Jean-Lon Grme: orientalist fantasy among the impressionists | Painting

 Posted on May 30, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  447 words  |  Valentine Belue

Jonathan Jones on artPaintingJean-Léon Gérôme: orientalist fantasy among the impressionistsFrench art in the 19th century is not only about impressionists as Jean-Léon Gérôme's fruity fantasies of 'the east' reveal in an exhibition at London's Royal AcademyJean-Léon Gérôme's painting The Snake Charmer is a sleazy imperialist vision of "the east". In front of glittering Islamic tiles that make the painting shimmer with blue and silver, a group of men sit on the ground watching a nude snake charmer, draped with a slithering phallic python. [Read More]

No, Facebook isnt going to charge to keep people's posts private | Facebook

 Posted on May 30, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  390 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Facebook This article is more than 8 years oldNo, Facebook isn’t going to charge to keep people's posts privateThis article is more than 8 years oldTo make it official, we’re publishing it in the media: there’s no need to post an informational message on the social network to warn friends Facebook is not planning to make its users pay £5.99 [or $5.99 for US users] to keep their status updates private. [Read More]

Police errors contributed to suicide of tormented mother Fiona Pilkington | Crime

 Posted on May 30, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  922 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Crime This article is more than 14 years oldPolice errors contributed to suicide of tormented mother Fiona PilkingtonThis article is more than 14 years oldThe Independent Police Complaints Commission is to launch an investigation into the way the "distressing" case was handledPolice errors and inaction were partly responsible for driving a vulnerable single mother to kill herself and her severely disabled daughter after years of abuse from youths, an inquest found today. [Read More]

Stephen Fry calls God an evil, capricious, monstrous maniac | Stephen Fry

 Posted on May 30, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  406 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Stephen Fry on GodStephen Fry This article is more than 8 years oldStephen Fry calls God an ‘evil, capricious, monstrous maniac’This article is more than 8 years oldComedian delivers tirade on Irish TV programme when asked what he would say to the almighty at the gates of heaven I don’t believe in the God that Stephen Fry doesn’t believe in either Stephen Fry has denounced God as “utterly evil, capricious and monstrous”, if he were to exist. [Read More]

The forgotten story of ... pushball, a game for giants that bewitched Britain

 Posted on May 30, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1815 words  |  Aldo Pusey

The forgotten story of...SportA monster ball, human skittles and ‘clever’ horses featured in a punishing game that captivated the King and bamboozled his subjects in the early 1900s A search of the patents registered in the second half of the 19th century by Moses G Crane of Massachusetts reveals a man who was never short of ideas. There is an egg-beater, an ice-cream freezer, a method of making pliers, a restyled bicycle, an electro-mechanical gong and a gun-barrel scraper. [Read More]

Thom Yorke opens up about pain of ex-partners death | Thom Yorke

 Posted on May 30, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  631 words  |  Aldo Pusey

The ObserverThom Yorke This article is more than 4 years oldThom Yorke opens up about pain of ex-partner’s deathThis article is more than 4 years oldRadiohead singer talks on Desert island Discs about the strain on his family after Rachel Owen died Thom Yorke has spoken of the “hard time” his family went through after his ex-partner died from cancer. The Radiohead frontman met Rachel Owen, an artist and Oxford University lecturer, as art students at Exeter University. [Read More]

Yasser Arafat | Palestinian territories

 Posted on May 30, 2024  |  19 minutes  |  3935 words  |  Valentine Belue

Palestinian territoriesObituaryYasser ArafatFrom an early age, Muhammad Abdul Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini, the sixth child of a Palestinian spice, incense and grocery merchant, sensed that a high destiny awaited him. It did - but Yasser Arafat, who has died aged 75, assuredly earned it by his own endeavours too. By the standard of lifelong, indefatigable, and for him courageous dedication to a cause, he deserved the title of Mr Palestine that he held for a whole generation of his people's struggle. [Read More]

A short history of tanning | Sophie Wilkinson

 Posted on May 29, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  664 words  |  Aldo Pusey

OpinionBeauty This article is more than 11 years oldA short history of tanningThis article is more than 11 years oldSophie WilkinsonAs tanning falls out of fashion with model agencies, let us recall how white people's skin tone has been perceived over the years In the millennia preceding the industrial revolution, pallor was popular within the upper classes, hinting at a noble life of leisure spent indoors. Dark skin was associated with serfdom and toiling in fields all day. [Read More]

Amber Heard 'placing faith in justice' as Depp lawyer calls her an abuser | Johnny Depp

 Posted on May 29, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1116 words  |  Valentine Belue

Johnny Depp This article is more than 3 years oldAmber Heard 'placing faith in justice' as Depp lawyer calls her an abuserThis article is more than 3 years oldHigh court hears closing remarks in three-week libel case exposing couple’s relationship Amber Heard has spoken of her trauma at reliving the breakup of her marriage, saying she is “placing her faith in British justice” as Johnny Depp’s lawyer branded her a “compulsive liar” and the “abuser” in the couple’s relationship. [Read More]

Can you solve it? Forget Wordle, heres Worzle | Mathematics

 Posted on May 29, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  348 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

Alex Bellos's Monday puzzleMathematicsCan you solve it? Forget Wordle, here’s WorzleAn exclusive new puzzle UPDATE: Read the solutions here Happy birthday Wordle, two years old this month! Reader Alf Smith, a retired software engineer from Herefordshire, has devised what he calls “Worzle”, a portmanteau of Wordle + puzzle. You are shown a solved game of Wordle, with some letters hidden, and must fill in the missing letters. Below are three examples: easy, medium and hard. [Read More]