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Showing posts from April, 2025

De Bruyne’s perfectly timed departure marks tipping point in Guardiola era | Jonathan Liew

The City midfielder made his teammates look like geniuses and once more he is making just the right move at just the right moment Not for the first time, Kevin De Bruyne read the situation to perfection. Not for the first time, he spotted the right play just a little earlier than everyone else. And of course this was always his gift: not simply to pick the right option but to do it faster than anyone else, buying him those crucial fractions of a second when everything else was in flux and only he in stillness. And of course this was not the only respect in which De Bruyne understood the game of football better than most. As a struggling teenager in the Genk academy, he noticed the way the club abruptly stopped paying for a foster family to house him, and then quietly resumed when he started banging in goals for the second team. Cast adrift at Chelsea, he noticed how he was ignored while first-team players were lavished with attention and bespoke coaching. Continue reading... f...

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, Trump tariffs, the bin strike in Birmingham and the Grand National Meeting at Aintree: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Kh5rHme

Meryl Streep in talks to play Aslan in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia movie

Oscar-winner set to take on role as godlike lion usually perceived to be male in upcoming adaption of The Magician’s Nephew Meryl Streep is in talks to play Aslan in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia film, according to reports. According to Nexus Point News , and confirmed by Deadline Streep, 79, is being lined up to star in Netflix’s film, which will be adapted from The Magician’s Nephew – the sixth of CS Lewis Narnia series of novels, but the first in chronological terms. In the Narnia books, Aslan is a dignified and quasi-omniscient lion, generally seen to be male and usually interpreted as an allegory for Jesus. The Magician’s Nephew centres on two children, Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, who discover the magical world through Digory’s uncle Andrew. Daniel Craig is also in talks for the film, with speculation rising that he will play the uncle . Charli XCX is also in line for a role, rumoured to be Jadis, the White Witch. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/f0G...

A Minecraft Movie review – building-block game franchise spin-off is rollicking if exhausting fun

Full-throttle star turns from Jack Black and Jennifer Coolidge raise laughs but don’t help the perfunctory plotting in this screen take on the game franchise If you’re not familiar with Minecraft as a game then this film, notionally a big screen version of same, won’t necessarily solve that. Minecraft, even more than most computer games, is what you make of it, an experience generated by the player. So in a way, the idea of making a film set in the Minecraft world is counterintuitive, because it can never replicate what is good about Minecraft, it can only tell you what is good about Minecraft. In addition to that, this comedy-fantasy takes aspects of the Minecraft world and uses them as building blocks in a rollicking adventure suitable for almost all ages, giving Jack Black and Jason Momoa carte blanche to wild out and be deeply silly. Your affection for and/or tolerance of this latter prospect will dictate to a large extent your enjoyment of this film. Black plays Steve, a crafter...

UK government tries to placate opponents of AI copyright bill

Economic impact assessment is one concession aiming to head off opposition from MPs, peers and creatives such as Paul McCartney and Tom Stoppard The UK government is trying to placate peer and Labour backbencher concerns about copyright proposals by pledging to assess the economic impact of its plans. Creative professionals including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Tom Stoppard and Kate Bush have strongly criticised ministers’ proposals to let artificial intelligence companies train their models on copyright-protected work without permission, unless the rights holder opts out. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/7DZwfrK

Scottish tourist dies in Rome hospital after suspected gas explosion

Grant Paterson, 54, from South Lanarkshire, was pulled out from rubble on final day of visit A Scottish tourist who suffered severe burns in a suspected gas explosion at a building in Rome has died of his injuries. Grant Paterson, 54, was admitted to hospital on 23 March after the explosion and subsequent collapse of the block of flats where he was staying, in the Monteverde district. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/4jLv8QJ

UK regulator fines 10 carmakers and two trade bodies over green ad collusion

CMA found car firms chose not to compete when advertising what percentage of their vehicles could be recycled Ten leading car manufacturers – plus two automotive trade bodies – have been fined more than £77m by a UK regulator after admitting breaking competition law in relation to advertising their green credentials. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation after a tipoff from Mercedes-Benz, which allowed the German marque to avoid financial penalties despite also being involved in the cartel. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/KLIHOiF