12 h. ago Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o belonged to an age of prophets – we must honour his teaching

Along with other icons of African writing, Ngũgĩ taught generations how to decolonise literature, language and the mind• Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, giant of African literature, dies aged 87Growing up in post-independence Nigeria in the 1970s, at home you always had access to the Bible if you were Christian, or the Qur’an if you were Muslim, along with books in the Heinemann African Writers Series. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was a staple, and the plays of Wole Soyinka: The Lion and the Jewel, most likely, or The Trials of Brother Jero. Often accompanying them were books by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o – I remember we had both Weep Not Child and The River Between. And even if you didn’t have them at home, you’d soon encounter them in school – they were standard set texts, from secondary school to college.These three writers belonged to the so-called first generation of African writing, the generation that started publishing in the 1950s and 1960s. The three names stood, like the legs of the thre...

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14 h. ago Pope confirms when millennial saint Carlo Acutis will be canonised

Acutis died at the age of 15 in 2006 in northern Italy after a brief battle with leukemia

Politics

15 h. ago Family of woman who died from Covid after giving birth sues Brazilian state

Exclusive: Lidiane Vieira Frazão, a black woman from Rio, was repeatedly denied appropriate treatment as President Bolsonaro downplayed the pandemic, lawsuit saysIn the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic, Lidiane Vieira Frazão, 35, was expecting her second child but, even at 40 weeks pregnant, she was unable to obtain a doctor’s note to start her maternity leave.Her job as a funeral agent – at times handling the bodies of people who had died from the virus – was on the long list of “essential services” that could not be suspended during lockdown, according to a decree issued by Brazil’s then-president, Jair Bolsonaro. Continue reading...

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17 h. ago Scotland's first black professor Sir Geoff Palmer dies aged 85 as tributes paid

Sir Geoff, chancellor and professor emeritus at Heriot-Watt University, moved to the UK from Jamaica as a teenager and became known as both an academic and a human rights advocate.

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27 h. ago Comedy star Gordinho Maniçoba dead at 27 as heartbroken sister pays tribute

Brazilian comedy star Gordinho Maniçoba has died aged 27, with his sister confirming the news in a heartbreaking statement shared on his social media page

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28 h. ago Charlie Watson dies aged 19 as Queen of the South lead tributes to 'truly remarkable' former youth star

The Threave Rovers player was told just four weeks ago his cancer had spread and he only had weeks to live

Events

34 h. ago Cherie Blair says Barbara Taylor Bradford was ‘inspiration to me and millions’

The author died at the age of 91 on November 24 last year following a short illness.

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36 h. ago Liam Payne death update as two charged over tragedy will stand trial

The former One Direction star tragically died at the age of 31 in October last year after falling from a hotel balcony

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39 h. ago Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley ‘learned a lot about grief’ after Robin Windsor death

Windsor died in February last year at the age of 44.

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47 h. ago Bodybuilder teenager, 15, who jumped off pier in celebration of finishing exams may not have drowned if a lifeguard was present, coroner rules

David Ejimofor, 15, died after getting into trouble during a 'coming of age ceremony' in the water off Aberavon Beach, Port Talbot.

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48 h. ago Iconic 90s MTV star dies aged 52 after long battle with breast cancer

Ananda Lewis, who was a popular host on MTV during the network's "veejay" era in the late 1990s, has died after battling breast cancer, her sister Lakshmi announced

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49 h. ago Ananda Lewis, former MTV VJ and talk show host, dies aged 52

The former model also hosted her own talk show, ‘The Ananda Lewis Show’

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50 h. ago Whether wistful or euphoric, Brian Wilson made pop’s most overwhelmingly beautiful music

He was the Beach Boys’ resident genius, seeping melancholy into even peppy teenybopper hits. Beyond all the myths about his life, that brilliance is still intoxicatingBrian Wilson, visionary creative spirit for the Beach Boys, dies aged 82Brian Wilson: a life in picturesIt’s fair to say that no one who bought the Beach Boys debut single in 1961 would have realised they were in the presence of genius. Surfin’ sounded exactly like what it was: one of dozens of cheap, hastily-recorded singles released on a tiny independent label to cash in on the burgeoning craze for surf music, albeit a regionally-successful example of type. You might easily have expected to never hear of the band who made it again.But the 19-year-old Brian Wilson was determined – he was the taskmaster that had relentlessly drilled his unwilling younger brothers Carl and Dennis into learning to harmonise – and a quick learner. The leap in quality between Surfin’ and its 1962 follow-up Surfin’ Safari was striking. The ...

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52 h. ago Harris Yulin dead: Scarface and Ghostbusters star dies after suffering heart attack

Scarface and Ghost Busters actor Harris Yulin has died aged 88 after a heart attack as his family have confirmed the sad news

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52 h. ago Harris Yulin, veteran actor known for Scarface and Ghostbusters II, dies aged 88

The LA-born actor also had roles in ‘Training Day’ and ‘Ozark’ and worked extensively on Broadway

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54 h. ago Beach Boy Brian Wilson wrote 'greatest song of all time' but battled demons

The Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson has died at the age of 82 - Wilson was the eldest and last surviving of the three musical brothers who formed the American rock band in 1961

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55 h. ago General Hospital and WWII series actor dies as tributes roll in for star

Actor Chris Robinson, who was best known for his roles in General Hospital and WWII series 12 O'Clock High, has sadly died at the age of 86 after the news was confirmed by a friend

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55 h. ago Twelve of Brian Wilson’s greatest songs – from surf to psychedelia and beyond

Elaborating classic pop and doo-wop into divinely beautiful and inimitable hitmaking, these are some of the late musician’s most unmistakable masterpiecesBrian Wilson, visionary creative spirit for the Beach Boys, dies aged 82Although co-written with Gary Usher, this reflective hymn to isolation was pure Brian autobiography, conceived as the pressures of pop success loomed. “I had a room I thought of as my kingdom,” Wilson said, “somewhere you could lock out the world.” The domain in question was the Wilson family’s music room where Brian slept “right beside the piano”. Part-inspired by the Charms’ 1956 doo-wop hit Ivory Tower, which the Wilson brothers sang themselves to sleep with, In My Room sonically recreates Brian’s feelings of sanctuary by blending his brothers’ sweet-sad harmonies with finger cymbals, harp glissandi and Santo & Johnny-style Sleep Walk guitar. Soothing yet eerie, the song spoke to the nation of 60s teenagers whose only refuge was their bedroom, and whose ...

Politics

55 h. ago Beach Boys icon Brian Wilson dead at 82: Musician passes away after battle with dementia

Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson, one of the most acclaimed and influential songwriters of the 20th century, has died aged 82.

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55 h. ago Chris Robinson, General Hospital actor who coined ‘I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV’, dies aged 86

The Florida-born actor also appeared in long-running soap opera ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’

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