PRINCE Harry made a shock solo appearance in China on the same day King Charles touched down in Canada for a state visit.
The Duke of Sussex attended a global travel and tourism conference in Shanghai where he discussed the importance of sustainable travel.
8
Prince Harry gave a speech at Trip.com Group’s Envision 2025 Global Partner Conference in ShanghaiCredit: Trip.com Group Envision 2025/Tra
8
Harry is co-founder of Travalyst, who strive to promote sustainable travel
8
King Charles III and Queen Camilla arriving at MacDonald-Cartier International Airport in Ottawa, Canada on MondayCredit: AFP
8
The King is greeted by an honour guard upon landingCredit: AFP
The Prince made the appearance on Monday as part of his role as co-founder of Travalyst, an organisation promoting environmentally friendly travel.
During his address to the Envision 2025 Global Partner Conference today, Harry told the travel industry it needed to do more to hit its climate change targets before 2030.
To limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by the end of the decade.
He added that the Asia-Pacific region is “strongly positioned to do this”.
Speaking at the conference, he said: “Climate change isn’t just an environmental challenge – it’s a critical business emergency, costing the global economy $143 billion dollars annually.
“Now is the moment for the industry to reaffirm its commitment to being a force for good.
“Challenges will undoubtedly rise, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s that meaningful change never comes easily.
“The true measure of our commitment is how we respond when the path becomes difficult.
“We must never give up.”
Harry’s trip to China, which was kept under wraps until his surprise appearance in Shanghai, is the first time the Duke has visited the country.
King Charles lands in Canada for landmark state visit
His brother, Prince William, made a similar diplomatic trip to China in 2015 — the first official royal visit in three decades.
The Duke’s Shanghai schedule also included hosting Travalyst’s first-ever two-day Executive Summit, gathering industry leaders and policymakers from across the region to hammer out practical solutions for greener tourism.
It marks the beginning of a global series aimed at turning pledges into action.
As Harry took to the stage in Shanghai, King Charles touched down in Canada also on Monday with Queen Camilla to attend The State Opening of the Parliament in Ottawa.
It marks the first time the monarch has done so since Queen Elizabeth in 1977.
In March, the King held a meeting with then-Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, after the Commonwealth leader faced pressure from the US.
Charles and Camilla were welcomed in Ottawa with cries of “welcome home” as they stepped off their RAF flight from the UK.
Their whirlwind two-day trip to Canada has been hailed as “momentous” — seen as a bold show of solidarity with the country as it locks horns with Donald Trump over sovereignty.
8
In Shanghai, the Duke of Sussex said that the Asia-Pacific region is ‘strongly positioned’ to help promote sustainable travel
8
Harry’s solo trip to China marks his first time in the country
The King and Queen were met at Ottawa’s airport by new Prime Minister Mark Carney, who swept to power following outrage over Trump calling Canada “America’s 51st state.”
Carney called the royal visit “a reminder of the bond between Canada and the Crown… shaped by shared histories, and grounded in common values.”
Charles, on his 20th visit to Canada, took time to meet crowds under the hot midday sun, hearing thanks and cheers from the public.
The King, who is head of state for Canada, is also expected to meet with Indigenous leaders and veterans during the trip, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen ties and support reconciliation efforts.
8
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney greets people after King Charles and Queen Camilla landed in OttawaCredit: AFP
8
Well wishers wave flags before the arrival of the British monarchsCredit: AFP
The actress best known for playing Sister Frances will lead the cast of the major BBC series airing next year
17:00, 22 May 2025Updated 17:08, 22 May 2025
Ella has played a nun three times but this is her first time as an Austen heroine(Image: BBC / Nealstreat Productions / Sophie Mutevelian)
Call the Midwife favourite Ella Broccoleri has landed the lead role in BBC1’s upcoming Jane Austen drama The Other Bennett Sister. Ella, 35, played kindly nun Sister Frances in the hit series for four years from 2019, when she was written out suddenly after deciding to leave to pursue other roles.
In the plot she was knocked off her bike in the snow during a birth emergency in the 2022 Christmas special, suffering a shoulder injury. Fans were gutted when she was then sent to the Mother House to recuperate, and never returned to Poplar. One declared at the time: “If Sister Frances leaves I swear to God I’ll sue someone at Call the Midwife.”
As well as Sister Frances, Ella has also played the role of a young nun in historical drama, The Last Kingdom. And the actress also donned a habit for a third time as she appeared alongside Olivia Colman in Paddington in Peru.
Call the Midwife fans were bereft when Sister Frances departed suddenly in 2022 with a shoulder injury(Image: BBC / Neal Street Productions)
Now the actress has been cast as Mary Bennet, sister of Pride and Prejudice’s lead character Elizabeth and she is also starring in upcoming ITV royal drama The Lady.
The Other Bennet Siste r is a fresh spin around the ballroom for one of Jane Austen’s most unassuming characters: Mary Bennet – the seemingly unremarkable and overlooked middle sister in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice .
Awkward, anxious, preachy, full of fact and a terrible singer, Mary is overlooked by her mother and seems destined to have an empty dance card for the rest of her life – until she takes matters into her own hands.
She appeared alongside Olivia Colman in Paddington in Peru(Image: Youtube/Sony Pictures Entertainment)
The Other Bennet Sister, a 10-parter to air next year from production company Bad Wolf, gives Mary Bennet the epic love story nobody predicted for her. It takes her from her family home in Meryton to the soirees of Regency London and the peaks and vales of the Lake District – all in search of independence, romance and, most elusive of all, self-love and acceptance.
Writer Sarah Quintrell says: “I’m thrilled to be telling the story of Mary – the other Bennet sister – exploring what it is to come of age when you’re the odd one out. It’s a joy to be adapting Janice Hadlow’s brilliant take on such a beloved classic and to have found our home at the BBC.”
Saying she herself had been an “awkward, anxious” teen, she added: “I grew up watching the BBC’s wonderful Austen adaptations. It’s the stuff every writer dreams of and I can’t wait to bring this beautiful story to screen – not least, for all the Marys out there.”
Ella will play the role of Mary Bennet, the gawky sister from Pride & Prejudice who is given her own happy ending
BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt said: “The BBC’s Pride and Prejudice will forever be a classic moment in television history, and it’s incredibly exciting to return to Jane Austen’s irresistible world and go even further than before – this time in the footsteps of The Other Bennet Sister , Mary. We fell in love with Sarah’s adaptation because it’s a true underdog story packed full of heart, wit and charm, and a chance to explore Austen in a playful, original and heartfelt way.”
Last year Ella appeared in ITV’s Passenger and in the films Polite Society and Joy. She is currently filming The Lady, based on the story of Jane Andrews, a former royal dresser who worked for the Duchess of York who was later convicted of murder.
Netflix viewers are divided after binging the gripping new series that was given a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score
Kelly Smith Screen Time Reporter
13:01, 20 May 2025
Fans have two things to say about Netflix series with 100% Rotten Tomatoes score(Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A new Netflix docuseries, that currently holds a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, has been rocketing up the streaming platform ladder – and fans have two things to say about it.
The binge worthy series American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden has proved to be popular with viewers, especially those who had already watched its sister series American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing.
It delves into the counterterrorism efforts in the US following the 9/11 attacks, including the manhunt and capture of Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the terrorist attack.
The three-part series has been built using real life footage from the archives while talking to government officials who were in charge of decision making at that time.
By using real-life footage, directors Daniel Sivan and Mor Loushy were hoping to create an immersive series, taking viewers on a journey as they witness officials learning an attack on America iss about to happen as they attempt to find the perpetrator.
The way in which intelligence is uncovered throughout the series leads viewers to make up their own minds as to what they would do if they ever faced in the situation.
American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden is now avialble to stream on Netflix (Image: Netflix)
Speaking to Netflix Tudum, the directors commented: “For us, the best way to understand history is to truly experience it. Being thrown into the driver’s seat after the worst attack in American history would rattle anyone, even these brave men and women who had devoted their lives to protecting Americans by assessing geopolitical threats and sounding alarms that were often ignored.”
They added: “But the intelligence analysts didn’t have time to grieve or reflect. They had a mission at hand: to figure out who did this and stop them before the next attack.
Netflix fans raise one important issue
“American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden does not tell the story of the United States and the War on Terror,” stated Daniel and Mor. It tells the story of the people tasked to find the world’s most wanted terrorist and bring him to justice. It [was] a hunt that changed their lives, America, and the world as we know it.”
Most Netflix viewers have been full of praise offering up rave reviews about the miniseries on X while others have raised one important issue.
American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden is climbing up the streaming site rankings
One online user commented: “American Manhunt Osama Bin Laden was a riveting documentary series. Just 3 episodes, most of which I’ve seen bits and pieces over several documentaries/movies. But it was put together so well, especially the 3rd episode was nail biting cinema! Hard hitting! Must watch!”
A second fan agreed: “That Osama Bin Laden American Manhunt installment is soooo good. 10s to whoever produced & directed it.”
However, some viewers did note that they felt the documentary had felt one-sided, describing it as jingoistic at times. One comment read: “Watching the American manhunt for Osama bin Laden on Netflix rn, and it feels like the main point of the show is to make people sympathise with the CIA and the intelligence officers for their years-long intelligence failure. It’s an overkill at this point.”
Another shared the same sentiment, commenting: “Netflix has released American Manhunt Osama Bin Laden which seems to feature the “heroic” CIA Officers who worked in Alec Station?
“FBI & Congress blamed those clowns for actively concealing the presence of known Al Qaeda terrorists in USA before the 9/11 attacks. Not heroes. Idiots.”
American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden is available to stream on Netflix.
“Selena y Los Dinos,” the latest documentary film about the life of Tejano music icon Selena Quintanilla, has been acquired by Netflix. The film is currently scheduled to begin streaming in winter 2025.
The movie, directed by Isabel Castro, features original VHS footage taken by Selena’s older sister, Suzette, and is interspersed with present-day interviews with family and friends.
Netflix announced its acquisition in a Tuesday press release.
“Through personal archive and intimate interviews with her family, the film reveals new dimensions of her journey that have never been seen before,” Castro shared in the release. “I am deeply grateful to her family for their trust and support throughout this journey, and I can’t wait for a global audience to experience the magic, heart and community that Selena gave to all of us.”
Suzette also shared her enthusiasm about the scope of the partnership with Netflix in the Tuesday announcement, stating, “Grateful to have a platform that helps bring Selena’s story to fans around the world.”
This is not the first time that the Quintanilla family has collaborated with the streaming giant. They worked with Netflix to help create “Selena: The Series” — a scripted retelling of Selena’s childhood, rise to fame and death starring Christian Serratos as the Texas singer.
It was after working as an executive producer on the Netflix series that Suzette consulted her lawyer about making her own documentary.
“There’s some things that you just want to hold on to and not share with everyone,” Suzette said at the documentary’s 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere. “I was always taking the pictures, always with the camera. And look how crazy it is, that I’m sharing it with all of you so many years later.”
The documentary surfaces footage from performances in which Selena subverts the idea of the well-manicured image that the Quintanilla family has constantly put out of the singer in the 30 years since her death. It also captures, in real time, the evolution of a bold new identity growing among Latino youth in the 1980s, encapsulated in Los Dinos’ cultural hybridity.
The film was awarded with a special jury prize for archival storytelling at the renowned movie gathering at Sundance. The jury made note of how the feature “transported us to a specific time and place, evoking themes of family, heritage, love and adolescence.”
So badly were people clamoring to view the movie that the organizers of Sundance pulled it from its online platform. The film had fallen victim to a number of copyright infringements as eager fans were uploading clips from it to social media platforms. This was the first time that Sundance had removed a feature during the festival.
De Los assistant editor Suzy Exposito and Times staff writer Mark Olsen contributed to this report.
There’s an oft-repeated Disneyland creation myth: Artist and animation art director Herb Ryman was given 48 hours to draw an early, heavily detailed and romanticized map of the theme park, which would be used to help sell the project to investors. Although that’s all true, Ryman’s work — one of the most famous and important Disneyland drawings — was far from the first map of Disneyland, as it is often colloquially referred to.
Ryman’s work was in fact an iteration of sorts, based upon years of master planning from Walt Disney and early collaborator Marvin Davis, a cinematic art director responsible for much of Disneyland’s early designs. Some never-before-seen work of Davis and other Disneyland designers will be unearthed in the new book “The Happiest Place On Earth,” from animation producer Don Hahn and theme park designer Christopher Merritt. Both Hahn and Merritt have over the years morphed into theme-park historians, and the book is being released July 15 to coincide with Disneyland’s 70th anniversary.
“Marvin Davis claimed that, as he sat there, probably in a room by himself at the studio with Walt standing over him poking him in the shoulder, he did 133 revisions of these maps to get to the Disneyland layout by 1955,” Merritt says. “A few of these maps have been shown before but a lot of these have not been seen before.”
The archives at Walt Disney Imagineering, the secretive division of the company responsible for theme-park experiences. Found in the archives were multiple maps from Marvin Davis that explore Disneyland’s roots.
(Walt Disney Co.)
The book will trace the development of Disneyland, starting in the early ’50s when Disney flirted with the idea of placing the park next to the studio in Burbank — concepts drawn by Harper Goff — to many of Davis’ gradual advancements of the theme-park form. Study them, and they reveal how many of Disneyland’s core ideas were in place by the early 1950s, although they morphed. Alice in Wonderland, for instance, was once envisioned as a walk-through attraction, to be placed across the way from an archery in Fantasyland.
Hahn makes the case that many of the early seeds for Disneyland were planted during a 1948 trip that Disney and animator Ward Kimball took to Chicago. There, the two attended the Chicago Railroad Fair, which had, among its attractions, Abraham Lincoln reenactments and a re-creation of a frontier town.
“His first memo he did when he got home from the Chicago Railroad Fair was all about trying to create these certain regions,” Hahn says. “If you look at the early Burbank parks, there was a western village, there was a stagecoach, there was a railroad station, there was a Tom Sawyer-ish island. A lot of those things came from the Railroad Fair.”
And there was a lot of early experimentation and many a discarded idea. One of Merritt’s favorite rejected concepts was a Tomorrowland exhibition dedicated to hunting for uranium. The attraction has been referenced by Disney and others over the years as a “lost” attraction, but “The Happiest Place on Earth” will feature some never-before-seen concept art from Imagineer Claude Coats.
“Uranium Hunt was an attraction strangely enough to be placed in Tomorrowland, although Claude designed it with Southwestern rock work,” Merritt says. “It was kind of outside rock maze, and the idea was they would hand you Geiger counters, and there was going to be real radioactive uranium embedded in the rock work that you would measure. In the end, they would give you a souvenir uranium to take home with you, which is just crazy-pants.”
Not all of the early Disneyland ideas are as outlandish. What follows are a few of the maps — and some early designs — that led to what would become Disneyland as we know it today.
Early sketches reveal an opera house, general store and more
A Harper Goff-drawn concept for a Disney theme park in Burbank. This is believed to have been drawn in 1951.
(Walt Disney Co.)
An early 1950s sketch layout of Disneyland, focusing on merchandising outlets.
(Walt Disney Co.)
Disney first considered a theme park across from its studios in Burbank, land that is today occupied by Walt Disney Animation Studios and the West Coast headquarters of ABC. The idea, in its early conceptions, included much of what would later make its way to Disneyland — a train, a steamboat and less detailed versions of Main Street and a Frontierland.
Of particular note here is the second photo, unearthed in “The Happiest Place on Earth” for the first time. The focus is on merchandising locations, but those who study the image will spy an opera house and a general store, believed to be the first time such concepts appear. There’s also a spaceport, a haunted house and a re-creation of London’s Tower Bridge. Shops are said to be themed to properties such as “Cinderella” and “Pinocchio.”
“It shows the holistic thinking, too, of not just the attractions but commerce,” Hahn says. “Where the stores would be, where the cafes would be, and kind of a guest-experience mentality. That was a real theme-park innovation, where you’re transported in time to Frontierland but the food and the costumes add up to Frontierland as well. You see the beginnings of that in a map like this.”
The beginnings of Frontierland and the Storybook Land Canal Boats
An early Disneyland map drawn by Marvin Davis. This map was likely drawn around 1953.
(Walt Disney Co.)
These early Disneyland schematics from Davis begin to capture Disneyland’s “hub” idea, that is, a central area that leads to and from its themed spaces. There’s a large theater space, believed to be designed in the hopes of Disneyland becoming a television production locale, and a significant plot dedicated to a river with surrounding attractions — the map calls for a space for otters, as well as a swamp area.
The Frontierland concept is still present, complete with a pony ranch and a stagecoach, as is a haunted house and a land themed to miniatures, a concept that would ultimately become the Storybook Land Canal Boats. Merritt notes that this design is location-agnostic, as Anaheim had not yet been decided upon for Disneyland.
Of particular note here is an introductory land like a Main Street, U.S.A., leading to a central hub. “These maps are revelatory when you look at them all in sequence,” Merritt says.
Davis’ early maps also highlight a residential street with large Victorian homes. The second image, in particular, mentions a town hall and a church. Hahn and Merritt believe this land was heavily influenced by the look and tone of “Lady and the Tramp.”
Main Street starts to materialize
An early Harper Goff design that influenced the look of Frontierland.
(Walt Disney Co.)
Some early Harper Goff designs for what would become Disneyland.
(Walt Disney Co.)
Early Disneyland concept art from Harper Goff
(Walt Disney Co.)
These, says Merritt, are a selection 1951 drawings from Harper Goff. The work is exploratory, in that it could have been envisioned for multiple parts of the park. While Goff’s impact on Frontierland is well documented — and Hahn notes, perhaps, an influence from Knott’s Berry Farm’s Ghost Town in these images — it’s also believed some of these designs were kicked around as a potential Main Street, U.S.A., concept.
Main Street, says Hahn, is often noted as being largely influenced by Disney’s time as a child in Marceline, Mo. While that isn’t really doubted these days among Disney’s fan base, Hahn says that theory wasn’t arrived upon immediately. He notes that some of Goff’s early concept work has a slight Victorian bent, which Goff drew from both “Lady and the Tramp” and his own childhood.
“It’s really the childhood of nobody,” Hahn says of Main Street. “It’s an idealized America. Goff grew up in Colorado, and a lot of these are his Victorian memories of his Colorado hometown. These are set designers who were bringing their movie chops to Disneyland.”
Welcome to the park’s destination: Anaheim
A pivotal early Disneyland map drawn by Marvin Davis.
(Walt Disney Co. )
Merritt and Hahn believe this third early schematic of Disneyland from Davis — the drawing is undated — is perhaps the first to envision Anaheim as the park’s destination. The image needs only to be rotated and one can see many of the pieces that would comprise the park — a Main Street, a central hub and, for the first time since Goff’s drawings of the Burbank park, a train that encircles the grounds.
Zoom in, and one will see there’s a large “emporium” to greet guests — and shoppers — on Main Street, U.S.A., as well as a castle-like moat to mark the entrance to Fantasyland. Still present are TV production spaces at the front of the park, and the map lists a host of attractions, including a horse-drawn carriage, train rides and boat rides.
Maps begin to show the Disneyland attractions we know today
A fall 1953 map of Disneyland from Marvin Davis.
(Walt Disney Co.)
A September 1953 map of Disneyland from Marvin Davis.
(Walt Disney Co.)
A September 1953 map of Disneyland from Marvin Davis.
(Walt Disney Co.)
These three Davis maps are from September 1953, made just days apart. The bottom drawing is a bit more simplified, as it was designed to be shown to TV networks and financiers. One can see a ride inspired by Disney’s “True-Life Adventures” on the right side of the park. This would ultimately become the Jungle Cruise and be flipped to the left side of the park.
All three maps, however, were instrumental in the final design of Disneyland, envisioning Anaheim as the ultimate destination. Of note in the middle image is a Recreation Land, home to a ball field, a mini-golf course and a bandstand. At this time, Disneyland was still envisioned as housing a circus, a concept that was explored in the actual park after opening but soon discarded. Yet Fantasyland, a Land of Tomorrow, Frontierland and what would become Adventureland are all present.
Fantasyland is home in these drawings to attractions themed to “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Peter Pan,” “Alice in Wonderland,” Pinocchio” (denoted as Pleasure Island) and “Fantasia.” Also present is what would become Autopia, signifying that Disneyland in late 1953 had many of its early attractions solidified. Still, many, such as a Mother Goose area, would pop-up and then disappear from the maps.
Says Merritt, “You’re going to want to get your magnifying glass to look at some of this stuff.”
