Names and faces
■ An 18-year-old from South Korea has won the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, one of the top showcases for the world’s best pianists. Held in Fort Worth, the competition ended Saturday night with Yunchan Lim becoming the youngest winner of the gold medal. His winnings include $100,000 and three years of career management. The silver medalist is Anna Geniushene, a 31-year-old from Russia, and the bronze winner is Dmytro Choni, a 28-year-old from Ukraine. Lim told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he’ll discuss with his teacher what his next career move should be. “I am still a student and I feel like I have to learn a lot still,” Lim said. “This is a great competition and I feel the burden of receiving this great honor and award, so I will just push myself to live up to the honor I received today.” The competition was founded in 1962 in honor of the celebrated pianist Van Cliburn, who lived in Fort Worth. Cliburn, who died in 2013 at age 78, played for U.S. presidents, royalty and heads of state around the world. He is best remembered for winning the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, at the height of the Cold War. The competition is traditionally held every four years; this year’s event was scheduled for last year but was postponed because of the pandemic.
■ British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had an operation on his sinuses under general anaesthetic Monday, his office said. Spokesman Max Blain said the prime minister was back at his 10 Downing Street home and resting after the “routine” procedure. He said the operation had been scheduled and was performed by medics working for the state-funded National Health Service at a London hospital. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab filled in for Johnson during the operation. Johnson was hospitalized in intensive care with the coronavirus in April 2020. Blain said Monday’s procedure was unrelated to covid-19. Johnson, 58, is due to travel to a Commonwealth conference in Rwanda this week and to attend Group of Seven and NATO summits later this month.