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Brenda Fricker, the first Irish actress to win an Academy Award, has died at the age of 81 following a period of ill health. Fricker won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1990 for her powerful portrayal of Bridget Fagan Brown, the mother of artist Christy Brown, in the acclaimed film My Left Foot. The film also earned Daniel Day-Lewis his first Best Actor Oscar.

Born in Dublin, Fricker began her acting career in the 1960s and built a remarkable body of work across film, theatre, and television. She became widely known for her performances in The Field, So I Married an Axe Murderer, A Time to Kill, and Home Alone 2, where she memorably played the compassionate “Pigeon Lady.”

Tributes have poured in from across the film industry, with My Left Foot director Jim Sheridan describing Fricker as a gifted performer with a strong personality and unwavering spirit. Her success in My Left Foot is also credited with helping raise the global profile of Ireland’s film industry, inspiring a new generation of Irish filmmakers and actors.

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Paramount Skydance’s latest $108.4 billion offer to acquire Warner Bros Discovery has been deemed insufficient by major shareholder Harris Oakmark. Owning roughly 4% of Warner Bros shares, the investor emphasized that while Paramount’s amended bid addressed some concerns, it still falls short of providing adequate incentive, leaving the two competing offers — Paramount’s and Netflix’s — as a “toss-up” for shareholders.

The revised Paramount offer includes a $40.4 billion personal guarantee from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and an increased breakup fee of $5.8 billion if regulators block the deal. However, the $30-per-share bid remains unchanged, prompting Warner Bros’ board to recommend shareholders reject Paramount’s earlier offer in favor of Netflix, whose bid of $23.25 per share is seen as more secure and includes additional Netflix stock and benefits from the Discovery Global spin-off.

Investors highlight the value of Warner Bros’ premium media assets, including HBO Max and major franchises like Harry Potter and Superman. While some, like Thomas Poehling, may accept Paramount’s revised offer if Netflix doesn’t counter, many others are likely to follow the board’s guidance, reflecting both the complexity of the deal and the importance of stable financing in determining the outcome.

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