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Britney Spears tries to ‘make things right’ with estranged mom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:04 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears and her mother, Lynne Spears, have reunited and appear to be healing the strained relationship exacerbated by the singer’s 13-year conservatorship.The “Oops!… I Did It Again” and “Hold Me Closer” singer confirmed reports that she and Lynne met at her Los Angeles home late last week and apparently had a heart-to-heart discussion about the 14-year tension between them, which has included allegations of abuse and planting the seed to install the legal arrangement that long controlled the Grammy winner’s personal and professional life, as well as her finances.“My sweet mama showed up at my door step yesterday after 3 years … it’s been such a long time,” Spears wrote on Instagram. “[W]ith family there’s always things that need to be worked out … but time heals all wounds !!!“And after being able to communicate what I’ve held in for an extremely long time, I feel so blessed we ...

Orioles avoid sweep by beating Rangers, 3-2, behind Kyle Bradish’s strong start and Austin Hays’ two RBIs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:04 GMT

They say not to mess with Texas. But teams from the state should learn not to mess with Kyle Bradish.The Orioles’ second-year right-hander continued his dominance against teams from the Lone Star State in Sunday’s 3-2 victory against the Texas Rangers as Baltimore avoided being on the wrong side of a sweep for the first time this season.Bradish pitched into the seventh inning, allowing one run to baseball’s best offense, but Corey Seager’s double off Yennier Cano tied the game in the eighth before Austin Hays’ third hit in front of an announced afternoon crowd of 25,124 drove in the game-winning run in the frame’s bottom half. The result pushed the Orioles (34-19) back ahead of Texas (33-19) for the majors’ second-best record, trailing only the Tampa Bay Rays. It also assured Baltimore a winning record in a May slate that featured 22 straight games against teams above .500.In five career starts against the Rangers and the Houston Astros, Bra...

Judge to toss out ‘Romeo and Juliet’ child sex abuse lawsuit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:04 GMT

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles Superior Court judge sided with Paramount Pictures in a child sex abuse lawsuit tied to a nude scene in the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet.”Judge Alison Mackenzie issued a tentative ruling that dismisses the lawsuit, writing that Paramount’s actions in making the film are “protected activity” under the First Amendment, according to court documents reviewed by the L.A. Times.The lawsuit was originally filed in December by Leonard Whiting, who played Romeo Montague when he was 16, and Olivia Hussey, who played Juliet Capulet when she was 15, in the adaptation of the William Shakespeare classic. Directed by Italian filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli, the film includes a controversial bedroom scene in which Whiting’s bare buttocks and Hussey’s bare breasts are visible.Whiting and Hussey, who are both now 72, said they were coerced into filming the nude scene after Zeffirelli initially assured them that “there would be no ...

Ticker: Ford to get access to Tesla charging network; Walgreens laying off 10% of corporate jobs 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:04 GMT

Two auto industry heavyweights and competitors are teaming up to expand access to electric-vehicle charging in North America.Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley and Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk  announced that, starting next year, Ford’s EVs will gain access to Tesla’s proprietary Supercharger network.With Ford customers gaining access to more than 12,000 Superchargers, the agreement will more than double the number of EV fast chargers to which they currently have access.“We’re ramping production and we think this a huge move for our industry and for our all-electric customers,” Farley said. “Widespread access to fast-charging is absolutely vital to our growth as an EV brand.”“We don’t want the Tesla Supercharger network to be like a walled garden,” Musk said. “We want it to be something that is supportive of electrification and sustainable transport in general. … It is our intent to do everything possible to support Ford...

Mets Notebook: Adam Ottavino back at Coors Field, Francisco Alvarez moves up in order

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:04 GMT

DENVER — Adam Ottavino has managed to reinvent himself throughout his career, and never was it more necessary than in Colorado with the Rockies. Every pitcher has to do some reinventing and some adapting when pitching in Colorado. They all face a harsh realization that the ball isn’t going to spin and break the way they want it to in the altitude.“You just deal with it,” Ottavino said. “You just have to understand it. You can’t be in denial about it. In reality, it’s going to affect you. So you pay attention when you play catch and that way you’re not freaked out when you’re on the mound and things aren’t exactly the way you think they’re going to be. I just have more experience than everybody else because I’ve pitched here a lot.“But it was a process.”The altitude got the better of Justin Verlander on Saturday night in the second game of a three-game series. He wouldn’t blame the thin mountain...

Making a splash: ‘The Little Mermaid’ nets $95M at opening

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:04 GMT

LOS ANGELES — “The Little Mermaid” made moviegoers want to be under the sea on Memorial Day weekend.Disney’s live-action remake of its 1989 animated classic easily outswam the competition, bringing in $95.5 million on 4,320 screens in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.And Disney estimates the film starring Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as her sea witch nemesis Ursula will reach $117.5 million by the time the holiday is over. It ranks as the fifth biggest Memorial Day weekend opening ever.It displaces “Fast X” in the top spot. The 10th installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise starring Vin Diesel has lagged behind more recent releases in the series, bringing in $23 million domestically for a two-week total of $108 million for Universal Pictures.In its fourth weekend, Disney and Marvel’s ” Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ” made an estimated $20 million in North America t...

Woman hit, killed by COASTER train identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:04 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A woman who died after being struck by a train in the Bay Park neighborhood last week has been identified by authorities.According to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office, 44-year-old Cherie Crick was walking on the east side of the eastbound railroad tracks, north of the Clairemont Drive Trolley Station, when the collision occurred around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. 4 arrested at DUI checkpoint in Chula Vista Authorities say the engineer of a COASTER train saw the woman and honked the train's horn before applying the brakes. Despite his efforts to gain the attention of the woman and prevent collision, the COASTER struck Crick who was then thrown by the train. A 911 call was placed and emergency services personnel were dispatched to the scene, which was in the 2700 block of Morena Boulevard, said the medical examiner's office. Upon their arrival, paramedics contacted the woman who authorities say was unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene due to multiple ...

Josef Newgarden gives Roger Penske his 19th win in dramatic Indianapolis 500

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:04 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Josef Newgarden finally captured his long-awaited Indianapolis 500 on Sunday and gave team owner Roger Penske his 19th victory and first since buying Indianapolis Motor Speedway, making an audacious pass of defending race winner Marcus Ericsson during a frantic 2.5-mile sprint to the finish.After the race was red-flagged for the third time in the closing laps, Newgarden was moved from fourth to second by race control. The two-time IndyCar champion, who had been 0 for 11 in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” took advantage of it by slingshotting around Ericsson on the restart and holding him off through the last two turns for the win.Newgarden brought his Chevrolet-powered car to a stop on the front stretch, jumped out and found a hole in the fence, diving into part of a crowd estimated at more than 300,000 to celebrate. Then, Newgarden climbed the fence to mimic longtime Team Penske driver and four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves.“I’m just so thankf...

Man in police custody falls to death after breaking California hospital window with oxygen tank

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:04 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A man in police custody died Thursday in Northern California after he broke a hospital’s window with a metal oxygen tank and fell off a ledge following an altercation with an officer and a nurse, authorities said.The man was in custody because he had allegedly violated a court order, according to San Jose police. Officers took him to the hospital for an unspecified pre-existing medical condition.The man is accused of assaulting an officer and threatening to hit the officer and a nurse with the oxygen tank, police said. They left from the room and called for more help.The man broke the window with the oxygen tank while he was alone in the hospital room and jumped out onto a ledge, the police department said. The officer and two hospital security guards went back into the room to stop the man’s escape attempt, but he fell 20 feet (6.10 meters) from the ledge. The man sustained life-threatening injuries and was pronounced dead at a different hospital...

Turkey’s Erdogan wins another term as president, extends rule into 3rd decade

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:04 GMT

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won reelection Sunday, extending his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade as the country reels from high inflation and the aftermath of an earthquake that leveled entire cities.A third term gives Erdogan an even stronger hand domestically and internationally, and the election results will have implications far beyond Ankara. Turkey stands at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and it plays a key role in NATO.With more than 99% of ballot boxes opened, unofficial results from competing news agencies showed Erdogan with 52% of the vote, compared with 48% for his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The head of Turkey’s electoral board confirmed the victory, saying that even after accounting for outstanding votes, the result was another term for Erdogan.In his first comments since the polls closed, Erdogan thanked the nation for entrusting him with the presidency for five more years.“We hope to be worthy of your trust, as we have been for 2...