WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will pay tribute to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks Tuesday at a ceremony in western Pennsylvania, taking on a rare role that has sometimes been challenging for him: consoler-in-chief.

First lady Melania Trump will accompany her husband to the event that marks the 17th anniversary of the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people and triggered ongoing battles against violent extremists.

After hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, some 40 passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93 – believed to be headed to the U.S. Capitol building or the White House – organized a charge into the cockpit to confront their captors.

Amid the ensuing fight – started with the valiant phrase “Let’s roll” – the plane crashed into a field in Somerset County, north of Shanksville.

Marking the solemn occasion requires Trump to give a formal speech, something he is not accustomed to doing as he delivers the kinds of partisan, free-wheeling, off-the-cuff campaign speeches he has been making ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm congressional elections.

Earlier this month, as both Obama and Bush delivered eulogies for the late Sen. John McCain, pundits compared their speaking styles to that of Trump, who has drawn criticism for what detractors call an overly divisive tone when speaking at somber events ranging from his inauguration to the National Prayer Breakfast.

“Trump is not very good at speaking the language of communal values,” said Jennifer R. Mercieca, an associate professor with the department of communication at Texas A&M University who has studied the president’s rhetorical style.

More: Analysis: After hurricanes, President Trump takes up role of ‘responder-in-chief’

More: Mom of Texas shooting victim says talking with Trump was ‘like talking to a toddler’

More: Readers sound off: Trump wants credit for his condolences

In his inaugural address, a speech often used by incoming presidents to soothe bad feelings after a hard campaign, Trump blamed previous administrations for allowing poverty, a drain of industrial jobs, and a proliferation of criminal gangs.

“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” Trump said. It was a far cry from the speech historians often cite as a healing approach – Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural in 1861 in which he called upon the nation’s “better angels.” 

After the August 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, led to the death of a counterprotester, Trump said there was “blame on both sides,” angering people who said he should have condemned racism.

And during the National Prayer Breakfast in 2017, Trump raised eyebrows by mocking Arnold Schwarzenegger, his successor as host of television’s “The Apprentice.”

“This is part of the job he has struggled with: To be the personification of the state, the rising above politics, partisan politics in particular,” said Peter Feaver, a professor of political science and public policy at Duke University.

Feaver, the head of strategic planning for the National Security Council during Bush’s second term, said, “I don’t think we should expect this to be a soaring rhetorical moment for the president.”

Yet Trump has also received good reviews for other sets of remarks, including his first 9/11 address last year in which he stuck to the topic without ad libbing.

Speaking at the Pentagon, one of the three sites attacked with hijacked airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, Trump said, “the terrorists who attacked us thought they could incite fear and weaken our spirit. But America cannot be intimidated, and those who try will soon join the long list of vanquished enemies who dared to test our mettle.”

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the president’s focus will be on “remembering the lives that were lost” and honoring those who “put their lives on the line to help” respond to the tragedy.

The Shanksville ceremony will include the sounds of the Tower of Voices, a 93-foot-tall concrete and steel structure featuring a wind chime for each person on board with its own distinctive sound.

The tower is the final phase of the 2,200-acre Flight 93 National Memorial. A visitor’s center opened three years ago; a memorial plaza was dedicated on the 10th anniversary in 2011.

The 9/11 commemoration has become an annual event for presidents since President George W. Bush grabbed a bullhorn to speak to workers in the rubble of the destroyed World Trade Center.

While some of the workers said they couldn’t hear him, Bush said: “I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! … And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!”

More: Wind chimes give voice to the heroes of Flight 93 two days before 9/11 anniversary

More: These iconic images from 9/11 are truly unforgettable

 

 

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England v India – fifth Test, day five, The Oval – Live – BBC Sport

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged the international community to prevent a Syrian government offensive in Syria’s Idlib, as the United Nations says it fears the century’s “worst humanitarian catastrophe” there.

In an article in the US daily Wall Street Journal published on Tuesday, Erdogan echoed the UN’s concerns on a potential humanitarian crisis, adding that an attack on the last rebel-held province would affect Turkey, Europe and beyond. 

“Not only innocent Syrians, but the entire world stands to pay the price [otherwise],” he said.

Erdogan, who met with his Russian and Iranian counterparts at a summit in Tehran last week, also said Russia and Iran had a responsibility to stop the humanitarian disaster in Idlib.

Rebel-held Idlib province and adjacent rural areas, worn down by a succession of government victories in recent months.

President Bashar al-Assad has now set his sights on Idlib, and his forces have stepped up bombardment of the densely populated province since the beginning of the month.

The UN’s warning on the issue came from the international organisation’s humanitarian coordination agency (OCHA) on Monday.

“We’re deeply concerned about this recent escalation of violence, which has resulted in the displacement of over 30,000 in the area. That’s something we’re monitoring very closely,” OCHA spokesman David Swanson told the AFP news agency.

Disagreement

Russia and Iran, which support Assad’s regime, and Turkey, which backs the moderate opposition, have been in close cooperation for the last 1.5 years that aim at finding a solution to the Syrian conflict.

Various so-called “de-escalation zones” were agreed among the three guarantor powers in Syria as a result of multiple rounds of talks, including Idlib. 

Russia and Iran want to eliminate what they call “terrorist groups” in the province neighbouring Turkey. Ankara wants to disarm these groups, while keeping the peace in Idlib.

Last week’s summit in Tehran between the three sides did not produce any agreement, as Iran and Russia rejected Turkey’s call for a continued ceasefire in the rebel bastion.

Delegations from the three countries will be in Geneva on Tuesday to meet the UN’s Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura.

Turkey, afraid of hundreds of thousands of new refugees will flow to its borders, already hosts over three million refugees.

The UN has said as many as 800,000 people could be displaced by a regime assault on Idlib and surrounding areas.

Over two million people live in the zone now, hundreds of thousands of them already displaced by the brutal seven-year war and others heavily dependent on humanitarian aid to survive.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

When it comes languages, Japanese stands out as one of the more difficult to learn.

It’s not such a problem for Beni the Shiba Inu, who can apparently say the words taberu — that’s “to eat” in Japanese, then hanbagu, which translates to “hamburger steaks.”

Beni is the star pet of Twitter user @a_t_k123, who SoraNews24 notes has been part of their household for just a little over a year now. 

Anyway, he can probably speak better Japanese than the rest of us rookies, as seen in this video demonstrating his incredible language skills.

Aside from his speaking abilities, Beni is just an all-round great dog. Like when he winks. 

Or pulls off a school uniform.

Or when he’s afraid of the water.

And especially when he has his face smushed.

We love you, Beni.

Editors, USA TODAY
Published 3:51 a.m. ET Sept. 11, 2018

9-11-01: A date we will never forget

17 years out from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the nation comes together Tuesday to mourn and remember a day that changed history. The country watched in horror as hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attack killed 2,996 people, making it the deadliest foreign attack ever on U.S. soil, while another 10,000 first responders and others who were in the World Trade Center area have been diagnosed with cancer. Each anniversary brings a resurgence of memories from that fateful day, but the heartbreaking visuals are particularly striking. Here are 12 of the most memorable photos from the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Florence takes aim at Carolinas

Hurricane Florence, which surged from a Category 1 to a Category 4 hurricane in just 13 hours, could further intensify to Cat 5 status Tuesday as it moves closer to the Carolinas. In South Carolina alone, more than 1 million residents and tourists have been ordered to evacuate from eight coastal areas, with Gov. Henry McMaster vowing that state officials “are not going to gamble” with people’s lives.Schools and county offices in 26 of the state’s 46 counties will be closed, while 177 health-care facilities, including 19 hospitals, also are being evacuated. The National Hurricane Center warns that a Category 4 hurricane could bring “catastrophic damage” and that such storms will snap or uproot most trees and knock out power in some areas for weeks or months. Some portions of the Carolinas could see as much as 30 to 40 inches of rain from Florence, the National Weather Service added. Such rainfall would lead to river flooding that “could last for days or weeks.” 

Bob Woodward’s controversial White House book hits stores

Today is the day readers can get a copy of Bob Woodward’s controversial and highly talked about book, “Fear.” Thanks to the leaking of many of the juiciest details, the book, being published Tuesday by Simon and Schuster, is already the number one bestseller in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany. The title refers to the word President Donald Trump once told the journalist described “real power.” But Woodward had other possibilities: “Crazytown,” a quote he attributes to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, or  “Zoo Without Walls,” the phrase that Kelly’s predecessor, Reince Priebus, used to describe the Trump administration. All the names suggest the portrait Woodward paints of a White House in chaos, led by an erratic president whose own top aides maneuver to prevent him from taking steps they worry could be catastrophic.

Public vigil for rapper Mac Miller

Thousands of fans are expected to honor and celebrate Mac Miller’s life at a public vigil Tuesday after the rapper, 26, was found dead at his Los Angeles home last week. An autopsy was completed on Monday, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, but an official cause of death won’t be released until toxicology results come back. Miller, born Malcolm James McCormick, had reportedly struggled with substance abuse. Nightfall Records, a recording label based in Pittsburgh, will host the vigil beginning at 5 p.m. ET at Frick Park. 

Google set for European Union showdown over data privacy 

Google is going to the European Union Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Tuesday with France’s data privacy regulator over an order to remove search results worldwide upon request. The dispute pits data privacy concerns against the public’s right to know, while also raising thorny questions about how to enforce differing legal jurisdictions when it comes to the borderless internet The two sides will be seeking clarification on a 2015 decision by the French regulator requiring Google to remove results for all its search engines on request, and not just on European country sites like google.fr. The court’s ruling is expected within months.

Contributing: Associated Press 

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Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen will leave Ferrari at the end of this season and rejoin Sauber.

The 38-year-old Finn will be replaced at Ferrari by 20-year-old Monaco-born Sauber driver Charles Leclerc, who will partner Sebastian Vettel in 2019.

Raikkonen has spent five years at Ferrari in his second spell at the Italian team.

He has has signed a two-year contract with Sauber, where he made his Formula 1 debut in 2001.

“Feels extremely good to go back where it all began,” said Raikkonen in a post on Instagram.

Raikkonen is the last Ferrari driver to win the world championship in 2007, before taking a two-year break from F1 in 2010 to compete in the World Rally Championship.

He returned to the sport with Lotus in 2012 and then rejoined Ferrari in 2014. He has 20 Grands Prix wins and 100 podiums in his career to date.

“Signing Raikkonen as our driver represents an important pillar of our project, and brings us closer to our target of making significant progress as a team in the near future,” said Sauber team boss Frederic Vasseur.

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene said: “Kimi’s contribution to the team, both as a driver and on account of his human qualities, has been fundamental. He played a decisive role in the team’s growth and was, at the same time, always a great team player.”

‘Dreams do come true’

Leclerc has been picked as the Ferrari’s next potential star, after impressing in his debut F1 season.

“Dreams do come true,” Leclerc posted on Twitter. “I will be eternally grateful to Ferrari for the opportunity given.”

In a statement he paid tribute to his late father and his friend Jules Bianchi, who died in 2015, after a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

“To a person that is not part of this world anymore but to whom I owe everything of what is happening to me, Papa,” said Leclerc. “To Jules, thank you for all the things you learnt me, we will never forget you, and to all the persons that supported me and believed in me.

“I will work harder than ever to not disappoint you. But first, there is a season to finish with an amazing team that gave me the opportunity to fight and show my potential.”

More to follow.

The Memory and Human Rights Museum in Santiago, Chile’s capital, was an initiative of former president and newly-appointed UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet – who herself was a victim of torture under Augusto Pinochet’s rule.

It opened in 2010 and became part of an ongoing debate over the legacy of Chile’s former leader.

Mauricio Rojas, the newly appointed culture minister, was forced to resign after four days in office over comments he had made about the museum in a 2015 book. He had accused the institution of manipulating history and attempting to shock visitors to “prevent them from reasoning”.

The museum features instruments of torture and victim’s testimonies alongside historical documents and drawings by children whose parents were arrested under Pinochet’s rule.

“It’s a shameless and inaccurate use of a national tragedy that touched so many [Chileans] directly,” he said. 

Rojas – who fled Chile following the US-backed coup d’etat that brought Pinochet to power – later said the comments did not reflect his current view and that he had not intended to diminish or justify the “systematic and grave” human rights violations that took place.

On September 11, 1973, Pinochet seized power by overthrowing the democratically-elected Marxist President Salvador Allende, and went on to rule for the next 17 years.

He stepped down in 1990, following a referendum on extending his term.

Under his rule, the Latin American country flourished economically, but the opposition was repressed and thousands of people were executed, disappeared and tortured by state forces.

While Pinochet is vilified as a ruthless dictator on the international stage, the view in his homeland has always been more nuanced, with some still viewing his rule as a positive force.

As the country marks the 45th anniversary of the coup on Tuesday, is Pinochet’s shadow, which has loomed large for decades, beginning to recede?

“There’s a general awareness in Chile that during the dictatorship years, fundamental human rights were violated in a systematic and cruel manner,” said Francisco Javier Estevez, the director of the Museum.

“[Rojas’ comments] generated a very large reaction. The political and cultural worlds said, ‘No, we’re going to defend this museum because it tells the truth and, if we want to contribute to a more just society, we are going to have to get together behind the principles of truth and justice so that [human rights abuses] never happen again’,” he told Al Jazeera.

Despite survivor testimonies, convictions and state acknowledgement, some so-called “negacionistas” – or deniers – believe that the Pinochet leadership was innocent.

“Those who deny that human rights violations were committed [or] try to justify them are a powerful minority,” said Estevez. “They consider the human rights violations to have been inevitable”.

According to an expert on human rights developments in Chile who requested anonymity, Pinochet was able to tailor his legacy by granting amnesty to himself and other figures as one of his final acts before leaving office.

He remained in the public eye, first in his role as head of the military, which he held until 1998, and then as a self-styled “senator for life”.

“The amnesty legislation fully protected Pinochet. It was a bullet-proof protection from any serious attempts to investigate him for atrocities,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Nobody was taking any local investigation against Pinochet seriously, he was a senator for life, he had immunity, so he felt comfortable.”

A study published three years ago running from 1987 to 2015 found that almost one in five Chileans still held a positive view of Pinochet.

The survey found the Pinochet period was viewed less positively when the right returned to power under Sebastian Pinera in 2010.

The study suggested it was concerns over this return, rather than human rights arguments, that soured views.

In December 2017, Pinera won the presidency once more and appointed two former vocal supporters of Pinochet to his cabinet.

Interior Minister Andres Chadwick and Justice Minister Hernan Larrain had defended the Colonia Dignidad enclave, where a cult-like community operated, led by fugitive former Nazi and paedophile Paul Shafer.

It later emerged that state security officials from the secret police had tortured and murdered prisoners there. 

Chadwick, Larrain and Pinera opposed Pinochet’s arrest and detention in London in 1998. They say their views have now changed.

There are concerns that Pinera won’t pursue convictions for human rights abuses under Pinochet as fervently as Bachelet.

Chile still operates under a 1980 constitution, which was approved in a controversial plebiscite during the Pinochet years. It prevents immediate reelection, so presidents cannot serve consecutive terms.

Over the past 13 years, Chile’s top seat has transferred from Bachelet to Pinera, back to Bachelet and then again to Pinera, creating a certain amount of policy overlap.

For the families, there is no reconciliation.

Alicia Juica Rocco, AFDD

In 2011, during his first term in office, Pinera completed a process started during Bachelet’s first term, raising the number of victims officially recognised by the state to 40,018.

The acknowledgement of these 9,800 additional victims brought the total amount of compensation paid annually by the government to around $123m.

Those officially recognised as survivors of rights abuses receive financial compensation, along with health, housing and education benefits. Families of those the state accepts were killed or “disappeared” also receive compensation.

For many relatives, compensation is not enough.

Alicia Juicia Rocco’s father, Mario Juica Vega, has not been seen since he was arrested in August 1976. 

The 55-year-old, who was 13 when her father was taken, joined the Group of Relatives of the Disappeared and Detained (AFDD) as soon as she was old enough to go out alone.

“The AFDD is a second home. It’s a group of my equals where I can talk about the shame and rage and hopelessness that I feel,” Juica Rocco tells Al Jazeera.

Protests are expected to take place in Santiago on Tuesday, calling on the military to release information on the whereabouts of the remains of those murdered and “disappeared”.

“The process of identifying victims is ongoing but the main work there is done. What we don’t have is information about what happened to the remains of these victims,” said Estevez, director of the Museum. “This information has been denied us”.

The military initially claimed that no such documentation exists, and now maintains these details were recorded, but the paperwork has been destroyed.

The 2015 study found little evidence of a “sincere reconciliation”, with 76 percent saying they had not forgotten the divisions of the past.

“If we take steps forward with more truth and less impunity, then yes, the possible and inevitable consequence is reconciliation,” said Estevez. “But without justice, without truth, a reconciliation with impunity – this is impossible”.  

“For the families, there is no reconciliation,” said Juica Rocco.

“No one can excuse [the disappearance of] a father or son because we are their blood and we have suffered the consequence of their absence in body and soul”.

“I broke a story about another female journalist, Zeenat Shahzadi, who was allegedly abducted by security forces. She was 24. I could tell this could happen to me next,” Eitizaz says. “First, a storm of sexual harassment that lasted over a month. My social media was flooded by trolls. They started off abusing me with foul language, like ‘whore, bitch.’”

At the time, her social media editor advised her to go off the grid. She disagreed. 

“Women’s spaces keep on shrinking, whether it’s online or in real life. We must not give up our spaces. So to me it doesn’t make sense to stay silent,” she says.

Resolve, kindness, and solidarity is what connects these two women in Pakistan with the global movement fighting for an online space defined not by online harassment, but by irrefutably upholding gender equality. It is difficult to predict which way this global battle will tilt, but women, who refuse to lose control of their online identities, are teaching others about the value of their online voice and data.

“The time has passed where perpetrators go unpunished,” Dad says. 

And she’s right. With every tech-oriented class, every woman practicing safe sexting, every new law passed, and every revenge porn site shut down, women are slowly regaining control of their online identities.

Why did the International Tennis Federation issue a statement Monday supporting chair umpire Carlos Ramos’ handling of the US Open women’s final?

Because he followed the rules.

Serena Williams, who lost to Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4, accused Ramos of sexism after he issued her three code violations. And the debate has raged since.

While there’s no doubt Williams has endured sexism and racism throughout her long and historic career, and that sexism continues to exist in tennis, it doesn’t mean bias was at play on Saturday.

Before Ramos issued the third code violation, which cost Williams a full game, she had called Ramos, a veteran at Grand Slam tournaments, a “liar’’ and a “thief.’’

“Do you know how many other men do things that are much worse than that?” she said during an on-court discussion with US Open officials.

Now, let’s check the 2018 Official Grand Slam Rule Book.

“… verbal  abuse  is  defined  as  a  statement  about  an official, opponent, sponsor, spectator or other person that  implies  dishonesty or is derogatory, insulting or otherwise abusive.”

To call an umpire a liar and a thief clearly implies dishonesty.

More: Cartoonist defends controversial portrayal of Serena Williams

Novak Djokovic: Umpire ‘should not have pushed’ Serena Williams in US Open final

As for the notion that men get away with saying and doing much worse, that has not always been the case in Ramos’ history as a chair umpire.

During the 2016 Olympics, Ramos issued a code violation to Andy Murray after thinking Murray had called Ramos “stupid.’’ Murray later claimed he said “stupid umpiring,’’ not “stupid umpire.”

During a fourth-round match at the 2017 French Open, Rafael Nadal lost a first serve after Ramos issued a code violation for Nadal taking too much time. Nadal later fired back, saying Ramos would “never chair another of his matches again.”

In July at Wimbledon, Ramos issued Novak Djokovic a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct because Djokovic threw his racket to the ground.

Let’s not forget how the controversy began for Williams. In the second set, Ramos saw Serena’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, signaling to her and Ramos issued a first code violation — and a warning — for the prohibited coaching from the stands. (In the 2016 French Open, Ramos also issued Serena’s sister, Venus, a warning for coaching.)

Mouratoglou on Saturday admitted he was coaching and said Ramos should have quietly warned Williams to tell Mouratoglou to stop.

“That’s what umpires do all year,” the coach said, “and it would have ended there, and we would have avoided a drama that was totally avoidable.”

But assessing code violations for coaching is not uncommon, according to information provided by the ITF. Of the 31 code violations assessed during the three Grand Slams before the US Open, 11 of them were for coaching — more than any other code violation.

Because Williams was issued a warning for the coaching violation, she was immediately assessed a code violation when she slammed her racket onto the court and received a  point penalty.

During the three previous Grand Slams — the French Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open — men were assessed 59 code violations, almost twice as many as the women. The men were issued violations for coaching nine times and the most common violation was abuse of racket/equipment 19 times.

What got most seriously abused at the US Open — Ramos’ character.

Women deserve better from professional tennis, but Ramos deserved better from Williams, too.

 

 

TORONTO – It’s true. Robert Redford is holstering his gun.

The 82-year-old star leans back in his chair at Toronto International Film Festival, his hair slightly mussed, dressed casually this crisp Sunday afternoon. He’s here for “The Old Man & the Gun” (in theaters Sept. 28 in New York and Los Angeles; expands Oct. 5 to Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington), his self-proclaimed retirement from acting.

In it, Redford takes on the true story of charismatic, dapper 78-year-old bank robber Forrest Tucker, a tale he first read about in The New Yorker. Dressed in a three-piece suit, “the guy robs 17 banks, got caught 17 times, went to prison 17 times and escaped 17 times,” Redford says. “I thought, ‘Now, that is a great story,’ particularly since the guy had fun doing it.”

Fun is what the Sundance Kid decided his curtain call should be. His previous film, “Our Souls at Night,” co-starring Jane Fonda, “was a very sad love story about older people. It was kind of heavy,” he says. “And so I thought, ‘Gee, I’d like to do something more upbeat and positive.’ Particularly since it seems we’re living in such dark times, certainly politically.”

With accusations hitting the White House daily, it’s a fascinating time to talk to Redford about his legacy, particularly the making of 1976’s “All the President’s Men.” Sit with the movie star and he’ll rehash how he read Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s bylines and later invited the duo over to his New York apartment before Richard Nixon resigned.

He’s still in contact with Woodward, who is in the headlines again with “Fear: Trump in the White House,” his explosive new book about President Donald Trump. “I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. But it’s pure Woodward,” Redford says. 

Redford predicts a glut of films about Trump’s White House, but “you’ve got to get some distance. We’ll have to wait for a while, when the public sees it as history, and then I think you can make a film about it that will remind people of how it was. And you’ll also be able to take chances you couldn’t take when it’s in the moment.”

In “The Old Man & the Gun,” Redford romances a new woman (Sissy Spacek), plots new marks and toys with a cop (Casey Affleck) hot on his trail. Forrest is a man who lives definitively, pushing away any twinges of regret about his lifestyle. “That’s why he’s always happy,” the actor says. “He didn’t look back.”

Does Redford live like that?

“I look both ways,” he chuckles. “You know, you get to a point where you live a career, you live a life where you’re constantly moving forward and you don’t think about looking back. And you get to be a certain age where you become more philosophical – that’s when you start to look back and go, ‘Boy, that was a mistake’ and ‘Well, that was OK.’ And I think that’s probably where I am.”

In person, Redford, whose thick hair grays just at his temples, is a man you don’t want to interrupt. The legendary actor and director has stories for days, and happily harks back to his early days, zeroing in on when he was cast in Sidney Lumet’s “The Iceman Cometh.” The 1960 TV production of Eugene O’Neill’s play starred Jason Robards, whose powerful performance overwhelmed young Redford.

“I was pretty well ignored, because I was a young actor that nobody really knew about,” he says. “But Jason was very kind to me. And he didn’t need to be.”

Redford never forgot it. Robards, who struggled with alcohol, was nearly killed in a 1972 car crash. “His face was badly damaged and had to be repaired,” Redford says. “Once it was, and he was looking back to normal, he couldn’t get work. Hollywood being Hollywood, they considered he was yesterday and damaged.

“So when ‘All the President’s Men’ came around and I had control over that project, I felt he should be Ben Bradlee,” Redford says. The studio said no. “Finally, I said ‘Look, either you let me work with him or I won’t do it.’ Then he won an Academy Award.”

He smiles. “It was a nice moment of what I call payback. It was a nice chance for me to pay back Jason, whom I had such admiration for.”

What now? Redford’s first official retirement project will be directing “109 East Palace,” a film about J. Robert Oppenheimer developing the atomic bomb.

“Moving on doesn’t mean you retire,” Redford says. “When you really, really talk about retirement, you’re talking about something stopping. … For me, (this means) going back to my artwork and directing.” 

 

 

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