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It's the off the pitch battle that's got it all - Europe versus America, old skool versus new cool...
...Beckham versus Ronaldinho, the stripe versus the swoosh, notes Faisal Islam.
Move over overpaid footballers, this is the real Word Cup contest - Adidas versus Nike.
With £200m spent on advertising and a global TV and stadium audience of 40 billion, next month's tournament is the crucial battleground for sports wear supremacy.
See also: The search for a World Cup song
Last Sunday I found myself sitting at lunch next to a very senior retired British general, notes Jon Snow in this week's Snowmail podcast.
This chap had very current connections right inside the leadership of those British forces deployed abroad. And whilst this particular old general had misgivings about the current worsening of security in Southern Iraq his primary anxiety resided in the Helmand province of Afghanistan.
He told me that the present military leadership there is very far from happy with current events. Troop numbers are alarmingly small, he said - 1,600 fighting troops out of a total force of just over 3,000. And equipment? Not enough, not heavily armoured enough...
Listen to Jon's podcast here. Or sign up to receive it every week.
Bromley isn't known for trend-setting but the death of local MP, Eric Forth, last week means it has suddenly become the place that all Tories are watching, writes Andrew Thomas.
Not because they'll lose the seat - it's one of the Conservatives' safest - but because the process for picking their candidate will indicate how vigorously David Cameron's new 'A list' will be enforced. You remember the list? A sort of ultra-mild version of Labour's all-women shortlist but sacrilege to many Tories nonetheless.
Fifty per cent women and 10 per cent ethnic, constituency associations are expected to pick their candidate from the list unless there's an exceptional reason not to. The upcoming by-election ties nicely with a poll of constituency chairmen More4 News has put together asking what they think of Dave's candidate-selection plans.
Continue reading "Thrown out of Starbucks with Dave's 'A list'" »
It was going to be a busy day. Fly out to Frankfurt from London, spend the day filming heroin addicts and back for tea, writes Iain Overton.
I had been asked to cover the story of 'drug consumption centres' (or shooting galleries for those who prefer it more rough and ready) - and you can watch my film here.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation had commissioned the great and the good to write an independent report about how having clean, safe environments for drug addicts was more preferable than allowing them to inject themselves on the streets.
As a long time member of the Temperance Society, I am not sure how Mr Rowntree would be reacting to his Foundation's findings, but I am sure he would be reaching for the Fruit Pastilles.
Anyway, I was off on a plane and before I knew it I was filming six people in a row injecting themselves in the groin.
Continue reading "Before I knew it I was filming six people injecting themselves in the groin" »
Sasha Tarter is in Cannes to sell an independent UK film, The Gigolos. He's been trying every possible trick to get distributors interested, including making a film about it for More4 News. Watch it here.
He's also been writing a blog:
With the Riviera-wide shortage of napkins showing no signs of lifting, we’ve spent most of the day in an elevator. The elevator pitch is all important. It’s a fine art. You just have to spend time in the elevators. All week, if necessary.
The trick is to say as little as possible, whilst communicating the artistic essence of the film, and the fact that we’ll sell it cheap. We make use of mime, and do most of the talking with a raised eyebrow. People seem anxious to get out before their floor. We think they’re probably desperate to find a napkin and structure the deal before anyone else gets to us.
Still no sign of Harvey Weinstein, even though we’re camped in his favourite lift. So many great films were pitched here, from Reservoir Dogs to Rambo IV (which will be in cinemas soon, honest).
The celeb spotting is going well, however. Forget Ethan Hawke, Elle MacPherson, Eddie Izzard and Michael Madsen – we saw Jade Goody yesterday walking along the harbour. It’s moments like that that make it all worthwhile. As Steve McFadden’s also here, we’re hoping they’re making a move together.
“Jade Goody and Phil Mitchell – together at last.”
Just before I left work yesterday I was asked to produce and do the reverse camera work for an interview Sarah was conducting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, writes Helene Cacace.
I skipped home thinking about the forthcoming honour of meeting a great icon of our times (even if it was only to film the back of his head).
After waiting ages for our turn in Desmond Tutu's packed schedule, we were invited into his suite. I waved hello to the Archbishop and scrabbled around to get set-up.
I was somewhat relieved to see that the more experienced cameraman (whose 8 years of camera experience allowed him to shoot the front of Desmond Tutu's head) looked almost more flustered than I did.
Trevor and Sasha are at the Cannes Film Festival to promote their new movie, The Gigolos. At 8pm on More4 tonight, they present their guide to selling a film in Cannes.
From finding Harvey Weinstein to generating 'heat' when the only females in your film are 'of a certain age', they'll give the inside scoop on everything you don't learn in film school.
Meanwhile, here's the latest instalment of Trevor's 'Gigolog':
It’s hard to know where the work ends and the partying begins. Everywhere you go, you end up talking film.
But then, we’ve been going to a lot of film parties. Working the yachts, still hoping to bump into Weinstein. We think he’s been looking for us as well. That’s probably why we haven’t met. We went to the premiere party of Penelope Cruz’s new film, Volver, in a huge tent on the beach. How? We waited till the security guard went to the lav. But she wasn’t there either. Maybe it was the seafood…
Continue reading "Cannes: The napkin that ruined everything" »
Few men can speak with as much moral authority as Archbishop Desmond Tutu. So More4 News was keen to hear his views, about events in South Africa and worldwide.
What does he think about Jacob Zuma, the Deputy President of the African National Congress, who admitted having unprotected sex with a woman he knew to be HIV positive? "You just wanted to tear your hair out of your head hearing what he said."
How about the growing disenchantment of poor blacks, who feel that the ANC hasn't done enough to improve their living conditions?
"I am surprised at the incredible patience that people have shown. You would have said that people who live in those shacks, who live in squalor and who go and work in salubrious, affluent suburbs, largely still white - that they have not gone on the rampage is amazing."
Watch the interview here. Sarah tells her side of the story here.
Sacha Tarter is in Cannes to promote a UK independent film called the Gigolos, in which he plays a Gigolo. He's blogging about his trip for More4 News.
It’s the day after the Da Vinci Code premiere. Word is bad. Mainly, word on the beach party was bad. That’s really bad news.
Our invite never reached us… we weren’t available anyway. But we’re happy, I mean our producers signed our first foreign deal - with a Brazilian distributor. I think that means the film gets released in Rio. Hopefully, we’ll get to go. We met them after for drinks to celebrate. One deal down. Next stop Cuba? I’ve got to get there before Fidel pops it. Word in Cannes is that a buddy movie would be right up his street.
Later, we watched Arsenal/Barcelona in the Carlton bar, where a beer costs 10 euros a time. Tim Roth was there too. We gave him the nod. It was clearly apparent he was nervous about the new boys in town.
Either that, or he thought we were Barcelona fans. We’re meeting some distributors from Barcelona tomorrow, so we’ll support anyone if they’re going to sign the right deal.
To some he's the leader of a new anti-imperialist revolution, to other's he's an oppressive pariah. But one thing is certain about Hugo Chavez - He loves talking.
Jon Snow knew something would be up when he joined the bandanas and straggly grey beards at Camden Town Hall for the Venezuelan president's public address.
Four hours of stories, songs and stinging rhetoric later, he knew that the next day's interview wouldn't go to plan.
He explains what happened in this week's Snowmail. Online here.
