Quote from: T*mir*TWhat makes you royalty?

Quote from: dsanchez on Today at 10:53:48No matter who the President of the US is, they will always do what Israel wants, no matter what.

QuotePresident Trump's bombshell proposal for the United States to build a "Gaza Riviera" is now a trending hashtag on social media. In a series of statements this week, he called for Palestinians to leave Gaza indefinitely while it is rebuilt, asking Egypt and Jordan to shelter them in the meantime. He also did not insist on a two-state outcome for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, breaking with a policy sustained by successive Republican and Democratic administrations, including his first term.

QuoteJamie Johnson, Head of Music & Entertainment at Teenage Cancer Trust, says:

We are also deeply honoured that Robert Smith, one of the most influential artists of our time, has agreed to curate the Teenage Cancer Trust's 2026 concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.

Robert has been a dedicated supporter of Teenage Cancer Trust for many years, and his involvement will bring extraordinary performances to this iconic week while helping us raise essential funds. These funds ensure we can continue to provide vital specialist services for young people facing cancer within the NHS.

You only get one chance at being young, and cancer threatens to turn lives upside down. Without the right support, the impact can be devastating. We cannot thank Robert enough for helping us make sure that no young person faces cancer alone.

For his part, Robert Smith says: "Teenage Cancer Trust does the most fantastic work, and it is a great honour – and a real thrill – to be asked to curate the 2026 shows at the Royal Albert Hall. I can promise it will be a very memorable week!"

QuotePost-Punk, New Wave, Goth – for over four decades The Cure created alternative music so
powerful that it redefined the mainstream. They didn't just master genres, they transcended
them. Throughout these varied styles the group maintained an aesthetic continuity, creating a
world so vast and mysterious that there's room for other artists to explore it.

And explore it he does on Strange as Angels, Marc Collin's new collection of reinvented Cure songs, sung by the ethereal Chrystabell. Produced, arranged and conceived by Nouvelle Vague co-founder Marc Collin, he has again woven repertoire, performance, and his uniquely forged arranging aesthetic into something authentically new.

This is the first record Collin has devoted to one band and one vocalist. "For me it was like a vision," said Collin, "I imagined Chrystabell alone on stage, singing these songs." With her history of collaborations with David Lynch, Chrystabell adds a cinematic depth to her performance. Like Lynch, who refuses to explain away the mysteries in his work, her voice conjures a sense of surreal ambiguity, both organic and otherworldly, all at the same time.

Technically, Chrystabell chose to learn every nuance of Robert Smith's phrasing first, before re-interpreting. The result is a pure devotion to melody, which she subtly transforms into something very much her own. For a backdrop, Collin envisioned the arrangements as a bridge between theworlds of Lynch and The Cure, his heroes from the 80's.

QuoteIn the run up to today's call, Donald Trump made a big deal of his conversation with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

But the results look like there's little to shout about.

The Russian president has given the US leader just enough to claim that he made progress towards peace in Ukraine, without making it look like he was played by the Kremlin.

Trump can point to Putin's pledge to halt attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure for 30 days. If that actually happens, it will bring some relief to civilians.


But it's nowhere near the full and unconditional ceasefire that the US wanted from Russia.

The "very horrible war" Trump has insisted he can stop is still raging.

And Putin, a man indicted as a suspected war criminal by the ICC, has been given a leg-up back to the top tier of global politics.

Russian state media report that the two presidents' phone call lasted more than two hours. The Kremlin readout – its account of the call – is also long at 500 words.

It presents the conversation as chatty: they apparently discussed ice hockey, the kind of detail an audience back in Russia will lap up.

...

Both countries' accounts suggest nothing has changed.

Russia repeats that it wants peace. But instead of grounding its drones and silencing its guns, it's quibbling over how a still non-existent ceasefire might be monitored.

Meanwhile, it's adding even more conditions aimed at crippling Kyiv's ability to resist.