The University of Birmingham has loaned an historic painting with a Shakespeare connection to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud ben Mohammed Anoun led an embassy to London in 1600 to deepen trade and diplomatic links between Britain and Morocco, and may have influenced Shakespeare’s depiction of Othello. A portrait of the Ambassador – which normally hangs in the Shakespeare Institute, in Stratford-upon Avon – will form a key part of the exhibition The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England, which opens today. The painting is being shown at the New York museum before travelling to the Cleveland Museum of…
Author: Easterntimes
A Birmingham City University music student is celebrating today after being crowned BBC Young Musician of the Year 2022, following a ‘stylish and committed’ performance using a wide range of instruments – from marimbas and crotales to kitchen bowls and car brake drums. 18-year-old percussionist Jordan Ashman, who is in the first year of study for a BMus at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, was announced as the winner of the prestigious competition at the Grand Final, held at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. Speaking after his win, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire student said: “I feel really lucky to have had the experience of…
Aldi has pledged to continue to provide the lowest grocery prices in the country as official data shows it has become Britain’s fourth largest supermarket. In its annual trading update, Aldi said it had attracted record numbers of new shoppers in the past six months as pandemic restrictions were lifted. The latest data from Kantar shows Aldi attracted 1.5 million extra customers to its stores over the past 12 weeks and sales grew at 18.7%, overtaking Morrisons with a market share of 9.3%.* Aldi said its buying teams were working tirelessly to counter the impact of inflation and maintain its…
Staff from a Birmingham branch of NatWest had a taste of fame after being asked to appear on breakfast TV to talk about banking scams. Bankers Baljinder Dhaliwal, known as Bally, and Kam Pahal regularly support Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi speakers in their Grand Central Birmingham branch and understand some of the challenges customers from these communities can face when it comes to spotting scams. The bankers had planned to deliver a session in Punjabi to around 40 regular customers, however their audience grew overnight when they were invited to star in the breakfast slot of the Birmingham-based Sikh Channel,…
Cllr Ian Ward’s reaction to Glasgow and Liverpool being shortlisted for Eurovision 2023. Following today’s announcement by the BBC of the final shortlist of Eurovision 2023 candidate cities, Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, has issued a statement. “Congratulations to Glasgow and Liverpool for making the final shortlist to host Eurovision 2023. Birmingham wishes both cities all the best in their bids to be the host city. “As the Proud Host City of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, we know the benefits of hosting such a prestigious global event. “I would like to thank the NEC Group and…
Organisers looking to recruit more than 200 staff and also audition musicians for this year’s Frankfurt Christmas Market. Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market is once again looking to recruit more than 200 people to support its stalls when it returns to the city centre on 3 November. The event’s organisers – Frankfurt Christmas Market Ltd – are looking to fill a range of customer-facing and behind the scenes roles ranging from bar staff, catering assistants and salespeople on gift stalls, to kitchen assistants and porters. There is a mix of part-time and full-time roles working alongside the German stallholders and their core…
Seven new community diagnostic centres (CDCs) will open to help bust the COVID backlogs, diagnose patients more quickly and meet future demands on the NHS, the Health and Social Care Secretary has today (1 September 2022) confirmed. The one-stop shops offer a range of diagnostic checks, scans and tests closer to home. Following a GP referral, patients can get their symptoms checked and receive a potentially life-saving diagnosis for a range of conditions such as cancer, heart and lung disease more quickly. The new facilities will also relieve pressure on NHS staff ahead of a potentially challenging winter. So far,…
Smokers in England are being urged to stub out the habit as part of the annual Stoptober public health campaign launching next month, as latest statistics show smoking costs the NHS £2.4 billion a year while causing at least 15 types of cancers, including lung cancer and acute myeloid leukaemia. Stoptober – now in its 11th year – aims to empower people to give up smoking during October, as evidence shows people are 5 times more likely to quit for good if they can make it to at least 28 days smoke free. Research shows that self-confidence is a major factor…
Funding of £15 million this year will help increase international recruitment of care workers. The funding will enable local areas to support care providers with activities such as visa processing, accommodation and pastoral support for international recruits. This will complement a national domestic recruitment campaign, which will launch shortly. The Health and Social Care Secretary acknowledged the scale of the challenges facing the NHS in the wake of the pandemic and the plan for patients builds on the NHS Winter Plan, including the rollout of COVID boosters and flu jabs already underway to help protect the most vulnerable. The plan…
A new lifesaving service has been launched by Midlands Air Ambulance Charity in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. Following extensive research into patient need across the area, the charity has introduced a new critical care car service in the region which has already been dispatched to more than 80 incidents since May 2022, helping to save many lives. The new northern critical care car was funded by a £60,000 donation from the HELP Appeal – the only charity in the country that funds NHS hospital and air ambulance base helipads. It operates from 10am until 10pm daily, is run by a critical…
