Eighty-two skeletons found in a mass grave in the Dutch city of Vianen were mainly British soldiers who died of illness in an 18th Century field hospital, archaeologists say. The remains were found outside the city’s old wall in November 2020 and then researched by forensic anthropologist April Pijpelink. All but four were men and many originated in southern England. “It’s most likely these young men came to fight against the French,” she said. But they lost their lives because of poor hygiene in a field hospital, she told the BBC. “At first we thought these men died of injuries in battle, but during my research it became clear that around 85% of them suffered from one or more infections, while basically all their trauma wounds had healed.”

An iconic painting of Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol has been auctioned for $195m (£158.17m) – making it the most expensive piece of 20th Century art ever sold. The painting, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, was painted by Warhol in 1964 using a famous photograph as inspiration. The amount is also the highest ever paid for an American work of art. The Christie’s auction in New York was widely seen as a symbol of the luxury art market’s health. Ahead of the auction, Christie’s wrote that the painting is “one of the rarest and most transcendent images in existence”, with a selling price “in the region” of $200m. The auction ended with a sale price of $170m, which rose to $195m with taxes and fees taken into account. The previous record price for a piece of American artwork was $110.5m for a skull painting created in 1982 by Warhol’s sometimes friend and sometimes competitor, Jean-Michael Basquiat.((NU)…[+]

US rapper Young Thug has been arrested on charges including participating in criminal street gang activity, police records say. The 30-year-old – whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams – has been arrested as part of a larger grand jury indictment which names 28 members and associates of his record label YSL. The indictment defines YSL as a “criminal street gang”. Another rapper – Gunna – was also named in the indictment. Young Thug last year topped the US album charts with Punk. He also co-wrote the critically acclaimed, much talked about Donald Glover song This is America. As well as being charged with criminal street gang activity, he has also been charged with conspiring to violate a federal law aimed at combatting organised crime. The indictment names the YSL enterprise, which stands for “Young Slime Life”, as an affiliate of the national Bloods gang. It details hand gestures and emojis said to be favoured by the YSL, and lists lyrics and music videos said to be “an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy”. Gunna – whose real name is Sergio Giavanni Kitchens – has also been charged, according to the records. Some of the other 28 defendants have also been charged with more violent crimes, including murder and attempted armed robbery. A lawyer for Young Thug told local media that “Mr Williams committed no crime whatsoever”. The BBC has approached representatives of Gunna for comment. (BBC)…[+]