Allen v Farrow, a four-part documentary by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, focuses on Dylan Farrow’s accusation that her famous filmmaker father, Woody Allen, sexually abused her. Allen denounces the allegations. The film is the latest in a series of exposés on sexual abuse by powerful men against women in the #MeToo era. VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke with the filmmakers and has this story.
Camera: Penelope Poulou Producer: Penelope Poulou
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Zimbabwe’s musicians have been struggling to make a living since the coronavirus pandemic prompted the government to ban concerts and other entertainment to prevent the spread of the virus. Some have even left their music behind and turned to farming. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Mazowe, Zimbabwe.Camera: Blessing Chigwenhembe
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Haiti Soccer Federation officials are awaiting the decision of FIFA, the international governing body for football, on whether a Haiti-Belize World Cup qualifier will be held Thursday in Port-au-Prince. Tessier Jeanty, communications director for the Haitian Soccer Federation (Federation Haitienne de Futbol, FHF), told VOA a FIFA security expert met with Haitian and Belize team officials Tuesday afternoon. The FIFA security expert arrived in Haiti Tuesday morning and toured the capital to evaluate the security situation after Belize’s team bus was held up at gunpoint on Monday. The incident happened as the team made its way from the Toussaint Louverture international airport to their hotel.Upon Belize’s 🇧🇿 arrival to Haiti 🇭🇹 for their World Cup Qualifier, their police escort was stopped by armed “insurgents”This is the video going around on social media.Match is set for March 25. Belize has put out an official statement. pic.twitter.com/B3Z0gTfW16— Nico Cantor (@Nicocantor1) March 23, 2021The athletes, who were not harmed in the incident, described the harrowing scene during an interview with a Belize television station. They said high-powered rifles were aimed at their bus. “Suddenly, we saw so many motorcycles with a lot of men and they were armed. You know, they stopped the bus and all we see, they were talking to the police. After that, we wanted to know what was happening. The next, they wanted us to turn back, pointing their guns at the police. So we don’t know what to do,” recalled Ian “Yellow” Gaynair, who plays defense for the Belize national team. “Some of us were doing some video and they pointed on the bus and said cut out the video, so we had to cut the video, pull the curtain,” Gaynair said. “All of us were really traumatized, fearing we didn’t know what would happen. Next thing we thought they would even want to come on the bus.” The armed men on motorbikes were members of a renegade group called Fantom 509, comprising disgruntled current and former police officers. The U.S. State Department described them as criminals on Twitter.#PortAuPrince#Haiti: The criminal organization known as Fantom 509 is currently active in Delmas and Petionville. The group is known for violence and the ability to relocate quickly. Avoid travel to these areas. Do not attempt to drive through roadblocks. https://t.co/NpUjSlG2zRpic.twitter.com/sD2yTib70O— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 22, 2021“The criminal organization known as Fantom 509 is currently active in Delmas and Petionville. The group is known for violence and the ability to relocate quickly. Avoid travel to these areas. Do not attempt to drive through roadblocks,” the U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Consular Affairs tweeted. Belize team official Marlon Kuylen immediately reported the incident to FIFA and CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football).“We’ve told them in no uncertain terms that we want to get our players out of the country. However, the match commissioner is arriving tomorrow to assess the situation and decide what happens from there,” Kuylen told the Belize television station. The Belize Football Federation later issued a statement expressing “disappointment and disgust.“Football Federation of Belize registers its anger & disappointment after its delegation was attacked by armed men in #Haiti en route from airport to hotel today. pic.twitter.com/2UUaSaawjP— Jacqueline Charles (@Jacquiecharles) March 23, 2021Kuylen said his players are having a hard time concentrating on the upcoming match. “The players, they are frazzled. They cannot focus on playing. We were supposed to go training … and they don’t want to leave the hotel,” he said. “Our security is not guaranteed and what if we win and the crowd gets out of control again, who’s to say that we will be safe?” Two officials from FHF went to check on the Belize players in the evening, according to a statement posted in French on its Facebook page. “Jacques Letang … and Yvon Sevère paid a visit of solidarity to team Belize to assure its members of that the FHF supports them,” the statement said. FIFA has not yet responded to VOA’s request for comment on the incident. The spike in violence in Haiti has alarmed both Haitian and international officials. Last week, Fantom 509 staged two jailbreaks, looted a car dealership and set fire to tires, blocking streets. Jeanty of FHF told VOA it is unfortunate that insecurity in the country, which has become a part of daily life for most Haitians, now risks jeopardizing the national team’s ability to play at home. “Haiti already has some factors working against it and now this complicates things even further,” Jeanty said. As for Haiti’s beloved national team, most of the players, such as goalie Johny Placide, only began arriving in Port-au-Prince Tuesday morning. The majority currently play for European league teams. “They weren’t even aware of what happened yesterday,” Jeanty told VOA. “We have six players who arrived this morning. And we have three players arriving [Wednesday] — because they are traveling from Armenia. I’m talking about Donald Guerrier, Soni Mustivar and Alex Junior Christian. They are ready to win for Haiti, but it’s shocking for them to see the images of what happened [on Monday].” Jeanty told VOA the FIFA security expert, a former military official from Barbados, would send his report to FIFA and CONCACAF Tuesday night. “After the meeting, we will not know immediately whether or not the match will go on in Haiti. He will send a report to CONCACAF and FIFA and those officials will issue a statement based on what the report advises,” Jeanty said. In the meantime, Haiti’s soccer federation is appealing to the public to refrain from violence. “Haitians must understand: if there is any kind of attack against this match, we can kiss Haiti soccer goodbye,” FHF secretary general Carlo Marcelin said in an interview with Haitian radio station Magik 9 Tuesday. The World Cup is scheduled to be held in Qatar from November 21 to December 18, 2022.
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The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, presenting President Joe Biden with an early test of his opposition to capital punishment.The justices agreed to hear an appeal filed by the Trump administration, which carried out executions of 13 federal inmates in its final six months in office.The case won’t be heard until the fall, and it’s unclear how the new administration will approach Tsarnaev’s case. The initial prosecution and decision to seek a death sentence was made by the Obama administration, in which Biden served as vice president.But Biden has pledged to seek an end to the federal death penalty.In August, the federal appeals court in Boston threw out Tsarnaev’s sentence because it said the judge at his trial did not do enough to ensure the jury would not be biased against him.The Justice Department had moved quickly to appeal, asking the justices to hear and decide the case by the end of the court’s current term, in early summer. Then-Attorney General William Barr said last year, “We will do whatever’s necessary.”Tsarnaev’s lawyers acknowledged at the beginning of his trial that he and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, set off the two bombs at the marathon finish line in 2013. But they argued that Dzhokar Tsarnaev is less culpable than his brother, who they said was the mastermind behind the attack.Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died following a gunfight with police and being run over by his brother as he fled. Police captured a bloodied and wounded Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hours later in the Boston suburb of Watertown, where he was hiding in a boat parked in a backyard.Tsarnaev, now 27, was convicted of all 30 charges against him, including conspiracy and use of a weapon of mass destruction and the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer during the Tsarnaev brothers’ getaway attempt. The appeals court upheld all but a few of his convictions.The initial prosecution and decision to seek a death sentence was made by the Obama administration, in which Biden served as vice president.
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French language lovers could celebrate International Francophonie Day on Saturday with a new online interactive dictionary. Rolled out by the French government, it reflects not only the language’s evolution but also the reality that most of today’s speakers are not French.Did you receive a “pourriel” or “throw a camel” today? If you are wondering what these expressions mean, you will not find the answers here in France. In Canadian French, a pourriel — a version of courriel, French for email — means spam mail. When you “lance un chameau” or throw a camel in the Democratic Republic of Congo, you have made a spelling mistake.Both these expressions are included in a new online dictionary sponsored by the French government.French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot says the dictionary is not just for France’s 67 million citizens, but for the 300 million French speakers worldwide. It aims to modernize and enrich the French language, she says, embracing its evolution.President Emmanuel Macron proposed the idea of this Francophones’ Dictionary in 2018. The dictionary already contains about 600,000 terms.It got a new word last week, when Louise Mushikiwabo, who heads the International Organization of la Francophonie, representing French-speaking countries, proposed “techniquer” — which in her native Rwanda means figuring out creative solutions with limited resources.Unlike past dictionaries, which were products of elite French academics, this dictionary is interactive, democratic — and a work in progress. Anybody can propose a word. A group of experts will decide whether it should be added.So, what do non-French francophones think about the new dictionary? A stroll through a multicultural Paris neighborhood provided some insight.Mimi, from Senegal, immediately checked out the dictionary on her smartphone. She couldn’t think of any words to propose right away, but she found the idea interesting.Longtime resident Nicole Sika offered up “go” — which means your female friend in her native Ivory Coast — or “zo” — which means you are smartly dressed.Other French dictionaries have expanded their lexicon. The iconic Le Petit Larousse French dictionary has added words like “taxier” — an Algerian expression meaning, not surprisingly, taxi driver. But this new, interactive dictionary is the first sponsored by France’s government, ending three centuries in which only the elite French Academy determined which words to include.“The French no longer have a monopoly on French,” French magazine L’Express wrote recently, “and that is good news.”
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Students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in relaxing its COVID-19 guidelines.The revised recommendations represent a turn away from the 6-foot standard that has sharply limited how many students some schools can accommodate. Some places have had to remove desks, stagger scheduling and take other steps to keep children apart.Three feet “gives school districts greater flexibility to have more students in for a prolonged period of time,” said Kevin Quinn, director of maintenance and facilities at Mundelein High School in suburban Chicago.In recent months, schools in some states have been disregarding the CDC guidelines, using 3 feet as their standard. Studies of what happened in some of them helped sway the agency, said Greta Massetti, who leads the CDC’s community interventions task force.While there is evidence of improved mental health and other benefits from in-person schooling, “we don’t really have the evidence that 6 feet is required in order to maintain low spread,” she said.Also, younger children are less likely to get seriously ill from the coronavirus and don’t seem to spread it as much as adults do, and “that allows us that confidence that that 3 feet of physical distance is safe,” Massetti said.The new guidance:— Removes recommendations for plastic shields or other barriers between desks. “We don’t have a lot of evidence of their effectiveness” in preventing transmission, Massetti said.
— Advises at least 3 feet of space between desks in elementary schools, even in towns and cities where community spread is high, so long as students and teachers wear masks and take other precautions.
— Says spacing can also be 3 feet in middle and high schools, so long as there is not a high level of spread in the community. If there is, spacing should be at least 6 feet.The CDC said 6 feet should still be maintained in common areas, such as school lobbies, and when masks can’t be worn, such as when eating.Also, students should be kept 6 feet apart in situations where there are a lot of people talking, cheering or singing, all of which can expel droplets containing the coronavirus. That includes chorus practice, assemblies and sports events.Teachers and other adults should continue to stay 6 feet from one another and from students, the CDC said.CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the revised recommendations are an “evidence-based roadmap to help schools reopen safely, and remain open, for in-person instruction.”“Safe in-person instruction gives our kids access to critical social and mental health services that prepare them for the future, in addition to the education they need to succeed,” she said in a statement.Last year, the CDC advised that one way for schools to operate safely was by keeping children 6 feet apart, the same standard applied to workplaces and other settings.In contrast, the World Health Organization suggested 1 meter — a little over 3 feet — was sufficient in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics says desks should be 3 feet apart and “ideally” 6 feet.The CDC guidance was problematic for many schools that traditionally had 25, 30 or more children per classroom in closely grouped desks. Some schools adopted complicated scheduling that might, for example, have half a class come to school on some days and the other half on other days.The Ridley School District in suburban Philadelphia took steps like that to follow the 6-foot guideline after the CDC emphasized it last summer. But neighboring communities went with 3 feet, “and we’re not seeing the data really reflect a different spread rate,” said Lee Ann Wentzel, the district’s superintendent.The district had already decided to shift to 3-foot distancing starting next month and invite all students to attend five days a week. But Wentzel said she was glad to hear of the change in CDC guidance because that will make it easier to explain and defend the district’s decision.A recent study in Massachusetts looked at infections of students and staff members in schools that used the 3-foot standard and those that used the 6-foot one. It found no significant difference in infection rates.Massetti said other research has also been influential, including two studies the CDC released Friday.One was a study in Utah that found low coronavirus transmission rates among students who did a good job wearing masks and whose desks were only 3 feet apart. The other study, done in Missouri, pointed to a similar conclusion, Massetti said.The guidance change comes at a time when new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus are increasingly spreading. That means a continued emphasis on mask wearing and other such measures, Massetti said.
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Tokyo organizers and the International Olympic Committee are poised to finally make it official that most fans from abroad will be prohibited from attending the postponed Olympics when they open in four months.The announcement is expected to come after “five-party” talks on Saturday with the IOC, local organizers, the Japanese government, the Tokyo metropolitan government and the International Paralympic Committee.”People are waiting eagerly for an early decision so they can move to the next step,” Seiko Hashimoto, the president of the organizing committee, said Friday in a news briefing. “We need to be able to make the decision soon.”Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, speaks during a press conference, March 19, 2021, in Tokyo.Despite some calls to delay it, Hashimoto has promised a decision before the torch relay opens on Thursday from the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima.Hashimoto said all five parties will have to agree on the decision. But she said two have more influence than others: the IOC and the Japanese national government.”All decisions will be made by the IOC in the end,” Hashimoto said. “When it comes to immigration, this is a matter for the national government at the border.”Japanese media, citing unidentified sources, have said for several weeks that the decision on the ban had already been reached. Hashimoto declined to confirm it.About 4.5 million tickets have been sold to Japan residents. Perhaps another 1 million have been sold abroad. Before the postponement a year ago, organizers said a total of 7.8 million tickets would be be available for the Tokyo Games.Toshiro Muto, the CEO of the Tokyo organizing committee, has said ticket holders from abroad would receive refunds. However, those decisions will be made on the ground by Authorized Ticket Resellers that are appointed by national Olympic committees and handle sales outside of the host nation.The local organizing committee budget is sure to take a hit. Its budget projected income of $800 million from ticket sales, the third-largest source of revenue. Any shortfall will have to be made up by Japanese government entities.John Coates, the IOC member who oversees preparations for Tokyo, said earlier this month there would probably be exemptions for some fans from abroad.”We are looking at the other implications of accommodation, looking at implications for national Olympic committees who have sponsors who might have bought tickets. The same with international federations,” Coates said.There is widespread skepticism in Japan about holding the Olympics, and particularly about admitting fans from abroad. Japan has attributed about 8,700 deaths to COVID-19 and has handled the virus better than most countries.The torch relay will present a stern test with 10,000 runners crisscrossing Japan to reach the opening ceremony on July 23. Organizers are asking crowds to stay away, discouraging cheering, and are reserving the right to stop or reroute the relay.The Olympics and Paralympics will involve 15,400 athletes from more than 200 nations, most operating inside a “bubble” linking venues, training facilities, and the Olympic Village on Tokyo Bay.Many may arrive with vaccinations, but the IOC is not requiring this as condition of competing.Ten of thousands of others will also arrive and be operating outside the bubble: officials, judges, sponsors, media, VIPs and broadcasters.
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More than 650-million copies of Dr. Seuss books have sold around the world since author Theodor Seuss Geisel published his first title in the 1930s. The prolific author of books like “The Cat in the Hat” is credited with helping millions of children learn to read. But this month, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced it will no longer publish six of the celebrated author’s books due to racist and insensitive imagery. VOA’s Dora Mekouar has our report. But first, a warning the story you are about to watch contains images that many may find offensive.
Camera: Griffin Harrington
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Tokyo Olympics creative head Hiroshi Sasaki said he had resigned after making a derogatory comment about a popular female Japanese entertainer, in the latest controversy over insensitive remarks toward women to hit games organizers.Sasaki, who was the head creative director for the opening and closing ceremonies at this year’s games, said he had told a planning group through a group chat that Naomi Watanabe could play a role as an “Olympig.””There was a very inappropriate expression in my ideas and remarks,” Sasaki said in a statement issued through games organizers early Thursday. “I sincerely apologize to her and people who have felt discomfort with such contents.”Sasaki said he had told Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto late Wednesday evening that he was stepping down.Hashimoto and Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto plan to address the matter at a news conference on Thursday, organizers said.Sasaki’s resignation came swiftly after weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun reported his remarks on Wednesday.Last month, Yoshiro Mori stepped down from his role as president of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee after causing a furor with sexist remarks when he said women talk too much.Mori, 83, a former prime minister, was replaced by athlete-turned-politician Hashimoto, who has pledged to make gender equality a top priority at the games.Sasaki was named head of the creative team in December as Olympic organizers looked to revamp plans for simplified ceremonies after the Tokyo Games were pushed back a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.The Olympics are scheduled for July 23-August 8; the Paralympics are set for August 24-September 5.
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White supremacist propaganda reached alarming levels across the U.S. in 2020, according to a new report that the Anti-Defamation League provided to The Associated Press.There were 5,125 cases of racist, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTQ and other hateful messages spread through physical flyers, stickers, banners and posters, according to Wednesday’s report. That’s nearly double the 2,724 instances reported in 2019. Online propaganda is much harder to quantify, and it’s likely those cases reached into the millions, the anti-hate organization said.The ADL, which was founded more than a century ago, said that last year marked the highest level of white supremacist propaganda seen in at least a decade. Its report comes as federal authorities investigate and prosecute those who stormed the U.S. Capitol in January, some of whom are accused of having ties to or expressing support for hate groups and anti-government militias.’Bookends'”As we try to understand and put in perspective the past four years, we will always have these bookends of Charlottesville and Capitol Hill,” group CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.”The reality is there’s a lot of things that happened in between those moments that set the stage,” he said.Christian Picciolini, a former far-right extremist who founded the deradicalization group Free Radicals Project, said the surge in propaganda tracks with white supremacist and extremist recruiters seeing crises as periods of opportunity.FILE- Members of the white supremacist KKK are escorted by police past a large group of protesters during a KKK rally in Charlottesville, Va., July 8, 2017.”They use the uncertainty and fear caused by crisis to win over new recruits to their ‘us vs. them’ narrative, painting the ‘other’ as the cause of their pain, grievances or loss,” Picciolini told the AP. “The current uncertainty caused by the pandemic, job loss, a heated election, protest over extrajudicial police killings of Black Americans, and a national reckoning sparked by our country’s long tradition of racism has created a perfect storm in which to recruit Americans who are fearful of change and progress.”Propaganda, often distributed with the intention of garnering media and online attention, helps white supremacists normalize their messaging and bolster recruitment efforts, the ADL said in its report. Language used in the propaganda is frequently veiled with a patriotic slant, making it seem benign to an untrained eye.But some flyers, stickers and posters are explicitly racist and anti-Semitic. One piece of propaganda disseminated by the New Jersey European Heritage Association included the words “Black Crimes Matter,” a derisive reference to the Black Lives Matter movement, along with cherry-picked crime statistics about attacks on white victims by Black assailants.A neo-Nazi group known as Folks Front distributed stickers that include the words “White Lives Matter.”According to the report, at least 30 known white supremacist groups were behind hate propaganda. But three groups — NJEHA, Patriot Front and Nationalist Social Club — were responsible for 92% of the activity.Where it occurredThe propaganda appeared in every state except Hawaii. The highest levels were seen in Texas, Washington, California, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia and Pennsylvania, according to the report.Despite the overall increase, the ADL reported a steep decline in distribution of white supremacist propaganda at colleges and universities, due in large part to the coronavirus pandemic and the lack of students living and studying on campus. There were 303 reports of propaganda on college campuses in 2020, down from 630 in 2019.Greenblatt acknowledged that free speech rights allow for rhetoric that “we don’t like and we detest.” But when that speech spurs violence or creates conditions for normalizing extremism, it must be opposed, he said.”There’s no pixie dust that you can sprinkle on this, like it’s all going to go away,” Greenblatt said. “We need to recognize that the roots of this problem run deep.”
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James Levine, one of the world’s most acclaimed conductors who served as music director for the Metropolitan Opera in New York for four decades before sexual abuse accusations ended his career, has died at age 77.Dr. Len Horovitz, his personal physician, said Levine died on March 9 in Palm Springs, California, of natural causes. The maestro, known for his wild hair and bespectacled face, was long revered by the Met’s audiences, singers and symphony-sized orchestra at America’s cathedral of opera whose standards he helped place among the highest in the world.
Levine, considered the foremost American conductor of his time and perhaps the most celebrated since Leonard Bernstein, led about 2,500 performances of 85 different operas since his Met debut in 1971, more than anyone else since it was founded in 1880. He also conducted some of the major orchestras of America and Europe, most notably the Munich Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
He stepped down as music director in 2016 after struggling with health problems, but was fired in 2018 from his reduced role with the Met after three men accused him of abusing them as teenagers as far back as 1968. His final appearance at the Met was leading a concert performance of Verdi’s Requiem in 2017.
Levine and the Met, the largest performing arts organization in the United States, reached an out-of-court settlement in 2019 resolving his lawsuit accusing the company of breach of contract and defamation and the company’s countersuit. The settlement called for him to get $3.5 million.
Peter Gelb, the Met general manager who made the decision to part ways with Levine, called the outcome “a tragedy.” Levine called the accusations “unfounded” and said he was not “an oppressor or an aggressor.”
In a statement on Wednesday, the Met said it “honors the memory” of Levine and acknowledged his “undeniable artistic achievements” but said his relationship with the opera company frayed in the wake of the sexual misconduct allegations.
Levine worked with the greatest opera singers of his era, including Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Anna Netrebko, Marilyn Horne, Jessye Norman, Samuel Ramey, Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade, Bryn Terfel, Roberto Alagna, Kiri Te Kanawa, Cecilia Bartoli, Renata Scotto, Leontyne Price and Grace Bumbry.
“He is one of the greatest artists of all time. He has created one of the greatest orchestras in modern history. He may be one of the greatest opera conductors who ever lived,” Gelb told The New York Times in 2011.
‘Music chose me’
Levine was respected for his conducting abilities, his penchant for eliciting the finest performances from musicians and his endless enthusiasm.
A traditionalist, he conducted sparkling performances of venerable operas by composers including Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini and Wagner, as well as new compositions. A piano prodigy, Levine remained active as a keyboard recitalist. He worked to create an exceptional rapport with his musicians.
During his career, he was bothered by health problems, notably a series of back operations. This forced him to cut back on performances and conduct while sitting down. He injured his spine in a fall while on vacation in 2011 that required surgery and left him partially paralyzed.
Complications related to Parkinson’s disease prompted Levine in 2016 to step down as the Met’s full-time music director and become music director emeritus, a position in which he would still conduct. His later suspension and dismissal ended that arrangement.
“I sometimes say that music chose me because I can’t remember my life without it,” Levine said in a PBS documentary. “I feel music gave me a real continuum of creative, constructive life. … As I look around at other professions in the world, it seems that to have a life in music is the most beautiful life I could imagine.”
Levine was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1943. He made his debut as a piano soloist at age 10 with the Cincinnati Symphony. After studying at the Juilliard school of music in New York, he was invited in 1963 to serve as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra under prominent conductor George Szell.
He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1971, conducting Puccini’s Tosca. He was appointed the Met’s principal conductor in 1973, its musical director in 1975 and was given the expanded role of artistic director in 1986.
“The crisis of how to enact opera onstage visually has some alarming facets,” Levine once told New York magazine. “I’m referring to productions the composer and librettist would denounce. I’m speaking of a production that uses a piece instead of presents the piece. People will say, ‘Oh, Jimmy, he’s so fanatic.’ … But there are so many contemporary productions that just destroy the piece, for nothing.”
From 1996 to 2000, he also led more than a dozen concerts on the popular “Three Tenors World Tour,” with Domingo, Pavarotti and Jose Carreras.
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A Japanese district court ruled Wednesday that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
The historic ruling by the Sapporo District Court was in response to a lawsuit filed by six plaintiffs, including two male couples and one female couple, who demanded more than $9,100 each (1 million yen), in damages from the Japanese government. The court said the prohibition violates Article 14 of the Japanese constitution, which declares all people are equal under the law, but it rejected the plaintiff’s demand for damages.
The lawsuit is one of five that have been filed in various Japanese courts seeking to overturn the ban.
Japan is the lone holdout in the world’s top seven economies, known as the Group of Seven, that refuses to recognize same-sex marriage. The government says the constitution defines marriage as one based on “the mutual consent of both sexes,” meaning one solely between a man and a woman. The ban prevents same-sex couples from sharing in the same benefits granted to opposite-sex couples, such as inheriting their partner’s houses and other assets, or maintaining parental control over their children.
Several municipalities have issued “partnership certificates” that give same-sex couples some of the same rights as heterosexual couples.
Homosexuality itself has been legal in Japan since 1880. Taiwan is the only place in Asia that has legalized same-sex marriage.
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Britain’s Prince Philip left a London hospital on Tuesday after being treated for an infection and undergoing a heart procedure.
Philip, 99, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, had been hospitalized since being admitted to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Feb. 16, where he was treated for an infection.
He was later transferred to a specialized cardiac care hospital, St. Bartholomew’s, for a short stay, before returning to King Edward VII’s.
Photographers standing outside the door of the private hospital captured his departure in the back of a black car. Buckingham Palace has not yet commented on the matter.
Philip’s illness is not believed to be related to the coronavirus. Both Philip and Elizabeth received COVID-19 vaccinations in January and chose to publicize the matter to encourage others to also take the vaccine.
Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, retired in 2017 and rarely appears in public. Before his hospitalization, he had been isolating at Windsor Castle, west of London, with the queen.
His illness comes as the royal family has been rocked by an interview with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry. In the explosive broadcast, Meghan, who is biracial, said the palace had failed to help her when she had suicidal thoughts and that an unidentified member of the royal family had raised “concerns” about the color of her baby’s skin when she was pregnant with her son, Archie.
The interview, conducted by Oprah Winfrey, divided people around the world. While many say the allegations demonstrate the need for change inside a palace that hasn’t kept pace with the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, others have criticized Harry and Meghan for dropping their bombshell while Philip was hospitalized.
The longest-serving royal consort in British history, Philip married the then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947. He and the queen have four children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
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David Fincher’s “Mank” led FILE – Chloe Zhao poses for a portrait to promote her film “Nomadland” during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Jan. 22, 2018.The other directing nominees were Lee Isaac Chung for “Minari,” Fincher for “Mank” and Thomas Vinterberg for “Another Round.”For performers, it’s the most diverse slate of nominees ever — and a far cry from the all-white acting nominees that spawned the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag five years ago. Nine of the 20 acting nominees are people of color, including a posthumous best-actor nomination for Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), and nods for Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Steven Yeun (“Minari”), Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”), Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Andra Day (“The People vs. Billie Holiday”) and Yuh-Jung Youn (“Minari”).Davis, who won for her performance in 2016’s “Fences,” landed her fourth Oscar nomination, making Davis the most nominated Black actress ever. Yeun is the first Asian American ever nominated for best actor.The other nominees for best actress are: Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”; Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”; Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman.”The remaining nominees for best actor are: Anthony Hopkins, “The Father”; Gary Oldman, “Mank.”After a pandemic year that shuttered most movie theaters, the best-picture nominees had hardly any box office to speak of. The Oscars won’t just lack blockbusters, it’s going forward with many movies that have barely played on the big screen at all. That leaves streaming services set to dominate Hollywood’s biggest and most sought-after awards.This image released by Netflix shows, from left, Yahya Abdul-Mateen, Ben Shenkman, Mark Rylance, Eddie Redmayne and Alex Sharp in a scene from “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”Netflix, as expected, led the pack with 35 nominations. The service is still gunning for its first best-picture winner, and this year has two shots in “Mank” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” — a movie Paramount Pictures sold off during the pandemic. Netflix led last year, too, with 24 nominations, but came away with just two wins.Other streamers were in the mix. Amazon, in particular, was well represented with “Sound of Metal,” “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and “One Night in Miami.”The nominations were announced from London by presenters Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The Academy Awards would typically have happened by now but this year were postponed by two months due to the pandemic. They will instead be telecast April 25.The film academy confirmed Monday that the show will be held at both its usual home in the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and the city’s railway hub, Union Station.In addition to Youn, the nominees for best supporting actress are: Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”; Glenn Close, “Hillbilly Elegy”; Olivia Colman, “The Father”; Amanda Seyfried, “Mank.”In addition to Odom Jr., Kaluuya and Stanfield, the nominees for best supporting actor are: Sacha Baron Cohen, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”; Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal.”The nominees for best documentary feature are: “Collective”; “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution”; “The Mole Agent”; “My Octopus Teacher”; “Time.”The nominees for best international film are: “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” Bosnia and Herzegovina; “Another Round,” Denmark; “Better Days,” Hong Kong; “Collective,” Romania; “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” Tunisia.The nominees for best original song are: “Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”; “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”; “Io Sì (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)”; “Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami”; and “Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”The nominees for best animated feature: “Onward”; “Over the Moon”; “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”; “Soul”; “Wolfwalkers.”The nominees for best original screenplay are: “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Shaka King and Will Berson; “Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung; “Promising Young Woman,” Emerald Fennell; “Sound of Metal,” Darius Marder and Abraham Marder; “Trial of the Chicago 7,” Aaron Sorkin.The nominees for best costume design are: Alexandra Byrne, “Emma”; Ann Roth, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”; Trish Summerville, “Mank”; Bina Daigeler “Mulan”; Massimo Cantini Parrini “Pinocchio.”The film academy and ABC will hope that the nominees can drum up more excitement than they have elsewhere. Interest in little golden statuettes has nosedived during the pandemic. Ratings for a largely virtual Golden Globes plunged to 6.9 million viewers — a 64% drop from 2020 — last month. Though on Sunday the Grammys managed to break through the Zoom trap that has bedeviled other awards shows.With the notable exception of fueling streaming subscriber growth, the pandemic has been punishing for the movie industry. Production slowed to a crawl, blockbusters were postponed or detoured to streaming and thousands have been laid off or furloughed.But the outlook for Hollywood has recently brightened as coronavirus cases have slid and vaccines have ramped up. Movie theaters are reopening in the U.S.’s two largest markets, New York and Los Angeles. And several larger movies — including the Walt Disney Co.’s “Black Widow” (May 7) — are scheduled for May and beyond.
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A virtual music competition with real prizes — this is the concept of a new music platform called Djooky. Both amateur and professional songwriters and musicians from around the world are invited to participate for free. Mariia Prus has the story.
Camera: Kostiantyn Golubchyk
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Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish won the top prizes at the Grammy Awards on Sunday in a ceremony that also saw Beyonce become the most awarded female artist in Grammy history. Swift’s surprise lockdown record “Folklore” was named album of the year and Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” won record of the year. Sunday’s win made Swift, 31, the first woman to take home album of the year three times. Beyonce’s four Grammys on Sunday took her total career wins to 28, surpassing the previous record for a woman set by bluegrass singer Alison Krauss.British singer Dua Lipa won best pop vocal album for her dance-y “Future Nostalgia.”Alicia Keys and Dua Lipa react at the 2020 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, March 14, 2021.The writers of “I Can’t Breathe” by R&B artist H.E.R won song of the year. It was written in response to the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States last summer. Rapper Megan Thee Stallion was named best new artist and the 26-year-old known for promoting women’s empowerment won two more Grammys for her rap performance of single “Savage,” featuring Beyonce. Hosted by Trevor Noah, the hybrid ceremony was packed with pre-recorded and live performances by the likes of Lipa, Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Cardi B, DaBaby, Black Pumas and Mickey Guyton. It took place both indoors and outdoors in Downtown Los Angeles but mostly without the elaborate sets and special effects that traditionally mark the highest honors in the music business. K-Pop band BTS lost in the best pop duo or group performance against Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande for their single “Rain on Me” but performed their hit English-language single “Dynamite” from South Korea at the close of the show.
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Queen Bey is closer to sitting on her Grammys throne: The singer won her 26th Grammy on Sunday, almost matching, and on track to surpass, Alison Krauss’ record of 27 wins.Beyoncé, this year’s leading contender with nine nominations, won two honors during the pre-ceremony including best rap performance for “Savage” with Megan Thee Stallion and best music video for “Brown Skin Girl.” She shares the latter with daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who is also having a historic night: At 9 years old, she’s the second youngest to win a Grammy.Beyoncé’s other nominations, including song and record of the year, best R&B performance and best rap song, will broadcast during the live show, which kicked off with host Trevor Noah telling jokes about the coronavirus pandemic and the year that was 2020.He was live from downtown Los Angeles, with attendees wearing masks and sitting, socially distanced, at small round tables. That was followed by performances from Harry Styles, who is competing for his first Grammys this year, and Billie Eilish, who won five Grammys last year and picked up her sixth honor during the preshow.Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Beyonce Battle for Grammys Top Prizes Beyoncé, now the most nominated female artist in Grammy history with 79 career nods, leads all comers with nine nominationsOther performances, taped days before the big show, will air throughout the night, including Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, BTS, Bad Bunny, Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, Dua Lipa, Post Malone, Chris Martin, Lil Baby, John Mayer, Maren Morris and Doja Cat.During the preshow, Fiona Apple and Kaytranda were also double winners Sunday. John Prine and Chick Corea both earned two wins posthumously. Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Dan + Shay, James Taylor, H.E.R., Beck, Brandi Carlile, Burna Boy, Tiffany Haddish and Rachel Maddow also won Grammys.While Beyoncé is set to have a historic night, history could repeat itself and she could be shut out of winning a top award — a common occurrence for R&B and rap artists throughout Grammy history. Of her 26 wins, only one has been for one of the big four Grammys, song of the year. She has lost album of the year three times and record of the year five times.Jay-Z has never won a top award, and he and his wife join a list of mostly Black performers who have only won in the rap and R&B categories, including Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Eminem, Drake, Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige and more.This year The Weeknd was the one who was snubbed. Despite having the biggest hit of 2020 with “Blinding Lights” and a top-selling, multihit album, he didn’t earn any nominations. Still, Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” could become the second hip-hop song to win record of the year.Taylor Swift could make history, too, and become the first woman to win the show’s top prize, album of the year, three times. Her first surprise album of 2020, “Folklore,” is competing for the top honor, an award she first won in 2010 for “Fearless,” and again in 2016 for “1989.” Artists competing with Swift for album of the year include Coldplay, Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Jhené Aiko, HAIM, Black Pumas and Jacob Collier, who picked up a win during the pre-ceremony.The Grammys were originally scheduled for Jan. 31 but were pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Dame Zaturoski from Struga, North Macedonia, is a lawyer by training, but his true passion is making models of boats and ships. Reporter Miki Trajkovski went to North Macedonia to see his latest creation and filed this story narrated by Anna Rice.
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Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Dua Lipa lead the charge at the reinvented Grammy Awards on Sunday, where the music industry hopes to put a year-long pandemic behind it.But an unusually diverse line-up of contenders for the top prize – album of the year – mean it could be anyone’s night.”The nominations were so surprising – The Weeknd not getting nominated – it’s a very strange year to try to predict,” said Melinda Newman, Billboard’s executive editor for the West Coast and Nashville.”I think it’s going to be a year where no-one makes a clean sweep,” she added. The winners are chosen by some 11,000 voting members of the Recording Academy. Interim Recording Academy president Harvey Mason Jr said he hoped the show would be “a chance to have a little bit of normalcy, of people coming together and playing music.”Beyoncé, now the most nominated female artist in Grammy history with 79 career nods, leads all comers with nine nominations. The nods come mostly from music like single “Black Parade” that celebrated Black culture in a year of racial turmoil in the United States.But Beyoncé is not on the list of musicians booked for Sunday’s three-hour show, which will take place as a mix of live and pre-recorded performances from the likes of Swift, K-Pop band BTS, newcomer Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Latin star Bad Bunny, and Black country singer Mickey Guyton.Swift and British pop singer Lipa got six nominations apiece, along with rapper Roddy Ricch. Lipa, and her album “Future Nostalgia,” may have the edge as the only one of the trio to get nods in all three of the big races – album, record, and song of the year.”Dua Lipa has been everywhere this last year. It’s a really great happy dance disco revival,” said Alex Suskind, a senior editor at Entertainment Weekly. Suskind said he felt that Swift, who got the best reviews of her career for her surprise lockdown album “Folklore,” has a better shot at winning song of the year – which is awarded for writing – with the track “Cardigan.”Eilish, 19, who swept the 2020 Grammys with her debut album, is back again with three nods for her ballad “Everything I Wanted,” and one for her theme song for the upcoming James Bond film “No Time To Die.””I think the Billie Eilish train at the Grammys is going to keep rolling,” Suskind said.South Korean boy band BTS marked a breakthrough year in the United States by securing their first major Grammy nomination for their English-language hit “Dynamite.”They will be performing from Korea on Sunday and hoping for a win in the closely contested best pop duo or group field.”We just keep seeing these amazing acts coming out of Korea and it doesn’t seem like it’s ending at all. It’s really great fun, pop music,” said Newman.
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Marvelous Marvin Hagler stopped Thomas Hearns in a fight that lasted less than eight minutes yet was so epic that it still lives in boxing lore. Two years later he was so disgusted after losing a decision to Sugar Ray Leonard — stolen, he claimed, by the judges — that he never fought again.One of the great middleweights in boxing history, Hagler died Saturday at age 66. His wife, Kay, announced his death on the Facebook page for Hagler’s fans.”I am sorry to make a very sad announcement,” she wrote. “Today unfortunately my beloved husband Marvelous Marvin passed away unexpectedly at his home here in New Hampshire. Our family requests that you respect our privacy during this difficult time.”Hagler fought on boxing’s biggest stages against its biggest names, as he, Leonard, Hearns and Roberto Duran dominated the middleweight classes during a golden time for boxing in the 1980s. Quiet with a brooding public persona, Hagler fought 67 times in 14 years as a pro out of Brockton, Massachusetts, finishing 62-3-2 with 52 knockouts.He fought with a proverbial chip on his shoulder, convinced that boxing fans and promoters alike didn’t give him his proper due. He was so upset that he wasn’t introduced before a 1982 fight by his nickname of Marvelous that he went to court to legally change his name.’A real man'”He was certainly one of the greatest middleweights ever but one of the greatest people that I’ve ever been around and promoted,” promoter Bob Arum said. “He was a real man, loyal and just fantastic person.”Any doubts Hagler wasn’t indeed Marvelous were erased on a spring night in 1985. He and Hearns met in one of the era’s big middleweight clashes outdoors at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and when the opening bell rang, they traded punches for three minutes in an opening round many consider the best in boxing history.Hagler would go on to stop Hearns in the third round, crumpling him to the canvas with a barrage of punches even as blood poured from a large gash on his own forehead that nearly caused the referee to stop the fight earlier in the round.“That was an unbelievable fight,” Arum said. “Probably the greatest fight ever.”Hearns said Saturday that he was thinking about Hagler and their historic fight. Hagler wore a baseball cap with the word “War” while promoting it while on a 23-city tour with Hearns that Arum said made the fighters despise each other before they even entered the ring.“I can’t take anything away from him,” Hearns told The Associated Press. “His awkwardness messed me up, but I can’t take anything away from him. He fought his heart out and we put on a great show for all time.”FILE – In this April 1987 photo, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, left, moves in on Sugar Ray Leonard during the third round of a boxing bout in Las Vegas. Leonard won with a split decision. Hagler died March 13, 2021. He was 66.Hagler would fight only two more times, stopping John Mugabi a year later and then meeting Leonard, who was coming off a three-year layoff from a detached retina, in his final fight in 1987. Hagler was favored going into the fight and many thought he would destroy Leonard — but Leonard had other plans.Split decisionWhile Hagler pursued him around the ring, Leonard fought backing up, flicking out his left jab and throwing combinations that didn’t hurt Hagler but won him points on the ringside scorecards. Still, when the bell rang at the end of the 12th round, many thought Hagler had pulled out the fight — only to lose a controversial split decision.Hagler, who was paid $19 million, left the ring in disgust and never fought again. He moved to Italy to act, and never really looked back.”I feel fortunate to get out of the ring with my faculties and my health,” he said a year later.Hagler was born in Newark, New Jersey, and moved with his family to Brockton in the late 1960s. He was discovered as an amateur by the Petronelli brothers, Goody and Pat, who ran a gym in Brockton and would go on to train Hagler for his entire pro career.He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1983.
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U.S. Senator Marco Rubio on Friday became the first high-profile Republican lawmaker to support a growing push to unionize Amazon.com, Inc., workers in Alabama, after several Democratic lawmakers visited the company’s facility last week.In an opinion piece in USA Today, Rubio wrote that Amazon has “waged a war against working-class values” and is “looking to crush the union vote” in Bessemer, Alabama.”Here’s my standard: When the conflict is between working Americans and a company whose leadership has decided to wage culture war against working-class values, the choice is easy, I support the workers. And that’s why I stand with those at Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse today.”Rubio’s backing is noteworthy as Republicans traditionally favor businesses and investors looking to squelch unionizing efforts.Amazon workers at the Alabama facility began voting by mail in February on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and become the first group of U.S. Amazon employees to unionize. The union’s President Stuart Appelbaum welcomed the support from Rubio and said this fight “should not be a partisan issue.”President Joe Biden also recently expressed support for the Amazon warehouse employees and defended workers’ rights to form unions.Last week, Democratic U.S. Representatives Andy Levin, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Terri Sewell and Nikema Williams visited the facility and met workers and organizers.An Amazon spokesperson said, “when Senator Rubio says Amazon is ‘waging war on working class values,’ does he mean our $15 starting wage, comprehensive benefits, or the paid parental leave we provide for hourly workers?”Rubio’s column did not address Amazon’s wages or benefits. It said Amazon “uses anticompetitive strategies to crush small businesses, bans conservative books and blocks traditional charities from participating in its AmazonSmile program.”Amazon offers $15 an hour minimum wage to its workers and has continued to advocate for the federal minimum wage to be raised to that level.Rubio has clashed with Amazon before, as part of a group of conservative lawmakers who wrote to the online retailer in February after it stopped selling a book that Amazon said framed transgender and other sexual identities as mental illnesses.The pressure on Amazon has also continued to mount from other areas in Washington. On Friday, Senator Bernie Sanders invited Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person, to appear before his Senate Budget panel for a hearing on income and wealth inequality.
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Japan will not take part in China’s offer — accepted by the International Olympic Committee — to provide vaccines for “participants” in the postponed Tokyo Games and next year’s Beijing Winter Games.Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa said Friday that Japan had not been consulted by the IOC about the Chinese vaccines, and that Japanese athletes would not take them. She said the vaccines have not been approved for use in Japan.”We have been taking comprehensive anti-infectious disease measures for the Tokyo Games in order to allow participation without vaccinations,” Marukawa said. “There is no change to our principle of not making vaccinations a prerequisite.”Announced by IOC President Thomas Bach on Thursday, the surprise deal comes as China faces mounting international pressure over the internment of at least 1 million Muslim Uyghurs, which has been labeled a “genocide” by several governments and human rights bodies.The IOC has indicated it is a sports body and will not meddle in domestic issues in China.The IOC initially said it would not require athletes to get vaccines, but only encourage it. The deal with China puts more emphasis on getting vaccines to young, healthy athletes and others.The IOC has said it will pay for the vaccines but gave no indication of the cost or quantity.Marukawa pointed out that the Olympics are being held as if vaccines are not available, relying on testing, masks, social distancing and keeping athletes in a “bubble.”Distribution of China’s vaccine will be through international agencies or existing vaccine agreements countries have with China, Bach said.The IOC clarified on Friday that athletes in countries which have not authorized Chinese vaccines for use could not benefit from the program.”This offer will really only apply to (national Olympic committees) in territories where the Chinese vaccination has been approved by their national health authorities,” said James MacLeod, the IOC official who works with those Olympic bodies.China, where the COVID-19 outbreak emerged in late 2019, has actively engaged in vaccine diplomacy, using doses developed by Sinovac and Sinopharm. Trials have produced generally lower levels of efficacy than vaccines produced outside China.Bach said Thursday “that a significant number of Olympic teams have already been vaccinated.” He did not name the countries.”The IOC will make every effort to have as many participants in the Olympics and Paralympic Games arriving already vaccinated in Japan this summer,” Bach said.Tokyo organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto, in a news conference on Friday, said people coming to Japan with vaccinations might help reassure a skeptical public.About 80% of Japanese in recent polls say the Olympics should be postponed or canceled, and almost as many do not want fans from abroad.Hashimoto said again that the decision on fans from overseas will be made before the torch relay begins on March 25. Numerous reports in Japan say the decision has already been made to ban foreign visitors.She also said a decision on venue capacity will be made in April.”The sooner the better,” she said. “At an earlier stage it is better to present the direction. We’ve been receiving requests to make the decision sooner.
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Iranian authorities have arrested multiple music producers connected to a California-based Iranian pop singer, his management company and Iranian media said Thursday. It was seen as Tehran’s latest effort to halt what it deems decadent Western behavior.The arrests came as Iranian social media have been awash with criticism of popular underground Iranian singer “Sasy,” or Sasan Heidari Yafteh, who has released a new music video. Called “Tehran Tokyo,” the video features actresses, including an American porn star, gyrating in kimonos and short, tight dresses atop cars and inside bars. The clip racked up 18 million views within a week.Over the years, Sasy has become known for lyrics that Iranian conservatives see as tainting the country’s moral probity. In a previous song also featuring a porn actress, he instructed teenagers to take alcohol shots if they can’t fall asleep and to scroll through Instagram instead of finishing their homework.In Iran, where the government retains tight controls over traditional media like newspapers and television, authorities have used courts to patrol social media platforms beyond their reach. Hours before the video went live late Wednesday, Iranian security forces detained two popular music arrangers who worked on the song in the southern city of Shiraz and raided their studio, said Sasy’s manager, Farshid Rafe Rafahi, the CEO of Los Angeles-based EMH Productions. The brothers, Mohsen and Behrouz Manouchehri, now face prosecution by a criminal court in Tehran, he added.Porn performer featuredA week ago, the song’s teaser, featuring porn performer Alexis Texas dancing to clubby Farsi pop, fueled such public consternation that authorities pledged to investigate the app that carried the video. Soon, Iran’s guardians of conservative morals cracked down on those associated with publicizing or producing the clip.FILE – This photo provided by AZ Films shows California-based Iranian pop singer Sasy with American adult film actress Alexis Texas in the music video for “Tehran Tokyo,” Feb 26, 2021, in Los Angeles.”It’s pretty crazy. She’s just dancing like any person in any ordinary music video. She’s not doing anything inappropriate in these scenes,” said Rafahi, referring to Texas. “Sasy’s mission isn’t to create havoc. It’s to make people happy.”Semiofficial news agencies in Iran confirmed several arrests Wednesday, alleging that Sasy’s associates in Iran had produced music “contrary to culture.”The Fars news agency, believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards, also accused the music producers in Iran of running gambling websites at Sasy’s behest. Rafahi said the gambling accusations stemmed from a misunderstanding, given that a poker website helped sponsor the music video.Sasy is now a permanent resident of the U.S. and has lived in exile since leaving his career as a successful underground rapper in Iran in 2009. Since the video came out, Iran has promised to “pursue his case with international legal authorities,” according to the Fars report.While hardliners consider the song a Western assault on Islamic teachings, thousands in the country are of a different mind. In thrall to the catchy beat, scores of teenagers and twentysomethings posted videos on social media lip-syncing, dancing and striking poses to “Tehran Tokyo” in their living rooms, kitchens and workplaces. In the clips, many women wear bright lipstick and few cover their hair with the hijab.’Decisive judicial action’Iranian semiofficial news agencies reported that those who “cooperated with Sasy” would face “decisive judicial action.” It remains uncertain whether police also detained any of the lip-syncing fans.Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution installed the clerically overseen system that endures today, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has extended its reach into most aspects of Iranian society, with laws banning women from dancing in public or appearing outside without the hijab. Authorities have cracked down on music in the past; they arrested young Iranians who appeared in videos dancing to Pharrell Williams’ hit song “Happy” in 2014.Under pressure from hardliners, the Iranian government long has blocked access to various websites and social media platforms, from YouTube and Facebook to Twitter and Telegram. Young Iranians still manage workarounds, accessing social media to share Sasy’s outlawed songs through VPNs and proxies.
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Prince William on Thursday defended Britain’s royal family against accusations of racism made by his brother Prince Harry and sister-in-law Meghan, saying the royals are “very much not a racist family.”
In comments made during a visit to an east London school, William became the first royal to directly address the explosive interview broadcast Sunday in the U.S. that his brother and the Duchess of Sussex gave to Oprah Winfrey.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 12 MB480p | 17 MB540p | 22 MB720p | 48 MB1080p | 95 MBOriginal | 263 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioBuckingham Palace’s sought to respond to Harry and Meghan’s allegations of racism and mistreatment in a 61-word statement, but it has failed to quell the controversy.
William, second in line to the throne after his father Prince Charles, says he hadn’t yet spoken to Harry in the aftermath of the interview, “but I will do.”
Harry and Meghan’s comments have rocked the royal family — and touched off conversations around the world about racism, mental health and even the relationship between Britain and its former colonies.
Those tensions have only built as the public waited to see how the royal family would respond.
Meghan, who is biracial, said in the interview she was so isolated and miserable as a working member of the royal family that she had suicidal thoughts. She also said Harry told her there were “concerns and conversations” by a royal family member about the color of her baby’s skin when she was pregnant with their son, Archie.
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