Portmanteau series’ latest instalment has nice touches with eerily jolly villains and haunted soda, but it could use a bit of an edit

This horror bonanza, the eighth instalment in the V/H/S anthology series, is a mixed bag, with some very high highs and regrettably poor lows. This is essentially a collection of Halloween-themed shorts, and while they’re billed as “found footage” in keeping with the conceit of the original, the idea that you’re watching found footage has been more or less worn away to a nub at this point. The series would in all honesty be better off ditching that element, and simply leaning into the broader idea of a regular horror anthology of unsettling short films.

Among the highlights is a riotous and disgusting chapter called Fun Size, made with grisly flair by Casper Kelly, whose viral masterpiece Too Many Cooks took the internet by storm in 2014 and whose feature film Buddy just premiered at Sundance. Fun Size sees a group of young adults stumble into what might best be described as a wrongness zone where they’re pitted against a villain who comes on like the vicious kid brother of the Ghostbusters Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.

Continue reading...

Unionized baristas continue to fight for a fair contract and ask public for solidarity as strike stretches into third month

Striking Starbucks baristas are calling on customers of the world’s largest coffee chain to delete its popular mobile app in solidarity with their demands for a first union contract.

Starbucks Workers United, which has been coordinating a strike for almost three months, is vowing to press ahead.

Continue reading...

I didn’t know how to refuse the offer of a drink without causing offence – until I learned how to kindly demur

Although honesty is the best policy in general, justice for Pinocchio, because it turns out sometimes lying is the only option. In certain situations, if you didn’t smash the glass and break out an emergency fib, you’d simply be cruel. The secret to pulling it off in a way you can live with, as I’ve just learned, is in the branding.

I was faced with a delicate dilemma: an acquaintance I had unwittingly socialised with in a group messaged me, suggesting a drink one-on-one. There is no way of saying thanks but no thanks to that kind of invitation without causing offence. This person is perfectly nice, it’s not like an evening with them would be an ordeal, but I was pretty confident we had more than covered the totality of our common ground during the group hang. Life’s quite short, isn’t it? I really didn’t want to hurt their feelings, but I also really didn’t want to go. However, backed into a corner, I came to the conclusion I’d have to spend time, money and small talk doing it anyway, because of stupid old politeness.

Continue reading...

Novo Nordisk share price plunges after blaming lower US drug prices, patent protection issues and rising competition

The maker of Wegovy and Ozempic, Novo Nordisk, has predicted a sharp drop in revenues this year owing to a push by Donald Trump to lower US weight-loss drug prices, rising competition and the loss of key patent protections.

Denmark’s Novo , once the poster-child for the growth in weight-loss treatments, said sales this year were likely to fall between 5% and 13%, despite the launch of its new Wegovy pill in the US. Its share price plummeted 18% on Wednesday morning, erasing all gains so far this year. In the past year the stock has lost nearly 50% of its value.

Continue reading...

In 'Voor het pensioen' legt schrijver Thomas Bernhard bloot hoe voormalige nazi’s respectabele burgers zijn geworden in het naoorlogse Duitsland, terwijl ze thuis nog hardop dromen van de terugkeer van oude tijden. Hij schetst een naargeestig milieu waarin grootheidswaan en jodenhaat vrij spel hebben.

Lando Norris has conceded that he is still yet to fully process becoming F1 World Champion for the first time, with only a few months passing between last year’s Abu Dhabi finale and the start of the 2026 pre-season.

RIJSWIJK (ANP) - Het Centraal Bureau Rijvaardigheidsbewijzen (CBR) neemt woensdag de rest van de dag geen rijtesten, tussentijdse toetsen en praktijkexamens voor auto, motor- en bromfiets meer af in Groningen, Friesland en Drenthe. In deze provincies is code rood afgegeven vanwege gladheid door ijzel. De weerwaarschuwing geldt in Friesland en Drenthe tot 12.00 uur en in Groningen tot 14.00 uur.

De beroepsexamens voor bijvoorbeeld taxi en vrachtauto worden hervat zodra code rood vervalt. In Friesland en Drenthe kunnen vanaf 13.00 uur ook weer theorie-examens worden afgenomen, verwacht het CBR. In Groningen blijven de theorielocaties de hele dag gesloten.

"Alle uitgestelde examens, toetsen en rijtesten kunnen kosteloos en op korte termijn worden ingehaald", aldus het CBR. "Dat is mogelijk, omdat de reserveringstermijn voor het autorijbewijs op alle locaties tussen de één en vijf weken ligt. Daarnaast wordt overwerk ingezet om ook de gemiste motor- en bromfietsexamens in te halen."

Thomas Hawk posted a photo: