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Audition sa The Voice Kids aariba na; Beauty Gonzalez nagpaka-action star
TRULY exciting ang 2024 para sa Kapuso viewers dahil muling babalik sa TV screens ang iconic singing competition na “The Voice Kids.” Para sa mga Pinoy kids na may special talent for singing, ito na ang chance na mapabilang sa show at ipamalas ang kanilang galing sa pagkanta. Open ang auditions para sa kids aged.....»»
‘Extremist’ Trump threatens U.S. democracy, Biden warns
With House Republicans launching an impeachment inquiry against him, United States President Joe Biden went into offensive on Thursday with a chilling warning to Americans planning to elect Donald Trump in next year’s presidential election. In a speech in the battleground state of Arizona Thursday, the 80-year-old Biden accused the Republican primary frontrunner and his followers of attacking the free press and the rule of law, and planning to gut US institutions if he wins a second term. “Trump says the constitution gave him ‘the right to do what he wants’,” Biden said, referring to statements by Trump about how he saw his powers in office. “I’ve never even heard a president say that in jest — not guided by the constitution or by common service and decency towards our fellow Americans, but by vengeance and vindictiveness.” The reelectionist president rallied Americans who are silent to stand up for democracy before it was too late. Biden also turned the table on Trump for the former president’s remark that US soldiers captured or killed in action as “suckers and losers.” “Was he a sucker for volunteering to serve his country?” Biden asked, referring to his son Beau, who served in Iraq and died of brain cancer in 2015 aged 46, and the late Arizona senator and Vietnam war hero John McCain. Biden and Trump were in early campaign mode this week with both men visiting the swing state of Michigan to speak to auto workers. Conservatives have accused Biden of trading on the power of his office when he was vice president under Barack Obama to help his younger son Hunter secure lucrative foreign business deals, and of benefiting personally from alleged corruption. Democrats have dismissed the hearings as a stunt but they will add to the pressure on Biden as he battles poor approval ratings and polls showing him neck-and-neck with Trump. WITH AFP The post ‘Extremist’ Trump threatens U.S. democracy, Biden warns appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
UK minister warns Meta over end-to-end encryption
Britain's interior minister on Wednesday warned tech giant Meta that rolling out end-to-end encryption on its platforms must "not to come at a cost to our children's safety". Suella Braverman and security minister Tom Tugendhat have called on the company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, to "work with us" and ensure police can access data. "The use of strong encryption for online users remains a vital part of our digital world and I support it, so does the government, but it cannot come at a cost to our children's safety," she said. "Meta has failed to provide assurances that they will keep their platforms safe from sickening abusers," she added. The minister demanded that Meta develop robust safeguards as part of their plans for end-to-end encryption. Messaging app WhatsApp already offers the service, which allows only the sender and recipient of a message to access its contents. Meta is now planning to extend the feature to both Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct. The National Crime Agency's (NCA) director of general threats, James Babbage, warned the plans could "massively reduce our collective ability" to protect children. "We are not asking for new or additional law enforcement access, we simply ask that Meta retains the ability to keep working with us to identify and help prevent abuse," he said. Meta said in a statement that "the overwhelming majority of Brits already rely on apps that use encryption to keep them safe from hackers, fraudsters, and criminals. "We don't think people want us reading their private messages so have spent the last five years developing robust safety measures to prevent, detect, and combat abuse while maintaining online security." The US firm said it was publishing updated safeguarding measures, including restricting people aged over 19 from messaging teenagers who don't follow them and using technology to "identify and take action against malicious behavior". The post UK minister warns Meta over end-to-end encryption appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
EU hits TikTok with big fine over child data
A European Union regulator hit Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok with a 345-million-euro fine over child data breaches on Friday, in the bloc's latest salvo against the business practices of tech titans. The fine, equivalent to $369 million, is the culmination of a two-year inquiry by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC). The Irish watchdog, which plays a key role in policing the EU's strict General Data Protection Regulations, gave TikTok three months "to bring its processing into compliance" with its rules. The DPC in September 2021 began examining TikTok's compliance with GDPR in relation to platform settings and personal data processing for users aged under 18 years old. It also looked at TikTok's age verification measures for persons under 13 and found no infringement, but found the platform did not properly assess the risks to younger people registering on the service. The regulator highlighted in its ruling Friday how children signing up had TikTok accounts set to public by default, meaning anyone could view or comment on their content. It also criticised TikTok's "family pairing" mode, which is designed to link parents' accounts to those of their teenage offspring, but the DPC found the company did not verify parent or guardian status. Ireland is at the centre of the GDPR regime because Dublin hosts the European headquarters of TikTok and the likes of Google, Meta and X, formerly Twitter. In May, the DPC fined Meta a record 1.2 billion euros for transferring EU user data to the United States in breach of a previous court ruling. TikTok, a division of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, is extremely popular among young people with 150 million users in the United States and 134 million in the EU. TikTok 'respectfully disagrees' In response to the fine, TikTok said it "respectfully disagrees" with the verdict and was "evaluating" how to proceed. "The DPC's criticisms are focused on features and settings that were in place three years ago, and that we made changes to well before the investigation even began, such as setting all under 16 accounts to private by default," a TikTok spokesperson told AFP. The platform insists that it closely monitors the age of its users and takes action when needed. TikTok says it deleted almost 17 million accounts worldwide in the first three month of this year due to suspicions that they belonged to people under 13 years old. Earlier this month, the social media giant opened a long-promised data centre in Ireland, as it tries to calm fears in Europe over data privacy. GDPR came into force in 2018 and was the EU's toughest and most famous law on tech, ensuring citizens give consent to the ways in which their data is used. Friday's fine comes after the EU last week unveiled a list of digital giants -- including Apple, Facebook owner Meta and ByteDance -- that will face tough new curbs on how they do business. The post EU hits TikTok with big fine over child data appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Following clash, Philippines plans return to South China Sea
MANILA, Philippines: The Philippine armed forces have announced their intention to once again supply troops stationed on an aged World War 2-era vessel positioned on a reef in the South China Sea. This follows a prior attempt thwarted by China's use of water cannons to block the resupply."This action to assert our sovereign rights and jurisdiction reaffirms our unwavering commitment to the rules-based in.....»»
‘Exorcist’ director dead at 87
Tributes are pouring in for William Friedkin, the groundbreaking American director of Oscar-winning “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection.” Friedkin died aged 87 on Monday in Los Angeles, a family friend and former Hollywood Reporter executive editor Stephen Galloway told Agence France-Presse. Galloway said he learned of Friedkin’s passing after speaking with his wife. He said the director had “been working until a few weeks ago,” but “had been in declining health.” Friedkin’s final film, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” starring Kiefer Sutherland, is set to premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival. “Working with William Friedkin was one of the great honors of my career,” Sutherland said in a statement. “My condolences go to Sherry and his family.” Friedkin, who was once married to French actress Jeanne Moreau, is survived by his fourth wife, Sherry Lansing — a former Paramount Pictures studio chief — and two sons. Friedkin was among a crop of influential young “New Hollywood” directors in the 1970s who fundamentally reshaped the United States film industry, upsetting a long-established system in which powerful studio producers had reigned supreme. Friedkin sealed his stature as one of the greatest American directors with his 1971 action thriller “The French Connection” and 1973 horror classis “The Exorcist.” “The French Connection” won five of eight nominations at the 44th Academy Awards, incuding Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director. The film starring Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, and Fernando Rey also won many other awards. “The Exorcist” won two of 10 AA nominations namely Best Screenplay and Best Sound and four of six Golden Globe Awards nominations, including Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay. The shocking film about a 12-year-old girl possessed by the devil was a commercial success, grossing an eventual $440 million. The post ‘Exorcist’ director dead at 87 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Arjo, Maine off to Switzerland
Newly-weds Arjo Atayde and Maine Mendoza are bound for Europe for an official trip as Atayde – who is vice chairperson of the Special Committee in the Congress on Creative Industry and Performing Arts – will be attending the 76th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland on 5 August. This comes as Atayde’s action-packed thriller “Topakk” of Director Richard Somes was recognized anew by another international film institution last week. “Me, Maine and the rest of my family are so thankful to hear this announcement just a few days before our wedding day,” said Atayde, who is also Quezon City First District. “I am so thrilled and excited together with my wife Maine to be recognized by Locarno Film Festival.” The last time film “Topakk” was recognized by an international film industry was last May in Cannes, France. Despite the fact that he will be on official trip from 5 to 27 August, Atayde will be working remotely while even he is away. “There are so many things to be done in the congress and to my district. We cannot stop helping people more so in our district l,” Atayde said. He is also tasked by Congress to visit also the Filipino communities around the area while in Europe after his wedding in Baguio City last Friday. “Even before my special day or even the day I became a congressman of my district, we are already donating and helping a lot of typhoon or fire victims or anybody who need our help. Our team in my district is always monitoring any calamity and any other assistance needed by the people,” said Atayde. The couple, meanwhile, expressed their gratitude to all guests especially on their principal sponsors not just only for inspiring them how to become a good role model to the people but also for weathering the storm just to attend the wedding. The post Arjo, Maine off to Switzerland appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Kylie Verzosa, Sam Concepcion hailed best-dressed Barbie, Ken at ‘Barbie’ movie premiere
After making headlines and turning heads at the red carpet of 76th Cannes Film Festival’s opening night, actress Kylie Verzosa bagged a best-dressed Barbie award alongside her movie date who came as Barbie’s boyfriend Ken at last night’s Greenbelt 3 premiere night of the first “Barbie” live-action flick......»»
‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING’ REVIEW MISSION TO ENTERTAIN FAILS
It’s not that Tom Cruise has significantly aged in the seventh, and possibly the penultimate entry, to the Mission Impossible franchise that makes Dead Reckoning - Part One one of the worst films of the year. [caption id="attachment_158075" align="aligncenter" width="525"] TOM CruisePHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES[/caption] The 61-year-old actor is still lithe and agile and runs like Speedy Gonzales. But it’s the eerily bad script that is rather painful here. You’d think ChatGPT — in its beta-testing phase — could probably generate a better screenplay. Christopher McQuarrie returns to direct his third MI installment, co-writing a story that understandably jumps into the realm of Artificial Intelligence, given it›s the popular thing these days. Here, Cruise’s superspy Ethan Hunt is embroiled in a cat-and-mouse game with clowns to get hold of a powerful physical key that holds immense power and can be weaponized on an unimaginable scale. One of the enemies is a rogue AI called The Entity that looks like plain disco lights, or a generic animated desktop screensaver, when shown on a computer. AI, in real life, is a terrifying threat. But in this movie, you don’t experience the danger of its sentience. Except for a mildly interesting precognition from a cipher-locked explosive, the most “exciting” thing The Entity can do here are some CCTV tricks, which we have seen a gazillion times, even way back in the past with the famous bus scene from Keanu Reeves’ Speed (1994). The similarly rogue and sentient AI in two X-Files episodes in the ‘90s, The Ghost in the Machine and Kill Switch, are ten times more thrilling than Dead Reckoning’s plot. Nothing new The Targaryen-haired Vanessa Kirby returns as arms dealer Alanna, as well as Ethan’s usual IMF gang Luther (Ving Rhames), Benji (Simon Pegg) and Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson). A new major supporting female character is introduced, Grace (Hayley Atwell), a professional pickpocket that quickly (quicker than a Tinder swipe) becomes Hunt’s new love interest. The “biggest” human villain here is the laughable terrorist Gabriel (Esai Morales) who looks more like a bored dad who enjoys lame tricks to amuse his kids, such as hiding inside a coffin-like treasure chest or walking stiffly behind doors, furniture and airport facilities. Even more unintentionally hilarious is when Gabriel’s assistant, the cosplayer-like Paris (Pom Klementieff), opens doors for him or unlocks latches for him to give him some semblance of a grand entrance. You may argue that you’re in it for the stunts and the action set pieces. After all, MI is known for its spectacle — stunning intercontinental locations where Cruise does all his heart-stopping stunts. Sure. Yawn. Here, the action scenes are nothing new. Hand-to-hand combat on top of a train? We’ve seen a thousand versions of this already. A car chase in Rome? A similar sequence in the kiddie movie Madagascar 3 is way more thrilling. Unintentionally funny The fight choreography, too, is often lazy and too zippy, with quick cuts that deprive you of the power seen in Rogue Nation’s raw, organic bathroom brawl between Cruise and Henry Cavill. The action scenes are overstretched and uninspired that you can easily stand up for a bathroom break — heck, you can even do your groceries — and when you come back, it’s still the same stuff happening on screen. The famous motorbike scene? We’ve seen it go viral on TikTok already, so it doesn’t cut it anymore. The dialogue, too, is often unintentionally funny, with surprisingly hammy acting, even for Cruise. There is a scene, at a “dangerous” meeting at a Venice party, where Ethan and Grace, surrounded by their enemies, are using their eyes to communicate, yet they are being so obvious that the film feels like a B-movie, or a deepfake of Mission Impossible, or I am in a James Corden MI parody with Lalo Schifrin’s theme music just thrown in. The movie’s jaw-dropping score of 96 percent at Rotten Tomatoes, as of writing, feels like AI sabotage. Nearly three hours long, Dead Reckoning - Part One is a disturbing example that humans are no longer imaginative and that AI›s threat is becoming real, what with the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. At this point, AI just might entertain us better. 1.5 out of 5 stars Now showing in cinemas The post ‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING’ REVIEW MISSION TO ENTERTAIN FAILS appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘End of AIDS’ still possible by 2030: UN
"The end of AIDS" is still possible by 2030, the United Nations insisted Thursday, but cautioned that the world's deadliest pandemic could only be halted if leaders grasped the opportunity. "AIDS can be ended" as a public health threat, the UNAIDS agency said, as it outlined a roadmap of investment, evidence-based prevention and treatment, empowering civil society and tackling the inequalities holding back progress. UNAIDS said ending the pandemic was, above all, a political and financial choice. "We are not yet on the path that ends AIDS," the agency's executive director Winnie Byanyima said, but "we can choose to get on that path". The UN first set out in 2015 the target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Byanyima said the greatest progress on HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- was being made in the countries and regions that have invested strongly. She cited eastern and southern Africa, where new HIV infections have dropped by 57 percent since 2010. Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have already achieved what is called the 95-95-95 targets. This means that 95 percent of those living with HIV know their status; 95 percent of those who know they have HIV are on life-saving anti-retroviral treatment; and 95 percent of people on treatment to achieve viral suppression -- and therefore highly unlikely to infect others. At least 16 other countries are close to achieving the target. They include eight in sub-Saharan Africa -- the region where 65 percent of HIV-positive people live -- and Denmark, Kuwait and Thailand. 39 million living with HIV In a report, UNAIDS said that two decades ago the AIDS pandemic seemed unstoppable, with more than 2.5 million people acquiring HIV each year and AIDS claiming two million lives annually. But the picture is now dramatically different. UNAIDS said that in 2022, 39 million people globally were living with HIV, of whom 29.8 million were accessing anti-retroviral therapy. Those missing out include 660,000 children. The numbers on anti-retroviral treatment have near-quadrupled from 7.7 million in 2010. Furthermore, 82 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV had access to anti-retroviral treatment in 2022, compared to 46 percent in 2010 -- which has led to a 58 percent drop in new infections in children. Around 1.3 million people became newly infected with HIV last year -- down 59 percent from the peak in 1995. Meanwhile, 630,000 died from AIDS-related illnesses, and it is still the "number one killer" in countries including Mozambique, said Byanyima. "Overall, numbers of AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 69 percent since the peak in 2004," the report said. Dependent on action "The end of AIDS is an opportunity" for today's leaders to be remembered as "those who put a stop to the world's deadliest pandemic", said Byanyima. "We are hopeful, but it is not the relaxed optimism that might come if all was heading as it should be. It is, instead, a hope rooted in seeing the opportunity." Funding for HIV fell back in 2022 to $20.8 billion -- around the same level as in 2013, and well short of the $29.3 billion needed by 2025. Laws that criminalize people from key populations, or their behaviors, remain in place in many nations, UNAIDS said, giving the example that criminalization, and stigmatization, of drug injectors prevents them from coming forward for treatment. HIV continues to impact key populations more than the general population, it added. In 2022, compared with adults aged 15-49 in the general population, HIV prevalence was 11 times higher among men who have sex with men; four times higher among sex workers; seven times higher among people who inject drugs; and 14 times higher among transgender people. The post ‘End of AIDS’ still possible by 2030: UN appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Fear, grief after 41 dead in ‘brutal’ Uganda school attack
Grieving families buried their dead in western Uganda on Sunday while others searched desperately for missing loved ones after militants killed dozens of students in a "brutal" school attack. Officials say at least 41 people, mostly students, were massacred Friday in the worst attack of its kind in Uganda since 2010. President Yoweri Museveni, in his first statement since the attack, vowed to hunt the militants "into extinction". Victims were hacked, shot and burned in the late-night raid on Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe, which lies less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pope Francis offered a prayer on Sunday for "the young student victims of the brutal attack" that has shocked Uganda and drawn condemnation from around the globe. Ugandan authorities have blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militia based in DR Congo, and are pursuing the attackers who fled back toward the border with six abductees. "Their action -- the desperate, cowardly, terrorist action -- will not save them," said Museveni. Fifteen others from the community, including five girls, were still missing, said Eriphaz Muhindi, chairman of Kasese district, which shares a long and forested border with DR Congo. - 'Great pain' - Families desperate for news waited all night in the cold outside a mortuary in nearby Bwera. Those able to identify loved ones embraced and wept as they took away the bodies in coffins. "We flocked (to) the hospital and found many bodies -- of boys and girls, some cut with pangas (machetes), others hit with hammers on the head," Roti Masereka, a farmer, told AFP. He left with the body of his brother -- 35-year-old Mbusa Kirurihandi, a security guard at the school -- and his 17-year-old son. But a third son, aged 15, is missing, and the family is distraught. "Today we have buried two bodies, the father and his son. But we are still looking for the missing child," he said. The government said Sunday it would assist with funeral arrangements and support the injured. Seventeen victims were burned beyond recognition when the attackers set a dormitory ablaze, frustrating efforts to identify the dead and account for the missing. Muhindi said they had been taken away for DNA testing, a process that could take some time. "This is a great pain to their families," he told AFP. - 'They wore military camouflage' - Officials said 37 students were killed -- 17 in the torched men's dormitory, and 20 female students who ran but were hacked to death. Elias Kule, an 18-year-old survivor, said the boys locked their dormitory door when they heard gunshots and saw armed men entering the school. "They wore military camouflage. Each had a hammer, a hoe, knives, pangas (machetes) and guns with magazines," he told AFP. He said the attackers started firing through the windows and doors, hitting at least one student, before lobbing a "bomb" into the dormitory that started a fire. "I ran out of oxygen, I covered my mouth and nose with a cloth... I got blood and smeared myself on the head and ears to claim I was dead," he said, waiting until the coast was clear to escape. Four non-students, including the security guard Kirurihandi, were also killed. - 'Appalling act' - The African Union, France and the United States, a close ally of Uganda, offered their condolences and condemned the bloodshed. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: "Those responsible for this appalling act must be brought to justice." Questions have been raised about how the attackers managed to evade detection in a border region with a heavy military presence. Major General Dick Olum told AFP that intelligence suggested the presence of the ADF in the area at least two days before the attack, and an investigation would be needed to establish what went wrong. Uganda and DR Congo launched a joint offensive in 2021 to drive the ADF out of their Congolese strongholds, but the measures have failed to blunt the group's violence. Originally insurgents in Uganda, the ADF gained a foothold in eastern DRC in the 1990s and have since been accused of killing thousands of civilians. The Islamic State group claims the ADF as its Central African affiliate. Attacks in Uganda are rare but in June 1998, 80 students were burnt to death in their dormitories in an ADF raid on Kichwamba Technical Institute near the DR Congo border. More than 100 students were abducted. The attack was the deadliest in Uganda since 2010, when 76 people were killed in twin bombings in Kampala by the Somalia-based group Al-Shabaab. gm-np/bp © Agence France-Presse The post Fear, grief after 41 dead in ‘brutal’ Uganda school attack appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
New Zealand to ban disposable vapes
New Zealand announced a ban on disposable vapes Tuesday, tightening the nation's chokehold on smoking as it also phases in a near-total prohibition on tobacco sales. Disposable vapes -- defined as those without removable or replaceable batteries -- will be banned from August, Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said. "Too many young people are vaping, which is why we're making a number of moves to stop that happening," she said in a statement. New vape shops will not be allowed near schools or marae -- Maori meeting places, she said. Names like "cotton candy" and "strawberry jelly donut" will be barred, the minister added, in favor of generic equivalents such as "berry". Vapes will also need a child-safety mechanism, she said. Verrall said the government wanted to strike a balance between preventing young people from starting to use vapes and allowing people to use them as an aid to quitting smoking. Six months ago, New Zealand announced it would make cigarettes permanently unavailable to anyone currently aged under 14 -- effectively raising the smoking age each year until the whole population is covered. The number of adults smoking in New Zealand is already relatively low at just eight percent. But Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the new vape restrictions were needed for the young. "We have heard from parents, teachers and principals concerned that a life-long bad habit is being established for many at a young age," Hipkins said. Nearly one in five school-aged teenagers vape at least once a day in New Zealand, according to a 2021 study by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation. The crackdown on disposable vapes comes a month after Australia took similar action, accusing tobacco companies of hooking the next "generation of nicotine addicts" by deliberately targeting teenagers. E-cigarettes were introduced in the early 2000s and initially billed as a less-harmful replacement for traditional cigarettes packed with cancer-causing chemicals. But an emerging body of research has shown vapes can also be highly addictive, and often result in young users turning to cigarettes as a way to get their nicotine fix. The post New Zealand to ban disposable vapes appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Ageing maestros and strong women at epic Cannes film fest
This year's Cannes Film Festival has been an epic mix of ground-breaking women's perspectives and nostalgic homages to icons of the 20th century. As it heads into awards night on Saturday, the 76th edition of the French Riviera festival has been a feast for film-lovers. Here are some of the highlights. Old masters At times, Cannes felt like a sort of dream retirement home populated by ageing male film icons. Harrison Ford, 80, showed he still had stamina in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", and got weepy when given an honorary Palme d'Or. Martin Scorsese, 80, and Robert De Niro, 79, brought their new film, "Killers of the Flower Moon". European auteurs Ken Loach, 86, Marco Bellocchio, 83, Wim Wenders, 77, and Victor Erice, 82, all premiered new films -- Erice with his first in 40 years. It was notable that many of the starriest attendees made their names in the 1980s and 1990s: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, Jude Law. "Over the last 10 years, we've done a really sh--ty job of creating a new generation of movie stars," one Hollywood agent moaned to Variety. Female gaze Michael Douglas, 78, who also got an honorary Palme d'Or, regaled the festival with memories of showing erotic thriller "Basic Instinct" here in 1992. "Watching those sex scenes on the biggest screen I'd ever seen... we had a very quiet dinner afterwards," he quipped. But it underlined how things have changed, with many films this year presenting more of a woman's perspective. "The entire range of human behavior should be accessible to women," said Portman, whose new film "May December" is a campy but complex look at a loving mother with a buried past as a sex offender. While Jude Law grabbed headlines as a tyrannical King Henry VIII in "Firebrand", the film's spotlight was really on Alicia Vikander as Catherine Parr, trying to escape the fate of the king's previous wives. Among many other examples were "Four Daughters" about a mother's role in the radicalisation of her children, and "How to Have Sex", a nuanced look at assault and consent among boozed-up Brits abroad. Hueller's double It was a strong competition this year and Germany's Sandra Hueller starred in two of the most stand-out films. In "The Zone of Interest" from British director Jonathan Glazer, she chillingly played the wife of a Nazi camp commandant, proud to be known as "the queen of Auschwitz". The unique film never shows the horrors of the camp, leaving them to be implied by background noises and small visual details. She also starred in "Anatomy of a Fall", another women-focused film, lauded by critics, about a wife accused of her husband's murder. Long films Audience patience was tested repeatedly, with Oscar-winner Steve McQueen presenting "Occupied City", a four-hour documentary about Amsterdam. Scorsese's Native American epic was widely praised though everyone felt the 210-minute runtime was a bit much. Ditto "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", which stretched the action out for more than two-and-a-half hours. A documentary about Chinese workers, "Youth (Spring)" also clocked in at 210 minutes, and director Wang Bing warned he plans two more chapters that will make it over nine hours. Fashion Helen Mirren got the ball rolling in style with a blue updo on opening night -- but the red carpet was often more understated after that. The on trend "naked look" was adopted by models Julia Fox and Irina Shayk. Otherwise, vintage scored the biggest hits: Portman in a recreation of Christian Dior's famous 1949 Junon dress, and Lily-Rose Depp in a classic black sequin number from the Chanel archives. The post Ageing maestros and strong women at epic Cannes film fest appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
British writer Martin Amis dies aged 73
Renowned and influential British writer Martin Amis has died aged 73 at his home in Lake Worth, Florida, the Booker Prizes said Saturday. Amis was "one of the most acclaimed and discussed writers of the past 50 years and the author of 14 novels," said the website of Booker Prizes, the leading literary awards for fiction in the United Kingdom. His wife, Isabel Fonseca, told media that the author of searing and insightful works such as "Money: A Suicide Note," "London Fields" and "Time's Arrow" died on Friday after a bout with esophageal cancer. His death was announced on the same day as the Cannes Festival showing of a film based on his 2014 book "The Zone of Interest". Set in Auschwitz, the novel tells the story of a Nazi officer who fell in love with the wife of the extermination camp commander. Amis, the son of renowned comic novelist Kingsley Amis, equaled and even surpassed his father in fame with novels filled with savage humor. "The novel is an incredibly intimate portrait of a writer," the younger Amis once told the BBC, reflecting on his career. "Although I don't write an autobiography, I am everywhere in my books." In 2008, the Times of London named him one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Born in 1949 in Wales, Amis rose to literary celebrity amid the hip 1980s British fiction boom that included fellow novelists Salman Rushdie, Julian Barnes, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Ian McEwan. Amis graduated from Oxford University in 1971 with a degree in English and worked as an editor before publishing his first novel, "The Rachel Papers," in 1973. It was with "Money," published in 1984 with a comic take on consumerism, that Amis burst more broadly onto the literary scene. In addition to his novels, Amis published two collections of stories and eight works of nonfiction. His book on the September 11, 2001 attacks, titled "The Second Plane," includes articles, short stories, and essays. In recent decades, Amis became a public intellectual, frequently appearing on television, sometimes alongside his long-time friend Christopher Hitchens, a British-American writer and renowned atheist who died in 2011. He was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1991 and long-listed in 2003, the website noted. The 1990s marked the peak of his literary career, even though he was accused of misogyny and, later, Islamophobia -- accusations he firmly rejected. Publisher Vintage Books said it was "devastated" by the death of Amis. "He leaves a towering legacy and an indelible mark on the British cultural landscape, and will be missed enormously," Vintage said on its Twitter account. The post British writer Martin Amis dies aged 73 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DepEd, CHED urged to combat ‘vape epidemic’
The Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education have been called upon to address what advocacy groups call the ‘vape epidemic’ due to the alarming number of Filipino minors using e-cigarettes. In a joint statement on Monday, 24 April, Child Rights Network and Parents Against Vape urged the two government agencies to intensify their efforts in discouraging the use of e-cigarettes among Filipino schoolchildren, including the prohibition of using vape within a 200-meters of schools. CRN and PAV also proposed the intensified implementation of Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 22-16 of the Department of Trade and Industry, which prohibits the use of vaping inside and near schools and other places in the presence of schoolchildren. They also called upon DepEd and CHED to ban ads, sponsorships, and product placements of vape products in school events. “We must take immediate action to protect our children’s right to health and an environment free from tobacco and nicotine. We call on the DepEd and CHED to prioritize the implementation of the vape regulation law and strengthen efforts to combat the vape epidemic among our youth,” CRN Convenor Romeo Dongeto said. Citing the 6th Global Tobacco Youth Report by the Department of Health, Dongeto expressed alarm over the rate of schoolchildren aged 13 to 15 who are reported e-cigarette users at 14.1 percent, with 20.9 percent being males and 7.5 being females. One notable data in this study is how the rate of current e-cigarette users is much higher than tobacco smokers, with DOH reporting a 10.8 percent overall rate on the latter The post DepEd, CHED urged to combat ‘vape epidemic’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Rotarians in action
Have you ever wondered what Rotaract means? Well, you’re right, it’s the junior version of Rotary Clubs, but in truth, Rotaract is the Rotary International’s service club program for young adults aged 18-30......»»
Philippines’s Marcos pledges action in response to China’s ‘dangerous attacks’
President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines has issued a strong statement in response to recent confrontations in the South China Sea, stating that the country.....»»
Church visits are allowed only until 10 p.m. – Police chief
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Church visits on Maundy Thursday will only be allowed until 10 p.m. the chief of the Cebu City police announced on Thursday, March 28. Police Colonel Ireneo B. Dalogdog, City Director of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) said that the public is not allowed inside religious places past 10:00 p.m......»»
Philippines beats India for back-to-back wins in women’s Asia ice hockey tiff
The Philippine women’s ice hockey team picked up where they left off after their opening win in the 2024 IIHF Women’s Asia and Oceania Cup with a 7-0 shutout of India at the Bishkek Arena in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday......»»
Belmonte, Binay call for climate action funding from development banks
The C40 coalition of cities, a network of nearly 100 mayors, asked MDBs to increase urban climate investment, integrate urban climate action into their strategies, and implement tailored programs to support city projects. .....»»