Selfies, sex and body image the revolution in books for teenage girls | Children and teenagers

 Posted on June 4, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1556 words  |  Aldo Pusey

The ObserverChildren and teenagersInterviewSelfies, sex and body image – the revolution in books for teenage girlsSarah HughesWith her positive messages and dark themes, Louise O’Neill is leading a new wave of young adult fictionThe idea for her first book came to Louise O’Neill in a cafe in New York on a cold January morning in 2011. Then 26, O’Neill was working at Elle magazine in Manhattan and had recently started to relapse back into the anorexia she first suffered from at the age of 14. [Read More]

Silvio Berlusconi heirs weigh up fate of his mostly worthless art collection | Italy

 Posted on June 4, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  715 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Italy This article is more than 3 months oldSilvio Berlusconi heirs weigh up fate of his mostly worthless art collectionThis article is more than 3 months oldItalian former PM estimated to have spent €20m on artworks, often buying through TV auctions The heirs of Silvio Berlusconi inherited billions from his empire but now they are faced with a dilemma: what to do with his vast collection of mostly worthless artwork, including paintings of nude women and the Madonna, stored in a warehouse opposite his home near Milan. [Read More]

'She was on a roll': the Cranberries on the last days of Dolores O'Riordan | The Cranberries

 Posted on June 3, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1796 words  |  Valentine Belue

The CranberriesInterview'She was on a roll': the Cranberries on the last days of Dolores O'RiordanKate MossmanThe Irish band are piecing together their final album following the recent death of their lead singer. They talk candidly about her troubled life and the challenges of working without her The last time the Cranberries guitarist Noel Hogan saw Dolores O’Riordan was in the Limerick hotel where we are now standing, in November 2017. He had agreed to do an interview with a Chinese journalist: the band are huge in China, apparently, and had a run of arena gigs booked there. [Read More]

10 of the strangest wills of all time

 Posted on June 3, 2024  |  7 minutes  |  1326 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Using a will to make a point. Photograph: Everyday Images/AlamyUsing a will to make a point. Photograph: Everyday Images/AlamyThird age economyWriting a willLeaving instructions for what should happen to your finances after your death is a serious matter – but for some the temptation to cause mischief or raise a smile from beyond the grave is too much to resist In the UK we are not very good at drawing up wills. [Read More]

Alaska Airlines plane makes emergency landing after window blows out mid-air video | World news

 Posted on June 3, 2024  |  1 minutes  |  129 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

Air transport Alaska Airlines plane makes emergency landing after window blows out mid-air – video An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 had to make an emergency landing shortly after taking off from Portland, Oregon, on Friday after a window and a chunk of fuselage blew out in mid-air shortly after takeoff. Footage circulating online shows a gaping hole in the side of the plane next to passenger seats. [Read More]

English Pastoral by James Rebanks review how to look after the land

 Posted on June 3, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  871 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Science and nature booksReviewWe are becoming slaves to consumerism ... the UK’s favourite shepherd returns with a paean to a more life-enhancing approach to farming At 20, James Rebanks ran away from his family farm in the Lake District to visit Australia. The vast scale of farming there both impressed and depressed him. He was homesick for the crooked fields, ancient hedges and dry stone walls of home. And he revered the traditions his grandfather had taught him. [Read More]

From The Hurt Locker to American Sniper: how Hollywood tried to tackle the Iraq war

 Posted on June 3, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1203 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Iraq war: 20 years onMoviesTwo decades on from the beginning of the war, a handful of films have tried various ways to show the conflict with audiences mostly choosing to stay away When The Hurt Locker, perhaps the most significant film about the Iraq war, won best picture, it also made a dubious kind of history, posting the worst box office of any previous winner. It had only made $11m at the time – and then several more millions after the Oscar bump – despite the pleadings of critics who insisted, correctly, that director Kathryn Bigelow and her screenwriter, Mark Boal, had made a studiously apolitical thriller about an army bomb squad that spends its days defusing improvised explosive devices. [Read More]

Like a little dragon: new gecko species discovered on rugged Queensland island | Reptiles

 Posted on June 3, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  606 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

Reptiles This article is more than 10 months old‘Like a little dragon’: new gecko species discovered on rugged Queensland islandThis article is more than 10 months oldThe carnivorous Phyllurus fimbriatus is only found in the wettest, rockiest pockets of Scawfell Island Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast A new species of gecko that “looks like a little dragon”, with a beaky face and spiny leaf-shaped tail, has been discovered on an uninhabited Queensland island. [Read More]

Madonna stage collapse kills British man | Madonna

 Posted on June 3, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  283 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Madonna This article is more than 14 years oldMadonna stage collapse kills British manThis article is more than 14 years oldTwo people, including a British technician, have been killed following the collapse of stage being built for a Madonna concert in MarseilleA stage being built for a Madonna concert in Marseille collapsed on Thursday, killing two people including a British technician. Charles Prow, 23, had been in intensive care following the accident, but died from his injuries overnight. [Read More]

The experts: Cardiologists on 20 simple, successful steps to a healthy heart

 Posted on June 3, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1914 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

The expertsHealth & wellbeingOur hearts are muscles and need proper fuel and rest. Here is how to keep yours on top form – from avoiding cocaine to watching your cholesterol Our hearts beat 100,000 times a day, but we tend not to worry about their maintenance unless there is a problem. What should we know about how to keep this vital organ pumping? Four cardiologists give their advice on how to keep our hearts healthy. [Read More]