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Hold Off on That ‘Star Wars’ Rewatch You’ve Been Planning

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Hold Off on That ‘Star Wars’ Rewatch You’ve Been Planning


If you rewatch Star Wars every few years, then put your Blu-ray discs or Disney+ down. It’s time to get excited because, during an investor call, IMAX announced that Star Wars: A New Hope will be coming to IMAX theaters for the film’s 50th anniversary. The film is expected to hit theaters around Star Wars Day on May 4, 2027, shortly before IMAX screens are taken over by Legend of Zelda and the Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars: Starfighter.

That’s not the only reason to be excited. Rumors are swirling that Lucasfilm is working to restore the original theatrical cuts of the first three Star Wars films and put them in theaters rather than the special editions released 30 years ago. Leaks about the project have been shared on social media, and we can only hope they’re true, as they’d give many fans their first opportunity to see the original Star Wars cuts in a theater.

The 50th Anniversary of ‘Star Wars’ Will Be Spectacular

20th Century Fox

Star Wars re-releases come and go nearly every year, but the fact that IMAX theaters already have A New Hope scheduled for 2027 shows that Lucasfilm has good foresight for the anniversary. Don’t expect the celebration to be limited to an IMAX release of A New Hope. There’s a good chance new collectibles, promotional events, and interviews about the film’s legacy will be released alongside the IMAX showings.

Be sure to get tickets for the film as soon as they’re announced. A movie with as significant a cultural impact as A New Hope, in this format, will draw plenty of nostalgic fans to theaters. A New Hope is already a great film, which will only be enhanced on the big IMAX screens. The film’s sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, are even better and will most likely follow A New Hope with IMAX releases in future years.

Is It True That the Original ‘Star Wars’ Cuts Are Getting Remastered?

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars 20th Century Fox

The IMAX release of A New Hope may differ from the version currently streaming on Disney+, potentially featuring the original theatrical cut rather than the special edition. Fans have discovered potential leaks suggesting that Lucasfilm is working on remastered versions of the original cuts of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. Reddit user No-Swordfish-6231 posted on r/StarWarsLeaks that clips from the remastering process were accidentally uploaded to YouTube. The user also included screenshots from these clips, which further support this theory.

Restoring the original versions of Star Wars would certainly make sense with the big anniversary and the plan to bring A New Hope to IMAX theaters. Re-releasing the original trilogy would be a huge event that could attract all sorts of crowds, making now the best time to introduce restored versions of the films that launched a major franchise. The main question is, did Lucasfilm get approval from the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas, to do this? Lucas was the one who released special editions of the Star Wars films, feeling that he could improve upon them. He’s no longer the head of Lucasfilm, however, meaning the company could be restoring the original cuts on its own.

Why This Is All a Big Deal

X-Wings in Star Wars 20th Century Fox

The idea of the original cuts of Star Wars getting re-released is a bit surprising, considering how long they’ve been kept from the public. Many younger Star Wars fans have never even seen the original Star Wars cuts. The original cuts were phased out when the special editions were released in 1997. That means anyone who’s part of Generation Z, which started around 1997, would have been born into a world without the theatrical cuts. A remastered version of these cuts would mark the first time these fans get the original Star Wars experience, and in such a convenient way, too.

Releasing the original versions of the first three Star Wars movies would be an effective way to win back favor with fans. The franchise hasn’t had the best luck pleasing fans after being acquired by Disney. The sequel trilogy didn’t live up to the original and prequel trilogies, and the recent focus on Disney+ shows hasn’t been great either. An announcement about restoring the original cuts would be perfect to get back in good graces with Star Wars fans, especially after recent news that Disney canceled a Ben Solo movie.

The supposed leaks of the original cuts’ remasters are especially exciting because the photos look great. The films haven’t had a remaster since 2019, when they were updated for 4K TVs for Disney+ with a Blu-ray release following soon after. Those remasters are good, but they leave something to be desired. Based on screenshots shared on Reddit, this upcoming theatrical release could look even better, especially if they’re showing in IMAX. Although IMAX theaters in the US are limited, the restoration will likely be available through other formats as well. Expect a physical and digital release to follow.


01359293_poster_w780.jpg


Release Date

May 25, 1977

Runtime

121 minutes

Producers

Gary Kurtz, Rick McCallum





This story originally appeared on Movieweb

10 Harsh Realities You Notice When Rewatching WandaVision

ScreenRant
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10 Harsh Realities You Notice When Rewatching WandaVision


WandaVision is one of the best TV shows to come out of Marvel Studios, but there are a few harsh realities that stand out when you go back and rewatch it. When WandaVision premiered in 2021, it felt like a breath of fresh air. It was a small-scale, low-stakes, character-driven story in a franchise of world-ending mega-blockbusters.

If you rewatch WandaVision today, it still holds up. But there are some glaring issues that stick out, like the underwhelming Ralph Bohner reveal.

WandaVision Gets Off To A Really Slow Start

Wanda and Vision smiling at the camera in WandaVision

The first couple of episodes of WandaVision get the series off to a really slow start. After a dozen movies in a row with mega-scale action sequences and world-ending stakes, it was refreshing to see a Marvel story where the biggest obstacle the characters faced was making dinner for a couple of unexpected guests.

But when you go back and rewatch WandaVision now, it takes a little while to get into it, because those first couple of episodes are really slow. There are only a handful of hints at the dark side of Wanda’s sitcom fantasy, but for the most part, it just plays like a typical sitcom.

Some Of The Dialogue Is Really On-The-Nose

Wanda and Vision sitting on her bed and talking about grief in WandaVision
Wanda and Vision sitting on her bed and talking about grief in WandaVision

WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer is a great writer and storyteller who’s been responsible for the best television to come out of Marvel Studios’ Disney+ output. She’s given us some of the MCU’s best new characters, she’s reinvigorated existing characters (not the least of which is Wanda and Vision themselves), and she’s told some deeply moving stories in this comic-book context.

But some of the dialogue in WandaVision is really on-the-nose. In a lot of scenes, WandaVision spells out its themes in conversation instead of finding subtler ways to convey its message. Everyone loves Vision’s line about grief, but it’s never a good sign when the characters have to tell the audience what the theme of the story is.

WandaVision Keeps Its Dramatic Hook A Secret For A Really Long Time

Wanda talking to her kids in WandaVision
Wanda talking to her kids in WandaVision

The dramatic hook of WandaVision is that Wanda has created this fantasy world to deal with her grief. She lost her parents in a military invasion, she lost her brother in a battle against an army of robots, and she lost the love of her life to the Mad Titan — and through it all, she found comfort in traditional sitcoms.

This brings a layer of emotional resonance to WandaVision’s tour through sitcom history. The reason she’s living out her own versions of I Love Lucy, Full House, and Modern Family is so she can escape the pain and loneliness she feels in the real world. But the show buries that lede for a really long time.

Wanda and Vision smiling at each other in WandaVision
Wanda and Vision smiling at each other in WandaVision

Director Matt Shakman got the look of the sitcom sequences exactly right. It surely helped that he’d directed episodes of sitcoms like Everybody Hates Chris and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but he even nailed the aesthetic of shows that came out before he was born. Those first two episodes look just like an episode of I Love Lucy.

The problem is with the writing. It might look exactly like I Love Lucy or The Dick Van Dyke Show, but it’s nowhere near as funny. Shows like Full House and Modern Family and The Brady Bunch were written by the best joke writers in Hollywood, and WandaVision’s team can’t keep up with them.

Wanda & Vision’s Relationship Wasn’t Very Interesting Before They Got Their Own Show

Sam Wilson, Vision and Wanda Maximoff seated in Avengers Compound in Captain America Civil War
Sam Wilson, Vision and Wanda Maximoff seated in Avengers Compound in Captain America Civil War

Before they got their own show, the MCU had developed the relationship between Wanda and Vision on the periphery. It was a minor subplot in Captain America: Civil War, and an even more minor subplot in Avengers: Infinity War. Vision’s death was heartbreaking, but we hadn’t had enough time to get to know them as a couple.

In WandaVision, Schaeffer rounded out Wanda and Vision’s relationship, deepened them as individual characters with their own emotions and motivations, and showed them both at their best and at their worst. But the series is a probing postmortem on a relationship that wasn’t very interesting to begin with.

The Ralph Bohner Gag Is A Massive Disappointment

Evan Peters as Ralph Bohner posing as Pietro Maximoff in WandaVision
Evan Peters as Ralph Bohner posing as Pietro Maximoff in WandaVision

Midway through WandaVision’s run, Wanda and Vision got a surprise visitor: Wanda’s dead brother, Pietro Maximoff, magically brought back to life. Except Pietro wasn’t played by his MCU actor, Aaron Taylor-Johnson; he was played by Evan Peters, who played a very different version of Quicksilver in Fox’s X-Men movies.

This was a jaw-dropping twist that generated all kinds of fan theories about how this version of Pietro had crossed over into the MCU, and what it could mean for the franchise’s future. But, as it turned out, Pietro is just an actor named Ralph Bohner that Agatha is controlling. All that for a juvenile “boner” gag.

WandaVision Subverts MCU Expectations, But It Still Culminates In A Big Final Battle

Wanda Maximoff wears her Scarlet Witch costume and headpiece in the WandaVision finale
Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff wears her Scarlet Witch costume and headpiece while walking through a Westview street

When WandaVision premiered, it felt like a breath of fresh air. It was unlike anything else Marvel Studios had done before. It wasn’t interested in superhero action; it wasn’t about a supervillain trying to take over the world — it was just a story about a woman dealing with her grief by magically creating a suburban family for company.

But, while the bulk of the series subverted the expectations of an MCU project, it still culminated in a big, extravagant, action-packed final battle sequence. The finale episode culminates in Wanda and her family coming together like the Incredibles to fight Agatha. It’s an unconventional show with a very conventional ending.

Agatha Harkness Completely Steals The Show

Agatha Harkness as Agnes in black and white in WandaVision episode 7
Agatha Harkness as Agnes in black and white in WandaVision episode 7

As great as Wanda and Vision’s story is, Agatha Harkness completely steals the show. Even before you find out Agatha is the big bad, Kathryn Hahn is giving the funniest performance in Wanda’s fake sitcom world. Hahn would be perfect for the wacky neighbor role in a classic sitcom, and in WandaVision, we got to see what that would look like.

The iconic “Agatha All Along” musical number doesn’t just indicate that Agatha has been pulling the strings all along; it indicates that she’s been everyone’s favorite character all along. It’s no wonder why Agatha was given her own spinoff after becoming the breakout star of WandaVision.

WandaVision’s Ending Is More Interested In Setting Up Future Marvel Projects Than Resolving Its Own Story

Monica Rambeau waking up in WandaVision
Monica Rambeau waking up in WandaVision

Ultimately, when WandaVision comes to an end, it’s more interested in setting up future Marvel projects than resolving its own story. This is a common problem with the MCU, and shared cinematic universes like it; there are no real endings, because each new story is just a stepping stone to the next one.

It sets up Agatha being trapped in Westview ahead of Agatha All Along. It sets up Monica Rambeau’s trip to space with S.W.O.R.D. and the Skrulls ahead of The Marvels. And it sets up Wanda studying the Darkhold ahead of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Speaking of which…

Doctor Strange 2 Would Promptly Turn Wanda Into A Monster, Undoing All Of WandaVision’s Hard Work

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda:Scarlet Witch looking sad at alternate universe orbs in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda:Scarlet Witch looking sad at alternate universe orbs in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The toughest pill to swallow when you rewatch WandaVision is where Wanda’s story went next. After Schaeffer had spent nine episodes charting Wanda’s descent into darkness, her return to the light, and her ultimate redemption, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness turned her into a monster of almost cartoonish proportions.

In WandaVision, Wanda’s emotional catharsis is letting go of Vision and their imaginary sons. But in Multiverse of Madness, she reverses that decision, goes on a mass-murder rampage, and holds a child hostage in an attempt to kidnap her own kids from an alternate version of herself. It was an interesting story, but it abandoned all her character development from WandaVision.



This story originally appeared on Screenrant

Jim James reflects on My Morning Jacket’s enduring legacy of ‘Z’

LATimes
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Jim James reflects on My Morning Jacket’s enduring legacy of ‘Z’


There’s no shortage of bands commemorating their glory days as decade anniversaries of albums fly by. Yet few landmark releases feel not only fresh but forward-thinking 20 years after they were recorded. My Morning Jacket stumbled onto this kind of brilliance in October 2004 when it released its fourth studio album “Z.” Across 10 tracks of lush, euphoria-driven rock ‘n’ roll, the band captured a notable tone shift in its sound that melded Southern rock, haunting folk, psychedelic soul laced with jam band energy. It’s a set of songs that still make up a huge chunk of the bands live show. In September the band performed the album in its entirety to a sold-out Hollywood Palladium for its 20th anniversary.

“We still play these songs all the time,” said frontman and principal songwriter Jim James in a recent conversation. “So it’s not like we broke up after we released ‘Z’ and then we got back together 20 years later to play these songs, and it’s such a trip. We’ve been playing them nonstop for 20 years.”

Shortly after the release of its 10th studio album “is,” the band put out a deluxe reissue of “Z” that includes four B-sides and a whole album’s worth of demo versions of songs like “Wordless Chorus,” “Off the Record” and Dodante. Recently James spoke to The Times about the enduring power of “Z” and the joy of going back to the beginning of the album’s origins to give himself and his fans a new appreciation for the groundbreaking sound the band created.

The rerelease of “Z” was prefaced earlier this year with a full-album show at the Palladium. What was it like revisiting the album on stage first before it came out (again) on vinyl and streaming?

This is our fourth album now to hit the 20-year mark. So we’ve got some experience now doing these album shows. And it’s funny because some of the earlier albums we don’t play all the songs from them so we had to go back and relearn a lot of songs. But the songs from “Z” we pretty much play all the songs all the time. So it’s pretty hilarious how it involved no effort. It just involved playing them in that order of the sequence of the album. But we kind of laughed about that. We’re like, man, we don’t really even have to do any research or anything. We were all kind of reflecting just on how grateful we are that we like playing all the songs still. It’s such a great feeling to play songs for 20 years and never really get tired of them. People still want to hear them and there’s still excitement there, and they still feel fresh. It’s really a beautiful thing.

This was your first album using an outside producer. What was that like for you as the songwriter to step in the studio with John Leckie to help you realize your vision with “Z”?

It was so great, because I really needed somebody who could work with me and not let our egos clash too much. John was just really great about coming in and respecting what I wanted to do, but also voicing his opinion and what he liked and what he didn’t like and when he thought we could do better. And it was just really so refreshing and so good for us to have him there. I mean, his track record speaks for itself, he’s somebody who you can trust right off the bat, just because of all the things they’ve done in the past. He’s such a soft-spoken gentleman but he also has this hilarious, brutal honesty about him, which was always really great.

Your lineup had also changed between the previous album “It Still Moves” and “Z” — adding keyboard player Bo Koster and guitarist Carl Broemel who are still in the band today. So was that like stepping in the studio with the “new guys” for the first time?

It was really nerve-racking and really exciting all at once. We had some touring experience under our belt with Bo and Carl, so we kind of knew that it was working out on that level, but we’d never really recorded before, so it was a real test for all of us. And I think we all knew that. So everybody brought their A game to the session and we took it really seriously, but we also had a lot of fun and just really kind of got to know each other. That was good to do that out in the middle of nowhere, out there in the Catskills, up at the studio. It gave us some time to really bond without a lot of the real-world stuff coming in or other people coming in. So I think that was really important, that we did it that way.

Do you remember what song came out of the sessions first?

“It Beats 4 U” was the first one, because that was one we had already played live before we started recording. So I think that was the first song that we started messing with. But I think they all were kind of coming to life around the same time. So by the time we got in there to start unpacking them, I had already written them and kind of made the demos of them and stuff.

It’s great that you included so many demo versions of your songs on this rerelease. What was the process like of locating these, sifting through and sequencing which ones you wanted to put on the album?

Well, I love demos for a lot of my favorite bands — I love it when I get to hear the demos from the albums. So I’m always saving all that stuff; with my own stuff I’m always compiling all the demos, because that’s half the fun to me. Because sometimes you get this just like a beautiful glimpse into the song. Quite often, I end up liking the demo more than I like the actual album, song because you get a whole, whole new view of it. It’s also interesting when you’re sequencing for vinyl, because you don’t have unlimited time so you kind of got to pick and choose, and that kind of forces you to just choose the best. There’s a whole other round of band demos and then there were my demos, so there were a lot of things to choose from. But it kind of helps me to look at it in vinyl format. There’s still something about the vinyl time limit that helps with quality control. Just kind of pick the ones that I feel are most effective and then try and make a fun sequence so that hopefully, if somebody’s into them, it’s kind of like you get a bonus album that you can listen to.

We had four true songs, B-sides, that we really love too, that weren’t demos. So that was really nice to finally get those out, because those had been on different soundtracks. And then one wasn’t even released. So I don’t think that those weren’t even on streaming or anything for years and years. So it’s really cool to have those out kind of everywhere now, because I’ve always liked all those songs and been proud of those songs too. And I think most bands know the feeling of you know when you make a record. Sometimes songs just don’t fit the record, even if you still love the songs.

MMJ during the "Z" era.

MMJ during the “Z” era.

(Sam Erickson)

Were you playing any of those live at the point where you released the album the first round, or did you shelve them for later?

We’ve always played “Where to Begin” live — off and on. We’ve also tried “Chills” a couple times, and I think we did “How Could I Know” a couple times. We’ve never played “The Devil’s Peanut Butter,” we kinda forgot that one existed until this whole [album rerelease] process started, and I found that song again. So we’ll probably play that one somewhere out on the next leg.

Was this process something that you enjoy doing, like, in terms of your how to, sort of like, reexamine an album?

I really love it because I just feel so grateful that anybody even gives a s–, you know? I mean, so there’s that part of me that’s just so grateful to even still be in the game, talking about this. But beyond that, it’s really cool for me because it’s like jumping in a time machine and going back and looking at that point in my life and getting perspective on where I am now, and seeing how I’ve grown and asking “where have I changed? Where have I not changed?” I look back and with all of these albums as they come up to this 20-year mark, and I see I’ve always been really mean and hard on myself, on Jim, but I know that Jim was doing the best he could at each time. That’s the one thing I’ve always kind of been able to see, to get myself through, to not be too hard on myself. I know I was giving it everything I had, so whether I would change things about it as I am today or not — we all look back on the past, and maybe there’s things we’d do differently, but it gives me a lot of comfort to know that I was trying as hard as I could, and all the guys in the band were trying as hard as they could. It really makes me feel proud of us for just putting in the time and effort.



This story originally appeared on LA Times

Bizarrap & Daddy Yankee Team Up for New ‘BZRP Music Session’

Billboard
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Bizarrap & Daddy Yankee Team Up for New ‘BZRP Music Session’


Bizarrap announced his next “BZRP Music Sessions” is with Daddy Yankee. 

The surprising news was shared in a joint Instagram post between the Argentine hitmaker and reggaetón icon on Tuesday (Nov. 4), alongside a photo of the two artists posing in Biza’s popular studio. “BZRP Music Session #0/66,” reads the caption — hinting that this is the first of 66 brand-new sessions. 

“He came back out of nowhere with a historic bomb,” reads one fan comment, referring to Bizarrap’s return after a 10-month hiatus. His last music session was “BZRP Music Sessions #61” alongside Billboard’s former Latin Artist on the Rise Luck Ra, released in December 2024.  

The news also comes on the heels of Daddy Yankee taking part in the Superstar Q&A panel at the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Week in October. During the hourlong conversation with Billboard’s Leila Cobo, the Puerto Rican artist opened up about his personal and professional rebirth, his latest album Lamento en Baile, and God’s purpose for him.

“I feel reborn, reenergized, and truly joyful with everything I’m experiencing,” he said to Cobo. “The personal, spiritual, and faith-based change certainly feels good in my heart. Each person has a different purpose and design. Everyone has a purpose to fulfill in their lives, and mine was this path: to forefront popular culture, announcing the Kingdom — that’s a challenge. My father is so strategic that he’s calling many people.”

“BZRP Music Session #0/66” is set to drop at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday. See the announcement post below: 

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This story originally appeared on Billboard

Explaining ‘The Mummy’ Universe – Where the Latest Brendan Fraser Entry Falls in It

TV Insider
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Explaining ‘The Mummy’ Universe – Where the Latest Brendan Fraser Entry Falls in It

Universal’s Brendan Fraser-led The Mummy franchise is about to get a resurrection.

Fraser, who played Rick O’Connell in the first three Stephen Sommers-universe Mummy films, and Rachel Weisz, who portrayed love interest Evelyn in the first two entries, are in talks to star in a potential fourth installment.

Filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett of Radio Silence are set to direct the project. Best known for their darkly comedic horror hits Ready or Not and the recent Scream installments, the duo is expected to inject both scares and sharp humor into the franchise.




This story originally appeared on TV Insider

Down 55%, is now the time to buy Diageo shares for my ISA?

Motley Fool
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Down 55%, is now the time to buy Diageo shares for my ISA?


Image source: Britvic (copyright Chris Saunders 2020)

Diageo (LSE:DGE) shares have lost more than half their value since the turn of 2022. Not only is this bad in itself, but during this time the FTSE 100 index has jumped around 30%.

In other words, investors could have made far better returns elsewhere in the FTSE 100 over this period. And for the record, I’m speaking from (painful) experience, as I owned Diageo in my own Stocks and Shares ISA until the start of this year.

However, since I pulled the plug, shares of the spirits giant have fallen another 27%. This makes them cheaper and the higher dividend yield far more appealing.

So, should I reintroduce Diageo back into my portfolio? Let’s find out.

The great debate

As many readers will know, the firm owns a truly outstanding portfolio of world-class brands. These include Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon’s, Smirnoff, Don Julio, and Baileys. Oh, and the evergreen phenomenon that is Guinness!

Just writing this list — which is in no way exhaustive — makes me wonder how on earth the stock is down 55% in less than four years. The is key to working out whether there’s an incredibly lucrative buying opportunity here or not.

Nobody seems to be sure why exactly sales across the alcohol industry are in the doldrums. Is it because many consumers are under financial pressure? Younger people are drinking far less booze? Are GLP-1 weight-loss drugs playing a part?

These are the questions underpinning the cyclical-structural debates going on in financial circles right now. Put simply, are Diageo’s sales under pressure simply because people are skint, or are there deeper consumer behaviour changes at play?

If it’s the former, then the downturn could be cyclical and temporary. And therefore this is a potential opportunity to buy Diageo shares on the cheap. But if it’s the latter, then overall alcohol volumes might never start growing again, and could even go into reverse.

Bright spots

Unsurprisingly, Diageo’s in the former camp, arguing that near-term pressures are being driven by macroeconomic issues. It says US households are spending 20% more for 7% less products than they were in 2020. So premium drinks and parties are being deprioritised.

Yet, it’s not all doom and gloom for Diageo, by any stretch. Last year, premium tequila brand Don Julio enjoyed double-digit growth in all regions, while roughly one in every nine pints poured in the UK nowadays is Guinness.

To lean into the non-alcohol trend, Diageo plans to offer Guinness 0.0 in every UK pub that has the stout on draught. Meanwhile, the hit show House of Guinness on Netflix won’t be doing the brand’s cool reputation any harm among younger consumers.

What do the experts say?

Analysts are somewhat divided right now, with 14 rating the stock as a Buy, and a further 10 saying Hold or Sell. However, the average 12-month share price target is 32.5% above the current 1,768p.

As mentioned, the stock is offering a decent dividend yield (4.3%), while trading cheaply at just 13 times forward earnings. And with a new permanent CEO set to be unveiled sooner rather than later, the stock may have strong turnaround potential.

However, I’m still unsure myself. I’ll wait to see what Diageo says in its Q1 2026 trading statement later this week.



This story originally appeared on Motley Fool

Prince William wins hearts as he cuddles baby handed to him on Brazilian island | World News

SkyNews
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Prince William wins hearts as he cuddles baby handed to him on Brazilian island | World News


Prince William has put his fatherly skills to good use, holding a baby handed to him from a sea of well-wishers on an island in Brazil.

William travelled to the Brazilian island retreat of Paqueta, a 50-minute ferry ride from Rio de Janeiro, to learn about its mangrove habitat and sample the slower pace of life on an island, where there are no private cars and bicycles are the main form of transport.

But as dozens of well-wishers excitedly said hello to the future king, 10-month-old Joaquim Monteiro was handed to him for a hug. Joking with his family, William said, “mustn’t drop him!” before giving the little boy a cuddle.

Image:
Prince William takes photos with people on Paqueta Island during an official visit to Brazil. Pic: Reuters

Holding him with the confidence of a father of three young children, William said: “Bless him” before handing him back to his grandmother Christina. Andre Luis Junior, the baby’s cousin and a teacher, said: “Nobody asked him – he just picked him up. It’s probably because he has three kids. He loves kids.”

He added: “It’s amazing. We are so happy, so happy he chose this very small island. We’re very unique in the heart of Rio. Very quiet. We love that he chose to come here. The kids in school were so excited today.”

The prince helped several young children come to the front of the meet and greet in the main square by the waterfront, bending down to be in photographs with them and taking the occasional selfie.

The Prince of Wales takes part in a mangrove planting activity in Guanabara Bay during his visit to Brazil. Pic: PA
Image:
The Prince of Wales takes part in a mangrove planting activity in Guanabara Bay during his visit to Brazil. Pic: PA

Read more from Sky News:
Sir David Beckham receives knighthood from the King
Sudan’s government warns of genocide in Darfur

The island, which only has around 5,000 residents, had declared the visit The Day Of The Prince, and children were given time off school to see him.

William wanted to meet those involved in protecting the island’s mangrove forests, a crucial ecosystem for preventing flooding, coastal erosion, providing a habitat for wildlife, and supporting the fishing community.

The Prince of Wales tours the mangrove area in Guanabara Bay, Brazil. Pic: PA
Image:
The Prince of Wales tours the mangrove area in Guanabara Bay, Brazil. Pic: PA

He travelled on a boat into the Guapimirim mangrove to learn about the restoration work taking place there and helped with a planting activity as part of their reforestation scheme.

The pictures will be particularly important to the prince and his team, emphasising why the world needs to focus minds on the climate crisis, ahead of his appearance at COP 30, the UN’s climate conference in Belem on Thursday.



This story originally appeared on Skynews

‘Teen Vogue’ moves under Vogue.com, 6 staffers are laid off : NPR

NPR
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‘Teen Vogue’ moves under Vogue.com, 6 staffers are laid off : NPR


Teen Vogue signage is seen during the 2025 Teen Vogue Summit at NYA WEST on Sept. 20, 2025 in Los Angeles.

Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Teen Vogue


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Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Teen Vogue

Teen Vogue staffers have taken to social media to share the news they’ve been laid off, just as Condé Nast announced the outlet will be “joining Vogue.com, a transition that’s part of a broader push to expand the Vogue ecosystem.”

Teen Vogue covered fashion and celebrity, but also took in-depth looks at politics and social justice issues. Their writers have tackled everything from climate change to political pressures on universities, celebrity style to Billie Eilish’s recent comments about billionaires.

According to a statement posted on X from Condé United, a bargaining unit of the union the NewsGuild of New York, six of its members who worked for Teen Vogue are being laid off.

Vogue magazines at a newsstand during VOGUE World: New York in 2022.

The union statement said that most of the six “are BIPOC women or trans, including Teen Vogue‘s politics editor, . . . Teen Vogue now has no writers or editors explicitly covering politics.” The statement also says that after the layoffs, there is only one woman of color on the editorial staff.

A statement posted on Vogue.com said that Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Versha Sharma “will be leaving the company.” Chloe Malle, head of editorial content for American Vogue, will oversee the outlet.

“I was laid off from Teen Vogue yesterday, along with 70% of my incredible team,” Kaitlyn McNab Teen Vogue‘s culture editor, posted on X. “Much longer post incoming, but I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has reached out to me with love. God got me. We move.”

The Roosevelt Institute, a progressive think tank which recently awarded Teen Vogue its 2025 Freedom of Speech and Expression awards, criticized the move. “The decision by Condé Nast today to collapse this publication into Vogue and eliminate the politics reporting staff at Teen Vogue is evidence that corporate concentration eliminates innovative ideas and silences voices with less power,” it said in a statement.

Former 'Teen Vogue' Editor Shares Her Memoir — And Her Manifesto

Vogue said the move is not intended to diminish Teen Vogue. It said, “The title will remain a distinct editorial property, with its own identity and mission; sitting under the Vogue umbrella will provide a more unified reader experience across titles.”

Vogue Business, for industry professionals, was folded into Vogue.com‘s platform last week.

This story was edited by Jennifer Vanasco.




This story originally appeared on NPR

Disturbing video shows fatal collision between LAPD and skateboarder

LATimes
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Disturbing video shows fatal collision between LAPD and skateboarder


Los Angeles police have released video of a disturbing incident in which one of their officers fatally struck a skateboarder riding in the middle of the road in Highland Park.

Gerardo “Jerry” Estrada was killed in the Sept. 19 crash, which remains under investigation.

The officer driving was responding to a call in the 6100 block of Piedmont Avenue at 7:15 p.m. and headed north on Figueroa Street to help establish a perimeter while police searched for a felony warrant suspect, said Capt. Mike Bland, a department spokesperson.

The officer, Bland said, was driving with their siren on and emergency lights flashing when they hit Estrada.

In the video, captured by the vehicle’s dashcam, the police cruiser is seen weaving across lanes on Figueroa Street, at times driving on the wrong side of the street to get around vehicles stacked up and blocking lanes at a red light near intersections. Sirens can be heard in the background.

Still from police video of a skateboarder being hit by a patrol car.

(Los Angeles Police Department)

The vehicle is seen steering left toward the center median as it approaches another red light in the distance.

Two officers can be heard talking to each other as the car drives down the street, until one of the officers is heard saying, “Watch out, watch out, watch out!”

In the video, Estrada is seen on a skateboard in the center median. Estrada jumps off the skateboard, and briefly puts up both of his hands before he is struck by the car.

“Oh s—, dude!” one of the officers is heard saying as the patrol car pulls to the far left lane of the street.

“Oh f—!” the other officer says. “F—, man!”

Officers quickly jumped out of the vehicle and found Estrada wedged underneath a parked vehicle nearby, Bland said in a video statement released by the department.

The patrol car involved in the crash.

The patrol car involved in the crash.

(Los Angeles Police Department)

Body camera from one of the officers, also released Tuesday by the department, shows the crash occurred just outside a carnival, where witnesses began to yell and urge officers to do something.

“Do something, there’s somebody f— dying!” one person is heard yelling.

The officers removed Estrada from under the car, and attempted to render first aid.

Firefighters who responded to the scene declared Estrada dead at the scene.

According to Bland, the crash is still under investigation, which could take months to complete.

LAPD officials did not immediately respond to questions on the identities of the two officers who were in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

The day following the crash, Estrada’s mother, Rosa Casares, told KTLA her son was headed home from work that night.

“He was a wonderful kid,” she told KTLA.



This story originally appeared on LA Times

Thandiwe Muriu: She turns African fabrics into optical illusions and the world can't look away

France24
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Thandiwe Muriu: She turns African fabrics into optical illusions and the world can't look away

Kenyan photographer Thandiwe Muriu is turning heads and bending reality. Her vibrant portraits blend women seamlessly into richly patterned fabrics, creating hypnotic optical illusions that celebrate African identity while questioning how we see beauty, culture and self-expression. Now, Muriu returns to Paris for her third solo exhibition, “Clouds Bring Blessings”, at 193 Gallery. For the first time, she’s created her own tie-dye fabrics, calling nature her “uninvited co-creator”. In this edition of arts24, Muriu opens up about her journey from Kenya’s first female commercial photographer to a global art sensation – and how fabric, light and heritage weave together in her striking visual universe.


This story originally appeared on France24

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