Latest news with #Tweed
CTV News
5 days ago
- CTV News
Tweed, Ont. resident helps students whose canoe capsized
Ontario Provincial Police say a quick-acting resident of Tweed, Ont. helped three young people whose canoe capsized on Stoco Lake Tuesday morning. Police say three students from out of town were staying at a rental and had gone out onto the lake at around 6:15 a.m. to watch the sunrise. When they lost a paddle, the canoe capsized as they tried to retrieve it. One of them was not wearing a lifejacket, police say. A local resident heard their calls for help and took his pontoon boat to rescue the young people. All three were brought safely to shore, OPP say. 'The OPP would like to thank everyone who assisted in this rescue. Swift action to call police and rescue these students may have saved their lives,' police said in a post on X. OPP say that 17 of the 23 people who died on OPP-patrolled waterways last year were not wearing lifejackets. 'A lifejacket keeps you afloat when you suddenly and unexpectedly fall out of or are thrown from your vessel. Falling overboard and capsized vessels are the leading causes of OPP-investigated boating/paddling fatalities every year,' police said. Stoco Lake is approximately 100 kilometres northwest of downtown Kingston, Ont.
ABC News
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Ben Quilty's Archibald Prize-winning Margaret Olley portrait bought by Tweed Regional Gallery
Tweed Regional Gallery's acquisition of Ben Quilty's Archibald Prize-winning portrait of beloved Australian artist Margaret Olley brings with it a sense of homecoming. Not only are Olley's ashes interred in a garden outside the gallery, inside there is the Margaret Olley Art Centre, which depicts the ordered chaos of her Duxford Street studio in the Sydney suburb of Paddington. The $600,000 purchase of Quilty's reverential painting, which won the Archibald a few months before Olley passed away in 2011, is a full-circle moment. Olley was born in Lismore in 1923 and moved to Queensland soon after, but she always maintained a connection to the New South Wales North Coast, according to her friend, benefactor, art gallery owner and executor of her will, Philip Bacon. "Sometimes when a museum or art gallery acquires something you think, 'Oh, that's where it belongs' and that's absolutely the fact with this picture," he said. Mr Bacon said Olley "loved" the Tweed Regional Gallery and would often wax lyrical about the region as the pair drove from his home in Brisbane to visit it. "We'd drive down to the Tweed and when she would get to that great run along the river, where all the cane fields are on the left, and the river on the right, she would wind the window down and just say, 'I'm home,'" he said. "She loved the green, because it's always green down there and it was her favourite colour. As one of the co-trustees of the Margaret Olley Art Trust Mr Bacon had much to do with the purchase of the portrait. The trust tipped in $100,000 and Mr Bacon, who personally contributed $25,000, "rang a lot of people" for donations. "It is the highest price ever paid for a Ben Quilty," he said. The painting was on long-term loan to the Art Gallery of NSW after it won the Archibald and also spent some time at Quilty's home in Bowral in the NSW Southern Highlands. Then Quilty decided it needed to be on a wall so "people could see it" and the Tweed gallery announced its crowd-funding campaign to buy the painting in November last year. Gallery Director Ingrid Hedgcock said Quilty had always been "100 per cent" onboard. "It went to his home for some time, but then he realised it wasn't the right place for it," she said. The portrait will become the jewel of the collection on display at the Margaret Olley Art Centre, which opened in 2014. "At the heart of [the centre] is the recreation of her extraordinary home studio, and I have always thought of that home studio as a portrait of her because it has all of these narratives and objects that hold stories about her incredible life and her career," Ms Hedgcock said. "And this portrait is really known across Australia from the Archibald win in 2011, so bringing together Ben's great portrait and the home studio recreation, it just makes sense." The portrait will form the centrepiece of Painting Life: Margaret Olley and Works from the Collection, on display at the Margaret Olley Art Centre from June 15 until August 31. Quilty will attend the opening tonight, which is sold out. Included in this exhibition – and on public display for the first time – are 11 still-life paintings by Quilty. The colour-rich works depict flora from the artist's garden arranged in cut-glass vases and a ceramic vessel that were gifts from Olley. "They are still-life paintings that have vessels in them that Margaret gave him years ago from her own collection," Ms Hedgcock said. "And with that, he has coupled flowers that he has grown from his own garden, so there is this iconic portrait looking across at these still-life paintings."
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gerry Adams's lawyer to pursue chatbots for libel
The high-profile media lawyer who represented Gerry Adams in his libel trial against the BBC is now preparing to sue the world's most powerful AI chatbots for defamation. As one of the most prominent libel lawyers in the UK, Paul Tweed said that artificial intelligence was the 'new battleground' in trying to prevent misinformation about his clients from being spread online. Mr Tweed is turning his attention to tech after he recently helped the former Sinn Fein leader secure a €100,000 (£84,000) payout over a BBC documentary that falsely claimed he sanctioned the murder of a British spy. The Belfast-based solicitor said he was already building a test case against Meta that could trigger a flurry of similar lawsuits, as he claims to have exposed falsehoods shared by chatbots on Facebook and Instagram. It is not the first time tech giants have been sued for defamation over questionable responses spewed out by their chatbots. Robby Starbuck, the US activist known for targeting diversity schemes at major companies, has sued Meta for defamation alleging that its AI chatbot spread a number of false claims about him, including that he took part in the Capitol riots. A Norwegian man also filed a complaint against OpenAI after its ChatGPT software incorrectly stated that he had killed two of his sons and been jailed for 21 years. Mr Tweed, who has represented celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford and Jennifer Lopez, said: 'My pet subject is generative AI and the consequences of them repeating or regurgitating disinformation and misinformation.' He believes statements put out by AI chatbots fall outside the protections afforded to social media companies, which have traditionally seen them avoid liability for libel. If successful, Mr Tweed will expose social media companies that have previously argued they should not be responsible for claims made on their platforms because they are technology companies rather than traditional publishers. Mr Tweed said: 'I've been liaising with a number of well-known legal professors on both sides of the Atlantic and they agree that there's a very strong argument that generative AI will fall outside the legislative protections.' The lawyer said that chatbots are actually creating new content, meaning they should be considered publishers. He said that the decision by many tech giants to move their headquarters to Ireland for lower tax rates had also opened them up to being sued in Dublin's high courts, where libel cases are typically decided by a jury. This setup is often seen as more favourable to claimants, which Mr Tweed himself says has fuelled a wave of 'libel tourism' in Ireland. He also said Dublin's high courts are attractive as a lower price option compared to London, where he said the costs of filing libel claims are 'eye-watering'. He said: 'I think it's absurd now, the level of costs that are being claimed. The libel courts in London are becoming very, very expensive and highly risky now. The moment you issue your claim form, the costs go into the stratosphere. 'It's not in anyone's interest for people to be deprived of access to justice. It will get to the point where nobody sues for libel unless you're a billionaire.' Meta was contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Guardian
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Olive Cotton photography award finalists 2025
The Olive Cotton awards have marked their 20th anniversary in style, with a record number of entries and offering a major prize of $20,000. Tweed Regional Gallery has announced the 65 finalists, recognised for their excellence in photographic portraiture Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Telegraph
The 15 best day trips in and near Edinburgh
Why would you come to Edinburgh to get out of Edinburgh, you may ask? The city is endlessly fascinating with more than you could explore in a month of Sundays. But perhaps you are tired of pounding pavements, busy crowds or ticking off 'must-see' sights? Or has curiosity about other parts of Scotland crept in, leaving you wondering what you're missing outside Auld Reekie? Happily it's easy to reset, recharge and refresh by heading out of town for a day. You'll find historic houses and pretty villages; woodland walks, surfing and mountain-biking; beaches, gardens – even two city alternatives. After all, variety is the spice of life. All our recommendations below have been hand selected and tested by our resident destination expert to help you discover the best day trips in Edinburgh. Find out more below, and see our guides to the city's best hotels, restaurants and cafes, nightlife, pubs and bars, shopping, things to do and things to do for free. Find a day trip by type: Best for history Abbotsford The first romance novel superstar, Sir Walter Scott more or less invented tourism in Scotland. A hopeless romantic and obsessive collector, he built his fantasy of Scottish Baronial architecture on the banks of the Tweed, furnishing it accordingly extravagantly and nearly bankrupting himself in the process. Planning a family or group visit to Abbotsford, his extraordinary country house and estate? Consider booking the private Scott-Hope wing: after-hours you'll have the glorious walled garden to yourselves. And do arrive by Borders Railway – Scott would approve. Contact: Area: Tweedbank How to get there: take the train from Waverley Station to Tweedbank Station (59 minutes), walk (20 minutes) to the house. Note: Abbotsford minibus operates in the summer. Dunkeld For a small place, Dunkeld delivers a lot: from a cathedral dating from 1318 (you can still attend services and bells are still rung) to a Great British Bake Off contestant's bakery. National Trust cottages and tempting shops are a draw, as is the Taybank Hotel's riverside pub. It's surely the prettiest town in the Highlands, but don't miss a walk in the nearby Hermitage, the Duke of Atholl's pleasure ground – all dramatic waterfalls and fabulous follies. Contact: Area: Perthshire How to get there: by car, driving time is around one hour and 15 minutes; by rail from Waverley Station to Dunkeld Station (1 hour and 40 minutes). Culross You won't have pretty Culross (pronounced 'Coo-rus') to yourself, thanks to Outlander fans. But come early or stay late to enjoy the well-preserved 16th-century village, all steep cobbled streets of white-harled houses and red pan-tile roofs. Don't miss the painted wooden ceilings in the Palace (and the hidden garden) or the Red Lion Inn with its equally colourful painted ceiling. And do consider taking in Dunfermline Abbey and Palace on your way. Contact: Area: Dunfermline, Fife How to get there: driving time is around 50 minutes. Or, take the train from Waverley Station to Dunfermline Station, then take bus 8A from Dunfermline Bus Station (a total journey of 1 hour and 45 minutes). Newhailes This Palladian gem is uniquely interesting – and controversial. Rather than restored or recreated, it has been kept exactly as it was when given to the National Trust in 1997, right down to the candlewick bedspreads and cowboy lampshade. You'll get a good lunch or tea in the Stables café before perusing the second-hand bookshop or rewarding children with an adventure playground visit and ice cream in The Dairy. Contact: Area: Musselburgh How to get there: by car, driving time is around 30 minutes; by rail from Waverley Station to Newcraighall Station the journey is around 12 minutes, followed by a 20-minute walk. Rosslyn Chapel After years of painstaking restoration work this remarkable chapel – made famous by The Da Vinci Code novel and film – is now open to visitors in its full, fascinating glory. Do take advantage of the knowledgeable, engaging guides who make it come alive, before seeing the romantic ruins of Rosslyn Castle (part of which is now a Landmark Trust holiday let). Continue your walk along the wooded banks of the River Esk, gloriously carpeted with bluebells in the spring. Contact: Area: Midlothian How to get there: driving time is around 30 minutes. Best for nature Glentress Forest Enjoying your holiday but need a break from clamour and crowds? If you need to get clean air into your lungs consider this Scottish Borders Forestry Commission network of award-winning biking trails, from beginner to expert. There's a zip wire for thrill-seekers, walking trails and a café, plus a shop for bike hire. With luck you might even spot a resident osprey. Contact: Area: Peebles How to get there: driving time is approximately 1 hour. Dawyck Botanic Gardens This more intimate relation of Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden, hidden in the Borders, makes a lovely day trip from the city. The amazing collection of trees – some dating to 1680 – is awe-inspiring. The colourful rhododendrons and azaleas in spring followed by sky-blue Himalayan poppies at Dawyck Botanic Gardens in the summer are a joyful sight, while autumn brings a valedictory blaze of autumn leaves. Have lunch or tea and embrace the calm. Contact: Area: Scottish Borders How to get there: D riving time is around one hour and 10 minutes. Best for culture Glasgow Street Art Tours Worried about getting Stendhal syndrome after completing a full circuit of the museums and galleries in Edinburgh? There's nothing like the reviving effect of contrast, so head to Glasgow for a walking tour of the city's street art scene. It's a great way to get to grips with the city's creative energy. And if you're left needing some formal yin with your yang, visit the magnificent Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Contact: Area: Glasgow How to get there: T ake the train from Waverley Station to Glasgow Queen Street Station (around 60 minutes). Marchmont House Tours of this under-the-radar, privately owned and exquisitely restored Palladian mansion in the Borders countryside are available on selected dates throughout the year (and you can also book a private tour). With architecture by William Adam and Sir Robert Lorimer it's a stunning setting for the mind-blowing collection of art and furniture, from classical to contemporary. And if you like the estate's rush-seated chairs, call into nearby Marchmont Workshop for a bespoke one of your own. Falkland As close to a storybook town as they come, Falkland Palace and the village around are part of a longstanding conservation area. Dominated by the fine Renaissance building (fans of real tennis will be thrilled), with a physic garden and orchard, the palace was a favourite retreat for Mary, Queen of Scots. The village is also popular with visitors, not just for its unspoilt architecture, but also for tempting shops, tearooms and old-school pubs. Contact: Area: Falkland, Fife How to get there: driving time is approximately one hour. Traquair House If a stately home can be described as cosy, this fairytale house in the Borders is it. Since 1491 royalty has often been found here – like Mary Queen of Scots with baby King James VI, his cradle still at the foot of the bed. Children will love the guidebook, playground and the maze, and you can even stay overnight – the Lower Drawing Room becomes your sitting room and bar, with breakfast served in the Still Room. Contact: Area: Innerleithen, Peebleshire How to get there: driving time is around one hour. Dundee UNESCO City of Design and home to the Eden Project, present and past literally sit comfortably side by side here, from the ultra-contemporary V&A Dundee to the 20th-century Antarctic exploration ship 'Discovery'. The Verdant Works museum in Dundee recreates jute factory workers' lives while new distilleries and breweries are popping up all over the city. And what's more, eight minutes on the train will take you to Broughty Ferry's sandy beach and a 15th-century castle. Contact: Area: Dundee How to get there: Take the train from Waverley Station to Dundee Station or drive – both journeys take around 90 minutes. Best for beaches Seacliff Beach This secluded beach on a private estate has more to offer than tide pools, paddling and building sand castles. With photogenic views of the Bass Rock and Tantallon Castle and a miniature Victorian harbour carved from layers of red limestone, Seacliff Beach is worth a visit even on the dreariest day. Tired of beach-combing? Pack some sandwiches and explore the woods where you'll find the hidden, haunting remains of Seacliff House and 16th-century Auldhame Castle. Contact: Area: East Lothian How to get there: Driving time is around 50 minutes (note: there is a £5 charge for parking). The East Neuk The characterful harbour villages of the East Neuk of Fife are well known for their considerable charm; built around handsome stone harbours they still have a strong community feel. Consider walking the coastal path from Elie where you can play cricket on the beach or use the public sauna after a cold water swim, then continue to Crail for fish, chips and ice cream. With luck you'll find an art, music or food festival in Fife, too. St Abb's Head Popular North Berwick tends to steal attention but for coastal drama you can't beat this hidden village further along the coast. Surrounded by cliffs and astonishing rock formations watched over by Stevenson's nine-metre tall lighthouse, it's also home to nesting seabird colonies and in autumn, grey seals. Scoff a crab sandwich whilst admiring views from the harbour, or take a dolphin-spotting boat tour. Carry on to Coldingham beach – surfers, paddle boarders and children love it. Contact: Area: Berwickshire How to get there: Driving time is around 90 minutes. How we choose Every attraction and activity in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets and styles, from world-class museums to family-friendly theme parks – to best suit every type of traveller. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest openings and provide up to date recommendations. About our expert Somewhere between New Town ladette and Old Town doyenne, Linda has a passion for tunnock's teacakes and a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde personality, making Edinburgh her perfect city.
