They Might Have Got More Brexit Sense Out of Frosty the Snowman

THE GUARDIAN: The UK’s chief negotiator with the EU did his best to prove why he isn’t really up to the job

You win some, you lose some. We’re still nowhere near finding out if the government has a coherent plan for tackling social care – only late on Monday the prime minister cancelled a meeting with Rishi Sunak and Matt Hancock due to take place on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the issue. So we can probably assume not. But we are a little better informed as to why the negotiations with the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol have started to unravel badly. And that’s because every time he speaks, the UK’s lead Brexit negotiator, David Frost, doesn’t seem to be quite as bright as he would like us all to believe.

Tuesday’s appearance before the foreign affairs select committee was a case in point. Having established his credentials as being rather more important than a minister for Europe, Lord Frost then did his best to prove why he wasn’t really up to the job. He got off to a bad start by saying that the decision not to fully accredit the EU ambassador to the UK had been “over-interpreted” and that petty point scoring had been the last thing on the government’s mind. For some reason, the EU had seen it differently and taken offence. » | John Crace | Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Moving On: Why the EU Is Not Missing Britain That Much

THE GUARDIAN: On the 5th anniversary of Brexit, commentators reflect on the EU’s success at rallying together after Britain’s exit

On the night of 23 June 2016 a storm broke out over Brussels. Rain poured, thunder rolled and lightning flashed over the headquarters of the European Union’s institutions.

Then in the small hours came a political thunderbolt almost no one had forecast: the UK had voted to leave the union. Five years on, the Brexit tempest has subsided – in Brussels, if not in London.

“Not only did the EU survive the storm, but it also moved on,” said Georg Riekeles, of the European Policy Centre thinktank, and formerly an adviser to the EU’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier

Referring to the agenda of Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders and other leaders of far-right anti-EU parties, Riekeles said that ahead of the Brexit vote “there was very clearly a populist, disintegrationist drive, let’s break it up”.

“Now,” said Bernd Lange, a German social democrat MEP, “even the rightwing populists aren’t discussing leaving the European Union, the Frexit [threat of French exit] is gone. They are saying we need to change the European Union.” » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Interview: Brexit Has Weakened and Isolated the UK, Says EU Vaccine Chief

THE GUARDIAN: Thierry Breton, who is also single market commissioner, believes downsides of leaving bloc are exposed by pandemic

Brexit has proved an “aberration that has weakened and isolated the UK”, the EU’s single market commissioner, Thierry Breton, has said, with any concrete benefits for Britain “hard to see” and multiple downsides cruelly exposed by the pandemic.

Breton, a former French finance minister in charge of the bloc’s Covid vaccination programme, now outpacing Britain’s, said that five years after the referendum, Brexit’s promised outcomes were “far from reality”.

Brexit was “supposed to ‘take back control’ and protect UK citizens, to offer the country more economic and commercial room for manoeuvre, and to boost Britain’s global standing,” he said. “What we see is pretty much the opposite.”

British calls for more “pragmatism” on the implementation of the withdrawal agreement – particularly the Northern Ireland protocol – were odd, he said: “Pragmatism was for the negotiations. Now the deal has to be applied, in full, just as agreed. I’m sure the British made sure they could implement it before they signed it. » | Jon Henley | Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Ryan Oldroyd (I'm From Glenwood, UT) - True Gay Stories

A young Mormon is excommunicated then outed to his parents after he comes out to his Mission President.

Who Sounds Gay? | Op-Docs | The New York Times

This short documentary explores the reasons that some men sound stereotypically gay, whether they are or not.

Stereotypes surround all of us. In the LGBTQ community people expect some to fit into certain stereotypes. The one we explore in this video is sounding gay.

Death in Venice – Gustav Mahler – Adagietto (from Symphony N°5)

Gustav Mahler (7 July 1860 -- 18 May 1911 ) / Luchino Visconti (2 November 1906 - 17 March 1976)

A Gay Mormon Love Story: Elder | Op-Docs | The New York Times

This short documentary tells the story of a gay Mormon’s love affair while he served on a mission in Italy. Produced by: Genéa Gaudet

Read the story HERE »

Brexit Frustration – Five Years after the Brexit Referendum | DW Documentary

Trade with Great Britain has been severely disrupted since the Brexit agreement came into force. Fish traders and clothing sellers are struggling to cope with new customs and health regulations. Companies often bear the burden of the extra costs.

Nerys Edwards is a shellfish wholesaler from Wales. Her family has been in the business for generations, but since the start of the year, trading has become more complicated than ever before. Her company buys shellfish such as shrimps and lobster from local fishermen and exports them to the EU, chiefly to Spain. Requirements for new health certificates have delayed deliveries to the extent that some sea creatures, which are transported live, have perished en route. Each truckload is worth 50,000 pounds (about 58,400 euros). The financial losses for her family and the fishermen are considerable. Tensions are running high and Nerys Edwards worries about every shipment.

There are problems in continental Europe, too. German-British truck driver Colin Francis has been struggling with his schedule since Brexit. He transports goods through the Eurotunnel, in both directions, for a German logistics company. Like many other drivers, he has been held up for long periods at the new customs checkpoints in the UK. When Colin Francis sets off in the morning, he hopes to make it home to his family in the evening, instead of having to sleep in his truck. Now, he can’t be sure where he will spend the night. The logistics firm and their customers now often need to plan three times as long for trips that used to take a day.

Brexit has also forced entrepreneurs like Edzard van der Wyck from London to rethink their business strategy. His company produces clothing from New Zealand wool. Since January, it’s become more expensive to export to the EU than to the United States. Like many other British exporters, he now wants to set up a new distribution center and move parts of his business to continental Europe.

Petition Urges Jeff Bezos to Blast into Space – and Stay There

THE GUARDIAN: Change.org effort has gathered tens of thousands of signatures / Bezos to go into space in July on first human Blue Origin flight

A growing group of earthlings is banding together in an effort to keep Jeff Bezos off the planet, after he leaves it in late July.

By Monday morning, more than 77,000 had signed a petition on Change.org demanding the Amazon founder be kept from returning to Earth after participating in the first human space flight launched by his company Blue Origin.

“Billionaire’s [sic] should not exist … on earth, or in space, but should they decide the latter they should stay there,” read the description accompanying the petition, which was addressed “to the proletariat”.

In May, Bezos was named the second-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $186bn. » | Sarah Betancourt | Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Sign the petition

Sold! Bidder pays $28m for spare seat on space flight with Jeff Bezos »

Global Gay: The Next Frontier in Human Rights - Documentary (2018)

A global revolution is underway to obtain what UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Barack Obama call ‘the final frontier in human rights’: the universal decriminalization of homosexuality.

Homosexuality is forbidden in almost half of the world. Out of 196 UN member states, there are 7 where it is punishable by death.

In 84 others, it can merit prison and physical punishment. But today, momentum is building and the debate on gay rights is omnipresent - whether it be regarding legalization in the Middle East and Africa or the focus of gay marriage laws in the West.

After years of long diplomatic struggle, several world leaders have declared themselves in favor of the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. But victory won’t come easily. The countries that still punish homosexuality refuse to give in to international pressure. Global acceptance and equality will take time to achieve.

‘Global Gay’ follows this battle for decriminalization through the lives and work of some of its fearless pioneers, providing a vibrant chronicle of the growing global social movement. In the words of Ban Ki Moon, “The time has come”.

Filmed in Russia, Cuba, Cameroon, Nepal and South Africa.

Dear Sir David Attenborough: Homosexuality in the Animal Kingdom (2013)

The former features editor of Britain's first national gay newspaper Gay News and author Keith Howes presents an open appeal to broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough to cover, depict and acknowledge homosexuality in the animal kingdom. Please note that any views expressed in this video are not necessarily those of the film maker. Please subscribe if you like this video.

#LGBT’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa

Fanack »

Homosexuality in the Middle East and North Africa: A Grim Situation with Rays of Hope »

Activists Discuss Being LGBTQ+ in the Arab World | NowThis (2018)

‘There was nothing wrong with me. It was the people around me that were wrong.’ — These LGBTQ+ Arabs want others like them to know there is hope.

These LGBT activists want other Arabs who happen to be gay, lesbian, transgender or trans, bisexual, queer, pansexual, intersex, gender non-conforming, non-binary, or questioning their gender or sexuality in general, to know that they are not alone.

These LGBT advocates encourage others to take pride in their sexuality and gender, providing LGBT advice, and reminding all people that LGBT rights matter because they are HUMAN rights.

Hungary’s Classrooms Have Become the New Battleground for the War on ‘LGBT Ideology’

THE GUARDIAN: Viktor Orban has used a new law to equate gay people with paedophiles. He’s not the first to use this tactic

Last week, the Hungarian parliament banned any portrayal of homosexuality or transgenderism to minors, in educational material or on television. Appending this to a law protecting children from child abuse, the country’s president, Viktor Orbán, drew an explicit connection between homosexuality and paedophilia. In so doing, he resorted to a canard that much of the world has long dispensed with, but that is enjoying a troubling new emergence in the global battles against “gender ideology”: the danger posed by homosexuals and trans people to children.

“The logic of the government is to find an enemy and pretend that they are saving the country from this enemy,” said the Hungarian LGBTQ+ leader Tamás Dombos in a presentation to the United States Congress last week. Dombos described the new law as “a conscious and diabolic political strategy” by the government to divert public attention from its messy response to the Covid crisis. The law is also a salvo in a tough upcoming election, and an effective way of staking what I term a “pink line”: a nativist boundary protecting, in this case, Hungarian “values” against the immoral imperialism of George Soros and Brussels. » | Mark Gevisser | Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Stonewall risks all it has fought for in accusing those who disagree with it of hate speech »

CNN's Christiane Amanpour Shares Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis

CNN's chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour revealed to viewers that she has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Amanpour, 63, is one of the best-known journalists in the world. She has been off the air for the past four weeks due to the undergoing surgery.

James Michael Tyler: Friends' Gunther Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

BBC: Friends star James Michael Tyler, who played Central Perk waiter Gunther, has said he has stage four prostate cancer.

In an interview with NBC's Today show, the 59-year-old revealed he was diagnosed in September 2018 after a routine physical examination.

The cancer has since spread to the actor's bones and he can no longer walk. He is undergoing chemotherapy.

"Eventually, you know, it's gonna probably get me," he told host Craig Melvin.

Speaking about his diagnosis, he said: "I was 56 years old at the time, and they screen for PSA, which is prostate-specific antigen. » | BBC | Monday, June 21, 2021

‘I Am Very Shy. It’s Amazing I Became a Movie Star’: Leslie Caron at 90 on Love, Art and Addiction

THE GUARDIAN: The legendary actor reflects on her riches-to-rags childhood, confronting depression and alcoholism – and dancing with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire

Leslie Caron and her companion, Jack, greet me at the front of their apartment. They make a well-matched couple – slight, chic, immaculately coiffured. Caron, the legendary dancer and actor, is 90 in two weeks’ time. Jack, her beloved shih tzu, is about nine.

Caron heads off to make the tea, with Sidney Bechet’s summery jazz playing in the background. I am left alone with Jack to explore the living room. It feels as if I am tunnelling through the history of 20th-century culture. Here is a photo of a pensive François Truffaut; below is a smirking Warren Beatty. The centrepiece on the wall is a huge watercolour of Caron’s great friend Christopher Isherwood, painted by his partner, Don Bachardy. To the left is Louis Armstrong, to the right Rudolf Nureyev, with whom she starred in 1977’s Valentino, and further along is Jean Renoir, who she says was like a father to her. And we have barely started.

Caron leads me into her magnificent garden, long and thin as a cricket wicket. “What do you think?” she says, with undisguised pride at her handiwork. She points out the petunias, geraniums, forget-me-nots and a solitary rose trailing on the wall. The pots, some of them almost as big as she is, line up like a military tattoo. “The rose came out in the night. Fabulous.” She licks her lips. » | Simon Hattenstone | Monday, June 21, 2021

Nutzen von Intervallfasten nicht erwiesen

SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG: Die dünne Studienlage zeigt keine Vorteile im Vergleich zur Diät nach Stechuhr - die Risiken sind unklar.

Manchmal ist der Wille zur Wirkung größer als die wissenschaftliche Beweiskraft. Das gilt für einige Methoden der konventionellen Medizin, für etliche alternative Verfahren, aber auch für den großen Grenzbereich zwischen Erfahrungswissen, Volksglauben und dem alltäglichen Irrsinn, den Menschen gelegentlich mit sich anstellen. Populäres Beispiel ist das Intervallfasten. Es erfreut sich großer Beliebtheit, und zu Recht vergessene Schauspielerinnen, selbsternannte Ernährungsexperten und andere hauptberufliche Ego-Darsteller schwärmen davon. Schließlich haben sie es ja selbst ausprobiert - außerdem gibt es "Studien". » | Kommentar von Werner Bartens | Freitag, 18. Juni 2021

Royaume-Uni : l’ex-« speaker » vedette Bercow quitte les conservateurs

LE POINT : John Bercow estime que le parti du Premier ministre Johnson est devenu « réactionnaire, populiste, nationaliste, et parfois même, xénophobe ».

Un départ remarqué. L'ancien président de la Chambre des communes britannique, John Bercow, a annoncé dimanche 20 juin 2021 qu'il quittait le camp conservateur. L'homme politique de 58 ans en a profité pour lancer une violente critique contre le Premier ministre Boris Johnson dont le parti est devenu, selon lui, « réactionnaire, populiste, nationaliste, et parfois même, xénophobe », dans une interview accordée au journal The Observer.

Il avait rejoint les torys à l'âge de 17 ans, et a été député du Parti conservateur pendant 12 ans avant d'être élu en 2009 président de la chambre basse du Parlement, quittant alors toute affiliation à un parti comme le veut la coutume. Après avoir quitté ce poste en octobre 2019, il a annoncé dimanche rejoindre les rangs du parti d'opposition travailliste qui, espère-t-il, renversera le gouvernement. « La conclusion à laquelle je suis arrivé est que ce gouvernement doit être remplacé. La réalité est que le Parti travailliste est le seul moyen qui peut atteindre cet objectif. Il n'y a pas d'autre option crédible », explique John Bercow. » | Source AFP | Publié : dimanche 20 juin 21 ; modifié : lundi 21 juin 21

Princess Latifa: Instagram Image Appears to Show Dubai Ruler’s Daughter in Spain

THE GUARDIAN: Princess, who was seized trying to flee the sheikhdom in 2018, has appeared in several social media posts in recent months

A Dubai princess who has been the subject of concern from a United Nations panel after being seized trying to flee the sheikhdom in 2018 has appeared in a social media post that described her as being in Spain on a “European holiday”.

An image published on an Instagram account belonging to former Royal Navy member Sioned Taylor appears to shows Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum at Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas airport.

Taylor’s caption, punctuated by a smiley face emoji, reads: “Great European holiday with Latifa. We’re having fun exploring!” Comments by Taylor acknowledged the location of the image, which match other images of the airport. » | Dan Sabbagh | Monday, June 21, 2921