2 h. ago Mega rich Russian oligarch dies in 'tragic shooting range accident' aged 46

Pavel Izbrekht, Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Chelyabinsk Region of Russia was checking to see if his gun was loaded when he seemingly fatally shot himself

Events

1 week ago Russian oligarch's ex who won £450million record divorce payout faces £2m legal bill as she sues top break

Tatiana Soroka, 52, claims the firm, Payne Hicks Beach (PHB) where Baroness Shackleton is a partner, missed opportunities to have her former husband's yacht seized in Miami.

Economics

1 week ago Russian oligarchs prepare to return to London as Trump calls for ceasefire

Russian oligarchs prepare to return to London as Trump calls for ceasefire  The Telegraph

Politics

2 w. ago Oligarch who 'masterminded massive money laundering scheme' that saw billions in Russian money pour into Europe and the USA is arrested

Former Moldovan MP Veaceslav Platon was arrested on Thursday in central London in connection with the 'Laundromat' operation that is said to have moved vast sums of criminal cash.

Economics

2 w. ago Law firm sues over Trump executive order that seeks to suspend security clearances

A law firm targeted by President Donald Trump over its legal services during the 2016 presidential campaign has sued the federal government over an executive order that seeks to strip its attorneys of security clearances

Politics

3 w. ago Anora is nothing new – Hollywood has always been obsessed with sex workers

Mikey Madison is the latest in a line of actors dating back to Louise Brooks to win Oscars depicting the sex trade. Why this is, and whether it lessens the stigma of such work, is an open questionAnora emerged triumphant from last week’s Academy Awards presentation, winning five Oscars including best actress for Mikey Madison for her performance as Ani, a sex worker who elopes with the feckless son of a Russian oligarch, only to find herself at odds with his powerful family and their henchmen. As in his previous films, writer-director Sean Baker shows generosity and affection for the marginalised characters, and especially for its heroine. Even when she gets roughed up, it’s played for laughs and you’re confident she won’t meet one of the sad fates of screen sex workers of yore, such as Louise Brooks as Lulu, stabbed to death in Pandora’s Box, or Vivien Leigh as Myra, who throws herself under a lorry in Waterloo Road.Madison said in her acceptance speech, “I also just want to again ...

Politics

3 w. ago Warning for anyone getting divorced over £80,000 payout that people miss out on

Research by Scottish Widows put the typical cost of ignoring pensions to divorced women at £77,000 at retirement - but experts say retirement funds often get missed during the separation process

Events

3 w. ago Allowing foreign firms to sue governments for lost profits is legal terrorism – it must end | Joseph Stiglitz

Investor–state dispute settlements don’t just mean growing debt burdens for countries: they are also a barrier to action on the climate crisisDonald Trump has thrown a hand grenade into the global economic architecture, destroying some things that are working well. But amid the devastation, some things seem to be surviving that really should be taken down. Among the most notable of these is an arcane set of international agreements by which private investors can sue governments, known as ISDS: investor-state dispute settlement. These disputes are litigated not in public courts with impartial judges but in private arbitration – behind closed doors, and rife with conflicts of interest.Early on, when they were snuck into many trade agreements, no one paid much attention. For instance, these provisions in Nafta, the so-called free trade agreement between the US, Mexico, and Canada, never got a discussion within the cabinet while I served in the Council of Economic Advisers under Preside...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘We didn’t see who she is’: Anora missed chance to spark real change, say sex workers

Sean Baker’s film accused of lacking representation, as some say he and Mikey Madison could have used speeches to call for policy reformAs well as winning five Oscars and catapulting its lead actor, Mikey Madison, into true stardom, the film Anora has been mooted as a signifier of society taking another step towards sex work being normalised as an occupation.The film is a dark love story about a stripper who marries the feckless son of a Russian oligarch and slowly watches her vision of a fairytale ending disappear before her eyes. But real-life sex workers have said the film portrays an optimistic view of the industry. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago ‘I want to see that movie’: Brighton Beach residents on Anora’s Oscar triumph

Mikey Madison called out the Brooklyn seaside setting on Oscar night. How did locals feel the morning after?Anora’s Mikey Madison may have won the Oscar for best actress, but the real star of Sean Baker’s madcap anti-love story was New York’s Brighton Beach.Situated on the southern shore of Brooklyn, next to Coney Island, the tight-knit Russian and eastern European enclave retains a midcentury, pre-gentrification charm. In the film, it is the fairytale setting for Madison’s Anora, a sex worker who falls for and marries the childish son of a Russian oligarch. When the honeymoon period abruptly ends, Anora’s husband runs away and leaves her the hostage of his father’s goons – and Brighton Beach’s boardwalk begins to feel more sinister. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago The Oscars were an exhilarating triumph for Anora and newly minted star Mikey Madison

Political metaphors were the dark undercurrent in this year’s crop, from Anora’s toxic masculinity to the revolutionary defiance of I’m Still HereSo, as Conan O’Brien pointed out, the Oscars went to a film about someone standing up to a Russian, and maybe recent events mean we have to probe its political metaphor even further. Sean Baker’s cacophonous, crazy non-love story Anora won five Academy Awards including best actress for that rather amazing and newly born star Mikey Madison, playing the tough, smart, beautiful New York lap dancer who gets a Vegas quickie marriage to the spoilt and pusillanimous son of a Russian oligarch and then has to stand up to his parents. Madison embodies Anora’s complex courage: not exactly romantic, not exactly in love, but certainly believing in the wedding contract, in her own status as a legally married woman and in the possibility of happiness which is no more remote for her than for anyone else. She is the thoroughly modern, thoroughly 21st-centu...

Politics

4 w. ago Anora sweeps the Oscars as Mikey Madison named best actress and Adrien Brody wins for The Brutalist

Sean Baker’s film picked up five awards including best picture while Israel-Palestine documentary No Other Land also gets major winOscars 2025 — follow live Academy Awards updatesSee complete list of winners and photos from the red carpetLow-budget comedy Anora has triumphed at this year’s Oscars winning five Oscars, including best picture and best actress while Adrien Brody took home best actor.Anora, which follows Mikey Madison’s sex worker who gets married to the son of a Russian oligarch, premiered at the Cannes film festival last year and has become the fourth Palme d’Or winner to be named best picture. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Anora dominates the Oscars as Mikey Madison named best actress and Adrien Brody wins for The Brutalist

Sean Baker’s film picks up five awards including best picture while Israel-Palestine documentary No Other Land also gets major win• Oscars 2025 – follow live Academy Awards updates• Complete list of winners and photos from the red carpetLow-budget comedy Anora has triumphed at this year’s Oscars winning five Oscars, including best picture and best actress while Adrien Brody took home best actor.Anora, which follows Mikey Madison’s sex worker who gets married to the son of a Russian oligarch, premiered at the Cannes film festival last year and has become the fourth Palme d’Or winner to be named best picture. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Sean Baker wins best director Oscar for ‘Anora,’ his 3rd of the night

Sean Baker has won best director at the Oscars for “Anora,” the story of a Brooklyn exotic dancer who marries the impetuous son of a Russian oligarch

Politics