45 h. ago Royal Academy plunged into financial crisis amid plummeting visitor numbers as iconic art institution announces nearly 100 redundancies

The prestigious art institution in central London is getting rid of staff in a bid to secure its future amid plummeting visitor numbers and a lack of revenue following the coronavirus pandemic.

Events

6 d. ago Major high street fashion retailer New Look to shut down multiple stores

New Look has announced plans to close almost 100 stores as it grapples with challenges linked to tax changes

Politics

6 d. ago Giant chipmaker TSMC to spend $100B to expand chip manufacturing in US, Trump announces

Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to invest an additional $100 billion in the United States, President Donald Trump announced Monday as he appeared with the company’s head at the White House

Economics

7 d. ago Jack Vettriano: ‘His paintings are like a double cheeseburger in a greasy wrapper’

The Scot painted singing butlers, ‘broads’ in bras and tough guys in suits, in works critics found lurid, chintzy, devoid of irony and often sexist. But they were also hugely popular – showing the power of ‘I get it’ artJack Vettriano: a life in picturesIn 1992, Jack Vettriano’s painting The Singing Butler was rejected by the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Anyone who has seen some of the dross picked for display in the RA’s annual open submission collision of amateur artists and big stars in recent decades will be thinking: “Ouch, must’ve been a real dud.” But The Singing Butler not only wasn’t a dud, it went on to become one of the most ubiquitous and – whisper it – iconic British paintings since the second world war.And that tells you a lot about the Scottish artist, who has died at the age of 73. The art establishment has always despised him, but the rest of the world – if you can accept some awkward, problematic conception of “ordinary people” – absolutely lapped up his art. H...

Politics

9 d. ago Castles in the sky: the fantastical drawings of author Victor Hugo – in pictures

Although better known for his sprawling Romantic novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables, celebrated French author Victor Hugo spent much of his time drawing. A collection of about 70 of his sketches will soon be on display at the Royal Academy in London, in an exhibition bringing together caricatures, travel drawings and landscapes. Several of the drawings feature castles and ruins. “Hugo was inspired by ‘burgs’ – castles, fortresses or walled towns – that he saw when travelling along the Rhine, but he often drew fantastical castles that fuse memory and imagination,” says the exhibition’s curator Sarah Lea. “Hugo’s castle drawings range in tone from sinister and sublime to highly romantic and exquisitely detailed.”Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo is at the Royal Academy of Arts, London W1, 21 March to 29 June Continue reading...

Culture

2 w. ago Starbucks asks office workers to stay at home as it announces 1,100 job cuts

Corporate lay-offs are the first for coffee shop chain since 2018

Society

2 w. ago Avram Glazer just reminded Manchester United fans of their biggest enemy

Avram Glazer has once again insisted his family have no intention of relinquishing control of Man Utd despite plunging the club into a financial crisis.

Sport

2 w. ago High West: The whiskey outlaw thriving in Utah’s land of temperance

Utah isn’t the first place you’d expect to find world-class whiskey, but as Hannah Twiggs discovers, High West has made a name for itself by embracing the contradictions. In a state with some of the strictest alcohol laws in the country, this Park City institution has turned blending into an art form, carving out a space where skiers, whiskey lovers and outlaws of taste come together

Politics

2 w. ago Egypt announces first new royal tomb since King Tutankhamun was discovered over 100 years ago

Archaeologists have announced the discovery of the first royal tomb in Egypt since Tutankhamun's burial was uncovered in 1922.

Events

2 w. ago FireAid announces $50 million for LA community organizations helping those impacted by fires

FireAid, the benefit concert which raised an estimated $100 million to benefit those impacted by the LA fires, announced $50 million in grants for community-based organizations supporting families, food access, temporary housing, disaster case management and more

Economics

2 w. ago Egypt announces first new royal tomb since King Tutankhamen was discovered over 100 years ago

Archaeologists have announced the discovery of the first royal tomb in Egypt since Tutankhamun's burial was uncovered in 1922.

Events

2 w. ago ‘What a project, what a challenge!’: Africa’s leading architect gives Thomas Sankara a proper place of rest

Pritzker prize-winner Francis Kéré has designed a memorial to honour ‘Africa’s Che Guevara’, Burkina Faso’s visionary president who was assassinated in 1987Francis Kéré was the first African architect to win the Pritzker prize when he scooped the “Nobel prize of architecture” in 2022. A native of Gando, a small village in Burkina Faso’s Central-East region, Kéré was once criticised by his neighbours for building a school for the village before constructing a house for his parents. But that project has led to commissions including the new parliament building in Benin, the Goethe Institute Dakar and the Las Vegas Museum of Art.“I wanted to give something to my people, and that has given me an international career,” he says of his decision to build the school. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Ariana Grande puts on a showstopping display in a blush pink and black gown as she joins stunning Selena Gomez, Demi Moore and Camila Cabello on the red carpet for the 2025 BAFTAs

Gwendoline Christie was among the glamorous early arrivals as the 2025 EE British Academy Film Awards red carpet kicked off at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday.

Politics