Latest news with #SevenSisters
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Governor Healey delivers commencement speech at Mount Holyoke College graduation
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP) – Sunday marked the 188th Commencement for the Class of 2025 at Mount Holyoke College. Over 500 students received their Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Mount Holyoke College, making May 25 the 188th Commencement ceremony for the oldest historic Seven Sisters college. The graduates were proud to become alumni and enter the working world. Wilbraham honors fallen soldiers at Memorial Day ceremony 'I remember being like a freshman who was super scared, no idea, new country,' said Peehu Chhabra, who received a Bachelor of Arts. 'I had no idea what I am going to do, what's a target, no idea of anything. But now I feel prepared.' While some graduates are pursuing their careers right after graduation, others plan to further their education. International students said that Mount Holyoke became a safe and welcoming space for them to call home. 'It's such a community-oriented college,' Chhabra said. 'The faculty is brilliant, and they really care for their students, and so does the administration. They're for the students entirely, and I knew that because I had some seniors who came to Mount Holyoke, and they cheered it on.' Now, family and friends were cheering for them on campus. MHC President Danielle Holley led the ceremony, and honorary degrees were given to two alumni, as well as Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. The moment was extra special for the graduates because Governor Healey was one of many speakers addressing them. In 2022, Governor Healey became the first woman and first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to lead the Commonwealth. Mount Holyoke is the first of the Seven Sisters to have inclusive admissions. The university admits cisgender and transgender women, as well as transgender men and those who identify as non-binary and gender non-conforming. The graduates were excited to hear Governor Healey's words of encouragement before turning their tassels to the left side. 'For us as graduates is very nerve-wracking,' said Hanuel Skycho, who received a Bachelor's of Neuroscience and Computer Science. 'First of all, to go out there into the world, even though we are very prepared through Mount Holyoke, and just hearing someone who has been out in the world and about her experience will really help us.' WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Our peers have come and gone. We're still here': Wolf Alice on ambition, ageing and why they've left Labour behind
Paper tablecloths, blazing sun, spitting grill, plastic chairs, dishes of tzatziki, an expectant cat sidling up to diners: we could be in Greece. 'It's like a holiday,' marvels guitarist Joff Oddie, sipping an enormous iced coffee. But Wolf Alice are not on a Mediterranean jaunt – they're at a restaurant on an industrial estate in Seven Sisters, north London, a few doors down from the studios where they wrote their upcoming fourth album The Clearing and its chart-topping predecessor, Blue Weekend. 'We used to call this street Anchovy Mile,' reminisces front woman Ellie Rowsell. 'Because it smelled like fish.' That might be the tip round the corner or, thinks bassist Theo Ellis, a nearby brewery ('something to do with filtering through fish scales'). Either way, such an odour would only cement the seafront ambience of 'Costa del Tottenham', as Ellis names it. The only thing that could disrupt the serenity of this scorching Wednesday lunchtime is a spin of Wolf Alice's new single. Bloom Baby Bloom is a genre-bending rock bonanza: squealing guitars, bone-shaking bass, ostentatious drum fills, but also honky tonk piano and a dreamy pop chorus. Throughout Rowsell veers between breathy folk croon and a hair metal wail. To underline the retro vibe – and the vocal gymnastics – the video has Rowsell writhing in a sparkly, glam cut-out leotard amid a Fame-style dance troupe; in the promo images she is clad in cherry-red hot pants and matching knee-high boots. The band aren't just going hell for leather aesthetically. After 2021's Blue Weekend, the foursome left indie label Dirty Hit and signed with Columbia Records, part of Sony. The move to a major means more money for spangly Lycra – but is it also a sign of prospective world domination? 'English bands are so hesitant to ever admit ambition, but I am ambitious with this record,' says drummer Joel Amey. Sony has the ability to spread the word globally, says Oddie: 'I'd like every person to be able to have the opportunity to say whether they like or don't like Wolf Alice.' Ellis looks bemused: 'That's a dangerous thing to wish!' By many measures, Wolf Alice are already colossally successful. They are Brit and Mercury award-winners, and Grammy-nominated. Blue Weekend reached No 1, while their first two albums only narrowly missed the top spot. In 2016, they were the subject of a Michael Winterbottom film; the director called them 'the best band in the world'. They're high up on next month's Glastonbury bill. 'In many ways, bucket lists have been filled like five years ago,' admits Amey. They have transcended the folk-punk shoegaze of their formative years to become omnivorous guitar music masters, incorporating hardcore, chamber pop, country, industrial, funk and psychedelia. On The Clearing they nod to krautrock, glam and trip-hop; one song sounds like a bossa nova Carpenters, another recalls Steely Dan's Reelin' in the Years. Yet what made the band an instant success story remains the same – Rowsell's precise, poetic millennial vignettes, and an ability to make every song stylish and memorable. As a genre, rock is experiencing a decades-long decline; there are no journeymen any more. 'Our peers have come and gone,' says Amey. 'We're still here.' The only way to be a rich and famous – or even solvent and vaguely recognisable – rock band in this day and age is to be exceptionally good at it. And yet, you might also consider Wolf Alice underrated. They've never had a hit single. Gratifyingly, their most popular song on Spotify is also their best – 131m streams for 2017's Don't Delete the Kisses, which preserves the turbulent ecstasy of fledgling love in hypnotic indie electronica – but that's mostly due to a 'really big' TV sync. Which was …? They puzzle over the answer. Heartbreaker? suggests Rowsell. Heartstopper! says Ellis, suddenly remembering the name of Netflix's queer teen drama phenomenon. While Oddie seems the most business-minded (he tells me the band 'wouldn't work if it wasn't making money'), Ellis and Rowsell clearly can't fake an Ed Sheeran-style stats fixation. It's a decade since Wolf Alice's debut album My Love Is Cool. Oddie's face lights up when reminiscing about the low-stakes euphoria of nascent rock stardom. 'Everything was a win. People coming up to you and saying that they liked your music; being buzzed about 20 people turning up to a gig in Leicester!' At that point they had been a proper band for less than three years – originally Wolf Alice was an acoustic duo comprising Oddie and Rowsell, who met via an internet forum. But nostalgia makes Rowsell shudder: she can't believe her youthful chutzpah, performing songs she didn't know on instruments she couldn't play. 'I didn't even know …' 'Where A was?' says Ellis. 'I still don't know where A is …' she mutters mordantly. I first met the band in the run-up to that album's release, and they remain meticulously self-deprecating. Ellis and Rowsell both grew up in north London and still live here, as does Oddie (Amey has moved to Hastings). On The Clearing's sweetly harmonic closer, The Sofa, Rowsell reflects on youthful fantasies of escape to California, but sounds almost relieved at the prospect of being 'stuck in Seven Sisters' for ever. But Wolf Alice are not immune to the march of time. They are all now in their 30s, and The Clearing is a meditation on the first stage of the ageing process, a time when the 'frantic' struggle to navigate adult life begins to ease, says Rowsell. On Play It Out, a kind of self-soothing lullaby, Rowsell contemplates the rest of her life: a future without children and, eventually, parents. She wonders whether she'll still be valued and adored 'when my body can no longer make a mother out of me' – an anxiety partly prompted by acquaintances on social media posting about 'their mums or their partners being mums. It was the nicest things I'd ever heard coming from men about women. I was like: oh my God, I hope that you can not be a mother and people can think you're that amazing.' The proverb 'the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world' was also stuck in her head: on Play It Out, Rowsell attempts to make peace with the inescapable spectre of motherhood, even if it only exists in the form of 'an empty pram in my mind'. Rowsell has an extraordinary ability to whittle her internal monologue into lyrics, but on The Clearing she begins to doubt her instincts. Opening song Thorns reflects wryly on Blue Weekend's account of a devastating breakup – that she must be a 'narcissist' to literally make a 'song and dance' about the split. At the time, she claimed Blue Weekend was her least autobiographical album. 'Yeah, I was lying!' she laughs. In reality, the album combined real details with fictionalised elements, which often felt like the worst of both worlds. 'I was like, maybe it's not truthful, or it makes it sound worse.' Did she regret writing it? 'I wasn't sitting there being like: nooo,' she says, miming anxious despair. 'Well, actually I was …' Rowsell still doesn't know how much of her real life to put into her music. 'What is the stuff that's supposed to be kept for your DMC [deep meaningful conversation] with your mate? If I'm such a private person then why am I doing this?!' Does she find writing about her problems cathartic? 'I must do because look how much stress it's caused me!' On the new album, Amey – too unwell to come to lunch, so we speak the following day – offers Rowsell a brief respite by taking the mic and pouring his own heart out. The sonic touchstones for the song White Horses were The Sunshine Underground by the Chemical Brothers, and Can; the lyrical inspiration was the lifelong mystery surrounding his heritage. Previously, the 34-year-old had no handle on it. Taxi drivers routinely asked 'if I was from where they're from because of my dark colouring', but he couldn't say either way, because his mum and aunt were adopted. Then Amey's family found out his grandmother was from Saint Helena – a discovery that chimed with the 'strange in-perspective bullshit that starts happening in your 30s'. The resulting track alludes to his grandmother's 'very tough' journey to England and doubles as a love letter to his chosen family: his friends and bandmates. Everyone agrees that they're in Wolf Alice for the long haul. But while getting old in a band is par for the course for men, there's an added self-consciousness for women. Rowsell ends Play It Out with an optimistic manifesto: she wants to 'age with excitement – go grey and feel delighted'. She is 'less worried' about her future as a frontwoman than she used to be, she says, partly thanks to a selection of inspirational peers, including Charli xcx, Caroline Polachek and Self Esteem. All three of those women are knowingly camp and committed to mining cool from unlikely places – all of which Wolf Alice are doing in their flamboyant new era. When Rowsell, 32, was growing up in the 00s, zeitgeisty rock was 'quite cold and aggressive, black and white, not warm' – think angular post-punk revivalists such as Interpol. The Clearing skews instead towards 'softer and more colourful' 1970s guitar music; Fleetwood Mac, Pentangle and Steely Dan were all references. Liking soft rock was 'embarrassing for so long', she continues. 'I don't care any more.' The bold new look is an extension of this. When Rowsell was younger she agonised over wearing the right thing. 'Now I'm so tired of caring that I just want to do something fun.' Not funny, though. 'I don't want people to think it's a joke,' she says. 'It's self-aware, but not self-deprecating.' The Clearing was recorded in LA, with Adele's producer Greg Kurstin, but its gestation period ran from spring 2023 to the end of 2024. Rowsell says that witnessing everyone 'noodling' and 'pottering' in Get Back, Peter Jackson's epic Beatles documentary trilogy, inspired a leisurely, tech-free, in-person writing process. Yet the band assure me it is merely a coincidence that the beginning of the album sounds so Beatlesque: Thorns' pared-back piano intro and swelling strings land somewhere between Let It Be and I Am the Walrus. 'Every song sounds a bit like the Beatles,' says Oddie. 'They invented everything.' They are well aware that having such space and time is a luxury for a band, especially in the current economic climate. Costs of touring have almost doubled since they started, Oddie explains, but ticket prices have only increased by a small amount. Plus, it was hard enough back then – the foursome were only able to make tours viable by cramming themselves into a single small hotel room or sleeping on friends' floors. The tacit agreement was that the stay would turn into a party, say Oddie. 'You'd be having big nights out for weeks on end, it was exhausting.' But even that didn't last. 'If your friends start leaving uni and you're doing a regional tour, you're like: I don't actually know that many people in Sheffield now I'm 23,' says Ellis. Last week, Oddie told MPs in a parliamentary meeting that he didn't know how his band would survive if they were starting out today. He was giving evidence as part of an effort to safeguard the future of live music in the UK amid rocketing costs and shuttering venues, suggesting a £1 levy on tickets for larger gigs, with the proceeds going to support up-and-coming acts on tour (the band are donating £1 from each UK ticket sale to help grassroots venues). His appearance recalls the late 2010s, when Wolf Alice were never far from the cut and thrust of Whitehall. The band heavily endorsed Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 election, played anti-Tory marches and kicked off their 2018 Brixton Academy show with Danny Dyer's expletive-riddled viral rant about Brexit, in which he called David Cameron a 'twat'. Back then, they were driven by a genuine optimism about Corbyn's message and the excitement of being part of a genre-uniting 'youthquake'; 2017 was the year Stormzy paid tribute to the Grenfell victims and participated in pro-Corbyn chants at Glastonbury. It all seems like a very long time ago. Can they see themselves speaking out about politics again? 'It depends if we're represented by someone,' says Ellis. 'Personally, I don't feel particularly represented right now by many things.' Oddie thinks they should use their platform 'sparingly – if you talk all the time about something, people switch off.' The band's focus is now on some secret-ish Irish dates (they never officially announced them; they sold out anyway) to warm up for that Glastonbury performance and Radio 1's Big Weekend, although Ellis is concerned he might have forgotten 'how to stand'. For their end-of-year arena tour, they're hoping to transform their usually straightforward live show into a spectacle: the current West End production of Cabaret, which Rowsell recently took Ellis to see, may be an influence; there might be a wind machine. With an exceptional – if characteristically unconventional – new album and major label money behind them, perhaps Wolf Alice will also take things to the next level commercially this time. But global superstardom isn't the be-all and end-all; to be honest, they seem more than happy on Anchovy Mile. Bloom Baby Bloom is out now on Columbia Records. The Clearing is released 29 August
Ya Libnan
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
The Rebirth of a New Middle East
By: Ya Libnan Before the creation of Israel, Arabs and Muslims lived as brothers alongside Jews. History shows that prior to the rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism, Jews and Palestinians coexisted peacefully throughout the region. In fact, Jews experienced a golden age under Muslim rule in Al-Andalus (present-day Andalusia, Spain) between the 10th and 12th centuries—a time marked by relative tolerance, prosperity, and rich intellectual life. Muslims and Jews both worship the same monotheistic God. And while Jews, Christians, and Muslims each believe they are God's chosen people, the Jews of the Middle East were never under existential threat from their Muslim, Arab, or Christian neighbors. The fracture in this relationship emerged only with the imposition of political agendas, particularly surrounding the establishment of the state of Israel. The Middle East's fate changed dramatically after 1945, when the region became the focal point of global power struggles—not because of religion or ethnicity, but because of oil. Holding nearly 70% of the world's known oil reserves, the Middle East became indispensable to the global economy. Oil fuels industry, powers transportation, drives agriculture, and supports the military machines of advanced economies. It is no exaggeration to say that without oil, modern capitalism would grind to a halt. After World War II, as the U.S. rapidly expanded its economy, its domestic oil production couldn't keep pace. In the 1950s, America imported only 10% of its oil; by the late 1980s, that number had surged to over 50%. Control of oil became a strategic imperative—and so did control of the Middle East. Israel's creation in 1948 was not simply about providing Jews with a homeland after the horrors of the Holocaust. It also served as a strategic foothold in the region. The U.S. State Department called Middle East oil 'a stupendous source of strategic power and one of the greatest material prizes in world history.' To secure it, Washington needed reliable allies on the ground—militarily strong and politically aligned. Israel proved its value to the U.S. in the 1967 war when it simultaneously defeated Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, curbing the rise of Arab nationalism. Since then, Israel has received massive U.S. military aid to ensure it maintains superiority over its neighbors. As Haaretz wrote in 1951, 'Israel is to become the watchdog' of Western interests in the region. From the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement to divide the Middle East between Britain and France, to the U.S.-backed coup in Iran (1953), the invasion of Iraq (1991 and 2003), and arming of regional powers to manipulate conflicts, the West's record in the Middle East is marked by exploitation. Oil was largely controlled by Western firms—the 'Seven Sisters'—until the rise of OPEC in 1973, when countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq nationalized their resources. Despite this shift, U.S. involvement didn't wane. Military interventions, sanctions, regime changes, and the constant fueling of conflicts have left behind a region scarred by war and instability. Donald Trump, during a speech in Riyadh, made a notable statement: 'I DON'T LIKE PERMANENT ENEMIES.' He envisioned a Middle East of peace and prosperity, driven not by foreign lectures or interventions, but by a new generation of regional leaders shaping their own future. He called for a Middle East defined by commerce, not chaos—one that exports technology, not terrorism. Trump's words may surprise many of his critics, but on this point, he was right. Peace will come not from outsiders imposing solutions, but from within—from leaders who understand their culture, history, and people. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia has taken bold steps to modernize his country and lead the region toward a new era. His vision of the Middle East as the 'new Europe' reflects an aspiration shared by others, like UAE's Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) and Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MBR). These leaders represent a generation willing to break from the cycles of division and war. The Middle East paid in blood for the crimes committed against Jews in Europe. Let's be honest: the creation of Israel wasn't just about offering Jews a sanctuary—it was also a geopolitical strategy, and the Jews were used to serve the West's interests. But Israel has matured. It's time to treat it not as a pawn, but as a sovereign nation that must also take responsibility for peace. It's also time to acknowledge the rights of the Palestinian people. They too deserve a home—a land they can call their own, with dignity, safety, and freedom. The arbitrary borders created by colonial powers must no longer divide and rule the region. The people of the Middle East—Arab, Jew, Christian, Muslim—deserve to live in peace. A peaceful and prosperous Middle East should be the goal of the entire world. The intersection of visions—Trump's anti-interventionist rhetoric and MBS's ambitious reform—offers a path forward. But it will require courage. It will require new leadership. And it will require saying goodbye to those whose politics are rooted in fear and division. The time has come to turn the page. Let the Middle East be reborn—not as a battlefield, but as a beacon of cooperation, innovation, and hope.
Irish Daily Mirror
26-04-2025
- Health
- Irish Daily Mirror
Man, 40s, dies climbing mountain in Donegal
A man has died after collapsing while climbing Errigal Mountain in Donegal earlier today. The man, who was in his late 40s, became seriously ill on the mountain around midday. The emergency services were immediately called in an operation overseen by the Malin Head Coastguard. Among those who responded to the call was the Rescue 118 helicopter, which rushed to the scene. The helicopter managed to land close to the man and took him to Letterkenny University Hospital. However, he was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later. The man's identity has not yet been released as his relatives have yet to be informed of his death. Errigal, near Gweedore, is the highest peak in Donegal. It is one of the chain of mountains known as the Seven Sisters.
Khaleej Times
26-04-2025
- Science
- Khaleej Times
UAE weather: Season marking begining of intense heat to start within days
The season marking the onset of intense heat in the UAE and the Arabian Peninsula will start on April 29 and continue until June 7, according to the Emirates Astronomy Society. During this time, which is called the "Kanna of Thuraya" season, the Pleiades (Thuraya) cluster becomes hidden below sunset behind the redness of the setting sun on the western horizon by the end of April and remains obscured within the sun's glare for about 40 days. Based on celestial calculations, Thuraya disappears at the end of April and reappears at the beginning of June. The Kanna season marks an important phase for Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula as it is the beginning of intense heat. It signifies a transitional stage between the start of summer and the peak of its heat, said Ibrahim Al-Jarwan, Chairman of the Emirates Astronomy Society and member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences. Temperatures during this season, which has been recognised through centuries of observation, regularly exceed 38°C, accompanied by low humidity, frequent dry northwesterly winds known as "Al-Bawareh," and rising dust storms. The Pleiades cluster remains one of the most celebrated astronomical features across ancient civilizations, appearing as a tight grouping of stars and referred to as the "Seven Sisters" by the Greeks and "Subaru" by the Japanese.
