMT

Wrestling coaches love to use the phrase “iron sharpens iron.”In the Merrimack Valley Conference no night is an easy night. A year ago, four teams from the MVC finished in the top 10 in the Div. 1 state tournament and virtually everyone thinks the league could be even better this time around.“I think the league is the best that it’s been in a long time,” said Central Catholic coach Jamie Durkin. “Haverhill has two returning New England finalists, Methuen has good balance up and down their lineup, Lowell had more than 70 kids come out, Chelmsford had more than 60. Then you get teams like Andover and Tewksbury who have good lineups and you can see that just about every team in the league is good.”New England champion Nate Blanchette (175 pounds) leads an impressive group of returnees which include Cole Glynn (106), Izaiah Santiago (113), Pablo Salas (144), Caden Chase (165), Jackson Meehan (190), Gianni Giuffrida (215) and Like Guifrida (285). If this wasn’t en...

Woman stabbed in San Marcos; suspect arrested

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:09:05 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- A woman was stabbed Friday in San Marcos and a suspect was arrested, authorities said.Around 5:15 p.m., deputies responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon in the 1200 block of San Elijo Rd., Detective Natalie Rivera with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) said in a news release. First responders rescue man stuck under concrete on side of cliff in Ocean Beach The victim told deputies she had been stabbed by her 20-year-old daughter, SDSO said. The woman was found with stab wounds and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.The suspect was located on a nearby hiking trail and was arrested, according to authorities.