Metallica makes major moves as ‘Back to the Beginning’ gig nears
Metallica just landed in Birmingham, the venue for this weekend’s Back to the Beginning concert.
The metal titans, who would be performing at the show which would also mark the iconic Black Sabbath’s final live comeback, wasted no time in taking in some of the Paranoid hitmakers’ landmarks.
Taking to their official Instagram, the Fade To Black hitmakers posted a photo featuring their bassist Robert Trujillo standing in front of the Black Sabbath logo on Mr Murals’ astonishing Sabbath mural on Navigation bridge.
They captioned the image: “The kids have landed in Birmingham.”
A second photo was uploaded minutes later, where the legendary front man, James Hetfield, could be seen throwing the devil horns while sitting between Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi on the Black Sabbath Bench on Black Sabbath Bridge.
The rock band’s guitarist and co-founder, Iommi replied to both these posts with the devil horns emoji.
Back to the Beginning, which will be hosted by actor, Jason Mamoa, is set to take place at Villa Park on Saturday, a place where all four original band members of Black Sabbath grew up.
The upcoming concert also boasts arguably the greatest line-up in metal history where alongside Sabbath, Ozzy and Metallica, sets from Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Tool, Rival Sons, Anthrax and Mastodon, would all be featured in the show.
Additionally, the Back to the Beginning promoter and producer, Andy Copping, confirmed to Planet Rock that there will be an additional “two or three” surprise acts as well as a revolving stage.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
There’s something bewitching about a glimpse of near-tranquillity, a feathery ripple of emotion or a chuckle in a dark room. Vermeer died young, broken by catastrophe on an enormous scale. Yet we revere him now for the way he savoured instants that would otherwise have gone unnoticed, the skill with which he chronicled flickers of deep but inconspicuous feeling.
For the first exhibition in its freshly refurbished home, the Frick has assembled a trio of blazing, murmuring Vermeers, composed of the simplest ingredients: a pair of women, a pen, a table, a sheet of paper, a ray of light. Each of these scenes of letters being written or delivered provides a tantalising peek into an inner life. We don’t know who is using what words to communicate what thoughts, but we can easily imagine how envious the painter must have been of the serenity he depicted. His own home was deluged with children — 11 of them — and his wife Catharina was surely too busy rousting, feeding, bathing and herding them to enjoy much contemplative hush.
The three paintings are deceptively alike. A splendidly clad woman sits, a maid dressed in practical brown stands, and a letter passes between them, or is about to, on its way to or from the outside world. These works give off the poetic emanations of life’s ordinary prose, the grandeur of stilled actions, half thoughts and interrupted daydreams. The act of writing takes on a numinous halo; even a few seconds of nothing much seem saturated with significance. When you’ve come in off the boiling, roiling, stinking Manhattan streets, these immaculate domestic vignettes, hanging in the Frick’s sort-of-domestic setting, offer an interval of private grace.
In the most characteristic of the three, “Woman Writing a Letter with Her Maid” (on loan from the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin), an elegant, bejewelled lady in a lace-trimmed bonnet and a bodice of pale-gold silk bends over her correspondence. She is focused on the task, her concentration heightened by the sunshine that spills through stained glass, spotlighting the hand that draws the quill across the gleaming page.
The other character has something else on her mind. She turns towards the window, watching out of the corner of her eye, her lips parted in mute curiosity. The writer’s absorption and the attendant’s distraction are both encapsulated in the stick of sealing wax that’s tumbled to the floor, a lone flourish of messiness that neither of them notices.
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While the maid looks out, we look in, observing from our position on this side of a curtain that now reads as a muted brown but that in Vermeer’s time shone a bright shade of green. The drape pulls back to reveal a tableau that casts viewers as voyeurs — or detectives. We can’t tell what kind of letter the woman is writing (to a shopkeeper? a lover? a family member far away?), what event in the street has caught her maid’s attention, or what hidden meaning lies in the painting on the wall depicting baby Moses being snatched from the Nile. Vermeer doles out information in drops of mystery.
The Frick’s larger “Mistress and Maid” treats the same subject in a contrasting manner. The action glows against a background so dark that it verges on the crypt-like. Vermeer first adorned the wall with a tapestry and then painted over it to keep attention on the human drama. There’s no visible window, yet light shoots in from the left, glinting off the protagonist’s globular earring and the pearls around her neck.
You can see a trace of Caravaggio in the battle between sunshine and shadow and in the theatrical composition that pushes the figures forward into the viewers’ space. And yet there’s no violence or strain, no bolt of revelation, just a polite encounter across class lines. A maid opens her mouth to speak and passes the letter to her employer, who’s sumptuously dressed in yellow and ermine. The wealthy woman has been writing, but she lays down her pen and glances up, fingers thoughtfully grazing her chin. Perhaps her life is about to change, or maybe the moment will be immediately forgotten. What remains is the exquisiteness of not knowing.
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In the “The Love Letter”, which comes from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, we have been exiled from the room entirely. By accident or in secret, we peer through a darkened anteroom, spying on an intimate exchange. The fur-trimmed yellow outfit is familiar and maybe we’ve seen the model before, too, but now she’s playing the cittern — or was, until her maid popped in with a note. Vermeer charges the scene with urgency and hope. The servant reassures the mistress with a soothing smile. A fair-weather seascape on the wall signals smooth sailing ahead.
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That was wishful thinking on Vermeer’s part. In 1672, two years after he painted “The Love Letter”, harsher news arrived in the form of a French invasion of the Netherlands. Suddenly unable to sell his own paintings, saddled with those of other artists that he had on consignment, and burdened with a gaggle of children, he fell apart. “He lapsed into such decay and decadence, which he had so taken to heart that, as if he had fallen into a frenzy, in a day and a half he went from being healthy to being dead,” his widow recounted. He was 43 years old.
Catharina soldiered on by trading art for bread. “The Love Letter” was one of two paintings she handed over to a local baker, hoping to redeem them later. She never did. And so this gently optimistic interior became a form of sustenance in a war zone, the instrument of physical as well as spiritual nourishment. Its survival seems like a miracle, but then man-made beauty, even the quiet kind, turns out to be a sturdy shield against desperation.
To August 31, frick.org
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The discovery by the Mars rovers of carbonate in sedimentary rock on the Red Planet has enabled planetary scientists to rewind the clock and tell the tale of how Mars’ warmer, watery climate 3.5 billion years ago changed to the barren, dry and cold environment that it is today.
We know that, in the distant past, Mars was warmer than it is today and had liquid water on its surface. We can see evidence for this in the form of ancient river channels, deltas, lakes and even the eroded coastlines of a large sea in the north. Sometime in the past 3.5 billion years, Mars’ atmosphere thinned and its water either froze or was lost to space. The question is, how did that happen?
NASA’s MAVEN – Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN – mission arrived at the Red Planet in 2014 charged with studying the loss rate of Mars’ atmospheric molecules to space. However, scientists know that the carbon in Mars’ atmosphere, mostly in the form of carbon dioxide, cannot have been mostly lost to space. That’s because the lighter carbon-12 would preferentially escape rather than the marginally heavier carbon-13 (the difference between the two being one extra neutron), but we don’t see an excess of carbon-13 in Mars’ atmosphere today.
The alternative is that Mars’ atmospheric carbon must have rained out of the atmosphere and subsequently been locked away in the ground, in the form of carbonates embedded in sedimentary rock. The trouble is, searches for carbonates on Mars had always found nothing, until relatively recently.
Both current Mars rover missions – Curiosity climbing Mount Sharp in Gale crater and Perseverance exploring the river delta in Jezero Crater – have discovered carbonates, in the sedimentary rock that form Mount Sharp, and stretching tens of kilometers along the rim of Jezero.
A view of a region nicknamed Ubajara, which is part of the slopes of Mount Sharp and where Curiosity discovered a carbonate mineral called siderite. (Image credit: NASA/JPL–Caltech/MSSS)
Because carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, it can therefore regulate a planet’s climate. Losing that carbon dioxide as it transforms into carbonate rocks would have had a drastic effect on Mars’ climate.
To determine just how drastic, planetary scientists led by Edwin Kite of the University of Chicago modeled how losing its atmospheric carbon in carbonate rocks has affected how Mars’ climate has changed over the past 3.5 billion years. This is coupled with the increase in solar luminosity as the sun brightens with age (in just over a billion years’ time the sun will be too luminous and hot for life on Earth to survive). As the sun grew hotter, it breathed more heat onto Mars, increasing the planet’s average temperature. This led to more precipitation, causing the carbon dioxide to rain out and become locked away as carbonate.
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With the loss of the carbon dioxide’s greenhouse effects, Mars cooled and grew drier. Intermittent spells of high temperatures and shallow liquid water were caused by orbital variations, similar to the Milankovitch cycles on Earth, which are periodic variations in the shape of Earth’s orbit and the tilt of our planet’s axis caused by the gravitational forces of the other planets, and which affect our long-term climate.
The difference between Earth and Mars is that our planet has been able to manage a continuous outgassing of carbon dioxide, mostly from volcanism, to maintain its presence in our atmosphere. Mars, which is about half the diameter of Earth, lost heat from its core more rapidly, which slowed down and ultimately – as far as we can tell – stopped Mars’ volcanic activity. With no active volcanoes, or at least very few, there was nothing to replenish the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
These findings help explain the geological evidence of subsequent but increasingly less frequent bursts of liquid water on the surface of Mars during the past 3.5 billion years.
There is one caveat, which is that the study assumes that the abundance of carbonates at Gale crater is typical of the entire Red Planet. Carbonate samples need to be identified in many locations before we can say for sure that this was how Mars lost its greenhouse gas.
Formula 1 CEO and President Stefano Domenicali met with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for a celebration of the sport’s 75th anniversary year – and a discussion about F1’s role in the United Kingdom’s economy – ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Starmer welcomed Domenicali, along with Derek Chang, President and CEO of Liberty Media, and a host of F1 personalities to Downing Street on Wednesday, where they met with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, and MPs.
Also present were current drivers including Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon, as well as team bosses James Vowles, Flavio Briatore, Andy Cowell, Jonathan Wheatley and Ayao Komatsu.
Other attendees included leaders of the incoming Cadillac F1 operation Graeme Lowdon and Daniel Towriss, F1 ACADEMY Managing Director Susie Wolff and several F1 ACADEMY drivers, and F1 legends Sir Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill, Martin Brundle and Jenson Button.
Domenicali and Starmer both made speeches at the event, which was also attended by young engineers, interns, scholars, apprentices and graduates from F1’s 10 teams – F1 itself currently funding 50 mechanical engineering students with full scholarships at several UK universities.
F1 plays a huge role in the UK’s economy, contributing £12 billion in value annually, with more than 6,000 people being directly employed, and a supply chain of 4,500 companies employing around 41,000 people.
From next year, a full nine of F1’s 11 teams will have major bases and operations in the UK, with Kick Sauber having yesterday announced a new UK Technology Centre in Bicester.
Meanwhile, F1’s world-leading Media and Technical Centre – which produces International Feed coverage and F1 TV shows at every Grand Prix – is located in Biggin Hill, Kent.
Overall, the UK boasts 16.7 million fans, with around half a million spectators expected at this weekend’s British Grand Prix weekend.
NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant’s ultra-aggressive style has often drawn both admiration and criticism, and on Day 1 of the second Test at Edgbaston, it backfired spectacularly. India were beginning to settle into a strong position, but Pant, who had just started looking comfortable, threw away his wicket in a moment of misjudged bravado.The dismissal came in the 48th over of India’s innings, a moment that swung momentum England’s way. Shoaib Bashir, the young off-spinner, was in the middle of a tidy spell when he floated one up invitingly at 74kph.
EXCLUSIVE | David Gower on Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and India’s England tour
Pant, sensing an opportunity to put pressure back on the bowler, went for a big hit over long-on. But the delivery was a touch fuller and slower than expected. Pant didn’t get under it properly, and the ball went flat and hard straight to Zak Crawley at long-on. The dismissal left Shubman Gill visibly frustrated at the non-striker’s end as India lost their fourth wicket against the run of play.Pant’s shot selection suggested he was lured into a trap meticulously set up by Ben Stokes and Bashir — a flighted bait that the flamboyant left-hander couldn’t resist. Given the rhythm Pant was in and his recent form, the shot was all the more disappointing.Pant had been in exceptional touch leading into the second Test. He was the standout performer in the series opener at Headingley, becoming only the second wicketkeeper in Test history to score centuries in both innings of a match. That performance not only solidified his role as India’s most dangerous counter-attacker but also propelled him to sixth in the ICC Test batting rankings — a new personal high with 801 rating points.Pant now sits just behind the likes of Joe Root and Harry Brook, trailing the top spot by only 88 points. It’s a return to familiar heights for the 26-year-old, who had previously reached the fifth spot in 2022.Elsewhere in the rankings, Yashasvi Jaiswal retained his No. 4 position, while Shubman Gill dropped to 21st. Among bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah continued to dominate the charts with 907 points, ahead of Rabada and Cummins. Ravindra Jadeja remained the No.1 all-rounder despite a quiet match.Pant’s dismissal at Edgbaston, however, was a reminder that brilliance needs balance — something he’ll look to restore in the remaining matches of the series.
Released following Lahore High Court bail approval in state-related cybercrime case.
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Sanam Javed, a prominent leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was released from Kot Lakhpat Jail after being granted bail by the Lahore High Court.
Justice Farooq Haider approved her bail on June 30, following a case registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) alleging she uploaded content deemed “anti-state” online. The bail decision led to her release from custody on Tuesday.
The FIA had initiated the case against Mrs Javed under cybercrime laws, accusing her of uploading material that could incite unrest or harm national security narratives. The charges are part of a broader crackdown on political activists using social media platforms to voice dissent.
Sanam Javed’s release marks a significant moment amid ongoing legal battles faced by several PTI leaders in the wake of political tensions and digital expression scrutiny.
Also, in another development, senior leaders of PTI, currently incarcerated in Lahore jail, have issued a formal appeal urging the initiation of comprehensive negotiations to steer the country out of its worsening political and economic crisis.
Also read: PTI warns against attempt to topple KP govt
In a joint statement released from jail on Tuesday, the PTI leaders emphasised that dialogue is the only viable path toward stability. “Negotiations must take place at all levels,” the statement read, adding that both political actors and state institutions need to engage constructively.
The statement further proposed that political negotiations be prioritised as an entry point to broader talks, with incarcerated PTI leaders included in the process. It also called for improved access to PTI’s founding chairman to facilitate the formation of a negotiation committee.
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When we talk about the movies we love, every voice deserves a spotlight. So after publishing our official list of the best movies of the 21st century, compiled from the votes of 500-plus filmmakers, actors and other movie-industry professionals, we turned to New York Times readers, who cast more than 200,000 ballots of their own.
Here, you’ll find several blockbusters that fell short of the original 100 — “Sinners,” “Barbie,” not one but two “Dune” movies — and small international gems like “Drive My Car” and “The Handmaiden,” too. “Midsommar” and “Mean Girls” entered the chat, while a surprising number of rankings (“Mulholland Drive,” “The Social Network”) stood firm.
Maybe you’ve already seen them all. If not, you can click through and save the movies you want to watch as you go — they’ll be easily accessible on your watch list. You can also still create a ballot here to share with friends; it won’t count toward the final tally, but there’s no expiration date on a good debate.
The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century
The Reader Top 100
Plus, for fun, here are the next 400 movies, as ranked by our readers.
101. Synecdoche, New York 102. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 103. Punch-Drunk Love 104. Nope 105. American Psycho 106. Poor Things 107. The Lives of Others 108. Hot Fuzz 109. Challengers 110. Inside Out 111. The Devil Wears Prada 112. In Bruges 113. Donnie Darko 114. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) 115. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 116. Requiem for a Dream 117. Best in Show 118. Melancholia 119. Sicario 120. Manchester by the Sea 121. Prisoners 122. First Reformed 123. The Banshees of Inisherin 124. Roma 125. Frances Ha 126. The Substance 127. Incendies 128. The Piano Teacher 129. Drive 130. Moulin Rouge! 131. Shrek 132. Paddington 2 133. The Big Short 134. Chicago 135. Adaptation 136. The Witch 137. Coco 138. Toy Story 3 139. 1917 140. The Pianist 141. Anora 142. Ex Machina 143. Avatar 144. Casino Royale 145. A Separation 146. A Serious Man 147. Moonrise Kingdom 148. Burning 149. Jojo Rabbit 150. Shrek 2 151. Dunkirk 152. Finding Nemo 153. Under the Skin 154. Spider-Man 2 155. Carol 156. 28 Days Later 157. I Saw the TV Glow 158. Shaun of the Dead 158. Catch Me If You Can 160. About Time 161. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith 162. The Favourite 163. Slumdog Millionaire 164. Inland Empire 165. Avengers: Infinity War 166. Black Panther 167. Godzilla Minus One 168. Your Name. 169. Shutter Island 170. The Batman 171. Juno 172. Mission: Impossible – Fallout 173. Sideways 174. The Martian 175. Babylon 176. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 177. The Irishman 178. Coraline 179. Legally Blonde 180. School of Rock 181. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 182. The Act of Killing 183. Mamma Mia! 184. Mysterious Skin 185. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 186. 12 Years a Slave 187. La Chimera 188. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 189. Midnight in Paris 190. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 191. Collateral 192. The Lobster 193. Decision to Leave 194. Conclave 195. Monster 196. Napoleon Dynamite 197. Volver 198. How to Train Your Dragon 199. Silver Linings Playbook 200. Borat 201. Atonement 202. Shoplifters 203. The Nice Guys 204. Wicked 205. Step Brothers 206. Dogville 207. Silence 208. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 209. Snatch 210. Nickel Boys 211. Marie Antoinette 212. John Wick 213. Caché 214. The Fall 215. Minority Report 216. Skyfall 217. Tropic Thunder 218. Dancer in the Dark 219. Gravity 220. The Great Beauty 221. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 222. Lincoln 223. Speed Racer 224. Flow 225. RRR 226. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou 227. The Shape of Water 228. Titane 229. Good Time 230. 500 Days of Summer 231. Let the Right One In 232. Nightcrawler 233. Joker 234. The Hangover 235. The Wind Rises 236. Sound of Metal 237. The Bourne Identity 238. The King’s Speech 239. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 240. Paprika 241. The Brutalist 242. Monsters, Inc. 243. Another Round 244. Argo 245. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 246. Amour 247. All of Us Strangers 248. Love Actually 249. The Hurt Locker 250. Training Day 251. Big Fish 252. Baby Driver 253. I’m Still Here 254. Hell or High Water 255. Zero Dark Thirty 256. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 257. Amores Perros 258. A.I. Artificial Intelligence 259. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives 260. Talk to Her 261. The Hateful Eight 262. The Fabelmans 263. It’s Such a Beautiful Day 264. Green Book 265. A Beautiful Mind 266. Marriage Story 267. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 268. The Hunt 269. Million Dollar Baby 270. Goodbye, Dragon Inn 271. The Revenant 272. Us 273. Grizzly Man 274. Mommy 275. Edge of Tomorrow 276. Burn After Reading 277. Tenet 278. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 279. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya 280. CODA 281. Sorry to Bother You 282. Climax 283. Iron Man 284. Beau travail 285. Wet Hot American Summer 286. Miami Vice 287. Inherent Vice 288. Crazy, Stupid, Love. 289. Annihilation 290. The Boy and the Heron 291. Cast Away 292. Asteroid City 293. Holy Motors 294. Lilo & Stitch 295. Cold War 296. The Notebook 297. Bottoms 298. Sing Sing 299. It Follows 300. The Hours 301. Dogtooth 302. The White Ribbon 303. Bridget Jones’s Diary 304. Logan 305. The Darjeeling Limited 306. Millennium Actress 307. The Raid: Redemption 308. Train to Busan 309. Booksmart 310. All Quiet on the Western Front 311. Twilight 312. Nomadland 313. Certified Copy 314. The Virgin Suicides 315. The Gleaners & I 316. Werckmeister Harmonies 317. Guardians of the Galaxy 318. Mystic River 319. Ford v Ferrari 320. District 9 321. Spring Breakers 322. Cars 323. The Death of Stalin 324. Nosferatu 325. Love Exposure 326. The Hunger Games 327. V for Vendetta 328. Licorice Pizza 329. Gangs of New York 330. 20th Century Women 331. BlacKkKlansman 332. Tangerine 333. Promising Young Woman 334. Hidden Figures 335. Soul 336. Ponyo 337. Margaret 338. The Secret in Their Eyes 339. The Dark Knight Rises 340. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 341. Elf 342. Hundreds of Beavers 343. The Iron Claw 344. The Intouchables 345. True Grit 346. Saw 347. Suspiria 348. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 349. Spider-Man 350. Batman Begins 351. Nobody Knows 352. Erin Brockovich 353. A Star Is Born 354. Crazy Rich Asians 355. The Green Knight 356. Birth 357. Forgetting Sarah Marshall 358. Brooklyn 359. Toni Erdmann 360. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 361. Kung Fu Hustle 362. Tropical Malady 363. Memoria 364. The Wild Robot 365. The Avengers 366. The Killing of a Sacred Deer 367. Moana 368. What We Do in the Shadows 369. Triangle of Sadness 370. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days 371. Sexy Beast 372. Remember the Titans 373. Zoolander 374. 25th Hour 375. Sing Street 376. Frozen 377. Tangled 378. Pulse 379. Into the Wild 380. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 381. West Side Story 382. Ghost World 383. The New World 384. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 385. The Beast 386. An Elephant Sitting Still 387. Raw 388. The Help 389. Hunt for the Wilderpeople 390. The Lego Movie 391. Pitch Perfect 392. Battle Royale 393. The Wrestler 394. A History of Violence 395. Hero 396. Before Midnight 397. Hedwig and the Angry Inch 398. Life of Pi 399. Enter the Void 400. Jennifer’s Body 401. Hot Rod 402. The Power of the Dog 403. Minari 404. Pain and Glory 405. Billy Elliot 406. The 40-Year-Old Virgin 407. Gran Torino 408. Bones and All 409. Gosford Park 410. Shin Godzilla 411. Columbus 412. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 413. Black Hawk Down 414. Paterson 415. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish 416. Snowpiercer 417. A Ghost Story 418. Isle of Dogs 419. Wedding Crashers 420. Once 421. A Prophet 422. Mandy 423. The Wailing 424. Cloud Atlas 425. Signs 426. The Imitation Game 427. La ciénaga 428. Elephant 429. Palm Springs 430. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On 431. Blue Valentine 432. The Princess Diaries 433. The Town 434. Petite Maman 435. Millennium Mambo 436. 2046 437. Beau Is Afraid 438. Tokyo Godfathers 439. Blue Is the Warmest Colour 440. tick, tick… BOOM! 441. The Father 442. The Fast and the Furious 443. Eighth Grade 444. Force Majeure 445. American Fiction 446. Only Lovers Left Alive 447. Avatar: The Way of Water 448. The Cabin in the Woods 449. Aruitemo aruitemo 450. Fast Five 451. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 452. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping 453. Munich 454. Unbreakable 455. Inside Man 456. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi 457. Beasts of the Southern Wild 458. Infernal Affairs 459. O.J.: Made in America 460. Ida 461. Mother! 462. Pacific Rim 463. The Turin Horse 464. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 465. Irréversible 466. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby 467. John Wick: Chapter 4 468. Persepolis 469. Hacksaw Ridge 470. Under the Silver Lake 471. Sunshine 472. Emma. 473. Creed 474. The Other Guys 475. Les Misérables 476. Happy as Lazzaro 477. 13 Going on 30 478. A Silent Voice: The Movie 479. 3 Idiots 480. Wild Tales 481. Lady Vengeance 482. Beautiful Boy 483. If Beale Street Could Talk 484. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 485. High Fidelity 486. Bohemian Rhapsody 487. The Menu 488. May December 489. Pearl 490. Close 491. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 492. Everybody Wants Some!! 493. The Holiday 494. I’m Thinking of Ending Things 495. Dallas Buyers Club 496. Downfall 497. Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time 498. Morvern Callar 499. Long Day’s Journey Into Night 500. The Farewell
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THE 100 BEST MOVIES OF THE 21st CENTURY
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THE 100 BEST MOVIES OF THE 21st CENTURY
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South African Air Force (SAAF) Chief Lt General Wiseman Simo Mbambo paid an official visit to Pakistan, where he met with Chief of the Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu at Air Headquarters in Islamabad, according to the military’s media wing.
Upon his arrival, the visiting dignitary was welcomed with a formal Guard of Honour by a smartly turned-out contingent of the Pakistan Air Force, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
During the meeting, the PAF chief highlighted the strong bilateral relationship between Pakistan and South Africa, emphasising the shared values and aspirations that underpin the two nations’ deep-rooted friendship. He reiterated PAF’s commitment to strengthening the aerial combat capabilities of the South African Air Force through tailored training and capacity-building initiatives, according to the ISPR.
Lt General Mbambo lauded the operational readiness of the PAF, commending its multi-domain warfare capabilities and its success in maintaining a credible deterrence posture. He acknowledged the high standards maintained by the PAF and expressed his admiration for its technical excellence, it added.
A key focus of the discussions was the revamping of the SAAF’s training regime. Lt General Mbambo expressed his desire for PAF’s support in developing a modern and comprehensive training framework, beginning at the academy level.
He further requested the participation of SAAF officers as observers in PAF’s major operational exercises to enhance learning and foster collaboration, as per the ISPR report.
In addition, the SAAF chief spoke about the possibility of increasing technical collaboration between the two air forces, particularly in the area of aircraft maintenance.
Recognising the cost-effective maintenance capabilities and technical excellence of PAF’s engineering infrastructure, Lt General Mbambo conveyed the intent of the SAAF to undertake the inspection and maintenance of its C-130 fleet in Pakistan.
The discussions highlighted a mutual desire to institutionalise and further strengthen the formal relationship between the PAF and the SAAF.
This meeting is expected to pave the way for deeper cooperation between the two forces, ensuring enhanced operational capabilities and shared military expertise.
