FilmObituaryOleg YankovskyAcclaimed Russian actor best known in the west for his work with Andrei TarkovskySuperb Russian actor little known in the west but revered in his native country
Less than a week ago, the actor Oleg Yankovsky was being highly praised for his dignified and spiritual performance of the Metropolitan Philip, the only adversary of Ivan the Terrible, in the film Tsar, directed by Pavel Lungin, showing in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.
Notes and queriesLife and styleThe long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
Why is the surname Farmer so uncommon when there were large numbers of farmers for so long? Is it because most of them were tenant farmers, and the actual landowners were higher up the social scale with longstanding family names? Gerry Cotter, Morecambe, Lancs
US weather This article is more than 1 month oldSevere rainstorms hit southern California, with more to comeThis article is more than 1 month oldTorrents of rain on Wednesday night submerged streets and prompted rescues of people and pets
A strong, slow-moving storm unleashed torrents of rain on southern California on Wednesday night, submerging streets and prompting water rescues, and residents across the region are bracing for more wet weather.
Music blogMusicSomething's not quite right with the Meg White sex tapeIs it really her? And why is it always tapes of female celebrities that attract the most attention?Icky hump? Was that Meg White in the sex tape? Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
From the little we've been able to glean about her, Meg White didn't seem the kind of rock star who would ever generate the headline "Meg White sex tape furore" - yet there it is on nme.
ShortcutsFoodWe can’t agree on how to pronounce or eat them, and the humble scone has been further endangered by the discovery it contains gazillions of calories. Can it be saved? Are you sitting down – perhaps with a sugary West Country bakery item to help with the shock? For it turns out that scones are … fattening. A Food Standards Agency (FSA) report has found that the average scone contains 408 calories, with the best – sorry, most fattening – clocking up a remarkable 756 calories and 39.
Vinyl wordMusic This article is more than 16 years oldWas Smells Like Teen Spirit really named after a deodorant?This article is more than 16 years oldYes, writes Joe Queenan. Yes, it was. But that's not why Kurt Cobain came to loathe Nirvana's biggest hitLike many famous songs, Nirvana's seminal hit Smells Like Teen Spirit has an unusual history. For starters, the author of the 1991 song (Nirvana's lead singer Kurt Cobain) did not know what the term "
Making an appointment to see Sir Hayden Phillips is slightly harder than negotiating to drop in for tea on the Pope. After preliminary skirmishes to establish that he is available during the course of yet another busy day, officials need to discuss the terms of our chat (off the record is just fine), the location (his Mayfair office or in Whitehall?) and the range of questions your intrepid reporter seeks to raise.
OpinionEcuadorEcuador is copying El Salvador’s war on gangs – but it will only add to the spiral of violenceJordana TimermanLatin Americans besieged by organised crime may be willing to overlook a turn towards authoritarianism, but at what cost?
A wave of attacks carried out by criminal organisations last week in Ecuador – epitomised by gunmen storming a television station live on air – has brought international attention to a security crisis that has been building for years.
TheatreReviewRoyal Lyceum, Edinburgh
Dominic Hill’s production of this sharply observed play is at its best when mocking the social embarrassments of polite society
Noël Coward’s silly, subversive 1925 comedy is the missing link between William Shakespeare and Edward Albee. Set in a country house on a humid and tempestuous June weekend, Hay Fever takes four singletons, subjects them to a midsummer night’s dream of misplaced desire and warped romance and, once the spell wears off, sends them home to the rational world of the city.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner This article is more than 8 years old‘Kirchnerismo’ politics set to outlast Argentina’s outgoing presidentThis article is more than 8 years oldArgentina’s Cristina Fernández de Kirchner cannot run again for office, but her family’s brand of populist-left politics remains popular in the pollsIn Argentinian politics, those who stay in power long enough – or wield it mightily enough – are immortalised with an -ismo. “Kirchnerismo” is the legacy of the 12 years Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her late husband Néstor have run the country, a contemporary spin on the “Peronismo” of Juan and Eva Perón.