Spokesperson says Dowden will not take part in the rest of the competition owing to foot injury
The professional dancer Amy Dowden will not be continuing with this year’s season of Strictly Come Dancing to recover from a foot injury.
The development was revealed on the spin-off show Strictly It Takes Two on BBC Two on Monday and comes after a period of absence from the show for Dowden.
Continue reading...Veen Bosch & Keuning, the largest publisher in the Netherlands, has confirmed plans to trial the use of artificial intelligence to assist in translation of commercial fiction
A major Dutch publisher plans to trial translating books into English using artificial intelligence.
Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK) – the largest publisher in the Netherlands, acquired by Simon & Schuster earlier this year – is “using AI to assist in the translation of a limited number of books”, Vanessa van Hofwegen, commercial director at VBK said.
Continue reading...Director of Save the Green Planet, which is getting US remake, says film industry suffering amid rise of streaming
When Parasite became the first non-English language film in Oscars history to win best picture in 2019, it marked a breakthrough moment for Korean cinema.
But the surge of interest that followed the director Bong Joon-ho’s international success has not translated into a thriving local film industry, according to another of its leading lights.
The London Korean film festival takes place at BFI Southbank, Ciné Lumière and Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) 1-13 November. Echoes In Time: Korean Films of The Golden Age and New Cinema is at BFI Southbank until 31 December
Continue reading...Children for Change contains stories, poems, and illustrations from more than 80 collaborators including Jamie Oliver, Mary Portas, David Baddiel and Adam Kay
Konnie Huq, Jamie Oliver, David Baddiel, Adam Kay, Mary Portas and Joseph Coelho are among those collaborating on an ebook about the climate crisis which will be free to access for every UK primary school.
The ebook, Children for Change, is edited by Huq and features contributions from more than 80 writers, illustrators, environmentalists and young people including Tom Gates author Liz Pichon, The Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler and TV presenter Chris Packham.
Continue reading...Godley, whose comedy drew upon her Glasgow upbringing, died ‘surrounded by her loved ones’, her management says
Janey Godley, the Scottish comedian and author whose quick wit led her to swap pint-pulling in Glasgow for international standup tours, has died aged 63.
She died in a hospice “surrounded by her loved ones”, her management said on Saturday. Godley had announced she was receiving palliative care in September after her terminal cancer spread.
Continue reading...Thieves steal two works after ripping them from their frames as they were too big for their car
Thieves have blown open the door of an art gallery in the southern Netherlands to try to steal four works from a famous series of Andy Warhol screen prints, but damaged them all and only managed to get away with two in the botched heist.
The gallery’s owner, Mark Peet Visser, said the thieves had attempted to steal the works from a 1985 series by the US pop artist called Reigning Queens, which features portraits of the then-queens of the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark and Swaziland, which is now called Eswatini.
Continue reading...Actors Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle, Chris Evans, Danai Gurira and Paul Bettany appear in video, released days before the US election
The cast of Marvel’s Avengers movies have come out in support of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris less than a week before the US election.
In a video posted first on Vanity Fair on Thursday evening, actors Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle, Chris Evans, Danai Gurira and Paul Bettany playfully riffed on their respective characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe while encouraging viewers to vote for Harris.
Continue reading...The former Republican governor said that he was backing the Democrat because a Trump victory would mean ‘four more years of bullshit’
The former Republican governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he is backing Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in next week’s election.
In a long post on X, Schwarzenegger, 77, said that while he doesn’t “really do endorsements” … “hate[s] politics” and doesn’t “trust most politicians”, he felt compelled to formally endorse Harris and her pick for vice president Tim Walz.
Continue reading...More than 1,000 well-known figures sign open letter in response to authors pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions over Gaza
More than 1,000 figures from the literary and entertainment industry – including several Nobel laureates, Pulitzer prize, and Booker prize winners – have signed an open letter against “illiberal and dangerous” cultural boycotts.
The letter was released by the nonprofit body Creative Community For Peace [CCFP], which campaigns against cultural boycotts of Israel, after more than 1,000 book industry figures pledged to boycott Israeli cultural institutions that “are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians”.
Continue reading...The actor who will be returning to the MCU as Doctor Doom said he believed Marvel would ‘never’ recreate him on screen without his permission
Robert Downey Jr has said he will instruct his lawyers to sue future executives who attempt to create digital replicas of him using AI.
Speaking on the On With Kara Swisher podcast, he said: “I would like to here state that I intend to sue all future executives just on spec.”
Continue reading...The authors are among 1,000 books industry figures pledging not to work with any publishers, festivals or publications ‘complicit in violating Palestinian rights’
Sally Rooney, Arundhati Roy and Rachel Kushner are among more than 1,000 writers and publishing professionals who have signed a letter pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions that “are complicit or have remained silent observers of the overwhelming oppression of Palestinians”.
Signatories to the pledge say they will not work with Israeli publishers, festivals, literary agencies and publications that are “complicit in violating Palestinian rights”, including operating “discriminatory policies and practices” or “whitewashing and justifying Israel’s occupation, apartheid or genocide”.
Continue reading...Paris trial rescheduled for March 2025 after 75-year-old actor fails to appear in court, pleading ill health
The trial of Gérard Depardieu on sexual assault charges was postponed until next year after the actor failed to appear in court on Monday, saying he was unwell.
His lawyer Jérémie Assous had said the 75-year-old was “extremely affected” by ill health and that he had asked for the proceedings to be delayed until he could attend in person.
Continue reading...In his new memoir The Voice Inside, the Australian singer says Darryl Sambell drugged him, controlled what he ate and punished him for rejecting his advances
John Farnham has opened up for the first time about his “abusive” relationship with his first manager, Darryl Sambell, accusing him of being “sexually aggressive” towards him and controlling what he sang, wore and ate.
In his new memoir, The Voice Inside, published in Australia on Wednesday, the 75-year-old singer reveals the extent of Sambell’s abuse for the first time, writing that he “used me like a piece of meat”.
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Continue reading...Legendary singer-songwriter tells Rolling Stone new song was inspired by battle to reinstate federal abortion rights
Stevie Nicks thrust herself into the ongoing fight for access to abortion in the US because she had “been there, done that”, the legendary singer-songwriter says in a new interview.
“I tell a good story,” Nicks remarked in an interview conducted by CBS News Sunday Morning, a clip of which was circulated by the network in advance.“So maybe I should try to do something.
Continue reading...British capital may be second only to New York in the number of at-risk languages spoken, says Ross Perlin
Life in London has been mapped according to its health, wealth, land ownership, politics and transport at key points in its long history. But it is now hoped it can be charted in a way that tells a different story: the story of language itself.
Ross Perlin, an academic who claimed a prestigious £25,000 book prize last week, now hopes to start work on a mapping project with British researchers that would reveal the whereabouts of the speakers of the capital’s most at-risk languages. The map, they believe, would be a first step to saving them.
Continue reading...The musician was a founding member of the influential band and died ‘surrounded by his family and full of love’
Phil Lesh, the influential bassist of the Grateful Dead who powered many of the jam band’s touring incarnations after the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia, has died. He was 84.
Lesh’s death was announced on his Instagram page. “Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning,” the caption reads. “He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.”
Continue reading...TV presenter praises and thanks staff at Birmingham women’s hospital for ‘exceptional’ care his partner received
The comedian Joe Lycett has announced he has become a father to a baby boy.
Lycett, 36, shared a picture on Instagram of him holding the infant, whom he said was born at Birmingham women’s hospital.
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Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are tied at 48%, according to a new poll by the New York Times and Siena College.
Published on Friday, the poll, the poll also revealed that 31% of registered voters view Trump as very favorable while 29% view Harris as very favorable.
Ms Harris’s position, if anything, may have declined among likely voters since the last Times/Siena College poll, taken in early October. At the time, she had a slight lead over Mr Trump, 49 percent to 46 percent. The change is within the margin of error, but The Times’s national polling average has registered a tightening in polls over the past few weeks as well, suggesting at the very least that this contest has drawn even closer.
“I don’t think she has Jim Comey in the wings waiting to kneecap her so that’s good.”
“I think she is doing what she needs to do, and…a number of the voters who were at [the CNN] town hall have said she convinced them, that she had shown the kind of empathy and concern about their problems, that she had come forward with her ideas, her suggested policies. So, I think she’s doing what she needs to do.”
Continue reading...The Ukrainian film producer behind Leviathan and Loveless was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
A Moscow court has sentenced Oscar-nominated film producer Alexander Rodnyansky to eight-and-a-half years jail in absentia on Monday for spreading “fake” information about the Russian army.
Rodnyansky, 63, was born in Kyiv but spent most of his career in Russia, producing dozens of TV series and movies there including the Oscar-nominated crime drama Leviathan. He has been an outspoken critic of the Kremlin’s offensive since it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, repeatedly denouncing the invasion on social media.
Continue reading...An official in Argentina, where the boy band star died last week, has spoken anonymously ahead of the final toxicology results being released
Former One Direction singer Liam Payne had multiple drugs including crack cocaine and methamphetamine in his system when he fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Argentina, according to anonymous Argentinian sources familiar with the initial toxicology reports.
The British singer and former One Direction member died last week at the age of 31 after plunging from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires.
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