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Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan to kick off another chapter of ‘The Karate Kid’ franchise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:11 GMT

Get ready to wax on, wax off, yet again.Perennial favorite film franchise “The Karate Kid” will return next year with a new movie scheduled to go into production soon, Sony Pictures announced on Tuesday.The film will feature Ralph Macchio – who was the titular “Kid” in the first three movies in the franchise – and Jackie Chan, who took over from Oscar nominee Pat Morita in role of the older martial arts master who acts as mentor in the 2010 reboot.Macchio and Chan appeared in a YouTube video on Tuesday morning in support of the new film being announced and to launch a casting search for the next young star of the franchise.Next June will mark the 40th anniversary of the first “Karate Kid,” which starred Macchio as a California high school student who learns how to fight – as well as act with honor and restraint – from his neighbor after a group of bullies target him.Macchio went on to appear in “Karate Kid Part II” in 1986 and “Karate Kid Part III” in 1989. A fourth installment, “Th...

Police identify man they say opened fire at a Walmart near Dayton, Ohio, injuring 4 before fatally turning the gun on himself

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:11 GMT

(CNN) — The man who walked into a Walmart in Ohio Monday night and shot four people before taking his own life has been identified by police as a 20-year-old Dayton resident.Benjamin Charles Jones entered the store in Beavercreek, about 10 miles east of Dayton, around 8:35 p.m., said Capt. Chad Lindsey, acting Beavercreek Police Department chief, during a Tuesday news conference.Witnesses saw Jones holding a rifle that police identified as a Hi-Point .45 caliber carbine long gun, which is a semi-automatic rifle, Lindsey said. He then walked through different parts of the store, appearing to shoot indiscriminately at patrons, he added.“No shots were fired by any responding police officers,” the department said in a social media post.The victims were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, Capt. Scott Molnar said in a news briefing on Monday.One man and three women were injured. Three are in stable condition and one remains in critical condition, Lindsey said on T...

Thanksgiving Day high school football preview: Jim Kelliher (312 wins) to lead Abington into battle for final time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:11 GMT

For the past 49 years, Jim Kelliher has roamed the Abington sideline.Thanksgiving morning, Kelliher will lead his Green Wave onto the field at Whitman-Hanson for the 50th and final time. Kelliher, whose 312 wins is fourth on the all-time list, announced in August he was going to step down following the 2023 season.Another coach who will be in the spotlight is Melrose’s Tim Morris. He will make his second attempt at joining the 200-win club when his team travels to Wakefield to face the always-tough Warriors in the 109th installment of this Middlesex League rivalry.Many teams will be playing football beyond Thanksgiving, a result of advancing to one of eight championships.The most intriguing of those matchups takes place in Westwood where St. John’s Prep and Xaverian meet on Thanksgiving, then again six days later for the Div. 1 state title. While much has been about how the teams will handle things, both sides have indicated they plan on going all out as the Catholic Con...

Thanksgiving Day Pickorama

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:11 GMT

Here we go with the annual Thanksgiving Pickorama. Instead of the normal 10 games we pick, we’ve upped the ante to try and gauge the winner of 20 contests being played on the holiday.We enter this week on a bit of a roll having posted back-to-back eight-win weeks. Good luck to all and remember that Pickorama roots only for three things: no injuries, no controversy and no overtime.Abington over WHITMAN-HANSON: Hard to imagine the Abington sideline without Jim Kelliher roaming it.ANDOVER over North Andover: E.J. Perry will have his Golden Warriors ready for a good Scarlet Knights’ squad.Boston Latin over ENGLISH/NEW MISSION: Wolfpack powers its way past the Blue and Blue.DARTMOUTH over Fairhaven: Indians would love nothing more than to end the season with 10 wins.Hanover over NORWELL: Hawks showed some true grit last week against Danvers.Holliston over WESTWOOD: Panthers get the nod once again in this heated TVL rivalry.Lynn Classical over LYNN ENGLISH: Classical’s a...

JFK assassination remembered 60 years later by surviving witnesses to history

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:11 GMT

By JAMIE STENGLE (Associated Press)DALLAS (AP) — Just minutes after President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot as his motorcade rolled through downtown Dallas, Associated Press reporter Peggy Simpson rushed to the scene and immediately attached herself to the police officers who had converged on the building from which a sniper’s bullets had been fired.“I was sort of under their armpit,” Simpson said, noting that every time she was able to get any information from them, she would rush to a pay phone to call her editors, and then “go back to the cops.”Simpson, now 84, is among the last surviving witnesses who are sharing their stories as the nation marks the 60th anniversary of the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination on Wednesday.“A tangible link to the past is going to be lost when the last voices from that time period are gone,” said Stephen Fagin, curator at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which tells the story of the assassination from the Texas School Book Depository, where Lee...

Republic of Congo marks a day of mourning for 31 dead in a stadium stampede

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:11 GMT

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) — Republic of Congo’s government said it was paying the medical bills for 145 people injured in a stampede at a military recruitment event as the country marked a national day of mourning Wednesday for the 31 dead.A crisis committee led by the prime minister’s office said that funeral expenses also would be covered by the government and that an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the “appalling tragedy.”The Congolese Armed Forces Command already had announced that all recruitment operations were suspended in the capital, Brazzaville, until further notice following the tragedy late Monday.Brandon Tsetou, a young graduate who escaped the crush that caused some victims to suffocate, said he joined the line in front of Ornado stadium on Monday morning.“According to the organizers, it was the last day. That’s why many of us decided to wait until late into the night, hoping to register,” he told The Associated Press. “Some w...

Czech president approves plan introducing budget cuts, taxes. Labor unions call for protests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:11 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech President Petr Pavel has signed Wednesday into law an economic package of dozens of measures introducing budget cuts and increased taxes designed to keep the ballooning budget deficit under control.Pavel’s signature was the last step before the government proposal — which was approved by parliament — turned into law that would see Czechs pay more taxes on alcoholic beverages, in the country renowned for its beer, and medicine. Businesses would also pay higher corporate taxes.Prime Minister Petr Fiala previously said the austerity measures were necessary because the debt was rising at a “threatening” pace.Pavel said the current situation is unsustainable.According to the government, the measures should reduce the budget deficit by 97 billion Czech korunas ($4.3 billion) next year and for 2025 by 150 billion ($6.7 billion).As a result, the deficit of 3.5% of the gross domestic product expected for this year should drop to 1.8% next year and to 1.2% in 2025.Co...

Germany to extradite an Italian man suspected in the killing of a woman that outraged Italy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:11 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A German court on Wednesday ordered the extradition of an Italian man suspected in the killing of a 22-year-old woman that stirred outrage in Italy. The Higher Regional Court in Naumburg, in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt announced the 21-year-old suspect’s extradition, according to German news agency dpa.The suspect, Filippo Turetta, was arrested on the weekend near the eastern city of Leipzig and is currently in custody in Halle.The court said Turetta agreed to the extradition. He will remain in custody until he is handed over to the Italian authorities. It was not immediately clear when the extradition would take place. Italy had requested his extradition on Tuesday, dpa reported.Police in Germany over the weekend arrested Turetta, who had been on the run since Nov. 11, when he was last seen fighting with 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin, hitting her in a physical attack that was captured by roadside video cameras.Cecchettin’s body, reportedly with mul...

NFL disability program leaves retired Saints tight end hurting and angry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:11 GMT

Boo Williams wakes up each morning not knowing how the pain will hit. It could be debilitating headaches that make it impossible to get out of bed. Sometimes the pain shoots down his neck. Through all of it, he’s angry. Williams, who played tight end for the Saints from 2001-05, needs surgery, medicine and doctors, but struggles to afford any of it. The 44-year-old, who lives in Picayune, Mississippi, was recently awarded $5,000 a month by the NFL’s disability benefit plan, but says the plan and the league have repeatedly mishandled his claims and should have paid him $500,000 or more over the past 14 years.“I need all the help I can get because, some days, it feels like it’s going to be all over,” he told The Associated Press. “Sometimes I can’t sleep. It all makes it harder when you’re fighting to get what you deserve and all you do is get frustrated.”His story is not unlike dozens of retired players in similar positions who spend their days picking through a web of la...

More Americans are expected to ‘buy now, pay later’ for the holidays. Analysts see a growing risk

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:00:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Consumers are expected to use “buy now, pay later” payment plans heavily this holiday season, a forecast that bodes well for retailers but that has credit experts again sounding alarm bells.The short-term loans often come with consumer-friendly interest rates and allow shoppers to make an initial payment at checkout, then pay the rest in installments, typically over a few weeks, even months. That can be appealing to a shopper buying multiple gifts for family and friends during the holidays, particularly if they’re balancing other debt such as student loans or credit cards.Data shows younger consumers and those with difficulty accessing credit use the loans most frequently. Used responsibly, the installment plans increase financial inclusion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. But the Fed and some analysts say key features of the plans can make borrowing too easy and saddle consumers with excessive debt.Short-term installment loans drove $6.4 billion o...