Top Stories
Sydney Sweeney Joins Best Actress Oscar Race With ‘Christy’

A thin best actress Oscar race was jolted on Friday afternoon by the Toronto International Film Festival’s world premiere of David Michod’s Christy, a drama centering on a performance by Sydney Sweeney as the trailblazing female boxer Christy Martin, which was greeted with a prolonged standing ovation in the Princess of Wales Theater. Sweeney, who was also a producer of the film, gives a committed, showy, impressive turn as Martin — one that Martin herself has vocally applauded, including during an emotional post-screening Q&A — and believe it or not, I think she may get nominated.
Sweeney, who is just 27, became a world-famous actress and sex symbol through the HBO drama series Euphoria and The White Lotus, both of which brought her Emmy nominations. Recently, though, she has become a polarizing person, with her political affiliation, her dating life and, yes, her jeans commercial, all causing a lot of controversy. But even her skeptics, upon seeing Christy, may have to acknowledge her considerable commitment and talent (which was previously most evident in the little-seen 2023 TV film Reality, in which she played American intelligence leaker Reality Winner, and for which she deserved an Emmy nomination).
In Christy, Sweeney, donning short black hair and a muscular physique that she built through diet, exercise and boxing training over a period of months, looks nothing like herself as Martin, née Salters, a West Virginian who stumbled into a boxing career in the 1980s and dominated her sport as no woman had before — all while remaining a closeted lesbian and suffering increasingly terrible abuse at the hands of her considerably older coach/husband Jim (Ben Foster, also unrecognizable).
The film’s depiction of a female fighter’s rise is somewhat familiar — we’ve seen variations of it before with Michelle Rodriguez in Karyn Kusama’s Girlfight (2000), Hilary Swank in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Halle Berry in Bruised (2020), which Berry herself directed — and a film about a gifted female athlete being subjected to horrific domestic abuse has also been done before, very impressively, in I, Tonya (2017). But the performances by Sweeney, as the lead, and Foster, in support, as well as the specifics of the true story that inspired Christy, help to keep this one engaging and memorable.
In terms of Christy’s awards fate, a lot will depend on the abilities of Black Bear, one of the production companies behind it, to effectively distribute and campaign for it; Christy will be the first film ever released through the company’s new distribution arm, which has given it an awards-friendly theatrical release date of Nov. 7. Fairly or not, it will also hinge upon Sweeney’s willingness and ability to address the extracurricular things that are currently distracting people from her work.
Top Stories
Ukraine war briefing: Poland’s allies decry ‘flagrant violation’; Warsaw sends troops to border to monitor Belarus drills | Ukraine

Poland and about 40 of its allies on Friday denounced the intrusion of Russian drones into its airspace this week, calling on Moscow to avoid more “provocations”. Before an emergency meeting of the UN security council requested by Poland, deputy foreign minister Marcin Bosacki told reporters that Warsaw and its allies wanted to “draw the attention of the international community to yet another flagrant violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations committed by the Russian Federation”, which had brought “the entire region closer to conflict than at any time in recent years”. The comments were from a statement signed by about 40 countries, including the 26 other members of the European Union, Ukraine, the United States, Japan and Canada. “We take this opportunity to reiterate our call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its war of aggression against Ukraine, to renounce any further provocations, and to respect its obligations under the UN Charter,” he said. “Escalation cannot lead to peace.”
France, Germany and Denmark will contribute fighter jets and other military assets to an enhanced defence of Poland against future Russian drone incursions, Nato leaders announced at a press conference on Friday. The UK is also expected contribute to the Eastern Sentry mission, which will gradually be expanded from the Arctic in the north to the Black Sea and Mediterranean in the south to better tackle Russian drones and missiles.
The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. The military drills started on Friday, and include exercises close to the border with Poland and Lithuania and in the Baltic and Barents seas. Russia’s defence ministry posted a video showing heavy military equipment – including armoured vehicles, helicopters and navy ships – taking part in the drills. Poland said it would station about 40,000 troops near the Belarus border for the duration of the drills.
Prince Harry laid a wreath at a flower and flag memorial to Ukraine’s war dead in Kyiv’s Maidan Square during a surprise visit to support the country in its fight against Russia, saying he wanted to do “everything possible” to help the thousands of military personnel who have been seriously injured in the war against Russia. During the trip to Kyiv, Harry and a team from his Invictus Games Foundation gave details of new initiatives to support the rehabilitation of the wounded, with the eventual aim of providing help to all areas of the country.
Russia said peace talks with Ukraine were on “pause” as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. “Our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through channels. But for now, it is probably more accurate to talk about a pause” in talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Speaking at a conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said the west should not trust Putin. “Putin’s goal is to occupy all of Ukraine. And no matter what he tells anyone, it is clear that he has set the war machine in motion to such an extent that he simply cannot stop it unless he is forced to fundamentally change his personal goals,” he said. The Ukrainian president also called on allies to encourage China to use its leverage with Russia to stop Moscow’s offensive.
Trump told Fox television his patience was being taxed by Russia’s refusal to end its invasion. “It’s sort of running out and running out fast, but it does take two to tango,” Trump told Fox television. “It’s amazing. When Putin wants to do it, Zelensky didn’t. When Zelensky wanted to do it, Putin didn’t. Now Zelensky wants to and Putin is a question mark. We’re going to have to come down very, very strong,” he added. The Ukrainian president has long been open to efforts to meet and agree a ceasefire.
Top Stories
Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight, odds: 1 bettor wagers $2 million on Terence Crawford to win

Terence Crawford and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez square off on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in one of the biggest fights of the year.
Several bettors will have a very large rooting interest.
Advertisement
A bettor at BetMGM wagered $2 million on Crawford to win the fight at +140 odds on Friday night. The wager would win $2.8 million and is the largest reported wager on the fight.
One bettor at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas also wagered $715,000 on Crawford to win the fight at +140 odds, which would win just over $1 million ($1.001 million to be exact). Other sportsbooks have taken six-figure wagers on Crawford as well.
“We just took a very large bet on Crawford to win and by KO,” Andrew Babakitis, risk manager at the Westgate Las Vegas Super Book, told Yahoo Sports via text message on Friday afternoon. “Price moved from -180 to -160 on Canelo. We have three times as many bets on Crawford. Book loses on both fighters by KO, we are likely going to need a decision if we want to win on the fight.”
Advertisement
Alvarez opened as a -200 favorite at BetMGM, but is down to -150 on the three-way line, while Crawford opened as a +175 underdog and is currently +150. While only 23% of wagers are on Alvarez to win, nearly half the total dollars wagered (42%) at BetMGM are on Canelo, while the betting public is backing the underdog, with 33% of wagers on Crawford to win.
Nearly half the bets (44%) and total dollars wagered (44%) were on a tie, as of Friday morning.
Top Stories
ICE agent shoots dead man who tried to drive at agents, officials say

US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and killed a man near Chicago on Friday after he allegedly drove his car at a group of agents.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said ICE was trying to arrest the man, but he resisted and drove towards the group. An agent was then dragged along by his vehicle.
The agent, who the department said feared for his life, drew his gun and opened fire.
The driver, Silverio Villegas-Gonzales, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after, officials said.
“During a vehicle stop, the suspect resisted and attempted to drive his vehicle into the arrest team, striking an officer and subsequently dragging him as he fled the scene,” the statement said.
The ICE agent suffered “severe injuries” in the incident, officials said, but was in a stable condition in hospital.
The Department of Homeland security said Mr Villegas-Gonzales had a history of reckless driving and was an undocumented migrant. He entered the country “at an unknown date and time,” they said.
A spokesperson for the local police department in Franklin Park said they were not involved in the incident.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said in an online post: “This is a developing situation and the people of Illinois deserve a full, factual accounting of what’s happened today to ensure transparency and accountability.”
Franklin Park is a suburb of around 18,000 people near O’Hare Airport north-west of Chicago. Around half of the population of the village is Hispanic.
Immigration officials have been ramping up enforcement activities in the Chicago area this week on the orders of the Trump administration.
-
Business2 weeks ago
The Guardian view on Trump and the Fed: independence is no substitute for accountability | Editorial
-
Tools & Platforms1 month ago
Building Trust in Military AI Starts with Opening the Black Box – War on the Rocks
-
Ethics & Policy2 months ago
SDAIA Supports Saudi Arabia’s Leadership in Shaping Global AI Ethics, Policy, and Research – وكالة الأنباء السعودية
-
Events & Conferences4 months ago
Journey to 1000 models: Scaling Instagram’s recommendation system
-
Jobs & Careers2 months ago
Mumbai-based Perplexity Alternative Has 60k+ Users Without Funding
-
Podcasts & Talks2 months ago
Happy 4th of July! 🎆 Made with Veo 3 in Gemini
-
Education2 months ago
VEX Robotics launches AI-powered classroom robotics system
-
Education2 months ago
Macron says UK and France have duty to tackle illegal migration ‘with humanity, solidarity and firmness’ – UK politics live | Politics
-
Podcasts & Talks2 months ago
OpenAI 🤝 @teamganassi
-
Funding & Business2 months ago
Kayak and Expedia race to build AI travel agents that turn social posts into itineraries