Richard Morris worked 15-hour days and suffered night sweats when he went missing in May 2020, wife tells coronerAn experienced British diplomat whose body was found almost four months after vanishing from his Hampshire home had been under “extreme stress” working on the sensitive Harry Dunn case and the Covid crisis, an inquest heard.Richard Morris, the former ambassador to Nepal, worked 15-hour shifts six or seven days a week for the Foreign Office and began to suffer from night sweats, worrying he was going to make a mistake that could land him in prison, the hearing was told. Continue reading...
They’re actors, how hard can it be? Lily James lays it on thick as Pamela Anderson, while Julia Garner’s just baffling in Inventing Ana. Then there’s Lady Gaga …Name: Weird accents.Age: As old as acting. Continue reading...
Grete Minde was a side project for Eugen Engel, a textile tradesman by day, whose daughter escaped to USAn opera score retrieved from a San Francisco basement has had its world premiere in a German theatre, exuberantly brought to life by more than 150 musicians and performers nearly 80 years after its composer was murdered by the Nazis.Grete Minde, a late-romantic opera of 1920s jazz-inspired melodies and large orchestral sounds, was the work of Eugen Engel, a Berlin-based Jewish textile tradesman in his day job, who gave his handwritten sheet music to his daughter for safekeeping when she escaped to the United States in 1941. Continue reading...
Decision comes after threatening phone message and disrupts $2.4bn industry during one of its busiest times of the yearThreats to an American agricultural inspector in the Mexican state of Michoacán caused the US to suspend imports of avocados from its neighbor, officials said, disrupting a $2.4bn industry during one of its busiest times of the year.Mexico’s department of agriculture said in a statement that the inspector received a threatening message on his cellphone, prompting the ban on avocado exports to the US “until further notice.” Continue reading...
Interior minister heads to scene of tragedy near Perpignan as search of gutted buildings continuesAt least seven people, including two children, have died after an explosion sent fire raging through a building in southern France.One of the victims of the blaze that started in a three-story building in the coastal town of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque, north-east of Perpignan, was reported to be a baby. Continue reading...
‘It came out a year after I won The X Factor. I was worried people might have forgotten me, but the song became so huge I still can’t explain it’I was doing gigs and studio work, anything to get a record deal. At one point, I won a national karaoke competition held by Yates’s Wine Lodge. The prize was £10,000 and it was like a pub version of The X Factor. So when a chance at the real thing came along, I was ready to try that as well. Continue reading...
by Owen Bowcott and Bruno Rinvolucri in Peros Banhos on (#5W43W)
Mauritian ambassador to UN raises country’s flag above atoll of Peros BanhosBritain’s ownership of the Chagos archipelago has been formally challenged after the Mauritian ambassador to the UN, Jagdish Koonjul, raised his country’s flag above the atoll of Peros Banhos.In a ceremony on Monday at 10.30am local time, Mauritian officials sang their country’s national anthem and the red, blue, yellow and green standard was raised up the flagpole. Continue reading...
I’d been a fan of the Ghostbusters director for years before I discovered he was that rare thing – a humble and generous celebrityMeeting one’s heroes is, contrary to advice, always advisable – depending on how canny you are at picking heroes. So if as a teenager you lionised, say, the notoriously grumpy Van Morrison, then you’ll probably be disappointed. If, however, you’re the kind of person who never grew out of your love for Ivan Reitman comedies, from Animal House to Ghostbusters to Dave, you may have been mocked (by idiots) over the years for your taste, but, man, you are quids in when you meet your man.As the Guardian’s official 80s movies correspondent, I talked to Reitman multiple times over the years, beginning with a phone interview for the last film he directed, 2014’s Draft Day. When I contacted him again a few weeks later to ask if I could interview him for a book I was working on about 80s movies, he immediately agreed, and talked to me for over an hour, reminiscing about films people had been asking him to reminisce about for over 30 years. He never showed boredom or irritation. If I ever needed a quote, or just had a question, I could email him and he’d reply immediately. Does it really need saying that this kind of behaviour from a genuine Hollywood powerhouse is not exactly typical? Continue reading...
As France prepares to elect next president, nearly half of voters say they are still undecidedFrance elects its next president in two rounds of voting on 10 and 24 April that will determine the course of western Europe’s second-largest country for the next five years. Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent on (#5W47N)
Paul Robson, serving life for attempted rape and indecent assault, absconded from Lincolnshire open prisonPolice are searching for a “dangerous sex offender” who absconded from prison and presents a particular danger to women and children.Paul Robson, who is serving a life sentence for attempted rape and indecent assault, absconded from an open prison in Lincolnshire on Sunday. Continue reading...
A choreographer and dancer describes how it feels as she moves from perfect stillness to a glorious explosion of movementI start with my body in stillness: my eyes closed, my head bowed, my sternum soft, my pelvis weighted, my knees supple, my legs wide. The soles of my feet touch the dance floor. I widen my toes and my metatarsals, opening up the pathways between the Earth and my heart. I soften my joints – my ankles, my knees, my hips –making more space for freedom and possibility. I take in the deepest breath, expanding my lungs and rib cage to capacity, until I can feel the tiny intercostal muscles between my ribs begin to stretch.As I exhale, I allow my body to move as it needs. A small sway moves through my spine. My arms follow behind like fabric in the wind, sequencing from my shoulders to my fingertips. My pelvis starts to rise and fall, swelling and crashing like ocean waves, forcing my legs to follow suit to manage the momentum. I feel my thighs begin to awaken to the glorious burn of activity. It feels good. As my body continues on its journey, I feel those first beads of sweat arise: along my hairline, in between my breasts, on the small of my back. An indication that I am warming and opening. Continue reading...
Picking Off New Shoots Will Not Stop the Spring was born from a desire to preserve online expressions of outrage, grief and dissent, say editorsThe first literary work to emerge from Myanmar since the military seized control of the country a year ago reveals the altruism and courage of a new generation of writers, its editor has said.Picking Off New Shoots Will Not Stop the Spring is an anthology of poems and essays, many of which were written during the military crackdown after last February’s coup. Others date from 1988 to 2020. Continue reading...
The director and producer, who has died aged 75, brought his golden touch to family mega-hits from Ghostbusters to Kindergarten CopIvan Reitman was a director and producer with a golden touch for Hollywood comedy and feelgood entertainment – the heir, perhaps, of Ernst Lubitsch or Gregory La Cava from the golden age, but with a multiplex talent for the 80s and 90s – able to detonate serious box-office explosions. His great heyday, importantly, coincided with the great heyday of video rental and home entertainment – an era of couples and families browsing the VHS racks at video rental stores on a Friday and Saturday night and deciding that comedies were the best bet: Reitman’s comedies.And this, most famously, was for the glorious high-concept fantasy comedy Ghostbusters in 1984, which brilliantly absorbed SNL-type comedy into the movie mainstream and made stars and serious players of its leads: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. I have a happy memory of Ivan Reitman appearing on stage in London just last year, to deafening applause, joining his son Jason before the premiere of the newest film in what became the Ghostbusters franchise: Ghostbusters Afterlife. Continue reading...
Armed forces minister says Russia has in place the logistics to make Ukraine invasion credibleEurope is closer to war than at any point over the past 70 years, a UK government minister has warned, as Russian troops amass on the borders of Ukraine and western leaders warn that an invasion could take place early this week.The armed forces minister James Heappey told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme he feared “we are closer than we’ve been on this continent” to war “for 70 years”. Continue reading...
by Josh Taylor (now) and Tory Shepherd (earlier) on (#5W3TC)
Report into allegations against education minister was given to Scott Morrison last month; Peter Dutton’s comments about China ‘making a decision’ who to back in federal election ruled out of order as question time begins; parliament marks anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations; at least 25 Covid deaths recorded. Follow all the day’s news
The German designer, now 83, became known for his satirical advertisement spoofs, especially for those lambasting fast cars and their ownersKlaus Staeck, the artist who challenged postwar Germany’s love of the car Continue reading...
Campaign by celebrities saw Noura Hussein’s death sentence quashed but, now free, promises of help have not materialisedNoura Hussein, the Sudanese woman whose conviction for killing her rapist husband four years ago caused an international outcry, said she is “disappointed” that promises of support have not materialised.Speaking to the Guardian after her release from prison last year, Hussein, who was 19 when she was convicted, said she felt let down by the people and organisations that had campaigned for her release and who had offered her support. Continue reading...
Fans who had seen the programme before were quick to notice the absence of several scenes, including those relating to Ross’s ex-wife, Carol, who is gayFriends has been stripped of its lesbian storyline for the Chinese re-release of the sitcom, prompting censorship concerns.On Friday a number of entertainment platforms including Tencent – which made headlines earlier this month for carrying a version of Fight Club with a totally different ending – began airing the first season of Friends, which was originally broadcast in 1994. Continue reading...
Resurgent Syria government forces control distribution and one militia has contract to rebuild city it destroyed, claims thinktankThe manipulation of aid by Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria is a unique and persistent form of control that needs to be urgently addressed, according to a new report.Based on interviews with UN officials and humanitarian workers in Syria, the 70-page Rescuing Aid in Syria report has been released by a Washington thinktank, the Centre for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS). Continue reading...
St Louis TV journalist’s quirky segment contemplating dreary winter cityscapes and broken umbrellas resurfaces every yearApril may be the cruelest month, but February straight up sucks. This is the “news” that was broken by local reporter Kevin Killeen of St Louis’s KMOX, in a 2016 video segment declaring February “an honest month” because it is one that “doesn’t hold up life any better than it really is”.The segment mixes Killeen’s straight-faced, deadpan local news delivery with an almost avant garde absurdity. At one point, Killeen stands atop a parking garage in St Louis, gesturing at the dark office buildings behind him and says, “Something great happened here but it’s over with.” In a voiceover describing images of the city’s downtown, he declares, “This looks like a place where people who are being punished are sent.” Continue reading...
Report says two-thirds of people would like shorter working hours and 60% would support pilotHair stylist Joel McCauley had seen too many colleagues burn out after a perpetual cycle of work, eat and sleep, so when he opened his own salon in Cardiff he was determined to do things differently.Staff at Slunks in Morgan Arcade now work a four-day week for no less pay than for working five days. They are happier, more productive and provide a better service, said McCauley. Continue reading...
I was taught our minds were the most important part of us – now so many have been captured and pollutedIn 1995, the celebrated Indian film-maker Saeed Mirza made a film called Naseem. Set in Agra, a town in Uttar Pradesh, between June and December 1992, it portrays the lead up to the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya by rightwing Hindu organisations, led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The film’s titular character asks her grandfather why he did not go to Pakistan at the time of partition. He says: “Your grandmother loved the neem tree in the back yard.” In the middle of the partition riots of 1947, when thousands of Muslims were being massacred in India, as were Sikhs and Hindus in Pakistan, Naseem’s grandmother was so emotionally connected to the neem tree, to the mother Earth, that she would rather take the risk of being killed than leave.One hundred and twenty-five miles from Agra, in Delhi, my father, Haneef Hashmi, also refused to go to Pakistan during the riots. He was a student leader, a freedom fighter, and had spent years in the British jail. He refused to leave India, despite an attack on his family, because he believed in the idea of a diverse, democratic secular country, which was not formed on the basis of religion but on the principles of fraternity, equality and justice. Continue reading...
by Philip Oltermann in Berlin, Julian Borger in Washi on (#5W3ZR)
German chancellor is expected to talk about how to stabilise Ukraine’s economy as tensions rock global stock marketsThe German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, will travel to Kyiv on Monday as western leaders voiced concerns of a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen at any moment, sending stock markets tumbling and the price of oil soaring.On the eve of his departure, Scholz said that any Russia attack would lead to “tough sanctions that we have carefully prepared and which we can immediately put into force”. Continue reading...
Two birthdays bring number of over-100s in Perdasdefogu to 10 in a population of 1,765Vittorio Lai, nicknamed Pistol, still drives and hunts wild boar, and on Saturday became the latest person in Perdasdefogu, a remote mountain town on the Italian island of Sardinia that set a world record for longevity, to celebrate his 100th birthday.He will be joined this week by another sprightly centenarian, Piuccia Lai (no relation), who has no qualms about hopping on a plane to visit her sons in Milan, bringing the total number of over-100s in the town to 10 among a population of 1,765. Continue reading...
by Written and read by Roy Cohen and produced by Hatt on (#5W3ZW)
At a summer camp for kids from conflict zones, I met my brave, funny friend Aseel. He was Palestinian. I was Israeli. When he was killed by police, my hope for our future died with him. By Roy Cohen• Read the text version here Continue reading...
Ambassador bridge linking Detroit and city of Windsor cleared of protesters, ending six-day standoffThe key Ambassador bridge trade link between Canada and the United States has reopened after police cleared the last Covid restriction protesters, ending a six-day blockade.Police moved in to clear and arrest the remaining protesters on the border bridge early on Sunday, trying to end one of the main demonstrations that have broken out across Canada against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions to bring the pandemic under control. Continue reading...
Some complain of ‘questionable’ words but the Times denies any changes to the gameWhat began as a daily slice of bliss is in danger of turning into something of a strain, some say.Some players of the viral word game Wordle have complained that it has become harder since it was bought by the New York Times late last month. Continue reading...
The film-maker behind bawdy comedy hits including Twins, Stripes and Kindergarten Cop, died at his home in California on SaturdayIvan Reitman, the influential film-maker and producer behind beloved comedies including Ghostbusters, Animal House and Twins, has died at the age of 75.Reitman died peacefully in his sleep Saturday night at his home in Montecito, California, his family told the Associated Press. No cause of death was given. Continue reading...
The supergroup of hip-hop and R&B legends delivered the most entertaining Super Bowl half-time show in yearsEven by Super Bowl standards, an event in which the mythologising is as much of a sport as the football, this has been a particularly hyped half-time show. Three weeks before the fact, the NFL released a four-minute trailer, a third as long as the performance itself, which saw Dr Dre, the most important producer in rap history, assemble a superhero cast of 90s hip-hop and R&B legends: Eminem, Mary J Blige and Snoop Dogg as well as Kendrick Lamar, the great west-coast hip-hop talent of his generation, who went to the same Compton high school as Dre.Yet, despite all that pomp, this felt like a different kind of half-time show, directorially and musically more inventive than the normal tropes of marching bands and fake fans on the pitch. There was more collaboration and smart interstitial set-pieces, all brought together by Anderson.Paak’s impressive live band. Just before it began, the NBC hosts whispered it might be the greatest Super Bowl half-time show ever – it wasn’t far off. Continue reading...
Front pages focus on the diplomatic efforts of Boris Johnson and Olaf Scholz amid warnings Russia could invade within daysFears that diplomatic efforts will fail to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine within days are writ large across most of today’s front pages, despite the latest talks announced by Boris Johnson and German chancellor Olaf Scholz.The Mirror carries an air of the inevitable with the headline “Countdown to war”, saying Vladimir Putin has continued to mass troops at the border and quoting No 10 saying there could be an invasion “at any moment”. Continue reading...
Plan proposes two ‘green freeports’ based around low-emission industriesUK ministers and the Scottish government have reached a deal over proposed freeports in Scotland, after months of disagreement over what No 10 has billed as one of the main economic benefits of Brexit.The Scottish government had resisted the idea of freeports – specific areas that offer tax breaks and other incentives to investors – which are intended to revitalise deprived areas but have been accused of encouraging tax avoidance and lower regulation. Continue reading...
Keir Starmer places Tories’ record on crime at heart of Labour’s local election campaignPriti Patel must shoulder some blame for the public’s plunging trust in the police in the wake of Cressida Dick’s resignation, her Labour counterpart said on Sunday.It comes as Keir Starmer placed the Tories’ record on crime at the heart of Labour’s local election campaign which launched just days after the Met commissioner’s departure, and as Boris Johnson faces possible fines for attending parties during lockdown. Continue reading...
Rape threats and racism feature in this alarming encounter with white nationalists who spread hate online while denying they’re fascists. Might this documentary do more harm than good?Nick J Fuentes, the 23-year-old founder of the America First Foundation, wants there to be no more immigration to the US. “White men founded this country. It wouldn’t exist without white men and white men are done being bullied … Genocide is being perpetrated against the white man.” He thinks women should stay in the home. “They have been convinced it’s dignified to abandon your children – literally out of their womb – and go work in an office, go work for a corporation. How sick is that?” He thinks they shouldn’t have the vote either, “but that’s probably not going to land soon”. Articulate, charismatic and convincing, he has built a substantial following, beginning with the online gaming community, and now, spreading outward from there, holds his own rallies. He also wants to be president.The most terrifying part of this opening episode of Louis Theroux’s new three-part documentary series, Forbidden America (BBC Two), is that by the end of it you can see no reason why he could not be. Theroux’s latest outing is – for all the compelling interviews that abound – really about the tentacular reach and spectacular, unprecedented power of the internet (alongside whatever else it has brought us); its ability to politicise, radicalise, give voice to would-be demagogues and hatemongers who would once have had their influence naturally curtailed by time and distance, encourage the worst in humanity and then unite people on that basis. Continue reading...
Les Républicains’ presidential choice promises crackdown after defections to Macron and rise in far-right’s pollingThe rightwing French presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse vowed to crack down on immigration as she held her first big rally on Sunday amid competition from the growing far right and defections from her party to the centrist leader Emmanuel Macron.“There is no sovereignty without borders,” Pécresse said on stage in Paris as more than 6,000 people waved French flags in support of the first female presidential candidate for Les Républicains, the traditional rightwing party of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. Continue reading...
The true story of a Turkish-German mother’s fight to release her son from the notorious US detention camp gets an oddly pitched telling from director Andreas DresenIn December 2001, the US government was ramping up its “war on terror” and 19-year-old Murat Kurnaz was about to board a plane home from Pakistan to Germany, where the Turkish national had legal residency and lived with his parents in Bremen. Reportedly as a result of the Americans offering “bounties” for suspected terrorists, Kurnaz was arrested and detained in Guantánamo Bay without trial or evidence; he was only released in 2006, as a result of a passionate letter-writing campaign by his formidable mother, Rabiye, culminating in her lawyer taking their case to Washington DC and sensationally submitting a writ of habeas corpus in federal court: Murat Kurnaz v George W Bush.It is this harrowing true story to which German film-maker Andreas Dresen has given the Hollywoodised feelgood-underdog treatment, concentrating on Murat’s gutsy mum played – often for sentimental laughs – by German-Turkish comedian and TV personality Meltem Kaptan. Her lawyer, Bernhard Docke, is played by veteran Berlin actor Alexander Scheer, very much in the traditional style of the stressed, fallible but idealistic lawyer who gallantly takes up the impossible pro bono case (much like Albert Finney for Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich). Continue reading...
‘Risk of something going down like a mid-air collision, or a trigger-happy Russian or American, can really escalate things quickly’The unprecedented Russian military encirclement of Ukraine has not only brought closer the prospect of a devastating war in that country, it has also raised the risks of triggering an unintended wider conflict.The US and Nato have been adamant that their troops will not enter Ukraine no matter what happens, and the Pentagon has pulled out the 160 national guard soldiers who were acting as military advisers. Continue reading...
Hugo Torres, 73, was among 46 opposition figures jailed by Ortega last year to clear way for his re-electionA former Sandinista guerrilla who once led a raid that helped free Daniel Ortega from prison has died, eight months after the now-president jailed him and dozens of other Nicaraguan opposition leaders.Government prosecutors said Hugo Torres, 73, died at a hospital in Managua, the capital, “of illnesses he had”. It was unclear if his death was hastened by conditions in prison, according to a statement by government prosecutors. Continue reading...
Demonstrators against Covid-19 restrictions in France and the Netherlands staged protests on Saturday inspired by the 'freedom convoy' demonstrations in Canada. In France, police fired teargas at demonstrators on the Champs Élysées in Paris shortly after a convoy made it into the capital. Cars carrying protesters managed to get through police checkpoints in central Paris to snarl traffic around the Arc de Triomphe. Inspired by horn-blaring demonstrations in Canada, the motorists waved French flags and honked in defiance of a police order not to enter the city.A convoy of vehicles from across the Netherlands brought The Hague’s city centre to a standstill earlier in the day
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