Pleads guilty to killing son

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Zambian authorities have rearrested eight Croatians Tuesday, preventing them from leaving the country after a court dropped child trafficking charges against them a day earlier. “I can confirm that they have been rearrested on the instructions of NPA (the National Prosecutions Authority). I am not sure of the charges though,” immigration spokesman Namati Nshinka told The Associated Press. Zambian officials prevented the eight Croatians — four couples — from boarding a flight to leave the southern African country. On Monday a court dismissed child trafficking charges against them following applications by their lawyers. They had earlier pleaded not guilty. The charges alleged that on December 7, last year, the four couples acted together to traffic the children. The young children were from neighboring Congo and the couples said they adopted the … [Read more...] about Zambia rearrests 8 Croatians after charges dropped

Lest anyone worry that the Magic Mike series has nothing left to say, or nothing on its mind but glistening abs, the third and allegedly final installment begins with a voice over—British, proper, authoritative—waxing rhapsodic about the role dance has played across all of human history. Such pontification is not so surprising coming from Steven Soderbergh, who recently kicked off a different film with a narrated flashback to the invention of money. But it's still a concerningly academic way for this movie to start, and the first moment of several in Magic Mike's Last Dance that might bring to mind the immortal words of Barton Fink 's Ben Geisler. Channing Tatum . Male stripper movie. What did Soderbergh need, a road map? A decade ago, the director and his screenwriter, Reid Carolin, knew better than to overthink the story of a Florida exotic dancer balancing his daydreams of opening his own furniture store with his nightlife flashing flesh for cash. The original Magic … [Read more...] about ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ strips the fun out of the franchise

By Sally M. Hill / movie reviews The commercials make “Magic Mike” out be a fun, light-hearted night out with the girls, without the two-drink minimum or the need for a bunch of ones to stick in g-strings. Actually though, “Mike” tries to be more than that, darker and deeper, but alas, it’s as superficial as a spray on tan. Too bad. Director Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “The Informant!,” “Contagion”) has made some interesting movies. He was the reason I thought “Mike” could be more than just a bunch of guys shaking their booties. He and screenwriter Reid Carolin (his first feature film) have attempted to make a character study disguised as a comedic stripper film, but the characters aren’t interesting beyond their stripping. Even if one character pleads unconvincingly, “I’m not what I do.” Character studies only work when a person is interesting and you care about what happens to them. The filmmakers do acknowledge our hard economic times and the troubled … [Read more...] about ‘Magic Mike’ deeper, darker than ads let on