Noel Clarke loses appeal court challenge that could have delayed Guardian libel trial

Noel Clarke has suffered a legal setback in his lawsuit against the Guardian after the court of appeal rejected his 11th-hour attempt to add a “conspiracy” claim to his lawsuit, which could have delayed the start of the libel trial.The claim would have involved adding six co-defendants to the case before the trial.Clarke’s lawyers argued they had been unfairly prejudiced by a high court decision last month to postpone the legal application to avoid a delay to the trial.In a unanimous judgment on Friday, three appeal court judges supported the decision by the trial judge, Mrs Justice Steyn.Lord Justice Warby, who wrote the lead opinion, concluded the trial judge’s approach was “fair and her procedural assessments were all legitimate”

Stephen Colbert on Trump: ‘With this guy, every troll is a trial balloon’

The Late Show host delves into New York City’s congestion pricing and Bigfoot maybe becoming California’s official state cryptid.On Thursday evening, Stephen Colbert took on a topic close to his professional home at New York’s Ed Sullivan theater: congestion pricing, a toll on most vehicles entering Manhattan’s central business district between 5am and 9pm to cut traffic and emissions.The new tax was introduced at the beginning of this year, “and it’s working”, Colbert explained, as January saw a 7.9% reduction in traffic, and the governor’s office noted that foot traffic to local businesses spiked. “Or, as the New York Times put it, ‘Ay! People are walking here!’” Colbert joked

The Sims at 25: a terrifying facsimile of life, death and the endless cycle of work

Launched in an era when voyeurism reigned supreme, The Sims was both a curious pleasure and a Lynchian oddity. A new program in Melbourne celebrates its legacy“Who would you put in your pool these days?” asks my friend while we stand in a giant lime-green dollhouse. We’re at Acmi’s celebration of The Sims’ 25th birthday, inside a Y2K-inspired pop-up styled by the interior designer influencers and diehard Simmers Josh and Matt. There are a couple of blocky PCs where people can play the original Sims. There is also a grim reaper and a llama wandering around

Stephen Colbert on Elon Musk: ‘An unelected donor running an unauthorized employee kill squad’

The Late Show host looks into the chaos created by Elon Musk’s unofficial “department of government efficiency” (Doge).“It feels like every day we get news of yet another inexplicable, chaotic move seemingly bent on undermining everything we as Americans hold dear,” said Stephen Colbert on Wednesday evening. “And today is no different,” as KFC announced it was moving its corporate headquarters from Kentucky to Texas.“What’s next? Jersey Mike’s becomes Maine’s Mickeys?” he exclaimed. “Will Papa John step down as the pizza pope? Burger King abdicates his throne to nary a common nugget?”Meanwhile, in Washington, “our government is getting spatchcocked by Elon Musk and his post-pubescent pink-slip troopers”, as Doge’s mass layoffs of government workers have been met with anger, chaos and confusion

Indie legend Miki Berenyi: ‘There was a falling out in Lush. And, if I’m honest, it still hurts’

Ahead of her trio’s new album, the indie star answers your questions on the harsh 90s music press, her harrowing memoir, and the joy of Spurs walloping ArsenalYou’ve talked about how trying to break America led to Lush almost breaking up by the time of Chris Acland’s death. Did you actually want that level of success? tomfowler500If we had, then we wouldn’t have been on 4AD – because Pixies and Cocteau Twins were on 4AD and neither of them had a Top 10 single. They were popular and respected, but 4AD was not the label to push you up the Billboard charts. I don’t think any of us were built for that treadmill, or those long distances, and it’s hard not to lose your mind. I used to prepare for tours by taking Linguaphone tapes and thinking, “I’m going to learn Italian”

Laverne Cox’s Clean Slate offers a nuanced, hilarious view of Black trans life

Black sitcoms have long featured sincere and thoughtful arcs on a number of issues, including adoption, grief and racial profiling. But many shows have failed to deliver meaningful storylines about transgender characters. Shows such as The Jeffersons and The Parkers, for instance, have leaned on tired, transphobic tropes: the process of transitioning is typically reduced to a single operation that characters get off-screen; trans women are often outed by accident, the punchline in a joke about gender; or trans people are abandoned once a cisgender character who initially expressed romantic interest in them suddenly discovers their gender identity and bolts.Across television programs, trans characters (usually played by cis actors) function as punchlines, villains or have no legitimate storyline to begin with. But Clean Slate, a new Prime Video series loosely based on the actor Laverne Cox’s upbringing, is an entertaining and wholehearted comedy following a once-estranged father and daughter who become reacquainted and grow together on new terms