Brittney Ermon and Ben Henry at KSTP are reporting the plans for George Floyd Square are on hold yet again after the Minneapolis Climate and Infrastructure Committee decided to hold off on voting on a design plan. Via MinnPost https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/5-years-after-murder-future-of-george-floyd-square-on-hold-again/

ARTS & CULTURE Warm up your weekend at Great Northern, Lunar New Year celebrations The 10-day winter festival includes the screening of a Prince film, saunas and more. Plus: Podcaster Celisia Stanton holds a launch party for “Truer Crime” Season 2; and Year of the Snake events across the Twin Cities. https://sahanjournal.com/arts-culture/twin-cities-things-to-do-great-northern-crime-podcast-lunar-new-year/

The oil crisis fuelled by Russia’s war is evaporating – and so are the profits Jillian Ambrose Results from Shell and Exxon this week will be weaker – and Trump’s desire to drill may result in oversupply https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/25/the-oil-crisis-fuelled-by-russias-war-is-evaporating-and-so-are-the-profits

Diamonds lose their sparkle as prices come crashing down Lab-grown rocks and fewer weddings have put a huge dampener on the market. On the bright side, a big dazzler is now affordable for many James Tapper https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/25/diamonds-lose-their-sparkle-as-prices-come-crashing-down

Carl Bloch’s lost masterpiece Prometheus Unbound finds fame again in Athens Work that made its creator a superstar then mysteriously disappeared is mesmerising art lovers once more Helena Smith in Athens https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/25/carl-bloch-lost-masterpiece-prometheus-unbound-finds-fame-again-in-athens

Free ebooks today “Welcome to our first Queer Your eReader event! Queer authors have generously made their books available for free for 24 hours on 25th January, 2025 – there’s a great selection of books below in Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi and Romance. All listings contain the blurb for the book, details of representation and content warnings, as provided by the authors.” https://divinationhollow.com/queer-your-ereader