89 m. ago I learned about slavery from Hollywood. Why is French cinema so slow to depict our own colonial crimes?

A biopic of Frantz Fanon and other remarkable new movies are finding success via social media, yet remain invisible at the big film festivalsFrance’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade was historically among the most significant in Europe. After Britain, France had the second biggest colonial empire. We know that 1.38 million people were deported in at least 4,220 documented French slave trade expeditions. Yet the stories of the lives of those people are almost entirely absent from the French collective imagination.Growing up in France, the only images of this crime against humanity I ever saw on screen were in US-made films. I learned about it from the 1970s TV series Roots and from Steven Spielberg’s movie Amistad. Today in France, Hollywood films such as 12 Years a Slave or Django Unchained are still the references when it comes to depicting the horrors experienced by enslaved people.Rokhaya Diallo is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

Events

89 m. ago Shakespeare in war: Ukraine festival explores intersection to bard’s world

‘There is a big need for theatre to work with existential problems,’ says translator, as Shakespeare productions boom across UkraineThe Ukrainian Shakespeare festival in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk did not open with a play. Another kind of performance was staged on the steps of the theatre, one that did not deal with sad stories of the death of kings but with tragedy unfolding in real life.This was theatre in a different sense: a rally involving several hundred people demonstrating on behalf of Ukrainian prisoners of war, thousands of whom are estimated to remain in Russian captivity. Continue reading...

Events

89 m. ago ‘Even if we stop drinking we will be exposed’: A French region has banned tap water. Is it a warning for the rest of Europe?

Forever chemicals have polluted the water supply of 60,000 people, threatening human health, wildlife and the wider ecosystem. But activists say this is just the tip of the Pfas icebergOne quiet Saturday night, Sandra Wiedemann was curled up on the sofa when a story broke on TV news: the water coming from her tap could be poisoning her. The 36-year-old, who is breastfeeding her six-month-old son Côme, lives in the quiet French commune of Buschwiller in Saint-Louis, near the Swiss city of Basel. Perched on a hill not far from the Swiss and German borders, it feels like a safe place to raise a child – spacious houses are surrounded by manicured gardens, framed by the wild Jura mountains.But as she watched the news, this safety felt threatened: Wiedemann and her family use tap water every day, for drinking, brushing her teeth, showering, cooking and washing vegetables. Now, she learned that chemicals she had never heard of were lurking in her body, on her skin, potentially harming her ...

Events

4 h. ago Solar minigrid brings light and hope to a Goma neighborhood, offering blueprint for rest of Congo

A solar minigrid in a Goma neighborhood where almost everyone lacked access to electricity just five years ago is offering a flicker of hope despite widespread poverty and the city’s violent takeover by Congolese rebels early this year

Politics

4 h. ago Secrets of Britain's biggest Wetherspoons. It can fit 1,400 people and has 100 beers on tap. Now HARRY WALLOP exposes exactly what goes on... and why they constantly need to change the carpet

Nearly 75 years ago, George Orwell wrote that the pub was part of 'something distinctive and recognisable in English civilization', a place where all types could gather.

Politics

5 h. ago The spiritual economy: young Chinese turn to fortune tellers as anxiety about the future rises

Growing popularity of mysticism can also be connected to increasing sense of cultural confidence as Chinese brands and products go globalPass my exams. Meet Mr Right. Get rich. Pinned to a board by the entrance of a dimly lit fortune telling bar in Fengtai, an urban district in the south of Beijing, handwritten notes reveal the inner worries of customers coming for cocktails with a side of spiritual salvation.One As All is one of several fortune telling bars to have opened in Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities in recent years. Hidden on the 12th floor of a commercial building, the bar serves a wide range of drinks starting at an auspicious 88 yuan (£9) (eight is considered to be lucky number in China). As well as enjoying a sundowner with a view over Beijing’s skyline, customers can consult the in-house fortune teller who specialises in qiuqian, known in English as Chinese lottery sticks, an ancient style of divination often found in Taoist temples. From a private side-room,...

Politics

5 h. ago More than 14 MILLION could die as a result of Trump's foreign aid cuts, study finds

Research revealed that 4.5 million children under the age of five could die by 2030 as a result of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) being dismantled by the Trump administration.

Politics

6 h. ago The deadly driving act that 43 per cent of people admit to doing

More than 140 people are killed or seriously injured on England’s motorways each year due to tailgating

Events

9 h. ago Car smashes into Nando's restaurant with police and paramedics at scene

One of the cars narrowly missed a lamppost before hitting the restaurant

Events

11 h. ago Keir Starmer still battling disability benefit cuts revolt as U

Keir Starmer offered major concessions on welfare reforms to avoid a Commons defeat - but the Government's own analysis suggests 150,000 people could still be pushed into poverty

Events

11 h. ago We need to 'bonk to save Britain' as birth rates fall and minister shares worry

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she wants 'more young people to have children'. Data from the Office for National Statistics shows fertility rates in England and Wales dropped to 1.44 children per woman in 2023

Politics

11 h. ago Newest shocking Ozempic side effect revealed... and people's lives will never be the same

Blockbuster weight-loss shots like Ozempic, Wegovy and Victoza may have an unexpected side effect impacting as many as 47million Americans, a new study from researchers in Italy found.

Events

11 h. ago More than 300 charged in $14.6 billion health care fraud schemes takedown, Justice Department says

State and federal prosecutors have charged more than 320 people in the largest coordinated takedown of health care fraud schemes in Justice Department history that uncovered nearly $15 million in false claims

Society

12 h. ago Israel launches waves of Gaza airstrikes after new displacement orders

Scores of Palestinians reported killed as senior Netanyahu adviser due to arrive in Washington for ceasefire talks Middle East crisis – live updatesIsrael ramped up its offensive in Gaza on Monday, with new displacement orders sending tens of thousands of people fleeing the north of the devastated territory and waves of airstrikes killing about 60 Palestinians, according to local officials and medical staff.The violence in Gaza came as a senior adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was due to arrive in Washington for talks on a new ceasefire, a day after Donald Trump called in a social media post for a deal to end the 20-month war and free 50 hostages held by Hamas. Continue reading...

Politics

12 h. ago ‘People laughing in the galleries’: finding humor in photography

At the Phoenix Arts Museum, a new exhibition displays different approaches to comedy within photographyHumor stands in a strange relationship to the art world. Often ranked as a lesser aspiration for the work of a true artist, when humor does find its way into the graphic arts, it’s as more of a condiment than the main dish.How refreshing then to see the Phoenix Art Museum’s substantial new exhibition, Funny Business, which boldly and decisively leaps into the realm of comedic photography. Showcasing humor from a wealth of angles, including slapstick, whimsical, acid, surreal, ironic, parody and so many more, the show offers ample opportunity to consider just what purpose laughter serves – and to enjoy a hearty laugh or two on a summer’s day. Continue reading...

Culture

12 h. ago Nine people smugglers jailed in France over fatal Channel small boat crossing

A boat got into trouble off the Kent coast while carrying 47 people on December 14 2022.

Events

12 h. ago Liz Kendall ignores call from Labour MP for welfare bill to be withdrawn – UK politics live

Andy McDonald says MPs are being asked to vote without vital evidence but work and pensions secretary says employment support programmes are being improvedThe Department for Work and Pensions has just published an analysis saying that, allowing for the concesssions announced last week, the welfare cuts will still push an extra 150,000 people into relative poverty.Here is the key chart from the document. Continue reading...

Economics

12 h. ago Norway lottery operator apologises to 47,000 players over prize mixup

Norsk Tipping informed thousands of people they won big sums of money after mistake in currency conversionsNorwegian lottery bosses have sent a text message apologising to tens of thousands of disappointed players who were accidentally told they had won large sums of money.Norsk Tipping, the state-owned gambling operator, had admitted “several thousand” people were mistakenly told on Friday they had won life-changing sums of money after an error in converting from euros to Norwegian kroner. It was not until Monday, three days later, that a text message was sent to 47,000 people apologising for the error. Continue reading...

Sport

12 h. ago Ed Sheeran Recalls Meeting Olivia Rodrigo's Mom 3 Years Ago as the Two Stars Duet in London: 'Such a Buzz'

Ed Sheeran Recalls Meeting Olivia Rodrigo's Mom 3 Years Ago as the Two Stars Duet in London: 'Such a Buzz'  People.com

Politics

13 h. ago Why is the UK experiencing a heatwave and what can people do in response?

Experts warn climate change is making ‘nice’ weather dangerous and already dangerous conditions deadly.

Politics