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RPGCast – Episode 497: “Git Gud Or Git A Refund”

A slightly smaller show doesn’t mean any less action, news, or hilariously questionable jibes for this week’s RPGCast. We learn we cannot, in fact, git...



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RPGCast – Episode 498: “Bi-Kirby-ous”

A party of four puts on our thinking hats, contemplating games we haven’t played – and which we should tackle in a packed April. Surprise...




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RPGCast – Episode 499: “Kung Fu Maids”

It's the final countdown! Chris and Anna Marie are joined by regular Kelley and irregular Jonathan, who always brings interesting games and hardware to discuss. April Fool's just passed, and several companies got silly. We also considered piles of feedback in the Question of the Week. We'll miss you all, see you in six weeks.




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RPGCast – Episode 509: “I Need A Guide”

Johnathan, Nathan, and Chris try to figure out the code running behind Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Yokai Watch is coming out again. China has a bunch of cool RPGs. And Persona 5 Royal leaks some more details!




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RPG Cast – Episode 519: “Sommersaulting Cat Buses”

Jonathan crashes the RPGCast this week because he heard that Chris, Anna Marie, Kelley, Peter, and Nathan were dissing on Tactics Ogre. We also discuss child care our Now Playing. But don't worry, while the news is slim, it's also pleasantly robust.




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RPG Cast – Episode 529: “Game of the Year 2019 – Pandacide”

Woop woop! Explicit alert! This get a bit unclean as we try to figure out our Game of the Year picks for 2019. We find out just what you can get done with slave labor. We learn the true martial power of haircuts. And we finally realize Anna Marie shouldn't be allowed to keep animals.




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RPG Cast – Episode 539: “Call Me Goku Because I’m About to Ride a Cloud”

Alex, Kelley, Nathan, and Peter have all descended into the slums of Midgar, so the Final Fantasy VII Remake dominates our Now Playing, but Anna Marie still manages to answer a question left over from last week about Persona 5 Royal. Our listeners recount their memories of the original FF7 and we even manage to squeak in some news of the week too.




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Coronavirus: Scottish Government given 'insufficient time' to consider Westminster proposals

SCOTLAND’S Economy Secretary has penned a letter to the UK Government venting her frustration at being given “insufficient time” to consider workplace safety proposals.




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अमित राणा के परिवार को एक करोड़ की मदद, अब हर जवान के इलाज के लिए 'हेल्परूम' करेगा काम

मुख्यमंत्री अरविंद केजरीवाल ने स्वयं ट्वीट कर इसकी जानकारी दी। उन्होंने कहा कि कोरोना पीड़ित होने के बाद भी अमित राणा अपनी जिम्मेदारी निभाते रहे। उन्होंने उनके परिवार के प्रति अपनी संवेदना व्यक्त की है।




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Corona in Delhi : 448 नए मामले आए सामने, कुल संक्रमितों की संख्या 5980 हुई, चार इलाके कंटेनमेंट जोन की सूची से बाहर

चार मई से शुरू हुए लॉकडाउन के तीसरे चरण का आज चौथा दिन है लेकिन कोरोना संक्रमण के मामले राजधानी में खत्म होते नहीं दिख रहे।




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कोविड-19: विचाराधीन कैदियों की अंतरिम जमानत की अवधि बढ़ाने के आदेश के लिए पीठ गठित

दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय ने कोविड- 19 महामारी की वजह से जेलों में भीड़ कम करने के इरादे से अंतरिम जमानत पर रिहा कैदियों की जमानत की अवधि 45 दिन और बढ़ाने के न्यायिक आदेश पारित करने के लिए एक खंडपीठ गठित की है




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नई दिल्ली स्टेशन से 1190 श्रमिकों को लेकर मुजफ्फरपुर के लिए चली ट्रेन

नई दिल्ली रेलवे स्टेशन से शुक्रवार को करीब 1190 मजदूरों को श्रमिक स्पेशल ट्रेन से बिहार के मुजफ्फरपुर भेजा गया। दोपहर तीन बजे यह ट्रेन नई दिल्ली के प्लेटफार्म नंबर 16 से रवाना की गई




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नई दिल्ली स्टेशन से 1190 श्रमिकों को लेकर मुजफ्फरपुर के लिए चली ट्रेन

नई दिल्ली स्टेशन से 1190 श्रमिकों को लेकर मुजफ्फरपुर के लिए चली ट्रेन




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Down the rabbit hole: why is 'Matrix dressing' so on trend?

From tiny sunglasses to leather coats, the film’s costume designer Kym Barrett writes about why the film’s look feels so relevant in our uncertain world

  • Read more from the spring/summer 2020 edition of The Fashion, our biannual style supplement

I never thought The Matrix would have the impact it has had on fashion. But from long leather coats to so-called “Matrix-style” sunglasses, the costumes I designed in the 90s continue to have influence to this day.

Part of the reason they are still in the ether is because they were so iconic. The silhouettes, for instance, had to be instantly recognisable so that viewers could tell who each character was, even in the dark. All of the costumes are fairly immune to period, which is what makes them relatable, even now.

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'It's a great look': jewellery follows clothing into genderless fashion

Zayn Malik and Virgil Abloh are among male celebrities decking out their ears, necks and wrists

There was a time when wearing a boyband-style dogtag was seen as the peak of male adornment, but now men are increasingly embracing jewellery, stacking rings and bracelets and adorning ears with multiple gems.

This week, the former One Direction singer Zayn Malik was announced as the face of the unisex jewellery label Martyre. Virgil Abloh, a weather vane for fashion’s direction of travel, this week launched more office supplies-inspired jewellery – paperclip bracelets, earrings and necklaces decorated with colourful diamonds – and was pictured wearing one of the collection’s bejewelled necklaces.

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DIY fashion: designers' tips on what to make from home

From a patchwork quilt to a crisp-packet necklace, learn new skills with the help of some top British designers

Creative director and star of Netflix’s Next in Fashion, Daniel W Fletcher has plenty to get on with while in social isolation, designing a collection for Fiorucci as well as one for his own brand. In his down time, he is taking up a DIY challenge to make a patchwork quilt based on a dress he made during the filming of Next in Fashion, using other designers’ leftover scraps. The design – inspired by concerns over the melting polar ice caps – is an arctic landscape.

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'Lockdown has been a wakeup call for the industry': what next for fashion?

Coronavirus has brought fashion to a halt. To mark Earth Day, we asked sustainable fashion designers, writers and advocates what changes they would like to see

Over the past few years, sustainable fashion has been inching towards the mainstream. Now, given the pandemic crisis, discussion of how to create a more ethical and less environmentally damaging model for an industry that is responsible for 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions every year is more relevant than ever.

With much of the usual churn on pause because of coronavirus and many of the cracks of the industry coming to the fore – not least in Bangladesh, where garment workers are facing destitution as big-name brands cancel their orders – some people in the industry are taking this hiatus as an opportunity to reassess fashion’s direction of travel.

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Could hotel service robots help the hospitality industry after COVID-19?

A new research study, investigating how service robots in hotels could help redefine leadership and boost the hospitality industry, has taken on new significance in the light of the seismic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on tourism and hospitality.




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'Terrible twos' not inevitable: With engaged parenting, happy babies can become happy toddlers

Parents should not feel pressured to make their young children undertake structured learning or achieve specific tasks, particularly during lockdown. A new study of children under the age of two has found that parents who take a more flexible approach to their child's learning can - for children who were easy babies - minimize behavioral problems during toddlerhood.




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Towards antibodies against COVID-19

Researchers have announced the isolation and characterization of a unique antibody that can bind to the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). The team has established that the antibody binds to a conserved epitope on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.




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Sewage poses potential COVID-19 transmission risk, experts warn

Environmental biologists have warned that the potential spread of COVID-19 via sewage 'must not be neglected' in the battle to protect human health.




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Bat 'super immunity' may explain how bats carry coronaviruses, study finds

Researchers have uncovered how bats can carry the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus without getting sick -- research that could shed light on how coronaviruses make the jump to humans and other animals.




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Most critically ill patients with COVID-19 survive with standard treatment, study reveals

Clinicians from two hospitals in Boston report that the majority of even the sickest patients with COVID-19 -- those who require ventilators in intensive care units -- get better when they receive existing guideline-supported treatment for respiratory failure.




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Position statement addresses difficult issue: allocating scare resources in COVID-19 era

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented pressure on societies worldwide, given the pandemic's rapid, often deadly spread. In health care, the pandemic has raised the pressing question of how society should allocate scarce resources during a crisis.




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Outpatient COVID-19 clues

A new report offers insights that can help clinicians distinguish between patients with COVID-19 infections and those with other conditions that may mimic COVID-19 symptoms.




9

Police stop fewer black drivers at night when a 'veil of darkness' obscures their race

After analyzing 95 million traffic stop records, filed by officers with 21 state patrol agencies and 35 municipal police forces from 2011 to 2018, researchers concluded that 'police stops and search decisions suffer from persistent racial bias.'




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Middle age may be much more stressful now than in the '90s

A new study found that life may be more stressful now than it was in the 1990s, especially for people between the ages of 45 and 64.




9

Killing 'sleeper cells' may enhance breast cancer therapy

The anti-cancer medicine venetoclax could improve the current therapy for estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer, according to preclinical studies. The promising preclinical results for this 'triple therapy' have underpinned a phase 1 clinical trial in Melbourne, Australia, that is combining venetoclax with hormone therapy and CDK4/6 inhibitors in patients with ER+ breast cancer.




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Survey: Half of Americans concerned about new moms, babies being in public amid COVID-19

A new national U.S. survey finds that nearly 80 percent of respondents would be concerned about themselves or an expectant mother in their life in the midst of the current COVID-19 outbreak, with almost half expressing fear of going to a scheduled prenatal appointment.




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Skin-to-skin 'kangaroo care' shows important benefits for premature babies

A world-first study has demonstrated significant benefits to a premature baby's heart and brain function when held by the parent in skin-to-skin contact. Parent-infant skin-to-skin care (SSC) or kangaroo care, started in the late 1970s in Columbia when incubators to keep babies warm were not available. It is now widely recognized as a beneficial component of holistic care provided for pre-term infants.




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Japan's beloved manga assassin becomes the latest coronavirus fatality




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China approves Novartis' multiple sclerosis treatment Mayzent

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have approved Novartis' Mayzent to treat relapsing multiple sclerosis in adults, the Swiss drug maker said in a statement on Saturday. Other drugs approved by China's National Medical Products Administration to treat MS include Novartis' Gilenya, Bayer's Betaferon and Sanofi's Aubagio. China has an estimated 30,000 patients with MS. (Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Kevin Yao in Beijing; Editing by Edwina Gibbs





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Dear fellow motherless daughters: Here's how I've learned to cope on Mother's Day

Marisa Bardach Ramel is co-author of “The Goodbye Diaries: A Mother-Daughter Memoir,” written with her mother Sally Bardach. As Mother’s Day approaches, I long to sit beside you, pour you some tea and talk about all the things.





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Philippines' coronavirus deaths breach 700




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Spain's coronavirus daily death tolls falls to 179 on Saturday




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Nearly 90 coronavirus cases reported at Polyus unit in Siberia




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Grocery store employee working during COVID-19 crisis: 'I'm going to say my prayers'

When his alarm goes off at 3:30 a.m., 54-year-old Jeff Reid knows it's time to begin his day and prepare for an eight-hour shift on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. As a grocery store worker, Reid never imagined he'd find himself in this position. Every day before his 5 a.m. shift, Reid prepares his morning essentials -- 1,000 milligrams of the powdered vitamin supplement Emergen-C and his morning prayers.





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Portugal's low-income households struggle to survive pandemic




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Taking on COVID-19, South Africa Goes After Cigarettes and Booze, Too

JOHANNESBURG -- The dealer had a stash, but the young woman wasn't getting through the door without an introduction. That's where her friend, already a trusted customer, came in. And even then there were complications.The woman wanted Stuyvesants. The dealer had Courtleighs. But in a South Africa where the sale of cigarettes is newly illegal, quibblers risk nicotine fits.She took the Courtleighs and high-tailed it out of there."I feel like I'm buying cocaine," said the woman, 29, who asked not to be named for fear of being fined or arrested.In late March, in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, the South African government banned the sale of tobacco and alcohol as part of a broad lockdown -- one of the strictest anywhere. But even as the government has begun rolling back the lockdown, the bans remain in effect.A government minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, cited "COVID-19 reasons" for maintaining the ban.Dlamini-Zuma, a doctor who served as health minister in the 1990s and is now cooperative governance minister, said that "besides the effects itself on the person's lungs," there were concerns that smoking could promote coronavirus infection."The way sometimes tobacco is shared does not allow for social distancing," she said, "but actually encourages the spread of the virus."Defending the ban of alcohol sales amid cries of protest from the liquor industry, President Cyril Ramaphosa said alcohol was "a hindrance to the fight against coronavirus.""There are proven links between the sale and consumption of alcohol and violent crime, motor vehicle accidents and other medical emergencies at a time when all public and private resources should be preparing to receive and treat vast numbers of COVID-19 patients," the president said in a statement.The government has also cited the risk of domestic violence in households where families are isolated at home.Perhaps not surprisingly, an underground market in both cigarettes and alcohol quickly sprung up.Like bootleg markets everywhere, it relies on word-of-mouth, as the 29-year-old woman who settled for the Courtleighs soon learned.She made her purchase in a suburb of Vereeniging, a city south of Johannesburg, where dealers are said to sell only to buyers referred by someone they know. And they sell only from their homes to avoid driving around with large quantities of cigarettes, since if they were to be caught at one of the dozens of police roadblocks set up around the country, they could be arrested on the spot.Instead, the smoker carries the risk -- and the cost. A pack of 20 cigarettes now goes for upward of 150 rand (about $8), three times the old legal price. Underground alcohol prices have also skyrocketed. A bottle of low-end vodka that usually sells for 120 rand ($6) now sells for at least 400 rand ($21).South Africa lifted its nationwide lockdown on May 1 but is continuing to implement strict social distancing and face mask rules. Already under siege from HIV, the country has around 8,200 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and has reported about 160 deaths.The country had implemented one of the world's most stringent lockdowns after recording its first coronavirus-related death in March. In addition to banning the sale of cigarettes and alcohol, the regulations banned jogging and dog-walking, and shuttered parks.Before the lockdown, with a ban looming, some smokers stocked up on cartons of cigarettes. But when the ban on cigarettes was extended beyond May 1, things for smokers began to grow tense.Now it's a matter of who you know. The cafe owner willing to slip a box under a container of milk, perhaps, or a supermarket cashier willing to steal and resell cigarettes languishing in the storeroom.In one Pretoria township where everyone knows everyone -- including the police -- few dare sell cigarettes from their homes. Instead, dealers hide among young men milling around on the neighborhood corner.A 23-year-old smoker said that when he saw a group of four men sharing a cigarette, he approached them to find out where they had found the contraband. They just so happened to be selling, they told him.Desperate after a failed attempt to quit smoking, he said, he paid 160 rand for his favorite brand and "ran home," where he took a photograph of the sealed pack, planning to share it on WhatsApp with envious fellow smokers.But when he opened the pack, a cloud of sawdust choked him. There was not a cigarette to be found.Smokers say they are finding fake cigarettes in sealed boxes that look exactly like legitimate brands. And those who are desperate enough are buying unknown brands that have appeared during the lockdown, with names like Pineapple and Chestel, and are notorious for inducing immediate coughing.The tobacco industry has not taken kindly to the government's new policy.The ban has fueled an underground cigarette trade that was thriving even before the lockdown. By some estimates, it made up more than 30% of the market, depriving the above-ground tobacco industry of profit and the government of tax revenue.Now both industry and government are losing even more.The country's largest cigarette manufacturer, British American Tobacco South Africa, at one point threatened legal action if the government did not drop its ban, but Wednesday changed course. "We have taken the decision not to pursue legal action at this stage," it said in a statement, "but, instead, to pursue further discussions with government."The company said, "We are convinced that by working together we can find a better solution that works for all South Africans and removes the threat of criminal sanction from 11 million tobacco consumers in the country."The ban on cigarettes and alcohol has set off a debate on civil liberties in a country with one of the world's most liberal constitutions. While South Africa was an early adopter of public smoking regulations, many see the bans as a symbol of government overreach.Though its coronavirus policies may have succeeded in keeping the outbreak in check, some are calling the government hypocritical. Junk food remains readily available. And officials strictly limited outdoor exercise during the lockdown.In a country increasingly struggling with diabetes and obesity, such inconsistencies undercut the government's argument that it is guarding the public's health, said one South African constitutional law expert, Pierre De Vos."In the long term, if the government overreaches and it wants to continue imposing these limits when the threat has subsided, I think the courts will invalidate this," he said.Still, the ban may have yielded at least one former smoker: the man who bought the box of sawdust."I cannot just go around losing money like that," he said. "I just said to myself, 'Nah, man, it's not worth it. I'll stay home and eat sweets, as that's what's legal now.'"This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2020 The New York Times Company





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FDA grants emergency use authorization to Quidel for first antigen test for COVID-19




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Brazil's Supreme Court throws out rules that limit gay men donating blood




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Sierra Leone's president accuses main opposition party of inciting violence




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Julia Roberts: No Met ball bubbly? There's always the bath

With New York’s glitziest fashion event in lockdown, people rose to the occasion on social media

The annual Met Gala would have taken place in New York last week, had it not been postponed indefinitely in March owing to the pandemic. The theme would have been About Time: Fashion and Duration, or “time itself”, according to Andrew Bolton, the curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s partner exhibition, which is ironic now that a morning can feel like a month, and a week can feel like a minute.

Ordinarily, it is one of my favourite celebrity bashes, sitting happily in the middle of a ridiculous/gorgeous Venn diagram, showing off high fashion so high that the people who point at Picassos and say “my five-year-old could have done that” will inevitably comment that “you couldn’t wear that down the shops”, as if the point of a ballgown in the shape of a chandelier were to make the trip to Tesco a bit more lively. (Having said that, you could definitely have used it to carry a few extra bags home.)

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Love isn't all you need: French ministers rule out easing travel rules for couples

MP called for love to be added to list of permitted reasons for long-distance journeys

Couples separated by France’s strict coronavirus rules will remain lovelorn after ministers ruled out a proposed change to the law extending the country’s state of health emergency.

The “lovers’ amendment”, as it was called, was proposed by an MP during a debate on the legislation in the lower house the national assembly.

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Rafe Spall: 'Dieting is the opposite of sex!'

Once the ‘go-to guy for feckless losers’, the actor is now spearheading Apple’s assault on British TV. He talks about flops, racism, chest hair – and Laurence Fox

In October 2005, Rafe Spall was starring in the role he thought he was born to play. Only 21 at the time, he’d bagged a part in Anna Mackmin’s reimagining of Francis Beaumont’s 1607 comedy The Knight of the Burning Pestle at the Barbican. The play isn’t just any old Renaissance play in the Spall household, it’s a hallowed text.

His father (Timothy Spall, you might have heard of him) had played the same part in a 1981 RSC version that changed his life for ever. It was while playing that role he met his wife, Shane, and the pair loved the play so much they decided to give their first child the name of the character his father played: Rafe. To make it seem even more preordained, it was Rafe’s grandmother’s favourite ever performance by his father. No pressure, then.

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Hayley Squires: 'Who do I most admire? Two friends who work for the NHS'

The I, Daniel Blake star on her parents’ generosity, working in a call centre and her love of ice-cream

Born in London, Squires, 32, studied at Rose Bruford College in London. She starred in the Ken Loach film, I, Daniel Blake in 2016, earning a Bafta nomination and winning most promising newcomer at the British Independent Film awards. Her West End debut in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof followed in 2017. Her television work includes The Miniaturist and Collateral; in the autumn she will play the lead in the Channel 4 drama, Adult Material.

What is your greatest fear?
Snakes.

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Gael García Bernal: 'The pandemic has taught me that I need something to say'

He’s played a revolutionary hero, a horny teen – now Gael García Bernal is a reptilian choreographer in Ema, and locked down in Mexico city. Just don’t ask him to move to LA when all this is over

At the start of the century, the director Alfonso Cuarón was casting Y Tu Mamá También, the bawdy but plangent road movie he had written with his brother Carlos about two oversexed Mexican teenagers, the wealthy Tenoch and his poorer, grungier friend Julio. “Alfonso called me very excitedly,” recalls Carlos Cuarón. “He said: ‘I know who’s going to play Julio! I’ve seen him in Alejandro’s movie.’” Alejandro González Iñárritu, that is, whose ferocious dog-fighting drama Amores Perros was about to be released. “I said: ‘No, no, I’ve found Julio; I saw the perfect actor in this short film, De Tripas, Corazón. He’s incredible: his eyes, the way he manages silence ...’”

Eventually, the brothers realised they were talking about the same person: Gael García Bernal, who was then just 21. The son of theatre actors, he had become a star in his early teens on the Mexican soap opera El Abuelo y Yo (Grandpa and I) before decamping to London to study at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Iñárritu plucked him out mid-term for Amores Perros and he stole that movie as the twitchy-hipped tearaway who was every bit as feral as his champion rottweiler. His mutable features could switch from cherubic to lupine to gravely smouldering; his nerve endings felt exposed like frayed electrical wires.

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Tracee Ellis Ross: 'As a kid, singing was too scary a dream'

She’s acted, modelled, worked with Kanye West and Drake. But the Black-ish star didn’t dare follow her mother, Diana Ross – until now

There is a strange noise coming from Tracee Ellis Ross’s Los Angeles garden. Hang on, she says, looking away from her computer screen to the window with an alarmed expression. “I’m just going to go check that out. Stand by!”

If this were a horror movie, then the stylish woman disappearing into the distance would never come back. But it isn’t a horror movie, it’s a Zoom interview, and Ross, a Golden Globe-winning actor best known for her role in the US sitcom Black-ish, is talking to me from the sunny living room of her home. Or at least she was; right now, I’m staring at a fiddle-leaf fig tree and a comfortable-looking couch.

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