Hay-on-Wye gallery defies police and puts more nudes on show
Val Harris The gallery includes 50 nude artworks of both men and women A gallery given a police order to remove a nude painting from its window display has now opened a nude exhibition to “celebrate life drawings”. Police responded to objection from locals in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, about a painting of a naked female cowboy […]
Burger King boss warns of UK job cuts
Getty Images The boss of Burger King UK has warned that economic damage triggered by the coronavirus pandemic may push the fast food chain to permanently shut up to 10% of its restaurants. Those closures could lead to more than 1,600 lost jobs, Alasdair Murdoch said. Government schemes to help the restaurant industry do not […]
University of Bristol experts develop Braille-reading pen
A pen which can transform Braille into English text has been developed by experts to help people with visual impairments. The handheld device, created by the University of Bristol, includes a one-centimetre sensor with 19 channels programmed to read Braille aloud. The pen, which looks like a whiteboard pen, effectively reads the Braille dots to […]
WOMAD Festival to relocate site in 2026
Organisers of a music festival have announced it is moving sites and will not take place in 2025. World of Music, Arts and Dance Festival (WOMAD) has taken place at Charlton Park near Malmesbury, Wiltshire, for the past 17 years. The festival has been running for 42 years. Organisers said the annual event will take […]
Google reveals Mineral crop-inspecting robots
Mineral The plant buggy roams atop the crops, counting and analysing each Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has unveiled prototype robots that can inspect individual plants in a field, to help farmers improve crop yields. The robot buggies roll through fields on upright pillars, so they can coast over plants without disturbing them. The goal is […]
Boy nearly died from rare combination of illnesses
Vickie Julian Three-year-old Freddie needed emergency heart surgery at Bristol Children’s Hospital in June A three-year-old boy was left fighting for his life after a rare combination of common childhood illnesses meant his heart started shutting down. Vickie Julian, 37, from Brecon, Powys, first took her son to the GP on 16 June thinking it […]
Glastonbury announces big change to ticket booking system
Getty Images The 2025 festival will be the last before a fallow year The Glastonbury festival has announced changes to its booking process, with the introduction of an automatic queue system. The change means that fans will have to be online before ticket sales begin on 14 and 17 November. Rather than refreshing a holding […]
Suffolk’s sultans of sound pump up the volume 100 years on
BBC Guitarist Jimi Hendrix used a speaker created by Suffolk-based firm Celestion A company whose name vibrates down the rock and roll years is celebrating its centenary. Celestion, which is based in Great Blakenham, Suffolk, created the first speaker designed specifically for use with guitar amplifiers. Some of the world’s great guitarists, including Jimi Hendrix, […]
M20 traffic controls scaled back ahead of Easter
PA Media Junctions 10a and 11 on the coastbound M20 in Kent reopened on Friday About 1,500 lorries are still queuing for the Port of Dover as the holding system for lorries heading to cross-Channel ports is scaled back. National Highways said the threat of disruption to services has reduced, Operation Brock, where lorries heading […]
Eight photos of the quirkiest groups in 70s and 80s US
Neal Slavin (Credit: Neal Slavin) Celebrating “the joy of being together “, here are eight group portraits – taken by photographer Neal Slavin between 1972 and 1991 – that show both togetherness and peculiarity in US life. It’s 50 years since photographer Neal Slavin began travelling around the US documenting the nation’s diverse – and […]