News about Joan Armatrading

Weekend Magazine has put together a list of 50 of the best podcasts you need to listen to over summer. Some include historical podcasts such as The Last Soviet and The Prince, and crime podcasts like Vishal, The Missing Cryptoqueen and Serial.

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN: We live in Nappy Valley Central. Strollers, poose-bearing dads, and toddlers riding scooters are crammed on the local streets. Their parents are delighted, juggling them as another child grabs their ball in the park. These children are similarly enchanted by their parents, and their worlds are made all right by the stroke of a hand and a cuddle. These parents' biggest concerns, for the time being, are regarding childcare and sleepless nights. However, I do often think they don't know what's coming down the pike as I watch these families. A generation of young people is now trapped in a panic epidemic of fear and other mental disorders, with a third claiming to have one or other disorder. There are some parents who could once soothe with a kiss, but there is nothing more painful than seeing your child suffering in this manner, many times unable to get out of bed, and often times it is impossible to keep a job that is obviously ineffective at dealing with life.

Mark Knopfler has assembled what may be the best supergroup in the fight against cancer ever assembled. Guitar Heroes, a band of 54 guitarists who have recorded a new version of Mark's Going Home (Theme of the Local Hero), has formed. Among those on the track were Sting on bass, Ringo Starr on drums, and legends such as Brian May, Cheryl Crow, and Joan Armatrading strumming along.

According to the country's culture minister, Zahara, the South African Afro-pop singer, died at the age of 36 after being hospitalized with liver disease from years of alcohol use. According to SABC News, the award-winning singer, whose real name was Bulelwa Mkutukana, died at a hospital in Johannesburg last night. Zahara rose to fame in 2011 with her award-winning album Loliwe, and in 2020 she was included in the BBC's 100 Women list, which showcases the world's most inspiring and influential women. Since struggling with alcoholism and being hospitalized last month, the Afro-pop sensation, whose prolific ballads, had been suffering with liver disease and was hospitalized in South Africa, before passing away on Monday. The government had been 'assisting' Zahara's family for some time now,' according to Sports, Arts, and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa of South Africa.'

The Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Association will award Harry and Meghan (inset) with the Ripple of Hope Award later today for taking a 'heroic stand' against the royal family's'structural racism'. Rob Rinder (pictured), a California-based couple, should be recognized for their contribution to human rights for their critique of the royal family, who appeared on television this morning. When talking to Harry and Meghan, he said: "The thing that strikes me is that you have a little bit of humility." I'm certainly not Dalia Lama, but you can image people who have spent their lives fighting for human rights, such as Baroness Dorobe, who works in housing, and ordinary people in China. "Surely, what you would do is have the deepest and sincere humility as a human being to know that there are people out there who could receive the award for on their behalf, given the fact that human rights work they do.'