Month: March 2025

The streaming service has added a brutal film about killing Nazis to its roster, with the 2023 release having earned rave reviews and strong comparisons with the John Wick series.

Keanu Reeves’ blockbusters are often seen as the pinnacle of violent films and have often been recreated in different settings, with Dev Patel starring in a South Asian version called Monkey Man last year.

The fourth chapter of the ‘Wick-ed’ franchise (no, not the one with Ariana Grande) became the highest rated in the series back in 2023, which shows that there is still a thirst for non-stop violence in cinema.

It was originally added to Amazon Prime, but for the eye-watering price of £15.99, many might have decided to wait, and they will no doubt be happy to see it available for ‘free’ via a Netflix subscription.

So it’s no surprise that Netflix has added Finnish film Sisu to its roster after the huge response that came following its release in cinemas two years ago, with audiences describing it as ‘John Wick but gorier’ and ‘a fast-paced joy ride.’

The war movie, which is set in the final days of World War Two, follows an ex-soldier who discovers a massive amount of gold while he’s mining.

However, when a squad of Nazi soldiers try to steal the gold from him, they discover that Aatami is not your ordinary miner. For those concerned about having to watch with subtitles, the film is also in English, not Finnish.

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes say: “Sisu is gritty, blatant, bloody action cinema. It is a reckoning for sins that can never be exonerated and must never be forgotten. It is poetic vengeance delivered with lean, masterful precision.”

Another added: “Writer-director Jalmari Helander’s blood-and-guts revenge fantasy is the history revision you never knew you needed.”

Apart from the obvious murderous killing spree comparisons with John Wick, Jorma Tommila’s character of Aatami also doesn’t speak much (apparently not saying a line until the end of the film), has a horse and a dog to drive him on, and also isn’t supernatural, and will feel lots of pain throughout the film.

So, it’s easy to see why anyone who might have connected to Keanu’s beloved character over the years might be naturally drawn to Sisu.

Sisu is available now to watch on Netflix in the UK, and on Starz in the US.

Back in 2019, Loren Schauers was working as a builder in Montana when his life changed forever. Loren had been driving a forklift across a bridge when the vehicle veered off course and plummeted 50ft to the ground below.

Loren’s co-workers would find the 18-year-old pinned beneath the piece of heavy equipment, with the impact of the fall crushing his right arm and every bone from his pelvis down.

Miraculously, Loren would survive the horrifying accident but would be left with life-changing injuries after consenting to have his right forearm and the lower half of his body amputated.

The radical surgery, named hemicorporectomy, meant that Loren had to adapt completely to his new normal.

Nearly six years on from the accident and Loren has built an online platform to share his life with viewers around the world alongside his wife Sabia, with the pair regularly sharing updates to their Sabia and Loren YouTube account.

A recent upload, titled ‘Behind the Scenes (and some chaos)’ showed what appears to be a typical morning for the pair, including how Sabia assists with his mobility when he’s not wearing prosthetics.

In the clip Sabia could be seen lifting Loren out of bed and carrying him to the living room sofa before he repositions himself upright.

The pair also gave a further update on Loren’s health, explaining that they haven’t been able to film frequent videos due to ongoing health issues which he’s facing.

“Hopefully we do have a whole lot of things planned for you guys,” Sabia explained. “That will be coming soon… when we’re able to get Loren in his prosthetic again.”

Loren then explained that he was currently dealing with kidney stones and had been suffering from ‘back-to-back kidney infections’ and is currently waiting on further surgery.

“So when Sabia says [that] we’re waiting on the surgery to get things rolling back in our lives she really means that,” he added. “We’re both sick and tired of sitting around the house doing nothing.”

Loren is often transparent with viewers about what it’s like to live with the bottom half of his body amputated, previously addressing his altered life expectancy after the accident.

According to various statistics, hemicorporectomy patients can live anywhere between nine and 22 years after having their lower half removed. Explaining why an estimation was ‘so hard to pinpoint’ in a previous video, Sabia said: “Because his case is so rare, it’s hard to pinpoint.”

She continued: “The closest [patient] one to Loren’s situation, age, health, all of that was the one who lived about 24 years. So, if we go off of that, you know, we are hoping Loren has, you know, 40-plus years left with us.”

The never-ending saga to bring stranded NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home from the space has hit another roadblock, after it was confirmed yesterday that the mission to retrieve the pair had been delayed once again.

They were only meant to be there for eight days, but have been on the ISS for nine months.

Following the news of delay, inquiring minds have begun to wonder how long an astronaut would be able to survive on the ISS, leading to today’s morbid scenario — how long could an astronaut survive in space in the event of a global disaster?

In our imaginary scenario, the Earth – and all living things on it – have been wiped out by a major extinction event while the seven astronauts on the ISS could do nothing but watch on.

Once the crew had come to terms with the loss of their loved ones and everything that’s ever existed on our home planet, focus would likely turn to survival.

How long could an astronaut survive on the ISS if Earth was destroyed?

The grim subject was broached by YouTuber and educator Vsauce who explained that breathable oxygen is recycled on the station through electrolysis, while rationed food means they could last for around two years before going hungry, depending on when the last supply ship docked.

NASA previously stated that all food pinged into the cosmos must have a shelf-life of at least one year, although in this scenario we don’t think expired food would be high on your list of concerns.

Astronauts on the ISS once had to go eight months without restocking food, water and other supplies after three successive supply missions failed, the space agency said. So there have been real scenarios where they’ve had to go for long periods without supplies from Earth.

However, food and air aren’t the most pressing concerns. Although you’d likely argue whether or not there’s a point to carrying on while knowing your ultimate fate.

So if lack of food or oxygen wouldn’t kill our spacefaring explorers, what would?

Turns out it would be something called orbital decay.

The ISS orbits around 260 miles (418 km) above, but dips closer to the planet due to a combination of the Earth’s gravitational pull and a low level of oxygen which slows the ship down.

However the ISS orbit is usually set back on course by periodic reboots from supply ships.

According to NASA’s 2024 Space Station Transition Plan, the agency predicts the ISS would last for roughly ‘roughly one-to-two years’ without reboots before it burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere, therefore making the YouTuber’s prediction about right.

But this still doesn’t answer the biggest question of our hypothetical scenario — would the astronauts even want to survive this long while knowing what awaited them?

It has now been more than three years since Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in an invasion, and there have been thousands of deaths along with millions of people displaced by the war.

US and Ukrainian officials met recently to discuss the potential for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to.

However, any deal would also need to be agreed to by Russia, and US President Donald Trump said that Russian dictator Putin would face a ‘very bad punishment’ if he didn’t agree.

Putin today (13 March) said he ‘absolutely supports’ the idea of a ceasefire but laid down a number of conditions to pause his invasion of Ukraine, conditions which are not part of the ceasefire deal on the table.

Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov appeared to pour cold water on the idea of agreeing the ceasefire deal on the table, and now Zelenskyy has released a statement calling out Putin.

He wrote: “Right now, we have all heard from Russia Putin’s highly predictable and manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire on the front lines—at this moment he is, in fact, preparing to reject it.

“Of course, Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war and keep killing Ukrainians. That’s why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the ceasefire idea with such preconditions that it either fails or gets dragged out for as long as possible.

“Putin does this often—he doesn’t say ‘no’ outright, but he drags things out and makes reasonable solutions impossible. We see this as yet another round of Russian manipulation.

“There was a U.S. proposal for an unconditional ceasefire—in the air, at sea, and on the front lines. We in Ukraine accepted this proposal. We have heard from the American side that there is readiness to organize monitoring and verification. And this is absolutely feasible—with American and European capabilities.

“And during the ceasefire, to prepare answers to all questions about long-term security and a real, lasting peace, and to put a plan to end the war on the table. Ukraine is ready to work as quickly and constructively as possible. We have discussed this with U.S. representatives, and our European partners, as well as all our allies worldwide, are aware of it.

“We are not setting conditions that complicate the process—Russia is. As we have always said, the only one stalling, the only one being unconstructive, is Russia. They need this war. Putin has stolen years of peace and continues this war day after day.

“Now is the time to increase pressure on him. Sanctions must be applied—ones that will work. We will continue working with our American and European partners and with everyone in the world who wants peace—to force Russia to end this war.”

The Prime Minister made the announcement this morning (13 March) in Hull, saying the move would bring the NHS in England ‘back into democratic control’.

What it means in practice is that about half of the jobs at the organisation that employs around 13,000 people are expected to go and the responsibility for running the NHS in England returns to the Health Secretary.

Starmer said NHS England was ‘overstretched, unfocused, trying to do too much, doing it badly’, and said the money saved from cutting out a layer of bureaucracy would go to ‘nurses, doctors, operations, and GP appointments’.

Speaking to LADbible, Professor Philip Banfield, council chair of the British Medical Association, spoke about how Starmer’s announcement was both a ‘surprise’ and ‘not a surprise at all’.

“On the one hand, it’s a surprise because the trade unions didn’t seem to be consulted before announcing that so many jobs would be at risk,” he said.

“But on the other hand, it’s not a surprise at all, because NHS England has become detached from the front line of hospital care.

“We have have found ourselves in a situation where the organisation running the NHS in England isn’t listening to doctors, and that’s not a good place to be.”

Professor Banfield said the move ‘removes a layer of complexity’ from the way the NHS operates in England and the responsibility for running it will be entirely down to the Health Secretary, as it is in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

He explained that whether abolishing NHS England makes patient care better in the NHS ‘depends on whether the decision making is made better for the doctors and patients on the front line of of services’ and if it can ‘materially increase the number of doctors’.

Professor Banfield paid tribute to the senior doctors in NHS England ‘who were magnificent at working with the BMA during the doctors strikes last year because they had that clinical understanding’, but also told LADbible of some things which the government could do to help the NHS now the buck stops with them once more.

“One of the contradictions that NHS England threw up was not having enough doctors,” he said, explaining that the health service in England was ‘roughly 2,000 anaesthetists short’.

“Yet they were only trying to train 400 doctors at a time when there were more than 2,000 doctors in training who wanted to apply for those posts.

“So there was no joining up. And what this change gives the opportunity to join up healthcare.”

Another situation this change could potentially tackle if there’s more money going to frontline healthcare services is the number of GPs available to people.

Starmer’s government has promised to improve access to GPs and end the ‘8am scramble’, and Professor Banfield suggested possible ways to improve the NHS along those lines.

He said: “We’ve got this really perverse situation where patients are desperate to see a GP, but there are GPs who are unemployed because the expenses and costs of employing them in general practice have not kept up with with the real rise that’s needed to keep them in work.

“We’re seeing over 1,000 GPs unemployed at the point at which there is a desperate need for them.

“Now, that could be corrected immediately, and that’s a really good use of money, because General Practice is probably the most efficient part of the health service.”

The BMA council chair said that there were also ‘five resident doctors applying for every training place’ which was causing problems

“And of course, when you can’t get that training place, you look to go abroad,” he said.

“So we’re driving doctors out of the out of the system.”

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, told LADbible: “Throughout any reorganisation, the priority must always remain patients and making sure that healthcare professionals are properly supported and resourced to deliver the care they deserve.

“What’s vital moving forward is that every step of the planned integration of NHS England and DHSC is carefully thought through and does not become a diversion.

“General practice delivers the vast majority of patient contacts in the NHS but has faced decades of neglect and underfunding.

“Our hardworking GPs are being pushed to breaking point every day by workforce and workload pressures, and our patients are still reporting struggling to access our care.

“We need change, and we will work with the Government to make sure any reforms deliver the care our patients need and that dedicated GP teams are appropriately supported to do their jobs.”

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he wants the process of rolling up NHS England to be completed within two years, so we’ll have to see how they do.

Nick Beardshaw is now the chef patron of the Starling in Surrey, having previously worked with the three Michelin star holder for 14 years.

The highly-rated Esher eatery only opened in 2024 and it already has a Michelin star.

In an interview with Sky News, Beardshaw suggested that restaurant-goers need to keep in mind the VAT when ordering.

“I wish people realised VAT is included in the menu price,” he said.

“When you pay £12 for a starter, the restaurant only receives £10 of it, which makes us seem more expensive than we actually are.

“In other countries, and indeed other UK industries, it is added afterwards at the point of receiving the bill, which makes it much more obvious to the customer what the restaurant is receiving.”

The biggest problem with today’s chefs, he claims, is the need to ‘overcomplicate things’.

“The best cooking happens when ingredients are beautifully sourced and cooked simply to allow the natural characteristics to shine,” Beardshaw explained.

“My one piece of advice for an aspiring chef is to be thick-skinned. There is a lot of criticism if you work at a high level, and you need to be able to use it to improve. You also need to be able to be self-critical to continue to improve.”

On why he decided to leave Kerridge’s posh fish and chips behind, Beardshaw said to Restaurant Online: “I was with Tom a long time but there was always this trajectory that I was on.

“I started at The Hand & Flowers with Tom having just won Great British Menu in 2010, and in 2011 we won the second star, which was mental.

“After that the restaurant was super busy, and then in 2013 I went over to The Coach, which opened in 2014.

“It was as early as 2016 that he approached me about London, and we had a few bumps on the way.

“We nearly went into Brown’s Hotel and were all employed by Jumeirah at one point but that fell through.

“We got to Corinthia London in 2018 and then we had a pandemic to get through.

“Then I started doing Great British Menu in 2021 and 2023 so there was always something keeping me in the group.

“But I’d got to the point where now I’ve got a profile of my own.

“The time is perfect to do it, so here I am.”

Letby, 35, received 15 whole-life orders after being found guilty of killing seven infants at Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. The former nurse, originally from Hereford, was also found guilty of attempted murder on a further seven babies, including two attempts to kill one infant.

The update comes after police at Cheshire Constabulary previously confirmed that an investigation into corporate manslaughter against the hospital was being carried out, with the charges now being widened to potential gross negligence manslaughter.

“In October 2023 following the lengthy trial and subsequent conviction of Lucy Letby, Cheshire Constabulary launched an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the Countess of Chester Hospital,” Cheshire Constabulary said in a statement.

The spokesperson went on to add that the investigation would focus on ‘senior leadership and their decision-making’ in order to understand whether or not ‘any criminality has taken place concerning the response to the increased levels of fatalities’.

“As our enquiries have continued, the scope of the investigation has now widened to also include gross negligence manslaughter,” the statement continued.

An undisclosed number of suspects have been identified and notified in connection to the probe into baby deaths between 2012 and 2016.

The force also noted the current investigation will not have any impact on Letby’s convictions. “This is a separate offence to corporate manslaughter and focuses on the grossly negligent action or inaction of individuals,” the statement continued.

“It is important to note that this does not impact on the convictions of Lucy Letby for multiple offences of murder and attempted murder.

“Those identified as suspects have been notified,” the statement continued.

“We will not be confirming the number of people involved or their identity as no arrests or charges have yet been made.

“Both the corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter elements of the investigation are continuing and there are no set timescales for these.

“Our investigation into the deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital between the period of 2012 to 2016 is also ongoing.

“Our priority is to maintain the integrity of our ongoing investigations and to support the many families who are at the heart of these.”

Letby was recently interviewed by police officers over further investigations into alleged baby deaths at a separate hospital at the end of last year. Her legal team are also seeking to challenge against the rulings made against Letby in 2023 and 2024, following claims made by a panel of international health experts.

The US president has previously made it clear that he would like to take control of Greenland, which is currently an autonomous territory of Denmark.

Trump has previously said he was working to make Greenland part of the US and declared that ‘one way or the other, we’re going to get it’, a message that didn’t go down well with Greenlanders.

They’ve made it clear they have no interest in annexation, and Greenland’s incoming prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen made it clear after his party’s surprise general election victory that they ‘don’t want to be Americans’.

He said: “We don’t want to be Americans. No, we don’t want to be Danes.

“We want to be Greenlanders, and we want our own independence in the future. And we want to build our own country by ourselves.”

Greenland’s current prime minister Múte Bourup Egede said that they ‘do not wish to be Americans’ in a response to Trump’s previous comments about how the US would take over ‘one way or the other’.

While there is an independence movement within Greenland, there is not a rush to embrace the US as new overlords, but despite this Trump has once again spoken of his desire to own it.

During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump told reporters that the US needed Greenland for ‘international security’.

Trump was asked by reporters whether the US would annex Greenland and gave his opinion.

He said: “Well I think it will happen, I’m just thinking, I didn’t give it much thought – but I’m sitting with a man who could be very instrumental.

“You know Mark, we need it for international security, not just security, but international.”

Trump then said other countries were ‘cruising around the coasts’ which meant the US had to be ‘careful’.

The man he was sitting with didn’t seem interested in backing him up over plans for the US to annex Greenland.

Rutte said: “When it comes to Greenland, I don’t want to drag NATO into that.

“But when it comes to the Arctic you’re totally right. The Chinese are now using these routes, we know the Russians are re-arming, we know we have a lack of ice-breakers.

“Certain Arctic countries working together on this under US leadership is very important – we know things are changing, but we have to be there.”

The show has been a massive success so far, debuting to a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and rave reviews across the board.

One 5/5 review by Lucy Mangan of The Guardian called the show as close to TV perfection as has been achieved in ‘years’, and fans so far have been raving.

The Netflix show is called Adolescence and sees Graham team up once again with Boiling Point director Philip Barantini.

Graham stars in the show alongside Ashley Walters, Faye Murray, Erin Doherty, and newcomer Owen Cooper – who is acting for the first time in the show.

Viewers watching the show have been taken aback however by one totally unique detail about the series.

One fan tweeted: “Is each episode one continuous shot?”

The answer is yes.

The series, similarly to how Graham and Barantini did in Boiling Point, is shot in one continuous take.

Another fan on reddit said of the show: “It’s crazy that every episode is a one-shot. That must be absolutely nerve-wracking for everyone involved.”

One fan posted the trailer on Twitter with the caption: “This looks absolutely UNREAL. They filmed this full episode and all 4, in ONE straight realtime shot? It has to be a first and historical?”

One 10/10 IMDb review said: “There’s no doubt that the idea of having one shot throughout an entire episode could be used as a gimmick to get views, but it’s actually a really effective tool.

“It’s so intense and an absolutely heartbreaking show at times.”

Stephen Graham spoke about the process of filming the episodes in one single shot at the Next on Netflix event, saying: “It’s almost like a play. Without sounding pretentious, it’s the marriage of both mediums.

“It technically is a play, and it’s the most zen I’ve ever been, because it’s naturalism and we are playing to the camera.

“We spent a whole week rehearsing as actors with Phil, and we went through every beat, through every moment, piece by piece.

“You immerse yourself into that character from as soon as we say ‘action’, to as soon as we say ‘cut’.”

Graham went on to describe how they spent would spend days at a time choreographing how they would move within the space.

The director revealed that they had intended to do just 10 attempts per episode, though it ended up being like 15-16 tries for every episode.

When asked about filming in this way in his first time acting Owen Cooper said: “Yeah, I didn’t know any better really!

“When Phil told me about the one-shot thing, I thought he was just talking about like one episode, or one quarter of an episode.

“But then he said all four episodes are being shot in one take. And I immediately thought I’d never, ever be able to do this. But everyone helped me through it.”