Person drives into Chinese consulate in San Francisco and is killed by police after confrontation, authorities say
A person who crashed a vehicle into the Chinese consulate in San Francisco Monday was shot and killed after being confronted by police in the lobby, authorities said.
2023-10-10 11:57
College football rankings: Top 25 teams re-ranked by strength of record in Week 7
Would the Oklahoma Sooners and Florida State Seminoles be higher in the college football rankings if strength of record was truly taken into account?
2023-10-10 05:59
Israel-Gaza attacks: Vigil for victims held at Downing Street
Some held up pictures of those taken hostage or killed, some lit candles, while others stood in tears.
2023-10-10 05:52
Israeli music festival: Londoner's son fled militant attack
Elliot Sorene, a London-based surgeon, describes how his son escaped the attacks in Israel.
2023-10-09 22:29
Rashod Bateman avoids media after miserable afternoon, dropped passes
Baltimore Ravens wideout Rashod Bateman appeared dejected after Sunday's loss to the Steelers.
2023-10-09 06:48
3 Ravens to blame for giving Steelers a win and AFC North lead
The Baltimore Ravens surrendered the AFC North lead by giving the Steelers a win and making Pittsburgh look, for once, competent. These figures are to blame.
2023-10-09 05:29
Bristol's Sustainable Fashion Week makes global impact
Its third year saw the Bristol idea expand across the UK, and in India, Papua New Guinea and the US.
2023-10-08 16:20
Projected college football rankings after Alabama holds off A&M, Wazzu upset
Alabama overcame mistakes to defeat Texas A&M, while UCLA handed Washington State their first loss. Here's how these results could affect the AP Top 25 rankings.
2023-10-08 08:15
In the Market: Looking at the Top QB Prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft Class, Week 5 edition
Check out the standout performances of college football's top quarterbacks in Week 5. Who's making waves for the 2024 NFL Draft?
2023-10-08 01:30
How Naomi Campbell proved all her haters wrong – including me
In 1999, I was sent to interview Naomi Campbell. Friendly, she was not. In fact, 24 years on, she remains one of the most difficult people I’ve ever interviewed. I now know why. Even though I worked in fashion for 20 years, it took the recent documentary The Super Models for me to understand the unique challenges Campbell has faced. This is because I am a naive white woman. As anyone who has watched the four-part series will attest, despite all occupying the highest echelons of modelling, it transpires that Cindy, Christy, Linda and Naomi were never actually equal. Some are richer. Some are healthier. Some found love. And one had to deal with a lifetime of systemic racism. Life doesn’t deal all of us the same hand, even if, on the face of it, we are equally deserving. No matter that you are one of the world’s top models: sometimes, life still gives you lemons. And that’s when you are faced with a choice – to let it sour you, or to make lemonade. Beyoncé may have made an album about this, but Naomi Campbell has made it the defining principle of her entire career. Her 40-year reign at the top of her profession reminds us that there are supermodels, and there are SUPER models. Even Cindy, Christy and Linda would probably admit that out of the four of them, their friend is most deserving of the title. For not only has Campbell, 53, carved out a stellar career as a model: she’s also an activist and philanthropist, an advocate for social change who hasn’t just walked the walk (and what a walk), but has put in the time and done the hard work. As one of the first Black models to achieve supermodel status, Campbell broke barriers and opened doors for models of colour, changing perceptions of beauty in the fashion industry and paving the way for more diversity and representation. It is far from perfect now, but few would argue that she was a pioneer. Ever since being discovered as a schoolgirl in Covent Garden, London, at the age of 15, Campbell has been changing the game, despite said game being stacked against her. Aged 17, she became the first Black model to be on the cover of British Vogue since 1966. Aged 27, she became the first Black model to open a Prada show (one of the show season’s biggest badges of honour). Aged 29, years after her white peers, she signed her first contract with a cosmetics company – a division of Wella – to launch a scent. How old was Campbell when she scored her first beauty contract? Forty-eight. Despite being the most famous Black model of her time, Campbell never earned the same money as her peers, because those lucrative beauty contracts – the ones that bring in the serious money – weren’t given to her. “There is prejudice,” she admitted in 1997. “This business is about selling, and blonde, blue-eyed girls are what sells.” In 2013, she joined with fellow Black models to form an advocacy group, Diversity Coalition, penning an open letter to the governing bodies of global fashion weeks to call out high-profile designers who used just one or no models of colour in that season’s shows and calling it a “racist act”. Even though it could have jeopardised her career to do so, she spoke up, in the hope that those coming up behind her wouldn’t have to suffer the same prejudices. While it would be an egregious form of whitewashing to gloss over the disadvantages Campbell has faced, it would be just as much of a disservice to paint her as a victim. For she is not a victim: she is an absolute queen. For every lemon lobbed her way, she’s countered with a dose of sugar, making lemonade where less resilient women would have crumbled. She is the queen of turning negatives into positives: think of her tumble at the Vivienne Westwood show in 1993, when she fell off her nine-inch platforms and landed in a fit of giggles. Instagram was yet to exist, but the incident still went “viral”, with other designers begging her to fake a fall in their shows, to garner the same publicity. When social media did come to exist, Campbell swiftly proved she was a natural. While some models proved themselves to be only marginally less vapid than anticipated, Campbell’s deadpan humour was a delicious surprise. Who can forget 2019’s “Airport Routine”, a YouTube video as seminal as “Charlie Bit My Finger”? ‘I do not care what people think of me,” she says, donning disposable gloves and swabbing down her tray table with a Dettol wipe. In the supermodel documentary, she pokes fun at herself again, this time when experiencing a hot flush during a fashion shoot. “Lord!” she says, pacing agitatedly while looking unfeasibly more gorgeous than most women in the throes of a sweat. “One minute I’m fine, the next I’m a furnace. Why do men not get menopause?” Clearly, Naomi isn’t perfect. She was convicted of assault on four occasions between 1998 and 2009, leading her to take anger management therapy. She has battled addictions to alcohol and cocaine. Last month, she faced a backlash for her collaboration with the fast fashion giant Pretty Little Thing, with critics pointing out that as a woman of colour, she should be especially sensitive to the plight of low-paid garment workers in a way that Molly Mae Hague, presumably, should not. “Do they say anything when other caucasian models have worked for fast fashion brands?” Campbell clapped back in an interview. “They’ve not said a word. So why are they coming for me?” However often they come for her, Campbell will always roll with the punches, pick herself back up again, and keep fighting. She is a survivor: a south London girl done good, a woman who has had to work harder than many of her peers simply to get to the same place, yet has still surpassed them. Of all the supermodels, only Naomi is recognised all over the world, from Gravesend to Ghana. As her friend and mentor, Edward Enninful, once said, “Naomi represents what is possible.” The world doesn’t need another famous female white role model. But it unquestionably needs more Black ones. This is why the V&A’s forthcoming exhibition – the first ever to be dedicated to a solo model – is such welcome news. Launching in June 2024, in addition to displaying 100 curated outfits Campbell has worn throughout her modelling years (a reason alone to visit) the exhibition will also cover her philanthropic work and activism. For Naomi is more than fashion. She is history: Black history, a subject too often seen through a white lens, or not documented as thoroughly as it should be. Above all, she is the ultimate embodiment of the saying “be the thing you wish to see”, a role model for any girl who aspires to be strong and successful. Now a mother to two children of her own, at 53, Naomi Campbell is at the top of her game. That she had to fight so hard to get there no doubt makes her achievement feel all the sweeter. She fought so the daughters of others wouldn’t have to. That’s what queens do. V&A exhibition ‘NAOMI’ will run from 22 June 2024 to 6 April 2025 Read More Naomi Campbell: British supermodel’s career to be honoured in new V&A exhibition Naomi Campbell opens up about past drug and alcohol addiction It’s 2023 and we still defer to pretty people. 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2023-10-07 16:17
At least 18 Venezuelan and Haitian migrants killed in Mexico bus crash
A bus crash in the Mexican state of Oaxaca killed 18 people on Friday, according to local authorities, who say most of the passengers were migrants.
2023-10-07 04:26
Millennials explain to Gen-Z how to wear ballet flats correctly as shoes come back in style
Millennials have decided to give Gen-Zers tips and tricks on how to rock ballet flats in light of the shoes’ recent fashion comeback. Julie S Lalonde (@JulieSLalonde) posted a warning to Gen-Z on X, formerly known as Twitter, that has since been viewed over 1.8 million times, saying: “Ballet flats are coming back in style but do not go down this road. They might seem cute and practical, but you will stress about going to someone’s house because the smell of your feet once you take those shoes off is KILLER.” Millennials flooded the replies with their own experiences, with many complaining about the shoes’ lack of “arch support” and noting that the flats made their “feet stink,” especially after it was worn in the rain. One user joked that the post “triggered an intense olfactory memory,” while someone else added: “The pain is killer from flexing your foot to keep it on, which is often the opposite of what you need to support your arch. You’re better off in flip flops.” Another person said: “I’ve begun smelling the smell on public transit... there are youths unable to resist the shoe’s siren song and we’re all suffering for it.” But some had a much more positive spin on ballet flats’ resurgence in popularity, offering the younger generation advice on how to avoid smelly feet and make sure that their feet were properly supported. Heidi N Moore (@moorehn) said that while she isn’t all too happy that ballet flats are making a comeback and does “not support” their return, she does have some tips for wearing the shoes. “The issue with stinky shoes is that people do not give their shoes time to breathe between wearings. So you have to rotate the ballet flats with other shoes,” she explained. Moore continued to say that while people could wear “sockettes,” wearers must make sure that their feet are “immaculately clean AND DRY before wearing the shoe”. She also recommended not to “wear the same shoes (of any kind) three days in a row” because it wouldn’t allow the flats to breathe. On the days between wearing the flats, Moore suggested sprinkling baking soda in the shoes. She added that given the range of ballet flats to choose from, including “pointed toes, mesh, straps (Mary Jane style)” and slingbacks, it would be wise to choose a ballet flat that allows for more “ventilation”. As for styling, Moore said that because of the “delicate” nature of the shoe, it requires “delicate styling”. Pieces like wide-legged jeans or anything that doesn’t showcase “the narrowness of the ankle” will only overshadow the shoes. She recommended pairing ballet flats with chiffon and tulle skirts, and more controversially, skinny jeans. “If you wear a ballet flat with something that doesn’t show the delicacy of the ankle ... just don’t wear them. They won’t look right,” she advised. Other X users had similar words of wisdom for Gen-Zers, with user @robynasaldino writing that those who were worrried about a lack of arch support could “buy liners/socks with gel or memory foam cushioned insoles”. She added: “They’re orthopedic and meant for those with low arches, but really should just be worn by everyone if you’re wearing flats. Get those.” Like Moore, she begged people to add “some foot powder for after each wear. Please”. Meanwhile, Angela Zhang (@angelahzhang) chimed in: “A one- to two-inch block heel, structured but flexible leather, insoles, and paired with ruffled socks are the way to go. Honestly, that’s never been out of style in my book.” But having been a former ballerina, she cautioned wearers that anything resembling “a real ballet slipper will absolutely ruin you”. Read More Love Miu Miu’s ballet flats? Nail the ballerina-inspired style with these similar high-street pairs The grown-up guide to getting ‘balletcore’ right Why are millennials like me so stressed about having children? Crocs announces the launch of new cowboy boots to mixed reactions Sarah Jessica Parker wears mismatched heels to New York City Ballet Gala
2023-10-07 03:23