Author: aliakhan00901

I have made enough mistakes as a critic to feel mildly chuffed when a verdict is vindicated. In 1981 I wrote excitedly about a new Stephen Sondheim musical, Merrily We Roll Along, that I had seen in preview in New York; reviled by reviewers and shunned by the public, it then closed two weeks after opening. In 2023-24 the very same musical ran for a year on Broadway, won four Tony awards and was hailed by the critics. Fortunately a live performance of that Maria Friedman production was filmed and I would urge you to catch it when it’s released…

Sunday’s Canadian Football League Grey Cup pits the Montreal Alouettes against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. While the NFL has played the Super Bowl since 1966, the CFL championship has been played since 1909. AYESHA RASCOE, HOST: Today in Winnipeg, they’re playing the championship of the Canadian Football League – the Montreal Alouettes against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 112th edition of the Grey Cup. And while the event has similarities to the Super Bowl, there are a lot of differences, as Steve Futterman reports.STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: From all across Canada this week, Canadian Football League fans have been gathering here in…

Porto is synonymous with port, which has been shipped from its cellars to the world since the early 17th century. The fortified wine is sweet and rich, and is best sipped as an aperitif or digestif with dessert. So, how does one fill the void in between? Fortunately, Porto is brimming with elevated cafés, epicurean wine bars, and innovative fine dining restaurants that will keep you busy from noon to night. And while Porto has recently implemented a ban on alcohol sales at retailers between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., its licensed restaurants, cafés, and bars can…

Wrapping up 204 days in orbit, three Chinese astronauts flew back to Earth aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft Friday, leaving three crewmates behind on the Tiangong space station with a busted lifeboat.Commander Chen Dong, concluding his third trip to space, and rookie crewmates Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie touched down inside their spacecraft at the Dongfeng landing zone at 1:29 am EST (06:29 UTC) Friday. The parachute-assisted landing occurred in the mid-afternoon at the return zone, located in the remote Gobi Desert of northwestern China.Chinese space officials upended operations on the country’s Tiangong space lab last week after astronauts found damage…

X has revealed Chat, an encrypted upgrade to the platform’s direct messaging service. It also includes support for video and voice calls, disappearing messages, and file sharing.The company announced Chat on Friday, and it’s available now on iOS and the web, with an Android version coming “soon.” It replaces X’s existing messaging system, though your old messages should be carried across.X says that Chat supports end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for both messages and files, though a support page notes that this doesn’t cover message metadata — such as who received it, or when it was sent. There’s also no protection against…

Jessica LaneEast Yorkshire and LincolnshireBBCRosie Halsall, 18, wants to make free sports bras and fitting available in secondary schoolsA former Team GB roller derby skater says the cost of sports bras is discouraging younger females taking part in physical activity.Rosie Halsall, 18, from Sheffield, is campaigning for free sports bras and fittings for secondary school girls, allowing them to participate and improve their long-term health.”I know a lot of girls who don’t wear sports bras and don’t want to do PE because they feel uncomfortable,” she said.Miss Halsall’s proposal has been backed by Lincolnshire football club Sleaford Town Juniors, which…

The Philadelphia Eagles will look to win their fourth game in a row and stay in contention for the NFC’s top seed when they take on the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football. Detroit is coming off a 44-22 win at Washington last Sunday, while Philadelphia held off the Green Bay Packers 10-7 on Monday night. The Lions (6-3), who are 3-2 in the conference, are also 3-2 on the road this year. The Eagles (7-2), who are 6-1 against NFC foes, are 3-1 on their home field. Sam LaPorta (back) is out and was recently placed on…

This week, track down the constellation Cetus, variously referred to as the whale or sea monster. It is one of the faint constellations, but it sprawls across the sky, taking up roughly 1,230 square degrees, which makes it the fourth largest of the 88 modern constellations. Although it lacks bright stars, there is something hypnotic about tracing its faint outline across the sky.The chart shows the view looking south-southeast from London on 17 November at 20:00 GMT. However, the view will not change much all week. Since it lies close to the celestial equator, Cetus is visible in northern and…

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The…

Chile’s presidential election will go to a run-off vote in December between a Communist Party and a far-right candidate, after the first round on Sunday produced no outright winner.The election campaign was dominated by crime and immigration, as migration to the country has grown in recent years and candidates pledged to fight foreign gangs like Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.The Communist Party’s Jeannette Jara, from the governing coalition, narrowly won the first round followed closely by far-right candidate José Antonio Kast.The result is expected to give a boost to Kast, as Jara was the only left-wing candidate running against several right-wing…