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Formulaic ‘Kandahar’ misfires as spy action thriller

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:17:33 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“Kandahar”Rated R. At the AMC Boston Common, AMC South Bay and suburban theaters.Grade: C “Kandahar” is the latest action film from actor-producer Gerard Butler and his G-BASE company (“Plane,” “Den of Thieves”). It’s also the second recent film about a Western fighter in the Middle East and his bond with his local translator (the other one is Guy Ritchie’s overrated dud “The Covenant” with Jake Gyllenhaal).Directed by Ric Roman Waugh, the director of Butler’s previous efforts “Angel Has Fallen” and “Greenland,” and written by former Defense Intelligence officer Mitchel LaFortune (instant winner of best spy-name contest), “Kandahar” features Butler as Tom Harris, some kind of Middle East CIA operative whose specialty is – oy, that again? – doing jobs no one else can pull off in between visits to his beloved 17-year-old daughter Ida, who lives with his estranged wife back home in the UK.“Kandahar” stretches credulity from the get go. In openin...

Dear Abby: Obsessed woman stalks BF’s ex online

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:17:33 GMT

Dear Abby: I’m a 45-year-old woman who has been dating “Ben” (53) for two years. We have known each other for more than 20. He treats me like a queen. Prior to our dating, he had a girlfriend he used to confide in me about. I was very jealous of her. She knew we were friends, so she made a point of posting lots of pictures of their PDAs on his social media, since we did not follow each other.Fast-forward two years: Abby, I cannot stop obsessing over her! I think about her constantly and compare myself to her. I stalk her social media page. Ben has never given me a reason not to trust him, so why am I still bothered by her?She has moved on and is in another relationship. How can I finally quit obsessing about her and move forward? I don’t feel this way about his other exes, but for some reason, this one gets under my skin. I don’t want him to find out what I have been doing. I really need help. Any advice? –Insecure in PennsylvaniaDear Insecure: In...

Conroy: Celtics suddenly feeling the Red Sox’ 2004 vibe

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:17:33 GMT

Asked what his team’s mindset was going into Thursday’s Game 5 against the Miami Heat, Celtics coach Joe Mazzula was succinct in his answer.“Just win or die,” said the first-year coach.Well, the Celts are a long way from living the life they should be, but they are not dead yet.Maybe it’s the fact that the pressure is momentarily off them. Perhaps it’s a matter of pride kicking after being rag-dolled by their notoriously forgiving fan base after their pathetic no-show performance in Game 3 down in Miami that put them in an 0-3 hole. Or maybe they’ve finally come to the realization that they are the better team.But it’s a series now, and suddenly the Celtics have that 2004 Red Sox vibe. There is belief now that the Celts can make history like their baseball brethren and become the first team in NBA history to climb out of the 3-0 series deficit, getting it back to 3-2 with a 110-97 victory at the Garden.Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics celebrates...

Better Buzz Coffee coming to Coronado

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:17:33 GMT

CORONADO, Calif. -- Coffee in Coronado, anyone?Better Buzz Coffee, which already has 12 other locations in the San Diego area, is opening a new spot in the "Crown City," the company announced on its website.The Coronado location at 1305 Orange Avenue will open its doors starting Friday, giving out free hats to the first 50 guests, according to officials. Anyone in the military will also receive a discount.Better Buzz Coffee offers hand-crafted iced or hot coffee, espresso, teas, smoothies, bowls, toasts and sandwiches. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams opens new San Diego shop One of the favorites on the menu is its "Best Drink Ever," which contains Classic Americano espresso and creamy vanilla.If you want something cold, try their Mint Infused Iced Coffee featuring espresso, muddled mint, raw natural cane sugar and heavy cream.The Coronado location opens daily from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.Other Better Buzz Coffee locations in the San Diego area can be found in Encinitas, Escondido, Fashion Vall...

Stock market today: Asian markets mixed as US government debt talks push toward brink of default

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:17:33 GMT

NEW YORK — Asian markets were mixed Friday as a deadline loomed for Congress to reach a deal on the U.S. government debt or face a potentially calamitous default. Tokyo and Seoul rose while Shanghai and Sydney fell. Hong Kong was closed for a holiday. U.S. futures slipped and oil prices also declined. Talks on raising the U.S. debt ceiling continued Thursday while lawmakers left town for the Memorial Day holiday weekend just days before the U.S. could face an unprecedented default.Republican are demanding spending cuts the Democrats oppose as their price for raising the legal debt limit. At the Capitol, Speaker Kevin McCarthy said “every hour matters” in talks with President Joe Biden’s team as they try to work out a budget agreement.But markets are whirling from various factors, and on Thursday, enthusiasm over artificial intelligence pushed share prices higher despite the potential crisis brewing in Washington.Tech company shares rose in Asia, too, where Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 g...

Supreme Court limits regulation of some US wetlands, making it easier to develop and destroy them

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:17:33 GMT

The U.S. Supreme Court has stripped federal agencies of authority over millions of acres of wetlands, weakening a bedrock environmental law enacted a half-century ago to cleanse the country’s badly polluted waters.A 5-4 majority significantly expanded the ability of farmers, homebuilders and other developers to dig up or fill wetlands near rivers, lakes and streams, finding the government had long overreached in limiting such activities.The ruling Thursday may nullify key parts of a rule the Biden administration imposed in December, which two federal judges already had blocked from being enforced in 26 states. It’s the latest turn in a decades-old struggle by courts and regulators to determine which waters are subject to protection under the Clean Water Act.Some experts say the battle over wetlands now may shift to states, with red and blue states writing laws that take dramatically different approaches. The high court’s decision follows one in 2022 curtailing federal power to...

Always wanted a lighthouse? US is giving some away, selling others at auction

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:17:33 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Ten lighthouses that for generations have stood like sentinels along America’s shorelines protecting mariners from peril and guiding them to safety are being given away at no cost or sold at auction by the federal government.The aim of the program run by the General Services Administration is to preserve the properties, most of which are more than a century old. The development of modern technology, including GPS, means lighthouses are no longer essential for navigation, said John Kelly of the GSA’s office of real property disposition. And while the Coast Guard often maintains aids to navigation at or near lighthouses, the structures themselves are often no longer mission critical.Yet the public remains fascinated by the beacons, which are popular tourist attractions and the subject of countless photographers and artists.“People really appreciate the heroic role of the solitary lighthouse keeper,” he said, explaining their allure. “They were really the inst...

Indiana doctor reprimanded for talking publicly about Ohio 10-year-old’s abortion

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:17:33 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana board decided Thursday night to reprimand an Indianapolis doctor after finding that she violated patient privacy laws by talking publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from neighboring Ohio.The state Medical Licensing Board voted that Dr. Caitlin Bernard didn’t abide by privacy laws by telling a newspaper reporter about the girl’s treatment in a case that became a political flashpoint in the national abortion debate days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.The board, however, rejected accusations from Indiana’s Republican attorney general that Bernard violated state law by not reporting the child abuse to Indiana authorities. Board members chose to fine Bernard $3,000 for the violations, turning down a request from the attorney general’s office to suspend Bernard’s license.Bernard has consistently defended her actions, and she told the board on Thursday that she followed Indiana’s reporting require...

South Carolina school bus crash sends 18 people including several students to hospital

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:17:33 GMT

GILBERT, S.C. (AP) — A school bus collided with a tanker truck Thursday in South Carolina, sending at least 18 people, mostly children, to the hospital, authorities said.The bus was carrying 36 passengers when it collided with the tanker at about 4 p.m. at an intersection near Gilbert in Lexington County, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.At least 17 children and one adult were taken to Lexington Medical Center for treatment, the hospital told WIS-TV.There was no immediate information on their conditions or the cause of the crash.The bus passengers were from Gilbert Middle School and Gilbert High schools.Gilbert is about 30 miles (49 km) southwest of South Carolina’s capital of Columbia.The Associated Press

Police in northern Peru port seize cocaine packets with Nazi flag printed on the outside

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:17:33 GMT

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian anti-drug police seized 58 one-kilo packages of cocaine Thursday bearing a picture of a Nazi flag on the outside and the name Hitler printed in low relief.The discovery occurred in the port of Paita, on Peru’s northern Pacific coast close to its border with Ecuador. The drugs were hidden inside a shipping container carrying asparagus on the Liberian-flagged vessel SC Anisha R that had earlier anchored in the Ecuadorian port of Ecuador, according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press. It said the shipment was destined for a port in Belgium.The Peruvian police’s anti-drug directorate showed videos and photographs to AP revealing that the drugs were inside the ventilation system of a container. Police continued to search the more than 80 containers on the vessel.Peruvian authorities have previously reported finding cocaine in brick-shaped packages with various and strange symbols, but never with one of the flag of Nazi Germany.Authorities ...