They’re married! Kate Middleton has arrived at Westminster Abbey, looking gorgeous in a long-sleeved, long-trained dress. The BBC notes she’s wearing a tiara under her veil, and her hair is down. Her dress was, in fact, designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen; full details of her outfit here . The…
Continue reading …The guests have streamed in to Westminster Abbey to watch Prince William marry Kate Middleton. Who got the biggest cheers from the throngs outside? Prime Minister David Cameron was a hit, as was Elton John—and, of course, Princes William and Harry, who arrived looking dapper in full military regalia….
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With Zen axed because of the slew of male detectives cluttering up BBC1, it’s time for the ladies to step forward – in the footsteps of these classic female crime-fighters Fans of Inspector Zen, the Italian detective played by Rufus Sewell, will be disappointed: the BBC has axed the show , with controller Danny Cohen citing concerns that there are too many male detectives cluttering up BBC1. A slew of female-led detective shows are due to grace our screens this year, including The Body Farm, a spin-off from Waking the Dead . But these shows will be following in the footsteps of some iconic female investigators. Here is my top 10 list of female characters who broke boundaries and helped redefine the image of the investigator. Who would be on your list? 1. Nancy Drew The original, the iconic teenage detective, any list of female detectives inevitably starts with Nancy Drew , who has been solving mysteries for more than 80 years, with Hilary Clinton and Sonia Sotomayor among the high-profile women to cite her as an inspiration. The character may still be a teenager, but she has evolved over time – notably some of the early stories were rewritten to expunge the racism of the original versions. 2. George George (emphatically, not Georgina) from Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books, is similarly essential. These books similarly show many signs of their age to a modern reader. But George, the brave, tousle-haired tomboy, was still an alternative and important role model for young readers. 3. Miss Marple Agatha Christie’s amateur detective Miss Marple conceals a sharp intelligence in a visage which our culture sees as the epitome of the unthreatening: an elderly “spinster” living in the English village of St Meade’s. She has been reimagined repeatedly in TV and film adaptations. Confoundingly, Disney is about to remake the character yet again, casting Jennifer Garner as Miss Marple in her younger days. 4. Precious Ramotswe It’s notable that the rest of the detectives in this list are white women, either American or European. Representations of black female investigators are still thin on the ground, but Precious Ramotswe from Alexander McCall Smith’s series, The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency, has helped redefine the image of the detective. The adaptation by the BBC and HBO, starring Jill Scott as Precious, has also won praise for its positive representation of Botswana. 5. Jane Tennison DCI Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) from the ITV series Prime Suspect set the mould for police procedurals and female cops struggling in the male-dominated workplace. She’s tough, she gets the job done. Tennison could be back on our screens again soon, in the form of a US remake , relocating the show from London to New York, and starring Maria Bello. 6. Veronica Mars In the mid-2000s, the teenage girl detective evolved into Veronica Mars (Kristin Bell), the hero of the eponymous American TV series. Mars is witty, tough and a brilliant investigator. But she’s not bulletproof: in the first episode, we learn Mars was roofied and sexually assaulted at a party. The case is dismissed by the police; she must go back to high school with the boys who assaulted her. 7. Lis Salander Much has been written about whether Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy is feminist or misogynist . Lis Salander is the strongest argument in the books’ favour: her extreme hacker skills are crucial to getting to the bottom of the crime and corruption in the books. She’s an unusual character in this genre: while most amateur detectives work in tandem with the police, or do their job for them, Salander has been a victim of state violence, she has her own agenda and she works to her own moral code. 8. Sarah Lund In the first episode of the winding Danish detective series The Killing, we’re introduced to Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl). She’s meant to be moving to Sweden with her boyfriend and son, it’s her last day on the police force. But Lund quickly realises she can’t leave her less competent replacement to solve her last case, the murder of a teenage girl. The success of the show has led to it being remade in the US . 9. Temperance Brennan Temperance Brennan is the hero of a series of detective books by Kathy Reichs, then very loosely adapted for television in the US series Bones, where she puts her skills as a forensic anthropologist to use on current-day murder cases with FBI partner Seeley Booth. Spiky and socially awkward, Brennan is brilliant at everything except interacting with other humans. 10. Marge Gunderson In the Coen brothers’ film Fargo, Frances McDormand plays the chief of police, Marge Gunderson, who carefully unpicks the homicides that are occurring in the small American town. She comes into the film 31 minutes in, only to steal the show. Seven months pregnant, she defies the image of the lone and lonely hard-boiled detective, an oasis of common sense, competence and good humour. Crime drama Crime fiction Television Alexander McCall Smith Stieg Larsson The Killing Gender Jess McCabe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …With Zen axed because of the slew of male detectives cluttering up BBC1, it’s time for the ladies to step forward – in the footsteps of these classic female crime-fighters Fans of Inspector Zen, the Italian detective played by Rufus Sewell, will be disappointed: the BBC has axed the show , with controller Danny Cohen citing concerns that there are too many male detectives cluttering up BBC1. A slew of female-led detective shows are due to grace our screens this year, including The Body Farm, a spin-off from Waking the Dead . But these shows will be following in the footsteps of some iconic female investigators. Here is my top 10 list of female characters who broke boundaries and helped redefine the image of the investigator. Who would be on your list? 1. Nancy Drew The original, the iconic teenage detective, any list of female detectives inevitably starts with Nancy Drew , who has been solving mysteries for more than 80 years, with Hilary Clinton and Sonia Sotomayor among the high-profile women to cite her as an inspiration. The character may still be a teenager, but she has evolved over time – notably some of the early stories were rewritten to expunge the racism of the original versions. 2. George George (emphatically, not Georgina) from Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books, is similarly essential. These books similarly show many signs of their age to a modern reader. But George, the brave, tousle-haired tomboy, was still an alternative and important role model for young readers. 3. Miss Marple Agatha Christie’s amateur detective Miss Marple conceals a sharp intelligence in a visage which our culture sees as the epitome of the unthreatening: an elderly “spinster” living in the English village of St Meade’s. She has been reimagined repeatedly in TV and film adaptations. Confoundingly, Disney is about to remake the character yet again, casting Jennifer Garner as Miss Marple in her younger days. 4. Precious Ramotswe It’s notable that the rest of the detectives in this list are white women, either American or European. Representations of black female investigators are still thin on the ground, but Precious Ramotswe from Alexander McCall Smith’s series, The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency, has helped redefine the image of the detective. The adaptation by the BBC and HBO, starring Jill Scott as Precious, has also won praise for its positive representation of Botswana. 5. Jane Tennison DCI Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) from the ITV series Prime Suspect set the mould for police procedurals and female cops struggling in the male-dominated workplace. She’s tough, she gets the job done. Tennison could be back on our screens again soon, in the form of a US remake , relocating the show from London to New York, and starring Maria Bello. 6. Veronica Mars In the mid-2000s, the teenage girl detective evolved into Veronica Mars (Kristin Bell), the hero of the eponymous American TV series. Mars is witty, tough and a brilliant investigator. But she’s not bulletproof: in the first episode, we learn Mars was roofied and sexually assaulted at a party. The case is dismissed by the police; she must go back to high school with the boys who assaulted her. 7. Lis Salander Much has been written about whether Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy is feminist or misogynist . Lis Salander is the strongest argument in the books’ favour: her extreme hacker skills are crucial to getting to the bottom of the crime and corruption in the books. She’s an unusual character in this genre: while most amateur detectives work in tandem with the police, or do their job for them, Salander has been a victim of state violence, she has her own agenda and she works to her own moral code. 8. Sarah Lund In the first episode of the winding Danish detective series The Killing, we’re introduced to Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl). She’s meant to be moving to Sweden with her boyfriend and son, it’s her last day on the police force. But Lund quickly realises she can’t leave her less competent replacement to solve her last case, the murder of a teenage girl. The success of the show has led to it being remade in the US . 9. Temperance Brennan Temperance Brennan is the hero of a series of detective books by Kathy Reichs, then very loosely adapted for television in the US series Bones, where she puts her skills as a forensic anthropologist to use on current-day murder cases with FBI partner Seeley Booth. Spiky and socially awkward, Brennan is brilliant at everything except interacting with other humans. 10. Marge Gunderson In the Coen brothers’ film Fargo, Frances McDormand plays the chief of police, Marge Gunderson, who carefully unpicks the homicides that are occurring in the small American town. She comes into the film 31 minutes in, only to steal the show. Seven months pregnant, she defies the image of the lone and lonely hard-boiled detective, an oasis of common sense, competence and good humour. Crime drama Crime fiction Television Alexander McCall Smith Stieg Larsson The Killing Gender Jess McCabe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Men might be from Mars and women from Venus, but they’re all drawn to the royal wedding—for different reasons, of course. Female spectators tend to be enthralled by the romantic relationship while men are intrigued by the history of the British knot-tying, say psychologists. “The royal wedding is not…
Continue reading …A very teary former Miss USA has posted a video to YouTube protesting an aggressive TSA pat down at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport that left her feeling “molested.” Susie Castillo opted not to go through an airport scan to avoid what she fears is excessive radiation. Put she was…
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Feud over the rights to the work of Zorba the Greek’s author Nikos Kazantzakis intensifies despite ruling A row over the rights to the works of Greece’s most celebrated writer Nikos Kazantzakis is intensifying after the supreme court ruled that the adopted son of his late widow is his rightful heir. The feud, which has pitted relatives and admirers of the author of Zorba the Greek against Patroclos Stavrou, the adopted son of his late widow, Eleni, erupted seven years ago as a disagreement over copyright ownership of the author’s works. Despite the intervention of the supreme court, which ruled that Stavrou, a Cypriot-born philologist, was the writer’s rightful heir, the dispute shows no sign of abating. “Kazantzakis’ natural heirs are considering taking further action,” said Yorgos Stassinakis who heads the Geneva-based International Society of the Friends of Nikos Kazantzakis. “The court decision did not go to the heart of the matter, which is the books. Publication and translation of all of this great man’s works has been very poor and as a result readers worldwide have not had access to them.” A widow for more than 40 years, Eleni Kazantakis met Stavrou during a visit to the island in 1967. Fifteen years later she adopted him as her legal son and heir. She was in her 70s and he was 55. “She became my mother and I became her son,” writes Stavrou in a prologue to the catalogue of works produced by the publishing company he established with Eleni. “She called me son, dearest son, and radiated certainty and happiness … She took her last breath, a few months before her 101st birthday in 2004, at a hospital in Athens holding my hand.” After her death, he became the guardian of Kazantzakis’ works. But critics accuse him of failing to adequately promote the author’s legacy. The Cypriot was forced to withdraw from the board of the Kazantzakis Museum in Crete, where the writer was born and buried, for allegedly failing to attend meetings. Last year, the International Society of the Friends of Nikos Kazantzakis began a global campaign, gathering some 4,008 signatures in 92 countries, to “save and promote” his artistic legacy. In an open letter addressed to the Greek president, it denounced what they said was Stavrou’s dismal oversight of the oeuvre. The Nobel prize-winning novelist Nadine Gordimer and the French politician, Ségolène Royal, are among those who have signed the petition. “To make someone your adopted son when he is more than 50 years old, his parents are still alive and you are over the age of 70, is a strange thing,” said Stassinakis. “But much more it is the lack of love this man has shown towards the work of Kazantzakis. A large part of his oeuvre remains unpublished and many of his most important books are out of print, unavailable even in countries like France where he lived for years.” An essayist and traveller, who translated Shakespeare and Dante to make ends meet, Kazantzakis wrote more than 30 books. His range extended from popular novels such as the Last Temptation of Christ to The Odyssey: A modern Sequel, an epic poem of 33,333 verses which he rewrote seven times and considered his best work. In 1957 he lost the Nobel Prize for Literature to Albert Camus by one vote. At the two-storey offices of Kazantzakis publications in the heart of Athens, Patroclos Stavrou’s daughter Niki, described the “seven continuous years of absolute hell” that the family has endured since the court action began. “I cannot begin to describe how much vital energy and time was wasted on trying to defend ourselves,” says the scholar who directs the company’s foreign rights division and is trying to get Kazantzakis’ works translated and on bookshelves around the world. “When he was alive Kazantzakis lived under constant persecution from the Greek Orthodox Church and critics. I am sure this [row] would have broken his heart.” Greece Europe Literary fiction Fiction Nobel prize for literature Awards and prizes Helena Smith guardian.co.uk
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Senior heads of national team allegedly approved system to limit black players and those of north African origins France has been plunged into a fresh race crisis after claims that football officials tried to limit black and Arab players on youth training schemes to make the French team more white. The French football federation has opened an internal investigation after website Mediapart reported that top management approved a quota system to limit young black players and those of north African origin emerging as candidates for the national team. The alleged plan involved limiting non-white youngsters as young as 12 or 13 from entering the selection process through training centres and academies. “For the top brass in French football, the issue is settled: there are too many blacks, too many Arabs, and not enough white players in French football,” the website said. According to Mediapart, one of the most senior football federation figures wanted to set a cap of 30% on players of certain origins, but insisted at a meeting the quota should be kept quiet. At another meeting, the French national team coach Laurent Blanc allegedly backed changing youth talent selection criteria to favour players with “our culture, our history”. Sources claimed Blanc cited current world champions Spain, saying: “The Spanish, they say: ‘We don’t have a problem. We have no blacks.’” Amid stupefaction from players, the French governmenthas asked for clarification from the football federation, which has denied setting out a quota policy. The federation’s national technical director, François Blaquart, said the organisation’s “only problem” was with dual national players who were trained by France and then went off to play for other countries. He said this applied to players of all races. The French team’s media officer, Philippe Tournon, said Blanc “categorically denies that he could have supported selections based on ethnicity or skin colour”. He added that “it goes against his philosophy” and said that Blanc was “outraged” by the allegations. The issue hit a raw nerve in France in 1998, where their World Cup victory by a multicultural team led by Zinedine Zidane was hailed as “black, blanc, beur”, and was said to symbolise a new beginning for a mixed nation, but it mainly gave way to great unease and bickering over the racial profile of “Les Bleus”. Not only did the far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen complain of too many black people in the team, a leading Socialist regional head, the late Georges Frêche, was expelled from his party in 2007 for making the same observation. Crucially, the French team’s mutiny at the World Cup last summer was privately blamed by some on black or Muslim players, including the French convert to Islam, Franck Ribéry. Speculation was that the team had fragmented over the lack of the football team’s “national identity”. One of the first measures taken by Blanc – a World Cup winner from 1998 – when he became coach of the French team last summer was to stop the team policy of eating only halal meat. Mediapart said federation officials had even challenged the morphology of black players. The website claimed Blanc had suggested that a stereotype of player, which he described as “large, strong, powerful”, needed to be changed. Blanc allegedly told a meeting of senior federation figures: “And who are the large, strong, powerful? The blacks. That’s the way it is. It is a current fact. God knows that in the training centres and football academies, there are lots.” Counting people by race or ethnic origin – even for census purposes or for statistics research – is banned in France, a state which, in theory, is blind to race or religion. The notion of quotas is fundamentally anti-republican. Henri Guaino, Nicolas Sarkozy’s special advisor, said he was “viscerally opposed to any form of quota”, adding: “Setting quotas would be the end of the republic.” Lilian Thuram, a World Cup hero who is outspoken on racism and once accused Sarkozy of judging people along race lines, commented on the row: “Initially I thought this was a joke. I’m so stunned I don’t know what to say.” He added that if the reports were true, the scandal would run and run. France France Race issues Europe Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
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Partially exploded bomb found on ground under van in County Derry An incendiary bomb has been removed by army technical officers in County Derry, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has confirmed. The security alert occurred in Maghera in the early hours of Friday morning, the PSNI said. The bomb, which was put on the ground under a van in the Willow Glynn area, partially exploded at around 3am. The device was reported when it was discovered by the vehicle’s owner at 8am, police said. A PSNI spokesman said they believe the device was left in the area sometime between midnight and 3am. Local councillor Kate Lagan said she was shocked by the blast: “This is a quiet estate, full of young families and children on their bicycles and this device could have caused tragic consequences. “I have no idea why it was left here, but it doesn’t matter who it was meant for, a person could now be dead. “I think it’s ridiculous and it makes me very angry.” The technical officers have examined the bomb and removed it for further examination. Northern Ireland UK security and terrorism Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
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Violent response to protests led by Kizza Besigye has fuelled rioters’ determination to throw out President Yoweri Museveni Riots have swept across the Ugandan capital, Kampala, in the biggest anti-government protest in sub-Saharan Africa so far this year. Security forces have launched a brutal crackdown, opening fire on unarmed civilians with live rounds, rubber bullets and teargas. Two people have been killed, more than 120 wounded and around 360 arrested. Women and girls have been among those beaten, according to witnesses. Two weeks of growing unrest – sparked by rising food and fuel prices – have gained fresh impetus after the violent arrest of the opposition leader Kizza Besigye on Thursday. Critics say President Yoweri Museveni, in power for 25 years, is losing his grip. They claim his wildly disproportionate crackdown on Besigye’s “walk to work” protests smacks of panic and is sowing the seeds of popular revolt. “I thought the police were going to kill me,” said Andrew Kibwka, 18, after police with heavy sticks rained blows on him. “I was telling them I’m harmless but they just carried on. I did nothing to provoke them. They beat me because I was running away.” Some point to the political earthquakes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, and wonder if the aftershocks could reach tyrannies south of the Sahara. Already there are pockets of unrest from Burkina Faso to Senegal to Swaziland. Even South Africa, reputed anchor of the continent, is tormented by deadly protests over poor public service delivery. In Uganda there is an inchoate revolution struggling to be born. Protests have spread to several towns, leaving seven people dead and hundreds in jail. The riots, in which roads have been barricaded with burning tyres and vehicles pelted with rocks, mark a new level of defiance. Facebook and Twitter, which the government unsuccessfully tried to block, are reverberating with dissent . Museveni’s heavyhanded attempts to put out the fire only appear to be fanning its flames. The subversion here began on 11 April with nothing so spectacular as an act of self-immolation: rather, a defeated politician and half a dozen allies walking down a street. The walk to work campaign is intended to highlight the soaring prices of fuel and food, which leave many Ugandans unable to afford public transport. If Besigye, who has lost three elections to Museveni, had been ignored the piece of theatre might have fizzled out. Instead riot police blocked the group, unleashed teargas and arrested Besigye. At a stroke this waning establishment figure was reborn as a hero of resistance. Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda, an MP-elect for Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change , recalled the innocuous beginnings of walk to work. “We never intended to have a Tahrir Square to remove Museveni,” he said. “We just wanted a reawakening of the people. We started walking, the simplest thing on Earth, and Museveni said you can’t.” At the third protest Besigye was hit in the hand by a rubber bullet. Images of him with hand bandaged and in a sling gave the opposition a publicity coup. With each walk he has attracted more followers like a pied piper. Nganda, who was jailed for five days for taking part in a walk, said: “When you start a campaign you never know what the response will be. I didn’t know we’d have any people following; nobody knew. Museveni’s brutal reaction is what raised its profile beyond our expectations. It’s dominating the media, the opposition, even Museveni himself.” The 37-year-old said Ugandans would prove as determined as their north African counterparts. “I don’t think when the Tunisians started they knew it would be the end of Ben Ali, or when the Egyptians started they knew they would get rid of Mubarak. Nobody can be sure what shape it will take in Uganda but we are going to continue until Museveni leaves.” Besigye, 54, who was Museveni’s personal doctor during the bush war against former president Milton Obote , was detained again in Kampala on Thursday after police smashed their way into his vehicle and shot pepper spray into his eyes, potentially causing permanent damage to his sight. Just an hour earlier he had admitted he was hesitant to draw close comparisons with Egypt and Tunisia. “The only parallel goes to the extent that people are discontented with what is going on and their governments are non-responsive,” he said. “There is a loss of trust between the regime and the people. I think that is the only parallel I can see. How this popular discontent is channelled is always governed by the unique qualities of governments.” Asked if he was prepared to die for the cause, Besigye replied: “I am not setting out to become a martyr of anything. I am simply asserting my citizen’s rights, which are inherent, which are not offered by the state and which I am determined to defend at all costs.” Commodity prices could be the spark in a Ugandan tinderbox of resentment over corruption and neglected public services. Museveni has refused to copy neighbouring Kenya by cutting taxes on fuel. And with unfortunate timing his recent re-election campaign is estimated to have cost $350m (£210m) with a further $1.3m (£781,000) allotted to his inauguration ceremony, while a bill for new military fighter jets stands at $740m (£445m). Public anger was burning on a street where no car was safe from flying stones. Robert Mayanja, a self-described activist, said: “What they are doing now shows that Museveni rigged the last election. If you look at Uganda, why should we vote for him after 25 years? We have high prices, we have hospitals without medicine.” Mayanja, 31, said a repeat of the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia was “definitely” possible. “What we are seeing here are people who are not armed but are taking a stand against armed forces,” he said. “People are ready. It’s just a question of time. “We know they are going to arrest many people and put them in torture chambers. We know this regime has expired. These are the signs.” In Ntinda district angry youths shouted and hurled stones and chunks of concrete at passing cars. On one corner a man ran up to a council vehicle as it drove by and smashed the driver’s window with a rock, raising cheers from onlookers. A teacher, who gave his name only as Nixon, 32, said he could not imagine an Egypt-like revolt in the short term. “But in the long term I believe it can happen,” he said. “The military is still strong and many of the soldiers are unwilling to turn to the side of the people. But in time they might get tired of beating the people. “I really look forward to it. As your friends are beaten and arrested, the professionals need to come out and organise the people.” A young population often seen as politically apathetic has reached unexpected levels of activism. People who used to bolt at the first whiff of teargas are losing their fear. But there are serious doubts over whether a critical mass of Ugandans have the will or the means to drive the president out. He retains a vice-like hold on the military and police. Rosebell Kagumire , a journalist blogging and tweeting the political crisis, said: “Most people on Twitter are anti-Museveni but there is not a firm opinion on what to do now. They don’t expect him to go anywhere soon. He owns the army and his government won’t stop at anything. “It’s hard to get people to believe going to the streets will change anything, especially when they know the government is prepared to kill half of them. Ugandans have not reached that level yet.” Museveni, whose recent election victory has been denounced as fraudulent , is confident he can avoid the fate of Arab leaders. “Nobody can take over power through an uprising,” he said recently. “Whoever thinks like that, I pity such a person.” His spokesman, Tamale Mirundi, added: “In Tunisia and Egypt democracy was lacking; in Uganda we elect our leaders at every level. The president organised and campaigned in transparent elections. Besigye cannot say he was cheated and that is why he is jumping on oil prices.” Mirundi played down the power of the internet. “Go to the villages. How many people can access Facebook? Very few. Who knows Facebook? Very few. Facebook cannot create a politician in our country. Facebook cannot create a problem.” Yet every day in Uganda, and elsewhere in Africa, new people are connecting and interacting for the first time. “Uganda is sitting on a time bomb,” tweeted Richo Nuwagaba . “It’s just a matter of time. I am scared.” Uganda Protest Arab and Middle East unrest David Smith guardian.co.uk
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