Designed to terrorize: Maine official who removed Trump from ballot describes recent threats |

 Posted on May 4, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  648 words  |  Christie Applegate

The fight for democracyMaineInterview‘Designed to terrorize’: Maine official who removed Trump from ballot describes recent threatsSam Levine in New YorkShenna Bellows, the secretary of state, says her decision was based on her oath to the constitution and what the law required Maine’s secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, says the threats she has faced since determining Donald Trump is disqualified from appearing on the presidential ballot in her state are an effort to scare her and others. [Read More]

In the company of men and Zen: a male-only wellness retreat in Wiltshire

 Posted on May 4, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1624 words  |  Christie Applegate

Health and fitness holidaysA retreat deep in an ancient Wiltshire forest offers jiu-jitsu, wild swimming and an emotional detox among like-minded strangers I was an hour late by the time my car careened down a bumpy country lane into the ecovillage that would be my home for the weekend. The Easter getaway had turned my three-hour drive into five, rain lashing the windows throughout, and I arrived for my first wellness retreat about as far from zen as you could get. [Read More]

Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck review a monumental breakup

 Posted on May 4, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  1036 words  |  Delta Gatti

Book of the dayFiction in translationReviewThe contours of a relationship are echoed by the collapse of East Germany in this invigorating novel of lost love Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos is one of the bleakest and most beautiful novels I have ever read. On one level, it is a love story, or rather a story about the loss of love. It begins with a woman, Katharina, hearing about the death of her former lover. [Read More]

Liz Smith obituary | Television & radio

 Posted on May 4, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1202 words  |  Brenda Moya

Liz Smith on the set of The Royle Family. Photograph: ITV/REX/Shutterstock GuardianTelevision & radioObituaryLiz Smith obituaryBafta award-winning actor, best known for playing Nana in The Royle Family, got her breakthrough later in life Liz Smith, who has died aged 95, was unknown until middle-age, but became a well-known and much-loved character actor. Her breakthrough came in a Mike Leigh film, Bleak Moments, when she was 49. She reached a wider audience when she starred in the memorable 1970s television comedy I Didn’t Know You Cared, written by Peter Tinniswood. [Read More]

Boeing plane returns to airport in Japan after crack found in cockpit window | Japan

 Posted on May 3, 2024  |  1 minutes  |  192 words  |  Barrett Giampaolo

JapanBoeing plane returns to airport in Japan after crack found in cockpit windowAll Nippon Airways flight was en route to Toyama airport when crack found in window of Boeing 737-800 A domestic flight of Japan’s All Nippon Airways returned to its departure airport on Saturday after a crack was found on the cockpit window of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft midair, a spokesperson for the airline said. Flight 1182 was en route to Toyama airport but headed back to the Sapporo-New Chitose airport after the crack was found on the outermost of four layers of windows surrounding the cockpit, the spokesperson said, adding there were no injuries reported among the 59 passengers and six crew. [Read More]

Dont call it anti-feminist: the return of girly fashion is all about having fun | Lauren O'

 Posted on May 3, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  900 words  |  Barrett Giampaolo

Simone Rocha’s autumn/winter 2023 collection at London fashion week. Photograph: Ben Broomfield/prSimone Rocha’s autumn/winter 2023 collection at London fashion week. Photograph: Ben Broomfield/prOpinionFashion This article is more than 2 months oldDon’t call it anti-feminist: the return of ‘girly’ fashion is all about having funThis article is more than 2 months oldLauren O'NeillUber-feminine style is often seen as infantile or unserious. But to me it’s a form of escapism, nostalgia and joy [Read More]

Its a revenge: the global success of the Tahitian dance that Europeans tried to outlaw

 Posted on May 3, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1093 words  |  Barrett Giampaolo

The Pacific projectTahitiThe fast, hip-shaking dance of Tahiti is taking off around the world, with thousands of women taking classes and competing Wearing intricate costumes made of plants and adorned with tropical flowers, the women look spectacular. While their torsos remain completely still, somehow, impossibly, their hips are moving in circles so fast it’s almost a blur. These women are performing traditional Tahitian dance, or Ori Tahiti, in Tahiti’s annual cultural festival, the Heiva. [Read More]

Mandela review a Madiba musical with fridge-magnet philosophy

 Posted on May 3, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  422 words  |  Merlyn Hunt

TheatreReviewYoung Vic, London A strong cast cannot conceal the thinness of this superficial account of South Africa’s great liberator This musical about the extraordinary life of the South African freedom-fighter turned statesman promises so much. Backed by members of his family, it is led by Broadway talent including Michael Luwoye in the lead role and director Schele Williams. And it begins powerfully, with the Sharpeville massacre of 1960 when peaceful protest was brutally ended by machine gunfire and dozens of deaths. [Read More]

Michael Douglas: oral sex caused my cancer | Michael Douglas

 Posted on May 3, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  1022 words  |  Christie Applegate

Michael Douglas This article is more than 10 years oldMichael Douglas: oral sex caused my cancerThis article is more than 10 years oldActor reveals to the Guardian that HPV, transmitted through oral sex, was responsible for his throat cancerXan Brooks' full interview: Michael Douglas on Liberace, Cannes, cancer and cunnilingus Michael Douglas – the star of Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction – has revealed that his throat cancer was apparently caused by performing oral sex. [Read More]

Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms remind us what the US has to lose | Norman Rockwell

 Posted on May 3, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  1038 words  |  Brenda Moya

Freedom from Want … Rockwell’s renowned Thanksgiving scene, with glad faces bathed in a very American light of freedom. Photograph: Norman Rockwell/SEPS: Curtis LicensingFreedom from Want … Rockwell’s renowned Thanksgiving scene, with glad faces bathed in a very American light of freedom. Photograph: Norman Rockwell/SEPS: Curtis LicensingJonathan Jones on artNorman Rockwell This article is more than 6 years oldNorman Rockwell's Four Freedoms remind us what the US has to loseThis article is more than 6 years oldJonathan JonesNews that the painter’s quartet of works celebrating an apple-pie America is to go on tour emphasises what is under threat in the Trump era [Read More]