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21-year-old French swimming star smashes Michael Phelps’ last remaining world record

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:11:31 GMT

(CNN) — Although Michael Phelps retired seven years ago, his legacy has continued to tower over swimming.But on Saturday, Phelps’ last remaining world record was smashed by 21-year-old Leon Marchand at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukoka, Japan, as the Frenchman completed the 400 meters individual medley in 4:02.50, shaving an enormous 1.34 seconds off Phelps’ previous mark.“That was insane, one of the most painful things I’ve done. It was amazing to do it here and the time is crazy,” Marchand said afterwards, according to the Olympics’ official website, “The best is yet to come.”Marchand was just six years old when Phelps set the previous world record in the discipline, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and he was presented with the gold medal afterwards by the legendary American swimmer.Phelps himself had held the world record for almost 21 years, setting a series of increasingly faster times during his stint as the world’s most dominant swimmer.“It’s excellent, I train everyda...

There is a ‘gravity hole’ in the Indian Ocean, and scientists now think they know why

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:11:31 GMT

(CNN) — There is a “gravity hole” in the Indian Ocean — a spot where Earth’s gravitational pull is weaker, its mass is lower than normal, and the sea level dips by over 328 feet (100 meters).This anomaly has puzzled geologists for a long time, but now researchers from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, India, have found what they believe is a credible explanation for its formation: plumes of magma coming from deep inside the planet, much like those that lead to the creation of volcanoes.To come to this hypothesis, the team used supercomputers to simulate how the area could have formed, going as far back as 140 million years. The findings, detailed in a study published recently in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, center around an ancient ocean that no longer exists.A disappearing oceanHumans are used to thinking about Earth as a perfect sphere, but that’s far from the truth.“The Earth is basically a lumpy potato,” said study coauthor Attreyee Ghosh,...

Fort Lauderdale Police seek public’s help in identifying wandering child found with French bulldog

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:11:31 GMT

Fort Lauderdale Police are seeking help from the public in identifying a young child who was found wandering alone, Monday morning. At around 8 a.m., police found the young child wandering alone in the 800 block of E Evanston Circle, accompanied by a female French bulldog. Officers are currently attending to the child, who is a black female, approximately 5 years old, dressed in a yellow dress, white socks and no shoes. She may respond to the name “Crystal,” but her inability to provide significant information has left authorities seeking the public’s assistance in identifying her and locating her parents or guardians.https://twitter.com/ftlauderdalepd/status/1683482283301371912?s=20The child was discovered in the company of a black/brindle French bulldog, which appears to have recently had puppies. Police are actively investigating the circumstances surrounding the child’s appearance and her association with the dog.While the child is communicating with ...

Runner survives harrowing, bloody encounter with momma bear protecting her cub

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:11:31 GMT

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Asheville resident Bill Palas has run the same trails behind his home for nearly 30 years now, and he has never run into any encounters — until Friday, July 7.With his home backing up to Pisgah National Forest, Palas said he regularly sees bears and other wildlife, even describing his own yard as being like a nature center.He runs the trails of the Pisgah National Forest two to three times a week, which has made him quite familiar with the woods.He said he has never had a problem until that fateful Friday morning.That morning, during his run, he turned a corner and saw a cub sitting right on the rail.As they both caught each other off guard, Palas said the cub took off running up a hill.“When you see a cub like that, there’s usually a mom around,” he recalled. “So, I go and I turn around real quick — and all of a sudden, there I see the momma bear.”He said he began to wave his hands around and yell as the momma bear be...

Left-wing Norway party leader resigns after stealing Hugo Boss sunglasses

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:11:31 GMT

Norwegian left-wing party leader Bjørnar Moxnes resigned on Monday after stealing a pair of luxury sunglasses from Oslo airport. Moxnes — who leads Norway’s Red Party which has eight seats in the Norwegian parliament — was caught on camera on June 16 pilfering a pair of Hugo Boss sunglasses in a duty-free shop. After surveillance footage of the theft went viral, Moxnes called in sick at the beginning of July. On Monday — one day before his planned return from sick leave — Moxnes admitted to the theft and resigned from his position. “A lot of people have asked me how I could do something so stupid. I’ve asked myself that many times in recent weeks. I don’t have an adequate explanation,” he wrote on Facebook.One day earlier, the Red Party national executive committee decided that Marie Sneve Martinussen will replace Moxnes as party leader, who had held the role for the past 11 years.Martinussen on Monday condemned both the theft and the way Moxnes handled...

Police investigating after Roxbury shooting leaves 2 hospitalized

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:11:31 GMT

Boston police are investigating a double shooting in Roxbury overnight, officials said.Officers responding to a report of shots fired on Walnut Street around 10 p.m. found two victims, according to Boston police.They were taken to nearby hospital with what were considered non-life-threatening injuries.No arrests have been made.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

‘Barbenheimer’ box office debut sparks hopes that cinema is back

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:11:31 GMT

London (CNN) — Summer blockbusters “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have given the troubled film industry a big shot in the arm, kindling hopes that consumers may have fallen back in love with the big screen three years after the pandemic forced movie theaters to close.The films raked in a combined $511 million in box office sales over their opening weekend, according to Boxoffice.com, which cited data from Warner Bros., the producers of “Barbie,” and Universal Studios, which is behind “Oppenheimer.”It was “Barbie” that came out on top, earning $337 million globally, compared with “Oppenheimer’s” $174 million. That gave the pink-drenched film the largest opening weekend of 2023 so far and the biggest-ever debut for a female director. (Warner Bros., is owned by CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.)Timothy Richards, chief executive of Vue International, Europe’s largest privately owned movie theater operator, said in a statement Sunday that it had seen its b...

Jury deliberates in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial in London

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:11:31 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Jurors in the sexual assault trial of Kevin Spacey retired to begin deliberations on Monday on allegations against the actor by four men that date back two decades.Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including multiple counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.The case went to the jury about a month after the nine men and three women were seated in Southwark Crown Court.Spacey’s defense lawyer said during closing arguments last week that three of the men are liars and he suggested jurors not convict him for making a “clumsy pass” at a fourth man.The prosecutor called Spacey a “sexual bully” who took advantage of his power as a major celebrity and took what he wanted when he wanted it.The acts alleged between 2001 and 2013 range from unwanted touching to aggressive crotch-grabbing and, in one instance, performing oral sex on an unconsci...

With ‘Barbie,’ Greta Gerwig breaks a box office record for female directors

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:11:31 GMT

“Barbie” didn’t just break the opening weekend record for 2023; It also shattered the first weekend record for a film directed by a woman.With $162 million in ticket sales from North American theaters, according to studio totals Monday, “Barbie” catapulted past both “Captain Marvel,” which was co-directed by Anna Boden and opened to $153.4 million in 2019, and “Wonder Woman,” Patty Jenkins’ 2017 film that debuted to $103.3 million. Boasting a reported price tag of $145 million, “Barbie” also cost less to produce than “Captain Marvel” ($152 million) and “Wonder Woman” ($200 million).Globally, it also far surpassed “Wonder Woman’s” debut with over $337 million versus $228.3 million, though “Captain Marvel’s” global launch was higher at $455 million.“Barbie’s” debut is also significant because its audience was 65% women — not a surprise in and of itself, but as far as box office history is concerned, movies that open over $100 million often have a majority male audience (including both...

Elon Musk reveals new X logo to replace Twitter’s blue bird

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:11:31 GMT

By KELVIN CHAN (AP Business Writer)LONDON (AP) — Elon Musk has unveiled a new “X” logo to replace Twitter’s famous blue bird as he follows through with a major rebranding of the social media platform he bought for $44 billion last year.The X started appearing at the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday, but the bird was still dominant across the smartphone app. In response to questions about what tweets would be called when the rebranding is done, Musk said they would be called Xs.It’s yet another change that Musk has made since acquiring Twitter that has alienated users and turned off advertisers, leaving the microblogging site vulnerable to new threats, including rival Meta’s new text-based app Threads that directly targets Twitter users.Musk had asked fans for logo ideas and chose one, which he described as minimalist Art Deco, saying it “certainly will be refined.” He replaced his own Twitter icon with a white X on a black background and posted a picture of the design...