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First look inside Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Disneyland

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:51:11 GMT

Walt Disney Imagineering offered the first look inside the new Tiana’s Bayou Adventure attractions coming to Disneyland and Walt Disney World as the former Splash Mountain rides continue to undergo extensive “Princess and the Frog” makeovers.The brief peek inside the attraction showed Imagineers working in a scene with an old cabin framed by a magnolia tree and waving fields of tall grass set against a night sky in the background.The sneak peek of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure appeared during “Disney 100: A Century of Dreams” on Disney-owned ABC as part of a special edition of the “20/20” news magazine show.And here are the photos from inside Tiana’s Bayou Adventure: pic.twitter.com/q9VH7NqTQ4— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) December 18, 2023The preview scene from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was reminiscent of the swamp shacks that sit on stilts in the water across from the Blue Bayou restaurant at the beginning of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in Disneyland, according to Twitter...

How, at 85, Anthony Hopkins brought his A-game to filming ‘Freud’s Last Session’

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:51:11 GMT

When director Matthew Brown was ready to cast “Freud’s Last Session,” a film that imagines a conversation between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis, it was Anthony Hopkins he thought of first to play the father of psychoanalysis.“Anthony Hopkins, that was always the No. 1 you could ever dream of getting,” Brown says. “I wasn’t surprised when he said no at first. I think he was in the midst of [the film] ‘The Father.’”But Brown didn’t give up on the dream. He worked on the script that he co-wrote with Mark St. Germain, who had written the stage play upon which the movie was adapted, and found a way to get it back in front of Hopkins once more.“When he said yes, it was basically ‘game on’ at that point,” Brown says.Matthew Goode as C.S. Lewis and Anthony Hopkins as Sigmund Freud in “Freud’s Last Session,” a new film from director and cowriter Matthew Brown which opens Friday, Dec. 22, 2023. (Photo by Sabrina Lantos, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)Matthew Goode as C.S....

Torso found in dumpster identified as missing California mother of 3

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:51:11 GMT

A woman’s torso found in a garbage bin in Encino last month has been identified as a mother of three from Tarzana believed killed along with her parents, the coroner’s office said Monday, Dec. 18.Mei Haskell, 37, her mother Yanxiang Wang, 64, and her stepfather Gaoshan Li, 71, had all been missing from their Tarzana home since early November.After the torso was found in a bag inside the bin behind an Encino strip mall on Nov. 8, police said they found surveillance camera footage showing Haskell’s husband, 35-year-old Samuel Bond Haskell, dumping the bag. They arrested him at the Westfield Topanga mall the same day.Coroner’s office records now show investigators have identified the remains as Mei Haskell. Wang and Li remain missing.Samuel Haskell has remained in jail since his arrest at the mall. He made his first court appearance on Dec. 8, but still has not been arraigned on murder charges for his wife and in-laws. He is due back in court in January.Related ArticlesCrime and Public...

What opening day was like at In-N-Out’s first Idaho restaurant

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:51:11 GMT

It isn’t often that restaurant openings in the suburbs of Boise make international news, but that’s what happened last week, thanks to In-N-Out Burger and crowd sourcing.In-N-Out opened its first restaurant in Idaho on Dec. 12 in Meridian, population just under 130,000, according to recent data.The Idaho Stateman’s report that customers waited in the drive-thru line for eight hours on opening day were repeated in long articles by the New York Post and the Daily Mail, which is based in London. The Washington Post put the wait at six hours.Customer John Sowell snapped a picture of In-N-Out Burger’s owner Lynsi Snyder minutes after the chain’s first Idaho restaurant opened in Meridian on Dec. 12, 2023. (Photo courtesy of John Sowell)The kitchen in Idaho’s first In-N-Out Burger is crowded employees rush to get orders out during the grand opening in Meridian on Tuesday, Dec. 12. (Photo courtesy of John Sowell)John Sowell’s Mini Cooper sits in the parking lot of th...

Assaults on transit workers tripled nationwide; income and distrust may be why

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:51:11 GMT

Serious assaults on bus and rail operators have tripled in the past 15 years, causing operators to fear violence on the job, seek transfers off the frontlines or just quit — adding to operator shortages, according to a new report examining incidents at transit agencies across the country.A study by the Urban Institute released earlier this month found major assaults rose from 168 in 2008 to 492 in 2022. The data was culled from the Federal Transit Administration’s National Transit Database. It’s important to note that the FTA data only included major assaults in which an operator died or was taken to the hospital for treatment.The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) reported one major assault in 2008 and nine in 2022, according to the study. In 2022, the Orange County Transportation Authority reported two and Riverside Transit Agency had one; neither reported any assaults in 2008, according to the study.LA Metro’s major assault incidents are low when ...

US works for new hostage release deal, scale-down of Israel-Hamas war

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:51:11 GMT

By TARA COPP, MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY | Associated PressTEL AVIV, Israel — The head of the CIA jetted to Europe for talks with Israeli and Qatari officials Monday, sounding out the potential for a deal on a new cease-fire and the release of hostages in Gaza, as the U.S. defense secretary spoke to Israeli military leaders about scaling back major combat operations against Hamas.Still, there was no sign that a shift in the war was imminent after more than two months of devastating bombardment and fighting. Fierce battles raged in northern Gaza, where residents said rescue workers were searching for the dead and the living under buildings flattened by Israeli strikes.Pressure is growing, as France, the U.K. and Germany — some of Israel’s closest allies — joined global calls for a cease-fire over the weekend. Israeli protesters have demanded the government relaunch talks with Hamas on releasing more hostages after three were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops while waving a white...

French: Behold, MAGA Man — whoever he once was is gone

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:51:11 GMT

On Wednesday, an election worker named Ruby Freeman took the stand in a Washington, D.C., courtroom and told the story of how her world was turned upside down by Rudy Giuliani. Three Decembers earlier, Giuliani shared a routine surveillance video of Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, doing the routine yet vital work of counting 2020 presidential ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.But Giuliani’s description of the video was anything but routine. He falsely claimed that the footage was evidence of vote fraud. In that moment, everything changed for Freeman. As she said in her testimony, “Giuliani just messed me up, you know.” That’s a polite way of describing the horrors that followed. She faced an avalanche of threats, racist attacks and harassment at work and home. She had to leave her house — and then, after law enforcement officials found her name on a death list, the house of the friend she’d been staying with. Even now she’s afraid to walk in public without a mask.The purp...

Bo Larsson, Sweden and Malmo soccer great, dies at 79

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:51:11 GMT

MALMO, Sweden (AP) — Bo Larsson, the Swedish soccer great who played 70 times for his country and at three World Cups, has died. He was 79.The Swedish soccer federation announced the death of Larsson on Tuesday. No more details were disclosed.Larsson, who could play in midfield or as a striker, featured at the World Cups in 1970, 1974 and 1978 and is regarded as one of Malmo’s greatest ever players.“Bosse” — as he was fondly known — scored 289 goals in 546 games for the southern club, where he won the league six times from 1965-77 and was the competition’s top scorer three times. He also had a stint playing for Stuttgart in Germany between 1966-69 before returning to Malmo. “For many, Bosse Larsson was the greatest MFF player of all time,” Malmo wrote.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerSource

Ziwe asks George Santos, ‘What can we do to get you to go away?’

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:51:11 GMT

George Santos knows he’s entertaining.The former New York congressman, who is indicted on 23 federal charges and was expelled from Congress earlier this month, isn’t shying away from the spotlight — at least not while people are watching or willing to pay for it.Santos, who has allegedly been cashing on his fame by recording paid messages on Cameo, sat for an interview with Ziwe, a comedian known for her blunt and cheeky interview style.“What can we do to get you to go away?” she asked Santos in the nearly 18-minute interview shared on YouTube on Monday.“Stop inviting me to your gigs,” he said.Comedian Ziwe (left) interviewed George Santos on YouTube. (Courtesy Getty Images)“The lesson is to stop inviting you places,” she responded.“But you can’t,” he said. “Because people want the content.”A day after he was expelled, Ziwe reached out to Santos on X to ask if he’d be interested in a “pay-per-v...

FactSet: Fiscal Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:51:11 GMT

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) — NORWALK, Conn. (AP) — FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS) on Tuesday reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of $148.6 million.On a per-share basis, the Norwalk, Connecticut-based company said it had net income of $3.84. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $4.12 per share.The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $4.10 per share.The financial data firm posted revenue of $542.2 million in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $541.4 million.FactSet expects full-year earnings in the range of $15.60 to $16 per share, with revenue in the range of $2.2 billion to $2.21 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on FDS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/FDSSource