AS Byatt, author and critic, dies aged 87 | AS Byatt

 Posted on April 11, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  795 words  |  Aldo Pusey

AS Byatt This article is more than 2 months oldAS Byatt, author and critic, dies aged 87This article is more than 2 months oldThe acclaimed author of novels including Possession and The Children’s Book, has died, her publisher has confirmed The writer and critic AS Byatt, who explored family, myth and narrative in a career spanning six decades, has died aged 87. Her publisher Chatto & Windus confirmed that she died peacefully at home surrounded by close family. [Read More]

BJP win in Indias 2024 general election almost an inevitability

 Posted on April 11, 2024  |  7 minutes  |  1394 words  |  Kary Bruening

2024: Year of electionsNarendra ModiConcerns raised over what a third term for Narendra Modi would mean for the country amid rising Hindu-Muslim tension India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has cut a confident figure in recent weeks. As his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) swept three major state elections in December, Modi did not hold back from predicting that “this hat-trick has guaranteed the 2024 victory”. It was a sign that with less than six months to go before the general election, in which Modi will be seeking a third term in power, campaign season has begun with gusto. [Read More]

How Auden settled for the wrong blond

 Posted on April 11, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  1030 words  |  Kary Bruening

Biography booksReviewAuden in Love, by Dorothy J Farman Faber, £9.95The lives of all great poets are a part of their poetry and cannot be separated from it. This would be as true of Homer, of whom we know nothing, as it is of Milton or Goethe, Byron or Mandelstam, about whom we know a great deal, some would say far too much. 'One life, one writing,' wrote Robert Lowell, and recent poets, like he and John Berryman, have sought to present the two together, an independent whole, the life as art and the art as life. [Read More]

London property empire amassed by controversial German landlord | London

 Posted on April 11, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  753 words  |  Aldo Pusey

London This article is more than 9 years oldLondon property empire amassed by controversial German landlordThis article is more than 9 years oldHenning Conle has snapped up almost £2bn of prime London real estate A German landlord has emerged as one of the biggest investors in London property in recent years. Henning Conle, 70, has snapped up almost £2bn of prime real estate, including a series of historic buildings in central London, raising inevitable questions about where he got his money from. [Read More]

Spectator killed after Jann Mardenborough crashes at Nrburgring | Motor sport

 Posted on April 11, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  569 words  |  Kary Bruening

Motor sport This article is more than 8 years oldSpectator killed after Jann Mardenborough crashes at NürburgringThis article is more than 8 years old One killed and others hospitalised when car leaves track and lands in crowd Mardenborough undergoing checks after accident on Nordschleife circuit Mardenborough goes from PlayStation to racing driver Hockenheim win for Mardenborough in GP3 Nissan sign Mardenborough to race in FIA WEC and Le Mans 24 HoursA spectator has been killed after an incident in which the Nissan GT3 sportscar driven by Britain’s Jann Mardenborough left the track during a race at the Nürburgring on Saturday. [Read More]

The 10 best Pippi Longstocking quotes | Children's books

 Posted on April 11, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1106 words  |  Valentine Belue

Pippi lifts her horse – with her friends Annika and Tommy sitting on top. Pippi lifts her horse – with her friends Annika and Tommy sitting on top. Children's booksChildren's booksThe 10 best Pippi Longstocking quotesShe is the strongest girl in the world, lives by herself in a colourful house in the forest, and has a pet monkey and a horse. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with Pippi Longstocking? We have shared our favourite quirky quotes to convince anyone who thinks otherwise. [Read More]

The barra bravas: the violent Argentinian gangs controlling football

 Posted on April 11, 2024  |  14 minutes  |  2877 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

The ObserverFootball violenceFrom the slums of Buenos Aires, there's only one escape – football. To play like Maradona or Tevez is the ultimate dream, but off the pitch there's another option: joining one of the violent gangs who control the sport. An extraordinary report of life among the world's most dangerous fansLike many of those living in Villa Fiorito, one of Argentina's most dangerous slums, Jose Mendez takes his shots at glory when he can – like the day five years ago when he slung the shirt of a rival football club over his shoulder and paraded through the streets of his neighbourhood like a returning warrior. [Read More]

Three YouTube stars fall to their deaths at waterfall in Canada | YouTube

 Posted on April 11, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  479 words  |  Valentine Belue

YouTube This article is more than 5 years oldThree YouTube stars fall to their deaths at waterfall in CanadaThis article is more than 5 years oldRyker Gamble, Alexey Lyakh and Megan Scraper were vloggers for High On Life, an extreme travel channel Three young YouTube stars have died at a waterfall in Canada. Police said Ryker Gamble, Alexey Lyakh and Megan Scraper were swimming at the top of Shannon Falls in British Columbia on Tuesday when they “slipped and fell into a pool 30 metres below”. [Read More]

Ajax keen on Jordan Henderson as he explores options to leave Saudi Arabia | Transfer window

 Posted on April 10, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  240 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Transfer windowAjax keen on Jordan Henderson as he explores options to leave Saudi ArabiaMidfielder open to return to Europe after less than six monthsHenderson is playing under Steven Gerrard at Al-EttifaqAjax are keen to sign the former Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson if he is allowed to leave Al-Ettifaq this month. He is exploring options to return to Europe less than six months after his controversial move from Anfield to Saudi Arabia. [Read More]

Everyone associates the dumps with death: the Kyrgyz town built on nuclear waste

 Posted on April 10, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  998 words  |  Valentine Belue

New East networkKyrgyzstanResidents of Mailuu-Suu, one of the most polluted places on the planet, complain that officials are doing little to protect them from health hazards. EurasiaNet reports On the ground floor of Mailuu-Suu’s central hospital, pharmacist Ainagul Parpibaeva says she’s had enough. “We’re full of illness. Many people have cancer, leukaemia. I think this is because of the uranium, but the government never tells us anything,” she says. People continuously come to her complaining of the same symptoms over and over, “like children who are nauseous and vomit”, she explains. [Read More]