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Veteran actor M Emmet Walsh, who starred in Blade Runner and Knives Out, has died aged 88.

The Americanstar died from a cardiac arrest on Tuesday at Kerbs Memorial Hospital in St Albans, Vermont, a statement from his manager confirmed.

During his six-decade career, Walsh played a variety of roles, including Harrison Ford’s LAPD boss in Sir Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner.

He played an unscrupulous private detective in Ethan Coen’s Blood Simple two years later, for which he would win the first Film Independent Spirit Award for best male lead.

He also played Dermot Mulroney’s father in My Best Friend’s Wedding, which also starred Julia Roberts, and Dustin Hoffman’s belligerent parole officer in Straight Time.

Film critic Roger Ebert once observed that “no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad”.

Born Michael Emmet Walsh, his body of work includes 119 films and 250 TV productions, with recent roles including playing an elderly security guard in Rian Johnson’s 2019 murder-mystery comedy Knives Out, which starred Daniel Craig.

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Johnson was among those paying tribute, writing on X: “Emmet came to set with 2 things: a copy of his credits, which was a small-type single spaced double column list of modern classics that filled a whole page, & two-dollar bills which he passed out to the entire crew.

“‘Don’t spend it and you’ll never be broke.’ Absolute legend.”

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Taylor Swift reveals release date for new album

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Taylor Swift reveals release date for new album

Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.

The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.

Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.

Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
Image:
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights

The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.

It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.

The full track list is:

1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)

Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.

Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.

The cover of Taylor Swift's newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
Image:
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records

The back cover of Taylor Swift's 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: 	Republic Records
Image:
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records

‘The hardest-working star in pop’

The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.

That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.

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“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.

Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.

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Harvey Weinstein to be tried for third time in New York after mistrial on rape charge

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Harvey Weinstein to be tried for third time in New York after mistrial on rape charge

Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.

A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.

Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.

The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.

Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.

He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.

Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.

Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.

Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.

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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.

Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.

Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.

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TV presenter Jay Blades appears in court charged with two counts of rape

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TV presenter Jay Blades appears in court charged with two counts of rape

TV presenter Jay Blades has appeared in court charged with two counts of rape.

The 55-year-old appeared via video link at Telford Magistrates’ Court and spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth at the six-minute hearing on Wednesday.

Blades, from Claverley in Shropshire, was granted conditional bail to appear at Shrewsbury Crown Court on 10 September.

He was not required to enter pleas during his first appearance.

The presenter found fame on the furniture restoration programme The Repair Shop after he started presenting in 2017.

A furniture restorer, he was the face of the popular BBC show that featured people having their treasured objects repaired and rejuvenated until he stepped back from presenting the programme last year.

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Blades was also the presenter of the BBC’s Money For Nothing until 2020 and took part in Celebrity Masterchef, Celebrity Bake Off, and Comic Relief.

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