Latest news with #Snow
Daily Mirror
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Netflix is still streaming all of The Hunting Wives star's ‘musical masterpieces'
The Hunting Wives on Netflix already has fans demanding a second season, but unfortunately it's not made it to the UK just yet There's good news for Netflix users jealous of US fans who have just got their hands on the most scandalous new murder mystery drama of the year. The Hunting Wives stars Brittany Snow as Sophie O'Neil, a former journalist who moves to rural Texas with her husband and their young son. Sophie soon strikes up a close relationship with Margo Banks (played by Malin Akerman), the alluring wife of her husband's new boss, oil tycoon Jed Banks (Dermot Mulroney). However, she bites off more than she can chew when she becomes indoctrinated into Margo's exclusive group of MAGA-supporting hunting friends, who all have a secret or two to hide. When the body of a teenage girl is found in one of their favourite hunting spots, Sophie's life begins to spiral out of control. This must-watch series is already causing waves in the USA after releasing this Monday (21st July), with the hope it will soon arrive to UK streamers. Until then, fans can stream several hit films with The Hunting Wives' lead star on Netflix. All three films in the Pitch Perfect series, which stars Snow alongside Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson, are available on Netflix in the UK. Also on the streamer is one of her breakout films, the 2007 musical Hairspray. Pitch Perfect is often considered a modern teen classic, and is the ideal campy, easy-going movie to throw on if you can't wait to see Snow step up her game in her scandalous new thriller. One five-star Google review said: 'This masterpiece of a movie that stars one of my favorite singers (and actresses), has always been a favorite of mine. 'From the hilarious delivery of jokes to the amazing singing from the ENTIRE cast, this is absolutely one of my comfort movies. Watch Stranger Things on Netflix for free with Sky This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more from £15 Sky Get the deal here Product Description 'I mean, really -- there are so many perfect comedy lines throughout the movie, with a lovable cast to play the lovable characters (Rebel Wilson playing Fat Amy HAS to be my favorite <3). HIGHLY RECOMMEND WATCHING THIS FILM.' 'Pitch Perfect is one of my FAVORITE movies, I fell off of my sofa not even half way through the movie. It is HILARIOUS!!!' someone else raved. And a third enthusiast wrote: 'This movie is an all-time favorite for my kids and hubby. We have a blast watching this every night, LOL!! It has the best messages and the singing is a hit!' Fans also agree Hairspray is equally deserving of classic status, with one user writing: 'I love this movie so much. The message is to love everyone for who they are no matter what shape and size or what they look like. 'This movie is so inspiring and anyone can learn from it whether it be to love themselves for who they are or to love people who are different.' If that's still not enough, Brittany Snow's Netflix Original romantic comedy with Gina Rodriguez, Someone Great, is also not going anywhere. Pitch Perfect 1-3 and Hairspray are available to stream on Netflix.
Business Times
15-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Fidelity sees deep value in ‘boring' China sectors like beer and machinery
[HONG KONG] There is 'undoubtedly' value in Chinese equities, and within Asia, China is where asset management giant Fidelity International sees some of the best opportunities. In particular, the best value can be found in 'some of the more boring areas', such as beer producers in the consumer staples space and machine-tooling companies in the industrials sector. Making these points was Stuart Rumble, head of investment directing for the Asia-Pacific at Fidelity, in an interview with The Business Times. He was speaking to reporters in Hong Kong on Jul 4, the day after the asset management firm's Asia-Pacific Media Investment Conference. On a historical basis, Chinese equities are trading at valuations that are well below long-term averages, and investors are heavily underweight on their allocations there, he noted. Part of this reticence could stem from the 'really important caveat' that there has been 'a lot of dispersion' in earnings. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up He said: 'You've seen earnings revisions – up for the tech companies, e-commerce companies; (and) you've seen it go down for areas like property, energy and, to an extent, utilities.' Sectoral picks Some of Rumble's investment picks on a sectoral basis include beer producers, some of which are trading at 'really cheap' valuations. China's top beer producers include Tsingtao Brewery, maker of the eponymous lager, and China Resources Beer, which produces the Snow brand. 'Some of these consumer staple products are (those) with pricing power – they have been around for a long time, (and) people will continue to buy them,' he explained. Chinese sportswear is another 'interesting' investment category 'for the long term', as it is a business that is benefiting from different consumption patterns and there are counters at 'reasonable' valuations. 'Companies like Anta and Li-Ning have had a period of strong growth, and then a little bit of a pullback in this period of weaker consumer spending,' he noted. 'But they are getting a better control on their costs and optimising their store and product mix, and they're benefiting from things like (Chinese consumers) buying local brands.' The Chinese sportswear sector is also 'hugely unpenetrated' compared to developed markets, noted Fidelity investment analyst Alex Dong in a separate briefing on Jul 3. For instance, mainland Chinese spending on sportswear stands at less than US$50 per capita, compared with almost US$300 per capita in Hong Kong. 'Basically, you get six times upside for the consumption', though this could take 'a very, very long time to realise', said Dong. Chinese consumers are also pursuing a 'much healthier' lifestyle post-pandemic, and the total number of sports shoes sold in China in 2024 totalled some 400 million pairs, less than a third of the country's population of 1.4 billion people. On the industrial front, there is still a lot of potential for automation within factories in China, noted Rumble – which means opportunities for machine toolers. While a Western company is still the dominant market player in that space, some Chinese brands are already taking market share, he said, 'because they can deliver products just as good; their manufacturing is now market-leading; they're doing it for a cheaper cost; and they're localised'. On investment picks, Rumble and Dong did not name firms, in line with company policy. Pop Mart's outperformance But one counter that was brought up during the interview was Labubu-maker Pop Mart, a company whose share price has shot up more than 180 per cent year to date. The Hong Kong-listed toymaker has been a hot topic within the firm internally because of its outperformance, but it is fundamentally 'a stock of a product that kind of divides opinion'. Said Rumble: 'At the moment, it's popular with some segments of the consumer, but certainly not all.' Toy characters also go in and out of favour, even for globally recognised icons such as Hello Kitty, which has had moments of lower popularity, he said. 'The tricky thing is, although (Pop Mart is growing its) business and its addressable market certainly can still grow, you're paying a lot of money for that future growth,' he added. 'We're watching it, and we're waiting to see.'
USA Today
14-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Auburn infielder Eric Snow selected by Blue Jays in 6th round of the 2025 MLB draft
Snow is the second Tiger to be taken in this year's draft after being selected in the 6th round by the Toronto Blue Jays. Another Auburn Tiger is headed to the American League East. Infielder Eric Snow is the latest Tiger to be selected in the 2025 MLB draft, going No. 172 overall to the Toronto Blue Jays in the 6th round. Snow is the first Tiger taken in day two of the draft after Ike Irish became the latest first round pick from Auburn on Sunday. Snow played just one season in Auburn, but made a quick impact. Snow divided his time between shortstop and third base in 2025 after transferring in from South Florida, and fielded at a 0.937 clip after committing just 10 errors in 187 fielding opportunities. At the plate, hit .307 with 66 hits, 14 doubles, eight home runs, and 34 RBI. Snow is the eighth player in Auburn history to be drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays organization, joining the likes of Gabe Gross, Josh Bell, and Josh Palacios. The MLB draft continues Monday with rounds 4-20, leading up to the MLB Home Run Derby on Monday night. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__
Korea Herald
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Harbin upgrades Ice-Snow World for summer, boosting all-season and all-hour tourism
HARBIN, China, July 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a report from Xinhuanet: Harbin, capital of China's Heilongjiang Province, announced plans to launch a summer edition of its renowned Ice-Snow World attraction in 2025. The expansion will introduce five signature attractions and ten innovative experiences, transforming the traditionally winter-focused destination into a year-round tourism hub through new seasonal programming. The summer edition will showcase five attractions: the 23rd China Harbin International Beer Festival, the riverside performance "Encounter Harbin," the panoramic fantasy show "The King's Chariot," the Dream Ice and Snow Pavilion, and the Ice and Snow Art Gallery of the Sun Island scenic spot. The attraction will introduce ten signature projects to complement its offerings. The Snow Rhyme Lilac Torch Square is set to become a new check-in spot, while the snowflake-shaped Ferris wheel will provide unprecedented aerial views of the city. Eco-camping zones and RV hubs will cater to the growing demand for leisure accommodation. Cutting-edge technology takes center stage with "Ice Dragon's Pearl," a fully immersive VR experience that merges winter themes with digital innovation. The classic car exhibition will showcase the evolution of automotive design through iconic vintage models. These facilities – comprising the Dream Stage performance venue, Starlight Sports Complex, Four Seasons Recreation Center and Sun Island Green Sports Park – collectively constitute an integrated cultural and recreational destination. Among the five core offerings, this year's Harbin International Beer Festival is set to be the largest in its history, featuring themed areas including the Dream Stage, large beer tents, and the Snow Rhyme Lilac Torch Square. A series of music festivals and live concerts will also be staged. Under the theme 'Raise a Glass to Invite the World to Enjoy Harbin,' the event will highlight the city's distinctive charm as a vibrant summer destination. As winter fades into summer, Harbin is building on its record tourism season to become both an "Ice City" and a "Summer Capital." Earlier this year, the 9th Asian Winter Games brought together over 1,270 athletes from 34 countries and regions. On February 7, the day of the opening ceremony, flight bookings to Harbin increased by 47 percent year-on-year. During the 2025 Spring Festival, Harbin received 12.15 million visits, with international arrivals up 144.7 percent. Harbin has also been designated as one of China's ten international aviation hubs. As the second city after Sapporo, Japan, to host the Games twice, Harbin is redefining itself from a winter hotspot to a year-round destination.
IOL News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Stop preaching morality! Corruption needs action, not a sermon
Corruption is not merely an economic or legal issue; it is fundamentally political. It emerges from development discourses that shape social realities through powerful narratives and material interventions. Image: Sunday Independent/Ron AI 'Soundlessly collateral and incompatible: World is suddener than we fancy it.' — Louis MacNeice THE lines from Louis MacNeice's poem *Snow* highlight the complex and contradictory nature of reality. The image of snow and pink roses seen together yet separated by a window illustrates how disparate elements coexist silently, yet clash in unexpected ways. This metaphor sets the stage for examining corruption — not as an isolated phenomenon, but as a deeply political concept. Corruption is not merely an economic or legal issue; it is fundamentally political. It emerges from development discourses that shape social realities through powerful narratives and material interventions. Academic perspectives often describe corruption as an exchange mechanism between social position, economic wealth, and political status. Economic wealth functions as a tool to access political systems, allowing marginalised groups entry into otherwise closed arenas. Whether such actions qualify as corrupt depends on their alignment with prevailing norms of legality and legitimacy. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Corruption also operates as a transformationary force — what some scholars call a 'conveyor belt' — mediating between incompatible logics like tradition/modernity, local/national, and formal/informal. In this sense, corruption acts as both a medium of inclusion and exclusion. The stability of political orders reliant on such mechanisms hinges on societal structure, governance systems, and redistribution practices. Thirdly, there is an implicit assumption, most notably by Scott, that modern professional associations have unproblematic access to political power. More simply, corruption is often a means of survival or enrichment. As Karl Polanyi observed, modern economies elevated gain as a central motive, legitimising profit-making as a social norm. Exclamations like 'if you're poor, you're stupid' reflect this mindset, suggesting that failure to enrich oneself when opportunity exists is a personal failing. Until the late 1980s, corruption in developing countries was often seen as an inevitable, even beneficial, part of modernisation — a lubricant easing transitions and fostering growth. Harvard scholar Samuel Huntington once described it as a welcome aid to development. In 1963, Wraith and Simpkins famously wrote: 'Throughout the fabric of public life in newly independent states runs the scarlet thread of bribery and corruption… which flourishes as luxuriantly as the weeds it so much resembles.' Bribery was accepted, legal, and even tax-deductible in many OECD countries — essentially, business as usual. It wasn't until the 1990s that global institutions began treating it as a systemic threat. Then-World Bank President James Wolfensohn labelled it the 'cancer of corruption', placing it at the centre of development agendas. Corruption is now understood as a structural problem tied to the sources, uses, limits, and accountability of power and wealth. It affects individuals and societies collectively, especially in contexts where professional autonomy is constrained by public-sector dependency. The African Union (AU) declared 2018 the African Anti-Corruption Year under the theme: *Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa's Transformation.* AU Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat emphasised the need for collective action, stating: 'Corruption hinders democratic governance, socioeconomic transformation, and peace. We must redouble our efforts; it is a scourge that cuts across all societies.' Adam Smith's moral philosophy offers insight into human behaviour. In *The Theory of Moral Sentiments*, he argued that humans desire not only to be loved, but to be lovely — to be morally attractive. He warned against blameworthiness, even when unnoticed. Smith's ideas helped build the foundation for cooperative societies where mutual benefit drives progress. Yet corruption contradicts this ideal. It reflects indifference to moral judgment, where shame vanishes even when caught, what Moeletsi Mbeki calls a particularly insidious form of decay. Corruption is a complex, cross-border crime requiring collaborative solutions. As the proverb says, 'one finger cannot kill a louse'. Philosopher Kwame Gyekye, in his book *Tradition and Modernity*, proposes a *commitmental moral revolution* (CMR) as the solution to political corruption in Africa. CMR involves recommitting to existing moral values rather than overhauling them entirely. Gyekye distinguishes CMR from *substantive moral revolution* (SMR), which seeks to replace old moral frameworks. CMR assumes current values are sufficient but require renewed commitment. Critics argue that CMR may be insufficient without addressing the social normalisation of corruption. While valid, CMR remains a necessary step toward change — even if not sufficient alone. Gyekye defines political corruption as illegal, unethical exploitation of public office for personal gain. JS Nye echoes this, describing corruption as deviation from public duties for private ends. Unlike general wrongdoing, political corruption is committed by those in power — rulers, politicians, and officials. It includes not just bribery, but graft, fraud, nepotism, kickbacks, and misuse of public funds.
