20 h. ago ‘Decision to do this secretly is surprising’: NGV returns painting lost in Nazi era to Jewish family

The museum has declined to answer key questions about the decision to return the artwork, prompting the New York-based researcher who uncovered the story to challenge the NGV’s handling of the caseFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe National Gallery of Victoria has quietly returned a 17th-century painting to the descendants of a Jewish family who lost it during the Nazi era, without public announcement or explanation.The painting, Lady with a Fan by Gerard ter Borch, was removed from the NGV’s website in early September. The only public trace of its return appeared weeks later, in an update to the Lost Art Database in Germany. Continue reading...

Society

6 d. ago Why is this Fox News host speculating about AOC’s sex life? | Arwa Mahdawi

Even his colleague has dubbed Jesse Watters’s claim about Ocasio-Cortez and Stephen Miller ‘creepy’Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and United States homeland security adviser, is one of the most influential people in the Trump administration. He is also such a hate-filled little man that members of his own family are publicly rebuking him.During Donald Trump’s first term, in 2018, Miller’s uncle, Dr David Glosser, wrote a piece for Politico calling Miller an “immigration hypocrite”. Glosser noted that if Miller’s hardline immigration policies “had been in force a century ago, our family [Jewish refugees who fled to the US from Europe to avoid persecution] would have been wiped out”.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago ‘Are the neighbours’ curtains twitching? Good!’ Avril A, the 80s housewife who became a star of Manchester’s gay scene

She sang out of tune, her choreography was bizarre – and everyone who saw her loved her. As her superb music is rereleased, her family and fans recall a subcultural greatWhen Joanne Rosenthal was a kid in Manchester, gatherings of her religious Jewish family were enlivened by the presence of her uncle’s eccentric wife. “Mad eye makeup; larger than life. You’d say to her: ‘Auntie Avril, can I give you some more chicken?’ And she’d say: ‘Go on, Joanne, my punters love me with a bit of meat on.’ Hang on, what are you talking about, your punters?”There would be other “tantalising references to her career on stage” besides, but no further info. “Everyone’s sitting there at Passover or Jewish New Year and no one asks any follow-up questions!” Rosenthal continues. “It’s like everyone accepts that Auntie Avril is this subversive presence. When I told her I was getting into music, she said: ‘Quit school, join a band, get on the road, never look back – you won’t regret it.’ It was a very humd...

Culture

2 w. ago ANGELA EPSTEIN: The Manchester synagogue was my family's place of worship. I feel shock and a burning fury

The Heaton Park synagogue was my family's place of worship for decades. On Jewish festivals and sporadic Sabbath days, my late mum, my sister and I would go together.

Events

3 w. ago Henry Jaglom, fiercely independent director and friend of Orson Welles, dies aged 87

Known for his actor-centred style, he made films with Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson and his conversations with the Citizen Kane legend became an acclaimed bookHenry Jaglom, the maverick film-maker best known for a string of low-budget, fiercely independent dramas made over more than 50 years as well as his friendship with Orson Welles, has died aged 87. His daughter Sabrina Jaglom told Deadline: “My father passed at home on Monday with my brother Simon and I and [former wife] Victoria Foyt by his side.” In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter she added: “My dad was the most loving, fun, entertaining and unique father and the biggest cheerleader and champion anyone could be lucky enough to have.”Born in London in 1938 to a Jewish family forced to leave Germany earlier in the decade, Jaglom relocated to the US with his family and grew up in New York. Originally embarking on a career as an actor, he studied at the Actors Studio and became a contract player for Columbia Pictures, wi...

Events

3 w. ago The hard right are claiming the cross – and true Christians should not allow it | Polly Toynbee

British church leaders have finally spoken out about the dangerous rise of Christian nationalism. But their message was far too timidNot here in this tolerant green and pleasant land of gentle, if deserted, country churches. No, surely Britain is well-fortified against American-style extreme evangelism. But Christianity erupts in its latest manifestation as far-right nationalist politics cosplaying as piety. Take seriously these Christian soldiers marching onward as to war under Tommy Robinson’s banner, some dressed as crusaders. “Are we still a Christian country?” a GB News reporter asked the prime minister, who wriggled uncomfortably beside Donald Trump at their press conference.Keir Starmer is an atheist and a humanist who celebrates Jewish festivals with his family, so here’s his reply verbatim: “Yeah, look, I mean, in terms of a Christian country, I was christened. So, that is my church has been, um, all my life. And we are, that is, wired into our informal constitution. Of cou...

Politics