Latest news with #Spanish-language
Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Netflix fans lap up new number 1 film based on shocking real-life murder
The new number one film on Netflix is based on a shocking but little-known real-life murder. A Widow's Game was released on the streaming platform on Friday and is already at the top of the movie charts in the UK. The Spanish-language thriller, starring Ivana Baquero, Tristán Ulloa, and Carmen Machi, follows the investigation into the slaying of engineer Antonio Navarro Cerdán (Álex Gadea). As police dig further into the matter, led by veteran homicide detective Eva (Machi) his widow's perfect façade is shattered, exposing a hidden double life. But what has sucked so many early viewers in already, only a day after the film's release, is the fact that A Widow's Game is about a real-life murder that took place in Valencia, Spain, less than a decade ago, involving manipulation and betrayal. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. The movie even includes real-life recordings from throughout the case. Eager fans who have already seen the film have rushed to share their thoughts, with Anastasiia Bantysh's five-star review remarking that the film 'portrays the nature of true human needs, depravity, and excessive self-confidence very well'. 'Loved it – didn't know anything about the story – well done, bravo to everyone involved,' added Judith Lungen in another five-star ruling. El Confidencial's critic Jose Madrid gave the film three and a half stars, declaring it 'accessible and pacey, addictive throughout its two hours and faithful (perhaps too much so) to the real event it portrays'. He also added that fans would 'enjoy a production that won't let you take your eyes off [it] once you press play'. Read on if you want to discover the true story as depicted in A Widow's Game… On August 16, 2017, Antonio, a 36-year-old industrial engineer, was ambushed in his building's garage in the Patraix neighbourhood of Valencia before he could even start his car, according to Time magazine. Stabbed in the chest, he died at the scene, leaving behind his 27-year-old devastated widow María Jesús Moreno Cantó, known as Maje, who worked as a nurse. Despite her outward shows of grief and disbelief over the callous killing of her husband, investigators' suspicions were soon raised by Maje's 'calm and calculated' behaviour in early questioning – something very much at odds with the behaviour of someone thought to be in shock and mourning. Detectives soon discovered that Maje was in fact leading a wild double life, carrying on with multiple extramarital affairs. One of her lovers, Salvador Rodrigo Lapiedra, worked as a janitor at Maje's hospital. Desperately in love with her, Maje had managed to manipulate him into carrying out the murder with promises of her love and allegations of domestic abuse against Antonio. Phone taps revealed incriminating conversations between the two which confirmed the police's suspicions that Antonio's murder had been premeditated, with Maje giving Salvador all the information he would need – as well as keys to the married couple's garage. He lay in wait for Antonio to leave that fateful morning, armed with a kitchen knife which he later discarded in a cesspit at his property after the deed was done. The duo was arrested in January 2018, but the twists don't end there. While Salvador initially tried to protect Maje during questioning – who denied any involvement with her husband's death – he later changed his story after learning she had embarked on another relationship with an inmate while in custody. In his new statement, he admitted to the committing the crime of murder at Maje's behest and with her full support, after presenting herself as the victim of physical and psychological abuse. She had reportedly told him that her husband dying was better for their relationship than a divorce because she could keep both her inheritance and a widow's pension in the first instance. In October 2020, both Salvador and Maje were found guilty of murder: Maje received a 22-year sentence, while Salvador's time was reduced to 17 years due to his co-operation with the investigation. They were both also ordered to pay €250,000 (£210,762.50) in damages to Antonio's family. Maje was nicknamed the Black Widow of Patraix for her crime, which hinged on plotting the murder of her own husband for, among other things, financial gain. The Netflix film's Spanish title is La Viuda Negra, which translates directly as The Black Widow. More Trending And female black widow spiders are, of course, known for killing the male after mating. In a final scandalous note to the real-life case, Maje gave birth to a child in July 2023 after getting pregnant by her inmate lover – a man known as David, who is also a convicted murderer. She now resides in a mother-child unit at Fontcalent prison, where she is permitted to stay until her child is three. A Widow's Game is streaming on Netflix now. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Cancel your weekend plans to binge new Netflix thriller hailed 'pure greatness' MORE: 'Line of Duty was on my mind when creating Netflix's latest thriller' MORE: Nervous flier claims Jet2 marched her off plane 'like criminal'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
12-Year-Old Tennessee Boy Arrested for Instagram Post Says He Was Trying To Warn Students of a School Shooting
After posting a screenshot of two people planning to "shoot up" a Nashville school, a 12-year-old DuPont Tyler Middle School student was arrested and charged with threats of mass violence. Although his charges were later dismissed, school officials opted to expel the boy without properly assessing whether the threat was valid or whether he had authored the messages himself. Directly following a school shooting at Antioch High School earlier this year, which resulted in the death of two students and injury to a third, Nashville School District officials were on high alert for other potential threats. The day after the shooting, James, a seventh grade student, was flagged by the FBI for a concerning Instagram post. According to ProPublica, the post depicted a text conversation between two individuals: One said they would "shoot up" a Nashville school if the second would attack another. "Yea," the second replied, "I got some other people for other schools." When asked about the post, James told school officials he had reposted a screenshot from a Spanish-language news site. He was subsequently arrested and charged with making threats of mass violence. Under Tennessee law, when a student is suspected of threatening mass violence, a threat assessment is required "to determine whether the threat of mass violence made by the student was a valid threat." If the director of schools determines the threat is not valid, the school is not allowed to expel the student. However, records obtained by ProPublica show that school officials failed to conduct a proper threat assessment and missed crucial steps. Melissa Nelson, a national school safety consultant who trains schools on managing threats, told ProPublica that James' assessment was "gross mismanagement of a case." Rather than seek out information to help confirm whether the threat was valid—like notifying and interviewing James' parents—or pursue options provided by the threat assessment tool to deescalate potential future violence, school officials jumped straight to expulsion after he was arrested. "Even if a child is expelled, what I always train is: Out of sight, out of mind doesn't help," she said. "Expelling a child doesn't de-escalate the situation or move them off the pathway of violence. A lot of times, it makes it worse." John Van Dreal, a former school administrator who helped the Nashville School District set up its current threat assessment process, agreed. Choosing to skip directly to expulsion is "actually about the most dangerous thing you can do for the student," Van Dreal said, "and honestly for the community." During an appeal hearing, James maintained that he was not the original author of the texts. When asked if he understood that the screenshot in question appeared to be a conversation he, himself, was having, he replied, "I just wanted to let people know, feel heroic. I didn't want more people to get hurt." When pressed during that same hearing on why the school chose to expel James without additional investigation, Assistant Principal Angela Post said that it was up to law enforcement, not the school, to investigate the threat. She also admitted that the assessment did not make a determination whether James was the original author of the text, and she couldn't recall whether school staff investigated the origin of the original threat. By her logic, James' arrest was evidence enough that the threat was valid, and therefore, expulsion was necessary. But since James' arrest, law enforcement hasn't treated him like a violent threat. After serving a night in a juvenile detention facility, James agreed to six months of pretrial diversion and court supervision. His supervision was lifted earlier than expected after he completed his pretrial diversion terms, and his case has been dismissed. However, following his appeal with the Nashville School District, officials found that the decision to immediately expel James "was not a due process violation." The post 12-Year-Old Tennessee Boy Arrested for Instagram Post Says He Was Trying To Warn Students of a School Shooting appeared first on
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers No Longer Understand the American Family
Imagine if our national economy, culture, and politics were rooted in the idea that the default American household is white and Christian. There would be no Spanish-language campaign ads and TV shows, no interracial families depicted in commercials, no fill-in-the-blank Heritage Day at ballparks. Workplaces would see no need to accommodate holiday schedules for Muslims or Jews. That was a good bet more than 50 years ago, when the country was 88 percent white and 90 percent Christian, and less than 5 percent of the population was foreign-born. Since then, politicians and business leaders have figured out they will lose out if they deny the existence of the new, far more diverse, face of America. They may be motivated more by votes and dollars than by principles, but they've broadened their pitches to reflect (at least in part) the modern American household. And yet, when it comes to the family structure itself, the system (public and private) is stuck in an earlier era, one which assumes a 'traditional' household made up of a married couple and their offspring. Lawmakers proudly brand themselves 'pro-family,' and vow to fight for 'working families.' There's Family Day at attractions and entertainment venues, and family discounts on everything from phone service to cars, retail and college tuition. The best value for consumables is the 'family-sized' version that will rot before a single person can finish it. Solo diners are shooed to the bar at restaurants, with tables reserved for couples or families. Single people subsidize family health insurance plans, pay higher tax rates for the same joint income of a married couple, and can't get Social Security death benefits awarded to a widowed spouse. Companies that brag about being 'family-friendly?' Ask a single person: That means they work nights and weekends. The fix has been in, for a long time, in favor of those who marry and have children. In times past, this was just a temporary irritant, since most people indeed ended up marrying (in their early 20s, back in 1970) and having a family. But that family prototype is no longer dominant—and all indications suggest we're not going back to the way things were. Why are policy-makers in denial about the country we have become? 'It's not that [leaders] don't understand that families have changed very much from what they used to be. It's that they don't want to confront the reasons why families have changed,' said Stephanie Coontz, author of five books on gender and marriage. It's not that people don't want to couple—most do, she added—but marriage is not necessary anymore, especially for women who no longer need a man for financial support and don't need to stay in an unhappy or abusive relationship. They want intimacy, but with equality, and 'women have the ability to say, if I don't get that, I'll hold out,' said Coontz, the director of research and public education for the Council on Contemporary Families and emeritus faculty of History and Family Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. There's a misguided longing, especially among conservatives, to return to a storied American family that never really existed, Coontz argues in her book The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap. In reality, drug abuse, alcohol consumption, and sexually transmitted diseases were more prevalent in the 1950s, but economic conditions (in part because of government support for families) make the mid-20th century family look idyllic in retrospect, Coontz argues in the book. 'There's this ideology, it's really more of a worldview, that if you get married, you really will live happily ever after, and be healthier and morally superior' to unmarried people, said social scientist Bella DePaolo, author of Single at Heart: The Power, Freedom and Heart-Filling Joy of Single Life. But when it comes to how people actually behave and the choices they make, 'the place of marriage in our lives has been slipping,' she said. 'Fewer people are getting married—fewer people want to marry. That is threatening to people who want things to stay the same.' The statistics back her up: in 1970, 71 percent of households were made up of married couples; by 2022, that group became a minority, comprising just 47 percent of households. 'Non-family' households were an offbeat 19 percent of homes in 1970; the most recent Census Bureau statistics show that 36 percent of households now are 'non-family.' Married couples with children made up a solid plurality (40 percent) of 1970 homes. Now, such families comprise just 18 percent of households—strikingly, barely more than the category of women living alone, who make up 16 percent of American households, according to the Census Bureau. Even the current White House doesn't reflect the household ideal pushed by social conservatives. President Donald Trump is on his third marriage (with five kids from three wives); his wife Melania Trump is reportedly a part-time resident of the White House, and Trump hangs out with First Bro Elon Musk (who himself is reputed to have more than a dozen children from different mothers). There's been a steady trend towards later marriage, and even away from marriage entirely. The Pew Research Center, using data from the American Community Survey, points out that in 1970, 69 percent of Americans 18 and older were married, and 17 percent were never married. By 2010, just half of Americans over 18 were married, and a startling 31 percent had never been married. Those trends have caused agita among conservatives worried about the changing model (or the 'breaking down' of that model, as they characterize it) of the American family. Fiscal hawks rightfully worry, too, about demographic trends that indicate we will have an increasing number of old people drawing Social Security and Medicare, and not enough young people paying into the system. This is a legitimate concern; fertility rates in the United States reached an historic low in 2023. But the response to these phenomena has not been an examination of how public policy could be reoriented to the new reality of American households, but rather to try to force Americans back to an earlier, mythic demographic era. There's a deep, anti-social vein running through the strategies of those who'd force today's square-peg Americans back into the round hole of their nostalgic fantasies. There's the tactic of insulting or shaming unmarried women ('childless cat ladies,' as Vice President J.D. Vance called them). There's blaming feminism in general. 'We have this low birth rate in America … it just hit me right now because who's going to sleep with these ugly ass broke liberal women?' singer and Trump acolyte Kid Rock said on Fox News. Conservative essayist John Mac Ghlionn lays blame at the sparkly-booted feet of Taylor Swift, who—while being very successful and wealthy, he concedes in a column in Newsweek—is a terrible role model for young girls because 'at 34, Swift remains unmarried and childless.' Worse, the author screams in print, Swift has had a lot of famous boyfriends, and 'the glamorous portrayal of her romantic life can send rather objectionable messages.' The sneering message is clear: stop being so promiscuous or career-driven, and you'll attract a man who will give you what you want—marriage and children. Except that's not what women (necessarily) want. A 2024 Pew Research Center study found that just 45 percent of women 18-34 want to be parents someday. That's substantially less than the 57 percent of young men who feel that way. An earlier Pew study found that half of uncoupled men were looking for either a committed relationship or casual dating; 35 percent of single women said the same. And while women who were seeking relationships were more likely than men to say they wanted a committed union, instead of a casual arrangement, the survey results knock down the old trope of women being almost universally on the prowl for men who will offer them a ring and children. Bribing people to have children is another misguided approach, with the Trump administration mulling a laughably low 'baby bonus' of $5,000 to American women who have children. Yes, having kids is costly; the per-child cost can top $310,000, according to a Brookings Institution study. But it's not just a function of money. A growing percentage of adults under 50, in a 2024 Pew Research Center study, say they don't plan to have kids (47 percent are nixing the idea now, compared to 37 percent in 2018). The reason? 57 percent of those who aren't planning to have kids say they simply don't want to. 'I don't think you can solve what is ostensibly a cultural problem with financial incentives. That just doesn't work,' said Daniel Cox, director of the Survey Center on American Life at the American Enterprise Institute. 'I do think that the increasing costs of daily living, and the increase in housing costs, are all playing a role in (people) feeling more financially vulnerable and less secure,' he said. But structural issues—including women's fear of losing their autonomy or having their career advancement thwarted because of childcare demands—are leading to 'some real trepidation' towards marriage, he said. So, what is to be done? Instead of trying to make people want what they demonstrably don't want, government and business could instead adapt to the modern American household and the economy it has produced. There are about a thousand separate rights Americans acquire when they get married—everything from visitation rights at hospitals, to Social Security survivor benefits, to joint health insurance plans, said Gordon Morris, board chairman for the advocacy group Unmarried Equality. And that, he says, needs to change to reflect the fact that nearly half of U.S. adults are unmarried. Paying for Social Security and Medicare doesn't need to be fixed with a forced baby boom, either. One solution is to embrace immigrants, DePaolo said, since they (working legally) will contribute income and Social Security taxes. Another simpler fix, Morris said, is to remove the income cap for Social Security/Medicare contributions. 'It's a problem that's easy to solve, economically, Politically, it's very hard,' he acknowledged. But first and fundamentally, he argued, policymakers need to accept that the country is changing demographically—and that's not just about race or religion or national origin. Some of the most profound changes afoot in society revolve around the whens and whys Americans are getting married and having children. 'The problem is, there's an assumption that you're supposed to get married and you're supposed to have children. That assumption has got to change,' he said. The new reality, after all, has already arrived.
Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Netflix just dropped a chaotic trailer for the next crime thriller from the creators of 'Money Heist' — and it looks like a wild watch
Miss "Money Heist?" Netflix recently dropped a teaser trailer (and release date!) for the creators' next show, "Billionaires' Bunker" — and it looks like a gripping watch. Swapping break-ins for sit-ins, Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato's upcoming Spanish crime thriller invites us inside a luxury, "Fallout"-style underground bunker alongside a group of super-rich elites who've locked themselves away in fear of global conflict. Judging by the scenes in this "Billionaires' Bunker" teaser, life within the bunker really goes off the rails. Check it out below: Soundtracked with the incongruously cheery song, "Downtown," the teaser wastes little time before showing that life inside Kimera Underground Park (where they've taken shelter) is going to be anything but easy. Within about 1 minute's worth of footage, we see snapshots of fraught relationships, disagreements, fights, emotional troubles, and an explosive hint that life as we know it (i.e., outside this powderkeg setting) might well be coming to its end. Clearly, tensions between these billionaires (and the staff locked away along with them!) are about to run very high indeed... Can't wait to see what's in store? This first "Billionaires' Bunker" teaser confirms that we'll be stepping inside this exclusive new home in just a few months, as the new series premieres exclusively on Netflix on Friday, September 19. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. If the above chaos wasn't enough to earn "Billionaires' Bunker" a spot on your September watchlist, Netflix has already shared a synopsis for the new series. It reads: "In a luxury bunker designed to endure any imaginable catastrophe, a group of billionaires is forced to coexist after locking themselves in due to the threat of an unprecedented global conflict. Kimera Underground Park becomes a claustrophobic setting for two families marked by a wound from the past. Isolated underground and with no possibility of escape, they unleash personalities uncovering their most unconfessable secrets. But the most unexpected alliances also emerge. An excessive and surprising emotional X-ray of billionaires living in a golden hole." We've also had confirmation of which stars will be taking up residence within the "Billionaires' Bunker." The series stars Miren Ibarguren, Joaquín Furriel, Natalia Verbeke, Carlos Santos, Montse Guallar, Pau Simón, Alicia Falcó, Agustina Bisio, and Álex Villazán, among others. If you want an extra taste of what's in store, Netflix shared a Spanish-language video walking us through the facilities available inside Kimera Underground Park over on the Netflix Spain YouTube channel. Need something to stream while you wait for "Billionaires' Bunker" to hit your screen? Be sure to check out our definitive guide to the best Netflix shows for tons of streaming recommendations to keep you entertained in the meantime.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Telemundo Revives Ana María Polo's ‘Caso Cerrado' With 24/7 FAST Channel Launch
For two decades, Dr. Ana María Polo's gavel echoed through living rooms across the United States and Latin America, as she arbitrated countless court cases. She first stepped into the role of "TV judge" in 2001 on Sala de Parejas, a show initially focused on resolving marital problems between participants. The show later expanded its scope to include anyone with legal disputes, and in 2005, it was rebranded as Caso Cerrado con la Dra. Ana María Polo (Case Closed with Dr. Ana María Polo). Polo's signature, brazen style propelled the show to become one of Telemundo's highest-rated programs, cultivating a legion of devoted fans. However, even Polo's Caso Cerrado eventually reached its own "closed case." The popular show concluded in 2019, following the end of her multi-year contract with Telemundo. Now, Telemundo is reviving the hit Spanish-language courtroom drama with the launch of a 24/7 free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel dedicated to Caso Cerrado. It's a streaming time capsule, offering both longtime fans and new viewers access to over 800 hours of Polo's long-running show. Ana María Polo in a scene from "Caso Cerrado." Telemundo 'Telemundo's Caso Cerrado is one of Hispanic media's most iconic franchises with enduring fandom and new audiences discovering the courtroom drama via viral moments across digital and social platforms. With more than 26 million dedicated fans and nearly 100 million average monthly views on social media, the demand for this iconic series continues to grow,' says Romina Rosado, EVP, Streaming at NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. Launched just after the show's 24th anniversary, the FAST channel taps into early 2000s nostalgia and offers the opportunity to introduce a new generation to Polo's signature style. Each episode presented dramatic courtroom showdowns, with Dr. Polo presiding over cases that, while inspired by real-life situations, were often dramatized for television. Before her career as a popular TV judge, Polo practiced family law in Miami for 20 years. In 2017, she attempted to cross over into the English-language TV court scene with the syndicated Ana Polo Rules, but the show was canceled after only 15 episodes. The Caso Cerrado FAST channel, set to go live on May 29, 2025, at 9:00 AM ET, is available for free on platforms like Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Prime Video, Fubo, Fire TV, Freevee, Google TV, LG channels, TCL, Comcast, Plex, and Xumo.
