The 10 best books to read to beat coronavirus boredom

Christopher Vourlias Training their lens on the largely untold story of the atrocities committed against Thessaloniki’s Jewish population during World War II, Syllas Tzoumerkas and Christos Passalis will bow “The City and the City” Feb. 15 in the Berlin Film Festival’s competitive Encounters strand.Unspooling in six fragmented chapters, the film tells the story of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community from the first half of the 20th century until the present day, where contemporary life reflects a city that violently and irrevocably lost its multicultural character, almost overnight.Natives who both left Thessaloniki in their twenties, the directors said they wanted to focus on what Tzoumerkas described as a “blind spot” in their respective upbringings, in which the suffering and near annihilation of the city’s Jewish community went virtually unmentioned.

Over £6000 has been raised for charity in memory of a much-loved Hamilton girl who died suddenly last year.

Emiliano De Pablos Spanish media giant Atresmedia is joining forces with Portocabo, the production outfit behind Movistar Plus hit series “Hierro,” for a remake of Showtime drama “Your Honor,” starring Bryan Cranston.The Spanish redo is currently at the script stage and initiating casting.With an undisclosed number of episodes, the project production is scheduled to kick off this year.The TV series release date is still unknown. But it would be logical for it to launch on platform Atresplayer Premium before airing on Atresmedia’s free-to-air channel Antena 3 primetime, a windowing strategy usually followed by the group with its new fiction releases since Atresplayer Premium bowed in 2019.

Plans to erect a 5G mobile phone mast in an Ayrshire conservation area have been rejected by council chiefs.

Kris Commons reckons Dave Cormack must choose Aberdeen's next manager wisely - or risk losing the fans.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are celebrating the Los Angeles Rams’ win!

“We know that you’re a homosexual, we’ve been following you.”Trigger Warning: This story has details of suicidal ideation and might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.This is what Yvonne Sillett,  a former Australian soldier and cipher operator, was told during a 1988 interrogation into her sexuality in relation to her security clearance. The royal commission is gathering evidence from ADF members who have had suicidal ideation or from surviving family members of those who have died.  Describing her interrogation, Sillett said that “after several hours of this questioning they said they would be taking the matter further and that, based on my sexuality, I could no longer be in Signal Corps as I’d be open to blackmail, and that they were downgrading my security clearance which was needed to do that job. They told me I’d never instruct women again.”According to The Guardian, during her interrogation, she was asked to give up the names of other homosexual military personnel but she refused to do so.With the help of a partner at the time, Sillett was able to “pull through.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentZDF Enterprises, a key production-distribution component of one of Europe’s biggest public broadcaster powerhouses, Germany’s ZDF, is set to operate under the new name of ZDF Studios.Effective from April 1, the title, announced by ZDF Enterprises President and CEO Fred Burcksen on Monday in Mainz, captures much better ZDFE’s current business reach, scale and ambitions.“We are a studio, we cover all elements of our industry, from early development to longtail sales. The new name fits our business model much better and reflects our production and distribution expertise,” Burcksen said.ZDF Enterprises was launched in 1993 to handle worldwide program distribution as new content-avid private TV networks sprang up in Europe and beyond and also to deal with the business affairs of the acquisition of programs from around the world.

Naman Ramachandran Acclaimed Nepalese filmmaker Deepak Rauniyar has cast Indian actor Tannishtha Chatterjee as one of the leads in his upcoming feature “The Sky Is Mine.”Chatterjee’s credits include “Brick Lane” (2007), for which she scored a best actress nomination at the British Independent Film Awards, “Parched” (2015) and “Lion” (2016). She won the Asia Star Award for best Asian filmmaker at Busan for her directorial debut, “Roam Rome Mein” (2019).Rauniyar’s latest work, short film “Four Nights,” is playing at Berlinale Shorts. The filmmaker’s first feature, “Highway,” premiered at the 2012 Berlinale and played Locarno, while his sophomore feature “White Sun” (2016) won awards at the Venice, Palm Springs, Fribourg and Singapore festivals.

Hannah Ann Sluss confirmed she's dating Los Angeles Rams player Jake Funk ahead of Super Bowl Sunday.After keeping their relationship on the down-low, the former Bachelor starlet took to her Instagram page and shared an array of photos and videos, which included her fashion and food preps before heading to SoFi Stadium to see all the action live and in person.One of those images showed Sluss giving her beau a 'good luck kiss' before the big game against the Cincinnati Bengals.And in the end the couple have plenty to celebrate, as a late 4th quarter touchdown pass by Matthew Stafford to Cooper Kupp gave the Rams a 23-20 win to become the new world champions of the NFL. Confirmed! Hannah Ann Sluss confirmed she's dating LA Rams player Jake Funk before the team took on the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl 56 at Sofi Stadium in Los AngelesSluss, who was a contestant on the 24th season ofThe Bachelor in 2020, took a selfie video of her 'good Luck kiss' seemingly from inside the Rams hotel.She was all about showcasing her legs and midriff decked out in a black shorts and white crop top combination, although she did cover up at times by wearing an LA Rams jacket with her man's name and uniform number 34 on the back.

Her estranged husbandKanye 'Ye' West called her current boyfriend Pete Davidson a 'd***head' and shared ascreengrab of his private text to him on Sunday.But Kim Kardashian didn't seem too bothered about the social media drama.The 41-year-old SKIMS mogul ignored all of Ye's posts as she took to Instagram to instead share some very fashionable snaps of herself. Fashionista: Kim Kardashiantook to Instagram to instead share some very fashionable snaps of herselfKim looked out of this world in a black flight suit with matching heels as she accessorizedwith the same Catwoman-esque Balenciaga shades she wore after the Met Gala.

Miley Cyrus went all out for her set at this year’s Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest, performing 20 songs including mashups, covers, and a live debut of a ‘Plastic Hearts’ deep cut.The former Disney star opened up the show with her 2013 hit ‘We Can’t Stop’, with a brief interpolation of the Pixies’ 1988 classic ‘Where Is My Mind?’. Later in the set, she blends ‘Wrecking Ball’ with elements of Sinead O’Connor’s Prince-written ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.A sextet of covers punctuated the setlist, first with ‘Heart Of Glass’ by Blondie, then ‘23’ by Mike WiLL Made-It and ‘Maybe’ by Janis Joplin, with the live debut of her own ‘Plastic Hearts’ track ‘Never Be Me’ sandwiched in-between.

Sam Page, the actor who stars in Kia‘s new commercial with Robo Dog, has welcomed the adorable robot to his family!

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, renowned for his epic cinematic vision, now trains his sights on women’s empowerment tale “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” playing as a Berlinale Special Gala on Feb. 16.Starring Alia Bhatt (2019 Berlinale selection “Gully Boy”) in the titular role, the film is based on the book, “Mafia Queens of Mumbai,” written by S. Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.

It was a HUGE night for Van Jefferson!

the Super Bowl LVI Pepsi Halftime Show, and delivered a jaw-dropping spectacle that took a lot of work to make happen.ET's Kevin Frazier spoke with Jesse Collins, executive producer of this year's halftime show, and he reflected on what it was like to make such a memorable event really come to life.«We've been in development of this since last September, just talking every week, every single moment, and we've been in hard rehearsals probably for the last three weeks,» Collins reflected. «I think the hardest part of it was getting it [down] to 13 minutes.»«I mean, you've got monster catalogues and trying to figure out how to make this work... I mean I could think of 10 records that I wish they would've done,» he added.

JD Linville There are few places on Earth more visually striking than the Black Sands of Reynisfjara Beach in Iceland, where tourists flock to take pictures and stand a fool’s chance to be smashed against the rocks by sneaker waves, then drowned at sea. These dangerous and beautiful beaches serve as backdrop for Icelandic showrunner Baldvin Z’s crime thriller series “Black Sands,” which will play at Berlinale Series. Written by Baldvin Z, Ragnar Jónsson, Andri Óttarsson and Aldís Hamilton, the limited series follows disgraced detective Anita (played by Hamilton) as she investigates a series of deaths at the beach while balancing the familial shadows of her past.The series, produced by Baldvin Z’s own Glassriver, brings a warmth to Nordic Noir not often seen, with scenes of Anita reconnecting and rekindling her hometown connections after expulsion from Reykjavik.

Tim Dams Since its launch in 2015, the Berlinale Series section has emerged as a kind of a boutique scripted TV fest set within a major film festival.The Berlinale was famously the first A-list festival to embrace changing viewer habits and to officially incorporate television drama into its lineup — and this head-start is reflected in the growing stature of Berlinale Series.Taking place over a concentrated three-day period (Feb. 14-16), Berlinale Series offers up seven world and international premieres from around 200 entries, giving each of them the red-carpet treatment at the Zoo Palast cinema.Running parallel, the Berlinale Series Market — part of the European Film Market — offers up an online conference program, showcases and screenings.

European Film Market has felt lopsided.Sony’s $60 million deal for Tom Hanks’ “A Man Called Otto,” an adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s bestselling Swedish-language novel “A Man Called Ove” — which was made into an Oscar-nominated  Swedish feature — that grabbed headlines early on (Variety understands it boiled down to a bidding war between the studio and Apple), but hasn’t necessarily spawned the usual flurry of deals from Berlin halfway through the festival.One buyer from a major U.K. distributor says the EFM vibe has felt “muted” for a company of its size, with an absence of broad-appeal product available once “Otto” was snapped up by Sony.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentImage Nation Abu Dhabi and low-budget Australian genre label Spooky Pictures have announced “Late Night With the Devil,” the second title under their multi-picture deal following Chloe Okuno’s  “Watcher,” which made a splash at Sundance.“Late Night With the Devil” will be helmed by writing/directing duo Colin and Cameron Cairns (“100 Bloody Acres,” “Scare Campaign”) and is set to start shooting in Australia later this year.Cinetic is handling the U.S./North American rights to the film. Stuart Ford’s AGC Intl.

Tim Dams One of the highlights of the Berlinale Series Market is the pitch event Co-Pro Series, which looks to match projects with suitable co-producers and financiers.Ten international series projects from Europe, Canada and Latin America have been selected to pitch at this year’s Co-Pro Series, where they will also have the opportunity of meeting one-on-one with potential partners.Taking place over two days (Feb. 15-16), and held online once again due to the pandemic, Co-Pro Series has a track record of showcasing drama projects that have not only gone on to be produced, but that have also achieved success.International hit “Babylon Berlin,” Austrian-German crime series “Freud,” Norwegian-German domestic terrorism drama “Furia,” Icelandic thriller “Blackport” and 1920s-set German drama “Eldorado KaDeWe” have all participated in previous Co-Pro Series pitches.