Latest news with #Lithgow
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Camper's warning to Aussies after deadly discovery near tent: 'Holy crap'
Most Aussie adventurers will know that even the best-laid camping plans can hit a few curveballs along the way — be it equipment mishaps, road problems or wild weather. Now, outdoorsman Jamie has issued a warning to Aussies to be extra aware of their surroundings in wet conditions after making a deadly discovery near his tent on a recent trip. Jamie and his brother, from Sydney, were setting up a campsite in Turon National Park near Lithgow in NSW in the pouring rain, at night, when they came across a tiny critter. The male funnel-web spider was spotted crawling around beside the tent they had just pitched. The arachnid species, which is endemic to Australia, is widely considered the world's deadliest spider due to its "highly toxic" and "fast-acting" venom. In all of the fatalities where the gender of the spider was confirmed, the males were responsible. They're commonly found in eastern Australia, particularly throughout NSW. "We were setting up our camp and my brother spotted it," Jamie told Yahoo News. "I thought 'holy crap'." Jamie and his brother, who have been camping since childhood, have seen the spiders before and said they knew what they were looking out for. He explained that the male funnel-webs are more slender and shiny while the females are "fatter". Jamie, a personal trainer, believes it was likely a male on the move looking for a female mate. But surprisingly, he said he "wasn't too worried" about the discovery and decided against moving his campsite, arguing that they are "everywhere" in the bush. "You've just got to be aware," he urged Aussies. "Make sure your gear is in the car, don't leave your shoes out and check them before you put them on. We made sure we had our swags and tents zipped up and just guided it along to get it out of our camp, and we were fine from there," he said. "If you leave them alone, they will leave you alone." 🕷️ Venomous spider warning after 'perfect storm' of extreme weather events 🕸️ Aussie teen lucky to survive after waking up to burning pain in his arm 🥰 Millions amazed by man's 'special' encounter in rural Australia Jamie told Yahoo he sees "a lot" of different animals while out camping in Australia's bush. On his most recent three-day trip, while fishing for trout, they came across snakes, spiders, kangaroos, as well as invasive species including pigs, wild cats and even goats. "Goats are everywhere," he said. When it comes to avoiding deadly spiders, Jamie suggests Aussies looking for a good campsite should "stick to flat ground" and "try not to go out in those rainy and most environments", when spiders are most active. "You don't have to be scared of them, they're not out to get you. They're always going to be out there, and just be aware," he said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harry, Hermione and Ron lead actors announced for HBO's 'Harry Potter' TV reboot; meet them and the rest of cast so far
HBO's Harry Potter TV series has officially found its golden trio. 'After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione and Ron," showrunner Francesca Gardiner and executive producer and director Mark Mylod said in a statement on Tuesday. "We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It's been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there." Dominic McLaughlin will be playing the Boy Wizard himself, Harry Potter, while Arabella Stanton has been cast as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout will play Ron Weasley. The show is set to premiere in 2027 and will be based on the original story, but with major plot changes, and each season will focus on one of the seven books in the internationally popular literary series. In December, Variety reported that Discovery global streaming chief JB Perrette said the show is expected to be a 10-year project. That same month, Max announced on Instagram that production on the show would begin this summer at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England, where the original film franchise was filmed from 2000 to 2010. Here's what we know so far about the cast. Lithgow will play Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. The character has previously been played by Michael Gambon and Richard Harris in the Harry Potter franchise and Jude Law and Toby Regbo in the Fantastic Beasts series. 'Well, it came as a total surprise to me,' Lithgow told ScreenRant in February. 'I just got the phone call up at the Sundance Film Festival for yet another film, and it was not an easy decision because it's going to define me for the last chapter of my life, I'm afraid. But I'm very excited. Some wonderful people are turning their attention back to Harry Potter. That's why it's been such a hard decision. I'll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I've said yes.' The British actor has been cast as Severus Snape, the potions professor at Hogwarts. Alan Rickman played Snape in all eight Harry Potter films. Essiedu earned several nominations for his role in the BBC's I May Destroy You and co-starred with Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. McTeer will play Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor House and the deputy headmistress under Dumbledore. Actress Maggie Smith played McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, while Fiona Glascott played her in Fantastic Beasts. The English actress has won multiple theater, film and TV awards and nominations, and will also star in the upcoming Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning with Tom Cruise. Frost has been cast as Rubeus Hagrid, a half-giant who works as the groundskeeper at Hogwarts. Robbie Coltrane originated the character in the Harry Potter movies. The comedian is most well-known for his involvement in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, which includes Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and World's End. Whitehouse will play Argus Filch, the caretaker at Hogwarts. He was portrayed by David Bradley in every Harry Potter film. While Filch did not appear in the last two Harry Potter movies, the character does appear in every single book. The British actor was one of the main stars of the BBC sketch comedy show, The Fast Show, which ran from 1994 to 2014. The British stage actor will play Quirinus Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for the first book and movie, which means Thallon will only be in the first season of the show. Ian Hart played Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Thallon has played the lead for multiple major stage productions in London. For now, no original cast members or producers from the movie series have been announced to be part of the upcoming show. Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry, told ComicBook in June 2023 that he supported the new show but was not interested in being involved. 'I'm definitely not seeking it out in any way," he said. "But I do wish them, obviously, all the luck in the world, and I'm very excited to have that torch passed. But I don't think it needs me to physically pass it.' Other actors involved in the film series — Rickman, Coltrane, Gambon and Smith — have since died. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said that he and HBO and Max executives Casey Bloys and Channing Dungey have met with author J.K. Rowling about the reboot. 'We spent some real time with J.K. and her team,' Zaslav said during a Warner Bros. company call in December. 'Both sides are thrilled to be re-igniting this franchise. Our conversations were great, and we couldn't be more excited about what's ahead.' In a Warner Bros. press release in 2023, Rowling said, 'Max's commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I'm looking forward to being part of this new adaptation, which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long-form television series.' Bloys told IndieWire in November 2024 that Rowling has 'been fairly involved in the process of selecting the writer and director' of the TV show and will 'have opinions on casting.' On the April 30 episode of The Town Podcast, which covers Hollywood news, Bloys defended HBO's decision to continue working with Rowling on the show after some fans raised concerns over her political beliefs. "The decision to be in business with J.K. Rowling is not new for us," Bloys said. "We've been in business for 25 years. We already have a show on HBO from her called 'C.B. Strike' that we do with the BBC. It's pretty clear that those are her personal, political views. She's entitled to them. Harry Potter is not secretly being infused with anything. And if you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter." Fan concerns over Rowling's political beliefs have popped up multiple times since the new series was announced. At the end of April, Essiedu, who was cast as Snape, along with Eddie Redmayne, who starred in Fantastic Beasts, and Katie Leung, who was in the original Harry Potter films, signed an open letter calling on the U.K.'s entertainment industry to protect the transgender community. While Rowling condemned the petition on X, she later responded directly to speculation she would fire Essiedu from the new series, writing, "I don't have the power to sack an actor from the series and I wouldn't exercise it if I did. I don't believe in taking away people's jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine."
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harry, Hermione and Ron lead actors announced for HBO's 'Harry Potter' TV reboot; meet them and the rest of cast so far
HBO's Harry Potter TV series has officially found its golden trio. 'After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione and Ron," showrunner Francesca Gardiner and executive producer and director Mark Mylod said in a statement on Tuesday. "We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It's been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there." Dominic McLaughlin will be playing the Boy Wizard himself, Harry Potter, while Arabella Stanton has been cast as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout will play Ron Weasley. The show is set to premiere in 2027 and will be based on the original story, but with major plot changes, and each season will focus on one of the seven books in the internationally popular literary series. In December, Variety reported that Discovery global streaming chief JB Perrette said the show is expected to be a 10-year project. That same month, Max announced on Instagram that production on the show would begin this summer at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England, where the original film franchise was filmed from 2000 to 2010. Here's what we know so far about the cast. Lithgow will play Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. The character has previously been played by Michael Gambon and Richard Harris in the Harry Potter franchise and Jude Law and Toby Regbo in the Fantastic Beasts series. 'Well, it came as a total surprise to me,' Lithgow told ScreenRant in February. 'I just got the phone call up at the Sundance Film Festival for yet another film, and it was not an easy decision because it's going to define me for the last chapter of my life, I'm afraid. But I'm very excited. Some wonderful people are turning their attention back to Harry Potter. That's why it's been such a hard decision. I'll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I've said yes.' The British actor has been cast as Severus Snape, the potions professor at Hogwarts. Alan Rickman played Snape in all eight Harry Potter films. Essiedu earned several nominations for his role in the BBC's I May Destroy You and co-starred with Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. McTeer will play Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor House and the deputy headmistress under Dumbledore. Actress Maggie Smith played McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, while Fiona Glascott played her in Fantastic Beasts. The English actress has won multiple theater, film and TV awards and nominations, and will also star in the upcoming Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning with Tom Cruise. Frost has been cast as Rubeus Hagrid, a half-giant who works as the groundskeeper at Hogwarts. Robbie Coltrane originated the character in the Harry Potter movies. The comedian is most well-known for his involvement in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, which includes Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and World's End. Whitehouse will play Argus Filch, the caretaker at Hogwarts. He was portrayed by David Bradley in every Harry Potter film. While Filch did not appear in the last two Harry Potter movies, the character does appear in every single book. The British actor was one of the main stars of the BBC sketch comedy show, The Fast Show, which ran from 1994 to 2014. The British stage actor will play Quirinus Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for the first book and movie, which means Thallon will only be in the first season of the show. Ian Hart played Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Thallon has played the lead for multiple major stage productions in London. For now, no original cast members or producers from the movie series have been announced to be part of the upcoming show. Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry, told ComicBook in June 2023 that he supported the new show but was not interested in being involved. 'I'm definitely not seeking it out in any way," he said. "But I do wish them, obviously, all the luck in the world, and I'm very excited to have that torch passed. But I don't think it needs me to physically pass it.' Other actors involved in the film series — Rickman, Coltrane, Gambon and Smith — have since died. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said that he and HBO and Max executives Casey Bloys and Channing Dungey have met with author J.K. Rowling about the reboot. 'We spent some real time with J.K. and her team,' Zaslav said during a Warner Bros. company call in December. 'Both sides are thrilled to be re-igniting this franchise. Our conversations were great, and we couldn't be more excited about what's ahead.' In a Warner Bros. press release in 2023, Rowling said, 'Max's commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I'm looking forward to being part of this new adaptation, which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long-form television series.' Bloys told IndieWire in November 2024 that Rowling has 'been fairly involved in the process of selecting the writer and director' of the TV show and will 'have opinions on casting.' On the April 30 episode of The Town Podcast, which covers Hollywood news, Bloys defended HBO's decision to continue working with Rowling on the show after some fans raised concerns over her political beliefs. "The decision to be in business with J.K. Rowling is not new for us," Bloys said. "We've been in business for 25 years. We already have a show on HBO from her called 'C.B. Strike' that we do with the BBC. It's pretty clear that those are her personal, political views. She's entitled to them. Harry Potter is not secretly being infused with anything. And if you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter." Fan concerns over Rowling's political beliefs have popped up multiple times since the new series was announced. At the end of April, Essiedu, who was cast as Snape, along with Eddie Redmayne, who starred in Fantastic Beasts, and Katie Leung, who was in the original Harry Potter films, signed an open letter calling on the U.K.'s entertainment industry to protect the transgender community. While Rowling condemned the petition on X, she later responded directly to speculation she would fire Essiedu from the new series, writing, "I don't have the power to sack an actor from the series and I wouldn't exercise it if I did. I don't believe in taking away people's jobs or livelihoods because they hold legally protected beliefs that differ from mine."
India.com
03-05-2025
- Health
- India.com
Forgotten Virus Unleashes Hidden Superpower—Could This Be Key To Killing Drug-Resistant Bacteria?
Sydney: A virus long dismissed as a scientific oddity has been found hiding in plain sight, and it may help fight dangerous bacteria, according to a study. The study focussed on bacteriophages (phages) -- viruses that infect bacteria and come in many forms. In particular, researchers investigated telomere phages -- a type of phage that until now was considered a 'curiosity'. These viruses aren't just passive passengers as they may actually help good bacteria wipe out neighbouring bad ones, Xinhua news agency reported. Previous studies decoded only their unique DNA replication mechanism. The new study, published in Science Advances, discovered that bacteria carrying telomere phages produce toxins that kill off rival bacteria. Researchers from Monash University, Australia discovered that telomere phage is surprisingly common in Klebsiella. Klebsiella is a type of bacteria that can cause pneumonia and serious drug-resistant infections. "For more than 20 years of intensive bacterial genomics, telomere phages had remained hidden in plain sight. We have missed an entire aspect of biology," said Trevor Lithgow, head of Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute Bacterial Cell Biology Lab. Lithgow stated sequencing a clinical Klebsiella strain led to the finding of a fourth telomere phage. The analysis revealed that telomere phages are not rare curiosities. Instead, these are highly prevalent throughout the thousands of lineages of Klebsiella, including strains collected from waterway environments, the researcher said. Further, the discovery of toxins -- 'telocins' (for telomere-phage toxins) -- was found to enable a bacterial management strategy. While the 'good' bacteria carrying telomere phages will kill neighbouring 'bad' Klebsiella, the 'bad' bacteria would be antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella, Lithgow said. "We now want to understand how the host secretes the toxin and also understand how the toxin wheedles its way into the unsuspecting bacterial neighbors," said Sally Byers from the Lithgow Laboratory. The team believes these helpful viruses could exist in many other bacteria, too.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Who's been cast so far in HBO's 'Harry Potter' TV reboot?
HBO has announced some of the first castings for the reboot of the Harry Potter TV series, which is set to premiere in 2027. The show will be based on the original story, but with major plot changes, and each season will focus on one of the seven books in the internationally popular literary series. In December, Variety reported that Discovery global streaming chief JB Perrette said the show is expected to be a 10-year project. That same month, Max announced on Instagram that production on the show would begin this summer at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England, where the original film franchise was filmed from 2000 to 2010. Here's what we know so far about the cast. In an April 14 press release, Warner Bros. confirmed the names of several actors who had been cast in major roles on the show: Lithgow will play Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. The character has previously been played by Michael Gambon and Richard Harris in the Harry Potter franchise and Jude Law and Toby Regbo in the Fantastic Beasts series. 'Well, it came as a total surprise to me,' Lithgow told ScreenRant in February. 'I just got the phone call up at the Sundance Film Festival for yet another film, and it was not an easy decision because it's going to define me for the last chapter of my life, I'm afraid. But I'm very excited. Some wonderful people are turning their attention back to Harry Potter. That's why it's been such a hard decision. I'll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I've said yes.' The British actor has been cast as Severus Snape, the potions professor at Hogwarts. Alan Rickman played Snape in all eight Harry Potter films. Essiedu earned several nominations for his role in the BBC's I May Destroy You and co-starred with Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. McTeer will play Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor House and the deputy headmistress under Dumbledore. Actress Maggie Smith played McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, while Fiona Glascott played her in Fantastic Beasts. The English actress has won multiple theater, film and TV awards and nominations, and will also star in the upcoming Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning with Tom Cruise. Frost has been cast as Rubeus Hagrid, a half-giant who works as the groundskeeper at Hogwarts. Robbie Coltrane originated the character in the Harry Potter movies. The comedian is most well-known for his involvement in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, which includes Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and World's End. Whitehouse will play Argus Filch, the caretaker at Hogwarts. He was portrayed by David Bradley in every Harry Potter film. While Filch did not appear in the last two Harry Potter movies, the character does appear in every single book. The British actor was one of the main stars of the BBC sketch comedy show, The Fast Show, which ran from 1994 to 2014. The British stage actor will play Quirinus Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for the first book and movie, which means Thallon will only be in the first season of the show. Ian Hart played Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Thallon has played the lead for multiple major stage productions in London. As of now, the next generation's 'golden trio' — Harry, Ron and Hermione — have not yet been cast. The official Harry Potter Instagram account posted an open casting call in September for the series, specifying that the actors should be 'children who are aged 9-11 in April 2025, and a resident of the UK or Ireland.' As of reporting, the casting call's website says that submissions are now closed 'due to the high volume.' For now, no original cast members or producers from the movie series have been announced to be part of the upcoming show. Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry, told ComicBook in June 2023 that he supported the new show but was not interested in being involved. 'I'm definitely not seeking it out in any way," he said. "But I do wish them, obviously, all the luck in the world, and I'm very excited to have that torch passed. But I don't think it needs me to physically pass it.' Other actors involved in the film series — Rickman, Coltrane, Gambon and Smith — have since died. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said that he and HBO and Max executives Casey Bloys and Channing Dungey have met with author J.K. Rowling about the reboot. 'We spent some real time with J.K. and her team,' Zaslav said during a Warner Bros. company call in December. 'Both sides are thrilled to be re-igniting this franchise. Our conversations were great, and we couldn't be more excited about what's ahead.' In a Warner Bros. press release in 2023, Rowling said, 'Max's commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I'm looking forward to being part of this new adaptation, which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long-form television series.' Bloys told IndieWire in November 2024 that Rowling has 'been fairly involved in the process of selecting the writer and director' of the TV show and will 'have opinions on casting.' On the April 30 episode of The Town Podcast, which covers Hollywood news, Bloys defended HBO's decision to continue working with Rowling on the show after some fans raised concerns over her political beliefs. "The decision to be in business with J.K. Rowling is not new for us," Bloys said. "We've been in business for 25 years. We already have a show on HBO from her called 'C.B. Strike' that we do with the BBC. It's pretty clear that those are her personal, political views. She's entitled to them. Harry Potter is not secretly being infused with anything. And if you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter."
