23 May - The Knowledge

In the headlines

A riot broke out in Cardiff last night, with cars set alight and fireworks launched at police. As many as 150 youths took to the streets, after false rumours swirled on social media that officers had been involved in a traffic accident that killed two teenagers. Vapes confiscated from pupils contain high levels of lead, nickel and chromium, according to a BBC News investigation. E-cigarettes seized at a Kidderminster school show children could be inhaling more than nine times the safe amount of toxic metals, which have been shown to damage the central nervous system and hinder brain development. Seagulls are getting high by swooping down and stealing stashes of the street-drug spice, says the Daily Star. The “beaky bandits” don’t mix well with narcotics, according to one former user. “It turns them into psycho gulls.”

Fashion

As we enter the warmer months, most of us dust off our “breezy cottons and linens”, says Alice Cary in Vogue. But some celebrities are shunning these “typical spring fabrics” in favour of something much less seasonal: leather. To celebrate her son’s first birthday, Rihanna wore a strapless leather-look corset by Rick Owens; Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber have both jumped on the trend with a fitted leather dress and top respectively. It’s an “unexpected”, and potentially uncomfortable, choice for hotter weather.

On the money

Bankers are much better behaved when they’re working from home, says Axios. A new study on an unnamed UK bank found that traders who worked remotely had a 7.3% chance of triggering a misconduct alert each year, compared to 37.6% for those in the office. Not only do remote workers have less access to inside information, but unethical behaviour also appears to be contagious – take traders away from unethical traders, and they’re less likely to behave unethically themselves.

Gone viral

Google Arts & Culture has launched Odd One Out: a game in which users try to identify the AI-generated “imposters” hidden among a group of images. Test your detective skills here.

Noted

At the height of summer, says The Drive, Lake Burlinskoye in Siberia turns an intense shade of pink. It’s because of its population of brightly coloured shrimp, whose pigmentation temporarily dyes the water. To add to the “psychedelic transformation”, there is also a train that skims across the surface. It’s all part of a “huge salt-harvesting operation” – Burlinskoye has a salinity level nearly as high as the Dead Sea’s, and is said to have been described by Peter the Great as “the royal salt shaker”.

Staying young

The latest fad among gym-goers is “going wild”, says The Wall Street Journal. Big US chains are offering “primal movement” classes where participants get down on all fours and act like animals, including apes, donkeys and crabs. It sounds “batty”. But so-called “caveman calisthenics” – which draws on more established trends such as MovNat (“move naturally”) and Animal Flow – can help with balance, flexibility, coordination and core stability. And it may just “release your inner beast”.

Snapshot

Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who bought it for $200m – the most ever paid for a home in California. Designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the 30,000 sq ft concrete compound overlooks the Malibu coast, and comes with eight acres of land including its own private beach. According to the gossip website TMZ, the deep-pocketed music moguls paid for the property in cash.

Quoted

quoted 23.5.23

“The business of progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected.”

GK Chesterton