The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, featuring celebrations, prayers, pre-dawn breakfasts and post-sundown meals, began at sunrise in the Middle East and a day later in much of Asia. In the Muslim lunar calendar, months begin only when the new moon is sighted, which can lead to variations of a day or two
Continue reading...After the Fab Four fell and Wings took flight, McCartney embodied a strange, stylised sense of uncool, which would become bestselling success. A new documentary of old material memorialises his second coming
Another hefty legacy project for Paul McCartney, who acts as off-camera interviewee and executive producer in this documentary by Morgan Neville. Man on the Run is comprised of archive film, photos and audio recordings of McCartney and his late wife, Linda, his children and others. Some of McCartney’s overlaid commentary seems to be new, and some pre-existing.
The film tracks his tense, complicated, fruitful career from the endgame of the Beatles in 1969 to the definitive demise of his next band Wings in 1981, a few months after John Lennon’s death – although what exact psychological role Lennon’s life and death played in Wings’ beginning and end is not explicitly discussed. (The film does, once again, show us that startlingly strange and casual-seeming interview McCartney gave after Lennon’s shooting, his shock resulting in an apparently cold attitude – but what he may really have been thinking is something else not explored here in detail.)
Continue reading...A producer shares his tips for tight storylines, but they’re marred by verbal incontinence and hyperbole
Creative writing handbooks are almost an industry in themselves: the fledgling author, dramatist or screenwriter can choose from hundreds of titles, all offering to unlock the secrets of storytelling. These books are of limited utility for literary fiction, where plot is secondary, but if you’re writing for the screen or stage, or working on genre fiction, they can be helpful. Commercial, plot-driven storytelling is, this is an inherently formulaic business, and a working knowledge of narrative structure is a crucial foundation for an aspiring writer.
In his bestselling 2014 treatise on the mechanics of narrative, Into the Woods, John Yorke demonstrated the uncanny prevalence of five-act structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement) in many popular movies, plays and television dramas. He reprises this theme in his new book, which starts with a lengthy disquisition on plot architecture. The five-act framework, Yorke explains, is elegantly conducive to an emotionally compelling journey, with the protagonist typically undergoing a transformative revelation at the story’s mid-point. He illustrates this with reference to hit TV programmes such as I May Destroy You, and films including Star Wars and Terminator 2.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president expresses growing frustration with Russia and the US over lack of progress on a deal
Russian officials said on Thursday their forces had destroyed 113 Ukrainian drones overnight after some of them targeted an oil refinery in the northwest that resulted in a fire in a storage tank, AFP reported.
One of the drone attacks targeted an oil refinery in Velikiye Luki around 500 kilometres (300 miles) west of Moscow, causing “a fire in an oil storage tank”, regional governor Mikhail Vedernikov said in a statement.
“As of today, we cannot say that the result is sufficient. The military discussed certain issues seriously and substantively. Sensitive political matters, possible compromises and the necessary meeting of leaders have not yet been sufficiently addressed.”
Continue reading...Dfat aware of Australians among 5,704 detainees transferred out of Syrian prisons and into Iraqi custody
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A group of Australian men suspected of being former Islamic State fighters are among more than 5,000 detainees transferred from Syria to Iraq, where they potentially face charges which could carry the death penalty.
Iraq’s national centre for international judicial cooperation confirmed last Friday it had taken custody of the 5,704 alleged former fighters from 61 countries, including citizens of Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US.
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Een enorme puinhoop na een frontale botsing op de Groeneweg bij Den Bommel. Twee auto's zijn total loss, de weg ligt bezaaid met brokstukken en een boot die op een trailer stond, ligt op z'n kant in het gras. Twee mensen raakten bij het ongeluk gewond.
VEVEY (ANP) - De grootschalige terugroepactie van babyvoeding door Nestlé heeft een negatieve invloed op de verwachte omzetgroei van het voedingsconcern. Nestlé heeft in tientallen landen, waaronder Nederland, babyvoeding uit de schappen gehaald om de mogelijke aanwezigheid van de giftige stof cereulide. Die kan leiden tot braken en diarree.
Nestlé rekent erop dat de omzet dit jaar met 3 tot 4 procent stijgt op eigen kracht. Daarbij is de verwachte impact van teruggehaalde babyvoeding en voorraadtekorten door de terugroepactie al meegenomen; die drukten op de prognose. Extra impact is nog onduidelijk en zou de groeiverwachting naar de onderkant van de bandbreedte kunnen duwen, meldt het bedrijf.
De terugroepactie is afgerond en Nestlé richt zich nu naar eigen zeggen op het aanvullen van de voorraden. De productie is in alle Nestlé-fabrieken die babyvoeding maken hervat. Daarbij wordt gebruikgemaakt van andere leveranciers en worden uitgebreide tests gedaan voor, tijdens en na de productie.
SON (ANP) - Het aantal ziekmeldingen in januari is in vijf jaar niet zo laag geweest. Dat blijkt uit cijfers van arbodienstverleners ArboNed en HumanCapitalCare, die gezamenlijk verzuimregelingen voor zo'n miljoen Nederlandse werknemers voorzien. Dat komt voornamelijk omdat de griepepidemie dit jaar relatief laat is begonnen.
Het verzuim in januari is licht gestegen ten opzichte van een maand eerder. In januari kwamen er 69 ziekmeldingen per duizend werknemers binnen. In december waren dit er nog 53. Ondanks die lichte stijging ligt het aantal ziekmeldingen op het laagste niveau sinds 2021.
De schommeling van verzuim in de wintermaanden valt volgens Redmer van Wijngaarden, directeur medische zaken en bedrijfsarts bij ArboNed, binnen het normale seizoenspatroon. "Sommige winters start de griepgolf vroeg, andere later. Griepachtige klachten nemen in de winter echter vrijwel altijd toe."
Naar verwachting zullen de verzuimcijfers in februari, vooral na de voorjaarsvakantie, verder oplopen.
Kenya's Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi is due to visit Moscow next month to discuss the issue, with the government condemning the use of its people "as cannon fodder."
According to Lara Trump, Donald Trump has prepared but not yet delivered a speech about extraterrestrial life, though the White House says such a speech would be "news to me." White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt continued: "I'll have to check in with our speech writing team. Uh, and that would be of great interest to me personally, and I'm sure all of you in this room and apparently former President Obama, too." The Hill reports: Lara Trump, speaking on the Pod Force One podcast, said the president has played coy when she and her husband Eric have asked about the existence of UFO's and aliens. "We've kind of asked my father-in-law about this... we all want to know about the UFOs... and he played a little coy with us," Lara Trump said. "I've heard kind of around, I think my father-in-law has actually said it, that there is some speech that he has, that I guess at the right time, I don't know when the right time is, he's going to break out and talk about and it has to do with maybe some sort of extraterrestrial life."
Obama has clarified in recent days that he has seen no evidence that aliens are real, after comments he made on a podcast with Brian Tyler Cohen seeming to confirm his knowledge of extraterrestrial life went viral. "They're real but I haven't seen them," Obama said on the podcast. "And they're not being kept in... what is it? Area 51. There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."
Later, in a post on Instagram, Obama clarified that he was trying to answer in the light-hearted spirit of a speed round of questions and that, "Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there." "But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we've been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!"
Obama has clarified in recent days that he has seen no evidence that aliens are real, after comments he made on a podcast with Brian Tyler Cohen seeming to confirm his knowledge of extraterrestrial life went viral. "They're real but I haven't seen them," Obama said on the podcast. "And they're not being kept in... what is it? Area 51. There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."
Later, in a post on Instagram, Obama clarified that he was trying to answer in the light-hearted spirit of a speed round of questions and that, "Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there's life out there." "But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we've been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!"
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