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Loch Ness hunt biggest in decades
DRUMNADROCHIT, United Kingdom (AFP) — The biggest search for the Loch Ness Monster in five decades takes place in the Scottish Highlands Saturday, as researchers and enthusiasts from around the world meet to try to track down the elusive Nessie. The expedition will deploy drones with thermal scanners, boats with infrared cameras and an underwater hydrophone to try to unravel a mystery that has captivated the world for generations. “It’s always been our goal to record, study and analyse all manner of natural behavior and phenomena that may be more challenging to explain,” said Alan McKenna, of co-organizers Loch Ness Exploration. The searchers believe the thermal scanners could prove crucial in identifying any strange anomalies in the murky depths. The hydrophone will allow the searchers to listen for unusual Nessie-like underwater calls. Stretching 23 miles and with a maximum depth of 788 feet, the freshwater loch is the UK’s largest lake by volume. Reports of an aquatic monster lurking in Loch Ness date back to ancient times, with stone carvings in the area depicting a mysterious beast with flippers. The earliest written record of the creature dates back to AD 565 in a biography of the Irish monk, Saint Columba. According to the text, the monster attacked a swimmer and was about to strike again when Columba commanded it to retreat. More recently, in May 1933, the local Inverness Courier newspaper reported a couple driving along a newly constructed lochside road seeing “a tremendous upheaval” in the water. “There, the creature disported itself, rolling and plunging for fully a minute, its body resembling that of a whale, and the water cascading and churning like a simmering cauldron,” the report said. In December that year, British newspaper the Daily Mail recruited a South African big game hunter, Marmaduke Wetherell, to locate the sea serpent. Wetherell found large footprints that he believed belonged to “a very powerful soft-footed animal about 20 feet long.” But zoologists at London’s Natural History Museum determined that the tracks were made with an umbrella stand or ashtray that had a hippopotamus leg as a base. In 1934, English physician Robert Wilson captured what came to be known as the “Surgeon’s Photograph,” seemingly depicting Nessie’s head and elongated neck emerging from the water. The photo, published in the Daily Mail, was later revealed to be part of a hoax, catapulted the Loch Ness Monster into international fame. There are now more than 1,100 officially recorded Nessie sightings, according to The Loch Ness Center in Drumnadrochit, near Inverness. The monster brings in millions of pounds in tourism revenue to the Scottish economy each year. Over the years, scientists and amateur enthusiasts have tried to find evidence of a large fish such as a sturgeon living in the depths of the loch. Some have suggested the monster could be a prehistoric marine reptile like a plesiosaur. In 1972, the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau undertook the biggest search to date but returned empty-handed. In 1987, Operation Deepscan deployed sonar equipment across the width of the loch and claimed to have found an “unidentified object of unusual size and strength.” In 2018, researchers conducted a DNA survey of Loch Ness to determine what organisms live in the waters. No signs of a plesiosaur or other such large animal were found, though the results indicated the presence of numerous eels. “The weekend gives an opportunity to search the waters in a way that has never been done before, and we can’t wait to see what we find,” said Paul Nixon, the general manager of the Loch Ness Center. The post Loch Ness hunt biggest in decades appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Russia strikes Odesa cathedral, Putin dismisses counteroffensive
Russia's latest strike on Odesa on Sunday killed two people and severely damaged a historic Orthodox cathedral, drawing a vow of retaliation from Ukraine's leader. The attack came as President Vladimir Putin met his Belarusian counterpart for talks in Russia and claimed Kyiv's counteroffensive had "failed". Russia has pounded the Ukrainian port city of Odesa since quitting the Black Sea grain deal last week. Locals watched in disbelief as the Transfiguration Cathedral -- originally built in 1794 under imperial Russian rule -- was hit. The biggest Orthodox church in Odesa lies within the UNESCO-protected historic city center. UNESCO condemned the "brazen" attack, which hit several sites in the World Heritage area, marking "an escalation of violence against (the) cultural heritage of Ukraine", according to UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay. Clergymen rescued icons from rubble inside the badly damaged shrine, which was demolished under Stalin in 1936 and rebuilt in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The culture ministry said it had so far identified damage to 29 monuments of important cultural heritage. The Ukrainian government condemned the cathedral strike as a "war crime", saying it had been "destroyed twice: by Stalin and Putin". President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed retaliation: "They will definitely feel this," he said. "We cannot allow people around the world to get used to terrorist attacks," Zelensky added in his evening speech late on Sunday. "The target of all these missiles is not just cities, villages or people. Their target is humanity and the foundations of our entire European culture." Icons pulled from rubble Images showed smashed mosaics on the cathedral floor as workers cleared the rubble. The outside of the building appeared intact. "There was a direct hit to the cathedral," said Father Myroslav, the assistant rector, adding that three altars were ruined. Icons were pulled out from under the rubble and the shrine was "very badly damaged inside", with "only the bell tower intact", he added. Clergymen said a security guard and a priest getting ready for a morning liturgy were inside during the attack but both survived. Russia blamed the cathedral damage on Ukrainian air defense. It said it had hit all its intended targets in the Odesa strike, claiming the sites were being used to prepare "terrorist acts" against Russia. But local people said Russia had hit residential areas. "We have ordinary residential buildings here, where people live," a woman who owns a beauty salon nearby, Tetiana, told AFP. "There are no military facilities here. Just simple beauty salons, a marine agency, a groomer. Nothing military here at all." Russia launched a wave of attacks on the Black Sea port this week, after exiting a deal between Moscow, Kyiv, Istanbul and the UN allowing the safe passage of cargo ships. Ukraine has vowed to find a way to continue exports from the ports and said Sunday repeated Russian strikes on Odesa this week were an attempt to "prevent and neutralise international efforts to restore the functioning of the "grain corridor." Putin meets Lukashenko As Odesa cleared rubble from the Russian strikes, Putin hosted his closest ally, Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, in his native city of Saint Petersburg -- their first meeting since Minsk helped end a revolt by Russia's Wagner force. Both leaders were dismissive of the Ukrainian counteroffensive to take back land captured by Russia. "There is no counteroffensive," Lukashenko said at the meeting, before being interrupted by Putin: "There is one, but it has failed." The Belarus strongman now hosts Wagner fighters on his territory, after brokering a deal that convinced its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to end a march on Moscow and exile himself to Belarus. "We are controlling what is happening (with Wagner)," he said, thanking Putin for vowing to defend Belarus should it be attacked. Wagner's presence in Belarus has rattled EU and NATO member Poland, which has strengthened its border. On Sunday, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said a new battalion of sappers would be formed in the country's northeast. Polish, US, British, Romanian and Croatian soldiers were training "shoulder to shoulder", he said, during a visit to the northeastern city of Augustow. The comments came two days after Putin said western Poland was a "gift" from Stalin at the end of World War II, when victorious allies decided on the contours of post-war Europe. Warsaw summoned the Russian ambassador over the remarks. Both Putin and Lukashenko also accused Warsaw of having territorial ambitions on Ukraine and Belarus. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded quickly on Twitter. "Putin's attempts to drive a wedge between Kyiv and Warsaw are as futile as his failing invasion of Ukraine," he wrote. "Unlike Russia, Poland and Ukraine have learned from history and will always stand united against Russian imperialism and disrespect for international law." Fighting in Ukraine continued Sunday, with Russia launching 17 cruise missiles and two ballistic missiles, according to the Ukraine army. The post Russia strikes Odesa cathedral, Putin dismisses counteroffensive appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Tony Bennett, last of classic American crooners, dead at 96
Tony Bennett, the last in a generation of classic American crooners whose ceaselessly cheery spirit bridged generations to make him a hitmaker across seven decades, died Friday in New York. He was 96. Raised in an era when big bands defined US pop music, Bennett achieved an improbable second act when he started winning over young audiences in the 1990s -- not by reinventing himself but by demonstrating his sheer joy in belting out the standards. And then at age 88, Bennett, in 2014 became the oldest person ever to reach number one on the US album sales chart through a collection of duets with Lady Gaga -- who became his friend and touring companion but only one of a long list of younger stars who rushed to work with the singing great. Bennett's publicist, Sylvia Weiner, announced his death. Likened since the start of his career to Frank Sinatra, Bennett first tried to distance himself but eventually followed much of the same path as other crooners of yore -- singing in nightclubs, on television, and for movies, although his attempts to act ended quickly. His gift proved to be his stage presence. With a welcoming smile and dapper suit, he sang with gusto and a smooth vibrato in a strong, clearly enunciated voice, which he kept in shape through training from the operatic Bel Canto tradition. Starting with his recording of the film song "Because of You" in 1951, Bennett sang dozens of hits including "Rags to Riches," "Stranger in Paradise" and, in what would become his signature tune, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," which landed him two of his career's 19 Grammy Awards. But the British Invasion led by The Beatles initially took a toll on the singer, whose music suddenly sounded quaint and antiquated. He nearly died of a cocaine overdose in 1979 before sobering up and eventually reviving his career. "When rap came along, or disco, whatever the new fashion was at the moment, I didn't try to find something that would fit whatever the style was of the whole music scene," Bennett told the British culture magazine Clash. "I just stayed myself and sang sincerely and tried to just stay honest with myself -- never compromising, just doing the best songs that I could think of for the public. "And luckily it just paid off." Singing as hardscrabble youth Tony Bennett -- his stage name came after advice from showbiz A-lister Bob Hope -- was born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in the Astoria neighborhood of New York's Queens borough. His father was a struggling grocer who immigrated from southern Italy's Calabria region, to which his mother also traced her ancestry. He showed early promise as an entertainer, singing at age nine next to legendary New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia when he ceremonially opened the city's Triborough Bridge, now known as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. But his father's death at age 10, at a time when the United States was still struggling to exit the Great Depression, led him to leave school and earn money through jobs including singing at Italian restaurants and caricature painting, which remained a lifelong side career. During World War II, Bennett was drafted into the 63rd Infantry Division and was sent to France and Germany. But he was demoted after cursing out an officer from the South who objected to Bennett dining with an African American friend in the then racially segregated army. As punishment, Bennett spent his tour of duty digging out bodies and shipping them. But after the Allied victory, Bennett found an unexpected break into music as he waited with fellow troops in Wiesbaden, Germany to return home. With the city's opera house still intact, a US Army band performed a weekly show to be broadcast on military radio across Germany. Taken on as the band's librarian, Bennett was quickly impressed with his voice and was made one of four vocalists. "During this period in the army, I enjoyed the most musical freedom I've ever had in my life," Bennett later wrote in his autobiography, "The Good Life." "I could sing whatever I wanted, and there was no one around to tell me any different," he wrote. Outspoken against racism and war When he returned to the United States, he took formal singing lessons through the GI Bill, which covered educational expenses for returning troops. His experiences made Bennett a lifelong liberal. He became especially enraged in the 1950s when he played in Miami with jazz pioneer Duke Ellington, who was not allowed to attend a press party due to segregation at the hotel. In a then risky move for a popular entertainer, he accepted an invitation from singer Harry Belafonte to join civil rights icon Martin Luther King in the 1965 march from Selma, Alabama in support of equal voting rights for African Americans. He later wrote in his memoir that the hostility of the white state troopers reminded him of Nazi Germany. He was also an outspoken opponent of war, at times raising controversy. "The first time I saw a dead German, that's when I became a pacifist," he told popular radio host Howard Stern days after the 11 September 2001 attacks. Late in life, still cool Bennett was married three times and had four children including Antonia Bennett, who has followed his path as a singer of pop and jazz standards. But his son Danny Bennett was most instrumental in his father's career, aggressively courting MTV and other players in the pop world as a manager for his father. By the early 1990s, Bennett -- his style and look little changed from the 1960s, except for more gray hair -- was appearing in music videos on MTV and singing warm-up at concerts by alternative rock giants such as Smashing Pumpkins and Porno for Pyros. Proof that Bennett was back came in 1993 when he presented a prize at the MTV Video Music Awards alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who hailed his cool factor and playfully sang part of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." His career only kept building and a decade later, he released three successful albums of duets. On one of them, "Body and Soul," he sang with Amy Winehouse in her last recording before she died in 2011 at age 27. He marked his 90th birthday with a star-studded concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall, which was turned into a television special and album. The title was taken from a song popularized by Bennett: "The Best Is Yet to Come." Bennett toured the United States and Europe into his final decade, playing his last public performance before the coronavirus pandemic halted touring in New Jersey on 11 March 2020. Soon after, he revealed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016. He had kept his condition quiet for years. Upon turning 95, Bennett played two more birthday concerts, again at Radio City Music Hall, with Lady Gaga -- shows billed as his farewell to New York. He then canceled the remainder of his 2021 tour dates on "doctors' orders." "And let the music play as long as there's a song to sing / And I will stay younger than spring," he crooned during the first of his farewell shows, in a rendition of his ballad "This Is All I Ask." "You've been a good audience," Bennett said prior to his encore. "I love this audience." The post Tony Bennett, last of classic American crooners, dead at 96 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Off duties
There are as many ways to lose a job as to get one. Supermarket employee Santino Burrola encountered shoplifters at the King Soopers in Colorado, USA, on 18 June. When three thieves carted away $500 worth of detergents and ran to the parking lot for their getaway, Burrola went after the men and with his mobile phone recorded them loading their loot in the back of a car. Burrola captured the heist on his gadget, including the thieves driving off and the plate number of their car. He posted the video on TikTok and it went viral which helped the police quickly find and arrest one of the thieves. The management of King Soopers, however, suspended Burrola the following day and fired him a week later for violating the company’s policy of not chasing after thieves or intervening in theft to avoid risking employees’ lives and lawsuits from wrongful accusations, Fox Business reported. Canadian teacher Kristin MacDonald was fired on 16 June for refusing to deactivate her social media accounts under an alias. Her termination followed a student’s reporting of MacDonald’s TikTok videos showing her in a bikini, which the school deemed an egregious conduct. The teacher defended her TikTok, Instagram and OnlyFans accounts, saying they were not illegal and she needed to augment her income with content creation, to no avail. A British nurse was dismissed by a hospital in Wrexham, Wales, UK, in May after she admitted having a relationship with a kidney patient undergoing dialysis. The affair of Penelope Williams, 42, with the man ended earlier, in January 2022, when she met him for the last time in the hospital parking lot. The tryst inside his car went awry as the patient suffered a heart attack. A colleague she called for help at the time urged her to call medics but a distraught Williams did not immediately heed the advice. When emergency personnel eventually arrived, they found the patient partially naked and unresponsive, according to New York Post. The post Off duties appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘Presumed human remains’ discovered in Titan sub wreckage
Experts have recovered presumed human remains from what is left of the Titan sub that imploded during a dive to the Titanic wreck, with the death of five people, the US Coast Guard said Wednesday. "United States medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis of presumed human remains that have been carefully recovered," the agency said. On board were British explorer Hamish Harding, French submarine expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani-British tycoon Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, and Stockton Rush, CEO of the sub's operator OceanGate Expeditions. They presumably died instantly when the Titan sub, about the size of an SUV car, imploded under the crushing pressure of the North Atlantic at a depth of more than two miles. Mangled debris recovered from the small submersible was offloaded earlier in the day in eastern Canada, bringing to an end a difficult search-and-recovery operation. That debris will now be taken aboard a US Coast Guard cutter to a US port for further analysis, the organization said. "There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again," said the leader of the US probe into the tragedy, Captain Jason Neubauer. Television images showed what appeared to be the Titan sub's nose cone and a side panel with electronics and wires hanging out being hoisted from a ship onto a flatbed truck at a Canadian Coast Guard terminal in St. John's, Newfoundland. Pelagic Research, the New York company that owns the Odysseus remote-operated vehicle used in the search for the ill-fated submersible, said its offshore search-and-recovery operation has wrapped up. Canadian officials declined to comment on the recovery of the sub debris. Titan was reported missing on June 18 and the US Coast Guard said last Thursday that all five people aboard the submersible had died after the vessel suffered a catastrophic implosion. A debris field was found on the seafloor, 1,600 feet (500 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, which sits more than two miles (nearly four kilometers) below the ocean's surface and 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. The announcement of the implosion ended a multinational search-and-rescue operation that captured the world's attention since the tourist craft went missing. The Coast Guard has launched its highest level of probe, called a Marine Board of Investigation, into this accident. The post ‘Presumed human remains’ discovered in Titan sub wreckage appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Family attack TikTok amateur sleuths after UK woman’s ‘accidental’ death
A British woman whose mystery disappearance earlier this year sparked a social media frenzy by online sleuths and conspiracy theorists fell into a river and drowned accidentally, a coroner concluded at an inquest on Tuesday. Nicola Bulley went missing in January, apparently vanishing "into thin air". After dropping her two young daughters at school she was seen walking her dog along a river in the rural village of St Michael's on Wyre in northwestern England. The 45-year-old mortgage adviser's phone was later found on a bench still dialed into a work conference call. Her unexplained disappearance saw the online true crime world become awash with speculation about what might have happened to her. One TikTok user even had himself filmed digging up potential burial sites and then captured the moment Bulley's body was pulled from reeds in the river over three weeks later. But ruling that her death had been accidental, coroner James Adeley said she had suffered "cold water shock" after going into the river. He said the exact circumstances of how she fell in could not be known, but evidence showed there had been a steep grassy slope around the bench with an "almost vertical drop" to the water. The river bank itself had no footholds that would have allowed someone in trouble to climb out, he added at the hearing in Preston, northwestern England. In addition, the flow of the river on the day she disappeared would have made it almost impossible to swim against the current, he said. After the hearing, Bulley's family hit out at the social media speculation over her case. "It's upsetting that we've continued to receive negative targeted messages and still witness wildly inaccurate speculation being shared over numerous platforms," the family's lawyer Terry Wilcox said in a statement on their behalf. "We encourage people to look at the facts, the evidence which has been heard during the inquest, and the conclusion reached by the coroner, to ignore any amateur views and opinions, and be mindful of the impact words bring." Detective Chief Superintendent Pauline Stables of Lancashire Police said she hoped the coroner's finding would "put an end to ill-informed speculation and conspiracy theories which have been so damaging to Nikki's family". Lancashire Police were criticized over their handling of Bulley's disappearance, including sharing personal information such as her struggles with alcohol and perimenopause. But the police watchdog said in May that they would face no further action. Coroners' inquests are held in England and Wales to try to establish the causes and circumstances of sudden or unexplained deaths based on the balance of probability. They do not determine criminal or civil liability but set out facts in the public interest. The post Family attack TikTok amateur sleuths after UK woman’s ‘accidental’ death appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
CF bets dominate Bladesmith fencing meet
Canlas Fencing displayed its might as it captured a total of 13 of the 26 gold medals at stake in the Bladesmith Rookie Fencing Invitational last Sunday at the British School Manila in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City......»»
Filipino ‘parloristas’ star in exhibit at international biennial in China
Tsupet, a photography exhibit on the lives of Filipino gay beauty parlor workers, was showcased at the second Quanzhou International Image Biennial at the Fujian Huaguang Photographic Art Museum in Fuzhou, Fujian, China. With the theme “We Learn the Rules in Order to Break Them,” the biennial gathered entries from 40 international arts and design institutions. It served as an exploration of the differences and similarities of artists under various conditions. Organized by a roster of photography educators from across the globe, it was an exchange program where participants and viewers alike can earn a broader perspective of different communities through diverse lenses. Each of the featured work displayed personal and independent stances and imaginations towards the world. It was a collective study of the biennial’s core value where artists build their basic rules of creation from their own practice, before absorbing the experience of others and embodying the restriction of rules and tolerance of no regulations. [caption id="attachment_137957" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Photographs Courtesy of Lou Russell Fajardo | Beauty Parlor staff at work.[/caption] Following the theme, young creative Lou Russell Fajardo, a photography student from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) School of New Media Arts, captured slices of lives of Filipino parloristas in a series of vibrant pictures. Fajardo, who is part of the LGBTQ+ community, believes that his subjects “do not get enough recognition” and highlights their role as an inspiration for those who remain in the closet. [caption id="attachment_137958" align="aligncenter" width="525"] A customer being shampooed.[/caption] “Behind these individuals who are often found in public city markets are people who have had difficult childhoods full of abuse and discrimination,” he stated. “With the dream that one day the SOGIE Bill will be passed into law, they look forward to its success and the protection it can provide to the LGBTQIA+ community.” [caption id="attachment_137960" align="aligncenter" width="525"] One of the streetside beauty parlors.[/caption] Born and raised in Pangasinan, the aspiring photojournalist believes in the power of images to shed light on the struggles of the marginalized. “Through my works, I wish people will see parloristas not as ordinary workers but also human beings molded by experiences,” he said. [caption id="attachment_137962" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] PROUD parlorista in their parlor.[/caption] The second Quanzhou International Image Biennial also featured the works of his fellow photography students Jyllan Sydrey Bitalac, Macee Tingson and Toni Rose Guinto, whose thought-provoking monochromatic works grace the exhibition catalogue. Among the participating institutions included Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna, Bandung Institute of Technology, Chiang Mai University, Columbia College Chicago, Copenhagen School for Film and Photography, Elam School of Fine Arts-University of Auckland, Iceland University of the Arts, Kansas City Art Institute, Kyungil University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design and Nanyang Technological University. Also included in the roster are Randolph College in Ashebero, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Texas State University, Tokyo Polytechnic University, University of Sarajevo, University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, University of Zagreb, University College London and Zurich University of the Arts. Completing the lineup are Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, Lomonosov Moscow State University, British Higher School of Design Moscow and Galperin’s Faculty of Photojournalism the Union Journalists St. Petersburg. The post Filipino ‘parloristas’ star in exhibit at international biennial in China appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Watch owned by China’s last emperor sells for $6 million
A Patek Philippe wristwatch once owned by China's last emperor sold for more than $6 million at auction in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The Ref 96 Quantieme Lune timepiece, which boasts a crown-like moon phase, originally belonged to Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the final monarch of the Chinese Qing dynasty. Emperor at the age of two in 1908, Puyi was immortalized by Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning film "The Last Emperor," but left a mixed legacy. More than 20 years after being forced to abdicate, he was installed as the puppet leader of Japanese-occupied Manchuria, before he was captured in 1945 after the fall of Japan and taken to a Soviet prison camp. British auction house Phillips said it had documentation that showed Puyi had brought the watch with him to the camp. It was expected to fetch about $3 million but, after about five minutes of spirited bidding, it was sold for HK$40 million ($5.1 million). With the buyer's premium fee, the total price came to about $6.2 million. Thomas Perazzi, Phillips' head of watches in Asia, said he was "thrilled with this groundbreaking sale" because it set records. Those records included "the highest result of any Patek Philippe reference 96 ever sold", according to a news release. The Ref 96 -- austere compared to the usual luxury pieces on sale in auction houses -- was the first "complication wristwatch" serially produced by Patek Philippe, with Perazzi saying there are currently only "three examples known" in the world. According to the memoir of Puyi's nephew Aisin-Gioro Yuyuan, the watch was a "personal item" of the deposed emperor, who passed it to his Russian interpreter Georgy Permyakov for safe-keeping when he left the prison camp. Russell Working, a journalist who interviewed Permyakov more than 20 years ago, told AFP that the elderly interpreter had no idea of its value when he pulled the timepiece from his drawer. "To have this one surface all of a sudden after all these years, it was like a treasure chest washing up on the beach," said Working, who was part of the auction house's research team. Another item on auction was a red paper fan, inscribed with a poem by Puyi "dedicated to my comrade Permyakov". That fetched more than $77,800 -- six times its pre-sale estimate. Puyi's watch, while historically significant, is far from the most expensive timepiece ever sold on the auction block. A Patek Philippe "Grandmaster Chime" sold for $31 million in 2019. It is said to be the most complex timepiece the luxury watchmaker has ever created, with 20 complications. The post Watch owned by China’s last emperor sells for $6 million appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Move over Corgis: Jack Russell becomes new royal top dog
Beloved by the late Queen Elizabeth II, corgis have become an enduring symbol of the British royal family. But there is a new breed on the block -- the plucky Jack Russell Terrier. Bluebell and Beth, two rescue dogs belonging to King Charles III's wife Queen Camilla, are the new hairy residents of Buckingham Palace. The pooches have been captured in photos with the queen consort and appeared in a portrait of the royal couple for their 15th wedding anniversary in 2020. "I think it's fair to say that the Jack Russell is probably going to increase in popularity," said Bill Lambert, spokesman for The Kennel Club. The governing body for all matters canine in Britain has noted a rise in registrations of new puppies. Ownership of corgis, Queen Elizabeth's constant companions throughout her 70-year reign, may "fall back a little bit", he added. According to Lambert, Jack Russells, like all dogs, enjoy company but they also like "a bit of luxury". Queen Camilla adopted Beth from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, where she is the royal patron. Bluebell was rehomed from the same south London shelter some time later. Originally bred in the 19th century for fox hunting, the energetic Jack Russell Terrier is already a popular breed in Britain. At an agility training course for dogs, Lesley Roberts said she has owned Jack Russells for about 35 years. Sporting a purple collar, her pet Lorna jumped up and down impatiently in the hope of securing a treat. "I suppose it's quite a nice thing to have a royal dog," Roberts said with a laugh. The post Move over Corgis: Jack Russell becomes new royal top dog appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Miniskirt pioneer Mary Quant, queen of Swinging London, dies at 93
Fashion designer Mary Quant, the style queen of Britain's Swinging Sixties who popularised the miniskirt, died on Thursday aged 93, her family said. Whether Quant actually invented the then scandalously short skirts have long been disputed, with French designer Andre Courreges insisting he was the first to raise hemlines high on the thigh. But there is no doubt that without Quant the mini would not have become an icon of 1960s youth rebellion. The diminutive designer -- who always wore her hair in a bob -- was also credited with creating hot pants, the skinny-rib sweater, and waterproof mascara. Britain's V&A design museum paid tribute to her "trailblazing vision". "It's impossible to overstate Quant's contribution to fashion," it said on Twitter. "She represented the joyful freedom of 1960s fashion, and provided a new role model for young women." Alexandra Shulman, former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, described her as a "visionary". Quant was not just a "leader of fashion but also in female entrepreneurship, a visionary who was much more than a great haircut," she said. 'Shorter, Shorter' Born on 11 February 1930 in London, Quant studied at Goldsmiths College of Art in the city where she met her future husband and business partner, Alexander Plunket Greene. He died in 1990. Together they opened their first boutique, Bazaar, in 1955 in Chelsea, which would become the beating heart of Swinging London. Bazaar sold clothes and accessories and its basement restaurant became a meeting point for young people and artists. The whole Chelsea district was soon attracting celebrities such as the actors Brigitte Bardot and Audrey Hepburn and pop stars like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Quant raised the hemline well above the knee, creating short dresses and skirts with simple shapes and strong colors that she described as "arrogant, aggressive, and sexy". "Good taste is death, vulgarity is life," she told The Guardian. Her models were showcased in provocative window displays overlooking the King's Road, which became a miniskirt catwalk and drew American photographers keen to picture Swinging London. "City gents in bowler hats beat on our shop window with their umbrellas shouting 'Immoral!' and 'Disgusting!' at the sight of our miniskirts over the tights, but customers poured in to buy," she recalled in her 1966 book "Quant by Quant". The designer was also widely quoted as saying that "it was the girls on the King's Road who invented the mini... I wore them very short and the customers would say, 'Shorter, shorter.' 'Quite outrageous' The era's most high-profile model Lesley Lawson, better known as Twiggy, made the miniskirt popular abroad and with business booming, Quant opened a second shop in London in 1957. She explored geometric designs, polka dots, and contrasting colors, and played with new fabrics, including PVC and stretch fabrics, to achieve a modern and playful look. She entered the American market in the early 1960s, collaborating with the department store JC Penney. She also created the cheaper Ginger Group line and went into cosmetics, all her designs featuring a trademark daisy. Quant also scandalised British society with her frank views on sex, making headlines when she famously said she had shaved her pubic hair into the shape of a heart and dyed it green. Although her heyday was in the 1960s and 1970s, when she turned her sights on the Japanese market, Quant's legacy can still be seen on the high street, with its high fashion at low prices. She sold her make-up company to a Japanese group in 2000, staying on as a consultant. Alongside making it in America, Quant considered being knighted in 2015 her greatest achievement, and called Queen Elizabeth II who made her a dame "the wisest woman I've ever met". Asked by The Guardian in 2016 what she would change if she could edit her past, Quant replied: "Not much, I've had a lovely time." The post Miniskirt pioneer Mary Quant, queen of Swinging London, dies at 93 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Photographs of Paul McCartney to reopen the National Portrait Gallery
London. – Gallery of never-before-seen photos taken by Paul McCartney during the climax the Beatles Another exhibition by British artist David Hockney is part of.....»»
Alejandra Valencia and Luis Alvarez go to the semi-finals in Tokyo
Editorial Mediotiempo Mexico City / 24.07.2021 00:38:28 Alejandra Valencia NS Luis Alvarez He beat British duo Sarah Beatles and Patrick Houston, who beat him In.....»»
No death penalty for ‘Beatles’
The United States will not pursue the death penalty against two members of a notorious Islamic State kidnapping and murder unit dubbed the “Beatles,” Attorney General Bill Barr said in a letter released by the Justice Department Wednesday. In a breakthrough in a two-year impasse between Washington and London, Barr told British Home Secretary Priti […] The post No death penalty for ‘Beatles’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Spieth chasing Grand Slam and hardly anyone notices
By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The spotlight on Jordan Spieth should be bright enough to cut through the marine layer blanketing Harding Park this week at the PGA Championship. Win this major and he joins the most exclusive club in golf with the final leg of the career Grand Slam. Only five other players — Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen — have won all four majors since the Masters began in 1934. This is his fourth chance, and each year becomes more difficult. The longest anyone went from winning the third leg to completing the Grand Slam was three years by Player and Nicklaus. And hardly anyone is talking about it. It's not because Brooks Koepka is trying to become the first player to win the PGA Championship three straight times in stroke play, or because Tiger Woods is going for his record-tying fifth PGA. It's not even because golf has returned amid a coronavirus pandemic that has kept spectators away from a major championship for the first time. Spieth has become an afterthought because he hasn't won since he captured the British Open three years ago. Who would have guessed that? Certainly not the 27-year-old Texan. “If you told me that, I'd probably say that guy is kind of a jerk and I'd walk the other way,” Spieth said with a smile. “But here we are. And I hope to end that as soon as possible.” So much has changed since his last visit to the TPC Harding Park. That was in 2015 for the Cadillac Match Play. Spieth was the newly minted “Golden Child” in golf as the Masters champion. He would win the U.S. Open the following month, miss a British Open playoff by one shot at St. Andrews and be runner-up at the PGA Championship. No one ever made such a spirited bid for the calendar Grand Slam. Now, the world ranking tells the story. Spieth was No. 2 after winning at Royal Birkdale and getting his first shot at the career Grand Slam in the 2017 PGA Championship (he tied for 28th). He was No. 8 in the world going to Bellerive for the PGA Championship the following year (he tied for 12th). He was No. 39 going to Bethpage Black last year. He played in the final group with Brooks Koepka on Saturday, albeit eight shots behind, and fell back quickly. He tied for third. Now he has plunged all the way to No. 62, out of the top 50 for the first time since he was a 20-year-old rookie. More troublesome than not winning is that Spieth has rarely contended. He has not finished within three shots of the lead since his remarkable rally in the final round of the Masters two years ago left him two shots behind Patrick Reed. Is there hope? He has no doubt. Is there a chance at Harding Park? He has experience. “Majors aren’t necessarily totally about form,” Spieth said. “They’re about experience and being able to grind it out, picking apart golf courses. So I feel like I probably have more confidence going into a major no matter where my game is at than any other golf tournament.” Exactly what went wrong is a topic of debate and discussion. He was ill all of December before going into the 2018 season. His alignment got off. His putting, the hallmark of his game, went sideways. And he's been trying to put back the pieces ever since. The last two years he hasn't made it to the Tour Championship. His only real success of late has been a more positive attitude. Spieth used the word “grace” at Colonial, his way of saying he will learn to shrug off mistakes and keep going. “I almost feel at times like the game is testing me a little bit right now,” he said. Last week, he spoke of a shot that hit a tree. Whereas it used to bounce in the fairway, this one went off a cart path and out-of-bounds. The same thing happened at Hilton Head. “I feel like you can look at it a couple ways,” Spieth said. “You can get really upset and complain about it — which I’ve done and that’s not helpful — or you can look at it like, ‘Hey, this is part of the game testing you, and the better you handle these situations, the faster you progress forward.’” Spieth says he is in no hurry. At 27, he has plenty of golf ahead of him in his career. As brilliant as his 2015 season was, he'd like to think his best years are ahead of him. But there's only one PGA Championship this year. One shot at the career Grand Slam. “It's something that I really want,” Spieth said. “It's probably the No. 1 goal in the game of golf for me right now is to try and capture that. I’d love to be able to hold all four trophies.” The way the last three years have gone, any trophy would do......»»
Numerous Individuals and Businesses Profit from Trump Media Stock
Former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company, Truth Social, had a successful first official trading session on the Nasdaq, with shares surging and approaching.....»»
Roque: Xi, Duterte agreed to keep West Philippines Sea status quo
The Philippines under former president Rodrigo Duterte had a “gentleman’s agreement” with China to keep the status quo in the West Philippine Sea, a former Cabinet official said yesterday, as fresh tensions surround the WPS due to recent incursions by Beijing that targeted a Filipino resupply mission and a research team......»»
Belmonte: No tolerance for corruption
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte yesterday reiterated her zero-tolerance policy against corruption following the arrest of an official for alleged extortion......»»
Ched-Davao: Quake drill not just ‘procedural activity’ but necessity
AN OFFICIAL from the Commission on Higher Education-Davao Region (Ched-Davao) said that there is a need to prepare students for disasters and other calamities......»»
Mr. Nice Guy
There is a reason why the public and most people like Ralph Recto as a person, as the partner of Ate Vi, as a politician and as a government official......»»