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Cyclone Idai: ‘My family needs to eat, I don’t know how we will survive’

In Mozambique, where many people rely on crops to live, Idais impact on two key agricultural areas has been devastating

Marie Jose stares out at her field of broken maize stalks, the cobs yellow and mouldy from days of excessive water followed by weeks of extreme sun. She should have harvested them last month, but Cyclone Idai struck her village in Buzi district, in central Mozambique, and destroyed them all.

She is still dealing with the trauma of losing her grandparents and niece to the tropical storm. They couldnt hold on in the trees where we were sitting and the wind pushed them into the water, she says. Their bodies are still missing.

More than 750 people have been confirmed dead from the cyclone, and 146,000 have been displaced. Forecasters expect another cyclone to make landfall on Thursday, although this time the northern province of Cabo Delgado is likely to bear the brunt.

But while Jose grieves, she also has to worry how she is going to feed her surviving family of three until the next, leaner planting season begins in May.

We have suffered so much, theres nothing left in these fields for us. My family needs to eat, I dont know how we will survive or where we can build another house, she says. Her hut was broken up in the storms.

The central district of Mozambique has traditionally been the countrys breadbasket. Between them, the provinces of Sofala, where Buzi is found, and Manica once produced 25% of the national cereal output in a country where 80% of the population relies on agriculture for support. But almost all of that is gone. More than 700,000 hectares of crops were destroyed by Idai and the UN estimates 1.85 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. The Food and Agriculture Organisation has started distributing seeds and agricultural equipment to communities at risk of immediate food insecurity, says Lisa Ratcliffe, a~Z communications officer.

A maize field ravaged by Cyclone Idai. Photograph: Tendai Marima

So far more than 75,000 farmers have received quick-growing seeds across Sofala and Manica. But help has yet to reach Jose and others in her district, where the roads are still impassable.

David Beasely, executive director of the World Food Programme, predicts that restoring normal production in the ravaged farm fields could be a one-year recovery process.

Villagers like Ameria David, 75, from Buzi district, might not have a year to wait. She depends on ground maize to feed her family of seven, and her stocks could be gone in a fortnight.

There will be nothing left to eat soon, the rest of our cobs are rotten. I dont know what well eat after this [the maize she has left] is finished, therell only be hunger left for us, she says.

As well as farmers, those who fish along the coast have also been badly hit.

Every morning, Jose Ferdinand, 25, and his friend cast their green mesh net into the Indian Ocean, hoping the days catch of fish will be better than the last. But more than a month since the cyclone pounded the port city of Beira, some of Mozambiques seafarers are still finding slim pickings.

These days we dont fish as much as we normally do, the water is mixed with river water so its not as salty as it should be. Fish like the sea water, but since the cyclone they arent coming so close to the shore, he says, eyeing the days meagre haul.

Jose Ferdinand and friend return from a fishing trip in Beira. Photograph: Tendai Marima

The Pungwe river, a 400km-long, flood-prone waterway that rises in eastern Zimbabwe, meets with two other rivers, and then flows into the Mozambique Channel in Beira. Ferdinand is not alone among fisherfolk in believing the fresh water may have affected the oceans salinity.

Corene Matyas, an associate professor at the University of Florida with expertise in the patterns of cyclonic rainfall, says this is possible but cautions that a complex computer simulation model would be needed to assess exactly how Cyclone Idai impacted the ocean.

[T]he storm passing over the waters causes mixing and can change salinity levels at different depths, says Matyas.

In some cases, the surge of freshwater from rainfall takes more than a week to reach the ocean and impact sea life, and salinity levels can remain altered for several weeks especially near the surface, as fresh water is less dense than salt water.

In this southern coastal nation, millions depend on fish as a key source of nutrition.

Thobile Gwame, 24, a fishmonger and resident of Praia Nova in Beira, says business is slow after Cyclone Idai. Photograph: Tendai Marima

Livestock and fisheries suffered extensive damage and losses from the cyclone and it has impacted livelihoods and food security across the region, says Ratcliffe.

Fish play an important nutritional role in Mozambique, particularly as livestock consumption isnt dominant and the main protein sources are chicken and fish.

Thobile Gwame, 24, a fish vendor in Praia Nova, a slum by the sea in Beira, complains about the limited supplies of fish and shrimp.

People here dont buy much, because most have gone to stay in the [displacement] tents. Those who are here dont have much money nowadays, but fish is the only relish people get easily, there are hardly any cabbages or tomatoes, he says.

Gomez Salgado Tome, 57, a shopworker who has lived in Praia Nova for more than 25 years, said hed never witnessed a cyclone of the scale of Idai, which destroyed the familys two-roomed house.

Im trying to fix my house but I cant afford to fix it properly. I dont even have the money for any food for the family. I have a bag of rice from my employers, they gave it to us when they heard about the house, but thats all we eat. We cant buy fish like we used to. I just dont have the money, he says.

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Jaime Apologizes To Bran In Full-Circle Moment On ‘Game Of Thrones’

It was the look that iced over Winterfell.

Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), arriving North to fulfill his pledge to fight for the living, spots Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) across the courtyard in the closing moments of the Season 8 premiere of “Game of Thrones.” His face says it all: “Oh, shit.”

Of course, Jaime should be freaking out. He is the reason the Starks and the Lannisters don’t get along in the first place, seeing as he kicked off their feud by pushing a 10-year-old Bran out of a window after the young lad caught him in the act with his twin sister, Cersei (Lena Headey), back in the show’s pilot episode. Bran survives the fall but is left paralyzed. Then, an assassin comes to finish the job wielding the Valyrian steel dagger supposedly owned by Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), leading Bran’s mother, Catelyn (Michelle Fairley), to assign blame to the whole Lannister family.

HBO

When Catelyn captures Jaime at the end of Season 1, he confirms Bran didn’t fall from the tower ― Jaime pushed him. 

“l hoped the fall would kill him,” Jaime states, never revealing the reason for his terrible act. (Back then, not many knew about his and Cersei’s incestual romance.)

In Episode 2 of Season 8, which aired Sunday, Jaime and Bran finally come face to face to talk over the incident that incited one of the central conflicts of “Game of Thrones.”

“The things we do for love,” Bran ominously states in front of everyone in the great hall during Jaime’s trial of sorts. Although he doesn’t tell anyone about their little secret, Bran, all the wiser, does alert Jaime to the fact that his push led the crippled Stark boy to become the Three-Eyed Raven. 

“I’m sorry for what I did to you,” Jaime tells Bran, going on to explain why he’s not such a bad guy anymore. 

“You still would be if you hadn’t pushed me out of that window, and I would still be Brandon Stark,” Bran responds. “I’m something else now.”

Jaime has had quite a transformation throughout the series, going from the “Kingslayer” to a true heroic figure by way of his various interactions with characters like Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), Tyrion and Bronn (Jerome Flynn). And although Cersei has had a tight hold on him, he finally leaves her to fend for herself in King’s Landing in Season 7 when she lies about heading North to fight in the Great War between the living and the dead.

Of course, Bran’s situation is a very different one. Following the events of Season 1, he embarked on an epic journey with Hodor (Kristian Nairn) and co. and eventually became the all-seeing Three-Eyed Raven. His newfound skills make that past incident with Jaime a bit less important.

So, why was Bran waiting up all night in the freezing cold for Jaime? What does he need from his mortal enemy?

Help, apparently. 

Bran didn’t tell anyone the truth about his fall from the tower because he knows the North needs Jaime in the war against the dead. And, being privy to Bran’s visions, perhaps Jaime knows he will play a bigger part in that war, too. (Like, by protecting Bran or his siblings, maybe?)

Still, Jaime clearly reveals in Sunday’s episode his fear that, if the living survive the Night King’s attack, Bran will eventually tell the Seven Kingdoms the truth. 

Bran responds in the way only Bran can: “How do you know if there is an afterwards?”

Touche, dear Raven man. 

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Sea change: the underwater restaurant with a new approach to marine research

An underwater restaurant in southern Norway is both a tourist attraction and a living laboratory for local marine researchers

Sunlight is filtering through the turquoise waters, shimmering with the waves. Jellyfish float in graceful downwards zigzags like translucent baubles. Darting from left to right among clumps of swaying kelp are fishes speckled with bronze and streaked with silver.

This isnt a scene from the tropics its southern Norway, and its the view from a recently opened underwater restaurant, Under, thats finding a new way to educate people on the importance of local marine life.

The restaurant is a 34-metre long structure semi-submerged in the ocean, designed by Oslo architecture firm Snhetta. It was only installed last year, but is already being claimed by marine life: seaweed is growing on the exterior, and sea snails and barnacles stick to the windows.

According to architect Andreas Nygaard, this was deliberate. The rough concrete was chosen to encourage marine life to grow on it, while the rugged coastline highlights the seas drama.

We call the whole thing an eye into the coastal ecosystem, says Trond Rafoss, an associate professor at Agder University and the in-house marine biologist. The biodiversity of cold waters is not well known. We think the more people gain knowledge of marine life, the more they will look after our oceans.

Rafoss thinks drawing attention to the colourfulness of the northern seas will motivate the public to understand the ways they are affected by climate change. He cites the leaching of agricultural chemicals into the ocean, overproduction of food on land, and how CO2 is causing ocean acidification. But it can be reversed, he says.

The restaurant is vital for Rafosss research. It receives funding from the Norwegian government as an underwater laboratory, and Rafoss brings his masters students in marine ecology regularly to find inspiration for research topics. So far research has looked at how to restore marine ecosystems in harbour areas, along with experimental studies on the extent to which wrasse fish are capable of learning.

Without collaborating with a private business, the university couldnt have funded such a resource. The relationship has also enabled Rafoss to secure funding from the Norwegian government, which paid for half of the project. More and more [research funds are] tied to the impact on society and business, he says.

Rafoss plans to use the restaurant as part of an interdisciplinary research project into ways of measuring how much people can learn about science when they go on holiday or engage in an educational leisure activity. He thinks experiences can teach far more than written texts.

When people go on holiday they want to learn something new in an enjoyable way, he says. Were interested in finding out about the type of experiences that increase knowledge of natural sciences among the public.

Instead of providing written explanations in the restaurant, he trains the waiters to inform diners about what theyre seeing. While some visitors have initially complained about poor visibility and dirty water, the restaurants team have been able to explain that the cloudy views are because springtime is growing season for marine life.

Of course, this is not an experience accessible to everyone: theres only one option for the menu, and it costs 199. But Stig Ubostad, one of the owners, sees it as a bucket list destination. Spending four hours tasting 18 courses of carefully curated seafood with an unparalleled view of life under the sea is undeniably a unique experience, albeit one that few can afford.

The educational mission extends to the restaurants menu. We want to drag everything from here into the kitchen and show the variety of what we have here in the southern part of Norway, says the head chef, Nicolai Ellitsgaard. Theres a focus on sustainability, using all the parts of the fish, underappreciated species, and bycatch.

Ubostad stresses that the research is a core part of the business. Under will be much more than just a restaurant, he says. We want to foster curiosity for the sea.

The underwater restaurant in Lindenes, southern Norway Photograph: PR

There are cheaper ways for the public to engage with the restaurants window into marine life than booking a table. A camera will soon be set up online so people can watch, take snaps of new species they spot, and provide names and times as a citizen science project.

After being validated by a scientist, these images will be fed into a machine learning algorithm, which will teach the camera how to recognise different marine life. Its hoped that this experimental technology will be rolled out across the coast to monitor population levels.

Heidi Pettersvold Nygaard, an interior architect at Snhetta, says the buildings unusual structure was designed to be accessible to everyone. You can stroll along the coastline and be part of the experience, she says. You can see how it works and sits in the landscape.

A new neighbouring public engagement centre will also be set up this year. Rafoss is still researching how best to make visitors learn, and specifically how to engage young people. One option theyre trialling is drone cameras on the seabed. Young people want things in real-time, they want to explore on their own, he says. We hope [the centre] will attract young scientists to get more involved in research into marine ecosystems.

He believes the collaboration could work elsewhere. He envisions more people involved in fighting for biodiversity, thanks to its research and education work. The key thing for me is that this restaurant concept cant work without vibrant nature, he says. If you can connect business with a clean environment, thats the main benefit I see of all the hours Ive spent here over the last five years.

Rachel Halls visit to Norway was supported by the Norwegian embassy in London, which had no say in the content of this article

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Amanda Bynes Is ‘Doing Great’ Nearly Two Months After Seeking Further Mental Health Treatment – Perez Hilton

So happy for Amanda Bynes!

The family’s lawyer Tamar Arminak sat down with Access on Friday (above) to give the most high-level recent insight on Amanda’s

It’s been nearly two months since the former child star checked herself into an El Lay mental health facility after what’s being termed as a “stress-induced relapse” in the middle of her planned Hollywood comeback. But according to Arminak, Amanda is “doing great” and really digging deep in her treatment — with some light at the end of the tunnel.

Back On Track…

As you can hear for yourself in the interview (above), Arminak got real about Amanda’s mental health, saying:

“Well, I can tell you she’s doing remarkably well, under the circumstances. This time around, she realized herself, after the Paper Magazine interview spread, that she really wasn’t feeling like herself, all of the sudden. She wanted to address it right away before going back into show business and exploring show business again. It was her decision and her choice to address the situation, seek treatment, which, I think, is an incredibly mature way to handle this type of thing. I think we’re proud of her, her parents, I can certainly say are proud of her. Her family, they’re on amazing terms, great terms, and looking forward to her success.”

Wow! It’s absolutely mature on Bynes’ part to realize all that — so good to hear!

As for Bynes’ day-to-day routine at the facility, it sounds like she’s having quite a healthy, wholesome time focusing on her well-being while also taking time to exercise, practice yoga, and do some other things for herself, too.

…And Back To School!

Interestingly, Arminak revealed that Bynes is still studying and working with the Fashion Institute of Design and Manufacturing (FIDM), a very well known and high-quality fashion school in downtown Los Angeles. It sounds like FIDM has come along at a very, very important time for Amanda, as the lawyer revealed in this interview (below):

“She’s been so amazed by FIDM because, as a school, they’ve been so supportive of her this entire time. She can’t wait to get back to the FIDM campus, be creative again, and staff at FIDM have reached out, they’ve been in constant contact and they can’t wait for her return. … And she really looks forward to her fashion line coming out. We saw a glimpse of her style during the Paper Magazine shoot and she really has this great aesthetic for materials and what works on a person, coloring and body shape and all that stuff. I think it’s gonna be a great fashion line.”

Amazing!

It seriously sounds like things are going very well for Bynes — here’s hoping she continues to get the treatment she needs, and can eventually return to her life in El Lay and her comeback in the entertainment industry as a healthier, more fulfilled person!

Sending our best!!!

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Wildfires burning on Isle of Bute

Image copyright Ted Leeming

A series of wildfires have been burning on the north side of the Isle of Bute.

The fire service said a large area of moorland and forestry were affected.

Local residents, including SNP minister Michael Russell posted images of the blazes on social media after they broke out during Thursday night and Friday.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue service said an appliance had been sent to the scene but returned when darkness fell as it was deemed too dangerous to be on the hills.

She added that the crew would return at first light on Saturday morning "if required".

Image copyright Ted Leeming

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Fire burning fiercely tonight in the north end of #Bute - this is taken from about four miles away on the track to my house

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What Happens Behind The Scenes Of Game Of Thrones (My 5 Comics)

Hi, I'm Sarah Dunlavey (Madame Lady)

I'm a comic-making lady from Montreal who makes silly strips every week! Feel free to join me on Instagram or Facebook!

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The governments olive branch to Christians is tinged with hypocrisy | Afua Hirsch

If protecting Christians from discrimination is to be a priority, why not start with the Home Office, says Guardian columnist Afua Hirsch

Even before news of the horrendous Sri Lanka bombings, which killed Christian worshippers, tourists and locals from many faiths, Theresa May had already focused this years Easter message on the global persecution of Christians. The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, sent letters to faith leaders saying he was appalled that 245 million Christians worldwide faced discrimination.

It is appalling. And so is the hypocrisy of a government that has itself poured scorn on Christians in recent years. People seeking asylum a tradition well-known from the Bible have been denied by Home Office officials for reasons including that if an applicant really believed in Jesus, they would not have needed asylum in the UK in the first place. You affirmed that Jesus is your saviour, but then claimed that He would not be able to save you from the Iranian regime, the Home Office told an Iranian woman in a particularly nightmarish example of circular reasoning. Your belief in Jesus is halfhearted.

A separate Iranian applicant was denied asylum, with quotes from Leviticus you will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you used to argue that Christianity was a religion of violence, rage and revenge and inconsistent with a desire for peace. These decisions might seem evidence of a particularly enthusiastic hostility towards Christianity in the Home Office, but they really reveal something else.

Because the relationship between Christianity and Britains sense of its role in the world is very old terrain. I wasnt going to bring up empire, but the man actually tasked by Jeremy Hunt with reviewing British foreign policy towards Christians has already gone there.

The Right Rev Philip Mountstephen, the bishop of Truro, has said, quite rightly, in an interview published over the Easter weekend, that one of the reasons for Britains flawed thinking about Christians around the world has to do with its imperial past. But then he manages to diagnose the problem as too much postcolonial guilt. There is, he said, a residual sense that the Christian faith is an expression of white western privilege whereas actually the Christian faith is overwhelmingly a phenomenon of the global poor and people who, by their very socioeconomic status, are vulnerable.

If Mountstephen is peering into the annals of British history and finding too much introspection, he must truly have been blessed with a miracle. Anyone with a basic knowledge of empire knows that there are millions of Christians struggling with poverty around the world, and that British missionaries played no small role in creating that condition. As the Kenyan independence leader, Jomo Kenyatta, so aptly said: When the missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible.

One of the most searing analyses of this history I have encountered recently is The Convert a play written by Danai Gurira, the Zimbabwean actor and star of the movie Black Panther. It tells the story of a young Zimbabwean woman, Jekesai played when I saw it at the Young Vic by another Black Panther star Letitia Wright who enthusiastically converts to Christianity during Britains colonial rule before awakening to its role in murdering her people, plundering their land, desecrating their traditions and encouraging them to internalise a belief in their own inferiority as savages who were saved.

If this sounds simplistic, its not. The plays strength was that it avoided attempting to reduce the complex history of Christian missionaries role in empire-building into a simplistic, binary opposition of good and bad. Among other legacies, missionaries also served to educate and equip pan-Africanist revolutionaries and independence leaders, and this has become a proud part of many African identities today. Bearers of this identity including Gurira herself, who is a Christian are unafraid to scrutinise the complicity of the church in their countries darkest historic episodes.

In Britain, the opposite is true. While African scholars are deconstructing the role of missionaries such as Robert Moffat, whose translations of the Bible into local languages created a lasting legacy of defilement, British texts still describe the father-in-law of David Livingstone as a harmless, if paternalist, friend to the natives. Far from postcolonial guilt, we are still deep in the era of erasure.

Most of the Christians I know including those in the UK have low incomes and are of African heritage. They dont have the luxury of feeling guilty about British Christianitys role in imperial wrongdoing. They are still living with its consequences.

Afua Hirsch is a Guardian columnist

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It’s not 1998 anymore. Democrats shouldn’t be afraid of impeachment

(CNN)Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the first 2020 Democratic candidate to call for impeachment proceedings to begin against President Donald Trump. In a tweet on Friday, she said, "To ignore a President's repeated efforts to obstruct an investigation into his own disloyal behavior would inflict great and lasting damage on this country, and it would suggest that both the current and future Presidents would be free to abuse their power in similar ways."

But Democrats can't afford to be so fearful about impeachment proceedings. And it might very well be that the Mueller report has forced their hand. While the first part of the report points to highly unethical and problematic behavior by the Trump campaign, the second section lays out some strong evidence of the President's continued efforts to interfere with the Mueller investigation. And this is in addition to his overt efforts to undermine Mueller, most notably from his bully pulpit of choice -- Twitter.

Of course, Democrats have reason to be wary. It didn't go particularly well for Republicans in 1998, when the House, led by Newt Gingrich, impeached President Bill Clinton for lying under oath and obstructing justice into the investigation of his affair with Monica Lewinsky. In fact, Clinton's approval rating soared to 73% following the GOP-led impeachment. And the House Republican majority shrunk that year.

But the substance of the current impeachment debate is quite different. In the case of Clinton, a large portion of America saw the investigation as revolving around the private life of the President. But, in the case of Trump, this was an investigation into contacts between Trump campaign officials and individuals connected to a Russian government who were attempting to interfere in the 2016 US election -- as well as the President's ongoing efforts to stop the investigation. There is simply no comparison in the weight of the underlying charges.

Public opinion has reflected that a majority or close to a majority of the public has continued to approve of Mueller, despite the constant attacks from the President. Meanwhile, Trump has yet to win a majority of American voter support in his first two years in office. It would seem, then, that the public agrees that the substance of the charges is serious, and the content of the Mueller report only intensifies the severity of what the President has done while in office.

What Democrats do regarding impeachment proceedings will also say a great deal about the party's views of presidential power. The issue is not, and has never been, what is the best way to remove Trump from the White House. The question has been whether Democrats take the abuse of presidential power seriously and whether they insist that the commander in chief needs to live under some restraints. If Congress allows the actions that Mueller documented in the obstruction portion of the report to stand, they will help to establish a dangerous precedent for future inhabitants of the Oval Office. In contrast, launching impeachment proceedings would be a strong act that formally puts the party on record as not accepting these actions as legitimate and believing that they are severe enough to warrant consideration of impeachment.

Importantly, impeachment proceedings are not the same as impeaching a president. The House would have to pass a resolution referring the case to the House Judiciary Committee or a select committee. The committee would conduct its own hearing, with a staff investigation of the evidence, to decide whether the grounds exist for voting on articles of impeachment.

If those grounds exist, the committee must pass each article by a majority vote -- at which point they would be sent to the floor for a vote. If the House votes in favor of any article by majority vote, only then does the case reach the Senate, where the bar is much higher, requiring two-thirds support to convict.

Democrats who fear a backlash to moving forward with the impeachment process might want to consider the political consequence of being a party that decides to let this abuse of power stand. At the most basic level, doing nothing will allow Trump to spin his narrative that the entire issue was a partisan hit job.

And political parties can be rewarded for doing the right thing. The entire Watergate saga made this clear. After a brutal multi-year investigation into President Richard Nixon that shocked the nation and resulted in his resignation, Democrats retained control of the House and Senate in the 1976 election -- building on their sizable majorities in the 1974 midterms -- and won the presidency. President Jimmy Carter capitalized on public anger about presidential wrongdoing and succeeded as the candidate who best responded to the distrust that existed about our leaders.

It is also worth noting that even with the controversial and unpopular impeachment proceedings in 1998, Republicans actually didn't lose all of their power. The GOP retained control of Congress (temporarily losing a split Senate when Jim Jeffords caucused with Democrats in 2001, though they regained control in 2002). And George W. Bush won the presidency and served for two terms. While most Democrats don't want to make Clinton's impeachment the baseline as they consider what to do next, they should understand that Republicans did not totally fall apart after moving forward with proceedings on a much more questionable charge than the President is currently looking at today.

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For Democrats who insist on gaming out what this will all look like, they should also consider the possibility that by refusing to hold the President accountable, they could end up improving his chances for re-election and giving legitimacy to his use of power. By doing nothing, one can imagine the Democrats helping Republicans elevate the "witch hunt" narrative and diminishing the serious political problems this administration already faces for its behavior.

Focusing on the economy, Trump could put together the coalition that brought him to office in 2016. Once that second term begins, the behavior documented in the Mueller report and elsewhere would have an electoral stamp of approval.

When the Mueller investigation started, the report shows, Trump was convinced that his presidency was "f--ked." But he underestimated the partisan loyalty that he could count on from the GOP. And he might also have underestimated just how politically trepidatious the opposition party had become.

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Elizabeth Warren Calls For Donald Trump Impeachment Hearings

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Friday called for the House of Representatives to start impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump in the wake of the public release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. 

“The Mueller report lays out facts showing that a hostile foreign government attacked our 2016 election to help Donald Trump and Donald Trump welcomed that help,” Warren added on Twitter. “Once elected, Donald Trump obstructed the investigation into that attack.”

Warren spent all day Thursday traveling back east from a trip to Colorado and Utah, reading the 448-page report on her flight, according to an aide. She continued to read the report last night before reaching this conclusion.

Warren’s announcement is significant. She’s the first 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to call for impeachment, and the most high-profile Democrat to do so ― at a time when most leaders of her party are backing away from it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has consistently said she’s not in favor of moving forward on it.

And even after the Mueller report, Democratic leaders seemed unconvinced. Both House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) rejected trying to remove Trump on Thursday. Hoyer said it was “not worthwhile” and Nadler said it was “too early to talk about that.”

The fact that Warren was the first leading candidate to get out front on impeachment isn’t entirely surprising. She’s also been willing to go further than other candidates on issues like breaking up big tech companies, eliminating the filibuster and imposing a wealth tax, putting her 2020 rivals on the spot about their own positions.

Taking into account the Justice Department’s position that the president can’t face charges while in office, the Mueller report stops short of calling Trump a criminal. But despite Attorney General William Barr’s attempts to spin the public perception of the report in Trump’s favor, the Mueller investigation laid out an extensive pattern of plainly unethical and seemingly criminal behavior to obstruct an ongoing law enforcement investigation.

The only reason that Trump didn’t obstruct justice in most cases, the report suggests, was because his staffers refused to obey what they perceived as illegal orders. The report also states that, had Trump’s aides carried out his orders, they could have been charged with crimes.

“The President’s efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests,” the report states. “Consistent with that pattern, the evidence we obtained would not support potential obstruction charges against the President’s aides and associates beyond those already filed.”

View note

Warren has not been an especially loud voice on potential Trump campaign coordination with Russia in the 2016 election, so the fact that she’s now backing impeachment is notable. Previously, she said she wanted to wait and see what was in the Mueller report before taking a position.

In one of her tweets Friday, she said she took seriously the report’s conclusion that the work is now in the hands of Congress to get to the bottom of the matter.

Polls conducted in March by Monmouth University and CNN/SSRS found support for Trump’s impeachment at 44% and 36% respectively ― several points below Trump’s overall disapproval numbers. In both surveys, two-thirds or more of Democrats said they wanted to see Trump impeached.

But the direction of the public’s shift differed: Monmouth’s poll, which was completed in early March, found that support for impeachment had risen slightly since November, due mainly to increased support from independents. CNN’s more recent survey, by contrast, found that Democrats’ appetite for impeachment had dipped since December, in the wake of Pelosi’s comments opposing the idea.

Ariel Edwards-Levy, Ryan Reilly and Kevin Robillard contributed reporting.

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe explained

SPOILER ALERT! This article contains details of the plots of some Marvel films, including recent releases.

Image copyright Disney

Image caption Why so serious? Perhaps the Avengers: Endgame cast are getting theirs heads round the ins and outs of the MCU

Marvel sequel Avengers: Endgame hits UK cinemas on 25 April and is widely expected to be the biggest release of 2019.

The film will be the 22nd entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which began with 2008's Iron Man.

If you want to watch Endgame, but feel daunted by the sheer size of the MCU, never fear!

Here's everything you need to know.

What is the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe - or MCU for short - is the shared place where all 22 films featuring the comic book characters are set.

Each tells its own distinct story but also connects with other films in the MCU, to tell an overarching tale. It's a technique Marvel Comics pioneer Stan Lee also used in his comics.

The MCU is the most successful film franchise of all time, making more than $18.2bn (£13.7bn) to date.

What order should I watch the films in?

We suggest you watch the films in chronological order, rather than the order in which the films were released.

Handily, in the book Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years, Marvel released an official MCU timeline to help you do just that.

We've added the films released since that book came out and voila, here is a handy diagram to help you organise your Marvel viewing!

Just one geeky note on the diagram. Technically the main events of Ant-Man and the Wasp happen before Infinity War, but we suggest you watch it afterwards to fully appreciate the post-credits scenes, which takes place later.

Why did Marvel start with these characters?

In 2007, Marvel was recovering from bankruptcy and had sold off the film rights to some of the company's most popular characters like the X-Men and Spider-Man.

Marvel still owned the superheroes who form the core Avengers team - Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor and Captain America - so used the early MCU films to introduce these heroes.

Marvel then brought these characters together for the crossover film Avengers Assemble. You can see a list of all the current members of The Avengers here.

The crossover was planned from the very beginning.

The first MCU film released, Iron Man, included a post-credits scene in which Samuel L Jackson's super spy Nick Fury gives the first mention of the Avengers.

I don't have time to watch all the films! What can I skip?

Image copyright Disney

Image caption Make like Thanos and halve the size of the MCU

Endgame is the finale of a series of 22 films.

But, don't worry, you don't need to watch every single one to be fully prepared.

Here are the 10 films you could skip and still understand the basics of Endgame.

The Incredible Hulk - you'll learn all you need to know about the key characters here in Avengers Assemble

Thor - ditto

Thor: The Dark World - you don't need to see this to get the gist of Avengers: Age of Ultron

Iron Man 2 - Scarlett Johansson fans may not want to skip this one, as it marks her entry into the MCU

Iron Man 3 - Robert Downey Jr is always watchable, but skipping this won't leave you confused

Ant-Man - Scott Lang and his superpowers get introduced all over again in Captain America: Civil War

Doctor Strange - all you really need to know is this film introduces the Time Stone.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2 - there's some nice character development here, but it won't give you new information on the final battle

Black Panther - we hesitate to suggest you skip this Oscar-winning film, as it's one of the MCU's best, but other than introducing Wakanda as a location, you'll get most of the relevant information about the characters introduced here in Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War

Captain Marvel - again, watch this if you can but if you're pushed for time, all you really need to know is that Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) got her powers from the Space Stone (aka the Tesseract) and she's going to be important to the final battle in Endgame. Also, the man who put together the Avengers - Nick Fury - lost his eye to an alien disguised as a cat.

What's so important about Avengers: Endgame?

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Marvel's plans for its films are structured in phases, with each one ending with an Avengers crossover movie.

Avengers Assemble spelt the end of Phase One, and Age of Ultron brought Phase Two to a close.

Endgame not only ends Phase 3 but also wraps up the series of 22 films that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is now calling The Infinity Saga.

The new title for the first three phases of the MCU references their overarching story, which sees the gathering of the Infinity Stones (six powerful gems that grant their owner great power) and the war against the mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin). You can read a complete guide to the Infinity Stones here.

Endgame will see the remaining Avengers try and rescue everyone, after villain Thanos (Josh Brolin) got hold of all the Infinity Stones and wiped out half of all living things with a snap of his fingers in last year's Avengers: Infinity War.

You can see a complete list of everyone who died here.

All bets are off as to who makes it to the finish line in Endgame, as it also coincides with the end of the contracts of some of the biggest Marvel stars.

What we learned from the Avengers: Endgame trailer

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Could Avengers: Endgame be the end of the road for Chris Evan's Captain America?

It's been widely reported that Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark/Iron Man) have come to the end of their contracts.

There's also been speculation that their Marvel co-stars Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romonova/Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye) and Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/Hulk) have also reached the end of their tenure at the studio.

Though a solo Black Widow film is reported to be in the works, it could be a prequel, so there is no guarantee Johansson's character survives.

One thing is for sure though - whatever happens, it will take time for Endgame's story to unfold.

It's the longest entry in the MCU so far, clocking in at three hours and two minutes. That's the same length as the first instalment in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, An Unexpected Journey (2012).

What's the future of the MCU?

Image copyright Disney

Image caption Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), probably reacting to rumours that one of the core Avengers team might not make it through Endgame alive

We can expect a major shake-up of the MCU, in the wake of Endgame.

Phase Four begins with the release of Spider-Man: Far from Home on July 5 2019.

According to producer Amy Pascal, the film "will start a few minutes after Avengers 4 wraps as a story".

Tom Holland's Spidey was one of many heroes wiped out in Thanos's Snap in Infinity War, but given his starring role in this film, we can expect he'll be alive and well before the Endgame credits roll.

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New films involving other supposedly dead characters have also been confirmed for Phase Four.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has confirmed Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange will return for a sequel at "some point in the future".

Chadwick Boseman is also likely to recover from his disintegration in time for Black Panther 2.

We also know a third Guardians of the Galaxy film has been confirmed, after Disney re-hired director James Gunn, but we don't know which Guardians will return for it. At the end of Infinity War, Bradley Cooper's Rocket and Karen Gillan's Nebula were the only survivors from that franchise.

Feige has also hinted that Phase Four could include a solo sequel for Brie Larson's Captain Marvel.

Also in development are new films involving super-powered beings called the Eternals, and martial artist superhero Shang-Chi.

Which Marvel characters aren't in the MCU?

Image copyright 20th Century Fox

Image caption Dark Phoenix, which stars Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner, is likely to be the last time the X-Men appear outside the MCU

You might be confused about why some Marvel characters appear in films that don't connect to the MCU.

The reason for this is actually simple.

Long before Marvel Studios existed, Marvel Entertainment had sold the rights to some of its characters to other filmmakers.

Spider-Man was sold to Sony. The studio made a Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, and soon afterwards rebooted the franchise less successfully with Andrew Garfield as the webslinger.

However, Sony and Marvel have now agreed a partnership that allows Tom Holland's Spider-Man to appear in MCU films, while Sony retains the rights to the character.

Sony also owned the rights to Ghost Rider, and made two films about him starring Nicolas Cage, until the rights reverted back to Marvel in 2013.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Nicolas Cage, possibly hoping some strategically placed Ghost Rider branding might inspire Marvel bosses to greenlight a new film

The Fantastic Four series and the X-Men were sold to 20th Century Fox, though Marvel Studios expect to regain the rights to both properties this year due to a merger between Disney and Fox. The merger means Marvel could introduce these characters into the MCU in future films.

Fox also made the Deadpool movies, starring Ryan Reynolds, which sit firmly outside the MCU.

It's not clear what the future holds for this franchise, as the foul-mouthed, pansexual superhero is certainly not the most family friendly character.

However, the Deadpool films were a commercial success and star Ryan Reynolds has hinted on social media that he'd like there to be a future for the character with Disney.

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Fox also owned the rights to Daredevil, in 2003 producing a film starring Ben Affleck, and the 2005 spin-off film Elektra, before the rights reverted back to Marvel.

Universal's Hulk films and New Line Cinema's Blade Films were also the result of deals struck before the rights to those characters reverted back to Marvel, and don't belong within the MCU.

I've seen all the MCU films. What else can I watch?

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Clark Gregg looks very pleased that his character got resurrected, so he can keep cashing those Marvel cheques

Don't worry. There are plenty of TV shows set in the MCU to keep you going.

Agent Carter - follow the adventures of Hayley Atwell's Agent Peggy Carter as she reprises her role from the MCU films in this series, which ran from 2015-16.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - the show that proves Avengers Assemble wasn't the end for Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg).

Inhumans - this show ran on the US network ABC for one series. It centred around the Inhumans - an alien race with superpowers that gets in contact with Earth.

Runaways - this show, based on the comics of the same name, is on streaming service Hulu. It follows six teenagers who discover their parents are villains.

Cloak and Dagger - this series about a romance between two super-powered teenagers is on the ABC-owned Freeform network. It's based on characters who first appeared in the Spectacular Spider-Man Comics.

The Netflix Marvel TV shows - Marvel's deal with Netflix has now come to an end but you can still enjoy the edgy adventures of Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and The Punisher on the streaming service. Ensemble show The Defenders is a real highlight. Though ostensibly set in the MCU, these shows have a darker tone and don't directly connect with any of the films.

If you've now become a die-hard fan, and really want to immerse yourself in the MCU, Digital Spy has put together a complete chronological timeline of all the films and TV shows.

You could also watch the original Marvel movie - notorious 80s flop Howard the Duck.

The feathered superhero will soon be starring in one of four Marvel Television animated series for adults, so consider this essential research.

Disney has also announced plans for several new Marvel TV series, including one based on Thor's adopted brother Loki, on their new streaming service, Disney+, so there'll be plenty more Marvel content to watch in future.

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

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Why Does She Have To Choose? Mom Makes A Photoshoot Of Girly Girls With Athletic Elements And The Result Is Badass

“Are you a sporty girl, or a girly girl?” “Tara is always playing soccer, she’s such a tomboy…” “Erica doesn’t do sports, she’s too much of a princess for that.” We’ve all heard conversations like these, putting little girls firmly into boxes before they’ve even had a chance to find out for themselves what kind of person they are. Who’s to say that girls can’t be anything and everything that they want to be?

Image credits: HMP Couture Imagery

Alabama-based photographer and mom Heather Mitchell had a lightbulb moment recently while chatting to another mom at her daughter’s softball practice. “My youngest daughter is 8 and she is trying softball this year for the first time,” Heather told Bored Panda.

“We were at practice a few weeks ago and I was talking with the other moms. I was saying that I hoped Paislee learned to love the game because she was athletic. One of the moms told me that she was not athletic that she was a girly girl. I couldn’t sleep that night. All I could think was, ‘why does she have to choose?’”

Image credits: HMP Couture Imagery

“I played every sport my school offered and wore lipstick to every game,” Heather continued. “So the next day, we went to the studio and created her shot. I seriously only spent about three minutes shooting because I knew exactly what I wanted.”

“I posted them to my personal Facebook and had tons of requests so we added two days to our schedule and they sold out in one hour. So I added two more days and they sold out too. These photos were my daughter and some of the girls from the first day of shoots. I have three more days next month!”

Image credits: HMP Couture Imagery

The resulting shoots have since gone viral, being shared almost 200,000 times, as the world has discovered that these girls can truly “do it all.”

Image credits: HMP Couture Imagery

“Our daughters do not have to choose,” Heather said. “My parents taught me that I could be anything I wanted growing up. I didn’t realize until I was much older that everyone is not that blessed.”

Image credits: HMP Couture Imagery

“It is important for girls to know that there is no box. They can be girly and athletic. Artsy and smart. Whatever they dream, they can achieve. ”

Image credits: HMP Couture Imagery

What do you think? Did you have to ‘choose’ when you were a child? Do we subconscious put our kids in unnecessary boxes sometimes? Let us know in the comments!

Image credits: Kancis Collins Smith

Here’s what people had to say about the meaningful photoshoot

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Halsey Hid ‘A Couple Grand’ In Easter Eggs – And Her Friends Went WILD! – Perez Hilton

Now THIS is how you hold an egg hunt, y’all!

Halsey decided not to mess around with any low-brow candy or other little trinkets hidden in her Easter orbs this year — opting instead to FLOSS majorly by stashing big-time cash in each hidden egg before letting her friends loose to find all the treasure!

The Bad At Love singer shared the shenanigans on her Instagram Stories Sunday, showing off her high-brow Easter egg hunt that included “a couple grand” in cold, hard cash stowed away in dozens of eggos hidden all throughout her home and backyard.

It was very clear watching the highlights that the Without Me singer’s friends, and even her BF Yungblud, were having a LOT of fun searching for all the cash — who wouldn’t?!

Anyways, ch-ch-check out a few highlights from the memorable Easter party (below), including Yungblud trying his first Peep on Sunday… which he called “rather vile.” Oh well. Can’t win ’em all!!!!

The hostess with the mostest just keeps doin’ her thing! / (c) Instagram/Halsey

Cold, Hard, CASH!!! / (c) Instagram/Halsey

Halsey let everyone loose to run around like mad picking up Easter Eggs in the dark! / (c) Instagram/Halsey

Sadly, Yungblud’s first Peep did not agree with him! Oh no! / (c) Instagram/Halsey

Now that’s how you do Easter the right way! An egg hunt even the Kardashians could probably appreciate! Ha!!

Come to think of it, can WE be friends with Halsey in time for Easter 2020?! Volunteering ourselves now to be a part of this even next year, no matter what… we gotta pay the rent, y’all! LOLz!!

What a fun party and a memorable way for Halsey to gift some of her friends a little cash! LOVES it!

After putting together a mad dash for cash this Sunday for her friends, Halsey is truly living her best life right now! / (c) WENN

From previously

Can’t hate it… she’s reached her dreams and then some, and she’s got enough now to spare so she can share with her friends! Good for her!

What about YOU, Perezcious readers?! What do U think of Halsey’s generous Easter gift idea — and how fun is it that she made it a house-wide hunt?? Was YOUR Easter egg hunt anything like this one here??

Sound OFF about all this and more in the comments (below)!

[Image via WENN]

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Facebook bans far right groups and leaders

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Former BNP leader Nick Griffin and ex-Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen are among those affected

Facebook has imposed a ban on a dozen far-right individuals and organisations that it says "spread hate".

The ban includes the British National Party and Nick Griffin, the English Defence League and the National Front.

The list also includes Britain First, which was already banned, but this latest action will prohibit support for it on any of the US firm's services.

It said it had taken the action because those involved had proclaimed a "violent or hateful mission".

"Individuals and organisations who spread hate, or attack or call for the exclusion of others on the basis of who they are, have no place on Facebook," the social network added in a statement.

Image copyright Facebook

Image caption The pages of some organisations named were still present on Facebook before the announcement

The ban includes:

The British National Party and its ex-leader Nick Griffin

Britain First, its leader Paul Golding and former deputy leader Jayda Fransen

English Defence League and its founding member Paul Ray

Knights Templar International and its promoter Jim Dowson

National Front and its leader Tony Martin

Jack Renshaw, a neo-Nazi who plotted to murder a Labour MP

A spokesman for Facebook clarified what would now be done to the pages the groups and individuals had run on its site. All those named would be prevented from having a presence on any Facebook service.

In addition, praise and support for the groups or named individuals would no longer be allowed.

The ban was "long overdue" said MP Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select committee.

"For too long social media companies have been facilitating extremist and hateful content online and profiting from the poison," she added.

"They have particularly failed on far-right extremism as they don't even have the same co-ordination systems for platforms to work together as they do on Islamist extremism," she added.

Ms Cooper said the measures were a "necessary first step" and should be strengthened by independent regulation and financial penalties for firms that were sluggish to remove material.

"We all know the appalling consequences there can be if hateful, violent and illegal content is allowed to proliferate," she said.

Image copyright Facebook

This current action, said Facebook, went further than the restrictions placed on Britain First last year when its official pages were removed for breaking the site's community standards.

The latest move comes soon after Facebook said it would block "praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism" on its main app and Instagram.

Some controversial figures, such as Tommy Robinson, are already subject to bans on the social network.

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Puerto Rico gov slams Trump, seeks swifter storm recovery

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Puerto Rico's governor is pledging to lift the U.S. territory from a deep recession by creating more jobs, reversing a migration exodus and implementing a range of incentives as the island struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello spoke Wednesday during a nearly two-hour state of the commonwealth address that followed a brief power outage. He also said he plans to hold a yes-or-no referendum on statehood as he criticized President Donald Trump's response to the Category 4 storm that hit September 2017.

Rossello also called on the U.S. Congress to review the way a federal control board overseeing the island's finances has been operating as Puerto Rico's government tries to restructure a portion of a public debt that exceeds $70 billion.

Trending in World

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They were abused as children, but art is their therapy

Image copyright Tom Maddick/SWNS

How do people sexually abused as children start to repair the psychological damage done in those early years? Three victims tell how they have used creative pursuits - art, poetry and playwriting - to channel their feelings, while a doctor explains the logic behind the method.

Jemma

Jemma's house in Lancashire is full of laughter. Warm and chatty, she sits on the sofa surrounded by pieces of her colourful art, as family members come and go.

Her home is unlike the house she was taken to as a schoolgirl, where she was plied with alcohol and groomed for sex by a man eight years her senior.

"No carpets, just floorboards," she says, describing the house. "Lights were every now and then broken or smashed. Nothing in the kitchen. Empty.

"Upstairs just a bed. No sheets. And a mattress. It wasn't a home, just a house".

Image copyright Tom Maddick/SWNS

Image caption Jemma, who is due to start training to be a college teacher, said she has only started accepting what happened in the last three years

She was 15 when the grooming began, although she says she did not recognise it for what it was.

He was 23, and they had met through a mutual friend. He invited Jemma - and others around her age and younger - to the house, where he was joined by older men.

"In my eyes it was just an older male who was paying attention to me and I think I thrived off that," says Jemma.

"Having an older male that would buy me things - buy your fags, buy your alcohol, give me his bracelet that he claimed were really important to him."

Alcohol was shared - "drink up, drink up", he used to tell her - and soon the sex started. If Jemma resisted, he was not violent but would "throw sarky comments out there and be a bit nasty".

Jemma says things she had witnessed in the house - involving other teenage girls - "will probably stay with me for a long time".

The pair fixed up meetings, after school and late at night, using a mobile phone he had secretly given Jemma. But it all ended when Jemma's mum discovered what had been happening and the police were called.

Image copyright Tom Maddick/SWNS

Image caption She uses primary colours to draw people in and then likes "seeing the looks on their faces when they realise what it's about"

Jemma's abuser pleaded guilty and was jailed for five years for sexual activity with a child and child pornography charges. At the time of the court case, Jemma earned an A* in her GCSE art. Now 24, she has just finished a masters in textiles.

At university, she started working with textiles - "it was the most expressive" - and also Aboriginal art, which uses symbols to tell tales and convey warnings.

For her masters project, she decided to use symbolism to tell her story and warn others. She describes art as "like therapy".

"All my designs are bright and colourful because I wanted everyone to discuss child sexual abuse openly and it not to be a sore subject that everyone avoids," she says.

Image copyright Tom Maddick/SWNS

Image caption One of Jemma's pieces - a cushion covered with things her abuser used to say to her and phrases related to her experience

Jemma, who is married and a mother, says she has come to terms with what happened, although still asks the question "Why me?"

There are too many false stereotypes, she says, of what a victim of grooming looks like - someone in the care system or involved with the police. But she had a happy home life, a good support system and was doing well at school.

Ruby

Strong winds rail against the windows of Ruby's apartment block in north London as she tells her story - it's the week Storm Gareth hit the UK.

Ruby says she was first sexually assaulted aged five. By the time she was 10, she was being raped regularly. At 13 she became pregnant.

Image copyright Phil Coomes/BBC

Image caption "I still feel a sense of how could this happen. How could people treat children like that?"

"It was very difficult. I didn't know exactly what sex was," says Ruby, now 62.

"He'd been doing this to me for a while, I didn't know what it meant. And then it started dawning on me, maybe it was age 11 or a sex education class, I started thinking is this the thing that can make a baby?

"And I went with my friend to the library to look up the reproductive system. There was a sort of horror as it dawned on me that this is the thing that makes a baby. So when my periods stopped, I put it together with what I read."

She saw a doctor and underwent an abortion.

The tale of her abuse is horrific. She says she felt "utterly powerless" and, looking back, thinks that she disassociated from her body when the abuse happened.

Image copyright Phil Coomes/BBC

Image caption Ruby also says she writes on child abuse because of the "campaigning aspect" to helps reduce and stop child abuse by highlighting it

But the impact stretched far into her life, even years after it ended.

"Having been forced to accept the unacceptable and having lived it for so long, it sort of continues," she explains. "I was out and about on my own, very, very vulnerable. Homeless really. Sofa-surfing.

"All the violence and adrenaline and everything that went on, that's what I was used to. And I continued putting myself in a lot of danger. I really sometimes wonder how I managed to survive that."

She says she was unable to make decisions in her own interest, and was left "depleted" by her relationships with men.

Her journey to recovery has been long. Ruby says only in the past five years has she found the right type of therapy.

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Image copyright Ruby

Image caption Extract from Ruby's poem, called Secret

Ruby says there is a "bitter-sweetness" with, as an adult, learning that child sexual abuse was so widespread.

"On the one hand it's awful, it's uncivilised, that it's terrible that it's widespread. But on the other hand, as a victim, you don't feel so alone."

Patrick

"One of the most moving pieces I have ever seen," was the verdict of comedian Sandi Toksvig on seeing the show Groomed.

The one-man play is written and performed by theatre director Patrick Sandford. It tells his story of being sexually abused, aged nine, by a teacher in the 1960s.

"I would have to stand behind the table in front of the class and read to the class," says Patrick, now 66.

Image caption Award winning director Patrick used to be the artistic director of the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton

"While I was reading, he would hold the side of the book. With his right hand, he used to slip his hand up my leg and into my shorts and play with my genitals.

"Of course it was the most embarrassing and terrifying experience for a nine-year-old.

"He would say how clever I was and how well I was reading and how he would make me top of the class."

Patrick says when the abuse stopped - "I was thrown away for a younger model... I knew I was no longer his favourite pupil" - it was "devastating".

"It was, I think, in many ways, as catastrophic psychologically as the actual abuse. It made me feel worthless. What had I done wrong? I felt hideous and ugly."

For 15 years, Patrick did not allow anyone to touch him physically, except for a handshake or peck on a cheek.

"I was repressed completely sexually. I felt I was hideous. I had terrifying body dysmorphia. I used to carry a newspaper so that people wouldn't see my face."

His recovery started when he began working professionally in the theatre - what he calls his "survival strategy" which gave him "a reason for living".

He underwent therapy and later he started to write the play Groomed as a "therapeutic, cathartic exercise".

Image caption "Creating fiction was easier and safer than real life," says Patrick on how the world of theatre helped him

"I read it to my therapist, in a tiny little room and he said you have to do it, you have to perform it. I did it for three friends. Then I did it for my agent.

"Gradually people said I have to do it. I said I only want to do it if I can have a saxophone. I wanted no depressing music - it can be melancholy, but that's not the same thing.

"I didn't want it to be self-indulgent… it's so easy to write about misery, everybody gets challenges and misery."

Image copyright Patrick Sandford

Image caption It's important that ordinary abuse stories are told, says Patrick - not just those of celebrities like Jimmy Savile

Perhaps astoundingly, Patrick also performs the character of the teacher in the play.

"I didn't want it to be black and white, the man who abused me is the baddie and I was the innocent goodie. I think it's more complicated than that."

He adds: "Doing the play can be completely cathartic but it can also be quite churning. It feels like opening a wound and cleaning it out but ultimately it's very healing having these conversations.

"Suddenly my experience is being believed. It's lovely to be heard."

How can creativity help?

Dr Rebekah Eglinton is the chief psychologist to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and explains how creativity can help recovery.

"The one thing that is really powerful is the use of symbolism," she says. "What I mean by that, is sometimes it can be very difficult to talk directly about 'me' and about things that might feel completely overwhelming.

"But if I can tell a story through the medium of poetry, for example to talk about what has happened, I can talk about it indirectly. It means it's easier to communicate."

She adds: "It's a bit like the story of Perseus slaying Medusa. If you think of Medusa as the trauma, looking directly at the trauma can be so utterly overwhelming because the trauma is so horrific.

"But by looking indirectly [using a mirror], he's finding a way to speak the unspeakable."

But she emphasises that everyone is an individual: "Recovery and that journey from trauma into wellness - whatever that looks like for someone - is an incredibly individual journey."

With thanks to the Truth Project. You can find out more about how to share an experience with the Truth Project at: https://www.truthproject.org.uk, by calling the information line: 0800 917 1000 or emailing share@truthproject.org.uk.

Information and support for anyone affected by sexual abuse (current or historic)

Related Topics

Art

Child grooming

Child abuse

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Maxine Peake: Im sure people say: dont hire that big red raving loony

The acclaimed actor on being outspoken and her new role as a woman undergoing IVF

Maxine Peakes roles range from a transgender Hamlet to a sharp lawyer in the BBC series Silk to, most recently, an early 19th-century matriarch from Manchester in Mike Leighs film Peterloo. Now she is about to star in a stage adaptation of Julia Leighs harrowing memoir of IVF treatment, Avalanche: A Love Story, as part of the Barbicans Fertility Fest about the science of making babies and modern families.

You have made no secret of your attempts at IVF; was it personal experience that drew you to this piece? What I like about this piece is that there is no happy ending. It is so difficult for people for whom IVF has not been positive to find stories that do not end well. I wish I could have read Avalanche when I was going through IVF. My experience was not successful. I did three rounds and that was me done. I felt Id been through the mill. And I felt guilt. I felt: do I want a child enough? What people do not understand is that you are pumping your body with hormones. I felt I dont want to do this again, thank you very much.

Does our culture over-prize motherhood ? Yes and it has become worse, weve slid backwards. Motherhood is thought of as a choice but some people have that choice taken away. Im always shocked when people ask: Have you got children? Why not? Ill think: I dont want to explain that to you. Or: Youd make a great mother that love between mother and child, youll never experience anything like it. I mean OK, Ill never know that. And when I say: I couldnt have children, people react as if I had offended them. And I say: Well, you did ask. I would never ask anyone. If a woman is of an age, why ask her?

But then when you talk to another woman who does not have children, you sometimes find a little shared island, because we can otherwise feel stuck on in a place populated by people who do. Sometimes, with Radio 4s Womans Hour, I want to throw the radio out the window they expect their audience to be mothers and it can make you feel very isolated.

The academic and essayist Emilie Pine and the novelist/journalist Elizabeth Day have recently written about unsuccessful IVF treatment. Day points out that IVF is talked about in the language of failure and suggests failure can be positive. What is your feeling? When things do not work, you move on. You channel it into something else. I want to say to women: it isnt over. Theres a part in the book where Leigh says she wants a child because she wants an inviolable reason for being. I went through that but Ive got over it I think it was hormonal.

Julia Leigh writes about an imaginary child and Hilary Mantel once wrote something similar. Are we haunted by what has not happened to us, dreams that stubbornly resist coming true? Yes if there is something out there we have not been able to make happen. For me, it was a faceless child that always had dungarees on and was at the bottom of the garden, helping my partner in the shed. A little girl. My only sadness now is that Ill never be a grandparent because I had such a connection with my own grandparents.

I think it is fair to say that, in your career, you are more used to success and that this has involved persistence as well as talent... what is the ideal temperament for an actor? I feel more creative in my 40s. I care less, my self-consciousness has dropped. Life bruises but you know what? Im still here. A thick skin is what actors need, but like a vent: thick one minute, thin the next. Its said the best actors are missing a layer of skin.

Acting is one of the most unjust professions. People should not think actors have got where they have got because theyre talented or have not got anywhere because theyre untalented its about luck and hard work. When you get a chink of luck, you have to grab it with both hands.

Of the roles you have played, which comes closest to the person you are? It is the roles a million miles from you that you end up tapping into. Alice in [2012 BBC drama] Room at the Top. There was something about her vulnerability.

You are a socialist, a feminist and tend to be outspoken about your views... Im not sure if my speaking out about politics is good for my career. Im sure there are rooms where people say: Oh please dont hire that big red raving loony.

What is your prediction about Brexit? I would not want to guess. Its a disaster a hash. The whole country has been whipped up into a frenzy. And theres so much misinformation with Leave and with Remain. Its like a toxic mist and were all wading through it.

You left London for Salford; what does Salford have that London lacks? Affordable house prices. At least, affordable for some people. And an amazing heritage, a progressive past and a sense of community thats what attracted me back. As a city, there is something in the soil. Look at the people Shelagh Delaney [the playwright who wrote A Taste of Honey]. Look at the birth of communism. And lots of the bands Manchester claim as theirs came from Salford. It has something magical about it a good mix, rough around the edges I love that.

What makes you angry? Injustice.

What cheers you up when you are down? Going out with my little rescue dog, a bedlington cross whippet who obviously, because I am a walking cliche is called Castro. They called him Bungo but he wasnt a Bungo. I was going to call him Fidel but my partner [the art director Pawlo Wintoniuk] said it might sound as if I was shouting Fiddle! in the park.

What is the hardest thing for you about being an actor? The anxiety of performance. I used to think that when I got older it would be so much easier but thats a big lie. Although as one of my friends said to me: Youre not packing parachutes so shut up and get on with it.

What comes after Avalanche? Im back up north doing a show for the Manchester International festival The Nico Project based around the German singer who worked with the Velvet Underground: its a performance piece, directed by Sarah Frankcom.

Avalanche: A Love Story is at the Barbican, London, 27 April-12 May

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[francgreyjoy]

Lily Tomlin On ‘9 To 5’ Sequel: ‘We Hope That We Live To See It’

Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda have been pals for around 40 years. And as with most enduring friendships, they don’t mind having a chuckle at one another’s expense. 

Tomlin popped by “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Thursday and spent much of the chat gushing about Fonda, her co-star in the 1980 hit film “9 to 5” and on Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie,” currently shooting its sixth season. 

Along with Dolly Parton, Fonda and Tomlin have been part of the talk about a planned sequel to “9 to 5.” But, like many things in Hollywood go, it presumably will take a while before the iconic trio can reunite in front of the cameras for such a project.  

“They’re writing it at the moment,” Tomlin told DeGeneres of the film, which reportedly aims to reflect women’s issues in the modern workforce. “We hope that we live to see it. We’re very advanced in years. I said to [Fonda] the other day, ‘I wonder which one of us would go first.’” 

In 2017, Fonda celebrated her 80th birthday by hosting an “Eight Decades of Jane” fundraiser in Atlanta that raised $1.3 million for the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential foundation. The organization, which Fonda founded in 1995, is focused on teen pregnancy prevention and adolescent health.

Tomlin turns 80 on Sept. 1, and to celebrate, she said Fonda will be on hand to help her raise funds for the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

Parton is the youngster among the three ― she turned 73 in January.

Also in Thursday’s interview, DeGeneres challenged Tomlin to a game of “Will-y Lily Know It?” in which the actress was quizzed about her knowledge of youth culture and slang against a millennial. 

True to form, Tomlin impressed with her knowledge of pop songstress Billie Eilish and Coachella. 

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