A Rainy Day in New York, the film completed by Woody Allen in 2018 but left in limbo after backers Amazon Studios terminated its agreement with him, is set for release in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. According to Variety, distributors Lucky Red have purchased rights to the film in Italy and plan to release…
Kevin Smith: how we made Clerks
Kevin Smith, director I worked in six convenience stores in New Jersey from 1989 to 1993, which is where Clerks came from. It was an appealing, easy job, like being a bartender: it puts you nominally in charge and people have to socialise with you. Seeing Richard Linklater’s Slacker on my 21st birthday showed me…
Humanity must save insects to save ourselves, leading scientist warns
Humanity must save insects, if not for their sake, then for ourselves, a leading entomologist has warned. “Insects are the glue in nature and there is no doubt that both the [numbers] and diversity of insects are declining,” said Prof Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. “At some stage the whole fabric…
Mural of journalist Lyra McKee unveiled in Belfast
A mural of the journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Derry last month, has been unveiled in her home city of Belfast. The image, created by Emma Blake and 21 other artists, covers much of the city’s Kent Street as part of the Hit the North street art festival. The picture is painted…
‘There are so many biases’: inside the American foster care system
Sixteen-year-old Dasani sits in a room, his hands lightly twisting his hair. Breathing labored, he recounts the memories of the streets of Chicago to his lawyer, Patricia Soung, and case worker, Lammy. While he doesn’t say what he is seeing, it is later revealed he witnessed the murder of his mother as a five- or…
Rio governor branded a show-off after tweeting video during police operation
Rio de Janeiro’s new governor, Wilson Witzel, is facing criticism after tweeting a video from a helicopter while observing a police operation in which shots were reportedly fired by the forces. According to one local councillor, police snipers were onboard the helicopter during the mission over drug-gang controlled areas in the seaside town of Angra…
Scientology cruise ship still quarantined as passengers are tested for measles
A Church of Scientology cruise ship docked in the Caribbean island of Curaçao will remain under quarantine until government authorities determine how many of the ship’s 318 passengers are infected with measles. Health officials have taken 277 blood samples from those onboard the ship and sent them to the Netherlands. The results are expected to…
Table for one: how eating alone is radically changing our diets
Eating alone has become a defining feature of modern life: the breakfasting commuter; the household members with conflicting schedules; the widower who receives few visitors. Almost a third of British adults are eating alone “most or all of the time”, according to the latest Wellbeing Index, compiled with data from more than 8,000 people for…
Nxivm former members to break vow of silence by testifying against cult leader
It was called “collateral” – nude photos and other embarrassing material that female members of an upstate New York self-improvement group turned over to their “masters” to guarantee obedience, silence and sexual fealty to the organization’s spiritual leader, Keith Raniere. Now some former members of the group, called Nxivm (pronounced nexium) are poised to break…
Sudden US threat against Iran adds to Middle East volatility
John Bolton’s sudden, unexplained threat to use “unrelenting force” against Tehran has raised US-Iran tensions to a new high. But its impact is not confined to these two countries. Like a lethal poison, their mutual enmity is seeping through the veins of an already unstable region that has experienced dangerously high levels of volatility in…