A West soccer star raped a friend in a hotel after pestering her for weeks 'to be his girl', a court was told yesterday.Swindon Town striker Nile Ranger is accused of raping the girl after the pair had been out together in Newcastle city centre.The striker, who played for Newcastle United last season, denies the charge that relates to an incident that took place in January 2013.Christine Egerton, prosecuting, said the alleged victim could remember being together at Empress bar in Newcastle where...
Reported by Western Daily Press 6 hours ago.
↧
Player raped drunken girl, court hears
↧
Markus Zusak: The Book Thief film's biggest hurdle was Death
Markus Zusak, author of bestselling novel The Book Thief, answers questions from the Guardian children's books site community about the film of his book, which is released this week
*How did you respond to the news that your book was being adapted, when did the feeling settle in?*
When I found out that the film was going to be signed up I thought that it was never going to be made – everyone says that. So I thought that's what would happen and I turned out to be totally wrong. So the feeling didn't really settle in until I found out last year that they were filming in Berlin. That was a shock! And then I thought, right, now I can start worrying...but I never really worried as you can't worry about things you can't control. So I just enjoyed what was happening at every stage.
*How involved have you been in the film?*
It took three years of constant work and (happy) struggle to finish writing the book. By the end I was a complete mess but I was also very happy and that's the perfect state to finish a book in. I realised that to then try to break the book into little pieces and write a screenplay would have been too much – it would actually have been heartbreaking – and I wanted to start writing a new book. So the only credit I can take for the film is that when they were really struggling to find the right character to play Liesel, the main character, it so happens that one of the only films I saw in 2012 was Monsieur Lazhar with Sophie Nélisse and I said to my wife that that girl would be great. She said that I should tell the producers. Such commen sense! So we did and they ended up asking her to take the role. It only struck me recently that there is a justice in that it took the writer of the novel to find the girl to play the main part. I like that.
*Which part of the book (character, event, place, etc) were you most concerned with representing well on film?*
I think that, knowing that the most important part of any story is the ending, I probably thought most about what was going to happen at the end. Interestingly, while essentially the same things happen in the ending of the film and the book, they couldn't be more different in the way it was done. In the book the ending is years and years later and she ends up in Sydney whereas in the film it's New York. That's the difference between an Australian writing a novel and a film produced by Americans. Those things help you see the difference between the book and the film, and to distinguish the two things as separate, as different pieces of work.
*Which scene are you looking forward to seeing most? And how is the (bad) language in the book being handled?*
The scene I was looking forward to seeing the most was probably the incident in which Rudy paints his face black with charcoal and runs the 100 metres at the local football grounds, in honour of his idol the African-American Olympic hero Jesse Owens. When I was writing the book that was a moment that fell into my lap and made Rudy into my favourite character.
As for the language, the book is not a "PG" but the film does have a PG rating and the language is lighter in the film than in the book. It's not a problem for me – I like that there are differences and, again, it does distinguish them as two separate things and that's not because I want to distance myself from the film but you want something like that to have it's own life. A film is not about simply delivering the book – if you want that you should sit in a room and let someone read the book to you.
*How do you film a narration by Death and how well that is cinematically achieved?*
The biggest hurdle for the film-makers was what to do with Death. In the book, and it makes me so grateful to be a writer of books, you make it all happen on the page and it costs nothing. In the film the hardest decision was whether to have someone on screen or not. Effectively, in a book 99% of the book is voiceover with dialogue in between. You just can't do that in a film. So the first thing they had to do was pare back Death and try to achieve that effect in different way, such as quite high camera angles. Choosing the right voice was another issue and I didn't envy them that task! Every reader of the book has their own version of Death and its voice – in my case, Death speaks in an Australian accent.
*My parents recommended the book to me. Was it written/published for children?*
No, because I thought it would be my least sucessful book and nobody would buy it! Now I don't write for any category. Now I just try to write someone's favourite book. If you don't try to do that you shouldn't bother writing. And there are so many great books in the world, it's no disgrace if you fall short of that. You still make that attempt and that's a much better ambition to have.
*Should I read the book before seeing the film?*
I'm not a purist in that way at all. Lots of readers say they have to read the book first but I quite like to do it the other way round. In most cases when people see the film of a book they've read they say the book's better, usually, so I think there's less chance of disapointment when you do it the other way round. A film is just two hours and so there's more time in a book to go into different areas - it's a bit like coming across this vast new country with more treasures to be explored with greater depth. Either way is fine with me! I wouldn't swap the readers of this book for any other readers on the world, this book has found the right readers. I'm very lucky with that.
*What impact has making the film had on your writing? Has it been a distraction?*
It has had an impact. I haven't been able to work on a book for about the last three months. It's made me more grateful for my job as a writer of novels. I see how complicated it is to make a film and how many people are inviolved and I love the fact that I get to sit in a room on my own and the set costs nothing and the actors cost nothing and I'm the director and it's so simple. You just need a pen and paper to make a book. You don't need a huge budget or a gaffer or a best boy...
*
How do you hope that people will feel when they walk out of the film?*
That's a hard one as I would never presume to tell people how they should feel. On the whole, I hope they feel like … in this case I would focus on the performances. I hope they feel and understand how that group of actors felt about this story and each other. I think you can see how much they love and got on with each other. When I went on the set for a couple of days, that's all I cared about – how happy everyone was. They all grew to love each other and I think that comes through and I hope that's what people come away with. Reported by guardian.co.uk 4 hours ago.
*How did you respond to the news that your book was being adapted, when did the feeling settle in?*
When I found out that the film was going to be signed up I thought that it was never going to be made – everyone says that. So I thought that's what would happen and I turned out to be totally wrong. So the feeling didn't really settle in until I found out last year that they were filming in Berlin. That was a shock! And then I thought, right, now I can start worrying...but I never really worried as you can't worry about things you can't control. So I just enjoyed what was happening at every stage.
*How involved have you been in the film?*
It took three years of constant work and (happy) struggle to finish writing the book. By the end I was a complete mess but I was also very happy and that's the perfect state to finish a book in. I realised that to then try to break the book into little pieces and write a screenplay would have been too much – it would actually have been heartbreaking – and I wanted to start writing a new book. So the only credit I can take for the film is that when they were really struggling to find the right character to play Liesel, the main character, it so happens that one of the only films I saw in 2012 was Monsieur Lazhar with Sophie Nélisse and I said to my wife that that girl would be great. She said that I should tell the producers. Such commen sense! So we did and they ended up asking her to take the role. It only struck me recently that there is a justice in that it took the writer of the novel to find the girl to play the main part. I like that.
*Which part of the book (character, event, place, etc) were you most concerned with representing well on film?*
I think that, knowing that the most important part of any story is the ending, I probably thought most about what was going to happen at the end. Interestingly, while essentially the same things happen in the ending of the film and the book, they couldn't be more different in the way it was done. In the book the ending is years and years later and she ends up in Sydney whereas in the film it's New York. That's the difference between an Australian writing a novel and a film produced by Americans. Those things help you see the difference between the book and the film, and to distinguish the two things as separate, as different pieces of work.
*Which scene are you looking forward to seeing most? And how is the (bad) language in the book being handled?*
The scene I was looking forward to seeing the most was probably the incident in which Rudy paints his face black with charcoal and runs the 100 metres at the local football grounds, in honour of his idol the African-American Olympic hero Jesse Owens. When I was writing the book that was a moment that fell into my lap and made Rudy into my favourite character.
As for the language, the book is not a "PG" but the film does have a PG rating and the language is lighter in the film than in the book. It's not a problem for me – I like that there are differences and, again, it does distinguish them as two separate things and that's not because I want to distance myself from the film but you want something like that to have it's own life. A film is not about simply delivering the book – if you want that you should sit in a room and let someone read the book to you.
*How do you film a narration by Death and how well that is cinematically achieved?*
The biggest hurdle for the film-makers was what to do with Death. In the book, and it makes me so grateful to be a writer of books, you make it all happen on the page and it costs nothing. In the film the hardest decision was whether to have someone on screen or not. Effectively, in a book 99% of the book is voiceover with dialogue in between. You just can't do that in a film. So the first thing they had to do was pare back Death and try to achieve that effect in different way, such as quite high camera angles. Choosing the right voice was another issue and I didn't envy them that task! Every reader of the book has their own version of Death and its voice – in my case, Death speaks in an Australian accent.
*My parents recommended the book to me. Was it written/published for children?*
No, because I thought it would be my least sucessful book and nobody would buy it! Now I don't write for any category. Now I just try to write someone's favourite book. If you don't try to do that you shouldn't bother writing. And there are so many great books in the world, it's no disgrace if you fall short of that. You still make that attempt and that's a much better ambition to have.
*Should I read the book before seeing the film?*
I'm not a purist in that way at all. Lots of readers say they have to read the book first but I quite like to do it the other way round. In most cases when people see the film of a book they've read they say the book's better, usually, so I think there's less chance of disapointment when you do it the other way round. A film is just two hours and so there's more time in a book to go into different areas - it's a bit like coming across this vast new country with more treasures to be explored with greater depth. Either way is fine with me! I wouldn't swap the readers of this book for any other readers on the world, this book has found the right readers. I'm very lucky with that.
*What impact has making the film had on your writing? Has it been a distraction?*
It has had an impact. I haven't been able to work on a book for about the last three months. It's made me more grateful for my job as a writer of novels. I see how complicated it is to make a film and how many people are inviolved and I love the fact that I get to sit in a room on my own and the set costs nothing and the actors cost nothing and I'm the director and it's so simple. You just need a pen and paper to make a book. You don't need a huge budget or a gaffer or a best boy...
*
How do you hope that people will feel when they walk out of the film?*
That's a hard one as I would never presume to tell people how they should feel. On the whole, I hope they feel like … in this case I would focus on the performances. I hope they feel and understand how that group of actors felt about this story and each other. I think you can see how much they love and got on with each other. When I went on the set for a couple of days, that's all I cared about – how happy everyone was. They all grew to love each other and I think that comes through and I hope that's what people come away with. Reported by guardian.co.uk 4 hours ago.
↧
↧
Stieg Larsson had papers 'linking Olof Palme murder to South Africa'
Novelist gave papers to police he said showed links with former military officer he suspected of killing prime minister, says report
Sweden's greatest unsolved murder has taken another twist – revelations that the crime writer Stieg Larsson had sent documents to police that he claimed linked Olof Palme's death to South Africa.
The Svenska Dagbladet newspaper reported on Tuesday that Larsson sent police 15 boxes of papers he said linked the shooting of the Swedish prime minister in 1986 to a former military officer said to have had links with the South African security services.
The latest report has made headlines across Sweden, where, just as with the assassination of John F Kennedy in the US, Palme's killing has spawned numerous conspiracy theories.
Palme, a vocal critic of the apartheid regime in South Africa at the time, was shot as he walked along a street in central Stockholm on 28 February 1986 after going to the cinema with his wife.
A petty criminal was found guilty of the crime in 1989 but was released later that year on appeal. Police were widely accused of bungling the investigation.
The Swede Larsson claimed to have killed the prime minister, Bertil Wedin, denied being involved and told Svenska Dagbladet: "I have nothing to lose from the truth being established since I am luckily not the murderer."
Sweden's deputy prosecutor general, Kerstin Skarp, who leads the continuing murder inquiry, told the newspaper that Wedin "is not someone that we are pursuing with any intensity at the moment".
Wedin is not new to the investigation. His name cropped up in the 1990s amid intense media speculation about a possible South African connection in the case.
The killing triggered numerous private investigations, including Larsson's. There have been so many that a word was coined for this civilian sleuths – "privatspanare", or private scouts.
Some claimed to have cracked the case with theories ranging from Palme's death being a carefully enacted suicide to the work of foreign spy agencies.
Private investigators have pointed the finger at an array of people and institution, from Sweden's security services to Kurdish separatists and the South African and Yugoslav secret police.
Palme, Social Democrat prime minister between 1969 and 1976 and again between 1982 and 1986, was condemned by conservatives in Sweden and overseas for his anti-colonial views and criticism of the US. Some even believed he was a spy for the KGB.
Books by Larsson, who died of a heart attack in 2004, have sold more than 75m copies in 50 countries.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first in his Millennium trilogy, was made into a Hollywood film with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara in 2011. Reported by guardian.co.uk 23 hours ago.
Sweden's greatest unsolved murder has taken another twist – revelations that the crime writer Stieg Larsson had sent documents to police that he claimed linked Olof Palme's death to South Africa.
The Svenska Dagbladet newspaper reported on Tuesday that Larsson sent police 15 boxes of papers he said linked the shooting of the Swedish prime minister in 1986 to a former military officer said to have had links with the South African security services.
The latest report has made headlines across Sweden, where, just as with the assassination of John F Kennedy in the US, Palme's killing has spawned numerous conspiracy theories.
Palme, a vocal critic of the apartheid regime in South Africa at the time, was shot as he walked along a street in central Stockholm on 28 February 1986 after going to the cinema with his wife.
A petty criminal was found guilty of the crime in 1989 but was released later that year on appeal. Police were widely accused of bungling the investigation.
The Swede Larsson claimed to have killed the prime minister, Bertil Wedin, denied being involved and told Svenska Dagbladet: "I have nothing to lose from the truth being established since I am luckily not the murderer."
Sweden's deputy prosecutor general, Kerstin Skarp, who leads the continuing murder inquiry, told the newspaper that Wedin "is not someone that we are pursuing with any intensity at the moment".
Wedin is not new to the investigation. His name cropped up in the 1990s amid intense media speculation about a possible South African connection in the case.
The killing triggered numerous private investigations, including Larsson's. There have been so many that a word was coined for this civilian sleuths – "privatspanare", or private scouts.
Some claimed to have cracked the case with theories ranging from Palme's death being a carefully enacted suicide to the work of foreign spy agencies.
Private investigators have pointed the finger at an array of people and institution, from Sweden's security services to Kurdish separatists and the South African and Yugoslav secret police.
Palme, Social Democrat prime minister between 1969 and 1976 and again between 1982 and 1986, was condemned by conservatives in Sweden and overseas for his anti-colonial views and criticism of the US. Some even believed he was a spy for the KGB.
Books by Larsson, who died of a heart attack in 2004, have sold more than 75m copies in 50 countries.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first in his Millennium trilogy, was made into a Hollywood film with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara in 2011. Reported by guardian.co.uk 23 hours ago.
↧
Girl, 10, hurt by escaped Gloucestershire police dog
WHEN a Gloucestershire police dog escaped from the back of a van it injured a 10-year-old girl. The girl, who was an innocent bystander, is one of the youngest of 150 people in the country to have been attacked by a police dog in the UK. The force was responding to a BBC request under the Freedom of Information Act, which revealed that constabularies across the UK paid a total of £120,000 in compensation between 2011 and 2013 to innocent bystanders who had been attacked. A...
Reported by Gloucester Citizen 20 hours ago.
↧
Milan fashion week: 'Poor fur', chainmail and SpongeBob SquarePants
Crystal-covered T-shirt dresses mingled with hiking sandals and flats, shoulder bags were back, and pyrotechnic antics flooded Instagram
*"Pure glamour" is a thing*
Think of Gucci and most people think of the Tom Ford era: thigh-high splits in satin, wetlook eyeliner and logos shaved into pubic hair. Current designer Frida Giannini neatly sidestepped all that decadence this season with a collection that was still about dressing up, but doing it in a more pared-back way. See T-shirt dress shapes covered in crystals, and low heels, a look she called "pure glamour". Other designers got behind the trend too. See Jil Sander, Bottega Veneta and even – well, a bit – Versace.
*Shoulder bags are back*
You know how we told you just last season that shoulder bags are out, and only a scrunched clutch will do? Well, designers have done an about-turn and deemed that having two useable hands is suddenly chic again. Of course, practicality isn't entirely front-row centre. Instead, shoulder bags are worn not bumping against your hip but slung over one shoulder, like one strap of a rucksack. At Prada and Emporio Armani, it's similar to the shoulder-robing styling trick: one to practise before instigating IRL.
*Hiking sandals aren't just for girls*
Fashion blogger Bryan Boy, AKA Bryan Grey Yambao, is hardly a shrinking violet when it comes to clothes – one recent look we loved was Givenchy floral shorts worn over cycling leggings. But the top prize has to go to his interpretation of Prada's spring/summer 2014 womenswear collection, which featured both knee-high legwarmers and hiking sandals covered in crystals. Yambao took the look wholesale and combined it with co-ordinating pedicure. He also photobombed the finale at the Just Cavalli show – pulling faces behind the models. What's not to like?
*Fur is a hot topic*
On the front row, on the street and the catwalk, fur was everywhere this season. Fendi – a fur house, of course – featured fur trousers (there's something you didn't know you needed) while Roberto Cavalli had it on every look, prompting protests from animal-rights groups outside his show. Miuccia Prada, always one step ahead of the game, ditched the fur-heavy look of her last collection for shearling. She called it "poor fur" but, in Prada's hands, it looked very luxurious indeed.
*The jumper and skirt is your look next winter*
If the Milanese taste has, in the past, tended towards a glitzy frock, there were signs that something a little more casual is in the post for when temperatures drop in 2014. Enter the sweater and skirt look, long championed by London designers such as Jonathan Saunders and Richard Nicoll. Now even the most glamour-hungry designers here – Roberto Cavalli, Donatella Versace – were on side. Salvatore Ferregamo's roll-neck jumper and striped skirt was memorable. It could have jumped from the catwalk to the front row in the blink of an eye – and that's a sign of a trend with legs.
*Catwalk stunts show Instagram is firmly on fashion's radar*
Roberto Cavalli's show was less an introduction to his latest collection and more an event fit for a rock star – it had pyrotechnics and a water feature. Such antics show how fashion is now taking Instagram-baiting seriously. This photo op is aimed at the photo app and other brands are getting in on the act too. Fendi's show featured not only drones flying above the catwalk, but Cara Delevingne carrying a fur doll of designer Karl Lagerfeld to open the show. It all led to a very now sight: fashion editors with their phones in the air, straining to get that picture.
*Flats aren't a trend – they're here to stay*
Gucci sent models down the catwalk in low-heeled boots – rather than the 6in spikes that usually come as standard at the brand – on the first day of Milan fashion week. It was a sign of things to come. Flats were everywhere: at Tod's, Jil Sander and Maxmara, where they were rather fabulous gold Chelsea boots. Marni – a label that has always known how to do a jazzy flat – excelled again. Their pointed brogues with shiny bits suited the look that feels dressed-up but has freedom of movement. In fashion, that is a new and exciting concept.
*Binx is the new Cara*
Fashion loves a model with a signature hair cut – see the Karlie (named after Kloss), a sort of grown-out bob, or the Freja (Beha Erichsen), shaggy wavy layers. Enter Binx – and her undercut. American model Leona Binx Walton has been the girl of the week and expect to see more of her, and her EMF-worthy do, this year. With 12,000 followers on Instagram despite only posting 137 photos, she's coming for Cara's model-with-personality crown.
*Joan of Arc is having a moment*
Dolce & Gabbana's Sicilian fairytale included nods to the usual suspects – Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White – and real characters too. Joan of Arc's chainmail armour looked to be the inspiration for the balaclava headgear. A bit Grimm brothers, a bit kick-ass medieval teenage knight, the result had that typical Dolce charm in spades. To channel this, it's probably best to focus on Ingrid Bergman in the 1948 Joan of Arc movie rather than the teen Joan's turn in the mall for Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
*SpongeBob SquarePants is still fashion's favourite cartoon*
Marc Jacobs has a tattoo of the Bikini Bottom resident on his bicep and once carried a bag with his distinct spongy image on the Louis Vuitton catwalk. Jeremy Scott, in his first collection for Italian brand Moschino, went one further. He put SpongeBob's goofy visage on jumpers, bags and puffa jackets this season. Put together with skirt suits in McDonald's Golden Arches colours and ballgowns made out of Hershey's Kisses wrappers, and club kid style romped home in Milano. Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.
*"Pure glamour" is a thing*
Think of Gucci and most people think of the Tom Ford era: thigh-high splits in satin, wetlook eyeliner and logos shaved into pubic hair. Current designer Frida Giannini neatly sidestepped all that decadence this season with a collection that was still about dressing up, but doing it in a more pared-back way. See T-shirt dress shapes covered in crystals, and low heels, a look she called "pure glamour". Other designers got behind the trend too. See Jil Sander, Bottega Veneta and even – well, a bit – Versace.
*Shoulder bags are back*
You know how we told you just last season that shoulder bags are out, and only a scrunched clutch will do? Well, designers have done an about-turn and deemed that having two useable hands is suddenly chic again. Of course, practicality isn't entirely front-row centre. Instead, shoulder bags are worn not bumping against your hip but slung over one shoulder, like one strap of a rucksack. At Prada and Emporio Armani, it's similar to the shoulder-robing styling trick: one to practise before instigating IRL.
*Hiking sandals aren't just for girls*
Fashion blogger Bryan Boy, AKA Bryan Grey Yambao, is hardly a shrinking violet when it comes to clothes – one recent look we loved was Givenchy floral shorts worn over cycling leggings. But the top prize has to go to his interpretation of Prada's spring/summer 2014 womenswear collection, which featured both knee-high legwarmers and hiking sandals covered in crystals. Yambao took the look wholesale and combined it with co-ordinating pedicure. He also photobombed the finale at the Just Cavalli show – pulling faces behind the models. What's not to like?
*Fur is a hot topic*
On the front row, on the street and the catwalk, fur was everywhere this season. Fendi – a fur house, of course – featured fur trousers (there's something you didn't know you needed) while Roberto Cavalli had it on every look, prompting protests from animal-rights groups outside his show. Miuccia Prada, always one step ahead of the game, ditched the fur-heavy look of her last collection for shearling. She called it "poor fur" but, in Prada's hands, it looked very luxurious indeed.
*The jumper and skirt is your look next winter*
If the Milanese taste has, in the past, tended towards a glitzy frock, there were signs that something a little more casual is in the post for when temperatures drop in 2014. Enter the sweater and skirt look, long championed by London designers such as Jonathan Saunders and Richard Nicoll. Now even the most glamour-hungry designers here – Roberto Cavalli, Donatella Versace – were on side. Salvatore Ferregamo's roll-neck jumper and striped skirt was memorable. It could have jumped from the catwalk to the front row in the blink of an eye – and that's a sign of a trend with legs.
*Catwalk stunts show Instagram is firmly on fashion's radar*
Roberto Cavalli's show was less an introduction to his latest collection and more an event fit for a rock star – it had pyrotechnics and a water feature. Such antics show how fashion is now taking Instagram-baiting seriously. This photo op is aimed at the photo app and other brands are getting in on the act too. Fendi's show featured not only drones flying above the catwalk, but Cara Delevingne carrying a fur doll of designer Karl Lagerfeld to open the show. It all led to a very now sight: fashion editors with their phones in the air, straining to get that picture.
*Flats aren't a trend – they're here to stay*
Gucci sent models down the catwalk in low-heeled boots – rather than the 6in spikes that usually come as standard at the brand – on the first day of Milan fashion week. It was a sign of things to come. Flats were everywhere: at Tod's, Jil Sander and Maxmara, where they were rather fabulous gold Chelsea boots. Marni – a label that has always known how to do a jazzy flat – excelled again. Their pointed brogues with shiny bits suited the look that feels dressed-up but has freedom of movement. In fashion, that is a new and exciting concept.
*Binx is the new Cara*
Fashion loves a model with a signature hair cut – see the Karlie (named after Kloss), a sort of grown-out bob, or the Freja (Beha Erichsen), shaggy wavy layers. Enter Binx – and her undercut. American model Leona Binx Walton has been the girl of the week and expect to see more of her, and her EMF-worthy do, this year. With 12,000 followers on Instagram despite only posting 137 photos, she's coming for Cara's model-with-personality crown.
*Joan of Arc is having a moment*
Dolce & Gabbana's Sicilian fairytale included nods to the usual suspects – Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White – and real characters too. Joan of Arc's chainmail armour looked to be the inspiration for the balaclava headgear. A bit Grimm brothers, a bit kick-ass medieval teenage knight, the result had that typical Dolce charm in spades. To channel this, it's probably best to focus on Ingrid Bergman in the 1948 Joan of Arc movie rather than the teen Joan's turn in the mall for Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
*SpongeBob SquarePants is still fashion's favourite cartoon*
Marc Jacobs has a tattoo of the Bikini Bottom resident on his bicep and once carried a bag with his distinct spongy image on the Louis Vuitton catwalk. Jeremy Scott, in his first collection for Italian brand Moschino, went one further. He put SpongeBob's goofy visage on jumpers, bags and puffa jackets this season. Put together with skirt suits in McDonald's Golden Arches colours and ballgowns made out of Hershey's Kisses wrappers, and club kid style romped home in Milano. Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.
↧
↧
Brave sex attack victim speaks out after facing tormentor in...
A SEXUAL assault victim today bravely spoke out to encourage others to report abuse after facing her tormentor in court. Married church-goer Trevor Paddon-Hall was handed a suspended prison sentence for assaulting the girl in his car on moorland. The judge praised the courage of the youngster in her fight for justice lasting almost six years – including giving evidence at two trials. Paddon-Hall, aged 59, had denied touching her indecently but was convicted by a jury at Plymouth Crown...
Reported by Plymouth Herald 5 hours ago.
↧
Toddler injured
A YOUNG girl has died after suffering serious head injuries in a collision with a van in the centre of Tintagel yesterday morning.Police said the girl, who was believed to have been walking in the village with her sister at the time of the incident, was flown to Derriford Hospital, Plymouth in a critical condition. The collision took place at around noon on Molesworth Street.Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact police on 101 quoting crime reference number 280 of February...
Reported by Cornish Guardian 5 hours ago.
↧
Predator contacted girl, 14, hours after jail release - got her...
A sexual predator from Plymouth who contacted a 14-year-old just hours after being freed from prison has been jailed after he made her pregnant and bullied her into having an abortion. Stephen Lobb seduced the victim despite having been jailed for making another under age girl pregnant. He contacted her on the day after he was let out. When the girl from Plymouth became pregnant he told her to 'get rid of it' and then left her for another girl who was only a few months older. Lobb, aged...
Reported by Plymouth Herald 20 hours ago.
↧
Pendeen girl flown to hospital after falling from cliff
A 15 year-old girl has been airlifted to hospital after falling off a cliff at Pendeen. Paramedics and the cliff rescue team from St Ives were called to the scene and the girl was eventually winched up to a rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose in an operation that took over two hours. The 15 year-old suffered serious pelvic injuries and was flown to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth this evening. A spokesperson from Falmouth coastguard said the alarm was raised shortly before 4.30pm. "The...
Reported by The Cornishman 4 hours ago.
↧
↧
Retired council gritter lorry driver jailed for abusing girl in...
A retired county council gritter driver has been jailed for abusing a schoolgirl in the cab of his lorry 40 years ago. Gerald Boston befriended the victim and her family and molested her after offering to give her lifts home from school. He took her to a layby next to the railway sidings at Pear Tree Cross in Ashburton and showed her pornographic magazines before touching her. Widower Boston, 77, also abused the girl at his own home after she went their to seek comfort away from a...
Reported by Western Morning News 1 day ago.
↧
Woodmancote brownie leaders, Sue Lewis and Teresa Nolan, awarded...
Two dedicated volunteers, who have seen hundreds of young girls grow in confidence through Brownies, have been awarded for their work. Sue Lewis and Teresa Nolan have both been given badges to mark their 20 years' service to the girl guiding movement. Brown owl, Sue, and Tawny owl, Teresa lead the 20-strong group of the 2nd Woodmancote Brownies, made up of girls aged between seven and 10. The pair regularly take them camping, on trips, do crafts and activities from and beyond their New...
Reported by Gloucestershire Echo 1 day ago.
↧
Louth man enticed teenager to send Facebook sex video
A Louth man has appeared in court today after enticing a teenage girl to send him a sex video over Facebook. David Brown, 42, of Queen Street, Louth, admitted causing or inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity on February 15 last year. Jeremy Evans, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that the mother of a 14-year-old girl looked through her daughter's mobile phone and found that she had exchanged intimate messages with Brown. The girl later sent him an explicit video of herself...
Reported by Lincolnshire Echo 21 hours ago.
↧
The Goldfinch and Girl With a Pearl Earring to 'reopen' Mauritshuis gallery
Famous works by Johannes Vermeer and Carel Fabritius to go back on display after £25m renovation of Dutch museum
One of the world's most famous paintings, Vermeer's Girl With a Pearl Earring, as well as Carel Fabritius's The Goldfinch will go back on public display in The Hague in June after the two-year closure and £25m renovation of its home, the Mauritshuis.
The gallery's director, Emilie Gordenker, said they were on budget and scheduled to reopen what is widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful small museums anywhere.
The Mauritshuis has a particularly fine collection of Dutch Golden Age paintings. As well as owning three works by Johannes Vermeer, it has important works by Rembrandt and Jan Steen, and Fabritius's The Goldfinch, made newly famous by Donna Tartt's novel of the same name, published last year.
Gordenker said the 17th-century building, stunning though it is, did not fully meet the needs of a 21st-century visitor, so when the opportunity to buy an art deco building across the road came up, they leapt at it.
"The challenge for the architects was, how do you unite these two very different buildings and make them one?" she said.
The Amsterdam-based practice Hans van Heeswijk proposed going underground, so visitors will now enter the building by a lift or stairs going down to a new foyer. From there, the choice will be to go into the historic permanent collection or into the 1930s building for temporary exhibitions and a new education centre. Gordenker said they were anticipating a 25% increase in visitor numbers to 300,000 a year.
The Girl with a Pearl Earring, subject of the Tracy Chevalier novel and subsequent film, has been on a world tour while the museum has been closed. Gordenker said: "We are very keen for the Girl to go back to her old room, she's getting a little homesick. But we are looking at measures to control crowds. It is a small room, and we might put a subtle barrier in front, but essentially we would like to keep the atmosphere as it was."
The Mauritshuis will reopen on 27 June. Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.
One of the world's most famous paintings, Vermeer's Girl With a Pearl Earring, as well as Carel Fabritius's The Goldfinch will go back on public display in The Hague in June after the two-year closure and £25m renovation of its home, the Mauritshuis.
The gallery's director, Emilie Gordenker, said they were on budget and scheduled to reopen what is widely acknowledged as one of the most beautiful small museums anywhere.
The Mauritshuis has a particularly fine collection of Dutch Golden Age paintings. As well as owning three works by Johannes Vermeer, it has important works by Rembrandt and Jan Steen, and Fabritius's The Goldfinch, made newly famous by Donna Tartt's novel of the same name, published last year.
Gordenker said the 17th-century building, stunning though it is, did not fully meet the needs of a 21st-century visitor, so when the opportunity to buy an art deco building across the road came up, they leapt at it.
"The challenge for the architects was, how do you unite these two very different buildings and make them one?" she said.
The Amsterdam-based practice Hans van Heeswijk proposed going underground, so visitors will now enter the building by a lift or stairs going down to a new foyer. From there, the choice will be to go into the historic permanent collection or into the 1930s building for temporary exhibitions and a new education centre. Gordenker said they were anticipating a 25% increase in visitor numbers to 300,000 a year.
The Girl with a Pearl Earring, subject of the Tracy Chevalier novel and subsequent film, has been on a world tour while the museum has been closed. Gordenker said: "We are very keen for the Girl to go back to her old room, she's getting a little homesick. But we are looking at measures to control crowds. It is a small room, and we might put a subtle barrier in front, but essentially we would like to keep the atmosphere as it was."
The Mauritshuis will reopen on 27 June. Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.
↧
↧
Girl Scout Cookie Locator iPhone app can direct to Girl Scout cookie sales
The Girl Scout Cookie Locator app, developed by Kelloggs, can show iPhone users exactly how far away their nearest seller is - and how to get there.
Reported by MailOnline 14 hours ago.
↧
Winona Ryder wore $10 dress to Oscars
Winona Ryder once wore a $10 dress to the Oscars. The 'Girl, Interrupted' star is an avid bargain hunter and lover of vintage clothes, and is also...
Reported by ContactMusic 11 hours ago.
↧
SeaWorld dolphin bites nine-year-old girl during family visit to Texas park
SeaWorld is facing more scrutiny after a dolphin at one of its parks bit a nine-year-old girl earlier this month. The girl did not suffer serious injury, but PETA is asking authorities to investigate on grounds of animal abuse.
Reported by MailOnline 5 hours ago.
↧
Melanie Chisholm hints at Spice Girls reunion
Melanie Chisholm has hinted the Spice Girls could reform in 2016.The singer, formerly known as Sporty Spice, has revealed the girl power group could...
Reported by ContactMusic 4 hours ago.
↧
↧
Headteacher offers support for teenager fighting for her life...
THE headteacher of a young girl hit by a lorry in St Judes has offered words of support to her. David Farmer, the premier at Plymstock school, posted a statement on the school's website yesterday afternoon confirming the 14-year-old is a pupil there. The horror crash happened in Beaumont Road shortly after 8am yesterday morning. The girl was rushed to Derriford Hospital before being transferred to Frenchay hospital in Bristol. Her condition was described as critical. In the statement, Mr Farmer...
Reported by Plymouth Herald 4 hours ago.
↧
Reeva Steenkamp: The Girl Behind The Name
Discovered at the age of 15, the woman shot dead by boyfriend Oscar Pistorius is described as "more than a model".
Reported by Sky News 1 day ago.
↧
Toni Braxton: 'I feel like I've been given a third chance'
Toni Braxton talks about her new R&B album collaboration with 'musical husband' Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds, and how she's bouncing back from past setbacks
Despite the crackly transatlantic phone line, Toni Braxton's regal disposition comes through loud and clear. "I'm like that classic black dress that never goes out of style," she pronounces in lofty tones. "You may have to change a few accessories here and there, but that's OK."
There's nothing off-putting about this – she is funny and self-aware rather than obliviously entitled, and gracious to a fault – but her way with a metaphor and habit of slipping into the third person when talking about herself is a reminder that Braxton is an R&B diva of two decades' standing who came of age during the 90s, when aloof hauteur was more valued than approachability. It's also a disposition that's been hard-won – or rather, hard-regained. Over the past decade, Braxton has been known more for sundry travails – legal disputes with no fewer than three record labels, multiple bankruptcies, health issues, personal turbulence – than her songs. Last February, with her 12-year marriage in the process of collapsing, she found herself at her lowest ebb, and announced her retirement from the music industry with immediate effect: "I felt like I had nothing left to offer myself, let alone any fans or listeners."
Just a year on, though, Braxton is making the kind of easily assured comeback that's eluded her for so long. In the wake of that spontaneous decision, friends rallied round to change her mind – among them Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, the R&B pioneer from under whose wing she emerged in 1992. "He helped me work on getting my mojo back," she explains. "He said: 'You've stopped believing in yourself. Why have you stopped playing the piano on your albums? Stop thinking like a record company – I need you to remember that you're an artist.'"
After years of being told she was dated, that "the old Toni Braxton way is played out", she had to be coaxed back into the studio at all, let alone to write songs: "At first, I was just venting, not making music." But eventually, a new project began to take shape. The scars from her recent divorce were still fresh; Edmonds's own marriage had ended after 13 years in 2005. Braxton, still reeling from self-doubt, felt she wasn't ready to make a solo album. For 20 years, the two had occasionally mooted the idea of a collaborative album, but there had never been a pressing reason to make it. Now, there was. The result is Love, Marriage & Divorce, a multifaceted look at the arc of a relationship (the emphasis, unsurprisingly, is on the D of the title) that's by turns wry, confused, lustful and vindictive. It sounds more 90s than any amount of current 90s revivalism, but less due to nostalgia than a "rebirth" after years of trying to chase trends for Braxton.
"From the moment she sang, it was kind of like going home," muses Babyface – who is enjoying something of a renaissance himself, having produced much of last year's best pop-R&B album, Ariana Grande's effervescent Yours Truly. "And not just going home, but if you've been away from your hometown for a while and you open the door and your mom is cooking one of your favourite dishes – whether it's chilli or soul food or rice and peas, which always used to be my favourite – and your dad's on the couch watching your favourite TV show. It's like coming home, smelling and tasting – hearing Toni was exactly that."
Reading on mobile? Click to view Hurt You video
The pair also blend so well vocally that it's hard to believe how few times they've sung on record together until now. "My voice is a thick chocolate milkshake, and Kenny's the straw that comes in and helps you drink it a lil bit," declares Braxton. She now describes her former mentor as her "musical husband"– though in the context of this album, marriage isn't exactly a smooth path. Babyface praises the strength Braxton has displayed to survive life's vicissitudes, before sighing wryly. "And it certainly gave her strong opinions."
Braxton explains: "When I first came to Kenny, I was a brand new artist. I had no opinions and no say – I just wanted to sing. I still want to sing no, but I come with my own ideas. I told him: 'Kenny, when you first came in the business, someone helped you and you became Babyface. Well, you helped me get in the business and I became Toni Braxton. You created this.'" Babyface sighs again. "We had to fight to get through to the compromise. Yes, like a marriage in that sense …"
One of those fights concerned the album's most arresting track, I Wish. Braxton is so proud of it she recites its lyrics: "I hope she gives you a disease … but not enough to make you die, only make you cry. I pray your new baby is a boy – please don't have a girl, 'cause you'll give that woman the world". It's a raw snapshot of every undignified, vengeful thought Braxton has had, and was almost too much for her collaborator. "Kenny said, 'That's too abrupt. You can't sing that.' I said, 'Kenny, but that's really what women feel.'" Braxton pauses and then, with just a trace of smugness, says: "He ended up loving it."
It's this kind of experience, Braxton says, that is helping to rebuild her confidence; one gets the impression she needs to talk herself into it, to an extent. She speaks of her intense sadness that people know her for her financial issues rather than her artistry; her embarrassment at becoming a tabloid punch line; her frustration that, as a child of a broken marriage, she feels her divorce has made her a "walking cliche". A few months earlier, I'd interviewed Braxton's younger sister, Tamar, who had used the success of the family's reality-TV show, Braxton Family Values, to relaunch her own singing career. Tamar described her older sibling as a "mentor"; today, Toni says her main advice was to "not be like me, not be so rigid". She says that if she could talk to the girl who sang her first global smash in 1993, the lovelorn Breathe Again, she would "smack her and say, 'Snap out of it!'"
But Braxton is, at heart, a trouper. It was hard for someone from her era, who says she lives by the maxim, "I don't want company and I don't want to be company", to agree to a reality show. Braxton claims she has no regrets about it now, although when she admits, "I have to be a little more open to the new wave of entertaining," it's in the pained tones of one who knows the struggle is real. It's partly because of this that Braxton is keen to lavish praise on younger singers, singling Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus out, as well as JoJo, the former teen prodigy who was finally freed last month from a contract with the same label Braxton repeatedly clashed with in the mid-noughties. "I'm so excited for her! Good for her! She's so talented, and I hated that her talent wasn't being heard. I think a lot of artists have had differences with that label."
And then there's a flash of the old hauteur Braxton says the stars of her generation – Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige – were taught to cultivate. "And I'm so excited to be an icon that they look up to. They say, 'Oh, when I heard you it made me sing the song that way; I borrowed a Toni Braxton run here and there.' I've heard that a lot of times." She laughs, revelling in the role she's playing. "I feel like I've been given a third chance – I have to enjoy it! Not like before! I have to make myself enjoy it. At this phase of life, I have to remember that I'm a singin' bitch, how 'bout that?"
• Love, Marriage & Divorce is out now on Virgin Reported by guardian.co.uk 23 hours ago.
Despite the crackly transatlantic phone line, Toni Braxton's regal disposition comes through loud and clear. "I'm like that classic black dress that never goes out of style," she pronounces in lofty tones. "You may have to change a few accessories here and there, but that's OK."
There's nothing off-putting about this – she is funny and self-aware rather than obliviously entitled, and gracious to a fault – but her way with a metaphor and habit of slipping into the third person when talking about herself is a reminder that Braxton is an R&B diva of two decades' standing who came of age during the 90s, when aloof hauteur was more valued than approachability. It's also a disposition that's been hard-won – or rather, hard-regained. Over the past decade, Braxton has been known more for sundry travails – legal disputes with no fewer than three record labels, multiple bankruptcies, health issues, personal turbulence – than her songs. Last February, with her 12-year marriage in the process of collapsing, she found herself at her lowest ebb, and announced her retirement from the music industry with immediate effect: "I felt like I had nothing left to offer myself, let alone any fans or listeners."
Just a year on, though, Braxton is making the kind of easily assured comeback that's eluded her for so long. In the wake of that spontaneous decision, friends rallied round to change her mind – among them Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, the R&B pioneer from under whose wing she emerged in 1992. "He helped me work on getting my mojo back," she explains. "He said: 'You've stopped believing in yourself. Why have you stopped playing the piano on your albums? Stop thinking like a record company – I need you to remember that you're an artist.'"
After years of being told she was dated, that "the old Toni Braxton way is played out", she had to be coaxed back into the studio at all, let alone to write songs: "At first, I was just venting, not making music." But eventually, a new project began to take shape. The scars from her recent divorce were still fresh; Edmonds's own marriage had ended after 13 years in 2005. Braxton, still reeling from self-doubt, felt she wasn't ready to make a solo album. For 20 years, the two had occasionally mooted the idea of a collaborative album, but there had never been a pressing reason to make it. Now, there was. The result is Love, Marriage & Divorce, a multifaceted look at the arc of a relationship (the emphasis, unsurprisingly, is on the D of the title) that's by turns wry, confused, lustful and vindictive. It sounds more 90s than any amount of current 90s revivalism, but less due to nostalgia than a "rebirth" after years of trying to chase trends for Braxton.
"From the moment she sang, it was kind of like going home," muses Babyface – who is enjoying something of a renaissance himself, having produced much of last year's best pop-R&B album, Ariana Grande's effervescent Yours Truly. "And not just going home, but if you've been away from your hometown for a while and you open the door and your mom is cooking one of your favourite dishes – whether it's chilli or soul food or rice and peas, which always used to be my favourite – and your dad's on the couch watching your favourite TV show. It's like coming home, smelling and tasting – hearing Toni was exactly that."
Reading on mobile? Click to view Hurt You video
The pair also blend so well vocally that it's hard to believe how few times they've sung on record together until now. "My voice is a thick chocolate milkshake, and Kenny's the straw that comes in and helps you drink it a lil bit," declares Braxton. She now describes her former mentor as her "musical husband"– though in the context of this album, marriage isn't exactly a smooth path. Babyface praises the strength Braxton has displayed to survive life's vicissitudes, before sighing wryly. "And it certainly gave her strong opinions."
Braxton explains: "When I first came to Kenny, I was a brand new artist. I had no opinions and no say – I just wanted to sing. I still want to sing no, but I come with my own ideas. I told him: 'Kenny, when you first came in the business, someone helped you and you became Babyface. Well, you helped me get in the business and I became Toni Braxton. You created this.'" Babyface sighs again. "We had to fight to get through to the compromise. Yes, like a marriage in that sense …"
One of those fights concerned the album's most arresting track, I Wish. Braxton is so proud of it she recites its lyrics: "I hope she gives you a disease … but not enough to make you die, only make you cry. I pray your new baby is a boy – please don't have a girl, 'cause you'll give that woman the world". It's a raw snapshot of every undignified, vengeful thought Braxton has had, and was almost too much for her collaborator. "Kenny said, 'That's too abrupt. You can't sing that.' I said, 'Kenny, but that's really what women feel.'" Braxton pauses and then, with just a trace of smugness, says: "He ended up loving it."
It's this kind of experience, Braxton says, that is helping to rebuild her confidence; one gets the impression she needs to talk herself into it, to an extent. She speaks of her intense sadness that people know her for her financial issues rather than her artistry; her embarrassment at becoming a tabloid punch line; her frustration that, as a child of a broken marriage, she feels her divorce has made her a "walking cliche". A few months earlier, I'd interviewed Braxton's younger sister, Tamar, who had used the success of the family's reality-TV show, Braxton Family Values, to relaunch her own singing career. Tamar described her older sibling as a "mentor"; today, Toni says her main advice was to "not be like me, not be so rigid". She says that if she could talk to the girl who sang her first global smash in 1993, the lovelorn Breathe Again, she would "smack her and say, 'Snap out of it!'"
But Braxton is, at heart, a trouper. It was hard for someone from her era, who says she lives by the maxim, "I don't want company and I don't want to be company", to agree to a reality show. Braxton claims she has no regrets about it now, although when she admits, "I have to be a little more open to the new wave of entertaining," it's in the pained tones of one who knows the struggle is real. It's partly because of this that Braxton is keen to lavish praise on younger singers, singling Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus out, as well as JoJo, the former teen prodigy who was finally freed last month from a contract with the same label Braxton repeatedly clashed with in the mid-noughties. "I'm so excited for her! Good for her! She's so talented, and I hated that her talent wasn't being heard. I think a lot of artists have had differences with that label."
And then there's a flash of the old hauteur Braxton says the stars of her generation – Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Mary J Blige – were taught to cultivate. "And I'm so excited to be an icon that they look up to. They say, 'Oh, when I heard you it made me sing the song that way; I borrowed a Toni Braxton run here and there.' I've heard that a lot of times." She laughs, revelling in the role she's playing. "I feel like I've been given a third chance – I have to enjoy it! Not like before! I have to make myself enjoy it. At this phase of life, I have to remember that I'm a singin' bitch, how 'bout that?"
• Love, Marriage & Divorce is out now on Virgin Reported by guardian.co.uk 23 hours ago.
↧