Skip to main content

Posts

Judge denies Minnesota’s request to end ICE surge in Minneapolis

Federal immigration operation has resulted in government agents killing two people, sparking weeks of protests A federal judge has denied a request by Minnesota’s state government to end the federal immigration operation in Minneapolis that has resulted in government agents killing two people , sparking weeks of protests. The state, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, had lodged a lawsuit after the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) agent this month, demanding an end to the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge in the city. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/stNQ894

Sam Curran takes hat-trick before Salt eases England to DLS win over Sri Lanka in first T20

1st T20: England, 125-4, bt Sri Lanka, 133, by 11 runs (DLS) Opener hits 46 as tourists win after rain delay It was an England victory set up by the wily, age-old brilliance of Adil Rashid, the vital part of their hopes for a World Cup triumph in the coming weeks. The masterful leg-spinner took three for 19 as Sri Lanka’s batting lineup collapsed in the first of three Twenty20s, losing five wickets for 22 runs. Sam Curran celebrated a late hat-trick, too, as the visitors were set a target of 134 in a 17-overs-a-side contest after rain delayed the start. They were guided by Phil Salt’s 46, but Tom Banton’s 15-ball 29 provided the real thrust, easing the tension in the middle overs. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/jaceWym

Undertone review – disappointing podcast horror is mostly skippable

Sundance film festival : there are some effective early moments in this ultra low-budget, audio-first horror but deja vu soon replaces intrigue There’s a swirl of creepy noises in A24’s new hyped-up horror Undertone – screaming, gargling, singing, banging – but nothing is quite loud enough to drown out the swirl of films it’s cribbing from. The debut feature from writer-director Ian Tuason, about horror podcasters who receive a set of mysterious recordings, has elements of Paranormal Activity, Session 9, Hereditary, The Ring, The Blair Witch Project and The Exorcist, enough sighs of familiarity to give horror fans a scary case of deja vu. It’s not that total originality is expected at this particular moment (this weekend’s Send Help has been touted as Misery meets Castaway), but given the genre’s overcrowd, it’s hard to see what pushes Undertone above the noise. What it does do is make for an impressively resourceful use of a low budget, the whole thing costing about $500,000. It’s ...

Federal Reserve holds interest rates as Trump piles on pressure

Fed voted to pause cuts to interest rate, which currently sits between 3.5% and 3.75%, after slashing it three times in fall The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged after its first rate-setting meeting of the year on Wednesday, resisting enormous pressure from the White House to lower rates. A majority of members in the Fed’s federal open market committee (FOMC) voted to pause interest rate cuts after slashing rates three times in the fall. Rates currently sit at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/blgsv92

Philip Glass withdraws world premiere of his Lincoln symphony from Kennedy Center

Composer says values of Trump-dominated Kennedy Center ‘are in direct conflict’ with symphony’s message Philip Glass , the celebrated US composer, has withdrawn the world premiere of his latest symphony at Washington DC’s John F Kennedy Center in protest of Donald Trump’s presidency. In a statement on Tuesday, the 88-year-old composer said: “After thoughtful consideration, I have decided to withdraw my Symphony No 15 ‘Lincoln’ from the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Symphony No 15 is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, and the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the symphony. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/BTbKJqv

Guyanese businessman facing US extradition elected opposition leader

Azruddin Mohamed’s election comes six months after he formed political party that became country’s second largest A Guyanese businessman facing extradition to the US on gold-smuggling and money-laundering charges has been elected as the country’s opposition leader, six months after he formed a political party that quickly became the second largest in the South American country . Azruddin Mohamed, 38, was confirmed as Guyana’s opposition leader after 16 lawmakers from the We Invest in Nationhood party (Win) and another from a single-seat outfit voted in his favor. The tally made Win the second-largest party in parliament, securing Mohamed’s election even as a magistrate’s court hears state arguments for his extradition to the US. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/L046Fuw

The Invite review – A-list ensemble electrify hilarious couples night gone wrong comedy

Sundance film festival: Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton are exceptional in a smart and funny winner about sex, marriage and partner-swapping Not enough people managed to see last year’s self-billed “unromantic comedy” Splitsville , a shame for how tremendously entertaining it was and for what it represents at this given moment. A seriously well-directed, genuinely funny, relatably messy look at two couples dealing with the maelstrom of non-monogamy, it was the kind of smart, well-crafted film for adults we are constantly complaining we don’t get enough of. I had a similar thrill watching The Invite at its sold-out Sundance premiere on Saturday night. Like that film, it is also about two adult couples negotiating anxieties surrounding sex with other people – and also like that film, it’s really, consistently funny and stylishly directed, made with the kind of care and rigidity that comedies just aren’t afforded now. It doesn’t have the same absurdist slapst...