Mike Nichols, a master of all entertainment mediums, dead at age 83
NEW YORK — A legend of film, theater and comedy in nearly equal measure, Mike Nichols was an unquestioned fixture of smart, urbane American culture across a relentlessly versatile, six-decade career that on stage or screen, reliably coursed with crackling intelligence.
Nichols won nine Tonys, an Oscar, several Emmys and a Grammy. He made up the lanky half of his groundbreaking comic duo with Elaine May. As a director, he made countless performers — from Dustin Hoffman to Whoopi Goldberg — into stars. To consistent acclaim, he adapted Edward Albee, Neil Simon, Tony Kushner and Arthur Miller.
Nichols, who died Wednesday night in New York at 83, was a supreme orchestrator of material, talent and taste. In films like “The Graduate,” ”Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “Carnal Knowledge,” he left a firm stamp of authorship. With a dry wit and a classical eye, he choreographed caustic social commentaries of couples drunk with bitterness, bored with regret and apprehensive in flight.
“I keep coming back to it, over and over: adultery and cheating,” Nichols, who was divorced three times before marrying ABC News’ Diane Sawyer in 1988, said last year. “It’s the most interesting problem in the theater. How else do you get Oedipus? That’s the first cheating in the theater.”
Meryl Streep, who stared in Nichols’ “Silkwood” and “Heartburn,” recalled him as “a director who cried when he laughed, a friend without whom, well, we can’t imagine our world.”
Vigilante fighters say Boko Haram militants have killed about 45 people in Nigerian village
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — The leader of a vigilante fighter group in Nigeria says Boko Haram militants have killed about 45 people in an attack on a village.
Muhammed Gava of the Nigeria Vigilante Group said the assault occurred Wednesday in Azaya Kura village in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno state. He told The Associated Press on Thursday that the heavily armed Boko Haram militants surged through the village in several trucks, destroying houses and carting away food and livestock.
Shettima Lawan, a local politician, mourned the attack, telling the AP: “I am still searching for motives behind the mass killing and destruction.”
The village is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno. The state has been hit the hardest by Boko Haram’s five-year insurgency.
The militants continue to pursue their aim to carve out an “Islamic caliphate” under their black and white flag. Last week, Boko Haram fighters captured Chibok town, where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped six months ago. Nigeria’s army recaptured Chibok on Saturday.
Kerry arrives in Vienna to join Iran nuclear negotiations
VIENNA — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held out hope of a last-minute nuclear deal with Iran Thursday, as he added his diplomatic muscle to talks aimed at overcoming deep differences with Tehran over the size and scope of its future atomic activities.
After landing in Vienna, Kerry met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif and former EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on the sidelines of the talks that face a Monday deadline. U.S. officials said he would assess the situation and then decide on additional meetings and whether to stay in Vienna through the weekend. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius planned to join the talks on Friday along with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.
Senior negotiators are working on an agreement to reduce the potency of Iran’s nuclear program and slow its technical ability to produce atomic weapons. Iran insists it has no interest in making such arms but is negotiating because it wants an end to international sanctions meant to force an end to programs that could be used for such a purpose.
Before arrival, Kerry expressed hope that a deal could be forged by the Monday target date and said negotiators “are not talking about an extension” with Iran despite expectations that differences are too great to be bridged in the next four days. However, he acknowledged that some elements of an agreement might not be completed by the deadline.
By wire sources