Category Archives: Culture

Anne Heche ‘not expected to survive’ car crash, actor’s family says

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The US actor will be taken off life support after it is determined if her organs are viable for donation, following a severe collision that left her car in flames

The family of Anne Heche say the US actor is “not expected to survive” a severe collision that left her vehicle engulfed in flames last Friday.

In a statement, Heche’s family said through a representative that she had suffered “a severe anoxic brain injury” and was now being kept on life support to determine whether her organs were viable for donation.

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Vandalised Mayer-Marton mural in Oldham church granted Grade II-listed status

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Crucifixion mosaic and fresco saved from destruction after two-year campaign

A stunning mural created in a Catholic church by a Jewish refugee from the Nazis has been saved from destruction, decay and vandalism after being granted Grade II-listed status by the UK government.

The Crucifixion, by the leading 20th-century artist George Mayer-Marton, is a rare combination of mosaic and fresco standing almost 8 metres (26ft) high, taking up an entire wall inside the Holy Rosary church in Oldham.

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Tehran museum unveils western art masterpieces hidden for decades

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‘Deviant’ works by artists including Picasso and Warhol return to display at exhibition in Iranian capital

Some of the world’s most prized works of contemporary western art have been unveiled for the first time in decades in Tehran.

The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline cleric, rails against the influence of the west. Authorities have condemned “deviant” artists for “attacking Iran’s revolutionary culture”. And the Islamic Republic has plunged further into confrontation with the US and Europe as it rapidly accelerates its nuclear programme and diplomatic efforts stall.

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Brexit stage left: British band tells of farcical barriers encountered on EU tour

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Groups such as Walt Disco are struggling to make ends meet – or giving up – because of new obstacles, a musicians’ charity says

Night after night, the Beatles honed their harmonies in the clubs of Hamburg.

But now, British bands trying to fine-tune their sound by playing in Europe are struggling to make ends meet – or giving up entirely – because of the barriers created by Brexit, a charity for musicians has said.

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Researchers decode metal-making recipes in ancient Chinese text

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Study identifies mystery elements in Kaogong ji, shedding light on how early bronzes were produced

Researchers have deciphered enigmatic recipes for metal-making contained in an ancient Chinese text, revealing unexpected complexity in the art at the time.

Six chemical formulas are given in a Chinese text from 300BC known as the Kaogong ji. The manuscript, known as The World’s Oldest Encyclopedia of Technologies, forms part of a detailed archive of early imperial rule, which archeologists have been trying to decode since the 1920s.

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Anne Heche is in a coma and has not regained consciousness since car crash

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A representative for the actor has described her as being in an ‘extreme critical condition’ following the incident on Friday

Anne Heche has not regained consciousness since shortly after she crashed her car in Los Angeles on Friday.

Initial reports about the actor’s condition said she was “stable” and firefighters said she had spoken to rescuers as she was pulled from the wreckage.

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Taylor Swift files in Shake It Off copyright lawsuit: ‘The lyrics were written entirely by me’

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Singer had been sued by writers of 3LW’s 2000 song Playas Gon’ Play for alleged plagiarism, and the case is due to return to court

Taylor Swift has defended herself as the sole writer of her 2014 hit Shake It Off in response to a lawsuit claiming that she plagiarised lyrics from the 2000 song Playas Gon’ Play by girl group 3LW.

“The lyrics to Shake It Off were written entirely by me,” Swift stated in a sworn declaration filed on Monday. “Until learning about Plaintiffs’ claim in 2017, I had never heard the song Playas Gon’ Play and had never heard of that song or the group 3LW.”

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Lars von Trier diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease

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Danish director, who won Palme d’Or for Dancer in the Dark, said to be ‘in good spirits’

Lars von Trier, the acclaimed and controversial Danish director, has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, his production company has announced.

In a statement released on Monday, Zentropa – which von Trier co-founded in 1992 with producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen – said the director is in “good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms” while he completes the upcoming final season of his TV trilogy series.

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London museum to return 72 Benin treasures to Nigeria

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Horniman museum is first government-funded institution to hand back artefacts looted by British forces in 1897

A London museum is to return 72 treasured artefacts, including its collection of Benin bronzes, to Nigeria in what experts described as an “immensely significant” moment.

The Horniman museum said it would transfer the ownership of the historic objects to the Nigerian government after an unanimous vote by its board of trustees.

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Anne Heche ‘stable’ after suffering severe burns in Los Angeles car accident

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Fans and friends express support for Hollywood star who drove her car into house, which was left ‘uninhabitable’

Actor Anne Heche was “stable” in hospital amid a wave of support from fans and fellow stars following an accident in which she drove her car into a Los Angeles home, causing severe burn injuries to herself as well as damaging the house which has become “uninhabitable”.

As of Saturday, the Los Angeles police department (LAPD) said it was investigating the incident but had not determined its cause. The Los Angeles fire department (LAFD) said in a statement it took 59 firefighters to extinguish the fire.

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Equity union launches working practices charter for comedians

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Measures aim to ensure safety, pay transparency and anti-harassment and discrimination policies

The performing arts and entertainment trade union Equity has launched a comedian’s charter in an effort to ensure good working practices and the safety of performers.

Developed by the union’s comedians’ network, the measures included in the charter “will ensure pay transparency, a safe working environment, late-night safety, and anti-harassment and discrimination policies”, according to Equity.

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National Indigenous Music awards 2022: stars pay tribute to Archie Roach in emotional ceremony

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Incredible lineup of First Nations acts perform at the Amphitheater in Darwin’s botanic gardens

An emotional tribute to the late, much-loved Gunditjmara-Bundjalung songman Archie Roach was at the heart of the National Indigenous Music awards in Darwin on Saturday night.

Led by Emma Donovan and Fred Leone, a group of artists gathered on stage to pay tribute to their beloved Uncle Archie, who died last week after a long illness aged 66.

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Actor Anne Heche reportedly in critical condition after car crash in Los Angeles

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Collision near the home of actor known for films including Donnie Brasco left her vehicle ‘engulfed in flames’

The US actor Anne Heche has reportedly been taken to hospital in a critical condition after a collision that left her vehicle “engulfed in flames”.

The incident occurred on Friday morning in the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles, near to Heche’s home.

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Judith Durham, Australian singer and vocalist of The Seekers, dies at 79

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Melbourne-born entertainer rocketed to international fame in the 1960s with hits including The Carnival is Over, A World of Our Own and Georgy Girl

Judith Durham, the Australian singing great and vocalist of The Seekers, has died aged 79.

Durham released a number of solo albums but was best known as the voice of folk music group The Seekers, who she performed with from 1963 until 1968, when she left to pursue a solo career.

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Only ‘ideology or fear’ would push a government to attack ABC, Anthony Albanese says

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PM marks public broadcaster’s 90th birthday with a defence of its importance and thinly veiled attack on former government

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Only a government ruled by ideology or fear would attack the ABC, Anthony Albanese has said at the 90th birthday celebration of the public broadcaster in Sydney.

In a thinly veiled attack on the former Coalition government’s fraught relationship with the ABC, the prime minister on Friday evening said a strong independent broadcaster was vital to democracy and brought Australia together as a nation.

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Is British Museum’s stance shifting on Parthenon marbles return?

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Changing public attitudes have made issues of repatriation and decolonisation harder to ignore

“Stolen goods”; “Looted by the Brits”; “Did you steal this like the Parthenon marbles?”

A glance at the social media channels of the British Museum underlines why, when it comes to the long-disputed Acropolis sculptures, it is so eager to “change the temperature of the debate”.

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Portrait of tyrant Thomas Picton moved to side room in Welsh museum

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Exhibition includes two specially commissioned works reframing story of former Trinidad governor

For more than a century, the portrait of Thomas Picton hung in a prominent position at the National Museum Cardiff, the image’s description hailing him as a military hero rather than a tyrant and a torturer, before it was removed from view in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.

From Monday the two-metre-tall portrait of Lt Gen Picton is back on display in the Welsh capital – but in a very different context.

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Pat Carroll, voice of Disney villain Ursula in The Little Mermaid, dies aged 95

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The comedy actor, who started out as a regular on variety shows and became a prolific voice actor, died at home on Saturday of pneumonia

Pat Carroll, the Emmy award-winning actor and voice of the memorable Disney villain Ursula in The Little Mermaid, has died aged 95.

Carroll died on Saturday of pneumonia at her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, her daughter Kerry Karsian told the Hollywood Reporter.

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Call the Midwife voted best show in last 25 years by RadioTimes.com readers

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Winner took 25% of the vote, with Doctor Who in second place and Line of Duty and Sherlock tying in third

Call the Midwife has been voted the best show of the last 25 years in a poll.

The BBC period drama, which is loosely based on real events, follows a group of midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s as they cope with the pressures of their everyday lives as well as the changing times they are living through.

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US airman who rescued film of A-bomb horrors is honoured at last

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Cameraman Daniel McGovern copied footage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki devastation to ensure lessons were learned

The photograph shows devastation in Nagasaki after the atomic bomb: a scorched wilderness where there was once a city. At its centre stands a lone man with a camera.

It was 9 September 1945 and Lt Daniel McGovern, a US Army Air Force cameraman, was documenting ground zero, the point directly below the bomb’s detonation four weeks earlier. Few would recognise McGovern, but the vision of apocalypse is familiar from documentary footage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the second world war.

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