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Author Haruki Murakami says pandemic, war in Ukraine create walls that divide people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese writer Haruki Murakami says walls are increasingly built and dividing people and countries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic fueled fear and skepticism.“With feelings of suspicion replacing mutual trust, walls are continually being erected around us,” Murakami said in late April at Wellesley College. That speech, “Writing Fiction in the Time of Pandemic and War,” was released Wednesday in The Shincho Monthly literary magazine published by Shinchosha Co.“Everybody seems to be confronted with a choice — to hide behind the walls, preserving safety and the status quo or, knowing the risks, to emerge beyond the walls in search of a freer value system,” he said.Like the protagonist in his new novel. “The City and Its Uncertain Walls” was released in April in Japan and an English translation is expected in 2024. The protagonist, as Murakami described, faces a tough choice between two worlds: an isolated walled city of tranquility with no des...

Indonesia to deport Australian surfer jailed for drunken rampage in conservative province

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

MEULABOH, Indonesia (AP) — An Australia surfer who was jailed for attacking several people while drunk and naked in Indonesia’s deeply conservative Muslim province of Aceh will be deported back to his country after he agreed to apologize and pay compensation, officials said Wednesday. Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 23, from Queensland, was detained in late April on Simeulue Island, a surf resort in West Aceh regency, after police accused him of going on a drunken rampage that left a fisherman with serious injuries.Risby-Jones walked free on Tuesday after he went through a restorative justice process by offering to apologize for the attack and pay compensation to the fisherman’s family to avoid going to court and face a possible charge of assault that could land him up to five years in prison, said Fauzi, who heads the Immigration Office in Meulaboh, the capital of West Aceh regency.Fauzi, who uses a single name like many Indonesians, declined to disclose the compensation amount the two sid...

In “The Blue Caftan,” Moroccan film director tackles LGBTQ+ love and celebrates embroidery craft

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

As Mina gets increasingly sick, her body withering away, her husband dotes on her: He washes her hair, helps her change, brings the sweetness of a fruit to her lips. But underneath the genuinely tender moments shared by this on-screen Moroccan couple simmers a longing — of a forbidden kind.In her latest film, “The Blue Caftan,” Moroccan director Maryam Touzani delicately weaves intricate, overlapping tales of love, both traditional and largely taboo for many in her country and its region as she tells the story of a woman and her secretly gay husband who together run a shop making caftans. The marriage grows more complicated when the couple hires a male apprentice.Wading into socially sensitive subjects is not unfamiliar terrain for Touzani who has won accolades at international film festivals and, just recently, was a jury member at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “The Blue Caftan,” which had been shortlisted in the international feature film category for the 95th Academy Awards, ...

Protesters prepare last-ditch bid to stop French pension overhaul

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

French unions staged on Tuesday (6 June) a 14th day of protests against government plans to raise the retirement age to 64, in what could be a final attempt to pressure lawmakers into scrapping a law that is already on the statute books.President Emmanuel Macron's decision to force the reform through with special constitutional powers prompted angry protests this spring, but the issue has slowly moved down the media agenda, making it harder for unions to mobilise."Protests have been going on for six months, it's unprecedented," Sophie Binet, the new leader of the hardline CGT union said on BFM TV. "There's a lot of anger but also fatigue," she said, adding that strikers were feeling the pinch on paychecks.Macron is now enjoying a timid rebound in opinion polls, having launched a PR blitz after the reform passed that saw him criss-cross the country to confront public anger but also to announce big investments in new technologies.Between 400,000 and 600,000 people are expected to turn...

Dear Abby: I’m too old to deal with this new nonsense from my husband

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are in our early 70s. We have been married seven years.I was celibate before we met and thrilled to have a partner I respected and was attracted to. Our sex life seemed normal and exciting with lots of kisses and hugs throughout the day.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: Am I being childish about this workplace snub? Advice | Dear Abby: Nobody else sees how scary my sister is, and I want to cry Advice | Dear Abby: They seem to be hinting my illness is imaginary Advice | Dear Abby: I was shocked to see this behavior at a funeral Advice | Dear Abby: He learned things in kindergarten that made him cry Recently, I caught him on a phone sex call and then discovered he visits sex chat rooms.I’m devastated. I feel betrayed and angry that my trust has been violated. After several attempts to lie, he finally admitted the truth, but said it was a “recent” thing —...

Mark Meadows testified to grand jury investigating Trump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

By Kristen Holmes, Katelyn Polantz and Hannah Rabinowitz | CNNMark Meadows, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, has testified to a federal grand jury as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s ongoing investigation into the former president, according to one source familiar with the matter.It is not clear whether Meadows testified as part of the special counsel’s investigation into Trump’s potential mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House or his probe into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.George Terwilliger, a lawyer representing Meadows, said in a statement that “Without commenting on whether or not Mr. Meadows has testified before the grand jury or in any other proceeding, Mr. Meadows has maintained a commitment to tell the truth where he has a legal obligation to do so.”A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.The New York Times first reported on Meadow’s appearance before the grand jury.Meadows ...

Disney prepara la producción de “Hocus Pocus 3”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

(CNN) — Disney se dispone a crear otra secuela de una película muy querida.Según un perfil de Sean Bailey, presidente de Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, publicado recientemente en The New York Times, “Hocus Pocus 3” está en fase de desarrollo.“Hocus Pocus 2” se estrenó en octubre de 2022, casi 30 años después de que Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy y Sarah Jessica Parker nos bendijeran –¿o debería decir nos maldijeran?– con la que se considera la película oficial de la temporada de Halloween.Las tres han expresado su interés en aparecer en la tercera película.Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker y Kathy Najimy provocaron la histeria al mejor estilo de “Hocus Pocus” con una foto de ellas reunidasEn la original, estrenada en 1993, un adolescente (interpretado por Omri Katz) convoca sin querer a un trío de brujas conocidas como las hermanas Sanderson, interpretadas por Midler, Najimy y Parker.La trama de la secuela de 2022 se centraba en...

Wilson leads Las Vegas against Connecticut after 23-point outing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Las Vegas Aces (7-0, 4-0 Western Conference) at Connecticut Sun (6-2, 4-1 Eastern Conference)Uncasville, Connecticut; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Las Vegas visits the Connecticut Sun after A’ja Wilson scored 23 points in the Aces’ 90-84 victory against the Connecticut Sun.Connecticut finished 25-11 overall last season while going 13-5 at home. The Sun averaged 8.9 steals, 2.7 blocks and 14.4 turnovers per game last season.Las Vegas went 13-5 on the road and 26-10 overall a season ago. The Aces allowed opponents to score 84.1 points per game and shoot 43.7% from the field last season.INJURIES: Sun: None listed.Aces: None listed.___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.Source

No, I’m Batman: DC Comics wins EU bat trademark fight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Batman publisher DC Comics won European Union court backing in a trademark row with an Italian company that wants to use an image of a black bat inside a white oval frame on its products.Commerciale Italiana and Luigi Aprile tried to show that people don’t always link the bat sign to the masked crime fighter in their attempt to invalidate DC Comics’ trademark on clothing and novelty items like party hats, which the comic creator has held for just over 25 years.They previously failed to win European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) support to cancel the trademark and had asked the General Court to reverse that refusal.Judges said in a Wednesday ruling that the trademark “refers, for the relevant public, to the Batman character.” Even though Batman is fictional that didn’t mean the court couldn’t link the trademark to him, they said.DC Comics obtained the trademark from EUIPO in February 1998. The losing party could still seek vengean...

OBF: Golf goes Gordon Gekko

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:00 GMT

Lefty landed on the right side of history.Phil Mickelson led the charge of PGA Tour players who jumped to Greg Norman’s Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Mickelson, never one to be shy about his opinions, made it clear he made the move because it kept his wallet phat.With Tuesday’s announced plan to merge the PGA Tour and LIV, Mickelson and the other golfers who took that monstrous bag of dirty Saudi cash hit PowerBall, or PowerPlayBall. They bet it all on which version of golf was going to ultimately prevail. And won.“Awesome day today,” Mickelson tweeted, with a smiley face emoji.The Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund (PIF) created LIV Golf with the goal to force a merger with the PGA Tour. That’s exactly what happened Tuesday. A new golf global entity, which doesn’t even have a name, will supplant all the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour, and any other mens’s golfing body that doesn’t have a couple of billion in reserve to stop this tidal wave.Norman said this was coming earlier a few months ago. “You ...