There is an avant-garde bravery to this international love story – but how can we invest in protagonists we never see?Here is a thought-experiment of a movie from Brazilian film-makers Clarissa Campolina and Luiz Pretti: it’s a dramatic essay, or docu-fictional romance, or perhaps the cinematic equivalent of an epistolary novel, and it has been much admired on the festival circuit.Related: Streaming: indie films from Latin America Continue reading...
by Matt Fidler, Priya Elan and Hannah Marriott on (#5FBGV)
From toilet roll couture to trompe l’oeil manicures, the Grammys presented a surreal, shiny take on what the return of glamour might look like once we emerge from our sweatpants chrysalises Continue reading...
Jacinda Ardern, who says she ‘never agreed with the policy’, is seeking more information about the 15-year-oldAustralian authorities deported a minor to New Zealand as part of a program home affairs minister Peter Dutton described as “taking the trash out”.The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, confirmed that one of the people deported from Australia earlier this month was under the age of 18, but said she was not aware of any further details about the case. Continue reading...
Jineth Bedoya has been pursuing justice for more than 20 years after she was kidnapped, tortured and raped in 2000The Inter-American Court of Human Rights will hear testimony on Monday from a Colombian journalist who was kidnapped, tortured and raped while reporting on her country’s civil war, in a case which could set a precedent for thousands of survivors of sexual violence in the Andean nation.Jineth Bedoya, who has been pursuing justice for more than 20 years and now campaigns against sexual violence, has so far seen only three of her attackers sentenced. Continue reading...
Tensions at a school for privileged girls in Rwanda foreshadow the 1994 genocide in this surprisingly bright, light-touch debutThis debut novel by French-Rwandan author Scholastique Mukasonga, originally published in 2012 and the first of her books to be published in the UK, could have been called Privilege and Prejudice. Translated by Melanie Mauthner, it is a school story like no other, set in the late 1970s in a lycée nestled in the mountains of Rwanda, near the source of the Nile (“‘We’re so close to heaven,’ whispers Mother Superior, clasping her hands together”), where the pupils, daughters of the rich, are taught a little of God and a lot about how to maintain the status quo.The school is notionally a part of the government’s efforts to promote female education in Rwanda, but within limits: the lycée is a white intrusion in Africa, built under the direction of “white overseers who did nothing but look at large sheets of paper they unrolled like bolts of cloth from the Pakistani shop, and who went crazy with rage when they called the black foremen over, as if they were breathing fire”. The girls are to be the drivers of change, while strictly following rules: they must speak French – Swahili is forbidden – and are taught that “History meant Europe, and Geography, Africa. Africa had no history… it was the Europeans who had discovered Africa and dragged it into history.” Continue reading...
Analysis: PM is on course for fourth term in office. What is his secret and how is next coalition government likely to look?The outgoing prime minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, appears headed for a comprehensive victory and fourth successive term in office as the Dutch go to the polls in national elections on Monday, with voting spread over three days due to coronavirus restrictions.Polls predict Rutte, who has headed three coalition governments of different political complexions since 2010, and his centre-right People’s party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) will win twice as many parliamentary seats as his nearest rival. Continue reading...
UN figures and UK ambassador latest to criticise killing of protesters ahead of Aung San Suu Kyi court appearanceThe killing of at least 39 people by Myanmar’s security forces in one of the deadliest days since last month’s coup has been condemned by the UK and the United Nations as “appalling” and “heartbreaking”.Sunday’s violence brings the number of people killed in mass protests since the military seized power from civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to about 100, though activists and rights groups believe it could be higher. Continue reading...
Tens of thousands of people marched in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to demand action in response to allegations of workplace abuse4.47am GMTSo that’s where we might leave it for today.We have had tens of thousands of people turn out for hundreds of events, everywhere from Parliament House in Canberra to the tiny town of Talbot.4.46am GMTFarima Forooziya, 42, was one of thousands who attended today’s rally in Adelaide’s Victoria Square along with her 11 and 2-year-old daughters.I’m a survivor of sexual assault. I survived when I was 11 and now my daughter is 11,” Farima said.The last few weeks have been so traumatising for survivors. My daughter asked me what can she do about it? So we had a big chat about consent. She had heard the words “toxic masculinity” and wanted to know what it meant, so we talked about that. It was amazing how well she understood consent even though she is so young.”I’m very happy for her to miss school today to be a part of this. I think this is an important experience for her to learn she has a voice. I certainly was not expecting this crowd. I was blown away. I think the organisers were a little late in putting the information on Facebook and that this many people still came is incredible.It says a lot. It says enough is enough. That we need to be heard. Continue reading...
by Presented by Anushka Asthana with Jon Henley; prod on (#5FB5W)
The Dutch cabinet resigned in disgrace earlier this year after admitting it falsely accused thousands of citizens of cheating the benefits system. Then a strict second lockdown sparked riots. Now Dutch voters go to the polls, but are they in the mood for a change of government?Voting begins today in a Dutch general election that follows a major government scandal and strict lockdown conditions that sparked serious disorder.The Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley, tells Anushka Asthana that the prime minister, Mark Rutte’s government resigned en masse in January after admitting to failing tens of thousands of citizens who it had wrongly accused of cheating the child benefits system. A parliamentary report described how people from ethnic minorities were particularly singled out and issued with demands to repay tens of thousands of euros. Continue reading...
Major strategic review will increase defence manufacturing and create jobs in all four nationsBoris Johnson’s long-awaited overhaul of Britain’s defence strategy will be published on Monday, when the prime minister will sell it domestically as a boost to the economy and the union between the UK’s four nations.The Integrated Review, commissioned over a year ago, will promise to “strengthening the UK’s core industrial base” and outline plans to expand manufacturing and create jobs outside London. Continue reading...
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsWhen you spray perfume, there’s a smell, but then it dissipates. But surely if everyone is spraying perfume, and making other smells, the world must be accumulating smells. Does the world in general have an odour? And is it getting more potent?
Mahn Win Khaing Than, speaking from hiding, says ‘this is the darkest moment of the nation’The acting leader of Myanmar’s parallel civilian government has said the people “must win the uprising” against the junta as security forces opened fire on demonstrators in Yangon and at least five people were killed as protests continued for a sixth week.Mahn Win Khaing Than, who is in hiding along with most senior officials from the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which was ousted in the 1 February coup, addressed the public via Facebook, saying: “This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment that the dawn is close. The federal democracy union … is waiting for us in the near future if we move forward unitedly with invincibility,” he said, adding: “We must win the uprising.” Continue reading...
From Grace Kelly to Joan Crawford and Sylvia Plath… Many of the residents of the Barbizon hotel went on to change the worldThe Barbizon guest list reads as a who’s who of Hollywood and literary royalty. Grace Kelly, Joan Crawford, Tippi Hedren, Liza Minnelli, Ali MacGraw, Jaclyn Smith and literary stars Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion were among the household names who arrived as young unknowns. So it’s surprising that we’ve heard so little about it. While New York’s rock’n’roll Chelsea hotel has been endlessly documented, the Barbizon’s story has never been told. But that is about to change with the publication of a fascinating new book, The Barbizon, The New York Hotel That Set Women Free, by award-winning historian Paulina Bren. And with any luck, we can anticipate a binge-worthy mini series. HBO has secured the TV rights in a six-figure deal, after a closely fought bidding war, with Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones on board to produce. (If the book is anything to go by we are in for a real treat. It has enough smouldering glamour to make Mad Men look dreary.)Bren’s captivating book tells the story of this women’s residential hotel, from its construction in 1927 on Manhattan’s 140 East 63rd Street, to its eventual conversion into multimillion-dollar condominiums in 2007. But it is also a brilliant many-layered social history of women’s ambition and a rapidly changing New York throughout the 20th century. Continue reading...
Display of moving memorial made in aftermath of 2013 boat tragedy aims to provoke debateA cross made from the wreckage of a refugee boat that capsized in the Mediterranean is to tour English museums and art galleries later this year to encourage debate and reflection on the plight of migrants.The cross, acquired by the British Museum in London five years ago, is one of a number made by a carpenter on the Italian island of Lampedusa, close to the Tunisian coastline. Continue reading...
Pop singer, activist, art installation, actor, Stefani Germanotta has taken on many facesLike Lon Chaney, the great silent actor known as “The Man of a Thousand Faces”, Lady Gaga has traversed roles, from music to fashion to film to politics, transmuting with creative fluidity but remaining – sometimes with defiance – the girl next door.Last week, the 34-year-old star – days after retrieving her two French bulldogs from a dognapping in which her walker was shot and injured – posted a photo of herself beside actor Adam Driver in which she was wearing a white fur hat and was draped in gold jewellery. It was a publicity shot from Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, a forthcoming film based on the story of Patrizia Reggiani, aka the Black Widow (played by Gaga), who married – and later had killed – Maurizio Gucci, head of the luxury fashion house. Continue reading...
by Zeinab Mohammed Salih in Khartoum, Emma Graham-Har on (#5FADY)
Visa-free access to the African state proved a lifeline during the war. Now the border is closedWhen Syrian government troops seized Mahmoud al-Ahmad’s home town, he spent his savings and risked his life getting smuggled over the Syrian border into Turkey. His planned destination was Khartoum, where a former boss had opened a carpet factory and offered him work.The only part of the journey he hadn’t worried about was the flight from Turkey to Sudan. Until the end of last year it was the only country in the world that Syrians could travel to without a visa, a unique haven for those seeking a new life away from their country and its brutal civil war. Continue reading...
Lawyer for British-Iranian dual national held since 2016 ‘very hopeful’ she will be acquittedNazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian dual national detained since 2016, faced a second set of charges on Sunday in Iran’s revolutionary court in Tehran.She was freed from house arrest last Sunday at the end of a five-year prison sentence, but because she had been summoned to court again on the other charge, she has not been allowed to leave the country to return to her family. Continue reading...
Leading artistic directors including Ivo van Hove, Shanta Thake and Thomas Ostermeier reflect on their nations’ treatment of the arts during Covid. Introduction by Susannah ClappIn the disUnited Kingdom there are glimmers of light for the theatre. Some openings are scheduled for 17 May; with further relaxation of restrictions, more are likely to follow in June. The support in Rishi Sunak’s budget, which announced an additional £300m for the culture recovery fund, is welcome. Still, there are painful gaps. Some had hoped for a government-backed insurance scheme, and for an increase to the rate of theatre tax relief. Neither were forthcoming. Crucially, while the government bailout has secured the future of vital institutions, the livelihood of large numbers of theatre-makers – actors, designers, stage managers, musicians and others – is still in jeopardy.In the interviews below, I am intrigued by Ivan van Hove’s jealousy of Boris Johnson’s “generous” speech about the arts. I would rather have the Dutch prompt delivery of cash – less ho ho and more dough – and sadly thunderstruck by Kajsa Giertz’s calm assumption that in Sweden the theatre is “a part of democracy” that must be affordable to everyone. In contrast, the vocabulary in which the UK discusses the arts often reeks of hierarchy and materialism. Oliver Dowden talks of saving culture’s “crown jewels”: what happens to the plebby bits? Continue reading...
Women in a closed social media group of 1,300 current and former Labor staffers say men in the party must be ‘held to account’ for their actionsFormer and current female Labor staffers have come forward with tales of sexual harassment and abuse while at work, with one former staffer saying it was time some men in the Labor party were “held to account for their actions”.In a closed social media group made up of more than 1,300 current and former female Australian Labor party staffers, women have detailed their experiences of working with some of the men in the party, furiously declaring they will no longer be silent. Continue reading...
by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and media correspondent on (#5FAC0)
Board members could quit Society of Editors without improvements in diversityOprah Winfrey’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is set to inflict further damage to the reputation of the British media this week. The couple’s accusations of endemic racism have challenged the tone of royal coverage and prompted the high-profile departure of Piers Morgan from ITV’s morning show. Now the aftershock is rocking the heart of Fleet Street culture.Leading newspaper editors and journalists warn that the Society of Editors, a key industry body, will lose all credibility if it fails to announce fundamental changes and issue an apology for an initial refusal to recognise recurrent racism in some quarters of British journalism. Continue reading...
Susie Cave’s darkly romantic creations have made her label, the Vampire’s Wife, a cult favourite – with Vogue naming one design ‘the dress of the decade’. Here, she talks about family tragedy, life with Nick Cave and why she is motivated by beautySusie Cave’s Brighton kitchen is painted a very specific bruised-peach pink and the reflected colour on her skin makes it look as though she’s carved from soap. Until she married musician Nick Cave, she was Susie Bick, the 90s model discovered by photographer Steven Meisel on a flight to New York at 14 years old. David Bailey took her under his wing and her very white skin and very black hair helped shape a career that saw her on the cover of two Roxy Music records, shot for ad campaigns, including Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior, and naked on the catwalk in Robert Altman’s Prêt-à-Porter. Hers was one of those fabled stories – she was a girl who felt out of place, so hitchhiked away from her Devonshire boarding school on a milk float to find glamour and fame. “I spent most of my life running away on milk floats,” she smiles today. As a teenager, “I was, umm, wilful. At 15 I caught a plane to Japan with 20p in my pocket. Made loads of money. Came back all grown up!” The people she met along the way, as if tin men and lions, helped shape the woman she became, and then, in 2014, the brand she launched. Now, at 54, there is only a fine line between the two; a concealed zip.Susie’s friend Bella Freud introduced her to Nick in the shadow of a dinosaur skeleton at the V&A Museum after hours. The first time he saw her (Cave says, in the 2014 film 20,000 Days on Earth), he saw, “All the things I’d obsessed over for all the years”: Marilyn Monroe, Suzi Quatro, “Tinker Bell trapped in the drawer, Carolyn Jones dying in Elvis’s arms and Jackie O in mourning.” Viewed from here, their entwined careers read like love letters to each other, but ones so passionate they have broken their banks and spilled out into the world. They married in 1999. On their honeymoon she became pregnant with twins, and in 2014, when Earl and Arthur were teenagers, she launched the Vampire’s Wife, named after one of Cave’s unfinished novels. Today, Nick is responsible for naming the dresses, choosing fabrics and occasionally modelling alongside them. Continue reading...
by Michael Savage, Emma Graham-Harrison and James Tap on (#5FA48)
Amid cross-party anger, Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball says officers were put in a position where they had to take ‘enforcement action’The Metropolitan police have defended their policing of the London vigil in memory of Sarah Everard, after widespread criticism of the force’s handling of the gathering.Priti Patel, the home secretary, and Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, both said they had demanded an explanation from the Met, amid accusations that officers had grabbed women during clashes with the crowd and mismanaged the largely peaceful vigil in Clapham, south London. Continue reading...
The folk-rock pioneer has finally written his memoir, covering a life-changing crash and his fiery romance with his ex-wife and singing partner Linda Thompson
Many signs relate to lack of public inquiry into historical rape allegations made against attorney general Christian Porter, which he deniesThe first women’s March4Justice rally kicked off in Perth on Sunday afternoon with about 5,000 people, mostly women of all ages.Many of the signs at the march point out the lack of a public inquiry into historical rape allegations made against Western Australian minister, attorney general Christian Porter. Porter has strenuously denied the allegations. Continue reading...
Don’t try to change your family, says Mariella Frostrup. Loosen the ties and share ideas and inspiration with like-minded companionsThe dilemma I am 52 years old, divorced, and have two adult children who live and work away. Recently, the relationship I have with my mum and dad has become very strained. They are in their mid-70s and they voted for Brexit, which has been a sticking point ever since. Each time we talk, it ends up about politics. I was embarrassed at my dad’s Ukip poster in the window – paradoxically, he had taught me, growing up, to be a socialist, not to be elitist and to treat everyone the same. The pair of them have turned into rightwing, xenophobic, fake snobs and it truly disgusts me.Coupled with that they are Covid law-breakers – they regularly have extended family inside their house and my mother gets offended that I will only stand on the doorstep wearing a mask to visit her. She declares: “We haven’t got the plague, you know.” They are comfortably well off and I don’t ask for anything from them. My sister has also breached Covid regulations and she works in the NHS and that astounds me. I get texts from my mum and dad and wider family, all telling me that I am a disgrace for avoiding meeting them. I used to have a happy relationship with them, but now I can’t bear them because of their views. Continue reading...
The bomb-wrecked Madrid slum building immortalised in a 1936 photograph is to be saved as a memorial to Spain’s conflict, and its residents rehoused in modern flatsJesús Rico sits outside the tiny, damp Madrid apartment he and his family are about to leave after nine airless summers and nine punishing winters, and ponders their debt to a long-dead Hungarian-American photojournalist.“If the Capa picture hadn’t happened,” says Rico, “we’d have been out on the street.” Continue reading...
Moroccan court approves transfer of Osama al-Hasani without allowing his lawyers time to appeal decisionAn Australian citizen has been extradited to Saudi Arabia just days after a Moroccan court approved the transfer request, and without allowing his lawyers, who say he faces a “credible risk” of torture, time to appeal the decision.International lawyers acting for Osama al-Hasani, 42, have previously asked United Nations special rapporteurs to raise the dual Australian-Saudi Arabian citizen’s case with Moroccan authorities, citing “credible concerns” that he was being targeted by the Saudi Arabian government for his political opinions. Continue reading...
If deal goes ahead Singapore could become a quarantine gateway for stranded Australians, with vaccinations playing a key roleThe Australian government is working on a plan to create a travel bubble with Singapore. It comes as Singapore’s prime minister said he hoped the country could start reopening its borders more widely as vaccination programmes advance.If agreed, the deal with Canberra could also establish Singapore as a quarantine gateway for travellers on their way to Australia. On Sunday, the deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, confirmed the government was working on the plan. Continue reading...
Jeanine Áñez’s arrest is part of restored leftist government’s pursuit of those involved in the ousting of socialist leader Evo MoralesBolivia’s conservative ex-interim president, who led the country for a year, has been arrested as officials of the restored leftist government target those who helped oust socialist leader Evo Morales in 2019.Jeanine Áñez, who Morales supporters say was part of a coup, was detained early on Saturday morning in her home town of Trinidad and was flown to the capital, La Paz, where she appeared before a prosecutor. Continue reading...
Deputy prime minister has ‘meetings all day’ on Monday and Scott Morrison also has ‘a very busy day’ but happy to see delegationDeputy prime minister Michael McCormack says he has “meetings all day” and will be too busy to hear from the March4Justice crowd when it fronts Parliament House on Monday, but Scott Morrison is open to meeting a delegation “privately” in his office.The prime minister, who did not read a document of historical allegations against his attorney general, Christian Porter, when it arrived in his office, said violence against women remained a “priority” agenda item for his government. Continue reading...
by Clea Skopeliti (now); Damien Gayle (earlier) on (#5F9JE)
Germany warns cases could hit Christmas peak by April; Australia records first local Covid case in more than two weeks; Poland reports rise in daily cases
Unofficial event on Clapham Common marred by at least one arrest and confrontations with officersThe evening in south London began in grief and silence, as hundreds gathered to remember Sarah Everard and call for changes that will keep others safe. It ended in anger and violence, as police trampled flowers and candles laid out in tribute to Everard and tried to silence women speaking out in her memory.Tensions were high before the vigil, which had officially been cancelled after the Metropolitan police refused to give the organisers a permit. That compounded anger at the force, already high after a serving officer was charged with Everard’s kidnap and murder. Continue reading...
‘We are working through some things,’ Lopez said, following reports that the celebrity couple had called off their engagementSinger Jennifer Lopez and former New York Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez said on Saturday they were “working through some things” and that reports of them splitting up after almost four years together were inaccurate.Celebrity website TMZ, the New York Post’s Page Six and multiple entertainment sites on Friday cited unidentified sources close to the couple, sometimes known in the media as J-Rod, as saying the pair had called off their engagement. Continue reading...
The broadcaster, who was the voice of Formula One on British television, has died aged 97. His career spanned more than 50 years at the BBC and ITV before he retired from commentating in 2001 Continue reading...
Announcement of donations follows Meghan’s claim she did not get help with mental health from palaceThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced a series of donations to charities related to mental health and racial equality, particularly in the press, in a move seen as an assertion of their commitment to causes they have been outspoken about in recent months.The announcement came less than a week after their televised interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which Meghan revealed she had been suicidal during her time as a working member of the royal family and claimed she had received no mental health support from staff. Continue reading...
Image in French magazine depicts Queen kneeling on Duchess of Sussex’s neck, echoing George Floyd’s killingFrench satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has sparked outrage with a cartoon depiction of Queen Elizabeth kneeling on the neck of Meghan Markle, echoing the death of George Floyd.The controversial publication’s cartoon comes after the Duchess of Sussex, and her husband, Prince Harry, told US interviewer Oprah Winfrey of apparent racism within the royal family, though they did not criticise the Queen. But Markle said courtiers refused her permission to leave Kensington Palace on occasion and that she once only left twice in four months, leading her to experience severe loneliness and suicidal ideations. Continue reading...
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