PM’s burka comments gave impression of insensitivity
PA wire The prime minister ordered a report in 2019 into how the party handles discrimination allegations. It found anti-Muslim views were seen at local association and individual level. But claims of “institutional racism” were not borne out by evidence of the way complaints were handled. However, there is “clear evidence” the Conservative party’s complaints […]
Iconic Purple Rain shirt sells for $26k
Getty Images For decades, Prince thrilled with his eclectic songs and unique style. As many of his outfits – including his iconic ruffled Purple Rain shirt – go up for auction, Katya Foreman assesses his wardrobe. There is a funky homage to New Age spiritualism on the cover of Art Official Age, the 2014 album […]
Inside Israel’s combat zone in southern Lebanon
BBC Israeli army vehicles had already pounded the dirt road into dust where we crossed into Lebanon, breaking through a hole in the fence that marks the ceasefire line drawn between the two countries a generation ago. The ceasefire itself is already in tatters. Israel’s ground invasion along this border last week was launched, it […]
The great women artists that history forgot
Rockoxhuis Museums and galleries around the world are unearthing the work of great female artists who have been neglected or marginalised, writes Cath Pound. “Why have there been no great women artists?” the feminist art historian Linda Nochlin famously asked in her landmark 1971 essay. The point was of course that there had been, but […]
Curbing MP abuse ‘not high priority’ for leaders, says watchdog
UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor MPs are facing calls to moderate their language Tackling the growing abuse and intimidation of MPs does not appear to be a “high priority” for party leaders, the UK’s standards watchdog has said. Lord Evans, chairman of the committee on standards in public life, said leaders must set a better example to […]
Period pain in teenagers subject of landmark Oxford study
BBC 17 year old Eliza has to regularly take time off from college due to severe period pain A new study will seek to identify changes in the brain when teenagers experience period pain and whether it is linked to developing chronic pain in later life. In what is described as a world first, researchers […]
Why the funniest books are also the most serious
The fiction that makes us laugh the most is, paradoxically, often the most profound and intelligent, argues John Self. So why isn’t it being rewarded? After reading this year’s Booker Prize shortlist I needed a lie down, and maybe a drink. The prize has such a reputation for rewarding books considered “depressing” that even the […]
Conservative Party names discrimination inquiry chief
Reuters The Conservatives have appointed a psychiatry professor to lead its inquiry into Islamophobia and other forms of prejudice within the party. The party said Prof Swaran Singh would look at how it handles complaints, and tries to clamp down on discrimination. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously pledged the investigation would get underway before […]
A journey 400,000 years back in human history
Alamy (Credit: Alamy) Nestled in Germany’s picturesque Neander Valley where Neanderthals were first discovered, a museum is tapping into our growing fascination with our long-lost relatives. Inside a museum in western Germany, a man in a tailored suit and a dress shirt leaned against a handrail and peered down towards the gallery below. A young […]
The timeless appeal of one-man-and-his-dog stories
Alamy (Credit: Alamy) Thirty years on, Disney’s take on White Fang remains a classic example of a story as old as time – where men are made vulnerable by a trusty canine, writes Hanna Flint. In the 1991 film adaptation of Jack London’s classic novel White Fang, there’s a scene where Ethan Hawke’s Jack Conroy, […]