Floyd Mayweather Jr. gestures during a press conference, ahead of exhibition fight with John Gotti III, in Mexico City, Mexico, August 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Henry Romero

Retired boxing legend Floyd Mayweather has announced a new initiative to help Israeli orphans celebrate their birthdays.

As part of the Mayweather Israel Initiative, the former undefeated boxing champion will gift every orphan in Israel birthday presents over the next year, and the gifts will be delivered by a truck Mayweather sponsored called the Floyd Mobile. Mayweather’s initiative was first announced on Sunday at an event in Israel hosted by Chessed V’Rachamim, also known as Standing Together, not long before he shared the news on social media.

“Over the next year, every orphan in Israel will be visited by the Floyd Mobile and receive special birthday gifts,” he wrote in an Instagram post on Monday. “To all the widows and orphans: keep your heads held high as we honor the cherished memories of those who have passed.”

Mayweather concluded his social media post by thanking Rabbi Shai Graucher, the founder of Chessed V’Rachamim. The organization has provided support to soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces and those impacted by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack that took place in southern Israel last year, including monetary assistance, provisions for soldiers, and packages of essentials and toys to displaced families.

Mayweather has made a number of contributions to help Israeli civilians and wounded soldiers since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. He visited teenagers whose families were murdered in the Hamas-led massacre, and in early October, Mayweather pledged $100,000 to United Hatzalah of Israel to help the emergency medical service organization purchase 100 bulletproof vests to keep its volunteers safe. At an event in late November for injured IDF soldiers, whom he recently visited, he talked about his unwavering support for the Jewish state.

“When I stood behind Israel …  I felt I did what was right,” Mayweather said. “I take my hat off to the soldiers. Those warriors in Israel — I’m behind you guys, 100 percent. Since the war has started, I’ve been to Israel four, five times. And I will be back … It’s all about peace. I’m all about peace, love, and happiness.”

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A scene from “Nobody Wants This.” Photo: Adam Rose/Netflix

The nominees for the 82nd annual Golden Globes were announced on Monday and a number of performances by Jewish actors and Jewish-themed stories received nominations.

Jesse Eisenberg was nominated for Best Screenplay and also Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Musical or Comedy for “A Real Pain,” a film he directed, produced, wrote, and starred in alongside Kieran Culkin. The duo play estranged cousins who reunite for a Holocaust tour through Poland to honor their grandmother who survived the Nazis. The film itself, which is based on Eisenberg’s own family ties to the Holocaust, is nominated for Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy. Gabriel Labelle was also nominated for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his role in “Saturday Night.”

Adam Brody was nominated for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy for his starring role in “Nobody Wants This,” a Netflix series also starring Kristen Bell. Jason Segel was nominated in the same category for his role in “Shrinking.”

Brody stars in “Nobody Wants This” as a rabbi named Noah who falls in love with a non-Jewish woman, Bell’s character Joanne. The couple want to make their relationship work, but the biggest obstacle standing in their way is Noah’s Jewish faith. The series, which has been renewed for a second season, received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy. The show was co-created by Erin Foster and is loosely based on her own personal life. Her husband is Jewish and Foster has said that the series is based on the “only good decision I ever made: falling for a nice Jewish boy.”

Jake Gyllenhaal’s role in “Presumed Innocent” garnered him a nomination for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series –— Drama. Adrien Brody’s performance in “The Brutalist” and Timothée Chalamet’s starring role in “A Complete Unknown,” as American Jewish singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, garnered them nominations for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama.

“The Brutalist” follows the life of Hungarian-born Jewish architect and geologist László Tóth (played by Brody), after he survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the US. Tóth became notorious for taking a hammer to Michelangelo’s Pietà in 1972. The film received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture — Drama and its contenders in the category include “A Complete Unknown” and “September 5.” The latter film is a historical drama that follows an American sports broadcasting crew as they report live from on the ground in Munich about the Palestinian terrorist attack and hostage crisis targeting the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Mikey Madison, who was born into an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Los Angeles, was nominated for best performance by a female actor in a musical or comedy for her role in the film “Anora.” In the category of Best Original Score, Daniel Blumberg was nominated for “The Brutalist” and renowned German-Jewish composer Hans Zimmer received a nomination for “Dune: Part Two.”

Jewish actress and comedian Hannah Einbinder was nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role on Television for her role in “Hacks.” Harrison Ford, whose mother was Jewish, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach were both nominated in the category of Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television for their roles in “Shrinking” and “The Bear,” respectively. Adam Sandler was nominated for Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television for “Adam Sandler: Love You” and in the same category, Seth Meyers, who discovered his family’s Jewish lineage in a 2019 episode of “Finding Your Roots,” was nominated for “Seth Meyers: Dad Man Walking.”

The 82nd Annual Golden Globes, hosted by Nikki Glaser, will air live on Jan. 5, 2025, at 8 pm ET on CBS and stream on Paramount+ in the US.

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A drone view shows people walking near a statue in Damascus, after Syrian rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad, Syria, Dec. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Hassano

Syria’s new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago.

In a brief address on state television, Mohammed al-Bashir, a figure little known across most of Syria who previously ran an administration in a pocket of the northwest controlled by rebels, said he would lead the interim authority until March 1.

“Today we held a cabinet meeting that included a team from the Salvation government that was working in Idlib and its vicinity, and the government of the ousted regime,” he said.

“The meeting was under the headline of transferring the files and institutions to caretake the government.”

Behind him were two flags — the green, black, and white flag flown by opponents of Assad throughout the civil war, and a white flag with the Islamic oath of faith in black writing, typically flown in Syria by Sunni Islamist fighters.

In the Syrian capital, banks reopened for the first time since Assad’s overthrow. Shops were also opening up again, traffic returned to the roads, and cleaners were out sweeping the streets.

There was a notable decrease in the number of armed men on the streets. Two sources close to the rebels said their command had ordered fighters to withdraw from cities, and for police and internal security forces affiliated with the main rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS) to deploy there.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington fully supports Syria’s political transition process and wants it to lead to inclusive and non-sectarian governance.

The process must prevent Syria being used as a base for terrorism and ensure any chemical or biological weapons stocks are safely destroyed, he said in a statement.

Amid the steps towards normal life, Israeli airstrikes hit bases of the Syrian army, whose forces had melted away in the face of the rebel advance that ousted Assad.

Israel, which has sent forces across the border into a demilitarized zone inside Syria, acknowledged on Tuesday that troops had also taken up some positions beyond the buffer zone, though it denied they were advancing towards Damascus.

In a sign foreigners are ready to work with HTS, the former al Qaeda affiliate that led the anti-Assad revolt and has lately emphasi`ed its break with its jihadist roots, the UN envoy to Syria played down its designation as a terrorist organization.

“The reality is so far that HTS and also the other armed groups have been sending good messages to the Syrian people … of unity, of inclusiveness,” Geir Pedersen told a briefing in Geneva.

Syria’s new interim leader has little political profile beyond Idlib province, a mainly rural northwest region where rebels had maintained an administration during the long years that Syria’s civil war front lines were frozen.

A Facebook page of the rebel administration says he was trained as an electrical engineer, later received a degree in sharia and law, and had held posts in areas including education.

ISRAELI ADVANCES

Israel’s incursion in the southwest and its airstrikes create an additional security problem for the new administration, although Israel says its intervention is temporary.

After Assad’s flight on Sunday ended more than five decades of his family’s rule, Israeli troops moved into the buffer zone inside Syria established following the 1973 Middle East war.

Three security sources said on Tuesday the Israelis had advanced beyond the demilitarized zone. One Syrian source said they had reached the town of Qatana, several km (miles) to the east of the buffer zone and a short drive from Damascus airport.

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered a “sterile defensive zone” to be created in southern Syria to protect Israel from terrorism.

Military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said troops were in the buffer zone and “a few additional points” in the vicinity, the first apparent official Israeli acknowledgement that they had moved beyond it. He said, however, that there had been no significant push into Syria.

Katz also said Israel’s navy had destroyed Syria’s fleet.

Regional security sources and officers within the defunct Syrian army said Tuesday’s Israeli airstrikes had hit military installations and air bases across Syria and destroyed dozens of helicopters and jets.

Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia condemned the Israeli incursion.

CELEBRATORY ICE CREAM

Rebuilding Syria will be a colossal task following 13 years of civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Cities have been bombed to ruin, swathes of countryside are depopulated, the economy has been gutted by international sanctions, and millions of refugees still live in camps after one of the biggest displacements of modern times.

But the mood in Damascus remained celebratory, with refugees beginning to return to a homeland they had not seen in years.

Anas Idrees, 42, a refugee since early in the war, raced from Lebanon to Syria to cheer Assad’s fall.

He ventured into the Hamidiyeh Souk in old Damascus to the renowned Bakdash ice cream parlour, where he ordered a large scoop of their signature Arabic gelato, served coated in pistachios.

“I swear to God, it tastes different now,” he said after eating a spoonful. “It was good before, but it’s changed because now we are happy inside.”

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