women

Are women allowed their own dreams, wonders Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

BY CéLIA LEBUR

  • Out of her sorrow came "Dream Count".
  • Twelve years after her last novel, best-selling Nigerian author and feminist icon Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is making a highly anticipated return with "Dream Count". 
  • Out of her sorrow came "Dream Count".
Twelve years after her last novel, best-selling Nigerian author and feminist icon Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is making a highly anticipated return with "Dream Count". 
The story recounts the intertwined fates of four women from Nigeria who emigrate to the United States and then find out their lives do not work out as planned.  
At its heart is Chiamaka, a writer who defies tradition and refuses the marriage upon which her affluent family back in Nigeria had placed so much hope.  
Zikora, Chiamaka's friend, fulfils her dream of having a child. But the father does not marry her and bails out. 
Chiamaka's cousin has a successful business career but then gives it all up to go back to university.  
And there is Kadiatou, Chiamaka's housemaid and confidante, whose American dream is shattered when she is sexually assaulted by a guest at a luxury hotel.  
"I'm interested in how much of a woman's dream is really hers, and how much is what society has told her to dream about," Adichie told AFP in Paris at the launch of the French edition of her book on March 27. 
"I think that the world is still deeply oppressive to women. Women are judged more harshly for being selfish, for having ambition and for being unapologetic."  
The four women initially think they know what they want from life and love, but doubts creep in when they start to fear they have missed opportunities and struggle with social pressures and racism. 
Yet they continue to support each other. 
"Women are socialised to think of each other as competition. And so when a woman makes the choice to really love and support another woman, it's an act of revolution. It's an act of pushing back at a patriarchal society," Adichie explained. 

Not 'a place to be pitied'

Adichie's 2012 TED talk, "We Should All Be Feminists", propelled her into the mainstream.
It received millions of hits on YouTube and was sampled by Beyonce in the singer's hit "Flawless".  
But she does not like her writing being pigeonholed. 
"I don't think of myself as a 'feminist' writer," she insisted. "I think of myself as a writer. And I'm also a feminist."  
"The problem with labels is that it can be very limiting," she continued. "We would then look at stories through only ideological lenses." 
Instead Adichie thinks novels need to be messy and sometimes contradict opinions and beliefs. 
"We're all full of contradictions," she smiled mischievously.  
Another of her bugbears is the patronising Western stereotype of Africa, the "single story" of a continent plagued by poverty, conflicts, and diseases. 
"There's still the tendency to look at Africa as a place to be pitied," she said.  
"And I think it's very troubling because you cannot understand a place like Nigeria, for example, if you look at it only as a place to be pitied." 
Nigeria is a major oil producer, has a thriving business culture, global pop stars and Nollywood -- Africa's answer to Hollywood. 

A way out of grief

Not that everything is all rosy. Young Nigerians are leaving en masse, fleeing inflation and unemployment in search of a better future abroad. 
That, in Adichie's view, is the fault of the present government, which "is not at all in any way focused on ordinary people's lives". 
"I want to sit in judgment of the government, not in judgment of those who have dreams," she said.
Now 47, Adichie has seen her works translated into more than 50 languages and won a string of prestigious literary awards -– including the Orange Prize for "Half of a Yellow Sun" (2006) and the National Book Critics Circle Award for "Americanah" (2013). 
But when she was pregnant with her first child, a daughter born in 2016, she was seized by crippling writer's block -- every wordsmith's nightmare.  
It was the loss of her mother in 2021, only months after the death of her father, that broke the stalemate.
Out of her sorrow came "Dream Count".
"Only when I was almost done did I realise: 'My God, it's about my mother!'" she said in an interview with Britain's Guardian newspaper in February. 
"I think my mother helped me," she told AFP. "I think she said: 'You know, I need to get my daughter writing again so that she doesn't go completely mad from grief.'" 
She said this book is "very different from anything else I've done". 
"This is the first novel that I've written as a mother. And this is the first I've written as an orphan," Adichie explained. 
"It's made my writing different. Because I think when you look differently at the world, what you create becomes different."
cl/pma/gil/bc/dhc

restaurant

French chefs quake as Michelin prepares new guide

BY MARINE DO-VALE AND ADAM PLOWRIGHT

  • The 2025 Michelin edition on Monday promises to celebrate kitchens outside Paris, with new talents uncovered "in all regions in mainland France", Michelin guide boss Gwendal Poullennec told AFP. At stake are not only the reputations of chefs and hundreds of businesses that depend on the guide for visibility but also France's image as a fine food destination.
  • Chefs across France are waiting for one of the most exciting and dreaded moments of the year: publication of the new annual guide from Michelin with its highly coveted stars. 
  • The 2025 Michelin edition on Monday promises to celebrate kitchens outside Paris, with new talents uncovered "in all regions in mainland France", Michelin guide boss Gwendal Poullennec told AFP. At stake are not only the reputations of chefs and hundreds of businesses that depend on the guide for visibility but also France's image as a fine food destination.
Chefs across France are waiting for one of the most exciting and dreaded moments of the year: publication of the new annual guide from Michelin with its highly coveted stars. 
The famous red bible for gastronomes still makes and breaks cooking careers, despite increasing competition from rival food lists and the rise of Instagram influencers with their younger, online followers.
The 2025 Michelin edition on Monday promises to celebrate kitchens outside Paris, with new talents uncovered "in all regions in mainland France", Michelin guide boss Gwendal Poullennec told AFP.
At stake are not only the reputations of chefs and hundreds of businesses that depend on the guide for visibility but also France's image as a fine food destination.
"The level of the world food scene is constantly rising but I must say that France is holding its own and is part of this dynamic with a growing number of starred restaurants each year," Poullennec added.
What began as a guide for people wealthy enough to own a car in France 125 years ago is now a global business that sends its under-cover tasters to restaurants around the world, producing editions for around 50 destinations.
France remains the country with the highest number of three-star restaurants, the highest award, which denotes kitchens where cooking is "elevated to an art form" and chefs are "at the peak of their profession". 
Japan is second, followed by Spain, Italy, and the United States.
But the guide has sought to shed its reputation for elitist and pricey dinners, with more diverse eating options making it onto its lists of recommended destinations.
After rewarding roadside food stalls in Thailand and Singapore, the guide granted a star to a taco stand in Mexico City last year, causing a local sensation but baffling regular eaters at the simple four-dish outlet.
- 'Not welcome' - 
To soften the disappointment for French chefs who lost stars, the guide announced its downgrades for 22 restaurants last week.
The biggest victim was Georges Blanc, an 82-year-old who had held three stars for 44 years for his eponymous restaurant in Vonnas, a village in southeast France that has become a food destination thanks to his presence.
"We weren't expecting it," he told AFP after being informed he was being demoted to two stars. "We'll cope, and perhaps we'll be less elitist and a little bit more accessible."
The prestige of a Michelin star is a guarantee of increased demand -- and prices too.
Downgrades can lead to ruin and have been linked to tragedy in the past, including suicide.
Marc Veyrat has told Michelin inspectors they are not welcome in his new 450-euro-a-head restaurant in the upmarket Megeve ski resort in the Alps after his previous mountain restaurant was demoted in a scandal dubbed "cheddar-gate".
Veyrat sued the guide after inspectors stripped him of a star in 2019.
The showman chef claimed the downgrade came after inspectors mistakenly thought he had adulterated a cheese soufflé with English cheddar instead of using France's Reblochon, Beaufort and Tomme varieties.
The 600 chefs who will feature in the 2025 guide have been invited to a ceremony in the eastern French city of Metz ahead of the unveiling of the new French guide on Monday at 1600 GMT.
"As always, it's going to be a full house because the immense majority of them will be there," Poullennec said.
mdv-adp/phz

Leigh

Mike Leigh on the 'hard truths' of film, happiness and World War III

BY ADAM PLOWRIGHT

  • - 'Natural thing to do' -  "Hard Truths" is the first time Leigh has worked with an almost all-black cast, portraying London's vibrant Caribbean-origin community.
  • Like the action in his widely acclaimed new film "Hard Truths", veteran British director Mike Leigh swings between gratitude and despair as he reflects on his life and career.
  • - 'Natural thing to do' -  "Hard Truths" is the first time Leigh has worked with an almost all-black cast, portraying London's vibrant Caribbean-origin community.
Like the action in his widely acclaimed new film "Hard Truths", veteran British director Mike Leigh swings between gratitude and despair as he reflects on his life and career.
The 82-year-old is aware of the great fortune he has had to make more than a dozen films over a glittering five-decade run, including "Secrets and Lies" and "Vera Drake".
But he is also conscious of the difficulties for the younger generations coming through -- and is scared by the "profoundly worrying" changes underway in the world under US President Donald Trump.
"It's a privilege to be able to make films and it's a privilege which is getting tougher to experience," he told AFP during a retrospective of his work at the prestigious Cinemateque in Paris. 
"I consider myself very lucky. Filmmaking is a joyous experience." 
Already working on his next project despite his growing mobility problems -- he suffers from a genetic muscular disease called myositis -- Leigh says he is troubled by a sense of the world being on the brink.
"It feels like World War Three may be around the corner. 
"Now, I never thought I'd say that and I'm old enough to remember the end of World War Two, just about. I was born in the war," he added. 
"It's profoundly worrying and one feels helpless."
"Hard Truths", praised as one of the Leigh's strongest recent films, is a poignant and sometimes darkly comic story of two sisters that whiplashes viewers with similarly contrasting emotions.

Secret of life?

Lead character Pansy is a clearly depressed, anxious and aggressive married mother-of-one, played with brio by British actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
Her sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) is friendly, sociable and easy-going, with a home and family life that stands in sharp contrast.
The film reunites the two black British actors from "Secret and Lies", nearly 30 years after it won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes festival and a host of Oscar nominations. 
While the 1996 hit was about family and identity, "Hard Truths" is a study in what makes some people pessimists and self-pitying, while others seem to glide through life's difficulties with smiles on their faces. 
As is his custom, Leigh offers no obvious answers on screen -- and he dodges a question about his thoughts on the issue. 
"You're asking me what's the secret of life? I’m not so pretentious or so self-opinionated as to pontificate about how to live," he replied.
"I've worked very hard. I've used my imagination. I was engaged. For me, it's about engaging with people."
- 'Natural thing to do' - 
"Hard Truths" is the first time Leigh has worked with an almost all-black cast, portraying London's vibrant Caribbean-origin community.
He has no time for suggestions that he, a white director, should hesitate about taking on such a challenge. 
"It seemed a natural thing to do. It's not a quantum leap.
"I raised my kids in north London and they were at school there and black kids were always running in and out of our house," he explained. 
"But on the other hand, it goes without saying, I couldn't sit in a room and write a conventional script for such a film."
He used the same collaborative approach he has deployed throughout his career, starting out with an idea, and then running workshops with the actors to develop the characters, dialogue and plot.
"In making the decision to centre on black characters.
"One of the deliberate things that I've very consciously done is to say: 'This is not going to be a film that deals in tropes and stereotypes and troubles with the law and drug issues and all the gang stuff'," Leigh continued.
"The main issues in the film are universal and are not endemic or exclusive to black people," he added.
He declines to talk about his next project but says finding financing is becoming increasingly difficult because backers -- particularly the streaming platforms -- want so much say in the final product.
"It's very, very depressing and very worrying," he concluded.
"I talk to potential backers and they say: 'We respect what you do, we like what you do but it's not for us'," he said. 
"'Not for us' is code for: 'We're not going to get involved in a project where we can't interfere with it, insist on casting Hollywood stars, we can't screw up the end, we can't mess about with you while you're trying to film, etcetera, etcetera.'
"It's desperate."
adp/tgb/gil

art

UK gallery to return Nazi-looted painting to heirs of Jewish collector

BY LAURIE CHURCHMAN

  • "This decision clearly acknowledges the awful Nazi persecution of Samuel Hartveld and that the 'clearly looted' painting belonged to Mr Hartveld, a Jewish Belgian art collector and dealer," the trust representing Hartveld's heirs and relatives said. 
  • The Tate Britain gallery is set to reunite the great-grandchildren of a Belgian Jewish art collector with a painting looted from his home by the Nazis, officials said on Saturday.
  • "This decision clearly acknowledges the awful Nazi persecution of Samuel Hartveld and that the 'clearly looted' painting belonged to Mr Hartveld, a Jewish Belgian art collector and dealer," the trust representing Hartveld's heirs and relatives said. 
The Tate Britain gallery is set to reunite the great-grandchildren of a Belgian Jewish art collector with a painting looted from his home by the Nazis, officials said on Saturday.
"Aeneas and his Family Fleeing Burning Troy" was stolen from the home of Samuel Hartveld after he fled Antwerp with his wife in May 1940.
The artwork by English painter Henry Gibbs was one of hundreds of thousands the Nazis plundered from Jewish families during World War II.
Their restitution has been a slow process, often involving legal battles and complex international searches.
The return of the 1654 oil painting will mark the latest triumph for a special panel set up by the UK government to investigate such works that have ended up in Britain's public collections.
The Spoliation Advisory Panel ruled the "Aeneas" painting was "looted as an act of racial persecution" and has arranged for it to be returned to Hartveld's heirs in the coming months, the UK government's culture department said.
A handover date has not yet been confirmed but Hartveld's family said they were "deeply grateful."
"This decision clearly acknowledges the awful Nazi persecution of Samuel Hartveld and that the 'clearly looted' painting belonged to Mr Hartveld, a Jewish Belgian art collector and dealer," the trust representing Hartveld's heirs and relatives said. 
The painting depicts the Trojan hero Aeneas trying to rescue his family from the burning city. 
It was produced in the wake of the English Civil War, when scenes of devastation and families being split up would have been familiar.
The Tate collection bought the work from the Galerie Jan de Maere in Brussels in 1994, and the trust established by Hartveld's heirs launched a claim in May 2024.

Long recovery process

"It is a profound privilege to help reunite this work with its rightful heirs," said Tate director Maria Balshaw.
"We now look forward to welcoming the family to Tate in the coming months and presenting the painting to them."
Hartveld survived World War II but never recovered the art collection he had to leave behind. 
The family trust was started in 1986 by Sonia Klein, who was previously named in a will as the daughter of Hartveld's widow Clara, who died in 1951.
Many artworks stolen by the Nazis were intended to be resold, given to senior officials or displayed in the Fuehrermuseum (Leader's Museum) that Adolf Hitler planned for his hometown of Linz but was never built.
Just before the end of the war, the United States sent teams of museum directors, curators and art experts to Europe to rescue cultural treasures. 
Their efforts enabled the swift return of many of the looted works to their owners.
But out of 650,000 stolen pieces, about 100,000 had not been returned by 2009, according to figures released at the Holocaust Era Assets Conference in the Czech Republic that year.
Returns this century have included France's 2018 restitution of Flemish master Joachim Patinir's "Triptych of the Crucifixion" to the descendants of the Bromberg family, who were forced to sell the work when they fled the Nazis.
In the same year, a Berlin museum said it had formally restituted a 15th-century religious wooden sculpture to the heirs of the former owners, a Jewish couple who fled the Nazi regime.
The jewel of gothic art remains in the museum under an accord struck with the heirs.
The UK's Spoliation Advisory Panel said it had received 23 claims in the last 25 years and helped return 14 works to the heirs of their former owners. 
lcm/jkb/gil

Trump

Performance, museums, history: Trump's cultural power grab

BY MAGGY DONALDSON, WITH ELODIE SOINARD IN WASHINGTON

  • The executive crusade is part of a broader effort to strip American society of efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion that institutions nationwide have vied to incorporate in recent years, purging culture of anti-racism and LGBTQ+ support.
  • Washington's Smithsonian is a sprawling chain of museums dedicated to both celebrating and scrutinizing the American story -- and the latest cultural institution targeted by President Donald Trump's bid to quash diversity efforts.
  • The executive crusade is part of a broader effort to strip American society of efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion that institutions nationwide have vied to incorporate in recent years, purging culture of anti-racism and LGBTQ+ support.
Washington's Smithsonian is a sprawling chain of museums dedicated to both celebrating and scrutinizing the American story -- and the latest cultural institution targeted by President Donald Trump's bid to quash diversity efforts.
His recent executive order to excavate "divisive ideology" from the famed visitor attraction and research complex follows a wave of efforts to keep culture and history defined on his terms, including his takeover of the national capital's prestigious performing arts venue, the Kennedy Center.
And it's got critics up in arms.
"It's a declaration of war," said David Blight of Yale University, who leads the Organization of American Historians.
"It is arrogant and appalling for them to claim they have the power and the right to say what history actually is and how it should be exhibited, written, and taught," Blight told AFP.
Trump's latest order also says monuments to the historic Confederate rebellion, many of which were removed in recent years in the wake of anti-racism protests, might soon be restored.
His order even mentioned the National Zoo -- which is operated by the Smithsonian and recently welcomed two pandas from China -- as potentially needing a cleanse from "improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology." 
And Trump says a number of Smithsonian museums, including the distinguished National Museum of African American History and Culture, espouse "corrosive ideology," and are trying to rewrite American history in relation to issues of race and gender.
Critical observers say the exact opposite is true.
Margaret Huang -- president of the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate -- called Trump's order "the latest attempt to erase our history" and "a blatant attempt to mask racism and white supremacy as patriotism."
"Black history is US history. Women's history is US history. This country's history is ugly and beautiful," Huang said.
For critics like Huang and Blight, Trump's push to tell a rose-tinted history of "American greatness" is a disservice to museum-goers in a complicated country built on values including freedom of speech -- but whose history is rife with war, slavery and civil rights struggles.
"What's at stake is the way the United States officially portrays its own past, to itself, and to the world," Blight said.

'Stories about ourselves'

Trump is a 78-year-old Frank Sinatra fan with a penchant for Broadway -- he's spoken particularly fondly of the 1980s-era musical "Cats," the fantastical tale of a dancing tribe of felines.
But his brand of culture war is much bigger than personal taste: in his second term, the president appears intent on rooting out what he deems too "woke."
The executive crusade is part of a broader effort to strip American society of efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion that institutions nationwide have vied to incorporate in recent years, purging culture of anti-racism and LGBTQ+ support.
Critics say Trump's extension of his grip to the Smithsonian represents an eyebrow-raising incursion into the programming independence of the more than 175-year-old institution.
Founded in the mid-19th century, the Smithsonian "has transformed along with our culture and our society," said Robert McCoy, a history professor at Washington State University.
The complex -- including the zoo, 21 museums and 14 education and research centers -- is approximately two-thirds federally funded, with the rest of its approximately billion-dollar-budget stemming from sources including endowments, memberships and donations.
Its Board of Regents includes the vice president. But, similarly to the Kennedy Center, until now it operated largely above political lines, especially when it came to programming.

'Meaning and belonging'

"It's become more diverse. The stories it tells are more complicated. These are people who are attempting to help us broaden what it means to be an American -- what it means to tell us stories about ourselves that are more accurate and include more people," McCoy told AFP.
"When you lose that, you begin to marginalize a lot of different groups."
McCoy fears the White House's bid to clamp down on the Smithsonian's work could prompt resignations, a concern Blight echoed: "If they stay in their jobs, they're in effect working for an authoritarian takeover of what they do. That will not be acceptable."
Trump's attempts at cultural dominance in federal institutions are part of a broader package of control, McCoy said, a pattern that echoes research on how authoritarian regimes seize power.
"It's not just political and economic institutions," he said. "It's also the institutions that provide people with a sense of meaning and belonging -- that they're American."
mdo-es/dc/

Israel

Academy apologizes after stars say it 'failed to defend' Palestinian filmmaker

  • "We stand in condemnation of the brutal assault and unlawful detention of Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal by settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank," they wrote.
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologized Friday for failing to defend an Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker who said he was attacked by Israeli settlers.
  • "We stand in condemnation of the brutal assault and unlawful detention of Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal by settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank," they wrote.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologized Friday for failing to defend an Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker who said he was attacked by Israeli settlers.
The group, which hosts and awards the Oscars each year, wrote to members after movie stars including Joaquin Phoenix, Penelope Cruz and Richard Gere had slammed its initially muted response to the incident.
The Academy "condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world" and its leaders "abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances," said the letter, seen by AFP.
Hamdan Ballal co-directed "No Other Land," which won best documentary at this year's Academy Awards. 
This week, he said he had been assaulted by settlers and detained at gunpoint by soldiers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Unlike multiple other prominent filmmaker groups, the US-based Academy initially did not issue a statement. 
On Wednesday, it sent a letter to members that condemned "harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints," without naming Ballal.
By Friday morning, more than 600 Academy members had signed their own statement in response. 
"It is indefensible for an organization to recognize a film with an award in the first week of March, and then fail to defend its filmmakers just a few weeks later," the members said.
"We stand in condemnation of the brutal assault and unlawful detention of Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal by settlers and Israeli forces in the West Bank," they wrote.
The Academy leadership's response "fell far short of the sentiments this moment calls for," said the members.
The Los Angeles-based group's board convened an extraordinary meeting Friday to confront the deepening crisis, according to trade outlet Deadline.
Later Friday, it issued an apology to Ballal "and all artists who felt unsupported by our previous statement."
"We regret that we failed to directly acknowledge Mr Ballal and the film by name," it wrote.
"No Other Land" chronicles the forced displacement of Palestinians by Israeli troops and settlers in Masafer Yatta -- an area Israel declared a restricted military zone in the 1980s.
Despite winning the coveted Oscar, the film has struggled to find a major US distributor.
Following Monday's incident, Ballal told AFP the "brutality" of the attack "made me feel it was because I won the Oscar."
During his detention at an Israeli military center, Ballal said he noticed soldiers mentioning his name alongside the word "Oscar" during shift changes.
He was released Tuesday, after being detained the previous day for allegedly "hurling rocks." 
Yuval Abraham, who also co-directed and appears in the documentary, has spoken out against the Academy's response.
"After our criticism, the academy's leaders sent out this email to members explaining their silence on Hamdan's assault: they need to respect 'unique viewpoints'," he wrote on X, sharing a screenshot of the Academy's letter.
amz/hg/jgc

television

US regulators to investigate Disney diversity efforts

  • Disney and its subsidiary ABC are being targeted as part of the Trump administration's efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at government agencies and private companies, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a letter to the entertainment giant.
  • The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will investigate diversity efforts at the Walt Disney Company, the head of the US agency said on Friday.
  • Disney and its subsidiary ABC are being targeted as part of the Trump administration's efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at government agencies and private companies, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a letter to the entertainment giant.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will investigate diversity efforts at the Walt Disney Company, the head of the US agency said on Friday.
Disney and its subsidiary ABC are being targeted as part of the Trump administration's efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at government agencies and private companies, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a letter to the entertainment giant.
US President Donald Trump picked Carr to head the FCC.
"I am concerned that ABC and its parent company have been and may still be promoting invidious forms of DEI in a manner that does not comply with FCC regulations," Carr wrote in the letter, a copy of which he shared on X, formerly Twitter.
Disney made a priority of promoting race and gender diversity across its operations in recent years, and "apparently did so in a manner that infected many aspects of your company's decisions," Carr wrote in a letter addressed to chief executive Robert Iger.
Carr notified Comcast and NBCUniversal in February that they were targets of an investigation into their diversity and equality efforts, thanking Trump at the time for efforts to "root out the scourge of DEI."
Trump's assault on diversity across the United States government is dismantling decades of racial justice programs.
Delivering on a campaign promise, the Republican billionaire made it one of his first acts in office to terminate all federal government DEI programs, which he said led to "illegal and immoral discrimination."
Earlier this month, Civil War historian Kevin M. Levin reported that Arlington National Cemetery had begun to wipe its website of the histories of Black, Hispanic and women war veterans. 
Descendants of the Native Americans who played a vital role for US forces in World War II said they had been shocked to discover their ancestors' heroic contributions had been effectively deleted from the public record.
The president's move to end DEI programs has also affected more than just the federal government.
Since Trump won last year's election, several major US corporations -- including Google, Meta, Amazon and McDonalds -- have either entirely scrapped or dramatically scaled back their DEI programs. 
The American Civil Liberties Union says Trump's policies have taken a "'shock and awe' approach that upends longstanding, bipartisan federal policy meant to open doors that had been unfairly closed."
US federal anti-discrimination programs were born of the 1960s civil rights struggle, mainly led by Black Americans, to promote equality and justice after hundreds of years of slavery. 
After the United States abolished slavery in 1865, the country continued to see other institutional forms of racism enforced.
Today, Black Americans and other minorities continue to disproportionately face police violence, incarceration, poverty, homelessness and hate crimes, according to official data.
gc/jgc

women

French lawyers condemn 'sexism' of Depardieu's defence in abuse trial

  • In the open letter, his colleagues said Assous's strategy went beyond "even the most generous interpretation of the right to defend", saying Depardieu's lawyer had "used sexism and misogyny to his heart's delight" to discredit the plaintiffs and their legal team.
  • A group of nearly 200 French lawyers on Friday urged the judiciary to fight the kind of courtroom sexism they said Gerard Depardieu's lawyer used to defend the star actor in his sex abuse trial.
  • In the open letter, his colleagues said Assous's strategy went beyond "even the most generous interpretation of the right to defend", saying Depardieu's lawyer had "used sexism and misogyny to his heart's delight" to discredit the plaintiffs and their legal team.
A group of nearly 200 French lawyers on Friday urged the judiciary to fight the kind of courtroom sexism they said Gerard Depardieu's lawyer used to defend the star actor in his sex abuse trial.
Jeremie Assous has deployed an unusually aggressive style of defence since the start of Depardieu's trial.
The actor is in the dock charged with sexual assault on two women during the filming in 2021 of "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters") by director Jean Becker. They are a set dresser, 54, identified only as Amelie, and a 34-year-old assistant director.
During the trial Assous called them "liars" and "hysterical", accused them of working for the cause of "rabid feminism" and having brought their case exclusively for the sake of media attention. He also referred to feminists demonstrating outside the courtroom as "half-brain amputated".
In the open letter, his colleagues said Assous's strategy went beyond "even the most generous interpretation of the right to defend", saying Depardieu's lawyer had "used sexism and misogyny to his heart's delight" to discredit the plaintiffs and their legal team.
"Sexism against lawyers cannot be allowed in courtrooms any longer," the letter said, deploring the "complete silence" of court officials in the face of Assous's remarks, as well as the absence of any reaction by the bar association despite complaints by the two women's legal teams.
"A judiciary that silently tolerates sexism, for accounting or administrative reasons, is not up to the challenges of this day and age," the letter said.
The legal system needed to "respect women because they are women, and all the more so when they are present in this space as lawyers".
The letter said the lawyers would examine whether the court's silence in the face of Assous's strategies constituted an "ethical failing".
Prosecutors in the trial on Thursday recommended a suspended jail sentence of 18 months for Depardieu. 
The lead prosecutor, in his closing statement, also asked for him to be fined 20,000 euros ($21,500) and to pay damages to the plaintiffs.
He said Depardieu should also be ordered to undergo psychological treatment, and be included in France's sex offender registry.
Depardieu, who has acted in more than 200 films and television series, has been accused of improper behaviour by around 20 women but this is the first case to come to trial.
The court is to hand down its verdict on May 13.
edy/jh/gv

sculpture

Nigerian youth in the spotlight at Lagos contemporary art fest

BY LESLIE FAUVEL

  • That includes Keshinro, the gallerist.
  • Two women, put onto canvas through paint and collage, hold the world in their hands -- and cast a spell on Nancy Keshinro.
  • That includes Keshinro, the gallerist.
Two women, put onto canvas through paint and collage, hold the world in their hands -- and cast a spell on Nancy Keshinro.
"I'm in love," the art collector and gallery owner said, as the work -- nearly as tall as she is -- stopped her in her tracks at +234Art Fair in Lagos.
She can't stay long though, if she hopes to finish winding her way through some 600 works from 200 young Nigerian artists on display -- the energy at the contemporary arts festival matching the always-humming pace of the megacity where it's hosted.
The country's art scene has descended on this year's +234 fair, where up-and-comers are in the spotlight at exhibitions meant to help them break through the insular market that Nigeria's cultural capital is sometimes known for.
"Lagos is obviously very saturated, the artists are very centralised," festival founder Tola Akerele, who is also behind the renowned Soto Gallery, told AFP. "So we really try and make sure we get artists from all over Nigeria to showcase their work."
Finding enough artists to break through the mould isn't particularly difficult in Africa's most populous country, whose at-times eye-popping diversity is built from 220 million people and hundreds of languages and ethnic groups.
The trick is getting them exposure -- to allow new artists "to be able to live, earn, have a career", Akerele said.

'Potent' culture

+234 isn't a bad deal for collectors either -- allowing amateurs to snag works for as low as 100,000 naira ($64), while still leaving space for those willing to spend on higher-priced works fetching up to four million naira.
Amid the sea of painters, sculptures and photographers at +234 -- named after Nigeria's country calling code -- gallery owners and seasoned buyers are also on the prowl, hoping to find the next undiscovered talent who could break through on the world stage.
For 29-year-old artist Abiodun Bodunrin, who works under the name "Peniel", the fair has not only been a chance to get his paintings in front of more people, but also to figure out who is who in a hard-to-enter scene.
"My main aim for the fair was to expand my network, to get more eyes to see my art, to meet patrons," he told AFP, as he displayed black-and-white paintings inspired by African symbolism.
"In a year or two from now, I want to be able to show my art in the biggest museums around the world."
The way collector, architect and +234 attendee Kelechi Odu sees it, the fair not only allows up-and-coming artists to present their own work, but also to be exposed to others.
"And that dialogue is what produces ecosystems of culture that become potent," he said.
But the impact of Nigeria's current economy -- at its worst in three decades as the country grinds through a cost-of-living crisis -- is hard to ignore.
Buyers are "becoming more specific and more targeted", he said. "You don't make choices that are casual."

Cultural hub

For the artists themselves, a certain resilience, rather than "gloom", is reflected in their work, said collector and gallery owner Ugoma Ebilah.
"What you see in the visual expressions, across forms, sculpture, painting, photography, music, is essentially a portrait of a people -- a people who are deeply resilient, highly innovative and creative, in spite of it all," she said.
Modern Nigerian artists have been on the rise since the 1980s and 1990s, when scattered across the diaspora wanted their homes "to reflect who they are and their culture," said Nkiru Nzegwu, a professor of African studies at Binghamton University, in the United States.
A vast economy at home has also meant plenty of domestic buyers, helping turn Lagos into a cultural hub for artists across West Africa.
That includes Keshinro, the gallerist.
She can't stop thinking about a sculpture that caught her eye.
"I'm trying to see how I can acquire that before anybody buys it," she said.
fvl/nro/giv

Trump

Trump order targets 'improper ideology' at famed US museums

  • Trump said this should include a drive to "remove improper ideology from such properties."
  • US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to remove "improper ideology" from the famed Smithsonian Museums -- and the National Zoo -- expanding his conservative clampdown on cultural institutions.
  • Trump said this should include a drive to "remove improper ideology from such properties."
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to remove "improper ideology" from the famed Smithsonian Museums -- and the National Zoo -- expanding his conservative clampdown on cultural institutions.
Trump, who has sought to root out what he called "woke" culture since returning to power in January, accused the Smithsonian of trying to rewrite American history on issues of race and gender.
His order puts hardline Vice President JD Vance in charge of efforts to carry out the order at the Smithsonian's museums, educations and research centers.
Trump said this should include a drive to "remove improper ideology from such properties."
The Smithsonian operates 21 internationally renowned museums and galleries, mainly in and around Washington, dedicated to art, science, space and American history.
They include the National Zoo in the US capital, which recently welcomed two giant pandas from China, debuting them to the public just days after Trump's inauguration for a second term.
The presidential order -- titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" -- targeted a number of examples of what it also called "corrosive ideology."
It said the National Museum of African American History and Culture, one of the newest Smithsonian additions, had described hard work and the nuclear family as "aspects of 'White Culture.'"
Trump also targeted what he said was a plan by the as-yet-unopened American Women's history museum for "celebrating the exploits of male athletes participating in women's sports."
There was no immediate reaction from the Smithsonian.

'Safe and beautiful'

The Smithsonian Institute was founded in the mid-19th century with a donation from a deceased and childless British chemist, James Smithson, who asked in his will for his wealth to be used to create an educational institution in the then-young United States -- a country he had never set foot in.
Trump's wide-ranging 21st century effort to reshape the US government has increasingly extended to cultural issues, where he is seeking to stamp his conservative mark.
The 78-year-old Republican recently took over the chairmanship of the Kennedy Center in Washington, a famed arts venue, after complaining that it was too liberal.
The president has also eyed reforms in governance of the US capital city, which he has repeatedly complained of having high crime and unsightly nuisances such as graffiti.
In a separate order on Thursday titled "Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful," Trump directed the creation of an inter-agency task force to increase immigration enforcement and other law enforcement priorities.
It also calls for the development of a "coordinated beautification plan" for the city.
"We will take over our horribly run Washington, DC, and clean up, renovate, and rebuild our capital so that it is no longer a nightmare of murder and crime," Trump said on the campaign trail last year -- a message reposted Thursday on X by the White House.
Washington's approximately 700,000 residents are overwhelmingly Democrats, with the party's candidate Kamala Harris winning over 90 percent of the vote last November.
The city has a unique status in the country as it is not a part of any state. It has no voting representation in Congress -- despite having a population larger than two states.
Though the city now runs its own affairs, Congress -- currently controlled by Republicans -- retains the ability to take back control, something Trump has repeatedly threatened to do.
With that backdrop, city authorities have sought to develop a conciliatory relationship with the president, quickly fulfilling his requests, such as removing some homeless encampments and a "Black Lives Matter" mural.
dk/des/jgc

politics

Trump administration expands university DEI probes to California

  • Bondi's announcement comes with elite institutions across the country on the back foot.
  • President Donald Trump's administration said Thursday it will investigate admissions practices at some of California's top universities, broadening a campaign against elite educational institutions.
  • Bondi's announcement comes with elite institutions across the country on the back foot.
President Donald Trump's administration said Thursday it will investigate admissions practices at some of California's top universities, broadening a campaign against elite educational institutions.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had ordered probes into how students are admitted to the private Stanford University, as well as to three of the most prestigious campuses of the University of California system -- Berkeley, UCLA and UC Irvine.
"President Trump and I are dedicated to ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity across the country," Bondi said in a statement.
"Every student in America deserves to be judged solely based on their hard work, intellect, and character, not the color of their skin."
A spokesperson for the University of California said the institutions have not considered race in admissions since it was outlawed in the state by a 1996 ballot measure, but clarified school applications gather race and ethnicity data "for statistical purposes only."
"This information is  not shared with application reviewers  and is not used for admissions," the spokesperson added.
A Stanford spokesperson said in a statement that the private university "immediately took steps to ensure compliance in our admissions processes" after the US Supreme Court eliminated race-based affirmative action in 2023.
Conservatives have long griped that America's foremost universities make it easier for ethnic minority students to attend.
They say the insistence on the notion of "diversity, equity and inclusion," or DEI, is damaging and unfair to otherwise well-qualified candidates.
Bondi's announcement comes with elite institutions across the country on the back foot.
This month Trump's administration revoked $400 million of funding from New York's Columbia University, claiming school officials had not sufficiently protected Jewish students during last year's campus protests against Israel's war in Gaza.
On Friday Columbia announced a package of concessions around defining anti-Semitism, policing protests and oversight for specific academic departments in a bid to head off the funding squeeze.
A number of students at various colleges around the country have also been targeted for deportation, in what the government's critics say is part of a broader campaign to silence dissent at America's fractious universities and bring the left-leaning sector to heel.
hg-amz/jgc/des

gaming

South Korea's life game 'InZOI' challenges 'The Sims'

BY HIEUN SHIN

  • So, despite Krafton having "limited understanding" of the life simulation genre, the company backed the idea, he said, adding that thankfully early release responses were "more enthusiastic " than they had expected.
  • South Korean game publisher Krafton released early access to its life simulation game "InZOI" Friday, hoping its powerful lifelike graphics will unseat the decades-long dominance of "The Sims" hit franchise.
  • So, despite Krafton having "limited understanding" of the life simulation genre, the company backed the idea, he said, adding that thankfully early release responses were "more enthusiastic " than they had expected.
South Korean game publisher Krafton released early access to its life simulation game "InZOI" Friday, hoping its powerful lifelike graphics will unseat the decades-long dominance of "The Sims" hit franchise.
Krafton, the developer of battle royale "PUBG: Battlegrounds", says it offers a fresh take on the concept using striking visuals -- with "InZOI" shooting to the top of wishlists on the online Steam platform.
"What stood out the most when I played "InZOI" was just how visually stunning it is," said Kim Rail, a YouTuber known for playing "The Sims", a game whose last instalment debuted nearly a decade ago.
"The game's character is rendered with such precision that she looks almost like a real person," Kim said. "After decorating interiors, taking a screenshot makes it look like a magazine photo due to the high visual quality".
"The Sims", a spin-off from the popular "SimCity" franchise, takes players inside individual homes, allowing them to customize everything from furniture to relationships.
Over 25 years, "The Sims" and its three sequels have sold more than 200 million copies, and Electronic Arts is now planning a multi-player version.
But "InZOI" producer and director Kim Hyung-jun said they offered something new.
"I believe "InZOI" offers something that "The Sims" does not, and that users will find a different kind of enjoyment in that," he said.
"Inzoi" topped the best-selling games chart by revenue on Steam just 40 minutes after the launch Friday morning, while Krafton stocks in Seoul rose six percent.

K-pop career

"InZOI" producer Kim, an avid player of "The Sims", said it was an "honour" to be compared to the game.
"'The Sims' is a philosophical work that offers diverse interpretations of life," he said. "At times, it felt like a miniature version of real life, and I was often amazed by how thoughtfully the developers portrayed various aspects".
But Kim told AFP he wanted to focus more on how the "relationships" are portrayed in his game. 
"For instance, if a player gets into a fight somewhere, the news spreads, and they may receive criticism or support through social media. We've built a system where one event leads to another," he said.
It also has a unique twist from its home nation, drawing on maps including one from South Korea -- and a possible career path that allows players to become a K-pop idol.
"Tapping into the global interest in K-culture, the game features detailed recreations of Korean streetscapes, convenience stores, karaoke rooms, and traditional restaurants, allowing players to explore and engage with uniquely Korean settings," said Kim Jung-tae, a gaming professor at Dongyang University.
It "lets players experience a wide range of everyday Korean life", he added.
"InZOI" uses "Unreal Engine 5" developed by Epic Games, the first for a life simulation title, which supports detailed customization options for characters, including features such as eye bags and iris size.
The impressive graphics come at a cost.
The recommended systems for "InZOI" include an Intel i7 processor and an Nvidia RTX 3070 -- a significant leap from "The Sims 4", which runs on the more modest requirements of an Intel i5 and a GTX 650.
Content creators suggest the challenge will be to woo the huge numbers of players of "The Sims", who are used to more moderate graphics but also lower computer specs.
"The game's success is expected to hinge on the stability of its live service and the developers' ability to consistently deliver new content," said Kim, the professor.

'Separate lives'

Krafton said the ambition to challenge a leader like "The Sims" came from the global success of "PUBG", a combat survival game whose mobile version surpassed one billion downloads and recorded 50 million daily active users.
"Even within the company, no one truly expected that success," "InZOI" producer Kim Hyung-jun said. "Back then, the idea of creating something like that in Korea was an unusual challenge".
So, despite Krafton having "limited understanding" of the life simulation genre, the company backed the idea, he said, adding that thankfully early release responses were "more enthusiastic " than they had expected.
But, compared to "The Sims", Kim accepts his game still has "a long way to go".
"'The Sims' 4 has been in service for 10 years, while "InZOI" has only been in development for two. I'd say it's about 20 percent complete in comparison," said Kim.
"I don't view the comparison negatively. Just as everyone lives a unique life, "The Sims" and "InZOI" are separate 'lives', each with their value and appeal". 
hs/pjm/fox

women

Prosecutors ask for 18-month suspended jail for actor Depardieu

BY CéLINE BRUNEAU

  • Depardieu told the court on Tuesday the #MeToo movement would become "a reign of terror".
  • Prosecutors recommended an 18-month suspended jail sentence Thursday in the sexual abuse trial of film star Gerard Depardieu, the highest-profile figure caught up in France's response to the #MeToo movement.
  • Depardieu told the court on Tuesday the #MeToo movement would become "a reign of terror".
Prosecutors recommended an 18-month suspended jail sentence Thursday in the sexual abuse trial of film star Gerard Depardieu, the highest-profile figure caught up in France's response to the #MeToo movement.
In a closing statement, the lead prosecutor also asked for Depardieu to be fined 20,000 euros ($21,500) and pay damages to the plaintiffs, two women who accuse him of sexual assault during the 2021 filming of "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters") by director Jean Becker.
The court said it would deliver its verdict on May 13.
Depardieu, a towering figure in French cinema whose lawyers argued he was the victim of a plot to bring him down, said the trial had left him feeling "tired".
"For three years, I've been dragged through the mud by lies (and) slander that are eating away at me," the 76-year-old "Cyrano de Bergerac" star told the court.
Lead prosecutor Laurent Guy said Depardieu had preyed on "women in a position of social inferiority", exploiting his celebrity status and "aura".
"What we have here are evidently sexual assaults with intent," Guy told the court.
He said Depardieu should also be ordered to undergo psychological treatment, and be included in France's sex offender registry.
The plaintiffs are a set dresser, 54, identified only as Amelie, and a 34-year-old assistant director.
Depardieu, who has acted in more than 200 films and television series, has been accused of improper behaviour by around 20 women, but this is the first case to come to trial.
The actor has denied wrongdoing. "I'm vulgar, rude, foul-mouthed, I'll accept that," he told the court on Wednesday, but added: "I don't touch."
Depardieu told the court on Tuesday the #MeToo movement would become "a reign of terror".

'Wild animal'

A lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, Carine Durrieu Diebolt, said prosecutors had "demonstrated the guilt" of Depardieu.
But the actor's lawyer, Jeremie Assous, said the prosecution's case was "vague and imprecise", calling the accusations against his client "lies". He previously called the plaintiffs "liars" and "hysterical".
Claude Vincent, a lawyer for the assistant director, in turn accused Assous of lacking a defence strategy, instead mounting "a defence of sexism", and called Depardieu "misogynous".
On Wednesday, Depardieu told the court he loved women and was not a "groper" as he made a final plea.
"I adore women and femininity, I feel very feminine myself," he said, sparking laughter in the Paris courtroom.
A day earlier, he said he had grabbed Amelie, the set dresser, by the hips but only "so I wouldn't slip".
Amelie said the actor had behaved like a "wild animal".
French actor Charlotte Arnould was the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Depardieu in 2018, accusing him of rape. French prosecutors have requested another trial over that case.
Depardieu became a star in France from the 1980s with roles in "The Last Metro", "Police" and "Cyrano de Bergerac", before Peter Weir's "Green Card" also made him a Hollywood celebrity.
He later acted in global productions including Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet", Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" and Netflix's "Marseille" series.
cbr/jh/jhb/rmb

film

Sundance film festival moving to Boulder, Colorado

  • "Change is inevitable," Redford said in the statement.
  • Sundance, the highly influential US film festival co-founded by Robert Redford, is moving to a new home in Colorado, organizers said Thursday.
  • "Change is inevitable," Redford said in the statement.
Sundance, the highly influential US film festival co-founded by Robert Redford, is moving to a new home in Colorado, organizers said Thursday.
For the past four decades, Sundance has been held each winter in Utah's Park City, launching the year's hottest independent movies in the swanky Rocky Mountain ski town amid freezing temperatures at an altitude of 7,000 feet (2,150 meters).
But as the festival has grown in scale and importance, many attendees have complained it has become prohibitively expensive to attend. Many locals also dread the annual influx of Hollywood bigwigs and the accompanying gridlock caused by fleets of luxury SUVs.
Talks about a new destination have been ongoing for years, with more than 100 locations initially expressing interest in hosting Sundance. From a final shortlist of three candidates, Boulder in Colorado beat out rival bids from Utah's Salt Lake City and Ohio's Cincinnati.
Boulder, a small city of 100,000 people, a short drive from Colorado's sprawling state capital Denver, will host the Sundance Film Festival beginning in 2027.
"Boulder is an art town, tech town, mountain town, and college town. It is a place where the Festival can build and flourish," said Amanda Kelso, Sundance Institute Acting CEO, in a statement.
"Change is inevitable," Redford said in the statement.
"This move will ensure that the Festival continues its work of risk taking, supporting innovative storytellers, fostering independence, and entertaining and enlightening audiences.
"I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the Festival there," he added.
Boulder had widely been viewed as the favorite from the final shortlist.
Unlike Salt Lake City, it is located in a liberal, Democratic state. And unlike Ohio, Colorado borders Utah and shares its dramatic mountain skylines.
Sundance is a key launching pad for the careers of many of the industry's leading filmmakers. Over the years, roughly 4,000 feature films have been presented in Park City.
These are mainly independent movies from upcoming directors, though over time the festival has drawn more Hollywood A-listers and studios too.
Beloved films that first launched at Sundance include Quentin Tarantino's debut movie "Reservoir Dogs," Jordan Peele's "Get Out" and Damien Chazelle's "Whiplash."
Other famous Sundance premieres have included Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" and "Before Sunrise," and Steven Soderbergh's debut "sex, lies and videotape." 
This coming January's Sundance festival, due to take place January 22 to Feb 1, will be the final edition held in the original host city.
amz/hg/acb

Rushdie

Salman Rushdie to publish first fiction book since stabbing

  • Rushdie told jurors of Matar "stabbing and slashing" him during an event at an upscale cultural center in rural New York.
  • British-American novelist Salman Rushdie will publish his first major work of fiction since the brutal stabbing that blinded him in one eye, his publisher said on Thursday.
  • Rushdie told jurors of Matar "stabbing and slashing" him during an event at an upscale cultural center in rural New York.
British-American novelist Salman Rushdie will publish his first major work of fiction since the brutal stabbing that blinded him in one eye, his publisher said on Thursday.
"The Eleventh Hour," is a collection of short stories examining themes and places of interest to Rushdie who narrowly escaped death during the 2022 attack. It will be released on November 4, 2025,
The would-be assassin, Hadi Matar, was convicted of attempted murder at a trial in upstate New York at which Rushdie gave vivid testimony about the incident.
"The three novellas in this volume, all written in the last twelve months, explore themes and places that have been much on my mind -- mortality, Bombay, farewells, England (especially Cambridge), anger, peace, America," he said in a statement released by Penguin publishing. 
"I'm happy that the stories, very different from one another in setting, story and technique, nevertheless manage to be in conversation with one another, and with the two stories that serve as prologue and epilogue to this threesome."
During the trial of Rushdie's attacker, Matar's legal team sought to prevent witnesses from characterizing Rushdie as a victim of persecution following Iran's 1989 fatwa calling for his murder over supposed blasphemy in "The Satanic Verses."
Rushdie told jurors of Matar "stabbing and slashing" him during an event at an upscale cultural center in rural New York.
Matar was found guilty of stabbing Rushdie about 10 times with a six-inch blade that was shown to witnesses and the court.
At the trial, Rushdie discussed his book "Knife" which he wrote after the attack, describing the violent attempt on his life and his recovery from a variety of injuries.
The defendant shouted pro-Palestinian slogans on several occasions during the trial.
Matar, from New Jersey, previously told media he had only read two pages of "The Satanic Verses" but believed the author had "attacked Islam."
After the novel was published in 1988, Rushdie became the center of a fierce tug-of-war between free speech advocates and those who insisted that insulting religion, particularly Islam, was unacceptable in any circumstance.
Rushdie, who was born in Mumbai but moved to England as a boy, was propelled into the spotlight with his second novel "Midnight's Children" (1981), which won Britain's prestigious Booker Prize for its portrayal of post-independence India.
But "The Satanic Verses" brought him far greater, mostly unwelcome, attention. 
gw/md

women

Prosecutors ask for 18-months suspended jail for French actor Depardieu

  • The lead prosecutor, in a closing statement, also asked for Depardieu to be fined 20,000 euros ($21,500) and pay damages to the plaintiffs, two women who accuse him of sexual assault during the filming in 2021 of "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters") by director Jean Becker.
  • Prosecutors in the sexual abuse trial of Gerard Depardieu on Thursday recommended a suspended jail sentence of 18 months for the French star actor.
  • The lead prosecutor, in a closing statement, also asked for Depardieu to be fined 20,000 euros ($21,500) and pay damages to the plaintiffs, two women who accuse him of sexual assault during the filming in 2021 of "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters") by director Jean Becker.
Prosecutors in the sexual abuse trial of Gerard Depardieu on Thursday recommended a suspended jail sentence of 18 months for the French star actor.
The lead prosecutor, in a closing statement, also asked for Depardieu to be fined 20,000 euros ($21,500) and pay damages to the plaintiffs, two women who accuse him of sexual assault during the filming in 2021 of "Les Volets Verts" ("The Green Shutters") by director Jean Becker.
The plaintiffs are a set dresser, 54, identified only as Amelie, and a 34-year-old assistant director.
Depardieu, who has acted in more than 200 films and television series, has been accused of improper behaviour by around 20 women but this is the first case to come to trial.
The 76-year-old is the highest-profile figure to face accusations in French cinema's response to the #MeToo movement, which he told the court on Tuesday would become "a reign of terror".
Depardieu has denied any wrongdoing. "I'm vulgar, rude, foul-mouthed, I'll accept that," he told the court on Wednesday, but "I don't touch."
Depardieu became a star in France from the 1980s with roles in "The Last Metro", "Police" and "Cyrano de Bergerac", before Peter Weir's "Green Card" also made him a Hollywood celebrity.
He later acted in global productions including Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet", Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" and Netflix's "Marseille" series.
The court is to hear the defence's closing statement next.
cbr/jh/sbk

media

Trump calls for end to US public media funding

  • "NPR and PBS, two horrible and completely biased platforms... should be DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.
  • President Donald Trump called on Congress on Thursday to "immediately" defund two public broadcasters as he and his supporters ratchet up their long-running battle with the US media.
  • "NPR and PBS, two horrible and completely biased platforms... should be DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.
President Donald Trump called on Congress on Thursday to "immediately" defund two public broadcasters as he and his supporters ratchet up their long-running battle with the US media.
Trump's attacks on traditional media have intensified since his return to the White House, with the Republican president repeatedly attacking journalists critical of his administration, restricting access and bringing lawsuits.
His latest comments came after Congressional Republicans took aim at federal funding for US public media on Wednesday, accusing it during a hearing of "brainwashing the American people".
Trump claimed that radio network NPR and broadcast channel PBS were "arms of the Radical Left Democrat Party."
"NPR and PBS, two horrible and completely biased platforms... should be DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right Trump ally, told the hearing: "We will be calling for the complete and total defunding and dismantling of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)."
The CPB is a nonprofit that oversees US public media funding.
"The content that is being put out through these state-sponsored outlets is so radical it is brainwashing the American people, and more significantly American children," Greene told the heads of National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.
She criticized the outlets for pushing a political agenda that included "the LGBTQ indoctrination of children" and "the systemic racism narrative," as well as being "anti-family, pro-crime fake news."

'Enemy of the people'

The attacks by Greene echo media criticism by Trump, who frequently refers to legacy news media as the "enemy of the people."
Greene also sits on the House Committee on Government Efficiency, formed in support of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Trump's billionaire advisor Elon Musk and charged with slashing federal spending.
However, the CPB -- established nearly 60 years ago -- has already had its budget approved by Congress until 2027, with more than $500 million in funding.
Some 40 million Americans tune in to NPR at least once a week and about 36 million watch their local PBS station each month, according to estimates from the outlets.
The Republican congresswoman from Georgia went on to say NPR and PBS have grown to become "radical left-wing echo chambers for a narrow audience of mostly wealthy, white, urban liberals and progressives."
The critiques drew fierce blowback from Democrats, including Representative Jasmine Crockett from Texas, who said Greene wants "to shut down everybody that is not Fox News," a broadcaster preferred by many conservatives.
NPR chief executive Katherine Maher estimated the radio station received $120 million from the CPB in 2025, "less than five percent" of its budget.
Brian Jack, another Republican representative from Georgia, asked Maher if NPR could survive without the funding.
"It would be incredibly damaging to the national radios system," Maher said. "If federal funding for our network goes away, it means that people in rural parts of America would be harmed."
Democrat Stephen Lynch was also critical of the way Republicans led the hearing, saying it should be "talking about the security breach that occurred recently," in reference to the leaked Signal group chat among US government security officials.
"Today the controlling House majority is afraid to do its job, it is afraid to hold Trump and Trump's administration accountable," Lynch said.
es/jgc/mlm/cms/pbt

HKG

Party time, flyby as raucous Hong Kong Sevens settles into new home

BY PETER STEBBINGS

  • The annual tournament, which has witnessed the emergence of rugby greats such as Jonah Lomu, was first held in 1976 and from the 1990s took place in the heart of the city at the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium.
  • The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens take place from Friday in a big test for the shiny new stadium at the heart of a major $3.85 billion sports park in the southern Chinese city.
  • The annual tournament, which has witnessed the emergence of rugby greats such as Jonah Lomu, was first held in 1976 and from the 1990s took place in the heart of the city at the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium.
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens take place from Friday in a big test for the shiny new stadium at the heart of a major $3.85 billion sports park in the southern Chinese city.
Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong's sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak stadium.
They hope to entice major European football teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December saying Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour.
Coldplay will perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong's bid to re-establish the city as a hub for international sports, culture and entertainment.
The biggest event in rugby sevens, with organisers saying they have sold a record 130,000 tickets for the tournament from Friday to Sunday, is seen as key to restoring Hong Kong's reputation.
The city's image took a battering after political protests led to Beijing imposing a sweeping national security law. 
Visitor numbers plummeted during almost three years of strict Covid curbs and have only recently begun to recover.
"We feel very fortunate, via the hosting of the sevens, to be able to help strengthen the role of Hong Kong as one of the world's most vibrant and accessible destinations for major international events," said Chris Brooke, chairman of organisers Hong Kong China Rugby.
The annual tournament, which has witnessed the emergence of rugby greats such as Jonah Lomu, was first held in 1976 and from the 1990s took place in the heart of the city at the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium.
DJ Forbes, the former New Zealand sevens captain, said that the Hong Kong sevens "has always been the world cup of the game".
Men's and women's teams from around the globe will compete, led by Olympic champions France, New Zealand and sevens powerhouses Fiji, who have regard Hong Kong as their home tournament and have lifted the cup a record 19 times.

Party time and flyby

The HK$30 billion Kai Tak Sports Park officially opened on March 1 in a neighbourhood that was once the site of Hong Kong's airport.
The airport was sited in a dense urban development at the edge of Victoria Harbour and was a famously challenging landing spot for pilots.
In a nod to the area's former life and as part of the celebrations, a Cathay Pacific jet will perform a fly-past on Sunday.
The waterfront stadium is eye-catching, boasting a futuristic purplish facade dubbed "Pearl of the Orient" and a retractable roof.
The stadium has what organisers call one of the longest bars in Asia -- good news for the many spectators who will be there more for the event's legendary partying and live music than the sport.
The sprawling complex also features a 10,000-seat indoor sports arena, a 5,000-seat public sports ground and three shopping malls.
City leader John Lee said the 28-hectare (70-acre) sports park has ushered in a "state-of-the-art new stage for Hong Kong".
It has not been without challenges and teething problems.
Hong Kong's government floated the idea of an Olympic-standard stadium as early as the 2000s, but construction only began in 2019 and was beset by delays.
Then earlier this month, officials apologised after about 100 fans at the nighbouring arena were kicked out mid-match at a World Snooker event.
They were ordered to leave before the action ended because public transport in the area was scheduled to stop at midnight.
"Literally, fans HAVE to leave, due to policies," the management team of world champion Kyren Wilson, who was playing at the time, wrote on social media.
"You can't make it up!"
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film

Disney reveals 'Avengers' cast with surprise Stewart, McKellen returns

  • "Endgame" was briefly the highest-grossing movie in history, before the original "Avatar" reclaimed its crown with a theatrical re-release.
  • Disney's Marvel Studios on Wednesday revealed the bumper cast of its next "Avengers" film, six years after "Avengers: Endgame" became the highest-grossing movie of all time.
  • "Endgame" was briefly the highest-grossing movie in history, before the original "Avatar" reclaimed its crown with a theatrical re-release.
Disney's Marvel Studios on Wednesday revealed the bumper cast of its next "Avengers" film, six years after "Avengers: Endgame" became the highest-grossing movie of all time.
Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are among those surprisingly returning to the superhero roster for "Avengers: Doomsday," out May 2026.
They will join a raft of widely expected fan favorites, including Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth, a viral five-hour-long video announcement confirmed.
The Marvel superhero films are comfortably the most lucrative franchise in Hollywood history, having collectively made more than $30 billion.
As its title suggests, "Avengers: Doomsday" is intended to be an ensemble blockbuster event in the style of the franchise's pinnacle, 2019's "Avengers: Endgame," which grossed $2.8 billion.
"Endgame" was briefly the highest-grossing movie in history, before the original "Avatar" reclaimed its crown with a theatrical re-release.
Like "Endgame," "Doomsday" will again team up characters and wrap up storylines in a grand finale to more than a dozen preceding Marvel films.
While several returning superheroes -- and the actors playing them -- had been previously announced, Marvel revealed the whole set in a livestreamed video.
Surprises included octogenarian thespians Stewart and McKellen, who previously appeared in early "X-Men" films but were thought to have been written out or recast.
Returning favorites include Hemsworth's Thor, Paul Rudd's Ant Man, and Tom Hiddleston's Loki.
Actors' names were written on the backs of Hollywood-style directors' chairs, with a camera slowly panning from one to the next every 10-15 minutes until ending with Downey Jr. appearing in-person. 
Marvel previously announced that the Oscar winner will return to the franchise as the villainous Doctor Doom.
"It all leads to Doom. #AvengersDoomsday is now in production," said an accompanying message.
Downey Jr. kick-started the Marvel big-screen phenomenon back in 2008, playing an entirely different character -- Iron Man.
The franchise went on an unprecedented red-hot box office streak, raking in billions of dollars.
Post-"Endgame," the films have lost some luster, with a dozen movies since receiving mostly weaker reviews. 
Box office receipts have also fallen from their peak, though are still enviable compared with almost any other Hollywood franchise.
Wednesday's viral unveiling demonstrates how key to Marvel and Disney the success of "Avengers: Doomsday" -- and 2027 follow-up "Avengers: Secret Wars" -- will be.
The video was watched nearly four million times in its first seven hours.
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arts

'So unique': Frick Collection set to reopen in New York

BY ANA FERNÁNDEZ

  • Frick left the building and his art collection to be enjoyed by the public after his death in 1919. 
  • New York's storied Frick Collection will reopen its doors on April 17 after five years closed to the public for a major renovation which curators hope will future-proof the collection of former coal and steel magnate Henry Clay Frick.
  • Frick left the building and his art collection to be enjoyed by the public after his death in 1919. 
New York's storied Frick Collection will reopen its doors on April 17 after five years closed to the public for a major renovation which curators hope will future-proof the collection of former coal and steel magnate Henry Clay Frick.
"The Frick is back!" proclaimed Axel Rueger, director of the museum -- a 20th century mansion filled with paintings, sculptures, and decorative pieces dating from the Renaissance to the 19th century.
The collection of approximately 1,800 works includes works from Rembrandt, Vermeer, Whistler and Fragonard. 
The top-to-bottom renovation, which cost $330 million and saw the collection temporarily transferred to another Manhattan location, features 10 new rooms on the first floor, where the family's private quarters used to be.
It also includes a new 218-seat auditorium built below the garden, and direct access to the Frick Art Library, founded a century ago by Helen Clay Frick -- the magnate's only daughter -- and converted into a global hub for art history research.
"It's been like a massive jigsaw puzzle in getting everything together and getting everything to work together," said deputy director Xavier Salomon, who proudly declared that many details had been restored to their 1935 state when the museum first opened.
Frick left the building and his art collection to be enjoyed by the public after his death in 1919. 
The art enthusiast also wanted his collection to be expanded with works reflecting his interests, said Salomon. 
The collection has more than doubled in size since it was first put on public display.
"Everything has to change for everything to remain the same," said Salomon. 
Starting June 18, the museum will exhibit "Vermeer's Love Letters," celebrating the Dutch painter by displaying three of his most celebrated works in the same gallery for the first time -- including two special loans.
Ian Wardropper, the former director of the Frick Collection who oversaw the transformation, said "our goal and priority have always been to preserve and revitalize the experience that makes the Frick so unique."
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