He is a funny character, James McAvoy. I meet him in one of those fancy Soho hotels where the cast of films that are about to be massive assemble so they can all be interviewed on the same day. And McAvoy’s new psychological thriller, Speak No Evil, will be massive. A remake of the 2022 … Read more
Maryam Adam said her whole body shakes when she recalls the horror of the Grenfell Tower fire and its immediate aftermath. She was three months pregnant when she escaped the inferno and stood outside aghast, watching the flames rise up the 24-storey block in west London as her neighbours screamed for help. In the hours … Read more
On a recent morning near the town of Nabi Chit in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa region, a dozen men were clearing away debris. Israeli jets had thundered through the valley a week earlier, the second such raid in three days. The explosions turned the night sky red, yellow and orange, and filled the air with the … Read more
Vladimir Putin on Thursday said his main aim in Ukraine after 30 months of fighting was to capture the eastern Donbas area. The Russian offensive in February 2022 failed in its expansive goal to capture the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in the west, and Moscow has been unable to take full control of its supposedly annexed … Read more
Chris Baraniuk It’s estimated that one third of the world’s airline seats are made in Northern Ireland In a warehouse building in a quiet town in Northern Ireland, a robot arm is opening and closing an airplane meal table over and over again. It has been programmed to carry out this mundane task no fewer … Read more
Mark Douet Playwright and actor Ins Choi was born in Korea but grew up and lives in Toronto Kim’s Convenience, a heart-warming comedy-drama play about a Korean immigrant family running a corner shop in Toronto, inspired a hit sitcom and is now on stage in London. “This is a love letter to my parents and … Read more
Jack Draper has taken inspiration from Emma Raducanu’s US Open triumph three years ago as he looks to continue his own spectacular breakthrough run in New York before his tough semi-final against Jannik Sinner, the world No 1, on Friday. “What Emma did was obviously incredibly inspiring,” said Draper, who is a year older than … Read more
BBC Miah Bappy and other Bengalis have to play cricket outside the town of Monfalcone Under the scorching sun on Italy’s Adriatic coast, a group of friends from Bangladesh are practising their cricket skills on a small patch of concrete. They are playing on the outskirts of Monfalcone, close to Trieste airport, because they have … Read more
Australians have already had a taste of the turbulence of dealing with Donald Trump, courtesy of a leaked 2017 phone call between the newly inaugurated president and the then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. “I think it is a horrible deal, a disgusting deal that I would have never made,” Trump said as Turnbull implored him … Read more
“My chest was completely exposed and I felt embarrassed,” writes a Japanese girl after undergoing an annual health checkup at her middle school. Another says: “Before the exam our teacher told us we would have to lift up our tops and bra … I didn’t want to do it but I couldn’t say no.” The … Read more