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Amazon’s Prime Video to incorporate commercials next year

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:24:57 GMT

Amazon will be adding advertisements to shows and movies streamed on its Prime Video platform early next year, the tech and e-commerce giant said Friday morning.Amazon said Prime Video will have “meaningfully fewer ads than” traditional TV channels and other streaming services. U.S. subscribers will be able to opt out of commercials for an additional charge of $2.99 a month, with pricing for other countries to come later.The ads will launch in early 2024 in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada; as well as, later that year, Mexico, Australia and certain other European countries.The change reflects a larger shift in the entertainment industry, which has grown gradually disenchanted with the model of online content popularized by Netflix: unlimited ad-free streaming for a fixed monthly rate.In August, the Walt Disney Co.’s quarterly earnings report came alongside the announcement that the media conglomerate would be raising the price of ad-free Disney+ — t...

Marc McLaughlin, Oskar Steen throw their hats into crowded Bruin ring

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:24:57 GMT

The good news for some young Bruin hopefuls is that there are jobs available, especially in the bottom six forward slots.The more, shall we say, challenging news is that the B’s brass has not handed what could be the next Black and Gold generation anything, signing young veterans like Patrick Brown and Jesper Boqvist and bringing in established vets Alex Chiasson and Danton Heinen on PTOs, both of whom have looked more than capable so far in camp of earning contracts.So while opportunity is there, players like Oskar Steen and Marc McLaughlin will have to seize it with both hands, much like AJ Greer and Jakub Lauko did last season.It won’t be easy making this roster, despite the turnover.But both Steen and McLaughlin bring some tools to the table that could give them an advantage. Let’s start with Steen. At 5-foot-10, 195 pounds he brings a physicality that the B’s are looking for this year in front of both nets. When he first came up two years ago, he brought...

Catholic Memorial starts new win streak vs. St. Francis (NY)

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:24:57 GMT

WEST ROXBURY — When star running back Mekhi Dodd was injured in Catholic Memorial’s loss to Cardinal Newman of Florida last weekend, the Knights knew they would be missing one of the best playmakers in the state.But there were still games to be played, and CM had strong players ready to step in.Behind the running of Chris Sanchez and Lesean Sharp, CM rolled to a 50-36 victory Saturday against St. Francis of New York.With the win, CM improves to 2-1, while St. Francis drops to 0-4.“We have very limited depth,” CM coach John DiBiaso said. “We go from seniors and juniors down to sophomores and freshmen real fast. We’re very fortunate. We had three guys at the beginning of the year. We lost one. We still have two.”“The Florida game, it was obviously very humbling,” Sanchez said. “We came off good, but we had too many injuries. (Against St. Francis), we just played CM football, really.”Sanchez rushed for four touchdowns — all in...

Red Sox notebook: Closer back from Covid

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:24:57 GMT

It’s too late for his team, but Kenley Jansen is back in time to try and finish his season strong.The Red Sox reinstated their veteran closer from the Covid-related injured list on Saturday morning.Jansen last pitched for the Red Sox on September 12, when he left the game after facing two batters. Over 51 appearances this season, the team’s lone All-Star owns a 3.63 ERA with 52 strikeouts across 44 ⅔ innings.Though Jansen has 42 games finished and 29 saves in 33 opportunities, he hasn’t looked like himself recently. He’s been dealing with a lingering hamstring ailment, and though he avoided a stint on the injured list in that regard, it’s impacted his work. After racking up six saves and only allowing one run in nine August games, the 35-year-old right-hander allowed five earned runs in his four September outings and blew his one save opportunity.In order to reopen a spot on the roster for Jansen, the club optioned Zack Weiss back to Triple-A Worcester.The Red Sox claimed Weiss off ...

Meet Lachlan Murdoch, the new head honcho of Fox News and the Murdoch empire

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:24:57 GMT

For Lachlan Murdoch, this moment has been a long time coming. Assuming, of course, that his moment has actually arrived.On Thursday, his father Rupert Murdoch announced that in November he’ll step down as the head of his two media companies: News Corp. and Fox Corp. Lachlan will become the chair of News Corp. while remaining chief executive and chair at Fox Corp., the parent of Fox News Channel.The changes make Rupert’s eldest son the undisputed leader of the media empire his father built over decades. There’s no real sign that his siblings and former rivals James and Elisabeth contested him for the top job; James in particular has distanced himself from the company and his father’s politics for several years. But Rupert, now 92, has long had a penchant for building up his oldest children only to later undermine them — and sometimes to set them against one another — often flipping the table without notice.Given Rupert Murdoch’s advanced age, this might ...

An Iowa man who failed to show up for the guilty verdict at his murder trial has been arrested

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:24:57 GMT

OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man who failed to show up for the guilty verdict at his murder trial has been found and taken into custody, state officials announced Saturday.In a brief statement, the Iowa Department of Public Safety thanked everyone who provided information that led to the arrest of Gregory Showalter Sr. of Ottumwa and said more details would be released later. The statement did not provide any additional information about Showalter’s arrest or how or where authorities found him.A judge issued an arrest warrant for Showalter after he missed the reading of the jury verdict on Friday, according to the Ottumwa Courier. He was convicted of killing his wife, 60-year-old Helen Showalter.Showalter, 63, had been out on bail since August 2021, when a judge allowed him to post 10% of his $250,000 bond as long as he attended court hearings and wore a GPS monitor.Prosecutors argued that Showalter strangled his wife on July 31, 2021, then dumped her body along the Des Moines...

California governor vetoes bill requiring custody courts to weigh affirmation of gender identity

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:24:57 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have required judges to consider whether a parent affirms their child’s gender identity when making custody and visitation decisions.In announcing his veto Friday night, Newsom released a statement saying he has “a deep commitment to advancing the rights of transgender Californians” that has guided his decisions while in office. “That said, I urge caution when the Executive and Legislative branches of state government attempt to dictate — in prescriptive terms that single out one characteristic — legal standards for the Judicial branch to apply. Other-minded elected officials, in California and other states, could very well use this strategy to diminish the civil rights of vulnerable communities,” the governor’s statement said. The bill would have made gender affirmation one factor among many that courts already have to consider in custody proceedings, including whether a parent has been ...

Death of B.C. Mountie casts pall over law enforcement across Canada

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:24:57 GMT

The death of a Metro Vancouver RCMP officer who was shot dead while executing a search warrant is reverberating with law enforcement officials across the country.The National Police Federation, which represents RCMP members across Canada, says it has launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign for the family of Const. Rick O’Brien, 51, who died yesterday in Coquitlam, B.C.Kevin Halwa, chair of the federation’s Benevolent Foundation, says calling the mood in the law enforcement community sombre “would be an understatement.”Halwa says the tragedy is a powerful reminder of the risks police officers take on in their daily work once they “step up to serve.”Police say two other officers were injured in the incident, and a suspect in his 20s was also shot and is in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Condolences from a number of law enforcement officials and agencies have poured in on social media, including federal Justice Minister Arif Virani, th...

Pope blames weapons industry for Russia-Ukraine war and ‘martyrdom’ of Ukrainian people

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:24:57 GMT

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday labeled the weapons industry as being a key driver of the “martyrdom” of Ukraine’s people in Russia’s war, saying even the withholding of weapons now is going to continue their misery.Francis appeared to refer to Poland’s recent announcement that it is no longer sending arms to Ukraine when he was asked about the war during brief remarks to reporters while returning home from Marseille, France.Francis acknowledged he was frustrated that the Vatican’s diplomatic initiatives hadn’t borne much fruit. But he said behind the Russia-Ukraine conflict was also the weapons industry.He described the paradox that was keeping Ukraine a “martyred people” — that at first many countries gave Ukraine weapons and now are taking them away. Francis has long denounced the weapons industry as “merchants of death,” but he has also asserted the right of countries to defend themselves.“I’ve seen now that some countries are pulling back, and...

Flamingos in Wisconsin? Tropical birds visit Lake Michigan beach in a first for the northern state

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:24:57 GMT

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. (AP) — Five flamingos that showed up in Wisconsin to wade along a Lake Michigan beach attracted a big crowd of onlookers eager to see the unusual visitors venturing far from their usual tropical setting.The American flamingos spotted Friday in Port Washington, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Milwaukee, marked the first sighting of the species in Wisconsin state history, said Mark Korducki, a member of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.The birds stood quietly 25 feet (7.6 meters) off Lake Michigan’s western shoreline as waves lapped against their thin legs. Three were adults, identifiable by their pink plumage, and two were juveniles clad in gray.Jim Edelhuber of Waukesha was among a crowd of about 75 bird enthusiasts drawn to the city’s South Beach after word spread on social media about the flamingos’ appearance there.“This is huge. This is unbelievable,” said Edelhuber, an avid bird watche...