music

K-pop group NewJeans ends feud with record label ADOR

  • The members then took their grievances public, accusing the label of intentionally sabotaging their careers. 
  • All members of the K-pop group NewJeans have resumed working with their record label, the company and their lawyers said Thursday, after accusations of mistreatment and a year-long dispute that stalled their careers.
  • The members then took their grievances public, accusing the label of intentionally sabotaging their careers. 
All members of the K-pop group NewJeans have resumed working with their record label, the company and their lawyers said Thursday, after accusations of mistreatment and a year-long dispute that stalled their careers.
The move came after a court ruled last month that the group's five members must honour their contracts with record label ADOR, whose parent company HYBE is also behind K-pop sensation BTS.
NewJeans made headlines in November 2024 when they announced their decision to leave ADOR, prompting the company to request an injunction barring them from any commercial activities. That request was granted in March.
"Hello, this is Minji, Hanni, and Danielle. After careful and thorough discussions, we have decided to return to ADOR," three of the members said in a statement provided to AFP by their attorneys.
The statement came after ADOR announced on Wednesday that the other members, Haerin and Hyein, had also agreed to work with the label.
"The two members have decided to respect the court's latest ruling and adhere to their exclusive contract with the label," ADOR said in a statement, adding that it was "committed to providing its full support".
NewJeans is among HYBE's most successful acts since making its debut in 2022.
The heated contractual dispute erupted last year following allegations that HYBE had forced out the band's star producer, Min Hee-jin, from her role as ADOR's CEO. 
NewJeans' members later issued an ultimatum demanding Min's reinstatement, which HYBE rejected.
The members then took their grievances public, accusing the label of intentionally sabotaging their careers. 
Band member Hanni alleged last year that the group had faced mistreatment, including "deliberate miscommunications and manipulation" while working with ADOR.
But the Seoul Central District Court rejected last month NewJeans' claims that the allegations had caused an "irreparable breakdown of trust" with ADOR. 
Shares of HYBE jumped around 4.5 percent on Thursday after the announcement.
kjk/ep/tc

entertainment

TV soaps and diplomacy as Bangladesh and Turkey grow closer

BY SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM

  • - 'New opportunities' - Ties between Ankara and Dhaka have not always been smooth, but they "are growing stronger now," said Md Anwarul Azim, professor of international relations at the University of Dhaka.
  • In a recording studio in Dhaka, voiceover artist Rubaiya Matin Gity dubs the latest Turkish soap opera to become a megahit in Bangladesh -- a pop-culture trend that reflects growing ties between the two countries.
  • - 'New opportunities' - Ties between Ankara and Dhaka have not always been smooth, but they "are growing stronger now," said Md Anwarul Azim, professor of international relations at the University of Dhaka.
In a recording studio in Dhaka, voiceover artist Rubaiya Matin Gity dubs the latest Turkish soap opera to become a megahit in Bangladesh -- a pop-culture trend that reflects growing ties between the two countries.
"Yasmeen! Yasmeen! I have fallen in love..." the 32-year-old actor cried in Bangla, her eyes fixed on the screen playing new episodes of Turkish drama "Kara Sevda", or "Endless Love", which has captivated millions of viewers in the South Asian nation.
The success of Turkish shows, challenging the once-unrivalled popularity of Indian television dramas, is the sign of a change that extends far beyond Bangladeshi screens.
It mirrors shifting alliances and expanding diplomatic, trade and defence relations between the two Muslim-majority nations, 5,000 kilometres (3,000 miles) apart.
More Turkish restaurants are opening in Bangladesh and there is a general interest in learning the language, coupled with rekindled warmth between the two governments, set against increasingly fractious relations between Dhaka and New Delhi.
An interim government has led Bangladesh since an uprising last year toppled the autocratic rule of Sheikh Hasina -- who fled to old ally India, where she has resisted extradition, turning relations between the two neighbours icy.

'New opportunities'

Ties between Ankara and Dhaka have not always been smooth, but they "are growing stronger now," said Md Anwarul Azim, professor of international relations at the University of Dhaka.
"The relationship faltered twice," he said, first in 1971 when Bangladesh separated from Pakistan, and then in 2013, when Dhaka hanged men accused of war crimes during the independence struggle.
Bilateral trade remains modest, but Azim noted that Turkey offers Bangladesh an alternative to its reliance on China as its main weapons supplier.
Ankara's defence industry boss Haluk Gorgun visited Dhaka in July, and Bangladesh's army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman is expected in Turkey later this month to discuss production of military equipment.
Bangladesh has also shown interest in Turkish drones, technology Ankara has reportedly supplied to Pakistan, India's arch-enemy.
Dhaka's interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, said he was "focused on further deepening" ties with Ankara, after meeting a Turkish parliamentary delegation this month.
"Bangladesh stands ready to work hand in hand with Turkiye to unlock new opportunities for our people," Yunus said.

Classes, clothes and horses

Alongside formal ties, cultural links are also deepening.
Ezaz Uddin Ahmed, 47, head of programming at the channel that pioneered Turkish dramas in Bangladesh, said that Deepto TV has "a dedicated team of translators, scriptwriters, voice artists and editors" working to meet the growing demand.
Its breakout hit came in 2017 with a historical epic that eclipsed Indian serials and "surpassed all others" in terms of popularity, Ahmed said.
Riding on that success, Deepto TV and other Bangladeshi broadcasters snapped up more Turkish imports -- from Ottoman sagas to contemporary family dramas.
Interest in the Turkish language has followed suit, with several leading institutions now offering courses.
"I have 20 students in a single batch," said Sheikh Abdul Kader, a trainer and economics lecturer at Jagannath University. "There is growing demand."
For some, the love for all things Turkish doesn't end there.
Business owner Tahiya Islam, 33, has launched a Turkish-themed clothing line, and inspired by Ottoman traditions, even took up horseback riding.
"During the Ottoman era, couples used to go out on horseback," she said. "Now, my husband rides too -- and I even have my own horse."
sa/pjm/ami

AI

UK music industry warns growth threatened by AI, Brexit

  • UK tours by Taylor Swift and Take That helped lift the industry's contribution to the UK economy last year, according to the annual report from UK Music, an umbrella organisation for the industry.
  • Britain's music industry contributed £8 billion ($10.5 billion) to the UK economy in 2024, but the effects of Brexit and AI have clouded the sector's outlook, an industry report showed Wednesday.
  • UK tours by Taylor Swift and Take That helped lift the industry's contribution to the UK economy last year, according to the annual report from UK Music, an umbrella organisation for the industry.
Britain's music industry contributed £8 billion ($10.5 billion) to the UK economy in 2024, but the effects of Brexit and AI have clouded the sector's outlook, an industry report showed Wednesday.
UK tours by Taylor Swift and Take That helped lift the industry's contribution to the UK economy last year, according to the annual report from UK Music, an umbrella organisation for the industry.
Music exports were also boosted by the international success of artists such as Charli XCX and Lola Young.
However, annual growth was slower than the double-digit increases recorded in the immediate aftermath of the Covid pandemic, the report said.
UK Music's chief executive Tom Kiehl warned that the industry faced a number of challenges, pointing to the "need for urgent action".
He said that the UK government would be judged on the "progress it makes in regulating artificial intelligence and unlocking EU touring". 
The impact of Brexit, such as through increased touring costs, red tape and fewer EU clients making recording studio bookings, is "still bad and is getting worse", the report said.
Elsewhere, two-thirds of music creators surveyed by UK Music said that AI poses a threat to their career.
Ninety percent of British music creators said protections should be in place to stop their work being used without permission or payment.
The UK government plans to make it easier for AI companies to access data by introducing a copyright exception for commercial AI training with its Data (Use and Access) Bill.
Under the proposed law, companies developing AI models would not need permission from creatives to access certain content -- a plan that has provoked a fierce backlash from the cultural sector.
mp/ajb/fg

pope

Pope Leo reels off four favourite films

  • The Vatican said Leo had picked "the films that are most significant to him".
  • Pope Leo XIV has revealed his four favourite films ahead of a special audience with Hollywood celebrities and Oscar-winning directors at the Vatican.
  • The Vatican said Leo had picked "the films that are most significant to him".
Pope Leo XIV has revealed his four favourite films ahead of a special audience with Hollywood celebrities and Oscar-winning directors at the Vatican.
Leo, the first pope from the United States, picked tearjerkers including Frank Capra's classic 1946 film "It's a Wonderful Life" with James Stewart, in which an angel is sent from heaven to help a desperate family man.
The Chicago-born pontiff said in a video released by the Vatican Wednesday that his other picks include Robert Wise's musical "The Sound of Music" (1965) and Robert Redford's family drama "Ordinary People" (1980).
He finished with Roberto Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful" (1997), about a father trying to shield his son from the horrors of a WWII concentration camp.
The Vatican said Leo had picked "the films that are most significant to him".
Leo, who was elected in May, will hold a special audience Saturday at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace with stars including Cate Blanchett, Chris Pine, Viggo Mortensen, Dave Franco and Monica Bellucci.
Directors including Spike Lee, Judd Apatow, George Miller and Giuseppe Tornatore of "Cinema Paradiso" fame are also expected to attend.
The 70-year-old pontiff hopes "to deepen dialogue with the World of Cinema... exploring the possibilities that artistic creativity offers to the mission of the Church and the promotion of human values," the Vatican said in a statement.
The event is being organised by the Vatican as part of the Catholic Church's Holy Year celebrations.
ide/ams/fg

music

Humans can no longer tell AI music from the real thing: survey

  • "Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music," said Deezer.
  • It has become nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between music generated by artificial intelligence and that created by humans, according to a survey released Wednesday.
  • "Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music," said Deezer.
It has become nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between music generated by artificial intelligence and that created by humans, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The polling firm Ipsos asked 9,000 people to listen to two clips of AI-generated music and one of human-made music in a survey conducted for France-based streaming platform Deezer.
"Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music," said Deezer.
The survey came out as a country music song featuring a male singer's voice generated by AI reached the top of the US charts for the first time this week.
"Walk My Walk" by Breaking Rust -- an artist widely reported by US media to be powered by generative AI technology -- made it to the top spot on Billboard magazine's chart ranking digital sales of country songs, according to data published Monday. 
Deezer said more than half of the respondents to its survey felt uncomfortable at not being able to tell the difference.
Pollsters also asked broader questions about the impact of AI, with 51 percent saying the technology would lead to more low-quality music on streaming platforms and almost two-thirds believing it will lead to a loss of creativity.
"The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know if they're listening to AI or human made tracks or not," Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier said.

One in three streamed tracks AI

Deezer said there has not only been a surge in AI-generated content being uploaded to its platform, but it is finding listeners. 
In January, one in 10 of the tracks streamed each day were completely AI-generated. Ten months later, that percentage has climbed to over one in three, or nearly 40,000 per day.
Eighty percent of survey respondents wanted fully AI-generated music clearly labelled for listeners.
Deezer is the only major music-streaming platform that systematically labels completely AI-generated content for users.
The issue gained prominence in June when a band called The Velvet Sundown suddenly went viral on Spotify, and only confirmed the following month that it was in fact AI-generated content.
The AI group's most popular song has been streamed more than three million times.
In response, Spotify said it would encourage artists and publishers to sign up to a voluntary industry code to disclose AI use in music production.
The Deezer survey was conducted between October 6 and 10 in eight countries: Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States.
burs-rl/jh/jj/fg

music

Prague cathedral's long-awaited organ to pipe up in 2026

BY JAN FLEMR

  • - 'Pipe by pipe' - Grenzing's design aims to "offer a sound that is pleasant for the Czech listener", said Vojtech Matl, head of the St. Vitus Organ Foundation.
  • Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral, a favourite feature of postcards from the Czech capital, is next year set to inaugurate a long-awaited organ that befits its Gothic splendour.
  • - 'Pipe by pipe' - Grenzing's design aims to "offer a sound that is pleasant for the Czech listener", said Vojtech Matl, head of the St. Vitus Organ Foundation.
Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral, a favourite feature of postcards from the Czech capital, is next year set to inaugurate a long-awaited organ that befits its Gothic splendour.
Located at Prague Castle in the city's UNESCO-listed historic centre, the landmark cathedral, whose construction spanned from 1344-1929, has already housed a dozen organs.
But the last one, installed in 1931, proved inadequate for the acoustics of the majestic cathedral, which drew 2.6 million visitors in 2024.
"It was originally meant to be the largest instrument in the world, but as so often with big plans, it didn't happen," organologist Stepan Svoboda told AFP.
"So we have been waiting for a large organ for almost a century."
The new instrument on the western wall almost seems to float over the choir, its glass decorations reflecting the light that spills into the room through a large rose window.
Made in the German organ builder Gerhard Grenzing's workshop in Spain, it is currently being "voiced" -- a process that involves adjusting its tones to the acoustics of the room -- in time for its inauguration concert scheduled for June 15, 2026.
With over 6,000 pipes ranging from several millimetres to 11 metres (36 feet) in size, the organ was first assembled in Spain, then dismantled and transported to Prague in trucks.

'Pipe by pipe'

Grenzing's design aims to "offer a sound that is pleasant for the Czech listener", said Vojtech Matl, head of the St. Vitus Organ Foundation.
"He made a tour of Czech churches and studied the local organs carefully," according to Matl.
Grenzing made last-minute changes to his project after discovering that the Prague cathedral's porous sandstone walls slowed down the sound.
After 11 years of painstaking preparations, installation in the cathedral began in March.
The voicing currently underway is expected to take 900 hours.
The cathedral now closes at 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) every day -- earlier than usual, as voicers require absolute silence and work from closing until midnight.
Hoping to finish the job by the year's end, chief voicer Andre Lacroix said he adjusted the sound of each pipe for the new environment.
"We have to work on all the sound parameters, pipe by pipe," Lacroix told AFP, squeezed inside the organ, surrounded by pipes and tapping on the metal pieces with a little hammer.
"You adjust the height of the bevel, the hole, (and) adjust the opening of the foot at the wind inlet. And then you adjust the length of the pipe, which gives you the pitch," he said, describing the meticulous process.

Organ 'donors'

Donors, including tens of thousands of ordinary Czechs, have so far contributed 114 million koruna ($5.4 million).
"The organ will cost 105 million koruna, the design will cost 25 million, and we also need money for all the tests," said Matl.
He listed a variety of donors: a man sending five thousand dollars, an elderly woman selling a historic coin, and another with a plastic bag full of Australian dollars.
Many have contributed by "adopting" a pipe -- literally buying it to have their name assigned to it forever.
The crowd6funding drive resembles a collection to build Prague's National Theatre in the late 19th century under the motto of "The Nation for Itself".
"Grannies and grandpas adopted pipes to bear the names of their grandchildren. Some got it for baptism, some for Christmas," said Matl.
frj/kym/cc-jj

music

Humans can no longer tell AI music from the real thing: survey

  • "Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music," said Deezer in a statement.
  • It has become nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between music generated by artificial intelligence and that created by humans, according to a survey released Wednesday.
  • "Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music," said Deezer in a statement.
It has become nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between music generated by artificial intelligence and that created by humans, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The polling firm Ipsos asked 9,000 people to listen to two clips of AI-generated music and one of human-made music in a survey conducted for France-based streaming platform Deezer.
"Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music," said Deezer in a statement.
The survey was conducted between October 6 and 10 in eight countries: Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States.
Deezer said more than half of the respondents felt uncomfortable at not being able to tell the difference.
Pollsters also asked broader questions about the impact of AI, with 51 percent saying the technology would lead to more low-quality music on streaming platforms and almost two-thirds believing it will lead to a loss of creativity.
"The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know if they're listening to AI or human made tracks or not," Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier said in a statement.
Deezer said there has not only been a surge in AI-generated content being uploaded to its platform, but it is finding listeners as well. 
In January, one in 10 of the tracks streamed each day were completely AI-generated. Ten months later, that percentage has climbed to over one in three, or nearly 40,000 per day.
Eighty percent of survey respondents wanted fully AI-generated music clearly labelled for listeners.
Deezer is the only major music-streaming platform that systematically labels completely AI-generated content for users.
The issue gained prominence in June when a band called The Velvet Sundown suddenly went viral on Spotify, and only confirmed the following month that it was in fact AI-generated content.
The AI group's most popular song has been streamed more than three million times.
In response, Spotify said it would encourage artists and publishers to sign up to a voluntary industry code to disclose AI use in music production.
fan/vg/rl/jxb

history

Monumental art displayed in shade of Egypt's pyramids

  • "It's an incredible opportunity to converse with 4,500 years -- or even more -- of history," he told AFP. South Korean artist Jongkyu Park used the measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza to create the geometric structures of his installation "Code of the Eternal". 
  • Installations by renowned international artists including Italy's Michelangelo Pistoletto and Portugal's Alexandre Farto have been erected in the sand under the great pyramids of Giza outside Cairo. 
  • "It's an incredible opportunity to converse with 4,500 years -- or even more -- of history," he told AFP. South Korean artist Jongkyu Park used the measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza to create the geometric structures of his installation "Code of the Eternal". 
Installations by renowned international artists including Italy's Michelangelo Pistoletto and Portugal's Alexandre Farto have been erected in the sand under the great pyramids of Giza outside Cairo. 
The fifth edition of the contemporary art exhibition "Forever is Now" is due to run to December 6.
The 92-year-old Pistoletto's most famous work, Il Terzo Paradiso, comprises a three-metre-tall mirrored obelisk and a series of blocks tracing out the mathematical symbol for infinity in the sand.
"We have done more than 2,000 events all around the world, on five continents, in 60 nations," said Francesco Saverio Teruzzi, construction coordinator in Pistoletto's team. 
"There is an estimate that it's more or less five million people reached by the message of the Third Paradise." 
The Franco-Beninese artist King Houndekpinkou presented "White Totem of Light", a column composed of ceramic fragments recovered from a factory in Cairo. 
"It's an incredible opportunity to converse with 4,500 years -- or even more -- of history," he told AFP.
South Korean artist Jongkyu Park used the measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza to create the geometric structures of his installation "Code of the Eternal". 
A thousand small cylindrical acrylic mirrors planted in the sand compose a Morse code poem imagining a dialogue between Tangun, the legendary founder of the first Korean kingdom, and an Egyptian pharaoh. 
Farto, better known as Vhils, collected doors in Cairo and elsewhere in the world for a bricolage intended to evoke the archaeological process.
Six other artists, including Turkey's Mert Ege Kose, Lebanon's Nadim Karam, Brazil's Ana Ferrari, Egypt's Salha Al-Masry and the Russian collective "Recycle Group", are also taking part.
sof-dc/jfx

Nakadai

Japanese 'Ran' actor Tatsuya Nakadai dies at 92

  • His acting school, Mumeijuku, did not say when Nakadai died or give any other details. 
  • Japanese stage and movie actor Tatsuya Nakadai, who starred in a string of Akira Kurosawa films, including the lead in "Ran", has died aged 92, his acting school said on Tuesday.
  • His acting school, Mumeijuku, did not say when Nakadai died or give any other details. 
Japanese stage and movie actor Tatsuya Nakadai, who starred in a string of Akira Kurosawa films, including the lead in "Ran", has died aged 92, his acting school said on Tuesday.
Nakadai first rose to fame in Japan and internationally under director Masaki Kobayashi, who cast him in his epic anti-war trilogy "The Human Condition" of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
His acting school, Mumeijuku, did not say when Nakadai died or give any other details. 
Nakadai had a walk-on part in Kurosawa's 1954 classic "Seven Samurai" but later effectively replaced Toshiro Mifune as the famed director's go-to leading man after Mifune went his own way.
He was the main protagonist in Kurosawa's "Kagemusha" (1980), which won the Palme d'Or top prize at the Cannes film festival. 
The actor also played the doomed warlord who divides his kingdom between his sons in "Ran", Kurosawa's 1985 film based on the Shakespeare play "King Lear".
Nakadai also starred in Kurosawa's 1961 samurai film "Yojimbo" -- with Mifune -- and worked with other directors, including Hiroshi Teshigahara and Kon Ichikawa.
He set up Mumeijuku, a private acting school and troupe, in 1975 together with his late wife, the actor Yasuko Miyazaki, educating younger actors.
One former pupil is Koji Yakusho, who won best actor at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 for his role in Wim Wenders' "Perfect Days".
Nakadai continued acting until recently, performing this year at a theatre in the Noto region that was still reeling from a deadly earthquake on New Year's Day last year.
kh/stu/pbt

media

Show shines light on Mormons' unique place in US culture

BY RAPHAëLLE PELTIER

  • After being discovered on TikTok, the heroines of "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives" are their direct descendants. 
  • The breakout success of the US reality TV show "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives," the third season of which begins Thursday, shines a light on America's fascination with the Christian religious movement. 
  • After being discovered on TikTok, the heroines of "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives" are their direct descendants. 
The breakout success of the US reality TV show "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives," the third season of which begins Thursday, shines a light on America's fascination with the Christian religious movement. 
The main Mormon Church, known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has seven million US members -- two percent of the country's population.
Fundamentalist Mormon groups, which practice polygamy, account for fewer than 100,000 people.
Mormons are still "prominent and unique in American imagination," said Brenda Weber, a professor at Indiana University and author of a book on Mormonism in media and culture.
The movement began in 1830 in New York state, coinciding with the rise of the printing press which served as a springboard for the belief system, Weber said.
Mormonism, and particularly the practice of polygamy, also inspired the Sherlock Holmes story "A Study in Scarlet," and silent cinema hit "Trapped by the Mormons" in 1922.
The Church, which emphasizes singing and dancing, has been home to many hit artists including Donny Osmond and actor Ryan Gosling.
The 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah -- which is the Church's stronghold -- marked the start of a cultural "Mormon moment."
The presidential ambitions of Republican Mormon Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012 coincided with television programs dedicated to polygamous families in Utah.
The series "Big Love" aired between 2006 and 2011, while the reality show "Sister Wives" has broadcast since 2010.
On Broadway, the parody musical "The Book of Mormon," named after a religious text, has been a hit since 2011.
Around the same time, "Momfluencers" began gaining traction on social media -- including Mormon matriarchs who are more likely to be stay-at-home mothers with more education and wealth than other American women.
Matthew Bowman, a specialist in American religions at Claremont Graduate University, said that combination of factors created "potent possibilities for social media." 

'Very sensitive'

Being a proselytizing religion -- meaning followers seek to convert others -- the Mormon women active online "create media to attract people," said Weber. 
After being discovered on TikTok, the heroines of "The Secret Life of Mormon Wives" are their direct descendants. 
But the swinging practices of one of the stars serves as the basis for the show, the first season of which released on Hulu in 2024 and outperformed the Kardashians series.
Show stars Taylor Frankie Paul, Mayci Neeley, Jen Affleck, and others -- recently invited onto hit shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Bachelorette" -- claim to want to modernize the image of Mormons.
They regularly discuss their roles in a culture where men are traditionally family heads and breadwinners. Even though the women claim they earn more than their husbands, many also paint themselves as "tradwives," according to Weber.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not respond to AFP's request for comments on the program.
A statement published shortly before season one criticized media representations that "depict lifestyles and practices blatantly inconsistent with the teachings of the Church."
Bowman said the Church has been struggling with something ever since 'The Book of Mormon' musical came out: "how does it grapple with publicity that may not, on the face of it, seem very favorable?"
The Church responded to the hit musical with tongue-in-cheek advertisements inviting people to read its founding text.
But overall, it "has often tended to be very sensitive about this sort of thing, and in many of its responses or public statements, it can be rather defensive," said Bowman.
pel-gw/mlm

award

Szalay wins Booker Prize for tortured tale of masculinity

  • Last year's prize was won by British writer Samantha Harvey for her short novel, "Orbital", following six astronauts as they contemplate Earth from the International Space Station.
  • British-Hungarian writer David Szalay won the Booker Prize on Monday for his novel "Flesh", a tortured story of a Hungarian emigre who makes and loses a fortune.
  • Last year's prize was won by British writer Samantha Harvey for her short novel, "Orbital", following six astronauts as they contemplate Earth from the International Space Station.
British-Hungarian writer David Szalay won the Booker Prize on Monday for his novel "Flesh", a tortured story of a Hungarian emigre who makes and loses a fortune.
Szalay beat five other shortlisted authors, including Indian novelist Kiran Desai, who won in 2006, and Britain's Andrew Miller, to claim the £50,000 ($65,500) award at a ceremony in London.
Szalay had previously been shortlisted for the prestigious literary honour in 2016 for his last work, "All That Man Is".
His sixth novel, "Flesh" is another unflattering exploration of masculinity, using sparse prose to track the Hungarian protagonist from military service in his home country to working for the ultra-wealthy in London.
His tormented life includes affairs with older women and fighting in Iraq.
The five judges considered 135 books to crown one the best work of long-form fiction written in English and published in the UK or Ireland between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025. 
Among the six shortlisted works, one kept dominating the conversation, according to chair of the judges Roddy Doyle.
He called "Flesh" a "singular" and "extraordinary" novel.
"We had never read anything quite like it. It is, in many ways, a dark book but it is a joy to read," said Doyle, a writer and winner of the 1993 Booker Prize.
The judging panel also included "Sex and the City" actor Sarah Jessica Parker alongside authors Ayobami Adebayo and Kiley Reid as well as critic and writer Chris Power. 
In an interview with the Booker Prize organisation after his novel was longlisted, Szalay said he knew he wanted to write a book that began with Hungary, ended with England and that explored "the cultural and economic divides that characterise" contemporary Europe. 
"Writing about a Hungarian immigrant at the time when Hungary joined the EU seemed like an obvious way to go," he said. 
Szalay triumphed over favourites Desai and Miller.
Desai was shortlisted for "The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny", a nearly 700-page novel and her first work since winning the Booker in 2006 for "The Inheritance of Loss".
Miller, who had also previously been shortlisted for the award, was considered for "The Land In Winter".
The other shortlisted novels this year were Susan Choi's "Flashlight", Katie Kitamura's "Audition, and Ben Markovits's "The Rest of Our Lives".
Last year's prize was won by British writer Samantha Harvey for her short novel, "Orbital", following six astronauts as they contemplate Earth from the International Space Station.
Harvey presented this year's Booker Prize to Szalay.
Born in Montreal, Canada, Szalay grew up in London and now lives in Vienna. He is the author of six works of fiction.
bur-adm/lb/kjm

streaming

'Netflix House' marks streaming giant's first theme park

  • Although Lee did not confirm the costs to build these theme parks, she said "you can see it's a huge capital investment for the company to invest in both the space and like all the finishings and the fabrications of everything."
  • After years of temporary pop-up events, streaming giant Netflix will make its first foray into the theme park space this week, rivalling entertainment giants Disney and Universal Studios.
  • Although Lee did not confirm the costs to build these theme parks, she said "you can see it's a huge capital investment for the company to invest in both the space and like all the finishings and the fabrications of everything."
After years of temporary pop-up events, streaming giant Netflix will make its first foray into the theme park space this week, rivalling entertainment giants Disney and Universal Studios.
The company's "Netflix House" theme park will open its doors Wednesday at the King of Prussia mall -- one of the largest shopping centers in the United States, in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- in a space measuring over 100,000 square feet (10,000 square meters).
The theme park, which will offer free admission, plans to host a wide range of dining and activities, all decorated to resemble some of the platform's most popular shows and movies, including "Bridgerton," "Stranger Things," "Squid Game" and "KPop Demon Hunters."
Netflix Chief Marketing Officer Marian Lee said the company opted against charging for admission because "we wanted that accessibility. We want to be an everyday destination."
"As we were launching these pop-up experiences, it became clear that we would actually have more flexibility if we had a permanent location," she told AFP in an interview.
Additional "Netflix House" locations are set to open after the Pennsylvania attraction, with one in Dallas, Texas scheduled to debut on December 11 and a third on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada by 2027.
"Las Vegas is a very different space. It's not inside of a shopping center, but it is on the Strip...and so there, we will program it a little bit differently," Lee said.
Although Lee did not confirm the costs to build these theme parks, she said "you can see it's a huge capital investment for the company to invest in both the space and like all the finishings and the fabrications of everything."
As of right now, Lee said there no plans to build a "Netflix House" internationally. "We'd have to think about it in a different way," she said.
pel/rh/jgc/sla

Bulatov

Bulatov, pillar of Russian contemporary art scene, dies at 92

  • Bulatov was best known as one of the creators of the Sots Art movement that made use of Soviet slogans and shot him to fame in the final years of the USSR.  "One of the founders of Moscow conceptualism and Sots-Art passed away on Sunday in Paris, as confirmed by his wife," an academy spokesperson told AFP.      Bulatov's ironic works contrasted with the serious and dogmatic state-approved art in the Soviet Union. 
  • Erik Bulatov, a pillar of Russia's contemporary art scene known for works mocking Soviet propaganda, has died in Paris at the age of 92, the Russian Academy of Fine Arts told AFP Monday.
  • Bulatov was best known as one of the creators of the Sots Art movement that made use of Soviet slogans and shot him to fame in the final years of the USSR.  "One of the founders of Moscow conceptualism and Sots-Art passed away on Sunday in Paris, as confirmed by his wife," an academy spokesperson told AFP.      Bulatov's ironic works contrasted with the serious and dogmatic state-approved art in the Soviet Union. 
Erik Bulatov, a pillar of Russia's contemporary art scene known for works mocking Soviet propaganda, has died in Paris at the age of 92, the Russian Academy of Fine Arts told AFP Monday.
Bulatov was best known as one of the creators of the Sots Art movement that made use of Soviet slogans and shot him to fame in the final years of the USSR. 
"One of the founders of Moscow conceptualism and Sots-Art passed away on Sunday in Paris, as confirmed by his wife," an academy spokesperson told AFP.     
Bulatov's ironic works contrasted with the serious and dogmatic state-approved art in the Soviet Union. 
His most famous work is dubbed Glory to the CSPU -- the Communist Party of the Soviet Union -- written in large red letters on the backdrop of a clear blue sky.   
It was auctioned off in London for $2.2 million in 2008. 
Sots Art was inspired by Pop Art, an art movement that used imagery from Western mass culture.
While his ironic art earned him popularity in Moscow intellectual circles, he was largely unknown to a broader audience until shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union.  
Bulatov left the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. 
He was born in 1933 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg -- known as Sverdlovsk at the time -- into a family of staunch communists. 
Bualatov worked as a children's book illustrator after graduating from arts school. 
He later formed an art collective called Sretensky Boulevard, part of a wider contemporary art movement opposing official art known as Moscow Conceptualists. 
Art was tightly controlled in the USSR, with artists who did not tow the party line remaining underground until some liberalisation in the late Soviet period, when Bulatov's works were exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1988.   
This was when he gained international fame and migrated first to New York and then to Paris.
bur/tw

film

The 'ordinary' Arnie? Glen Powell reboots 'The Running Man'

BY ANDREW MARSZAL

  • "I don't find myself to be exceptional," the 37-year-old told AFP. "That era of action stars and movie stars?
  • It is often said Hollywood doesn't produce movie stars anymore.
  • "I don't find myself to be exceptional," the 37-year-old told AFP. "That era of action stars and movie stars?
It is often said Hollywood doesn't produce movie stars anymore.
So when someone with a square jaw and loads of charisma like Glen Powell is cast in Arnold Schwarzenegger's role for a reboot of "The Running Man," people get excited.
But Powell, an unfailingly courteous Texan, who quit the Los Angeles life and moved home to Austin as his fame grew, is having none of it.
"I don't find myself to be exceptional," the 37-year-old told AFP.
"That era of action stars and movie stars? You can't really compare apples to oranges," Powell said.
His role in the new "Running Man," out on Friday, is certainly a far cry from the indestructible bluster of Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson's 20th-century action heroes, who were usually soldiers, cops and trained fighters.
Powell's protagonist Ben Richards is an everyman, with no special skills beyond a rugged toughness and a very short fuse.
He reluctantly enters a deadly game show in which the entire world is trying to kill him: he needs to survive long enough to win prize money and buy life-saving medicine for his daughter.
"I've always identified myself as an underdog," Powell said.
"Some of my favorite movies are ordinary people against extraordinary odds. And you don't get more ordinary than Ben."
The movie sees Powell's hero get bashed and bruised, blown off a bridge, and has him abseiling down the side of a building in only a bath towel to escape from hoodlums.
The night before his AFP interview, Powell and director Edgar Wright screened the movie for Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger's response? "Oh, I feel so bad for you... It must have hurt!" Powell recalled.
"Arnold knows the pain that it takes to do an action movie properly. It was pretty badass to get his blessing."

'Carnage'

The film hews more closely to the original Stephen King novel than its 1987 big-screen predecessor.
Powell's hero is pursued from city to city by professional killers. The contest's producers are rigging each moment for maximum TV ratings.
Eerily, King set his novel in the United States of 2025, a then-futuristic vision of divisive autocrats, deepfake videos, and a health care crisis that drives everyday people to extremes.
Was it a stretch for Powell to imagine today's public enjoying mayhem and slaughter, some of it fake and AI-generated, on their screens?
"We do live in this TikTok universe," Powell said.
"We are seeing carnage... and yet we're sort of away from it. You don't engage with it as a human anymore."
Powell said he is regularly sent deepfake videos by people who have not questioned the veracity or source of the content.
"That's a really fun thing that we get to play with in this movie... 'Where do you get the news from, and who is controlling information?'" Powell said.

'Wild West'

Though he has been acting for years, Powell only shot to prominence as cocky fighter pilot Hangman in 2022's "Top Gun: Maverick."
In a remarkable streak since, Powell appeared opposite Sydney Sweeney in rom-com "Anyone but You," chased deadly storms in "Twisters," and both co-wrote and starred in "Hit Man."
Up next, he will lead a new fantasy film from "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams. Powell's production company has a deal with Universal Pictures. 
Those ventures into writing and producing are reminiscent of another classic action star, Stallone, who famously penned "Rocky" and insisted on being cast as the lead.
"I really didn't ever want to wait for the phone to ring. Because I realized it never will, at least not with the calls you want," Powell said.
"That's sort of how I've moved through this town, trying to do it with a sense of initiative.
"Hollywood, it's the Wild West right now," he added. "I can't really look backwards."
amz/hg/sst/ane

dance

Saudi belly dancers break taboos behind closed doors

BY RANIA SANJAR

  • In Arab communities, belly dancing has played many roles.
  • In a fitness studio in Saudi Arabia, dozens of women sway to Arabic music as they practise belly dancing -- an activity that many feel compelled to keep secret.
  • In Arab communities, belly dancing has played many roles.
In a fitness studio in Saudi Arabia, dozens of women sway to Arabic music as they practise belly dancing -- an activity that many feel compelled to keep secret.
Despite their enthusiasm, none of them would give their real name or show their faces on camera, underlining the stigma and cultural prejudices surrounding the ancient dance.
In Arab communities, belly dancing has played many roles. It is a form of artistic expression, popular entertainment and a staple of classic Egyptian cinema.
More recently, many women around the world have taken it up as a group fitness routine and form of empowering self-expression.
But in Saudi Arabia, even closed-door all-female sessions remain taboo.
"We're a conservative society," one participant said. "Belly dancing is seen as something sexy, and no family or husband would accept that men see you like that."
It took AFP months to gain access to the class in Riyadh, a fiercely private affair where identities were strictly guarded.
Most of the participants said they feared how their families and friends would react.
"I won't tell my family... out of respect for their dignity -- they're elderly," the same participant, said on condition of anonymity.
It is a reminder of the deep-seated conservatism that still prevails in Saudi Arabia, despite a roll-back of social strictures in recent times.
Chief among the women's concerns is that their families will see images of them dancing. Phone use is carefully monitored by the gym staff.
"Someone might harm me and record me, so there is always fear," one dancer said.
Another said she could not tell her father she enjoyed belly dancing, knowing he would never accept it.

'Sense of modesty'

Saudi Arabia is the cradle of the austere Sunni doctrine known as Wahhabism, which embraces a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Under its 40-year-old de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom has loosened its arch-conservatism, allowing women to drive and shed their veils.
But cultural traditions remain and belly dancing, despite being a centuries-old art form, retains the stigma of being too suggestive.
To some, the dance with its revealing costumes and glittering sequins is linked to prostitution, but at the class in Riyadh the women are dancing for fitness and themselves.
The two instructors do not describe themselves as dancers, but coaches. They play up the fitness benefits.
"We've transformed dancing into a sport," said one of them, calling herself Oni, the name she uses when sharing dance videos on social media -- where she also hides her face.
"Saudis love to enjoy, have fun and appreciate life, but always within the boundaries of our religion and our sense of modesty," added Oni.

Female empowerment 

Around her, dancers of all ages shook their hips to Arabic music, shimmying barefoot as a woman with a neck tattoo played the derbake, a traditional drum.
The atmosphere was festive, like a "women-only party", said another instructor, who also gave only her alias, Roro.
"All of us have fun and it's considered to be stress relief," she said.
Yoga studios and boxing gyms catering to women, as well as belly dancing classes, have sprouted around the capital -- a far cry from the days when they were banned from sport.
Gyms and studios continue to be strictly divided along gender lines, with men and women prevented from exercising together. 
Belly dancing, which originated outside the Arabian Peninsula, is "a bit more provocative than regional dance", said Lisa Urkevich, professor of musicology and ethnomusicology at Georgetown University.
"So one's family may not want a girl to dance it at all at an event," she told AFP.
But Saudi Arabia is a large, diverse country and, she added, "even among families themselves there are different perspectives on women and dance".
The instructors told AFP they viewed dancing as more than a pastime or a way of keeping fit.
Classes are "deeply committed to female empowerment" and helping women feel confident, Oni said.
"Dance fosters those feelings -- it brings a sense of community and strength."
rs-sar/aya/th/dc

women

Big lips and botox: In Trump's world, fashion and makeup get political

BY AURéLIA END

  • Clad in skirts and dresses, almost always wearing their hair long, they can be recognized by heavy makeup, which includes well-defined eyebrows and "contouring," a technique that uses dark and light shades to sculpt the face. 
  • Long, blond, wavy hair, heavy makeup and cosmetic injections: like many women in Donald Trump's orbit, political consultant Melissa Rein Lively wears her support for the US president on her face.
  • Clad in skirts and dresses, almost always wearing their hair long, they can be recognized by heavy makeup, which includes well-defined eyebrows and "contouring," a technique that uses dark and light shades to sculpt the face. 
Long, blond, wavy hair, heavy makeup and cosmetic injections: like many women in Donald Trump's orbit, political consultant Melissa Rein Lively wears her support for the US president on her face.
With the rise of Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, a group of well-connected and well-off Republican women have come into the spotlight sporting what the US media have dubbed the "MAGA look."
"This has always been my look. I just found my tribe," said Rein Lively, 40, founder of "America First," a public relations agency that provides "anti-woke" services.
"It's so much bigger than politics. It's friendships. It's relationships," she told AFP in a recent interview. "That MAGA look really signals to other people that you're on the same team."
These new-style conservatives, almost always devout Christians, espouse traditional values while pursuing personal ambition.
Since the September assassination of top MAGA influencer and Trump ally Charlie Kirk, his widow Erika has taken the reins of his youth mobilization group.
During a memorial service for her husband, the 36-year-old former Miss Arizona dabbed her impeccably made-up eyes with a handkerchief and praised a Christian marriage. She cited a New Testament passage that instructs wives to submit to their husbands for protection.
"It's so hard to articulate the beauty of an Ephesians 5 marriage when you actually have a man that's worth following," she said.

Not just fashion

While professing family values and religious beliefs, these MAGA women are anything but shy in their appearance.
Clad in skirts and dresses, almost always wearing their hair long, they can be recognized by heavy makeup, which includes well-defined eyebrows and "contouring," a technique that uses dark and light shades to sculpt the face. 
Many opt for cosmetic interventions, including fillers and surgery to achieve fuller cheeks, plumper lips and a refined nose.
Rein Lively points to Trump's daughter Ivanka and his daughter-in-law Lara as her role models.
"It's a mistake to dismiss this as just about fashion, just about makeup," said Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies at UCLA. "It's actually absolutely central because this Trump MAGA movement was able to return to the White House in 2024, I believe, essentially because of leveraging the gender war."

'Two hours in the gym every day'

The 79-year-old Trump has mobilized many young voters with his nationalist, pro-business and macho appeal.
The MAGA face is political because it is "a way of signaling to all women that your value depends on your attractiveness to men," said Williams, adding that Trump used to run a beauty pageant.
Rein Lively, however, rejects any idea of submission or coercion.
"By absolutely nobody's volition other than my own do I spend two hours in the gym every day, get my hair done every three and a half weeks on the button, get my nails done, get my eyebrows done, get my skincare done, get Botox," she said.
The PR consultant vied for the job of White House spokesperson for Trump's second term, but the president ultimately picked long-time loyalist Karoline Leavitt.
Leavitt, 28, has surrounded herself with young assistants who emulate her impeccably groomed look, which includes high heels, even on trips that involve a lot of running around.
"I look at these MAGA women and I don't see them as fashion victims... but I see it as war paint," Williams said. "And, you know, embracing a system that is ultimately designed to work against them."

'It is ironic'

One of the women most frequently cited as embodying the so-called "MAGA face" is Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has led Trump's hardline immigration policy.
"The long-hair extensions, the big lips, the big cheeks, the makeup, the lash extensions, it's like she's doing drag," said Daniel Belkin, a dermatologist in New York.
Belkin finds it paradoxical that MAGA supporters are hostile to drag queen shows and condemn breast augmentation and facial reconstruction surgery for transgender people. They often resort to similar procedures to accentuate their femininity and masculinity.
"It is ironic, because they're so against gender-affirming care for trans people, but they're doing gender affirming care for themselves," Belkin said.
In a recent episode, the popular animated series "South Park" ridiculed Noem as a shrew with a face butchered by cosmetic procedures, which her assistants must constantly patch up for the cameras.
"It's so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look," Noem protested during a recent interview.
aue/md/iv/mlm

KOR

Faker's T1 win third back-to-back League of Legends world crown

BY CELIA CAZALE, WITH HIEUN SHIN IN SEOUL

  • Their latest win has made them the first team in history to claim three consecutive world titles.
  • South Korean giants T1, headlined by star player Faker, made history on Sunday winning their third consecutive League of Legends World Championship crown in Chengdu, beating KT Rolsters in a nail-biting final.
  • Their latest win has made them the first team in history to claim three consecutive world titles.
South Korean giants T1, headlined by star player Faker, made history on Sunday winning their third consecutive League of Legends World Championship crown in Chengdu, beating KT Rolsters in a nail-biting final.
Touted as one of the world's largest eSports tournaments, the League of Legends World Championships offers a grand prize of one million dollars along with numerous sponsorship deals worth billions.
The two teams battled to a 2-2 deadlock, but T1 surged ahead in a thrilling fifth game to claim the world title after nearly five hours of relentless, high-stakes play.
Nearly 40,000 fans gathered at the arena in China's Chengdu to watch the final, with Faker being the star player.
"He is really the god," Palm, a 28-year-old who had flown from Bangkok, told AFP.
In League of Legends, two teams of five battle to destroy the opponent's base, known as the Nexus.
The crowd roared and went wild, chanting "T1, T1" as the team made the final winning move.
"I simply focused on the game as a professional player," said Faker after the final match.
"I'm just grateful that victory followed as a result." 
The all-South Korean clash revived the nation's famed "telecom rivalry", a reference to the communications titans that run the two teams whose competition dates back more than a decade to their StarCraft days.
Fans dub their clashes the "telecom derby".
T1's history in the league has proven to be unmatched, this was their eighth appearance in the world finals with five titles already.
Their latest win has made them the first team in history to claim three consecutive world titles.
For team star Faker, whose real name is Lee Sang-hyeok, this marks an unprecedented sixth championship, extending his record as the most decorated player in eSports.
The 29-year-old is a multi-millionaire eSports superstar in South Korea, which has given him the title of "national treasure".
In Seoul on Sunday, hundreds of fans gathered at eSports venue LoL Park as the match was locked in a close contest between the two rivals.
When Faker finally held the trophy high in the air, the arena exploded in cheers and screams.
After all Chinese contenders had been knocked out by South Korean teams -- an outcome that stunned home fans in China -- the Summoner's Cup was sure to return to South Korea.
"Either way we brought home the cup," Park Jin-hyuk, a decade-long fan of Faker, told AFP.
"It's a good day to be a South Korean."
Last year's League of Legends World Championship drew nearly seven million peak viewers worldwide –- excluding Chinese audiences, whose numbers are estimated by experts to reach tens of millions –- making it the most-watched match in eSports history.
bur-hs/dh

protest

Protests suspend opening of Nigeria heritage museum

BY LESLIE FAUVEL

  • The Museum of West African Arts (MOWAA) had been due to officially open on Tuesday, but this will now be postponed indefinitely, officials said.
  • The opening of a contested museum in Nigeria, meant to display west African art, has been postponed after protesters disrupted a private visit on Sunday, officials said.
  • The Museum of West African Arts (MOWAA) had been due to officially open on Tuesday, but this will now be postponed indefinitely, officials said.
The opening of a contested museum in Nigeria, meant to display west African art, has been postponed after protesters disrupted a private visit on Sunday, officials said.
The Museum of West African Arts (MOWAA) had been due to officially open on Tuesday, but this will now be postponed indefinitely, officials said.
MOWAA was launched five years ago by Nigerian businessman Phillip Ihenacho in Benin City, Edo State, with the support of its former governor.
It has also been financed with help from the French and German governments as well as the British Museum, and from private donors. 
It is due to house exhibition spaces and archives and aims to host residencies for west African artists and craftspeople, and on Sunday was holding a pre-opening event for donors and industry professionals.
But around 20 men, some armed with wooden bats, stormed into the museum courtyard, forcing guests to take refuge inside.
The group, whose demands were not clear, caused minor damage in the museum courtyard, AFP reporters saw.
"Protesters entered and began vandalising part of the reception pavilion, where we receive visitors, then they stormed inside the front section, where the exhibition area is located," Ihenacho told AFP.
After around two hours, guests were escorted away in buses to a nearby hotel.

Political tensions  

The museum has sparked tensions between the former state governor and his successor, an ally of the city's traditional ruler, Oba Ewuare II, who says he should be in charge of the museum.
Benin for years has been trying to recover artefacts seized during the colonial era, in particular the "Benin Bronzes" looted more than 120 years ago.
Most of the ornate bronzes were seized by British soldiers in a retaliatory raid on Benin, and then auctioned off or sold to museums across Europe and the United States.
Ihenacho said he believed the protesters were "representatives from the palace" of Oba Ewuare II.
"We have never pretended to be anything other than the Museum of West African Art," Ihenacho added.
Nigeria's Culture Minister Hannatu Musa Musawa condemned the incident in a statement late Sunday.
"The reported disruption at MOWAA not only endangers a treasured cultural asset but also threatens the peaceful environment necessary for cultural exchange and the preservation of our artistic patrimony," she said.
"We are in active consultation with the Edo State government, security agencies and all relevant stakeholders to establish a full understanding of the circumstances and to ensure and appropriate and proportionate response," she said in a statement.
fvl/js/jj

Canada

'Predator: Badlands' conquers N. American box office

  • In second place was Paramount's "Regretting You," the latest film adaptation of a Colleen Hoover novel, at $7.1 million for the Friday to Sunday period, Exhibitor Relations reported.
  • "Predator: Badlands," the latest installment in the sci-fi horror franchise that started nearly 40 years ago, devoured the competition at the North American box office, debuting at $40 million, industry estimates showed Sunday.
  • In second place was Paramount's "Regretting You," the latest film adaptation of a Colleen Hoover novel, at $7.1 million for the Friday to Sunday period, Exhibitor Relations reported.
"Predator: Badlands," the latest installment in the sci-fi horror franchise that started nearly 40 years ago, devoured the competition at the North American box office, debuting at $40 million, industry estimates showed Sunday.
The 20th Century Studios film stars Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as an outcast Predator who is the hero this time, teaming up with an android (Elle Fanning) on an epic journey to prove himself.
It is the ninth entry in the popular franchise launched in 1987 with Arnold Schwarzenegger as its star.
In second place was Paramount's "Regretting You," the latest film adaptation of a Colleen Hoover novel, at $7.1 million for the Friday to Sunday period, Exhibitor Relations reported.
Directed by Josh Boone, the romantic drama tells the story of a mother (Allison Williams) and teenage daughter (McKenna Grace) navigating life and love after tragedy strikes.
Universal's horror sequel "Black Phone 2," once again starring Ethan Hawke as a devilish villain, came in third with $5.3 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada.
Debuting in fourth place was "Sarah's Oil," MGM's faith-based drama drawn from history about a young Black girl in early 20th century Oklahoma who inherits land she believes is oil-rich. It earned $4.5 million.
And in fifth place at $4.1 million was another new film, Sony's "Nuremberg," which retells the story of the postwar Nazi trials with a focus on Hitler's right-hand man, Hermann Goering.
Russell Crowe's portrayal of the Luftwaffe commander is earning Oscars buzz.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
"Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc" ($3.6 million)
"Bugonia" ($3.5 million)
"Die My Love" ($2.8 million)
"Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere" ($2.2 million)
"Tron: Ares" ($1.8 million)
bur-sst/iv

music

Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, White Stripes among Rock Hall of Fame inductees

  • The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, now features an exhibit with artifacts and memorabilia from this year's inductees. sla/mjw
  • Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, the White Stripes and Soundgarden were among this year's inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, adding their names to the pantheon of music's most esteemed and beloved acts.
  • The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, now features an exhibit with artifacts and memorabilia from this year's inductees. sla/mjw
Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, the White Stripes and Soundgarden were among this year's inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, adding their names to the pantheon of music's most esteemed and beloved acts.
New Yorker Lauper, who burst onto the pop scene with colorful punk looks and infectious tunes like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," "True Colors" and "Time After Time," was inducted by "Pink Pony Club" singer Chappell Roan.
Praising her "four-octave range" and unapologetic style, Roan thanked Lauper for being an icon for any artist who may be called "too much, too loud, too eccentric or all of the above -- their honesty becomes their greatest strength."
To induct Detroit rock band The White Stripes -- known for sports arena favorite "Seven Nation Army" and "Fell in Love with a Girl," among others -- singer Iggy Pop gave an exuberant speech peppered with curse words and his own screeching impressions of the band's raucous sound.
"The White Stripes music was coming from a foundation of love, not revolution," Pop said.
Singer-guitarist Jack White accepted on behalf of himself and drummer Meg White, who did not attend. He named a long list of industry heavies and bands before adding: "To the homeless and the powerless and the forgotten, we always say thank you." 
Other inducted American performers included Atlanta's hip-hop duo Outkast, who topped charts with "Hey Ya," "Ms. Jackson" and "The Way You Move," and Seattle's grunge band Soundgarden, who had hits with "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman."
English singer Joe Cocker, who died in 2014, was inducted posthumously to honor his bluesy music, including "You Are So Beautiful," his cover of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" and the Grammy-winning duet with Jennifer Warnes "Up Where We Belong."
Other inductees included arena rockers Bad Company, who sang "Can't Get Enough," and "The Twist" singer Chubby Checker.
Groundbreaking New York hip-hop trio Salt-N-Pepa was honored with a Musical Influence Award for their hit songs "Let's Talk About Sex," "Push It" and "Shoop," which celebrate women's independence with playful sexuality in a male-dominated genre.
"These three women are the bricklayers to the foundation that holds hip-hop together," Grammy-winning singer Missy Elliott told the audience before introducing their performance. "They gave us their shoulders to stand on."
English session pianist Nicky Hopkins was honored with the Musical Excellence Award for his work with superstars including The Rolling Stones, The Who, David Bowie and The Beatles.
"That song started off as a kind of slowish song, and then Nicky started playing this samba piano with this percussion, that's like the hook of the song," Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger said of Hopkins's work on the song "Sympathy for the Devil."
Along with awards and heartfelt acceptance speeches, the event featured performances by Elton John; Bryan Adams; Olivia Rodrigo; Twenty One Pilots; Doja Cat; Tyler, the Creator; and many more.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, now features an exhibit with artifacts and memorabilia from this year's inductees.
sla/mjw