UK anti-slavery commissioner launches investigation into ‘pimping websites’

Eleanor Lyons will interview women who say they have been trafficked into sex work and advertised online

The independent anti-slavery commissioner has launched an investigation into so-called pimping websites amid concern at the level of exploitation of trafficked and vulnerable women on those platforms.

Eleanor Lyons will interview women who say they have been trafficked into sex work and advertised on adult services websites such as Vivastreet that allow users to browse images and videos of women selling sex in their local area.

Continue reading...
Continue ReadingUK anti-slavery commissioner launches investigation into ‘pimping websites’

Vineyards assess damage as wildfire rips through California wine country: ‘A devastating situation’

The growing threat of fires has shaken the Napa Valley wine industry, as fears of smoke-spoiled grapes and soaring insurance rates put vintners on edge

Elton Slone and his colleagues at the Robert Craig Winery in Napa Valley had gathered for their annual pre-harvest company party last week – complete with copper pot carnitas and grape tacos – when one of his co-workers noticed an alert on her phone. The Pickett fire, a blaze that had started about 10 miles away near the town of Calistoga, was moving toward their vineyards on Howell Mountain.

Knowing that the Glass fire – a 2020 blaze that damaged numerous wineries and spoiled a year’s harvest – had burned along the same path, Slone hoped no fuel remained for this new fire. “But that was not the case,” he said. Within the week, the winery’s Candlestick Vineyard would become “a sacrificial lamb for the town of Angwin” when firefighters lit a controlled burn on their property to control the larger fire.

Continue reading...
Continue ReadingVineyards assess damage as wildfire rips through California wine country: ‘A devastating situation’

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay undergoes treatment to remove skin cancer

Ramsay, 58, has posted thanks on social media to ‘incredible’ health workers and urged followers to remember their sun protection

The celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has said he has undergone treatment to remove skin cancer, thanking “incredible” health workers for their efforts and urging fans to remember to wear sun protection.

Ramsay, 58, said he had basal cell carcinoma, a non-melanoma form of skin cancer, removed, in a post on Instagram. A picture showed dressings below his ear where the cancer had been removed.

Continue reading...
Continue ReadingCelebrity chef Gordon Ramsay undergoes treatment to remove skin cancer

Below the Clouds review – a ghostly yet luminous cinematic mosaic of Naples crowns a superb trio

Venice film festival
There is a real end-of-days quality to Gianfranco Rosi’s utterly distinctive documentary of war, violence, cynicism and the climate crisis in an uneasy city

Gianfranco Rosi has made a movie that could be thought of as the last of a conceptual trilogy about normal life and spiritual life in Italy: the first was his Sacro GRA from 2013 about Rome, for which Rosi won the Venice Golden Lion; the next was Fire at Sea about the migration crisis as experienced in Lampedusa in Sicily. Now there is Below the Clouds, in luminous black-and-white. It’s another of his brilliantly composed docu-mosaic assemblages of scenes and tableaux, shot from fixed camera positions without any camera narration.

The title is taken from Jean Cocteau: “Vesuvius makes all the clouds in the world.” Rosi reports from Naples, a city uneasily preoccupied with the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions for which it is famed, and with the great catastrophe of AD79 that buried nearby Pompeii. We see the archaeological digs that are still disinterring vital material – and clips from Rossellini’s Journey to Italy on the subject, playing in an eerily deserted cinema (which would appear to be Rosi’s one “fictional” contrivance, but which chimes with genuine scenes of firefighters grimly clearing charred debris from a burnt-out cinema).

Continue reading...
Continue ReadingBelow the Clouds review – a ghostly yet luminous cinematic mosaic of Naples crowns a superb trio

Leeds v Newcastle: Premier League – live

Leeds United make two changes to the side that started the 5-0 defeat at Arsenal this time last week. Joël Piroe and Ao Tanaka make way for Sean Longstaff and Lukas Nmecha, both of whom are making their full debuts.

Newcastle United make four changes to the XI selected to start that rollercoaster 3-2 loss against Liverpool. Sven Botman, William Osula, Jacob Murphy and full-debutant Jacob Ramsey come in for the injured Joelinton, the suspended Anthony Gordon, and Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga, who both drop to the bench. Sandro Tonali has recovered from the shoulder problem he suffered on Monday evening.

Continue reading...
Continue ReadingLeeds v Newcastle: Premier League – live