As the coalition attempts to cut immigration, it stands accused of taking the equivalent of a machine gun to private colleges Continue reading →
Ben Kingsley and Helena Bonham Carter appear in Polanski's A Therapy for Prada Photograph: Prada Roman Polanski introduced the premiere screening of his collaboration with Italian fashion giants Prada on Monday (22 May) by telling the audience the three-minute film was an "anti-commercial".In his speech, delivered in French, the director added that he wanted to prove he "can make short films as well as long films." The film, titled A Therapy, was announced as a complete surprise before the screening of his 1979 film Tess, which was showing as part of the Cannes Classics section.At odds with the majority of fashion shorts, Polanski's film is heavy in dialogue.A suave, melodramatic Helena Bonham Carter, draped in a fabulous purple fur coat, swans into the office of ... Continue reading →
The Comment is free America front is now here. We've added a community area, and links to selected contributors to showcase better our US-based columnists. We're linking much more prominently to the Guardian staff columnists, who would otherwise only appear on Comment is free America when they wrote about a "US-interest" topic. And the latest posts has been tweaked to give a larger selection of international subjects on which we have commentary, rather than just the US-specific content. For more on these changes, see Matt Seaton's post here Continue reading →
Birds made from Lego - in pictures Lego enthusiast, avian admirer and professional tree surgeon Thomas Poulsom has taken inspiration from birds to create this brilliant series of (almost) life-size Lego models. He hopes to persuade the toy company to make his birds into official Lego kits - vote for him at lego.cuusoo.com Continue reading →
Cameron and Clegg - why the long faces? Gone are the rose garden days of May 2010, when it was all smiles and pats on the back as the coalition was born. Two years on, the prime minister and his deputy are not looking quite so happy. So, come on guys, pack up your troubles, and smile, smile, smile Continue reading →
Cast of charactersThe Cromwell household Thomas Cromwell, a blacksmith's son: now Secretary to the king, Master of the Rolls, Chancellor of Cambridge University, and deputy to the king as head of the church in England.Gregory Cromwell, his son.Rafe Sadler, his chief clerk, brought up by Cromwell as his son.The deadThomas Wolsey, cardinal, papal legate, Lord Chancellor: dismissed from office, arrested and died, 1530.Thomas More, Lord Chancellor after Wolsey: executed 1535.Elizabeth, Anne and Grace Cromwell, Thomas Cromwell's wife and daughters, died 1527–28.The king's family and courtiersHenry VIII.Anne Boleyn, his second wife.Katherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife, divorced and under house arrest at Kimbolton.Hans Holbein, a painter.The clericThomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury: Cromwell's friend.The ambassadorEustache Chapuys, ambassador of Emperor Charles V.The Seymour family of Wolf HallOld Sir ... Continue reading →
How Jeremy Hunt might appear dancing the lambada. Photograph: Alamy/PA/Guardian Imaging From Peter Mandelson to Vince Cable, there has been many a pirouetting politician but Michael Gove's revelation that Jeremy Hunt is "amazing" at dancing the lambada can still be filed under – ai-ai-ai! – stranger than fiction. But don't take his loyal cabinet colleague's word for it: the man who taught the embattled culture secretary this most sultry of Latin dances also found Hunt's hip-waggling very memorable."Amazing guy, amazing personality, nothing but a gentleman," is dance teacher Joseph Koniak's verdict on Hunt, whom he taught zouk lambada and salsa. "Dance comes from the heart and that's one thing Jeremy has – a big heart," he says. "The best students are the ones who have ... Continue reading →
How Jeremy Hunt might appear dancing the lambada. Photograph: Alamy/PA/Guardian Imaging From Peter Mandelson to Vince Cable, there has been many a pirouetting politician but Michael Gove's revelation that Jeremy Hunt is "amazing" at dancing the lambada can still be filed under – ai-ai-ai! – stranger than fiction. But don't take his loyal cabinet colleague's word for it: the man who taught the embattled culture secretary this most sultry of Latin dances also found Hunt's hip-waggling very memorable."Amazing guy, amazing personality, nothing but a gentleman," is dance teacher Joseph Koniak's verdict on Hunt, whom he taught zouk lambada and salsa. "Dance comes from the heart and that's one thing Jeremy has – a big heart," he says. "The best students are the ones who have ... Continue reading →
