George RR Martin has rebuffed the rumour that he has secretly finished the final two books in his Song of Ice and Fire series, after a Game of Thrones actor made the claim last month. Speculation began spreading online after actor Ian McElhinney, who played Ser Barristan Selmy in the HBO adaptation, made the claim…
Category: News
Putin hopes for closer ties with US in wake of Mueller report
Vladimir Putin told the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, on Tuesday that he hoped the conclusion of Robert Mueller’s investigation would make possible a revitalisation of US-Russian relations. The remarks came as the Russian president sat down with Pompeo for the first high-level talks between the two countries since the release of Mueller’s redacted…
Fifteen minutes of prestige: how Hollywood went long on short content
State of the Union opens in a bar, where Tom (Chris O’Dowd) and Louise (Rosamund Pike) hash out an agenda for their marital therapy session over drinks and witty diversions. The two banter and alternately confront and avoid the flailing state of their marriage, before the scene cuts at the therapist’s door. And by scene,…
Democrats defend Rashida Tlaib over misrepresented Holocaust comments
Democrats in Congress have rallied behind Rashida Tlaib after Republicans, citing her recent comments about Israel and the Holocaust, accused the congresswoman of being an antisemite. Top Democrats forcefully defended Tlaib, marking another acrimonious showdown over perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. Republicans seized on Tlaib’s remarks…
Sudanese security forces kill six in clashes with protesters
Members of the Sudanese security forces have shot and killed six people, including an army officer, in overnight clashes with protesters behind the uprising that drove Omar al-Bashir from power last month, a medical union said. The killings took place after nightfall on Monday, when protests in Sudan usually swell during the Muslim holy month…
Man makes deepest-ever dive in Mariana Trench and discovers … litter
On the deepest dive ever made by a human inside a submarine, a Texas investor found something he could have found in the gutter of nearly any street in the world: litter. Victor Vescovo, a retired naval officer, made the unsettling discovery as he descended nearly 35,853ft (10,927 meters) to a point in the Pacific…
‘You can’t really win’: 4m Britons in poverty despite having jobs
“I’m a bit scatty with things like this,” Gemma admits when talking about her finances. It was not scattiness that meant she struggled to make ends meet when taking home £399.69 a month for working 18 hours a week as a cashier at Betfred. Even with tax credits and child benefit topping up her meagre…
How we met: ‘I left him, then he left me. One-all’
Krystian Szemiczek and Lucia Morawska have been a couple since last year, but originally got together in 1995. Lucia, who was born in Poland but grew up in the UK, would go to Poland for summer holidays to see her grandmother, and met Krystian through a friend. She was 14; he was 16. After Lucia…
Saudi oil tankers show ‘significant damage’ after attack – Riyadh
Saudi Arabia has said two of its oil tankers have been damaged in mysterious “sabotage attacks” in the Gulf, as the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, held emergency talks with his European counterparts about mounting tensions in the region. The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday that four commercial vessels had been sabotaged near…
San Francisco police raid journalist over report on death of public defender
A freelance journalist is vowing to protect his source after San Francisco police raided his home and office while keeping him handcuffed for several hours as part of a criminal investigation. Bryan Carmody told the Los Angeles Times officers banged on his door on Friday and confiscated dozens of personal items, including notebooks and his…