3 h. ago Cannes controversies: now critics protest about lack of access to stars

Jo-Ann Titmarsh reports from Cannes on the controversies that have hit this year’s film festival, which now sees film critics protesting, as well as De Niro speaking out against Trump and jury president Juliette Binoche having her say on Gérard Depardieu

Events

27 h. ago Halle Berry forced to ditch Cannes red carpet outfit as it was banned over new dress code

Halle Berry has revealed that she had to make a last-minute 'pivot' when it came to her outfit for the Cannes Film Festival Opening Ceremony as it disobeyed the controversial new dress code.

Events

30 h. ago School visits to UK museums hit by ‘shortage of means’, philanthropist says

Frédéric Jousset warns smaller institutions especially are lagging behind their European counterpartsSmaller UK museums are suffering from a “shortage of means” that leaves them lagging behind their European counterparts, according to a philanthropist who is funding museum trips for thousands of British schoolchildren.Frédéric Jousset, a French philanthropist who made waves when he founded a mobile museum onboard a €32m catamaran, said British children were missing out on access to the arts because of a lack of investment. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago From Prince to Michael Jackson: why are the most controversial documentaries getting canned?

As Netflix scraps an epic series exploring the Purple Rain star’s complexities, and Max takes down Leaving Neverland, we ask: are celebrity-endorsed docs, such as the $40m Melania Trump hagiography, the future?It can be a painful thing, acknowledging that our heroes are both human and flawed, but Ezra Edelman spent five years doing just that. The film-maker behind 2016’s sprawling, Oscar-winning OJ: Made in America, was at work for Netflix on what, by all accounts, would have been the definitive Prince documentary: a nine-hour behemoth drawing upon dozens of interviews with the late icon’s associates and rare access to his personal archive.The film – according to the few who’ve seen a rough cut – built a layered portrait of Prince’s immense genius and complexities, including a darker side concealed by his playfully eccentric persona: his allegedly cruel treatment of girlfriends and female proteges; his demanding ruthlessness as a bandleader. “We’re asked to sit with Prince’s multipl...

Politics

1 week ago Mourners at controversial bishop’s funeral told one moment cannot define a life

Brendan Comiskey, who died this week at the age of 89, resigned as bishop of the Ferns dioceses in 2002 over his handling of clerical abuse claims.

Politics

1 week ago Lack of access to antibiotics is driving spread of superbugs, finds research

Focus on overuse contributes to antibiotics reaching less than 7% of people with drug-resistant infections in poorer countries, say researchersLess than 7% of people with severe drug-resistant infections in poorer countries get the antibiotics they need, a new study suggests, with researchers warning that not only is this causing suffering and deaths, but is also likely to be driving antimicrobial resistance (AMR).With AMR forecast to cause 1.9m deaths a year by 2050, they are calling for urgent action, akin to the fight earlier this century to get HIV drugs to Africa’s virus hotspots. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The Guardian view on Trump v universities: essential institutions must defend themselves | Editorial

Harvard is leading the pushback because it can afford to fight. Others are realising that they can’t afford not toEnfeebling universities or seizing control is an early chapter in the authoritarian playbook, studied eagerly by the likes of Viktor Orbán in Hungary. “Would-be authoritarians and one-party states centrally target universities with the aim of restricting dissent,” Jason Stanley, a scholar of fascism at Yale, wrote in the Guardian in September. Last month, he announced that he was leaving the US for Canada because of the political climate and particularly the battle over higher education.It is not merely that universities are often bastions of liberal attitudes and hotbeds for protest. They also constitute one of the critical institutions of civil society; they are a bulwark of democracy. The Trump administration is taking on judges, lawyers, NGOs and the media: it would be astonishing if universities were not on the list. They embody the importance of knowledge, rational...

Politics

2 w. ago One in three hospitality workers want to start their own business in the sector

Limited access to funding and lack of training and mentorship cited as biggest barriers

Economics