treasure

After going global for its second volume, “Star Wars: Visions” Volume 3 brings the anthology series back to its roots with a new slate of shorts all created by Japanese anime studios.

Each season of the Disney+ series, which launched in 2021, has infused fresh creative energy into the galaxy far, far away by giving international animation houses the freedom to explore ideas about the Force, the factions of the Galactic War and brand new planets and cultures outside of the constraints of the long-running franchise’s canon.

And while Volume 3, which premiered last week, revisits some characters that were introduced in Volume 1, it also shows how anime is a medium with range. From the gritty installment that explores the complexity of the dark sides of the Force through a battle between former Sith and Jedi (“The Duel: Payback”) to a more heartwarming story about a pair of resourceful orphans who decide to become family (“Yuko’s Treasure”), there are different types of anime for everyone.

Anée-san in “The Duel: Payback,” one of the shorts in “Star Wars: Visions” Volume 3.

(Lucasfilm Ltd.)

With movies like “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” and “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” making waves at the box office, anime’s growing popularity is undeniable and its availability on major streamers has also made anime series and movies more accessible than ever. So for those whose curiosity about the medium has been piqued by “Star Wars: Visions,” here are some titles to check out based on the themes and stories of the nine shorts that comprise Volume 3.

Stunning fights (with some moral ambiguity)

Sagiri in an episode of “Hell’s Paradise.”

(©Yuji Kaku/Shueisha, Twin Engine, Mappa / Crunchyroll)

Let’s be honest: Lightsaber duels are awesome. So it’s no surprise that a number of shorts in “Star Wars: Visions” Volume 3 leaned into stories involving Jedi and/or the Sith, including “The Duel: Payback,” “The Lost Ones” and “The Bird of Paradise.”

For those who are looking for anime featuring stylish and stunning sword-fighting scenes, the ever popular “Demon Slayer” (Netflix, Disney+/Hulu, Crunchyroll), featuring a secret organization fighting to protect humans from demons, is an obvious choice. Another show featuring stylish combat between skilled warriors and supernatural monsters is “Hell’s Paradise” (Netflix, Disney+/Hulu, Crunchyroll). The series follows a ninja who is recruited by an executioner to join a party of death row inmates on a quest to find the elixir of life on a mythical island populated with mysterious deadly threats. The successful convict will be pardoned for all of their past crimes. The premise may remind some of the supervillain team-up “The Suicide Squad,” but the fighting scenes — and the island’s inhabitants — stand alone.

Master and apprentice dynamics

Frieren, left, and Fern from “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.”

(Crunchyroll)

Speaking of Jedi, “The Lost Ones” and “The Bird of Paradise” also touch on the relationship between a Jedi master and their padawan apprentice. If a story involving a lineage of student-teacher dynamics that’s about friendship, human connection, memory, mortality and legacy sounds intriguing, consider checking out “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End” (Netflix, Disney+/Hulu, Crunchyroll). The fantasy series follows an elven mage, her young human apprentice and others they pick up along their years-long journey to visit the spirits of old friends. The show is part travelogue, part adventure quest with monsters, magic battles and dungeon exploration.

Lovable scoundrels

Kazuki, left, Miri and Rei in an episode of “Buddy Daddies.”

(©KRM’s Home / Buddy Daddies Committee / Crunchyroll)

The world of “Star Wars” is full of scoundrels that fans can’t help but love for their swagger and independent moral code, and “Visions” installments “The Smuggler” and “The Bounty Hunters” add to that legacy.

Well-known classics like “Cowboy Bebop” (Crunchyroll) and “Lupin the Third” (Tubi, Crunchyroll) and the long-running “One Piece” (Netflix, Disney+/Hulu, Crunchyroll) are good starting points for those first dipping their toes into anime and are interested in the adventures of a ragtag group of bounty hunters, thieves and/or pirates. For those looking for something new, consider “Buddy Daddies” (Crunchyroll), which follows a pair of assassin roommates who form a makeshift family after taking in a 4-year-old they encounter while out on a job. Think of it like “The Mandalorian,” if Mando had a recluse gamer co-parent and Grogu was a picky eater.

Political space wars and mech suits

Suletta Mercury in an episode of “Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.”

(©Sotsu, Sunrise, MBS / Crunchyroll)

Some film and TV shows set in the galaxy far, far away are more political than others, but aspects of the conflict involving the Galactic Empire, Rebel forces and stray Jedi are touched on in a few of the shorts in “Visions” Volume 3 like “The Lost Ones,” “The Smuggler,” “Black” and “The Song of Four Wings,” with the latter featuring a young protagonist that dons a snazzy flying mech suit.

The mecha franchise “Gundam” is best known for its giant robots, but it’s a sprawling space opera that touches on political themes including the horrors of corruption, inequity and war. A recent standout is newcomer-friendly “Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury” (Crunchyroll). The show follows a shy new transfer student at a corporate military school where recruits train and settle disputes in giant mech suit combat. The series uses school drama and a budding teen romance as a backdrop to touch on themes such as class strife and prejudice, corporate greed and personal vengeance.

Emotionally resonant robots

Atom in an episode of “Pluto.”

(Netflix)

From the Skywalkers’ fussy protocol droid C-3PO to Hera Syndulla’s cranky astromech Chopper, lovable androids are a “Star Wars” signature. “Visions” Volume 3 installments “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope” and “Yuko’s Treasure” each introduce loyal droids that tug viewers’ heartstrings.

The title androids in “Astro Boy” (also known as Atom) and “Doraemon” are kid-friendly household names in Japan akin to Mickey Mouse and Snoopy, but a more mature option is “Pluto” (Netflix). The gritty, sci-fi murder mystery series is based on a reimagining of a story arc from the “Astro Boy” manga, and is set in a world where humans live alongside robots — though the dynamic is a bit different than in “Star Wars.” The story follows a robot detective who is investigating a string of robot and human killings, and, like many sci-fi stories about androids and artificial intelligence, touches on themes like what makes humans human.

A scene from “Yuko’s Treasure,” one of the shorts in “Star Wars: Visions” Volume 3.

(Lucasfilm Ltd.)

Rambunctious kids

Plenty of “Star Wars” media is made with younger audiences in mind, but not many are about the adventures of children in the galaxy far, far away. “Vision” Volume 3’s “Yuko’s Treasure” puts a couple of orphan kids in the forefront — along with an adorable bear-like droid.

There’s no shortage of anime series about the (mis)adventures of rambunctious kids and one of the more heartwarming involves a “fake” family. “Spy x Family” (Disney+/Hulu, Crunchyroll) follows a secret agent working to maintain the fragile peace between neighboring nations and the faux happy family he constructed for his latest undercover mission. Unbeknownst to him, his adopted daughter is secretly a telepath and his fake wife is an assassin. As one might expect, a telepathic first grader with a wild imagination who lives with a spy and an assassin can get caught up in plenty of shenanigans. Bonus: The family also adopts a cute massive dog.

Kotaro in an episode of “Kotaro Lives Alone.”

(Netflix)

On the opposite end of the spectrum is “Kotaro Lives Alone” (Netflix), a more grounded show with just as outlandish a premise. The series follows a 4-year-old who moves into a rundown apartment complex alone — for reasons that are eventually revealed as his neighbors get to know him. The boy is unusually self-reliant and mature but also childish and understandably vulnerable. As viewers might assume, there are not many happy circumstances that could possibly lead to a 4-year-old child living on his own, but there’s more warmth than tragedy.

Musical, visual spectacle

One of the standouts in “Star Wars: Visions” Volume 3 is “Black,” a jazz-fueled, mind-bending fever dream of a Stormtrooper during a battle. The bold, music-driven 13-minute short is a visual spectacle that challenges viewers and there’s not much else out there that compares. Though it has a more structured narrative, the anime film “Inu-Oh” (Netflix) is a psychedelic rock opera that might scratch the same itch. Set in 14th century Japan, the film follows two young artists who forge a friendship because they are both outcasts — the musician is blind, and the dancer was born with monstrous deformities — and their dazzling performances drive the story.

WHEN it comes to enjoying Halloween, the team at Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens don’t cut corners.

Spiders, cobwebs, witches’ hats, scarecrows, hay bales and thousands of pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and colours surrounded the stalls, rides and attractions.

But I could not help thinking that when it’s all over, someone’s got a mammoth clear-up job.

The Danish capital city’s famous amusement park, which is right in the centre, closes for two weeks while a team of more than 50 gardeners, designers, decorators, stagehands, crane operators, electricians and carpenters transform it into a spooky wonderland.

And as you would expect from the Danes, it’s all done very tastefully — and sustainably.

The 22,000 pumpkins are grown in Denmark, on the island of Samso, where the climate is spot on.

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The larger ones are entries for the annual Danish Giant Pumpkin Championship, hosted by the park.

Afterwards, the prize pumpkins are given to Copenhagen Zoo, where apparently the elephants are particularly fond of them.

This year is the 20th anniversary of Tivoli’s Halloween festivities and around half a million people are expected to walk through the gates before the season ends on November 2.

To avoid the queues, I would suggest going earlier in the day to do the most popular rides, but make sure you stay until dusk to get the full effects of the flickering jack-o’-lanterns.

Little ones will love the treasure hunt and pumpkin-carving workshops, while older kids will enjoy being scared — but not too much — in Villa Vendetta, where actors jump out from the shadows.

The Haunted House wasn’t quite frightening enough for my teenage son, but the gravity-defying loops of The Demon rollercoaster took his breath away.

‘Getting cosy’

A day at Tivoli was part of the compromise when we told him he’d be missing the usual trick-or-treating with mates to join his parents on an October city break.

Autumn is the perfect time to visit Copenhagen. It’s when the leaves turn, the nights draw in and the “hygge” levels rise.

If you haven’t heard of hygge (pronounced hoo-ga), it is the Danish concept of “getting cosy” — and we’d come to the capital to get a dose of it.

Flights generally cost less after the summer too, and once you are here, getting around is cheap and easy.

The Metro system only has four lines and there are also hop-on, hop-off buses and water buses (small ferries).

We purchased Copenhagen Cards, which give you free public transport plus entry to 87 attractions.

They even cover the metro or train from the airport, which only takes about 15 minutes to the city centre.

As well as getting free entrance into Tivoli (rides and attractions cost extra) we used our Copenhagen Card to take a sightseeing cruise up the river, past the famous Little Mermaid statue (it really is tiny), the royal palace, funky house boats and more.

Cardamom buns

Cruises start from Nyhavn, the city’s pretty harbour with brightly-coloured houses, where we warmed up afterwards with a cup of Glogg, a sweet mulled wine.

We took the water bus to Contemporary Copenhagen to enjoy the art installations and we joined the locals cycling around the three city lakes at Soerne.

The bikes were hired from our hotel, Charlottehaven, which also happens to be a short walk from one of the city’s best bakeries, Juno. The delicious cardamom buns were well worth queuing for.

Eating out in Copenhagen isn’t cheap but there’s a growing number of communal dining venues, a concept known as faellesspisning, which are really good value.

In just a few days we’d packed a lot in and had fallen in love with Copenhagen, a compact and friendly city where everything is within easy access, even a 20-acre theme park

We went to Kanalhuset (the Canal House) in Christianshavn and joined a table full of locals for a simple but very tasty meal for around £16 each.

There’s only one choice each night (you can check what’s on the menu on the website) but they will always do a vegetarian option on request.

Everyone turns up at 6.30pm for drinks in the bar and then joins one of the large tables in the restaurant for dinner at 7pm.

We made friends with a lovely Danish family celebrating their mum’s birthday. Pretty much all the locals here speak excellent English, so it was easy to chat.

In just a few days we’d packed a lot in and had fallen in love with Copenhagen, a compact and friendly city where everything is within easy access, even a 20-acre theme park.

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Once the Halloween festivities are over, Tivoli closes again for two weeks so that all the pumpkins can be replaced with fairy lights, an ice-skating rink and hundreds of Christmas trees.

Now we need to go back and experience Christmas hygge-style.

AN ANCIENT Roman ship downed by a storm has been found centuries later at a holiday hotspot – and there’s even treasure on board.

The 2,000-year-old discovery was made mere metres from a popular beachfront – and baffled researchers claim the ship is still in great condition.

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The archaeological sensation was unearthed along the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia this month, almost two millennia after it sunk.

Its timbers even “look like they were just carved”, according to the gobsmacked research team.

Divers suspected there might be a wreck at the Roman port of Barbir after discovering an antique plank with a metal nail in 2020.

Five years later, the entire 42-foot vessel has now been revealed, along with a haul of ancient coins.

One of them even included the ancient Roman emperor, Trajan.

The incredible shipwreck lies in the village of Sukošan just a few miles south of Zadar, one of Croatia’s biggest tourist destinations.

The International Centre for Underwater Archaeology, which led the excavation, said the ship was likely lost in a storm.

Director Mladen Pešić said: “As the evidence shows us, the ship was docked in the harbour.

“It was found just in front of the pier, so we suppose that due to the bad weather the ropes could be broken and the ship might have hit the shore.”

He added: “Broken stern elements give us evidence of this, since this beam that belongs to the keel was split like it hit a hard surface.

“The ship was probably in such bad condition that the owners decided to leave it on the bottom of the harbour.”

Radiocarbon analysis dates the ship to the first or second century AD – roughly the period of Trajan’s reign.

And though the ship was damaged enough to sink, it is in surprisingly good condition for its age.

Dr Pešić said: “The preserved ship was almost 13 meters in length and 3.5m in width.

“Many different elements were preserved – keel, planks, frames, ceilings, and many elements of the ship’s upper construction.”

He continued: “It is quite well preserved; some of the planks and frames look like they were just carved.”

The construction of the vessel suggests it was built to carry heavy loads over medium-to-long distances.

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And the artefacts found on board point to the same conclusion.

Dr Pešić said there were many shards of “pottery, glass, and other archaeological material” that could be connected with ship and the port.

“Most interesting are two complete jugs that were part of the ship’s equipment,” he explained.

“As we found many olive pits on it, we suppose that at the moment of sinking, the ship was transporting olives for further processing or for sale.”

The ship will now be preserved in-situ, being covered with a protective geotextile membrane and reburied in the sand.

But a recreation of the ship is planned for public display.

Dr Pešić said: “The plan is to make a 1:10 scale reconstruction of the existing ship construction in order to make a predictive model of ship how it looked in Roman times.”

Excavation of the ship was the work of a multinational team, including experts from Croatia, France, Poland, Germany, and the UK.

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A COUPLE have made a stunning discovery of English treasure while weeding their back garden and are set to sell it for £230k.

The husband and wife found an extraordinary stash of 70 gold Tudor coins in clumps of clay soil at their suburban home in Hampshire.

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After they wiped off the mud and laid out the coins on the decking, it dawned on them that they were remarkably preserved.

They’re now set to go to auction in Zurich, Switzerland in November where they’re expected to fetch an estimated £230,000.

The earliest coin dates back to the reign of King Henry VI in the 1420s but a large number are from the 1530s and the reign of Henry VIII.

Some contain the initials of two of Henry’s wives, Catherine of Aragon and James Seymour.

They were found in Milford-on-Sea which is near the historic Christchurch Priory.

The hoard may have been buried for safekeeping by an exceptionally wealthy church cleric during the time of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries and Catholic priories.

The couple, who have asked not to be named for fear treasure hunters may descend on their quiet street, notified the authorities of their find in 2020.

Although the hoard was initially declared as treasure, it was later disclaimed and returned to the couple as no museums or institutions were in a position to buy it during the pandemic.

The coins are now set to go under the hammer at David Guest Numismatics’ auction in Switzerland where they will be sold individually.

It’s usually the case with coin hoards that a portion of the proceeds must go to the landowner, but in this case the finders are the landowners.

The couple are said to be “excited” about the sales which will be like a lottery win for them.

Auctioneer David Guest said: “It is a fantastic hoard found by a couple while they were gardening at the end of the garden of their home in Milford-on-Sea.

“They were digging in a flower border and found these circular discs in a clump of clay soil.

“They put them on the decking and washed them off and realised they were gold coins so they carried on digging and found a total of 64 of them in the same spot.

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“After they notified the Portable Antiquities Scheme the coins were examined by the British Museum.

“They organised a further archaeological dig of the site and found six more coins.

“The earliest coins are from the reign of Henry VI in the 1420s and they go right up to 1537 and the reign of Henry VIII.

“They are in a remarkable state of preservation.”

Guest added that it was clearly a hoard assembled over a long period of time and that the coins amounted to £26 which was the equivalent price of a house back then.

“It was a lot of money. I doubt most people in England at the time ever saw a gold coin,” he said.

“The gold coins could have belonged to a merchant of considerable wealth or a church cleric who was very rich.

“Milford-on-Sea would have been part of the estate of Christchurch Priory at the time.

“The dissolution of the monasteries was a very tumultuous time and we know that other hoards were buried at this time to keep money away from the King’s commissioners that sought to take control of lands.”

He said the couple who made the find were in their 50s with two children and added “they were sitting on a gold mine”.

“I don’t think anyone digging in their back garden can imagine what it would be like to find one gold coin from Tudor times let alone a hoard of 70.

“The combined pre-sale estimate is a considerable amount of money and a life changing amount for the vendors.

“I have invited them out for the sale but I don’t know if they are coming yet but they are very excited. We have considerable interest in the sale.

“Hoards always attract interest as people love stories about the thrill of finding buried treasure.

“Combined with the quality of many of the coins and the state of preservation adds to the appeal.”

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Intelligence Minister Khatib says Tehran having ‘thousands of documents’ will be an understatement.

Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib has said sensitive Israeli documents related to its nuclear facilities, its relationship with the United States, Europe and other countries, as well as its defensive capabilities, will be unveiled soon.

Khatib told state TV on Sunday that the documents obtained by Tehran were a “treasure trove” capable of strengthening the nation’s offensive posture, but he did not provide any immediate evidence.

The Israeli government, which has never revealed details about its nuclear arsenal, said to comprise substantial atomic weapons, making it the only country in the Middle East with nuclear bombs, has not yet commented on the report of the leaked documents.

However, there have been arrests of Israelis allegedly spying for Tehran amid its war in Gaza. It was not clear if the materials were connected to a reported hacking of an Israeli nuclear research centre last year.

“The transfer of this treasure trove was time-consuming and required security measures. Naturally, the transfer methods will remain confidential, but the documents should be unveiled soon,” Khatib said.

He described the volume, saying, “Talking of thousands of documents would be an understatement.”

“The sheer volume of the materials and the need to securely transfer the entire shipment into the country necessitated a period of media silence,” state broadcaster IRIB reported, citing sources, and adding that the documents had reached “secure locations”.

Nuclear capabilities and negotiations

The latest development comes as part of a broader campaign of covert operations that Iran and Israel have waged against each other for years.

While Tehran has accused Israel of assassinating its nuclear scientists, Israel has blamed Iran for supporting armed groups across the region that target its interests.

Iran and Israel exchanged limited strikes in April 2024 after Iran retaliated for Israel’s bombing of its embassy in Syria’s Damascus, but a war was avoided. The US recently told Israel to stand down on any plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites as negotiations between Washington and Tehran are ongoing.

There is also a sharp focus on Iran’s nuclear programme following a report last week by the United Nations nuclear watchdog that said Tehran had carried out secret nuclear activities. Iran will likely face censure this week from the Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency over these questions about its programme.

While Iran has denied wanting to create or have nuclear weapons, it has insisted that it intends to develop nuclear technology for peaceful, civilian purposes.

That is a key sticking point in the concurrent Iran-US indirect talks, several rounds of which have been held in Oman and Italy about a possible nuclear deal aimed at resolving a decades-long dispute over its nuclear ambitions.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the current US proposal to abandon Iran’s uranium enrichment programme was “100 percent against our interests”.

“The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear programme. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?” he said, without mentioning stopping the ongoing talks.

Iran’s parliament speaker said on Sunday that the latest US proposal for a nuclear deal does not include the lifting of sanctions, state media reported, suggesting negotiations may have hit an impasse.