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MoviesReviewIf Disney made Christian movies, they would look like this, with Mary in the mould of Beauty and the Beast’s Belle, Joseph giving Aladdin vibes and Banderas stealing every scene If you feel the need to watch a faith film, you could do far, far worse than this one, a decently staged musical treatment of the nativity that feels like a Christian version of a live action Disney movie. Mary (Fiona Palomo) is a heroine in the mould of Belle from Beauty and the Beast or Jasmine from Aladdin: bookish and dreaming of a world in which she gets to make her own life decisions, instead of being married off to some guy called Joseph (Milo Manheim) whom she’s never met.

The ObserverLife and styleMothers in chainsOn one side a group of mothers manacled after being secretly tested for using illegal drugs while pregnant. On the other the full weight of the South Carolina legal system. But who will win?Crystal Ferguson lives in a poor neighbourhood in north Charleston, South Carolina. Her home is a prefab, single-storey structure surrounded by a miniature, once-white picket fence, a parody of middle America. Inside the cramped house sausages are frying for her daughters Annika, nine, and four-year-old Hilary.

Evangelical ChristianityOne strand of evangelical theology holds that the return of Jews to the region starts the clock ticking on a seven-year armageddon, after which Jesus Christ will return It didn’t take long for many evangelical Christian groups in America to show their support for Israel. Hours after Hamas attacked the country on 7 October, killing more than 1,400 people, Christians United for Israel, an evangelical lobbying group which claims to have more than 10 million members, posted a message to on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Short storiesReviewPathos and comedy combine in an energetic collection of tales from one half of the Rubberbandits In his third short-story collection, Blindboy Boatclub – one half of Ireland’s self-styled “dole-queue dadaists”, the comedy hip-hop duo the Rubberbandits – blends the ordinary and the bizarre, the hilarious and the desperate. The tone is set in the first story, The Donkey: “There’s a donkey selling Christmas trees off the roundabout. Looking like a prick in the frost with a green elf’s hat on its head.

From culture to politics, the cost of living crisis, lifestyle, the environment and science – the next 12 months will bring new stars, trends and challenges. Our experts point the way Published: 12:00 PM ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKSZm7KiusOsq7KklWTApr7InqpoamBngG55x6KeoaSZnLW1v4yapZ1lmKTBtLzOrao%3D

Around the world in 300 dates: Metallica’s black album tour – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album, known to fans as ‘the black album’, helped turn the rock band into global stars. Photographer Ross Halfin accompanied them on an epic tour Main image: Photograph: Ross Halfin Thu 20 Jan 2022 02.00 EST Kirk Hammett at a soundcheck in Copenhagen – the first show of the tour‘I’m good at reading people,’ says Halfin.

ObituaryJack ScottRadical race and sports campaigner tainted by Patty Hearst linkThe death of the American radical, Jack Scott, at the age of 57, came as defence counsel were seeking his testimony in a trial that revives the notorious Patty Hearst case. To his irritation, the episode overshadowed Scott's life, and his true legacy lay in his accomplishments in the fields of race relations and sports health. He fought all his life against racism and drugs in sport, but it cost him dearly.

‘It is long overdue that we reclaim our bodies and our stories’ Photograph: Laura Dodsworth‘It is long overdue that we reclaim our bodies and our stories’ Photograph: Laura DodsworthSexFirst it was breasts, then penises – now photographer Laura Dodsworth has taken portraits of 100 vulvas. She tells Liv Little why. Below: eight women’s stories Warning: adult content Towards the end of last year, I published an essay about my vulva – in a book, and then in the Guardian.

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, laughs off the idea that he could be facing a right-wing insurgency from within his party, led by the former prime minister, Tony Abbott Published: 11:38 PM ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaK6ZmbKwi8%2Banp51YWmBdQ%3D%3D