BBC’s 1960s thriller Ridley Road is based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Brighton-based writer Jo Bloom. Set within the Jewish community of East London’s Ridley Road, Bloom’s story follows Vivien Epstein (played by Agnes O’Casey), who works as a hairstylist at a stylish salon in Soho, London. When she isn’t at the salon, or resisting an arranged marriage, Epstein is infiltrating the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement to find out what happened to her disappeared lover. Claire Anderson’s costume design for Ridley Road enables Epstein to switch between her two lives — as the brunette “good Jewish daughter”, and the blond undercover spy. The costume design for Ridley Road complements the set design throughout the series with lots of blue...
Since the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK burst onto our screens this month, it’s once again become one of the main highlights of our week. Whether it’s the important discussions that take place in the dressing room, the catty remarks following RuPaul’s critiques, or the dazzling celebrity judges (we see you, Nicola Coughlan), each week on Drag Race UK so far has proven itself to be something truly special. What’s undoubtedly most impressive, however, is of course the outfits. Each episode sees the queens completing a number of challenges that all involve serving some serious “lewks”, and after fashion queen Bimini Bon-Boulash graced us with their presence last season, the pressure has been on for the contestants to prove their worth on the r...
Captain Gareth Bale said Wednesday’s win over Turkey in Baku puts Wales in a “great position” to reach the Euro 2020 last 16. Aaron Ramsey and Connor Roberts scored to send Wales top of Group A on four points before Italy host Switzerland later on. “The victory puts us in a great position,” Bale told the BBC. “If you’d have offered us four points at the start we would’ve bitten your hand off,” he added. A hostile crowd whistled every touch from Bale and his team-mate with the locals supporting the Crescent Stars due to historical links between Turkey and Azerbaijan. “It helped, playing in front of no fans it’s difficult to get the adrenaline going,” Bale said. “The fans were fantastic, I know most of them were Turkish but the Wales fans were incredible. “We want to thanks the fans at home ...
Iran is temporarily banning cryptocurrency mining after some of the country’s major cities experienced repeated blackouts. President Hassan Rouhani said that the ban would last until September 22nd. The country has experienced summer blackouts in years past, and while the current round of outages is mostly being blamed on a drought that’s affecting the country’s ability to generate hydroelectric power, it seems that the Iranian government is eager to cut down on any aggravating factors. Power-hungry cryptocurrency mining operations, for instance. According to the BBC, Iran operates a program where Bitcoin miners must register with with the government, pay extra for electricity, and sell their coins to the central bank. President Rouhani stated that the legal mining operations in the countr...
Mali’s president and prime minister have been ousted by the officer who led last year’s coup and became vice-president of an interim government. Col Assimi Goïta says President Bah Ndaw and PM Moctar Ouane failed in their duties and were seeking to sabotage the country’s transition. They were arrested hours after a government reshuffle which saw two senior army officers replaced. Col Goïta says elections will still go ahead next year as planned. But he ignored pleas from the UN chief, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the EU and the US that the president and prime minister be released without any preconditions. The two men have been held at a military camp outside the capital, Bamako, since they were arrested on Monday evening. A delegation from Eco...
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday denied a newspaper report that he had said he would rather bodies piled “high in their thousands” than order a third COVID-19 lockdown. Johnson is facing a stream of allegations in newspapers – all of them denied – about everything from his muddled initial handling of the COVID-19 crisis to questions over who financed the redecoration of his official apartment. The Daily Mail newspaper cited unidentified sources as saying that, in October, shortly after agreeing to a second lockdown, Johnson told a meeting in Downing Street: “No more fucking lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands.” Asked whether he had made the remark, Johnson told broadcasters: “No, but again, I think the important thing, I think, that people want us to get o...
File Photo Telecoms company Nokia has announced its plan to cut between 5,000 and 10,000 jobs globally in the next two years. It said the move will enable it reduce cost, catch up on 5G, and invest in cloud computing and digital infrastructure research. Nokia said on Tuesday that the restructuring is aimed at boosting its performance against opponents such as Sweden’s Ericsson and China’s Huawei. The company did not indicate regions affected by the measure, but said about 96 jobs in the UK were under threat as part of the €600m (£518m) cost cuts, BBC reported. A Nokia spokesperson was quoted as saying, “We currently expect the consultation process in the UK to cover an estimated 96 roles.” “At this stage, however, these are only estimates. It is too early to comment in detail, as we have o...
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said it has found six more cases of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant in the country. This brings the total number of people who have tested positive to the variant in Nigeria to 13. The B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant was first detected in the United Kingdom and has since spread to other parts of the world. The Director-General of NCDC, Chikwe Iheakwazu, while speaking at the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Monday, said the six new cases were detected in Lagos State by scientists at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), at the Redeemers University in Ede, Osun State. “Last week we detected six additional samples of the B.1.1.7 variants in Lagos state,” Mr Ihekweazu said. “We already have five c...