Author: Darren Smith

A major new exhibition tracing 80 years of artistic exchange between South Korea and Japan has opened at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, in Gwacheon, marking the 60th anniversary of normalised diplomatic relations between the two countries and bringing together around 200 works by 43 artists and artist teams. “Road movie: Art between Korea and Japan since 1945” was jointly organised by the Korean museum and the Yokohama Museum of Art, where it first opened late last year and drew approximately 37,000 visitors before travelling to Gwacheon. The exhibition spans the period from Korea’s liberation in…

A family-run department store that has served Warrington for more than a century will close its doors next month, as rising costs, online shopping and the growth of out-of-town retail parks finally bring an end to a business that survived two world wars and a terrorist bombing. Hancock & Wood first opened on Bridge Street in 1914 and has remained on the same site for 112 years, run throughout by four generations of the Hancock family. Director Christopher Hancock said the decision to close had brought “sleepless nights” as he considered how to break the news to staff, but that…

Switzerland goes to the polls on Sunday to decide on a proposal that would impose a hard cap on the country’s population at 10 million — a measure unprecedented among democracies, which has split the country down the middle and reignited a fierce national debate over immigration, identity and Switzerland’s place in Europe. The proposal is backed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which frames it as a “sustainability initiative” designed to ease pressure on housing, public services and the environment. It has been opposed by the Swiss government, every other major party, business leaders and trade unions, who have…

Gene Shalit, TODAY Show Film Critic, Dies Aged 100 Gene Shalit, the film critic whose walrus moustache, colourful bowties and love of wordplay made him a fixture of NBC’s TODAY show for four decades, has died at the age of 100, his family confirmed on Friday. “He passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life,” his family said in a statement to NBC News, adding: “The TODAY show was an extraordinary era for him.” Shalit joined TODAY as a part-time contributor in 1970 before moving into a full-time role three years later, going on to become the…

A 17-year-old girl is in hospital after being stabbed in the neck in a broad daylight attack on a residential street in Brierfield, near Nelson, with armed police swooping on the scene and a 30-year-old man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Lancashire Police said officers were called to Wood Street at 3.06pm on reports of a stabbing. A force spokesperson said: “We were called at 3.06pm today to Wood Street, Brierfield, to a report of stabbing. It was reported that a 17-year-old girl had been assaulted and suffered a stab injury to her neck.” The girl’s injuries are not…

Former USA international Alexi Lalas left World Cup viewers stunned after using a crude British slang term to describe Fox colleague James Corden during live coverage on just the second day of the tournament. Lalas, who earned 96 caps for the United States and serves as one of Fox’s main analysts for the World Cup, made the comment during build-up coverage ahead of the opening match between Canada and Bosnia. Host Rebecca Lowe steered the panel — which also included football legends Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic — towards a promotional segment for Corden’s new late-night World Cup show, “After…

A 17-year-old girl has died after the car she was driving veered off the road and crashed into a tree in Kent, leaving two teenage passengers injured, with police now appealing for dashcam footage to help establish what happened. The collision occurred last night when a blue Seat Ibiza Xcellence left the road at a junction between Headcorn and Staplehurst and struck a tree. Emergency services, including paramedics and Kent Fire and Rescue Service, were scrambled to the scene, but the teenage driver was pronounced dead on arrival. Her next of kin have been informed. Police said the two passengers…

A 43-year-old man has been arrested after a violent brawl involving men armed with bats erupted outside a Smyths toy shop in Bermondsey, south London, on Friday morning, with reports suggesting the group had been queuing for Pokémon cards. Footage shared on X shows a group of hooded men swinging weapons at each other in the car park as horrified bystanders scream and shout. One man is seen falling to the ground amid the chaos, while another appears to land repeated blows on a victim before chasing him across the car park. The man attempting to flee is grabbed by…

The owner of Britain’s only pink Ferrari has been left without an insurance payout nearly three years after the £120,000 supercar was sent flying into bushes in a crash, after her insurer found the car had failed its MOT just days before the collision and was not legally roadworthy at the time. Lisa-Marie Brown, 45, who appeared on Channel 5’s Rich House Poor House, says she was badly injured and forced to stop working following the crash in Cardiff in August 2023. Footage of the collision shows her Ferrari travelling at between 30mph and 40mph when a second car approached…

Nearly 80 ragdoll cats and kittens have been rescued from a Pennsylvania home where investigators say the animals had been living among piles of trash, faeces and urine, in conditions described by officials as among the worst they have ever encountered. The Pennsylvania SPCA confirmed it removed 78 ragdoll cats and kittens from a residence in Lancaster Township on Tuesday after executing a search warrant. According to NBC Philadelphia, the investigation began earlier in the week when Lancaster Township Police responded to the property for an unrelated call and discovered faeces and urine throughout the home, debris stacked from floor…