Search

"Outrageous": Stonehenge defaced by protesters

<p>In a highly divisive demonstration ahead of the Summer Solstice festival in the UK, climate activists from the Just Stop Oil group have sprayed Stonehenge with orange powder paint, leading to the arrest of two individuals.</p> <p>The protest, aimed at pushing for a legal commitment from the UK government to phase out fossil fuels by 2030, has sparked widespread condemnation.</p> <p>The ancient site of Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site managed by English Heritage, was targeted early on Tuesday. Videos shared on social media show activists in “Just Stop Oil” T-shirts spraying a cluster of the prehistoric stones with orange cornflour from small canisters. The activists, Niamh Lynch, a 21-year-old student, and Rajan Naidu, 73, were quickly wrestled and apprehended by bystanders before being detained by police.</p> <p><a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">English Heritage</a> has launched an investigation to assess the extent of the damage to the stones, some of which are believed to be around 5,000 years old. A spokeswoman for the organisation described the protest as “extremely upsetting” but reassured that the site remains open to the public.</p> <p>“We are working closely with English Heritage to understand the damage caused by this act,” said a spokesperson for Wiltshire Police. “Our inquiries are ongoing.”</p> <p>The protest has drawn sharp rebukes from leaders of the UK’s major political parties, coming at a crucial time during the campaign for the upcoming general election on July 4. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the act as “a disgraceful act of vandalism”, and called for the group to be held accountable.</p> <p>Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is favoured to become the next prime minister, also criticised the protesters, calling the act “outrageous” and demanding that “those responsible must face the full force of the law.” </p> <p>Just Stop Oil, founded in 2022, has been vocal in its opposition to new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea. The group’s actions, which often disrupt daily life and major events, have led to numerous arrests and jailings of its members.</p> <p>A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil defended the Stonehenge protest, stating that while the Labour Party has pledged not to issue new oil and gas drilling licenses, this is insufficient. “We need a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030,” the spokesperson said. “If the government fails to act, we will continue our resistance this summer.”</p> <p><em>Images: Twitter (X)</em></p>

Legal

Beloved Home and Away star shares major health update

<p><em>Home and Away</em> star Georgie Parker has shocked her online followers by revealing she has undergone a major surgery. </p> <p>The actress, who plays Roo Stewart in the Channel Seven soap, is currently recovering from her second hip replacement and this week posted a series of pictures taken from her hospital bed after the operation.</p> <p>Now three weeks into her recovery, the 59-year-old is undergoing extensive rehabilitation.</p> <p>“I’ve been busy. Finishing a play and then straight into another theatre (get it) for a new hip,” she said on Instagram.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C7rI2iApE3K/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C7rI2iApE3K/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by georgieparker (@georgieparker)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“My second in six years, and thank god I had the same brilliant surgeon and his team."</p> <p>“I hate the drugs but love the rehab. I’m three weeks post op, recovery is going well and I’ve had the most brilliant support from my family, my workplace and my incredible friends.”</p> <p>She ended her post saying, “Practising patience now while I heal ... so I can get back to work baby.”</p> <p>Parker's famous friends took to the comments to wish her the best during her recovery, including fellow actor Hugh Sheridan who said, “Hip hip hooray!! We’ll be bending and stretching on play school together again in no time.”</p> <p>“Wishing you the speediest of recoveries Georgie!” actor Kat Stewart said.</p> <p>Parker previously spoke out about living with scoliosis, something she has suffered from since a child when she dreamed of becoming a dancer. </p> <p>“Every scoliosis is different, it’s like a fingerprint — but mine is all in the torso, I’ve lost about three inches (7.6cm) in height,” she told <a href="https://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/health/celebrity-profiles/how-the-home-and-away-stars-stay-healthy-all-year-round/news-story/a4072ec268f7e26cbc4926faf4e7fede" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-type="article-inline"><em>Body + Soul</em> in 2020. </a></p> <p>“It impacts me on a daily basis and I just have to stay fit to keep my back as functional as possible.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram </em></p>

Caring

"What gives?" Victorian MP slams "photoshopped" image

<p>A Victorian MP has slammed Channel Nine for airing a "photoshopped" image of her, in which her outfit was made more "revealing" and her breasts were "enlarged". </p> <p>Georgie Purcell, an MP for the Animal Justice Party, was featured on Nine News on Monday night during a segment about duck hunting, with the network using a promotional image of the MP for the TV package. </p> <p>However, Ms Purcell claims the major news work altered the photo, and took to social media to share a side by side comparison of the original image and the one Nine aired. </p> <p>“I endured a lot yesterday. But having my body and outfit photoshopped by a media outlet was not on my bingo card,” she wrote alongside the images. </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">I endured a lot yesterday.</p> <p>But having my body and outfit photoshopped by a media outlet was not on my bingo card.</p> <p>Note the enlarged boobs and outfit to be made more revealing. </p> <p>Can’t imagine this happening to a male MP. </p> <p>What gives? <a href="https://t.co/NhnkDRMidc">pic.twitter.com/NhnkDRMidc</a></p> <p>— Georgie Purcell (@georgievpurcell) <a href="https://twitter.com/georgievpurcell/status/1752088649527853107?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2024</a></p></blockquote> <p>“Note the enlarged boobs and outfit to be made more revealing," she added, pointing out that her white top had been altered to look like a crop top, showing off her midriff.</p> <p>“Can’t imagine this happening to a male MP. What gives?”</p> <p>In a second tweet, Purcell pointed out her stomach has been tattooed since 2020 and the photoshopped image did not show any tattoos, despite her outfit being changed to show her stomach.</p> <p>On Tuesday, a statement was issued from Nine News Melbourne news director Hugh Nailon apologising for the “graphic error”.</p> <p>“Our graphics department sourced an online image of Georgie to use in our story on duck hunting,” he said.</p> <p>“As is common practice, the image was resized to fit our specs. During that process, the automation by Photoshop created an image that was not consistent with the original.</p> <p>“This did not meet the high editorial standards we have and for that we apologise to Ms Purcell unreservedly.”</p> <p>Purcell told 7News that she only realised her image had been photoshopped when she watched Nine’s bulletin.</p> <p>“I noticed because my stomach didn’t have a tattoo on it. So I found the original photo and noticed not only had they given me abs and the crop top, but they’ve enlarged my breasts as well,” she said.</p> <p>“Seeing your own body altered on TV on the big screen is very confronting and I hope lessons are learnt from it."</p> <p>“This has affected me in some way and it could affect other women even more and it should never happen again.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: X (Twitter)</em></p> <p class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 1.125rem; line-height: 25px; font-size: 1.125rem; font-family: HeyWow, Montserrat, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; caret-color: #292a33; color: #292a33;"> </p>

Body

Celebrity chef Curtis Stone renews vows in stunning intimate ceremony

<p>Curtis Stone and his wife Lindsay Price have said "I do" for the second time in an intimate ceremony to renew their vows. </p> <p>The celebrity chef and his wife were joined by their two sons Hudson and Emerson for the ceremony, as they did readings and got involved in their parents vow renewal. </p> <p>Curtis and Lindsay first tied the knot in Spain ten years ago, and again travelled to a luxury villa in Mallorca for their renewal in a tiny chapel. </p> <p>Stone, 47, shared a series of pictures from the big day on Instagram and sweetly captioned them, "Ten years down. Forever to go."</p> <p>"Renewing our vows on the same island that we got married on with both of our boys was unreal."</p> <p>"Look at the world of memories we've created so far baby. Here's to many more."</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw2-MLupZ1t/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw2-MLupZ1t/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Lindsay Price (@lindsayjprice)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>American actress Price, 46, added, "Ten years ago on this island we said I do. And this little house just happened to have a little chapel."</p> <p>"So we just had to celebrate by doing it all over again. Having 10 years of life together means new promises with deeper meaning to each other. It's the four of us now. And, we do."</p> <p>In a video shared by Price, their sons say, "We now pronounce you husband and wife, again!"</p> <p>The couple, who are based in Los Angeles, met on a blind date back in 2009.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram</em></p>

Relationships

Everything you need to know about the Stone of Destiny

<p>An ancient and controversial block of stone has been sent over from Edinburgh Castle to London for the coronation of King Charles III.</p> <p>The stone arrived in London on April 29 and was carried from Scotland in a special carrier made from Scottish oak.</p> <p>Charles became King immediately following the <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/queen-elizabeth-passed-away-peacefully-at-96" target="_blank" rel="noopener">death of Queen Elizabeth II</a> on September 8 and was officially proclaimed King by the Accession Council on September 10.</p> <p>However, the coronation on May 6 will see him officially crowned as King — with a stone held captive in England for almost 700 years lending a hand.</p> <p>The Stone of Destiny, or the Stone of Scone, is an oblong block of sandstone standing just 66 centimetres high.</p> <p>Its earliest origins are unknown, but it has a long history spanning at least 1,200 years.</p> <p>The stone was first used to crown a Scottish king in 840 AD when Kenneth McAlpin used it in his coronation in the village of Scone. Since then, around 60 kings and queens have sat upon it during their coronations.</p> <p>It is the world’s oldest artefact still used to make monarchs and represents the ancient roots of the kingdom of Scotland.</p> <p>For centuries, the stone was associated with the crowning of Scottish kings, including Macbeth.</p> <p>However, that changed in 1296, when Edward I, the “Hammer of the Scots”, seized it from the Scone Abbey amid a war north of the border and had it taken back to England.</p> <p>He had the stone built into a special chair which has since been marked the Coronation Chair.</p> <p>It was a blunt message to the Scottish, taking away the stone which had been used to crown generations of their monarchs. Since then, English kings and queens would sit upon the stone and claim the right to rule Scotland as well.</p> <p>The stone of Destiny is usually displayed in the Crown Room in Edinburgh Castle but has travelled far since it was first brought to Scone.</p> <p>Edward I had the stone installed in Westminster Abbey in London, where it remained for almost 700 years, until Christmas Day, 1950.</p> <p>That was when four Scottish students “liberated” the stone from the abbey - sneaking into the church at about 4am, according to <em>BBC</em>.</p> <p>The last of the former students involved in the heist, Ian Hamilton, died on October 3, 2022, aged 97.</p> <p>Mr Hamilton said a piece of the stone broke off as they began to drag it, and he picked it up and ran with it as if it was a rugby ball.</p> <p>The group of students temporarily buried the blocks before driving them to Scotland where they were given to the Scottish Covenant Association and put back together.</p> <p>A few months later, the association decided it should be returned to London.</p> <p>In 1996, the stone was officially returned to Scotland amid a ceremony at Edinburgh Castle.</p> <p>The Stone of Destiny is traditionally used in coronation ceremonies, and King Charles III’s will be no different.</p> <p>It was last used in 1953, after being brought back from Arbroath, for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.</p> <p>In 2020, Scotland’s then-first minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed plans to relocate the stone permanently in Perth, central Scotland.</p> <p>The stone will only leave Scotland for a coronation in Westminster Abbey.</p> <p>King Charles III will sit upon the stone, within the Royal Throne, for his coronation on May 6.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

International Travel

Georgie Parker drops big Home and Away news

<p><em>Home and Away</em> star Georgie Parker, has revealed she is leaving the show.</p> <p>According to a report on <em>Yahoo</em>, Georgie is taking a seven-week break and is set to be off-screen by August 2022.</p> <p>The actress, who first joined the show in 2010, replacing Justine Clarke as Ruth “Roo” Stewart, will perform in the play <em>Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica</em>.</p> <p>Georgie said she was lucky that production wrote her out of scripts as she took on different artistic ventures.</p> <p>“I'm lucky that with or any other TV productions I've been involved with, I've been very fortunate that I kind of put it out there if it's going to be long term, that I need time out for plays,' Georgie told Yahoo.</p> <p>“Channel Seven has always been very generous with letting me do that. I just get it written into my contract,” she added.</p> <p>She is one of Australia’s most beloved actresses, having appeared on <em>All Saints</em> and <em>A Country Practice</em>.</p> <p>The star married her husband, Steve Worland, in 1999 and gave birth to their daughter Holly in 2000.</p> <p>Georgie told <em>TV week</em> in 2022 that she struggled with juggling her career and being a new mum.</p> <p>“I got married and became a mum when I won the first Gold Logie,” she said.</p> <p>“I was split between a lot of things. It was a very stressful time.</p> <p>“The struggle I had was that I'd never chased that kind of success, so when I got it, I was doing it more because I wanted the show to succeed.”</p> <p><em>Image credit: Instagram</em></p>

Major shake-up for the Sunrise team

<p>Rumours have long been rife that <em>Sunrise</em> will undergo a major shake-up, with Channel Seven finally confirming the news in a statement. </p> <p>A new face is set to join the team, with hosts Natalie Barr and David Koch welcoming Queensland reporter Georgie Chumley onboard.</p> <p>Georgie, who has long been a part of the <em>7News</em> team, will keep audiences updated on everything from the Sunshine State, starting on Monday 27th March.</p> <p>“It’s such a privilege to tell Queenslanders’ stories and I’m so excited to get the opportunity to share them with the rest of the country. I’ve grown up here and watched Brisbane shift from a big country town to a thriving city,” Georgie told <em><a href="https://7news.com.au/sunrise/entertainment/new-face-to-join-sunrise-team-c-9874987?fbclid=IwAR1S4H6uYRce_qHjuzKV-GWpERbzJm0jffsabn7f1C5LHeQU4EvK9BSpM8Y" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" data-ylk="slk:7News;cpos:2;pos:1" data-rapid_p="9" data-v9y="1">7News</a></em>.</p> <p>“We have so much to offer and with so many Sydneysiders and Victorians moving here … the rest of Australia is now catching on. I can’t wait to see you on <em>Sunrise</em>!”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CnWVkn3v_BE/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CnWVkn3v_BE/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Georgie Chumbley (@georgiechumbley)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Georgie's announcement comes just days after publication New Idea shared their speculation that the addition of Dr Chris Brown to Channel Seven is part of a grand scheme for him to replace Kochie when he retires. </p> <p>“Chris would be wanting the ‘holy grail’ of plum roles — which has to be Kochie’s <em>Sunrise</em> gig!” the source said.</p> <p>“Chris could become fill-in host until the time comes to make it permanent. Can you imagine how great he and Nat [Barr] would be together on screen?!”</p> <p><span style="caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;">Kochie, 66,</span> <span style="caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px;">is in the middle of planning his retirement, but has committed to staying at Seven's breakfast show for at least another two years.</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; caret-color: #212529; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji';">He signed a contract extension in October 2022, locking him in until the end of 2024, but negotiated for “greater flexibility” in his schedule.</p> <p>Speaking to <em><a href="https://www.nowtolove.com.au/celebrity/celeb-news/sunrise-kochie-grandchildren-family-70364" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" data-i13n="cpos:8;pos:1" data-ylk="slk:Woman's Day;cpos:8;pos:1" data-rapid_p="15" data-v9y="1">Woman's Day</a></em> in 2021, he said, "[I'll stay] while I'm still enjoying it and while viewers want me to do it. They're the ultimate boss".</p> <p><em>Image credits: Sunrise</em></p>

Neighbours reveals which stars are moving back to Ramsay Street

<p>New details have emerged over which <em>Neighbours</em> cast members will be returning to Ramsay St when the series launches on Amazon’s FreeVee late 2023. </p> <p>The show - axed after 27 years on air - will benefit from the presence of a few fan favourite faces, with Annie Jones, Rebekah Elmaloglou, Georgie Stone, and Tim Kano reprising their roles as Jane Harries, Terese Willis, Mackenzie Hargreaves, and Leo Tanaka respectively. </p> <p>And for those hoping to see Ramsay St’s iconic faces in the mix again, have no fear, Ian Smith will be returning at Harold Bishop. He will, however, only be returning as a guest, along with April Rose Pengilly (the actress behind Chloe Brennan), and Melissa Bell (Lucy Robinson). </p> <p>The announcement is not the first to delight fans of the long-running soap, with the likes of Stefan Dennis (Paul Robinson), Jackie Woodburne (Susan Kennedy), Alan Fletcher (Karl Kennedy), and Ryan Moloney (Toadie Rebecchi) already having confirmed their commitment to the revival. </p> <p>Georgie Stone took to Instagram to share the news of her return, along with a series of snaps with her fellow cast members. </p> <p>“Ramsay Street here we come… (again!),” she captioned the image, noting her excitement and that fans should “stay tuned”.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CpNEXARrsfH/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CpNEXARrsfH/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Georgie Stone (@georgiestone)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Fans were thrilled with the news, and showered Georgie with their enthusiasm in the comments - a few, however, were miffed that they’d been through an entire finale only to have to pick it all back up again. </p> <p>“Fantastic to see the familiar favourites all coming back!” gushed one fan. “Can't wait for <em>Neighbours</em> to start back again! Honestly, I barely watch TV anymore without my daily fix of Neighbours.”</p> <p>“Yes, can't wait for watch <em>Neighbours </em>again,” echoed one. </p> <p>“Cannot wait to have you back on our screens,” wrote another.</p> <p>And in a comment that appeared to speak for the masses, one declared “love that you guys are all back!” </p> <p>The news was also shared to Neighbours’ official twitter account, with a special video from the cast members to commemorate the announcement. </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">We're so excited to announce that Annie Jones, Georgie Stone, Rebekah Elmaloglou and Tim Kano will be reprising their roles in the new episodes of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Neighbours?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Neighbours</a> later this year! 🎉✨ Plus we will have special guest appearances by Ian Smith, April Rose Pengilly & Melissa Bell! <a href="https://t.co/6ZLKkmKJWE">pic.twitter.com/6ZLKkmKJWE</a></p> <p>— Neighbours (@neighbours) <a href="https://twitter.com/neighbours/status/1630529084013834240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p><em>Neighbours</em>’ producers have announced that the series will not be jumping around with its timeline, instead picking up where the finale left off. </p> <p>The series is set to go into production in the next few months, with new episodes likely in the spring - Australians will be able to catch the first-run episodes on Channel 10, and one week later on Amazon Prime Video. </p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Veteran Sunrise star announces sudden retirement

<p>Sunrise reporter Bianca Stone has announced her resignation from Channel 7 after 18 years with the network.</p> <p>Stone’s decision has taken her colleagues by surprise, as she revealed she was leaving the show this week to consider the next step in her career.</p> <p>Stone has been a Queensland correspondent for the Aussie breakfast show for the past six years. She said in a statement that she officially resigned from the network four weeks ago after reassessing her career over the Christmas break.</p> <p>Stone said it came as a shock to the network, but she had been considering leaving for some time.</p> <p>The long-time Sunrise reporter and mother of three children aged 22, 9 and 8, said she found Sunrise a dream job, but the wake-up calls and pressures of presenting were growing tiresome.</p> <p>Stone shared that she was still breastfeeding her youngest daughter when she started with Sunrise and has been presenting a live local bulletin Queensland since 2021 to help overcome delays caused by daylight saving, meaning she has a daily alarm of 2am.</p> <p>The Sunrise reporter revealed, in the beginning, the excitement of the show far outweighed the early starts, but as she grew older and her daughter grew up, her mind changed.</p> <p>Over the Christmas break, Stone had a chance to catch up on sleep, and her youngest daughter told her, “mum, we really like you when you’re not sleepy and cranky,” which is what led her to consider her next career move.</p> <p>In 2021, Stone made headlines after a confrontation with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk about COVID vaccines, with some people suggesting she should consider getting into politics.</p> <p>Stone said that she hadn’t made any decisions about her future yet and was open to opportunities, including returning to Channel 7 in a freelance role.</p> <p>Her departure from the show has led to speculation about who will fill her role as the new Queensland correspondent.</p> <p>Seven’s director of morning television, Sarah Stinson, said that Bianca has been such a valued member of the Sunrise family and will leave with nothing but good wishes and our thanks.</p> <p>Image credit: Instagram</p>

Sharon Stone struck by double family tragedy

<p>Sharon Stone’s brother, Patrick Stone, suddenly passed away on Sunday in Pennsylvania, just 18 months after the family suffered the loss of his 11-month-old son, who died of organ failure in August 2021.</p> <p>The coroner’s office told <a href="http://www.apple.com/au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TMZ</a> that Patrick went into a sudden cardiac arrest caused by heart disease. His time of death is yet to be confirmed.</p> <p>A rep for Mr stone didn’t immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.</p> <p>According to TMZ, Tasha Stone, Patrick’s widow, shared the news of his death with friends, writing, “My heart feels like it’s been ripped out of my chest. Patrick went to be with our sweet River … I don’t know what else to say, he was my world.”</p> <p>“I’m not sure what life is supposed to look like without my husband by my side and quite honestly I don’t want to, but I will of course,” Tasha wrote. “I just hope that you always stay by my side watching over Hunter, Kaylee and I.”</p> <p>“Until we meet again I will forever hold you and our wonderful (and some not so wonderful but just as important) memories close to my heart and will visit those memories always. I love you honey babe. My wish through all of this is that now at least River has his daddy with him and I hope the two of you are having the best time.”</p> <p>Sharon, 64, first shared the news about her nephew, River, about a week before he died, saying he had entered total organ failure.</p> <p>“My nephew and godson River Stone was found in his crib w total organ failure today,” The actress wrote alongside a photo of River lying in a hospital bed hooked up to a machine.</p> <p>No further details of Patrick Stone’s death have been revealed.</p> <p>Image credit: Instagram</p>

News

"Stone the crows": Who made Ray "Alf" Meagher cry

<p><em>Home and Away</em> legend Ray Meagher has broken down on Channel Seven's <em>This Is Your Life</em> after a series of emotional tributes. </p> <p>The 78-year-old actor was discussing his life and career at Summer Bay when his past co-stars surprised him with endless praise for his role as Alf. </p> <p>The first tribute came from Chris Hemsworth, who thanked Ray in a pre-recorded message for his kindness and support during Chris's time on <em>Home and Away</em>. </p> <p>“Ray Meagher, godfather of Australian television, Australian icon, a flaming legend, my hero. Mate, what can I say?” he began.</p> <p>“I remember very vividly the first time I walked onto a <em>Home and Away</em> set, the first time I met you. I was teaming with excitement and nerves — mostly about meeting you, the man, the myth, the legend."</p> <p>“The moment arrived. I remember the doors busting open, and there you were down the end of the hallway, silhouetted by the sun, bathed in glorious light.</p> <p>“We locked eyes, we got closer. I took a big deep breath and I thought, ‘He’s probably not a hugger’. I lifted my hand…and dived off into the costume department because I had lost my nerve.”</p> <p>The audience chuckled at the <em>Thor</em> star’s hilarious recollection, but his next admission left Ray fighting back tears.</p> <p>“Sure enough, you came up to me and you said, ‘Chris, wonderful to meet you. You’re gonna do great here’. You were kind, genuine and supportive, and you’ve remained that through my entire career. Thank you so much buddy, I love you. You’re a dear friend.”</p> <p>Already overcome with emotion, Ray was presented with another surprise. </p> <p>Kate Ritchie, who played the role of Sally Fletcher on <em>Home and Away</em> for 20 years alongside Ray, walked onto the set and embraced her co-star. </p> <p>The pair watched a set of <em>Home and Away</em> scenes from 1990-2008, finishing with their on-screen goodbye at Palm Beach.</p> <p>“Ray is really so much of what I learned as a person, but also as a performer,” she began, before grabbing Ray’s hand.</p> <p>“And for both of us, we’ve played those characters for such a long time, that it is inevitable there is so much of us within them."</p> <p>“When I watch that footage…I actually see two friends. He’s watched me grow from a girl into a woman, and he’s really proud of me. So I’m glad I’ve made you proud, thank you."</p> <p>The Aussie icon told his former co-star that he’s still proud of her to this day, and his words "still stand".</p> <p>“You mean a lot to me Ray, you know that,” Kate added, causing Ray to wipe his tears away with a tissue.</p> <p>Ray has played Alf Stewart since 1988 and currently holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-serving actor in an Australian series.</p> <p>His appearance on This Is Your Life moved many Home and Away fans online, with floods of people sharing their gratitude for the veteran actor. </p> <p>"So emotional, tears are flowing. Congratulations Ray!! What a fantastic life!! You’re a wonderful man and a great actor,” one wrote on social media.</p> <p>“Crying happy tears. It was so lovely to see Ray (Alf) get recognised like this. ‘Stone the crow’ as he would say. I hope he keeps going on the show,” a second added.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Seven </em></p>

Archaeologists demand the British Museum return Rosetta Stone to Egypt

<p dir="ltr">More than 2,500 archaeologists have signed a petition for the British Museum to return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt. </p> <p dir="ltr">This effort, which was launched last month, has urged the Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to officially request the object’s return, along with 16 other artefacts that were illegally and unethically removed from the country.</p> <p dir="ltr">Earlier this year, renowned Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass called for the return of the Rosetta Stone, and announced his plans to form the petition. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Previously it was the government alone asking for Egyptian artefacts,” Monica Hanna, an archaeologist who co-founded the current restitution campaign, told CBS News. “But today this is the people demanding their own culture back.” </p> <p dir="ltr">The Rosetta Stone, a 2,200-year-old granodiorite stele inscribed with hieroglyphs, Ancient Egyptian Demotic script, and Ancient Greek, was discovered in 1799 during a Napoleonic campaign in Egypt, in which Napoleon’s troops apparently stumbled upon the stone while building a fort near the town of Rashid, or Rosetta. </p> <p dir="ltr">It was then acquired by the British Museum in 1802 from France under a treaty signed during the Napoleonic Wars.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The confiscation of the Rosetta stone, among other artefacts, is an act of encroachment on Egyptian cultural property and identity, and is a direct result of cultural colonial violence against Egyptian cultural heritage,” states the petition. “The presence of these artefacts in the British Museum to this day supports past colonial endeavours of cultural violence.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“History cannot be changed,” the document continues, “but it can be corrected, and although the political, military, and governmental rule of the British Empire withdrew from Egypt years ago, cultural colonisation is not yet over.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The British Museum, however, maintains that there has never been a formal request by the Egyptian government for the stone’s return.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Art

Kylie Minogue and Sharon Stone stun at Cannes red carpet

<p dir="ltr">The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival has seen stars embrace the most glamorous of looks that could rival those spotted at the 2022 Met Gala - and it’s safe to say that Kylie Minogue and Sharon Stone’s gowns were among the highlights.</p> <p dir="ltr">Appearing for the screening of <em>Elvis </em>on Wednesday, the <em>Neighbours </em>alum and Aussie icon styled a stunning Versace corset dress featuring sheer panelling and a side split, accessorised with a jade-embedded Bulgari necklace.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2c0493f5-7fff-4169-953c-b903a616a260"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Minogue took to Instagram with clips from the night and photos, including a close-up shot of her Bulgari jewellery.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/minogue-necklace.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Kylie Minogue shared a close-up shot of the luxe jewellery she donned for the film festival. Image: @kylieminogue (Instagram)</em></p> <p dir="ltr">“Thank you @Versace & @Bulgari for the GLAM this evening,” she captioned a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd_0OEQrXkD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> from the night, adding that she “LOVED” <em>Elvis </em>and that its director, Baz Luhrmann, was “THE BEST”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, Sharon Stone walked the red carpet in a tightly-fitted red gown with intricate beading across the neckline and along the straps, completing the look with a bedazzled red handbag and a pair of Elvis’ signature aviator sunglasses.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd4R38rugSs/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd4R38rugSs/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Sharon Stone (@sharonstone)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">It wasn’t the only time Stone impressed the crowd with her look during the festival, having appeared in a heavily-embellished blue-and-white gown with a peplum skirt which her two accompanying male models removed to reveal a full-length body con dress at Sunday’s screening of <em>Forever Young (Les Amandiers)</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7f15ac6a-7fff-9c6f-cb35-4ea91866a58e">The next day, the 64-year-old star was throwing up peace signs in another form-hugging gown - this time emerald green and bedazzled - ahead of the screening of <em>Crimes of the Future</em>, where she was photographed with her god-daughter Helena Gatsby.</span></p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd_aVnHsLrb/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd_aVnHsLrb/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Helena Gatsby (@helenagatsby)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The 20-year-old later took to Instagram with photos of the pair, describing Stone as her hero and role model.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My hero forever, so honoured to be next to my role model. I love you and cherish you,” she captioned the post.</p> <p dir="ltr">Both Minogue and Stone received floods of praise for their looks, with fans describing them as stunning and “elegance personified”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Absolute perfection Kylie!!” Donatella Versace, the fashion designer and sister of Versace’s founder, said of Minogue’s outfit.</p> <p dir="ltr">“A real diva 💚💚💚 loving this 30s vibe,” Lucio Di Rosa, the head of worldwide celebrities relations at Dolce & Gabbana, commented on a photo of Stone’s green gown.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Good Lord. You must teach me your ways!” <em>Will & Grace</em> star Debra Messing commented on Stone’s blue-and-white look.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-322613e5-7fff-f0c8-4b2e-fce7e1a8e370"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty Images</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Exile on Main St turns 50: how The Rolling Stones’ critically divisive album became rock folklore

<p>In May of 1972 the Rolling Stones released their 10th British studio album and first double LP, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/exile-on-main-street-96177/">Exile on Main St.</a> Although initial critical response was lukewarm, it is now considered a contemporary music landmark, the best work from a band who rock critic Simon Frith once referred to as “the poets of lonely leisure.”</p> <p>Exile on Main St. was both the culmination of a five-year productive frenzy and bleary-eyed comedown from the darkest period in the Stones’ history. </p> <p>By 1969 the storm clouds of dread building around the group had become a full-blown typhoon. First, recently sacked member Brian Jones was found dead, drowned in his swimming pool.</p> <p>Then, as the decade ended in a rush of bleak portents, they played host to the chaos of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-01/how-the-rolling-stones-killed-the-hippie-dream-at-altamont/11747188">Altamont Speedway Free Concert</a>, a poorly organised, massive free concert, which ended with four dead including a murder captured live on film.</p> <p>Yet amidst all this the Stones produced <a href="https://greilmarcus.net/2020/03/22/the-end-of-the-1960s-let-it-bleed-12-27-69/">Let It Bleed</a> (1969) and <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/sticky-fingers-mw0000195498">Sticky Fingers</a>(1971), two devastating albums that wrapped up the era like a parcel bomb addressed to the 1970s. </p> <p>Songs like Gimme Shelter, the harrowing Sister Morphine, and Sway, which broods on Nietzche’s notion of circular time, exuded the kind of weary grandeur that would define Exile.</p> <h2>Rock folklore</h2> <p>The story behind Exile on Main St. has become <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXcqcdYABFw">rock folklore</a>. Fleeing from England’s punitive tax laws, the Stones lobbed in a Côte d'Azur mansion that was a Gestapo HQ during World War II. </p> <p>Mick Jagger was largely sidelined, spending much of the time in Paris with pregnant wife Bianca. The musicians were jammed into an ad-hoc basement studio, a cross between steam-bath and opium den, powered by electricity hijacked from the French railway system. The house was beset by hangers-on, including the obligatory posse of drug-dealers.</p> <p>Yet with control ceded to the nonchalant, disaster-prone Keith Richards – the kind of person a crisis would want around in a crisis – they somehow harnessed the power of pandemonium.</p> <p>The result was a singular amalgam of barbed soul, mutant gospel, tombstone blues and shambolic country, as thrilling in its blend of familiar sources as works by contemporaries <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/02/roxy-music-40-years">Roxy Music</a> and David Bowie were in the use of alien ones. </p> <p>Jagger shuffles his deck of personas from song to song like a demented croupier, the late, great drummer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/24/arts/music/charlie-watts-dead.html">Charlie Watts</a> supplies his customary subtle adornments, and a cast of miscreants – most crucially, pianist Nicky Hopkins and producer Jimmy Miller – function as supplementary band members.</p> <p>All 18 tracks contribute to the ragged perfection of the document as a whole. Tumbling Dice and Happy are textbook rock propelled by a strange union of virtuosity and indolence. And there is an undeniable beauty to the likes of Torn and Frayed and Let it Loose, albeit a beauty that is tentative, hard-earned.</p> <p>The package is completed by its distinctive sleeve art, juxtaposing a collage of circus performers photographed by Robert Frank circa 1950 with grainy stills from a Super-8 film of the band and a mural dedicated to Joan Crawford.</p> <p>Exile confused audiences at first: Writer <a href="https://www.amazon.com/EXILE-MAIN-STREET-Rolling-Stones/dp/0028650638">John Perry</a> describes its 1972 reception as mixing “puzzlement with qualified praise”. The response of critic Lester Bangs was typical. After an initial negative review, Bangs came to regard it as the group’s strongest work. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/exile-on-main-st-mw0000191639">confirms</a> that the record over time has become a touchstone, calling it a masterful album that takes “the bleakness that underpinned Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers to an extreme.”</p> <h2>Inspiration</h2> <p>The roll call of artists inspired by Exile is extensive, from Tom Waits and the White Stripes to Benicio del Toro and Martin Scorsese. But two album-length homages stand out. </p> <p>In 1986, underground punks Pussy Galore concocted a feral, abstract <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHAEkWcgBD8">facsimile</a> of the entire double-LP. In 1993, singer-songwriter Liz Phair used the original as a rough template for her acclaimed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW1nMJ4-2qM">Exile in Guyville</a>.</p> <p>Nonetheless, journalist Mark Masters notes that by the 1980s, the social and cultural circumstances that produced Exile were waning as acts such as Minutemen, Mekons, The Go-Go’s and Fela Kuti gave listeners access to fresh modes of rebellion.</p> <p>Circa 1972, the Rolling Stones deserved the title “greatest rock and roll band in the world.” That it is still claimed 50 years on shows how classic rock continues to overbear all that followed.</p> <h2>The grandfathers of rock</h2> <p>When in 2020 Rolling Stone <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/">magazine</a> made a half-hearted attempt to tweak the classic rock canon – elevating Marvin Gaye, Public Enemy and Lauryn Hill alongside or above Exile and the Beatles – the response was predictably unedifying. </p> <p>One reader complained that the magazine was catering to “young people with no musical history and older people who don’t know anything.” Others raged that rap is not music and the list was proof of rampant political correctness.</p> <p>Such archaic, ignorant language is typical of gatekeepers of the classic rock tradition. It is a language of exclusion, ensuring that exceptional new music by, say, <a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fiona-apple-fetch-the-bolt-cutters/">Fiona Apple</a> (which sounds something like rock) or <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/listening-booth/the-hypnotic-spell-of-groupers-shade">Liz Harris</a> (which sounds rather different) will always be rated below what came before.</p> <p>The Rolling Stones have an inevitable, if ambiguous, relationship to all of this. In terms of race, writer Jack Hamilton <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2016/10/race-rock-and-the-rolling-stones-how-the-rock-and-roll-became-white.html">argues</a> that they were always “fiercely committed to a future for rock and roll music in which black music and musicians continued to matter.”</p> <p>How they intersect with gender is perhaps more troubling, though also <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar_url?url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13619460801990104&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GvplYvGUEpyO6rQP_qe3mAs&scisig=AAGBfm2sqr4oKv5EoKYSmkitlR44etMXqA&oi=scholarr">conflicted</a>. While eminent female musicians such as Joan Jett, Carrie Brownstein and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRPpCqXYoos">Rennie Sparks</a> continue to champion the Stones, their role as leading purveyors of an inherently masculine, increasingly archaic musical form cannot be avoided.</p> <p>Exile on Main St. is a significant album made by a bunch of haggard rebels whose heyday (and rebellion) is past but whose art lives on in complex ways. </p> <p>Along with Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On and Neil Young’s Tonight’s the Night, it fits snugly into an aesthetic of washed out, narcotic-smeared masterpieces from the early seventies.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/exile-on-main-st-turns-50-how-the-rolling-stones-critically-divisive-album-became-rock-folklore-181704" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Music

6 warning signs of kidney stones – and what you can do to prevent them

<p><strong>Who develops kidney stones?</strong></p> <p>Professor of urology, Dr Christopher Coogan, says about 10 to 15 per cent of the population will develop kidney stones in their lifetimes, small hard mineral deposits formed in the kidney that can be painful to pass, with white men ages 40 to 60 the most likely to have kidney stones. Those who already have had a kidney stone have a 50 per cent chance of developing another within 10 years. But how do you know if what you have is a kidney stone opposed to stomach or back pain?</p> <p><strong>Sudden and severe pain</strong></p> <p>Adults are often diagnosed with kidney stones after a trip to the emergency room or visit to their primary physician because of sudden severe abdominal and/or back pain they’ve been experiencing. This sudden and severe pain in the stomach and/or one side of the back is one of the classic symptoms of kidney stones.</p> <p>“Pain associated with kidney stones often comes on suddenly and is sometimes described as excruciating as the pain associated with labour,” says Dr Douglas Propp.</p> <p>Severe pain from which you can find no relief helps differentiate pain associated with kidney stones from a stomach ache or back strain. Pain associated with kidney stones can sometimes be confused with a backache because pain associated with kidney stones can start higher up in the back. As the stone moves closer to the bladder, the location of the pain can move lower. An important difference though: the back pain that accompanies kidney stones is unlike the pain of typical back strains because it is not associated with any movement.</p> <p>“One can usually figure out which side the kidney stone is on because the pain will typically, although not always, be on one side of the stomach versus the other,” says Dr Coogan.</p> <p>Kidney stones can range in size; Dr Coogan notes the average size of a kidney stone is 5 millimetres. However, the size of the stone doesn’t necessarily affect how much pain someone is in. Even a very tiny kidney stone can cause a “whole lot of hurt,” says Dr Coogan. Kidney stones can be so painful that they awaken people from sleep and prevent them from finding a standing, sitting, or lying down position that provides relief.</p> <p>“The pain can come on at any time and is severe, typically preventing the individual from finding a comfortable position, says Dr Propp.</p> <p><strong>Blood in the urine</strong></p> <p>Another possible warning sign of kidney stones is finding blood in one’s urine. Dr Coogan says this occurs in the majority of patients who have kidney stones. Blood in the urine is an abnormal condition and you should get evaluated if you notice this symptom.</p> <p><strong>Other warning signs</strong></p> <p>While sudden and severe stomach and/or back pain and blood in the urine can be key indicators of kidney stones, Dr Propp and Dr Coogan noted other warning signs that patients should look for:</p> <ul> <li>Nausea</li> <li>Vomiting</li> <li>Perspiring</li> <li>Turning very pale because of the pain</li> <li>Certain types of kidney stones can also cause infections, which can lead to fevers.</li> </ul> <p>“When the kidney gets obstructed, it can lead to fever because there can be back up of urine and that can lead to an infection,” says Dr Coogan.</p> <p><strong>How kidney stones are diagnosed and treated</strong></p> <p>Kidney stones can be diagnosed through X-ray, ultrasound, or CAT scan and are typically found after a person visits the emergency room or makes an appointment with their primary care physician because of the pain they’ve been experiencing.</p> <p>Dr Propp says most patients pass their kidney stones, leading to significant relief of their symptoms. But some kidney stones require surgery to remove them. Doctors sometimes prescribe medication to either manage the pain associated with kidney stones or to help the stone pass. “The smaller the stone is the more likely it is to pass on its own, not requiring surgery,” says Dr Coogan.</p> <p><strong>How to prevent kidney stones</strong></p> <p>Dr Coogan says one way people can prevent kidney stones from developing is to drink enough water, as dehydration is considered one of the main causes. Water helps to dilute the substances in urine that lead to kidney stones.</p> <p>You should also watch your sodium intake. A high-sodium diet can increase the amount of calcium in your urine. When calcium combines with oxalate or phosphorus, it creates kidney stones. Keep your sodium intake to no more than 2300 milligrams (mg) a day; if you’ve had kidney stones in the past, reduce that amount to 1500 mg.</p> <p>Limiting your animal protein can also help. Too much animal protein, such as red meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood, increases the amount of uric acid in your body. Uric acid is another kidney stone culprit.</p> <p><em><span id="docs-internal-guid-cec75453-7fff-944a-f681-5aefe35065ce">Written by Colette Harris. This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/6-warning-signs-of-kidney-stones-and-what-you-can-do-to-prevent-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA87V" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here’s our best subscription offer.</a></span></em></p>

Body

Fans go wild over Georgie Parker’s gravity-defying gown

<p dir="ltr">A staple of most women’s wardrobes, the little black dress Seven presenter and former Olympic hockey player Georgie Parker <a href="https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/seven-presenter-georgie-parker-aflw-gravity-defying-dress-075404317.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wore</a> has proved why it’s a fashion must-have.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ebf1a38f-7fff-e387-6952-64811052ba2b"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Parker stunned fans with the strapless, form-fitting dress she wore to the AFLW Awards in Melbourne in April.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb_xS7wPyzb/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb_xS7wPyzb/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Georgie Parker (@georgie_parker19)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The $316 dress from Maison Femalien features a cut-scalloped neckline, dramatic thigh-high split on one side, and goes from cinching in at Parker’s waist to grazing her ankle as a pencil skirt.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a5d0ce55-7fff-0455-8d82-579ffd186594"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Parker shared her look on Instagram in a mirror selfie, joking that she was “sponsored by Hollywood tape” and receiving a flood of compliments from fans.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb_sI5mFUxt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb_sI5mFUxt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Georgie Parker (@georgie_parker19)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“Looking gorgeous babe xx,” one fan gushed.</p> <p dir="ltr">“STUNNING 🔥😍,” another wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-154308c6-7fff-227a-7d8b-f4c9a3013b51"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“Omggggg how hot are u 🔥🔥🔥,” a third said.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbyARYeB6jo/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbyARYeB6jo/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Fitzy & Wippa on Nova (@fitzyandwippa)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The sister version of Parker’s dress was spotted just a week earlier, when <em>Married At First Sight</em> favourite Ella Ding wore the frock to the Fitzy and Wippa <em>Married At First Sight</em> dinner party.</p> <p dir="ltr">Appropriately called the ‘Ella’, Ding’s dress differed in that it was considerably shorter than Parker’s and made of a ruched fabric, but shared the same eye-catching neckline.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-1e991872-7fff-3940-abe1-47f6a0827d6f"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @georgie_parker19 (Instagram)</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Renovating your kitchen? Help Australia’s tradies avoid silicosis by not choosing artificial stone

<p>In 2012 my wife and I renovated our house — a two-storey extension with a brand new kitchen. Inspired by various renovation-themed TV shows and magazines, we chose a sleek stone island bench as the focal point for the kitchen.</p> <p>I knew the benchtop material was some form of stone. You could choose almost any colour and it cost a lot less than marble. But I didn’t know much else and I didn’t ask any questions. As a respiratory physician who has diagnosed numerous workers with silicosis over the past four years, I regret my ignorance.</p> <p>Like <a rel="noopener" href="https://s23.q4cdn.com/225400014/files/doc_presentations/Investor-presentation-Sept-2018-Final-Version.pdf" target="_blank">many Australians</a> who have renovated or built homes since the early 2000s, the material we chose was artificial stone (also known as engineered or reconstituted stone, or quartz).</p> <p>In 2015, after the first Australian stone benchtop industry worker was reported to have <a rel="noopener" href="https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/PA1144" target="_blank">severe silicosis</a>, I was astonished to discover artificial stone contains <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/engineered-stone-benchtops-are-killing-our-tradies-heres-why-a-bans-the-only-answer-126489" target="_blank">up to 95%</a> crystalline silica.</p> <p>Inhalation of crystalline silica dust is one of the best-known causes of lung disease, including silicosis and lung cancer. The adverse health effects of silica exposure <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-silicosis-and-why-is-this-old-lung-disease-making-a-comeback-80465" target="_blank">were established</a> while there was still debate about the harm of cigarettes and asbestos. But Australians’ affinity for artificial stone benchtops has seen silicosis make a major comeback in recent years.</p> <p>New research <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/silica-associated-lung-disease-health-screening-research-phase-one-final-report" target="_blank">in Victoria</a> shows the extent of silicosis among workers in the stone benchtop industry.</p> <p><strong>What is silicosis?</strong></p> <p>Silicosis is <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-silicosis-and-why-is-this-old-lung-disease-making-a-comeback-80465" target="_blank">a preventable disease</a> characterised by scarring on the lungs, called <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31989662/" target="_blank">pulmonary fibrosis</a>.</p> <p>Over time, inhalation of tiny silica dust particles triggers an inflammatory response that causes small growths called nodules to build up on the lungs. These nodules can grow and cluster together, causing the lungs to become stiffer and impeding the transfer of oxygen into the blood.</p> <p>In the early stages of the disease, a person may be well. Symptoms of silicosis can include a cough, breathlessness and tiredness. Generally, the more widespread the disease becomes in the lungs, the more trouble a person will have with breathing.</p> <p>There’s not currently a cure. In severe cases, a lung transplant may be the only option, and the disease <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-13/silicosis-victim-dies-from-disease/10895774" target="_blank">can be fatal</a>.</p> <p>Brisbane researchers, however, recently demonstrated <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-researchers-develop-world-first-treatment-for-deadly-lung-disease-silicosis-killing-tradies/2f5fc92f-d8a5-46f4-b6d3-2f0a6beb083a" target="_blank">early but promising results</a> from <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33626187/" target="_blank">a trial</a> in which they washed silica out of a small number of silicosis patients’ lungs.</p> <p><strong>The road to reform</strong></p> <p>Tradesmen in the stone benchtop industry cut slabs of stone to size and use hand-held power saws and grinders to form holes for sinks and stove tops. This generates crystalline silica dust from the stone which may be released into the air.</p> <p>Using water in this process can <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25326187/" target="_blank">suppress the generation of dust</a> significantly, but until recently dry processing of artificial stone has been ubiquitous in the industry. Almost <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/silica-associated-lung-disease-health-screening-research-phase-one-final-report" target="_blank">70% of workers</a> with silicosis in Victoria indicated they spent more than half their time at work in an environment where dry processing was occurring.</p> <p>Stone benchtop workers suffering silicosis <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/spike-in-silicosis-cases-from-dust-created-when/10361776" target="_blank">have called out</a> poor work conditions over recent years, including being made to perform dry cutting with inadequate protections such as effective ventilation and appropriate respirators.</p> <p>Queensland was the first state to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/news-and-events/alerts/workplace-health-and-safety-alerts/2018/prevent-exposure-to-silica-for-engineered-stone-benchtop-workers" target="_blank">ban dry cutting</a> in 2018. Victoria followed <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/news/2019-08/uncontrolled-dry-cutting-engineered-stone-banned" target="_blank">in 2019</a>, and <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/nsw-to-ban-dry-cutting-of-stone-products-to-combat-deadly-silicosis-20200220-p542qr.html" target="_blank">New South Wales</a> in 2020.</p> <p>It’s too early to assess whether these changes have affected the prevalence of silicosis, but hopefully they will make a difference.</p> <p><strong>Our research</strong></p> <p>Around the time the Victorian government introduced the ban, it launched <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/protecting-victorian-workers-deadly-silica-dust" target="_blank">an enforcement blitz</a> in high-risk workplaces, while WorkSafe Victoria implemented a free screening program for the estimated 1,400 workers in the stone benchtop industry across the state.</p> <p>The Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health recently released <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/silica-associated-lung-disease-health-screening-research-phase-one-final-report" target="_blank">a report</a> detailing the findings from the first year of the screening program. Some 18% of initial 324 workers who completed the assessments were diagnosed with silicosis.</p> <p>We’ve seen similar results <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/claims-and-insurance/work-related-injuries/types-of-injury-or-illness/work-related-respiratory-diseases/silicosis" target="_blank">in Queensland</a>, where as of February 2021 the government had screened 1,053 stonemasons exposed to crystalline silica dust from artificial stone. Some 223 (or 21%) were diagnosed with silicosis, including 32 with the most severe form, called progressive massive fibrosis.</p> <p>The Monash report indicates workers in Victoria are diagnosed with silicosis at an average age of just 41. The average time spent working in the stone benchtop industry when diagnosed was 14 years, and the shortest was just three years, reflecting an extremely high level of silica dust exposure.</p> <p>We published some earlier results of this research project in <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33115923/" target="_blank">Occupational and Environmental Medicine</a> late last year. But this latest data hasn’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, meaning it hasn’t been subject to the same level of scrutiny as other published research.</p> <p><strong>A broader problem</strong></p> <p>Failure to protect workers from silica exposure <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/silica-office-admin-worker-joanna-mcneill-contracts-silicosis/d64f8661-8bca-4b6f-b950-a1d64e13e421" target="_blank">goes well beyond</a> the stone benchtop industry.</p> <p>Around <a rel="noopener" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26888888/" target="_blank">3.7% of Australian workers</a> are estimated to be highly exposed to silica at work, and we see workers in other industries, such as quarry work, with silicosis too.</p> <p>Some <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.britannica.com/science/silica" target="_blank">59% of Earth’s crust</a> is silica, so in certain workplaces such as mines and quarries, eliminating silica is not feasible.</p> <p>In these circumstances, exposure must be identified and tightly controlled with measures to prevent dust generation, isolation of workers from the dust, and effective ventilation. If silica cannot be eliminated from a workplace, constant vigilance and evaluation of control strategies are essential.</p> <p>But when it comes to the choice of material for your kitchen benchtop, it’s hard to argue elimination of high-silica artificial stone isn’t feasible. There are many other materials suitable for benchtops that contain little or no silica, such as wood, laminate, steel or marble.</p> <p>Compared with other countries, Australian consumers have developed a particular fondness for artificial stone, which accounts for <a rel="noopener" href="https://s23.q4cdn.com/225400014/files/doc_presentations/Investor-presentation-Sept-2018-Final-Version.pdf" target="_blank">45% of the benchtop market here</a>, but just 14% in the United States.</p> <p>Workers’ lung health may seem like a strange thing to contemplate when designing a kitchen. But increased awareness of this issue is crucial to drive change.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156208/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ryan-hoy-1211851" target="_blank">Ryan Hoy</a>, Respiratory Physician. Senior Research Fellow. Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065" target="_blank">Monash University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/renovating-your-kitchen-help-australias-tradies-avoid-silicosis-by-not-choosing-artificial-stone-156208" target="_blank">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Home Hints & Tips

Rolling Stone ranks Australia’s 200 Best Albums of All Time

<p>If there's one thing music fans love to debate over, it's a "Greatest of All Time" list.</p> <p>The list causing the most recent debate comes from Rolling Stone, who have ranked the top 200 best albums to come from the Australian music scene.</p> <p>It came as no great shock that the list was conquered by Australian music greats AC/DC and their rock classic album <em>Back in Black</em>.</p> <p>First released in 1980, the record remains the second highest selling album in the world, with more than 50 million copies sold worldwide.</p> <p>Despite AC/DC taking out the top spot, the most impressive feat in the list comes from the two bands that managed to secure two spots each in the top 20 list.</p> <p>The first was Midnight Oil, for their 1982 album titled <em>10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1</em> – which came in at number 19 on the list – and their 1987 classic <em>Diesel and Dust</em>, which took out the number five spot.</p> <p>Then, equally as impressive, were Powderfinger, who secured the 18th spot with their 1998 album <em>Internationalist</em>, as well as the 16th spot with <em>Odyssey Number Five</em> (2000).</p> <p>Despite the list featuring a host of up-and-coming Aussie artists and their latest releases, the majority of the top 20 was reserved for the classics.</p> <p>Coming in second to AC/DC on the list was the massive INXS record <em>Kick</em>, which was first released in 1987.</p> <p>Also featured in the top 20 were John Farnham's <em>Whispering Jack</em> (1986), Cold Chisel's <em>East</em> (1980) and Crowded House's self-titled album from 1986.</p> <p>Kylie Minogue's 2001 album <em>Fever</em> was the highest ranking for a female artist, and was joined in the list by fellow female hitmakers such as Sia, Kasey Chambers and Sarah Blasko.</p> <p>Despite the top 20 being largely dominated by 20th century records, some relative newcomers pushed their way to the top.</p> <p>5 Seconds of Summer's 2014 self-titled album landing the number 17 spot, and Tame Impala's 2015 experimental record <em>Currents</em> came in at number 12.</p> <p>Although some newer artists were featured in the top spots on the list, the winners really go to show that there's nothing quite like some classic Aussie rock.</p> <p><strong>Check out the TOP 20:</strong></p> <p>20. Dr. G Yunupingu - <em>Gurrumul</em> (2008)</p> <p>19. Midnight Oil - <em>10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1</em> (1982)</p> <p>18. Powderfinger - <em>Internationalist</em> (1998)</p> <p>17. 5 Seconds of Summer - <em>5 Seconds of Summer</em> (2014)</p> <p>16. Powderfinger - <em>Odyssey Number Five</em> (2000)</p> <p>15. The Go-Betweens - <em>16 Lovers Lane</em> (1988)</p> <p>14. Regurgitator - <em>Unit</em> (1997)</p> <p>13. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - <em>Murder Ballads</em> (1996)</p> <p>12. Tame Impala - <em>Currents</em> (2015)</p> <p>11. You Am I - <em>Hourly, Daily</em> (1996)</p> <p>10. Kylie Minogue - <em>Fever</em> (2001)</p> <p>9. Savage Garden - <em>Savage Garden</em> (1997)</p> <p>8. The Avalanches - <em>Since I Left You</em> (2000)</p> <p>7. Crowded House - <em>Crowded House</em> (1987)</p> <p>6. Silverchair - <em>Frogstomp</em> (1995)</p> <p>5. Midnight Oil - <em>Diesel and Dust</em> (1987)</p> <p>4. Cold Chisel - <em>East</em> (1980)</p> <p>3. John Farnham - <em>Whispering Jack</em> (1986)</p> <p>2. INXS - <em>Kick</em> (1987)</p> <p>1. AC/DC - <em>Back In Black</em> (1980)</p> <p>And you can peruse the full 200-strong list <a rel="noopener" href="https://au.rollingstone.com/rolling-stones-200-greatest-australian-albums-of-all-time/page/1/the-teskey-brothers-run-home-slow/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p> </p>

Music

Breathtaking wilderness in the heart of coal country: after a 90-year campaign, Gardens of Stone is finally protected

<p>In the rocky upland wilderness of Wiradjuri Country two hours west of Sydney lies a new protected area with a <a href="https://www.nature.org.au/a_history_of_the_gardens_of_stone_campaign">nine-decade-long history</a> of dogged environmental activism: the Gardens of Stone.</p> <p>Last month, the New South Wales government <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bill/files/3928/First%20Print.pdf">officially recognised</a> the Gardens of Stone as a State Conservation Area within the National Parks estate. <a href="https://www.nature.org.au/a_history_of_the_gardens_of_stone_campaign">First proposed in 1932</a> and with a small portion of the area designated as National Park in 1994, this decision will see more than 30,000 hectares finally protected.</p> <p>The government has also earmarked the region <a href="https://mattkean.com.au/news/media-release/gardens-stone-and-lost-city-adventures">for ecotourism</a>. With its epic gorges, the globally unique hanging swamps of Newnes Plateau, craggy cliff ravines and slot canyons, this 250-million-year-old geological landscape is a paradise for adventurers.</p> <p>But more than anything, the Gardens of Stone is, as stalwart campaigner Julie Favell puts it, a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/13/storybook-of-nature-a-landmark-win-as-gardens-of-stone-in-nsws-blue-mountains-protected">storybook of nature</a>”. This is no simple story, but one of a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421518302489">generational mining community</a> on the brink of social change and an often thankless, hard-won battle for ecological recognition in the heart of coal country.</p> <h2>Sandstone towers and rare wildlife</h2> <p>Towering sandstone and iron-banded <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNcceomLvs0&ab_channel=IntotheWildFilms">pagoda formations</a> are what you’d most likely find on a Gardens of Stone postcard. These intricately weathered structures breach the eucalyptus canopy and cluster on a cliff, like a cross between the temples of Angkor Wat and a massive beehive complex.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MNcceomLvs0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <span class="caption">The Lost City, Newnes Plateau, in Lithgow.</span></p> <p>For close and curious observers, there are also smaller, less dramatic icons. Rare wildflowers abound, including countless native orchids and the pagoda daisy, which grows only in rocky crags. In fact, the park is home to more than 40 threatened species, including the <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10841">regent honeyeater</a> and the <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10207">spotted-tail quoll</a>.</p> <p>A humble jewel of the Gardens of Stone is its endangered upland peat swamps. Resembling a meadow clearing, up close these swamps form watery spongescapes that function as both kitchen and nursery to hundreds of local species. Inhabitants include the endangered <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10322">Blue Mountains water-skink</a> and <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10600&linkId=99343958">giant dragonfly</a>.</p> <p>These upland swamps on sandstone are found nowhere else in the world, and they play a critical role in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09640568.2019.1679100">regional water and climate resilience</a>, as they store carbon and mediate flooding and drought.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Pagoda daisy, which grows nowhere else in Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></p> <h2>A rocky battle</h2> <p>The environmental features of the Gardens of Stone are so intertwined with local, state and national conservation efforts that to tell the story of one is to tell the story of the other.</p> <p>Local environment groups have worked relentlessly to <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/scipapers/3063/">demonstrate the geological heritage</a> of the pagodas in the <a href="https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/5067592/threat-to-gardens-of-stone-from-proposed-open-cut-mining/">face of open cut mining</a>. They have documented the impacts of mining on <a href="http://www.lithgowenvironment.org/pages/swamp%20watch.php">swamps and waterways</a>, tried to <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/5268473/springvale-fined-for-damage-to-vegetation-in-endangered-swampland/">hold companies accountable</a> for their destruction, and recorded the presence of <a href="http://www.lithgowenvironment.org/pages/flora%20and%20fauna%201.php">many hundreds</a> of previously undocumented plant and animal species in an effort to have the area’s value formally recognised.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Gooches Crater swamp, ringed by cliffs and pagodas.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></p> <p>This long campaign has also been the subject of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-02/springvale-mine-extension-blocked-in-court/8766742">legal battles</a> in the courts of NSW. The last two decades in particular have seen, for example, countless petitions, <a href="https://gggallery.com.au/anne-graham-2/">public events</a>, <a href="http://www.lithgowenvironment.org/pages/stream%20watch.php">environmental testing and monitoring projects</a>, and the task of sifting through technical mining documents with each new mining proposal.</p> <p>Two mines are currently in operation within the conservation area, with an extension to an <a href="https://www.centennialcoal.com.au/operations/angus-place/">existing site proposed</a>. The most significant impacts from mining in recent decades have been sandstone cracking, causing swamps to dry out and die, and disruptions to upland water flows and regional water quality.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Lithgow Environment Group’s Chris Jonkers in a swamp damaged from nearby mining.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></p> <p>Conserving the Gardens of Stone has been an uphill battle in overcoming indifference and opposition.</p> <p>At the local level, environmental impacts from mining were <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/2318819/mining-industry-again-a-target/">derided as inconsequential</a> in the face of mining employment, with campaigners bearing the brunt of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/13/storybook-of-nature-a-landmark-win-as-gardens-of-stone-in-nsws-blue-mountains-protected">distrust and hostility</a> from pro-coal locals towards their perceived interference.</p> <p>At the state level, hard-won environmental protections <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/10/nsw-to-weaken-water-quality-test-for-extensions-to-mines">were overthrown in favour of mining approvals</a>. In 2017, the NSW government weakened laws to allow mining extensions that impacted Sydney’s drinking water quality, with <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/nsw-threatened-species-scientific-committee/determinations/final-determinations/2004-2007/alteration-of-habitat-following-subsidence-due-to-longwall-mining-key-threatening-process-listing">likely damage</a> to legally protected swamps within the Gardens of Stone not addressed.</p> <p>Due to existing mining developments, the extended Gardens of Stone isn’t officially designated as a National Park, but is instead a “<a href="https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/conservation-and-heritage/state-conservation-areas">conservation area</a>”. This means any new developments, such as extensions to mines, must use processes <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/7368602/centennial-coal-propose-new-project-to-delight-of-environmentalists/">that support</a> conservation requirements.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Spotted-tail quolls are one of the rare species living in the Gardens of Stone.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></p> <h2>Transitioning away from coal</h2> <p>Hopefully, encouraging responsible developments will avoid further <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-30/gardens-of-stone-conservation-proposal/100103246">ecological damage</a> and help enable a smoother economic transition away from coal in the coming decades.</p> <p>Despite Australia’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/11/coal-mining-australia-climate-cop26/">national climate strategy</a> remaining entrenched in coal, <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/7291551/angus-place-in-doubt-after-parent-company-pivots-to-clean-energy-future/">local coal</a> prospects are winding down. This seems heralded by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-24/wallerawang-coal-demolition/100643694">last week’s demolition of Wallerawang Power Station</a> just outside the new conservation area.</p> <p>The new conservation area comes with a A$50 million investment, and will see hundreds of thousands of visitors flocking to explore a range of proposed new attractions. Chief among these will be the Lost City Adventure Experience, featuring Australia’s longest zipline and an elevated canyon walk, as well as a rock-climbing route and a six day wilderness track. These attractions are expected to create an extra 200 jobs.</p> <p>This new pivot towards ecotourism provides an example of a strategic and environmentally just transition pathway for the coal community in practice.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Pagodas at Newnes in the Gardens of Stone.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></p> <p>The Gardens of Stone victory may reflect a <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/5577143/mundey-cfmeu-conservationists-talk-39000-hectare-state-reserve/">new dawn of negotiation</a> that could mark an end to the often antagonistic view of conservation as a threat to local livelihoods in this area.</p> <p>This victory and vision belongs squarely with its environmental campaigners, some of whom have <a href="https://www.nature.org.au/a_history_of_the_gardens_of_stone_campaign">given over 30 years of sustained and dedicated effort</a> to make it a reality.</p> <p>As the world’s attention is increasingly turned towards climate action, the success of this campaign may provide the surge of momentum we need for a more sustainable future.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172503/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hannah-della-bosca-416132">Hannah Della Bosca</a>, PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at Sydney Environment Institute, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/breathtaking-wilderness-in-the-heart-of-coal-country-after-a-90-year-campaign-gardens-of-stone-is-finally-protected-172503">original article</a>.</p>

Domestic Travel

Rolling Stones forced to retire classic song

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">British rock band The Rolling Stones have decided to retire one of their most popular songs due to its unsavoury lyrics. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 1971 hit </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brown Sugar</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> had been cut from their current tour’s setlist, which had previously been the second-most-performed song in their catalogue. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After succumbing to social pressure, the track was pulled from their live shows, as the lyrics allude to the horrors of slavery in the US, which has caused a stir during the current climate of heightened cultural sensitivity.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keith Richards, 77, was quizzed by the </span><a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-10-07/rolling-stones-charlie-watts-no-filter-tour"><span style="font-weight: 400;">LA Times</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> about the changes to the setlist, saying, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You picked up on that, huh?”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said, “I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out with the sisters quite where the beef is. Didn’t they understand this was a song about the horrors of slavery? But they’re trying to bury it.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first verse of the hit song depicts slaves being sold and beaten in Louisiana, with references to a “slaver” who whips “women just around midnight.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The famous chorus describes a non-consensual sexual encounter between a young female slave and the violent master, while also alluding to the use of heroin. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the next verse, the song describes the abuse suffered by slaves on a plantation. Lead singer Mick Jagger ends the tune by singing, “How come you taste so good … just like a black girl should.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We’ve played </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brown Sugar</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> every night since 1970,” Richards told the newspaper.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“So sometimes you think, ‘We’ll take that one out for now and see how it goes.’ We might put it back in.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to </span><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">setlist.fm</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the controversial track has been played live 1136 times, second only to </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jumpin’ Jack Flash</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“At the moment I don’t want to get into conflicts with all of this s***,” Richards said of criticism of the song. “But I’m hoping that we’ll be able to resurrect the babe in her glory somewhere along the track.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mick Jagger has also previously shared his own criticisms of the song, as critics have called it “gross, sexist, and stunningly offensive.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I never would write that song now,” Jagger told </span><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rolling Stone</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in 1995. “I would probably censor myself. I’d think, ‘Oh God, I can’t. I’ve got to stop. I can’t just write raw like that.’”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credit: Getty Images</span></em></p>

Music

Our Partners

Over 60

News

Shop

Catalogues

Contests

Entertainment

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Property

Games

Information

Keep up to date

Search

"Outrageous": Stonehenge defaced by protesters

Beloved Home and Away star shares major health update

"What gives?" Victorian MP slams "photoshopped" image

Celebrity chef Curtis Stone renews vows in stunning intimate ceremony

Everything you need to know about the Stone of Destiny

Georgie Parker drops big Home and Away news

Major shake-up for the Sunrise team

Neighbours reveals which stars are moving back to Ramsay Street

Veteran Sunrise star announces sudden retirement

Sharon Stone struck by double family tragedy

"Stone the crows": Who made Ray "Alf" Meagher cry

Archaeologists demand the British Museum return Rosetta Stone to Egypt

Kylie Minogue and Sharon Stone stun at Cannes red carpet

Exile on Main St turns 50: how The Rolling Stones’ critically divisive album became rock folklore

6 warning signs of kidney stones – and what you can do to prevent them

Fans go wild over Georgie Parker’s gravity-defying gown

Renovating your kitchen? Help Australia’s tradies avoid silicosis by not choosing artificial stone

Rolling Stone ranks Australia’s 200 Best Albums of All Time

Breathtaking wilderness in the heart of coal country: after a 90-year campaign, Gardens of Stone is finally protected

Rolling Stones forced to retire classic song

Our Partners