L’actrice française Emmanuelle Béart et le réalisateur taïwanais Ang Lee ont respectivement été faits Officier et Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Copyright : Philippe Ramic / AlloCiné

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L’actrice française Emmanuelle Béart, 49 ans, et le réalisateur taïwanais Ang Lee (Le Secret de Brokeback Mountain, Tigre et dragon), 58 ans, ont respectivement été faits Officier et Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, ce mardi 27 novembre. “Vous êtes la Manon de Manon des Sources de Claude Berri, La Belle Noiseuse dans le film éponyme de Jacques Rivette, Nelly dans Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud de Claude Sautet, la Femme française de Régis Wargnier, une des 8 femmes de François Ozon… : des rôles-titres qui crèvent l’écran, autant de nominations et de prix d’interprétation”, a déclaré Aurélie Filippetti, la ministre de la Culture, au sujet d’Emmanuelle Béart, ajoutant qu’elle était “une femme courage, une femme juste, une belle personne, de celles que l’on aime à distinguer.”

Copyright : Philippe Ramic / AlloCiné

Concernant le cinéaste taïwanais Ang Lee, dont le nouveau long métrage, L’Odyssée de Pi, sortira en salles le 19 décembre prochain, la ministre a salué “un maître incontesté de la confluence et du surgissement de l’altérité.”

Clément Cuyer avec AFP

La bande-annonce de “L’Odyssée de Pi”, réalisé par Ang Lee :

L’Odyssée de Pi

Tandis que Valérie Trierweiler tente de retrouver le chemin d’une vie plus normale, la presse espagnole se fait écho des Secrets de l’affaire Valérie. Les proches de la journaliste acceptent d’en dire plus.

«Ce qu’a fait François Hollande est quelque chose de brutal, cela va au-delà de la trahison». William Massonneau laisse parler son cœur même au sujet du Président de la République. Cet ingénieur en informatique âgé de 50 a fait cette déclaration au Vanity Fiar espagnol. Comme certain français, il a fait le choix de prendre le parti de Valérie Trierweiler, mais lui la connaît mieux que d’autres.

Pour la première fois depuis l’affaire du Gayetgate, le frère de la journaliste de Paris Match donne son avis. Il estime que François Hollande est «un homme doué de beaucoup d’empathie, mais sa capacité à mener des vies parallèles me dépasse». William Massoneau vient confirmer ce que certains observateurs de la vie politique laissent entendre depuis des semaines: «son pouvoir de séduction est immense».

L’enquête poussée des journalistes espagnols figure aujourd’hui en une du magazine. En marge du récit du frère ainé de Valérie Trierweiler, figure les indiscrétions d’un homme qui se présente comme «un ami intime» de l’ex compagne du Président. Il en détail décrit l’hospitalisation et le séjour à la Lanterne qui a suivit. Plus surprenant encore, Vanity Fair retranscrit un échange supposé de SMS entre François Hollande et Valérie Trierweiler. Le président aurait demandé à sa compagne «Nous devrions envoyer un communiqué commun» et elle lui aurait répondu «Pas question. Tu assumes la situation. C’est toi seul qui t’es mis dedans et c’est à toi de la régler. Je ne signerai aucun communiqué».

La conclusion de cet échange est aujourd’hui connue de tous.

Rencontre avec le sulfureux cinéaste autrichien Ulrich Seidl autour de son “Paradis : amour”, présenté en compétition du dernier Festival de Cannes.

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AlloCiné : Beaucoup de gens voient en vous un cinéaste provocateur. Quelle réponse apportez-vous à ce jugement ?

Ulrich Seidl : Je ne me vois absolument pas comme un cinéaste provocateur. Je ne me dis jamais, lorsque je prépare un film, que je dois à provoquer les gens. Ce n’est absolument pas du tout mon but. En revanche, je me vois davantage comme un observateur. Je cherche à évoquer des tabous sociaux dans notre monde. Je cherche également à dépeindre des relations, des rapports intimes dans nos vies quotidiennes qui, elles, sont provocatrices.

Il y a beaucoup de ces relations intimes dans “Paradis : amour”, un film sur le manque d’amour, sur la détresse amoureuse et sexuelle…

Paradis : amour est un film sur la quête d’amour, la quête de tendresse, la quête de sexualité. Il s’intéresse à des femmes d’un certain âge qui sont, pour des raisons sociales, obligées d’aller chercher ailleurs l’assouvissement de leurs désirs. Elle partent à la recherche de jeunes hommes noirs, car notre société ne leur offre pas la possibilité de trouver ce qu’il leur faut chez nous. Le fait de dépeindre cette quête, en soi, n’est pas triste. D’ailleurs, je pense qu’il y a beaucoup d’humour dans le film.

Paradis : amour / © Happiness Distribution

Un mot sur le casting, qui n’a pas du être aisé à mettre en place.

Le processus de casting de Paradis : amour a été très long et difficile. Il était important que les actrices sachent de quoi il s’agissait, qu’elles voient tout de suite dans quoi on s’embarquait. Il aurait été impensable de faire un casting, d’être prêt à faire, par exemple, des scènes de sexe entre une femme blanche et un jeune homme noir, sans savoir vraiment si la comédienne était prête, disponible pour jouer de telles scènes. C’est pour cela que, bien longtemps avant le tournage, je suis allé en Afrique avec plusieurs des comédiennes possibles pour travailler avec elles, voir comment elles réagissaient sur place, comment elles se laissaient aller avec les jeunes comédiens noirs. C’était très important. Les scènes du films étaient très souvent crues, il s’agissait de scènes intimes, il fallait voir qui était vraiment à l’aise pour jouer ce que je recherchais.

Le film est le premier d’une trilogie. Pouvez-vous nous en dire plus ?

Au départ, il ne devait s’agir que d’un seul et même film, qui raconterait en parallèle trois histoires différentes. Trois histoires qui porteraient sur deux femmes autour de la cinquantaine et la fille de la première. Cela dit, j’ai tourné environ 80 heures de rushs pour Paradis : amour, et à la table de montage, il s’est avéré que le meilleur résultat artistique était de faire trois film plutôt qu’essayer de tout tisser dans un seul et même film-fleuve de six heures. Mon approche cinématographique est surtout de ne pas exécuter le scénario tel qu’il existe. Ce n’est pas l’idée. Je me laisse influencer par le tournage, par ce que je vis. L’histoire se développe, évolue, s’oriente selon ce qui se passe durant le tournage. Des choses fonctionnent, d’autres non, et cela détermine la suite du tournage. Une fois en salle de montage, j’essaie de réécrire le film, d’en faire quelques chose d’encore différent de ce que j’avais écrit au début.

Entretien réalisé par Clément Cuyer durant le Festival de Cannes 2012

La bande-annonce de “Paradis : amour” :

Paradis : amour

Le PSG a fait plaisir à ses supporters hier en s’imposant 3–1 face à Chelsea hier en quart de finale aller de la Ligue des Champions. Une rencontre qui a tenu toutes ses promesses sur le terrain mais aussi dans les tribunes…

45 517 spectateurs. C’est le nombre de chanceux qui étaient au Parc des Princes hier pour l’un des matches les plus attendus de la saison. Alors que les places se sont arrachées à prix d’or (plus de 800 000 connexions ont été enregistrées sur le site de la billetterie selon Le Parisien), les VIP détenteurs du précieux sésame n’ont pas caché leur plaisir au moment du troisième but libérateur de Javier Pastore.

Pour sa première apparition en tant que nouvelle ministre du Droit des femmes, de la Ville et de la Jeunesse et des Sports, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem était très bien placé dans le Carré, l’espace le plus VIP du Parc qui ne compte que 151 sièges. L’ancienne porte-parole du gouvernement était assise entre la nouvelle maire de Paris Anne Hidalgo et le président du PSG Nasser Al-Khelaïfi et juste au-dessus d’Arnaud Lagardère et sa femme Jade. Dans ce même carré, on retrouvait aussi Nicolas Sarkozy (ses fils Jean et Pierre ont aussi été vus au Parc), l’acteur Gérard Depardieu, les humoristes Jamel Debbouze et Malik Bentalha ou Antoine Arnault (directeur général de Berluti et administrateur du groupe LVMH). À défaut d’être dans le carré, de nombreuses autres personnalités ont été photographiées dans les travées du Parc des Princes. Pêle-mêle citons la candidate malheureuse à la marie de Paris NKM, le DJ Kavinsky et son ami rappeur Joey Starr, la comédienne Joy Esther (Nos Chers Voisins sur TF1), les animateurs Nagui et Jean-Luc Reichmann, l’ancien nageur Amaury Leveaux, l’acteur Michaël Youn ou le consultant David Ginola. Une équipe gagnante!

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Russell Crowe a déclaré sa flamme à la chanteuse française Zaz via son compte Twitter.

L’acteur néo-zélandais est tombé raide amoureux de Zaz. Plus précisément d’un morceau du premier album de la Française de 34 ans, originaire de Tours.

Sur son compte Twitter (qu’il utilise personnellement), le 5 juin l’acteur de L.A. Confidential et de Gladiator a déclaré : « Oh oui, grimper une montagne avec cette voix… ZAZ – Eblouie par la nuit » en ajoutant le lien de la vidéo. Un titre doux, écrit et composé par Raphaël, où l’organe cassé de l’artiste française pourrait tirer les larmes de n’importe quel ours mal léché parti faire du trekking tout seul. Normal, Zaz est elle-même passionnée de nature et de randonnée.

Six jours plus tard, la star internationale déclarait sur ce même compte: « ZAZ by ZAZ mon nouvel album préféré, c’est bon» en français dans le texte. L’annonce ayant été retweetée 401 fois deux heures après avoir été publiée, sachant que Russell Crowe est suivi par 1,5 millions d’abonnés, il est fort probable que les ventes des deux albums de Zaz explosent.

Le premier, intitulé Zaz, a déjà passé la barre du million d’exemplaires vendus, grâce notamment à son succès populaire en dehors de nos frontières. Elle est aujourd’hui l’artiste produite en France qui s’est le plus exportée en 2013, avec un succès phénoménal au Japon. Mais elle n’a pas oublié son public français, qu’elle retrouvera cet été avec un ensemble de dates à travers l’Hexagone, dont les Francofolies de La Rochelle le 11 juillet.

Russell, si tu nous lis, il reste encore quelques places pour la tournée de Zaz cet été.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oscar voters on Tuesday showered Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” with a leading 10 nominations for the 91st Academy Awards, while two dominant but contentious Hollywood forces — Netflix and Marvel — each scored their first best picture nomination.

Though many expected “A Star Is Born,” Bradley Cooper’s revival of one of Hollywood’s most oft-remade show-business myths, to top the nominations, Cooper was surprisingly overlooked as director and the academy instead put its fullest support behind a pair of indies by international directors.

With the black-and-white, Spanish-language “Roma,” Netflix scored its first best picture nomination, a prize the streaming giant has dearly sought. Marvel, too, joined the club with Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther,” the first superhero movie ever nominated for best picture.

Cuaron tied the record for most decorated Oscar nominee ever for one film with four individual nods for “Roma,” his deeply personal exhumation of his Mexico City childhood. Cuaron was nominated for direction, cinematography, original screenplay and best picture. Only Orson Welles (“Citizen Kane”) and Warren Beatty (who did it twice with “Reds” and “Heaven Can Wait”) have matched the four-nod feat.

Cuaron, previously a six-time nominee and winner for directing “Gravity,” said by phone from London that the nominations for such a personal film were more meaningful to him, as was the attention for a film about a humble indigenous domestic worker (Yalitza Aparicio, who was nominated for best actress). He praised Netflix for its commitment to his film.

“Cinema needs the opportunity to be diverse,” Cuaron said. “What mainstream cinema and the theatrical experience has lacked in general is diversity. And I’m talking about diversity in terms of stories and characters and ways of doing films.”

Just as rewarded Tuesday was Lanthimos’ period romp, which resounded most in the acting categories thanks to its trio of actresses: Olivia Colman in the best actress category, and Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone in supporting.

Along with “Roma,” ″Black Panther” and “The Favourite,” the eight nominees for best picture were: Peter Farrelly’s interracial road trip tale “Green Book,” Spike Lee’s white supremacist evisceration “BlacKkKlansman,” the Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Adam McKay’s highly critical Dick Cheney biopic “Vice” and “A Star Is Born,” which still landed eight nominations, including best actress for Lady Gaga and best supporting actor for Sam Elliott.

“Black Panther,” the year’s biggest domestic box-office hit and a bona fide cultural event, finally cracked the category long kryptonite to superheroes. Despite the overwhelming popularity of comic book movies, they had previously been shunned from Hollywood’s top honor to the consternation of some industry insiders. After “The Dark Knight” was snubbed in 2009, the academy expanded the best picture category from five to up to 10 nominees.

The lush, big-budget craft of “Black Panther” was rewarded with seven total nominations, including Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart’s production design, Terence Blanchard’s score, Ruth Carter’s costume design and Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s song “All the Stars.” Beachler became the first African-American nominated for production design.

“To break down a wall like that, to be your ancestors’ wildest dreams, to show other young women of color and boys and girls that you can do whatever you want no matter what struggles you have in your life — all of that. That’s what it means to me,” said Beachler, talking by phone from the Cincinnati set of Todd Haynes’ latest.

There has likewise been resistance among some academy members to awarding Netflix films since the company typically bypasses movie theaters. Steven Spielberg has said Netflix films are more like TV movies and deserve an Emmy, not an Oscar. Netflix altered its policy for “Roma” and the Coen brothers’ “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (which earned three unexpected nods), premiering them first in theaters before debuting them on Netflix. In turn, it was rewarded with a 15 nominations overall, tied for most.

Three decades after landing a writing nod for 1989′s Do the Right Thing,” Spike Lee was nominated for his first directing Oscar for his “BlacKkKlansman.”

“Thirty years is a long time, ain’t it?” Lee said by phone Tuesday with a hearty laugh. The 61-year-old filmmaker lamented the oversight of his lead actor, John David Washington, whom he consoled with a prediction of future awards: “Young blood, you’ll be here.” But Lee took pride in his film’s six nominations, and he likes his odds.

″‘BlacKkKlansman’ is the dark horse — pun intended,” said Lee, cackling. “You know what? That’s fitting. I’ve always been an underdog, from the very beginning, from film school. That narrative has not changed. And I like that position.”

The other directing nominees were Lanthimos, Cuaron, Pawel Pawlikowski (“Cold War”) and McKay (“Vice”) — a field that, a year after continued focus on gender inequality in Hollywood, included no female directors. Some had campaigned for Debra Granik (“Leave No Trace”) or Chloe Zhao (“The Rider”) to become the sixth woman ever nominated for best director.

The nominations, announced by Kumail Nanjiani and Tracee Ellis Ross from the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills, California, included plenty of surprises. In a banner year for documentaries, the Fred Rogers documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” was snubbed despite more than $22 million in ticket sales (a huge sum for a doc). Instead the nominees were “Free Solo,” ″Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” ″Minding the Gap,” ″Of Fathers and Sons” and the Ruth Bader Ginsberg portrait “RBG.”

The acting categories played out largely as expected with a few notable differences. Along with Lady Gaga, Colman and Aparicio, the best lead actress nominees are Glenn Close (“The Wife”) and Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”).

In best actor, the expected front runner Christian Bale was nominated for his transformation into Cheney in “Vice” (his fourth Oscar nod), along with Cooper, Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gate”), Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) and Viggo Mortensen (“Green Book”).

The nominees for best supporting actress were Amy Adams (“Vice”), Marina De Tavira (“Roma”), Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), along with Stone and Weisz. Tavira was something a surprise, likely unseating Claire Foy of “First Man.”

But perhaps the biggest acting snub came in best supporting actor, where Timothee Chalamet, who broke through last year with “Call Me By Your Name,” was left out for his drug addict turn in “Beautiful Boy.” Nominated were previous winner Mahershala Ali (“Green Book”), Adam Driver (“BlacKkKlansman”), Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) and Sam Rockwell (“Vice”), who won the trophy last year.

With nominees like “The Favourite,” ″Can You Ever Forgive Me,” ″Green Book” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis called it “a banner year for LGBTQ inclusion.”

Some Oscar regulars padded their career tallies. Joel and Ethan Coen notched their seventh screenwriting nomination. Close, never a winner, landed her seventh acting nod. Costume designer Sandy Powell received her 13th and 14th nominations, for “The Favourite” and “Mary Poppins Returns.” But the nominees were also crowded with first-timers, including new performers (Aparicio) and veteran ones (Grant, Elliott, Colman, King). Paul Schrader, the 72-year-old “Taxi Driver” scribe, was nominated for his first Oscar for the script to his religious thriller “First Reformed.”

The lead-up to Tuesday’s nominations was rocky for both the film academy and some of the contending movies. Shortly after being announced as host, comedian Kevin Hart was forced to withdraw over years-old homophobic tweets that the comedian eventually apologized for. That has left the Oscars, one month before the Feb. 24 ceremony, without an emcee, and likely to stay that way.

Some film contenders, like “Green Book” and the Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” have suffered waves of backlash, even as their awards have mounted. Before landing five nominations Tuesday, “Green Book” — which has been criticized for relying on racial tropes — won the top award from the Producers Guild, an honor that has been a reliable Oscar barometer. In the 10 years since the Oscars expanded its best-picture ballot, the PGA winner has gone on to win best picture eight times.

Last year’s Oscar telecast was watched by a record low of 26.5 million viewers. This year will at least feature a number of popular nominees, including “Black Panther,” ″Bohemian Rhapsody” and “A Star Is Born.” Just how many people have seen “Roma,” though, remains a mystery. Netflix doesn’t release box office receipts or streaming viewership.

It’s also an usually international crop of nominees. It’s only the second time that directors from two foreign language films were nominated for best director (Cuaron and Poland’s Pawlikowski). “Roma” is aiming to be the first foreign language film to win best picture. Some of that could potentially be attributed to a changing academy, which has greatly expanded its ranks in recent years to diversify its membership, including more overseas members.

Up for best foreign language film are “Roma,” ″Cold War,” ″Capernaum” (Lebanon), “Never Look Away” (Germany) and the Palme d’Or winner, “Shoplifters” (Japan).

A year after taking home best picture with “The Shape of Water,” Fox Searchlight tied Netflix with 15 nominations, even as Searchlight and its parent studio, 20th Century Fox, are in the process of being acquired by the Walt Disney Co. If their releases counted under Disney, the new mega-studio would have dwarfed all studios with 31 nominations.

One of sustainable farming’s old warhorses spent the better part of the last three years fighting to keep pesticides in organic produce.

German Green MEP Martin Häusling, 56, leads the European Parliament’s negotiating team in a legislative battle over the very identity of what it means to be organic. Years of grueling talks over that hotly disputed organics dossier nearly collapsed last week.

Häusling’s unwavering vision for the future of organic food, and his unwillingness to compromise, has likely sealed the fate of abortive legislative reform.

The debate hinges on a popular misconception about what “organic” really means. Producers who use the label profit handsomely from consumers who think it means “chemical-free.” That’s not what the label actually mandates in the EU.

For organic farmers like Häusling — and under European law — the label means a series of standards and practices resulting in a more sustainable method of agricultural production. Organic products frequently contain pesticide residues.

The European Commission wants to change that with a plan to bring the industry in line with what consumers really think organic food is — and limit pesticide residues.

In response, Häusling said that any measure limiting pesticide levels in organic products would hamstring green-minded farmers and ultimately prove harmful to the environment. “Reducing organic to a production without pesticides — that’s only one part of organic,” Häusling said. “What angers me is the fact that the Commission just picked this one criterion and made it the decisive one.”

Häusling’s opposition to the Commission has pushed the talks to the brink of collapse.

The Maltese presidency of the Council of the European Union canceled the latest negotiating round, scheduled for last Wednesday, after a majority of governments rejected a proposed compromise.

Häusling said last week that the reforms would fail if they are not wrapped up by the end of the month. “I don’t see any other possibility with us carrying on with this [afterward],” he said.  

If the talks do collapse, few in the organic farm industry will complain. Jan Plagge, the president of Germany’s largest organic association Bioland, said that German farmers in fact routinely criticize Häusling for not fighting the Commission hard enough.

“When Häusling took up the mandate, the expectation was for him stop the process,” he said.

Fundamental rethink

Europe’s ravenous appetite for organic food is only about a decade old. The market nearly tripled between 2005 and 2015, jumping from a €12-billion-a-year industry to one worth some €30 billion annually.

Brussels introduced its first tranche of rules in 2008, but the industry’s meteoric rise sent policymakers back to the drawing board. Fearing the regulations were unfit for the exploding industry and that fraudsters could exploit gaps, the Commission floated a change in 2014 intended to prevent a massive loss of consumer trust in the sector.

Everyone agreed that several issues needed fixing, and fast. For example, the EU accepts organic imports from countries with vastly different rules, such as the U.S. or India, and leaves quality checks up to foreign authorities — a set-up ripe for scandal.

Things got complicated when Brussels proposed controls in Europe that would bring organic labeling into line with what consumers came to believe it stood for. “We have to defend the integrity of the organic label,” European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan told POLITICO last year.

The Commission’s more contentious proposals include forcing organic crops to be grown using only organic seeds (of which there is a shortage) and — most controversially — decertifying products containing pesticide traces above a certain limit.

Mainstream organic producers bridled. They had only just grown accustomed to EU regulation, and now Brussels was proposing a fundamental rethink likely to raise their overheads.

“The big message is that we didn’t ask for this reform,” said Christopher Atkinson, the head of standards at U.K. organic certifier the Soil Association. Rather than simply tightening up legislative sloppiness, what Brussels was proposing threatened to be “disruptive to organic food and farming in the EU,” he added.

‘Organic farmer of the first guard’

Häusling’s place at the center of the debate gave him what will likely be the greatest political influence he will ever yield. 

He is a soft-spoken, unassuming and rumpled farmer from rural Germany. His mop of untidy silver hair and collection of somber blazers project a professorial air.

Born in Hesse, he said that he “was politicized” when he entered local politics in 1981 for the German Green party, convinced that energy and environmental policy needed radical change long before green issues became as mainstream as they are today.

He took over his parents’ farm and, determined to make his personal lifestyle match his politics, converted it to organic in 1988. “I’m an organic farmer of the first guard,” he said. “There weren’t even 20 organic farmers in all of Hesse. Organic farming was a total niche.”

Kellerwaldhof, Häusling’s farm, is a picturesque place nestled near woodlands. It boasts cows, pigs and even Shetland ponies — though the lion’s share of revenue comes from organic cheese and milk production. Most of its power is supplied by wood or solar energy.

Häusling, who was elected to Parliament in 2009, said his son and his son’s girlfriend now run the farm, while his wife is still deeply involved in its day-to-day business.

For Häusling — and the majority of farmers in the industry — organic farming is less about protecting the consumer than preserving the planet.

“If you look at where a lot of environmental problems stem from, the root cause is often agriculture,” said Häusling, pointing out that modern agriculture produces much of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. “Converting to organic will help safeguard water, soil and other natural resources — a lot,” he added.

The Commission’s proposal to limit pesticide levels on organic produce would cripple the industry, he said. Though organic farms face strict limits on what chemicals they can use they often sit next to conventional plots, meaning traces of pesticides are impossible to prevent.

“If I did what the Commission proposed, then I’d put all the costs onto the sector that doesn’t really use chemicals,” he said. “That’s a distortion and an unfairness that will push the organic industry back into a niche.”

No love lost

Powerful countries such as Germany vehemently opposed the Commission’s pesticides plan. Others such as Italy are deeply committed to it. Parliament, meanwhile, under Häusling, declared pesticide limits to be an undebatable red line.

The Commission said in December 2014 that if negotiators did not reach agreement within six months it would withdraw the proposal. And yet the talks trundled along, longer than any other legislative negotiation in recent memory, eclipsing even the length of 2013 talks to reform the EU’s byzantine Common Agricultural Policy.

The impasse, said Soil Associations’ Christopher Atkinson, came down to incompatible definitions of organic. “It’s like trying to reach a compromise between deciding whether you drive on the left-hand side of the road or the right-hand side of the road,” he said.

Many blame Häusling for the gridlock, with several sources saying his inexperience and strong convictions have tried patience and slowed progress to a halt.

“It’s very bad form as a fellow MEP to criticize him, but I find it quite hard not to,” said Julie Girling, a Conservative MEP and one of Häusling’s so-called shadows from another parliamentary group, who is now calling for the reform to be scrapped. “I have never been involved in anything as shambolic.”

Tim Heddema, a Dutch diplomat who participated in the talks, said Häusling was woefully underprepared for the largely technical talks. He added that Häusling is notoriously difficult to meet in person, which contributes to the huge delays.

When Heddema did manage to sit down with Häusling’s team, Heddema said that they would waste time with “philosophical discussions” about the nature of organic food rather than delving into nitty-gritty legislative details — but then turn around and challenge minor points during the talks.

“Parliament made every detail political,” he said. “There wasn’t much love lost.”

Häusling pushed back at suggestions that he was lax about putting in negotiating legwork, though he allowed that time constraints and fewer staff at the European Parliament made it impossible to meet everyone. 

Other sources who spoke to POLITICO on condition of anonymity said everyone was exhausted and fed up with the file. Another said that Häusling and his small staff worked “ridiculous hours” on the dossier.

All the negotiators, including Häusling, are adamant that they do want to arrive at a solution, however unlikely one is. But increasingly, industry veterans and policymakers say the organic talks will slide into oblivion, leaving existing rules that open organics to fraud in place.

Jakob Hanke contributed reporting.

CORRECTION: An earlier version misstated the European Commission’s position on controls for organic farms. The Commission’s original proposals mandated risk-based controls on organic farms.

 

CNN’s Don Lemon asked iconic soul singer Gladys Knight if she should worry about losing her career for singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.

Lemon played a segment featuring attorney Mark Geragos talking about how artists were “crossing an intellectual picket line” to perform at the Super Bowl. A large group of black performers said they would not take the Super Bowl half time gig in solidarity with national anthem protester Colin Kaepernick, who is suing the NFL for “collusion” to keep him from being signed to a team to continue his NFL career.

To Lemon, that added up to the idea that accepting a part in the Super Bowl should be career ending.

But to Lemon’s insinuation that she should worry over her career and legacy for daring to sing at the Super Bowl, the legendary soul singer replied with dignity, saying, “For me, it’s just for me about respect. I’m just hoping it will be about our country and how we treat each other and being the great country that we are.”

The four-time Grammy Award-winner added that the United States is a country “worth standing up for.”

“You do have to stand up for what is right and what is right for others,” Knight told Lemon’s audience. “I just want them to know that we have a country that’s worth standing up for. Nothing good comes easy, and I would hope that they will understand as I do that we have a better way to do this than to be all angry.”

The “That’s What Friends Are For” singer also hinted that some of the changes made in the nation over the last few decades have not necessarily been for the better.

“I believe in fairness, I believe in truth, I believe in all of those things,” Knight said adding, “… I grew up with the national anthem, we used to sing it in school before school started, we used to say prayers in school before school started, and we just don’t have that anymore. And I’m just hoping that it will be about our country and how we treat each other and being the great country that we are.”

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Guy Verhofstadt tells Juncker to ‘sort out’ Selmayrgate

The Liberal MEP says perception that Selmayr has been given plum job without following due process is ‘bad for Europe.’

The scandal over the flash promotion of Martin Selmayr to the Commission’s most powerful civil service post is “bad for Europe and bad for the European Commission,” leading liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt told MEPs.

Addressing a debate at the Parliament’s plenary session on Brexit, the former Belgian prime minister directed his opening remarks to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who had opened the session.

“Your former head of Cabinet yesterday has done something that nobody has done ever before here in this house: to unite the whole Parliament, the left and the right,” said Verhofstadt, as Selmayr glowered at him from his position seated behind his former boss. “Its’a not a joke, you have to sort it out,” he added.

Verhofstadt was referring to a plenary debate in which MEPs from all sides of the political spectrum criticized the Commission for the questionable manner in which Selmayr was appointed to the powerful civil service post of secretary-general.  Selmayr’s surprise elevation has led to criticism that rules were bent to the limit in order to install him into a plum job and accusations of the EU institutions behaving like an old boys’ club.

Verhofstadt referred to Selmayr as a “very dedicated European” and “competent civil servant” but said that “the problem that we have is the way the Commission handled this.”

Selmayr, shook his head at Verhoftsadt’s comments — in what appeared to be a sign of his disagreement or irritation.

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Producers of the hit show Empire are now considering suspending Jussie Smollett after his felony indictment Wednesday for staging a hate crime, reports Variety.

“Sources close to the production told Variety that producers are weighing whether to suspend the actor after he was charged Wednesday in Chicago with filing a false police report,” Variety adds.

Most telling is the news that “20th Century Fox Television, which produces the series, declined to comment.”

On Thursday morning, after surrendering to authorities, Smollett was formally arrested. He is expected to appear at a bond hearing later in the day where a judge will read him the charges to him before releasing the Empire star on bail.

As far as this Variety report, it comes right on the heels of a Wednesday statement from Fox in support of their star.

“Jussie Smollett continues to be a consummate professional on set and as we have previously stated, he is not being written out of the show,” the statement read.

But there are also reports that Smollett’s role is being drastically reduced in future episodes, which could mean two things: Fox wants to give Smollett the time he needs for the upcoming legal battle, or Fox is preparing to write him out of the series. I guess, both could be true. Either way, it is a huge disruption to an expensive production, a headache Fox can do without.

Which means that this so-called leak to Variety is undoubtedly a trial balloon, a way for Fox to gauge the reaction of a suspension before crossing a Rubicon that would make it official.

Smollett is by far one of Empire’s biggest stars, but public opinion is quickly turning against him. As the evidence and charges mount, many of his supporters are falling out in disgust at the idea he staged a hate crime against himself.

As of now, though, Fox is stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place, and this apparent trial balloon is a way for the studio to find a way out of the predicament.

There is also another issue involved here that is just as serious but not getting as much media attention as the hate crime hoax: The hate mail.

The same two brothers who told a Chicago grand jury Wednesday that Smollett hired them to stage the hate crime are also telling authorities Smollett had a role in sending the hate mail to himself. What’s more, the letter included a white powder (that turned out to be harmless).

What is key here is that this hate mail was addressed to Smollett at the Empire studios in Chicago, and one can only imagine the commotion, fear, disruption, and cost in lost man hours when a letter containing white powder arrives at any place of business, much less a studio in the middle of production on a hit television drama.

Currently, the Feds are investigating the letter, and on top of the three years and pricey fines Smollett could face for filing a false police report, federal mail fraud is whole other issue.

Nevertheless, Fox is in the business of attracting eyeballs, of keeping an aging hit show alive for as long as possible, and Smollett is their breakout star. This means the decision to fire him will have nothing to do with principle or right or wrong, and everything to do with gauging public opinion.

Of course, Fox would love to fire Smollett — be rid of him.

His presence in the series will forever be a distraction to viewers. Behind the scenes, the disruption to production must be brutal, including for his co-stars, who must be furious he has tainted what had been a career-defining show.

The sooner Fox can be rid of him, the better for everyone. But in this Woke world of ours, where identity trumps all, Fox has to tread  carefully around its gay, black star, no matter what he may have done.

 

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