Why is Rihanna in Belgium this weekend? Hint: Smurfs
Belgium rolled out the blue carpet Saturday for Rihanna and other stars who turned out for the world premiere of the new Smurf movie.
Rihanna produced ″Smurfs″ and voices Smurfette in the summer family film, a live-action animated reboot that takes the little creatures on a Smurfette-led rescue mission to save Papa Smurf.
At Saturday's showing in Brussels, the visibly pregnant Grammy winner chatted with children, linked arms with someone dressed as her cartoon alter-ego, and joined the audience arm in arm with A$AP Rocky.
Film director Chris Miller held Smurf toys and other cast members at the premiere included James Corden and Dan Levy. Many of the guests wore a shade of Smurf-ish blue.
The movie premieres in the U.S. on July 18.
Belgian comics artist Peyo created the Smurfs — known here as ″Schtroumpfs″ — and the Belgian capital embraced the premiere with a weekend of events.
It took place in central Brussels, not far from a Smurf museum. The city's famed Mannekin Pis statue was dressed for the occasion as No Name Smurf. The city's Grand-Place held Smurf-themed events all weekend, and tourist buses and train cars were decorated in blue.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
TV tonight: a powerful series marks 20 years since the 7/7 attacks
9pm, Sky Documentaries There are a few powerful new series marking 20 years since the biggest terror attack on UK soil – this one is a three-part documentary that attempts to dig deeper into the 'why?' As well as hearing devastating first-hand accounts from survivors and investigators, it opens by recalling the horrors of the day of the attack, alongside insight into how young men were being radicalised. Hollie Richardson 6.25pm, BBC One The final episode of the rebooted series centres on the lusotitan which, at 25 metres long, was one of the largest dinosaurs (and it's got the gangly neck to prove it). While not as impressive as it was in 1999, mixing CGI with real-life palaeontologists still leads to intriguing dino details. Hannah J Davies 7.15pm, BBC One 'I just wish they wouldn't call it the tea time slot,' 80-year-old Rod recently told the BBC. 'That sounds like pipe and slippers.' The crooner will try to prove them wrong as he takes to the Pyramid stage to deliver hits such as Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? and Maggie May. HR 8.45pm, BBC One DS Janie's mechanic is found murdered at a school reunion, in the series finale for the mismatched cop comedy-drama. Once again, Timothy Spall's retired actor uses Stanislavski methods to ferret out the truth, in a 'consultant' role. Or as he puts it, 'I'm very much here in a criminal psychologist capacity – don't mind me!' Ali Catterall 9pm, Channel 4 This two-parter follows DCI Katie Dounias's deeply unsettling investigation into the murder of a beloved 74-year-old woman. She uncovers disturbing details that shock even the experienced officers of Bedfordshire's Major Crime Unit. Ellen E Jones 10pm, Channel 4 It's the penultimate episode of Margaret Atwood's not-too-dystopian drama and, while this final season has been frustratingly dragged out, we're still on the edge of our seats. After Aunt Lydia let June go ahead with Mayday, night has fallen and the Handmaids have dispersed on the streets of Gilead armed with razors. HR Past Lives, 10pm, BBC Two With Celine Song's new film Materialists on the brink of release, now is the perfect time to revisit the film that put her on the map. Past Lives is an extraordinary piece of work about a woman forced to re-examine her entire sense of self when an old love reappears, long after she has moved on. It's a film that aches with longing. It's knotty with the mess of cultural identity. All three of its leads do tremendous, heartbreaking work, but Greta Lee deserved an Oscar for her outstanding central performance. That she didn't even receive a nomination is utterly baffling. Nevertheless, consider this an update to Brief Encounter, only with a less infuriatingly paternalistic ending. Stuart Heritage Motor racing: The Austrian Grand Prix, 1.55pm, Sky Sports F1 The 11th round of the season at Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. Women's International Football: England v Jamaica, 4.10pm, ITV1 England play their final match before Euro 2025 at Leicester.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Free coffee, cut-price theatre tickets and birthday upgrades: 42 genius ways to beat the system
The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. 1 If you sign up to secret seat-filler sites such as Show Film First and Central Ticket, you'll be alerted to last-minute tickets at rock-bottom prices – sometimes nothing at all. The only catch is you have to keep this on the quiet to maintain the illusion that performances are packed with paying punters. 2 Want to read the New Yorker article everyone's talking about, but don't have a subscription? You can do so for nothing with many library memberships and the Libby app, which gives access to pretty much every magazine you can think of, with no loan limits. Libby and a similar app, BorrowBox, also lend thousands of ebooks and audiobooks; read or listen on your phone, iPad, Kindle or laptop. 3 An underutilised benefit of Amazon Prime is Prime Reading: hundreds of free Kindle books and audiobooks are included, as are magazines such as Grazia and Radio Times. 4 Bagging tickets for concerts and festivals has never been more competitive. Tools such as Visualping alert you as soon as a webpage has changed – so you can be first in the queue when seats are released. It's also handy for securing a table at hot restaurants, knowing when a sought-after pair of trainers is back in stock, or alerting yourself to events such as the Eurostar flash sale. 5 Don't let theatres fool you into thinking restricted view seats are a false economy. For instance, the end-aisle seats for Hamilton in London's West End are consistently rated five stars by users of the site SeatPlan, who report that, as Hamilton is primarily performed at the centre of the stage, you won't miss any key plot points or songs. SeatPlan collates hundreds of thousands of seat-view photos, so you can check the vantage point before you buy. 6 You should rarely be paying full price for the latest blockbuster either. Sky Cinema customers get free Vue tickets, Amazon Prime members get discounted Odeon tickets, Tesco Clubcard holders can spend their points at Cineworld, and Lidl Plus members get membership of the Cinema Society, with 40% off many screenings. Buy your insurance through and Meerkat Movies gives you two-for-one on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at a range of cinemas, including Picturehouse. 7 'JustWatch is a brilliant tool that shows the different places you can stream shows and films, and how much they might cost you,' says Francesca Steele, culture critic and writer of the Trash Culture newsletter. 'For example, you might assume you can only watch the latest season of The Last of Us if you have a Sky subscription. But the JustWatch site shows that you could also sign up to a free seven-day trial on Now, or buy the series on Apple TV.' 8 The Dice app lists cultural events in cities across the UK, which you can sort by price. It's a quick way to discover free or affordable gigs, live comedy, podcast recordings or new art exhibitions. 9 Work out when the hardest-to-book restaurants open their reservations and set an alarm (or use an AI monitoring tool). For example, Gymkhana in London's Mayfair releases tables at 6am two months in advance; for Tom Kerridge's The Hand and Flowers in Marlow, it's six months to the date you'd like to book. Sign up to restaurants' email lists too: some offer early access to loyal fans. L'Enclume, Simon Rogan's three-Michelin-star restaurant in Cartmel, Cumbria, sends priority booking invitations and cancellations via its newsletter. 10 Follow chefs, restaurants or front of house on social media to hear about last-minute tables. Oisín Rogers, landlord of the much-hyped and usually booked-solid Devonshire pub in Soho, London, has been known to announce cancellations on his Instagram Stories. 11 Sushi chains Itsu and Wasabi sell off whatever is left from the day at 50% off 30 minutes before closing. 12 Before you book a restaurant, check for money-off vouchers on the new breed of restaurant discount apps, says Amelia Murray, money expert at 'There are a few to choose from, including TheFork, which is free and offers discounts of up to 50% off your meal, plus you can earn points every time you use it, which can be redeemed against future bookings.' Or try EatClub, co-founded by Marco Pierre White, 'as a way for restaurants to optimise spare capacity and generate predictable revenue'; it has just launched in London and offers discounts of up to 50% off your bill. 13 Get wise to 'menu engineering'. This is a whole area of expertise that helps restaurateurs boost their profits, and it pays not to be taken in by the tricks. 'The top-right corner of a menu is prime real estate,' says Ben Floyd, a chef and the managing director of Lumière Consultancy. 'That's where your eyes tend to land first, so you'll often find the most profitable dish there. You'll rarely see pound signs any more – they remind people they're spending money. And often there'll be a 'decoy' dish – something expensive to make the rest of the menu seem more reasonably priced.' 14 Before booking any element of your holiday via a third-party site, have a look at what you could get by going direct. On flights, online travel agents often charge more for seats or bags than the airline itself. As for hotels, Zanna van Dijk, a travel and fitness content creator, always books direct: 'You often get better rates, they might throw in breakfast and you'll have a higher chance of an upgrade on arrival.' 15 Speaking of upgrades, if it's a significant event – a milestone birthday, say, or a honeymoon, or if you just want to try your luck – email your hotel at the time of booking to say why you're looking forward to your stay and ask for an upgrade. If you don't ask, you probably won't get. 16 The same hotel room may be significantly cheaper booked on a mobile phone rather than a laptop, but you'll be none the wiser unless you check. Sites such as offer mobile-only deals; some hotels will give bigger discounts if you download their app or join their mailing list. 17 That's not to say that boutique travel agents don't earn their commission, especially if you're travelling with kids. Francesca Collinson of Tiny Travelship, a family-focused travel agency and hotel directory, says, 'We have the insider intel on when luxury hotels have sales running, when the best time of year to book flights is – 11 months in advance. We can unlock free transfers, free creche sessions, or complimentary upgrades to room and board.' 18 Hiring a car for a foreign trip? Go to the destination country's website. Research from Which? found that, in the US for example, booking the same car through Hertz's site there rather than cut the cost by £347. In general, just replace the end of the url with the relevant country's top-level domain. 19 A local bus can be a cheap way to see the tourist sites. Lonely Planet rates the 101 that runs along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, towards the scenic rock stacks making up the Twelve Apostles. I rate the number 7, down the hill from the Tuscan hilltop city of Fiesole into Florence, Italy, which costs less than €2. 20 Before you travel overseas, open a Monzo or Starling bank account if you don't already have one. You can do it with a quick selfie video and a picture of your passport, and you'll get a card in the post within a week, which you can use for all holiday spending, free of currency conversion charges. 21 Luton airport lets you skip queues, without any cost, by prebooking security. But don't automatically pay in advance for fast-track access at all other airports: for example, Manchester and Stansted will let you buy it on the day. 22 When buying any item online, try adding it to your basket then sleeping on it before you hit pay. Not only is this the best way to reel yourself back from a late-night emotional spending binge, but you will very likely wake up to a discount code in your email inbox from the retailer who wants you to complete the purchase. 23 Add the Honey tool (powered by PayPal) to your browser, such as Safari, and it will alert you when you visit a website where you can use a discount code or get cashback on your purchase. Coupert, an AI-powered shopping assistant available on Google Chrome, automatically tracks prices of products and tells users when discounts are available. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion 24 'Type into ChatGPT: I have a loyalty card (use any example you want). Are there any hidden benefits I can use here, such as double-points days, referral bonuses or rewards?' advises Harriet Meyer, consumer journalist and creator of AI for media. 'I found I had £50 worth of Nectar points I didn't know I was entitled to. Or try, 'I'm buying XX. What's the best combination of cashback sites and discount codes to maximise savings?'' You could also upload an image of your supermarket shop and ask how you can save money on your food bills. 25 Supermarkets have taken the obvious expiry dates off fruit and veg to reduce food waste. But if you're buying food and you would like it to last for as long as possible, you can hack their codes. According to Which?, at Asda and Tesco, look for a letter followed by a number: 'A' is January, 'B' is February, 'C' is March, while the number is the day of the month. For example, the best-before date of an item with the code 'I27' is 27 September. Sainsbury's codes begin with 'J' and end with 'S', standing for J Sainsbury, and contain the date in the middle. So the best-before date of an item with the code 'J0910S' is 9 October. 26 As former operations director with butchers The Ginger Pig, Lynsey Coughlan recommends buying meat on the bone, which is always cheaper, to save money when cooking at home. 'If you buy chicken breasts, you're more or less paying for the whole bird, and you can use the carcass for soup and the thighs for curry. The same goes for any kind of meat. Ask your butcher to bone it out, and keep the bones for stock.' Sausages can be a cheaper substitute for mince. 'With Italian sausage, you've already got the perfect fat balance, you've got all the seasoning to make a proper ragu and it's a time saver, too.' 27 The packaging for many household products seems designed to make it impossible to use every last drop. That's why everyone needs a tube-squeezer key (for toothpaste, moisturiser, puree; try Lakeland) and a foam pump bottle, which reduces liquid soap use by turning it into foam (try Muji). 28 If you take at least five empties to be recycled at Boots – these have to be packaging you can't recycle at home, such as mixed metal and plastics, or old mascara wands – then spend £10, you'll receive 500 Advantage Card points (worth £5). 29 Price tags are not set in stone. The thought may make you shudder, but you can haggle at many high-street shops. Martin Lewis reports that a member of staff at a big DIY store told him that if anyone asked for a discount, they would automatically give them 10% off. Of those who dared to try, 57% of people got a discount at B&Q, 49% at Currys and 38% at Waitrose, according to a survey a few years ago by Money Saving Expert. 30 Monitor Vinted or eBay when there's a popular beauty subscription box or Advent calendar on sale. You can pick up a bargain when people resell unopened makeup or perfume that doesn't suit them. Last year that included dozens of Le Labo Rose rollerball perfumes, from Liberty's Beauty Advent calendar, for £20 or so (they're £78 new). 31 Shops discard skincare, hair care or makeup products when external packaging is damaged or opened, even if the product is untouched. Sites such as This is Beauty and Boop buy them up and sell them on, often at a 70% discount, to avoid landfill. The product is quality-checked and it's made clear what is wrong. 32 It's frustrating that with some bills – water and council tax, for example – it's impossible to shop around. Martyn James, a consumer-rights expert, says there is one way to ease the pain of your council tax payments, 'and it's so simple, you'll kick yourself. Almost all of the local authorities in the UK will bill you over 10 months, so you get February and March for free each year. But you can ask your council to spread the payments over 12 months instead. If you're paying £1,800 a year, then over 10 months you pay £180 per month. But over 12, you pay £150.' When it comes to water, if you have the same number or more rooms than people living in your house, a meter will most probably save you money. This is because you're being charged for the actual water used rather than an estimate based on the rateable value of your property. Look on your water company's website for water-saving gadgets; some are free. A tap aerator can reduce water consumption by up to 50%. 33 Before paying for software – or signing up for trials you might forget to cancel – look for the open-source alternative. Gimp is the free rival to Adobe Photoshop; Audacity lets you record, edit and manipulate audio files; and KeePass is a free, open-source password manager. 34 The best deals on mobile contracts are available from smaller companies that use the same infrastructure as the big four, such as Lebara (on Vodafone), or 1p Mobile (EE). Both score higher in Which? customer satisfaction ratings, too. You'll feel extra smug on holiday: while three of the big four now have roaming charges in the EU on their standard packages, many of these small companies don't. 35 University libraries are peaceful but vibrant co-working spaces, at a fraction of the cost of a WeWork. The University of Manchester, for instance, offers annual community membership for free, with access to its 2,000 study spaces and guest wifi, and it's open into the evening. Members of the public can get reference access to UCL libraries from £7 a day, £30 a month or £200 a year – less than the cost of just one month at many private co-working offices – giving access to study space across all campuses in London, including Senate House, as well as the subsidised student canteen. 36 Buy discounted gift cards online, or through cashback websites such as TopCashback. You can then use them to pay for your normal shopping, services such as Spotify and Uber, food prep services like HelloFresh, and most supermarkets and chain coffee shops. It's a faff, but will work out a little cheaper as long as you don't forget to spend them. 37 Comparison sites are constantly competing for business, so they offer generous freebies. 'I got a £20 Sainsbury's voucher and a monthly free coffee at Greggs when I bought car insurance via says Clare Seal, a financial coach and presenter of the podcast Help Me, I'm Poor. She also rates the app Sprive, which lets you overpay your mortgage using cashback from everyday spending, 'potentially knocking years off your term'. 38 Don't pay for mobile data you don't need. Switching on low data mode on your phone saves battery life, but also bills, if you have a low-data package, by reducing how much you're using. Adjusting your app settings to lower the default video quality and turning off auto-play on social media helps, too. 39 Got a parking ticket? If a car park operator is not a member of the British Parking Association (BPA) or the International Parking Community (IPC) and they leave a ticket on your car, they can't access your details from the DVLA. Citizens Advice says you can choose to do nothing, if it's a private parking firm, as it's a civil rather than a criminal matter. 40 The best interest rates on savings often fall away after a year and providers bank on their customers not having time to shop around. By signing up to a platform such as Raisin UK you can easily move your money between different accounts when rates fall or rise, without having to fill out new application forms each time. 41 If you open a bank account with a subscription fee jointly with a partner, you can both take advantage of add-ons, such as mobile phone and travel insurance, for no extra monthly cost. 42 Check if you can access financial advice through your employee benefit scheme for the whole family. One money coach says that she offers the opportunity for employees to bring a partner to one-on-one coaching sessions, free – though hardly anyone takes her up on it.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Police examining Glastonbury performances labelled ‘hateful' and ‘grotesque'
Police continue to examine videos of comments made by acts Bob Vylan and Kneecap at Glastonbury as the festival enters its third day. Rapper Bobby Vylan, of rap punk duo Bob Vylan, on Saturday led crowds on the festival's West Holts Stage in chants of: 'Free, free Palestine' and: 'Death, death to the IDF', before a member of Irish rap trio Kneecap suggested fans 'start a riot' outside his bandmate's upcoming court appearance. In a post on social media, Avon and Somerset Police said: 'We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon. 'Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.' Reacting on social media, the Israeli Embassy said it was 'deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival'. A statement on X said: 'Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy. But when speech crosses into incitement, hatred, and advocacy of ethnic cleansing, it must be called out—especially when amplified by public figures on prominent platforms. 'Chants such as 'Death to the IDF,' and 'From the river to the sea' are slogans that advocate for the dismantling of the State of Israel and implicitly call for the elimination of Jewish self-determination. When such messages are delivered before tens of thousands of festivalgoers and met with applause, it raises serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence. 'We call on Glastonbury Festival organisers, artists, and public leaders in the UK to denounce this rhetoric and reject of all forms of hatred.' Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the scenes 'grotesque', writing on X: 'Glorifying violence against Jews isn't edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked. 'The cultural establishment needs to wake up to the fact this isn't protest, it's incitement. 'Less than 2 years ago, hundreds were raped and murdered at a music festival. It's not just the act but the gormless people clapping along and cheering. People with no idea what real terror is. 'They don't understand the evil ideology they're amplifying – and they don't care.' BBC spokesperson said: 'Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan's set were deeply offensive. During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.' Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to the BBC director general about Bob Vylan's performance, a Government spokesperson said. They added: 'We strongly condemn the threatening comments made by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury. 'The Culture Secretary has spoken to the BBC director general to seek an urgent explanation about what due diligence it carried out ahead of the Bob Vylan performance, and welcomes the decision not to re-broadcast it on BBC iPlayer.' Kneecap, who hail from Belfast, have been in the headlines after member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence. In reference to his bandmate's upcoming court date, Naoise O Caireallain, who performs under the name Moglai Bap, said they would 'start a riot outside the courts', before clarifying: 'No riots just love and support, and support for Palestine.' In the run-up to the festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset, several politicians called for the group to be removed from the line-up and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said their performance would not be 'appropriate'. During the performance, Caireallain said: 'The Prime Minister of your country, not mine, said he didn't want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer.' He also said a 'big thank you to the Eavis family' and said 'they stood strong' amid calls for the organisers to drop them from the line-up. O hAnnaidh, 27, wore a keffiyeh during the set, while member JJ O Dochartaigh, who performs under the name DJ Provai, wore his signature tri-coloured balaclava as well as a T-shirt that said: 'We are all Palestine Action', in reference to the soon-to-be banned campaign group. News broadcasts criticising the hip hop trio played from the sound system before they walked onto the stage were booed by the Glastonbury Festival audience. The trio opened with the song Better Way To Live from their 2024 album Fine Art and also performed tracks including Get Your Brits Out and Hood. Access to the area around the West Holts Stage was closed around 45 minutes before their performance after groups of fans arrived to form a sea of Irish and Palestinian flags. Earlier on Saturday, the BBC confirmed they would not be live-streaming the set but said the performance is likely to be made available on-demand later. O hAnnaidh was charged with allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah, while saying 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' at a gig in November last year. On June 18, the rapper was cheered by hundreds of supporters as he arrived with bandmates O Caireallain and O Dochartaigh at Westminster Magistrates' Court in Free Mo Chara T-shirts. He was released on unconditional bail until the next hearing at the same court on August 20. Saturday night's Pyramid Stage headliner, Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts, opened with the song Sugar Mountain, with Young saying 'thank you folks' to the crowd as the song ended. The set list, drawing heavily from live album Live Rust, included songs Be The Rain, When You Dance I Can Really Love, Cinnamon Girl and Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black), with lyrics that reference Johnny Rotten, the stage name of Sex Pistols's John Lydon. Charli XCX's performance on the Other Stage saw US singer Gracie Abrams perform the viral Apple dance. As the song began, the British pop star said: 'Who the f*** is gonna be Apple girl, Glastonbury?' while holding what appeared to be a glass of wine. The 32-year-old played her Partygirl set at Glastonbury Festival last year, but this time the singer performed on a much bigger stage amid a year that has seen her pick up a slew of awards. Elsewhere at the festival, Haim performed as the surprise act on the Park Stage at 7.30pm, while on the Pyramid Stage, Pulp were revealed to be Patchwork with the Sheffield-formed Britpop band paying homage to their breakthrough 1995 stand-in headline set during the performance. Performing in the coveted Sunday legends slot this year is Sir Rod Stewart, who previously said he will be joined by his former Faces band member Ronnie Wood, as well as other guests. Sir Rod's performance will come after he postponed a string of concerts in the US, due to take place this month, while he recovered from flu. US singer Olivia Rodrigo takes the final Sunday slot after opening the British Summer Time Hyde Park concert series on Friday. The BBC is providing livestreams of the five main stages: Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Woodsies and The Park.
