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TV reviewSlow HorsesReviewAs ever, this grubby spy thriller is an utter pleasure. It’s big, bold, daft and sees Scott Thomas on brilliantly droll form – alongside a joyously shambolic Gary Oldman If you don’t know the sort of spy series that Slow Horses is by now, then the Bond-esque chase sequence through the streets of Istanbul that kicks off season three should set you straight. A woman is on her way to leak a mysterious, potentially world-changing secret document, pursued by an athletic man who is also her lover. [Read More]

The ObserverThrillersReviewChampioned by QAnon conspiracists, this well-intentioned thriller about child sex-trafficking is crass and full of pantomime villains The extent of chatter around the Colombian child sex-trafficking thriller Sound of Freedom – a cause celebre of QAnon conspiracy junkies; a US box-office smash dogged by rumours of number fiddling; a platform for star Jim Caviezel’s messianic tendencies – makes it hard to get a clear-eyed look at the film itself. Plus, there’s the fact that negative reviews have acted as a lightning rod for reactionary bile on the internet. [Read More]

Ariana GrandeReview(Republic) In her untouchable vocal register and over effervescent pop-house, the returning singer rebukes the prurient interest in her personal life As the Mean Girls musical lands in cinemas, Ariana Grande’s gossip-defying comeback single reminds me a little of a classic line in the original. It’s the school Christmas talent show and lovable misfit Damian is singing a rendition of Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful, right down to including the first beat from the music video: “Don’t look at me! [Read More]

Osama bin Laden This article is more than 12 years oldBin Laden: the war in his wordsThis article is more than 12 years oldOsama bin Laden issued a series of opinions and threats after emerging in the mid-1990sSince he first emerged as a high profile threat in the mid-1990s, Osama bin Laden has issued statements, opinions and chilling threats that have captured global attention. He has aired views on everything from cartoons of the prophet Mohammed to the wider impact of western foreign policy. [Read More]

China This article is more than 14 years oldChina to open first sex theme parkThis article is more than 14 years oldLove Land in Chongqing aims to address taboo and improve sex education but many residents see it as vulgarMaybe it was the giant revolving model of a woman's legs and lower torso, clad only in an unflattering crimson thong, or perhaps it was the oversized replica of a set of genitals. [Read More]

The ObserverRaceThe local KKK leader thought he’d found an enthusiastic new recruit. In fact, he’d inadvertently signed up a black policeman. Ron Stallworth reveals the often hilarious saga that has now become a Spike Lee film Spike Lee: ‘This guy in the White House has given the green light for the Klan’ It is late October, 1978, in Colorado Springs when Ken O’Dell, a closet member of the newly resurgent Ku Klux Klan, receives an encouraging sign that his strategy of placing ads in the personal section of the local paper for new recruits has met with some success. [Read More]

ShortcutsYogaGlobal Trudeaumania went up another notch when a photo of the Canadian PM in a peacock pose emerged. But he’s not the first world leader to take up the ancient practice Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, famed feminist and man with a very nice face, can seemingly do no wrong. He appears to have the world’s media in rapture daily, with the latest burst of Trudeaumania coming from his apparent prowess at yoga. [Read More]

Men's hairAfter years of beards, beards and more beards, the moustache is having a moment. But do you have to be Mark Owen or Henry Cavill to carry one off? I put it to the test When I came of age, moustaches were the height of uncool. They were pervy, old-fashioned and creepy. The masculine ideal was clean-shaven, unless you were Des Lynam. A bizarre thing happened 20 years later, when ridiculous moustaches and moustache iconography came into fashion, and people even had them tattooed on their fingers. [Read More]

The science behind the newsScienceHow do you tap a phone?Shockingly easily. If you thought that your phone conversations were secure, think again. Covertly listening in on phone calls is a doddle if you know how. It may be illegal to listen in on other people's calls but a loophole in the law allows the inexpensive technology to be freely sold in stores across the UK, as privacy groups have warned this week. [Read More]

FictionReviewThe relationship between two outcast teenagers in 1980s Dublin is evoked with humility and beauty In the follow-up to his Costa-shortlisted debut Montpelier Parade, Karl Geary returns once more to 1980s Dublin with a coming-of-age story about an unlikely relationship, set against a landscape of poverty, unrest and unbelonging. When misfit Juno, as handy with her fists as she is with her backchat, defends fellow outsider Legs against the school bullies, it spawns a fast friendship, giving both teenagers an escape from their troubled lives: Legs from his germophobic and homophobic mother, and Juno from a fractured family home where a working lightbulb travels from room to room, yet her da always finds money for the pub. [Read More]