Avatar: The Way of Water the new aliens, daddy issues and Camerons message discuss with s

 Posted on April 25, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1716 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Now you've seen itAvatar: The Way of WaterAs we take a deeper dive into Pandora’s depths will this turn out to be The Empire Strikes Back of the seven-film saga? This article contains spoilers for Avatar: The Way of WaterAvatar is back, and the jury’s still out on whether sequel The Way of Water is going to make quite the splash its predecessor did. James Cameron’s 3D space fantasy spectacular has opened to a staggering $441m (£362m) across the globe, but its US bow of an estimated $134m (£110m) is down on expectations, if only just. [Read More]

Dawuna: meet the nighthawk behind one of 2021s masterpiece albums | Music

 Posted on April 25, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  846 words  |  Valentine Belue

MusicInterviewDawuna: meet the nighthawk behind one of 2021’s masterpiece albumsNathan EvansIan Mugerwa escaped hometown racism and a traumatic relationship to move to New York, where his electronic R&B has become a word-of-mouth triumph Few albums that get dropped into the internet void then take on a life of their own through word of mouth alone. But when New York-based artist Ian Mugerwa, AKA Dawuna, created a record of luminous R&B laced with gospel undertones and experimental electronics, it couldn’t hide in the digital wilderness for long. [Read More]

Fake human sacrifice filmed at Cern, with pranking scientists suspected | Cern

 Posted on April 25, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  405 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

Mock human sacrifice at Cern GuardianCern This article is more than 7 years oldFake human sacrifice filmed at Cern, with pranking scientists suspectedThis article is more than 7 years oldSpokeswoman at high temple of particle physics suggests ‘scientific users’ of the Geneva facility ‘let their humour go too far’ with staging of occult rite The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) has launched an investigation into a video filmed at night on its Geneva campus depicting a mock ritual human sacrifice. [Read More]

Infinite Home by Kathleen Alcott review a lyrical, claustrophobic tale of Brooklyn

 Posted on April 25, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  909 words  |  Valentine Belue

BooksReviewIn Alcott’s novel an assortment of pre-gentrification Brooklynites support each other through good times and bad, occasionally defying credulity Any readers who believe New York apartment dwellers are a surly, antisocial bunch who meet their neighbors only if the building catches fire will be cheered by the possibilities for love, sex and fellowship that flower inside the run-down Brooklyn brownstone that is the setting of Kathleen Alcott’s new novel, Infinite Home. [Read More]

Is Catalonia still dreaming of independence from Spain?

 Posted on April 25, 2024  |  13 minutes  |  2714 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Observer special reportCataloniaFive years after the showdown with Madrid, the region remains split over secession – and even those who back it are divided on how to achieve it. Do the people still have the will to go it alone? Despite being one of the few national days that commemorates a calamitous defeat – in this case the fall of Barcelona during the war of the Spanish Succession in 1714 – Catalonia’s Diada is seldom a sombre affair. [Read More]

Long-lost Star Wars X-Wing model auctioned for a record-breaking $3.1m | Star Wars

 Posted on April 25, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  445 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Star Wars This article is more than 3 months oldLong-lost Star Wars X-Wing model auctioned for a record-breaking $3.1mThis article is more than 3 months oldSpacecraft discovered in cardboard box belonging to late model-maker Greg Jein becomes the ‘most expensive Star Wars screen-used prop sold at auction’ A long-lost prop from the original 1977 Star Wars film has sold in an auction for a record-breaking US$3.135m. The prop, a 20-inch model of an X-Wing starfighter that was used in the climactic battle sequence of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, had been considered missing for decades before it was discovered in a cardboard box in the garage of the Oscar-nominated model-maker Greg Jein. [Read More]

McCarthy endorses Trump for president: Were very honest with each other | US elections 2024

 Posted on April 25, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  864 words  |  Kary Bruening

US elections 2024 This article is more than 1 month oldMcCarthy endorses Trump for president: ‘We’re very honest with each other’This article is more than 1 month oldFormer House speaker, who has driven out by Trump loyalists, also expressed interest in joining his cabinet should Trump win in 2024 The former US House speaker Kevin McCarthy has endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 race for the Oval Office while also expressing interest in joining his administration should he win, even though loyalists of the ex-president drove the congressman into an early exit. [Read More]

Venice city guide: a day in Dorsoduro

 Posted on April 25, 2024  |  7 minutes  |  1284 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Squero di San Trovaso, one of just two surviving squeri in Venice (see point 4 below). Photograph: Sarah Lee Photograph: Sarah Lee/GuardianSquero di San Trovaso, one of just two surviving squeri in Venice (see point 4 below). Photograph: Sarah Lee Photograph: Sarah Lee/GuardianCity neighbourhoods in a dayVenice holidaysHop over the Grand Canal to Dorsoduro and you’ll get a flavour of the ‘real Venice’ without the crowds of San Marco and for a fraction of the cost [Read More]

At least 1m people facing starvation as Madagascars drought worsens | Hunger

 Posted on April 24, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  842 words  |  Kary Bruening

Hunger This article is more than 2 years oldAt least 1m people facing starvation as Madagascar’s drought worsensThis article is more than 2 years oldPeople eating termites and clay as UN says acute malnutrition has almost doubled this year in south Madagascar’s worst drought in 40 years has left more than a million people facing a year of desperate food shortages. The south of the island will produce less than half its usual harvest in the coming months because of low rains, prolonging a hunger crisis already affecting half the Grand Sud area’s population, the UN estimates. [Read More]

Baddies in books: General Woundwort, the rabbit who ran his warren like a Stasi commander | Books

 Posted on April 24, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  874 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Baddies in booksBooksBaddies in books: General Woundwort, the rabbit who ran his warren like a Stasi commanderIn our series on fictional villains, Xan Brooks argues that the baddie of Richard Adams’ Watership Down is made all the more scary by his moral complexity From Sauron to Humbert Humbert: more Baddies in books My favourite literary villain could have leapt fully formed from the pages of world history, or court transcripts from the Hague. [Read More]