"Make sure you have the backing of your family and friends."
"Surround yourself with the right people."
"Call in all favors."
"Build a wide base of support."
"Promise everything to everybody."
"Communication skills are key."
"Don’t leave town."
"Know the weaknesses of your opponents — and exploit them."
"Flatter voters shamelessly."
"Give people hope.”

Igor Fruman, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, pleaded guilty Friday in New York federal court to a charge stemming from a case alleging he funneled foreign money to US campaign coffers.

Fruman, 56, pleaded guilty to solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national. He faces up to five years in prison.

His plea didn't include an agreement to cooperate with the government.

Fruman had faced multiple charges. He and another Giuliani associate, Lev Parnas, were originally indicted in October 2019. They were charged with conspiracy to violate the ban on foreign donations to federal and state elections, making false statements and falsifying records to the Federal Election Commission. They pleaded not guilty.

Taken together, boundless courage, physical stamina and emotional resilience form the magnetic core of co-directors E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s nonfiction oeuvre. The duo behind Oscar- winning nail-biter “Free Solo” naturally gravitate toward real-life you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it tales, extracting from them a great deal more than beautifully photographed and entertaining accounts of perseverance and survival. Far greater than mere extreme sports docs, their movies raise philosophical queries about life and the universe, bringing an existential edge to the challenges they capture.

Still, no risk that Chin and Vasarhelyi have depicted thus far has been more significant or more unreservedly worth taking than the one they chart in “The Rescue,” a stunning documentary of bone-deep moral resonance and cinematic mastery that deserves to be experienced on the big screen. The extraordinary story they tell this time takes us to the summer of 2018, when the Wild Boar soccer team — a dozen young boys and their coach — got trapped in Tham Luang, an extensive and labyrinthine cave in Northern Thailand, drawing international concern and compassion their way during the two long weeks they were missing.

On the tragic day itself, the kids were on a leisurely yet poorly timed outing after a practice session, unaware of the approaching monsoon that would eventually block their exit, pushing them deeper into the dark ends of a rapidly flooding cave. Joined by thousands of concerned citizens and multifarious experts, an epic and terrifying battle of constantly changing unknowns had to be won to save them.

‘The Great British Baking Show’ Season 9 to Premiere on Netflix September 24

On your marks, get set, bake! The Great British Baking Show is returning at last! Earlier this summer Netflix confirmed that the 14th season of The Great British Baking Show, known as Collection 9 on Netflix, would premiere later this fall. Now we have an official premiere date.

The Great British Baking Show Season 9 will premiere on Netflix on Friday, September 24 with new episodes debuting weekly. Netflix confirmed it’s sticking to its schedule with a tweet:

https://decider.com/2021/09/08/the-great-british-baking-show-season-9-netflix-premiere-date/

Tropical Storm Mindy formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday as the 13th named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season.

Mindy was expected to cross the coastline of the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday night, and then move off the coast of the southeastern United States into the western Atlantic Ocean by Thursday.

It was producing maximum sustained winds of nearly 40 miles per hour, with some stronger gusts, the National Weather Service said. Total rainfall of two to four inches was expected, with six inches possible across the Florida Panhandle into southern portions of Georgia and South Carolina through Thursday morning, the Weather Service said.

Some flooding was possible, as were isolated tornadoes over the Florida Panhandle.