Mubeen Blogs

Macron says negotiated peace might take priority over Putin war crimes trial; US announces $300m arms package but ‘don’t use on Russian soil’ See all our coverage of the war in Ukraine Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Nxewq32

Aras Amiri, a British Council employee, was held in Evin prison with seven members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation Aras Amiri has kept a low profile since she was released from Iranian detention two years ago, avoiding interview requests after returning to the UK. But now, the British Council employee, who spent three years in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, wants to speak. An injustice has compelled her: the detention of seven friends and environmentalists she left behind. Kept in solitary confinement for 69 days, Amiri was allowed to return to Britain after serving just under a third of a 10-year prison sentence. In the women’s ward, she not only met fellow British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, but Niloufar Bayani and Sepideh Kashani, two of the seven members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation in jail since 2018 . Of the nine originally jailed, one has been released after serving his two-year sentence and another, the founder of the group, Kavous Seyed Em

Man arrested on suspicion of manslaughter with eight survivors also recovered from water A 17-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl have died and a man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after an incident on Bournemouth beach, Dorset police have said. Police responded to the beach near Bournemouth pier after receiving a call for assistance at 4:32pm. Emergency responders recovered 10 people from the water, including the man in his 40s who investigators later arrested in connection with the incident. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/7UjzinL

The blaze, which began near Inverness in Scotland, is still not out after four days and its cause is unknown Firefighters have spent four days battling a wildfire in the Scottish Highlands that officials believe is on its way to becoming the largest by area on record in the UK and which has been photographed from space. The fire broke out at Cannich near Inverness on Sunday and has grown to an area measuring roughly 8km by 8km (24 square miles). Two firefighters were injured on Tuesday after being in an accident in their all-terrain vehicle while tackling the blaze. They have since been discharged from the hospital, the community safety minister, Siobhian Brown, said in the Scottish parliament on Wednesday. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/U20deE6

The director of This is England’s take on a novel about an 18th-century counterfeiting gang is funny, moving, shocking and totally compelling. He has effortlessly reinvented a whole genre Benjamin Myers’ 2017 novel The Gallows Pole told the true-life tale of the 18th-century gang of coin clippers led by “King” David Hartley, whose illegal work and attendant violence came to dominate Cragg Vale in West Yorkshire. It had formerly been the home of a thriving cottage textiles industry, but the advent of the industrial revolution and the rise of nearby Halifax as the centre for all that trade had left surrounding towns and villages concomitantly impoverished. In Myers’ hands, it is a powerful story of desperation, class warfare and the ability of money to corrupt – or further corrupt – anyone it touches. Though it must be said that it is so unrelentingly grim and humourless that at times you do feel you are moments away from hearing the voice of Jim Broadbent as the pretentious playwright

Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/45DiKOl

Creatures dubbed the ambulator roamed across the continent’s arid interior 3.5 million years ago, scientists say Scientists have identified one of Australia’s first long-distance walkers: a 250kg marsupial with “heeled hands” that roamed across the continent’s arid interior 3.5 million years ago. Using 3D scanning, Flinders University palaeontologists have described a new group of ancient marsupial, calling it Ambulator – meaning walker or wanderer – for its specific leg and feet adaptations that equipped it to efficiently roam long distances. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/JUqcFxZ

This carefully scripted hour-long documentary gives voice to both sides of the transgender debate. But given its divisive and complex topic, it is a mere introduction ‘Battle lines have been drawn and any constructive dialogue seems to be impossible.” So runs the opening line of the very carefully scripted narration of Gender Wars, a documentary about one of the most polarising, saddening, enraging and toxic debates of our time. Channel 4 has bitten the bullet and is the first, I think, to produce a programme giving voice to both sides of what is usually called “the trans issue”. However, the first problem it faces is that “the trans issue” is actually about 400 issues packed into one, which has partly contributed to the endless difficulties in approaching, let alone resolving, it. Wisely, Gender Wars does not try to cover everything. It looks at the phrase “trans women are women” and the ramifications, if it is to be taken not as a catchy slogan, embodying the idea that everyone sho

It may have an absolutely star-packed cast, but this meandering political farce will rapidly lose your interest – unless you’re an aficionado of US political scandals from the 70s White House Plumbers is an A-list, star-stuffed, prestige retelling of the Watergate scandal, which might sound familiar to viewers of last year’s Gaslit , another A-list, star-stuffed, prestige retelling of the Watergate scandal. Even with Julia Roberts as its star, Gaslit got lost in the avalanche of great television that continues to arrive, and White House Plumbers may share the same fate. Here, the mood is more satirical, and it veers into slapstick, although it tries to balance that with a strand of serious family and personal drama. It has a slick elegance to it, but it never quite feels as if it pulls the many elements together successfully. The Veep showrunner David Mandel directs, which should give some idea of the acerbic tone it aims for. The obligatory “based on a true story” note that opens th

Host director Rob Savage makes the most of a ho-hum short story from the horror master The creative constraints of the early Covid era, forcing writers and directors to maximise the minimalism of remote production, led to an inevitable and seemingly inexorable dip in quality. Stories were told on laptops or phones or both at a time when most of us wanted to escape the exhaustion of life lived on a screen, not embrace it, the overwhelming majority offering nothing more than a depressing reminder of how incredibly small our world had suddenly become. But fresh young British director Rob Savage, using the same base tools as his far more experienced peers, found a way to turn our eyerolls into wide-eyed admiration with his ingeniously effective horror Host . Based entirely on Zoom, it told the story of group of friends who decide to do a guided seance online, and while not a single viewer will be surprised about how this turns out to be a very, very bad idea, the ways in which it descend

Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/wCLYzFo

‘He knew the anguish of the marrow’ When I was eight, my mother made me a costume for a Halloween party. Even at eight, this seemed like an important party. The costume was beautiful, as the things my mother made often were: more beautiful than a child’s thing ought to be, more beautiful than a mother ought to be able to make after work. It was a skeleton costume: a unitard made from stocking fabric, painted with fluorescent paint; I remember the care she took to make the bones accurate, to make them just my size, matching femur to femur. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/DXtEpmc

Depressingly realistic but furious and heartbreaking from start to finish, the power balance truly tipped in the finale – and somehow became even more toxic Spoiler alert: this recap is for people watching Succession season four. Don’t read on unless you’ve watched the finale, episode 10. “Carpe the diem, people.” As the curtain came down on the sweary super-rich saga, the sibs self-sabotaged one last time. Here’s your board report on the feature-length finale, titled With Open Eyes … Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ibCQgex

Bill Hader’s intense, stomach-turning series is an extraordinary achievement, and it deserves far better than to play second banana to Succession Well, that’s it. The best series on television has ended. Since 2018 it has towered above its rivals, thanks to its highwire ability to mix incredible comedy with the sort of intense drama that leaves your stomach in knots for days. And now it’s over. Four seasons and done. Succession? What? No. I’m talking about Barry. Barry has concluded with “wow”, an episode of television that pulled off the remarkable job of creating a definitive ending and leaping forward a decade (for the second time in a month), while still managing to be the bitter Hollywood satire it always was. It was an extraordinary achievement, and you can’t help but feel that it deserved far more than to play second banana to Succession. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/vxrqZh9

After decades of savage put-downs, Paxo poignantly bows out of the quiz show amazed at the students’ knowledge, not their stupidity When television historians write about Jeremy Paxman, most attention will be given to his spell on Newsnight from 1989 to 2014 and the number of times he asked Michael Howard the same question when he was home secretary. But it is University Challenge that marks his longest association with a show: from 1994 until now. And, poignantly, unless the undergraduates from Durham and Bristol, the 2023 finalists, stayed up late for Newsnight in their early teens, this is the only part of their interrogator’s TV CV with which they will be familiar. There are different ways for a presenter to leave a significant gig. Phillip Schofield ’s abrupt two-stage implosion at ITV meant that he hosted his final editions of This Morning, Dancing On Ice and the British Soap Awards without knowing they were the last. Contrastingly, Paxman’s final Newsnight was a whole program

Peak is forecast for parts of the country, passing the 24.4C recorded in Plymouth on Sunday Tuesday could be the UK’s hottest day of the year so far, with 25C predicted in parts of the country, which would surpass the temperatures reached on Sunday. Dan Stroud, a Met Office meteorologist, said forecasters were expecting temperatures to reach 25C in “one or two spots … most likely across west Scotland” on Tuesday. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/dfByNru

What happens from here depends on how many members of the House prefer governing to chaos House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Joe Biden reached a deal last night to raise the debt ceiling and prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations. Is it a good deal? Who will bear the burden? Should it have ever gotten to this point? Did Biden blow it? Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ZLxvjR0

People’s party strengthens hold on Madrid and could take regions of Valencia and Aragón, according to poll Spain’s opposition conservative People’s party (PP) is heading for an emphatic win in Sunday’s key regional and municipal elections, winning an absolute majority in the city of Madrid and in the surrounding area. It is poised to wrest the regions of Valencia, Aragón and the Balearic islands from the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE). Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/MZXEj68

Two-time IndyCar champion wins race for first time Newgarden overtakes Marcus Ericsson in finals stages Josef Newgarden finally captured a long-awaited Indianapolis 500 win on Sunday and gave team owner Roger Penske his 19th and first since buying Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Newgarden clinched victory after he made an audacious pass of defending race winner Marcus Ericsson during a frantic 2.5-mile sprint to the finish. After the race was red-flagged for the third time in the closing laps, Newgarden was moved from fourth to second by race control. The two-time IndyCar champion, who had been 0 for 11 in the Indy 500, took advantage of the decision by slingshotting around Ericsson on the restart and then holding him off through the last two turns for the win. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/kzQ5DVh

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri wants to bring case examining alleged role of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ in his mistreatment by CIA A Guantánamo Bay prisoner tortured by the CIA has accused British intelligence agencies of complicity in his mistreatment in a new case before one of UK’s most secretive courts. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is alleged by the US to have plotted al-Qaida’s bombing of an American naval ship, is seeking to persuade the court to consider his complaint against MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/hEXoB14

Briton second to Anna Hall at prestigious Hypomeeting Johnson-Thompson: ‘I have blown the cobwebs off’ Katarina Johnson-Thompson believes she has rediscovered her mojo after an impressive second‑placed finish at the prestigious Hypomeeting in Götzis – and insists she is ready to “truly attack” again following her return to form. The 30-year-old has looked a shadow of her best since sustaining a career-threatening achilles rupture in 2020. But her performance here earned her 6,556 points – her best tally since winning the world title in 2019 – and has finally convinced her that she is on the road back. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/tvwTI5C

Barbarians 48-42 World XV Israel Folau is roundly booed after anti-gay comments in 2019 Boos again on Eddie Jones’s return to Twickenham but this time directed only at Israel Folau. The former Australia wing’s selection for the World XV raised eyebrows given the controversy his anti-gay social media posts caused in 2019 and he was regularly jeered by the Twickenham crowd. He scored a try, showcasing his unquestionable talent, but suffice to say he was persona non grata in south-west London. Jones, meanwhile, escaped unscathed on his first trip back to Twickenham. He played down the significance but it was almost six months to the day after his final England match ended in resounding boos and the axe soon followed. He never liked this fixture but after this you sense his opinion has changed. There can be no doubt that he enjoyed his triumphant return. Taking charge of the Barbarians, he flashed up on the big screen just after Seta Tamanivalu’s try had sealed an entertaining victory

Bournemouth fighter becomes WBO cruiserweight champion Okolie knocked down several times before losing on points Chris Billam-Smith is the new WBO cruiserweight world champion after defeating the previously unbeaten Lawrence Okolie, who was knocked down three times and also docked two points for his ugly and excessive brawling. Two of the judges had Billam-Smith a comprehensive winner by margins of 116-107 and 115-108 while the third official bizarrely decided it was a 112-112 draw. It was a ridiculous score and the first two judges at least captured the mayhem of Okolie’s desperate tactics and the controlled discipline of Billam-Smith who deserved all the plaudits. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/DzGKun8

Several Dutch celebrities among protesters, including Game of Thrones actor Carice van Houten More than 1,500 people were arrested during a protest by the Extinction Rebellion climate group in The Hague on Saturday, Dutch police said. Activists blocked a section of a motorway during the afternoon in protest against Dutch fossil fuel subsidies. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/4cpVFZk

Emma Hayes’s side’s ability to pick up points when playing their closest challengers helped them win a tight race You could be forgiven for assuming the Women’s Super League is a one-club show. Four league titles in a row, seven of the past nine (if you include the mini Spring Series of 2017), and three back-to-back doubles suggest a somewhat crushing dominance by Emma Hayes’s Chelsea. To an extent that is true, the silverware doesn’t lie. However, cut a little below the surface and Chelsea’s dominance has been chipped away at. “This isn’t Arsenal Ladies from 10 to 25 years ago,” said Hayes when asked whether Chelsea’s winning run is good for the league. “This is a different situation. Leagues are not being won five, six, seven games in advance, they’re being won on the last day three years running. As much as it might look like that, it’s a league of margins and we’re the team that has narrowly managed to win it.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/XJLz8B7

Canadian has recovered quickly from a brutal ankle injury and is stronger than ever mentally after a break from the game After an arduous time on the road this year, Bianca Andreescu’s fortunes finally appeared to be turning on her favoured American hardcourts at the beginning of spring. In Miami, she defeated world No 10, Maria Sakkari, en route to the fourth round of the WTA 1000 event. She was on song. But while she was battling Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round, disaster struck. Early in the second set, Andreescu landed badly on her ankle and fell. As she waited for the medical team, clearly in shock, Andreescu cried and screamed in pain and frustration. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3194Z5g

Bucks finalizing deal to make Raptors’ Griffin their head coach Griffin was assistant coach for Toronto’s 2019 NBA title team The Milwaukee Bucks are finalizing a deal to make Adrian Griffin their head coach after he spent the last five seasons as a Toronto Raptors assistant, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Saturday because the deal was still being completed. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/pRO0xPu

Toll from Russian missile attack on Dnipro rises to two; Medvedev says conflict could last decades; Blinken to visit Finland, Sweden and Norway See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/71MHfAy

Research by a doctors’ group and relatives’ accounts shed light on suffering over six weeks of conflict Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands injured in six weeks of fighting in Sudan between the armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The Sudanese American Physicians Association (Sapa) recorded at least 828 civilian deaths and 3,688 injuries between 15 April and 23 May, though the true number of casualties is thought to be much higher, owing to the difficulties families have had in retrieving bodies. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/aUcvpe0

After a disappointing 2022, the British heptathlete feels reinvigorated with a new coach and new goals “Stories need to be told, and athletes need to be honest,” says Katarina Johnson-Thompson, as she ruminates on her struggles and those of track and field. “It’s not a fake sport, yet you hear a lot of fake one-liners which are designed not to cause any controversy. But I feel we should be honest with our injuries, our ups and downs, and the fact we’re not always flying high.” The former heptathlon world champion is always blisteringly frank, even though she acknowledges that opening up can mean there is a “vulnerability about you, and that aura might not be there”. And on a glorious spring morning in Götzis, where she will begin her heptathlon season at the prestigious HypoMeeting on Saturday, she wants to open up again. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/mHIQ1PD

He made his name with violence-peppered working-class realism, but now the This is England creator is doing historical drama. We step inside his take on a brutal 18th-century gang You might think it would take a lot to make Shane Meadows wince, but that’s what is happening right now. “Some of the violence is up there with [Meadows’ 2004 film] Dead Man’s Shoes ,” says the writer and director, referring to The Gallows Pole, Benjamin Myers’ novel about an 18th-century West Yorkshire counterfeit gang that he is now bringing to the small screen. “Some of it,” he adds, “actually turned my stomach.” What can compete with the infamous scene in the film-maker’s brutal revenge thriller where three men are fed a bucket (well, kettle) load of LSD and then – via gun, knife and a nose punched into a brain – executed, one by one? The Gallows Pole launches at 9pm on Wednesday 31 May on BBC Two, with all episodes available immediately on iPlayer Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.t

A daring cross-border raid in Belgorod; Russia and China deepen their economic ties Every week we wrap up the must-reads from our coverage of the Ukraine war, from news and features to analysis, visual guides and opinion. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/6Fjt3XP

The result of an extraordinary ecological history, many of New Zealand’s birds are highly unusual but all are beloved When unsuspecting Miami zoo ambassador Ron Magill woke on Tuesday, he could not have anticipated the storm of fury he was about to encounter. Opening his inbox, the wave broke: hundreds of furious tweets, emails, videos, trending hashtags, TikToks. A 13,000-signature petition, news stories leading every local media outlet, a formal government statement. As the day wore on, the furore attracted attention from New Zealand’s highest office – the prime minister weighed in at a press conference. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/6IyexUT

Food is a reflection of a society, says Michelin-starred chef whose African dishes with a twist are shaking up the fine-dining scene In a small house on a quiet residential street in southern Paris, a tiny restaurant with only 28 covers has become the most sought-after eating experience in France. When the redesigned MoSuke restaurant reopens next week, boasting unique west and central African dishes re-interpreted with a French and Japanese twist, it will already be fully booked for months – filling up less than two hours after reservations opened. Its clientele of all ages and backgrounds is more diverse than the classic Paris restaurant scene and it has been described as a fine-dining revolution in France. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/aGH1L8z

Police say two people were fatally stabbed and two police officers who came to investigate were shot dead Japanese police have detained a suspect who had been holed up in a building after allegedly killing four people including two police officers in a gun and knife attack, an official said. The man was taken into custody outside the farm property near the city of Nakano in Nagano region, with police confirming a fourth fatality overnight – an elderly woman who was found injured at the scene and later pronounced dead. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/xRosm76

Russia moving nuclear weapons to Belarus; Wagner begins withdrawing forces from Bakhmut Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/KBs6uJq

Former spin doctor tells Hay festival politics lessons for young children could be called ‘arguing’ or ‘big issues’ Politics should be taught in primary schools, Alastair Campbell has said, with the former spin doctor advising that the lessons for young children could be called “arguing”. “We teach our kids that PE, running around the playground, is good for them. I think we should teach our kids to be interested in and engaged in politics,” Campbell told an audience at the Hay festival. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/8WcRXdh

This documentary follows union leaders as they battle for workers’ pay rises. Brace for infuriating pundits and heartbreaking picket lines “He’s a communist. He’s antichrist. He’s against God,” shouts a protester as Mick Lynch and the rest of the RMT delegation arrive for talks. “Blimey,” says Lynch, sad eyes a-twinkle. “You need to wake up, young man!” adds the protester. “At least he called me young,” says Lynch. You need a thick skin to be a union leader in 2023. Strike: Inside the Unions profiles three senior union figures as a winter of discontent blossoms into a spring of something worse. I never thought I’d see the day: since Margaret Thatcher’s defeat of the miners’ strike in 1985, it has seemed scarcely credible that organised labour could galvanise widespread industrial action, still less command public support for it. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/PnYr9uK

He can’t afford to move out and refuses to tell his friends or family what’s going on. I’m worried about his mental health – and the effect on our seven-year-old My husband and I no longer have romantic feelings for each other and have agreed to separate. However, my husband is paid much less than me and can’t afford to live separately, so we have agreed to live together as a family with our seven-year-old daughter for the time being . I worry that this is confusing for her and will have a negative impact. It would be better if we could explain it to her, but my husband does not want to tell his family or friends that we are no longer together. I would like our separation to be more formalised, but my husband has severe mental health problems and I worry about the result of pushing him to be more honest with his family and friends. I feel this is forcing me and my daughter to live a lie. I can’t move on with my life because I feel forced to pretend everything is fine. What

In a new book, Christopher Reddy tackles the problems faced by the scientific community during moments of major crisis In the age of the anti-expert, Christopher Reddy has a daring proposition for scientists – put yourself out there. Reddy, a chemist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who specialises in oil spills and related environmental disasters, has watched in despair as public confidence in scientists has plummeted in recent years, culminating in widespread pushback against public health measures and vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ou0d9tZ

TikTokers may be throwing out the trousers, but it’s just part of an endless and turbulent fashion cycle Skinny jeans have never been more uncool – or more popular. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that slim-stretch styles overwhelmingly make up the most sales in men’s denim – over 70% – even as the skinny look remains a fashion disaster. In the early 2000s, skinny jeans were everywhere, paired with other trends of the era like ballet flats, peplum tops and Louboutin heels. They were sold by designer brands and fast fashion stores. But by the end of the decade they were falling out of favor. Now, it’s not just the runways that are full of roomy, tailored trousers (Dior, Saint Laurent, Prada and the Row all sent models down their latest runways in panoramic trousers that could have doubled as street-sweepers): even Gen Z fashionistas of TikTok have taken to proudly throwing theirs away in favor of roomier denim. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/lNUXKJ

She’s worked with luminous slugs, murderous sex toys and inflatable slides. Now the Turner-nominated performance artist – and occasional nudist – is taking over the London Underground It’s rush hour, but not as you know it. On a disused train platform, a gathering of giant toads, lizards and salamanders are causing quite a stir. Groups of schoolchildren stand and point, tourists pose for selfies and sleepy commuters squint in bafflement. It’s fun standing on the platform and clocking the expressions on passenger’s faces as they trudge down the stairs of London’s Gloucester Road tube station only to be confronted by their new amphibian travel companions. “Normally my work is linked to bad taste and disarming humour,” says Monster Chetwynd , the artist behind the sculptures. “But these look oddly delicate, almost like Wedgwood porcelain.” While Chetwynd’s trademark childlike charm is present in the works, they’re less outrageous than some previous pieces. This, after all, is an artist

In competition at Cannes, the Italian director’s comedy-drama about a failing film-maker is full of non-comedy and anti-drama – a complete waste of time Nanni Moretti is the Italian director who will always have a place in our hearts, not least for his masterly The Son’s Room (2001), in my view the greatest Cannes Palme d’Or winner of the century so far . And more recently his cinephile comedy Mia Madre (2015) was tremendous. But his new film in competition is bafflingly awful: muddled, mediocre and metatextual – a complete waste of time, at once strident and listless. Everything about it is heavy-handed and dull: the non-comedy, the ersatz-pathos, the anti-drama. It is effectively a film within a film, both as dull as each other. Moretti himself plays Giovanni, a high-minded film director with a failing marriage who is struggling to shoot his passion project about the Italian Communist party standing up to the Soviets over the Hungary invasion of 1956 – although a smirkingly iro

As Johnson allies allege politically motivated stitch up, government sources say approximately 12 potentially illegal events were reported to police About a dozen previously undisclosed gatherings at both Chequers and Downing Street allegedly held during Covid have been referred to the police by civil servants, the Guardian has been told. Further details of the new Partygate accusations emerged as Boris Johnson’s allies launched a furious fightback, forcing Downing Street to deny he was the victim of a politically motivated stitch up. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/bt96ecs

Critics say it is wrong for former PM to send friends to Lords while he is still under police investigation over Partygate Rishi Sunak is facing calls to delay or cancel Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list rewarding dozens of his allies after the former prime minister was reported to police over fresh Partygate allegations. Labour and the Lib Dems said Sunak should pull the list of about 50 names, which is thought to be nearing approval and could be published within two weeks. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/0G6tqL3

Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/rh1FJZy

Zoo apologies after videos of a bird being handled and petted by guests under bright lights prompted uproar in New Zealand The treatment of a kiwi at a Miami zoo has enraged thousands of New Zealanders, who launched a furious campaign to bring their national bird home and prompted the zoo to apologise. Videos of Pāora – a kiwi bird housed by Zoo Miami – being handled and petted by guests under bright lights emerged on Tuesday, to almost immediate uproar in New Zealand. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/M7Pv35Z

The presidential election in 2024 will be decided by 23.5 million people voting on a range of issues, but how each party intends to deal with China looms large Three popular former mayors are vying against each other to replace Tsai ing-wen as president and lead Taiwan through one of the most dangerous periods in its history. The presidential election, to be held in January 2024, will be decided by 23.5 million people voting on a range of issues, but how each party intends to deal with the threat of China has global ramifications. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/DWJe7Kk

Based on the true story of a young Jewish boy kidnapped by papal authorities, this is a full-tilt melodrama that lays bare tyranny, bigotry and the abuse of power in the Catholic church Cannes is this year becoming a counterblast to ageism. Italian director Marco Bellocchio, at the age of 83 – and almost 60 years after he first came to prominence with his 1965 movie Fists in the Pocket – has created a gripping, heartbreaking true-political crime story from the pages of history. It is a full-tilt melodrama with the passionate vehemence of Victor Hugo or Charles Dickens, which lays bare an ugly formative episode of Europe’s Catholic church: an affair of antisemitism and child abuse. It is based on the true story of Edgardo Mortara , a young Jewish child in Bologna who, in 1858, when he was six, was taken away from his family by the papal authorities. This was done because Edgardo’s doting Catholic nursemaid had claimed that when Edgardo was a baby, and apparently in dire sickness, she

Rightwing Florida governor has maintained a consistent distant second place to Donald Trump The rightwing governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, will launch his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday evening in a live appearance with Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter. NBC News first reported the plan, saying the Twitter Spaces talk at 6pm ET would be moderated by David Sacks, a tech entrepreneur, Musk confidante and DeSantis supporter. Multiple outlets later confirmed the scheme and Musk himself retweeted one report. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/TsJvP8e

Nearly 400 items, including personal letters, provide insight into the life of the actor who died at the age of 24 It could only be him. James Dean is squinting and smiling, a cigarette hanging from his lip, and wearing a leather jacket and glove. The silver gelatin photo from a 1955 motorcycle session is a classic Hollywood portrait but it is also unique. It measures 13.5in x 10.25in and has an inscription, written with a dark blue ballpoint pen, from Dean to his agent Jane Deacy: “To Mom / My heart and thanks / Jim.” The actor regarded “Lady Jane”, as Deacy was called, as a second mother because his biological mother, Mildred, died of uterine cancer when he was nine years old, and he was estranged from his stepmother. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/72ZXdH4

Streaming company tells its 15 million subscribers in Britain that the service can no longer be used free by other households Netflix has begun its crackdown on the millions of UK subscribers who share their passwords with friends and family. The streaming company has sent a letter to its British users, many of whom share their password, giving friends and family members free access. About a quarter of Netflix’s 15 million UK subscribers are estimated to share their password, according to research firm Digital-i. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/tcPWBUY

Northern Irish actor, who often played warriors in productions including Rome and Vikings, was hospitalised suddenly while filming in Italy Ray Stevenson, the Northern Irish actor who played the villainous British governor in RRR, Volstagg in the Thor films and a main antagonist in the upcoming Star Wars series Ahsoka, has died aged 58. Representatives for Stevenson said he had died on Sunday, four days before his birthday. The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported he had been hospitalised with a sudden illness on the island of Ischia, while in production on the film Cassino in Ischia. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/EWGuBJO

Anti-Russian militia claims to have overrun Russian border settlement; northern European countries meet to discuss strengthening defences Anti-Kremlin militia claim to have overrun a Russian border settlement in Belgorod. Fighting broke out along the Russian border with Ukraine after self-described Russian partisan forces launched a cross-border raid, claiming to have overrun a border settlement for the first time in the war. Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the town also came under Ukrainian artillery fire. He said eight people were wounded and most residents had left the area, but the situation remained “tense”. Twelve northern European countries met to discuss stepping up deterrence and security on Nato’s eastern flank and strengthening Ukraine’s defences. Defence ministers from the Northern Group met in Poland on Monday where talks described as “very good” by the Polish defence minister were focused on coordinating ways of providing security to countries in the group.

Author’s court filing comes after the ex-president demeaned her a day after being found liable for sexual abuse Author and columnist E Jean Carroll is going back to court to demand “very substantial” additional damages from former US president Donald Trump for the disparaging remarks he made about her during a televised CNN town hall just a day after he was found liable in a civil case for sexually assaulting her. Carroll made a filing in federal court in New York on Monday, the New York Times reported . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/YUp1c9b

Jones and Eve Best star in this joyful and incredibly affecting drama about two sisters forced to confront their mother’s mysterious death and double life The ascendance of Suranne Jones from Coronation Street star to a creative force to be reckoned with over the last couple of decades has provided food for the soul as well as a feast of entertainment. Now the indefatigable Jones returns to the small screen (between the last series of Gentleman Jack and the second series of Vigil, arriving shortly) in the new ITV drama Maryland, directed by another former soap star, Susan Tully (Michelle Fowler, from the days when EastEnders was great in every way). Jones, who co-created Maryland with writer Anne Marie O’Connor, co-stars with Eve Best, who is one of the many faces here (Hugh Quarshie and Dean Lennox Kelly foremost among them) who make you cry: “Oh my God – yes! Why is this person not on my television more?!” Maryland opens like a thriller, with a dead body discovered on a lonely stre

The company, which began as a record label, beat the odds to offer a space where women could ‘come out and be themselves’ Jai Henrietta still remembers the first time she went on an Olivia Travel vacation: “I just stood there with my mouth open. Seeing 2,000 women in one space, all cuddling, holding hands, and kissing – it was a utopia for me.” Henrietta has now traveled six times with Olivia, the world’s first travel company for lesbians. Her partner, Lyla Row, has been on 13 Olivia trips. For Row, the company takes away that “extra precaution” the couple otherwise has to take on holiday as a same-sex couple. “It’s relaxing, and that’s what a holiday should be – you shouldn’t be worrying about anything else,” she says. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/s1ypqDw

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There’s a bracing and chilly high-mindedness about Justine Triet’s psychothriller, about a suspicious death whose only reliable witness happens to be blind I have been agnostic about Justine Triet’s work in the past, but her courtroom drama murder mystery in this year’s Cannes competition, with its ambiguous title and ambiguous dénouement, is very intriguing. It reminded me at various stages of Billy Wilder’s Agatha Christie adaptation Witness for the Prosecution or Steven Bochco’s underrated, under-remembered 90s TV drama Murder One. Sandra Hüller plays Sandra, a successful and fashionable author (that staple figure of French cinema), German by birth, but now living in a handsome chalet in the French Alps with her French husband Samuel (Samuel Theis), a former academic and would-be author himself, who has now hit a career slump and creative block and is currently hoping to salvage the family finances by fixing up the chalet as an Airbnb. It is while he is grumpily sawing and hamme

Madison Godfrey inhabits gender beyond a binary, but transition isn’t what makes them trans When I describe myself as “trans” I often feel strangers’ eyes scan up and down, assessing my appearance for evidence, signifiers of how this silhouette was built. When people ask invasive questions about my hormonal or surgical journey, growling beneath their words is another implicit enquiry: are you the “before” or “after” picture of your gender transition? But my experience of being trans is not a future destination I will one day arrive at or a version of myself I have already departed from. Perhaps this comes down to linguistic confusion: people often assume that “trans” is an abbreviation of “transitioning”. Yet the word “trans”, in this context – as opposed to the context of, say, a public transport service or an eminent Death Cab for Cutie album – is short for transgender, which the Oxford dictionary defines as “a person whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex regis

Last-gasp United winner against City keeps them in contention Chelsea denied title but face bottom club Reading on final day Marc Skinner believes Manchester United require a “miracle” to overhaul Chelsea and win the Women’s Super League on the final day of the season, despite a last-gasp winner against Manchester City giving them hope of a first title. United looked poised to gift a fourth successive title to Chelsea by drawing against City until Lucia García’s injury-time strike. United need to win on Saturday at Liverpool but still require Chelsea to drop points at bottom club Reading. If Emma Hayes’s side draws and United win, it would be decided on goal difference. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/oz51Swq

Walker: ‘Get this treble and we can really stamp our mark’ Guardiola: ‘We tell each other to win the Champions League’ Kyle Walker has said Manchester City have to claim the treble to join the list of all-time great sides after they lifted the Premier League trophy for a third successive year. City won the league on Saturday as a result of Arsenal losing at Nottingham Forest and were given the trophy after the 1-0 win against Chelsea on Sunday. If City beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final and Internazionale in the Champions League final next month they will achieve a feat which only their crosstown rivals have claimed in English football. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/nheCG2i

The Women’s Super League title race will go to the final day of the season after an injury-time winner from Lucía García gave Manchester United victory against their rivals Manchester City. United needed to win to keep their hopes alive after Chelsea had defeated Arsenal earlier on Sunday but it looked like they would fall short, despite playing more than half the match against 10 players after the goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck was dismissed, until the substitute García created bedlam in Leigh. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/KVGjzsu

Darren Hawkes, garden designer and Samaritans helpline volunteer, has created a space full of empathy at the Chelsea Flower Show Darren Hawkes knows exactly why he wanted to create a garden for Chelsea Flower Show that acknowledges life is full of fear and pain and loneliness: “When we are in despair, what’s common is, we all feel alone. We feel as if that despair is not a shared experience – it’s a personal one. And so, by putting the experience into three dimensions in a public space, there’s a chance it may remind someone that they are not alone. That there are other people who have experienced that.” Hawkes, an award-winning garden designer, gives up his free time to quietly confront this fact on a regular basis. He has lost friends to suicide and is a listening volunteer for the helpline of the suicide prevention charity, Samaritans, to whom he has dedicated his show garden. “It’s not a real garden. I wouldn’t create this garden for a Samaritans centre. But if, as a show garden,

US and Saudi Arabia announce deal that comes after six weeks of fighting between Sudan’s army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces Sudan’s warring factions signed an agreement late on Saturday for a seven-day ceasefire, the US and Saudi Arabia said in a joint statement, as fighting that has plunged the country into chaos and displaced more than a million entered its sixth week. The fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to a collapse in law. Stocks of food, cash and essentials are rapidly dwindling, and mass looting has hit banks, embassies, factories and aid warehouses. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/iVTqxHk

Many are having to travel long distances to receive NHS help, despite a promise to end this ‘completely unacceptable’ practice Some mental health patients in England are still having to travel more than 300 miles for hospital treatment two years after the government pledged to end the “completely unacceptable” practice . The number of patients in crisis forced to move potentially hundreds of miles for NHS help is rising again after falling during the pandemic, separating them from family and support networks and potentially delaying their recuperation. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ByJucpH

Prime minister says he is ‘very comfortable’ with controversial rules despite former business secretary’s admission of gerrymandering Rishi Sunak has defended new laws requiring voters to bring ID as “entirely reasonable” after Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested the move was designed to gerrymander election results in favour of the Tories. Sunak said he was “very comfortable” with controversial rules following Rees-Mogg’s critical comments and reports that thousands of people were turned away from polling stations at the local elections in May. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/O9r6USP

The UK PM said the Ukrainian president attending the summit confirmed that world leaders are united in their support of his country Rishi Sunak said Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s appearance at the G7 summit in Japan sent an “incredibly powerful message” to Russia that western leaders are behind him, as the UK indicated it would start training Ukrainian fighter pilots to fly F-16s within the next couple of months. The Ukrainian president arrived in Hiroshima on a French government plane on Saturday to discuss greater military support from the US and other G7 countries as his forces prepare for a huge counteroffensive in the war with Russia. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3LxjzY4

Martha got a phone call from a stranger to say the letter – addressed to her when she was eight years old – was found washed up on the shore of an Australian beach Get our morning and afternoon news emails , free app or daily news podcast “Darling Martha, miracle if you ever read this,” wrote a sailor named Tom Waugh in 1978, before tucking the letter into a scotch bottle, and throwing it overboard a container ship, 30 nautical miles north of Sydney. “But it won’t be your first bottle letter, you have many more away out in the mid-Pacific.” Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/1RpjU4S

Three of Pep Guardiola’s squad are awarded 10s and one gets a 9.5 for their part in the club’s fifth title in six seasons Close to flawless. Again. The Brazilian is the unassuming star of City’s backline who, under pressure, initiates attacks by coolly tapping the ball short, or has the vision to launch a 50-yard hail mary into Erling Haaland. Can be dominant in the air and has panther-like reflexes when required. 9 Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/MVEHR5O

The knockouts arrive this week after a tournament dominated so far by Gujarat Titans and a host of leggies Not much, just the first 68 games. The IPL is a curious beast: the biggest tournament in cricket, the richest in any ballgame, the greatest show in Asia – and yet eminently missable . Its bosses at the Indian board still haven’t worked out how to give it meaning. It works for the players and coaches, who get massive fees and two months of further education. To most cricket lovers, though, the teams still feel like mere franchises and the story of each game is written in invisible ink. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/i2MD5OU

Lightly raced runner looks overpriced at around 8-1 for a breakthrough Group One success at Newbury Modern Games, who took the Grade One Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keeneland last autumn, is the only previous winner at the highest level in a 13-strong field for the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday, but he is only third-best on Timeform’s ratings and seems ideally suited by tight US tracks and lightning-fast ground. He is an underwhelming favourite a result, not least as he faces several progressive rivals with considerable scope for improvement on their form to date. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/f7MqW6Z

Sleeveless formalwear is the go-to office look of the summer Picture a waistcoat, that longstanding fixture of formal attire, and poof! … images of portly magicians straining their buttons are conjured in the mind. Once a statement of refined dressing, the buttoned vest’s status has been diminished over the decades by illusionists, snooker players and eccentric members of the House of Lords. But thanks to a new generation of devotees, the waistcoat is enjoying a comeback. The fashion forward England manager, Gareth Southgate, led his team to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 sporting an M&S version and now, thanks to cultural icons such as Taylor Swift and Sarah Snook’s Shiv from Succession, sleeveless formalwear is the go-to office look of the summer. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/svnoBlM

PM says Labour criticism of family tax arrangements doesn’t bother him, as rich list shows he and his wife have lost £200m Rishi Sunak has said he is “not bothered” by Labour’s criticism of his wealthy family’s tax arrangements and thinks the UK has “moved beyond” judging people on their money, as a new estimate said the UK prime minister’s fortune had fallen to around £500m. Sunak, who is the wealthiest British prime minister ever on account of his wife’s shareholdings, said he did not pay attention to Labour’s personal attacks on his finances. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/fPb37RZ

Focusing on the everyday domesticity of the Auschwitz commandant’s family might only reflect the horror indirectly, but the film pulls the banality of evil into pin-sharp focus A single, satanic joke burns through the celluloid in Jonathan Glazer’s technically brilliant, uneasy Holocaust movie, freely adapted by the director from the novel by Martin Amis, a film which for all its artistry is perhaps not entirely in control of its (intentional) bad taste. How did the placidly respectable home life of the German people coexist with imagining and executing the horrors of the genocide? How did such evil flower within what George Steiner famously called the German world of “silent night, holy night, gemütlichkeit ”? The film imagines the pure bucolic bliss experienced by Auschwitz camp commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) who with his family lives in a handsomely appointed family home with servants just outside the barbed-wire-topped wall. His wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) is thri

US will back international effort to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 and other modern fighter jets • US to back fighter jet training for Ukrainian pilots • Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a lightweight fighter aircraft that was initially designed in the 1970s. It first went into service in 1979, and was used heavily by the US Air Force in both Iraq wars and in Afghanistan. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/zJPwt3l

Fresh-faced rookie Tye Sheridan is led through a world of medical grimness by a grizzled Penn in a tale full of lifeless cliche There are some strident cliches alongside redundant self-harming machismo in this sub-Schraderesque movie about New York paramedics, directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and adapted from the novel by Shannon Burke. Sirens screaming and faces emoting, they battle through another dark-night-of-the-soul as they deal with gang shootings, domestic assaults, homeless people dying and crack addicts giving birth in hovels. They are often assigned the futile chore of attending to corpses discovered in decaying buildings, surrounded by black flies – but aren’t all the other patients just corpses in waiting? And so the black flies of horror start buzzing into their brains. Tye Sheridan co-stars as Ollie, the standard-issue Hollywood rookie, a fresh-faced young ambulance guy from Colorado (of all the poignantly innocent places) paired in time-honoured style with a grizzle

Prime minister will use Hiroshima summit to push more neutral countries such as Brazil and India into doing more for Ukraine The UK has unveiled a swathe of new sanctions against Russia, as Rishi Sunak arrived at the G7 summit in Japan with a self-declared mission to push India into showing greater support for Ukraine. Flying into Hiroshima for the three-day gathering of world leaders – and becoming the first British prime minister to visit the city destroyed by a US atomic bomb in 1945, Sunak announced a UK ban on imports of Russian diamonds and Russian-origin copper, nickel and aluminium, with other G7 members expected to follow suit. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/vFE2nXZ

Gendarmes shoot at tyres of vehicle and arrest driver, who is believed to have psychiatric problems A car driven by a man apparently suffering from psychiatric problems has rammed through a Vatican gate, speeding past Swiss Guards into a palace courtyard before the driver was apprehended by police. Vatican gendarmes fired a shot at the speeding car’s front tyres after it rushed the gate on Thursday night, but the vehicle managed to continue on its way, the Vatican press office said. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/bADd7q2

PM sounds a more cautious note after calls from tech experts and business leaders for moratorium The UK will lead on limiting the dangers of artificial intelligence, Rishi Sunak has said, after calls from some tech experts and business leaders for a moratorium. Sunak said AI could bring benefits and prove transformative for society, but it had to be introduced “safely and securely with guard rails in place”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/WyEbpQq

There’s still much to dig about the octogenarian archeologist as he teams up with Phoebe Waller-Bridge to re-defeat the Nazis So the boulder of intellectual property and franchise brand identity rolls on … bringing us Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth film in which the legendary archaeologist and whip-cracking adventurer is back for another go-around. He is, of course,. played by the legendary Harrison Ford, now 80 years young, but carrying it off with humour and style and still nailing that reluctant crooked smile. It’s the first Indiana Jones film not to be directed by Steven Spielberg – James Mangold is now at the helm – but despite that, this one has quite a bit of zip and fun and narrative ingenuity with all its MacGuffiny silliness that the last one (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) really didn’t. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/TPkl1s8

Far-right Republican congresswoman makes remarks after confrontation with Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman The far-right Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene told reporters being called a white supremacist was the same as a Black person being called the N-word. Speaking on Thursday about a confrontation outside the Capitol the day before with the Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman, Greene said : “Jamaal Bowman [was] shouting at the top of his lungs, cursing, calling me a horrible … calling me a white supremacist which I take great offense to that. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/rxIY6kN

In a new docuseries, the glamorous, Instagram-friendly church is put under the spotlight with new scandalous revelations Before the Hot Priest in the BBC comedy series Fleabag, there was Carl Lentz. For a time the young, tattooed “hype-priest” was the face of the global megachurch Hillsong, preaching a cool brand of Christianity to sports stars and celebrities such as Justin Bieber. “Carl was incredibly charismatic, an insanely good speaker, able to break down the Bible in relevant, almost street terms,” explains the film-maker Stacey Lee. “He was funny, he was vulnerable, he just gave so much of himself. He unto himself became his own celebrity. ” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Ezem06X

Despite plenty of incidental action, Corsini’s film about a woman’s painful return to Corsica leaves too many questions unanswered Despite some warm and sympathetic performances and lovely cinematography, there is something weirdly glib in director and co-writer Catherine Corsini’s new film in which a summer of drama gives us supposedly tragic personal discoveries uneasily coexisting with some almost photo love -style holiday romance. Khedidja (Aïssatou Diallo Sagna) is a black woman in her 40s living in Paris with her two teen daughters – promising student Jess (Suzy Bemba) and tearaway Farah (Esther Gohourou) – and working as a nanny for a wealthy white couple, Sylvia (Virginie Ledoyen) and Marc (Denis Podalydès), who have little kids. Marc also has a spoilt moody teen daughter (Lomane de Dietrich) from his first marriage. Sylvia and Marc are heading off with their family for the summer to their villa in Calvi, Corsica and they desperately need Khedidja to come on holiday with them

This heartbreaking documentary looks at a decades-long battle with drugs and alcohol that’s torn the musician’s family apart. It’s a moving look at how it’s affected not just him, but his wife too Matt Willis: Fighting Addiction begins with the Busted bass players’ wife, Emma. In their big, light-filled house in Hertfordshire, the TV presenter opens a drawer that tends to remain shut. She retrieves a diary she hasn’t read since she wrote it in the run-up to their wedding in 2008. It contains, she says with a tight smile, “notes of what I knew he had consumed”. She reads a couple of entries: “bottle of champagne … couple of wines … couple of wines … another bottle of champagne.” The words “and more” refer to drugs. There are entries for every single day. “I used to drive around looking for him,” she says, welling up. It sets the scene for this intimate, often tearful exploration of Willis’s decades-long battle with drug and alcohol addiction. A story of the ricochet back and forth bet

The MIT linguist says the late sex offender helped on a ‘technical matter’ related to his and his late wife’s finances Jeffrey Epstein helped move $270,000 for renowned linguist Noam Chomsky and also paid $150,000 to Bard College president Leon Botstein, the Wall Street Journal has reported . According to the newspaper , and also confirmed by Chomsky and Botstein, the late sex offender and financier had financial dealings with the two academics and had met with them multiple times. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/p9Dd8le

In the US, the Sussexes are just another celebrity couple – but intense UK tabloid interest means wherever they go, paparazzi will follow The latest tangle between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and a gaggle of paparazzi photographers on the streets of New York has highlighted their struggles with celebrity in the US. Their journey toward a new – and potentially lucrative – life in America has had a mixed reception in US media, where they are seen as just one famous couple in a country with an already large celebrity quotient. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/un4AyYZ

Japanese director Kore-eda offers a deliberately dense but ultimately hopeful examination of how to negotiate family dysfunction with intelligence and humanity Hirokazu Kore-eda challenges us with intricacy and complexity in this family drama about bullying, homophobia, family dysfunction, uncritical respect for flawed authority, and social media rumour-mongering; all working together to create a monster of wrongness. Kore-eda is collaborating with screenwriter Yûji Sakamoto and the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose score creates a layer of nuance and meaning. Its plangent, sad piano chords will often counterintuitively be added to a scene of apparent drama or tension, implying that the meaning of this scene has not yet been disclosed. Monster is a movie that does not render up its meanings easily in general, and its repeated motif is to replay the same events from a different viewpoint; in another type of film this might deliver the smooth and gratifying narrative click of a twis