Author: The Guardian

Secondric is that rare sight—a truly original Netflix original. The six-episode series, written by Abi Morgan (“The Iron Lady,” “Split”), stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Vincent, the gifted puppeteer on the Sesame Street-style show “Sunny Day” 》The creative force behind. When his nine-year-old son Edgar (Ivan Maurice Howe) disappears on his way to school, Vincent is convinced that if he brings to life the new puppet Edgar invented for the show, his son will return. Home. Entering the proceedings is a 7-foot-tall Muppets Meet Monster Inc. creation named Eric, unseen by others and voiced by Cumberbatch, who follows Vincent as he…

I am a 41-year-old woman who has been married for two years. I love my husband and still find him physically attractive, but I do not feel in the mood for sex very often, and never initiate. I even worry about him initiating, as I may not be able to respond in the same way and will make him feel rejected. In my 20s I had a lot of one-night stands after nights out, or with guys I knew and liked, but even then it was about the excitement and seduction rather than the physical sensation. I have only ever…

Security services across Europe are on alert for arson and sabotage, a potential new weapon in Russia’s war, after a series of mysterious fires and infrastructure attacks in the Baltic states, Germany and Britain.When a fire broke out at an Ikea in Vilnius, Lithuania, this month, there was little comment until Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk suggested it might have been the work of foreign saboteurs.Investigators have accused Russia of possible involvement in an arson attack in east London, a fire that destroyed Poland’s largest shopping mall, vandalism in Bavaria, Germany, and anti-Semitic graffiti in Paris.While there is no evidence…

Nobody does rock star like Lenny Kravitz. He pads into the recording studio like a tranquillised tiger. It’s dark in here, but he is wearing shades. He’s got on a leather jacket, skinny black jeans, a T-shirt made from metallic shards. His dreadlocks reach way down his back and are as black as his designer stubble. Kravitz, who has spent much of his adult life topless, has a 28in waist and an eight-pack that could double as a xylophone. Last Sunday, he celebrated his 60th birthday and he’s every bit as gorgeous as he was when he made his name…

Israel is in effective control of Gaza’s entire land border after taking control of a buffer zone along the border with Egypt, Israel’s military has said, a move that risks complicating its relationship with Egypt.In a televised briefing on Wednesday, chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces had gained “operational” control over the Philadelphi Corridor, using the Israeli military’s code name for the 14km-long corridor along the Gaza Strip’s only border with Egypt.Hagari did not spell out what “operational” control referred to, but an Israeli military official earlier said there were Israeli “boots on the ground” along parts of…

Sweden’s gift of ASC 890 surveillance aircraft is being seen as a big lift to Ukraine’s defence. It will be the first time Ukraine has had such a capability since the fall of the Soviet Union. Sweden’s defence minister Pal Jonson said the aircraft would be useful for Ukraine’s air defence, enabling it “to identify incoming cruise missiles and drones and identify targets both on the ground and at sea”. The ASC 890 can spot threats hundreds of kilometres away and send the information via data link to the F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine will receive from allies. Ukraine’s president,…

Otter 841, who became internationally famous last year for his interactions with Northern California surfers and kayakers stealing surfboards, was recently found after being missing for several months. Photos of the six-year-old otter were posted on social media over the Memorial Day weekend, showing her floating on her back in Steamboat Alley, a popular surf spot in Santa Cruz. She was recognized by the signature blue tag on one of her flippers.Otter 841 started making waves last summer after local photographer Mark Woodward started posting photos and videos of her biting people and hogging surfboards on social media. People were…

The home of the mother of Michael Fanone, a Washington DC police officer who nearly died in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, was “swatted” on Tuesday night.An unnamed person who had written a manifesto seen by NBC falsely claimed they had killed Fanone’s mother and would go to Fanone’s old high school on Wednesday and shoot people. The manifesto listed Fanone’s mother’s address in Virginia.Fanone’s father was also targeted in the manifesto but was out of the country at the time. He called swatting calls like the one aimed at his parents “incredibly fucking dangerous”.Fanone told…

It took nearly half an hour for the first ambulances and firefighters to reach the stretch of blazing tents in the Kuwait peace camp in Rafah on Sunday night. The crowding and rubble that slowed the passage of emergency vehicles fuelled the spread of flames through the temporary homes of the displaced.Zuhair, a 36-year-old lawyer, had been sitting on a road near his own tent, watching the news with friends as the last glimmers of twilight faded from the sky, when an explosion shook the area at about 8.45pm.He raced towards the sound, terrified for his wife, children and friends.…

Detectives from France’s cold case unit have ordered DNA analysis of evidence in the unsolved killing of a British family and a French cyclist in a remote Alpine village 12 years ago.Clothes belonging to one of the victims, cigarette butts found at the scene and pieces of the gun used in the killings are to be tested in the hopes of solving the mystery of the murders, described by the local prosecutor as “an act of gross savagery”.The bodies of four people – Saad al-Hilli, 50, a British-Iraqi engineer; his wife, Iqbal, 47; her mother, Suhaila al-Allaf, 74; and a…