The American actor told Bill Maher’s podcast that he had asked Quincy Jones about the singer’s sexuality and felt he couldn’t ‘play that character 100%’
The actor Terrence Howard has said that he declined the role of Marvin Gaye in a film, because he didn’t want to kiss another man.
Speaking to Bill Maher on his Club Random podcast, the actor said the “biggest mistake” of his career was turning down the leading role in a separate biopic of the singer Smokey Robinson – which Robinson had personally asked him to play.
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© Photograph: Warner Br/Everett/REX/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Warner Br/Everett/REX/Shutterstock
Owen Lawrence, 38, is believed to have shot two women with crossbow on Saturday afternoon before turning weapon on himself
A man suspected of attacking two women in the Headingley area of Leeds on Saturday afternoon during an attempted misogynistic “massacre” has died overnight, counter-terrorism police have confirmed.
Owen Lawrence, 38, is believed to shot the women, aged 19 and 31, with a crossbow before turning the weapon on himself at the scene on Otley Road, a popular pub crawl route.
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© Photograph: George Sweeney/Alamy
© Photograph: George Sweeney/Alamy
Rock star co-founded cancer charity that helped sign up 250,000 people as stem cell donors
Mike Peters, frontman of the Welsh band The Alarm, has died from blood cancer aged 66.
The rock star, who was forced to cancel a US tour last year after being diagnosed with fast-growing lymphoma, had been undergoing treatment at the Christie NHS foundation trust in Manchester.
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© Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
© Photograph: Andre Csillag/Rex Features
Long-awaited ruling means cash-for-citizenship programme that allowed people to live and work in bloc must be scrapped
The European court of justice has ruled that Malta’s “golden passport” scheme is illegal, meaning its cash-for-citizenship programme must be scrapped.
In a long-awaited ruling on Tuesday, the EU’s top court concluded that Malta’s investor citizenship scheme was contrary to EU law. Judges said the scheme represented a “commercialisation of the grant of the nationality of a member state” and by extension EU citizenship, which was at odds with European law. Malta had jeopardised the mutual trust between EU member states necessary to create an area without internal borders, the court argued.
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© Photograph: Konstantin Kalishko/Alamy
© Photograph: Konstantin Kalishko/Alamy
US president expected to hail avalanche of orders and policies as Mark Carney marks election victory in Canada with warn ing that ‘America wants our land’
President Donald Trump will mark his 100th day in office with a speech in Macomb County, Michigan, this evening.
The president is expected to begin at 6pm local time, after a visit to the nearby Selfridge Air National Guard Base, where he will address the Michigan National Guard.
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© Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
© Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Edward Berger will helm the Ridley Scott-produced screen version of the 1994 novel by Tim Winton, which has been in development in various incarnations for 25 years
Edward Berger, whose papal thriller Conclave won best film at the Baftas and was nominated for eight Oscars, has signed on to direct Brad Pitt in a big-screen version of Tim Winton’s novel The Riders.
The film will be financed by US studio A24, produced by Ridley Scott and written by David Kajganich, a frequent collaborator of Luca Guadagnino.
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© Photograph: Annalisa Ranzoni/Getty Images
© Photograph: Annalisa Ranzoni/Getty Images
The Madrid Open resumed on Tuesday afternoon after a massive power outage left Spain and Portugal without electricity on Monday and forced the tournament to suspend all matches after 90 minutes of play. After about 10 hours without electricity and mobile internet for most people in Madrid, power to homes and phones returned late on Monday night, prompting widespread cheers in the streets. However, the Caja Mágica, which is situated in the southern neighbourhood of San Fermín, remained without power overnight.
At 7am, the Madrid Open announced that the opening of the gates had been delayed. An hour later, power was finally restored. Although play normally begins at 11am, it started at noon on Tuesday.
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© Photograph: Chema Moya/EPA
© Photograph: Chema Moya/EPA
The Ballon d’Or winner has set his sights on helping the club grow, offering his expertise and pulling power
It was the transfer nobody saw coming: Luka Modric to Swansea City, not joining as a player but a minority stakeholder. The most decorated player in Real Madrid’s history, a six-time Champions League winner and one of the greatest midfielders of his generation pitching up as a co-owner at a mid-table Championship club was certainly an unforeseen end-of-season development. A Ballon d’Or winner and Bernabéu star walking into the Swansea boardroom or exploring the Mumbles?
The sight of Modric cradling a Swansea-branded football in the accompanying press release prompted a few double-takes and sent a jolt across the game. “Hi Swansea fans, I’m Luka Modric and I’m excited to be part of the journey,” came his message. The 39-year-old Croatia captain may be in the twilight of his career but Swansea hope those words mark just the start of his involvement. “My goal is to support the club’s growth in a positive way and to help to build an exciting future.”
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© Composite: Guardian Picture Desk
© Composite: Guardian Picture Desk
Pair showed ‘expertise and a determined, deliberate approach’ during their ‘moronic mission’, prosecutor says
Two men used a chainsaw to deliberately fell the famous Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian’s Wall in an act of “mindless criminal damage”, a court has heard.
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, embarked on a “moronic mission” to cut down in minutes a tree that had stood for more than 100 years, the prosecutor Richard Wright KC told Newcastle crown court.
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© Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters
© Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters
Former coach’s conduct is said to be the tip of the iceberg and Fifa continues to investigate matters related to abuse
It was at a press conference to announce Gabon’s squad for an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi in August 2018 that Pierre-Alain Mounguengui admitted Gabonese football had a problem. After shocking revelations made by Shiva “Star” Nzigou – a former striker who played for the French club Nantes and won 24 caps – that a network of paedophiles had been operating in the country for more than two decades, the president of the Gabon football association (Fegafoot) since 2014 felt obliged to comment.
“Before Shiva Star Nzigou’s statements, we knew that in Gabon there were similar signs and other indications,” Mounguengui said. “In the past, without naming names, we had people in certain clubs and sports venues who were hired to coach young people, but the education of a child begins at the grassroots. If they are deformed at the root, it is sometimes difficult to straighten them out. If we can have adults [coaches] of good moral character, I think it’s possible to stem this phenomenon.”
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© Photograph: Handout
© Photograph: Handout
Spanish director compared the US president to Franco and said he wondered whether it was appropriate to visit country while he is in power
The veteran Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar has launched a broadside against the US president, Donald Trump, while accepting an award in New York.
Speaking on stage at the Lincoln Center on Monday evening, he said he had been in two minds as to whether to travel to the US to pick up his Chaplin award.
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© Photograph: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
© Photograph: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
© Lynsey Addario for The New York Times
© Cole Burston for The New York Times
© Cole Burston for The New York Times
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© Ahmed Gaber for The New York Times
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