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The Herald Scotland
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
King and Queen's portrait graces Tatler cover after much-criticised Kate picture
But the artwork has already come under scrutiny on social media with one person remarking: 'Doesn't look like Charles' and another suggesting the King's eyes were more similar to those of former US president Joe Biden. Butah's portrait was painted to mark the magazine's celebration of the King and Queen's 20th wedding anniversary (Phillip Butah/Tatler/PA) 'Queen Camilla looks brilliant – but the eyes on the king look like Biden .. it is not a good resemblance of King Charles,' they said. It follows the widely criticised portrait of the Princess of Wales which appeared as Tatler's front cover last year. The canvas by artist Hannah Uzor was branded 'dreadful' and a 'parody' by royal fans and art critics. As Tatler commissions Hannah Uzor's graceful depiction of the Princess of Wales for its July 2024 cover, we look back at the history of the Princess of Wales in portraiture — Tatler (@Tatlermagazine) May 22, 2024 Butah said he believed it was a royal first for the royal couple to be painted together for a magazine cover. The image, in the society bible's June edition, celebrates the King and Queen's 20th wedding anniversary, which they marked this month. Butah said: 'I think it is wonderful and I love the fact that a top glossy magazine commissions an artist to make a cover, because art and fashion do belong together.' The original Millie Pilkington photograph of the King and Queen (Buckingham Palace/Millie Pilkington/PA) He added: 'I have chosen a summery green for the background because they are walking together in a garden, and this is an informal portrait, not a state portrait. 'I think it will be a first; I have never seen the royal couple painted together on the cover of a magazine, and I just want people to enjoy it and see it as a celebration of our King and Queen.' Butah said of joining Charles and Camilla on their official visit to Kenya: 'They are one of the most famous couples of our time, so it was fascinating for me to see the personal side of their relationship. 'It is so strong and they are a great team.' Artist Phillip Butah who painted a portrait of Charles and Camilla (Philip Sinden/Tatler/ PA) The artist first met Charles at the age of 16 when he won the Young Artists' Britain: The Prince of Wales's Young Artists' Award competition in 1998. Celebrities he has drawn include actor Ashley Walters and former Olympic sprinter Linford Christie. The full feature is available in the June issue of Tatler via digital download and on newsstands from May 1.
Reuters
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Russia removes Afghan Taliban from list of banned terrorist groups
MOSCOW, April 17 (Reuters) - Russia on Thursday suspended its ban on the Taliban, which it had designated for more than two decades as a terrorist organisation, in a move that paves the way for Moscow to normalise ties with the leadership of Afghanistan. No country currently recognises the Taliban government that seized power in August 2021 as U.S.-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. But Russia has been gradually building ties with the movement, which President Vladimir Putin said last year was now an ally in fighting terrorism. The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here. The Taliban was outlawed by Russia as a terrorist movement in 2003. State media said the Supreme Court on Thursday lifted the ban with immediate effect. Russia sees a need to work with the Taliban as it faces a major security threat from Islamist militant groups based in a string of countries from Afghanistan to the Middle East. In March 2024, gunmen killed 145 people at a concert hall outside Moscow in an attack claimed by Islamic State. U.S. officials said they had intelligence indicating it was the Afghan branch of the group, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), that was responsible. The Taliban says it is working to wipe out the presence of Islamic State in Afghanistan. Western diplomats say the movement's path towards wider international recognition is stalled until it changes course on women's rights. The Taliban has closed high schools and universities to girls and women and placed restrictions on their movement without a male guardian. It says it respects women's rights in line with its strict interpretation of Islamic law. Reporting by Reuters Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Felix Light Editing by Peter Graff Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Wall Street Journal
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
‘Accidental Tyrant' Review: The Unlikely Rise of Kim Il Sung
'There can be little doubt,' writes Fyodor Tertitskiy, that Kim Il Sung 'is the darkest figure in all of Korea's history.' If this Lord of Darkness has any competition at all, it comes from his son and grandson. Mr. Tertitskiy, a South Korea-based historian, has pulled off a rare and impressive biographical feat—his 'Accidental Tyrant' is a book-length account of the life of Kim, the founder of North Korea, who ascended to power in 1945 at the end of World War II. Biographies abound of Hitler, Stalin and Mao, but those of Kim are hard to come by: 'Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader,' by Suh Dae-sook, was the last good one, published in 1988, six years before Kim's death. Mr. Tertitskiy's book appears 37 years later. Yet for all the passage of time, Kim would surely give present-day North Korea his seal of approval, recognizing it to be the place of his own demonic conception. The Kimist regime—now led by his grandson Kim Jong Un—'remains unyielding in the face of all challenges,' Mr. Tertitskiy writes, 'dominating the lives of over 20 million North Koreans, with no apparent end in sight.' The country Kim created is, Mr. Tertitskiy tells us, 'a nation so closed it defies comprehension.' How closed? He gives us examples: North Korean citizens are prohibited from reading books that haven't been approved by the state; cannot access the internet without being 'personally approved by the Supreme Leader'; cannot speak to foreigners on the telephone without risking harsh imprisonment; must display portraits of Kim Il Sung and his successors in every home; and can be put to death for defacing these portraits. Not being able to leave the country seems a trivial hardship by comparison. That so few attempt to do so is proof of the incarceration of an entire population. Readers will find it startling, therefore, that Mr. Tertitskiy tells us 'it would be wrong' to say that Kim 'was a man of pure evil' or that he was 'completely incapable of kindness, forgiveness and mercy.' After all, the book is a detailed portrayal of the man who 'instigated the most destructive war Korea has ever seen,' one in which at least 2.5 million people died, and created one of the most suffocatingly coercive societies in human history. Mass famine was a constant feature of Kim's rule, so much so that the multigenerational deprivation of food has led to the physical stunting of North Koreans, who are on average several inches shorter than their genetically identical brethren in South Korea. In truth, the only well-fed North Koreans we have seen (in the flesh or in photographs) have been the overweight members of the Kim dynasty.
Reuters
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Exclusive: US Justice Department considers merging DEA, ATF in major wave of cuts, memo shows
Signage is seen at the United States Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is considering merging the lead agencies enforcing drug and gun laws in a major shakeup as it moves to follow President Donald Trump's instructions to sharply streamline the government. In addition to merging the Drug Enforcement Agency and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, department leaders are considering eliminating field offices that handle antitrust and environmental cases, according to a March 25 memo seen by Reuters. The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in that memo ordered department officials to provide feedback to the proposed restructuring by April 2. A DOJ spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
