Innehållsförteckning för July 2022 / Issue 34 från News Bites

Traded for a Sandwich, Sold for $280,000 Maud Lewis (1903-1970) was an artist from Nova Scotia in Canada who sold her paintings for two or three dollars each. Like many great artists, Maud lived a life of poverty but in the years since her death her paintings have become valuable. One of her paintings, called Black Truck, was sold recently for 350,000 Canadian dollars ($280,000). Black Truck was sold by Tony and Irene Demas (pictured above) who owned a restaurant in Nova Scotia and had recently retired. One of their regular customers in the 1970s was an artist named John Kinnear. John admired Maud’s artwork, knew she was poor and often gave her painting materials. Maud appreciated the gifts and occasionally sent some of her work to John as a…

This summer, get ready to finally discover how Gru, the world’s greatest supervillain, first met his iconic Minions, when Minions: The Rise of Gru arrives in cinemas nationwide. Long before he becomes the master of evil, Gru is just a 12-year-old boy in 1970s suburbia, plotting to take over the world from his basement. But it’s not going particularly well. When Gru crosses paths with the Minions, including Kevin, Stuart, Bob and Otto – a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please – this unexpected family joins forces. Together, they build their first lair, design their first weapons, and strive to execute their first missions. When the infamous supervillain supergroup, the Vicious 6, oust their leader – legendary martial arts fighter Wild Knuckles – Gru, their most…

MAKER: RAESR Automotive MODEL: Tachyon Speed YEARS: 2017-present FUEL: All Electric TRANSMISSION: Automatic TOP SPEED: 386km/h HORSEPOWER: 1,250 horsepower MATERIALS: The Tachyon Speed has a carbon-fibre body and a carbon-fibre and aluminium chassis. It weighs 1,400kg. The interior is made of lightweight Kevlar which is a heat-resistant strong synthetic fibre. 1.The Tachyon Speed was designed to resemble a fighter jet and even has a central driver’s seat and aerodynamic flaps on the rear wing that can be adjusted by the driver. The passenger seat is located behind the driver. 2. It is fitted with six high-powered electric motors, each producing close to 300 horsepower. It can drive around 240km on a single charge. 3. The name Tachyon comes from the hypothetical scientific particle that travels faster than the speed of…

When you think of a wildlife nature reserve, what do you imagine? An African landscape most likely, with keepers in Land Rovers, lions lazing and elephants plodding. Probably not a rescue centre in the woods of southwest England, home to over 250 monkeys! Monkey World in Dorset, England, is the largest primate rescue centre in the world. A man with a plan It was created by an American, Jim Cronin, who was working as a zookeeper in England in the 1980s. While there, he heard about young chimpanzees being smuggled from Africa into Spain, then dressed up and used to attract customers for photographers on the beaches. Beaten, their teeth knocked out to prevent them from biting tourists, drugged to keep them calm and eventually killed when they got too…

Sport not to be missed this month Tour de France July 1 – 24 The biggest race in cycling will see riders compete over 21 gruelling stages, racking up 3,328 kilometres. Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, who rides for UAE Team Emirates, is targeting a third successive victory. New Zealand v Ireland July 2, 9, 16 Two of the leading nations in rugby union face off in a three-Test series in New Zealand. Ireland beat the All Blacks in Dublin last November but they have never won a match on New Zealand soil. The Open Championship July 14 – 17 St Andrews, regarded as the home of golf, hosts the 150th Open Championship. Tiger Woods is expected to play after his comeback from injuries suffered in a serious car crash while Colin…

Mobile devices have changed all of our lives, and mostly in a good way. We can now communicate with our family and friends instantly and from afar. We can share what’s happening in our lives with the people who matter to us, and we can share in their lives too. Being able to connect with distant friends means we don’t have to miss out on important events and it can help us to keep those friendships alive, despite the fact that our loved ones are so far away. But most of us also have connections with people on social media whom we’ve never actually met. Some of them may have become friends, but many of them may be people that we’ve never even had a spoken conversation with – our…

Glass Frog Two new species of glass frogs have been discovered. Why are they called ‘glass frogs’? Well, that is literally ‘clear to see’! They have completely transparent bellies showing a red heart, a white liver and digestive system, and a pouch of greenish eggs if they are female. What an astonishing creature! And there are 156 different species of them – all in South and Central America. The two new species were discovered in a river valley in the Andes mountains in Ecuador, South America. One of them lives on the south side of the river. The other lives on the north side, on a mountain slope. They look identical to the naked eye, with lime-green backs peppered by black dots around yellow spots, but their DNA is a…

OFFICIAL NAME: Lao People’s Democratic Republic POPULATION: 7.5 million CAPITAL: Vientiane AREA: 230,800 km2 Mountains: Annamite Range, Luang Prabang Range Major Rivers: Mekong OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: Lao MONEY: Lao kip Laos is a small country in Southeast Asia surrounded by Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. It is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. Mountains and Jungle In the north and east of Laos there are rugged mountains and dense jungle. Most of the rest of the country is hilly also apart from the Mekong River Basin. Phu Bia, the highest point in the country, rises 2,819 m above sea level. Weather Laos has a monsoon climate with three seasons. The rainy season is about 5 months long and runs from June to September. In October, rains start to taper…

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, is better known to people around the world as the Blue Mosque. It’s called this because the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade blue ceramic tiles. Back when it was being built – from 1609 to 1616 – the tiles were made 90 km away, in Iznik. The tiles at lower levels are plain, while those at higher levels have designs representing flowers, fruit and cypresses. The upper levels of the mosque are also painted blue. The mosque is close to two other famous Istanbul buildings – the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia. The Blue Mosque was built by order of Sultan Ahmed I. He was only 19 years old when construction began, and the mosque was opened in…

A Challenge In 1961, Russia’s Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, completing a single orbit of the Earth. This was during the ‘Space Race’ between the Soviet Union (including Russia) and the United States. Less than a month later, Alan Shepard became the first American in space. Then US President John F. Kennedy issued a challenge to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to put a human on the moon in 10 years or less. So NASA went to work. Their spaceflight program was named Apollo, after the Greek god. Moon Walk NASA officials chose Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins as the astronauts who would travel to the Moon on the eleventh Apollo mission. Michael Collins designed the emblem for the mission. Of course, the…

Excitement is building ahead of this month’s Women’s European Championships, which are being held in England for the first time in 17 years. It is five years since the Netherlands beat Denmark 4-2 to win their first European title – the tournament normally takes place every four years but was delayed by 12 months due to COVID. The Netherlands’ success ended Germany’s incredible run of six consecutive European Championship wins and both teams are among the leading contenders here along with Spain, Sweden and England, who are hoping home advantage could help them win their first Euros. The tournament begins on July 6 when England face Austria at Old Trafford, with the final taking place at Wembley Stadium on July 31. Caroline Graham Hansen Norway The attacking midfielder starred for…

Treasured Violin Lives On For almost 300 years, a prized violin crafted by Italian Giuseppe Guarneri, has been played in concerts around the world. Guarneri was a legendary craftsman, who made about 150 violins. He made this particular one at the height of his career. This month was the first time in about 10 years that one of his instruments came up for auction. Regis Pasquier, an expert musician, had owned this violin for about 20 years. Pasquier has said that the violin is special in the way it projects sounds much further than many others. That fact was important when he played the instrument in places like the Opera Garnier of Paris and in New York’s Carnegie Hall. This violin is so special that the French auction house said…

75 years ago! JUL 2 1947 On this day, a strange aircraft crash-landed on a ranch in New Mexico, USA. The rancher reported it to the Army Air Field at Roswell (so the event is known as ‘The Roswell Incident’). The Army said they found a ‘flying disc’ but then said it was a weather balloon. Later, a retired colonel, who had examined the crash, claimed it was extraterrestrial. In 1994, the Air Force stated it was a device for monitoring nuclear activity. Some people said they saw bodies of aliens around the area – the Air Force said they were crash-test dummies. Many still believe they were aliens! 70 years a go! JUL 3 1952 On this day 41-year-old Henry Opitek became the first patient to survive open-heart surgery,…

CROSSWORD TIME ACROSS 1 Bees gather pollen to __________ their young (4) 2 The female part of a flower (6) 4 Minion Bob has a medical condition called _________ iridium. (13) 7 Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins travelled to the ________ on July 16, 1969 (4) 8 Bastille Day (also known as la Fête nationale) is celebrated in ____________ on July 14. (6) 9 Laos’ biggest agricultural export (5) 11 NASA is planning on returning to the moon with their new programme named _________(7) 13 V, Jungkook, Jimin, RM, Jin, J-Hope and _________ are members of famous South Korean pop group BTS (4) 14 Black ___________: A painting by Nova Scotian artist Maud Lewis (5) 15 Two new species of __________ frogs have been discovered (5) 16 Karolinska Institute…

A carer is someone who looks after other people. While all of us have been cared for or have cared for someone over the course of our lives, a professional carer is someone who is paid to take care of people. This can be a very challenging job, but it can be very rewarding too. Where does a carer work? Carers work everywhere – in every village, town and city and in the country. There are also lots of jobs as carers across the world. Carers work in hospitals, nursing homes and hospices; they also work in the community, helping people to manage in their own homes. Some carers look after elderly people, while others look after people with learning difficulties. They are often needed to look after people who…

Born: June 3, 1986 Sport: Tennis Titles: 22 grand slams (2 x Australian Open, 14 x French Open, 2 x Wimbledon, 4 x US Opens), 92 career singles titles, 5 Davis Cups. Rafael Nadal enjoyed the perfect birthday present at last month’s French Open as he extended his incredible record of Grand Slam wins to 22. The French Open final took place two days after Nadal’s 36th birthday, and he marked it in style with a record 14th singles title in Paris. His latest win moves him two clear of great rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who remain on 20 Grand Slam wins, and Nadal will look to extend that even further at Wimbledon this month. It is 21 years since Nadal turned professional and his first win on…