Border design black and white

PRESIDENT Joe Biden will give his first primetime address on Thursday. The speech will mark one year since Covid shut down much of the nation as the pandemic took a devastating foothold in America. "The president will deliver his first primetime address to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Covid-19 shutdown on Thursday," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a press briefing on Monday. "He will discuss the many sacrifices the American people have made over the last year and the grave loss communities and families across the country have suffered," she added. This will be Biden's first primetime address since he took office on January 20, 2021. More than 29.7million cases of Covid have been confirmed in the US. Over 515,000 Americans have died from the virus. The address is to come just days after the Senate passed another $1.9trillion Covid relief package – meant to ease the burden of some of the financial hardship Americans have faced … [Read more...] about Biden to give his first primetime address on Thursday – marking one year since Covid shut down much of the nation

Landscapes have always fascinated Gerhard Richter in his work. No other motif appears to have enthralled the artist quite as much throughout his career. Born in Dresden in 1932, he has drawn inspiration for his landscape paintings from magazines or amateur photographs, using broad brush strokes to create mountain views in black and white and views of lakes full of subtle color. Together, these landscapes are all part of a panorama of landscapes that have long come to form a particular group of works in Richter's oeuvre. The Vienna Kunstforum museum now presents a retrospective of Richter's landscapes from October 1 through February 14, 2021. Read more: German artist Gerhard Richter calls early works 'junk' Landscapes as experiments Almost 2,500 years have passed since the panel and fresco painters of Greek antiquity placed plant and animal motifs in front of hinted terrain lines and structured spaces. One might argue that these were early attempts at creating … [Read more...] about Gerhard Richter’s landscape paintings shown at the Kunstforum Vienna

The judge overseeing the trial of a former Minneapolis police officer accused over the death of George Floyd paused jury selection only hours after it began - to investigate a change to the charges. Derek Chauvin, who was accused of pressing his knee against Mr Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes before his death on 25 May last year, is currently charged with unintentional second-degree murder and manslaughter. The incident sparked protests in Minneapolis where it happened and all over the world and led to a US reckoning on race. Jury selection was due to get under way on Monday but legal experts said reinstating the lesser, third-degree murder charge would improve the odds of securing a conviction so requested the charge be put to the defendant. Judge Peter Cahill said he did not have jurisdiction to rule on whether the third-degree charge should be reinstated so prosecutors said they would ask the Court of Appeals to rule on the issue - meaning potential jurors were … [Read more...] about Jury selection suddenly halted in trial of former US police officer accused over George Floyd death

The wooden spire of Notre-Dame cathedral is being re-built using centuries-old oak trees felled from a former royal forest - almost two years after it was destroyed in a fire. The lead-coated spire, which for more than 150 years had defined the central Paris skyline, was consumed by the blaze in April 2019, collapsing through the stone-vaulted roof to the tears and gasps of distraught onlookers. President Emmanuel Macron announced last summer the 96-metre (315ft) spire would be reconstructed as originally designed by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century, and the hunt for the 1,000 oaks required to build the spire and the frame of the cathedral's transept began. At the beginning of this year, the perfect trees were identified in Domaine de Berce, near Le Mans. They must all be chopped down before the end of March before the sap rises and the wood contains too much moisture. Aymeric Albert, the French forestry commission's commercial director, described the … [Read more...] about Notre-Dame fire: Cathedral’s spire to be rebuilt with 200-year-old oaks from royal forest

Buckingham Palace remains silent almost 24 hours after Harry and Meghan's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey aired in the US - with the British public divided on the couple's explosive claims following its first UK broadcast. While the world waits for a response from the Royal Family, celebrities and a number of charities have been expressing their support for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex over their comments - notably surrounding Meghan 's openness about how her mental health was impacted by her time as a working royal. Meghan revealed she had suicidal thoughts during her time in the family. The duchess claimed she asked to go somewhere for help, but a senior person in the institution told her it would not look good. Revelations from the Oprah interview The duchess also claimed - to Oprah's apparent disbelief - that an unnamed member of the royal household had "concerns" about the skin colour of the couple's son Archie before he was born. … [Read more...] about Meghan and Harry interview: Palace silent and public divided after couple’s bombshell Oprah discussion airs in UK