For its 51st edition, the Angoulême International Comics Festival awarded the Grand Prix of the city to the British artist Posy Simmonds for her entire body of work and American Daniel Clowes received the prestigious Fauve d’Or for his latest book Monica. It was on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at the opening of the 51st … Continue reading “Angoulême Festival 2024: British and American Winners!”
Chita Rivera, a Broadway icon, has died age 91. Her first major role was originating the character of Anita in the original stage production of West Side Story in 1957. She was born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero in Washington, D.C., in 1993 to a Puerto Rican father and a mother with Scottish-Irish origins. (Not … Continue reading “West Side Story Legend Dies”
As of 21 January, Nikki Haley is the only opponent to Donald Trump in the Republican Presidential primaries. Who is the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations? Born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in South Carolina in 1972, Haley, 51, is the daughter of Indian Sikh immigrants. She worked in the family … Continue reading “U.S Election: Nikki Haley”
The electoral process for a U.S. President is long, with many candidates declaring their campaigns six or even 12 months before primary season opens in January. But this year, the primaries could lack suspense, with one incumbent candidate, President Joe Biden for the Democrats, and one Republican, Donald Trump dominating that party’s primary process despite … Continue reading “On the Election Road: U.S.A. 2024”
Heman Bekele, 14, from Virginia, has been named America’s Top Young Scientist 2023 for developing a soap that could replace expensive medicines as a treatment for some forms of skin cancer. The ninth-grade student was one of 10 finalists in this year’s 3M Young Scientist Challenge. The teens all applied for the challenge in a … Continue reading “Teen Scientist Wins Award for Soap to Treat Cancer”
Traditionally, the U.S. presidential election primary season starts off not with a primary but with a caucus. What’s the difference? Both primaries and caucuses are a way to choose candidates for a party’s election campaign. Not only party members vote – all voters can choose to register as Democrat or Republican when they sign up … Continue reading “Caucus vs Primary”
‘Tis the season for various dictionaries to reveal their “words of the year”. It has been the word on everyone’s lips, so it’s not surprising that the UK’s Collins Dictionary, as well as Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary people’s choice was AI. But we came across a few we were unfamiliar with, such as “rizz” and “cozzie … Continue reading “Words of the Year: 2023”
All through Elizabeth II’s long reign, the Queen’s Speech was shorthand for the UK’s State Opening of Parliament, which takes place annually at the beginning of each parliamentary session. The monarch reads out a speech to the assembled Houses of Lords and Commons detailing the government’s programme of legislation for the upcoming year. On 7 … Continue reading “What is the King’s Speech?”
Three weeks after Kevin McCarthy became the first ever Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to be voted out of the Speaker’s chair, the House finally elected a new Speaker on 25 October, the fourth candidate to attempt election: Mike Johnson from Louisiana. Johnson was elected on his first try on Wednesday, with all … Continue reading “Found: Speaker”
On 14 October, Australians voted 60-40% against a referendum proposal on a change to the Constitution that would have given Indigenous Australians a greater voice in the legislature. If approved, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice would have been a consultative body to advise lawmakers on issues affecting Indigenous Australians. Labor Prime Minister Anthony … Continue reading “Australia Says No in Indigenous Representation Referendum “
