2 h. ago FTSE Russell aims to ease path for overseas groups to join City’s blue

Proposals would cut amount of shares required to trade in public hands to 10% for non-UK incorporated companies

Politics

6 h. ago Apple launches new AirTag that aims to make it easier to find things

Small puck will be findable – and audible – from much further away

Politics

4 d. ago Top of the props: meet the unsung heroes behind the memorable objects in your favourite films

Does your movie call for a golden, diamond-encrusted Furby or replica nuclear missile? The prop master will find one for you – or even make it from scratchThe red and blue pills in The Matrix. The Rosebud sled in Citizen Kane. Marsellus Wallace’s briefcase in Pulp Fiction, contents unknown. The (real) severed horse head in The Godfather. Every sword, gun, wand and lightsaber that has been brandished by an actor on a screen or stage. What do these items have in common? Nothing, except that they are a tiny sample of the staggering range of objects, from the iconic to the instantly forgotten, known as props – or, to use their formal name, “properties”.Props are, properly defined, anything used in a performance that is not part of the set or costumes. Sourcing or fabricating them is the job of a team overseen by the prop master; the term is gender-neutral, although the prim-sounding “prop mistress” is occasionally heard. It’s a massive undertaking, but not one that gets much a...

Politics

5 d. ago American democracy on the brink a year after Trump’s inauguration, experts say

Scale and speed of president’s moves have stunned observers of authoritarian regimes – is the US in democratic peril?Three hundred and sixty-five days after Donald Trump swore his oath of office and completed an extraordinary return to power, many historians, scholars and experts say his presidency has pushed American democracy to the brink – or beyond it.In the first year of Trump’s second term, the democratically elected US president has moved with startling speed to consolidate authority: dismantling federal agencies, purging the civil service, firing independent watchdogs, sidelining Congress, challenging judicial rulings, deploying federal force in blue cities, stifling dissent, persecuting political enemies, targeting immigrants, scapegoating marginalized groups, ordering the capture of a foreign leader, leveraging the presidency for profit, trampling academic freedom and escalating attacks on the news media. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago American democracy on the brink a year after Trump’s election, experts say

Scale and speed of president’s moves have stunned observers of authoritarian regimes – is the US in democratic peril?Three hundred and sixty five days after Donald Trump placed his hand on the Bible and completed an extraordinary return to power, many historians, scholars and experts say his presidency has pushed American democracy to the brink – or beyond it.In the first year of Trump’s second term, the democratically elected US president has moved with startling speed to consolidate authority: dismantling federal agencies, purging the civil service, firing independent watchdogs, sidelining Congress, challenging judicial rulings, deploying federal force in blue cities, stifling dissent, persecuting political enemies, targeting immigrants, scapegoating marginalized groups, ordering the capture of a foreign leader, leveraging the presidency for profit, trampling academic freedom and escalating attacks on the news media. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump's 'emergency' wrecking ball team aims to demolish a dozen more DC buildings as East Wing lies in ruins

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is taking aim at more than a dozen of Washington, D.C.'s historic buildings, pushing to have them quickly demolished.

Politics