House of Dynamite writer ‘respectfully disagrees’ with Pentagon’s complaints about nuclear missile thriller

Noah Oppenheim responded to complaints from the Pentagon over the accuracy of the film’s depiction of the US’s defence systems

Warning: contains a spoiler for the plot of House of Dynamite

Noah Oppenheim, the writer of Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear-missile thriller House of Dynamite has responded to complaints from the Pentagon over the accuracy of its depiction of the US’s defence systems, saying he “respectfully disagree[s]”.

In an internal memo dated 16 October obtained by Bloomberg, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said: “The fictional interceptors in the movie miss their target and we understand this is intended to be a compelling part of the drama intended for the entertainment of the audience,” but results from real-world testing “tell a vastly different story.”

Continue reading...

Björn Andrésen, Swedish actor who starred in Death in Venice, dies aged 70

Actor who also starred in Midsommar and became a musician was nicknamed ‘the most beautiful boy in the world’ – a title he struggled with all his life

Björn Andrésen, the Swedish actor best known for his breakout role in the 1971 film Death in Venice, has died aged 70.

At 15, Andrésen was cast in Italian director Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice, based on Thomas Mann’s novella, in which he played Tadzio, a beautiful boy with whom an older man, played by Dirk Bogarde, becomes obsessed.

Continue reading...

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke says he would ‘absolutely not’ play in Israel now

Singer says he will not perform in Israel while Benjamin Netanyahu remains in power, eight years after Radiohead defied criticism to perform in Tel Aviv

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has said he would not now perform in Israel, eight years after the band defied pro-Palestinian activists to play a show in Tel Aviv.

“Absolutely not. I wouldn’t want to be 5,000 miles anywhere near the Netanyahu regime,” he told the Sunday Times magazine, referring to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer shares post-punk passion and revisits musical past

Prime minister praises Scottish band Orange Juice and shares details about his family life in Radio 3 interview

Keir Starmer has said he is a fan of the Scottish post-punk band Orange Juice and northern soul, in a deep dive of his musical tastes and personal life.

On BBC Radio 3’s Private Passions, Starmer chose a selection of his favourite music including works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Elgar, and reflected on his own musical journey, which included learning to play violin alongside Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim, at school.

Continue reading...

Actor June Lockhart of Lost in Space and Lassie fame dies aged 100

Lockhart started out on stage at age eight and appeared in scores of television series and feature films

June Lockhart, the popular actor known for her work in film and television, has passed away at the age of 100.

She died on Thursday night of natural causes, with daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christianna by her side, according to People.

Continue reading...

What’s in a name? West End casting directors raise concerns about trend for big stars

Film and TV stars are selling tickets, but director says reliance on famous names is ‘killing audiences’ intellects’

From Ncuti Gatwa in Born With Teeth to Alicia Vikander in The Lady From the Sea and Susan Sarandon in Mary Page Marlowe, there is no shortage of starry celebrities being cast for the West End right now.

It is a phenomenon happening in subsidised theatre too: Indhu Rubasingham’s inaugural season at the National Theatre features the likes of screen favourites Paul Mescal and Nicola Coughlan.

Continue reading...

Louvre thieves’ slow-motion getaway using furniture lift was caught on video

Footage showing two men appears to have been filmed from nearby window in museum

The slow-motion getaway of two thieves from the Louvre clutching €88m (£76m) of France’s crown jewels was captured on video, it has emerged – the latest dramatic twist to the country’s most spectacular heist in decades.

The 36-second clip, which Le Parisien newspaper said it had verified, shows two men dressed in black, one wearing a yellow hi-vis vest and the other a motorcycle helmet, slowly descending on a furniture lift from the museum’s Apollo gallery.

Continue reading...

BBC sitcom Two Doors Down to be adapted for the stage with full TV cast

The hit Scottish comedy about suburban neighbours will move from screen to stage next year at Glasgow’s Hydro

Two Doors Down, the BBC comedy series about a suburban Scottish couple with constantly knocking neighbours, is to be brought to the stage.

Unusually, it will make that journey with the full cast from the hit TV show intact. Alex Norton and Arabella Weir will reprise their roles as Eric and Beth, whose house on Latimer Crescent is consistently besieged by the street’s residents, usually expecting a drink or two. Elaine C Smith will return as the oversharing Christine, and Doon Mackichan and Jonathan Watson are reuniting as a flashy couple, with an unhealthy interest in everyone’s intimate business. The younger couple on the street will again be played by Graeme Stevely and Joy McAvoy, while Jamie Quinn will be back as Eric and Beth’s son, Ian, with standup Kieran Hodgson once more playing his partner, Gordon.

Continue reading...

Louvre heist losses put at almost €90m as museum’s head prepares to face MPs

Police continue to search for the criminal gang behind the brazen robbery targeting France’s crown jewels

The financial loss from France’s most dramatic heist in decades has been put at nearly €90m as the head of the Louvre prepared to face difficult questions over how thieves were able to steal priceless jewellery in broad daylight.

As police continued to search for the criminal gang behind the brazen robbery on Sunday, the Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told the broadcaster RTL that the museum’s curator had estimated the losses at about €88m (£76m).

Continue reading...

Prince Andrew tried to hire ‘internet trolls’ to hassle Virginia Giuffre, book claims

Andrew hid behind Balmoral’s ‘guarded gates’ to escape court papers, accuser says in memoir Nobody’s Girl

Prince Andrew’s team tried to hire “internet trolls to hassle” his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, while he hid behind the “well-guarded gates” of Balmoral Castle to avoid being served court papers, according to allegations in her posthumous memoir.

Giuffre wrote of the 2022 confidential settlement of her sexual abuse civil claim against the royal, widely rumoured to be $12m (£9m), that her lawyers “were going to ask for the moon” and her team had agreed it “had to be more than mere money”.

Continue reading...

Louvre heist puts pressure on French government over museum security

Justice minister says ‘we have failed’ after thieves take seven minutes to steal priceless jewels from museum

The French government is under increasing pressure over museum security as police continued to search for thieves who took seven minutes to steal priceless jewels from the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum.

“What is certain is that we have failed, since people were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris, get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels, and give France a terrible image,” the justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, told France Inter radio on Monday.

Continue reading...

BBC reporters cannot wear Black Lives Matter T-shirts in newsroom, says Tim Davie

Director general says it is inappropriate for a journalist who may be covering that issue ‘to be campaigning in that way’

BBC journalists cannot wear T-shirts in the newsroom supporting the anti-racist movement Black Lives Matter, the corporation’s director general Tim Davie has said.

Davie said the BBC stood against racism but it was “not appropriate for a journalist who may be covering that issue to be campaigning in that way.

Continue reading...

Louvre heist: hunt on for thieves after eight ‘priceless’ jewellery pieces stolen

Necklace given by Napoleon to his wife among items taken from Paris museum in highly professional daylight robbery

French police are hunting four thieves who carried out a highly professional daylight robbery on the Louvre, breaking into one of the museum’s most ornate rooms and escaping with eight pieces of “priceless” historic jewellery, including a necklace given by Napoleon to his wife.

The world’s most-visited museum was suddenly closed for the day on Sunday after the break-in targeted pieces in two glass cases in its Apollon gallery, where the French crown jewels are held.

Continue reading...

Story of Indigenous activist’s murder takes top prize at London film festival

Jury says documentary about killing of Argentinian campaigner Javier Chocobar brings ‘a measure of the justice’ denied by the courts

A documentary about the murder of the Indigenous activist Javier Chocobar has taken the top prize at the London film festival, with the jury calling it “a measure of the justice” that has long been denied by the courts.

The Argentine film-maker Lucrecia Martel’s first documentary, Landmarks, won the best film award in the festival’s official competition, it was announced on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Sam Fender wins 2025 Mercury prize for his album People Watching

Geordie singer-songwriter’s album reached No 1 on the UK album chart and led to a series of stadium-sized concerts this summer

Sam Fender is the winner of the 2025 Mercury prize, for his chart-topping album People Watching.

Announcing the award, Sian Eleri, BBC radio DJ and one of the judges on the judging panel, said the album was characterised by “cohesion, character and ambition. It felt like a classic album, one that will take pride of place in record collections for years to come.”

Continue reading...

Warner Bros Discovery says Israeli film boycott ‘violates our policies’

In response to pledge, company has claimed in a statement that its policies ‘prohibit discrimination of any kind’

Warner Bros Discovery has rebuked a pledge signed by more than 4,000 film industry figures to not work with Israeli film institutions “implicated in the genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”, saying that such a pledge would likely violate its internal policies.

In a statement to Variety, a spokesperson said the company “is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment for its employees, collaborators, and other stakeholders”.

Continue reading...

‘We want our stories to be told’: NSW Labor pledges $3.2m to support writing and literature amid AI onslaught

Stories Matter strategy responds to urgent pressures such as declining reading rates and growing impact of digital media on publishing, minister says

It is a sector that delivers $1.3bn annually to the New South Wales economy and supports up to 22,000 jobs, yet the average writer earns just $18,200 a year from their creative practice.

To counter this stark disparity, the NSW government is launching the state’s first ever writing and literature strategy, and has committed $3.2m to support and expand the sector.

Continue reading...

‘I need to do everything now’: the Ukrainian combat medic-turned playwright

Since Alina Sarnatska’s first play premiered a year ago, she has documented wartime Ukraine with unflinching frankness

Eighteen months ago, Alina Sarnatska was serving as a combat medic on Ukraine’s frontline – including in the hellish battle for Bakhmut – and had barely been to the theatre.

Six months later, she was preparing to watch the premiere of her first play in Kyiv. Now Sarnatska, 38, has several dramas under her belt and is emerging as one of Ukraine’s most powerful voices in the theatre.

Continue reading...

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says she is terrified her sons will ‘join manosphere’

Nigerian-American author tells Cheltenham literature festival audience having boys made her ‘worry more’

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said she is terrified that her young boys will “join the manosphere”.

Speaking at Cheltenham literature festival on Saturday, the Nigerian-American author of works including Americanah told an audience that having two sons has made her “worry more” about men and boys.

Continue reading...

Dolly Parton ‘going to be just fine’, singer’s sister says as she calls for prayers amid health problems

Freida Parton says she has been ‘up all night praying’ as singer continues to deal with unspecified ‘health challenges’

Dolly Parton’s sister says she has been “up all night praying” for the singer as she continues to deal with unspecified health problems.

Freida Parton wrote that her 79-year-old sister “hasn’t been feeling her best lately”, two weeks after the singer postponed a Las Vegas residency scheduled for December, citing “health challenges”.

Continue reading...