By Emily Wight Filmmaking is a crucial tool in the Human Rights Watch mission to investigate and expose rights violations around the world, and its annual film festival is an excellent way for the organisation to present the kind of issues it works so hard to push onto the agenda. Each year its programme showcases films from a range of countries, followed by talks and Q&A sessions with experts. This year’s festival, which closed in London on Friday, documented, among...

By Declan Roberts (declanmr) Mode, London, 27/03/15 3pm. London. Mode. Free. Definitely four things you wouldn’t associate with a Blur gig, but here we are. The band are previewing their sixth album ‘The Magic Whip’ to a lucky selection of fans in one of the capital’s smaller venues. ‘Lonesome Street’ opens the set, a combination of Coxon and Albarn vocals and a track that could have easily slotted into the ‘Parklike’ tracklist. It’s a start-stop affair with a pure Brit-pop vibe....

By Steve Taggart Star of The Hobbit, Sherlock and The Office, Martin Freeman explains that he believes this election is a choice between two completely different sets of values.  He says Labour are focused on community, compassion and fairness, while the Tories have cut taxes for millionaires and only work for people at the top. Watch on link (below) and see if you believe in what he says Photocredit "Martin Freeman during filming of Sherlock cropped" by Martin_Freeman_filming_Sherlock.jpg: Fat Les (bellaphon) from London, UKderivative...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  A new study has revealed that despite Brits becoming more adventurous travellers, most of us still look for a Britain abroad when booking a holiday where they can speak English, order fry-ups for breakfast and ignore local customs. The research found that thousands of Brits have booked a holiday despite having no idea where it was on a map, with a quarter confessing that they wouldn't be able to point out their chosen destination on a map when they...

By Jasmine Stephens, Family Editor Screwed. Katherine (not her real name) sat down in a meeting room on her first day in the office after having a baby and was astonished to see that her back to work interview was being conducted by the person who had been covering her maternity leave. 'She sat down opposite me and slid a piece of paper over the table. At the top she had written her name next to the word "manager" and...

By Jasmine Stephens, Family Editor The 30th March marks the start of the 7th annual National Young Writers' awards.  The competition encourages children between the ages of five and 14 to explore their imaginations and submit a 500 word story on this year's theme of 'Strange Events and Peculiar Happenings' to try and win a holiday to Disneyland Paris and £500 worth of books for their school. Entry is free and stories can be submitted online at www.explorelearning.co.uk/youngwriters To celebrate the...

By Jasmine Stephens, Family Editor The World Health Organisation regards childhood obesity as one of the biggest global public health challenges of this century. The latest figures from the National Child Measurement programme show that over 33% of 10-11 year olds and 22% of 4-5 year olds are either obese or overweight. Public Health England has reported that in 5-7 year olds, 76% of boys and 77% of girls do not meet the government’s own physical activity recommendations. Stark figures. Barely...

By Jasmine Stephens, Family Editor Do they have elephants there? Will the baboons trash our car? Is it going to be like ‘Jurassic Park’? Are we nearly there yet??!! The kids were asleep in the back of the car and my husband was sick of my questions before we got off the M62. I’d managed to reach the ripe old age of 35 without ever visiting a safari park, but my husband was quite the veteran, having gone once with...

“Spain is different” was a slogan composed by Spanish minister Manuel Fraga in the 1960s to persuade the first planeloads of tourists to visit the sun-kissed nation. Spain at the time was under the rule Franco, a former ally of Hitler and Mussolini who won power with their help in a bloody civil war and cemented his grip on it for the next four decades through brutal repression of political opponents. While Britain enjoyed the swinging sixties and French students...