This year’s festival is superpowered by a strong year for Scottish cinema, showing it can thrive under the ‘four dimensional perpetual catch-22’ of global ambitions• Borges, ballet and BDSM: Peter Bradshaw’s 10 must-see movies at Edinburgh international film festivalNow that its disastrous collapse and speedy rebirth is a trauma slowly receding in the rear-view mirror, the Edinburgh international film festival can set its sights on bigger things. Apart from its traditional role providing a showcase for the best of current world cinema, the festival has an ace up its sleeve for 2026: the undeniable confidence and conspicuous achievement of its home film industry in Scotland. Just as Cannes likes to give a decent amount of houseroom to favoured French directors, and Sundance sees at least part of its job to talk up US independent cinema, Edinburgh acts as a vector for Scottish film-makers to gain valuable exposure and get their work in front of significant festival audiences.
The festival’s opening gala slot, traditionally a local film, has been given to The Incomer, a surreal comedy starring Domhnall Gleeson and set Scotland’s far north, and which picked up a major award at the Sundance festival earlier this year. Among a clutch of strong films are Borges and Me, based on Jay Parini’s memoir of escorting author Jorge Luis Borges on a trip around the Highlands; Sunny Dancer, a “chemo camp” comedy filmed in Loch Lomond, starring Bella Ramsay as a teenager dealing with the aftermath of cancer; and The Education of Jane Cumming, the extraordinary true life story of the 19th-century Edinburgh schoolkeeper who inspired The Children’s Hour. Scottish artist Douglas Gordon is the focus of a new documentary, Douglas Gordon by Douglas Gordon, while Scottish Ballet perform in These Violent Delights, a film rendering their dance version of Romeo and Juliet.
Past glories are due to live again with a 30th anniversary screening of junkie classic Trainspotting (with the added bonus of a live club night featuring a DJ set from Irvine Welsh). Continue reading...
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• Hilroy issued a formal apology after its notebooks were found to be missing Newfoundland and Cape Breton from their maps of Canada. • In a separate legal matter, a bus driver is facing charges following a severe crash in 2025 that resulted in injuries to 33 passengers.
Read original · ca.headtopics.com• On Monday, August 31, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague ruled that India cannot unilaterally suspend the Indus Waters Treaty. • The five-member tribunal issued a unanimous decision rejecting all arguments presented by New Delhi since April 2025 to justify the suspension.
Read original · countercurrents.org
Countercurrents• Renewed fighting in West Asia highlights a global trend of instability and imprudent escalation. • Iran is reportedly collaborating with Russian missile specialists to develop a ramjet propulsion system for faster anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles.
Read original · hindustantimes.com• France, serving as the President of the Security Council for September, announced a work programme focused on addressing critical issues in Haiti, Iran, and Sudan. • The agenda was detailed by the French representative during a press conference held at the UN Headquarters.
Read original · press.un.orgBlack called on to comply with subpoenas and appear as required to clarify connections to convicted sex offenderMore than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse have called on the billionaire Leon Black to appear before the House oversight committee in order to clarify his connections to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.In a letter released on Wednesday, the survivors urged Black to comply with congressional subpoenas ahead of Thursday’s deposition before the House oversight committee. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comMississippi-born Wilson, who worked across folk, pop, R&B and country, was once dubbed America’s best singerCassandra Wilson, the two-time Grammy Award-winning jazz singer, songwriter and producer has died. She was 70.Dubbed America’s best singer by Time magazine in 2001, Wilson was best known for her genre-bending voice, which expanded the boundaries of traditional blues-based jazz and worked effortlessly across folk, pop, R&B, country and beyond. At the heart of all her work was her idiosyncratic contralto, a soulful sound distinctly tied to her roots. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comPM will aim to centre talks with French president on key foreign policy issues such as Iran, smuggling gangs and EU relationsAndy Burnham will begin the process of courting European leaders when he welcomes Emmanuel Macron as the first foreign head of state to visit him in Downing Street.The prime minister will meet the French president at No 10 on Thursday as he looks to make inroads on a number of foreign policy objectives, including curbing irregular migration and sealing a new deal with the EU. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comTeam circumvented salary cap rules to sign starOwner Steve Ballmer lands one-year banThe NBA has handed down one of the biggest punishments in the history of the league to the Los Angeles Clippers after finding that the franchise circumvented salary cap rules when it courted Kawhi Leonard as a free agent.The league has stripped the team of five first-round draft picks, giving the team no natural pick in the draft from 2029 through 2033. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comTreasurer says he acknowledges concerns about inflation, cost of living and real wages were on voters’ minds. Follow the day’s news live.Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia will deploy a team of specialist drone operators to help the search and rescue effort in the deadly Nepal-Tibet floods.Operators, including those from the Fire and Rescue New South Wales and the Queensland Fire Department, will head to the disaster-struck region in the coming days.While we await the committee’s final report, we are not waiting to act.This investment will strengthen the important work of Call It Out and support efforts to collate rigorous data. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comThe Times and many companies are accusing OpenAI of misusing their material to train AI systems without compensationThe Trump administration is supporting OpenAI in a lawsuit against the New York Times, arguing in favor of the use of copyrighted writing to train artificial intelligence.The Times accuses OpenAI and its largest financial backer, Microsoft, of using millions of newspaper articles without permission to train OpenAI’s popular chatbot. Other newspapers have joined in the suit, first filed in 2023. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comPresident’s order strips nearly 3m acres of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, sacred tribal sites, of safeguardsPatagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear company, has joined a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s decision to significantly reduce the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, removing protections from nearly 3m acres.In July, the president approved the reduction of the sites by 90%, clearing the way to open the land to oil and gas companies. He argued in his proclamations that doing so would allow lands to be “put to a higher-priority use” and that the they contained critical minerals important to “ resource independence …[and] national security.” Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comPolice officer who fatally shot unarmed 22-year-old Glenwood Pysher IV faces voluntary manslaughter chargeA Pennsylvania police officer was charged Tuesday with voluntary manslaughter for last week’s fatal shooting of a college student who was looking for his friends late at night and went to the wrong house.Police body camera video reviewed by investigators showed the officer yelled: “Drop to the ground,” then: “Stop or I’ll ...”. Before he finished the sentence, he fired two shots at the man who was unarmed and had his hands in the air. He hit 22-year-old Glenwood Earl Pysher IV twice in the chest, killing him. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.com