It was the '80s — the hair was big, life was large, and Aussie Rules were dirty words in Queensland. One man with a lot of cash to splash would change that.

Eight years ago Simone Offord took up kickboxing for mental health and exercise. Now the mother of three has claimed her second Australian title.

Annastacia Palaszczuk softens her stance on the NRL's attempt to restart the competition during the coronavirus pandemic, but says the league is yet to submit any plan.

The head of the Australian Olympic Committee says the Gold Coast has a key role to play in south-east Queensland's 2032 bid.

Queensland health authorities will consider giving the state's NRL teams the nod to bypass coronavirus restrictions and resume training as the code prepares to restart the season on May 28.

Queensland is the first state to sign off on the planned May 28 return of the NRL and the Prime Minister hopes Border Force will allow the NZ Warriors into Australia shortly.

"I managed to rip my Gluteus Maximus to shreds," Queen guitarist Brian May shared on Instagram, along with a photo of himself sporting a mask in the hospital.

Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh Homme is flipping the script on his estranged wife, whom he claims has been trying to get him busted for allegedly violating a restraining order. Now the rock singer's filed for a restraining order against…

Eight members of the violent gang known as the "Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation" (ALKQN) have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges, including drug conspiracy and weapons trafficking.

Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) member John Guzman, 31, of Big Spring, Texas, was sentenced today to 210 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks for the Northern District of Texas

The leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation in Texas and one of his enforcers were sentenced today to life in prison by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings.

The indictment, unsealed today in Hammond, Ind., charges six alleged members of the gang known as Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation for their alleged roles in a racketeering conspiracy in Hammond, Ind., and elsewhere.

An additional alleged member of the Almighty Latin Kings and Queen Nation (Latin Kings) has been indicted for his alleged role in a racketeering conspiracy in Hammond, Ind., and elsewhere.

An additional alleged member of the Almighty Latin Kings and Queen Nation (Latin Kings) has been indicted for his alleged role in a racketeering conspiracy in Hammond, Ind., and elsewhere.

The 15-count third superseding indictment returned by the federal grand jury on Nov. 16, 2011, and unsealed today in Hammond includes 15 new defendants who are charged with conspiracy to engage in racketeering activity from August 1989 until the date of the third superseding indictment.

The Justice Department today moved to intervene in Murphy-Taylor v. State of Maryland, et al., a private lawsuit alleging sex discrimination by the state of Maryland, Queen Anne’s County and the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff.

A Queens, N.Y., medical doctor was sentenced today to serve 12 months and a day in prison for his role in a scheme that fraudulently billed Medicare more than $15 million.

Williesteina Jacobs was indicted in the Eastern District of New York on March 21, 2014, and charged with 27 counts of aiding in the preparation of false returns, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service announced today following her arrest.

The Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that Celamour Berus, of Springfield Gardens, N.Y., was arrested for multiple tax crimes today following his indictment on April 3, 2014.

"We are still a nation that those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognize and admire," the monarch said.

The Crown Estate is Britain's largest landowner, and it owns an awful lot of coastline. It is also very interested in the potential for marine power.

All new clothing items from now on will be made with fake fur.

Rock band Queen and singer Adam Lambert are raising money for health workers fighting COVID-19 with new single "You Are The Champions", an updated version of classic hit "We Are The Champions" recorded on mobile phones under lockdown.

Interview with Rani Baker, Goon Lurker and Internet Hero.

Nerds

Televised broadcast includes extracts from Churchill’s historic victory speech

• VE Day 2020: follow our live blog

The Queen led tributes to the wartime generation on Friday night, recalling the “never give up, never despair” message of VE Day as the country marked the 75th anniversary of victory in Europe.

In a special broadcast, on a unique day of remembrance, reflection and celebration taking place during the coronavirus lockdown, she said: “Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps.

The self-styled "king and queen of rock 'n' roll" - who inspired Elvis and The Beatles - dies at 87.

The Queen commemorates the 75th anniversary of VE Day with a televised address to the UK.

On the ferry, leaving the island of Burano at dusk. pic courtesy/Rosalyn D'mello

Because the high chairs and tables extending onto the pavements are arranged like invitations; because the indigo sky greets us with its distinct hue, informing us that though the sun has set and it is past 8 pm, the evening has only just begun; because our feet, so tired from daytime explorations, miraculously find the strength to continue their march; because Mac's Ruby Red lipstick enhances our personalities, making spectacles of our skin tone; or maybe because we are not alone, by 9 pm, unfailingly and with impressive regularity, Mona and I become Queens of the Italian night. There are travellers who tuck themselves in early so they can restore their bodies for the future that awaits them when they awake. Not us.

We are nocturnal explorers, un-bound by the limitations of cartography. We find tentative destinations and then walk the streets like we own them, like they belong to us. We allow ourselves to get distracted by the sights we suddenly stumble upon; we make commentaries on street signs, we take pleasure in seducing policemen into smiling sheepishly at us, we keep ourselves open to conversations with strangers. During the day you could ostensibly call us tourists. We visit monumental sites; pay entry fees, download audio guides and take photographs of everything that impress us. But at night, we are uninhibited.

Because we come from a reality that is both condemned and celebrated as third world, we have few filters about what constitutes safe and unsafe European streets. We trust our intuitions that have been fine-tuned through years of navigating streets that ought to be friendlier towards women's presences, that could do much more to encourage women's loitering. Online guides tell us to be wary of specific areas, but because Napoli feels like a somewhat seamless city with one street urging you on to the next, one inviting façade leading you to explore another, we do not exercise too much restraint as we navigate a city that feels overwhelmingly familiar. We walk through gritty and un-pretentious streets, walk into dive bars and surprisingly cheap restaurants. On our first evening in Napoli, for example, we followed a cyber suggestion and found ourselves at an institution where every drink on the menu was priced at one euro. It was teeming with as many people as could be found in a single Mumbai local compartment, all elated and happy drunk. We had a few Apero-Spritzes and proceeded towards a jazz bar, stopping in between because we were lured by a boutique shop on a wayside street.

There we had excellent red wine, and the choicest green olives. The jazz bar was a bust; it turned out to be a pretentious speak-easy where the bartenders wore white coats like mixologist doctors. Yes, there was what sounded like Billy Holiday singing in the background, and plush red sofas and a superbly well stocked bar, but it was cosmetic, and expensive, and after a small moment of indecision, we decided to simply walk out and go elsewhere. It wasn't a disappointment because on the way we had encountered so much of the city's past by way of arcades, historic fountains, grand edifices and random ruins.

This behaviour of ours hasn't been confined just to Napoli. Even in Firenze and Venezia, our nightly excursion was the day's highlight. In those cities, more than in Napoli, night-time turned out to be the only time when we weren't part of a swarming mass of tourists; when we didn't have to wait in extensive, un-ending lines to get in somewhere. It was surreal, navigating the canals of Venice at 2 am, when the water-borne city feels like an abandoned ghost town, when there isn't a single tourist for miles. Our friends and us had no compunctions being the last to leave a bar. Our friends lived just around the corner, while we, for cost-effectiveness, had chosen an Airbnb in neighbouring Mestre. We were undaunted by the prospect of finding our way to the 24x7-hour ferry to Piazzale Roma, then taking the night bus home. There was something deeply thrilling about having the luxury of public transport at that hour.

I always remember the feminist Shilpa Phadke when I've had a successful late-night out. She speaks frequently about the significance of the feminist claim to 'fun'. "Fun in public spaces cannot be quantified or sometimes even explained," she says. "How does one communicate the pleasure of asphalt under your feet; the rush of finding the bus you want at a traffic signal and managing to jump into it… the exhilaration of wandering in your city at night laughing with your friends. This is not simply fun, it's belonging to your city and having it belong to you." I could argue there's something similarly exhilarating about doing all of that as two women in a foreign land. When our male friends in Venice caringly offered to let us crash in their spare bedroom because it was past midnight, we politely declined. "Are you sure you want to go back so late?" they asked. "Yes," Mona replied. "Because we can!"

Deliberating on the life and times of Everywoman, Rosalyn D'Mello is a reputable art critic and the author of A Handbook For My Lover. She tweets @RosaParx Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

Mary Queen Of Scots

U/A: Biography, Drama, History
Director: Josie Rourke
Cast: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Woll, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine
Rating: 

Director Josie Rourke and writer Beau Willimon's attempt to give two warring Queens, the widowed Mary Queen Of Scots (Saoirse Ronan) and Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) of England, a larger voice in their historic confrontation, makes for fairly compelling viewing. This is a tapestry of discontent woven with a rare female gaze and allows for greater involvement in the royal proceedings.

Mary, following untimely widowhood, returns to her native Scotland to assume her throne. Her half-brother James Moray (James McArdle) is not enthused and his peace-keeping allegiance to the Protestant regime in England may have well become meaningless. Mary's cousin, Elizabeth I, monarch of England is also wary of Mary's far more valid claim to her own throne. So the intrigue and betrayals begin. And it's the men on both sides who play out the deceit in bloody fashion.

Check out the trailer here:

This is largely a biopic on Mary, Queen of Scots beginning with her return to the throne, subsequent precipitous marriages, the power struggle with her brother and several other aspirants to the throne and eventually her tragic death on the orders of her cousin. So there's more than enough drama to be had. Unfortunately, clarity is not a strong point here. Framed largely as per the version put forward by John Guy's biography of the Queen, the film has some controversial moments but fails to concretize the reasoning for her eventual beheading.

We get to meet Mary's ladies-in-waiting, her attempts to solidify her claims to the throne of England, her fight with the clergy who are largely protestant, her brother James' attempts to undercut her authority, John Knox's(David Tenant) outrage at having to know-tow to a female ruler and Elizabeth's helplessness and insecurity in having to deal with a more beautiful, younger claimant to her monarchy. Most of the narrative gives vent to Mary's life story but towards the end the focus shifts to Elizabeth's, thus creating a dichotomy that is a little difficult to empathize with. This filmed drama is largely faithful to the established record, has authentic fashionably period costuming and make-up and intensely committed performances from the two leads as well as their co-actors in crucial roles. So it's a vividly engaging experience even if not an entirely lucid one!

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Nestled next to the scenic Kawarau River, not far from Queenstown Airport, the 87-key LQ by Wyndham Remarkables Park, set to open its doors in late 2020, will be a great base for visitors who want to immerse themselves in nature. As New Zealand's adventure tourism capital, Queenstown is the perfect place to enjoy adrenalin-fuelled activities such as white-water rafting and bungee jumping from the Kawarau Bridge - the site of the world's first commercial bungee jump. LQ by Wyndham Remarkables Park will feature a mix of accommodation for short and extended stays, and facilities including fitness centres and "grab & go" cafés....

She's the most successful female recording artist ever – and now, 30 years after her first single, Madonna has released her twelfth album, 'MDNA'. It's already caused a stir, with the video for the opening track 'Girl Gone Wild' banned on YouTube for being 'too raunchy'. But is she still good? What's more important: Madonna the brand or the artist? And, at 53, should she really be wearing those hot pants? Neville Hawcock puts these questions to FT writers Lucy Kellaway, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney and Richard Clayton. With clips from 'Girl Gone Wild', 'I'm a Sinner' and 'I'm Addicted'. Produced by Griselda Murray Brown  

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George Herbert, the eighth Earl of Carnarvon and owner the grand castle which features in Downton Abbey, has revealed that the Queen is a fan of the hit show.

Close friends say Claire Foy is providing a consoling shoulder for Matt Smith, whose relationship with girlfriend Lily James, has been the subject of increasing talk among showbiz insiders.

MIKE DICKSON AT QUEEN'S: Nick Kyrgios repeatedly insulted umpire Fergus Murphy and suggested that line judges were 'rigging the game' in a petulant first-round display.

MIKE DICKSON AT QUEEN'S CLUB: Kyrgios was fined almost £14,000 on Friday over his unsportsmanlike conduct after outbursts blemished his two matches on Thursday afternoon.

On Tuesday Serena Williams showed out to usher in a new era of female tennis players. The 37-year-old was out in Soho for the Queen of the Future event and brought her daughter Olympia.

Fallon Sherrock will look to continue her pulsating World Darts Championship run at Alexandra Palace, having spent four hours of her Christmas Day practising.

Iggy Azalea has paid tribute to drag queen Silky Ganche after she saved her from an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction.

In June 2012 Katarina Johnson-Thompson scored a huge lifetime best in the heptathlon at a low-key meeting in Kladno in the Czech Republic to unexpectedly qualify for the London Olympics.

Viewers took to Twitter in droves to demand that someone rescue the famous soap mainstay, after they saw the bust sinking into the River during the 35th Anniversary week.

. As pubs, restaurants and cafes remain closed as part of the coronavirus lockdown, Matt even recreated EastEnders drinking spot, the Queen Vic pub during the thoughtful tour. 

Joe Swash has revealed he would love to have another baby with Stacey Solomon and says their four boys have been looking after her in lockdown.

The iconic pub had previously been shrouded in plastic sheeting and scaffolding as work on the building was underway, but the brand new pale brick exterior of the Queen Vic is now visible.

The 92-year-old monarch looked typically elegant in a sky blue ensemble as she arrived at the gates of Balmoral, Scotland, where she inspects the guard of honour before entering the Castle at the start of her annual holiday.

The monarch was joined by her granddaughter Princess Beatrice for the Sunday service at Crathie Kirk church this morning.

The monarch, 92, arrived at the chapel on the Balmoral estate in Scotland this morning accompanied by her nephew David Armstrong-Jones in the rear of the car.

The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards will take place Monday at New York's Radio City Hall. The show will feature a slew of performances including a tribute to Aretha Franklin, who died on August 16.

An Australian 'organisational queen' has revealed her best tips for keeping your kitchen cupboards, bathroom vanity and toy room clean with the help of IKEA and Kmart tubs.

On the desk in front of the Queen was her Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) khaki-coloured peaked cap - part of her uniform when she undertook National Service as a teenage princess in February 1945.