3 d. ago Trump has found in El Salvador a model for the repressive state he wants to build – and he’s just getting started | Jordana Timerman

Nayib Bukele has shown how brutal control can be sustained not just through force, but by raising the cost of speaking outThe Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) maximum security prison in El Salvador is the crown jewel of President Nayib Bukele’s efforts to quash not only criminal gangs, but also criticism and political opposition to his government. The “mega-prison” is also one of the more visible destinations in the emerging map of American deportations – a sprawling archipelago that includes conservative US districts, the Guantánamo military base and Central American waypoints connected by a tangle of military and charter flights.That the two states have connected their penal architecture is no coincidence. Donald Trump’s aggressive policies towards foreigners build on Bukele’s infamous iron fist crackdown against criminal gangs: it’s a political toolkit that leverages anti-establishment anger to justify an authoritarian slide. In deploying strongman tactics to address social c...

Politics

7 d. ago American Cinematheque’s ‘Bleak Week’ Expands to Seven Cities Including London, Sets Special Guest Robert Eggers – Film News in Brief

American Cinematheque’s ‘Bleak Week’ Expands to Seven Cities Including London, Sets Special Guest Robert Eggers – Film News in Brief  Variety

Culture

1 week ago The big picture: Sally Mann captures girls on the cusp of womanhood

For her classic series At Twelve, the American photographer created a collective portrait of adolescent girls, including world-weary Olivia pictured in her yardYou can see a whole world – submerged, waiting, ready to burst forth – in the face of any adolescent girl. In Sally Mann’s At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women, she captures this special, unstable time of life. In this image, a plaited-haired girl sits in a chair, head in hand like a world-weary grownup. This is Olivia, “with that ruined prayer in her eyes”, as Mann describes her. In the background, a phalanx of dark trousers hangs from two washing lines that cut across the image and lead our gaze towards her grandmother, who dangles the now-empty plastic laundry basket over one shoulder.“This is just half the day’s laundry,” Mann tells us in a loose narrative that runs through a reissue of the well-known 1988 publication by the artist notorious for capturing girls on the threshold of womanhood with unnerving perspicacity. The...

Politics

1 week ago Zendaya's nostalgic noughties makeup 'must have' is now on sale at Debenhams

People are still loving this retro beauty buy - including the popular American actress known for her striking looks

Politics

1 week ago Amy Winehouse and Elton John among 25 recordings added to National Recording Registry

The recordings included are deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant to American life

Politics

2 w. ago A Minecraft Movie breaks records to become highest opening video game movie of all time

First-weekend takings of $163m in North America puts the adaptation of the wildly popular video game ahead of previous record holder The Super Mario Bros MovieA Minecraft Movie has broken box office records to record the highest ever first weekend total for a video game adaptation.According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film took $163m (£128m) on its first three days at the North American box office (including approximately $10m for preview screenings on Thursday), which puts it well ahead of the previous record holder The Super Mario Bros Movie, which took $146m on its opening weekend in the US and Canada in 2023. Continue reading...

Culture

2 w. ago Germans are SHOCKED by one thing Brits and Americans commonly do in restaurants and on public transport

Expats working in Germany have shared a common perception among Germans on how Brits and Americans behave in public - including how loudly they speak in restaurants.

Events

3 w. ago The Beatles: actors playing the Fab Four in Sam Mendes’ biopics announced

All four Beatles biopics, focusing on each member of the band, will be released in cinemas in April 2028The cast of Sam Mendes’ four upcoming Beatles biopics has been officially announced, with Harris Dickinson playing John Lennon, Paul Mescal playing Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan playing Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn playing George Harrison.Mendes, the Oscar-winning director of films including American Beauty, 1917 and Skyfall, made a surprise appearance on stage with his Fab Four at CinemaCon, an annual industry event for Hollywood, in Las Vegas on Monday night. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago 'Hero Brit' is praised for tackling knifeman who stabbed five people including two Americans during Amsterdam rampage

Dramatic footage shows the individual pinning down the attacker and restraining him from any further assaults on the busy street.

Politics

3 w. ago Most Americans, including 60 percent of Republicans, troubled by Signalgate: Poll

According to the poll of almost 6,000 U.S. adults, 53 percent of respondents said the incident was a ‘very serious’ problem

Politics

3 w. ago 300 of America’s wealthiest citizens ask Congress not to carry out tax breaks for them. Here’s why

Group of wealthy Americans includes member of the Disney family, founder of Seventh Generation, heir to the Rockefeller family and more

Economics