The Guardian news (unofficial)

2021-10-14 16:00:18 Lost in translation? The one-inch truth about Netflix’s subtitle problem

Subtitling is an essential art form. So why, as the streaming giant scores more global hits with shows like Squid Game and Call My Agent, isn’t it trying harder to find the right words?“Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” So said the director Bong Joon-ho, as he accepted his best picture Oscar for Parasite in 2020, in a not-so-subtle dig at the dominance of English language content. The success of Netflix’s Korean series Squid Game, where contestants compete in deadly playground games to win a cash prize, has proved him more than right. It has become Netflix’s biggest hit yet, earning the title of its No 1 show in 90 countries, mostly within days of release and eclipsing even the mighty Bridgerton. But it has also sparked an intense debate about what gets lost in that one-inch block of text – and raised questions over whether Netflix is investing enough in creating accurate versions of foreign-language scripts.Even before Squid Game, some of Netflix’s biggest hits were “foreign language” series, among them Lupin (France), Elite (Spain), Dark (Germany) and Money Heist (Spain). This is partly about global viewers being increasingly open to seeking out the best entertainment experiences. But it also speaks, perhaps, to a sort of secret fantasy that we might understand more in another language than we think. In the same way that everyone who lapped up the Danish series Borgen convinced themselves they could speak Danish just because they could say “Tak, tak, Staatsminister” (“Yes, yes, Prime Minister”) in a dodgy Scandinavian accent, so viewers turned to French slang YouTube videos to try to decode their best bits from Call My Agent. The optimistic inquiry “Can I speak a language fluently just by watching TV?” yields 10.4 million Google results. Continue reading...

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#Television #Squid_Game #Netflix #Language #Television_&_radio Open / Comment

2021-10-14 16:00:14 Fire-ravaged Greek island of Evia hit by floods and mudslides

Experts say loss of forests, which act as natural flood control mechanism, has worsened impact of heavy rain Storms and heavy rains have laid bare the sheer scale of the destruction wreaked by massive fires on the Greek island of Evia, with communities now forced to deal with flooding and mudslides.After a summer of record temperatures igniting unprecedented wildfires across Greece, authorities in affected regions have now been put on the defensive as the nation has been hit by a second bout of severe weather in less than a week. Continue reading...

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#Greece #Wildfires #Flooding #World_news #Environment Open / Comment

2021-10-14 15:40:26 Jon Gruden was hostile to Black people for years before his emails came out

In his dealings with those in his immediate orbit, the former Raiders head coach long ago showed us where he thinks a Black man’s place in football should beNow that Jon Gruden has been forced out in Las Vegas – and this, after an eight years-long email trail of his racist, homophobic and misogynistic exchanges were unearthed as part of an investigation into the Washington Football Team’s fratty workplace culture – it’s worth revisiting how the coach came to power in the Raiders organization for the second time in his gilded career.Six years before Gruden was lured out of ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth with a 10-year, $100m carrot, the Raiders were circling the drain; in 2014, they’d win a paltry three games on the way to tying for the NFL’s third-worst record. But over the next few seasons the team slowly rebuilt itself into a contender, winning 12 games to reach the 2016 playoffs. And there was no doubt that resurgence was a credit to the shrewd work of general manager Reggie McKenzie, the former Raiders linebacker and the first person to run football operations other than owner Al Davis. Continue reading...

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#NFL #Las_Vegas_Raiders #US_sports #Sport Open / Comment

2021-10-14 15:40:22 What it is really like as a player when you know your manager is doomed | Karen Carney

Players’ first thoughts are about how it will affect them and it was an eye-opener to see how split a squad can be by a sackingPeople are selfish, there is no getting away from it. Whether you are a footballer or working in an office, employees are always thinking about how any decision will affect their professional lives. Being creatures of habit, humans do not like change and want consistency. When change is coming, people go into self-mode and can become selfish.When a manager is under pressure – as has been the case with Steve Bruce at Newcastle – that is passed down to the players, especially when tens of thousands of people make it known to you every fortnight. The anxiety travels around the dressing room and training ground, making you feel the added burden. Individuals will deal with it differently, because every player has something to win or lose from a manager being replaced. Continue reading...

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#Football #Sport Open / Comment

2021-10-14 15:40:18 Daniel Craig says he goes to gay bars to avoid fights at straight venues

Bond star says he dislikes the aggression of hetero spaces, and gay bars were a good place to meet womenFrom his portrayal of a more vulnerable Bond to his cerise suit jacket on the red carpet, Daniel Craig has worked hard to defy expectations of masculinity – so it came as little surprise when the actor revealed he likes to frequent gay bars to avoid the “aggressive dick swinging” of hetero spaces.“I’ve been going to gay bars for as long as I can remember,” Craig said on the podcast Lunch with Bruce. “One of the reasons: because I don’t get into fights in gay bars that often.” Continue reading...

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#Daniel_Craig #LGBT_rights #Film #Culture Open / Comment

2021-10-14 15:40:13 ‘A lull not a loss’: Islamic State is rebuilding in Syria, say Kurdish forces

Those who fought the so-called caliphate fear a US withdrawal could help the terrorist group to rise again On a blazing afternoon in Syria’s eastern desert this month, a Kurdish commander was hot under the collar. An American raid had just taken place against remnants of Islamic State (IS), and Lukman Khalil, the region’s most senior military leader, had known nothing about it.The US forces had flown across the wasteland of the terrorist group’s last redoubt. Three years ago it was teeming with diehard IS members, but when thousands of holdouts emerged from the decimated town of Baghuz, the war against the so-called caliphate was won, or so it seemed. Continue reading...

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#Islamic_State #Syria #Middle_East_and_North_Africa #World_news Open / Comment

2021-10-14 15:20:42 Corporations are pledging to be ‘water positive’. What does that mean?

Reuse, watershed restoration and new cooling methods back companies’ commitments to conserve scarce water resourcesOne of PepsiCo’s largest food manufacturing plants sits in the perennially water-stressed Valley of Mexico watershed, which provides water to 21 million people in Mexico City and its surrounding suburbs. The aquifer running below the city is so drastically depleted that the metropolis is sinking as the water table falls, and the pipes that bring water in from far-off rivers and lakes are in disrepair.“The city cannot provide the water that we need, so we truck it in,” said Roberta Barbieri, vice-president for global sustainability at PepsiCo. It’s an expensive solution to an intractable problem – the water shortage is not sustainable from either a human or business standpoint. So Pepsi has promised to decrease its water consumption in the region and replenish what it uses. By treating wastewater on site, for example, the factory can reuse 80% of the water it draws from the tap or the truck. “We’re pushing to get that close to 100%,” Barbieri said. Continue reading...

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#Environment #Business #Water #Pepsico #Food_&_drink_industry Open / Comment

2021-10-14 15:20:37 How to eat: chocolate pots

This month How to Eat deep-dives into chocolate pots – is mousse or cream better? Flake or Freddo? And why does spoon technique matter?It seems wrong that the world knows Gordon Ramsay’s name while the creator of the extraordinary seasoning for tangy cheese Doritos remains anonymous. Where are the Michelin stars for the hidden heroes of food science? The magazine covers for the lab-coated magicians who invented Lindt balls, Magnums or Mini Cheddars?For who has brought you more pleasure in life? How to Eat (HTE) has eaten at Noma. It was incredible. The chef, René Redzepi, challenged our notions of what food can be. But so did the inventor of the ice-cream Mars bar, which, for years after its launch in 1989, redefined deep-frozen luxury. Continue reading...

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#Food #Chocolate #Dessert #Snacks #Cadbury Open / Comment

2021-10-14 15:20:34 Northern Ireland secretary failed to comply with abortion duty, judge rules

Ruling will put pressure on UK government to address ongoing lack of abortion facilities in regionThe Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, has failed to uphold his duties to provide full abortion services in the region, a high court judge has ruled.The ruling will put the government in Westminster under pressure to address the situation in Northern Ireland, where women are struggling to access safe abortion services more than 18 months after the procedure was made legal in the country. Continue reading...

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#Northern_Ireland #Northern_Irish_politics #Abortion #Health #Reproductive_rights Open / Comment

2021-10-14 15:20:29 The five biggest threats to our natural world … and how we can stop them

From destructive land use to invasive species, scientists have identified the main drivers of biodiversity loss – so that countries can collectively act to tackle themRead more on the Cop15 talks to negotiate new UN targets to protect biodiversity in the coming decadeThe world’s wildlife populations have plummeted by more than two-thirds since 1970 – and there are no signs that this downward trend is slowing. The first phase of Cop15 talks in Kunming this week will lay the groundwork for governments to draw up a global agreement next year to halt the loss of nature. If they are to succeed, they will need to tackle what the IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) has identified as the five key drivers of biodiversity loss: changes in land and sea use; direct exploitation of natural resources; climate change; pollution; and invasion of alien species. Continue reading...

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#Biodiversity #Endangered_species #Endangered_habitats #Climate_crisis #Conservation Open / Comment