A brawl starts in Japanese parliament over a controversial security bill. Link to video GuardianJapan This article is more than 8 years oldJapanese politicians brawl in parliament over bill to allow troops to fight abroadThis article is more than 8 years oldMPs push and shove each other during a heated debate as 13,000 rally outside Tokyo’s parliament against proposed change to law Japanese politicians scuffled on Thursday during a heated debate over a security bill that could see the military fight abroad for the first time in decades, after thousands rallied to voice their anger.

The ObserverAmericanaReview(Anti-) The Haitian-American musician explores the troubled history of creole-language Radio Haiti on her rewarding fourth album Born in New York to Haitian parents and now based in New Orleans, Leyla McCalla has explored her ancestral roots on previous solo albums. The result of a commission from Duke University in North Carolina, this fourth venture takes her deeper into the history of the Caribbean republic and that of Radio Haiti, the station that for decades confronted the corruption and brutality of regimes that arrested and tortured journalists and eventually murdered its founder.

Sandra BernhardThe trailblazing actor and comedian on asserting her bisexuality in the 80s, misogynistic male comics – and befriending Madonna During nearly five decades in showbiz, Sandra Bernhard has racked up title after title – comedian, actor, singer, author, radio host – and a reputation for controversy. She has worked with a long list of superstars, from Richard Pryor and Robin Williams to Robert De Niro and Cyndi Lauper. But she has never been overshadowed; her force of personality has guaranteed that.

Film adaptationsRemembrance of things past: Marcel Proust on filmIt's 100 years since the first volume of À La Recherche du Temps Perdu was published, but a definitive cinematisation of Proust's epic novel has so far proved elusiveThis year has been punctuated by a rash of anniversary-themed books and articles anticipating the first world war centenary, and indeed attempting snapshots of how Europe looked and felt in 1913, eerily poised on the precipice.

Taylor Swift This article is more than 4 years oldTaylor Swift reveals why she took a stand for LGBTQ rightsThis article is more than 4 years oldSinger says facing her previous lack of advocacy had been ‘kind of devastating’ Taylor Swift says she felt compelled to publicly champion LGBTQ causes in recent months because rights are being “stripped from basically everyone who isn’t a straight white cisgender male” in the US today.