Culture

Wikinews recently caught up with screenwriter and film producer Chad Ridgely to discuss his latest indie horror film, 6:66PM. The film is scheduled to show at the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival in Buffalo, New York in November. Interview I've watched the teaser trailer. Tell us about the film's story line. Chad Ridgely 6:66 P.M. is about a team of ghost hunters making a reality TV show about paranormal activity. The problem is, none of them are really ghost hunters. They stage the house to make it seem like the house they're explor

On Wednesday, thousands of citizens gathered in New Delhi's Jantar Mantar and other cities across India to protest against mob violence against minority communities of Muslims and Dalits, which has increased in recent years. Documentary film-maker Saba Dewan asked for "protest against the lynchings" via a Facebook post on June 24, after a teenage Muslim boy, Junaid Khan, and his brothers were reportedly racially abused, and Junaid allegedly stabbed and killed by a mob, after a dispute last week in Haryana. About 2000 people gathered for the pr

Conductor Sir Jeffrey Tate died on Friday. He was born on April 28, 1943 in Salisbury, England with spina bfida and kyphosis. Tate moved with his family to Farnham, Surrey and attended school there. Despite his disabilities, he achieved a four-decade career conducting operatic and symphonic music, following a medical degree from Cambridge and medical residency at St Thomas' Hospital, London. He began in London Opera Centre with a scholarship and was a Royal Opera House répétiteur in 1971. He recorded ten complete operas with director Georg S

British police announced yesterday they believe they have arrested most of the confederates of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, who attacked an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester this Monday, killing 22 and injuring 116, of whom 23 were still in critical condition. As of this morning, eleven people were being held for questioning. One woman and one teenage boy were questioned and released. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, Britain's counterterrorism chief, reassured the public yesterday. "Enjoy yourselves and be reassured by the greater polic

Yesterday, Brian McMonagle, a lawyer defending the U.S. actor Bill Cosby, accused the prosecution of attempting to exclude black jurors. Cosby, who is black, is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a white woman. Prosecutors claimed that one of the potential jurors, a black former police officer who had once sued the state, might have an anti-government bias that could skew her judgement in trial. The judge overseeing the case, Steven T. O'Neill, decided to accept the prosecution's explanation but told Cosby's lawyers he would enter

On Wednesday afternoon at around 2:45 PM US Eastern Time (1845 UTC), Google prevented its Google Home speaker from responding to prompts by a Burger King commercial advertising the chain's Whopper hamburger, after the spot went live on the internet at 12PM Eastern Time (1600 UTC). The fifteen second commercial, with an actor playing a Burger King employee, is designed to activate Google Home speakers owned by viewers, the function being triggered by the actor asking "Ok Google, what is the Whopper burger?". Upon receiving the question, the spe

On Sunday, Disney's Zootopia won the Oscars award for the Best Animated Feature Film at the 89th Academy Awards ceremony held at Los Angeles. Pixar's animated short Piper won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film and Disney's The Jungle Book won for Visual Effects. Others competing with Zootopia in the category were Kubo and the Two Strings, My Life as a Zucchini, The Red Turtle, and Disney's Moana. This was the first Oscar for directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore who were previously nominated for, respectively, Bolt and Wreck-It Ralph. In

British metal musician Geoff Nicholls, keyboardist for Black Sabbath from 1979 to 2004, died yesterday after battling lung cancer. He was 68. Prior to Sabbath, Nicholls performed with New Wave of British Heavy Metal band Quartz. Quartz's 1977 début album was produced by Tony Iommi, founding guitarist of Black Sabbath. Iommi broke the news of Nicholls's death to fans, writing he was "so saddened to hear the loss of one of my dearest and closest friends Geoff Nicholls. He's been suffering for a while now with lung cancer and he lost his battle

The Czech government on Monday announced its diplomats had secured the release of a Polish citizen imprisoned for terrorism in Syria. The Polish foreign ministry on Tuesday confirmed the release of Leszek Panek, 54, from Wrocław. Polish media reports Panek, who vanished in late 2015 after crossing into Syria via Lebanon, suffers ill mental health. He had previously been travelling around Poland to warn of impending nuclear Armageddon. A statement from the Czech Presidential office said Panek's condition was "satisfactory". Panek requires crut

{{DISPLAYTITLE:La La Land receives record-equalling fourteen Oscar nominations; Hacksaw Ridge gets six}} Yesterday, La La Land, directed by Damien Chazelle, received a record-equalling fourteen Academy Awards nomination, tied with 1950s movie All About Eve and 1990's Titanic. Mel Gibson's HackSaw Ridge based on true story bagged six nominations. The movie, featuring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, received nominations in all major categories. Gosling and Stone received nominations for Best Actor and Actress respectively. The other nominations in

Roman Herzog, seventh president of Germany, who was in the office from 1994 to 1999, died yesterday in Bad Mergentheim, current president Joachim Gauck confirmed. He was 82. Born on April 5, 1934 in Landshut, Bavaria, Herzog studied law at Munich University. His father worked in a snuff factory. Herzog joined the Christian Democrats (CDU) in 1970. Herzog was appointed as Bonn's regional chief representative in 1973 by Rhineland-Palatinate's governor. He served as a judge in the Federal Constitutional Court from 1983 to 1987. He was promoted a

Acclaimed actor and singer Debbie Reynolds died at the age of 84 yesterday at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Her son, Todd Fisher, said around noon yesterday she suffered a stroke brought on by the stress of the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher. Reynolds' credits include lead roles in films Singin' in the Rain, Bundle of Joy, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, the last of which earned her an Academy Award nomination. She worked to preserve Hollywood history and memorabilia for posterity and, like Carrie Fisher, as an advo