From Issa Rae’s perspective, there’s plenty of talented female filmmakers willing to work

Firefighters and civilians battling the nine-day wildfires ravaging Rhodes are contending with continuous flare-ups fuelled by unpredictable winds, as temperatures neared a scorching 40C. Greece’s civil protection agency extended the state of emergency across the entirety of Rhodes on Wednesday, which will remain in place for six months, “to deal with emergencies and manage the consequences of catastrophic forestry fire”. In the town of Malonas, which was evacuated on Saturday, The Independent watched on alongside exhausted volunteers as a section of the charred forest nearby reignited. The handful of volunteers gathered outside St George’s Church stood up to watch as a firefighting plane flew overhead, dousing the flames in water – as smoke continued to rise skywards. They expected to venture out again alongside hundreds, if not thousands, of other civilians on Wednesday night to do what they could to keep the fires at bay – having fought back the flames as they encroached on the sleepy inland town just the night before. “We have no energy, we have no power – not enough to stop this ... We are waiting for the wind to calm down to try again tonight to finish the job, but it is very difficult because after 10 days everyone is very tired,” a volunteer named Panos said, adding: “I’m going to sleep now for one hour.” He spoke as firefighters were mobilised to the nearby village of Apollona, while fires also burned further south in Vati and Gennadi. “The fires have started again,” a fire service official told The Independent. “A little wind and the fire returns … That’s the problem.” Having been told to evacuate both Malonas and nearby Kalathos at the weekend, Miles and Tristan, both in their 50s and originally from England, returned to Tristan’s house in Malonas on Wednesday to bring his four cats home. After receiving the “stressful” emergency alert telling them to leave Kalathos for either Kallithea – which they felt at the time was unsafe – or Lindos, where locals had already been told it was safe to return and where they knew a hotel manager who could put them up for the night. “Even if we’re just camping down on sofas in the hotel reception, it’s shelter, whereas if we went to Kallithea we would literally be on the street,” said Tristan. Speaking in the entrance to Tristan’s home as a firefighting plane flew overhead, dropping water a short distance away, the pair said they now planned to stay put. “We’re fed up with it now,” said Miles, an artist who has lived in Rhodes for 17 years. Tristan added: “Also, now [the authorities] are willing to allow everyone to help [keep flare-ups at bay], whereas before they just didn’t want the complications of it – non-Greek speakers being where they are [with] no skills, no car. I haven’t even got boots. They said ‘what are you going to do: walk over the ground in trainers? They’re just going to melt.” Describing a “pattern” of flare-ups each afternoon, Tristan said: “It’s been almost identical for three days, it’s really weird.” Miles added: “Clear in the morning. By the afternoon, the sky’s gone dark ... there’s smoke everywhere, and you can see it for miles.” However, the skies remained clear as they spoke – prior to the individual flare-up witnessed by The Independent some 15 minutes later. “That’s why the helicopters are flying over now, they’re damping down near the edges to try and make sure it doesn’t come back,” said Miles. Read More Infernos, black skies and fleeing tourists: Greece wildfires in pictures as blazes ravage Corfu and Rhodes Summer holidays to fire-hit Rhodes on sale for just £295 – half the usual price Tragic 'last words' of hero pilots who died in plane crash fighting Greek wildfires Tourists flying into Greece inferno reveal why they refuse to cancel holiday

A bizarre team.

Destructive fires, temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and tourists dodging possible catastrophe by staying home. Will climate change end up transforming tourism...

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France said Wednesday its arms exports hit a record last year, helped by Rafale aircraft sales, in a context of rising global defence spending...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 26, 2023--

By now you are probably aware that the Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has been a massive success at the box office, smashing all kinds of records and reducing men to nervous wrecks. Yes, the inevitable has happened where a pro-female movie has angered so many men that they just have to tell everyone about how much a movie about a doll upset them. We've had the likes of Piers Morgan and plenty of men on IMDB but one man who has made it his personal mission to tell the world how much he hated Barbie is Ben Shapiro. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The outspoken conservative commentator first spoke out against Greta Gerwig's widely acclaimed film on Saturday in a 43-minute rant on YouTube where he called the film a "s**tshow" and one of the "worst movies ever." He also burned a Barbie and Ken doll. The 39-year-old, who mostly objected to the "smug" message of the film was promptly roasted for his scorching hot take and as a result felt compelled to make another video about how badly he was treated because of his views. In the second view shared on Tuesday, titled "Barbie Is Garbage, But You’re Not Allowed To Say So," Shapiro spent 20 minutes of a 1-hour video talking about the reaction to his reaction to the movie. Barbie Is Garbage, But You’re Not Allowed To Say So www.youtube.com At one point Shapiro said the reaction to him burning the Barbie dolls was similar to the reaction of someone burning a copy of the Quran in Sweden. Elsewhere he attacked Gerwig for promoting a new religious worldview and for the movie for pushing "left-wing propaganda." These are all valid points if you subscribe to Shapiro's politics but he wasn't done there. In a third video, Shapiro collaborated with a regular contributor of his and fellow conservative commentator Brett Cooper, who did enjoy the movie. This debate is for 30 minutes and if you enjoy this sort of format for a video then they both make valid point depending on how much you enjoyed the movie. Ben Shapiro and Brett Cooper Debate Barbie for 30 Minutes www.youtube.com At this point, Shapiro has spoken about Barbie for 93 minutes on YouTube and presumably longer elsewhere in edits that didn't make the cut. If he makes another 30 minute video on the film he'll have spoken about it longer than the actual length of Barbie, which is quite an achievement. That being said his original view of Barbie has been viewed more than 1.7 million times so something is clearly working for him. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The top portion of a construction crane caught fire and collapsed on the west side of Manhattan

England defender Alex Greenwood enjoys channelling her younger self at the colouring-in station, while Lauren Hemp, Niamh Charles and Keira Walsh prefer playing table tennis in the swanky Australian hotel which will be the Lionesses’ base for the remainder of the World Cup. The European champions’ private wing of the Crowne Plaza in the coastal New South Wales town of Terrigal is the product of more than 18 months of Football Association planning, including extensive consultation with players to create an area they hope will provide a “home from home” and lead to better performances on the pitch. The Lionesses were an integral part of the design, from picking the inspirational quotes on the walls to requesting the wide range of activities on offer, including arcade games, a library, darts, and a popular coffee station serving up brews emblazoned with custom images in the foam. By midday on Wednesday, baristas estimated they had served up about 40 cups. Greenwood, who alongside Lucy Bronze is playing in a third consecutive World Cup, said: “We have got an amazing base camp. “A lot of people are doing colouring in and (doing) jigsaws. We’ve got an unbelievable set-up with a games room. The younger ones play a bit more games than the older ones. It’s a relaxed camp. The staff make it really relaxed and the experienced players help the younger ones. There’s no concern there. “I’m actually loving colouring in at the moment. I’ve found my inner-child Alex again! Coffees and walks have been my go-to at the minute. I’m colouring in all kinds, whatever I can get my hands on. I’m running out of spaces now.” In a tribute to team history, rooms are named after former Lionesses, including Mary Phillip, Rachel Yankey, Ellen White and ‘The Scott’ relaxation room, which former midfielder Jill joked she hoped is named after her and not defender-turned-BBC pundit Alex. The Lionesses had a similar base at the Lensbury Resort in Teddington during Euro 2022. The FA picked up on the positive impact that retreat had on England’s triumphant campaign and were keen to recreate a similar environment for a tournament that will see them hop between three cities in the world’s sixth largest country during their quest for a maiden global title. Kay Cossington, women’s technical director at the FA, said: “We learned so much from the Lensbury…it was the home-from-home feel, the different activities, the relaxation area, the fact that everything was in such close proximity. “Coming to a tournament this size and scale in a country this big, we wanted to try and make the tournament as small as we could in terms of the logistics and the travel to help the loading. “You can imagine how much kit and equipment gets shifted from venue to venue. It was really nice for us to land here and know that, although we travel to games, this is now where we come back to. This is our base. This is our home in Australia. “We choose from a performance lens, but equally the players have got to feel that it’s right for them as well. Thankfully we are actually joined with what the need is (for them) because it’s a performance reason.” The first time the FA spoke with FIFA about their plans was in December 2021. Six months later, Cossington and Lionesses general manager Anja van Ginhoven visited about 23 hotels and 18 training grounds in 11 days. When the Lionesses were drawn in Group D, which will see them play matches in Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide during the group stage, they were ready to submit the Crowne Plaza and nearby palm tree-lined Central Coast Stadium to FIFA as their first choice, a decision ultimately made by England boss Sarina Wiegman after extensive meetings with her team. Everything from the player pictures splashed on the wall to the three lions etched in glass above the private entrance, not to mention the decked-out studio where Jill Scott hosts Lionesses: Down Under, is a far cry from 2005, when England hosted the European Championships for the first time. Cossington added: “We never had anything like this. We did the best we could with the resources we had at the time. You were printing things off yourself and putting them on doors, the banners, the pop-ups, you’d carry them around with you. “It is night and day. I’ve seen it grow and evolve incredibly, but this I truly feel has gone another step another level another mile and I think that’s again testimony to how the game has grown.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live England ratings as Mary Earps and Chloe Kelly stand out in lacklustre opener Australia captain Pat Cummins says ‘the job’s not done’ ahead of final Test Ben Stokes has no worries over James Anderson in fifth Ashes Test

Niger President Mohamed Bazoum on Wednesday was being held by disgruntled members of the elite Presidential Guard, who in turn were given an "ultimatum" by the army, a source...