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EXCLUSIVE: First came Cocaine Bear and Cocaine Shark. Now meet Cocaine Werewolf. Ireland’s Tarf Media has secured worldwide sales rights (excluding North America) to the indie comedy-horror film, which is written by Ford Austin and Tyger Torrez. Mark Polonia, who directed Cocaine Shark, is directing. David Sterling and Tim Yasui are producing for Cleopatra Entertainment. …

Belize, Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are the latest countries in the Americas to receive certification from the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating the mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis (EMTCT). The milestone was marked today at a commemorative event organized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Kingston, Jamaica, with support from UNICEF and UNAIDS and with the participation of health ministers from the three countries.

“This achievement is a testament to years of dedication, hard work, and collaboration among governments, health professionals, and communities”, PAHO Director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa said at the event. Dr. Barbosa also acknowledged the “remarkable resilience” displayed by the three countries, ensuring the adaptation and continuation of essential services despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I trust that the celebration today will inspire other countries to reinvigorate their commitments” towards a generation free of HIV and congenital syphilis.

In 2010, countries of the Americas committed to the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis and endorsed the regional strategy, which was updated in 2016 under the PAHO Plan of Action for the Prevention and Control of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections.

To meet elimination targets, countries focused on strengthening prevention and treatment services within primary health care and in maternal and child health, updating guidelines, ensuring the effective screening of pregnant women, monitoring cases and following-up with HIV and syphilis exposed infants.

The Republic of Congo has granted more than 22,000 hectares of agricultural land to Rwanda for a period of 25 years. An agreement that is starting to face increasing criticism from Congolese citizens. Dave Mafoula, an unsuccessful candidate in the 2021 presidential election, calls on his fellow citizens not to accept "things that are done outside the law."

According to the account of Loïcia Martial, RFI correspondent in Brazzaville, this official from the party Les Souverainistes asserts that more than 11,000 hectares of these granted lands have been sold for a symbolic franc. He considers the land concession agreements “vague” and sees them as a violation of Congo's sovereignty. Dave Mafoula promises to approach the Prime Minister to request “the withdrawal or cancellation of these texts or decrees (regarding the land grants) that are illegal.”

In a program broadcasted in Rwanda, Rwandans commented on this acquisition of land in Congo-Brazzaville by expressing satisfaction at having acquired lands “larger than Kigali,” their capital in Rwanda. This show annoys some Congolese who see it as a loss of sovereignty over their land. “When Rwandans say that what has been given to them represents six times the size of the city of Kigali, you understand that such things cannot happen. We want things to be done according to law and in respect of the law. If there are things done outside the law, the Congolese are called upon not to accept them,” stated Dave Mafoula.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Thursday that ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity are occurring in El Geneina, Sudan. The events are labeled as “among the worst atrocities against civilians so far in the current conflict in Sudan.”

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are responsible for the attacks committed against the Massalit ethnic minority. This series of attacks commenced in April 2023, with the start of the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces, the RSF and other militias. In this period, it is estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in El Geneina. Here, attacks were held against the Massalit minority as part of a widespread ethnic cleansing campaign.

According to the report, the Massalit and other non-Arab civilians are being forced out of El Geneina, as displaced residents are seen in Chad, Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan. HRW referred to the situation as a case of crimes against humanity and even a possible indication of genocide. The cases of murder, torture, persecution, and forcible transfer of the civilian population could amount to crimes against humanity as defined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

At a military base that now doubles as a detention center in Israel’s Negev desert, an Israeli working at the facility snapped two photographs of a scene that he says continues to haunt him.

Mars Express is a futuristic detective story about the autonomy of synthetic beings — which is to say, it’s the latest in a long line of sci-fi influenced by Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner. But while its premise may be familiar, the movie makes up for it with style and energy. The debut feature from director Jérémie Périn, Mars Express features absolutely stunning 2D animation, a fully realized world, and a pulse-pounding story that kept me guessing right until the end.

It’s set in 2200, a point in time when Earth is described as a “slum for the unemployed,” while Mars has become somewhat better... at least for the rich, who live in what’s best described as a futuristic vision of the suburbs under a protective dome with bright screens that mask the outside world. Complicating the social dynamics are synthetic life-forms, which come in various flavors. There are typical robots used to do menial and service jobs, with some humans fighting to liberate them and one megacorporation trying to phase the machines out in favor of organic versions. Meanwhile, there are also “backups,” androids with the memories and personalities of deceased humans, who must follow a strict set of Isaac Asimov-like rules.

Warner Bros. has just announced it will return to the well of one of its most valuable IPs, Lord of the Rings, for a new feature film out in 2026.

The movie is called Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, so the catch here is that this is a movie…starring Gollum, which may not be what many fans were hoping for, rather than touching on other aspects or timelines of the larger LOTR universe. Not…more Gollum.

Naturally, Gollum actor Andy Serkis is returning for the role, but not only that, he’s also directing the film. Serkis previously directed the Venom sequel, Let There Be Carnage, and 2018’s Mowgli movie. This would be the first LOTR film not directed by Peter Jackson, who is instead producing....

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is coming back again — but it’s a bit different this time. Warner Bros. and Fathom Events are teaming to rerelease the Oscar-winning fantasy blockbusters this summer.

The versions screened will be Jackson’s extended editions (so you might want get the jumbo tub of popcorn), and also the versions that the filmmaker remastered in 2020 for a 4K Ultra HD rerelease.

The films will screen across three days at Fathom Events participating chains, like AMC, Cinemark and Regal.

People living in Nairobi’s Mathare slum fear that if catastrophic flooding does not bring down their homes, the government will. Jane Kalekye trudges through the narrow muddy alley to her tin-roof house in Mathare, one of Kenya’s largest slums. Ever since the devastating floods that forced her out of her home last month, she and other residents who live by the rubbish-choked Mathare River, which runs through their area of Nairobi, have begun an anxious countdown.

It is only a matter of time before their homes are brought down, they say, either by another bout of flooding, or by the government’s ongoing demolition of houses along riverbanks prone to flooding.

“Nyumba bado iko?” (“The house is still here?” in Swahili), the 37-year-old secondhand clothes seller asks her neighbour, who gives her a solemn nod back: “Iko” (“It’s still here”).

“These days it’s a pattern – it rains almost every night, and when it rains the house floods, maybe not as much as the first time, but enough to leave us without a home,” says Kalekye, who is staying at a temporary shelter in a school with her three children.

Since the wet season began in March, Kenya has seen some of its most catastrophic weather for years. Torrential rains have caused devastating floods, at least 228 people have died, thousands have been displaced and nearly 2,000 schools have been affected. All remaining schools have been shut indefinitely by the government.

Kalekye and her family are among at least 23,000 households displaced over the past two weeks. Kenya’s interior ministry and humanitarian organisations say that calls for rescue have been unprecedented.

The easy freedom of this medium allowed the artist to range over subjects as diverse as Tarot, male nudes at Fire Island and a friend’s flat – and offer clues to his more public feature films

Excerpt:

These shorts were all made in the early 1970s, between his first major break in the film industry designing Ken Russell’s 1971 historical fantasy The Devils and releasing his first feature film, the erotic fantasy Sebastiane in 1976. Jarman’s main source of income in this period, apparently, was via Russell; another job, on Savage Messiah, materialised; others, such as a film of Rabelais’ Gargantua and an opera of The Tempest, fell apart. Although Jarman found the uncertainty and committee nature of the commercial film industry dispiriting (so much so that he turned down Russell’s offer of designing Tommy), involvement in it triggered an interest in film-making that largely displaced painting, at least until the mid-80s.

The hermetic, personal nature of these short films can’t be disguised and is, of course, the point; Mackay says that Jarman saw his film-making “on two different levels”. The Super 8 films are, he says, like “private work that an artist makes [for] themselves and for their friends” and the features like a “public commission, in the same way you might make an artwork for some building, or a statue or something”.

“Derek,” he says, “picked up on Super 8 because it was so simple and all under control. He could carry a camera around and make films as he pleased.”

The bodies of nine migrants found on an African boat off the northern coast of Brazil’s Amazon region were buried Thursday with a solemn ceremony in the Para state capital of Belem. Fishermen off the coast of Para found the boat adrift April 13, carrying the bodies that were already decomposing. Brazilian officials later said documents found in the vessel indicated that the victims were migrants from Mali and Mauritania and that the boat had departed the latter country after Jan. 17.

Brazil’s federal police said later that the bodies were of adults or teenagers whose exact age could not be determined. Agents found two documents — an identity card from Mauritania and a register of entry in Mauritania that belonged to someone from Mali.

The deceased were buried in a secular ceremony organized by a number of groups involved in their recovery, such as the U.N. Refugee Agency, the Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration, as well as Brazilian police, navy and civil defense agencies.

A tropical rain fell as their coffins were lowered into graves dug into the earth and those present watched in respectful silence.

People were told to move to Muwasi, an Israeli-declared humanitarian area near the coast. The announcement signals that a ground invasion is imminent.