The Barbie movie has been out for mere days but it is already making history. The Greta Gerwig directed film scored a US$377m (£293m, A$560m) opening weekend around the world, making it the biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman. Now that is the Kenergy we love to see. At the North American box office – combining the US and Canada – Barbie claimed top spot with $155m in ticket sales from 4,243 locations, surpassing The Super Mario Bros Movie and every Marvel film released this year to become the biggest opening of the year. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Internationally, Barbie earned $182m from 69 territories and women made up 65 per cent of the audience, according to PostTrak, with 40 per cent of ticket buyers under the age of 25. “It was a truly historic weekend and continues the positive box office momentum of 2023,” said Michael O’Leary, president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners. “People recognised that something special was happening and they wanted to be a part of it.” It comes after director Gerwig revealed the scene in Barbie that she refused to cut, despite pressure from the studio. The Academy Award-nominated director said that it was suggested she remove a scene where Barbie meets an elderly woman on a bench and tells her she’s beautiful. “I love that scene so much,” Gerwig told Rolling Stone. “And the older woman on the bench is the costume designer Ann Roth. She’s a legend. It’s a cul-de-sac of a moment, in a way - it doesn’t lead anywhere." "And in early cuts, looking at the movie, it was suggested, ‘Well, you could cut it. And actually, the story would move on just the same.’ And I said, ‘If I cut the scene, I don’t know what this movie is about.'” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Steve Cohen, the Mets' owner, reveals his character by extending an apology to the Marlins and their fans due to insufficient field conditions that led to the recent game getting postponed.

German police are investigating an incident which took place Wednesday, 15 June, in which an American man allegedly sexually assaulted then threw two women over the edge of a steep gorge near Germany’s famous Neuschwanstein castle. Here’s what we know. What happened? On Wednesday afternoon, two American women, aged 21 and 22, were forced off a steep ledge at the Marienbrücke, a pedestrain bridge with sweeping views of the castle, which sits above a high river gorge. “The two tourists met the man on a hiking tour east of the Marienbrücke,” Chief Public Prosecutor Thomas Hörmann told German tabloid Bild. “The man then steered the two under a pretext to a trail that was difficult to see, which leads to a viewpoint,” Bavarian police said in a statement. Once out of sight, the 30-year-old assailant reportedly tried to attack the women, going after the younger woman first, prompting the 22-year-old to try and defend her, police said. “The younger of the two women was attacked by the suspect,” police spokesman Holger Stabik told the AP. “The older one tried to rush to her aid, was then choked by the suspect and subsequently pushed down a slope. ” After that, the man made an “attempted sexual offence” on the 21-year-old and pushed her over the ledge as well, DW reports. Who are the victims? Officials haven’t released the names of those involved in the incident. On Thursday, a spokesperson for the US Embassy did not confirm or deny whether those involved in the attack are Americans. “The U.S. Consulate in Munich is monitoring the situation closely and is in contact with authorities. Due to privacy considerations, we are unable to comment further at this time,” officials told The Daily Beast. How were they rescued? Due to the harsh terrain around the gorge, specially trained members of the Alpine Task Force were involved in the attempted rescue of both women. Witness Eric Abneri, a recent business graduate from the University of Pittsburgh who witnessed the incident, said he and friends arrived at the scenic overlook as a helicopter arrived and they saw rescuers lower themselves down to the victims. “I’m honestly absolutely stunned someone is still alive from this. It is like falling from the top of an absolute cliff,” he said. Mr Abneri described it as “a very, very difficult rescue because of those cliffs and because the helicopter came mere feet above the tree line at the top of the hill.” “They did an unbelievable job,” he said. Who is the alleged attacker? Bavarian police said the attacker was a 30-year-old US national, DW reports. Bystander video posted online showed police leading away a handcuffed, bearded man in a T-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap. How was suspect captured? The suspect was caught after a massive police operation involving 25 emergency vehicles on Wednesday afternoon and taken to a police station in nearby Fuessen. Are police pressing charges? The American suspect is in a German correctional facility, as officials investigate the attack as a potential sexual offence, murder, and attempted murder. “The allegation is not yet established,” prosecutor Thomas Hörmann told DW. Kempten criminal police are leading the investigation, and are asking those with knowledge of the incident to get in contact with them. What is Neuschwanstein castle? Neuschwanstein castle, nestled near the Austrian border, was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, with construction beginning in 1869. The towering estate is one of Germany‘s most popular tourist attractions and is said to have been the inspiration for various Disney castles Read More American woman dead after man ‘throws two tourists off bridge’ at German fairytale castle

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Munich’s airport has canceled all flights for the day after a winter storm dumped snow across southern Germany and parts of Austria and Switzerland, affecting travel across the region

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2023--

The law enforcement officer who took down the mass shooter at the Allen Premium Outlets mall has broken his silence for the first time. Authorities have confirmed that the gunman who killed eight people and injured seven others had “neo-Nazi ideation” in a press conference on Tuesday. The gunman, identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, brought eight weapons with him to conduct the mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday (6 May). Garcia had three weapons on his person and five in his vehicle, according to Hank Sibley, the regional director of the Texas Department of Safety. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms determined all of the weapons were obtained legally. Eight people, including three young children, were killed in the shooting. Gruesome footage depicting the victims in the moments after the shooting circulated around Twitter over the weekend and into Monday, leaving social media users horrified. Garcia’s motive remains unknown but a social media profile, reviewed by The Independent, reveals that he stalked the mall in the weeks before the shooting to identify peak visitation times. Read More Nazi images, hateful rants and ‘Right Wing Death Squad’: A look at Texas gunman’s alleged far-right social media posts Two days, three attacks, 18 dead: Texas reels from horrifying weekend of violence Elementary school sisters are named among eight Texas mall shooting victims Mauricio Garcia: Everything we know about the Texas mall gunman who killed eight

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