The Dark Side of Roald Dahl (BBC)
Roald Dahl was an unpleasant man who wrote macabre books - and yet children around the world adore them. Perhaps this shouldn't surprise us, writes Hephzibah Anderson.
Douglas Murray: Exit Emma Rice, and does anyone care? (Spectator)
The love-potion became a date-rape drug, thus helping to make the character motivations and plot not 'more relevant' but simply inexplicable. She also chose to change the language. So 'Away, you Ethiope' became 'Get away from me, you ugly bitch.' After which one of the mechanicals shouted 'Why this obsession with text?' So modern. So edgy. So stupid.
Kate Maltby: Emma Rice was never as radical as she thought she was (Observer)
Split or united, the board now face the difficult task of finding a replacement. If they want to prove Rice's defenders wrong - and reaffirm they're on the side of living theatre - they should look for someone who is every bit as much a firebrand. Just check they understand that Shakespeare's texts are radical, too.
The folklore surrounding black cats varies from culture to culture. The Scots believe that a strange black cat's arrival to the home signifies prosperity. In Celtic mythology, a fairy known as the Cat Sėth takes the form of a black cat. Black cats are also considered good luck in the rest of Britain and Japan. Furthermore, it is believed that a lady who owns a black cat will have many suitors. However, in Western history, black cats have often been looked upon as a symbol of evil omens, specifically being suspected of being the familiars of witches, and so most of Europe considers the black cat a symbol of bad luck, especially if one crosses paths with a person, which is believed to be an omen of misfortune and death. In Germany, some believe that black cats crossing a person's path from right to left, is a bad omen. But from left to right, the cat is granting favorable times. In the United Kingdom it is commonly considered that a black cat crossing a person's path is a good omen.
Source
Patriot Act NSA Spying Unconstitutional Section 215 National Security Letters Must End
My name is Marc Perkel and I have decided to announce that I will not comply with the so called "Patriot Act" laws requiring me to disclose information about my customers. If I receive a national security letter I will immediately photograph it, post it online everywhere I can, and then make a video of me burning it. I will then await my arrest. If you want to put me in jail then come get me mother fucker.
CBS opens the night with a FRESH'Big Bang Theory', followed by a FRESH'The Great Indoors', then a FRESH'Mom', followed by a FRESH'Life In Pieces', then a FRESH'Pure Genius'.
Scheduled on a FRESHStephen Colbert are Mary-Louise Parker, Pusha T, and the Record Company.
Scheduled on a FRESHJames Corden, OBE, are Andrew Garfield, January Jones, and LL Cool J.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH'Superstore', followed by a FRESH'The Good Place', then a FRESH'Chicago Med', followed by a FRESH'The Blacklist'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Martin Short, Steve Martin, Ruth Negga, and Common.
Scheduled on a FRESHSeth Meyers are Joel Edgerton, Evan Rachel Wood, and Ina Garten.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson 'The Scab' Daly are Gretchen Mol, DJ Shadow, and Samuel Barnett.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH'Grey's Anatomy', followed by a FRESH'Notorious', then a FRESH'How To Get Away With Murder'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Miles Teller, "Science Bob" Pflugfelder, and Alessia Cara.
The CW offers a FRESH'DC's Legends Of Tomorrow', followed by a FRESH'Supernatural'.
Faux has a FRESH'Rosewood', followed by a FRESH'Pitch'.
MY has 'TMZ (Not So) Live', followed by a FRESH'Harry'.
A&E has 'Beyond Scared Straight', '60 Days In', followed by a FRESH'60 Days In', then a FRESH'Behind Bars: Rookie Year'.
AMC offers the movie 'A Nightmare On Elm Street', followed by the movie 'A Nightmare On Elm Street', again, then the movie 'A Nightmare On Elm Street: Freddie's Revenge'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 15-11001001
[7:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 16-Too Short a Season
[8:00AM] PSYCHO (1960)
[10:30AM] THE BIRDS (1963)
[1:30PM] PSYCHO (1960)
[4:00PM] THE BIRDS (1963)
[7:00PM] INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (1994)
[9:00PM] THE LIVING AND THE DEAD - SEASON 1 - Episode 1
[10:15PM] THE LIVING AND THE DEAD - SEASON 1 - Episode 2
[11:30PM] THE LIVING AND THE DEAD - SEASON 1 - Episode 3
[12:45AM] THE LIVING AND THE DEAD - SEASON 1 - Episode 4
[2:00AM] THE LIVING AND THE DEAD - SEASON 1 - Episode 5
[3:15AM] THE LIVING AND THE DEAD - SEASON 1 - Episode 6
[4:30AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 8 - EPISODE 1-Deep Breath (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Million Dollar Listing LA', another 'Million Dollar Listing LA', followed by a FRESH'Million Dollar Listing LA', 'Yours, Mine Or Ours', another 'Yours, Mine Or Ours', then a FRESH'Watch What Happens Live'.
Comedy Central has 'Futurama', another 'Futurama' and 3 hours of old 'Tosh.0'.
Scheduled on a FRESHThe Daily Show is Jeezy.
Scheduled on a FRESH@Midnight are Lauren Lapkus, Jordan Morris, and Chris Garcia.
FX has the movie 'Snow White & the Huntsman', followed by a FRESH'Better Things', and another 'Better Things'.
History has 2 hours of old 'Counting Cars', followed by a FRESH'Counting Cars: Supercharged', another 'Counting Cars', still another 'Counting Cars', and yet another 'Counting Cars'.
IFC -
[6:15AM] THE FOOT FIST WAY
[8:15AM] RENO 911!: MIAMI
[10:15AM] OBSERVE AND REPORT
[12:15PM] PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES
[2:15PM] THE FOOT FIST WAY
[4:15PM] RENO 911!: MIAMI
[6:15PM] EPIC MOVIE
[8:00PM] SCARY MOVIE 2
[10:00PM] LIFE
[12:30AM] ANIMAL HOUSE
[3:00AM] BOOGIE NIGHTS (ALL TIMES EDT)
Sundance -
[6:40AM] Paycheck
[9:10AM] Cliffhanger
[11:11AM] The Sum of All Fears
[1:56PM] Rectify-A House Divided
[3:00PM] Law & Order-Animal Instinct
[4:00PM] Law & Order-Jurisdiction
[5:00PM] Law & Order-Virus
[6:00PM] Law & Order-Securitate
[7:00PM] Law & Order-Manhood
[8:00PM] Law & Order-Prejudice
[9:00PM] Law & Order-The Collar
[10:00PM] Law & Order-DR 1-102
[11:00PM] Law & Order-Missing
[12:00AM] Law & Order-Access Nation
[1:00AM] Law & Order-Born Again
[2:00AM] Rain Man
[4:30AM] The Express (ALL TIMES EDT)
SyFy has the movie 'Legion', followed by the movie 'Angels & Demons'.
TBS:
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Steven Yeun and Chris Martin.
Vanessa Dundon, of White Cone, Ariz., helps handle security Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, at the Dakota Access oil pipeline protest in southern North Dakota. Bagola is sitting atop a pile of logs that protesters prepared to use to block a highway. The long-running dispute over the Dakota Access oil pipeline expanded to private land recently purchased by the pipeline builders, with protesters who say the area rightfully belongs to Native Americans setting up camp and vowing to stay put until the project is stopped.
Photo by Blake Nicholson
Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was badly vandalized, possibly with a sledgehammer, media and officials said on Wednesday.
A photo published in the online Hollywood publication Deadline.com showed Trump's name scratched out, the emblem in the middle dislodged and chips from the star missing.
The former host of the NBC show "The Apprentice," Trump received his Walk of Fame star in 2007. A spokeswoman for Trump could not be reached immediately for comment.
It was not immediately clear if the vandalism was done in reaction to Trump's presidential campaign. He has offended many voters and some other Republican candidates with inflammatory rhetoric about minorities and women.
In the summer, a street artist erected a tiny wall around the star, complete with miniature American flags and barbed wire. The art piece, which was later removed, made light of Trump's campaign pledge to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Russian artist Maria Gasanova works with model Inna Magomedova on her "The Alive Painting" body art work during the Art Krasnoyarsk annual festival in Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia on Oct. 26, 2016.
Photo by Ilya Naymushin
An Afghan woman immortalised on a celebrated National Geographic magazine cover as a green-eyed 12-year-old girl was arrested Wednesday for living in Pakistan on fraudulent identity papers.
The haunting image of Sharbat Gula, taken in a Pakistan refugee camp by photographer Steve McCurry in the 1980s, became the most famous cover image in the magazine's history.
Her arrest highlights the desperate measures many Afghans are willing to take to avoid returning to their war-torn homeland as Pakistan cracks down on undocumented foreigners.
Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested Gul for fraud following a two-year investigation on her and her husband, who has absconded.
Investigators, who have uncovered thousands of fraud cases over the last decade, launched a probe into her application shortly after she procured the card.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Shameless) is raising the possibility that Republicans would decline to fill the Supreme Court's vacancy if Democrat Hillary Clinton is elected president.
Cruz is the second Republican to suggest that the GOP will simply block any Democratic nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia (R-Moldering), who died in February. Arizona Sen. John McCain (R-Past Retirement) made a similar assertion earlier this month.
Speaking to reporters while campaigning for Republicans on Wednesday, Cruz was asked about Supreme Court vacancies.
Cruz, who lost the presidential primary to Donald Trump, endorsed the nominee recently after telling Republicans to vote their conscience at this summer's Republican convention, a move that drew condemnation from some in the GOP.
The size of the court is set by federal law and has changed over the years, but has been nine justices for most of its existence. Initially, there were six justices. The court reached its highest number, 10, during the Civil War. There has been a nine-justice court since 1869.
Silhouettes of a walkers are reflected the mirrors of a building of during an autumn day, in Pamplona northern Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016.
Photo by Alvaro Barrientos
Young women in Western countries have caught up with their male counterparts in drinking habits, according to research published Tuesday.
Women aged 18-27 years old have almost reached parity with men of their age group in three categories of drinking -- the likelihood of consuming alcohol, the risk of problem drinking, and treatment for abuse.
In the mid-20th century, men imbibed more than twice as often, on average, as their female peers, the researchers found.
But women have gradually closed the booze gap at the rate of about six percent per decade and in some areas of drinking outstrip men, they reported in the journal BMJ Open.
Sixteen of the studies spanned 20 years or more, and five covered periods of at least three decades.
The Pentagon worked Wednesday to stave off a public relations nightmare, suspending efforts to force California National Guard troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan to repay their enlistment bonuses that may have been improperly awarded.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the suspension in the wake of angry reaction from congressional Republicans and Democrats. They demanded he relieve the burden on Guard members following news reports that soldiers were asked to repay bonuses that in some cases totaled more than $25,000.
The announcement does not end the reimbursement process, but postpones collection efforts while the Pentagon and Congress look for a long-term solution.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama was pleased with the decision, but said it was important for the Pentagon "to follow through" by finding a long-term solution. Obama had warned the Defense Department earlier this week not to "nickel and dime" service members who were victims of wrongdoing by overzealous recruiters.
Female laborers sort through polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles holding children into their laps in a recycling factory at Mohammadpur in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Oct. 26, 2016. Recycling plastic bottles became a growing business over the last couple of years as well as help protecting the environment. According to the Bangladesh PET Flakes Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPFMEA), Bangladesh exports on an average nearly 30,000 tons of PET bottle flakes mainly to China, South Korea and Taiwan worth 14 million US dollars per year.
Photo by Abir Abdullah
A labelling error and reckless media hype in the 1980s led to unjustly branding a gay airline employee as "Patient Zero" in the US AIDS epidemic, scientific and historical sleuthing detailed Wednesday.
The deadly virus, which has claimed more than 650,000 lives in the United States in over four decades, jumped from the Caribbean to New York City around 1970, researchers reported in the journal Nature.
A 33-year old blood sample analysed with new techniques proves once-and-for-all that the man posthumously vilified as the American HIV epicentre, Gaetan Dugas, was simply one of the disease's many victims.
Before he died in 1984, he helped scientists trace how AIDS had spread by identifying dozens of his sexual partners.
"Dugas is one of the most demonised patients in history," said Richard McKay, a public health historian and one of the study's two lead authors.
The largest Roman Catholic health organization in the United States was accused in a federal complaint on Tuesday of failing to provide appropriate care by refusing on religious grounds to allow a pregnant woman with a brain tumor to be sterilized.
The complaint was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights. It asks the health department to investigate the policies on sterilization of Ascension Health [ASCNH.UL] and its subsidiary, Genesys Health System, to see if they violate federal medical care regulations.
Jessica Mann's doctors had recommended she not get pregnant again due to the possible strain the pregnancy would put on her health because of a pre-existing brain tumor. Mann was pregnant at the time.
The doctors recommended in early 2015 that she undergo tubal ligation when she had her C-section procedure, according to the ACLU complaint.
"As a Catholic healthcare system, we follow the ethical and religious directives of the Church. Beyond that, we can't comment on this patient's particular case," Johnny Smith, an Ascension Health spokesman, said in a statement in response to the ACLU's complaint.
Jewish supporters of US republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hold placards in Hebrew showing support to their candidate during a pre-US elections rally organised by The Republican Overseas in Jerusalem
Photo by Thmas Coex
The slow global economy and the health-driven turn against sweet sodas dented Coca-Cola sales for the sixth straight quarter, delivering a 28 percent hit to net income, the company reported Thursday.
Coca-Cola said worldwide revenues fell in the quarter to September 30 by 7.0 percent from a year ago to $10.6 billion, with sharp declines in its Latin America and Europe-Africa-Middle East regions.
Growth in North America was strong but Asia, another key market, only registered slight gains, the company said.
Net profits for the quarter came in at $1.05 billion, a big drop from $1.45 billion a year ago.
More corals are dying and others are succumbing to disease and predators after the worst-ever bleaching on Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef, scientists said Wednesday.
A swathe of corals bleached in the northern third of the 2,300-kilometre (1,429-mile) long biodiverse site off the Queensland state coast died after an unprecedented bleaching earlier this year as sea temperatures rose.
And researchers who returned to the region to survey the area this month said "many more have died more slowly".
"In March, we measured a lot of heavily bleached branching corals that were still alive, but we didn't see many survivors this week," Andrew Hoey of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University said in a statement.
"On top of that, snails that eat live coral are congregating on the survivors, and the weakened corals are more prone to disease. A lot of the survivors are in poor shape."
Curran started with The Simpsons in 1998 as a consulting producer and stayed with the show through 2015, sharing three Emmys for outstanding animated program in 2003, 2006 and 2008.
Curran received his first three Emmys (1985 through 1987) for his writing on NBC's Letterman show, where in 1985 he suggested and wrote the very first Top Ten list, "Top Ten Words That Almost Rhyme With Peas." (The No. 1 word on the list was "Meats.")
A native of Hartford, Conn., Curran attended Harvard and also wrote and produced for Married With Children and a takeoff of that fabled Fox sitcom, Unhappily Ever After.
He was in a previous relationship with English novelist and screenwriter Helen Fielding, creator of the Bridget Jones character. Survivors include their children Dashiell and Romy.
Trees in a park are illuminated with a red light as a part of an art project in Timmendorfer Strand, northern Germany Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016.
Photo by Michael Probst
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Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was badly vandalized, possibly with a sledgehammer, media and officials said on Wednesday.
