James Johnson: 'My struggles as an intersex footballer'

James Johnson, who was born intersex, was a star in Nigeria's women's team before transitioning.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2o5f2dp

Read More

Hong Kong protests: 'I can't say I love China any more'

A Hong Kong protester from a pro-Beijing area talks about his complicated feelings about China.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2oDHZ0n

Read More

How to Win Republican Support for Impeachment

By BY ELIZABETH DREW from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2o3EwrW

Read More

How to Win Republican Support for Impeachment

By BY ELIZABETH DREW from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2o3EwrW

Read More

Minister to outline longer jail term plans for serious offenders

The government wants those convicted of serious violent and sexual offences serve more of their sentences.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2neFXUb

Read More

Jessye Norman, Grammy-winning star of opera, dies at 74

Norman was one of the rare black singers to reach fame in the opera world.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2oLJ1HR

Read More

China National Day Live Updates: A Parade and Protest Fears

By BY THE NEW YORK TIMES from NYT World https://ift.tt/2mrgxCt

Read More

China National Day Live Updates: A Parade and Protest Fears

By BY THE NEW YORK TIMES from NYT World https://ift.tt/2mrgxCt

Read More

As Democrats Rally Around Adam Schiff, President Trump Redoubles His Attacks

As tensions over an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump continue to heat up on Capitol Hill, both Democrats and Republicans are focused on a single man: Rep. Adam Schiff.

Many Democratic lawmakers see Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, as the natural choice to head up the impeachment inquiry. A group of moderate, first-term Democratic members met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday to urge her to elevate Schiff as the public face of the inquiry, according to four Congressional officials.

This group of lawmakers, who were mostly from swing districts and therefore in danger of losing their re-election bids next year, told the Speaker they see Schiff as a better choice than Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, another top Democrat. Nadler is seen as more partisan, the sources said.

But as Schiff’s star rises among Democrats, he is increasingly the target of Republicans’ ire.

On Monday morning, Trump attacked on the representative from California on Twitter. “Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement,” the President wrote. “It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call. Arrest for Treason?”

Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to Congress and the American people. It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call. Arrest for Treason?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2019

Trump’s tweet was in reference to Schiff’s flippant comments during a Sept. 26 hearing with Joseph Maguire, who became the acting spy chief in August. During the hearing, Schiff characterized Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “classic organized crime shakedown.”

“Shorn of its rambling character and in not so many words, this is the essence of what the President communicates,” Schiff said in prepared remarks. He then proceeded to imitate the President’s recognizable cadence of speech: “I’m going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good,” Schiff said, speaking as Trump. “I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent, understand? Lots of dirt, on this and on that.”

Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Elise Stefanik, argued that Schiff’s comments were inappropriate.

“It is disturbing and outrageous that Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff opens up a hearing of this importance with improvised fake dialogue,” Stefanik, a New York Republican, wrote on Twitter.

It is disturbing and outrageous that Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff opens up a hearing of this importance with improvised fake dialogue between President Trump and President Zelenskyy. We should focus on the facts.

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) September 26, 2019

Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee reached for comment defended Schiff’s characterization of the call. One argued in a message on background that Republicans were “grasping for straws” by criticizing Schiff over the comments, saying “they have nothing else.”

“Anyone else who thinks Schiff was ‘wrong’ is merely pearl-clutching and underestimating the intelligence of the typical person who would even know who Adam Schiff is, let alone had listened to his opening statement at a committee hearing,” says T.J. Helmstetter, a former Democratic National Committee spokesman who now advises progressive organizations. “Schiff’s rhetorical device was perhaps slightly clumsy, but it was also clear to the intended audience of highly engaged people.”

Schiff also defended his own characterization of Trump’s phone call, arguing that while he did not quote the transcript of the phone call verbatim, he correctly relayed “the message” of the call.

“My summary of the President’s call was meant to be at least, part, in parody,” he said. “Of course, the President never said, ‘If you don’t understand me, I’m going to say it seven more times.’ My point is, that’s the message.”

Trump’s Monday attacks on Schiff came after a similar outburst on Friday, when the President tweeted that Schiff had “fraudulently read to Congress” a version of the July 25 phone call. Trump said that Schiff “was supposedly reading the exact transcribed version of the call, but he completely changed the words.” Schiff did not say he was reading from the transcript.

Trump’s suggestion that Schiff’s comments amounted to treason came just days after the President described the sources of the whistleblower’s complaint in similar terms. The whistleblower submitted a complaint flagging Trump’s possible abuse of power during the phone call with Zelensky. Trump said the whistleblower’s actions made them “almost a spy.”

“We used to handle” spies and treason “a little differently than we do now,” Trump told a private group, to appreciative laughter.

According to the rough transcript of the call released by the White House, Trump underscored the United States’ generosity towards Ukraine before asking Zelensky “to do us a favor.” He goes on to say he would like the Ukrainian government to investigate three issues involving the U.S., including investigating Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s involvement in a case involving Biden’s son.

“I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time,” Trump told Zelensky, according to the White House’s rough transcript. A little while later, Trump says, “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.” The conversation between the two leaders occurred soon after the Trump administration withheld nearly $400 million in congressionally approved aid for the country.

Trump also told Zelensky that his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General William Barr should be involved.

The transactional nature of the call alarmed Democrats and prompted Schiff’s description of the call as a “shakedown.”

“You know what I’m asking, so I’m only going to say this a few more times, in a few more ways,” Schiff said during the hearing, imitating the President’s speech patterns. “And by the way, don’t call me again. I’ll call you when you’ve done what I asked.”

—With reporting by Lissandra Villa

from TIME https://ift.tt/2n4ASxS

Read More

EU brings in 'right to repair' rules for appliances

The rules will make household appliances longer-lasting and easier to fix.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nXDT32

Read More

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

PROGRAMMING ALERT: Rudy Giuliani reacts to subpoena on 'Hannity,' 9 pm ET

09/30/19 5:36 PM

Read More

Yahoo News

The It List is Yahoo’s weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for Sept. 30 - Oct. 6, including the best deals we could find for each.

from Yahoo Movies https://ift.tt/2nioOsP

Read More

BBC NEWS

Norman was one of the rare black singers to reach fame in the opera world.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2oLJ1HR

Read More

BBC NEWS

A pilot project at Rotterdam airport plans to capture CO2 from the air and turn it into jet fuel.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2nfOK8f

Read More

BBC NEWS

He was stolen from his family, then he stole from "posh homes" - now actor Jack Charles wants closure.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2mYs6Bt

Read More

BBC NEWS

Relatives of Abdullah Haron, who died in detention 50 years ago, are still traumatised by his death.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2nXWk7K

Read More

Trump’s Claims About Biden Aren’t ‘Unsupported.’ They’re Lies.

By BY MICHELLE GOLDBERG from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2neddLi

Read More

Trump’s Claims About Biden Aren’t ‘Unsupported.’ They’re Lies.

By BY MICHELLE GOLDBERG from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2neddLi

Read More

Alberto Salazar: Mo Farah's former coach banned from athletics for four years after doping violations

Alberto Salazar, Mo Farah's former athletics coach, has been banned from the sport for four years after being found guilty of doping violations.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2mstmfR

Read More

Elena Delle Donne Gets Help as Mystics Take Game 1 Over the Sun

By BY HOWARD MEGDAL from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2m5eALE

Read More

U.S. Officials Warn of Rising Threat From Qaeda Branch in Northwest Syria

By BY ERIC SCHMITT from NYT World https://ift.tt/2nFx4D9

Read More

Sound of Music play still 'sumptuous and so joyful'

Sixty years on, the original stage show's power still endures, says one of its remaining stars.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2osHOFn

Read More

Where does recycling and rubbish from the UK go?

Waste management company Biffa has been fined for sending used nappies and food packaging to China.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nGE6HK

Read More

A former diet cola addict built a $100m firm

Kara Goldin, the founder of US flavoured water company Hint, used to drink 10 cans of cola a day.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2mVppjP

Read More

Hong Kong’s Status as Neutral Ground at Risk as China Asserts Power

By BY PETER S. GOODMAN AND AUSTIN RAMZY from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2oqI2g4

Read More

M.L.B.’s Juggernauts Set to Clash After a Season of Extraordinary Numbers

By BY TYLER KEPNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2nGnFLy

Read More

Man Is Charged With Terrorism After Driving S.U.V. Through Illinois Mall

By BY MARIEL PADILLA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2mHfgHD

Read More

Yankees Turn Their Focus to the Playoffs, and Stifling the Twins

By BY JAMES WAGNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2m4Qe4G

Read More

The day China became communist

On 1 October 1949 Chairman Mao Zedong announced the creation of the People’s Republic of China

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2mJJnyd

Read More

The sex education circus

Performer and educator Jess Herman has come up with a creative way of teaching teenagers about sex.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2m8ooVf

Read More

Will virtual clothes transform how we shop?

A smartphone app can make a detailed virtual avatar allowing you to try on a whole range of clothes.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2mJMia9

Read More

Hong Kong’s Status as Neutral Ground at Risk as China Asserts Power

By BY PETER S. GOODMAN AND AUSTIN RAMZY from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2oqI2g4

Read More

M.L.B.’s Juggernauts Set to Clash After a Season of Extraordinary Numbers

By BY TYLER KEPNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2nGnFLy

Read More

Be More Chill: The word-of-mouth hit musical now heading to London

Be More Chill was kept alive thanks to the cult following its soundtrack built up on streaming.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nL9W5U

Read More

Greece: Deadly fire triggers riots at Moria refugee camp

Police fire tear gas to control a crowd who say firefighters were too slow to respond to the fire.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2mUORG7

Read More

Inequalities in heart attack care 'costing women's lives'

Thousands of women are dying needlessly because of delays in diagnosis and poor care, a report says.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2m82BwT

Read More

Amazon fires: The volunteer firefighters battling to save Brazil’s rainforest

A band of volunteer firefighters are on a mission to stop their stretch of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest from going up in flames.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nL7Gfi

Read More

Private schools say abolition would be vote-loser

Independent-school leaders hit back at Labour's plans to ban fee-paying schools.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2mSRFDG

Read More

Cocaine and alcohol a 'deadly combination'

At least 13 self-inflicted deaths among people who took alcohol with cocaine have occurred in a year.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nGuTiE

Read More

Man Is Charged With Terrorism After Driving S.U.V. Through Illinois Mall

By BY MARIEL PADILLA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2mHfgHD

Read More

Yankees Turn Their Focus to the Playoffs, and Stifling the Twins

By BY JAMES WAGNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2m4Qe4G

Read More

BBC NEWS

Kara Goldin, the founder of US flavoured water company Hint, used to drink 10 cans of cola a day.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2mVppjP

Read More

The awfulness - and awesomeness - of being short

For men, being tall is considered desirable, but one man has come to embrace his height - or lack of it.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2mIN2Mn

Read More

Kelsea Ballerini on disco balls, ugly tears and stolen luggage

The country star spills the beans on her third album and the celebrity who stole her backpack.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2lYlIJT

Read More

Why much of the internet is closed off to blind people

Retailers are struggling to make their products accessible, and customers are taking them to court.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nu2KeC

Read More

We Are Stoke-on-Trent: What links the Titanic and oatcakes?

The life of the captain of the Titanic and the origins of oatcakes - stories our readers asked us to tell.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nyHSTk

Read More

US economy under Trump: Is it the greatest in history?

Is the US economy under President Trump the best it's ever been?

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2NOPrwK

Read More

Organ donation: The phone call that changed Lilly's life

Lilly Kendall had been planning her funeral aged 11 - before an organ donor saved her life.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nvxyLU

Read More

World War Two: 'I discovered my eldest sister was my mother'

Albert Gilmour learned his father was an American GI based in Northern Ireland during World War Two.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2m0pVgb

Read More

Your pictures on the theme of 'tiny things'

Each week, we publish a gallery of readers' pictures on a set theme. This week it is "tiny things".

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2lYj9HF

Read More

Republican Mark Amodei Tiptoes Around Impeachment Inquiry

By BY NEIL VIGDOR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2m2fKrq

Read More

Republican Mark Amodei Tiptoes Around Impeachment Inquiry

By BY NEIL VIGDOR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2m2fKrq

Read More

Government plans 40 new hospitals and a new mental health services pilot

Ministers unveil plans for 40 new hospitals and a new mental health pilot for 12 areas of England.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nv0Daq

Read More

Four teens held after Enfield to Loughton police chase

The pursuit ended after the car hit stationary traffic and the suspects were dragged from the car.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2lWfYQJ

Read More

BBC NEWS

'They're crazy' - the man who created the labradoodle says it's a huge regret.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2lGoKCl

Read More

BBC NEWS

The Beijing Daxing International Airport spans 700,000 square metres - or 98 football fields.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2lxO11u

Read More

BBC NEWS

Pictures and videos of the phenomenon went viral on social media over the weekend.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2l0xCSR

Read More

BBC NEWS

Elizabeth May was "shocked" to see the image, saying it was manipulated without her knowledge.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2lfUxtx

Read More

Mets’ Pete Alonso Breaks Rookie Home-Run Record

By BY KEVIN ARMSTRONG from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2m3FfbW

Read More

‘You’re a Bad Police Officer’: Official Confronts Deputy at Awards Ceremony

By BY MARIEL PADILLA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2nxYdYq

Read More

Mets’ Pete Alonso Breaks Rookie Home-Run Record

By BY KEVIN ARMSTRONG from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2m3FfbW

Read More

‘You’re a Bad Police Officer’: Official Confronts Deputy at Awards Ceremony

By BY MARIEL PADILLA from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2nxYdYq

Read More

BBC NEWS

Retailers are struggling to make their products accessible, and customers are taking them to court.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2nu2KeC

Read More

BBC NEWS

Andrew Yang's pledge of $1,000-a-month for every American has piqued the interests of many US voters.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2mIbiym

Read More

BBC NEWS

Is the US economy under President Trump the best it's ever been?

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2NOPrwK

Read More

Trump Tears Up the Welcome Mat

By BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2nRVfy2

Read More

Can a computer fool you into thinking it is human?

Chatbots are increasingly common on and off line, but does it matter if their voices aren't real?

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2n13yHA

Read More

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Kurt Volker resigns as Ukraine envoy after mention in whistleblower complaint, AP reports

09/27/19 5:56 PM

Read More

How Good Is the Yankees’ Defense? Depends on Who’s Keeping Track

By BY JAMES WAGNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2niIoVy

Read More

How Good Is the Yankees’ Defense? Depends on Who’s Keeping Track

By BY JAMES WAGNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2niIoVy

Read More

BBC NEWS

A selection of the best news photographs from around the world, taken over the past week.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2noQBHv

Read More

Avoid skin-lightening creams 'at all costs'

Consumers are being warned to steer clear of skin-lightening creams that can "act like paint stripper".

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nYNaYz

Read More

Thomas Cook: How the collapse affected me

A week after the collapse of Thomas Cook, the BBC looks at the stories of those involved

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nkTxFq

Read More

How to Throw an Intimate Dinner at Home, the Parisian Way

By BY KIN WOO from NYT T Magazine https://ift.tt/2niMwEU

Read More

Pete Alonso Ties Aaron Judge’s Rookie Record With 52nd Home Run

By BY DAVID WALDSTEIN AND KEVIN ARMSTRONG from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2nZOhY1

Read More

How to Throw an Intimate Dinner at Home, the Parisian Way

By BY KIN WOO from NYT T Magazine https://ift.tt/2niMwEU

Read More

Pete Alonso Ties Aaron Judge’s Rookie Record With 52nd Home Run

By BY DAVID WALDSTEIN AND KEVIN ARMSTRONG from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2nZOhY1

Read More

Trump impeachment inquiry: Pompeo subpoenaed by House Democrats

The US secretary of state is ordered to turn over all related documents within a week.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nmuSAk

Read More

Hundreds of thousands join Canada climate strikes

The demonstrations come after environmental activist Greta Thunberg called for students to strike.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nkyr9R

Read More

Giuliani Backs Out of Kremlin-Supported Conference in Armenia

By BY MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2o0pHGB

Read More

Harris County Deputy Is Fatally Shot in Traffic Stop, Official Says

By BY CHRISTOPHER MELE AND AIMEE ORTIZ from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2nixiQg

Read More

Giuliani Backs Out of Kremlin-Supported Conference in Armenia

By BY MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2o0pHGB

Read More

Harris County Deputy Is Fatally Shot in Traffic Stop, Official Says

By BY CHRISTOPHER MELE AND AIMEE ORTIZ from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2nixiQg

Read More

Martin Scorsese’s Masterful The Irishman Is a Moving Portrait of Betrayal and Regret

Some mornings you may wake up and think, The last thing I’m in the mood for are more stories about men doing manly things. And you may feel that way the morning of the day you see The Irishman—but by day’s end, you may feel something else entirely.

You may also feel you already know a lot, perhaps too much, about Martin Scorsese’s 25^th narrative feature and how it was made: It’s adapted from Charles Brandt’s 2003 true-crime potboiler about a Teamster official and lower-tier mafia figure, Frank Sheeran, who claims he killed Jimmy Hoffa, the onetime Teamster president who went missing in 1975 and was finally declared dead in 1982, though his body was never found. The Irishman unites three actors who have sometimes worked together in various permutations, though all three have never appeared in the same movie. And it took a long time, and a great deal of money, to complete because all three of those actors—Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci—play characters whose arc spans the 1950s to the early 2000s; their faces, appropriately weathered in real life, required extensive digital de-aging.

But you can’t know all there is to know about The Irishman until you’ve seen it. (The film, produced by Netflix, is the opening film of the New York Film Festival, and can be seen in limited theaters—recommended!—beginning Nov. 1, before hitting the streaming platform Nov. 27.) For the first two and a half hours of its three-and-a-half-hour runtime, The Irishman is clever and entertaining, to the point where you may think that’s all it’s going to be. But its last half-hour is deeply moving in a way that creeps up on you, and it’s then that you see what Scorsese was working toward all along: A mini-history of late-20^th century America as filtered through the eyes of a smalltime guy who needs and wants to believe in his own importance and capacity for decency—and who can’t see, though Scorsese can, that it’s the end of a life that tells the truth about the middle.

The Irishman opens in the early 2000s, as an aged Frank begins recounting, from his nursing-home wheelchair, either the truth as it happened or a series of tall tales. He flashes back to 1975, and then further back, to the mid-1950s, when, as a delivery-truck driver, he meets a guy who will shape the course of his life: Russell Bufalino (Pesci) is the boss of a Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family, one that’s small but mighty. With his creased brow and perpetual scowl, he could be a tortured gremlin out of Dante’s Inferno. Russell will eventually take Frank under his wing, finding work for him that generally consists of rubbing guys out. Sheeran accepts these jobs with equanimity: At one point, he observes a selection of firearms laid out on a bed and explains in voiceover which types are best for which job. For him, guns aren’t totems; they’re disposable tools, and after one has served its purpose, it’s tossed into this or that body of water, where it settles to the bottom like a useless old boot, often joining hundreds of others like it.

In the course of his work Frank meets dozens—sometimes it seems like hundreds—of colorful, crooked people, and Scorsese and screenwriter Steven Zaillian (along with their other partners in crime, cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and editor Thelma Schoonmaker) delight in introducing them to us, often explaining, with flashcard-style subtitles, how they’ll eventually meet their demise. (Because these guys are based on real-life crime figures, most of them end up being shot in the head, victims of blunt mob hits.) Harvey Keitel shows up in a small role as Angelo Bruno, the head of a Philadelphia crime family who often consorts with Russell, though with his raspy, whispery charm, he’s far more appealing. And eventually, Frank will meet Hoffa (Pacino), by turns garrulous and inscrutable, a leader of men who doesn’t always walk the straight and narrow.

Sheeran becomes Hoffa’s unofficial sometime bodyguard and close friend. And although Hoffa makes it clear, repeatedly, that he doesn’t like or trust anyone in the mob, they’re a necessary cog of the business he’s in. At one point, just after he’s completed a five-year prison sentence for fraud, he calls a meeting in a Miami restaurant with upstart New Jersey Teamster leader and mob guy Anthony Provenzano (Stephen Graham). Provenzano angers Hoffa by showing up late. He’s also dressed in a casual shirt and shorts, while Hoffa, as always, is turned out in a suit. Later, Pacino-as-Hoffa will bellow loudly and repeatedly, to anyone who will listen, about Provenzano’s fashion faux pas: “Who wears shorts to a meetin’?”

Who indeed? The Irishman is so layered with detail, and shifts so gracefully through so many eras, that it’s hard to tease out a clearly defined plot. Even so, the movie is beautifully constructed—you willingly follow wherever it goes. The de-aging is distracting at first: The actors’ eyes look real, but their skin is just a tad rubbery and flat—now and then I had to stave off a PTSD flashback to Robert Zemeckis’ Polar Express.

But the special effects are hardly a deal breaker, and in the end they probably add to the movie’s mythological vibe: The veracity of the real Sheeran’s confession matters less than the fact that De Niro’s version of Sheeran absolutely, without a doubt, pulled the trigger. De Niro gives his best performance in years, with zero mugging or scowling—his Frank is a man of action who’s so busy doing bad stuff, he barely has time to think. The final 30 minutes of the movie show what happens when he does—and even then, whatever reckoning he does is happening deep behind his eyes, and his gaze holds us.

Pesci, too, is terrific, particularly in a thread involving one of Frank’s daughters, Peggy (played as a youngster by Lucy Gallina and as a grownup by Anna Paquin—both are superb). With no kids of his own, Russell longs to earn her affection, but when she looks at him, her face registers nothing but mistrust and revulsion. Pesci’s Russell shows sliver-like flashes of vulnerability, before reverting to his normal state of devil-may-care bullying. His life has no meaning unless he’s in control.

Together, Pesci and De Niro featured, of course, in another Scorsese mob movie, the 1990 Goodfellas, and this movie does bear some slight similarities to that one: In places it has the same freewheeling jauntiness—but not nearly as much macho swagger. The Irishman is, among other things, a movie about betrayal and regret and loss, and it’s moving in a way Goodfellas is not. An old man couldn’t have made that movie, just as a younger one couldn’t have made this one.

And in that spirit, it’s safe to say that a younger Pacino wouldn’t necessarily have made a better Hoffa than the digitally de-aged one. He’s fabulous here, hitting the sweet spot between great and hambone. (Come to think of it, that’s always Pacino at his best.) As Hoffa, he struts and sputters and radiates unexpected warmth. He loves ice cream, and when he gets a sundae in front of him, he stabs into it with his spoon as if it had arrived live on the plate—but boy, he loves every bite. In one of the movie’s most joyous scenes, Hoffa’s son Chuckie (played by Jessie Plemons) foils a possible assassination attempt, which happens, of all places, in a courtroom as Hoffa is standing trial: A man leaps at him, wielding a gun that turns out to be unloaded, and Chuckie knocks him down. With great relish, pushing at the air around him as if he were doing the hokey-pokey at a wedding, Hoffa explains to the whole room what just happened—even though everyone has just seen it—and outlines a key philosophy of self-defense: “You charge, with a gun. With a knife, you run.” Later in the film, he offers another scrap of priceless advice: “Never put a fish in your car.” Both in and out of context, it’s a great line, a catchphrase for all occasions. It could be the new “Say hello to my little friend”—especially among those of us who are now older and, hopefully, wiser.

from TIME https://ift.tt/2mhSCW8

Read More

‘The Irishman’ Review: The Mob’s Greatest Hits, in a Somber Key

By BY A.O. SCOTT from NYT Movies https://ift.tt/2nY1b8W

Read More

Biden, Weathering Attacks From Trump, Returns to Campaign Trail

By BY SYDNEY EMBER AND KATIE GLUECK from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2lGyQD8

Read More

‘The Irishman’ Review: The Mob’s Greatest Hits, in a Somber Key

By BY A.O. SCOTT from NYT Movies https://ift.tt/2nY1b8W

Read More

Biden, Weathering Attacks From Trump, Returns to Campaign Trail

By BY SYDNEY EMBER AND KATIE GLUECK from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2lGyQD8

Read More

BBC NEWS

It follows a similar and controversial trial by Instagram and is designed to ease social pressure.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2n0dDVh

Read More

El Paso Walmart Tentatively Set to Reopen 3 Months After Mass Shooting Left 22 Dead

(EL PASO, Texas) — Walmart has set Nov. 6 for the reopening of its store in El Paso where 22 people were killed in a mass shooting.

In a statement Thursday, Walmart spokeswoman Delia Garcia said the date for the Cielo Vista Mall store reopening can’t be guaranteed. She said “there is still much work to be done” on repairs to the scene of the Aug. 3 shootings.

Garcia said store workers temporarily reassigned to other stores will be returning to Cielo Vista Mall in early October to prepare the store.

She also said Walmart is finalizing design plans for a permanent memorial at the store to honor the dead.

Twenty-one-year-old Patrick Crusius remains jailed without bond awaiting trial on a capital murder charge. Prosecutors say they’ll seek the death penalty.

from TIME https://ift.tt/2nEszIW

Read More

Mothers with 'controlling voice' fail to persuade teenagers

The tone of voice used by mothers can be as important as what they say, a study suggests.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2n1clJu

Read More

Iranian spying charge 'preposterous', prisoner's wife says

The wife of a retired engineer from London jailed in Iran appeals to the UK government for help.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nGd4QL

Read More

Police watchdog warns 35,000 police staff 'not vetted properly'

Forces in England and Wales must do more to root out sexual predators, a police watchdog report says.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2lVm1oR

Read More

Just How Corrupt Is Bill Barr?

By BY MICHELLE GOLDBERG from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2mb4Csj

Read More

Just How Corrupt Is Bill Barr?

By BY MICHELLE GOLDBERG from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2mb4Csj

Read More

BBC NEWS

Critics warn files on citizens of former East Germany could be less accessible if they are archived.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2lp7nFU

Read More

No-deal Brexit 'still risk to NHS and care sector'

A report highlights new transport routes, support for care homes and doubts over the size of the medicines stockpile as concerns.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2lrrFP6

Read More

'Clueless' Cleveland Police 'putting public at risk'

Cleveland's force becomes the first in England to be rated inadequate in all areas of inspection.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2n4U9yQ

Read More

Trump Said His Ukraine Envoy Would ‘Go Through Some Things.’ She Has Already.

By BY SHARON LAFRANIERE, KENNETH P. VOGEL AND PETER BAKER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2m7jojK

Read More

Anxious Biden Allies May Unleash Super PAC

By BY ALEXANDER BURNS AND JONATHAN MARTIN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2n6OkR6

Read More

Trump Said His Ukraine Envoy Would ‘Go Through Some Things.’ She Has Already.

By BY SHARON LAFRANIERE, KENNETH P. VOGEL AND PETER BAKER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2m7jojK

Read More

Anxious Biden Allies May Unleash Super PAC

By BY ALEXANDER BURNS AND JONATHAN MARTIN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2n6OkR6

Read More

BBC NEWS

'Shaman warrior' Alexander Gabyshev walked across Russia for six months with the aim of confronting the president.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2m8tjWi

Read More

BBC NEWS

Mohamed Ali is a former Egyptian military contractor calling for protests against Egypt's president.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2nFldVz

Read More

BBC NEWS

Kuda Mapira, known as 'The Terminator', is one of the first disabled people to play football for his country.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2nFLJ15

Read More

BBC NEWS

CCTV footage shows three people being robbed by fake FedEx couriers in a Brooklyn home.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2n0izcI

Read More

Quiz of the week: Fleabag's Emmy success and other posers

Have you been paying attention to what's been going on over the past seven days?

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2n2Dtb1

Read More

Meet 'The Terminator', Zimbabwe's disabled footballer

Kuda Mapira, known as 'The Terminator', is one of the first disabled people to play football for his country.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nFLJ15

Read More

One man's 3,000km march across Russia to oust Putin

'Shaman warrior' Alexander Gabyshev walked across Russia for six months with the aim of confronting the president.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2m8tjWi

Read More

The Egyptian calling for a revolution against al-Sisi

Mohamed Ali is a former Egyptian military contractor calling for protests against Egypt's president.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2nFldVz

Read More

BBC NEWS

Critics say the country has one of the world's highest murder rates and is not a safe destination.

from BBC News - World https://ift.tt/2ngpr5D

Read More

Yahoo News

"The Irishman" is world premiering this Friday on opening night of the New York Film Festival.

from Yahoo Movies https://ift.tt/2lEva56

Read More

The White House Thought the Trump-Ukraine Call Summary Would Quiet Democrats. It Did the Opposite

President Donald Trump was convinced releasing his conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – which involved a request centering on Vice President Joe Biden – and the subsequent whistleblower complaint that set off a firestorm on Capitol Hill would erase any ammunition for House Democrats seeking to impeach him. Instead, it had the opposite effect.

A day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced they would open a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump, a memorandum of the July 25 call was released by the White House early in the day. The conversation released confirmed the allegations in multiple media outlets that Trump had asked Zelensky to investigate Biden, his son Hunter, Hunter’s business dealings and whether Biden used his influence to benefit his son.

“There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great,” Trump told Zelensky. “Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it… It sounds horrible to me.”

Although Trump reportedly moved to halt U.S. aid to Ukraine just days before the call, there was no mention of aid in the memorandum of the conversation. But for Democrats from all corners of the caucus who had come out in support of impeachment, this was just confirmation they made the right call.

“It reaffirmed the nature of the conversation, which is that the sitting President of the United States used the full weight of his office to reach out to the President of another country and ask him for dirt on a political opponent,” said Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a moderate freshman who flipped a district last fall and endorsed impeachment earlier this week. “So it reinforced it for me.”

The White House’s errors were not just limited to mis-interpreting how the conversation would be read. In one grimace-inducing instance, the White House sent some Democrats their talking points on impeachment, which the Democrats immediately leaked to the press. The White House, realizing its mistake, attempted unsuccessfully to recall them via email.

Later in the afternoon, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence provided to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees the classified whistleblower complaint that allegedly related to the phone call, but Congress has yet to be provided with the full inspector general report. The House also unanimously voted to publicly release the whistleblower complaint.

Democrats given access to the information called the complaint “credible” and “deeply disturbing,” and lamented that they were not given access to the full inspector general report. Those who reviewed the material would not say whether the complaint involved information beyond the July 25 phone call.

“It doesn’t change anything about the urgency and the credibility of the issue, and we will press the DNI tomorrow to produce the full report,” said California Rep. Eric Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, after emerging from the secure location.

Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire is expected to testify both in an open House Intelligence Committee hearing and closed Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that he threatened to resign if the White House requested he withhold information from Congress without legally asserting executive privilege, although Maguire denied it to the Post.

In a press conference on Wednesday alongside Zelensky, the Ukrainian president denied that Trump had pressured him to investigate Biden. “So no pressure,” Trump said.

These developments were the latest to rock Capitol Hill as Democrats find themselves in the unprecedented position of possibly impeaching a sitting President during his re-election cycle.

The saga has been ongoing since the beginning of the month, when House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced he had received a complaint from the intelligence community’s inspector general that was possibly related to areas of his committee’s investigation, but that Maguire had not complied with federal statutes mandating he give Schiff the complaint.

Reports that the complaint involved a request from Trump to Zelensky centering on Biden sparked a flurry of impeachment calls within the Democratic caucus, culminating in Pelosi’s announcement Tuesday that they were conducting a formal inquiry.

In the hours after Pelosi’s announcement that there would be a formal impeachment inquiry but that relevant committees would continue to work on their investigations, it became clear that impeachment would dominate the discourse in Washington for the immediate future. But even if the majority of Democrats were satisfied with their decision to move ahead with impeachment, the path forward seemed unclear to many.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, another freshman who flipped a Republican district and endorsed an impeachment inquiry, told TIME Wednesday morning she had not been given clarity on what comes next. “My expectation from a Congress that is doing its constitutional duty to make sure we’re protecting the Constitution is that we will have a thoughtful process where we work to ensure that we have held up every bit of evidence necessary to either prove or disprove these allegations,” she said.

But the logistics on how or when that would happen have not been entirely laid out. Several lawmakers said that the six committees with the chief investigative power – Intelligence, Oversight, Ways and Means, Judiciary, Financial Services and Foreign Affairs – would continue their probes and funnel any recommendations for impeachment through the judiciary committee.

But while Democrats have said they would like to work “expeditiously,” and some have predicted action will be taken before the end of the year, they were not provided with a definitive timeline for completion.

And while it’s clear impeachment is now the popular stance to take —with more than 200 Democrats saying they support some action toward impeachment — there are still some dissenters within the caucus. And even if it occurs in the House of Representatives, it would still be a tall order for the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans.

“I think it’s going to be a little difficult to talk about a failed impeachment. And it will be a failed impeachment,” said New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who opposes an impeachment inquiry. “I believe that my opinion is a minority opinion, and I believe that I have to do what I think is right.”

from TIME https://ift.tt/2mOKtIk

Read More

Phone Call Showed Only a Slice of Trump’s Obsession With Ukraine

By BY KENNETH P. VOGEL, JULIAN E. BARNES, MAGGIE HABERMAN AND SHARON LAFRANIERE from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2mJrFu8

Read More