Health-care cuts for refugees challenged in court

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TORONTO - Ottawa's cutbacks to health-care coverage for refugee claimants may leave some of them dependent on the charity of provincial officials, a judge said Thursday.

Justice Anne Mactavish raised the issue on the last day of a legal challenge launched by Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.

The groups argue the changes announced 18 months ago are unlawful and inhumane, and want the court to strike them down.

Government lawyers say the new rules bring health benefits for newcomers in line with what other Canadians receive, and deter those who would abuse Canada's health-care system.

They have argued refugee claimants can still access health care through other programs, including those put in place by some provinces to reinstate access to essential and emergency care.

But though Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario have all taken steps to bridge the gap, not all offer the same level of coverage.

While Ontario has put forth a "coherent program," Mactavish said, Quebec offers assistance on an ad-hoc basis, which can leave refugee claimants dependent on the "whims" and "charity" of officials.

"Is that filling the gap?" the judge asked. And "is it humane to put people through that?"

Neeta Logsetty, one of the government lawyers, said many refugee claimants had also received donations from pharmaceutical companies and help from doctors, as well as provincial assistance.

Of those involved in the court case, "everyone got the treatment they required, at little or no cost," she told the judge.

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Health-care cuts for refugees challenged in court

Scientists discover new genetic forms of neurodegeneration

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Jan-2014

Contact: Scott LaFee slafee@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California - San Diego

In a study published in the January 31, 2014 issue of Science, an international team led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report doubling the number of known causes for the neurodegenerative disorder known as hereditary spastic paraplegia. HSP is characterized by progressive stiffness and contraction of the lower limbs and is associated with epilepsy, cognitive impairment, blindness and other neurological features.

Over several years, working with scientific colleagues in parts of the world with relatively high rates of consanguinity or common ancestry, UC San Diego researchers recruited a cohort of more than 50 families displaying autosomal recessive HSP the largest such cohort assembled to date. The scientists analyzed roughly 100 patients from this cohort using a technique called whole exome sequencing, which focuses on mapping key portions of the genome. They identified a genetic mutation in almost 75 percent of the cases, half of which were in genes never before linked with human disease.

"After uncovering so many novel genetic bases of HSP, we were in the unique position to investigate how these causes link together. We were able to generate an 'HSP-ome,' a map that included all of the new and previously described causes," said senior author Joseph G. Gleeson, MD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, professor in the UC San Diego departments of Neurosciences and Pediatrics and at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego, a research affiliate of UC San Diego.

The HSP-ome helped researchers locate and validate even more genetic mutations in their patients, and indicated key biological pathways underlying HSP. The researchers were also interested in understanding how HSP relates to other groups of disorders. They found that the HSP-ome links HSP to other more common neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

"Knowing the biological processes underlying neurodegenerative disorders is seminal to driving future scientific studies that aim to uncover the exact mechanisms implicated in common neurodegenerative diseases, and to indicate the path toward development of effective treatments," said Gleeson.

"I believe this study is important for the neurodegenerative research community," said co-lead author Gaia Novarino, PhD, a post-doctoral scholar in Gleeson's lab. "But more broadly, it offers an illustrative example of how, by utilizing genomics in specific patient populations, and then building an 'interactome,' we greatly expand knowledge around unknown causes of disease."

"This is very exciting since identifying the biological processes in neurological disorders is the first step toward the development of new treatments," agreed co-lead author Ali G. Fenstermaker. "We identified several promising targets for development of new treatments."

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Scientists discover new genetic forms of neurodegeneration

Dartmouth researchers develop new tool to identify genetic risk factors

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Jan-2014

Contact: Donna Dubuc Donna.M.Dubuc@Dartmouth.edu 603-653-3615 The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

(Lebanon, NH, 1/30/14) Dartmouth researchers developed a new biological pathway-based computational model, called the Pathway-based Human Phenotype Network (PHPN), to identify underlying genetic connections between different diseases as reported in BioDataMining this week. The PHPN mines the data present in large publicly available disease datasets to find shared SNPs, genes, or pathways and expresses them in a visual form.

"The PHPN offers a bird's eye view of the diseases and phenotype's relationships at the systems level," said Christian Darabos, PhD, post-doctoral fellow, Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Sciences (iQBS), Dartmouth College.

The PHPN uses information in human disease networks in conjunction with network science tools to show clusters of related disorders sharing common genetic backgrounds. It does so without the typical clinical classification of disease, in which all heart disease or all cancers are grouped together, based on clinical presentation. Dartmouth geneticists instead rely on the information contained in the PHPN's topology to automatically classify traits and diseases by their shared genetic mechanisms, such as common genes or pathways. PHPN explores the connections between the layers of the networks to find patterns and relationships.

"The intuitive network representation of the knowledge mined from several large-scale datasets makes the information accessible to anyone. It lies at the crossroads of computational genetics, systems biology, information theory, and network science," Darabos said.

PHPN supports the integration of genomic and phenotypic data to uncover significant links between traits, attributes, and disease. This offer tremendous potential in identifying risk factors for certain diseases. At the same time, it can reveal important targets for therapeutic intervention.

"As a proof of concept, the PHPN has proven capable of identifying well documented interactions, and many novel links that remain to be explored in depth," said Darabos.

The PHPN reveals biological connections between seemingly disparate displays of genetic properties and offers a unique view of the architecture of disease.

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Dartmouth researchers develop new tool to identify genetic risk factors

Puzzling question in bacterial immune system answered

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A central question has been answered regarding a protein that plays an essential role in the bacterial immune system and is fast becoming a valuable tool for genetic engineering. A team of researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have determined how the bacterial enzyme known as Cas9, guided by RNA, is able to identify and degrade foreign DNA during viral infections, as well as induce site-specific genetic changes in animal and plant cells. Through a combination of single-molecule imaging and bulk biochemical experiments, the research team has shown that the genome-editing ability of Cas9 is made possible by the presence of short DNA sequences known as "PAM," for protospacer adjacent motif.

"Our results reveal two major functions of the PAM that explain why it is so critical to the ability of Cas9 to target and cleave DNA sequences matching the guide RNA," says Jennifer Doudna, the biochemist who led this study. "The presence of the PAM adjacent to target sites in foreign DNA and its absence from those targets in the host genome enables Cas9 to precisely discriminate between non-self DNA that must be degraded and self DNA that may be almost identical. The presence of the PAM is also required to activate the Cas9 enzyme."

With genetically engineered microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, playing an increasing role in the green chemistry production of valuable chemical products including therapeutic drugs, advanced biofuels and biodegradable plastics from renewables, Cas9 is emerging as an important genome-editing tool for practitioners of synthetic biology.

"Understanding how Cas9 is able to locate specific 20-base-pair target sequences within genomes that are millions to billions of base pairs long may enable improvements to gene targeting and genome editing efforts in bacteria and other types of cells," says Doudna who holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division and UC Berkeley's Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Department of Chemistry, and is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

Doudna is one of two corresponding authors of a paper describing this research in the journal Nature. The paper is titled "DNA interrogation by the CRISPR RNA-guided endonuclease Cas9." The other corresponding author is Eric Greene of Columbia University. Co-authoring this paper were Samuel Sternberg, Sy Redding and Martin Jinek.

Bacterial microbes face a never-ending onslaught from viruses and invasive snippets of nucleic acid known as plasmids. To survive, the microbes deploy an adaptive nucleic acid-based immune system that revolves around a genetic element known as CRISPR, which stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Through the combination of CRISPRs and RNA-guided endonucleases, such as Cas9, ("Cas" stands for CRISPR-associated), bacteria are able to utilize small customized crRNA molecules (for CRISPR RNA) to guide the targeting and degradation of matching DNA sequences in invading viruses and plasmids to prevent them from replicating. There are three distinct types of CRISPR-Cas immunity systems. Doudna and her research group have focused on the Type II system which relies exclusively upon RNA-programmed Cas9 to cleave double-stranded DNA at target sites.

"What has been a major puzzle in the CRISPR-Cas field is how Cas9 and similar RNA-guided complexes locate and recognize matching DNA targets in the context of an entire genome, the classic needle in a haystack problem," says Samuel Sternberg, lead author of the Nature paper and a member of Doudna's research group. "All of the scientists who are developing RNA-programmable Cas9 for genome engineering are relying on its ability to target unique 20-base-pair long sequences inside the cell. However, if Cas9 were to just blindly bind DNA at random sites across a genome until colliding with its target, the process would be incredibly time-consuming and probably too inefficient to be effective for bacterial immunity, or as a tool for genome engineers. Our study shows that Cas9 confines its search by first looking for PAM sequences. This accelerates the rate at which the target can be located, and minimizes the time spent interrogating non-target DNA sites."

Doudna, Sternberg and their colleagues used a unique DNA curtains assay and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) to image single molecules of Cas9 in real time as they bound to and interrogated DNA. The DNA curtains technology provided unprecedented insights into the mechanism of the Cas9 target search process. Imaging results were verified using traditional bulk biochemical assays.

"We found that Cas9 interrogates DNA for a matching sequence using RNA-DNA base-pairing only after recognition of the PAM, which avoids accidentally targeting matching sites within the bacterium's own genome," Sternberg says. "However, even if Cas9 somehow mistakenly binds to a matching sequence on its own genome, the catalytic nuclease activity is not triggered without a PAM being present. With this mechanism of DNA interrogation, the PAM provides two redundant checkpoints that ensure that Cas9 can't mistakenly destroy its own genomic DNA."

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Puzzling question in bacterial immune system answered

Thinking Strategically About Big Data by Business Technology Futurist and Speaker Jack Shaw – Video

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Thinking Strategically About Big Data by Business Technology Futurist and Speaker Jack Shaw
Hi. I #39;m Jack Shaw, the Business Technology Futurist. This is one in a series of brief videos in which I will discuss intelligent systems and how you, and you...

By: Jack Shaw

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Thinking Strategically About Big Data by Business Technology Futurist and Speaker Jack Shaw - Video

‘Radical idealists’ highlighted

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A new local exhibit spotlights an influential and controversial group of early 20th century Italian artists.

"Futurism: Concepts and Imaginings" at the Boca Raton Museum of Art contains almost 40 paintings, drawings and collages from seven artists that depict the Italian Futurism movement's emphasis on portraying energy and motion.

These artists advanced a confrontational credo that embraced the new technology of the period, especially airplanes, as a path toward cultural advancement and military conquests.

"Their vision of the future was machine-driven," said museum assistant curator Kelli Bodle. "They thought machines would take over, do the work for you that you would work less."

The Italian Futurists also advocated controversial ideas like abolishing libraries and museums and supported a fascist political philosophy, Bodle said.

"They were radical idealists. They felt that there was a new age, and that as artists, rather than recycling old ideas and old themes they should be embracing new technologies and new ideas and new approaches," said museum director Steven Maklansky. "The Futurists' legacy was their aggressive pursuit of novelty and experimentation in art."

The exhibit on the museum's second floor begins with an introductory text panel explaining the artistic and political movement. On the same wall is a television screen that plays a video of an actor reciting some of movement leader F.T. Marinetti's important 1909 document, "The Futurist Manifesto."

Although exact dates for the works are unknown, they are believed to have been completed from 1930-1950, according to exhibit materials.

Pippo Rizzo's "Homage to Depero," a collage on cardboard, is one of a handful of works in this show that were completed to honor an esteemed individual. The piece features a man in a theatrical costume with sheet music in the background. In the blue sky with two white clouds is a descending black airplane trailed by its cloud of green and red smoke.

Rizzo's "Squad," an eye-catching tempera on wood painting with geometric shapes and vibrant black and blue colors, reflects the movement's fascination with military culture. The piece depicts four uniformed military members marching in lockstep, each holding a blackjack, or billy club.

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'Radical idealists' highlighted

Let’s Play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Part 174 Die Super Nanny im Haustierbereich – Video

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Let #39;s Play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Part 174 Die Super Nanny im Haustierbereich
das diese Monoblos einfach keine Manieren ist einfach unnormal. Nur weil man kastriert und entmannt wird, heist das doch noch lange nicht, dass man so ausras...

By: DeusNemesiX

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Let's Play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Part 174 Die Super Nanny im Haustierbereich - Video

Anarchast Ep. 108 With Josh Tolley. Free Enterprise is the Fuel for Freedom – Video

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Anarchast Ep. 108 With Josh Tolley. Free Enterprise is the Fuel for Freedom
Jeff Berwick interviews Josh Tolley on the state #39;s battle against entrepreneurship and what you can do to gain personal freedom by succeeding in business. Jo...

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Anarchast Ep. 108 With Josh Tolley. Free Enterprise is the Fuel for Freedom - Video

The Mystery Men Behind Freedom Industries

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Before the lawsuits and the retreat into federal bankruptcy court, before the change in ownership in a veiled roll-up by an out-of-state coal baron, before the Justice Departments environmental-crimes investigation, the presidentially declared emergency, and the National Guards arrivalnine years before all of thatthe co-founder of Freedom Industries, the company at the center of the Jan. 9 chemical spill that cut off tap water for 300,000 West Virginians, was convicted of siphoning payroll tax withholdings to splurge on sports cars, a private plane, and real estate in the Bahamas. And 18 years before that, in 1987, before he started Freedom Industries, Carl Kennedy II was convicted of conspiring to sell cocaine in a scandal that brought down the mayor of Charleston.

Little known, even locally, Freedom was born and operated in a felonious milieu populated by old friends who seemed better suited to bartending at the Charleston-area saloons they also owned. These people who were running Freedom Industries werent the sort youd put in charge of something like chemical storage that could affect the whole community, Danny Jones, Charlestons current mayor, says. Who are these guys, anyway?

Good question. Kennedy kept the books for bars and restaurants, including a rib house Mayor Jones used to own, although he hadnt gotten to know him well. He was pleasant enough, Jones says. Until the spill, the mayor had no idea his former accountant had been enmeshed with Freedom. That really seems troubling, Jones says, especially with the cocaine stuff in his history.

Kennedys main partner was a college buddy named Dennis Farrell, who had some technical background and took over Freedom after Kennedy went to prison in 2006. By Farrells own account, the company, founded in 1992, nearly ran aground on his watch. Only a rescue in 2009 funded by the federal antirecession stimulus program kept the company going.

The third member of the companys leadership triad, Gary Southern, has served as Freedoms public face since the spill. He lives in Marco Island, Fla., and says hed been advising the company for several years before becoming full-time president in 2013. Not blessed with a talent for public expression, Southern didnt mention in the first days after the leak of 10,000 gallons of coal-processing compounds that Freedom had been acquired, only 10 days earlier, by Cliff Forrest.

A different sort of character from Kennedy, Farrell, and Southern, Forrest founded and heads Rosebud Mining, the third-largest coal producer in Pennsylvania and the 21st-largest in the country. Hes a prominent figure in his industry and an opponent of what he calls the Obama administrations war on coal. Why he wanted Freedoms decrepit facilities for blending and distributing chemicals remains a mystery. Publicly, Forrest hasnt said a word. His connection to Freedom wasnt confirmed until Jan. 17, when his lawyers put the company into bankruptcy. The Chapter 11 filing in Charleston required disclosure of a financial paper trail that led to Forrests coal company headquarters near Pittsburgh via another entity called Chemstream Holdings.

So while the spill revealed once again that porous legislation and murky assumptions about industry self-policing hinder oversight of dangerous chemicals, it also highlighted a peculiar and deeply troubling element of American commerce, one where holding companies and roll-ups make it difficult to determine whos accountable. Kennedy grew up in Montgomery, W. Va., a small city on the Kanawha River. He went to college there at West Virginia University Institute of Technology. It was later, in Charleston, that he attained a measure of notoriety.

West Virginias rugged mountains and forested hollows are home to struggling coal-mining communities. Locals call the Kanawha region Chemical Valley because of the network of foul-smelling refining plants spread across it. The state ranks among the nations poorest. Charleston, with its office towers and expensive eateries, is a place apart: Home to a social and business elite of lawyers, lobbyists, and coal executives, the capital enjoys a wealth and lan alien to the states rural and industrial precincts.

In the mid-1980s, Kennedy moved easily in a narcotic-fueled night scene associated with Charlestons Republican mayor at the time, James Mad Dog Roark. Targeted by a federal investigation, Roark pleaded guilty to cocaine possession in 1987, resigned as mayor, and went to jail. The same year, Kennedy, then 30 years old, was charged with distributing the not-trivial amount of 10 ounces to 12 ounces of coke. In a plea deal, he admitted to one distribution count and was sentenced to five years probation. In all, federal prosecutors notched some 30 convictions.

A forgiving town, Charleston didnt ostracize Kennedy. Despite his criminal record, he and Farrell became prolific business partners. Farrell had earned a masters degree from West Virginia University and for a time was employed by a company called Sherex Chemical. Together they invested in commercial real estate and a saloon in Montgomery called the Bank Bar & Grill. In a laudatory 2002 article, the Charleston Gazette marveled at the pairs far-flung array of business ventures, which included a manufacturer of a synthetic fuel additive, a trucking company, and a plant in the town of Nitro, W. Va., that mixed chemicals. Kennedys portfolio also contained Freedom Industries, which he incorporated in 1992, according to filings with the West Virginia secretary of state. (Kennedy, Farrell, and lawyers who have represented them over the years all failed to respond to telephone and e-mail messages.)

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The Mystery Men Behind Freedom Industries

Freedom camping controls likely

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A crackdown on freedom camping in the greater Christchurch area could be on the cards.

Christchurch City councillors have voted for a staff investigation into what action can be taken to control, restrict or designate specific areas for freedom camping in Banks Peninsula and Christchurch city.

On Banks Peninsula, freedom campers have created tension at Akaroa's boat ramp. Up to 20 campervans have been parking by the ramp, clogging up the carpark and creating chaos when boaties want to launch early in the morning.

In nearby Duvauchelle, freedom campers had been parking outside the campground and using its facilities.

The council has also received complaints about freedom campers using some of Christchurch's urban parks.

Banks Peninsula councillor Andrew Turner said he was against over-regulation but felt the council had to act.

He had returned from holidays to a flood of complaints from local residents. It was clear some were acting inappropriately and quite disrespectfully, he said.

The council needed to come up with some solutions before next summer, Turner said.

In other popular tourists areas, councils have brought in bylaws to stop freedom campers but the Christchurch City Council has no such bylaw.

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Freedom camping controls likely

Who Runs Freedom Industries? West Virginia’s Chemical Spill Mystery

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Before the lawsuits and the retreat into federal bankruptcy court, before the change in ownership in a veiled roll-up by an out-of-state coal baron, before the Justice Departments environmental-crimes investigation, the presidentially declared emergency, and the National Guards arrivalnine years before all of thatthe co-founder of Freedom Industries, the company at the center of the Jan. 9 chemical spill that cut off tap water for 300,000 West Virginians, was convicted of siphoning payroll tax withholdings to splurge on sports cars, a private plane, and real estate in the Bahamas. And 18 years before that, in 1987, before he started Freedom Industries, Carl Kennedy II was convicted of conspiring to sell cocaine in a scandal that brought down the mayor of Charleston.

Little known, even locally, Freedom was born and operated in a felonious milieu populated by old friends who seemed better suited to bartending at the Charleston-area saloons they also owned. These people who were running Freedom Industries werent the sort youd put in charge of something like chemical storage that could affect the whole community, Danny Jones, Charlestons current mayor, says. Who are these guys, anyway?

Good question. Kennedy kept the books for bars and restaurants, including a rib house Mayor Jones used to own, although he hadnt gotten to know him well. He was pleasant enough, Jones says. Until the spill, the mayor had no idea his former accountant had been enmeshed with Freedom. That really seems troubling, Jones says, especially with the cocaine stuff in his history.

Kennedys main partner was a college buddy named Dennis Farrell, who had some technical background and took over Freedom after Kennedy went to prison in 2006. By Farrells own account, the company, founded in 1992, nearly ran aground on his watch. Only a rescue in 2009 funded by the federal antirecession stimulus program kept the company going.

The third member of the companys leadership triad, Gary Southern, has served as Freedoms public face since the spill. He lives in Marco Island, Fla., and says hed been advising the company for several years before becoming full-time president in 2013. Not blessed with a talent for public expression, Southern didnt mention in the first days after the leak of 10,000 gallons of coal-processing compounds that Freedom had been acquired, only 10 days earlier, by Cliff Forrest.

A different sort of character from Kennedy, Farrell, and Southern, Forrest founded and heads Rosebud Mining, the third-largest coal producer in Pennsylvania and the 21st-largest in the country. Hes a prominent figure in his industry and an opponent of what he calls the Obama administrations war on coal. Why he wanted Freedoms decrepit facilities for blending and distributing chemicals remains a mystery. Publicly, Forrest hasnt said a word. His connection to Freedom wasnt confirmed until Jan. 17, when his lawyers put the company into bankruptcy. The Chapter 11 filing in Charleston required disclosure of a financial paper trail that led to Forrests coal company headquarters near Pittsburgh via another entity called Chemstream Holdings.

So while the spill revealed once again that porous legislation and murky assumptions about industry self-policing hinder oversight of dangerous chemicals, it also highlighted a peculiar and deeply troubling element of American commerce, one where holding companies and roll-ups make it difficult to determine whos accountable. Kennedy grew up in Montgomery, W. Va., a small city on the Kanawha River. He went to college there at West Virginia University Institute of Technology. It was later, in Charleston, that he attained a measure of notoriety.

West Virginias rugged mountains and forested hollows are home to struggling coal-mining communities. Locals call the Kanawha region Chemical Valley because of the network of foul-smelling refining plants spread across it. The state ranks among the nations poorest. Charleston, with its office towers and expensive eateries, is a place apart: Home to a social and business elite of lawyers, lobbyists, and coal executives, the capital enjoys a wealth and lan alien to the states rural and industrial precincts.

In the mid-1980s, Kennedy moved easily in a narcotic-fueled night scene associated with Charlestons Republican mayor at the time, James Mad Dog Roark. Targeted by a federal investigation, Roark pleaded guilty to cocaine possession in 1987, resigned as mayor, and went to jail. The same year, Kennedy, then 30 years old, was charged with distributing the not-trivial amount of 10 ounces to 12 ounces of coke. In a plea deal, he admitted to one distribution count and was sentenced to five years probation. In all, federal prosecutors notched some 30 convictions.

A forgiving town, Charleston didnt ostracize Kennedy. Despite his criminal record, he and Farrell became prolific business partners. Farrell had earned a masters degree from West Virginia University and for a time was employed by a company called Sherex Chemical. Together they invested in commercial real estate and a saloon in Montgomery called the Bank Bar & Grill. In a laudatory 2002 article, the Charleston Gazette marveled at the pairs far-flung array of business ventures, which included a manufacturer of a synthetic fuel additive, a trucking company, and a plant in the town of Nitro, W. Va., that mixed chemicals. Kennedys portfolio also contained Freedom Industries, which he incorporated in 1992, according to filings with the West Virginia secretary of state. (Kennedy, Farrell, and lawyers who have represented them over the years all failed to respond to telephone and e-mail messages.)

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Who Runs Freedom Industries? West Virginia's Chemical Spill Mystery

Review: Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom

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THE STAND: Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela, Tony Kgorge as Walter Sisulu, Riaad Moosa, as Ahmed Kathrada and Thapelo Mokena as Elias Motsoaledi in a scene from the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

REVIEW: Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom was released in South Africa only days before the man died.

There is no mention I can find that Mandela saw the film. And that strikes me as a pity.

Because I think that Mandela, with his great wit, his sense of mischief, his legendary forgiveness, and even his famous vanity, would have enjoyed the film immensely.

Mandela takes us from Madiba's early days as a street-tough lawyer, through his conversion to freedom fighter and state-branded 'terrorist', the twenty-six years of imprisonment, to his eventual international re-emergence as the great reconciliator, and the father of modern South Africa.

It is a sweeping, at times breath-taking story, and Mandela tells it very well indeed. The big moments are here, and enough detail and irreverence to let us know that we are in the hands of competent and confident film-makers.

I saw the story I expected to see, but I also saw a great deal more.

Director Justin Chadwick also has The First Grader on his CV, and that film would make a fine training ground for this.

In the lead, Idris Elba is wonderfully good. He gives the young Mandela all the swagger, the charm, and the incorrigible flirtatiousness that the man surely had.

You don't earn that twinkle in your eye at 70 without breaking a few hearts in your day, and Elba's portrayal of a sharp suited carouser with one foot always on the dance floor is beautifully done.

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Review: Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom