By Lianne Kolirin, CNN

(CNN) — Brenda Fricker, the Oscar-winning Irish actress, has died at age 81, her agent confirmed Friday.

Fricker was the first Irish woman to win an Academy Award, which she scooped in 1990 for best supporting actress for her role in “My Left Foot.” In the biopic, directed by Jim Sheridan, she played Mrs Brown, the mother of the movie’s central character, Christy Brown, a man with cerebral palsy. Daniel Day-Lewis, who played Brown, also earned an Oscar for his portrayal.

The actress’ death on Thursday was announced by her agent, Phil Belfield. In a statement sent to CNN, he said: “It is with much sadness that I share the news that beloved actress Brenda Fricker passed away peacefully last night in Dublin, after a period of ill health, at the age of 81.”

Describing her as a “legend,” Belfield added: “We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her. I was honored to know, love and work with her and she will always have a place in my heart and in the heart of so many film and TV fans the world over.”

Fricker’s acting career included more than 30 roles in movies and TV, including her famous outing as the homeless “pigeon lady” who befriended Macauley Culkin in “Home Alone 2.”

Born and bred in Dublin, Fricker last year published a memoir entitled “She Died Young: A Life in Fragments.” According to the book’s publisher, Bloomsbury, it covered her early years in Ireland, but also the “difficulty of surviving sexual violence and living with mental illness.”

Last year, an ailing Fricker gave an interview to the Guardian from her bed at home in Dublin, during which she said: “I’m having a dreadful death … I’m just dying, every day in pain.”

She told the interviewer that writing the book had been “murder for me” as she discussed a difficult upbringing, which featured sexual abuse at the hands of an elocution teacher, and surviving two rapes.

“It was kind of ironic because I was talking about things I had paid a fortune to psychiatrists to make me forget,” she told the Guardian. “So it was very painful bringing them back. I thought they were a bit morbid. I think I’m a bit morbid. I’m Irish.”

Among her many movie roles, she played opposite Olympia Dukakis in the 2011 film “Cloudburst” and with Cate Blanchett in “Veronica Guerin” in 2003. Her last role was in “The Swallow” in 2024, which her agent said showed “the truth and majesty of Brenda as an actor and is a thing of beauty.”

In an interview with British newspaper The Times in 2024, Fricker played down her Oscar achievement. “I didn’t learn that much on My Left Foot,” she said. “I learnt a lot while at the BBC when we were doing plays. The standard of the stuff then was so much better.”

She told the interviewer that after spending six years on the BBC medical drama “Casualty,” she was offered work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, “which is exactly where I wanted to go.” But she was then cast in the Oscar-winn

By Brian Stelter, CNN

(CNN) — Lawyers for the 12-state coalition trying to block the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery deal will be in court on Friday arguing that a temporary restraining order (TRO) is necessary to stop the companies from completing the merger.

Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín will also hear Paramount’s arguments against the TRO. As CNN reported earlier this week, the companies expect the judge to issue a TRO, effectively pausing the merger for a couple of weeks while the legal process plays out.

Ahead of Friday’s 1 p.m. ET hearing, I spoke with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the coalition of Democratic attorneys general against Paramount. Bonta also said he is “hopeful” a TRO will be granted on Friday, “but it could take a few more days too.”

It was clear that Bonta wanted to address the widespread talk about CNN, the ticking fee, and the notion of Paramount moving out of California. He said some of his opponents are “trying to take things out of context and create confusion.”

But “our complaint couldn’t be clearer,” he said. Here are lightly edited excerpts from the conversation:

Are there any negotiations taking place with Paramount about a possible settlement?

“There are no negotiations. We are suing. We are in litigation. We have sued and sought a TRO and a preliminary injunction seeking to block the merger. That’s it. That’s full stop. That’s where we’re at.

“Of course, if Paramount–Warner Bros. want to come forward in good faith and sincerely want to make a settlement offer, we’ll always consider a settlement offer. And it would have to include structural remedies. We’re not interested in behavioral remedies — empty promises, self-serving promises, promises that are unenforceable, that won’t be kept, that history shows won’t be kept. So we’ll consider what they propose, but they haven’t proposed anything.”

You said structural remedies, plural. Is there a significance to that?

“Yeah, I don’t see how one single structural remedy [would be sufficient], unless that structural remedy is the two companies don’t merge, which is what we’re seeking.”

In the news media, there’s been speculation about one specific structural remedy: A spin-off of CNN. If Paramount came to you and offered only to divest CNN, would that be sufficient? Would that end the lawsuit?

“Absolutely, 1,000%, no. Not yesterday, not today, not tomorrow. Hell no.”

Why not?

“It’s not adequate to address the concerns we set forth in our complaint.

“Brendan Carr wants to talk about it, news outlets want to talk about it, and there are some attempts to try to suggest that the source is from me or from someone close to me, but I’ve never said that. I’ve never thought that. I will never think that or say that.

“I’ll say what is actually true: A divestiture of CNN, a spinoff of CNN, a structural remedy that just applies to CNN will never, ever, ever, ever, ever resolve this case. It is not what we’re looking for. It’s not what we’re interested in. It doesn’t address our concerns.

“If they want to come forward with some sort of structural remedy package that includes CNN being rolled off, we’ll consider that. But that’s not what we’re looking for. It’s not what we’re interested in. It’s not what we’re focused on. We’re focused on what the complaint says we’re focused on — the wide-release theatrical film market, the blockbuster theatrical release market, the cable channel market.

“But it’s part of this Paramount PR campaign that’s in overdrive. I think they’re trying to play to the court of public opinion.

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Análisis por Juan Carlos López, CNN en Español

La realidad siempre termina siendo muy diferente de lo que anticipamos. Eso me ocurrió tras aterrizar en La Habana, ciudad a la que no iba desde hacía ocho años. El aeropuerto tiene actividad reducida y se nota la tensión en el momento en el que se va la luz, aunque aquí la planta eléctrica se activa de inmediato. La sensación es parecida a la de la incertidumbre de la pandemia de coronavirus, solo que no es 2020, es 2026 y Cuba no está afectada por un virus, sino por una fuerte crisis de larga data que se vio agravada estos últimos meses por la presión de EE.UU.

Pero asumir que la isla se paraliza es no conocerla, la quietud es relativa, porque si hay algo que sabe hacer el cubano es resolver, como se pueda, la escasez de recursos. Y ahí es donde entra en escena un vendedor ambulante quien se protege del sol bajo la vegetación que bordea la avenida Rancho Boyeros que lleva a la capital. El hombre no ofrece frutas ni pasteles, en sus manos tiene una botella con un líquido amarillo, el conductor nos explica que es combustible, hoy uno de los bienes más preciados para un país asediado por la falta de energía, entre otras carencias.

Los cubanos – en la isla y en la diáspora- son expertos en hacer limonada, de tantos limones que les han caído del cielo. Ese combustible puede costar unos US$ 4 el litro, si es diésel. Es decir que el galón – como se vende en EE.UU.- puede rondar los US$ 15, más de tres veces lo que se paga en Miami por la misma cantidad.

Por las calles de La Habana, al lado de los famosos “almendrones”, automóviles antiguos con partes de otros vehículos, se ven ahora numerosos vehículos eléctricos llevando a los habaneros por la ciudad en la que la vida, a pesar de mayores dificultades, baja el ritmo, pero no se detiene. Solo vemos su exterior, la cada vez más pesada crisis va por dentro, a pesar de eso no veo un cambio en la hospitalidad y buena onda de los habaneros con quienes interactúo. Difícil mantener la compostura, pero lo digo como alguien que no padece la incertidumbre diaria de no saber si habrá electricidad, agua, conexión con el mundo exterior.

Un cambio evidente se nota en las inmediaciones del Parque Central, en la Habana vieja. Hacía ocho años que no visitaba Cuba y esto fue algo que me advirtió un colega y no había visto en mis anteriores viajes de trabajo a la capital: niños y mujeres, por lo general con pequeños en brazos, pidiendo dinero con insistencia, lo siguen a uno por la calle, no se rinden fácil. Eso es nuevo. En algunas esquinas había escombros y basura acumulados, pero también es cierto que la percepción – por lo menos en las partes que recorrí, que no se limitaron a la Habana vieja- es de una ciudad limpia. Dentro de las posibilidades, claro, se prioriza el uso de los vehículos y recoger la basura cambia de importancia. Sin embargo, vi a trabajadores limpiando las calles y, además, en medio de la escasez hay cada vez menos objetos para botar. Todo se aprovecha más allá de lo razonable, aunque aquí lo razonable no existe.

Como en cualquier ciudad, tener dólares abre puertas. Y en Cuba, esos dólares los tiene el turista. Pero, aunque aún funcionan algunos hoteles, los más nuevos y lujosos están vacíos y cerrados. En los restaurantes, los extranjeros no éramos más que los locales, incluso en aquellos con precios inaccesibles para la gran mayoría de la población.

Por ejemplo, en uno de los restaurantes que visité, un plato típico – la ropa vieja o carne desmechada- puede costar US$ 6. En esos establecimientos calculan el cambio en US$1 por 600 pesos cubanos. Es decir, ese plato vale 3600 pesos, cuando el salario promedio, según la Oficina Nacional de Estadística en Información ONEI, era para 2025 de un promedio de 6930 pesos… haz las cuentas.

Ahora, se podría pensar que las remesas qu

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