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Aphrodite review – a trashy way to treat the goddess of love
The Ashmolean Museum’s Aphrodite exhibition brings together world-class loans and explores how the goddess has inspired artists through the ages, yet the curatorial approach is disjointed and fails to tell a coherent story. Rather than developing a clear narrative through European art—from Botticelli’s influential Venus paintings onwards—the exhibition shifts focus to an archaeological theory that…
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Councils to send toilet training advice to families with school offers
Up to 20 councils plan to send potty training guides to families with their primary school offers this spring, following research that found one in four children started Reception in nappies last year. The scheme aims to help children become toilet independent before school and reduce the time teachers spend dealing with toileting accidents. A…
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Canadian doctors warn assisted dying approvals lack safeguards after woman’s case
Canadian psychiatry professors Gary Rodin and Madeline Li from the University of Toronto have raised serious concerns about their country’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) system, warning that it approves cases too readily. In a high-profile example, an elderly woman was approved for assisted dying primarily because she had lost her ability to cook meals…
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Buckingham Palace launches £25 customisable and £12 chocolate advent calendars for 2026
Buckingham Palace has unveiled two advent calendars for 2026, including a £25 unfilled design and a 24-chocolate calendar priced at £12. The range offers a lower-cost alternative to Meghan Markle’s £112 As Ever calendar, while the customisable box lets buyers choose their own treats. The Palace chocolate calendar weighs 95g and features festive illustrations of…
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‘Transgender’ killer who hunted female hiker down as she scrambled over barbed wire fence to try and escape him admits murder in plea deal that’ll spare him death penalty
Zion Teasley, 25, has pleaded guilty to murdering Lauren Heike, 29, on a Phoenix hiking trail in 2023, in a deal that removes the possibility of the death penalty. The case has drawn attention to how Heike was attacked at random and the evidence investigators used to identify her killer. Prosecutors said Teasley ambushed and…
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GOP alarm bells as Democrats target six Trump strongholds and deep red Kansas teeters after 94 years
Democrats have added six House seats that Donald Trump won by double-digit margins in 2024 to their target list ahead of the midterms. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the strength of frontline incumbents is allowing the party to attack in Trump-supporting districts. Democrats are projected to pick up at least 15 House seats and…
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Russian guided bombs kill three in Kharkiv with one wounded factory worker left with a nail in his head
Russian guided bombs struck the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Monday, killing three people and injuring 29 others, including at least three children. One factory worker suffered a distinctive injury when a nail became lodged in his forehead during the attack. Residential buildings and warehouses were damaged, and authorities launched search and rescue operations fearing…
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Baby died after doctors mistook mother’s internal bleeding for ‘trapped wind’, inquest told
A baby died after doctors mistook her mother’s life-threatening internal bleeding for trapped wind. When Kimberley Newark attended Princess Royal Hospital at 34 weeks pregnant with severe abdominal pain in September 2024, maternity staff dismissed her symptoms and gave her pain relief and colic tablets instead of investigating properly. When her condition rapidly deteriorated and…
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Yemeni troops claim control of key Bab al-Mandab Strait
Yemen’s government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, have launched a major offensive against the Iran-backed Houthi movement, claiming to have “secured” the strategically important Bab al-Mandab Strait. The military operation marks a significant escalation in the country’s ongoing civil war, with government forces besieging Houthis in the Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab and launching…
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High Court told no reunion steps taken for breastfed baby in care
A social worker told the High Court that, to her knowledge, nothing had been done to reunite a breastfed newborn with his mother after he entered State care. The case raises concerns about how the separation was handled, including the mother’s ability to maintain contact and receive information about her son’s health. The Child Law…